The Sleep Wedge!

I went out and bought Justin a sleep wedge today. Hopefully it will help keep him from moving around too much tonight. Justin was so tired that he fell asleep even though I was taking pictures of him!

snuggled in tightly

sweet baby boy
not even the flash wakes him!
so peaceful

Jusitn's First boo-boo!

Justin took a dive off of our ottoman today! He was laying down and Sean was leaning over him and tickling him and talking to him. Justin was so happy and excited that he did a huge frog-kick and catapulted himself right off the side of the ottoman. It was like it happened in slow motion and I just couldn't get to him fast enough! He did cry and then got a little rug burn on his right cheek! But then he was fine and back to his old self! He is getting so strong!

The Exersaucer

Justin tried out his exersaucer for he first time today! (thanks Aunt Meredith) He really liked it and was studying everything so carefully. He is still a little bit small for it so we had to pack some blankets around him. But his feet did touch the bottom and he tried to jump a little - I guess it is almost time for johnny-jump-up too! Brian and Sean also found the exersaucer to be fascinating and had to try out all the bells and whistles!

Big Boy, Justin!

really concentrating
having so much fun!
going cross-eyed over the caterpillars
Brian attacking him with the puppet

Houdini

I put Justin in his crib for the first time last night! It was past time and he was getting too big for his bassinet! I just didn't want to let him go! I know I am crazy - but this is my last newborn. I did check on him a few times and of course had the monitor right next to my bed! He did great and slept from 10:30 to 7:30! But when I went in to get him he was all the way against one side of the crib with his arm out between the slats. I know he cannot roll over and he was in a swaddle blanket so that would make it even harder to move! He manages to always get one arm out of his swaddle blanket and now he is moving across the crib! Houdini strikes again! So, I went out to get a sleep wedge - hopefully he will stay put tonight.

waking up with one arm thru the crib!

closer view
smiles for Mom!

Justin's noises

Justin is talking to me in the beginning and giving lots of smiles with his huge dimples! After that, he does a few sneezes - I love baby sneezes! Then with about 16 seconds left, he gets a serious face and you can hear a static-like sound. Yes, that is him filling his diaper. After he is finished - he flashes a big smile! Boys!

Happy Feet

Justin loves his feet!

Justin just loves to look at his feet! They were especially fun today because he had on pjs that had puppy faces with floppy ears on the feet! He kicked and smiled and stared for about 10 minutes! Now I need to find him some more pjs with cute feet!

staring at his puppy feet

trying to move them around
smiling at his feet
time out for a little air guitar
big dimple smile

Summer Football Camp!

Brian and Sean decided to play football this afternoon! They love to dress up in their uniforms and act out the parts of real football players. They even call each other the names on their jerseys! Brian used to be so much better than Sean - now Sean is almost as big as him and can tackle him!

Brian getting ready to throw

Sean - can you even see?
Sean tackles Brian
Sean got him again!
rushing the QB

Filling Out the Application

Wow - there is no such thing as easy when it comes to adoption paperwork. We need to fill out all of the forms - some have to be notarized, take pictures of our house and our family. Get certified copies of birth and marriage certificates and line up some references - none of which can be family members. We also have to get passports and notarized copies of a physical from our doctor. We need the past 3 years of income tax returns, bank statements, proof of life insurance and health insurance etc.

I have the application pretty much finished - we need to take the pictures and get a few details straightened out. I have copies of the bank statements and tax returns - the rest we are still working on. It is really exciting that this is finally coming together and then a little scary at the same time. We have talked about adopting for a while and here we are starting the process!

Brian and Justin

Brian is so great with Justin! He loves him so much and is very gentle with him. He makes good eye contact with him and talks to him in the "baby voice". I have to say he gives Brian as many smiles as he gives me - if not more! Justin does smile at Sean too but Sean comes and goes like a tornado and doesn't spend the time talking to Justin that Brian does! Brian is at such a great age to have a baby brother - he was only 2 1/2 when Sean was born and doesn't really remember.

so happy to be a big brother - again!

The Application!

We have decided to get the adoption process started! And before everyone goes crazy - Yes I know Justin is only 12 weeks old. But it takes about 2 years from application until we get a baby in our arms! So, he will be over 2 and we hope to get about an 8 month old little girl. We have decided to adopt from Korea. It has everything we want - younger children, foster care not orphanages, good medical histories (baby and birth mother), travel time is only about 3 days in country and there is an escort service available too in case we cannot travel.

So, I e-mailed the adoption agency we want to use on Tuesday and we got the information packet and application today. I am excited to get the long paper chase started - although I hear Korea is not quite as bad as some countries with the paperwork they require! So is all goes right we should expect our little girl sometime in 2009!

Justin loves Sponge Bob!

Today I was doing wash - what else is new around here! And I heard Justin crying. I turned on the washer, started upstairs and noticed the crying had stopped. Well, Brian and Sean were upstairs with him so I wanted to make sure he was okay and no one had picked him up or put a pillow on top of him! I get upstairs and Brian told me that Justin was crying so he turned his bouncy seat so that he could watch TV! Justin was amazed by Sponge Bob and made it another 15 minutes before he cried again!

Brian and Justin

3 boys and the boob tube!

Justin Blows Bubbles!

Justin has started to blow bubbles - especially when it is time for him to eat! I guess he is salivating in an anticipation of being fed!

bubbles!

what a smile!
more bubbles!

Justin's Crazy Hair

I went to Babies R Us and got some special shampoo to get rid of Justin's cradle cap! It worked really well and almost all of the cradle cap is gone. But it was oily and even after washing his hair 4 times it was still crazy! A few days later it got better and it only took a few more washings to get his hair back to normal! Beware of putting too much in if you use it!

Brian holding Justin

crazy curls
love the dimples
enough is enough, Mom!

Baseball on the Beach!

One of Brian and Sean's favorite things to do is to play baseball on the beach. And why wouldn't it be - my mom and I pitch and chase the balls all over the beach and all they get to do is bat! Then when we got tired they tried pitching to each other - Brian did a great job and even ran after him like Brian Sr. does. He chased Sean around the bases and even though he is faster than him, he let Sean win and score without tagging him out! What a great big brother! Sean's pitching didn't go so well - he doesn't have enough coordination to pitch something Brian could hit - but he did manage to get it over the plate once in a while. Brian also likes to slide - even a few head first! Ouch! And why do we always say "eye on the ball"? Don't most of have two eyes - so shouldn't it be eyes on the ball?

batter-up!

watching a home run!strike!sliding into home!batter #2eye on the ballSean pitching to Brian Brian pitching to SeanBrian trying to tag Sean out!

Fore!

It wouldn't be a day on the beach without a little golf! The boys made tees out of sand and dug different holes. Sean even tried to make a shovel into a flag stick! The sharing could have gone a little smoother - there was only one club! But it was good for them! We even went to play miniature golf a few nights ago! I actually beat the golf pro - but he was putting left handed on the back nine! Sean was the only one to get a hole-in-one and I don't even think he was looking at the ball when he hit it! Golf takes some skill but there is a lot of luck involved too!

Brian trying to put it in

making a tee
trying to make a flag stick
great shot!

Makin' Fun Out of Nothing at All

Who would have thought that with all of the toys I carried to the beach each day, that a few paper plates would entertain them for so long!

flying like seagulls

more seagulls
hiding their plates
Sean seagull
not sure what he was doing

bug eyes

Mickey Mouse ears