We're Going on a Treasure Hunt!

For the past year or so, I've been really into Dora the Explorer.  For those of you who aren't familiar with Dora, each show has Dora and friends using a map to get to various places.  A while back, Mommies got me a little Dora backpack that had a map in it, and I like to pretend to use the map to find things around the house.  Well, last weekend Mommy Tina thought it would be a fun idea to do a real treasure hunt around our yard.  We have a nice big yard, so there were lots of places to hide treasures.  Mommy Tina drew the map, then Mommy Susie headed out on the 4 wheeler to hide my treasures.  Once it was all ready, we bundled up and headed outside, map and "treasure bag" in tow. 

It was such a fun day.  I was practically skipping I was so happy, and I was making up songs the whole time.  Each time we'd find a treasure, Mommy Tina and I would stop to look at the map to determine where the next treasure was hiding, then off we went!  The treasures we found were great.  Many of them seemed awfully similar to the treats I had received when trick-or-treating a few days earlier, but I'm sure that's just a coincidence ... mommies wouldn't have hidden old treats that we already had, would they?  ;)  With winter just around the corner, it was a great opportunity to get outside and enjoy what could be one of the last few weekends before the ground is covered in snow!  (not that I'll be sad about that, I've asked mommies to go sledding many times already ... I don't understand why we have to wait!!)

Ready to go!

Checking on Tommy before we headed out on our treasure hunt.  Looks like he's ready too.

Off we go!  Mommy wishes this one had sound because I started singing right away!  :)

First stop, mailbox!

The treasures were everywhere!

In Maggie language, "look what me got!"

So happy!

Better check the map to see where we go next.

We need to go THAT way!

We ended the treasure hunt by rolling down the hill several times.  Why did mommies wait so long to teach me this fun little trick?!



Halloween 2012

Halloween was last week, and we had such a blast!  I decided to be an elephant this year because Grandma McNamara had bought a great elephant costume a while back.  Mommies weren't planning to dress Tommy up at all, but they found out that the family had a small cow costume that Lucy wore when she was a baby, so he was in on the action too!  My first opportunity to dress up was a week before Halloween at dance.

On actual Halloween day, we met up with my cousins to do some trick-or-treating in New Richmond at the various businesses on main street.  After that, we did our usual where we headed to various family members' houses to trick or treat.  We finished the night off at Grandma and Grandpa McNamaras for pizza!  Mommy Susie and I left at around 8:00 and I was asleep before we got out of their driveway.  I'm pretty sure that's a sign of a good night.  :)

Me and my friends at dance.  (insert clever "elephant in the room" jokes here)

Tommy, the sleepy cow.

The cousins minus Tommy.

Having fun at Pat and Teri's house!



Pumpkin Carving!

It's that time of year again  (at least, it was a couple of weeks ago, but we're behind on blogging)... it's pumpkin decorating and carving season!  I had several opportunities to decorate and carve pumpkins this year!  The first was at Grandma Krumm's a few weekends ago where us kids painted pumpkins.  After that, mommies had bought a few small pumpkins in addition to our big ones, so we painted those too.  I had such a good time doing that.  Mommies just love to see me in my creative/crafty mode.  I get so focused!  The final step was the weekend before Halloween when Mommy Susie and I cleaned out a couple of bigger pumpkins, then Mommy Tina carved them for me.  Each year, we try to do one "traditional" pumpkin and one "Maggie's choice" pumpkin.  This year, I asked for Dora, so that's what Mommy Tina did for me!  They both turned out great!  I can't wait to do it again next year!

Working on my masterpiece.

Cleaning out my pumpkin.

More cleaning.  Mommy Susie had a bowl set out for the guts, and a separate bowl for the seeds.  After we were done, she cooked the seeds as a snack.  Unfortunately, no one was interested in eating her snack, but it was a fun idea.  :)



Sibling Love

One of Mommies' favorite things about having two kids now is watching us interact with each other and show affection toward each other.  Mommies weren't sure how I would react to Tommy being here (this is Maggie), but so far that have been pleasantly surprised at how sweet I am to him and how interested I am in holding him and taking care of him.  Mommies hope that's how it will always be.  (but I think they know better than that...)  :)

Hanging out with my buddy Tommy.

I love holding my brother!

Such a silly girl!

Mommies have to watch me pretty closely when I'm holding Tommy.  When I want to be done, I usually just put my hands up in the air and say "I'm all done!"  Mommies are trying to teach me to continue holding onto him until one of them can get him from me.  :)



Newborn Pictures & My 2 Week Stats!

I realize this is a little out of order, but hey, we're doing our best here!  Mommy realized after having us kids write several blog updates that we failed to report back on my stats from my two week well-check, and we also never posted pictures from my newborn photo shoot with Kim Gould.  (both of these events took place around the same time) 

So, here are my stats:

Weight 7lb 5 oz. 13.54%  (I'm a Peanut!!)

Length 34.31%
Head 34.54%

Other interesting facts about me, I don't poop much.  My first "no pooping" stretch was 13 days, my second one was 9 days.  Since then, I've regulated myself a bit, but I'm still not very consistent.  Luckily, that doesn't seem to impact my temperment much!

Shortly after I was born, we headed over to Amery to do a photo shoot with Kim Gould.  Kim is the photographer that does all of my sister's pictures, and mommies are always blown away by how great they turn out!  She did NOT disappoint on mine!  Check them out!

Little Boy, BIG Bed!

Mommies always get a kick out of how small us babies look on their big bed, so they just had to capture a couple of shots of me sprawled out on their bed.  As soon as Mommy looked at the picture, she remembered they had done the exact same thing with my sister Maggie, so she had to go back and find that picture for comparison! 

Can you find me?

This was a picture Mommies took of Maggie back in January of 2010 on their bed!  Looks pretty similar!  :)



Tommy Time!

Hi!  This is Tommy again!  I thought you might interested in an update from me to hear what I've been up to!  So, where to begin?  Well, I've been sleeping a lot.  And I eat a lot.  And sometimes I poop.  :)  THE END

Just kidding!  I do much more than that!  Mommies are just amazed each day by how sweet and cuddly I am.  For the most part, I'm a really content little guy, other than the occasionally fussiness that Mommies are pretty sure is due to gas 99% of the time.  They haven't weighed me in a while, but based on how heavy I feel when they hold me, they're pretty sure I'm growing like a week.  And my cheeks are definitely filling out too!  At about 5 weeks I graduated out of newborn clothes and into my 0-3 clothes, and I'm just finishing off my newborn diapers, so I should be out of those soon too.  Mommies thought time went fast when Maggie was a baby, but they feel like it's going even faster with me!!  As a result, they're trying to make sure they enjoy every second of this cuddly baby phase before I become a squirmy bigger baby and eventually a wild toddler/little kid like my sister!  :)

Taking a snooze on Mommy Susie.  I always sleep with my mouth open!  :)

This is my "fat and happy" smile that I usually let out right after I eat as I'm falling back asleep.

Stretching out!!

Such a sweet Little Brother!  (PS - this was my first time ever wearing pants - Mommies always put me in one piecers!  Mommy thought it made me look so old!)

More snoozing.  Check out those cheeks!

I'm starting to do really well on my tummy time mat, and as long as I've been freshly burped, I can  hang out there for a pretty long time!

Mommy Tina and I have been going out for a run almost every single day.  Here I am in my carseat inside of the stroller.  Bundled up for the cold!

Here's a shot of me in the carseat before a jog.

Mommies just love my sweet little face!  They think I'm looking like Mommy Tina more and more every day!



So Much Kindness and Generosity!

Mommies have been blown away by all of the kindness and generosity we've experienced since Tommy was born.  We have been so blessed by having so many friends and family who want to come meet him, and they've been incredibly generous with gifts for not only Tommy, but also for me!  (this is Maggie writing this one, in case you couldn't tell!)  :)  Many work friends and other friends that mommies have had for a long time have made a point to come see us and meet the newest member of our family!  Here are some pictures of a few of our visitors and some of the kind gifts they've given to me and my brother!

Mommy Tina's friend Jason from work meeting Tommy for the first time.



I was at school when Mommy met Jason, but he sent her home with some amazing big sister gifts for me!  This is a picture of me opening some Hello Kitty stickers!

Checking out my new Dora microphone from Jason.

Later that week, Mommies' friend Kim came over to visit and she brought me some special princess gifts!

It's hard to tell in the picture, but this container had all of the different Disney princesses in it.

The princesses wouldn't be complete without a mode of transportation, so she brought me a carriage that turns into a pumpkin!

I spent the rest of the night and the next morning toting the carriage and princesses all over the house!  :)

Lance's mom Jeannie made bibs for me when I was younger, and now she's made some adorable ones for Tommy!  She also got him the cutest monkey outfit!  We can't wait to try out the bibs!  (Mommies both LOVE the John Deere one ... so cute!)