hello from the heinz family

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!

That is the only word that I can use to describe the way the four of us have felt these past two days.  We are sick.  Blake diagnosed Willow with an upper respiratory infection, and shortly after, Noah began coughing too.  Willow stayed home with Daddy yesterday and today all four of us camped out at home, watching movies on the couch all day.  Ugh.  It is not fun when you can’t make your children instantly feel better, and even less fun when you feel yucky too.

Warning:  sick babies ahead.

Friday:  A much needed movie night with popcorn and mint ice cream.  Watching Winnie the Pooh on a bed on the floor.  Staying up far past our [Willow's] bedtime.

Saturday:  Sleeping in.  Pajamas till noon.  Good workouts for Mommy and Daddy.  Grocery stores.  Skyping with Papa Choo Choo, Grandma Gail, Rachael, Jake and new baby Sam.  An attempt at potty time.

Sunday:  French Toast for breakfast.  Lots of happy smiles and giggles from Noah.  A Build a Bear birthday party for Willow.  Football.

That’s right.  My little guy is already three months old!  These past few months have gone by so fast, and I can’t believe how easy it was to adjust to two babies.  Noah is now 12.5 pounds and has been to the doctor’s more times in three months than Willow has in two years!  He smiles and giggles all the time, and we are so lucky that our colicky baby turned out to be such a happy one!  He loves his Daddy, and anytime Blake walks by, Noah strains to look for him.  Willow is still super helpful, and I know she is counting down the days until he can be mobile and play with her.  He is already doing so much for a three month old, I really hope that doesn’t happen soon!

And because she is pretty cute too:

After a morning at the City Market, workouts, naps, and cooking meals for the week, we enjoyed the outdoors and the beautiful January weather we have been having.  Blake and Willow decided to feed the birds with our leftover bird seed from last spring.  When that wasn’t working, Willow thought of a brilliant idea:  mud!  Needless to say, our girly girl became very dirty and the birds stayed away.  Noah spent most of his time in the swing, sleeping away the rest of the stomach bug he caught.  No more projectile vomiting!  Yah!