We're waiting, Santa.

And the rest of you are waiting for your Christmas cards.  We're going to take the Christmas pictures ON Christmas, a result of several flawed after church photo shoots.  So those of you who think you are forgotten, fear not.  Cards will be on their way not long after Rudolph begins the journey home.  The Adams will have their act together soon.  Until then, have a very Merry Christmas and we hope you all enjoy the magic and wonder of the season.

Santa Claus is coming to town

Yesterday morning John and I got up bright and early to take Jack and Sophie to see Santa rolling into town on a steam train.  It was C.O.L.D. but really neat.  Here are some pics of us (gasp! pictures of the grownups!) and the munchkins.

'nuff said

Numerology cont'd

Remember the whole numerology post a while back?  Scroll down to read it and you'll see why our new address must be inspired.....

A few pics of the little ones to keep you updated.  Note the abominable snow baby up top, she reminds me of the little brother from The Christmas Story in that getup.   Can't move, but oh so cute.  Moving on we have Sophie in her new black boots that she insists on wearing at all times, even when napping.  Note the missing swatch of leather on the ottoman which Sophie chewed off like a little beaver in her teething months.  Jack is now carrying on the tradition by peeling the remaining leather off in strips which Sophie then grabs from his chubby little hands and/or mouth and brings to me, pronouncing them to be twash (trash in two year old speak).  And last but certainly not least, our handsome and sweet Jack on his nine month birthday.  Couldn't BE and cuter.  He's crawling like a madman (and I remind you he's the only one of our kids to ever crawl at all!), pulling himself up to standing on anything (and sometimes nothing), he says something very close to Mama which I believe is merely his version of the same, he lights up the room with his smile, and we all love him with everything we've got.  

Say Cheese

Yes, the time has come.  Or as they say in our new hometown 'You Betcha!'...insert the accent and you'll see where I'm going.  As I write this there are two huge moving trucks flanking our house, four men packing up our things and thankfully two sleeping babies.  This week we are moving to Wisconsin.  Who'd have guessed that one was coming?  John recently started working for a cheese company about three hours from here near Sheboygan.  We've found an adorable house in a quaint, idyllic village called Kohler and we're looking forward to what this next chapter brings. We are going to miss some great people here more than we want to admit and are so grateful for the time we spent in these cornfields.  The upside is that maybe our blog readership will go up! And maybe I'll actually keep it somewhat current as a result!!!!  Here a few recent pics to keep you all in the loop until I can find our camera again.  Wish us luck!

All John

I've had a few inquiries today from those of you who are far away as to who the babies look like. John.  All John.  I've only contributed the gestation part.  Okay, maybe a long torso here and a backside there but that's it.  Thankfully they have more of John's personality, too!  My new niece, Ava, (congratulations Mike and April!) is rumored to have my cheeks, so maybe my genes live on in the Payne family.  

Sophie and Jack also look so much like eachother that we can't tell which of them is in some younger baby pictures, we have to look at the other items in the photo and try to figure out what season it was or some other clue as to who would have been that age at the time.  Jack had his 6 month doctor visit today and he is a healthy 18 pounds 14 ounces and 28 inches long.  Sophie wasn't even that big at 12 months...I predict the inevitable twin questions to begin by the new year.  Go Jack!  

Summer Pics

WICKED!!!

In Maine, which Sam and I still consider 'back home', the word wicked is an expression.  As in 'wicked cool' or 'wicked good' or, come to think of it, 'wicked' almost anything.  But here in Chicago, Wicked is the hottest Broadway play...notoriously hard to get tickets for and a real treat if you're even able to pay large amounts of money to go.   Well, my super smart and talented daughter just beat out several hundred if not thousands of kids in the state in an essay contest to win a pair of tickets to the show. Only one middle schooler was chosen and that was Sam!  The first of many accolades to come for her writing, I'm sure.  So if you happen to wonder what we're up to Thursday night, we'll be having some 'wicked' fun!  

Time Flies

We can hardly believe it, summer is over.  And I haven't updated the blog all summer- sorry! Good thing the only people who actually read this are the grandmas and Aunt Judi.  You all forgive me over and over, so add my summer laziness to the list.:)

Sam just started 8th grade with new side bangs (see above) and some great jeans....all a girl needs to succeed in middle school, it seems.  Jack will be six months old in a few days-just cut his first tooth- and Sophie is practicing very hard for when the time comes to be two!  Her favorite word right now is 'okay' and she uses it as a tool....we ask if she wants this, that or the other thing and when you get to what she wants, she says 'okay' in the sweetest little voice that makes it seem like you are gladly offering her the thing she wants, even if you were just trying to figure it out before agreeing to it.  The little ones are learning so many things so fast right now I swear you can see the gears turning in their heads, it's amazing to be able to watch.   

There is a saying that "One is none, two is twenty" when it comes to children. How true that is. My wonderful brother tells me that when you have to abandon man-to-man defense and go to zone, that's when the challenge begins.  Maybe for him, since he seems to be able to handle six (as of next week, anyway, when I should have a new niece).  But for us, a 1:1.5 ratio of babies to grownups/teenager kicks our butts!  That being said, we are sure having a lot of fun and were loving every minute of the craziness.  

California Dreamin'

John used to fly a lot for business. So much he thought he'd never use up all his frequent flier miles. Then he married me and his family went from one person to five in a couple of years and guess what....all gone. We travelled to California last week for Grandma Connie's wedding and used the last of the miles. Flying with two babies was interesting. It's funny how in everyday places people ooooh and ahhhh over such cute little things, always friendly and helpful. Then you enter an airport. Suddenly those sweet babies make you enemy #1. It's fun to sit on a plane with them and watch the faces of the other passengers entering. After their initial look of horror fades, you can see them calculating in their heads exactly how far away from you they are sitting. Some actually sigh loudly or roll their eyes while avoiding direct eye contact at any cost. Sam pretended she didn't know us. And the kids were great...at least on the way home. The trip there we have tried to block out. Anyway, on the trip home an old man sitting in front of John (who looked like he wasn't the cuddly kid-loving type) stopped us during tandem diaper changes halfway through the flight and told John that he had been watching him walking around the airport with Sophie (she has this cute way of walking around holding only his index finger) and he said he thought it was beautiful how comfortable Sophie was leading her daddy around and that we obviously made her feel safe and secure. He made John blush, so cute. So, in the end it was nice to finish the trip on a good note with a fellow traveller.

We had a great time on 'vacation', weather was in the 100's for the first few days and then lovely as we hit the beach in Carmel. It's much nicer in California at 100 degrees than in Illinois at 80 with our humidity. It was great to spend some time with the family. Coming from small families, it was strange for us to be at a restaurant asking for a table for 17! We sure do miss all of you Adams and don't like being so far away.

For the ceremony Sophie was the youngest flowergirl and was soooo cute. The others walked down the aisle as they should have. Sophie was supposed to hold her 3 year old cousin Emily's hand but wouldn't so we thought surely she'd hold Samantha's hand since she went after the flowegirls. Nope. Finally after Sam went down the aisle Sophie decided it was her turn and began picking up the rose petals one by one and returning them to the lady directing it all at the back of the room. It was too adorable and I was laughing so hard I couldn't move to help. After holding up the bride for a while cousing Britney, the maid of honor, finally grabbed her hand and got her down the entire aisle. Our sweet little girl just loooves to pick things up and put them away! Just like her daddy.

Sam looked beautiful (see the picture on the side) and Jack wore the cutest little seersucker blazer and linen pants, the pics we have so far aren't very good but I'll post them anyway.

Numerology?

Just a quick thought....John and I were talking the other night and realized something interesting. Jack was born on 3/3/08 at 8:38. He weighed 8 lb 13oz, which is exactly 8 ounces heavier than his sister Sophie who was exactly 8 ounces heavier than big sister Sam. He is the 8th grandchild on both sides and our 3rd child. I was (and still am, of course) 38 when I had him. Think we ought to play the lotto?

Nanas

How many of us ever realize how wonderful their mothers are until we're mothers (seveal times over for some of us) ourselves? And who really likes their mother- in-law? I love mine! This is just a shout out to Connie and Kay, both known as Nana in our house at this time. Could we have made it through the last month without you? Perhaps. But for the life of me I don't know how. Thanks for making our home a happier, calmer, cleaner, more organized, more sleep friendly place! From the abundance of fun to the peace of mind you provided, I stand humbled by both of you. You are already missed.

Little Man

It's been a month already...hard to believe! So, here are the details, sorry if they're redundant for some of you! Jack was born March 3rd at 8:38 pm. He was 21 1/2 inches long and 8 pounds 13 ounces. Mom had preeclampsia so Jack came to us via emergency c-section...no labor this time, so that was a pleasant side effect! I (Jana) was fortunate enough to heal with warp speed and Jack came through everything like a little champ. He's growing so fast it amazes us every day. He still has red wavy hair, kind of like a cute little duckling, and his eyes are getting more blue each hour. Gotta love those Adams family blue eyes! We blessed Jack at church today and he was sooooo handsome! That's him in his blessing outfit at the top:)

Sam loves her baby brother and Sophie is adjusting really well. She loves to say "MamaBaby" and come find us whenever she gets up from a nap. Baby in her language sounds like BaBEEEEEEE. So adorable. Her vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds. So is she. One day she looked like a twelve month old and the next she looked two years. Must be something in the water aroound here. Sophie has enjoyed having each of her grandmas here for weeks and I don't know what I'll do when Mom goes home! I keep teasing John that we need to finish the basement into a Nana apartment our mothers can take turns occupying. With babies this close together I don't think it's altogether unreasonable!

I'll leave you with some pictures as they are probably much more articulate than I am right now...a little sleep deprivation is hard on an old woman like me!

Jack is here!

Jack Cooper Adams was born March 3rd at 8:38 pm. He is a sweet, beautiful and healthy baby. Here are a couple of pics until we can get a real post up in the next couple of days. More details to come!