What You've Missed.....

In true Jen Fashion, I have been slacking on this here blog.  SORRY!  (and a huge, giant sorry to Grandma and Grandpa who I told to keep checking this to see new stuff.... oops!)

So..... here's what you have missed here at the Gilmore's over the past couple of weeks. 

Spring has sprung!  We love Connecticut and one of the many reasons why is that spring comes a little earlier here than it ever did in New Hampshire.  The weather has been beautiful and my daffodils and tulips are up and looking gorgeous (except for the yellow tulip that Max ripped apart and tried to eat earlier today!).  We've been doing all kinds of outside activities lately.  It's so nice to have such a large yard for the kids to play in. 

Max has had so much fun exploring his surroundings.  I love to watch him crawl around in the grass discovering things for the very first time.  Imagine what the world must look like through his eyes!  Today he was amazed with a green leaf he found.  He held it, studied it, squished it in his little hand, and even tried to taste it.  And he loves the flowers! 

One thing we have done a few times this spring is take advantage of a great trail in our town.  It is part of the "Rails to Trails" program.  It is a wonderful path that goes for miles and miles.  You could even walk to the beach if you really wanted to!  I took the kids there last week and Colby rode his tricycle, Stella rode her scooter, and Max enjoyed a leisurely ride in his stroller.  We had so much fun.

And, of course, we had to make a snack break!  Here's Stella sharing a little of her granola bar with Colby. 

Stella and Colby have both wrapped up their swimming lessons.  We will probably pick back up in the fall, but we figured we'd take a break now since they'll be getting in all kinds of swim time between the beach next month and the community pools we go to all summer.  Stella loved her class and did amazing in it.  She used to be so timid in the water, but she's really come a long way.  The smiling face says it all!

And here is a video of Stella swimming all by herself!!  No floats on her at all!  When I first saw this video that Kelsey took, I got all weepy.  My little girl is getting so big...

And, Colby loved his class as well!  He and Kelsey got to go in the water together for his class.  They sang songs and played games and concentrated on getting him comfortable in the water.  He is begging to go back!

   (figures the camera batteries died immediately after this picture was taken.... this will definitely add to his Middle Child Complex)

We had a fabulous Easter last week!  The kids had so much fun dying their eggs.  They must have spent over an hour perfecting them and were so upset when we finally took the colors away when it was time for bed! 

Can you tell Colby's favorite color is green?? 

Kelsey made a special one just for me.  If you look closely, you can see it says, "Jen Rules."  We've been together almost 12 years, married for almost 7, with 3 kids and he still knows how to make me swoon. 

So that pretty much sums up the last couple of weeks.  I am really hoping to be a little more frequent to this blog because I do really enjoy writing in it and seeing all of your comments.  Thank you! 

And, last but certainly not least, here is another cute video of Max to wrap up the entry!  I think he likes to swing.... what do you think??

Mad Max

I captured the infamous Mad Max face!  (well, it's really his excited face but they both look the same!)  Doesn't it look like he's screaming?  Nope.  He's not.  Totally silent.  That's what makes it so funny! 

(Now do you understand why Colby tries to purposely make him mad??) 

Peek a boo Max!

This is the video I tried to post earlier this week, but I couldn't get it to open.  Hopefully it will work this time!

Also, make sure you check in on the latest info on Colby's imaginary friend Oatmeal at the bottom of the right column.  I will be updating this frequently considering most of Colby's sentences start with, "My friend Oatmeal....." :) 

Up With Max

I'm about to say something that I might grow to regret.  I enjoy being up in the middle of the night with Max.  I've enjoyed being up in the middle of the night with Stella and Colby, too. Of course, I LOVE my sleep and NEED my sleep and there's nothing greater than being able to sleep without being woken up several times a night.  But, right now, Max is on a schedule where he wakes up just once in the night and that I can handle. 

He gets up sometime between 2:00 and 3:00 and Kelsey usually has to nudge me out of bed.  I slip across the hall to Max's room where he is crying and waiting for me to rescue him.  Once I pick him up, he snuggles his face into my neck and I carry him down the hall to the living room where we will sit on the couch while he has milk.  This has been our routine for the past few months.  Before that, we would stay in his room and I would pop on my headphones and listen to music or the latest "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" or "This American Life" on my iPod.  (I've found the couch to way comfier than the little brown chair in his room now that Max has grown) 

So now, Max and I get some wonderful quiet time each night.  The house is quiet and still (though sometimes I can hear Colby breathing heavily or Stella snoring).  It seems as if we are the only ones in the world who are awake at that moment.  We always snuggle under a blanket and I'll usually put the tv on (which helps me stay awake and not wake up hours later sitting up on the couch!) and watch a repeat of that night's Conan or a Glee episode On Demand.  I truly love this time with Max because I know it won't last forever and that he won't always need me in this way. 

 I can vividly remember being up with Stella and Colby too.  With Stella I would sometimes take her into the living room to watch tv or I would stay up in her room and rock her in the rocking chair while her favorite lullaby cd played.  Listening to that cd now always brings me back to those moments with her.  Colby, who seemed to be up constantly until he was 20 months old, got in lots of snuggle time at night.  He and I would stay right in my bed with the tv on.  Reruns of Sex and the City always remind me of those sleepless nights with him. 

I know the day is coming soon when Max will no longer need to wake up and have milk.  And although part of me will be really happy to (finally!) have a full night's sleep, a large part of me will be sad to not have that special time in the middle of the night with him anymore.



A very sweet and sleepy Colby.



Sweet Stella Mae.



Stella and Colby in identical sleeping postions on a trip to NYC.







A Whole Lotta Crazy.....

 I know it's almost been a week since I last posted, but as you all saw Max is crawling now and life just got REALLY crazy.   I was hoping that when he started crawling, he would sort of test the waters out a little first and stay close to me most of the time.  Nope.  As soon as he figured out how to crawl, Max took off.  He is into everything.  His favorite activity to do now is trash the kitchen.   This boy can empty a utensil draw faster than anything I've ever seen.  (He also loves to pull out all of the pot holders and dish towels)  My kitchen has become an obstacle course for me as I try to maneuver around the spatulas, pot holders, and serving spoons while making dinner. 

Max's other favorite room is the bathroom.  Just when he thinks I'm not looking, he scoots down the hall straight for the bathroom where there's all sorts of interesting things to play with.  He especially likes the trash can.  How fun it is to knock over something and see a whole lot of tissues spill out!  He also loves our shower curtain and likes to pull on it and go under it and hide.  Thankfully, he hasn't found out how fun it is to splash in the toilet water.  Not yet anyway. 

Stella and Colby are quickly learning how fast Max can get to whatever they're working on.  He loves to knock over a block tower and plow through a doll hospital.  They've done pretty well sharing with him, but it's sort of funny to see them get frustrated at little Max.  And when they do, the reaction that Max has is hysterical.  Max has a new "angry face" that I hope I can get on film.  Stella and I were showing Kelsey the face Max makes now when he's mad:  wide open mouth, squinted eyes, but with no sound.  Tonight, Kelsey saw the Angry Max face first hand.   It's hilarious.  Colby was trying to make his little brother mad just to get him to make the face!  As much as we all wanted to see it, we made Colby stop. 

So life is a bit crazy here at the Gilmores.  Max is a little speed demon who can't be out of my sight for a second.  It's times like these that I say, "It's a good thing he's cute!"