Being thankful

The Lord has been my source of strength these past few weeks. I've been physically and emotionally exhausted but he has shown such sweet provision and grace.

The kids have been amazing. Carter is doing great about playing outside or by himself when I need to feed Isaac or just need a few minutes to myself. Isaac had a few rough nights and days, but for the most part is back to a laid back baby with somewhat of a routine.

Caleb has been my support and showed me a lot of grace, encouraging naps and picking up pizza, with no complaints of a messy house.

My friends have been the body of Christ. From meals, cards, borrowed clothes, emails, texts, lots of prayers and love--they have been amazing and carried burdens to lessen my load.

We lost our Mamie 10 days ago. Amazingly, I got to see her 11 days ago and got to see her sweet smile as she held Isaac for the first time. Such sweet sweet provision.

So as I read on fb about friends enjoying happy hour in this beautiful weather and I am cleaning up vomit and poo, the Lord has given me a smile and grateful heart for my life at home with these precious boys. I wouldn't want it any other way (the staying home and being a mom, and I understand that includes days with vomit and poo!).

*just realized this didn't post, was written on Monday!

Some pics of Mamie then daily life:

Carter-27 months

I've decided to post quarterly on Carter boy since changes aren't so drastic anymore. Here we go...

Stats: 28 lbs, 36 inches (hit the 3 ft mark!)

He is at such a fun, yet hard age. My Dad came last week and said that Carter just enjoys life and the simple things. So true. Right now Carter is loving his new room and his firetruck bed...so much so that he will play for 1-2 hours regularly before falling asleep for nap! He goes down easy at night and will wake up about 7-715 saying "light outside!" because he knows when its light, its time to wake up. He loves trains, trucks, music, books, and puzzles. He loves "helping" and is constantly pulling the step stool out of the pantry to help me do dishes and we take turns spraying pledge and using the "big" vacuum. He really just loves the pantry jn general so weve had to put a child lock on that door :). He loves his bath and thankfully our new morning routine includes him in the bathtub playing while I get ready for the day. He also asks to "talk beach" atleast 5 times per day and we pretend we're going to the beach and talk about who will go with us, who will drive the boat, what food we will take, etc.

He has started singing along to songs and I LOVE it. He's pretty delayed with words and gets every few words right. His best so far is baa baa black sheep (go figure!) but also will sing his ABCs, the eyes of Texas, Mary had a little lamb, Elmo's world theme song, "wise man rock", and Jesus loves me. He will also ask specifically for songs in the car or iPod and loves to dance to music.

He can count to 10 consistently, a lot of times up to 13. He knows most colors. He continues to be a "running stream of consciousness" and speaks in 4-5 word phrases. He's starting to use some pronouns and prepositions but continues to primarily speak in 3rd person (however knows "mine" very well!).

His memory amazes me. I love that Caleb hit a trash can backing out of our driveway one time around Christmas and he continues to recall it pretty much every time one of us backs out--"dada hit trash can. Be fafa (careful)". Ha. He also remembers sequences of days really well, the other day told me about the day the man came to "fif it garage door" and how afterwards we went to feed ducks, go to the park, go to his new school, but then he got sick. I couldn't remember this series of events until he told me, it was atleast 2 months ago!

Behavior is a challenge. He's gotten pretty bossy and def has mastered the whine. We try to use love and logic methods with him, giving him 2 choices. Caleb has decided that there's always a 3rd choice which is floor--he will often drop right to the floor and either throw a fit or grab his chincha and just lay there. Oh, the joys ;).

He's still our little social butterfly and constantly asks "friends come over?". He will go up to complete strangers to tell them whatever he is thinking or bring them a book and plop in their lap. No stranger danger here. He loves going to the dr, really bc he loves any attention. We had a pulm fu appt this past week and after each "procedure" (ie: checking ears, listening to lungs, etc) he would say "more!". Only 2 year old I know that gets excited to go to dr and is jealous when Isaac "gets" to go to dr :).

I would say he's adjusting fairly well to being a big bro. Pretty much ignores Isaac but will occasionally ask to hold him. A few times he has asked me to put him down or in his swing, but really plays well by himself or will sit by me and let me read books while I nurse. Thankfully, the crying doesn't seem to bother him and he will either ignore it or smother Isaac with his chincha--bc in his little mind, if you cry the chincha makes it all better!

Dear Carter Boy,
Since you are so social Mama was a little worried about how you (and i both!)would adjust to being home all day now that I'm not working. It's only been a few weeks but I'm having so much fun getting to discover your world with you. We read lots of books, have dance parties, play hide and seek, and make sure we "go bye bye" atleast once a day...even if its just shopping at "mamas friends house". I love your compassion and your energy. You laugh and smile so easily and we have so much fun together. I'm so blessed to be your Mama and thank God daily for making you just the way you are.

Feeding ducks

My coffee date for the morning--this was the week before Isaac was born

My little block captain helper, out delivering the neighborhood newsletter

Weekend before Isaac was born...family trip to the zoo! See "The Woods" sign above us :)

Kitchen helper

This is pretty much what his room looks like after nap...he LOVES to play in his room!

First haircut! He did great!

Playing at the new Perot museum with friends

Night before induction...we went out as our last "family of 3" for ice cream at Braum's!

Isaac's birthday--dropping him off at school where he was blissfully unaware his world was changing!

And now he's a big bro!

Isaac-1 month

Stats:
Weight: 10 lb 13 oz (90%)
Length: 22 1/2 in (90%)
Head: 15 in (60%)

0-3 mos clothes, size 1 diapers



Isaac is still such a sweet baby and I'm still loving the snuggles. He has woken up and is more fussy these past 2 ish weeks but typically consoled by swaddling, paci, and the "cradle bounce" in arms. We have a "date" about 1 every afternoon where I lay him on my chest and we both just rest while big bro is playing/"attempting" nap in his room. We also have some sweet time just the 2 of us after his 6 am feed where he falls back asleep on me while I do Bible study and drink coffee while bro is sleeping and Daddy is running. In keeping with tradition:

Eat:
Very consistent about nursing every 3 hours, typically 9,12,3,6. Will occasionally give a 4 hour stretch. I pump about an hour after 1st morning feed to build up a freezer stash. He takes a bottle about every 1-3 days of 4 oz---seems like a lot but he doesn't spit up, is satisfied, and will be ready to eat 3 hours later. He def likes his bottles warm, but Caleb will still try the cold bottle and hell take it but grimace and frown his way through it :).

Play:
Well, not much in this category ;). He iS awake for 1-3 hour stretches 3-4x/day, typically 7-9, 3-5, and 7-9 pm. He likes his swing and bouncy seat for short periods when awake but really prefers being held. He tolerates about 5 mins of tummy time before fighting it. Once we started immersion baths (vs sponge) he is a little fussier and only gets calmed once out and wrapped up in a towel. We go on walks and I've started wearing him more in the ergo and sling.

Sleep:
Still sleeps a lot. Will pretty much sleep anywhere--bassinet, swing, crib, my arms, my bed, etc. He does have awake periods after eating and will be awake up to 2-2.5 hours but sometimes will go right back to sleep. Nighttime is pretty much same as day--eating every 3 hours and many times wanting to be awake after the 3 am feed to play. We need to work on that one, son :).