life on the north side of the tree...

a sweet day...

2012-02-16T12:33:00.002-06:00

most of the time our days look pretty similar, but sometimes, those ordinary days just seem extra sweet and i don't want to ever forget them. i'm so aware of how fast time is going. i mean, in a few months, i'll have a 4 year old! when and how did that happen?! yesterday was one of those days...

canon had speech first thing and it was finally raining during the day!! after having new rain gear for a month and a half, he finally got to wear his boots AND coat AND use his umbrella! he was so proud.

while lane took canon to speech, i got myself and the other boys ready for an appointment with a pediatric surgeon for ollie's herniated belly button. at 2 weeks, it was obvious he had one, but it has continued to grow and creeps out people when they see it! last week, i took him just to get it checked out and our pediatrician gave us a referral to the surgeon.

thankfully, since i had all 3 boys with me, we were in and out in no time. people ask me if 3 is harder than 2 all the time...yes, only because it's another person to care for, but really, it's not much different than 2. they are well-behaved when we go out, thankfully. it's just more work getting everyone in and out of the van. and of course, right now, all of our outings are scheduled around knox's feedings.

anyways, the doctor was a nice man and said it would definitely have to be repaired, but it's not an emergency. he wants him to be 20 lbs or 6 months before the surgery just for anesthesia safety. ledger, as well as lane and his brothers, had herniated belly buttons, but they fixed themselves. the doctor seems to think knox's is too big to heal itself. we will see.

the boys asked for a picnic lunch while we watched our new movie. i always take their clothes off when they eat if we have to go back out that day. less laundry is my motto!

this sweet boy has been waking up so happy from his naps. i got a little crazy with the camera, but the pics are so sweet to me. each smile is so different! i'm such a mom :)

when the boys got up from their nap, we worked on our craft that we didn't have a chance to do on valentines. ledger got a little crazy with the bumblebees! daddy loved his sweet valentines.

the rest of our day consisted of church, calazones and catching up on the dvr! so thankful for my little family!

also, posted today about valentines below!

our heart day...

2012-02-16T11:13:00.001-06:00

we had a sweet valentine's day around here. it pretty much was just a normal day, but everything we did, i tried to make a little extra special for the boys! lane left the house at 5:45 that morning for a day trip to joplin so when knox woke me up at 6:00, i just got up for the day to get things ready. i LOVE decorating for special occasions and i LOVE, LOVE target's fun holiday things. last week, i had asked the boys what their favorite foods were so i could be sure to include it in our day of love! ledger said pancakes so we had red and pink (both were pretty much pink!) heart-shaped pancakes, pink scrambled eggs, red grapes, and pink milk. they thought this was pretty neat and cleaned their plates!

over breakfast, we talked about how valentine's was a day of love and what love was. we then talked about some ways we could show love to each other and our school friends. we talked about how the bible says "god is love" and "love one another". they were so attentive and loved talking about "valemtines".

after we got canon to school, ledger and i spent the morning in the kitchen making cupcakes and panera's mac n' cheese (canon's favorite food and mommy's favorite recipe!). he LOVES helping in the kitchen. he pretty much always helps with crockpot dinners.

knox didn't do anything too different from his normal day-to-day, except look extra cute! this shirt was ledger's. here's a comparison...knox on the left and ledger on the right. they don't look as much alike as i thought! i can't believe how round knox's face is.

canon had his school party that afternoon so we went up for it. his teachers are always sweet to include ledger in the festivities. can we say that ledger is in an awkward smile phase or what? :)

once home, canon decided he needed to shave his lip. oh, sweet boy. it would not stop bleeding. unfortunately, canon wouldn't take a nap since it was still hurting.

canon waited patiently for ledger to wake up so we could decorate cupcakes and open their little gifts. finally, it was time! there were sprinkles everywhere. they emptied both containers of sprinkles as well as the ones that came with the frosting. good thing, we all LOVE lots of sprinkles on our cupcakes!

i love getting them cheap, little surprises for special occasions. it's amazing how excited they get over $1 bin items (have i mentioned how much i love target? :)). they got a batman sticker book, some heart skittles and mini cookies. this pic cracks me up...i told them to close their eyes (since i was out of tissue paper!) and ledger was not getting the concept!

they also got a joint gift...the movie "wall-e". we are pixar snobs and we hadn't seen that one. they are both so into robots and rocketships right now. this movie has both! now having watched it 2x, it is one of my favorites!

canon gave his approval on the mac n' cheese at dinnertime!

this past weekend, lane's parents asked if they could come watch the boys so we could go out on valentine's. we took them up on their sweet offer! how often do we get 2 dates in one week? (the answer is never!) we went downtown and ate mexican food. we literally walked right in and got a table. apparently, the valentine's crowd didn't venture downtown! we got a couple of lava cakes from chili's to go and headed home. i love being out with my sweet hubby!

of course, my kids were so excited to play with oomah and pops! they were bouncing off the walls. they opened their valentines from them and had neat little trinkets and treats. they made these cute valentines while we were out. oomah knows to come prepared with activities. canon has to be doing something at all time...so he thinks. his famous line is, "i wanna do something." if he doesn't like what you suggest, he replies, "i wanna do nother something." he's a mess!

loved making memories with my sweet family!

a snow day...

2012-02-13T22:53:00.001-06:00

today we woke up to about an inch of snow. the boys were very excited about the prospect of snow before bed last night. when i went to let them out of their room this morning, they already had their snow boots on! after breakfast and what felt like forever getting bundled up, it was time to go play.

last winter i saw the idea of painting the the snow with squirt bottles and food coloring. i grabbed a couple of bottles at walmart yesterday. ledger really enjoyed it! i think canon's gloves were to thick for him to be able to squeeze it good. it was cheap entertainment!

next up was building a snowman. lane got home from a breakfast meeting about that time and took over building duties while i fetched the snowman's face!

after all their hard work, it was time to destroy mr. snowman. first, you attack him with sticks. then you push him over followed by giving him the people's elbow. it's all over when ledger sits on you!

of course, throwing snowballs at the screen door is a must for these guys!

they played outside for nearly 45 minutes before they decided they were done. i had a snowman treat and hot chocolate for them. they kept saying, "i like snow donuts." snow donuts they are!

canon decided at halloween he didn''t like chocolate milk, but i gave him some hot chocolate today thinking his tastes may have changed. nope. he asked for his white milk after a sip. what 3 year old doesn't like chocolate in their milk?!

i finally got to sit down with my yummy, most favorite breakfast treat. seriously, i could eat/drink this combo everyday!

mmmmm....

so after our snack, i sat down to put pictures on the computer when i decided to email our local weatherman a pic of the boys' snowman. within a couple of minutes, he emailed me back saying they would show their picture during the 11am midday show. i got really excited! of course, our satellite was being weird. i finally got a signal right as the news was starting. they didn't show it until the very end of the newscast. when the boys saw it, they started jumping up and down saying, "we made it! we made it!" it was fun!

this evening, i made my first ever freezer meal. i usually just make a normal serving then we eat the leftovers a time or 2, but i decided to freeze half of the chicken spaghetti i made tonight. it's nice knowing there's a complete meal ready when i don't feel like cooking!

our {long} weekend...

2012-02-13T16:30:00.002-06:00

while lane was doing this for a few days last week...

the boys and i were enjoying a sweet time with my mimi. she was such a help to me and the boys took to her so quickly! they played lots of soccer, read tons of books and ate endless amounts of treats that she had brought for them. she knows the way to their hearts!! she made me cups of coffee, held a fussing baby, cooked dinners, emptied my dishwasher, babysat my boys {several times}, and gave me 2 hours of shopping completely by myself. she knows the way to my heart!!

right when she got here on wednesday afternoon, knox and i rushed out of the door to get to a doctor's appointment for his growing herniated bellybutton. it's so large now that it surely can't grow anymore with as tight as the skin is. it gives me the heeby-jeebys {sp?} when i see/touch it! our wonderful pediatricians gave us referral to a pediatric surgeon that i will meet with this week. it more than exceeds the 1/2" finger rule. they were very impressed with his chunky self. he weighed in at 12lbs 3 oz...at 7 weeks!

of course, mimi fell in LOVE instantly with her newest great-grandson! they got plenty of time to sit and cuddle. he has found his voice and easily smiles when you start talking to him. this sweet encounter went on for a good 5 minutes before he decided to spit-up all over her jammies and pillow case! she didn't mind...too much :)

makes my heart smile when i see what loving, attentive big brothers knox has.

on thursday, canon had school and mimi went grocery shopping then went with my dad to an event that was here in town that rick santorum was speaking at. me and the little boys had a low-key morning. canon was sent home with a note about his upcoming valentine's party. the teacher had asked that the kids attempt to spell their own name on the valentines sent. after learning to spell his name last week, we pulled out the good 'ol magnadoodle to practice his writing skills. he caught on pretty quick. he was so proud when we went on and on about how good he did! look at that smile. he did write his name on his valentines, but it's not quite this clear since he picked out the world's tiniest valentines! that evening, aunt lala flew in and chloe came over along with my dad for a big dinner. it was fun having a slumber party with my sisters and mimi. of course, the boys LOVED it!!

friday morning, my mom and lauren flew out super early to texas for lauren's birthday weekend. i got lucky when mimi insisted i go running around town ALL BY MYSELF! i spent 2 glorious hours at best buy, bed bath and beyond and target. the majority of my time was spent just roaming target with a starbucks drink...ahhhh!

friday evening, my dad and mimi went out for dinner while the boys and i hung out at home. after dinner and baths, i decided to dress them up for a little photo shoot. why not! they were funny and kept asking, "where we going?" i don't even know what i was saying to make them crack up this much. it was so fun. we were finishing up as mimi was getting home so they wanted a pic while the boys were dressed up.

saturday morning, i went to a celebration shower for some sweet friends who lost their baby 2 days after knox was born at 35 weeks. they have been absolutely amazing through this tough time. of course, they are grieving and sad, but have had such an amazing faith and dealt with it so healthily. i love their sweet family so much and can't wait to meet their sweet elliot one day! everyone was asked to bring unwrapped baby items to the shower to be donated to a pregnancy resource center. it was such a sweet time with our church family.

after leaving i ran home to get the boys ready to go get their daddy from the airport. they had been looking forward to this since lane left! once we had daddy back home, he took over his duties right away. mimi, chloe and i headed to the mall for some shopping...along with everyone else. it felt way more crowded than at christmastime. i guess valentine's day and the extreme cold outside? as we were walking in, chloe was horrified at the fact that i was wearing socks with my flats! at one point, she stopped me and said with intensity, "kel, that lady was looking at your feet!" i totally embarrassed my jr. high sister. i didn't care...my feet were warm! i used up the remainder of my birthday money while there. maybe i'll do a birthday gift post soon...

sunday morning brought goodbyes as mimi left us. it was such a good visit that we were sad to see her go! the boys woke up today and asked about her. i'm so glad they warmed up to her like they did since we don't get to see her near often enough. thank you, mimi, for all you did for us! we enjoyed every moment with you and look forward to florida this summer :) we love you!

here are 3 of my 4 valentines looking spiffy before church. i can't help matching them and coordinating holiday colors! one day they won't let me :( after church, knox and i braved the cold and crowds to get groceries and snow gear. i guess valentines, the weekend and an impending snow storm brought every one to walmart! we survived though and scored snow boots and ski mittens on clearance!

sunday evening, lane and i had our valentine's date. this date is the most anticipated meal of the year. we go to this yummy, fancy steakhouse that is just so heavenly and a once-a-year treat for us! the boys were looking forward to us leaving so they could have miss michelle come play. we even left knox with her! it was wonderful to sit there for 2 hours and not have to worry about anyone, but us! only 364 more days until my mouth tastes the most wonderful, tender steak and scrumptious chocolate lava cake!

we came home to sweet valentines the boys had made for us! they've looked at them a million times today.

it was such a sweet few days! now bring on another week :)

knox's nursery...

2012-02-09T13:30:00.001-06:00

"welcome to my nursery."

break it up with a little cuteness...

he has a rockstar complex and wants his nap asap!

i had so much fun dreaming about this nursery. i LOVE how cheery it feels! a sweet friend who is blessed with good decorating skills gave me a few ideas that i used. and it only took forever to complete! i'm ashamed to say that aside from the playroom and hallway, this is the only other fully completed room in our house. if only we had a money tree :)

details:

lane made the artwork and bookshelf

i made the curtains, pillow and picture frame (that still needs a photo...story of my life!)

orange polka dot fabric is by amy butler

green geometric fabric is by heather bailey

curtain rod and ceiling light fixture are from ikea

"k" wall decal is from this etsy shop

bedding is from this etsy shop

lamp and toy bin are from target
mirror is from lowe's

and bless my sweet, mother-in-law...she painted the rocker and recovered the chair/ottoman!

iphone dump...

2012-02-06T13:38:00.003-06:00

i have a feeling this is going to be a regular post! i always have my iphone handy for pics and have been terrible about taking pics with the real camera. it's also easier to catch up by dumping them all into one post!

canon had pajama day at school not long ago. he had picked out his dinosaur pj's to wear, but had an accident in them as we were about to leave. the past few weeks have been tough as he has had more accidents. i don't know if knox is causing the regression in him, but it's wearing me out the amount of laundry it's adding!

after begging for a faux hawk the past few haircuts, i finally gave in and cut him one :( he LOVES it, but i miss his sweet, little comb over. he grew up instantly as soon as it was cut. i always get the boys' names mixed up, but i have legitimately confused he and canon a couple of times (especially from the back).

this kid is getting doughy! in the span of 2 weeks (5wks to 7 wks), he has chunked up so much, he doesn't look newborn anymore.

the boys have always loved books, but go through phases where that's all they want to do. we are in this phase now! i LOVE this precious time with them. how sweet is this pic??

a couple of fridays ago, we ran errands together as a family. while i was doing shopping elsewhere in target, lane took the canon and ledger to what canon refers to as "the big boy aisle"...toys!

my actual birhtday was low-key. i LOVE a lazy day with no plans. the boys brought me flowers the night before since wednesdays are lane's long day. i enjoyed getting phone calls, text and fb/twitter messages. i also enjoyed opening my birthday cards. i always save them for the end of my birthday! my sweet friends brought me pioneer woman cinnamon rolls and chocolate sheetcake cupcakes. i also still had half of a birthday cake in the fridge.

canon kept singing "happy birthday" at random times throughout the day so i recorded him!

the day after my birthday, i got a sweet surprise from lane. he sent me a text that initiated a clue hunt with sweet notes and gifts hidden around the house. it ended with a note saying we were going on a date that evening! finally got me some hibachi!! side story: i ruined my first complete meal this day! i had already stuck a roast and fixings in the crockpot before i knew we were going out. i just figured we would eat on it the next day. after only cooking on low for a couple of hours, i accidently unplugged the crockpot for 5 hours before i realized it. i was sad.

the next night we went out to a new, make-your-own pizza place (since i ruined dinner and all!) and then next door for frozen yogurt. the boys were in heaven that night! it was a sweet time with my family :)

i'm loving that smiles (and silly faces) are now a daily occurance! LOVE him so much!

we attended nora and cordie's birthday party!! nora wanted a superhero party so they asked everyone to dress up. what a fun idea! the boys changed their minds a million times on what to be in the 2 weeks leading up to the party. it was fun. they love those girls so much!

knox got to meet his great-grandparents and great aunt! steve's family came down and we all headed to muskogee for the day. they had gotten the kids cardinals jerseys at christmas. several of them had pujols name on them who had just left the team so she exchanged them and brought them down. the kids loved wearing them! aunt lori also brought several new books that are so cute and have instantly become some of our favorites!

you know we LOVE us some superhero apparel around here! and look at those cute socks!

after being a good boy while running errands, i let ledger pick out a cookie at the mall. no shocker here that he picked out one with lots of icing. of course, he only licked the icing off then declared he was done!

this past weekend, lane attended ciy's believe conference with our jr. high students. the boys and i headed up for saturday morning's session. the boys LOVED the loud music and lights and i was thankful for lots of suckers during the teaching segment! i realized it'll only be a short 8 years before canon's attending. time, slow down!!

we've been working with canon on spelling his name for a little bit, but yesterday at nap time, he was in a chatty mood so we laid there and practiced spelling his last name. he picked it up fast! he loves making videos. i'll forever treasure this sweet clip :)

things my kids say...

2012-01-24T21:36:00.000-06:00

the boys are at such a fun, entertaining age. they pretty much keep us laughing! i love watching them learn to hold conversations and ask questions. my favorite is when i overhear them talking amongst themselves when playing or riding in the car. it's freakish how they can understand each other. ive been jotting things they say down on my phone so i can remember their sweet words forever!

canon is still in speech and has made such an improvement over the past year. his vocab took off when we started in the fall of 2010 and then last spring, when his tongue was clipped, his sentence/conversation skills improved almost immediately. after building his vocab, his big struggle was deleting the initial consonant in words. last week, lane and i were talking and it dawned on us that he has consistently been saying the first sound for who knows how long. his main issue now is "backing"...ending words that end in a "t" with a "k"sound. we're working all the time on it, though! nonetheless, the boy loves talking and does it from sun up to sun down. pretty sure he rivals girls!

still calls ledger "gedgie". however, he can say all the sounds in ledger's name correctly. i think it's just habit! and it doesn't help that aunt lala calls him that, too :)

if you correct him (in anything. not just getting in trouble), he usually says "i sorry" or "my bad." so cute.

he is a boy who likes to know the plan. at bedtime, he asks, "what we doing next day?" we procede to tell him. to which he replies, "after we eat breakfast?" that's usually followed by "what after dat?" and so forth.

my personal favorite...when he asks a question and you give him an explanation. he responds with, "oh, i see"...complete with influctions.

when the sweet boy is leaving the house with lane, he will seek me out and say, "see you, mom." it's usually followed with more sentences saying where he's going and what he wants to do when he gets back.

i've been on a total puppy chow kick lately. who am i kidding? it's an obsession! while making a batch last week, canon calls out from the living room, "what doing mom?" *without taking a breath* "you making more of your cereal?" lane and i lost it and he may be planning an intervention!

lane preached at a weekend retreat a couple of weekends ago. when he got home after a couple of days, canon asked him, "dad, you go preach god?" melt me.

he refers to knox's spit up as "puke up"...so now i do, too :)

our sweet ledger is right on track with talking. he surprises us often with words he knows and sentences he produces. he still doesn't articulate great, but i think that may be age?? i can understand almost everything he is saying. if i can't figure something out, more times than not, canon steps in and tells me what ledge is saying! it's cute...and bizarre. the kid in speech...translating!

instead of "whoopsie", he says "whoopee."

he loves his baby brother. he spends lots of his time at knox's side. he says, over and over, "hi, knots. hi, baby." so sweet.

he has recently become obsessed with lane being with him. he asks constantly "where daddy?" another take is him being silly and asking where everyone in the room is, including himself! love it when they figure out how to be funny and joke!
probably the word we hear most is "yatch." he wants us to watch everything he does, even when we are already watching him.

when he pretends to talk on the phone, he says "hello? ok. bye-bye" over and over!

his blanket is his most prized possession. he affectionately refers to it as "duck". he asks many times in a day "where my duck?"...without looking for it first! it's usually right in front of him. needless to say, it would be a sad day if "duck" went missing!

this morning RIGHT after breakfast, he asked for m&m's. i said, "not right now." he started whining and i said, "ledger, what do you say when mommy says no?" (the answer being 'ok, mom') he answered, "please." oh, ledge!

they both ask "why?" a million times a day. i have a video when i was 3 of me asking my mom a million in two 'why' questions in about a 2 minute span. pay back, i suppose!

we play a game in the car that when we see the tall, white buildings near our house, we shout, "i see the white building." it's almost always canon who wins. he then procedes to name everyone in the car that he beat! every once in awhile he graciously lets me or ledger win.

when we pass hooters (yes, the hooters), the boys holler, "i see an owl!" they LOVE owls and i love their sweet innocence :)

i'm so loving these boys at this age. each stage gets better and better with these two. i'm just trying to savor and enjoy the sweet moments i get to witness every day! thank you, father, for my blessings!

iphone dump...

2012-01-23T21:44:00.000-06:00

give the boys a craft or project and they are content for the longest time! last monday, they were trying out some batman marker/roller stampers from target's dollar bin. canon enjoyed practicing his straight line, cutting skills and writing "m's".

this is the first time i looked at knox and saw baby lane...mainly his profile. handsome boys!

knox sleeps with his eyes half opened (sometimes creepy) just like infant canon did. love that he threw a sleepy smile in this pic!

the boys love playing with knox. he can often be found with a toy or book in his lap or being just about bounced out of his bouncer.

a sweet couple at church gave knox a baby gift and included a card for each big boy that had a free frosty coupon in it. they waited all day for lane to get home so we could go get a treat. i also got to use my free starbucks birthday coupon!

what a sweet, little man! too bad he only got to wear this the one time. he's growing too fast!

monday is our day to stay in all day, but today we had to go get a prescription. our pharmacy couldn't get it for a couple of weeks so i took it to a different one...strategically next to chick-fil-a! we dropped it off, got lunch, and had a van picnic while we waited!

weekend celebrations...

2012-01-23T20:54:00.000-06:00

this past weekend was full of fun! on friday night, we had a babysitter lined up. lauren and kyle were supposed to fly in and we were going to go out on a double date. i had been looking forward to this, but since they fly on standby, at the last minute they had to take a later flight. our babysitter ended up coming a bit earlier so we could still go out to dinner before we had to pick them up at the airport. i had my heart set on a hibachi, but it was a madhouse when we got there sans a reservation. somehow we ended up at red robin (where we've never been) because we figured it was the least popular on a friday night on the busy strip we were on! after burgers, we got coffee and headed to the airport and then home. we always love hanging out with l and k. lots of laughing! no pics.

saturday late morning, my mom and chloe met us to celebrate my birthday! it was the kickoff of birthday week! we headed downtown to probably my favorite mexican restaurant. yum.

we headed back to the house for cake before lauren and kyle had to catch a flight back to dallas. aunt lala brought valentine cookies! the boys had a tough time choosing between cake and their cookies.

gram and her boys.

somehow over the past week, the boys became obsessed with the idea of my birthday and party whistles. i secretly passed on the info to lane. when we were at target on friday, he snuck them off to get a "surprise." they were so excited once they got to reveal the whistles!

they had each chosen a different package. these things have entertained them all weekend. LOVE cheap entertainment!

party animals :)

i look forward to parties and special occasions all year because of these!

thanks for a fun time, guys! you always make me feel so special and loved!! happy birthday to me :)

saturday evening we got to go help celebrate our friend, brian's birthday. it was at this awesome, vintage throwback bowling alley downtown. so cool. and so much fun being with friends! i should also mention this was my first time in 10 months to be apart from my littlest man. no worries, though, on my part because oomah and pops were holding down the fort at home!

isn't this awesome?! this was in the private party room.

the strike pose. unfortunately, this was my only strike of the night!

the birthday boy and lane

shanna and i thought the shoes were cute. and they didn't feel gross, either!

it was a fun night out of the house!

that night about 10, i started feeling puny and it continued through the night. i sent the boys to church with lane. i know that adds stress to his already hectic morning, but i so appreciated being able to rest. knox and i took a 2 hour nap and then waited for the rest of our clan to get home. after lunch, i took another 2 hour nap. i remember when canon was 6 weeks old, i hit a major wall. i broke down one morning out of pure exhaustion. he sent me to muskogee (he was working :)) for the night/day so i could sleep and let grandmas take care of canon. i was refreshed and fine after that. i wondered if that wasn't a bit of what this was. after not sleeping more than 3 hour increments for the past 5 weeks and taking care of the big boys on top of that, my body was just running on fumes. needless to say, i feel good and revived :)

i forgot to mention that knox had his tongue clipped on friday afternoon. when the pediatrician told us he was tongue-tied, we jumped at getting a referral for the clipping. after what we went through with the delays in doing canons, we didn't want to risk it. canon had his done at 35 months and had to be put under. knox was going to be able to do it in the office with no meds. he said he would cry, but not because of pain. just because the doctor's hands would be in his mouth. as soon as he clipped it and removed his hands, he said he would stop crying right away. it literally happened just like that! hardly any blood and no tears after the fact. we're thankful that's taken care of! lane wanted me to plug how much we LOVE our pedi ENT. if you're in the market, let me know!

real baby smiles...

2012-01-23T16:34:00.004-06:00

...they're the best!

this sweet boy made my day. LOVED our playtime this afternoon while we were both supposed to be napping!
keep on smiling, knox :)

knox at 1 month...

2012-01-19T16:27:00.003-06:00

my sweet knox oliver,

this has been the BEST month! we have eaten up every minute spent with you. i'm so thankful that this month has crept by. it seems like an eternity ago that we were at the hospital. you have experienced so much already. you have everyone wrapped around your finger, too! here's what you are up to these days...

you are the best, most sweetest baby! you never cry. never. we've yet to not be able to console you within a few seconds. you fuss if you are dirty or want your swaddle and passy. meeting those needs fixes everything in your eyes! you have the sweetest disposition. you love to cuddle, but you also love laying in your bed. i'm thankful for both of these things!

you are trying to smile socially when awake, but we haven't had a true smile yet. on the other hand, you must have the best dreams because you flash big 'ol smiles in your sleep.

you, also, are trying so hard to talk to us. every once in awhile a coo escapes and it's a beautiful sound!

your brothers are so in love with you! canon likes to talk to you and be mommy's helper. ledger will sit by your side while you are in the bouncer forever. he has become so much more affectionate since you were born!

you only have had one official bathtub bath at this point. you didn't care for it! it's just easier and more enjoyable for you to do a sponge bath. you are calm if i sing to you.

you like your carseat so far! you sleep everytime you are in the car.

you are nursing every 2.5 hours during the day (8am-11pm) and then every 3 hours (on the dot!) during the night. i wish you would sleep longer at night, but with your reflux stuff (see below), the doctor says smaller, more frequent meals is best! thankfully, 95% of the time you go right back to sleep at night.

we are trying to keep to the "eat, wake, sleep" schedule during the day. after nursing for 30 minutes, you only stay awake 30-45 minutes before going down for a nap. after your early afternoon feeding, i put you right down so you will take a good nap while your brothers are sleeping!

you hate tummy time! the boys like to lay next to you while you do it and cheer for you. they also like for you to play with toys. when you are awake, they put toys in your lap.

you have been in size 1 diapers for the past 1.5 weeks. this past week, our church threw us a diaper shower. you are covered for a good while!

just this week, i started putting you in 0-3 month clothes

nicknames: knoxy, mr. knox, ollie, angel baby, baby (ledger), brother (canon)

weight at birth: 7.4, 2 weeks: 8.5, 1 month: 10.1

and this is your happy place...

in your crib. swaddled. with a passy!

we love you so, so much! once again, i'm so thankful for god's perfect timing in our life. you are my sweet boy!

love,

mommy

xoxo

the mornings of december 19th and january 19th were very similar. i drove to the same hospital, very early, for knox! after having a barking sounding cough for 2 weeks now and lots of spit up at each feeding, i took knox to the doctor on tuesday to see what was causing this. after ruling out any kind of respiratory issues, our doctor landed on reflux as the cause. she ordered an upper GI study to be done to see if there were any structural issues causing the reflux.

he couldn't eat for 3 hours prior to the procedure. after waking up extra early and getting us out the door, i fully expected an upset, hungry baby until afterwards. instead, he was so content with his passy. he was awake a full 2 hours before he was able to eat.

we checked in and waited for about 40 minutes then were taken back. i had to undress him then the tech strapped him into some contraption. i figured this would set him off. nope. he just chilled. finally, the dr came in and it was time for the barium. i worried since he's never had a bottle how he would do. i guess starving a baby is the key to getting them to drink it! the test itself only took about 10 minutes and we were on our way. i was expecting a longer, more traumatic experience, but it was a piece of cake for my boy, thankfully! our doctor called this afternoon saying the test was normal and he just has a bad case of reflux. we are starting zantac today to see if that will help. fingers crossed!

and if today wasn't enough, i get to take him to get his tongue clipped tomorrow. i know that will be a worse, more painful procedure for him. i'm just praying that it will heal fast and won't affect his nursing too bad. now on to month 2!

our weekend...

2012-01-16T22:53:00.002-06:00

i have got to start using a regular camera. i finally got a new one, but i've just been using my phone for the past month! the boys and i spent the weekend in muskogee while lane was in joplin speaking at a retreat. canon and ledger were very excited to go to gram and clo's house.

chloe was cheering at a basketball game friday night so we drove straight there to see her. the boys LOVED watching the game. when we got to my mom's house, they got their bouncy balls out and pulled their jeans up past their knees. canon said they were his basketball shorts.

saturday morning, we were slow getting around. after getting dressed, we ran a couple errands and then headed to my favorite lunch place, harmony house. the boys ate mcdonalds while we dined on chick food! this window was the perfect height for them to look out.

after naps, aunt clo took them out to jump on her new trampoline. they LOVE it! maybe a birthday gift for canon? the weather was so nice!

my dad had come over on friday morning and left the boys each $1 to go buy a treat. canon wanted an icee and ledger wanted suckers...5 to be exact! for 24 hours, all canon talked about was his money and buying a treat. we were at the mall saturday night so he finally got his icee from the cookie store and ledger bought suckers at the candy store. of course, canon thought he needed suckers, too. ledger gave the go-ahead for canon to pick out some. we made canon share his icee! after spending a fair amount of time at the clinique counter, we ate a quick dinner and headed home to watch miss america!

sunday morning was a bit hectic. ledgie woke up with this awesome bed head! we were trying to get ready for church and pack up our stuff so we could get back to tulsa in time for church.

our sweet church threw us a diaper shower that afternoon. lane got home right as it was starting so the boys were able to stay with him. what a huge blessing all those diapers are!! they seriously make me giddy at the thought of not having to buy diapers for a long time. now to potty train my 2 year old! isn't that the cutest diaper cake?! all the snacks were so yummy and so my type of food! LOVE our church family.

the rest of the day was spent laying around and playing. we were so glad to have lane home. the boys, especially ledger, are really into daddy right now. he asks ALL THE TIME "where's daddy?" or says "i want my daddy." it's sweet because he's not upset. he just wants to be with his daddy! knox was extra cuddly as evidenced by all the cute, sleepy pics.

when i unswaddled him, his hand was in his pocket :)

rain boots and the first snow...

2012-01-12T09:58:00.001-06:00

the boys got rain boots (and rain coats) for christmas and have been itching to wear them. unfortunately, it hasn't rained since the day knox was born. so instead they run around the house in them, pretending the boots do different things! yesterday after speech, we came home to find ledger looking like this :)

once canon saw ledger in his boots, he had to put his on. they seriously wore them all day long, only taking them off for naptime and church. canon became obsessed with all things fireman about 1.5 months ago so he sports the fireman boots, although at times they are "super fast" boots and basketball boots! ledger now has superman ones. he originally had the cutest batman (he's my favorite superhero!) boots, but they were a size too small so when i went to exchange them, they only had a 7 in superman. thankfully, ledger is so go-with-the-flow that he didn't care. plus, we have always dressed him in superman and canon in batman so i guess it's fitting. when it finally decides to rain, i'll have to get a pic of them in their full get-up!

when we got home from church last night, it had started flurrying. it was so pretty falling and the boys went out with lane to catch some on their tongues! about 45 minutes later after the boys were already in bed, we heard canon playing in the window so lane went in and canon told him that it was snowing on the flowers. lane said "yeah" and tucked him back in. when he came out, he looked outside and we were surprised to see that snow had indeed already covered all grassy areas/roofs on our street. he felt bad for brushing canon off!!

this morning, the first thing canon said was that he wanted to play outside in the snow. so after they ate breakfast, we bundled them up to play in the first snow (hopefully there will be more!!) of the season. surprise, canon was excited to wear his snow boots. remember this? ledger was just thrilled to get to wear his rain boots outside. canon kept insisting that we buy ledger snow boots "oomorrow".

nothing like playing outside in the freezing cold at 8:30 in the morning! i'm thankful for their fun dad. they played out there for only about 5 minutes before their little hands were too cold. i've got to find some good waterproof gloves for when we get a good snow!! snow makes everything so beautiful and peaceful. sigh.

canon's favorite thing about snow? throwing snowballs at the door! 1, 2, 3...

in other news, ollie slept all night in his own room in his big boy bed for the first time last night! he does great for naps, but after a couple less than restful nights for all of us, we finally decided to make the move. the other boys were 2 and 4 months before the switch was made. we all slept so good. i wasn't waking up with each little squeak/grunt he makes (as cute as they are)! now to figure out how to get him to sleep longer than 3 hours at a time. :)

knox at 3 weeks...

2012-01-10T20:59:00.006-06:00

these have been the best 3 weeks! we have so enjoyed getting to know knox and he fits our family perfectly. it's hard to believe that he is only 3 weeks. it seems like an eternity ago that he was born...which i'm so thankful for! i want time to creep by so i can enjoy this stage for as long as possible :) here's what ollie's up to...

he nurses 8 times per day. eats well, but is SLOW...30 minute sessions. spits up easily.
he sleeps ALL the time, which has been great until the past 3 nights when he has had wake periods where he's restless and grunts a lot. as of today, babywise bootcamp has begun...eat. wake. sleep. repeat!
he grunts. a lot. he also in the past day has begun to make cooing sounds. so sweet!
he smiles often in his sleep, but is on the verge of social smiling, too.
he has yet to have crying spells that we can't console him. picking him up, giving him a passy, changing him, or swaddling him does the trick!
he goes through 10-12 diapers a day.
he is still wearing newborn clothing and diapers. i tried on a 0-3 month outfit and it swallowed him. i'm loving him staying smaller longer!
he sleeps in our room at night, his during the day, hangs out in his bouncer and LOVES being held!
he's in that peel-y newborn stage.
he loves watching his big brothers.
his big brothers LOVE him to pieces.
he LOVES his passy, being swaddled and his mommy (and daddy!).
he HATES being poopy and taking a bath.
he is the SWEETEST baby!

the magic of the passy!

knox oliver, we are so in love with you, sweet boy! thank you for making us smile all the time. you are my angel baby :)

our new reality...

2012-01-06T23:10:00.003-06:00

so this week has been my reality check. after having lane off for 2 full weeks and being with family for most of that time, i was on my own with my 3 sweet boys. thankfully, we've never had issues with the older ones when going out and about, but adding a newborn to the mix always keeps things interesting!

first thing on tuesday morning, knox had his 2 week check-up. we were all up, showered, dressed, fed and out the door on time. i may have had lane give the big boys a pep talk before leaving for work. and he may have bribed them with a movie and snack before bed that night if everyone obeyed! no fear...they did great. the nurse told them to tell their daddy that they did a great job!

after the doctor, we ran to babies r us for diapers and wipes. during checkout, canon announced he needed to potty. usually, i would take both boys to the bathroom and tell them repeatedly not to touch anything (i even have them trained to hold their own hands while we are in there). but having already paid for a cart full of diapers and having a baby carrier, too, i told him we could use a special potty in the van. i totally let my kid pee in a water bottle! i panicked and that's the only alternative to the nasty bathroom i could come up with! it actually worked well and i may keep an empty bottle in his backpack form now on.

another adjustment has been seating arrangements in the van. as soon as we found out we were having a baby, i started trying to come up with the easiest possible way to do car seats. we took one of the captain seats in the middle out and moved both big boys to the back row. this way i just climb in and buckle them instead of having to climb over 2 seats in the middle to buckle one in the back. i have the big double stroller in the back so i just load groceries/luggage/whatever in the middle. so far it's worked great...especially for the peeing mentioned above!

wednesday morning after speech, my dad came over to watch the big boys while knox and i ran to walmart. after not being home for 2 weeks, i had to go asap! i was amazed at how easy and fast the trip seemed with a sleeping newborn vs. a verbal toddler. most of the time (until may), it'll be ledge and knox with me, but it was a nice break from the ordinary. that evening, i even managed to get everyone to church on time by myself.

thursday morning, lane had a meeting, so i got everyone out the door ON TIME (can you tell how huge this is to me?!) to get canon to school. the little boys and i ran 5 errands and survived. we even made it home before it was time for knox to nurse! i did have lane bring canon home so i could lay ledge and knox down for a much needed nap. lane had another late evening so i did dinner, bathtime, and bedtime. AND SURVIVED!

i was so worried at how time management would go with 3. i felt like it always took awhile just to get me and 2 kids ready and out the door. with a newborn, the nursing schedule alone adds so much more time. i realize we will be late more than i would like, but i've also realized and accepted that that's just where we are in life. i've gotta enjoy these precious times with these boys. it goes by too darn fast! so this, my friends, is our new reality!!

i should also mention that are church family have been so gracious in providing meals for us this week. it has been such a help and made things go smoother than they would've otherwise!

look-a-likes...

2011-12-28T08:00:00.000-06:00

asleep

canon (left), knox (center), and ledger (right)

awake

canon (left), knox (center), and ledger (right)

who do you think knox looks like??

knox's first week (in iphone pics)...

2011-12-27T22:27:00.000-06:00

it's the most bizarre feeling knowing knox is only a week old (and a day!), yet he fits so perfectly into our lives. it's almost hard to remember life just 8 short days ago. i'm so thankful for the slow, low-key week we've had.

we came home from the hospital on wednesday evening. the boys were still in muskogee so we had a couple of days to just focus on knox. very thankful for that time!

home sweet home!

our first night at home was pretty decent and has been great since. we started him out in the pack n' play and within an hour...

...he was in the bouncer. this is where he has slept since. partly because it was easier to take to my mom's and mostly because he loves it! after we are done traveling, we will make the move to his bed.

thursday morning, he had his first appointment with the pediatrician. he was jaundiced and we had to go in for bloodwork and a weight check. at 2.5 days, he weighed 6lb 12.5oz. we went back on friday and he was up to 6lb 15oz.

his jaundice was still just a bit high so we had to do sun therapy for a few days. bless his heart, he would sweat so much when we put him in the sun. looks like another hot-natured boy!

thursday was a busy day of grandparent visits. my dad came over that morning to snuggle the sweet boy. thursday afternoon, my mom, sisters and kyle brought the boys up so we could go get a santa picture. also, lauren and kyle got to meet knox! that evening, lane's parents came over to see the baby.

sleepy baby smiles are the best. i had to be patient to get this pic!

friday afternoon, we headed to my mom's to spend the weekend. the 3 boys were reunited and were so happy to be! the boys have been great with him. they LOVE to see/touch/ talk/poke (love)/hold him. my favorite time with all 3 boys so far is after knox's 8am feeding when everyones waking up and knox is super alert. we just sit on the bed while the big boys love on the baby!

knox did phenomenal while we were gone. he looks so over christmas in this picture!

he really is the sweetest, most laid back baby. we still haven't seen him cry inconsolably. he will fuss if he's dirty or wants his passy (so thankful that he's taking this so well after ledger not), but settles down immediately once you tend to these things. i know we are only a week in and things can change fast, but right now, we are enjoying this quiet, sleepy phase! his sleep schedule is wonderful. with the jaundice and trying to get back to birth weight, i'm waking him every 3 hours to eat. during the night, i have to wake him up. looking forward to not setting my clock for every 3 hours. however, he's a champ at nursing.

first impressions:

we don't think he favors anyone heavily. he probably looks more like canon than ledger, but the chubby cheeks and hair makes me think ledger. he definitely has canon's mouth and hairline.
he has long toes and fingers...unlike the other 3 boys in my house.
i totally call him ledger more than knox!
his brothers are so smitten.
he LOVES his bouncer and passy.
newborn sized clothes and diapers look adorable on him.
he likes to be swaddled.
he smells wonderful.
he's a great cuddler.
car seats/car rides don't bother him.
we love him to pieces and are so grateful to god for his perfect timing. he is faithful!

we love you so much, knox! we look forward to watching you grow into who you were created to be!

(ps...lots of blog catch-up to come in the next few days!)

christmas weekend...

2011-12-26T22:21:00.000-06:00

we headed to my mom's house for christmas on friday the 23rd after knox's doctors appointment. we were so anxious to be with our big boys again and they were excited to see knox!! plus, it's always fun to be with my family for more than a few hours.

for dinner, we headed to our favorite muskogee eatery, mahylon's bbq. yum. it seemed everyone in town brought their guests there, too! after the boys enjoyed a christmas book reading by gram, we put them to bed and played "the game of things". i love games. i love even more playing them with my family. very entertaining!

christmas eve morning was spent hanging out and doing food prep for the next 2 days. the boys colored pictures for santa. a job they took very seriously! we watched "the help" that afternoon. i hadn't seen it and it was worth all the hype. lauren has been telling the boys (usually ledger) the line, "you is smart. you is kind. you is important" for awhile now. they get excited and try to say it with her when she starts in!

that evening, we went to christmas eve service at lane's home church. it's probably my favorite christmas tradition! before we left, we had a little photo session.

on christmas eve, we always have a spread of appetizers and snacks for dinner. lane's parents and dylan came over. we just hung out and let the boys entertain us! they were very into pillow fighting that night.

another tradition for as long as i can remember is getting a new pair of pajamas on christmas eve. my mom found these rad superhero, footie jammies that the boys LOVE. they pretty much want to wear them every night!

christmas morning!! everyone except my boys (and us because of them) slept until 9. oh how times change! they were very patient waiting though :) it was so wonderful taking our time opening gifts and just enjoying the morning. we had some yummy cinnamon rolls and sausage-egg casserole for breakfast.

LOVE the wonder on their faces!

canon was so excited that santa brought him the tools he had been talking about FOREVER!

i'm already regretting this purchase!

this picture cracks me up! it totally sums up the boys personalities. ledger rips right in and has it completely opened while canon is meticulously tearing small pieces off and moving it to the trash pile before going on to the next :)

enjoying one of chloe's presents!

after opening gifts and eating a big lunch, the boys were in need of a nap before opening their big gift from gram. they were very excited to play with their new train table! that evening, we took down all evidence of christmas. it made me anxious to get home and get my tree put away! we pulled out leftovers for dinner and played "boxers or briefs." such a good day all around!

and just for proof that knox was indeed there, celebrating his first christmas!

the cute progression of a yawn :)

some of knox's loot.

and just possibly the sweetest image of the day!

santa baby...

2011-12-22T21:28:00.000-06:00

on thursday before christmas, we took the boys to see santa! we were waiting for knox to make his arrival since this was his first christmas. the boys were staying in muskogee until we could get there on friday. my sister and kyle got to town that day for christmas and along with my mom and chloe, they brought the boys up for the much anticipated visit!

we had planned to go to bass pro after hearing about their winter wonderland set-up. they also advertised free pictures! we met them there after knox's appointment and did a quick outfit change for the boys in the van. they were so excited. we've talked about being brave and not crying and how nice santa is for weeks. canon said he was going to be brave like caillou? (btw, lane despises this show, but my kids are obsessed) i guess he saw an episode where caillou visited santa.

when we got back to the santa area, i was surprised at how many people were in line on a thursday afternoon! they gave us a card saying to come back in an hour for our turn. canon instantly became distraught at the thought of leaving without seeing santa. we had to explain several times that we would come back after we ate a quick lunch. we ran across the parking lot for a quick mexican lunch at los cabos...yum.

we made it back before our allotted time and were allowed to jump up in line. we still waited 20-30 minutes, but they had all kinds of game booths set up to keep everyone entertained.

when it was our turn to see the man in red, the boys walked right up. canon immediately spurted out (without santa asking), "tools!" which is what he had been rehearsing to tell santa he wanted! we got everyone situated then...

... santa asked if we could switch knox and canon. we figured ledger would be the most hesitant so that's why he got to be the one to stand! everyone stayed pleasant for the picture. it turned out cute, i thought. i do wish it would've been a more close-up, but, hey, it was free!

at the end, santa asked the boys what they wanted (i don't think he heard or knew what canon said in the beginning). canon told him tools and ledger said "birthday" after thinking for a minute. he's a mess! when walking away, canon told us he was brave like caillou. ledger said he was, too! we just may be passed the crying stage with those 2. who knows what knox will think next year!

and just for fun...here's the past 2 years pics...here and here!

knox's birthday...

2011-12-21T21:28:00.000-06:00

3:20...eeesh. It's early

4:50...in the car on our way! I grossly underestimated how much time we would need this morning. I'm really nauseated. I don't think I'm nervous. Excited!

5:10...also underestimated all the construction in the parking lot/building. I guess we should've done a drill. All checked in. Just waiting for a nurse to come get us

5:45...headed back and signed/answered my life away!

6:30...pitocin started. Feeling so nauseous. Now the waiting starts!

7:30...new nurse came in and started penicillin. She's wonderful. I'm always thankful for sweet nurses :) waiting on the dr to come in and check me.

7:50...dr came in. Dilated to 3. In order to get the antibiotics, I'll get an epidural at 10 then we will break water soon after that. Then baby will prob be a couple more hours.

9:20...I am a wuss. And am ok with that! 40 more minutes until my epidural. The boys and grandmas are on their way up.

10:10...epidural! Sweet relief :)

10:35...3-4cm. Still pretty thick.

10:55...resident came to break water. Still feeling contractions. Got another dose of med. Dr says a good 5cm.

11:20...another dose.

11:25...after being increasingly nauseated all morning, i got sick. Lots. But I feel better. Zofran.

12:30...checked, still a 5, but thinner. More antibiotics. So sleepy.
Still don't have good relief from contractions in my lower stomach.

1:50...my dr called and wanted an update so another nurse came to check and, surprise, I'm a 9!

2:00...feeling the contractions full force down low. Nurse thinks he's sitting on pubic bone.

2:30...waiting for dr. Nurse can see his head! I'm having to breathe through every contraction. Holy moly...I'm a wuss with pain. numb everywhere but lower tummy...yowzer.

2:45...dr is here and starting pushing. Pushing against the contractions feels so good. (side story: when our dr was walking into the hospital, he passed the waiting room and saw lane's brother, tyler. the dr said to him, "hey moss, you better get back there for delivery." tyler says he must've been looking at dr. n like a crazy person. when dr. n got to my room, he realized what he had done! we all laughed)

2:50...3 contractions later-Knox is here! It took him awhile to cry, but he let us have it after a few minutes.

2:53...dr examined the placenta. So cool! Got to see the old, problem-causing clots.

3:00...skin to skin! He latched right on and went to town. Nursed for 20 minutes.

3:40...lane brought the boys in to meet their brother! Canons smitten and in love. Ledger looked and kissed baby then spotted crackers on side table. he was ready to go back and play in the waiting room.

3:45...canon and lane watching the nurse bathe Knox. Canon hasn't stopped talking to/about his brother. I can't stop smiling at my sweet family!

4:00...I'm all cleaned up! Our nurse has been wonderful. Knox is getting his assessment by the nursery done. so thankful they do it in the room

4:15...family is coming back to meet him. Of course, they love him! (aunt lala had to work, amy and drew came up the next day, and uncle pickle had to leave before the nurse was finsihed with knox)

4:45...moved to post-partum room

5:15...everyone is leaving. so nauseated.

5:30-bedtime...I have felt awful. I've been nauseated all day but seems worse this evening. Definitely, have the stomach bug. Looks just like when the boys had it last week. I'm also cramping really bad, but can't turn off the pitocin until I can get up to the bathroom. BUT my darn right leg won't un-numb! I'm pitiful.

11:00...finally got to the bathroom despite the bum leg. Lane just carried me, essentially! Got to brush my teeth and wash my face...ahh! Nursing this sweet boy and going to try to sleep.

we had such a pleasant hospital stay. because i was group b strep +, we had to stay until knox was 48 hours. on tuesday morning, i was FINALLY able to shower and wash my hair. after getting sick during delivery, i could not take a shower soon enough, but until i could stand on my own, they wouldn't let me. by 8 am, i felt like a new woman. we had lots of family and friends stop by throughout the day. it was wonderful visiting with them and showing off our new, sweet boy! we also had lots of food and drinks brought up throughout the day :) wednesday was spent getting some much needed rest. we finally went home around 4:30 that afternoon. i remember just feeling so blessed at the thought of my family of 5 (that sounds like alot!!) as we pulled away from the hospital! i will never forget the sweet memories we made those couple of days.

a few more pics from the hospital...

steelers were on monday night football so we dug our gear out for the occasion :)

Introducing...

2011-12-19T14:50:00.000-06:00

Knox Oliver
December 19th
2:50 pm
7lb 4oz
20"

We are so in love with this sweet boy!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

twas' the night before knox...

2011-12-18T21:43:00.001-06:00

well, the little stinker has been quite the tease the past few days. i'll have some action for a few hours and think something is going to happen and then it just stops. but we are ok with that. especially, knowing that inside of a day, we will be holding and loving on this sweet boy! we have enjoyed our days this weekend with the boys. they have been exceptionally easy going and fun and sweet.

my mom came and got them this evening and they were very excited to go to gram's house. in the morning, gram, oomah and aunt clo will bring them back to meet their baby brother. canon is so excited and gets it for the most part. ledger, on the other hand, keeps saying, "no baby"...uh-oh. however, i really think once knox is here and he's tangible, ledger will be all about him. i have no doubt that he will be one loved baby!

with the boys gone, lane and i had an impromptu date. steak sounded good so outback it was. i had the last meal mentality and cleaned my plate plus some :) i'm going to regret in the morning! we were talking about how it seems i've been pregnant forever, but at the same time, the day we found out i was pregnant is still so vivid to us. i'm so overcome with thankfulness that we have made it to this point after the scare at 12 weeks. grateful for god's plan and perfect timing for knox's life!

knox, sweet boy, we are so looking to forward to meeting you and loving you! see you tomorrow :)

"let's play supers"...

2011-12-18T07:00:00.000-06:00

for the past 2 days now, all we've heard around our house is "let's play supers"...meaning let's put masks on and run around like crazy dudes! there are about 8 masks that they rotate through every few minutes. best entertainment ever!

i'm thankful for a husband that gets little boys (he's 1 of 4) and knows how to make gifts like these super fun!

family christmas...

2011-12-17T11:40:00.001-06:00

friday morning we had a little, family christmas and it was so fun! i grew up doing santa only on christmas morning. my parents hauled our gifts to arkansas every year along with the extended family's presents. in lane's family, they did their santa gifts before they left town. he said he never questioned why santa came 3 times! this year, lane really wanted to do at least part of the boys christmas with just us. i was resistant at first because that's not how santa works!! by the end of the day, i was on board. i was excited to get to witness those priceless smiles more than once :)

on thursday night, we started hyping the boys up for what was to come. they were excited! after dinner, we made some cookies for santa and put them on santa's special plate! of course, the boys were anxious to taste them, too, while watching "charlie brown's christmas"! we wrote santa a note, read a christmas book, did our advent calendar, prayed, sang "away in a manger" (their very favorite song right now) and tucked the boys into bed.

the next morning, they were very anxious to see what santa had brought! this is probably the very first morning ever they didn't ask for breakfast right away. i LOVE watching their faces and excitement as they unwrap something. ledger tears into the gift while canon tears one little piece away and throws it into the trash pile, only to repeat. a testament to their personalities! this christmas was all about dress-up. some sweet friends handed down to us an awesome dress-up trunk. i mean it was perfect! and it was filled with costumes and LOTS of superhero masks. we added a few outfits to the bunch and they have been content for going on 24 hours now! santa brought them each a game. they both love games, but canon, seriously, asks several times a day to play a game...and our games are old news! their stockings were filled with much needed feeding/eating/drinking gear.

the boys had been anxiously waiting for a week to give lane his gift. they gave him this vintage pearl keychain and some hot tamales! they gave me a big 'ol bag of starbucks decaf christmas blend coffee. i'm all set for when brother makes his appearance :)

by 10:30, the boys were hungry. their most favorite breakfast is pancakes so we made santa pancakes! they had fun assembling them and making "christmas milk".

next, it was time to play our new games! craniums games are brilliant. canon got the playground game and ledger got hullabaloo. they love them. in these pictures, they were making letters with their bodies...a "b" and "t"!

after such a sweet morning and good naps, we went to watch lane in the christmas program at church. he played the dad in the drama part. it was fun. the plan was to go look at christmas lights afterward, but that quickly changed when we went to pick ledger up from the nursery and canon honked in the hallway. thankfully, 12 hours later, it seems he just got choked from coughing and it wasn't the return of the stomach bug. we came home and both boys went to bed. lane and i were exhausted and were asleep by 10:45. at 6:45 this morning, canon was hollering to go pee. it was still dark outside so were able to trick him into going back to sleep in my bed since it was "still nighttime"! the whole house slept until 8:45. it was wonderful! now we have a low-key day ahead of us. hoping this baby makes an appearance soon :)

baby and household update...

2011-12-15T15:50:00.001-06:00

well, the past 24 hours have been interesting to say the least. after having a weird, uncomfortable (for lack of a better description...just several out of ordinary things) night tuesday night, i woke up and got ready while having some contractions. canon and i went to speech. when we got home, i had quite a bit of bloody show. it freaked me out as i had never had this with the boys. i was cramping pretty bad at that point and had some pretty regular contractions for most of the morning/afternoon. i was convinced this baby was on his way! i immediately started attacking my house. by 1:00, i had completely exhausted myself and tried to lay down when the boys did for a nap. i slept about an hour then got up to take a bath and get ready.

i was planning on meeting my mom after she got off of a work so she could stay with the boys while i got a pedicure! i was planning on getting one friday, but after googling my symptoms, labor seemed more imminent than not (i've never had labor on my own!) AND i've been looking forward to a pre-l&d pedicure for months. plus, i've heard of women going into labor after one. i got the boys up from naps and decided to bathe them before we left, "just incase." canon was pretty whiny/fussy about everything, but its not unusual for him to wake up this way...oh joy! we were literally on our way out the door when he threw up all over himself (and the floor). around the same time, i got a text from lane saying he felt awful and was on his way home. after cleaning up and getting both boys settled on a pallet, we decided i would go meet my mom to get ledger out of the house and i could still get my pedicure :)

she was the best. i wish i could hire this lady everyday to do this. i hate when they rush through it. she took her time and kept inquiring about my baby. i also LOVE the rolling feature on the massage chairs!

however, lane did keep texting me the entire time asking if i was done. they were both getting sick and he was having to do canon too. he sounded pitiful on the phone. when i was done, i rushed to gather up so "sick food." after a rough evening, around 10, they both managed to keep things down. i'm so thankful this didn't turn bad for canon. it was as if knox knew the timing was bad because as soon as the boys got sick, all signs of labor stopped.

today, they were both exhausted and wiped out, but were feeling better. lane had a couple of things he needed to today, but just got home. i have a couple of errands to run and hoping the walking will help things to pick up again! pray that we are done with this nasty bug. I CANNOT GET IT!! first thing this morning, i started bleaching everything! i'm mindful of everything the boys touch :)

37 weeks 5 days...

2011-12-13T20:41:00.000-06:00

pregnancy highlights

how far along: 37 weeks 5 days

size of baby: 6lb3oz-ish, 19in

total weight gain/loss: +28 lbs

maternity clothes: YES!! and i can't wait to not wear pants with a band that squeezes SO tight...uncomfortable!

gender: a sweet little boy who we can't wait to meet. so soon!!

name: knox oliver.

movement: still a mover. it doesn't matter if there isn't any room left. he's always poking out somewhere.

sleep: oy. good sleep hasn't occurred for a few weeks. still can fall asleep easily. now naptime isn't even happening for me. i sometimes can sleep for 20 minutes, and then i wake up ready to go. last night, i had true insomnia..and it was frustrating as heck!

cravings: still pb&j's and sugar. i even had 2 sandwiches at supper one night this week! i usually eat the same thing for lunch every day...pb&j, pretzels, grapes and cubed cheese! water, too. can't get enough.

symptoms: cramping, intense braxton-hicks, lots of potty trips, sciatic pain. good 'ol end of pregnancy stuff :)

best moment of the week: the anticipation and wondering of when this sweet dude will join us! i'm reading into everything that feels different!!

i saw the doctor this afternoon, and nothing much had changed with the exception of him being a bit lower. still a 2ish. however, we did schedule an induction for next Monday, the 19th! we are so excited that inside of a week, we will be meeting this sweet boy. i'm still hoping he makes an even earlier appearance. the good news is my doctor is on call 4 of the next 6 nights. my odds are good! so crazy this is my last official pregnancy highlight!

canon's christmas program...

2011-12-12T15:51:00.000-06:00

last tuesday night, canon had his school's christmas program. we were anxiously looking forward to this one after last springs! canon was pretty excited, too. when we would talk about it, he would say that he was going to be brave and smile and dance. he was always overly animated about it when we talked about it!

all of his grandparents came to support him! his class looked so cute as they all marched out on stage. of course, canon was on the end of the "tree". he looked tiny next to everyone else.

he was nowhere near as into it as he was at home, but at least he wasn't frozen in fear the whole time. instead, he just looked bored out of his mind and played with his sweater! he managed a couple of motions here and there and even did great at receiving all the gifts at the end of the line.

however, when lane went to retrieve him from the stage after the program, you would have thought by the look on canon's face that he had just given the entertainer of the year performance. he was all smiles and SO proud!! i loved seeing how confident he felt afterwards. both boys were looking forward to the cookie party afterwards. it was such a sweet evening of memories!

past few days...

2011-12-11T10:27:00.000-06:00

it's been a busy weekend, and i don't know when i've been this tired (probably not that long ago...ha)! thursday was my "finish up all errands and shopping before the baby comes day"! ledger and i made 8 stops while canon was at school. we accomplished everything, but i was pretty sure all the in and out and lifting was going to send me into labor! that night, i drug out all the christmas gifts and marathon wrapped. but at least it's done!

friday morning, we headed to muskogee early to watch aunt chloe in her school program. the boys did great and were very attentive to the play, especially since there wasn't much music. we enjoyed refreshments afterwards with oomah and pops. lane and the boys headed to his parents while i got a much needed haircut. i wish i could do it every other week!

that whole morning, i was having pretty contractions that were coming every couple of minutes and lasting 15-20 seconds. they also were accompanied by twinges of pain. i hate not knowing what's real and not.

that evening was our jr. high youth group party. after getting home, eating a quick dinner (where i shamlessly put away 2 pb&j sandwiches), we headed up to the church. the boys were very excited about a party. lane scored this obnoxious rapping snowman that has been circulating the youth group for a few years. the boys were very excited about this! i was in bed by 10 that night, but not before having a freak out moment on the condition of our house. i deemed saturday morning "clean the house as if the baby will be here tonight" day :)

saturday, we had our traditional donuts and then i started cleaning with a vengenance. i wasn't having many contractions, but friday put enough fear in me to get me motivated! i was moving furniture, vacuuming the couches, re-organizing drawers. lane may have had to have a humbling talk with me about my nazi-like behavior. i ran out of time as we needed to be at a staff/elder christmas party at 2. the boys were pretty excited about attending another party with treats. we came home late afternoon for a short nap before attending the high school christmas party. it was a progressive dinner with stops at quik trip for drinks, qdoba for appetizers, chick-fil-a for the entree and then to a sweet family's house for dessert and dirty santa. thankfully, we were able to get rid of the rapping santa.

i was so ready for bed last night. i was in bed by 10:15! unfortunately, ledger woke up at 3 and got sick a couple of times. while lane bathed and made a pallet for the sick boy, i was rinsing laundry. i'm such a wuss when it comes to throw-up! canon ended up sleeping with me while lane held down the fort at camp hurlton (he named it while they weren't sleeping). i think this was ledger's first time to be sick like that.

this morning, we are hanging out at home. he got sick again on both of us which made things interesting. canon also has some kind of deep cough and a runny nose so we started breathing treatments with him in hopes of kicking it before it gets worse. we got to get rid of these sick germs before the baby comes. i'm not even worrying about re-cleaning until at least tonight. we're just hanging out watching movies and hoping to take a really good nap this afternoon. lane has a really busy day and week so hopefully ledge is on the mend...and baby stays put for a few more days. even though i'm so beyond ready to meet this sweet baby :)

36 weeks 5 days...

2011-12-07T12:43:00.000-06:00

oops...i let 3 weeks go by since posting a baby update. i've been a bit busy and had a few things on my mind :) i don't understand nesting at all. it's not relaxing. just the opposite in fact. it makes me crazy always having things floating in and out of my mind. starting and stopping a million projects. add christmas, birthdays and all the craziness that this time of year brings on top of it and you got one exhausted mama who has no desire to blog at the end of the day!

pregnancy highlights

how far along: 36w5d

size of baby: about 6 lbs, 18.5 inches

total weight gain/loss: +27 lbs! i gained 30 total with canon and 35 with ledger.

maternity clothes: yes...and i'm so sick of my clothes. i've worn the daylights out of them and am tired of wearing the same things each week! hoping for a quick transition back to normal clothes. that awkward, post baby stage is so...awkward.

gender: a sweet boy.

name: knox oliver. i want to make a note that in the beginning the boys and lane referred to him more as ollie, but lately, they've been saying knox or knoxy.

movement: everything i read says movements slow way down by this point. not my kid. if anything i feel he moves more. every evening he comes alive for several hours. i do wonder if his movements have anything to do with all the braxton-hicks contractions i have squishing his habitat. i'm going to miss feeling his sweet moves inside, i know!

sleep: i can't complain too much. i fall asleep easily, then wake up every time i need to flip, but go right back to sleep. i'm sleeping with a pillow into between my legs and can get pretty comfortable with that! i do wake up between 6 and 6:30 each morning ready to go. i wish i'd sleep until the boys woke. i haven't had to set an alarm in forever between my body's cycle and the boys'! i am amazed at the amount of water i drink during the day and especially evenings, and maybe get up once a night to potty...no complaints here!

cravings: desserts and pb&j sandwiches! after not wanting sweets for most of the pregnancy, i'm finding myself baking more!

symptoms: reflux (although not as bad as it has been). pregnancy brain. general aches and pains in my pelvis. i grunt a lot standing up/getting off the couch we've noticed. VERY short of breath! i honestly feel so much better than with ledger.

best moment of the week(s): finishing lots of projects in baby room. packing a hospital bag. finishing up christmas shopping. i have so many lists floating around since my memory doesn't work half the time! having a dr appointments.

i feel like he looks so different in each new picture we get. so anxious to see what his sweet face looks like!

i had a doctor's appointment yesterday. i will miss going to them! we LOVE our office and feel so blessed to have found such a great place and doctor. he's a hoot! i didn't have to have the group b strep test done since i was positive with ledger. once you get a positive, they treat each pregnancy after as positive. i did get checked, though. with as many intense, braxton-hicks i've had, i was anxious to see if they were doing anything. i was 2-3cm. i was 1-2 with ledger for 2 weeks before he was born. i go back in a week. i'm anxious to know if i'll go soon on my own or if he'll hang out awhile like his brothers!

canon's thanksgiving crafts...

2011-11-23T12:59:00.001-06:00

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

ledger's monster party...

2011-11-21T21:33:00.000-06:00

we celebrated ledger's 2nd birthday this weekend with our family. it's easier to do the week before thanksgiving before all the holiday craziness sets in! his actual birthday isn't until the 27th. i'm the crazy mom that starts thinking about my kids' parties 6 months in advance. this summer, we saw the monster party stuff at target and i fell in love with all the fun colors and silly monsters. it was an added bonus that we call ledgie, our little monster!!

last week was spent on party prep and cleaning my house from top to bottom, every single inch. i completely overdid it, but now it's done and i just have to maintenance clean until the baby is born. lane teases me saying that i care more about boys birthdays than they do. it's probably true, but i LOVE making their parties special! it's my mom in me :)

i was so sad i didn't get more pics, but with my camera on the fritz and playing hostess, we just had to take some when we could with lane's. here we go...

i found the boys' shirts here on etsy. they are in LOVE with them! and they looked pretty darn cute wearing them, too.

we had chick-fil-a for lunch for 2 reasons...SUPER EASY and ledgie's fav!! we got a nugget, chicken salad sandwich, and fruit tray. i made some fruit dip and opened a bag of chips and lunch was served :) (sidenote: everytime we ask ledger what he wants to eat, he ALWAYS says chick-fil-a. needless to say, he was a happy boy!)

i'm most sad that i didn't get an upclose pic of all the different kinds of monster cupcakes there were. i took our favorite bakery a plate for inspiration and asked them to make 3 or 4 of the different kinds of monsters. they looked EXACTLY like them! i was so pleased with their work....again. the party favors were "monster cookies" in jar. i used this recipe. lane made the little thank you tag and then we printed the directions on the back. we haven't tried them yet, but they looked cute!

after everyone ate, the kids worked on an activity. my boys are really into "projects" right now. the activity that went along with the party stuff were these cute little foam masks.

we then read a book that lane and i got ledger called "tickle monster" by josie bissett. it's an interactive book that was so fun! each kid sat with their tickle partner while lane read the book.

next, we played pin-the-eye-on-the-monster. the boys liked it. the girls were more interested in playing in the playroom at this point! we still have the poster up so the boys can play.

there is nothing in this world that ledger enjoys more than reading/looking at a book. instead of bringing a toy, we asked everyone to bring a children's storybook to add to his library. now that the boys are more into following along with stories, our very babyish library wasn't cutting it! he was pretty focused and solemn when it came to opening up his presents, but when he was finished and we announced it was FINALLY time to eat cupcakes, he came alive!!

he looked so embarrassed while we sang happy birthday to him. he actually managed to blow out his candle! i can't believe he's already 2!! he's still so baby to me, but i guess that will change pretty quickly once mr. knox is born. i hope ledgie always loves his mommy and cuddling as much as he does right now :)

getting down to some serious business...

the shirtless brigade...

happy birthday, sweet little monster!

33 weeks...

2011-11-14T15:38:00.000-06:00

I'm actually 33.5 weeks, but i'm TERRIBLE at blogging lately and the 33 week picture i have is going up today, instead of last thursday!

i had to pull my sweater back so you can get the true picture of that big 'ol belly! and i bet you can't guess what i've asked santa for this year (besides a baby)?! i'm hoping i've been a good enough girl to get a new camera AND the baby!

how far along: 33.5 weeks

size of baby: i'm carrying around a freaking honeydew!! a sweet one, i'm sure :) should be 4-5 lbs now.

total weight gain/loss: as of last thursday at my appointment, still +22 lbs. sooooo much better this time around! i was 20 lbs heavier than i am now when i delivered ledger...yikes. i suppose there's still time!

maternity clothes: yep, but only when i have to. i live in t-shirts and pj pants at home. i'm also so tired of my limited maternity wardrobe, but hate spending money on them when i know it's only for a few weeks. sidenote: i did go into LOFT for the first time since being pregnant this weekend with my mom. it was torture! but i am excited that baggy blouses are in because 1) they're so cute and 2) i'm going to need some major belly camouflaging!

gender: a sweet boy.

name: knox oliver. or knoxy. or ollie. whatever. he's pretty go with the flow when it comes to his name!

movement: still a crazy mover. although, now it's more just jabs and little bones i feel. LOVE feeling a foot or elbow or shin or hand. i did have a scary night last week where when i sat down that evening for the first time all day, i couldn't remember feeling him move any that day. i was poking and turning, and i even went and took a shower, trying to get him going. finally after about 45 minutes, i started feeling him. i guess i was so busy that day that i lulled him into a deep sleep with all the walking/moving!

sleep: ah, sleep. how i miss uniterrupted sleep! i'm to the stage that i wake up everytime i turn over. i still so thankful that i'm able to fall asleep with no problem and go back to sleep when i wake up in the night. no insomnia yet. last night, right before bed, i started feeling some heartburn/reflux, but was already settled in and didn't want to get up. from 11-4, i tossed and turned in the lightest sleep and kept waking up with reflux. finally, at 4, i got up and ate some tums and slept fine until 7:15! lesson learned: keep one of my many bottles of tums next to my bed. i'm still amazed that with as many potty breaks i have during the day, that i maybe only have to get up once. it's great!

cravings: nothing specific comes to mind. i am loving sweets...and sodium still.

symptoms: restlessness, reflux, aches/pains (sciatic and bruised-feeling pelvis). i'm not miserable...yet! i feel so much better than i did with ledger and am just trying to enjoy the last few weeks.

best moment of the week: getting knox's fabric in the mail for curtains and cushion/ottoman. my mimi is coming into town this weekend and is going to help me make them. hopefully, they'll be done in time for when the bedding gets here. it's supposed to ship sometime in the next week. it's been a long 10 weeks of waiting!!

look at this chunker! i can't wait to kiss those cheeks...

t-shirt projects...

2011-11-04T19:05:00.000-05:00

so i've been in a crafty mood lately...probably from the hours of etsy browsing that i've done in the past few months! i own a sewing machine and used to sew often with my mimi, but haven't mastered the art on my own! needless to say, all my "sewing" projects are adhered to fabrics with wonder-under and then hand-sewn around the edges...ha.

i think i'm going to have the boys wear these to the hospital for some pics of them with the baby for the first time. i wish i could find a super, tiny navy onesie so they could match exactly, but they still are cute. i love the gingham!

originally, i was going to make christmas-y tie shirts, but couldn't find cute find the right fabrics...and my mom found a really cute sweater outfit for knox so we are going with a dressier look! the suspenders crack me up.

the big boy shirts cost a total of $6.60 each and knox's were like $4.50 each. cheap, but so cute!

snow boots...

2011-11-03T20:15:00.001-05:00

canon has been obsessing this week over snow (from watching news reports with me, i'm sure). i LOVE the snow and LOVE LOVE that he LOVES it, too! yesterday, he told me that after lane and i ate dinner (?), it was going to start snowing. today, he was convinced that after naps it would be snowing. he ran a fever for about 21 hours over the past day so he stayed home from school. he was "helping" me organize tubs of clothes when he came across his snow boots (that still fit!). he was ecstatic and hasn't taken them off all day! he keeps telling me we need to go to target to get ledgie some :)

lane came home for lunch and, of course, the boys were in instant play mode. pretty sure they view him as a fun, toy!! they love for him to carry them around like this then toss them on the couch/bed. today, they were pretending they were monkeys.

somehow play time turned into walking on the ceiling! ledger didn't get the concept and wouldn't straighten out his legs. i'm so thankful for a hands-on daddy for my babies!!

rocketship...

2011-11-03T08:40:00.003-05:00

a week and a half ago, the boys had a babysitter where they played some game of "rocketship". during the week, when i would ask them what they were doing, they nearly always said "playing rocketship!" on lane's day off last week, they wanted to play that with their daddy so mr. creative got to work on the ultimate rocketship. it was pretty impressive! they played in it forever...until naptime. they ended up building another one on canon's bed later that day!

since then, they've gotten creative on their own in making smaller rocketships under the table, in the laundry basket or building one with blocks. i LOVE that imaginary play is becoming such a HUGE part of their play!

halloween over a week...

2011-11-02T18:58:00.001-05:00

1) pumpkin palooza

last week, the boys and i headed to boulevard's (lane's home church) pumpkin palooza! they had been looking forward to it for awhile. the day of, someone asked when it was time to go at least every 5 minutes...all.day.long!

they were very excited about seeing nora there! she made a very cute jesse and the boys are still talking about "jesse"! if only canon would've wanted to be woody, the whole gang would've been together.

while they had so many fun games aimed at preschool age...

my kids were more concerned with checking out their loot in between games!

they were excited to be at "oomah's church" as canon calls it. although they both work there, it's just oomah's while their house is only "pop's" in his book!

my mom came with us and was a much needed extra set of hands! we had stayed at her house for the 2 days leading up to the event while lane was out of town. the boys love their gram!!

2) pumpkin party

last thursday, canon had a fun day at school! they got to wear their costumes all day. they also got to skip their nap and watch "charlie brown and the great pumpkin"...this was canon's fav part of the day. at the end of the day, they had their party where they enjoyed lots of sugar!

ledger always enjoys canon's party days as he gets to enjoy the treats, too!

3) fall fun fest

on halloween night, our church hosted an event complete with trunk or treating. the boys were so looking forward to this! we hosted a trunk, but lane ended up maning it along with a couple of youth since i was following a couple of toddlers around!

despite all the fun games, hot dogs, popcorn, candy and music, my kids loved the balloons the most! after waiting in a LONG line, a super funny clown made canon a sword and ledger a plane. we then preceded to go get our picture made where canon popped part of his sword and became distraught! overall, the night was great!

fortunately, my kids haven't cared that much about the candy. they've been loving all the cheap toys. sadly, they have learned the hard lesson that cheap toys break really fast! i'm still finding little pieces and sneaking them into the trash! it's so fun to see how much more they get into things as they get older. looking forward to next year with our 3 boys :)

pumpkin patch pictures...

2011-10-31T09:00:00.000-05:00

happy fall, y'all.

31 (and a half) weeks...

2011-10-30T21:22:00.001-05:00

how far along: 31.5 weeks

size of baby: 3.5 lbsish or 4 oranges...ha!

total weight gain/loss: +22 lbs...wowzer. i gained 30 with canon and 35 with ledger!

maternity clothes: duh! (although the top in this pic isn't maternity and is "tenting" big time!)

gender: another little boy.

name: knox oliver. i LOVE doodling his name!

movement: he's an active boy, but i LOVE it! i'm thankful for the reminders that he is healthy in there. i love watching my stomach morph while he's stretching and moving.

sleep: ugh...i feel like i haven't rested well in a few weeks. i feel like my mind is always going thinking about what i need to do next. i'm able to fall asleep pretty easily at night, but have become a super light sleeper. i wake up every time i turn over. and for the past week, my body has woken up on it's own between 6:50 and 6:55 every morning. preparation i suppose. one day, i'll sleep again!!

cravings: donuts...more specifcally, chocolate-covered cinnamon rolls from daylight!! also, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches AND ramen noodles. like at the same meal. yum...sodium!!

symptoms: well, as i'm sure you can tell from pictures, my face is very round and my nose is spreading. wonderful. reflux has become more of an issue than indigestion. frequent potty breaks. my pelvis feeling like it's going to break in half (dang, stretched out abdominal muscles not supporting baby). not sleeping. i'll stop! i really enjoy being pregnant and am savoring every moment with my sweet babe knowing this is coming to an end soon! oh yeah, i forgot to mention that about a month and a half ago, my belly button officially popped out. i say it looks like a rolo candy!

best moment of the week: seeing knox at the doctor. accomplishing lots off the nesting list. also, i have decided pretty much the decor for the room. i'm ready to finish the room. now to win the lottery...jk :)

and now for some sweet pics of our boy...

i had a doctor's appointment this past thursday (31 weeks) and it went well. the baby looks great. the office was unusually quiet so i feel like we had a more in-depth appointment. ledger's gone with me the last two times and has done well. he gets so serious when it's time for the ultrasound. he has also learned that when the doctor comes in, he gets a sucker! i'm so thankful for uneventful appointments right now. only a few more weeks...and they will fly with all we have going on in the next 2 months. can't wait to snuggle my sweet boy!

question: do you think you can see eyelashes in ultrasounds? in the picture below, it appears as if he has long lashes and if you saw lane and canon's, it wouldn't be all that surprising. i just didn't know if they would show up!

we are those people...

2011-10-29T20:45:00.001-05:00

guess what we did tonight?!

we have totally been those people every year we have been married. our tree is always up by the first weekend of november. we just enjoy it too much to only have it up a few weeks. plus, i feel like it's a lot of work for only a few weeks. our favorite thing is to sit with all the lights off except the tree's...best lighting ever!

amongst all the nesting, i actually posed the question about a month ago to lane if we should even bother putting it up this year. he quickly shot that down and now i agree! last night, i got the idea in my head to put the tree up this weekend as this seems to be the last low-key one for awhile. he obliged :)

our cute little helpers were a big help! at least they thought they were. after hanging a few ornaments, we pulled out "a new to them toy", the little people nativity. pretty sure they had forgotten we had it. it kept them busy while we finished the tree. i would love to do a tree decor makeover, but, well, life always happens and i'm pretty sure christmas decorations is the very last thing on the 'ol priority list! i'm off to lay on my heating pad and enjoy the season :)

superheroes and chick-fil-a...

2011-10-19T00:16:00.000-05:00

we are a chick-fil-a, lovin' family! when we saw that their kid night was "dress like your favorite superhero", we jumped at it. the boys love any excuse to wear their costumes AND who can pass up free chick-fil-a?? the boys talked about it all afternoon and were so excited. canon kept saying, "i so -cited"! i loved not having to cook :)

we tried to get a few pictures of them, but they were so full of energy, they wouldn't stand still!

we've never done one of their theme nights before...oh my. it was so crowded, but so fun! the boys just watched all the excitement. they hesitantly gave high-fives to the chick-fil-a cows. after we found a table, they really got into spotting different superheroes they knew. of course, when the food came, they got down to business!

we did find out an interesting fact about canon. i thought since it was a special night, i'd get them chocolate milk with their meals. canon took one sip and said, "i not like brown milk. i like white milk." he told him that's all they had for him that night, but he refused to drink anything until we got home. what kid doesn't like chocolate milk?!

when we left, i needed to run in target for a few things so the boys walked over to fuddruckers where they were having some kind of old car show. the boys were fascinated, of course. we had such a fun, little outing together! i'm trying to soak up these boys right now while they're at an easier, fun stage and, also, before a newborn dictates what/when we do something!!

pumpkin painting...

2011-10-17T17:11:00.000-05:00

this past friday, we loaded up and made one of my very favorite trips of the year. i LOVE the pumpkin patch, and always look forward to taking the boys, even though they've never really gotten into it! this year, they liked it more, especially ledger. my kids would live outside if it was acceptable. i, also, look forward to the pics lane gets out there! he's working on them in between his busy schedule and i can't wait to see them all!

we always let the boys pick out a pumpkin appropriate to their size. they also picked a teeny, tiny one for knox! they are SO into "projects" right now so we thought it'd be fun for them to paint their pumpkins since they aren't really at the carving age. this morning, we ran and got some paint brushes that i could just trash when we were done!

canon worked very hard on his for a good 30 minutes. he was concerned when paint started getting on him, but embraced it when i told him it would wash off!

ledger, on the other hand, lost interest within minutes and indulged in a little porch and body painting! he's such a mess, but we wouldn't trade his ornery self for anything!

while the boys created their masterpieces, i worked on a project i had been wanting to do for awhile. i just want to remember every little detail about the boys at this age. they're so fun and sweet! i wasn't thinking though to leave room to add knox's handprint. good thing it'll be tiny, and i can just add it in somewhere! they, also, thought knox's pumpkin needed some paint so we decided his name would be good :)

proud, little picassos.

the finished products!

29 weeks...

2011-10-14T22:23:00.001-05:00

how far along: 29 weeks

size of baby: a butternut squash!

total weight gain/loss: 17+ lbs according to my scales.

maternity clothes: oh yeah! pretty sure this is the first week i wore all maternity tops (except cardigans). i really only wear one pair of jeans. i don't care for any of my other maternity pants. and as soon as i hit the door to my house, i'm in pajama pants!

gender: a sweet little boy.

name: knox oliver.

movement: he's still super active...especially at bedtime and when i eat.

sleep: getting more tricky, but still nothing to complain about (compared to last time!). i'm able to fall asleep fast, but i wake up several times through the night. thankfully, i'm able to go back to sleep right away. i did have to pull out a pillow for in between my knees this week. it's helping my back and also keeping me from rolling onto my back!

what i miss: well, as of this week, i miss doing things without my back breaking or legs aching!

cravings: strawberry lemonade and chicken salad sandwiches!

symptoms: heartburn, peeing (ALL.THE.TIME), braxton-hick's contractions, aches and pains!

best moment(S) of the week: trip to the pumpkin patch, finishing the painting in the baby's room, starting to pull out baby gear, and working on the boys' hospital shirts.

no belly shot this week. i totally had intentions to get one at the pumpkin patch today, but we were kind of busy with the other guys! however, we did get some sweet shots with knox's big brothers loving on him. the boys even picked out a tiny pumpkin for him!

this week, i feel as if the pregnancy is starting the downward spiral to being miserable. i've become so much more exhausted just running errands and doing chores around the house. by the end of the day, i'm on the couch with my feet up, completely worthless. my whole body just aches and my legs/feet feel heavy. however, after a night of sleep, i wake up ready to go and tackle more of the never-ending imaginary list, floating around in my head. i'm most productive before 1:00 pm!

also, this week, those darn braxton-hick's contractions started. they don't bother me, but i didn't remember them starting this early. they do take me by surprise, though! i've noticed them most when driving.

i have loved working on things for mr. knox. his room is painted and ready to be decorated. i've got to clean it top to bottom (like blinds, windows, fan, vents, base boards), first. i bought his lamp this week on sale at target.

i also got his carseat and diaper bag out and got it washed and ready. after i get his room cleaned and arranged, i'll start washing clothes and organizing his closet and dresser. thankfully, we really don't need much more than diapers this time around. he's already gotten a few new clothes, thanks to gram!

i've been working on the 3 boys' shirts they'll wear for pictures at the hospital. i'm such a perfectionist, i drive myself crazy. i wish i had an unlimited etsy budget, but i don't!

that's pretty much it when it comes to baby! i'm trying to keep up with weekly chore stuff while getting projects done...and still take a nap in the afternoon :)

blogging catch-up...

2011-10-08T20:54:00.000-05:00

i have so many projects started/floating around in my head that i've had a hard time sitting down to blog. we've had a pretty busy couple of weeks on top of that.

2 weeks ago, canon and lane caught the stomach bug. of course, it doesn't take long for canon to dehydrate so after 15 hours of not being able to keep anything down, we headed to the doctor and the day hospital for fluids and zofran. it's amazing how fast that turns things around! within a couple of hours of being there, he was begging for food and drinks. this is the 3rd time this has happened this year, but we were so thankful that this time didn't involve an overnight stay.

later that week, we had a garage sale. i DESPISE having garage sales, but enjoy the end result! thankfully, most of the things were already priced and sorted so it wasn't that much work. we decided to see what we would sell and then ended up taking the rest to goodwill. we did surprisingly well and now i have a clean, organized garage.i'm a happy mama!

we had a super, sweet, youth group girl tell us we would be going on a date friday night and she would be watching our kids free of charge. score! i had been craving a hibachi grill for weeks (i can't get enough sodium these days if you can't tell!). we then got to go sit at starbucks and just talk. it was wonderful!

this weekend, we got to celebrate our sweet nephew, hudsons first birthday. when he woke up from his nap, canon was so excited to see him and wanted to hold him. hudson's just 1.5 lbs lighter than canon! we enjoyed pizza and cupcakes. of course, my kids were the first to the table and the last to leave. they love them some groceries! they also had fun jumping in the jump house. that's their new favorite thing!

among all of these things, we have had at least 3 appointments each week on top of canon's school days. i'm so tired of waking up to an alarm. i suppose it's god's way of preparing me for what's to come with mr. knox :)

we've also been working on several projects in knox's room that had turned into time consuming things. i can't wait to show you the finished project. have i ever mentioned i hate being a perfectionist? because i do. and i always make more work for myself...and lane!

that's about it from here! i'll try to be a bit more consistent in the weeks to come. when i looked back on the blog not long ago, i noticed i was way infrequent the last 3 months of ledger's pregnancy. i don't like that because i was wanting to read about how i was feeling and stuff that go around and i didn't have it recorded. ok...now i'm done :)

28 weeks...

2011-10-08T20:27:00.000-05:00

pregnancy highlights

the first picture above was from 27 weeks, then the second one was this week at 28 weeks. i feel like i grew out and up so much this week. it amazes me what one week can do!

how far along: 28 weeks...3rd trimester!

size of baby: he's 3 lbs! at my doctor's appointment this week, he measured in the 70th %tile. still measuring 1.5-2 weeks bigger than my due date. another ledger?

total weight gain/loss: +19...whoa! that was a big "growth spurt" in a 5 week span.

maternity clothes: yes. still can wear a few non-maternity tops, but maternity is most comfortable.

gender: boy.

name: knox oliver.

movement: YES! he's an active one. i'm really starting to worry! on monday, he moved so low, it was painful. in hopes to get him back up, i unashamedly rolled back on my shoulders with my feet high in the sky to help him move back up. by wednesday, he was floating around again. i'm not ready for that constant pressure/pain of an engaged baby!

sleep: still sleeping pretty well, but i have had a couple of nights where i wake up a million times. i think a lot of this has to do with us trying to figure out a good temperature for the house now that its cooler at night, but not cold. there's a fine line between being too cold and hot. also, with the many early morning appointments we've had and the boys' new wake up time of 6:30-7, i'm not feeling rested. all that to say, i'm thankful that i'm still able to fall asleep in a matter of minutes and stay asleep most nights!

what i miss: i'm still enjoying the pregnancy for the most part. trying to be thankful that i can do this! however, the aches and pains can go whenever they please :)

cravings: pb & j sandwiches...i haven't had one of these in at least a year and now there pretty much all i can think of! also, ramen noodles. i pair these with the sandwich!

symptoms: the aches and pains are arriving in my back and sciatic area. turning over in bed and getting off the couch is becoming increasingly difficult. i've had a couple of days now with braxton-hicks coming and going. i forgot about these and how early they show up. indigestion...good. acne...better. frequent bathroom trips...poor.

best moment of the week: working on knox's nursery. i can't get things checked off my list fast enough!

i had a doctor's appointment this week. it was scheduled for last week, but got cancelled when i was already there...boo. i did, however, still get to do my lovely glucose test! when i went back this week, they said it was fine as was the other bloodwork.

i almost got cancelled again as he had just gotten a call from the hospital, but they squeezed me in before he left. i walked into the office and back out in a record time of 20 minutes. that NEVER happens!

ledger was with me and flirted with all the nurses. they gave him suckers therefore they are his new bff's! he sat so still during the ultrasound and looked confused at the sound of the baby's heartbeat.

the doctor said knox is measuring great...big. he weighs 3 lbs and is in the 70th %ile. this whole time he has measured bigger than his due date. i don't know if my dates are off or he's just a big boy!

it's such a relief to know he's growing great. i've never seen my doctor be more concerned than when i went in with the bleed at 12 weeks. my ultrasound scared him and he was worried (told me later). and now here's a healthy, big baby! thank you, god!

we got to my appointment early so we killed time in the car. i told ledger that brother was moving like crazy so he stopped what he was doing and put his hands on his tummy. he looked so serious! just a short 2.5 months away!

nursery sneak peek...

2011-09-24T08:00:00.004-05:00

these pictures aren't completely accurate color wise (for instance, the polka dots are orange and white, not cream), but you get the idea! these are the fabrics and colors we are working around. i've ordered the bedding from an etsy shop and it more than likely won't be completed until mid-november. i have such a hard time with vision when it comes to decorating! no telling how this room will turn out, but at least the bedding will be cute! my nesting is in full-force and stuff around the house can't get done fast enough :)

26 weeks...

2011-09-23T13:17:00.000-05:00

pregnancy highlights

how far along: 26 weeks!!

size of baby: approximately 1lb 6oz and 14 inches long...an english cucumber :)

total weight gain/loss: +12 lbs

maternity clothes: definitely! all maternity bottoms and most shirts. LOVE my maternity jeans! i still can get away with a few regular shells and cardigans that i have.

gender: boy.

name: knox oliver :)

movement: this boy is active...ALL.THE.TIME! he's making me nervous that he'll never sleep!! it seems like every time i lay down, he comes alive. i'm not complaining. this really is the best part of pregnancy! i love feeling his little hands or feet or elbows...whatever is poking out :)

sleep: i'm actually still sleeping great. i feel like i'm waiting on the bottom to drop out as far as feeling good and sleeping great goes. my allergies have been awful so i was taking a benadryl each night before bed, but haven't this week and am still able to fall asleep easily and stay asleep. for now, i'm thankful! i can't even fathom nighttime feedings right now...ha!

what i miss: nothing right now. i'm trying to enjoy every minute of this pregnancy knowing it's more than likely the last time i'll experience it :(

cravings: hmmm...for some reason, this go around i've craved drinks. i can't go a day without drinking strawberry lemonade, sonic water with lime and a couple of ice cold water bottles. no specific food comes to mind.

symptoms: acne (i'm sure you're just as tired of hearing me say this as i am of having it!) and sciatic pain (although it's not constant...yet). surprisingly, i haven't popped any tums since last week! i have noticed a severe increase in how many times i visit the bathroom in a given day. when my 3 year can hold his bladder for 4.5 hours on a car ride and i have to stop 2 times, you know it's bad!

best moment of the week: spending time with our arkansas family that we don't see enough! also, just enjoying my boys. they are so sweet and fun right now.

side note: when i was pregnant with ledger, i had guilt the majority of the time over how i was surely going to be traumatizing canon by bringing him home a brother. we were so used to it just being us during the day and i still viewed him as a baby that i had a hard time trusting lane when he would try to tell me how great it would be for canon and how well he would do.

as in 99% of cases, lane was right. canon adapted so well. he never once showed a hint of jealousy. he LOVED his brother from the very first time he saw him. he was always so sweet and gentle with him. he was very proud to show ledger off to people. instantly, my fears dissolved when i saw how happy and eager to help he was.

of course, as ledger got older and actually began playing back, canon fell more in love with his buddy. i LOVE seeing their different personalities and how well they mesh together. canon is a great big leader, i mean brother...very much the first child! and ledger is laid back enough to go along with whatever canon is adamant about at the moment. they just work.

it's been so refreshing during this pregnancy to not deal with those specific fears. i know that knox's older brothers will (already do) adore him and he will fit right in as well. my biggest prayer (to go along with my fears!) during my pregnancy with ledger was that they would become best friends. i want all my boys to love one another deeply and always be there for each other. to call them out when one is being stupid. to encourage them to be more like jesus. to love people together. to just be good buddies.

my husband and his brothers have done this well and set forth a wonderful example. all this to say, my kids fight and pester each other and take toys and hit and all the other lovely things brothers do. but, thankfully, the good definitely outweighs the ugly!

blankie love...

2011-09-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

i just found these pictures i had uploaded several months ago! one morning (obviously, it was after easter by the looks of that goose egg on canon's head. i forgot about that...bless his heart), i took the boys pictures with their beloved lovies. they come by this love genetically. if you remember back, i confessed my blankie love here.

canon sleeps with his blue blankie, cars blanket, cookie monster the green bear, nemo the brown bear and ernie the lamb (formerly known as gary). everyone has to be present and accounted for at bedtime. he sometimes asks to bring his blankie along, but by no means has the same addiction as his little bro.

buddies since birth!

now, ledger has a problem. a big one. bless his heart, he can't control himself when he knows i'm washing it. i try to sneak it, but i'm not always successful! the first thing he looks for when he hurts himself...his blankie. we've finally broken him of wanting to take it in places. now he just brings it in the van with him. we figure when he turns 2, we'll make him leave it at home. that's when canon had to start leaving his passy in his bed. i will never say they can't sleep with their blankies! ledger has 2 blankies, both made the same, but he prefers the blue duck one. however, when sleeping, he wants both. he also loves his monkey, rashid (name courtesy of lane)!

i leave you with a collage of blankie love!

trip to arkansas...

2011-09-20T20:22:00.000-05:00

the boys and i just got back from a short visit to arkansas to see my family. they ALL live within 20 minutes of each other. it's nice to have everyone so close, but makes it hard to spend extended time with each side. lane was going to be gone friday night and saturday and my cousin's baby was turning one, too, so we decided to make it a long weekend and go visit!

i picked canon up from school at 1:00 on thursday and we hit the road. i was a little nervous driving 4 hours with a potty training child, a pregnant mommy (whose bladder is tiny!), and the rain. i've always had someone with me to tend to the kids or drive, but i got to do both! i picked him up early from school in hopes that they would both take naps. no such luck...only 20 minute naps! we only had to stop once on the way there. i tried to anticipate any need they would have with a bucket in the front seat that had snacks (already opened), drinks, toys, and movies. we survived!

we spent the first 2 nights at my mamie's. she had a delicious dinner waiting for us when we arrived. the boys loved playing with her and papa john. we are kind of a loud hurricane when we visit others homes :) on friday, we enjoyed a nice, rainy morning/afternoon of visiting. canon and i's allergies went haywire while there and he didn't allow for much sleep despite the benadryl he was on.

that evening, mamie and john had a game they had to work so we headed down to eat with my aunt kim and uncle jim at cracker barrel...yum! i LOVE me some comfort food. we then headed to look at my cousin courtney's super cute house they're overhauling. i wish i had vision with that kind of stuff. it looks like it belongs in a magazine. we then tagged along with them to browse target and hit up old navy for some new jammies for canon. i'm thankful they allowed us to crash their friday night!

i got a surprise saturday morning when my boys (and i) slept until 8:30! don't remember the last time that happened. we ran to panera to indulge in our first cranberry orange muffin of the season. after getting ready and packing up our stuff, it was time to head to "baby ben's" party! it was soooo cute! they had a bouncy house, chick-fil-a and cake...my boys' were in HEAVEN!! ben got lots of fun toys and was so sweet.

karrie (ben's mommy) and i are due only one week apart. i look forward to seeing lilly kate and mr. knox together!

karrie, courtney and i

after the party, we headed to my mimi's house. my kids instantly made themselves at home throwing decorative lemons around like balls. the boys were anxious to break into their goody bags from the party. those little toys provided more entertainment for my kids this weekend! canon discovered the whoopee cushion and LOVED it. the 2 they had broke so mimi had to take him to buy new ones...spoiled rotten! my cousin, katie, and canon were quite the buddies. he loved her. she was so great with him.

after ledger took a short nap, we headed to dixie cafe (another homecooking favorite of mine) with my aunt susan for dinner. ledger didn't feel great and surprisingly, had no appetite. when we got home, we told the boys they could swim in the jacuzzi tub. pretty sure they could do that everyday!

sunday was a low-key day filled with eating, napping and celebrating katie's birthday! we got up and hit the road around noon on monday. canon shocked me by holding his bladder for 4.5 hours while i made 2 pit stops.

we were all glad to see and hug lane! my kids loved all the attention they received throughout the weekend. thanks to all for having us! we love you, guys :)

too sweet...

2011-09-15T07:00:00.000-05:00

is that not the sweetest face?! since ledger has been born, bugs have LOVED biting him. we can all be outside and somehow only ledger walks away with bites. the bad thing is that they welp up... they get hot to the touch and tight and then they spread. after a few days, they go away.

they don't seem to bother ledger too much, thankfully. those are some smart bugs...they know a sweet boy when they see one!

update: since writing this post, ledger has been attacked again...poor baby. does anyone else get severe reactions?? the one on the back of his arm got really hard around the bite for a few hours then went back to just the red bite. i think it hurts me more than him! he's pretty easy going.

a pictureless post...

2011-09-14T16:37:00.000-05:00

i've been super lazy when it comes to taking pictures lately. i've got to get better because i know it'll be worse when #3 comes! yesterday, we had a fun day. a family friend is an instructor for an ultrasound class and needed 2nd trimester preggos to let her students practice on. i did this with canon the day after we found out he was a boy. i remember being so excited to see our BOY again!

ledger and i dropped canon off at school and headed to muskogee. ledger got to go play with nora (and eat chocolate pudding that she made him!) while i went to the appointment. i LOVE any excuse to see my baby so i happily laid there while 3 students took turns looking at stomach structures. one of the instructors at the end tried to get some good face shots of him, but he was being ornery. he had the cord AND his feet in his face...didn't get flexibility from me! my favorite part of the experience was seeing his mouth moving (like sucking) and seeing the sweet feet that kick me all the time. i love baby feet!

after picking up ledger, we were running short on time, but lane offered to pick up canon so i could meet my sisters for lunch at one of our favs, harmony house (the best little tea room with the best iced apricot tea). it was a short, but sweet time!

ledger and i took a short nap when we got home and i woke up with the worst headache and case of grumpies that i've had in awhile. thankfully, i had stew in the crockpot so dinner was a breeze. i'm so thankful for lane. he is the best daddy to these boys. i know he's tired, too at 5:00, but knowing the boys love to play with him and they haven't seen him all day, he always prays on his way home that he'll have renewed energy and patience for them. they play hard until bedtime!

after taking a tylenol and benadryl (darn allergies!), lane and i played a couple friendly games of farkle. may be one of my top 3 favorite games! an early bedtime and good night of sleep (i keep waiting for bad sleep...i know it's coming) did me good.

canon had speech this morning. he always looks forward to going and he does great most weeks, but sometimes he has an off day. last week was like that, and today started off not great, but he redeemed himself, thank goodness. he tries so hard!

after collecting little brother from daddy, we headed to babies r' us to get baby ben (my cousin's baby) a 1st birthday gift. my kids were cracking me up. since it wasn't that busy, i let them walk the toy aisles. they both kept saying, "look" or "mom" or "i like this" or "i have this at my home" or "how this work?" and wanted to touch EVERYTHING. i just laughed...roaming aisles of toys must be like heaven to little kids!

we then headed to the mall to exchange a couple of things. i've been colloecting fall things for the past couple of months. with the high only at 60 tomorrow, i figured it was time to break everything out of the closet and get it washed and hung up. i always look forward to switching their closets over twice a year. it's funny now that i'm a mom, i look more forward to dressing my kids than myself (don't get me wrong, a new shirt still makes me giddy).

of course, we had to visit the food court for lunch while there. i was able to convince everyone of chick-fil-a today! it feels wrong to eat sonic at the mall! i asked canon prior to ordering if he needed to go potty. he said, "no, eat". i should've made him go then since it had been a couple of hours and knowing once we were seated, i couldn't just grab him and go since i was alone with the stroller and both kids. about 1/2 way through, he said he needed to go potty and i asked him if he could hold it and finish his food real fast. he said yes and i opted to see how long he could hold it. 5 minutes later as i was packing the stroller up and throwing trash away, i could see the urgency in his sweet face as he wadded up his napkins. then the "uh-oh" came. i felt terrible that i essentially made him have an accident, but i didn't have many options. he waddled to the bathroom for a wardrobe change. i kept apologizing to him and telling him he did the right thing in telling me (even though i didn't listen!). he's just doing so well.

that's about it. man, this is long. sorry :)

a dream come true...

2011-09-12T17:30:00.000-05:00

...at least for my 3 year old! that's right...my boys are now the PROUD owners of light up shoes!

while at target on saturday, canon found and fell in love with these spiderman shoes. he really fell head over heels for them when he discovered they light up! of course, gram insisted he needed them, and if canon was getting a pair, sweet ledger couldn't be left out. thank goodness they had buzz! want to know the ironic part? we were never allowed to get light up/character shoes despite our desire for them. now that mom's a grandma, there's nothing too tacky for her boys!

they are cracking me up. they put them on first thing when they wake up and wear them around the house until it's a) time to go somewhere or b) it's time to sleep. so far, we haven't had any melt downs when i tell them it's time to put their regular shoes on! i LOVE seeing them so excited over such a simple little thing :) thanks, gram!!

Whelp...

2011-09-11T00:15:00.001-05:00

I actually said these words to my mom this morning..."I probably shouldn't say this out loud, but neither of my kids have been sick since march (with the exception of each boy having a 24 hr unexplainable fever)."

Boy, did I jinx myself. Canon started throwing up at 11 tonight. And lane's out of town for the night. He usually does the puke! Pray it's over because I REALLY don't have the stomach for it. I also hate seeing my baby sick!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

things i want to remember...

2011-09-10T09:00:00.000-05:00

1) when ledger stopped nursing at 1, he picked up the sweetest, soothing habit. anytime he's sad or sleepy, he sucks on the back of his tongue. it works everytime (usually with the help of his blankie, too)! it's something that i'll miss about him when he outgrows it.

2) anytime lane says he's going to grill, canon drags his little grill to the door. lane tells him what we are having, canon grabs the exact, pretend food and then they go outside. canon does everything lane does. anytime lane opens the lid, he does. when lane turns a knob, he turns a knob. he LOVES his daddy! on this particular night, you can tell we were having cheeseburgers!

i LOVE every little thing that make up my boys. they are SO different, but i'm so thankful for their individual personalities! i'm a blessed mama!

a sweet tuesday...

2011-09-09T07:00:00.001-05:00

tuesday was a great day. i had been looking forward to it for a good week! it started out with my boys finding their sweet cousin, nora, in the next room. her baby sister ended up in the hospital over the weekend with a severe bladder infection. after nora visited her grandparents, she got to come see us!

after dropping canon off at school, we headed to ups. next up, starbucks. a few weeks ago, we went to get coffee one night and because they had to brew decaf and it took a million years, they gave us a free drink coupon (lane didn't even say anything to them. they just acknowledged the time!). i've been saving it for the perfect time! i also had a voucher for a free chickfila breakfast. there was a little insert in my sack a couple of weeks ago saying you could go online to reserve a free breakfast item during this week. score. it's amazing what a free chicken biscuit and grande half caf, white mocha does for my day!!

it was such a beautiful morning that the kids played outside. i LOVE being able to get out and not feel gross!

after everyone took wonderful naps, they played and i got dinner ready. i tried a new pioneer woman recipe. i'm obsessed with her new show. this is so easy and good! we will def be having this again! eden and levi joined us for dinner since there was plenty and they were just getting out of the hospital.

ok...we were so excited as tuesday was coming to a close. in my head, i keep a running count of the days since canon has had an accident. i knew tuesday was the magic, one week anniversary! after hearing how great of a day he had at school and that he didn't have an accident, lane told him we could go get a sno-cone since he had been a big boy for a whole week! he was pumped. we talked about it from the time he got home from school through dinner.

dinnertime hits. the kids get down to play. the adults are talking at the table. all of a sudden, canon says "uh-oh" and starts potty dancing. he said his underwear were wet as he ran to the bathroom. i go in to help him and he is able to finish on the potty. i was so bummed, but thankful that he realized what he was doing and stopped it. today (thursday) marks 3 weeks of training and he's only had 2 accidents in the past 2 weeks...pretty great!! he even told me he needed to go at speech yesterday. i'm so proud of him.

anyway, of course, we let him still go get a sno-cone. pretty sure at that point, lane wanted one more! i opted for a cup of decaf coffee...it was cool out! this series of pictures makes my heart smile :)

canon said he wanted a "green sno-cone" so lane let him order himself a green sno-cone. i think the guy ended up giving him green apple. ledger had some banana something. he ate his in no time and then helped finish off everyone elses!

tailgating...

2011-09-08T21:13:00.000-05:00

last saturday, we headed to good 'ol stillwater for the day to tailgate and celebrate the opening day of college football! there's something about being surrounded by like-minded strangers! go pokes :)

we remembered that morning that the boys had football jerseys that they had gotten earlier in the year. they LOVED wearing them! they also both sported daddy-doo's.

we met my family and some friends out there and ordered pizza. my sister and mom made some yummy dips and we brought watermelon, also! i'll be posting a delicious corn dip soon...oh.my.word! ledger hung out at the table pretty much the whole time. he's a grazer. actually, he just ate his weight in suckers! i still don't know how many he had, but there was always one in his mouth.

on an air conditioner break, aunt lala bought the boys each a foam finger. they were both pretty entertaining! as we walked through the bookstore, anytime ledge would see the osu logo (on a shirt rack or a live person), he'd say "go pokes". it was cute. canon made us all laugh as we were leaving by shouting "number one" with his foam finger in the air...over and over and over! if you give that boy a laugh, he will wear the joke out! they were both just loving their day :)

lane stayed for the game that evening and we caught a ride back home with my mom. it was a fun day...a hot day, but still fun! we missed the 80 degree weather we've been having by like 15 hours! looking forward to lots of football in the coming months. fall is just the best. i hated it when i was little, but i'm so glad i've had a change of heart :)

23 weeks...

2011-09-01T22:03:00.001-05:00

pregnancy highlights

how far along: 23 weeks...i'm just over 5 months. i feel like it's starting to go really fast!

size of baby: the size of a small baby doll. my belly really popped the past 2 weeks! my doctor measured baby knox today and he weighs around 1 lb 6 oz.

total weight gain/loss: +10 lbs!!! darn sugar cookies.

maternity clothes: i'm wearing a mixture of maternity and regular tops. i wish it'd cool down so i could wear some more maternity tops! still squeezing in my regular bottoms, but it's really uncomfortable. i usually unbutton them in the car and put on stretchy pants at home. i ordered a pair of maternity jeans this weekend and they can't come fast enough!

gender: boy.

name: knox oliver.

movement: i feel him everyday (usually most active in the evenings), but just this past week has really stepped it up! not only do i feel him all through the day, i'm starting to feel his little limbs and extremities pushing against me. i can tell he's getting stronger! sometimes he takes me by surprise with a sudden, strong movement and it takes my breath away...i LOVE it!

sleep: still sleeping great. i can fall asleep easily and usually stay asleep all night. no potty breaks right now! my one complaint are the crazy, morbid dreams i'm having...about my kids. i've had a couple of dreams where knox doesn't make it. i've also dreamed that canon was murdered and another time that he was kidnapped. i wake up from these feeling anxious and not rested.

what i miss: going a day without eating a half dozen tums!

cravings: baked potatoes, strawberry lemonade, sugar cookies, water!

symptoms: indigestion EVERY time i eat, feeling bloated 24/7, left sciatic pain, morbid dreams and ugly skin :)

best moment of the week: laying in bed feeling little man's big kicks. they are so reassuring (especially after crazy, scary dreams)! i also ordered his bedding this week. maybe i'll give a sneak peek of the fabrics since i'm going to have to wait 10-12 weeks to receive it.

i had my monthly appointment today. it's really only been 3 weeks since my last, but 4 since my specialist appointment where he was last measured. the specialist wants him measured every month. i don't where august went. goodness.

i went by myself this afternoon since lane needed to be somewhere before i would more than likely be done with my appointment. so i'm sitting in a crowded waiting room when i casually take a drink of water and then proceed to drop my water bottle on my lap. it spilled out to the left of me, but then rolled back to me (does that make sense?!). my whole left, back side was drenched. thankfully, i sat there for an hour so it had time to dry!

my appointment was good. i asked how the baby's size was looking and told him about my crazy, morbid dreams about him not growing. he said that that kind of irrational fear is sometimes a pre-cursor to post-partum depression. he didn't say i'd get it just that they see the 2 linked more often than not.

he's measuring ahead of schedule again. even though my due date is 12/29, every ultrasound we've had has him due at 12/21-12/23. he's a big one!

he said baby was already head down and will more than likely stay that way...yippee! he also told me i needed to have him by 12/23 before he goes on vacation or else his kids wouldn't be too happy with me for delaying their christmas so he could deliver us...he was kidding obviously! lane wants the baby to come before christmas so we aren't spending our time off in the hospital and at doctor's appointments. we'll see. darn christmas schedules.

i'm so thankful for this tiny life. the good reports are just bonus! seeing his sweet face (via ultrasound) is the icing on the cake. we love you, knox :)

mini lanes...

2011-08-31T11:45:00.000-05:00

most mornings when lane is getting ready, canon follows him to his closet to help pick out lane's t-shirt for the day. he also asks for a t-shirt for him to wear. of course, when canon does something, ledger must do it, too!

for the first part of our morning, this is what my boys look like! then the shirts come off and they turn into weapons for "shirt fights". oh, the joys and wonderment of being a little boy!

ledger at 21 months...

2011-08-30T10:12:00.000-05:00

personality: ledger is a funny character that we're still trying to figure out. it's still pretty true that he's about 75% sweet and 25% rotten (a good rotten). he is a very cuddly boy who will stop what he's doing to sit on our laps...especially when sleepy. he loves to "be a helper". every morning, he takes canon and his pj's to their dirty clothes hamper. he picks them up and holds up one finger while saying, "right back." cutest thing ever! he entertains himself well. he's super laid back where he's up for pretty much whatever you present him. his 25% rotten side shows itself by not being affectionate. we have to force ourselves on him, especially canon!! this drives canon crazy since he loves to smother his brother with hugs and head kisses. he also has a bad habit of being grumpy when he wakes up. you would never know it if you didn't talk to him for the first hour, but if you do, he's quick to groan and say no over and over. he's inherited "grumpapotamus" as a nickname! he's also very strong-willed which i believe doesn't have to be a bad thing, but right now it's showing itself through defiance. now to figure out the magic trick to channel that positively!

brotherly love: even though ledger has times where he resists his brother's love, he ADORES canon! his most favorite thing is to go get canon up from a nap. he runs to his bed with a big 'ol grin saying "hi" over and over. canon was one of his very first words. they love to go into a bedroom and shut the door and just play...or get into to things! they're quite the pair. ledger loves going to pick canon up at school. he misses him during the day. ledger copies EVERYTHING canon does. of course, canon loves that! i look forward to watching ledger play the big brother role to knox!

discipline: ledger's a tough one to discipline. he used to be even tougher. he has such a hard exterior (that sounds funny how its worded, but i can't think of a better word!) when he knows he's in trouble and uses that darn "no" word so much that it's hard to get through to that sweet little heart. he's starting to respond better to looking at us while we are talking to him and hearing what we are saying. spankings are finally working on him, too. one area he has excelled in obeying is staying in his big boy bed. he's been sleeping in it for over 2 months now and always stays in it until we come get him. i think he will do great. he's just trying to figure out his toddler independence!

eating habits: the boy LOVES his groceries! he's a grazer and would never stop eating if there were food always out. he eats 3 solid meals a day with a couple of snacks thrown in. he's not picky by any means. he differs from his brother in that he's the messiest eater. it can be the "cleanest" meal and somehow ledger has it in his hair and ears and up his arms. i don't get it. he wears a bib, but not a body bib! he's learning to use a fork and asks for one with every meal...even if they're finger foods. he says "poke, poke" when he's trying to get something on his fork. he's a big drinker. he has 2 cups of milk each day then no telling how much water. ledger...not so easy at restaurants. not impossible, but not easy! we always tease and say he has no standards when it comes to eating...he'll eat anything, anyway! little porker :)

favorite foods: oatmeal. yogurt. chicken. any kind of fruit. crackers. beans. sweet potatoes. any kind of carb. ice is a new one. cereal. pancakes. seriously, anything. (he is having an aversion to cheese sticks right now...no idea why)

sleeping habits: this boy needs his sleep and enjoys his sleep! he is not flexible when it comes to sleep. he cannot skip a nap or stay up too late. he melts and he melts fast. he goes to bed around 8 each night and despite his brother turning the fan off or kicking the wall or singing for the next 30 minutes, he falls right asleep and can sleep through anything! he would sleep until 10 each morning if canon didn't wake him up by 8 every morning. it's just easier though if they start the day at the same time. by 1:30 each day, he is ready for nap. he's probably been carrying his blankie around or laying in the floor waiting to be put in bed! i seriously don't know when the last time he fought sleep was. at bedtime, we all get on one of their beds, read a book or sing a couple of songs, each pray, then give hugs and kisses. he also is good about going down for a nap still if he falls asleep in the car.

bedtime lovies: his two, beloved blankies. raschid the scentsy monkey. his pillow. when in his bed, he loves all these things, but his one and only true love in life is this light blue, flannel, duck blankie! when he gets upset for any reason, he immediately wants it. once he has it, then he comes to me. laundry day is a traumatic experience for him. he doesn't fall for the 'ol blankie replacement trick. it goes everywhere with us, but i've started making him leave it in the car because of all the extra laundry it required. this is weird, but falls under bedtime...when he's tired or upset, he sucks on his tongue. when he stopped nursing, he picked up this soothing technique. it's pretty sweet!

favorite tv shows/movies: not too picky. he will sit through anything you put on, even a feature length movie! but sesame street, clifford and barney seem to make him pretty happy. he, also, LOVES any toy story movie. he is a big time buzz and woody fan...still.

speech: he's very bright, and understands/follows commands. he still has the sweetest soft, high-pitched voice that makes me smile everytime i hear it. his speech is very clear and he is able to make a variety of sounds in the beginning, middle and end spots of words. he has about a 50+ word vocabulary. he loves to count to 3 by himself or 10 with our help (the way he says 9 is my favorite). when you ask him what color something is, he ALWAYS says blue. once we say what color it really is, he repeats us correctly! he loves reading books...especially vocab ones. he is content to look at a book by himself or have someone read to him. i'm loving the one on one time we have while canon's at school.

favorite activities/toys: books. cars. buzz and woody characters. running. balls. wrestling. dancing. watching tv. playing outside. taking baths. can his blankie be an activity?

good habits: saying please and thank you. brushing his teeth. eating well. sleeping great. smiling generously (he has a great smile and laugh)!

bad habits: being grumpy when he's tired. saying no. not always being kind to his brother.

sizes: diapers-5. shoes-6 or 6.5. bottoms-18-24 months. tops- 2t.

ledger,

we are so thankful god chose you for our family! you bring so much joy and laughter to our home. i love your chubby, sweet self so much! there is nothing in this entire world you could do to make daddy and i love you less. we are so proud of you!!

love,

mommy

xoxo

entertainer mode...

2011-08-29T07:01:00.000-05:00

last night, canon was in rare form! he's always been an entertainer and had lots of tricks he performs on cue, but while skyping with uncle tyler and aunt denise, he turned it on! lane admitted later that canon did drink quite a bit of his mountain dew...great.

one of the boys' most favorite things is dancing. they did not get this from me! the moves...yes, more than likely! we turn on pandora on the tv and they are entertained for quite awhile. so are we. there is nothing better than watching these guys get down! ledger was grumpy during this. ill have to make sure to get some video of him shaking his booty. it's pretty funny!

swim for the saints...

2011-08-28T21:35:00.001-05:00

saturday, we attended a fundraiser that our youth group put on to raise money for missionaries in india. this summer, our group committed to raising $14,000 to send 7 indian missionaries through bible college then to plant churches in some of the most dangerous areas for a christian to be in india. i'm so thankful for there hearts and even more thankful that god used what people gave and made it into something bigger than us!

after the boys had their nap, we headed out. they were so looking forward to it! they were excited to see their daddy and so many friends. they spent a little time on the splash pad, but then wanted to swim in the big pool. i didn't get any pics in the pool since we each had a kid to watch! they are doing so well with their floaties. i'll definitely put them in swim lessons next summer.

we ended up back at the splash pad and the boys just ran crazy! i LOVE watching them have a good time together. we ended our time with a snow cone. it was such a great, laid back afternoon with our church family for a good cause!

canon at 38 months...

2011-08-25T14:00:00.000-05:00

i've been terrible on updating what the boys are up to this year! i'm going to try to do an in-depth update on each one for myself :) so bizarre i have a 3 year old now! i've seen on several blogs lately people interviewing their kids. now that canon's speech has taken off, i thought it'd be fun to do with him! i'm anxious to do this again down the road and see how his answers change. i'm also going to lace this post with my favorite pics of him...i'm feeling sentimental today!

what is your name? canon

what is your whole name? canon dad (his middle name is lane so he always says dad in place of lane!)

canon dad? what's your last name? dad moss

how old are you? (shows me 3 on his fingers)

how old is that? (shouts) free!

three?! that's old! what's your favorite number? (expecting him to say 5) oh, i know, one.

what is your favorite color? pink. no, i ike white.

white? i didn't know that. yeah.

who is your best friend? umm...mommy (with a sweet grin)!

what are your brothers' names? knox. ollie.

yes, you're right, but you have another brother. oh, gedgie.

l-l-ledgie. ledger

good, canon. what's your favorite animal? duck

what does a duck say? whack-whack

what do you want to be when you grow-up? (thinking)

when your big like daddy, what do you want to be? iron man!!

iron man? he's cool! what's your favorite movie? (answered super fast) mean movie.

what mean movie do you like? mean movie. (he's into bad guys, right now...great)

oh, i wasn't expecting that! what makes you happy? funny.

what makes you sad? mean

what's you favorite food? (getting silly and restless now) CHICKEN!!

what's your favorite song? (pointing to the sky, making circles) world.

"tell the world" (hillsong)? yes.

who do you sing that with? daddy.

what do you like to play? ball. oh, soccer!! ledgie ike baskeball (no t).

you're right...he does. where do you like to go? (expecting mall) POP'S HOUSE!!!

you do?! oh, yep!

what do you like to do with daddy? wii. no, dake (skateboard).

where do you like to skate? at -urch. in da gym.

what do you like to do with mommy? i need you. (that's what he says when he wants me to hold him or sit with him. i'm ok with that!)

what do you like to with ledger? -ase (chase)! i ike gedgie to get me.

you're silly! i like that you like your brother. yeah (with a big 'ol smile!)

ok...we're all done! no...more.

more questions? yeah.

who are your favorite superheroes? ummm...supeman (no r), batman...(thinking)

iron man? no, iron man no cape. i iron man.

oh, yeah. i forgot. sorry! sorry, mom!

you're cute! i funny.

you are. i love you. yeah (got up to come kiss me).

**bliss**

personality: canon's personality and disposition are pretty evident these days. he has the sweetest, biggest heart. he loves so much (even though he says he only loves one person at a time. i'm in his good graces right now. if you were to tell him you loved him, he would say, "no, mom."). he has a soft heart and easy to correct. he is still a bit ocd, but task-oriented would probably be a more appropriate term. it really shows itself in tidyness. if he knows where something goes and sees it out of place, he goes out of his way to put whatever up properly. he also loves to be given any type of job and is great to see it through. he is social and loves being out and about or around people. he is funny. he is a quick-learner. he is just a really easy kid to be around.

brotherly love: most days my boys enjoy each other and are great friends, but between ledger's crabiness for the first hour he's awake and canon's lack of boundaries with peoples personal space, he knows just how to pester his brother. he lays on him and will not move even though ledger's grunting and moaning and crying. it drives me bananas. or he takes ledger's beloved blanket and just lays on top of it until i make him move. all the while ledger's carrying on! however, i'm so thankful that the majority of the time they just play and laugh together. pretty sure canon's life mission is to make ledger laugh, and he succeeds! ledger copies everything canon does which canon loves. canon, also, takes it on himself to father baby bro. he helps him take off his shoes when we get home. he always goes to find ledger's blankie when he's crying. he kisses his head ALL.THE.TIME! he, also, takes it on himself to discipline ledger. he gives the what for and tells him no when ledger's doing something canon knows is against the rules! needless to say, they are great buddies and i'm thankful for that!

discipline: thank the lord, this boy has a soft heart. he has made it so much easier on us! canon obeys really well (our second child is the hard one!). with him, we have found a few things work. we have always demanded eye contact when we are talking/discipling him. i feel like when he's looking at us, he really hears us. of course, we have had a few times where he's rolled his eyes away or intentionally avoided our eyes just to test the boundaries, but thankfully, that's rare. if he's just over-emotional (which come to think about it, is also a part of his personality...heaven help us!), a lot of times we'll just send him to his room to cry it out and then he can re-join us and he's usually back to himself. if it's something he needs to be spanked for, we take him to his room and talk to him first then proceed to dicipline and love on him. lately (as in the last month), we've found that taking privileges away has worked wonderfully. we've only had to do this a few times, but we let him know what was expected and what he wouldn't be able to do if he disobeyed. so far, it's been great. it's made bedtime so much better. when he obeys, we praise the heck out of him the next morning. overall, in most instances, just a talking to does the trick. now if anyone has any advice for the strong-willed, head-strong second child, i'm open to suggestions...ha :)

eating habits: first off, this boy is the cleanest eater. rarely, do i have to wipe his mouth when he's finished. he always wants to wear a bib. he uses his silverware great. he eats literally anything we give him (with the exception of crust and peel...ha. i still cut my crust off of sandwiches so i may have influenced this). he loves dip...of any kind. if he doesn't want to try something, we give him dip and he eats it. he eats 3 meals a day with a couple of snacks thrown in. he drinks a total of 2 sippy cups of milk throughout the day with water in between. he's easy to take out to restaurants.

favorite foods: fruit.fruit.fruit. chicken. mac-n-cheese. beans of any kind. bread. yogurt. broccoli. oatmeal. cereal. pancakes. "nacks" (any kind of packaged crunchie). popsicles. cake.

sleeping habits: he used to be the intense sleeper, but since the dead gum time change back in november, he's decided he doesn't need as much sleep which is fine. he wakes up great and just goes all day with an endless energy! he wakes up between 7:30 and 8 each morning. he then procedes to wake ledger up who is not ready to wake up. he then runs around the room and eventually ends up banging on his door until we come let him out! they lay down for a nap around 1:30 each day. he usually sleeps for a couple of hours. they go to bed around 8 each night. until the past month, i dreaded bedtime since he would cry and carry on at his door for an hour or so. he now is good to stay in bed and sing himself to sleep within 20-30 minutes. at bedtime, we all get on canon's bed, read a book or sing a couple of songs, each pray, then give hugs and kisses.

bedtime lovies: pillow .blankie. nemo the bear. gary the lamb. cookie monster the green bear. cars fleece blanket. all things must be present and in their proper position! when he wakes up in the morning or from nap, he drags all things to the middle of the living room where i procede to sneak them back to his bed without him seeing!

favorite tv shows: we've been watching a lot of pbs lately. we still watch disney occasionally, but with school out, they start showing older programming earlier than during the school year.

he loves dinosaur train. super why. sesame street. signing time. arthur. clifford. barney. mickey mouse clubhouse. wipeout (with daddy).

favorite movies: anything pixar. anything muppets. pretty much anything his daddy shows him. he also loves to watch different bands' music videoes on youtube.

favorite phrases: "i sorry, mommy" (makes me sound like i run a tight ship, but he says this when he misunderstands something!). "knocked over!" (from despicable me). "oh, i know!" (when an idea hits). "pay with me." "i miss you" (when lane gets home). "i need you" (when he wants me to hold or sit with him). "ase me, gedgie" (chase, me, ledgie). "bite, please." "what dat place?" (to every place we pass in the van!). "who dat guy?" (when we get off the phone with anyone). "what dat do?" (full of questions!). "i beat you" (very competitive).

toileting: just in the past week he's pretty much potty trained! yay! he stays dry and has only had a few accidents this week (2 of the 3 were trying to get his pants down in time). he still wears a diaper at night. he has never woke up dry in the morning and his pedi says this is very common. i'm just so happy that it's gone so smooth this time! he has his little routine of getting his stool, lifting the toilet seat, stepping up, pulling down his undies, peeing, putting seat/lid down, and flushing. LOVE that he can do all this without my help!

good habits: brushing teeth. saying please, thank you, and excuse me. eating any food, including fruits and veggies. giving hugs and kisses freely.

bad habits: pestering ledger. putting things in his mouth. pulling things out of his closet or drawers when he's supposed to be sleeping. not obeying right away.

sizes: pants-18-24 months or 2t. shirts-3t. shoes-6 or 6.5. diapers-5

canon,

we love you so much! you have brought so much love and joy and laughter to us in just 3 short years. just like daddy tells you every single night, there's nothing you could ever do that would make us love you less. we are so proud of you! i love you :)

love,

mommy

xoxo

first day of school...

2011-08-23T16:35:00.001-05:00

canon had his first day of school today. he was so excited! i on the other hand was a nervous wreck. in the 3's class, they need to be potty-trained and i was praying so hard that his 4 days of doing good would carry over!

there was no reason to worry! our sweet childrens' minister texted me throughout the morning giving me updates on how he was doing. after his teacher helped him go potty the first time, he decided he didn't need help anymore and would potty by himself as he needed to. i got teary-eyed when she told me this! he did have to change shirts at one point because a little boy spilled his water on canon!

when we picked canon up, the director told us he did so good, he could pick out a goodie from the treasure chest. he spent a good 5 minutes touching everything in there before deciding on a yo-yo. i was so proud of him! we went to sonic for a happy hour slush to celebrate :) of course, 10 minutes at home and he had a good 'ol, classic meltdown over heaven knows what, but at least he was good for them! when asked what his favorite part of the day was, he responded "playing basketball" in the gym...go figure!

ledger and i had a good day. he's so easy. we had a couple of errands to run, one of which was wal-mart. he wanted to know what everything was so we pretty much just wandered up and down each aisle with me saying what something was and him repeating me. i think he missed his brother, though.

ledger's at the stage that he finds a specific toy within 30 minutes of being awake each morning and attaches himself to it for the rest of the day. today were the baby dolls and their bottles. he was so sweet to them. he's going to be such a great big brother...he's so gentle and loving!

the babies (which drive lane crazy...not because they're playing with dolls, but because the dolls are annoying) sing 2 different songs when you squeeze their bellies. ledger kept setting them down and dancing. a video would've been better of this!

so thankful for this day!

what we've been doing this weekend...

2011-08-21T20:55:00.000-05:00

1) a whole lot of this...

third time's a charm, right?! this is our third go at this in 11 months. last year, he was clearly not ready after 1.5 weeks of misery and frustration. over spring break, we started again and he did well as long as i told him when to go. he NEVER would initiate it on his own. 3 months into this "norm", our pediatrician told us he needed to be re-trained to listen to his body's cues. great. about the same time, i went on bed rest and it was just easier to do diapers. bad mom, i know.

he starts school this next week and needs to be somewhat potty-trained so thursday was the day (that i had been dreading...seriously). we decided this time around to train him on the "big" potty instead of the frog potty so he would be familiar with the mini-porcelain potty at school. on wednesday, we went to walmart and got our potty training supplies! he was so excited. he is super cute when he stands on his stool like "daddy" and may even be cuter sitting on his elmo seat. he has his routine down pat...get stool, lift seat, do his business, put the seat down, flush, move his stool, and wash his hands. so independent.

he's done great. the first day he had 3 full-on accidents and 1 partial (finished on the potty). friday, he had 1 partial accident. he's been dry yesterday and today with me reminding him minimally!! he even survived a car ride and a visit to some friends house. fingers crossed for a good week at school!

2) some of this...

yay for getting projects on our (my) huge list done! it's all things that need to be done, but i can't do. lane fixed the water spots on the boys' ceiling and then painted it. he moved the crib to knox's room and moved ledger's big boy bed to he and canon's room. lane even painted the ceiling in knox's room...walls next! he cleaned up our yard. he also fixed the spots i made ALL over our living room walls (to my credit, i was trying to be helpful and touch up spots, but the paint sample i got wasn't the exact match). thanks, lane, for working hard on your days off!

3) unfortunately, a little bit of this...

saturday, around lunch, canon started feeling crummy and had a low grade fever. i gave him some motrin and he took a nap. when he woke, his fever was down and he was in great spirits. we went to some friends house for dinner where he ended up feeling terrible again. he looked awful and was warm. when we got home, he pepped up a bit, but had 103*+ fever. this morning, he felt good, but was still running low fever so we stayed home from church. i'm assuming it's just viral since he doesn't have any other symptoms and seems to feel ok this evening. he hasn't been sick since april. may be the longest streak yet!!

4) threw some of this in...

last week, lane came home from doing the yoga P90x video and showed the boys some of his moves! today, canon requested that they do some yoga :)

5) hit this sweet milestone...

ledger's been taking naps in his big boy bed (in the spare room) now for a month. he's done great...goes right to sleep and lays in bed until we come get him. since we moved beds around this weekend, we figured why not just let him go ahead and start sleeping in the big bed at night, too. i don't want him to feel like we kicked him out of the crib for the new baby so this way he has plenty of time to adjust! for the past 2 nights, they've both gone right to sleep and stayed in their own bed.

side story: i shared a room with my sister until i graduated high school. we (i) preferred it that way! i used to get so scared that sleeping 3 feet from her wasn't enough. after she'd fall asleep, i'd sneak into her bed. i have a feeling that canon will be the same way!

6) and this...

yuck. this is the first time in our 5 years of marriage and 6 places we've lived that we've dealt with a mouse. well, that lane's dealt with a mouse. i ran to my bed and had the heebie-jeebies. friday night around 11, we were sitting in the living room when we heard a squeak, squeak and a scratch, scratch. to say i over-reacted would be an understatement! lane made a run to walmart for traps while i camped out in my room with the music loud enough i wouldn't be able to hear that little squeak again. around 12:30, we were in bed (with 2 fans going) and heard the deadly snap. got him.

what's bizarre was earlier that night while picking up the playroom, we noticed dropping like things and had said "tomorrow we need to get mouse traps just in case". i spent a good chunk of saturday cleaning and vacuuming every evidence of a mouse away. now, i'll know if his friends make an appearance! once again, thanks, lane! i couldn't even look at its dead self. yuck.

that's it. hope it was restful for you and your family :)

haircuts for all...

2011-08-20T22:05:00.002-05:00

before:

after:

cardboard fun...

2011-08-19T16:55:00.000-05:00

aunt chloe has been working on a big surprise for the boys this summer! she gave them the big reveal when they stayed with her and my mom last weekend.

is this car not awesome?! she thought of everything...it has rear view mirrors, a trunk, a steering wheel, a sporty fender, a hatchback trunk, a license plate, and tons of room inside for 2 little boys to both have so much fun!

thanks, clo, for thinking of them! they LOVE it...although it may not look exactly as you left it!!

just hanging out...

2011-08-16T10:39:00.001-05:00

we are at my mom's house hanging out while our house is a sauna! last week was disrupted by roof damage, lots of rain and wet ceilings. the roof was finally fixed on thursday. we left town friday to go to the lake with lane's family only to return to a super hot house saturday evening. thankfully, my mom was already on her way up to bring the boys home so I caught a ride back to muskogee with her.

the ac guy came out yesterday and said ants had eroded a connector. It's running, but isn't cool. he's supposed to be back out this morning...fingers crossed! in the meantime, we are just hanging out...with no car. i didn't think that one through with my mom having to be at work and chloe at school. whenever it does get fixed, lane will come get us. i have so much waiting on me at our house that i cant relax! however, the boys are loving the simple life and cooler weather. we have now clocked several hours just playing on the driveway. think cool thoughts!

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20 weeks...

2011-08-12T11:27:00.000-05:00

pregnancy highlights

how far along: 20 weeks...assuming i'm over half way done!

size of baby: at my in-depth ultrasound last week, he weighed 11.5 ounces...a coke can almost.

total weight gain/loss: +7

maternity clothes: i have them all out, washed and ironed. i even wore a pair of shorts this weekend. they're still a bit baggy, but the waist band is comfy. i bought a couple of maternity tops on sale this weekend at gap, too, but i'm mainly still wearing my regular clothes.

gender: it's still a boy!

name: knox oliver :)

movement: he's definitely a mover these days. he moves like crazy in the evenings. maybe because it's the time of day i'm sitting most still! this is definitely my favorite thing about pregnancy!

sleep: i'm sleeping great! i usually wake up once or twice during the night, but the important part is the ability to fall back to sleep easily...haha!

what i miss: can't think of anything right now :)

craving: i'm still enjoying cold things, but i can't think of anything specific that i've wanted in the past week. it's so strange this time around to not be eating everything under the sun. sweets still aren't sounding great. i did unashamedly put a 16 oz. ribeye away last night for lane's birthday without blinking!

symptoms: darn ACNE still. it's crazy...and super annoying! and the feeling of always being bloated!

best moment of the week: watching mr. knox on ultrasound for 45 minutes during the specialist appointment and then again this morning at my ob appointment. also, selling our old baby bedding so i can get something new!

we still think he looks like canon!

i had my monthly check-up this morning. it was an uneventful appointment...thank goodness! the past couple of months have made me crazy with all the drama :) baby looked good. weight gain is right on track. blood pressure normal. got to pee in a cup. and wait forever!

my original appointment was yesterday afternoon. after getting there and checking in, he got called away to a delivery. it's a bit frustrating to get there and it get cancelled, but i totally understand. i've had to call him away during office hours for both of my deliveries and appreciate him being there!

my next appointment is in 3 weeks. now that i'm half way there, i feel like we need to get busy! especially because lane has a busy fall schedule. i'd rather just get it done soon and "relax" for the rest of the pregnancy...ha!

sidenote: i've been a terrible, boring blogger lately, but have several drafts that i'm working on to post soon. we have a busy, but fun weekend! enjoy yours :)

a healthy baby (and our wednesday)...

2011-08-03T21:47:00.000-05:00

our past couple of weeks have been EXTREMELY boring! it's just too hot to get in and out of the car and do anything besides stay home with the blinds shut...ha! i don't tolerate the heat very well at all, especially being pregnant AND with temps that are reaching 110+ every day. no, thanks :)

today, however, we had a full morning! canon and i headed to his weekly speech session at 9. he LOVES going and looks forward to it each week. he's doing so great lately (i need to do an update post)!

afterwards, we rushed home so i could drop him off with our sitter and i could head to my appointment with the specialist. it was amazing to get to watch my sweet baby via ultrasound for 45 minutes. first, the sonographer did her in-depth, structural assessment (and verified that he very well is still a boy!). then the doctor came in and looked around some more. he came alive for the second part of the ultrasound and was all over the place...so cool to him moving and flipping!

she concluded that she could not see any type of scar tissue that was so evident a few weeks ago. that was such welcomed news to hear. at this point, i can proceed with a v@ginal delivery if nothing changes! however, she still saw a decent sized clot that she said shouldn't be a problem. when evaluating my placenta, it was obvious that it wasn't "normal" looking in thickness. one side was thick and healthy while the other was pretty thin and damaged (the side with the clot). she said that my bleed 2 months ago caused about 20% of damage. the good news is that our baby looks wonderful and is actually 1.5 weeks ahead in growth! as long as he still keeps growing and i have no more damage, this should be an uneventful remaining half of pregnancy.

my doctor will keep measuring his growth at each appointment then i will return to the specialist at 34 weeks just to make sure there are no threatening structures that have appeared and would cause problems during a natural delivery! thank you, jesus, for this blessing of our son :)

we got several pics, but this one showed his cute, button-nosed profile (like big bro, canon!)

i came home and the boys and i took 3 hour naps this afternoon! after canon having an awful week last week of waking after only 1 hr of a nap, he seems to be back on a great sleep schedule. nighttime has even been a breeze in getting him to stay in bed and go right to sleep.

since this is lane's late night, i thought i'd throw a roast in the crockpot this morning so he could eat an early dinner. at 4:30, i realized i completely forgot to do that so breakfast for dinner it was! i made blueberry pancakes, cheese omelets and a necterine for each of us. it turned out to be a pretty healthy dinner. however, roast sounds so good right now! after just a couple of bites, i looked over at ledger and saw this mess. it's amazing how messy he gets when he eats ANYTHING! canon on the other hand is the cleanest, neatest eater. oh, how i love their differences.

they obviously needed baths after dinner so i let them play in the tub for awhile since it's too hot to even swim outside. at one point, ledger stood up and...this may be too much info, but i want to remember :)...and had his 'i need to poop' face on. i grabbed him and threw his wet self on the frog potty. i told him to put his po0 in the potty. he did and was so proud! canon and i made such a big deal over it and ledger just kept grinning! i wish i could potty train both at the same time...easily! heck, ledger may end up being first and teaching canon :)

it's been a sweet day with my loves. they're into me making up games for everything. it works well since i can get them to do anything by making it a game! clean-up was a breeze and they even got to facetime with aunt lala and uncle kyle before bed. we read a couple books, practiced our speech sounds/words, sang a song, prayed for each other and got lots of kisses and 'tight squeezes'! now, i'm catching up on my dvr'd shows...a lovely evening :)

18 weeks...

2011-07-29T15:30:00.003-05:00

(you can tell my pants are getting snug! these pics are always so awkward!)

how far along: 18 weeks

size of baby: 5-5.5 inches long and 5 ounces! my uterus is now the size of a cantaloupe...crazy.

total weight gain/loss: +5

maternity clothes: not officially...i did pull them all out of the closet yesterday while cleaning my closet out to wash and iron them. my regular pants/shorts are low enough that i can still button them, but they are definitely getting tighter. i just wear stretchy shorts or pj pants at home! some t-shirts seem to be getting short, but i mainly wear shell-like tops when going out.

gender: it's a boy!

name: knox oliver. i love typing/saying that!

movement: FINALLY!! i thought i felt him a few times this week, but nothing consistent. last night, i started feeling him like crazy. i could even feel him on my hand so i called lane in, and we got to watch together as we saw knox move my tummy several times. it was incredible and just a welcomed relief after everything!

sleep: sleeping well at night. falling asleep easily and staying asleep. tmi, but i find myself waking up with the fullest bladder ever. i guess i'm sleeping so hard that it doesn't wake me up! i need a nap in the afternoon, but don't sleep as well then.

what i miss: not much to complain about. my back has been hurting a bit, but not unbearable yet. i could still go for that glass of wine!

craving: cold and crunchy...apples, pickles and ice! salty things, too. cold water is still my favorite thing ever. if i feel a bit nauseous, cold water is the answer!

symptoms: i am loving the bursts of energy i'm experiencing. i think i have pre-nesting. after not feeling like doing anything the first part of the pregnancy to not being able to do anything for 3.5 weeks, i'm cleaning/organizing/getting rid of everything!

best moment of the week: feeling my sweet baby move inside of me!

this morning, lane and i got a babysitter and went to visit our friends, amy and john, who just had a baby yesterday. after several heart-breaking miscarriages, it was so great to hold sweet baby, gatlin reid. he's wonderful and so blessed to have amy and john as parents! i love holding a newborn. i always forget how tiny and helpless they are. only a few more months until his buddy, knox, is here!

after the hospital, we went and grabbed lunch at genghis grill. first of all, it was great to spend lunchtime just with my husband...that never happens! secondly, oh my word. it's a good thing they don't have a drive-thru! lane's been there several times over the past year, and has been wanting to take me, but we always end up somewhere else. as i'm sitting here, i could totally go for another bowl of that right now! it was such a sweet morning.

sidenote: does anyone else keep their blind's closed all day?? i don't think our windows are too energy efficient so we just keep them shut while it's super hot to help out the a/c! it drives us both crazy as we love natural light, but it's just too darn hot!

diving boards and donuts...

2011-07-26T20:24:00.001-05:00

when we got to muskogee thursday, the boys' cousins were also there so they got some serious playtime in! that evening, a family in lane's home church had a "baby swim party"! it was so fun...and there were lots of little ones running around!

right when we got there, pops asked if canon wanted to jump off the diving board. canon shocked me and went right off of it! he kept asking me to do the "diming board". of course, little brother was right behind him! i caught video of him his 2nd time off...

on friday, we headed home and my mom met us for dinner and fun. we ate at the boys' second fav restaurant (behind sonic), olive garden. we get our money's worth there with the amount of salad and bread they can eat! my mom told them if they ate well we would go get a donut for a treat. this was there first time in krispy kreme and ledger was in heaven! this picture of his big 'ol grin cracks me up... we ended our day with a long browsing of target. we've been missing that place over the past month!

lane got home around lunch the next day. the boys and i ran to wal-mart first thing that morning, but still didn't beat the heat. if there's anything that makes wal-mart worse, it's loading/unloading in the heat...blah. canon helped me throw a stew together when we got home for dinner. it's what lane requested! i couldn't imagine eating stew with it being 105* outside, but i did, and it was good! we were so glad to be home as a family, but are thankful for the fun we had through the week :)