A First and A Third Thanksgiving

We have so much to me Thankful for.....

most of all TWO, beautiful, healthy, smart, wonderful, sweet, lovable and loving children.

Lily celebrated her first Thanksgiving in a special tutu mommy made

Mommy made that tutu to match the turkey bow.

As always she was a hit, Grams just loves her littlest Cupcake.

As a special treat Great Grandma Joyce and Great Grandpap Steve came down from Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving. Grandma Joyce has been sick so had not meet Lily yet.

Great Grandpap Steve LOVES all the kids and will hold them and love them as long as he can, Lily just loves everyone. Both of her Great Grandparents kept saying how she is the happiest baby they have ever seen.

We are lucky enough to avoid the stress of Thanksgiving by going to a buffet (NO cooking for us) with ALL of our family, this year there was 20 of us! As we got ready to head to the restaurant Johnny was readying books to his cousin Sammi.

Shawn loves this picture of little Samantha becuase he calls her a "bruiser." (She is Johnny's kindred spirit, a rough and tumble little girl!) But seeing the bruiser all dressed up really hits Shawn funny and makes him giggle, I just think she is adorable!

Lily just loves everyone, here a visit from Wyatt was making her giggle. I can't say how wounderful is was to have all the SIX grand kids together and have all of our family in one house, talking and sitting together, this is what the holidays are about.

One of our traditions is to take advantage of this long week end and set up the Christmas tree and decorations (yes it is almost Christmas)

I am so excited this year becuase Johnny really gets it! He was VERY excited to help Grams and Pops decorate their Christmas tree.

Before we got to the restaurant Johnny was running non stop with one cousin or the other, having so many "friends" around really makes him happy! But this excitement made it hard for him to sit down and eat his special meal.

This picture really got me because he looks ridiculous in that bib! But he is only two, reasonable he could still need a bib, but Johnny looks like a man child here.

That is the same bib he wore for his first Thanksgiving TWO years ago...it says "Gobble till you Wobble."

Lily is not yet 6 months old, so she started her dinner in her carrier, like a normal baby. But we learned quickly that that was not going to fly.

The big girl wanted to see everything and be apart of the event, so she got into a restaurant high chair for the first time!

Mommy made special organic sweet potato baby mush for her have for her First Thanksgiving meal, but it gave her a tummy ache and diarrhea when we started it the day before. So Lily's meal was a rice cracker and plain rice cereal....she LOVED it!

Lily also loved the extra attention she got, Great Grandpap Steve just can't say no to holding a great grand baby.
Neither can Papa.

Little Wyatt ate two full plates of dinner and then finished up Johnny's. He didn't stop until we started to get worried he was going to get a tummy ache and had to cut him off! He ate straight for the entire 2 hours we where there! Everything from cod, to turkey to dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets.

Mommy has been on a low carb diet for a month now, I have lost enough weight to not blow my diet off for the holidays, but not enough to put it out to the public. So Mommy had a lot of turkey, beef tips (very yummy), and salad. I am proud to say I made it through the day regretting no extra carbs!

I also have no pictures of Ella since she was at the other table, but her and her Mommy had made conversation starter cards and she kept asking questions that we could all answer together, it was a great idea and I loved listening to stories about everyone's childhood and favorite things.


Here we are! One happy family. Even though neither kid is looking at the camera I still love this picture because everyone is smiling and happy and obviously having a great day with family.

My Boys Waiting and Playing

2 Days have passed since our due date! I know that doesn't sound like a long time, but we are getting anxious to meet our little Cupcake. We have taken advantage of the extra time to do some extra special fun with Johnny as a family.

On Friday we made a full day of fun! We took Johnny to Jump On It, a local place full of bouncy houses and all kinds of fun stuff like that. Aunt Natalie and Uncle Tommy got Johnny some sessions for his birthday. Each session is 1 and a half hours long, which was just a little to long, by the end he was wondering to each place and laying his head on it, but didn't really want to stop playing!


This was his favorite thing to do, this slide was super tall and he could basically do the rung ladder alone!
Really this slide was so steep that by the end he was a little scared, but always wanted to do it again!
I have a lot of pictures of Johnny fall on his face, he would build up speed and then trip right into the bouncy floor, laughing!

After the fun of the bouncing we took Johnny to Friendly's for a special Due Date lunch, my intent was to get him some ice cream....

He picked his lunch out, I would list all the options and he told me what he wanted, his biggest want was the broccoli and he ate so much good food that he was too full for ice cream! Oh and see his adorable big brother shirt, it has "John" all around the circle, we won it on a Facebook give away! Johnny has SIX big brother shirts!

Yesterday we had another labor false alarm and it was disappointing for Momma, so today we planned a special, but small picnic at the on post park...

The park is huge, there are actually three parks in one, each one made for different age groups. This park is within walking distance of our house, but we drove, Momma swollen ankles can only handle so much.

Aren't they cute? Shawn has been amazing with Johnny this week end, right there in everything he does playing with him side by side! He is an amazing Daddy!!! This morning he spend 2 hours this morning right on the floor playing dinosaurs and dragons so Mommy could take a nap!

While my boys ran around the playgrounds Momma enjoyed her own little rest spot! Chocolates, knitting and some wonderful shade. It was really hot on the playground, but in Mommy's shade it was perfect!
Every few minutes Johnny had to run back and check on Mommy, I love the way he runs!

After some sandwiches, chips, and fruit we had a little dessert of Mommy's chocolates, and then Johnny gave messy kisses.

He got Daddy with a messy chocolate kiss right on his nose!

Look at those cheeks! and those EYES! I just always wonder how he got so beautiful!

These guys have been wonderful, the last two days have been very frustrating as Mommy over analyzes every pain waiting to go into labor. Johnny has been sweet and helpful and Daddy has been taking great care of Mommy! I actually feel pretty good today, thanks to my boys! Oh and here they are pretending to be dinosaurs and eating Mommy's shirt.

26 Months so Some Cute Pictures

26 months have officially passed since last time Momma had a huge belly! I was organizing some pictures this morning and realized how many cute pictures I had not shared here recently. It is hard for me to find a good balance of frequency of blog posts. So today I thought I would post some back logged pictures from the last month and a run down of Mommy's big boy.

These two pictures are actually from last month when we where potty training. I am not sure why I didn't upload them then because they are some of my favorites of him! He was so sweet this day and cuddled with me a lot!!! He curled against my belly and just laid there for a while, I have this great memory and feeling when I look at these pictures, they are printed and in pink frames to take to the hospital for when I go into labor. They remind me of how exciting it will be to watch Lily and Johnny grow up together and how they will impact each others lives!

And he is just cute and happy here!

This is why Johnny is no longer allowed to eat in the car! That is an entire bag of Craisons! Which Johnny loves, but also thinks messes are super funny.

Johnny's favorite game is now anything to do with dinosaurs. At Grams and Pops house there are TONS of dinos and he can name most of them and knows what they do and even what some of them eat. He likes to chase the cat and some times his parents around the house with the bigger "sharp tooth" pretending that the dinosaur is eating us. Or he pretends to be a dinosaur running in circles roaring and calling out "I sharp tooth." I believe his favorite dinosaur is the triceratops, because likes to get the big one and little one so he can have a baby triceratops and a Mommy (or Daddy depending on his mood.) His favorite TV show is Dinosaur Train on PBS at 9 am (right before Sesame Street.) Mommy also loves this show since it focuses on the real names of the dinosaurs and what their real habits where. He picked up "sharp tooth" from Land Before Time which has become a special treat or for when he is sick.

Ella hasn't been coming over as much this month, stuff just keeps getting in the way of our visits. But this evening both girls had come over to play and Johnny and Ella where watching Super Why and apparently they are both really concerned about the show, and as usual adorable!

With Lily's arrival getting so close we have been trying to clean out the house and get rid of what ever we can. Johnny discovered an empty container and decided it was perfect for a hid out, notice the dinosaur in his hand....he doesn't do anything without at least one dinosaur in his hand.

More dinosaur play! The triceratops and sharp tooth where fighting for Mommy's entertainment. Oh and these tiny little dinos are all over the house, Johnny get excited every time he find one where he doesn't expect to.

For Mother's Day last week end the entire Dennison clan headed to the beach to spend some time together and celebrate Mommy's and Grams Birthday. I actually have a ton of pictures from that week end and need to do it's own post. We had a lot of fun playing in the water and riding rides on the boardwalk. But mostly we loved spending special time with our family. Wyatt is growing fast and since he lives in Ohio now we miss him all the time, but it makes these time even more special. Look at these boys, just nine months apart, I hope they grow up to be great friends!

Mommy is in her last month of pregnancy and there for we have a midwife appointment every week. Johnny has become a regular hit at the office, but still needs something to entertain him while Mommy and Lily get measured and checked. This last week it was this foot pop that Papa got Johnny at the beach. YUM!

In the past month Johnny's sleep has been a little off. He has been waking up early and not wanting to lay down for bed or naps, but he is super tired. We discovered a new tooth coming in in the front of his mouth where his gap it. The spot if not nearly big enough for any tooth and therefore the tooth is coming in the opposite direction that it should be coming it. It looks painful! We will be seeing a pediatric dentist soon!

Finally Johnny's poo has become solid again and lactose has been reintroduced (actually by accident) and he is handing it just fine! After nearly a fully month of diarrhea and stomach pains he seems to be back to his old self! But potty training is a long process, especially with the stomach flu back lash, and he still spends some of each day in just underwear. But every day does better and better! He is now pooping on the potty and on normal days has no big accidents and few leaks. However taking him too far outside of his comfort zone does lead to accidents, but that is part of learning!

Just this last week end our great friend Tara and her daughter Kat came down for a day long visit! We headed to the Maryland Faerie Festival for a few hours on Saturday. I felt for my manly boy who was all by himself amongst a ton of little girls in wings and frilly dresses. But he still had lots of fun, especially running through this tunnel and sharing a virgin Margaretta with Mommy. It was so much fun to get to see my old friend and how much her pretty little girl has grown!

Here is Johnny playing with little Kat. It was hard for Mommy to get good pictures of the two of them, one was always looking away or distracted! Though Johnny enjoyed the attention and fun of having a "new friend" and liked holding her hand in the car but he was taken aback by the sudden addition of Kat and her Mommy in our house. He also seems to have developed a completly normal fear of abandonment. He is starting to get upset when people he knows well leave or walk away. At the airport Mommy stepped of the car to help Tara and Tara put her backpack on the driver side seat, Johnny lost it. He really thought Mommy wasn't coming back and that he was leaving alone with a stranger! It broke my heart, but when I got back in the car he started laughing and talking about how funny he was and that he told a joke, as if he realized that Mommy would never leave him. It made Mommy and Daddy realize that right now Johnny needs some extra reassurance that we are here and some extra time just for him with Mommy and Daddy. He loved the three of us laying in Mommy and Daddy's bed yesterday tickling, reading books and focusing on him alone.



And as a special treat here is Johnny dancing! Daddy convinced Johnny to dance to Mommy's cleaning music.