Well the obvious answer is yes, I'm crazy. It's a given. Nicholas tells me all the time! But tomorrow I decided to host a playgroup at my house. My house is not large. Quite small in fact. Especially because I'm trying to keep this shindig confined to the main floor of my house. About 700 square feet, give or take. And in that 700 square feet I'll have (as of this moment) 6 mommies, 4 BOY toddlers (between the ages of 2y 9m and 3y), 1 girlie newly turned 1 year old (who is not YET walking), and 5 babies. That's 16 people. And I'm still waiting to hear back from a few people, and that could add another 10 people. I think it will be pure chaos. Hopefully a lot of fun. I'll be sure to take before and after pictures. That is if I'm still in one piece when all is said and done! I've never done this before!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.





Well, I will start by saying I DID NOT start a Not Me Monday post last week and then totally forget about it and abandon it. I mean, I am a faithful blogger so I certainly would not have done something like that!



Last week I also DID NOT ask my husband to watch the kids one evening so I could relax and instead cleaned the house for three hours.



I also certainly DID NOT bribe Nicholas with the promise of buying him popcorn in order to get him to come with me to the grocery store without a struggle. And then I DID NOT also buy him lollipops because he saw that we passed the bank in the parking lot and he knows they always give him lollipops. No, NOT ME!



I also DID NOT lose 6 pounds last week and celebrate by indulging in cheesecake over the weekend. Of course not, that would defeat the purpose of losing the weight, right? Definitely, NOT ME!

Now I'm sure there are plenty more things I DID NOT do last week, but I certainly DID NOT get only a few hours sleep last night making my brain a total pile of mush this morning. But head on over to MckMama's blog to check out what everyone else has not been doing this past week!

Anyone who has a child knows how important sleep is. Nicholas was a terrible sleeper as a baby. I don't think he slept through the night (and by that I mean at least 4-5 hours straight...not the 9 I'd like!) until he was 8 or 9 months. And even then- it wasn't a regular thing. I was a walking zombie. He was born in May, and it was 97 degrees the day we brought him home from the hospital...he did NOT want to be swaddled in that blanket. And later whenever we tried to swaddled he'd fight and wiggle his way out. I figured he just was one of those babies who didn't like to be swaddled.





Fast forward to sometime in 2007. On one of the forums I participate in I heard of the Miracle Blanket. I check out the link, and thought to myself that it couldn't possibly be that great, especially for that price. Then I had enough people tell me that, no- it is a great blanket and worth it, that I HAD to try it. Ok, I bookmarked the site for when the next baby came along. And when I got pregnant with Erik I did in fact remember, and received one as a gift.





So, along comes Erik, and the first night we brought him home from the hospital I used it. Not difficult to use, and kept him nice and snug. Pretty cool, I thought. He still woke to nurse every 3 hours or so, but I figured at less than a week old it was normal. I continued to use it though, and by the time he was 5 weeks old he was sleeping through the night. To the tune of 6-8 hours a night! Yes, six to eight hours of STRAIGHT SLEEP from a FIVE WEEK old baby. I completely credit this blanket. It really is a MIRACLE! Ken agrees! He talks this blanket up to everyone, and must be a good salesman, because at a party at his parents' house I had someone come up to me asking for the website information to order one. I actually ended up placing the order since I was ordering one as a baby shower gift! Which, by the way, this is now going to be my staple baby shower gift. The mom-to-be that I gave it to is excited to use it, and thanked me for the gift of sleep.





Erik is 16 weeks old and I still am using our Miracle Blanket. He still fits in it, but I don't think it will be for much longer- he's a big baby! Here he is, all wrapped up for the night a few weeks ago!

It was a year ago today that I started this blog. A year ago that I learned that I'd be welcoming a new love into my life. How quickly a year passes!

I am so blessed to have Erik as a son. He is such a sweetheart. I've told Ken that if I could get a guarantee that every one of our future children would be like him then I would have a million. Seriously, he is THAT good of a baby. He only really cries when he's super gassy, and fortunately that is becoming more infrequent. He is always super content, loves to smile, and already adores his big brother.

This past year has been amazing. I loved my pregnancy, and although I did not have the ideal birth experience I was hoping for- I have a healthy baby boy, and I am healing. I look forward to what the next year will bring, and what I will blog about. Who knows...maybe there will be a new babymaking adventure!

A Year Ago-


Today!

Poor Nicholas had been waiting and waiting for snow to come to Philadelphia. Unfortunately all we seemed to get were flurries or a dusting. This week we finally got a few inches of the white stuff. And that was enough for me to have a VERY happy little boy.



So when Daddy came home from work we headed to Nana & Opa's (because Opa had bought Nicholas a sled) and Nicholas went sledding with the neighbor and then walked around with Daddy & Opa. He had a BLAST! And now we're hoping for more snow!

Checking out the snow-


Throwing snowballs at Opa


Checking out the hill


Sledding for the first time!

I can't believe my little man is three months old today? Where has the time gone? He's getting so big already...I miss the itty bitty baby stage! I really can't complain though- he is SUCH a great baby. He sleeps through the night (generally anywhere from 8- 10.5 hours a night), is a content guy- only cries really when he is gassy, and is just a joy! If I could get a guarantee that every baby would be like he is, well...I think I'd have 10 of them!

Anyway, here is my happy guy!

Just some pictures to share. Nothing super exciting here. The Eagles lost the NFC Championship game. No big surprise there. Sad, but not shocking. Hey, baseball season starts soon- that's what we're looking forward to!

The boys playing (Nicholas can't wait until Erik can REALLY play)

Erik in his sock monkey outfit

Mommy & Erik

Yes, this post will be a bit of a mommy brag, but hey...that's my job! All moms wait for their kids to hit their milestones. Well, I swear Erik came out of the womb smiling. He's just got an awesome personality like that. Well, yesterday he let out his first real laugh. It was so funny- Nicholas had just gone to bed and Ken and I were holding Erik and talking to him. He was smiling and cooing, and then he started to laugh. So Ken started to tickle him, which made him let out this big belly laugh! I wanted to run and grab the camera to get it on video, but I didn't want to miss a minute of it. So I will try to get it on video soon.



And if that one milestone wasn't enough, Mr. Erik decided today to roll over from belly to back. He was on his tummy for some tummy time (and picture taking) and all of a sudden he went from his belly and flipped to his back!

Tummy-time



And onto his back


Here are some other pictures from today as well.

Brotherly love




Giraffe vs. Zebra


Where's Erik?


My little guy

Today Erik had his 2 month well baby visit. He is following in the footsteps of his big brother, that's for sure. He's a whopping 14 pounds 4 ounces and 24 inches long. (I think they said his head is 16, but I could be wrong!) So, another boy at the top of the charts! He's also got eczema like his big brother (and mommy & daddy). Poor kid...he's got all these awful dry, scaly patches! Hopefully once the warmer weather comes it will clear up like the rest of the family.

Other than that we go back in two more months!

Nicholas has been into drawing and coloring lately. For Christmas he received a large drawing pad with crayons and an Aquadoodle wall pad. I am convinced that the Aquadoodle is the best invention for toddlers. No broken crayons around the house, no new colors on my walls, and the most mess it can make is a little water somewhere- no big deal. (However, just don't let an older child give your toddler a marker- Nicholas didn't quite 'get' that you can't use regular markers on the Aquadoodle!)

So, Nicholas has been drawing pictures for me lately. He likes drawing me hearts and smiley faces, but yesterday he drew some new pictures.

A camel (also featured on my 365 blog)


I'm not sure what these are, but he was having a great time.