Merry Christmas

Happy Holidays everyone! So has life slowed down for any of you? It sure hasn't for me! This time of year is usually BY FAR my favorite time of year. I usually go completely overboard decorating the house, watching christmas movies, play christmas music, baking goodies and on and on the list goes. I am usually so keyed up that I have endless amounts of energy to even help others with their shopping and will even wrap their gifts just cause I love it that much. WELL let me just tell you how THIS season has gone instead. We never did get out christmas lights up outside, I never even changed out my fall wreath on the front door to our christmas one. Half our decorations remained in the box and the ones that did make it out are surely taken a beating with a rambunctious 20 mth old running around. Bobby continues to take out all our christmas cards from the holder every night, our ornaments have been taken off and put back on the tree numerous times and I would be lying if I didn't tell you that most of our presents have been "stood on" by a toddler at one time or another (he loves putting things on the floor and "standing" on them with a big "I know I am naughty" grin on his face). I just got our presents wrapped a couple of nights ago, and our neighbors got store-bought goodies this year instead of homemade. Its just been that kind of a year...maybe it has to do with the age of my child. Maybe it has been due to all the illness my family has been hit with (whole other story). Maybe it has been due to me being distracting with interviewing for a new job. I don't know which...but all have impacted my life dramatically lately so I am trying not to sweat the small stuff. and btw...yes I got the job! YAH!

 But one thing that I didn't let slide was getting our family portrait...thank god. And without any further ado....

Our 2011 Christmas card

 Back

Some outtakes from our session.

Thanks Melinda, don't know what I would do without you!

Fall 2011

I am sad to say that I just noticed (while reading one of my gf's blogs) that I hadn't posted in three months. Oh the guilt! I never meant for it to get so out of control! I love the purpose of the blog, documenting our life, love looking back, love being able to share pictures and stories with friends and family. I just need to make it a priority. The main excuse I have is that 99% of the time I have in the evenings to surf the internet, I do it from my Ipad, which is not exactly the most friendly for typing out blog entries. Who would have thought that we have an invention that makes even a laptop look like to much work to mess with for the evening...

Anyway moving on, life is moving along quickly and wonderfully. Bobby has finally adjusted to going to his mothers day out program beautifully...and I am thrilled to get happy notes home in his backpack. It was a rough start and I would be lying if I didn't say that I had to be talked out of yanking him from the program more than once. BUT in the end I have to keep reminding myself that my main priority is to do what is BEST for bobby, which is not necessarily the EASIEST thing for Bobby. It was worth the struggle and I feel like Bobby is really benefiting from the child interaction.

First day of school

Doting mother...

So far we have a happy and healthy winter season (minus an annoying cough I have struggled with) but Bobby is doing great. We went to his 18 mth appt the other day and he is just cruising along the charts at 32 1/2 inches and 23 lbs 4 oz. He has dropped to the 25th percentile in his weight which concerns me a tad (as you may recall while nursing he was rolling in at the top of the charts at 97th percentile) but now that he is so busy and on the go I am sure its natural to even more out. He doesn't always seem that interested in his milk, so with Dr. Nicole's suggestion we added Strawberry syrup to it and its working like a charm!

As if life wasn't busy enough already the holiday season has kicked into full gear. This weekend was packed to the max with family pictures yesterday followed by a wedding in the evening. Our normal babysitters (grandma and grandpa) were also in attendence to the wedding so Bobby went as well. It made for a long day for all of us...but we had a WONDERFUL time and made up for it with a three out nap today. Really looking forward to next weekend not just for thanksgiving itself but the shopping that goes along with it. My sister Skye is always gracious enough to host the whole family to camp out at her house all weekend soooo I plan to take off for KC Thursday afternoon (after our thanksgiving with Robby's family). We are going to hit it hard on Black Friday and then Saturday is all eating and fun...we plan to repeat our trip from last year to taking all the kids ice skating down and Crown Center Saturday evening. Oh I just love this time of year!

The next weekend is even busier yet...our neighborhood Christmas party starts off the weekend on Friday night. Following by Saturday being Robby and I's 6th wedding anniversary, Bedlam, AND my work Christmas party! And I am not even done yet....the next day on Sunday I am co-hosting one of my girlfriend's baby shower! I am exhausted thinking about it all. Its one thing when you have a full schedule to be able to put priorities on things...but when ALL the elements are things that are important to you...it gets overwhelming. The key is that is such a blessing to be so busy...I always say "a busy life is a happy life"...just making lots of memories.

Last but not least...Bobby in his halloween costume. He was a golfer. Outfit worked like a charm, comfortable and easy to get in and out of his carseat!

Rock-n-Roar

Bobby is jabbering non-stop! I know I say that every post but I just can't get over how much he talks! He tries to repeat everything we say even though the repeat isn't exactly perfect but you can tell he is trying. The real words he says though are Bye, shoes, play, dog, poop, and thanks to daddy they have been working on "Oh Crap". Yes, Robby thinks he is hilarious! He is walking all over the place and he is getting FAST. He waves bye bye and points at everything. His latest food favorites are grapes, corn on the cob, and cherries.  

Last week was troubling, Bobby had a sick spell. He ran a high fever ALL week (topping out at 103.2 one morning) and the whole thing scared mommy to death. We went to the doctor the first day (Monday) and ears, throat and blood looked fine. By Thursday we were back to the doctor cause he was still just burning up every time the Motrin wore off. Still no other symptoms arose so Dr Barnes assumed it was roseola...where you burn a high fever for several days and then as you break the fever a rash suddenly appears. I took his word for it and watched Bobby like a hawk for a rash and although he might have one...it was questionable. Good news though is that Bobby is all better and back to full speed. Oh how I missed him!

Finally a picture captured for my personal memory sake of where I spent countless hours with Bobby, rocking, reading, nursing. This is OUR spot.

We finally decided to give some Huggies a try...the jean diapers were just calling our name!

Bobby LOVES to look out this window! If I lose sight of him, most likely he has made his way back to this spot. This is where Kayli did her window watching too...must be a prime location. 

Not a fav...but gotta take all the together shots I can get since I am usually the one behind the camera.

This is Bobby carrying around MY old baby blanket...yes, he has thousands of his own...but there most be something special about this one!

Look at the serious face...he means business!

How stinkin' cute are these jammies? 

Such a sweet sweet boy...

 

14 months old

More Bobby updates:

He has finally mastered walking well. I remember writing in his baby book on his 13 mth update that he was taking steps regularly…but I would say it was another week or week ½ before he really started taking off. Now there is no crawling...its all big boy steps all the time. And oh how the boy does he enjoy the walking…he just walks for the sake of walking…round and round the kitchen island and dining room table…back and forth down the hallway. He just enjoys strolling. Its soo cute. I tell Robby all the time it’s like he is still the same weight and same baby has he was 3 mths ago…its just that now he is vertical instead of horizontal.

He jabbers NON stop (everyone thinks its such a funny joke to say he takes after his momma in that department!)  I swear he already has a full vocabulary but it’s in his own language. He talks so much and responses to you when you talk to him (in his language) that you really do feel like you are carrying on a conversation. The only real words that I can gather from it all are pretty much the same as they have been…ma-ma, da-da, lots and lots of Uh-Oh’s. And I swear he has muttered something along the lines of gamp-pa. I blew my in-laws off the first several times they mentioned it (cause I figured it was just wishful thinking on their part) but its true…I have heard it several times myself. I can hear him trying to imitate the words we say…like the other day I say “Come on Coco, good girl!” And he muttered go-gol like he was trying to say good girl. I was shocked! Soo cute!

Bobby eats really well most of the time. He gets very cranky if you are eating something different than he is. He wants what you are having and sometimes that isn’t always a good idea if it’s spicy or its chips etc. Sometimes I will even have prepared the same thing for him and put it on his tray early to cool off but he immediately thinks I am trying to trick him out of something and it’s not near as good to him unless he sees it specifically come off my plate! I think I narrowed down his eczema to hotdogs or macaroni and cheese (not sure which, or both). But when we avoid those two foods we seem to notice there are no flare ups. I swear my child is going to turn into a green bean…they are his number one favorite food. He eats them almost every meal. I even pack some in the car with me and hand them to him when he fusses. You would think they were candy! He also really enjoys peaches and pears. Oh and lots of cheerios…and those little freeze dried yogurt snacks.

His last Shriner appointment went really well. Not much came from the ordeal but I wasn't expecting much either. I did ask more about future options...like whether or not we have a chance of  transferring a cadaver hand possibly...and its not an option because he is not only missing the ulnar bone in his arm, he is also missing all the nerves and tendons too...so there wouldn't nerves to attach it too. I also asked  about the possibly of restoring motion in this elbow and the same issue is withholding us...the muscles that he is missing are the ones that we use to move our elbow. hmmph. So no luck there either! Otherwise though they were happy with how he is progressing. They have no vision of future surgery at this point...so it was pretty much a "see back this time next year and we will reassess the situation" type of thing. I was fine with it all...no news is ok with me...at least nothing dramatic going on.

He is starting to enjoy his toys a lot more as he has gotten older. He empties out baskets and dresser drawers on a daily basis. I just noticed yesterday he has figured out door handles…I can usually lock him out of certain rooms (where dog dishes are etc) but we have the kind of door handles that are like pull down handles (not the round door knobs)…and last night I saw him standing at the shut door reaching for the door handle with all his might! I couldn’t believe my eyes…he was trying to open it! He LOVES books. Could care less about TV or movies I try and play for him on car trips. He LOVES watching and playing with the dogs. They crack him up on a daily basis. He loves it when you act like you are play biting him on his belly, legs, arms etc. He cackles out loud with joy. He wants daddy to throw him repeatedly…once you start he doesn’t want to stop. BTW daddy has become a lot more on radar to him. He has realized with daddy its more wrestling and playing and he is super fun…but his mommy on the other hand makes him do not so fun stuff like eat, and sleep and change diapers and clothes. I find myself working extra hard to be super silly with him to make sure he knows I am FUN too! ;-)

Well that is all I can think of for now…we are in SUCH a fun phase…I honestly can’t even see it getting better than this…although some how I just know it will…

Happy Summer everyone!

Please excuse the cell phone pictures...these are the only ones I have downloaded of him on the move.

Well I am obviously very behind in my posting…so here’s to the game of catch up! I will put in a numbered fashion…although I can’t promise that it will be in the same sequence that it happened in life.

1) We traveled to Kansas City to my sister’s Skye’s house for Memorial Day weekend along with all my other siblings and their family’s. We try and do this several times a year and it is at the TOP of my list of things I enjoy her house is big enough that each of our family’s can have a bedroom to ourselves and stay comfortably. It’s perfect for the summer because there is a lake close for boating, a swimming pool for her neighborhood, and we each bring a crap load of wonderful food and we all just get to hang out, play with each other kids, cook out, swim, eat and just chill! I find it ultra-relaxing because HELLO its MY sister’s place…I am completely comfortable there (I can steal her clothes, borrow her face wash, and don’t feel guilty eating her food, you know…sister stuff! )

2) We traveled to Chanute for my 10 year class reunion! Yep, I am getting old! I swear I still think of myself as like a 22 year old. Its like after I graduated college and become an adult it has all blurred. Anyway I ended up having the most FABULOUS time EVER getting to see all my old friends! We are from a very small town and I can’t say that all people would have the same luck we do…but we really are just like out of a movie or something. It all clicks! Whenever we all get together it is as if we all see each other all the time! Completely comfortable and SO MUCH FUN! Even Robby (usually my anti-social grumpy husband) had a great time. We actually even got in a tiff the first night there because HE didn’t want to go home yet! Hah! Isn’t that the way it goes…you have to drag them there…but then can’t get them to leave! Regardless, I am glad he enjoyed it also…we need those adult nights out together!

3) We made a major grown up move and purchased two duplex’s. VERY scary and a lot of pressure to take something like that on…but its right up Robby’s alley in his line of work and we are trying to plan for Bobby’s future. We got through our second successful month (with just a few small hiccups) but so far I am very glad we took the big leap. They are right down the street from each other and almost look like twins…just the shutter color is different.

4) Bobby has started walking…he isn’t like full out taking off or anything (crawling is still the faster form of movement for him) but he takes 8-10 steps and then drops to his butt and then gets back up again. He loves to give five’s, and jabbers non-stop. Favorite words are Uh-Oh! I finally stopped nursing a couple of weeks ago…a little overdue at 13 months but HEY it’s harder to quit than what you think! He took the change easier than I did though (painful!) so we have moved completely to big boy sippy cups of whole milk. He has been sprouting out teeth like no other…two top molars and two bottom molars are already in…so twelve teeth total. He always starts out in his own bed to sleep at night…but quickly makes his move to ours within a couple of hours. I KNOW that I should probably get tough about making him sleep in his own bed. But the truth is Robby and I both enjoy snuggling him at night. He’s big enough now and easy to sleep with…and we all spend enough time apart when we have to go to work. It’s nice to get to all be together!

 

5) We got Bobby enrolled in the Mothers Day Out program at our church. This deserves a numbered item all to itself because it turned out to be QUITE a crazy ordeal. I have always heard wonderful things about the program from my friends and in Sunday service they often mention the expansion of the youth side on the back of the building. But I guess it never really clicked with me because at that point I didn’t have a child! WELL now I can see why! The program is so well known and such a good reputation that it has become INCREDIBLY hard to get into. They only had four spots available for the Young One Year Olds, four spot for the Older One year olds, and 2 spots for the Young Two year olds. And that was it…ALL other class were full. Well it was all based on a first come basis…so I knew it could be an early morning to try and get a spot. I had talked to Robby about possibly going in the night to ensure being first but we never even considered the ordeal we got into. My MIL drove by the church at 6 pm the night before and there were already FOUR people in line. 6 pm the NIGHT BEFORE PEOPLE!! This is nuts! So what does she do? She jumps out of the car and gets in line! She sat there from 6-10, my BIL Kevin just happened to be in town so he took the 10-12pm shift, Robby took over from 12-3 and I got bobby out of bed at 3 am and took the hand off from 3am-till it opened at 7am. We were all camped out in lawn chairs with sleeping bags and everything! We got the LAST spot available in the older one year old class! THE LAST SPOT! OMG I can’t even tell you how close I was to vomiting when we finally got in line and we didn’t know how the breakout was going to go. ALL this for Bobby to go to a fancy play group two days a week. HAH!! But he only deserves the best! I don’t regret it for an instant!! He starts in the fall...

6) I have told you people how much I LOVE water? I have been obsessed with swimming pools ALL my life. My mom swears I talked about them constantly as a child, I was on swim team all growing up, and I lifeguarded my way through high school. I still to this day can not get enough of it. I have daydreamed many times of the days ahead taking Bobby to a pool and getting to live through him all over again. WELL I don't think that is going to happen! Bobby is showing signs that he is NOT going to share this passion for water that I do! He often acts nervous in the bathtub, and the other day I was OH so excited to have him try out his water mat outside and what did he do? SCREAMED every time I sat him down on it. He was content sitting next to it...but just looking at it was as close as he was going to get. He must get this from his father!!! I will keep you posted out he is doing by the end of the summer.

7) We have our next Shriner appt this coming Tuesday at 8am. I have a lot of mixed emotions about this….some days its excitement to see if they have anything positive to say…other days its pure anxiety taking over me that they may want to operate on his sweet little hand. I KNOW deep down that I have to keep an open mind and that these are some of the BEST doctors available. But another part of me just says to LEAVE IT ALONE (I can’t tell if it’s a GUT feeling…or if it’s fear). But he is just doing so great with it and has full sensitivity….what if we end up making it worst by accident! I guess I will just have to wait and see what they say and weigh the options… my main objective will be to consider if what they want to do will actually improve his functionality at all. Cross your fingers for us…say a little prayer. I hope we have as good of an experience as we did with them last time.

Well that does it for today…you are all caught up! Hope everyone is having a GREAT summer!



Bobby's 1 yr photo shoot

Sorry for my blogging break...its been a VERY busy month. These are long over due but I still wanted to share some of my favorites from Bobby's 1 year photo shoot. I finally was able to snag a slot with CC Miller and I couldn't have been more thrilled with the results! Definitely worth fighting for her a shoot with her!   

Silly boy...

 I wish I wouldn't have cut this one off...but I can't resist posting because look at that smile!

 This is from a couple of weeks ago when Robby and I were out to a Thunder game for his birthday but I never got around to posting it.