Congratulations!, Howdy!, and THANK YOU!

Congratulations to our "little brother" John. He graduated from High School last week. We are officially graduates of the Big Brothers/Big Sisters Program....but we got John a Netbook for Graduation so that we can all stay in touch.

"So Proud"


HOWDY GRANDPA!!!! Grandpa hasn't been to visit since JJ was TINY......we're thrilled that he is here.



THANK YOU!!!! To Marc and Michelle who have passed along toys their three beautiful daughters have outgrown.....JJ is thrilled! and so are mom and dad. We won't have to buy anything for a LONG while.


We LOVE to recycle! Especially TOYS!

I'm feeling blessed, this is a fun age and we are all enjoying it very much. Sleep is much better, not great but it's enough to survive on now.....Mom and Dad even get a few hours in the evening to watch a movie, read, play farmtown......

We're looking forward to our next big adventure: Traveling with JJ. We have a trip to NY planned for this summer and a week in Sedona planned for the fall....

Well, it's 1:30am and I can't sleep......I have a busy day tomorrow and am just thinking of a million things.....thought I would share a couple of them with you web people:

I was wasting time on the internet the other day and came across this great website. It had a recipe for Black Bean Soup and I had all the ingredients....so guess what I made yesterday? I put it in the fridge and enjoyed it today for lunch with my friend and my cleaning lady....we all agreed it was DELISH.

Mary, the cleaning lady said "if you added cliantro this would be even better" and we all agreed.....

After reviewing that thought today (I can't sleep remember?) I was hit with this High School memory: in 9th grade English we had a "technical writing assignment" to write out "how to" do something. One option was how to cook something and so I talked it over with my mom (since I was in 9th grade and wasn't cooking a whole lot) and I wrote out Spaghetti sauce or something (damn that was a long time ago)....one of the steps was to "chop and add cilantro"....I nearly failed the assignment because my teacher didn't agree that the recipe would have cilantro.....he kept me after class to discuss it and everything (because he was Italian and just knew how to cook everything).....well it was MY recipe, and I added Cilantro (well, Mom's recipe and SHE liked Cilantro).....the spelling was correct, the steps were easy to follow he just didn't want to use Cilantro?????

Well, this is just one of 587 reasons (which I might list one day) I hated High School......that AND:

I had more than one teacher suggest I would not be successful in life due to my performance in high school....

my cleaning lady would probably disagree.....she liked my bean soup.

Our Trip to Children's Hospital:

It went off without a glitch!

The hardest part was keeping him awake for several hours before the test to ensure sleep during the EEG.......so the car ride was awful. Daddy drove us downtown and I sang and basically annoyed my baby for an hour.....he screamed and just kept closing his eyes and then looking at me "Mom, I WANT TO SLEEP, you usually want me to sleep, I don't understand".....and then he got hungry.....I felt like a bad mamma keeping him awake and hungry.....

When we arrived, I took him out of his carseat and he was HAPPY! We even got a great parking spot, arrived early enough to take a stop at the Trainscape. He LOVED it, and we loved it too. Daddy just kept saying "it's a good thing he's not any older, we would never get him outta here".

(yes, he and I are "jailbirds")

Can you believe our boy started to fall asleep just during the set up for the EEG? Daddy asked if we could feed him while they poked on his head.....GOOD THINKING DADDY.....happy tired baby....that is red marking pen....it was a "painless test".



Then we woke him up so they could compare his "awake" brainwaves. He didn't want to wake up....look at that tired little man


He slept all the way home.....mommy and daddy wanted to too.....it was a long but SMOOTH AS SILK day! Thank you for all of your prayers and good thoughts.....THEY WORKED!

We already have the results as of 9:48am this morning: JJ is perfectly normal! Our doc says: It doesn't completely rule out Epilepsy, but makes it HIGHLY unlikely. So JJ's tremor is just a tremor......I was really hoping for mutant powers.....but I'll take normal, in fact I LOVE normal....

Note: tomorrow is our EEG at Children's Hospital. We should have results by Friday.....


SIX MONTHS:
("You want me to do what? I can't sit still!")

Dear Plankton,

A year ago today I was feeling you wiggle inside me for the first time.....I could hardly imagine what it would be like to be a mother...how hard and wonderful it would be. During my pregnancy I told daddy that you were FUNNY! he didn't believe me, he also could not figure out how I could know from your kicks and wiggles that you were FUNNY.....but you and I had our little jokes and I swear you were laughing while in my belly. I also knew you were blonde haired and blue eyed. I told Daddy your name would be Jason Jr. Daddy was not too sure but agreed to "see what you looked like before we committed to a name". He also shocked me by asking "what if he is dark haired like you"......I freaked out for two days just thinking about that....it seemed so wrong......

You are not only funny, you are HILARIOUS and you not only LOOK like your daddy but you have his jovial spirit, his ENERGY and his love of making other people smile......

And I have come to know you, not just a little glimpse but really getting to KNOW you......at first you were a stranger to me (so tiny and cranky), motherhood was strange to me......we have come a LONG way in the past six months (15 months really). We are learning to be a family, to work together, play together, BE together.

I look forward to every day with you. As I watch you grow, I know that my heart is growing too. I didn't know if I could really change for you and with you.....you have left me no choice....you are making me into a mother. It's a beautiful and some days painful thing to become. I look forward to watching you and your mate go thru this transformation as well.....

I won't say I have enjoyed every day of the last six months, but they have been AMAZING and I can say that I look forward to the next six.....WE HAVE A PARTY TO PLAN!!!!!

I love you!,
your mamma

Enjoying a walk during our camping weekend


First Sippy Cup

A trip to the Farmer's Market

Angels

6 month check up! (a few days early)

*Just a quick note that I LOVE our doctor.....he is so sweet, spends time, answers questions and is just an all around neat guy. If you are looking for a family doctor check out www.harmonyfamilyhealth.com *

Now on to the stats:
16.8 pounds, 27 inches (or as the doc says he is "two foot, three") and his head is 17.5 inches around. He is "well developed, well nourished, well appearing, alert, active and in no apparent distress" :-D

On the other hand, the doc was able to see JJ's little "head shakes" that I have noticed for the past three months but just chalked up to "a weird baby thing" (there are a LOT of those). Thank goodness JJ did this right in the office! Doc says "I am sending you to see a Neurologist at Children's Hospital". He has met all of his developmental milestones so there are no worries there but we might see something on an EEG or an MRI. Especially with JJ's history of respiratory arrest at birth......

Please keep a good thought for us that the head shakes are just "a weird baby thing"......or maybe a sign of baby genius, or special mutant powers, or......just something SIMPLE. The doc reminded me this is nothing NEW and won't change anything.....I know that in my heart.....just a little un-nerving.

No new photos here, but if you are on facebook check out the photos we uploaded recently....

More soon....

New Camera for Mother's Day:

I got a new camera for Mother's Day.....it's all fancy and has lots of buttons that I have no idea what they do.....but I'm learning....

Here's my boy all "prepped out".



And "on the move"

Last weekend was Miss Ellie's Welcome Party.....it was a BIG TO DO at my house....it was so much fun but boy am I glad it's over :-)


My beautiful sister and her beautiful daughter


Photos of the FUN

and now for the cutes giggle on the planet:

Catch Up:

A little catch up on our adventures in the life of new parents....

My First Mother's Day: We hosted a breakfast at our house which was a lot of fun. We had My sister and her two daughters over along with my dad (the rest of the family was out of town). JJ thought it was a cousin party for him (it was). The dad's made waffles, sausage and OJ. My sister was DYING for crab legs so we went to Big Shucks for dinner....it was WONDERFUL!

Our original plan had been to go to Ren Faire but the weather report was for rain... babies, strollers and MUD were just not our idea of a fun day so we restructured our plans only to watch a beautiful day unfold.....but we all enjoyed Mother's Day very much...

JJ LOVES his Cousin Ava

Yesterday we went to the mall for a small errand and I watched dozens of kids with large yellow bags with LEGO stamped across them run all around the Mall.....WE MUST FIND THE LEGO STORE I said to my sister and look what we got to do:

Build a block...

Hand it to the MASTER Lego builder to help him create an 8 foot tall R2D2 out of legos and we got a certificate for helping and a coupon to the NEW Lego Store

JJ thought it was AMAZING! He loved watching the kids at the mall (ice skating, playing, in strollers, at the disney store)

I can't wait until he is old enough for his own set of Legos! They have huge sets for 18months old. They are train sets, zoo, farm....it's adorable. Also, Mommy loved looking in Build a Bear, JJ didn't really get it.....that will have to wait til he is older. :-)

In other news:
JJ is trying very hard to crawl. He rolls over both ways, and now scoots around a bit...it's very exciting! He sucks his right thumb (YEAH!, I have been hoping and wishing for this, cause you can't loose it like a binky) and is much more interested in butternut squash than rice cereal but is still not thrilled with solids so we're not pushing them.....just trying it out here and there when he seems excited to watch us eat. We have a doc appt next week so I'll have a weight update at that time (I'm thinking 16 pounds).

Five Months Old! OH MY!

Time Flies when you are having fun...and we are getting older by the minute.....DANG!

We had a wonderful visit with Grandma. All day Friday we had both babies. Thank goodness for Grandma. I got laundry done, and even got to wash some baby stuff that has needed washing for MONTHS and we made dinner for the whole family.

Poor Maddie was fighting off a cold and was pretty tired and miserable.....JJ too....so it was a long hard day of fussy babies but Grandma didn't seem to mind. I think she was happy to be needed and play with the little ones. They are growing up so fast.


Videos:

and for those "professional mammas" out there: yes, he is too young for that chair and probably too young for cereal.....but it's all for entertainment right now....and this is ENTERTAINING!


Happy Five Months my little Plankton....mamma loves you!

Sleeping Baby.....

well, i thought I better post it.....my baby is sleeping! Those of you who read my facebook, blog and talk to me hear me whine about my non-sleeping baby.....so I thought I better post when he IS sleeping :-)

he slept wonderfully the last two nights and is on his THIRD nap today, of course this is so unlike him, I am thinking he might be fighting something off (swine flu perhaps?....HA HA HA HA HA).

Actually, I think he finally wore himself out with all the weekend excitement and a very busy day yesterday.

I love his joy, laughter and excitement for life.....he is teaching me so much about my heart and how I need to live more in the moment.....what a gift!.....and it's so much easier to see that WHEN HE IS SLEEPING! :-D

Me Too!

I received a call at 6:30am this morning that my SIL's babysitter was in the hospital last night and she needed someone to care for my little niece.....YEAH! I was so excited that JJ and I got to play today with his cousin.

Then the terror set in: I still had to get to work at 3pm. Would I be able to get dressed, eat breakfast, Pee with TWO babies?

I jumped in the shower, got dressed and put make up on while I had just one baby (JUST one....HA!). My niece arrived with big smiles ready to play. JJ smiled and laughed at the craziness yet to come.

My SIL then goes thru the instructions for my niece which include: feed her cereal (WHAT? OMG!), go ahead and just strip her down because the cereal goes everywhere," I just set her on my knee and feed her" she says (Again, WHAT?).....

Well, after all the instructions of bottles and diapers and naptime etc...she left for work and I stared at the two babies in my house.....trying to look brave so that they would not see my panic!

We settled into the bouncy seat and swing in my kitchen and I "put my big girl panties on" and started to mix rice cereal....I did however leave the little one in her bouncy seat with a bib on (no naked knee sitting in my house today, thank you very much). I start to feed her (she is really funny and LOVES her cereal, tries to grab the spoon but really just spits all the cereal out on herself) then JJ starts to fuss, so I pretend to give him a bite (the last time I did this he GAGGED in a big way so I figured the pretend bite would satisfy him) and go back to feeding my little niece. Then JJ starts to scream (me too, me too)....so I give him a real bite and he LOVES it. So now I had to mix him up his own bowl of cereal and feed one blue spoon bite and then one pink spoon bite.....it was so cute. My niece spit most of hers on her bib but really enjoyed it very much. JJ made faces like I was feeding him something rotten but cried for more. I didn't even use a bib because he just ate it up (and I am not so good with remembering bibs). I think we were both surprised!



I can't wait to try cereal again tonight with Daddy!

Now both babies are sleeping (after a very dramatic crying spell). Each cuddled up in their own bed. And I got to eat a bowl of cereal myself!

what a day! and it's only 11am.

Next will be "tummy time".....

What I know for Sure:


NOTHING and I mean NOTHING can prepare you for the complete change of life that mommyhood brings. It's like being dropped off, and I mean without time to plan the trip or pack your bags....just dropped off in a foreign country. No language skills, place to sleep, etc.

I am too sleep deprived to do math, give directions, think of a word, place or time of something we have done in the past, or operate big machinery...possibly ever again

The diaper bag must be repacked every day

Every piece of clothing has drool on it

I am more fun, exciting and beautiful to a four month old boy than I had ever imagined I could be......

I am still not sure it's an even trade for the pregnancy, labor, delivery, no sleep, no life, no money, did I mention NO SLEEP, change of life he has brought on...but it's been very interesting.

I have super-sonic mommy hearing....I can hear him breathe from across the room

I desperately need a pedicure (among other things)

Swaying, rocking, bouncing for HOURS every day doesn't burn enough calories to loose the rest of the baby weight

I'm FUNNY.....wanna see:

Bluebonnets as promised.....



Martha and Ellie, Daddy, Mommy and Baby



My boy enjoying the Texas Sprintime

Happy Easter!

We took all the babies to our neighborhood Egg Hunt on Sat and then for photos in the Texas Bluebonnets (still waiting for those to be downloaded)




Then Church and out to breakfast on Sunday.....more church photos coming soon....here is the baby in his Sunday Best.....wait til you see his Cousin, she was wearing a pink bonnet, it was adorable

Baby Playing and Teething:



A video of the baby for your viewing pleasure....

Also, today my friend is having Round Two of Chemo, her name is Alissa, please pray for her that she tolerates the Chemo well and that it blasts away her tumors. THANK YOU!

Aunite Jen takes the BEST photos and Oprah is amazing!

Auntie Jen and Cousin Maddie came over for a visit. We went shopping for "Baby's First Easter Basket" (yes, it's really all for us, babies don't eat candy) and then played and had dinner together. She takes the best photos of the kids. The babies have recently started to recognize each other, smile and even coo at each other. It's so adorable....

Plankton is showing Maddie how to BOUNCE in the exersaucer

He is such a "little man"

Mommy's Beautiful Boy


For those who watch Oprah and for those who don't: the episode yesterday was WONDERFUL. It was all about Mommyhood and keeping it REAL. I loved it. If you are a mommy and have not yet seen it, I highly recommend watching it or reading about it here.

I plan to have a bigger post, but here are two "mommy confessions" for you:
I dropped Chocolate ice cream on my baby's head (before noon) while he was in the wrap.....and laughed.....he barely noticed.
And I have worn an outfit a whole day, slept in it and then wore it the next day.....hey, it already had drool on it, why start all over again?

What is your Mommy Confession? And what do you wish you could let go of in your life to enjoy motherhood more?

Wishin' I Was Fishin'

Plankton: Mamma!!!! I am Wishin' I was Fishin'


Me: Yes, baby we are gonna go fishin' at THE COTTAGE in just 78 days!


Plankton: Really? That is great!

FOUR MONTHS OLD!

Oh my! I can't believe our little one is four months today.

We are officially out of the "4th trimester". I appreciate this term now. It's when baby and mom are adjusting to their life with baby OUTSIDE the womb. It's truly an adjustment for both of us. So many things are talked about with "trimesters" of pregnancy. The sizes, what is developing etc. So to call these past few months another trimester makes sense.  It's a huge adjustment along with lots of numbers and statistics. The whole family changes and grows during each trimester but this 4th trimester is the hardest.  It's painful to grow that much. It's worth it but it is a painful process to outgrow your thoughts, your understanding of the world and your old life. All while gaining new skills in parenting, communication, eating and sleeping.

We have survived the change so far and on most days think we are doing so with flying colors.  The three of us are working as a team, which is amazing.  Daddy has been so patient, helpful and loving, baby keeps us laughing and puts up with our moments of parenting stupidity and mommy just hangs on for dear life.

Well, enough reflection and the much anticipated PICTURES:

Our preferred way to travel, around the house, at the store, etc etc....

His FAVORITE toy....a frog with two rings....he just lights up when it's brought out....and especially when daddy makes him sing and dance  :-)

Oh and the promised video of my baby LOVING himself on youtube:

As Promised:  More Photos and an update from our Doc visit today  

Baby is 13.8 pounds (37% percentile), Head Circ is 16.75 inches (77% percentile) and 25 inches long (63% percentile).  Doc says he is well developed, well nourished and alert, active with no apparent distress....other than teething.

May I present THE cutest family EVER!

We had so much fun today at the Portrait Studio, daddy has this week off from work so we went to take photos....baby started giggling and smiling for the camera and I said "daddy, this is going to be expensive...."  We got a great deal on our pictures....so be ready to see more soon...

Baby's First Camping Trip:

We had an AWESOME trip.  Baby did wonderful, enjoyed the weather, stroller rides, shopping, his cousin, auntie and uncle.  He just didn't sleep so good in the camper, so we came home a day early....which was fine because today we did the grocery game, visited with Ellie and had dinner with Grandma Natalie and Grandpa Ira.

Check out all the camping photos on our Cousin's blog: 

We have a doctor visit Thursday....check back for the stats  :-)