Another busy weekend!

My Step-Mom, Ione, retired on Friday, so there was a lot of celebrating to be done this weekend! :-) On Friday, The kids and I (Russell had to work) went to a retirement party at Grandma Onie and Papa Terry's work. We got to meet a lot of their co-workers and ate some delicious brownies. Jameson and his cousin, Hannah, were more interested in chasing each other around. They were a little wild, but they sure were cute!

That evening, we met up with Jon, Kellie and some other people at Buffalo Wild Wings to celebrate Kellie's 30th birthday - which is actually today, Happy Birthday, Kellie!

For Christmas, I got my parents a gift card for a photographer to come out and take pictures of the whole family (all 15 of us!!). So, we did that Saturday morning since everyone would be in town. Christine McGuigan came out to the my parent's house to take some pictures. It was no easy feat to get everyone assembled! Jameson started off with a huge crying fit because he wanted to ride the motorcycle (a toy we passed on our way to the area we were going to take the pictures) rather than pose in a picture. So, we got him calmed down just in time for my niece Justice to start crying. She's a pretty particular child (anyone who knew my brother growing up can understand) and is pretty attached to her Mama. Fortunately, the two older grandkids, Hannah and Alaina, were cheesing it up enough for everyone! So, thanks Christine I know it wasn't easy! I'm so excited to see the pictures!

Saturday evening was a retirement party at the lake! It was good food and lots of fun. Russell was able to make an appearance for a little while, but he had his fantasy football draft that evening. (As you can see, he has his priorities...) So, most of the evening was spent with me keeping track of a wild 2 year old with a 6 month old on my hip. How many activity points do you think I earned?? :-) Tyler was teasing me that I had a Justice in the making because baby D would not really let anyone else hold her for very long. Speaking of Tyler, I asked him if he would take some pictures "of party stuff" for me since my hands were full. His wife, Nichole told me that I need to be specific, because if I ask him to take pictures "of party stuff" I will end up with pictures of a water bottle or his butt. So, here's the first picture he took:

He said "Look, there are THREE water bottles!" What a clever guy! Anyway, enjoy some photos of the party courtesy of Tyler:

Grandma Onie took Jameson for a tour around the lake in her golf cart!

A big thanks to anyone and everyone who helped me keep on eye on my wild man. Especially to those who sat in a car or the golf cart with him to let him drive (Uncle Tyler, Uncle Mark, the Schartows, the Fagans, Great-Aunt Denise...I'm sure I'm forgetting someone). It was a big help!

Sunday was a day to rest...well, mostly!

Weight Loss

So, I realized that I haven't posted in a while about Weight Watchers. So, a lot of you probably think I've fallen off the wagon! Well, I did not. :-) I've lost 10 lbs in 4 weeks. And since I started out 10 lbs below my pre-pregnancy weight with Jameson (thank you breastfeeding!!), I'm counting it as 20 lbs! Yeah! I must be looking good, I got my first two compliments yesterday!

I weigh in again tomorrow. I'm trying to slow down my weight loss a little bit because I think it's affecting my milk supply. Oh and when I enter my weight into the website it yells at me because they don't recommend losing more than an average of 2 lbs a week. I still have a ways to go, but I'm feeling really good! I'll post some pictures soon.

6 months pictures!

We had Delilah's 6 month pictures (plus Jameson - that's for you, Lacey! :-) ) taken today. Jennie of Jennied Photography came out to our house and took our pictures. We had lots of fun, even though D was a little temperamental - as any princess should be! She did not, however, disappoint in enjoying every single last bite of her sweet potatoes!

Jennie was patient enough to tutor our budding, future photographer.

Thanks, Jennie! We'll be sure he gives you a discount when he goes pro! :-)

We should see our pictures in a couple of weeks. I'm so excited!

First Word?

Well, it depends on who you ask. :-) *I* say she's just babbling, but Russell insists that she's saying Dada. But, if I remember correctly, we had the same argument - but opposite positions - when Jameson started saying "Mamamama." I know I say it over and over, but I just can't get over how DIFFERENT these two are! For the record, if D is talking, this is about a month earlier than I have for when J started talking. Of course, we all know he was busy working on other stuff before he started talking. :-)

For your entertainment, here is the conversation between J & D during their bath tonight:
Delilah: Dadadadadadadadadada
Jameson: Dad work!
D: Dadadadadadadadada
J: Dad woooooooooooooooooooooork!
D: Dadadadadadadadada
J: DAD! WORK!

:-)

Oh and BTW, D now has 2 teeth!! She'll be eating steak before we know it!

Busy Day!

I mentioned previously that Russell's siblings are all headed to college this year. We already had our "last meal" with Aunt Becca. This morning we had breakfast with Nana Sandy, Aunt Rachel, and Uncle Ben because Rachel is leaving today and Ben is leaving tomorrow. We ate some bagels at Bruegger's. Yum!

Then we went back to their house to say our goodbyes.






Then we went to Delilah's 6 month well-baby check up. Dr. Zimmerman, our regular pediatrician, is still on maternity leave, so we had to see another doctor. She will, however, be back next month, in time for Jameson's 2.5 year appt. It should come as no surprise that she's perfect! :-) She is able to do all of the skills that the doctor asked about. The doctor checked her ears and said they looked better, but not back to normal yet - which makes sense since she has only been on medication for a few days.

Her Stats were:
Height: 25 1/4 in (30th percentile) Weight: 15lbs 14oz (50th percentile) Head Circumference: 17 1/2 in (80th percentile)
So, she's following right in her brother's footsteps for being short and having a large head! :-) It's to hold all of her brains, as my mom would say!

Then, Russell and I were back to work after a long weekend off. It was kind of a hectic because OPS is back in session today. At work we follow the OPS calendar, so it's back to my school year hours (2pm-6pm). So, it was pretty crazy at work too. Tyler has agreed to help us watch the kids on Mondays (plus a few extras this week). Jameson was so excited to play with "Han" and "Teh-Teh." He was also talking about seeing "Ty" and " 'Cole." But he fell asleep in the car on the way there and thus did not nap while he did not nap after we got there. So, of course, he fell asleep on the way home. Poor buddy slept right up until bedtime, dozed through his diaper change, and then was right back out when I put him in bed. His cousins must have worn him out!!

With being so busy this morning, afternoon, and then at work, I feel like I really only got to sit down after I got D to bed. Whew, it was a hectic day! :-)

6 Months old!!!!

My sweet little funny girl is 6 months old today! I know, I can't believe it either! I remember that it seemed like forever before we could introduce Jameson to solids, but this time around, I find myself saying...already?!? Her funny little personality is definitely coming out. She is "talking" a lot more. She is always babbling and laughing. It makes me so happy when all I have to do is look at her and she cracks up. It brings me such joy to see that big grin on her face and her little tooth peeking through. She continues to look up to her big brother and he has so much fun finding ways to make her laugh!

She is such a good little sleeper! I never realized how difficult Jameson was to get to bed until little D came along. If you had told me a year or so ago (when I was pregnant with D) how easy bedtime would be these days, I would not have believed you! Delilah is pretty scheduled in regards to bedtime. And when she's ready for bed, she will let you know! There were quite a few days (especially when I was pregnant) that I did not have the energy to put J to bed. So, I'd let him stay up until Russell got home from work (10:30 or 11). And he was still running around at that time. But, these days I HAVE to put D to bed between 8:30 and 9:30 and J may not even be showing signs of being tired. He will see me rocking D to sleep and suddenly he's ready for bed too. That works better than any other bedtime routine we've tried

Ear Infection...round 2!

So, it seems Delilah has caught the cold that is traveling throughout our house. She's been kind of sniffly the last few days and then this weekend her eyes began getting puss in it. I spoke to the nurse on Friday and she said I didn't need to bring her in because she wasn't running a fever, she was sleeping okay, and she was sleeping well. I figured she had caught big brother's cold, but I've heard that some kids get a little cold when they are teething. That never happened for Jameson, but I say it over and over again that they are so completely different that I never know what to expect.
So, last night D was coughing junk up and choking on it. I decided that was the last straw because she scared me every single time!! Fortunately the cough seemed to go away when she went into deeper sleep, so I've still be able to sleep...well, for the most part anyway! :-) But, we made a Doctor appointment for this afternoon. Turns out Delilah was starting to get an ear infection also. Poor baby! So, hopefully we're on the road to recovery. Except it appears that Russell may be getting it next. The good news is, he can say something if HIS ears hurt!
Monday and Tuesday I worked 8 hour days. That was JUST the reminder I needed to appreciate that I am able to work part-time. I complain about wanting to be a stay-at-home mom, but I truly feel that I have the best of both worlds. It didn't help that I had a dream that Delilah came running up to me after work. So, I was thinking about that alllllllllll day. Plus I was getting updates from Russell all day. It was torture being gone that long! Here are some pictures I received:
Tuesday, Jameson didn't get his afternoon nap. I called Russell when I was on my way home from work at 5. Russell was telling me what a terror J had been. He also said he had just put him in bed and now he was asleep. So around 7 or 7:30 I sent him upstairs to try and wake J up, so that there was a chance he would sleep that night. Russell came downstairs and said Jameson would be down in a few minutes. About 15 or 20 minutes pass by and there is no sign of J. Russell goes back up and says that apparently he was not getting up. Jameson ended up sleeping all night!! The good news is, he did NOT get up at 3am, like I feared. The bad news is I did not see Jameson AT ALL on Tuesday! :-( Yet another reason I am grateful to be working part-time.
The kids (Russell's siblings, not OUR kids) are all leaving for college this week or next week. We went out to eat for Becca's "last dinner" at Taste of Thailand. It was delicious, as usual. And I consider it a success because no one fought, cried, or threw up. There was a theory discussed that it was because Russell wasn't there, but *I* didn't say that. :-) Anyway, Jameson ate a lot of Thai food and enjoyed his dinner with Aunt "Becha." For some reason, her name was the most difficult for him to say. But, it seems that he has it figured out and has been using it quite frequently. His language is definitely expanding!

Sorry Becca, apparently I did not get the best picture!

Heat Advisory?

What does the *B* family does when there is a nearly week-long heat advisory going on? Why, we have an impromptu pool party on the front lawn, of course! We had so much fun, we drew the attention of a few neighbors into our tiny pool. Enjoy the pictures! :-)

Oh, check out baby D's swimsuit! That's courtesy of Aunt Rachel!

Yummy in my tummy!

My little baby is growing up too fast. She has been eyeing our food for some time now and she turns 6 months next week, so we decided that it was time to start solid foods. We started with rice cereal. I made 1 Tbsp mixed with breast milk. She scarfed it down!!! I had to make a second Tbsp! This is was so funny to me because when we started Jameson on solids, he wasn't too sure about it at first. Unlike him, D LOVED it - every bite!!! However, Jameson really wanted to share the rice cereal with her. :-)

Doesn't she look happy? Yum, yum!

Vow Renewal

Last night my brother (Uncle Tyler) and his wife Nichole renewed their vows. They got married at the courthouse 3 1/2 years ago. So now that Tyler is back from Iraq and out of the Army (for now, anyway), they decided it was time to have an actual ceremony and reception.

Jameson, Russell and I were all a part of the ceremony. I was a bridesmaid, Russell was a groomsman, and Jameson was the ring bearer. I also bought Delilah a pretty new dress, since the rest of us were dressed up fancy. But did we take any pictures? Of course not! But I asked Nichole to get me some pictures of us. And Of course, there is not a picture of the four of us together.

The ceremony was really nice. Tyler had his friend "Little Pete" officiate. He did a really good job. Russell and I got to walk down the aisle together. Jameson walked down with two of his cousins, Hannah and Justice. They held hands walking down the aisle together, it was ADORABLE!!!

For the reception, the guys changed into "tuxedo jerseys" and the girls got pom-poms and cheered for the guys as they were announced at the reception. Jameson made lots of friends at the reception, including the wedding coordinator. He wanted her to carry him around and gave her lots of hugs and kisses. There were lots of people who came to the vow renewal. Gramcracker, Papa Terry, and Grandma Onie had fun showing the kids off.

Overall, we had a really fun time. :-) And congrats yet again to Tyler and Nichole!

Sleepless in Omaha!

So, in my last post I mentioned Jameson being a sneezing, coughing, mucusy mess. Well I may have left out the part about him not sleeping. Saturday night (Sunday morning?) he woke screaming and pointing to his head. That night he woke himself up several more times whimpering, I ended up sleeping in his bed with him. I *think* I ended up with a grand total of 3 hours of sleep that night. The following nights he would keep me up with his coughing, so I'm sure he didn't sleep restfully. I was paranoid that the coughing would result in him throwing up because he has a tendency to do that. Tuesday morning, after the third night of little to no sleep I made Jameson a doctor's appointment. I was nervous about that because our usual pediatrician is on maternity leave and I had never met the doctor with whom we were scheduled. The appointment went alright, but I do prefer our regular pediatrician. :-) So, it turns out that Jameson had his very first sinus infection and was starting to get an ear infection. I have to say, I think it's pretty amazing that we went nearly 2.5 years without an ear infection! If you knew my history, you would agree! Unfortunately, this is probably not the last sinus or ear infection he will ever get, but on the bright side he was prescribed some Amoxicillin. You know, the delicious pink kind. Russell and I shared memories of taking it when we were younger. Russell keeps threatening to drink it!! Jameson seems to the feeling a lot better and I think he actually got some sleep last night!

However...

little Delilah woke up SCREAMING around 11 or 12 last night. She has always been such a good sleeper, so this was definitely out of the ordinary for my poor baby girl. She was content if I was nursing her and even afterwards, I could rock her and she would sleep. But the minute I got up she was screaming again. :-( I suspected that something was going on, so I felt on her gums and sure enough I felt a little rough patch. Delilah cut her first tooth! We had one dose of Tylenol in the house last night, so we gave her that and she finally settled in for what remained of the night. And I went out this afternoon to restock our Tylenol supply!

I never cease to be astounded by the difference in my two children already! Jameson cut his first tooth at 4 month and his came in two at a time. Delilah is 5.5 months and only has one so far. She's getting her teeth just in times to start solids in the next few weeks!

Weekend Recap

Geez, it's been a week already (again!). And THIS time it's because I have been super busy!



Let's start with Delilah. I receive emails weekly with a "your baby this week" -type updates. On Thursday, I got one that said "is your baby sitting up?" So, I wondered CAN my baby sit up? I had tried a week or so ago and she toppled over. She's been able to sit propped up for a little while now. But I decided to try to sit her up and guess what...

We have a sitter!!! She's still pretty wobbly, but she is loving this new perspective of life! Oh and notice her little faux-hawk she's sporting. I did that last Sunday after her bath and it stayed until her next bath. So, I did it after the next bath too and the one after that... :-) Basically this has been her new 'do this week!

I did REALLY well with weight watchers this week. It helps that I get a ton of points because I'm nursing. But, I have to cut back when we start D on solids in a few weeks (What?!?!). So anyway, I'm down 3 lbs!!! Woohoo!!

Jameson has been a mess the last few days. He may look an awful lot like his Daddy, but it seems that he inherited my allergies. Lucky boy! He has been a sneezing, coughing, mucusy mess! I think not feeling well plus the excitement last night threw him off today. On top of all that he refused to nap today. It seemed like everything I did was followed by banshee-like screaming from Jameson. But after about 20 minutes of me standing outside his door and ushering him back to bed, he's asleep. I can only hope that tomorrow will be a new day.

The major excitement in the *B* household is Russell's birthday. Today he turns the big 3-0! He was mad that he had to work this weekend. Too many people already had the weekend off, so he wasn't able to get it off. So, I planned a surprise party of him. I had everyone come over and they surprised him after work. It was a huge success! He was totally surprised! :-) I am very tired today, but it was definitely worth it!

A special thanks goes out to Russell's sister, Becca. She came over for most of the day to help me get ready. There's NO way I could have pulled it off without her!