The beginning of a new Era. (in the Alford house)

I finally put Gunner bear in his bed last night. For the first time in 164 days! :) The results ='d wonderful! He slept like an angel and he even laid back down an hour before we left the house (this morning) and took a little cat nap. Sweet baby. I think he liked his own space. Mommy sure did enjoy hers too! I think everyone is feeling pretty rested today! I still had my morning wake up call at 4:45 am but this time it was over the monitor. :) When I went in to get him I had to take a few pictures, of course!

Sweet boy!

:)

"Where are your shoes?"

Tuff has a new favorite that makes me....ahm...crazy... maybe even with a capital "C."

Just sayin...

Up until recently he has been taking his shoes off every time we get in the car. Even if we're just going a mile up the road. Well recently he has started taking his shoes AND his socks off. Ugh. Last night on the way home from picking the boys up from my mom's I was talking on the phone with my MIL. When we pulled in the drive way and I opened his door, sure enough, both his shoes and socks were gone. I proceeded by telling my MIL that this drove me nutty when I noticed his shoes and socks were not on the floor or in the middle of the car seats (where they usually are if they aren't on the floor). I then asked "where are your shoes!" He said "Der!" while pointing at Gunner. I looked over and this is what I saw.

HA! HA!

I literally laughed out loud for a few minutes over this and over Gunner's facial expression.

Not only is every shoe and sock in Gunner's carseat with him but both shoes are under both of his hands. One laying perfectly in the cup of each one of his little hands.

Funny boys!

:)

Tuff's ENT appointment

Tuff had his appointment with the ENT Dr (Ear, Nose, Throat) yesterday afternoon. He did wonderful. I think he's just gotten so used to going to the DR. Every DR he see's always comments on how good he is. When we first got there I had to fill out a TON of paperwork. I think it literally took me 20 minutes to fill out. Geeeez. They have to know 10 sheets of paper of your life history these days to go to the DR. After I finally finished my "homework" we were called back. The DR we saw was amazing. He explained everything perfectly and answered all my questions and on top of all that, he was wonderful with Tuff. When he started to look in his ears he said "Let me see if you have any dogs in this ear, now let me see if you have any kitty cats in the other one!" After he left the room to get us some information Tuff was playing on the chair and he turned to me and said "Mama! I have kitty cats in here (pointing to one ear) and I have doggies in here (pointing to the other)." Such a smart boy we have on our hands. Anyways, we didn't get any type of diagnosis for all kinds of reasons. One, he's on this 3 week antibiotic and he doesn't want to do anything until he's off and hopefully (not for our sake) sick again. He said once he gets the infection again, he can test his mucus for further results. He also said the his adnoids could be the cause of the problem. If they are staying swollen all the time, that could be the cause of his constant sinus infections. If that is the case, they could have to do surgery to remove them. He said they like to rule out everyTHING first since he's so little. They hate to have to do that kind of surgery on such a young child. He also said it could be an allergy. (Which is what I think...) So he referred us to an allergist and said he'd like us to see them before coming back to see him. He gave us some info on an allergist in the same building who we go see on March the 26th. Hopefully we can get some more answers there. Especially if it is an allergy. When I called to set up his appointment the lady on the phone told me that we would leave their office knowing what he's allergic to if he does have an allergy. Thank goodness. So for now we'll continue to finish up our antibiotic and try to get as well as we can for his allergy appointment. I will keep you all posted. Here is our big boy in the big chair waiting on the DR.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

:)

Our BIG boy!

I had some good news to share about Tuff yesterday but I didn't want to jinx it since it was his first day of school in a semi-new environment. Yesterday was day # 6 of no diapers for him. It was day #1 at school with no diapers. Up until day #5 (Monday night) we had absolutely NO accidents. I'm talking number 1 and number 2 in the potty. AND we even went out on Monday to the Dr and to Wal-Mart (for his prescriptions) in big boy underwear with NO accidents. We have been extremely proud of him. It completely came out of nowhere. He just decided last Wednesday night that he wanted to use the potty when we got home. It followed into Thursday and then Friday and so on. I decided to completely do away with diapers Friday night while we were at the store getting a "prize" for doing so well. His prize consisted of gummies, a new truck, Toy Story underwear, and CARS pull ups. He's even been doing well during nap time and bed time. He's only wet his pull up just a few times in the past 7 days! People kept telling me that he'd start using it when HE was ready. I would always think to myself, "yeah, right!" But all the people who said that were right. Now I knew school was going to be a different picture. I knew he might have a little more trouble there than at home for several different reasons. ONE, his teacher's schedule is more than likely different than ours. Ours being every hour. Until he gets really used to it anyways. TWO, she probably doesn't ask him as much as she expects him to tell her. Now at home, yes, he'll tell me every now and then but he's at home. He's not at school playing with other kids (which I think can be a distraction). and THREE, it's just a different environment than home. That's normal to everyone. Even adults. No one likes to HAVE to use the bathroom outside of their own home. He did have 2 little accidents at school because of all those reasons. I did get a very nice note from his teacher stating that she was very proud of him for being such a big boy and that he did wonderfully for his first day at school with big boy underwear on. :) :) :) She also might have added that mommy might want to send more underwear and pants until he is completely used to the school schedule. LOL. All in all, he's done wonderful! I never knew it would be this easy. Now let's just hope it's that easy for Gunner bear one day. So now I can say we're officially a BIG boy. No more pootie (paci), no more diapers and sleeping in his own bed!!!

We got him a cushioned CARS seat to go over the big potty seat.

He loves it.

Oh and as you can see, he's keeping his clothes on now :)

As I said above (and yesterday) both boys have been sickly. We had to take Tuff back to the DR on Monday for the same sinus infection he had a few weeks ago that we never got rid of. I spoke to the DR about possibly seeing an ENT about his issues. Tuff is 2 and a 1/2 and he's kept a sinus infection most of his life it seems like. But now they've gotten so bad that they make his nose bleed and I just can't stand it any longer. I'm thinking he could have an allergy or he could have some kind of issues with his sinuses. The DR decided to put him on a 3 week (3 WEEK!!!) antibiotic to try and get rid of this infection he's had for the past 3-4 weeks and we are scheduled to see an ENT tomorrow afternoon. Praying we can get some answers and he can get some relief soon! Please keep both our boys in your prayers. On a positive note, Gunner Bear seems to be starting to feel better. Hopefully we stay in the clear for a while.

Hope you're all having a wonderful day!

Gunner Blake- 6 months

Our Gunner Bear turned 6 months old last Wednesday. Yes, I'm just now posting his 6 months stats. The past week has been pretty sickly for both boys. Or should I say the last 2 months have been pretty sickly. Ugh. Wondering when we'll ever see the light at the end of the tunnel...? PRAYING soon!

Sweet boy, you are 6 months old!

Mommy can't believe you are 1/2 way to ONE!

You have been a sickly baby but your constant happiness and smiles definitely make up for it.

Almost sitting up on your own and putting everything in your mouth makes it nearly impossible to get these monthly photo sessions with a "sign" in it. You seemed to be most interested in falling over trying to get to it or eating it. The reasoning for a wet sign in the pictures below ;)

I finally gave in and let you have it after I got a few "decent" pictures.

You were pretty happy about it...

The past 2 months have been a whirlwind of sickness for you.

You've had pink eye, ear infections, the croup, a sinus infection and now we're battling Bronchitis. I say battling because we went to the ER last Thursday morning and you're still not feeling good. Mommy is very frustrated with all the sickness. It's hard seeing my babies not feeling good. Both you and big brother have had it rough! Praying hard for both of you to recover from all this sickness and get back to your normal selves SOON.

You are still LOVING big brother. Absolutely no one can make you laugh the way he does.

Everywhere he goes, your eyes follow. And if he shows you any bit of attention, you are smitten!

I love to see the love in your eyes for big brother!

A few other things your up too...

• You are wearing size 12-18 m clothes. Everything we have that's 6-9, is TIGHT. You are a BIG boy.
• We have converted you to a big boy car seat already because of your size. You seem to like that car seat a little better than the carrier. Thankfully. You hated the carrier.
• You are eating it seems like ALL the time. You really only eat as much as the DR tells us to feed you but it still seems like we're always feeding you. You drink 4 bottles a day. 6 ounces each. And you eat cereal w/ fruit in the morning and a vegetable/fruit for lunch and dinner. You LOVE your homemade baby food. If I try to give you anything from the jar, you are NOT happy about it. And you let me know. HA! Mommy doesn't mind making your homemade food  but it's been hard finding the time lately due to everyone being so needy sick.
• You are just about sitting up. Still working hard at it. You do pretty good for short periods of time.
• You are, or should I say were (since getting sick), sleeping SO wonderfully. You are going anywhere from 8-12 hours without a bottle. Mommy is SO proud. And somewhat rested... when you aren't sick. You have had a LOT of trouble sleeping since getting this nasty bronchitis.
• You are really starting to grab at things, hold on to them and play with them. You can't hold onto them long so you throw them in the floor alot. :)
• You are still loving bath time. I think you are going to be our little water baby. I can accidently get water in your eyes and you don't even flinch. You love, love, love the water. I can't wait until you can sit up in the bath tub. You will probably really love it then.
• You have the best personality. I know I say this alot but you are one happy baby. Even when you're sick. Always smiling, cooing, playing, talking, etc.

I can't believe I'm already posting about you being 6 months old. It has flown by. We are so proud to call you ours and our lives (and family) were completed when you entered this world. We love you SO, SO much sweet baby boy! Happy 6 months!!!

And just for fun here your are at 1 day, 2 months, 4 months and 6 months.

 

B is for Bronchitis.

I know I haven't been posting as much lately but sick babies and tax season makes for one tired mama! Things have been crazy with a capital "C" I was hoping we'd be on the up and up after both boys got on an antibiotic the week before last. Both had their last dose last Thursday afternoon. I'm not kidding when I say Tuff had a runny nose the VERY next day. I almost just want to "throw my hands up" or "throw in the towel." I know I can't really do that. I hate to see my babies sick though and it gets frustrating. It seems like the past month or 2 we've stayed sick... This morning Gunner started routing around about 4:00 am. About 4:15 he was really routing so I got up to make him a bottle. When I got him up he immediately started gasping for breath. This really loud-scary-noisy gasping. This lasted for about 5 minutes or so before I finally got him calmed down a little. But his breathing still didn't sound good. I called my mom, MIL and SIL. All 3 confirmed an ER visit was necessary. So after my dad came over (remind you it was 4:30 am and Tuff was sleeping soundly in his bed) to sit with big brother, off we went to the ER. They gave him a breathing treatment and took chest x-rays. The x-rays confirmed Bronchitis. REALLY? That makes the Croup, a sinus infections and Bronchitis all in one month and that's just for Gunner. Since his white blood count was up (which means infection) they also called him in another antibiotic. So round 415,643(or so it seems)... here we go!!!

Gunner Bear was a big HIT in the ER. All the nurses and doctors really seemed to enjoy him. He's such a happy boy, sick or not sick. I told them it was a good thing it was him and not his big brother because we would have had to strap him down to get anything done. They're seriously like DAY and NIGHT. Gunner's new pajamas that his Ba-ba (my MIL) got him were also a big hit. See for yourself.

Red flannel pj's on a baby...

I mean really? What's not to love?

:)

Baby boy is happy and full of smiles all the time. That's definitely one of my favorite traits about him.

As for big boy, he hasn't been feeling his best either. Poor thing. I went to his V-Day party at school on Tuesday. He was really excited to see me when I got there. Daddy and I even got this super sweet Valentine.

Definitely the best Valentine either one of us have ever received.

 :)

I also got a quick picture of him and his classmates with their goodie bags full of valentine's.

Other than being sick and celebrating LOVE day, we've still been using the potty here and there.

Sorry it's so blurry.Took this with my phone.

This is last night.

He insisted on taking all his clothes except for his rain boots off to go potty.

I told him mommy doesn't care what he does as long as he uses the potty!

:)

Hope you're all having a good week.

SOOO close to the weekend. I think I can smell it.

Happy Thursday!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I <3 my boys.

More than life!

:)

Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours from the Alford clan!

Baby Steps (words of wisdom from my husband)

I forgot to add a very important bullet to my bullet list yesterday. Remember this post? Well Tuff has been pootie free since last Friday! :) :) :) Last Friday night I caught him chewing on his pootie again. Or what was left of it. I told him "I'm going to throw pootie in the garbage if you keep chewing on it. Then you will have no more pootie!" He then decided that HE wanted to throw pootie in the garbage. So I said "You want to throw pootie in the garbage? You know pootie will never come back if you throw it in the garbage!" He insisted and ran in the kitchen and threw pootie in the garbage. 6 nights later and he hasn't asked for pootie ONCE! SO, SO proud of our big boy. Even if it is taking an hour + to go to sleep every night. (who needs sleep anyways, right?)

Our big boy has been showing so many signs of "growing up" lately. Last night while I was getting his bath water ready he was taking all his clothes off saying "I go potty, I go potty!" I wasn't really ignoring him but I wasn't really paying much attention either because he says/does this every time we're getting ready for a bath. When I turned around to put him in the tub, he was standing over the BIG potty, peeing!!! I was SO excited. Jumping up and down, praising him and yelling for daddy to come see, too. He seemed to be pretty proud. Now... as I've mentioned in previous posts... he's been "interested" in the potty a lot over the past few months. He's showed several different signs of being interested but we haven't felt he was completely ready yet. He would pee every now and then but he had a hard time understanding the "urge to go" part. Well after bath, I got him dried off and asked "Do you want to put your big boy Lightning McQueen underware on?" He replied "Yes" of course. So once we got them on I said "Don't pee on McQueen! Tell mommy if you need to go potty!" About an hour after he peed in the potty before bath I asked him if he needed to pee-pee. He replied "no." I asked Jordan if he thought I should try and make him go and he said yes. So I offered a cookie for pee. He decided to accept my offer and followed me to the potty. We stood for about 5 minutes and he said he didn't have to go. About 10 minutes later while he was playing trucks and I was watching t.v. he stopped and said "I need to potty!" He ran to the bathroom and peed again!!! This time I was even more proud. Not only did he show that he understands the "urge" part of it now, he also told me his self and proceeded by going his self too! 30 minutes later, he did it AGAIN. Same thing. "I need to potty" and he went. I was SO excited at bed time. So was he. He wanted to wear his McQueen underware to bed. I felt bad when I told him we probably needed to put a diaper on for nite, nite time. Which I wish I wouldn't have done now because he woke up with a DRY diaper! Anyways, this was my text to hubby last night before bed...

" Bubba just went in and peed AGAIN. Without me even asking if he needed to go!! Where did our baby go? Throwing pootie away and now peeing in the potty... "

Hubby's response:

" Time Flies "

As I said above, I went to bed super proud and had HIGH hopes of a good morning. It didn't take long for him to shoot those HIGH hopes down this morning. When I woke him up he was grouchy. He was not into using the potty at all. When I saw that his diaper was dry I knew he needed to go. I took him straight to the bathroom and stood him at the potty. He said he didn't need to go and asked to put his underware on. I told him "make sure you tell mommy if you have to pee pee." After that he went back to his room and got back in the bed. I was in the closet getting his clothes out when he said "I need to pee pee." I said "Ok, let's go to the potty!" When he got down to go to the bathroom there was pee all over the bed and a track down the side (like he was peeing as he got up). I told him he was a little late this time and that was ok but we still needed to go stand at the potty incase he needed to pee anymore. Well he didn't. Put another pair of underware on him and started to get him dressed. Got his shirt on and when I turned around with his pants he had a funny look on his face. I looked at his underware and he had just a tiny wet spot. So I took him back to the bathroom. This time he peed, but very little. Put his underware back on him and his pants. 10 minutes later he peed in his pants... again! This time it was a lot and it went all over the floor. I wasn't as patient this time and I'm pretty sure he sensed that when he said "diaper!" UGH! So after 3 pairs of underware, wet sheets, wet bed, wet blanket, wet pants, wet floor... I gave in and put the diaper on. He has school today so he wouldve had to put a diaper on anyways, but I was planning on keeping his underware on up until then. I guess he had different plans. I do think our hardest time training will be in the morning. Only because he is so grouchy and uncopperative in the mornings... and that's when it comes to anything. Not just peeing in the potty. So after my excited text to my hubby last night... this is the text(s) he got this morning....

" So Tuff decided he didn't want to pee in the potty this morning. Peed all over his bed. Then again on the floor! What the heck? "

Hubby's response:

" Baby Steps. He's a fart. "

(hints the title of this post)

My response to that:

" Ugh. I need bigger steps when it comes to potty training. I just don't have the patience for it. If we had hardwood floors I might have more patience. The key word being MIGHT! LOL "

Hahahaha.

Poor Tuffy must have sensed my lack of patience this morning because he was AWFUL when I dropped him off at my MIL's house. He cried and whined and got in trouble the whole time before I left. And I was only there about 10-15 minutes before I did leave. Oh me. Hopefully his day got better when he got to school. If not, I feel sorry for his teacher today. I ended up packing both diapers and underware for my MIL to have this afternoon when she picks him up from school. Here's to hoping he wants to pee in the potty this afternoon...............

I was trying to get a few pictures of the boys last night while they were sitting together watching tv. When I went to get the camera Gunner was leaned over laying on Tuff's shoulder watching tv. Of course once I actually tried to take their picture, the sweetness wasn't AS great.

No, Tuff isn't wearing lip stick. That is where he fell on his mouth Tuesday :(

After I took the picture above, I noticed Gunner making this funny face with his mouth. I quickly realized something was in his mouth. Then I remembered Tuff had been eating chips. You can see them beside him in the pic above. Can you see the chip in Gunner's mouth below?

HA! HA!

Once again, I had to explain to Tuff that brother doesn't have teeth and can't eat those kinds of things yet.

Gunner was doing his best to gum it though. He surely wasn't complaining. After all, our baby boy loves to eat. There isn't much he has passed up, yet. I have high hopes that he will be a better eater than Tuff. I told Jordan we were going to have to get a 3rd job to be able to afford to feed Gunner. :)

Speaking of sweet Gunner. He is SO close to sitting up on his own. He's been practicing a lot.

Sweet boy!

Tuff has really been into taking pictures lately. Every time he see's me with the camera he wants to do it too. He was taking a few pictures of brother and daddy last night. Here is the best shot he got where his hand wasn't completely covering the lens.

I think we might have a photographer on our hands.

Again,

the key word being might.

Happy Thursday, Friends!

Long time, no post!

Hello, long lost blog buddies! Life has been crazy hectic with sick babies and tax season gearing up at work. The good news is, both babies are feeling much better. The bad news is, tax season isn't going away. HA! It's only February and it's been crazy already. The best part about it is the days go by so much quicker. :) I've been so TIRED when I get home in the afternoons that I haven't taken a single picture in over a week. Terrible right? Anyways, I will be catching you up on our lives pictureless today. :) Here's a few things that have been going on in our world, bullet style.

• I mentioned in this post that I was planning on trying to make my own baby food since Gunner wouldn't have ANYTHING to do with the store bought. Well, it was a success!!! He LOVES it. So far I've made peaches, apples, mangos, bananas, carrots, sweet potatos, green beans, peas and avocados. He has loved it all except the avocado but if I mix it with another veggie he tolerates it. Which is good since I hear avocado is good "brain food." I did alot of research on making my own baby food and while I was researching I found this blog which was very informational and helpful. I pretty much did everything the same way she did. She does have several different tools (kitchen appliances) to choose from though. I couldn't fathom paying A LOT of money for any special machine so I bought this do-dad at walmart and it has worked just fine for me. I've used it for everything I've made so far and haven't had any problems. I'm feeling pretty productive. Not only am I saving us a TON of money by making my own baby food, it's also SO much better for Gunner and so very easy too.

• Both boys are feeling much better and we only have 2 days left of antibiotic. Thank goodness. I don't do too good remembering things that need to be added to our regular schedule, daily for 10 days. I thought my memory was horrible before having babies... after having 2, sometimes I think it's shot. HA!

• This Friday is Dalton's last home game for the year and I literally just had these made for both boys...

Dang!

Good news is, they should be able to wear them next year.

• Gunner had his FIRST belly ache last night. Well actually this morning from 2:30 - 4:30 am. It was pretty awful. So awful I called both my mom and my MIL at 3:30 am to see if it was normal? I had NEVER heard him scream the way he was screaming. My MIL ended up driving all the way over to our house at 3:30 to make sure it was JUST a belly ache. Shortly after she got there and we gave him some tylonel, he was out like a light. He slept like a rock until I went in to get him ready for the day. Poor bud. I hope we never have to experience another one of those again. I'm pretty positive Tuff never had one when he was an infant so it was a first for all of us.

• Despite what we went through this AM, Gunner Bear slept from 8 PM to 4:30 AM the night before last (Monday). YAY! Baby steps, but at least we're taking some kind of steps. This mama misses her sleep!!! I'm actually thinking about trying to convert him to his own crib soon. Not sure when "soon" will be but I'll be sure to let you all know how it goes when that time comes.

• Our fridgerator hasn't been cooling very well the past few weeks. We are on the market for a new one. Ugh. I hate the thought of having to buy a new appliance. Mainly because I know how expensive it's going to be. Wish us luck! ;)

• We converted Gunner Bear to a "big boy" car seat this past weekend. He was getting TOO big for the carrier and I could barely carry him around in that thing anymore. So we made the switch. Actually, Tuff got the new seat and Gunner got Tuff's old seat. Jordan said he thought Tuff's seat looked safer for Gunner's age. Gunner seems to like it better. Even though he's still rear facing. I'm sure he'll really be thrilled when he can turn face foward. He's a nosey little thang.

• Tuff fell face first on the hardwood floor at my MIL's house yesterday morning. When he fell, he fell on his mouth. And it literally looks like his mouth caught him. It looks awful ya'll. Poor baby.

• I finally decided to get a Pinterest account. I had my mom send me and invite and when she sent it, it said I had to have a Facebook or Twitter account to sign up. My mom didn't think that was right so she suggested I "request an invite" so I did. I got put on the waiting list. Go figure. A week or so later I got my invite and it said the same thing. Really? I sent them an email to see if that was right. Incase you're all wondering, I don't have a Facebook OR Twitter account and I have no desire for either. I'm currently waiting on a response from my email I sent to Pinterest. I'm dying to start "pinning" my own plans. The way it's looking though, I might not be.

• Valentine's Day is Tuesday and Tuff goes to school that day. I'm trying to decide what to send him from us for his first official Valentine's day at school. Any ideas? It's hard trying to think of something for a toddler. Especially a boy toddler. I also got a note from his teacher yesterday that they will be exchanging Valentine's in his class. So now I'm trying to come up with ideas for Valentine's for his classmate, too!

• Gunner will be 6 months old next week. Sheeeeesh, time is flying right on by. I can't believe he'll be 1/2 year old, already! It's crazy to think about.

That's pretty much all the updating I've got!

Hope you're all enjoying your week.

Happy Wednesday!

Sickly Sicklings

Is it just me or are my kids ALWAYS sick? I'm one TIRED mama these days. Poor Gunner has been through the ringer since he was born with every kind of sickness imaginable. (Stomach virus, 4 snotty/stopped up noses, pink eye in BOTH eyes, double ear infection, the croup and now a sinus infection) I'm exhausted from it so I can't imagine how he feels about it. Every time we're finally in the clear, something else sneeks back up on us. This week though, it's a sinus infection. Tuff had been battling a runny nose for 10 days (as of yesterday). I was faithfully giving him benadryl twice a day for all 10 of those days. Gunner steered clear of it... until Saturday night. Saturday, Sunday & Monday night he didn't sleep a wink and neither did mama. I was like a walking zombie when I started to get up and around yesterday morning. But then when Tuff woke up snotty and bloody, I knew he needed to see trusty ole Dr. C. So, why not knock em both out at the same time? $100 later ($40 a piece co-pay & $20 prescriptions), we were diagnosed with 2 sinus infections and given two 10-day antibiotics. So.... here's to being on the up & up. And here's to getting there at the SAME time. So hopefully both can get well at the same time and stay well for a while....

All of the above = my reasoning for being a blog slacker.

We didn't do a whole lot this weekend. So I don't have much to tell about our weekend. We did go watch Sydney and Courtland (niece & nephew) play their last ball games before High School. Can't believe how fast they've grown... All I can think about is that being our boys one day. I will be SO sad. But I'm sure SO proud at the same time. Both Syd & Court played in the championship games and both lost. But both got an All Tournament award. I didn't get any pictures of Syd. I got one of Courtland because I took it for his mom.

(Courtland, back row, far right)

Gunner got to meet his new baby cousin at the tournament. I couldn't believe how big he looked compared to her!!! Where did our itty bitty baby go?

(Gunner & miss Lily)

Happy Wednesday Friends! :)