sweet little thumb-sucker

I can't believe I just uploaded all these pictures. Andrew is a thumb-sucker - just like his big sister. He started sucking it consistently (I think) on the day he turned 3 months old. He is not great at getting his thumb into his mouth unless he is laying down. That thumb is a miracle worker - he will take such long naps (after an hour to an hour and a half of wake time) that I have to wake him to eat and he sleeps until 8 am with the thumb.

In the pic you can see he is sucking his left thumb - he does suck both but mostly prefers his left. Caleigh has always chosen her right and it seems that she is right-handed now (always sucking that thumb, writing with that hand, eating with that hand). So we wonder if Andrew might be a leftie - Adam says that is good if he wants to get a baseball scholarship. Who knows. But each of us have a parent that is left handed which means we had a 25% chance of having a left handed child. Maybe Andrew is our 25% chance.

caleigh is 22 months!

Caleigh is 22 months and it feels like we have a 2 year old on our hands. She is very independent and always knows exactly what she wants, though she doesn't have the words to say it yet. Some thing about our sweet little girl:

• -She is a climber! As in this shot below I have found her perched on the coffee table, on the kitchen table, on the potty (with the lid closed pulling items off of the sink), on our bed, and on the rocking ottoman. Usually when I discover her in one of these places she will either say, "I did it!" because she is so proud of herself or she will be eerily quiet (when you know something is wrong) - and upon being discovered (for example, on top of the potty opening toothpaste all over her hands) she will say "uh-oh." She has also been trying to climb out of her crib lately - putting her feet on the flat side of the rails and walking them up. It might be time for a 'big girl bed' soon.

• -She is very into mimicking whatever you do. For example, when she sees me nursing Andrew she will go and get her baby and lift up her shirt and try to nurse the baby doll. A funny story about mimicking - my pump was set up on the kitchen table with the bottles and everything attached and ready to go - I walk out of the room for a little bit and when I come back in Caleigh is sitting at the kitchen table in a chair with the pump on and the shields/bottles held up under her shirt. Upon me discovering her she said, "I did it!" She was very proud of herself - it was hilarious.
• -She is very concerned about what she is wearing and others are wearing. She loves to say, "Dada wear dat?" and point to various things. She is pretty adamant about what shoes we where too. She seems like a 2 year old in the battle of clothing - sometimes we will get out clothes and start to put them on and she will dissolve in tears because she doesn't want to wear that.
• -She is scared of ant/bugs. This is her 2nd fear - the first one being the 7 foot cow at Chick-Fil-A. The other day we were reading a book and it had a line of ants in them and she freaked out and started saying "no, no, no" and waving her hands about because she thought the line of ants was marching right onto her lap. This also means
• -She always recognizes when something is out of place and then will say "uh-oh" because she doesn't know how to verbalize what is wrong yet. Example 1: When my hair falls in my face Caleigh will say uh-oh and come push it out of my eyes. Example 2: The other day she picked up a cup that was on the end table in the family room and it was full of water - the water spilled all over the chair and the floor and then table and she came to us when the empty cup saying "uh-oh" and then proceeding to go into a long sentence that we can't understand. We thought she was just showing us a cup... and then we discovered the flood...
• -She loves 'crib-time.' We haven't graduated to room-time yet because she loves crib time so much. When we are home in the mornings she will play in her crib for about 45 minutes at a time. She actually gets excited when you say, "Are you ready to go play in your crib?" She will then go and place several toys in there that she wants to play with.
• -She has such a rapidly expanding vocabulary - she knows all the body parts and my favorite is when you say, "Caleigh, where is your elbow?" sometimes she will get confused and point to her hair and we will say, "Nope, that's your hair-bow" I can see how that could be confusing. She picks up new words every day and has recently started singing songs. Her favorites are Twinkle, Twinkle, Jesus loves me, and Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, well - Patty Cake too but that's not really a song. She really has the melody down.

At 22 months she is waking up at 7:30 - she then takes one nap from 1-3:30 or 4 and then she goes to bed for the night at 7 (though you can often hear her talking in there until 7:30 or 7:45 depending on how tired she is). Some of her favorite foods are cherry tomatoes (she loves picking them at Gigi and Pop-pops and eating them straight off the vine), Oreo cookies (she has a particular method for eating these and it is the same every time: take a small bite, twist open cookie, eat side with no icing, lick icing off other side, eat side with icing), pancakes, steak, and recently, eggs. We are thankful because it seems she really does love her brother. The other day for no reason at all she walked over to him and started rubbing his head and talking to him, then she just bent down and gave him a kiss - totally unprompted. We pray that this might be the beginning of a great friendship for them.

welcome foard!

I haven't blogged is a while! Sorry about that - we are in the midst of a hard and busy season. But something very exciting happened on Friday, September 18th that is very blogworthy. Jake, Melissa, and Sam Hunt welcomed Malachi Foard Hunt into the world.

He was a big boy! 10 lb 5 oz - Melissa, you are amazing. Here is a sweet pic of me, Melissa, and Carrie (holding Foard). Doesn't Foard look almost as big as Andrew? Not really... but we are hoping they will be sweet friends. Congrats y'all!

labor day weekend

On Friday morning I let Caleigh loose with paint and a paintbrush.

She decided she liked the way the paint looked on her arms and in her hair and in her mouth.  It was a surprise to see her get 'dirty' for a change.

On Saturday Caleigh got her first pedicure (from me).  She keeps looking at her feet and saying 'pretty.'  On Saturday morning Adam had to meet his study group from school at 10 and so Caleigh and I went down to Matthews and met my parents at the Matthews Alive parade.  The parade was from 10-11 and it was so fun!  It is very interactive and great for all ages.   Caleigh looked like a gypsie as she collected all of the free things that were handed out at the parade. Gigi got some sweet time with little A at the parade too.  After the parade was over we walked around the festival - the lines for the rides were too long (there were thousands of people there!) but we did eat some awesome fair food for lunch.  I had a corndog which was so good (I brought Caleigh's lunch) and then we had shaved ice - Caleigh had grape flavor and LOVED it.  We loved the Labor Day festivities on Saturday and hope to make it a yearly tradition.  When we got home we discovered Caleigh's sunglasses and those along with her necklace make for quite an interesting picture...

Happy Labor Day!

last week...

I went back to work the Monday after vacation - on August 31st.  Andrew was 11 weeks old.  I was nervous to go back but it has been a really smooth transition.  The kids have done great without me home and it has been good to get back in the swing of things at work.  I really do enjoy working part-time.  My work schedule and my job are such blessings - I really appreciate Adam, and Gigi and PopPop, and Gammy and Grandpa's help on the days that I work!  Working some makes me so thankful for the days I am home with my sweet kiddos.

Awkward picture - she was about to fall down but somehow she steadied herself and Adam caught the image on film. Beautiful baby boy... The best I can get so far with both of them - the definitely look related - Andrew is looking more and more like Caleigh...

vacation!

The last week in August we headed down to Lake Keowee in South Carolina (near Clemson) where my parents rented a house for the week.  The house was on the lake and had a dock with a jetski, a kayack, and a canoe that we could use.  Even with 2 kids it really was a relaxing vacation - Andrew helped us out by sleeping through the night the first night of vacation (and everyday since then).  Adam and Caleigh posed on the jet ski...  Funny story - we could not figure out how to get it started because there was no keyhole - we spent a whole day looking for a keyhole but it is actually too old to have one - you don't even need a key!  We took a family ride with Caleigh around the cove - she was a big fan!

We played golf on Monday which was really fun (I miss it!) and then on Tuesday and Wednesday we rented a pontoon boat.  This is how Andrew enjoyed the boat...We found a fun beach area and docked there for swimming and playing in the sand.  The first time we found it on Tuesday night Caleigh and Karen weren't wearing swimsuits - oh well... And we forgot the sand toys... And we forgot a swim diaper (nice bum)... But she enjoyed it nonetheless... Caleigh took a turn driving the boat with Uncle David. And posed on the boat one last time... We explored the lake on the boat and had a great time tubing and sunning and cliff jumping (one of my favorite things!).  On Thursday and Friday we relaxed - played at the pool, walked the dogs and watched them swim, worked on puzzles, played Super Nintendo, played games, ate ALOT, and generally enjoyed each others company.  On Friday we went into "town" to go out to dinner at The Steakhouse Cafeteria.  Surprisingly it does not actually serve steak - the choices were fried chicken, flounder, or liver and onions.  It was such a downhome place but the food was really good.  Caleigh took a ride on PopPop's shoulders after dinner. And we found Pop Pop's kitchen - at our Pop Pop's kitchen you can find excellent omelets, grilled cheese, homemade bread, salads, and grilled chicken or steak... not sure about this Pop Pop's grill. And a family picture - some random girl took it on the fly, only took one picture, and it turned out awesome.  

Thanks for such a fun and relaxing vacation Gigi and PopPop!

bailey likes bubbles too -

A funny video we took at the lake...

busy weekend before vacation

The weekend before vacation (8/14, 8/15, 8/16) was SO busy for us!  On Friday night we celebrated Mary's 30th birthday party - 

Do we look hot?  Not looks hot, but temperature hot?  Because we were - blazing hot - it must have been 105 plus humidity there... Happy 30th to my sweet friend!  On Saturday morning we had a women's thankful brunch at church and it was awesome to hear about how God has worked in the difficult circumstances of several women.  On Saturday afternoon a crazy lady (my other sweet friend Carrie) was so gracious to open up her home and host a shower for another one of my good friends, Melissa.  Melissa is (hopefully) leaving for Prague soon to be a missionary and is due in September with her second baby (and they don't know if it's a boy or a girl!!! so brave...).  We celebrated in very European style with a tea party and Carrie was the hostest with the mostest...There's Melissa...  Cherith and I in a totally un-posed shot... Congrats Jake and Melissa and Sam - we can't wait to meet your new little one soon!

Then on Saturday night we had supper club and Lauren Reddick hosted.  Everything was set up beautifully and several of us said that we felt like we were at a wedding reception or something because we ate on a long table on her front porch.  It felt very elegant and southern and casual at the same time.  Here are the guys hanging out in their front yard...Beautiful setup -  A couple of the girls: Evyn, me, Mary, and Carrie - we missed Cherith and Lauren in the picture... All of the guys - Rob, Jordan, Tyler, Drew, Dave, and Adam What a fun weekend of fellowship - we are very blessed.

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!