December 24-26: A Photo Journal

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from the Wamsteds.We have many, many pictures to go through, but we are still celebrating. We'll have multiple Christmas posts ready for you soon.

"Go away, Daddy. I'm busy."

Joy

Wishing you JOY this Advent season (and maybe sparkly shoes).

John the Sitter

John is finally sitting up well. He has been capable of sitting for a while now, but he hasn't really had his head in the game until this week...... although he still prefers lounging a lot of the time.Either way, he's a happy (and sometimes very loud) kid.
There is something so sweet to me about that look he's giving me in the last picture. I sure do love that baby boy!

Front Yard Photo Shoot

My mom requested a picture of Kira and John today. I realized that the only decent picture I have of the two of them is from Halloween - they're in costume. Hmmm. It seemed like time for a little front yard photo shoot. This is my favorite picture I took.

Yoda Shirts

You may not be able to tell here, but rest assured that both kids are wearing Yoda shirts. It made for one happy Daddy.Thanks to Anna for the picture!

Thanksgiving Break, Part 1

For the first time, Jay has a week off from work for Thanksgiving. We've had a pretty good time all hanging out together for a few days before the big family events roll in. A smattering from our week so far...

Kira & John's first ever bath together. There were a lot more pictures, but none that capture the fun without also capturing the nudity. (We just plopped John's baby bathtub into Kira's bath.)

We had Kira's friends Eloise & Margot over for a babysit swap Monday morning. However, Millie promptly left to go out to coffee with their mother, putting Jay in charge of all four children. Fortunately, John went to sleep pretty soon after that, and the girls played really well together.

Right now we are in the process of introducing solids into John's diet. Between that and the bottle, it can take up to an hour to feed him when he is distracted (as he often is, by his sister, or Eli, or noises from outside...). All his time in the high chair apparently reminded Kira of how much fun she used to have in her booster seat.

Today, baking! Tomorrow, eating!

Jay's Article

For those of you who don't know, Jay began a PhD program in mathematics education at Georgia State University in the summer of 2008. He just defended his comprehensive exams on Monday and is well on his way to becoming Doctor Wamsted (or "Dr. Jay" as 2-year-old Zeke already calls him). We hope that he will graduate May of 2013. He will be embarrassed by this post, but I want to share that his article, "Race, School, and Seinfeld: Autoethnographic Sketching in Black and White," has recently been published in the esteemed journal, Qualitative Inquiry. (If you follow the link, you can read the abstract but not the entire article.) I just want to say how proud I am of my brilliant husband!

John at 7 Months

I took John back to the doctor today for a weight check. John weighs 15 lbs and 3.6 oz, which puts him between the 5th and 10th percentile. He is still small but gaining weight steadily so it looks like he's healthy again.

Life with Two Kids

Here is an excerpt from an e-mail I sent earlier today:
I get John up from a nap to feed him and am now carrying a groggy, hungry baby. I walk into the kitchen to get his bottle where Kira is happily playing with a puzzle and singing a little song that goes like this, "I pooped, I pooped, I pooped." So I have to lay a now mad baby down on a bath mat to deal with a poopy toddler. This is when the Jehovah's witnesses knock on the door. You can pretty much fill in the rest of the story from there.

Just another day at the Wamsteds'.

First S'more

The Wamsteds made the most of our extra hour yesterday. We started with a pancake breakfast at the Seelingers'. We took a break for lunch and naps and then headed to the Faulkners' for a fire and some burgers. I left Jay in charge of the kids there while I headed to Jen's 30th birthday party (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JEN!). John went to sleep in a pack'n'play while Kira sat around the fire with the grown-ups and ate her first s'more. She was in bed at the Faulkners' by the time I returned. Jay and I finally packed up two sleepy, pajama-wearing kids around midnight and headed home. Fortunately, everyone slept until the "new" 7:30 thanks to all of yesterday's activity... everyone except me!

(Thanks to Brenton Smith for the pictures!)

A Monkey and a Pumpkin

We had one excited monkey here last night. Our precious pumpkin was a little sleepy so the number of pictures per child are a bit lopsided. We went to 4 houses in total, and Kira thought it was amazing. Thanks to Yaya for the monkey costume. I have a feeling you'll see it again in two years (sans bow).Try to imagine the accompanying monkey noises to go with the monkey dancing in the pictures below.Click here to see Kira in the same pumpkin footies that John is wearing.

John: 6-months-old

Sorry for the radio silence, folks. We have had a rough couple of weeks. John turned 6-months-old on October 15th. We went in for his regular check-up on the 18th only to discover that he had not grown since his 4-month check-up. Needless to say, we were very upset and concerned. We started supplementing with formula and checked back in with the doctor 9 days later -- John had gained 1 pound, 5 ounces in 9 days! The pediatrician was a little surprised and very pleased with such drastic results. John is back on track, and our family is settling back into normalcy.

Apparently "normalcy" here at the homestead means burning things because that is what we did today.[Edit: My mom thinks I should explain that I got a staph infection and had to go on major antibiotics (John took formula while I was on the medicine) and then had an allergic reaction to the antibiotics during this 2 month period. Apparently, all the stress on my body had a greater effect on my milk supply than we realized.]

Rice Cereal

Guess who LOVES rice cereal!Check out Kira's foray into solid foods here.

How to Make a Jack-o'-lantern

Step 1: Pick out a "big, fat pumpkin" at the very cute pumpkin patch. Make sure you don't take a camera to document the event.

Step 2: Stab pumpkin and cut off the top while your children watch...... or play with rocks.Step 3a: Clean out all the seeds and pulp. Let any able bodied children help.Step 3b: Keep cleaning even when everyone is clearly bored.

Step 3c: Keep your energy up with a quick bite of applesauce.Step 4: Use a permanent marker to draw eyes, a nose, a mouth, ears, and eyebrows.... ...and maybe a few extra scribbles just for style.
Step 5: Carve previously drawn facial features. (Or better yet, get Gramma to do it!)Step 6: Light a candle inside.Step 7: Sit back and enjoy the glow!