Clayton at 18 Months!

Oh my goodness gracious.... I must stop for a moment and not cry from the thought that my baby will be two in less than half of a year. Oh my! Clayton has continued to amaze us with how fast he learns things, how he remembers EVERYTHING, and how just darn cute he is! Here are some highlights from the last month:

- Puts two words together now! Tells everyone "hi/bye" and their name. Ex: Hi Daddy!
- Says: towel, play, Charley, aw man, big tractor, "Pop voovoo ride!", blocks, hug, Ok!, truck, chalk, color, keys, knee, rain, goat, night-night (old one), pretty, ah-choo!, candle, purple, Revy (Reveille), orange, rock, Yee haw!, juice, cool, hat, alright!, oh boy!, whoa cool!, pump jack, bearkat, go bearkats!, candy, Granny (Nanny), Here sister! (or whomever!), Ok sister!, baby (dolls are baby's), mine (we hate this word!)
- When we cut the tip of a paci to see what he would do he took it out, shook his head and said "Oh no, babi!", then asked for another one!
- Loves to sing! Favorite songs are "Doe, a deer" (which he knows movements to and knows that Me comes after Ra), "Old McDonald" (sings e-i-e-i-o in key after you say Old McDonald), "Itsy bitsy spider"
- Knows and does all of the motions to "patty cake" by himself
- Made Sister laugh and laugh HARD! Makes her giggle all of the time!
- Pooped on the potty a few more times! Yahoo!!!! Tells us when he has pooped most of the time though..
- Said that "b" came after "a" and "c" came after "b"
- Knew which truck was the red tuck in a whole pile of cars
- Knows blue, purple, and red (Sometimes confuses green with blue)
- Picky eater with textured foods! Won't eat apple sauce, oatmeal, potato soup!
- Asks for "candy" all of the time!
- Knows who drives which vehicle (Mommy's car, Daddy's truck, Pop's truck)
- Wakes up and asks for "go go" which is the cat in the hat TV show. We only watch it when we're getting dressed in the morning for daycare
- Wears mostly 12 month pants still because 18 months fall off his waist! Still size 3 diaper, size 6 shoe, mostly 18 month shirts
- Loves, loves, loves baby sister
- Runs the iPhone better than most adults and has his own! We took one of our old ones and turned it on airplane mode then downloaded his favorite apps: Elmo calls, Johnny tractor, anything Fisher Price, pre-school memory game, PBS kids. He can push the home button, slide to unlock, find his app, play it! Then when he is done he hits the home button and then the lock button on top. Smarty pants!!!!
- Loves wrestling on our bed
- Loves to "honk" people's noses!
- Obsessed. OBSESSED. With tractors!
- Gets quiet when we tell him to look at Jesus on the cross during church. He repeats us that it is "Jesus" up there!

I'm not sure I will ever be ok with him growing up, but it is SO fun to watch him change. He is just so stinkin' smart and cute! We love him to the moon and back!!!!

Five Months!

Happy Five Month Birthday, Reagan E!

You are no longer just a little baby! You're on your way to being a big girl! You are getting so good at sitting and can stay in upright in your boppy pillow to play with toys for a good while! You still roll over all of the time from back to tummy, and this month you started rolling from tummy to back! When you do it scares you and you cry! I don't think you understand why you're now looking at the ceiling! You can also stand flat footed really well! Mommy let you hold on to the table one day and you looked so big! You hardly spend any time in a bouncer anymore. Now it's just in the exersaucer or playing with toys on your tummy or in your bumbo.

After you received the green light to start solid foods at your 4 month check-up we began to feed you rice cereal. You sit in the high chair and look so tiny compared to your brother who takes up the whole chair! We have to strap you in or else you just lean over and chew on the tray! You actually like the rice cereal, unlike your brother who hated it! You normally eat the whole bowl! We feed you about an hour before bedtime, which is around 9pm.

Once we started the rice cereal, just as we did with your brother, we moved you to your crib upstairs! You were great right from the start! We do still battle to get you to try to sleep on your side or your stomach since we're still working on your head shape, but you do well with your pillow that is helping it round out! You now sleep from 9 until about 5, or sometimes later. Mommy then feeds you and you go back to sleep! There have only been a few times that we have gone longer than 8 hours between bottles, so we just make sure to try to feed you right before you go to sleep! You absolutely love this swaddle blanket that our good friend Melissa gave us before you were born. It's a light weight muslin material and you just love to hold it and put it over your face. Mommy bought another one just like it so that we always have a clean one!

You found your toes this month and it is so funny to watch you grab them every time we lay you down! You definitely "help" us change your diaper by doing this, haha! You can't reach your mouth with them yet, thank goodness, but you sure hold on to them tight with your fingers! One of your favorite activities is still blowing bubbles at us. Your brother loves to tell us when you have a bubble on your lip! ;-)

Speaking of your brother... you think he is the best thing since sliced bread! You smile so big every time you see him. This month you had your first BIG laughs. You both spent a good 5 minutes just belly laughing at each other. Mommy was nearly in tears - and I was the only one who heard it! You did give us another round of a few minutes where you two were "wrestling" and laughing. Daddy got it on video and it is adorable! He LOVES that you go to daycare with him, but it has been an adjustment. If you wake up during nap time and he hears you then HE wakes up during nap time and says "Sister! Wake!" haha! He watches out for you already though. We know he'll be a great big brother, even if you disagree with us later in life!!

You are still such a beautiful little girl. Your hair has neither fallen out nor grown in, hehe, so it is definitely looking a little thin! Your bangs in front are long and Mommy has to push them to the side! Your eyes are still such a gorgeous light shade of blue. So pretty! We just moved you up to 3-6 month clothes. You do still wear a bunch of your size 3 clothes that are from Carters. Your feet were outgrowing your PJ's and your body was outgrowing your onesies so that's why we bumped you up! At your 4 month checkup you were in the 68% for height and 42% for weight! We also just moved you up to a size 2 diaper as your others were getting small. Big girl! Growing fast! You have the cutest chunky thighs!

We love you so much and couldn't imagine life without you! You are such a perfect addition to our family! Happy Birthday my sweet Sister-Girl!

Love,
Mommy

So I don't forget...

Life has been "happening" too fast lately. I feel like I can hardly catch my breath, but I want to ensure that I remember all of these treasured moments that are taking place. Reagan's 5 month post has been written for about a week but I haven't had time to edit her photos and upload them... so there it sits. Our house has been FULL lately: Full of laughter, full of people, full of messes, full of love.....

We had Reagan's baptism this weekend. It was so much fun to have everyone come in and celebrate with us. She was beautiful in the dress that her Gia adorned for her. This will be a whole other post by itself, but I just had to mention how fun it was and how glad we are that our beautiful baby girl is now a member of God's family.

Reagan and Clayton are interacting so much lately and it just MELTS my heart each time I see them playing. Reagan gave us her first belly laughs at none other than her big brother this past month. She loves him and he loves her. He asks for her every day. He watches over her at daycare. He gives her kisses and hugs. Last night I put them in the bath together, using Reagan's whale tub inside Clayton's big tub! It was so fun! My intent was to quickly get them both bathed since Darren wasn't home but half way in they began playing and laughing so hard. I video'd them for about 6 minutes before my camera said I was out of memory. It was the most precious thing! They are going to be such good friends, and yet such big enemies! ;-)

We love both of our blessings from God so much. I know that life is crazy right now since I am taking 6 hours of grad school, working full time, and taking care of my two babies... but it is SO WORTH IT. Wouldn't change anything for the world. I am so happy with my wonderful family!

By the way... wouldn't be near as happy if I didn't have my wonderful husband helping me along the way, and making me feel like the most loved woman on this planet. =)

Clayton at 17 months!

Oh my goodness.... Our little boy's vocabulary took off this month! He is now saying well over 50 words, over and over. We can't believe how smart he is, how quick he picks up on things, and how much of a parrot he is! We just adore him! He is so much fun! Here are just the things that I managed to write down so that I would remember! ;-)

- Can tell you where they are on his body, and say, these parts: Nose, ear, eye, mouth, head, pupeck (belly button), hiney, wee-wee (Nana's term!), toes, teeth.
- Puts together sentences! "Thunder all gone", "Sister bite!" (trying to give his sister a bite of his food), "Bye daddy!", "Sister wake!" (at daycare when she wakes him up!)
- Loves to have races now thanks to Miss Liliana! We say "ready" and he says "Two, go!". haha... kind of gets those mixed with one two three - which he can also tell you in succession!
- Loves to sing the apple song. Tells us that baby comes after apple and cookie comes after baby. (It's a song to teach the abc's and their sounds)
- Calls Pearl when she gets a few steps from us on our walks. Pearl is "Puuhllll"
- Can run our iPhone better than we can! We can slide it open and he will slide the pages to find his game then press the button to start his game!
- Went poopoo on the potty once! Will tell us when he has to go or when he has already gone by saying "poopoo" and grabbing at his diaper. Runs to the potty and says "peepee" and "poopoo".
- Says: flower, bee, uncle, beer, chicken, love you (wo wo), milk, car, bless you, hungry, dog, waffle, Piper, Gaga (Andrea), truck, ride, go, drive, diaper, poopoo, sticker, ball, puffs, no, Elmo, more, get, bird, oh no!, move (moo), sorry, cow, big, pool, swimming (mimin), open, round, all gone, Sarah (rara), broke
- Makes a smacking noise when he gives us kisses
- Knows "see ya" means bye! We say see ya and he tells us bye!
- Tells us "no".. quite often! Will tell other people/kids no when they are doing something he doesn't want them to do!
- Can eat yogurt with a spoon by himself!!
- Gave Liliana kisses when we visited them.... match made in heaven! ;-)
- Raises his hands and shrugs his shoulders to say "all gone"
- Please and thank you are immediate words when he wants anything!
- Anything in a can or a bottle that Daddy drinks is a beer. He will say "beer.. mmmm!!" haha. Apparently he likes the taste of beer!
- Still mostly 12mo clothes, size 3 diaper, size 6 shoe. Some 18 month like PJ's and some tshirts
- Likes to call people on the phone... until they answer! Then he gets shy and won't talk!
- Still loves his sister so much. Knows her cry and gets upset at daycare when she cries.

What a month it has been. We are so blessed with such a smart, fun, cute, sweet little boy! Here's to what the next month will hold! Love you my Clayton Scott!

Four Months!

Happy Four Month Birthday, Reagan E!

You are growing and changing daily, and becoming more and more active! This month you have really tried to master rolling over from back to front. You are so close! You have rolled over everything except one shoulder! It won't be long until you can finally get over that shoulder and make it all the way onto your tummy! Now when we put you down you sit there wiggling and trying to roll. This makes you turn in circles! One day you made a full 360* around your play mat! It was really funny to watch!

You gave us your first giggles this month and they are so sweet. You don't belly laugh quite yet like your brother did, but we've decided he's a special breed of his own! ;-) You are more reserved than he is and we love that about you! You are our quiet little beauty! Well, not that quiet! You still LOVE to sit and talk to us. Now you are even blowing raspberries! You love to be talked to and light up with the biggest smile when anyone leans down to talk to you or smile at you. You're such a social butterfly and love everyone!

This month you finally started to appreciate your toys. We bought a toy bar for your car seat and you love pulling on the different toys and spinning them. You also love to play with the toys on your bouncer and can pull the chain to make the frog play music! You are finally starting to tolerate tummy time, but it is definitely not one of your favorite activities! Like any girl, you love to look at yourself in the mirror, so that helps pass the time when you're on  your tummy!

We were quite busy this month with several weddings, reunions, and just vacationing in general! You traveled to New York again, and you traveled to Lake Granbury! You went swimming for the first time in the lake! You had been in Pop & Gia's pool before, but you don't like the cold water so you were never submerged. However, the lake water was really quite warm so you didn't mind it at all! Pop and Daddy took you around in the water. You even got to go on your first boat ride on Cousin Brian's boat! You fell asleep after a few minutes out on the water!

You have turned into a drooling machine! The whole gnawing on your hands thing has taken on a new meaning this month! Now you slobber all over us! If we are holding you upright on our shoulder our shirt will be soaked when we move you! Maybe it really is teeth coming in! Most babies don't get teeth until 6 months though, so we will see! Nothing is poking out quite yet!

Getting chunky!

We are still battling your tummy but it is not near as bad as it used to be. We switched you from the soy formula to just a sensitive tummy formula and it seems to be a lot better. You were having pooping issues on the soy, just like your brother did. We were glad when we switched you that you regulated out pretty fast! Don't you just love Mommy for telling you this?!?!?! We are still making sure that we feed you more upright and that you are not laying flat right after you eat. This is helping as well, so that is good news!

We moved you up to eating 5 ounces at a time just about a week ago, but we are about to move you up to 6 ounces! You've been eating a bunch lately so you are probably going through a growth spurt! We normally feed you every 4 hours but the past few days you've been going 3 hours between feedings. You're still waking up to eat right at 5am every night, regardless of when you last ate or when we put you down to sleep for the night. You're in quite a pattern! At least it's predictable! Here soon though Mommy will take away that night time feeding since you won't need it anymore!

You're still wearing all 0-3 clothes but they are starting to get too short. You're much more petite than your brother was! We still have issues getting hats and shoes to fit you as well! Guess you're just tiny! We still have you in a size 1 diaper but will be bumping up to a size 2 soon. They are getting a little short, but not bad! Mommy has lots of cute 3-6mo clothes for you, so hurry up! ;-) hehe... We won't go to the doctor for another week and a half so we don't have your stats quite yet! Your hair is starting to get lighter and you have some blonde streaks in the back! Mommy calls them your skunk hairs, hehe. Your eyes are still a stunning shade of blue. Watch out boys!

Just as last month your brother completely adores his "dider". He smiles every time he sees you and gives you so many kisses. We are so glad that he has been so sweet to you. Wellll... 99% of the time! There are moments when he hits you! Whenever you cry he will run over to you and try to give you your paci. It is so sweet!

We love you so much, sister girl! We are so blessed to have you in our lives! Happy Birthday!

I know this has a sunspot but I just love it!

Love,
Mommy

Clayton at 16 months!

I didn't think our little boy could possibly get any cuter, but it seems to me as if he is! ;-) He is so much fun, so outgoing, so wild and crazy, and so smart! Here's what has happened in the last month!

- Immediately says "please" and "thank you" when he wants something and immediately says "thank you" when you hand him something.
- Says mommy & daddy all of the time. Calls us when he wants us!
- Says wow, Mimi (Britni), again, all done, outside (owdie), opa, nana, oma, pop, bite, airplane (a-pane), elephant (e-phant), snack, bubble, bug, Nelly (my Aunt's cat, haha), cracker, puppy, water, yummy, Pearl (our dog), book
- Tells us that three comes after two which comes after one! Alright! We can count!
- Tackles Pop
- Does the "stanky leg" when prompted, haha
- Talks on the telephone (pretends!)
- Call your paci your baby... not sure why but it's kinda cute! We did not teach you this!
- Rode on four long airplane rides to and from New York and LOVED it!
- Get so impressed by new things and say "wooooowwww!"
- Love to pet animals
- Still give Sister kisses all of the time
- Drink milk like it's going out of style!
- Still wearing mostly 12mo clothes, some 18mo. Size 6 shoe. Size 3 diaper.
- LOVES craisins and cookies! hehe
- Having some temperament issues... we are quite opinionated and too smart for our own good! ;-)
- Still a monkey! Climbing on everything!
- Tell us "bye bye" immediately when you think someone is leaving or if you think you're leaving
- Run everywhere, smile all day every day
- Hoard paci's!!!! You love having multiple pacis in your hands and one in your mouth!

We love you so much, even though you are a little stinker at times! You are the best big brother to your sister and we couldn't be happier!

Three Months!

Happy Three Month Birthday, Reagan E!

This month has been a whirlwind it seems! Where did the last month go? Weren't you just turning two months? We have had so much fun with you this month! You are smiling and talking so much now, and we love it! Once you hear someone is talking to you you'll instantly break into a huge smile! You've giggled a few times, but not a big laugh yet. You're almost there though! You talk a lot too, which is really neat for us. Your brother was not a big talker (until now!), and so this cooing stage is really fun!

You finally are almost over your colic. You no longer cry every night, but you do have nights when you just cry in pain and we're not sure what sets it off. We have been able to learn your cries, so we know when you are hungry, hurting, or want to be held. Speaking of, you love to be held. If it were up to you someone would be holding you all day long! And talking to you!

You're such a big girl now so you always are sitting up and forward. You can lift yourself with just your stomach muscles when you are laying on our knees. You also always try to sit up in your car seat! You love your bumbo and will sit in it for a lot longer than your brother ever did! When we hold you we hold you outwards so that you can see everything that is going on!

Unfortunately you still hate tummy time. The doctor at your two month check up said that even though your muscles are strong that you still need to spend an hour a day doing tummy time. Welllll... we don't quite make that! You will fuss after about 5 minutes! We let you go as long as we can and in short periods during the day.

You have found your hands and love to gnaw on them. Gross! ;-) Mommy read that some babies show signs of teething, such as chewing on their hands, before their teeth come out. However, it does mean that your teeth are growing inside of your gums! Mommy has tried to get you to chew on a teething toy instead, but you just would rather chew your hands! At least you're not sucking your thumb! Just gnawing your fist!

You spend more time awake during the day now and you will play with the toys on your bouncer or your floor mat. You like to hit at them but can't grab them quite yet. You also love your swing, but it mostly puts you to sleep. We're glad that you finally like your swing! It wasn't until this past month that you really started to like it.

Every night you go at least 6 hours between one feeding. Unfortunately we never know which feeding this is going to be. You're starting to get into a routine of waking at 5am. It's not bad since you normally go to sleep around 9 or 10. You are still sleeping in your cradle in our bedroom, but we're going to be moving you to your crib sometime this next month! We moved your brother at 4 months when he started to eat rice cereal.

We had some feeding issues with you this month. You all of a sudden would only drink 2 ounces at a time when you were drinking 4. You also would throw a fit when we tried to feed you the rest of the bottle, or just when we tried to feed you in general! Nana thought that you might have had some esophogial erosion from acid reflux, so we started to feed you more upright and do not lay you down for at least 10 minutes after you eat. It worked!!! Now you are back to eating 4 ounces every 4 hours and you do not fuss! You are still gassy after eating, but not near as bad as you were a month ago! Hooray!

You're still wearing 0-3 clothes and probably will for another month. You're in a size 1 diaper that are pretty roomy! At your two month check up, which was two weeks past your two month birthday, you weighed 11 pounds 3 oz and were in the 40th percentile... I think! ;-) Mommy would have to go look it up, hehe. You also were around the 40th percentile for your height. Your head was only in the 13th percentile though, hehe. Hey, that's up from the 8th at your two week checkup!

Your brother still adores you, and so do we. We are blessed to have such a wonderful, beautiful daughter. We get so many compliments on how beautiful you are. Your eyes are just this gorgeous shade of light blue. We love you so much! You are a joy... even through the tears! :-)

Happy Birthday, sister girl! I love you!

Love,
Mommy

Clayton at 15 months!

Oh my goodness, have our lives been busy or what?! Our little man is keeping us on our toes for sure! Clayton is changing and learning new things on a daily basis. It is so fun to see what he'll learn next! He is such a sponge right now and says and does everything that we do. He also is becoming quite the assertive little toddler! ;-) Gotta love him!

Clayton, my baby boy, at 15 months you:

- Are 22lbs. 3 oz. and 28" long!
- Say: pea-pie, cookies, please, sister, duncan (at daycare), two, daddy, choo-choo, shoes, uh-oh, thank you, ice, ucky, sit down
- Tell us that "two" comes after "one"!
- Make the choo-choo motion and noise whenever you see a train
- Blow on your food to cool it off
- Yell for Daddy when we are trying to find him
- Blow bubbles in the bath
- Go to your sister when she cries and give her a kiss
- Blow kisses and wave bye the second you think you're leaving or someone is leaving!
- Try to put the paci in sister's mouth
- Eat so much better! Loves to gnaw on apples, and will eat mashed potatoes like they're going out of style!
- Rub your chest when you say please, like the sign but not exactly!
- Drink milk like a champ!
- No more bottles! YAY!
- One nap per day for about 3 hours
- Make the funniest horsey sound "neighh..... pfft" (raspberry noise like the horse snorted)
- Love making a mess. Gets out every toy, every book...
- RUNS everywhere. Always on the go!
- Gives the BEST hugs and kisses ever!
- Sleep with your Reveille pillow-pet every night
- Sleep from about 9pm to whenever we wake you up! One Saturday morning it was 10:30!!
- Would live outside on the swing if we would let you!
- Climb!!! Climb into chairs, up onto the footstools and one day onto the entertainment center! Yikes!
- Still love baths and splashing water
- Wear mostly 12mo clothes (some 18mo) and a size 3 diaper. Size 6 shoe.
- Finally wear a cap without complaining! ;-)
- Sleep in t-shirts and shorts: no more footed pj's! This makes Mommy sad because you look like such a big boy!
- Are the most adorable, fun, loving, smart little boy! We love you!

Gloria is here!

Our Goddaughter is here! Gloria Isabel was born on July 4th at 7:39pm, weighing in at 6lbs 15oz and 19.5" long. Even though she was born at almost 37 weeks gestation, she is still perfect and a great size! How fitting that GLORIA was born on the 4th of July?! Her Daddy wrote on his facebook that as we celebrated the Old Glory the NEW Gloria was here! =) We can't wait to meet her! She's beautiful and perfect! Congratulations to her Mommy Cristina, Daddy Evan, and her big sister Liliana. We love you all!

Two Months!

Happy Two Month Birthday, Reagan E!

This month was a little rough for us, but we still love you so much! ;-) First, you started spitting up - A LOT. So much to where Mommy & Daddy were worried that something was wrong with you. That subsided for about a week and then you came down with a horrible stomach virus! One morning we woke up and you had a 101.3 fever. Anything that high in a 5 week old baby is scary. You were also vomiting on us, so we took you in to the on-call doctor. She said that you had a virus that had to just run its course. It was a miserable week. You ran fever and threw up for 5 days. =( We were so sad for our poor sick baby girl! Luckily your brother never came down with anything, and neither did me or Daddy!

After the virus you then started throwing up again, but with no fever. So again, we thought something was wrong. We took you to your doctor and he decided that you needed an ultrasound to make sure that you did not have pyloric stenosis. PS is an issue that your Pop and Uncle Trey both had when they were babies. At 6 weeks old you had your first ultrasound outside of Mommy's tummy! It was terrible! You couldn't eat for 3 hours beforehand, and then they ran nearly an hour late. By the time the ultrasound started you were starving! Plus you did not like the cold gel and having to lay there naked and still. Mommy nearly cried but I kept it together! Luckily they determined that you did not have PS and that everything was functioning correctly! They told us to feed you less in your bottle but more often. We also switched you to soy milk instead of breast milk and formula. Since then you have not thrown up any! Yahoo!

You also became a bonafide colicky baby this month! Starting from about 5 weeks old you would/will cry about 3 hours every evening starting at 7pm. Colicky babies cry for no apparent reason for at least 3 hours a day, at least 3 days a week, for at least 3 weeks in a row. YUP, YUP, and YUP! Poor girl! We still think it's your tummy giving you issues. You get gas drops after every bottle. The soy seems to be helping though and you are crying less often. Thank goodness! Mommy & Daddy really didn't know what to do with such a fussy baby! Sorry sister girl, but your brother did not cry like this! ;-)

Other than the negatives, the positives have been that you are becoming more and more beautiful every day! We LOVE to see you smile. You also coo at us and it is such a beautiful sound! You're becoming stronger and stronger and can really hold your head up on your own. You tolerate tummy time but would rather be held by someone!

Your brother is absolutely in love with you. He calls you "di-der". We're glad that he has been so sweet to you... must admit we were a bit worried! He always wants to give you kisses! It's so sweet! Sometimes he wants to rock you a little too hard in your swing, but you take it like a champ! ;-)

You're still sleeping in your cradle in Mommy & Daddy's room. You have slept through the night about 4 times, but nothing has stuck. Darn! ;-) You still will go about 6 hours at night. A lot of times we feed you around 10/11 and you sleep until at least 4. Getting up only once a night is a lot easier than multiple times! You are eating about every 3 hours during the day since the doctor told us to feed you less, more often. You're wearing almost all 0-3 now. They are still a little big on you, but your feet do not fit into your newborn clothes! ;-) And your torso is too long to wear the bodysuits. You are wearing a size 1 diaper even though they are big on you. The size N are just too small! At your 6 week appointment (when you were sick) you weighed 10 pounds! We won't take you to the doctor until next week, but we bet you're somewhere around 11 pounds now! You're growing so fast!

You still have a full head of dark brown hair. It is really pretty, but it is just like your Daddy's.... stick straight and poofy after it dries. haha! Your eyes are still a gorgeous shade of blue. You are just so pretty! You get lots of compliments every where we go on how beautiful you are!

You're nothing like your brother when it comes to how you act or what you like, but you are looking more and more like him every day! For instance, he would turn circles in his cradle and you just lay still on your back all night! He hardly cried, but he never cooed like you do! It's fun to see your differences and similarities! You LOVE to be talked to and you LOVE to be held. Big Bro was definitely more independent!

We love you so much and are so happy that you are in our lives. Even through the colicky nights, you are still a wonderful angel, and you make us feel so blessed. We love you baby girl! Happy Birthday!

Love,
Mommy

Clayton at 14 Months

Clayton's many achievements and advances between 13 and 14 months! He's such a cutie... getting quite the little personality! ;-)

- Can say "hi", "up", "down", "cheese", "sister", "dada", "mama" (although only once I'm still counting it! Little stinker!)
- Still says "hot" all of the time! And with a lot of emphasis!
- Signs "more" and "dog"
- Will tell you what the dog and cat say when you ask: Dog is a pant, like the sign, and cat is "maw"
- Claps anytime anyone else is clapping, even when that is on TV
- Dances A LOT! Mostly just taps one foot at a time and sways from side to side
- Turned to the camera and said "cheese" and gave a super cheesy smile!
- Imitates what you say. If you say "thank you" he will say it in his own words but with the same emphasis and tone that you used
- Down to only two bottles per day: morning and night! Hooray!
- Loves to give sister kisses.... and therefor all babies in general!
- Waves hi and bye, and will wave when we start to pack up our things to leave
- Runs everywhere instead of walking!
- "Drives" everything with wheels
- Loves trains
- Loves swimming in Pop & Gia's pool! Was a little afraid at first but is getting used to it!
- Understands and follows requests
- Not so easy during church! Likes to talk, and always wants down!
- Starting to get an interest in watching tv. Likes Dinosaur Train on PBS
- Wearing 12 month clothes still and a size 3 diaper
- Has 12 teeth! 4 teeth and 2 molars on top and 4 teeth and 2 molars on bottom!
- Drinks milk really well now
- Back to sleeping all night! Sometimes wakes up crying but goes back to sleep once the paci is found!
- Brings you shoes anytime he wants to go outside. Will even try to put them on your feet!
- Gets to ride forward in his car seat now since the backseat wouldn't fit both of their seats turned around, and loves it! Loves to look out the window at everything!

Our sweet boy is growing and changing so much. We love him to pieces!

Life Lately

The past week has been a complete whirlwind. Between Darren being gone for two days to Oklahoma, and now Reagan being sick, my house and life feel like they are in total disarray. Oh yes, because they are! Our weekend was great - thank you three day holiday weekend. We spent nearly the entire weekend at my inlaws house. We swam in the pool, Clayton played with all his aunts/uncles, and we enjoyed family time. However, Monday morning we woke up and Reagan was HOT. I took her temperature and it was 101.3. The following evening she had thrown up, but at the time I thought she just spit up a LOT. We're talking her entire bottle. I didn't know that was vomit though for babies, so we went about our business. So Monday when she woke up we didn't know what was wrong, but shortly after that she vomited again. Of course it had to be a holiday so our doctors office was closed. The on-call doctor finally called us back after about an hour of waiting and told us that we should go ahead and bring her in to be checked. Fever in babies under 8 weeks is a big deal. We quickly got dressed, packed up the two diaper bags, and dropped Clayton off with my inlaws. (Thank goodness for them!) We headed in to Midland as fast as we could. After a lengthy examination, more vomit, and lots of crying, the doctor determined that she had a virus. There was nothing we could do but give her tylenol for her fever. We just had to let it run it's course. The doctor found white dots on her gums which indicated the virus... and thank goodness she did. She said if she had not seen those that she would have had to hospitalize Reagan over night and run test after test! My poor baby! It has been a long few days.... Her fever is down today and she hasn't thrown up since last night, but she is still super fussy. It's been difficult to juggle her and Clayton. Luckily he hasn't contracted whatever it is yet! He has a strong immune system though - or so I like to believe. He has only really been sick a few times in his whole nearly 14 months of life!

We're still trying to figure out the best way to handle both kiddos. Right now I don't think we quite have it down! I haven't cooked in days... The only laundry I have done is the babies laundry so that they could have clean PJ's and burp cloths. Darren and I are running out of clothes though, lol! You would not like to step into our house right now. It's rather scary! OH, and I forgot to mention, in the past week we have had TWO snakes at our house! One was just a bull snake in our garage (huge and ugly, but not harmful) and the other was a rattlesnake IN OUR YARD. Luckily Darren found it and killed it before it could bite our dog, or worse yet, Clayton or us! Oh my goodness! So scary!

Hopefully things will be on the up-and-up for us here soon! Prayers are much appreciated! ;-)

Tackling Two

Since I started back at work a week ago I've been getting both kiddos up and ready in the mornings by myself. Well, all except one day that Darren was able to stay and help. Last night Darren had to spend the night in Oklahoma because of work and so I had the kids by myself for the whole evening/night and then again this morning. I'll have them again this evening too until he makes it back. I don't want to come across as sounding like I think I am super mom or anything, because I feel FAR from it, but I just wanted to document how I've been handling things, since this is MY blog! ;-)


It's been a huge challenge to try to pump, feed Reagan, feed Clayton, and get them changed and packed up for the day... plus try to make myself presentable for work. Monday I came in with my hair in a pony tail and no make up. Guess it's a good thing that I moved to the back office! ;-) It doesn't matter what time I get up.... I always try to beat the kids (from waking up, not physically, haha!) and it seems like they always know. Mostly Reagan will start to fuss and want to be fed. This morning it was Clayton who woke up 30 minutes early. Darn kid! ;-) I've been packing their diaper bags the night before so that things would be easier in the mornings, but I still wash bottles and pack milk for Reagan every morning.


Last night was fun.... ha! I wrote this to my mom about the run-down of our evening:


Reagan was asleep when we got home around 5:30 so Clayton and I played for a while and then I started his dinner at 6. BTW again, he eats those raviolis you bought now! I even bought more the other day! Ok, anyway, so fed him and when he was done then Reagan started to fuss to eat. So he got down to play more and I fed her. Then I bathed both kids (he played in the bathroom with me while I bathed her). The problem came when it was time for bed. Since he still wants to be rocked that requires holding him.... well, she was fussy too. So I tried rocking him upstairs while she was in the swing. She started crying so I put him in the crib to go get her... he started bawling... came back upstairs with her and just sat in his rocking chair with her while I sang and he eventually put himself to sleep in the crib. Then I went back down (9:30pm) and started washing bottles, feeding myself, etc... but Reagan was fussy so needed to be held. She finally went to bed around midnight. Only got up at 3:30 to eat and then I was up at 6:30 to shower and start the day. I am whipped! haha!


Although it has definitely been challenging, we are starting to get adjusted. I don't know what I would do without my amazing husband though. He's such a good Daddy! Most nights he spends the majority of his time playing with Clayton and keeping him entertained. That kid is going-going-going... non-stop! We have made sure though to have an equal balance... so I still get Clayton time and he still gets Reagan time. So far it is working out nicely! We're not sticklers to any sort of schedule though, and maybe we need to be. I think it's time we start making Clayton have a set bedtime. Right now we just sort of make him start to go to sleep around 8:30 if he's not acting tired yet. And we just let him wake up whenever he wants to in the morning, which is usually around 7:30. I guess with a schedule we'd be able to know more about when we needed to do what. Hmm...


I definitely believe that God would never give me more than I could handle... but I definitely also know that He is the one who is keeping me going right now! He gave me two beautiful blessings and I am so proud to be their mother!

One Month!

Happy One Month Birthday, Reagan E!

You are a whole month old already! Where did that time go?! You are already proving to be just as good of a baby as your brother was - and we are very thankful for that! ;-) You do have a gassier tummy than he did, but we have been figuring you out and you're much happier now!

Your days in the hospital were really quite wonderful. You nursed very well from the get-go, and you passed all of your tests with flying colors! You slept well, ate well, and went to the bathroom well! hehe... This made Mommy & Daddy feel so great! We knew that you were healthy and happy! You were born on Wednesday afternoon and we took you home on Friday afternoon! Your big brother was sure happy to have us home! Speaking of, your big brother loves you so much already! He gives you kisses all of the time, and he likes to rock you in your bouncer!

You are such a strong girl and you have held your head so well on your own since you were born. You surprised us in the hospital when we would lay you on our chests and you'd lift your head to look around! Now when we lay you on your tummy you can turn your head both directions! You don't move around as much as your brother did, so we can stick you in a nice swaddle in your cradle and you'll stay sleeping like that until it is time to eat again!

You are eating about every 4 hours now, but sometimes only every 3. You've gone 3-4 hours since you were born! For the first two weeks Mommy set an alarm to wake you up to eat after 4 hours. I just wanted to make sure that you were growing big and strong! You are nursing and also getting breast milk from a bottle. You prefer to take the milk from the bottle! You get fussy when breastfeeding, and Mommy thinks it is because the milk comes out so fast! Poor girl! You haven't had any formula yet except for about an ounce that they gave you in the hospital to fill you up since Mommy's milk hadn't come in yet.

Just before you turned a month old you got to take your first airplane ride! Your great-grandfather passed away in New York, and so Mommy & Daddy took you with us to the funeral. You were such a good girl! We had many compliments on how pretty you were and what a good baby you were! Your great-grandmother said that she never heard you cry the whole trip! =) We were hoping you'd be able to meet your great-grandparents this July, but God had other plans. We know that Papa is looking down and smiling from heaven on his beautiful great-granddaughter!

Another first that you had just before your month birthday was that you smiled! A real smile - not just gas! You love to stare into our eyes and when we smile and talk to you, you smile back! You have such a beautiful smile! We love it!

Some of your likes: being held, being swaddled, being rocked. Some of your dislikes: being naked, baths (because your naked), getting into the car seat. Growth wise you are still wearing all newborn clothing, so I am guessing you're somewhere in the 8 pounds range. At your two week check-up you weighed 7lbs 12oz and were 20" long. You were in the 30th % for weight, 40th % for height, and only 8th % for your head circumference! hehe.. You also wear newborn sized diapers still. By this point your brother was wearing some 0-3, so you are slightly smaller than him! You have the longest fingers and toes, and the most hair we've ever seen on a newborn! It is dark but underneath is a light shade of brown. Your eyes are the most beautiful shade of blue - even lighter than your brothers at this age!

You have been such a good baby already and we are so blessed to be your parents! We can't wait to see what the future has in store for you! It is so much fun to watch you and your brother interact each day. Soon enough you'll be able to play together!

We love you so much, baby girl! Happy Birthday!

Love,
Mommy

Clayton at 13 months

Although I didn't plan on continuing Clayton's monthly letters past his first birthday (I'll be a little busy doing sister's letters!), I still wanted some place to document all of his fun milestones and changes! Here's what Clayton did between 12 and 13 months!

- Waves hi and bye (while saying "hi!")
- Every time you ask what the dog says he pants like a dog (which is the sign for dog!)
- Nearly runs everywhere he goes
- Brings you the pillow pet when he is tired
- Drinks milk (spits out the first swallow though!)
- Usually only naps once per day for a long period of time
- Still loves baths and playing in the water
- Wants to be outside ALL OF THE TIME
- Can follow directions (for ex. Can you bring mommy her shoe?)
- Says "down" which also means "up", haha
- Gives sister kisses!
- Gives everyone kisses when asked!
- Hums "swing swing"
- Loves playing with his airplane and tractors
- Brings you a book that he selected for you to read (then wants it read over and over)
- Gives you acknowledgement when you ask him questions (for ex. Are you hungry?)
- Has 4 teeth on top, 4 teeth on bottom, and 2 molars on top
- Loves candy, especially M&M's (oops!)
- Always wants to eat what you are eating
- Wears a size 3 diaper during the day, size 4 at night, 12 month clothes, and size 5 shoe
- Has had a bit of toddler regression and wakes up once per night crying
- Only takes 3 bottles per day now (we're working on getting rid of the thing!)
- Likes to throw food off of the high chair when he's done eating
- Walks like a champ on all surfaces and knows to slow down when he comes to a step
- Steers his airplane around (knows to turn before running in to something)

I'm sure there is more! We are so in love with our little toddler! He is such a good big brother to Reagan already! He is the sweetest boy and we are so blessed to be his parents!

Reagan's First Two Weeks

The past two weeks have been a complete whirlwind. I don't even know today's date to be quite honest! All I know is that it is Thursday, and I know that because Reagan had her two week checkup today! I am happy to report that she received a clean bill of health! She is now weighing 7 pounds 12 ounces (32%), is 20" long (40%), and her head was a tiny 13" (8%). She has been a relatively easy baby, just like her brother was, but she does have her moments!

We had a hard time at first figuring out how to feed her to satisfy her. By that I mean that she is super gassy and so needs burping quite often or else you're in trouble! When my milk came in I was horribly engorged and she couldn't latch on. Darren and I decided the easiest thing to do would be for me to pump and feed her, since she couldn't even latch on! It turned out to be great! We slept so well that night! ;-) Now I am pumping and also breast feeding her. She does well at both, so long as you burp her frequently! Every once in a while she will have a spell of gassiness where it seems nothing makes her happy, but we're learning to cope with it! She's going about 3 hours between feedings, sometimes 4. At first I was waking her up and setting an alarm.... now I just let her go! The longest we have gone was 5 hours, and that was glorious! I don't remember each feeding taking so long with Clayton. I'll be awake for at least an hour at a time, sometimes longer. And then when I do finally put her down she grunts and squeaks for a good 10 minutes before she's out. So, nights have been pretty rough. Thankfully I've been able to catch some naps during the day while Clayton is sleeping!

It's been so fun to watch Clayton with his little sister. He loves her already and knows just who "sister" is when we ask! He gives her kisses all of the time and wants to rock her when she is in her bouncer... oh boy! ;-) More like catapult her! haha! We keep her bouncer in a pack n play in the game room so that he can't always get to her. This morning he poked her.. that was fun. haha. It's just a new experience every day! But, he really has been great with her!

Reagan still doesn't like her baths, mostly because she hates to be naked! That girl is too funny! When changing she starts to fuss as soon as you take her clothes off. As soon as they are back on - happy baby! She has been doing great at controlling her head, in fact she is really strong! She could already lift her head in the hospital. Now she can lay on our chests and lift and turn both directions without flopping around. It's impressive but nerve wracking, haha! She is not a paci baby like her brother was/is yet. She will take one but it's not her favorite!

Although we are overly tired, and two crying babies (yes they like to cry at the same time) is so emotionally toiling, we still thank God for our blessings. We know He would never give us more than we could handle. Now it's up to us to be the best parents that we can be. And, thank goodness my mom has been here to help. haha! ;-) Don't know what we'll do without her!

Two Babies....

Life has been in a constant state of change lately. We've been trying to figure out just how to work our lives with not one but two babies. I'm not quite sure how mothers of multiples survive! Our babies are both wonderful too, which should make things easier, right? But it's still quite the hassle to get two babies dressed/fed/changed/bathed/etc. Thank goodness my mom is here to help right now! I came across a blog post that was on a facebook group that I am in and it really helped put things into perspective. I need to realize that God gave me these two beautiful babies and that He will never give you more than you can handle! Now it's up to me to pray, realign my life (not in a bad way!), and truly thank God every day for our wonderful blessings. I'm posting the link so you can enjoy too! Even if you don't have multiple kids (and I know that two babies is NOTHING compared to what some women handle!), this is still a good read! 

http://ourfamilyforhisglory.blogspot.com/2012/04/how-do-you-do-it-all-30-practical-tips.html

Reagan's Birth Story

Our baby girl, Reagan Elizabeth, entered this world on April 18th at 1:54pm. She weighed 7 pounds 8 ounces and was 19 inches long at birth. Just an ounce heavier than her brother, but a whole half an inch shorter! My mom claims she knew she'd be shorter and fatter, haha! I however was predicting a smaller baby! Oh well! As you know, my body once again decided that it was not ready to have a baby - even though my contractions had really been progressing me along throughout my final week. At my 40 week checkup I was already almost dilated to a 4. Since I tested positive for the Group B virus this time around (I was negative with Clayton), my doctor wanted a different plan of attack. Instead of letting me go ahead and wait it out he wanted me to come in as soon as possible to be induced. Living 30 minutes from town and already being so dilated was working against me, so we set the date for Wednesday!

The night before we went into the hospital we said goodbye to our baby... who would no longer technically be our baby when we returned. It was so hard to leave Clayton. I nearly cried knowing that I wouldn't get to see him for at least a day. The longest that we had ever been apart from him was less than 15 hours. Around 6am the alarm clock went off and up we were - leaving for the hospital to meet our second blessing from God! We arrived at around 7am and were up in labor and delivery by 7:15. They had me fill out all of the required paperwork and then I was in bed ready for penicillin and pitocin at 7:30. Walking in to the hospital I was already dilated to almost a 5! I thought for sure that it would be the quickest labor ever! Welll......

Being positive for Group B meant that I needed to have two doses of penicillin through me before Reagan was born. They had to be given at least 4 hours apart. Bummer #1. The pitocin that they gave me had to be regulated based on how fast I was progressing because of this. Instead of filling me up and letting me labor quickly it was a bit drawn out! Darren, my mom, and my mom-in-law were all excellent labor coaches. Darren rubbed my back through contractions and my mom made me focus on objects and breathe through the contractions. At first contractions were nothing like they were when being induced with Clayton. They were controllable, predictable, and had breaks in between for me to rest. I was positive that I could make it all the way without an epidural! Well...... ;-)

Around noon the anesthesiologist came in to just discuss my options with me. I hadn't requested anything by this point. I was dilated to a 7 and really didn't think I had that much longer to go. However, the time that he was in the room I quickly began to have really strong contractions. So strong that I was beginning to lose all of my strength that I needed for labor. I was tired and getting weak, so Darren and I decided that it wasn't worth it and that I should just get the epidural. About 12:45 he came back in to give me the epidural. I was more than ready at this point to have some relief! Welll...... (are you seeing a pattern?!)

The epidural did not go as planned. The poor guy had a hard time getting it positioned correctly in my back. I now have 5 injection scabs on the right side of my back to prove it. Though it all I began to enter transition, so contractions were close and super strong. He would have to stop what he was doing to let me labor through the contraction and then try to hurry to get something done before the next one started. Leaning over the bed the entire time did not help anything, as that only helped gravity work and Reagan progress faster! The entire time I was bawling... I don't know if I have ever really cried that hard. Ok, I'm sure I have, but I don't remember! Everything he was doing with the epidural needle hurt like hell. Every numbing shot he gave hurt like hell. The contractions hurt like hell. My mom and Andrea were outside the room waiting for me to me to finish getting the epidural. My mom couldn't take listening to me cry anymore so she barged in the room! My labor nurse and Darren had been amazing and had been trying to comfort me. Having my mom there definitely helped things as well. Finally the doc said he thought he had it in well. I did not feel any pain in my leg when he injected the medicine so I thought maybe he did get it in. Welll.....

My labor nurse came back to test to see if the epidural worked and we soon found out that it did not. I still had full sensation in my legs, and could feel my contractions entirely except for one spot on the left side. So basically, the epidural worked.... for the smallest portion of my left side. This is where time all runs together for me because I was in so much pain! My doctor came in around 1:20 or so to break my water. About 20 minutes later I was all the way dilated and it was time to push! I don't remember exactly when I started pushing but I know it was only 4 times! ;-) Yahoo! The worst part was waiting in between contractions and, excuse the TMI, but giving myself time to stretch and prevent tearing. That hurt like hell! Whoa! I am glad that I did not have to experience that with Clayton, seeing as he was my first baby! I was definitely more prepared down there! It was pretty funny though because as soon as she started crowning we could see her full head of hair! Baby girl has so much hair!!! haha!

Shortly after Reagan was born I was able to nurse her. I did not get to experience this with Clayton and it was truly wonderful. She latched on immediately and began to nurse! What a feeling! Everyone kept commenting on her hair! And that she looked like her big brother! =) Not a bad thing... that kid is cute! haha! I only had a small tear on the lateral side and two stitches later I was good to go!

Recovery this go-around has been so easy. I only used one ice pack and used the dermaplast spray about three times. That is amazing compared to how I was with Clayton. Darren had to help me to the bathroom, help dress/dermaplast me, etc... this time I walked to postpartum, and immediately was able to get around the room on my own. So much better! However, this time, my back was so incredibly sore from all of the epidural injections. I wish that I hadn't even tried to get one. I basically went completely natural but had all of the added pain from the doctor trying to administer the epidural. Ouchies....

Our time in the hospital was also completely different than with Clayton. I had an appetite and so ate and drank well. We were smart this go-around and sent Reagan off to the nursery at night so that we could get some sleep between feedings. With Clayton I thought sending him to the nursery meant that I was a failure.... but shoot, you NEED that sleep after delivering a baby! Even though it was only a few hours at a time it was glorious! Plus then the nurses are able to take care of the baby and run all of their tests without bothering you!

We were able to come home on Friday afternoon. Clayton has been such a wonderful and sweet big brother already. He already knows who "sister" is. We're not sure what we'll call her. For now she is either sister or baby. I'll write all about their interaction sometime soon! Here's a few pictures to tide you over until then! ;-) We are truly truly blessed. We have two wonderful babies. Two beautiful blessings from God. Life is good! (But crazy... don't get me wrong... another post! haha!)