Christmas #2 2012

Christmas with the Jordan's

We did Christmas #2 in 2 parts. Christmas Eve we went over to my aunt's house in Stanley, LA. It was a good time because all the cousins were there and my grandparents were able to make it, too (after a 2 hour detour...in other words, they got lost!) Really, being real, my grandparents aren't getting any younger, and it's tough to watch them grow old. I know we're all going to be there (well, we all probably hope to grow old with our families as opposed to the opposite), but it's hard to watch the circle of life sometimes. I have to watch it though, knowing they've lived a good life, and that they will someday be much better off in Heaven than we are here on Earth! ok, enough...here are some pics from Christmas Eve.

Not sure where she learned this?!?

Then Christmas day came and we had a blast!!! We had my family (mom, dad, ty and steph) over for "Brunch after lunch." We cooked a brunch, but ate at more like lunch time since some folks went to church (we didn't make it!). Then we opened presents! It was SO. MUCH. FUN! Really. I had no idea that it could be this fun! Ruby Belle loved it all and got a ridiculous amount of gifts. Truly, it's a good thing she won't remember the amount of gifts she got for years to come because it may not ever happen this bountifully again!!! Family read: DO NOT spoil her with such amounts of gifts next year!!! ;-) Beckett enjoyed the fun, too, even though he had no idea. he's a happy baby, so he at least Looked like he was having fun!! All in all, it was fairly the most special Christmas to date for me! I cannot wait for next year!!!

Ruby Belle and her cool new house from Aunt Sep-an-ie and Uncle Ty

opening the mounds of gifts!!!

more opening the mounds...Ruby Belle helping show Beckett how it's done!

5 months...do they look alike?

sometimes they look SO much alike...but sometimes not. What do you think?!

Christmas #1 2011

Christmas with the Smith's 2011

So, Christmas #1 was with the Smith's this year! And we all had so much fun!!! Justin's parents came the weekend after Thanksgiving (first weekend in December) for 4 days. they spent 2 nights w/us (slept on an air mattress in the living room!) and were such great help with the kids and around the house!! Ruby Belle loved playing with Grandma and Papa and Beckett was, of course, spoiled with love! AND I don't think I had to wash a bottle or clean my kitchen for 4 straight days!!! A.MAZ.ING!!

Do you think she liked opening presents?!

Showing off her presents!!

Beckett and Papa

While they were here we got them to help us take our Christmas card pic...

Beckett - 5 months and more firsts!!

Beckett turned 5 months on December 19th, TODAY...he's getting SO big so fast!! but I love it!

5 Month stats:

Not sure...no updates here

• sleeping stil 4-7 hours at a time. usually goes down around 8 and is up anywhere between 12 and 4, but usually between 2-3. SO ready for him to sleep 8-12 hours!!!
• starting feeding him rice cereal and oatmeal. He didn't like it much at first, but now he would rather eat than drink a lot of the time. He's a growin' big boy!!
• have tried bananas and sweet potatoes. liked the sweet potatoes better.
• wearing #3 diapers
• wearing 6-9 month clothes (and even some 12 months, but those have GOT to be wrong!)
• STILL has serious cradle cap...going on 2+ months now!! I SO wish it would go away already...it's really pretty gross :-(
• working on sitting up unassisted. not quite there yet.
• likes his tummy time and usually rolls over to his tummy shortly after placing him on his back. I can't even keep him on his back to sleep all of a sudden. almost every time we put him down he rolls over right away.
• Got his first tooth and then another one right after!!! 2 teeth!!! oooh...and he's not a terrible teether...but NOT a good one either!!
• Such a happy, smiley baby!! He LOVES his sister and loves to watch her. He just lights up and she can make him giggle like no one else!!

WARNING! Picture overload...I just could not decide which ones I liked best!!

4 months - Beckett

Another post that's a little late!!! Beckett was 4 months on November 19th and here are the updates

4 month stats:

Wt: 15lbs 9oz (50th percentile)

Ht: 25.5in (75th percentile)

• just starting baby foods (rice cereal, applesauce, sweet potatoes
• wears size 2 diapers, but about to out grow them
• wears size 6 month clothes
• sleeping ok. just 4-6 hours a night mostly. goes down around 8 and is up usually between 2-3...give or take!! ;-)
• smiling and laughing a lot!
• loves his sister the most ;-)
• rolling over both directions!!
• still on reflux meds
• been a little sick lately, but just a cold
• learning to sit up...slowly
• a bundle of fun!!
• BOY oh BOY are 2 sweet babies harder than 1!!! but SO much fun!!!

Halloween 2011

This is SO SO SO late!!! so, here's Halloween!!! We went over to our friends, The Taylor's house to help pass out candy, take Ruby Belle trick-or-treating on one of the busiest and friendliest streets in town and just to hang out with friends! Ruby Belle had a great time trick-or-treating (she and daddy dressed up! I just took pics!) and Beckett stayed at the Taylor's house with Uncle Ty, Aunt Stephanie and all the friends to pass out candy. Here are a few shots!!

She was a little weary at first, but daddy helped her along!

Then we ran into her bestie, Evie, and she took control and led the way!!!
SO much fun!!!

Pumpkin Patch

Pics from our pumpkin pickin' outing a few weeks ago...

Beckett - 3 months & a FIRST!!!

Beckett turned 3 months on October 19, 2011 and he's a growing boy!

Stats:

Wt: 14lbs 3oz

Ht: 24.5in

• He's "sleeping through the night" meaning he's sleeping about 5-7 hours. We usually put him down around 8 and end up getting up to feed him around 2-3am. SO, WE'RE not "sleeping through the night," but he is based on what I called "sleeping through the night" with Ruby Belle...and what most liturature calls "sleeping through the night," I think.
• He rolled over just a few days before his 3 month "birthday." AND it happened the same time Ruby Belle hit the same milestone!!! How crazy is that!! http://mandysmakins.blogspot.com/2009/12/first.html
• he is eating about 30oz a day of breast milk/day (sometimes more, sometimes less...but usually leaning toward more!)
• I'm exclusively pumping (6 times a day...ugh!)
• He's wearing #2 diapers, and cloth ones on the weekends (usually)
• likes his tummy time and doesn't love his Bumbo time, but we're still practicing
• He's smiling a lot and laughing a little!!! I LOVE IT!

Someone is 2!!! Guess who?!?

Ruby Belle turned 2 on September 16th, 2011. and yes, this is LATE! Like I said...still trying to adjust to work /life and family balance with 2 kiddos :-)

We had a fun little get together with just our family. Justin's parents were in town so we had them, my parents, and my brother and sister-in-law over for dinner and cake and ice cream at our house. Poor Ruby Belle got sick and threw up during her party, but quickly quickly recovered enough to open presents and eat cake!!

Overall, it was a great day! I cannot believe my little girl is 2!!! I didn't know it was possible, but I love her more and more each day. She's talking up a storm now (although, it's still tough to understand a lot of what she says)! Sentences are just mumble jumble sometimes, but she usually gets her point across! She also has gotten into the habit of putting her hands on her hips and walks with a little sass sometimes!! Cute now...in a few years...maybe not so much! ha! She really is a sweet, sweet girl, who LOVES to laugh! She is a typical 2 yr old and has her moments at least a few times a day with a temper tantrum, but she's still so easy to love!!

Beckett's 2 month check up

We had Beckett's 2 month check up appointment September 19th...and yes, I'm just now blogging about it. I went back to work on Sept 5th and life's been a little busy since then. I keep telling myself that one day I'll figure out how to balance 2 kids, work and life, but until then...I'll just keep trying!

So, here's where we are:

2 month Stats:

Wt - 12lbs 11oz (50th percentile)

Ht - 24 in (75th percentile)

Head Circumfrence: - 15.5in (50th percentile)

• Beckett is much more laid back than Ruby Belle (maybe because I'm more laid back this time around!)
• He's eating 6-8 times/day
• He's sleeping 5-8 hours a night, but we put him down around 8, so we're still getting up once to feed him
• He's wearing size 1 diapers (but really needs a 2...we're just trying to get rid of the 1's)
• We are going to start doing the cloth diapers while at home (day care won't do them) this month
• He's in day care...has been since he was 7 weeks old (RB didn't go until she was 4 months - work didn't allow me that long off this time)
• He's smiling and is SO much fun!

Adventures in Potty Training

We have been "sort-of" potty training for a few months now. What I mean by "sort-of" is that Ruby Belle showed an interest a few months ago by telling us that she wanted to "go potty." so, we bought the toilet and got started. She was SO SO SO excited at first. I couldn't get her off the potty. but that died down. and we just weren't THAT into it as parents. I think we just had a lot going on and I was very pregnant and just not into putting much effort into it. So, we've kinda been half-assing it for a while. Which gave us a half-ass potty-trained child. Anyway, now the timeline is blurred since we now have 2 children, but somewhere along the way, I found this.

and then this the next day...

Guess at least she was getting the point!...on the 2nd try!

Now we are being a little more aggressive and do a decent job. I won't give all details, but we still have a ways to go. We just tackled sleeping all over again with Ruby Belle (she's been a TERRIBLE sleeper since Beckett came home)...one thing at a time.

back in the swing of things...

do you think my boss will excuse me???

because i'm back at work today, sitting at my desk for the first time in 7 weeks and i can't remember most passwords. Therefore, I can't do much. So, I'm blogging. I've cleaned my office enough where I can now see my desk again. (It looked like a tornado hit it when I walked in at 6am this morning...NOT a pretty sight for drowsy eyes! who knows what went on in here while I was out! whatever it was, it wasn't pretty!) I've rearraged chip racks (yes, simply that...individual bagged chip displays...you know, like in the gas stations. I have a HUGE fetish with these being exactly how I want them, and I'm sure they haven't been "correct" in weeks...7 to be exact). And I've done a few other things that I can correctly remember how to do, but now, I'm taking a break. Mainly because I don't feel like being 100% back in the swing of things just yet. AND it's a holiday, business is slow, and no other managers are here. So, I feel like I have a little freedom.

Truthfully, I'm very anxious and nervous about this "returning to work" thing. It's been easy so far today (except for the part where my alarm went off at 4:45am!!) I got about 6 hours of sleep which has been pretty standard for most of the last 7 weeks...give or take on any given day. 6 hours is about average. NOT fun, but most moms know that this comes w/the territory...and worth every bit of that new little baby you get to hold, and smell, and feed, and burp, and change, and bathe and do it all over again and again 24/7. It's SO worth it! Really and truly. That first smile makes your heart melt and then the cooing and all the little noises (even the VERY loud grunts my little man lets out regularly) put a smile on a mom's face and make every mom want more and more.

Anyway, now that I'm about to cry cause I miss my little man, back to my work anxiety. Last time it was fairly easy. I'd been off 4 months and was ready for some adult interaction. 7 weeks is SO different! and I was the "boss" the last time I went back so I had a little more freedom on a schedule, etc. Not so much this time...we'll see how it goes!

a few new pics...excuse the iPhone quality...

Ruby Belle LOVES her little brother!!!

Look-alikes?

So, do you think they look alike?!?

I know...all sleeping babies look kinda alike...

so check out the below!

they both have "mean faces"

and both are just cute...