Pics

As promised here are some pictures!




I know that some of you may think that I am being mean to my child, but actually I discovered that when I squeeze his little cheeks together, he laughs hysterically! In this one he is trying to smile at the same time.



This is a picture of Garyn eating his first rice cereal! He loved it but when it didn't get to his mouth fast enough...



this is what happens!



This is Ellie at the park.




This is Garyn at the park.

In other news, I won a free blog makeover from Fabulous K Designs! I am so excited to see what Kelly decides to do with my blog!

I also have a new hobby (yes, another one)! I have been digital scrapbooking! I loved paper scrapbooking, but it is hard to find the time to get everything out and put together a page without interuption from my small children. Here are a couple of my layouts!




This is one of when we told the grandparents that we were expecting Garyn!



This is a layout of Garyn over Memorial Day.

I hope that everyone is doing well. Have a great rest of the week!

Garyn's 4 Month Check-Up

Well...Garyn's doing very well, despite his little mishap! We had his 4 month visit yesterday. He weighed 15 lbs 6.4 oz (50-75th percentile) and was 26 1/4 inches long (90th percentile). He did drop off a few percentile points for his weight. He was previously in the 90th percentile fo his weight, but I guess he's just been more active since then because eating is certainly not his problem!

Speaking of eating...Garyn had his first rice cereal last night! He did pretty well with it (better than Ellie did), but he decided that it wasn't fast enough and soon was crying! He liked the few bites that he did get. I think that we will have to feed him a couple of ounces before we feed him the rice so he doesn't get so frustrated!

As for milestones that Garyn has met...he can roll over from back to front, roll over from front to back (although he doesn't do this very often and doesn't like it), he can hold his head up very well, and he is starting to try to sit up. Garyn love to laugh and coo all the time and he has recently has discovered the art of the raspberry! Sometimes he likes to suck on his thumb--sometimes both at once! He is sleeping in his big boy crib for part of the night and for naps, and he is starting to sleep better at night. He usually goes to bed between 10 and 11 and sleeps until about 3 am when he comes to bed with us and then sleeps until about 5:30 or 6 when he eats and goes back to sleep until 9 or so. Garyn still loves to snuggle. He would snuggle with me all day long if I would let him--which we do some days!

I have to say, not that I am biased or anything, he is so cute! I will post some pictures as soon as I download my camera!

Garyn's Noggin

Thank you for all of the phone calls and concern for my sweet little boy. He has not been sleeping all that well the past few nights, but he's a little trooper. He's pretty much back to normal, but he does have a lovely colorful scalp. Luckily, he has not gotten a black eye!

This was an absolutely terrifying experience, but I think that the outcome was the best it could possibly be. God was really watching over Garyn on Sunday.

The Broken Teapot

Just a quick update for those of you that don't know. When I was walking into church on Sunday, the heel of my shoe got caught in the cuff of my pants and I fell in the middle of the street while carrying my beautiful 4 month old son. He hit his head on the street--fortunately he didn't split his head open.

We went to the ER and had a CT scan and he has a pretty good size skull fracture. There was no damage or bruising to his brain. He has some swelling and bruising, which will probably spread and leave him with a shinner. We stayed in the hospital over night for observation and got home about 10:45 this morning. Aside from the swelling and bruising he is back to normal! God was definitley with us yesterday morning. Please pray that Garyn has a speedy recovery and that his pain is kept to a minimum!

You may be wondering about the title of the post...Garyn is really into the song "I'm a Little Teapot" lately and we told him yesterday that his teapot was broken. He briefly grinned and then started crying! Poor baby boy!

A new respect

I have a definite new respect for single moms or for women who's husbands travel a lot. Wes has been out of town since Thursday for a brother's weekend. He and his brothers went to New Mexico to hang out and play golf since they all live in different cities. I am very glad that they had the opportunity to do this and that Wes is getting some guy time.

It is a little tough not having a break, but it has been really amusing. On Thursday night, I was expecting battle royal when putting Ellie to bed because her daddy usually puts her to bed, but much to my surprise, she went to bed fairly easily. Before I went to bed, I was getting something out of the hall closet (right across the hall from Ellie's bedroom). It was about midnight, so I was trying to be very quiet, when I heard a little, "Mommy?!". When I went to check on Ellie, she was asleep, completely naked, and soaked--she had wet her bed. So, I get her out of her bed, found the one blankie on her bed that wasn't wet, got her diapered and dressed, and carried her to my bed. She stayed asleep the whole time...until I got her to my bed, then she stayed up for another 30 minutes or so.

The next day, we had a play date to go to the pool with our friends Bridget and Nyah. I decided that since we were going to the pool it would probably be a good idea to shave my legs! I was in the shower and a few minutes later Ellie came into the bathroom and started talking to me. I opened the shower door to see what she was talking about. She says, "EEEWWW! It's gross," and hands me her poopy diaper that she had removed herself. After I got out of the shower, I took her to her room to get her swim suit on, and discovered there were skid marks on the carpet! Fun!

We went to the pool and had a good time. I'll admit, I was a little nervous about leaving because I was afraid of a big, crying fit, but there was no fit. Ellie fell asleep in the car and luckily I took her out of her swim suit and swim diaper at the pool, so all I had to do was lay her down. OOOPPPPS! I forgot that her sheets and (waterproof) mattress pad are in the washer, so against my better judgement, I laid her down on the bare mattress with her blanket and pillow. About an hour later, I was awakened from my peaceful slumber with Garyn to Ellie screeching at her door, "I want to go potty!" which usually means that she's already dirty. When I went to get her, she was naked...again! I panicked at the thought of her mattress being wet, but to my amazement the only thing that was wet was her blanket!

Needless to say it's been a laugh a minute at my house--more than usual. Do you think that children can smell fear?!

On a different note, happy birthday, Mom! My mom is in Colorado with a bunch of friends on her birthday. I love my mom dearly and she is a great friend to me and a great grandmother to my kids. We love you, Gigi and hope that you have a great birthday!

Ellie's Birthday and More

I know that I haven't posted in a while but hopefully this one will make up for lost time!

Garyn is getting so big! I had to take him to the doctor right after he turned 3 months (on the 12th) because he had an ear infection--sad, I know--and he weighed 14.6 lbs. He gained a full pound from his 2 month visit. He smiles all the time now. We are over colic and the only time that he fusses is when he is tired, gassy, or hungry--just like any man. He is rolling from his back to his tummy. He will roll all over the floor or his bed. He can hold his head up pretty well, but the newest and cutest thing that he has started is laughing. The video below is of Garyn laughing and playing Pat-a-cake with daddy.



The next video is something that Ellie has never done before. We had been running errands earlier that day and came home around lunch time. She wasn't acting tired or sleepy, but soon after she ate her SpagettiO's she fell asleep in her chair. So like an obnoxious mom, I video taped it!



Ellie turned 2 on the 18th. I can't believe that she's 2 already! We had a family party for her on the 19th. At her 2 year well child check-up she weighed 27 lbs and was 36 inches tall, so we will probably have a tall drink of water on our hands. My mother-in-law, Susan, and I made Ellie a pillowcase dress for her to wear for her party. She looked absolutely precious in it. Some of the fun things that she got for her birthday: books, clothes, puzzles, baby dolls, a swing set from her grandparents and a tricycle from mommy and daddy. I think that her reaction to her dress up stuff was so funny...when I clipped on the earrings and put her necklace on she kept turning her head and looked like she was a movie star. She is so funny!

I hope that you enjoy all of the pictures and videos, and hopefully I won't be such a stranger!

Taken for Granted

On July 5th, I was casually clicking away, looking at my friends blogs when I discovered a link to another blog. I always think that it is very interesting to see what other people are interested in. I clicked on a link to the blog entitled "Bring the Rain". Little did I know that this blog would change my outlook on life and motherhood completely. I can only say that this must have been an attitude adjustment from God, but in a very kind, humbling, eye-opening way.

The blog is written by a woman named Angie Smith. She started the blog when she found out mid-way through her 3rd pregnancy that her baby had some problems and would not live. She describes her journey through a difficult pregnancy and her journey with God. The attitude that she has through her pregnancy, knowing that God could heal her little girl and chose not to, is absolutely amazing! Does she ask God for the cup to pass? Of course! Jesus Himself asked for the cup to pass. But what is truly inspiring to me is that more than she wanted the cup to pass and her sweet baby girl to be healed, she wanted God's will to be done and she was at peace with His decision not to heal her daughter.

I wept over her beautiful descriptions of her journey--the memories that she made, the anger that she felt, the consuming sorrow, and the perfect 2 1/2 hours that she got to spend with her daughter. I suddenly felt ashamed of all of the times that I have taken my children for granted. Of course I thank God every day for my beautiful family, but there are sometimes that I don't want to change diapers or wash a million bottles and sippy cups. There are times that I wish my baby wouldn't cry the minute that I put him down. There are times that I wish my daughter didn't strip down in the middle of the night and wet the bed. But I bet Angie Smith would give anything to have these experiences with her daughter.

So here's what I've decided...after all the trouble that we had getting pregnant with Ellie, God blessed me again with a beautiful baby, and instead of getting angry or feeling sorry for myself because I'm tired or I just want a minute to myself, I am going to try (the operative word is TRY) to cherish every minute that I have with my children and husband. I know that they are really just on loan to me and that God can choose to take them back 15 minutes from now. Everything is a memory and I can make it a good one or a bad one simply by my attitude and reaction to it. So I might have to change the sheets on my daughter's bed at midnight--at least it is a few more minutes that I get to spend with her and tell her that I love her. So I might have to hold my baby a little longer--before long he will not need me so much, and then I'll wish I would have held him more. For Angie's sake, I am going to enjoy the experiences that she never got to experience with her sweet Audrey Caroline.

Interestingly, Angie and I were originally scheduled for our c-sections the same day at the same time. I highly recommend reading Angie's blog--it's truly inspiring. Her blogspot is http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com