Lately in Our Crazy

Lately in our Crazy

So I have no self-control when it comes to cute pictures, so I've probably shared some of these on Facebook already.  However, since life (and the blog) have been full of craziness and big things, let's get back to the down and dirty everyday junk and little things that are the bulk of life here.

Now that I'm more recovered we've been trying to get out and walk to pick up Matthew from school.  We picked up a handy dandy Inspector-gadget-esque stroller for two.  Most of the time we can snap John's carseat on top and Catherine rides underneath (I'll get a picture eventually, it's weird but she loves it).  

 One day we tried John lying flat on the bottom and Catherine riding on top.  He needed bundled in his bear suit, which is adorable on him.  Thanks Mas and Pas!

 Speaking of the holidays, Catherine and I snuck away one afternoon to visit Catherine's favorite princess (okay technically queen) Elsa and Olaf.  She was leery at first but agreed to take a picture with me and luckily we ran into friends willing to grab the camera!

 After we chatted for a while Catherine was willing to go take a picture all by herself!  The gal playing Elsa was super sweet, but also kept complaining she was cold.  She didn't make a very convincing ice queen!

Catherine LOVES her little brother, but I think the addition of John and Matthew going off to school have thrown her for a loop so getting out with "just" her was quite a treat.  (John slept the whole time on my chest so it could at least feel like just me and her.)  We even took some time to window shop any store she saw with Christmas lights and then she wanted lots and lots of pictures taken.  She would have had me take pictures with just about every santa she saw if I had been willing.  

John woke up when we got back to the car.  While we fed and burped Catherine kept herself occupied taking pictures.  Such an adorable little monkey. 

When we got home I attempted some sibling photos (none of which are really my favorite due to a combination of crazy older siblings, cranky baby and slowly losing my light. My favorite sibling pic wouldn't come until weeks later, but these are still priceless.  

Love this goofy kid.  From what I can tell when I visit the class, he is one of the calmer boys in his class.  He must save it up for when he gets home because he is now a cacophony of random noises combined with absolute, constant motion.  Getting a non-silly, still photo of him is very rare, even if this was the result of him literally bouncing into my photo experimenting uninvited!

 Most attempts at photos involve one, two or all three kids with weird eyes :-)

 This is technically not a great photo and John is crying but I love it!

 Silly big sibs!

 Catherine really wanted to hold John, but still giggles uncontrollably and freaks out anytime he moves - and he is a very squirmy baby!

And though I posted most of my solo pics of John in a previous post, here was Catherine's photobomb.  John was done with pictures by the time Catherine got her dress on but she did show up in time for a quick photobomb.  It's one of my favorite outtakes.  

 This was our first weekend without extra help at the house and then the next week it was time for me to do it all on my own.  We kicked off our week by returning to our normal playgroup.  We were meeting at the Museum so John got to visit with the dinos.  He mostly slept the whole time, got passed around a tiny bit and then went back to sleep!

In a previous post I explained *why* we were so busy, but here's what we were doing.  Tuesday John participated in his first (well techincally second as he attended our clothing drive as well) while we packed kidspacks for the foodbank.  John slept through it while Catherine worked with her preschool buddies.  She has a great class this year and it was the perfect project for preschoolers.  That week, we then learned about forest fires with the Forest Service and met Smokey the Bear.  Catherine loves the idea of Smokey the Bear but in person she was still a little leery.

 John is settling into a good routine, and isn't so much a morning person.  I can totally relate.

 Some of it might have to do with a big sister who bounds in for cuddles and is constantly saying "take my picture with baby John!"

 John began giving us smiles recently, they are fairly elusive when the camera comes out so we have tons of pics in our photo stream of this very serious face!

 And this bah humbug face as we got ready to head to our cookie exchange and his third service project!

Though while he was sleeping in his adorable reindeer sleeper I couldn't help but try a few pictures before we headed out.  Though I didn't quite hit the "concept" I was trying for (how pretentious does that sound?!?!?!) it's a super cute sleeping baby and then Catherine came in for a picture of course!

In addition to avoiding sitting at home worrying about John's health, I've also been trying to get back to our playgroups for Catherine's sake.  It took me a while to realize that while she was always my outgoing, non-clingy kid, most of her confidence was somewhat related to Matthew always being around.  Without him she's having to re-navigate our social circles and has become very clingy so the more we see the same friends the better she's doing and the more time I get to visit with friends.

John generally sits with James for breakfast and the morning paper.  Of course Catherine is nearby trying to get her hands on him!

 As part of our cookie exchange, we were able to attend the dress rehearsal of the local Symphony.  John of course slept through it!  The kids really enjoyed it, even though Matthew was quite concerned that they had forgotten the words to the Grinch song (it was a comedic spoof!)  We even ran into Santa on our way out!

On the way home we stopped at Home Depot for a special holiday decoration.  It was on sale and seemed fitting since this seems to be the year of Star Wars at our house.  The kids love it!

 Catherine hanging out with Daddy:

 And the very hard to catch on film Matthew!  Because he's off at school and our weekday evenings are pretty regimented and crazy, I don't get as many pics of him anymore.

Since Amma found him these Darth Vader PJs he has hardly taken them off!  Here he is showing off the red light saber he made with legos.  Given how often he likes to use his PJ shirt as a "mask" it's wonder he hasn't taken a stumble or two down the stairs.