2 months!

Yes, Campbell is really already 2 months old. We go for our check up next week but when I took him this week for his ear infection he was 11 lbs. 13 oz. We might just break the 12 lb. mark next week. He's done just fine working on his leg rolls and I love how when I take his diaper off all his hidden rolls unfold. We love the show Everybody Loves Raymond and there is an episode where Ray gives his giant brother Robert a hard time when he hugs his very petite wife Debra. Robert is hugging her really hard and Ray says, "REMEMBER THE KITTY!" Apparently it was one of those Of Mice and Men moments. Justin jokes and tells me the same thing with Campbell because I just want to squeeze him!

Double Whammy

Well, just when we thought having our little baby boy sick was bad...I picked up Nolan from school today and he told me that he needed a band-aid for his ear. By the time we got home, the poor little guy was almost in tears. Sure enough, another double ear infection. So I guess that really means quadruple ear infections for our household. We're going to keep the ear tube business going strong. I don't see very much sleep in our near future. Ear infections and all, we can definitely still say the Lord has been good to us...

Boys will be Boys

I think I'm headed for trouble. I'm the only girl in a house full of boys...including the dog. I live in a house where burps, blow outs, spit up and other bodily functions are part of the daily routine. I'm not sure if I'm living in a frat house or not. Today I saw Nolan watching a little bit of TV. Here is how it went.

Me: Hey Nolan what are you watching?

Nolan: Backyardigans

Me: Nolan, what are you chewing on? (Making sure he's not chewing on a penny which has been known to happen)

Nolan: (silent and hoping that I will just forget I'm asking a question)

Me: Nolan, WHAT is in your mouth?

Nolan: boogars (ever so nonchalantly)

So there you have it. This picture pretty much sums up my life. Yes, I know it is gross but it is my reality. I see blackmail in Nolan's future...

Mom of the Year

We had a pretty rough night Sunday night and I just couldn't figure out why Campbell was waking up so often after sleeping like a champ for a week. I was getting really frustrated and begging him to go to sleep. Finally I resorted to putting him in his swing just to get some uninterrupted shut eye. He's has sounded pretty congested lately. I knew that Nolan probably passed something onto him because he has been hacking and had a runny nose. I decided to go ahead and take Campbell to the doctor because he was literally snoring in church.

So I take him into the doctor today and the poor little guy has a DOUBLE ear infection. I can see tubes in our future just like his older brother. I guess it was bound to happen. I hate that he got his first infection at such a young age but I guess that's what we're faced with now that we have two and they'll be bringing home their sicknesses to share with everyone. I felt so terrible for being so frustrated with him when he must feel awful. Minus Sunday night, you wouldn't even know this little guy is not feeling so hot. He's just been his usual smiley, happy self!

Time to celebrate!

My very dear friends Beth and Courtney were in town from New York and San Antonio this past weekend for Beth's baby shower. It was the first time for them to meet Campbell. It was love at first sight for Beth and Campbell. He would not stop smiling at her! I think he knew she was about to have a really cute little girl so he was working his magic early. Courtney wanted to share in the love too but Campbell started to cry when she held her but he was just hungry, or at least that's what we tell her :) He made up for it when she got to hold him at the baby shower the next day though.

We had a lot to celebrate. Beth is expecting Lilly Anna this October, Courtney just got engaged in Australia, and Campbell's arrival of course. It was so much fun to celebrate all of our joys together. Here we are sharing our news!

Deja vu

Yes, it's official. I had twins that were born 2 years and 9 months apart. When Campbell was born and the doctor showed him to me, it was the most surreal thing I've ever experienced. I thought "Wait, am I dreaming? Is this a new baby or is this Nolan?"

I found Nolan's baby book and I just about dropped the book when I saw how similar these boys are. Personality-wise, they have similarities but I can still see their own little distinguishing characteristics developing as well. Both boys have a set of lungs but Campbell can outscream any baby I've ever heard but luckily he's quick to calm down with a little bouncing. With that being said, he honestly smiles non-stop! I thought Nolan was a happy baby but now I think he might have found his match! Here are a couple of shots of the boys that just made us do a double-take to figure out which one was which!

Back to School blues

I've got the baby blues. I'm at work this week getting ready for the start of the school year. I miss both of my boys so much and it's so hard to leave Campbell when he's so young. He's in great hands with my sister-in-law but I just find myself thinking about him all day. Mostly because he was an angel baby on Monday and Becky said he was such a great baby. Well apparently she spoke too soon. Yesterday and today when I picked him up, my poor sister-in-law said he was a "little fussy". She tends to be overly nice so if she was saying that, my guess is that he was screaming his head off all day. I'm envisioning her having a day like my day at Barnes & Noble and Central Market a couple of weeks ago.

I don't expect him to be a perfect baby. There are days when I want to go back to work that very second because I'm so overwhelmed but I just hate when he's difficult for others. I've caught myself questioning whether or not I'll be able to do this when I really go back for good in another 6 weeks. I am already worrying about how behind my kids at school are going to be and the pressure from administration to have them ready for TAKS at the end of the year. I just have to remind myself that I must consciously forget about school and NOT think about it so I can truly cherish this time with Campbell because it will fly by.

America's Funniest Home Videos

Let's call this video "Let me think about it." Nolan's teacher has been quite impressed with how articulate this little 2 year old is. As a mom (and a teacher) I must brag that he knows his shapes and I don't mean just triangles and squares people-I mean this boy REALLY knows his polygons (I wish he would teach some of my 4th graders!). One day at lunch he proceeded to tell Justin and me that his crackers were in the shape of hexagons. He can outlast anyone in a car naming contest by spotting a Chevrolet Avalanche or a Dualie F150 (among 25 others) from miles and he knows his numbers AND can put them in sequential order. Now if he can only use his brain to remember to poop in the potty.



Let's call this next video "The practical joke." I think Campbell had this whole thing planned out and thought it was all pretty funny. Looks like we have another boy with a good sense of humor.

I feel like a new woman

So I guess Campbell got a little miffed that I was talking about how tired I was. He was a champ and slept from 11:00 pm-10:00 am with two feedings last night(with a 6 hour stretch in there!) Now I'm probably totally jinxing tonight but at least I can function today!

My sister-in-law, Becky, is a mother of four. Talk about SUPERMOM! I had to apologize to her this week because I totally forgot that I asked her to come over this weekend with the kids to come swimming. I blamed it on sleep deprivation which is very true. In her infinite wisdom she tells me that she has 15 years of sleep to catch up on. But she figures she will just have fun with life now because she can sleep when she's dead. That should be a bumper sticker.

I am a huge fan of the book Happiest Baby on the Block. We discovered this book/DVD when Nolan was about 6 weeks old. It was terrible. I was almost about to tape my eyelids open I was so exhausted. This book talks about the secrets to get your baby to sleep/stop fussing/etc. It should be a mandatory hand out for every new parent when they leave the hospital. It's pretty much a owner's manual on how to figure out babies. When I swaddled Nolan correctly for the first time, he went from sleeping one hour stretches to 4-5 hour stretches. It went something like this...(clouds parting, bright sunshine peeking through...."HALLELUJAH!"). I like to claim that I'm the best swaddler in the West. So now I'm not sure if Campbell's just a better sleeper or we just have a few more tricks up our sleeves. Either way, I'm loving my sleep!

So where exactly can you purchase sleep?

I knew that it would happen...sleep deprivation. It just comes along with this stage but I think secretly as parents we all hope that we'll have the miracle baby that sleeps 12 hours at 5 weeks. I've had that secret dream with two now and it has yet to come true. I can't complain too much because Campbell does sleep better than his older brother at this stage but it doesn't seem to matter because I still feel like a zombie.

At one of my baby showers, one wise woman told me that when you're up in the middle of the night you feel like you're the only person in the world up at that hour and everyone else is asleep. So when you feel that way, think of all the women in the world up at that same hour doing the same thing with their babies. My best friend, Angi, just had twins 11 days before me (twins! can you imagine? she's superwoman!) and I find myself wondering if she's up feeding her babies at the same time as me. I called Angi and left her a voicemail this morning after Campbell decided that sleeping was overrated. She calls me back and says, "I know you're sleep deprived when you say, 'Hey Angi, it's Andrea. Give me a chance when you have a call.'"

I go back to work next week just for one week and then I'll have another 6 weeks off work (Praise God!). I can't imagine having to go back right now for good. It should be against the law to make new mothers go back right now with such little sleep - especially teaching! I'm just thinking of the children you know! :) I think I really might fall asleep in the middle of a lesson if I were to go back now. So I just dream right now of the night when I frantically wake up in the morning and realize that Campbell never woke up during the night. Until then, I'll just have to daydream about it.

I'm glad that at least one of us is getting sleep!

Ok, so it's not ALWAYS so bad...

Campbell was really making up for the bad day on Friday (see previous post below) by cheesin' it up for the camera and smiling non-stop. It's moments like these that make those hair-pulling moments seem worth it!







This had Justin and me rolling on the floor. Nolan (without prompting) goes up to Campbell and offers him a meal. What's the big deal? That's what mommy does!

What was I thinking?

Ok, so I decided that it was a good idea to take both of my boys to Barnes & Noble for toddler story time and for lunch at Central Market with two other moms and their 4 children. Yes, I'm officially crazy. First of all, 3 adults and 6 children..you would have thought we were smart enough to know that we're outnumbered. You know those people at the store that have the screaming children and you're thinking, "Please shut up that child!" Yep, that was me today. Those poor people came to B&N to come and read and enjoy a book while I was frantically trying to keep my boys quiet. I had a 2 year old whining, "I want to hold you, mommy," and "READ THIS BOOK, MOMMY!" and an almost 6 wk old screaming at the top of his lungs. I mean one of those cries where they're crying so hard that they're actually quiet for 2-3 seconds because you know a REALLY loud wail is about to come out. As soon as we walk out of the store, Campbell just goes right to sleep like he doesn't know what the big fuss was about and why mommy would be sweating through her clothes.

Well, apparently I'm a gluten for punishment and decided, "Sure let's go to Central Market and attempt to do the same thing outside in 100 degree weather." At first all seems well. Nolan is eating (miracle in itself) and Campbell is asleep (Whew!). Then Nolan decides the mac n' cheese is not as good as his fruit snacks and the abundance of snacks I have on hand at all times. The poor child has survived his entire 2nd year on nothing but snacks. BUT, I had already run out of all the snacks at B&N trying to keep his mouth full of food instead of whining. Campbell hears big bro making a fuss and thinks he might join in the fun too and he's hungry. Let me preface by saying that I'm not the "La Leche" type and loathe having to nurse in public. I was breaking every possible modesty rule I've ever made. There were several men at Central Market that got a show. Meanwhile, my nursing pads fall to the ground and I'm leaving a little Hansel and Gretel trail of nursing pads around me. I try to discreetly put them back in after I'm done nursing Campbell all the while I'm rocking Campbell in his carrier with my foot. Emily (my friend's daughter) spots me and asks me why I'm stuffing things down my bra. Her poor mother is probably going to find her stuffing her shirt when she gets home.

Now everyone is fed and we head to the playground. Oh good, Nolan will go play and I can talk. WRONG! Since it's 100 degrees outside the slide practically burns him (and maybe took off a little skin too). Then he loses his shoe at the bottom of the slide and the scalding tar is too hot to put his foot down. So Nolan is screaming standing like a flamingo with one foot in the air and I'm running to put his shoe back on. Campbell then voices his opinion about being in the heat and joins in the chorus of screaming with Nolan. Finally, this mommy decided that enough punishment had been done for two hours and I headed home. I pack both boys in the stroller, start the car that could literally bake cookies in it, load the boys and the double stroller and collapse into the driver seat. And in perfect timing, I look in the rear view mirror to spot my cute toddler with hair so wet with sweat it looks like he took a bath and he says, "That was SO much FUN!"

Tonight is my scrap night with my girlfriends and it's my first night away from both boys. I think I deserve it, don't you?

Happy Baby

Here's proof that Campbell's smiling. That is definitely NOT a gas bubble.

Family photo shoot

Photography by Chelsea Yankie www.illustrationsoflife.com

We just got our proofs for our family portrait pictures. We drove to Stephenville (about an hour and a half outside Fort Worth) in 106 degree heat. Luckily, it cooled down some by the evening. We were pretty nervous about how they were going to turn out since Nolan isn't much into posing anymore these days or if he does you're not sure if he's smiling or straining with a stomachache. But we're very pleased with how they turned out and I think we'll look back at these pictures in a few months and just wonder how our boys could have changed so much in such a short amount of time.

I did it!

Well I've survived the week. This is my first week where I've been brave enough to have both boys with me home all week. Minus Nolan throwing up and Campbell screaming while I was cleaning it up and a few dirty diaper disasters from both boys, I made it! I mean I think I look like I might have been in a war by the time Justin gets home, but I made it! I have so much respect for stay-at-home moms...hardest job in the world!

In the midst of my crazy week, both of my boys made me so happy. Campbell smiled for the first time this week. I'm not talking gas bubble smiling, I mean he was awake and smiled at me. I saw it as my reward for all my hard work this week. It makes it all worth it when I can see my kids happy. Nolan continues to be amazing as a brother and how he helps me. He gives me some lip at least once a day but for a 2 year old, I consider myself blessed! Justin and I joke with each other about how they're so cute we want to eat them. Well I asked Nolan yesterday if I could eat him and he responds in a very firm voice, "No mommy, you only eat dinner!" I think he really thought I wanted to eat him! Poor kid. I've got to start writing this stuff down!

We're really trying to adjust to doing normal things again. So we went to the pool this week and Justin took Nolan to the Rangers game too. I wanted to go but just logistically with the baby, it was hard to do this time. Here's Nolan at the game...he was terrified of the fireworks and all the noise but on the way home swore he had so much fun.