Kinley in Arkansas!

Our cousin Kinley came to see us about 2 weeks ago. We had such a blast with her. First, we did something top secret with the kids that I can't talk about for another 2 months (it's a surprise for somebody). Then we met up with Dadoo/Uncle Jerry at Chick-Fil-A for lunch. It was such a pretty weekend, so we headed outside to play on the playground equipment. Both girls climbed all the way to the top and went down the slide. I will definitely say that Kinley and Anniston are on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to being daring. Anniston doesn't have very much fear (that we've found so far), and Kinley is extremely cautious--however, once she tries something she likes it. It's just tricky to get her to try it!

We then went home and the girls took 2 1/2 hour naps, and Treyson napped at the same time. It was great to catch up with Tracey without little girls running around!! Tracey and Mark are due to have a baby at the end of August. She looks great! We're not going to know what they have until we get a text/phone call---I JUST LOVE SURPRISE BABIES!!!!

Friday night, Jerry took the kids and his mom to the Razorback gymnastics meet. The girls had a blast and danced the meet away! Saturday morning, Kinley woke up and left early. Tracey had to get her younger sister back for a class in St. Louis. It was a very quick, but fun time!

Here's a pic of the girls taking a bath on Saturday morning.

Then we headed out for gymnastics. Anniston loves gymnastics. She's had a rough time the past couple of weeks at the very end...basically, she says she wants to do something, so we get up to do it...then changes her mind, which results in a breakdown because Jerry and my rule is that you finish what you start. Jerry and I had to follow it growing up, so our kids will too. Minus that, she is GREAT! Here's a picture of her when it was just starting and she was picking out her carpet square to stretch on. The second picture is her running down this aisle, then she jumps off the springboard and into a foam block pit!

103 and Ear Infection

That's right. . . our first ear infection. Let's hope this is our last for a long time. Anniston also had an ear infection at 6 months, but never had another again. I just found out today that Jerry had to have tubes when he was little, so I'm praying that Treyson won't have the same issues.

I'm going to start him on Xylitol drops as soon as we kick this sickness! If your child has ear infections often (or if you're just curious), go and google Xylitol and ear infections. It's pretty amazing stuff. In the dental world, we recommend people chew gum with Xylitol because it helps with preventing dental caries (cavities). I won't bore you, but my son will be on a new routine of Xylitol drops.

We did find out while at the doctor's office this afternoon that he is weighing in at a very dainty 18 lb, 8 oz!!! There's a reason we call him our "chubby bubby"!!

Hopefully the antibiotics will kick this infection, and we can resume our normal day to day activities!

Cousin KiKi is going to be in town with Aunt Tracey tomorrow, so we're very excited to get to see them. Tracey's sister is going to attend the UofA and is showing it to some of her girlfriends. We can't wait to see how Aunt Tracey's belly is growing with her and Mark's sweet baby inside.

Have a great weekend!

Happy 1/2 Birthday Treyson!

That's right. . . he is officially 6 months old. And he is sleeping soundly (for now) with a 101 degree fever.

We celebrated Treyson's half birthday with an outing to the new Target in Rogers. He was great at the babysitter's all day, and so we didn't think a thing of it. He didn't eat near as much jar food this evening, but that's never a "oh my goodness, he's sick" sign or anything. We messed around Target for awhile, and he was starting to fuss in the car. I put together his bottle and reached back (I was in the passenger seat) to feed him. He didn't want anything to do with it--now that's weird. He just turned his head, closed his sweet eyes, and went to sleep. We got home, and I was getting him out of his carseat and kind of wondered why he was sweating so much. Well, he wasn't...he was running fever. He ate his bottle, took some Motrin, and he's asleep now. This is our first sickness with him, so cross your fingers that he sleeps ok, and that this fever goes away!

So, more about our 6 month old. He is an absolute doll that I could just kiss and snuggle (he is a GREAT snuggler) to pieces.

~He eats 5 ounces per feeding....5 times per day
~He eats cereal with juice mixed in and a jar of fruit for breakfast
~He eats cereal with juice mixed in and a jar of veggies for lunch
~He eats 4 stage 1 jars of food for dinner. We just graduated him to stage 2 foods yesterday, so I don't know how many of those he'll go through each evening.
~He eats green veggies now!!
~He drools like crazy and has a new (month old) "spit up" thing going on. Always when you least expected....I was supposed to be wearing green scrubs today, and I ended up at work in red scrubs thanks to Treyson!!
~He still sleeps the usual 11-12 hours. However, we quit swaddling him last Friday night, so now he'll roll onto his belly and he's wet all the way up to his chest in the mornings...pee-yew! If anybody has advice on this, I'll take it. We had this same issue with Anniston b/c she slept so long too.
~After his last bottle, we get him burped, walk into his room and give him kisses. We lay him down on his side with a little lovey, close the door and never hear a peep until we wake him at 6:30 the next morning. . . so easy!
~He loves bathtime with sissy. He giggles through alot of it just watching her sing and play.
~He's a great car rider...not so good at the initial strap-in, but it improves after he's settled.
~He sits up to play (I still keep my leg out behind him just in case since we've got the hardwood floors)
~He rolls from back to belly, and belly to back very easily.
~He can spin in circles on his belly
~He's scooting in reverse!!
~He loves the exersaucer
~He moves a little bit in his walker
~He wears size 6-9 month.
~He is VERY chunky (we don't have our well-child appt until late March, so I have no specifics!)
~He has found his thumb (a hygienists worst nightmare!), and we are working tirelessly to make sure this does NOT become a habit. He never took to the pacifier, but I may try and force one on him if it's between that and the thumb!

We sure have enjoyed our sweet bubby for the past 6 months. We can't believe that he's so old! Anniston asked if he was going to have a party for his half birthday (just like her Dadoo...always looking for a reason to get a cookie cake!).

Treyson, we love you so much and are thankful for all of the joy you've brought to our lives. We love you, buddy!

Love,
Mommy and Dadoo (and sissy too!)

Crazy Busy Week

The past week has been somewhat crazy for our family. On Tuesday, I got a phone call from Anniston's school saying that she had thrown up, but she wasn't running fever, and was acting fine--so I didn't have to pick her up. . . they just wanted to let me know. Well, 3 hours later they called back and said that she did it again, and I need to come get her. Fortunately it was 4:45, and I was all but done with my patient. So I scooted out of the office to get her. She threw up 5 more times that evening. She slept on her mattress in our room ( I was nervous that she'd throw up and choke in her sleep). That was my Happy Birthday evening in a nutshell! Mom and Dad drove up anyway, and brought me Chick-Fil-A...not exactly the Shogun's we were all saving up for, but definitely 2nd best!
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Here's a picture the morning of my birthday. Anniston and Jerry brought me pancakes in bed with a candle, of course. This has been a tradition my parents did for us growing up, and Jerry and I've done it for each other every year since we've been married. Excuse the crazy hair. . . and mine too! haha
I stayed home with Anniston on Wednesday, and it was like she was playing hookey. She watched cartoons, dressed up, danced, etc.--the norm. So she's ok. Well, maybe not. She was running a low grade fever in the evening. But still no other symptoms. She woke up Thursday as happy as could be and fever-less. So off to work and school we went. Thursday night was the "modeling" night (see previous post), and then went home and went to sleep.

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Here's Anniston on her sick day. In this picture she's wearing her "baseball" shoes and hat (she came up with this). And then we proceed to play soccer. She's got her baseball and soccer mixed up (the girl definitely knows her football, though).

Normally Friday is our "Mommy and Me" day (Anniston's...Treyson's is on Monday). But I had a CE course in Fayetteville. It started at 8:40. At 9:01, I got a phone call that Anniston was stuck on the potty (not literally, but if she got up she would "boo-boo"). So bless her heart, I left and got her. I let her wear a pull-up all day just in case. Well, she only had 1 "didn't make it in time" accident. I'm going to blame her height, because she went and got her step stool; carried it into her bathroom...turned on the first light, then carried it to the actual potty and turned on the light to that room. Then had the accident as she was trying to pull her pants and pull-up off. She was devastated. I would have helped, but she didn't tell me that's what she was going to do. I was doing laundry at the time. It's normal for her to walk off to her room to play...she didn't mention that she needed to go. And when you've got runny boo-boo's, there's not much time to be doing all of that carrying and turning on of lights!!haha

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So we skipped the Gymback meet (dad-gum-it...it was Georgia and they had 2 olympians on their team). Saturday, we went to her gymnastics and her friends' birthday party. But we got home and she had more upset stomach. So we decided to call it quits for the weekend. We were just going to skip church and do nothing on Saturday night/Sunday so that she could get to feeling better.

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This week was much better...until yesterday. Jerry started to run fever, and had an upset stomach all last night. I think Treyson and I are going to skip town so that we don't catch this bug. Jerry's feeling ok, but just keeps having to break his fevers.

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So, now to the part you really care about: our kids.

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Treyson has this new thing where he scratches--not like a man--but will scratch something with his right hand. If we're walking him on our shoulder, he'll put his hand on our backs and scratch our back. He scratches the tray on his high chair, and scratches his head while we're feeding him. It's hilarious. We start laughing at him, and then he laughs too. So cute.

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Here's some pics: (yes I realize he's wearing Anniston's bibs in these pics. We never take these "girly" bibs out in public. Jerry would never approve. . . )

Since I was taking so many pics of Treyson, "you know who" decided she needed her picture taken too.

Have a great weekend...I know ours will be much better assuming Jerry gets over his and I don't catch it!!

Our little models

A little children's boutique was asking for volunteers to model in their spring fashion show, and I happily volunteered our two little munchkins. The show was this evening. Anniston was so excited, and was telling EVERYBODY that she was going to model a beautiful dress, a beautiful bow, and high heels. Well, thank goodness we were given a dress to wear (we didn't know until we showed up). And there were no high heels. . . everybody was barefoot, but she was ok with that.

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Anniston wore a cute little easter dress and blue bow. She was so excited to "work the runway". She went with another little girl, and had a ball! She actually ended up going down 2 more times because she loved it so much. The picture of her moving is about the best one mom could get because she was moving so fast!

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Treyson was put in a little john-john that was really cute. Since he couldn't walk down the runway, yours truly got to walk him down. . . lovely. Anyway, he did great.

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Nanny and MaMa drove up to watch the kids model, and I think they enjoyed it. Anniston's always a ham, so this type of thing is right up her alley. I will definitely let her do it again, and we'll just have to see about Treyson.

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Here's a picture of our friends Natalie and Gage. They were both dressed in super cute outfits. Gage was wearing a MissTeeVus outfit, and Natalie had the cutest little swing top and long bloomers on.

Happy Valentine's Day

Our Valentine's Day started on Friday with both kiddos having party's at their babysitter/preschool. Treyson took goody bags for his older friends and Gerber Puffs for his 2 other infant friends. Anniston took her Dora Valentine's to school with candy and then treat bags too. She was SOOOO excited about her party.


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...Let me back up by saying that I thought it would be a neat thing for Jerry and Anniston to shop for her Valentine's and treat bag items together at Wal-Mart. I'm always getting out with Anniston while the boys stay home, so I figured it was Jerry's turn. Here were my instructions (ha): We have to make 15 treat bags, she needs Valentine's cards, and then we need 3 bags of chocolates to fill up our teacher gift boxes. $47 later, Jerry and Anniston return home. What??? $47!!! You did read that correctly. Oh my goodness....Anniston's never going to want to shop with me again. . . Dadoo is such a sucker!!

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I had to have some computer training for a new system our office converted to on Friday. I left training just in time to make it to Anniston's party Friday afternoon. She was ecstatic! They played a little game and then made Ice Cream Sundaes...yumm!! So during this little Valentine's game, one little boy in particular was being a little lump on a log. He didn't want to participate, and stood there with his arms crossed and a pouty look on his face. So Anniston and the rest of the class are participating, and she accidentally (I was watching--it was an accident) bumped into him. She didn't really notice (this is the same boy she danced practically off of the bleachers at the Christmas program), but he got so mad. He leaned over --with his arms still crossed-- and said, "watch out Snow White!" quite rudely. Wait a minute. . . did he just call Anniston "Snow White"? Surely not. . . oh, surely---yes, Anniston has her entire class calling her Snow White--not Anniston!! ARe you kidding me? Do you know she is the 2nd to youngest in her class? Most of the other kids have turned 3, which I worry at times will make her want to "follow" versus take on a leadership role. I guess I don't have to worry about that. I knew at home she would have us refer to her as Snow White, but I can't believe she's got all her friends calling her this at school too--and not just during "dramatic Play time". CRAZY!

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Anyway, Anniston got more candy than Jerry and I could imagine helping her eat. So her Valentine's day was a success! Here she is in her classroom playing the game (similar to a cake walk), and then eating her sundae.

On Saturday, Jerry and Anniston brought home some beautiful hot pink roses for me. Anniston was very proud of them. She wanted pink, Jerry wanted red--so they compromised and got the dark hot pink. I'm sure this was difficult for Jerry, seeing that I've gotten red roses for the past 14 Valentine's days--yes, 14 (we figured it out on Saturday evening...this year made 15). But Anniston has a way of winning!!

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Saturday evening, Jerry grilled shrimp, steak, and lobster tails. They were SOOOOO good. This is another tradition we started when we got married. If there's one thing Jerry and I can't stand, it's to go out to eat and wait for more than 30-45 minutes--totally not worth it to either of us. So we just stay in on Valentine's day, and I love it.

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I hope everybody had a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Swimming Reward

When the ice storm hit, we were stuck inside without power for 2 days. During that time, we told Anniston that if she was a good girl and played quietly during Treyson's naps then she'd get a prize. Well, fortunately for us, Anniston still hasn't hit the terrible twos. She listens to us most of the time. If Treyson's sleeping, she whispers. In the car, Anniston sings herself from location to location. But if Treyson's sleeping, I'll ask her to stay quiet, and she does. So, we didn't figure asking her to be good would be a stretch. . .

. . . so we had to come up with a reward. Chuck E. Cheese? Dollar spot at Target? Nah, we decided to go swimming when it was 35 degrees outside!! (of course we were inside!!) We went to the Jones Center in Springdale, and it's free. We were practically the only ones there. The water was a little more chilly than we liked, but Anniston and Jerry didn't seem to mind. They went down the big slide about 5 or 6 times. We will definitely do it again. For those of you who don't know, our little Anniston is part fish. She LOVES the water. She does so well with her swim lessons in the summer, and LOVES all forms of water that she can get her little body into. So she was in heaven!

And terrible Mommy was holding Treyson while I took all of these pictures. Jerry was wet (obviously) so he couldn't take the pictures. About the time we were wrapping things up (and when I was planning on taking a picture of Treyson), there was a major poo-plosion. No pictures this time. But let me just tell you. . . he looked stinkin cute in his little swim trunks. His little milk gut stuck out, and the shorts were practically to his ankles. I PROMISE to take pictures when we first put his swimming suit next time so that the poo-plosion doesn't defeat me again!!!