2 Months & Growing

Well, 2 months have come and gone, and Andrew is growing fast! We headed back to the doctor's office for another check-up (And, for the record, I am still a little bitter that they wouldn't let me schedule both of the boys' appointments at the same time). Andrew weighed in at 12 pounds, 1 ounce and 23.25 inches long. He seems to be changing everyday too. He is happy most of the time and seems to be a very social baby. He is always smiling and cooing... he even gets distracted when he is eating and just wants to talk and smile. He is sleeping a little better but is still getting up at least twice a night. I am SO ready for him to make it through the night. Let's see... he is tracking very well and loves to look at his hands, which makes his OT mama very proud. He is just too sweet! Here are a few pictures of his first couple of months.

Happy after bathtime

First time in his bumbo chair. He loves it!

Smiles, smiles and more smiles

Tummy Time

Cute Time

Bath Time

Sleepy Time

Baptism Blessings

We celebrated Andrew's baptism a couple of weekends ago. Just as we did with Jake, we made the trip to Mississippi to my parents' church to make it easier to share this sacrament with our family and friends. Andrew was an angel during the church service and looked the part as well in his white gown. I cannot, however, say the same for big brother Jake. Jake is usually pretty good in church, but decided that he was going to act the part of a 2 year old on this particular Sunday, so he ended up in the back of the church with my mom. Nevertheless, the ceremony was beautiful and we are proud to officially welcome Andrew into the family of God. We hope and pray that we will be able to raise him with a strong faith and love of the Lord.

Fr. Tom Lalor did an excellent job!

At The Baptismal Font

Annointing With Oil

Lighting The Candle

Godparents

Sayward and Jonathan Fortner & Amelia (Aunt Mo) Jepsen

Aunt Mo & Pap

Our attempt at a family picture with a stubborn 2 year old

A more successful attempt at a picture

My mom outdid herself again preparing a delicious meal for our reception after the ceremony. I didn't get many pictures, but I did get one of the cake. It tasted just as good as it looked! Thanks Mom!

Jake is Two!!!

I can still hardly believe it, but Jake turned 2 on April 2nd! We celebrated with a small family party on his actual birthday with my family (they were still in town helping with our new addition, Andrew). We celebrated again a couple of weeks later with a fun party with friends. Jake enjoyed every minute of all the partying, blowing out candles, eating cake and opening gifts. He enjoyed the train ride with his friends most of all!

We took Jake to the doctor's office for his 2 year check-up last week. He is a whopping 33 pounds and 37.5 inches tall! That puts him in the 92% for weight and 97% for height for his age! Basically, it means that he looks like a 3 year old. Huge. He is doing lots of fun things and some not-so-fun things now. I'm not sure how many words he has now, because he pretty much says what he wants and usually talks using 3-5 word sentences. He knows his colors, can count to 11 and can say almost all of his ABC's and is even able to identify most capital letters and make their sound. He runs everywhere he goes and is able to climb ladders and jungle gyms so that he can go down all the big slides. He jumps and runs in circles whenever he gets really excited. When he does sit still, he loves playing with his cars, doing puzzles, coloring and playing with playdoh. As a 2 year old, he is also spending a little bit of his day in time-out, but I think he is learning not to make the same mistake twice... at least I hope so.

Homemade cupcakes for our family party

Family Party -- Aunt Mo, Pap & Mia enjoyed the cupcakes as much as Jake did! Playing with some gifts

Our big party was done in a "Cars" theme. As soon as Jake saw the cake, he could think of nothing but getting his hands on McQueen and Mater.

We had the party in the food court of our local mall. It was free and clean, and we also had access to the mall train. All of the kids got to go for a 15 minute train ride around the mall. I think that they had a great time!

Matt got to wear the conductor hat while he took video.

We had so much fun! Thanks to all of our friends and family who got to celebrate with us!

Brotherly Love

I am not quite sure how Andrew feels about Jake right now, but one thing is for sure... Jake loves his new little brother. He was excited to meet him and knew right away that this was the baby brother we had been talking about for so long. It took Jake a couple of days to hold Andrew, but once he did, he was hooked. He has to hold him about a dozen times a day. He gives him kisses and says "awww, love Andrew". I know there are days ahead when they won't be quite so sweet to each other, so I am enjoying these sweet moments as long as I can!

I already shared the pictures from their first meeting in the hospital, but I had to share some more...

Andrew's arrival at home

The first time Jake held Andrew

Tummy Time

First stroll around the neighborhood... Jake had to push the stroller the entire time!

ANDREW

I can hardly believe it, but Andrew is 6 weeks old today. He is so sweet! He is very happy during the day, enjoying tummy time, tracking with his eyes, batting his hands and kicking his feet, and he just loves his bath time. He had his first real smile this past week (at his Daddy) and has smiled everyday since. He is eating well and seems to be about 10 pounds now. He is sleeping a little longer every night (thank the Lord). I am finally getting around to uploading pictures, so here are a few of Andrew in his first 6 weeks.