Super Bowl Fun!

Well tonight is the superbowl and both our boys are decked out in opposite team jerseys - Luke is pulling for the Saints, dressed in his Saints attire given to Elijah last year by one of the Stephen's groomsmen, Mike. He is a huge Saints fan and actually took Stephen to the Saints/Jets game this season. Elijah, on the other hand, is pulling for the Colts, dressed in his Eli Manning jersey given to him by Stephen's step-brother, Quentin. He is a huge Colts fan and has a little boy named Peyton, so between our two families, we have two Manning brothers covered. Although Elijah's jersey is 12mo, he still fits in it. (Barely!)
Luke got his helmet on Friday and we've started the gradual process of adjusting him to it. Yesterday he wore it for about 3 hours, today 6, and by Friday he'll be wearing it 23 hours a day. He seems to be taking to it pretty well, thankfully. We just pray that this works and that he enjoys wearing it... for the next several months.

Helmet here we come...

So I'll start of with an update on Luke's plagiocephaly (fancy word for a misshaped head) - after a consultation with an orthotist, the scans revealed that he will need a cranial band (aka helmet). Most people do not have a symmetrical head; your measurements are off by about 2-4mm. If the child's head is off by 6-10mm, they highly recommend the helmet. Luke's was off by 12mm. So for the next 5 or 6 months, he will be having to wear his sweet little helmet 23 hours a day. That's right - 23 hours a day! Poor guy. I was under the impression that he might have to wear it a couple hours a day, but, unfortunately, I was wrong. His cranial band will be ready on Monday, when we'll go for a lengthy appointment to further customize and fit it to Luke's head. So be in prayer for that situation - that he takes well to the helmet and stays a sweet and happy baby. And that it doesn't hinder his sleep... we are just to the point where he is back to sleeping through the night, for the most part, and are so not looking forward to adding something to complicate his sleep.
On a lighter note, here are a few fun stories about Elijah that I thought I'd share to add a bit of laughter to your day...

• Stephen had to go to Miami for work. Elijah is doing a great job w/ his pronouns when he talks - so great that he pronounces "Miami," "Your-ami." How funny is that?! I told him "daddy's going to Miami... where is he going?"...Elijah: "He's going to Your-ami". We were praying and I said "Please keep daddy safe in Miami" and Elijah repeated and said "Please keep daddy safe in your-ami". lol
• One of his new favorite songs is Zaccheus (was a wee little man...) Out of nowhere, generally at dinner time, he will say "Zaccheus, you come down!..." Of all the bible songs, that one has clearly stuck.
• He has this funny little voice that he uses sometimes. It's really deep and he chooses to use it at the funniest times. He'll say "Papa Jeff and Jerrie" and will almost always say "Jerrie" in his low voice. Stephen and Elijah chase each other all the time, and the other night Stephen had a coin of his and Elijah kept yelling "HEY! (Really deep)... gimmie my coin.... HEY!... gimmie my coin!" Although his manners weren't top notch at that moment, him yelling "hey" like that and chasing Stephen was so funny to us both.
• Thumbs up is the biggest incentive right now. He will do just about anything to get you to give him 2 thumbs up. A few weeks ago, when he was just learning to do thumbs up, he would look at his hand and say "thumbs up!... is that my thumb?" Now he has it down pat.
• Elijah sat down on the potty tonight and was waiting and said "Penis! Tinkle!"
  

More stories to come soon!

Luke is 6 Months Old!

It's hard to believe, but our baby Luke is 6 months old! We went to the doctors yesterday for his check up, and he weights nearly 18lbs, which puts him in the 50th percentile for weight. He is in the 75th % for head size and 15th % for height, so he's still short and chubby, but Dr Malone is hopeful that he'll hit a growth spurt soon. We have an appt with an orthotist on Monday to see if they would recommend our sweet Luke to get, for lack of a better term, a helmet. =) So that will pressurize his head and get it shaped a little bit better. It has improved greatly, but he could use a little extra help since we can't force him to lay a certain way anymore b/c he's so mobile. He has changed a lot in the past couple months! He scooted for the first time on December 16th, one day shy of his 5 month birthday! He only goes a few feet now, but it is progress. He sat up for the first time right around then too... I just don't know where I wrote down that date! So it's fun right now, watching him curiously try to get objects and try to move around. And it's so cute to watch him and Elijah sitting next to each other, playing with the same toys. He loves to sit in his little jumperoo (like an exersaucer, but it bounces) and the little jumper that you attach to a door frame - however, I have learned that I can't leave him in it while I'm showering b/c several times I peaked my head out of the shower, to see Elijah standing next to him, smiling mischievously at me. =)
He's eating solids for breakfast and dinner (fruit and cereal for breakfast and fruit and veggie at night) and is even drinking a little juice every other day (to help out his tummy). Sleeping is a whole different issue... Ever since we visited our family in Huntsville for Thanksgiving, we've been dealing w/ him waking up once a night most days of the week. (prior to that he slept through the night since 2 months or so). And since we had to position him in a certain way at night for his head, we swaddled him up until last Friday. So now that he can play with his feet and hands at night, he thinks it's playtime. Last night was especially rough (could have been attributed to his vaccinations yesterday) - He woke me up every 30 minutes until 1:20, and then he decided to cry until 3 when we finally decided to put him in his swing. We generally let him cry four about 15/30 minutes before we check on him and/or change his diaper. Thank the Lord Elijah is a fantastic sleeper and could care less whether or not his brother is crying in the wee hours of the morning. We're working on teaching him to nap in his bed rather than his swing now, so napping is rough too... whew. I'm getting exhausted just writing about this! So this time period is a little trying, but it is temporary. We'll get through it.
I'll end on a happy note though. He loves to giggle, especially at his daddy and Elijah. At the doctors, he got so tickled watching Elijah run around the room that he made me and the dr crack up as well. It is so precious and so contagious. He is such a sweet child and such an incredible blessing.

Elijah's 2.... and a month

So I understand that I'm posting stuff about my sweet Elijah's 2nd birthday a good month after the fact, but that's what happens when you have a son who's birthday is right before Christmas! It's been quite busy! I cannot believe he is two years old. Before his birthday, he was so excited about his "Mickey Mouse Birthday Party," which he would say all the time. When you asked him who was coming, he would name a list of friends from church and what not, but it basically was family and a couple of our best friends. His party was a blast! It was Mickey Mouse Clubhouse themed, so all the food had to do w/ the show... Toodles' Tea, Donald & Daisy's Cheese & Quackers, "Chip" & Dale's salsa, Goofy's goody bags, "Minnie" fruit cups, Boo Boo Chicken Nuggets, Hot Diggidy Dogs,... and my favorite - Professor Von Drake's Vaffle Chips". (I mean, if you're going cheesy, you might as well go all out) We made a "toodles" for his party and Elijah had to call on him throughout the party for mousekatools. But it was absolutely precious when a baloon floated to ceiling and he grabbled the cardboard toodles to help get it down. Thankfully, his daddy was there to save the day. He had a great time at the party and was sad that it was only a one day thing. That night we went to our fav mexican restaurant, San Antonio, b/c you can't miss having your little boy decked out in a sombrero and sung to on his birthday. He thought it was so fun! He is just the most incredible little two year old! He loves loves loves to sing. I always wondered if our first born would be more musical than the others since he heard me teaching music all day while I was pregnant with him... we'll see... But he can sing SO many songs! Stephen's favorite is the farmer in the dell. I was singing rudolph, which I barely sang during Christmas, and I would stop at the end of each line, and he would sing the correct word every time! And then I sang "Oh you better watch out..." and he sang the rest of that song! I didn't even realize I had sung it that often for him to learn it. A sweet thing he is doing now, is that everytime we go up to bed for his nap, he runs and kneels by the side of his bed to pray. He repeats everything I say when we pray and it is just so sweet - he, the 2 year old, was reminding me, the grown up, to pray. And after he sings the blessing before we eat, he always says, so sweetly, "Thank you God for our family... I love you God" I know I'm going on and on about Elijah, but that's b/c this post is about him. My next one will be all about Luke. I have a lot of catching up to do on this blog! Hope all is well with you and your families!

Superdad and Luke's Check Up

Well, first of all, I have to say that Stephen has been such an amazing dad and husband, especially this past week. I had plans Thursday night, a hair appt on Saturday, went shopping on Sunday, and went to Sipsnstrokes on Tuesday night and he watched the boys without complaining at all. (not that he would complain to watch his own children, but that's a lot to ask of him, with him working all day and being busy on the weekends as well.) On Sunday when I came home, he had cleaned up the house a good bit. That was super sweet, b/c as anyone with any kids, especially small ones, knows, it's super hard to keep the house clean for more than a min. On Tuesday, when I came home from sipsnstrokes, he had cleaned up all of the dishes, put them away, cleaned up all the toys, the kitchen, the den, did a couple loads of laundry, and even folded them! And did I mention he had chocolate chip cookies waiting for me? =) (He brought them home from work that day, but hey, they're still chocolate chip cookies!) So I wanted to give a big thank you to him for being a super dad!

Luke is officially 4 months old (this picture is a couple weeks old). We went to the Drs for his 4 mo check up and Elijah's 2 yr check up. Elijah is 50% in height and weight - completely avg! Luke is 50% in weight and head, and 25% in height. It's funny b/c Elijah was always 50% in weight, but he was always tall for his age, so Luke's a little chubbier looking b/c he's shorter - which is so cute. Everything looked great with both of the boys except the dr was a little concerned w/ Luke's head shape, so we had to go to Children's to get a skull scan. After a long morning, it turned out his skull is forming together just as it should. yeah! If you haven't seen him recently, his head kind of bulges out a little bit in the back - it's not hugely noticable, but it concerned the dr. Luke favors looking to his right and it appears that has caused his head to form a little funny. His brain is all good, but his head's shape is not quite round. Elijah's head was funny shaped for a while but his turned out round once he was able to sit up, so we hadn't been concerned. But the dr wants us to make sure his head is looking up completely straight when he's on his back for the next 2 months and hopes that will solve the problem. If not, we'll have to go to a specialist to get a special helmet for him to wear to kind of pressurize his head to fix his problem. So he's not enjoying not turning his head, but he's going to have to learn to adapt b/c we don't want to go down the helmet road, as cute as that would be. So alls well for now and hopefully we're on the path to getting his head fixed up. But he's as sweet and bubbly as a baby could be - talking a ton, rolling, smiling, sleeping great! We're really thankful for 2 great boys.

Saving Money

Okay, so since I’ve been a stay at home mom, particularly with two kids, we’ve had to watch our budget & try to save as much as possible. The Lord has provided a lot of help to us, like me teaching aerobics again and different ways we’ve been able to save money. Well, my friend Holly introduced me to www.proverbswife.blogspot.com and www.southernsavers.com and we have saved SO much money pairing up coupons with buy one get one free deals and what not - everything purchased at publix. It gets me so excited - I grew up shopping all the time for clothes and bragging to my parents how much I “saved” them, so I guess I’ve had to change from clothing shopping to grocery shopping to satisfy my craving for a good deal. But this week, I just had to share what we’ve bought…

4 pkgs of Pillsbury Simply Cookies (all natural), 3 lb bag of gala apples, 1 International Delight Creamer, 2 pkgs of Green Giant Steamers frozen veggies, 2 pkgs of Green Giant boxed frozen veggies, 1 Multi Grain Cheezitz, 1 white posterboard… 31 cents total!!!
4 pkgs of Green Giant boxed veggies, 2 pkgs of Solo heavy duty paper plates (48ct), 1 box whole wheat Mueller’s pasta, publix all natural peanut butter… 86 cents total!!!
Arnolds Honey Wheat Bread, 2 pkgs of Country Crock butter, 1 pkg of reduced fat cheezitz, 3 lb bag of gala apples, publix all natural peanut butter, publix milk….8.12 total
And we’re going back this afternoon for purchases that will probably resemble the first two listed.

All of those purchases were made w/ coupons I printed online from these websites. I try to do all of my shopping on Sun & Mon to get the publix penny item (which was peanut butter this week). We try to break up our grocery bill into 10 dollar increments (to get the penny item) and go as many times as necessary on Sun & Mon to stock up on the penny item. This week we kind of slacked on that, so we only got 2 penny items, but normally we get like 4 or so, which can be great when it’s toilet paper or tortilla chips or something really useful. This week, we made out big time w/ the $4 off 4 general mills products coupon, found in the publix circular in their store - we were paid to buy the cookies and green giant veggies, since we paired them up w/ that $4 off coupon and individual coupons.

For example, we bought 4 pkgs of Green Giant frozen veggies 3 for $5 - we used 50cents off coupons on each, which publix doubles, so we got $1 off each box. Then I had one 50cents off 2 boxes (they sometimes allow you to use more than one, which worked today), so that’s another $1 off. Then we used the $4 off GM coupon. So just for the veggies alone, we got paid nearly $2.34!
I would highly recommend checking out these websites and trying it out for yourselves. I get so excited when I get a good deal!!! Hope you do to!
FYI- These deals end after today, so if you want to get them, make sure you check out the weekly ads for whatever date through Nov 3 b/c they probably have this next weeks’ ads (wed thru tues) posted already. =)

Fall Fun

Fall has been fun so far! We went &tailgated at the Alabama/Tennessee game where we got to hang out with some friends from college, including one of Elijah’s little girlfriends, Meredith Eller, as well as with Uncle TJ & Poppy. If you ask Elijah what we do on Saturday’s, he’ll excitedly tell you “Alabama football game” and can cheer “Roll Tide” and “B-A-M-A Bama All the Way” at the top of his lungs. I guess you could say we’re raising him right. =) We went to the pumpkin patch as a family on Sunday and had such a fun time! We rode the choo-choo train, went on a hayride, and Daddy & Elijah figured their way through a maze. It was a gorgeous day & we had a blast. I took the boys back on Monday, when it was less crowded, for Elijah to bounce on the inflatables, play the games, & get his face painted.

For Halloween Elijah is an Alabama football player and Luke is the football ~ the perfect pair! We joked about doing these costumes last Halloween before we were expecting Luke. My mom made Luke’s sweet little costume, which we have gotten so many compliments on! Wednesday was our church’s Trunk or Treat, which was the first time Elijah was able to experience trick or treating. Last year he just rode around in a wagon with his pal Jonah. He ran from car to car & really liked getting candy (which he’s only been allowed one piece of so far!) He was so good at running from car to car that, when we stopped for a few minutes to work our Sunday school classes’ car, he ran off without us. I was tending to our classes’ candy & holding Luke and Stephen was grabbing a paci for Luke. Within 2 seconds, Elijah was gone - Stephen went one way and I went the other. It was such a zoo there that he could have been anywhere! After which felt like forever, probably 10 min or so, I got back to the car and Stephen had Elijah in his arms. Our friend Clay found him running, quite far away from our car… It was the worst feeling in the world, not knowing where he was. We said so many prayers that night - of worry and of thanks. So it was definitely a memorable night to say the least.

Tonight we’re going to carve and paint pumpkins and then tomorrow’s the big night! Halloween’s so much more fun with kids!