Our Payneful Memories

Joel

2008-07-16T22:57:00.000-04:00

Aren't they cute?

2008-07-13T23:09:00.002-04:00

Here's a bunch of photos I snapped of Joel the other week. He is growing out of his stinky, fussy stage. He's still not much for giggling, but we're working on it.

And here is Samuel watching a video on the computer. He is biting the computer - weird!

Clowning Around

2008-07-11T22:39:00.002-04:00

Whew, it is HOT here! We have been outside in the pool every day this week. Ed discovered the mist feature on our hose today and had a great time spraying Samuel down. Here they are playing around:

Ed's mom came for a short visit this week before leaving the country. Here she is with the boys:

Samuel loves to play Settlers of Catan. Here he is puzzling over a Development Card:

And Joel's new favorite way to lay around. He sucks on one hand and rubs the back of his head with the other. Very cute!

New Clothes

2008-07-10T17:12:00.004-04:00

A big thanks to Ed's co-worker Khan for the cute new outfits. She got two polos for Samuel and two polos and a pair of khaki overalls for Joel. They are adorable!! We are also enjoying the outfits my extended family bought back when Joel was born. I requested summer clothes in 3-6 months for Joel and they are just perfect! What fun!

What loser...

2008-07-09T23:19:00.003-04:00

What loser doesn't post on their blog for two weeks even though she has two adorable kids and a new house to show off!!

Here is my attempt at getting back into the blogging world.

First, a cute video taken during our carride to Indiana a few weekends ago:

Second, Samuel and his friend Abbie from our new church family. We try to get together once a week for play date:

As you can see, Samuel loves to laugh with Abbie. She is almost exactly one year older than him. They are the "big kids" at church (it's just them plus three babies). Everytime we say we're going to see the church, Samuel says "Abbie Church". I'm sure he'll eventually figure out the Jesus thing, but for now, Sundays are all about Abbie!

Fun Summer Treats

2008-06-27T16:11:00.002-04:00

We've been enjoying the great weather here in Chicago. Here's Samuel eating his first fudgecicle (he had JUST woke up for his nap, so his face is a little scrunchy):

We've also taken refuge at the library during the heat of the day. We can walk one block south to the library and they have a great children's play area (and some books too!). Here is Samuel building a block tower (note Joel sitting in the chair in the background):

We also purchased a plastic kiddy pool at Menard's yesterday for $4. We put the $5 garage-sale find climber my mom gave Samuel into it and he had a BLAST. He played for hours on end. He even went out this morning while Ed was taking out the trash and went straight into the pool in his diaper and pajamas!!

Promises, Promises

2008-06-24T15:56:00.002-04:00

Soo, I know I keep saying that the house is almost done, and we honestly believe that we are so close. BUT, we are still without carpet! Our carpet was originally supposed to be installed last Monday. They have since cancelled on us Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and again yesterday!! Can you believe it?! We were ready to just say no deal, but they keep knocking $300 off the price, so we can hardly walk away now. Ed told the guy it was going to be free by the time things were said and done. It is supposedly coming tomorrow morning. We'll see if that happens or not.

In the meantime, our plumbing job wasn't so "plumb" and now we have water leaking out of our new dishwasher. We don't know whether it is a problem with the way things were hooked up or if we just have bad pipes. Oh, the joys of homeownership.

Last weekend the drywall guy brought his two kids to the house with him. Ed took pity on them and brought them over to our old house to play with Samuel. They went to the park, ate a snack and lunch, and played toys with Sam. I think we ended up watching them for about 4 hours. Here they are in the living room:

I am also having a terrible time with Joel and his sleep habits. Now, I fully admit that is is 99% my fault. He pretty much has to be held to sleep.

And he is sleeping with us at night. Our crib is still not put together (waiting on the carpet guys) and so Samuel is sleeping in the pack n' play. This leaves Joel with no bed to sleep in. I'm at a loss as to what to do about things. Our doc said to wait until 4 months to go with Cry It Out. Any great suggestions? Please give me practical, step-by-step advice if you have any. I've gone back and read all of the most popular books on the subject, but don't feel like I walk away with concrete steps. Let me know...

We're getting there...

2008-06-19T15:29:00.004-04:00

Well, after much work, we are ALMOST to the end of things.
My mom is anxious to see the new countertop, so these are just a few quick pics. And of course I had to throw in some of Joel as well. A more thorough update should be up tonight. Thanks!

Incomunicado

2008-06-10T15:34:00.004-04:00

Hey all...this is just a SUPER brief post to say that we are WITHOUT internet or phone for awhile. Our Comcast was cut last week and our new AT&T starts this week, but we are not moving into the new house for another week or so. Ugh!! We were expecting to be in the new house by now with phone and internet, but alas, that was not in the cards. The short version is...

We decided to remove the wall between the living room and kitchen in the new house. Once we took out the wall, we realized that there would be three types of flooring coming together in the middle - not exactly pretty. We decided to go ahead and take up the carpet in the living room (hardwood underneath), chip off the parkay (spelling?) flooring in the hallway (hardwood underneath), and rip up the linoleum (spelling?) in the kitchen. Once we ripped up the kitchen floor, we decided we should go ahead and get new kitchen cabinets now instead of later, so we gutted the kitchen. I mean, literally gutted the whole thing! (I will include pics as soon as my mom sends them to me - mom, send me the pics!) So now we are at least on the upswing of things. Today we have the wall all patched and plastered, the kitchen wall prepped for new cabinets, the kitchen floor installed and the whole first floor hardwoods sanded. Here are the few pics I have on my computer - some before, mid, and current status shots. Definitely more photos to come as the work progresses. We plan on moving in next Tuesday after the kitchen is done and the new carpet is layed upstairs.

I promise to get back in touch with everyone and update my blogs - three of them to maintain! - as soon as we get into the new house and have reliable internet access.

Warning: Construction Zone

2008-06-06T08:19:00.005-04:00

Our big news for the week - we closed on our house on Monday and have been busy, busy, busy every day working on project after project. Our projects include - painting, refinishing floors, laying new floor in the kitchen, knocking out a wall, replacing a banister & laying new carpet. Here are a few pics of the progress: I'm not in any of the pictures because my job has been to entertain the boys back at the old house all week. Between wet paint, dust flying, & power tools, we thought it best not to have Samuel & Joel at the new house. We've kept busy here. It has been really HOT, so we've spent time in just diapers (well, the boys have, not me!). And Joel has learned how to smile! He gives these big, open-mouth grins that are hilarious.

Wake Forest: Part Four

2008-06-05T09:30:00.004-04:00

Another great visit we had in Wake Forest was with our friends Steve & Kristi. Ed met both of them in the gym during his first week of Seminary almost 4 years ago. Since then, Steve & Kristi have had 3 boys and we've had 2. Here we are sitting on their front porch:

Samuel had a blast playing with their older two. Jacob is 3 and Isaac is almost 2 - he was born just a couple of weeks before Samuel. They also have a baby Samuel who was born just a few weeks behind Joel. What a bunch of boys!

Wake Forest: Part Three

2008-06-01T20:53:00.008-04:00

One of the highlights of our visit to NC was meeting up with my old colleagues from Franklin Academy. Christina & Margaret were both 6th grade teachers at FA, where I taught Spanish. Christina wasn't even married yet when I first met her (she got married over Fall trackout of that year). The next school year we were all pregnant at the same time with our first babies, along with friends Krista and Jennifer. Here we are at our 5-way baby shower in the spring of 2006: All three of us were pregnant with our second babies at the same time as well! Now we have expanded from 3 to 9!! Wow! Here we are (Leah w/ Samuel & Joel, Christina w/ Will & Adeline, and Margaret w/ Meredith & Jonathan): Samuel had a great time playing with Will (well, with Will's toys to be more exact!). It was pretty funny to see the two of them interact. They both learned a new word: Share. They were sitting on the floor taking a toy back and forth between them saying "Share." And they were competing over the red Pottery Barn chair and the little chair at the coloring table. If one was sitting on the red chair, the other would run in and sit on the little chair and vice versa. Pretty cute. Here they are together: They did have fun together though. They loved chasing each other around the house:

And the funniest part of all is that when we got home I noticed that Samuel had a new toy. He STOLE Will's Little People toy from their house!! (Note to Christina: this will be going in the mail back to you this week!). Here is a little video of Samuel with what is known as "Wa Toe" (Will's Toy) around our house:

Wake Forest: Part Two

2008-05-30T22:13:00.002-04:00

We visited with so many friends while we were in NC. Here we are over at Meg's house with her son Asher. He was just a little guy when we left last July; I can't believe how big he's gotten! Check out those curls:

We also went over to visit with our friends Rob & Brandi. Brandi is Samuel's best girlfriend and I really think he remembered her in some way. He went crazy over their dog, Emme, as well - cute little video of them to come later. Here he is with his new camo baseball mitt that Rob & Brandi bought for him:

Isn't this the cutest photo?:

Wake Forest: Part One

2008-05-27T22:28:00.004-04:00

So, if you didn't notice, 10 days passed by without a single post on here. That's because we were on vacation in Wake Forest - what a blast! We had so much fun seeing old friends and catching up with everyone. I took a bunch of pics, so I'm going to space them out over the next few days. We spent the majority of the week with our friends Rusty & Jessica. They have a new baby, Andrew, who we got to meet as well. Thanks R&J for your hospitality! We flew in on Saturday, May 17. The next morning we went to Messiah Baptist Church - our church home & family. We hadn't seen them in almost 10 months. What a great reunion it was! Both boys went straight to someone else's arms and stayed there the whole meeting. Both of them actually slept through the meeting b/c they were so wiped out from our travel day on Saturday. But as soon as it was over, they were up and at 'em. Samuel went crazy over all the fun boys there were to play with. And Joel got in plenty of snuggles. We stayed after and ate lunch with everyone. It was so great to be back. Here is a video clip of just how wound up Samuel was:

Beef, It's not just what's for dinner

2008-05-27T17:40:00.002-04:00

It's also Jo-Jo's new nickname: Beefy!! We went to his 2-month check up today and he weighed in at a big, ol' 12 pounds, 9.4 ounces! That is a weight gain of almost 6 pounds in 2 months! He is 22" long, 2 1/2 inches longer than birth. He is in the 25th percentile for height and weight and the 50th percentile for head circumference. Beefy indeed!

What a Good Daddy

2008-05-14T23:47:00.002-04:00

I can't say enough how big of a help Ed is around the house and with the boys. It is so great to get to spend so much time together as a family. I know that our boys will grow up with many, many fond memories of their daddy. Here is Ed with the boys on a recent morning. He let me sleep in a little and then eat my breakfast in peace. Aren't they a handsome trio?:

I had both boys the next morning and here's what they were up to:

And here is our little fatty:

We are so blessed as a family and we thank God each day for it. Actually, we are thanking God a lot these days - Samuel has taken to asking to pray about a million times a day! He will put his hands together and bow his head and say "pray, pray". Instead of laughing him off, we all bow our heads and send up a little prayer for whoever pops into our heads. FYI - Krista, Christina, Jessica, Auntie Liz, Aaron & Jen - you have all been prayed for today!!

Baby Jo-Jo

2008-05-12T00:46:00.002-04:00

Oh, our sweet baby Jo-Jo. We just love him to pieces. He is usually called "Baby Joel" or Jo-Jo around the house. He is sweet natured and loves to be held. His favorite place to be is in the sling, snuggled up to mommy. He cries in the evenings when he isn't hungry but tired but is too stubborn to fall asleep. He loves his daddy best. He is the only one worthy enough to receive a "lippy kiss" from Samuel - anyone else can only get "hugs". He is growing like a weed and will soon need to move up to the next size of clothes. He hates riding in the car. He has no idea what sleeping through the night means. He is really soft. He hates the bath but loves to get in the shower. He is just a super-duper, God-given gift and we love him SO much!

Warm Weather has Arrived!!

2008-05-05T22:32:00.004-04:00

We are pleased to announce that warm weather has finally arrived in Chicago! We have been outside non-stop for the past two days, soaking in all the warm weather we can. We went to the lake (Lake Michigan for those geographically-challenged) and enjoyed some time on the beach on Sunday afternoon. And we played at the park both in the morning and again in the afternoon today. We have been grilling out and all-around enjoying the nice weather. We also signed a contract today to purchase a new home!! Unless something goes south during the home inspection or closing, we will be first-time homeowners in just a few short weeks! We are SUPER excited. The house is a 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom Cape Cod on a basement. It is exactly 5 minutes from Ed's work to our front door. And we are only 7 houses down from the neighborhood park. It is just perfect for us! Here is a picture of our (hopefully) new abode:

Samuel continues to change each day. He is talking more and more and is really getting into playing games with us. He is putting together phrases and sentences like crazy. And he still loves to be silly. Here he is surprising Ed:

And Samuel's favorite thing continues to be: DIGGERS. He is crazy about all things construction. We took him up to Ed's work on Saturday to see the digger they currently have in the warehouse. Samuel was so excited to touch all the parts and sit in the driver's seat. (PS, Samuel also got to play a ton on my Grandpa's diggers and tractors the other week, but my MOM has those photos and I haven't gotten them yet!). Here is Samuel enjoying the digger:

Joel is growing by leaps and bounds. He is still eating about every 1.5 to 2 hours during the day. I am really trying to stretch him out to 3 hours because I am getting TIRED, but he is a real horse and likes to eat! He got a new pair of shoes this past weekend and I am just crazy about them. So cute!! These are my best attempts at taking his picture. He kept falling over!

And finally, here we are enjoying the lake on Sunday. Samuel LOVED to dig in the dirt. And Joel LOVED laying around, nursing! (Go figure!). Thank God for nursing covers! (PS, Ed was with us, too, but he was the photog

In the Zone

2008-05-02T12:26:00.002-04:00

Ed and Samuel were sitting on the couch watching a video yesterday. Ed got my attention so I would look and see how "in the zone" Samuel was. About 5 minutes later I looked over and had to laugh because they were both definitely "in the zone". Here's the pic I snapped on the sly:

Oh the Misery!

2008-04-29T17:01:00.003-04:00

Did you know - it SNOWED here in Chicago yesterday!! It was horribly depressing because we thought Spring had arrived in the Midwest. But, OH NO, it just HAD to snow again! Luckily nothing stuck and it is sunny again today (but cold - like 37 degrees!).

Here are a few pics to brighten up the day.

Samuel sporting the new poncho his Grandma P made:

Samuel got his hair buzzed for the first time. He did really well and I was able to cut it to look pretty cute. I did a 5 guard on the back and sides and a 7 guard on top. Here is the before shot:

And the after:

Ed took this great picture of Samuel yesterday. This is how much fun we have ALL day:

Auntie Liz sent the boys some awesome presents yesterday. Samuel got this great wooden Farm puzzle - he loves it! He ran over and got his tractor yesterday to play with while he looked at the puzzle. He likes to point to the cows and say "Moo". Then he points to their udders and says "Milk". I swear I don't remember teaching this to him - I'm not sure where he learned it.

Here is our sweetie, Joel. He is sporting the cutie shirt that Auntie Liz sent him - thank you! He is just so adorable and a real chunk! Ed wants to take him up to work and weigh him on the scales because we swear he is gaining so much weight each day. We also think he has a hint of red in his hair. Can you see it?

Update on Us

2008-04-25T19:16:00.003-04:00

Hi all! I realize I haven't been updating as often as I'd like. I guess things are a little busier around here than I thought! Here's what's new with us:
Ed: Ed is teaching Sunday School at our Sunday meetings now. He is teaching through the book of Deuteronomy. It has been really interesting and everyone seems to enjoy the lessons. We've been able to have a lot of good discussions in class. Ed loves being able to study each week to prepare for the lesson.
Leah: I am learning to juggle life at home with two boys. I love this job very much - and a lot of times I have to remind myself that it is my job and I need to do my very best. I go for my 6 week post-partum checkup on Tuesday. If I get the all clear from the doctor, then I can start exercising and hopefully shed some of this baby weight. I figure with the nice weather and Samuel to chase around it shouldn't be too difficult.
Samuel: He loves the dirt! From the time he gets up until he goes to bed, Samuel asks to go "side" (outside) and play in the dirt. He loves to dig and collect rocks. He also loves his new brother and gives him kisses throughout the day.
Joel: He is getting to be such a big boy already. It is amazing how quickly he is growing. He is still eating every 2 hours or so during the day and every 3-4 hours at night. I am trying to work him into more of a set schedule, but he apparently needs a little more time.
Our Family: We put an offer in on a house! We found one that we really love that is only about 4 minutes from Ed's work. We put an offer in yesterday and are waiting to hear back. We (especially me) are SUPER anxious to hear what the counter-offer will be. Please pray that we would be able to get this house. Also, we are gearing up for our first vacation as a family of four. We are flying down to Wake Forest May 17-26 to visit with our WF church family. We are SO excited to see all of our friends and show off our boys.
Here are a few pictures for you to keep you updated:
Grandpa Gary talking to Joel:

Grandma Carol showing off her slingin' skills:

Joel's first bathtime experience:

Samuel got a new ball cap for the warm weather:

Can you tell what he's saying? DIRT!

Play, play, play:

Dig, dig, dig:

What a cutie! And what a big boy he is getting to be:

Samuel just LOVES the dirt:

Photos from Grandma's Camera

2008-04-19T22:40:00.002-04:00

I found a bunch of cute pics on my mom's camera that I hadn't seen before. Enjoy!

What a fattie!

2008-04-15T15:22:00.002-04:00

We just returned from Joel's 1 month checkup. As a reminder, he was 6lbs,10oz and 19.75" long when he was born. Today he weighed 8lbs,12oz. and was 20.25" long. That's a weight gain of 2lbs,2oz in just 4 weeks!! What a chunk!

To answer a question in the comments from my previous post, I am still nursing Joel on demand. He usually nurses every 1-2 hours during the day. Then he usually has 2 4-hour stretches at night between feedings. We are working our way into a 3-hour schedule during the day, but he's not there yet. He also does not like his pacis (unlike his brother) so it's a little harder to stretch him out from feeding to feeding.

G&G Seitz are here for a visit this week, so we'll have pictures coming soon.

I Love My Boys

2008-04-14T23:24:00.005-04:00

Life is so fun with two boys. And let me just say that I *heart* rummage sales. We found a great one in Wilmette on Saturday. We got a TON of toys for Samuel for just $1.25!! We have them all in the trunk of the car and are waiting to get them out little by little. He LOVES the construction set we got. He plays with it from the moment he gets up until bedtime. He can work all the parts really well. Ed loves the set too - he plays with it after Samuel goes to bed! Samuel loves to carry the little construction man around - he can even say "man" now. Samuel also loves to sit on my lap while I nurse Joel. One of the photos below shows him sitting on my lap looking at the computer during a nursing session. Joel is getting fat! He is nursing ALL the time and is really plumping up. We just love him to pieces! Here are some snapshots from this weekend:

A Walk in the Park

2008-04-10T21:22:00.002-04:00

We had pretty nice weather last weekend and decided to take a family stroll though the forest preserve down the street. Samuel, on the other hand, had different plans. He absolutely did not want to ride in the stroller. He wanted to be down and wandering in the trees. Ed and I (with Joel) ended up sitting on the side of the bike path the whole time. A nice family (from the Ukraine incidentally) walked by and the mom said she just had to snap a photo for us. She e-mailed these two to us. What a cutie!