Celebrating Andrew George

My big guy is three

The previous post was about how I felt about having a three year old now and reminiscing this day (below)

Its a chilly day today.. 15 degrees... It was 55 when he was born. 

So needless to say he had to pretty much stay indoors today.

We arranged his gifts on the table.. and he shouted "open presents now!" which I think is the FIRST time he was all excited to open presents.. He didnt even care that much at Christmas just a few weeks ago

He got right down to business...

A new garbage/recycling truck.

He was smitten. 

Played with that thing ALL day.

He also got new diecast car set, a Cuckoo Clock (hysterical) Tractor Set from Sister, A Backyardigans DVD, and a Delta Airlines Airport set 

Sam and I headed out to get a few things for his little party later in the day.

I love setting up party stuff.

No real theme, just blues and reds and yellows, But his truck cake ended up being Orange.. so .. 

I had leftover cake and homemade buttercream, so I froze about a dozen un-dipped cake pops (just the cake and frosting rolled) and then I made a few blue ones. 

Drink station ;)

And I had made these sugar cookie "3"'s about 2 weeks ago and froze them/forgot about them till the party almost was starting. 

We ordered some pizza, and had snacks. 

My homemade salsa/chips, carrots and dip and popcorn, chips

As soon as we were done eating, we mentioned presents again, and he ran and sat down so fast.. he was ready.. he likes this "present opening" thing...

Then cake... He was so excited too.

I know I keep saying he was so excited.. but i'll just preface that he was into NONE of these things when he turned 2. I made him a huge construction cake.. he took one bite and spit it out.. And Samantha opened all his presents last year.. (which is why she looks teary-eyed here... She had to accept that he FINALLY wanted to participate in his own party)

We were laughing so hard because he kept digging his fork right into the big cake.. He poked off all 3 Oreo wheels and went to town.. He had never had an oreo until yesterday.. so we were amazed.. haha..

He sat and ate and ate and ate frosting and cake and oreos... 

He was so happy ... We were so happy.. 

The party was so much fun.

and just like that, he's 3.

I have a 5 1/2 year old and a 3 year old.. with no plans of another baby... thats kind of sad... 

But then again, we're getting into the stage when its become a LOT easier, and Im grateful for that.

But if I could just blink myself back into the hospital room with him for a few hours.. That would be okay too..

Andrew is 3

Andrew will be three years old on Saturday 1/31.

To say it has flew by is both true and untrue. 

We've had our days when we are wishing him to grow up so he passes certain stages, or can talk more, or eat more, or SLEEP for heavens sake...But there are also days lately when we look at him and say "gosh he's been so good lately"..

I recently went to a friends house for lunch and she said repeatedly. " I cant beleive how well he listens!"... I looked at her with the most puzzled face.. But he does listen pretty well. 

I think people may have boys that are like this too, but since we had easy peasy Samantha Jane, Andrew puts us in first time parent mentalities a lot of the time, because we have dealt with so many new things with him, and are still learning as we go. 

I still remember the day he was born pretty vividly.

I began to labor at home - I had no idea what this felt like either.. never had a contraction or anything with Samantha - I was induced.

Around 6pm I started feeling pains.. By 9:30pm they were coming every 5 minutes. I called the doctor .. took a shower and went back to bed, thinking it was pre-labor.. Then woke up at 1am with blasting pains coming every 2-3 minutes.. I was STILL in denial... But we called my mom and waited for her to come over while we headed to the hospital. When I got to the hospital I had dialated to a 3 already... so got me all hooked up.. I didnt last too long without drugs.. It was pretty painful and I was already exhausted. Pitocin made sure I had a LONG LONG hard labor... It was insane.. I had developed a high fever, needed oxygen, watched the sun rise and set without baby coming. I remember hearing all the babies in the other rooms crying as they were being born, and I just broke down.. Then finally it was push time. My poor little angels head was stuck for quite some time. It was probably very painful for him as it was for me. I pushed until my eyeballs felt like they would project out of my head. And finally big 8 pounder came out wailing away...and he never stopped... ahem

Anyways.. 3 years later and he is no longer colic.. at least most days.. haha

Andrew George

You are 3!

You weigh around 36-37lbs? - We need an official yet from the Dr.

You wear a size 6 diaper

You wear mostly 3T and 4T's 

You are so tall, Im sure youre in the 80-90% for height

Food:

Dont be all ready for some big list.

He is so super picky, but I do attribute some to his food allergies so he gets a partial excuse.

Pepperoni, Bacon, Homemade Jerky 

Bananas,  Apples (sometimes)

Puffs, Yogurt, Pretzels, Chips, Snacks, Oatmeal Cookies (My homemade.. I have to keep a stash in the freezer) Pumpkin Muffins (Another favorite)

Milk, Juice, Water

Its a short list.. and a daily struggle. I hope it changes some day.

Sleep:

Dont ask. Lets just say he'll be in a crib till hes 10.. just kidding.

He wakes at least once -- most times more than once.

Goes to bed around 8:45 - 7:30-8.

Naps.. sometimes they happen, sometimes they dont.. but he ONLY naps in the car or on the couch.. Crib nap days have been over since Sept 2014, and I miss them so much. BUT on the flip side.. He is probably better without one.. I get everything I need to get done, blogging, cooking, baking, cleaning, laundry.. while he's awake anyways.. He plays independently A LOT which is a huge blessing. He likes to play alone,

Likes:

Airplanes, Garbage trucks, His Kitty & Debbie (Blanky)

Daddy, Momma and Sassa

Carl (meow)

Playgroup

Ms. Nancy (his speech teacher)

Going to the store with Mama

Building with blocks 

Making Cookies

His Bottle - Thats our bad habit.. we're working on it.

MUSIC! _ Favorite song in my iphone - Taylor Swift "Shake it Off" - He knows all the words.

Doing the Dishes

Vocabulary:

He was tested (my own instinct persued)

and found a slight speech delay. So he gets speech services 2x a week for 25 min. 

Its so nice.. his teacher has become a friend also, and she can see how hard it is for us some days with his resistance. But most days he loves playing with her sitting and reading books, etc, and I truly think it has made a great difference. Its like school at home. He is speaking in sentences and has so many new words. He can finally tell us exactly what he wants.. Some things only Mama can decode.. but we're working on it. 

Dislikes:

Vegetables (ha!)

Sleeping with clothes on

Chocolate (not my child!)

His allergies: I'm certain that his sleeping is related to dust, air particles, things we try to get rid of but are just there. We do our best.. but his skin sometimes flairs up so bad that he scratches till it bleeds.

Food wise, we avoid ALL nuts pretty much that's it. The rest of the house can eat all the nuts and peanut butter we want, but not this little guy. 

He is sweet 

Kind

Loves his big sister to no end.

Waiting for the bus to come home every day is so adorable.

He wants her to play with him right away... and some times I can leave them alone and they take care of each other.. sometimes I cant leave the room... depends on the day.

We've pretty much made two clones of ourselves. 

Samantha is my mini me and Andrew is Mathew's.

So at least we know sometimes how to interpret or navigate certain things.

Its so funny how different boys and girls are, especially these two.

One thing for sure is I NEVER judge any other mothers, and I admit I have.

You never know anyone else's situation or child, or life. All of it is hard. We do the best we can with what we have. Thank you Andrew for teaching me this! ha!

Andrew George is 2!!

The morning of  the big boy's birthday.

I set up his little presents so he'd see them when he came down in the morning.

We built him a tent ... I got real crafty this year.. and also because I couldnt think of anything he really needed/wanted ... because it was JUST christmas, and because he's 2! What does he really need that we dont already have 4 of! The house is busting at the seams with toys. So this tent was something fun and different that we can use outdoors as well ...

We got him a few trucks & wooden planes, mixers, dump trucks.. and he was all set.

I hung a little light strand in the tent that made it look so cute and whimsical.

He really loves all things that go these days.

Later that evening we headed to Andersons for Fruit Whip & Custard ... his favorite.

The Saturday after his birthday I began working on his cake.

We didnt have a big party, just our family, which this year included Aunt Shauna & Uncle Lucas. They were in town for Aunt Shauna's baby shower. 

He wasnt too chocolate obsessed at all.. which is good for him, but I was digging in.

I made a two layer chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream...

He knew just what to do.

Blew out his own candles and everything 

Such a big boy...

Like I said he wasnt too obsessed with the sugar/chocolate.

He had about 2 bites and was asking for his milk 

I cant beleive it was 2 years ago. Seems like forever ago.

It has been a trying 2 years for our little guy... it hasnt always been smooth sailing... but he's such a sweet and happy boy most all the time. I cant wait to see what year 2 brings us.

You already bring us so much joy and laughter. 

We love you big guy!

Andrew George {24 Months}

TWO

Just like that ... our little man is sleeping away right now, and will wake up a TWO year old...

Well, not exactly until 7:45pm I believe...but we're not getting technical.

At TWO...

Andrew is speaking so so many words... We can understand most things, and lately.. grouping two words together has been his new habit, which we appreciate, in an effort to decode his language ...

 

He can count to 10 all by himself

He knows most of his ABC's.. and we have an alphabet on our wall in the family room, he'll look at it whenever he is watching TV, or sees a letter on a book, or on a video.. and he'll run over to the alphabet "wall" and point to that letter and say it.

 

Loves:

His sister

Bacon, Juice, Milk, Chips, Bugles, Strawberries

Animals - especially kee kees ... or kitty cats

He loves his stuffed Kee Kee.. and Debbie (blanket)- he always knows where they both are, and wont go in his crib without them...

Water... We have a Y membership for the winter... and he LOVES going to the Pool. We went tonight, and he is fearless... and he stayed in the water for over an hour .. and had to be coaxed out.

Helicopters, Planes, Trains, Cars, Buses, Garbage Trucks, Tractors, Haulers... Yep, he's a real mans man. haha....

Vacuuming... He loves using his toy vacuums.. he has about 3...

and he loves when we let him use the real one.. 

He doesn't eat quite like his sister did at this age..

He is a very very very picky eater.. Some days are better than others. We have to constantly put food in his mouth, or in front of him, otherwise I think he'd just drink Juice and Milk all day..

 

He is hysterical

He constantly has us laughing.

Instead of saying Yes. to certain questions.. he responds "OK"... in the tiniest little baby boy voice that melts my heart EVERY.SINGLE.DAY....

 

Why didn't anyone tell me that little boys were SO SO SWEET!??

Its a good thing you're so damn cute.. and funny.

 

SLEEP:

Still in your crib.

Not through the night... I'll just leave it at that.. this is a happy post, right? Celebrating our blessed 2 years with this beautiful child? Ok then.. 

PLAY:

You play extremely well by yourself these days..



Super creative, and hysterical (again)



One of the cutest things you do.. is play with your cars, while laying on your belly.

You'll push them around and it looks as though there are so many thoughts turning in your imagination. You sometimes make car sounds, or talk gibberish ... and I love watching you 

TV:

Your favorite is Max and Ruby these days

Little Einsteins

Sophia the First (because your sister gives you no choice.. but you actually like it too!)

Toy Story



 Andrew loves power tools, kitchen tools, pianos, noisemakers.. very very interested in machinery and technology.



His formal stats will follow, but he hasn't been to his 2 year check up yet.

Knock on wood he's been pretty healthy... a nice change from all the visits to the ER, ENT & Peds last year..

We love you little man.

You make our family complete and we couldn't have asked for a sweeter boy.

Happy TWO to YOU!

Andrew George {19 Months}

Oh Andrew, finally a semi-correct update.

I've been slacking on regular updates for BOTH kids. So before any more time goes by, I have to get this one in the books! We've had a busy summer, and this post has been on my mind, but I never sat down and actually did it till now.

 

I cant remember if my "updates" had a formal pattern, so here goes...

 

19 Months

You go to the Dr in a few weeks again, but last time you were there around 17 months (late 15 month appt pushed back) You were:

80% for height

90% for weight and head circumference.

We have no idea why you are in the 90% for weight because good lord my sweet boy you do not like to eat.... totally opposite of your sister at this age.. I hope you come around soon...

Here's some things you DO eat (but again.. some days you just dont want anything but milk & puffs...no, really)

 

Pumpkin Muffins

Chicken Soup

Popcorn

Puffs, Kix, Cheerios

Strawberries & Bananas

Veggies? FORGET about it.. maybe a French fry here and there

Waffles & Pancakes

Rice Cakes

Yogurt (YoBaby & Toddler Brands)

Bacon & Homemade Beef Jerky

 

That's about it...I hope this sad little list grows.. Im writing all this down so I can look back and say.. "holy moly... how did you grow?" But you are growing.. everyone says "how old is he? .. he's huge!" You definitely hide your dislike for food well among the public eye.

You are very solid & stocky .. ha!

 

You love animals..

Here you are (below) with Daddy after just petting a Goat at our local farmers market.

Sleeping... (do I dare tell all?)

Naps are good... you'll go down around 1pm and sleep anywhere from 2-2.5 some days 3 hours..

Night time routine..

We put you and your sister to bed anywhere between 8:30 & 9pm.

You go down pretty good. We put your dream light & noise maker on, and we put you in bed.

Sometimes you say "bye" to us..

But that's not where our night ends.

You wake up at least once if not more each night.

You were turning a corner last month & sleeping through at least 3-4 times a week, but I am beside myself with why you still get up!

I know it all will pass.. but some nights I am a beast, and so frustrated...

Most days you're pretty happy though, so I have to be thankful for that.

Last year you were still fighting screaming bouts and colic moments.

 

But you are certainly very stubborn about various things...

Here you were mad at me because I put your shirt on ... Winter should be fun...layering on clothes

Teething got the best of you this past week... I even let you take your nap on me one day (just like the old days)... ha. I hope your near done getting your teeth mister.. because I am tired this week!



Words:

You can tell me a little bit more now a days

Milk (Muk), Juice (Ju) Dada, Papa, Mama, Down, Bath (Ba), Cone (another food like that I forgot), 

You run, jump, play on all of Sister's toys, you are fearless.



You are still volatile at times, and Im afraid to take you in public at certain moments.

Im glad I have Daddy as backup. Although some days when its just you, me and Samantha we do just fine and you are so good.

 

Your belly laugh is the best, and you love getting tickled, playing hide and go seek, playing Daddy's piano, closing doors, turning on light switches, fans, climbing stairs, running, bouncing...

You are my adorable, crazy, furry headed, maniac, cuddle bug, sweet boy...

Confessions of a Stay at Home Mom {Greatful}

Stay at Home Mom...

Those words were like sweet music to my ears when I was in my late 20's

I knew I'd love to stay home with my kids.

"How Much fun, right?" I thought.

Just play all day, feed them, change them, naps, stories, etc..

 

 

I took the kids to Starbucks in the jogger the other day.

The woman who served us looked at me and said "are they yours?" .. that in itself is a compliment, right?

 

I told her yes, and then she asked if I stayed home with them, and I also answered yes.

She said she had been a Mom & Nanny for 26 years, and Staying at home was the best decision she had ever made. She told me:

 

"I think its a wonderful thing that you are staying at home with your kids. In a world of such chaos, its so important to try and really connect with your children and form that bond during the first few years"

 

I nodded, and said "Oh, yea, absolutely"... and then I quickly grabbed our drinks before a tantrum started brewing, and I said goodbye to her.

 

As I rollerbladed home with the kids, I began to hear what she had said to me over and over in my head. It really stuck with me.. It must have.. that was almost a month ago, and Im still thinking about her words on my hardest days.. and thanking God that I am able to be at home right now with my kids.

There are definitely days when I would like to jump out the window, lock myself in the closet, and bury my head in a pillow.. But then there is every day.. when I cant imagine anyone but ME being the one to take care of the two most precious things I have in life.

 

 

This is just our situation. If things had been different, we would have hired on another Nanny, or thought about DayCare. But this is what works best for our family, and Im not ever judging anyone who has different plans/views/ideas/thoughts... just my little disclaimer.

This blog I write for me, and my family, my readers, and mostly for memories sake. I look forward some day looking back and seeing how much our family has grown, what we've gone through, grown through, and learned through.

Back into The Routine

Since we've been back from vacay, its just been all about getting back into the routine around here.



The best of our seashell finds from Surf City.

Looking at this just makes me happy.. and sad too.. I really miss it!

 

 

I have done a TON of crafting lately ...just getting some late Mother's Day gifts done, teacher gifts, and some other Pinterest finds that I'm trying.. more deets to come on the craft blog.

 

Samantha celebrated her summer birthday at school this week...

So I made some fruit kebobs & pink krispie treat S's

 

The sweet moments & gentle kisses are very plentiful lately.

And Daddy and I want nothing more.

I know they'll fight .. naturally.. but they've been very very sweet to each other these days.

Little Man.

He's back home, and we can tell he's a happy camper

We've really tried to cut out juice from his diet, and are concentrating on him eating more food.. (since he has a tiny appetite) & load him up with Milk instead of juice.

And if / when he wakes in the night, I give him milk now instead of water

He's had a few really good nights.. And I also picked up some Blackout room darkening shades to go under his wood blinds.. ha! Hey... whatever helps!

Baka and Papa came in this weekend from Ohio.

Bringing treats and spoilings for my babies.

We soaked it all up, and had so much fun with them.

The weather was really nice the last few days.. and water is our best friend...

Last night we tried a new yogurt place in our neighborhood.. and it was really really good..

But whats bad is, we can walk there.. 

 

My husband, father in law & Samantha are the only ones who think that The Three Stooges is hysterical.. I just don't get it ... 

All she wanted to do was watch the Stooges with her favorite partner in crime.. Papa

Papa & his Grandkids.

It was a nice visit!

We cant wait till they come back again.