The Dots

The Dots

August 22, 2014

Rockin His School Shoes

We bought the boys new shoes for school yesterday.

Caleb Michael is obsessed.

The Victim and The Troublemaker

So this happened this weekend. 

The boys were playing in the backyard. Out by the fence is a bunch of loose dirt so they naturally gravitate there. I had gone inside for a second when I heard Luke crying. It was that "cry extra loud so Mom hears me" kind of cry. 

This is what he looked like when he walked in the house.  {the child rarely wears a shirt anymore}

I ask him what happened and get this answer...choked out through the sobs...

"Caleb threw dirt on me." Sob. "And he hit me in the eye with a rock." Sob. "And," ...pause for dramatic effect...sob..."he said he didn't like my dirt castle!"

It was traumatic. And dramatic. 

Then here comes the troublemaker. He comes in all innocent. I asked him if he did all those things to Luke. He said "yup!" very proudly. And then he did this. 

{he doesn't wear his shirt if big brother doesn't}

Lord help me when we throw Eli into the mix. Which is apparently happening sooner rather than later considering the baby isn't even four months old and he is rolling and scooting all over the place. 

Sweet Baby Face

He is finally starting to give Daddy some of his special looks.

Caleb

There are many words I could use to describe my middle child. Stubborn. Hard-headed. Independent. Smart. Adventurous. Friendly. Grumpy. Sweet. Just to name a few. 

Another word...one that keeps popping up...is funny.

Caleb makes us laugh many times in a day. One minute he will have me wanting to pull my hair out, wondering if I will survive raising him, and the next I will be laughing hysterically at something he has said. My mom says frequently that he will be the class clown. 

Just a few Caleb gems lately...you may not find them funny but at the time...

He is looking at our family pic from Christmas. 

"We at Mammie/Boppa's. There the Christmas tree. There Mommy, Daddy. There Luke and Caleb." GASP!!! "Mommy!! I can't find Eli!!!"

Driving to Dallas.

Me: "Caleb, be watching for the treehouse. I don't know where it is."

Caleb looks at me like I'm really stupid. 

"Mommy. It's in the trees."

One thing I love about Caleb is he doesn't care what people think. I hope he never loses that. He's not afraid to wear boots with shorts, or even jammies in public. {that's the best example I got right now. Sigh.}

Three is a very challenging age, but it's also so fun. He lives his life with joy everyday, even on the days where he's more grumpy than happy. Things are still new enough and fun enough that he doesn't have these expectations of how things should be so he doesn't get disappointed. 

One thing about Caleb that comes as a surprise is he can be really, really sweet. When he gets a snack, he always asks for one for Luke. His Sunday school teacher, Ms. Hope, always gives him two starburst at the end of class. He always gives one to Luke. 

One thing I'm learning with Caleb is I have to keep him busy. Physically and mentally. When he has chilled for too long, he gets destructive.  It's exhausting.  I'm thankful he will be at school three days a week this year. He needs the extra stimulation that school provides because there are times when I just can't do it. 

I get emotional when I look at Caleb sometimes. He is a physical example of answered prayer. It wasn't that long ago that we thought Luke would end up being an only child. {it really blows my mind that he has two siblings.} Many prayers were prayed for a second child, and after his conception many prayers were prayed for his birth. I don't know why my other babies were taken straight to heaven and Caleb was chosen to live this life. I know he is here for a reason, and I can't wait to see what God has planned for him. I can't help but think it will be something amazing. 

July 2014

Last July wasn't full of events for us, more everyday things. We celebrated the 4th of July with friends and family. We watched the Mansfield fireworks from the golf course with the Speers (and everyone else) on the 3rd. We had some of our families and some friends over to eat and swim on the 4th.  We finished up the holiday at the Hadash house that night to play and set off fireworks of our own. It was a fun holiday!

 

 That next week Luke spent the whole week in Emmett with Nana and Daddy Matt for the Frost Baptist Church VBS. It was weird going back to having two kids for the week. Funny how that becomes easy once you are used to having three!  I tried to make that week super fun for Caleb since he was stuck home while Luke was having a blast in Emmett. He got to have a solo sleepover with Mammie and Boppa and then he rode the "train" (aka Dart Light Rail) to meet me in Plano since Eli and I went to see Bee and Joshua. We went to the trampoline park with some of his friends, too. It was his first time to do that and I think he was just a blur in every pic I tried to take of him. He was exhausted afterwards! And finally, he and his daddy got to go to a Rangers game just the two of them!  So Caleb had a great week while Luke was gone. 

Luke had a pretty great week as well. The coolest and best part of that week was at the end of VBS, Luke made the decision to ask Jesus into his heart. We had been talking about it for months before this, he had tons of questions and before he left we could tell he was close to making the decision. Nate's parents told us they talked with him a lot that week, too, and asked us if we were okay if he prayed down there. We said absolutely, if he feels led then let him go! The last night of VBS when the pastor gave the invitation, Luke was the first one down the aisle. We were so excited to get down there to pick him up and give him a hug!  

The rest of July was uneventful...lots of swimming and hanging out at home, which was fine with me considering we had a three month old!

Eli got to swim for the first time and loved being in the water. He started really smiling a lot this month, and I even scored a few of his first laughs. He also ditched the pacifier for good in favor of his thumb. That's a little weird to get used to, but oh well. The baby wants what he wants!  He was consistently sleeping through the night at this point - at least 12 hours in his own bed!

It's fuzzy and blurry but I love his smile.

Nate and I finally had a "date" to celebrate our 10th anniversary. We were going to try to go to dinner on the actual date (June 5) but we would have had to take all three kids (including our six week old). Then that night Daisy got bit by a copperhead in the backyard and Caleb fell onto a piece of plastic and busted his chin open while Nate was at the EAC with the dog. I almost took C for stitches but decided not to, which was the right call. Needless to say, we didn't get an anniversary dinner. So the night of 7/26/14 my parents watched the kids at our house so we could celebrate our anniversary. We had a glamorous dinner at On the Border and then walked around Target just the two of us. It was perfect. Maybe one day we will have a more fancy date, or even a vacation by ourselves. But for now, we are keepin it real and taking what we can get!

So there's July...

A Vacation!

This year we actually WENT ON VACATION.  It was a big deal.

We went with Nate's entire family, which was awesome and so fun.  Everyone was there, too; all 23 of us - in one big house in Port Aransas.  We left on a Friday (8/1) and came back on Monday (8/4).  It was not enough time.  But it was better than nothing!

We ended up meeting up with Rebekah and Heath in Waco for the drive down, which worked out perfectly because we swapped kids.  Garrett rode with us and Luke rode with them.  That meant the two troubles in our backseat...a little scary...but we made it work!  My favorite anecdote from the drive down was when we pulled over in a parking lot so I could get something (maybe fix a bottle for Eli? I can't remember) Garrett asked, "Is this the beach?"

They were not excited at all.  Ha!

Things got sillier the longer we were in the car.

We came down the way that made us have to take the ferry across to Port A.  The kids got a huge kick out of it.  

Luke waving to us.

We met up with the Andersons and headed straight for the beach! We had time to kill before we could get into the house.

First step into the Gulf of Mexico

After we "moved in" to our ah-MAZ-ing house, the girls headed into Corpus for groceries.  For 23 people (actually 22 because one is a baby).  For three days.  We almost didn't all fit into my car afterwards.  

That night we hunted sand crabs with the big kids, which is always great fun.  Of course we ended up at the beach with nothing to pick the crabs up with so we had to use our fingers.  And by we, I mean everyone else.  There was no way I was going to do that.  It was hilarious, and we caught a bunch of crabs!

The next morning we got to the beach as fast as we could.  Thankfully Nana wanted to stay back at the house so she kept an eye on Eli so Nate and I could go down together with Luke and Caleb.  As predicted, they both LOVED the beach.  (Luke's first time at the beach as a two year old was not a great experience for him.  I knew he'd be over it by now - five years later - and I figured Caleb wouldn't be scared at all.)  When we went to the store I bought some boogie boards for the boys and that was a huge hit!  They loved it.

 These two were quite the entertainment.

Playing in the sand was also super fun, and the kids loved to take breaks from the ocean to make a sandcastle or dig a hole.

Tuff came out the beach that afternoon, too!

The next day we took a lot more candid and posed pics while we were out playing.  We were all sad it was our last day on the beach...

That evening we tried really hard to get a big family picture and other group pictures.  It was interesting since we did not have anyone to actually take the pictures.  So we rigged up the camera by setting it on Jake's skateboard which was set over the back of two chairs.  Then we used the self timer.  To make matters more stressful (for me) is then I had to pose everyone.  Have I mentioned before that there are 23 of us?  Oh, then add it the fact that Caleb got sand in his eyes (despite the fact that 1. he was told not to play in the sand and 2. he was told not to touch his face) and my husband did not like the fact that I had a few poses for us to try out.  It was not a good night for our marriage, let me just leave it at that.

So this is the best that we got...

(this was my favorite)

 The grandkids 

The grandkids with Nana and Daddy Matt

I can look back on this now and laugh.  I'm stressing, Caleb's screaming, Luke's cheesing, Eli's chilling, and Nate is grumping.  Like I said, not a great night for us.  Keeping it real here.

But my sweet Luke didn't hesitate to take a picture with his mommy.

Of course, the best picture I get of my family (without me) is them with their backs turned.  

The next day we all drove home, not ready to get back to reality after such a short but fun trip to the beach.  And in case anyone is wondering, Nate and I got over the whole picture fiasco.  It's all good.

Feeding a baby is hard.

When I was pregnant with Luke, I was hopeful that I would be able to breastfeed him. I just wanted that experience, and I didn't want to have to spend money on formula. It wasn't easy at first in the beginning, but we got through the first six weeks {and painful, cracked, bleeding nipples and engorgement} and after that things were good. I nursed him until the day before his first birthday, which was awesome. While I didn't really enjoy it that much, I was glad I was able to do it for his first year. 

When I finally had my second baby, I just assumed things would go like they did with Luke. After all, my body had done it once before, why wouldn't it again?  Ha. It ended up being a first of many experiences with Caleb that ended up opposite of the way I thought it would go. At first things seemed easy, but at 2.5 months we started struggling with feedings. After a couple weeks of fighting with him and all feedings ending up with both of us in tears, I switched to bottles. I pumped and supplemented with formula. That worked for about a month until I was over pumping and he went to only formula. And he thrived on formula. I realized afterwards that I must have been starving the poor kid since he was only 11.5 pounds at 2 months and by 4 months he was up to 15. 

When I was pregnant with Eli, I was hopeful that I would have another experience similar to Luke. I really wanted to breastfeed him for a year. And things started out great - he latched on perfectly right away, I had no pain, he nursed every 2.5-3 hours during the day and only woke up a couple times a night. He was gaining about an ounce a day in the beginning. The only issue was that he would have periods of colic/gas/fussiness, to the point that I decided I needed to cut dairy out of my diet. 

Once I went completely dairy free, his disposition changed. He was such a happy, easy going baby! He rarely had painful gas and fussy times. I thought we were golden. Sure I missed cheese and butter, but going without was worth it to me. But then the kid stopped gaining weight. 

At an appt on 5/30 he weighed 9 pounds 4 ounces. 13 days later he weighed 9 pounds 8 ounces. His doctor wanted me to pump and give him bottles to make sure he was getting enough milk. Turns out my supply had tanked due to the fact that I kept forgetting to refill my thyroid medicine.  I had to supplement with some formula that weekend. I was so upset that weekend because I wasn't producing enough to feed him. But thankfully we live in an age where there are other options to feed babies when there's not enough breastmilk. Giving him some formula gave me the time to relax and build my supply back up. After a few days I was able resume nursing him. I kept pumping at night and giving him a bottle before bed. I thought that we were on track. I was supposed to take him for a weight check but ended up just waiting until his 2 month appointment. 

When his pediatrician gave me the formula sample, I guess he didn't believe me when I told him Eli couldn't handle dairy. He gave me regular formula. I tried it with Eli because I thought maybe I was just crazy. Well, I wasn't. The poor baby was MISERABLE. I ended up at Kroger that Saturday night to get nutramigen formula. That helped him so much. Seeing that showed me that I really needed to keep being dairy free.

So I worked hard to remain dairy free.  I kept nursing him and pumping and adding in bottles where I needed to.  I was determined to get to a place where I was just nursing him...until his two month appointment.  He only weighed 10 pounds.  It was a big kick in the pants.

So I stopped nursing and was only giving him bottles.  The doctor said we needed to be giving him bottles at that point to monitor exactly how many ounces he was taking in each day.  I started mixing my milk with 2 ounces of Nutramigen to keep myself from stressing out about how much I was pumping.  This way he was at least getting some breastmilk.  Until the day where we ate at Dickey's and I didn't check the dairy content beforehand.  My entire meal consisted of dairy.  And he had blood in his stools afterwards.

That did it.  From then on, I was done nursing.  I was done pumping.  I didn't have what it took to remain 100% away from dairy...and I couldn't be responsible for wreaking havoc on my baby's digestive system.  So I quit nursing and pumping.  And by the end of July, Eli was on 100% formula.

It was an emotional thing for me.  I was so convinced that nursing would work for us this time.  And it would have, if Eli hadn't had a milk protein allergy as an infant.  Just proof that things happen that you don't anticipate.  But you just have to roll with it and do what is best for your baby.  In Eli's case, that was NOT nursing.