November Pictures and Highlights

November Highlights:

• We went to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago for a family fun day. Brett slept through most of the adventure, but was wide eyed and fascinated for the dolphin show. Jack loved the aquarium. He has always loved ocean creatures. His very first "favorite toy" was the sea turtle on his play gym.
• Brett has become the happiest, smiley-est baby around! Usually, anytime he has a full belly and a dry diaper, he is smiling at whoever will look at him!
• Jack definitely exercises his right to be a toddler lately. Sometimes he is hilarious with the thoughts he has and the way he jokes, other times he drives his mom and dad bananas with his trying to be in control. Overall, he is a great kid and very sweet.
• We went to two birthday parties this month - Jack's friend Thomas's and cousin Kyle's.
• Jack has enjoyed having his mom home more and has gotten to go to story hour at the library and play group once a week.
• Jack got to go to two football playoff games with his dad and Grandpa G, and both boys went to a basketball game to watch daddy ref.
• Brett continues to earn his nickname Chunky Monkey - he is an absolute chunk and eats like a champ!

Jack - 3 years

• Jack is one of the sweetest little boys I have ever seen. A couple weeks ago I heard him say to a little girl at the McDonald's play area, "Do you want to be my friend?" He genuinely is concerned about other people's feelings and tries hard to make everyone feel happy.
• Jack is also one of the most stubborn little boys I have ever seen. We had to start setting the timer for his time outs because if we didn't, he would spend the entire day in time out before he would agree to talk about the issue. He also always wants to argue his side and always wants the last word. This does not go over well with either of his parents.
• Jack is very well-rounded. He loves to play sports of any kind. He is very athletic and can already throw and catch a football well, hit a baseball, and play badminton. He will run around for as long as we let him. We have yet to figure out how long he would run for if we didn't tell him it was time to go inside - we have yet to have that much time. He loves animals of all kinds, but especially ocean creatures. We recently took him to the Shedd Aquarium and he was amazed. He loves to read books and will bring me sometimes as many as a dozen books in a row and want me to read them to him. I have overheard him "reading" books to himself before and it is so cute. He is very musical. He sings, dances, and plays toy instruments. He already knows the names of songs and the artists that sing them on the radio. He tells us his "girlfriend" is Taylor Swift and he would like to invite her over for dinner. When I asked him what we should serve her for dinner he replied, "Hot dogs, mashed potatoes, and green peas." At least it is a well balanced meal...
• Jack has been potty training for 5 months now. This is where his stubborn side shows up again. He will go 2 or 3 weeks with no accidents and then have a week of nothing but accidents. His mother is at the end of her rope with the situation, which is probably why he keeps doing it.
• When Jack says, "Will you play with me, Mama?" he sounds so cute that I can never say no. I will stop whatever I am doing and play for at least a minute or two. I think he has figured this out, but I don't really care.
• Jack loves to know the details of our schedule. He always wants to know what we are doing all day and who will be there. He will keep asking about what we are doing until he has covered our entire week. He completely gets this trait from his mother, who has to have a planner even while on maternity leave.

Brett - 10 weeks

• Brett has definitely earned his nickname of "Chunky Monkey." At his 2 month checkup he weighed in at 13 lbs 2 oz. He has already outgrown most of the hand-me-down Christmas outfits and it isn't even Thanksgiving yet!
• Brett has the cutest one sided grin I have ever seen.
• Brett is refusing to develop any kind of routine. I think he secretly loves that his schedule-oriented mom can never guess when he is going to want to eat or how much. He will eat anywhere from 3 oz to 7 oz in a feeding and will go anywhere from 2 to 8 hours between feedings.
• Brett is a bit of a home-body. He gets this from his mom. His happiest days seem to be when we pretty much stay at home and he gets to hang out with his mama all day.
• Brett is going to be a blankie boy. He cannot sleep unless he is wrapped up in a big soft balnket. When he is a little fussy, if he can get his hands on a blanket, he usually quiets right down.
• Brett also desperately wants to be a thumb sucker. His mom desperately wants him not to be. I would much rather that he have a pacifier, since you can take a pacifier away when you need to break the habit. You cannot (at least legally or ethically) take a thumb away. However, he will spit his pacifier out and try his darndest to get that thumb in his mouth. When he manages to connect thumb to mouth, he looks so darn proud of himself and content that, despite his mom's reservations about thumb sucking, she can't resist letting him enjoy his accomplishment.

Family Pictures

The good and the bad of family pictures...

• I love that my kids are wearing my favorite outfits (although this year we let Jack pick his own outfit).
• I love the poses they put my kids in because I never see them like that at any other time.
• I love that there is always at least one shot that I absolutely love.
• I hate that they are always running late so that by the time they call us for our turn one of my kids has either had a melt down or gotten their clothes dirty (although I complained enough this time that I got a bunch of stuff free).
• I hate that the spontaneous smiles I get fifty times a day at home I can never seem to get in the studio.
• I hate that I stress out so much about my kids staying clean and smiling on cue, even though we always get beautiful pictures whether I stress or not.

Here are the latest pictures:

What We Loved About Halloween...

• Jack as a little Monkey and Brett as a banana!
• In true Michigan fashion, we were bundled up and still cold during trick or treating
• Jack and Thomas having fun trick or treating together and playing afterward
• Hanging out with Jill and Alan and letting the boys entertain each other!
• Jack realizing half way through trick or treating that his bag was full of candy and asking, in amazement, if he was going to get to eat his candy
• Jack being grossed out by the slimey insides of the pumpkins - just like his mom :)
• Jack picking to carve a grumpy face on one pumpkin and a happy face on the other

Random Pictures

Here's just a few random pictures from the past couple weeks... Brett is finally enjoying his baths a little more. At least, he doesn't scream the whole time! The two boys - such great brothers already! You can see why we call him Chunky Monkey! This is how Jack falls asleep when he is mad because he got sent to bed early with no pacifier for being naughty.

Apple Treeing

We went to Crane's Apple Orchard this past weekend to, as Jack calls it, go "apple treeing." We picked apples, went on a hay ride, and Jack rode the cow train. Brett slept in the Baby Bjorn the whole time, but did seem to love the fresh air and being able to nap close to mom! We all had fun! This is one of my favorite pictures. Kudos to Troy for capturing the perfect shot!

Big Brother

Jack has been such a great big brother so far! He is quick to want to help with Brett and always loves to hold him or kiss him! He has had almost no moments of jealousy, just occasionally when Nanny or G wants to hold Brett! He is also anxious to do all the things for his baby brother that mom and dad do. This is sometimes hilarious, though we try to never laugh in front of Jack because he is so serious about being a big boy and helping. He tries to help change Brett's diaper by offering to wipe him, he has pulled his shirt up to try to breastfeed Brett when he is hungry, and, as you can see below, he has put on the Baby Bjorn, just with Elmo in it instead of Brett!!

Brett's One Month Birthday

I'm a little late with this post, but wanted to write about Brett's one month birthday and post a picture. Brett is so different from Jack as a baby! Poor Brett has had belly aches from early on. We are finally figuring out how to help him out, though, with a combination of new bottles, different formula, and an herbal supplement called Gripe Water. Now that Brett's belly is feeling better he is really turning into a much happier baby! He screams much less now, which we are all thankful for! He also sleeps much better, although he fights going to sleep. The funny thing is, he then fights waking up! Here's a picture of him in the same chair we took pictures of Jack in each month with the same lion.

Catch Up

So I have already gotten behind on the blog! Here's a little catch up on what has been going on with us!

Jack turned three on September 26! We can't believe what a smart and kind little man he is becoming! He enjoyed a birthday party at the zoo with his family and friends. Here are some pics from the day he was born and today...

Brett has been adjusting to "life on the outside." He has had some belly issues, which have been diagnosed as colic. He's getting both nursed and formula (because the kid is always hungry!!) so we have switched to a soy formula and are giving him some herbal remedies for colic. They seem to be helping. We're figuring it out - much to his and our relief! Here's some pics of him...

Who is Who?

We kept commenting on how much we thought Brett looked like Jack when he was born. So, here's a little test for everyone - which baby is in each picture??

Welcome to the World Brett Casey Ayotte

He's finally here! Brett Casey Ayotte was born September 12, 2009 at 2:47 am. He weighed 8 lbs 7 oz and is 20.75 inches long. Brett's story actually began at McDonald's. Jack and I had gone there for lunch with my sister and a friend of hers so the kids could play. Jack had been strongly warned that if he had a potty accident we would have to leave McDonald's. I had gone to the bathroom and had a suspicion that my water was starting to break. I was getting my cell phone out to call the doctor when a mom came up to me and asked if the little boy in the Batman shirt was mine. She told me he had wet his pants. I got Jack out of the play area, crying of course, and told him we had to go. I had just finished putting his shoes back on and stood up when my water broke. It was just like a scene out of a movie. Wet shorts, running down my legs into my sandals, everyone staring at me - the whole deal. My sister very calmly got us all together and I dropped Jack off at her house to get ready to head to the hospital. The contractions started shortly after my water broke, but isn't really kick in until the midwife made sure all my water had broken. Then it was just the wait to progress, which went rather quickly. However, the epidural worked too well and I couldn't feel well enough to push. The epidural was stopped so it could wear off enough for me to push. After a lot of pushing, we ended up having to call the doctor in to use the suction to get Brett out. He had gotten stuck on my pelvic bone. I was shocked by how much he weighed - I had guessed he would be about 7.5 pounds!! But he is such a cute little chunky monkey! We can't get over how much he looks like Jack when he was born. He has so far been a great sleeper and an even better eater. He had to be in the light box to prevent jaundice at the hospital but was discharged on time because he was so healthy! While it was a tough labor and delivery, my recovery so far has gone really well. Of course, maybe I still have the adrenaline and hormones running through me! :) Brett has been doing wonderfully and is such a good little boy so far! We are so head over heels in love with him!

Due Date

Well, today is Baby Boy Ayotte's official due date. So far, he is a no show for it! In fact, I think I felt more like I might go into labor yesterday, than I do today. I'm a little bummed - first I really wanted an August baby, but that came and went. Then I figured maybe he really was holding out for a cool birthday like 9/9/09. But that ship is about to sail, too. I have really appreciated all the calls, e-mails, and facebook messages today, though. It's great to know everyone is thinking of us and also anxiously awaiting the little bundle of joy!

The Beginning...

Well, here's the first blog post. I feel like it should be something momentous, but we are on the verge of momentous in our family right now. We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Baby Boy Ayotte. Any day now... I'm not sure how well I will do at keeping up with this, but I'm going to give it a shot. I'll try to keep pictures and stories posted about the boys as often as I can. Check back often to see what's going on with all of us!