tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21353651814314687592024-03-12T20:52:23.544-04:00The Adventures of an Amateur HousewifeBetsyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08936312772106838478noreply@blogger.comBlogger209125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2135365181431468759.post-63795849818097358662015-06-30T20:36:00.000-04:002015-06-30T20:36:06.231-04:00Spring 2015
Spring pictures from the zoo, playground, and fun times at home.
John hanging out on the railing at the zoo.
Who needs animals when you have a fun railing to climb on?
Joseph and Michael
Joseph
Michael LOVES the swing.
Joseph and John show off the sunglasses they got in their Easter baskets.
Caught!
Someone found chocolate and LOVES it.
John swings!
Betsyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08936312772106838478noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2135365181431468759.post-671750065647365262015-01-30T17:20:00.001-05:002015-01-31T14:41:20.268-05:00Michael MovesWhat kind of mother would I be if I didn't do a little post about Michael after my recent ones about Joseph and John?
That's why we're going to talk about Michael for a minute. I'm killing it not letting my third child slip through the cracks ;)
Michael's latest motor skills promotion was to crawler earlier this week. I was getting pretty antsy because he has been looking like he Betsyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08936312772106838478noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2135365181431468759.post-84450861256123682862015-01-29T16:20:00.001-05:002015-01-29T16:22:46.745-05:00All About JohnI was thinking about doing an interview with John like I did with Joseph yesterday, but it's just too difficult to translate "John speak" into the written word. What I'm able to type just isn't the same as hearing him talk. So, we'll save his interview for later. I'd just like to note what John has been up to lately.
John's latest achievement is opening and closing doors. He gets great pleasure Betsyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08936312772106838478noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2135365181431468759.post-66986201625731912772015-01-28T22:47:00.000-05:002015-01-28T22:47:06.455-05:00Interview with JosephI decided to do a little interview with Joseph. I hope to keep doing this every year or so, but we'll see how that goes :)
Betsy: What is your name?
Joseph: Joseph
Betsy: How old are you?
Joseph: free
Who wouldn't want to eat those cookies?
Betsy: What's your favorite sport?
Joseph:
Betsy: Do you have a favorite sport?
Joseph: Yea. It's called to play ball. It's called football for me. IBetsyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08936312772106838478noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2135365181431468759.post-16469008698903759932014-11-08T14:43:00.002-05:002014-11-20T16:32:39.173-05:00Let's Get TalkingJohn had his first speech therapy session this past week, and it went great. His therapist is so sweet and he warmed up to her really fast. She was able to get him to purposefully make the "b" and "m" sounds (we still have to work on exactly how he uses his mouth to produce these sounds, but still!).
He has made the "m" sound before. But I had only ever heard it when he said "mama," and that Betsyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08936312772106838478noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2135365181431468759.post-4979600153081258912014-11-05T07:58:00.000-05:002014-11-05T07:58:22.537-05:00The Talker and His BrothersFor the sake of preservation I give you a post of conversations with Joseph, one conversation with John and some pictures thrown in for good measure.
While in a stand-off with John waiting for him to eat his broccoli I see Joseph encouraging him to eat his broccoli. I look away for about 60 seconds, look back and see all his broccoli gone. I ask Joseph, "did he eat his broccoli or did you eat Betsyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08936312772106838478noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2135365181431468759.post-79715206652748766412014-09-26T13:07:00.001-04:002014-09-26T13:07:17.439-04:00Life with Three (Part 2)I typed this beauty up a LONG time ago. Not sure why I never published it. Oh well. Hope you enjoy the pics of the boys anyway :)
Will's first day back to work I took all three boys to Toys R Us and bought a baby pool in the hopes that I'd be able to relax in the backyard while the older boys wore themselves out. They seemed to enjoy the pool well enough, but weren't quite as tired as I had Betsyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08936312772106838478noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2135365181431468759.post-81367333523132269842014-07-24T16:59:00.005-04:002014-07-24T16:59:57.018-04:00Life with Three (Part 1)Will has been back to work for a week now. I knew I would need to keep us busy this week for my own sanity, and luckily the week has gone fairly smoothly.
I also recently got a new phone that a) takes reasonably good pictures and b) connects to the internet so I can upload them to Picasa. So, here are some recent pictures and a little rambling from me :)
I love this picture of John. A Betsyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08936312772106838478noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2135365181431468759.post-7522268736142127462014-06-23T13:54:00.000-04:002014-06-23T13:54:07.477-04:00Welcome Michael Benedict!Michael Benedict made an early arrival on Sunday, June 22 at 2:23am. It's a good thing he came early because he managed to weigh in at a solid 8lbs 12oz and was 21.5inches long.
Will brought Joseph and John to meet their brother last night. They enjoyed meeting Michael, but were more impressed by the privacy curtain and all the buttons in the room.
Welcome baby Betsyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08936312772106838478noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2135365181431468759.post-67090617195099198792014-06-03T22:24:00.001-04:002014-06-03T22:28:49.308-04:00My Life LatelyIt's officially summer for us. Joseph finished preschool for the year, and now I'm feeling like it's go time for baby. I've been feverishly rearranging furniture, organizing and purging stuff, and generally getting ready for baby. It seems everywhere I turn there's something else that needs to be done. Cest la life.
We finally moved John into Joseph's room, so now the nursery is ready Betsyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08936312772106838478noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2135365181431468759.post-73542192584324572502014-05-14T22:46:00.000-04:002014-05-14T23:32:59.313-04:0032 weeksAfter seeing this picture of myself I'm shocked at how not-hugely-enormous I look because I certainly feel it. I think I'd label myself as rather large, not a day over 36 weeks.
And for the record this pregnancy is starting to feel a lot like my pregnancy with Joseph. Baby is getting all up in my ribs, causing me (minimal) upper back pain and making me generally uncomfortable. But, so far,Betsyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08936312772106838478noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2135365181431468759.post-19580361419750444972014-04-22T13:45:00.001-04:002014-04-22T13:45:15.662-04:00He Is Risen!Happy Easter!
We enjoyed a relaxing day where we went to the 7:30am mass (in order to avoid crowds and meltdowns). After Palm Sunday mass we decided that the 7:30 am mass was our best bet for remaining in good spirits with the boys. It did mean us waking up earlier than usual and getting the boys up and fed earlier than usual, but John almost always wakes up in a good mood. And we Betsyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08936312772106838478noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2135365181431468759.post-75676170712406461062014-04-21T16:43:00.001-04:002014-04-21T16:43:56.531-04:00It's Spring!We've been busy enjoying spring and watching the boys grow. Most of these stories and pictures are from a month or two ago. I have lots more to share - hopefully soon! - but I'll start with these. Enjoy :)
The first really nice day of spring. Yay for park days!
Joseph has been interested in money and where it comes from ever since a recent trip to the bank. These two conversations happened inBetsyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08936312772106838478noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2135365181431468759.post-7361158648067000892014-04-09T20:18:00.002-04:002014-04-09T20:18:34.055-04:00Caught Off GuardWe've been having a trying time with Joseph lately. He's begun to "actively assert his will" - that's what we'll call it. It's been fairly exhausting emotionally for all involved. It's also been hard to find ways to go above and beyond to love him which he, of course, needs because he's been seeing a fair amount of discipline lately. But sometimes it's hard to love someone who's getting under Betsyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08936312772106838478noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2135365181431468759.post-89128569505576879752014-03-10T22:20:00.001-04:002014-03-10T22:20:49.310-04:00The boys and the bumpJoseph's favorite word recently is "why?" I feel like it's a little early for that. For some reason I had it in my head that kids don't usually start in with incessant "why's?" until around age 4.
John has also started "talking" a bit more lately. He seems to actually be trying to pronounce some words, but still the only intelligible words he has so far are mama and dada. He can Betsyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08936312772106838478noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2135365181431468759.post-68656294400264229542014-03-04T17:59:00.000-05:002014-03-04T17:59:21.400-05:00What we've been up to...The month of February turned out to be quite busy for us. We started by having a "little" birthday playdate for John and his friend, Ignatius (who was born a mere 3 days after Joseph). "Small" turned into 12 moms, 17 toddlers and 6 babies. But, oh how much fun we all had!
Story time with Mrs. O'Callaghan!
The birthday boys pre-cupcake and singing.
Our lovely guests.
John wasn't Betsyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08936312772106838478noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2135365181431468759.post-59594966847265818472014-02-11T15:47:00.000-05:002014-02-11T15:47:08.518-05:00It's a........healthy baby! We're happy to report that everything looks great with baby. I do have to have another ultrasound so the doctor can take another look at the heart as baby's spine was facing out making it hard to get a good shot of the heart. So, we'll get another peek in a month!
During the ultrasound the doctor commented "that probably looks familiar..."
And I thought this would beBetsyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08936312772106838478noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2135365181431468759.post-14672723919723903192014-02-07T21:35:00.003-05:002014-02-07T21:35:33.366-05:00Happy 1st Birthday, John!I can't believe it's been a year since this little guy was born! I've been terrible about keeping ye old blog up to date on his milestones and such. The least I can do is write up a special post to mark one year!
What a sweet and easy baby John was. He slept in 4-hour chunks from day one, and oh how glorious that was!
He has loved Joseph from the moment he was able to track with his Betsyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08936312772106838478noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2135365181431468759.post-27209621953839064782014-01-05T19:09:00.001-05:002014-01-05T19:09:58.127-05:00More TalkingJoseph is getting very creative lately. I keep thinking I should document some of the gems that come out of his mouth, so that's what I'm doing.
After a time out while I'm changing his diaper Joseph sings what I have dubbed the "Time Out Song."
(to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle)
Time out, time out,
No, no, no.
Stand up, Stand up,
Face the corner.
Joseph is very in to declaring what he loves. Betsyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08936312772106838478noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2135365181431468759.post-32669042184768695762014-01-03T14:30:00.001-05:002014-01-03T14:30:50.800-05:007 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 54)
1) John is now officially a walker. I think New Years Day is the day I officially deemed him a walker because that's when he made numerous attempts to walk across the room without being encouraged to do so. And he can make it across the room sometimes. Yay!
2) John can also climb up and down the stairs by himself (but don't worry, I still spot him just in case - he's not that good Betsyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08936312772106838478noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2135365181431468759.post-44873932796918133722013-12-29T09:54:00.000-05:002013-12-29T09:55:20.228-05:002013
Thanks Google+ for making this for me. It actually does a pretty good job of hitting the highlights from this year. Enjoy!Betsyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08936312772106838478noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2135365181431468759.post-45968088396925173812013-10-29T16:30:00.000-04:002013-10-29T16:37:23.810-04:00You Know You're In the Rayel Household When.......you hear:
"don't eat the floor"
"don't eat the wall"
"mmmmmm! carrot!" (said the same way Cookie Monster says "mmmm! cookie!")
...doggie is included in most activities that go on - especially our evening rosary. Doggie is learning to make the sign of the cross. Joseph is his most Betsyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08936312772106838478noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2135365181431468759.post-19407011242151300972013-09-13T21:17:00.001-04:002013-09-13T21:17:51.374-04:007 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 53)
1) A Wegman's is opening near us, and I just signed up for my Wegman's card today. Word on the street has it that I should be excited ecstatic. I guess I'll have to wait for our store to open to see how I feel about it, but I have a feeling I'm going to like this little enormous store :)
2) John is growing like crazy. He is now crawling all over the place, pulling up and Betsyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08936312772106838478noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2135365181431468759.post-52678395036469568382013-09-10T17:12:00.003-04:002013-09-10T17:33:46.960-04:00For My (Not So) Newly Pregnant FriendsI started this post about six months ago when I first found out that one of my best friends was having her first baby. Fast forward six months and here I am realizing that she's due in one week!!! I needed to finish it ASAP so all my sage wisdom ramble-y thoughts wouldn't go to waste. The post got long, so I've split it up into two posts. This is my "opinions and thoughts about Betsyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08936312772106838478noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2135365181431468759.post-39936083985108258312013-07-28T22:27:00.000-04:002013-07-28T22:27:26.886-04:00Beauty in MotherhoodIt's amazing to me that each day can bring out so many different feelings and emotions. These days that are filled with love and laughter, exhaustion and exasperation. I sometimes find myself wondering how I got to this wonderful place in life, but I'm quickly reminded that it has nothing to do with me and everything to do with God's grace.
I love my boys very much, but there are times (sometimesBetsyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08936312772106838478noreply@blogger.com1