It's Beginning to Feel a Lot Like Christmas

Ah, tradition. Sometimes a bit painful, but always worth keeping. One tradition that marks the beginning of the holiday season is the annual cousin Santa picture. All four families come from far and wide to meet at the mall all dressed up, wait in the long line, paste on cheesy smiles and click, take the pic. My favorite part is always the look on Santa's face when he finds out we have ten, ten?!, kids that all need to pile onto his lap, chair, floor space to get the perfect picture. I feel for the guy!

This year was not without its fair share of the dramatic. I was bathing the kids right before we left so they would be spic and span for the photo, when Noah started screaming that his "area" was hurting. He needed to go to the bathroom, but was having trouble and it hurt so, so bad. All tell-tale signs of a bladder infection. Of, course the pedi's office was already closed for the day. What to do? I calmed my boy down, asked Gigi to stop at the store for some cranberry juice, dosed him with Motrin, and off we went.

He was soon feeling much better and the symptoms never reappeared. So strange.

This mall has pretend snow falling as you wait for Santa. With the special lighting, the snow drifts and gently falling flakes, it really is magical. O enjoyed it so, so much.


I'll interject a tad more drama here. As we were waiting for our turn to see Santa and all the kids were playing in the snow, one kiddo did not seem to be enjoying himself so much. Clayton was kind of propped up in the corner, not at all himself. Sure enough, just as we stepped up to sit in Santa's lap, Clayton made a bee line for the nearest trash can and threw up. Lovely. Poor Guy! We cozied up for the picture as fast as we could, told everyone to hold their breath so as not to get any germs, and quickly sent poor Clayton home to recuperate.

It turned out pretty good...considering.

Make-up Thanksgiving

Because Yaya caught a nasty bug the day before Thanksgiving, we enjoyed a make-up holiday at their house on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We had so much fun celebrating all we have to be thankful for.

Like the first egg nog of the season. Cheers!

And pumpkin pie. Yum!
(O and I are the only ones in our little Halpin family that like egg nog or pumpkin pie. And we not only like. We love! We 're not sure what's wrong with the rest of the fam!)

And after-turkey football games in the front yard. Good dive, Nosy!

He's still got it!

We have so very much to be thankful for! What a fitting holiday to celebrate twice. We love you, Gramps and Yaya!

Parking It

We are enjoying every last bit of warmth there is before true winter sets in. We met our great friends at a cool park to play the morning away. While we were there, a cold front gusted in! We packed up and hurried home to get warm.

All these happy pics were taken prior to the torture of yet another pod falling off. No improvement on that front at all.

Super sandy!

Desperate Times

Desperate times call for desperate measures, my friends.

Care to guess what our desperate measure is these days?

On the up-side, look at what I get the joy of waking up to every morning. He seems to be enjoying it too.

Things I've learned about Jones since he started co-bedding:

He is a snuggle bug. I put him to bed between Jeremy and myself, with his face far away from the covers and our pillows. I am so scared that he'll suffocate in the night. The little buggy squirms and wriggles and inches towards me until he is all safe and cozy and curled up tight beside me. I can't lie. I love it. I spoon him all night long.

He is a fast learner. He has learned that when he is hungry, he doesn't even have to exert the energy to cry. He just kicks his little froggy legs against my tummy until I wake up.

The Boy is a space heater. I am always chilly in bed, but I stay extra cozy with his tiny, warm body snuggled up next to me.

When all the chaos at our house dies down and people start sleeping again, the day will come for Jonah to go back to his own bed. Until then, we are happily soaking up the extra snuggle time and a few extra zzzz's.

The Pump Is Not My Friend & Other Bloggy Woes

I miss blogging. So much. I read my friends' blogs complete with darling pictures of Halloween costumes and fall crafts, cute stories of the darndest things kids say. I have all these things too, stored away in my computer and in my heart. I just have absolutely no time nor energy to record them.

We are having a tough time around here. Noah's new insulin pump is not. going. well. And that's putting it lightly. Because of this, and Jonesy's sudden, urgent increase in nighttime appetite, we are not getting much sleep. Maybe 2-3 hours a night. That is just not enough for me to remain an emotionally stable Mommy.

So we remain on survival mode. If I am not dealing with Nosy's pump, feeding Jones, schooling O and Nosy, then I am probably trying to catch a few zzzz's. That is my life right now. I just hope the pictures and stories will keep. I want to record each and every one, but for now, that is just not the priority.

One day...

I'll leave you with a couple of pics, just to let you know we're still alive.

Mr. Personality!

Bright Eyes

We love Fall at the Arbo!

Sweet Boy

My Monkeys

Fun and Games: 5 Months

Jonah, you are five months old. Crazy how time flies. It is so sweet of the Lord that He makes each new phase even more fun than the one before, otherwise I would be so sad all the time. You are growing and changing and losing your newborness more each day. Yet, each new development shows a tiny bit more of your sweet personality. With each change you become even more fun and delightful.

Bath time is one of your favorite parts of the day. You would be content to splash your tiny feet in the bath all day long. I love to have a sweet-smelling, warm, snuggly baby to cuddle after bath time. Putting those two facts together means you enjoy a lot of baths! You get all excited and kick and squeal when you see me getting the bath ready for you.

I still love to tote you around in the Maya wrap. I love having you close to me while I shop or work around the house, and you are a big fan of it too. Just look at how adorable you are! No wonder so many people stop to talk to me and coo at you when I carry you this way. You are irresistible!

You are quite a talented Bumbo-er. You feel like a big boy when you sit at one end of our table during dinner. Your core is getting stronger as you practice being up-right.

You and Nosy. That Boy can not get enough of you. He holds you, fetches toys for you, washes off your mimi, covers you with blankets, plays with you. Before you even know you have a need, he has anticipated the need and met it. He adores you. He wants to be by you all the time. Sometimes it bothers you when he is loud or a little too rough, but just know that you have no greater fan than Noah. He would do anything for you.

This video represents something you have been doing for a few months now but that I know will not last forever. It is so endearing. When I put you in your bed to quiet down for sleep, you stroke your sheets in a circular motion until you drift off to dreamland. If someone is holding you, you stroke their shirt to fall asleep. It is sweet. It is also a cue for me that you are sleepy. When the stroking starts, I better stick you in bed pretty quickly!

You are becoming more fun and interactive all the time. You can hold toys now and play with rattles. You enjoy a little game of peek-a-boo. The Boys love to play with you and try to make you laugh. What fun you are, Tiny Jones!

You are such a joy, Jonah. Sometimes I still can't believe you are ours, that God has seen fit to bless us with such an amazing, awesome little son. I love you more than you'll ever know.

Smiley Jones: 4 months

Sweet Jonesy.

4 months old.

14 pounds 6.5 ounces (50%)

25.5 inches (75%)

We have a new-nick name for you this month: Smiley Jones. Daddy calls you that all the time. Why? Because you are the smiliest guy we know! You are a people person through and through (very unlike your brothers and your parents!). Even as such a tiny guy, you make eye contact, smile and coo at complete strangers. I love that about you!

Your sweet disposition and laid back personality fit so perfectly into our family. With two Biggies, we are running from here to there a lot of the day. You totally roll with our schedules, taking cat naps in your car seat when necessary. I try to keep you on a tiny baby schedule as much as I can, but sometimes it is just not possible. Missing naps does not phase you in the least. You are as happy snappy as always.

Your Big Brothers adore you more every day. They are always eager to hold you or tell you stories about their day.

Your daily goal is to fit as much of your fist in your mouth as possible. It is quite impressive how much you can jam in your tiny baby mouth! Sometimes, you get even more ambitious and go for two hands in your mouth at once!

On your 4 month birthday, you learned how to reach for toys. You bat and bat and bat at your bouncy seat toys and your playmat mobile. You just keep getting more and more fun as you add to your bag of tricks, Kiddo!

Jonah Cody, you continue to delight us and bring us continual joy. You are exactly what our family needed. God knew that. He plunked you down in our family to make our hearts happy. We fall more in love with you every day as your precious personality emerges. We love you, Tweedle Dee!

Hot Shots Score Big!

Nosy's first game day was finally here, a day he had been dreaming about for years. He could not contain his excitement! The Boy was absolutely glowing.

A quick pic with Coach Jeremy before warm-up.

Here is Nosy telling Gramps that he gets to play in a real soccer game today. Can you tell he's just the slightest bit pumped?

The Boy's got moves!

He scored his first goal within the first 15 seconds of the game, while the rest of the tiny players just stood around wondering what was going on.


Here's a quick clip of Nosy's third goal. I am afraid that the obnoxious screaming at the end of the video is me. Yes, I am that crazy mom on the sidelines.

Jones was not suffering for attention.

Some proud re-hashing of the game with the Codys.

Noah scored a grand total of FOUR goals!! That's my Nosy!

So many fans in the Noah Fan Club. Gigi and Papa are so proud. Even Joel, Erica, Clayton, Oliver and Elliot came to watch Noah's debut. Thanks Guys!

It was so much fun watching Noah score and cheering the Hot Shots on to their 5-1 victory, but you know what I loved most of all? Noah's filled-to-the-brim, beaming face. He was thrilled just to be playing the game, waving to his crowd of adoring fans.

Love him.

Old Pals

Just look at these tiny Guys! Owen and Turner were destined to be friends from before birth, especially since Ashley and I were due only a day apart! It has been so much fun raising boys together.

Now that we both have kindergartners (!), Ashley and I were trying to come up with some creative ideas for the boys to practice their dreaded handwriting skills. We came up with the idea of them becoming pen pals. Who doesn't love to get mail? And since the boys don't see each other as much as they used to, it's a great way for them to keep in touch. O and Turner were both very excited to get started.

Owie wrote the first letter. Since he was concentrating mainly on letter formation, I just let him spell everything phonetically. I think next time, we'll work on spelling too. We want to make sure Turner can read what O is trying to say! I think O's letter is so sweet, though.

"Dear Turner,

I like you. Do not forget about this letter. I made money in school. I liked it. Owen."

He included some of the money we made and a stick of fruit stripe gum.

He can not wait to get a letter back.

This is going to be great!

Chef Jeremy

My husband could seriously be employed by some up-scale restaurant, like Taco Cabana or, dare I even hope, Taco Bueno. Check out these Nachos Grande he whipped up for dinner!