No Phone!

Yesterday when Adam got home from work, Henry wanted to go get into the truck and "drive." While Henry was pretend-driving, Adam pulled out his phone to check his email. Henry quickly said, "No phone. No phone please!" and so Adam put away his phone.

Later, after our little family walk, Henry and Adam were up in our room and Henry was playing with our laundry hamper. Adam pulled out his phone to see if he had a response from an earlier email and Henry said again, "No phone."

Adam and I were discussing this and were amazed and convicted. I feel like we do a lot of family activities and play together often. But he is seeing the times when we're distracted. We want him to feel cherished and seen by us and he clearly wants us to watch him and take delight in him. Of course, there is practical business that has to be attended to and that's fine. We just have to work to separate that part of life with playing with our sons. (Plus, if I'm honest, it's usually not important business that distracts me, personally.)

We let him stay up a little later last night after Elliot had gone to bed so that he could do his silly dances for us a bit longer while we watched and clapped. There was pure glee on his face as he entertained us. We will never regret giving him our full & undivided attention. That email can wait...

Six Months.

My Sweet Elliot turned six months old yesterday. He is such a sweet & happy baby. He smiles with his whole face. He watches Henry constantly and laughs harder at Henry than at anyone else. That makes my heart really happy.

Elliot is so different from Henry. Henry was pulling himself up in laundry baskets at this age & Elliot is pretty happy that he just learned how to roll from his back onto his stomach. However, he can't quite figure out how to get off of his stomach yet. That's a frustration for him. He'll get there and meanwhile I so enjoy cuddling with my little Elliot- he's like a koala bear all snuggled up against us. In fact, we've been calling him "Bear" around here. (Bubba just had to go.)

I have been slow to begin real foods because nursing is just so convenient. But now that Elliot has begun eating cereal and a few veggies, he seems to be pretty interested in real food. He naps pretty well but nighttime sleep is not so good. However, I'm not having to stick your paci back into your mouth every 45 minutes like I was a few weeks ago so no complaints. (the paci is gone and the swaddle.)

Henry had his 2-year appointment yesterday and he weighs 25 lbs. I'm pretty sure Elliot is really close to 20 lbs. Yep, he's going to be able to defend himself against his big brother. Elliot was such a sweet surprise and is such a delight to us. What an amazing blessing and joy.

Part-ay!

Henry Slideshow

I copied Brooke and had to make a little slideshow of my Henry's first two years.

Adam loves this song & always says that it reminds him of how he feels about our little family. Awwww.

Mama loves you, Henry. Happy 2nd Birthday!

Mooo.

"I dancey cow!"

"Moore cow peas!"

When it's snowing outside and you gotta get out, Chick-Fil-A.

Lately

Things have been pretty busy lately and the blog has fallen onto the back burner. I hate that but we are in the process of selling our home. Like I said in the previous post, we signed with a realtor and have been doing showings. You know what is crazy? Getting your house ready for a showing with two kids under the age of 2. I am glad that my Mom is here this week to help me with that. Wouldn't it be amazing if we sold the house this week and then never had to clean again? I have lemon pledge ingrained into my skin.

Speaking of...my Mom is here! Yay! She will be here through Easter sunday and will be at Henry's Soul Train party next weekend. Happy Day! She has also taken over cooking & laundry and that makes my heart glad. Even if she just laid on the floor all day, we love having her here because she's our Lulu.

Also we've had lots of get-togethers with friends here and I love this. I love that we're not just fading out from Erie but getting to see our friends often and spend loads of time together before we move to Texas. Out with a bang.

True Story.

So, we decided to list the house with a realtor and we had set up last night as the time to finalize and sign contracts. The two ladies showed up at 5 p.m. and Adam hadn't gotten home from work yet. Both the boys were awake and in rare form. I hadn't showered yesterday and smelled like spit-up. One realtor was walking through the house confirming square footage calculations and the other was downstairs with me as I held Elliot, who had skipped his last nap.

Henry followed the calculating realtor and I tried to pay attention as the other realtor went through the paperwork. Meanwhile, I ignore the continual beeping of the oven as my casserole was finished and I could hear Henry chatting up the calculating realtor. Elliot spits up all over my shirt and Adam finally walks in the door and the calculating realtor comes downstairs to meet him. Adam says Hi to all of us and asks where Henry is.

Calculating realtor says, "I think he's upstairs, shirtless & plunging the toilet."

Adam walks upstairs to find Henry, indeed, sans shirt and plunging the toilet- water flying everywhere. He was happy as a clam.

Oversharing?

photo by Brooke at River's party

I received some cute (seriously, they were cute...not cute as in annoying or rude!) comments after my remark on Sunday about needing another newborn stat! Although I do love sweet little newborns & would love more children one day, Adam and I have decided that another kiddo would be extremely difficult his first year out of medical school. His schedule will be really wild & crazy and we're going to just be getting adjusted.

Ok, just wanted to share.
or overshare.

Either way!

My Google.

Before I was a Mom, I'd never have googled:

1. How old is D.J. Lance?
2. White poop toddler
3. Is candle wax toxic?
4. runny green poop baby
5. complete lyrics for "going on a bear hunt"
6. constipated baby
7. how to make a good fort inside
8. diarrhea remedies for toddler
9. Is Bob the Builder dating Wendy?
10. best stain remover?
    

Sunshine Goodness.

It snowed here last week. Today it reached 80 degrees. EVERYONE and their Granny were outside. It was amazing. We are all sunburned and happy and ready for bed.

In other news, I can't believe that Henry will be two on the 21st of April! Hard to believe that this was almost two years ago...

Ahhhh look at that hair! And smushy face! I need another newborn stat!

Powers

Since we are moving to Texas, several people have asked us about Powers. In case you didn't know, Powers rode down to Texas with Adam in September and has since lived with Adam's parents. (No, that's not a delicate way of saying that he went to "the farm".) Adam, Henry & I were all going down south so that Adam could do a month long rotation at JPS and we brought Powers along to stay. Adam's parents do have a very large fenced-in backyard, a swimming pool, a few other dogs & serious soft hearts for canines.

So, in that way, it is kind of a doggy heaven-squirrel farm scenario.

Well, our rental house does allow dogs but I think that we've decided that we'll just keep Powers out at Adam's folks' house. Yes, we miss him but we've got a handful of babies and our rent house is pretty small for a dog like Powers. Also, I'm pretty sure his life is stinkin' awesome right now. He sleeps on the bed with my in-laws. He swims in the pool. He runs around the backyard. He is the alpha amongst the old dogs. My father-in-law is retired and around during the day to play and give Powers attention. He is loved.

Plus, Powers will be seven in April. He's getting on up there in boxer years and I'm not sure if he wants his final years to be spent getting his tailed & ears pulled.

We are really lucky that we had the option to take Powers to live with Mike & Jule. I think it's really worked out best for him and for our little family, too. But we do have a backyard at our rent house in Fort Worth so hopefully Powers will come visit and we will certainly see him often at their house. Our children will be adequately licked by his stinky-breath tongue.

Girl Time

me (on the right) shaking a leg at girls' group

Every week, I get together with a group of my gal pals at an event we call GG. GG stands for girls' group and it has been a staple in my weekly diet since Adam & I moved to Erie in 2007. Some faces have changed as girls moved away and new ones joined but the greatness has remained. These girls have listened to me, prayed for me, laughed with me, validated me, encouraged me, loved my kids & stood with me throughout these past four years.

This was meant to be a happy post- you know, girlfriends are great but as I was looking through my pictures I got really sad. I mean, these peeps have been there when my kiddos were born. We have been one anothers' families when our families were so far away. How can I leave them?!

I spend my days with two wonderful little guys and one wonderful big guy. But nothing can replace good girlfriends. I have been so blessed with great gal pals in childhood & high school, in college & roommates and now in Erie. I hope that you have some great girls to bring joy to your life, too!

Enjoy my girls' group walk down memory lane:

some of the girls group 2007

Christmas, 2009

girls group at Bethany's birthday- 2008


girlfriends when Henry was born, 2009


Christmas party, 2008
saying goodbye to some of our own, 2009

The first GG baby! Sarah is preggers, 2008.

slumber party, 2010

Halloween, 2009

wishing Aubrey a happy farewell, 2009


Halloween, 2008

Christmas, 2007

some of girls group 2011

Life With Boys.

on our way to River's mustache party.

playing tents when Dada gets home

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