Merry Christmas!

Busy, busy, busy!

Things around the Mullen home have been quite busy these days!


I went back to work and Micheal has been home with the kids on those days and working on the days I'm off. Throw in there a few colds, a bad upper respiratory infection, a stomach bug, an ear infection, another stomach bug, and a few random fevers and we're having fun! Welcome cold & flu season! But really, we're doing quite well!


We enjoyed the snow and Wilson discovered that he loves his snow boots!




Pictures with Santa were a disaster :( I knew Wilson would hate it, but thought the picture of him crying in Santa's lap would at least be cute... it wasn't. So we now have 4 days to attempt another visit to Santa. We'll see if I have the courage to try it again.


Christmas shopping has been very difficult with a 19 month old & a 2 month old in tow. So we're pretty much keeping Christmas gifts pretty simple this year! Hope you all like fruitcake :)

Sweet Isabella is really growing fast. She's becoming so interactive these days! She sleeps decently at night (I'd like to say she sleeps really well, but I still have to get up a time or two). Thank goodness Wilson sleeps for 12 hours straight or I'd really be cranky!


Wilson loves his "baby doll" so much! He's really helpful getting wipes and diapers for her & putting her empty bottles in the sink. He is talking SO much now and really starting to put words together into sentences. My favorite is when he brings me an empty sippy cup and says "Mommy, juice pleeeese!"

Trying new things!

Wilson's trying something new every single day. This morning he wheeled his little firetruck into my bathroom as I was brushing my teeth. I didn't know exactly why he was doing this, so I told him the firetruck could not be in the bathroom and I pushed it out.
Well, he pushed it right back in and climbed up onto it, standing on top of it so that he could reach the light switch. (That's another new thing he's into right now... turning lights on... off... on... off... on... off... you get the point.) Since the firetruck is obviously on wheels, I told Wilson he was not allowed to stand on it, but could stand on this little step-stool instead. He's got the hang of it now. And climbed onto it about a million times today and told me he needed to "brush teef". How can I resist that?
Oh, and the step-stool was Micheal's when he was little and it says "This little stool is mine, to use it all the time. I reach the things I couldn't, and lots of things I shouldn't". I have a feeling this is going to be so true!!

Now, to little Miss Isabella. She's trying some new things, too! I finally captured a little grin. It's a lot harder than it sounds. She can be smiling from ear to ear... and as soon as I pick up the camera she decides play-time is over and starts to cry! She is becoming more social and is happier these days. (Maybe that's thanks to the antibiotic to treat her ear infection... she's gonna be just like her brother!)
She's going longer periods of time between feedings at night now (like maybe even 7 hours) but does NOT want me to sleep that whole time. She has to wake me up at least every 3 hours just to make sure I'm okay :)

And here's my favorite picture of the day... of my favorite little kiddos!

I'm thankful for...

First haircut...

Our little boy finally grew enough hair to get a haircut! His "wings" and mullet were just getting too much for us to handle. He did such a good job sitting up there in the chair like a big boy! We're so proud of him!




And here's the finished product:




And here's another "baby blue eyes"... our sweet little Isabella...

A beautiful day...

It's a beautiful day today... and we actually went to play outside! If you've talked to me lately, you'd know that most of my days have been spent inside my house (with a trip to Target here & there). I just haven't been able to get the kids' schedules coordinated enough to do a whole lot. Such as: if Wilson is awake/fed/dressed/clean diaper/napped/etc. THEN it's probably time for Isabella to do all of the above. And then by the time I'm finished getting her ready, it's time for Wilson to get a clean diaper and nap or eat or whatever! WHEW- I'm tired just thinking about it all!
But anyway, today after we ate left-over spaghetti for lunch, we bundled up Isabella in fleece and put her in the Snugli and headed outside to play. First things first, Wilson walked up & down the driveway before he headed to the back yard. He thought about swinging, but decided that blowing bubbles would be much more fun. And when I say he was "blowing" bubbles, what I really mean was that he was "eating" bubbles. That's just how he rolls...






It was gorgeous outside, and after 45 minutes I literally had to drag Wilson inside. He wasn't too happy about that. But, then he discovered a new toy. Not meant for him... but he loves Isabella's activity mat. And she does too! She just laid there looking at all the colors and toys hanging from it. She was content there for all of 15 minutes!

Aren't they a sweet pair? Man, I'm a lucky mommy!!

A few pictures

How time flies!

She's officially three weeks old! We can't believe it... the next thing we know, she's going to be going off to college!
So, life around here has been busier than ever, and I haven't had much time to catch up with pictures & blogging. Go figure! And, sadly enough, we haven't been taking nearly the pictures we did with Wilson. We did at least have her newborn photos taken with our wonderful photographer, but they are delayed in getting edited and back to us due to our photographer's pregnancy complications (please keep her & her sweet family in your prayers).
Isabella is changing every day. She's eating more and sleeping less. That's good for her... but not for my beauty rest! And she's starting to figure out that she likes to be cuddled. We went to her 2 week check-up last week and our doctor seems to think she's healthy as can be! And, he commented on how well he thinks Wilson is adjusting. He even gave Wilson stickers!
We may be biased, but we think she's just beautiful! (please note: That is not a "beauty mark" on her left cheek, but her first little "scab" from Wilson's too-sharp fingernail. Don't worry, it's all cleared up now.)




We had a fun Halloween this year. Wilson was a bear (grrrr). We went to hang out with the family @ Katie's house and the little ones went trick-or-treating together. They got the hang of it quickly! Wilson didn't have any difficulties keeping up with his older cousins! He liked the idea of people giving him treats, although we only let him have one Kit-Kat. I think Daddy ate the remaining candy that Wilson worked so hard for!
Somehow, the kids actually kept their costumes on the entire time. And, amazingly enough, we were able to get one photo of them together. Here is the cow (Luke, 24 months), the mouse (Audrey, 24 months), and the bear (Wilson, 17 months).



And here's the "kissing cousins". They will certainly kill us for this one, huh?

What baby doll?

Ok, so this is just a normal picture of Wilson playing (AKA: trying to stick one toy inside another toy it doesn't belong in). Notice anything peculiar about this picture?

Probably not, huh? Let's examine further...

Yes, folks, that's Wilson's beloved baby doll. Or should I say "former" beloved baby doll. Now that Isabella's arrived, his baby doll spends most of her days like this. Poor thing has been demoted to standing on her head upside-down in one of Wilson's many toy-bins. Oh, but since he saw me taking a picture of her, I've caught his attention... Maybe he wants to feed her a bottle...

Oops... maybe not. Maybe that bottle is just another toy forced into the wrong place...


Oh, the funny things kids do! At any rate... I can't finish without including today's picture of Wilson's real baby. Man, he sure does love this little girl!!!

It's all about the boy...

I decided to make a post just about Wilson... Since he's been such a trooper the past 2 weeks! He's handled all these changes so well, and enjoys being our little helper. He has grown up so much and is doing lots of new things & saying TONS of new words! What a big boy! This is just a snip-it of what he's been up to lately...

Daddy got a new Star Wars helmet, and they had to try it out! Wilson loved it... and now the helmet resides on the top of Wilson's bookshelf. I think Micheal wants people to think it's Wilson's... but, NO, it's Micheal's.



Wilson just being his cute little self. He likes to say "CHEESE!" when he sees the camera. So cute, but creates funny facial expressions like this:



He was throwing a fit, and it was actually sort of cute. So I grabbed the camera. And, well, he decided to stop and model for me. So here he is... the new Old Navy toddler model:



And here's his disappearing act:





And this is what happens when I leave him in a room by himself for about 15 seconds. Keep in mind, he was in a totally baby/toddler-proof nursery... go figure!