Preschool

On September 11 Landon started preschool.  This is something that we had been wanting to do for over a year actually but finally felt the time was right! It has been a bit of an adjustment for both of us but he is absolutely loving it! He goes three days a week and is there from about 830/9 until around 4.  It seems like a long day for a 3 year old but based on their schedule and not wanting him to miss anything and my work schedule it works best.  He is always exhausted even though they say he takes a nap there, they also say he eats his vegetables at lunch which I would have to see to believe!!

In just the few weeks since he has started his vocabulary has exploded! I just love to hear him talk and the things he says and picks up on are so funny to me.  Every night when we put him to bed he will do a running commentary on the day with different voices and everything and its so hilarious, Its interesting to hear about his day in this way.

I still miss him on the days he has school and usually I can't wait until 330 when I can go pick him up.  He has been with me at home for 3 years and its so different not having him home all the time but I know his social and learning skills will certainly benefit!

I'm Back!!

Geez, where has the time gone?! Managing a job, two young boys, and just life in general has been plain busy! I miss this little corner of the internet that I call mine.  I wavered back and forth about whether I would continue to document our lives here or not but I just love to look back on old posts and see where our lives were at any point in time, plus the blog community has played such a big part in my life I hate to just abandon it all together, not now at least.  That being said, I'm back!!

FIve on Friday

ONE. Bible Study
I ordered the Study Pack for the She Reads Truth Nehemiah study and I am loving it.  The study pack is beautifully done and I am really loving the study.

TWO.Flowers for Mommy

This boy is obsessed with getting mommy flowers lately, it really is the sweetest thing, I just have to watch him in places where he can't pick the flowers because he thinks all flowers are free for the picking. 

THREE. Wild Animals
I love our neighborhood so much, they are always planning the coolest things for the kids and a few weeks ago they had a wild animal show, this company rescues and rehabs animals that were injured in hurricanes and such and they have a safari you can visit but they brought them to the neighborhood for us to see! It was so fun and Landon loved to see the animals… from a distance! He also went down the big blow up slide which I was so proud of him because he usually is a little scared of that type of thing. Im sure the fact his little buddy did it with him helped :)

FOUR. Silly boy
This guy is going to be the class clown for sure, he is always doing stuff to crack us up!

FIVE. Visits from Dad

This past week my dad came to visit.  This is huge because he usually won't even call.  He only came for a day and while I wish he would have stayed more than a few hours we have to start with baby steps.  This was the first time he met Leighton and Landon really did have a good time visiting with Grandpa Bill.

Nursery Reveal

Planning the nursery is one of the most fun things about brining a new baby into the family, at least in my opinion.  I knew from the start I wanted to do something soft, serene and classic.  I started by putting together an idea board here with the general feel I wanted for the room.

I knew I did not want a theme but rather something that can change and grow with him easily as he gets

older.  I have always loved the look of breadboard and thanks to my parents who came to help it is probably one of my favorite aspects of the room and adds some depth to a plain wall. 

I knew though that I wanted a calm and relaxing feel with different textures and fabrics but nothing too loud.  From the velvety soft crib sheets and blanket to the precious burlap pennant banner and curtain ties I think the textures and fabrics that make up the room add interest and depth to what could otherwise have been a bland and stark space.  I also love the contrast between the grays and soft blues and whites, it couldn't have come together more perfectly.

I feel its a space thats relaxing enough but also visually engaging for our sweet boy.  He loves to look up at the banner when I change him and the scroll monogram on the wall grabs his attention when he is hanging out in his crib or playing on the floor.

The other thing I really wanted to incorporate from the start was some sort of book shelf on the wall.  This took me forever to find what I finally wanted but I love how it turned out and its fun to interchange the books with seasons and holidays.

A friends sister made me this personalized print with Good Night Moon and I couldn't love it more! It ties in the gray perfectly and it is one of my favorite stories to read the boys at bedtime. The elephant prints I think are beyond precious it was so hard to narrow down my choices!

This room turned out exactly how I had imagined and it is probably one of my favorite rooms of the house.  I can literally sit in there and rock the baby while big brother plays for hours.  The calm and relaxing feel came through perfectly.

One Kings Lane also has a great resource with their Nursery Style Guide that has some great ideas to think about when deciding what to do with your nursery!

dresser/crib/prints/bookshelves/chair/letters/blanket/sheets/frames/changing pad cover/bumper

L2 Month 3

Now to bring us up to speed.  Our sweet boy turned three months on Feb 26.  Time is flying by and I am loving every minute of having two boys!! Watching this guy grow and change has been so much fun.  

I remember saying this with L1 but I think this month has been the most fun yet!

L2 is smiling all the time and is so social and interactive! He has started to "talk" and laugh which is so cute I melt every time!!  He loves to watch his mobile and the fan and will even sit in his bumbo seat for a good amount of time.

Sleep: He is sleeping 6-8 hours most nights! last week was a little rough but I attribute that to me going back to work and throwing his little routine off a bit.  But really most nights he is only waking up once around 4 and he goes to sleep around 8 or 9.  He is so easy to put to bed, its very obvious when he is tired because he will get super fussy despite all other attempts to make him happy.  Then we swaddle him turn on his white noise and feed him.  I can lay him down awake and he will put himself to sleep.  This is a huge difference from big brother who would not sleep more than 3 hours at a time until 6months and had to be rocked/nursed to sleep.

Eating: I am so so happy to report we are back to "exclusive" breastfeeding!! I say "exclusive" because he does take bottles when I am at work and if we are out and about.  but in general he is basically back to nursing full time which I am so happy about! I am returning our hospital pump next week and said from when I work I usually only pump a few times throughout the day at home.  He is taking anywhere from 3.5-5 ounces when he does take a bottle and still wants to eat every 2-3 hours during the day.

Clothing: He is right between sizes 0-3 in some brands don't fit anymore and are almost too small in other brands, most 3-6 sizes are slightly big but will be perfect before long.

He loves to be carried still so I wear him often and when he has to be in his carseat he hates when it isn't moving.  He found his hands and chews on them all the time and is starting to notice his feet as well!

L2 Month 2

This is way late but nonetheless our sweet boy turned one month on January 26, 2014.

At his 2 month apt he was 12lbs 7 ounces and 23 inches, a huge improvement from where we were a month ago!!

Sleep: He is waking up every 3-4 hours at this point

Eating: Still not breastfeeding much, he takes 3-4 ounces at each feed every 2-3 hours. I decided to rent a hospital pump and so I have been able to give him just breast milk now days which is nice.  He spits up like a fountain but since he is gaining weight and not bothered by it we will just wait until he outgrows it.

Clothing: He is in 0-3 month clothes and size one diapers.

He is such a happy baby, smiling all the time! He loves his mamaroo and his simple bouncy seat and has started to watch his big brother which is the sweetest thing!!

Five on Friday::2-28-2014

I am super excited about today being friday because it is the first whole day I have off on my 7 day stretch of days off!!  I worked 5 out of the last 6 days and thankfully it went fast but I am so ready for some down time with just my boys!

{ONE}

I think we are going to start potty training this weekend!  I really think L is ready and since I have several days off I can stay home and work with him on it! Lets all pray this is a quick smooth process!!

{TWO}

Can we just talk about the lashes on this one? What is it with boys and their long lashes?! Were also working on growing some hair back in hehe

{THREE}

This guy has had the biggest personality lately! In the last week his talking in sentences has gone crazy and he talks more like a big boy than a baby.  I really love to listen to him read the books that we read together often because its so cute to hear his interpretation of the stories.

{FOUR}

I am listening to this book in the car.  I have a 30-40 minute drive to and from work when I work and listening to a book makes it so much better! I am LOVING this book but it hurts my heart and really opens your eyes to bullying.  Now that I am off for a week I am going to have to bring it in and listen to it on the computer or something because I can't go a week without hearing what will happen next!

Jodi Picoult

{FIVE}

Albionfit

Those orange pants I talked about wanting last time I posted…yeah I got them for valentines day and LOVE them I wish I could wear them every day and I love how thick the material is.  GREAT quality I almost think I love their products more than Lululemon (gasp)!!!

Five on Friday

Not gonna lie, I'm pretty sad that it's friday because that means another week has gone by and I am one week closer to going back to work.  I actually go back in two weeks and I am trying not to be anxious about it.  I have a job I love but the thought of leaving my babies in the care of someone else even if it is my father in law gives me a little anxiety. 

{ONE}

One of the things that gets me going everyday is my coffee, I love having my coffee in the morning.  I found this coffee at Target and actually went back and bought their last bag it is that good!

Community Coffee Carnivale Cake 

{TWO}

I signe dup for my first post baby Half Marathon!! It will be the Diva Half Marathon in Galveston and I am so excited because not only is my mom coin git but my cousin is going to run as well!!! Here is a picture from when my mom and gram and I did it a few years back

{THREE}

I have a slight obsession with buying work out clothes, I feel like it motivates me to exercise when I feel cute.  I recently found this company that has the cutest work out gear I bought these petal pants and LOVE them! The company is called Albion and they seriously have the cutest things I also bought a top and the material is so soft!! The pink top pictured is the one I also purchased :)

These pumpkin leggings are on the top of my want list too!!!

  {FOUR}

This sweet boy has started to sleep 6-7 hours at night!!! Hallelujah Praise be to God!!! If I could just go to sleep when he does we would be golden problem is I don't so I only reap the benefit of about 4 or 5 of those hours!!

{FIVE}

This Sunday we will be dedicating our sweet boy to the Lord as well! I am so excited and have THE cutest outfit for him to wear!!!

Our Experience with Tongue Tie

When my L1 was born our breastfeeding journey was a tough one from the start.  It was extremely painful and it took him a long time to gain weight, I dealt with Mastitis, Thrush, and he would scream and cry at very feeding due to an overactive letdown.  I persevered and we went on to breastfeed for 17 months.  The first six months were ROUGH.

When L2 was born I thought that surely things would be easier, I mean I knew what I was doing so it had to be easier right?! WRONG

Things appeared right from the beginning just as they did with L1, The lactation consultant visited us in the hospital and said we were doing everything right and things looked good, they said the pain was due to a size issue between his mouth and my nipple.  This sounded all too familiar so we went on our way.

Things quickly became extremely painful again, L2 was not a happy baby if he wasn't sleeping he was crying and wanted to nurse constantly.  I summed it up to the fact that L1 was "easy" and this was my paybacks for that.  It was a bad cycle breastfeeding was so painful but thats all he wanted to do.  

I decided to find a Lactation Consultant that would come to my house and see me.  Everything appeared right with our latch etc so I wasn't sure what the problem was but figured she was an expert so maybe she could help.  It just so happens the day she was to come was also the day of L2's two week appointment.  This could not have been better timing as we found out at his two week apt that he had once again lost weight…and so begins the month of hell as I like to call it.  

The LC determined that L2 had a posterior tongue tie and an upper lip tie.  She did pre and post weights and it was determined through that measurement that he only got about an ounce when I thought he was eating plenty.  This had several ill effects 1. he wasn't getting enough milk thus his weight loss and fussy demeanor.  2. my milk supply had taken a MAJOR hit.  

She gave us all the information as well as more information on therapy than I wanted to hear.  It was all I could do to not break down and cry while she was there but as soon as she left I cried off and on all day.  My baby had to have his tongue cut, I had to give him bottles and I basically wasn't making enough milk anymore so I had to use formula.  I pumped my brains out in an attempt to not need formula but milk supply is supply and demand and since L2 wasn't effectively emptying my body was no longer making that much.

I need to say, there is nothing wrong with formula, as a matter of fact I will go as far as saying it saved my baby because he needed to eat and my body wasn't able to make what he needed.  Once I started giving him formula he was a happy baby, he slept, and I was no longer so stressed about pumping enough that my milk supply actually started to improve.  

I called that same day to make an apt with a dentist who corrected tongue ties with a water laser.  She is the only one in the Houston area who uses this method and we couldn't get in for another week.  

Fast foreward a week and 10,000 hours of non stop google searching about tongue ties and breastfeeding etc etc. We went to the appointment and the dentist did her own assessment and confirmed he definitely had both a posterior tongue tie and an upper lip tie.  She took us back, kept him in the carseat and had an assistant to help.  She did the water laser on my hand first so I could see it didn't hurt, it literally burns away which leads to quicker healing and less chance of infection or reattachment.  He was pissed but mostly because he was hungry and had a bunch of fingers in his mouth.  As soon as she finished she gave him to me to nurse, which he did and sure enough it didn't hurt.  He fell asleep and slept the whole afternoon.

Now, when he woke up it was bad news, he clearly was in pain, wouldn't nurse and I had to do these tongue stretches which he hated.  It was a rough day for sure.

It took a few days for him to not be in pain anymore, I did give him tylenol a few times and I used orajel naturals on his revision sites before we did the stretches.  That was the worst part the stretches, because I could tell it caused him discomfort and he would scream and cry and break my heart.  The hardest thing was he would no longer nurse, like not at all, he would cry and scream every time.  So we did exclusive pumping and bottle feeding.  My milk supply wasn't all the way back yet so we were still having to supplement a little bit.

I did so much googling and crying over the fact that he wouldn't nurse it was not how I saw things panning out.  I was persistent though and just kept pumping.

Now, here we are a month and half later and he is finally nursing again.  Its not exclusive, we still do several bottles a day but thats ok with me because I am going to have to go back to work in a few weeks and he will be taking bottles.  BUT he will nurse and be satisfied afterwards.  I can pump 10-12 ounces sometimes and I even have a lot of milk in the freezer!!! I never thought we would get here.

Some thoughts on the breastfeeding front:  The LC I saw really wasn't encouraging which frustrated me, I needed someone to tell me we would get back to breastfeeding and she never gave me that hope.  I finally emailed a La Leche Leage member for some hope and guidance on how to get him back to breastfeeding.  She sent me a huge email with so much great info and much of it I was already working on.  The LC had me so discouraged making me think we would need all kinds of therapies and treatments to get him nursing again, I was devastated but also determined to make this work.  I prayed and prayed and kept on trying here and there and finally finally the day came when he nursed and fell asleep for a few hours, I knew this was a good sign and from there everything is history.

If you are dealing with this please email me with questions, I really left a lot of the little details out because obviously this blog post is long enough but I held on to the hope that I found in blog posts of peoples personal accounts instead of just the medical and informational articles.

While going through it, it was so hard and it really took a toll on my bonding relationship in the beginning but thankfully its all a distant memory now and one more breastfeeding problem I can add to my book hah!

Big Brother

The beginning was trying on us all and I shed more tears out of mom guilt than I anticipated I would.  When I was in the hospital with L2 I found myself more concerned with L1 and how was he at home and when I was there in the hospital bed exhausted and frustrated with my crying newborn, all I could think about was going home and curling up with my sweet firstborn.

Those early days I just felt so guilty when he would act out or cry because he wanted me to hold him or do something for him and I couldn't.  It hurt my heart when he would cry because he just wanted me to sit in the room with him…but not with the baby.  I knew this was just an adjustment phase but the feeling that I ruined his little life was imprinted on my mind.  There was one day when he wouldn't nap and that evening he fell asleep in my arms while I rocked him early in the evening because he just wanted me to hold him.  He never falls asleep when I hold him anymore and he rarely wants me to just sit and hold him.  I sat there staring at his mile long lashes and amazingly full lips and just cried.   never wanted that moment to end and I just wanted him to know he will always be my most special boy because he was my firstborn, the boy who made me a mommy.  The boy we tried and prayed for for longer than I imagined we would have to.

Now, I think his little world would be ruined if we took his brother away.  He is absolutely in love with his "baby brudder." I could watch them together all day.  L will be playing on the other side of the room and randomly stop and come over just to give L2 a kiss.  I find myself saying " don't touch his face, don't squish him, don't lay on him" more than I can count in a day.  He wants to be with his brother all day.  He will get frustrated if baby brudder is crying because he wants me to lay him down so he can play with him.  He loves to share his trucks with him.  The cutest thing is he will grab his face and say "cheeks, cheeks" while squishing his cheeks.  I have no idea where he learned that but it kills me every time!

He is such a sweet and caring big brother, he loves to wipe the spit up and try to feed him bottles and give him a paci.  Any time he cries he will run over and pat his head and say "whats wrong baby, why you cryin?"

I love watching them together because I know they are going to be best buddies more so than they already are when they are older and I see the relationship my hubby has with his brothers and I love that L will have that as well.

I shouldn't have been worried as I knew L would adjust like a champ as he has done with all his major milestones up to this point, it was just so hard in the moment.

L2 Month One

How on earth my little guy is already a month old is beyond me! I seriously feel like just yesterday we brought him home from the hospital.  I guess the adjustments of life with 2 and the holidays just put life on fast foreword.

The first month was not an easy one.  To be honest I am glad its behind us now.  I think the first month of life with any newborn is not easy but we had some issues that I had a really hard time dealing with and we are honestly still dealing with them Ive just had more time to process everything.  No worries, its nothing life threatening just more emotional than anything.  I really want to dedicate a whole post to the matter because its quite extensive in all its entirety.

My lil guy is getting so big! At the conclusion of month one he has become quite the little chunk and I love it! There is nothing I love more than a chunky little baby!!

We celebrated his first christmas this month and while he could care less about any of it, we all had a great time just relaxing and enjoying family.

Big brother is IN LOVE, it is all we can do to keep him out of his brothers face.  I just love that they are already buddies and I can't wait to see their love and friendship grow in the future.

He has started to smile and he smiles all the time, not the reflexive smiling, this is true social smiling, when any of us starts to talk to him he lights up with the biggest grin! His first smile was at two weeks old and he really is just such a happy baby!

The ceiling fan is his favorite and he could stare at it for ever, when we turn it on briefly so it moves…his mind is blown!!

He is out of newborn clothes {Tear} and fits well into 0-3 months.  He is much bigger than L1 was at this age, it will be interesting to see if he continues to be bigger.

He eats anywhere from 2.5-4 ounces every 2-3 hours and at night on most nights I can get a good 4 hour stretch at the beginning, after that though its back to every two hours which means once I pump and go back to sleep he is up in an hour…its quite exhausting!

And just for a fun little comparison because people always ask if I think L2 looks like his older brother: