Diaper Derby

We had a lot of fun yesterday at the Diaper Derby in Ruston. Tried to get a picture before the festivities but Jake had other things in mind! Landry did great throughout the whole ordeal, even though it was her lunch time.


Jake getting ready to go through the hoops. He won the first round although I almost disqualified him by not listening to instructions. Go figure...never have been good at following directions!!! The next round ended early as Jake decided he wanted to go see the tricycles that were meant for the older kids race. He had NO interest in going through the hoops again. He was darling though and that is what matters:).
Jake playing with his cousin Abby at the Holiday Inn pool...or whatever name that hotel has(it will always be the Holiday Inn to me! We used to eat there every Sunday with my grandparents growing up)
Jake has to do everything himself nowadays and yesterday wanted to pick up the piece of blueberry pie and eat it. We are working at the fork but he just hasn't learned not to turn it before it gets to his mouth!
We happened to get Jake on the couch for this quick picture before he was off to do 10 million other things!

Matt left yesterday as he had to umpire 2 baseball games today and we decided to stay until this afternoon. We are meeting him in Minden later today. Had a great time visiting with Abigail as she thoroughly enjoyed playing with the babies. She will be in 6th grade in the fall. It was like yesterday when she was born...I had just graduated from high school! We just got back from Family Day in the park and I will post some of those pictures later.

Just Tired

Have you ever had one of those days when you are just TIRED! This is one of them:). Landry was so tired after I gave her her bottle that she fell asleep on my shoulder without bothering to burp. I held her for a bit because she is just growing up too fast. I love those sweet moments when you get to stare at them while they sleep...nothing sweeter.

I took both babies to the doctor today for runny noses and deep chest coughs. We have to give Jake breathing treatments 3 times a day for the next 3 days. That is going over like a lead balloon. I feel so sorry for him because he just doesn't understand we are trying to help him get better. He has been super fussy and clingy lately, which is NOT Jake! He just doesn't feel good. Mrs. Ramona had to bring him to me from the nursery yesterday at VBS, so I knew then he wasn't feeling well. I took him to the dr. yesterday and today was a follow-up.

VBS has been great this week because it gave us a chance to get out of the house for a bit. By the time we came home, took naps, and I got dinner ready, the day was pretty much over. The days are going by too fast! I start cross country practice with my high school team next week so that means Matt will be on his own in the mornings 3 days a week...for those of you who know me as a runner: I know that is not enough time to get in sufficient shape for cross season and yes we started late. For those of you who know me as a mother: you understand! My priorities are just different and although I wish there were 2 of me, it just isn't going to happen and you have to make a choice. But the athletes I coach are troopers and they will be OK for the season.

So I am off to bed so that in the morning we can go to our last day of VBS, come home and take our naps, and then head to R town sometime after that. Have a good night everyone!

Little to Say

There has been little going on this week worth posting, so I haven't! I am working at our church's VBS and Jake and Landry have been going to the nursery. We did not have MDO this week due to VBS, so I said yes when asked to volunteer and it has been going pretty smooth. The kids come home and take good naps(or have so far) and I get a chance to lay down too! We also had Jake's Gymboree class this afternoon and Matt got home early to keep Landry. This weekend we plan on going to Ruston so that Jake can participate in the Peach Festival diaper derby. His age category has to go through hula hoops or something to that extent. It will be fun and give the babies a chance to meet their cousin, Abigail, who will be with my parents next week.

Lately I am in mourning about the reality of going back to work:(. The longer I am at home the more I hate the fact that I am going back. I do love the people I work with, but I really would rather be at home. Jake will be going to Asbury Ark Academy in the fall and Landry will be at a local day care. We are trying to work out a way where she may can stay in MDO if we find someone to keep her before and after...I am working on it! Then next year she will be with Jake at Asbury. Her eating when she is away from home is still poor and that worries me about full time daycare. I am afraid they won't work with her like they do at MDO, plus she will be walking come January and the room at the daycare is TINY. I should have thought about this earlier b/c Jake was in the same room last year, but didn't! When I called FBC-Bossier, they told me it was a year and a half wait(yes you heard right!). She has been on the daycare list she will attend since last June so I shouldn't have been surprised, all the lists around here are that long. Oh well, I suppose it won't be the end of the world if she goes to daycare...yes it will!!! Here are a few snap shots I MUST add:)
Jake and Landry love their bath time and Landry is really into the toys now that she is in her bath seat!
They woke up from their nap together yesterday and Jake wanted to love on his little sis
I will NEVER get tired of seeing them smile at each other....it melts my heart every time!!!

Sunday Lunch

Matt's dear Aunt Lou cooked dinner for us after church today and it sure was yummy! She just moved back out to the country to live with Mark(Matt's brother) and is going to start cooking every Sunday. This is the house that Matt and I lived in when we were first married. We don't go out there much since we moved, but now that Aunt Lou is back we will be there more often. Everyone needs an Aunt Lou!! She never had any children of her own, so Matt and Mark are like her own children. She is so sweet to us and we love her dearly!!!

Aunt Lou, Jake, Papaw, Mr. Wes(family friend and neighbor), Matt and Mark
Landry and Jake asking their dad why I am taking SO many pictures
Quick picture
Landry is all smiles with her #1 fan...DADDY!
Landry is already trying to get into everything that is Jakes! She is rolling over both ways very efficiently these days and trying to grab everything. She got on her knees for a second last night, so it might not be long before she is crawling:).

CPR???

We received a phone call last night from Jason(Elizabeth's husband and Ben's dad) around 9:15. I should have been alarmed just from the phone call since it was so late but I suppose I just wasn't thinking. Anyway, he was letting us know that Ben had experienced dry drowning after he was already in bed for the night. Elizabeth just happened to have the monitor sound on when she heard what sounded like Ben hiccuping(he is 21 months old). She wasn't sure, so she when in the room and he wasn't breathing!! Jason(who happens to be a doctor) picked him up and turned him upside down because he thought maybe there was some water in his lungs(they had been with us earlier that evening in the swimming pool). By that time Elizabeth said he was turning blue. At some point he did the Heimlich and then rescue breathing, which dislodged the hot dog and he started breathing. Thank God Jason was home(I believe he was supposed to be in surgery that night) and that the monitor was on...he had already been in bed for 45 minutes to an hour.

That really got Matt and I thinking about some things. I know the general idea of CPR, but haven't been certified in several years. In an emergency situation, I don't know that my mind would remember something I haven't practiced in years. And the other scary situation is that I do not have the sound on on my monitor....sometimes but not normally. Yes I have the screen on my video monitor and we have 2( 1 in the kitchen and 1 in the bedroom) that are not turned off until bedtime. I do go in their rooms before I go to bed, but again I don't leave the sound on while sleeping because their rooms are right next to ours and I can hear everything....but not them stop breathing.

Praise GOD that Elizabeth and Jason were paying attention to the monitor(she doesn't always have the sound on either!) and Ben was alright. The doctor said that water was coming back up his wind pipe and caused what he ate for dinner to become lodged and therefore cutting off his oxygen. There was a story on GMA about this dry drowning a couple of weeks ago and although it is very rare it can happen. So as I sit here typing I have my monitor turned up very loud and Jake has been very comical since we put him down. He howled for a bit like a puppy and then started saying bye bye. The last thing I heard him say was dooooog?(it is his accent) and I think he might be drifting off to sleep by now:). And I went to check on Landry since I can only watch one of them at a time, although I can switch channels on the monitor to see her...yet tonight I wanted to make sure she was OK so I physically went in there and she was. So I hope that this might get some of you thinking about what you would do if faced with a similar situation such as this.

Nicholas!!!

We had plans of hanging out with some friends this evening when my mom called and told me that Nicholas wanted to see Jacob. He is in town for the week(Abigail is with Truly's parents and will be with my parents next week) from Atlanta and we were so excited to see him! So they met us at the Brignac's house. This was the first time Nick had seen Landry and we were glad they finally had a chance to meet!!
Landry, mom, and Nick
Landry and Avery Brignac....future BFF's! Avery is 3 months old
Matt and Jake in the Brignac's pool

We were originally hosting a shower for a couple in our Sunday school class, but she(Mickie) was put on bed rest 2 weeks ago due to high blood pressure. It has been so long since we have had a fellowship that we decided to have the get together anyway. Mickie is due July 6th, so she doesn't have too much longer before they welcome Maci Nicole. Had a great time!

Farewell

We had a get-together tonight for some friends of ours, Jay and April Barton, who are moving to Pennsylvania for a job. We will truly miss them!!!!
I was on my way to a shower when I realized just how late I was(Jake had woken up late from a nap and he was with me as well)going to be, so we turned around and went to eat with our group of friends. Ginny Dean Nolen, who I work with at Parkway and went to college with, is having her second little girl, Mary Elizabeth, in August...there are a million people due in August & September it seems(SOOOOO glad I am not one of them!!. Sorry I missed her shower:(!

The family!
Jay and April Barton
Jared with Landry who is showing off her two bottom teeth
Everyone hanging out

Sweetness

Earlier, as I was typing on my blog, I caught Jake playing with his sister. They were NOT posed and I caught them in the act. How cute are they.....right after this Jake ripped off Landry's band aids(where she had gotten her shots earlier today) and she started screaming. I gave her some motrin and she took a good nap bless her heart!

6 month & 18 month check-ups

We took the babies in for their 6 and 18 month check-ups this morning and both had to have 4 shots(apparently there is a 15 month appointment we missed....bad parents!). Matt was not high on me taking this picture, but this is a milestone moment and I wanted it captured on my camera!
Jake weighed 30 lbs 2 oz and was 33 inches long while Landry weighed 14 lbs 10 ounces and was 26 inches. For those of you who might think I don't feed my sweet girl, Jake was 21 lbs 12 oz at 6 months! I just don't have control over how much she eats. When she is done, it is over! Just today I tried meat with Landry: turkey and I mixed it with some carrots. She wasn't too sure about it and ate less than usual. We will keep trying though.
At 6 months, Landry is still sleeping great. I am not watching the clock AS much anymore. She is moving to a breakfast lunch and dinner routine followed by a bottle at bedtime. She giggles all the time and loves to touch faces. Matt loves to stretch the kids, and she just laughs up a storm when he does that. She does OK in the tripod position, but we are a ways from sitting up alone. We also saw that her 2 bottom teeth have poked through as of today. I can remember Jake being 9 months before he got his 2 bottom teeth. We were excited about that. She has been pretty cranky today due to her shots, but nothing Motrin cannot cure!






Jake loves his Gymboree class that we attend every week. Matt surprised us yesterday by stopping by(my mother in law had Landry) and playing with us. Matt was amazed that Jake could hang as long as he did from the monkey bars. He just smiled the whole time he was hanging! The next picture was during parachute time. He loved playing with his daddy.







Finally, I picked up Landry yesterday from Mom's Day Out and Mrs. Kathy had Landry sacked out(I can see her fingers are not far from her mouth...where they always are!)on her shoulder, well kind of!! She also had another baby on her lap. It is just something about those ladies. They love Landry and we love them!!! After I loaded her in the car seat and went home, she went back to sleep for another 2 hours and 20 minutes. That a girl! Oh, and yes I have my camera with me every where I go....you just never know when an opportunity may come up!

Home Sweet Home

We are heading home today...it has been a great vacation and the children really did great!!! But it is time to head west and go back to our home sweet home! We had some pretty fun adventures over the past couple of days worth mentioning!

Yesterday mom and I were out strolling when we came across the bike rentals. So we hopped on and the kids fell asleep almost immediately as you can see below:

So we kept going and going. I figured they would not go back to sleep if we stopped and unloaded them, so we kept biking and let them sleep. BIG MISTAKE...not long after we turned around sissy woke up and started cranking it up(aka crying). I peddled as fast as I could but it wasn't fast enough:(. She cryed so hard she couldn't cry anymore. When I picked her up out of the bike seat, she was FINE. She wanted to smile so bad, but kept sniffling and sticking her lip out. Bless her heart! We went straight upstairs and she took a good nap. So much for them sleeping the whole time!! It was a great story though!
When they were still sleeping......
Last night we decided to take our beach pictures. Now last year I decided to hire a photographer. I decided against doing that this year for several reasons: Matt and Landry were last minute and did not know if I could arrange for someone to take them last minute and B: I did not want the added stress if being somewhere at a certain time with 2 babies. another BIG MISTAKE. We should have hired someone. And we will from now on. Did not get any great ones but they will do(or they will have to!!!) So here are a few snap shots and all of them are on our photo website.
Cameron(Laura's 10 year old) was a lifesaver the past couple of days. Jake LOVED playing with him and Landry was all smiles when he was in the room!!
Mom and Dad with almost all the grands! Nicholas(14) and Abigail(10) are currently traveling to Universal Studios in FL with my brother Brian and couldn't make the trip.

Thanks mom and dad for a wonderful trip and most of all for the memories!

Happy Father's Day

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to my dad! What wonderful memories we have growing up with such a great dad! Your grandbabies LOVE their Big D!!!
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to my husband, who has turned into a wonderful father. Your babies LOVE you so much and I truly appreciate you!

Thanks to my mother-in-law who brought these Hawaiian style outfits back from her trip to Hawaii!!!! Sorry, but I had to add a picture of them. We took these this morning before our bicycle trip....whole other story about that later!

Full Day

Landry found her favorite spot on daddy's tummy! We felt she was telling us it was time for a nap(and she slept for 3 hours!)
Jake LOVES the pool shower and I thought this picture captured the moment!
His first reaction to the sand. What is this stuff????
My precious baby being laid back...before she discovered the sand:)
Ending our first full day and going in for dinner.

Our first full day in Pensacola went well and the babies just went down...I am not too far behind them!!! Jake and Landry have runny noses and coughs but we are making due. It happened last year to Jake as well so maybe these colds just come with the beach! They coughed and tossed all night. We started the morning early, which worked out well because we were at the beach by 7:55(!!!!) and Landry was back in the room by 8:30:).

She did love the beach for about 5 minutes, but once she discovered the sand it was all down hill. Jake ended up loving the beach and we stayed there and at the pool all morning. He is really good at entertaining himself and had a ball. We ended up at the pool this evening and Landry lasted about an hour until it was time to go up to the room. She also loves the water!

Overall it has been a really nice trip. It is just hard when the babies are this young due to naps and feeding times. Since they are so close we get it all over with in one swoop:). When they get a little older it will be nice to pack up an ice chest and spend 2-3 hours at a time on the beach. For now we will settle for the fun times we have, even if we have to do it in spurts! I have down loaded all of the pictures taken so far on our photo web site. Yet I had to post the pictures I thought were worth YOU viewing.

We Made It!

Our plane arrived around 11:30am and we survived the trip with few meltdowns. Landry slept most of the way and Jake did fine once I was able to get the snacks out! Our layover in Houston was only 35 minutes, so we barely had time to make it to the gate before boarding for Pensacola. That worked out nicely!

I have NEVER flown to the beach, so this is a new experience! But thanks to frequent flyer miles it makes traveling with children much easier. Dad drove up just as we walked out with our luggage and the place where we are staying is SUPER nice!!! We have Landry's pack n play in the closet and rented a crib for Jake and have put that next to our bed. We thought the condo had 2.5 baths but turns out to have 3.5... very nice(who would've ever thought I'd get excited about bathrooms!).We should have a nice stay!

I did enclose a picture of before we boarded the plane and then once we arrived. The last picture was taken around the same time last year in Gulf Shores...I was 16 weeks pregnant with Landry. We do plan on taking beach pictures again and I hope they turn out!!! Stay tuned, I have to go put my babies down for their naps.

Beach Bound

We fly out tomorrow morning at 8am and are getting ready for Pensacola. On Monday, Matt decided to take off work and come with us. So Landry will have her first trip to the beach sooner than we thought! It should be fun and we are only staying 3 nights...that is PLENTY at this point with them. When they get a little older we might stay a little longer;). Mom and dad left this morning and are driving straight to Pensacola and we will meet them tomorrow. They do have free internet access so I may try to update while we are there. Enjoy the quick pics I took this morning...I am in the process of getting them dressed for Mom's Day Out. Thank goodness so I can run some errands!!



Landry always has to see what big brother Jake is doing. Mostly with a smile on her face...too busy sucking her fingers in this picture.
Thought this hat was too cute plus she needed one!!!

Jake the Snake

I must mention 2 things that have happened with my sweet Jacob as of late that deem worthy of posting! First, I met Elizabeth and her son Ben at Chick-fil-a yesterday. Ben is 21 months old and Jake almost 18 months. They can almost maneuver on the indoor playground but not quite. I saw both Ben and Jake start climbing up the stairs while I was feeding Landry and Elizabeth went after them when they realized how high they were. Ben went on to something else on ground level while MY child made it back up the stairs and then proceeded to explore the tunnels that would eventually lead him to the slide. Now I know that some 18 month-olds may know how to get down, but I knew that it would only be a matter of time before my precious child would realize just how high up he was and start crying. I told Elizabeth that if I got stuck in the toy car, it would be worth blogging about. Good thing he did come back to the top of the stairs before crying, so I didn't have to climb too far. Next time me may have to avoid the whole playground.....yeah right!

My next story involves meal time. My sweet boy is an animal when it comes to food....he was a hard feeder when it came to introducing first foods, Landry has actually been easier as an eater, but he came around. At breakfast this morning, he saw me pull the bacon out of the fridge and he was dancing back and forth saying OOOOOOOOH!!!! He started crying when he saw I had to warm it up, and when I pulled the bacon out of the microwave he RAN to his high chair waiting for me to put him in it. I also gave him some pancakes, not to worry. He just makes a huge mess out of the syrup, so we are about to be done with those. I experience this every mealtime...his expression is hilarious, just thought I would share it with you!

He has also started waving HI to everyone and I praise him for being so nice. He then claps for himself. I am sure that anyone who has children knows what I am taking about. What would we do for entertainment without them??????

Green Beans!

My sweet baby girl will be 6 months old on Tuesday and it already makes me sad at the milestones she has hit because she is growing up TOO FAST! Tonight she sat in a restaurant highchair, we got rid of the baby bathtub and she is in the safety seat(plus it gave Jake a lot more room to move his big self around in the tub since we bathe them together!), and she also sat in the wagon alone(with the seat belt around her of course) for the first time yesterday. So it makes me sad to think of all these firsts as it was yesterday she was a newborn. I am not super sure that we are done having babies, but this might be our last round so I want her to slow down....I know it's not going to happen.

My precious Landry is all smiles!

This afternoon I had neglected to go to the grocery store to get her some vegetables. The only veggie I had to give her were green beans. I had never introduced them to her, but she didn't do well with peas so I figured it might not be good. Nonetheless there was no time better than the present to give them a try. I had the camera ready because the faces she makes are priceless.
Here she was all fine and dandy with her toy before we got started. She had no idea what to expect!
We got through a couple of spoonfuls in but none went down...she finally gave me this gag action and I felt sorry for her and called it quits. She did eat an entire jar of bananas when she figured out they weren't green beans! I also went to the store shortly thereafter and bought plenty of yellow vegetables:).

Good Times

Had a great weekend thus far as we headed to the pool yesterday afternoon. I had to get a picture of them in their matching swimsuits! For those who think I go a little overboard in the matching outfit department, I totally agree with you:)(and so would my mom)! But I won't get to do this very long as Jake will grow out of the jon jons and smocked outfits too soon. So I figured that because they are 360 days apart, I am entitled to go a little overboard and I LOVE to dress them alike(if you can't tell!!!)

Jake wasn't too happy in this picture because he wanted to go play!
He thought the shower was a lot of fun!
Landry enjoying the water....I think she will love the water like her brother
Jake playing with Ella Turner(Jay and Ashley's little girl) at the pool

We ended up planning a dinner date with the Turners last night and met them for dinner after we put the babies down(thanks Aunt Lou for watching them!). We had planned to go to Superior but you can imagine the line on a Saturday night...only for the young! So we ended up at the Oyster Bar and Grill and it was really good. After some much needed adult conversation that did not include "we need a high chair" and " don't throw that" and without any screaming for what was on momma or daddy's plate, we went for ice cream. We had a good time but did not go to bed until 11. Whew that was late but worth it. The kids slept until almost 7 thank goodness!!!
We went to eat(yes again I know!!) after Sunday school and the children were a lot cleaner before we left the house, but that is what they make spray and wash for! So here we are just before our Sunday afternoon nap. Yes I took one as well!