hello from the heinz family

I hope Willow always loves Noah this much.  She has started “shushing” Blake and I if we are talking while Noah is sleeping.  She runs up to his room after his naps as soon as she hears him stirring. She wants to be the first one to say good morning.  When we aren’t watching, she takes off his diaper and attempts to change him herself, dumping baby powder all over his rear.  For the most part, Noah grins and takes it.  He is starting to get used to being smothered with all of her “love and affection.”  It makes me excited to know that one day, at only two years apart, they will go through most schools together and can rely on each other through all the scary, awkward, fun, and intense moments of growing up.

My sister is pretty amazing at getting gifts.  She always find things that are perfect for the receiver: one of a kind things that she knows you will not have.  This past Christmas was no exception.  As a stocking stuffer, she purchased Noah a Sherlock Holmes binky.  Yup, that’s right, and Noah looks simply dashing with a handlebar mustache and grin.  Then, as a belated birthday present for myself, she threw in another fun little surprise: a giant toothed binky.  Well, Willow has deemed these silly faces and even though she no longer has a binky, I allowed her the exception of putting one in for a photo opportunity.  Let’s just say the two were acting even more silly than normal with the “silly faces” in their mouths.

I can’t help but sing the lyrics to the song as I type that in for a title.  I love Sundays….and here is why:

1.  Sleeping in.

2.  Not feeling rushed to do anything in the morning.

3.  Wearing PJs till noon.

4.  I get to be at home with my children.

5.  An empty (or nearly empty) gym.

6.  Feeling like I accomplished so much, even when I do little compared to what is done on a normal day.

7.  A day for reflection and giving thanks.

8.  This face:  

9.  This face:  

Okay, so it wasn’t technically a sleepover, but since Noah fell asleep before his friend left….and since they are just infants, we will pretend it was.  Tonight, I babysat for my friend Julie’s son, Austin.  The new parents needed a night out, and I offered to see how well I could manage three instead of two.  Willow was a great helper and wiped butts, retrieved bottles, and threw away dirty diapers.  When the two boys were awake, they just stared at each other.  I think Noah was amazed that there was someone smaller than him in his home.  He cooed and talked to his new little guy friend.

It seems like we were just loading Willow up in the van to go to Minneapolis to meet her new cousin, Sawyer.  Now we have to load up two kids, suitcases, pack n plays, and strollers to go and visit their two cousins in Minneapolis.  On February 3rd, the Cramonds welcomed Samuel Joseph into their lives and Sawyer became a big brother.  Now Noah will have someone very close in age to him to play with and Willow has ANOTHER little boy to drive her nuts!

That last picture was the best one that I took!  Willow couldn’t stop playing with her darn flashlight, Sawyer was in love with his jelly container, and Noah couldn’t stop sneezing.  At least Sam is ready to pose!

This past weekend we visited Blake’s side of the fam in the Twin Cities.  Blake’s sister, Rachael, had this fun idea to take the kids to a place called U Click, a photo studio open to the public with backdrops and props available to do your own photography shoot.  We had one hour and a natural light studio to get as many shots as we could.  It sounds like we could have been very successful, but with a newborn, a 3 month old, and two toddlers, things didn’t go as well as we planned.  Pretty soon our hour turned into four minutes left, and we had to scramble to shoot some pictures of new baby Sam.  Here is what I got:

Willow:

Sawyer:

Noah:

Sam:

The snow is gone, but that is okay, because I think Willow has forgotten.  She is too enraptured by the cupcakes and princess paraphernalia she has received for Valentine’s Day, not to mention the rockin’ new shoes she got from Grandma Gail.  Okay, now what girl wouldn’t want shoes for Valentine’s Day?  What a lucky girl!  Noah was absent from the festivities (Willow opened up his shoes) because he was napping…..but the poor little guy is almost back to feeling 100% better.

Willow looked forward to playing out in the snow all day.  I finally let her once it warmed up a bit, and off she went with her boots, a sled, and some watercolors!  First she enjoyed a few trips in the sled down our backyard hill.  Then, she plopped herself down on the ground to make a few snow angels.  Afterwards, she realized how perfect the snow was for snow balls and snowmen.  Instead of dressing our snowman up with real clothes, I showed her how watercolor paint could work just as well on snow as it could on paper!

I was almost in tears this morning when at 5:00, I was feeding Noah, watching the news and seeing that my school district was one of the few school districts in the Metro area no canceling school today.  Noah was still so congested and all I wanted to do was stay home with him, cuddle, and hopefully help him to feel better.  Around 5:30, my phone buzzed, and my prayers were answered!  One more day to spend home with my children.  This is what our morning looked like:

We are feeling better.  We aren’t 100% yet, but the upswing was apparent with more smiles, more giggles, and more appetite today.  Willow helped me make kuchen and banana bread, and downed muffins all day long.  Noah slightly increased formula amount from the 2 ounces he was drinking when he was congested to almost 4 ounces.  He is still sleeping a lot more than normal during the day, and according to the doctor, that is okay.  We are waking him up to eat.  Poor little guy.

It is finally COLD here in Kansas City, and we spent most of the day indoors except for a trip to Home Depot.  Tomorrow it is finally supposed to snow!  Willow and I can hardly contain our excitement.  We might finally be able to make a real snow angel this winter!