I'm a little behind the times...

I'm afraid my blog is in need of some serious TLC!

Please excuse the mess as I do a much needed update to this little blog :) ♥

... and guess who FINALLY joined bloglovin? 

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Brotherly Love... a post on sibling spacing

Everyone has their own opinions about sibling spacing. So I thought I'd share mine. I have known for a long time now that I wanted to have my first two children close together. How? I was an only child until I was 8, and honestly? I hated it. It was lonely. Both of my parents worked a lot, and I had nobody to play with. I literally begged my parents for a little brother or sister for years. When my little brother was finally born, I was in third grade, and I was ecstatic. My brother Matthew and I have an awesome relationship nowadays, and we did back then, too... only I felt a lot more like a caregiver than a sister. Don't get me wrong- I loved helping my parents with my little brother. I would sing to him, rock him, give him bottles... but I never really got the one thing I had always wanted- someone to talk to, to explore and play with. I saw the relationships my friends had with their siblings, and even when they argued or didn't get along, I was jealous. 

So I just knew. I knew I would NEVER have an only child, and I knew I wanted my kids to be close in age.

When I found out I was pregnant with Emmett, I almost instantly started wondering and worrying about how Elliot would get along with his baby sibling. After all, up until that point, he was the spoiled only child who had his mama catering to his every whim. I lost so much sleep worrying about how I would juggle two under two.

Reading to his baby brother.

LUCKILY all that worrying was for nothing. Although Elliot was a little confused the first couple weeks, he was never really jealous. Almost IMMEDIATELY he loved his baby brother. He is always ready to help. You can bet if anything happens to baby brother that I don't see- if he spits up, or rolls over, etc, Elliot will run full speed to me saying, "Uh oh! Uh oh!" When it's time to change Emmett's diaper, Elliot is right there with the wipes. He always wants baby brother right next to him, and frequently tries to pick him up and carry him places (but I either stop or help him). Elliot always shares his toys, and enjoys "reading" to his baby brother. He also loves bouncing Emmett  in his jumperoo and giving him random, sweet kisses. Watching them together always makes me smile. 

More kisses.

I have come to the conclusion that the spacing between them, sixteen months, is pretty much perfect. ♥ Apparently, many medical professionals agree. You have NO IDEA how many times we have been told (by their pediatrician, my lactation consultant, and even Elliot's speech therapist) that the perfect/easiest time to bring a new baby into the family is before the first child turns 2. Once kids turn two, we've been told, they struggle much more with jealousy and two year olds tend to have a much harder time adjusting to having a little baby stealing all of their Mommy's time.

We are going to wait a little while before having #3, but if my husband agrees, I would like to have another set of siblings close together like these two. We shall see. Aaron seems convinced now that he only wants 3- which pretty much throws my life plan for children out the window. But I can be pretty convincing ;) and he sure does love him some babies!

Here, have a leaf!

Like I said, I always wanted to have my first two children close together. They ended up a little closer than intended, and I'll be honest, at first I questioned my sanity a little. Juggling a newborn and a young toddler is TOUGH. But, like I said, in no time at all, we settled into a routine that worked for all of us, and things are wonderful now. I wouldn't change it for the world.

Having 2 kids under 2 might not be for everyone... but I wouldn't have it any other way.

So that's my opinion. Now I'd love to hear yours!

Introducing Solids while Breastfeeding

My little sickling yesterday. If I won't give him the boobies, he instead sucks his thumb whenever he's sad or tired. He was doing naked time because he has the worst antibiotic poo... and I don't want his cute little bum to get rashy!

Somebody turned seven months old today. SEVEN MONTHS! Can you believe it?? He's still sick, but I think he's starting to feel a little better.

 Although we got off to a rough start, Emmett and I have had a wonderful nursing relationship up until now. He seems completely satisified on breastmilk alone, although he does show interest in "big people" food- he tries to grab anything and everything we're eating, and he enjoys drinking out of our water glasses (with help, of course). 

I enjoy nursing more than I ever thought I would, and I'm in no hurry to stop. For that reason, we still haven't started solids. In fact, other than a few attempts at rice cereal a couple months ago (the doctor had suggested trying it for his reflux... and it just made his spit up chunkier!) he hasn't had anything other than breastmilk.

One of Emmett's 6 month pictures. Better late than never, right?

 Since pediatricians and the AAP reccomend waiting until at least 6 months to start solids, we did. Then his six-month birthday came and passed, and he seemed perfectly content with things the way they were, so we didn't bother starting solids. 

Now that he's 7 months, I thought it was about time. I started doing some reasearch online, and stumbled upon an article that discussed how breastfed babies usually cannot properly absorb iron once they start solids. Also, I was surprised to read that some babies are exclusively breastfed all the way up to their first birthday! I didn't even know that was possible! The article also brought to my attention that starting solids can lead to weaning... and I'm certainly not ready to wean him yet! Admittedly, I haven't done too much reading on the topic up until now. Elliot wasn't able to breastfeed so it wasn't a concern of mine until recently. Now I feel sort of lost... and think I might wait longer to start solids. 

When did you introduce solids? How did it affect your nursing relationship and milk supply? 

Would you do things differently next time?

For old time's sake, I'll leave you with a picture of Elliot trying his first food. Look at that adorable avocado face! :D

Miscellany Monday

'Tis the Season!!!

It's December! Finally! Which means...

* I finally have an excuse to play and sing Christmas music as loud and often as I like. 

* Soon Elliot will be helping me back and decorate sugar cookies for the first time. 

* Family photos
* Time to decorate! {our apartment complex is even getting into the spirit. Whoever wins the balcony decorating contest will get a credit towards next month's rent. Awesome!}
* I get to torture my babies by putting them in Santa hats, wrapping them in tinsel, sticking bows on their heads, stuffing them in stockings, and doing other ridiculous things to them all in the name of cutesy holdiay photos

* My house will smell like peppermint, apple pie, and cinnamon for the next month

* we Texans will be wearing boots and scarves and mittens when it's 65 degrees because that IS pretty darn chilly for down here. We obviously don't get any snow.
* I have several photoshoots set up this month that I am excited about. Time to build my portfolio!

... and so much more!

Our tree has been decorated since the day after Thanksgiving. It's white and covered in bright pink, purple, blue, and green ornaments. Elliot had a BLAST hanging the ornaments and would do it over and over again if I would let him.

I had fun taking pictures of this little cutie with christmas lights... only to find out the next day about the dangers of mixing christmas lights and children. Did you know that christmas lights have been tested and found to have very high lead levels? Yikes. Read more about it here.

Unfortunately, it is also the season for... sickness.

We spent most of the day at the pediatric clinic on post. Both of my boys have ear infections and Emmett also might be in the early stages of RSV :( He has a very wet cough that causes him to wretch, gag, and turn blue. But if he does have RSV, it's just starting and he's only going to get a lot worse. So maybe it's a good thing I'm behind posting pictures... because I doubt I'll have a chance to get many shots over the next few days while my boys are so sick.

Okay, I think that's about enough random ramblings for one Monday. Besides, Teen Mom 2 is coming on soon ;) my dirty obsession. 

Baby sleeping through the night = more posts for you.

Guess who has been sleeping through the night? 

Yep. You read right. My darling Emmett has been sleeping through the night for a couple of weeks now. Not only that, but he's also been waking up late- sometimes as late as 10am. 

What, exactly, does this mean for you, my neglected readers? Well... more blog posts, of course! I'm not going to lie. For a few weeks there, life with two under two was getting a little... shall we say, tricky. First of all, my husband was really starting to struggle with some anger and PTSD problems again. Elliot was still barely talking, so we had problems communicating, which was leading to more and more tantrums. Balancing  keeping all three of my men happy, and also still keeping a clean house and cooking phonomenal meals was getting too be almost too much too handle. Almost. 

But thennnn... Emmett started sleeping through the night, Elliot started speech therapy and is therefore learning to communicate more effectively, and my husband finally sought out the professional help that he needed and is now back to being the happy, loving, carefree man that I married.

So I guess you could say life is pretty good for me right now. We've been getting into the holiday spirit! I'm a Christmas FREAK, so, honestly, it would be really tough for me to not be happy this time of year.

...to be continued. :)

Welcome home on Veteran's Day!

"As we express our gratitude, 

we must never forget that the highest appreciation 

is not to utter words, but to live by them." 

-John Fitzgerald Kennedy

This Veteran's Day, I had the pleasure of photographing one of our dear friends coming home from Afganistan. 

As I watched all the soldiers embracing their loved ones, I felt a little catch in my throat, because I remember when, not so long ago, it was ME in their shoes, at the airport, waiting for that moment when I would finally be in my husband's arms again.

These lovebirds were seperated for 200 days. That's 200 days that they will never get back. It sure is great to see him home safe and the two of them back together!

Our friend Warren was lucky enough to come home early, but others were not so lucky. My husband, for example, was in Iraq for 18 long months and then South Korea for 12 months. Luckily, he is now non-deployable, but he still struggles with PTSD and various side effects from his brain injury. 

Life is short. Let's remember to thank those who give up weeks, months, and even years to fight for their country. And, of course, those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom by giving their lives for our country.

Next time you complain about who was or wasn't elected president, or our government, take a little step back and think about something. We are LUCKY to be Americans. We live a life of freedom that many could only dream of. Without the brave men and women fighting for our country every day, we wouldn't be free. 

To all soliders, past and present:

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

... and God bless you all.

"There is a pride most will never understand. It is a series of late night phone calls, I miss yous, see ya laters, dress blues, lots of tears, endless prayers, care packages and love letters, countdowns, homecomings, best friends, dog tags, skype dates: a military thing most will never understand." 

We're baaackk!

It's been awhile. Okay, it's been forever. But guess what, guys? 

WE'RE BACK!

A lot has changed over the last few months. Too much to really fill you in on right now, because there is a toddler poking my laptop screen with a stick and it's a little hard to concentrate with an infant squealing and bouncing like a maniac. I will summarize what you all missed soon. I promise. But for now...

Remember this guy? He is now THIS BIG! 

Emmett is almost SIX MONTHS old! I know- I'm having a hard time believing it myself. What can I tell you about our Emme these days? Well. He is the happiest baby ever. I mean it. God must have decided I deserved a break after all we went through with Elliot, because although he insisted on making his grand entrance into this world early, he is now the best baby I could ever ask for. All smiles, babbles, and coos... all the time. We are still exclusively breastfeeding, but we recently stopped cosleeping. It was a tough decision for me to make, but ever since, he went from waking up every hour or so to sleeping 5-8 hours straight and only waking up ONCE a night. That's a big deal, for us, because {as some of you will remember} Elliot didn't sleep through the night until he was 13 months old. Emmett has already figured out how to roll from back to tummy and tummy to back, and is working on sitting unassisted. He recently discovered his toes and likes to chew on them... and he's SUPER ticklish.

And this guy? The big brother?

Elliot turns TWO next month. I don't know when, but he somehow got all sneaky on me and turned from a baby into a toddler. Toddlers, I've discovered, are so much fun! He is learning new things almost every day and always finding new ways to make us laugh. He has the cutest little habits, such as waving and yelling "byeeee!" to all the furniture, toys, etc in one room before entering another. He purposely throws things off our balcony because he knows he will get to go down and get them. He also steals his own snacks from the fridge. We recently moved him into a "big boy" bed, and I was worried about how he'd make that transition- but he is surprisingly easy to put down at naptime and bedtime. As long as he has his blankies, that is! Gotta have those blankies. Like any toddler, he can be whiny. He throws tantrums sometimes... but that's mostly because we have a communication breakdown. In fact, Elliot starts speech therapy this month! More on that later. 

As it turns out, I had nothing to worry about when it came to bringing another baby into the house because Elliot is a PHONOMENAL big brother. He loves, loves, LOVES his little brother. He is always making him laugh and smile, and is always willing to bring me wipes, diapers, burp cloths, teethers, etc if I need them. And if Emmett ever happens to cough, sneeze, or spit up when I'm not looking, you can be sure that he will sound the alert with a very loud "Uh Oh!" If I don't respond quick enough, he will come and grab my hand and drag me away.

I want to say THANKS- to you guys, my readers. While I was gone, I recieved countless comments, emails, and messages wondering where I was, if we were okay, etc. That really meant a lot to me. Hopefully, I can keep Elliot away from the computer this time and we will be around for awhile!

Okay, that's all I have time for right now... more to come! Including a giveaway! And I have to add in a GIANT thank you to my in-laws. Without them I wouldn't have a computer again, therefore, I wouldn't be blogging. I don't know why so many people complain about their in-laws... mine are wonderful.

Military Monday... a new thing around here

As you all know, the military is a huge part of our life. So I thought it would be neat to start doing "military mondays" here... every week I will talk about something related to the US military- this could include a piece of history, something from our personal life as an army family, current news {war in Afghanistan}, etc. I think it will be kind of fun!

For the very first military monday, I present to you:



my MILITARY bebe ♥











Emmett is doing so well! I've figured out a little secret- Have swaddle, will sleep!. Yes, this baby looooves to be swaddled. It's the only way I can get him to sit/sleep in his swing or bouncy seat {or anywhere else that is not my lap}. It also helps him to fall asleep faster at night. I feed him on one side, then swaddle him and feed him on the other side, and before I know it, he's sound asleep. He's now waking up every three hours at night, which is way better than it was, so I'm happy. He is still nursing well, but he spits up A LOT! He goes through multiple outfits a day, and I'm always covered in spit up. But that's okay, I'm just glad he's still gaining weight! Little man is happy and thriving.

The other little man, Elliot is doing well, too. He's really settled into the role of the "big brother." He loves to get me things for the baby like burp cloths, the boppy, a clean onesie, etc. He also likes to take care of "his" baby, one of my old dolls. Apparently, being a big brother is tuckering him out, because he has been taking super long naps during the day {3+ hours} and wanting to go to bed super early.

Basically... things are going well! I'm tired, but what else did I expect? I love my boys- all three of them.

Emmett: 1 month!

This month:

♥ Emmett weighs 7 lbs 6 oz {below the 5th percentile}
♥ he is wearing newborn and preemie clothes.
♥ he is wearing newborn disposables- we have a way to go before he will fit in cloth
♥ he is exclusively breastfed, and eats about every hour. In fact, if he had it his way, he would be on the boob 24/7! It took us awhile to get to this point, and after failing with Elliot, I am so happy to be able to breastfeed this baby!
♥ he really, REALLY likes to be held
♥ he is not sleeping very well/much at night. Mommy is super tired!
♥ we are cosleeping, and I LOVE it.
♥ he is MUCH more vocal than his brother was at this age. Maybe he will be an early talker?
♥ the only times he cries are if he's super hungry {he will root and whine/grunt for quite awhile first}, and when we wipe his bum {those wipes are cold!}




Dear baby Emmett,
Today, you are one month old. A whole month! Want to know the funny part? You actually aren't even supposed to be here yet. You weren't due until June 8th. You said, heck with that, and decided to make your grand entrance into this world five weeks early. You're already impatient, like your Daddy and brother. Oh boy. We'll have to work on that.
I can't imagine life without you. Yes, you've thrown a loop into our little family. We've had to change routines that have been in place for months now. Your big brother, Elliot, has had to adjust to not being the only little boy in this family. But he loves you, just as much as we do.
We've had our struggles, so far, this month. But what did you expect, when you came busting into this world a month early? You have already grown and changed so much in your first month here, and I can't wait to watch you grow.
I love you,
Mommy

Breastfeeding: revisited.

Some of you may remember my struggles with breastfeeding Elliot. Now, don't get me wrong- we got off to a rough start. The chances of breastfeeding him were pretty low to begin with, since he was born with a birth defect (of the GI tract, no less) and spent so many weeks in the NICU. He was first tube fed, then bottle fed, out of neccessity, and I was pumping around the clock. Despite our best efforts, he never did latch or nurse successfully. He ended up on formula, and that broke my heart.

So I thought, this time, I'll have a healthy baby and it will be a piece of cake! But... then Emmett was born five weeks early, which led to a whole host of problems, affecting most of all his ability to eat and gain weight. At first, it seemed like he would NEVER breastfeed. In fact, at one point, he was exclusively bottle fed, and I had all but given up hope- I had even stopped pumping! But then there was a light at the end of the tunnel in a team of wonderful pediatric nurse practitioners and lactation consultants.

It has been a long road, of multiple appointments a week, of pain, of latching difficulties, too short of feedings, too long of feedings, weight loss, then too much weight gain, formula supplementation, syringe feeding, sleepless nights, nipple shields, projectile spit up, bottles, pumping around the clock, wrestling him onto the breast, then I almost lost my milk supply completely BUT...

Emmett is now exclusively breastfed! ♥
& I couldn't be happier.

And I just wanted to say...

If you are trying to breastfeed, and struggling, don't give up. You CAN do it.

... and if it doesn't work out, that's okay. Formula is just fine too!

Either way, your baby is getting what he/she needs to grow... and that's all that really matters.

Emmett sucking on the only other thing he likes other than the boob... his Daddy's finger.