Why We Love Our Pediatrican

Reason number one million (b/c there are soooooo many things to like about our pediatrician's office) that we love the practice our boys go to...they have regular Saturday AND Sunday morning hours. Every weekend. From 8:30 a.m. to Noon. With a REAL doctor on call. Talk about service.

So L started coughing and sounding nasty Saturday night, tossed and turned and cried all night, and woke up Sunday morning ALMOST sounding like he had a croupy cough. Since his big brother has had the croup, I know what it sounds like, and was pretty sure that is was NOT that, but that it sounded bad enough to worry me. Add to that his extreme fussiness on Saturday and that morning, and the hubby and I decided it was worth a trip to the doctor's office. After having J on so many breathing treatments his first 2-3 years of life, the whole chest/breathing/coughing issue is not one I take lightly. So off we went to see Dr. G (not our regular ped, but one we've seen a few times) for a 9:50 a.m. appt. On a Sunday morning. Again, I love these doctors!

Even though L's cough was sounding bad, the doc announced it had not gotten into his lungs and he was not wheezing. YAY! But as soon as the doc looked in that first little ear, he saw that L had an ear infection. And the other ear apparently looked like it was on it's way to infection too. Exactly a month after the last one. Here's hoping this is IT! I know it's only two, I just really hope L doesn't have the ear issues his big brother has had. Not only b/c I don't want him to have to get tubes, but darn it, they are just painful! At least that is what my hubby tells me. He would be the expert in that area. Oh, and my sister too. Poor things - don't they know adults aren't supposed to get ear infections???

By the way - both the picture in this post and the one of J in the previous post were taken at our photo shoot on Friday. They are J's official 4 year pictures, and L's 9 month shots. We started the session with some sprinkles spittin' at us, and a bit of wind, but in the end, I was so glad we had an outdoor shoot, and I am sure our photographer got some great shots. I mean, look at these two cute guys! I cannot wait to see the rest!

Our Sweet Son

The ladies man has struck again. Our sweet J is really something. Last week, I was picking him up from preschool. I knew there was a story to be told as his teacher walked out with him, beaming and saying that she had the sweetest story to tell me. I was chatting on the phone with my mom as she was bringing him out. I told Ms. Tish this, and she replied, "Great! She will love this too." I'll admit, I was nervous. ;)

She proceeds to tell us that in class that day, she was asking the kids if they could have one wish, what would it be? When it was J's turn, she said he thought for a second and then told her he didn't really know what to wish for. She told him she would come back to him later. Then she asked little Ally (J's sweetie) what her wish would be. She said Ally quickly replied, "I wish I was a princess." Ms. Tish said J's hand shot up in the air and he exclaimed, "Ms. Tish, I know what I want to be!" She asked him what and he replied (with a huge grin I'm sure), "I wish to be Ally's prince!" Where this child gets his smoothness, I'll never know. lol

One more sweet J story - I asked J to lay down with me at nap time on Sunday. We had to take L to the doctor that morning (post to come about that) and we were all tired. Daddy was out with Uncle Trav for the afternoon, so when L finally went to sleep, I quickly pulled J in bed with me. Since we missed church, I promised him I would read him a Bible story. I asked him which book he wanted me to read to him. J replied, "The one that gets me to God." I was confused, so I asked again, "But which book do you want me to read?" He has several individual books that are specific stories from the Bible that he loves to read, in addition to his Kid's Bible. He said again, with some frustration, "The one that gets me to God. You know, Mommy, the Bible. It shows you how to get to God."

Kids have the most amazing insight sometimes. :)

The Sweetest Thing

I. Am. So. Excited.

Really.

We have tickets to see U2 in concert in October! Both the hubby and I are going to have a difficult time waiting patiently for the concert. We each have a Top 5 List of solo artists/groups that we want to see before they either a) stop performing or b) kick the bucket. U2 was #1 on both our lists (well, tied with R.E.M. on my list, but we've seen them so U2 is now in the top slot). We can't wait to rock out with the DoFlo & JoJo to the sweet sound of Bono's voice.

Just had to share. Hmmmm, now I'll have to bump someone up on my list...

FYI - I got our tickets on Saturday and have been meaning to post about the joy of holding them in my hands. Little L kept me up all night last night, I am super tired right now, but still - I'm smiling b/c we're going to see U2!

Quick LJ Post

I don't have much time - I have leadership training for the league tonight so I'm trying to get ready for that and entertain the boys. Of course, the days I have meetings, L doesn't take his full afternoon nap. Maybe he knows I'm leaving and just wants to spend more time with me before I head out for the evening. That's what I tell myself anyway. ;)

So I will have this on record somewhere, I am so proud of my big baby boy! He has started waving hello and good-bye and just yesterday, he said buh-buh-buh-bye! I "think" he is trying to call his big brother something...just not sure if he's trying to say his name or brother or what. (I am SURE it's a sweet name whatever it is! lol)

He also "told" me a couple of days ago that he did not care for the lunch I was trying to feed him. He patiently took three bites (after I promised him the 3rd would be be his last), then he sighed, and shook his head no at me. It was funny - although I'm not sure I like that he is already telling me no.

He and big brother also got a special treat on Good Friday. It has become my ritual to take my car to the mall to have the oil changed (at sears) so I can run errands while they are changing the oil. No sitting around a waiting room for us! Well, it took longer than normal b/c of the upcoming holiday weekend. I was done with my errands, and didn't want to tempt myself with any more "mommy" stores as J calls them, so I took the boys to Build A Bear. It was L's first trip there and his big brother lovingly helped him stuff and create his very own bear. (J picked out a cute puppy he named Scruffy.)

Here is L getting his bear - which we named Baby. I have more pictures of him kissing Baby, but I took these with my camera phone and can't figure out a quick way to download them.

J's BIG news, a Date with Dad & an early Easter hunt

This has been a big week for J. Let me start with the BIGGEST news. Most of you know how scared of heights our little man is. In fact, just last week we were over at the Bird's. T.Bird built a super cool playhouse in their backyard that just so happens to be several feet off the ground. It has a ladder and a slide. J climbed the ladder up (he just started going up into things like this in the past couple of months), but once he was there, refused to come down. Sweet A.Bird even showed him how he could hold my hand while he slid down so he wouldn't be so scared - and ended with, "You can't let fear rule your life forever." :) How cute is that? Well, J not only refused, but had big tears coming down his face. I literally had to climb up to get him, and climb down the ladder with him wrapped around my waist like a monkey. C.Bird is my witness. He was one scared, unhappy camper.

Well on Tuesday, I went to pick him up from preschool. His teacher brought him out to the car and said, "Show your mom the pictures." She had a big smile on her face. J ran to my window and flung a piece of paper at me. On this paper are three pictures of my little man SLIDING DOWN THE SLIDE AT PRESCHOOL FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!!!!!! He was so proud. Ms. Tish was so proud. And his mommy & daddy are beyond proud. I have asked her to email me the pictures so I will have them to put in his book. And today, I went up to his school for his Easter egg hunt, and guess what he wanted me to see? Enjoy this amazing site. It really, really is a big deal.

And here are some pictures from his Easter egg hunt at preschool today. Here is the bug class getting ready to hunt some eggs.

All the boys were serious about picking up those eggs.

J laughing at Ms. Tish.

L was all bjorned up on Mommy having a fine time. He laughed so much at the kids running around like candy-crazed monsters.Success! A basket full of eggs.

Next we have J and his girl friend. Note how I separated that word. ;) She really is a sweetie. On a side note, another mommy there came up to me and said, "Are you J McD's mommy?" I replied yes and she informed me that HER little girl (NOT the one below) comes home talking about him, how nice he is, and that she likes to play with him. The mother of J's girl friend was standing right there, and started laughing. She said she knew the feeling, that her daughter talks about J all the time too, and then smiling turned to me and said, "He's quite the little ladies man!" I'm SURE I was turning 3 shades of red!!!! But I love that he is nice to the girls. Daddy calls him a smooth operator. lol!

Ms. Tish and her bug - whom she now fondly refers to as Egghead after getting a bump on his head on Monday (that was the size of an egg! Ouch!)
Finally, tonight was his preschool's "Date with Dad." It was postponed last month due to rain, and tonight the weather was perfect. JMcD said they had such a great time, and he was able to talk to and meet some of the other Dad's of J's classmates. Hot dogs, lemonade, bouncy houses and daddies. What a treat for those kiddos! (And I'm so glad daddy took these pictures while they were there!)

J gets some air in the bouncy house.Here they are again...where one goes, the other follows.Eating a rice crispy treat. According to Dad, J consumed lots of cheetos and cookies too. Ahhh to be young.

Nine Months and Scooting Right Along!

Our baby hit the 9 month milestone last Thursday. Not only that, but it seems just these past couple of weeks, things have been changing at a rapid pace in baby L's world. He is now fully on the bottle (see the new chompers in the picture below). We had an incident, it was painful, it is what it is. Any sadness I have/had is being replaced with the joy of other things. Like Diet Coke with cherry and vanilla from Sonic. Yum. And wine and margaritas with my friends. ;)


L is also "crawling" all over the place. Much like his big brother, he is an army crawler. And a fast one. The gates are going up in the next week or so, and I think I'm going to have to start containing him in a baby gated area. His big brother just has way too many toys with little pieces, and try as I might to keep all those things up in J's room and playroom, they somehow find their way back downstairs. And of course, I put 10 of L's toys around him on his blanket, and leave for 2 seconds, only to find him scooting off his blanket towards one of big brother's toys. Sigh.

Did I mention L broke out in hives on his 9 month bday? We have no idea why, but a quick dose of Benadryl and they cleared up in the matter of 15 minutes. He woke up with them again the next morning, and again, they disappeared quickly. At his well check yesterday, Dr. H said that it seemed unlikely it was caused by something he ate, b/c everything I had given him that day he had eaten multiple times before. He said it may just be one of those things we will never figure out. In any case, other than the milk allergy, we will just move forward with new foods and Benadryl close by. :) We're going to start table foods this month - anyone know if there is any yogurt out there made with soy milk?

At nine months, here are L's stats:

21.5 lbs - 50-75%
28.5/8 inches - 50-75%
Head - still at 97%, but Dr. H is not concerned as it's still at the top of the curve. If it goes off the curve, we'll have to have some tests done. At this point, we chalk it up to a big brain! lol

How L now sleeps. This is during a recent nap. I love the booty in the air. Too cute!

Pictures...Finally!

Here are some pictures from this past weekend (our lil' monkeys are sharing a zoo stroller above...of course, J liked it for about 2 minutes then never sat in it again!) Things are as crazy as ever in our casa. L finally popped through his top right tooth on Friday (April 27th) and it looks like the top left is poking through on one corner as of today. YAY! Last night he slept from 8:30 p.m. to 7 a.m. He has done this several times over the past few weeks, but now that his top toothies are in, I'm hoping this becomes a routine. Mama needs some better sleep! Maybe we'll be celebrating his 9 month bday tomorrow with the END of middle of the night wakings. ;)

The Birthday Party

Birthday boy Brady climbing towards L. He is extremely mobile and steady for a one-year-old. And below, you can see his proud mama taking his picture in the background. It was a great party - but of course, we were all so sad his daddy wasn't there. He is in our thoughts and prayers everyday (see his blog Deployment Thoughts to keep up with what's going on).




The SA Zoo - Daddy & L in front of the sleeping bear

Me with my boys. I can't tell you how beautiful the weather was. It was about 68 degrees when we arrived at the zoo, and I don't think it got too much warmer while we were there. A perfect day with my three favorite guys!The grizzly bear woke up, poked his head out and stared right at J. Cool, but kinda creepy too.There is a special black leopard exhibit at the zoo right now. These big cats were so awesome to see in person. God surely made some beautiful and amazing creatures, didn't He?Daddy & his boys inside the new Africa Live exhibit. This opened last summer and they are adding another phase to it right now. Notice the poor preggo sitting there on the left - she sat down right before we did and was trying to catch her breath. Sooooo glad that's not me anymore!A family tradition. Anytime we take our kids to the zoo, we always take a picture on the statue at the front gate. L was done for the day by this time, but J remembered that we needed a picture before leaving. He's such a ham.

This really was a special day for our little family. Just the four of us, hanging out and enjoying some beautiful weather and amazing animals. Daddy and J spent some "big boy time" walking around and checking out some of J's favorite animals, while L and I spent some quality time together that I will just describe as a gift from above. Most definitely one of my Top 10 days since being blessed with both boys. Thank you God.