Just Being a Boy

Today Daddy had to work so the boys and I are just hanging at home. Here's a pic if Ryan playing outside. He's soooo boy. Loves to investigate things in the yard and play with his rocks, sticks, and buckets.
Go Wolfpack! (I'm not sure if they won today??!!)

Ryan's Preschool Christmas Program

This past Tuesday was Ryan's Christmas program. It was mostly for the older kids but the toddlers got in on some of the fun too. The teachers put his class on the two big six seater strollers and wheeled them in so they could sing Jingle Bells and Baa Baa Baby Jesus. Not much singing happened, at least not from Ryan. He looked like a deer in the headlights when they were up in front of the crowd. Seth and I also participated. We had our acting debut as Mary and Baby Jesus. I was nervous that he would be crying or something but he did really well. Mama was happy. All the grandparents headed to Wilmington to see their boys in action. It was short and sweet and oh so cute!! Can't wait for next year's program!

2 Months Old

Yesterday Seth was 2 months old--and will be 9 weeks old tomorrow.  Time has flown by...and sometimes crept by :)  Depending on what day it was.  We had Seth's 2 month well check today.  He's 10.8 lbs which is 19.84% in weight and he's 22 1/4 inches which is 30.19 % in height.  He seems smaller than Ryan did at this age--I can't exactly remember what Ryan's weight was at his 2 month check.  We've had major breastfeeding issues so I was wondering how he was with growth but the doctor seemed to be fine with his percentages.  He wasn't loosing weight and was staying on the same growth curve has was on the last couple of times he was weighed. 

Things that Seth is up to these days:

• holding up his head pretty well and trying to move it around
• is very alert and enjoys looking around and is trying to smile
• is enjoying looking at lights (especially the Christmas tree!) and enjoying his play gym
• has an established bedtime (7:15) and he goes down pretty well without us having to rock him or go back in his room over and over to give the passy
• we wake him for a dream feed at 10:30 if he doesn't wake before and then nurses twice in the middle of the night
• his nights are becoming predictable (although we'd like for him to push to just one nursing period during the night)--Mama is tired...oh so tired.  I'd like to get a bigger stretch of sleep at night....more than 2 or 3 hrs at a time.  It will come, it's only a matter of time.  He won't be this tiny but for a short time and before we know it he'll be crawling!!
• His colic behavior has really chilled out in the last couple of weeks.  A lot less crying and a lot more happiness from our little guy. 
• His deep blue eyes are starting to lighten, especially around the pupil
• He looks a lot like his big brother.  :)
• He has stolen his brother's heart (and ours of course!!)

Seth has completed our family!  We're so lucky to have 2 healthy boys to make our family of 4 complete!!

2 Years Old

Our little boy is 2 years old!  It's hard to believe that it's been 2 years since Ryan was born.  It has flown by!  He's a funny little fellow, full of energy and personality.  He keeps Lee and I on our toes for sure.  He makes us laugh and chuckle and just watching him experience the world daily is a joy for us both.  I'm so happy I get to stay home and be Mama to both our boys.  Some days are a little crazy(especially right now in the middle of the terrible twos), but none the less, I'm blessed to be able to nurture these two boys as I stay at home with them. 
Ryan's loving preschool and is thriving there.  He talks about his friends and sings songs that they have learned.  He surprised me when we were on the way to the doctors office on Friday-- We saw a car that looked identical to our friend Anna's car and he pointed it out and said "Anna, Anna!!!"  How funny.  He recognized her car even though we've never had a conversation about her car.  Ever.  We've found that Ryan doesn't miss a beat and catches things we never would have expected him to catch.  For example, I call Lee "Honey" a lot and Ryan has started calling both Lee and I "Honey" randomly.  Too funny.  This boy, he keeps us laughing.
We had Ryan's 2 year old well check up last Friday and all went well.  He's a growing boy and is hitting all the marks he's supposed to developmentally.  He was a whopping 30 lbs (yes, 30) and that puts him at 84 % in his age for weight.  He's such a solid kid and always has been. (No wonder I've had tennis elbow for a 1 1/2 years now!!)  He has leaned out a bunch in the last year and will continue to do so as he grows taller.  He was 34 1/4 inches tall which is 40 % in height.  No surprise here since Lee and I are both short. 
He loves Seth to pieces and wants to be near him when possible.  He tries to kiss him a lot and when Seth is laying down on his play gym on the floor, Ryan is right down there with him.  He loves to be near Seth.  He also has a helpful spirit with Seth, we just have to direct it sometimes (especially when Ryan's sick, like right now!). 

Ryan's 2nd Birthday Party

Last Saturday we had Ryan's 2nd birthday party.  Here are some pics from his party!

 

Mama and Baby Seth

 

 CC loving on Seth.

 Anna, me, Katie and Rebecca

 Tad eating some yummy food.

 Ryan giving Uncle Jimmy a big Thank-You hug!!

 A Choo Choo....the way to this boy's heart!!

 Tad's checking out the new train.  These boys and trains.  They love them!

 Blowing out the candles.  Ryan wasn't quite sure what to do so Mama had to help.

 Last year Ryan wasn't so sure about the cake.  This year was no problem.  He ate almost an entire piece!

 Our yearly birthday pic with the boys.  Hopefully we'll have many more of these through the years!! 

Model Train Show

Tonight we took the boys to a model train show at the mall. It was SO cool! Ryan was in heaven. He loved it!!! He cried almost all the way home because we had to leave. Poor fellow! :(

Schools Out!!!

Yippeeeeeeeee!!!!!!  Daddy's done with school for this semester!  YAY!!!!!!!  Lee has been hard at school for 3 1/2 years now with only one break (the summer after Ryan was born he took the summer off) but other than that, he's been pushing through school like a champ (with awesome grades I might add!).  He really works hard and is so ready for it to be over.  He's got 4 more classes left and we're looking for him to graduate next Dec.  We're ready for normal family life and he's ready to not be held captive to his school work.  He works without complaint, more than I would be able to.  So many times we're with family or friends, or at the beach and he has to stay behind and study and misses out on things.  He handles it with grace but I know he's got to be tired of not being able to just live life without restrictions of school.  Hang in there honey, you're almost there.

The end is in site......finally!

Holding Seth

Ryan loves to hold Seth.  He doesn't get to do it very often so it's really a treat! 

Getting Stronger

Seth is getting stronger these days.  He's trying to hold up his head!!

 

Peter

Back in Sept Lee found a black caterpillar in the backyard and he decided we would keep him for a pet for Ryan.  We named him Peter.  See this post from back in Sept to see what he looked like. http://www.leelaura.blogspot.com/2012/09/peter.html
Our plan was to keep Peter and watch him turn into a butterfly (or in our case a moth) and have a little fun with Ryan with it.  Well, Peter took FOREVER to spin a cocoon so we ended up feeding this critter for about 3 months.  He finally spun his cocoon and last week he emerged.  He is technically a Giant Leopard Moth.  He's pretty for a moth...white with black spots.  Here's Peter before we set him free this week!

Miss Charlie

Katie and Eric welcomed little Charlie into the world 3 weeks after Seth was born.  These kiddos are going to be good buds.  I can't wait to see their friendship develop in the coming years!  Here are some pictures from last Saturday when Jonathan came to visit us girls and our babes!

6 Weeks Old

Baby Seth is 6 weeks old today!  Life has been such a blur...literally...since he was born!  He's such a sweet little fellow.  Life at our house has been a bit challenging lately, I'm not gonna lie.  Having 2 kids is a big change, especially when one is still sort-of a baby.  Ryan has adjusted well and loves Seth so much.  He wants to kiss him constantly and he tries to share his toys with him.  Let's just hope that continues! :)   Seth is having some challenges with nursing and we're trying to persevere, but man, it's hard.  I nursed Ryan for almost 11 months and never did it occur to me that it might be hard, or different for another child.  Boy, I've been over come with emotions about this.  I want to breastfeed him but we'll have to see how things continue to go.  Only time will tell.  We're taking it day by day.  He also seems to have colic/ reflux and cries a lot at times.  It's stressful between the crying and the issues with nursing.  We know he'll outgrow all of this.  This is just temporary but it just weighs heavy right now while we're in it.  Newborns are hard and add nursing issues and colic/reflux to things and it's doubly hard.  We're loving our little Seth and enjoying the sweet moments because we know he won't be this little forever.  This time of babyhood really does fly by and you soon forget about the challenges.  Seth is holding his head up a lot more and is really looking around at things.  He loves looking at lights and can also track things with his eyes.  At last check our little fellow weighs 9lbs, 3 oz so he's growing pretty well.  We'll have his 2 month check before we know it and we'll check out his percentiles then.  So far he's got dark blue eyes.  Maybe they will stay blue?  Here are some pics from yesterday of our sweet little Seth. 

Ryan is the picture on the LEFT, Seth is the picture on the RIGHT.  Same outfit, same age range.  What do you think?  Do they look alike? 

Playing Outside

Ryan wanted to go outside after preschool so of course I let him! The weather is great plus anytime he's willing to go in the backyard and play independently I'm all for it. He had a blast!!

Our Boys

Nap Bed Head

Ryan had a case of bed head when he got up from his nap today.... Oh, the curls!! :) Mama loves it!!!!

Hello Colic

We remember all too well what colic was like.... Now Seth has it too. Thank goodness for AWESOME grandparents! Our little fellow is in bad pain and cries randomly plus is nursing every 2 hours. It's really hard to see him in so much pain. We're thankful we have our parents to help us .......this too shall pass. Right?

Busy Days

Life is BUSY......

 Sweet sugar from big brother :)

Sweet Moments