First Snow

When it snowed last week, it was far too cold for us to venture out, so I laid out some trash bags with beach towels in our living room, and brought in bowls of snow for the boys to play in. Here is O's snowman that he made!


He was pretty proud of himself!

This is his "policeman" face. He always talks about how he is eating his dinner so "I can be strong...like a police man!", or "Careful, momma...I will do it for you, I am a policeman." LOL!



Wadey wasn't in the best mood during this activity, so he decided to eat the snow, instead.



...and he hated it!

Halloween

October came and went in the blink of an eye. I was crazy busy with pictures, I had sessions almost every day the last half of October! So that explains my lack of posting. Carving pumpkins! Owen is not a fan AT ALL of getting his hands dirty. So, you can imagine how stoked he was to discover what was inside of the pumpkin he was supposed to help scoop out...

Meanwhile, Wade chilled in his highchair, being a little cutie-patootie.


Owen is refusing to help scoop pulp out.


It was hilarious, he was so disgusted by what was in that pumpkin!


Finally after daddy got all of the guts/string out, Owen pretended to help. Of course he used a spoon, and didn't actually TOUCH the inside of the pumpkin, but whatev.



And because he is, like, SO BIG, he had to have his own (butter) knife to carve the pumpkin.


Our's was not a fancy pumpkin, folks. That is what happens when momma forgets to buy a carving kit, and on October 30th runs to Target to grab one, only to discover that they are all gone!


We, scratch that, Owen and I do a lot of crafts around here. Chris says that it is because my inner 1st grade teacher is trying to escape, and I would say he is probably right. Before we had kids, and we were in college, Chris worked for Liberty Schools maintenance department, and did electrical work. He always joked that elementary teachers would probably quit their jobs if they weren't allowed to hang things from the ceilings. SO TRUE! I have carried that home with me, as evidenced by the orange/black paper chain, egg carton bats, pipe cleaner spiders, fingerpaint spiderwebs, and footprint ghosts that were alllllll hanging from our kitchen table light during the month of October. :o) Here are our ghost lanterns. I will let you guess which one was done by: *mommy, *owen and mommy, *owen.


Halloween night! We had a Toy Story theme going. Izzy was Jessie, but unfotuately they weren't able to come out with us. We still had a great time, though and the kids got a ton of candy! After each and every house, Owen would run up to Joel (Hudson's dad) and say, "I GOT THE CANDIES BARS!!!!!!" Every.Time. We were rolling laughing. We had a great halloween!!

Random things about us.

I realized today, that my little family of 4 is a very quirky bunch. Well, maybe 3 of us are...Chris is scarily normal.

1. Owen and I have to have something sweet before bed, with a glass of chocolate milk, *every night*. Is this healthy? Probably not. Is it fun? Definitely.

2. Owen and Wade both have to sleep with white noise machines (Owen prefers the "rain" setting, while Wade uses the "waterfall" setting). If the machines turn off, eyes snap open. It sounds like a tropical rainshower in our house at nighttime with the sound machines going.

3. I have to sleep with the lines on my blanket going up and down. If they blanket somehow gets turned around to where the lines are going side to side....I have to turn it around. Literally cannot go to sleep with it like that. ***shiver***

4. I sleep with a teddy. Owen sleeps with a cheetah. We both use our stuffed buddies as neck pillows while we sleep. And yes, teddy and cheetah travel with us where ever we go.

5. Owen is obsessed with boxes and bags...pretty much anything that he can use to store/carry his toys. He has random ziplock baggies all over the place that have toys crammed in them.

6. Owen's comforter has to have the animals facing up, looking at the foot of the bed. If the striped side is showing, or if the animals are looking toward the headboard, we gotta remake the bed.

There are so many more, I am going to keep adding to this list. We are a strange group.

WADE SLEPT!!

I shouldn't be posting this and jinxing us, but we put Wade to sleep last night at 8:00, and he didn't wake up to eat until 4!!! I went to bed at midnight (I am working with my friend's VERY PATIENT AND AMAZING husband on getting my new website completed, so I am up to at least midnight every night working on stuff, getting galleries ready, writing out information, etc. BUSY!), so I got 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep last night. UH-MAZE-ING. And he is napping right now, and Owen and I are having a relaxing cuddle session on the couch. :o)

My cousin, Sarah

I posted on FB a few days ago, requesting prayers for my cousin. She lives in Australia (moved there after she got married to her Australian husband), and has been diagnosed with Golden Staph. It has attacked all of her organs, and she is in very critical condition. Golden Staph is a form of MRSA. She is breathing 20% on her own, and is on a heart and lung machine. The drs are saying that it will be months before they know how this has affected her, and her road to recovery will be long, as in years. It is still very touch and go right now. Please keep praying. Thankfully, my aunt Barb was able to fly out to be with her during all of this.

One of Wade

I shared this on my other blog, but wanted to share it here as well. Isn't.He.Perfect?!?! He is getting to be such a big boy, which makes me all kids of sad. :o)

Another recipe...

Spinach Artichoke Chicken Pasta

1 lb chicken breast (seasoned with salt and pepper, grilled, and diced into small pieces)

1 small white onion, small diced (you only need 1/2 of it)

1 package of frozen chopped spinach, cooked and drained WELL

1 can of artichoke hearts (NON-marinated!!), chopped up

1 package of cream cheese

1 pint of heavy cream

1 package of shredded parmesean cheese

1 garlic clove, minced very finely

1 lb of bowtie pasta, cooked

(Have each ingredient prepared as indicated above, prior to starting this recipe!)

In a pan, melt 2 TBSP of butter, and saute the onion for a few minutes, until it starts to turn a little clear. Then, add the cream cheese, stir it around, letting it melt. When that has melted a bit, pour in 1 cup of heavy cream to help thin the cream cheese. After that is all combined, add in 1 cup of shredded parmesean, stirring continuously. Once that is all combined and melted, add in the spinach, artichokes, and chicken, and stir it all up. You can add more heavy cream to make it thinner, and more parmesean cheese to thicken it up. I usually wind up adding the entire pint of cream, and using an entire back (2 cups, maybe??) of the shredded parmesean. Once it is all heated through, serve over hot, cooked (obviously) bow-tie pasta. SO GOOD. And SO BAD for you.

I miss my husband!

Chris has been working insane hours for the last several weeks...can I just say that we miss having him at home in the evenings and on weekends? He has been gone for 14ish hours almost every day for the last couple of weeks!

Recipe Correction!!

In the recipe post for Company Chicken, I *incorrectly* stated to combine the first 5 ingredients in your crockpot. You need to actually put the first SIX (which would include the italian dressing mix....) in your crockpot, cook all day, shred the chicken, stir it up, and serve over cooked egg noodles. Sorry if anyone made this and left the Italian dressing mix out while the chicken was cooking!

I went ahead and fixed that mistake in the original post! Sorry!

Private

I will probably be making this blog private soon. No worries if you read it, just send me an email at jennifer.nichole@gmail.com and I will add you to my readers list!

Run, don't walk to your crockpot and make these for dinner!

If you are anything like me, your time to prepare and cook dinner is quite small. I have always been a fan of my crockpot, but I have started using it even more now that I am staying at home. Here are two recipes that we L-O-V-E at our house.

Company Chicken- I got this recipe from a girl I used to "know" from a message board for newlywed women. It is absolutely delicious!

1 lb chicken breast (frozen of thawed, doesn't matter)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can chicken broth (i use low-sodium)

1 package of cream cheese

2 TBSP butter

1-2 packets of Italian Dressing mix (I use 2, we are big "flavor people")

extra wide egg noodles (not the frozen kind)

put the first 6 ingredients in your crockpot, and cook on the low setting all day. When it is done, take the chicken out and shred it. Return it to the crockpot and stir. Serve the chicken mixture over cooked egg noodles. Chris likes to top his with a little soy sauce, but I don't.

No-Peek Chicken Tacos (you will thank me for this one!!)

1 lb chicken breast (frozen or thawed, doesn't matter)

1 packet of chicken taco seasoning

1 can of RoTel (or you can use the equivalent amount of fresh pico de gallo)

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup of water

sprinkle the taco seasoning all over the bottom of the crockpot. On top of that, lay your chicken breasts. Then, pour your Rotel (or pico) over the chicken. Then over the top of it all, pour the oil and water. DO NOT STIR. I know it will be hard, but resist the urge. Then, cook it on low all day, and do not lift the lid (hence the name "no peek chicken tacos"). When done, take the chicken out and chop it up, then return it to the crockpot and stir it all up. Serve it with all of your favorite taco fixings. DELICIOUS!

OMGosh Moment of the Day (well, 3 of them, anyways)

Chris and I have started the early stages of house hunting for our next home. We have the neighborhood selected, and the floorplan/builder selected. Yay! We are pretty excited, even though we won't start building for probably 2 years. (Which is going to seem like an eternity, now that we have other things in motion...) ANYWHO, we have been going out on the weekends in our free time (har-dee-har-har) to model homes in our area, to get ideas for things for our new home. One neighborhood in our area is, um, pricey. Let's just say, the main model home in this particular neighborhood is 500k, and that ain't even the most expensive house on the block.

So, we meander on in to this 500k home, to have a looksee. This house is GIGANTIC, and BEAUTIFUL. It is easily the most amazing house I have ever been in. Stunning. I literally cannot describe how amazing this house was. Breathtaking. So, we walk around the house, oohing and aaahing over all of the cool stuff, and then we make our way to the finished basement. Chris and I are looking at the wetbar, and I say, "Where is Owen?" (one of the times were I thought that Chris was watching him, and Chris thought that I was watching him. We aren't the only ones who that happens to, right?) I then look the left to see O, dropping his drawers and peeing in the 500k model home toilet. Let's not forget that he is 2, and well, his aim isn't something to write home about. So, I dash in the bathroom, and he said, "I'm making the water, Mommy." ("Making Water" is what he calls peeing) So, I clean the floor/toilet seat up, and was about to help him pull his drawers back up, and said, "Momma, I have to make poop now." Of course, my child would HAVE to go #2 in a 500k house. I said, "Sorry, O! You are not making poop here!" Ay, yi, yi.

Then tonight we went to our neighbor's house for a neighborly get-together. Owen drank a boatload of Capri Suns, and proceeded to pee on the deck, in front of like 10 of our neighbors. Luckily, we don't have stuffy neighbors, and everyone got a good laugh at me washing the pee off of the deck. Did I mention that O has terrible aim and peed all over his shorts as well?

Then about an hour after he peed on the deck, he went inside the neighbor's house to play with the kids that were inside. Well, one of my neighbors (an adult) went inside to use the restroom, and 5 seconds later he comes back outside and is laughing. He said, "Jen, come here." So I follow him inside, wondering what cool thing he is going to show me. We walked down the hallway, and he starts cracking up, and points to the hall bathroom. I looked in, and saw Owen, BUTT NAKED, standing at the sink washing his hands. And on the floor is the biggest puddle of pee you have ever seen. Apparently he didn't make it to the toilet!!! Pretty fun night for me, scrubbing my neighbor's bathroom floor while everyone is dying laughing at my son, lol!

Money, money, money

Now that I am staying at home with the boys and we are down to one income, I am obsessed with finding deals/bargains. I even started ***gulp*** clipping coupons. I know, I know, what a "mom" thing to do. But after I started doing it, I felt like kicking myself, because I could have been doing this for a long time, and saving TONS of money. For instance. I use disposable razors that are 5.99 for a pack of 4. I have always paid full price, and considered myself lucky if I happen to catch them on sale. Well, they went on sale last week for 3.99 a package. WELL, I had 3 coupons for $3 off (which made 3 packs .99 cents) and 3 coupons for $2off (which made 3 packs 1.99) and then I had 2 "Buy One Get One Free" coupons (which made each pack less than $2.00). I spent 10.97 and got $60 worth of razors, just buy combining the coupons with the advertised sale. SCORE.

Here is how I am doing it. (And this is probably (definitely) not the best way, but it is working for me, for now). On Sundays, I get the paper, and then take the inserts out. There are up to 3 coupon inserts: SmartSource, Red Plum, and P&G Brandsaver (P&G only comes about 1x a month). I cut all of the coupons out (except for, like, pet food, since we don't have pets) and then I organize the coupons in labeled baggies.
*Health/Beauty
*Paper Goods/Home Stuff
*Canned Goods/Packaged Foods
*Refrigerated/Frozen Foods
*Meat/Produce

Then, on Wednesdays when the grocery store ads for the following week are delivered, I see what is on sale, then I make our "dinner menu" for the next week based on what is on sale. (If hamburger is on sale, then we will have 2 meals with hamburger that week...if bananas are on sale, that is O's fruit that week, etc.) Then I go through my coupon bags, and get the coupons out for the things that I will be buying. It doesn't save you money to use a coupon to buy something that you don't need. So only buy the item if you are going to use it or donate it.

As for health/beauty coupons, I scored big at Target this week. I had $1.25 off of Dove bodywash coupon, and I saw an endcap that had Dove Body wash on sale, and as a bonus, the bottles that were on sale were packaged with a smaller additional bottle...so I basically got 2 bottles of body wash for $2.50. WOOT!

Don't worry, friends. We are not "hard up" or struggling to pay bills around here. But, the more money that is left in the checking account at the end of the week, means the more money that is transferred into savings. Which means the better vacation we get to go on next year! (Yes, NEXT year. Thankyouverymuch to BP for the lovely oil spill, and ruining our plans to go to Orange Beach. ***virtual kick in the shins***) So, I will continue to get out my scissors on Sundays, and get a sick little thrill as the cashiers scan my coupons while I watch my "Amount Due" grow smaller and smaller!

Swingset!

After what seemed like eternity (to Owen, which in turn, made it seem like eternity for the rest of the family...) the swingset is DONE! Don't you love the bruise on O's forehead? It actually wasn't from the swingset. He was rough-housing with daddy...ooops!


Owen absolutely loves the rings. He does these wacky stunts, and can swing pretty well on them! I am trying to teach him how to do a flip on them, but he doesn't have any ab strength to help hoist himself over. (Honestly, what am I thinking, trying to teach him to flip upside down...remind me of this post after his next head injury. Mmkay, thanks.)


We got a swingset kit that has a large "treehouse" area. It is 25 square feet. We knew he would want to hang out in it. He has a periscope, and 2 steering wheels. We figured that next summer Wade would be up there too, and we wanted them to each have one to prevent squabbles. :o)


This is the back climbing wall, that we didn't think O would be able to use. We were Wrong, with a capital "W". He shimmies up that thing NO problem. To the right of the rocks, I think we will put a rope ladder...not sure yet.


Just an example of the random stuff that O does that leaves us scratching our heads...


My sweet baby. He is such an awesome kid.



The other rock wall, and the slide. He flies down that thing, sometimes so fast that he scares himself, lol.


Chris did a great job on it! (With Owen's help, of course.) It is so funny, Owen has become obsessed with measuring with the measuring tape since they built the swingset. When he measures ANYTHING, he says, "It is forty-one-six-and-a-half." Either that or it is "twenty-nine-six-and-a-half." And he is DEAD SERIOUS about...do not even think about laughing, because *hello* he is trying to measure something! We laugh (behind his back) at this, because it is freaking hilarious. Just his seriousness is hysterical.


And while his big bro is busy breaking in the swingset, Wade chills out on a blanket in the yard, and makes silly faces at momma.


How did I get to be such a lucky wife and momma? I am in a house-full of sweet, handsome guys. Can't ask for much more than that!

"No! I want Wadey-Poo!"

That is what Owen says when we ask him if wants Mommy to have another baby. :o) Chris and I are TOYING with the idea of Smithlette #3 (not like, next month or anything!!!!) and when we ask Owen if he wants another sibling, he says NO. We think it is because he thinks that we won't keep Wade if we have another baby. Who knows what goes on in his crazy toddler-mind! We go back and forth about adding another baby. We know that with a 3rd, we would have to have me stay at home a while longer, which means we wouldn't be moving into our "dream" home for that much longer. Owen and Wade would have to share a room for a while (not that that is a huge deal or anything...),3 college educations to pay for, 3 cars to buy,3 houses to help buy, 3 kids in sports/activities, and oh yeah, we would be outnumbered. Right now, we play man-to-man defense with the kids. But if we have another, then, well, they would outnumber us and they would have Owen as their leader. And Owen is very smart. And sneaky. Methinks we would be in trouble! I would have to give up my beautiful SUV, in exchange for a mini-van (shudder) because since kids have to be in carseats pretty much until they get their drivers licenses these days, we would need the space. Although my Pilot seats 8 people, the middle row will not hold 3 carseats unfortunately! I think that I am certain that I want another baby. Chris is less certain. To him, if you have 3 kids, you might as well have 19 and move next door to Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar. (shout-out to the Duggars! Love your show!)

But, on the other hand, I can't imagine not being pregnant again, not hearing your baby cry/coo/laugh/etc for the first time, not seeing those gummy smiles anymore. Every milestone that Wade hits, makes me mourn a little, because it very well may be the last time we have a baby this little in our house! I can totally see why my grandma had 13 kids! It is addicting!

Anyways, what a random post. I had read a similar post from my friend, and it got me thinking!!!

My poor kids

Okay, I know it is horrible of me that I took a picture in the middle of a toddler meltdown. But, it was a ridiculous tantrum over me not letting him squirt a juice box into a bowl. I know, I am a meanie.



While all of that drama was happening, my sweet Wade was just hanging out, swinging away in his swing!



And the ultimate torture occurs when I get a new piece of camera equipment and have to test it out. That happened the other day when my new lens (50 mm 1.4) arrived. It is pretty dreamy, and Owen doesn't look too bad himself!


"Ugh, I hate this."


"Are you done yet, crazy lady??" He has no patience. But, he makes up for it in cuteness!

Ouch

Owen is the biggest klutz. Ever. At gymnastics, he banged his head on a trampoline leg which resulted in the small bruise on his forehead. Then later that evening he was jumping on our bed and lost his balance and hit his head on the other side. I swear, his poor noggin has seen more lumps and bumps! Pardon the dirty face, too. He had finished snack and had snuck in some marker time, which resulted in him drawing on his face while momma was attending to baby brother. :o)

Hmm...

I have been thinking/feeling guilt about the address of our family blog. WeBeTheSmith3.blogspot.com. Well, we were the "Smith 3" when I created this blog, but we have gained another sweet baby, so now we are the Smith 4. But I don't really feel like changing my blog, because I like to look back on things that we did over the last 2 years. So, I guess I will just continue on, feeling a twinge of guilt every time I post something, as if I am not recognizing dear, sweet Wade. Speaking of Wade, I re-read my last entry, and remembered I never did post a follow-up. It turns out he was so cranky/sleepless because the poor kid had an ear infection and bronchiolitis! So, after TWO antibiotic injections, and a couple of weeks of breathing treatments, Wade is back to his normal self! He has been sleeping much better, too. On a "typical" night (I put that in quotes because, really, is there such a thing as "typical" with a new baby?) he will go to sleep at about 8, and wake up about 6 hours later to eat, and he goes right back to sleep for another 4-6 hours. Wade is a WAY better sleeper than Owen was. Owen didn't sleep through the night until I stopped nursing him to sleep when he was 15 months old. (Before then he was waking up an average of 3-6 times a night. UGH)

Speaking of my big boy, guess who is POTTY TRAINED?? He has done such a great job with it! He will maybe have one accident a week. I am so proud of him! He loves wearing big boy underwear. I will say that if we are going to be away from home for more than an hour, then we will have him wear a pull-up, but we still take him to the bathroom and he rarely has an accident in his pull-ups. I am SO happy because we were pretty much over buying diapers for 2 kids!! I promise that next time I post, I will post some pictures!

Today....not a good day.

Wade went to sleep last night at 8, his normal time. He woke up at 11 to eat, and at 1:30 he woke up again to eat, which is typical for him still. He is still on a 2-3 hour eating pattern. When I tried to lay him down after feeding him at 1:30, all hell broke loose. He SCREAMED if I tried to put him down, and was only somewhat content when I was holding him while rocking him. If I tried to lay him down, or if I tried to sit down, he would start screaming. He has been that way all day today as well. I am literally running off of 90 minutes of sleep today. I was going to nap with the boys this afternoon, but you guessed it. As soon as Wadey-poo was not being held or rocked he was screaming. Which, woke Owen up, so now I have a crabby baby who is strapped to me in the Moby Wrap, and a crabby 2-year-old who is in his room trying to rest again. Thank goodness Daddy will be home in an hour! What a day! Hopefully tonight is better. If not, we will be going to our Pediatrician's Urgent Care tomorrow to rule out any illness!

And, because I feel like all I have been doing is talking about how fussy Wadey has been, I want to write some things I adore about my youngest baby. I love how he is always "on alert" when he hears his brother, like is preparing to be assaulted. It is so funny, when he hears O, his eyes get huge and he starts moving his head around. He is on the defense! I also love how when he has the hiccups, or when he coughs, or has a huge burp, he will let out a "AAAAAAAH!" afterwards. It is a mix between a huge sigh of relief, and a scream of frustration. Hilarious. I also love when he is eating, he makes the loudest sounds. It is to the point where 1) Owen imitates the sounds he makes and 2) I am nervous to feed him in public because he makes so many moans and groans, and sighs and grunts. It is so funny. Speaking of sounds, another thing that is hilarious is that Wade is seriously the loudest baby on the planet. For real. He is always grunting, groaning, coughing, sighing, (screaming), etc. Even in his sleep. Chris and I lay in bed with him when he is sleeping and we just crack up at how LOUD he is. I am also in love with Wadey's sweet gummy smile. He makes you work for it, but in the end it is worth it! During the days, Owen and I spend time trying to make Wade smile. We probably look totally ridiculous, all up in Wadey's face blowing raspberries and calling him our chunky monkey. But his huge open-mouth smile is precious!!! He is definitely growing up way too quickly.

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things...(I am singing, that, in case you can't tell)

I realized the other day that we have a few things that I really cannot imagine NOT having. No, these are not glamorous things, or even exciting things. BUT, they do make our lives easier with our kids! So, I though I would share. The first item on the list is the Homedics Baby Sound Spa sound machine. This thing is MAGICAL. Owen has had it since he was 1 week old. It was the only thing, besides the dishwasher, that would calm him down during those fussy periods. He has always slept with it on, and he still does. It has several different sounds, but we don't stray from the "Rain" setting. It also has a projector that puts images on the ceiling, which O enjoys. We will be purchasing one of these for Wade tomorrow! This thing has gone with us everywhere...to Florida, South Dakota, Wyoming, St. Louis, etc. Owen can't sleep without it.

Owen despises getting his hair washed. When we are washing it, you would think we were using boiling-hot oil to rinse his hair. Ridiculous. This nifty cup creates a seal around his forehead so the water doesn't pour in his eyes. It makes shampooing TOLERABLE for Owen. Not ENJOYABLE, but tolerable.

Oh, The Sandlot. Owen is *obsessed* with this movie. I can usually put this on while I am feeding Wade, and it helps to prevent Owen from climbing on the counters, pulling an entire case of wipes out of the package, drawing on the couches, and getting in other mischief. It isn't a failproof plan, seeing as how it didn't work last week when he painted diaper cream on the walls, or this week when he dumped a bag of pretzels on the floor...but I would say it has about a 70% success rate at distracting him. Good enough for me.


The Piddle Pad is up next. Now, we haven't actually used this yet, but we bought it in anticipation of the potty training that will be taking place in the next few days. It is supposed to keep their carseat dry if they, um, well, piddle in it. We shall see.


The Summer Infant Video Monitor with Color Screen. LOVE.THIS. We have it in Owen's room so we can check on him at night without actually getting our lazy arses up outta bed. It is lovely!


Both boys have sensitive skin, so we use Burt's Bees Baby products on them for bath. We actually thought Wade had a reaction to it in the hospital, but apparently his rash that he developed was from being held by someone who uses strong detergent. Poor guy. His skin has cleared up nicely since we have been home, and we have used the Burt's Bees stuff ever since.


Our wonderful friends Christina and Mike got this for us as a baby gift. It is the Fisher-Price Sleep and Play Rocker (or something like that). We love it!! It keeps the baby more upright, which has been great for Wade's reflux. It also kind of cradles them and keeps them cozy. It was a GREAT gift!!

Well, I hope that this list helps someone who may be looking for something! Have a great night!

Fishing

We took Owen fishing for the first time today! First stop before we got to Watkins Mill was to buy a fishing pole! Of course, he got a Spiderman pole, and O thought that he was the coolest! These pictures loaded in backwards order, so this is a pic of O and Daddy releasing their fish.



Here is Owen, handing a worm to daddy to hook. He didn't want to touch the worms, until we told him that Hudson likes to touch worms. Then he was all about holding them!



While O and Daddy fished, Mr. Wade ate lunch, and then snoozed in the shade. Look at how big he is getting...SO SAD that he is growing up so fast. He is 1 month old today. How is that possible?


Here is the 1st fish that Owen caught. He was so dang excited, we were all cracking up.



And here is Daddy and his clone, reeling in O's 1st fish of the day. We fished for about 90 minutes, and O caught 3 fish. (2 Perch and 1 Blue Gill) He also had a lot of fun throwing sticks, leaves and rocks into the water. Luckily we were the only ones out on the dock for the majority of the morning, so he didn't irritate any serious fishermen. (Although I doubt serious fishermen would be fishing off of dock...) We had a great morning, and we can't wait to go fishing again! All day O has been running around saying "I CAUGHT A FISH!!!" And if you ask him what kind he says, "BIG fish." :o)

Raise your hand if you are the cutest baby!

Here are just a couple of the pics I have worked on from Wade's VERY SMALL selection of newborn pics. He is not a fan of being messed with, so his newborn sessions were quite short! Newborn photographers (or anyone who has ever seen me do a newborn session) know that it takes quite a bit of manhandling to get all of the cute poses. Well...my youngest boy, much like his father, is not a fan of getting his picture taken. So, we have very few pics to choose from. that is okay, though! The ones we got are precious!!



Owen and Wade...my baby loves. I am very excited about having two little boys. One exciting thing that my friend and co-worker (and mommy mentor!) Carlene pointed out to me is that since my boys are so close in age, (there will be 1 grade between them in school!) we will be able to watch them play sports together when they are in high school! How fun will that be? Anyone who knows Owen knows that he will be playing every sport offered, and I imagine that Wade will be the same way, seeing as how his big brother will help him determine what he "likes" to do. The above picture didn't go as planned. Owen was not in the mood to do what I was asking of him (um, is he ever?) but that is ok. I still love this one.

Brothers

The other night, after both boys had been bathed, We put Wade in his crib to chill while we got Owen lotioned up. Well, Owen really wanted to snuggle his brother and watch the "fish tank". Owen is so in love with his new brother...it melts my heart!

Wade has officially outgrown his newborn clothes. HOW sad. I had to take him to the pediatrician yesterday for his reflux, and he weighed almost 11 lbs as of yesterday...which means that he has most certainly passed the 11 lb mark today. Which means that he has gained more than 1 lb a week since his 5 day check up. Little piggy!

In Owen news, his new thing is putting his stuffed animals in "time out." (Hmm...do you think he goes to time out very much??) In all actuality, he *doesn't* go there a lot, but he is definitely not a stranger to time out! Tomorrow we have a play date planned with Izzy, which Owen is very excited about. We aren't sure what exactly we are going to do, but we know it will be fun! And on Friday, we are going to Liberty's Methodist church's open gym with Hudson and his mommy...which should help O wear off some crazy energy! Depending on the weather this weekend, we may officially lose our minds and head to Omaha for a couple of days...go to the zoo, walk around, etc. We still haven't decided if that is a wise idea or not! We figured that if we wanted to head back the same day, we totally could, but if we wanted to stay, we could just get a hotel and stay. We shall see! My next post may just be titled, "Our Horrific Trip to the Omaha Zoo Where We Lost Owen...And Our Minds."

Great Blog

No, I am not talking about *my* blog. (Although I could probably win a "Longest Post With No Clear Main Idea" award for my last entry! You can tell how sleep deprived I am just by reading that novel-length post of nonsense!) My Aunt Laura told me about this blog, and I am totally hooked.

http://www.kellehampton.com/2010/01/nella-cordelia-birth-story.html

Long story short: The mom goes in to the hospital to have her little girl...they have a ton of family and friends there to celebrate the occasion with them. As soon as the baby girl is delivered, the mom realizes that the baby has Downs Syndrome. Nobody had any idea that the baby was going to be anything but a typical newborn, until she arrived. The link that I posted above is the birth story of baby Nella. It is so beautiful, sad, and uplifting...you will need a box of tissues! Reading this blog, as a mother, it just makes me realize that #1, how much I love my boys, and how thankful I am that God has entrusted Chris and I with the job of raising them and loving them...and #2, it really shows that a good mother is able to cope with any challenges that are thrown her way and to see the good in life, and in her children. I hope that you enjoy this blog as much as I (and my Aunt Laura) do.

Transitioning

Well, it has been 3 weeks since Wade joined our family! How time flies...it definitely doesn't feel like he is 21 days old.

If you are reading this blog, then I am assuming that you know me, and you know that I am making the transition from mommy/1st grade teacher, to stay-at-home momma. I am very excited to have the chance to stay at home with our children. But at the same time...I am going to REALLY miss teaching. I absolutely love it, and it will be strange to not walk into my classroom 5 mornings a week, teach 6-year-olds how to read and do math, and be a part of the most amazing team of teachers that one could ever ask to be a part of. If you teach at Manor Hill, you know what I mean! It is a wonderful school that has special students, parents, and teachers. I started working at Manor Hill when I was 17, and have worked there in some capacity (Kids Zone, student teaching, subbing, teaching...) for the last 10 years, with the exception of the 2 years that I taught in Smithville. I was so excited to have the opportunity to go back and teach at "The Hill", as we fondly call it. :o)

While I am staying at home, (the length of time that I will be staying at home has yet to be determined...depends on if Wade is our last baby) I am lucky enough to be able to finish my masters degree. I was very stressed about how I was going to continue my education, while working and having 2 children. Luckily, staying at home kind of naturally solves that issue. I am going through Mizzou and am getting my Masters in Literacy Education. If all goes as planned (hahahahaha) then I should have it completed in 3 years, which if Wade is our last baby, I will probably go back to work in 3 years when Owen goes to kindergarten so he can go to school where I am teaching. (By the way, lets all just hope and pray that the school district's budgets aren't so dang tight when I am ready to go back. Mkay? Thanks!)

So, transitions. We have semi-smoothly made the transition into a family of 4. Wade is a much fussier baby than O ever thought about being. He is always grunting, moaning, groaning, crying, etc. We have gotten some wonderful suggestions as to how to help his gassy belly, so hopefully he will be more comfortable soon so he can sleep. He is also on meds for reflux, and those should be showing some signs of relief soon! Poor little guy will start gagging and choking and coughing out of nowhere. It is sad!

Owen is such a routine kid, so this transition has been a but bumpy for him. For instance, naptime. He likes to sleep in our bed, and watch Barney until he falls asleep. Well, that was all well and good until baby bro got here. Now, I try to get O down for a nap, and it NEVER fails that 30ish minutes after Owen falls asleep, Wade starts screaming, and O (who is a very light sleeper) wakes up from his (normally 2-3 hour) nap and is a bear. I am sure that once Wade feels better the screaming will be much less, and they can both get some rest. Poor boys.

I also feel badly for Wade, because he cries so much more than Owen ever did to get his needs met. For instance, I will be getting ready to get O's breakfast, and Wade will start crying because he is hungry. Well, if I sat down to feed Wade, O would have to wait 30 mins for breakfast. So, instead, Wade cries and I scramble to get O's meal prepared...all while trying to reason with a 2-year-old as to why he can't have "chips and cheese" for breakfast, which leads to a meltdown for O because he is tired.

I am confident we will be a well-oiled machine very soon. (I just need to chant the previous statement every morning when it is time to get up!)

One thing that will save me soon is that our fence should be installed soon! That will be great...to be able to take Owen outside and not have to worry about him running away. And we can keep all of this big outside stuff...outside! And not have to worry about someone stealing it! It will be GREAT. Well, enough rambling. Owen is done watching his movie (The Sandlot is his new fave) and is requesting to go and see Izzy. And Chris just called and said he will be home late. Very late. At least the overtime will be nice!

Welcome, Wade!

This is going to be a fast post, seeing as how I am now the mommy of 2 kids, and have pretty much no extra time on my hands! Here is the story of Wade's arrival. Due to the fact that I was measuring ahead during this pregnancy, and the troubles that I had during Owen's delivery, my doctor decided that we were going to induce labor on Friday, the 30th. When we found out, I cried for about 2 hours. I was nervous for Owen, and I was really nervous about labor! We spent Thursday evening at Zona Rosa with Owen, since that would be his last night as an only child. We ate at his favorite pizza restaurant, we went to Bounce House Moonwalks and played, and then got ice cream and watched the birds play in the fountain in the courtyard. It was a great evening! Then the following morning, at 4 am, my in-laws got to our house to watch Owen, because we had to be at the hospital at 5 am for the induction! I was proud that I got my IV and didn't throw up this time! Woohoo!

They started me on pitocin right away, and it wasn't really doing much, so they kept upping my dose every 30ish minutes. Eek. I was excited, however, because the day before my induction I called up to Labor and Delivery and asked if the nurse that I had for when I delivered Owen would be working. She was! So I was able to request her, and MAN, did she make this experience a good one. She is the best.



before I was in too much pain, we watched "19 kids and Counting"


And then real labor hit. My dr got there at about 7 am, and broke my water. All of the sudden, all of the pitocin started kicking in, and I was having off of the chart contractions, with only a minutes break in between. It was brutal. At 10:30, I finally had had enough, and requested my (lovely, heavenly, beautiful, wonderful) epidural. I was dilated to 5-6 cm at that point. At 11:30 my nurse checked me again, and I was fully dilated. Wow. At that point, unknown to me, they turned off my epidural so that I would be able to feel when I was pushing, to help prevent another issue like I had with Owen. I was freaking out when I was feeling the pain. I have never felt anything like it!!! I am SO not an outward "I'm in pain and going to let everyone know it" type. With Owen, I labored on Pitocin for 9 hours without an epidural, and never made a peep. Let me tell you, when I was pushing Wade out, I was flat out screaming. It hurt. SO. BAD. I felt bad for Chris because that couldn't have been fun to watch! But, after 25 minutes of pushing...

Wade was here! When he was halfway out, my dr said, "Jen, look down and grab your baby!" So I was able to help deliver him and pull him up on my tummy! It was pretty cool, except that I had the goopy cheesy stuff all over my hands and I felt kind of awkward asking for a tissue, lol.


Here he is! 7 lb 14oz, just like Owen was! What a cutie!


Proud Daddy!

Here is my wonderful dr, Dr. Saunders and Wade. She is seriously the most amazing OB. Both of my delivery experiences have been super positive with her. She is so calm, and everything was just amazing! LOVE her. Even though I was initially ticked about her turning the epidural off, she soooooo made the right decision. Pushing Wade out without it was HORRIBLE, but my recovery has been so much easier than what I had to deal with when I had Owen.


After his afternoon nap, Owen joined us at the hospital to meet his new brother. When he came into the room, he kind of freaked out. He didn't know what to think, and he got his boo-boo face on, and almost started crying. So he hopped up in my bed and snuggled me for a bit, and then was super excited to have a new brother!

And here are my loves! I couldn't be happier right now! We had such a time deciding on a name for Wade. We literally went into the hospital with a list of 5 or 6 names and chose the name Wade about 5 minutes before I started pushing. It is no secret that I really wanted Wyatt, but after looking at him, he is definitely NOT a Wyatt. He is a Wade, and that name fits him perfectly. :o) Our little family is complete. Probably. :o)