Cookie Decorating Party!

Our friend Jenny bravely hosted a cookie decorating party at her house last week. I didn't know what to expect, but I was excited! I, unfortunately, told Jackson before his nap that if he took a great nap, we could go over to Cole's house! Well, that was not the best move.... He was so excited about seeing Cole that he laid in bed that whole time talking to himself but never going to sleep. Oh well! I loaded up my baby boys and met up w/ 5 of Jackson's best buddies. All seated at the table, these kiddos went to town on those cookies! I balanced Ethan in the living room with Jackson in the dining room. Emily helped ice Jackson's cookies for me while I took pictures. Jackson sat in a sugar daze as he ate away! Ethan enjoyed sitting and playing with his friends Lily Kate and Annie - so much so that he kicked off his sock!! Overall, we had SUCH a great time and hope we get to do it again soon!

Update on Ethan

So my sweet sweet boy.... Lots of people have been asking me how he's doing now. We were doing so great up til about a week ago. He actually had been sleeping 715pm - 730am straight, every night... even when Jackson went through this weird waking up spell - but he was sleeping so soundly every night. He was being swaddled every night and doing great. Well, he just suddenly started waking up many many times during the night. I looked back in Jackson's journal of his first year and at the exact same time, Jackson went through this exact same thing!!! What the heck!? Now I have the 4 month blues!!!!!! Jackson's lasted about 2-3 weeks, so hopefully Ethan's doesn't last that long. I tried unswaddling him and last night I caved in and swaddled him again. I'm just so tired! Ethan hasn't been eating much in the last week either - back to the old routine of arching his back and crying through his bottle. Barely getting 19 oz in a day - where we were up to 25-26oz/day.... but I have to fight for those 19 oz! I didn't used to have to do that! :( He has also been spitting up a LOT (as you can see above) - sometimes in the middle of the night. I absolutely HATE him sleeping on his back. He usually will start out w/ struggling to get that swaddle off. Then, that struggle leads to a cry. The cry leads to a cough. The cough leads to a gag. The gag leads to a huge throw up everywhere. The throw up shoots up his nose and throat into his ears and head.... which leads to more congestion in his head and that leads to more coughing... It's a vicious cycle that I cannot control and makes me nuts. I had Jackson on his belly right before he turned 4 mos old. I would do that again but Ethan FREAKS when he is on his belly. So that's why we tried unswaddling - to try to keep him from struggling... but he's a baby, so when he isn't swaddled, he jerks when he is falling asleep... when he jerks and jars, he fully wakes himself up.... and keep in mind, when he does that, I can't let him cry himself to sleep unless I want to let him puke all over himself. Mad craziness. Anyway, I know it's going to get better and very soon. :) He will soon be able to roll around on his own and grab his paci and replace... etc. In the meantime, I'm going to cherish my sweet baby boy. I know it's not his fault that he has reflux. I never thought I could love another child as much as I love Jackson, but God just finds a way to allow your heart to expand for them. I cannot imagine my life without Ethan and he is just the sweetest baby ever!! I feel SOOOOO blessed to be his mommy!

Ugly Sweater Anyone?

Our great friends Jim and Emily had an awesome Ugly Sweater Party last Saturday and we had SO much fun! Hope they do this party again next year!!

Ryan in all his hotness.


Ryan and our neighbor Dave


Kim, our rockstar photographer and her hubby Nathan
http://www.kimlowery.com/

The Burrows, with one in the oven! :)

Jamie and Rachel

Heather, Rachel and Kim

LHLAS (love her like a sister) - Me and Emily

The food was super yum - as we knew it would be.... Burrow food is the best food.

Dr. Burrow, in the flesh.


Before Lisa and Richie arrived....
Me, Heather and Emily

and our better halves....

Yes, Heather is sporting a sweater from my mom's closet just as I am. Just as her husband Josh is!

Me and Heather - we're known as the loud talkers of the group... :) We don't mind.


This is our neighborhood stay-at home mommy gang... we're the Desperate Housewives of our subdivision.. but we aren't desperate! haha! :)
(me, em, lisa and heather) - i like that it looks like i have a hat on in his picture!

Richie and Lisa - two of my favorite people in the whole world.

Lisa and Heather


The whole sweater-loving gang (minus Rachel who took this pic)! (Ryan: front and center, of course!)

Special thanks to Heather and Rachel for letting me bum the pictures off you! Ryan and I are never in the same place at the same time during a party so we rarely have pics of the two of us...
We had such a great time!!!!

Jackson and Thomas, a love affair.

This is what we do NOT need for Christmas. Jackson has collected "Thomas" as you can see. He inherited some of them from our friend Amy and he has gotten most of them because they include a "thomas" in a lot of the train sets we've bought in the past.... and then of course, he's just HAD to have one at the store occasionally... I know it's a little crazy. We also have 2 Percy's, 2 James's, 2 Rosie's. Fortunately, there are still MANY trains he doesn't have so I don't feel too bad that we've spoiled him.... um... ok, maybe we have. :)


oh - and all the Thomas's - although they look the same to you and me.. oh no. They are different and all have different names. IE: Regular Thomas, Snow Thomas, Talking Thomas, Big Thomas, Puff Thomas (that's a new one even to me)... oh and of course, Birthday Cake Thomas (on the top of his 2nd birthday cake - how he remembers that I'll never know). See for yourself.

Jackson and Clayre

Our friends Ken and Hollie were in town visiting from Colorado so of course, we had to get Clayre and Jackson together again! Clayre is the definition of a "girly girl" and Jackson is the definition of a "total boy" - so they make quite a pair. :)

Hollie also makes all of Clayre's amazing handmade knitted hats and bows! Every year, she makes one for Jackson and now she has made matching ones for Ethan too!
If you're interested in beautiful HIGH quality handmade knitted hats,
check out her site: http://www.etsy.com/shop/whoozies

More Ben and Jackson....

This may be the one and only time that Jackson tells Ben to do something and he says "alright." So cute! I could do 1000 videos of these guys - they are so funny together. 2 1/2 years old, 3 days apart but opposite personalities make for REALLY REALLY fun times! They really love each other like brothers...

Yesterday, I asked Jackson whose buddy he is...
"Are you mommy's buddy?"
"No."
"Are you Daddy's buddy?"
"No." (whoa - shocker of the century)
"Are you Ethan's buddy?"
"No."
Hmmm.... I'm thinking, ok, I'll get him here! "Are you Emily's buddy?" (he has a mommy crush on her!)
he thinks a second. "No."
"Well, Jackson - whose buddy are you?"
"BEN!!!!!"

why, of course... what was I thinking!?

Torturing Cats....

Typical Ben and Jackson....

What my heart is made of...

Ethan Chase, 19 weeks old

Making Do....

So yesterday was Ryan's birthday.... and I spent most of the day trying to get some things done around the house and catch up on some projects.... So then it came down to 3p, I knew I needed to get ready! Ryan and I were going out for a night of fun and my mom was coming over to watch the boys... so I was in a dilemma.... I have 2 wide-awake little boys and I need to take a shower! We've been trying to keep the TV off as much as possible since Jackson has been feeling a little better. If the TV is on too much, he becomes very demanding and the temper tantrums begin... so it's been off for a day or so... So, I had to improvise! I ran to our stash of "extra" train tracks and make a tiny little track in my bathroom floor... and much to Jackson's delight when he came in the bathroom, there was a "choo choo track!" I knew right then, I had about 30 minutes. Ethan loves new surroundings so he was content watching big brother and looking in the big window in my bathroom. Awh... what a mom has to do to just take a shower! :)

Rough Day

Took the boys to the doc today. Jackson started running a fever on Monday after school - 102 or so and then it went away for a day and a half.. so thought we were in the clear... but after his nap yesterday, he woke up feeling super hot. Took his temp and it was 103.2. Not cool. I already had Ethan scheduled for today for his 4 mo shots, so went ahead and took J w/ me. So glad Ryan showed up at the doc to help me out. 2 small children are quite the handful - esp as soon as we pulled into the office, before he even got out of the car seat, Jackson exclaims "gotta go pee pee!" - so thankful Ryan was right there and grabbed him up. No way we would have made it by the time I got Ethan out of the car...

Anyway, first up - Jackson. He's got the flu. Yep. Influenza A. Lovely. I was thinking the doc may say "he's got a virus - it'll go away in a few days..." or "ear infection" but really never expected to hear "he's positive for the flu." Poor POOOOOOOOR guy! You can tell when you look at those sweet big brown eyes that he feels like crap. He is super whiny and mopey and isn't really playing and running around crazy like he normally does. Not wanting to eat, just drink. So the doc gave him some stuff for his body aches and cough and Ryan and I some tamiflu to help prevent us from getting it. We just have to PRAY PRAY PRAY that Ethan doesn't get it. There isn't a darn thing we can do for him. He isn't even old enough for IBU. The only thing he can have is Tylenol. I feel so horrible for Jackson but for awhile, I have to keep him upstairs and his baby brother downstairs... should be an interesting balancing act, but we'll manage.

Ethan - He had his 4mo vaccines, etc. He weighs 15 pounds, 3oz (52nd percentile) and 25in long (48th percentile) and his head measures 41.8cm (33rd percentile). He's doing super great. Doc was impressed w/ the strength in his legs. We talked to the doc about a flat spot developing on his head so we're going to do lots and lots more tummy time and sitting in the bumbo. He can't help it that he is such a great sleeper! :) Anyway, he got his little leg shots and screamed so hard his little face got blood red. We'll have to give him some Tylenol every 4hrs for the next day or so. Overall, he's doing super excellent. Reflux seems to be under control w/ the Prevacid and he's now taking 4 bottles/day at 6-7 oz each - all w/ cereal. Much, much improvement. We'll probably add some baby food in the next month or so...

Please pray for my sweet boys. Ryan has had the flu twice in his life and it's the only thing I've ever seen to actually stop him in his tracks.... so I know this virus is nasty. I've never had the flu and pray that I never do. More importantly, I don't want anyone that Jackson has been around to get it... especially Ethan. We're going to hole ourselves up in the house for several days and get healthy. I see lots and lots of sanitizer in my future.