Look at me, Joey! Joey, look at me!

Melanie has had some crazy eating habits lately.  She seems to be eating the same at daycare, but a few nights this week, she has not wanted dinner.  Fruit snacks as soon as she walks in the door - check.  Some real fruit - check.  But nothing much past that.  Wednesday night Jeff even "offered" her to go to bed if she didn't eat her dinner, and I ended up carrying her upstairs and putting her pajamas on her.  But then she got to come back downstairs.  Finally, Thursday, after she turned down chicken nuggets and a hotdog, Jeff made her the ultimate offer she couldn't refuse.  He told her that she couldn't have fruit snacks ever again unless she ate her dinner.  We asked her to show Joey how to eat like a big kid.  Next thing we knew, she had eaten four nuggets and a hotdog.  All while saying "Look at me, Joey!  Joey, look at me!"  :)

Ever since my college girlfriends were in town and Janie Boschert was "reading" Mel's Bible, Melanie has been obsessed with reading her Bible.  One morning before school, she was reading to Joey.  I told her to show Joey what Baby Jesus looked like.  She pointed to a picture of Him and said "Look, Joey, Baby Jeethuth."  Then she proceeded to point out Baby Jeethuth's mommy and daddy.  Smart girl; learned it all at daycare!
Mel talks a LOT about her "baby broda" and tells the other kids at school to "Get away!" when they try to see him in his carseat at the end of the day. She continues to fawn all over him, telling him she loves him, kissing him, asking him how his day was, etc.  This will one day change, so I'm trying to drink it up while I can :)


We've had a pretty uneventful week since it's been so darn HOT outside.  Tonight Jeff is out with the guys, and so I'm home with the kiddos.  By 8:30, I had them both fed, bathed, pajama'd and asleep.  I counted that as a major success; particularly because Melanie also helped me with chores around the house, like getting the beds ready for her Uncle Randy & Pawpaw.  She was so proud of herself.

Lake House

We spent a fun 24 hours in Fremont, Indiana this weekend at a lake house that Randy, Cory, Ron & Diane rented for the week.  Unfortunately we were unable to join them for the whole week, since I'm just returning from my maternity leave.  But it was the perfect location, a three-hour drive from Chicago, Lake Orion, and Indy.  The house was big enough to sleep us all very comfortably, and the pier was directly off the back deck.  Mel got to "swim," go down the water wee, "fish," and spend time with her cousins, aunt and uncle, and Grandma and Paw-Paw.  She did a great job of keeping up and on good behavior!  As for Joey, he enjoyed sleeping and eating, just like usual :)  I explained to Charlie that he is going to have to teach Joey all kinds of things, being his only boy cousin.  Charlie told me that the only things he could teach him were diving and swimming underwater.  Well, that's a start!

Jeff was in charge of dinner Saturday night. He wasn't very pleased with the outcome, but the preparation made for a nice picture.

As you can see, Joey had a blast.  He did a great job sleeping; he's now taking just one bottle overnight, and last night's was at 4:15am, which is promising.  Jeff slept with him in one room and I slept with Mel in another, which worked out well.

Melanie comes up with the funniest things.  When I took her down the slide (which she calls a "wee"), I was slightly terrified of how rickety the ladder was.  I had to set her on the top of the slide, then climb up by her.  I was convinced she was going to fall off in the meantime, and Randy was shouting directions to me.  We managed to go down twice.  Later, Mel said "The wee was a little scary, Mommy."

Happy Birthday Miss Molly!

After the chaos of the weekend, we were thrilled to celebrate Molly's SECOND birthday Sunday evening at my parents' house.  The girls are best of friends, and we love that they can spend so much time together as we watch them grow.  Molly is a sweetheart, and we wish her a very HAPPY second birthday!

15 years of friendship!

Kate, Gretchen and I all pledged the same sorority our freshman year in college - we were the only three "legacies" in our pledge class, and we bonded quickly.  Then, through three separate connections, we all befriended Shelly as our lifelong friend.  We've all been in each other's weddings and seen each other through 7 combined kiddos.  Hard to believe it's been 15 years!  We are scattered now - Gretchen in Chicago, Kate in St. Louis, and Shelly & me in Indiana - but we remain great friends, and hopefully always will be!

Future Boilermakers!

Our house was full of much love & laughter last weekend when my great college friends Kate, Gretchen and Shelly visited.  Between the four of us, we have two 5-year-olds, a 4-year-old, a 3-year-old, a 2-year-old, and the two baby boys. In the top picture, we wanted to show all of the girls' coordinating dresses, but Abby would not comply.  I love the middle picture, of all the girls bathed & ready for bed and unwinding in front of some cartoons.  The bottom picture shows one of the many reasons Gretchen & I are friends (and that our husbands get along so well).

The girls had such a great time in the backyard all day - we had a mini (very mini)-pool set up, the water table, a bounce house, and throughout the day they managed to drag nearly every toy from the playroom to the backyard.  Sunday we went to the Zionsville splash park (just the Boscherts and us).   It was really fun to see Melanie interact with the other girls.  They kept calling her the "baby" - but since she's growing more into playing with rather than next to her friends, it was a great experience for her to hang out with older girls.  She was not clingy or whiney like might have happened last year :) A fun weekend for everyone!

Joey's smiles

I don't know the exact day they started, but Joey's smiles have been coming with more and more frequency over the last month.  He's a pretty happy kid - especially when he's with his grandparents, as he is in these photos :)

Happy Fourth of July!

Melanie and Joey had a great 4th surrounded by their family!  Saturday, they had ALL of their cousins over to play in the backyard.  Charlie, Sammie, Molly and Melanie had a great time with the water table, slide, and baby pool.  Saturday night, Jeff & I split forces - he took Mel to Frankfort and went on to Lafayette to see an old friend, while I took Joey and went to a 3rd of July party at Brandon &; Ali's.  I left early so I could put Melanie to bed - which did not turn out the way I expected.  Apparently sleeping at Gigi Poppy's house is a big novelty, and she didn't go fully to sleep until nearly midnight. 

Sunday morning, my dad &; sister delivered the message at their church, and did a great job.  From there, we all went to Lebanon to see Melanie's first parade.  Well, it was Joey's first parade too, but I doubt he got much from it!  Mel decided the fire trucks had made "enough" noise - she kept telling them to stop.  It was HOT out, so we cut the parade watching a little short, but she still enjoyed it - and the candy she got!  We got to see a lot of family over at Jim &Shirley's (check out the fun bouncy house!), and then we headed to Brenda & Marshall's to see Randy, Cory, Charlie &Sammie.  We watched the fireworks at my parents' house (the kids both slept through them), and then headed back home Monday morning.  I'm sure my parents are enjoying some peace & quiet!