What Up Cuz?

Emma and Noah finally got to meet their new baby cousin, Peyton. 

Fun times with her cousin Peyton.  When Noah saw the girls together on the bed, he said, "Look.  Another Emma."

Loved seeing Uncle PNut be a Daddy.  What an awesome little family!

Group shot!

Midnight Snack

OK... not really midnight, but on vacation, ice cream before bed is a-okay.  So, you head to the hotel snack shop wearing your pajamas and pick up said ice cream.

 

You bring it back to your room and get after it.

And, you don't even think twice about enjoying your yummy treat in front of baby sister.

And, then you notice, she's watching you.

And, it's almost like she's begging for a little lick.  So, why not?

Sorry Em.  Momma says no.

Great Wolf Lodge

Noah had a fall break from school, so Daddy took vacation, and we headed out of town. North. To the GREAT WOLF LODGE. OWHHHH!

That's a big yawn, Noah.  What's a family vacation without a bit of late night travel?  Here we are arriving at the Great Wolf Lodge sometime around midnight.  Kudos to Daddy for the driving.

Kudos to Emma for following in her brother's footsteps and being a rock star traveler. 

We stayed in a Kid Cabin. Noah had his own bunk bed area. He loved it and slept great. Hmmm... Maybe we should sell our house and move to a hotel.

The water park was very fun. And, although he had to be coerced every day to get into his swimsuit. Noah had a blast once he was in the water.

Daddy and I took turns taking Noah down to the water park.  Noah loved the wave pool, the lazy river, and most of all the toddler area. 

Daddy even got a chance to ride a few of the "taller than 48" rides.

His limit usual maxed out at around an hour and a half. Then he would say to me, "I'm soaking wet. You want to get dressed."

Noah did have an injury day one. While going down one of the bigger kiddie slides solo. He got a huge blister on his hand. My guess is that he put his hand down on the slide to slow down. It looked like it really hurt and combined with how tired he was, there was a bit of drama over the wound later  in the day.

After a nap, he rebounded with a trip to build a bear and the Sea Life aquarium. We didn't want to miss out on using our annual pass.

Noah's favorite part of the lodge was the game room. And, his favorite game in the game room was the Spongebob game. It was actually not much of a game at all, but more like a token stealer stingy ticket giver kind of machine. It ate plenty of our tokens, but luckily, it spit out enough tickets to keep Noah in full supply of lollipops over the weekend.

I think Emma enjoyed our trip too. She started belly laughing this weekend.  And, Daddy was so happy to be there to see it.  She also spent lots of time in the carrier helping Momma chase big brother, and she got lots of extra snuggle time with Momma trying to add a few pounds.

She's a huge fan of the outward facing position in the carrier and loves to watch everything going on around her.

Emma - Four Months

I've been mentally prepping for Emma's four month post for a few weeks now. It was going to start with the four magic words... Sleeping. Through. The. Night. However, she had her 4 month well baby check-up last week, and all those zzz's have been usurped by Not. Gaining. Enough. Weight.

Her four months stats had her in 20% for weight, 92% for height, and completely off the bottom of the chart for head circumference. So, her weight is obviously the issue dropping from 60% to 20%. Ouch  It's pretty obvious what the culprit is. Too much sleep and too little eating. And, of course the hand sucking doesn't help. Obviously, the four month old in the house should not be allowed to determine her own feeding time and duration.  So, we will head back to the pedi in couple weeks for a weight check. In the meantime, it's feeding time all the time. I'm probably still going to let her sleep the night. Let's not get crazy. But, during the day, it's on.

She's been sleeping through the night for about two weeks now. I usually put her down in her crib with her mobile. She quiets down and is usually asleep fairly quickly. Ah... The joys of bedtime with second children. Her going down this way allows me to go lay down with brother until he's asleep. Bad sleep habits, I'm sure he will carry into adulthood.  You're welcome, Noah.  She has decided to boycott the "back to sleep" campaign, and can usually be found in the furthest corner of her bed snuggled on her tummy.  For a baby who doesn't crawl, she totally gets around. 

Socially, Emma is doing so many great things.  She's flirty, always seeking out the attention of anyone who comes in her line of sight.  She has started to laugh, and it is so cute.  She is usually laughing at her brother. Well, I guess you can't take life too seriously with ca-razy hair like this. I think we might be ready for a bow.  Any hair tips are greatly appreciated. 

Home

It's not very often our whole family makes the trip to Louisiana together. This trip had a rocky start.  A massive rainstorm in Thursday rush hour traffic delayed us getting out of Houston and a hazmat incident on I-10 added another two hours of delay to our already longer than usual drive. We ended up stopping for the night and started our Friday morning with a fresh perspective and ready for the weekend. And, what a fun weekend it turned out to be. It reminded us how much we miss our families. And, although we've made our home in Texas, Louisiana is still home too. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the weekend.

Emma came home with a definite case of arm-itis.

There is never a shortage of arms wanting to hold her.

Noah completely crashed one afternoon after spending the day at Grandma and Grandpas's house. The couch in Grammy's sun room seemed a most cozy spot.

Uncle D showing off his baby whispering skills while watching LSU football on Saturday.

 

Daddy took Noah swimming at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Um... no he can't touch or swim, and Daddy was the only person in the pool.

And, then more swimming with the girls at Grammy's house. Floaties required this time.

There is always someone willing to go outside and play.  Momma surely appreciates all the extra hands willing to give Noah a push on the swing. 

There is always lots of fun and laughing.  Here is Brooke showing off her 80's punk look.

Noah dug this wig out of one of the girl's rooms.  Silly Noah.

And, we got to visit with some cousins from out of town.

Awwhh...sha.

Everybody Loves a Catholic Girl

Sweet baby Emma was baptized today. 

She wore her PaPa Harold's christening gown, which was worn by not only her PaPa, but also her Momma, Aunt, Uncle and cousins too.  Ma Ellen cleaned and pressed it special for baby girl.

She did great during mass and the ceremony.

Nanny Bec and Parain Uncle D

What a great afternoon!

Right In His Wheelhouse

For our recent road trip, I downloaded some new music for Noah. Ralph's World. As is common in most children's music, there is a version of the ABC song. This particular version has a second verse that sings the alphabet backwards. It ends with a "now I know my z,y,x's, next talk we can walk to Texas. Cute. When the verse caught my attention, I turned around to look at Noah. Two words: Locked. In. When the song finished, "Want to do it again." I laughed. Dean said, "You just rocked his world." Guess who's going to soon be reciting his alphabet backwards really soon.