Touch a Truck

We went to a “Touch a Truck” event this morning,  which is pretty much Pete’s dream come true!  There were fire trucks, police cars, dump trucks, excavators, city buses and school buses to name a few. Pete was a little shy to start the day, and didn’t want to actually go in any of the vehicles, but he warmed up pretty quickly and as long as there wasn’t a big crowd, he climbed right on/in.  His favorite activity of the day was a train ride on “Thomas” around the parking lot.  It was the first thing we had to do, and he was so excited about it.  We had a fun morning and look forward to many more events just like it!2014-04-18

James Patrick Marr

The newest MiniMarr has arrived!  Our son, James Patrick,  was born on February 20, 2014 at 9:21AM.  He was 20 inches long and weighed in at 8 lbs. 5 oz.

Just a few minutes old, holding dada's hand!
Just a few minutes old, holding dada’s hand!

 

Overjoyed to finally meet our baby!

Overjoyed to finally meet our baby!

Proud parents!

Proud parents!

Finding his fingers for the first time :)

Finding his fingers for the first time 🙂

Meeting Nana and Bumpa

Meeting Nana and Bumpa

Lizzie and James and KK and cousin Hannah

Lizzie and James and KK and cousin Hannah

Meeting Birdie and Bana

Meeting Birdie and Bana

Pete didn’t quite know what to make of his new little brother.  He was pretty convinced our baby was a girl (which made us think so too!) and didn’t seem to quite grasp the concept that the baby in my belly was actually James.  He was spoiled rotten with big brother presents, and hammed it up for the camera before agreeing to be in a family photo!

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The Marr Family
The Marr Family

When I first saw James, I was struck  by how much he looked like Brienna and Pete when they were born.  When we saw James for the first time, Pat said “Pete!” and then we both laughed because we didn’t even have a boy’s name picked out yet!  James sometimes looks like a miniature version of Pete, but he’s starting to look like himself too.  He’s so cute and sweet (Sweet Baby James is very appropriate for him!) and is a pretty laid back little guy.  He is mild mannered and gentle; he fusses when he’s hungry and only really cries when he’s in need of a diaper change.  Pete is adjusting to his new role, and loves to be our special helper.  He oversees all diaper changes and lets us know when he thinks James needs something.  So far, so good … James fits right into our little family and we are so happy he’s here!

Big Cousin Pete!

Pete has a new little cousin! KK and ShayKay welcomed Hannah Aoife Kennedy to the world on January 22, 2014 .  She is such an adorable little baby and so good too!

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Pete’s met Hannah, but isn’t quite sure what to make of her just yet! I think he’s just a tad jealous that he isn’t the center of attention anymore, but he did great at our latest visit!

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We couldn’t be happier for KK and ShayKay; they are already great parents and make an adorable little family of three!  Meeting Hannah makes us even more excited to meet her cousin in a month or so 🙂

Where Is Me?

With all the hustle and bustle over the holidays, Pete’s nap/sleep schedule was off.  He had a few late nights where he fell asleep in the car on our way home. One night, he was out cold when Pat carried him in the house and brought him upstairs.  As he groggily woke up just a bit, he looked around and asked “where is me?”  It was adorable and I thought a fitting title to give a little update on the man himself!

Pete is two years, (almost) nine months old and such a funny, lovable, sweet, smart little boy.  And all boy he is!  He talks more than anyone I know and his vocabulary amazes me daily.  He seemingly forgets nothing and will use words far beyond his little self, yet he always uses them appropriately.  He talks in complete sentences, is unfailingly polite and has the cutest, sweetest voice I’ve ever heard.  His imagination is incredible and he is constantly making up stories and telling us these elaborate tales – mostly about construction vehicles.  He loves to be dada’s helper and is always using his tools and fixing things around the house. We’ve gone to Lowe’s several times over the last few weekends and to get ready for one of our trips, he put all his tools in his pockets and then made sure he wore his construction “coat” … he cracks us up: Instagram lowes

Pete is fiercely independent.  We often hear ” NO mama/dada, I do it ALL BY MYSELF”. He likes to pick out his own clothes and would wear the same monster truck t-shirt (see above photo) every single day if we let him.  For the most part, he’s pretty easy going and will accept guidance, but on the days he doesn’t, we just cross our fingers and go with it. There’s been a few doozies, but generally nothing is too awful!

Pete loves to read and we often watch him in his crib in the morning reading books to his animals. He’ll read book after book and make up his own stories as he turns the pages. They’re pretty close to the real thing too and it’s so cute to watch and listen to him. He knows all his letters and loves to point out the letters on pretty much everything – stores, t-shirts, signs.  Pete is also quite the singer and constantly belts out the toddler hits. Sometimes we’re allowed to join in, other times he likes to sing alone. Christmas carols were a huge hit and car rides are very entertaining with all his singing and story-telling. He loves driving on the highway and checking out the big trucks and is becoming quite the backseat driver.  He tells us when to go, stop and slow down depending on the traffic lights and if he catches you with one hand on the steering wheel, he’ll scold you “two hands, mama”.  We are in big trouble when he figures out the speed limit!

Pete loves Bailey (except when she’s trying to steal his food) and loves to hug her and snuggle with her on the couch. This is a common sight in the early mornings at our house:

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He is (finally) slowly coming around to the idea that he is going to be a big brother.  Lately he’s been very sweet hugging and kissing my belly and loves to do belly bumps.  He always refers to the baby as a her, so it will be interesting to see if he’s right! Despite his reluctance at being a big brother, we know he is going to be great.  He is so kind and caring and always wants to help people; it’s one of my favorite things about him.  Anytime Pat or I are sad, he gives out hugs to make us feel better.  It’s adorable and there is not much better than a Pete hug.  There’s been no real sign of the “terrible twos” but I don’t think we’re out of the woods just yet!

Pete tends to be timid and shy when exposed to something he’s not quite sure about. But he almost always warms up and sledding was no exception. He’d only been sledding once before we were with the PC gang at the Herrick’s house a few weeks ago.  He was hesitant to try, but once he found this “driver” he was all smiles and loved sledding; it was awesome.  Thanks Erika for sending the pics!

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It’s hard to imagine life before Pete.  He has made life so full, and just so much better.  It is nearly impossible to put into words how special he is. I know we’re slightly biased, but he really is just the best.  And I know for a fact that we are better parents to Pete because of Brienna. We appreciate everything about him and truly know just how lucky we are to experience life with him.  He is the best thing that’s ever happened to us and we can’t wait to see what’s in store for the future!

 

2013 in Review …

… also known as the post where I link to all the posts I had at one point started and have finally finished!

April – Pete’s birthday party

June – Pete’s first time swimming

July – 4th of July

August – Vacation!

September – Finally Fall

October – Beach DayHalloween

November – Thanksgiving

December – Baker Pete; Christmas

In looking through all the posts I had in draft status, I stumbled across one called the Ghosts of Christmas Past.  I’m not sure why I never published it three years ago, but it seems as fitting now as it was then. Brienna’s story is, quite simply, a love story. And those are always worth sharing.

One of my goals for 2014 is to post something (anything!) twice a month.  I love looking back at old posts and seeing how Pete has grown and changed.  Hopefully someday he will too!  We have a lot to be excited about this year and I know I’ll want it well documented.  Please feel free to hold me accountable and call me out on any missed months 🙂

Happy New Year!

Christmas 2013

I can’t believe Christmas has come and gone!  It has been a fun (and busy) few weeks!

We are very lucky and get to see both sides of our family at the holidays.  We spent Christmas Eve with Nana, Bumpa and Lizzie and then saw most of the Quinn clan after church at Nana Q’s condo.  Pete was spoiled rotten!!  I think he was exhausted just from opening presents and playing with all his new loot.  We have been really bad at taking pictures the past several months, but here are a few we did get!

Someone had trouble containing his excitement during lunch at Nana and Bump’s before opening presents:

Having trouble containing his excitement before opening presents!

Opening presents with Nana and Bump!
Opening presents with Nana and Bump!

20131224_204648We woke up Christmas Day excited to watch Pete discover that Santa came.  He didn’t disappoint.  It was so fun to watch him realize that the presents in the living room and under the tree were for him!  His little eyes lit up when he saw his new tool bench and he immediately got to work building and playing.  He had to be reminded that there were other presents to open. Every time he opened anything, all he wanted to do was play with it immediately.

Santa came!!
Santa came – and Bailey is exhausted from waiting up all night!

After presents and breakfast, we headed to Bana and Birdie’s for the rest of Christmas Day where Pete was again spoiled rotten – and we again failed to take many pictures, oops.

Presents with Bana!
Presents with Bana!

We had a great couple of days with our families and it’s hard to believe that another Christmas is behind us.  This time of year is always bittersweet for us and while Brienna is never far from our thoughts and hearts, rediscovering the magic of Christmas through Pete has been more amazing than we ever thought possible. As Pat said on Christmas Eve, I hope every Christmas is as awesome as this one 🙂

Baker Pete

December has been a pretty good month so far!  We are eagerly anticipating Christmas, but have had a lot of fun getting everything ready at home. ‘Tis the season of baking and Pete loves to help me bake, so he’s been very happy these last few days!  On Thursday, we made sugar cookies for his teachers.  He rolled out the dough and cut the cookies and when I tried to take his picture, he gave me this look and told me he was “too busy”:

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He cracks me up.  After watching the cookies bake (he’s actually quite patient), we got to the fun part: decorating.  Some of those cookies were aggressively sprinkled, but they were all him and he was so proud to give them to his teachers on Friday.  He handed them their little gift bags and proclaimed that he made the cookies “myself”.

We made dog biscuits today and he thought that was just the funniest thing. The dough was less than ideal to work with, and kept getting stuck to the rolling pin and rather than get frustrated (like I would have/did) he just laughed and laughed:

His joy is just so pure and innocent.  It’s certainly easier to bake solo, but doing it with him forces me to give up my OCD tendencies and just enjoy the experience of doing something fun together.  And that alone is worth it’s weight in gold 🙂

Merry almost Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We didn’t take (m)any pictures on Thanksgiving, but had a great day nonetheless.  We had dinner with the Marr clan at Nana and Bumpa’s house and then dessert with the Conroy clan at Bana and Birdie’s house.  It was very fun and Pete was a tired guy when we got home.  Thank goodness for video monitors, because this is how we found him sleeping: photo (1)

It could not have been comfortable (or safe) so I quickly repositioned him and he slept just fine the rest of the night.  We are certainly thankful for our little man and hope everyone had a great day with family and friends!