Footed PJ's = LOVE

I don't know about yall but one of my favorite things about this time of the year is footed PJs. I just LOVE my boys in their footed PJs. I love Tuff's reaction every year when I pull them out for the first time. He seems to be AMAZED at the fact that his foot is actually in them. This is the first year he's actually wanted me to take them off after I put them on. Sunday night I put them on him and the first thing out of his mouth was "I don't want it." Ha. The good thing is he hasn't figured out how to take them off his self... yet! I'll probably be pretty sad when Tuff out grows the footed PJs stage. The good thing is, I'll have sweet Gunner in them for a while. I snapped a few pictures of Tuff in his footed PJs last night before bed.

He was being stubborn and not wanting his picture taken at first.

Still being a little shy about it here...

He eventually warmed up...

Can't you tell?

I sure could eat up that sweet lil smile! :)

Happy Tuesday, Friends!



Welcome to the family sweet Kirby!

As I mentioned in Friday's post, our family was waiting on the arrival of another sweet baby boy. Here is my cousin Christy with her family shortly before becoming a family of 4.

Christy went in around noon for her scheduled c-section. At 12:58 pm, Kirby Dewayne Luke was born.

Weighing 7 lbs. 1 oz.

How much more perfect could he be?

Big Brother was PROUD!!!

And by the looks of it, so was Daddy!!!

He is, by far, one of the most beautiful babies I've ever seen!

I LOVE his sweet blond hair all over his head and face :)

Congratulations to you and your family Christy!!! I love you all so much and wish more than anything I couldve been there to welcome Kirby on his birthday! Can't wait to get our 2 babes together for the first time!!! Most of all, I can't wait to be able to smooch on each others babes together. :)

It's Friday and it's a random bullet kind of post...

• I will be leaving work in one hour and heading to the DR with BOTH boys. Both boys and by myself. (Please say a little prayer for me) Since yesterday, Tuffy has took a turn for the worst. Poor guy. I hate seeing him so miserable. While we're at the DR, they suggested going ahead and bringing Gunner Bunner along so they could check out his rash... that he STILL has from his virus. Praying my babies are better soon!!!
• My oh so wonderful cousin was taken back 20 minutes ago to have her 2nd little one, via c-section. Praying everything goes smoothly for her and baby Kirby and wishing like crazy I was there to meet him on his birthday. (They live in FL)

I LOVE YOU Christy!

(This is Christy and Jason)

• My sister and her family got WONDERFUL news yesterday... Their EP (Emigration permits) were submitted. This was one of the final steps in bringing the twins home! Praise the Lord! Can't wait to love and smooch all over their sweet, sweet cheeks! If you would like to read more about their EP submission, click HERE.
• We finally got a bigger vehicle (05' nissan pathfinder) and it has been a pain in our butts since the day we drove it off the lot. Ugh. 4 weeks ago today and we are still working with the dealership on fixing it properly. I'll be glad when it's fixed!!! It's been exhausting, to say the least.
• I hated leaving my boys and coming back to work on Monday but honestly, this week has flown by. I'm convinced it's because I have 2 babies at home keeping me extra busy! :) I wouldn't have it any other way!
• Tuff's school will be going to the pumpkin patch on October the 25th and I can't wait! You would think I'm one of the kids getting to go, since I'm just as excited! :)
• I'm starting to realize October is a popular month for birthdays and anniversaries. I have a friend (HAPPY BIRTHDAY BENJAMIN!!!!) and a niece (HAPPY BIRTHDAY SYDNEY!!!!) celebrating birthdays today. Along with a NEW cousin being born. I also know someone else having a baby today. My 2 aunt's & cousin (I mentioned above) celebrate October birthdays. Hubby will be turning another year older on the 19th. We met and started dating years and years ago on the 18th. And let's not forget, our wedding anniversary this past Sunday. See... just typing all that was exhausting. Haha.
• And lastly, IT'S FRIDAY YA'LL!!!!!!!!! Who isn't happy about that?!?!?!?!

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND, Friends!!!!

Trial & Error with a newborn

A little update on Gunner...

You'd think since I already have a 2 year old that I would remember all things newborn. Well, I don't. Actually, I hardly remember anything about Tuff's NB days. Sad I know. But I'm SO busy with my 2 year old and 7 week old that I don't have time to remember that far back. And most of the time, I'm too tired to even try.

I know I've mentioned in my last few posts that Gunner had been dealing with a stomach virus recently. Well, let me go into a little more detail about that. The poor babes was miserable for 9 days. YES friends! 9 DAYS of steady vomiting, diarrhea and rash! All we did was wash clothes, wash him and lysol everything. It was horrible. Stomach viruses usually lasts somewhere between 24-48 hours with an adult or child but not with an infant. Around day 7 you better believe this mama was calling the DR back asking "What in the world is the deal? Is it normal for this to last this long?" Well his answer was yes and he told me to keep doing just what we were doing. We were ALL relieved when he finally got better. I'm sure his little tummy was most relieved. So about a day or two before his virus was gone he started getting a runny/stuffy nose. (Tuff has been dealing with this too, for going on 3 weeks now.) All I could think was "Geez, he can't catch a break." Well this was last Thursday. A week later, he STILL has the runny/stuffy nose. I've been keeping it flushed with saline and sucked out as much as possible and I've been putting him in the bathroom when we take showers for the steam. It seems to be drying up some but I'll be SO glad when it completely dries up. We all know it's not fun trying to sleep with a stuffed up nose.

So where am I getting at with all this? This is where my "trial and error" title comes in to play. Before Gunner got this stomach virus he was eating 4 ounces of milk every 4 hours. While he was sick, DR said not to give him any more than 2 ounces per feeding hoping that would help him keep some of it down. So we did what we were told. Well every since he's been better we've been back to 4 ounces per feeding. But lately he's been acting like he's starving by 2.5-3 hours and he's been extra fussy. We just knew he couldn't still be hungry... We both (Jordan and I) thought 4 ounces was alot for his age. Well I finally decided to use my ole trusty friend google yesterday to see what other moms were saying. Once I got done googling "how much a 7 week old baby should eat," I had my answer. We were starving the poor guy! Haha. About 95% of every website I went to said 7 week old babies are eating anywhere between 5 and 6 ounces every 3-4 hours, IF NOT more! WOW! I had also been adding a little bit of rice cereal to his bottle before bed time at night and that wasn't helping him sleep either (this worked charms with Tuff when he was this little). So I also found out while googling yesterday that I wasn't putting enough cereal in his bottle. I was putting 1/2 tsp and they say to add 1 tsp for every ounce..... SO, last night at Gunner's bed time bottle (which was earlier than usual because he was STARVING at 6:30) I made him 5 ounces with 1 tbsp of cereal mixed in. THE CHILD SLEPT UNTIL 1:30 THIS MORNING!!!!! That was 7 hours of sleep without a bottle. At 1:30 I made him a 6 ounce bottle with only milk and he sucked it right down and went right back to sleep until 6:30 this morning. WOOOO HOOOO!!!!! I got 8 hours of sleep last night. I think that's the first time I've had 8 hours of sleep since I was 5-6 months pregnant with him. I've never felt SO good. :) :) :) Now all I have to do is get his night time bottle a little later than 6:30 pm and we'll be set!!!

After his night of rest and having a full belly, he was all smiles this morning. Here is a picture of our sweet happy boy this morning.

Sweet boy.

I could just eat him up!!!

It's ALL about Trial & Error!

Happy Thursday friends!

Hometown Homecoming Parade :)

Last Friday was my last day of maternity leave. Luckily, I was off to be able to take Tuff to the Homecoming parade in our hometown. (Last year I was working so MeMe and Pa took him.) We met up with mom and Ada, and with Baba and Jace. I got some pretty sweet pictures of the babes.

Snackin' waiting on the parade to start 

Sweetie pie, Ada

Ada was a little scared of the loud noises. You can tell in this picture.

Jace

The Band

The football float with cousin Dalty.

(He is the first one from the left)

Watching the "tractors"

Posing with MeMe

Proud of his "bat" he got from cousin Dalty

Cousins ;)

And just for fun, here is a picture of Tuff from LAST year's parade.

Our little boy is growing SO fast. Before we know it, Gunner will be this big.

We had a really nice day. We got home and both boys had naps. Later that night MeMe came over to watch the boys while Jordan and I attended the football game. It was too cold for both babies. Tuff had fun with MeMe and poor little Gunner screamed almost the entire time we were gone. He was nearing the end of a terrible stomach virus and I think he just didn't feel good. I am SO glad that he's over that virus. Now we're dealing with a runny/stopped up nose. Poor buddy can't catch a break! And neither can mama :)

Gettin' close to the weekend!!!

Happy Hump Day!

Back on Track

As of yesterday, I am back at work.

Unfortunitely.

That's the only word I can come up with to describe the sentence I just typed.

I'm a little bummed. Yes, I will get over it within a few weeks. Maybe even a few days once I adjust to our new schedule, but right now, I'm going to stick to being bummed about it. :( I miss my boys throughout the week while I'm at work. I hate the fact that once I get home, get dinner cooked, get the boys fed/bathed and get bags packed for the next day... it's time to go to bed. It sucks. Hopefully one day Daddy will get the position we're hoping for at work and mommy can stay home more. I'm hoping for at least part time. We just have to leave it up to the good Lord. He has a plan for everyone and right now our plan involves me working.

Work has been going pretty good. We are filing extensions right now so I've stayed pretty steady since I came back yesterday morning. Which is always a good thing. Everyone is adjusting to mommy going back to work. Tuff misses his mommy and daddy throughout the day. (Or so I hear.) We all knew this was going to happen. Poor bubs. I think he really enjoyed having his mommy home with him the past 7 weeks. He was a little upset when I dropped him off at school this morning. Gunner could care less what's going on as long as someone is feeding him, holding him and keeping his diapers clean. Lol.

I wanted to put some pictures up from Gunner's birth to now. Just for a record of how much he's grown and changed in the past 7 weeks. Speaking of, our sweet baby boy is 7 weeks old today! He's growing like a weed.

Here is my little time line.

(Including some "firsts")

Just a few seconds old

FIRST bottle

FIRST outfit

FIRST car ride (home from hospital)

FIRST time being held by big brother

FIRST time watching cartoons with big brother

Sweet face

So serious

FIRST bath

FIRST tie ;)

FIRST time to the park

FIRST monthly photo session

FIRST parade. He slept the entire time.

(the rash on his face is from a stomach virus he's had)

Playing in the bouncy

Big brother bouncing him in the bouncy

The child LOVES to be naked!!!

I've never in my life seen a baby so small enjoy being un-clothed. But this one, loves it. He can be fussy and all we have to do is take his clothes off and he's happy again. Tuff HATED being naked, taking baths, having his clothes changed and having his diaper changed. Ha. Amazing how different they are. Our sweet boy is already getting so big. Before we know it, he'll be as big as Tuff.

I'll be back tomorrow with pictures from our trip to the Parade in our hometown last Friday!

Stay tuned...

One Year

One year ago (yesterday)...

I was marrying the love of my life...

It was one of the best days of my life. (The others being the days our babies were born.)

It has been one heck of a year. We have gone through many ups and downs but we are still standing solid. Just as I knew we would! :)

Jordan is my rock.

He is my best friend and he is the best husband I could ever ask for.

Most importantly, he IS the best daddy in the world for our babies.

I love the way Tuff lights up when he sees daddy walk in the room.

I love how excited he gets when daddy is ready to play.

And what I love the most is hearing that sweet word "da-ee" come from his mouth.

I love how big Gunner's eyes get when Jordan holds him and says "It's Daddy"

Bitter sweet is what that is.

BITTER SWEET is what the past year has been together.

And BITTER SWEET is what the rest of our lives together will be like... Just me, you and our boys!!!

Here's to FOREVER together sweet Husband of mine.

Happy Anniversary to us!

I love you more than you'll ever know.

Love always,

Wifey.