We do a lot of reading over here and I wanted to share some of our favorite books in case you are looking for something new for your little people.

I’ll Love You Forever (‘Eber’ as M calls it) This one is very special because it’s the first book Joe read to his mom all by himself. I’ve finally gotten to a point where I can read it without crying so I am thrilled.

Go Dog Go-This has been a favorite for a while.  What kid doesn’t love dogs?  I really like the things it teaches like sleeping at night when it’s dark or what red lights and green lights mean.  It’s a fun one.

The Ear Book-Madeleine loves that it talks about bubble gum and drums.  My mom saved all our Disney and Dr. Suess books from when we were kids and now my kids can read them.  How cool is that? Thanks mom!

Mommy’s Best Kisses-this one is just too sweet and is MY favorite.  You’ll see.

Little People Picture Book-I love this one because there is no story but each page is a BIG scene with tons of details that you can teach your toddler about.  For example, a school scene that shows everything from a flag pole to the cafeteria, to art class, to basketball on the playground.  We can look at one picture forever just telling M what everything is.

Happy Reading!

Joseph your first month has been wonderful!  We have eaten up every second of snuggling with you while you are such a sleepy infant and cuddling seems to be one of your favorites.  You are such a happy boy and only seem to cry when you have tummy trouble or when you are hungry. Seriously, you like diaper changes, bath time, and you even fall asleep during tummy time! Speaking of diaper changes, they were right when they said to watch out for little boys.  You have squirted us several times but we are getting the hang of it thanks to pee pee teepees. When you do cry, we are able to soothe you pretty easily in spite of the fact that you dislike your papi and gag every time we try.

We were very busy this month and you have learned to enjoy your car seat and are getting used to the wrap. Some events that you attended this month include two doctor appointments, Cash’s birthday party, Pops’ birthday celebration, our friend’s couples shower, Easter and your baptism!  Told you we were busy!!  Easter was low key this year since we brought you home on Good Friday and your sister was majorly sick until the next weekend. You were such a sweet brother and let us give her all the attention she needed and we are SO thankful.

You went to the doctor at 1 week and 2 weeks and everything looks great! We followed up at the hospital to retest your bilirubin levels just in case but everything tested normal.

We are not really on a schedule yet but you like to eat about every three hours and I feel like you are growing like a weed. I can’t wait to see your progress at your 8 week appointment.  At night you sleep in our room in the same bassinet your dad slept in as a baby and if we are lucky you might stretch out to around 4 hours between feedings.  You don’t like being swaddled at first but then you eventually give in and sleep like a rock.  Dad calls you a little Houdini because you always manage to get one arm out of the swaddle which is totally impressive.

You like to lay down, not just when you are sleeping but during the day too.  We stretch you out so we can talk and play and you love it.  Madeleine loves this time too and always tells you “HI!” and points to different parts of you telling us all about it.  You always look to the left and we are trying to work on that so your little head doesn’t get flat.

Milestone wise you focus on our faces and are so close to cooing but for now you like to grunt and squeak. Happy first month Joe Joe!

Mother’s Day with these two cuties was wonderful!  Breakfast in bed, church, meals shared with the mother’s and grandmother’s in our lives, and an evening spent relaxing is just what this mama ordered.  Thanks for making me feel special and loved all day every day, but especially on Mother’s Day. Love my little family.

We welcomed Joseph Charles Pawelek Jr. on April 1st.

He weighed 7lb 3oz and was 20 3/4 inches long.

I will spare you the uncomfortable delivery details and I can’t seem to put into words the sweetness of holding him for the first time or how precious a moment it was introducing him to Madeleine, so I will let the pictures do the talking.

Welcome to the world sweet Joe Joe, we love you so!

Baby Joseph is here but, call me old fashioned, I don’t want to post about him until I have a chance to send out his birth announcement in the mail!

I am working on it, but in the meantime here he is in my belly weeks 13-39. 

I love having maternity photos of my pregnancy with Madeleine and wanted to do a little something for baby Joseph too without making much of a fuss.  Joe and I decided to do a diy maternity photo shoot inspired by this one my friend Kate did with one of her clients.  I loved how real it was; we read with Madeleine all the time and cuddles with her in our bed are the best, plus a no stress wardrobe…I’m in!

It took a while to get the lighting and camera settings right, and by this I mean our pictures would finally focus and weren’t pitch black without a flash.  Joe, the photographer, was a real sport and totally patient with Madeleine’s requests for snacks and my complaints that, “my stomach looked weird in that one.”

Madeleine is really sweet to Joe Joe or Baby Joseph or Baby Joe Joe as she calls him.  I’m not sure she totally gets it but she pats my belly, gives him kisses, tells him to turn down please (he is currently breech just like she was) and asks him to come and play with her.  We recently installed his car seat and she is thrilled that he will soon be sitting next to her on our adventures.

I’m excited to have these photos of carrying baby Joseph and to document the sweet time with Madeleine reading to her new brother.  We can’t wait for him to be here!

Madeleine is telling us stories these days of the things she loves the most and the things that scare her.  We call them ‘series’ because it’s the same combination of words EVERY time.  Here are a couple of our favorites…..

Grams took the girls to Chuck E Cheese over spring break and M LOVED it there!

“Go to Chuck E Cheese…play a duck game…put them in froggy’s mouth…Cora hab (have) a turn…get tickets…here we go!”

Madeleine is terrified of the garbage and recycling truck and I swear she hears them drive into the neighborhood.

“Garbage crutch (truck) scared…mama got you…dump atash an (trash can)..give it back to us…bye garbage crutch…so much (thank you so much)”

Fisher’s Birthday Party at the New Braunfels Train Museum was a big hit for Madeleine who loves trains and got to see three of them drive by at the party.

“Saw a train…HI train (as she waves)…so fast…Choo Choo!…All Aboard!…Fisher’s birthday…hab a cupcake…mmmm so good!”

M hates the doctor ever since she had the flu swab in her nose.  She had her 18 month check up a couple of weeks ago and we were rallying her up with some pep talks…

“Dr. Garzab (Garza)…check your heart…don’t cry…get a sticker.”

Last week we went to the zoo and she LOVED it.  Especially the carousel….

“Saw the pamingos (flamingos)…yap yap yap what they say….sshhh sleeping…gorilla scary…ride the castle (carousel)…here we go!”

happy birthday to me!

We celebrated my 27th birthday yesterday and I loved every second! Joe took me on a coffee date in the morning, we had a chick fil a lunch date with my nieces and then my parents and in-laws came over for homemade chicken parmigiana and homemade carrot cake! I had plenty of help blowing out so many candles.

26 was such a great year and I can’t wait to see what 27 has in store.  My mom was 27 when she had me and I’m excited to be 27 when baby Joseph is born. I usually feel older on my birthday but this year I feel young and alive!! Here comes a great year!