Make a pretty picture!!

Isn't this cool???? Looke closely and we're even all using our right hand to hold our left hand up, even though Cole & I are right-handed and Shelby is left-handed. Brilliant genetics! :) haha And don't anyone tell me that my kids look NOTHING like me. Let me photoshop some blue eyes onto me and we might have some matches. woohoo.

No surgery tomorrow!!!

Coleman was scheduled to have surgery tomorrow to correct his hydrocele, but since he was sick and on prednisone last week, they have suggested that we wait at least a few weeks to make sure his lungs are in perfect condition before he goes under general anesthesia. On top of that, we found out that the surgery is going to cost a lot more than we thought. Like, over $1000. It's fine but not what we were told at first, and not what we had planned on. Well for one, we had the surgery scheduled before the end of the year so we had already paid about $400 of our $1000 out of pocket max (from his birth this year) Since we are having to reschedule the surgery, the out of pocket max will start over in January. So I started doing some research on the internet. All the hospital people and nurses I talk to about this keep calling it an "elective procedure" so I was curious... Well I find several things. First of all, they usually give it until the child is at least a year to close up on its own. Some things I found even say that it can spontaneously correct itself until they're 18 months. So, if we waited until he was 18 months before having the surgery, it could correct itself and not even be necessary! Other sites said that the surgery is usually done after a child turns 2, again, to give it a chance to close on its own. So why would we rush into this surgery before he's even a year if we don't have to? I read that it's not a dangerous condition, and it's not painful to him. So anyway, we're leaning towards putting the surgery off until September. That will allow it ample time to close on its own and we won't feel like we're rushing into something unnecessarily, and it will also allow us to take the $1000 out of my flex spending plan (which starts over in September) and at least have a little tax savings. I'm going to talk to the surgeon and his doctor to make sure I am finding the correct information of course, but from things everyone has said and things I have read it seems that this surgery is certainly not something that should be done asap.

On a completely different note, we opened a bottle of wine I bought from the Girls Gone Wine winery in Broken Bow, OK and it SUCKS. I spent $24 on this stupid bottle of wine and it tastes like it is carbonated! It even leaves little bubbles on the glass. Gross!!! I got taken by the hick Oklahoma wine ladies. Ugh. Note to self: Never again buy overpriced wine with homemade labels from "wineries" in Oklahoma. Duh.

Santa pic

We made it to see Santa this year!!! And amazingly, neither child cried. They were a little starstruck (haha) but no tears!!!

Our Christmas vacation

We're back from our family cabin vacation and our trip to see the family in Arkansas. The past days since last Wednesday have been everything. Exhausting is the first that comes to mind, but also delightful, inspiring, trying, awe-inspiring, filled with laughter (and tears), love and FAMILY time to the max. The kids and Jeff and I have all been together pretty much nonstop since Friday (9 days ago) at 3pm. Good thing we really love each other!!! Coleman came down with a cold, which moved down into his chest so the 2nd doctor visit in 3 days resulted in rx for antibiotics for an ear infection, steroids for the chest/breathing problems, and breathing treatments every 4 hours around the clock. He was not diagnosed with asthma (yet) but man was he wheezing so bad last Monday!!! I am pretty proud and amazed at how well he nursed back to health. We were afraid we were going to have to cancel our trip to Broken Bow (beavers bend state park) Oklahoma when his cold turned worse. But, 2 days of prednisone and breathing treatments made us believe he would only get better so we set out. The cabin was amazing. We went with my long-time best friend, Kelly, and her family (Chris, 4 yr old Reagan, and 1 yr old Rylee) We had the greatest time and learned that it is smart to never travel with your kids with anyone who doesn't have kids, because our kids took turns making sure none of us felt bad that ours were the ones acting up. :) It was great. We took a couple of great hikes down into the state park alongside a river, and even though the leaves were gone and the weather was dreary, it was beautiful. The weather was actually about as perfect as it could be for mid-december. Mid-50's to low-60's and I even worked up a sweat on our walks. I think we got some good pictures, and I plan on sorting through them and posting a few after this. At the cabin we also enjoyed a 2-hour game of cackling laughter-inducing hide and seek, a great outdoor fire complete with marshmallow and weenie roasts, and a late-night hot tub on the porch under the stars. You can see the stars out there! :)
When we left the cabin we headed another 4 hours north to NW Arkansas to see my family. We got to spend lots of down time at Mimi's house and almost a full day at my aunt Jan's house with enough people to warm up her freezing cold house (these people have the ac running when it's sleeting outside!) :) We love seeing everyone and this year Shelby and McKenzie got to play together. It's great when they get old enough to do that. McKenzie is about to turn 2. We enjoyed an interesting game of white elephant, where we all wrapped up something from home that we didn't want or need anymore. The funniest gift was a KML monogrammed golf shoe bag that was meant for one of my cousin's groomsmen (who got married 2 years ago), and a couple of hideous hand-made mini pillow cases in a forest camo print; there was also an old army blanket that my grandma submitted, and an 1836 penny from Papa G, which was the year Arkansas joined the Union. My dad ended up with that one!!!
Amidst all that was going on, Coleman caused us to have some LOOooooooong nights. Well maybe not so much "us" as "me." Although Jeff might not agree, I believe I bore the brunt of his nighttime fits. He kept waking up in raging fits, and screams like we've never heard before, and even after trying to rock and calm him, the ONLY thing that would stop the screams was letting him nurse. Since we were sharing a cabin with another family, and then a house with 12 other people, I had to give in and just pop it out to keep him quiet, even though I knew I was creating a horrid habit. I do not want to be a night pacifier to my 1 year old. :) So for 5 nights, as Cole slept by my side, I had to pop the boob out at least 4 times a night. I am a stubborn person and I never would have given into that had he not been keeping other people awake. So tonight is our first night at home and we already decided to nip that in the bud. I know a mom whose son is SHELBY's age and she proudly admits that her son sleeps by her in the guest bedroom every night, sucking on her boob throughout the night. "I'm basically just a pacifier," she has said to me. That will NOT be me. Anyway, as I started typing this post, Cole had just been put into his bed and was of course standing in his crib screaming. Jeff went in there once to put some music on, but he has already stopped crying (quite some time ago, this is a long post!) I don't know how the rest of the night will be, but I know he will be fine even if we let him cry a little bit. :)
I could have written things in here a dozen times or more from cute or funny things that have happened over the past week. Shelby is quite the entertainer when she wants to be, and can make her daddy and I secretly crack up listening to her babble on in the car.
Coleman took his first 2 steps on Friday night!!! It was in Mimi's bedroom! He will be running around here before he goes back to school on Jan 2nd I bet!
Jeff has to go back to work tomorrow, but then is off Tuesday (Christmas), Friday, Sunday, and Tuesday (New Years day). I go back to work a week from Wednesday so I still have some good time off left. I'm so glad we uncharacteristically planned ahead and had Jeff take this time off of work, and enjoyed a long span of family time, travel, and relaxing fun. Christmas is in 2 days and it will be so much fun!
I could go on and on but I'll save some stories for another time. My kiddos are asleep and I plan on cleaning out some toys tonight to make room for the new Christmas stuff, and unpacking tonight. The job never ends!!!
Merry Christmas to everyone!!!

Another Christmas design

I love this one!

The imagination of a 2 yr old

Jeff saw Shelby in the living room with her Elmo doll laying on the dog pillow, and she had him all covered up with a blanket. Jeff asked her what Elmo was doing, and she responded, "Elmo's mad because he's lost in china, the ants is gettin him and he doesn't have any mothers to help him." Ummm, ok....
Haha. Yesterday when I picked her up at school she had 6 identical bears all lying on top of 6 pillows which were all lined up in a row, and they each had blankets neatly tucked around them. She had to pick them up before we left, so she had to take each blanket and roll it up in her particular way, it took forever!
She makes me laugh.

Things to remember.

A couple other things I want to get down (to document.) Coleman started pointing on Dec. 1st. He was mimicking sissy, as they were sitting side-by-side in the stroller at the FW Botanic gardens. I looked over and she was pointing at a waterfall, and he put his hand up and pointed at it too, and they were both looking at it. So cute! Since then, he's pointing at all kinds of things all the time. He points at people and dogs (as he says "Daw") and sometimes he just points at nothing. We've still got a couple of years before I have to teach him that it's rude to point.

A couple of nights ago the kids had their first night of roughhousing. Shelby was literally rolling Coleman tummy-to-back completely across the length of the living room, and she was being pretty rough, and he was just cracking up. He was pulling her hair and tackling her and she was laughing too. They were having such a grand ol time and I felt so OLD when I kept thinking, "It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt." So THAT'S what they meant when they said that! Fortunately, it was just all fun and games that night. I'm sure we'll have plenty of bumps and bruises that these 2 inflict on each other in coming months/years.

One more thing: The other day I asked Shelby what she wanted to be when she grew up (the first time she's been asked this) and her answer was "a doctor." So let it be documented for when she becomes a world renowned brain surgeon that the dreams started when she was a mere 2 years old. :) hahaha

I got DUH'ed

I've already told a few people this story but she did it again! She "duh"ed me.
I can't even remember right now what she was doing, but we were in the car and she was doing or saying something that I was telling her not to do, and she said, "Fine Mom, I'm fine. DUH." And she says "DUH" in this lower tone and draws it out like "DUUuuuuuh." I couldn't help it- I laughed at her and then she said it all night, knowing that I thought it was funny.
I shouldn't have laughed at her, duh!

Christmas Designs!!

I've been busy making Christmas cards for people, just because I like to! I love it when they love them :) Here are a few:

Coleman

* He loves hanging upside down and loves to climb and swing.
* When he's concentrating on something he breathes really hard through his mouth.
* He loves cuddles and kisses from mommy.
* He sleeps in his crib on his tummy, and he tucks his little fists under his hips so his little booty sticks up in the air.
* He likes MaMaMa to put him to sleep at night, but when he wakes up he cries for DaDaDaDa.
* One of his favorite places to play is in Sissy's room.
* He prefers no shoes but will leave them on if they're not tight.
* He smiles and waves a million times a day and is so happy.
* He loves pineapples and any kind of meat.
* He's not a big Baby Einstein watcher like Shelby was. He prefers to roll around on the floor with mommy, or be off somewhere exploring.
* He loves his Fisher Price musical chair, and the little piano we have. Aspiring musician???
* He can repeat so many sounds. "Naw Naw Naw" for Nonnie, and "TyTy" for Tyler and "Pop Pop Pop" for Poppie are ones he says.
* He says "Mmmmmo" when he wants more food, and "Nuh Nuh Nuh" (Nummies) when he wants to nurse.

That's my fault

Just now, I threw Shelby's dolly up by her when she was sitting down to watch a movie in my bed. She was not in the best mood, and took the doll and threw her off the bed, saying, "I don't WANT that baby!!" So I told her that she was not going to get to do nice things like watch movies if she was going to be a gripey little girl. She said what she often says, which is, "Leave me alone mommy!" I told her that she does not tell me to leave her alone, I'm her mommy, etc, etc. She said, "Fine! I'm FINE! That's my fault." She's been saying that a lot lately. Where did she learn that and how do you respond to that?!?! haha

Fashionista

I was jokingly walking around in little short shorts, a tshirt, and my black tall ugg-style boots tonight. Jeff just started laughing at me. I asked Shelby if she liked my boots and she said no, so I started pretending to cry. She said, "What's wrong Mommy?" and I said, "You don't like my booooooots!!" Jeff said, "Mommy, you need to put some pants on with those boots." Shelby just kept looking at me as I pretended to cry. I said, "Shelby don't you like my boots?" and she said, "No." I still boohooed. Then she said, "Mommy, you need to put some pants on with those boots." Haha, no matter what I tried I couldn't get her to come over to "my side" and like the boots. She must have a great fashion sense bred in her.

Random thoughts!

* I can't stop tapping my foot right now.
* I had 7 boxes on my doorstep Wednesday after work. Jeff thinks I'm crazy.
* We put up lights on our house yesterday.
* Shelby and I slept in until 9:00 this morning.
* Jeff and I had 2 bottles of wine last night.
* I'm about to have a $950 dentist bill
* Cole woke up screaming last night and was completely inconsolable for 15 minutes. He's never done that before.
* I am burning a candle in my office and hiding it because my "boss" doesn't like candles.
* I am getting impatient on our photographer who took family pictures 5 days ago and I have yet to see one. They were supposed to be for Christmas cards/presents and we are down to the wire on getting them ordered!!
* Our house looks like a tornado hit it, and the housekeepers were there only 2 days ago.
* I can't wait to watch Grey's Anatomy and Big Shots tonight!
* Shelby's won't stop talking about Jeff's missing tooth.

Wacky Wednesday

Shelby watched her first traditional Christmas movie last night. Rulolph the Red Nosed Reindeer was on and she sat there and watched the whole thing. She was crying to watch Dora but as soon as the snowman started talking, she said, "I want to watch THIS Mommy!"
Right now Jeff is braving the doctor with both children all by himself. What a brave daddy! It is very difficult, even when it's both of us, to keep Shelby near us, and not let Coleman down on the yucky floors (and he hates being held these days.) I can't wait to hear how it goes. Since he's less obsessive and spazzy than me, it'll probably go fine. And I just won't think about how Cole probably touched all kinds of germy surfaces that I wouldn't have allowed!! (They're just there for flu shots and Jeff's going to ask about the milk allergy thing.)

Cole's surgery is scheduled for December 27th. It is a Thursday and should be a perfect time. We can get through the rush of Christmas, and then I will still have 6 days off work after that surgery day. He'll be fine in just a couple of days so it seems like it will all work out.

I am working on Cole's first birthday invites when I get bored during the day. I don't even know when or where we're having the party but I am thinking it will just be at our house. Maybe it'll be a nicer day that Shelby's was last year, when it snowed in April!!! I can't believe he's already almost a year old. My how time flies. Everyone says it but you don't truly understand the meaning until it happens to you!

Letter confusion

Yesterday at my mom's house, Shelby hugged Coleman and told everyone, "This is my friend Bubby. He's my best friend." So then today in the car after picking up Coleman, I said, "Shelby is Bubby your BFF?" She got so mad saying, "No this is NOT my BTF mommy! This is my Coleman!!!!" That was kinda funny, but I just dropped it. Then, we got home and Jeff came out to help us all get out of the car. When he picked Shelby up, she immediately told him, "Daddy, Mommy said Coleman is my ARP but I said he is NOT my ARP." (Jeff is laughing) I say, "No Shelby I said he's your BFF" and shelby says, "NO HE IS NOT MY QRS Mommy!!!!" Well, she may not have her letters down but she knows what letters are. haha

Mommy Shelby and Cole's surgery update

Shelby is such a little mommy. This morning, she and I were up on my bed and Coleman was on the floor. She watched him pick up a tag (trash) off the floor and start to play with it and put it in his mouth. She said, "Oh no Mommy, Coleman gots something!" She quickly jumped down and took it away from him, sternly saying, "No no bubby!" and then started walking out of the room. I asked where she was going and she turned around, held up the tag, and said, "I'm going to put this in the trash in the kitchen so brother doesn't eat it anymore, Mommy." (Like, duh mom, what do you think I'm doing?!?!)
Coleman is starting to get really brave with standing and walking. I bet his first steps aren't too far away. He is letting go while he's standing lately so it could be any moment that he moves those feet forward without holding on to anything. We had his consultation with the surgeon last week and I am hoping to call the office today to schedule the surgery. It is basically hernia surgery, they are going to cut into both sides of his pelvic area. Right now the hydrocele is only on his left side but the surgeon said there's a 60% chance that there's also one on his right side so they always open up and look. If it needs fixed, they fix it, if not, they just close it back up. He also had a little belly button issue that they're going to fix since he'll be in there anyway. He had a major outtie when he was born but it went in and looked normal for a long time. Then last week, it started poking out some again so we mentioned it to the surgeon. He felt around and said that there's some piece of belly button in there that should have fallen off but didn't, or something like that. It caused his belly button to not properly stick in and stay. It was so crazy when he was feeling around, he just put his finger in there and pulled Cole's belly button out like a little tongue! It was like an inch long! So he said it's not a big deal, but could cause hernia sometime down the road (in 50 years) and mostly would just be weird b/c it looks like this long big outtie belly button. So, we are going to opt to fix that since he'll be in surgery anyway. It's probably not something we would fix if he wasn't already having surgery but it is a very simple thing since he'll be out anyway. The dr. said they cut a little smile under the belly button, and he'll remove the little piece that's left over, and then tuck in the belly button properly and reclose it. I'm sure Cole will thank us for not having an embarrassing belly button his whole life! :) So anyway, 3 little cuts, 45 minute surgery, outpatient, he'll be good as new in a day or 2. The doc said you can't even try to hold him down- he'll be up and around the next day like nothing happened, so that's nice! We really liked the doctor so I feel okay about having this done. Baby boy will be just fine!!!
Another thing has been going on with Coleman too. We think he might be allergic to milk. We gave him some a few days ago and I don't think he actually drank any of it, but got it all over his belly while "playing" with it. He wasn't wearing a shirt and his belly got all red and bumpy. Then on Sunday he actually drank some milk and Sunday night he had the most awful painful looking diaper rash that was blistered. I have talked to some friends who have experienced this and read that it can get worse with exposure so I am going to try to hold off on dairy a little bit for a while, and talk to his doctor. He's been fine up until now, but I really don't eat a high dairy diet. I don't drink milk at all. I hope it's something that was either a fluke or that he grows out of quickly!
PS- At the surgeon's office, Coleman weighed 24 lb 4 oz! What a big boy!

Aspiring Dentist??

I just walked into the kitchen to see a little conversation Jeff has written on the back of a receipt sitting there on the island. He wrote it down for me to note it in here- it is pretty funny!! (Note: Jeff is missing a back tooth, he was born w/out a permanent tooth so once the baby tooth fell out, nothing ever replaced it. It isn't very noticeable but Shelby has noticed it before.

Shelby: "You missin a tooth Daddy."
Jeff: "Yeah."
Shelby: Don't worry. We put your tooth back on tomorrow."

Pictures

Man I've been falling behind on the sharing on SHutterfly and I have a feeling I won't be catching up soon, since I was just given a big assignment at work that they want quickly, and the Christmas break! Just wanted to share a few recent cute ones!

Our little mini-man playing at the surgeon's office:


CHEESE!!!


My beauty-full wittle babygirl:


Here's Daddy, so proud of his black & tan:


And is this Grandpa, or Santa?!?! Must be Grandpa because Santa wouldn't have a beer in his hand, would he???

I just had 11 little HoneyBee visitors!

Shelby's class came to my office to see me. They are so cute! They're all holding onto their rope lined up on the wall. When they were leaving, they all started saying, "Bye Shelby Mommy!!!" Ms. Yolanda said, "That's Miss Megan, can you say Miss Megan?" and Shelby said, "My mommy's not Miss Megan, she's Mommy!!"
Their visits brighten my day! :)

Black bobby grew up.

Last night was the most horrible bedtime ever! Shelby did not want to go to sleep and didn't want to lay in her bed, and Jeff and I had such a hard time with it.
Shelby ended up giving up, after we took her back into her bed without speaking to her a la SuperNanny about a gajillion bazillion times, and slept on her floor. Amidst all that mess, I kept thinking about how we'd lost her precious bobby and that she would probably be going to bed readily if she had her best friend in the world there to comfort her. After all Bobby had been through....being left at the Pumpkin Patch only to be picked up by us hours later, being dropped in the toilet, left at school all alone at night, resulting in tears from Shelby... he ended up going missing one day and never seen again. We think it might have been at Albertson's that he was last seen, but we're not sure. We only knew that we couldn't mention him being gone because of the heartbreak it would bring to Shelby. We had to just let him fade from her memory, and let other little stuffed animals like Penny, Missy, Val, and Lammie try to fill the void. But Bobby was the only ever TRUE lovie that Shelby had, and he always seemed to bring her comfort that no other thing could. I had been thinking of him more and more lately, and had been so sad knowing that he was gone and we wouldn't have him to keep in the top of a closet for years and years, and to pull him down when Shelby had a baby of her own, like my Grandpa Rabbit and Jeff's train conductor dog named Joe. Last night I was thinking of Bobby even more as Shelby's bedtime fit ensued, and I remembered the other bobby we have. He was dubbed "Shoo wee bobby" or "Eyes bobby" by Shelby because I bought him as a backup after the other Bobby had been thoroughly broken in with love, and he was new and plump and didn't have the whites of his eyes scratched off from when she was a teething baby like the Real Bobby did. Poor ShooWee Bobby, Shelby wanted nothing to do with him. So last night during the bedtime debacle, I found this Shoo Wee/Eyes Bobby, all new with the pretty white eyes, and I scratched those damn eyes off. I scratched as hard and fast as I could, motivated by my sad screaming little girl who needed her Bobby. No, she wasn't crying for him but I knew he would have been able to make everything ok if he were in her arms. But, I couldn't give him to her last night. I had to be very careful in making sure she didn't know that this was the shoo wee bobby in disguise. Instead, after his eyes were nice and Black, I put him in the washer. I put him through 3 heavy cycles to try to wear him out. I dried him, and got him out this morning. He still wasn't worn out like the other Bobby was from 2 years of ShelbyLove, but he was a little less puffy and looked not quite so brand new. I grabbed him from the dryer and headed into Shelby's room this morning. She was laying there with her eyes open, and they sure did brighten when she saw "black bobby" in my arms. She grabbed him and started giggling, but she was still a little hesitant. She really studied him, turning him over and smelling him and holding his eyes right up to her eyes, as I stood there in suspense. Is she going to love him or throw him off, knowing he's really the "Shoo wee Bobby?" Finally, a huge smile broke on her face and she giggled some more. She said, "Is this black bobby mommy?" and I told her it was. It wasn't a lie, since he was technically now Black Bobby, with black eyes, no whites left on them. She smiled and said, "Bobby grew up mommy!" Haha, she noticed that he was bigger and puffier than the last time she had seen him, but she concluded that he must have grown up, since it was in fact the same Bobby- it had to be--- just look at his eyes!!! The eyes that were furiously scratched away with mommy's love only 12 hours before!!

Long live Black Bobby!!!

In the beginning:


Near the end:

Shelby Shelby bo belby

This is funny. (Yes I was filming while driving but I was being safe!)

Life Lessons from the HoneyBees

Another thing to be thankful for: Our AWESOME perfect couldn't-ask-for-a-better-place school where Shelby spends her days! Her teachers are so loving and really care about their little HoneyBees. After being out of school since Wednesday for the holidays, Shelby was crying, "I want to go to school!!" by Saturday night. Now that's something to be thankful for! A place where she is loved and happy! Ms Yolanda just sent us this email document:

Throughout our busy grown-up lives, we ignore the small things that occur daily that fill us with love and changes us. All of us know at least one person whose influence has greatly inspired us to change our perspective on life for the better. I’m blessed that I have eleven little friends who do just that everyday.

Shelby reminds me that it’s great to have a friend to call on when you need them. “I need you Linnea,” she says.

Gabriel and Mark remind me that two friends are stronger together than apart. Gabe asks, “Where’s Mark,” and Mark asks “Where’s Gabe.”

Linnea reminds me that it’s ok to be silly and to laugh often.

Ryan King reminds to play hard, eat much and sleep well.

Isabella and Madelyn help me remember that family is what matters the most and that a family member is always close by when you need them.

Ryan Carr reminds me to always stop and listen to the music and to dance as if no one is watching.

Ryann Ward helps me remember that you don’t have to be a grown up to shout joyously anytime of the day.

Lucas helps me remember that a smiling face often warms the hearts of others.

Natalia reminds me that it’s always good to help others.

We are never too old to learn from the very young.

Ms. Yolanda Anna-Marie Jones

Give thanks!

Well I didn't have my camera out much. I'm falling behind on the picture taking! But I wanted to share a few things about Thanksgiving. It SNOWED on Thanksgiving day! Beautiful HUGE snowflakes fell for several hours. It wasn't cold enough to stick but it sure was pretty to look at coming down!
Here is our pretty table all set up for the meal:


And people at the table chowing down:


Jeff and I posing with our first turkey. It was a 23-pounder, YUMMY, and gone in 2 days!!


Coleman enjoying his first Thanksgiving AFTER Poppy burnt his mouth with the mashed potatoes :) :


Nana and Garland came in from Powderly, Texas. Nana makes the amazing dressing that we LOVE, tasty gravy, and some pretty great pies too!:


Here are my wonderful siblings and me:


Coleman spent lots of the weekend on his favorite toy, his horsey! He can get on and off by himself and rocks along to the music with a huge grin on his face.


Then my dad's family came into town, and I didn't have my camera for the entire time they were there. It was lost, hanging out in Shelby's play kitchen for a few days. But Mimi, Jack, Jana, Bruce, Hayley, Ben, Scott, and Karen all came in from Arkansas to see us. We had a great time. Jana, I promise I'll get some pics of you at Christmas to put on the blog! I know you want to be on here, haha!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Jeff and I are so thankful for our family. Our children bring unmeasurable joy to our lives, and we are so blessed to have such a wonderful extended family surrounding us. Our children might not ever know exactly how blessed they are to have so many grandparents, aunts, uncles, great-aunts, great-uncles, cousins, and great-grandparents who know them and love them so much, but we will always try to make them understand just how special it is!!! We love you all.

Feliz Navidad

This morning Jeff and I were both telling Shelby to leave something alone (who knows what, she's into everything!) and she said, "Leave me alone FAMILY!!!" We put up the Christmas decorations this morning, and the ornaments on the tree. She grabbed a handful of icicle ornaments and said she was going to count them. She sat down..."Uno, dos, tres, quatro, cinco, seis..." She counted them in Spanish all the way to ten! haha. It's Christmas time! Feliz Navidad!
We had a great time with family this weekend, for Thanksgiving. I will write more about that later, and have some pictures too!

Amidst bedtime

We're in the middle of "bedtime" so far and this is how it's gone:
Mommy: "Shelby it's bedtime now. Let's go."
Shelby: "No mommy it's not bedtime, it's time for a tea party with Mommy and Daddy."
(((She starts walking into her bedroom with her picnic basket full of plastic food, plates, cups, and spoons.)))
Shelby: "I'm not going asleep Mommy, I'm having a party with all my friends! They are hungry and I better feed 'em."
(((I walk into her dark bedroom and turn the light on. She's on her top bunk with all her stuffed animals and dolls.)))
Shelby: "You leave the light on mommy and I gonna have the tea party with all my friends and all my friends gonna like it."

So of course I got the camera and videoed it:

Daddy is wude.

Last night we let Shelby sleep with us. At 4am when Cole woke up, I asked Jeff to take her to her bed so I could feed Cole in our bed. Well, Shelby wasn't happy with that. She woke up as he was carrying her and started screaming, "No daddy!!!" Then she whimpered, "Mommy wants to cuddle me!!!" haha, how could I send her away like that? So I told Jeff it was fine, let her back in our bed, and he said, "OK Shelby let's get back in mommy and daddy's bed." She said, "ok. That's WUDE Daddy!" She told him he was rude. haha.

Weenies and bodies

This morning Shelby was playing in the kitchen and she kept saying, "Oh my God. Oh my God." I truly don't know where she learned that because, as common as it is, I know it is something that Jeff and I (and my family) do not say.
This evening we were sitting on the couch, and she was being so sweet. She was saying, "Mommy. Mommy. I want to cuddle you mommy." So when we were laying there, she said, "Daddy. Look at me." When he looked she said, "Coleman has a weenie and Daddy has a weenie." J said, "That's right. What do you and mommy have?" And she said, "We have bodies."
I have a theory about how she (and probably many other toddlers) do JUST ENOUGH cute stuff for us to keep them. Today she was a holy terror about 75% of the day but that other 25% is just so great. Last night she bit Cole on the back, broke the skin and left marks. Today she bit me on the leg. She also peed in her panties FOUR times today. She hasn't had an accident in a month but today she decided that she wasn't potty trained anymore, I guess. Talk about frustrating!
Well, that's my short little before bedtime Saturday night update!

Yucky carrots

I am pretty sure it is just a quality that is there when you are born. Veggies are yuck. It doesn't matter if mommy and daddy only give you veggies for the first year. It doesn't matter if they give you veggies before fruit, or after meat. It doesn't matter if they're green or orange or yellow or what order of colored veggies you are given. It doesn't even matter if you have no sugar for your entire first year of life. Veggies are yucky, no matter how you do it! Coleman thinks so.

Fevers and wedgies

Cole is sick today. He didn't want to sleep last night. He went down around 7:30 but was up at 10, 12:30, 2:45, and 5:45. Fun (not.) I am also not feeling tip-top but I'm surviving. I don't think I really slept much at all because between Coleman waking up, I was coughing. Which was keeping Jeff awake. Oh and Shelby got up sometime between midnight and 3 also, to peepee. Then I had to lay in her bed w/ her but I couldn't stop coughing so Jeff went in to lay with her. Isn't there someone who doesn't WANT or LIKE to sleep at night who could come stay with us for a while?? :) Anyway, Cole must have not been feeling well b/c when I picked him up this morning, he felt really hot and he had a 101.1 temp. So I stayed home with him this morning, and Jeff came home at lunch to stay with him the rest of the day. After napping in his crib for about 30 min this morning, he slept on top of me on my bed for another hour. After that his temp was over 102. Poor sweetie. He doesn't act like he feels that bad, just kind of lethargic but he's still lots of smiles.
This morning out of the blue Shelby exclaimed, "Oh no! I have a wedgie!" Haha- I guess I taught her that. The last panties I bought her are "low-cut bikinis" or something. They're way cute but she walks around with a wedgie in them all the time so I'm always telling her to pull out her wedgie. She still hasn't figured out how to do that without pulling her whole panties off. :)
Well that's all for now. My head feels like it might explode from the sinus pressure. Please let us feel better! This no sleep thing is definitely not helping my immunity.

Weekend pics

Coleman is such a happy boy! Here he is this morning, dressed all up like a big boy with a BIG smile on his face to go with it!


Here's Shelby making a mess with her ice cream sandwich on Saturday:


Friday night Jeff and I got to go out on a "date." We went to Brio. Jeff was feelin all young and cool rollin' without the munchkins:


and I was just really excited:


It was a great weekend!! :)

Cole's new favorite thing

Crawling out the doggy door! He's fast too! We caught him several times this weekend, halfway out the door.

It's finally Friday!

I've been trying to get up the desire to update on here- I've just been worn out this week! Shelby has been a BEAR. She doesn't want to go to bed, she doesn't want to go to school, she doesn't want to do whatever it is that we ask so it's fits all the time. What a beating!
We went to Gram & Grandpa's house on Wednesday and we just hung out at their house all day. It was fun and relaxing. Shelby really enjoys seeing them. She fell asleep on Gram's lap right after I had given up on the idea of her taking a nap. The rest of the week has just been basic routine life.
This morning, Coleman crawled all the way out of the doggy door! Jeff was ironing his pants and Shelby and I were in the pantry (she was trying to decide what she wanted for breakfast) and when we all walked back into the kitchen, little man's booty was the last thing sticking out the door. It was quite funny.
Tonight Jeff and I have a date night! We are finally going to use the gift certificate the Mill Anna & Ty gave us to Brio last Christmas. It is "Parent's Night Out" at Shelby's school, and they are keeping her from 6-10 like a little mini slumber party. It's a fundraiser for the school, pretty neat I think. Nonnie & Poppy are going to keep Coleman.
Ok let's see, what else has gone on this week? Coleman pooped 5 times yesterday. He blew out 2 outfits, and Shelby pooped in her pants at school too. So I had some laundry to do last night! I cannot believe it's so close to Thanksgiving, yet it's 80 degrees today. I am excited about having everyone at my house for Thanksgiving dinner- I even went and bought plates, napkins, etc yesterday. I hope it's a cool day, 80 degrees on Thanksgiving would just be wrong. Mimi, I wish you could come!!!! Any chance of working that out?
Cole has another tooth popping through, it's one of the side middle ones on the bottom. So that's his 7th tooth after the top 4 came through last/this week. I dunno- maybe that's what's making him so poopy and runny!
That's all for now. I have a headache and don't feel very creative this morning! Byeeee.

I need music to dance!

I wish I had a camera or at least a microphone following Shelby around. She's so cute and funny to me! Last night when I was cleaning out the garage, I found a little tutu that she had gotten at a birthday party. I took it in and she was so excited, and put it on immediately. Then she headed into the living room saying, "Mommy, I can dance in it!" I said, "Yes you sure can" and just watched her walk in there. She turned around as if to scold me and said, "MOMMY, I have to have music to dance to!" "Oh, sorry baby." haha Then we turned on the music and twirled and danced for what seemed like an hour. It was fun and I got some exercise! Then this morning she was walking by my desk and my pump and everything fell into the floor. She turned around and looked at it and then looked at me and said, "I'm sorry Mommy." Pause. "It was an accident." Aww I just want to eat her up!

Shelby-isms and Cole's 9 month dr appt

Jeff is sitting in the living room icing his arm since he pitched today, and Shelby just came running to me, and I could hear her saying the she had just hurt herself, so of course I expected her to ask me for a band-aid like she always does. Instead, she look at me so seriously and said, "Mommy, I just hurt myself, so I need some ice." hahaha. Update: Jeff just came in and told me that he touched Shelby's cheek with ice, and told her she could ice her foot, so she put her foot on the ice for half a second and that was good enough for her. Then she just came in and said, "Mommy, Daddy put ice right here, and he put ice right here, to make it feel better." So I asked if it felt better and she said, "Yeah!" in her cute cheery expression.
Another thing she said today (when she was mad at me) that wasn't so cute was "I'm gonna punch you in the face."
I just told Shelby that she needs to wipe her face, so get me a kleenex. She runs off to daddy, "Hey! Hey Daddy! Where are the kleenexes so I can wipe my nose?!" She is so proper in her speech and it's so cute.
Today we went to Natalia's birthday party. Natalia is one of Shelby's favorite friends in her class and she was turning 3. They had the party at a gymnastics place and it was so much fun for the kids. I'm afraid we may have to have a party at a place like that, too.
I was sick on Friday and I don't think it's totally gone. I woke up Friday morning and had some apple juice, which caused me to get so nauseous that I threw up. Then for the rest of the day, I couldn't get out of bed without getting sick. Since Jeff was running late from getting both kids ready, I had to get up and take Shelby to school. After I buckled her in, I had to go to the back of the car and puke for a few minutes. Nice. Then Shelby walks in to school and proudly starts telling her teacher that mommy threw up. And of course the 2 people I told about being sick (My mom and her teacher) both asked if I was pregnant. Ummm, no. But anyway, my tummy is still yucky and not very happy when I eat, but I am much better than Friday, when I stayed in that bed for almost 8 hours. I must admit, it was NICE, even if I was sick. :)
Cole's 9 month appt was Friday, too. I did drag myself out of bed to go to that, since someone also had to pick Shelby up from school at the same time. He weighed in at 22 lb 4 oz (between 50 & 75th percentile) and 30.5 inches (95th percentile.) He's nice and healthy, except the doctor found one thing of concern. Cole has lots of fluid in/around his left testicle. It should not still be like this; even when babies have this fluid at birth and early on, it is supposed to be gone by 1 year, and the doctor said since it's still there then we need to have a surgeon look at it and probably have it fixed. SURGERY!?!? For my baby??? So scary! But the doctor said that it's a day surgery and not that bad as far as surgeries go. He gave me numbers of the 2 children's surgery groups in the area and said they are all great, so now I have to contact them. The thought of them putting my baby boy to sleep and cutting into him is scary, but I know that he will be fine, and we have been so blessed to have 2 children with perfect health and development. By the way, the fluid in testicle thing is called hydrocele, in case I ever forget. :) haha
More about Cole: He has been pretty clingy but I think that's because he's teething like a badboy and he needs his mama and dada to make him feel better. He has all 4 top teeth now (the middle ones came in this past week) and now I think he's really working on the eye teeth. Those ones take a long time and a lot of pain! :( He has been holding his hand high up in the air and making the "Guns Up" sign- of course he doesn't know "Guns Up" but he will soon since we say it every time he does it! He's been giving "5" and waving hi and bye. He also gives wet slobbery kisses to his mommy and his nonnie all the time. They are messy but we love them!

Watch Shelby grow

I big puffy heart you Mom!!!

I totally needed to get out of the house tonight so I just called my mom up and BANG! 10 minutes later we're hanging at a tavern. 1 pitcher of beer, 1 bottle of wine, and 1 big ol yummy authentic Italian pizza later and I'm a happy mommy ready to head home. I don't know what I'd do without you, Mom!!
Just a funny side note: As I'm typing this I'm listening to Jeff is giving Shelby a bath and I hear him talking to her about how Mommy has privates like her and how Mommy will teach her how to keep it clean because Daddy doesn't know all about that stuff. ) hahaha. what a great daddy.

Monday evenings = UGH

Mondays after work are such a beating for me! I am of course, fine and able with the kids all by myself, but for some reason on the days Jeff has to work late and I am left to cook & feed dinner, then bathe both of them by myself, it is simply crazy. I can't enjoy one second of either of them because I am just running back and forth between them, putting out fires. Coleman has become the biggest piggy ever and SCREAMS at the top of his lungs if he is not stuffing his face. So, he decided to get hungry just as I was about halfway done cooking dinner, so I had to stop and find him something else to eat because he just couldn't wait. He quickly gobbled up the chicken that I gave him so I didn't have much time to do anything else before I was giving him more food. Then dinner was ready and I had to beg Shelby to come to the table and eat. She's not much of a dinner person. When dinner was over, it was Coleman pulling up on drawers that pull out and make him fall, to Shelby nicking her finger on something tiny and demanding a bandaid, to finding 2 little play gems that Shelby had torn off her dress-up shoes IN Coleman's mouth, to "no boy get back here you can't crawl into the bathroom!", to getting Shelby the piece of cake that she was demanding that I had promised her, to Coleman trying to eat my face off because he was apparently hungry again, to "Mommy I have to go poopoo" just as I sit down to feed him. And this was all before the bath. It was a freak show. Now I know why I usually have a little wine buzz from a glass or 2 before Jeff gets off work on these late days! :) A stubborn, "independent"ly needy 2 year old and a mobile 9 month old who NEVER stops moving can really wear a momma out!
Yesterday Coleman's first day at Sunshine House was great. They said he ate EVERY bite of his lunch, which was lasagna, green beens, and garlic bread. Haha! Somehow I doubt he'll be eating the jar foods I took up there for him "just in case." This boy likes food, just like his daddy!

From the weekend...

Today is Bubby's first day at his new daycare. We are so excited about it. When we walked in today lots of babies were playing on the floor amongst TONS of toys (something that didn't happen at the last place) and a few were sitting at the table eating breakfast. We put him in one of the chairs at the table so he could have some cheerios and yogurt for breakfast. I wish I had thought to take my camera in- he looked so cute and he's gonna have so many friends his age at this place! Yay!
Right now I am also working on uploading tons of pictures to shutterfly and then I'll be posting a few new albums so be sure to check them out (link on the left.)
This weekend Daddy was off on Friday, so I took off too and we had a family day with the kids. It was nice since Saturday was Daddy's day to work and Sunday he played baseball for 6 hours (He pitched 13 innings! Go Jeff!) We went to the pumpkin patch- just a little one on the side of the road- to take pictures. I didn't really get any great pics because the sun was bright and right above us and Coleman wouldn't even look up. I think it was too bright for him. Oh, and Shelby got into an ant pile and got several ant bites on her feet and hand. Saturday night the kids got dressed up in their dinosaur costumes and we went to Green Valley park for the fall festival thingy. We pulled them from Nonnie and Poppy's in the wagon with Nonnie, Poppy, Heather, and Tyler. It was fun but kinda crowded. Then we went home and ate some yummy pasta fagioli soup, lemon pie, and german chocolate cake. Yum!
Happy Birthday Uncle Ty-Ty!!!
Here's a picture from Saturday. My shirt said, "Dino Mom" (oh yeah, and I got my hair cut short on Friday, too):

Things to remember

Shelby is constantly saying the funniest things. Yesterday when we were leaving to go to Nonnie&Poppy's house and then to the Halloween festival, Shelby said, "Where are we going Mommy?" So I told her our plan and she said, "Oh yeah Mommy, that sounds like a great idea!" 2 nights ago she was lying down watching "The Lion King" and I asked her to come cuddle with me. She said, "No mommy I can't cuddle with you right now, I'm busy." Too busy to cuddle with mommy already!! :(
When Coleman tries to take a toy or a book from her, she yells, "Swiper no swiping!" 3 times just like Dora does. If we ask her if she wants something, like "Do you want some milk?" She always responds, "Oh Sure!" or "Ummm no fank you Mommy."
I just want to write all this down so we'll remember all her cute little phrases one day. She is so sweet and polite. Yesterday she told Poppy, "We use our words poppy." When she is in the room with me when I use the restroom, she says, "Oh mommy I'm so proud of you Mommy. Yay mommy!" She still thinks she should get a prize everytime she pees in the pot. It's getting a little expensive ;) haha

Shelby's leotard

It is so much fun having a girl. Yesterday I ran into a cute little leotard and some ballerina shoes that I just HAD to buy for Shelby so last night we played dress-up. Complete with the bun in her hair. We had fun :)

I am so ready to leave work and see my cute little kids. This morning around 10am Shelby's teacher called me and the class came and walked over to my office. I went outside to meet them and got to hug and kiss on my babygirl for a few minutes. She is such a bright place in our lives. She talks nonstop but it is so cute. I love how her personality and attitude are showing more and more on a daily basis. She is so polite. I'll say, "Shelby do you want .[whatever]." and she says, "Um no fank you Mommy." When we cough it's "Scuse you Mommy," when we sneeze it's "Bless you Daddy." When we're in her way she says, "'scuse me Mommy. Beep beep!" This morning on our walk to school I told her about how we're going on vacation with Reagan and her mommy and daddy and sister, and she said, "Oh YAY Mommy!" She was jumping up and down so excited. She said, "And I want to go with Mommy and Daddy and Coleman too." I assured her we would all go. :)
Cole has also been changing so much and it's so great. He waves and says, "Hi." He says "Mama" and "Dada" and "Baba" and uses them all in the correct context sometimes. He says "Dada" to Jeff and "Mama" when he wants something (of course) and "baba" when he sees us fixing his bottle. He also says "Dah!" for Dog when he sees one of our doggies. But my favorite is just his sweet smile that is never gone from his face for long. He's been waking up at 2:30 am and seems ready to crawl around and play. He's not hungry but just wants to be with us (and maybe a little cold with this weather we've been having.) It's really hard to not keep him up longer and LOVE getting to see him more, even if it's in the middle of the night.
Ok, 15 minutes to go!
Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY POPPY!!!

Thank you for the pie.

I was just saying a prayer with Shelby for bedtime. I was almost done with the short prayer and said, "Thank You God for all the things You have given us..." and Shelby added, "And thank you for the pie." I just grinned and said, "Amen." :)
We made a pie tonight for Poppy's birthday tomorrow. haha.

Weekend wrap-up w/ pics!!

I was wrong. Coleman did nurse all weekend. And he didn't bite at all! Good boy! I had forgotten how hard it would have been to pump and take care of both kids for 2 days by myself. Now, I wasn't alone with them all weekend, but quite a bit of it. It was daddy's fun weekend. He was gone for about 8 hours on Saturday to play golf. No, golf doesn't take that long, but driving to Rockwall in State Fair traffic, playing golf, eating w/ the guys, and driving home from Rockwall does. Then on Sunday he played baseball.
Shelby got herself in trouble a couple of times this weekend. She started "Spanking" Coleman when he was doing something she didn't want him to, like taking her toy. Luckily she SAYS that she's spanking him by saying, "Spank spank spank" while she taps his hand, so even when I wasn't directly in the room I knew she was doing it. They fought like sisters and brothers this weekend. He's starting to fight back :) Coleman is ALL OVER the place and so much fun.
We went to Daddy's baseball game on Sunday morning. He pitched and they won! Yay! The kids were actually really great although they of course required a lot of attention so I didn't get to actually sit and watch much of the game. We took the red 2-seater wagon and Shelby made a little friend named Chimita (his daddy is Chima) who hung around us the entire game. They played with balls and loved it when I pulled them in the wagon. It was quite a workout! Chimita is 3 yrs old and 48 lbs, plus Shelby's 28 lbs, plus Coleman's 22 lbs, equals...well, a workout for me. The bad part is that even though it was cool out, that sun must have been blazing more than I realized because both of my little cuties came home with pink faces. :( I know I've been a mom for 2.5 years but I still don't think about sunscreen every time I should. I am a person who never really burned and never really had to worry about sunscreen so it still skips my mind sometimes! I feel horrible- the little sunburns aren't anything that is horrible, but they definitely got too much sun on their faces. Jeff was plastering cold Aloe Vera gel on their faces all day yesterday. If anyone knows how to treat a sunburn, it's him.
We also went to Nonnie's school carnival on Saturday morning. Shelby came home with Purple and hot orange hair, and Cole's was green. I have no idea how that happened ;)~
Here are a few pictures from our weekend:
Silly Shelby:



A family self-portrait (Friday night after Cole was asleep):



The hair:













And finally, our lego highchair for Dolly. I am the queen of the legos.




Oh and another thing Daddy did all weekend: Scratch. Because of this:



Poison ivy. It's a lot better now. And it should be since he's been taking steroids for 2 weeks to knock it out! We will wear long sleeves along with the gloves next time "we" decide to work in the yard!!!

Top teeth + Bottom Teeth = No Nummies

I have been too scared to actually nurse Coleman since 2 of his top teeth came in a few days ago. They are sharp suckers and I just cringe to think what it would feel like if he actually bit me. So I think it might be the end of physically nursing. We really only feed him milk one last time in the evening, so it's been a bottle and no boobie. Kinda sad :(
We went to Reagan's house on Wednesday night (Kelly and Chris are her mommy and daddy but to Shelby it is REAGAN's HOUSE.) Shelby had a great time. Reagan's mommy had pumpkins for them to color on, and then they baked cookies and the girls got to decorate them with icing and sprinkles.
Now it's almost time for the weekend and I am R E A D Y. This weekend I hope to do a lot of laundry, play with my kids, go to the pumpkin patch, and get some good sleep. Amen!

A message from Shelby's teacher

Sorry Dad (Poppy!) I know that all I talk about is potty training but here's a story that Shelby's teacher Debra emailed me yesterday:

Shelby has had a wonderful day. She did have one accident. I was so sad she ran to the restroom (I guess she waited too long) and pulled down her pants but as she did so her te te went everywhere some in the potty some on the floor some on the wall some on her clothes. I think she was trying to hold it and this is what caused the spraying affect. She said, “oh, no! Mrs. Debra my te te just went everywhere”. Poor baby girl she really did try to make it. :)

Tooth #3

Oh! I almost forgot! Cole got his 3rd tooth last night. He really didn't want me feeling in his mouth but I think it is the eye (cuspid) tooth on his right top. It could be the second tooth but I think it's the cuspid. It's a sharp little sucker! Bottom teeth + top teeth might = no more feeding from the booby. I've been bit between bottom teeth and top gums, and I can't imagine if teeth had been on both sides of that bite!!!
My pump and I are BFFs anyway.

The Sunshine House

Ok, I think we found a new daycare for Coleman. It was the 2nd (and last) place we visited today and I totally had that WOW feeling when we walked into the infant room. It was so bright and cheery. It had a big wall of windows and it was literally at least 5 times the size of the room at the house Coleman's in now. And that's just half of the room. There's a half-wall that divides the "up to 12 mo olds" from the "12-18 month olds". Oh the toys! There were so many toys! And the babies were crawling around and playing together. And they each have their own crib, not playpens or things that are stacked on top of each other along the wall. It was so pretty! The only problem is that it's a little more expensive so it's going to cost us an extra $55 a week, $220 a month. Whew! We have to keep telling ourselves that this is only a short time - someday we won't have to pay $1500 a month in daycare. But for now, this is what we do. You can't really put a cost on great quality care for your lovelies, can you? I am SO excited about this new place. Tomorrow we're going to meet the main infant teacher. She had already left for the day when we visited, so we need to meet her. She has been there for 8 years.
Now we have to tell Carolyn that we're leaving, and then I have to tell the lady we were supposed to meet w/ on Friday that we changed our mind and found something else. And Shelby's teacher too, who put us into contact with that lady. I hate all the formalities!

I love the holidays!!

Yesterday was the first really FALL feeling day and I loved it! We opened windows throughout the house and there was just that crisp feel in the air. It was short-lived though- today's supposed to be "warm" again. But even so, it got me in the mood for the holidays! We're having Thanksgiving at our new house this year and I'm really excited about it. Jeff has gotten a lot of our backyard/driveway cleaned up and I hope it is nice out so we can sit outside and enjoy our patio and some good red wine w/ the family. I am still looking for a wooden swingset for the kids, and we are going to clear out a lot of the foliage/mess along our back fence. Oh we're also going to replace our back fence. Jeff is planning on installing speakers outside but only after he finished grouting the tile! The kitchen tile is done and the only thing left is to grout the tile in the pantry. I love my little do-it-yourselfers! Here's our pretty tile. The flash makes it look a little different than it really is- it looks so great in our kitchen!


I've been burning pumpkin candles and shopping for Christmas presents [online.] Less than 2 months left of work and then we'll have our much-needed Christmas break! Jeff is off for a week of it too so it will be a great time.
Come on cold weather, I'm ready!

Bathtime!!

And people wonder why I made this a private blog ;) Because I like to post booty pictures!

Cole is crawling

He's crawling for real now. A lot, like from one room to another. All weekend we couldn't keep him in the living room- he heads up into the playroom (which is a step up but he can do it!) Yay bruddah!
Shelby and Mommy had a photo shoot yesterday:


and here's one after we threw brother in:


The rest of the weekend was filled with football and snot. It was a good one but some fussy babies are born when snot invades their little noses. It's time for flu shots!!

It's Friday!

We had a wonderful night last night! Shelby pooped in the potty without medicine, all by herself! Then she said, "Don't you flush my poopie mommy! I'm gonna show daddy!" and she was running around boasting "I did it!!! I did it!!" We definitely did a poopie dance, I was so excited and she was so proud.
This morning, she didn't want to peepee when she got up so she was sitting on the pot going, "No I don't need to mommy." I crouched down and said, "Remember how we're going to Chuck E Cheese today?" and as soon as I finished the sentence the pee started. I know how to work this kid...or is she working me? :) Lately every time she asks for a kiss she says, "You can have a kiss at Chuck E Cheese Mommy." Basically I have to take her to CEC to get a kiss.
And Coleman- oh, the sweetie! I know I always say it but he is just all smiles and so happy all the time. Here he is with Nonnie at Southlake town square:


And here he is this morning:

A poop story

Last night Shelby was on her 4th day of not pooping, she was having a hard time trying to go on the potty. She kept saying she needed to go and sitting on the potty and then not going, and her little tummy looked so blown up, so I gave her
an infants suppository. Once she could feel it she started crying. I told her it was ok, it was going to help her poopoo, etc. She sat on the potty and bawled for a few minutes, mostly I think she was a little scared of something going up her butt (good girl!) She said she couldn't poo so she went to the living room to watch dora and YES
she poo'ed in her panties. Fine w/ me, I'm just glad that she poo'ed and YES she needed to- let's just say that. But later, when she was sitting on the pot w/ Jeff there w/ her to peepee, she told him, "Mommy put something in my booty (pointing to her front part) and she hurt me! Mommy made me cry, mommy put something right here and hurt me." O.M.G. I was mortified- thinking, she's gonna go to school and
tell them that today and they're going to call CPS on me! We told her that mommy wasn't hurting her, she was just helping her go poo poo. So the moral of the story, if you have a 2 yr old w/ a large vocabulary who can basically say anything she wants to, don't give them a suppository. (I told her teacher this morning about the suppository so hopefully if she says anything they'll know that's what she is talking about.)

A quick funny

Last night Shelby was wanting cereal for dinner yet again and I had already told her that we weren't having cereal. Then she asked Jeff if she could have some and he said "Sure" not knowing I had already said no. I said, "No, I already told her we're not having cereal for dinner." Shelby yells from the kitchen (I am in the living room) "Yes we ARE, MEGGGAN!" CUTEST thing ever. But she still didn't have cereal. :)

Other than that, I'm stressed and overwhelmed lately. Don't know what's going on, I'm in a funk :( Byeeeee!

My big boy!

This morning I went in to get Coleman who was making some fussy noises in his crib, to find that he was STANDING UP in it! It is the first time that he has pulled himself up all by himself in the crib. As Jeff said this morning, now we can look forward to some difficult bedtimes as I am sure he will be trying to stand up instead of lay down and fall asleep!
Here's the video of him standing up on Sunday:



Here's another video. You can barely see him clapping and then sister takes over :)

A potty training update

Well, Shelby went all day at school yesterday without an accident! However, I found out that they put a diaper on her for nap and to go outside. Since I didn't expect that and she hadn't had a diaper on for over 2 days, I was a little disappointed. Today they are supposed to go completely sans diaper and see how it goes.
I'm a little concerned she'll have a poopy accident since she didn't poo yesterday. Last night she told us 5 or 6 times that she needed to poop on the pot but then she sat there and wouldn't/couldn't go. We'll see... She slept all through the night again without an accident and woke up dry. I'm amazed that she can do that since she definitely woke up with very wet diapers when she was wearing them.
Just an update! :)

AWESOME weekend!

Oh wow, what a great weekend we had!
Coleman changed so much in one weekend! Yesterday he was STANDING on his own for 10, 15, even 20 seconds. I have a video of it but I left it at home. I'll be sure to post it later. Also yesterday he started doing "pretty picture" and clapping. He was so happy and proud of himself. He is the sweetest and cutest little boy EVER. For real.
Our weekend theme for Shelby was "NO MORE DIAPERS!" Saturday morning the diaper came off and will never go on her again. She wore panties all weekend. Naps, night time, outings, everything. Nana and Nonnie were here and at our house most of the weekend and they helped coach Mommy (Me) and were great moral support. They shared their strategies with me (which is basically that Diapers aren't an option anymore, no back and forth!) and we did it! She woke up dry from both naps and dry this morning. She tells us when she needs to go. It is really cool.
The guys (my dad, Jeff, & Garland) worked on the kitchen all weekend. I am the proud owner of a beautiful tiled kitchen, laundry room, and pantry! Yay! They are such hard workers and Garland has taught Dad and Jeff a lot about tiling. We are so lucky to have men in our life like him and Dad to help us out with stuff like that.
Ok, I've gotta get to work. Work all week and LIVE on the weekends! :)

Another mommy creation

Family is Everything

I keep forgetting to write this down, but it's funny so I want to remember it. For a while now, whenever we ask Shelby something, if her answer is yes, she crows like a rooster. So "Cockadoodledoo!" means Yes.
This morning she asked for "Fruity Trouble" instead of Fruity Pebbles. We didn't correct her b/c it was so cute! I want her to say Fruity Trouble as long as possible :)
Coleman was a sleeping fool last night! He went to sleep easily before 8:00 and slept right up until 7:20, when I went in there and woke him. Now if I can just get them to stop waking him up from his morning nap at daycare.....
I bought a new sign for our house at HObby Lobby this week and it's so funny how when I bought it, I just thought it was a pretty sign to hang and I "liked" what it said. Since then, it has become the theme of my life. Friends WILL come and go, but (as the sign says) "Family is Everything." Love it!

I'm all grown up Mommy!

Shelby RAN up to her school today and reached up as high as she could and finally barely reached the little button to buzz the doorbell. She was so proud, she said, "I'm all grown up Mommy! I'm all grown up!"
Also, she's in the TCC Newspaper today. It's a story on Hispanic Heritage month and there's a picture of her whacking a pinata at her school. So cute! When we walked in Ms. Patti showed us the paper and Shelby looked so proud. She started telling me and showing me how she had hit the pinata "I did it like this mommy!" as she motioned like she was swinging a bat.
Last night I went to "ladies night" happy hour at a local Mexican place w/ my mom and sisters. It was SO fun. $1 drinks = awesome. $1 drafts, bottles, margaritas (BIG ones!), wine and call drinks. Crazy!

Wednesday ramblings

Coleman has had a hard time going to sleep the past few nights. I've had to hold him, rock him, bounce him, rub his back, etc until he's completely asleep. When he's lying in his bed he repeatedly lifts his cute little head up to make sure I'm still standing there by his crib. I think this is the separation anxiety stage beginning.
Anyway, last night I was holding him and bouncing him and I decided I might as well get some exercise while doing this so I started doing squats and lunges. He opened his eyes from his half-sleep and grinned the biggest grin at me, almost a giggle. It's like he was laughing at his mommy who was being so silly as to try and exercise while getting him to sleep. Or maybe he just liked the dropping sensation as I went up and down with him.
It is Wednesday morning and I just walked Shelby to school. She was being a little toot, after insisting on coming to Mommy's office before school which I allowed, she was refusing to obey anything I said and was screaming "No! No!" repeatedly. I quickly packed her up and told her it was time to go. My office is quiet and I'm sure everyone could hear my defiant girl. So I walked her to school, where she refused to give up her bagel she'd been eating on all morning, so the director of the school was going to sit in the hall with her until she finished that huge bagel. Then I left the school to find it's raining. Great. I get to walk back across campus (not really a short walk) in the rain. So now I'm a little wet but ready to relax and start my work day.

Spoiled? Not at all!!

Last night we were leaving my parents' house and Shelby was BAWLING because she didn't want to leave. So, Nonnie (my mom of course) was trying to console her and as Shelby was sitting in her carseat and Nonnie standing at the car door, Nonnie was telling her, "If you stop crying Nonnie's gonna come see you tomorrow. Do you want me to bring you something when I come over?" Shelby's wailing, "YEEEeeesssssssss.... boohoohoo." Nonnie says, "What do you want me to bring you?" and Shelby pathetically cries, "Caaaaaaakkkke." Nonnie: "You want me to bring you cake?" Shelby: "Yeeeeaaaaaaah. waaaahhhh." Nonnie: "ok."
Of course I forgot about it but I just talked to Mom on the phone and she remembered. She HAS to bring Shelby cake in case she remembers, she doesn't want her to be disappointed. :) What a wonderful (and spoiling) grandma! :) So Nonnie is now going to bring over a box of cake and icing to make cupcakes with Shelby. She'll be so excited.

Our 2 yr old's humps

Shelby's laying in our bed trying to go to sleep, and since she was on my side I told Jeff I'd just sleep in the middle. Our bed is indented where we usually sleep so there's a hump in the middle and I said, "I like to sleep on the hump." Shelby then started singing, "My hump, my hump, my hump, my hump." We started giggling at her and she said, "You know the lump song daddy? Do you know it daddy?" Haha! Then she started singing "Ella ella ella ..." (The rihanna song Umbrella.) This just proves that even when we don't notice that she's listening, comprehending, and becoming able to repeat WHATEVER she's hearing, she is. haha.

What a weekend!

What a weekend! It was a whirlwind.
Friday: Shelby was still not acting like herself and didn't seem to be feeling well. We just stayed in and I really don't even remember any of the evening. ?? Mommy brain. Oh no, I think it was that bottle of wine I drank! Gewurztraminer = Yummy!
Saturday: Jeff had to work so I was at home with both the kids. Shelby was still fussy but showed no signs of fever or anything physically wrong that we could tell so Nonnie and Poppy took her to Millie's apartment while Bubba and I stayed home so he could nap. He got a great 2 hour nap and I got about 6 loads of laundry done. While at Millie's, Shelby decided that she wanted to "Sleep on Millie's bed" so she crawled up there at 11 (way before her usual nap time) and slept for 3 straight hours. When she woke up asking for ice cream, Millie was happy to oblige. She took her to Braums, where she got her to eat chicken fingers and orange sherbet ice cream. She hadn't eaten much in the past few days so I was glad about that. We were supposed to go out to dinner with some friends while Nonnie and Poppy watched the kids, but since we still weren't sure what was wrong with Shelby, we decided to stay with her instead. GOOD decision! When Daddy got off work, we all got in the car to go pick up some dinner, and Shelby was falling asleep and kept asking us to hold her. Then suddenly massive amounts of vomit came flowing out of her mouth. ALL over her, her carseat, and my car. She was like a fountain of throw up. Poor baby! Jeff pulled over asap and I ran around the car to rescue her from the river of vomit that she was sitting in. Every nook and cranny of that massive carseat was covered in the yuck. We got her and the seat as cleaned up as possible. All we had with us were some dried-out baby wipes, and a towel for her to sit on in the seat for the ride back home. Poor thing! So that evening after one more throw up and 2 baths, Shelby and I slept in the living room. She fell asleep pretty quickly on the living room floor (with a pallet we had made her) so I slept on the couch next to her. She was a little restless but no more pukies during the night.
The next morning, since Shelby seemed to be feeling ok, Jeff went ahead to play baseball. He pitched and hit and they won. He got home around 2 after a morning-full of the kids and I lazing around watching tv and playing on the floor. I was still trying to get Shelby to take it easy and not eat anything that would upset her tummy again. She kept asking for more cereal though, and she had 3 bowls of wheat thins!
The rest of Sunday afternoon consisted of a 3 hour nap by Shelby and mommy, the Cowboys winning, a family trip to Wal-Mart, and no more throwing up!
Coleman wouldn't take an afternoon nap. He doesn't want to miss anything. The boy never stops moving and wants to stand up ALL the time now. He's so grabby and grabs anything he can get his hands on. I wouldn't be surprised if he's an early walker...Maybe he'll be walking by Christmas, that would be fun!
So it was a good weekend. I did literally over 15 loads of laundry (the pukey clothes and towels added a few!) and got to spend LOTS of time with my babies.
Coleman has had a couple little spit ups after eating in the past 2 days, which is abnormal for him, but not enough for me to consider them "throw up" like Shelby's were. Of course he will probably get it but I can hope not! Maybe he's gotten some immunity from Mommy's milk! :)
Oh one more highlight- cleaning up the mess in my car and the carseat. Let's just say that thing is HUGE and has lots of little crevices, all of which were filled with orange puke. And smelly. Since I had given my husband the job of cleaning the car and the seat, I thought that would be done. It was last night that I realized it wasn't. He had thought he could just rinse it all with hot water. Uh, yeah. NO. So we tag-teamed it and scrubbed everything. The straps were so stinky so we even had to take those out and wash them. Finally everything was clean and fresh-smelling and we got to go to bed around midnight. Oh and since my car was a little pukey smelling, we left the windows cracked overnight. This morning we discovered that our new neighbors had flippin' WATERED my car with their sprinkler and Cole's seat was soaked. How rude!
Oh, water. I forgot about this. Amongst everything else, we have a huge round water spot in our hallway coming up from the foundation. It is really wet and is now stinky like mildew. Like we needed something else to deal with. We are hoping that it is covered by the home warranty that we got when we purchased the house. Rescue Rooter is coming out this morning, and Jeff is working from home. Actually I think taking care of this might be the easiest thing we dealt with all weekend. haha
Here's to another week starting, as we work toward another great weekend.

Mamamamama

Coleman's saying mamamama all the time now. Of course he doesn't know that it's me but it's still such music to my ears. :) He is getting all over the room now- some crawling but mainly by rolling still. He'll do the crawl thing and then give up and roll- it seems to be faster for him. haha
Shelby wasn't feeling well yesterday or this morning. She says that something is hurting in her mouth (she says it's her tongue but I'm not sure...) When she tries to eat or take a drink she says, "Owww mommy!" and throws the food/drink. I can't wait to go pick her up from school and see how she is. I'm thinking it's possibly her last molars coming in. I know she wasn't running a fever and didn't really seem sick in any other way so I think the teething thing makes sense. We'll see.

Tuesday morning blab

Shelby said several funny things yesterday and I can only remember one of them. It was when I was lying down in her bed with her, because she wanted me to cuddle her. So we were laying there and I had my arms wrapped all around her and she was pulled tight to me, then after about a minute she started getting all restless and rolling over. She said, "SCUSE ME MOMMY" in the sweetest little voice, like I was in her way by being in her bed. It was pretty funny- maybe ya had to be there??? :) haha

A couple videos from this past weekend. The first one is of bossy Shelby and daddy "dancing." Only they don't really get to the dancing part much b/c Shelby is making sure Daddy is dancing with one (and only one) stuffed animal. This is her rule for being on the dance floor. She keeps saying "one at a time daddy!" ha:



This next one is of regular ol dinnertime at the Peck's house. It gives a hint at how Shelby loves demanding the attention, even from brother. Brother had his first spaghetti this night. Exciting times ;)

This is hilarious: Mom overture

Shelby the heartbreaker

Well, I think a little boy in Shelby's class has a major crush on her. :) He is so excited when she gets there and will not leave her alone- "Selby! Selby!" He tries to play with her immediately but of course, being the guy magnet that she is, she just brushes him off and does her own thang. She knows she's got to play hard to get to keep the boys knockin'. Haha. He really does love her- it's so cute. This morning Ms. Yolanda was hanging pictures of the kids and he was finding Shelby in all the pictures and pointing her out to me, so excited. He was giggling that elated giggle and was so glad she was there. Her teachers have told me that he asks about her before we get there, too. The other day when I walked in to pick her up she was laying in a doll bed with him, all covered up reading books. Is that allowed when you're 2??? ;)

Weekend: Over :(

We had a wonderful weekend! Jeff was off both days, Gram and Matthew came to visit, the kids spent the night with Nonnie & Poppy Saturday night while we went to a wedding, and the yesterday was an awesome chill family day, complete with football and grocery shopping. Shelby was well-behaved all weekend. Coleman was a happy boy as usual. Yesterday and last night he was being a little extra clingy and didn't seem like he felt great so I took his temp and it was 100.9. I gave him some motrin and he slept most of the night. When he woke up this morning he was fussy and threw up right after I picked him up. It was really mucousy- I think he's just got some sinus and allergies and drainage that was upsetting his tummy. Anyway, he is still pretty fussy this morning so Daddy is staying home with him. He needed to use a sick day, anyway. I'm glad that Daddy will be loving on our sick little baby all day instead of sending him to daycare. I feel well-rested enough, but I wish I was home with them. I'm trying to do the responsible thing and stay here, saving my sick days for another time when we might need them and Jeff can't take off.

Jeff's sleepwalking

If I actually wrote all his incidents down, I could totally have a bestseller...of course I'm not sure they're as good without me there acting out his frantic antics. :) Here's last night's:
Jeff: (Scrambling up out of bed) “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my GOSH!!”

Meg: “What?”

Jeff: (walking over to the bookshelf) “Look at this! Oh my gosh!”

Meg: “Wake up- everything’s fine.”

Jeff: (Adamantly pointing at bookshelf) “Look! Look at this!”

Meg: “I don’t care, go back to sleep.”

Jeff: “Oh, you’re gonna care when you see this!”

Meg: (Turns light on.)

Jeff: (Looks at normal unscary bookshelf) “Oh.” (Gets back in bed) "Sorry."

THE END :)

Everyday stuff

Ha! I just sat down at the computer to pump, and Shelby is lying in my bed next to the desk and she sat up and said, "Come on milky! Come on milky." I swear I have never said that so where does she come up with these things?
In the car on Saturday I commented to Jeff "My boob hurts" and she started singing in Wonder Pets tune, "Mommy's boobies hurt. You need to puuuuuump!" She's so silly.
Coleman wants to crawl so bad he can taste it. He of course gets up on all fours and rocks, but now he's actually moving but he only ends up going backwards. And when he's trying really hard he'll lift up his booty in the air so just his feet and his hands are on the ground and he's in an upside-down V. Funny little man, but he's trying so hard. No more teeth yet but I can't wait for them to come in- his poor little mouth hurts him.

A few more pictures and a video

Awww look at Daddy and his girl!

Earrings, 2 tiaras, 2 necklaces, and 3 bracelets. Beauty has no boundaries.

Brother's first biter biscuit!

Brings to mind Shelby's:


Beep beep!! Let's go for a ride.

And Cole's favorite toys (pay close attention to what Shelby says. haha)