Snow Day

In honor of the snow we got yesterday (we have been watching too much Frozen - it has caused Columbus to be in an Eternal Winter.  Spring, where are you??), I will share some of our snow pictures from January and February.

Last winter Eliana hated the snow and sledding.  She would cry if it got on her gloves or shoes.  This winter, however, she has learned the joy of playing in the snow, making snowmen, and sledding.  Which is really good since this winter is neverending! 

We brought some snow inside to play with when it was too cold to go outside.  I filled up William's little bathtub and let Eliana have fun with some of her sandbox toys.

She thought it was pretty cool to have snow (which belongs outside) in our kitchen!

On slightly warmer days, we actually went outside.  I knew that little hill in our backyard would be a hit this winter!

So excited!  We built a little snowman named Olaf.  He likes warm hugs.

If you look closely, you can see the tail Eliana added.

Sledding down the little hill in the backyard.  One time Eliana asked if I wanted to go sledding.  I tried, but for some reason I couldn't make it down the tiny hill in the tiny purple sled. :)

It was like mountain climbing for Eliana to make it up the hill.  She was dressed in very thick snow pant and boots, which impaired her movement in the first place.  Then add 7 inches of snow, and Eliana would often need help or have to crawl up on her hands and knees.

One of her favorite activities: eating "ice cream"

I had sooo much fun playing with Eliana in the snow.  I love seeing her discover new things.  Her eyes would be shining with excitement and her cheeks pink from the cold while she squealed with joy.  She came up with lots of creative things to do like sliding down the hill on her belly, throwing snow in the air and shouting "Make Believe!", and making tons of snow angels.  After playing outside, we would come in and drink hot chocolate.  Sometimes being a mom is the absolute best job in the world!!  I wonder if she will remember these moments?  I know I will always treasure them.

And where was William while we were playing in our winter wonderland?

my sweet little baby taking a nap

I also love looking at my sleeping babies (my little one and my big girl).  Am I the only mom who sneaks into her children's rooms at night to watch them sleep?  They are so precious. 

8 months old

I can hardly believe William is 8 months old!  Wasn't he just born??  My bathroom scale said he was 20lbs.  He is an eating machine!  I have not found a food he doesn't like.  I thought for a minute that he didn't like broccoli, but that was a very short phase.  By the second time he tried it, he was gobbling it up like everything else.  Back at the beginning of the month, William had 2 teeth on the bottom but was working on four more on the top.  We went through a bad sleep strike for about two weeks while he was working on those.  Last week all four came through in a matter of days!  I would probably be cranky too if I had to cut four teeth through my sensitive gums.  The nice thing about the second baby is that your realize that "this too shall pass."  I remember with Eliana, I felt like every time she went through a rough patch with sleeping was the end of the world.  I could never figure out why she wasn't sleeping and would be pulling my hair out with stress and fatigue.  When William wasn't sleeping, I was definitely cranky and tired, but I also probably correctly guessed from the beginning that it was from his teeth.  So I didn't stress out about it so much because I knew that he would get better once he got those four teeth through.  He is doing much better now.  In fact, he has slept through the night two out of the last three nights! 
William is not mobile yet.  He can spin in circles, roll all over the place, and manages to get into every corner of his crib, but he isn't crawling yet.  He is getting close though!  A couple of times I have seen him trying to get on his knees.  He can't push himself all the way up quite yet, but I know it won't be long.  I am not looking forward to babyproofing again.  What am I going to do about the stairs to the basement?!  Or all of Eliana's small toys?  Maybe William can just slow down and stop growing up into this little boy that I see every day now instead of my tiny baby. 

He cracks me up!

Two teeth!

My mom gave William a cookie to celebrate being 8 months old.  She claimed it was just like a teething biscuit.

I think he liked it.

TBT: William's baptism

Throw Back Thursday:  Remember way back in October when our sweet little William was baptized and became a new little member of the Catholic Church?  I know, long time ago.  But I thought you would enjoy these pictures.  William was baptized at St. Brendan's Catholic Church by Deacon Doug along with two other babies.  My brother Michael and sister Abby are his Godparents.  William was awake but pretty calm for the sacrament.   One thing I did notice was that the chrism oil St. B uses is not nearly as fragrant as the oil used at St. John's.  I missed the long lasting smell that Eliana had when she was baptized.  No matter though.  What a blessing to have God's grace poured upon our son, and have him initiated into the Church.  It was a great day for our family!

He looks excited.  I forgot how little he was back then!

David's mom gave me David's baptismal outfit but our big guy was a little too big.  So he got a fancy new outfit to wear.  I thought the hat was really cute, but it might be just a little over the top. 

He didn't even cry!  Just surprised.

Eliana was very curious about baptism.  She asked a lot of questions like why William needed to be baptized.  She also asked who else had been baptized ("Mom, will you be baptized?  Will Dad?...").  She also had a hard time at first knowing that she had been baptized, but once she accepted that fact, then she told me that she remembered it (she was 6 weeks old).

William with his Godmother Abby.

So photogenic

Welcome to the Church!

We had a small party at our house after the baptism.  Eliana and William with David's side of the family.

William saying a prayer with Grandmama

My mom and William.

He looks so tiny in my dad's arms.

My heart said I love you

Friday was not a very good day in the Bond household.  Eliana has given up napping entirely.  We try to have "quite time" each day, but that is a struggle.  William is teething and going through separation anxiety and is an 8 month old baby, so who knows what's going on with him.  But he has not been sleeping well lately either.  Besides getting up all night long, on Friday, he took a 15 min nap in the morning and a 30 min nap in the afternoon.  In between, there was a lot of crying and holding.  So I was extremely cranky and not at my parenting best.  I had been short with Eliana all day and was making her go to time out for any little thing.  Finally I was able to get William to go down for another nap late in the afternoon.  When I came out of his room, Eliana was building a tower.  She said, "Mom, I built this tower for you to say 'I love you.'  See the flower on top?  My heart said I love you so I built this tower."  Oh Eliana!  I gave her a big hug and cried and said I love you too.  How did she know that was just what I needed even though I had been so cross with her all day?  (To me, this is a reflection of God's love - no matter how we much we fight with Him, he is always ready to turn around and say "I love you."  There is sweet Eliana, teaching me things every day). 

Eliana gave him a hat :)

Playing Jumping Jack in the fort.

7 months old, one month ago

What is that sister of mine doing?

 About a month ago William turned 7 months old!  Since I didn't post anything for the entire month of February, I am sure you were anxiously awaiting these pictures.  Finally, here is our handsome man at 7 months old!  All of the following updates are from a month ago...
According to my bathroom scale, William was 19.5lbs.  That's a full pound heavier than Eliana was at the same age.  He is our big boy!  He loves to eat all things, edible or not.  His favorite seems to be paper, followed closely by squash and sweet potatoes.  He can sit up, but not very well, so I try to stay close when he is sitting up to prevent too many crashes to the floor.  He really likes his exersaucer and walker.  He is still taking two to three naps a day and usually gets up 1 to 3 times a night.  Check out that hair!  It is really starting to grow in!

Christmas in March

Two kids with a 3 year old that doesn't nap = very little time for blogging.  Now I am playing catch up.  I hope you don't mind a little Christmas in March.  At least here, there is plenty of snow so that helps with the Christmas-y mood.  Warning - Christmas overload! 

We got to hang up one more stocking this year!

Cuties!

My friend Morgan invited a houseful of kids over for a gingerbread house decorating party.  Eliana decorated a gingerbread man.  It was hard to decorate though because all of the candies on her plate kept getting eaten before they made it on the man.  Hmm, who would be stealing those candies, I wonder?

Eliana and Adele.  Morgan is so brave.  Imagine 20 children under the age of 6 running around your house after eating gingerbread cookies and candy!

We went to Indianapolis for Christmas.  Eliana helped decorate the tree.  You could tell she did most of the decorating because the majority of the ornaments were no more than 3 feet off the ground.

William sat in his bumbo watching Eliana work.  Looks like he is having fun!

Christmas at the Flanigans.

While opening presents, Eliana got a little tired or overwhelmed, and went off to the den to play with the little people all by herself.  She was as happy as could be!

William with his Godmother.

And more presents!  Michael and Melissa opening gifts with William and Eliana.

Love!

My mom holding William, who is wearing Eliana's sheep hat.

Christmas at the Bonds.

Eliana opening presents with her Godfather and with Aunt Rhonda.  She got a Frozen book, which she reads all the time!  We are big time into Frozen at this house.  The soundtrack plays constantly, and the snowman in our backyard is named Olaf.

William with Grandpa.

So cute!  Eliana got a princess dress-up box from Uncle Roger and Hannah, which she immediately picked out a princess outfit to wear.  Then she came over to Aunt Rhonda to give Medusa, the doggie, a big hug.  She is so sweet!

We spent about a week in Indianapolis visiting family and friends.  The kids and I went early while David stayed behind in Columbus to work.  Eliana started out the trip sick, then I got it, and then William did.  We were very nice house guests to have!  By the time David joined us, I think we were all feeling much better.  All of our Christmas celebrations were before Christmas though because David and I both worked on Christmas day.  We left the kids in Indy with my folks, drove back to Columbus to work, and then David went back to Indy to collect Eliana and William to bring them home.  The most important thing about Christmas though, I think, is being with family, and not the date.  So even though we were working on Dec 25th, I still had a great Christmas vacation with my family and David's family.  Luckily right now the kids don't know the difference either.  Hope your holidays were spent with those you love!