What a fun, relaxing day! Love my boys – ALL of them!
Thank you, Lord, for allowing me to borrow these precious children and love them to pieces. My heart is so full!
Sweet Justin…I finally finished this little outfit. Was supposed to be worn at Easter; these days I’m not on a strict timeline!
Opelika is so family friendly. No, it isn’t the town in which we live – that one is just next door. Don’t get me wrong, Auburn is wonderful – just doesn’t offer as much for children as does Opelika.
Touch A Truck is a Saturday morning, one time a year, event. Trucks, police cars, police vehicles, fire trucks, monster trucks, school buses, you name it – whatever the big truck, it was there. Including a helicopter. The helicopter flew in and landed while onlookers waited. It was WINDY but very cool.
This was in the Big Green Bus, a kid friendly bus for parties. Pretty neat!
On the yellow school bus. Cousin Becky was there, too! Troy got to pick a book – and picked one about bats. Nice, huh? Why does this kid like bugs, spiders and…bats? Go figure.
On the fire truck, then on the UPS truck. He happens to have a plastic
We ran into Troy’s friend Tate who (sadly) will be moving this summer. Tate’s mom and I were pen pals (before computers) when we were 11….and we stayed in touch.
With the Good Neigh Bear!
Some pics taken over the past month(s)
My sweet love…
This day of picture taking was a disaster…
there is NEVER any yelling at a child to get him to cooperate…
Until Troy hugged the fire hydrant and said, “I wuv you red fire hydwant”. Hmmm, okay.
And this is what I’ve thought of this blog lately…..or maybe just what has come across as how I’ve felt about this blog.
Last week, Brian was out of town. Had nothing to do with the black eye but it did happen the first day he left. Can you believe chair rail can cause this kind of damage? No, it isn’t that bad but he knocked it hard enough that the crying fits were without breath.
He noticed it three days later while brushing his teeth. Called it a “green wine” (green line) on his face.
It was a family thing – our small family. Loved it, relaxed and hung out.
The days seem so effortless lately. Troy and Justin are beginning to play together and seem to enjoy each other’s company, for the most part.
If you have a child, he or she has probably been able to partake in one (or a dozen) egg hunts. Fun stuff! At the eleventh hour, we decided to have our own little hunt. Everyone seemed to have a good time.
Easter this year was, I have to be honest, much easier than last year. A year ago, Justin was in casts, we were making our weekly trips to Birmingham and – well, let’s be honest – I was exhausted. At the time, I didn’t realize it but I know now. Just going through the motions at the time was my daily routine. This year, I feel like I was more able to participate in, cherish and bask in what our Lord did for us so many years ago. Our church has a week full of services and experiences for anyone who wants to attend. Brian and I were glad to participate this year and I feel more grateful for the past year and how God has chosen me to take care of my children, live where I live and do what I do. It’s a full hearted feeling of which I’m very happy!
Birds nests I made…so yummy!
Easter egg hunt at Goli’s.
Hunt at our house.
Dying our eggs. And there I am…sporting a 1997 AGD t-shirt. Maybe I have a hard time letting go of things?
What the bunny brought…
After church we headed over to Moore’s Mill for brunch. The bunny came, as usual. Troy loves characters – doesn’t matter what it is, he loves them. Justin couldn’t get his eyes off of the bunny. I made him turn his head and this is what I got:
After brunch, we went out on the green to let the kids play. Justin wanted in on the fun, too!
Here’s the four of us! Next year, we should be a family of five. What?! I’m 20 weeks pregnant here.
The last hunt of the season was with Troy at our house. J needed a nap… Troy loves bugs (and spiders). He likes to point them out, of course.
For the first time. Some people would shun me but at 2 1/2, I didn’t think it was too late! After all, he rarely has anything sweet, only drinks OJ, water and milk and doesn’t get gummy candy. He’s good about brushing his teeth (or letting us brush them) and I figured he’d be okay. It had nothing to do with his mother forgetting to take him earlier, of course!
The visit began with the train table. Brilliant! If only it wasn’t so hard to get him away from the trains and onto the exam!
Oh, you see that “super hero” cape? That has to be the third obsession. In fact, he wear it ALL THE TIME. If we’d let him, he would wear it to bed, to Goli’s and even to the bathroom. We try and catch him before he goes to the bathroom with it. No accidents (so far). Colt and Addie gave it to him for Christmas and I’m so glad he now loves it!
Okay, back to the appointment. He met Miriam and was a trooper! She was fantastic and you could tell she had experience dealing with “first timers” like Troy. After letting him play with the instruments, including squirting water and air, she cleaned his teeth.
After about 5 minutes of cleaning, he said “we all done?”. Haha! We had to wait for the doctor but I brought my camera which I had not formatted so he was able to check out a good 300 photos while we waited. It was perfect entertainment to name all of his friends and relatives in the pictures.
Dr. Greenleaf told me some news I already knew: he has crowded teeth. Duh! I mean he’s been blessed with his mother’s small mouth and large teeth. Braces, we knew you were coming before you even met us!!!
Kudos to me for taking him to the dentist, right? Or is that just being a parent? I dunno!
A year ago – on February 24th, 2011, I headed to Bunco with my buds while thinking it was a good idea to try and get my “due date” off my mind. It worked – for a little while. At least one time at dinner I put my hand on my stomach. I think it was Megan or Laura who asked if I was having contractions. Blowing them off, I said that I had a Braxton Hicks contraction. Um….maybe not?
A couple short hours later, those “fake” contractions were closer and closer together. Sleep didn’t seem to be an option. At 2 a.m., we called my buddy Tracey who came over to help with Troy once he woke up. Spent as long as I could relaxing in the tub as the contractions grew closer and stronger. By 3:30, we left for the hospital. Luckily, my doctor was at the hospital already and Justin arrived at 6:28 a.m. At the time, I didn’t realize it but he was breathing a little funny.
Justin was taken to the special unit for extra care. I was oblivious! Brian left to call his family and get our bags. While he was gone, the pediatrician came in the room. The news was not anything I was expecting: baby Justin is having a hard time breathing, his heart is enlarged, he’s being sent to UAB. Wait? What? Like now? Well, not immediately but as soon as the jet arrives. Jet? What?
Well, the next 8 days were the longest I can remember but also the shortest. The days were long but the week flew by. PPHN, a right sided aortic arch, club feet. Not necessarily what you want to hear but something we knew would be manageable. And he was going to live. Thank the Lord. Finally we headed home. Nervous as a first time parent. Nervous!
Here he is in the transport machine thingy (very technical, I know) before he was placed on the jet.
Orthopedic appointments weekly for 8 weeks. Castings, a heel cord lengthening, more casts, braces on his feet, trips to the pediatric orthopedist, immunologist and eventually to the ENT. ENT appointment will be made up again later though (due to an ear infection). Little dude is a trooper, loveable, very patient and very kind.
We baby him, yes. Not only because he’s a baby but because of what he’s been through and what we’ve been through. We’re slowly learning that he is stronger than we think. But, we’ve been much easier on him than on Troy. Granted, he’s not as mischievous but we’re still more lenient.
Justin has done marvelously with his braces, no issues at all. I’ve learned that this is a huge deal because many people have issues with socks, blisters, the shoes coming off, etc. The only issue we’ve had is the banging of the braces/shoes against his crib. Yep, there are some nice dents in the crib. At least it’s on the inside and toward the bottom of the wood. It’s a convertible crib so I hope that when it is a full size bed, the marks will be covered up.
So Justin is crawling like a crazy kid, trying to keep up with Troy. He loves to find toys inside things (baskets, the kid kitchen, wagon, etc.) and throw them all out. This keeps him entertained for quite a while! He loves to eat! Has transitioned to the cup like a champ. We took the bottle away the day before his birthday and have never looked back.
His favorite toys are the Woody and Buzz Lightyear dolls from Toy Story. His older brother loves them which has apparently led Justin to adore them as well. So we have two sets of each! Why not, I guess, right?
He LOVES his mama! If he sees me crawling toward him, he starts laughing and crawling and pulling up against me. He loves to dance as much as possible. Uses his sign language: more, eat, all done, milk, bye bye and blowing kisses. I guess blowing kisses isn’t really sign language but we know what he’s doing. He’s saying “dada”, “bla” and sometimes I think he’s trying to say ball and light.
Stats:
Weight: 22 pounds
Height: 30 1/2 inches
Head: 18 inches
His measurements are right at 50%. What a huge difference! 11 months ago his head was under the chart (we found out recently) and he was at 10-20% for height and weight. He has made huge improvements over the past year! Cannot be MORE proud of this sweet, God-given gift. I’m so grateful to be able to “borrow” him from God for a little while and teach him about life and Jesus! I love this little dude to pieces!!!
Oh my how time flies! It flew so much that I procrastinated in posting something about Justin’s birthday! For now, I’ll post some pictures of his big day.
His birthday fell on a Saturday so we were able to celebrate on the actual day he turned one. It was a beautiful day and he had a blast! The rookie parents we are didn’t think a baby would grab a candle. Oops! Small mistake led to big tears but went away fairly quickly.
Waking up the morning of his birthday. He was special and got a break on his braces that night!
Happy Birthday banner, cake pops and cake. I made the decorations with my new silhouette. Well, I made the banner for Troy’s first birthday but made Justin’s name for him, of course.
Cupcakes. I made the inserts, cars, etc. The cake pops were also made by me and were delish!
Sweet baby!
Time for cake! Happy Birthday (he was captivated by the singing).
Darnit! Seriously? Why would one leave a candle burning in front of a one year old?
A very guilt ridden mother!
Oh yummy! Cake tastes good! Much better.
J with his (very responsible) parents!
Our little family!
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