Just an update...

J.K. will be 3 July 23rd. It is so hard to believe. We haven't decided on what to do for his birthday yet. Hopefully we'll come up with something soon. J.K. loves to be outdoors and never stops for long. He is a big helper at work and looks forward to going outside with Gami (my mom). He helps her move plants around, water the plants, and picks the flowers. He tries to send us home with new plants nearly everyday. He will load them onto a cart then pull the cart to the car then attempt to get them into the car. He has been known to mutilate a plant here or there by dropping it or however it happens. We try to keep him from picking all the flowers off of plants (kind of hard to sell them bare!), but he is so sweet when he brings them for me. J.K. goes to Mother's Day Out twice a week and really enjoys going. He will be starting preschool 5-days a week in the Fall. I am looking forward to it. He is quite independent and wants to do what he wants when we are at work. He is always letting himself out of the office (His playroom is connected to my office and my office leads outside.) which interrupts my work. J.K. has been going to a pathologist for the past several weeks to work on his speech. He is dropping the beginning and ending of words. I think he problem with latching as an infant was a sign of his lack of ability to shape his mouth/lips correctly to now form words. He talks all the time with us but tends to be a bit quieter around others. He speaking much better but just has to be reminded to use those first letters like m,p,s. He understands everything and uses phrases, but sometimes we are the only ones who understand it. Isaac is starting to talk and J.K. is now imitating the sounds Isaac makes. I think it'll get J.K. to get his words out better as Isaac works on his own sounds/speech. J.K.'s favorite things right now are dogs. He is obsessed with the movie Cats and Dogs; it's the first movie he has actually sat down to watch. He is constantly interacting with our dogs. He is a wonderful big brother, and I can almost always count on him to keep Isaac happy while I'm busy. We had our first ER visit back in March. J.K. swallowed a coin, a nickel. It got stuck in his throat so we (my mom and me) loaded both boys into the car and went on our way. Thankfully by the time we go there, it had passed into belly, but we still waited and had x-rays done just to be sure. It was a scary moment, and one I don't think J.K. will repeat again. He now hands coins to me if he finds one, and for a few weeks after the incident, he would talk about swallowing the coin and say no, no. The weekend before last J.K. got into a fire ant bed. We were outside playing in the sprinkler. He went down his slide which apparently went right into the bed. He was naked so they got all on his bottom and on his pee-pee, too. It was horrible. The bites are mostly gone, just a few scabs left since he does not understand about not picking at them. He is quite cautious about bugs now. We haven't tried potty training again since a few months ago. He was doing really well except for pooping, but then decided he could do both in the underpants. So, we put him back in diapers. He hasn't shown any interest in the potty, and I think it's partially because of Isaac. He sometimes snatches Isaac's pacifier and puts it in his mouth and says he wants to be a baby. Hopefully this little wanting to be a baby phase will pass soon, and he will want to use the potty.

Isaac is now 6 months. He sits up really well and is getting more interactive with J.K. He absolutely adores J.K. and vice versa. Isaac brightens up when J.K. is around. Isaac has the m and mama sounds down; he even says mom but doesn't realize quite yet what it means. I think he is starting to make the connection, though. We started baby food a few weeks ago, and he's done fine with most foods. However, he is always more interested in what we are eating so he's had some pizza crust and other small things to chew on already. It's hard to believe he's growing up so fast. I had to pull out the 6-9 month clothes today. He is small like J.K. was but quickly catching up. He was in the 10% at his 6 month checkup.

I don't think life will ever slow down again. I don't know what we are going to do when Isaac starts moving around. Right now he keeps J.K. still for at least few moments, but when they are both on the move, we are going to be in trouble! We don't have any real travel plans until October when we go to Massachusetts for my cousin's wedding. We might try and do a camping trip this summer, and I know we will be going to the beach a lot. We went last weekend for Mother's Day, and J.K. had so much fun on the beach. We hadn't been since last summer and J.K. was a bit afraid then. This time he spent a lot of time picking up shells along the shore and went out in the water past his waist with us. Hopefully we'll go down again in a few weeks. I look forward to the weekends when we can sit back and relax. Well, I need to get somethings done while I have some spare time with both boys sleeping.

Isaac at 6 months

Isaac turned 6 months on the 2nd. He had his ped appt on the 1st. He weighed in at 15lbs 3oz (10%), 25" long (10%), head 18" (90%) - guess he has a big brain! He doesn't look out of proportion though. He got a clean bill of health. He is sitting up almost unassisted and can stand holding onto something but does not pull himself up. He can kind of army crawl on his belly but doesn't move too much, thank goodness! He is babbling a lot and makes all kinds of weird sounds. Isaac is a very happy baby and is so ticklish. We started solids this week. His first food was mashed potatoes. My mom was attempting to hold him and eat dinner, but he wouldn't allow the spoon to get past him. He would fuss and scream if the spoon didn't get to him fast enough. His next food was bananas, and I'm not too sure he's okay with them. The first time he had them he cried afterwards for quite some time but was okay the next day with them. Last night he fussed after having them, too. So, I'm going to try something else this evening, and re-try bananas in a few weeks. Last week he showed no interest in food, but over the weekend he decided it was time to start grabbing and reaching for our food and drinks. He thinks everything should be his, too. We stopped to get ice cream this afternoon after the Children's Museum. I had to walk out with mine because Isaac would not stop fussing and reaching for it. This was J.K.'s (2.5) first trip to an ice cream shop; he was in heaven with all the different flavors. We went by the market today and bought a bunch of different fruits and veggies. Tomorrow I will be cooking batches of baby food to freeze.

J.K. is still being a wonderful big brother. His latest is trying to get Isaac to play with him and his puzzles. I am looking forward to Isaac sitting unassisted so he can interact with J.K. more. Isaac can wait on moving though! Isaac's lack of movement encourages J.K. to sit still for a moment!

Potty Talk

So, it's been a while since I've logged in and written on here. Time is just flying by! In January my laptop went capluey so after about 3 weeks, we finally just bought a new one. I think I do like Windows Vista. I like my new laptop, too. We still hope to get my old one back up. Thankfully we had recently purchased an external hard drive so I'm only missing about 2 weeks worth of work.

Isaac turned 4 months on Friday. It's hard to believe it's been that long. It seems like I was just pregnant! Isaac is doing all the things a 4 month old should do. He went to the pediatrician for his check-up and some shots. He weighed in at 12lbs 4 oz and 24" long, all 25%ile. He holds his head up well, reaches and grabs toys, coos and babbles, and laughs so cutely! He hasn't rolled yet, but he is definitely trying! Isaac is sleeping through the night and takes about 4 naps throughout the day. Our only concern was that Isaac hadn't pooped for over a week! We had tried everything the dr suggested, and it finally dawned on me that wheat made J.K. poop almost instantly. So, I splurged with Taco Bell tonight and sure enough, Isaac pooped. But, I forgot to take into consideration what else Taco Bell would do to him; poor thing is having quite a bit of gas. :(

J.K. is now 2 1/2 years old. We have started potty training this past week. He was doing quite well until today. I don't know what got into him. He had an accident everytime. He said he didn't want to use the potty but did want to wear undies. I tried to explain that it doesn't work that way. I ended up letting him go naked the rest of the afternoon, and he did great. He even used the potty on his own while I was in the shower. Hopefully it'll go better tomorrow than it did today.

This past Friday Johnathon and I got to go on a date! It's such a rarety that we get to go out just the 2 of us so it was a nice treat. The church where J.K. goes for Mother's Day Out had Parent's Night Out. We signed both kids up for it. We went to Dave & Busters to have dinner and play games. We had a great time, and it was really good for us. The church does it once a month, I believe, (no idea why we didn't take advantage of it before!) so I think this will turn into a monthly escape for us.

I am going to post some pictures if I can figure out how to do it! I still have some work to get down and midnight is closing in on me. One day I'll get to bed early! LOL

Happy Birthday to ME!

I am now 28 years old. It's getting scary as the big 30 approaches! I don't know why, but I have always viewed it as a big turning point in life. I don't know why or what I'm expecting to happen, but it's just an age than I'm keeping my eye on! I had a very nice birthday just spending it with my hubby, babies, parents, brothers and my sis-in-law. I always enjoy the little family visits we have. I can't wait until we all have kids running around reminding me of my Grammie's house which I miss so much. I'm hoping to make it up there this Spring, but it all depends on finances, of course.
We have had some wonderful wintry weather the past few days. We finally had our ice-over last night. We woke up to icicles and frozen plants. I took J.K. out to feel the ice. His fort was iced over. He didn't quite know what to think. We've been out of work due to the weather, but I think it's back to the norm tomorrow (or today really).
The past 2 nights have been quite nice. Both Isaac and J.K. have slept through the night. J.K. from about 8:30pm to 7:30am, and Isaac sleeping from 10pm until 7:00am. Isaac usually nurses around 11pm then again around 1am; I often stay up until the 1am feeding then hit the sack. He had been waking up again around 5 or 6am for his next nursing. J.K. would crawl into our bed sometime in the wee hours of the morning. It is quite cramped in our queen size bed with 2 adults and 2 children. I always ended up losing my pillow and being pushed down in the bed but still separating Isaac and J.K. I would not get any good sleep during those hours. So, it has been quite nice to have space in the bed and to sleep all night long! Now, if I could just get myself to bed before 1am, I'd be in even better shape!
Oh, an amendment to a previous post! I have yet to finish Isaac's birth announcements. I have all the stuff to finish them, but I just have not had the time nor the drive. I've been busy doing work stuff in the evenings not to mention all of my regular household stuff. I will get them done; I really hope this weekend!

Isaac is 2 months old

Isaac turned 2 months old today. (Well, it's past midnight so really yesterday.) He weighed in at 9lbs 8 1/2 oz. That's 1 pound 2 ounces more than J.K. weighed at his age. I definitely think Isaac is going to be bigger than his big brother. Isaac is nursing really well but has insisted on sleeping in the bed with us. Poor Johnathon usually sleeps on the couch, especially since Isaac has started moving around more in the bed. Isaac can hold his head up although he still gets a little wobbly; he can also do some little push-ups. He is slowly discovering his voice, other than crying! We think he is looking more like me. He is a little snuggle bug and loves to be held.

J.K. is being a wonderful big brother. He is always giving Isaac hugs and kisses. Hugs are J.K.'s newest thing. It's so sweet! Today J.K. gave Isaac his binkie without being asked when Isaac was crying, and I was trying to get us out of the house to work. He will fetch diapers for me or Isaac's blanket. Of course there are times when he totally ignores me, but I think that's typical at this age. And he often tries to get my attention while I'm nursing Isaac; I hate that negative attention is still attention to him! Patience is definitely a learned trait, and I hope J.K. learns a little more about it sooner rather than later! LOL

J.K.'s biggest achievement for the new year is no more pacifier. We almost had him weaned before Isaac was born, but that week before, he started waking up at night wanting it. I really wanted my sleep that last week so I gave it back. Then he started wanting it more and more and refusing to give it up. We decided that at the new year there would be no more paci. We warned him that Santa said he had to give up his nuki at the new year, so the day before one of them "broke". He didn't know what to think of it, but he would not put it in the trash. Rather he threw it on the floor but would occassionally go back to it, I guess to make sure it was still broken. I know he was disappointed. On New Year's Day his last one broke. It didn't come as such a surprise for this one. We told him we were sorry, but that's what happens when they get old. He also would not throw that one away and just threw it on the floor. (They are still somewhere around here; we're hoping he'll throw them away.) Amazingly J.K. went to bed without any trouble that night. He did ask for it, but I reminded him that it was broken. He was satisifed with that answer. This is day 2 without one, and we're doing all right. However, he has refused to take a nap the past 2 days; I wonder if it has something to do with it. I pray he takes a nap tomorrow!

Isaac's Birth Announcement

Some of you have received his birth announcement but most have not. I thought the design of them would be easy enough. I found the exact setup already packaged; it just need to be printed and put together. Wow, that does sound easy! I have spent quite a bit of time working on them since Isaac was about 2 weeks old. One problem is that the computer program and printer are at my in-laws so I had to make arrangements to be at their house and have either someone to watch J.K. there or do it around his nap time. The latter worked only if he decided to take a nap; today is not one of those days. Today is my last attempt at getting these announcements printed. That's been the biggest challenge. The printer HATES me! It hates the vellum paper, too.

I have spent about 3.5 hours just today attempting to print these. Of course I've had some distraction with a 2.5 year old who refuses to take a nap and an 8 week old who really is no problem at all. I've managed to get 16 printed! If my children weren't here, I'd be a sailor right now.

I had wanted to get these mailed before Thanksgiving and here it is 2007. So, some of you will not be receiving the pretty birth announcement and rather just the photo card. I'm sorry. It really irks me that this would be so difficult, but I should have known. The next child will only get a photo announcement card; I'm doing this again! Not with 3 children then! LOL

So for those of you who have not received the birth announcement, the rest will be going out this week. CHEERS!

Happy New Year! A New Year's Resolution?

I guess I am going to attempt to start blogging. I remember the first time I heard the term not all that long ago, and I had no clue what it was. Made me realize that I am getting old and no longer in touch with the latest craze.

I keep journals for the kids; I started when J.K. was 3 months. I keep them separately so they will each have one for their 18th birthdays. I hope it's something they will be happy to have. I guess this online journal will be a way to share our family's happenings with everyone else. It's difficult to stay in touch with family and friends around the country so hopefully this will make it easier.

So, I guess one more new year's resolution won't hurt: to keep in touch with family and friends better. My others include being more active, drinking more water, and the whole family sticking to a routine.

Happy New Year! May 2007 be a prosperous year for us all.