Monday, April 11, 2011

Catching Up Some More...

So as I sit in the hospital with Max (he's our second born - 5.5 weeks old with a terrible cough that they are monitoring) I thought I'd do some catching up...seems I can't find the time to do so around the house these days!

It's been since Will was 8 month's old (actually a post about his first little cold - and now both of my boys have one - ain't that wierd) that I've posted anything about our lives! So we'll start there.

Will is now 16 months old and full of vigor to say the least. He's everywhere and into everything before I can blink an eye...keeping me on my toes! He started crawling at 9 months and loved it so much that he didn't start walking till he was 13 months old - New Year's to be exact! He's saying all kinds of things now, like "ma" for milk and "ma" for Emma (Papa's dog), up, bubble, dada, mama, ball, "bla" for blocks and more that I can't remember right now. He's as cute as a button of course. We threw a blow out party for his birthday...cowboy themed and he got his very own wooden rocking horse which he loves to rock and use as a ladder. He likes to throw his food (like any good 16 month old I hear), climb the dining chairs and sit on the table, climb the stairs all by himself, play outside and be chased around the house.

What else has been going on for us...well let's see - we've had another kiddo in the meantime! Who knew we would have a housefull of kiddos - but we're well on our way now. When Will was a mere 7 months old, we found out we were expecting another little bundle of joy. All those years trying, we didn't think we could even get pregnant...well here we are...BOGO!

Max Stephen Crisp was born March 3, 2011 at 7:52 in the morning, weighing in at 8 lbs even (just like big brother Will) and measuring 20.5 inches long. Happy and healthy! He's a cutie and looks a lot like big brother Will too. We are so happy to have him, but boy did we forget about all those sleepless nights and what it was like to have a newborn. I think God designs it that way...so we'll have more! He's such a good baby and pretty easy going like his Daddy. Will loves him too, he was a little apprehensive at first, but was warmed up a lot. He likes to give him kisses, pull his ears, poke his eyes and steal his socks and paci!

September 2010 Highlights:
Will is 9 months old and crawling everywhere
Trip to Nashville for family reunion
First trip to the pumpkin patch
Tested out a John Deere tractor with Papa



October 2010 Highlights:
Will is 10 months old and pulling up on everything
Picking apples with Daddy at Eckert's Farms
Will was a little chicken for his first Halloween


November 2010 Highlights:
Will is 11 months old and started walking behind push toys
Will had his first haircut and did great
First trip on a ferry boat


December 2010 Highlights:
Will's first birthday - a cowboy party!
Helping Daddy paint Max's room
First sled ride over Christmas
Christmas Morning - Santa brought a slide!


January and Febuary Highlights:
Will is walking - YEAH!
Will is climbing - OH NO! He loves to climb onto the kitchen table!
He sure loves his chocolate and to read books!
First sled ride on our big hill behind the house


So that's it in a nutshell which brings us up to date without too many gory details. So what are we up to now. I sit in a hospital room with Max and Daddy and Grandmother are on Will duty! Will caught a viral bug last week, had a chest xray, nasal swab the whole bit and ended up on a steroid to clear up a cough. Max then must have caught it, but his little body just can't tackle the virus as easy as an older baby. Not much they can do in the hospital but poke, prod and watch him, but at least if his oxygen levels go down, we'll be ready! Mama and Daddy are getting the bug too, but you know we don't make the news lately!

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Catching up...

So I haven't been keeping up so good lately...busy as usual. Will is doing great!

The sniffles:
All but a little cold he had last week, he's been a doll. It started with a VERY fussy baby one morning, then the drainage began...and didn't end for 10 days! Yuck...but after only one sleepless night...he figured out how to breath through his mouth and we were all on the road to recovery...minus Grandmother and Papa who came down with it a couple days after visiting!

Crawling:
He's not crusing yet...but well on his way. He can go a few feet now - won't be long till I'll be chasing him everywhere. I promise to get some video soon.

First of many "messes":
I have to admit this is Mama's fault! I left my cup of koolaid in the living room (on the new rug no less) forgot about it, then headed to the kitchen to fix Will's bottle. He got very quiet, and I started to wonder. When I checked on him, he was covered in koolaid, happily playing with the ice cubes (note: the rug was bright red too). I so wish I would have snapped a shot, but was too worried about the stained rug, that I didn't. I'm sure I'll be getting over that soon...with many more messes to come.

Will is into discovering everything, I love seeing him find new things and play!


Here he is discovering the wire to the lamp after turning over the chair!

8 months!!!

Can you believe it? He'll be a fifth grader before I turn around! What a wonderful 8 months it's been. He's growing bunches and more and more interested in all the things around him!

No major milestones this month...still working on crawling (I think he'll skip the army crawl stage).

Here's my cutie-pie!

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Crisp Family Visit

This weekend we had lots of company! Grandma and Grandad Crisp, Uncle Lane, Trenton and Jenna came to visit.

Will's First Boo-Boo
Before they arrived on Saturday morning, Will, Daddy and I had a relaxing morning at home...Mama and Will love it when Daddy is home with us! Just about every day, Will plays at our front window to look outside. Our window sills are low and perfect for pulling up (with Mama's help). He was standing there while Daddy was trying to get the video camera going. Just as Daddy was getting the camera out, Mama and Will looked toward him, and before we knew it...Will lost his balance and down he went. Banging his chin on the window sill. He didn't cry for long and it was only red for a while. It hurt Mama worse I think!

So after a long nap, all was fine and our guests had arrived! We enjoyed a trip to the City Museum - talk about a mad house - everyone else had the same idea to escape the heat! Today we visited the science center too! What fun we all had!

At the City Museum - Will's face was really irritated from all the teeting/drooling...can't decide if he looks cute or a little "devilish"...

Trenton and Jenna really enjoyed the giant Mouse Wheel!


This reminded me of the Bible song "He's Got the Whole World In His Hands" - we all got it stuck in our heads!

Shirley Temple

Happy 9th Birthday to my niece Abbi! Aunt Stephanie, Abbi and Grandmother came to St Louis to go to the zoo and celebrate Abbi's big day! She even got to pet the sting rays. For some reason, Abbi has found a fascination with Shirley Temple...movies, songs, dolls...and she's discovered "googleing"! So, after some digging, I found an idea for some cute "Shirley Temple" cupcakes. We also all had genuine Shirley Temple "cocktails". What a celebration. Abbi had found a $125 doll on EBAY even...Mark and I settled for a $20 one from a local collector...she said "it would work". Uncle Mark also threw in a turtle that he found in the backyard with her gifts. Come to find out, it might be a snapper - so they've already released it to the "wild" aka Grandmother and Papa's backyard. Aunt Stephanie says she'd never seen a turtle move that fast to get away!

Happy Birthday Abbi!





Thursday, July 8, 2010

7 months...

have come and gone...I guess it will never slow down. I'm just going to have to keep up, huh? So Will turned 7 months on the 4th of July actually. It took me a couple of days after getting home to get his picture taken in his chair. So here it is! What a big boy!

Milestones:
Sitting up
Sticking his tongue out
Grabbing for EVERYTHING
Rolling everywhere
2 teeth already, and more on the way I'm sure


Chicago on the 4th

Our first family vacation (sort of)! What an adventure. We chose Chicago to go see our friends that recently moved there from Connecticut. Chris and Angela orginally lived in St. Louis, but since have been on the east coast. We're glad to have them back in the Midwest. They have 3 little ones now, Mason who turns 3 and twins Carsen and Claire who turn 1 all this month!

Our adventure began on the road last Friday. We made a stop in Springfield, Il, a little less than halfway, to visit President Lincoln's home there. Will got lunch and we had a chance to stretch our legs. Really, it was a great place to see. Glad we made that stop. Will did fantastic and really traveled well.

Next stop: Chicago.

We loved Chris and Angela's home and neighborhood. We enjoyed some DELICIOUS Chicago deep dish pan pizza on Friday (Mark was in heaven). Then just enjoyed the evening catching up. Saturday was a lazy day too - a little shopping for the Mama's and Mason, then dinner out for just the grown ups. Angela's cousin is staying with them over the summer to help with the kids and she was kind enough to watch the kiddos (all the babies were already in bed) while the grown ups got to enjoy some time away. And we saw a few fireworks too!

For the 4th, we celebrated by going downtown to join all the crowds for Taste of Chicago. Had a Chicago dog, some Eli's cheesecake and got to see the Magnificent Mile, the lakeshore and admire beautiful downtown Chicago. We even stopped for some Garret Popcorn (Chicago special = caramel corn + cheese corn) - it was great! That evening we cooled off at home with some steaks on the grill and good old watermelon!

Our weekend wasn't long enough before we had to head home. We wanted to make a stop on our way out of town to visit the store IKEA. I'd heard lots about it. Boy was it AWESOME. I could have shopped all day. It's Gi-normous! We spent 3 hours there (including lunch too). So off we were on the road again - already 1:30 pm. Will had a little rougher trip home, wanted to stop more often, which made for an even longer trip...but he made it just fine!

Happy Independence Day America - and thanks to all our veterans and servicemen that make our freedom possible!


Daddy, Will and Honest Abe (in the background is Lincoln's home)


All the kiddos, Angela, Rachel & Mama.


3's company - meal times where lots of fun!


Will's first swing ride - he loved it!


Just chillin' in the back yard.


Carsen pushing Claire in the cozy coupe.


Aren't they all so cute!


Will's new buddy Carsen.


The crispycritters on the 4th in Chicago!


Will was a sleepy dude after all the fun!


Mason shows us how old he'll be soon - what a big boy!