My Little Picasso

i've been working hard to try & teach Jack a few new things. we've been working on colors, words, eating with a spoon, teaching him where things go & coloring. to be honest, it really takes some patience! i mean, i'm not rushing him, i know he will get it at his own pace. and i'm totally ok with that. i just want to be diligent in teaching him.

a few weeks ago, i gave him a piece of paper & a (washable) marker. i put him in his high chair & let him try it. well, he just didn't get it. i was a little disappointed b/c i was so excited to have his first little piece of art. but i let him play & then figured we would just try it again later. so, on monday, we tried again. and he got it! i showed him once or twice but he got the concept pretty well & he was so excited! (i may have been a little excited too!)

last night, we gave him chicken n dumplins for dinner. Ben suggested letting him try using his spoon. (we've also tried this before & he wasn't ready). but we knew he needed to keep trying. well, sure enough, he got it! i mean, the food didn't always make it in his mouth, but he was trying so hard. it was adorable, and messy! i just wish i would've taken pictures but i was nursing Jovie. (i need at least 2 more hands!) He has also started walking to the fridge & pointing, or taking our hand & walking us to the fridge when he wants something to drink! so smart.

also. he's been tugging at his diaper, a lot lately. if we say, "Jack, are you wet?" or "Jack, do you need a diaper change?" or "Jack, do you have a stinky diaper?" then he tugs at it. or sometimes he'll just tug at his diaper, then we'll ask him one of those questions & then he'll tug again & walk to the changing table. my boy is smart. but could this mean potty training is closer than i thought? i have no idea. but he definitely doesn't like sitting in a wet diaper. so, we'll see.

here are a few pictures of his first time to color. we are just a little bit proud!

such a cute little grin. he was so excited!

hard at work!

he took it pretty seriously.

such a good job!

the finished masterpiece. i would rather have this than a Picasso piece any day!

Good job buddy, i love you!

Happy 2 Months, Jovie!

little girl, you are 2 months old. its hard to believe that i've only known you for 8 short weeks but i love you like i've known you my whole life. you are such a sweet tiny little blessing. i can't imagine our family without you now! we all just love you so much!

here are your 2 month stats:

weight: 7 lbs 13 oz

height: 20 inches

head circumference: 38 cm

i never thought i would have a smaller baby than your brother. but at this stage, he was 6-7 ounces bigger! Dr Bubba says you are petite, with petite little features & you will probably continue to grow that way. however, he is concerned about your weight gain. that is because you have a terrible case of acid reflux. you are also dealing with some colic (really bad gas & stomach cramping). you were on Zantac for you reflux but it just wasn't working. you are now on Prevacid. its only been 5 days on this medicine but so far it seems to be helping. you also take a prescription gas drop, Levsin. and we love it! i've also tried an organic gripe water for your really fussy times & its helped you relax. you've really had a rough time this past month but we are praying that we finally have it figured out & that you are on the right track. we just feel so bad for you when you are in pain.

at age 7 weeks you rolled over from your tummy to your back! we couldn't believe it. but you've actually done it several times. you're adorable. you have gotten really good at holding your head up. in the past week you have begun to "talk" and smile. it melts our hearts. you just love to smile at me & daddy. i love our little talks together. daddy sings you a song that he made up called "jovie jellybean" and you love it. it always gets you to stop crying & you always smile so big. i think you just love hearing his voice. i can't wait to watch your relationship with him grow & develop into a sweet love for each other. your big brother could just eat you up. he kisses you 50+ times per day. he loves to kiss your hands, feet & head. whenever i'm holding you, he wants to sit right next to you & he gets so excited when we let him "hold" you. i hope you always love each other so much.

right now you eat 6-7 times per day. i usually shoot for that 7th time to help you gain some weight. you nurse at every feeding. some days i give you some formula for just one feeding & you do really well with that. you usually nap 3-4 times per day. some days its for long periods of time & other days you just nap for 45 minutes to an hour. you go to bed between 8 & 9 pm then i wake you around 10:30 or 11 pm for a "dream feed" you go right back to sleep & usually wake up between 5 & 6:30 am for your next feeding. i'm so proud of you! you started sleeping through the night at age 7 weeks & it has really helped me! your favorite time of day is bath time. it helps you so much when you are hurting. you are in a size newborn diaper. you can wear a size 1 but they are still pretty big. you can still wear your preemie sleeper gowns but you have just started wearing a few things that are newborn size.

we just love having a little girl around the house. you create the perfect balance for us since Jack is all boy! you have such a sweet little spirit. you love to be held & cuddled. i can't wait to see more of your true personality once we get rid of this reflux & colic. you are such a gift. i'm so excited to watch you grow. i'm really enjoying this stage b/c you want me to love on you so much. i'm exhausted but you are completely worth it!

happy 2 months sweetheart. i love you more than you could know.

Happy 17 Months, Jack!

sweet boy, you are 17 months old! you are 100% boy & we love it! i am so proud of you & all you are learning to do lately. you really are the smartest kid i know. (and i'm totally not biased!)

you are such a great eater now. Praise the Lord. you will pretty much try anything i put on your tray for you to eat. your very favorite food right now is mandarin oranges. you just gobble them up! you also love grapes, apples, cereal bars, rice cakes, bread, chicken tenders, pizza, turkey, provolone cheese, granola bars, creamed spinach, pancakes, spaghetti, ravioli & so much more. i'm still having trouble getting those veggies in you. i've tried to prepare them so many different ways but you just aren't loving it. typical kid i guess. you still LOVE to have something to drink all the time. so i give you V8 fusion, which a veggie fruit drink. gotta sneak those veggies in somehow! you also love apple juice & chocolate milk.

bath/shower time is still probably your favorite time of day. you just love the water & have so much fun splashing & playing with cups or your bath toys! your favorite toy is any type of ball. you just love it. i bet we have 20 balls lying around this house. your other favorite thing to do is spin bowls. you get out my tupperware bowls & just spin them all over the kitchen floor. its hilarious, we have no idea where you learned this. you have a little obsession for closing & opening doors & cabinets. you can't stand for something to be left open & you definitely get that from me! you love to be outside. when we take you outdoors you just want to walk all over the place. you are definitely exerting more independence these days.

we have noticed something else about you this month. you are quite the little hoarder. we find random things in the most random places. you just take anything you can get your hands on & put it "up" or wherever you think it goes. here are a few examples i have found lately: you put my deodorant in the pack n play, blocks in Jovie's diaper bag & car seat, (full) coke cans in dresser drawers & your toy box, shoes in the cabinet with the pots & pans, clean diapers in the dirty clothes hamper, your cups in the bathroom cabinets or under the couch. there are really so many other quirky things you do but those are the constants. needless to say, its hard for me to declutter or clean up around here b/c you are constantly misplacing things!

you are learning to do so much lately. you can point to your nose, tongue, feet, hands & head. you can wave "bye bye" & "hello". you are constantly talking. most of it is jibber jabber or your little version of singing. its so sweet! but you can say "up", "uh oh", "baby", "hey", "momma" (but only when you are fussy) and your word for everything is "dada". its pretty cute! any time you see an animal, lola, Jovie or another baby you say "oohhh" similar to "aaww". its so sweet. you just love animals & babies. you are also pretty smart, as i mentioned earlier. you are figuring out certain words when we say them. if you hear us say "lovie", "sock monkey", "cup", "juice", "milk", "bite", "night night", "sissy", "bye bye", "no no", "come with me", "clap your hands", "lola" "bring it to mommy or bring it to dada" then you respond. i'm sure there are many more but i can't think of all of them right now. we are definitely spelling certain words out right now so that you don't pick up on it! you don't take a paci anymore (you quit that at 10 months) but you are definitely attached to your lovie. it goes everywhere with us. you also really love your sock monkey & teddy bear. they always sleep with you.

you are a very affectionate little boy. you will give kisses to anyone & anything. (you just kissed my knee & my computer as i'm typing this!) you love to kiss Jovie over & over again. you also kiss on lola (yuck!), daddy & me all the time. we love it. you LOVE your grandparents & we are so thrilled about that. you get so excited to see Lolli & Poppa and Mamie & Granddad. you have such a special relationship with each of them & they definitely spoil you to death. but we are ok with that! you also LOVE your aunts & uncles. you have really taken to them lately. we just wish Aunt Jenna lived closer so that you could be closer to her. family is so important to us so we are thrilled that you love them so much.

we are excited about the weather warming up & the impending summer. we know you are going to really enjoy this season. we have some fun things planned & we can't wait to do them with you. i'm excited for our vacation to Florida, Uncle Tripp's wedding, swimming, the zoo, the park, playdates with friends (you really need some interaction with kids your age) and so much much more. we're going to have a great time! (but i'm most excited about this fall & christmas season with you!)

Jack, you are such blessing to our family. you are fun, spirited, independent, strong-willed, sensitive & funny little boy. you are definitely testing the limits more & more these days. you have received a few spankings lately but you are learning. you have such a tender heart. we couldn't be more proud of you & who you are becoming. we know Jesus has such big plans for your life. we love you SO much & are so honored to be your parents. what a joy you are to my heart. i absolutely love being your mommy! now, please stop growing so fast!

happy 17 months my love, you have my heart!

Acid Reflux. i hate you.

so Jovie went to the doctor today for her 2 month check up. i will do her 2 month post with stats on another day. this post is about the devil of an issue that my girl is dealing with.

a couple of weeks ago, Jovie Claire was diagnosed with acid reflux & given Zantac to help block the acidity & reduce the amount of spitting up. she was also given Levsin drops to help with her terrible gas/tummy cramps. the Levsin drops are amazing & really seem to be helping her. the Zantac, however, hasn't done much. it reduced the number of times she is spitting up, somewhat, but not the volume of spit up that comes with each vomit session. its insane. so today we told Dr Bubba all about our rough few weeks & how she has been dealing with all of this junk. he switched her medicine to Prevacid. we also discovered that she hasn't been gaining weight very well. (she weighed 7 lbs 13 oz today) and its b/c of all the spitting up. so, we have to go back in 2 weeks. if the medicine isn't helping & she isn't gaining weight very well then she has to see a G.I. specialist.

Ben's cousin told us about a gripe water that she used for her kids when they dealt with reflux & colic. its an organic, all natural gripe water. its made by Baby Bliss. i found it today at Walgreens. has anyone ever used gripe water? did it work? we are trying it. so, we'll see. we also switched her to Enfamil AR formula. she only gets 1 bottle a day, if that. some days she doesn't even get one. she is breastfed. but we thought we would try the formula to see if it helps at all. she spit up a lot of it today. but today was the first time she had it. so maybe it takes time to start working. who knows.

we picked up the Prevacid today. it cost $180 for 30 pills! and our insurance only covered $15. so we paid $165. we were in shock. Dr Bubba gave us 5 refills of this b/c she needs to be on it for awhile. but we can not afford to refill this 5 more times. so, i'm a little worried. i called the insurance company & they said they only covered $15 b/c it wasn't considered a "preferred medicine". um, yes it is preferred. i prefer to use it b/c it should help her. what the heck?! so we're gonna talk to Dr Bubba about it & see if there is something else we can do. when is money gonna start growing on trees?!!

i'm not gonna worry about it. i know the Lord will provide. i just want this medicine to help Jovie. i need her to feel better. first, for her sake. and then for mine. she's had a really rough time & is really in pain. she also had to get her shots today & she was just inconsolable. she didn't take them very well at all. thank goodness Ben was in the room with her when she got them. i had to leave & go to the waiting room. i can't stand to watch my children get shots. i'm a sissy, but i don't care.

well. i'm off to relax in bed before i wake Jovie to eat. please pray with us that this medicine will help Jovie. or that if it doesn't that the G.I. specialist will be able to help her. i am weary but hopeful. thank you for your prayers & advice. i appreciate you so much!

i'm still alive. barely.

i have been on a major blogging hiatus. and it has not been on purpose. i literally have no time in the day to sit down, by myself, & type up a post. i do check my facebook daily but i'm always holding one of my children as i'm doing so. but i will return to blogging soon. i have so much to post about!

i've had a really rough week. my sweet Jovie Claire is just miserable. her acid reflux is terrible & the medicine she is on just isn't helping her very much. she also has TERRIBLE gas. i mean her stomach cramps up so bad, she turns bright red & those sweet little legs just draw up. i absolutely HATE seeing her so unhappy. she eats & seems satisfied for about 30 minutes & then she is fussy. thank goodness she goes to see Dr Bubba for her 2 month check up tomorrow. i have a slew of questions for that man. he won't know what hit him!

so. i've spent my week chasing my boy & holding my girl, endlessly. i must admit, i'm completely worn out and at times i get so frustrated. not with her but at the fact that i can't help her or figure out how to make her pain stop. a warm bath is her favorite & so we do that daily. it seems to help her soothe a little bit. but in the midst of my weariness the Lord so gently reminds me of what a blessing it is to be her mother. right now, i am the only one who can soothe her. it takes all my energy some days b/c i'm still so busy with Jack but i know i am so blessed to have her. she is learning to coo & smile. so those sweet moments make all the fussiness not as hard.

please pray for us and for Jovie Claire. i'm so ready for her to feel better. seeing your newborn in pain is so hard to watch. Ben & I are so ready to see Dr Bubba tomorrow. being a parent is hard work sometimes, but SO totally worth it. i wouldn't trade my beautiful girl for anything in the world.

speaking of being a parent: CONGRATS TO BRITTANY!! she is preggo & due in early November. i could not be more excited for her! we're going to have so much fun raising our kids together! LOVE YOU, BRITT!

Kreativ Bloggie Award

thanks to my friend, Shannon, i now have my 2nd bloggie award. look out people. i'm taking over. i'm so excited b/c this award is fun, you get to tell 7 random things about yourself. i love reading this kind of stuff about other people. so thanks Shannon! you're the best!

here are the rules for the award:

1. post the award

2. thank the person who gave you the award

3. tell 7 things that people may not know about you

4. pass the award along to 7 friends

5. notify them that they have won

here are my 7 things:

1. i am a baby. i'm serious. i have 0 pain tolerance. i've actually gotten a little stronger since i've had 2 kids via c-section, but i'm still pretty ridiculous. some of you already knew this about me.

2. i HATE & i mean HATE mayonnaise. the very thought of it grosses me out. i don't want it on anything i eat, i don't want to touch it or even smell it. i do cook with it in 1 recipe and if that dish weren't divinely delish, i would never even buy it. (well maybe i would b/c the hubs loves it) eewww. and thanks to Britt, my loving friend who likes to gross me out, the thought of it, along with something else (i dare not mention) caused me to pull over on the side of the road & puke when i was 17 weeks pregnant with Jack. i'm still holding a grudge. a little.

3. i am a laundry nazi. i do laundry every single day. most days, at least 2 loads. one reason is b/c i have 2 small kids that go through clothes like crazy. another reason is b/c my husband changes clothes like 2 or 3 times a day. he's worse than my kids! and the last reason is b/c my biggest pet peeve is a laundry basket full of dirty clothes. i don't know why, but it grosses me out & drives me crazy. i can't let it sit for more than 1 day. i just can't. my hubby makes fun of me b/c he'll put a shirt on in the morning, get it dirty, take it off in the afternoon & its back in his drawer, clean, by bed time. maybe i have a problem.

4. part of me, and only a part, misses being pregnant. i don't know what it is, but i enjoy it. well most of it. i know, i'm insane. let the stone throwing begin. i'm excited to have a 3rd baby, MUCH later on down the line. i've even started thinking of baby names, got the boy name, still working on the girl name BUT it will NOT happen this year or in the next 15 months. it will not. so brittany, stop laughing.

5. i love flying. i know thats weird too but i love being in airports & traveling. its so fun to me. except the part where my ears pop on the plane. we're flying in July, down to Florida & i can't wait. we'll see how much i like it after i fly with 2 kids!

6. i hate shopping. for myself. i rarely buy myself clothes, makeup, shoes, purses. whatever. i just hate spending the money on myself. i'm definitely not bragging its just that ever since i went to Haiti in high school, i have a hard time spending money on me when i know it could be used on other things. just recently my hubby took me out & made me spend some money on clothes & some new shoes for myself and i hated it. but i do love to buy for my kids, our home or my hubby. or traveling. so, i'm definitely not perfect!

7. i can not bend 6 of my toes. so weird. ben gets a big kick out of it.

ok. now that i've given you 7 reasons to poke at me, i must nominate 7 people so that i can make fun of them! so i choose:

1. Brittany. i know so much about her. but she is hilarious. and definitely someone i can tell anything to.

2. Audra. my new found mommy friend. we are so much alike & i love reading about little Drew & her adventures in raising him!

3. Lindsay. my sweet little sister. i know everything about her but i think you would enjoy reading about her little quirks. she's adorable.

4. Katie. my littlest & silliest sister. she is in her own world all the time & i love it!!

5. Kayla. my cute friend who is planning her wedding. she is a trip. and very new to blogging.

6. Rachel. love her blog. her kids are the cutest & she is so funny!

7. Jessica. her boys are too cute and her #3 is on the way! we are friends from way back when & i just love her to pieces.

ok people. get to work!