Sunday, December 07, 2008

New Pics

From December 2008


We had some 'pro pics' done by a friend of my mom's in our home last night. I put up all the ones she sent us so far in our December folder so be sure to check it out. There's also some other new ones of the kids for this month. She took a ton of pics of the kids and we'll get them all eventually so there will be more!

Friday, December 05, 2008

Well...

It sure has been a while. I swear when this baby was born I thought 6 weeks would take forever and it has already been almost 2 months! Things are finally starting to settle into a good routine with sleeping happening at night pretty consistently by all and naps during the day by Paul T being predictable. It has been nice to get to spend some time with my older son again!

Paul T has been a wonderful baby. He had his rough first 6 weeks that i think most babies have as their new bodies adjust to this contaminated world we live in! But he seems all adjusted now and is just sweet as can be.

I think he looks a lot like his brother but without the hair! He looks a lot more like his daddy though than Andrew did. We have some baby pics of Andy and Paul T looks almost exactly like them!

I don't have much time and no access to videos so this will be brief, just wanted to check in and say all is well! Please be sure to visit our online photo albums to see the latest pics of the kids. We are not as diligent about taking them as we were when Andrew was a baby but there are still some cute shots. And I'll be putting up more today hopefully but if not then very soon!

Have a Merry Christmas Season, Winter Holiday!

Sunday, October 26, 2008

SO Much Going On!

And I mean.. SO MUCH. Andy here this time and we've got a much more detailed update coming but we've been horrifically busy lately with a few things, namely A) Moving, B) Business, and oh yea, C) We had our baby!! Surprise! Paul Thomas Goin was born to this Earth on October 6, 2008 weighing in at a very healthy 8 lbs. It was an all natural birth with no pain meds and not in a hospital but in a birthing center with a midwife. Lea pushed with my coaching and support for 14 minutes and 1 hour after we arrived, Paul was born.

It was a magnificent experience for all of us and I encourage any man and woman planning on having a child to at least look into this opportunity. You only live once and with your children, we feel building a tight bond from the get-go is *very* important and it's something that you will never forget. Like everything in life, the pain and work you put into it only makes the overall result shine that much brighter and we most definitely feel close to Little Mister Paul already.

ANNNNYWAYYYSS.. I can ramble on about it all day. We've also moved about 20 miles south from where we used to live to Denton which is where I was born and raised. It's funny how hometowns will suck you back in like a strong magnet. I do love this town though. We live right in the smack dab of every shopping store, bank, mall, park, gas station, and things we used to drive 3-4 times a week here to enjoy. We had Paul on the 6th and moved on the 10th so as you might guess, we're EXHAUSTED.

Be sure to check out our October pictures in our Picasa album as we've updated it tonight.
October 2008

Saturday, October 04, 2008

Still no Baby - Playing Catch up

No baby yet. Officially due tomorrow. But we are hoping it will come tonight! Heck we hope that every night! I cannot wait to meet this little one. Last night we thought it was time again for the 3rd time but still no real action. I am glad for all the prelabor in hopes that it means the actual labor will be shorter! :D So keep sending on the labor vibes and hoping and wishing and praying with us that this baby is done baking real soon.

Also we move in less than a week! So yeah, we're busy

Today is Andrew's second birthday! We're taking him to the zoo in Gainseville. I can't wait - I'm about to go wake his little tush up! So to celebrate here are some old videos I haven't had the time to get uploaded until now:





Sorry about the sneezing


This is funny








I still have more to do to get totally caught up and of course there're pics on the cam right now. And then after teh big birthday today we'll have a ton too. But hey, at least I'mmaking some progress! ;)

Sunday, September 07, 2008

So Much

There's so much going on right now! I have hardly had a chance to take pics of our sweet son let alone get anything posted! We are preparing to move and preparing to have this baby right around the same time. It takes a lot of planning and a lot of working ahead. So though we aren't moving until October 13th, I've started packing now as much as possible. We need to have it all done by the time the baby comes. or mostly done. There is a chance the baby won't be born until then but I have a feeling it'll come before the move. Either way would be fine though.

I'm 36 weeks so any time after 2 weeks from now is all good for baby to make the appearance! It's getting very close. And I feel it everywhere right now. i am so tired and sore all the time. but it has been a beautiful experience. I weigh almost as much now as I did by the time Andrew was born but thankfully there isn't much time to gain left! I am really looking forward to this labor and delivery. It'll be so neat to have a different experience from the last one. And I am really looking forward to having a tiny baby again! And also getting my milk back so Andrew has something to drink again!

Speaking of our amazing son Andrew, he did the coolest thing today! He pee peed int he potty! I had a feeling that he didn't like his little potty chair. It's doubles as a step stool for one thing and he may just see it as that. But also we don't use it. he sees mommy and daddy on the big potty so i am sure he knows that is what he should be using. So today I put him on it several times. And the last time he seemed to really be trying to tell me he had to go so I put him on it, called Daddy in to see the big boy sitting on the big potty, and then he surprised us both by peepeeing! We did a happy dance and cheered and clapped and made the big production it deserved. I dont' expect this to mean potty training but we will follow his lead and try to do as much naked butt time as we can. We just follow his cues and try to stay tuned in to him.

Please bear with me as we move and have a baby while there are fewer pictures on the web album and fewer videos posted here. I have tons backing up and will try to get a few done here and there maybe even this week. but for now I spend every moment trying to prepare, or of course taking care of the continuous daily life duties. And then we have an almost 2 year old we must play with as well! He can't get enough of his books right now and if he asks to read one I cannot deny him!

Thanks so much. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers that this move and baby come at just the right time for us all and everything goes as smoothly as possible. We love you!

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Wrestling with Daddy

And general playing around!



Wednesday, August 06, 2008

At Grandmother's

Andrew loves playing at Grandmother's and Granddaddy's house!

With Grandmother


Swimming with Daddy

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Smarty Pants

Well we all knew that once he started talking there'd be no stopping him! And it has happened. He literally picks up at least one new word a day and rarely loses one but does occasionally. As of today we count 20 words or so that he says! We made a list for you. Also for those of you that don't see him often you will be very surprised by all he says the next time you talk to him. It seems to go so slowly here since we are with him all day every day and constantly trying to teach him new ones but looking back it really is going very fast. Most of these have come up in the past 2 or so weeks.
Dada
Cat
Uh oh
Mom mom
bubbles
baboo – nurse
pop
ew
ock – socks, chocolate, rock, chalk (this sound means all these things depending on the situation)
go – also means green because I say "green means go" when we read a certain book
hello
yellow
up
down
poop
bobop – powder, both baby powder and baking soda
out
juice
hot
op – water

Some of these "words" are hard to understand unless you know what he means like water, but we've figured out what he's saying by asking him to show us. We always say things the right way after he says them his way and I have complete faith he will figure it all out soon enough. For now his little baby words are about the cutest thing in the whole damn world! I absolutely love it!

And for those that have yet to hear him call me when he needs me, it is very funny. Sometimes he just says Momom. But sometimes he screams it with a very raspy scratchy sound to his voice Mom MOM! It is so funny! I giggle about every time.

And honestly that list is incomplete. I swear he says more than that but we can't think of them all and some of the things we hear him say he's only said maybe once. Tonight he was working on banana. He was asking me for a mananana and just kept making those sounds, but he'd been making them all day I wasn't sure if he was meaning something yet or not. I finally got him to point it out to me and then Andy and I tried to work with him on the right sounds for banana. But he's very close!

In addition to all of these verbal words he says he also has many animal noises he can make and he does sign language for many of the more simple things, please, eat, drink, more, to name just a few. He doesn't really try to say these words and we don't push it. Again, he'll get it when he gets it! As long as he says please in some way I think we're doing pretty well.

I know we may be a bit biased but I really think he is pretty smart. Even if he can't say all the words he knows most of what we are saying. And sometimes when I think he isn't understanding me, I realize later that he did, he just didn't agree with me! He totally has a mind of his own and is very independent for the most part. Unless he's sleepy!

He got a very high fever last week and scared us a ton but we got it under control easily and he didn't really seem to out of sorts for long. It did take him a little while to recover like get all caught back up on sleep but he is back to his usual self for sure now. I think whatever little bug he had, his system was strong enough to wipe it out quickly without him getting too terribly sick. It also forced me to do some more research on fevers and look in to things I haven't read about since he was a baby. I feel we handled it fine and did exactly what we needed to but next time I think we will have more trust in his body and feel more confident in his ability to fight off whatever is in him. He's a tough little guy!

As for me, eh, I'm big! I feel like I am farther along than I think I am and I can't imagine my belly getting any bigger than it already is. But as much as I think this I know deep down this baby will not appear until October and by then I will be truly enormous not just a little uncomfortable! Feeling the little one move is the best. The position he's (we say 'he' for the sake of convenience it could be either way!) in isn't the best. Oh he's head down but his legs or something sticks right into my right hip. Which is my sore hip from a high school injury and the place I had the most pain when I was in labor with Andrew. It almost feels as if this baby is laying on my hip at times. I have even considered chiropractic care but I'm not completely sold on it yet. For now I do stretches and we go for nightly walks even in this God-awful heat. The heat bwt is a whole other issue for me. The days that got up to 103 around here were killer. I could barely even move around the apartment even with the AC on. I was so exhausted and so hot. I wear nothing more than a giant Vneck men's Tshirt and still feel like I want to just lay under a fan with a mister. I am so grateful we don't have to leave the house every day! I would be miserable.

Those are really my only gripes though and I think that is pretty darned good! Pregnancy is tough on the body and mine seems to handle it well relatively speaking. It's different this time around because i have a toddler. Also because I feel more excited about the end game. With Andrew I had little idea of what to expect so I was just enjoying my pregnancy. This time I know what's coming. I know what it's like to have a sweet newborn baby to hold and nurse and care for and I can't wait! Oh sure I am still very much enjoying this pregnancy but I am also much more looking forward to labor, delivery and the baby than I did with the first one.

Speaking of the first born son! Here's a couple of pics I wanted to show you all that make me laugh!

One is from January 2007 (3 months old) and the other is from last night (almost 22 months old). Same chair. Tough to tell which is which! ;)





More videos are ready to go but I'll wait a day or so and let everyone get caught up!

Monday, July 28, 2008

The Wedding

Andrew was honored to be the ring bearer for his aunt's wedding a few weeks ago. Rachel, Andy's sister on his dad's side married a great guy from the army and they took off a few days later to live in Korea for the next year!

We went to the rehearsal on Friday night and Andrew perfectly walked down the isle carrying two little rocks and handed them right to the best man. Andy sent him off from the back and I was at the front to greet him and help him see who to give his rocks too. He had much more fun playing in the huge back yard of the house the wedding took place at! But he did very well at practice.

Then the big event came. He was super cute in his tux but it was 100 degrees out there and he wouldn't stop running around. We waited until the last possible minute to put on his tie and jacket and such but he was still super hot. Then everyone lined up and waited for the bride. Daddy was with Andrew and I was at the front with the camera as planned. Andrew had other plans! He was hot, and hungry by this time so he was much more interested in throwing dirt at the dogs then staying in line with Daddy. He was crying and I went to get him to help Andy. We switched spots and I was going to send Andrew down the isle to Daddy. The flower girl was going at the same time. They had never met each other and so didn't have a good chance to buddy up or anything. The flower girl's mom and I both ended up pretty much carrying our little ones down the isle, they were both too afraid to go alone! It was still cute and I wish we had some pics or videos but it will live in our memories forever!

Once we got to the front, Andrew was very good about giving the pillow to the best man so it all ended well. The service was short and sweet so it wasn't too long Andrew had to sit still on my lap before we could run to the van for a snack.

There were a lot of pics taken by a pro photographer but I do not know if I'll be able to get copies of any of those. I need to call the bride's mother to see what the scoop is. Andrew was in several of them and he did really well posing for the pics!

We have 2 videos to share of the weekend. This first one is after the rehearsal dinner of Andrew wearing out his grandpa. They'd been playing this game for a while and though Andrew was far from done Grandpa didn't have anymore in him!


This is after the wedding at the reception. I guess after spending the evening in the heat in his suit, he had had it with being dressed! We left soon after this and took his shirt off in the van right away!


He was so tired by the time we left, and hungry! He wouldn't eat at the reception because there was just too much going on. He pigged out once we got home and slept very well that night! I think he overall had a good time and again, it was an experience we will never forget and I can't wait to tell him about when he is older. It was truly and honor to have our son in a family members wedding!

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Water Fun

Hard to see him but he's in the middle with Daddy


Fun in the tub.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Fun Games

Balloons!


Hiding with Lucy


A chore for us (though a fun one) definitely a game for Andrew!

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Just Some Fun Vids

Mommy's Big Helper!


At Rob and Tammy's Andrew just opened a part of furniture and found a treat!


This really was funny. Daddy thought it would go over better though!


OK, back to bubble fun!

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Fireworks

Here's few of the videos of the lighting of fireworks.



This one gets bright!


And a fun little oops that didn't hurt anything.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Fourth of July Vids

All ready for the parade


He prefers the pool.


Bubbles


Snapper Poppers


I also have a ton of vids of the fireworks we set off but I may post only a few of those later.

Monday, July 14, 2008

More from June

Camera obsessed


Kicking the ball


Bubble stomping


Lookout Andrew has the hose!


Painting with water

Sunday, July 13, 2008

June Videos

I'm playing catch up so here's a few videos left from June.


He's hiding in a new found hiding spot, he pulled all the shoes out to make it. And throwing the ball for the cat to chase.



Here we are coloring in the tub!



Just lounging and watching a movie (Cars) and 'reading' a card.


OK, now I will try and get more caught up with the ones that are a bit more recent!

Monday, July 07, 2008

So Much to Tell So Little Time

I don't have our external hard drive hooked up right now so no videos just yet. But believe me there's a ton to get caught up on! If you haven't checked out the online photo albums, we have pics in the 20 month and started the 21 month and there's over 100 total that have been added. I was way behind!

There are several reasons for me to be so far behind. I'd like to get into detail but I of course have limited time right now. Andrew is very good at playing by himself when he's not overly tired or hungry so I caught a good moment!

To sum up...

We've had some major sleep issues with Andrew. It's our fault really. Not only because we've let him decide when he wants to go to sleep with some encouragement from us and we do set him up a sleepy time environment, but also because we had a few nights and early mornings where we had to get up and then slept all day. We went from a pretty consistent 12am bedtime to 3am to 6am! There were nights where he'd fall asleep at 9, wake at 1am and then be up until the sun came up. And he'd be so sleepy!

Part of the problem has been that nursing no longer puts him back to sleep. It can relax him for the initial sleep and naps but once he wakes he nurses to wake up not to relax again. These last 2 nights Andy has taken over the one night waking he has and gotten him back to sleep in minutes! With me, I'd rock and nurse him for 2 hours only to end up letting him get up and play. And we're talking like 3 or 4am here!

Then we'd take maybe a short morning nap and a good afternoon nap and try to get him back to sleep by 11. We tried a lot of things really, from shorter naps to earlier bed times and found nothing stopped him from waking fully at night until Andy took over. It hasn't been too much stress for him to do it because he is usually just starting to come to bed when Andrew has his first night waking. And after that if he wakes even slightly all it takes is a hand on his back or belly and he relaxes back to sleep. At least so far, it's only been 2 nights. And if there's one thing I've learned about Andrew, it's that he changes constantly. All part of growing up.

Speaking of growing up, he is such a chatter box! He has a lot of words now he says, his latest of which is Mom-mom! I am thrilled, he just started calling me that on July 4th and it makes my day. Sometimes I think he slips up and still calls me Dada but when I correct him he says Momom. Not quite Mama or Mommy but Mom-mom. I love it! He also says Hello which is too cute. There's a lot more too. of course none I could catch on video or anything just yet but we'll keep working on it.

he also recently mastered jumping. This is something he's been practicing at for a long time and finally gets both feet off the ground and can jump off of things to the ground.

We bought him a big plastic slide today and have been having an absolute blast playing with him on it. And watching him play on it and exploring his own balance and learning to work his own body better. He can climb up so many more things at all the parks we frequent and can get onto so many more toys at the mall. he's just growing up so great and we love it! It's a joy to watch him explore and learn.

If you've already seen the new pics you saw that Andrew and his Daddy were in the Sanger 4th of July parade. I painted his body with face paint as best one can paint a busy toddler to resemble the flag. And he wore a cloth diaper made of an army print that had flags on it. The plan was for them to walk together and me to stay along the side to take pics but it didn't work out that way so fortunately I got pics of them before the parade started. Andrew was very distracted by all the candy being thrown and wanted to pick it up and rethrow it! SO I had to stay with him and help him keep going. Andy was holding a big sign with business name and phone number on it so he couldn't hold his hand. I think he was the hit of the parade! But next year we'll borrow someone's truck. It was very hot6 to be walking!

Andrew will be the ring bearer in Andy's sister's wedding this weekend so look out for a ton of pics of that. We tried him out in his little tux tonight and it is too adorable for words!

Also, please keep Andy's mom in your thoughts and prayers. She had a heart attack a week or so ago. It gave us all quite a fright. She got 3 stents put in and is recovering well.

That's all I can do for now. Videos will be up as soon as I can!

Monday, June 09, 2008

Water Baby

These first 3 are at Grandmother's. Andrew was going so nuts until I turned on the video camera it seemed!



Going a little nuttier in this one.


Shootins



These next two are when we were invited to Andy's Uncle Dan and Aunt Lisa's to swim with cousin Lori. Abraham is there swimming too, that's Lori's nephew.



Lots of squealing in this one!


We've been a lot more swimming than this but I try to enjoy it and not video and take pics every time. But rest assured we're swimming almost every other day somewhere if the weather permits! Even if it's just out front in the baby pool.

Saturday, June 07, 2008

Andrew's First Fever

It was actually kind of exciting! I've never even taken his temperature before! I tried once when he was tiny to get an idea of what his normal was back then, he was always such a hot baby normally, but he screamed like crazy so i stopped. Just the old armpit btw.

But a couple of nights ago he woke up in the middle of the night and came to cuddle and nurse and he was so hot to the touch. I almost woke him all the way to get his shirt off but we had to get up early to take me to the doc (my asthma gets real bad in pregnancy and I needed more meds) so I didn't want to wake him completely and risk him not getting back to sleep. And since he didn't seem bothered by it I figured all was well.

I go see a doc at a clinic for my allergies and asthma. And it seems every time we go there Andy gets sick and then he gets us all sick so I told him to drop me off and take Andrew to the mall. he needed new shoes anyway and they could shop ahead. Good thing! My visit was short and sweet for once and they came back to get me and never even had to step foot in the place.

We headed home and Andrew was still a hot bod. I took a nap with him and had him in shorts only and he still felt hot to the touch when we got up! And it wasn't everywhere so I was confused. Like his head wasn't super hot, and his arms and legs weren't, but his torso and hands and feet and neck were.

I decided to get a mommy opinion and posted about it on a mommy message board I frequent. All the replies said fever so I took his temperature and it was barely over 101. I had to ask them how to do it since I have not taken a baby's temp in years! We did the armpit style and he was so cute and well behaved.

This whole time btw, he was acting fine. Sleepy from getting up early maybe and nursing a tad more than usual but nothing that sent up any red flags of OK this kid is ill. SO we didn't worry. Just said, alright, he has his first temperature, let's let his body do what it is trying to do and we'll keep an eye on him.

We went to the store and got some Popsicles and ice cream for fun treats and to help him cool down. We let him eat his Popsicle outside on a walk and he made a complete mess but enjoyed it.

I took his temp again before bath time and it had gone down by a degree. We still went ahead and gave him Tylenol. Not for the fever since that was going down but just to make sure he wasn't in any discomfort so he could get some good sleep.

That didn't work out exactly, he woke up ready to play after sleeping for an hour. i think the cats woke him actually. But we let him get up and we played some cars and some colorings and some readings and some movie and game watchings and then he and I fell asleep in the chair together for an hour until Daddy woke us up and took him and I both to bed. By then Andrew felt his normal temp and this morning was completely normal. I checked it one last time to be sure.

So that was it! His first fever! Not his last I am sure but it was a good break in. I think he got something from all the swimming this week. We've gone swimming about 5 times in one week and it hasn't been super hot or anything. It's been kind of cold a few of the times we went and windy so he may have just been working something out of his system.

He was really a complete angel though. Such a good happy boy even when he feels like an oven to touch!

Here is is playing in his new baby pool! Well in and out o fit anyway!


Here's more stunt man action! He's getting too big for this rider too.


Right after this he went to the edge of the wall by our place and did jumping onto Daddy. I wanted a video of that big time but our stupid batteries died! That is one of his new favorite games. He holds my hands and 'jumps' down. And with Daddy he just 'jumps' and Andy catches him. He doesn't really jump just yet he kind of steps off but he is getting closer!

I am feeling good btw. Getting sleep around Andrew's schedule as I can! Trying to stay in some kind of shape with daily walks and occasional yoga. Feeling the baby move a lot. It kicks Andrew in the back when he sits on my lap sometimes but he doesn't seem to notice it yet. If you ask him where the baby is though he'll usually point to himself and then to my belly! He's a smarty pants, knows he'll always be my baby no matter what!

Sunday, June 01, 2008

It's Out!

Just wanted to throw up a quick update to let everyone know that Friday evening Andy passed his stone! We had a ton of fun checking it over and even looked on the internet to find out the type by pictures. We think that it is indeed a calcium oxalate as we had figured. Now of course he cannot cut calcium out of his diet but we can cut back on oxalate and I am currently researching high and low oxalate foods. I have a list that is not very complete but gives me a starting point.

Andy also knows the importance of continued water consumption. It is a struggle for him. he doesn't crave and enjoy water like I do. But he will work on it! He has goals set for himself that I think are attainable and if those become easy we can up the ante.

Andrew is doing wonderfully of course, still teetering on the brink of speaking our language. He speaks his own very well and often though and it is so super cute! I am doing well also.

I believe our little Peanut is sensitive to caffeine! Andrew never budged if I drank a soda when pregnant with him. But I very rarely did. With this one as soon as I left the first trimester I asked my midwife for the OK to have some caffeine and I have it every day. I remember with Andrew drinkning a Dr Pepper on the way to a sonogram and him not even budging when pushed by the tech! This little one seems to jump and play after my morning tea or coffee! hmmmm.... Does this mean it is a girl??? ;)

Seriously, I have been trying all the tests online and it is coming out about 50/50 so we truly won't know for sure until October. Andy is convinced it is a boy but says he'd be pleased with a girl. I think it's a girl because this pregnancy has had so many differences from the last but I would be so thrilled either way. i just can't wait to have a little baby again! And it'll be so neat to watch as my big boy learns and grows every day too! By then he'll be two and really starting to assert his independence even more than he does now.

Sorry no videos with this post but I am sure we will have some soon. We spent the day out at a friend's yesterday and I regretfully forgot the camera! There was another baby there too, less than a year old, that Andrew tried to play with some so I am kicking myself for forgetting it. But take my word for it, it was sweet!

Monday, May 26, 2008

What a week!

Things have been a little beyond crazy around here this last week. Starting from last Wed. We ended up in the ER that night for Andy's newest kidney stone. We knew this was a stone he had several of his classic symptoms but no pain. Still we needed to be sure. Without health insurance it was a tough decision but the hospital worked out a deal with us and I think it'll be OK.

He has only one stone, thankfully, usually it has been 3, and it wasn't stuck anywhere like the last time when we had to have emergency surgery same day! This one is small and on the move out so hopefully he'll pass it on his own no problem.

It was a super late night however and Andrew was up until about 230am. Then the days that followed left him with little Daddy time. I should say Daddy's special play time that Andrew usually gets daily. Daddy is really the good rough houser, not Mommy, though I do my best! ;) Andrew and I have a lot of fun playing together too but Daddy is a much better wrestler. And Andy did what he could to keep up but it is more important for him to take care of his body so he can get that sucker out.

Daddy always does bath times. Most always, and tonight was the first night he's been able to give Andrew his bath since the attack. It has also been his first day symptom free. Which is good and bad. Mostly hard to read because the way we figure it if the stone is in the ureter moving, he can feel it, if it stops moving, it backs up his kidneys and causes severe flank pain and bleeding. He's had none of the above. This could be good because it could mean it is in the bladder and ready to come out! But we won't know until it either comes out or some sensations return.

Without Daddy doing bath times and our late night hospital visit left Andrew with quite a shaken up bed time routine. Like no routine! I would shower with him and we'd play but we do that during the day sometimes right now because I get so hot, so it wasn't like a definite, 'Oh it's bed time' trigger for him. One night he even stayed up until 530am! Last night we got him to sleep a little after 4am. But tonight with Daddy back in the tub and a very short nap today he was out a little after midnight! I am so glad we have a bedtime routine. But it is nice to lead the sort of lives that can be flexible too. If we had to get up early for anything this last week would have been miserable for us all. As it is, it's been nice!

We've stayed home for about 5 days straight now. We haven't done that since moving way out here! And with gas prices it's been extra nice. I have had time and energy to relax and read and play and watch movies with Andrew, AND clean up! Usually cleaning up was sacrificed to the Andrew time. And running all over the place driving here and there taking 30 minutes each way, really wears me and Andy out. It left little energy for anything else but playing with Andrew when we were home.

So for me it almost seems like this stone was a wake up call to us to slow it down a bit. We really don't need to be out of the house 5-6 days a week going to see this person or that person or this place or that place. 1-2 days a week is plenty. And there's plenty to do in Sanger that we don't need to go to Denton (or Aubry or Gainsville or Krum or wherever our day took us!) every time we want to do something.

I think it was a bit of an adjustment for Andrew too. He's used to all the going going going! And that may have made it harder for him to sleep too. We'll see.

We have plans to go to Denton on Wed this week, it will have been an entire week since we have last been. We need some more groceries from the old Walmart and we have a play group we're meeting up with. It should be fun. And as long as Andy isn't in pain we can go and enjoy ourselves. I still hold out hope that he'll have passed it by then!

Our new little peanut seems to be doing well in there. I feel it moving all the time now! I didn't feel Andrew this much this soon! It's so cool. And there's a lot of room still so it's like a big swimming pool with room to groove. It won't start getting too cramped for another month. Then the movements start to feel more like stretching motions. Now it feels like someone is playing in my belly! I love it!

Andy felt it the other night. I was sitting at my desk with my hand on my belly and I felt some movement. I thought it was worth a shot though you know how it is when as soon as you ask someone else to feel, the moving stops! At least that's how Andrew was, he was always so shy! :D Well that started to happen again and Andy persisted. he started talking to my belly. "Hey in there it's your daddy can you hear me." Stuff like that. And the fetus can hear external noises at this age. And it worked! It started going crazy! The most movement I had felt yet actually. Must like the sound of Daddy's voice, guess someone may be called upon to sing the old Hey Song again!

And speaking of growing, our first born is quite the big boy! His vocabulary is really growing though it isn't all easy to understand unless you are with him all the time. He says go, up... I know there's more that i can't remember right now - little sleep deprived! But a lot of them sound very similar so you have to pay attention to what he is doing. he also picks up the sign language after about one time being shown. I wish I knew more!

He is also getting the big motor skills more under control Sure he still bumps his head a lot and falls down sometimes (sometimes on purpose to be funny!) but he can now climb things he never could before. he did it a few weeks ago on a jungle gym at our local park and the other night he climbed straight up a chain ladder on the jungle gym at our apartments!
Here he is climbing and sliding a couple of weekends ago.


Here we are at Andy's Uncle Dan and Aunt Lisa's for their daughter's birthday. Lori loves to play with the kids and was probably happier to play with Andrew than us though she's my age! He shows off some sign language skills here.


Remember to scroll down and catch him doing monsters if you missed it from last night!

Time to Watch Monsters

I have a lot of videos to show you but only a moment of time right now so here is one we just did tonight! His new favorite movie - move over Cars - is Monsters inc. here's how he asks for it.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

The Halfway Point

I just reread this week in my last pregnancy, for those of you interested, it's May of 06 and still in the archives. It was the week we had the fire in our neighbors kitchen and were awoken early by the firemen coming in. It was also the week before we moved to this little apartment in Sanger. My belly pictures make me laugh from back then too. I think I was that size like 6 weeks ago with this one!

Some of you know we've been thinking of moving again this summer. We'd really like to try out a house. We both think it is a good time in our lives to get out of the apartment life. However, upon some serious looking, we've found that we're better off just waiting.

House renters are really crappy the houses they live in and the landlords just don't seem to want to make repairs before rerenting. Then they also want essentially two months up front between first month and deposit. Once we paid all of that plus our last months rent here, we'd have no money left for repairs.

And our 60 day notice wouldn't be up until July, by which time we'll be in the icky heat of summer and super fat times of pregnancy. Not a good combo for a move. I'd be packing and unpacking and then we'd be having to try and fix up our home for the arrival of our new little one.

Sure we are already a bit cramped here. We haven't optimized our storage options perhaps and could get rid of some more things. But we both think that overall for right now, it'd just be best to stay put. We have a bit more debt than we like to carry at this time also. And we're still trying to rebuild savings from the van purchase. Andy is really working hard right now and making more money than he has since starting the business so we want to see where this goes before we blow our last dime on getting into a crappy house. In 6 months we may be able to move into a much nicer place.

And sure we'll have a tiny baby and a 2 year old, so it still won't be easy, but it won't be summer and I wont' be pregnant! Ah there's pros and cons all around. For now though after weighing it all out we have decided to go with staying for a bit and seeing how our money works out and just going to a month to month so we can get out when we are truly ready.

Thanks to everyone who has helped us out with looking for places! we're still keeping our eyes out on the market trying to see where it goes. Who knows, maybe by the time we're ready it'll be a really good time to actually buy a house and we can skip the rental game all together.

I knwo I said we'd get the sonogram pics scanned in and we still will. There are right by the scanner! But I'll need Andy's help with it because things have been moved since I last scanned and I am no longer sure what to do. And as I said he's been crazy busy. But I'll try to think of it at a good time very soon.

I am feeling fine btw. No major complaints except the heat is starting to bother me. I also am much bigger much sooner this time around. Today we had to go buy some sun dresses and boxers for me. That's about the only things I feel comfortable in. For Mother's Day I got some maternity shorts and nicer dresses from a second hand store, but the dresses are made of rayon and stuff and still very hot. The ones I got today are all cotton! A bit more expensive being brand new even from Walmart but they are cute and will be comfortable and for right now, that's about all I am concerned with. I am showering every afternoon to stay cool too. Andrew and get in there and play all kinds of games in the tub, it's been a fun activity for us before nap time. Which for the last few days has been in the blue chair! Both of us together! It's pretty comfy till my arm falls asleep. But I enjoy the closeness. And Daddy can nap on the couch right next to us!

I just uploaded a couple of videos but google is taking forever to process them so they will just have to wait until next time!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Some fun vids

These are from last month.

Seeing the dogs in the park.


One mommy shoe one daddy shoe.

Monday, May 12, 2008

Little Update

We had our sonogram today and from what the tech could see, everything looks perfect! She even says it looks like it has Daddy's toes - ah another one that will look like Daddy I am sure. I can't wait for the birth to find out the sex but I am enjoying the pregnancy so much at this stage. I feel our little Peanut moving every day, sometimes it's movement and sometimes it's just pushing, either way, it is comforting. It was wiggling all over the place in the sonogram. S/he had their hands all over their face too, even stuck one fist in his/her mouth and I think we got a picture. We got a lot of pictures so we will see if we can scan them in and show everyone.

Also, we had a friend stay with us for a couple of nights over the weekend. It was really neat and Andrew always enjoys a new person to impress! He is a photographer by hobby and had an excellent camera so he took a bunch of pics of us. We couldn't get them all because he has a copyright on his files but he did some without it for us. I posted them in the new moths folder on our web album. But i wanted to post one here that he really fancied up for us. Hope you like it!

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Another Word

Andrew, as you probably know, has had only 3 words for the last 6 months or so. Well, he has also been saying a fourth, and I just today figured it out. He tells the cat to shut-up! He just says "up" and throws his arm like he's doing his ball sign. He usually does it at night when I am trying to put him to sleep so I hadn't taken the time to notice what it was before because I was caught up in getting him to sleep. But today he did it to Raven sitting at he table. Very clearly, "Up!" I was like, OMG! He's telling him to shut up! Just like Mommy! lol I tell Raven to shut up several times a day and Andy tells Thunder to shut up a lot too. Hmmm, wonder where Andrew could have picked it up from... ;) It does make me a bit sad that he still calls me Dada but now says shut up, but oh well. I think it is funny. Since we now know that is what he is saying we can coach and guide him on it. Like only yell it when the cat is being loud inappropriately. Only say it to the cat. And let mommy and daddy handle the cats at night!

He's such a smart little cutie pie!

Here's some vids from last month:

He doesn't know what to think of this! It's his first time to see sand. We're at the Gainsville factory Outlets.


Our little Gardener



More to come!

Friday, April 25, 2008

Stunt Run

We've always called Andrew our little stuntman because he is so accident prone. But this is too funny!



Doesn't even need a catch!


We have another one taken right aftert this of him falling too. He didn't get hurt or anything but I am not going to upload it because it is way too long. I just put the cam down running to grab him after he fell and then we held him and checked him over for signs of injury. One of the neighbor kids came running over to see if he was OK. Then daddy said, do you want to try again? And Andrew practically jumped out of my arms and got back ont he trike to go again! He's a little tough guy!

Just an update:
We got a new kitten. Couldn't help it. We've honestly wanted one since we lost Tyler over a year ago and managed to hold out for quite some time. We were down to 2 cats and thought since they are so old now, it'd be OK. And once the stray we tried adopting didn't work out, we really had the fever. This one is very tiny, think we got the runt. She's less than 6 weeks old even! But she's already adjusted very well to our home. And Andrew likes that it is easier to pick her up! Yikes! We tell him to be gentle, good thing she's tough and used to living with young kids. I'll put up pics and videos of her as soon as I can.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Andrew Collage Video

Hey folks, Andy here and I wanted to show you something I whipped up. It may take some time to load and I'm not sure if it will even work but if so, there's some cute pics of Andrew in it!

Check it out here:









It should be playing above. It may still be loading if not or! It could be broken.. :/

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

First Dental Visit

We finally took Andrew to his first dentist appointment! It took us a while to get the ball rolling, they say nowadays kids should start at 12 months old. But better late than never right!

It was early in the morning, especially for us, 9am! So he was sleepy and a little cranky from that. Plus we skipped breakfast. I didn't want to wake him any earlier than I had to so I just got him in time to get dressed and head out. For other trips we would have fruit in the car but I didn't want his teeth to be all dirty! So he was a bit hungry too. Considering those two major players in Andrew's personality, he was awesome! Even the dentist said he was very well behaved. He cried a bit and wanted mommy to hold him every time they let go. But he let the nice man look at all his teeth and then they put a fluoride brushing on him. I nursed him right after they were done for a few seconds and that did the trick to calm him back down. He was so good! All the nurses thought he was so cute, of course!

His teeth are perfectly healthy and he has all the ones he will get until he is two. One is still growing in but it's through the gums so the hard part is over. Then he has 2 year molars that come in and I hope they wait until well into his two year old year to start. Poor kid needs a break, he's been busting out teeth pretty much once a month ever since he was about 5 months old!

He also saw his doctor last week and he weighs about 27 pounds and is 34 inches tall. Almost a 3 footer! And of course he's perfectly healthy!

I am doing well also. I saw a doctor for my allergies and breathing issues per my midwife's request. They loaded me up with medications I'd never heard of so I did some research and found they are all safe. Still scary to have 3! One is an emergency inhaler so I don't need it often, the others are daily. And is my nose better you ask? Well... kinda. I am not a drippy faucet anymore and I don't get the sneezing attacks and the wheezing has almost subsided, so that is all a great relief. But, like all medicines that alter the natural course of your body, it has opened a whole new door of different issues that are at least easier to deal with and I hope will clear themselves up as my body adjusts to this. I have had the nose problems for over 4 years now so it will probably take a bit for my body to adjust.

I have my sonogram the second week of May. We do not want to know the sex! And since we're no experts, even if we think we see something we think might be something, we really have no way of knowing. We both have our guesses and we all still have 5-6 more months to speculate!

More fun Andrew videos to come soon, next.. stuntman!

Friday, April 18, 2008

18 Months Old

For Andrew's big 18 month old birthday we took him to the mall to play. The weather wasn't nice enough for outside. It was a special day! I still can't believe our little man is 18 months old!

We have a few videos from the mall. Some of them are big so give it a second to load.




Long one:


Dancing:

Morning Cat Play

We tried to keep the cat one more time. She is just too crazy. We even went so far as to make an appointment to have her spayed! Sadly she ran away a few too many times before we could get her fixed. We can't have her running out all the time. It's too hard to keep her in and then she'd cry at the door and window. Of course now that she's out and has been for a while, she wants back in! Too bad so sad! She will probably be in heat soon and we really can't have that in our apartment with an unneutered male living here.

But before she ran off, we had bought a couple of toys for her. Andrew was getting really good at playing with her. It is hard for him to understand completely the concept of the play, that she is trying to catch the bird and he needs to let her get it sometimes! But he had fun watching her chase it. She'd just get tired of him eventually and quit. Or she'd catch it and take off with it!

But here is a video of one morning when he'd woken especially early and couldn't get back to sleep. He had a bit of the sleepy crazies and was a little wild but he is giggling so much and having so much fun! Turn up your volume for this one!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

I'm Pregnant!!

As if you didn't know! I haven't blogged about it yet though so there may be someone out there who did not yet know that. The reason I haven't blogged about this is I wanted to hear the heartbeat and just feel more sure first. I still get a bit paranoid though I have never had any problem pregnancies in the past.

So today we had our second midwife appointment and we heard the sweet sound of a beat! Not as fast as Andrew's was the first time I heard it. And this little peanut was on the move. It wasn't a few seconds after we heard it that Peanut took off swimming away again! For all the movement going on in there, I can't feel a thing. I so wish I could! But soon enough I will.

We had a good safe birth with Andrew. But things didn't go the way I had always imagined. Partly due to my ignorance and laziness and fear. This time I feel stronger in my desires for what I want and more secure about my body's capabilities and definitely more aware of what is going to happen to me. And we have decided to try something different. We are going with a midwife and a birth center. I'd LOVE to do a home birth but not at this apartment. Maybe someday when we have a house that'd be a good option but I just don't think we have proper space here. So a birth center is about the next best thing. We saw the room today and it looks wonderful. I am so grateful that this place popped into our lives the way it did. Purely by happenstance like it was meant to be! They are super nice and supportive and we look forward to happy a pregnancy and blessed birth.

Andrew is getting to be such a big boy. I see him figuring out his coordination every day. We have been really enjoying our spring like days around here and going to our local park a lot. He can go down all kinds of slides by himself though most still require someone to catch him at the bottom. He does sometimes get a bit twisted, like a foot will get caught but he still makes it down. Today at the park he wanted to go down the slide with his soccer ball and then with a water cup. So it takes a lot of coordination to figure out how to maneuver ones body with full hands! We are very proud of our big boy!

His new favorite thing to do besides slides is coloring. He prefers a coloring book to blank papers right now and he of course prefers to have someone coloring with him. Though he will occupy himself with it for a while alone too. When I color with him, he likes to scribble over whatever I color on. So cute! And forget about me trying to write something on my own! I can't fill out forms or makes lists at all without him wanting to help me. He gets his own pens and writes right along side.

Andrew is also very into his Daddy these days. Wants Daddy around all the time. At Walmart recently Andrew was in the cart with me. They always go and play with the toys while I shop and then come meet me. This time Andy had some things to look at on his own after the play time. As soon as he walked away from the cart to go check something Andrew started screaming "DADA DADA!" Andy heard him wherever he went in the store. One time Andrew even started to cry and it took me a second to get him distracted and into something else. I love it so much seeing Andrew attaching to his Daddy like I always knew he would. It must have been a hard road for Andy as he worked to build those bonds and Andrew was still so attached to me. But now he can see that all his effort has paid off! One night even, when Andrew woke up with gas pains, he would not calm down for me and as soon as Andy took him and picked him up Andrew laid his head on Daddy's shoulder and relaxed. It really is an awesome sight!

I am trying to teach him about the baby in mommy's belly but it is hard right now when I don't look too different. Still haven't gained a pound! Though I have popped already. But I tell him every day he'll be a big brother and mommy is making a baby for us and point to my belly. He'll get it before Peanut is born I am sure.

Here is a video of sliding down a tunnel side at the play area in Lewisville's mall. I still get pretty nervous but he is doing really well! He can climb up it by himself too but Daddy was helping to make it go faster.


And here is Andrew with his newest little friend Dylan. She is actually the daughter of a lady I know from LLL. She is so cute and only about 4 months older than Andrew so it is good to see how they interact, which honestly for right now is not much at all! She is chasing him cause he has the ball and won't share it! He loves to share his food but doesn't yet see the fun in sharing his toys...

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Thursday, March 06, 2008

Snow Day

I didn't get video of the snow after it got crazy but this is from the first trip out. You can really see the gigantic snow flakes falling all around him.



Andrew was fascinated by it all. After he took a nap and we went back out, the whole ground was covered in at least 6 inches! There's pics on the online album. It was a super fun day!

Pics and Video!

Check out the new 17 month old Andrew album on our web albums!



Also, check the 16 month for some pics I put in the wrong place!

Here is Andrew sitting at Mommy's desk. he likes sitting int eh chairs we sit in of course!


Excuse the disaster area, I'm pregnant. Andy did help me get it all cleaned up that night but it has since gotten messy again. Ah life with kids! We love it!!

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Andrew + Kitten = Too Cute!

We had this kitten for a few days. She followed us home one night and we kept her a few nights. her wild side got the best of her though and she always wanted back out. She ran out once and we couldn't get her back so we let her go. She was super sweet and Andrew loved playing with her so much we are now considering getting a kitten from a inside cat litter. We'll see. Kittens keep you up at night playing too so we may have to wait a while! But it was fun.



BTW - he waved as soon as Andy stopped the recording! lol


Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Fun Stuff

Playing Race Cars


Cat Chasing


Playing Lazers

Wednesday, January 23, 2008