Trick-or-Treat

Happy Halloween! Well our Halloween got off to a rough start Friday when Jack woke up with a fever and a cough and had to miss his costume party at preschool :( But, as the day progressed he felt better and better and by Saturday morning he was back to normal. We stayed in for most of the day and then around dinner time headed up to my parents house for some Halloween chili and cornbread... oh yea and trick-or-treating too! Jack really got into this year and was very excited about the loot he collected! Now he just has to hide it from Mom and Dad!! Hope everyone else had a great Halloween too!

First Snow - Video

First Snow

Throwing snowballs at the school buses! What a boy!

Checking out his "snowy pumpkins".

Love this face!

Our first snow of the year was pretty major! I think we got close to 8 inches! Jackson was so excited, I got him out of bed this morning and opened his window and he couldn't believe it! He also couldn't wait to get out and play in it, so at 7:15 this morning we bundled him up and sent him out in the front yard. This year is going to be so fun with him in the snow, I think he will really enjoy sledding and building snow men, and having snowball fights! Just as long as we can keep him somewhat warm and dry! Which means we will be snow boot shopping asap! Looks like its the begining of a long white winter! I love the changes!! I forgot how beautiful everything looks covered in white :)

Christmas Gift Ideas - Jackson

UP! Movie
Preschool-age board games (ex. Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders etc.)
TV Chair

Any games or books that help children identifiy letters and numbers.

New Video

My Baby Got Shots! :(

This was right after her doctors appt, she slept four a couple hours like that.

This one is for Uncle Ryan, Justin says she's throwing up gang signs :)

Well, its that time already, Harper is just about two months old and went in for her first set of vaccinations this morning :( Its so hard watching your baby get stuck with all those needles, I still remember crying when Jack got his! It seemed like they were harder on me than Harper though. I fully anticipated her crying all the way home, and instead she slept peacefully with a Binky in her mouth and I cried all the way home! However... at about 2:00 this afternoon, she lost it! Poor girl was inconsolable for about an hour and has been fussing on and off all afternoon. I read that the pertussis shot can cause cramping in the muscle near the injection site and that may be why she is so upset. We have been giving her Tylenol though every few hours and I am getting ready to give her a warm bath and see if that helps.

The doctor took another look at Harper's belly button, which is herniated for those of you who don't know, that's when the walls of a baby's tummy muscle don't close up all the way around the umbilical cord and tissue from inside the abdomen protrudes out around the belly button. Some can be small and heal by the time the child is 2 or three, but Harper's is huge! The hole its self is about the size of a nickel and the bulge coming out is bigger than a ping pong ball! So Doc referred us to a female surgeon who we will meet with in the next week or so. From what I have researched the procedure is done while the baby is under anesthesia (asleep and pain-free) and the doctor pushes the tissue back into the abdomen and either stitches up the hole in the muscles or places mesh over the top of it. I'm sure I will learn more once I talk to the surgeon and at that time we will decide whether it is worth it or not.

I'll keep everyone posted on what we find out!

Harpers stats :)

8 weeks old

12 lbs 4 ozs

24 inches long

Head Circ. 14 in.
Super Cute!

Christmas Gift Ideas - Harper

Blanket Sleepers
Toys with lights and sounds (Harper loves to look at lights :)
Ocean Wonders Aquarium - This looks really cute and I think it may help Harper sleep in her bed rather than on my chest :)

Product Description: The Soothing Seas Aquarium by Fisher-Price is a crib-attaching infant soother that captivates baby with the mesmerizing effects of water. Wrap-around design offers baby a better water view than ever before. Mama Fish has a realistic motion as she appears to be swimming through the water, followed closely behind by her baby. Their little crab friend plays peek-a-boo behind the coral as the seaweed sways gently in the waves. There is a light underneath the action and soothing blue lights fade on and off overhead. Lovely classical music or sound effects play while bubbles rise upwards to the surface. Features up to 18 minutes of continuous musical play - 4 classical-styled songs, 2 sound effects. There are 3 modes of use: (1) Sounds, Lights and Water/Swimming Motion, (2) Sounds and Lights, (3) Sounds only. An included remote control allows mom to activate the soother from the doorway
http://www0.shopping.com/xPO-Fisher-Price-Fisher-Price-Fisher-Price-Ocean-Wonders-Aquarium-With-Remote-Control~linkin_id-8046646

* I am estimating that by Christmas, Harper will be needing clothes in size 6-9 months or larger since she is already growing out of 0-3 and is pretty well stocked in 3-6 besides jammies.

Christmas Gift Ideas - Disclaimer

Just wanted to let everyone know I am compiling a list of ideas for Christmas gifts for the kids. These are just suggestions as much for myself as anyone else and are not requests! :) I've just had a couple people ask and thought I would post them as I think of things that the kids may want or need. I am able to go back and add things to my post so these lists will likely grow as it gets closer to Christmas, so you can check back by searching the blog archives on the left hand side of my blog.

Baby Jack

Jack's first smile :) A little goofy!

Here's a few pictures of Jackson right around Harpers age (7 weeks).

Harper's First Smiles

Harper is definitely impressed with her big brother :) I love how she responds to him, even when she is fussy and wants some one to pick her up, I can send Jack over to talk to her and she quiets down right away. She has been very aware him even when we first brought her home. If Harper hears Jack cry, she will immediately start crying too, and sometimes I can put her in her bouncy seat and park her right in front of Jacks room and she will just watch him play. Very sweet:) I can't wait to see how they change and interact together over the next few months and years.

She's growing up too fast!!

I can't believe she is already doing this! She is totally hitting those toys and watching them move! Look how excited she gets :) I love it!

Pumpkin Patch

So proud! It really was a perfect pumpkin!

Here comes the winner!

I told him he could get any one he wanted as long as he was able to carry it... this one was a no go.
The search begins...

He thought this one was pretty cool because it was all bumpy.

I am absolutely loving the fall! The trees are gorgeous, the weather is beautiful, and I can't wait for it to rain so I can hear the leaves crunching as the cars whoosh down the wet street. My favorite sound of the fall besides football :) I took the kids for a walk down to the pumpkin patch this evening and Jack was so excited to pick out his own pumpkin, he even picked out a tiny one for his sister!

*I apologize to everyone who read this before I revised it! I must have been trying to nurse and type at the same time! I skill I obviously haven't mastered yet!

Changes

I was going through some pictures of Harper this morning and was blown away by how much she has changed! She has gone from 6 pounds to 11, in just six weeks! I'm not sure if its just the weight, but she looks so much more like Jack did when he was a baby (I hope to get some pictures transfer ed over from my other computer in the next couple of days so I can post them here next to Harper's). Anyways I noticed that Harper was wearing an outfit today that was similar to the one in some of the newborn pictures I took, so I decided to try and recreate a couple of the poses for a little comparison!

Happy Fall!

Jack and his buddies hanging out on a Football Sunday

Our Pretty Girl

Here we go again... I am trying my hand at blogging again in attempt to free myself from my FB addiction! No more farming or yo-ing and definitely no more robbing pimps in Mafia Wars. You'll find all our pictures, updates and occasionally some motherly bragging or venting, here on our new blog. My goal is to post at least once a week. I don't plan on deleting my Facebook page (unless I absolutely can't control myself from logging in every twelve minutes, which is totally possible) so I can still up date my status to let you know when I have a new post up, but other than that, I plan on communicating by blog and email only :)

Now for some bragging on my kids (the venting will come later I assure you)... Tonight we had Sloppy Joes for dinner, and since I am trying to get something green into every dinner we also had a Caesar Salad, which I am very excited to say that Jack loved. I have never really tried getting him to eat salad, I guess because I just assumed he wouldn't like it, but he did! Woo Hoo! And, in even bigger news, Miss Harper is smiling! Its not often and we have to work real hard to get it, but its so worth it! We're working on getting a picture for you, we might see some more gummie grins if we could get her through this gassy phase though :( ...Speaking of the Girl, I hear her calling me now... Thanks for checking in on us!