Jackson

Going to Jackson was so much fun and yet it was so weird to go back. I had forgotten a lot of it but it all immediately came back as we started driving around. I was taking picture like crazy. I lived in Jackson back in 1993-1996 so the last time I was there was 12 years ago and I was only 13 years old! I made a list of all the places I wanted to go see, but I told myself that I wouldn't look at the map so I could see if I remembered how to get around or not. I just kept telling Ryan, "This is so weird, this is so weird." Because a lot of things hadn't changed at all. Here's my old house. The yard doesn't look as nice as it did when we lived there and the color of the house has changed, but the neighborhood hadn't changed a bit. I loved our neighborhood since all the houses were on 1 acre lots. So much room to play!


We had lunch at Brooksie's Barn. Talk about true Southern comfort food. They had everything you could think of fried catfish, hush puppies, collard greens, black eyed peas, chicken and dumplings, pulled pork, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, southern green beans and potatoes, etc. It took me back to those times that we'd stop at a little cafe on the way home from skiing on the Tennessee river and have fried catfish.


Here's my elementary school and the playground. I went to 5th grade here and my brother went to 1st through 3rd grade. My mom used to substitute teach here so I'm sure she has fond memories at our elementary school too.


And here is the middle school I went to for 6th grade and half of 7th grade. Good ol' Tigrett Middle School.

On Sunday we went to my old ward and it was so good to see people there! Jackson is such a transient place that there were a lot of families that have moved away, but there were a few people that have stayed and it was so fun to catch up. I seriously felt like I had gone back in time the whole time I was in Jackson. Things that I had totally forgotten suddenly became so familiar again and I got to see places that I haven't been to in years. I even got to see my good friend Sandra! She came by our hotel and spent the afternoon with us. I loved catching up and remembering old times. I loved how she said it...we're all still similiar to our 13 year old selves, just not quite so perky. Thanks Sandra!!!

Memphis Trip

We just got back from our little "vacation" to Memphis, but I'm not sure if you could really call it a vacation...we tried though. I don't think that now is really the best time to try to take your kids on a trip in the middle of winter. Max isn't the quietest baby and he doesn't sleep well so staying in a hotel, surrounded by sleeping people...not good. Then keeping a 3 year old child cooped up in a hotel room is asking for trouble. If the weather was nicer then we could have gone out on walks or gone to the zoo or something, but it was freezing cold and rained/snowed. What made it all worth it was being able to spend time with Ry and for the opportunity to go back to Jackson.

E loved staying in his "super secret bed" (the pull out bed) and picking out his own breakfast every morning at the continteal breakfast. So much fun! In the evenings we spent time with Ry and went out to dinner together. We tried a lot of the BBQ places and they were very very good, but I think we're all BBQ'd out for a long time. One night we took E to the mall so he could meet Santa and that was hilarious! He told him whole list....hungry hungry hippos (that's it)...and talked to him a little bit and gave the cheesiest grin for their camera. If the pictures weren't $20 then I would have bought it. Our last night we drove around downtown Memphis and got to see all the lights. That was the night that E fell asleep on the car ride to dinner and didn't wake up until 6 o'clock the next morning. That NEVER happens!

So it was great to go on a trip with the hubby and kids and be able to spend time with him while he worked on the road, but it wasn't quite a relaxing trip due to the season of life that we're in right now.

Post about Jackson to come...

My Childhood Memories

I've been thinking a lot lately about my childhood and I think that I should start recording my memories on my blog as my "personal history." Every so often I think I'll do a few posts about my earliest memories and include some fun picutres and what not to include in my annual blog book. This jump on the memories all started when Ry introduced the idea that I come with him on one of his business trips to Memphis so the town I grew up in is only about 1 1/2 hours away. So I pulled out my old journals and started to relive those old days. As child I moved around a lot and I tend to remember things by the place we lived, not necessarily by age. This is the breakdown of how old I was and where we lived:
1982-1984-Age:0-18 months--West Lafayette, Indiana (my dad was getting his MBA at Purdue)
1984-1986: Age 18 months-3 years--Columbus, Ohio
1986-1990: Age 3 years- 7 years (1st grade)--Perrysburg, Ohio
1990-1993: Age 7 years (1st grade)- Age 10 (4th grade)--Hazleton, Pennsylvania
1993-1996: Age 10 (5th grade)- Age 13 (7th grade)--Jackson, Tennessee
1996-1997: Age 13 (7th grade)- Age 14 (8th grade)--Anderson, South Carolina
1997-2001: Age 14 (9th grade)- Age 18 (HS graduate)--Perrysburg, Ohio
After I graduated I went out to BYU, got married, and then we moved out to San Jose, California and now we're down here living in Dallas. Quite a bit of moving for a person. Get ready for some childhood memories and just skip over those posts if they're boring to you. So anyway...I got a chance to visit Jackson, TN this weekend and it was great! More to come...

A Typical Day/Night

During this past conference I was really touched when President Monson talked about enjoying the time of life that we're in and how quickly things change. It really hit me when he talked about how all the little fingerprints that I clean up everyday will someday be gone. So every time I see little fingerprints I tend to cherish them as I wipe them away. Anyway...I want to remember what the "typical" stuff that we do since a lot of times I post about all the fun and interesting things. So here is a typical day in our lives...
5:30- Max is up and gets in bed with me and we sleep a little longer
6:00- E is up and wants a show or breakfast (Ry gets up with him unless he's out of town)
7:00- I'm up and get the baby fed, changed, and put him in his bouncy seat so I can get some things done
-get E breakfast if he hasn't already had it
-put in a load of laundry, unload the dishwasher, clean up something
-check the list of things to do
8:30- Max takes a nap in his swing
-E plays in his toy room, we read books, he watches a show, or he's getting into trouble
-I'm playing with E or getting something done

This is where the day gets unpredictable. The baby takes short naps sometimes and other times his naps are long. You can never tell what it's going to be like. So I try to get some E time in or something done around the house while he's napping. The day is filled with feeding, burping, changing, naps, playing, laughing, time outs, phone calls, reading, tummy time, favorite shows, baths, cleaning, eating, etc. My days are full and my nights are too sometimes, but we're starting to fall into some small form of routine.

E still hasn't been jealous yet and he is very sweet with his brother. He even told me the other day that he wants to go back to the hospital and bring home all the babies. That kind of surprises me, but he really loves his baby brother and I guess he wants more. Yes, my child is wearing shorts in December. He picked this outfit out himself and put it all on by himself. It's part of his summer wardrobe that he's totally grown out of. Whatever floats his boat.

Anyway...Max's sleeping schedule goes a little something like this...
7 or 7:30- down for bed
9:00- I pump and go to bed
11:00 or 12:00- Max is up and Ry feeds him the bottle I pumped (or I'm up if Ry's out of town)
2:00- my turn for feeding and I'll be up the rest of the night
3 or 3:30- he's up again
4:30 or 5:00- he up again
5:30- he's in bed with me and I'm tired
So we get a great 4-5 hour stretch at the beginning of the night and then I'm basically up for the rest of the night with him. What's the deal? It would be perfect if he could do another 4-5 stretch after the 2:00 feeding and that would be awesome! All in time I guess. I can't complain, I usually get to sleep til 1 or 2 so that is soooo nice!

So this is what life is like for us right now with a 3 year old and a 2 month old. Things change so quickly so it's fun to go back and see where we were and how far we've come. So this post is basically just for me, but for other moms out there going through the same thing it might make you feel like there is someone out there experiencing the same sleepless nights and busy days. So for all of you out there...enjoy it!

All Smiles

I have tried and tried to get a picture of Max smiling and I finally got one while we were cleaning up Thanksgiving dinner. Kaitlyn was able to capture the moment for me. I swear he has the bluest eyes I have ever seen! Isn't he so cute?!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving turned out wonderful this year! We had just about homemade everything and it was all delicious! I figured out that this was my first Thanksgiving with my immediate family since I've been in high school! Crazy! All the years I was at BYU I'd spend it with my extended family up in Idaho. When we lived in Cali, my brother-in-law came to visit and we'd have dinner with friends from our ward. And then the past 2 years we've been in Texas we've spent it with Ry's family. So this was a special time for me to be with my parents (too bad Randall was up in Idaho, bummer). Anyway...Kaitlyn and her family came down and celebrated with us and it was tons of fun. The kids had a great time playing together and they enjoyed eating at the "kiddie table." My stuffing and pies turned out great and all the other dishes were so good, we seriously could not stop! The weather was gorgous so Ry took the kids outside after dinner to work off some energy. I think they were playing follow the leader for some of the time and it was so hilarious to watch a bunch of kids jumping in a line or spinning down the sidewalk.

I'm so used to Thanksgiving being really cold and staying indoors, but the entire neighborhood was bustling with people taking walks and playing football. I think it ended up being about 68-70 degrees most the day. We were tempted to heat up the pool to go swimming, but I wasn't about to put on a bathing suit. No thanks. We took the kids to the park instead and my mom was able to take a few snapshots of us. I swear the whole time I've known Kaitlyn, we've never gotten a picture together. We swore when we were pregnant that we'd get a preggo picture together, but neither of us were up for pictures at that point in pregnancy so here's us after babies.
So Thanksgiving was fun and delicious this year. Can't get any better than that!

Thanksgiving Prep

So what are you in charge of this year for Thanksgiving? I'm interested to see what kind of great trimmings all of you guys are up to and maybe get a few good ideas for next. This year will be a very fun Thanksgiving. We are going down to my parents and my best friend and her family will be joining us. Yeah! I'm in charge of the stuffing and 2 pies (Dutch apple and chocolate) and I'm wanting to everything from scratch so I'll be doing a lot of baking tomorrow. The crusts are prepped and in the fridge, but all the pies will be made to tomorrow and the stuffing will be prepped up to the baking stage as well. I will try to remember to snap a few pictures of the final product and post them on our recipe blog. I'm also trying to wrangle Christmas decorations all at the same time. I've got just about everything up except all of my ornaments and some of the final touches that I have to figure out. Plus all the clean up, blah! It's coming together though and I have a little 3 year who is SUPER excited about all of this. So fun!

Check Ups

Today was Max's 2 month check up and E's 3 year check up so we made the trek to our new pediatrician for some fun. Here are the stats:
Max:
Weight: 12 lbs 4 oz (50%)
Height: 23 inches (50%)

Ethan:
Weight: 33 lbs (50-75%)
Height: 38 inches (50%)

So basically my kids are average all around. Not too big, not too small, just right. I took a look at E's baby book to compare his size to Max's and it looks like E was about 1/2 lb heavier and 1/2 inch taller than Max at this month, not too crazy. And E has grown 4 inches and gained 4 lbs this year! Wow! I can't believe it! Everyone is healthy and doing great. The doctor said that Max will probably grow out of his fussiness/anti-sleep habits by the time he's around 4 months so only a little while longer. I can do it!

Random note: I had an interesting experience when I took E with me to the library the other day. I think boys are just programmed to like certain things or something. Anyway...I was letting him pick out a couple DVDs to check out and these were the ones that caught his attention: He-man, Batman, Pokemon, and Power Rangers. Are you serious? Now this is just my personal opinion so don't get offended, but I really don't think a 3 year old should be watching any of those so he had to put them all back. Why in the world are little boys attracted to things like that? That is seriously all he wanted to get. I guess I'm slowly learning the world of little boys is very different then what I expected.

Twilight Movie

I know everyone has been posting about going to see the movie and all that, but how can you not? The movie was great! I have to admit when I saw the previews, Edward wasn't exactly how I pictured him but once I saw the movie...he was AWESOME! The chemistry between Bella and Edward was perfect and I'm really hoping they do all the books as movies! I have to admit, I want to go see it again so if anyone wants to go...

Fortune

Even though the Chinese Lunar Calednar for predicting the sex of our child was completely wrong, they did get something right about children in my fortune cookie today:

Do not give up; the beginning is always the hardest

Getting Into The Holiday Spirit

I know it's not Thanksgiving yet, but G'ma and G'pa (as the kids like to call them) will be headed out of town for a couple of weeks so the Christmas decorating had to come a little early this year for them. We gladly joined in on the festivities and E had way too much fun putting up ornaments with G'pa.
Check out the height. I hope Ry is ready to do that with him on our tree this year.
Max was pretty jealous, as you can tell, so Daddy tried to give him a little comfort and let him know that he could probably help next year. Afterwards we watched my FAVORITE holiday movie, Elf. I love the part where he gets hit by the car. Classic! Anyway...the Christmas music is downloaded to my Ipod and I am ready for the holidays!

My Traveling Cowboy Golfer in Dinosaur Pajamas

E is getting quite the imagination these days and this is what he came up with the other night after Ry got home from a business trip...
The other day he spent half an hour playing around with soup cans that he got out of the pantry. Soup cans...pure entertainment!

Post of Randomness

My life seems like a bunch of randomness these days so I decided to post about it.

Max Randomness
-Have my baby clothes shrunk in the wash?! No, Max is now over 12 lbs! I put him in some PJs that E wore at 3 1/2 months and Max isn't even 2 months yet! I can't believe how big he looks these days!

-His belly button started bleeding the other day and it freaked me out when there was blood all over his onesie in the morning. The doctor had me come in and there was a part of his umbilical cord deep inside his belly button that never came off so that was causing the bleeding. They just used some silver nitrate and it's all better now

-He's been waking up ever hour at night for the past 2 nights! I'm running on fumes.

-He's loving his hands these days and will look at them and suck on them when he's awake. He even rubs his eyes when he's tired, it's so cute!

-The swing is his favorite place to sleep

E Randomness
-He's a reading machine these days. I remember just a year ago when I would try to read to him and I just felt like I was chasing him with a book in my hand and trying to get him to look at the pictures. Just yesterday he piled up all the library books and we read every single one in one sitting (that's 10 books!). I never thought I'd see the day!

-Ry read E's birthday card to him the other day and had E fill in the blank and this is what happened...
Ry: "E you are getting soooooo _______ "
E: "Funny"
Everyone laughs
Ry: No, you're getting sooooooo ________"
E: Perfect!

-He is so good with Max. He is super gentle and very nice to him and is very enthralled with his brother. He always asks to smell him. I have no idea why. So he always sniffs his head and runs off to play. Whatever. We did have our first "issue" today though. He pinched his brother while I was putting laundry in the wash.

My Randomness:
-My mind is gone. I went to pick up Max's Prevacid on Tuesday night after Ry got home so I took his car since it was parked out front. Well, the next morning I found that my purse was missing. No cellphone, no wallet, no checkbook, nothing. I realized that I had left my purse in his car. Well, Ry's car was at the airport since he had to go out of town to Memphis. I ended up having to drive to the airport and track down his car in order to get my purse. Thank goodness we have a complete set of spare keys or else I would have been in big trouble!

-I haven't slept well in weeks. I'm so tired.

-I'm enjoying small spurts of reading these days. I try to read a little bit while I nursing, thanks to a tip from my friend. It's helping to get my mind back. I just finished The Host and I thought it was kind of weird.

-I still have a few freezer meals left in my freezer. Making freezer meals was seriously the best thing I did to prepare for Max to come. That's one portion of my sanity that I still have. Go freezer meals!

CHUY'S (chew-ies)

Imagine my 3 year cupping his hands around his mouth and giving a really low voiced "CHUY'S." That is the word around our house these days. As some of you know, my husband is a project manager for building restaurants. He just finished up a Chuy's here in the area so we were able to enjoy the perks of the big pre-opening festivities. Before a restaurant opens they give tickets to certain people in the business for their friends and family to come in and let the staff practice on them. I've been to some openings before when Ry was building On the Borders here in the area, but the Chuy's opening by far has been the most fun! On Saturday we went with my parents for their practice session. They basically give you the food that you're supposed to order so the kitchen can work through all their equipment and be sure things are made properly. You're also given questions that you need to ask your server so they are familiar with the menu and the restaurant. It's all totally free and they give you tons of food so it's really fun to try things that you normally wouldn't order.

Well, if you haven't ever been to Chuy's and you're from Texas then you really need to go! The food is fabulous and the restaurant is so fun! It's seriously some of the best Mexican food that I've ever had and their salsa is so addicting! They have 3 or 4 Chuy's in Austin, 4 in Houston, and 2 in the Dallas area so go find one if you're around those areas. The restaurant is totally like nothing I've ever been to. It's somewhat similar to Buca Di Beppo's with the eclectic decor, but it has its own flair. There is a hub cap room where the ceiling is covered in hub caps, an Elvis room with lot of Elvis paraphernalia, an art room with all sorts of art, and so on. So fun!

Last night we went to their VIP opening night with RY's family which was tons of fun! I wish I would have brought my camera! Bummer! It was so much fun to see all the things that my hubby has been working so hard on and to know all the background on what happened during certain phases of the process and to meet the people that Ry has been working with these past months. It's so fun to have him build in the area so I can experience this since there are other times when his projects are out of state so I don't ever see the finished product. Anyway...we got to have all sorts of yummy food and got to experience the Chuy's atmosphere. I had Max with me and he slept most of the time so I was able to sip some virgin Pina Coladas and eat chips and salsa until it came out my ears. It totally took me back to our trip to Cancun. Anyway...Ry's got a few more Chuy's to do with them next year so hopefully the Chuy's fun will continue and there will be more VIP nights to go to.

Right now Ry is also working on a Benihana's in Memphis so I'm totally wishing that project was here. That opening would be so fun too! Oh well. I guess if you live in Memphis he could probably get you tickets to that opening so enjoy it for me. I'm sure I'll be frequenting this restaurant since it's so addicting and I'll be sure to bring my camera next time.

Getting So Big!

Maxwell is 6 weeks now and I can't believe how big he's getting. I had to break out his 3-6 month clothing already since some of his 0-3 month stuff is already getting too small. His 1 month appointment was optional so I opted not to go so I don't know exaclty how much he weighs, but I'm guessing he's over 11 pounds now. He's definatley not going hungry around here. He's smiling at everyone these days and it's so cute! I just love his little grin.

He's also doing pretty well in the sleep department. Not in the amount he sleeps, but he sleeps in his own bed. When I had E, I was so tired that I let him sleep in the bed with us since it was a lot easier to feed him and he slept better. But by the time he was 3 months old, I was even more tired since I slept with one eye open all the time to be sure he wasn't being smothered by Ry or by a blanket. So we ended up having to do the whole sleep training thing and it was not fun. This time around I swore that I would not do that again. Well, when Max came home we put him in the pack-n-play and things were not good. He ended up sleeping on someone's chest or in the swing all night. Plus with all his reflux it didn't help out the sleep situation at all. Well, now he's on his medicine and it's working so we've started putting him in his crib at night and he'll actually sleep there! He wakes us every 2 hours on the dot. It is so nice to have him in his own bed, in his own room so we can all sleep better. If he would just stretch out the time a little more then that would be heavenly! All in time. I'm just so happy we're not in a 1 bedroom apartment like we were with E. It just makes life so nice!

Halloween/Birthday/Blessing

This weekend has been a VERY VERY busy weekend. I left off on Friday with my visit to the urgent care to recheck my thumb. Everything is getting better. Well, that evening poor little Maxwell started feeling the effects of the antibiotics and was pretty much inconsolable for hours. Ry put him in the Bjorn and took him Trick or Treating with Ethan so he would fall asleep and I could pass out candy.
It was a gorgeous night on Halloween! It was about 80 degrees so I sat out in a camping chair in my driveway and enjoyed the perfect weather. E and Ry even had to come back to the house to take off his undershirt and to get drinks since it was pretty hot in his Incredible suit. I grew up living up North so we had to pack on the turtle necks and then wear a coat over our costume so this whole 80 degree thing is new to me, but you don't hear me complaining. Man, I love Texas...seriously...I love Texas. Anyway...that night Maxwell didn't sleep at all because his poor digestive tract was going crazy from the antibiotics. I felt so bad and I couldn't really do much to help it. I just held him and tried to comfort him.

Saturday was E's 3rd birthday! Happy Birthday E!!! Ry took him to basketball, but they were setting up for a reception at the church so they went to get birthday donuts instead. Then he came home and opened presents. He's been begging for Gator Golf for weeks so he was so excited when he opened it. Doesn't the look on his face look like a typical three year old?!

We have been putting all weekend long and the fun just won't stop. Plus, if it helps his putting who can complain. Which I have a whole other post to do about E and his putting skills. That will be another day. Anyway...Later that day my parents came up to help me get the house ready for Max's baby blessing. I put on a small lunch after church for our family to celebrate the blessing and also E's birthday. So I needed help getting the house put together and getting the food prepped. Well, Max was so uncomfortable and upset that it was a switch off with my mom. I'd cook while she held Max and then she'd clean while I held him and we'd switch back and forth all afternoon. Poor Max! The guys worked on the yard and got it all ready for fall/winter. It's all weeded and mulched and I even have flowers! Yeah! Oh and I have to show a picture of the birthday cake that I did up for E. I think it turned out so fun. E went crazy when he saw it. He wanted to eat it immediately, but unfortunately we had to wait for the blessing lunch so I had to watch out for little fingers trying to poke it.



I made the base out of 9 inch rounds that were cut in half and frosted together. The cannons are Swiss roll cakes, the cannon balls are whoppers, the sides are pirouette cookies, and the island is crunched up graham crackers. My mom had the pirate accessories from her cake decorating stuff so they added a great touch. It was just great to see E's face when he saw it when he woke up from his nap. Classic!

Sunday was Maxwell's baby blessing day. I was so worried that he'd cry through his whole blessing since he'd had such rough days the 2 days before. Luckily it looks like his tummy is getting used to the antibiotics. He has been so much better! He was perfectly quite during his whole blessing and he even slept through most of church. I'm so glad he feels better!

The blessing was wonderful and it was so nice to have family here to come support and participate. Ry's parents were in Australia when we blessed E so I think Ry was really happy to have them here. We also blessed E in Ohio so none of his other extended family were there so this was quite the gathering this time around. Unfortunately my house couldn't accomadate everyone for lunch so we just had grandparents, great grandparents, and Uncle Matt and Aunt Molly. Lunch was great and E loved playing with his cousins. He was also so excited to dig into his cake and open his presents. He got some pretty fun things and I love that he's playing with them intently as I type.

So this weekend was super busy, but super great! Now I need some major recuperation time. It might actually happen too with Max feeling better and E having some new toys to play with! Glory day!

Funny Eism

Here's another funny moment in E's life:

Last Saturday Ry and I were asleep and E came into our room to wake us up. Neither of us wanted to get out of bed so E started playing in our room. Ry had his suitcase out since he just got into town the night before so E stood on top of it and shouts..."Babies and Gentlemen! Boys and Gurls! On your mark, get set, go!" I immediately started laughing and ask him to say that again. He just cracks me up! I'll have to get this one on tape!

Infectious...continued

Last night the streaking of infection didn't move up my arm at all. So no ER visit for me, phew! I headed in to see the doctor again early this morning. And thank heavens for wonderful friends!!! Kaitlyn took E for me so I only had to take Maxwell with me. Bless you, Kaitlyn!!! The doctor I saw the first time wasn't on today so I was seen by another doctor today. Thank goodness I marked my arm where the streaking was so the doctor could see that it hadn't progressed. It's even lightened quite a bit. She thinks that things look like they're getting better, but they have to see me again in 48 hours to be sure that things are continuing to look good. So I'll be sitting in the urgent care on Sunday right before my Max's baby blessing. Help us all! I asked her if it really was necessary if everything looked better and she said that I HAD to come in since this is not something to mess with. So the streaking is better, my thumb is still twice the normal size, but the throbbing has subsided. Max hasn't seemed to have any trouble with the antibiotics in my milk, but I'm still keeping a look out for any reaction so we'll see. Right now I'm just looking forward to a fun Halloween night with the fam!

Infectious!

My thumb started hurting last night really bad and I had no idea why. It started swelling, got really red, and throbbed. The only thing I could think of that could have hurt it was picking out my pumpkin at the grocery store and the stem had a lot of briars on it and it pricked me and maybe it was still stuck in there. Ry and I both looked at it and couldn't figure out what it was and the pain localized right on the pad of my thumb and it looked like there was a little bump there but couldn't really tell. The next morning there was a white looking bump the size of a little pimple on my thumb. So anyway, long story short...it got to feeling worse during the day and my mom came up today so she was looking at it too. Well, we noticed that I had a red streak going up my arm from my thumb and that's the moment that I high tailed it to the urgent care. The doctor took one look at me and basically told me I was screwed. First of all, I'm allergic to sulfa and second of all I'm breastfeeding. Shoot! Basically he said that what I have is some sort of bacteria that is now traveling up my arm in the blood stream and that I need to have antibiotics heavy enough to wipe out Staph and other types of serious infections. He thinks that the pumpkin that I picked up had some kind of bacteria and then when I got pricked the bacteria made its way into my bloodstream or I could have been bit by a spider. So he found an antibiotic that I could have while breastfeeding and we're keeping our fingers crossed that it will work. I got a shot today and then I'll be on a course of another antibiotic for a week. He said he wants to see me first thing in the morning to see if the streaking has gotten better. He told me that if it gets any worse in the night then I need to head straight to the ER. To be honest, I'm pretty nervous right now. I'm really hoping that everything will be alright tonight and I won't have to go to the ER and be on high dose antibiotics and have to stop breastfeeding. I'll keep you posted.

Max Update

I've gotten a lot of questions about how little Max is doing now so here's a little update on what's been going on. Well, I have noticed a big difference on the reflux medication. It's a lot easier to feed him and he doesn't cry as much as he did when he first visited the doctor. He is starting to sleep better at night the past couple days too. He wakes up every 2 hours which is tons better than before when he was waking up constantly. I just need him to stretch that out a little more and take less time getting back to sleep. Even though he wakes up every 2 hours, I'm only sleep about 1 hour in between. So 4-5 hours of interrupted sleep is not great, but it is more than before so I'll take it. He's starting to smile now and his smile is so cute! I just love it! He especially loves to smile at E and that just cracks me up. I'm sure E will be the source of a lot of Max's entertainment throughout their lives. So all in all things are going pretty well these past few days!

Street-or-Treat

Our parents' ward (yes, Ry's parents and my parents are in the same ward, how crazy!)had a really fun Halloween party a little while ago that we were able to attend. They had it out at this really cool barn and since there wasn't a parking lot to "Trunk or Treat" they had everyone take positions around the cul-de-sac and "Street or Treat." We used to live with my parents for a little while when we first moved to Texas so it was great to be back to see our friends in the ward. So here are some pictures of my little Incredibles. Aren't they so cute?
E was so excited to go around and get candy. He still talks about it and wants to go again so bad. Thank goodness Halloween is on Friday so we can take him again. It will be a sad day for him when all the treats end. Here is a picture of him getting candy from both of his Papas.
And here is Maxwell carrying his own candy around.
We had a really great time with our families and our friends and loved the Halloween festivities.

P.S. Maxwell started smiling on Friday, so cute!

Pumpkin Patch

Tuesday was a gorgous day and I really really wanted to take E to the pumpkin patch this year so my mom helped me pack of the kids and we headed out there for a fun morning outing. E LOVED it and it was so nice for me to get out and be a real person in the real world again! We listened to some kids Halloween music the whole way there and by the 8th round of "Adams Family" I was happy to turn it off. E jumped in the the bounce house stuff for quite awhile and just had a blast. Then we took him for a wagon ride through the pumpkin patch and then we let him pick out a pumpkin for Maxwell and for himself. He was so thrilled to pick just the right one and wanted to put it in the car all by himself. So funny! I found this old picture of E at the pumpkin patch 2 years ago, I can't believe how big he is now! Geez!










Then we stuck E in jail and told him to make a sad face. This picture just makes me laugh.
We were going to stay and get snow cones, but the yellow jackets were terrible and I didn't want the E or the baby around swarms of yellow jackets so we opted to go to McDonald's for lunch and to play. Maxwell LOVES the Bjorn so this trip was really easy. He just fell asleep and went wherever we did and didn't make a peep. Thank you makers of Baby Bjorn! E lived in that thing his first 7 months of his life and I have a feeling that Maxwell will follow suit. Anyway...it was a really fun day at the pumpkin patch and we are ready for Halloween!

1 Month Old!!!

On one hand it feels like it has flown by, on the other hand it feels like my days never end. That's the life of a mom! Things have been better the past 2 days so I'm enjoying the break while I can since you never know with babies. My mom says he's just like me as a baby so I guess I'm getting pay back for putting my mom throught the ringer. My mom came up and helped me through the night while Ry was gone and that was soooo nice! She totally understands what I'm going through so it's nice to have her by my side. I got to sleep from 10-4! Heaven! It's amazing how different you feel when you get sleep! I was like a new woman! Max has been sleeping from 10-1 then gets up and sleeps from 2-4 and then stays up for awhile and then crashes around 6...just in time for E to get up. I've been sleeping him in his crib, no more sleeping on my chest or in the bed. It takes quite a few tries to get him to stay in there, but he'll go down after awhile. He still rolls over when you put him on his tummy so we'll see if he continues to do that as he grows. He's gotten really chubby and I'm guessing he's over 10 pounds by now. Happy 1 month little Maxwell!

Baby Incredible!

The other day I put a little red outfit on Maxwell and E asked me, "Oh, does Maxwell have on his Incredible suit?" What a great idea Mr. E! I totally didn't have anything for Maxwell to wear for Halloween and I wasn't really going to worry about it, but E's comment gave me hope. My mom had some felt and she totally constructed the Incredibles insignia and sewed it onto his little red outfit. Didn't she do an awesome job?! Now I have two Incredible boys running around my house these days. Pictures to come!

Workin' Hard or Hardly Workin'

E disappeared into the office before church a couple Sundays ago and this is what I found him doing. He was totally engrossed in his "work" and told me that he was "busy working" and that I needed to leave him alone. I think all he would need is his own blackberry and he'd be set. I just love how hard he's concentrating and you can tell by his tongue in the second picture. I can just picture him at school in a few years doing the same exact thing.

E's First Football Game

Last week E had a fun adventure with daddy. It was so funny to see Ry come home from work and just be thrilled and giddy to take his son to the football game and have the full experience. I thought it was so cute. Ry got tickets to the BYU vs. TCU game so he took E for his very first football game. E talked to me on the phone on the ride home and told me all about it...a big frog, a "tiger" (cougar), football players, hot dogs, cheering, etc. He was so animated and excited to tell me about it. I could tell he had a great time!

Life Is Rough...

...for me and for Maxwell. Things have just been really hard these past few days. I haven't really noticed too much of a difference with the reflux medication. He still cries a lot and doesn't sleep at night and it just seems like he's crying in pain. His air swallowing at feedings has gotten a lot better and he's a lot better to burp lately so that's been good. I just don't know what to do for him. He doesn't take a binky for comfort, he'll only take one when he's not crying (go figure). He doesn't really enjoy being swaddled. He eats like a champ and would eat all day long, but he just ends up eating until he's so full that he's uncomfortable and cries and then spits up a ton. He's just one of those babies that can't be consoled once he gets going. I don't necessarily know if he has colic, but it kind of feels like it. His temperament is a lot like Ethan's was when he was a baby, but Ethan was a lot easier to console and he would take a binky and liked to be swaddled. The doctor said it would take 1-2 weeks to see some results from the medication so maybe things will change in the next few weeks. His naps are pretty good during the day. He'll sleep for 2-3 hours in the morning and the same in the afternoon in his bed. It's just that his naps aren't 2-3 hours straight, he's restless and he'll cry and he'll go back to sleep with a little bit of help. At night he only sleeps in 30 min.-2 hour stretches and he'll only sleep on your chest. It doesn't matter how many times you put him down in his bed when he's totally out, he'll be up in 10 minutes. And then when he wakes up it takes a good 1-2 hours to get him back to sleep. I just don't want him to be in pain and I'd love for him to sleep better (so we can both benefit). As bad as this all sounds, he IS the cutest little baby ever and that's probably why Heavenly Father makes babies that way so thier moms would just love them to pieces. Well, send us your prayers and positive vibes!

Halloween Fun

My mom came up today to spend time with the boys and to let me catch some zzz's and while she was here she helped E decorate an edible haunted house. He loved putting candy on the house in different patterns...and sneaking some too.

His mouth was totally purple by the time they were done. I think it turned out really cute and E loved it! It was also quite entertaining to watch him!

Frenectomy

That is the procedure that poor little Maxwell had at the doctor today. Sounds pretty crazy, but it really wasn't too bad. Basically, his frenulum, the little piece of skin that holds your tongue down, was attached all the way to the tip of his tongue (hence the term "tongue tied"). Some babies don't feed very well with it attached and later in life they develop speech problems. Max has been gaining weight just fine so I wasn't too worried about that, but he has had a lot of problems with swallowing air when he eats and then being extremely fussy and not sleeping too well. So I took him in today to see what the doctor wanted to do. She didn't think his tongue was the biggest culprit for our problems, it's acid reflux. So now we're putting him on Prevacid and elevating his mattress. We did clip his tongue though just in case it was contributing to the problem and to prevent any possible issues with his speech when he gets older. The procedure was pretty quick and very little blood was involved just a little clip and he was done. It was also good to see how much he weighed since it eased my mind that his feeding issues weren't causing any problems. He basically gained over a pound in a little over a week! At his last appointment on October 2nd, he was 8 lbs 3 oz and this appointment he was 9 lbs 9 oz. Not bad, little guy! The doctor said it will take a week or two to see results from the medication so hopefully I'll be getting a little bit more sleep at night and little Maxwell's painful moments will end.

Max's Photo Shoot

Well, our cousin Toni is at it again! Last year she did our family pictures (as seen in my header) and this year it's little Maxwell. Go check out her blog for a little preview.

Funny Eism

Today Ry gave me a kiss in the kitchen and E immediately shouted, "Stop kissing, I'm eating over here!" The kid isn't even 3 yet and he says stuff like this? Where does it come from?! He's also started asking "why" all the time...I'm not looking forward to the "why" phase. This should be interesting.

Happy Birthday Ry!

It's Ry's 28th birthday today and in order to celebrate his special day I wanted to make a blog post just for him. 6 years ago tomorrow we got engaged on my 20th birthday and when he proposed he did "20 Reasons Why He Fell in Love With Me." So this year I want to do 28 Reasons Why I Love My Ry." I picked this picture because I think it's hilarious. It's from our trip to Australia and we went to this aviary where the birds are free to fly around and eat food out of your hands and all that. Well, if you know Ry, you know how much he "loves" animals and I can just imagine what he was thinking at the moment this picture was taken. It just makes me laugh. Love you!

28 Reasons I Love Ry

1. He loves me for being me- He doesn't try to change me, he doesn't expect me to act a certain way. He just let's me be who I am and loves me for it.
2. He’s a great dad- I always wanted to marry someone who was great with kids and I got that with Ry. He truly enjoys spending time with the boys and he always makes a special effort to let them know he loves them.
3. He’s driven
4. He’s naturally good at a lot of things- It always seems like whenever he tries something, he's usually good at it. I think his brothers got mad at him a lot for always beating them in video games. Thankfully his skills aren't just in video games, he's good at a lot of other things.
5. He’s athletic- He hasn't had too much time for athletics because of his travel and church schedule, but he loves being active and I love that about him.
6. He’s very clever and witty- the next two go together. I just love his quick wit and his clever puns
7. I love his sense of humor
8. He tries to really understand me- Despite the fact that Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus, he really tries to understand where I'm coming from.
9. He’s humble
10. He’s a great teacher- this is one of his great talents in the church and elsewhere. I have learned so many great tips for my Gospel Doctrine class.
11. He looks out for others
12. He faithfully serves in the church
13. He’s always trying to better himself
14. He doesn’t sweat the small stuff- That is something that I always need help with. I'm such a worrier about all sorts of things and Ry is constantly telling me "What's the worst that can happen?" He helps me gain the perspective that I need.
15. He’s a dreamer-This is something that I love and this sometimes is something that I'm not particularly fond of. But for the most part I love that he's always looking towards great things. What is a man without his dreams?
16. His personality compliments mine perfectly- He excels where I lack and vice versa, it's great how that worked out.
17. He gives the benefit of the doubt- He's never quick to judge, he always looks for the good in others and on the bright side.
18. He’s genuine
19. He’s honest
20. He’s a people person- I never have to worry about going to any gathering of any sort.
21. He loves my cooking- thank goodness, and I love to cook for him
22. He’s frugal- and so am I so that makes a great pair
23. He’s smart- He always jokes that I got all the smarts in the family, but he's the only one in the family that ever made the "Dean's List" and he's the only one that was in the "gifted program (LEAP)" so I think the smarts go to him.
24. He’s a great communicator- he's so easy to talk to and he really helps me to be a better communicator too.
25. He’s succeeds in all he does
26. He’s sensitive
27. He’s always fresh- He takes at least 2 showers a day and I love that he's always clean
28. He’s positive- I rarely, if ever, hear a negative thing out of his mouth. He's almost always happy when he comes home, he always has nice things to say about others, and he's happy.

Mr. Smiley

Maybe this little guy just has a lot of gas, but he smiles all the time in his sleep. I know he won't socially smile for a couple more weeks, but I still pretend that he's smiling on purpose. Sometimes he'll just be sitting there asleep and then he'll smile and then do this little chuckle. Maybe his dreams are really funny or maybe he'll naturally be our family comedian. Only time will tell.

2 Week Appointment

No, he's not 2 weeks yet, but today was the only appointment I could get so we went ahead and scheduled. Little Maxwell is 10 days old now and is already past his birth weight. He's 8 lbs 3 oz and 21 1/4 inches. His little cord fell off today so he's been cleared for the tub and everything looks great. Last night we put him down for "tummy time" and he ended up rolling over! I couldn't believe it so we tried it again and he totally rolled over again! I've heard of premies doing this in the NICU so it's just a flukey thing, but he is really strong. I remember burping him in the hospital over my shoulder and he was totally moving his little head around. He'll have to be strong to keep up with his brother so I'm sure he's been blessed in the regards so he can survive around here. Maxwell is a really good baby. He loves to eat and he's pretty peaceful. He just DOES NOT SLEEP! I mean he does, but for only 1-2 hour stretches at night, if that. I'm pretty exhausted and I really don't know how I will be able to function if this goes on for a really long time. Thankfully I've done this before and I know this doesn't last forever. So send your sleep vibes our way!