Bless his little heart

I promise I picked up as soon as I finished taking the picture. See it was a progression and it just kept getting worse. He was laying on the floor playing, rolling over, laughing, then he just became unhappy. He kinda whimpered, then fussed, then would kinda scream, then the tears started flowing. Poor kid, and I'm there taking his picture. I do love my son, and as soon as I picked him up...he was all smiles : ) I just kinda liked this picture (is that wrong)?

I love my kiddos.

Hannah is showing Caleb how to use her sticker book. This book is one of her very favorite things to do.There are like 600+ stickers in this book and you find where they go...sometimes I have to hide the book or she would want me to help her do stickers ALL day long : )

I just love this one, I love to see my kids laugh!

Restoration

After yesterdays blog, I want yall to know, that my kids were asleep from like 9pm-7:30am...no waking up inbetween.Thank you for praying!! So today, I was in a great mood because I had actually slept. I took a couple of nap time pictures because they were just so darn cute.


Look...Caleb put himself to sleep for naptime today : )


Hannah after she woke up from her nap...she is so cuddly and cute.

Tired Mom

Well, time for some advice, or atleast listen to my venting. I used to brag just a little because my kids have been pretty good sleepers. Well...not so much. Lets start with Hannah, she is right at 28mos old, she goes to sleep wonderfully. We have our routine, of reading, singing, and prayers. She gives hugs and kisses and gets in her bed and goes to sleep in her bed in her own room. We put her to bed right around 8pm. However lately she's been waking up like 2-3 times a night, we change her diaper, put her back in her bed...we usually sing a fast version of "God is so good" and she goes back to sleep. However if she wakes up at like 5:30am or later...good luck getting her to go back to sleep. We go in and pat her, put her in her bed, and she may be quiet for like 10minutes, then she's standing at her door saying "mommy mommy"....just kind of whining. We repeat the patting and putting her back in her bed OVER AND OVER AND OVER. Sometimes she has had full blown tantrums at like 5am, if I go in the room, she wants daddy and vice versa. If it's 7am, we will usually let her get in bed with us and lay there which only lasts about 10minutes and she is up and ready to go. Now Caleb's crib is in our room, for lack of space, and it's right by the door that goes into Hannah's room (Hannah's door open directly into our bedroom)....so when she makes noise we usually go immediately so that she won't wake him up. So there is the story on her.....I don't really know what to do...oh and also lately she's been having all these wonderful excuses to get you to do things for her, for example...she has started the "I need some water", then if she has the slightest cough "I need medicine for my cough AND water", then she had a really good one "Mommy I have boogers in my nose"..so I procede with the nasal aspirator that we still use with her and there were no boogers to be found. I tell her...get in your bed right now and go to sleep, it is the middle of the night, it is dark outside. Then she wants daddy to come in and give her a kiss. I say daddy is sleeping and I'm not waking him up to come in here right now at 3am to come give you a kiss...sometimes that one turns into a "throwing herself down on the floor" tantrum...and I remind you, I'm threatening her to BE QUIET and DO NOT wake up her brother. So, I think that completes the Hannah chapter of nighttime sleeping. It may not be every single night, but it's most nights. She still takes a nap in the afternoons anywhere from 1-3hrs.

Now for my little man. Caleb is almost 6mos and a week old now. At around 4mos he started sleeping well, meaning 8-10hrs of sleep in a row at night. I don't nurse him in the middle of the night anymore, that stopped at about 4mos, so he eats basically 4times a day now. The bedtime nursing is usually for comfort because he doesn't really eat a ton, but he gets really sleepy which makes going to bed much easier. So after Hannah is in bed, I nurse him and put him to bed, so he's usually in bed by 9pm. Now he used to sleep all night until like 7 or 8am, however this little guy now almost like clockwork wakes up around midnight....so I usually rock him and put him back to sleep. For comfort he sucks his first two fingers on his right hand, he usually can find them pretty well. Now there have been times where he has put himself to sleep by himself, which is kinda rare but I LOVE IT. Anyway, so I put him back in bed (yes and he sleeps on his stomach contrary to studies these days...he DOES NOT LIKE to sleep on his back). Then the whimpering usually starts up again around 5am or so....now usually I pick him up again and rock him, sometimes this time it takes 20min or so to get him back to sleep. I don't change diapers or anything like that that would "wake him up more". Keep in mind, if Hannah is sleeping, I am desperate for her to stay sleeping, so I don't really want him to be loud in his crib because I think she might hear him. So here is my nighttime drama. Now with Hannah, I rocked her to sleep everynight and in the middle of the night until she was 11mos old. Then I decided she has to go back to sleep on her own. We would let her cry.....you know go in and pat at periodic intervals, and after about 3 weeks, she would go to sleep fine. She sucks her thumb, so it was pretty easy for her to be comforted.

So all that to say, I'm sure other moms out there go through this at sometime in the raising of their children...maybe not, some people have very good sleepers. Just pray for us to get the rest we need, and for me to not be extremely frustrated. If you have any fabulous words of wisdom, I'm an open ear. I get very frustrated....I mean last night night Caleb woke up at 3:45am....he was back in bed and me in bed at 4am sharp, then at 4:05am Hannah wakes up.....and then starts the battle of staying in bed, go to sleep, etc...... I love my children so much, I even like them alot too, but I like them more in the daytime and I'm a happier mom to be around when I've slept good. That way I don't have to be a slob on the couch all day long in my jammies with my hair in a ponytail on top of my head, and Hannah sitting on her Winnie the Pooh couch watching Veggie Tales and the Muppets all day long.

Chili Dogs Anyone?

Just wanted to share a few pictures of Hannah enjoying lunch. She had chili all over her body, hands, arms, stomach, forehead...however she enjoyed it. She really wanted to feed Caleb some chili so she could "share" her food with him. How nice of her I know, but we talked her out of that one.

Dependent and Needy beckoning for Mama

My little boy has been sick. This is a new experience for me because Hannah was never sick until her 1yr birthday, she was actually sick on her birthday with an ear infection and fever. So my little guy 6mos old, he's been congested, coughing, and has a little fever. Hannah had a cold so I'm sure she passed it to him......this is also new for me, the reality of sharing sicknesses. One kid gets sick, probably all your kids will get it, and you just pray that you as "super mom" won't because you have to take care of everyone else. Anyway I took Caleb to the doctor after a night of crying, no sleep, I would hold him and he would just kind of moan.....it's those moments, I would absolutley do anything for him to make him feel better. He's so helpless and dependent on me to make it better. So the doc said he has a left ear infection, and a red throat. We started antibiotics and tylenol, and today has actually been a good day. He's back to sleeping in his bed, instead of sleeping on top of me in the recliner. The little guy napped for almost 7hrs yesterday (4 and then 2 1/2), yes I had to wake him up to feed him (isn't that against the rules...never wake a sleeping baby). Then he slept pretty good last night too. Anyway, all that to say, we're doing well now, just going through the first of many more bumps in the road I'm sure.

Breakthrough

Well today is the day! Tomorrow Caleb turns 6mos old, and today has been the first day that he has worn 1 outfit all day long. They are actually his PJ's from last night. As most of you know, he has this spitting up problem (not a true medical problem, more of an inconvenience). Now it's not just a little spit up here and there, he actually gushes, even hours after eating. So my poor baby sometimes wears no clothes, just to help me with the laundry. After eating, he is only allowed to sit propped up on my boppy pillow to help aid in digestion. He loves his einstein exersaucer toy, but we only put him in that immediately before he eats to help limit the mess. Sweet little Hannah has been gracious to "share" this toy with him, she knows it was hers as a baby, however she likes things neat and clean, and is not fond of her brothers "eruptions". So for today, it has been a good day, or else I've been a really good catcher. Now for the picture, I know it may be a little grotesque, but I was in the middle of this fabulous photo shoot, and well it just got caught on camera. So for those of you that have the luxury of very clean and neat babies, this ones for you.

Special Delivery

Kids....I just love them, well at least my own that is. You know they are so matter of fact about everything. My parents went skiing over New Years and they brought her and Caleb back a couple shirts as souvenirs. So they mailed them to us. Anyway, Hannah loves to check the mail box, so we went to get the mail, and the package was in the mailbox. She was so excited and so we went in and opened it. I said...look this is from Me-Maw and Paw-Paw, she tried on the shirt and that was that. So then today, several days later, we are getting ready to go to church and she wants to wear her new shirt. I said,"Look, Hannah, it's so pretty...do you remember who gave it to you." She looked at me and said, "Yes mommy, the mailman".

Does everybody have a photo wreath?

Kid's still make 'em today. Does everybody have one of these. Each year my wreath has taken a prominent place on the family Christmas tree. One that is envied by all other photo ornaments. A little light behind, and you got the perfect glowing ornament. Notice the black and white. Gives it great contrast. Can't beat that.

Kids, kids, and more kids

We had a great time with Jeremy's family at Christmas, the grandkid population is growing. I think they are averaging like 2 grandkids per year...and they have one more on the way this April. So holidays are becoming more eventful but I love it. I must say this is good looking group.

Yay for Me-Maw

The week before Christmas mom came out to visit before the "rush of family" at Christmas time, this way she could have as much quality time with of course me and well the grandkids too : ) It was great, she helped me organize my overflowing and abundant amount of baby clothes from Hannah and Caleb too....then she helped watch the kids as we set up for our Christmas carnival at church. Her and Hannah had fun on the blow up inflatables.

Big Red Truck

I must say that Paw-Paw is noted for having a big red truck. This is absolutley one of Hannah's favorite things to do. She loves to 'pretend drive' to to church, HEB, and sonic (I guess you can tell where we take our children). I love this picture, we took in when we were in Waco over Christmas.

Task Completed

As of today, Caleb has mastered the task of rolling over. He's been rolling over from front to back for almost 2 months, but today he finally figured out how to get from his back to his front. He's been so close for awhile now, but he could never get his arm out from underneath him. I'm so glad he's developing according to schedule. At our 2 month visit, his head measured a little on the small side, but by 4 months he was back on track, his soft spot is good....so the doctor said as long as he is developing well, and his soft spot stays open, there is nothing to worry about developmentally. You know us moms.....we kinda analyze and think too much about every little thing especially when it comes to our kids.

Reflecting

I love my family, I have the greatest husband who by the way is the best dad ever to our 2 children. This friday is our wedding anniversary...5years. You know you're always asked the question, 'Where do you see yourself in 5 or 10 years". Well, when we got married I don't think I would have said living in Monahans with 2 children. We've done a lot of things these past 5 years, Jeremy finished seminary, I finished my BSN, we moved twice and had 2 kids (not to mention I was pregnant both times we moved)...whew. I love it though, I love living life with these people I call my family. I look forward to many more years and adventures together.

Bath Time

My sweet boy loves to take baths. I guess Hannah did at this age too, their facial expressions are the greatest. He kicks and squirms continuously and loves to blow bubbles. And just look at those dimples!

Monahans Snow

This was taken after church one sunday. Hannah was wearing her new coat that is so big her arms kinda stuck out to the side, and she had some very pretty gloves to wear also which didn't last too long because she soon realized she couldn't suck her thumb and wear gloves at the same time.

Getting Started

Hello friends and family. So I'm attempting this thing called blogging. Hopefully this will keep everyone updated on our life, and of course this way I can share pictures of my precious family.