July 2014

July was a very busy month full of lots of traveling, sickness, and fun.  We started the month with a trip to NY and we were able to visit with Ben’s family and friends.  As always, we had a bunch of fun getting to see everyone and being able to catch up.  We had a small belated birthday party for Declan with Ben’s family and a few close friends while we were up there too.  It was fun to see how much more Alethea remembered people and to see how much more comfortable Declan was with all the new people since he was a little older.  We also got to be a part of Dave and Jane’s 50^th anniversary celebration with a boat cruise through the canal.  The kiddos really enjoyed the ride, especially Alethea!

We also spent two weekends at my parent’s lake house, one of which was a fun extended family get-together with my mom’s side of the family.  We almost missed it because of Alethea being sick, but she was finally feeling a little better so we went ahead and joined everyone at the lake.   I am so thankful we had that time with everyone, but I hope everyone is feeling better next time.

Sickness seemed to fill up much of this month.  Declan ended up sick for 5 days on our NY trip with a fever bug. He had fevers 103 or higher and really had us concerned, but after taking him to urgent care, we discovered it was just a virus.  Then 5 days after we got back from NY, Alethea ended up with the same fever bug that lasted for 4 days.  And just when we thought it was over, Declan had another 2 day bout with fevers!   Man was I glad those few weeks were over because fevery kids is definitely not fun!

Thankfully Declan’s last fever finally ended just in time for our trip to MI.  I had not seen my longtime friend, Siera, since either of us got pregnant with our boys (10 days apart in age) and it was time for that to change.  We got to spend almost 4 days with Siera, her hubby, and her two boys and it was so much fun!  It went by way to fast, but in the time we were there, we were able to do lots of catching up and we even managed to squeeze in a trip to the park and blueberry picking.  Nothing beats Michigan blueberries!  We both decided that we need to get together more often because over 2 years is too long!  A fun side note to the trip was that we were able to carpool there and back with my sister-in-law which was a lot of fun having company in the car and being able to make it possible for her to make one last trip to visit her family in MI before school started. J

One very surprising, but oh so exciting thing that happened this month was that we discovered we are expecting our 3^rd little one.  He/she will arrive sometime in late February.  We were not trying for a baby, but God’s time is perfect and we are so excited to be adding another member to our family.  The funny part about the whole thing is that a week before I discovered I was pregnant, I joined a weight-loss/fitness challenge and ended up having to drop out after a week.  Oh well, that would have been fun, but I think a baby is a pretty darn good reason to drop out. J

Two other side notes are that we love our CSA!  It brings so much variety to our meals and I love figuring out ways to use all of our fresh local produce.  We also had our van key get stuck in the ignition, only to discover that it was stuck because of a computer malfunction.  Let’s just say computer replacement on a car is not cheap!  But thankfully God provides and we had the money to fix it and it is back to normal.

I am not going to do a ton of kiddo updates since I am behind and I don’t know that I could

separate what happened in July with what is happening now.  First thing is that Declan dropped his last daytime feeding so now he is only nursing first thing in the morning and right before bed at night.  I know he won’t nurse as long as Alethea because I will wean him before new baby arrives, but I haven’t figured out when that is going to be for sure.  The only thing I know for sure is that Ben and I want a weekend away before baby comes and so the weaning will happen before then!  The other quick note is that Declan has become quite attached to his blanket.  He loves to carry it around and will just randomly plop down on the floor and lie down on it.  So cute! 

That’s all for July!

June 2014

                Since I am way behind on blogging, I am going to try to do a quick catch up on June.  This month was Declan’s big one year celebration.  On June 22^nd, we had his 1^st birthday party.  We just kept it simple and had family over to celebrate.  I made him banana cupcakes with maple cream cheese frosting and he liked them.  For the meal though, we had a grilled cheese bar since he loves grilled cheeses.  I made homemade bread and we had all kinds of fun goodies to put in our grilled cheeses.  We had a bunch of fun and he got lots of trucks as well as a water table and some balls. J

                While still talking about Declan, he has dropped down to 3 feedings.  We did it by accident while we were out and about and since I was already hoping to drop it, we just went ahead and said goodbye.  He also loves to hide things.  We actually lost a pair of Alethea’s sandals for almost a week because Declan likes to play with them and he decided it was a good idea to hide them in the kitchen cabinet underneath the sink and I didn’t find it until I went to take out the recycling, lol!  He is such a happy-go-lucky kiddo and he loves to walk around and throw balls.

Walking boy

Sibling love

                We had lots of fun with our life group going to the park this month.  Alethea and Delcan both had a blast and we enjoyed some dinner afterward at McAlisters.  We have really enjoyed having a chance to get to know new friends from church.

                This month also marked the loss of 5 trees in our back yard.  We lost part of one in a storm and after investigating why, we discovered we had 5 dying trees in our back yard.  We gained a ton of open space, but we lost a ton of shade.  It has set us back a bit on our backyard set up though.  We still need to regrade the yard as well as add a fence, but we spent a nice chunk of change on the tree removal so our schedule Is a bit behind.

                We had some fun farm trips this month.  Early in the month, Alethea and I went on a field trip with our mom’s group to Harvest Moon Dairy Farm.  It was a fun date for us and Alethea really enjoyed getting to feed both the big cows and the baby cows.  Later in the month, we went with my mom, sister-in-law, and niece to Hubers Farm to pick strawberries.  We came back with 40lbs to split and made a ton of goodies as a result.  I made strawberry muffins, pancakes, jam, and sauce.  We had fun and look forward to more u-pick experiences together.

                Last thing to note, we celebrated another year of Ben being an awesome Daddy.  Our kiddos are so lucky to have him as their Daddy!

We have a ONE year old! 12 month Update

Weight: 22lbs

Height: 30.5 inches

Clothing: Still wearing 9-12 month, 12 month, and wearing more and more of his 12-18 month and 18 month as he outgrows the smaller stuff.

Diapers: He is still on the medium rise and is probably going through 6 diapers a day most days.

Eating: He is eating 3 meals a day and unintentionally we dropped his mid-morning nursing session so he is down to 3 nursing sessions now.  We were out and about and I forgot to nurse him and he didn’t ask, so obviously it wasn’t necessary. J  I was going to drop it anyway because 11am is a tough time to stop and nurse sometimes when we want to go out and about for play dates, shopping and such.  He is eating as much of our food as I feel like he can chew.  He even tried some steak the other day and, though he chewed forever, he seemed to like the flavor.  We started letting him have honey in bread and other baked goods mid-month because I just got tired of making things with maple syrup that taste better with honey (i.e. – honey wheat bread).  He also tried berries for the first time this month when we went strawberry picking and thankfully he likes them and they seem to agree with him as well. J  He really isn’t a big eater yet. I actually feel like Alethea ate more at his age, but he is gaining weight so I guess there is no concern.

Cutie ready for some food

Friendships:  Being able to walk has opened a ton of fun in this area.  He is able to play along with Alethea as well as her friends and he loves it most of the time (as long as they are letting him join).  I wouldn’t say he has any friends other than family let, but he is a smiler most of the time and is really beginning to warm up to the workers at church as well.

Best...

...Buds!

Mobility: He is a walker as of June 1^st!  He had been walking intermittently prior, but now he is walking everywhere and getting into everything!  He is also climbing more with his new found confidence of being up higher.  We often find him sitting or standing on their play table chairs or on the stools in the bathroom.  He is so proud of himself.  He also climbs into cabinets, drawers, laundry baskets, up stair, and pretty much anything he can find to climb in and on.  He is into everything and keeping me on my toes for sure!

He's a mover and a shaker now!

Sleeping: He is going to bed a little later since the sun is out so much longer, and we are having fun playing outside later in the evening.  He has shifted more toward an 8 or 8:30 bedtime, but unfortunately that doesn’t usually mean he sleeps any later.  He has typically been stirring (and often waking up) at 6ish.  I usually don’t go in there to get him until 7, so some days he will doze off again, but many days he just plays and talks to himself in his crib until 7.  Some day he might like to sleep, lol.  He is still taking two naps because I am not quite ready for him to lose the morning nap since that will mean his afternoon nap won’t match up with Alethea’s anymore.  We are gradually trying to shift the afternoon earlier for both so that, when we finally drop the morning nap, they can nap at more similar times. J

precious sleeping boy

Playtime: He loves to play and just walks around the house squealing with delight.  He loves balls and putting objects in and out of containers.  He absolutely loves music and really enjoys dancing to any tune that comes on.  He loves to play with whatever Alethea is playing with and much of the day is spent with them following each other around the house.  This is so much fun to watch, except for the times we have to referee because neither wants to share their toys, lol.  Declan also loves to play with water and ice so we have been having fun with those outside on the hot days. He loves to draw with chalk and I am realizing I should be getting crayons out for him more because he loves to draw with those as well.  I am thinking rainy day craft days may need to be more frequent.  He absolutely loves being outside and going to the park.  Plus he is even starting to climb on the park equipment, yay!

walking with Alethea

He loves to swing

and he does his fair share of eating chalk, lol

Communication:  He is very intentionally with his communication these days.  We really only still get a lot of “dada” which on occasion has possibly been directed toward Ben, but not for sure.  He also likes to make a bunch of inflective noise that almost sound like syllables of words (especially with thank you).  So he is developing language, just no official speech yet.  He has developed more prominent fuss cries that communicate a little more clearly what is going on with him.  They are both annoying and helpful at the same time, lol.  He is also catching on to the sign for “more” finally.  He doesn’t do it on his own yet, but with reminders he has been able to do it throughout a meal.  He really just doesn’t mind waiting for food most of the time and is content to sit at the table foodless while everyone else finishes, so we don’t have a ton of need for the signs “more” and “all done” that we had to have for Alethea.  Sometimes I wish he was more demanding so that I would know he did or didn’t want food though, lol!

Teeth: He is up to 4 teeth these days. On May 22^nd his top right front tooth came in (#3) and then on May 25^th his top left front tooth came in (#4) 

Random: He went to watch his first softball game where his Uncles played.  He took his first trip to OH to visit friends. He got to go strawberry picking for the first time and was a trooper.  He sat in the stroller the whole hour that we picked and just played with toys!  He celebrated Father’s day with his Daddy.  He loves to go on runs with Mommy and Alethea to the park.  We took him to the zoo for the first time, though I have yet to get any pictures of the two times we have been, lol (having too much fun with friends)!  He loves to hide things and this month he hid Alethea’s flip flop in our recycling pile and I didn’t find it for almost a week!

So serious when I took his pic at the strawberry farm, lol

Happy Father's Day!

Sample Schedule):

                        6:00-6:30 stirs, but sometimes will doze off again or just plays in crib

                        7:00 get out of bed, nurse and go in to Alethea’s room if she is up

                        8ish: breakfast  

                        9:45 – 10:30ish: nap, then a snack (only 30 minutes if we are out)

                        12:30/1ish: lunch

                        2:30-4/4:30ish: nap, then nurse and play

                        5:30ish: dinner
                        8ish: nurse and in bed by 8:15ish – with the nicer weather and family fun, we had been 
                        getting him to bed later more often

May Update

                May was another fun month of celebrations and fun times.  We started off the month with our first trip to the lake this year.  We were able to go out on my parents’ new boat, despite it being colder than we’d hoped.  My parents got a lot of fun new “toys” for the lake house and we are looking forward to some visits to the lake to enjoy them with them.

testing out the captain chair

Alethea's turn!

Captain Papaw!

Sheer joy!

Sleeping through his firs boat ride

Playing with Uncle Camden!

Snuggles with Granpeg on the boat

                The first celebration was Mother’s Day.  We started the day off with church and Declan’s baby dedication.  My family was able to join us for that and it was very special to have them there to support us.  After church we headed over to Red Robin for a yummy meal with my family.  The Mother’s day celebrations continued into the following week as well because Granpeg, my mom, Justine, Olivia, Alethea, and I all went to Sister’s Tea Parlor for a fun girls day in celebration of Mother’s Day.  It was Alethea’s first official tea party and it was a lot of fun for us all.

Declan's dedication

All the ladies on Mother's Day

4 Generations

Family photo

Tea party cup as big as her face!

                Next up was our 7^th wedding anniversary which fell on the Monday after Mother’s Day this year.  We aren’t very good at making a big fuss out of anniversaries, but we always make it a point to spend time alone together.  This year Ben surprised me with beautiful flowers and a card in the morning.  Then my parents watched the kiddos so we could go out to dinner and a movie.  We pretty much never go out to the movies because I typically don’t dig that for a date, but I really wanted to see Mom’s Night Out and Ben obliged.  I had heard it was a really good movie, plus we went to college with one of the actresses in the movie.  I am so thankful for the past 7 years and I am looking forward to many more!

Didn't take any pics this year...oops, but here is a throwback!

                This month we also finally dyed Easter eggs.  I had purchased a kit prior to Easter, but life got busy and dying eggs just wasn’t up on the priority list.  It doesn’t really matter anyway because egg dying is fun no matter when it happens. J  Alethea really enjoyed the process and she was even able to put glitter on them (which I think was her favorite part).  She also really enjoyed eating the eggs afterward, but was a bit bummed that the only the shell of the egg was dyed.

Obliging me with a pic

Working hard

finished product (pre-glitter)

One unfortunate thing about this month was another stomach but, but thankfully it was much less intense.  And the best part is that it was over and done by the time we reached my birthday, though it did make it so we couldn’t go back to the lake to celebrate on the weekend before my bday.  The farmers market also opened that weekend, so I enjoyed splurging there instead.  We didn’t really do a ton for my bday, but we did enjoy yummy pancakes and eggs for dinner followed by homemade pb chocolate ice cream and maple oatmeal cookies.  Yum!  I got my present last month so we didn’t do any presents for my actual bday.

bday dessert!

This month we had a crazy hail storm with nickel sized hail and lost the tops to two trees as well as cedars in our back yard.  It spurred the beginning of our tree removal process so I guess it wasn’t all that bad.  We also have been able to go see Cody and Camden play softball and I have to say I am a bit jealous they get to play ball!  Declan also went on his first trip to the zoo and we went to the Louisville zoo for the first time as a family.  We even got to go with good friends so that made it extra special.  I have also started a tradition with the kiddos of getting my runs in while taking them to the park.  So I run to the park, we play, and then I run back home.  It is a win-win for all of us and we even sometimes have a picnic lunch to add to the fun!  We also had fun planting out own container garden and helping with my parents garden as well. Alethea even got in on the fun and played in the dirt some.

running buddies

and my pup

poor trees

dirt angels

planting Alethea's flowers

softball!

One last family fun was that we went up to Ohio over Memorial Day weekend.  We haven’t been back to Ohio since a few months before Alethea was born.  We were able to stay with our good friends the Elgersmas and had a chance to catch up as well as meet their two little ones.  Definitely a wonderful reunion and so fun to see the kiddos play together.  We were also able to go visit Cedarville where we got to catch up with my favorite Chuck’s ladies as well as stop by to chat with some professors.  Thankfully we were able to visit many of our friends that still live locally and we even got to return to our home church there in Xenia.  We enjoyed lots of flashbacks and reminiscing.  We had so many good times there and it was fun to bring our kiddos back to where our story began. J

Colonials Pizza

and the girls

Alethea by Cedar lake!

I was bad about using my camera this weekend, but here is Alethea and Jeremiah reading together :-)

Now for a quick update on Alethea.  She is really increasing her interest in letters, she recognizes all of them, and even knows all the letters in her name (though not necessarily in order).  She is very excited about letters and can often copy letters that I write.  We are not pushing it, but really just taking it based on her interest.

First trip to the science center

We have also watched the movie Frozen a ton.  Thankfully it has such good music and I actually haven’t really gotten tired of it.  She is silly and sings, “do you wanna build a snowman…” when standing outside the bathroom often times when we are using the bathroom, lol.  She gets quite the kick out of this!

She still talks about all her buddies in SC and wanting to make things for them as well as her new friends here in KY.  I love how she is always making something for somebody when she gets into her craft drawers.  She has never met a kiddo that was a stranger and I love her sweet spirit and desire to be with friends.  Whenever we go to a park and there are no other kids there, she wants to know where her “friends” are.  We definitely have a social butterfly on our hands!  Surprisingly though, she still has a shyness in certain situations, but I those are mostly when adults as well as kids are involved.

She still loves the swings

One last bittersweet fact about Alethea is that she asks a TON of questions and especially drives me nuts in the car. Her favorite questions are “why?”, “what are we doing next?”, “can I do….in the future?, and “Can I get…at the library?   I love that she asks so many questions and I think that is a large contributor to her intelligence and extensive vocabulary.  However, sometimes I really just need so peace and quiet, lol!

Sleeping beauty

She loves her brother

Skyping with Grandma and Boppa

That’s all for May!