We are making progress!

As you probably already know, we have been working on potty training James, and it has been going very well. James has recently developed the attitude of " show me the money". . In other words, "if you want me to stop playing, take the time to walk to the bathroom, pull down my pants, sit on the potty, and wait there until somthing happens, then I need to see how this annoyance is beneficial for me." So..we have begun rewarding with M&M's! Which works wonderfully since he doesn't get chocolate very often. He gets 1 M&M for trying and 2 M&M's for "going". Well...now that you have that tid bit of information, I'll share with you a funny story.
Yesterday morning was somewhat "normal" I guess you could say. I was in the kitchen (no way) tending to some chores and Robby was hanging out with the kids in the living room. Next thing I know, I hear the toilet in the boys' bathroom flush and James saying "eww yuck". I ask Robby to check and see what James was up to. Come to find out, James had gone into the bathroom, completely stripped off his clothes and diaper, climbed on the toilet, went poop, and flushed!!! Without even telling us that he had to go! We absolutely could not believe this! So..after that, we cleaned him up, washed his hands, gave him M&M's and dressed him in clean clothes. He is a very independent child, no doubt about that. We are definantly making progress here!

Josh is continuing to sleep through the night...up to 12 hours straight!...that is if you don't count the occassionaly waking up at 3am fussing a little..He's learning a bit of tough love right I guess you could say. We are determined to stick to the schedule as much as possible, that way his body learns a routine. So we don't caiter to his early morning rises..he falls back to sleep after just a couple of minutes, and sleeps another 4-5 more hours. He speaks to us in his own little language, which is VERY cute. It consists of "bbuuuaaa", "gggooooo", " and "ehhhoooo" :-) We try to imitate his "words" back to him to courage his vocal skills...and he LOVES banannas, cereal, and apple juice! We will be trying sweet peas tomorrow. Stay tuned. dundundun...

Pictures: James and Daddy built a castle, Josh smiling for the camera, Daddy and James helping Mommy make a cake, the finished cake,

and the last one is a piture of my pantry after we left the door opened.. not too sure how it got that way..lol!!

No plans for today...

So....for the past couple of days we have had great weather! We played outside a lot, washed/waxed cars, cleaned house, and gave my plants some much needed TLC. Occasionally my patience were stretched to the limit...I just had to put my "big girl" britches on and tell myself "you just have to get through today, tomorrow will be better." Robby was able to stay home for his entire 48 hours off! I always love it when he's home. He is the best husband and daddy ever! We have a date night planned for Friday the 23rd. yay! For some reason I found it very difficult to sleep well last night...I kept getting up to check on the kids. James always gets back out of bed after we have tucked him in. He likes to take his toys to bed, so when I went in his room last night to check on him (the first time), I found him completely uncovered, asleep, and holding one of his bulldozers ever so closely to himself. So..after carefully removing the dozer from his arms, rearranging him, and tucking him back in without him waking up, I went and check on Josh. Josh was fine, sleeping ever so soundly, and was still covered up.
Robby left for work this morning at 4 :00 and made the 2 hour drive into work. So, it's just me and the boys today and tonight. I'm not too sure what we will do today...didn't make any plans. Maybe we'll just stay inside since it's turning cold again. There is a mountainous pile of laundry just begging to be folded. I really need to go grocery shopping...

Kids are so funny...

I made oatmeal muffins for breakfast this morning. Well, James being the picky eater he is, decided that he didn't want to eat his muffin. In the mean time, Robby was having a bowl of cheerios. So, Robby decided to offer James a bite of his cheerios thinking that he might eat cheerios instead. Well... instead of there being cheerios on the spoon, Robby snuck a piece of muffin onto the spoon! James wasn't even paying attention, so he ended up eating the bite of muffin! After that, James decided he would finally eat the one that I had already provided for him, and enjoyed it very much! If a food feels funny in his mouth or to his fingers, then he won't eat it, even if it tastes wonderful. Kids are so funny!
Josh woke up this morning in such a GREAT mood. He was just lieing in his bed laughing, cooing, and squeeling. I went to get him, and when he saw me, he just busted out with the biggest smile ever! He is such a happy baby boy. :-)

Today...

This morning while preparing "His Majesty's" (James') breakfast, he asked me for a cup of coffee... lol! I honestly didn't know what to say to him except "coffee is for mommy". Then I turned my head so that he couldn't see me, and silently giggled to myself. He hasn't been feeling very well today. He has thus far refused eating breakfast and lunch , so I have had to just give him protein shakes so that he would be able to keep up his strength and halfway function. He seems to be overly emotional today as well. He also continues to ask to go "owside" (outside). I let him play on the pourch for about an hour, before lying him down for a nap, which he also strongly objected to, but I had to just tell myself "don't give in, do what's best for him, even if he cries". I ended up having to get the spoon out and walk around with it, so that he could see I was serious, and nap time wasn't open for discussion today. Somedays we don't make him take a nap. He's at that stage now... ugghh. So... all the while tending to James, I was also feeding Josh, and doing my best to equally distribute my attention. Which I find to be very difficult these days, especially when Robby working his 24 hour shifts. It seems as though the only thing I have time to eat is a boring tunafish sandwhich or a protein shake, with a side order of guilt for taking the time to eat. Josh is getting so strong!! He's pretty advanced for his age, so that makes it a little easier to entertain him, but on the other hand, more difficult to convince him that it's ok to not be able to do somethings just yet. He tries so hard to crawl. Today I stood him up on the floor and placed his hands on the couch in front of him. He just stood there looking around, smiling ever so proudly. He has really taken to his stuffed animals. Just about any of them will satisfy him. He loves to lie on the floor and pull the animal as close to his chest as he can poosibly get it. He then begins to "wrestle" with it, and shreek ever so loudly! He has turned over 1 time, which was a couple of weeks ago, but I haven't seen him do it since then. It was back to tummy, and happened during a round of wrestling. Since Josh is eatting so much, we have had to switch bottles. We LOVE Dr. Brown's bottles, which is what we used with James as well, but they only go up to 8 ounces, so we had to switch to Avent, which are great bottles as well...honestly they are so much easier to clean and fill. He didn't like the Avent at first because the nipple felt very different than the Dr. Brown's, but has adjusted well and is eating like a champ. Josh is great at letting you know when he's full...he just pushes the bottle away from himself and spews out any milk left in his mouth that he's not interested in eating. Simple as that! He has been able to hold his own bottle for several weeks now, but I still help him. He is now in 6-9 month clothes and size 3 diapers! I know... such a big boy!! We saved everything from when James was a baby, but when James wore 6-9 month clothes it was during the summer, so Josh can't wear any of them right now since it's cold weather right now. Josh likes to be warm, especially when he's sleeping, which is exactly opposite of what James was. James HATES to wear clothes. Josh has NEVER liked the Passie...unfortunantly... but tends to satisfy himself with whatever he can put in his mouth. James never liked the passie either until he was 6 months old. I thought, well since it's been several months since he's tried one, maybe we'll see if he's interested yet. So, one day I placed one on the floor where he could see it, he crawled over, picked it up, played with it for a few minutes, then ended up with it in his mouth; he loved it after that! Of course he is no longer on the passie, but I'm sure if I gave him one he would enjoy it just as much as he used to!

James' vocabulary skills are improving more and more each day. Every morning when he gets out of bed, the first thing he does is walk into the kitchen, tug on the refridgerator door and asks for milk or juice and eggs, and sometimes a waffle. He is a very picky eater, always has been, so when he asks for food, I am overjoyed and try to get him what he asks for, unless it's one of those foods that are just completely unacceptable...like a cookie or cake. Yes...he has asked for cookies for breakfast before. I find it strange though, because we are very paticular about what we feed the kids. I have always been a stickler about having too much sugar and junk. I also prefer to eat as organically as our budget will allow. As for Josh's baby food...we have a great food processor, so we are able to make our own baby food. We do buy some, but for some reason I like to make the veggies myself. James NEVER liked the jarred veggies or meats, so we just made it, and froze it in ice cube trays. He would eat that! We are still slowly working Josh onto foods, so we will see what becomes of his great food adventure! These pictues were taken today... James didn't want to get dressed this morning after breakfast, so after we took his P.J.'s off, I just let him run around in his pull up. Josh is lounging on the couch being cute as a bug. The picture of his legs and feet is to show you just how big he is getting. I dressed him in a 3-6 months outfit...as you can see, it's considerably too small!

Well, I think that's about it for today.

I guess I'll start here...

So... we survived the holidays. Whew. Now that's over and we can focus on other things....such as: potty traning, teething, and sleeping. lol!

James has just turned 2 years old!!! Oh my gosh! We still can't believe it! Since his actual birthday fell on a Monday (January 5 ), we decided to celebrate this wonderous occasion on Saturday January 3, since it was the weekend and most people are off work. James had a fantastic birthday! He very much enjoyed being the center of attention and playing with all his little friends. Seems like yesterday that we were all gathered around trying to figure out how to assemble James' bike that his Uncle Seanie and Auntie Lu bought him for his 1 year birthday! How time flies! His birthday this year was "Handy Manny" themed. Of course I made his birthday cake...and it turned out so great. I'm honestly very proud of myself. The presents were endless!...clothes, blocks, educational videos (such as Baby Einstein), play-doh (what were we thinking!), an electric guitar for kids, every car, fire truck, and ambulance that Fisher Price created, pretend medical equipment ( stethiscope, bloodpressure cuff, thermometer,etc...), every obnoxious, noise making toy and trinket imaginable, and so much other stuff that I can't even remember.
We have James on a reading program call "Your Baby Can Read"..it's great! He is able to READ the word "hi" and he can also READ his name! James can also draw circles, trace his hand on a piece of paper, count to 5, and is speaking in complete sentences. For some reason he has started calling me "Amber", I'm guessing because he hears other people calling me by my first name, he thought he would give it a try, so I don't respond to him until he calls me "Mommy".

As for our little Josh... He has just turned 4 months old! Seems like yesterday that I was pregnant and on bed rest. Josh is sleeping completely through the night! Yay! We pretty much have him into a routine now... I won't go into every detail of the schedule, but we start the bedtime routine at about 6:30pm. We eat supper, take baths, we dim all the lights in the house, have quite time (such as read a book), then listen to soft music and sing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", then in the bed by 9:00 (on occassion 8:30) This schedule goes for both boys. Josh is eating 8- 10 ounces a feeding. We have started him on juice and cereal along with an occassional bite of apple or bannana. He LOVES to eat! Josh is weighing in at 16 pounds now! WOW! What a chunker! lol! We will be taking the boys in to see the Pediatrician very soon, because it's time for Josh's 4 month shots/check-up and James' 2 year shots/check-up. I always dread these visits... it's very sad and breaks my heart when the shots are administered...those of you who have kids can relate to my sadness. I guess I'm getting better though because I don't have to leave the room anymore, although, I do still get teary-eyed. Josh is beginning to make sounds like "ba" & "ma". He is also becoming very animated with his facial expressions. We like to lie on the floor with him and play. He loves for us to "get his ribs", and "gobble his tummy"..he laughs, squeeles, and shreeks out of enjoyment! He is such a happy baby. Josh is sitting up very well. We have to keep a hand close by just to catch him when he starts to lean or fall. Standing is still his favorite past time of all. He loves to stand on our laps while we hold his hands in front of him. We do "arms up arms down" and that makes him laugh as well. His two bottom teeth are still working their way through the gums, but you can see and feel them very well. He drools like a fountain!

Robby and I are doing well. We get to see each other occasionally...lol! No, I can't complain, we are just very busy with life, carrer, and kids. I need to be going but will write more later. 'Til next time people!

Our Little Babies Are Growing Up!

This was a blog that I had previously written and posted to my Myspace, but I thought that it would be a great place to start updating from. So those of you who have already read it, please enjoy again!


Posted: December 8, 2008
Our little Joshy has just turned 3 months old on December 4th. He is already teething...infact, his two bottom teeth are cutting in and will soon be breaking through! As I'm trying to remember, I'm thinking that James' first tooth broke through at around 4 months...so we will just see what happens. Also, Josh is able to reach out and grab objects! He has been working on it for weeks, and now he can finally do it! We are so very proud of our Josh. He is starting to sleep the whole night long...he slept for 11 hours straight last night!! :-) FINALLY! He's not sleeping like that everynight, but he's working on getting it down just right...these things take practice. Josh is a tummy sleeper,(James was as well) so he tends to scootch his way around in his crib, all the while rubbing off all his hair in the process. Josh loves to laugh, coo, gab, flail about, and smile. He's quite the little heart warmer ♥ and very much an entertainer. Josh also loves to 'copy' facial expressions! He's quite good at it too! Josh is also working on sitting up on his own. He likes to be proped up on the couch so that he can look out at everyone. Standing on your lap is also a favorite passtime of his, not to mention swinging in his little swing. He's eating 6 - 8 ounces a feeding, but likes to take little breaks, so it ends up taking him an hour to finish his bottle...then he's hungry again a couple of hours later. He is also working on turning over.
About our little man James... He will be turning TWO on January 5th! WOW! I can't believe it. James is our big helper. He loves to help with as many things as possible. He gets board very easily so we have to keep him busy with 'jobs'. He is speaking in sentences, has been for a while now. We started him on a reading program a couple of weeks ago, and is doing wonderfully with it! We have also been working on potty training...it's going so much better than we could have ever hoped for! We had started him a few months ago, but when I was pregnant with Josh, there we complications which landed me on bed rest, so James' training was put on hold. We have since then picked it back up. James is a very energetic toddler, as anyone might expect, so we have to keep a close eye on him all the time. He runs everywhere!...so we have to make him hold our hands when we are out and about in public. James has learned to be obedient and of course is still working on it... a life long process! He is a stong willed little man, and not just in the bad things. He is just flat out determined to accomplish his goals. Whether it's trowing something to hit a target, making his voice heard, or fixing something that is broken, I will guarantee you that he will make it happen...even if he gets mad about it and looses his temper in the process. lol! He has quite the temper if I must say so myself..not necessarily a rebellious child, just has a temper that needs reining in....occassionally....lol! James is definantly 'Wild At Heart' and desires for nothing more that to be adventurous. I love watching him play outside. James is also quite an inventer! He loves to 'make' these interesting inventions and show them to us. I'll put it this way, he is really good at making things fit where they shouldn't and putting things in places where you would never have thought to put them before! lol! Of course we have safty plugs in all the electrical outlets, so we don't have to worry with finding thing there. James wants to be just like his Daddy...as do all little boys. As soon as Robby comes home from work, James is stuck to his daddy like glue and won't take ''wait just a minute, I have to take off my shoes'' for an answer. James has truley captured our hearts and we are so proud of him.
I'm sorry for taking so long to update about everything, but life with two babies is very demanding, thus, leaving little time for myself. Well, I guess that's it for now!

Our New Blog...

Hey everyone! Thanks for stopping by. Robby and I decided to start a blog about our family, so that we could easily update family and friends about current events and happenings. Please visit often, leave lots of comments, and ask lots of questions!
Thanks!