Embracing the Camera... Sept 30th

Archer loves to stand on my lap!

It's the cutest thing, he gets so excited to push off and stand up so big.

And I can't help but get a little snuggle in when I can.

Those are the best.

Doesn't Stockton look thrilled to start eating cereal last night??

It was quite a mess, but Daddy enjoyed it AND got to clean it up!

Happy Thursday!

Embrace the Camera...

We are embracing the camera outside today!

We live in the country on about 90 acres of land. There are ponds, lots of pasture land, timber, and old farm house, a cow barn, a horse barn, a chicken house, apple trees, pear trees and so much more.

Justin and I can't wait to take the boys exploring every inch of this property. We can't wait to take them fishing, to shoot their first deer (I think I will skip that one), four wheeling, dove hunting, turkey hunting, build forts...the possibilities are endless!

It was pretty windy today, hence the big hair!

Here we go again...

You would think by now I would understand that the boys are always changing and that I could roll with the punches easier...you would think. Well, they have thrown me for another loop over the past two weeks. Labor Day weekend Archer started screaming during his last bottle. An ounce or so would go down and then the screaming would start. At first we thought it was that we weren't getting him to bed early enough and he was over tired. Ever since they started moving their bed time earlier than 9pm they were only taking 4-5 ounces at their last bottle. During the day they were taking 6 - 6.5 ounces per bottle. But as the days passed he continued to cry during that last feeding. The next week they got vaccinated (yuck) and that Friday he started screaming, arching his back during all of his feeds. This is a baby that loves to eat...it just didn't make sense. Beyond just being frustrated it made me hurt knowing I couldn't fix what was wrong with my baby. I took him to our pediatrician, Dr. Raley, that Monday because over the weekend it had gotten progressively worse. He was crying and refusing to eat which causes him to wake in the night 1-2 times for a bottle. I don't mind getting up at night to feed if he is hungry but knowing he was waking because he couldn't eat enough during the day just breaks my heart. He checked everything out and he doesn't have an ear infection, no thrush or sores in his mouth so we decided to treat it as reflux.

Really?!? Reflux!?! Geez. Can't we catch a break?

So, he got meds he had to take morning and night. They seemed to start helping which was encouraging. Then Stockton started the same thing last Friday night. Of course...what one brother does the other is usually quick to follow. With the Dr's approval we started him on the same meds (Axid) the next morning.

Maybe we caught it early enough for Stockton because he is doing pretty well. You can tell he doesn't feel great...but hopefully we can keep it from getting worse. Archer on the other hand started getting worse on Monday. Yesterday was a nightmare so I called the Dr and he changed our meds to Prevacid. Keep your fingers crossed that this will help my sweet little guy. It breaks my heart to see him cry and refuse the bottle, then look at me with his sad, watery eyes and still smile at me. I just want to fix him!! I want my happy, healthy babies back. How does this 'just show up' so quickly?

To sum the last two weeks for us up...babies crying, refusing to eat, night feedings, momma crying, babies crying, refusing to eat, night feedings...repeat, repeat, repeat. Oh yeah...last night ended with momma putting the babies to bed and sitting on the porch in the dark with a very strong adult beverage. It was much needed and enjoyed.

Anyways...enough about our rough few weeks. We have had plenty of happy, fun and cute moments lately dispite the craziness. Here are some videos and pics of the good times :)

Enjoying some Tummy Time today!

I FINALLY caught Archer rolling back to tummy on the floor on camera. He does it in the crib but has just started doing it on the floor during play time. I really think he is just trying to tell me it's time for a nap in this video.

Archer rolling onto his brother...It may be time they get their own play gyms...

And sweet Baby Stockton has started talking to himself... alot. All the time. Especially in bed. Naps, nighttime...it doesn't matter! I took this little video when I put him down for a nap last week. It's kinda dark, but you get the idea.

Embrace the Camera...

This is how we "do" our daily feedings.

One baby is on my legs that are propped on the ottoman while one hangs is in the Boppy on the right.
They eat at the same time...plug those bottles in their mouths and watch them go!

And this is apparently how Stockton "doo doo's"... smooth out of the side of his diaper.

Boy, am I glad he was in the Boppy and not on my lap this time!!

Yes...I put a pic of my baby's poop on the blog.

It's Thursday...I might not be in the pics but I embraced the poop and so should you :)

4 Months!

The boys turned 4 months old on Friday! Seriously, where has the time gone?

They had their 4 month well check on Wednesday and here are their stats:

Archer
Height - 25 inches

Weight - 13 lbs 1 ounce

Stockton

Height - 25 inches

Weight - 12 lbs 13 ounces

They got a great report! Inspite of being 5 weeks early, developmentally they are right where they need to be for 4 months old. The only thing they aren't doing yet is bearing weight on their feet/pushing off. We are starting to do new exercises.

They got vaccinated :(

They didn't like it...at all

They slept for the rest of the day, all through the night and the majority of Thursday.

Friday is when the real fun began...bring on the fussiness, not eating well and a 2am bottle for Archer Thursday, Friday and Saturday night. I feel like vaccinations are necessary but definitely not fun!

They are in better moods today, but still tired and not napping as well as they normally do. Stockton has done really well on his bottles today and Archer is getting better about them. Fingers crossed they are back to their smiley, happy, sleeping through the night-selves ASAP...momma misses them!

They got some fun new "cars" this week and they love them!

Embracing the Camera...

It's been quiet at our house today...the boys have been very sleepy so napping has been the trend this week.

So.... I decided to spend some quality time with my other children.

My sad, lonely, neglected 4-legged babies.

We played and cuddled in between loads of laundry.

It was just what we needed...a nice, quiet day.

I missed the boys, but the pooches needed some lovin'.

Embracing the Camera...

Along with some fellow bloggers I am going to start embracing the camera on Thursdays...I first saw this idea on an old friends blog and now a new friend has encouraged me to do it too! Sooooo...every Thursday (hopefully) we are going to take a random pic during our day and post it on the 'ole blog,

We were all doing a little tummy time today :)

Even my mom joined in on the fun!

Happy Thursday!

Picture Me Rolling

Yes...those are the lyrics of a Tupac song, but it has been the big news in our house this week!

Everybody is rolling like crazy lately, and it's because they want to and because they can! Both boys rolled from tummy to belly around 4 weeks old, it wasn't consistent but it was happening. Considering they were 5 weeks early the really should have still been in the womb! But, as they grew and got a little bigger the less often they rolled. I still wonder if they just got so mad on their bellies they just flipped on over because most of the time there was some screaming involved :)

Stockton Rolling

It still amazes me how much they change in just a day. Last Tuesday when I would lay Stockton on his belly for tummy time he would look around for a minute then lay his head down and suck on his hand. Archer on the other hand has been up on his elbows for the past 2 weeks like a champ. Just looking around and rolling to his back...happy as a clam! Well, last Wednesday I put Stockton on his belly and he was a new boy. Looking around and rolling like crazy! That's him in the video above... I love the looks on their faces when they end up on their backs, kinda dazed and confused on what just happened. And on their bellies they both look like little periscopes! And sometimes during their naps if they are on their bellies I will peek in on them and they will being doing some tummy time...Up Periscope! Such strong, growing boys!


And, as of yesterday, Archer is officially a tummy sleeper. I continue to lay him down for naps and for bed on his back but it doesn't take long for him to roll to his tummy. I want him to be able to sleep comfortably on both so I am just going to keep starting him out on his back. During every nap yesterday he never made a peep and I would find him on his belly. When I would roll him over to wake him up he would squint those tired little eyes at me and then promptly roll right back to his belly. Same thing with bedtime...the last few nights he has cried around 12:30am to be rolled over...not last night! I peeked at the monitor at 11:30pm and he was already on that tummy. At least he knows what he wants and how to get there! That, and it's obviously not up to me anymore how he sleeps unless I want to roll him onto his back again every 5 minutes...nah, mom needs some sleep! And there is nothing cuter than that little baby butt sticking up in the air...LOVE IT!

Stockton hasn't quite caught the belly sleeping bug yet but I am sure it's coming. He is our little snuggler. We are pretty sure he will be our security blanket baby when he gets older and we have started calling him Linus. It has taken a while to get used to, actually I still worry every day, but Stockton likes to snuggle the bumper in his crib. By snuggle, I mean we have to start him out laying next to it and he likes to press his nose and chin against it. He even does it in his swing...there must be something calming about it.

I have tried taking the bumper out but laying against the rails makes him cry...I have tried starting in the middle of the crib but he works his way to his left every time and cries when he hits the rails...I have tried a Breathable Bumper but it is too rough for his little face and he cried and could feel the rails of the crib. Sooooo, we are back to the bumper and back to starting him out laying with his left arm against it. That way he doesn't have to travel far to feel secure and he won't smush his face into it very hard since he is already there. I worry about it all the time, absolutely all the time...but it doesn't really seem like it's up to me...it's what the baby wants. So, we are just being as cautious as possible and hopefully he will outgrow it soon!