the week before vacation

We took some pics of the kids on Saturday morning - this was the best we could get...  Caleigh was too interested in Andrew to look at the camera.

The other day Caleigh started bringing me all the bows she could find and saying "wanna wear dis" which means, "I want to wear this."  So I put in all the bows.  This picture makes me laugh out loud every time I look at it.  She is holding diapers which must be somewhat heavy to her (but you can't see them in the picture) and so she looks like she is slumped over in a classic first day of school pose or something like that.  I can just see her saying, "But mom..."

And from the looks of this bath picture we are getting to the age of the posed 'smile.'  So much less cute than a real smile but it will do...

Who knew those bath letters stick to people too?

milestones

I am updating the blog from vacation at Lake Keowee in South Carolina with some exciting milestones that little A has achieved.   On Thursday before we left (8/20) Andrew rolled over from front to back! He did it twice that day at separate times and has rolled over several times since then. Yay little A - he is much earlier at 9 weeks and 4 days than Caleigh was at 15 weeks when she rolled over. Also he is sleeping through the night! Before we left we were trying to let him cry it out at night which was not going so well - he was up so much just fussing and naturally I thought that when we left for vacation he was going to do horrible with sleeping (new place, not his bed, etc.) but he has done great! On Saturday night (8/22) he went to bed at 8 pm, I woke him up at 10 pm for a dreamfeed, and then I put him right back to sleep and he didn't wake up again until 7:15 am!  Since then he has not looked back from sleeping through the night - he had a couple of earlier mornings - one at 6:15 and one at 6:25 but otherwise he is waking at 7 on the dot.  Here's to hoping this sleeping trend continues.  I forgot how much I love sleeping.  So happy vacation to us!

no is her favorite word

Adam captured this funny clip the other day when he turned on the camera to snap a quick picture of Caleigh and didn't realize it was on video mode.  Caleigh did not want to be filmed (she is in an anti-camera phase right now) and told Adam all about it.  No really is the word that she says the most, all the time...

little A is 2 months

On Friday Andrew turned 2 months old!  In some ways I can't believe he has only been with us for two months - he seems like he has always been a part of our family.  And in other ways it has been a hard two months!  People have asked often what was the hardest transition - 0 to 1 or 1 to 2 kids.  When someone asked us a couple of days ago Adam adamantly answered 1 to 2 and I answered 0 to 1.  It has been hard in different ways. 

0 to 1 was really emotionally difficult whereas 1 to 2 has been physically exhausting (one always needs something - especially with both so young) and Caleigh has had a difficult time adjusting and has been extra whiny and needy.  She is getting a little better with that but it is still just a hard age.  Our little A is just as sweet as can be - his medical issues have been fine this month (although he is so sensitive to what I eat... Chinese is not his friend) and we are enjoying him being more and more awake.

Andrew has this curious birthmark on the back of his head (and a big red one on his neck too)... there is some debate as to what it looks like so I will leave that up to debate.  Hopefully it will fade in time but his hair looks to be very white-blond so it may still be visible.

As far as differences between our kids - Andrew seems to be incredible social - more social than Caleigh was at this age.  He is extremely interested in people and voices (like all babies) and upon hearing voices he quickly starts cooing and gooing right back.  Going along with that he has a harder time going down for naps and to sleep at night because he much prefers to be in our company than to be in his lonely boring crib in a dark room.  Caleigh always preferred her crib to being held or rocked to sleep but Andrew would prefer to be held all day long.  Also Andrew is always starving!  I think this might be a boy but it seems he needs to eat all the time (and I know he is getting plenty of milk) - he can't make it more than 2.5 hours during the day.  Thankfully he is finally only waking up once at night to eat; I feed him at 10, he goes right to sleep, and then he will usually wake up once between 4 and 6 am to eat.  It is so exhausting to have not had a full night of sleep in 9 weeks and we are looking forward to the day he will sleep through the night.  Caleigh was sleeping through the night at 6.5 weeks so we were spoiled in that department.  One of the other differences we notice (which might also be a boy versus a girl) is that Andrew is so strong!  It took Caleigh until 4 months to be able to hold her head up the way Andrew is in these pictures - he even seems like he may roll over any day now. Andrew's 2 month stats: 

• weight: 12 lb. 1 oz. (61st%)
• length: 23 in. (55th%)
• head circumference: 15.5 in. (37th%)

He is definitely a growing boy (up to closer to the 55-60th percentiles from the 30-40th percentiles) and brings us so much joy!  Also just to document we (I) have a little lullaby I like to sing him: Sweetest baby Andrew has eyes as blue as sky, sweetest baby Andrew likes to cry and cry, sweetest baby Andrew has a button toes, sweetest baby Andrew has his daddy's toes, sweetest baby Andrew is mama's only son, with sweetest baby Andrew the fun has just begun, sweetest baby Andrew is our little boy, sweetest baby Andrew is sister's favorite toy... the verses get more and more random from here but you get the idea.

pics of the week

my two handsome men - 

and one sweet nosy little goose - 

a little sassafrass

Already obsessed with shoes - that must be an inheritable quality.

little picassos

Last Thursday Carrie had us over to paint their new sandbox.  We stripped down the kiddos and let them loose to work their magic.

Caleigh was hard at work with the green paint - until she got too curious, touched her paintbrush, and then freaked out because her hands were dirty.  That's our little priss. Maggie did a fabulous job with the red. Sam showed us how boys paint - look at that yellow masterpiece. (and Will - in the background - showed us his fabulous new walking skills) Ta-da... the finished product.  The kids did a great job and the sandbox looks awesome and very kid friendly.  Thanks Dirks for a fun morning!

pool time with pop-pop and gigi

Another Friday morning adventure with the grandparents...

pure bliss

Caleigh reading at 20 months

Caleigh is 20 months old and her language is developing so rapidly.  My favorite thing she has been saying lately is "wanna read this?" - she says it over and over and it sounds more like "wanna-re-dis, wanna-re-dis, wanna-re-dis."  She will bring us books all the time asking us - "wanna-re-dis." Her favorite word continues to be "no" and she continues to talk to us all the time as if we know exactly what she is saying.  We don't often know what Caleigh is saying but find ourselves making up what she might be saying and repeating it back to her - if we don't, she will keep saying the same sentence over and over.  She must think that we don't hear her unless we repeat something back.  Here is a video of Caleigh reading on a Saturday morning - 

We have tried to get a video of Caleigh's 'tricks' - all she can say and do - but she is very camera-shy - as soon as we get out the camera she won't perform.  Looks like we have an introvert on our hands.

awesome kabobs

We had these bad boys for dinner last night.  Of course Caleigh would only eat the rice but Adam and I ate at least 3 kabobs each.  Adam did a great job grilling them and though the prep took a while (but was done during naptime) there was basically no cooking by me between 5 and 6 which is a rarity.  These are officially my new favorite dinner.

summer Sunday picnics in the park

Several Sunday nights this summer we have had picnics at Freedom Park with friends.  It has been a blast enjoying each others company, each others kids, and especially cupcakes...

Maggie - 

Henry wishing he could eat Maggie's cupcake -  Sam -  And our sweet Caleigh Grace - 

becoming a demon deacon...

I meant to post this so long ago... but I present to you the soon to be demon deacon in our family... We found out on June 26th (also our 5 year anniversary) that Adam got accepted to Wake Forest's MBA program.  He will start the last week in August and will attend classes 2 nights a week from 6-9:30.  He will be going to class at the Charlotte campus of the MBA program so he won't have to travel very much at all!  His classes will run for 2 years and he will finish in the summer of 2011.

We are so proud of our husband and daddy for this great achievement and we covet your prayers as this will make for a very busy 2 years for us!  Congrats babe!

my unbelief

This is something that I read the other night in my Daily Light that really spoke to me (from July 25th evening): 

• He did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God (Rom 4:20).  Have faith in God... if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.  Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours (Mk 11: 22, 23-24).  And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him (Heb. 11:6).  He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned."  Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead (Heb 11:17-19).  Being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised (Rom 4:21).  Is anything too hard for the Lord (Gen 18:14)?  With God all things are possible (Mt 19:26).  Lord, increase our faith (Lk 17:15)!

God really spoke to me through this in the midst of the financial hardships we have been going through (with Adam's commission only job not bringing in much revenue).  I was convicted that when I was praying for God to provide for us that in my heart I wasn't truly believing that He was going to do it - I was so jaded from all the months (over a year) of praying about this situation.  As I look back I can see that God was providing for us all along - but not to the standard that I felt was acceptable.  In the midst of this, I am learning to let go of my idea of how my prayers should be answered because I know that God is the perfect Father - "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" (Mt 7:11)  I know that "He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?"(Rom 8:32)  And so I cry out with the father of the convulsing son in Mk 9:24 - "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"  

6 weeks...

So to continue our adventuresome story with this sweet little guy - last Saturday when I started nursing him again he started to develop this rash on his face.  You might be able to make it out in this picture.  The rash was like lots of teeny tiny bumps and very rough and red - it covered his face even spreading to his eyelids and ears.  I called the doctor on Monday to get some recommendations and the doctor said she was pretty sure that it was eczema - which would make sense because eczema often goes along with allergies.  She prescribed us a mild steroid cream to use.  I was so thankful to hear that it was eczema and not hives or something - I was also so thankful to hear that I could keep nursing him... I don't think I could have done another week of pumping and feeding bottles.

By the mid to end of the week his rash had cleared up and I actually got some good pictures of sweet little A's smile. So content... Also this past week Andrew has started waking up only once at night.  Yay! (but why do I still feel so tired?!?)  I will feed him at 10 pm and then it usually takes him until 11 to fall asleep - he will lay in his crib and grunt or coo until then.  He then wakes up around 4 to eat and again takes usually until 4:45 or 5 to fall asleep after he eats.  Then I will wake him to start our day at 7.  He really is such a sweet and adorable and strong little guy.  His neck is so strong - he can already push his head all the way off the ground to look straight ahead and turn his head side to side while doing that - he seems so much stronger then I remember Caleigh being at this age.  Despite the hard weeks with our sweet little A, we love him SO much, feel totally bonded to him, and love being a (busy) family of 4.  

Andrew is one month old!

So this past week has been really crazy.  Everything started on Sunday (July 12th) with Andrew being really fussy.  All of a sudden on Sunday he got really fussy, was pulling up his legs to his stomach all the time, and he was never awake and happy - if he was awake he would be screaming.  Sunday night was awful with me only getting maybe 2 hours of sleep because as soon as we would get him to sleep and lay him down he would start screaming 5 minutes later for the whole night.  So Monday morning I took his temperature because I didn't know what else to do - it was 100.5 rectal which is borderline.  I called the doctor on Monday around lunch because I didn't know what else to do - it was such a change from how he normally is. The pediatrician wanted me to bring him in mostly just because of the dramatic change in his disposition.  When we got there he was 9 lb 5 oz, so he was still gaining weight.  The doctor was GREAT and she examined him head to toe to try to find a cause for him being so fussy - she stained his eyes and looked at them with a fluorescent light to look for scratches, she checked out his ears, mouth, nose to look for infection, she felt his tummy, checked all his bones, even put in a catheter and took a urine sample (b/c of Caleigh's history of urinary reflux and kidney infections) which didn't look pleasant... but she couldn't find any cause for his fussiness.  One thing she did check also was to see if there was blood in his stool and there was - she checked it twice and both times it came back positive for blood.  So she said that by far, the most common cause of blood in the stool is a milk protein allergy.  So for me to continue nursing I am having to stop eating all dairy - all milk, yogurt, ice cream, cheese, sour cream, etc.  Cheese is my favorite food (pizza!) so I have been having a hard time accepting it but I am committed for now.  It can take 10 days for the milk proteins to get totally out of breastmilk so this entire last week I have been feeding him formula (and not the regular formula - we are having to use Nutramigen in which the proteins are broken down so small that his body doesn't recognize them - it is super expensive which is another reason I am going to keep nursing).  So for the entire week last week I was having to pump and dump and then give him a bottle.  I was pumping 8-9 times a day and giving him a bottle that many times which was very time consuming and difficult to do while taking care of him and Caleigh. On top of that he started waking up every 2.5 hours at night - so by the time I would wake up, pump, get him a bottle (Adam helped with that part), and then get him back to sleep I would only get 1 or 1.5 hours of sleep at a time.  I was totally exhausted and on top of that I was really wrestling spiritually - feeling like everything I enjoy was being taken away  - my happy content baby, our finances, all the food that I like to eat.  I really felt the Lord speaking to me in that though - especially through Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.  I realized that God is removing or allowing everything to be removed that I am delighting in besides Him.  So it has been a hard week.

One exciting thing happened at the end of the week (definitely a gift from God in the midst of this hard time) - Andrew smiled for the first time on Saturday (July 18th - the day before he turned 5 weeks old).  It was a real smile too - not the ones they do when they are falling asleep and dreaming (which I love).  We tried to get some pictures of it but this was the best we could do.

Andrew's one month stats -Weight: 9 lb 6 oz (39th%) - he was previously in the 69th% so his weight has taken a pretty big hit with all of this allergy stuff, Height: 21 and 1/4 inches (40th%) , Head circumference: 14 and 1/4 inches (14th%).  I started nursing him again once on Friday and full time on Saturday and so far he has done pretty well with it.  So the plan is for now I am avoiding all dairy until he is at least 6 months old and hopefully he will do well with that so that I can continue nursing.  At 6 months I can start to add tiny amounts back and see how he reacts.  Most kids outgrow milk protein allergies by the time they are 9-12 months old so we are praying that he outgrows his.  We would love your prayers for him and for us as we try to love him well in this midst of this chaotic time.

crazy week...

This week has been so hectic - a lot of things going on with Andrew that are hard, but I will post more about that in his one month update.  We pulled these blocks out of the toy box this week, we hadn't had them out in several months.  It was neat to see Caleigh play with them in the way they are meant to be played with - she started building towers all by herself.  

And a picture of the little guy who has been making our (my) life crazy this past week...  For now we are just barely surviving.

cow day 2009

On Friday July 10th (I am so behind in blogging!) we dressed up like cows and headed to Chick-Fil-A for free food.  We had a fun night there and are excited to make it a yearly tradition.

We love it that Daddy participated too and wore his spots! We were the parents with "that child" that was TERRIFIED by the cow.  When we first met the cow we were standing in line to order and I was holding Caleigh and the cow was bent down with his back to us.  All of a sudden he stood up and turned around (it is a tall cow - at least 6 or 7 feet tall) and Caleigh let out this shrill scream of complete terror.  We couldn't help but to laugh hysterically - her irrational (probably rational to her) fear was hilarious to us.  After that she cried in the line and at the table as she worried that the cow would come back.  Thankfully, ice cream solves all wounds and appeases all fears...

We had a great time and can't wait for next year - funny to think that Andrew will be one by then and will be partaking in the free food!

more cow pics

Oops - Gigi, Poppop, and Aunt Karen joined us as well...