All Around Fantastic Day

At one point today, the thermometer in my car read 83 degrees...amazing. The boys and I woke up this morning to clean house (thanks to Realtors coming through the previous day and company last night), beautiful sunshine, and happy spirits all around. Lincoln had some sweet moments of endearment with Noah this morning that were intentional and melted my heart. At breakfast we all held hands and prayed together which was a treasured little moment.
After naptimes, we met aunt Amy at Flying Burrito (did you know kids eat FREE M-W???) and sat out on the patio (double bonus - it's CAGED IN so Lincoln can roam free!).
After lunch, we made our way to a long overdue gymnastics playtime at Amy's gym. Let me add, when it's time to leave,the adorable toddler throws a not-so-adorable tantrum cause it's THAT fun.
Then when we made our way back home, all three of us crashed for a nap. I call this day a most definite success. :)

Of course he has to stop playtime for Noah kisses! And he smiled a lot today! This was not the best smile shot, though because of course the little booger plays hard to get when the camera rolls out...but I'll take it! Brave man here ran and jumped by himself in the pit! His panicked looked when he realized he couldn't get out!

Oops.

Last night I was at church for 3+ hours rehearsing songs for this coming Sunday's service and Easter service, leaving my sweet hubby to tend to the flock. Lincoln was in a little bit of a grumpy mood yesterday afternoon and I felt bad leaving him with somewhat of chaos that can be our lovely kiddos. When I got home, Lincoln was in bed and Noah was asleep in his arms. There were toys EVERYWHERE which is always indicative of good ole fun playing time with daddy and his boys. I thought, he's got it - my husband's a champ.
Then I noticed in the kitchen, Lincoln's tray from his high chair still had the remnants from Lincoln's early lunch that day...
"Hunny...what did Lincoln eat for dinner tonight?"
The "oops" look washed over his face as I realized he forgot to feed him dinner before putting him to bed. He asked if he should get him up and feed him (it was now 10:00pm)...NO. And this answer was so adamant because the previous night, I went in to check on my sweet baby around midnight before I went to bed (as I do every night because I love the sweetness of watching him sleep) - only this time when I went in, it woke him up, he abruptly stood up in his crib and screamed at the top of his lungs as I tried to race out of the room (which made him scream louder if that was possible). This screaming only worsened until we had to get him and console him till two in the morning! I had to grieve for a bit recognizing my days of watching him sleep in the middle of the night were pretty much over, apparently.
So when Jason asked if we should wake him up to feed him, the answer was a most definitely NO.
So nonetheless, you can bet I had my share of jokes for the sweet husband as we were falling asleep last night (all in good fun)...you know, "I hope the darling doesn't starve to death tonight...or he's probably dreaming about juicy steak dinners right now..."
To which he replied with a smile..."Maybe you should go check on him."
I love my husband! :)

*side note = Jason wasn't the only one with an oops last night. I woke up this morning and realized I had forgotten to change Noah's diaper before he went to bed. Terrible. But both our children survived and Lincoln had a HUGE pancake breakfast this morning where he ate 2 pancakes, yogurt, a banana, and turkey sasage - more than he has ever eaten in one setting as far as I can remember.

"Um...A Denali"

Let me introduce you to the pretty little thing that's been gracing our driveway:

Ain't she a beauty? While I wish I could claim her as my own, she is just a loaner (and a perk of Bentonville), but has nonetheless spoiled us a tad bit lately. We must return her tomorrow and are cherishing this last evening. We got to take her to KC this past weekend, riding in style and loving all it's little amenities. Of course we can't afford such a beauty, but it was fun pretending otherwise for the weekend. So that's the story of the Denali.
Now the story of our second hotel night:
Again, we checked in late Saturday night and were welcomed with a disgruntled overnight shift worker who was all but pleased that we needed a room late at night. I had previously called this hotel earlier that night to get a price quote which did not match the one the "friendly" worker gave me when we got there (his was $10 more). We went round and round on the price, and though it might seem small to get hung up on $10, I felt like he was pulling a fast one and ten dollars IS something to us these days! We finally settled on a price we could both agree with (which, let me assure you he was not getting friendlier!) and then he even wanted to add an extra $10 charge for us to use the pack-n-play. Oh dear. But I was able to negotiate my way out of that one too.
And then...as he was filling out our paper work, he had to ask what car we drove.
Dang.
A Denali.
I'm sure a few thoughts went through his head. Did I mention it's a loaner Mr. Overnight shift worker??

And then today...beautiful weather, long walk on a new trail, fun times at the park...fantastic.

It's a Boy!!!

No, this is not our announcement of another child (though you probably wouldn't be surprised, huh?). Let me explain. In recent months I have randomly gotten the "oh what a cute little girl you have!" comment. I'm the one who smiles and says "thanks" verses correcting the sweet lady (whom it usually seems to be that makes this mistake). But here recently those comments have gone from a random one every now and then to about 3/day (current record). Conclusion? Our little fellow is in need of a haircut - a big boy haircut. So today, my friends, we have - no doubt - a boy. :)
Please partake in a "before" photo...

Followed by the process...

Then - The finished product (and a happy big boy!).

And of course, Noah and his wide eyes. :)

A Bed for Four Please

I feel like the past three days have extended over the course of about 6 months because I have experienced a handful of events, traveled across a couple of states, been through a roller-coaster of emotions and contemplated numerous blog posts and titles throughout the course of the weekend to re-cap it all.
In pre-summary, we planned a short-notice trip to Kansas City this weekend with our friends Brandon & Bethany to watch JBU and Biola play in the NAIA national basketball tournament. This was Noah's first extended adventure and my first time to get kidS (plural) ready for an overnight stay and meet our crew ON TIME in Bentonville Friday afternoon to leave. I had to be in Bentonville by 2:00pm. I'll be honest, my "to-do" list that day was enormous and I panicked to Jason the night before that I'm not sure I can get everything done and meet them on time. But I took it as a challenge...
I woke up Friday morning with energy to spare and immediately tackled the list which included packing for mommy, baby, and toddler/breastfeed and diaper changes/wal-mart trip for KC necessities/breastfeed and diaper changes/shower/set-up dogs to be okay for overnight/breastfeed and diaper changes/load strollers and pack up the car. And of course all of this has to be done 30 minutes before go time to allow (you guessed it) breastfeeding and diaper changes.
Yes, it's a lot, but manageable, right? Well, folks, what I didn't factor into my Friday morning was Lincoln pooping (NOT peeing!) through, not 1...not 2...but THREE diapers, one of those poopy diapers falling on the floor - poop down, extra bath for the poop monster, cry session #1 for mommy, Lincoln having a terrible rash on his face and bottom along with the appearance of a lump on his neck and him not wanting to eat that started making mommy worry.
And then I did what any mother does - calls her mom :)
As we were talking about some of Lincoln's symptoms over the past few days, my mom brought up the question and concern of Lincoln having Type I diabetes.
My sister has this (which is genetic) so my mom knows a lot about symptoms and whatnot, but she wasn't sure if they were different in someone as young as Lincoln. So we got on MD Anderson site quickly (also not on my "to-do" list) and I immediately engaged in cry session #2 for the morning as I realized Lincoln has all 5 major symptoms in the last few days.
I'll admit, I started freaking out a little and praying A LOT. Of course, no doctors could see him on such short notice before we were to leave town. All I had wanted was his blood sugar levels tested to give me peace of mind over the weekend.
Finally, one of our friends was able to see him immediately here in Siloam. So between tears, I was trying to get the kids ready and realized I was in such a bad place emotionally that I would flat out LOSE it if I did this by myself. So again, I called my mom who graciously met me at the doctor's on her lunch break.
Now I know I might sound like I'm over-reacting, but the fact that Lincoln definitely had these symptoms and this runs in my family somewhat justified this. But praise the Lord, his levels were fine! So obviously getting him tested for diabetes was also not on the list, but let me tell you - we made it to BHS only 30 minutes late. :) Friday morning might have been my worst mom day to date, but in the end, God pulled us through (alive) and we got to KC, able to have a fantastic time!
Here's a picture of Lincoln getting his poop-cleaning bath (sometimes I think he poops on himself just so he can take another bath!)


Once in KC, we had planned to stay that Friday night and come home on Saturday (thanks to the Spring Break blizzard, we had to stay two nights, though). That first night we were kind of nervous about it would go with the two boys in a hotel room, but we figured it would be okay with Lincoln in the pack-and-play and Noah in bed with us. When we got to the hotel around midnight (after the games) we were greeted by a not-so-friendly clerk. I asked her if we could get a pack-n-play for the room, by which she responded, "um, I don't think we have one..." but she said this very vague and never looked up at me. Perfect. All hotels have these! But apparently not this one. So what did that mean? You guessed it.

Surprisingly, that night went really well and I slept more and better than I have since Noah was born! The next morning we woke up to a blizzard, watched some great games, ate some fantastic food I haven't had since Cali days and prepared to find another hotel for the night. That night was not so dreamy. Noah slept the worst he has ever slept since being born which means I didn't got to sleep until 5:30am...and Jason woke up with fever and the stomach bug. Fantastic. But it was a good thing we didn't try and come back last night because we counted 36 ditched cars on our way back today!
So there were some moments (I like to think of them as memories) but overall it was a blast hanging out with friends, getting to see old friends from Biola, and Noah and Lincoln did so well on this trip. I was super impressed with Noah on his first getaway. Except for last night in the hotel, I couldn't have asked for a better behaving infant! :)

On the Move Again

My double jogging stroller came in last week! Today was gorgeous so we met up with Bethany at the park, walked 3 miles, then stopped to let Lincoln play with some of his friends. I've gotten many comments on this picture of my boys in the stroller and I, too think this picture is hilarious because Lincoln looks so freaking gigantic! But I assure you, most of it (not all because he is significantly bigger than Noah!) is an optical illusion as Noah is in a full reclining position (to protect the ole head) and and Lincoln is in a full upright position (since he likes to observe everything!

Today was extra fantastic in that Noah did not cry while in the stroller! Maybe he's getting used to it finally. But peace in the car has yet to be accomplished as he screamed the whole way to the park and the whole way home. Poor baby.

Now might I share a "mom-brain" moment...we parked at the park (appropriate) and then went on a 3-mile walk from there. When we returned to the car, yours truly had left the keys in the ignition the whole time - fabulous. When that same wonderfully lady then returned home, she had left the garage open and all doors unlocked - double fabulous. Thankfully it wasn't dark yet because I would have officially been freaked out.

So though I have now been going to the gym faithfully for two weeks now, this fun little gadget is going to make beautiful days like today much more enjoyable and active.

Oh yeah - and I didn't get to write an anniversary post yesterday because, well, we were celebrating our anniversary! But it was fantastic and I can't believe three years ago we married and here we are with two kids! Love it!!!

Sleep Training

Oh isn't it fun? Right. But there's nothing more intolerable than a severely sleep deprived mother. So this week has been designated as the "beginning-of-getting-baby-to-sleep-well" week. How's it going? Well, lets just say that after a rant and tears on Tuesday night to my husband, he surprised me with a little gift the following morning - he took the day off to let me sleep and try and regain a little bit of sanity. Reason #1,578 why I think he is the best and oh so extra special.

I think the hardest part with two (for me), so far has been that our little new addition likes to be held, and when he is not, he goes from 0-5000 with his screams. And screams and screams and screams until he is picked up. He doesn't seem to mind that Lincoln has the most disgusting poopy diaper (that may or may not be leaking out the sides) or that lunch needs to made (we've just forgotten about dinner right now!), the door answered, trips in the car - yeah, he cries there, too...here's an interesting one: Jason and I took the kids on a 1.5 hour walk this weekend and Noah never shut his eyes ONCE! That's crazy people! Now I'm loving the cuddliness and the closeness of the little guy, but this week there were so many times he just had to cry...cry and cry and cry because I couldn't hold him at that moment. So I think between hearing him cry constantly (not to mention the random toddler fits, which are thankfully very rare right now), me not sleeping longer than 2 hour shifts at night, and hormones (can't you blame everything on that??) - I was on the verge of tears there for a couple of days, but today I'M BACK. :)

And can I add, Noah has not been sleeping in our bed this week and has started being able to fall asleep in his bassinet for lengthy naps on his own :). Ahh the smell of little successes! Now the little booger is still fussy when he's not being held during waketime, but that's fine. He just wants to be with his mommy.

Weekend in Pictures

Of course the weekend was not shy of plenty of basketball...because of the fantastic weather we pulled out the short sleeves. This little number was one of my favorites and still fits...barely.

Some sweetness form the big brother (making little brother cross-eyed!)

Lincoln loves giving Noah kisses...so no he's not eating him :)

Some lunch at the Casino buffet...

And then we spent TONS of time outside working out together and playing at the park...but I never had my camera for those! Bummer. Today I was set to make sure and bring it, but, yep - forgot. Oh well. Many more of those days to come. :)

Noah's One Month Today!!

Seriously. Time...what the heck. This might go down in the books as one of the fastest flying months yet. Can't believe the little rascal has been alive for a full 30 days now! There was one point today I took note of our little family through all the crazy playing we did and felt so blessed and overwhelmed with how fun this stage of life is.
So (mainly for my record books), he's what the little 30-day-older is up to:
* still nursing like a champ! eating about every 2-4 hours
* sleeps, on average, about 4 hours straight through the night
* to aid in this luxury, I feed him more often in the evening hours to get his little belly nice and full
* he takes great naps that can be from 1-3 hours at a time (Lincoln never napped longer than 30-minute segments at this age!)
* he naps in his cradle swing or in his bassinet
* now for the scary part - WARNING - at night, he 90% of the time is sleeping in our bed. crap. where did we go wrong. Justification? I'm tired. BUUUTTTT - after his two month appointment when we get the okay that he doesn't need night feedings, it's off to the bassinet. Yes, I know some might be saying "Oh - but he won't be able to adjust by then!" Well, we have our ways and I feel pretty confident it won't be an all that bad adjustment (totally understand I might be eating my words...check back for the 3-month post).
* He's been pretty easy going and easy to sooth - but not so much a fan of the car.
* He poops like a champ. Sometimes I call him "sire-poop-a-lot" because it really is phenomenal how much he poops throughout the day! (we're talking 12-15 times a day people).
* I feel like the nursing supplements are working, but still a little nervous because Lincoln started having trouble at 6 weeks (when supply went way down)...so I'm still holding my breath for two more weeks!!
* As far as my recovery goes, everything seems okay, but i am NOT losing the weight as fast as I did with Lincoln (which I think was somewhat not the norm, but still). One week after Lincoln's birth I was 8 pounds heavier than pre-pregnancy. With Noah - one month out - I still have 15 to go.
* Thanks to the easy name, Lincoln says "Noah" all the time! It warms my heart. Perhaps the most precious thing is when we go somewhere in the car and I get Lincoln out first, he frantically says "Noah, Noah, Noah!" while pointing to Noah, as if he's reminding me not forget his brother.
* Speaking of Lincoln, the first couple of days were a little rough with extra tantrums and Klingon's, but for about a weeks now, Lincoln has been FABULOUS. He's been in the greatest moods, is helpful, and just loads of fun. I really feel like we've actually bonded more since Noah's arrival (I was scared it would be the opposite). He's increasingly shown more and more interest in Noah...will bring him his pacy when he cries, tried to give him some drink from his sippy cup, and when he wakes up from naps, the first thing he says now is "Noah??" (yes, with a question mark)...and we go find Noah together. So cute.

Today was a great celebration. We all got to take a fabulously long nap, ate a late lunch at the casino buffet, and headed to the park to play. Within 5 minutes of being at the park, Lincoln made a friend, and by the time we left, he had about 8 friends he was playing ring around the rosie with...quite the social one. One of my favorite things: family + Saturdays.

Almost a Month!

That's right. Can't believe this weekend it will have already been a whole month as a family of four! Unbelievable. Today I ventured out with the two rascals on my own...running errands around town. Now, I have gone out with them both alone before - only once - to a BHS game, but help was there and waiting when I arrived. Today - it was just us. And I'll admit, I was a little nervous of how I was going to carry both, were they going to fit in the shopping carts, what if they both started screaming at the same time (heaven forbid)...but I've had it being in the house, and, frankly, I needed more milk supply vitamins and trash bags - underrated, but we freaking needed trash bags.
So out we went to the health food store and then to Walmart (I didn't mention the fabulous places out first outing entailed when I started this post, no, did I?).
Verdict? Health Food Store - I carried them both in one arm/hand. Yes. I didn't think I could do this, but it felt quite natural, actually (probably not to the shoppers watching me). But the carrying of the toddler and infant in carrier was short-lived as (Thank goodness!) they had a tiny little cart that we snug into perfectly. Lincoln got to just stand in the open part, and all went smoothly until we had paid and were on our way out that I realized Lincoln had snatched some supplements off the shelf when I wasn't looking, I was looking for first shop-lifting attempt int he accomplishment section of his baby book, but couldn't find that one to record his big event.
And Walmart? Yeah. Not so terrifying. Lincoln sat where he always does in the front and I threw Noah's carrier in the open part. Worked like a charm - you just can't get more than trash bags and a box of Life cereal. :)

And while I'm on the update post, I'm going to add something about the rascal's sleeping habits these days. Noah still sleeps in our room. I feed him one last feeding around 11:00pm before we all go to bed, and then he usually sleeps until about 4:00am before he is hungry again. Then he sleeps till about 8:00 which is fantastic. Lincoln wakes up somewhere between 7:30-8:00 as well so this works great! And guess what, they both are on a schedule where they take a LONG (between 2-3 hours) nap - one from about 9:30-12:00 and the later from about 2:30-5:00. Did I mention they both do this AT THE SAME TIME?! I wonder how long this will last...I'm amazed it even happens this way!

During this first nap time, I bought a jogging stroller (thanks to reviews and suggestions form friends!) and when I went to check-out, found a pleasant surprise that for the next few days or so (almost missed the deal!) this stroller was 50% off!! How fabulous is that?! It will be here next week, and I can't wait to use it! I started working out again at the gym with Bethany last night, so this will fit perfectly into our new routine once the weather gets warmer.

Speaking of this schedule, it's 5:00 and I hear the darling toddler throwing things in his crib. :) Gotta run.

Walmart High School

My husband is the head basketball coach at Bentonville High School and since being there, I've continually heard it referred to as Walmart High...which last night proved to be a good thing. Bentonville has been hosting the Sam's Club manager's meeting all week long, and, in good ole Walmart fashion - they always have to provide some sort of nightly entertainment. Last night the used BHS performing arts center to host Arkansas's finest - Mr. Kris Allen ("Huh? Who's Kris Allen?? Christine & Brian - he's the winner of freaking American Idol last season!).
So maybe not everyone knows this little bundle of talent, but my husband and I (who are avid AI watchers) LOVED this guy last season and truly have an appreciation for his abilities. So we were pumped when Sam's Club gave all faculty members one ticket (yes - one, which meant spouses were out of luck). The venue was so small, they couldn't afford to let them bring their spouses. But my loving husband came home yesterday with 2 ticket bracelets, told me he would watch the kids, and let Bethany and I go enjoy the fun! She's a pretty avid fan too.
It was a fantastic night...we were a little early so we quickly got grouped with the handful of screaming high school girls whose parents were faculty and gave up their ticket. It was quite humorous and reminded me of what I must look like while watching Chris Martin perform. Oh dear.
After Kris, Jim Brewer from SNL did a stand-up comedy act that was absolutely HILARIOUS which was fantastic given stand-up is usually hit or miss (in my experience in LA comedy clubs, usually a miss - Bob Saget just really isn't that funny).
And for those that don't remember Jim Brewer - he's the goat guy! :)