Playgroup with the boys

Will might officially have more friends then I do :) On Tuesday we had our first playgroup with all the boys - Grant (6M), Liam (9M), Justus (4.5M), Will (4.5M) and Rhett (3.5M). Marion hosted us at her house in Rosco Village and it was so fun! See you all next week.

All the boys in the "pit"

Will was missing his mommy in the middle of play group so we did a little snuggling

Rhett and Will chilling on the floor

Grant and Liam giving high fives!

Me and my Momo

This week we had a visitor!! MoMo!!!! It was such a fun week and it was so awesome to have my mom to hang out with all week. I was very thankful that the Chicago weather held up for us - finally!! Every other time my mom has come it has been awful weather - but we were able to be out and about everyday. One of the great things I love about my mom coming to visit is she always gives me new ideas to do with with - like take him out on our back porch, baby swings at the park, put him in the pack and play to wiggle around. Seem like no brainers but when I do the same thing everyday I just don't think of them! Here are some pictures of all the fun things Will did with his Momo!

Momo took me to music class and sang all the songs:

Momo went with us to lunch!

Momo took me on the swings

Momo also dressed me up real silly with my mom :) (don't tell dad)

We had such a fun week. Both Will and I were very sad and tired when Momo had to leave this morning. We did so many fun things over the week that we both did some serious napping to recover!! Come back soon!!! Love you XOXO

EMC Jr. Pre Sales Tech?

Helping Daddy with some early morning configs - sans clothes of course!

Catch me if you can

Typically in the morning I am able to leave Will playing on his jungle mat and go about the kitchen making my breakfast, cleaning up from last nights dinner and playing on the computer. Every so often I will hear Will cry out which typically means he has rolled to his tummy and wants help to get flipped to his back. However the other morning he must of done a couple flips to find himself in this position :)

**Public Service Announcement**

****Father's Day has been postponed until June 26th****

This past weekend was Jason's first Fathers Day!!! The week before Will and I did all our errands preparing for the big day. Got an adorable card, gifts, planned out a fun filled family day on Sunday and asked mother nature for some great weather. But on Friday at about midnight all those plans got thrown out the window - as I got very sick with some crazy virus or food poisoning. So the family filled weekend where Jason would get to relax, get some treats and enjoy the family time turned into 2 days of 24/7 Will and Jason time. I guess Father's Day is all about spending time with your kids BUT poor Jason this was no fathers day. SO we are going to be celebrating the REAL Fathers day this Sunday!

Thank you Jason for being an amazing husband and awesome father. Will is so lucky to have you and I can't wait to see him grow up playing with his daddy!

Daddy and Will First Minutes

Daddy and Will First Hours

Daddy and Will First Days

Daddy and Will First Weeks

Silly morning in yellow

Mornings are so silly for Will. I can always get the biggest smilies in the whole world out of him. Sometimes he gets so excited I feel like he may burst open with excitement. Well a couple mornings ago we put on some of his new threads from Barb as a baptism gift. Will was pretty darn excited about it and thought he looked pretty cute. I agree :)

Top of the morning to you!

There is a good 1.5-2hr window when Will wakes up where we always play in the house before he goes down for nappy #1 of the day. Typically he likes to get in a little playing before he has his breakfast and then a little more after. Here are some pictures from Will's busy mornings in the house.

Hanging on mom's pillows while she wakes up

Serious jungle mat time

Yoga moves

Reading my books from Grandmo - this one is my favorite

Office work at my desk

Sweater Collection 2010

Time to see the world Part 2

As Will gets older its alot easier to tell if he really likes doing something. Before my gauge was "well he didn't cry" or "he fell asleep" as a sign of success. But now we get tons of smiles, giggles and excitement when Will really likes something. A few weeks ago I put Will facing out in the Bjorn and it was an instant success. He was kicking his feet and getting himself all excited. Here are some pictures from a trip "facing out" yesterday with Jason!

"Can you tell my dad dressed me: Camo, Yellow Sweater, Blue hat -- YIKES"

Will got tired during the trip from all his wiggles we faced him back in so he could crash.

New Tricks

Seems like every day Will excites himself with another new trick! Over the past couple weeks his favorite trick is rolling over. Will first rolled over on May 7 (at 3 months) but now he is doing it non stop! He can go side to side, back to tummy and once and a while tummy to back. Its so funny because I will put him down on the jungle mat, he will instantly flip himself over and then look at me like "ugh why did I do this I hate my tummy." I leave him there until he get really ticked and then I try to teach him to roll back - that part is not going so well!

What trick will be next?

Rolled over mid diaper change at Jenny's

Catch me if you can Mom!

Naked play time is always fun for flipping around

Simple Things

This past weekend Jason, Em, Nick and I were all sitting out on the deck having a birthday dinner and a couple glasses of wine. After my first glass of wine I brought up a couple of my "deep thoughts" which for anyone who knows me this isn't the first time you have heard these thoughts. So I went on about how crazy to think I left my job where I was making money, to have Will and spend more money :) I mean who would do that - doesn't it seem counter productive. **Let me remind you I was a glass of wine deep** So after Em, Nick and Jason all shook their heads Em took over the conversation and said how important of a job we have raising our children because someday they will join society and make this world a better place. So although we all agreed and then laughed once again at my crazy "deep thoughts" it did get me thinking about how truly lucky I am to have the opportunity to stay home with Will every day. No I am not making money anymore (and I love you Jason for working so hard to take care of our family) but the simple things that fill my heart every day are far more fulfilling then any direct deposit I have ever received. And so I list those simple things so that I never forget in the years to come how special it is to bring a life into this world and raise him to be an amazing man someday.

Simple Things:

1. Rubbing the softest skin ever on the bottom of Will's feet

2. Playing the "teddy bear dance" everything night while I am getting Will's PJ's on

3. Putting Will on the changing table and watching him turn his head as if to say "um Mom it's time for the teddy bear dance song"

4. First walks in the freezing cold days of Chicago with Will all bundled up the in the Bjorn just so we could go to Starbucks

5. Twinkle eyes with a flash of a smile

6. Rubbing his little Pom Pom head

7. Sitting in a Kinko's watching Will sleep so he can stay cool

8. Naps with a warm little body laid across my chest

9. Screams of joy from the jungle mat as I make breakfast

10. Sitting by the crib holding his binki in his mouth for what seems like hours somedays

11. The smell after a warm bath and cozy pj's

12. The smile flashed during a break from eating

13. Discovery of a new thing - feet, hands, the little friend down there :)

14. The silence during the night after a feeding while we rock for a extra couple minutes just because I am not ready to go back to bed

15. The mornings when Jason thought Will slept through the night - even went he got up multiple times

16. The pucker of a bottom lip

17. The excitement in the morning when its time to get up

18. Reaching over to make sure everything was ok during those early days in the bassinet

19. Finally learning to turn off the volume in the monitor

20. They way Wills little face loves to be held cheek to cheek next to me - as if he is saying "I love you mom"

And so I leave you with one more simple thing - he is all ours :)

Happy Birthday Grandpa Jim!

Today was my Grandpa and Will's Great Grandpa'a birthday!! Will sent him a special electronic card this morning that I thought was pretty cute!

My Grandpa Farrell is one of the most special people in my life. Since I was a little girl I can remember having the most fun with him and my grandma - tea parties, making donuts, projects in the wood shop, trips to Fairway, french bread pizza, dove bars and lots of cherries from "perfect Manhattan's." I can't wait for Will to have the same special memories with his Grandparents. We are both so lucky to have Grandpa Jim - we love you!

"Yep Mom the sign looks good - lets begin the photo shoot"

"Happy Birthday Grandpa Jim - I love you!!!"

"Mom what if Grandpa Jim can't read the sign because of the ribbon"

"Perfect ribbon is gone and now in my mouth!!"

4 Months Old - June 5th 2011

15 lbs 5 oz, 25.5 inches

Happy Birthday Daddy and Uncle Nick!

This weekend was Jason's and Nick's Birthday. Pretty crazy that they both have the same birthday but it makes for fun weekends!! The Grants came to our house Friday night and went home very early Sunday because a cold came to visit the Pope house :(. We still had lots of fun and will miss Em, Nick and Jamesy when they move back to Boston.

Love that silly smile!

Will got daddy some presents!

And a card! He is so thoughtful!! Training him early how to celebrate birthday's

Time to see the world!

Last week Will and I were feeling a little crazy and decided to face him out on the Bjorn! I was so surprised how excited he got - his legs were going crazy kicking all over and he kept having these scream/giggles and we hadn't even left the house yet! It was so funny. He loves the new activity and we tested it out more this weekend with Jason.

Happy Boy!

Why do you make me wear these hats indoors?

"Mom there is no way you used to run marathons"

That is probably what Will thought in his head as we went out in the BOB Stroller for a run this morning. I have been pretty slow with getting back to working out but this morning I decided in between naps we would venture out. It was a beautiful morning and I think Will liked going fast (well not fast for a runner but faster then my walk) in the stroller. He kept lifting his foot up from under his blanket as if to air it out in the breeze. After the run I laid out a blanket in the park across the street so Will could stretch out. He though that was pretty fun. So YES Will your Mom used to be a marathon runner - but for now I am perfectly happy running 3 miles with my little bud.

Testing out the BOB in the big boy seat. Still too little so we just the car seat in the adaptor.

"Keep it up mom - foot five?"

Little baby on a big field! This will be perfect in years to come to get all of Will's energy out. Its fenced in too so he can run for days!

Loving the cool breeze this morning at the park