“The love of a family is life’s greatest blessing.” -unknown

Oliver is ONE!

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:25:45 -0600

I feel like I am writing this post in a dream...this has been the fastest year of my life! I feel like Ollie should still be a teeny baby. Not so much!!

So what is our precious honey bear up to at one year??
-He has gone from taking a few steps to taking 15-20. He can walk across an entire room now! He does better on carpet and level changes in flooring still throw him off but I can not believe how much he has improved!
-He is down to taking only two bottles...one 6 oz. in the afternoon and one 6 oz. at bedtime. I actually bought him some whole milk and we have started on that this week. They say that babies should stop taking bottles at one but I want to hang on to that bedtime bottle for a little while longer. Like it will hurt him.
-We had him weighed about two weeks ago when we had a follow-up to an ear infection and he weighed 28.2 lbs. We have his one year appointment on Valentine’s Day and can’t wait to see where he falls in the percentiles. He wears 18-24 and 2T clothing depending on brand, a size 5 or 6 shoe and a size 5 diaper.
-He still only has five teeth but you can see several more that are about to break through.
-He basically eats anything you will put in front of him. He LOVES fruit so we give him his main meal first and then his fruit last. If you give him fruit first, he will throw everything else off his tray and demand more fruit. Stinker!
-He still takes a morning and afternoon nap and sleeps 11-12 hours a night. He is exactly like Charlie was at this age, he loves his sleep!
-He still only says, “Mama”, “Dada” and “hi”. We have stopped giving him his paci so much during the day hoping that will encourage him to say more. He also likes to growl.
-He loves to play with big brother but will also play on his own a lot. He loves all of his baby toys and anything that he can climb on. He is a rough and tumble baby. His nicknames are “Brutus”, “Bruiser”, “King Kong Baby”, “Jolly Ollie” and my favorite ones that Charlie gave him, “Joliver” and “Chunky Baby”. If he falls over or bangs into something, he just keeps on. You can tell he has an older sibling because not much phases him.
-His favorite thing in life (besides eating) is water. He loves to play in it whenever he gets the chance. We usually bathe him every other night since he just goes to Mimi’s during the day and if we are just bathing Charlie, he will throw a total fit to get in. I have a feeling that he will live in the pool this Summer.
-He is the sweeties, most content, jolliest little honey pie around. I can’t believe that one year ago we were at the hospital with our new bundle of joy during a record snowfall and record low temperatures. This year has been a total whirlwind and I can’t believe that he is already one. He made our family complete one year ago today and even when he is 57 and I am 86, I will still call him my baby.

We love you Jolly Ollie and can’t wait to celebrate you today, tomorrow and every.single.day of your life! We will always be your biggest fans! Love you sweet baby boy!
Mommy and Daddy

Baby Steps

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:15:11 -0600

Oliver has gone from not being very interested in walking to trying to take 4-5 steps wherever he goes. He is bound and determined! Here is a quick video of him taking a few steps at the end of last week. Today, I saw him take about eight steps across the playroom!

Lazy January

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 15:20:42 -0600

We have been a little MIA on the blog lately basically because we haven’t been up to diddly. I sort of look forward to January in that we usually don’t have anything on the calendar. Here are a few random pics from the last few weeks.

One month to go!

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:29:05 -0600

Please tell me how Oliver’s 1st birthday is one month from today?!?!?!?!

Not much has really changed from the 10 month update. I think that he is about to move up to a 2T soon because I ordered a bunch of clothes from Baby Gap and they barely fit. He is also still not very interested in walking probably because he can get where ever he wants by speed crawling. He can also get up the stairs in record timing. I follow behind him and when he gets to the top he has the most accomplished look on his face. He and big bro have also really started playing {well} together this month. He loves to play with all of Charlie’s cars with him and follow him around. He is still the biggest piggy when it comes to food. I swear that he ate more than me last night at dinner! He also really loves his sippy cup too and is only taking three, 7oz. bottles a day. He is also still a great little sleeper and loves his naps. He still just has five teeth but I am sure that more are about to pop through. We have also seen the beginning of some toddler fits. When he doesn’t get his way, he lays down on his back and does this fake fussing. I tell him that it is not our first rodeo with fit throwing!

Here is a brief review of the past 11 months. I really can’t talk about him turning one without my heart hurting. I want him to stay this size forever!

The Best of...

Sun, 1 Jan 2012 20:41:50 -0600

2011!

Christmas x 3

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 14:53:46 -0600

We have been in a Christmas whirlwind! We started off with a Christmas Eve, Eve party at Auntie and Uncle’s house. The boys wore their adorable shirts that our friend, Lucy, made them. They are possibly the cutest things ever!

Our Christmas Card and Decor

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 15:23:32 -0600

Our Christmas card this year was a labor of love but I was thrilled with the finished product. I sorta knew what I wanted it to look like but couldn’t find it on any card websites. My lovely friend, Allison, designed it for me, I ordered the paper, and then had it printed locally. Then I hand cut and rounded each one and layered it with metallic paper. Voila!

Festive Days

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 10:30:39 -0600

We have been busy, busy, busy with holiday fun! Last weekend we took the boys to the Fayetteville Square to see the lights. It was also Daddy’s turn to ride the camel with Charlie.

10 on the 10!

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 10:57:38 -0600

Our little Ollie bear has reached double digits...he is 10 months old today!!
What all is that little honey up to?
-He has moved up to a size 5 diaper.
-He is still in 18-24 month clothing. Not sure of shoe size because he just wears his baby Uggs everywhere.
-He weighed almost 26 pounds a few weeks ago when he was sick so there is not telling what he is up to now.
-He not only is a very big baby, but he is SO strong too. Sometimes I have to use all of my might to take something out of his hands that he is not suppose to have.
-He goes to sleep around 8:15 and I get him up around 7:30 on weekdays but he can sleep until 8:30-9:00 on weekends. I think that he inherited my ability to sleep in :)
-He also still takes a morning nap at 10:00 and an afternoon nap around 3:00. They are usually one to two hours a piece.
-He is crawling at the speed of light, pulling up on everything and cruising along the furniture. Just this week I noticed that he will hold on to things with one hand when he is standing up so I think that his balance is getting better.
-He is becoming less and less interested in his bottles mainly because he eats more at the table than Charlie and I combined! He LOVES any type of food. I have yet to see him turn his nose up to anything. I just chop up whatever I cook and give it to him. He is the exact opposite of Charlie who lived on fruit, chicken tenders and mac & cheese until he was 3.
-He has also officially grown out of the rubber ducky bathtub and just plays in the big tub with Charlie. This is one of the things that I have looked forward to with having two children. I love to watch them play in the tub together and splash around. It is too cute!
-He loves to say “bye-bye” right now and waves his hand when he does it.
-We always have music playing in the house and he has recently started bouncing up and down and dancing. In church last Sunday he was bouncing on my lap to the choir music.
-That poor child has a bad hair day every day of his life. He has a double crown so his hair swirls on the sides and then stands straight up in the middle. It is board straight too so I don’t know what we are going to do with it. I told Mimi, we will just give him a buzz cut. Ha! It will just be part of his character.
-He loves to play with toys and tries to partake in anything that Charlie is doing.
-He has two teeth on the bottom and two on the top that are about half-way in.
-He still loves a paci but we try to give it to him only if he’s fussy to encourage him to baby talk.

I am trying to baby him as much as he will let me because I can.not.believe that his first birthday is two months away! I told Mark that I am going to secretly give him a night time bottle until he is two just so I can hang on to my last baby! This has been the quickest 10 months of my life! That little Oliver brings SO much joy to us!! He completes our family and my heart. I saw this on Pinterest the other day and fell in love...

A few visits with St. Nick

Wed, 7 Dec 2011 21:16:11 -0600

Last Saturday Charlie and I went to the “Breakfast with Santa” event at the Arts Center of the Ozarks (thanks for the tickets Poppy and Mimi). It is fun to just get out with the big guy every now and then and have a little “Charlie time”!

So...where did November go?

Thu, 1 Dec 2011 20:51:09 -0600

Wow...has time been flying by! We finally got everyone well just in time for Thanksgiving! Here is a little recap of what we’ve been up to.

Sickies

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 21:14:34 -0600

Poor Ollie baby has been off and on sick since Halloween. He had a double ear infection, then an infection in his left ear, followed by croup, which led to pneumonia. Ugh! Croup was very scary. Charlie never had that so it was a new thing for me. About midnight he would start coughing like a seal and we would have to go and sit in the steamy shower. Last Saturday night I was up with him the entire night. He couldn’t breathe and I was scared to put him down so we spent most of the night in the rocking chair. I thought the croup mess was going away and then some wheezing started. Our doctor said that it just moved further down in his chest. Last week was ROUGH to say the least. Cousin Bennett had it too as well as a bad ear infection. Thank goodness for Mimi is all I have to say!! She took care of those babies all week so Auntie and I could work. I think that after a weekend of resting and staying in the house, we are hopefully on the mend.

We hung around the house all weekend, watched football and decorated the house for Christmas. We are having Mark’s group’s Christmas party at our house this year, plus it is Oliver’s first Christmas, so I had to go all out!

9 Month old on the loose!

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 20:52:03 -0600

What a difference a month makes when you are a baby! Ollie went from not crawling last month to crawling, pulling up and eating table food this month. He started crawling two weekends ago and has now turned into a speed crawler. Right after he started crawling, he then figured out that he could pull up on furniture and now he is obsessed with it. We also started giving him teeny, tiny pieces of table food and he would gobble it down and demand more. Last night, he ate more dinner than Charlie! He had diced strawberries and bananas, mac and cheese and half of a grilled cheese sandwich. I don’t know what we are going to do with this child. Overalls are the only thing that fit the poor baby right now. I hate to put him in pants because his tum tum hangs over. I told Mimi that I just need to buy him some “Big Smith” overalls and be done with it. Ha! He has also started baby talking more and loves to say “bye-bye-bye”. He loves to try and hold his bottle but I tell him that’s Mommy’s job! He also is still sleeping well (thank goodness because I was a little worried the first six months). He takes two naps a day and then sleeps from about 8:15-7:00.
Oh, how we love that little Ollie baby!!!

Halloween Central

Wed, 2 Nov 2011 20:39:08 -0500

This was our first year to pass out candy on Halloween in our new house (last year we took Charlie to a kiddo Halloween party). It was absolutely wild! We probably passed out 500 pieces of candy and also went to two parties in our neighborhood! Our neighbors up the road had a “pre-party” for all of the kids on our street and then our friend’s, Michelle and Brandon, had another massive Halloween party. It was such a wild night that I didn’t take any pics at either party. Poor Oliver was coming down with a bad cold so he stayed at our house with Poppy and Mimi and helped pass out candy most of the night.

Fun Fall Activities!

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 17:22:54 -0500

It has been one wild day after another! Last week, some kiddos from Charlie’s class met at a corn maze in Lowell. He of course had a blast!

Fun Run

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 18:10:36 -0500

Charlie ran in the New School’s Fun Run today and won third place in his race. He was thrilled with himself! It was his first trophy!

A half birthday and 2/3 of a year!

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 16:10:53 -0500

Today Charlie is three and a half and Oliver is eight months old!
We had Charlie’s half birthday dinner tonight with the family. It is crazy to think that this is his fourth half birthday to celebrate! I love this tradition! He loves saying that he is now three and a half!

Pumpkins in the patch

Sun, 2 Oct 2011 21:20:35 -0500

Wow, what a week it has been! Poor Oliver was up screaming all.night.long last Sunday night so I took him in early Monday morning and he had a bad ear infection in his left ear. I worry that history is going to repeat itself since it was exactly when Charlie got his first one. I felt so sorry for the poor baby! We started him on antibiotics and numbing ear drops and he slept soundly the rest of the week. Mark did a fabulous job of taking care of the boys while I was gone. I had great Sales meeting in New Orleans. We stayed a block off of Bourbon St. so we were able to get out and see the sights after our meetings. I got home late Friday night from my work trip and we hit the ground running this weekend!

On Saturday, Auntie and Uncle had a huge watch party for the Razorback game. Oliver played with every baby toy cousin Bennett had to offer and Charlie ran wild in the backyard with all of the kiddos. So much fun!

Quick post before adios!

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 20:51:28 -0500

I am going to be in New Orleans Tues-Fri this week for Sales meetings but wanted to do a quick little post before I head out.

We headed down to Malvern this weekend to see Mark’s family because after this weekend, we are literally booked solid until Thanksgiving! Mark’s Mom had a lovely get-together for us Saturday night so the extended family could see the boys. Charlie ran non.stop.the.entire.evening. He came in from running around the backyard at one point and looked like he had a beard made out of dirt. He sees his second cousins every couple of months and they just pick up where they left off. Oliver was also the hit of the party partly due in fact to his size. Everyone was like, how old is he again?!? He loved watching all of the kids play and being passed around.

I of course took all of these pics with my iphone because it was non-stop wildness. I was also recovering from a yucky stomach bug from Friday so my energy level was a little low.

Out with the old...

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 17:29:47 -0500

We have spent a large part of the day sorting clothes and getting everything priced for the upcoming Rhea Lana consignment sale. I have never done one before but decided to give it a try since we are done with the majority of the baby gear and a ton of baby clothes. Man child was wearing one of big brother’s American Apparel shirts yesterday that was a size 2. So needless to say, we have blown through the baby clothes in seven short months! There is a 150 item limit on what you can enter and I definitely hit that. Our guest bedroom has looked like a total total disaster! We already had a garage sale before we moved into this house and also donated a TON of clothes before Oliver was born so we mainly had the good stuff left. Managing the boys closets is like a full time job especially with the changing of the seasons. I am also selling all of my maternity clothes too. My Sister said that if I ever got pregnant again, I’d be up a creek!

Oliver has also turned into such a big guy overnight. He loves to sit on the floor and play with toys and has started getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth. He can also go from his stomach back up to a sitting position.

Seven Months

Sat, 10 Sep 2011 17:50:05 -0500

Our little ham is seven months old today!

Here is what he is up to:
-He LOVES his baby food and eats rice cereal and a fruit or vegetable at lunch and dinner. His morning bottle falls right around breakfast so we haven’t worked out the timing of adding food during that yet. (It doesn’t look like he is hurting much for more food!)
-He still takes five, 7 oz. bottles a day.
-His sleeping is hit or miss. For a few weeks he was sleeping from 8:30-6:30 but the last few nights he has started fussing again at 1am and 4am. His paci will get him right back to sleep so it doesn’t really phase me to get up since his room is right across the hall from ours. He usually takes a morning and afternoon nap and then a small catnap right around dinner.
-He is sitting up a lot better and loves to sit on the floor on a blanket and play with toys.
-We are about to upgrade his car seat since I think that we have reached the weight limit on his infant carrier.
-He is wearing 18-24 month clothing and a size 4 diaper.
-He is doing really well at Play Learn two days a week. The teachers love his belly laugh and his jolly disposition. They say that he plays and when he gets tired, they just put him in his bed and he falls right to sleep.
-He loves his baby walker and cruises all around the kitchen.
-He says “da-da-da” and “ma-ma-ma” although he doesn’t know what they mean. He loves to yell and baby talk.
-We are going to have to start “baby proofing” soon and putting up all of Charlie’s tiny toys. He was already trying to take the magnets off the fridge while he was in his walker today.
-He LOVES big brother. On the way home everyday he is so quiet and I always look in the baby mirror to see if he has fallen asleep. He is always just sitting there, staring at Charlie the whole way home. So cute!
-Our little honey is truly the happiest baby that I’ve been around. He has the cutest belly laugh and his jolliness is just so contagious. Everyone loves to squeeze on his baby rolls and his pudgy cheeks. We love him so, so much and we are so thankful for our Ollie baby.

Let’s catch our breaths!

Mon, 5 Sep 2011 21:28:19 -0500

Last week was one action packed week!
We started out the week at the Washington County Fair. We went with the Price family and Charlie and Emma had a blast (Oliver had a lovely time in his stroller too)!

Charlie-isms

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 15:06:39 -0500

Our little Charlie has always been quite the character. He has the memory of an elephant and is so articulate. So much so, it sometimes scares us. We also think that he has a photographic memory. You can read a book to him one time, put it on the shelf for six months and then read it to him again and if you skip a page and he’ll call you out on it.
Lately, he has picked up these one-liners and uses them in the correct context. Here are a few that I can remember:

-When I picked him up at school one day last week, he ran ahead of me and hid in a doorway. When I walked past him, he jumped out and yelled “Boo!”. I acted like I was startled and he slapped his knee and said, “You should’ve seen the look on your face!”.

-I asked him to do something the other day and he said, “Hold the phone!”.

-He was telling us a story the other and said, “Hey guys, get a load of this...”.

-I asked him at dinner a few nights ago about a girl that he was playing with when I picked him up. He said, “Her name is Isabella...she’s pretty cute.”. Mark and I were like great...it already starts this young!

-He asked me for some candy the other day and I jokingly replied with “never”. He looked at me and said, “Mother, never say never!”.

-We drove past a police car today and he asked me what he was doing and I said that he was making sure that all Charlie’s were behaving and he replied with, ”get out of here!!”.

-I always dilute his juice with some water and the other day he asked me if I made him a “kamikaze”.

And a few other things that he has done lately...

-A few months ago he told me, “You call me Charles and I’ll call you Mother.”. He rarely calls us Mom and Dad. I am usually Mother, Jess, or J and instead of Dad, it is Mark or M.

-He has also conquered his fears and started jumping off the diving board at Poppy and Mimi’s without his life jacket. He jumps off and pops right back up. We can’t believe how well he’s learned to swim this Summer!

-When I pick him up, I love to watch him through the window in the hallway and see what he is up to. On Friday, I walked up to see him wearing a purple skirt with silver tulle on it and carrying around a Black, naked baby doll. He pulled it up to himself and hugged it really tight and then laid it down on a pillow on the floor and patted on it. I wish more that anything that I had my phone on me. They had warned us at the Parent Night that at this age they love to explore and dress up in things that they don’t have at home. It was too funny! When I walked in the room, he spotted me and quickly pulled it off and acted embarrassed. I didn’t say anything about it to him.

-The other night, he ran upstairs to get something and we hadn’t heard him for a few minutes. I ran upstairs and started calling his name. He didn’t answer. I started calling his name louder and louder and ran from room to room worried that something had happened. I went into our laundry room to find him neatly putting laundry in the basket. I asked him what he was doing and he said, “I reached up to get a clean pair of shorts and knocked over the basket and I didn’t want the clothes to get dirty on the floor.”. What a honey he is. He thinks things through so much and has such a sweet little heart.

TImes they are a changin’

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 15:24:04 -0500

We’ve had one wild week since we got back from the beach. We’ve had open houses, doctors appointments, clothing and supply shopping, and oh yeah, work! Charlie started preschool at The New School this week and loves it! Below are some pics of his last day at Central and his first day at The New School. We think that it is going to be a fun year for the little guy. He will have art classes, P.E., Spanish classes twice a week and the list could go on and on.

Our week at the beach

Sun, 14 Aug 2011 06:45:09 -0500

We just wrapped up the best week in Florida EVER! We played on the beach and in the ocean, consumed about 10,000 calories a day and just enjoyed the company of our family. I have been going to the Destin area since I was a little kid. I love the ocean. It is part of my soul. I can already see my love for the sea in Charlie. He had the.time.of.his.life. Little Oliver loved to sit on the shore and watch the waves roll in and dig his baby hands through the white sand. I think that it was such a special trip because we had both of our boys with us. I have dreamed about vacations with our little family of four and this was our grand kickoff!

*Warning: picture overload ahead.