Keeping The Peace With Carmine and Rece

New Blog

2007-11-16T20:46:00.000-05:00

I have moved my new blog to private, so if you can't view it, that is why. If you would like access just email me at awntkmess@gmail.com

Moving along

2007-09-21T14:35:00.001-05:00

Due to some personal issues, I am going to be changing the web address for this blog. If you would like the web address email me at awntkmess@gmail.com and I will be glad to give it to you. I will keep this up here for a week or so before I actually change it. Thanks

On to tablefoods!

2007-09-18T14:41:00.000-05:00

Well, we have started trying some random table foods with Carmine. And he seems to be so much more into it than he has been with baby food. He has had brocolli, ham, potatoes, pear, peach, watermelon, canteloupe. Probably more things I can't think of. We are still trying to keep it pretty simple and there are certain things that are off limits to him. And he will still be getting some baby food-the ones he really likes-avacado, sweet potatoes, pear and peaches. He will also be finishing off the others I already had frozen. I am loving this whole new relaxed approach. I found this article and it helped me relax a little because it just makes sense. And so far it has been true. Plus, now I am much more relaxed about the fact that he isn't actually "eating" much with this method. It is more about learning right now. He is getting all the nutrients he needs from me, which is how it should be right now. How much one can change between children!! I am definitely not more relaxed about which foods he is eating, but in other areas I am. At this point Rece had not even had ANY table food! Here he is enjoying his brocolli!

8 Months!

2007-09-18T06:57:00.000-05:00

We got his 8 month pictures taken! They aren't my favorite, but the kid doesn't take bad pictures!

Carmine at 8 months......

Rece at 8 months......

Here are a few more.

First Tooth!

2007-09-17T07:45:00.000-05:00

Carmine got his first tooth on 9/9! There is a little glare but I think you can see it!

Birthdays!

2007-09-14T15:01:00.000-05:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MOMMY AND DADDY!!!

And Happy 8 Months to Carmine!
More updates later, I am tired!

Labor Day

2007-09-07T09:30:00.000-05:00

This was Rece at our local parade. I of course forgot my camera until the day of the parade. So nothing too exciting. Just the boys watching the parade.

2007-09-03T10:30:00.000-05:00

Rece starts speech theray on September 12 and occupational therapy on Octber 3! Each is 1/2 an hour long and he will going once a week. I will keep updating! We are very excited about getting this started. And I still need to call our school district about preschool and to get him evaluated for that.

More Pics

2007-09-02T10:49:00.000-05:00

Rece

Carmine...There is about a 2 month age difference, but here is an example where I really don't think they look alike.

This is his newest thing he loves to do. He even gets brave and lets go with one hand, but after a while he fell backwards and hit his head on the wall...bad mommy, next time pull it out into the middle of the room!

Our little photographer, Rece got ahold of the camera and we had about 7 pictures like this :)

First Ohio State Game!! GO BUCKS!!!!!!
This is what daddy lives for!

Rece and daddy playing tennis together on XBox

Carmine's favorite playpen ;)

Random Cute pics

2007-08-27T14:50:00.000-05:00

Enjoying a peach

First hot tub experience, don't worry I checked the water temp. and it was appropriate.

helping daddy pull "weeds"

Rece reading to Carmine...he loves reading to anyone.

Mr. cool dude

Messy Boy

Carmine has signed his first sign, milk! He is also starting to wave and clap! He has waved a couple times, the first time at himself in a mirror and the second time to Rece in the morning. The clapping is not quite together yet, but you can tell he is trying. He is getting better with solids. But he still has to be quite hungry to actually eat much of it. But right now his favorites seem to be avacado, pear and peaches. We have tried peas and will be trying potatoes today! He just still really enjoys the boob! ;) Rece cracks me up everyday! He is so funny and knows it. Today I caught him making two stuffed animals kiss! And he was on the ground crawling around going under Carmine's crib like the dogs do, so I think he is really starting to use his imagination and make believe play a little. A long way to go still but this is the first sign of it I guess! He also reads all day, out loud to whoever will listen or just to himself in his room, like he is doing right now.

Update on Rece

2007-08-17T15:43:00.000-05:00

Well, we had our follow up meeting with our service coordinator for Rece's evaluations. First of all, the numbers that were missing last time I got through the evaluation summary. In speech he is only delayed about 1 month. So no speech therapy was recommended. In fine motor and cognitive he was at a 24 month level, so about 7 months behind. So, next week some time I will be getting a phone call to set up occupational therapy and probably physical therapy. And with the preschool for the next couple of months I will have to take a wait and see approach. I am not really clear on what will go on with the preschool. If he qualifies for the special education preschool then he will start in January, but if he doesn't qualify then I probably won't even attempt it until the fall, cause I am just assuming that he won't be potty trained, which he has to be to start at almost any preschool.
Obviously I would prefer if he was completely "normal" and on track but at this point I hope he qualifies for the preschool just because I think it would be so beneficial for him and for me. But if the therapy helps then it shouldn't be such a struggle everyday and then maybe preschool wouldn't be such of relief. We will see.

7 Months

2007-08-15T14:47:00.000-05:00

Rece at 7 months
Carmine at 7 months...
Ok, they have identical smiles, but their face shapes are unmistakably different!
I couldn't decide on my favorite picture this time so I am posting a few.

Catch Up!

2007-08-12T18:51:00.001-05:00

It takes forever to upload pictures onto here with dial up so I just never have enough time during the day anymore. So here is the last week...

Some eating....
Carmine sampling a banana! He wasn't so sure about it just like the babyfood. We have tried avacado, banana, rice cereal, mango and apple and he really just doesn't care about any of them. Oh well, I am still nursing 5-6 times in a 24 hour period, so he is getting plenty of food.
And Rece after some yummy corn, just about the only veggie I can get him to eat.
And some playtime...
Beth, Averie and Baylor came down and spent a couple of days with us. We have kind of gone from taking Averie and Rece's picture to taking Baylor and Carmine's. They are a little more cooperative!
A new milestone...

He started doing this on the 10th! He can't fall on his butt gracefully yet, but he stood there long enough for me to take about 7 pictures and then some.

And the state fair...

We rode on 2 rides. This one can spin if you spin the wheel in the center. We ended up riding with 2 boys about 8. So of course they wanted to spin. We let them for a little bit, but I think Rece started feeling it, so we had to put it to a stop. He liked them and wanted more afterwards but we moved on to more eating.
Rece and I shared an elephant ear and of course he loved it.
Then we went into the petting zoo. He really liked feeding the baby goats carrots. Carmine just kinda hung out in the stroller the whole time and was a good sport.

Evaluation

2007-08-03T15:08:00.000-05:00

Well, some of you know what a hard time Rece has given us at times. It has gotten to a point where we thought we should have him evaluated by our county's 0-3 program. So we started that process a few weeks ago and yesterday was the evaluation. It took place in our home so he was being pretty typical which was good. There were two women here, one did the gross motor, social/emotional and self help areas. She pretty much asked me questions about what he can/will do or not. The other woman was evaluating his speech, fine motor and cognitive areas. She was just playing and interacting with Rece for her part. The results of their evaluations were even a little worse than I expected. He has a delay in every area except social/emotional, in that he was at a 33 month level. He is 31 months right now. In the fine motor, speech and cognitive she said there were slight delays, but I didn't get numbers. In gross motor he was at a 21 month level and for self help he is at an 18 month level. They said that these evaluations were pretty broad and that they didn't cover everything but they give an estimate. On top of this I gave them a list of issues that I see with him on a pretty regular basis. This is the list I gave them:
no reaction to almost all loud noises and the reactions he does have a pretty severe, he is very loud, squeals to where it hurst others' ears, babbles still, hits other kids non-aggressively, never stops moving, runs into things, loves spinning and being tossed, kicks to wall in bed, prefers music/Tv very loud, eats paper, crayon, chalk, etc., tears things, stuffs his mouth too full, throws food, bangs cup on table, spits milk, bothered by 1 hair on hand, hates having most food on hand-yet won't use silverware, won't sit/stand in sandbox, afraid of climbing, late milestones (walking at 18 months, first word at 12 months), touches everything in a room, loves opening/closing doors, pinches nipple for comfort, hard time transitioning from wake to sleep and vice versa, chews on crib, wants us to repeat him, eats a lot for his age, always hungry, enjoys his face/tongue being washed.
I know that is long but that is Rece. So they will take all of that into consideration and I should be getting a phone call next week sometime to set up another appointment with our service coordinator to decide where we should go from here. It could be a preschool readiness program, a playgroup, Occupational therapy, etc. or all of the above. We have been thinking for a little while that it is a Sensory Issue like Sensory Integration Disorder and both the evaluators aggreed that a lot of the problems seem to stem from sensory problems. And if we were questioning that before I am pretty set on that after our lunch today. We went to a buffet for lunch today and I got him some jello. He has never eaten jello before because it feels funny, but today he started squishing it in his hands. I could tell he didn't like the feeling based on his face but he kept doing it but then he started gagging just from the feel of it. He almost threw up. I felt so bad. I took it all away, he almost started crying because he just hated that feel on his hand. So no jello for him until he understands all of this and is ready to try again.
So I will be happy to get him started in whatever he needs to help him get through all of this. And then in January, when he turns 3, he will most likely start preschool. That will be very bittersweet. I know that this is what will be best for him, but I am going to be so sad sending my baby to preschool. It will also be nice for Carmine because that will give me some one on one time with him, but still very bittersweet.
This has not been hard for me to deal with until we actually got the results of the evaluation. And it still isn't really hard, just a different feeling then I have had before. It actually gives me some relief. It makes me think I do know my son and it makes me feel better that I am not crazy and just unable to handle him. But as a mommy, I can't help but wonder what I could have done differently. Don't worry I know it isn't my fault but I think every parent wonders this when anything happens, no matter how big or small. And I find myself doing things a little differently with Carmine in some aspects, especially food. I will be happy once this all starts rolling, well it has already, but I will be happy when progress starts showing. Now that I have gotten this out there, I will make sure to keep everyone updated about what we are doing with him.
Sorry for the rambling, but I have been having these thought for a while and just not quite ready to share.

A couple Firsts

2007-08-02T06:31:00.001-05:00

Carmine's first solid food! A few months ago I decided I was going to make my own baby food. So I started a little while ago and we have quite a freezer stash. It is actually really easy and not time comsuming at all and so much cheaper and tastier and healthier! We gave him avacado on Sunday. He did so great. He opened his mouth at first sight of the spoon. He made some funny faces though. But he kept opening up. I don't think he ate too much because he kept spitting it back out, but he has done a little better since then. He kept grabbing the spoon and he would actually get it in his mouth. And he also enjoyed playing with a cup. He can't quite figure out how to get the water out but he was close. And yesterday he got bananas. Right now he only gets a little at lunch time. I am taking it nice and slow, I am in no hurry to have him on 3 meals a day or start him weaning from breastfeeding. Once he starts getting more in him then I will probably add a breakfast.

His first non-baby tub bath! I decided to switch his bath tub to the big boy bath tub since he is sitting up pretty well. Plus we had such a hard time getting Rece to lay in the bath tub that I said from the beginning that Carmine was going to lay. He loved it but of course he loves any type of bath.

The Reception!

2007-08-01T12:10:00.000-05:00

The best part of course! Rece was a little freaked out by the dj's loud noises at first but in no time he was jammin'! We left at about 11:30 and Rece was wide eyed the whole time until he hit the carseat.

Daddy and Carmine both looked like they had been drinking (only one of them had!)

If you ever need to pick up girls take my son, because he had every single young pretty girl at the wedding/reception pick him up at least once through the night. EVERY SINGLE ONE!

This is the best picture I have of the two of us in a long time. This was in the car as we were getting ready to leave.

I have video of Rece dancing that I will try to get up here. Overall we had a great time and we also got some pictures taken of the 4 of us by the photographer. And the next day Keith and Hope headed to Italy while we watch their dog!! for 14 days!!!

The Limo Ride

2007-07-31T05:54:00.001-05:00

My mom drove our car over to the reception with the kids so that we could ride over in the limo. I would have been ok driving over, but I know Hope wanted the whole wedding party to ride. We got some cute pictures.
me and Anupa

The Ceremony!

2007-07-30T09:25:00.000-05:00

Rece did awesome!! He got to follow daddy, so we had the person waiting with him just tell him to go get daddy. He ran up the aisle carrying the pillow. Then he was so good while the ceremony was going on. We had smarties as bribe candy for him. He only had like 3 of them and he didn't even eat them, he was just playing with them. Which was actually better except he did have to crawl after a couple of them. He sat on the step at the alter, he crawled acrosss it and played a little but he didn't even attempt to leave the alter or go play on it where the pastors were. Tony only had to pick him up once and that was only because Hope and Keith were going to light the unity candle and he didn't want them to trip on him. Then afterwards he ran back down the aisle. He was pretty good for pictures afterwards but we will have to see how they turned out. And of course Carmine looked super cute in his tux!
my little piano man!the groom and his godson

The Rehearsal

2007-07-29T17:50:00.000-05:00

These are some pictures from the rehearsal, pretty self explanatory. Tony was best man, I was a bridesmaid and Rece was a ring bearer! Rece was tired, but he did pretty good. I had high hopes for him for the next day!!

Bachelorette Party!

2007-07-28T17:57:00.000-05:00

Part 1 in a series from my brother's wedding! The bachelorette party was actually last weekend, but it has obviously been a busy week.
We had a lot of fun. We started out at the bride's parents house for a passion party and drank and played "Never have I ever..." then we went out to a couple of bars and then we went to Steak-N-Shake. I didn't get home until 4:45 am!! YIKES! I was exhausted the next day. Actually I am not sure if I have recovered still. But we had a lot of fun. I drank a little bit before we went out (there were two DDs) but I only had 2 shots while we were out. Actually no one really got drunk. Well except for one girl, but it was a friend of a friend. The bride had fun and she had a little spinner button that we had guys spinning. Nothing too crazy, just "dance with me", "flirt with me", "give me a buck", "tell me a secret", etc. My legs were actually sore the next day because of the dancing. It has been a long time since I have gone to a bar like that, actually about a year.
Hope and her mom playing with one of the "toys"

a group picture minus me at the bar.

me and Anupa dancing

taking a shot with the bride and my sister.

Doctors Appointments

2007-07-19T16:23:00.000-05:00

We had a doctor appointment today for both boys. Rece did really well even with the Doctor looking in his ears. And the nurse asked if Rece played games and I said you mean like Ring around the Rosies? and she said yes, and Rece promptly started performing. It was cute. And Carmine did pretty good. He got shots and he cried but as soon as I turned him around to face me he stopped crying. Pretty easy. He gained almost a pound and 1/4". And Rece gained 2 lbs. and 3/4". both have pretty much stayed on the same growth curve as they have been on. Everyone looks good and Carmine will go back in 3 months and Rece in 6 months.

6 months/2.5 years

2007-07-15T17:06:00.000-05:00

We had pictures taken yesterday. I think they turned out pretty good considering we had 2 tired boys on our hands.

Carmine at 6 monthsRece at 6 months
Rece at 2 1/2 years
Our Family

Carmine is sitting up on his own now. It isn't 100% but he does pretty good. He occassionally propels himself backwards when he gets excited. He is also newly really playing with his feet.

Fireworks!!

2007-07-07T12:45:00.000-05:00

We took the boys to see the big fireworks in the city. Carmine just stared at them with very little reaction. Rece kind of whined a little but eventually he loved them and kept asking for more.
We went with Conner and his mommy and daddy. Rece and Conner just loved dancing to the music that was played by a band.

Carmine took a little catnap waiting for all of the festivities to start!

Horseys

2007-07-03T10:57:00.000-05:00

That is what Rece now calls the carousel at the zoo. We went there again and he rode it with Grammy this time and loved it. Before he would get on it and the horse would go up once and that was the end of it. But now I bet he will besuper excited to ride the horseys again!!

SWIMMING!!

2007-07-02T06:22:00.000-05:00

This is a little late, as it happened last week, but oh well.

First we blew up the baby pool and Rece loved it! Carmine did not have the same love for the pool. We also had the elmo sprinkler on which Rece also liked. This is Rece the first swim.

But then we also went to a local pool to take them swimming. Rece did great! It was shallow enough that he could walk around a little. He didn't really like letting us go but did a couple of times. He even let daddy float him a couple times. He never really relaxed, but we are working on that, and there may be an underlying reason that I will go into later.

Carmine liked the big pool much better, it wasn't quite as cold. He actually kind of enjoyed floating. I didn't dunk anyone today, cause it was way to cold and I didn't even want to go under! I am not that mean!!

And lets not forget about yummy pool pizza!

Oh I am so missing my moms pool this year! I can't possibly go to a public pool by myself so we are stuck waiting until a free day on the weekend which very rarely happens.

And lets not forget the swinging! This was Carmine's first time in a swing and he loved it. Much more than Rece did at that age.

On a totally different note, my little boy is 2 1/2 today! I can't believe how big he is getting. Everyday he makes me laugh and everyday he surprises me. He is a lot of fun right now and he thinks he is the funniest person on the planet. He has got the biggest personality and I can't even convey it to the people who read this blog that don't actually know him. Even the people that don't get to see him often have only seen the surface of that personality. Those of you that will be at Uncle Keith's wedding will get to see it in full bloom. He absolutely LOVES dancing and being the center of attention. So between walking down the aisle as the ring bearer and dancing the night away at the reception he is going to be the life of the party. Aunt Hope already knows this and is ok with it ;) I doubt that he will ever know or understand how much I love him and what it means to me that I get to spend every single day with him. And I get to be the one who shows him all the new adventures and amusements of every day life.

The Park

2007-06-26T08:51:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we met halfway between our houses with Averie and Baylor and Beth and Annie! Just like last year The kids had a lot of fun and it was a successful playdate with no hitting! There weren't even any attempts-at least not to my knowledge!!!! We had a picnic lunch and then the kids played on the equipment and on the swings and for Rece in the dirt. Just lots of pictures.....
Annie and Rece playing and is that the profanity you were talking about Annie??

All the kids swinging

Baylor and Carmine Hanging out

Averie is not too sure about Rece

Carmine enjoying the swing!

This is one of the best pictures I have gotten of Rece in a while...actually looking at the camera and smiling!

And my sons crazy hair and enjoying a peach

There is a first for everything!

2007-06-22T09:32:00.000-05:00

My non-climbing child-you know the one that hates the climbing part of gymnastics-climbed up onto his changing table and layed down!!!! WHAT! Tony thought I put him up there and left him. So today I got a video...I will post it in the sidebar in a little bit!

The end of the stay for Annie

2007-06-20T05:56:00.001-05:00

Brandon had to leave right after the surprise party to get home. But Annie stayed longer. On Monday we went to the zoo and had a great time. Rece just really gets into the animals these days. If we lived closer we would probably be there once a week. He gets so excited especially about the monkeys and penguins. And we got to see the penguins eat that day! And Annie's camera caught a reflection and the penguins were chasing it like dogs do. It was pretty funny. It took a while for us to figure out what was doing it. Rece really enjoyed the petting zoo area and was trying to chase the goats. Here he was trying to look at it's eyes!And this was the first time Rece would sit or even get close to the animal statues. He did for the polar bear and the tiger. And last time he wouldn't touch the snake but he did this time! This is what happened on the walk back to the car. He was zonked! But of course as soon as he was in the car he was up and non-stop talking!

And Monday night Annie and I had a girls night. We went to dinner at On The Border and then to see Knocked Up. It was funny but I definitely think when you have already gone through it, you have a different perspective and it is too real to be as funny as other people think it is! But I laughed and had a good time and Annie and I hadn't ever gone out just the girls before so it was about time!

Then on Tuesday we went Strawberry picking. Rece had a blast at least for the first 15 minutes. It got a little old after a while but he loved picking the strawberries and eating them right off the vine. He was a mess!!

And on Wednesday we rested the whole day. It seems as I had developed some food poisoning and was not feeling great from about Tuesday afternoon through Saturday!!!!!!! But then Wednesday night we had gymnastics. Annie was pretty impressed by the whole experience-the place and activites and how well Rece did. She seems to think he will do great in preschool.....we shall see someday ;)

Then Thursday we went and got Carmine's pictures taken (as already posted), then we went and got ice cream-which Rece didn't even want. Then Annie had to leave us! Rece was busy doing something when she left so he didn't even really realize it. But then when he did it was kind of sad because he was walking around yelling "ANNNNNIE, ANNNNIE"

We had a great week!

SURPRISE!!

2007-06-18T06:13:00.000-05:00

We threw a surprise party for my mom's 50th birthday! And I will never throw another surprise party again! I know, never say never. But I felt like I needed to throw up the entire day. It turned out to be a great party but we didn't know how much she knew. But we did know someone almost ruined it. So we had a lot of covering up to do. And my mom lives with us right now so that made it even more challenging! We went to church that morning and most of the time on Sundays we go out to eat afterwards. Well we had about 3 hours to kill before I could take her home. So I said that I needed to go to a mall that is about 25 min. away from our house to look for a book, which I did. So we went and ate lunch and did a little shopping. Then the drive back was awful! I though for sure I was going to get sick in the car. But we appeared to pull it off (unless she is lying-but she isn't that good of a liar!) and it was a success!

The cake my grandma made! Thanks Grandma!
SURPRISE!!

Now my mom can be a red hat lady!!
And of course one of my little guy enjoying the cake...looks a little mischievous!

Please Pray

2007-06-16T22:30:00.000-05:00

Please go to this website and read the story of this poor little boy, Kaleb and his family. Kaleb's story He is suffering from Shaken Baby Syndrome and is struggling everyday. Please send this family your prayers and thoughts. They need them everyday. If you go to her friends list and click on the second friend the story of what happened is right there. Basically though she left Kaleb with a sitter and when she picked him up, he was lifeless. The sitter is being charged. I thank God everyday-even the rough ones-that I am able to be a stay at home mom.

And Then....

2007-06-16T11:11:00.000-05:00

On Friday we had a relaxed day and didn't do much of anything...which I think everyone needed. Then on Saturday was Tony's brother, Jeffrey's graduation party. Nothing too exciting but Rece enjoyed the cake and Carmine enjoyed a snooze in the sun!

And on Saturday we had a double date night! Doesn't happen too often anymore! We went to a comedy club where we had dinner first. The comedian was really funny. I think everyone needed a good laugh and had a really good time. But I know the morning came way too soon!!

Stay tuned for all the details about the surprise party...as soon as I get the pictures from my brother!

And now for the Clippers

2007-06-15T07:12:00.001-05:00

Rece had an absolute blast at his first baseball game!! He was clapping right on cue and he had his first cotton candy! We bought him his own bell to ring. But he ended up throwing it and hitting a little boy so it was taken away. But overall it went so well and this is the type of thing that daddy can't wait for!!!! Carmine seemed to enjoy it also-at least as much as a 4-month old can. And he sat with the mascot without even freaking out! Does that mean Santa will be easy this year?? Stay tuned tomorrow for yet another post about our week with Annie and Brandon!

A Long Week-Just the Start!

2007-06-14T14:18:00.001-05:00

Well, last Tuesday Brandon and Annie came for a little visit! Annie is a teacher so she is off for the summer. And Brandon just decided to take a little vacation. So they got here on Tuesday. That evening we went grocery shopping with Keith and Hope for a party we had on Sunday (more on that later). Then we went to get ice cream. No pictures of this day. No pictures Wednesday either. We had a calm day then had dinner with Joey and Maggie and their parents. But then Thursday we have lots of pictures!! We started out by going to my doctor's appointment. But then we went to the park and played. Rece really just prefers walking around and playing in the dirt. Carmine LOVED laying naked in the grass while getting his diaper changed!!! Then we went to the other side of the park where there is a living Historical Farm to see the animals. Rece really liked the little ducks. He would pet the sheep but not the horses. Too big I guess. Then we went to get snow cones (which Rece now points out every time we drive by them-almost daily!) and sandwiches and hotdogs. Then home for naps. Then we went to a Columbus Clippers baseball game-Rece's first!!! But you will have to stay tuned for those pictures! Dial up only goes so fast on loading pictures people!

5 Months!!

2007-06-14T13:36:00.000-05:00

Wow, can you believe it??? I have a lot of catching up to do. We have had such a busy week and a half with visitors. But first I present the 5 month pictures. I never would have thought that my second child would be even as close to as photogenic as my first and he may have even surpassed him in some ways!! You be the judge:

Carmine at 5 months

Rece at 5 months

Wordless Wednesday

2007-06-06T07:22:00.000-05:00

Gymnastics Finale!

2007-05-31T06:55:00.000-05:00

Rece had his last gymnastics class for the session last night! We will be starting classes again in 2 weeks! I wasn't able to go because I was at the MOMS club spring banquet, so Tony was on his own. And he said Rece was quite the pistol. He hasn't been feeling well so we kind of knew that it might be interesting. He just didn't want to do anything that the group was doing. But since it was the last night he got a little medal and an "award of merit". Tony said he was so proud of his award and woundn't put the piece of paper down. Then of course he crumpled it up! And of course he was excited about getting a stamp! Maybe we should get stamps for when we potty train?

Daddy helping Rece with his climbing.

Miss Stacey giving Rece his medal!
This one is a little blurry but he was so proud up there holding his award of merit!
And patiently waiting for his hand to be stamped.

CAR-MINE WITH A LONG I PEOPLE!!

2007-05-30T11:09:00.000-05:00

That is what I feel like saying to people. You wouldn't believe how many people say Carmen. Even after seeing it or after hearing it!!! Why, this is not a difficult name? Yes it is not common, but it is not made up!! It sounds just like it is spelled. MINE!! Not MEN! It is in the top 1000 baby names for 2006 so I know there are other little boys with the same name. Learn basic English and then try again! Sorry to be so harsh, but I am sick of people not pronouncing his name right! I can't even imagine what my mom went through with Tonia! Long O. Maybe I will start puting the little dash over the I!

Prayers Needed!

2007-05-29T11:20:00.000-05:00

Baby Maggie has been back in the hospital since Saturday. On Saturday she stopped breathing and turned blue for a couple minutes before her great Aunt resucitated her. She appears to be doing just fine and they are continuing to run tests to rule out anything ongoing. They are hoping to be leaving the hospital today. Please keep them in your thoughts!

Maggie Rose

2007-05-25T18:15:00.000-05:00

WELCOME MAGGIE ROSE!!!!
Joey became a big brother yesterday at 11:56 am. She was 7 lbs. 5 oz. and 19.5 in. She is beautiful with lots of thick black hair!!

Recap

2007-05-21T15:40:00.000-05:00

Well our phone line has been down since Friday, so no computer until now!
Carmine had his 4 month check up today. He is tiny still!! He is 12 lbs. 9.5 oz. and 24 in. Which means he didn't grow at all in length and only gained 6.5 oz! But the pediatrician isn't worried so neither am I. He is still thriving and happy.
Does he laugh? check
Does he reach to grab things? Check
Does he put things in his mouth? check
And the doctor is still fine, even encouraging, about me waiting until at least 6 months to start solids. He did get 4 shots today an of course cried but he seems to be ok.

WEEKLY WEIGH IN:
Weight-138 (-1/-17)
Thigh-20.5 (-.25/-2)
Hips-38 (-.5/-4)
Waist-33.25 (-.25/-5.75)
Chest-36 (-.5/-3.25)
Upper arm-10.5 (-.25/-.75)
Not bad. I am having a little trouble keeping my motivation up. I ended the LifePoints challenge that I was doing with my mom. We won!!! And overall I was the biggest loser. So that was great and that was by no means the reason I started working out. But I have a competitive streak and that was helping it along. I try to get up at 5:30 to work out. It is the only consistent time I have to do and the only garunteed time. And the thing is is that I feel so much better through the day when that happens. But, that 5:30 comes pretty quickly especially if you have a child waking in the middle of the night (or two). They generally both sleep through the night but occasionally Carmine wakes to eat. And lately Rece has been having issues with pee and poo so he occasionally wakes at night! But I really want to get back on track. Hopefully tomorrow, but right now I have a cold and slightly sore throat. So we will see.

Everyone is getting along just fine!!

2007-05-18T11:16:00.000-05:00

2007-05-15T13:12:00.000-05:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHASITY!!!

4 Months

2007-05-14T12:38:00.000-05:00

***********Rece at 4 months************

***********Carmine at 4 months*********

It is pretty funny that I had forgotten that we used a sports ball in Rece's picture until after we already had Carmine's taken!

And this is just my favorite of them. I have to say I have 2 very photogenic kids that smile constantly!!! For the rest of the pictures click in the sidebar.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!

2007-05-13T17:19:00.000-05:00

We had a great mothers day. First time as a mother of 2!! I had a nice relaxing morning and we went to lunch with my family. Then we went to visit with Tony's mom for a little bit. Rece learned how to say Happy Mothers Day and it is so cute! And he helped daddy bring me my cards and breakfast in bed.

Me and my boys.

These are the 4 generations of moms we have. My grandma, me, my great-grandma, my aunt and my mom.

Crazy!!

2007-05-10T09:30:00.000-05:00

Things have been pretty crazy around here as anyone who has ever had a puppy can imagine. But it is fun crazy, usually. Gunner is doing pretty good. He definitely has the occasional accident but what puppy doesn't? But unfortunately he has diarrhea. That is not fun. And while Carmine is sleeping through the night we usually have to get up once to take Gunner outside!

And with the non-fur babies, Carmine I believe is teething! What do I even do with that! Rece didn't get his first tooth until he was 10 months. I could be wrong, but he is having all the teething symptoms. He is waking at night occasionally, he is slightly feverish. His poop is runny and smells a little funkier. And his bottom gums at times are white. And he is ALWAYS chewing on his hands. Now he is a thumb sucker, but chewing on his hands is different.

And as far as getting Carmine on a schedule with his naps, that is practically impossible, with how busy I keep Rece! So a lot of the times right now he just falls asleep in the pack-n-play. I am really ok with that now but I know eventually he won't sleep very well in the pack-n-play. But I guess as long as he is happy while awake and sleeping through the night for the most part and going to bed at about 7:30 then there isn't anything to complain about. His eating is on a schedule usually. He eats shortly after he wakes up, then again at noonish, then at 3:30 or so and then againat 7ish. Oh well schedules are sometimes overrated! It will come.

The Zoo!

2007-05-08T15:43:00.000-05:00

We went to the zoo today with Mandy and Joey and her friend Tara and her little boy Salvatore. Rece was the oldest of all the boys and definitely the most interested in the animals. I know Mandy was a little disappointed in Joey's lack of reaction, but I tried to warn her that Rece was just starting to really get into it! All of the boys did great, Rece was the only one not to fall asleep in the stroller. Of course. He loved "Mumble" or the penguin exhibit. When he saw them, he said "penguin dance!" He kept saying, poor guy was waiting for them to start doing the Happy Feet! But he also really liked the monkeys, all of them. Of course they are some of the most active animals. We got a close up of a couple of Orangutans. He kept saying Hi to them. So cute. And Jungle Jack Hanna was there today, doing some type of TV thing. I felt a little silly taking a picture but I was definitely not the only one. Of course Carmine was perfectly content hanging out in the infant seat. Pretty soon he will want to be sitting up and looking at everything-mostly the other people. And since Rece was so good he got to take home a little "Mumble" of his own. Carmine got one too, but it is a hand puppet and a little smaller. And that was the end of it! We were there for about 3 1/2 hours so for 4 little boys 2 and under they did so great!

Weekly Weigh In

2007-05-07T08:24:00.000-05:00

A little late.
Weight-139 (0/-16)
Thigh-20.75 (-.25/-1.75)
Hips-38.5 (-.5/-3.5)
Waist-33.5 (0/-5.5)
Chest-didn't even measure because of how engorged I was!
Upper Arm-10.75 (0/-.5)

Not any great progress, but I was really ok with this this week because overall it was a rough week. Carmine I believe is going through a growth spurt so he was up almost every night this week, which is not normal for him. And to make it worse he was getting up at like 4:30ish. Which if you get up at 5:30 to workout, that is tough. So half of the time I didn't make it up at 5:30, so my workouts got cut short or didn't make it at all. Oh well, life happens. This week will be better although I didn't get off to a great start. Rece was up at 4:30 and 5:15. Then I Gunner out of the bathroom (where he is sleeping) and saw that he had pooped and had stepped all over it! Then Carmine started crying so I fed him and then I had to go and clean up the bathroom. So the first 45 min of my day was taken up by taking care of children and animals! So, I only got half of my workout in, the rest will come during naptime! Overall Gunner is a really good puppy, but he is just that, a puppy! He pees a little when he gets excited or when I raise my voice at him. And he does like to go for stuffed animal. Elmo almost got it this morning :)

Meet our new family member!

2007-05-06T16:12:00.000-05:00

This is the newest member, Gunner!! We went to the local dog shelter today and got him. He is about 4 months old and 35 lbs.!!! He is probably going to be pretty big, but we have the yard for it. He is a sweetheart, but he is still a puppy, so he jumps a lot. We will have to work on that!

Wordless Wednesday

2007-05-02T08:41:00.000-05:00

Playtime with Joey

2007-05-01T15:45:00.000-05:00

Today we hung out with Joey and his mom, Mandy. First I dropped Rece off to go get my oil changed. There were no tears when I left!!! That hasn't happened in almost a month! Of course he was being told that he could go outside and play in the sandbox ;) The boys had a great time and got along with no hitting and only a little bit of testing personal space! In this picture they were at the top of the stone steps to the patio. Joey grabbed for Rece's hand and we thought that was super cute...until we realized they were about to head for disaster! Joey was trying to use Rece to get down the stairs. He figured he uses his mommy's hand to get down the steps, why not Rece's??? Luckily we caught them before they fell.Joey looking at Rece like he is crazy! And Carmine got to do a little swinging action outside!

Weekly Weigh In

2007-04-28T07:48:00.000-05:00

Weight-139(-1/-16)
Thigh-21(-.25/-1.5)
Hips-39(-.25/-3)
Waist-33.5(-1.25/5.5)
Chest-36.5(-1.5/-2.75)
Upper Arm-10.75(0/-.5)

WOW! When I first weighed myself I wasn't that impressed although excited about seeing the 130s! I haven't seen those for about 3.5 years and by then I was on my up. But then I weighed myself and that was pretty exciting!!!! That was a lot of inches. I have definitely hit my limit for my arms I think but that is ok, toning them is good. Total I have lost 15.25 inches!!!! I have been really good about working out and working hard. And overall my eating has been sooo much better. Although yesterday I had an awful day eating, but I guess one won't kill all my efforts! Oh, and I am fitting into my size 8s. My 12s now just fall off of my. My 10s are pretty comfy but getting a little saggy in the butt area!!!

Things for Me

2007-04-25T15:32:00.000-05:00

There are so many things that go on on a day-to-day basis that I know I will never remember 20 years from now. So here are just a few things for me. Carmine absolutely adores Rece. When we are in the car, he just stares and smiles and squeals at him. It is so cute. Rece doesn't realize it yet but I know soon he will appreciate the audience. Rece calls him Mar-nine right now. It is funny cause he can say Car and will when we ask him to, but he just won't put it together. A couple other funny words Rece says right now: Lemondae = Neeneenee, Orange = Owna. Carmine blows bubbles all the time. He doesn't slobber nearly as much as Rece used to but the bubbles are out of control :) I am going to get a couple of journals and start carrying them with me. That way I can keep track of everything I want to remember about my boys. I am going to write them to them that way someday if they are interested they can read all the cute quirky things they did. I am also going to include some of the frustrating things, such as throwing food. But I really want to do that just so I can look back and laugh at how frustrating it was and how small of an issue it is in the big picture! I love my boys more than anything and I just want to enjoy as much of them as I can but I want to remember when they were little. One day they will be sick of all the journaling and scrapbooking I have done but maybe, just maybe they will appreciate it. Or at least their wife and kids might!

A Visit with Averie and Baylor

2007-04-23T16:32:00.000-05:00

We played with Averie and Baylor this weekend. And it went pretty well. There were only a couple of incidents (hitting) and very few tears!! Things are looking up. They played in the mall play area for a little bit.
And in Averie's backyard. Oh the differences between boys and girls. Averie was gently watering the rocks while Rece was dumping water all over himself. Averie was playing with the sand toys and Rece was throwing the sand in the air!
And Baylor and Carmine got along just fine :)

Random Carmine

2007-04-20T06:40:00.000-05:00

First trip to Chuck E. Cheese!
So Close!

Random Rece

2007-04-19T16:12:00.000-05:00

Yes, that is a chicken leg!
My little cowboy!

Wordless Wednesday: The Glasses

2007-04-18T11:22:00.000-05:00

Weekly Weigh In

2007-04-15T07:55:00.000-05:00

Weight-140! (-2/-15 total)
Thigh-21.25 (0/-1.25)
Hips-39.25 (-.25/-2.75)
Waist-34.75 (+.25/-4.25)
Chest-38 (+1/-1.25)
Upper Arm-10.75 (+.5/-.5)

Ok, so I was super excited about my weight!!! But then I gained in 3 places. The chest I don't really care about because of breastfeeding, and the arm I could chalk up to muscle toning but my waist is no good! My goal this week is to workout extra hard, just give it an extra 15 min. or use a little more weight and to eat virtually no junk this week since last week was so awful with the easter candy.

3 Month and 27 Months

2007-04-13T15:22:00.000-05:00

We took Carmine to go get pictures taken today for his 3 months. And while I was there I decided to do Rece's also. I was going to wait til he was 2 1/2 but I decided I wanted to go ahead and do them every 3 months still. They turned out pretty good.

Rece at 3 months

Carmine at 3 months-This isn't the best one of him, but it is the most like Rece's. Look how much hair Rece had compared to what Carmine has!! The rest of the pictures are in the link in the sidebar.

Rece at 27 months

New Feature

2007-04-13T07:54:00.000-05:00

Check out the new feature in the sidebar. Under Pictures and Videos!!! I will now be adding the occassional video of the boys for all of you out there that don't get to see them enough and pictures don't do it!!

Sleep

2007-04-12T07:09:00.000-05:00

I really can't complain about Carmine's sleeping. He is a wonderful sleeper. I can safely say now that he is sleeping through the night. And on a normal basis he takes 2 naps. One is usually about 2 hours and the other is 3 1/2 to 4 hours! The only small issue we are having is that he just doesn't seem to want to go to sleep between the 8 and 11 hours in the evening. It is not so much a problem now, but if I don't get him on that schedule it will be a problem later on. He is a people watcher just like his brother! He doesn't want to miss anything. Last night at Rece's gymnastics class, Grammy was holding Carmine while Tony and I were in the class and Tony got in Carmine's face to talk to him and he got upset cause he wanted to watch the class!!! So when the 8:00 hour rolls around he do his whole bedtime routine and we put him in bed. If he starts crying we let him cry for 10 minutes or so. Then we try the pacifier, but he has pretty much decided that he doesn't have a need for it. And when he cries for another 10 minutes or so we pick him up and try to get him to sleep that way. He is WIDE awake when we do this. After I feed him at 10:30 or 11 he is out for the night. Eventually I know the solution will be to let him cry it out and I truly don't think he will even cry for very long, but I am just not ready to do that yet. He isn't even 3 months yet. And just like with Rece, I probably won't be ready to really let him cry it out until around 4 months. Really though, I am not complaining just noting this so I will remember this with the next baby. Actually nowadays I have 2 great sleepers!

Yesterday I don't know what was going on, but Rece slept in until 1:30 pm from the night before when he went to bed at around 9!!! He obviously didn't nap yesterday but he went to bed again at about 9 and is still sleeping at 8:20. Do they still sleep more during growth spurts at this age?? And Carmine yesterday only took one long nap from 10:15 to 4:30. What is going on in my house?? I am sure not sleeping that much!!

This is how Carmine is usually sleeping during the night, with one arm hanging out. I think we will be moving him to his crib as soon as we get the new windows in our house. Right now his room is just a little too chilly for him to be sleeping in there at night. But now that he is sleeping through the night with no help there is no reason for him to be in our room.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALISON

Carmine's Nursery

2007-04-11T11:10:00.000-05:00

Carmine's Nursery is finally ALMOST finished. There is one thing missing. But I don't know when it is getting done, so I figured I might as well post these. The one thing missing is the growth chart. It will be in the third picture and it is a large Cat in The Hat holding an umbrella on canvas. I love how it turned out and I am going to be very sad when we move. However, depending on how old Carmine is when we move, I may end up pretty much copying the room in the next house.

Wordless Wednesday

2007-04-11T07:18:00.000-05:00

The Hunt

2007-04-09T12:02:00.000-05:00

He had a lot of fun hunting for the eggs. He found about 10 on his own and then started to get a little bored. He had a harder time with the baskets I think because he didn't quite understand what the baskets were. Of course once he found the candy he was happy. In his baskets he got a potty training book, giant sidewalk chalk, a bunny straw, babylegs, and some candy. Carmine got some baby rattles/toys and some babylegs. Unfortunately Carmine missed the festivities due to sleeping in.

These are there easter outfits!

We did another egg hunt at my Grandma's OUTSIDE! It was freezing. Rece didn't seem to mind, but he didn't seem all that interested in finding eggs either. So it was a short lived hunt. One of the eggs he did find he decided it would be fun to squeeze it as hard as he could. That was pretty funny. And then we was banging two other eggs together. This was a fun age to do this. And I know it will get even more fun every year, of course until he is "too old" for it all!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE KENNY!

The Egg Coloring!

2007-04-08T20:11:00.000-05:00

A White Easter???

This was really fun with Rece this year! I wasn't quite sure what to expect. So, I only hardboiled 7 eggs thinking Rece's attention span would only allow him to do that many. Oh, was I wrong!! So after the original 7 were done we did what we had left-another 7. After that he was still asking for more so we diverted him with stickers for the eggs.

At first I gave him the egg and asked what color he wanted. He of course said "GEEEEEEN!" So we brought the green dye to him and I told him to put the egg in. He put the egg and his hand in and didn't remove either. So, I had to prompt him to let go of the egg. By the second round of eggs he was ploping them in like an old pro! We let him dig the egg out himself. So by the end, we had 14 colored eggs and 2 colored hands. I am loving holidays with a 2 year old! I love starting all these traditions with my family. Carmine got to enjoy the festivities in his high chair. Which, was the first time in the highchair!

Rece did get a little carried away and started banging an egg on the table. Needless to say, we ended up with a couple of cracked eggs!

Weekly Weigh In

2007-04-07T10:47:00.000-05:00

Weight-142 (-1.5/-13 total)
Thigh-21.25 (0/-1.25 total)
Hips-39.5 (0/-2.5 total)
Waist-34.5 (0/-4.5 total)
Chest-37 (-.5/-2.25 total)
Upper Arm-10.5 (0/-.75 total)

So a little bummed, I was hoping to be to my halfway goal this week. But my workouts this week were really low intensity just going through the motions. So, I can't say that I am surprised. But I just got a Jillian Michaels workout DVD that might help my motivation because OUCH!!! It really was hard! Lower numbers next week. This seems to be another plateau. I WILL get past it.

March of Dimes

2007-04-06T08:25:00.000-05:00

My family is walking in Walk America for the March of Dimes. Anyone that would like to sponser me to help save premature babies can go to this website www.walkamerica.org/awntkmess This is for a great cause!! I will put the website over in the sidebar until April 29.

I have no Title

2007-04-05T14:59:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, Rece had quite a jealous streak. Everytime I held Carmine, Rece got into everything that he knows he is not supposed to. Hence this picture!

On Tuesday we went to the nearby outlet malls and I finished up Rece's summer clothes shopping. Carmine got a few things but he really doesn't need the clothes. After we shopped, Rece played on the playground for a little bit, but he really preferred to people watch as always.

I took this picture a few days ago and I was going to write about how Carmine is so content on his belly that he is never going to learn to lift his head. But, then just today he surprised me and started lifting his head. He even lifted it about 90 degrees! Carmine has also slept through the night a couple nights in a row. I think that him not being swaddled has helped that. I was planning on swaddling through three months, but for probably 4 nights in a row he got totally out of the swaddle and that just leaves a loose blanket in the cradle and I can't have that! So, we have been weaning him gradually from the swaddle, only swaddling one arm. He seems to like that for now. But every night now he finds his thumb. He is still not really coordinated so him finding his thumb is quite a sight! I need to get it on video before he stops doing it. But, he basically rubs his hand all over his face vigorously over and over until the thumb finds its way into the mouth! It is cute, but he has scratched himself a couple of times in the process. And while doing this he has almost rolled over a couple of times. It won't be long now. YIKES! And Carmine has decided that he prefers two long naps. It is crazy but he will nap for like 3 or 4 hours! Especially in the afternoon. However he is not so good at the napping on the go. He is up and down and up and down the whole time we are out. I really don't mind too much because he is always in a good mood when he wakes up and then fusses a little later and then falls back to sleep. And he is only nursing 4 to 5 times a day, depending on if he wakes in the middle of the night. Rece didn't drop to 4 nursings until like 8 months! Crazy how different they are already. It makes me nervous that Carmine will be ready to wean long before I am. We shall see!

Wordless Wednesday: The New Ride

2007-04-04T14:02:00.000-05:00

New Camera

2007-03-31T16:36:00.000-05:00

Here are a couple of pictures I have taken. Nothing too exciting, just trying to figure it out.

Easter Bunny

2007-03-31T16:07:00.000-05:00

We went and saw the Easter bunny today. Rece did much better then anticipated. When he first saw him he kind of freaked out a little but no real tears. So we just hyped it up a little and said that the easter bunny was going to hide eggs next week for him and to give the easter bunny kisses when he got up there. So he did just that! The lady taking pictures asked if we wanted another picture but we said nope that was perfect cause as soon as he was done he started whining to be picked up. And as you can see Carmine slept right through it!

And we got our new camera today!! So after I play around with it I will upload the first pictures.

Weekly Weigh In

2007-03-31T08:25:00.000-05:00

YUCK!!!
Well the only change is that I GAINED 2 lbs. What is up with that??? I work out 6 days this week and increased my workouts. I did better with eating! Why did I gain? I know female hormones play a part in pretty nomal fluctuations but still I hate seeing that. My short term goal is to be half way by easter, but now that means I need to lose 3.5 lbs. in one week. Don't know if that will happen.

Pictureless

2007-03-29T08:15:00.000-05:00

Our camera broke!! More specifically, it was in the diaper bag with one of Rece's (non-leakproof) sippy cups! So we are waiting it out until Saturday to see if it will dry out but it is not looking promising. So the posts will be pictureless for at least a couple days.
Rece had his first official gymnastics class last night. It went really well. He is still very cautious when he is climbing but I know eventually we will become more daring. He did learn to logroll down a mat. By the end he was trying to roll up the mat! It will be fun to do this with him. And they have it set up so that you can bring baby siblings back and one parent can hang out with them and you can switch off whenever.

Wordless Wednesday

2007-03-28T07:22:00.000-05:00

Carmine's Baptism

2007-03-25T15:33:00.000-05:00

Carmine was baptized today! Afterwards we had a little reception in our church basement. My mom made the cake and the day turned out to be pretty successful. Carmine was very quiet during church. He fussed a little when the water got poured on him but liked it even less when the pastor put his hand on Carmine's head to bless him :) And of course during the children's message the pastor pointed Carmine out because the message was about baptism and I was breastfeeding. The same exact thing happened with Rece!

This is Carmine with his parents and Godparents, Annie (friend) and Keith (my brother).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE TOM!!

Weekly Weigh In

2007-03-24T07:31:00.000-05:00

Weight-141.5 (-2/-13.5 total)
Thigh-21.25 (-.25/-1.25 total)
Hips-39.5 (-.5/-2.5 total)
Waist-34.5 (-1/-4.5 total)
Chest-38 (+.5/-1.25 total)
Upper Arm-10.5 (-..25/-.75 total)

What a great week! I was not expecting this. I have had strep throat so I haven't worked out the last 2 days, but back on track today. I was really excited about the weight and the hips. Losing in the waist is always exciting but I have been doing that pretty consistently. I still have some pregnancy weight there.

Wordless Wednesday: Happy Boys!

2007-03-21T12:49:00.000-05:00

2 Month appointment

2007-03-21T12:46:00.000-05:00

Carmine had his 2 month appointment today. All is well. He weighs 11 lb. 4 oz. and is 22.5 in. long. Both are in the 25th percentile. He is a little smaller then Rece was at 2 months. He had to get 4 shots :( I hate those appointments! But overall he is doing well, nothing too exciting.

Gymnastics

2007-03-20T06:31:00.000-05:00

We had our second preview class for Rece's gymnastics last night. Except this time we took pictures because I was there! We had a lot of fun. This class was only 45 minutes long as opposed to an hour. We had fun last night, but we are going to go with the first class we tried. Last night all we did was 3 different obstacle courses. We really didn't work on any specific skills which was more of what I was looking for. Maybe once he is a little more sure of himself he would like this one better. And this class was a little too structured for his personality. And the other class only has one class going on at a time so we wouldn't have to worry about him getting trampled by a bigger kid. Tony said he appeared to have more fun at the other class also. This gym has a younger class that looks like it would be more similar to the other class at the other gym we tried, but that one was for 12 mo. to 23 mo. so I would rather him be in a class for kids his age. The session starts next week and lasts 9 weeks so I hope he has fun. It will be Wednesdays from 6-7. So we are going to try to have my mom come so we can both participate but if she can't then we will both still be there.

Weekly Weigh In

2007-03-17T07:22:00.000-05:00

Weight-143.5 (-1.5/-11.5 total)
Thigh-21.5 (0/-1 total)
Hips-40 (0/-2 total)
Waist-35.5 (-.75/-3.5 total)
Chest-37.5 (-.5/-1.75 total)
Upper Arm-10.75 (0/-.5 total)

I was pretty happy today. I don't really think my legs are going to change all that much but I am ok with that. Everything else I would still like to see change a little at least. And I am so sore!! I think my chest is also where it is going to stay for a while because of breastfeeding. But I know that will go down again later on. No hurry for that though.

OH NO!!

2007-03-16T09:41:00.000-05:00

This is how I found him this morning!!!! But it must have just happened because there was no pee or poop anywhere.

Catch Up

2007-03-15T13:16:00.000-05:00

We have had such a busy week. Monday wasn't too bad during the day, but then I went out with some other moms to the Cheesecake Factory! YUM!! Then Tuesday we went to the zoo.
It was so beautiful out. But it also made me start thinking about a double stroller.(this is how Carmine saw the zoo). I found one at Babies R Us that has every feature that I really like except that it would be $300 when it is all said and done. So we will see. But I just don't know how long I would be able to carry one of them and push the other all day long. Then yesterday we went and got Carmine's 2 month pictures taken. We were there forever. Then last night I had a partylite party. And Rece had his first gymnastics class. Unfortunately I couldn't go because of partylite, but daddy took him and said it went pretty well. Then today I hosted recipe club for mom's club. My house is a disaster and laundry needs done and I need to exercise but I don't feel like doing anything!!! Oh well. I don't think we are going to do anything tomorrow!

And the newest thing Rece has been doing, is when I go in the morning to get him out of bed, he wants to hang out in there for a while. He just wants me to sit in the rocking chair and he hangs out in the crib. We sing and talk and play games. It is kind of funny, but hey he wakes up happy so that is all I care about.
This is him showing me his nipples :)

And Tony and I have a question for all you readers out there. We have differing opinions on this. We just recently put this window picture frame on our mantle but now one of us thinks it should stay as is(propped up) and the other thinks that we should actually hang it. What do you think?

2 Months!

2007-03-14T15:52:00.000-05:00

What!? 2 months already? Where did it go? I can't believe how fast it is going. It feels like yesterday that he was 1 month. I can't really say he has changed a whole lot in this last month. He is still only getting up once at night to eat. He is still very calm and easy going. He is starting to swat at his toys in his bouncy seat. I think his big brother is getting used to him. I know soon he won't even remember being an only child and things will be smoother sailing-until they are 10 and 12!!.

RECE AT 2 MONTHS

CARMINE AT 2 MONTHS

I know they are really different poses, but they are both smiling.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AVERIE JEAN!!

2007-03-11T09:40:00.000-05:00

I know it was yesterday, but we were so insanely busy yesterday that I didn't even have a chance to get on the computer!! So, Happy 2nd birthday Averie and I hope you had a really good time at your party! We missed you and wish we could have been there.

AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT TERI!!!!

Trace Adkins

2007-03-09T11:22:00.000-05:00

Tony and I had a date last night, we went to the Trace Adkins concert. It was a pretty good concert. Craig Morgan was really good. We had a lot of fun but I was exhausted this morning! These are the only pictures I took. I don't generally go for long hair, but I think his voice and body are what make him so SEXY! Craig Morgan is ok too but he was a really good dancer.

G.G.

2007-03-08T09:10:00.000-05:00

This is Rece and Carmine's Great-Great-Grandma! Not many people can say they have one of those!! She is turning 90 this year and while she isn't exactly running around I think she is doing pretty good for a 90 year old. Her mind is still very much there. But this week she hurt her leg. She has already broken this leg 3 times. But she is getting out of the hospital soon, maybe today. And she is going to be moving into an assisted living facility. For the last few years she has been living with my mom and then for the last few months, since my mom moved in with us, she has lived with my grandma and grandpa. So really all of this is a blessing in disquise. She will be so much happier in an assisted living facility with people around her own age.

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY CONNER!!!!

Wordless Wednesday

2007-03-07T06:56:00.000-05:00

HAPPY BIRTDAY KATHY

So many things

2007-03-05T21:15:00.000-05:00

We took Rece to his first movie yesterday. We saw Happy Feet! It was cute. There were a couple parts that scared him(for good reason). But overall he did really well. He would never sit and watch a movie at home but I think just with the size of it all he was in awe. He fell asleep toward the end but it was a really good experience.
And tonight Rece fingerpainted for the first time. I hadn't done it with him yet because he still puts everything in his mouth. But he really needs some craft and activity time. He is starting to get very bored during the day, so I said oh well if he eats it and just did it. It went great. He put his finger in his mouth at the very end while I was cleaning up and that was it. The only thing we had a problem with was that he started shaking his hands to paint went flying, but only a little. And he kept wanting more paint, but other than that he had fun and we have 4 masterpieces to show for it!

Ok, now I am going to b!tch and moan a little bit. But I think for good reason. Carmine's face is all scratched up. Rece has been hitting him a LOT!! I feel so bad for Carmine. He sees so much of the pack n play it isn't even funny. But the hitting happens generally when I am holding Carmine. But half of the time Rece just randomly walks up and smacks him and the other half he comes and gives him hugs and kisses and then hits him. Either way I am caught off guard and I am at the end of my rope with Rece. I just don't know what to do. I can give him 50 time outs a day and it doesn't seem to phase him. I don't want to spank, but even if I would consider it, I just couldn't hit him to teach him not to hit! It doesn't make sense to me so I am pretty sure it wouldn't make sense to him. I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO! I know eventually he will get used to Carmine and will grow out of it but poor Carmine suffers in the mean time. And it isn't just a jealousy thing because he does it to other kids. We are lucky to get invited back to playgroups. I don't even feel like I can be a good mom to either of them at this point. Rece, cause I have lost my patience with him with the hitting and don't know how to handle it. No one can give me advice, it seems like I am alone with the hitting. I know other 2 year olds hit, but where are they??? And even so do they do it for absolutely no reason and so often?? And Carmine, because he spends so much time in the pack n play. I can't put him on his play mat, swing, bouncy seat or anywhere else without very close supervision and even that doesn't even really protect him. I dont even see it coming when Rece hits him. I am at a total loss and all I could do today was cry to my sister. In the coming weeks I am going to try to get Rece involved in a couple of things, like gymnastics and I am going to start trying to do some type of craft or activity almost daily. But if anyone can offer any advice on how to make this easier on everyone please do.

POOR CARMINE!!!!

Weekly Weigh In

2007-03-03T10:31:00.000-05:00

Weight-145 (0/-10 total)
Thigh-21.5 in. (0/-1 total)
Hips-40 in. (-.5/-2 total)
Waist-36.25 (0/-2.75 total)
Chest-37.5 (0/-1.75 total)
Upper arm-10.75 (-.25/-.5 total)

So, not much progress this week, but I am ok with that because I felt like I had a horrible week with exercising and eating so I was just happy not to gain! I am trying to do better with my eating but it is still not as important to me as working out. I don't want to worry too much about it because the extra calories I need for Carmine, but the few things I have implemented for myself is no pop-that has been since Carmine has been born, I don't eat past 8:30 pm-that has just been the last week or so, I eat on a salad plate at home-that has been since before Carmine was born, and when we eat out I eat only about half of my dinner and bring the rest home-that has also only been in the last week. However, I do eat when I am hungry, I don't limit myself just because I may think I have eaten too much. Breastfeeding is more important than weight loss right now. Once Carmine is on solids also then I will be able to do a LITTLE more, but that won't be for a while.

TGIF

2007-03-02T12:23:00.000-05:00

OH MY GOODNESS!!! Today is one of those days that I would like to just put Rece in his room and shut the door and come back in about 6 hours. Unfortunately that is not really an option but he is at least napping right now. Hopefully for 3 hours. He woke up in such a good mood, so I had high hopes. But then came the hitting and standing on the couch and smacking the keyboard and trying to unplug the moniter and throwing his food and spitting his milk and whining and hitting again and not listening to anything I say!!! AAAHHHHHH!!! Would anyone like to take him.

You know, I just read all that and realized that he does all of that everyday! So maybe my patience is lower today or maybe he is doing it just a little more dramatically today. Who knows but I am ready for 5:30 to be here and thank goodness for weekends off for daddy!

He is working on using a spoon!

Getting his hair cut. This was the first time he sat on the chair by himself. About half way through he sat on Grammy's lap.

My men at the salon!

Just a really good smile!

1st Babylegs!

2007-02-28T16:35:00.000-05:00

Carmine finally kind of fits into the babylegs! There is still some room to grow in there but he can wear them now.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BETH!!!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

2007-02-28T08:00:00.000-05:00

2 year old + scanner =

2007-02-27T09:21:00.000-05:00

This is what he was doing when I came turned the corner into the office from checking on Carmine!

6 Weeks

2007-02-26T21:48:00.000-05:00

I had my 6 week check up with the OB this morning. Basically everything looks great! He was really excited about my weight loss. Of course I didn't tell him that I had been working out for 3 weeks, but oh well. And he held Carmine and asked how I was feeling and said it was great that I was breastfeeding. Very easy relaxed appointment. He gave me a prescription for BC and said see you for your annual in June!

Out with the old and in with the new

2007-02-25T13:10:00.000-05:00

With Tony's bonus this year we are doing some home improvements. We are getting new windows, new skylights, a new bathroom cabinet, some new lights and new hardware for the kitchen/baths. There are some other things I would much rather do, but these things really need done. We are started them and here is what we have so far!

Our living room lights before.....

and after!

Our hardware before....

and after

Weekend

2007-02-25T12:56:00.000-05:00

This weekend Averie and Baylor came down to play. We had a pretty lazy couple of days. Rece and Averie did really well together. There was a lot less hitting and a lot less crying then there has been in the last couple of visits! Unfortunately we couldn't get them to all cooperate for a group picture so we just got them in "couples". We will probably see them again in about a month for Carmine's baptism. Unfortunately we can't go up to Averie's birthday in a couple of weeks because of another birthday party! We will get up there sometime.

Weekly Weigh In

2007-02-24T18:13:00.000-05:00

Weight-145 (-1.5/-10 total)
Thigh-21.5 in. (0/-1 in. total)
Hips-40.5 in. (0/-1.5 in. total)
Waist-36.25 in. (-1.25/-2.75 in. total)
Chest-37.5 in. (0/-1.75 in.)
Upper arm-11 in. (0/-.25 in. total)

Not too bad! I am also now fitting into most of my size 10 pants!! So down one pants size! That was pretty exciting. It has been over a year since I have been in size 10. So that was motivation in itself to keep on going and work out on a Saturday. I will probably be taking off tomorrow but 5 days this week. And I am going to increase my weight training this week.

Bath Time Fun

2007-02-22T09:50:00.000-05:00

His hair is in need of a cut!

Him saying all done to the bath cause I kept pouring water on him.

Happy Birthday Grandma M!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

2007-02-21T12:54:00.000-05:00

How old is he?

2007-02-20T09:57:00.000-05:00

Oh, that is right, he is 2!!!! And he has hit those wonderful terrible twos! This morning I took him out of his chair from breakfast and carried him over to the living room and set him down because Carmine was crying. As soon as I took even one step away from him he just started screaming. And when I picked Carmine up he ran over to me and grabbed my clothes and started stomping his feet and screaming. And eventually once I put Carmine back down he said up please. I told him that was all he had to say and that screaming wasn't going to work. Then when my mom left for work he ran over to the door and was screaming and hitting the door for 5 minutes after she left. Oh, the fun really begins! This tantrum throwing actually doesn't really bother me, even in public. I have no problem ignoring this type of behavior. And we are finding very quickly that ignoring is most of the time the best discipline for him. He thrives on attention. And I know all kids do, but he thrives on negative attention just as much as positive. He isn't affected by the negative.

And then in the same day, he played downstairs by himself for 45 minutes. Very quietly building with his legos and playing with his kitchen. It was so cute, I just stood there watching him very carefully putting a cup in the microwave. He was very careful to put it right side up. I couldn't help but wonder if he did this because that is what I do when I make him oatmeal, his favorite breakfast food. It is so interesting how their little minds work.

How can he switch it on and off so easily???

Last night he wanted to try out my mom's boots. He really couldn't walk in them.

Introducing Trouble, his build a bear. I would say Trouble x2!

I swore I would never do this....

2007-02-19T15:55:00.000-05:00

I can't believe I dressed them in matching outfits. But the outfits were too cute and it was really Annie's fault!

We had a really busy weekend. Annie and Brandon came down this weekend. Annie actually came down on Thursday night and just left this afternoon. So we hung out and shopped on Friday. Then Brandon came down Friday night. On Saturday we just hung out until Tony, Carmine and I went to a wedding. Thanks to Annie, Brandon and my mom for watching Rece! The wedding was an hour away and we weren't planning on staying long at the reception, plus with Rece getting over being sick (hopefully) we just decided it was better to leave him at home. Plus Annie and Brandon got to spend a few hours with him! Then Sunday we had a 1st birthday party and we went to lunch. And while we were at the mall having lunch, we finally did Rece's build-a-bear that he had a gift card for from his 1st birthday! I will post a picture of that later. Right now it is in Rece's crib with him napping! Brandon left after lunch on Sunday. Then Annie went to lunch with me, Carmine and Rece before leaving today!