Just Wondering......

Is it wrong to put him in the dirty clothes basket while I grab my wet sweaters out of the dryer? Anyone know where I can find a third arm?

Baby G

I know everyone has seen most all of these photos, but I wanted them on here "officially". The photographer just emailed them to me tonight. Also my pictures I ordered came in and they are so great. I have an obsession with photos-can one really have too many?!? G was a little over two weeks old in these photos and now he turned three months yesterday!!! Cannot believe it. Times flies when your having fun and not sleeping, ha!!! I love my sweet kids.

Nap Nanny

I have been researching this little device for several weeks now. I had seen one on someones blog one time and remembered they spoke highly about it. So I read a bunch of articles about the Nap Nanny and decided it was worth the price. Or hoped and crossed my fingers anyways.It is recommended for babies with reflux and colic especially. We definitely fit into that category! I looked on ebay and found several "gently used" ones but after I would pay to ship it, it was about the same price to just get one here at the store.

There was a light blue minky dot one and this cute turquoise one, which is what I picked. Please excuse the half eaten carrots and dinner plate in the photo. It's super cute. But how would G like it? I am excited to report...................................

He loves it!!! He really likes to be propped up in it most of all. It's a good incline, which I think makes his belly feel better after eating. At night, I feed him in it and usually fall back asleep without burping him. And so far, most times his milk sits well with him. You need to look into one of these if you are having to prop your baby up at night.

I also feel much better about him in it at night because he was sleeping on a pillow in the middle of us. That's the only way he would sleep besides in the swing because he liked to be propped. It was freaking me out that I would roll on him or the pillow would get on his face.

Yep, he still likes it. Now if I could get him to not wake up every. two. hours. to eat!!! I wonder if he would still be smiling if he knew this was his SISTER'S old outfit! LOL!

Oh, and I couldn't end this blog without a fat foot pic. Gotta love the feet!!!

Turning Eight!

Last weekend was quite the celebration. Between Slade turning eight and Campbell turning three, we did alot of party hopping and cake eating. We started out by letting them open our gifts on Friday night. Everyone came over to our house for dinner.

Slade got a personalized Tech jersey. His big gift from Us and Nana was his basketball goal, but we didn't get that going until Monday-his actual bday. He really, really loves the basketball goal. He's been out every day shooting a few hoops.

Campbell liked her gifts, too.

The pretend fishing pole was a big hit.

Gunnar is 11 weeks old here.

Aunt B and Shane gave him shoulder pads. Cita & Big Dad got him some really cool racing cars amongst other things!

Slade's bday invitation I made at Walgreens. I used his football pics from the fall.

Against my wishes, Slade chose his party to be at The Main Event. He wanted to play Glow-Golf. If you know me, you know that Main Event is not my favorite place.

New England Patriots cake

It was so loud in this little room at this point, one seriously needed a pair of ear muffs. I was relieved that we decided against bringing the baby to the party. Finley stayed at Brandi's and helped Campbell unwrap her gifts. Wise choice, Fin.

13 eight-year-old boys. Need I say more. I can't tell you how I really feel about 13 eight-year-old boys at Main Event because Slade might someday read this blog and I want him to have happy memories about his eighth bday.

But I can tell you that the second grade teachers at Preston Smith Elementary School in Lubbock, Texas, are substantially UNDERPAID........ ; )

Party Favors.......$12

Birthday Cake.........$30

Each Kid at the Party for 2 hours.....................$14.99

Feeling of RELIEF as we walked out of Main Event with the realization of knowing that I would never make the mistake of letting Gunnar have 13 eight-year-old boys at a party here ever again.....................PRICELESS!

The Hunger Games

Well, folks, I did it. Don't really know how. Didn't ever think I would get to do it again anytime soon. Yes, girls, I actually read a book. A whole book. Yes, I think it's a small miracle. I really didn't have time, but it was an easy read. Pretty short. It's juvenile fiction I believe. I sweated out a few chapters in the tub. I stayed up tooooo long several nights. I even read on our seat in the shower. Ok, well I didn't read this in the shower but I did read Water for Elephants in the shower. It wasn't my book so I wasn't too worried. Never, ever give me a book that you love. It might or might not get a little bit wet. I'm careful, but sometimes water deflects off my head onto the pages. Although, now that I think about it, I would never jeopardize my Twilight saga books in the shower. Those are much too precious. And vampires don't really need to shower, seeing that their skin is like beautiful sculptures of marble. And they sparkle. I'm rambling. Back to The Hunger Games.

So my gal pal, Nat and fellow Twilighters Anonymous Member, gave me this book for my bday, knowing perfectly well I hate sci-fi crap. Two things about me. I don't do Old West. And I don't do Futuristic. I do love me some Cullens, though. Go figure. Anyways, I put this book aside, seeing I've been a little busy. You know, like having babies and stuff. But the other night, I walked by the bookshelf, and it jumped out at me. Or maybe I was just desperate one night in the midst of my colic baby-haven't slept all night in three months-induced coma and grabbed it by mistake thinking it was a burp rag. I started it. And read, and read, and read and then I was finished. It was no Stephenie Meyer or Mary Higgins Clark or Elin Hildebrand for that matter, but I liked it. It was so strange and intriguing, that I had to continue. Plus, I felt like I was sticking to my vow to "branch out" with my reading selections. This story is crazy, but you just really must know what happens. And isn't that what makes the best stories?!? You have to know how it ends. Think Lord of the Flies meets the Jetsons. And that's really all you need to know. I recommend it. And please be warned, it sucks you in because it does leave you hanging at the end. So I'm starting book two. So I can find out what happens. Because I'm nosey like that. Evidently it's a trilogy. I'll let you know how book two goes. I wonder if a Kindle can withstand a shower???

Somebody is EIGHT!!!!

Eight years ago today, God blessed us with the greatest gift I could have ever imagined! Since then, it has been one wild ride and I wouldn't change a thing! Happy 8th Birthday, Slade. I never knew how much love I could have in my heart for another human being. You've been such fun. It has been the greatest joy to watch you grow up into a boy. We love you!!!

G's Announcements!!!

These are Mr. Gunnar's announcements that I sent out before Christmas. I couldn't wait for my photo order to come in so I just took a pic with my camera on the fridge! All I can say is that I'm in love with these pics of him. They were all so wonderful and I couldn't be more pleased!!!

Denae Hutson at Denae Hutson Photography is totally awesome! She was precious and did such a fabulous job. I highly recommend her and we will be going back to her.

They were front and back 5x7 cards and this was the back. I loved the verse!!! I told her what I wanted and she designed exactly that! www.denaehutsonphotography.com

Big Weekend

Let the celebrations begin...................................

Fun birthday weekend in store here in the Hub!

And the cake-always the best! Gotta love Nana!!!

All in a Day's Work.....

Ok, so I really really need to blog my Christmas morning pics. And the rest of my holiday pics. And my baby shower pics-oh how behind I am on those. And I'm sure there's more I've missed. But I'm just pooped tonight. I don't have the patience to let the pics load onto blogger. So I'm not. It has been a busy week. We have Slade and Campbell's parties this weekend. The weather has been crazy cold, but at least I got to wear my really cute winter hat today. And my new scarf Nana gave me for Christmas. I heart scarves so much. My sweet friend, Beth, told me to blog what I was doing while we were chatting. I think I will. Blog my day of chores at least. Just so you won't think I was bored or anything. If anyone cares, here it goes.....
Fed Gunnar
Showered
Blew dried my hair with a round brush
Got ready
Balanced checkbook
Bathed Fin
Make breakfast
Let the dog out
watered the dog
fed the dog
let the dog back in
warmed up the car
packed G's bag
loaded F, G, me in car
went to gymnastics
fed G at gymnastics
changed G's diaper & clothes at gymnastics
grabbed lunch
Finley's haircut
Picked two kids up from school-it got out at lunch today
Went to Target(with all three of my kids!ha!)
Fed G in Target
Bought bday gifts
Went home
Got Fin ready for dance
changed G's clothes and diaper
Took F to dance
Ran to Cardinals
Ran to Post Office
Ran to CVS (did all 3 in 35 min)
Picked Fin up
Ran to Sonic
Home
Changed G
Fed G
Put dog out
Made Paul Revere hat out of poster board
Studied Paul Revere
Wrote poem of Midnight Ride
Watched Slade perform Paul Revere
Made Finley hat
Rocked G
Changed G
Fixed the toliet
Washed pee sheets
Picked up kitchen
Phone calls
Wiped a hiney(not mine)
Answered texts
Changed G
Fed G
Fed Fin
Fed Me
Ran to Kohls
Bought bday gifts
Ran to Brandi's
Ran to CVS-again
Listened to Paul Revere
Rocked G
Bathed me
Bathed G
Bathed Fin
Made bottles
Fed G
Rocked G
Called mom
let dog out
let dog in
fed dog
SAT DOWN & OPENED MY COMPUTER 11:45pm!!!
Dadgum, I'm tired!
And it's 12:15am and I'm sure the minute I lay down, Mr. G will need to eat!!!
I didn't sit down today. Except in the car. And listening to Paul Revere. And in the tub. Why am I not thinner?????

HoHoHo

Tell me what you'd like for Christmas, Little One. The other day Slade dressed up as Santa. Red pajama pants, Tech shirt turned inside out, white gloves from Halloween costume, etc. When we walked around the corner, he had Campbell on his lap, asking her what she wanted for Christmas. She said a toy. Darn it, Christmas is over. But you both still have your birthdays on Saturday. There's still hope. Hilarious!

These are a Few......

of my favorite things! I love to read the things people like on their blogs. Pioneer Woman does a great favorite things periodically. So I thought it was time again for me to post some of my favs. Don't worry, they aren't all baby items-just the first few.
After dropping Gunnar's blanket on the ground fifteen times in the cold blowing wind everytime I got out of the car, I decided to look into carrier covers. I had a pink one for Finley, and aside from the fact that it was pink and people would have thought I was carrying Leighton Mallory around, (That was one of my fav girls' names-please someone use it. It's such a cute name but we are done) I wasn't fond of the design of it. It went right up against her face and had a little peep hole for her head. I wanted his head to be covered without smothering him. Happily I found this awesome cover at BabiesRUs. It's from JJ Cole called the "blue leaf" pattern. I totally love this thing-use it daily! And the pic below shows how it un-velcros to open up and get him out instead of having to take the whole cover off or if you just want the baby to look out. See how it attached to the handle for some breathing room. Love this!

Mom and Nana bought me this travel system for Gunnar. It's a Chico Cortina Travel System. The color/style is Adventure. I knew I was going to have to get a new infant seat and stroller. I sold Finley's because I hated it. It was an Eddie Bauer and it was so heavy to lug around. Brandi had a Chico and loved hers. So I got this one and I love love love it. Plus she has a base that I could use instead of buying an extra one for Kyle's truck. Plus I love grey and green. Gunnar loves to sleep in it, too!

I noticed that the straps were so close to Gunnars face and neck-it's hard to be chubby with no neck to speak of, bless his heart. So I found these JJ Cole strap covers at BabiesRUs. I'm loving the JJ Cole collections and they work great. Just throw them in the washer when they get milk or spit up on them.

These are the Gerber zip front sleepers that I adore. The night time diaper changes are soooo much quicker when you just zip up instead of finding ten snaps. If you don't have a baby, let me tell you that you are practically delirious at night during feedings. You'll thank me one day for suggesting these. We started out in gowns and moved to these. Love them! And WalMart, Target, and BabiesRUs all have there own collection of these I discovered last week.

G is very stuffy and since you can basically only suck out their noses with the "booger getter" for colds and such, this has been awesome. It's Simply Baby Saline saline nasal mist. It's like an aerosol can that sprays right the nose, loosens mucus and makes the process easier. I'm such a pro at this now. It even has a little blocker at the tip of the sprayer that only goes so far into the baby's nose so you can't hurt them and put it too far. It's so quick, too, which is great since G HATES this done to him. And we have to do this several times a day. P.S. The best booger getters are the ones you get at the hospital when the baby is born. Ask for another when you leave the hospital so you can have one for your house and one for your baby bag. And don't bother buying one anywhere else!

Kyle got me the 11 inch Paula Deen Copper Bottom Skillet for Christmas. I cannot tell you how awesome this pan is. It is like magic. Nothing, I repeat, nothing sticks to this pan. It cooks beautifully and cleans even better. I want the whole set. Now. Please.

This is not the picture I wanted. It's close, but my computer wouldn't let me copy the exact razor I wanted. It's the Gillette Fusion ProGlide razor. It is in a blue container instead of orange. I had a CVS coupon for a free one. It is the best razor ever. I would never pay ten dollars for a razor but for this one I might. I got a bunch of shavings out of just one razor. Like at least five or more. Kyle loved it, too. I have no loyalty towards womens or mens razors. I usually just find one I like and have found that most times, men have the best razors.

This is Pravana Hydrating Leave-In Treatment. I love it and use it every time I wash my hair. It makes it easy to comb through and protects while blow drying. I use it in Finley's hair, too. I get it from my hair gal at her shop.

My favorite body lotion ever. Mary Kay Hydrating Lotion. Smells super clean and stays with you. It's not heavy or greasy. It's perfect!

Went all Fall looking for the perfect tasting pumpkin bread recipe and didn't find it. Then I went over to my friend, Angela's house, and there it was. Ridiculous actually. Childishly simple. You take one box of Betty Crocker Super Moist Spice Cake Mix and add 1 can of pumpkin. That's it. 2 ingredients. It makes a pan of the most fabulous, moist, perfectly spiced pumpkin muffins ever! The best part is that they are low cal. You can also use the Betty Crocker carrot cake mix. Make sure you use plain canned pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling. I freeze them and pop them into the microwave in the morning. Slade loves them, too, and they taste awfully yummy with my pumpkin pie spice coffee creamer.

And last but not least, this is Johnson's Baby Oil Gel. The kids and I have extremely dry skin in the winter and we use this after we shower/bathe. I put it on their skin while it's still wet, before drying them. Then we dry off and put our jammies on. It's not greasy and doesn't run everywhere when you pour it because it's a gel. I use it on my legs every time after I shave. And it lasts forever!

Dancing

Finley looked so cute in her pink dance outfit. Wednesday was "watch day" for her class. She was so pleased that everyone was gushing over baby Gunnar. She just kept kissing him in front of everyone. Then she was even more pleased when Kyle snuck into class to watch her. Daddy doesn't get to come very often during the work day so it was a treat to have him there. I always love to see daddy's at dance class for some reason. Miss Carla measured all the girls before Christmas which means the costumes are already ordered for June!!! At the end of the month we will know what song her class will be performing for the recital.

Gunnar-Two Month Check-up

Gunnar is wishing everyone a Happy New Year! He rang in 2011 in his swing, asleep. All these holidays wore him plum out! I've decided that he looks really good in dark blue. He's getting to be such a handsome devil! He is still drinking 4 ounces of milk. Next time he moves up, we'll be getting the bigger 8 ounce bottles.

I knew that this was inevitable, but poor baby Gunnar does have to spend some time riding around in his carseat. That's the breaks with having older siblings. We have lots to do-sports, dance, gymnastics. It's a really nice seat, though. Super comfy-well at least it seems to be. He usually will fall asleep-if the car is moving. Don't even think about stopping at lights, though, because he knows when the car stops! The other night, we even took the whole loop around Lubbock just so he could catch some ZZZ's.G slept and I listened to my ipod and visited with Beth. I have found that I will resort to almost anything to get a happy baby around here!

Lately, I am constantly trying to catch him smiling with my camera. He is so sweet in the mornings when he wakes up happy and smiles and coo's at me. It makes me all warm and tingley inside. Sweet boy.

And little frog feet. That makes me happy, too. I mean, have you ever seen such sweet froggy feet? I love frog feet.

So we went to Gunnar's two month check up and it went really well. He is 13.2 lbs which is 75th% and 23.5 inches long which is 65th%. They asked me if he smiled? Check! If he tracked with his eyes? Check! Lifts his head? Check! So much to accomplish in two short months! We got our immunizations and he didn't cry very long. His legs were a bit sore that night but today he seems fine. Dr. Steve still thinks his feet are small but we got the ok from the ortho so I'm not real concerned. He just might have short feet. Or they may take off and grow really quickly and he'll end up wearing a size 13! His only other issue is that his skin is peeling. We are putting some Aquaphor on it and that seems to help. It is around his eyebrows, cheeks, and now moved to the back of his head. We'll go back at four months and see how much biggy has grown. When you eat every two hours, you're bound to grow quickly!

They all favor, don't you think!?! They are so good with him. Slade cannot stand for him to cry-it really bothers him. Therefore, Slade has been bothered alot in the last month. If G is crying, Slade will race in from the other room and suggest that I give him a passy or bottle. Kyle was like, "Dude, babies just cry sometimes!" Slade does a really good job of rocking him and propping him on pillows. G loves to smile at Finley and she just talks to him. It's so cute when she chats with him. She still calls him Bubba.

I just love little sleepers. This one has monkeys on his feet. We spend lots of days and nights in our sleepers. I found 6 zip up sleepers by the way, so we are good to go at night! My favorite ones are the Gerber zip front sleepers. He's wearing 3-6 month sleepers.

And I love him in this little puppy sleeper-Kyle calls it his bulldog jammies. I caught him smiling once again. He was enjoying his new toy that Santa brought him! Actually he was really just smiling because Finely was talking to him, but don't tell Santa.