Happy five months to Jameson!

Well, Maddy is back home (yay!) and already acting like a bigger girl - last night, she took her first shower ...  and loved it! She was already asking to take another one before she left for school, haha. We said maybe another one tonight if she really wants to.

Jamey, meanwhile, officially turns 5 months today. He's getting more used to eating solids (still lots of spitting out and giggling, but we'll get there). He's also very close to rolling from back to belly and can sit on his own for a few seconds at a time!

Mow-mow came down on Monday and has been helping with the kiddos all week so I can get caught up on some rest. She even surprised the kiddos with early Easter baskets!!! (see below). They made out with candy, clothes, crafts and Jamey even got his first Tonka truck!

This weekend, we're looking forward to some simple pleasures: fish fry tonight (for Lent), some shopping/lunch with grandma and pappy tomorrow, and Palm Sunday mass/visiting the Easter Bunny at the mall on Sunday.

Maddy's on vacation, Jamey eats!

This week, Maddy enjoyed a little "spring break" by visiting all her aunts, uncles, cousins and mow-mow & poppy in Buffalo!

So far, the highlights we've heard from the trip are:

• Pizza party with the family at Jean's
• Playing make-up and hair chalk with Sam & aunt Jean
• Practicing gymnastics with Sam at Jean's
• Playing with Allie, Mow-Mow's puppy, and lots of crafts at Mow-Mow's
• Going to dinner with cousin Jack & aunt Alicia (Friendly's... Mmmm!) 
• Going to see the new "Cinderella" movie with Mow-Mow and aunt Alicia
• Build-a-Bear Workshop at the big Galleria Mall with aunt Jean!

 Wow! She will be pooped out when she gets back home, that's for sure! It's been nice to see her having so much fun, but we sure do miss her around here. Jamey's been looking around for her, so to keep him busy, mom introduced something new this week: baby food!

We started today, March 19, with some baby rice cereal and sweet potatoes for breakfast, then some apple baby food for lunch. So far, he seems to like the taste - just needs to work on figuring out what to do with it once it's in his mouth! Here's an adorable video of the first tastes:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10205893623676529&l=538379580468502728.

Jamey: 19 weeks/4.5 moths

So, I've already gotten behind on the blog. Big surprise!

We've had lots of new developments in the mean time with Jamey. Here are the highlights:

Can lift head about 90 degrees on belly, can roll over each side (with mommy's help), makes more coos, giggles when tickled, turns head at voices.

Sleep schedule: Wakes around 7/7:30. Takes a morning nap (usually from 9-10:30), plays and naps again from 12:30- 2/3. More playtime, a quick pre-dinner nap around 4:30 and then up again until bedtime (about 8 pm)

Favorite toys: Standing froggy exerciser, pink exersaucer, floor gym, inchy the worm, monkey blanket, and Baby Einstein piano

Best asset: Smiles ALL. THE. TIME. Really big.

4 month check-up measurements:

Weight: 16 pounds, 2 oz.
Height: 25"
Head: A perfect 43.5" round

Welcome Bean #2!

It's been a while, but I'm going to try keeping up with the blog again, so I can have some record of these fleeitng baby and toddler moments before they are gone!

The biggest development since we last checked in? We welcomed a second Bean on October 27: Jameson Lee Tripp!

He is already 6+ weeks old and is outgrowing his newborn stage. How do I know? As of today he can:

Recognize voices/faces
Smile back at you
Coo and goo
Hold up his head (almost on his own)
Participate in "tummy time"

He also outgrew his newborn onesies.

By far, he is an extremely EASY baby. Only cries (a little) when he's hungry, wet/dirty or a little bored. My maternity leave has been amazing so far, allowing me to bounce back fairly quickly from t
the second (and LAST) c-section.

Maddy is adjusting fairly well (definitely taking the ACTUAL arrival of the baby better than the news of the arrival). She has grown into a smart, high-energy but sweet girl herself, so she will keep us all on our toes for years to come.

Even though life is busy with the two kids, holidays, and going back to work soon, my New Year's resolution is to keep up more with the blog. Enjoy!

How we spent our Michigan summer vacation

Maddy, mommy and daddy made a trip all the way to Midland, MI to visit uncle Mike, aunt Alysia and Talia Mae for the Memorial Day weekend (this was actually our third Memorial Day weekend visit to Michigan, so it's become like a 'new' tradition). Here are some highlights from this year's trip:

Saturday night: Arrived to grandma, pappy, Mike, Alysia and Talia waiting for us on the front lawn! Also came in to great weather (sunny, about 70) and homemade pizza! Maddy tried sleeping over in Talia's big girl bed, but there was too much chatting and giggling for any sleep. 

Sunday: Visited a super cool castle playground (played on the swings, ropes, tires, maizes and even rolled down the nearby hillside). Came home for a quick lunch, some playing outdoors and then headed to a 3:00 Loons game! Maddy and Talia are big fans of Lou E. Loon, and they even got his autograph! We enjoyed great food, drinks, and weather (though it got a little chilly toward the end of the night). Girls had another fun bubble bath with grandma before bed.

Monday: Happy Memorial Day! We packed up and headed to the Saganaw Zoo, where we saw wolves (Maddy's favorite), a bobcat (Talia's favorite), a sea otter, prairie dogs. peacocks, cows, chickens, horses, llamas and more. We event got to ride a train and a merry-go-round (several times over). After our zoo trip, we came home to some delicious barbeque on the grill, outside playing and just soaked up the gorgeous weather (sunny, about 75).

Tuesday: Today, the rain decided to show up! So, we scooted over to the mall for shopping, lunch and indoor playing before heading back to the house for a wagon ride (when the weather cleared), playing with new books/toys and having some Pizza Sam's to wrap up our stay.

Wednesday: We hit the road early in the a.m. and got home around 6 p.m. We were a little sad and missing our family, but we were happy to take with us some fun, new memories from our trip!

Holiday Time 2012

What a fun holiday season Ms. Maddy had this year! It all started with having Pappy, Grandma, Uncle Mike, Aunt Alysia cousin Talia for Thanksgiving. We had so much fun playing toys, going shopping and even visiting the ducks at Tallyrand Park.

The parents got a real treat - getting to see Penn State's final home game of the season - while Grandma and Pappy also got the treat of spending the day with the grand girls.

After Thanksgiving, it was full-on holiday mode. Here are few ways we enjoyed the season:

• Visiting Santa at the mall (X3) 
• Going to see the Nutcracker ballet
• Polar express party (in jammies) at school 
• Making cookies -- lots of cookies -- with mommy 
• Checking out Victorian Christmas in Bellefonte 
• Wrapping and delivering presents for family and friends 
• Decorating the live Christmas tree (Maddy put on the star!) 

Here are a few more photos of our holiday memories

More Birthday celebrations

Later this month, the celebrations for Maddy's third birthday continued with a pile of presents to open on her bday and a visit to Buffalo for another party! Maddy got a beautiful Dora cake with lots of fun Dora decorations and... of course... more presents! A few favorite gifts from this birthday included: *Bounce house *Her own picnic table *Scooter and (Dora) helmet *Dora microphone and bath toys *Pretend wedding cake/pizza toys *Woodzeez (family of owls, beavers, and turtles) *Lorax movie And here are a few new things Maddy can do now that she's three: *Spell her name *Draw faces/"stick" figures *Pedal a bike *Get (mostly) dressed/undressed *Use the potty *Brush her hair/teeth *Went to her first dentist visit *Moved up to the preschool room Here are some more bday pictures from our celebrations...