While i'm at it..

While i'm at it I guess i should enter some Oct stories. We've been trying to enjoy this beautiful fall weather as much as possible. Mommy has become very informed about all the latest happenings within and around the city. We have visited pumpkin patches and apple orchards and will soon be attending the 3rd largest Hot Air Balloon Festival in the Country (next weekend).

this year at the pumpkin patch Shayna was determined to pick her own pumpkin. We tried very hard to give it a go and let her "make her own decision" it turned out we probably would have still been there if we decided not to step in and "help" her out. She ended up bringing home a very pretty pumpkin and helped jonah pick out his too.

On a side note, Shayna has been in school for over 1 month now. She was a bit apprehensive at first (not too much but enough :) She cried b/c it seemed everyone else was crying but she had no problem going back each day. She still doesn't really tell us all that happens or what she does during the day but we won't stop asking and looking for answers :) I can tell you that aside from Shayna telling us she "plays" at school we also get to hear all about the potty. She loves the "new" potty. Probably b/c it is a small potty very close to the floor just for little ones. She's doing great at going to the potty but I think now she understands how it works and picks and chooses when she wants to go on the actual potty and when she wants to just go in her pull-ups. We're working on this :)

Jonah has also been quite busy these past few weeks...not only are we trying to keep up with Shayna but Jonah has begun his movement and is not letting it go unnoticed. He is very verbal -- we call him the dinosaur-- b/c of his very loud and unique screech to get attention. All done with a smile of course. He is also on the move and all over the place. He doesn't like to sit and watch - nope --he likes to get out there and get into EVERYTHING. With Shayna i was worried about all these things i might have to keep her out of but she never really got into them i.e. chloe's dog food. Jonah on the other hand goes for Chloe's food at least 1 time a day. He is usually so full of smiles and likes his sleep (even though he doesn't sleep long -- except at night so i am not complaining!) He definitely goes with the flow and lets shayna help him with everything he does.

So i think now we're pretty caught up -- i apologize if i' have a lot of grammar errors (not my strong poing and it's a lot of work writing these things!) and if i forgot any other highlights. I'm sure once Evan reads this he'll have a lot of things to add that i missed -- maybe he'll write the next post!! hahaha

until next time :)

All aboard for the Weiss travels in Sept...

Sept has been quite the busy month for the Weiss family. It started off with a trip to Chicago for our cousin Ari's wedding. It was a big step for us, traveling with 2 kids by plane but we did it!! And it was a great time had by all. It was Jonah's first plane ride and although he didn't want to sit down very much, which can be somewhat difficult on a plane :) he did really well. It was the first time Shayna has flown where she actually was aware of everything going on around her. Needless to say there was no resting on the flight but a good time had by all, thanks to coloring books and stickers :) We mad e sure to take in as much as possible while in Chicago (except seeing my friend Brooklyn-- so sorry!!!) We went to the Navy Pier and Shayna got to ride on the ferris wheel -- not much fear from this kid) Jonah was a trooper and hung out with the big kids.

We also went to Atlanta for Layla's babynaming. We had a great time visiting with friends and just hanging out. We got to swim with Bella in the pool for the first time (well she dipped her feet)!!

Then after one weekend at home for a quick rest and recoup we were off again to Orlando, FL. It was Mimi's 60th birthday so we went down to surprise her. We had lots of fun going to a character breakfast with Mickey and Minnie. Shayna was in her element and Jonah seemed to have fun too. We went to Sea World with Noah and Jared and Aunt Tracy. Although it was VERY hot everyone had a good time and behaved very well. I think it was a lot to take in for everyone but a definitely good times. We also celebrated Rosh Hashana in Orlando. It was Jonah's first New Year celebration and he pretty much slept through it :) Good boy!

Orlando was a lot of fun and great to see everyone, we were sad that we didn't get a chance to see Nana and Papa while we were there but look forward to seeing everyone again for Thanksgiving.

So I am a total slacker b/c it is now closer to November and i'm just putting up my Sept post :) oops... enjoy the link to the pics they tell all the stories!

Big Family Adventure -- Crowders Mountain

I am proud to report that we are officially crazy :) It's always after the fact that you realize this is the case it seems. This past weekend the weather people seemed to convince Evan that it was going to be nice and cool. Of course this meant great time to do something outdoors. For whatever reason, i still can't figure out, Evan decided we should go hiking on Crowders Mountain. It is a state park about 45 minutes from our house. We have climbed this mountain previously aka: before kids. When he mentioned it I thought hmm okay that could be fun. I guess i didn't remember or realize how strenuous it was on us the first go round.

We planned out everything the night before. Tested out the backpack for Jonah (see pic), packed our lunches, snacks and drinks -- so we were ready to go Saturday morning.

We got to the park around 11:30. We decided to take the less strenuous route up so that it wouldnt be so hard for Shayna. We had planned for Shayna to walk the whole way. She's pretty active and likes to do things on her own so we didn't think it would be a problem. Which of ocourse it wasn't. The problem was the fact that we chose the 2.8 mile hike up. What Evan had planned to be 30 min - maybe 1 hour turned into 2 + hours of climbing and climbing and climbing. We stopped several people on the way up to ask them how much farther -- they all kinda chuckled and said its a bit more, but dont worry it's worth it when you get there. Did they not realize we had two little kids.



Shayna was such a tropper she walked/hiked most of the way up not necessarily by choice but she did it none the less. Jonah chilled and enjoyed sleeping all the way up and most of the way down. It was definitey worth it getting to the top and seeing how beautiful it was looking out below. I'm not sure Shayna fully understands what she did but she does keep saying climb montin mommy. Maybe it's because her legs are still hurting, she just can't explain that :)


Needless to say it was quite an adventure which was a lot of fun. We're definitely glad we didn't think it out too much b/c we had a great time but probably won't be going back anytime soon -- for Shayna's sake of course!

Shayna's 2

We finally got the test results back from the blood work on Shayna and are SOOO glad to report that she does not have CF and is going to be just fine!!! We are so lucky to have such great family and friends who have been very supportive throughout the last few weeks. Thanks to everyone!!

This past weekend Shayna had her 2nd birthday!! It's hard to believe that 2 years have already passed. We have had so much fun with Shayna in our lives and every day she continues to make us smile. We decided not to do any party or big celebration this year. We figured Shayna's not really old enough to fully understand or appreciate the party and although she might never forgive us once she's older and realizes...we did try to do everything we could to make her day as special as possible. And I would like to think we did that and then some :)

here are some pics from the birthday weekend celebration http://picasaweb.google.com/weissfamilypictures/ShaynaS202

Legs, ER Visits and Road trip to Florida oh my!!

Well these past few weeks have been quite entertaining to say the least :) Nana came to visit and stayed for a whole extra week to play with Shayna and Jonah. They all had a blast, although i'm pretty sure they definitely wore Nana out.

Probably from all the excitement, lack of sleep, possibly new teeth coming in -- along with everything else. Shayna seemed to catch some type of bug, she had a terrible cough and lost her voice -- it was so cute.. If you know Shayna at all you know she's pretty energetic and non-stop. So when she gets sick (knock on wood hasn't been often!) like this, it's pretty sad, b/c she's not one to sit still for long. This bug definitely took some time to get rid of and lots of her energy. We spent several days laying on the couch with Mr.Bear trying to get better.

Lets see during our days to get better from being sick... Mr. Jonah as smiley as ever began to get a bit of a cough but luckily nothing too serious just sounded sad/pathetic. He also decided he wanted to test out his cribs leg room ability and stuck his leg under his bumper and through the slats in his crib...yet he continued to sleep -- such a cutie. When I found him like this he was sound asleep...of course as soon as i tried to remove the leg (luckily with no problems) he woke up screaming :)

Then one night when we decided last minute to meet our friends the Walsh's for dinner - 5 kids (under 2) and 4 adults!! Go us ... Shayna kept saying she had to go to the potty. It's very unusual for Shayna to poop more than once a day since she's started using the potty (about a month or so). So of course since we're still "training" we take her every time she asks. I took her twice during dinner and she kept saying she had to poop.... the last time I said lets sit and wait until you do. Well if i had only known what was going to happen next I might have changed my mind on waiting for her to go poop!!! Finally a little bit of poop and the next thing i know i'm seeing something i hoped to never ever again see in my life. Poor Shayna has something in her tush that is not suppose to be there. I immediately pull up her pants and rush out to Evan and try to say calmly -- which i wasn't by any means -- sorry we need to go to the ER right now. Of course Evan thinks i'm overreacting and decides to go look for himself (with our friend). They both come out of the bathroom and say you better get to the hospital. Again I am trying to remain calm. Shayna of course has no clue there is anything wrong. She is perfectly mellow and calm...thankgoodness!!!!
We get to the ER and Shayna is acting like the crazy happy kid she is. Running around, not sitting still. Everytime she'd sit on a chair or climb over a chair's arm i'd cringe...knowing what i saw in her tush. For a parent the ER is terrible. you sit there waiting and waiting, not knowing what is going on with your kid. Hoping and praying that everything will be okay just scared to find out what is going on. We finally get called back and Shayna lets the nurse take her temperature, she asks them to listen to her heart -- she's so cute!! The nurse asks if she can look at Shayna's tush. By now there is a large amount of blood in her diaper so i'm a bit concerned b/c no one else seems to think its as big of a deal as i do!! The nurse looks in her butt and looks at us and says I don't see anything. And believe it or not...there was nothing there!!!

So we wait to see the ER doctor. It's way past Shayna's bedtime -- we didn't leave the ER until after 11 --- so she was out of control. Luckily Jonah was asleep the whole time in his carrier --phew!! The doctor took some blood and some x-rays and said everything looked fine. He thought it was probably some fissues (tears) that over time caused a blood clot and the blood in her diaper was the clot dissolving....ok so fast forward another week while we're in Florida. Shayna is on the potty and again i see this thing in her tush. Immediately we take a picture -- b/c we definitely see something ...luckily my parents friend who is an OB was over their house at this time and looked at it and said it was probably a Prolapsed rectum ...yes its as gross as it sounds. Thankfully Shayna doesn't even really know anything is happening and if anything just feels like she has to poop but isn't in any pain what so ever!! So at least we know we weren't losing our minds that we saw something- but had really hoped it wouldn't happen again. We took Shayna to see a pediatric GI once we got back to NC and they confirmed it was in fact a prolasped rectum ... and that it isnt uncommon and we are now to put shayna on Miralax and hope that will help solve this problem so we don't have to keep pushing her rectum back into her tush -- let me tell you as a parent there are a lot of things i would do for my kids ..this is definitely never one i'd ever imagine i'd have to be doing!!

Wow this is a lot of writing for me :) I'm writing all of this also b/c I had never heard of anything like this in children. I think maybe had I heard something about it I might have not been as freaked out or worried as much.

Aside from this minor set back with Shayna's tushie we have been having lots of fun. We took a road trip down to Florida to visit the family. We stopped at the beach to visit Mimi and Tapa. Shayna had a blast. Aunt Tracy, Uncle Damon, Noah and Jared all came to visit too. Shayna had so much fun playing in the sand, ocean and swimming in the pool. I think she thinks she can swim :) She loved playing with her cousins and didn't really want to sleep much..go figure :)

We then drove to Orlando for a few days to visit with Nana and Papa. Shayna got to swim some more and hang out. She was out of control :) Jonah was a super trooper and just went with the flow. He did get to visit the pool a few times and hang out with everyone -- when he wasn't sleeping -- which he does a lot!!

We actually drove all the way to and from florida without using the DVD player once.. i know some people think that is crazy but we look at it as we didn't need it so why turn it on. i'm sure there will be many times when we will need it and it will come in very handy but not right now :)

So now we're back in CLT...and trying to get back to normacly....

Where does the time go...

It's hard to believe it is already June. I know I always say it but I just don't know where the days go. It seems like just yesterday we were taking Shayna to the swimming pool for the first time and Jonah was 'barely" a thought. Now here we are a year later and we have so many wonderful things to be thankful for.

Shayna is growing up way too fast for us these days. She now wears big girl underwear and is going pee pee and poo poo on the potty pretty regularly, even when we're out!! She loves to talk and tell everyone about her pee pee and poo poo and is so proud of herself. Yeah :) I still can't believe she's actually got the hang of it....definitely beats changing her diapers!!! Shayna is also now sleeping in her "big" girl bed. No more crib. The transition was painless, it was like she was waiting for us to take off the railing. She loves her "new" bed and still stays in it until we go in to get her, it's so cute.

Our little boy is going to be 4 months old this week!!! He is starting to become such a person and he's so much fun. He's very very happy -- yeah :) He loves to laugh and smile. When he's not screaming to eat, he's very content watching everyone and everything around him. He can be very calm and mellow and just likes to hang out. He's also very determined and will not give up once he wants something. He just started rolling over and gives it his all, grunting and pushing around with his head,it's so cute. He loves to chat away and talks and talks to anyone listening.

We are having such a great time with the two of them. They just opened the pools here and you'd think Shayna has been swimming forever. She gets into the pool like she's a pro. Not even a second thought...knowing Shayna she might be swimming by the end of summer, our no fear kid! Jonah has taken a few dips in the pool and as usual not a peep...just hanging out enjoying being around everyone.

Daddy is doing great and slowly but surely we are seeing things turn around. He's starting on his second house this month and has some great potential homes to build as well --- yeah daddy we're so proud of him.

We look forward to a great summer and visits to and from family soon!!

And in case you were wondering, still not 1 bird has shown interest in our bird feeder :( i'm NOT giving up hope!!

May & Kentucky Derby 2008

This past weekend was the 134th Kentucky Derby. Every year Mommy and Daddy do lots of planning and preparing for their annual Derby Party. This year was no exception and it was lots of fun!!! We're so glad we were able to have our friends join us and help to make this Derby party a huge success. We even bet on the winning horse - every other year we seem to pick a winner :) The BIG winners this year though were our friends Rhonda & Reid. They bet on Big Brown 6 times!!!

Although we're only 5 days into May lots of fun has been going on in the Weiss household. Jonah just celebrated is 3 month birthday. I can't believe how quickly the time has flown by. He is quite the busy body. Always wanting to see what is going on around him. He's turned into a very Happy (thank goodness!!) baby and is now a great sleeper -- always a great eater :) He loves to smile and watch his crazy sister run around the house. Shayna is keeping us all very busy and on our toes. She repeats anything and everything we say. She is learning her colors (although sometimes she refers to everything as purple :) She is also very excited about pee pee on the potty. She doesn't quite get the whole concept, which is fine, but she is very proud of herself when she goes and loves to keep trying (we really couldn't ask for more!). She loves to say the word toot and always makes sure we know when Jonah "toots" or goes poo poo. She always (well almost:) has a smile on her face and is constantly making us laugh and teaching us new things. We recently bought a bird feeder so Shayna can watch the birds in her playroom -- although we're not quite sure how to get the birds to come to the food -- once we figure this one out we'll include some pics.

Life in the Weiss Space is really a great place. Daddy is also doing well and keeping busy. He is starting two more houses and loving every minute of it. He's really so great at what he does :) Mommy started back to work last month and so far it's been a pretty smooth transition. Thank goodness for Jennifer -- she's amazing and we really feel so lucky to have found her!!!

We've loaded some more pictures to the links on the left, hope you enjoy.

PS Jonah decided to share all of his giggles with us today. This is the first for Mr. Giggles but I hope it will continue, check it out at the link on the right.

Weiss Cousin's Visit

This past week was lots of fun and crazy. Aunt Tracy, Uncle Damon and Cousin's Noah (3.5) and Jared (21 mos) came to visit. They drove all the way from Florida. Poor Noah had a stomach bug which kept him on the couch most of the time. But we made the best of it and everyone seemed to have a good time.

Shayna and Jared were like long lost buddies and had a blast playing together and teaching each other new tricks. Shayna now tries to open every door in our house and also stands on everything and anything she can...the fun is just beginning!!! The twosome had lots of fun running around and wearing out everyone!!

Noah finally started to feel better by Friday and he was back in action Saturday morning before they headed back. Of course not wanting to pose with everyone for pictures but we did manage a few of three of the four!

It was so great to see the family and so nice to have them come to visit. There wasn't much sleeping and lots of madness but it was definitely a great time had by all. I know Shayna can't wait to see them again soon to play some more.

You can check out the pics at the link to the right so see all the fun that was had...notice no pics of grown-ups as there wasn't much dressing up or sleep to constitute a decent pic at this time.

Enjoy!

PS. 4 week pics -- holy cow already 1 month -- are also up on the weekly pics album :)

Jonah's Weekly Pictures

It all started before Shayna was born when my friends, Erica & Laura, gave me a shower gift that included a bear along with cards numbers 1-52. It was then that the weekly pictures began. Each week for the first 52 of Shayna's life we took pictures with Mr. Bear and the weekly number to document her growth and changes.

Of course just because we're on #2 doesn't mean the pictures stop!! That just wouldn't be very nice to Jonah. So we've begun the process again. Hopefully we won't be too forgetful and remember to take them weekly :) I'm sure Shayna will be appearing in a few here and there as well.

Because we've gone through this process once before we have a better idea of the type and need of pictures necessary to make the final product (a picture book). So of course there won't be nearly as many pictures as there were for Shayna's weekly shoots...but rest assured there will definitely be weekly pics of our newest little boy!!

You can view the weekly pics at the picture link on the right side -- we're just going to be adding each week to the same album.

Enjoy!!

Welcome Jonah Harper 2/3/06

Well who would have thought that when mommy said i want to meet Jonah on 2/3 (b/c it's a cool date and Shayna is 8/9..) that it actually would have happened!!

We are so happy and lucky to have a very healthy baby boy on our hands. Jonah was born on Sunday Feb 3rd at 7:33am. He was 7lbs 7 oz and 20 in long. He is just precious!!

He started to let us know late Saturday night that he might be ready to join us. This was after a very busy day of Charlotte at Play in the morning with Shayna, spicy Thai food with our friends Alexis, David and Natalie for lunch, selling a couch in the afternoon from craigs list -- i love it!-- and going for a walk/to the park!! wow -- makes me tired just writing it all down :)

so i started to write the whole story of how the rest of the night went and just got bored and tired...so if you haven't already heard it, Evan loves to tell it and would be glad to share. Bottom line is it was a very fast and pretty easy delivery and we have a wonderful healthy baby boy.

Shayna is starting to become intrigued by Jonah and watching his every move. She's not a big fan of daddy playing with him, but hopefully over time that will pass!!

We have posted pics of the little man and some of shayna of course too so feel free to check them out.

Shayna's Snow Day 2008

Today we woke up to a "wintery mix". Known in Charlotte, NC as a snow day!!! Although they seemed better prepared it is still quite fun to watch the news and see everyone acting like its the end of the world.

Of course because there was "snow" (icy mix of wet rain) we just HAD to get Shayna all bundled up and take her outside for some cold fun. It only lasted but a few short minutes (probably less than 5) but we'd like to think she had a blast during that time!!

Now it's just yucky rain and cold..Hope you're all staying warm.

xoxo

Shower Weekend Jan 2008

This past weekend my friends had a very nice baby shower for me. It was so much fun and made it that much more exciting and real that baby #2 is on his way!! It's hard to believe how quickly the time has flown by.

It was so nice of all of our friends to join us and help celebrate at the shower. We really appreciate every one's kindness and all of the wonderful new gifts for our little boy.

Both Nana and Grama were able to make it in for the shower which was so great. We had a really great time, especially Shayna. She loved having Grama and Nana here to play with her!!

Thanks again to everyone for all of your kindness. We look forward to meeting our new bundle of joy and sharing the good news in just a few more weeks -- if you don't already know I'm determined to hold out for Feb :) silly silly Debby.

Cheers to another great year

Hard to believe 2007 is over, where does the time go. 2007 has been another great year for us and we feel so lucky. Shayna has been such a joy and it has been amazing to watch her grow and change -- sometimes over night!!! She is such a happy and independent little girl, a bit crazy (man I can't imagine where she comes from :)) She has really added to the already amazing life Evan and I have.


This year has also been very exciting for Daddy. We are so proud of him, he took a big leap and started his own company, Weiss Custom Homes. He is doing such a great job and really enjoys it. We know he's going to continue to do great things and build amazingly, wonderful homes.

And of course we have the wonderful joy/anticipation of a 2nd (well 3rd if you count Chloe!) new member to our family in just a few short weeks....wow the time flew by!!

I've finally added some new photos to picasa so enjoy. Once #2 makes his arrival you can begin to enjoy the weekly photo shoots...jewish guilt makes me feel the need to have to do this for all of our kids ... otherwise it just wouldn't be right ---

Wishing you all a very Happy and Healthy New Year. Happy 2008.