mother of the year

First, some cuteness, but stay tuned for four short stories below:

One morning, Carter jumped so much that he passed out!

We were so excited to help the boys find their feet but Nolan is now obsessed with his.

Brad's mom visited!  So glad she could spend some QT with the boys!

She helped us serve the first bit of rice cereal!

We had some Fourth of July dress up time. (My mom took no shame in printing this on the front page of my hometown newspaper!)

And lots of swimming:

Four Short Stories:

1.  I typically do my fingernails and toenails myself unless I'm headed to a wedding. Well, today I just came home from a mani and pedi since my bro is getting married in Tulsa this weekend. But lately, I guess I haven't quite had the time to maintain and Brad totally just told me that I should keep getting manicures and pedicures. Awesome.

2.  We have settled into a laundry routine. One load a day. Whites, then colors, then whites, then colors...etc. It isn't all baby clothes. It is mostly my clothes and Brad's clothes that have been spit up on several times and burp cloths that have attempted to catch spit up and failed and cleaned up the mess instead.

3.  I think it may be official: I overreact to medical concerns.  In the last several weeks of pictures, I seriously have been concerned about Nolan's eyes. To me, they look like one turns in some.  After reading too much online and freaking out, I made an appointment with the pediatrician for the next day. I even brought the laptop with a folder specifically filled with pictures where his eyes look off. The doctor was so nice in not making me feel like a crazy lady. She said my concerns were very valid but that Nolan just has a wider nasal bridge that covers some of the eye white, making the eye appear to be positioned a little differently. Whew!

You know, at one point, several months ago, I even thought Nolan may have had ringworm on his scalp.  Crazy, I know.  He didn't. But isn't my concern justified by the fact that my dog had recently had ringworm and Nolan lost all hair on top and his scalp was peeling? Needless to say, the hair on top of his head is now plentiful.

Looking back, I was paranoid about a lot of things. Lots with Nolan, maybe because he was baby B and had some issues in the womb early on. But there have been some Carter concerns along the way, too.  I'll just have to work on that: relax and cautiously trust that my babies really are healthy as can be!

Now, here is behavior that is the complete opposite of that of a worrier!

4.  One day, I was in a hurry to get out the door, as usual, since it always takes a lot longer than I expect and I have limited time to get out and back in time for the next feeding. Both babies were fussy. Nolan was hanging out while I changed and prepared Carter.  I set Carter in his carseat on the floor while I grabbed Nolan to get him ready to go. I thought about strapping Carter in but that would take too long so I gave him a toy instead thinking that should occupy him and he wouldn't try arching his back and sliding out of the seat. Nolan and I walked out back to let Mallie out. She has to be escorted passed the pool, to the grass or she won't go do her business. On the way, I felt something warm on my arm. I looked down to discover poop. Nolan poop. His is special because he doesn't go very often but when he does, it is extreme. (I know, I know, we are in for a real surprise when they start eating real food!) Anyway, I changed my hold so I had both his ankles in one hand (the poopie hand) and his neck and back in the other. "I am NOT getting this on my clothes!" I thought. We headed back inside, walked passed Carter having a grand ole time with his toy so Nolan and I had some quality clean-up time. After maybe one or two minutes, I heard a thud and completely freaked out! I threw Nolan in the crib (okay I didn't throw him and at least I didn't leave him on the changing table) and ran down the hallway to find Carter on his belly, on the hardwood floor, smiling at me while playing with his crinkle book.

It seems I had forgotten that Carter is more interested in rolling over than he is in arching his back to squirm out of things. I think the boy rolled over while inching his way down the carseat. I don't think his landing was the "thud" sound, either. I think he made a smooth transition to the floor and was there for a bit with his arm hanging on the carseat and when his hand let go, the carseat rocked back and hit the wall behind it, causing said "thud." At least that's what I tell myself. Why else would he not have cried?

Wait, there's more.

I picked Carter up and loved on him some, mostly to help decrease my heart rate. I put him in the carseat and buckled him up.  Then I went to the boys' room to get Nolan out of the crib and I notice his lovely face! It seriously had poop on it! This is ridiculous! The icing on the cake! Or should I say, the poop on the face!  I cleaned his face and buckled him into his carseat.  By this point, I was laughing and the boys were smiling at me with pity. Poor crazy lady.  Moving on, I let mallie in, grabbed the diaper bag and both carseats and headed out the door with a glistening face. (And we were probably just making our almost daily trip to walmart).

I'll be waiting for my "Mother of the Year" certificate in the mail.

babies are funny

4 month check up, 6/11/10:


Carter weighed 15.5 lbs (55th percentile). Nolan weighed 12.5 lbs (20th percentile).

Both boys are approximately the same height (50th percentile).

Both of their heads are about the same size (15th percentile).

We are planning to start rice cereal around the 5 month mark (that's very soon!).  We'll be starting homemade baby food just before the 6 month mark.

First colds. Check.  First ear infections. Check. Those gave us 8 days and nights of wondering who took our babies and when they would be back. But they came back, better than ever.

I'm absolutely loving being home with the boys. I feel like I'm finally, really getting to know them.  And I feel very lucky to get to be home with them during the summers.

Babies are funny.

It is called the "sea of orange" and it is a very peaceful place.

It is not my fault. Mom had mexican food.

Wherever, whenever. Just let me sleep. Who knows what is all over this boy's shirt.  Wait, I do know. It is lots of spit up and drool!

Really, mom?  But we actually do like the hats, Pammy. Thanks!

Oh my gosh I love other babies. They are so cool, you just don't even understand. But let's play "What's in the background." Why is everyone wearing plaid shorts?

Okay, it's your turn now. Let me carry you like this. It's really comfortable.

Werd. Starting the trend. You know it.

Whoa.

Mom, in Texas in the summer, it doesn't matter how early you get up to go for a walk, it is still too hot. Please stop. That is not a problem at all, kiddos!

Where did my dining room table go? Oh, it has been eaten by two giant green highchairs.

This man has wanted a new grill for at least 6 years. Happy Father's Day.  Dad loved walking out back to find this lovely surprise only moments after he got back from hitting some golf balls!

Yeah, yeah, yeah so you can roll on your tummy and lift your head and chest. It is kind of getting on my nerves because you practically always roll into my personal space.  I can roll onto my tummy, too. I just don't particularly enjoy it.

I'm sorry, let's hug and make up.

Ever ask yourself, "Why does Carter have the same face in every picture?" He wants you to know that he smiles a lot, too. Mom and Dad just aren't very good at catching it on camera. But here's one.

Don't forget to check out more pictures by clicking on the link at the top right of the page!

Kentucky

I am so happy we could bring the boys to Kentucky! This did make for two weekends in a row of flying. After they did such a great job for the Nashville flight, we were a little too confident this time. Carter screamed his head off for 10 long minutes. I practically cried, too, but people were forgiving. After I apologized several times, they said things like, "Don't worry about it.  It is only annoying when it is toddlers who are just misbehaving!" or "Hey, ten minutes of a 2 hour flight is better than I expected."  I just wanted to get out of there ASAP.

My very long time friend, Julia was married. Such a fun and unique wedding. I was so happy and honored to be a part of it!

The boys FINALLY got to meet all their Paris Girl aunts (Paris, Kentucky is my hometown).  These 8 girls have been a big part of my life for the majority of my life!

Carter and Nolan got to meet some of their Greats. So special!

Great Granny

Great Grandmommy 

Great Granddaddy.

Great Grandma, you're next!

I'm not going to lie, I loved showing them off!  They got to meet lots of my cousins, aunts, uncles and family friends.

It was a great trip overall but things took a turn for the worse Tuesday night, 6/8.  First of all, we found a spider floating in an almost finished bottle. No idea which baby was drinking from that bottle, or how the spider got in the bottle. Totally freaked us out.  Then Carter decided to scream every 45 minutes, practically ALL NIGHT LONG.  We weren't sure if it was part of the cold we noticed him getting the day before or if it was the spider. I found myself wandering through Super Walmart at 3am looking for baby pain reliever and baby gas relief.  That's all we can give babies this age.  Needless to say, the boys got to stay in their PJs for a long time the next morning. Carter was very congested so we decided to let the spider incident go and call it a cold. We somehow packed up, made it on the flight and made it home safely, Wednesday.  The flight was surprisingly WONDERFUL.  Both babies were good. I think they were just so tired.  The flight attendant even blocked the seats next to us, so we got to bring the car seats on the plane and didn't have to hold the boys the whole time!  Wednesday and Thursday night were better, but only a little better. Carter was still in rough shape. Somehow, Nolan was seeming to bypass the cold. Or maybe he just suffered in silence. Friday was our Pediatrician appointment. Colds and ear infections were diagnosed. Bring on the medicine because this needed to get better quickly!  And it did. Eight nights of this craziness and we were finally back in business; back to our sweet babies sleeping 10+ hours at night.  I missed them so much.  Oh, in case you were worried, we asked the doctor about the spider. So embarrassing! She said that the venom must enter the blood for there to be any issue. There would have to be a bite. She said it is unrelated to what the boys had been experiencing. Whew!

Though our trips were wonderful, after 3 weekends out of town, we are excited to spend some time at home.

Nashville

Carter and Nolan flew with us to Nashville for Memorial Day Weekend.  Brad and I were so nervous but the boys did great! Just a little fussy when boarding but that's it! On the way there, we traded seats and got a 3 seater row to ourselves! People were so nice. I felt like we got royal treatment, the opposite of what I expected. The pilot came over to meet our twins while we were waiting to board. He had twin boys, too! Then he told us that he would help us get whatever we needed....just ask!  Then as we were boarding, a guy walked by and said that he had a twin brother and that twins were so awesome! Loved it!  On the way back though, we sat across the aisle from each other. Did you know that we can't sit together in the 3 seater side if there is another adult. That would be 5 bodies and there are only 4 oxygen masks there!

We finally got to meet my new nephew, Ronan!  He is amazing and was born just two weeks after Carter and Nolan.  I love how we were already forcing them to be friends. =) 

 Ginger and Aaron are great parents! We had some fun times with the family, including swimming in the community pool that just opened after the horrible flood!

 Here's Jessie, Mom and Ginger with the baby boys!

You should have seen us taking walks together. Three dogs, Three babies, and anywhere from to 5 to 7 adults! It was our very own parade.

So glad we could make the trip!