18 Months!

Caylee is 18 months old (last week, but her well check was today).  I can't believe she is already a year and a half old!  Caylee is still in the 80% for height and 50% for weight.  She'll be tall and on the thinner side if she keeps it up.  The past three months (since I last updated on her) have brought quite a bit of changes!  She is such a good helper with Micah and LOVES helping around the house.  She'll wipe down couches, "dust", push the grocery cart, give Micah his pacifier and it's a REALLY good thing she loves the dogs because she ALWAYS checks to see if they have water.  If they don't... well, watch out bc she will stand there pointing and saying "uh oh" and "more" until you get them more water. 

We're working on speaking.  It's a slow process, everything still sounds the same, but if you know the context of the conversation you can figure it out.  She loves to agree with everything "ya, ya".  She has mastered saying "ya" (yes) and nodding her head yes at the same time.  Before, she'd say "yes", but nod "no".  Her favorite thing is when she sees animals on tv and she'll make the sound.  The tiger cracks me up bc it's a world wildlife commercial with tigers being poached and she'll get so excited and say "roar!". It's a sad commercial, I know, but it's so funny! 

She has quite the personality.... she can be SUPER happy and loving and then turn around with the biggest lip and tears you've ever seen.  We have started "time-outs" bc sometimes she's rough with Micah, or throws toys at him.  I tell her no, but if she doesn't listen, the time out follows.  She knows though and is always ready to give me a hug and kiss afterwards.  

She gets so excited when we pass Walmart!  (Yes, all you walmart haters, that is where we shop... why?  because that's ALL THERE IS!).  She also gets excited when we pull into the church parking lot.  I love that she will walk straight down the hallway to her class, say "hi" to everyone and go right in with no problem. She is such a friendly girl! 

She is also very intense and likes things done properly.  In the evenings, we've started making her put her toys away.  If you put it in the wrong spot, she'll take it out and move it.  She likes to close doors and when she puts her dirty clothes in the basket they have to be all the way in, not hanging out.  

Caylee loves her baby dolls and does with them EXACTLY what I do with Micah.  They even have bottles that they get when I feed Micah.  She bounces them, dances with them, pats them, puts them everywhere Micah has been.  It's very cute and sweet.   

She's already in some 24 month and 2T clothes, but still plenty of 18 month too. 

Caylee is still a great eater, LOVES fruit of all kinds!  If I want her to eat other things I can't even put fruit on the plate until the end.  Otherwise, she'll just ask for more.   We still don't do sweets.  I refuse to get her hooked on candy like her daddy :)  There are a time and place for sweets and until she gets older she really doesn't need them anyways... fruit is sweet enough!  She gets sweets on special occasions only... and small amounts bc it never makes for fun diaper changes later!

We love her so much and she's such a sweet girl!  She's turning into a fun, super smart, caring, loving kid.  Often if we are sitting on the ground she'll come up and just give us kisses... I love that!  Every morning when I get her from her room, she gets her bible book, gets a blanket, puts them both on the chair and waits for me to pick her up to read.  The blanket HAS to be over us.  We read, she closes the book, puts it down, gets down and goes straight to her closet to help me pick out clothes.  She say's "bye bye" to her monkey and we leave.  She's such a routine girl and very, very good at it.  I love that she wants to sit and read with me each morning.  It's such a special time! 

There is SO much more to say and remember... but that'll do for now.  We do love her, she's a fantastic daughter and great sister :)


Preview of what mornings are like...

She is refusing to smile at the camera these days, so it's hard to get a direct smile!

Can get in and out of bed herself....

Told you she has quite the lower lip....

ponytail!  SO cute, SO grownup!

Loves saying "boo" and hiding...

GREAT helper! :)

Loves her brother and is with him ALOT!

Silly girl... loves to hold him too :)

Week in Review

This past week was super busy!  Mostly because we had the revival all week.  It was great.  A group called Life Action Ministries came to put on this revival/conference.  They had something for 3yrs all the way up to the adults.  My kids were too young to participate, but Caylee loved "seeing her friends" every evening in the nursery.  Micah and I hung out in the lobby and watched the screens because they usually didn't have enough workers for the number of nursery kids they had.  (my choice, they would have taken him, but he needs more attention and Caylee is always so good in there so she doesn't take much effort).  Anyways, throughout the week they really harped on what is God revealing in your life that you need to deal with and when you figure that out, do it IMMEDIATELY.  It was all about being immediately obedient to the areas God shows you.  I loved how direct the pastors were and some areas from their own lives really hit home for me.  They hosted a women's lunch on Tuesday.  I had planned on going, but when we woke up that morning I thought we wouldn't go, then changed my mind again and we did go!  The Life Action team members were in the nursery so I was able to leave Micah bc they had plenty of workers.  It was a GREAT lunch and I was able to visit with some ladies from our Sunday School class.  The one thing that stuck out the most was "bitterness is the result of not thanking God for a person or circumstance in your life- even if it's hard or they are difficult"....  She talked about David and Goliath and how God can handle even our toughest situations.  I am SO glad I went to that lunch!  It was probably the highlight of the conference for me. 

Also this week, Caylee officially turned 18 months! A whole year and half!! (More on that tomorrow after her well-check)

Diego got into something this week and was throwing up for about 2 days.  Then he wouldn't drink (and we weren't feeding him since he kept throwing up)... he was looking pretty bad.  So... Matt ran some fluids for him in the living room!  Crazy to see a big dog lying on the floor with an IV in, but it worked and he seems so much better now.  Who knows what he got into though!?!

Finally, this weekend was the first really beautiful weather we've had.  65 and sunny!  Caylee and I (and Micah) had our park day.  Then Saturday, the kids stayed with Matt while I went to Ft Wayne to do some shopping and get my hair cut (FINALLY!).  He took Caylee to Rural King (like Tractor Supply) and they saw bunnies and chicks.  I guess she liked the bunnies-- although we have NO intention of EVER getting her a bunny (I'm allergic and they are DIRTY!).  I found a bumbo seat online for cheap and picked that up for Micah.  We never had one for Caylee, but I think Micah will get lots of use out of it.  Although- at the moment, Caylee seems to be enjoying it more!  We also went back to the park that evening when I came home. 

Sunday (today), Matt and I served in the church nursery.  It was crazy!  The nursery has such a wide age range (infant to 2) that it makes it a little difficult.  Second hour they had 4 kids under 3 months, 2 kids 8 months old, and 4 kids over a year.... I took Micah out and Matt stayed to help.  With all that age range, they only had 2 adults and immediately they each had a kid in their arms, which left about 8 others that they hoped would be good and not need held.  I'm not sure what we'll do with Micah if there continue to be so many kids and few workers... hopefully, he'll get to the point where he doesn't need much and we'll feel better about leaving him. 

All in all, the week was good... we have another busy week this week with Dr appts, Tiny tot gym and our Mom's group.  Should be fun to get outside more too... if the weather will stay nice. 

Park Day! (FINALLY!)

It was finally nice enough outside to go to the park!  (Notice the long pants and jacket though- still chilly and windy, but sunny!) Caylee LOVED the park! We will definitely be going a lot this summer :)  They have a perfect sized playground for her.... and yes, she did doze off in the swing for a bit... until the bells rang at the catholic church, then she woke up!  Fun day outside.... can't wait til Micah can enjoy it a little more too.   

 

Revival!

Revival... in my words... a big fancy word for adult Christian Camp, but you get to sleep in your own bed at night.  :) 

Well, our church is holding a 4 day revival that began today during the Sunday School hour.  The "morning sessions" were great.  Basically, they were trying to get you to come to the rest of the week by sharing stories of God's movement among people.  They had some key points, but the one I liked best was this:
    If you keep worrying about what people think, you'll never know what God knows.

That is SO true.  We often worry about others and their opinions that we aren't focusing on what God wants from us.

So, here's the deal.  I really enjoy the preaching and worship at these things (nowadays they are called "conferences" not "revivals").  However, with 2 small children (18 mo and 11 weeks) it's not always convenient when they hold the sessions.  They all begin in the evening and go thru our bedtimes.  As I sat there pondering what to do about the week the guy made another point. 
   This time will go by SO fast.  After today (just one day of Sunday School, Morning Service and Evening Service) we will be halfway through.

That made me also think of all the thousand of times I've heard people tell me that the time with their kids passes by SO fast.  So if that's true, and the time does fly by, then what is it I want my kids to know?  Well, most importantly, I want them to know God's love.  I want them to have a personal relationship with Christ.  This means, I have to set the best example I can... I want church for them to be a safe place and a place they enjoy.  I want to know that when I send them off, they will seek out a church and find that fellowship with others.  This means that I have to set the example.  (And yes, I do realize as my kids get older there will be times that we can't attend an event- this is NOT the end of the world.  There will be games or conflicts, but for the most part I want them involved in church)

I decided that I would attend the "conference/revival" this week.  It's a small price to pay for mixed up schedules.  My kids are too little to really get anything out of it, but I can.  However, I will not let people judge me when I leave at the altar call.  Here's the thing... if you know of, or have been to, a revival then you know the altar calls can be LONG... hours even.  Now, while I don't think that will happen here, I also know that I still have my young kids to consider and their well-being... which does not include staying up WAY WAY past bedtime.  Matt and I occasionally take them out past bedtime and if we can do that for just a normal evening, then we can do it for a church event too.  As the man said, this will be a quick week...  

There's my decision... I will go each evening... (we have nothing during the day that I can't give extra naps or extra downtime to the kids if needed), but I will most likely leave at the altar call.  This doesn't mean I don't feel the need to pray or anything, but I also know I can have that opportunity at a later point (like during a nap when both kids sleep).  I don't think God will be mad for that :) 

We're going tonight as a family and it will be the first time Caylee will get to go to "big church" to sing, then she'll head to the nursery.  The other nights I will take the kids and we'll see if Matt gets off in time.  I'm looking forward to this week and excited about what God will do! 

Thurs"date"

So, Matt and I realized that we haven't been spending much time together lately.  He's been SO busy at work. It's foaling season and breeding season, so he has to be available often.  Some nights he doesn't get home until 8 or later, so it's been pretty crazy.  By that time, I am exhausted from being with the kids all day- and up a few times at night as well- so we end up just watching tv.  This seems fine, but you realize that somewhere along the line you forget to talk to each other.  Communication is probably the most important part of any relationship- especially a marriage- and it's definitely something that doesn't come easily. 

So... we decided that Thursday nights would be a date night- sort of.  He still gets home late, there is no one I'd want to watch the kids and we're still tired (and too cheap to go out every week)... so, the idea of a "dessert night in" is what we decided.  No tv, no ipads or phones or anything, just dessert and talking!  Last night was the first night and Matt volunteered to make the dessert.  He chose... strawberry shortcake! 

Yes, for a guy that is not in the kitchen much (except for mac and cheese), this was quite an undertaking.  He even brought home the ingredients we lacked so that I didn't have to go to the store yesterday! 

The result...  DELICIOUS!  Matt did a great job with the dessert and even though it wasn't what either of us thought (we could have used angel food cake and been happy) it turned out pretty good.  I've never actually had homemade shortcake and there really isn't much flavor to it... good thing the strawberries were SUPER sweet! 

Overall, the first Thurs"date" night went well and I'm looking forward to more.  If anyone has any quick, healthy dessert ideas please email me or comment on this post!  The idea is to cook together and then enjoy, but some desserts take too long when we get started so late. Plus we...I... don't need the sweets when I'm still trying to lose a little weight before Cassidy's wedding.  So.. the more recipe ideas we have the better! :) 


It was an interesting "cake"... pretty dense and crumbly, but with the strawberries and cool whip it wasn't bad.  Even better the second day when the juices have had time to soak in! YUM!

Life...

Here are more phone pics I took...

Even though we are halfway through April, it's pretty chilly here still. (We've had many days in the 30s and 40s!)  So.. bubbles in the garage!  Love this pic of her enjoying the bubbles and him staring at her!!

Loves to vacuum... always been a great helper!

If he gets up earlier than Caylee he ends up sleeping in bed with me... Matt is always gone by then.  It doesn't happen much, but he is so sweet!

 First day of Tiny Tot Gymnastics!!! Loved it, but it was a little unstructured so she was super fussy by the end (Caylee does REALLY well with structure).  We were both hungry too!  But she did great climbing around all the mats and even liked hanging from the bar! :)

First sign of SPRING! Finally...

Long walks... SUPER windy though, so it's pretty difficult.  We usually go about 2 miles and it's HARD with all the wind!  Great workout for me :)

 

Typical... he's crying and she's mad.  Most likely she took a pacifier away and I told her not to...

Goofing off before bed! I do love these kids, moods and all! :)

Tummy Time and Realizations...

Ever since we upped Micah's meds he has been doing SO much better.  He's like a new kid!  He's been able to do tummy time, he's been smiling a bunch and he's been talking a TON-- this kid is a chatterbox!

He's been eating a TON, although he still spits up a TON too.  I worry he gets too much a day (bc every doctor I've talked to said it's too much) however, they don't see how much he spits either.  So, even though he eats a ton, I would bet he loses a bunch of it as well.  Some would say that he spits because he's over eating, but I cannot get him to skip a meal or to cut back on a bottle.  Caylee was the same way and she's doing great health wise, so I guess I'll just go with my own instincts here about Micah and keep doing what I'm doing.

I realized something today that I hadn't realized before... I was getting frustrated because Micah will only sleep in his bed.  This means that going out anywhere is difficult because he is still little enough to need several naps a day, which don't happen if we're out.  What I realized is that with Caylee we were still staying home for almost every nap she needed.  On top of that we lived in town where shopping was easy and quick.  Now, with 2 kids, I go to take Caylee to something and Micah misses a nap.  Or, I have to go to the store and because we don't live near civilization he misses a nap.  It definitely makes life a little more challenging, but it also reminds me that his fussiness has a purpose-- he's tired!  We will still go out and do things, but it has definitely helped calm me bc I know he's just tired and not in pain--- if only he knew he was allowed to sleep in his carrier!  (He's just like Caylee though and will doze until the car stops and then he's wide awake!)

Another realization I had is that at this point with Caylee, I was still feeling TERRIBLE!  We were barely leaving the house at all, had only been to church 1 time (Christmas) and hadn't been to all these classes/groups that we are involved in now.  Micah came along and life had to go on... thankfully, this time around I feel SO much better and life could pick right up.  I just sometimes forget that he's still so young (9 1/2weeks!) and the stuff we are out and about doing now, I didn't do with Caylee until she was another month or so older.... all of that combined with the gray/cold weather and wanting so desperately to get out has made me try to find tons of things to go to and has probably been tough on this little guy, who I feel like is older than he really is! 

As for his chattering... he's SO funny!  I don't remember Caylee talking this much at all- she is a very observant child and likes to figure out her surroundings first.  She always knew exactly what was going on around her.  Micah... well, he has no clue!  :)  He just smiles and chatters and sighs and coos.  It's super cute and I can definitely tell he's been happier lately. 

Here are some pics of tummy time (and other stuff)... the little guy is SUPER strong (at just 9 1/2 weeks)!  When he really gets going he can roll from tummy to back too... but I don't think he realizes it, he just happens to move his arms to a certain position and over he goes! 

 I wish this one had come out not blurry and better color... I shouldn't have used the flash... I'll be re-trying this shot on a day Caylee is happy.

Empty...

Our fridge that is....

Yep, it's been 2 1/2 months since I've had to prepare a meal.  It's been that long since I've had to go to the grocery store to buy supplies for meals.  (I've only gone to the store for snack stuff and Matt's lunch stuff that we run out of on a weekly basis)

Yes, we have been EXTREMELY blessed.  First, by all the family that stocked up our freezer and fridge and cooked meals for us.  Secondly, by our amazing sunday school class-- people that barely know us! 

I can't tell you how sad I am to see the last meal cooked.  Many people don't think to provide meals for people with multiple children (they think we've got it under control I guess-- NOT!) :)  or to provide meals after family has been in town to help.  However, I am SO glad our class did think of this.  We've struggled with Micah's fussiness... and even though he was fussy most of the day, the worst was that mid-afternoon evening time. (He's getting SO much better, thankfully)  Conveniently, right when dinner needs prepared.  I honestly think we would have lived off of mac and cheese and sandwiches if these meals had not been around.  I was EXHAUSTED!  Even after we hit the 1 month mark and we were starting to get out of the house more, meals would have been difficult. 

So to anyone who helped us with meals these past 2 1/2 months- THANK YOU! And especially thank you to Mom, Grandpa and Aunt Debbie who stocked our fridge and freezer with stuff that I am still finding to use!!! (mostly Grandpa though, let's be honest, I still have un-used spaghetti sauce!! woohoo!)

Now... it's time to start preparing meals again... I think I'll start slow with the crock pot :)

2 Months!

Micah is 2 months old (yesterday, but I was busy yesterday).  We had his 2 month appt yesterday.  He is weighing in at 11lbs 4oz, and is 23 and 3/4 in long.  That puts him in the 75% for height and the 50% for weight! Good job :)

We did go ahead and up his reflux meds to the highest dose yesterday.  I have seen some improvement with his current dose, but he's just not content like I feel he should be.  Hopefully, the higher dose will work out- if not, we have to try new meds.  We are slowly having better days though... however, I still can't take him many places (like the grocery store) without him screaming.  That means we stay home a LOT... much more so than I did with Caylee. 

Micah also has really bad cradle cap... meaning, super dry, probably itchy skin.  I was putting TONS of lotion on and trying to get things cleared, but the dr said to try selsan blue.  We'll be trying that- maybe with his skin not being so irritated he'll be happier too. 

He's still in 0-3 month clothes.  Although some things I have tried on fit in the 3-6 month category.  I bumped him up to #2 diapers-- he's 1 lb off from the weight and I can buy a bigger package of 2's than 1's, so it seemed worth it.

He's sleeping GREAT! We give him a bottle at 8pm and he's asleep by 8:30pm.  Then he'll sleep until 2 or 3 and go back down until 6 or 7.  He usually takes at least 1 good nap during the day.  I have to put him in his room to take a good nap or else Caylee is constantly waking him up and trying to say "hi".  Very sweet, but the little guy needs a nap!  Thankfully, he's a pretty good car rider- even if he's awake.  He doesn't take a pacifier as well as Caylee did, so I was worried about the car.  He does well though, I think the movement is soothing. 

We have added cereal to his bottle.  Our doctor did not recommend this, but 2 pediatrician friends did.  I think it's helped, so I am going to continue it.  He's eating about 28-29 oz a day (that's a LOT), plus the cereal.  Everytime we try to cut him back he screams and screams until he gets a bottle.  I think it's because he spits up all day so he's really not in-taking all that.  Although, Caylee was always (and still is) a good eater, so maybe Micah is too :)  Nothing wrong with liking food, as long as it's the good stuff!  We haven't had problems with Caylee bc she loves fruit so much, so I'm hoping Micah is the same.  (or veggies- either way!)

Micah seems to have a strong neck, but tummy time is rough.  Again, if we can get his reflux under control he may do better on his tummy.  The times he is content, I hate to move him to his tummy and get him all worked up, but sometimes I do anyways.  He likes looking at Caylee so I can get her to keep him happy for a little bit.

As for me, I'm just glad we're at the 2 month mark.  It just gets better from here and I'm excited about the upcoming months and his growth! 

 Finally, a happy shot!

He sleep with lots of blankets!

Daddy's hat!

LOVE the dino outfit... check out the super cute socks!

He is already so grown up looking... seriously, like a mini-man!

This is just funny bc neither are amused and both are tired...