Will was here

Apparently he thought the tweezers needed to be cleaned. And now they sparkle.

6 months

Reed,
You are 6 months old! It looks like your bunny shrunk! Or did you really grow that much? Your hair is coming in thicker and a little darker and your eyes are most definitely blue. You are wearing some 3-6 month clothes and some 6-12 month things. You still wear a size 2 diaper but I think we will move up to 3's the next time I buy them. You weigh about 18lb and are solid! You have some fat on you for sure but you aren't nearly as fluffy as Will was. It is funny to put you in some outfits that he filled out in the middle and they look baggy on you. The star onesie in you are wearing here was Will's and he wore it in his 4 months pictures.

I could only get a couple of pics before you would knock your bunny down. You are very active with your arms and legs now! You aren't quite sitting up yet but you roll over really well now. One night you got me up several times because you kept rolling to your back and waking up. I can usually tell on the monitor if you are on your back or belly by the way you babble.

So far you have had rice cereal, carrots and sweet potatoes. You didn't care for the rice cereal at first but tolerated it with apple juice mixed in. You really like the carrots and sweet potatoes but you don't seem psyched about eating baby food in general. We are trying, though!

You found your feet! You love to grab them and have brought them up to your mouth a couple of times! You mostly do this when I put you on the changing table. It is definitely one of the cutest things I've ever seen.

You have also found your tongue and your voice! You love to stick your tongue out. You have quite a long tongue! One day when I came to pick you up, Ms. Honey and Aubrey's momma were sitting there laughing at you because you were touching the bottom of your chin with the tip of your tongue. It looks so funny! You love to shriek now and blow bubbles and make noises. I have started taking you to the nursery at church because you are too noisy to make it if you are awake.

You love your brother and he loves you. You are always watching him in apparent awe. I hope you don't learn his bad habits! Whenever I have you in your crib taking your picture, Will throws a fit to get in there with you. Sometimes I let him, but I didn't this time so he resorted to climbing to see you.

You bring so much joy to our lives! Before you were born I couldn't imagine how you would fit in. Everything seemed so perfect with just me, daddy and Will. BUT the moment you were born I fell instantly in love with you and each day I love you more and more.

Love,
Mommy

One big boy and one sort of big boy

I took the boys to the doctor this morning for their well child/baby checkups. They did great! I had planned to push Reed in the stroller and have Will walk and that worked until Will threw a fit to ride and I had to carry Reed and push the stroller. (double stroller - you are a definite on my need/want list). But Dr. Roger's nurse Jess is always so sweet and helps me carry stuff if I need her to. Reed had to get three shots and an oral vaccine and he was a little crabby this afternoon. Since he is 6 months he can have Motrin now and he actually seems a little better after having a dose.

We missed Wills dental appointment last month because we were sick so I took him this afternoon. He did great! He already has his bottom 2 year molars and his top ones are cutting through. They said his gums were a little inflamed so be sure to brush by those, but other than that it was a good checkup. He didn't want to leave!

The dentist is in a small strip of businesses that includes a Bop's. If you don't know what Bop's is, you are so missing out. (it is frozen custard and heavenly. go try the Snappy Turtle or Strawberry Patch sundaes or Bop's Favorite concrete. Yummy). There is also a mexican restaurant and a Curves fitness center. It's funny to me that both a dentist and gym are within a few steps of frozen delight.

Anyway, a few weeks ago Brad's parents met me and the boys at the park across the street from Bop's and then treated us to dessert there. That is the one and only time Will has been to Bop's, at least that I know of. When we pulled up to go to the dentist, he said "Ice cream?" as in, are we going to get ice cream?

He's a smart boy.

So here are their stats from today:

Will, 2 years
36lb
36 inches
20cm head circ
90th percent in all measurements

Reed, 6 months
18lb 4oz
26.75 inches
17.5 cm head circ
in-between 50th and 75th percentile in all measurements

So there you have it. One big boy and one sort of big boy.

My little un-doer

Ah, Will. He is a funny little boy. He loves to examine things and open things and undo things. He's my un-doer. Is that a word?

A little while ago he was watching Barney. I was comforting Reed who is a little cranky after getting 3 shots today. I had previously folded some laundry for Reed but hadn't put it up yet. I looked over and saw Will unfolding one of Reed's blankets to put it on his lap. I told him to leave the rest of them alone then I proceeded to get online. I got on Megan's blog to read about her sister's wedding shower and when I finished, I saw what Will had been up to (mind you, this had to be in the span of 3 minutes tops):

He unfolded a few blankets, 5 sets of pajamas and 2 towels and scattered them across the floor. Maybe more. I didn't really count them all. I would be aggrivated but it is kind of funny. You can't really get the effect but the pjs laid on the floor like that kind of looks like there was a baby in them who melted away like in the Wizard of Oz.

Not that a baby melted away, but you know - the witch did.

I hope I didn't ruin the movie for anyone.

So that's Will. He's my un-doer. And he's currently rearranging the laundry on the floor. So if you come to my house and it's a wreck, please know that we try. We just can't keep up with the boy.

Do you ever...

Do you ever do immature things like have a diaper stand-off with your spouse and bet on who can stack the most diapers before you absolutely HAVE to take them out?




You don't?

Yeah, me either.

**None of these were dirty, so there was no smell. Since Will is back home now (he was in Atlanta with Brad's parents), I gave in and took out the trash. He would probably have them all over Reed's room!

Two Years Old

Will, you are TWO YEARS OLD! How did that happen so quickly? It seems like I just brought you home from the hospital! Here you are at 1 week old:

And here you are last year on your first birthday:

And now look how big you are! You didn't want to sit down to take a picture. In fact, I only caught 2 before you got down from the chair. Shocker!

You are such a funny boy! You make me and daddy laugh a lot. You are talking quite a bit these days and even say some sentences. The day before your birthday you started saying "Thank you SO MUCH, momma!" when I would hand you something. You also like to say "I wan (want) more grapes/goldpish (goldfish)/juice/milk" etc. You LOVE Barney and can sing so many of the songs. Barney sings a song about elephants and you do the elephant motion with your hands. It is so cute! There are some days I have had enough of Barney so I have to say "Barney went night night." You will then look at me and say "Watch Baby Bop?"

You love to go to Ms. Honey's house and have many friends there. You know everyone's name and say them when I pick you up or drop you off. Daddy drops you off most mornings because I often have to be at work very early. But I get to pick you up most days. Lately you have started running up to me and giving me a huge hug! I love this!

You are wearing a size 3t in most things and a size 9 shoe. You are still wearing size 6 diapers, but hopefully not for long! You have been saying "pee pee potty" and we sit you on the toilet. The other night, you actually peed! We are so proud! You have been wearing pullups at Ms. Honeys and I plan to buy you some big boy underwear soon. I guess we'll have to take the rail off your crib when you get potty trained! That is exciting and scary. I don't know if I'm ready for you to have that much freedom just yet!

You have changed so much and we just love the little boy you are becoming. You are such a great big brother and Reed adores you. I know things will just become more fun as both of you get bigger!

Happy Birthday Will!

Welcome to Will's second birthday party!

We had lots of yummy food

And delicious cake

And green eggs and ham

We got to jump and play

And had fun decorations

And lots of books!

Will loved jumping

And everyone had fun with pinwheels

And bubbles!

Will had his own stovepipe hat

And he and Reed dressed alike

Reed hung out with Megan

And we took some pictures outside.

And loved on sweet babies

Will was too busy to be in these pictures...

...because he was enjoying his new ride!

he loves his new 'motorcycle'


Then Will rode off into the sunset.

Easter

Our family Easter Sunday 2010

I love this picture. It isn't the greatest picture of our family. Will is fussing. Reed isn't looking. Brad and I are both squinting a little. But I love it. We took this after church on Easter. You can't see the jellybean stains on Will's jon-jon. You can't hear him fussing. You can't see him kicking his daddy to let him down. It is our complete family for now. I couldn't quite picture this last Easter.

I was newly pregnant with Reed last Easter. Will had just turned 1 two days before. We had some ups and downs in the previous weeks and we weren't sure we were going to get to keep our new baby. We didn't see anything on the first ultrasound and then some of my labwork came back questionable. Last Easter was the day before I had a sonogram where we saw Reed for the first time. A little butterbean with a fluttering heart. I was unsure of what was going to happen. But I felt like everything was going to be fine. God told me everything would be fine. He gave me peace. He gave me hope. And that next day after Easter we saw God's work on that ultrasound. We saw his promise that things were going to be ok.

And this Easter, well, things are more than ok. They're wonderful. We have our two beautiful boys. They're healthy and bring so much joy. Our life isn't perfect but it is close. And it will be perfect one day because God sent His son to die for us and save us. One day we who are born again will be in Heaven and things will be 100% perfect. I can't wait. It is going to be the most wonderful place that we as humans can't even imagine! God promises everlasting life through Jesus. Our family Easter picture is a reminder to me that God keeps His promises.

Ketchup

I have to 'ketchup' on my blog. I am a few weeks behind. So where do we start...

Four weeks ago I had a patient who had a fever and aches and said his wife was at home with the flu. Oh and I found out that piece of info after I had sedated him for an EGD and he was coughing everywhere.

That Sunday we had a shower for my friend who introduced me and Brad way back 11 years ago. The weather was pretty yucky, rainy and cold and it actually snowed a little! I started coughing that afternoon and that night I had a fever and chills. But I didn't feel really terrible so figured it was from the weather andconstantly being out in it getting ready for the shower. I was off on Monday and Tuesday. Will was coughing and had a runny nose so we skipped his dentist appointment and just hung out.

Wednesday he didn't seem himself and then started with bad diarrhea. I was home half the day with him then his Poppy took over so I could go to work. I found out 2 coworkers were out with the flu and I had allergy stuff going. Thursday Will woke up and vomited and still had diarrhea but just once. Brad stayed home with him and I went to work feeling rough. That afternoon I felt better and Will was better so we went and got the bad hair cut.

Then the diarrhea started back. I had to change one diaper in the walmart parking lot.

That was fun.

Then that night I was feeling bad and had a fever so I had to call in to work. Did I mention 3 people were already out sick with the flu by this point and 2 were taking a PALS class? So that makes for 1/2 of our staff gone...yeah. My boss wasn't thrilled when I called her.

But it ended up being good that I couldn't go to work (you aren't supposed to go if you have fever, vomitting or diarrhea within 24 hours) because Will had diarrhea for the third day in a row.

Poor little man. We went through a lot of gatorade and pedialyte.

I called his doctor and they wanted a stool sample to test for rotovirus. Any guesses on how you collect that for a child still in diapers? Let me just say that saran wrap isn't just for use in the kitchen.

So I went to the doctor to get tested for the flu. I don't have a primary physician so I went to MEA which is a walk-in clinic. There were 3 people ahead of me when I got there. 2.5 hours later I leave with a diagnosis of sinus infection and a negative flu swab. But considering my symptoms started at the same time everyone else's did and Brad got sick after I did, I'm pretty sure I had the flu. We all had the regular flu shot so we're pretty sure we had H1N1.

Exciting, huh? It really wasn't that bad. So by Saturday everyone was all better and we went and got Will's hair fixed. It looked SO much better. I would have shown you a picture except he was in a mood and I was unable to get a decent shot.

And the next 2 weeks were a blur because Brad and I were both working so late, but I did get some pictures of some important things to share. Is the suspense killing you? I will get to it soon...

Proofs

We had the boys' pictures taken 2 weeks ago and the proofs are now up on the photographer's site. You can click here to see them. Go to "proofing" and enter 'spring1' in the box. I was pleased with the outfits and with the pics. Enjoy!