Piper and Oliver checkups - december 29

Piper and Oliver had well-child/baby checkups on December 29. Piper is doing very well. Dr. Bell was so good to involve Piper in his checkup and let him play with her otoscope. She asked him where his mouth was and then looked in his mouth which made it more fun for him. She then asked him where his ears, eyes, etc were. He loved when she asked where his belly button was. He'll show that to ANYONE. But, he expected her to tickle it and, of course, she didn't know that. Ha! I don't have the stats for their visits, but I'll get them from the nurse and enter them later. We are keeping an eye on his speech--informally--as I know he's doing just fine. He learns new words every day and attempts to say new words on his own. Finn is so good to help him sound words out too. Unfortunately, Finn still can't say his L's, so Piper doesn't say L's either.

Oliver is doing well and growing like crazy. He's cooing like he should and sitting pretty well. He doesn't like tummy time so he doesn't get up onto his knees yet, but that turned out to be okay. He only loves his belly when he's sleeping. Oliver got 3 shots and Finn insisted on staying. Finn has been very interested in injections since he had to get one at his 4-year checkup and then again when he had his most recent CT scan in October on his neck. So, at the foot of the exam table he stood so he could watch Oliver get his shots. The first shot, both Oliver and Finn did okay. The second one is where they started to fall apart. Oliver started crying and Finn had his hands up by his mouth and they were shaking. I talked to Finn about the shots and he decided just to stand by the exam room door (more like he was standing in the corner) and not watch. They were both fine a minute after the injections. Lisa, our nurse, thought it was sweet that Finn wanted to stay with Oliver. Lisa then offered Finn a sticker and he asked for 3. For a split second I thought about telling him to just take 1, but I knew why he wanted 3. Lisa brought Finn back into the exam room and told me that he had gotten a sticker for Oliver, a sticker for Piper and a sticker for himself. I think she really loves Finn. =) By this time, Oliver, who was 30 minutes late for his morning nap was asleep in his car seat, barely sucking on his thumb and snuggling with his blanket. 

super happy ollie - december 20 and 21

People at church ask me all the time where my baby is and if we really have a 6 month old. They've never seen him! We get to church at about 9 and he goes to sleep in their crib at about 9:15. He doesn't wake up until 12:15 when it's time for me to feed him and then leave. He sleeps so well (except during his afternoon nap when he rolls to his back and can't get back over). Since he was 2 months old he's been sleeping through the night. If I hear anyone fussing in the night, I'm 99% sure it's NOT Oliver. I have to wake him up at 8 in the morning (not sure how long he would sleep) and when I wake him up, he's just ready to get up and smiles that whole-body smile that babies have. I wake him up after his morning nap at about 11:30 and, again, he acts like he was just about to get up anyways and smiles. Afternoon naps have been different the last couple of months with him rolling, but once he gets into a deep sleep he will usually be okay. By the way, he's been rolling from his front to his back for 2 months and I've only seen it once because I sneaked into his room to watch him. Matthew has never seen him roll. 

It is not unusual for Oliver to just be smiling for no reason. I left the vacuum cleaner out one day next to his jumperoo and he talked and smiled at it for 30 minutes. It was hilarious!

December 21 was the first day that I felt okay about sitting him up with a blanket around him so that he could play. He was steady without help for a few minutes and loved sitting up. Of course, he smiled the whole time. 

piper turns 2!

To keep from having Piper's party run right into the Christmas busyness, we had it the weekend before his birthday. On December 17, Bob and Darlene, Steve and Melissa and their kids, Allie, Anna, Meg, Grady and Kate; and Kristen and Monty came to celebrate with us. It was a full and fun house and Piper had a great time. We had his favorite foods--pizza, green peppers, carrots and peaches. I know it's a weird combination, but he loves them all. Ha! Matthew spent the whole afternoon making a tractor cake for Piper. He and Finley were so excited about the cake!

Here's our 2 year old!

 Darlene (half of her), Oliver, Melissa, Grady and Anna. 

Anna, Meg, Finley, Piper, Allie

Singing Happy Birthday. We had practiced all day blowing out the candles after we sing the song. Unfortunately, he couldn't wait and blew it out in the middle of the song. 

Eating his John Deere tractor cake. 

 Opening his gifts. 

Anna (far left), Allie (middle) and Meg (far, far left in the pink toed socks) made a pillow for Piper. How special!

More gifts...

On the morning of his birthday, he opened the gifts from Nana, Papa and us. He got his own nursery rhymes book and a Doug and Melissa car transporter from Nana and Papa; a car from Finley (he used his own money and was so excited to give Piper a gift!); and a John Deere tractor from Mommy and Daddy. 

Happy birthday, Piper! We love you!

in love with a hat - december 17

Is it possible to love a hat? Just ask Piper. He wore this hat around the house all day on December 17. He would walk up to everyone and make sure that they noticed his new hat and as soon as you saw it, you had to have some kind of surprised reaction. Then, he would beam in pride and run away. I do like the hat, but I absolutely love that cute face!

"us handsome guys" - december 14

Finley and Piper got new clothes/pajamas and were wearing them when Finley said, "Let's take a picture of us handsome guys and send it to Nana". How do you say no to that? So they both sat down and said, "Cheese". What handsome guys!

30 minutes of potty training - december 09

Piper had been showing signs of potty training...like telling me when he had pooped or going into the bathroom, standing in front of the toilet, holding up his shirt while leaning forward and making noises like he was peeing. They were the kinds of signs that mothers all over the world long to see. So, on a Friday when Matthew and Finley were going to get some cows, I decided to train Piper. 

It all started with oh, about 2 quarts of apple juice (Piper's favorite drink). Two quarts of any liquid in an almost 2 year old spells disaster, but the experts say to pump them full of liquid on training days. I couldn't have pumped him fuller if I'd had an IV. I put him in underwear and he waddled around for a while probably because of the 2 quarts of juice and maybe the new feel of underwear. We went through all the steps to 'how to use the potty'. We did 'dry underwear' checks every few minutes and he would get praised every time he was dry. Everything was going great, and then the juice moved through his system....and boy did it move! It never stopped. For a straight 30 minutes he did nothing but pee...no matter where he was. Looking at this picture now, he's probably peeing at that very moment. (Finn just saw this picture on the computer screen and said, "Piper's peeing in his pants"). Yes, that's what happened. Piper peed in his underwear, A LOT. The last time he peed in his underwear, I was running after him as he was running through the house while peeing. I didn't even know it was possible to pee while running--although, I have since been told that it is possible! We put the fourth pair of underwear down the laundry chute and the rest of them back in his drawer upstairs to be used at a much later date! To be continued...

P.S. I love you, Piper. Don't hate me for this post when you get older. 

movie night - december 03

When you have a 4 year old, an almost 2 year old and a 6 month old, taking a great picture of all 3 is nearly impossible. I thought movie night was a good picture-taking time as they were all bathed, in fairly good moods and ready for some popcorn and a cartoon. Why did I even think it was possible? Finn has a weird look on his face because I was making a face to get them to have happy faces. It never did work...as told by the next 3 pictures.

lavender turkey, anyone?

We spent Thanksgiving at home and had a big Thanksgiving meal at Matthew's parent's house on the Sunday following Thanksgiving. I had never successfully prepared a turkey and wasn't too excited about ruining another turkey. Matthew had to go to the grocery store Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. You can imagine that his 20 minute shopping spree turned into almost an hour! I had asked for about an 8-pound turkey since we thought we were having friends over. Didn't know they only sold them in 13 pounds or bigger! He came home with a 13-pound turkey which made me even more nervous to mess it up. My mom had told me about the roasting bags for the turkey and we got one of those. My mom had also told me to make sure I took the innards out of the turkey. I wonder what would've happened had she not told me about those things. So, in my hand went to fish out the nasty things hidden inside of the turkey...all the while trying desperately not to dry heave on our future food. Why in the world do they have to push them all the way to the other end of the turkey? Maybe they should give some options when you are buying a turkey. How about, "would you like to stick your whole arm in a turkey and fish something gross and squishy out or would you like a turkey that you don't ever have to put your arm in?". 

Matthew helped a lot in the preparation of the dinner and when we had  floured the roasting bag (apparently so it doesn't blow up while baking--yay), rubbed down the turkey with the butter, and put it in the bag, I went to wash the turkey slime off of my hands. Unfortunately, I hadn't closed the turkey roasting bag. Our soap dispenser got clogged and that soap shot 3 feet right into the bag and on the turkey! I couldn't believe it! All that work and now the front and top of our 13-pound turkey had lavender soap all over it! I had ruined the turkey even before baking it! Matthew saw that some had gotten on the top of the roasting bag, I quickly wiped it, and the soap running down the sides of the turkey, away hoping that we wouldn't have lavender-soap-tasting turkey in a few hours. Got it in the oven and then we waited...and waited...and waited. I learned something that day. You wait ALL day for the food to get ready and then at the last 20 or so minutes EVERYTHING happens at the same time! Finally we sat down for a quiet meal with just our little family. Our company that we thought was coming ended up going home to be with their family, so the 13-pound-NON-lavender tasting turkey we ate. It was a good meal and a good day with my boys!

fun with the family - november 18

Evenings that we are all at home are fun. We usually end up on the floor in the living room with Finn and Piper running around (or on) us. Oliver usually watches in amazement between the 20 ounces of milk that he likes to drink every night. 

Oliver has started sitting some and babbling. He's the most easy-going baby I've ever known. Even if he's sick or just had shots he always has a smile for you. 

Wrestling with Finley and Piper. They usually win.  

Piper has been really happy lately...a MUCH NEEDED change in his attitude! He's fun to play with and even asks for you to play by hitting the floor next to him as hard as he can to get you to sit with him. Oliver often has a shocked look on his face...no joke. 

 A blurry picture, but I couldn't not put it in. Finley is so sweet and fun. Again, Ollie with his shocked look. 

look at all the feathers!

The last few weeks have been interesting here to say the least. Someone in our family has been sick since October 30. Matthew got a cold that day and it was slowly passed from person to person. At the moment, we are still ALL sick with something, but Finley and Piper are getting better. Oliver woke up this morning with another cold. He handles it well though and stays happy. Here are some of the highlights from the last few weeks. 

One of the perks of living in the country is the deer in our yard. We have never had so many deer in our yard as we've had this fall/winter. There are sometimes 5 deer eating and lazily walking around. Piper was in the window watching all the deer in the yard. 

The boys helping make Daddy's birthday cake. They both like to bake, but Piper especially. 

Watching as it mixes. 

Piper waking up from his nap. 

And he was not happy. 

Especially when I told him to smile. 

In the end I just decided to leave him alone.

Finn being a big help with Ollie. 

He loves to feed and hold Ollie. 

And since Finley got to hold him, Piper had to hold him. Gotta watch Piper with him though. When Piper decides he's finished, he pushes Oliver off of his lap, then jumps up and runs away. 

The boys at the peak of their sickness. We went to the doctor on November 7. They had fevers, coughs, fatigue and general crabbiness. Come to find out that Piper had 2 pink eardrums, pink eye, bronchitis and a little pneumonia in his left lung. Finn's neck lump was getting bigger with his sickness and his right eardrum was red. Sometimes, you take your kids the doctor and leave there feeling stupid that you took them in since there doesn't seem to be much wrong. Other times, like on this day, I left there feeling stupid that I hadn't taken them in sooner. Dr. Bell ended up putting both of them on antibiotics for 10 days. 

I had a plastic storage container with baby clothes out that I was sorting. I put it up on the rocking chair thinking the boys would leave it alone. Ha! The minute they saw it they both climbed up and started playing on it. 

Finn went to church with Daddy Sunday night so it was just Piper, Oliver and me. While I was feeding Oliver, Piper apparently found the last little container of ice cream, got a spoon from the drawer, took the top off of the ice cream and started eating it. He then got an ice cream headache and refused to take another bite. 

 The boys watching the snow. We got some snow late last week, but it was just flurries and didn't stick around. When I knew that Finn would be able to see the snowflakes, I told him to go look out the window. When he looked outside he said, "Look at all the feathers!" Ha! He thought there were a bunch of birds losing all of their feathers. Piper ended up not really caring, but Finn played out in it for awhile in the  afternoon. When we were doing our family worship time, he prayed and thanked Jesus for the snow. 

a few moments alone...

Early this morning I couldn't sleep...tossed and turned a lot. So, I decided to get up a little before 6. Ended up having to wake Matthew up to fix the thermostat that had decided to stop working some time in the night. He fixed it within a few minutes and went back to bed. That left about 30 minutes that I got ALONE. "Weird" thing is, I started my devotions for the day and it was about how sometimes the Lord "takes sleep from you" to get your attention. Okay, He had my attention. I got to finish my devotions for the day IN SILENCE! This almost never happens. So, I was totally at peace and ready for company when I heard the first little boy wake up and come down the stairs. Finn is our early riser. He walked over to me and said "good morning, mommy." (Heart melt #1). He cuddled with me a few minutes not saying anything so I just prayed out loud, "Lord, thank you for Finley". He responded with, "Lord, thank you for mommy." (Heart melt #2). Piper woke up a few minutes later and as I was taking his foot brace off I prayed, "Lord, thank you for Piper." He said, "Amen!" (Heart melt #3). Gonna be a good day!

daddy's birthday presents

Wednesday evenings are fun for me as I get to spend a couple of hours alone with Finn when we go to church...me to middle school youth group and him to Cubbies. We left earlier than usual this week so that we could go shopping for Matthew's birthday presents. So on the way to town, I asked Finn what he wanted to get daddy for his birthday. As I asked the question we were passing a stop sign, so he said, "maybe a stop sign...or something?". After explaining to him that no one is aloud to have stop signs and that it's against the law, I asked him again what he wanted to get daddy for his birthday. Finn said, "How about a beet truck?". I stopped asking after that. And I thought a stop sign was impossible!!!

We got to Target and picked out a couple of things. We were near the jewelry section (no, I didn't get Matthew jewelry) when Finn saw a rack of fashion necklaces. They were filled with charms and feathers and very large polished stones. He looked at me with a questioning look and said, "I just don't think I know what this is". So, I guess to test it, he pulled it back and let it go. Of course it clattered against the others and hit the back of the rack. Two girls were standing around the corner and thought it was pretty funny that he was acting like the necklace was a slingshot. What a fun boy!

gotta declutter

So, usually when I feel like the 'stuff' in our house is taking over, I'll get claustrophobic and go on a cleaning rampage after possibly a little rant to Matthew about all the junk. I skipped the rant to Matthew this morning (although I was a little on edge) and I'm going to declutter today. Maybe I spared him the rant because he always gets a little worried that I'm going to throw all of his stuff out. Of course, I would just tell him that if it hasn't been used in a while then we don't need it. So, that's my rule today. When I see it and it hasn't been used in a while and there are no immediate plans for it, it's going out. (Matthew, if you are reading this, it does include your stuff, but as usual, I'll set your stuff aside for you to look through.) Anyone else need to declutter today?

"that makes jesus happy"

I was talking to my mom on the phone earlier today when I heard Finn tell Piper "That makes Jesus happy". Somehow I knew that whatever they were doing wasn't making Jesus happy. I walked in just in time to save my headphones. They were hooked over the exercise machine and Piper was pulling on them like he was going to use them as a swing. After I saved my headphones, he went right for the diaper cream (which he knows he's not supposed to have) and started to open it. After I took that away, he went for the computer. Piper never stops and he loves everything that he's not supposed to get into. At this point, it looks like he will either work with electronics, water or diaper cream! 

I'll have to have a nice, long talk with Finn about what really makes Jesus happy. 

Ollie in the Jumperoo for the first time. He wasn't a huge fan at first, but he got used to it and now if I'm carrying him around, he will stare at it until I put him in it. 

Finn wanted to take my picture, but I told him that I got to take one of him first. He said "cheese" with a big smile for about .5 seconds and then ran off. This was taken right at the end of "cheese". 

This was a picture that Finn took of Piper...pretty good, I think!

Ollie going for a horse ride just like his big brothers love to do. 

Finn climbed the wall in between the kitchen and the dining room (as always), but when he tried to climb down, his foot slipped and he face planted into the wall and slid all the way down to the floor scraping his nose against the wood work. He actually got a splinter at the opening of his right nostril! Now, that was interesting digging a splinter out of his nose! He then insisted on having a band-aid. I told him to get a small band-aid; however, I think he brought me the biggest one that we had and again insisted on me putting it on his nose. It was so big that he couldn't breathe through his nose so he sniffed a lot and it also bothered his eyes so much that they watered. Through all of this he kept it on for at least 3 hours. Every time I looked at him, I just had to laugh. 

So, Piper felt left out that he couldn't play in the jumperoo so I put him in. Boy, was he happy! 

Saying "shees". He ended up getting stuck and Finn 'helped' him out by turning him completely upside down. I didn't know the jumperoo could turn over...definitely something I'll have to watch with Ollie in it!

Getting ready for bed Saturday night and I put on I Love Lucy. No, Ollie wasn't watching it, but it was a cute picture with the other two sitting so still. 

yesterday

We had an interesting day here yesterday. 

FROGS AND FINGERS

7:00 am - Finn woke up yesterday with a little cough so I asked him if he had a little frog in his throat. He got a funny look on his face and said, "No, I don't have a frog in my throat. That's yucky". He also woke up with the band-aid on his finger that we put there the night before to keep him from sucking his finger. That means that he's been finger-sucking free for 2 days!

NO!

8:30 am - I asked Piper if he wanted French toast for breakfast. He said "no" in the sweetest little voice. Of course it started out in a nice way. I thought to myself, "I give him 24 hours before he's yelling it". This morning, he yelled "Nooooo!" as loud as he could to Finley when they were playing. It was the first time that Piper got a toy that he wanted from Finley, partly because I think Finley was so shocked that Piper yelled at him. 

I HODE YOU

9:30 am - I told Finn that I was cold as we were sitting on the couch. He moved right next to me and put his arms around me and said, "Here, I hode you so you can warm up". So sweet. 

PIPER'S CLEANING?

11:00 am - I told the boys to pick up all of their books and toys so that we could vacuum. Piper scrambled around picking up everything and putting it in the correct box and lining up the tractors along the wall. I was so proud of him and he was so excited to help. 

HIDE AND SEEK--OLIVER STYLE

11:30 am - Finally got around to vacuuming after Ollie woke up. I put him in his chair, strapped him in and put him in the family room, which is the room I always start in. I turned the vacuum on and vacuumed that half of the room. When I turned the vacuum off though to move furniture and do the other side of the room, Oliver was gone...along with his chair. My heart skipped a beat and I ran into the kitchen, which is right where Finn had pulled Oliver. I asked him what he was doing and Finn calmly said, "I want my brudder with me". I told him that was okay so I went back to vacuuming. By the time I got to the kitchen though, Ollie was 'hiding' again. Finn had pulled him into the dining room and was reading to him. By the time I got into the dining room, Finn had pulled him into the living room...and all around the downstairs he went. It's a good thing Oliver is so go with the flow! He had the same, content expression on his face each time I found him. 

Do you think this kid likes bread? Finn likes to help me make bread and watch the dough mix together; however, I've never seen him hug the bread machine...

The boys fighting over who gets to hold Oliver...and Oliver just sits there contentedly. 

Ollie still content as they fight over him. Finn wearing his victory grin. 

Piper's tears turned to a smile as he says "shees". Poor Ollie, right after I took this picture, Piper decided he was finished holding him and dropped him on the floor face first. Ollie whimpered a little and then smiled. I tell ya, nothing gets Ollie down...