Gorgeous Day

Dearest Miracles~

Little lady, you woke at 2:40am this morning.  I nursed you back to sleep.  Joshua, you were still sleping in your bed!  Actually, you fell asleep at 8pm last night since you didn't nap yesterday.  :-P

Today was a gorgeous day!  You two got to play outside with Penny a lot and you all went to the park.  You all also had art time, story time, and music time.  :-)

One of my coworkers brought some rice and veggies for us at lunch.  It was really good!  I will need to get her recipe so we can make it at home.  Perhaps you two will like it too!

I got home late this evening .... around 7pm.  I gave you all kisses when I got home.  Hopefully I'll get home sooner tomorrow.  

Sleep tight little ones!

I love you both so much!

~Mommy

Too Many Cookies

Dearest Joshua David and Grace Elizabeth~

Ok, little man .... you didn't even make it until this morning in your bed.  You came into our room at 11:15pm last night.  I put you back to sleep and then fell asleep next to you.  By 12:45am, I was nursing Grace.  You didn't sleep well at all little lady.  You kept tossing and turning next to me and crying.  Which, also meant I was up all night.  Ugh. 

We had a little bit of playtime this morning and then headed to Joshua's appointments.  Joshua, you did well with Mary Beth today for occupational therapy.  You two worked on your fine motor skills (opening a container and twisting the top back on), self feeding (more work with a spoon), and gross motor skills (jumping).  You also did well with Kim.  You two worked on consonant and vowel sounds more.  Your vowels are better in isolation, verses together with a consonant.  We have to keep reminding you to keep your tongue in your mouth.  

Once home, we had some lunch.  You two ate pretty well for me.  Afterward, I made some more chicken nuggets and french fries to get you two through the week with Penny.  Then, we went upstairs to play.

You two both fought nap time.  I ended up catching up with a friend on the phone as you two played.  My friend is a professional wedding photographer, so it was good to bounce some questions off her too to help with my photography hobby.  :-)

I called a roofing company and one of the them came over afterward.  We have a suspicious area in our dry wall in the playroom.  He went on the roof and took some photos and came down to show me .... we have a leak.  :-P  We also need some small repairs on some other shingles and our gutters need cleaning (which we already knew).  So, they'll likely come back in the next day or so to do the repairs for us.  Oh the joys of home ownership.  :-P

We got to see Aunt Katie afterward.  She read and played with you two.  You two also got to 'face time' with Uncle Brennan on the phone. 

We had leftovers for dinner.  Grace, you did the funniest thing at dinner.  You said 'mama' while pointing at the cookies .... hummm .... perhaps I eat too many of them!  Ha!  ;-)

You all had art time with daddy this evening  before heading to bed.  Tomorrow is another work day but Penny will be here.  I'll come home as fast as I can!

Sleep tight you two!

I love you both so much!

~Mommy

Windy

Dearest Joshua David and Grace Elizabeth~

Jd woke around 1130- why so early man?  I put him back to bed and he fell asleep next to me while playing with my  hair.  Slept next to him until G got out of her bed at 3- nursed her back to sleep

This morning the therapy office called and told us that Kim was sick.  So, they cancelled Joshua's speech therapy appointment.  With the extra time this morning, you two helped me fold the laundry.  Then, I bundled you two up and we walked to the park.  It was chilly and very windy!  It it hadn't been so windy we would have stayed longer.  But, we were able to stay for 30 minutes.  I brought a soccer ball and we practiced kicking it around.  I also took some photos of you two at the park.  I got some funny pictures of your hair flying around because of the wind!  ;-)

We were home by lunch time.  You two both ate well for me!  I made more hotdogs to get you two through the week.  Grace, you're also into chicken nuggets.  ;-)  Joshua, you ate 4 oz of applesauce and 3/4th of a hotdog.  And, you also had some chicken and pepperonis.  Wow!

After lunch, you two continued to play downstairs.  I took advantage of your playtime and went ahead and cooked some sausage and veggies.  I prepared it all for a 'tater tot' casserole for dinner.  All we have to do is bake it.  :-)

Since Joshua ate so well for lunch, he was napping by 1:15pm.  I played with Grace for a little bit and then nursed her.   Grace was napping by 2pm.  I laid down next to you two and read.

Once you two were awake, we played downstairs as the casserole baked.  Daddy got home late so we face timed with Gigi on the phone.  :-)

This evening I baked up my computer as everyone was playing.  I don't want to lose these photos of you all!  Daddy cut everyone's nails.  I can't believe how fast your nails grow little people!

Grace, you're still not drinking a lot.  We cut down to about 4 nursing sessions a day.  Perhaps you just need more time to get use to the milk?  You only take a few ounces a day and then drink water or nurse from me.  We'll keep working on that.  You're so active you'd think you would want some more to drink!  :-P

I got some news today from a friend who had a 'micro preemie' (a baby born less than 2 pounds) years prior (she has two sons who were micro preemies because she had pre-eclampsia and HELLP with both pregnancies).  He's a little older than Joshua (about a year or two) and he's just now 26 pounds!  He still needs help with his feeding (tubes and IV's), but he's grown two pounds since his last doctor's visit!  Wow!  When I read something like that I can't believe how blessed we are!  God is good!

Sleep tight little ones!

I love you both so much!

~Mommy

Early Service

Dearest Gifts~

Hummm .... for some reason everyone decided to wake up at 1:30am this morning.  :-P  Joshua, you came wondering into our room at that time.  Daddy put you back to sleep.  Grace, I nursed you back to sleep and listened to the rain fall.  It was extremely had to fall back asleep though.  You didn't finish until 2:30am so I was wide awake.  I played on my phone and eventually went back to bed after 3am.  I was so tired the rest of the day.  

 

Despite the early morning wake up session, we managed to make it to the early church service this morning!  I was amazed!  We got there a few minutes late, but that's not too bad.  ;-)  We got to see Gigi play in the praise team.  We also saw Grandpa Jim and Uncle James.  Joshua, you drew with Uncle James during the service.  You held your pen with a real 'pen grasp' too!  Daddy and I were impressed!  You must have been watching Uncle James.  Grace, you walked all around with Grandpa Jim. 

Once home we had some lunch.  Then, we had some play time upstairs as we did some laundry.  You two ended up taking late, long naps.  Since I was so exhausted, I ended up laying down too and took a nap with you guys.  It was greatly appreciated!  Grace, you didn't even wake up until after 5pm!  All that walking with Grandpa Jim must have wore you out!  ;-)

Joshua, you weren't too cooperative with your speech therapy flash cards today.  I guess we'll try again tomorrow.  We see Kim tomorrow for therapy.

We ended up having leftovers for dinner and then we played upstairs this evening.  You two love that ladybug nightlight .... you two point to it at bedtime!   ;-)

Sleep tight you two!

I love you both so much!

~Mommy

Revenge

Dearest Miracles~

Heavy storms outside woke me around 2am this morning.  Joshua, you ended up coming into our room at 3am.  Daddy put you back to bed little man.  Then, Grace, you wandered into our room at 4am all by yourself!  You came right on up to my side of the bed and stood there!  I heard your little feet walking in and looked up.  I nursed you back to sleep.  But, you did sleep from 9pm to 4am in your own bed before then!  Whoa!

We had a big day out today!  First, we went to Micheal's .... a craft store.  I looked around because I have an idea for a 'newborn shadow box' .... I want to hang up the little outfits that you all came home from the hospital in.  :-)  Afterward, we walked around Lifeway Christian Store, but Joshua got antsy.  So, we headed to Shane's for lunch.  Joshua ate lots of fries and some mac and cheese.  Then, we went to Target for our groceries.  Joshua, you ate two cookies and Grace fell asleep on my back.

We cleaned this afternoon.  We got some laundry done and then worked on the master bathroom.  I swept the bathroom floor and then scrubbed the toilet and sinks.

Then we had some play and snack time downstairs.  I made a veggie quiche for dinner.  You all helped me!  We added onions, carrots, corn, peas, green beans, spinach, and broccoli .... yummy!  :-)  We cleaned and organized the downstairs afterward.

Joshua, you had a massive throw up at dinner!  I gave Joshua a bath and ran his clothes in the laundry.  Daddy cleaned the rug and your chair little man.  Ugh.  You had no fever and were playful afterward.  In fact, you ate 2 3/4 string cheeses afterward!  Grace, you're drinking a little more milk now.  We're only doing 4-5 nursing sessions a day now (was 6 at least prior).

This evening we watched the UNC basketball game against DOOK.  Remember how they won at the buzzer earlier in season?  We crushed them tonight!  Ha!  Revenge!  We are now the regular season ACC champions!  And, we're now the number one seed for the ACC tournament next week!  Woo hoo!

Sleep tight little ones!

I love you both so much!

~Mommy

One Year Check

Dearest Angles~

Joshua, you woke before midnight last night.  Oh my.  Daddy put you back to bed.  Grace, you and I were nursing by 2:30am.  There's some question on whether you fell out of your toddler bed last night.  Daddy thinks he might have heard you?  Poor little thing!  I made sure you were all the way to the top before I went to bed last night.  You must have wiggled.  :-P

We had a little bit of play time this morning then headed out.  Grace, you had your one year check up at 9:30am.  Dr. Medero was proud of us for making it a year nursing!  Woo hoo!  She even clapped for us!  Awesome!

You two both did well at the pediatrician's office.  Grace, you got three shots and you had your finger pricked for some blood to check for anemia.  You had three bandaids (one bugs bunny and two taz devil).  ;-)  Your blood work was normal and you're not anemic.  Here are your stats:

Weight:  18 lbs 6 ozs (10% percentile) --> Joshua was slightly heavier at his one year mark!

Length:  29.5in  (slightly over 50%) --> Joshua was slightly shorter at his one year mark! 

Head circumference:  45cm  (50%)

Dr. Medero said you were perfect little lady.  She liked your weight and was impressed that you've been walking since Christmas!  She said you were really advanced for that!  She gave us some tips on how to wean.  Joshua, you behaved yourself during the appointment even though I had you strapped in the stroller.  I gave you some toys to play with.  ;-)

You two had a good lunch once we were home.  Joshua, you ate 6oz applesauce, 1/4th of a hotdog, and 9 pepperonis!  Wow!

After lunch we took a trip.  We met a women since I sold another thing online (dishes we never used).  Woo hoo!  While we were out, we looked around since we had some ideas for daddy for his birthday.  His birthday is the 14th and our wedding anniversary is the 15th!  ;-)

Once home, we did the dishes and then swept and vacuumed the downstairs.  As you two played and had some snacks, I did some cooking.  Joshua, you ate 2 string cheeses and Grace had some too.  I put some music on and made a turkey meatloaf.  I added some veggies to it to make our own recipe!  ;-)  Then we made a potato and veggie side.  I added corn, onions, broccoli, carrots, green beans, and peas! Your Gigi doesn't like peas!  ;-)

Speaking of which, we 'facetimed' with Gigi before dinner.  You also got to talk and see Grandpa Jim and Uncle James. Daddy got a haircut after work.  He looks so handsome.  And, he liked our dinner!

This evening we had play time and art time.  Tomorrow's suppose to be rainy, but I'm sure we'll get out of the house some.

Sleep tight little ones!

I love you so much!

~Mommy

Pink Bible Purse

Dearest Gifts~

Daddy slept with Joshua all night .... you woke up pretty soon after going to bed little man.  :-P  Grace, you woke from your bed at 2:45am.  I nursed you back to sleep and then you slept next to me the rest of the morning. 

Grace, we're trying to wean little lady, but you're not drinking a lot.  We skipped a nursing session yesterday and then I ended up leaking through my shirt and onto the bed last night.  Ugh!  Painful and not fun.  :-P  We'll keep working on this.  

You two had fun with Penny today.  It was absolutely beautiful outside today and close to 80 degrees.  You all spent a lot of time outside.  I wish I could have done that too!  ;-)

Oh, little lady, Penny brought you a birthday gift .... a 'Pretty Pink Bible Purse' .... it's a book with Bible stories and verses inside, but it's in the shape of a purse.  It's cute.  

This evening we played together.  It was good to be home!  Tomorrow Grace has her one year pediatrician appointment.  I still can't believe you're one!

Sleep tight little ones!

I love you so much!

~Mommy