Gammy's visit

JMJ

My mom just left today after a week long visit. Craig had three different photo shoots today, so has been in and out and is out again and I am wondering, "How am I going to do this without Mom???" It was so nice to have her here. Being pregnant with three little ones really makes me appreciate with SHE did for us when we were little.

She came into town to help me last weekend while Craig was in Pittsburgh shooting a wedding. You can see the sneak peak here. For Mass on Sunday we dressed Henry in suspenders for the first time. He looked SO cute. He was being a goof and won't put the book down so I could put his shoes on him. He has gotten REALLY into books. He wants, not only a story before each nap and bedtime, but at least three. He also wants to cuddle with a book and his "blankey" while I rock him before putting him in bed for the night. It is not the most comfortable thing to snuggle with, I can tell you from trying rock him, the book and the blankey, but he wakes up and looks at the books instead of fussing.

Anastasia got a new dress from Grammy and she looked so sweet with the dress and her hat. She likes wearing pretty dresses, and pink, and flowers, and princesses now. We were at Lowes today and she saw a ceiling fan with pastel colors and flowers on it. She said, "It's a pin-nt pan por (pink fan for) Anastasia!" She was also very excited when she spotted the Disney Princesses storage bin. She is such a little girl now. In fact, when Aunt Jessi visited last weekend, Aine got her toenails painted for the very first time. More on that later.

Joseph is getting so big that he has to wear 5T dress shirts. He still likes to dress up for Mass and usually asks to wear a tie. Luckily, this week while Craig was gone, he was satisfied with just his belt. If Craig is wearing a tie Joseph insists that he needs a tie too. Without seeing Craig wearing one, I guess he just didn't think about it.



The kids were exceptional in Mass! It really was ans answer to prayers! I was in the back most of the time with Henry--not because he was being bad, but just because he won't sit still or be quiet enough to stay in Mass. Mom said that Aine kept testing the limits by trying to climb around, but she was quiet. So Mass was a success, more or less.

Mom was also a huge help with Aine's continued potty training. I just don't have the energy to run to the bathroom with her on a regular basis, but Mom was there to either go with her or stay with the other kids or just remind me to remind Aine to go to the bathroom. Aine still won't tell us when she has to go. We have to prompt it every time, but as long as we take her every couple of hours, there are not accidents.Later in the week, we all went out for ice cream to celebrate Anastasia's potty success. I am not sure she really understood why we when out, but she enjoyed herself, none the less. Here are a few pictures of the kids eating their ice cream. Both Joseph and Aine lost interest in their cones long before they were finished, but Henry just cleaned up after them and didn't lose interest at all!
This is them before we left for lunch and ice cream. The picture is a little blurry, but it was so cute, I had to keep it because they are all smiling and Aine and Henry are holding hands.



Henry waiting in his seat for lunch. He is such a ham! And Anastasia "twirling" in her little dress. It looks like she just made an imaginary tennis serve.

All the kids enjoyed their ice cream cones, in their own way. I think Aine was more into the little cup we got for "just in case" than the cone.