Growing Up so Fast!!!!!!!

I can't believe it's almost Thanksgiving! Not only that, but this past week our little man turned 5 months old and our big girl turned 18 months. How fast time is flying!!!!!! They are both at such fun stages. Rivers is so smiley and loves to laugh. His big toothless grin can make any day brighter. He is close to rolling over, loves kicking his feet, and has become quite a chatty little guy. He also loves watching whatever is going on around him. A lot of his time is spent in his bumbo seat at various points of the day. He sits on the table during meal times, watches me do chores, and joins in with Maddie's story time. As long as he is part of the action he is content.

Madeline is learning so much right now. I really think her vocabulary grows by about five words a day. I am not sure where she is learning it all. She has these foam bath toys and when we were taking a bath the other night she picked up the letter "Y" and said "Y". She proceeded to do the same thing with the B and the L. That's her extent of identifying letters, but I was shocked. This winter is going to be so much fun. She just learned this week what snow is and every time she sees a picture of it she lights up and says "SNOW!" Her newest thing is having tea parties. Almost every morning, she brings all of her stuffed animals out of her room into the living room and serves them tea. She is quite the little hostess. She has also become more shy. She clings to me or Mike when she is in a room of people, but give her about 30 minutes and she is showing out.

Here are some of my favorite pics of our past couple of weeks. The first couple are from Aunt E and Uncle Al's visit. We had so much fun the couple of days they were here. We got to show them what a real fall was like because they got here right before all the leaves started to fall off the trees.

Having some fun looking at Halloween decorations

Of course they had to bring Rivers his first MSU hat

Halloween night... our little cheerleader

Bundled up trying to stay warm

Having so much fun with Aunt E

Serving tea to all her friends

5 Months Old. Big Boy hair cut

Oct - Nov (M 17m, R 4m), by Mariah Frantz

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos

Sept- Oct 2009, by Mariah Frantz

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos

Fun Fall!

It doesn't look like I am getting much better at the blogging thing. I apologize if this is a long one. There are lots of pictures and I am going to try to catch up. I am attempting to create me a weekly schedule for my "chores" each week to make sure that they all get done. I am going to put blogging on the list, so that hopefully I can make one post a week... we will see if that works. This is just one of those things that has changed since becoming a momma of 2! That's a blog I have been thinking up that maybe I will write one day.

One of the things I love about living in Louisville is that we actually have seasons here. Fall is quickly becoming one of my favorites! The leaves have been changing since early October and right now they are absolutely gorgeous. A couple of weeks ago, Michael surprised us by planning a little family trip to Brown County, IN. They are known for their state park, great hiking, and beautiful fall leaves. It was the kids first hike, and I have to say I was pretty impressed. It was a work out for Michael and I, but totally worth it. We had such a great day hiking and walking around the little town!

At the top of a look out tower about half way through the hike

One of the things I love about our new house is that we have lots of trees in our yard. Our neighborhood also is filled with trees with leaves with all kinds of fall colors. We try to get outside as much as possible while the weather is nice. Madeline loves playing with all of the leaves and pumpkins, and Rivers just loves being outside. Here are some pics of the fall beauty around our yard and Madeline having fun with it.

pretty mums on our front porch

Beautiful Trees!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

View from our family room window

Maddie enjoying the fall weather!

It is hard to believe that Rivers is four months old! He is growing so fast. He loves watching everyone and everything around him, especially Madeline. We have a good friend that let us borrow a bumbo seat. It allows him to sit up until he can do it by himself, and he loves it. He can grin from ear to ear and it just melts your heart. He has found his hands and spends lots of time looking at them, chewing on them, and then looking at them again. He rolls from tummy to back, and when he is really mad he can almost roll from back to tummy. We had his 4 month check up last week. He weighed 12lbs. 5 oz, and was 23 inches tall. I thought he was going to be a much bigger baby than Maddie, but that just puts him in the 3 % for height and 10% for weight. Looks like we are just going to have small babies!


That sweet smile


Enjoying the bumbo seat!

Doing some tummy time.

Madeline has completely transitioned from baby to toddler. She has a growing vocabulary, and is learning a couple of new words a day it seems like. She understands so much more than she can even say. She can pick out any animal, follow lots of directions, and is such a big help with Rivers. She is such a joy! She is learning expressions and loves doing her "suprise" face. She also loves to explore and do new things. Pretending to cook with her dishes and playing with her doll house are probably her favorite activities. She tests us often, and we have come into the age of discipline. She is growing in obedience too! She used to pout and throw a fit when she was disciplined or didn't get her way. Most of the time now she is quick to change her attitude and give a big hug after she getting disciplined. Not that we ever doubted that the Bible is true, but it is really neat to see Madeline growing and learning to be obedient. We pray that through learning to obey and trust us she will ultimately learn to obey God and trust him.

Her contemplative side.................. and her silly side (this is the suprise face!)

Reading to brother

Again, sorry this is so long. Hopefully I will get better at updating the blog so its not such a marathon!

Pics from the Past Month!

Well I have been terrible at blogging lately! Things have been crazy busy moving into the house and getting settled! But here are some pics from the past month and a half. Enjoy! Try to post an update and pics of the new house later.

Two months!

First Happy Meal!

First hair cut - 2 1/2 months


First Kentucky game... they beat Uof L!


Go Cats!

Hanging out with Marmie!

Trying to get a good shot of these 2 together is impossible!

3 months already?

Recent Videos

Some Recent Pics

Our big 2 month old:

height- 21 1/4 inches (10%)

weight - 10lbs. 11 oz (25-50%)

Chillin with Dad

Our petite princess 15 month stats:

height- 29 inches (10%)

weight - 17lbs. 12 oz (5%)

We had so much fun with the Joneses... Mike's sister and her 2 daughters while they were here. We went to the zoo, and Maddie and Lacy loved playing together... We miss them already!

visiting dad at the Fire house is so much fun!

From a dad's perspective

Tonight I thought Mariah deserved a ladies night out, so a few of her friends were kind enough to plan it for me. Since Rivers only source of nutrition comes from Mariah she has been the one dealing with the sleepless nights, then dealing with both of them alone when I am gone to work for 24hrs every third day. So to say the least, she deserves it. But it was not until after having the two kids alone at night did I see just how hard it really is..... As I type I ask that you just picture me writing with one hand, holding Rivers in the other b/c he has to be touched, and hear Maddie screaming in her crib for no reason. When I try to comfort Maddie then Rivers began to scream and vice versa. Hold that thought I need to go feed Rivers his bottle.

OK I'm back:

Anyway now I have breast milk all over b/c Rivers cannot keep it down. Now after eating, it is Rivers routine to grunt for 15 minutes while what little food is in him digest. Maddie did make me laugh though. On my way back to get his milk I thought I'd try to rock her to calm her down. She apparently has some gas issues, so as she laid against my belly every few minutes she would let some real loud stinkers go. It took all I had not to laugh or gag in order to not disturb her. I type all of this not to complain, but to give thanks to my wife. Motherhood is truly a labor intensive profession in which there should be many days of recognition! I am not sure how she juggles it but it is much calmer when she is here. While Mariah needs to take more ladies nights out I think she should wait till Marmie is around so I can go fishing.........

wait yep there is Maddie crying again