Merry Christmas

The boys loved their matching pajamas!

Merry Christmas, everyone! We had a wonderful weekend. We went to the children's mass on Christmas Eve as we do every year. Out of over 100 kids there, MJ was the only one running up and down the aisles. I swear, there is no way to contain that child! :) Ty, on the other hand, was cozy as could be in his car seat. After mass, we had dinner at our house with some of Steve's family.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

In spite of me coming down with mastitis on Christmas day (oh, the joys of breastfeeding), we had a wonderful time. After a morning of opening presents with the boys, we had brunch with my family.

French toast and egg and cheese casserole - delicious! (brother Eddie is taking the picture)

Ty got a lot of cute things for his nursery as well as some toys and clothes. As you can see, he was thrilled.
MJ got a ton of stuff- including a Toy Story 3 bike (which is WAY too big for him, in spite of Steve's insistence that it wasn't), a Toy Story box set with all of the characters in it, and a horse! (well, a fake horse)

Ride 'em, cowboy!

We went over to Steve's parent's house for even more presents and dinner, and it started to snow!!!!! What a beautiful sight. It was Atlanta's first official white Christmas since 1880.

White Christmas

Baking Day!

Icing - YUMMY!

Every year, we have our annual Baking Day at my mom's house. It is a day full of SUGAR, chocolate, peanutbutter, and all sorts of goodies. We make about 8 different types of cookies/dessert bars/candies. Why? Well, every member of the "baking day crew" has his or her favorite cookie - whether it be for sentimental reasons or for taste alone. Therefore, we make all of them. :) It is also fun to give samples of these special, homemade treats to family and friends. In the background, we have Christmas music playing or we put on National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. This year was especially fun because MJ had a blast rolling the dough and decorating my Grandma Brown's famous butter cookies. The icing was delicious!

Mom- it's time for a nap!

The Baking Day Crew 2010

I would like to give a special "thanks" to my dad for the three trips he took to the grocery store that day to pick up ingredients!

MJ had his preschool Christmas Carol last week - here are a few pictures:

Blowing a kiss to the crowd- what a charmer!

Mommy and MJ

Steve was out of town for a few days last week, so I was on my own with both boys. The evenings are always a little hectic getting both boys fed, bathed, and ready for bed...so, here is a picture of my multitasking:

Mom- Ty is taking up over half of my bathtub!

I can't believe Christmas is only 5 days away...more pics soon!

A Visit to Santa and the Budweiser Clydesdales

We had professional pictures taken of the boys a few weeks ago. Here is one of my favorites of Ty...

So peaceful

Last week, we went to visit Daddy at work so Ty could meet everyone at Eagle Rock. MJ felt right at home.

MJ at Grandpa's desk - he's a natural!

Steve and his future Bud boys

MJ and Ty in the Bud sleigh

Steve's company party was at the Cartersville Budweiser brewery. We had a blast (in spite of the weather). MJ was TERRIFIED of Santa - he was screaming "No, Santa" so loud that you just had to laugh. Needless to say, I have no pictures of MJ in Santa's lap, but we did get one of the family with Santa behind us (I don't have this picture yet, but I will post it when I get it). Ty was quite content in Santa's arms.

I want a bottle, a new pacifier, and more of mommy's milk

MJ with the Budweiser dalmation

The Clydesdales!

I said bye-bye to what my friend, Aubrey, affectionately calls "Mommyland" and started back to work on Tuesday. I have enjoyed being back at work, but I miss my boys terribly! Our new nanny, Lisa, has been keeping them busy, though! She took a picture of MJ making his gingerbread man and gingerbread house.

This is awesome!

There will be more Christmas fun on the way!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our little turkeys!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! We had a great holiday with family and friends. On Tuesday, MJ had a "Thanksgiving Feast" at his preschool. I was in charge of set up with a couple of the other moms - it was such a cute party! MJ's class dressed as pilgrims, and the older 2-year old class dressed up as indians.

"I'm a pilgrim!"

Thanksgiving day was wonderful. I ran the Atlanta Half Marathon that morning and had a blast running in a race for the first time this year! Steve was extremely busy taking care of the boys and cooking the turkey while I ran. We had some of Steve's family and the Dubose (my sister-in-law's family) over for dinner. Steve did TWO turkeys - one fried and one on the Green Egg...both were DELICIOUS!!! I still can't decide which one I liked more.

On Friday morning, my family came over for a champagne brunch. MJ and Ty had so much fun visiting with everyone (as always)!

Here are a few pictures...

Ofcourse, both boys have their hands in their mouths!

YUMMY!!

Champage brunch

Ty wore MJ's old Thanksgiving outfit, so I decided to compare pictures...you can definitely tell that they are brothers!!!!

MJ (3 weeks old at the time of this picture)

Ty (7 weeks old)

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with lots of turkey and pie! GO JACKETS!!!!

Moms on Call

As many of you know, Ty has been a terrible sleeper...Steve and I basically did not sleep for the first month of his life. Last Monday I reached my breaking point. After yet another sleepless night, I decided to do the Moms on Call online seminar. (For those of you interested, you can check out momsoncall.com). They teach a lot about basic baby care, but their specialty is getting your baby to sleep at night. Two words: IT WORKS! I started implementing their method, and Ty now only wakes up once a night to feed. I no longer feel like a walking zombie! So, I just wanted to say THANK YOU, Moms on Call, for making me feel human again!

Last weekend, my parents watched the kids so Steve and I could go to the GT vs Miami game. It was a beautiful day, and it was so nice to actually be able to socialize and watch a football game without chasing a toddler or feeding an infant! I was sad to see Tech lose (again), but we still had a great time.

Granddad and MJ planting flowers for mommy

Ty - 6 weeks old!

MJ is TWO!

Happy Birthday, M.J.!! (eating his birthday biscuit)

MJ turned 2 last Friday (Nov. 5th). I can't believe it! We had a pretty low key day in preparation for his birthday bash on Saturday. We had a Thomas the Train themed party in our backyard, and it was a blast! The kids had fun jumping in the "bouncy house" and playing on the swingset and in the sand box.

Steve had this sign made for the party

Fun in the "bouncy house"

MJ's Thomas cake (It was made by Publix...who knew they made such cute cakes?!). He subsequently devoured two pieces!

Our family on MJ's 2nd birthday

We had a busy weekend between MJ's party, my friend, Carrie's, wedding shower, and the Falcons/Bucs game! Steve's brother, Andrew (who is the long snapper for the Buccaneers) was able to sneak away for a couple hours on Saturday to visit Ty for the first time and wish MJ a happy birthday.

We took MJ and Ty to the pediatrician today for their 2 year old and one month old check-ups, respectively. They are both doing great. MJ is in the 80th percentile for height and weight. Ty has gained TWO pounds in the past 3 weeks - YAY!

Here is a picture of Ty this morning (5 weeks)

October Fun

I just loved this picture of MJ and Ty, so I decided to start the post with it. :)

We have been having a lot of fun (in spite of MANY sleepless nights) the past couple of weeks.
MJ was a "T. Rex" for Halloween, and he had a blast trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. He got scared of some of the decorations (moving skeletons, monsters, etc.), but he powered through. Ty was my little lion and seemed content in the stroller.

MJ had a Halloween party at school, and his class had a "parade" in the parking lot to show off their costumes. Note to self - not a great idea to have a bunch of almost-2-year-olds see their mommies - they all started crying! I felt so bad for the poor teachers. Once I got out of sight, though, MJ was happy to be back in the classroom without me.

Grandma and Grandpa Engle took MJ to a pumpkin patch up in Dawsonville, and he is still talking about it!

We went down to our cabin just south of Griffin last weekend. Steve shot AT a deer...still no luck in the hunting department, but he had a lot of fun. MJ loved the cabin, and he had fun seeing all of the animals. Ty did great on the car ride there and back.
When MJ was 2 weeks old, we took him to the cabin and I took a picture of Steve holding him. I took the same picture this year with Steve and Ty - it's a little scary how similar they are! See pics below.

MJ as T.Rex

Ty the little Lion - the costume was supposed to be 0-3 months, but I swear I could have fit into it! haha

MJ's school parade. Note that he let go of the rope and is headed straight for me!

Grandpa Engle with MJ at the pumpkin patch

Steve and Ty (3.5 weeks old)

Steve and MJ when he was 2 weeks old

Stay tuned...MJ turns TWO tomorrow and we have a big party on Saturday!!!

Goodbye, 20's...Hello, 30!

That's right...I turned the big 3-0 yesterday! I have been dreading this day forever, but now I have decided to own it (well, sort of). I thought I was going to be 9 months pregnant on my birthday, so it was a treat to be able to drink wine and celebrate! Steve and I decided to go out to a romantic dinner - just the two of us - while my mom watched the kids. We went to the 57th Fighter Group Restaurant and had a wonderful view of the planes. I have never been there, so it was really special.

My mom makes my favorite cake (yellow cake with homemade chocolate icing) every year for my bday - it is even more delicious than it looks!

Our family

Ty is 2 weeks old now, and he is doing really well. We went to the pediatrician today, and he has finally gotten back to his birth weight - YAY! I feel so relieved. He is starting to eat more...I just wish I could say the same about his sleeping habits. :)

Here are a few pictures of my boys

MJ giving Ty a kiss

The boys snuggling on the couch

It's a BOY!

Stephan Tyler Economos ("Ty") was born October 5th, 2010 at 5:34pm. He was 6 lbs, 2 oz and 19.5". He was 3 weeks and 2 days early, so we were a little surprised to have him here this soon!

The sequence of events went something like this...

Monday, October 4th: feeling great until late evening.
11:00 pm: GI bug - All. Night. Long.
5:30 am: call in sick to work
8:30 am: call OB's office, schedule appt for 11:00
9:30 am: Uh Oh...did my water just break?!?! Call OB's office again - come in now
10:00 am: Steve meets me in waiting room. "Honey, I think my water broke." The look on his face was priceless
10:30 am: OB checks me - "Yes, your water broke. You are already 4cm dilated and 70%effaced. Congratulations! You are going to have a baby today!" This was quickly proceeded by a few minutes of me freaking out...But, we're not ready yet! The baby isn't even at term! We don't even have a boy's name picked out!
Thankfully, she and Steve were able to quickly calm me down. She assured me that although the baby would technically be a "premie," he/she was far enough along that there was no need to worry.
10:45 am: Walked over to hospital with the family
12:00 pm: Epidural in (God bless anesthesia)
4:30 pm: Steve and I decide on a boy's name (we already had a girl's name picked out)
5:30 pm: Start pushing
5:34 pm: Baby Ty is born!

Our families had a bet on time of birth, sex, weight and length. Steve won!

Mommy and Ty

Ty sleeping in Grandma's arms

All my boys

So peaceful

The family goes home!

MJ is doing really well and is fascinated by "Baby brother Ty." He tries to hold him and kiss him a lot, so we have to watch him like a hawk! Ty needs to gain some weight, so we have been working hard to bulk him up (=sleep deprivation). I have to say, I have not missed my breast pump these past few months. It was hard to bring it out again - a sign that I am a slave to my son's feeding schedule. :)

We are so thankful to have a wonderful family and great friends who have been helping us out the past week!

Stay tuned for more updates on our little family!