Reflecting

I was doing some reflecting today of when Cooper was around Cameron's age. At times I feel like a big chunk of his infant stage is missing. I went back to work when we was 11 weeks and left to stay home when he almost 7 months. I don't remember a lot of those months. By the time we all got home in the evenings we had less than two hours before bed. I still can't comprehend how working moms get it all done. I'm anxious just thinking about it. I know some people like to talk about how hard stay at home moms have it. I've done both and there is no way I would go back. We've given up a lot for me to do this. We haven't had a vacation since before I got pregnant with Cooper, over 4 years. I still wouldn't trade it. I gave my former employer a 6 weeks notice because someone was getting married and going on vacation for two weeks. Those last few weeks I was counting down the days and when I walked out the door I felt the biggest sigh of relief. It was one of the happiest days ever. I am having the same feelings now. Next Thursday is tubes day. I can't tell you how excited I am. Since Cameron's ears have been clear and he isn't on antibiotics right now, I have a different kid. He is so happy and playful. Sometimes I think his smile is too big for his face. For the longest time I really thought my child didn't enjoy life. If it wasn't colic symptoms it was a cold or an ear infection, 10 days of antibiotics, a good week or two, then we would start all over. For all I know these infections could be gone without tubes but this is going to give me peace of mind. I feel like a huge dark cloud is lifting. He was so fussy at times I felt terrible to leave Steve with both kids to do anything on my own or with friends. I honestly don't think I have done anything with friends, without taking one of my children, since before he was born. I finally feel like I can do this and things will be okay at home. First on my list is a date night with my husband. We haven't went out either. It feels like these months have went by so fast but when you say it out loud, 7 months is a long time. Plus Spring is coming and both of my kids love to be outside. Cameron will sit on a blanket and play for an hour just watching Cooper run around. This is fun coincidence. My last day of work was June 13, 6 days before Cooper turned 7 months. Cameron is getting his tubes on April 7, 6 days before he turns 7 months. Cool, huh? God Bless you if you sat through all this. Those that did, here are some fun pictures of my kids playing, or maybe wrestling. You choose.

Happenings

We have had some unexpected happenings in the Lee household these past two weeks. Before I explain let me tell you this, if you were to drive past my house you would see this in my front yard. Totally came out of nowhere. We had planned on moving in about a year. Our house was perfect for us two and even when we had Cooper, throw in another child and we have grown way out of it. There are piles of toys everywhere. About two weeks ago I was looking at homes for sale and Steve suggested a neighborhood that his friend is looking into. At first I thought these would be way out of our price range until I came across one we both loved. Especially the kitchen!!! I called a friend who is realtor to set up a showing and in the meantime he got me in contact with someone so we could talk finances. Turns out the house would be doable if we wanted it. We went and looked at it and fell in love even more. It's new construction with tons of upgrades that I just didn't think we could find for this particular price. Steve also took his parents out there during the most recent open house and we also got their approval. We put in an offer and started out low and of course the builders rejected and came back with another price. Before we started going back and forth we were told they did not want to do a contract that would require us to sell first. We could sign a contract and extend closing by 90 days and if we don't sell we could still back out because financing wouldn't be there. Our realtor suggested we hold off and put our house up first and see if we start getting movement on it. Either way, if someone else came and put an offer on the house we like we would still lose it. The builder could still sell and we cannot buy unless we sell. This also gives us a little more room to bargain. If we sell in three months and the house is still vacant we may be able to bargain with the builder the more. That is three additional months it was sat. I'm hoping we don't sell and find out that house has sold and there isn't anything else we like enough to buy. This is our last move for a looooooong time, we have to love it. If you know anyone who is looking to buy a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, ranch house, no basement, about 1250 sq foot, Utica Elementary schools... send them my way.

Bathtime

We had a first last night. I'll let the pictures speak for themselvesOf course after it was taken Cameron almost took a dive into the water. I just go so darn tired of the infant tub, its time for it to go in the trash can. I just had to add this one, he's too darn cute not too.

Favorite TV Shows

The blog-off has reappeared. This month's topic is favorite television shows. Whew... this could get long. You guys are lucky we didn't do this last year before two of my favorites went off the air. Right now my two "must see" shows each week are Survivor and The Office. These are the two shows Steve and I watch together and for the most part watch the same night they are on or maybe the next night. We also like CSI but are about 6 episodes behind. We really need to catch up. There are some shows I watch depending on the season. I like Dancing with the Stars but have no interest this season. I watched the most recent Bachelorette, everyone was raving about Allie, I didn't get it. I might actually finish my first full season of The Biggest Loser. Most of these type of shows I fast forward through all the boring stuff and only watch the good parts. I have a few silly TLC shows I will watch when I have time and Jaime Mac got me addicted to the Real Housewives of New Jersey. It's pure trash and entertainment. Here is by biggie right now, drum roll please- Days of our Lives. Don't even ask how I let myself do this again. I used to watch years ago during summer breaks and such. My mom still watches and would always ask me if I caught this or tried to keep me in the loop. Right before Christmas Cameron was having problems with his ears for the first time and stopped sleeping in his crib during the day. We have since fixed this problem but at the time he wanted to be in my arms. So, during Cooper's nap and Cameron's I was limited on what I could do. I would basically hold him and sit on the couch and watch television. One day I caught a few minutes and next thing I know.... BAM!!! Chloe just had a baby, but it's not her husbands, it's actually Phillip's, she doesn't know this because someone switched the paternity test, all this comes out during this baptism. They got me hook, line, and sinker. I just can't help myself. Right now there is an impostor on the show. I love it!!!! That's about it. Oh, I can't forget Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Jake and the Neverland Pirates. They are must see in the mornings.

Just like his momma

Cooper is just like his momma, he has a bit of a sweet tooth. He gets it honestly, what can I say? Yesterday we were out shopping and I picked up a pack of Tollhouse break and bake cookies. He ate a good dinner so I popped a few cookies into the oven. After they had cooled down I gave him one and walked back to the bedroom to clean up some stuff. After I while I hear Steve yell, I need some help in here. I came back to find my son like this. (I took this with my phone so it's not the best picture) He found his step stool, came back into the kitchen and ate all but one cookie left on the plate. I honestly had no idea how many he ate. At least 4, maybe 5. He was still chewing when I told him he might get a belly ache and even vomit later. Remember, he has a fascination with vomit? He got so scared, spit the cookie back out in his hand and wanted to throw it away. Really all I could do was laugh. Luckily, no belly ache and no vomit.

6 Month Check Up

We had Cameron's 6 month check up yesterday. Everything went A-OK. Our doctor asked about his ears and our recent ENT appointment. She said I made the right decision on insisting he gets the tubes now rather than wait it out. I would much rather take the advice of someone who sees him every few weeks for at least 20 minutes than someone who spent a total of 3 minutes with him since birth. Reassures me I am making the right choice.

We talked a few minutes about trying to let him cry it out again. She suggested we wait until after tubes, which was what we were planning on doing in the first place. Little guy was a champ last night only really waking up twice. That's awesome for him. Of course he did get shots so he could have been a little worn out. Cooper was too cute when he was getting his shots, he kept rubbing his head saying, "it's okay Cameron, bubba here".

One small concern is his growth. He has always been in the 50th %. Now he is in the 20th, he is 15lbs 14 oz, and 26 inches. He is now almost the exact same size as Cooper when he was 6 months. Could be due to all the illnesses these past few months or he could just end up being small like his brother.

Here's to another (hopefully) three month before we go back.

ENT Appointment

We had Cameron's ENT appointment this morning. At first I was a little skeptical. His ears are fine now, of course he just finished antibiotics on Sunday, and all hearing tests came back okay. The doctor seemed a little hesitant to do tubes. He left the final decision to me. He said it doesn't appear to have the same problems as Cooper, but Cooper was over a year old too, we still have a lot of time. He says I know my child better than he does so I went ahead with the surgery. It's not for another two weeks so I am praying he doesn't get another infection between now and then. I am just so ready to get these cleaned up and get him sleeping good again. I feel terrible having him cry it out at night if his ears are hurting at all. He has had a round of antibiotics every month since before Christmas. We have seen a huge difference in behavior this week since he has been off the medicine, I think it makes his belly hurt.

We have his 6 month appointment tomorrow, stats to follow.

Stolen Pic

I stole this picture from Gretchen's blog. I had a 31 party last weekend and it was been forever since us girls were all together. I didn't think it was going to turn out but at the last minute I got a couple of RSVP's. It turned out awesome. And, would you believe I only got one thing for myself? I ordered some storage totes and such for the boys rooms. I need a serious plan to reduce some clutter. Thanks for coming girls, I appreciate it.

Jazz it Off Weeks 2 & 3

As of Saturday, per the scales at Jazzercise, I am down 6 lbs! Yippee!!! My weigh fluctuates so I could be up two or three, considering this weekend, by tomorrow. But hey, I'll take it. We were playing outside tonight so totally did not feel like making anything so we ordered pizza. Not to mention the food I had at a 31 party this weekend. Hopefully I can at least maintain this week.

I do have a small confession. I haven't ran in a week. Jazzercise is my first priority and right now it's hard to get three classes in plus 3 runs. In order to run I have to do it in the evening and some nights it just gets away from me. Between dinner, baths, play time, etc. I haven't given up yet, it just make take a while.

Looking at the calendar there isn't too much going on that could cause me to have bad weeks again until Easter. Of course Easter and my birthday are a week apart. I need to have a good month.

Big Brother

Cooper is turning into such a great big brother. I can just see how much he loves Cameron. Sometimes if I have to walk out of the room and Cameron starts crying I can hear Cooper saying, "it's okay bubby, Mommy be right back". He loves to hug him, give him kisses, and soon I'm sure do some wrestling. Cameron likes chewing on Cooper's little people. I guess they are Cameron's now, Cooper has grown out of them. We had a few out in the living room. I put Cameron in the exersaucer so I could clean up lunch, I turn around and here comes Cooper with an arm load giving them to Cameron. So cute!!! It's also adorable when I hear Cooper call him Cam. I love it!

Even More Outside Fun

Just thought I would post some more fun outdoor pictures. As you can tell, these were taken on St. Patrick's Day. I didn't think I had anything green for Cameron to wear, then I remembered this shirt that was Cooper's, luckily it was warm enough for him to wear.

He doesn't like to stay in his Exersaucer for long periods of time, but he stayed in it outside for about 45 minutes. Good thing, cause we are going to be outside a lot soon. I'm praying we don't have another summer like last. But if we do, at least I wont be carrying around an extra 30 pounds :)

Poor little guy keeps chewing on everything. One bottom tooth has started to break through and another is right under the gum. Watching bubby play some basketball.

Some good little action shots.

I love Spring. I wish we could have Spring for 5 months, Summer for 1 month, Fall for 5, and Winter for 1. Wouldn't have be awesome?

Outside Fun

Cooper had lots of outside fun this weekend. Him and Steve stayed out there most of the day Saturday and some before dinner as well. I thought the wind might be too much on Cameron's ear so we kept indoors. They played with silly string, bubbles, ran around, built a forest with some sticks. The usual boy stuff.

On Sunday we all got to play. Once again the usual boy stuff; playing in dirt and looking for worms.

They also got in some water play.

I can't wait for Spring!!!!

6 months

Guess who is 6 months old? Boy, am I happy to see that smiling face. It disappeared for a while, antibiotics and Advil are my new best friends. They gave me my happy baby back.

I can not believe we are halfway to a year. The second child sure does fly by. We wont have his check up until he is off medicine but I believe he weighing in around 16lbs and I'm not for sure about he length. He can still wear 3-6 month clothes but is also wearing some 6-9. He still adores his big brother. His smile is priceless when Cooper walks into the room.

Not too many new things since 5 months except he is sitting up on his own for short periods of time, which I mentioned in the previous post. He can also take stroller rides sitting up instead of in the car seat. He likes this much better. He is also eating meals three times a day. He loves squash and sweet potatoes. I found he prefers Gerber to Beechnut on green beans. Also, if I mix peas with some rice cereal he doesn't seem to mind that either. At this point I think he have tried all fruits and vegetables and no bad reactions.

Hopefully this month we can get him healthy, for good and I can keep that smiling baby around.

Movie Night

We had a movie night last night. Movie nights aren't too uncommon in these parts but the next two pictures are something new. Check out Cameron.

He has been sitting up for short periods or with some assistance for a couple weeks now but the past few days he has gotten really good at. I had to keep him away fro Cooper a bit so he didn't steal any popcorn from him.

Once the popcorn was gone the movie became uninteresting. Cooper could care less about the movie, it's all about the popcorn,

Nights 1 and 2

Just when you think it is safe to do some sleep training, your child gets an ear infection. Of course he would.

Night 1 (Wednesday), went fairly well. Cooper stayed with his mamaw and papaw just in case Cameron cried all night. He woke up at 9:10, 45 minutes after going to bed, and cried for maybe 10 minutes. Woke up again at 2:30, which is when I would usually feed him, and cried for about 30 minutes on and off. Then woke up at 5:45 and cried for about an hour on and off. I let it go so long because I knew he wasn't ready to get up for the morning and I wanted to break the habit of holding on to him in the morning for 45 minutes before he gets up. He finally woke up at 7:30 all smiles. We didn't scar him too bad.

Night 2 (Thursday) Cooper stayed all night with Steve's parents again. I don't think this night went as well. He woke up 4 times and cried for about 30 minutes each time. We held our ground though and never once went in there. Maybe Friday will be better?

This morning he took an early nap and I went to pick up Cooper and go to the grocery. I came home and Steve said he had been hysterical for the past 45 minutes, maybe it's his ear again. At first I thought he may be jumping to conclusions but it is the weekend and I can't let him cry it out if his ears are hurting so we headed to the doctor. Of course he is happy as a lark in the office and after waiting for more than hour to get called back, we left. Cameron gets a great nap, wakes up happy, then starts acting hysterical again. This time I am convinced it's his ears. We make another appointment and guess what, we are right. Another ear infection. Seriously, really? You have to be kidding me? He just finished an antibiotic less than two weeks ago and last week his ear looked fine. Ugh!!!!

I am looking at the silver lining in all this. I knew he would get one sooner than later so I guess it's best he does before we get him sleeping all night and it means a trip to the ENT to schedule tubes. Most doctors would probably have us wait another infection or two but with Cooper's history we are doing it now. They have to call me back Monday with an appointment time for a consultation. I hope we can get this done by the end of the month. Poor, poor guy. I hate it that he is miserable. Hopefully we are on the path to recovery.

The time has come

to get my baby to sleep. Let me back up a bit, back around late November I thought I was the luckiest mom on the planet. Yes, I had an extremely fussy baby, but a baby that slept. I did a good job, I'm patting myself on the back, of practicing the eat, play, sleep schedule. I got Cameron on a great nap schedule MUCH earlier than Cooper ever was. He quickly got on night time routine and as he was nearing the 2 month mark he began stretching out the first feeding later and later and later. Before I knew it he was only waking up around 5, then the next night 5:30, then before I knew it he was pretty much sleeping all night long. Then something went terribly wrong. Winter colds, ear infections, 3 rounds of antibiotics in two months. More than 3 months have gone by and I am now getting up sometimes 5 or more times a night. The kid is spoiled with a capital S. He is 6 months old and weighs about 16 lbs and I am done. Some babies come out of the womb sleeping well and some babies you just have make sleep well. We did it to Cooper and now it's your turn little guy. I know it sounds terrible but the only way he is going to sleep good again is to not go in his room. It's something Steve and I have been talking about and we needed to mentally prepare ourselves. It could get ugly. Tomorrow is the night. No more feedings, no more rocking, no more patting. I know you are technically supposed to start slow, but we have been patting him back to sleep for months. Wish us luck, I will give an update later in the week.

ps- it took Cooper two nights, 15 minutes each night. Been a great sleeper ever since.

The Department of Defense should hire me

Robert Gates should hire me! I have found the perfect solution to getting information from terrorists. Take them to McDonald's and have them sit and watch everyone else eat and smell the delicious yummy goodness of fried food, and tell them they cannot eat until they tell everything the know. It will work, I promise.

Cooper just started Storytime at the Charlestown library on Tuesdays. It runs from 10-11. Tuesdays also happens to be speech day, which means early lunch and early nap. Today I just wasn't feeling the need to rush home and make lunch so I got him some McDonald's. The temptation was at an all time high. I manged to walk away with nothing. Well, I can't say nothing, I did get a Diet Coke in a styrofoam cup. I'm not that crazy. I came home and made myself a turkey sandwich on a bagel thin with mustard and lettuce for about 160 calories. Are you proud? I also added some Special K cracker chips for a grand total of about 240 calories. I'm becoming a tad obsessed with this calorie counting thing. I even totaled up Cooper's. If you eat the entire kids nugget meal it's 395 calories. I don't think that is too bad considering some of the other options out there for kids. He left a nugget uneaten, so that took away about 47.5. Yes, told you I was obsessed.

So, Mr Gates, if you need some interrogation techniques, take em to McDonald's.

Week One

I just finished week one of Jazz it Off and I am proud to say I lost 3 pounds!!! Pretty good for a week if I do say so myself. I must admit it can be difficult to stay under 1200 calories for the day. I'm doing my best. I have went over, no more than 100, a few days. Once I calculate my workouts in I am under by a couple of hundred, but I want to get in the habit of eating like I'm not working out. Make sense? I can't go consuming mass quantities of chocolate just because I work out. That only worked before two kids.

I also started running, doing the couch to 5k workouts. You may remember I wanted to do a 5k last year, I'm not going to mention any names (Cameron) got in the way of that. Darn kids! Just kidding :) Once I found out I was pregnant I thought it would be best to put it on hold, I didn't want to start something new while pregnant. Steve and I bought each other iTunes gift cards for Christmas this year so the first thing I bought was the Couch to 5k app for my phone. It has been there everyday for over two months waiting for me. Last week Steve decided he wanted to go running, have no idea why, that hasn't happened in the 6 1/2 years we have been married, but more power to him. He came back and I thought, why not me. So off I went. I started week one. It's a nine week program, running three times a week. Week one has been pretty easy so far. You alternate 60 seconds of running with 90 seconds of walking for 20 minutes. I think week two is 90 and 90. I still have to do day 3. I was going to today but I decided to Jazzercise instead. I will probably stretch it out 10 or 11 weeks since I want to be sure to get Jazzercise classes in. My goal is to do the Charlestown Founders Day 5k. I might cry if I finish it without walking. I know that sounds silly, but I'm the girl who got made fun of in school for not being able to run a mile in the physical fitness challenges in gym class. I couldn't even make it one lap around the track. So this is huge for me!

I'm going to try update each week. Forgive me in advance if I forget, I still have a child that wakes up every couple of hours. Hopefully that is about to change, more on that later this week. Mommy and Daddy are getting strict! Wish us luck now.

Favorites

I thought I would capture a few of my kid's favorite things. Cameron's favorite thing at the moment is to be held or watch and laugh at his brother. He also likes to roll ALL over the floor. He is a rolling machine. There is one thing he does lay still for and this is the wipe refill bag. He loves this thing.

Cooper loves to dance and play instruments. The drums are his favorite. My oh my they can give one a headache. He also likes to watch youtube videos. Today as we were leaving for Jazzercise I asked him what he wanted to do when we got home and and he says watch Chris Tomlin videos on computer. How can I deny that? He wanted to me take some pictures of him dancing. He was getting down. I blame it on all the Jazzercise he did while in the womb. I took my last Jazzercise class with him at 40 weeks and 2 days!

He also loves puzzles. He pulls up his chair and works on two or three at a time.

Here are the one he worked on yesterday. He does them all by himself now. Does that make you jealous, Gretchen?