Good quality family time!

Maren:
This last week has been lots and lots of fun with all kinds of special things going on.  We celebrated Father's Day on Sunday and had a really nice barbeque for daddy.  Mommy and I dressed up in nice summer dresses for him and put flowers in our hair.  It was a nice relaxing day making daddy feel super special.
I also got to go visit my good buddy Jace at his house.  In between fighting (we duked it out pretty good a couple of times) we had lots of fun playing.  I tried on his firefighter costume and we ran a few calls and we also played out in the yard a lot.  Baby Bella got a new water table for her birthday and Jace and I tried soaking our feet in it!  It wasn't easy but we had fun trying! 
Then on Friday we headed over to the coast for a few days.  It was really getting hot at home (104 degrees +) so it was nice to be at the beach.  Once again we had two perfect days... not to hot, just a bit overcast, and absolutely NO wind!  We had lots and lots of fun playing in the water, roasting hot dogs over the fire, and I helped build a really big sand castle.  Mommy and daddy forgot just about everything but me and baby brother (no kite, no sand toys) but we had a great time anyway!

Maddox: (21 weeks)
I just keep getting cuter and cuter every day!  I am making lots of new noises with my voice... mommy's favorite is when I growl at her!  I seem to do that when I am super sleepy and she just eats it up! 
We took another nice trip to the beach this weekend and I really enjoyed myself.  I really liked watching sissy play in the water and the sand... I can't wait to do it with her someday!  Every time mommy set me down in the sand I would grab handfuls to try and put in my mouth so that didn't last very long.  I didn't sleep very well while we were there though so mommy and daddy came home a bit more tired than they left.  My poor sleeping habits carried over to home and then a few days later my first tooth popped through and mommy figured it all out.  The day after the first tooth I got a second one and since they have made their appearance I am back to sleeping like a champ!

Poor mommy!

Maren:
This week has been really hectic for mommy.  Daddy left for work on Monday morning and he never even came home on Tuesday when he got off!  He left straight from work to go on a river trip with a bunch of friends and was gone until Friday.  Then, when he got home he had to go straight back to work Saturday morning.  Wow! 
We made it through the week just fine though.... Mommy had meals already made in the freezer and she even took the crock pot to work with her one day!  I thought it was really funny because when she picked us up from school the car smelled like food.  I asked "why are we having dinner in the car?" and was confused about why we had to wait until we got home to have it! 
At the end of her work week mommy spent the days just relaxing and playing with me and baby brother.  She painted my toenails again and this time I got a really pretty flower with a sparkly rhinestone!  It was really hard for me to sit still while she painted it and even harder to hold still long enough for it to dry.  Mommy sat me on her lap and we sang songs to pass the time.
I also got to go over to my good friend Jace's house for a visit.  They have a new play structure in their yard and we had a great time playing on it! 

Maddox: (20 weeks)
A busy week for mommy means I have had to be a school a lot.  Luckily I am a happy baby and everyone there loves me.  
I am sitting up better in the Bumbo now (I used to just slump over and then spit up all over myself) and so I keep mommy company in the kitchen while she cooks.  I like to chew on anything she gives me but so far my favorite is the rubber spatula just like my sissy used to do!  My mommy thinks I must be trying to get a tooth in... it should be soon!

Too much sharing!

Maren: 

My Nonna and Nonno came back to visit us for a few days this last week because my Nonna had to have her knee checked.  Unfortunately they showed up at the tail end of our sickness and we shared our germs with them.  The both got super sick and ended up spending a few days in bed which was a big bummer.  I still got to spend some good time with them though since I already had the cold.  We don't get to be with Nonno on Father's Day so I made him a special present and gave it to him a bit early. 

I LOVE having my fingers and toes painted and mommy has been doing really nice designs for me.  This last weekend she gave herself a pedicure and I got one too!  I really liked soaking my feet in the warm water and decided it was a good idea to sit all the way down inside the little tub!

After my Nonna and Nonno left my mommy was really worried about all of the sick germs in our house so she spend a frantic morning cleaning.  Somehow she and baby brother still haven't gotten the yucky bug and we are all hoping that they will stay well.  There is lots of hand washing going on in our house and tons of Lysol spray being used!  Yuck!  I was a really big helper while mommy cleaned and helped entertain my brother by singing him songs and playing with him.  We are such good buddies and he smiles at me every time I am around. 

I love my Nonno!

Pedicures with mommy!

Maddox: 

Nonna and Nonno came back for a visit this week but unfortunately I didn't get to spend a lot of time with them.  My mommy has been hogging me all to herself and not letting people hold me because she is super afraid that I will get the same yucky bug that sissy and daddy had.  Doesn't seem like it would be a bunch of fun so I agree!  We are pretty lucky that neither of us has had it yet and hopefully we won't catch it still. 

Mommy has been making me lots of new foods and I seem to be getting the hang of eating.  So far I have been willing to try just about anything she gives me and will sometimes even grab her hand to stuff the food in my own mouth! 

What I am really good at now is finding my toes!  My little legs swing right up in my face and I love to watch my feet wiggle around!  Then, I stick my foot right in my mouth and growl at it! 

Look at my toes!

Back to school blues

Maren:

This last week daddy and mommy both had to work after having lots of time home with us. I have to admit that I have gotten really used to being home all the time, but I was really excited to go back to school and see my friends. I think I was the most excited to see one I my teachers Miss Amy! She is super special to me and I couldn't wait to see her again. 

After my first few days at school my good buddy Jace came over to play while our mommies did meal prep and made strawberry jam. It was super hot outside and we wanted to play in the pool but Jace forgot to bring a swim suit. I was happy to share one of mine... Even more happy that Jace picked out the matching pieces to my suit! Our mommies thought he was very cute in the bikini top he picked out. 

Unfortunately though I was only at school for two days the first week back I still ended up with a bad tummy bug. On Sunday after a fun barbeque at some friends house I came down with a fever of 102 and started vomiting. Mommy sat by my bed and held a bowl for me for most of the night and then daddy took over for her so she could take care of baby brother. I felt so awful and my daddy felt really bad for me so be crawled in bed to snuggle with me. I thought that was so nice of him that I shared my cold and he got sick about two days later.  One benefit of being really sick was mommy made me a bed on the couch and let me watch a lot of movies! Plus I got lots of snuggle and story time AND I got to take a nap in mommies bed!

Maddox: 

Mommy dropped me off at a new place this week and left me with a bunch of ladies I didn't know. For some reason they were all excited to meet me and spent lots of time fawning over me but my mommy left in tears! Such a weird thing! I adapted pretty well to being there and was a pretty happy boy as usual. My only problem is sleeping... It is absolutely impossible to do with all of those babies screaming and carrying on! So, I come home pretty wiped out.  Every once in a while I get to go on a fun ride in a little buggy and lots of people stop to say hello when I do. 

My sissy and daddy got really sick this last week too but somehow I got lucky and didn't get it. My mommy was really worried that I would so she was really protective and at one point wouldn't even let my daddy hold me!! There was a lot of hand washin going on in our house that's for sure! 

A birthday celebration and new foods!

Maren:

This was officially our last week home with daddy before maternity/paternity leave time ends. We had a great week and capped it off with a busy weekend. 

Mommy took baby brother and I with her to a work event, the annual "Dog Walk", a fund raiser for Dogs for the Deaf and as usual, I had a great time. I met a new friend, Zach, and we had a lot of fun playing with Miss Ashley. I got to walk around to all of the different vendors and get bags full of goodies for our pets. One of the places was doing face painting.... I was too scared to have them put it on my face but I did let them paint my arm like a tattoo. 

After the dog walk and a quick nap we went over to the Trautz' house to help Baby Bella celebrate her very first birthday. She was absolutely adorable! We had a pic-nic on their front lawn and then watched Bella devour her cake. Boy, did she make a mess!! 

This weekend my mommy also officially finished my room (all except for new wall decorations)! My room was transformed from a little babies nursery into a bright and shiney big girl room! And the best thing... It's orange! Just like I wanted!! My mommy made me a brand new quilt and some curtains to go with my pretty orange wall. I absolutely love it and keep telling her thank you..."for making my room so beautiful!" 

Maddox: 

Mommy took sissy and I to a big work event this weekend and I got to meet all of the people she works with. They thought I was adorable of course! All of the commotion quickly wore me out and it wasn't long before I was sacked out in my mommies arms! 

My biggest excitement this week was when mommy gave me a taste of solid food! She gave me a chunk of frozen pear to chew on while she was cooking dinner and I really liked it!  Unfortunately I had a hard time coordinating my hands well and got pretty frustrated that the thing wouldn't stay in my mouth but when it did... Boy! Did I enjoy it!!