finally some answers

we finally found out today, after lots of calls, waiting and internet research, that miles and i have a case of thrush. my symptoms started pretty soon after our colorado trip at the beginning of january...which also coincided with miles taking steroids for the case of croup he caught from ethan. he didn't show any of the tell tale signs though, so it took a while to diagnose it. i went up to the hospital ob floor to get some help on friday after waiting almost a whole week for the lactation consultant at the hospital to get back to me. turns out she was out sick. but there was another nurse who diagnosed me and was able to call miles' pediatrician and get a prescription called in. we are using gentian violet, which isn't too much fun because it is purple and stains like crazy, as part of our treatment. i am supposed to follow up on monday and if i don't have improvement she may prescribe me something different. so far i haven't noticed a huge change, but i didn't actually start the gentian violet until saturday, so we'll see how i am on monday afternoon. apparently thrush is really hard to get rid of (so easy for the mom and baby to keep passing it back and forth) and it has been a busy weekend of sterilizing bottles, pacifiers and just about anything that miles has touched with his mouth. hopefully we'll be cleared up soon and we can go on our merry way! the picture above is my cute little guy with his purple mouth! luckily the purple wears off after about 1 hour so he doesn't look like this all day.

oklahoma snow day

we had some wintry weather this week. while i loved how pretty the ice looked on the trees, i did not enjoy having to drive in it! i had my architecture exam on thursday morning and had planned to drive up on wednesday night and stay in a hotel near the testing center, unfortunately the weather had other plans for us. lynn and donna ended up watching the boys and lance drove me up. i thought it was overkill, but after we got out on the roads, i was so glad lance was there! the interstate was really icy and there turned out to be an accident that caused a huge traffic jam. luckily lance found a back road that was actually clearer than 35 and we ended up passing all of the traffic. oklahoma city was much better to drive in since it was mostly snow and not all of the ice. so, once again, lance was able to take me to my test. he's only missed driving me to one out of all of the times i have gone. it always helped me relax on the 1.5 hour drive up and we usually get to have a yummy dinner on the way back down.

the dallas children's museum

miles, ethan and i spent a couple hours at the dallas children's museum with some friends from my mom board. we had a great time! we were a little late (go figure!) but we made it. it is about a 2 hour drive, but it was worth it. the children's museum is inside the museum of nature and science at fair park. there were so many fun exhibits and ethan was on the move the entire time we were there. there was a fire truck, complete with dress-up gear, a room full of legos, puzzles, mirrors and other sorts of gadgets, the water room (this was the hit of the museum for sure!), a farm set-up, a sand table, a bug and fish room, a hot air balloon, a play house with a kitchen and some kid size computers and a gymboree-type area with mats to tumble on. so much fun! i've already told lance we'll be going back soon. i want him to see ethan in action. i am also looking forward to when we can take miles and he can participate more. trying to wheel the monster double stroller around (bad idea - i'll have to bring a carrier for miles next time) and keep track of ethan was more than enough for me, so unfortunately i didn't get too many photos, but there are a few good ones.

miles enjoying the museum (he isn't holding his bottle yet, he just likes to grab it)

little scientist at the microscope

he LOVED the water table! he even tried to drink the water straight from the table...i wish i had gotten a picture of him doing that!

favorite things

one of my favorite parts of the day is when miles wakes up from his mid-morning nap. as long as he has slept the right amount of time, which for him is somewhere between 2-3 hours, he wakes up in a happy mood. he takes naps in our bed, so after he wakes up, i climb in there and nurse him. it is so relaxing! when he is done eating we just snuggle and talk. he usually wakes before ethan, so i love having that alone time with him. lance took some pictures of us today after his nap - so sweet!

las vegas!

lance and i spent the better part of last week in las vegas for the international builders show. we went to it last year in orlando and it was a great experience so we decided to go again this year. there are so many new products out there to learn about and we each took several classes that i think are going to help us out a lot on some of our new developments. of course, just like last year, my favorite part of the show are the appliance exhibits...also a favorite is the kohler exhibit. they have the most amazing and innovative bathtubs and bathroom fixtures! i can only dream that i will one day have some stuff as nice as that. i love appliances in general, but they are also the place for all the free food! and good stuff too - they invite all these guest chefs in to demostrate the stoves and ovens. delicious! and i learned this year (while standing in the longest starbucks line EVER!) that the sears exhibit bakes fresh chocolate chip cookies everyday. how did i not know that?!? anyway, we had a great time and came back to oklahoma loaded down with lots of fun ideas to try out.

we didn't take ethan and miles, it would have just been too hard with the long days, though i did see several people with strollers and bjorns walking around. i can't even imagine! i did miss the boys so much and missed miles even more since i had to constantly pump on the trip. grrrr...it is a lot of work and i don't know how exclusively pumping moms do it! the las vegas convention center obviously isn't meant for a pumping mom. we had brought the car adapter so i could just pump there, but our little rental wasn't up to carrying the load of it and we somehow flipped a breaker the first day. i searched for good bathrooms to pump in and found only one with a plug close enough to a stall that i could pump in private...but unfortunately it was about a 20 minute walk from there to the car and i didn't want to keep the pump with me all day so i ended up pumping in the bathroom near the parking lot. fun times since the only outlet was by the sink. i am sure most of the women knew what was going on, but there were definitely some surprised faces. at first i was really self conscious, but as the trip wore on i just decided i didn't really care. i was glad to get home and take a break from the pump. lynn and donna watched the boys for us and loved doing it - we are so lucky to have family nearby to help out - but they were definitely ready to give them back to us on friday night!

most of our days were taken up with the convention, but we did get to go out to dinner two of the nights we were out there so that was a lot of fun. we tried out the italian restaurant at the bellagio - good, but maybe too fancy for us, though the desserts were amazing! we also got invited to a vendor party at a mexican place in the pallazo. lance was so excited since it meant a free meal (and open bar!) he's already thinking of who he can ask for free meals next year. i wished we had had more of a chance to walk around vegas. it is just such an amazing city. there is constant construction going on and so much had changed since we had been there last. crazy stuff. we didn't really take too many pictures, but i thought this was a fitting one to end my post with. me and my constant companion (in case you can't tell...this is my medela pump - i think i spent more time with it than i did with lance!)

too much cuteness!!

it was a really cold (for southern oklahoma, at least!) last week, so i finally got to bundle miles up in this absolutely adorable little hanna anderson outfit i had bought for him. i actually got it for our ski trip, but i never put him in it. i was glad to get some use out of it before he grew out of it! i wish i had a full body picture because he really looked like a puffy starfish with his arms and legs sticking out...i might have to just dress him up in it again for photos, even if it doesn't get cold enough to wear it.

first tooth, i think!

i've never been the best at figuring out when teeth are coming through. it seems like i chalk everything up to teething - its the easiest thing to do and it makes whatever you are going through feel temporary. usually i knew ethan had a tooth coming in the obvious way, you saw the white popping through. miles has been more crabby, drooly and a worse-sleeping baby than usual so i have been running my fingers in his mouth to check pretty often. sure enough, it *looks* like there is a hint of white popping through on the bottom. i am crossing my fingers that once this tooth makes its way in we'll have a sleeping baby, at least until the next tooth arrives. i am off to take my last gummy smiles pics of the little guy. as cute as the teeth are, you just can't replace those toothless grins.

first solids for miles!

our first attmept at rice cereal was a success! he wasn't too sure at first (and made some really funny faces), but got the hang of it pretty quickly and was smiling and grabbing for the spoon by the end. my little piggy ate almost the whole bowl of it too. i am still a bit surprised that he is already old enough to be starting solids! i am looking forward to making baby food for him soon. i didn't start with homemade baby food right away with ethan so i didn't feel like i got to do as many foods for him as i would have liked. i think it will be fun to try lots of things this time around. good thing lance got us the extra freezer for the garage!

first bitenot too sure about it...

he decided it was actually pretty good! and fun!

ethan's 2 year stats

ethan had his 2 year well-baby visit today and he is doing great! the doctor was impressed with his vocabulary and everything else checked out fine with him. his chest was cleared up and he didn't have any lingering effects of the croup from a few weeks ago. he is still on the low side of the growth chart - but no surprise there as he has been since he was born. the doctor did suggest we could give him pediasure or carnation instant breakfast shakes if we wanted to get some more calories in him on the days when he doesn't seem to eat. we are also supposed to keep him on whole milk (rather than 2%) for the extra calories as well. but he wasn't really concerned about his growth based on the fact that lance nor i are really that big. he was 24 pounds (between 5th & 10th percentile) and 34" tall (around 25th percentile). he did very well with his one shot (hep A) and barely cried. all the tears were over with as soon as he saw the bucket of lollipops to choose from. yay for lollipops and brightening up the day! oh we also talked about potty training and the doctor said not to rush it, just do it when he starts to show interest. it was a very good appointment and miles was great the whole time considering it was right around his naptime and he had to spend the whole visit awake in his carseat. we go back somewhere between 30 months and 3 years to get another hep A booster and for his next visit.

the adventures of a boy and his blanket

i had a bonus afternoon with the boys today since one of the kids at the babysitter's house had strep throat and i didn't want to my now well boys to get sick again. it had warmed up earlier in the day so i thought it would be fun to go to the park...of course by the time we actually made it out there it had cooled considerably, but i had already talked it up and we were on our way. luckily i had some extra things to bundle miles up in, ethan could have cared less about the cold. he did have to have his blanket there with him though, he was very insistent about it. he even took it on the slide. though i was going crazy because it was collecting all sorts of grass, mulch and other dirt and dust, it was so cute to see him carrying it along.

road trip: entertaining a toddler and a 5-month old in the car for hours = FUN!

DAY ONE

saturday, january 3, 2009: we started our first long road trip with the boys this today. we loaded up the "van-truck" as ethan calls it or and headed on our way to colorado for a week of skiing and winter fun. let me just say, it is a L O N G drive from oklahoma to crested butte, colorado. we split up the drive into two days. day one we went to pueblo, co (about an 11 hour day through mostly flat, windy, tumbleweed-y terrain) and then day two we finished up the drive to crested butte (about 6 hours thanks to a snow storm along the way!) the boys actually did amazingly well and it helped that we had grandmother along in our car for the ride. she was a huge help with driving and also with entertaining the kids. the dvd player and lots of thomas and the wiggles did wonders too. thanks especially to dawn (and zach!) who leant us the good thomas dvds since i had purchased the cheap knock-offs that just weren't cutting it.

ahhh naptime! somewhere around dumas or dalhart, tx.

DAY TWO (note the ever present thomas and sir topham hat on the DVD player)friday, january 9, 2009: our trip back began at 5AM on friday morning since we had to get laura and jeff to the airport. we had packed the night before and actually made it out of the condo by 5:45. that has to be a record for getting 12 bodies (5 of them being under 5!) and way too much luggage into the cars and onto the road. we had to do the trip back in one day because lance had to be at drill late that night. i was dreading the day, but all in all doing it at once is so much better than splitting it up. at least you can push through and know you get to sleep in your own bed by the end of the night. we ended up taking alex grace in our car and she was a huge help! she entertained ethan, helped out with miles and was even doing some dance moves to the thomas dvds by the end of the night. i think we were all overtired and had cabin (van) fever by that time. we made it though and i can't say enough times how great the van was, especially thanks to the dvd player and built-in bottle warmers. oh, in case you want to know, it took 17 hours to drive home...i think it will be a long time before we drive anywhere farther than oklahoma city or dallas with the two kids!

and yes, the novelty of documenting the trip had worn off by this point in time, so unfortunately no pictures of our skittle ridden, jam packed van, but you can imagine it was much worse off than in the traveling out pictures. the novelty of keeping it neat and tidy had also worn off.

happy 5 months, miles!

another month has gone by...

5 month stats: he was 15lbs, 3oz at his doctor visit on december 31st - he did have clothes and a diaper on, so not completely accurate, but it will work for now!

some of the things he is doing:

1. he found his new favorite toys - his hands and feet! he absolutely loves to chew on his hands (or anyone else's for that matter!) and he will grab his feet when he is laying down. he just looks so cute grabbing at his chubby little toes.

2. "talking" like crazy! he loves to make noises all the time. he chats to his toys, the ceiling fan, his brother...anyone who will listen. he makes screechy sounds and also this one that almost sounds like a bird call.

3. we are getting ready to start him on rice cereal. we got the okay from the pediatrician at his 4 month visit, so in the next few weeks, we'll give it a try. he is most definitely interested in food when we are eating, so i think he is more than ready for it.

4. is in love with his big brother! he gets so excited when ethan comes around. he watches him and just plain thinks he is great. ethan can do just about anything and it will make him smile. for now, at least, ethan is just as excited about his younger brother.

5. he's still working on rolling over. he is so, so close. it is just that one arm that gets in the way. i bet he'll have it down soon though.

wordless wednesday: ethan's first time in the snow!

ethan's second birthday: part two

ethan's actual birthday fell on a day on which we were traveling, so i decided to hold off for a day before we did his second party. i brought the banner my mom and i had made and decorated some more cookie monster cupcakes and we gathered all the family for the celebration. ethan had a great time once again - you can't beat those cupcakes! and we loved getting to celebrate with all of his cousins! he did get a little scared when we sang him happy birthday though, i think there were just so many people looking at him he didn't quite know what was going on.

happy 2nd birthday, ethan!

my first little guy is two years old! it is hard to believe that i am a mom to a two year old. it has been a wonderful two years! ethan has grown into such a little person now with his own very independent personality. he has his 2 year well-baby visit on january 14th, so i'll update with his stats then.

some of my favorite things ethan is doing right now:
1. loves to "rock a bye" before bed with a book. he has become quite the little snuggle bug.
2. talking up a storm. he loves to repeat things and will pretty much try to say everything you ask him to.
3. sitting at the table with us for meals and just in general. i know he doesn't stay there very long and sometimes it can get messy, but it is such a nice change from the high chair and it really feels like he is part of the meal now.
4. is a little helper. he loves to help carry the groceries in and is especially helpful with miles and getting diapers, binkies and burp clothes when asked.
5. just the fact that he is becoming his own little person with this huge personality. he can definitely be frustrating and trying at times, but he is also just such a loveable little guy and with a smile and laugh or a "love you, mama" can help you forget all of the craziness and tough times.

some of ethan's favorite things right now:
1. the top item on this list is definitely jammies! he HATES taking off his jammies in the morning. throws the biggest tantrum. he has certain pairs he likes more than others, but generally is ecstatic to put on any pair of jammies.
2. he ADORES thomas the train - the tv show and any and all trains and tracks.
3. he loves to play with coins and i made him a little bank to keep it in. he even knows pennies now, but thinks that all silver money is a dime. we're working on it.
4. books - he will sit and read entire books with me now. some of his favorites are perfect picnic with bert and ernie, the very hungry caterpillar and the fire engine book.
5. counting. he can count up to 10 (though he starts at 2 most of the time) without any prompting. his favorite number is 6. he loves to say it and also for me to write it out for him.

we were on our road trip to colorado on ethan's birthday, so here he is celebrating that morning at the hotel in pueblo, co.