Yikes! Where does the time go? Abilene is 7 months today! She did have a visit to the pediatrician this morning for a vaccine but I asked the nurse to check her weight and they are always so kind to oblige. She weighed in around 19 pounds! Healthy baby girl! She is VERY long and wears 12 month clothing. She is a true joy to have in our lives. She is the most relaxed, laid back and easy going kiddo. She just rolls with the punches and only gets mad when she is hungry and/or super tired. She does have her particulars: like NOT taking a bottle or formula for that matter. She has forced mama to jump through NUMEROUS hoops to keep her supply but I have been off meds for just under a month now without any drop in supply levels! Yippee! Especially since the medication I was taking made me gain about 20 pounds. Yuck. Anyway, when she sleeps she never liked to lay down. So she slept in a reclined position (thank you nap nanny and rock n play). Whenever she feels kinda yucky, she wants back in that position. Once she is up, she is out!
Little Miss Abilene has now settled into a pretty good routine with sleep. She wakes around 9 am, goes down for her morning nap between 10:30 and 11 am, wakes again around noon-ish or so and hangs out until about 3:30p and crashes again anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours. She then is ready for night time sleep around 7 to 7:30 pm. Pretty regular schedule.
She absolutely LOVES to eat. Nursing is okay but FOOD (fruit to be precise) is her passion! She eats an entire packet (around 4 oz) of food 3 times a day! Plus her cereal and snacks! This little lady just gets so much enjoyment from her feeding times.
Abilene loves bath time. I did not have experience with a baby with hair and she has a ton of it. So this was a bit new to me. We have to actually dry her hair every night before bed! She loves it:) It is so cute to watch her watching herself in the mirror. She also loves her excersaucer and jumperoo. She has very strong legs and uses them every chance she gets.
Tummy time was not a fave of this gal’s. So we didn’t do much of it. She has really had NO interest in rolling. But she will go from tummy to back when she gets tired and will get on her side to get at toys.
Teething. Oh the joys (pain) of teething. We are pretty sure she has been experiencing some teething pain. Poor baby. It has been kinda rough but thankfully it comes and goes.
Abilene loves to chew/taste/manipulate/swing/bang/bat/grab/hold onto/smash just about anything within reach. It is so sweet to watch her interact with her brothers. She has the 2 best big brothers in the whole wide world (of course I am not biased or anything:)
Sitting: Ah yes, the “sitting” milestone. She does quite well in the highchair and in the bumbo but no, she is not sitting on her own. Not really her thing right now. She is quite content being waited on hand and foot.
Oh, I almost forgot, she is SUPER DUPER ticklish! I love it, daddy loves it, the boys love it and we exploit it frequently! And now without further ado, here she is!
Loving eating all the toys!
Ooh, squishy turtle, he is super tasty!
Hmmm, what part should I taste next?
Thanks Mom! New toys to munch on!
She got to spend the evening with her Great Grandma Brown and celebrate her birthday. (And yes, Abilene just gets super comfy wherever she is)
Yep. Today I entered into the world of 35-44. I am in a whole new demographic. I have filled out surveys off and on for years. I find them fun and enjoy the incentives but mostly I like knowing that I am helping to shape the future – one opinion at a time. Of course with 3 little ones, survey taking is on the super duper back burner but I do recognize that today marks a new category for me.
I actually think 35 sounds kinda old. I remember my mom’s 30th birthday party and we went all out giving her a huge “over the hill” party. Of course 99% of it was my dad’s idea (that is probably one of the reasons why they are no longer married). Anyway, it was black this, black that and just tonight I chatted with my in-laws and they did a similar party for my FIL but for his 40th. Well, my 40th is just 5 years away. That is relatively close. I don’t feel CLOSE to being over the hill or even half way done with this life! I just got started! I have forewarned the hubby that NO over the hill stuff will be allowed until at LEAST my 50th (and the scary thing…that is only 15 years away!)
I celebrated my birthday today with my family. It was nice. They got me a sweet bunch of balloons, a lucky bamboo (with 3 shoots), a gorgeous hydrangea, candy (love me some candy!) and loving cards. My Dad stopped by in the morning and then he left to enjoy his retirement:) We planned to go out for lunch as a family but Mr. T (aka Abel) was not feeling the greatest. We stayed home for the morning and tried to salvage the afternoon by letting me run a couple errands (Kohls, Old Navy and Helzberg) with the whole crew in tow. We wrapped up the day by having a really nice visit with my in-laws. We enjoyed pizza and cake! How awesome is that?? They brought me a beautiful pink rose and it looks amazing on our table! We concluded our evening with what was to be a quick out for the kids (no naps) and we were planning on a game of UNO – my favorite! But alas, Abel couldn’t stop the cough and it got so bad he vomitted everywhere – twice. And they were not back-to-back barfs – oh no. He had to have clean sheets and blankets for each episode. The laundry fairy felt like I needed a tish more to clean:)
Well, all is clean…Abel is trying to sleep. The baby is out; Ham is out; and my loving husband is shuffling the cards as I type! We have been keeping score of this UNO game since 12/22/2008 – we had a log from 4 or 5 years previous to 2008 but it got lost somewhere.
I am off to enjoy a quick game of UNO before crashing into bed. Goodnight!
Poor Aaron. I owe him a HUGE do-over for his actual birthday. I woke up around 4:30 am that morning and I was pretty sure we were having our baby! Abilene and I did NOT have a good day. I was unable to sit still the WHOLE day. I was in so much pain (definite labor pain) that I just couldn’t be still. But through the whole thing, I just knew it was wrong. It just didn’t quite feel right. I don’t know how else to describe it. Anyway, Aaron’s parents came for lunch that afternoon. I felt so bad because I was so miserable. Well, as the day wore on it never got worse or better until I finally took a long bath. The pain subsided. I was so exhausted at the end of the night. I was so thankful that Aaron had the day off even though it was spent taking care of me and the boys. Sorry honey. I owe you a big do-over!!!
Family photo - never guess I had been contracting ALL day!
Love this SUPER CHEESE picture of papa and the boys
This is what we bought daddy for his birthday and father's day - a new suit! So handsome!
We held our first annual A-Team Bash on 6/2. We celebrated Abel’s 2nd birthday, Aaron’s 33rd birthday, Abilene’s upcoming birth, Abraham’s upcoming 4th birthday, and Aaron’s acceptance and departure to ATC training in OKC! It was great to hold one party for everything! Thanks to everyone who came to help us celebrate because we have so much to be thankful for!
Our food spread
The dessert table! Thanks to Cristi for the cupcakes and Angel for the cake pops!
My birthday boys!
Opening presents
These 2 couldn't stop playing with every toy they opened!
Bean bean (Abilene) even got some presents:)
And Daddy got to open presents too:)
Again we thank all of you who came to our celebration and we had such a great time! Love to you all!
WOW! 2 posts in one week…this may be a record! Enjoy our fun times in April!
Who knew sheet changing day could be so much fun???
Finger puppets were a HUGE hit!
Abraham had to wear them ALL on one hand.
The ONLY cold day in April - really - and it was Daddy's 15K race. We didn't stay in the car this time.
We were able to catch a picture of Daddy crossing the finish line!!!
Abraham gave his testimony at the Eggstravagansa at Church. He did such a great job!
Ham was SO proud of his eggs at the Easter Egg Hunt we had at church.
Abel REALLY got into this year's egg hunt. He was so good about getting eggs!
The kiddos emptying out their loot!
Love this picture Aaron got of the boys on Grace Hill by the cross.
Family nap time. This is our favorite time of the day!
Have no idea what makes hills so cool, but these guys love running up and down the hill at the back of our property!
Abraham started dressing himself and has down a rather good job at picking out his clothes. This one was funny because he said everything matched because the shirt and shorts were both green!!!
This was Abel's 23-month picture op. In case you can't tell, he was NOT happy about this.
There is my cutie pie!
A semi-smile for his momma.
Cousin Nikolas' birthday party...these kiddos LOVED the legos and the table.
Grandma Jean, Daddy, Abel and Great-Grandma Brown at Niko's birthday party.
Abel wanted to "look" through the balloon to see everyone. He is so silly!
The cake had wonderful blue icing that took a couple days to wear off!
Ham showing off his blue tongue!
On the way home from the birthday party, we found this life-like Bertie the Bus!
There was also this awesome train car sitting there!
Ham's first shower and let me tell you...this kid LOVES showers!!!!
31 weeks 5 days with Abilene and both my adorable boys!
31 weeks and 5 days. This was a good day! I felt great!
We transitioned Abel into Abraham's room. He slept fine on this twin bed for about 2 days...then things went downhill but more on that later.
This is a shot of both boys ASLEEP in the same room! This was day 1. If you were to ask me today, I have been pulling my hair out ever since. This was the ONLY good night we have had since they started rooming together.
Anyway, we enjoyed our April. I am slowing down more and more as this pregnancy progresses. I tire rather easily (mostly because I am chasing 2 very active little boys) and trying to keep the nasty contractions at bay. So far so good as the contractions come but with rest they go away.
We did get some crazy news during the month of April…first Aaron found out in early March he would be leaving for his training for FAA ATC on 6/22 – just 3 days after Abilene is due to be born and then on 4/30, we got another call that said his class was cancelled until further notice! We were willing to step out on faith and do what God had laid out for us but I was SO relieved to know he would be home for at least a couple weeks after I have our 3rd baby!
Anyway, I will try and get some May photos up soon so I can keep this blog more up-to-date:)
Yes, I know this post is VERY late. But as they say, better late than never!
Where do I begin? This little boy has changed so much. I can’t believe he is nearly 1! Abraham is definitely his own little person. He will let you know what is okay and what is not okay. He has definite likes and dislikes. He absolutely loves to play. He doesn’t really care with what. I have recently completed a toy clean-out since he is older and just ignores several of the “baby” toys. He loves balls, musical toys and his blocks! He is really getting into books too. He likes to turn the pages for me (board books only of course!). He now has 4 teeth and 2 more are emerging as we speak…that is causing some loss of sleep in the wee hours of the morning, but making up for it during the day. He is alsmost 24 pounds and I didn’t get his length measured. He doesn’t sit still for that anymore, well, actually for that matter, he doesn’t sit still for ANYTHING anymore. My easy going little boy has now developed a sense of happy and unhappy – as in anything Mommy needs him to do is unhappy and anything he wants to do is happy. He is learning the word NO but doesn’t always heed it. I have had to make some minor adjustments to the house since the little bugger can crawl away faster than I can blink…so, I have removed some of the “pretties” (frames, knickknacks and what not) from the plant table upstairs. He knows NOT to pull on the plants, so we are good so far. He does love the table for pulling himself up. He is starting to pull himself to a standing position more often, once or twice a day. Otherwise it is just to his knees. His balance is getting very good. He can actually stay up on his knees without hanging on to anything. He has even started pushing toys around. We have a motorized 4-wheeler toy thing (of course the batteries are dead – garage sale item!) and we have another little leap frog push toy that once again we got from a neighbor who was selling it and he has just started pushing it today! It is a bit cumbersome but he is getting the hang of it. But I must say, his absolutely FAVORITE toy that he would genuinely miss if I were to take it away would be his stacking/nesting blocks/boxes.
You can see the blocks/boxes scattered across the floor. It is too cute to watch him take them apart and put them back together. You can even point to the boxes (show him to put one in another) and he will do what you have pointed. He doesn’t care much for stacking them but he does get a kick out of knocking down my towers!
Speaking of pointing, that is another new trick of his. He will point and point and point. Sometimes I think he is pointing at “ghosts” and other times it is a real object like your nose, hair, tongue, box, car, goldfish crackers…
Let me tell you about goldfish crackers… our child has become an absolute fiend for goldfish. If he sees them, he HAS to have them! I will give him a couple but if he still sees the dish that contains the rest – he will grunt for more! I think he thinks he can live strictly on goldfish. My word. It is adorable to know that he really likes something because for the most part he is indifferent. As far as food goes, he eats anything. He doesn’t really have a preference as I mentioned. He is now also getting warmed up food and really seems to enjoy that too!
Well, we have been battling constipation with this poor guy forever. I have tried all the tricks in the book and even some not so known. I have asked the doctor over and over again what can we do – it is really bad because it does actually cause bleeding (sorry if that is gross). Anyway, I really do not want to put him on a medication for something that should be a “normal” function. He should not need medication and I don’t want his little body to have to deal with processing it. But I did break down and buy Mira-lax. That only works if we stay on it and you aren’t supposed to give it to your child every day for the rest of their life! AARRRGGGGHHH! Talk about frustrating. I have long been a believer, due to Abraham’s larger size, that unnecessary calories are something he should avoid. The doctor agreed with me. So, Abraham has never really had juice (other than prune early on). He would kinda drink it but not really care much one way or the other and since I did not want him to “drink” his calories (other than formula) we opted for no juice. That has been fine because he has been drinking water fine. He will sometimes drink an entire sippy cup full in one day but typically only about half a cup. Well today, I tried something new. I thought, hmmm, fluids might help him “go” more easily (why didn’t I think of this sooner). So, I gave him grape juice mixed at a ratio of 1 part juice 2 parts water. He SUCKED it down in about an hour! An entire 10 oz sippy of juice! So, I made him another one later in the day and he drank that too! I was completely stunned! He has had his milk/formula and he had the opportunity for water, but LOVED the grape juice and you know what…he had pretty soft stool later on in the evening! Woohoo!
Back to the sippy cup deal. Abraham drinks like a champ from a strawed sippy cup. But if you give him a spouted sippy cup, he will give you the dirtiest look. He does NOT like them. I did notice that he did have the 2 teeth next to his 2 front teeth starting to poke through…so maybe that is why I got the dirty look? Anyway, straw cups it shall be. I will eventually get him on a regular spouted sippy and then hopefully to a cup! He will just be doing this on his time schedule, not mine.
I had to share this picture. Yes, this is of just Abraham’s feet but it is to illustrate the quickness in which he crawls. I had the camera in hand already on and had been using it when I went to snap a quick shot of him and he was GONE! Just like that. Turkey. Aaron and I both do not believe in fully baby-proofing our house. We didn’t grow up in homes that were fully baby-proofed and we lived. So, we believe the same for our children. They will learn what is okay and what is not. One slight concession I do believe I will be making is the gate at the top of our stairs. I do my best to watch his every move but sometimes (as the picture shows) he is just gone lickety split! I would never forgive myself if something happened to him where I could have prevented. So, like I said, I think I will be getting that gate very soon…
Reading…I have mentioned that Abraham is FINALLY getting into reading. He gets a story every night before bed and he sometimes has me read him his board books while we are playing. It is so sweet because he will bring the book to me. He does have favorites. He has a car book and a dog book that Grandma D got him and they are by far his favorites. He will even want me to read the same book over and over! It is so cute. I love having him help with turning the pages. Be sure to watch the video!
Speaking of dogs, Abraham said his first word! He says mom, mom, mom when he crys or is told no and cries and he will say dada just about whenever and he does like ba ba…not sure what that is because we do not use the term bottle – we use milk or water or juice etc…Anyway, I was reading his favorite dog book and he said “gog”. I was shocked and Aaron was sitting right there and I would say “dog” and Abraham would say “gog”. It was awesome! I was so excited! I will point to our dogs and say “dog” but since that day he really hasn’t repeated this new word. I am working on it. He does know it but just refuses to say it.
Some other fun games we play are parts of the face or head. He knows nose and tongue – he will actually stick out his tongue for you to touch! Hilarious! He will get my nose but typically only when I am strapping him in the car seat. I am guessing because he has nothing else to do. Funny kid. He knows hair but hasn’t quite figured out that it hurts when yanked on. I am working with him on that too.
I don’t think I have mentioned this but Abraham has become quick the snuggle bug. He has NEVER been a snuggler. At 4-weeks-old he made it very clear to us that he did not want to be snuggled or held a bunch. So, we have honored that request. Now, if we are near him and he wants to be held, loved on or snuggled he will crawl over and either get in your lap if you are on the floor or climb up your leg to get your attention. It is the sweetest thing. The picture shows just how hard he plays…he just passes out!
This was a great treat for Abraham. He got to have Daddy give him a bath. It had been quite awhile since Daddy had been able to do so. They both had tons of fun! It has become a small challenge as of late to get him to enjoy his bath. He has been getting so fussy he just doesn’t like it so we don’t stay long. I decided to bring out some new bath toys that I have been keeping in reserve and I try not to let him get too tired and that has done the trick! He is back to loving bath time again:)
Anyway, Abraham is just growing and growing and we love every minute. He is absolutely precious and truly God’s gift to us. He most certainly has made it very difficult for any siblings that he may have…they will have very tall shoes to fill!
I can’t believe it is really here. He is no longer in the single digits! My little boy is growing up so fast. I know that most parents say this, but it really is true.
Well, Abraham has been exploring his world with his new ability of crawling and now he is quite happy when standing! Of course we place him in a standing position and he just leans against the couch or you and stands! He is also really starting to develop his own personality. He is defiant at times and does things to get your attention. Also, he has recently become quite snuggly. This is VERY unusual for him considering he has never been a snuggler. I love it though:)
I know his birthday is just around the corner but for the few of you that read this blog, keep September 5th open. That is the day we have picked for his big birthday bash! More to come on that later:)
Ok, here are the pictures from today!
Here he is playing with his piano/activity thingy-ma-bob.
And here he is being his adorable self.
Abraham is so funny! He absolutely loves mail! He gets so excited when I give him some of the “junk” mail. Of course, I wish I could give him the bills! Especially when he decides to eat them!
He also got to try on Daddy’s tactical vest!
And finally, here he is standing! Of course, he is going through the mail too!
Well, that is about all that went on for this day! Know that we shall have SO much more planned for his 1-year party:)
Yes, Daddy is “Over The Hill” along with me! Yippee! We had a great day with breakfast at Bob Evans (the staff decorated the plate) and then enjoyed the day getting ready for vacation:) Aaron was really looking forward to this trip. We were planning to travel to South Hill, VA for a “professional” shooting class for him. Plus we had some other sight-seeing and high points to hit, but more about that later!
Family photo outside Bob Evans:) It was great to be together with Aaron’s family that morning to celebrate his birth 30 years ago.
Obviously we partied a bit too much! Mr. Abraham didn’t make it out of the parking lot!
This was the ONLY time he slept that entire day. Abraham ALWAYS takes a great nap each day, but not this day. Of course, we were SUPER busy trying to get ready for vacation and he has to have a complete and utter meltdown of a day. It really makes me realize how blessed I really am because he NEVER acts like this. Poor guy fussed and cried pretty much all afternoon. We weren’t quite sure why until I saw his upper gums. They were so swollen, they looked like blisters and sure enough by the end of the night/next morning, we had a little bit of white tooth poking through the left front of his upper gums. Poor little dude. No wonder God made sure none of us would remember this age – all that growing and changing – it has to hurt!
At least we survived the day of torture and we all got a pretty decent night’s sleep so we could start our vacation out right! I will give you a vacation post soon, but right now I need to catch up on some sleep that I missed while on vacation – so Goodnight All!
Yes. It is here! His 9-month birthday! I can’t believe it! He is becoming such a little man. Today’s post is going to be kinda like a day in the life of Abraham. I thought you all would enjoy this.
Ok. So it is 3 am and do you know what Abraham is doing? He is playing Bob the Builder in his bed and has been for about 20 minutes. This consists of him taking his pacifier and banging the hard part on the crib wood. Yes. That is my little Bob the Builder hard at work! Of course at 3 am, I can’t say I am all that thrilled. Well, this banging continues but now he is starting to get a little fussy. He is tired and since he has decided to keep himself awake, his body thinks it is time to eat. Yippee. I climb out of bed and go feed him. He thankfully goes back to sleep.
Aaron has to work first shift today. So he had to leave the house at 7 am! NUTS! We did not enjoy that AT ALL. So, my sleep is once again interrupted by Daddy having to get ready for work and take the trash out, etc… Well, 8:45 am rolls around and it is time to feed the doggies. I get up and take care of them. Meanwhile, Abraham decides to wake up. Darn! I really thought I might be able to sneak in another hour of sleep. Nope. He does take another bottle and acts kinda sleepy still. So, I try to lay him down. It works! He went back to sleep! So, I am in bed enjoying my 45 minutes of hopeful sleep when the phone rings. It was Daddy saying good morning! He felt bad but really, I needed to get up. I have FAR too many things to get done in a very short amount of time. So, I get up and shower and by the time I am all ready, I hear Bob the Builder again. He is so cute! I absolutely think his little banging the crib deal is so adorable. So, I give Abraham a big GOOD MORNING routine – he loves it when you come in all happy and smiley. He just lights up. I get him dressed and ready for breakfast! He got to enjoy oatmeal and bananas, apples and raspberries for breakfast while mommy got to enjoy waffles! I can’t wait to share waffles with him. It is going to be so cool!
Now it is play time. I put him on the floor with his toys near the kitchen while I get things cleaned up and start planning for packing for vacation. Abraham is just having a good ol’ time and as you can see, he loves to throw stuff! How do you teach a 9-month-old what you can and can’t throw? He makes no distinguishment between a big/hard object and a smaller/soft object. He honestly prefers the bigger/harder ones because they make more noise when hitting the tile floor.
**NOTE** I didn’t realize the camera was on its side while filming until about half way through! Sorry for the neck cramps!
So, he gets done with throwing things and I proceed to offer him some juice because he has been working really hard!
He is such a big boy! He has mastered straw drinking. He actually loves straw drinking so much that whenever we have a cup with a straw (like Speedway) he goes nuts expecting for you to let him have some! Too cute!
So he now is getting tired of playing on the floor. So we get some exersaucer time! This only lasts about 15 minutes. Enough time for me to vacuum the dog room/office and clean the downstairs bathroom.
Since that didn’t last very long, we go back to the floor and he was just talking up a storm! His new favorite sound/word is “ba”. He goes around saying ba ba ba ba ba. It is so cute! We are trying to teach Ball since it is a pretty close sound. He does recognize “ball” but hasn’t quite said it. But as they say, practice makes perfect! As you can see, he decided to get quiet for the video and even a bit fussy. It was nearly nap-time.
And now here is Mommy’s favorite time. I love him being awake and alert, but I just think he is the sweetest thing when sleeping.
Nap time is over and on to playing we go!!!
We started out on the bed while Mommy folded laundry. Abraham was having quite a bit of fun with his piano and of course the bedding and laundry!
Abraham was actually pretty tired even after his nap but we held out for Daddy to get home! He achieved yet ANOTHER milestone today. He ate an entire stage 3 food jar without gagging! That is a big deal because I have been trying to get him to eat Stage 3 jars (due to the quantity of food) but he was having none of the texture. But tonight he did it! Yippee!!!
Then we played ball for awhile! He was quite good!
I really enjoyed taking the video:)
He has made SO many changes this week. He has learned to go from sitting to laying down on his belly (more gracefully than previously) and he even sat UP tonight! He went from his belly to his rear! He actually figured out how to sit! I am so proud! He actually did it twice! I called Daddy immediately and shared the news. Of course for the rest of the night he didn’t repeat this feat. That’s okay, he will probably do it again soon.
Now it was time for bath time and Daddy volunteered. It was pretty cool to watch Hammy giggling at Daddy’s tricks with the rubber ducky.
By now Abraham is completely exhausted and ready for bed.
Today was a big day! Abraham turned 8 months! My goodness how the time is flying! We had a great day together:) We enjoyed a relaxing day today watching some old Star Trek with Daddy and then we practiced standing for awhile.
And just in case you are wondering, he is all better! Not quite 100%, but definitely better! Actually, he felt so good he didn’t even take a nap today. I think he MAYBE slept for about 30 minutes early in the afternoon but that was it! He was ready to play:)
Abraham got to see Daddy get a haircut (from yours truly) and he enjoyed exploring the basement with his eyes – sorry kiddo, no free reign down there!
Daddy was getting ready for work and I figured I might as well get the rest of the grocery shopping done. So Abraham and I headed out for Meijer (Abraham’s favorite store). He absolutely loves riding in the cart. He also greatly enjoys interacting with all the ladies in the store. He is such a flirt! This trip was a bigger than normal trip for groceries, so it took quite some time but Abraham was a dream (as usual). We got home and into the bath since I knew he wasn’t going to last much longer and needed to go to bed for the night.
As you can see, he discovered the edge of the tub and just thought it was the coolest!
So, off to bed we go and Abraham decides HE wants to brush his own teeth! So cute!
I really thought for sure that after all that he would be ready for bed. But nope! He wanted to watch his Baby Einstein! So, I popped in his DVD and set to cleaning up while he enjoyed his show. I look over the couch to check on him and that little bugger had rolled his way over to his best buddy in the whole world! Just look at these two!
These two are going to be best friends for life!
Well, this was our exciting day for Abraham’s 8-month birthday! Can you believe he was once so little?
