Baby #3 Summary: 18 month Update and Routine

by Meghan // March 14, 2016 // Comments off

Well … Talk about dropping the ball =/ Poor Ila hasn’t had very many baby updates.

But, here I am with her 18 month baby summary!

Personality and Development

Ila walks to the beat of her own drum, for sure. While Mister and Lexie are out running around on their many adventures, Ila is usually either off in her own world (playing with trucks, or sitting in a hole in the yard playing with dirt), or totting right behind them. She is still obsessed with animals and tends to talk back to them in their language, more than she speaks to us in ours. She moos at cows, tweets and whistles at birds, growls at the dogs, and SCREAMS some wild meows at the cats; she can call, “here chick, chick, chick” just as well as I can, doesn’t have a single fear of those calves in the barn. As far as she is concerned, Thora and Charlie belong to her and she is one of them. (she doesn’t discriminate!)

Speaking of walking … Ila started walking full time somewhere around November (14 months) which is the absolute latest of all my babies. The first two were walking by 9-10 months. Ila just wanted to take her time.

Speaking of speaking … Ila has words, she just chooses not to use them most of the time. Ha! Her vocabulary consists mostly of: Tho-ra, charlie (which comes out something like chagie), dog dog, meow, cat, air (airplane), mama (for mama, more, please, I’m waiting! and NOW!!), dada, dada home (cause that’s the biggest deal of the day besides meals), and my absolute favorite which comes out plain as day Yes Ma’am! haha Why of all the words we have taught her did that phrase stick, we will never know… There are a few more I am forgetting I’m sure, but these are the most widely used. She won’t say Lexie or Max yet.

She does sign for her drink and please … but that’s about it. She CAN doe “more-more” but chooses not to most of the time unless I really make her. 😉

I can say this about her- she is smart and hilarious! She picks up on things so fast, without us even really realizing it, which I am sure is because she is submerged in a literature and language rich environment AKA living with her siblings. They talk to her, sing to her, read to her, pretend with her, and if I’d let them they would feed her (that may or may not happen on occasion). One day after dumping the ABC beanbags into the laundry basket, I found her sorting out the bean bags and laundry, putting each item where it belongs.
She is so funny, and will do just about anything to put a smile on your face. She also finds herself quite humorous … I think she takes after her daddy!

My silly, sweet, snuggly little rag-napper. She enjoys stealing my rag off the kitchen sink

She is the snuggliest of all my babies. Max was a snuggler, but mostly because he was refluxy and cranky and needed lots of reassurance; that snuggly behavior stuck through his personality to today. Lexie liked snuggling as a baby (and really craves it now at 5.5) but then she wanted to go do her thing and come back again later. Ila will just snuggle all day if you let her; she walks up to J.Tom and me and gives the BIGGEST squeeze hugs around our legs. She often just wants to be held and lay her head on my shoulder. She gives great big, squeaky kisses that put the slobberi-est of dogs to shame!

Eating and Favorite Things

At meals, she likes to be the first to fold her hands for the blessing so she can start eating. She has started pointing to things and counting (like she sees Mister do), and she likes to bring me letters and say Mmmmm. Apparently all letters are M (probably because Max says M-A-X Max! all day long). She has discovered her spit (ew) and blows spit bubbles to get attention. Her favorite foods are probably whole pears, which she has been eating since she was about 8 months old, and anything I cook that is warm. She will devour anything, but like beans and ham, spaghetti, turkey sandwiches with spinach, and loooove green beans. She really likes the tomatoes out of my vinegar salad and roasted broccoli.

She has finally started enjoying listening to me read to her; up to this point she just wanted to sit in my lap while she held the book and thumbed the pages. Somehow it just soothed her, the feeling of the pages flipping. And she still enjoys that, but we have started reading her Bible and she is actually listening and points to the pictures, etc. So that’s nice. While Mister and Lexie are doing school, she likes to ask for crayons and paper … but she just eats the crayons.

Her favorite things are our animals, anyone’s shoes, flipping through books, eating, and dancing. She will play with Mister’s toy trucks for what seems like hours and rolls them all over the house.

Her eating schedule looks just like ours now. Here is her daily routine:

7am wake/snuggles
7:30 breakfast- fried eggs, homemade oatmeal, and fruit with water
- play while we finish morning school basket/do morning chores, begin school
9:00/9:30-10:30 she goes to independent play in her crib while we do parts of school that require a little more quiet (Lexie reading aloud, math, me reading aloud if she is being particularly loud!)
11:15 lunch
12:00 nap She usually sleeps until 2 or 2:30
3:00 everyone up from naps
outside play/play downstairs if weather is nasty
5:30ish dinner
6:15ish bath
6:30/6:45/7pm bed, depending on what time she woke up from nap. If she slept until 2 or later bed is 6:45 or 7pm
All kids are in bed by 7, earlier if Max didn’t nap good

Everything is flexible by a few minutes other than sleep times.

This month marks the firs that we have truly been Wonder Week free! Whew- let me tell you, since about Christmas, we have had one WW after another. Some of those wouldn’t have been that noticeable, except that hers manifest themselves in waking at night- not just waking, but screaming all night unless being held. A few times I tried to hold her, but she wouldn’t go to sleep, only stop crying. So we had many wakeful, exhausting nights. And once she came out of the WWs (I think they were the last 2 until she turns 2?) everything went back to normal. Thankfully!

I think that is about it on her baby summary. My next will probably be when she is about 2. Of course we should have a newborn by then, so the summary may be a little late 😉

8.5 month Baby Summary Update {ww37 and babywise schedule}

by Meghan // May 27, 2015 // Comments off

Well, here we are; somehow Ila is 8.5 months old! To think she is closer to 1 year old than a newborn baby … =( It is going by so quickly.

But God meant for healthy things to grow, and she is surely growing! She is a little over 20lbs and 28.5″ long; not as big as her siblings at this age, but that is okay.

Ila has 5 teeth and is working on one or two more. She gave up nursing around the beginning of April, and though I was devastated and continued trying to get her to nurse, she was completely done by the third week of April. Trying to nurse had become a battle that stressed us both out. I really thougth she was going to nurse for the long haul; she was my best nurser out of my three babies. But just like the others, once she realized the milk in the bottle came out faster, with less work involved for her, (even though it was the smallest size Tommie Tippee nipple), she was done with mama. =(

She still has a head full of hair, and that is the first thing people notice about her. The second thing they mention is how happy she is. And she is happy. The happiest baby ever; I know I say that on all of her summaries, but really. She doesn’t get upset over much, she has never spit up a day in her life (which I attribute to not getting dairy protein through nursing or her formula), and the only time she has a hard time with sleep or not feeling well is during wonder weeks; she is even pretty happy while teething, with only one or two rough days. I know this won’t last forever, at some point she will become a tiny tantrum on two feet, but for now, it is bliss!

Eating At 8 Months

Ila is eating every 4 hours … sorta? =/ She is eating solids LIKE CRAZY. If we are eating, she wants a bite of it. Which means that she has been eating: burger meat, steak, meat loaf, rotisserie chicken, fried chicken, spaghetti, cooked carrots, cooked green beans, sautéed zucchini and onion, grapes, apple sauce, pears, banana, eggs … and really the list goes on (though no processed foods). Basically if it is soft enough for her to chew, and homemade with real ingredients, she gets it. I did give her some BBQ from a local restaurant the other night, and she liked that too. =)

So at 3 of her 4 feedings she eats solids, then takes her bottle. She refuses her bottle before she eats real food, and she won’t take it right after she eats … so a little after she has eaten she is ready for her bottle. Oh- and if she hasn’t had a poopy diaper she won’t take a bottle, so basically her life revolves around when she poops! haha But I am working on not letting her eat as much food before her bottle, since that should still be her primary form of nourishment right now.

Schedule

Ila has moved seamlessly to a 2 nap schedule. I knew it was time to drop the cat nap because her naps were being interrupted, but she was still tired after waking and about 20 minutes later she would go back to sleep. Also, the third nap just seemed to be messing with her night sleep and first morning nap. So … we dropped to a 2-3-4 schedule (loosely) and it has been working great. Really it is more like a 2-2.5-4 hour schedule. She hasn’t quite worked up to 3 hours at that second nap yet, but it won’t be long. I imagine after this wonder week (ww37) she will be ready.

So at 8.5 months, her schedule looks like this:

7am wake, bottle, solids
9 down
10:30 usually wakes, rest until 11
11 up, lunch, bottle
1 down for nap #2
2:30-3 wake, solids, bottle
5:30 dinner, bath
6:30 bottle, bed
Asleep by 7pm

Development

Ila is doing new things every day! Since my lsat summary, she has started sitting up, scooting on her belly, rolling all over the place to get to things she wants, clapping, and signing. She likes to roll around on the floor and is really trying to crawl; she is thiiiiiis close to crawling! But honestly, with the move, and rent house, etc. I am not a huge fan of her crawling too soon anyway!

She has started signing for milk and more. I think she started signing for milk about a month ago, but I wasn’t 100% certain. Then she began signing for more, and it was pretty obvious what she was wanting! haha The baby is covered with fat rolls and loves to eat, what can I say?

The other day at the rent house Ila was in the floor with Scout (the singing talking dog). It was singing a song and she started DANCING. It was possibly the cutest thing ever. So now, she just bounces and dances when it plays music.

Ila is working on grasping small pieces of food, and while she can usually pick them up, she has a hard time getting them into her mouth. She has also discovered throwing things .. including her water cup! NOT FUN. Ugh. But our little Mister is so sweet and gets it for her every. single. time she “drops” it. haha He is helping create a monster. =)

Big brother and sister adore her. I mean … just smother her to death adore her. Including Mister- she is his “sweet baby girl Ila.” I love that he is (usually) so gentle and good with her. And big sister is mama’s BIG helper. She is also in love with Ila and is always teaching her new things (works on signing with her) and cheering her on! Did I mention Charlie loves her, too?

As far as the WW is going … there is some fussing at sleep time and all around weirdness going on, but in the nest 3 weeks that should end. *whew*

That is all of Ila’s 8month update I think … I *love* this stage! (minus the wonder week!)

What is your favorite “baby stage?”

38 week baby summary

by Meghan // June 13, 2013 // Comments off

Max is now 39 weeks (9.5 months), so this is the update for last week, his 38th week of life.

Let’s just say Max is now moving, fast! He is crawling everywhere, and is pulling up on everything! If he can get his hands on it, he pulls up on it. He likes to chase Lexie all around the house.

His new favorite thing? Dancing! He loves to dance and bounce.

He is still eating tons of finger foods. I have been steaming him fresh veggies, freezing them on a cookie sheet, and then storing them in bags for quick meals. I can’t get him to eat much off of a spoon anymore, he wants to chew!

Speaking of chewing, we have two top teeth! That was not fun, but they are here.

His days look like this:

7am wake and bottle
730 breakfast and play
8:55 down for nap
10:30 up from nap
11:30 bottle
12:00 lunch with mommy, daddy, and lexie
12:40/1:00/1:30 nap, depending on how long his first nap was
2:30/3:00 up from nap (nap is usually 1.5 hrs from whatever time he fell asleep)
3:30 bottle and snack, offer juice in sippy
5:30 dinner with family
6:30 bedtime- we shoot for 7pm, but he is usually begging for milk and bed at this point.

His naps have been SO great. He has been feeling better since the teeth finally got here, not as whiny and clingy as the last week or two. Literally, overnight he became my happy boy again.

We went to the pool Friday, and Daddy surprised us by leaving work early to join. We had a great time, and max loved the pool! We tried again, without daddy, to see if I could manage everyone by myself, and it was a success. So it looks like we will be getting a membership for the summer. They also have a toddler time from 12-1 certain days of the week. It is time just for the littles to play and enjoy the water. We may try once or twice a week, since that is lunch and wind down time for nap. It’s not usually hot enough for the water that early here, or at least it hasn’t been yet.

I have reduced his reflux meds from 4ml, to 3ml. So far so good. He has some spitting up while playing and crawling, but nothing that seems to bother him. Getting the medicine in him is still a challenge; we will both be so happy when he doesn’t have to take it anymore.

He did great at the chiropractor last week. His lower back was out of alignment and Dr C asked if he had been constipated … as a matter of fact he had been! Kinda crazy. He got adjusted, took a nap, and woke up poopy. True story.

Lexie has been her usual sweet self. She loves playing with Max, and looks forward to our snuggles in the morning and after nap; daddy has been traveling and she gets extra affectionate when he is gone. I think she needs that extra security.

She randomly sleeps for naps throughout the week, but always lays down for 1.5-2 hours for rest. Her bedtime is still 6:30 with no nap, she falls asleep right away and sleeps until 6:45-7am the next morning (usually). We have tried a later bedtime, and get an earlier wake time, which tells me she isn’t getting enough sleep when she goes down later. So we are sticking with early bedtime to keep from waking up at 5-6am! On days she naps, bedtime is closer to 7:30pm.

She found mama’s favorite heels before church one morning

First time at the pool

Our roses from Arkansas

Big girl on her bike

Lima beans- yum!

Mama left me alone with avocado for 2 minutes….

Baby Summary Week 38: reflux and chiropractors

by Meghan // June 1, 2013 // Comments off

Max is almost 9 months old. This is the post for his 38th week of life.

He is EVERYWHERE. He is eating well, and is still loving finger foods. Like as in, LOVES. He will eat a few jars of baby food, and then sit in his high chair and eat finger foods for 30 more minutes. haha And most of the food is making it to his mouth now.

He is crawling all over the house, chasing Lexie Raye, pulling up on everything, and really trying to stand …. on his head! He loves to stand on his head and look through his legs. It’s hilarious.
But he is also trying to stand on his own. He finally picked those feet up and walked while holding my hands. It’s like he has realized, “hey, I can move!”

Sleep is good; two naps a day. One is at 9:00 and the other is either at 12:40, or 1:00 depending on how long his first nap was. I think he is trying to tell me it’s time to push his nap back, to 9:15 or 9:30, because lately the morning nap has been short. I may try it this weekend and see what happens.
——–
Yesterday we went to the chiropractor (it was one similar to these Activa Clinics). Yes, we. I am so excited, we are praying this helps improve his reflux, so we can get off this awful medicine. If you haven’t read about chiropractic care in babies, you should Google it!

Illness such as SIDS, reflux, allergies, chronic ear infections, and poor health in general have been linked to poor spinal alignment. Spinal alignment affects our nervous system and our overall health. When adjusted correctly, these illnesses can be prevented and healed. Ear infections and reflux are two of the biggest reasons parents seek chiropractic care for their babies and children. If after reading this post you think you need to make an appointment with a chiropractor for your child then visit https://www.cobbchiropracticclinic.com/ and you can organise an appointment with a reputable chiropractor in no time with no hassle. On Natural Parents Network, Gretchen has a great story about her baby’s ear infections and how the chiropractor she booked an appointment with helped get rid of them.

If you’re thinking, “Well Meghan, babies didn’t go to the chiropractor 1,000 years ago, or 100 years ago,” This is what I would say:
If you think about our evolution, (and I haven’t read proof of this anywhere, it’s my own thought) babies were carried in cloths, wrapped around on their mothers, with their hips appropriately below their knees (fellow baby-wearers know what I am talking about here) for centuries.
They weren’t strapped into car seats on a daily basis, strollers on the weekends, or sitting in highchairs, exersaucers, etc during their day. I’m not saying these things are bad, albeit, these things are necessary.

For the last 8 months I have hesitated taking him to the chiropractor, although JTom and I have both used a chiropractor with success and there are many different chiropractors that we could have used such as the round rock chiropractor. If you are looking for a chiropractor then just ask around and I’m sure you’ll find yourself a good reliable one. ~~I think~~ it was fear. I wasn’t sure about someone adjusting my baby, and I honestly didn’t take much time to read more about it.

But I’ve had enough.

This medicine is awful, it’s not good for him long term, I have to ~~torture~~ hold him down while he screams, gags, and coughs to get him to swallow it, and most days he spits it back up.
(We have tried all ideas for giving him the medicine, but if you have any suggestions, please leave them in the comments for me!) If the chiropractor doesn’t work, we will need to get back on the meds until we find something that does. I’m pretty hopeful though as there have been high reviews of the local chiropractor, we’ve got our fingers crossed though! We were either going to go to our local chiropractor or go a bit further and go to one of flspineandinjury.com chiropractor clinics.

Our doctor was amazing; he was gentle and used an activator to adjust both max and Lexie. He used me as their “tester” or “surrogate,” to muscle test both of them.
I’m not a medical professional, so I won’t go into the long details of what a tester is. But, if he can push my arm down, while touching a certain spot on their bodies, it means it is a weak area for them. On an older child or adult he would use their arm, not a tester’s.

While doing Max (who was calm, relaxed, and happy, btw which I was surprised by since he screamed bloody murder at the family dr office the other day), my arm went down super far between his shoulder blades and his middle back.

I looked at the doctor like, “what is that?!” and he said,

“there’s your reflux. These areas are digestion, chest and esophagus.”

I cried.

Although we may not have success with chiropractic care for Max’s reflux, I couldn’t believe I waited THIS LONG to do it. I felt ashamed, in a way; this is so much better for him than those dangerous chemicals in his medicine he has been ingesting, against his will.

But I am glad we are doing it now.

I stopped the meds this morning; so far no reflux today. *edit: this is a weaning process, not something that happens immediately. I will be reducing his dosage, every other day, until we get down to nothing, or almost nothing.* We will make weekly visits for a month or so for adjustments. Then I will probably do once a month or so, if we have success.

Lexie was also adjusted; my arm dropped for her in a few different places. One was her middle back, and the other (which was worse) was her lower back. So he used the activator and adjusted her. He couldn’t test on her eczema, because it wasn’t flared. But he said if it does flare, bring her in and he will try muscle testing for it.

That was it. It was gentle, and easy. Nothing painful, forceful, and torturous about it.
I held Max, and of course Lexie was miss independent, but I could have held her if I’d needed to. The dr. was wonderful! Wonderful! I highly suggest him if you are in the York area. Contact me for more info, if you’d like.

I am not suggesting this for everyone, I am not a doctor or medical professional (I have to say this stuff to cover myself). However, if your baby suffers from reflux, ear infections, colic, internal body infections (like yeast build up, etc), you should research chiropractic care for you child.

Read personal testimonials, because it isn’t something the mainstream medical community is going to say, “Yes! Go try it and see if it helps. I won’t worry about the kick back I won’t receive from these medicines that only mask the baby’s symptoms!” No. That’s not the general response you will get. =)

My main reasons for finally trying it were:
A) it cannot harm them. It isn’t painful, or scary. It isn’t like filling their tiny bodies full of medicines that are not natural or meant for them.

B) I believe in nature. I believe in God, and His science in the body. I believe our bodies were made to protect and heals themselves.

C) I’ve always considered taking both of the kids to a chiropractor. It wasn’t until one of my dear friends told me her family’s story that I decided we would do it. A baby in her family was scheduled for surgery due to chronic ear infections; he had reflux, and in general had been sick a lot. He was taken to a chiropractor and adjusted. Later, the family took him back to the pediatrician to see about the surgery and the doctor said the baby no longer needed surgery. *true story, friends!*

That was proof enough for me. (This baby also happens to be the same age as Max)

Some of you are skeptical, and judging me right now. =) And that’s okay.

I may be an “extreme, counter culture crazy,” but we are trying everything we can to get Max well, and off medications. Like many of our decisions, this was done prayerfully, and I do pray next month I have a success story to share with you!

Or maybe you are interested, and curious to learn more.

Either way, I suggest reading and researching about chiropractic care, its risks, and benefits. Also, while reading, read comments written by others on the articles and blog posts; you will always find a wealth of information and links to blogs, websites, research, and studies in comments!

There are many videos like these on Youtube (the first one is our doctor):

Here are a few blog posts with personal experiences, websites on the subject, and my resources:

I hope if you have been considering this type of treatment for your baby, that this post will help you make your decision. I also hope if you are a skeptic, you will be encouraged to read, and educate yourself more. You may come out a skeptic, still. But maybe not. =)

Have you tried “alternative” medicines for your family? I would love for you to share your stories and experiences with me!

34-36 Weeks Baby Summary

by Meghan // May 10, 2013 // Comments off

*I have been building this post all week, so “today” isn’t actually today ….*

Max has grown by leaps and bounds in the last 5 days! He suddenly went for a bitty baby to a big boy! He is almost crawling (edit: AAAAh! He crawled 2 knees worth today!), waving hi, giving wide, slobbery, open mouthed kisses, and laughing more than ever. Tonight for bedtime was the first time he put his head on my shoulder and his arms around me while we sang for night night. I usually hold him like a baby while he sucks his thumb and winds down. He’s such a sweet bear. Today, he also went from the crawling position to sitting position for the first time.

…. see, lots of firsts!

He said Mama while we were playing downstairs, hiding out from the rain. I was so excited. He is trying really hard to talk. A lot. The past few days I have had the living room fan, he is mesmerized; and I know all babies love fans. But this boy like instantly smiles and is hypnotized by the fan! He likes to play games now, like throwing his head back so you will hold him upside down, and putting his chin up so you can tickle his neck. It’s so funny. These are all things Lexie was doing long before 8 months. But it’s like he just decided, “Hey, I think I’m ready to move and have fun!” Before, he was so lazy and laid back. He is still laid back, just enjoys moving around now.

He gets so excited and is so proud that he can get up and rock on his knees, push up on his toes, and crawl backwards sometimes. He will be crawling more by the weekend, we are sure! Lexie gets very excited with him. She likes to show him how to do it.

He really enjoys playing in the grass. One of the great things about having a real lawn, is he can play and feel the grass without the fear of stickers.

I have him his first asparagus this week. He loved it! He also likes dill pickles (did I mention that last time?) and blueberries.

Lexie has been the sweetest most affectionate two year old ever this last two weeks. She is constantly telling me how much she loves me, hugging my neck tight, kissing me, playing and teasing, loving on her bubby even more, and just growing more kind and loving every day. Lexie has a tender heart; she doesn’t like for other people to be hurt or upset, but has had her share of not being so nice (like a typical two year old)… Pushing, chasing the dog, hitting Max … terrorizing the chickens comes to mind too.

But lately she has been so affectionate. Last night we were doing bedtime routine, and she just wrapped her arms around my neck, hugged me and said, “i love you more than this much!”

I’m sure my monster toddler will return soon, but until then i will take all these loves i can get! Her new favorite *obsessive* topics to talk about are the things that make God happy, and being grateful. It’s wonderful to see Christ in your child’s life, even before they completely understand the implications of their relationship with Him.

sweet Mister Bear

reading her Bible outside

talking to her buddy

I can do it, I can do it!

Heh

She is crazy about her umbrella!

Mmmm Blueberries!

Yes, I like them!

monkey girl

Mama, look where I can climb!

I’m doing it!

Did you see me?!?!

Mommy and Lexie

water play!

Max Baby Summary: Week 31

by Meghan // April 18, 2013 // Comments off

Max has been very clingy this week. His second tooth is here, and he is chewing like crazy with his side gums, so I am wondering if he is getting more teeth?! But I’m not sure. For the most part this last week was good. Minus the screaming. Oh my! The screaming. And it isn’t screaming like, “Oh, I’m mad so I’m screaming.” Or “feed me now!” (though he does that sometimes while I get a bottle ready.) No, it is just screaming. For FUN. A high pitched “Wheeee!” sounding scream. He was doing this while we ate lunch the other day. Lexie leaned over, put her hand on my forearm and said, “Mama. I do not like that sound.” Oh sweet girl, neither do I! Hopefully he will grow out of it before long.

He is signing milk all the time now. While I make his bottle, that little hand is just going to town signing for “milk.” It’s so sweet. He has been eating okay, but not great. Since the first tooth broke through he has good days and bad; he usually is only taking 4-5ounces, but will finish the rest mixed into cereal. However, because his new meds are working for his reflux, he is able to eat lots of real foods he couldn’t eat before, and now protests plain oatmeal! The boy wants real food. haha So we have been doing lots of avacado, carrots, peas, green beans, pears, apples and blueberries, etc.

His sleep has been better this past week, with only a few short naps. This weekend he had *perfect* sleep. All. Weekend. Long. It was amazing, really. I also found the activity table; it was hidden in the garage. We started using it this past weekend, and he did really well. For a baby who doesn’t seem the least bit interested in crawling or moving around at all, really, he stood up on his own for a long time playing at the table. He hasn’t mastered the art of bending his legs when he falls; so rather than fall onto his bottom … he just topples over like a stiff log. haha He doesn’t think it’s very funny, and usually gets really scared when it happens, so I try to avoid it… but the boy needs to learn how to fall onto his booty. So we are working on bending his knees and bouncing while standing, but those feet are firmly planted; I just don’t think he’s ready for all that yet really.

Considering Mister has been having such good sleep as of late, it is fitting that Lexie has been a little hit or miss. A few weeks ago, she went from not wanting to go to bed at night (read: saying she is tired, wanting to sleep, but also wanting us to pat her or rock her, which we don’t do because she has always gone right to sleep) to sleeping in her rocking chair. For some strange reason she has decided she wants to fall asleep in her rocking chair; and despite our attempts at keeping her in the bed, she gets up. But we have been going in and putting her back in the bed. The craziest part about all of this is she has been NAPPING. Consistently. For an entire week! I think this is partially because she is done teething. All her two year molars are in, and now she is back to eating and sleeping well. We considered taking the rocking chair out of the room, but I think we will just wait and see how long this phase lasts. Maybe she is just ready for a big bed… I am not sure. The 2.5 year mark usually is a developmental milestone for children when you generally see added clinginess, sleep disruptions, and new fears develop. She is definitely more clingy to both JTom and me, and has mentioned being afraid a few different story characters were going to “get me.” We have reassured her nothing is going to get her; she doesn’t mention this at bed time or anything, just sometimes while playing alone in her room.

Moni, Shelby, and Lilly watching us play doll house

Her imagination is wild! We still have engines that are beyond wearing out their welcome. haha I think I tell them things 200 times a day. “Will you tell me engines what I am eating? Will you tell my engines they need to sleep at nap time? Will you tell my engines they need to stay on the swing set and leave Scarlet alone?…..” Oh my. Then, the other night we had dinosaurs. On the ceiling. The engines go everywhere with us; she even includes them in her stories during stretching at gymnastics. They really like the museum. As long as I don’t have to feed them, I guess they can stay. 😉

Right now, Lexie is really into reading her devotional and Bible. I mean … like they are attached at her hip. As a matter of fact, the devotional is falling apart, and she can read every day, word for word, from January until today. Not kidding. That’s what we read for every nap and bedtime. It is her favorite. She is now acting like a little Mama to Max and her dolls. When Max cries she says, “Oh! Let me go see what is wrong to Max. Max, what is wrong to you? Tell me why.” haha I am not sure why she says “to” instead of “what,” but I’m sure she will figure it out soon enough. Her new favorite words are “fantastic!” and “earlier.” Hearing her say earlier is hilarious.

chewing on a pear

dyeing Easter eggs … a week late =/

painting her fingernails

We visited a church this past Sunday. It was really nice; it reminded me of my church growing up, which was a Full Gospel church. This is a non denominational church, it is small but has many young families. I am excited to maybe visit it again this coming Sunday. J.Tom was raised Presbyterian, so it is different than he is used to. But I actually felt like I was in church. For the past 5 years in Hot Springs I just didn’t get what I needed from our church; provided I didn’t give much back to them in way of serving. I never felt like it was home. The sermons were more like the new school way of thinking-motivational sermons or get people involved in serving the church, but let’s not talk about sin, salvation, the devil, or how to grow in Christ. That’s how I felt, anyway. The church we visited Sunday had an amazing sermon, though a little long, and a great worship service. Lexie walked into children’s church like she owned the place. haha She enjoyed herself (although she was supposed to be in the nursery since she isn’t 3 yet..) I don’t know if we will visit a different church this week or try this one again. We will just pray about it and see. We just hope to find a church that gives us what we both need, and that we can be a serve as well.

How did you find your church home? Is it one you grew up in or one you found after marriage, college, children…?

No nap time for Lou Bug!

by Meghan // May 24, 2011 // Comments off

Such a smart girl

Happy girl

I can stand on my own!

Love bath time, but out growing my wash tub!

Yay For Being a Stay at Home Mommy (for the summer)!

by Meghan // May 9, 2011 // Comments off

Well, we are home-on a M O N D A Y!!!! It is the best Mother’s Day gift ever! We are going to make some more baby foods this afternoon-I think we will do apples and bananas today and see how those go. We are going to try cinnamon, too! Very exciting.

Lexie is doing wonderfully on her new routine! She gets up about 6:30 (usually because she is poopy) and then we play until 7:00, which is when she eats. AND (this is BIG!) We think she is SIGNING “MILK!!!” When she wakes up and snuggles she immediately starts doing the sign for milk; I was mistaking it for her wave “Hi” that she does. But no-we are pretty sure it is milk. WOO HOO I knew we had a genius baby 😉 So anyways, she eats at 7:00am, plays in her pack n play for 30+ minutes while I do some chores and get things ready for the day. When she gets tired of the pack n play, we play on the floor and have mommy/baby time. Then about 9:30am she goes down for a nap, which lasts until about 11:00am. Then she wakes up and eats again, plays for while, goes down for a nap between 100-1:30pm, and wakes about 3:00. Then she eats and we begin again! Finally at 6:00pm she has dinner and is asleep by 7:00pm. Then Daddy and I have the rest of the evening to do whatever we need to get done-eat dinner, chores outside or inside that we didn’t get finished. We could not ask for a better, sweeter baby! (well, maybe the next 2 or 3 could be just as sweet?) I am thinking we will have 3 kids.. unless the first 3 aren’t boys then we will probably have 4. =)

Lexie has always been a happy baby, but there were many days when she was so cranky. SHE WAS TIRED. At school she could not nap well, once she woke up at the end of a sleep cycle, they got her up. So she sometimes had a 45 minute nap. This usually rolled over to our weekends together too, because she was not used to getting good rest and only knew to wake up. NOW, she is taking 1.5-2 hour naps twice a day. We have dropped the 3rd nap all together, because she is no longer exhausted in the afternoons! It is amazing how much better we all feel when we get rest!

I went to Bryant Saturday afternoon and picked up Lexie a “like new” activity table-she loves it! I have to hot glue some drawer liner to the bottom of the legs so it doesn’t slide around on her (with hard floors it could get pretty dangerous). We went to our friends’ Bo and Jessica’s house and they had one for their little boy; I’d been wanting to get Lexie one and after seeing her play on their’s it was a definite-she needed one! =) Here are some pics of her playing on it.

Next I want to get her a baby swing for the yard. Fun fun!

Today, my friend Whitney and I are taking the kids to Arkadelphia to get our caps and gowns and then to the park. =) I cannot believe we graduate in 4 days. It is just surreal.. I still don’t think it has hit and I am fairly certain Friday will involve tears of joy.