Jeff Amy Caleb & Garrett

Easter Weekend started early for the boys. On Thursday, Caleb had his party at school. We brought M&M cookies per Caleb’s request. I went to his party with him. He was so sweet and told me he had saved me a seat. It was his seat and he sat in my lap. I do love he is 3 and still wants to sit in my lap:) He also gave me half of everything that was on his plate. He is such a sweet natured child. Caleb picked out a Baseball Easter basket a few weeks before and he loved showing it off to his friends. Silly boy kept putting it on his head, but finally he got it was for Easter Eggs and not a hat:) After the party, all the kids got to go outside to hunt eggs. Caleb probably picked up 15 eggs, but he was running so fast they kept falling out of his bucket:( Overall, he did pretty well with the school Easter Egg hunt.

On Friday, Meme took the day off. She has spent the last 2 Fridays with Garrett since he was sick, so she took Caleb out of school Friday afternoon to have a date. Caleb and Meme went to eat at McDonalds and then went to the park to play. They had a great time throwing rocks, sliding, and seeing the fish. After the park, it was nap time. I got home from work with Garrett right when Caleb was getting up from nap. Meme gave the boys their Easter baskets. They had lots of fun surprises they were so excited about! We got to eat dinner with Meme and play some more that evening before she headed back to Miami.

On Saturday, both boys were up before 6AM. Wide awake! Caleb and I went on our Saturday date to get Starbucks and Krispy Kreme’s. In the car he went on and on about the beautiful sunrise. Such a sweet boy. Later in the morning, he headed to Pinnacle for the Easter Egg hunt. Caleb was so excited to see his Papa, Gigi, and Uncle Ty Ty. He also got to see Tomas and Eva from his school and also see Melia who lives close by. Caleb did great at the Easter Egg hunt. Once again, he had probably 20 eggs but when he bent down to get one his entire basket dumped. There were kids going crazy over his eggs, but luckily we were able to save about 70% of them! After the Easter Egg hunt, we had brunch at the clubhouse. Caleb loved having Razorback pancakes. Garrett did great the entire too for having a limited nap that morning. After brunch, we headed back to the house for a little more playtime before naps. Papa and Gigi gave the boys their Easter baskets with lots of fun surprises too!

After nap, we headed to our neighborhood clubhouse for a birthday party. It was Cookie Monster themed and so incredibly cute. There is to sweet boys in our neighborhood that are older that told Caleb he had to eat a Hot Dog to be in the “Big Boys Club”. Caleb said OK and he ate an entire hot dog! I was so proud of him for trying it. I even gave him one on Sunday and he ate it then. The Sunday before he asked Jeff for a hamburger and ate half of it! I am so proud of his eating lately and how well he is doing trying new things.

Easter morning we woke up and let both the boys hunt eggs. Caleb wouldn’t pick up any eggs until he found the one with the money:) Garrett loved picking up the eggs. He smiled the entire time. Both the boys got lots of surprises from the Easter Bunny. Garrett got a toy for his high chair, a new train, and some blocks. Caleb got Chutes and Ladders, Llama Llama book, and a Special Agent Oso car. There were lots more, but that was the big things. We made it to church on time! Caleb didn’t want to go in his classroom so he sat next to Dad. He was incredibly quiet the entire time. The pastor at one point said “Christ is Alive” and Caleb corrected him telling him it was “Jesus who was alive!” I am so proud of Caleb. He correct anyone who only talks about the Easter Bunny to tell them that Easter is really about Jesus dying on the cross and rising again for our sins. So smart for a 3 year old boy!

After church, we went home and grilled some fajitas. Not the traditional meal, but hey easy, quick, and yummy! After lunch we did naps and then went to the park for more family time. Garrett took another nap while Caleb and I enjoyed some fun one on one time while Dad watched the Masters. Caleb and I played his new Chutes and Ladders game and then we made homemade personal pan pizzas. He was so proud of making his own pizza. He ate the entire thing for dinner! After dinner we had a dance party and played lots of toys. I just kept looking at the boys and thanking God for blessing me with such sweet little boys. I love them both more than words can say.

All in all, it was a great Easter weekend. I am so thankful to have hope and know that Jesus lives in my heart and someday we will be in heaven with him! I am also so thankful for my family and what joy they bring me. Happy Easter Everyone!

I have been a runner for about 7 or 8 years now. I started running because I put on the Freshman 15 and then some. I just wanted to feel better about myself. So, my junior year in college, I started to run. It started with a mile and I slowly worked my mileage up. I even ran during both of my pregnancies around 6 miles a day. It was a slow run and towards the end I was confined to an elliptical, but I kept on running. After I had Garrett, I was back on the treadmill 2 weeks after giving birth. I wanted to be able to easily fit back into my clothes before I went back to work. It took a lot more work with the 2nd child, but thanks to running I was able to go back to work in my pants. They may have been a little snugger that I liked, but they buttoned:)

In December, several of my friends signed up to do the Bentonville Half Marathon. Everyone at the gym always stops me to ask if I do run competitively. I never have. In fact, I am still terrified from experiences like my elementary track meets where they heavy kid ran beside me telling me I could do it and in middle school when my track coach drove her car behind me screaming at me to run faster. I was always so slow and not athletic growing up. In college, I started slow, but then I got bit by the running bug and it became an obsession. I got my average pace to a 7:30 per mile for about 7 miles. I had to do a lot of interval training to get there, but now it is my average pace. Anyways, I always feared I wouldn’t finish the races because I would be exhausted or I would come in last place. Finally, since enough people signed up, I decided it was now or never. I was going to get over this fear of mine.

I trained as hard as I could given that I am still new at my job which means I can’t go for as many lunch runs as I used to. Being a working mom, I do not work out after work. I spend that time with my boys so I have to run at lunch and during nap time on the weekends. In addition to the lack of time, Garrett was sick for most of February and March, so I was living on about 4 hours of sleep a night! So, training was hard. I powered through the 10 and 11 mile runs on the weekend and felt so exhausted I could barely walk afterwards, but I was going to complete this goal. I even had a few skeptics that told me I was crazy and said I shouldn’t do it, but that fueled my desire to run this race.

The week of the half marathon, Garrett got pneumonia for the 3rd time! Jeff and I probably got 3 hours of sleep each night the entire week. Finally by Thursday he was feeling better but still got up several times during the night. So, on race day, I was exhausted. But, I woke up that morning excited to complete this goal of mine and overcome my fears.

Jeff dropped me off at the race at 7:30. I nervously waited in the middle of the pack at the start line. I saw a few people I knew and wished them good luck. Finally, the whistle blew and off we went. Since I was in the middle of the pack, I was unable to really get to my true pace until about a mile down the road. My first mile was at a 9:02 pace which was really slow for me. Miles 2-10 were around a 7:30 pace. The last 3.1 miles were uphill the entire way! I was so exhausted but I kept trucking. My pace slowed down considerably, but I was going to finish the race without stopping.

Throughout the race, there were several people with signs to encourage us to keep going. My favorite one was, “You Gave Birth! This is nothing” and “You don’t really need all 10 toenails”. There wasn’t a stretch of the course where people weren’t cheering us on. I even saw several friends on the route.

Finally at 1:47:00, I completed my goal and crossed the finish line. I could see the finish line from about 200 meters away and my mind was saying sprint, but my legs just weren’t moving fast enough. I just kept trying to smile and get through that line. As I was crossing the line, I saw my husband, boys, and mother in law cheering for me. It honestly was one of my proudest moments I have ever had. I had conquered a fear and something physically I never would have thought I could have done 10 years ago. And, on top of it all, I did it 8 months after having a baby! It was my boys that I kept thinking of when I was running and felt tired. I kept thinking that they are waiting for me at the finish line and I want to make them proud.

As soon as I crossed the line, I gave the boys hugs, drank a lot of water, and then started feeding Garrett a bottle. I laughed as I was sitting there thinking a mother’s work is never done.

People keep asking me if I have the race bug. I don’t think I do. That was a lot of hard work. But, I may change my mind later. I do want to beat my time and get higher in the ranks, so maybe next year:) Overall, I was 29th out of 513 Females and 127th out of 1,216 runners. Not too bad for my first rodeo, but there is always room for improvement:)

Garrett turned 8 months old on April 3rd. It breaks my heart that time is going by so quickly with him. Poor thing was so sick from January-March, but we still got to see little glimpses of his happy personality. The last week Garrett has finally felt like himself. I am so thankful to hear that laugh that shakes his whole body. I love seeing his huge smile. He loves his Mama. He reaches for me constantly and does a little dance in my arms when I pick him up.

Garrett- you weigh almost 21 pounds now. You wear size 12 month clothing. You probably should wear 18 month clothing due to how big your tummy is, but it would be way too long still:)

You eat 5 or 6 bottles a day and love eating your baby food. Your favorites are Mixed Vegetables, Apples & Blueberries, and Yogurt. You tried Gerber “cheetos” this week and loved them. We gave you yogurt bites too but you didn’t really know what to think about that.

You are trying so hard to crawl. You look like you are swimming most of the time. But, just this week, you got up on all 4′s and started to rock back and forth. I take full responsibility for you not crawling yet. You haven’t felt well for about 3 months, so Mama has spent a lot of time holding you. I am thankful for all that cuddle time though.

You have started to mimic words. You have “said” Hi, Dada, and Mama. You have no clue what they mean, but you have said them. Your dad swears the other night when I left the room and you started crying you were saying mama over and over. I hope that is your first real word:)

You love your brother. The other day at school none of the teachers could get you to stop crying. I asked them to go get Caleb to see if he could help. Caleb came in and sang Jesus Loves You to you and you immediately stopped crying! You light up when he is in the room. Your brother loves you so much too. He always wants to hold you, but you have a bad habit of pulling on people’s clothes or hair. You are just so excited to see them, but it hurts sometimes.

You aren’t the best sleeper, but I have faith you’ll get there someday. You love to take baths with your brother. You splash in the water and play toys. It is one of my favorite parts of the day watching you two have fun in the bath.

We put your swing up this weekend and you love to swing. You even got in the trampoline with your brother. The things we let you do we would have never let Caleb do.

You instantly calm down when Mama sings Jesus Loves You to you. It is our special song.

You never really want to sit still. I have to always be moving with you. The only time you like to cuddle is when you are falling asleep. I do love how active you are.

Garrett- I can’t believe how big you are getting. I love you more than words can say. You and Caleb make my heart happier than anything in this world. We are best best buddies and always will be. Happy 8 month birthday!

Our little family of 4 was able to take our first family vacation with the Busch family for Spring Break this year. My parents left on Friday morning from XNA and we followed them on Saturday. They were gracious enough to go early in order to get all the food, drinks, and supplies for the week. I contacted a baby rental place in FL to get car seats, exersaucer, bath seat, pack n play, toys, life jackets, pool floats, beach towels, and beach chairs for us. I also gave my mom a mile long grocery list containing formula, baby food, Caleb’s favorite foods, etc… It took some work to get us there, but I am so glad that we went.

We flew out Saturday afternoon. Caleb, Garrett, and I sat on one side of the plane and Jeff sat on the other side of the aisle. We were pretty nervous as Garrett had a double ear infection, but luckily the doctor gave us ear numbing medicine before we left. Garrett took his bottle upon take off and slept the entire first flight. Caleb was glued to the window. He loved going in the clouds. He said he saw Papa’s house and New York City! So cute. Our first flight took us to North Carolina. Caleb was excited to be there too. We ran through the airport and got our second connection to Ft. Meyers. We only had a 45 minute connection, so that was tough once we had potty and diaper changing breaks:) Finally, we landed in Ft Meyers. All in all, the boys did great. Caleb said he wasn’t sleepy on the second flight, but finally took a nap. He was trying so hard to keep his eyes open and watch the clouds. Garrett slept half the second flight and was a little fussy when he was awake, but all in all they were great boys!

My mom and Tyler were waiting for us in baggage claim. Dad was driving the mini-van around since he couldn’t park close enough. My other brother and his wife were about ten minutes behind us. We all got our luggage and got in the car. Our car was a hatch back and that wasn’t going to work with 2 car seats and luggage, so somehow Jeff talked him into a Mercedes SUV for the week. Nice! The drive from the airport to our house was about 45 minutes. In true fashion, Garrett screamed the entire time we were driving in the car. He hates the car! We were so thankful to finally get to the house after a long day of flying and a really long 45 minute drive of screaming:)

My parents rented a beach cottage in Naples, FL! They stayed in the larger house while our family had the guest house. The guest house was perfect because it had 2 bedrooms, a kitchen, and a living room. Just enough space for Caleb to run around and me and Jeff not pull our hair out.

The first night was really relaxed since we all got in just before 7:00. My parents made kabobs, potatoes, and veggies. It was great. We went to bed early so we could get up and go the next morning.

The next morning we ate breakfast and went seashell hunting on the beach. I could not believe how many seashells there were! It was amazing. We took a big beach bag of them home! Caleb ran probably a mile each way up and down the beach with his Aunt Meggie and GiGi. He was having a wonderful time. He was hunting for treasure! He loved getting the seashells and seeing the ocean. We headed back to the house so we could make it to a local church. Unfortunately, neither of my boys were interested in staying at the new church so we headed back and had our own lesson at the cottage. After church, we ate a quick lunch and headed to the beach. Garrett lost it in the car and was pretty tired, so Jeff headed back to the house so he could nap. Caleb swam in the ocean non-stop. We all got a chance to swim with him. When someone went out farther than he wanted he would yell, “Come back. That is where the sharks live.” There were also several airplanes that flew over the beach to land. Caleb loved seeing the airplanes. We built tons of sand castles and buried Ty Ty and Papa in the sand. Caleb had a wonderful time! He was so incredibly happy! After the beach, we headed back to the house and the boys went to play a PGA golf course! The girls stayed back with the boys and let them nap. Caleb slept for almost 3 hours. He was worn out from the fun. We ate pizza and then took the boys for a walk around Naples. It was a gorgeous town!

The next morning the boys and Megan went fishing. My mom and I went for a long run and then took Caleb to the park. There was a great park next to the house. We also stopped by the local fire station and he got to talk to the firemen. He loved that! After everyone was back from deep sea fishing, some went shopping at the outlet mall, but my dad, Jeff, boys, and I went on some kid friendly adventures. Our first stop was an old train station. Caleb was in heaven again. It was the Seaboard train line. He loved climbing on the old trains. After we explored there for awhile, we headed to Naples Zoo. Caleb loved seeing all the different animals. His favorite things were riding the camel with mom and feeding the giraffe. He has grown up so much and likes to do more out of the box things now! He kept calling all the animals by the Madagascar (a movie he likes) name. After the zoo, Caleb and Papa went swimming before nap. Papa taught Caleb to stay calm, kick his feet, and move his arms. I think Papa could have Caleb swimming in just a few days if I sent him to Grove. May have to do that:) Next, our entire family got pictures made on the beach at sunset. My hair looked awful and the photographer was a little odd, but we had a great time. I am so thankful to have those memories and have great pictures of my family! Caleb and Garrett didn’t really want to take pictures, but we got a few. One of my favorite parts was when a wave came in and soaked Jeff’s shorts. He yelled but we thought he was being silly as the rest of us didn’t get wet. He stood up and his back was soaked. You could clearly see his green plaid boxers! Knowing my husband and his need to be clean, this really made us all laugh! After pictures, the boys went swimming in the pool and we all just sat around eating dessert and talking. It was a nice relaxing night.

Tuesday brought more fishing and hanging out in the morning. That afternoon we headed to the beach again. This time Garrett wasn’t as fussy and came with us! Garrett loved the beach as much as his brother! He was clapping and saying hi to everyone. It was too cute. I even put his hands in the sand and he cracked up! It was so neat to see how much he loved it. He ended up sleepy about half way in, but took a nap under the umbrella. He looked so comfortable. We built more sand castles with Caleb and he played lots of football with his uncles. He thinks he is just as big as they are:) After that, we headed back to the house to get ready for the Red Socks game that night (spring training). Caleb had a blast at the game. He got a huge ice cream cone with his Papa! Garrett did well at the game too. He loves being outside.

Wednesday was our day to go home. The security line was so long and we had some trouble getting through with Garrett’s food and formula, but we finally made it to the plane. The boys did great on the first flight again! We struggled a little again on the second flight, but all in all for their age, they did fantastic! I was so proud of them.

We got home that night around 6:30 and I had all the bags unpacked and dinner on the table by 7:30. The beauty of renting a house is that we were able to do laundry every day which made it so nice for me to come home with all clean clothes! So thankful for that. We all went to bed early as we were exhausted from the travel home.

All in all, it was a wonderful vacation. It made me so happy to see how happy my boys were on the beach, how much they loved playing everyday with their grandparents, aunt, and uncles, and just getting to spend all day and night with them. I love my family more than anything in this world. I don’t know what I would do without them. I am thankful our first trip went so well. I hope our next family trips will go that smoothly too! At least I know there is hope for another trip. Had it gone bad, Jeff may have vetoed family vacations for the next 5 to 10 years:)

I think I am just going to commit to doing a catch up post at the end of each month:) Goodness, I can’t keep up these days.

The beginning of the month brought Garrett’s second round of pneumonia. Jeff was out of town, so this made it extremely difficult on me. Garrett cried through the night every night Jeff was gone leaving me with about 45 minutes to 2 hours of sleep a night. Luckily, my parents and Mary Kay came to help on the 3rd and 4th night which was such a blessing! Jeff also flew home early, but by that time Garrett had antibiotics in him for 36 hours so he was starting to feel better. I am pretty sure Jeff thought I was crazy at that point. I was so tired though! I was just glad to have back up during the night:)

The week after Garrett’s pneumonia, I took my first work trip. I cried the night before and the morning I left, but other than that I held together pretty well. I missed the boys with my whole heart, but I just tried to focus on work and let the time pass before I was home with them again. Our corporate offices are in Oakland. It is so pretty in Northern California. The last night we ate dinner at a seafood restaurant overlooking the San Francisco Bridge. I kept looking out thinking how I would have never thought I’d be working at another company this time last year. Last year that exact week, I was on vacation with Jeff in San Francisco and we were anxiously waiting to find out if we were having a boy or girl. With that said, I am so thankful for my new job. It is such a blessing to work with nice people and not carry around so much stress all the time!

After I returned from work, we were all home and healthy for a week. Then, it was off on our first family vacation with the Busch family! It took me all week of making lists, buying summer clothes, organizing, etc… to get ready for the vacation, but we did it! I will post more on that in a separate post with pictures soon!

While on vacation, Garrett started to wave and say Hi. It is so cute. It is a really drawn out hi. I don’t know if I’ll count that as his first word as he is mimicking us, but it is clear as day a hi:)

Also in early March, Garrett started to clap his hands when he is excited. I love it!

Caleb has really become the big brother. He is always helping me with brother. When Garrett was so sick and Jeff was out of town, Caleb was an absolute angel. He told me he was going to be nice and a helper. One day he said, “Momma you take care of Garrett. He is sick. I will take care of you. You are tired.” I went to my room and cried that night after the boys were asleep. I didn’t want to appear tired to him, but several days on 2 hours of sleep or less was working on me. I even fell asleep at work one day. Not good. Luckily, they saw how exhausted I was and told me to go home and take a nap:)

Also for first, Caleb got several goals during his soccer game in the month of March. The first one he scored he looked at me in the crowd in utter shock. He was so excited. He has scored several goals during practice, but he got his first game goal! One of the game days, he used his hands when he was almost about to score and he got so upset he went into full melt down mode. We had to leave that game. We asked him on the way home if he knew why we left the game and he said it was because we were mad he didn’t score. Break my heart. We explained to him it was because he threw a fit, but I don’t know if he ever really got it.

Caleb can also quote 3 new memory verses: Deuteronomy 6:5, Acts 1:8, and John 3:16. So proud of that boy! He loves going to church.

He also can “read” about 5 or 6 books from memory. He loves to read to his brother. His favorite books right now are the Llama Llama books.

Overall, besides Garrett’s sickness, everything has been great. We have just been so busy with soccer, birthday parties, travel, and unfortunately sickness that we can barely keep up. I keep saying I hope it will slow down, but I have a feeling the next 18 years are going to be like this:)

Well, it has been an interesting month for our family! Garrett got sick the first week of January. I took him to the doctor and he said he had an ear infection and a cough virus. The next week, his cough got worse and worse. He also started wheezing. So, we went back to the doctor and he said he had bronchiloitis. He gave us an inhaler to help him breathe at night which seemed to help a little bit. As the week progressed, he got more congested and would cough so hard and so much that he would throw up repeatedly at night. I was feeding him Pedialyte with a syringe to make sure he was getting enough liquids because he could hardly take a bottle because of his cough and congestion. So, back to the doctor we went. This time we were diagnosed with pneumonia! So, we were in our third full week of being sick and he still wasn’t getting better! At this point, I actually called the doctor and asked for him to be tested for whooping cough. The doctors laughed at me, but decided they wanted to see Garrett again. A new doctor looked at him and agreed that it was pneumonia, but said it was time we took a stronger stance against it. Therefore, Garrett was put on 2 different inhalers and an oral steroid! The oral steroid did the trick and he was able to sleep more than an hour at a time. Thank goodness for both him and me. The inhalers are helping a lot now too. Just this week, he has finally started feeling better. He still coughs, but not the terrible fits! We will be on one of the inhalers for a month to help strengthen his lungs again. Poor boy was sick for a solid month. I don’t think Jeff and I have slept more than 2 hours at a time in a month. So, we are exhausted! We just want poor buddy boy to feel better. I think we are finally on that path!

Two weeks ago, we went to Caleb’s first soccer game. He is playing with his best buddies from school: Xander, Eva, and Kama. They are on the Purple Panda team. Garrett was starting to sound a little better, so the whole family went to the game. Caleb played so well at soccer. He really does a great job listening to the coach. We need to get him to be more aggressive when he plays, but he does great for his age! After soccer, we went to Chick Fil A. Caleb had a fun birthday party at the fire station he was so excited for later in the day, so we needed to eat a quick lunch before an early nap. Garrett and I stood in line to get the food and Jeff and Caleb went to play in the play ground. Just as I was about to order, I heard Caleb scream. I thought, “Oh his dad made him mad and told him he had to come out and eat.” I turn around and there is blood all over both him and Jeff. Jeff calmly said we needed to go get stitches. (He is always so calm in scary situations! I am thankful for that). An unsupervised kid threw his shoes in the middle of the floor and it tripped Caleb. He flew through the air and busted his head open when he made contact with the steps. At this point, everyone in the place is just staring at us. I have Garrett and Caleb in my arms and had to ask them to please get us some napkins!!! us. I got the napkins on his head and off we flew to the hospital. Literally, I kept yelling at Jeff on the way there he was going to kill all of us if he didn’t slow down. Since Garrett had been so sick, I didn’t want to expose him to anything in the ER, so I called Xander’s parents and asked if we could drop Garrett off there. They had a baby sitter and were on their way out of town, but they were so sweet to let us take Garrett! So, Jeff dropped me and Caleb off at the hospital and took Garrett on to their house. Caleb and I got checked into the ER very quickly. We saw a doctor in 15 minutes. Unfortunately, the doctor took one look at Caleb’s head and said, “Yes that needs stitches. He may pass out too, so be ready for that. And, I can’t do anything with him until he calms down.” Knowing Caleb, I thought we could potentially be there all day before he would calm down. He didn’t want the ER doctor. He wanted his doctor. Luckily, we were able to get a hold of Aunt Megan who is in medical school. She told him that the doctors were really nice and were there to help him. That helped Caleb calm down substantially. Finally, Jeff was back and the doctor was ready to do the stitches. They put Caleb in a straight jacket and had really bright lights shining in his face. My heart sank because it reminded me so much of when he had to have his EEG ran because of his seizure. That was the worst week of my life! The doctor numbed his forehead with a few shots and stitched him up. I had to walk out at one point because every stitch they put in, more blood would come out! It made me almost pass out. Caleb got an Ironman Band-Aid and a teddy bear with a matching Band-Aid and he was a happy boy again. He handled the whole thing very well. I was so proud of him. We expected him to be in a lot of pain as the day went on, but he never complained. After the shot wore off, he said his eyes tickled and then later in the evening he said his Band-Aid hurt, but nothing dramatic. He was such a good boy!

On Sunday, his Meme came to see him. She couldn’t stay away knowing he got hurt? She also sent him a huge balloon bouquet that he loved. So sweet of her. He got lots of phone calls and love from his grandparents that week!

The next Friday we took Caleb to get his stitches out and Garrett for his 6 month appointment. Garrett weighed 19.2LBS and Caleb weighed 29.2LBS! Caleb gained 2LBS. We were so excited about this. We had to see a new doctor, but he was fantastic with Caleb. When Caleb gave him knuckles, the doctor slid across the room and told him how strong he was. Caleb loved that! Caleb then proceeded to ask him if he played golf. The doctor just cracked up how grown up Caleb sounded. The doctor removed the stitches and it looks good. He’ll have a pretty nice scar, but overall it healed well.

The rest of the weekend was so incredibly busy. Caleb had soccer at 10:00, a Valentine’s Day party at 11:30, Jeff and I went on a date at 4:30, and then by the time we were home it was time to get the boys to bed. I don’t think we sat down all day on Saturday! Sunday, we went to church and then took Caleb to a birthday party at The Little Gym. He had a great time with all his friends at school. I am so thankful for the great kids and parents at our school. I really appreciate their friendship!

Other than that, our time has been spent trying to keep our boys safe and well! Busy, busy! We also have been really busy with soccer and birthday parties. I wouldn’t trade it for the world!

On February 3rd, Garrett turned 6 months old. How is this even possible??? I feel like it was just yesterday we were walking in the hospital to have him. It is all going by such much faster the second time around!

Garrett sits all by himself now. His favorite thing to do is for me to put lots of toys in front of him. He’ll grab each one, play for a few seconds, and throw it behind him. His favorite toys are his car and his camera.

He sits in his high chair now while we have dinner and plays with his camera and a few other small toys. He doesn’t love his high chair, but for the most part is content in there. I just started giving him a sippy cup hoping he’ll play with it and learn how to drink from it.

I gave him food the week before he turned 6 months old. His first foods were bananas and peas. He really loved them. Right now, he isn’t crazy about food or formula. He is starting to show the same tendencies as his brother when it comes to eating. This frightens me. I really hope that it is just that he has been sick. We have made it through all the 1st foods as of this week and started 2nd foods. He just moved completely over to formula as well. He really wants to eat “big people” food. If I am holding him in my lap, he will grab whatever is on my plate and stick it in his mouth before I can tell him no! He is quick! That is why he now sits in his high chair.

He weighs 19.2LBS. He’d probably weigh more, but he was sick for the entire month of February so he didn’t really eat well. He wears 6 to 12 month clothes at most places or 9 months if it is Polo/Children’s Place. He’ll be in 12 months quickly.

He is almost ready to crawl. He gets up on all 4′s but hasn’t figured out how to move just quite yet.

He LOVES his brother. The other day at school, none of the teachers could get him to calm down so they went to get Caleb. They said Caleb told him Mommy would be there soon and sang him a song and he instantly stopped crying! I hope they are best friends some day.

His favorite song is Jesus Loves Me and Momma Loves her Baby. He just relaxes when he hears those songs.

He loves taking baths at night. He splashes all the water. He does not like getting dressed after the bath though:)

All in all, he is a very happy baby. He has a laugh that makes you crack up laughing too. He has the biggest, warmest smile. He gives me kisses but not really anyone else. And, the other night I was singing to him, and even Jeff said it sounded like he was singing along. He loves to read books with me and Caleb. He loves music time with his dad. He is just a sweet boy and I cannot imagine life without either of my boys. I am so thankful how well Caleb has adjusted. Garrett brought out such a wonderful side of Caleb. Caleb is now very outgoing as he used to be shy. He also has started trying all kinds of new foods because he wants to make us proud and show his brother how to do it. Overall, both my boys are blessings and I absolutely love our little family of 4. There are nights when I get sad because it hurts my heart when they go to sleep. I just wish I could have all the time in the world to enjoy them at this age. They are precious!

I hate it when I forget to blog. But, life has been so busy lately! I just hope I can remember everything to put on here. I really want to use this blog as a way to look back at all the things our family did together and how we grew!

Let me start with New Years Eve and then we’ll move forward. I made reservations for Jeff and me to go out on a quick date that evening. Since no one in NWA wants to babysit on New Years Eve, I made the date for 5:30 so we could get a babysitter. Kylie was so sweet to come watch the boys. She always does a great job! Anyways, I made the reservations at Ruth’s Chris. I wanted to make sure we had a nice, quiet dinner date where we could talk and catch up. I made the reservations 5 weeks in advance, so I knew we would get a table. When we got to the restaurant, we were seated in the bar. I asked if there was another table in the main dining room, but the waitress told me there was not. Jeff and me sat down and started to laugh at our luck. I decided to run to the bathroom before we ordered and saw 15 tables open! I told Jeff and we decided lets just roll with it. The music was blaring and he could watch football, so I could see why he was fine with the bar. He got his steak either way? Unfortunately, the service was marginal. They didn’t even clean the appetizer plates off our table. Overall, it was an OK meal if you were spending $40 or less, but for the money you spend there I expected more. On a positive note, it was really nice to have a date with Jeff and get to eat somewhere that doesn’t have a kids menu. Jeff and I had a great time laughing at our luck and how this always happens to us. It never ever fails!

After our dinner, we went home to get the boys and went to the neighbor’s house for a NYE party. We have the best neighbors. They are so much fun and would do anything in the world for you. I really appreciate them. During the party, I noticed Garrett wasn’t being himself, so we decided to head home. Caleb was pretty upset with us. He was having a great time running around with all the kids! But, I am glad we went home early as Garrett was up all night with a croupy cough. His first “sick” doctor’s appointment was made on January 2nd and sure enough he had a double ear infection. So, that was his first time to need an antibiotic. At that appointment, he weighed 17LBS and 14OZS. The best part about the doctor’s appointment was that Caleb went with me but the doctor didn’t have to check him out. The doctor showed Caleb his stethoscope and let Caleb help him check out his brother. After we left Caleb told me that he likes doctors now, so here is to hoping Caleb’s next doctor’s appointment goes smoothly!

Also the week after New Years Eve, Garrett started sitting up all by himself. He had been sitting really well, but would fall to the side about 30 seconds later. Now, he can sit up for several minutes at a time. He can grab toys, shake toys, etc…. He loves to sit up and look around.

Another fun thing we got to do was take the boys to Tyler’s ballgame. Luckily, he had one canceled earlier in the year so we were able to go on a Saturday to watch him play ball. We grabbed dinner with my parents before and then headed to the game. Caleb loved watching his uncle play ball, but his favorite part was running up and down the bleachers and running on the court after the game. Garrett slept through almost the entire game. He was a sleepy boy. On the way home, Caleb and I decided we wanted ice cream! But, since it was 8PM, Daddy told us no. He wanted to charge home. Garrett hates the car and screams the entire time, so we are on a mission when we get in the car. As we were pulling into Bella Vista, Caleb started yelling over Garrett’s crying that he had to go the bathroom. We begged him to hold it, but he swore he couldn’t. So, the only place to stop was Dairy Queen. Jeff ran him into the bathroom and I got out of the car with Garrett to give him a break from his seat. I decided I would get us a small cone to go;) Jeff and Caleb came out of the bathroom and Jeff was just shaking his head. Caleb didn’t have to go the bathroom. It was his little plan to be able to stop for ice cream! He thought of it all by himself. Since I had the cone, I asked Jeff if we could just sit down and let Garrett have a break. Since both of us had headaches, he said it was fine. As we were sitting in the booth, Caleb says, “Hey Dad, if you tell mom you have to go to the bathroom in the car, then you get to stop for ice cream. Awesome.” We just laughed and were amazed he was smart enough to come up with his sneaky plan?

The next weekend was Caleb’s best buddy Xander’s birthday party. He had it at Chuckie Cheese. They had a GREAT time playing with all their friends. And, Jeff and I really enjoyed catching up with the other parents that over time have become great friends for us! Caleb used to be scared of Chuckie Cheese, but now they are buddies. He was one of the only children that wanted to go give him a hug and say hello! And, Caleb ate his entire piece of pizza. Just a month ago, Caleb would have never touched pizza, so this made me really happy! We just went to another birthday party this past weekend at Chuckie Cheese. It is a fun place for kids that age.

Meme came up the next week since Jeff was on a business trip to watch the boys and keep me company. I am so thankful she spent Thursday night with me because between the 2 boys, they were up 10 times from 11PM to 6AM. So, luckily, I had someone to help me with that. Caleb had quite a cough the entire time, but he really did enjoy playing with his Meme. And, Garrett loved getting to learn to call the Hogs with his Meme too. Poor Jeff was in Atlanta and got the stomach flu! I felt terrible that he was sick and away from home, but part of me was relieved he wasn’t home and could give that to Garrett. Unfortunately, Caleb had already got it a few weeks earlier? When Jeff got home that evening, he was feeling much better so he was able to go to the Mid Year Bash at my work. It was a lot of fun. The team lead gave a great speech thanking everyone for their hard work. He was even kind enough to remember my boy’s names and welcome me to the team. Very nice. There was a live band and an open bar, so we were a happy couple!

The next morning, Jeff, Mary Kay, and Caleb headed to get doughnuts and I stayed at the house with Garrett. I could tell he wasn’t feeling like himself. Sure enough, Sunday night he didn’t sleep more than 45 minutes at a time and had a terrible cough. He was also rattling in his chest. I took him to the doctor first thing in the morning and he was diagnosed with pneumonia and another ear infection! Poor thing. He looked pitiful. We had to give him Albueterol and another medicine for his ear infection. He had to take his inhaler every 4 hours to open his lungs and help him breathe. You could really tell when the medicine was wearing off! When we weighed at the doctor, he weighted 19LBS and 2OZS. As the week went on, he wasn’t doing better. On Tuesday and Wednesday night, he threw up because you couldn’t catch his breath. So, I took him back to the doctor on Thursday. The diagnosis was still the same. Just needed more rest and fluids to combat dehydration. When we weighed him on Thursday, he weighed 18LBS and 7OZS, so he had a rough few days. Luckily, with lots of prayers, Friday he turned a corner and started feeling a little better. He still has a terrible cough though. I would say he is feeling 60% better. But, I have been able to see him laugh and smile. Oh how I missed that for a few days!

The last exciting news is that Garrett started eating baby food this week! We started him on rice cereal two weeks ago, but he makes the saddest face when you feed that to him. I can’t blame him! So, Friday night I decided to let him try peas. He loved them. On Sunday morning, we introduced bananas and you would think it was ice cream. He can’t wait for the next bite. Poor boy is so ready to eat people food. The other day he was on my lap and we were sitting with Caleb while he ate. Garrett reached over and grabbed Caleb’s grilled cheese. Luckily, I was able to grab it before he put it in his mouth. He is a quick little thing. He’ll grab your food if you aren’t looking.

Overall, that catches you up on our weekends. 1st foods and 1st sicknesses for Garrett.

Caleb has been such a blessing the past few weeks. We went through a stage where he was throwing a substantial amount of fits, but that only lasted a few weeks. The last two weeks he has been so sweet to us. He tells me every night that I am his best friend. And, most nights in the bathtub, he’ll tell me that he had such a fun day with me. I always ask him what his favorite thing he did that day was. The answer changes each day, but he always says he has a great day. I have been reading him a book each night before bed. His favorite right now is Llama Llama Mad at Mama book. It is really a cute book. Caleb and I have been on a few dates lately. I love that 1 on 1 time with him. The other day I took him to the mall to get his foot measured and he was a 8.5 shoe. He has been wearing 7. I feel so bad. He is getting so tall that he needs 3T pants finally. But, I have to cinch them to the last button inside. He is so skinny. We are working really hard to try to get him to eat more and new things. Each night he has to try at least 1 bite of what we are eating. Most of the time he cries but then after he tries it he tells us he liked it. So, we’ll see. Caleb went through so much with his digestive system as a baby, so we are very understanding of his issues with eating. Nothing infuriates me more than when someone rolls their eyes or tries to tell me just to make him eat it. They obviously do not understand the extent of what he went through as a baby! We are going to work on it and push him to eat more variety and more food, but I am not going to punish him for his food issues. Poor boy! Caleb really loves going to church on Sundays. His teacher told me two Sundays ago that he was a very intelligent little boy that listens so well. She also said he was very respectful and followed instructions to a T. I was so proud to have a stranger tell me that! All in all, Caleb is the sweetest little boy in the world. I love hearing him tell me he loves me so so much every night. He has started saying “but” a lot which is cute and annoying all at once. Caleb eat your vegetables, “but”, Caleb go to bed “but”. It is funny.

Garrett is growing way too fast! I can’t believe how big he is getting. He is eating baby food now. He loves sitting in his high chair playing with his camera, moose, and Ned (the giraffe). He laughs with his entire body. He loves playing peak a boo. He loves reading his Baby Einstein Mirror book. He can lift his entire body up and looks like he is going to crawl any day now. He reaches for mommy. If you tell him to find Daddy or Brother, he’ll look around the room until he makes eye contact. I can tell he is going to be smart like his brother. He loves bath time with his brother. I got him a bath seat, so now the boys can take baths together. Last night, I made it a bubble bath and Garrett was in heaven! Caleb is a great big brother to him. He wears 6 to 12 month clothes and some of those pants are too tight? He wears a size 3 diaper. He still sleeps in his nap nanny. We want to transition him, but with him being so sick and congested that is the best place for him right now. He LOVES his jumperoo. He bounces so high and laughs the entire time. He has been on several buggy rides at school lately too which he really enjoys. His favorite song is Jesus Loves Me. Nothing soothes him more than that song. He is a hair puller and pincher, but I still love him to pieces. And, he cuddles so well with me. We always take naps together on the weekend.

All in all, my boys are great and I love them so much it takes my breath away how much I love those boys.

Jeff and I are doing well. We are in transition mode again since I took the new job. I really do love my new job. It is so nice to work in a positive environment. I will say that the job is much bigger than I expected, but I am slowly getting my brain around it all. It is a great place to work. But, with the new job, comes a little more stress, so I just have to learn to manage it and be the best mom and wife I can be. Jeff is doing great at Kimberly Clark. He had a great first review and seems to really have impressed a lot of people there. He has traveled to the headquarters a few times now which he enjoys. All in all, everything is going well! We are very blessed.

Here’s to hoping it isn’t another 6 weeks until I post again?