January Family Update

Hola Family and Friends,

It seems like I haven't sent an update out in a long time....I think it's been a couple months so I have a lot to say! Here it goes:

November: Josh and I got a night out on the Nov. 1st while his parents watched the kids. :) We went to a neighbor’s Halloween party and had a great time! Then a few weeks later, we went to the Please Touch Museum with Josh's parents which was a blast! They did everything from shopping in a grocery store, then shoe shopping to ridding in a bus and a mail truck (pic to the right). They stayed entertained for a while! Then we traveled to VA to have Thanksgiving with my younger sister who just bought a townhouse a few months ago. It was a fun time getting us all together! Finally, after Turkey Day, we went Christmas tree shopping on that Sunday with the kids (what a gorgeous day it was!) and found a 9 footer! We decorated it with Mia while Keegan watched from the pack and play. It looks great and Mia enjoys turning on the ligts each morning! :)




December: Getting ready for Christmas! We took the kids a few weekends ago to see Santa and they both did very well sitting on Santa’s lap! Keegan sat there and just stared at Mia, the elft and Santa…it was cute! I also I took the kids to Build A Bear to get them something for Christmas. Mia got Holly the Moose and Keegan got Hal the Moose. They play music too which Mia loves. Finally, Patsy came in on Dec. 13th and we had a blast watching the cousins play and at my Christmas party. Josh and I trehen visited some family friends the Sunday before Christmas which was fun and then spent a couple days with the Carrolls at their house. They then came to our house and we all opened up gifts the day before ChristmasMia was really excite to open her gifts which took a bit to I got some cool stuff from them including a Longchamp handbag which I love and two coats! The kids got toys and clothes all which are cute! They got to play with some of their toys Christmas Eve morning which they loved. Josh, the kids and I then left for my parents house Christmas Eve afternoon...lots of traveling for us! All of us kids spent Christmas Eve/Day at my parents house...first time in years! We had a blast watching the kids open up their gifts and had fun opening ours too (it was the first time we didn't open gifts before church!) ! There were a TON of gifts to say the least! Keegan didn't really care to open his gifts (that's how Mia was when she was his age) but he did help Aunt Neena open some. Mia just loved opening hers though and kept on asking, "Mommy, is this mine too?" We had a great Christmas though and fun New Year's with my family and Josh's in Dewey Beach! :)

Our Little Munchkins

KEEGAN

Keegan is now 16 months old (Christmas Eve) and is such a blast! He still loves to babble and mock what we say. He still loves to point at things and loves to turn light switches on and off. Keegan likes to also play in the playroom... and just love his big sis so much! They get along very well thankfully! He also still sucks his thumb when he is sleepy and lovessss to lay his head on us and snuggle. We have our little ritual before naptime and bedtime when we rock together on the glider and sing. He snuggles with me and it's just priceless! Keegan also likes to "shake it" when he hears music. It's cute to see! Keegan also loved to open his Christmas presents although he didn't really want to stay put. He did make the cutest face when he was trying to open Mia's Dora Princess Doll! Too cute! Keegan also loves to play ring around the roses especially when Bella was here visiting. :)



15 Month Well Baby Checkup
Keegan weighs 24 lbs 1 oz as of the end of November when he had his 15 month checkup. He was 31 ½ inches tall and did very well during his appt. I told my doc that Keegan doesn’t eat many veggies now and she said to puree some and add it to his food. I also let her know that he drinks about 10-15 ounces of milk/day which she said was fine...some days it's not that much. Our doc said Keegan is developing well and is right on track for his weight and height.

Words
Keegan can say Mama, Dada, ba for ball, laaaa for light, baby, nana, pop pop, daddy, mommy, acker (cracker) and tries to say “I love you” but it doesn't come out that way. :) Keegan can also do “touchdown” when asked (throws his arms up in the air…thanks to daddy!) and “more” as of almost three weeks ago.

Mobility
Well Mr. Keegan is a walking pro! He harddddly crawls and just loves to walk, walk, walk! We still keep him confined in the fam room b/c we don’t have gates for the other rooms he can get into. I don’t want to chase him all day long either. He’ll play in the fam room or the playroom with Mia and just loves it!

Eating
Keegan eats meat, bread, pasta, cheerios, applesauce, cheese, yogurt, star puffs, wagon wheels...almost anything but veggies which we are working on! I am starting to give him harder snacks such as animal crackers (as of two weekends ago) and gold fish (a few weeks ago) but am iffy b/c he has no chompers in the back yet. He does well though!

Teeth
Keegan now has his top and bottom four front teeth. He also has two molars coming in as of 1 1/2 weeks ago. No wonder why his naps were off!

Sleep
Keegan is a good sleeper for naps and at night. He sleeps about 11 to 12 hours at night and usually it is straight through. He did get up last week at 4am and I could not get him down for almost 2 hours! He developed a cold over two weeks ago and has been pretty stuffed up…poor guy! He is getting better though and I finally recovered from my month long cough/cold! Tis the season for colds!

MISS MIA

Well Mia is one busy 3 year old (almost 3 1/2)! She is always playing with her animals or in her playroom. She and I have our ritual where we sleep and sing at night. She loves to sing the Wheels on the Bus and read books. She also loves to watch her shows which include Mickey Christmas movies. She loves Hughey, Dughey and Louie! Mia also likes to dress up and just a few weeks ago she came out with a pink hat on, a tutu, sunglasses and reindeer ears. It was seriously priceless! Mia also is sharing a lot more and knows that if she takes something away from keegan or another kid/baby (she should ask first of course :)), that she has to replace it with another toy. She also has been placed in timeout a lot more so this past week then in the past. I am not sure why but she's a little stinker! She knows that if she hits, pulls or pushes that she goes in timeout...and each time she did that (kept on doing it even after her timeout), she went into the corner and sat there sometimes crying and sometimes not. Sometimes when she is in timeout, the cat would be in the same room and at one point (she was really testing our patients!), I told her the kitty will bite her if she moves and she sat there motionless! I mean motionless kind of like a freeze dance sorta thing. It was funny (I know, I shouldn't have laughed! and I told her that that I didn't mean to say what I said and told her that the kitty is just going to watch her and would not bite her. She knows though that the kitty will watch her for mommy while she is in timeout. :)

Mia is such a great big sis! She really loves Keegan and will help me get him a diaper if I ask her to..and sometimes tries to feed him. She is gentle with him too and will pat his head when she is by him. I just love it!

Mia was excited for Christmas and seeing Santa. She did so well sitting on Santa’s lap…so much different than last year! She also loved to listen to Christmas music probably b/c that is what I used to listen too all the time! It was great seeing them on Christmas morning opening their gifts although Mia was more into it then Keegan was. She was excited to hear that Santa came early to our house (the 23rd) and got to open her gifts with Nana and Pop Pop. Santa brought her Eve from Wall-E which she liked but reallly liked it even more once she saw the movie. Now she sleeps with Mia at night. :) Mia was also excited to see the gifts Christmas morning at my parent's house and couldn't wait to open hers...and she waited until after church to open them! She didn't even put up a fuss. :) She now loves playing with her new toys...so I guess it's out with the old and in with the new!

JOSH AND CATHY

Josh and I are loving being parents although it is stressful at times. I just love playing with the kids and to see how they change. Josh loves to “work” on the couch while we all play downstairs. He can work through anything! My kids are so much fun to be around and to see them interact with each other is priceless. They are also great travelers especially Keegan (until lately due to teeth. We drove home from my parents a few days after Christmas and he woke up from his nap and we left. He did well for about 1 1/2 hours and got antsy and fussy. Poor guy! He's getting a top molar and I noticed a swollen bottom gum today. It was cute b/c when he'd see me in the mirror in front of him, he'd reach out for me to pick him up. :( We stopped to eat and had about an hour left. He still got antsy but was ok when we gave him some animal crackers to munch on.) Gosh, at this age, we hardly drove anywhere with Mia in Cali just b/c she wasn’t good in the carseat. She’d cry and fuss…I vaguely remember it but I know she wasn’t great. Keegan is content in his seat watching Mia in hers. He’ll usually sleep too but not for more than an hour usually. When we came home from VA from Thanksgiving, Keegan fell asleep about 40 mins from home and there was NOTHING we could go to keep him awake! We tried everything but he was out like a light and once he was up, that was it…no nap! He only slept like 40 mins and was definitely still tired but wouldn’t nap. Oh well! At least he did well traveling…I just love that! AND we don’t usually have to stop like we used to. I love it!

Josh and I joined the YMCA about two months ago and I just love getting back into shape! Josh will be swimming there and I will be doing that and more…or at least try to! Keegan and Mia both enjoy going there and playing in the toddler room. The workers are great and I have no complaints this time around! Phew!

Things here in DE are going well and the winter has been pretty mild...so far! I don’t mind the cold but would rather it be sunny when it is cold…oh well! I do not like how windy it is here...it's horrible! I do love our neighborhood and my friends that I hang around with. They are great and I have an awesome time when I am with them! They finally were able to meet Patsy and Bella at my Christmas party and some of my friends thought she was me! :)

Josh and I are still set on moving back West...whether it be Cali, which Josh wants or Colorado ,which I realllly want. I do love Cali too, but it's just too far (even though CO is too). The weather there is so perfect, but I really do like having snow which they don't get there...and we don't get here in Middletown. I'm HOPING to get a inch before winter ends! :) I really would love for the kids to grow up with their cousins and to be by Patsy and Kieran would be great! We do love being closer to family, but we also want to love where we live.

Well we hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and a great New Year’s! We are looking forward to a healthy and happy new year and maybe a move out west? We will see! Be sure to check out our family pics when you have a chance (on the left side of this page under “links”).

Love,

Cathy, Josh, Mia and Keegan