Happy 10 months!

We have a crawler!! :) He is going everywhere we go now on all fours and is loving it!  He is even starting to pull up on things.  Maddox has 5 teeth and loves all food that is put in front of him.  He is allergic to milk and eggs..... don't yet know the extent of that allergy.  He wears size 4 diapers and 18 month clothes.  He is weighing about 22 lbs.  He continues to be very happy (except when you drop him off at daycare... he will cry and try to crawl to the door as you leave.... breaks my heart!)  He loves playing with Zander and watching his every move..... I even captured that in one of the pictures below.  We love you MadMan!

And from our week.... I just love the wildflowers that Zander planted near the tree we planted when he was born.  He is getting so big and so is that tree!  I tried to also capture a picture of all 5 of Maddox's teeth.

Zack created a new shoe rack for our stuff in the garage.  He will be adding to the space on the right to account for little boy shoes and more gadgets!

Maddox's first day at daycare was Monday.  He stayed with my mom when I went back to work in February, and I had both boys this summer!  He looked happy on the way there and did a great job the first day.  He is still struggling to nap there but food time is not a problem!  He has 10 oz of breastmilk in a sippy cup during the day, a morning snack, lunch and an afternoon snack.

We ate dinner with Great Grandpa and Great Grandma this week.... the boys entertained the residents for sure!

We got a new roof put on this week.  This is the halfway point.... the left side (over the garage is new!).... I haven't taken an "after" picture yet!

Zander had his last swim lesson.  He is doing great kicking and moving through the water.  Hopefully next summer he will be more excited about going under and jumping off the side!

Big Week!

This has been a big week for us... for some exciting and challenging reasons.... but you gotta document life..... no matter what the circumstances!  First, we officially have a crawler at our house!  One of Zack's "to do" items tomorrow is to install the gate downstairs!  Maddox is loving his new ability to move on his hands and knees!  Also this week, I started back to work..... on my goodness.... I forgot in 7 short weeks just how hard the work week is!  I feel like I never see the kids and when I do I am so tense and trying to hurry to get dinner on the table and baths knocked out so we can have a few minutes of "downtime" as a family before bedtime!  I know we are going to figure out a better balance of work and family life but we haven't found it yet.... so therefore life is kicking my butt!  Something else that is kicking my butt is my three year old and his ever-changing personality. He has the sweetest personality one minute and the next he is either refusing to share with his younger brother or crying hysterically because I put one of his toys in timeout or something trivial like that.  I have never been the most patient person... this child is testing the little bits of patience I have.  I continue to pray for God to give me strength... if you are reading this.... please say a prayer for me too!  Tonight, Zack wanted him to eat a bite of carrot... it was one of those sweet carrots that they make at a Japanese restaurant (we got take out tonight... as a reward for surviving the work week!)....Zack fed Zander a bite of the carrots (Zander said he didn't want to try it on his own)..... Zander starts crying because he "can't like that" (his exact words!) and Zack pretty much tells him he needs to chew it up.  (It was a tough love moment).  After Zander starts chewing.. he immediately starts laughing.... yep from crying to laughing in 60 seconds and exclaims "I like it!  I like it!"  This change in personality has happened multiple times a day over the last few months.  This parenting thing is hard!  Finally, to one of the biggest parts of the week, and that is our chunky monkey/ eating machine has an allergy to milk and eggs!  So the kid that would eat anything you put in front of him is now going to be limited to what he can eat.  How crazy is that?!  I had suspected an allergy for awhile and couldn't figure out if it was milk or egg or both based on foods we had tried and reactions he had.  It looks like he has both!  He got to have all those marks on his back to figure it out as well!  I had them try peanuts just because I was curious and there was no reaction at all... so that is good!  We go next week for blood work to determine if his egg allergy is raw egg or egg cooked into things (apparently there are two types of egg allergies based on how much heat is added to the egg).  We are praying it is the egg only type of allergy because what I have realized in the few days since I found this out, is that milk and eggs are in a lot of things!  We don't believe the milk allergy is as severe but it will be interesting to see what happens around the one year mark when we transition from breastmilk to cow's milk.... or maybe soy or almond milk depending!   Please say a prayer for our sweet Maddox.  We have to carry an EpiPen around just in case there might be a severe reaction.  The only reactions so far have been mild and mainly in the form of hives or a rash.  We are praying the EpiPen is just precautionary and we never have to use it.  Likewise, we are praying that he outgrows these allergies so he can enjoy all the foods he so desperately WANTS to eat (unlike his slightly more picky-eating big brother!)  Also, pray for the boys' daycare teachers as they start back at "school".  I pray they are able to work with each boy to meet their needs and encourage/strengthen their development.  I also pray that in a room full of kids that if Maddox has an allergic reaction to any food that proper steps will be taken to ensure his health at all times.  The boys are at a great place for "school". I am excited to hear how they like their teachers and classmates in the upcoming weeks!  Until my next post, I am including a picture of my boys after church last Sunday and a picture of Maddox and me while we were waiting at the allergy doctor's office.  Finally, I had to include a picture from Jim Gaffigan... we were on the third row!  We went as a group of 6 (three couples) and it was so much fun to spend time together and LAUGH! :)

Summer Break: Week Seven

Recap of Week 7:  Our Last Week of Summer Break
1.) Went to a local minor league baseball game.. Maddox's first game!  We went with Sarah, Josh, Luke, Aunt Lindsey and Uncle Boomer.
2.) We enjoyed some time at home.... whether it was rocking in my old cradle (that was just handed over to Baby K), riding our bike, reading books in bed (when we should be napping... but who cares... he was READING books in BED!), practicing letters and numbers or getting out every toy out of the toy box.... we soaked up our last days just enjoying the house and the many things God has blessed us with.
3.) Mommy had a night out with the girls at Create & Decorate.... got a new piece of artwork for our house!
4.) Met daddy and Aunt Lindsey for lunch one last time (Grammy and Grandpa came too!)
5.) Got to sit in the Founder's Club section of a baseball game.... thanks to Uncle Boomer's connections.... it was a great double date!  Grammy watched the boys!! (P.S.  She really is the best!)
6.) Went for another week of swim lessons (two more weeks to go!)  We are so happy both boys love the water even if neither of them are going to be the next Michael Phelps (as I type this he has 22 golds and 27 medals overall!)... which we have been watching the Summer Olympics after the kids go to bed each night!)
7.) And tonight mommy and daddy are going to see Jim Gaffigan with some friends at the Amphitheater!  (Two date nights in a week!!)

On this day FOUR YEARS AGO, I found out I was going to be a mommy!! I get so sentimental thinking about how our lives have changed for the better when those two pink lines showed up that morning.  We have made many mistakes and learned many lessons from each other but I think our family is just about the greatest thing I have ever accomplished or been a part of!! We love our boys so much!! We can't wait to see what the next 40 years of being parents has in store!

Summer Break: Week Six

Recap of Week Six:
1.) Spent some time at home.
2.) Spent some time at the movies (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2).
3.) Spent some time visiting Aunt Lindsey at work.
4.) Spent some time celebrating our 8th wedding anniversary (dinner and a movie and the house to ourselves for one whole night.... including sleeping in until 7:00 a.m.!)
5.) Spent some time playing in the rain.
6.) Spent some time at the Science Center.
7.)  Spent some time cuddling our new neighborhood, Hadley Ann (all 6 lbs 3 oz of her!)
8.) Spent some time cleaning up from three year olds that think it is fun to unravel an entire toilet paper roll (this happened twice last week!)
9.) Spent some time in the car wash.... Zander loved it.... Maddox not so much by the end!
10.) Spent some time reading books and cleaning up books!
11.) Spent some time singing karaoke.
12.) Spent some time at swimming lessons (for Zander).
It was a pretty great week!