Coming Together

One of the most challenging parts of having Macy, when Jadon was just 20 months old was the fact that we had to put much of his play time with us on hold. Macy required much more care obviously, so Jadon had to grow up a bit more than he would have sans Macy.

Before Macy ate solid foods, she fussed too much to sit on our laps at the table, so one of us usually ate before the other. Then, when we started eating solid food, it was such a mess! It usually took both of us to feed her, and poor Jadon ended up eating by himself.

Lately, we've FINALLY been able to relax a bit more with mealtimes and playtime. Macy is eating more and more adult foods that we also like. What a reward it is to sit as a family and all eat the very same thing! The best part is that she can feed herself nearly 100% of the time (except yogurt or a smoothie). Today for lunch, we had baked Wild Alaskan salmon with mashed cauliflower and sweet potatoes. Macy even fed herself the cauliflower with a spoon :) Can you believe how much she has grown so quickly?!?






For the last 10 months, playtime has been equally challenging. Macy never really was able to enjoy tummy time or time in the Jumpin' Johnny...or the swing, or the exersaucer. Jadon has always been more interested in Macy's toys and activities than his own. Jamie and I have struggled with patience so much with Jadon, since Macy was born. Goodness, do we love him, but goodness, can he be obnoxious and annoying with her! Alas, things are slowly getting easier :)

I don't have pics of a lot of their playtime together, but there is more than just Macy playing with cars. Jadon is starting to mature and is learning not just to annoy Macy, but to entertain her. It seems he enjoys playing WITH her more and more each day, which is so nice. FINALLY! Today, he was reading her a book and trying to teach her the names of things. He got a little frustrated that she wouldn't sit still beside him and pay attention, but his motives were good :)

He has also been known to play peek-a-boo the proper way, by putting the blanket over his own head, instead of torturing poor Macy by nearly smothering her a million times with the blanket. Ahhh, boys...wild little creatures! He also likes to "watch a video with Macy," dance with her (when we're willing to supervise), and give her all of his toys, naming each one-by-one. His favorite thing to do with Macy, by far, is to take a bath. LOVES it, and will cry, if we dare suggust we're going to give Macy a bath by herself.

Despite the fact that Jadon didn't get as much attention from us as he would have, if Macy weren't here, I can't help but be thankful for the blessing of a sibling God has given him. Watching their relationship grow leaves our hearts full everyday. What could be cuter? Oh, yes, another one ;)

Here they are the other night, listening to Daddy read, "If you take a mouse to the movies," before bedtime. Gotta admit, Macy's attention for this lasted about 90 seconds, but it's nice to dream of things to come!

Sketty Faces

It is soooo nice to finally be able to have family mealtimes, where we are all four eating the same thing. Though baby Bleu only has two bottom teeth, just barely halfway through her gums, she really only eats mashed big people food. We've had a few family of four meals the last few weeks, including Wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli and organic mac n'cheese, vegetable soup, and tonight we had spaghetti squash with ground tofu and organic tomato sauce. It t'was sooo yummy and so good for my babies! :)

Jadon has never eaten spaghetti. Crazy, I know, but we have never fed him red meat. He has had spaghetti squash in the past, but apparently he's forgotten about it. He sat down at the table and asked, "Mama, what's dat?" I told him and a few minutes later he said, "I'm gonna try it...(brief pause)...it's yummy!" As you'll clearly see from their orange faces, they both loved it and ate every bite.









Okay, so we may not teach our kids not to talk with their mouths full, but we do teach them about the meaning of Christmas :) I never thought possible, but I swear the days get sweeter and sweeter. I'm going to miss times like these.

Thankful for Family

On Thanksgiving day, my Uncle Chris and Aunt Suzy (my mom's brother and sister) came from WV to visit us for the week. The last time they were here was last Christmas, when I was eight months pregnant with Macy. Needless to say, things have changed quite a bit since then.

Macy cried, when she first met them in the driveway. She is such a Mama's girl right now, and has more fear of strangers than I ever remember Jadon having. She warmed up to them by the end of the first night though. Jadon was napping, when they arrived, but was quick to show his true colors, after about an hour of keeping quiet at the dinner table.

Before they left yesterday, "Unta Chwis" was Jadon's best buddy. He loved playing toys with him at Gramma's house, spent all day Tuesday with him at the playground, followed by one-on-one time with him at the Aquarium. It was nice for Mama and Daddy to have some time by ourselves (well, with a sleeping Macy in the stroller). We hung out at Starbucks, while they were there. That evening, we ordered Sticky Fingers in and had a nice family dinner (minus Gramma who had to go to a conference in Atlanta, Tues. - Fri.).

Aunt Suzy (who refuses to have her picture taken...like her ENTIRE life!) and Uncle Chris stopped by our house on their way out yesterday morning. Neither of them have ever been married or have any kids, and it was clear they have a strong desire to be near my kids, as they grow. Hopefully one day we can all live here in SC. For now, it is so nice of them to travel all this way, in order to build relationships with my kids. I know how much Auntie Em and I loved having them only a few blocks away, when we were little.

***Oh, yes, and also my mom's other brother, Steve, who lives in CA and couldn't make this trip was able to be with us via Skype. After smoking for something like 25 years, he was finally able to quit nearly 3 months ago and has lost 40lbs!!! He looks AWESOME! So proud of you, Uncle Steve! It was so nice to have all of our family together for Thanksgiving (the best we could, at least). I look forward to a day, when we can all fly to a tropical destination to spend a holiday together. Hint, hint. If not, Myrtle Beach will be just fine. :o)

Going outside to meet Uncle Chris & Aunt Suzy

Standing on her own now!

Pretty baby :)

"The Itsy, Bitsy Spider" She does it on cue everytime :)

Gramma's girl...eating whipped cream :P

Jadon's baby...eating the lens cap to my camera haha

Jadon imitating her. "Waaahwaaahwaah." This is his way of telling her she's a cry baby, though I'm fairly certain he whines equally as much. Just lovely, when they do it in unison. Just lovely!

Always the annoying older brother. Poor Macy.

He really does love her. Really.

Playing with "Unta Chwis"

Outside the Aquarium.

Sweet baby Bleu.

Absolutely rotten! Can you tell?

Inside the Aquarium.

Brand New

Sydney Alexis Salamanca, born Sunday, November 15, 2009. She weighed 7lbs., 10 oz (just like Jadon) and was 19 1/4" long. Welcome to the world, sweet angel baby. We love you and cannot wait to meet you :) Congratulations Allen & Lily! Welcome to the most awesome club ever. God is so good!

"Go Weesa's House"

Every other day we get the request to "Go Weesa's house. See Grandtaw. See Enninie. See Ziggy." We are happy to oblige because Gramma's development is much quieter and less busy than ours is, and she lives on a cul-de-sac, as opposed to our house, which is on the main road in our development. It is nice to take the kids there, where they can essentially have the entire street to themselves without the worry of any cars coming.

Macy is such a big girl now. Just look at her in Jadon's Step 2 car! She looks so proud of herself, when we put her in it, and she immediately grabs hold of the steering wheel like she is actually driving. Adorable! Gramma was working out of town this day, so we sent her these pics from my phone, so the quality isn't the best, but Macy's smile certainly is :)

Jadon LOVES riding his bikes at Gramma and Grandpa's too. We took his "ATTV" there this weekend, and he had a blast running it up and down the street.

He had to make a detour, once he saw this rock. He was obsessed with it. Shhh...don't tell him, but the next time we go there, Mama's gonna take some paint, so we can decorate it :)

When did he get so tall??? Oh the sadness :(

Just before this pic was taken, Jadon was nearly in tears begging, "Grandtaw, letsa drive truck!" As soon as Grandpa stood up from the dinner table and said, "C'mon let's go," his face lit up and he ran for the door, straight outside to the truck, and stood beside the door waiting for Grandpa...the anticipation of getting in nearly killed him!

Big guy ;)

"Bye, Mama. See you later!"

The lack of quantity of relatives and family we have here is easily made up for in quality. We love you, Weesa and Grandtaw :)