Go Pack Go!

I may live in Michigan, but I am from Wisconsin and therefore, I am a huge Packer fan. And, they just happen to be going to the Superbowl!! It is an exciting day for us. Jamie loves to watch football. He kept shouting, go pack go and yay touchdown! Even Oliver likes it. I know, he is only 4 months old but, he watches it and gets all excited....he talks more, kicks his legs :) We are going to have to get some updated Packer gear over here. I said in the beginning of the season that if they went to the superbowl, then I would get an Aaron Rodgers jersey (their QB).

Anyway, things are going well for us.....a little tough, but we will get through it. Eric has been working long hours and I am finally working full weeks. I miss being home with the boys, but my family needs me to work right now. The boys are growing like crazy! Jamie had to go to the ER the other week, poor kid. He tripped on some toys he was playing with and hit his eyebrow on the banister :( I was at work when that happened...I don't think I could have handled that. He didn't need stitches thankfully. They just put some liquid skin stuff on it. He didn't even have a bruise or a bump! Then, last week I took him in to see the doctor about his ear. He had tubes put in last May, but he was pulling at his left ear and saying that it hurt for a few days. I would rather be safe than sorry. His ears were clear and everything looked fine. I just figured it was bugging him because he is getting all 4 of his two year molars right now. This morning that same ear was draining....so, time for some drops and hopefully that clears things up. They weighed him last week and he is an even 35 pounds! I couldn't believe that. At his 2 year check-up which was the beginning of October, he was 32 pounds.....and he had been that weight for a few months. Oliver saw the doctor a couple of weeks ago and was 16 pounds and almost 27 inches. He had been crying hard, like something was hurting him. He had fluid in his ears so I'm thinking that was his issue. The doc suggested that we take a break from the rice cereal. I knew that wasn't the issue, just because the screaming had started before the cereal, but we tried it. Taking the cereal out, added another bottle to his schedule, and even a couple 10 ounce bottles. Then, all of sudden, the screaming stopped. We have been back on the cereal and oatmeal for while now. He loves it! I even gave him some peas the other day. We also started Jamie on food when he was 4 months old. I can't keep up with the formula! I only gave him a little bit and he did fine. He didn't spit anything up and didn't cry anymore than usual. He has his 4 month check-up next week.

I think it is time for a little snack and then bed in a bit. I have bronchitis and really enjoy my extra sleep! I had to see the doc last week also....man, sometimes I feel like we live there! I went on Thursday and she wrote me a note to be excused from work that day and Friday....I didn't even go in there looking for that, I just wanted help with my breathing! I did enjoy the time off and I really needed it. I got some nice naps in and extra sleep at night and that helped. Tomorrow at work will be a little rough, but I'll get by! The more I move, the more my chest hurts and the whole breathing issue comes into play. But, I got some inhalers and those will be close by :) Have a good night all!

Guilt

I have been feeling a lot of guilt ever since I started my new hours at work and tonight, I felt it even more. I am very thankful that I got more hours, I now get between 20 and 24 hours a week. I work for 2 hours a night, twice a week and then from 11:30 to 3:30 (most of the times, I am home by 3:30)....but, I am gone during lunch now and when Jamie goes down for a nap. I also have something on Wednesday nights at our church....that means 3 days in a row after Jamie wakes up from his nap, it is almost time to leave again. Tonight I got home from church and put him to bed right away....I feel so bad. But why? Our family needs to me work, I want to work, but I am having such a hard time being away from them. I wanted to cry tonight....and still do. I'm not going to quit my job at all, but I just wish it wasn't so hard right now. It is hard not seeing my boys or Eric. Jamie is going through this stage where he calls/whines "mommy" all the time and that breaks my heart when I have to leave. These new hours also just came up one week. So, Jamie went from having me home all day one week, to hardly at all the next. I look forward to the weekends even more now, even though they seem to go by sooo fast. I know things will get better, but when?

Christmas Vacation

Christmas Vacation....that is what I'm calling my time away from my blog. Things have been so crazy here. I needed time to think. Our family is struggling and that kills me. I know what we are going through will only make us stronger and better, but it sucks right now! I'm hoping that things are finally turning around. I got more hours at work and things are going well at work for Eric. But you know what, I'm not going to dwell on the bad things right now. I will focus on what is most important and that is my boys. I will do a Christmas post soon :)

Oliver is now 3 months old and is growing like a weed! He is 16 pounds....crazy, right?! We have to measure his height again at home. According to the nurse, he hasn't grown in a month...yeah right! He is maxing out his 6 month sleepers. I had to bring out the 9 and 12 month clothes tonight. He is wearing some 12 month shirts, but most of those won't fit for another month. At least I hope he can make it that long!

I love this picture of the boys. Jamie is such a good big brother. He always wants to help. Back to Oliver! He is smiling all the time. He has the biggest smile and the biggest brown eyes I have ever seen! I'm so happy that I got a brown-eyed baby :) He is such a wiggle butt also, a mover and a groover. I can't believe some of the things he is doing already. The other day, I sat him on the couch, kind of half laying down and sitting. I was standing by him and he pulled himself forward and sat there for a few seconds before falling back on the pillow. He has been doing that a lot. He is sleeping through the night and has been for over a month now. He eats around 8 or 9 and then is down until 9 the next morning. Both boys sleep well! He also eats like a little piggy. In the morning, I make him some cereal or oatmeal with about 2 1/2 ounces of apple juice and water (he doesn't like the cereal with formula and neither did Jamie) and then either a 6 or 8 ounce bottle after that. He has 8 ounce bottle during the day and sometimes he throw in a 10 ounce bottle. I can't believe it! I am now charting everything he eats this month and when we go in for his 4 month check-up at the end of this month, I can show the doc and tell her we are starting him on food...haha! We actually started Jamie on food at 4 months also. I know that is super early, but the formula wasn't cutting it anymore. And the doctor said we could.

Jamie is such a precious boy. Don't get me wrong, we do have our issues with him, he is 2! I feel bad for him right now because his 2 year molars are coming in. He has 3 of those babies coming in right now. He does really well when he is teething. He has never gotten one tooth in at a time. I'm happy about that though, get it over with! The molars don't seem to be bothering him that much. He gets a little extra cranky during the day. We are still working on the potty training deal, but not as much as I would like. I think that once he goes potty on his potty chair, he will be so excited and will want to keep doing it. The hard part is getting to that point. I think I'm going to make that one of my new year's resolutions....to work harder and get him potty trained.

My little Packer's fan.....who happen to be in the playoffs!

I love this picture....man, I say that a lot! I have a picture of myself around the same age that is very similar to this one. Jamie is talking up a storm. He is also getting easier to understand. He loves to play music and sing. He really enjoyed watching the marching bands in the Rose Parade and during the Rose Bowl. He then started to play music and told me, "play band mommy." I get such a kick out of him. Oh, we out the boys in their new room. Well, Oliver is still sleeping in our room. Their old room is now the play room. We finally moved Jamie's race car bed over last weekend. He is such a big boy, sleeping in a big boy bed. He has truck sheets and a blanket for it, along with his baby blankets and about a hundred Micky Mouse! Ok, he only has 4 in there right now :)

Look at those chubby cheeks!

How many takes does it take to get a good Christmas picture?! 17! I hear my bed calling my name, so I think I'm going to give in :)

Oh Goodness

Alright, it has been a while. I had a post typed and had it saved in my documents, but you can't copy and paste. So, I will just shorten that up for you. It has been a crazy couple of weeks here. The other week, Oliver woke up with a cough. It wasn't anything serious, but I was keeping an eye on it. Well, it got really bad by noon. It made me nervous to hear him coughing so hard and so much. It was such a big cough for a 7 week old! I called the nurse and she told me to bring him right away. The PA gave him a breathing treatment which really helped his breathing! They tested him for RSV and whopping cough....thankfully, they both came back clear. We got a nebulizer and had to give him breathing treatments throughout the day. We haven't had to give him a treatment in a few days, so hopefully that nasty cough is gone. During this time, Jamie got a cough and runny nose also. At least with him, I can give him medicine to help him feel better.

How about some other updates on the boys? Oh, sorry I won't have any pictures in this post. I need to upload more to the computer. Jamie is awesome. He is feeling better, but still has a bit of a runny nose. It seems like he is talking more and more every week. He loves to read and the other day he brought the Dr. Seuss book, Hop on Pop to me and started reading it! I know he only memorized it, but still. He was so excited to be telling me the story. We got him a Leap Frog Tag Jr. for Christmas. I'm thinking that he will enjoy that. We have been watching a lot of Toy Story 3 here. "Wee Wee" and "B" as Jamie calls them. He also got a new Christmas suit and I had to return it for a 5T! The shirt and vest fit very nicely now, but the pants will have to be hemmed.

As for Oliver....he is feeling much better. He is smiling all the time. Growing like a weed! He has his 2 month (can you believe it!) check-up next week. I had to get out the 6 month clothes the other day. He can wear some 3 month stuff yet, but any one piece things like sleepers, have to be 6 months. He is starting to follow objects. It is so great to see him do more things.

I can't wait to get the house decorated for Christmas. Our house is so cluttered right now because of all the toys. We are moving the boys to the bigger bedroom and making their current room a play room. I can't wait to get those toys out of my living room :) Eric doesn't have to work tomorrow, so I plan on moving more things and get things situated so I can start decorating this weekend. I am also looking forward to taking our picture for our Christmas card. Both the boys have suits with red shirts and Eric and I both have nice red shirts. I went black Friday shopping today with my sister. Wal-Mart's sale started at midnight so we decided to hit that up. It was a bit crazy, I won't lie! I got everything for the boys. But I feel kind of bad. I got all this stuff for Jamie, but nothing for Oliver. I know he won't care, but I just feel bad. Everything I got though, Oliver will use also when he gets older. There just isn't anything that he needs, except for some more cloth diapers. I just don't know what to do about that feeling. I got home around 1:20AM and decided to write this post and watch Supernanny on DVR. I know I should be in bed! Oh, Oliver slept throught the night last night. He ate around 9:30 and fell alseep around 11 or so and didn't get up til 6! Hopefully now that he is feeling better, he will continue to sleep through the night. I am getting tired so I think I will head off to bed now :)

Happy Halloween

So, this was the only picture of the two that I got. Oliver was not very happy, as you can see! We had fun though. It was a nice day also, until the sun went down. Jamie was Woody, but that darn hat kept blowing off his head.

What an adorable puppy! I'm happy that this costume of warm! You know, just for kicks, here is a picture of Jamie as that same puppy from his first Halloween:

Wow...there aren't any similarities there! Oliver really enjoys being in the Moby wrap. I'm so glad I have one! It really comes in handy at home when I need to get things done and he just wants to cry. He helped me make lasagna last night!

Jamie really liked his outfit and he had never seen the Toy Story movies, only commercials. I bought the third movie the other night and he loves it! I have never seen him pay so much attention to one thing! I mean, it still isn't super long, but hey! Well, we turned the clocks back and I am very much looking forward to getting that extra hour of sleep!

A New Perspective

The other day I had a chance to meet up with a friend from church and talk about some things going on in my life. It was nice to hear some different perspectives on things. There are some things going on that have been bugging me off and on for a while now. Every time I think things are getting better, something else happens. It is nice to talk to others and find out that they have similar experiences. Sometimes I feel alone in my thoughts and feelings about things. I try so hard to not let certain things bother me, especially when it happens over and over, but that isn't that easy. It was also nice to have a small break from the boys, I'm not gonna lie. Please, don't get me wrong, I love being home with them, but I need my breaks! I had some other deep thoughts that I was going to write about, but those thoughts have escaped! I think I will add in some pics and of the boys instead!

This little man is so handsome! I just love his smile, his big blue eyes, his dimples, and curly hair! He may drive me crazy most days, but he is so much fun. He is talking more and more now also. This past week or so, he has been putting more and more words together to form sentences. I am excited about this, but at the same time, it is depressing! He is growing up so fast.

This little man has also stolen my heart! He is so much like his big brother. Their baby pictures are almost identical. We also noticed that Oliver has a dimple in the same place and same side as Jamie. He is such a good baby, I really can't complain. The first couple of weeks were a bit rough. Oliver has reflux and is now on medicine for it. That medicine works wonders and I love it! I feel so bad that such a little person has to go through that, but at least he is getting some relief. He has started to pack on the pounds now. He is up to 6 ounce bottles every few hours...and he is only 6 weeks old! He is wearing 3 month clothing, but the shirts and onsie type of shirts are getting a little snug. He has a long torso and long arms (just like his mommy and big brother). He is also starting to smile and that just melts my heart! He "talks" once and a while. He is making the motion with his mouth, I am just waiting for him to figure out that he can makes lots of noise. He is also getting pretty good and holding his head and looking around. Both my boys could hold their heads up the first day they were born. They weren't masters at it, but they were definately holding it pretty well.

What a size difference, huh?! Jamie loves being a big brother. He is so good with Oliver. He loves to help. He always needs to check on him also when he starts to cry. He will say to me, "Ollie, no happy." Jamie tried to share a pop tart with him this morning! Not sure he really understands when I tell him that Oliver can't eat that stuff yet.

He loves giving Oliver hugs!

Jamie also loves our dog, Charlie. Charlie is a big black lab (a little over 100 pounds) and he is the sweetest dog ever! We got him 5 years ago when he was just a small puppy....we apparently do everything big in our house! Anyway, he is such a good dog. He never barks in the house and doesn't even bark outside....only once in a great while will he bark outside. Jamie likes to say hi to him every morning and give him a hug. He even tries to move Charlie out of his way, but that never works! Charlie doesn't move! Hope you all enjoyed the pics. I will do a Halloween post soon....too many pictures to keep moving on here. Have a good night :)

What have we been up to?

We have been really busy around here. Jamie's birthday was Sept. 30th and we had a blast with that. I still can't believe that he is 2! My birthday was Oct. 10th. We had a nice relaxing day, it was perfect. It was just the 4 of us all day. We went to Applebees for lunch and then went to a park near our house. Then we came home to feed Oliver and then went on a nice long walk, which included a visit to another park. Eric surprised me with Lady Antebellum tickets for my birthday! That was on the 9th and we had floor seats, it was awesome! I don't have those pictures on my computer yet, but I will for sure post some.

This past weekend was Oliver's baptism. My family came into town from Wisconsin. That meant 5 extra people staying in our house! It was a fun weekend. It went by way too fast though. Jamie is definately all boy and loves being around grandpa and his uncles. He has been asking where they are. He went into the spare bedroom today and was saying grandma and grandpa. I told them they had to go home. Then he said "uncle Nick byebye."....he's so smart....but it breaks my heart.

Jamie just loves being a big brother. He is always giving Oliver hugs, kisses, holding his hand, and helping me. We still have to remind him to be gentle at times, but he is wonderful. We try to do things with Jamie alone, like going to parks and such, but he always asks for Oliver to come with and gets mad when he doesn't! He really isn't acting any different either since Oliver came home. He is 2 and is defintaley in his terrible 2's, but he isn't throwing any new fits. He also isn't showing any signs of being jealous, which I'm hoping will continue. I signed Jamie up for a signing class also so he and I will have our time together for the next 5 weeks. I thought this class would be good for him so he can at least communicate in some way the words he can't say. I can tell that he wants to say more and gets frustrated because he can't say everything he wants. He likes the class and is doing well with the signs. He knows some of the words and says them along with the sign. I also make sure to always say the word I am signing. I don't want him to only do signs and not say anything.

amie had his 2 year check-up the other week and is growing and doing well. He is just shy of 32 pounds and is 36 inches tall! He is doing so many things now. He can walk down stairs without holding onto anything, he is putting sentences together, putting puzzles together, telling BIG stories, and tries to say new words all the time. He is also sleeping in his big boy bed. He has been climbing out of his crib a lot lately and we were finding him sleeping on the floor. We figured that was his way of telling us he was done with the crib. We started off with naps and then on the third day, he wanted to sleep in there at night. We usually have to sit with him for a bit and he still gets out at times, but he loves the bed. He started sleeping in there last week and he also asked to go on his potty that same week. He went into the bathroom saying "peepee" and pointing to the potty. I put him on there, he didn't produce anything, but this is a good start. I think he already went to the bathroom when he was telling me he wanted to sit on the potty. He also has been telling us more and more when he goes potty, so we will be working on potty training more now.

Oliver is doing well also. I had to take him back to the doc. because he wasn't back to birth weight at his one week check-up. He was 8lbs, 12oz that first appointment and when we went back the next week, he was 9lbs, 10oz! He is definately growing like a weed. Today I had to take him back to see the doctor. He has been having problems with reflux and they weren't getting any better. Jamie was on medication when he was a baby for relfux and so I didn't want to mess around this time. His doctor suggested that we try a different formula that is suppose to help with spitting up. He spits up a lot and sometimes he spits up so hard that it comes out of his nose as well as his mouth. I feel so bad for him when that happens, you can see that it hurts. He also cries real hard. So far, on this new formula he is still spitting up and is still very cranky. I will see how tomorrow goes and will call the office back on Thursday. If things do not get better, then he will be put on medication. Oh, he now weighs 10lbs and 11oz and is 23 3/4 inches tall!

I love this picture of Eric and Jamie. Jamie had to do what daddy was doing! This was on my birthday. It was such a nice, beautiful day. We couldn't just stay inside.

He is such a ham! He wanted to wear Oliver's shirt.

We celebrated his birthday and Eric's parent's house and they had these super cool monkey masks for Jamie and his cousins to wear. He likes to act like a monkey. It is cute because he doesn't say monkey, he calls them "oohh oohh." I think got everything in this post. Well, I need to head to bed. Goodnight all!