Uncle Andy and Aunt Beth's Wedding!

We returned home on Labor Day from an amazing weekend in Illinois where we celebrated Uncle Andy and Aunt Beth's wedding.  We were so happy to be part of their special day!

This was Joergen's very first flight, and Liam's first time with his own seat.  They were both all-star little travelers.

We flew into Midway and stopped at the old "Welcome to Chicago" signs where we took Liam's picture after his first flight over 2 years ago.  He's changed a little since then!

Same car seat, different baby.  Welcome to Chi-Town, Joergen!

The wedding rehearsal was on Saturday morning.  Liam was SO excited and honored to have a part in Uncle Andy's wedding, and for several days leading up to the trip, he would exclaim, "Uncle Andy's wedding NOW!!!"  Well buddy, it's finally here!  And that he got a present for getting to be in the wedding?  Pure icing on the cake :)

Uncle Andy and Aunt Beth got Liam a very cool ND pillow, which he just loves.  And speaking of pillows, here he is in the doorway, getting ready to practice his very important little job:

Now how cool is that pillow?!  This was Liam's ring-bearer pillow that he carried down the aisle, and is now Joergen's special pillow:

Liam and his flower girl counterpart, Aunt Beth's niece Isabella, walking down the aisle to Uncle Andy and Aidan.  They were beyond cute-- and I was just so proud of Liam being such a big boy!

Meanwhile, bridesmaid Toni got a snuggle and a kiss from little Joergen:

So after a perfect rehearsal and a nice lunch, everyone went their separate ways to get ready.  Liam was too excited to nap (grrrrrreat), so we all got together to watch the ND game and wait until wedding time.  Lo and behold, right before the wedding was to start, a severe thunderstorm rolled through Peoria, lightening struck the golf course, a power line went down, and zap! NO POWER.  No lights, no microphones, no AC... we were heartbroken for Andy and Beth!  But it was going to take a lot more than loss of power to keep those two from their perfect day!  So by the last remaining minutes of daylight along with every candle in the place lit, the wedding was on.  And in case you couldn't tell, it sure didn't keep these two from being excited!

Liam and Izzy (who quickly became known as "Iam and Lizzy" thanks to Liam's frequent referral to himself in the third person, minus the "L"), were the first to come down the aisle.  Now this is where Liam's absolute fearlessness really came in handy!  Izzy was understandably a little overwhelmed when she first saw the crowd, so her mom stepped in as an emergency co-flowergirl while Liam forged on ahead, with or without them:

I just couldn't believe he made it down that aisle!!  What a champ!  And after a beautiful ceremony, Aunt Beth and Uncle Andy joyfully walked right back down that aisle as husband and wife.  So happy!

The wedding party: Bridesmaids and sisters Abby, Kate, and Toni; Best Man Aidan, and Liam and Izzy.  What a beautiful family!

After a dark but yummy dinner, the kids all wanted to dance despite the loss of power.  So dance they did!  There was a rousing rendition of the chicken dance, the hokey pokey, and Katy Perry's "Fireworks".  Who needs a DJ?!

And just when we thought we'd have to give up on the reception because it was getting too dark... someone located a generator and hooked up the DJ!  So by a disco ball and a DJ light, the dance floor erupted in cheers and the music commenced!

Now while all this was going on, Joergen was somehow fast asleep in his stroller (it was after 7 pm, after all!).  He found himself being pushed back and forth for a good 45 minutes at the bar with babysitter extrordinaire Berto, who offered the quote of the night to his wife Nichole, "Um, who's baby is this?!"

Back to the dance floor, Liam shocked us with pulling out these (kind of awesome) breakdancing moves!  Where in the HECK did he pick that up?!

A sweet moment on the dance floor:

It was not long before the napless wonder finally crashed.  He had been dancing with Toni and kept asking her to pick him up; she handed him off to me, and he passed out on my shoulder.  The winner of the dead-weight toddler was Papa:

Such a fun night!  Congratulations Aunt Beth and Uncle Andy-- we love you!

The next day, while the men went golfing, we went swimming!  No joke, there were 12 kids (all cousins in one way or another) going crazy in that hotel pool, and they were all having the time of their lives.  Joergen had his fun and then promptly conked out in Grandma's arms:

Liam, meanwhile, couldn't be dragged out of that water!  Here he is in the not-very-hot tub with Kate:

Super-cousin Toni then helped babysit the boys while I grabbed a shower and started packing.  Afterwards, I took them to lunch at Steak 'n Shake... I love how much fun these two have together!



And back at the house (while Liam did some serious napping in Toni's bunk bed...), Joergen loved some floor time with his cousins:

Many thanks to our family and friends for all your help with the boys throughout the wedding weekend (and a shout-out to Momma Val for all the love to Joergen while this momma got a pedicure!).  We had so much fun with you all and can't wait to see you in October!

Weathering the Storm

We have no idea what's going on, but after an earthquake on Tuesday and a hurricane on Saturday (2 events we just wouldn't have anticipated in Philly!), we are left wondering what could possibly be in store for us next!

First and foremost, everyone is fine. We decided yesterday morning to move us much out of the basement as we could and get on the road to York. Uncle Tim, Aunt Jackie, and Colin were in town, so better to be stuck indoors together than to risk not getting to see each other at all. Hurricane Irene hit York around 11 pm last night, pummeling us with rain and incredible winds until almost 9:00 this morning. Still not sure what home looks like, but we'll find out soon enough! Praying for a dry basement...

In the meantime, we have loved getting some time with little Colin. Just look at this guy!



Liam loves to "holem" (aka hold him):

Uncle Tim also got to see his little godson for the first time since he was baptized:

So good to all be together again! I said to Liam this morning, "I've never seen so much rain in my life!" to which Liam responded, "No, I've never seen so much rain in MY life!"

True that!

5 Months Old/30 Months Old

Look at these growin' boys!



Joergen hit the 5 month mark this month, while big brother Liam officially turned 2 and a half. Liam continues to amaze us with his ever-growing vocabulary and determined, spirited personality. He is really into make-believe (and is often our "family dog", self-named Bolt) and has recently transitioned to a big-boy bed! He just had his 30-month check-up this past week and is in the 90th percentile in both height and weight (38.5 inches and 34.5 lbs). Man, does that kid love shmoozing for the doctor! He literally cheered when Dr. Niami walked into the exam room. Who does that?!

Liam (who, based on most of the photos we've posted lately, has a thing for going shirtless) peeking out of the tent at Nana and Grandpa's house:



So the downside to Liam's rather spirited personality is that lately, bedtime has been a bit of a nightmare. It has been taking us over 2 hours on most nights to get him to settle down and just go to sleep (and yes... a certain recording by a certain Samuel L. Jackson has lately been running rampant through Mommy and Daddy's minds at night!). Gone are the days when you could just put Liam in bed with a book and have him eventually fall asleep... now it takes one of us lying in bed (which is a very tiny toddler bed) with him until he is out. Needless to say, our boy is not getting the sleep he was used to, and as a result, is passing out at funny times during the day. For example... on our way to meet Daddy for lunch on Friday!



We are hoping that some of these antics are related to being off-schedule this summer-- and that he'll settle back into some better sleeping patterns once he's back to a more predictable routine. We can dream, can't we?!

No doctor's appointment for J this month, but he is definitely getting big. He is starting to show his little personality more and more, and seems to be a very sweet, relaxed, observant guy. Where Liam is a bundle of energy and enthusiasm, Joergen is our little center of calm amidst the chaos.

Joergen, when not gnawing on everything in sight, is quite the little gigglepot. I caught him playing with Grandpa this morning:

Although it makes me a little nervous, J loves a little rough-housing, which his big brother is all too eager to assist with!

Meeting Baby Colin

Guess who we got to meet yesterday?!



Yes! Cutie-pie Colin! Aunt Jackie came over for a visit, and we were so excited to see her and get to spend a little time with our newest nephew-- as were the boys to see their new cousin. Liam was all about "baby Colin" and just wanted to give him lots of kisses (and hold him... but we managed to get him to settle for just having his picture taken with him instead).



Our boys in blue:



Can't believe how much Colin looks like Uncle Tim!!

Colin and Joergen ready to roll:

It was so great to see them-- and we're excited to get to spend a little more time with them again next weekend!

Visit from Grandma and Papa

While I was running around between work and home (and mostly work) like a chicken sans head, Grandma and Papa made the trek to PA to help with the boys and give Daddy a hand. What would we have done without them?! To walk in the door after a hectic day and have happy boys, laundry folded, and Grandma's homemade meatloaf baking in the oven (and another one in the freezer! hallelujiah!) was beyond a comfort-- they saved the day. And Liam and Joergen both just loved getting their alone time with Grandma and Papa. I was able to snap a couple of photos that week. Here's Grandma and Liam cheering on Daddy during the playoffs (he got a homerun shortly after! Go Dad!):



Attempt #1 to get a nice pic of Papa with the boys (sigh. Oh, Liam.)
,


This one is much better! Liam has learned to say "cheeeese" before a picture is taken, so now we get this perfectly cheeeeesy smile every time :)



We can't thank Grandma and Papa enough for spending that week with us. We hope they've had a chance to catch up on their sleep and relax a little now that they're home-- they certainly deserve it!

Pocono Vacation 2011

Hello faithful followers-- we're back!! (My usual August crazy-time training the "big kids", as Liam calls them, is over! Yay!) We have much to catch up on, so I've got some postin' to do.

So on to our Pocono Vaycay!

We were so excited to spend the last week of July at Split Rock with Nana, Grandpa, GG, Aunt Jayne, and the Hantz family. The week flew by (as it usually does), but we made the most of it. In no particular order, here were some favorite moments...

Literally minutes after we arrived at our room, as I started unpacking our suitcases, Joergen got into full vacation mode, stretched out on the bed, and passed out. Someone was ready to re-lax! He is definitely a thumb-sucker, by the way!



A couple of days later, I got this shot of Liam in the same spot Joergen had been in! He had had such a busy day at the beach that he couldn't even stay awake for the 3 minute drive from the lake to our room. I guess that bed was comfy?

Since Joergen was born just days before Grandpa's big 6-0, we never got to properly celebrate... until now! We surprised him with a raclette party in his honor (and he even got to keep the machine :)).

Joergen and Augustin hanging out in the morning in Aunt Erin and Uncle Thomas's room. We discovered we had to put them facing opposite directions so that Augustin couldn't grab onto J's hair!

We had one seriously rainy day, so Liam, Pierre, and Sarah took their playing indoors. Here they are demonstrating their "silent scream", which Nana taught them in order to keep the peace with our neighbors in the hallway!

We also had some visitors during the week. Mommy's cousin Anne and her family, including their three daughters Anna, Sarah, and Laura, came for dinner one night. The kiddos all discovered a big hill in the backyard of our unit and had a blast racing (and tumbling!) down it over and over again.

We also enjoyed a fun visit from Mommy's dear friend Mollie, her husband AJ, and their 3 boys Luke (6), Sam (4), and Josh (1). We hadn't seen them since a few days before Liam was born, so it was blessedly chaotic to be together now with our 5 little guys. This picture just makes me laugh!

Aunt Erin had a birthday during our vacation week, so we went out to dinner to our favorite spot on Lake Harmony and celebrated! Here's the birthday girl with her fam:

Nana and Grandpa sharing some laughs at dinner:

Mornings were one of our favorite times on vacation. We were spread out across 4 units, all next to each other, and each with a door to the outside-- which made a "backyard" for us, where the kids could run around while we all ate breakfast outdoors. Pierre and Liam racing in their jammies:

Grandpa and Joergen (who perhaps wasn't sure if he was ready to be awake yet?):

Split Rock is known for it's fun activities, which we definitely took advantage of as usual! Liam got to compete in a "Hot Potato" contest one evening... (he lost)

...While Sarah competed in a hula hoop competition (she won!!):

Daddy cheering Sarah on:



Guy Smiley with his momma, cheering on the Hula Hoop Queen too:



We also had fun cheering for the turtles in the daily Turtle Races by the beach. Although he didn't put any money on his favorites, Liam was a big fan!




The kids had a blast playing in the sand, and thanks to Sarah, they made some pretty cool sandcastles:



When not in the sand, you could usually find at least one of the kids racing around the lake on Grandpa's boat. Woohoo!!



Joergen, on the other hand, just preferred to snuggle with GG. What could be better than that?!



Thanks everyone for an awesome trip with so many great memories! Aunt Erin, Uncle Thomas, Sarah, Pierre, and Augustin-- we miss you!!!

4 Months Old

Our little beach bum is 4 months old!



We just got back on Sunday from a great week in the Poconos with Nana, Grandpa, GG, Aunt Jayne, and the Hantz fam-- so much fun! More on that trip to follow!

Joergen had his 4-month checkup on Monday and continues to be a happy and healthy little guy. Or perhaps not-so-little! He came in at 17 lbs (90th percentile) and 25.5 inches (60th percentile)... on to the 6-9 month clothes! He's holding his head up really well and has even snuck in some Exersaucer time at Miss Doreen's house-- feels like yesterday that Liam was playing in there, so this just doesn't seem possible. Joergen is also rolling, rolling, rolling... but seems to forget how to go from his belly to his back in the middle of the night, thus getting himself stuck! On a good night, though, he'll sleep through the night. Longest stretch so far has been 7:30 pm-4:45 am. Thank you, baby boy! Joergen continues to be a sweetheart, and I could spend hours just watching him smile and babble and kick and play.

I'm heading into my crazy time at work and start training students this Friday. Yikes! Goodbye summer! Grandma and Papa are thankfully coming to visit us for a week starting Sunday... the boys are excited and we are so glad for the extra help. Will try to post about our Pocono trip before then, but don't hold me to it :)