Art, Cereal, and Siblings.....

Recently Momma Shedd visited and she brought David an art easel. It has been a huge hit as David will spend hours (OK minutes....but we will take what we can get) drawing (or asking mom and dad to draw "ah-panes").

If you know David, you know what he REALLY likes is cleaning the easel:
We recently started Delaney on rice cereal in the evenings (in a desperate effort to get her to sleep through the night--we will try anything!). The first night went well:
By the second night Delaney seemed to like the cereal a bit more:
And quickly decided she should be in control of the spoon:
Overall I think she is happy with the cereal:
Delaney continues to grow quickly and her little personality shows itself more and more. She is VERY smiley and happy and LOVES to be around people. She is far more social than David was. In some ways though, they are two peas in a pod:

Snow and Stuff.....

2011 is off to a great start!!! We brought in the New Year with a little "bubbly"...and David LOVES bubbles......here he is checking the quality control of the bubbles :-) The fireworks were put on hold due to a local thunderstorm.

David started the new year off with a much-needed haircut to lower his ears. The last time he got in the barber's chair, it took 3 of us to hold him down (hence no pictures that day). This time, he wasn't overly thrilled but did very well. We were all very proud of him!!!
The Christmas morning snow was amazing so imagine our surprise to get a SECOND bit of snow after New Years!!!! We were spoiled with the Utah powder. Mississippi snow is wet and cold, but that did not stop us from jumping in and enjoying the experience.
Mom pulled David through the front yard on the sled........
David LOVES wagon rides. Sled rides??? not overly thrilled :-)
Unfortunately, the Big Snow didn't keep dad home from work long enough :-(

... mom and the kids put the fireplace and blankets to good use on the home front (slackers)

Little Delaney is now 4 months old. She still isn't sleeping regularly through the night :-( But she is growing fast and her accomplishments now include enjoying some "Bumbo" time:
Here is a trip down David' Amnesia Lane at 4 months: Two peas in a pod I'd say :-)
Delaney has her 4 month well-baby check-up tomorrow so check back for her stats.....mom is guessing she will weigh about 14 lbs.......

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Mississippi "White Christmas" Style

We made the effort to get organized for a family photo in front of the tree and presents. We have lots of family photos but this one is special since all 4 of us are in the photo. David will look back and ask why we took a photo with his thumb in his mouth...we will remind him that we attempted not to.

David saying "good night" after Christmas Eve Mass. One last chance to get on Santa's nice list.

2010 saw no shortage of presents under the family tree. There is no Christmas like a Home Christmas.

This may be blurred due to an operator failure, but it does not change the fact that David was fast as lightning from bedroom to the tree when he heard Christmas was finally here.

Christmas "footie" Jam-Jams for all! After this last pose, it was time for Christmas presents.

"Fight's On"...David's first stand-up Christmas. We told him for days that the big square box was his present. When offered the opportunity to open it, he did not disappoint. David was a great present opener and kept our spirits high all morning (and afternoon)...More to follow on that point.

It's good to be the King...David taking a timeout from opening gifts and playing...while Mom and Dad keep up with the box breakdown and wrapping paper cleanup.

David with his new Airplane. Thanks Uncle Gus and Aunt Stephanie. It's official, there are 3 Shedd's with pilot licenses; however, David may have his revoked from time to time if he can't keep his aircraft in its required operating airspace.

You gotta be kidding me! It's a Christmas Miracle. Snow in Mississippi on Christmas morning.


Andree and Delaney get a hero shot on the front porch.

Dad wanted to ensure he got a photo as well.

David went for it and just flat out ran into the yard to play in the falling snow. He did forget that it was rain an hour prior and ended up with soaking wet footie jam-jams. Due to snow excitement, halftime was declared from 1000-1200 so David could change outfits and get a nap. I had no idea Christmas could last over 8 hours from first to last gift.

Columbus, MS Christmas circa 2010. I am sure glad our government is spending a fortune preparing us for global warming... that Al Gore guy is a genius...

'Nuff Said. Between snowfall interupting presents and David requiring a halftime rest to prepare himself for his last 5 presents, it was an exhausting experience for all, especially Delaney. Merry Christmas everyone. Cannot wait for New Year's champagne and the Tournament of Roses.

November/December

We recently went to Atlanta for the Thanksgiving holiday. It was fun to watch the cousins play together. Gabe, David and Ben were all born within about 6 months of each other and it was cute to watch them all together:

David and Ben discussing the Golf Cart

The three boys making a mess......I mean eating :-)

It wasn't just the little ones who had fun......

Once we got home from Atlanta it was time to decorate the house and get ready for Christmas!!! This is the living room:

And this is some sort of strange confusion of Halloween and Christmas that had Tim and me in stitches:
Finally, over Thanksgiving we had the most wonderful thing happen: Delaney slept all night!!! Although she has not done it regularly since it has given us hope for future sleep :-) Today she mastered a new skill......Rolling over!!! We have made her do it so often that we are hopeful for another long night's sleep :-)

She was very happy with herself!!!!!

October

We had two big events at the end of October: David's first Trick or Treat experience and Delaney's Baptism. Because Haloween fell on Sunday this year the neighborhood did Trick or Treating on Saturday. David LOVED it. Previous to that night he seemed a little scared of his monkey costume but once he saw the other kids coming to the door in their costumes he asked me to put the monkey head on him. He did really well walking around the neighborhood and by the end was chanting "tricktreat, tricktreat, tricktreat". Delaney stayed safe (and cuddly in the stroller). Here are some pictures of David the Monkey:

Daddy and Monkey:
Enjoying the spoils:
On Sunday Grandma and Grandpa Hertz flew in for Delaney's Baptism to proxy for Mary Lauren and Matt who are Delaney's Godparents. It was nice to see them and Delaney was an angel during the Baptism with NO CRYING!!!!! David however, was upset he couldn't play in the water :-). Here is the family with the newly Baptised Delaney (who is sleeping peacefully):

Family Happenings

In the four weeks since Delaney was born (OMG has it been 4 weeks?!?!?) we have been keeping busy.....David is adjusting well and Delaney is growing quickly. David seems to really like his little sister and has even recently started calling her by her name rather than calling her "baby". He pronounces it Nay-Nay. Very cute!!!!

Mommy supervising David and Delaney time together.
David loves to touch and kiss Delaney as she lays on her play mat.
Sometimes he attempts to pick her up.....a bit scary.

We have started taking David to the playground on base quite a bit. He loves it most when there are other kids to run around with. The slide and the swing are his very favorite things and when we drive past the playground he says "WEEE, WEEE".

Recently we got a visit from Momma Shedd and Uncle Todd. It was a short but fun visit and we were so happy to see them!! Momma Shedd got some bonding with Delaney.
We went to the local pumpkin patch with Momma Shedd and Todd. Everyone had a wonderful time.......


While we have managed to have alot of fun together since Delaney came home, the truth is that having a toddler and a newborn is, quite frankly, exhausting. The other day Tim took the kids so I could go take a nap. When I came out this is what I saw:
Then, a few days later, I took the kids so Tim could get a nap and this is what he woke up to:
Other than that, we spend our days doing normal family things including baby baths:
And admiring our newest little precious: