The Edomms

Paxton Christmas 2011

2011-12-26T09:33:00.002-06:00

I knew our Christmas weekend was going to be non-stop. With the two kids who are totally into Christmas this year, it was impossible to completely prepare for it mentally.

Friday, December 23 - Steve's family, Sarah's family, and my family drove down to Red Oak to have our immediate family Christmas. The boys jumped right into the opening presents event. They got some really good gifts! The favorites were cowboy hats, a stick horse for Andrew, trains for Andrew, and the Bat Mobile and Joker for Jacob. Here are the pics.

Matthew with his loot

Jacob with his loot

Andrew with his loot

What?! (Jacob's new favorite expression)
A Bat Mobile!

Andrew with his Stick Horse

Grant with his Sock Monkey Jack in the Box

Just what I wanted! A Cowboy Hat!

Andrew

Grant and Jacob

Grant jumped right into a hat box!

Occasionally we would find Grant in Abby's carseat

Cowboy Andrew!

Papa with the Princess

Derek with his Angel!

Saturday, December 24 - We had the whole Paxton clan out to Red Oak. It was really nice! Last year we tried something different by having it at a restaurant. This year, everyone wanted it to be at someone's house, and they were all SO excited that my parents volunteered to host. It was probably one of our best Christmases yet!

The plan was for everyone to arrive around noon, and then we would eat around 12:30. This is where I found myself when it was time to eat.

He literally crawled up into my lap, got comfy, and went to sleep.

I cannot remember the last time that happened.

Andrew woke up about halfway into lunch time by having an accident. We both changed clothes and then sat down to eat. Then the kids played for a while while the adults visited.

Grant and Matthew

Jacob

Grant and Andrew. I love this pic!
It looks like Andrew is going to pull out Grant's tooth.
These two were sizing each other up the entire time we were in Red Oak.

After play time, we played our annual White Elephant Game. Brian ended up with ingredients to make S'mores and a gift certificate to the movies. I ended up with a recipe box perfect for pulling recipes out of magazines! I was pumped! I tear out recipes all the time and have no place to put them.

The boys attacked him for the Graham Crackers.

Then we took some pics of our entire family and just my family.

Our Family - Great pic of everyone!

My Family - Great pic of everyone!

Christmas was off to a great start! Now it was time to load up the boys' gifts and head home to get ready for Santa!

North Pole Express

2011-12-18T09:28:00.002-06:00

The Boys on the North Pole Express

My boys LOVE The Polar Express. They know all the music and a lot of the lines. It's amazing! We literally find them playing around the house and singing the songs - even the Josh Groban song and the slow song the little boy sings with the girl ("When Christmas Comes to Town").

Anyway, we heard that they have a train that is similar to the Polar Express in Grapevine. Brian and I decided to surprise the kids with it last night.

Daddy and Jacob

Friday afternoon, the boys went to Red Oak. My parents took the boys to get cowboy boots (which they love!). Brian and I showed up to get them while they were eating lunch. We let them play a little longer, and then we took them home. All I told them was that after nap time, we were going to get ready for a special surprise from Mommy and Daddy.
First, we went to see the Muppet movie. I'm a HUGE fan of the Muppets! So when Andrew had had enough, Brian took him out of the theater. It was great, and I think Jacob is a Muffet fan now, too!

Andrew, Mommy, Jacob

Next we parked by the train station in Grapevine. Brian let me out before they parked so that I could get the tickets. Then I met up with them, and we changed the boys into their PJ's. When we told them we were going to ride the North Pole Express, Jacob immediately got excited about riding the Polar Express. I told him it was like the Polar Express, but they called it the North Pole Express.

Mommy and Jacob

The train was running late. So we had to wait outside for about 30 minutes before they let us into the tent with the pre-ride show. In my opinion, they could've gotten the train back on schedule had they skipped the pre-ride show for our train. It was totally cheesy and quite painful. Not to mention, we had to wait probably another 30 minutes inside this tent...with tired children...before this stupid show started. Jacob actually LOVED it! So, okay...worth it a little. :)

Andrew

Jacob

While we were waiting, Brian took the boys to look at the train. Andrew immediately said he didn't want to ride the train because he was scared of it, but he did just fine!

Santa, Brian, Andrew, Jacob

So on the train, there was more ~~obnoxious~~ entertaining singing. It went on the ENTIRE trip. Again, Jacob loved it! Andrew sang along, too! Santa made his way through the cars, and he gave each kid a bell. Jacob rang his the entire time. After the ride, all of the kids got hot chocolate. It was a GREAT afternoon! They were both so surprised and everyone had fun! This is really shaping up to be the best Christmas we've ever had!

The boys show off their bells from Santa!

Yum! Hot Chocolate!

Holiday Dinner Party

2011-12-18T09:01:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, I had the idea that it would be fun to get my girlfriends together for a holiday party. So I bounced the idea off of one of my best friends, Megan, and she suggested a Holiday Dinner Party. From there, the idea grew! We had to send invitations and plan the meal quickly.

We had a Veggie Tray, Cheese and Crackers Tray, and Spinach Dip for Appetizers.

Veggie Tray

The Salad was supposed to look like a gift. I think I bought tomatoes that were too small, but the presentation was still different than a normal salad. Check out my Pinterest to see where I found the inspiration. http://pinterest.com/cedomm/

Flank Steak with Roasted Asparagus and Mashed Potatoes for Dinner.

And Megan's Grandmother's Lemon Cake for Dessert.

Of course, there was wine - lots of wine.

I had a few games that we played, too! I had a White Elephant game. Everything was from Kirkland's but they were all really cute Christmas Decoration items. Then I asked each person to write down her favorite Christmas memory. Then I read them aloud, and we had to guess who wrote the story. I also bought a Pickle Ornament. The pickle ornament is a German tradition. You hide the ornament on your tree, and the child who finds it first gets to open a special gift or the first gift of Christmas. I had never heard of this until this year. Since my kids are probably too young, I thought it would be fun to try it out on my girlfriends. Success!

The whole night was so much fun! It was a big enough deal where I needed things to look cute and the house to be pretty clean, but it was low key enough to where I did not feel stressed at all.

Big Shout Out to Megan who helped pull it all together! And a big thanks to Megan, Emily, and Cassie who started the clean up process before they left.

Place Setting

Wine Glass Candle Holders

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-06T08:53:00.001-06:00

Thanksgiving was fantastic this year! Brian and I hosted his family: his mom, sister, her husband, his parents, and his friend Chris (who was a Thanksgiving orphan). Cooking + Scheduling Chaos + House Full of People = Happy Carrie! It was so much fun!

The day before, we kept the boys home from school. This was a change in the original plan which was to send them off to school. But Jacob was SO into it this year and extremely excited about our "Thanksgiving Feast" that we knew he would love to help. And if we keep Jacob home, we can't send Andrew to school (not in our minds at least). Andrew helped me cook, and you know, he did really well! He gets excited and prefers to do things "the Andrew way," but the threat of getting kicked out of the kitchen was enough to keep him in line for the most part. He helped me with the fruit salad, corn pudding, and green bean casserole. Jacob helped Brian with cleaning the house. Actually, he didn't help that much. He put on all of his tool belt, safety goggles, and John Deere cap and pretended to work. Brian and I were both surprised, but he kept himself busy. And props to Brian! He took off work for the whole week, and he worked his little tail off around the house! It looked amazing! And it kind of worked out for me because I prefer to be in the kitchen, and he prefers to stay out of the kitchen. :)

Wednesday evening the boys went to Allison's house. They helped to crumble up the cornbread for her dressing/stuffing. They loved it! Late that night Emily brought the turkey to the house, and we schemed about how to baste and roast Tom. Jacob stayed up to watch her prep the turkey. He just had to see Tom before he was cooking. When I put Andrew to bed, I asked him if he was excited about our Thanksgiving Feast. He sat up in bed, and he proudly listed everything that he helped to make that day! To me, its another sign that I'm gonna need to keep an eye on this boy....probably for forever. It was amazing to me because we had started cooking about 12 hours earlier.

The big day came very quickly after only about 3 hours of sleep. I put Tom in the oven about 30 minutes later than I had originally planned. Our guests are all very casual, so I was banking on their not being uptighth about my missing my 1:00 lunch time mark. I was going to baste Tom with his own drippings, but he was not very fatty at all! So on a whim, I made a baste from butter, thyme, poultry seasoning, and sage. I only missed my mark by 45 minutes, so I would've been rocking it had I put the turkey in when I originally planned. I'll take it! Everyone was so nice about the meal and our home.

When Emily arrived around 11:00-ish, the wine started flowing, and it flowed very smoothly for this lady right here...I had not had anything to eat before lunch time. Three glasses later, I was ready for a nap! lol! So I snuck upstairs to put the boys down for their naps (which did not go so well). When Brian came upstairs to see what was going on, I was fast asleep, and the boys were playing. I felt much better and stayed away from the wine the rest of the day. I was happy to see that everyone had made himself comfortable at the house. They were veggin' out watching the Cowboys and visiting with each other. My parents brought Matthew over to play for a while, too!

At the end of the day, I told Brian that I thought the whole day was a success. He told me, "I think it's the best we've had in a while." Anyone who knows Brian knows that things like this are not said unless he truly means it. So, of course, I cried. :) It was awesome, and he is already talking about hosting again next year!

Here are some pics. I did not take any, but Allison took a couple. One is of the table, and the other is Emily, Antonio, Brian, and me in the kitchen (or kitchen area).

The Great State Fair of Texas

2011-11-02T12:45:00.006-05:00

This year Brian and I took off work on a Wednesday to take the boys to the State Fair of Texas! We had so much fun, and a weekday is definitely the time to go. At first, Andrew said he did not want to go to the fair, so we had to call it a carnival. We think it is because Jacob talked about a dragon ride he rode on last year. Andrew likes to look at scary things, but he has no interest in being near them.

First we saw the Bob the Builder exhibit. I'm pretty sure we can see that any time at the Museum of Nature and Science though. It was not listed on the Fair map. We were the only family in there for most of the time.

Next we stopped off to see the Wooly Mammoth just outside the museum. Again, we can see it any time we want.

Then we had the obligatory Fletcher's Corny Dogs. Well, Brian and I had the corny dogs. The boys sang songs and laughed. And then we took a quick picture of the boys with Big Tex! Can't miss that!

Then we went on this little farm that they have set up. It is a really neat thing for the kids. It's a complete play farm with animals and a garden. They have to do some work, then get the product (milk from cows, wool from sheep, vegetable from garden), sell it to market, and then they can buy a snack with the money. Jacob now wants a farmer's basket.

Next we walked around A LOT and finally sat down for a storytime with Mother Goose. Andrew probably could've fallen asleep, so we decided to spend the last of our coupons on Funnel Cake and head out. The boys slept on the way home, and then we were all pretty lazy that evening. We had a great time, and I can't wait to go again next year!

A New Purpose

2011-11-01T02:57:00.006-05:00

We had an episode at our house last night that gave me a new reason to blog - I want to remember how I got old so fast. The reason would be Andrew. This kid does not give a crap about anything! It is really scary that he has this attitude at 2 - well, 2-1/2 if I want him to sound a little older.

Last night was Halloween. I even dressed up! It was a lot of fun. Jacob was a police officer, and Andrew was Spiderman. Anyway, we make our way through the neighborhood and head back home. Side Note: Andrew has been having a bit of a tough time lately because he is getting 3 of his 2-yr molars at one time. OUCH! He flip-flops on his moods constantly throughout the day. He said a couple of times while we were trick-or-treating, "Daddy, I am so happy right now!" It was really sweet!

So then we get back home, and of course the boys are dying to have candy. It was close to bed time, so Brian decided they could have one each. Then we let the boys play for about 10-15 minutes, and then it was time to brush teeth. The boys were a little upset about bed time, so Brian told them, "If you don't brush your teeth, then we have to get rid of all of your candy. You have to brush your teeth if you're going to eat candy." Mr. Pissy Pants decided he didn't want to brush his teeth. So then he turns up the drama. He was crying so loudly and just not being good at all. Brian finished up with Jacob's teeth and sent us on our way to start a book. Then he brushed Andrew's teeth. And here's the part that is going to make both of us old way before our time - Brian got a trash bag, got Andrew's pumpkin bucket, and told him to put all of the candy in the trash. (by the way, this is totally breaking my heart while I'm reading to Jacob). Andrew never cried! In fact, he started naming each candy as he put it in the trash bag. He did not care AT ALL! WTF?! And Brian told me later that he asked Andrew if he had fun trick or treating, and he told him no.

Bottom Line is that we just haven't quite found his button yet. We think its his independence, but who knows! It's scary when your two year old can turn any kind of discipline into a game.

In other news, the boys were absolutely adorable tonight! We've had the costumes for a month, and there is growing room, so they can play with them for a while.

The boys with their pumpkins - Andrew's scary face and Jacob's happy face

Mommy Witch and her boys

The Most Handsome Guys EVER!

Andrew Plays Soccer

2011-10-12T08:17:00.003-05:00

Here is a video that makes me cry from laughter every time I watch it. Brian is playing a soccer game on the XBOX Kinect, and Andrew is trying to play, too!

Weekend Projects

2011-10-03T12:34:00.003-05:00

We had a great weekend! Friday I took the boys to dinner at Jason's Deli. They love that place! They were so good the entire time we were there. Then I wanted to go to Target because we had to bring the snacks for the kids at the soccer game. I can probably illustrate this best with an equation: Chocolate Milk + Chocolate Ice Cream + A trip to Target that HAS to be done in the same night X= (does not equal) success. They were awful! Jacob was not following directions, and then he started yelling. I had only picked up one item and I was halfway thru the store; I knew disaster was coming if I tried to finish my real trip. So I told the boys that we were going home. Jacob started crying. Then Andrew says to me, "Mommy, I get to sleep in the play room tonight," and Jacob really lost it. He screamed from the back of Target (back middle to be exact) all the way to our car and all the way home, "I want to sleep in the play room." Side Note: Friday and Saturday nights the boys get to watch a movie before bed and then sleep in the play room. I could NOT believe he carried on for so long! We're talking 15-20 Minutes. I carried him out like a baby and let Andrew walk with me holding my hand. Andrew did, in fact, get to sleep in the play room, and Jacob had to sleep in his room. Honestly, this was the worst part of the weekend.

After they crashed, I began my weekend project which I was sure I could knock out! I began taking off the border around our laundry room so that I could paint. Every room in the house (except the two that we painted) are a very generic and ugly peach color. It's all neutral. I'm done with babies, and I'm not pregnant, so it's time to really move into the house to make it our own. OMG! I had no idea what I was getting myself into. It's going to take a while. All I wanted to do is paint, and it will be a while before I get down to that. I was so frustrated on Saturday with it that I didn't do anything else the rest of the weekend. Here are the pictures:

Before: After:

I eventually peeled everything off above the door. The After picture was after Friday night - an hour and a half of work.

The boys stayed at Grandmother's Saturday night, so I went to get them on Sunday. They were dying to play outside when I got there. When we got back home, we were inside for about 2 minutes and then spent the next 4 hours playing outside! They played...I worked. I cleaned up my flower beds, and then I started working on another project! There are two shrubs beside our house. The shrubs have grown into trees. On top of all of that, my neighbors put in a fence...right by one of the damn trees. We are getting rid of them, but I thought I could take care of some of the trimming since 1. I'm capable; and 2. it was absolutely gorgeous outside! Here are those pics:

Before: After:

I'm not quite tall enough to get all of the green stuff off, but I got a great start on it! The plan is to make a pretty little walkway to our backyard. I'll keep you all posted!

The ending to the weekend was perfect! All 4 of us curled up to watch a movie and the boys fell asleep: Jacob on Brian, Andrew on me. I hope to keep it all up this week and that next weekend will be just as great! :)

Edomm-Garcia Wedding

2011-08-29T12:40:00.005-05:00

In June Brian and I FINALLY took a vacation! We went to Puerto Vallarta for his sister's wedding. Leading up to it, Brian was very anxious about the whole thing. First, we were going to leave the kids here. I'm sorry - I was NOT going to have a vacation in Mexico with my children. This was not even a negotiable item. :) Second, we were leaving the country and going to the drug capital of the world, Mexico. Nevermind that drugs are not really an issue in PV. Just about everyone I spoke with about our trip leading up to it was nervous about the drug stuff. I tried not to think about it so that I wouldn't be nervous. And third, we are the worst homebodies EVER! So planning a trip and packing and making sure everything is where people can find it incase something happens is a HUGE deal for us. But we made it! I had a great time, and I'm pretty sure Brian did, too, looking back.

I did not enjoy the half day of traveling - both to PV and returning to DFW. Personally, I think it is overrated. I was so tired by the time we arrived in PV that all I wanted to do was eat and sleep. I guess it was vacation and there wouldn't have been anything wrong with it if I had done that.

The first day we laid pretty low. We went to a restaurant at the resort that was set up buffet style. And, of course, we started to drink. We had lunch with Brian's dad, and we had dinner with his mom. After dinner we took a stroll on the beach.

The second day we spent by the beach and pool. Neither of us burned, which was great! I actually did get drunk in the pool. It had a bar in it...what do you expect?! ha!

That evening was the Welcome Dinner. It was at a restaurant that was basically straight up the hill from the resort. The drive there and back was very interesting! Here are a few pics (by the way, I was horrible about taking pictures the entire trip. These are courtesy Aunt Jann).

The Happy Couple - Antonio and Emily

Brian and Carrie - This is the best photo of us of the entire trip. There is one posed picture from just before the wedding. yeah...that's how we roll I guess.

Sunset - Isn't this amazing?! This was the view from the Welcome Dinner.

The BIG Day!!! Saturday I went into the city with MIL (Allison a.k.a. Grandmother) and Jann. They found a jewelry store that they liked, so I tagged along. Brian wanted to sleep in, and I was more than ready for a change of scenery. I was determined not to buy anything, but walked away sparkling. Hey..my anniversary was coming up! Another story to come on that. I got some diamond studs and a diamond pendant necklace. They go with EVERYTHING, and I wear them when I remember to put them on (and when I have time). Emily wore the necklace as her Something Borrowed, too! Beautiful!

The wedding was GORGEOUS! Brian and I got married in Vegas - I was not up for planning a big deal. But before each wedding we attend, I feel a little regret and wonder if we did the right thing. And then usually right when the ceremony is over (I'm talking as everyone is walking back down the aisle), I know we did the right thing for us. I just get caught up in the hype of a wedding before the show. BUT with this wedding, when it was over, I thought to myself, "we so could have done this!" It was simple, elegant, and just beautiful! Emily looked like a princess (as Jacob told her a couple of months before the wedding when we saw the dress for the first time), and Antonio was so handsome! Just after the wedding they took a stroll on the beach.

Then there was the reception! It was definitely one of the most fun receptions I've ever been to! Sarah, Mary, and Amy also had super fun receptions! First we all sat down to eat dinner. By the way, there were only 20 of us at the wedding total. It was perfect for a destination wedding! Anyway, dinner - yum-o! Then Antonio and Emily danced. It was one of the sweetest things ever! Not gonna lie - I cried! They are just so damn good together! Then everyone got to dance and boy did we ever! The wine was flowing, and I had my fair share. There was no after party for me.

We had a really great time and are so happy that we were able to be there to share Emily and Antonio's big day with them.

The Garcias

Pictures Continued

2011-08-24T08:26:00.005-05:00

This one is SO sweet! Jacob is the BEST big brother!

I love this one, too!

4 and 2 Year Pictures

2011-08-23T12:59:00.006-05:00

Sarah and Derek have some friends, Jesse and Rachel, who do professional photography. I think they are extremely talented! So I had them take the annual birthday pictures of the boys. Here are a few of my favorites!

Boys Birthday Party

2011-08-23T12:32:00.003-05:00

On the weekend between the boys' birthdays, we had a birthday party at a bounce house place. They had a BLAST! It was so worth it for that alone. But man, we came home with so many toys that it was a little embarrassing! I mean, my kids don't NEED any more toys. Crazy! We still have not let them play with them all.

So here are a few pics. We sold the entire idea at school as a party for Jacob, and then to the family we told them it was a party for Andrew, too. It was so nice for so many of Jacob's friends to come out to play for a bit!

Look at all of those boys! Jacob's class literally has 3-4 girls out of like 20 kids. Poor teachers!

Towards the end of play time, my kids started running around the place. Jacob held Andrew's hand and pretty much dragged him around the place. But Andrew just laughed and ran as fast as he could to keep up with Jacob. There were times where he would fall down, and then Jacob would just fall down, too! They just laughed and laughed! I was happy to see them having so much fun together.

Jacob is 4!

2011-05-02T22:26:00.003-05:00

(yet another way I failed him - one picture - a lot of video)

Last year, I had a hard time with Jacob’s birthday. This year I was ready for it to be over. We had already had my birthday, Andrew’s birthday, the boys’ birthday party, and now Jacob’s birthday. The end of Birthday Hell could not come fast enough.

One way we completely failed him on his birthday is that we didn't sing Happy Birthday to him at all! I mean, he got it at their party (crap...another blog post To Do), and his class sang to him. But we did not. We went to Jason's Deli for dinner (his favorite place!). He chose to have ice cream there instead of cake at home. It wasn't until bedtime that I realized we did not sing to him.

I do have to say that Jacob is growing into such a wonderful boy! Here’s what he is up to these days:

Height: TBA

Weight: TBA

Jacob is still our little helper. He loves to help out around the house all the time. Vacuuming is his favorite. He also likes to help us when we go shopping by putting things in the cart.

Jacob’s speech has improved so much over the last year. He stutters periodically, but it’s not as bad as it used to be. He also now actually says the J sound.

Jacob has an amazing imagination! He loves to pretend to be a police man which means he also loves to arrest us. No one is safe. He even got a police man costume for his birthday complete with binoculars, handcuffs, a baton, and a whistle. Yes...a whistle!

Jacob is a GREAT student! I could make a book from all of the Happy Grams he has brought home from school. He NEVER has timeout, and he listens to his teachers very well. His teachers tell us that their lives would be easier if they had a room full of Jacobs. I'm not gonna lie...it makes me nervous for the teenage years.

Jacob LOVES soccer! We are going to sign him up for Fall Soccer!

Andrew is 2!

2011-04-10T21:59:00.004-05:00

Andrew was 2 on April 7!!! I was doing really well with the whole thing until Thursday morning when I got to work. Then I got a little weepy and sad that my BABY was 2. It didn’t last too long, though. Andrew LOVED his birthday! First, he got to open presents, and he totally got that part of it. We gave him one big gift and a couple of small gifts. His favorites were the Radio Flyer Retro Rocket and Woody the Cowboy. He completely ate up all of the attention from Brian and me all day. Jacob, on the other hand, was not a fan of Andrew having so much attention. I could not believe how badly he took it all. We finally sent him to his room to chill out. All in all, we enjoyed the day very much!

So here is an update on my sweet Andrew:

Andrew is a very sweet, but very stubborn little boy. He knows what he wants, and that’s exactly what he wants. He is very independent. It’s such a great quality to have!

Weight: It's been too long - I'll update this when I have access to his info at home

Height: See above.

Andrew is really good about playing by himself if he needs to. It’s the beauty of the second-born I guess.

He enjoys reading books and coloring books….and the floor, and tables, and anything that should not be colored.

Andrew LOVES music! He dances, sings, and plays instruments. He has started to randomly sing his ABC’s around the house. He will sing along to silly songs in the car, and when he hears a guitar in a song, he will pretend to play one.

He is finally interested in Potty Training. We have not had any action in the toilet, but he enjoys sitting on the potty (at appropriate times). I’m ready for him to get it so that we can move these diapers out of here! :)

UPDATE: July 29, 2011: Andrew could not care less about actually using the potty. I am convinced he will grow out of diapers and pull ups before he actually uses it. Even when we put him in underwear, he does not complain when he has accidents. AMAZING! I was sure he would take to it immediately because he is so independent. I was WAY off on that prediction. Also - I think the kid is left handed. yay!

Presents!!

Riding his Rocket Ship! He loves this thing! Does he look like someone else to anyone?!

Jacob's face says it all here for how he felt all.day.long. Is it bad that I giggle at it?!

MMMM! Birthday Cupcake!

This picture says it all for how much Andrew enjoyed his day! He's on his rocket ship, coloring in his new coloring book (which has markers that will only put color in the coloring book), and holding his new Woody doll!

Look Who’s 30!

2011-04-10T21:33:00.004-05:00

I turned 30 on March 25. Normally, I don’t make a big deal out of my birthday, but this year, being 30 and all, I wanted to have a party. Lucky for me, one of my best friends has a birthday 2 weeks before mine, and she turned 30, too! So, with a lot of convincing on my part, we had an Offensive T-Shirt Party at my house. It was so much fun! I just wanted to share a few pics.

Mom and Steve. I was dissed by both siblings - Sarah's shirt said, "I'm the younger, hotter sister." This is from the beginning of the night btw.

My family - including Cardboard Rose!

The Birthday Girls!! I've known Megan since preschool! I cannot imagine my life without her!

Andrea, Justin, Megan, Bethany - I went to Middle School with these people and Megan went thru High School with them. So happy we are all friends again!

The Mullen Girls - Megan and her sister Heather

My other bestie, Cassie, and her husband Brian (a.k.a. Kurt Cobain)

Who do you think had the most fun?! (hint: it was not Sarah or me) Where did that cheesy smile go?!

A Night of Firsts

2011-03-22T09:44:00.002-05:00

The boys are going on ages 4 and 2 (in less than a month!), so the "firsts" of their lives are becoming more rare. However, last night we had 2 firsts for Jacob!

1. He had timeout at school yesterday. This is extremely significant because Jacob's teachers have always gone on and on and on about what a wonderful kid he is. So much so that there was a time that we thought they just told us that to make us feel good. It was THAT over the top sometimes. He always brings home Happy Grams to tell us how wonderful he was at school. I mean, there have never been any complaints about Jacob. So last night, you can imagine how surprised Brian and I were when Jacob just volunteered that he had to "sit on the ledge" during outside time. He said that Andrew had spit at him, and that his teacher thought that he had spit at Andrew (they play with each other thru the fence). As we started talking more, we realized that his regular teacher had taken a break and there was a substitute teacher with them during outside time. I talked to his teacher on facebook last night. I knew she would also see the humor in the whole situation! She told me, "I probably would have fallen over if I had walked outside and Jacob was sitting out." She also told me that she was going to hang close to the fence today during outside time to hear what Jacob says to Andrew. :)

2. So while we were discussing the timeout during outside time, Jacob kept repeating "I did not spit at Andrew." In fact, Brian told me that it was the first thing Jacob said to him when he arrived to pick him up. I guess he was getting a little upset at Andrew about the whole situation as we were discussing it. Andrew had a timeout during dinner, and when I brought him back to the table Jacob said to him, "Andrew you are not my friend anymore." He went on to tell him that he cannot play with his toys until he gets bigger. Then they played the rest of the evening together. :) Jacob's teacher also told me that the whole "you're not my friend" is really big in the 4's room right now.

First Team Sport

2011-03-20T22:02:00.005-05:00

Jacob is playing soccer now! He absolutely loves it. He is not very aggressive, so he's still learning that it is okay to take the ball away from the kids on the other team. During this week's game, he was telling the kids which goal was theirs...on both teams. He had a point during the third quarter where he was driving down the field with the ball, and he was well on his way to score a goal. But then a kid on the other team fell down, and he stopped kicking the ball to make sure the kid was okay. Very sweet but something that we need to work on during game time. :)

Full Speed Ahead!

And here is Jacob's #1 Fan!

A Perfect Morning

2011-03-10T08:19:00.003-06:00

Life is absolutely rocking right now! Texas weather is awesome right now. I'm starting to actually get some control over work and home life. I honestly cannot remember the last time I felt this great!

This morning was no exception to the greatness. :) The boys were absolutely adorable. First, Jacob was all smiles when I turned on the lights in the living room (he can hear me get up and then waits at the top of the stairs for me to turn on the lights before he comes down). Andrew was just as sweet as he could be. I went into his room, and we were babbling to each other. Then he crawled to me, leaned in, and said, "Kiss." Then he gave me the biggest, wettest kiss. How many more of those am I going to get...you know, where he actually asks for it. Then we scurried to the kitchen to take a peek at the muffins baking in the oven.

When the muffins were finished, all four of us sat down together to have breakfast. This happens maybe once a quarter. We let the kids watch PBS Kids in the morning during breakfast, and this morning was no exception. Between shows, they had a fundraising commercial (usually they have a Word Girl update, and Brian and Andrew sing the Word Girl theme). So this lady pops up on the screen and says, "Hi. I'm Nancy..." Without missing a beat, Andrew pops off, "Hi!" and I think he even waved a little! Goofy.

When Brian and I were finished with our breakfast, we went back to getting ready for work. At two completely different times, the boys came up one at a time and gave me a hug. And then, to top off the entire morning, we heard Jacob's favorite song...Animal by the Neon Trees. And we all went crazy dancing and singing. Absolute perfection!

Happy Thursday everyone!

Spring in January!

2011-02-08T22:28:00.004-06:00

On January 30, the weather was absolutely beautiful! Since the weather men were calling for ice on the following Tuesday, I decided I better get those boys outside.

They got some little scooters for Christmas from Aunt Jann. We haven't been able to play with them at all since Christmas, so I took advantage of the beautiful weather by taking them to play with the scooters.

They Live Among Us, The End (Hopefully)

2011-02-08T20:10:00.003-06:00

Well, we still have not caught any mice. Here's what I think happened.

When I found the evidence in our pantry, it was chilly outside. I think we were having highs in the 40's, so they probably thought our home was a perfectly warm place to stay for a bit. Then the weather became beautiful and warm! Ah...I love Texas! We didn't hear any scratching in walls or found no evidence anywhere. Not that we had heard a lot before that, but we didn't hear any for like a week. I kept all of the traps set and baited with peanut butter just incase they got hungry and came back to the pantry to look for some goodies.

Well last week we were frozen inside for 4-5 days. Literally frozen inside. Ice and snow were on the roads, and my boys were perfectly content playing inside the entire time, so I wasn't about to offer to take them outside. Anyway, on Friday morning, I walked into my bathroom to take some headache medicine. I was already a little ticked off because they had forecasted some snow, but we probably got 3 inches. I was starting to get cabin fever, and I was really wishing I had made a quick store run for the change of scenery the day before. Well, I noticed a few ants crawling on my counter. I screamed which woke up Brian. So I marched to our utility room to get the ant spray. When I returned to the bathroom and turned on the light, I saw TONS of teeny tiny ants crawling in a straight line on our floor. Now, what you should also know is that ants in the bathroom is not that unusual. After a really good rain shower, we get them. That being said, I have NEVER seen them like this. I was immediately disgusted and totally pissed off. It turns out that ants like peanut butter and warmer temperatures, too! We had put a mouse trap in our bathroom behind our toilet, and I guess the snow gave them the final push they needed to move in.

So Brian got up for real, sprayed the poison on the ants, removed the mouse trap that was covered in ants, and cleaned up the messes from all of this. He's my hero!

They Live Among Us, Part 2

2011-01-26T12:57:00.002-06:00

Still. No. Mice. I'm not going to lie. I wish we had caught one by now. It doesn't help that I was awake from 3:30-5:45 before I rolled out of bed this morning, and I heard commotion in the kitchen area. I was sure I would find that one of the traps had caught one. Oh well...we'll keep trying!

Jacob is obsessed with the mice. He keeps talking about the messy mouses and their stinky poop.

Last night the boys were role playing more of what they do at school. Mr. Alex comes once a week to sing songs and play instruments for the children. So Jacob got out his guitar, Andrew got his, and Jacob also gathered a bag full of toys. He sat down in the chair and said, "Now, do we make messes with the toys? Do we break the toys?" Of course, Brian and I answered yes to both questions. He's a little jokester, too, because he would just smile at us. Eventually Andrew sat down next to me and Brian and he would just clap his hands (with the beat!) as Jacob played songs.

That reminds me! So Andrew has been having time outs on the naughty stool since he moved into his big boy bed. He has done an extremely good job at sitting and not crying while he sits in time outs. Right now he only sits for one minute. Jacob, on the other hand, can easily turn a 3 minute time out into 45 minutes. Let me tell you, I cannot wait until he is bumped up to 4 minutes in April! Anyway, Andrew was in time out the other night, and I heard him start singing. He has such a low and rough little voice, but he would make his voice go high, too. It was so cute! The kid loves his music! He asks me almost daily to sing the itsy bitsy spider while we're sitting at the dinner table.

In other news, I have big dreams of making big changes in my life in 2011. I am not the most organized person in the world, but I am taking steps to become more organized (even if they are baby steps right now). I'm also trying to bring my lunch more days than I go out for lunch. That one hasn't gone so well, but I haven't been just terrible about it either. Anyway, at the beginning of the year I told myself that if I didn't bring my lunch that I'd eat something healthy. There is a Subway right around the corner from our office. I have been horrible about holding up my end of the deal where I eat something healthy if I go out....until today! And I must say, it wasn't bad!

Time to get busy at work. I'm squeezing in some blogging during the morning break and lunch breaks at work. I just need to get more pictures up here.

They Live Among Us

2011-01-25T08:25:00.003-06:00

Good Day Bloggers! I have literally been in bed for the last 4 days because I decided to have my tubes tied. They knocked me out for the surgery, and I had 4 days off from kids and house duties. You can't beat it! I feel almost 100% normal, and surgery was on Friday.

In other news, I've begun to follow this website, www.flylady.net. It helps you develop a FLIGHT plan to avoid CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome). I'm still working on the first two steps: Shine Your Sink every night and Dress Down to your Shoes in the morning before you do ANYTHING else. It's fun and I recommend it. Sarah, my favorite sister, introduced me to the Fly Lady.

And lastly, what welcomes you back to reality better than a small crisis at home?!?! That's right, after having 4 days off (did I mention I was completely off mom and wife duty for 4 days?!?!), I had to completely clean out our pantry last night. We. Have. F*. Mice. YUCK! I guess it all started about 2 weeks ago when I heard some noises in the kitchen. I woke Brian early Saturday morning to investigate. At first he said it was a critter, and then he came back and said he thought it was the ice maker. phew! Then last week, about 2 days before surgery, he came home from work and shared that he was pretty sure it was a critter that we had heard the previous weekend. He thought he had seen a small black mouse running in the garage. great. Okay...we'll get some traps. Oh yeah, that surgery thing popped up, and mouse traps were the last things on our minds. So I was putting up a few things in the kitchen late yesterday afternoon, and I opened the pantry. On the bottom shelf, I noticed some black specks. Oh no. It can't be. Then I moved the flour that was beside the black specks (which was inside a freezer bag), and there was a hole chewed in the freezer bag and flour bag. Needless to say, flour was spread all over the shelf. And the evidence suggests we are housing more than one mouse.

So last night we set out some traps. Well, Andrew had accidentally made a mess on the floor with his dinner. It was Grandma Rose's lasagna. He really doesn't like to have a mess on his hands, so once he dropped his fork, he was done. Well, he's almost 2, so he's old enough to clean up his mess (with a small amount of help). Since it was messy, sticky lasagna, he absolutely refused. For like over 2 hours REFUSED! So Brian told him he would have to clean it up this morning before breakfast. We had a genius idea! Why don't we put a mouse trap in the middle of the lasagna mess?!?! Then we would be sure to catch a mouse, right? We could not have been more wrong. Apparently lasagna is much more tasty than peanut butter. So Andrew escaped from having to clean up his mess, and our little mouse friends had a nice little meal last night. You can find a positive in everything, right?!!?

Weekend Wrap Up

2011-01-18T12:17:00.002-06:00

Our weekend was more eventful than usual, and it was great! On Saturday I went to the grocery store with Andrew, and Brian and Jacob went to Home Depot. I bought all of the goodies to make more deceptively delicious meals. This week's menu consists of Chicken Parmesan (with spinach and carrots), Honey Mustard Chicken (sweet potatoes), Lo Mein (sweet potatoes), and later in the week I'll make Orange Chicken (I think this also has sweet potatoes). The recipes are really easy to make, and you don't need to go out and buy a lot of weird ingredients that you'll never use again. I love it! Best Christmas gift by far! At Home Depot, Brian picked out some paint samples for our room (YAY! Painting is on my list for 2011) and some light fixtures for the house. You know, fixtures that we actually like. :)

So after I returned home, I made Andrew some lunch (standard chicken nuggets....my kids live on them over the weekend). Then I started a load of laundry. After I started the laundry I started gathering trash. On my way to put a bag in the garage, I thought I heard some noise as I was walking through the utility room. What?!?! That sounded like crackling under my feet. Why would there be cr...ack....ling.....OMG!!! WATER EVERYWHERE!!! Sure enough, here comes Andrew running after me. He runs into the utility room (of course he was wearing pants that were too long for his short little legs), and he ran right back out when I told him to get out. Then he looked up at me and kind of fussed, "Feet! Feet!" So I turned off the washer, took his pants off, and locked him out of the kitchen. Then I called Brian to tell him that they need to come into the house through the front door because our pipes were frozen. Clean up begins, and I'm mad because it is above 40 degrees, so there is no reason our pipes should be frozen. In about 15-20 minutes, Brian and Jacob get home. Brian kind of creeps around the corner of the kitchen island, and he says, "I think I know what happened." He goes on to explain that he thought I might do laundry while the pipes were actually frozen earlier in the week. So he took out the drain tube to put salt into the pipe and forgot to put the tube back in the drain hole. The real news is that I did not fly off the handle when he told me. He helped me clean up the mess, and we were fine! Then he called his mom so that we could have a date night (it's been FOREVER!).

We went out with Cassie and Brian Saturday night. I cooked all day Sunday. We also managed to watch 2 movies. Great weekend!

Facebook Friends

2011-01-12T08:20:00.005-06:00

I am friends with the boys' teachers on Facebook. Brian and I are some of the younger parents at the school, and the teachers are only a few years younger than us. Plus, let's face it, they are awesome people! Brian didn't like it so much when I friended the teachers. Had I not friended them, I would've missed out on little nuggets like this:

"Andrew got to stay home with Mommy today because he threw up on her bed."

"You throw up in the toilet or on Daddy." (he shared this with his friends one day)

And this from Christmas: "Jacob is so excited about Christmas that EVERYTHING we do in class has to somehow relate to Santa and the North Pole. We were watching a Bookflix that had clouds in it and Jacob says, 'It's a snow slide in the North Pole!' One of the other boys, of course, corrected him and he just said, 'Maybe. But it's almost Christmas so it's NOT clouds. It's SNOW in the NORTH POLE for SANTA.' He was VERY serious."

In other news, it is friggin' cold here. I am not a fan! Last week I rocked on my resolutions, and this week I'm back to just living in chaos. I'd like to blame the weather because it's really got me in a weird and very unpleasant mood. I'm not sleeping well; I don't want to get up in the morning (which means I drag in a few minutes late....every day for work); and I'm completely unmotivated to do much around the house. I've planned a little girl time this weekend with my friend, Cassie, so hopefully that will pull me out of the funk. Oh yeah...and if Andrew would just get well and stay that way, it'd help. :)

Here are a couple of pictures of the boys at ICE at the Gaylord. (okay...Andrew at ICE. Blogger is messing up and won't let me add another picture)

Happy New Year!

2011-01-10T12:40:00.002-06:00

Happy New Year to everyone! We spent New Year's Eve this year with the boys. It was so fun! Brian and I went out before we picked them up from school to get hats, noise makers, and some yummy snacks for our celebration. Andrew stayed up until 10:30, and Jacob stayed up until 11:00. And then they both slept in until 8 I think.

I thought the new year was going to bring a new blog, but man...it is a royal pain to set that up. So I've decided to stick with blogger. (Brian thinks I should switch to wordpress)

I've made some crazy resolutions for the new year. Basically it can all be wrapped up with saying that I would like to be more organized. I make this resolution every year, but this year I've actually made some changes in the way I approach things instead of just saying "I'd like to be more organized." Last week was great! Things flowed more smoothly at work and home. The tough part will be to keep it all up.

Brian bought the second edition of Deceptively Delicious for me for Christmas. I think it is by far the best gift I received! What you do is puree vegetables, freeze them in 1/4 and 1/2 Cup portions, and then use them to cook. The recipes are so simple, and every one has been a hit at the house!

Today I am home with Andrew for the first illness of the year. That didn't take long! His tummy was weird all weekend, and we could tell he didn't feel well. Then I wasn't feeling well yesterday or this morning, so I stayed home with him. We had great timing if you ask me. It snowed here yesterday (not even enough at our house for the boys to play in it), and then freezing drizzle hit this morning right before rush hour. So all of the roads have been in bad shape. I think we'll both be back to a normal schedule tomorrow!

Lastly, I am working on my Christmas blog. I have TONS of pictures. It was the best!

Here's to a happy new year for all and a full year of blogging for me!

Christmas Activities

2011-01-01T21:06:00.003-06:00

This was by far the most fun Christmas season I believe I've ever had! I tried to do as many Christmas activities as possible with the boys (mainly for Jacob). So here's the run down of the activities in the last 30 days.

1. Put up the Christmas decorations. They boys LOVED putting the "balls" on the tree.
2. The Trains at Northpark. We started this tradition last year with my parents. My boys love trains, and so this is a must-see every year!
3. ICE at The Gaylord. I really wanted to see this exhibit this year because of the Charlie Brown theme. They bring in literally tons of ice each year and sculpt scenes based on the theme. It is truly amazing! One minor detail that I forgot was that Andrew HATES to be cold. oops! So he did not take it very well. That meant that I didn't get to see much either. I scurried to get him out of there, but it still took forever because of all of the people. Jacob liked it a lot, so he and Brian had a good time!
4. Christmas Lights. I love looking at Christmas lights each year, and Jacob took an interest this year. So I took them to one of the popular neighborhoods to look at the lights. It only took an hour of waiting in line (after the 30 minute car ride from Grandmother's house), and we made it thru half of the neighborhood. I tried so hard to make it thru the whole thing. I fed them healthy crackers, graham crackers, and Jacob even scored some chocolate during the trip. We jammed to their favorite songs from The Polar Express and my favorites from the Glee Christmas Album (yep...I'm a Gleek). It was fun!
5. Santa. We made it to see Santa! We went with Matthew and Grant, too! The Santa picture of my boys includes the whole family. They were both scared. Then we wanted a picture of all 4 grandsons for my parents. I'm in the picture, too, but I'm mostly hidden. You can see that my boys' shirts are pulled tight to keep them from running away.
6. Decorate Cookies with Santa. I posted about this earlier. We had fun watching the boys freak out around Santa. There weren't any meltdowns, but you could see their discomfort on their little faces. Kinda funny!
7. Elf on the Shelf! It was our first year to have an Elf on the Shelf thanks to Grandmother! Our elf's name is Elfie.
8. Advent Calendar. Again, thanks to Grandmother, we had an Advent Calendar. The boys LOVED moving a small Santa toy from day to day each morning. This was a wonderful thing to have in our house for Christmas.
9. Decorating cookies for Santa. Jacob and I spent some time on Christmas Eve to decorate cookies for Santa. So fun! I can't wait until next year when Andrew will be old enough to participate.
10. The Night Before Christmas. We read this every year. I love this tradition!

Christmas Time Is Here

2010-12-15T22:22:00.004-06:00

I love Christmas more and more with each passing year, and the kids do nothing but feed the monster. I love to decorate (even if I don't actually get it done); I love the music; and I love buying gifts for everyone!

So when it was time to begin decorating, I had plenty of helpers. The boys helped us get the tree out.

Then they decorated the tree.

Then we HAD to get a Christmas Train! It has been the year of the train in our house.

This year Jacob gets it! We've got the Santa stories going non-stop, our Elf on the Shelf moves every night, we pretend to be on the Polar Express, and we've got the list for Santa memorized. Andrew loves to sing Rudolph, too! Except for the part where he is afraid of Santa. We had a family Santa photo this year. It's a step up from last year where you can actually see tears hanging off of Jacob's face....even with me in the picture.

And it looks like Andrew is going to be afraid of Santa. The kids' school had a night where the kids could decorate cookies with Santa. So Santa made his way around the room, and he eventually made it over to the table where the kids were sitting. Andrew would not even look at Santa, and Jacob sat in Brian's lap because he was afraid.

Decorating Cookies

Scared of Santa sitting right next to him

Andrew's Animals

2010-12-15T22:15:00.002-06:00

Andrew actually talks and makes more noise than Jacob ever did at his age. He always has coo'd more and babbled more. I am just not as good at taking the video of him as I was with Jacob.

But the other night, Andrew was in the mood to show off while we were sitting at the dinner table! Right now he is totally into Gorillas. He will walk around like a gorilla, and he likes to bang his chest, too! We have an animal book with lots of animal pictures. He loves to find the gorilla....over and over and over again. It was actually the first thing he asked for this morning (even before his milk!).

In this video, listen carefully as he actually says, "Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!" like Santa Clause. I think only Brian and I can understand the Merry Christmas part, but watch for it. It's the part where he throws his hands above his head.

He used to know that the horse says Neigh, but in the last couple of months, he's changed it to the clicking noise like when they walk. He will actually run around the house and make that noise. Jacob likes that game, too!

You’re So Awesome

2010-12-01T20:41:00.001-06:00

I just had one of the most rewarding moments since I became a parent. Jacob and I were discussing Christmas. We went thru the entire scenario: Santa opens the fireplace doors, sets out toys for Jacob and Andrew, gets back into the fireplace, goes up the chimney, gets back on his sleigh, and rides off with his reindeer about 10 feet to the next house. When Santa is finished delivering toys to all of the good little boys and girls, he goes back to the North Pole. Jacob wanted to clarify that it is the real North Pole that Santa goes back to. As soon as we were done reviewing Santa’s gig the night before Christmas, Jacob turned toward me, gave me a big hug, and said, “You’re so awesome!” My heart literally melted!

Then, as if the awesomeness wasn’t enough, he reviewed his daily morning routine: he goes downstairs when he sees our bedroom light on, comes into our room and gets on the bed, we talk for a few minutes, then he tells me he is hungry, and I get his breakfast…”every time” (according to him….with a big smile on his face he says it). Heart melts more! It’s like he really appreciates that I do that for him. What a great night!

Andrew Dances

2010-11-22T21:44:00.003-06:00

Andrew LOVES music! He always has. Back in June he started to show us his awesome (white boy) moves.

So Little Time

2010-08-23T21:48:00.003-05:00

Oh my goodness! I do not have any good excuses like Amy and Mary for being blog-lazy. I guess it is just a crazy time. I've got 2 drafts saved, but the posts need pictures and videos. I've been a little behind at work until just a few days ago, and so I've been completely disinterested in looking at my computer in the evenings. So here's a quick update on the stars of my life...the boys.

Jacob can write his name!! I am so proud of him! They started teaching him at school by having him trace the letters they wrote in yellow. But he was free-handing it in no time. Way to go buddy!!

Andrew said his first sentence Saturday morning. "More Waffle Please." It's too bad , he was throwing a fit while he was saying it and I was unable to reward him for asking nicely. I'm proud of him, too! Tonight I helped him with something, and I said, "Now say thank you." He understood exactly what I said, threw his arms out, and made some noise that was his way of saying it, too. He's got the Please thing down; so now we'll work on Thank You.

If you see my facebook posts, you know how much my kids like to play with cleaning tools, particularly floor cleaning tools. Brooms, dust pans, swiffers, steamers, and vacuum cleaners are a huge hit in my house! I just wish they could use them all for real. They can also help to load laundry, move it from the washer to the dryer, and move the dry clothes onto the couch. That is wonderful!

Jacob is also learning to read!! He can recognize the words Fire and Truck in a book we have. His teacher says he is very interested in learning words in some of the games they play.

Andrew has been teething recently and has been quite pitiful. We've been letting him cry it out (he was sleeping all night until this came up), so he is just about completely hoarse. Tonight, for an added bonus, he had the reddest bottom I've ever seen. He was walking around like an old man, and even a cool bath didn't feel good to him. I hope the pitiful days don't last too much longer. I'm ready for my happy boy to be back!

I hope to post the pictures and videos soon! My boys are so precious to me, and I love sharing them on the blog.

Andrew is 15 Months Old!

2010-07-19T12:46:00.004-05:00

Andrew is 15 Months Old going on 3 years old! I swear, he seems so much older than when Jacob was 15 months old. Here's the quick list of his new tricks:

Size Stats
- 26 lb 3 oz - about a pound heavier than Jacob at 15 mos.
- 32 inches tall - the same height as Jacob at 15 mos.
- 48.5 cm head circumference - 1 cm bigger than Jacob at 15 mos.

- He is walking everywhere with pretty excellent balance, and now we're working on the running
- Climber! He loves to climb! He's not quite big enough to climb on the couches by himself, and he has not tried to climb out of his crib. But that is coming I'm sure. He does pretty well on the stairs but we keep the gate closed for his safety. He likes to climb on the little table that the boys use for breakfast and dinner. He has a hard time sitting down on the chair (bc he is so dang round), so he'll stand on the chair and wait for us
- Good Eater! This child will eat almost anything! I actually use him for my barometer on how well I cooked a meal. If he won't touch it, I messed it up. Then everyone gets peanut butter and jellies or grilled cheeses.
- Talker! Oh my goodness! I KNOW Jacob did not talk this much at 15 months. He now says Jacob quite often. And he can say fish, cheese, fan, chair, belly button, nose, no, mine, and Papa (my dad). No Mommy or Daddy yet, but we got him to say Papa over the weekend.
- He has become a little annoying to Jacob, but not too bad. The pediatrician told me at this visit, "Unless their lives are in danger or they draw blood, let them fight it out." I usually try to stay out of their way because I can't referee them all the time, nor do I have any interest in doing so! But now I can stay out of their way even more! It's actually kind of cute to see them fight. They don't do it very often. It's funny when Andrew takes something from Jacob, and Jacob starts to chase him. Andrew just turns to where Jacob can't reach him and he scurries away. FUNNY!
- He's still pretty dramatic when things don't go his way. It's nothing to see him start hitting himself or roll in the floor when he's not happy. You'll know for sure! But when he's happy he is the most cuddly little boy! And HAPPY!!!
- Andrew LOVES music! He dances a lot, too!

He is truly a joy, and I cannot imagine our lives without him!

Horse Picture

2010-07-19T12:21:00.003-05:00

I LOVE this picture! I think Jacob looks so handsome! And, well, Andrew's face is priceless. It's even funnier because they had individual pictures, too. Jacob is smiling, and Andrew is crying. He actually has the exact same face that he has in this picture. And he has new clothes.

My boys are so amazing! I know I say that quite often. Jacob is completely into role playing right now. He likes to pretend to be Dr. Dickey (his pediatrician), a garbage man, an ambulance driver, and a firefighter. Yesterday he literally spent the entire day playing with his fire trucks pretending that Brian and I were on fire. With me he played out the entire scenario. I'm on fire (it's a little morbid as I write it); the firefighters put out the fire; then I get into the ambulance to go to the hospital (complete bed with a pillow, blanket, and stuffed animal for comfort); and then Dr. Dickey (Brian) comes to check me out at the hospital and wrap up my burns. The game took a turn for the worst when Brian told Jacob that Mr. Bananas (Jacob's favorite stuffed animal) had to be wrapped up because he had been on fire. Actually, the game was over after that.

Yesterday morning Jacob was pretending to be the postman. He brought delivered some letters to Andrew. You know...the magnetic letters that are on my fridge. :) I wish I had been awake to see it, but it was my morning to sleep in.

Contractor

2010-06-23T21:02:00.002-05:00

We've been trying to prepare Jacob for the floor work that will begin tomorrow. He is familiar with construction workers, but not the word contractor. So we've been telling him that construction workers are going to come into the house to put in new floors. He's good with that!

Tonight I slipped and used "contractor." He got a little excited and described the following to me:
"The first construction worker is going to drive the comcracker (con-tractor). Then the second construction worker is going to drive the comcracker." He went all the way to 6, held up 6 fingers and asked me, "Is this six?" That's my sweet boy!

Andrew did WHAT?!?!

2010-06-23T15:01:00.003-05:00

I blog a lot about how sweet my little Andrew is. Oh my goodness...he has not been sweet the last few days! He has started to hit and throw really horrid fits!

The other day we were all hanging out in his room. He was hanging around me and then he just walked up and hit me. Of course, it didn't hurt, but it was an intentional hit...no doubt about it. So I asked Brian what we can do about that at his age; we concluded that we should just ignore it. Well the very next second he puts his little arm in the air and hits me across the face...full force. What the hell?!?! We decided that he would need to spend some time in his crib when he behaves like that...at least for now.

Then we had another incident this morning. I made a blueberry muffin for his breakfast. I saw him holding the muffin, and he looked confused about what to do with it. So I basically split it in half. He went crazy! He first threw his hands on the table. Then he threw his plate onto the floor; threw his milk on the floor; and attempted to throw Jacob's plate onto the floor. I was shocked (and I'm not going to lie...a little pissed!). So I got him ready for school and he got to eat breakfast there. I'm a little curious about how things will be tomorrow morning.

He still takes his pacifier at night, too. I don't have a problem with it because he doesn't wake up in the middle of the night crying for it. That was all true until 2-3 nights ago. He wakes up between 3-4:00 a.m. and yells for it. In about a week I'd like to take it away. Why a week you ask? They are going to start installing our new floors tomorrow!!! While they are working on the floors we are going to stay at Allison's house. So I don't want to take away his pacifier while we're staying in away from home.

An Unwelcomed Guest

2010-06-17T21:10:00.003-05:00

Take a look at what Brian saw crawling out from under our Chaise tonight. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little freaked out.

Edomm Kids Update

2010-06-17T20:51:00.003-05:00

Andrew is still talking. I am still amazed by it. Today his sheet from school said that he practiced saying "cracker" during lunch today. So, of course, I got him to say it again here at home! He also says, "bumpity bump." Jacob is completely into pretending to drive trucks - any kind of truck - garbage, fire, ambulance. Anyway, when he drives, I pretend that we drive over bumps and say bumpity bump. Andrew has caught on, and now he will randomly start bouncing up and down and say it. He's getting so big! I think I'm going to get down the 18 month clothes this weekend. The 12 month clothes are getting a little tight.

Jacob has such a cute little imagination, and he really says the funniest things! Like I said before, he pretends to drive all kinds of trucks. If it is a garbage truck, he likes for Brian or me to pretend to be trash and he takes us to the dump. For a fire truck, we put out a fire. And for the ambulance, he likes for us to sit in the back of the ambulance and he takes us to the hospital. At least he is using the truck for the correct purpose!

Jacob also loves to pretend to be a baker. He will put the potholders on his hands, pick up a pretend cake, and bake a cake for me. Last week Andrew decided to play. Take a look!

He was trying to help me here.

Here is a picture of both boys on our Tigger rocking horse! Andrew LOVES it, so naturally Jacob has become interested in it again.

Finally Andrew has learned Ring Around The Rosy. So cute!

Grant Michael

2010-06-17T20:35:00.005-05:00

I have a picture like this of Andrew. To this day it is still one of my favorite pictures of him! Thanks Marlene!

I thought I'd share some of my pictures of my new nephew Grant Michael. He is so sweet!

I was so emotional the day he was born. It was like I was having my own children again. Crazy!

Andrew is TALKING!

2010-06-04T11:39:00.002-05:00

Yep...you're reading it correctly! At almost 14 months old, my son has started talking. He says Milk, Ball, Dog, and last night he started waving and said, "Bye Bye." I am in total shock over it! He says "ball" with a cute little southern drawl. Dog is new as of Monday. And on Wednesday he started doing a cute trick that Jacob did. Whenever we would leave Jacob, we would hold up our finger and tell him that we'd be right back. Jacob did this to Andrew on Wednesday night, and so Andrew started holding up his finger and saying his version of Right Back. Of course we weren't there to witness it. But when I held him later and said, "Right back," he looked at me, smiled, and held up his finger.

He learned another old Jacob trick. This one is for Granddaddy.

Andrew has become very attached to his blanket. When I walk into his room to get him in the morning, he bends down to pick it up and then waits for me to pick him up. If it is in his crib (because I hate having blankets on the floor...I'm clumsy and am sure to slip on one some day), he will stand in front of his crib and point to it. I think it is the cutest thing ever! Let's see how cute it is if he doesn't give it up in several years. :)

He and Jacob are starting to fight over toys just a bit. It's really not too bad....yet. And actually, I enjoy it when they fight. Jacob shows potential to be a pushover (he is just too sweet!), so I'm happy to let him fight with Andrew to get his toys back. Andrew is starting to get mad and whine and try to make himself cry when Jacob takes toys back. It's new, so it's still funny.

We do not have ANY plans for this weekend! I'm going to try a new grocery shopping and cooking schedule....boring. Maybe I'll sneak out to catch a peak at my nephew!

Terrible Three's...Sometimes

2010-05-21T09:10:00.002-05:00

I love to talk to Jacob these days. Well, I love it most of the time. He is just so funny!

Last night I was reading books with him. He enjoys "The Little Engine That Could." Side Note: It is actually a much longer story than I remember. Anyway, he will flip thru the pages and tell his own little story. We hit the same highlights each night: the yellow engine is the "mean engine;" the clown is the conductor of the black engine, but he doesn't drive the train (he's standing beside it in the illustration); and we say "I think I can" about a hundred times. Last night he told me that the yellow engine did not help the red engine. Then he started talking about Nemo (a favorite at our house). He said that we could not help Nemo to not touch the boat. Only the diver could help Nemo. It was random and very different from what he usually says about Nemo. We've used Nemo as an example for a reason to follow our directions. Nemo did not follow his daddy's directions, so the diver took him.

Just as I was tucking him into bed, he tooted and said "Excuse Me." I didn't hear the toot, so I asked if he tooted. He said, "I say excuse me when I darted at school."

Today they are having a picnic at school. Jacob has been SO excited about this picnic. He signed up to bring popcicles and he has to take a beach towel. He was ready this morning to have a picnic with his friends. Well...ready until I told him it was time to get dressed. EVERY morning we have a meltdown about getting dressed for school. Some of Jacob's other favorite phrases are, "I don't want to," "I dont' want to talk about it," and, of course, "NO!"

Finally, this morning we made biscuits for breakfast. He specifically requested them last night as we were cleaning up from dinner. He likes to help me put the biscuits on the cookie sheet. As he was doing that, he told me, "These biscuits are cold. When biscuits are cold, we put them in the oven to warm them up." Melt my heart!

Mother's Day

2010-05-19T17:28:00.002-05:00

My Mother's Day this year was PERFECT! Brian scored major points for making it happen exactly as I wanted!

Saturday morning I got to sleep in until 7:45. That might not sound that late, but kids are usually ready to go at 6:00...every single day. We had plans to go to the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science, and we wanted to be there when it opened to get the most out of our trip before nap time. We made it to the museum right at the time it opened. It was our first trip, and I'm sure it won't be our last. We had a really good time. Then the boys napped on the way home and for another hour and a half after we got home.

That evening we went to dinner at Texas Land and Cattle. I had been craving it for several weeks, and I made it count. Fried jalapenos for an appetizer, a huge entree, wine, and dessert. The boys behaved very well, yet again!

On Sunday I got to sleep in until 9:30! How nice was that?!?! We really didn't do much all day. I think Brian took the boys to the store to go grocery shopping and I got to hang out and watch tv. That evening we went to Grandmother's house to have dinner with everyone.

The best part of Mother's Day was that I did not have to do a damn thing all weekend! Brian had been working on the weekends for the previous 3 weeks or so, and he took care of the boys' every little need. It was so nice!

1 and 3 Year Pictures

2010-05-19T17:18:00.003-05:00

Here are some scanned copies of the 1 and 3 year pictures I had taken of the boys. They were so good that day! I took them by myself because Brian had to work. I was completely prepared with snacks, sandwiches, and cookies to bribe them to stay in front of the camera. It all worked! And the pictures turned out really well. I don't think you can really see how good they are on the scanned versions. For me, they were so good that I was scammed into buying one of their framed sets. I have a great spot for it in my house, and Brian liked it, too! The whole day was just great! (omg...I knew the quality wasn't great, but man..it really sucks!)

Happy Birthday Jacob!

2010-05-04T12:16:00.004-05:00

Jacob had the BEST birthday ever! I'm so happy that I made a big deal about it.

The weekend before his birthday, we had a party at Pump It Up! Jacob was so excited! The theme, of course, was fire trucks. Mostly family was at the party. I think the party was a huge success!

On his birthday, which he knows is Tax Day, we sent cupcakes to the school, and his friends sang Happy Birthday to him. I think he loved it! After school, I picked him up and took him to the fire station. We drive by the fire station every day as a reward for his not having any accidents. But his birthday was special! We walked around the fire station and got to sit in a few fire trucks! He was in heaven! We were there for 45 minutes, and even then we were kicked out because they had to go help people in a car accident. I was so excited to take him, and I'm glad he enjoyed it so much!

At home he opened presents, ate some cake, and then we played with the new toys! He got this new fire truck for his birthday. It is a HUGE hit in the house!

Jacob's birthday was more heartbreaking for me than Andrew's. I just cannot believe that he is 3! He is getting so big, and while we have our 3 year old moments, he really is a great kid! He is starting to get a little sense of humor. We were playing on his easel, and he said, "J-A-C-O-B spells Mommy." I looked around the corner to look at him, and he was smiling so big. He knew he was funny! He was 38.25 inches tall and 31.8 pounds at his checkup. He loves to read books and play with his brother! I am so proud of the big brother that he is! I could not have asked for it to work out any more perfectly.

We are a little concerned with his speech because we are the only 2 people who can understand him all the time. We even have moments where we have no idea what he is saying. So next Monday we are going to see an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor to have his hearing checked. I'll keep ya posted.

UPDATE: Jacob's hearing is fine. Now we are trying to get him into some speech therapy. Honestly I've seen a slight improvement in the last few weeks. I'm not that worried about it, but we're getting an evaluation anyway. It looks like it could be July or August before we can get in, though.

We're in Trouble Now...

2010-04-21T20:40:00.006-05:00

The boys have been cute recently, but the house has basically been uneventful. Jacob is so funny and he is still singing all the time! The other night at dinner he just started singing, "I'm so proud to be an American, be an American, be an American...." Brian and I just giggled between ourselves because we could not believe he was singing that! It was so cute! Tonight he had a hooded towel on his head and he kept telling us that he was the scary Easter bunny. We told him that the Easter bunny is not scary; Uncle Derek is scary (from his dressing up as the Homer Simpson Easter bunny at my parents' party). So then he started pretending to be Uncle Derek and he wanted to scare us.

Up until tonight (April 21), Andrew had not walked very much around the house. He had taken a few steps, but his preferred way of moving around the house was crawling. Last night I think I saw his "Ah-Hah" moment. He was standing up near the couch, and he took a step. Then I could see his little wheels turning in his head, and he took about 10 more steps. That was pretty awesome to see him processing his thoughts about walking. But he completely took off today! Here is a video clip.

Andrew is also a climber. He loves to try to sneak his way up the stairs, but he never makes it higher than 1 or 2 steps. Jacob got a fire truck that he can drive and ride for his birthday, and Andrew can climb in it and stand on the seat. I have not seen him do this, but Brian says it is all he wanted to do Saturday evening. We will definitely be busy keeping him safe for a while.

School Birthday Party

2010-04-14T08:15:00.003-05:00

We sent cupcakes to school on Andrew's birthday. Here is a picture from his school birthday party. Love that smile!

Happy Birthday Andrew!

2010-04-13T20:22:00.007-05:00

Well...he did it. He actually turned 1. I'm sad about it and so happy all at the same time. I know I've said it many times before, but I truly look at him and think that he is only 6 months old. Okay...let's pick it up a little and get on with the exciting things Andrew has been up to.

He is 23 lb. 3 oz. He is 30 inches long, and his head circumference is 48 cm. I think he looks like a chunky monkey, but for weight he is in the 56th percentile. His body shape is definitely different than Jacob's. He can fit into 12 month clothes pretty good, but I think 18 months would give him a little wiggle room. What else is he up to?

He sleeps all night! He has been doing it for about the last month or so solid. Mommy like! He goes down for bed between 8:00 and 8:30 (just like Jacob), and he wakes up between 5:30 and 6:00 (just like Jacob). So it is REALLY nice that they are on the same schedule.
We have taken away the pacifier during the daytime hours...at daycare at least. At home on the weekends we still rely on it a little bit. It's a work in progress.
Andrew is an excellent eater! He really likes table food. Side note - on the weekends, he is even on the same eating schedule as Jacob! It's not a big deal now, but it was a couple of months ago.
He likes books. He is so cute with a book! He'll flip the pages and touch them. Jacob wasn't quite like that at this age.
Andrew LOVES to play in the water! I cannot wait to see him in Grandmother's pool!

He has made a pretty smooth transition from formula to whole milk. He still demands a drink first thing in the morning, but we're working on that. He had quite a meltdown this morning about the whole thing. Temper temper!
He is so stinkin' cuddly! I love to just hug on him. And right now he seems to like to hug on me. :)

He always has a smile on his face. He loves to show off his 8 pearly whites! Of course, Mommy gets the biggest smiles!
He is WALKING as of Sunday. I've tried to make him walk, and he would just take one tiny step and fall into me. But on Sunday he was at Grandmother's house with Brian, and he was standing at her coffee table. He decided he wanted Brian, so he let go of the coffee table by himself, took one step to Brian, and fell into him. Then he walked at school today. I finally got to see it when he got home. He took about 3 steps to me. I can't wait to see both boys running in the house and outside!

It's been a fast year! I just adore my baby boy, and I can't wait to see everything to come in his second year!

Jacob Says "John Deere"

2010-03-13T22:11:00.002-06:00

Andrew Eats Fruit

2010-03-13T21:33:00.002-06:00

Sarah's Baby Shower

2010-03-13T21:01:00.002-06:00

Today was Sarah's family baby shower. I had a lot of fun working with Gloria to put it all together.

First we had the big name reveal. Sarah made the letters and blocks to set out for his name, Grant Michael. I'll admit, it took me a few minutes to warm up to the name. But the more I say it, the more I like it! It's very cute! It's way better than Graham or Benjamin. :)

The first part was just mingling. Look who I got to hold for a while! Little Olivia! I'd like to say she liked me for me, but we're pretty sure she could smell milk on me (I'm still nursing Andrew). She was giving me kisses and crawling all over me later during the shower. She was so sweet! And she smelled so good, too. Boys do not smell like that.

Then it was time for Sarah to open gifts. The theme for the nursery is barnyard animals.

This little shirt says, "My Aunt Rocks." I just couldn't resist when I saw it at Target!

Back to Blogging

2010-02-27T21:37:00.002-06:00

I still have not caught up my blog completely, but I've hit most of the highlights that I wanted. I really enjoy my blog, and I've decided to make more of an attempt to keep it up to date. So here is a little update about the last couple of weeks in our world.

Strep Throat 2010 took over our house almost 2 weeks ago. Oh my goodness...I cannot tell you how good it feels to be almost back to our normal chaotic life rather than the sick chaotic life. I came down with it on Tuesday, February 16. I was in bed for the next 4 days. I finally got drugs on Day 3, and the found out I also had pink eye on Day 4. Then Brian came down with it on Saturday evening, but I thought he was just tired of flying solo with the kids for 4 days. So he woke up sick on Sunday, and I sent him straight to Care Now. Then we decided to take the boys to see their doctor on Monday. I didn't think they would find anything wrong with Jacob, but I wanted him there in case they could give him something to prevent him from getting sick. Well, Jacob tested positive for strep, and Andrew had a red throat and an ear infection. The boys had to stay home on Tuesday, so I stayed home to help Brian. Then Jacob woke up and threw up on Wednesday. But everyone went where he was supposed to go on Thursday. The 3 boys in my house are still on drugs for strep. And today Brian started feeling ill again. Great.

Jacob has been so funny lately. I really can't say anything specific; he is just so chatty and he says funny things. He's at a great age! Sharing is a CONSTANT challenge. I just have to remind myself that his little world is so small compared to mine, so the toys are a huge deal to him. He still enjoys helping around the house. I'm the one with the problem with that; I don't have much patience, but I am working on it. About a month ago, Jacob moved upstairs into his big boy room. We put a gate upstairs to keep him from wandering down the stairs in the middle of the night, but we still need to make it a boy's room. Today we went shopping and picked up a few things for his big boy room. We got some Toy Story sheets, Toy Story wall decals, and a closet rod extender that would allow him to pick out his own clothes from his closet. I'm excited to set it all up tomorrow!

And for Andrew we've been working on his horrible sleep patterns (thanks to me for creating them). He's doing pretty well...he doesn't scream for 2 hours in the middle of the night anymore. Now our biggest battle is with his food. He likes food either in puree form or table foods; but he does not like the level 3 baby foods. So now my challenge is to make table foods that I can give to him, too. It won't be that bad; I just need to shift my thoughts to include him, too!

I had a great day with the kids today! I took them out of the house after naps so that Brian could rest. We went to the park and did some shopping. While shopping we had dinner at the food court in the mall. Jacob took off his favorite jacket, Buzz Lightyear of course, while he was eating. When we got to the car to leave the mall he asked me, "Where is my jacket?" Dang! We left it in the food court. I feel so bad about it as if I have lost my own favorite jacket. If I thought I would actually make it, I would have driven back out to the mall after the kids were put in their beds.

Big John

2010-02-20T21:56:00.004-06:00

We had another unexpected death on January 26. My grandpa, Big John, passed away of a massive heart attack in the early evening hours.

I feel that his death could not have happened any more perfectly for him. He was outside, doing some chores, and he never knew what hit him. He would have been a horrible patient had he lived through the heart attack. And he was at a friend's house, so he was found pretty quickly after it happened.

I spoke with him around 3:00 that afternoon. He called the shop almost every single day, and I so miss seeing his name across our caller id and hearing his voice. He sounded like he was on top of the world that afternoon. He asked me, "Is things clickin'?" Of course, I told him they were. I had been out the day before with a sick child, so I had been busy all day long. He asked me about his great-grandsons, and I told him they were great. I had made a conscious decision not to tell him that one of them had been sick because I did not want him to worry about them; they are always sick because of daycare. However, I was always honest with him about the boys, and I can't tell you why I decided to just leave it alone during this particular conversation. His purpose for calling was to talk to my Uncle John to see if he would crawl under his house to see if he had termites. I hung up the phone laughing because I knew John would just LOVE that! It's just funny and so typical of my grandpa.

The two days following his death were full of phone calls to everyone we could think of notifying about his death. I was completely numb. Steve and I kept telling each other, "I cannot believe we are doing this. It just doesn't feel real."

I loved him so much (and I still do). I am so sad that my kids will have no memory of him. He was just one of a kind. I have memories of him where I know if my kids had experiences like that with any of their grandparents, Brian would freak out.

I am so happy that now Grandma, Russell and Grandpa are back together. They always had a special chemistry and they always needed each other.

Here is a slideshow of pictures that Steve put together for the service. We did not use this song in the service, but I think it is fitting for the last year of his life; I truly feel like he is back home with my grandma and Russell. I would've wanted it in the service had I thought of it while we were planning the music. Instead I heard it on my iPod on the morning of the day of his service. I love you and miss you Grandpa!

Andrew's 9 - 10 Month Update

2010-02-15T21:29:00.005-06:00

In some ways I cannot believe that Andrew is 10 months old now, and in other ways I can. He is such a sweet boy and more fun-loving than Jacob, although he tends to have a bit of a temper when things don't go his way (mainly about eating). I know I've written it in other blogs, but he truly loves his brother. I love the way they look at each other!

At his 9 month checkup, Andrew weighed 19 lb 6 oz and was 28-1/4" lg. He is a total cuddler, especially with Mommy. He loves to get in the middle of whatever Jacob is doing and try to steal his toys. Sharing is now a constant lesson in our house. He pulls up on everything, and I think he will be walking very soon. It's the only way to keep up with the big boys. Bathtime is a favorite for Andrew. He just splashes and splashes. I am totally soaked by the time he gets out of the tub. And he totally prefers to take a bath with Jacob rather than by himself. He seems to be a picky eater. Actually, I'm not sure if it is that or that he has a sensitive gag reflex. Textures are a big deal with him. So where Jacob jumped right into table foods, Andrew is coming along in that sense very slowly. He still only has 7 teeth, and we get to see them all the time! I love how smiley he is!

Here are some pictures and a video full of clips of Andrew from the 9-10 month ages.

Christmas 2009

2010-02-12T20:26:00.007-06:00

(Please ignore the fact that it is February and I'm just posting my Christmas blog)

Christmas was GREAT! It was the best yet! We always have a lot of different celebrations to attend.

This year we started on December 20 at Grandpa and Gram's house (Earle and Deb). Jacob made a new friend, Jake. He is Deb's youngest son; I think he's 11 now. Jake was so nice to Jacob and kept him occupied all evening. Andrew enjoyed chasing the cat around the house. We always have a great time at their house. Here are pics from that evening (Aunt Em and Andrew, Antonio, and Aunt Em with Jacob and Andrew).

On Christmas Eve, it snowed and iced like crazy. I was so happy that the kids got to have a white Christmas, although they will never remember it and I'm sure we didn't take enough pictures. Emily and Antonio had a party on Christmas Eve. Brian and Grandmother went to the party together because we didn't want to haul the kids in the ice; Texans CANNOT drive in that crap. Our tradition in our family is to read The Night Before Christmas before the kids go to bed. I tried to keep Jacob up so that we could carry on the tradition, but he totally crashed while we watched a movie. Brian and I were a little bummed, but we were excited that Jacob would get to play in the snow on Christmas morning!

We woke up Christmas Day and did our family thing. It was so fun to watch Jacob. He was finally old enough to get it. And, as bad as I feel saying it, for me it was all about Jacob this Christmas. We bought Jacob a little Thomas train set. He was having some trouble working it and it was a little flimsy, so Santa had to end up getting him a GeoTrax train set in January. We did keep the other track and the trains. Now the trains are a constant source of frustration for Jacob; Andrew likes to play with them, too! So here are a few pics from our family Christmas.

And here is a shot of Jacob in the snow on Christmas morning! He had so much fun!

So with the snow, we did not leave our house on Christmas until 4:00 in the afternoon...with 2 more places to go by the end of the day. Our next stop was Grandmother's house. Aunt Becky and Uncle Tom came into town, and we were so happy that they made it! Emily, Antonio, and Sirius came over, too!

Becky and Tom got The Beatles Rock Band. Emily and Antonio had another stop to make that evening, too. So we all decided that we were going to go to our next stops and meet back at Grandmother's to rock out!

Our next stop was Big Gaga's. I was so happy to catch my cousin Robbie and his wife Ericka and their daughter Olivia. Olivia is so sweet! I hate that they live in Austin and we can't see them more often. I did not get any pictures of Christmas at Gaga's.

So back to Grandmother's we went. Becky and Tom did not participate in playing the game, but Antonio, Emily, Brian, and I had a great time! I think we finally left the house at 2:00 a.m.

December 26 was another full day. We had to be in Kaufman by noon for the Paxton family Christmas. We were all so happy to have it at Big John's house this year. We all ate really well, did our gift exchange game, and then visited the cemetery to take some wreaths to Russell and Grandma. It was a very nice Christmas, and I'm so thankful now for it. Again, I suck at taking pictures; I have none, but I'm told that my mother got some good shots.

After Kaufman, we went to Red Oak for Christmas with my family. I think the best part was when my parents opened their gift from all of us. We got them tickets to the last regular season Cowboy game at the new Cowboys Stadium. Oh my goodness! My mom's face says it all. They were truly surprised and so excited! Here are the pics.

So Christmas is usually a little chaotic with scheduling everything and trying to make sure we do not stress ourselves out just to make it to all of the different places. But I'm always so thankful for my family, Brian's family, Brian, and most importantly my babies. I feel so lucky that we all get to spend that time together.

Quick Andrew Update

2009-12-15T08:13:00.002-06:00

Andrew finally mastered crawling about 10 days ago. So now he shakes his little booty while he crawls all over the place trying to keep up with everyone else in the house. When he's had enough, he just cries. Kind of sad...mostly funny.

So Sunday I was surprised when I was in the living room, helping Jacob with his jacket, and I looked down to see that Andrew had pulled himself up on the couch. As if that weren't enough, then he started cruising! I guess he realizes the only way to keep up around our house is if you're up on 2 feet! :) I'm very proud of him!

In other news, I have to say a BIG Thank You to Brian for giving me Friday evening and half of Saturday off to spend the time doing whatever the hell I wanted! And what did I do with my time??! I finished with my Christmas shopping. We still have to wrap everything, but the presents that can be wrapped have been purchased.

Santa Pictures

2009-12-10T08:01:00.003-06:00

I took the boys to see Santa on Saturday. I arrived at the mall when it opened, and we had to wait in line for an hour to see the jolly old elf. Jacob was fascinated with Santa while we were standing in line, so I thought he would be okay with taking a picture with him. Plus I was bribing him with cookies the entire way. No such luck. There was one kid in front of us, and Jacob started backing away from the line. When it was time to sit on Santa's lap, he had a total meltdown. Andrew was not scared at all. I love the picture because Jacob is trying really hard to smile. Maybe next year I won't have to be in the picture.

Here is last year's picture. We are improving. :)

Picture Day

2009-11-29T21:47:00.003-06:00

We took the boys to get some Christmas pictures on Saturday. Take a peek!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-29T20:59:00.003-06:00

Thanksgiving week did not go as expected, but in the end it was great! Brian wasn't feeling well the Friday before Thanksgiving. So he went to the doctor and got these killer prescriptions that totally knocked him out. Andrew was sick and not sleeping well starting Friday night. He didn't start sleeping even close to normally until the night before Thanksgiving.

Saturday before Thanksgiving, Jacob spent the night with my parents. He had a blast! They bought the boys these cute little John Deere boots, too. Jacob was so excited about his new boots, and he was completely refreshed after spending a night away from home.

Since Andrew was sick, Brian was unable to get much rest during the week. He had taken the week off from work, so it was a no-brainer that he would keep Andrew and I could go to work. By Wednesday, he was completely wiped out! I took Andrew to the doctor on Wednesday and the nurse confirmed that he had an ear infection.

Thanksgiving Day was great! We started the day at Grandmother's house with Antonio, Emily, and Sirius. Then we headed over to Steve's house. We watched the Cowboy game over there, and Jacob wore his Tony Romo jersey. He told us several times that he was Jacob Romo. Here is a picture of the boys' turkey shirts. We made one for Jacob for his first Thanksgiving, and I thought he would want to make one when he saw Andrew making one.

On Friday we started putting up our Christmas tree. On Sunday we actually finished. I had the best weekend with my boys! I cannot remember exactly what we did except make a trip to Costco and Target, but we had a lot of fun around the house. Jacob's new favorite song is "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." He especially likes the Kids Bop version and wants to hear it over and over again in the car. He sings it all the time!

Andrew is starting to get really clingy. I love and hate this stage. It is so cute how he is all over me, but I can barely leave the room. I'm just happy I don't have to take him back to school tomorrow.

Jacob wrote his name this morning. This is the closest I've seen him come yet. Go Jacob!

Happy Birthday To You

2009-11-18T07:41:00.002-06:00

Jacob is starting to sing around the house. I love it! The other day he was singing "Happy Birthday." It was not anyone's birthday in the house. So we asked him whose birthday it was (assuming they sang it at school), and he replied, "my birthday." He also likes to sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and play the guitar that we got with Rock Band. In fact, anytime we see a guitar in a store he asks to play "Twinkle Little Star." Last night he was singing "Three Blind Mice," but those are the only words he knows. Last night after we put him to bed I could hear him singing a song (and it sounded pretty good for a 2 year old!), but I could not figure out what song it was. So sweet!

Jacob is also saying a lot of things that we say. Here is a list:
"Right now"
"Andrew, you okay" (this is only when Andrew is crying and will not stop; he learned it from me in the car)
"Yes ma'am" (this is fairly new...he learned it at school)
"I need to go potty really/very badly" (again from me. I usually say this on the weekend morning when I'm flying solo with the kids)
"How your day?"
"Pretty good"

He is also quite expressive with his frustration these days. He will hit the table, couch, wall, or anything else in sight when he gets mad; usually this comes after we tell him no for something that he really wants to do. Rarely he will hit one of us or Andrew. His new thing is that he will roar at us. It's kind of funny outside of the moment. We'll put him in time out, and, again this is only when he's really mad, he will make the sound and say very loudly "RRROOOAAARRR!"

Right now he is very excited about his new shoes! He and Andrew both LOVE shoes! The new shoes are a great threat for Jacob right now. That will probably run out soon, but it's working pretty well for now. Andrew will reach and scoot to shoes and try to chew on them, but we catch him before he can actually put them in his mouth. Okay, he has actually made it to one of Jacob's shoes and I caught him chewing on it. When Brian asked me how long he was chewing on it, I calmly replied "I don't know." The second child is treated so differently from the first!

One out of the two teeth that were about to break the gums in Andrew's mouth has come in. I really need to take a picture before they come in too much. His smile looks so funny right now! He does not have his front teeth (but one has broken the gums), but he has the next two teeth. I wish they had been in for Halloween because it looks a little vampire-ish. Then he has one bottom tooth, and a second has broken the gums. He was very interested in Jacob's books last night. It was amazing to watch! He would pull himself up on the book basket and pull them out. Then he would promptly put them in his mouth! I was trying to read a story to both boys last night, and Andrew started reaching for the book and was touching the pages. So then Jacob told me he wanted to touch the book. They were both so into the book (but I'm sure they did not hear the story...or the part I actually got to read). Andrew is now eating sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, green beans, and peas. He has had some banana, but we wanted to make sure he would eat vegetables before we make it a regular food for him.

In other news, work is GREAT with the new boss! I love it and look forward to going every single day! Life is good!

New Tricks!

2009-11-06T09:05:00.002-06:00

I sent an email to Aunt Megs last night and realized just how many cool things the boys are doing these days.

Jacob is just about completely potty trained. He still sleeps in a diaper, but that's just to make life easier for us for now. I think they put him in a pull up for nap time, too, at school. He has also learned how to dress himself...almost completely. He can put on everything except his shirt by himself. He gets scared when he's putting his shirt over his head. I love it how he is so proud of himself every day when he dresses and undresses himself. Jacob sang his ABC's almost perfectly the other night, too! He even said the "L M N O P." I was so proud of him, so I gave him some candy. And they are teaching the kids how to count to 15 at school. He's getting pretty good at that, too. I love to watch him count things around the house.

Andrew isn't crawling yet, but he's getting closer. He will sit in the living room forever and play by himself while we get ready in the morning and entertaining Jacob. There is such a difference in the play habits between the two boys. Jacob wants our attention all the time, but Andrew is content sitting up where he can see everyone with a ton of toys in front of him. He has cut 2 teeth and literally has another 5 or 6 working their way in. He has mostly good days, but we definitely have bad nights with those teeth. He wakes up about once in the night to eat (another bullet we need to bite and just deal with his crying). He has started to refuse any solid foods except rice cereal. We think the teeth may be playing a part in that, too. So last night, Brian was trying to feed him, and he would just pierce his little lips. So Brian put the spoon on the high chair tray just to see what Andrew would do. He picked up the spoon and put it right in his mouth (yes, there was food on the spoon)! He did this several times before he was done. And then, of course, he would not eat any more solid food. Andrew also likes to wave these days. He will just randomly stick out his hand, and twist it back and forth. I even saw him do it to a little stuffed animal the other day. Friendly little guy!

Both boys play pretty well together. Andrew has begun to throw little fits when I won't let him play with something that he really wants. I can't believe he knows how to do that this early (he'll be 7 months old tomorrow)! I've been bringing down toys that Jacob liked when he was Andrew's age. And it amazes me that Jacob still loves each of those toys. I'm not sure if it's the toy he likes or if it's that he just doesn't want Andrew to play with it just yet. It's probably a little bit of both.

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-02T21:53:00.008-06:00

I had so much fun with the boys this Halloween! Friday was the annual Parade of Costumes at the daycare. Jacob ran around the parking lot like he did while flying around the house as Buzz.

Andrew snoozes before the parade

Saturday we all got up early and had a really awesome day. Around 4:00 we started to get the boys dressed in the costumes. Once they were ready, we headed over to see Big Gaga. We practiced with Jacob the entire way over by telling him that if he didn't say, "Trick or Treat," then Big Gaga would not give him any candy.

Jacob knocks on Big Gaga's door

The boys with Big Gaga; Andrew and Big Gaga. Even though his eyes are closed, I still think it is a cute picture.

Then we went to Grandmother's house. Aunt Em and No No (Antonio) were going to come over to see the boys, too. So we ate some dinner and hung out for a while. Jacob helped Grandmother give candy to the neighborhood kids. I didn't take a picture of it, but he was too cute. He would hold the giant bowl of candy and tell everyone "Happy Halloween" as they walked away. We ended up leaving there around 9:30. Jacob was so tired!

Jacob knocks on Grandmother's door; the boys and Grandmother

Sunday is football day in our house. I don't really sit down and watch any games, but I like to have one on for background noise. After Dallas beat Kansas City, I decided it was okay to buy a Romo jersey for Jacob (I was not about to buy one after they lost). So we made a big deal about it so that he'd be excited about his Romo jersey and football. Then I dressed Andrew in his little football sleeper outfit. Then I took these super cute pictures.

Poor Jacob only saw the last minute of the Cowboy game because it was on during nap time.

PICTURES!

2009-10-28T21:29:00.002-05:00

As promised, here are some pictures from the last two months.

The slideshow includes:

- A visit to Grandma Rose and Papa's house

- The Halloween costumes - Buzz Lightyear and Woody the Cowboy

- Andrew sitting up

- Andrew's messy face ( I love the messy face pictures. We have a ton of Jacob!)

- Andrew plays with Jacob's toys

- Jacob's visit to the pumpkin patch

- Boo at the Zoo

I added a few random pictures, too.

Busy Busy Busy

2009-10-28T07:54:00.002-05:00

I haven't been able to blog in such a long time. My work situation recently changed in two ways. 1) Helen, my assistant, quit working for us. :( I completely understand, but she is already missed. So that means I am back to working 5 days a week. 2) My brother is now my boss!! I loved working for my dad (and he's still here, but strictly a salesman now), but things are much more fast-paced with Steve. I love it!

The kids have been pretty good. Andrew is cutting teeth right now, so he was home from daycare with a fever for the last two days. It's weird. He is cutting his upper canine teeth. Poor baby! I think he's finally feeling better since one broke through the gums. He is still trying to crawl, and he is eating up those solid foods! He really likes the butternut squash and bananas. He also tried sweet peas last night, but once he saw the milk wagon, he was not into eating them at all! He is sitting up so well these days, too! He has also learned what the remote control is. Whenever he sees one, he launches himself towards it. He now has his own to chew on.

And my sweet Jacob has been particularly cute lately. Yesterday was the first day he asked, "Why?" when I asked him to do something. It took me by surprise, and I hope he flies through this phase. I just don't know if I could handle it long term. Last night he told me, "Mommy, go away" when I was hanging around to see if he needed help on the potty. On the way home from school he informed me that, "Daddy stay home with Andrew. Andrew go to doctor office. Get shot. Andrew feeling better." That's a pretty good little thought process for the little guy! I said nothing about the doctor, but he did hear me tell the teachers at school that Andrew was feeling better. I think Jacob has missed his Mommy time in the last couple of months. I've been making more of an effort to spend some one on one time with him, and he seems to have a better attitude overall.

I swear that pictures and videos are coming! I feel better just telling some stories about the kids for now.

Andrew is 6 Months Old!

2009-10-10T22:46:00.003-05:00

I am still in shock that Andrew is 6 months old! When I think of him, I see him as the 2 month old baby that he was when I went back to work. So here is his update:

He weighs 17 lbs, 4.25 oz
He is 27" tall
His head is 44.5 cm around
Today he finally became the little roly poly that I've been waiting for him to become! I saw him roll over more times today than he has total in the last 2 months!
He is trying to crawl. He can get up on all fours, rock, and scoot backwards. He'll be crawling around here in no time!
We are pretty sure he finally got a tooth. His gums are still a little swollen, but I'm about 99.9% sure his first tooth has broken through.
We are also working on his sitting up! He can balance pretty well.
His sleeping is not at all like it was when he was 2 months old. He wakes up about twice each night, and I'm just about over it. He has been spoiled since he got sick a while back. About two weeks ago, we moved him into the nursery with Jacob. Now I have to run across the house to get him in the middle of the night. It's on the list! :)
I gave him carrots tonight for the first time. He LOVED them! He was lunging for the next bite. I can't wait to try it again tomorrow.
He is the sweetest little boy! His smile makes everything worth it, and he smiles a lot! I am so happy he is a part of our family!

Here is a video of his little belly laugh. There is no better sound in the world than a laughing baby!

Back to Reality

2009-10-05T08:27:00.003-05:00

At the end of last week, I attended a Family Business Conference. About a year and a half ago, our business hired a family business consultant to help us transition the business to the 3rd generation, and they invited us to this event. It was great! I went with Steve and one of my uncles, and we were pampered for a day and a half with great food and great company and tons of information that was pertinant to our business! We actually met a couple of guys from Wyoming who are a few years younger than us and who work in a metal shop that deals with HVAC (a little different than Astro, but it's still a family owned metal fabrication shop).

I was very eager on Friday to get home to spend time with the kids. It was probably the most beautiful day we've seen in several months here in Dallas, so Brian and I decided we would pack up the kids and have a picnic and play at the park. This is where it gets interesting!

Andrew was acting like his tummy was bothering him before we ever left the house, so I knew what was coming; I just didn't know how much! After we ate at the park, I took him back to the car to change his diaper. WOW! A major blowout was awaiting me! It amazes me how he can do that and very little actually makes it into the diaper. So it was kind of a big deal to clean him up. If we had been at home, I would've given him a bath. Then Jacob had an accident while we were eating dinner. Since I took care of Andrew, Brian took care of Jacob. He was soaked! Then we played for a while. It was really fun! The kids seemed to enjoy getting outside for a while. Then it was time to go home. Andrew was a little fussy because he was so tired. So he had barely drifted off to sleep when Jacob spilled water on himself. Not a big deal except Jacob acted like it was hurting him and cried and whined about it. All of the commotion woke up Andrew. So both boys cried all the way home and made a competition out of the entire trip home trying to out-cry the other. Brian and I just laughed in the front seat. We gave ourselves an A for effort, but decided we should've left the park about 10 minutes earlier.

Saturday morning both boys were awake and ready to go at 6:00 a.m. (side note: this morning it was 5:30. WTH?!?!). It was one of those days where once one got settled, the other had to do something to get attention. Jacob has an accident, Andrew spits up. Jacob spills milk, Andrew has a blowout. They were actually very good all weekend, but it was definitely a harsh welcome back to reality!

Now I'll brag on them! I mean, it's not their fault that I hung up my mommy hat for a few days and was completely unprepared to put it back on! :) Jacob is still doing very well with his potty training! He had quite a few accidents on Saturday, but he and Brian had gone shopping and got some cool underwear. So we let him wear some of his new underwear yesterday and told him he would have to wear white underwear if he had an accident. It worked! And I'm hoping it works again today at school. He still wears a diaper at night, and we put him in a diaper yesterday for nap time. One step at a time!

Andrew completely surprised me this weekend! He loves to look at himself in the mirror (he never gets tired of it). So I decided to give him some tummy time in front of the mirror on Saturday. He could get his little knees underneath himself and then he'd scoot backwards. Then he started practicing getting up on all fours! And then, for a special treat for all of us, he showed off how he figured out how to throw his body weight forward! So maybe we'll have a crawler soon. I also spent time helping him sit up in front of the mirror. His balance is better than I expected! I just sat there to catch him when he fell over. He will be 6 months old on Wednesday, and I just can't believe it! He still seems like the little 2 month old baby that I had when I went back to work. For his 6 month birthday, he's getting some shots including his flu shot. Oh...and Jacob gets one, too!

Halloween Costumes

2009-09-25T08:49:00.003-05:00

I'm sure I have better pictures on my digital camera, but I wanted to post the pictures I took with my phone. Introducing Woody the Cowboy and Buzz Lightyear!

The boys were watching Toy Story while I finished getting ready for work this morning. I had just walked out of the bedroom, and I heard Andrew fussing. Jacob was hugging on him while he was in the exersaucer. Jacob was all over him! So I told Jacob to get off of Andrew, and he immediately stood up, held both of his arms out in front of him towards Andrew, and said, "I hold Andrew." Then he started moving closer to Andrew as if he were going to pick him up out of the exersaucer. Funny!

Jacob had another accident-free day at school, but he had one at home last night. No biggie! I also noticed that he made it all the way through his nap without an accident. He's getting so big!

We have no real plans for this weekend, so I hope to work around the house. We still need to get everything replaced from our water leak (yes...we are THAT far behind), and I have several other things I would like for the contractor to do at our house. So I hope to work all of that out so that we can get moving on actually fixing everything. I think Brian wants to take Jacob to the zoo, too! I'm not off on Monday because I scheduled a million things to do at the office for next week. Have a great weekend!

Quick Hit

2009-09-24T11:54:00.002-05:00

Jacob had no accidents at school or home yesterday! Brian and I are so proud of him!

No School

2009-09-23T08:13:00.002-05:00

Jacob was sick Labor Day weekend. We visited my parents on that Saturday, and he felt warm that evening when we got home. The next morning he was burning up, so we took his temperature. Sure enough, he had a 101 fever, and maintained it for the next 3 days. He loved staying home with Mommy on Tuesday and Wednesday! We had so much fun! On Tuesday I took him to Toys R Us with me to get a toddler bed for him. We converted his crib into a full size bed in June, 2008. Andrew is still in the pack 'n play in our room, and we're not quite ready to move Jacob upstairs. We have always wanted to get the boys bunk beds, and he's not big enough yet to be upstairs by himself with the bunk beds. SCARY! So we decided to get the toddler bed and convert the full size bed back into the crib and put both boys in the nursery. Jacob absolutely loves his "cool" new bed and has not fallen out of it (I thought he would since he had so much more room in the other bed). The sheet set and bed have a Cars theme, so he's totally in love with it! I hope to convert the bed back to a crib this weekend. Jacob and I also hit the grocery store and Target to get birthday presents for Anna and Mia. He was a perfect angel for me!

Needless to say, when he had to go back to school on Thursday he was not happy. He told me Thursday morning, "Andrew go to school." I told him, "Jacob and Andrew are going to school today." "NO! NO! NO!" Brian said that Ms. Little, Jacob's teacher, had to literally pry Jacob off of him. Friday was a little better, but then we had a weekend. Oh yeah, and my Mondays off began on September 14. So when he saw that I was not getting ready to go to work on that Monday, he thought he was going to stay home with me. So Brian had to deal with two more days of meltdowns at school. Jacob is finally doing better now.

I have several videos and pictures to post. I have a video of Andrew laughing; Jacob playing like he is the pizza man; Jacob pretending to be Buzz Lightyear; and pictures of the boys in their Halloween costumes. I just keep forgetting to bring my camera to work!

God's Little Gifts

2009-09-23T08:00:00.002-05:00

I enjoy the times of parenting where you can actually see in your kids that you are doing something right with them. I had a moment the other night with Jacob and Mr. Bananas, his little stuffed monkey. He told me that Mr. Bananas wanted to take a nap. So he put the little monkey beside him on his pillow, and both of them curled up on their bellies. I asked if he was going to sing to Mr. Bananas to help him go to sleep, and he said yes. So he proceeds to pat the monkey's back and sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in its entirety. I wish I had had the video camera. He was patting his back so softly and singing so quietly. Too sweet!

In other Jacob news he is doing awesome with his potty training! We decided to put him in underwear last week because he was starting to take his diaper off whenever he needed a new one. So he wore underwear for 3 days last week and had 3 accidents each day. He would also go potty at school which he had not done previously. So I considered that a success! This week he has had 1 accident each day! On Monday he stopped playing on the playground to tell his teacher that he needed to go potty. So it appears we are making some huge strides in the potty department. Now we reward him for telling us he has to go potty rather than his actually going potty. The stickers are still working for a reward, too! Way to go Jacob!

Do They Look Alike?!?!

2009-09-04T08:47:00.003-05:00

Jacob at 4 Months

Andrew at 4 Months

Rain Man

2009-09-04T08:14:00.003-05:00

Jacob is so full of life! He is so much fun to watch and talk to these days, and I'm working very hard to savor every moment! Yesterday morning he woke up and came running out of his room. He found me in the kitchen and told me, "Hi Mommy! Hi Mommy!" Then he ran into the living room, stopped in front of the TV, and did a little jig (the TV was off and there wasn't any music playing through the house). It was too cute, and I knew that it was a moment just for me; no time for a video camera and no chance of getting him to do it again. He and Brian have gone outside to wave goodbye to me just about every day this week! It's so sweet! This morning he added in, "I love you Truck! I love you Mommy!"

Yesterday morning Andrew waited until Brian loaded him in the carseat to completely let loose in his diaper. Brian said there was poop EVERYWHERE! He told me last night "That diaper never had a chance." Anyway, he has to dress nicely (slacks, shirt and tie) for work, so he put on latex gloves to clean Andrew's mess. He's done this once before, and Jacob talked about how he was scared of Daddy's gloves for about a month. But yesterday morning Jacob got a sock and put it on his hand to help Daddy clean Andrew's mess. Brian said he was really cute! He said that after everything was cleaned up, Jacob went to the carseat and was wiping it with his little socked hand.

Lately he has reminded me of Rain Man when he talks. If something is out of place, he begins his sentence with Uh-Oh! "Uh-oh, Daddy's sock." "Uh-oh, Jacob's towel." He's so particular about that stuff.

His favorite movie right now is Toy Story. He loves the song "Here We Go Looby Loo," so when you ask him what day it is he'll say Saturday.

Change

2009-09-02T07:54:00.002-05:00

I went to a little Meet the Teacher thing for Jacob's class last night. I'm very excited about this school year for him! His teacher is very sweet, young, and full of energy! She seems extremely passionate about this age group. Throughout the year they will be working with the kids to connect different concepts and communication skills. They also focus on potty training.

Jacob does not like change very much, so I stayed after the meeting to talk one-on-one with Ms. Little. She said he is doing well and participating in class, and he loves to help her carry the art supplies! We must've chatted for 30 - 45 minutes after the meeting was over.

Andrew got a new teacher in his class. She is actually a teacher that Jacob had briefly a year or so ago. Andrew's old teacher, Ms. McDaniel, is now working in the office, and I found out last night that she spends some mornings in Jacob's room. She LOVED Andrew, and I could tell he loved her, too! I hope she still gets to sneak into the infant room for some cuddle time! :)

I have decided to change my work schedule so that I can grabe just a tad of down time. I just feel like I'm constantly running and running! So starting September 14, I will be off every Monday!! Brian is taking the kids out of the house on Sunday so that I can have a kid-free night and morning. I feel so relieved that there is a break in sight!

Andrew's New Stats

2009-08-28T13:53:00.003-05:00

Andrew, April 7

I took Andrew for his 4 month checkup on August 7. Here's an update on our chunky monkey:

His weight was 15 lb. 14 oz. - 71st percentile
He was 25.5 inches long - 70th percentile
His head isn't too big, I think it's in the 42nd percentile
He handled his shots like a champ! He didn't cry at all until she stuck him the second time (and this nurse was super slow with the shots)
He sleeps all night! We put him down around 8:30 or 9:00 (which happens to be right after Jacob goes down), and he usually wakes up around 5:30 or 6:00. It's funny...just as we finish singing lullabies to Jacob, Andrew is screaming for his last feeding.
He is a total snuggle bug! He loves to be cuddled!
He loves to sleep with a blanket. Jacob wakes up from a dead sleep when you put a blanket on him.
He still loves his brother! I love to watch the boys interact with each other because you can see that they truly love each other. Of course, I hope this lasts forever, but I know it won't. Not like this anyway.
He startles easily. Jacob loves for you to jump out from behind a door and scare him, but Andrew cries when you scare him. He gets startled at the smallest thing, too, like if you cover your eyes, uncover them really fast, and say Boo! Funny!
He loves his mommy! Again, I love the look on his face when he hears my voice first thing in the morning. And he can't wait to get his hands on me when he gets home from school.
He loves his daddy, too! He just laughs and laughs for Brian. I barely get a giggle.
He is probably one of the happiest and most content babies I've ever seen! His smile is so big to go along with those big eyes!
First family vacation - August 6 - 9
First time to go swimming - August 8
First time to roll over - August 14 - from his belly to his back
First time to laugh - August 23 - for Daddy while he was getting tickled
He has made me appreciate both of my babies more than I ever have before!

August 6

Stay-cation at the Great Wolf Lodge

2009-08-26T07:56:00.005-05:00

For the last few years, our entire family has gone on vacation together. This year, because my kids are so young, my mom suggested we go to the Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine. Brian and I had been really looking forward to the vacation since that moment! We didn't want to take the kids on an airplane yet, and a road trip could be tough, too.
So Thursday night everybody went to dinner together at Fireside Pies. Andrew was extremely fussy which is out of character for him. We thought he might not like the loud music. I had to go to the car to feed him because he would not take a bottle (it was still a little cold). Then he slept, but he was still a little fussy. Jacob had so much fun with Aunt Gloria and Matthew!
Brian and I took off work on Friday so that we could go to the hotel and hang out with my parents. We had a Casino Night to attend that night, so we were planning to spend the night to help out our parents. We finally arrived at the hotel around 11:00. Brian took Jacob swimming. I had to take Andrew for his 4 month checkup, so I decided to swim when we got back from the doctor. My parents watched the kids while the 6 of us (Edomms, Hicks, and Paxtons) went to Casino Night.
On Saturday Jacob was in the pool for a total of about 6 or 7 hours! He LOVES the water! Unfortunately we did not get a lot of pictures. We were too busy playing! He went down a little slide that they had about 100 times. He was really cute! That was the best day of the weekend. Brian got to leave for a little while to get a haircut. I got to take a nap...it was about 3 hours long! The Hicks and Paxtons decided to come to the hotel on Saturday. They all arrived around 9:30 and they left around 6:00. Since Jacob was having so much fun, we decided to crash another night at the hotel. We went to dinner that night with my parents at Uncle Julio's.
Sunday we had all of a 20 minute drive home (have I mentioned how much I loved staying close to home). We finally got to use our new bag-unpacker....Jacob. He had so much fun taking our things out of the bags and putting them up (seriously!). After naps, we decided to go swimming at Grandmother's house. It was truly the perfect weekend escape from the real world!

Here I am trying to take a cool shot like the ones Lynette takes.

Jacob's Michael Jackson Tribute

2009-08-25T08:52:00.003-05:00

Yes, it has been 2 months since Michael Jackson passed away, or was murdered as we found out yesterday. I have tried and tried to get video of the boys dancing, but they just are not as eager to dance as the little girls. I finally have struck gold with something that I think is perfect for a tribute to Michael Jackson.

Will It Ever Stop?!?!

2009-08-20T08:09:00.002-05:00

I've been so excited to blog the last couple of weeks, but I have simply not had the time! Here is a brief summary of what has been going on in the Edomms' world.

1. Family Staycation at The Great Wolf Lodge - The Edomms had a great time! I am so thankful that we didn't do a big trip and stayed close to home. Standby for a dedicated blog.
2. Andrew's new stats - We had his 4 month checkup! Standby for a dedicated blog.
3. Andrew gets sick - Last Monday thru Wednesday he was home with croup. It wasn't too bad; the highest his fever got was 100.8. He bounced right back!
4. Jacob gets sick - I got a call from daycare at 4:30 Wednesday afternoon that Jacob had a 101.8 fever. I immediately thought of Mary since we had just discussed the daycares calling late in the day about kids with fevers. I decided not to call the doctor because the baby bounced back so easily. Jacob kept a low grade fever (100-ish) until Saturday evening. He is finally feeling better and sleeping better.
5. Great weekend - We actually had a pretty nice weekend centered around the kids despite their not feeling up to par. We did some things around the house, and I actually took it easy and just played with the kids all weekend! Brian did the work around the house.
6. Brian gets sick - Monday night he started complaining that he just didn't feel right. Tuesday for his lunch break he went to his mom's to take a nap. He woke up at 4:00 and decided to pick up the kids from school. Tuesday night he had a 101 fever. He stayed home yesterday and slept all day. He's home again today. He says he feels a little better, and he was fever free yesterday (or so he told me).
7. Andrew's lips turn blue at daycare - WHAT?!?! Imagine that phone call. It went something like this, "I'm going to throw this out there, and do with it what you want. Andrew's lips have been turning blue off and on this morning. He's not cold, and he is as happy as he can be!" We were in the office for an hour and a half so that they could try to catch him in a blue-lipped moment. No such luck. So she gave me a prescription to give him for 5 days. The more I think about it, the more I think that he might have had a sleep apnea moment or something. To me, that's worse than an illness he could have! I have no control over his breathing in his sleep.

So that's been the last 2 weeks. I originally had a girls' nite planned for last Friday with my friend Cassie. Once Jacob got sick, we rescheduled for this Friday. After this week, I'm not cancelling at all! We are supposed to get pedicures and go to dinner.

Weekend with the Great Grandparents

2009-08-05T08:20:00.005-05:00

We went to see Big Papa and Big Gaga last weekend. It rained while we were at Big Papa's so we had to stay inside the entire time. He has a lot of land, and it would've been nice to let Jacob run around. It was our first visit since Russell passed away, and it was a little weird. I didn't realize how much time I spent talking to Russ until this last visit. The house is much more quiet, too.

I had dressed both boys in their overalls because it's all that Big Papa ever wears. I thought it would be cute to get a picture. But leave it to Mother Nature to put a kink in those plans. Jacob pooped while we were in the car, and we didn't know until we got there. Then we had to bathe him to get him clean.

Brian was not feeling well Saturday night when we got home. So once we were up and moving on Sunday, I decided to take the boys to see Big Gaga and let Brian sleep in. The boys were so good! We did have a naughty stool incident at Gaga's (a few of you may have already heard about it). Basically, he was playing after he finished lunch. He was just messing with everything, and that just drives me crazy! So after threatening the naughty stool, I had to follow thru once he tested it. He was good after that!

Right before we left, Jacob cuddled up with Andrew on the floor. So sweet!

When we got home Sunday, it was hot in the house. I've thought for a while that there has been something wrong with our AC. Sure enough, we needed more coolant. My nagging was backed up again yesterday when I received my HIGH, HIGH, HIGH electric bill! I should've nagged a little louder and started a little earlier. The boys cuddled up again after naps on Sunday.

This is not as random as it looks. Brian was eating a fruit bar while he was giving Jacob a bath on Monday night. Jacob wanted some, so Brian gave it to him. Look at how happy he is!

Horrible Fits!

2009-07-31T08:17:00.002-05:00

The last 2 nights in our house have been anything but quiet evenings at home with the kids. Wednesday night Jacob had to use the potty before dinner. When he was finished, I heard Brian tell him, "No Jacob. Don't put your head in the potty. That's gross!" Then I heard, "Jacob gets to sit on the naughty stool for not following Daddy's directions." So Brian puts him on the naughty stool, tells him why he's on there and that he needs to sit quietly for 2 minutes before he can get off. So Jacob carries on and on: My potty sticker (stickers are the reward), Mommy, Daddy, Andrew....loud and crying, or rather fake crying, the entire time. We started at 6:30; at 7:00, Brian and I were finished with dinner. Brian wanted to pick up everything from the table and let Jacob just miss dinner, but I wasn't quite ready for that yet. I decided I'd let him go on for another 15 minutes. By the end of the 15 minutes, I was in our bedroom feeding Andrew. I heard Brian start to clear the table, and then Jacob got really loud: My plate, my fork, my big chair, my milk! So finally, at 7:30....an hour after we started, he got to get off of the naughty stool.

I was expecting him to be perfect last night, but no such luck. Last night he told us he wanted to sit in his little chair instead of his big chair. So we pulled up the little chair, and of course he immediately started asking for his big chair. We put him in his little chair, and he carried on about wanting the big chair for about 30 minutes. Then he got to sit on the naughty stool for standing in his little chair. He was there for about another 30 minutes because of the crying, whining, and getting up off of the naughty stool. No dinner again for the second night!

I'm sure that the teachers from Primrose think that I'm talking about another child. I'm so happy that Jacob behaves perfectly for you all! And honestly, I feel that if this is the worst thing he does, then we don't have that big of a problem.

I've been trying to get video of the boys dancing so that I can post a tribute to MJ, but they don't dance or shake their @$$es like the little girls.

Ear Hurt, Call Doctor

2009-07-15T07:57:00.003-05:00

Jacob told us on Sunday that his ear hurt and he wanted to call the doctor. He said it a couple of times, and I finally told him that we'd call the doctor on Monday. We've had this nasty cold running through the house for about 3 weeks now. All of the boys are passing it back and forth to each other. So we get up Monday morning; I ask if his ear hurts; and he says no. So I thought I'd wait until Tuesday. I noticed Monday evening that he said his ear hurt when Brian was paying attention to the baby, so I thought he was saying it for attention. I mean, he's freaking 2! So I decided not to call the doctor.

Tuesday, 3:30 p.m.: Daycare calls to tell me Jacob has a fever of 100.4. I felt so guilty!! So I leave work, call the doctor, and surprisingly they can get me in that afternoon. It all turns out to be a sore throat; his ears are clear. And they didn't give us a prescription because it is just a viral infection. You could tell Jacob didn't feel well by looking at him.

Last night, or actually this morning, at 2:15, I wake up to Jacob running out of our bathroom and saying, "Mommy, mommy?" He got out of his bed and came into our room. This is only significant because he has been in his big bed for a year and had never done this! He still waits for us to go into his room to get up in the morning. I guess he really didn't feel well last night. This morning he wanted to cuggle before I went to work.

Here is a picture of the boys that was taken by a company who came to our house. The least expensive package was $100 for 5 5x7's. The most expensive I think was $800. They had a CD with the most expensive packages, but I just got 8 sheet of pictures and the CD for $130 when I took them to Sears. So I politely asked for my free 8x10. This is it. They were beautiful pictures, but I cannot justify the cost.

Russell Neal

2009-07-13T08:21:00.004-05:00

As you may have heard, my uncle Russell passed away last Wednesday. He had been in the hospital for 6 days and received a pacemaker on Tuesday morning. He was released to go home Wednesday afternoon and collapsed about 10 minutes after arriving home. Russell was the kind of person we should all strive to be: loving, friendly, non-judgemental, innocent, playful, and just truly loved life! He had Down's Syndrome, so he lived with my grandfather. So our weekend was half-full of funeral and family stuff. Friday night we went to the viewing. Russ looked great! Then the funeral was Saturday morning. It was probably one of the best I've been to; it was very similar to Wanda's (another special needs family member who was the most amazing person! She passed away 9 years ago). My brother, cousin Jaime, and I had a lot of input for the service. We, along with our siblings, spent a lot of time with him over summers and spring breaks. So we played songs that he liked and tried to keep the service pretty upbeat. I swear, I have never seen so many flowers and plants at a funeral service. He was loved by everyone he ever met!

I took a nap Saturday afternoon after everything was over. I guess everything really wore me out. Sunday Brian and I played with our kids a lot. We would have small spurts of work, but overall we just spent time with the kiddos. It was so nice!

Yesterday was a crazy day. It started with my getting up at 5:00, rushing around the house to do everything I needed to do before I left for work, and leaving the house at 7:20 which is 20 minutes late. I felt so defeated! I'll spare you the rest of the details but basically nothing went as planned. I worked hard all day on various things to make something happen only for it to not happen at all! Frustrating. So when Brian asked me to get the boys from school, I was thrilled! I had the best time with my babies last night! Go figure...this morning I barely watched the clock, got both boys dressed, pumped, fed Andrew, got myself ready for work, and I was right on time!

July 4th Weekend

2009-07-07T08:13:00.005-05:00

Here are some pictures from our trip to Red Oak from 2 weekends ago.

Jacob and Andrew - I know Jacob has a goofy smile, but I just love this picture!

Jacob kisses Andrew

Grandma Rose and her grandsons!

Brian and Jacob rest from playing outside. Jacob is glistening!

Brian and Andrew.

Our July 4th weekend was GREAT! Friday we took Andrew to school and took Jacob to the zoo. It was so hot at the zoo, but he loved it! We decided to get season passes. We only had to buy them for Brian and me because Jacob gets in free. Brian and Jacob went back on Sunday because Jacob told Brian he wanted to go to the "goo." Here are a few pics from the zoo.

Jacob walks on the alligator.

Jacob on a stagecoach.

Then Friday night we had date night. We went to dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse and got to experience a few kid-free hours. Thanks to Grandmother for watching the munchkins for us!

The rest of the weekend I spent cleaning. It sounds bad, doesn't it? It was actually great! Brian took the kids out of the house so that I could work undisturbed. Now the real chore will be to keep it up! But since we only have a couple of clutter spots now instead of a lot, I think we'll do okay. Let's see how long it is before I post another blog like this.

Andrew is 3 months old today! I cannot believe it! He is such a good baby, and he has adjusted to daycare pretty well. He has stepped up his sleep to 7.5 - 8 hours a night. He loves bath time, and he is extremely chatty! I think he is starting the teething process because he is drooling everywhere, and he has these random fussy fits. The other day he literally cried and screamed for an hour and a half. Then he fell asleep, and he was fine! He loves Jacob, too! I'm so happy that both boys are so happy and like each other so much!

Finally, today is our 4 year wedding anniversary! I love the life we have built together so far and cannot wait to see what lies ahead for us. I still love and adore Brian as much as I did the first day we met!

Potty Training

2009-06-30T07:48:00.003-05:00

I swear, the best tool for potty training is an idol. Matthew was in Red Oak when we visited last weekend. On Saturday morning, he and Jacob were sitting at the breakfast table waiting patiently for Grandma Rose and Papa to finish cooking. Matthew got up from the table, said he had to go potty, and went into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. As soon as he returned, Jacob started to get down from his seat, and he announced to the room that he had to go potty. So I started to go into the bathroom to help him, and he quickly escorted me back out and closed the door behind me. He wanted to do it by himself just like Matthew! So I watched him thru the keyhole in the door. He pulled his pants down just fine, but he could not figure out the diaper. So I watched him work on it for a minute and then asked if he needed help. Of course, he said yes, so I helped him. He didn't do anything on the potty, but he was so proud of himself for sitting on it and trying! He did this about 2 more times that day, and he's been excited to sit on the potty ever since we got home. He hasn't been this interested in the potty since Andrew has been born. Let's hope he keeps it up! Go Jacob!

Farm Boys

2009-06-30T07:30:00.002-05:00

The last 2 weekends we spent in the country. I had scheduled with my brother and parents to visit my grandfather in Kaufman on Father's Day weekend. My brother and I were going to take our families so that Grandpa could see his great-grandsons. So I'm at work on the Friday before, and Jacob's school calls. He has a red eye, and it's getting more red as the day goes on. So I'm thinking it's pink eye. It turns out that he had a cold and the drainage was coming out of his eye. So since he was contagious, he and Brian did not get to go to the farm. I was so sad! Jacob is the only one who actually cares about the farm! Andrew and I went and had a great time! My grandfather LOVED meeting him! My uncle Russell was so sweet to Andrew, too! He has Downs Syndrome, so I just try to keep an eye on him around the kids. We don't go down that often, and I just forget that he is the sweetest person! He would straighten the blanket for Andrew, and I even saw him patting his little belly. He was just so sweet!

Then last weekend we heard there was going to be some hay bailing going on in Red Oak! Jacob is all about tractors and hay right now! I don't know how long it will last, so we decided that we were going to go watch Papa bail hay! Jacob just wanted to climb in and out of Papa's tractor on Friday night. Matthew was there, too, so they took turns riding the gator. The next morning, Jacob could not wait to get outside to watch Papa bail hay! It was really cute! He kept saying that he was going to ride with Papa and help him, but he wouldn't get on the tractor when we got down to it. While Papa was bailing one pasture, Jacob got on the gator and started picking up his own hay. He played very hard! We all had a really good time.

Nanas Nonny Stoo

2009-06-18T09:55:00.003-05:00

I mentioned in another blog that we are using the naughty stool for Jacob. He's really pretty good; he only has to sit on it every couple of days. Last night he and Brian were playing with Mr. Bananas, this stuffed monkey that Jacob has. Jacob loves this little monkey! I don't know how it started, but I sat down to feed Andrew, and Jacob and Brian were putting Mr. Bananas on the naughty stool. Brian set the timer for 2 minutes, and they sat on the stairs to wait for Mr. Bananas. Then when time was up, Jacob went to the stool, picked up the monkey and made him apologize, and then topped it off with a hug and kiss. I don't know how many times they did it before I started watching, but they did this another 4 or 5 times after I sat down. Jacob would take Mr. Bananas off of the stool, take a few steps towards the living room, and make Mr. Bananas hit his head. Then he'd tell him "Nanas nonny stoo hit kakob 2 mimits." A few times he wanted to get him off of the stool early, but Brian made him wait the full 2 minutes.

So I've been going back and forth in my mind if this is a good game to let Jacob play. One side of me says that we shouldn't do it. The other side of me says that he is practicing and understanding the concept of the naughty stool, so it's not really a big deal.

In other news, he woke up this morning talking about Andrew pooping everywhere; Daddy put on gloves; the gloves were stinky. That little incident made quite the impression on him!

Andrew Coos

2009-06-17T08:21:00.003-05:00

I took this video of Andrew over the weekend. I have a hard time catching him with a smile when I'm taking pictures, but he performed like a champ on video!

He is doing so well at school! He loves the bounce chair and he is very curious about his new surroundings. The down side is that he is so ready to be with Mommy at night that he cries the entire way home. The first night, he just wanted to be held all evening. Yesterday he played in the floor while Jacob made me a nervous wreck while he ran around.

Jacob had wheel day at school yesterday. Mrs. Miller said he loved his little truck that we sent in. She called me yesterday to catch me up on the summer activities, and she went on and on about how wonderful Jacob is. I'm so happy he can put on such an act for his teachers at school. I'm kidding!

Jacob does not like white noise. He is scared of the vacuum, blender, food processor, and even the fan in the bathroom. While we were at Costco, we saw a giant vacuum (it looked like a zamboni or something). He was fascinated with it and did not have a break down, but in the checkout line he told me that the giant vacuum hurt his tummy and arm. I'm not sure where the arm came from, but his tummy probably hurt because he was feeling anxious. So I told Brian the story, and he decided to do a little vacuuming Sunday evening (right before Aunt Megs was coming over). So, of course, Jacob totally freaks out. Brian is so patient with him! It probably took about 20 minutes before Jacob was calm enough to touch the vacuum. Brian ended up holding Jacob's hand on the little handle to help Jacob get over his fear. Jacob did not talk about any vacuums all day Monday. But this morning he woke up talking about how Daddy got the vacuum out and it hurt Jacob's arm and tummy. This kid does not forget anything!

Pictures....finally!

2009-06-16T08:30:00.002-05:00

So I have finally put together the pictures from the end of my maternity leave!

We had a pretty good weekend (although as I type this I realize it was pretty uneventful). Friday night I picked up Jacob from school, and I thought we'd do something fun. I told him, "Mommy and Jacob are going to go eat pizza." He said, "Daddy Jacob pizza." So I called Brian, and the 3 of us went out. We left Andrew with Grandmother. After naps on Saturday, the 4 of us headed out to see Big Gaga. Jacob was so excited to see Gaga and Oscar. Jacob got to play with Seth while we were there, too! We went to the cemetery to visit Granddaddy when we were finished. He is buried in the DFW National Cemetery, and it is just beautiful out there! I took Jacob to Costco with me on Sunday, and Andrew got to go to Target with me. Then Aunt Megs came over Sunday night. Jacob had so much fun with her!

I had borrowed my sister's label maker so that I could label all of Andrew's bottles for daycare. I recruited Megan to help me since she was there, but it didn't last long. Just as we got enough bottles labeled for his big first day, the tape started acting up. No biggie...I'll get a new tape tomorrow, I thought, and finish tomorrow evening. Then I decided to do baths for the boys. I get everyone's gear ready, sit down next to the tub, turn it on and a small trickle comes out with a lot of air. Yep...our water was out. It turns out there was a water main break around my neighborhood and they expected to have it fixed between 3 and 5 a.m. the next morning. That meant that when I woke up at 5:00 I would know if we needed to go somewhere to take showers. No biggie.

Sure enough, no water yesterday morning. So I spend 2 hours (yes...2 flippin' hours) packing bags: Jacob's daycare bag, Andrew's daycare bag, my pump bag, my lunch, and my bag to get ready at Grandmother's house. I sent an email to work (which no one received because our server was down) and fed Andrew in the middle of all of that, too. Ugh! So naturally, I cry a little before I leave the house because Andrew started school yesterday. He was so happy and playing when I left which makes it 10 times harder to leave him! The rest of the day was wonderful!

The weekend before last, Andrew had his first poop incident. In the middle of a diaper change, he pooped everywhere...and I mean everywhere! It got all over the wall, changing table, package of wipes, and even in Jacob's clothes hamper. Jacob was sitting on his bed and watched the entire fiasco. Brian came in with latex gloves to help me clean which was really nice. So now when Jacob has a dirty diaper, he says, "Jacob poop everywhere!" And on Sunday night while Megs was there, Jacob took off his socks, put them on his hands, ran to his room and shouted, "Jacob poop everywhere!" He is starting to pretend now, and it is so much fun!

Granddaddy's Memorial Service

2009-06-11T01:16:00.001-05:00

I setup a couple of photo frames at Granddaddy's memorial service. Here is a slideshow of the pictures that I put on them. We got a cassette tape of the service and I’m working to get it digitized; I just need to find a male-male headphone cable. I’m sure I threw a couple away when I cleaned out the office a few weeks ago. Once it is ready I’ll post it.

You can watch the show with larger pictures here OR, click on the four arrows in the lower right corner once the slideshow starts to watch it in full screen.

A Few Stories

2009-06-09T08:05:00.002-05:00

I was so exhausted last night after work that I did not touch my computer to update the pictures. I have my camera with me today, so maybe I will have a chance to at least get them onto the computer.

I thought of a couple of stories to share about the boys.

Andrew update: Have I mentioned that he is the best baby?!?! We had his checkup last week, and he was 12 lbs 9.75 oz (74th percentile) and 23.5 inches long (66th percentile). He is such a chunk! He is pretty happy most of the time and extremely relaxed. He averages 5-6 hours of sleep at night (9:00 - 3:00 or 4:00). He eats every 2-3 hours. He has been cooing and smiling at us for a while now. He coos differently to Brian than he does to me. I think he really likes Jacob, too! Jacob thinks Andrew is the funniest little thing. I think he giggles at every noise Andrew makes.

Jacob update: A few weeks ago you needed a translator to understand what Jacob was saying. It's not like that much anymore! He is starting to speak so well and in sentences. He loves to "cogor" (color), watch tractors, read his books, and recently he has become even more fascinated with letters and counting. He has learned how to spell his name and Mommy. We are working on Daddy and his own middle name. He has learned that his full name is "Kakob Ellis Dedomm" (he makes a K noise for his J's). He loves to count! He has also learned recently about the naughty stool and does not like it! It works, though! And we had to do it Super Nanny style in the beginning. It took about 45 min. for him to get it the first time; 30 min. after that; and now he doesn't get up and run around.

It turns out that Andrew is quite the bully, too! (Forgive me if I have already posted the following story). One morning, Jacob and Andrew were on our bed. Jacob picked up Andrew's hand and brought it to his own mouth. I thought he was kissing Andrew's hand. Then he puts down Andrew's hand, points to his mouth, and says, "hurt, hurt." I handled it very well in the moment and did not laugh at him, but I giggled about it all day!

Over the weekend, I was cooking some biscuits and doing some laundry. Both boys were in the living room, and I hear Jacob say, "Angoo Kakob hurt knee." So I ask him, "Did Andrew hurt Jacob's knee?" He tells me yes. So then I apologize for Andrew (I did not witness anything and I want to make sure Jacob feels like he is heard when he complains), and I explained that Andrew cannot control his movements right now. Then about 10 minutes later Jacob runs to me in the laundry room and says, "Angoo Kakob books." I ask him if he wants to read his books to Andrew; no response (which means no). Then I ask if Andrew took his books, and he tells me yes. Okay, that's just ridiculous. So I told him, "No. Andrew did not take your books. Go play." Then I noticed Jacob was looking at his books next to Andrew. It was really cute!

Back at Work

2009-06-08T07:59:00.002-05:00

Good morning! I am back at work after 9 wonderful weeks off with my babies. I say babies, but Jacob still had to go to school while I stayed home with Andrew. I have a ton of pictures that I'm going to put into a slideshow.

Here is a quick summary of my leave time. I had cabin fever like crazy so the 2 weeks I was not allowed to drive felt like forever! I wanted to use the time off to get my house organized and ready for life with 2 kids and 2 working parents. I got some of it done, but not as much as I would have liked. We found a water leak in our house. So I spent a few days at my parents' house with the kiddos. It was nice to go to a familiar place, but there is no place like home with the kids. One day I took both kids to visit Big Gaga and we met Amy and her 2 girls over there. We had so much fun! The kids played really well together! Then we had Matthew's birthday party at Pump It Up! It is a place with these giant bounce houses, and Jacob loved it! Then both boys were sick. Jacob just had the crud, but Andrew got an ear infection. What?!?! 7 weeks old with an ear infection! He seems to be doing much better now. And then it all ended with the passing of Brian's grandfather. He had been sick since the beginning of the year. He will be missed so much! I am sad that he is the second great-grandparent that my kids have lost this year.

I'm taking my computer home tonight to work on the pictures. I cannot wait for everyone to see them!

Weekend in Red Oak

2009-05-05T11:06:00.004-05:00

It turned out to be a good weekend to go to Red Oak. My parents had Matthew for the weekend. I thought he would be a little upset that he had to share my parents, but he did so well! Jacob just adores Matthew and thinks he is the coolest! Matthew was so nice to Jacob, and he was fascinated with Andrew. He woke up Sunday morning and asked how "Little Andrew" was doing. All of the kids were so good all weekend! Here are some pics.

Grandma Rose & Andrew

The 3 Boys

Matthew & Andrew

Jacob and Matthew on the gator

Jacob's Videos

2009-05-05T10:58:00.009-05:00

Here are a few videos of Jacob. He is talking so much these days! Enjoy!

Water Leak

2009-05-05T10:58:00.006-05:00

While I was in the hospital, my mom came over to the house to clean. She told me that she thought we had a water leak and to watch a certain spot in the house. A week ago, I was working around the house and decided to steam the floors. Before I steamed this particular spot on the floor, I decided to touch it to see if the wood floors were warping. Sure enough...it was. So I thought the leak was coming from our dishwasher. I'll spare you all of the painful details, but it turned out to come from a joint that is supposed to be above the slab but it was actually in our slab.

So I packed up the kiddos and headed down to my parents' house for the weekend. I did not want them here for the repair. They had to bring in a jackhammer and pull up part of the floor to fix the leak. We are back home for now because Brian has treated all of the exposed mold with Tea Tree Oil. We are going to get all new wood flooring out of the deal and a couple of new cabinets. We'll have to leave for at least another week when they finally get here to fix the damage caused by the water. We've wanted new floors since we moved in, so we like that!

Check Ups

2009-05-05T10:45:00.005-05:00

On April 21st, my mom and I took the boys for their 2 year and 2 week check ups. WOW! I'm thankful I have good kids because that whole day was a total adventure. Of course, I over-scheduled myself. I decided to go into work that morning, have lunch at the shop, take the boys to the doctor, go to my doctor for an incision check, and take Andrew for his second PKU Test. It was a very long day, and everyone was a good sport about my poor judgement. :)

Jacob's Stats:
Weight: 29 lbs 9.6 oz
Height: 35-1/2 in.
Head: 49-1/2 cm

He is perfectly healthy!!! He got 2 more vaccinations, and he handled it all pretty well. He knew something was going on when 3 of us held him down, and he cried. But he got over it pretty fast. For the rest of the day he would not let us forget that his leg hurt.

Andrew's Stats:
Weight: 7 lbs 8 oz
Height: 20-1/2 in
Head: 37-1/2 cm

He is also perfectly healthy! Who could ask for more?!?! He was a true champ during the day. I fed him just enough to get him by all day, and he just slept thru the rest. Well, he cried during his PKU test. He woke up as we were getting to the hospital, and I was feeding him just before the nurse came into the room. So I knew he'd be upset. Then he spit up all over himself when I went in for my incision check. My doctor thought that was hilarious! I told him it was the perfect ending to my day.

Here are a few pics of the boys.

Jacob wanted to read his books to Andrew

My 3 boys! I love this picture!

Jacob's Birthday

2009-05-05T10:40:00.005-05:00

Jacob's birthday was April 15. Throughout my pregnancy I was very worried about his birthday getting lost in the shuffle. My brother and his wife had the idea that they could come over on Jacob's birthday and help us celebrate. I knew my mom would be in town that day, and so we decided to make it a party; I called everyone the night before to let them know that we were going to do a low-key birthday party for Jacob.

We gave Jacob this cool desk that my mom and I found at Target where he can "cogor" (color). He also got a Sit-n-Spin from Grandmother and a bubbles mower from Matthew and this thing called an Aquadoodle from my parents. Here are some pics from the party.

The Edomms

Papa, Grandma Rose, and the grandkids

Jacob opens gifts

Jacob and Grandmother

Jacob enjoys Tia's brownie with icing

We're still here!

2009-04-21T12:02:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to write a quick post to say we're still alive and well! I have pictures and videos of all of the boys. Our computers at home are acting up, and I had to come into the office for a bit this morning. I cannot wait to show off Andrew a little more. Jacob has been really great with him. He truly loves his little brother! I just caught up on all of my other blogs, and all of the kiddos are so adorable!

When Jacob met Andrew…

2009-04-09T16:24:00.001-05:00

I brought Jacob up to the Hospital Tuesday evening. Things were pretty un-eventful at the first meeting. We had a room full of people and we were passing Andrew around. Jacob never saw Carrie holding Andrew.

Jacob got a little upset when we turned out one of the lights in the room (we dim the lights in the living room at bedtime so he generally freaks out whenever we dim lights and it isn’t bedtime). After that we played with his doctor toys and letters until it was time to go. Then he gave Carrie and Andrew a kiss goodbye.

The second meeting was quite a bit different. Grandma Rose was holding Andrew when we came in, and I decided we should just go ahead and get it over with. Carrie took Andrew and Jacob immediately freaked. After several minutes of crying, I took him to sit on Carrie’s other side in bed.

That calmed him down and he started playing with Andrew. He honked Andrew’s nose, and checked to make sure Andrew had cheeks, hair, a head, toes, knees and fingers.

After that he wanted to be wherever Andrew was. As we were saying our goodbyes Jacob gave Andrew a nickname; “night night Drew, night night Drew”.

Hello World!!

2009-04-09T02:12:00.001-05:00

Hello, my name is Andrew William Edomm. For those of you who don’t know, I’m Jacob’s little bro. I was really getting tired of my last place so I started squeezing mommies blood vessels so I could get out. My plan worked. It raised her blood pressure high enough that they finally set me free on Tuesday, April 7, 2009 at 2:18 PM.

I’m trim at 7 pounds 2 ounces, 19.5 inches long. I love milk and I don’t cry. Well, maybe I cry a little, but only cause this room is so freakin’ cold.

I haven’t slept much since getting out. Which is good since I’ve had several visitors. My favorite was when Jacob came by to say hi. He said he would teach me how to run. It looks like tons of fun. When he had to go home he gave me a kiss on the head and said bye bye. I must admit he worries me a little. I overheard him saying “Andrew Trash”. Mommy and Daddy assured me he was talking about putting my diapers in the trash… but I’m not so sure.

Mommy is doing well. She looks really tired though… and hungry. I could tell it had been a while since she had eaten when I was born. They’ve been giving her milk and some clear stuff, but she doesn’t seem happy with it. I don’t know why… milk is AWESOME!

Here are a few pictures of the whole event…

and a little video…

for the record… I’m a little boy, not a bunny!

Thankful

2009-03-30T20:26:00.002-05:00

We are now 11 days away from the big day!! I spent a lot of the weekend feeling impatient and sad that Andrew was not here yet. Saturday was the day I had guessed for his arrival. I must admit that I tried to cheat a little. I went to On the Border and had some super spicy jalapenos and I walked around Babies R Us for a while. Brian took Jacob to run some errands, so I had a lot of the afternoon to myself.

I had a decent amount of energy on Sunday. Brian let me sleep in both days which was so nice! I did a few things around the house and then took a nap when Jacob went down. Then he and I got ready and ran an errand or two. And then we all went to dinner as a family. I'm trying to eat up these times because I know it's all about to end for a little while.

This morning I woke up and knew I was going into work late. Brian mentioned to me that he thought Jacob had pink eye. I had noticed it the day before but didn't say anything to Brian (I work very hard to not be the over-worried mother). When I saw how crusty Jacob's eye was, it was the first time in a long time that I was thankful Andrew had not been born yet. So we kept Jacob home from school, and I took him to the doctor this morning. When I took him last week, they told me that he had an ear infection in his left ear. We chose not to give him the meds they prescribed for it because we've read and heard from the pharmacist that medicines for ear infections don't work most of the time. I don't remember any other details about it, but Jacob NEVER complains about his ears. That was another reason we decided to not medicate him for it. Anyway, it turns out that the drainage from his eye is actually from the gunk in his ear. It's the way his body is relieving the pressure from his ear. Crazy, huh? So we got a stronger prescription for his ear and nothing for his eye; it is pink eye, but it's not pink eye.

Anyway, after the doctor visit, we went to Target to get his prescription filled. He had a blowout like no other while we were there. It's been a while since that happened to me while we were out. After I cleaned him up we picked up a few new clothes, a bag for him to take to Matthew's house, and a ball for him to take to Matthew's house. Oh my goodness...he was so excited about going to Matthew's house, and I tried to make it clear that he probably wasn't going until Baby Andrew arrived. He is still talking about going to Matthew's house! It's really pretty sweet. Then we came home, had lunch, and took a nap together. Then it was time for us to get ready to see my doctor. He was a huge hit at the office! I will go back in a week, and I think my doctor said it was my last visit. How exciting! Anyway, I've only grown 1 cm since my last visit, and I'm now up to 170lbs. I think that's almost 40 lbs I've gained. It's all belly and water weight. I cannot wait to bust out the Wii Fit when Andrew is born! After my appointment Jacob and I came home, started some laundry, and cooked dinner. Then Brian came home and I completely pooped out. My feet are so swollen tonight! But Jacob and I had the best day! He only fussed a little when I told him he could not color until he picked up his blocks. That didn't happen until I was cooking dinner.

A note for the family: The closer we get to the 11th, the less likely it is that Andrew and I will make it to Easter. I'm starting to hope that he waits until the 10th because then the nurses can take care of me while Brian and Jacob head out there for a few hours on Saturday. PLEASE feel free to come and visit us at the hospital. I will be there for a few days. I'd say I'll be up for some visitors starting Friday evening thru the rest of my stay. My surgery is scheduled for noon, and I know it will be 3:00 or so before I get to try to feed Andrew for the first time. I'd like to see all of the out-of-towners and I want you to know that you're more than welcome to come visit! On the other hand, I know that hospitals suck so I understand if you don't want to spend your time in Texas at the hospital. :)

What a Week!

2009-03-25T08:01:00.002-05:00

Monday morning around 3:30, I started having contractions. So we started timing them. For an hour they were almost exactly 6.5 minutes apart. YAY! Then we decide to try to rest for a while. Well, I couldn't sleep at all. I started thinking about work (I had my computer with me), so I got up to send a couple of emails. Then I took a shower. The contractions were still coming. The day before I had false labor off and on all day, so I knew the ones I was having Monday morning were real.

We took Jacob to school and went to the hospital. We got there around 9:00 I guess. They hooked me up to all of the machines and asked me a million questions. They monitored my contractions for 2 hours and determined it was false labor again. :/ The contractions were not hard enough or quite consistent enough.

Yesterday was pretty uneventful. I decided to take Jacob to the doctor for this cough he has had for a couple of weeks. He woke up at 4:30 yesterday morning and it took him over an hour to get back to sleep because of the cough. I conveniently scheduled the appointment for the early afternoon so that I could work half of the day and be free the rest of the day.

Today I was hoping to wake up in horrible pain so that we could meet Andrew. No such luck, but the day is young.

Officially on Baby Watch

2009-03-21T21:43:00.002-05:00

Jacob and I went to Red Oak last night to hang out at my parents' house. I was tired yesterday, but all in all I felt pretty good. The weather has been really nice around here, and I love to let him run around at their house. So we played outside for a couple of hours last night. He had a blast! I was looking forward to letting him run around again this morning (we spent the night).

He woke up at 3:30 this morning (sadly I was already awake). I put him in bed with me because I was sure I could get him right back to sleep. No such luck. He didn't go back down until 4:30. Then I woke up at 5:30 and 6:30 when he had a dream and started kicking and whining like crazy. It's funny...at 6:30 he actually said, "stinky." We got up for good at 7:30.

At 6:30 I was extremely uncomfortable. I felt all of this stretching around the front of my hips. Then it would move to the back of my hips. It didn't feel like contractions at all, but it didn't really go away until 9:00 or so this morning. I've had the same discomfort throughout the day. Andrew feels extremely heavy, and I know that there is only so much further he can fall before he falls out. So I tried not to do much of anything today.

Tonight I lined up a middle of the night contact...my sister! None of us have seen her change a diaper, but she says she's not really afraid of it. :) So now I have someone to call to come over and stay with Jacob should I go into labor in the middle of the night! I don't have much figured out after that, but we'll work it out eventually.

You have all officially been put on Baby Watch Notice! I'll keep you posted!

Baby Update

2009-03-17T07:18:00.002-05:00

You may have read in previous blogs that I am very swollen these days. I do not remember feeling this bad during my pregnancy with Jacob. And really the worst part is the swelling in my hands.

Saturday I had a great day! Brian pretty much took care of Jacob all day, and I got to rest a lot. We had a wedding to go to that night, so I wanted to be sure I did not overdo it during the day. We went to the wedding with some friends, and then we went out to eat when we left. I wanted Mexican food so bad, so we stopped at On the Border on our way home. It was so good! I was seriously thinking about getting another chicken burrito to go so that I could have it on Sunday for lunch. It's a good thing I didn't. I woke up Sunday, and my hands hurt so bad! I could not do anything! I was seriously out of bed for a total of maybe 2 hours all day. At times, it felt like my hands were going to crack open because of the swelling. It was horrible! And I could not believe it! I felt so good Saturday night! I had a sudden burst of energy, and I did not want to go to sleep at all. So I soaked my hands in epsom salt that evening, and it relieved the swelling for all of 30 minutes. Then Brian and I discussed changing my diet to try to cut down on the amount of sodium I have each day. We didn't have much at the house because we've been buying all of this stuff to make life more convenient. Convenience = High Sodium. I went to the store yesterday and I looked at a couple of things. A Lean Cuisine meal has 45% of your daily intake of sodium. The most shocking was a sandwich that is sold with the lunch meats....64%. Holy Crap! So I have become a rabbit for the rest of my pregnancy. I can have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and lots of fresh fruits and veggies. I can also have 1-2 Tbsp of Queso dip and 15 target brand organic tortilla chips. I am half Bereuter....I gotta have chips somewhere in my diet! And, surprisingly, Coke does not have a lot of sodium in it! So I still get to enjoy 1 or 2 each day. I'm counting down the days until I can have another Oldtimer with cheese. :)

I went to the doctor yesterday, and I was so excited when I left! He walked into the room, started talking immediately, and got to work. First he measured my belly. I have grown 4 cm in the last 10 days (and I only gained 2 lbs). So now I'm at 39 cm at 35 weeks. He said, "Do you feel like your baby is growing because you should. He's had quite a growth spurt." Then he said, "Let's see...you're scheduled for surgery on April 10. Do you think you're going to make it?" I told him no, and immediately asked him if he thought I would make it. He said, "Well, based on your history and your size, I would say no. Don't hang your hat on that, but I would really be surprised if he stays in until April 10." He has said this once before, but I had not had a chance to bitch about my hands or my discomfort, and he was just different about it this time. We made our next appointment for March 30, but he said he would not be surprised if I had the baby before my next appointment! SWEET!!!