Thankful

I wrote this post four years ago on Thanksgiving. Though I've been to Kenya four times and even seen hunger and poverty in my own city, it's often easy to get wrapped up in my own little world and take things for granted. Today I am thankful God brought this post to my attention. I can't even begin to list all of the many things I have to be thankful for all year long.

Happy Thanksgiving week, y'all. May we praise Him from whom all blessings flow!

Five on Friday

How has it been almost a month since I've actually posted on here? I have so many posts in draft mode that I really doubt will ever make it out. It has just been a crazy season of life and although I get sad thinking that I won't have documented enough about our family, I know my family needs me and is taking first priority and that is far more important than writing about it. So let me get on with it before this one stays in draft with the rest.

ONE.
I really doubt this is news to anyone reading this, BUT-Paul's team won the STATE CHAMPIONSHIP!!! I am so proud of him and his boys and it still seems so surreal. It's such an accomplishment for anyone, but especially for him considering he started the soccer program at Reagan just ten years ago. I hope to blog more (I stay ambitious about this whole blogging thing) about the play-offs and championship game day sometime soon. But just in case I don't get around to it, I must post this sweet picture of our big boy running to his Daddy's arms shortly after the big win. It makes my heart nearly explode into a million pieces. 

TWO.
Number one means that soccer is over. I might be almost as excited about that as I am the championship. I don't want to be a complainer or a negative Nancy, but y'all-soccer season is HARD! It's been in full swing for six months now and there were so many weekends and nights we didn't see Daddy at all, not to mention I often wondered how in the world I could make it through the day by myself with a screaming baby and a busy, challenging toddler. But God saw me through, often giving me a humble perspective that some families don't have a husband or Daddy at all. There are a lot of events and celebrations in the near future because of the championship, but we will be seeing a lot more of Daddy now and I know two little boys and a Mommy that are so happy about that!

THREE.
My boys have been sick, sick, sick! Gray was sick over a month ago for weeks and his nasty virus ended up as a sinus infection. Just a few days after finishing his antibiotic, he woke up with a new virus, which happened to be the day of the State Championship game-yes, I picked up another "mom of the year award" for letting him go to Raleigh and sit in the freezing cold to watch his Daddy's team. Anywho, Walker has had a nasty virus for over a week now too and was just plain pitiful until just a day or two ago. I took both boys to the doctor on Wednesday mostly concerned that Walker is barely nursing and/or taking a bottle (more on that in a 6 month post coming soon) but also wanted to get Gray checked out too because I thought he was wheezing. Two hours later, we left with a negative RSV test but a report of low oxygen and wheezing for Gray. Now he is on Albuterol and Prednisone (which should be illegal for toddlers) and I am stuck somewhere between thanking God that I get to be home taking care of my babies and wanting to run away for the next week. Oh, and did I mention Daddy was in bed for four days and also on steroids earlier this week?

FOUR.
I usually wait until Thanksgiving weekend to decorate for Christmas but am planning on getting started this weekend. We won't be able to decorate full on this year because of some things we still need to do to our new house, but stockings will be hung and Nativities will be set out. And I can hardly wait to cut down our Christmas tree when we go to Boone for Thanksgiving next week. And I may or may not have already busted out my Michael Buble Christmas CD.

FIVE.
I can't believe our baby boy is almost half of a year old. Wait, yes I sort of can. You see, the first almost four and a half months were so hard with him that time really crept by for me. I don't wish it away but the older he gets, the happier he is so for that I am ready to welcome month six and hoping to have a full post about our baby boy before he turns seven months ;)

Happy Friday, y'all!

Walker-Five months

This last month we have finally started to see a happier baby-praise the Lord!!! He is still having some trouble with his reflux but his overall temperament has improved tremendously! I've loved going back and reading detailed monthly posts about Gray so though most people won't be too interested in all this, I know I'll be glad to have it to look back on one day. So, more about our sweet guy at five months...

Weight-16 pounds, 4 ounces. The only reason we have an accurate weight at 5 months is because we had to take Gray to the doctor the other day. He has a gained a little over a pound in the last month (was 15.1 at four months), which the doctor said was good for his age. I am really hoping to see his curve come back up a little at his 6 month visit.

Eating habits-nursing has become quite a challenge again. If it's not a reflux flare up, it's him taking a million "breaks" while nursing to look around, put his thumb in his mouth or just stare and grin at me. As much as possible I try to nurse him in a really quiet room with minimal distractions. He nurses about seven times a day and is loving solids, which he gets 2-3 times a day. We give mostly oatmeal though I have slowly started introducing more fruits and veggies. So far he has loved everything-carrots, green beans, apples, pears and prunes- and I hope he will be as good of an eater as his big brother is. He still has days when he spits up a LOT but I think the solids are helping with that for the most part.

Sleeping habits-Walker is still waking up once a night. I personally think it's habit but I am going to keep nursing him until we go back at six months and I know his weight is better. He goes down around 8:00 every night, wakes once around 4:00-5:00 and goes back to sleep until 7:00/7:30. He isn't on a very strict nap schedule because we are out and about quite a bit but I do try to make sure we are home for at least one nap a day, which is anywhere from 1.5-3 hours. He falls asleep in the car pretty easy now but puts up quite a fight in the church nursery or when he is being held.

Milestones/New Discoveries-Does happiness count as a milestone? It does for this baby!! His first teeth still haven't broken through the skin but are sure giving him some pain so I'm hoping it will be soon.

Likes-his thumb, big brother, Sophie, fans and lights, solids, any and everything he can put in his mouth, being read to, starting to last a little longer in his exersaucer, his mobile in his crib, being outside, rolling over! If he is on the floor playing, he almost never stays on his back. He has rolled almost all the way across the room a few times.

He wants to crawl so bad already!

Dislikes-not being able to see what's going on, being put in his car seat (but is MUCH happier in the car now once we get going), being tired

Special places/memories-Daddy's soccer game, the pumpkin patch

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Walker/Gray

Though a lot of days have seemed long, especially the first four months, I really can't believe next month Walker will be half of a year old. Pictures sure are getting harder because he is always moving and has his hands in his mouth but here are a few more of our sweet boy...
 

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Happy boy!

I love my thumb!

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Gray/Walker at 5 months

 

Five on Friday

Well I missed two weeks in a row if that tells you anything about our life lately. To be perfectly honest, most days I still feel like we are in survival mode. I'll keep up with the pattern of an update on all three of my boys plus a couple other random happenings.

ONE.

Paul's regular conference season is officially over. They are conference champions with a record of 19 wins, 3 loses and are ranked 3rd in the state!! Play offs start next week and they will keep advancing towards the state championship as long as they keep winning. I'm proud of my husband and his team for such a successful season. Go Raiders! 

TWO.

We are finally seeing more smiles and hearing less crying from our sweet baby. He still isn't the easiest, happiest, most flexible baby on the planet but that's ok because he has come so far! He still has reflux flare ups here and there and isn't the easiest to nurse most of the time lately but he is loving solids and has gained a pound in the last couple of weeks! He rarely screams in the car anymore which in and of itself deserves a big 'ol HALLELUJAH!! I'll include more details about him next week in a FIVE MONTH post.

THREE.

Gray. Oh my sweet Gray. He has been quite a challenge lately. He decided several months ago to drop his nap for the most part. Some days he can hang but most days, not so much. He wears me out and tests my patience. But then he says things like "Mommy's my girl!" and "I love our new house!" and without prompting, "Dear God, thank you for the day, for my friends coming over and for my quesadilla!" Last night when we were eating spaghetti for dinner he was having trouble getting the noodles on his fork and he said "things aren't going well"-we laughed so hard!! He picks up on everything we say. Two is hard but man, it's so fun too!

FOUR.

My best friend Lindsey does some photography for friends and family as a hobby. She took pictures of Gray every couple of months his entire first year of life. We had hoped to do the same for Walker but we've both been busy and haven't gotten around to it since his newborn pictures. We took some at a local park last Friday and they turned out great. You can see the whole album onFacebook  but here are a few of my favorites. 

FIVE.

I think we are a little ambitious about our weekend plans, which include: a fall festival, a Wake Forest football game, hair cuts for the big boys, a few small projects around the house and Boo at the Zoo. We will see how much of that really happens. Regardless, I'm so excited about a beautiful fall weekend with my three boys!

Have a good one, y'all!

Walker-4 months

Walker's three month post is still in my drafts- I never got any good pictures with his three month tie sticker and kept wanting Paul to be home to help me get some good ones and it just never happened. Anywho, here I am with a detailed post about our sweet boy who was four months a week ago today. He went to the doctor on Friday for his well visit and his weight percentage had dropped significantly on his curve. The doctor was concerned and of course Mama was too. I knew he wasn't looking as big to me and he's started spitting up really, really bad over the last 3-4 weeks so I knew that had to be affecting his weight gain. We have started him on oatmeal and will introduce other solids soon too. The doctor thinks the solids will help his milk stay down and also add some extra calories. He spits up almost every single time he eats now and it's almost always a lot and several times after each feeding. It's SO frustrating and it's hard not to feel like every feeding is a waste. He definitely won't be going off the Prevacid anytime soon either so I'm hoping the solids will help his tummy issues and not make them even worse.

Weight-15 pounds, 1 ounce-38th percentile, down from the 75th at his 2 month visit

Length-26 inches-81st %tile, up 4.5 inches since birth! Gray was exactly 26 inches at his 4 month visit too.

Head measurement-42.5 centimeters-73rd %tile

Wears size 6 months (some 6-9!) clothes and size 2 diapers

Eating Habits-Still takes Prevacid for reflux and likes Mommy's diet to be free of dairy and all kinds of other good things (you are so worth it sweet boy!!). He nurses 7-8 times a day and takes 5-6 ounces when he has a pumped bottle. He has been nursing great until the last couple of days and today he even screamed, arched his back and refused to nurse twice. I had to thicken a bottle with rice cereal in order to get a full feeding in. It hasn't been that bad in a long time. Acid reflux, please go away and leave my sweet baby boy alone!!! We are going to the chiropractor tomorrow and I am hoping it does the trick like it has before. I can't imagine going down the road we were on two months ago. We gave Walker his first oatmeal over the weekend and he wasn't sure what to think of it but by the second feeding he was happy to see that spoon! I am hoping he will take to other solids as easy as Gray did and his weight gain will speed up again.

Second oatmeal and happy about it!

Milestones-Rolls over both ways consistently now. As if we don't have a fussy enough boy on our hands, now he is teething! I thought he was but didn't want to even speak it and the nurse said she saw white on his bottom gums the other day and to expect his first teeth soon. Gray was a very early teether (his first two teeth were all the way up at 5 months and he had 16 teeth by 13 months) and I was hoping for the opposite with Walker.

Sleeping habits-We transitioned him to his crib pretty soon after we moved and he has done pretty good. We have had and still have a few "cry it out" times during the day but doesn't cry at all at bedtime. He takes 3-4 naps a day, depending on how long he sleeps. He sometimes still takes a nap in his swing but usually doesn't sleep as long as he would in his bed. He slept 12 straight hours one night and has done 9-10 several times, but usually he goes down at 8:00 and is up anywhere from 2:00-5:00. The doctor said he really didn't think he was keeping enough ounces down during the day to get him through 12 straight hours consistently so I have to keep feeding him when he wakes up. Major bummer, Mama's tired!

New discoveries-Has started reaching out and grabbing objects and is able to hold onto things longer. He has also found his feet and loves playing with them and putting his toes in his mouth.

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He started sucking his thumb several weeks ago. For the most part he can only do it when he is in the laying down and/or nursing position. It's so sweet! He seems so excited about it that he will often stop eating and put his thumb in his mouth-feedings are sometimes taking quite a while these days. He has figured out how to do it a time or two in the car and I'm hoping this will make car rides more enjoyable. 

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He has also really started paying attention to Gray and Sophie (our dog). In the car he tries to sit up and look at Gray the whole time which is so precious to me. 

Likes-being held, his playmat, his swing, lights, ceiling fans, facing outward so he can see everything, his thumb, being outside, his hands and feet, usually likes his bumbo seat, watching Gray and Sophie 

Dislikes-the car (though the car hasn't been as bad the last week or so-hopeful for a positive change here!), his bouncer, being restrained, being up on your shoulder looking over your back (he gets mad bc he can't see what's going on in that position), his exersaucer (I sure hope this changes soon!) being put on his tummy unless he is going to sleep, being put down

Special places/memories-Walker was dedicated at church on September 14th. It was such a special day as we committed to raise him in a Christian home, pray for him and hope that he comes to know the Lord at an early age.

Overall temperament/mood-We continue to be on our toes with this sweet baby! I am SO thankful he doesn't scream through feedings anymore but I hate to report that if he isn't sleeping, eating or being held, he is crying pretty much all of the time. It's wearing on me and starting to really bother Gray too. I just hope and pray with each new day that he will become more content and independent. Despite the fussiness, we are so in love with this boy!
 

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He gets these thighs from his Mama. If only they were this cute on me ;)

Finally got some smiles on camera!

I love this sweet face!

And then there's this face with his nose turned up...cracks me up!

Gray/Walker

Here's hoping for a happy, happy, happy baby by month 5! :)

Five on Friday-Happy October y'all!

ONE.

Walker had his four month well visit today. I'm hoping to write a more detailed monthly post for my own memory's sake but I thought I would report his stats here too. He weighed 15 pounds, 1 ounce   and was 26 inches long. Believe it or not by the look of his cheeks and legs, his weight curve had come way down and the doctor was a tad concerned. He has gone from his weight being in the 80/85th percentile to it being just below 50th. He thinks several things are to blame, a big one being the amount he spits up, which started getting bad several weeks ago. He doesn't want us to wait until 6 months to start solids and I can't let him cry it out at night to sleep 12 straight hours yet (he still gets up once, come times twice a night). It was not the appointment I expected or was hoping for but overall he is healthy and if this is our "problem" with him then I would say we are very blessed. More on him in a 4 month post, hopefully coming soon. 

TWO.

Gray has officially entered the questions stage! He would ask questions here and there before, but now almost everything that comes out of his mouth is a question. Some are really smart, good questions that I LOVE to answer and watch him soak in the information in his sweet little brain. But others are going to drive me crazy! Like "what's this?" a million and five times a day. And "where's Walker? Where's Mommy? Where's Daddy? What you doing Mommy?"....and those types of questions that I know he knows the answer too. And I know what's coming next-the "WHY?" stage, which he already asks sometimes. Lord, I'm gonna need a lot of patience with this boy! :)

THREE.

I get my hair done today and am so excited! I've been stretching my appointments out by several more weeks which makes me look forward to them even more. I think I'll be taking off several inches since my hair is falling out in clumps and is so thin and raggedy-thanks post partum hair loss!

FOUR.

I am such a beach girl but every year I grow to love fall more and more. We have a lot of things to look forward to this month. The Dixie Classic Fair starts today-hello fried Oreos and corn dogs!! I sure hope Walker's tummy can handle some indulgences! We also plan to make visits to pumpkin patches, fall festivals and Boo at the Zoo day later this month. And have I mentioned that I won a free mini session with a local photographer? I am SO excited!! Aside from the fact that I never win anything, I am really looking forward to having some quality, updated pictures of our boys. 

FIVE.

I am sooooo excited about a weekend with Paul home! It will be the first WHOLE weekend he has been home since sometime in June. His team is exhausted and they had two more big wins this week so he decided to give them a couple of days off. I'm ready to soak in some quality hubby/family time and maybe even get a few projects done around the house.

Have a good weekend, y'all!

Five on Friday

Welp, I missed last week but I'm back again and will keep trying to make more time for the 'ol blog. It's been a long week and I am so happy to see Friday. 

ONE.

I have to start by bragging on my husband. He is having a very successful soccer season so far. They opened the season by taking home the championship for the Forsyth Cup and continue to win game after game. Their record is 13 and 2 and are ranked #10 in the state!! Thanks to my mom for watching the boys, I was able to go to a game last Saturday and a big game last night against one of their biggest rivals who they beat 4-1! Before we had Gray I had never missed a game but it's been hard to get to many since then. Paul knows I'm his biggest fan whether I'm there or not but I do miss cheering him on from the stands. Although it will make soccer season much longer, I am really hoping they can win the state championship this year. Go Raiders!!

TWO.

Speaking of soccer, Gray started Soccer Tots yesterday. I can't even handle the cuteness of him in a jersey and soccer shoes. Daddy was able to sop by for the first few minutes yesterday on his way to soccer. Unfortunately things went down hill fast after he left and I would call the first "practice" a near disaster. Gray didn't nap yesterday (he maybe naps once a week these days) and he was exhausted. He didn't want to participate and was super clingy to me for most of the time. Hopefully next week will be better. It sure was enterainjng watching 2 year olds play soccer!

THREE.

I don't have much new news to report on Walker. He has his good days and his bad days but is still pretty fussy overall. He hates the car and doesn't handle independent time very well (you'd yhink he was my first baby). He is starting to smile a lot more though and is really starting to watch and pay attention to his big brother, which I LOVE! His reflux started flaring up again so I took him back to the chiropractor this week and it's been fine since then. I want to talk to his pediatrician at his four month well visit about trying to take him off the Prevacid soon. It continues to cause major tummy issues for him and this week has been rough in that department. He also still seems to have an intolerance to dairy and lots of veggies so my diet continues to be pretty boring. I was able to add back in everything I wanted when Gray was six months so I'm hoping for the same with Walker. Baby boy will be four months on Monday so I'll update with growth stats and more sometime next week. 

FOUR.

We are getting blinds installed tomorrow! Never ever did I think I could be so excited about blinds. We have this huge window in our living room, which I love, but any and everybody can see into our house, which of course I don't love. 

Paul was going to hang them several weeks ago but because the house is so old, the window seals cause for some pretty difficult installation. It was a two week process for Lowe's to come measure, cut the blinds and schedule an installation appointment so I feel like its been a long time coming and it will be the highlight of my weekend!

FIVE.

We are pretty close to sealing the deal on a lease to purchase prospect for our townhouse. Our realtor/property manager is almost done running credit reports, background checks, etc. but the people love it and want to move in next weekend! We are hoping and praying it works out. This weekend will be devoted to getting the rest of our things out (it's been a long process since Paul has been so busy with soccer) and cleaning over there. We are so excited to be done with it and enjoy spending more time on our new home. 

Have a good weekend, y'all!