A confession

I must confess before having children when I would hear stories of kids falling off beds I would judge parents pretty harshly thinking aren't you watching your kids?  Well once again I have been humbled as a parent since both of our children fell off our bed this week.  Both times Shawn and I were there and they still fell off.  Marin was first she crawled right off the side and when I called Shawn's name because he was closer all I could see where her feet.  She was fine a bit startled but no blood.  Symeon on the other hand was jumping on the bed and was getting a bit wild.  He jumped a bit to high and bounced his head off the wall and landed on the floor.  When I went over to him he had a nice mark on his forehead but he seemed to be fine and he wanted back up on the bed.  I laid him down on the bed to put a diaper on him and when he sat up there was blood on the sheets.  He hit the back of his head on the metal bed frame and we were all lucky it was just a surface wound.  No stitches yet which is good for our little wild man. 

The right man for me

There are so many reasons why Shawn is the right man for me and this past week I was reminded on multiple occasions that God has blessed me with an amazing husband who is my perfect match. 

I put Symeon to bed the other night and Marin was still awake hanging out with her Dad.  When I came out of his room I found Shawn dancing around the living room listening to a song by Paul Simon about how much Daddy's love their little girls.  She was glowing, receiving all of his attention and I thought she will pick a good man to love someday because she has such a good example of a man who already loves and adores her.  On her wedding day when Shawn is dancing with his baby girl I hope and pray I remember this moment when she was 8 months old. 

The other night we went to watch Shawn play hockey and when he was done he takes Symeon to the locker room with him which is very exciting.  Shawn was skating away looking so huge in all his equipment holding Symeon's tiny hand looking down talking to him and Symeon was looking up with all the admiration in the world for his Dad.  I though to myself this is good stuff, life is good, and Symeon you are looking up to an amazing man one who will show you what it means to live faithfully into who God has created you to be.  One who will show you how to be a son, a husband, and a father.  God may Symeon always look up to his father and absorb the lessons Shawn has to teach in his gentle loving ways. 

I have had a head cold so since I am up and down so much and uncomfortable I have been sleeping on the couch.  This morning when I went into our room I found Marin asleep on her Daddy's chest.  She looked so peaceful and he looked so content.

For my birthday this year Shawn gave me a card that described our relationship perfectly.  He wrote me this nice message that affirmed who I am as a person.  What I loved is that he gave me the exact same birthday card last year.  I wasn't sure at first but it seemed familiar and then I found last year's which I had kept since it touched me so deeply.  I told him and we laughed and then I realized out of all of the thousands of birthday cards available he bought me the same one, the one that fit me perfectly and I realized this is a man who knows me.  He knows all the stuff no one else knows about me and he loves me and for that I am so grateful.

Shawn you are the right man for me!!

Garbage

Marin is obsessed with the garbage can.  Here she is pulling stuff out and peering in to see what else she can fling.  She is up on her tip toes which puts her mouth right at the level of the trash can which is so gross but I have decided all of baby life is building immunities so although I pulled her off about 10 times this day I figured with each pass her immune system is getting stronger and stronger. 

Snack time

Marin will not miss out on a snack time even if she just ate.  She wants to do anything Symeon is doing so this is what snack time often looks like around here. 

 

 Always side by side 

 

Usually the same snack which can be difficult and often means cutting Marin's into smaller pieces.  Here they are enjoying one of their favorites, blueberries.  They both love fruit as much as their parents.   

Saturday Morning Chats

On some Saturday mornings you can find out kids chatting with their cousins, Sam and Maya, in Atlanta.  Here they are this past Saturday showing each other their animals.  It is super cute to see them all interact.  This morning it crossed my mind that this is normal to them to talk to their cousins while seeing them playing in their room in Atlanta.  I felt a bit old when I remembered getting a phone in my room for the first time and it had a cord on it but if I really pulled it I could sit on my bed and talk to my friends but at least it was push button not a rotary so that made me feel a little better.   

So independent

Symeon is getting more independent everyday.  Today he put on his own shoes. 

Lady Gaga and Sunday School?

If you don't know who I am talking about I don't believe you are missing much.  She is a singer that I am not to fond of and really the only reason I even know who she is is because Shawn buys and sells tickets for her show.  Since he brokers some tickets from her shows he receives some free stuff from "her" so in the mail there was a picture of her on these silly little stars.  Symeon found one and showed it to me and off the cuff I said yah that is Lady Gaga she is silly.  As soon as I said it I regretted it because he looked at me and said Gaga and laughed and I knew he was an instant fan.  Gaga has become one of his favorites.  He picked her out in one of Shawn's Rolling Stones magazines and her picture was up on the computer the other day and Symeon yelled out Gaga.  He will carry the star around saying Gaga.  Shawn encourages him since Laday Gaga annoys me.  I like to think it has to do with the funny costumes she wears more than anything else.  I feel okay about Gaga being one of his favorite words because his other favorite is Sunday School so I think that trumps Lady Gaga.

 

Toes

Marin has a thing for toes that I really hope she outgrows.  I hate feet so this really grosses me out. 

 

A wild outfit

This is one of Symeon's better outfit choices. 

He basically wore the Eagles apron and the mittens my Mom made him most of the day.  I did get him to take the mittens off to eat lunch which was helpful.     

8 months old

Marin turned 8 months old on January 16th.  She had a busy month cutting two teeth, learning to say Da Da, standing on her own, pulling herself up on everything, and finally taking two steps.  She eats very little baby food that is pureed because she hates to be fed unless it is Symeon giving her the food.  She eats almost everything we eat and she loves it.  She has begun to scream at the top of her lungs just to hear what it sounds like.  She is in love with Symeon's stuffed Curious George monkey that Austin and Clover bought.  She has begun sleeping with it and it is so cute to go in her room and see her snuggling George.  She wakes us up in the morning by "talking" to George.

She has also begun going to other people willingly and will even allow me to leave the room while she is being held.  We were able to leave her with a babysitter for the first time and she did great.  I think having Symeon with her helps quite a bit.  Marin continues to worship her brother and she follows him everywhere.  They play hide-and-seek together although I don't think Marin knows she is playing.  Every month they get cuter and cuter with one another it is such a blessing to see them interact.  Marin continues to be such a happy baby who laughs easily and smiles at everyone.  She is such a blessing to our family. This month she had pulled over the garbage on many occasions, she pulled an entire pan of raw chicken in a marinade out of the fridge, when she is crawling across the floor anything in her way gets chucked behind her nothing impedes her progress and I mean nothing.

Here are a few pictures of some of the "trouble" she gets into on a regular basis these days.

 

She loves Shawn's computer especially if he is working on it

Enjoying a book with her brother

Let her know if you need any cleaning done

Here is the infamous picture we were taking when she took her first steps

She pulled these burrito shells off the table and I found her sitting on the floor eating them 

 

Busted Sissy Girl

A sign

One day last week I came home from work and it seemed pretty clear that it had been a rough kid day for Shawn.  Marin gave away the secret. 

 

but as any stay at home parent knows on a hard day it is a victory if they have on any pants even if they were inside out

Vacuum Cleaners

A year long volunteer where we live vacuums the hall outside our apartment every morning and no matter what Symeon is doing when he hears that vacuum in the hallway he runs to get our small vacuum and heads out to the  hall to be with his friend.  One morning last week we captured the moment of them together since Tessa will be leaving at the end of February to return to Canada we wanted to remember this dear woman in Symeon's life.

You can see how happy this makes him and I think Tessa enjoys it just as much as him.  

 

When Symeon is sleeping

Marin likes to take full advantage of things that are off limits to her when he is awake.  She had such a good time sitting in his rocking chair and she really had the thing moving.  Her little smile reveals the sweet satisfaction. 

Giving their Dad a few tips

Retro Symeon

This sweater was Shawn's when he was a kid.  His Mom had some old clothes in her attic that she gave us at Christmas time.  He looked so cute.  Thanks Mom Mom for keeping it all these years it is so fun to have for Symeon. 

Birthday Blessings

Yesterday was a monumental birthday for me since I turned 35.  I thought it would feel different but really the only thought I had all day was how blessed I am to have had so many wonderful years of life.  My life is full of blessings and yesterday I was so keenly aware of them which seems like the best birthday present I could receive.  Of course when I told my brother about these thoughts he told me that is just something you tell yourself when you are old.  Thanks Mike you can always count on a big brother to give it to you straight. Thank you all for sending me so much love in a variety of ways. 

My dear husband and children bought me a great gift this year a new pillow.  I know you might be thinking what kind of present is that  but it was exactly what I wanted.  I have been on the quest for a very special pillow and over the past year I have been upgrading slowly.  So for my birthday I received THE PILLOW of all PILLOWS a firm support goose down pillow from LL BEAN and I love it.  I kept teasing Shawn that when it came in the mail it would be like sleeping on a cloud and it is pretty close.   

 

 

Knives

Symeon is obsessed with the knife block on our counter.  If we are using a knife to cut up something he will say MaMa and point to the knife and then to the knife block and basically he wants you to put it away immediately without using it or washing it.  I think today I realized he has a problem when he brought me the butter knife from his looking cooking set and insisted I put it in the knife block. 

And she walks

I have hesitated to post about this milestone in Marin's life first because I am still in denial and second because I don't want to be one of those parents that acts like because their kids does something early it must be because of their amazing parenting style.  But believe me I am under no misconception that my "amazing parenting" has anything to do with Marin taking her first steps.  Shawn and I have not been practicing with her because she is a baby and we are happy having her that way but she is quite determined and it seems her main goal in life right now is to keep up with her brother so walking seems logical I guess. 

One day after Marin turned 8 months old she took two steps out of the blue.  Shawn was trying to get a picture of her standing in the middle of the room on her own because she looks so cute.  We were both watching her and the next thing we knew she took two steps.  We both looked at each other and after the shock wore off we decided it didn't count that some sort of fluke took over her body for a brief moment.  That was about a week ago and since then she has begun to hone her skills.  She took two more steps this weekend and now she will take several steps in a row then she will stop remain standing and take a couple more.  It is silly to see because she is just so small.  Shawn and I have both pleaded with her to remain a crawling baby a little longer but it seems our pleas have fallen on deaf ears. 

One thing that does not surprise us is that if you prop her up and try to get her to walk she won't but if you leave her alone she will do it when she wants so getting her on video is pretty difficult but we will keep trying. 

Right now while I am posting about her walking she walked from a chair to her little walker she pushes around.  She will walk all over the apartment with the walker and at the rate she is going she might be walking everywhere without it sooner than we would like.

 

Sesame Street Live

We took Symeon and Marin to see Sesame Street Live for Christmas and they both loved it.  Symeon was awe struck and Marin was more engaged than we could have guessed.  Overall it was tons of fun for the family. 

Marin engrossed in Elmo

One dumb thing they did was sell these big Elmo balloon heads during the intermission and due to a miscommunication between Shawn and I Symeon ended up with one.  Then when the show began they asked everyone to put them under their seats.  Well kids everywhere were upset that Elmo had to be stuffed under the seats and luckily the seat next to us was open so Elmo "sat" there for the rest of the show.

  At the end of show they shot tons of confetti out of canons which showered the audience.  Symeon loved it he is a bit obsessed with confetti since we read a Sesame Street book about the letter "J" and in it Zoe and Elmo play jests and jokes that involve confetti.  We had great seats in the second row so confetti was all over us. 

A Little Brother Sister Love

Symeon has wanted to feed Marin these days and she loves it.  They both laugh and usually she gets a bite and then he gives himself a bite.  The other day I laughed because he gave her a bite of peas and brown rice and then he took one and he wasn't thrilled but since Sissy was eating it he was going to as well. 

 

I love that his mouth is open

A very happy baby sister

Symeon loves to have Marin join him in  most things and I would like to say that all of their interactions with each other end in loving moments of hugs and kisses but ...

Starts good

Everyone is still smiling

And it's over

Mommy's Little Baker

Symeon loves to bake with me.  Here he is sporting "his" Eagles apron which use to be his Dad's and licking a beater, a special treat for us all really.  Since Marin can't lick a beater yet I indulged with the other one. 

Managed Chaos or not so managed most days...

In general I am very neat and love a clean house but I have had to accept that at times our home looks like two small children live here and that they know how to have a good time.  Every night before bed we get all cleaned up but in general as one of my friends who came over said it looks like Romper Room in here and I guess it does.  I try to see all the blessings in this chaos one is that we have two healthy children that can play and make a mess, second we have a home, and third we are blessed beyond belief.  On my enlightened deep thinking days I see the beauty in this on my not so great days, when living in a small place gets to me, I want to throw it all out the window because for the 100th time a triangle shaped block laying on the floor that I step on has brought me to my knees in tears. 

Eagles

Even though the Eagles let us down this year we continue to support our team.  This outfit is a hand-me-down  from Symeon.

Oh so sick

One reason my Christmas posts were so late was that Marin was really sick after Christmas.  She had a really nasty cold that turned into a sinus infection.  Her face was so swollen and her sinuses were so full snot was coming out of her eyes.  I thought she had pink eye because there was so much mucus I guess if snot does not drain out their noses it has to come out somewhere.  It was so gross and she was so sad.  She is much better now and she was surprisingly content for as sick as she was. She also gave it to Symeon so we spent New Year's Eve with two really sick children.  I welcomed the New Year rocking one of my sick babies.

Carrot Anyone?

Whatever Symeon has Marin must also have, large Carrots included

Christmas - Finally

We had a wonderful Christmas holiday.  It started out in PA at our  house then we went to CT the Monday before Christmas and finally late on Christmas Eve we drove back to PA to Shawn's family's house.  It was a fun time to spend with family and friends enjoying the season.  The kids did really well traveling and sleeping which always makes the trip that much more fun.  We are truly blessed to get together with our immediate families and both of our extended families on a regular basis and especially at Christmas.  We were sad to say good-bye to our loved ones and pack away the tree for another year especially Symeon who loved the Christmas tree and still wonders where it went everyone once in awhile.

I think total they opened gifts 5 different times and I am pretty sure Symeon thinks every morning he wakes up there is a chance for additional presents. I had a hard time picking which pictures to use since we have so many but I hope the ones I chose show what a blessed Christmas we experienced this year. 

Christmas at our home in PA

At 8:40 we were all still waiting for Symeon to get up.  I guess he didn't realize it was Christmas morning.

About the time he woke up Marin was ready to go back to bed so we opened a few and then she slept while we played with Symeon's new toys.  It actually worked out really well.

 

 Marin loved this Elmo book we bought for Symeon

 

 Symeon loved this drum we bought for Marin

 

 Symeon's holy grail of gifts this Christmas a $10 plastic shopping cart.  We thought he would like it but we had no idea how much he would love it.  He plays with it so much I am glad we stood in line twice at Toys R Us to get it. 

 

Here he is on Christmas morning walking the halls with the cart.  During the next week he wanted the shopping cart to go everywhere with him.  We took it to the hair salon and the ladies loved it, we took it in the car wherever we went, he wanted it on the table while he ate but I drew the line, and finally at night when we were reading books before bed he wanted it in the chair with him and I was displaced to the floor to read.  Although we have stopped taking it everywhere with us he continues to use it everyday to pick up the mail, go to the kitchen to pick up eggs and milk, and to visit his friends around Paxton who love to put things in his cart.  He often comes back to our apartment with lots of loot from his walks around the building.

Christmas in CT

 Papaw and Austin

  

Austin with his butt bank and Clover with her name necklace

 

My Dad with a picture of his girls Angel and Sweet Thing

 

Symeon and Marin both loved the blocks their cousin's picked out

 

 

 My Dad both kids piggy banks and my mom puts their names on them.  It is a tradition we all have one so I was so happy that they both received one this year.  Marin was so cute in her Santa hat which lasted all of 10 seconds but we did manage to get a picture. 

 

Marin sporting the hat my Mom made her.  Symeon had a green one which they both wear all the time.

 

Our family picture in front of my Oma's tree.  I have a picture in front of this tree every since I was a baby.  It is fun to see how life has changed over all these years.  In the last several years I have gone from married to a family of four I am truly blessed.   

 

 

 My Oma and Marin helping her open her gift

 

My handsome cousin James and my beautiful Sister-in-law Traci

 

My wonderful cousin Joel and his lovely girlfriend Ashley

 

My family

 

 Austin - 9, Clover - 8, Symeon - 22 months, Marin 7 months

We like to have our kiddos close together in our family

 

All  the cousins, spouses, and kids

Across the back- my husband Shawn, my cousin Jesse, my cousin Joel, my cousin Travis, my cousin James,

my sister-in-law Traci in the purple, Marin and I in the middle, Austin- my brothers son, Clover- my brothers daughter, Symeon in the front my son, my brother Michael kneeling

 

 Travis with Marin

The ladies

me, my Mom, Traci, and Marin

Christmas in Telford

 

 Maya 10 months, Sam 2 1/2

Shawn and his Nana,  Nana and Marin, 3 generations

 

Managed Chaos

 

 These two are the best of buddies with matching Phillies hats and Flyers hockey sticks

 

Admiring the gift they gave Mom Mom which of course would be pictures of them

 

Outside in the snow.  Please don't fall over Symeon you won't be able to get up!

 

One of many quiet and relaxing meals with 4 kids under 2 needing to eat.  We decided there was always someone who was sleeping, eating, or just in a bad mood.  

 

 Symeon and Sam baking cookies with Mom Mom

 

Pop Pop and Marin, by this point Marin was done which you can read all over her face.  I wonder where she gets that from?  

 

 At the Delp family Christmas the kids and I spent quite a bit of time riding around in this make shift cart we found, singing songs, and generally entertaining ourselves.

I have finally finished my post for Christmas 09 and although it took me awhile it was nice to go through all the pictures we took and count our blessings once again.  There are so many people in the world who on a daily basis are lonely and desire to have a place called home where they are treasured and loved and as I finish this post I realize just how many places our family has to call home.  Being "home" was the best part of Christmas. 

Ok so a side note that keeps coming to my mind as I finish this post somewhere inside my Sunday school days keeping coming back to me and I don't think I mentioned the birth of Jesus quite enough in this Christmas post.  I asked Shawn about it and he laughed and said it was fine.  So to ease my Sunday school guilt issues here it is - "Jesus is the Reason for the Season"