Update overdue!

I know...I know. I haven't updated our blog in quite some time. I'll start with updates on the kids.

Grant

Our baby boy is just days from being 18 months old; 1 1/2 years! He is trying to talk in full sentences and currently his favorite words are no, uh-huh, two, yee-haw (that's what he calls Woody on Toy Story), and sheepy (sheep). He also loves to play with swords and Nerf dart guns with his bubba. With all the fun stuff comes the occasional tantrums and stubbornness. We have been in the Terrible 2's stage for a few months but the majority of the time he is a sweet and snuggly toddler. And I'm not ashamed to say that he is a Mommy's boy. :)

Jeff

Our big boy is doing great in the 4th grade and has lots of friends this year. He is on the A-B honor roll and has been a great big brother to Grant. He, on the other hand, is more of a Daddy's boy these days.

The Move

In case some of you don't know we decided to leave the great city of Austin and move back to the good 'ole backwoods of west Texas. Shane decided to leave Sears and go back with Academy; so we packed up and moved in September. Jeff is thriving in his new school and says he likes it much better than the prior school. I will admit that it feels great to be back in conservative country. Austin was a great chapter in our lives and maybe one day we will end up moving back but for now we are focusing on our lives being spent here. We moved to an apartment and put most of our belongings in storage as we look for a house to buy.

Vacation 2010

This year for our vacation we decided to visit the Texas coast for a few days. We stayed in Aransas Pass and during the day went to nearby Port Aransas, Corpus Christi, and Rockport.

Mr Lounge Lizard himself

At least he started out happy

The smallest HEB I've ever seen located in Cuero. (Well at least I thought it was interesting.)

First stop - Port Aransas. Waiting for the Ferry

Going across to Port A

At the beach in Port A




Grant's first time in the ocean

Day 2 - Texas State Aquarium in Corpus Christi

Mommy and the boys watching the dolphins

Jeff waiting to touch a sting ray

Giddy up, Daddy

At the beach in Rockport

We ended our trip with another visit to the beach in Port A before heading home. We had a great time and hope to visit again soon.

Random pics

Family update

I'm sorry for the lack of updates on our blog. Life in our household has been busy, busy. Especially now that school is out for the summer.

First and foremost we have celebrated 2 birthdays since the last update! Jeff had his 9th birthday in April and Grant hit the big ONE in May. Our boys are getting so big and growing up faster than we want them to.

Jeff's arm has healed but still has the rod in place. It will be removed a few weeks before school starts again. The cast has been removed and he is back to being a normal kid again. He even got back on his scooter without a second thought. We are proud of him for that. He has attended VBS at our church and I hope to get him into some more day camps to keep him busy. If it were up to him he would spend all his days watching tv or playing video games. He will start the 4th grade in August. Wow, time flies!

Grant is completely mobile now and, as expected, is in to EVERYTHING! He keeps Mom on her toes. His vocabulary has skyrocketed. We've counted 25+ words that he can say and understand. He weighed 27 lbs at his 1 year visit and is developing normally. He got the chicken pox immunization at 1 year and developed a small outbreak of them a few weeks later. Poor little guy felt awful and we were glad to get over those. His doctor said the outbreak is a good sign that the immunization took and we shouldn't have to worry about him getting the chicken pox in the future. He still loves to be outside and has been to the swimming pool a few times. He's a little fish just like his brother; loves the water.

Shane is still in the retail industry but has been looking for a career elsewhere. His current job does not allow for much of a social life. He has been going non-stop since he started working there and we are all burned out and need a vacation. Please pray that he finds something that will be able to keep us financially afloat and allow time for family time. I have started a Medical Transcriptionist program and will be certified by May 2011. My goal is to bring in an extra income and be able to stay home with the boys.

Easter 2010

Mr Mischief

Jeff update

Jeff has been so brave during the broken arm fiasco. The doctor ended up placing a rod in his arm to hold the bone in place. That of course meant he had surgery. He wore a cast for 4 weeks and had it taken off yesterday. Now he has to wear a removable brace and has to keep his arm in a sling. He will have the rod removed at the end of April. Another surgery...yuck! But on the bright side he should be healed about a month earlier than expected.

10 months

I can't believe how fast these last 10 months have flown by. It won't be long until the 1 year celebration. My parents have always tried telling me that time flies the older you get...I finally get it now!

Grant is so close to walking on his own. The only thing lacking is his confidence to let go and take a few steps. He could do it. He's also learning to fall on his rear instead of stiffening and falling flat on his back. I have created a 'trail' of things going around the entire living room that he can hold on to and explore on his own. Sometimes he finds a way to get around those barriers and ends up in places he's not supposed to be....say the kitchen for instance.

His vocabulary is getting quite extensive these days. His favorite word of the month is 'outside'. He LOVES being outside. I have a feeling he will be our little outdoors man.

He has 3 teeth on top (with another coming in) and 4 teeth on the bottom. Yep, think it will be time to wean him soon. lol

Big Brother's Boo-Boo

It sure has been an interested week to say the least. A few days ago Jeff was riding his scooter to a friend's house down the block and fell on his arm. I knew it was broken the minute I saw it. We spent a few hours in the ER on Sunday, a few hours in the orthopedic office yesterday, and early this morning he had to get his arm set at the hospital. Luckily they put him completely out to do the procedure. He had a clean break but the bone ended up at a 24 degree angle. The doctor said it did pop back into place but it took about 30 minutes of working on it to get it there. He used a kind of x-ray machine to help him see the bone during the manipulation. Needless to say Jeff's arm was really sore afterwards. The next step is a follow up visit in a few days during which time he might get his final cast put on. After that it's 5-6 weeks of wearing the cast. He has been really brave through this ordeal.

9 months!

Weight - 25 lbs 2 oz

Length - 30 inches

We have a big boy on our hands! As you can see Grant loves to stand, walk, and explore. We haven't exactly seen him crawl but somehow he starts out sitting in the middle of the floor and next thing we know he has pulled himself up by the sofa and is standing on the other side of the room....within a matter of a minute or 2. Doesn't want to give his secret away I guess.

He can say 'bubba', 'da-ee' (daddy), and today he has been saying 'mama'. He can also say 'woo', which is our dog's nickname. Besides exploring he LOVES to eat. We have gone past the baby food stage; it's all table food for him. He eats 3 meals/day, 2 snacks, and still nurses a few times. I'm not used to having a baby that will eat. Even to this day his brother Jeff does not like to eat.

Grant has 2 bottom teeth and 1 top tooth so far. The other top tooth is starting to show but has not fully come through yet. Teething has been hard on both Grant and me...if he doesn't sleep neither do I.

One 8 YEAR old & one 8 MONTH old

Life in our household has been very adventurous lately as both boys have experienced new milestones.


Jeff is an amazing big brother to Grant and I am amazed at the boost in his maturity and independence levels. Recently he has made a new friend that is a grade ahead of him and on the weekends those 2 are inseparable. A few days ago as I was waiting for him after school he opened the car door to ask if he could walk home with his friend. This is the same kid that HATES to exercise. Although the school is only a few blocks from the house I was hesitant but let him go anyway. You know I couldn't just drive straight home, right? I had to follow him a bit...hehe. He's also been spending more time outdoors, which is a plus! I've come to the realization that I need to let the reins go just a bit and let him be the big boy that he is turning in to.

Grant has also hit some new milestones; although, crawling is not one of them yet. On most days putting him on his tummy results in him laying his head down and fussing. Today he finally showed some interest and scooted around in circles on the floor. He would much rather be standing and working on his balance and occasionally taking a few steps forward while holding our hands. Another thing he loves to do is eat! These days it seems he spends most of the day in his high chair eating....and not baby food. He wants the food off of my plate. He's had baked chicken, steamed squash, biscuits, spaghetti, crackers, and yogurt. The yogurt he is not so sure about yet. His new favorite game is peek-a-boo...either with a blanket covering his head or he just closes his eyes to hide himself. We say 'Where's Grant?' when he hides. Today he closed his eyes and said 'Gant?'. Oh, just made my heart melt!

As for Shane and I we have been roommates lately. He goes one way and I go the other...sometimes we stop to say hi to each other. One of these days we will have some time to ourselves.

Thanks for reading!

Balancing Act & 2nd tooth!

Grant's second tooth finally made it's appearance yesterday! Two days prior to that were rough; he ran a low grade fever and woke up every hour during the night. That's WITH giving him Tylenol plus teething tablets. Poor little guy.

He also likes to stand and try to balance himself and doesn't have the slightest interest in crawling yet. He wants to be just like big Bubba....and big Bubba doesn't crawl! :)

7 months - first tooth!

Our littlest angel is growing up fast! I discovered his first tooth on Jan 4th when he was drinking from my glass. The 'clinking' sound from his tooth hitting the glass was how I knew it was there. He has had much pain from this tooth coming through and I have a hunch the other bottom one will be showing up soon.

He has 3 meals of solid foods on most days and his favorite foods are homemade sweet potatoes and the Winter Squash baby food. He also loves to chew on crackers. Unlike his big brother at this age, he does not like bananas and will not drink any kind of juice; I mix both in his cereal for breakfast. I guess I can't complain that he prefers water over juice! The only fruit he will eat is avocado (yes, it's a fruit...I always thought it was a veggie).

His last weigh in at his 6 month doctor visit was 21 pounds so by now I'm sure he's at 22 or 23. He wears size 2T shirts and 18 month pants.....at 7 months old! Big boy!!

I am trying to transition him from our bed back to his but have not been successful so far since he wakes multiple times at night from teething. The good news is that he will take naps in his bed so at least some progress is being made. I've gotten used to being able to function during the day on about 6 hours of interrupted sleep; I might sleep for days without waking if given the opportunity to actually sleep at night I'm afraid.

We are so proud of Grant and his brother Jeff! Hoping that on the next update Grant will be crawling. :)