25 months old!

It seems like every time I start to make this entry, one of the boys calls. Hopefully this time I can get it finished! Last week, Thomas turned 25 months! It's hard to believe he's getting so big. And ever since Parker was born, Thomas just seems bigger and bigger each day.


Thomas is such a little boy now. He "talks" a lot and is starting to put more and more words together and form short sentences (two or three words) all the time. Sometimes I don't understand him and I tell him, "I'm sorry, I don't understand what you are saying" and he almost always finds a way to either repeat himself more clearly or find some other way of getting his point across. Sometimes he chats so much I have to ask him to be quiet for a moment. :) He loves to give the play-by-play on almost everything we do (and anything he sees anyone else do!).


He is definitely ALL boy. He loves anything with wheels and loves to be outside. He loves lizards and just last week picked up a dead fly on the ground (definitely doesn't have his mother's fear of touching such things!). The other day he somehow managed to get his hands quite dirty and he came over to me so very proudly just to show off his filthy fingers. Like I said, he's definitely a boy. He has a few Bob the Builder books and this got him interested in Bob. I've let him watch it a few times on TV and he'll request it every now and then. Recently his Nannie bought him his very own Bob the Builder tool set (complete with yellow hard hat!) and he has quite a bit of fun with that.


He often decides he needs to hammer just about everything in the house...


So far he is a very good big brother. He wants to be around Parker all the time and is always very interested in what he is doing (if a 3-week old baby can "do" anything). We have to hold him back a lot of the time, and remind him to give Parker a little bit of space. He does love to give him kisses. He'll say frequently "kiss top head!" It's all very cute.


Of course, having a little brother has also amplified Thomas's journey into the "terrible twos." It's quite obvious that as soon as he feels he's not getting ample attention (like when I'm feeding Parker), he starts doing everything he can that he is not supposed to do. It's frustrating, but he is learning all about discipline and hopefully his parents are learning to have more patience. I know it's all very normal and everyone tells me it's a phase that won't last forever. Hopefully this means by the time he's 15 he will listen to at least a little of what his mother asks of him. :)

He is still a decent sleeper, at least in terms of naps. He naps 2-3 hours a day and I have great fears about the day that he no longer needs his rest. He does seem to be waking earlier these days (usually at 6:30ish), and that's particularly fun when I get up most days at 5:30 with Parker (if not before) and just when I get him down, Thomas awakes. No rest for the weary around here, that's for sure! At least he is very well entertained by what is outside his window. It might be the greatest part of where we live, there is a pond behind our house. It is home to geese, ducks and various other birds and such. Thomas loves to watch all these animals from the comfort of his crib. Usually we can give him his milk, pull up the blinds and he will sit there completely happy for 20-30 minutes. It's great.



We're not ready to fully work toward this quite yet (but we might be close), but Thomas has started to take some steps at potty training. He has successfully gone to the potty on a few occasions so far. He gets so excited with himself when he has success. It's not something we are pushing a great deal just yet, but he is familiar with the process and we do ask him from time to time if he wants to go "potty." And sometimes he tells us without our asking. I know that if I focused on it, I probably could make it happen, I just can't find the time and energy to devote to it just yet. It's not far around the corner though, I am sure. And with our new increase in demand for diapers around here, it sure is financially motivating to get him out of diapers!

Oh, and one other thing, his Nana & Grandpa gave him a little motorized scooter for Christmas last year. For a long time he was kind of scared of it. He liked to push it with his feet, but didn't want to "drive" it. Finally about a month or so ago he figured it out and now he loves it. He's so funny riding around on it. I need a video, but for now, here's a funny picture of him riding (drinking and driving with a furry friend!):


Even though he's not always on his best behavior lately, Thomas is such a joy. He is so loving and the sweetest child. He brings such joy and happiness in our lives and I really do not know what we did or what we would do without him. I only wish sometimes that time would slow down so I could enjoy these fun times a little more. Right now he seems to think his parents hung the moon and I do wish it could stay that way forever. It can, right? :)

Laughing rain and potentially high water bills

I'll start with a picture, just because...



Parker slept for most of the day today. He woke every few hours to eat, but that was about it. At 6:45 or so though he woke and decided to stay up. Of course this was in the midst of a major thunderstorm (and tornado warnings/watches) in the area, so it made for a fun few hours (especially since I'm playing single parent at the moment).

I managed to get Thomas bathed and ready for bed just in time to get to Parker, who was beginning to fuss. While feeding him, the storm picked up and Thomas got upset. By the time I was able to get in to Thomas, he was completely worked up and sweating like crazy. I sat with him through some of the storm and tried to tell him how the rain is a very good thing because the plants, grass and trees get very thirsty now they can drink water. And the birds can take a bath. And the thunder? That's just the rain talking, telling the plants to drink and the birds to bathe. And sometimes, when it's really loud, it's just the rain laughing a good belly laugh. That seemed to calm him and he finally was willing to return to his crib (just in time for me to return to Parker who was starting to cry).

Around 10:15 Parker was still not asleep and nothing was really making him happy for more than a few minutes at a time. He wasn't crying, just not being happy and I was getting tired. Ready to throw in the towel, I came downstairs to find and clean the pacifier. When I turned on the water, his eyes started closing...and then they closed! Nothing had caused that to happen all evening until then. I was on the phone with Trey and jokingly suggested I needed to leave the water running all night.

After deciding against the high water bill, I walked away and soon after his eyes opened again. Once I returned upstairs, I tested the water again. Again, it caused his eyes to close. Took him back in his room, gave in to the paci and then remembered we have this gizmo that plays different "soothing" sounds. It has a "white noise" selection that sounds like water running out the faucet. Now that is on in the room and I'm finally getting away for a moment. And the best thing is, our water bill won't be too outrageous.

It's hard to be too upset when your boys are this cute though: :-)

I had planned a post today about Thomas being 25 months. Guess that will have to wait for tomorrow. My bed is definitely calling my name now!

The first 10 days...

The first 10 days of Parker's life have been great. For the most part, big brother Thomas is doing great. He always wants to love on his brother and be around him. He also does want more mommy-holding time, but that is to be expected, I am sure. Bedtimes have been a bit more complicated, but for the most part, he's adjusting well. Parker is a sleeper. I'm trying to enjoy it now while it lasts, because I know it won't last forever. Here's our little sleeper:



We had his 1-2 week WBV check this morning and at 10 days old, he has now passed his birthweight (8 lbs, 8 oz.). He weighed 8 lbs, 10 oz. (this means he has gained 10 oz in the past six days, which is quite good!). So I'm going to quit stressing about whether he sleeps too much and doesn't eat enough because obviously he's doing just fine.

Here are an assortment of pictures from the past 10 days in the life of Parker...

Here's the last picture of Parker before we could really see him! :) Parker was so good to his mommy and gave her a relatively simple pregnancy and I was feeling just fine up until the very last day!


I've already shared pictures of Parker at the hospital, but here's one of his first meeting with his cousin Eliza (she is exactly six weeks older than him):


Eliza and her family will be moving very close to us this coming weekend and we can't wait until we can see more of them!

We managed to take a self-portrait of our family just before we left the hospital:


It was such a strange (but great!) feeling riding home with a car full of family. Thomas was good at keeping us updated on all that Parker was "doing" on the ride home:


This is one of the first times Thomas got to "hold" Parker:


Thomas was sure to supervise Parker's first (sponge) bath:


Parker wasn't so sure...


And he needed a little consoling from his big brother once it was all said and done:


I'll try to do better at the taking AND the posting of pictures. But truly, I cannot ask for things to go any better than they have been (especially as far as Parker is concerned). KNOCK ON WOOD, but right now (and I shouldn't say this aloud because it will make it change!), he is only waking once a night and easily sleeps for 4-5 hour stretches. He goes to bed relatively easily and naps/sleeps anywhere we put him. He is unaffected by Thomas's shouts and running around and our dog's seemingly endless barking lately. Let's all hope he continues like this FOREVER. Is that asking too much?

Happy Mother's Day!

From me and my boys, to other mothers out there... Happy Mother's Day!



And by the way, today was my due date. It's funny to think that it's possible that Parker could possibly not be in our arms just yet. I already can't imagine life without him. :) I can't imagine life without both of my precious sons. I am so blessed to be a mother to them both.

By the way, someone said to me they were worried that things weren't going well since I haven't updated the blog in a while. Actually things are going very well... I guess I'm just a little busy. And of course, poor next child...not nearly as many pictures to share this time around! :) Will try to get some new pics up tomorrow!

Newer pics of the new baby!

I thought I'd take a moment (a rare moment, I'm finding already!) and post a few newer pictures of Parker (that many of you already received in an email yesterday) that are a little better than the ones I posted the other day.

A closer look at all of his hair!! Since Thomas had thin, blonde hair at birth, Parker's hair was a bit of a surprise!

And here's the first picture in full color. I just liked the way it looked in sepia tone.

Our first night home was ... a challenge. I'm not sure why, but I think it's pretty much a universal fact that many babies just do not like to sleep at night when they first come home. Parker is no exception. Of course he's sleeping fine now, and he was sleeping just fine up to 11:00 last night, but the rest of the time in between was a bit difficult. This wouldn't have been as much of a big deal if Thomas wasn't calling for me at 7:30 (at least he gave me a bit more extra time than usual!).

All in all though, Parker is good and Thomas is doing well. But as I type, new baby is calling my name. Must run!

It's a boy!!!

I'm most pleased and proud to announce that Thomas (and his family!) welcomed a beautiful baby brother into our family yesterday afternoon at 4:58 pm. His name is Parker (his middle name is my maiden name...and Parker is a family name from my father's side, by the way. Please forgive me for wanting to stay a bit more anonymous on this "public" site.).

Parker came into this world weighing a surprising 8 pounds, 8 ounces (4 ounces more than his brother), and 20 1/4 inches long (1 inch shorter than his brother!). He seems perfectly healthy and so far he has been a perfect little baby. Thomas has been the best big brother in the short time he has spent with Parker and he has been so loving too, which has warmed my heart. I hope to get some better pictures of Parker today, but until then, here's the best of what I have!

A little Budda face...


Thomas meets his baby brother...




Parker was very nice and brought a car to give to Thomas. He was most pleased...

Hopefully I'll be back with more pictures later today (though my connection from this room is not the best). Many thanks for all of your support and prayers that have helped us reach this happy occasion.