Home Early

Dearest Miracles~

Well, little lady .... you slept a little better last night.  You woke up at 4:50am this morning.  Daddy changed your diaper and then I nursed you.  Joshua, you were awake at 6:30am. 

This week has been full of remodeling!  We didn't have any patients at work today.  Instead, we spent the day boxing and packing up all the rooms in the dental department.  The whole building is getting a 'make over' and this weekend is dental's turn.  :-)  So, I got to wear jeans and a sweatshirt to work!  Woo hoo!  We packed and covered everything to protect our equipment. 

We got done by lunch!  I didn't bring anything with me (I was hoping to be done early!) so I called Uncle James and I met up with him for lunch.  We discussed his latest writing project.  He's translating 'Alice in Wonderland' into his own language, Babel, that he created years prior.  He's been approached my two people to help with some publication projects.  In 2015, the 'Alice' story will be 150 years old, so there will be conference in New York to celebrate it.  Uncle James's work will likely be published and on display there!  Wow!  I'll keep you two posted on this .... we may be going to New York in 2015!  :-)

I got home at 2:30pm.  You two were napping.  This was the first time I've beaten daddy home from work!  Next thursday I have another one of our quarterly 'Provider's Meetings' at work, so I'll be home late.  So, I wanted to take advantage of this time since I hardly ever get to leave work early!  

Penny said Joshua ate well for her!  You all had some craft fun and went to the park this morning.  Grace woke up soon after I got home.  So, we played together.  Once Joshua was up I changed all your diapers and then we had some music and fun time.

Daddy got home a little early too.  You two helped me make a potato and veggie side on the stove.  Daddy made a steak.  Grace, you ate just shy of two beef and veggie mixture containers!  Afterward, we swept and vacuumed the entire downstairs.

This evening we all played in the bonus room.  Tomorrow's suppose to be a colder and rainy day, so we'll likely stay inside.

Sleep tight you two!

I love you both!

~Mommy

No Sleep

Dearest Gifts~

Grace, you did not sleep well at all last night.  You cried and screamed last night.  You ended up noodling into our bed to sleep.  None of us got much sleep.  Joshua, you came dancing into our room with your car toys all ready to play at 6:45am.  I was nursing Grace for the second time and daddy was in the shower.

You two had fun with Penny while daddy and I were at work.  Kenneth's crew came back in the morning to finish the trim painting and you two went to the park.  The wall looks great!  It looks natural to the house and you two love your new area to crawl around and play!  The downstairs is so much more functional now.  This place will look great once the floors are done as well.  I have a comforter covering the part in the carpet with exposed wood where the wall use to be.  The carpet is going to be torn out on the 17th.

Daddy made pancakes and bacon for dinner this evening!  Yummy!  Joshua, you didn't feel well apparently.  You threw up a little after dinner.  You didn't have a fever, and you played the rest of the evening though.  In fact, we all just relaxed in play room this evening.

Tomorrow's another work day, but I'll be home early.  We're not seeing patients since the building is getting a remodeling job.  Tomorrow we have to pack up all 8 operatories, 2 offices, 2 labs, and 2 radiograph rooms.  The rooms are getting new flooring and wall paint.  

Sleep tight you two!

I love you both!  :-)

~Mommy

Remodel

Dearest Joshua David and Grace Elizabeth~

Little lady, you really surprised me this morning.  You woke up at 5:30am to eat.  Daddy changed you and then I nursed you.  I thought you would have slept longer since you ate so much slid food yesterday.  Are you going through a growth spurt?  Hummmm.

We all played this morning and had some music time.  Then, we headed to Joshua's occupational therapy and speech therapy appointments.  You had fun with Mary Beth, little man!  You went on the swing, played in the rice and bean bucket, and stacked blocks.  She said you have come a long way since she first saw you last.  You really showed off with the blocks, since you like to stack them at home.  We saw Kim for another speech therapy.  We're letting UNC do the food aversion appointments, so we did two speech therapy ones this week.  We did more PECS pictures with a potato head toy.  We're also still working on the 'mmmm' noise.

While we were out, Kenneth and his crew started work on opening the wall between the living room and the study.  He got here around 9:20am.  We left at 9:45am for Joshua's appointments.  I got there early so I nursed Grace in the car once we were there.  We were back home by lunch.  Grace, you ate some fruit and oatmeal mixture.  Joshua, you ate half a hotdog.  They were still working downstairs, so I brought all the food up into the playroom.

We had music time upstairs as they were working.  You two helped me back up my computer once we loaded some more photos onto it.  I kept sneaking downstairs to take pictures and to check on the progress of our remodeling project.  :-)

They left around 4pm.  The final paint work still needs to be done, so they'll come back tomorrow to finish while you two are here with Penny.  It looks great!  You two were already playing in your new area this evening!  I put a comforter on the floor to cover the exposed wood where the wall use to be.  I contacted the hardwood company, and they'll start ripping out our carpet on the 17th!  This will look like a whole new house by December! 

We made some pasta for dinner.  Joshua, you never napped, so you were hyper this afternoon and evening.  Grace, you fought dinner and only ate half of a turkey and veggie mixture.  Joshua, you ate better than Grace!  You had more than half a string cheese, one cookie, some hotdog, chicken, and some pasta pieces.  Wow!  

Tomorrow's another work day, so Penny will be here!  I'll come home as fast as I can! 

Sleep tight you two!

I love you both!

~Mommy

Halloween

Dearest Gifts~

Happy Halloween!  I put you two in the only orange shirts I could find!  Grace, you wore one of Joshua's shirts that he grew out of.  So, it was big on you but you didn't seem to mind.  ;-)

Grace, you woke up at 4:40am.  Daddy changed you and then I nursed you.  I also got a quick pump in this morning to build up your mommy milk for wednesday.  You also ate an entire container of a chicken and veggie mixture!  Whoa little lady!  :-)

Joshua, you did well for Kim today during speech therapy.  You made your 'yummy' noise of 'mmmm' one time and Kim was so excited!  We have to keep practicing at home.  We did the PECS program more and you identified pictures in a book with 93% accuracy.  Way to go little man!

You two napped once we were home.  Afterward, I changed you two into new diapers.  Joshua, you ate one and a quarter string cheeses and Grace, you ate an entire mixture of apples, strawberries, and bananas!

After you all ate, you two helped me sweep and vacuum the kitchen.  Then, we vacuumed the living room.  :-)

We had fun this afternoon .... we baked some chocolate chip cookies!  Woo hoo!  The kitchen smelled nice once we were done!

It rained this afternoon and evening.  The temperature also dipped, so we didn't go out for 'trick or treating' .... in fact, we didn't even put our lights on to give out candy.  We didn't even buy any.  We still had one person ring our doorbell while we were eating dinner.  :-)

Our contractor, Kenneth, called me late this afternoon.  He and his crew are coming over tomorrow to open up that wall between the living room and the study!  Woo hoo!  After dinner, daddy helped us move all the furntire out and take down the pictures on the wall.  The house will look nice once that's open.  You two will have so much room to play in.  Then, we'll have the carpets taken out and new floors placed.  The carpet needs to be ripped out since the cat peed everywhere!  Yuck!

Joshua, you didn't have a great dinner.  You tried different things by putting them in your mouth .... eggs, veggies .... but then you spit them out.  Ugh!  Grace, you ate almost an entire container of fruit and rice cereal .... you had almost 3 whole containers of solid food total .... 10.5 ounces!  Wow!

This evening we all played.  I weighed both of you.  Grace, you're 16.5 pounds and Joshua, you're 24 pounds!  Whoa!  You're getting heavy little man!  ;-)  Oh, I cut Grace's nails this evening because they were so sharp.  She was pimching me each time I nursed her.  :-P

I hope the weather is better tomorrow! 

Sleep tight little ones!

I love you both!

~Mommy

Daddy Home

Dearest Angels~

Little lady, you stirred and made some noises at 2:20am this morning.  You didn't wake up though.  I got up and checked on you and Joshua.  You didn't wake up to eat until 6am.  I changed your diaper and then nursed you.  You fell asleep early last night, so I was surprised you slept until 6am!  Wow!

We all played this morning with Uncle James.  Joshua, you stacked more blocks with his help.  :-)  You mostly like to knock them over.  :-P  We put on some old 'He-Man' shows to watch too.

Joshua, you ate some cheerios this morning.  Grace, you ate a container of oatmeal and fruit.  You ate another whole container at lunch!  Joshua, you ate an entire string cheese and spit out everything else.

Uncle James left at lunch time.  So, once people were fed, we went upstairs and played.  I got a pump in while you two crawled and ran around.  Then, we went into Joshua's room and we all laid down on his bed.  I sand to you all as Joshua went down for a nap.  I ended up nursing Grace and then she fell asleep too.  I closed my eyes and laid with you two.  I really enjoyed the moment .... we are so blessed to have you two!  :-)

Daddy got home around 4pm.  His flights were delayed.  He came in right when Joshua was waking up.  Once we caught up with daddy, we made a quick trip to Target to get a few little things and to stretch our legs.  Joshua, you ate two cookies! 

At dinner, Grace ate an entire container of a veggie and chicken mixture.  You ate at least 2.5 containers of solid food today!  Joshua, you ate a little bit of pizza, hotdog, and puffs.

This evening we relaxed as a family.  We missed daddy and he missed us.  It was nice to be a complete family again!  

Sleep tight you two!

I love you both so much!

~Mommy

34 Years

Dearest Blessings~

Thirty four years ago today your Gigi and Grandpa Jim got married on Carolina Beach.  Today we celebrated the wonderful blessing of their marriage.  I pray that daddy and I have 34 years together .... and then some!  :-)

This morning Grace woke up at 5:20am.  I was a little surprised since she ate so well yesterday.  I changed and nursed her and then listened to the rain fall outside.  Joshua woke up at 7am and immediately ran into the bonus room to play with Grandpa Jim. 

Joshua, you didn't want any Cheerios this morning.  Grace, you ate a little bit of oatmeal with fruit.  You also tried a 'puff' for the first time.  It's basically a 'cheerio' that dissolves in your mouth.  You gave the funniest face with it!  We'll keep trying since you're eating more solid foods .... plus it will help your fine motor skills to learn to pick them up!

This morning you all played with Grandpa Jim, Gigi, and Uncle James .... remember they all spent the night since daddy was out of town.  I prepared the crock pot for an anniversary pot roast and veggies!  

Grace, you have two new nicknames .... Gigi calls you 'chickpea' since my nickname is 'sweetpea' .... and Grandpa Jim calls you 'scooter' since you're really crawling fast now!  He also still calls you 'peanut' too!  :-)

Joshua, you love playing with Uncle James.  You all had art time this morning, and played with some puzzles and blocks.  Grandpa Jim helped us with some errands .... he took all our boxes to the recycling center.  Everyone helped us rearrange and organize the playroom and Joshua's room.

We all watched the UNC football game this afternoon!  It was homecoming at UNC this weekend.  We were going to meet our friends there .... Stephanie, Emily, Sherrill, Alicia .... but things just got so busy this weekend and daddy was gone.  But, UNC won!  Woo hoo!

This evening Joshua had a chicken nugget and a few hotdog pieces.  Grace, you ate a container of oatmeal and fruit.  But, you also spit up this evening.  You haven't done that in a long time.

Uncle James stayed with us this evening.  It was really nice to catch up with him since I don't get to see him very often.  Plus, Joshua loved having someone to stack blocks with.  Grace, you got your hand squished by a toy but it was an accident and you were fine once I picked you up.

Uncle James read Joshua his bedtime story.  I stayed in his room and laid down in his bed with him until he fell asleep.  Grace, you fell asleep early in the crib after I nursed you.  We'll see how long you stay sleeping.

This afternoon was our friend Allison's mom's memorial service.  I went as you all played at the house.  Allison spoke touching words about her mother during the service and I wanted to share with you both some things that she said.  

She said something that's so true .... every generation goes through it without realizing it at the time.  Every little girl grows up trying not to become their mother.  But, despite their best effort and intentions, they always do.  As she spoke of her own similarity to her mother, I started to think of my own mother, Gigi.  I hope I become like my mother as well, even if I just become half the person she is. Which means, Grace .... you may become like me!  ;-)

It was cold and rainy all morning.  But, as the service started, the sun came out.  It looked like God's shining light coming into the church.  We will continue to pray for Allison and her father during this time.  

Sleep tight you two!

I love you both!

~Mommy

8 Months

Dearest Precious Angels~

Guess what today is .... today Grace turns 8 months old!  Wow little lady!  You're getting so old!  ;-)

Daddy woke up at 2:28am this morning.  He didn't feel well.  I woke up too.  Neither of us slept well since daddy was flying out to New Orleans today for a wedding.  We were both invited, but I decided to stay here with you all since I'm still nursing Grace.  Daddy will be back home sunday afternoon, so we'll be separated for 2.5 days.  :-( 

Daddy left at 4:30am to catch his 6am flight.  He didn't want to leave us and we missed him as soon as he left.  Joshua got up as daddy was leaving.  He whimpered in the hallway because he didn't want daddy to go.  Daddy got to kiss you little man.  Then, I put you back in your bed and laid down with you and fell asleep with you.  I listened to you breathing before I fell asleep.  I stayed there until 6:20am when Grace woke up.  I changed her and then nursed her.

Grace, you ate some puréed mac and cheese this morning.  Joshua, you ate some gold fish, but I had to take them away from you because Grace got a few in her mouth!

I boiled some hotdogs for Joshua this morning.  Today was a cold and wet day.  However, we did manage to get out some and run a few errands.

First, we dropped off a teapot that we sold online.  It was our first sale!  Ha!  We're saving up for a camera lens!  ;-)  Then, we went to Target for some groceries.  Joshua, you ate two cookies!  After that, we gassed up the car and headed home.

We were home by lunch.  Joshua, you ate one third of a hotdog and Grace finished her mac and cheese mixture.  You started a chicken noodle mix.

We had some music and play time this afternoon.  Joshua, you took a nap at 2pm.  After your nap, we picked up Joshua' new prevacid prescription.  They made it a liquid so we'll see how well that works vs the pill.  I did a dry spoon trial with Joshua once home.  I had to hold his hands down, but he became more cooperative towards the end.

This evening Gigi, Grandpa Jim, and Uncle James came over!  We all had dinner together and Joshua ate some chicken nuggets!  Grace, you ate 1.5 containers of chicken noodle .... that means you ate 2.5 containers of solid food today (about 8.5 ounces).  :-)

We all played this evening and watched some baseball.  Grandpa Jim's team the St. Louis Cardinals won the world series!  Woo hoo!  I read Joshua his bedtime story and then Gigi stayed next to him until he fell asleep.  I nursed Grace.  Grandpa Jim, Gigi, and Uncle James spent the night with us.  :-)

Tomorrow is Gigi and Grandpa Jim's 34th wedding anniversary so we're going to celebrate!  :-)

Sleep tight you two!

I love you both!

~Mommy