We had a really nice Mother’s Day, thanks to my sweet husband, his brother, and his dad. The family all went to Mass together, then came to our home for a big brunch and some playtime at the park (where I am pretty sure John and Mike had the most fun).
I am so blessed to share my days with such a beautiful, loving, fun family – and I am ever thankful for our two children in Heaven and our two adorable, silly little monkeys I get to see every day.
Anna was lucky enough to be taken to the circus with Grandpa Rob and Grandma Kay a few weeks ago, and she LOVED it. Elephants and baby elephants pretending to sleep? Check. Trapeze artists and juggling? Check. Alone time with Grandpa and Grandma? Double check!
Apparently it still stands out in her mind, because while she was playing with her dollhouse a few days ago, this is what I found. Note the little pink doll (named “Baby Gosie”).
I walked in, Anna looked up at me and said, “Baby Gosie is an acrobat!”
Well, Josephine’s first birthday has come and gone. (*tear!*) As promised, here is all of her “baby book” information:
19.2 pounds (20th percentile)
Miss Josephine at one month old
Josie at six months
One year old!
by Josephine “Gosie” Immaculata
(Daddy helped)
Hi! My name is Josie. Join me as I recount my wonderful, amazing, magical day!
First I did a magic trick. Tada! No more left hand.
Next I did another magic trick. Tada! No more body…just a left hand.
Then I took a walk. It was so cold, my nose started to run. Because this is April in Minnesota, my boogies froze. Wagh!
Later that afternoon, I went home and ate a small person in a flouncy dress.
My belly full of small person, I lounged in a nice orange chair all afternoon.
After my nap, I woke up, got into my high chair, and shouted, “Hail, Brother Fire! You give us heat and light!”
Later I tried on some clothes.
And late that night I fell asleep on a soft animal.
Thanks for joining me on my wonderful, amazing, magical day. Buh-bye!
…our little four-pound baby was born! (4 pounds on 4/4 – so easy to remember!)
Today was Josie’s birthday, and we had a lot of fun going on our first spring walk as a family and enjoying some cupcakes for dessert tonight. Her party is this weekend, and her one year check-up is next week, so I’ll save more development-type details for future posts (for those of you who care).
But for now, here are some sweet pictures of our cutie. One year ago, Josephine, you surprised us by coming a bit early, but you showed us how much love is added to a family when another child comes along. God has been so generous to us, and we are thankful. We love you so much, our darling baby girl!
Are you sure this is okay? (That’s half a cupcake, in case you’re wondering.)
Yum! Sugar high!
Our Easter baby
My grandpa passed away on March 14. We had the services last week, just before Holy Week began in earnest. My sister wrote (and husband read) a beautiful eulogy, which made us laugh and cry. And while it was good to see so many family and friends, it was also hard to say some last goodbyes to Grandpa. Thank you again to those who wrote, called, and sent flowers and cards.
Only a few days later, we were at Easter Sunday, where we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and, with hope, “look forward to the resurrection” of our own bodies someday. While we continue to pray for Grandpa and for our family members who will miss him, we also remember the joy he brought to our lives and look forward to meeting him again.
The girls with their Big G’s in November before the snowbirds headed to Arizona.
Since we haven’t made the time to create posts lately, I thought I’d at least give you a few photos to view. We are healthy and happy and excitedly waiting for spring to arrive!
It’s a few months old, but hey, there *are* some pictures with all of us in them!
Anna plays with her new train set.
A fort we decided to make one winter day.
Anna happily wears her slippers.
Snuggle time with Daddy!
Girlies in matching jammies!
They show off their pouty lips like pros.
I haven’t made the time to post much lately, but Kay took this cute video of the girls and their cousin Genevieve last week and I just had to share it. (I am sure Mari will be joining the fun in a few short months.) If someone wants to put some music behind it, go right ahead – it looks to me like they’re on stage!
Josephine is nine months old and doing well in all respects. She’s 17 pounds which puts her at the 25th percentile for weight, and she’s at the 40th percentile for height (length?) and is barely on the chart at 3rd percentile for head circumference, which continues to amaze me, as Anna’s consistently had… well… a big head. The best part of Josie’s doctor appointment was going to be NO SHOTS! That is, until I realized while talking to my friends that none of us had flu shots yet this year. So instead of NO SHOTS, it was a shot for Josie… and me… and Anna. And lucky us, we get to go in again in a month for round two! But honestly, I’m just happy we’re all (relatively) healthy in our home.
Besides all that boring stuff, Josie is moving like crazy. She crawls everywhere and is starting to climb stairs. She can pull herself up on anything and only gets frustrated when she realizes she’s not sure how to get back down. And still no teeth (yes, I was very wrong way back five months ago!), but we have decided that Josie’s first question in 20 Questions would consistently be, “Can I eat it?” Everything goes in that little mouth. She eats pretty much anything we’re eating at dinner now and in general is still a very smiley, happy, and cuddly little doll. Her toothless grins fill us with such joy! (If you’ve been blessed with a Josie “wake-up smile,” you know what I mean!)
We love you, Miss Josephine!
Josie, one month old – just for comparison!
This is how she can be found most of the day: crawling on anything and everything.
And finally, shots of some great facial expressions caught by John early on Christmas Eve morning (everyone else was still sleeping at my parents’ home). 
With the season of Advent last month, our family tried really hard to make it more meaningful and, particularly, to take it at a slower pace than in past years. I have to say, looking back, we were actually – very surprisingly – successful!
With the holiday season, December is full of preparations: putting up a tree and other decorations, buying and wrapping gifts, and making delicious, only-eaten-for-one-month-of-the-year treats. Although that is all fun too, Advent is meant to be a different kind of preparation: getting ourselves ready to meet Jesus someday. Somehow, only by the grace of God, we managed to get most of the typical Christmas to-do’s done by early December, leaving much more time this season for family, friends, and faith. Just a few high points of our joy-filled month:
Anna loved playing with her Nativity set and was visited by St. Nicholas on December 6.
We spent an entire day with John’s family: after attending Mass together for the feast of the Immaculate Conception, the girls (including the four little girls under 2 1/2) baked Christmas goodies while the men brewed beer, then we all dressed up and went out for our yearly dinner at the Oak Grill in downtown Minneapolis. John’s parents started this tradition over 30 years ago, and this year had two new attendees (yay babies!). Also, we’d like to point out that even with all the little ones, we were able to enjoy a nice sit-down dinner: good conversation, great food, and not a single tantrum or even minor meltdown. It was beyond wonderful! Thank you, Rob and Kay!
John and I had a nice date night which included lots of Christmas lights; some of the best we’ve seen in years, actually! We also fit in a few fun, glamorous (for us) Christmas parties and dinners.
And now, the moments when we actually remembered to take pictures:
Josie turned 8 months old…
…and became much, much more mobile. (Please ignore the spit-up on her sleeve… editing photos is not something I made time for last month!)
Anna helped decorate our Christmas tree for the first time.
We had a huge snowstorm and it was just nice enough to go out and play in the snow for the first time this year. She loves it, like a true Minnesotan!
After playing outside, we decided we needed something to warm us up, so we devoured a cup of hot chocolate together.
Josie really wanted to play outside too, but those mean parents of hers just haven’t gotten around to finding a water-resistant snowsuit yet.
In early December we had the chance to explore the Children’s Museum for free (free parking, even!) as a benefit of being part of the National Children’s Study. It was AMAZING! There were maybe 20 other families there, tops, and Anna could play with whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. We even got to enjoy the night as a little date with just our Sweetest Pea, as Kay and Rob came over to babysit Josie.
As we start the new year, we hope you were able to relax a bit during the busy holiday season and enjoy time with your family and friends as well!
