JRoe's Wedding

There are some people who come into our life and they are very special people. You may not talk with them on a daily basis but there are friends who have a heart of gold and you want to see good and happy things take place in their life. That is how I feel about my friend JRoe. She got married this weekend in Virginia - near DC. I really wanted to go but with two kids it is hard to go out of town. So Owen and I divided up and concurred the weekend. He stayed home with Andrew and I took Sam.

My cousin Anne - who was my matron of honor at my wedding also lives near DC so it gave me the perfect opportunity to visit with her and her family. The weekend could not have gone better.

Here is Sam waiting in the airport in Gulfport.



He was so excited to be hanging out with mom.

Here is he being the curious little guy that he is...



I got to meet Anne's children for the first time. She has the sweetest little girl - Hannah and cute little guy - Trent. Also one on the way :)

This is Sam and Hannah. Hannah loved Sam and couldn't get enough of him.



Anne and Sam went to the wedding with me.





I also got to see and spend time with some of best friends from college...





Lastly, here is a picture of the bride and me and Sam -



It was a great weekend - it went by very fast but I am so glad I went and made new memories with my friends and Anne and her family.

Sam is 10 Months Old

It's happened again this month - Sam become one month older. I am so confused by this. He is supposed still be an infant. In my head - he is still a really tiny baby. But good news is he really will always be my baby.

Sam is eating food much better now and gets really excited when he sees a snack. He has eaten birthday cake - at school - no one asked me :( but was told he LOVED it. He also eats cheerios and gold fish at school. At home, I am still giving him the gerber snacks. He likes the Beech Nut brand baby food, especially the texture ones. He still does not like vegetables. It is funny how much he despises them. We have given him yogurt and he likes it a lot as well. He is still drinking 5 bottles a day but next week I am going see about cutting that down to 4.

He is crawling all over the place. In fact he really doesn't have any boundaries - so thankful for a one story house. We kept Andrew in one room when he we was crawling. Sam gets the lay of the land. He moves to the kitchen to the living room to the dining room and we just make sure he isn't going to hurt himself. The only limits he has are the laundry room and curtains. Lucky little boy.

He says dada perfectly at Owen. In fact he says "Hey Dada" when Owen walks into a room. No mention of momma :( but is trying to say Andrew - he says "AAAND" and then stops at the drew part. He has said the same sound numerous times while looking at Andrew so he is figuring it out. He also attempts Ralphie - Did I mention no attempt at MOMMA! The woman who feeds him, clothes him, puts him to sleep, runs to his every cry, and gives him 1000 kisses and hugs a day - you know ME!!! I am definitely kidding here - but it is funny.

He is lifting up on things and is a very observant child.

Sam can also mimic you. When Andrew is screaming or Daddy is making funny sounds, Sam will will mock them in a soft voice. It is so funny. In fact Sam in general is a fun baby.

He is so sweet. He has a great schedule. Takes 2 naps a day (sometimes 3 on the weekends). Wakes up around 6 am and goes to sleep around 6:30 pm. He sleeps all night. I sometimes hear him stirring around in his bed around 3 am but doesn't cry.

For the past couple of weeks have been great weeks for Sam's sinuses. We went to the beach two weeks ago and all of his congestion cleared up and hasn't really come back - Praise the Lord! He has had a stuffy nose since the first day of day care.

I have started planning his birthday party. It is going to be a football party! I am setting it up like a play date at our house and we will invite close friends and his mommy and me group. I am really excited about it.

Here are some more pictures of my baby at 10 months - He was a lot harder this month to take a picture b/c he was on the move.

Missing Starkville

I just knew this would be the season that my little family of four would go to alot of football games at Mississippi State. My parents have season tickets for us and they now have a house with a bedroom with our name on it. But we have only been to one game and the bulldogs are having their best season yet!



Right now they are 7-0! I can't believe it!!! But am so very happy. This Saturday's game is in Tuscaloosa and we are playing the #1 team in the country but I have a feeling that Bama team is going to be surprised by our Bulldogs. I will be in Virginia visiting my cousin Anne and am hoping since her husband is a huge football fan that the game will be on so I can watch!

This season has taught me a lot. Mainly that life happens in ways that are definitely not in your plan. Having two little guys who need sleep and who go to bed between 6 and 7:30 does not make it easy to attend games at night. All of the games have been at night!

And throw in a husband who had surgery during football season definitely means no traveling. However we have had fun this season. We are wear our maroon and white on Fridays and Saturdays. We have family football parties and have loved seeing our team do so well on the field.

But I do miss going. I miss the walk through and the pep rally routine before each game. I want my boys to know about these traditions. But I also miss seeing my parents every other week during the fall.

With all of that said - GO DAWGS!!! I can't wait to see what this Saturday has in store for two top SEC schools.

Mitchell Farms

We took the boys to the local pumpkin patch this weekend. Andrew gets so shy in new places. It took him a while to warm up to all the fun that could be had. There were train rides, outside toys like ropes, and swings, and big trucks to crawl on, even a seesaw.





It was a gorgeous day and the four of us spent wonderful quality time together.





At the end of the day we got to pick out three pumpkins. This is where Andrew opened up and got excited. He wanted to put all of the pumpkins in our wagon.







We also attempted to get a great picture of both Sam and Andrew looking at the camera and sitting next to each other. That didn't happen, but we did get great pictures to remember our fun fall day.

Sam's new car seat

Sam hates his car seat. It is the carrier and we don't ever take the carrier out so this weekend on our way back from the beach we stopped at Babies R Us to get Sam a new car seat. It is like he knew this trip was for him. He was so happy. He danced in the buggy. Banged on the box to tell everyone he was getting something new.



This is Sam doing a Happy Dance :)



Now we are hoping this means less tears from Sam when we put him the seat and while we are on road trips.

Our Fall Beach Trip

We packed up the car and headed to the beach Friday night. We like going this time of year and had planned to be in the sand building sand castles all weekend long. But poor Andrew starting throwing up in the car around 8 pm. We were an hour or so away from the Munton's condo. He threw up twice - both dramatic. When we finally got to the Munton's both boys were awake and ready to get out of the car! Poor Andrew never bounced back. He woke up eager to go play but after breakfast he started to slow down. We still went to the beach that morning but stayed only 30 minutes. He was very whiny and puny. We went upstairs and he fell asleep on his daddy watching tv. He seemed hot all weekend but kept food down and slept alot. So our fun in the sun weekend wasn't so much fun. :(

This morning Andrew still seemed very sleepy and not his usual self but he ate breakfast and didn't have a fever so he went to school today. I have checked on him through the watch me grow website and he is playing with friends so hopefully he has found his energy.

Here are the pictures from our beach trip :)

Go bulldogs

A night to remember

We had a fun weekend. Saturday was low key with watching football and playing around the house. Sunday we ate at Aha and Mick's house for Aunt Abby's birthday. Aunt Martha, Uncle Conrad and Ann, Alan and Madalene and Catherine ate with us too. It was fun and Madalene and Catherine entertained Andrew so well. They ran around non stop outside. It was such great weather.

Andrew skipped his nap because between church and lunch there was no down time. He handles himself pretty well with out a nap even though his body desperately needs one. We came home just before 5 pm and rushed bath time so Sam could get to sleep early (he also skipped his afternoon nap). We put Andrew to sleep a little early too - around 6:15 pm. I read him his books and on the third one I realized he had fallen asleep. We are now reading in his bed and he was propped up on me with his pillow. It was the sweetest thing. When I put the third book down and decided I would just watch him sleep for a while but in his sleepy state tells me to read the night time prayer. So I did. And Andrew fell back to sleep. It was one of the best bed times ever.

Sam's 9 month check up

This is Sam waiting for the doctor today at his 9 month check up. It went well...he is a trooper. It was his nap time so he was a little fussy but nothing this momma couldn't handle. :)

I look forward to the well baby check ups b/c I like to see how much he has grown. And growing is what Sam has been doing. He grew 2 inches in 3 months and his head grew 2 more centimeters. And he gained one pound! Not bad for our little guy!

Weight is 20 lb and 10 oz = 62%
Height is 29.38" = 83%
Head Circumference is 47.6 centimeters = 98%

Sam's doctor went ahead and prescribed Zyrtec for Sam to help his congestion clear up. The antibiotic helped a little by changing the color of his mucus back to clear but it didn't dry him up so we are trying this - just like his brother and daddy.

I learned something at this appointment that I didn't know which is Sam can have milk products like yogurt and cheese. He can also have the entire egg now. Basically anything except honey! This is good news b/c I can give Sam yogurt to help put back some good bacteria in his body. He is still fighting mouth thrush! He had gotten rid of it but with this last antibodic it came back quick - ugg!

Other news is we need to up the amount of food we give Sam. Luckily he actually likes food now. This is a major change in the last couple of weeks.

Sam is now army crawling and he does not want to sit still anymore. He also move to the sitting position from laying down.

We think his first official word is "hey" and he says it when he waves. It is the cutest thing.

Overall a very good appointment. He even got his flu shot today! Now, I guess I need to get mine.

Two more pictures of Sam :) These were taken yesterday at Mommy and Me.




This is a picture of all the boys in Sam's class
L to R
Elijah, Sam, Thomas and Steven

An Andrew Update

Andrew is 34 months old today - two more months and he will be 3! My goodness that is hard to believe. However he is acting very much like a 3 year old. His vocabulary is amazing. I haven't updated on him in a while so I thought a monthly update would be good on his 34th month!

* He isn't going to bed as easy anymore. He goes to bed now at 7:30. We have been playing around with his bed time b/c he clearly needed a change. But we don't have a great system yet. This week I have been feeding him his dinner at 5:30 like always and then he can hang out with Owen and me when we eat our dinner after Sam goes to sleep, which is usually around 6:30pm. I had been trying to get Andrew to eat with us but it was too late. He seems to enjoy being in the kitchen with us while we eat. Then we clean the kitchen a little and around 7 or 7:30 we make it to his room to read his 3 books. There are so many steps now to his bed time routine - for example, brush teeth, go to the bathroom, put socks on, turn on CD, say prayer and read books. He still only wants me to do all of these things. I was rocking him while we read and then we get up to do one or more of the routine. But it wasn't working. He was too wild and wouldn't settle down for the night. This week I asked him if he wanted me to read in his bed. He thought that was a good idea so we made the rule that we have to do all of our night time things before we get in bed b/c once we are in bed - we don't get back out. This is a two-fold rule. One part is - it is helping him stay calm after we read books. Part 2 is - discouraging him to get out of bed to come find me after I leave his room. We are only on day 3 of this (tonight will be day 3). All is going well until Owen goes in Andrew's room to sing one last song (this has been going on for months). But for some reason Andrew starts to cry for me when Owen leaves (that part is new). It is usually "I need a new pull up" situation but last night we had to let him cry it out. Crazy! I thought we moved pass this stage.

* Andrew wakes up so early. This is also something new - in the past 3 months or so Andrew wakes up at 5 am!!! Even on weekends. Some mornings he goes to the kitchen and turns on the tv. One morning we came in and he was watching Montel Williams. Now I try to remember to keep it on sprout so if he wakes up early to watch tv it will be on a channel that is good for him to watch.

* He also comes in and wakes me up in the morning. I really don't need an alarm clock anymore. Today was priceless. At 5:15 am he comes in our room. He touches my hand and says "Mama, I'm awake; Mama, I'm hungry; Mama, I want yogurt". And then I hear Owen say - I guess that means we are up? Yes, yes it does.

* With all of the early morning wake up and going to bed later we have had a very tired Andrew. This weekend (and it was a rainy weekend so that didn't help) he was so tired. All he wanted to do was lay around and watch movies. We let him to an extent but it was a little odd.

* We thought if he went to bed a little later that it would cut down on the getting out of bed and the playing for an hour or so before he fell asleep. It has helped a little bit but not much. :( Figuring out the right bed time is hard because for so long we had it down to a science.

* In other news about Andrew he still love trucks, planes and fire trucks.

* He doesn't like going to school and will tell us he doesn't want to do.

* He has started to tell us he doesn't like us or doesn't like Sam.

* Andrew wants to do everything - turn on of off the lights, shut the door, unload the dishwasher, open or close the refrigerator, drink out of a big cup with no top, eat with a big fork, and that is just from the top of my head.

* He loves to push buttons which is great for his little mind to explore but not great when the button are in your car or other places that pushing buttons will mess something up.

* He LOVES to be outside. I hope he is always like this.

* Andrew likes to play school with us now. Last night he told Owen and me that we were having circle time. He got a book and told us to sit on the rug. We had to cross our legs too. Owen didn't do it at first and Andrew said "Dad, criss cross apple sauce". Then he read us a story. It is so fun to watch him pretend play.

I think that sums up Andrew right now. He is just so smart. Recognizes his letters, knows the days of the week, he counts pretty good, and remembers everything. He gets extremely shy when asked questions in public.