1-2-3 POOP!

Yes, this seems to be the case in our household. I do not know how my children do it - seeing as they can't talk - but they seem to be able to communicate when to poop at the same time. In the last week I have been noticing that when one poops the other one does. Yes, funny to you on the outside. Not so funny to me who thinks she is rid of the stinch only to find that another diaper must be changed.

Honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way. I awoke yesterday morning to Doug getting up at 6:30 a.m. to get in the shower to get ready for work. I thought to myself I am so glad I am not him and that I am able to stay home with my babies - poop and all. Thanks, Doug, for working so hard so that I can be with our children and thanks to the Chicken House (Chick-fil-A: aka Mike Moore - my boss) for letting me do the majority of my work from home so that I can be an at home mommy. I love my stinky, poop filled job. :) - and I don't mean the work I do for the chicken house! :)

"Go, Go, Go!"

Since the last two posts were about Douglass Charles, this one is about sweet Charlotte. Thankfully she seems oblivious to her brother's crying and it adorable to see her try to comfort him when he is downstairs in his bouncy seat - sometimes doing more harm than good.

The pictures above are of her on Easter Sunday. Her Aunt Meg gave her that adorable dress and I wanted to get some pictures for her (see how cute, she looks! Thanks, Aunt Meg!). She loves wandering around the back yard, picking up rocks, grass and occasionally the dreaded dog poop (that is another post all in itself). I just wanted to post these pictures because she looked so cute. They have nothing to do with the story I am about to tell.

Friday evening Doug took all of us to Relay for Life to see his school's team. The whole family took a lap in honor of Doug's granparents - who are both cancer survivors - and my dear grandmother who lost her life to ovarian cancer. We were there for quite a while and it was nice for me to get to visit with adults.

While we were there Charlotte of course wanted to run all over the place. She took one lap with her father while I sat and chatted with Doug's teacher friends. Later, when we were about to leave (and it was already her bed time), she decided she wanted to make another lap. This time I took her. She did not walk, she ran. Yes, she ran around that entire track, passing others as they were walking. About half way around she got faster and faster and began to shout "Go! Go! Go!" She said this over and over again as she literally ran around that track. Thankfully others thought she was cute and she had everyone laughing that she passed.

I remember thinking as she looked up at me, face flushed, breath hard, continuing with her motivational "Go" montra, that I would always remember that moment. Her beautiful blue eyes staring up at me with such enthusiasm as she ran with such determination and complete joy. It was a special moment for her mommy - realizing that her little independent girl was getting all too grown up. :)

Baby Update

So, we went to the doctor yesterday and Douglass Charles checked out fine. He actually has put on 8 oz in two weeks and grown almost a whole inch (making him almost 24 inches long). Needless to say, the doctor was not concerned and very happy with his progress.

He reassured me that it was fine to let him have some alone time in his crib even if that meant he was screaming. Actually, he told me I don't really have a choice unless I want to hold him all the time. So... our naptime bootcamp has begun. You would think that I would be completely frazzled. Actually, I am much more at peace knowing that he is healthy and fine (thanks, Mom, for the advice to take him to the dr). I feel that I am doing what is best for everyone in our family and I think Charlotte and Doug would agree. Thus, even at two months old, the training has begun. I will keep you posted on our progress. :)

18 + Hours

This is how long my 8 week old son was awake yesterday. Yes, I am not kidding. We are taking him to the doctor today because his spitting up is causing a little concern in my mind, but I am mainly just taking him to get checked out.

You may marvel at his ability to stay awake that long. I know I do, but he did try to go to sleep. The problem - and is has become a BIG one - he wants to be held while he sleeps during the day and by me only. Well... you can imagine that does not fare well. So after basically having him in my arms Tuesday from 2:30 in the afternoon until 11:30 in the evening I was done.

So, yesterday, every time he would fall asleep, I would put him in his crib. After ten minutes he would wake up and start screaming. I would set the timer, let him cry for a little bit, and then go check on him, calm him down and give him his passy. He would always stop and a few times fall asleep again. As soon as I walked away, Whaaaaaaa!. I thought surely by the afternoon he would go to sleep on his own. Not with our stubborn genes. Needless to say, this battle went on all day. He was up and out of his crib and played nicely at times - actually more nicely than usual. I think he was avoiding that bed.

Your prayers are appreciated as we discover if there is anything really wrong or if - as my father puts it - Douglass Charles has just trained me. It may be daytime nap bootcamp next week as I begin the training process with my son. :)

Easter

Our Happy Girl!


Douglass Charles in his "Coming Home" outfit. He is finally big enough to wear it. :)


Me and my babies - I still can't believe I have two kids.


My Easter Babies - aren't they precious? We certainly think so.


Daddy and his girl - Charlotte is definitely becoming more of a daddy's girl these days.

These pictures were the best I could do. It was a miracle that we have any of the kids looking at the camera. Charlotte would not sit still and Douglass Charles insisted on punching the air the whole time.

This was our first time back at church since the baby arrived - which was my goal. We barely made it there, but it felt good to finally get back. We are at a new church so we still don't know many folks, but it was nice to go as a family and at least worship.

I couldn't tell you what the pastor said. I forgot when you have a baby in tow that listening to the sermon is almost pointless. Nonetheless, I was blessed by the choir singing the Alleluia Chorus. So beautiful! I can only imagine how breathtaking the celebration will be once we get to heaven.

Hope your Easter found you remembering our Savior and celebrating His resurrection!

And the Mommy of the Year Award Goes To...

NOT ME!!!

Yesterday was a rainy, mucky day so we were stuck indoors. I was tired from a rough night with the baby and not feeling much like being a mommy. I wanted to be 21 again on a Saturday morning with the ability to sleep until 1:00 p.m. if I wanted. Of course we were up and at em by 8:00 and my children were trying my patience (as they do when I am tired. It is like they know that Mommy is more tired today so lets annoy her more). Anyway... Let me list a few ways I didn't get the Mommy of the Year Award yesterday.

1. Charlotte was babysat by the television all day. I know, this is horrible but with my being tired, her being whiney, and the rain outside I didn't feel that I had much choice. I know I did, but I chose the easy route - watching television.

2. Douglass Charles wound up taking a nap with poop on his little bottom for two hours. In my defense, I didn't know. I thought I smelled something, but I wasn't sure and he was asleep. God knows, I wasn't going to wake him. I did feel badly when I realized that my instinct was indeed correct.

3. I ignored my baby's cries when I thought he was being stubborn only to find out that he was indeed needing his Mommy. This one really got me and I just have to chuckle now. My baby boy loves to be held and would be all the time if I would allow it. With a 17 month old this is not possible and in order to get a shower yesterday morning I put him in his swing hoping he would take a nap. Charlotte and I made our way upstairs to get dressed, straigten up and for me to hop in the shower while she watched yet another tv program. I turned on the monitor to make sure the baby wasn't screaming. He did begin crying so I jumped in the shower knowing he just wanted me to come hold him.

Now the good Lord has blessed me with two stubborn children - I couldn't imagine why they are that way. Douglass Charles has already shown me that when he doesn't get his own way he just cries louder and louder (his sister was the same way). He will even make himself throw up he gets so upset (and all this fuss is for me to come and hold him - I should feel special, right?). I thought this was what was transpiring while I was showering when I heard his crying turn to screaming and then later subside. I carried on about my business knowing that he would just have to wait a few more minutes.

He stopped crying and after my shower I checked on him. He had finally drifted off. After we were both dressed, beds made and clothes put away Charlotte and I headed back downstairs. I went to start picking up Charlotte's mess before I started on lunch. I began picking up items around the baby's swing where he lay taking his nap. I kept finding rubberbands, bobby pins, a cap to a bottle and then I looked at my sweet son. I was confused to find my face wash bottle in his arms. How did that get there?

As some of you know our living room opens to the second floor and you can see the the second floor. Charlotte loves to call over the banister at people below. Obviously she has learned that it is also fun to drop things through the railing. This is how my face wash wound up in my son's lap. Charlotte had removed it and the other items found from the bathroom drawer while I was in the shower and evidently thought it would be fun to drop them on her brother from the floor above. His loud screaming that I had formerly heard was caused by these things being pelted at him. I knew this because of the bottle in his lap and the nice little red mark on his face. Ahhh... the things I am learning the second time around. We now must move the swing to a safer location on the first floor. Who knew?

So hats off to you moms that keep it all together. At least we survived yesterday. Hopefully my children will survive one another and not hate me in the process. :)

"Peas"

Our Sweet Boy


Such a cutie!

I had to post a cute story about Charlotte but knew people would like to see more photos of our little guy. These great pics are courtesy of Kate, Doug's sister. They were here this weekend visiting and they snapped many a great photo.

So, Charlotte is adding more and more words to her vocabulary. As of late we have been teaching her to say please whenever she wants something. It has been going well and she normally does the hand motion to go along with it. Yesterday morning I asked her to say "please" when she wanted something from me and she said, "Peas" (aka please in Charlotte language)slight pause "Good Girl." I had to laugh. She has linked the two phrases together becuase I always praise her after she says please by saying "good girl." It really is too cute and it has continued throughout today as well. At least she is learning some good manners.:)

Pictures

Our handsome boy


Our pretty girl




Charlotte wouldn't look at the camera and was busy "eating" something she had made in her kitchen.



The next three posts are meant to be "put together" and are titled "Pictures, Posts, and Other Things." I had to seperate them out because I can only upload five pictures at a time. I mainly used captions to describe the pictures since I am limited on time for posting right now (both kids are actually asleep at the same time this afternoon so I am trying to get a few things done while I have a few moments of quiet to myself).

Things are going well and we are continuing to adjust to being a family of four. Douglass Charles if five weeks today and we go for his six week check up next week. I look forward to seeing how much he has grown. I know it is happening just by looking at these pictures.

Enjoy the pictures. My goal is to have Easter pictures up by the end of the month. I just hope I can get some good ones since our little red head is quite difficult to photograph these days. She never stops except to sleep and eat and the occasional tv program. I wonder if her brother will be as busy. :)

Until then (or maybe sooner - who knows - really who am I kidding)...

Posts

Charlotte bouncing her brother in the bouncy seat - one of the things she gets in trouble for all the time. Mainly because she presses down on his stomach in order to make the chair bounce. As you can see she thinks it is fun!


Charlotte is always kisses and hugging on her brother. She loves to bring him his pacifier and help me burp him. She has also taken to do these things with her own baby dolls as well as making them cry.


Holding brother - she actually reached out and wanted to hold him while she was sitting on the couch with her dad.


Getting a little less interested...


Deciding to bonk him on the head instead of holding him. Needless to say, I have to really watch her because she thinks this is such fun!

All these pictures are interactions of the kids together. Charlotte is great with her brother, there are just a few things we have to work on - like keeping his passy in his mouth and not making him bounce when he is asleep in his bouncy seat. She really loves him and I look forward to seeing them getting more involved with one another as he gets bigger. I am sure they will have a lot of fun!

And Other Things

The face he makes when he gets hungry. There is no question about it. He lets you know when he wants to eat!


The kids with my parents. This picture was almost near impossible to get.


Doug and his namesake. Father and Son.


Charlotte finishing off her first cup of pudding. I'd say she loved it!!


Her brother watching her eat the pudding. I'm thinking he wants some.

These are random photos from the last five weeks. You can see how much our little one has changed.