The Upside of Sick Babies

I definitely do not enjoy having anybody in my family sick, especially my babies. Unfortunately, for nearly the past five weeks, someone has been sick, and most of the time it's been Ella's ear infections.

Yesterday was yet another trip to our pediatrician to find out both Nolan and Ella have bronchiolitis, which requires breathing treatments for both of them every two to three hours. And Ella's ears are still not clear!

I snapped this picture of Nolan yesterday taking his "dinosaur medicine." I still don't have a picture of Ella because she screams bloody murder while taking her treatment, so she's been a bit more difficult.



It's so easy to focus on the negative things in life. As I've been getting more sleep than I know what to do with exhausted beyond belief, I stopped for a minute and realized that I was getting sucked into the negativity and allowing myself to wallow in a pity party. I decided to pick myself up and reverse my thinking.

If my babies have to be sick, these are the things I cherish about this time:

I feel and am told I'm needed more during sickness than during any other time.
"Mama, 'hole' you, 'hole' you." This is what Nolan begs of me during most of our waking hours when he's not feeling up to par.
As Nolan and Ella take their breathing treatments, it forces me to sit on the couch and relax with them.
I enjoy quietly cuddling and caressing Nolan's and Ella's hair.
While Nolan takes his treatment, I whisper, "I love you, Nolan." He then returns with, "Lush you, Mama."
Allowing my babies to fall asleep in my arms. What a special time!
The feeling of giving all of myself to my babies that I love so much.
Remembering that as much as I may feel sorry for myself, there are those that have much more difficult situations to deal with, and with time, this will pass.
I'm evermore grateful that I'm able to stay home to nurture and care for my babies.

As tired as Craig and I may get, we realize that the day will come soon enough that Nolan and Ella will be grown and need a different kind of loving care. I will make the best of it, thank God for my blessings, and cherish the sweet moments of my days.

Fall

I absolutely love the fall! I love the smell of cooler weather in the air, leaves changing, pumpkin carving, beginning to prep for the holidays, etc. I'm sure some of my love for this season could have to do with the fact that my birthday is in the fall and so is the State Fair of Texas, which is special to me and Craig. (He proposed to me on the ferris wheel back in '02.)

I almost let the season fly past me without taking pictures of the kids playing in the leaves. Since it was so nice yesterday, I raked a few big piles and let them enjoy the beauty of the fallen leaves.


My raked piles didn't last too long, but they had such a great time!

"Mom, I'm not so sure I'd like to have leaves for lunch today if that's all right with you."

Nolan and Ella are interacting more and more these days. They truly enjoy each other's company!

"Mom, no more pictures, please. Don't you think you've taken enough for today?"


Growing up in Illinois, I fondly remember raking leaves into huge piles, jumping in them, throwing them, and enjoying the outside playtime! I also remember the smell of burning leaves, which, to me, just makes the season complete.

Giving Thanks

On this Thanksgiving Day, I've spent some time in reflection of the many things I'm grateful for.

* For God's only son, Jesus, who died for my sins so that I may be saved by His grace.
* My loving husband who loves his family more than words can express. He longs to make me happy, he lives for his children, and he provides for us all so that I can stay at home.
* Our miracle babies, Nolan and Ella, both of which were a high-risk pregnancy.
* My extended family, parents, siblings, grandparents, in-laws, aunts, uncles, cousins for their love and support at different stages in my life.
* Friends, those who live near and far, those that give me support when it's needed most, honesty when I need to hear the truth, and love when I need to lean on you.
* Life's lessons. It's only when we truly live life for God's purposes, the good and the bad, that we can be taught lessons of sacrifice, humility, and generosity.

My list is nowhere complete. As I continue to thank God for everything in my life, everything from the shoes on my feet, the finances in my bank account (or lack thereof sometimes), the roof over my head, and the people that I love, I can find a reason to thank Him for it all.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. I'm grateful that I can share a piece of my heart with you.

Ella is One!

Happy Birthday to our sweet Ella Robyn!



A year ago today at 8:45 in the morning, our family welcomed you, a sweet, healthy five pound, 13 ounce little girl. Since we didn't know your gender, I was so pleasantly surprised when your Daddy announced that you were a girl!

You are such a joyous addition to our family! Your calm demeanor and flexible personality is so refreshing. You have a smile that lights up the room! This year has been so exciting and has flown by faster than we ever thought it would.

A list of fun facts at one year old:

* you have four teeth, two upper and two lower
* we think you said your first "real" word a few weeks ago, which interestingly was the same as Nolan's first word, duck
* you are such a great eater! (hence the orange nose...evidence of eating your orange veggies, such as carrots, sweet potatoes, and squash)
* you are a noisy eater! You're full of grunts and squeaks when you eat
* you are drinking from a sippy cup and will soon drop the morning and nighttime bottle
* you sleep about 12 hours at night with two naps during the day totalling about three to four hours or so
* although you light up when Daddy gets home and can't wait for him to hold you, you seem to prefer cuddling with Mommy during bedtime prayers
* you are quite cautious when it comes to strangers or people that you don't know all that well
* you throw the most adorable tantrums (which won't be so adorable soon, I know). You simply throw your head down to the floor and then look up at us with the most pitiful expression.
* you're full of new facial expressions. The newest one is when you scrunch your nose up while you're smiling
* you adore Nolan!

We love you so much, Ella!
Love,
Mommy and Daddy

A year in review

Here are some pictures of Ella's first year.

Almost

Ella's almost one!
Tomorrow, November 12th, Ella is officially a one-year-old sweet little girl. I'll be posting about her birthday, but I wanted to mention how I feel like chapters in my life are constantly closing and new ones begin. I officially don't have a newborn anymore, which is quite bittersweet for me.

Tonight, after bedtime prayers, I cuddled her just a bit longer reminiscing how quickly this year has passed. I'll soon post all about her birthday and a few flashback photos, but I couldn't resist sneaking into her room once she was fast asleep to snap a picture of her peacefully sleeping.

Veterans Day

As today is Veterans Day, I want to take the time to thank those who have served our county in the past and those that still do. Your service is all too often unappreciated and unrecognized. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for following your call to serve. We owe our freedom to you.

I have many family members that have served or are now serving in our military: my brother, both grandfathers, two cousins, and former sister-in-law. I appreciate you!

He gets it?

Here's a couple conversations we had over the past few weeks:

Me: Hey, Craig, do you want to go get some I-C-E-C-R-E-A-M?
Nolan: I do!
Me: Oh, yeah, Nolan, what do you want to do?
Nolan: You know, A-B-C.

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Me: Hey, Craig, do you want to go for a W-A-L-K after dinner?
Nolan: Yeah.
Me: What's W-A-L-K mean, Nolan?
Nolan: I want to go for a walk.

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Hmmm. I love that Nolan understands that when we're spelling things, we're using letters. On the other hand, maybe our "secret" code talking isn't so secretive anymore! He gets it. Gotta love it!

I'm back!

I'm back with a new look and some new music!

Music is the language of my soul, and I'm hoping to update my playlist more often with music that's currently having an impact on me. The first song listed by MercyMe, I Can Only Imagine, reminds me of my late mother-in-law. I can't put my finger on why I think of Robyn every time I hear that song, but I do. During the last week, there's been some events that have occurred that have brought her to mind even more than usual.

Praises for Nolan

As much as I vow to myself to keep up with my virtual scrapbook for my kids' sake, I just seem to fall further and further behind. I still have a ton of stuff to post regarding our summer months, but that will just have to wait because I have big praises for Nolan right now!

HE IS POTTY TRAINED!!!

Well, let me just say that we've completed a full week, and he's done fabulous! Nolan is about one month shy of officially being a two-and-a-half year old. We've only had a handful of accidents. And, in fact, he's even been doing great during naptime and bedtime, too! I've been brave enough to allow accidents to happen during naptime, expecting, of course, to change the sheets every day. But to my surprise, I haven't had to change naptime sheets once since I decided to brave naptime, which was about five days ago! In addition, he's even been dry three mornings in a row now, and I'm contemplating going diaper-free at bedtime, too. Holy cow, go Nolan!!! This little guy seems to ALWAYS exceed my wildest expectations.

Have I mentioned that I'm proud of him?

I started to think this morning what a chapter we're turning. I was a little sad to see my "baby" really become such a big boy, but then I quickly remembered that paying for two in diapers is really no fun, so I soon got over the "new chapter" thing.

Way to go Nolan! We're so proud of you!!

Ella is Nine Months Old!

What a precious, sweet daughter we have! It's truly hard to believe that Ella is now nine months old. She smiles all the time, giggles often (especially at her brother), and is now on the move! Within the past week, Ella has finally decided that sitting around and watching Nolan play is not near as much fun as getting into the mix of it. She's so proud of herself that she will often stop and clap for herself. She's just too cute for words!

A few things I want to remember about her at this age:
*says Mama all the time!
*eats most anything, including what we're having for dinner (blended up, of course)
*has two bottom teeth, and it looks like there's three more on the way
*sleeps about 10-11 hours at night, takes two naps a day, with the morning nap being shorter than the afternoon nap
*is super flexible with her schedule and is willing to adapt to whatever the day may bring
*she will self-entertain for decent periods of time
*is very alert to her surroundings and wants to be a part of whatever everyone else is doing
*she's quite sensitive and will easily cry if she hears Nolan cry
*sadly, she's had recurring ear infections and sounds like she's congested almost all of the time
*she's still so bald, but bald is beautiful!
*will sign "all done" and "more"
*is simply a joy
*her bright blue eyes are striking
*her smile will light up the room

We thank God for this beautiful blessing!

I caught her crawling a bit at the beginning of the video. Then Nolan decided he needed to be a part of it. I love to watch them interact. Sweet siblings!

4th of July

Happy 4th of July!
So this post isn't catching up from all of the stuff I've failed to post over the past six weeks or so, but in the interest of not falling further behind, here we go...

What was I thinking????
Yesterday I had the bright idea of making a family evening out to see fireworks. (I have such fond memories as a kid of going to a fireworks show with my family.) The City of Arlington had big festivities around the lake, concluding with a firework show. Sounds like fun, huh?

Well, we decided to park at a nearby church that the City was running a shuttle from. Nolan was super excited about riding a school bus!

Once we got there, we kind of checked it out for a bit, listened to music, and then headed to the bounce houses. Craig was a such a sport. Nolan chose a bounce house he was interested in playing in, they waited in line, and just as it was Nolan's turn, he decided he was too scared to jump. (Where did this timid side of my no-fear son come from??? This is a new development lately.) Long story short, they went through this charade about four times, all ending with Nolan never jumping in a single bounce house.

For whatever reason, I figured the fireworks would start as soon as the sun went down. To my surprise, they didn't start until 9:45! Fortunately, both kiddos were doing just fine and enjoying people watching, so we stuck it out.

We didn't have the best view of the fireworks, but that was probably best, seeing as though Nolan was kind of scared by them. (You'll have to see another post I have yet to write about our trip to the baseball game; that explains his fear of fireworks.)

So as soon as the fireworks were over, we packed everyone up, which is no easy thing when you're traveling with a 2-year-old and an 8-month-old! We finally got going, just to stand in line for about 30-45 minutes to catch the shuttle back to our car.

Holy cow! It's about 11:15 before we made it back to our car! What were we thinking??? Nolan and Ella were both such sports and seemed to enjoy our family night out. As soon as we got home, we quickly bathed them and put them to bed. Our babies didn't get to bed until close to midnight, which is ridiculously WAY past our bedtime, especially for two babies!!

I think we'll skip the fireworks show in the future (at least until they're much older), and we'll aim for catching the July 4th parade in the morning. As exhausting as it all was, it turned out to be a pretty enjoyable evening.

Where does the time go?

It's July already, and I just can't believe it! I'm so behind in posting, and now that I'm so behind, I'm just overwhelmed with playing catch-up. I'll soon go through the many pictures I've taken since mid-May and take the time to post and document what we've been up to.

I hate to admit it, but this blog really serves as my scrapbook. I love the idea of scrapbooking, but to actually do it just isn't my thing. I love the simplicity of blogging; it's black and white with a few pictures thrown in. Scrapbooking is fun but overwhelming to me. There's just too many choices; fancy scissors, different sizes and colors of paper, stickers, embellishments that I can't even begin to name, etc.

My goal this month: To get everything documented that's documentation-worthy, which is quite a bit, and to stay on top of it!

Until next time,
Julie

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day, Craig!
Fatherhood has brought out the best in you! You're so loving, patient, and a hands-on Daddy. You genuinely enjoy spending time with our children. I couldn't ask for a better father to our babies.
Thank you!

He lets Nolan drive the boat!

He does fun stuff to make us laugh all the time!

I am grateful for the man that you are! Thank you, Poppy (whom I don't have a recent picture of to post) for having a hand in raising the man that I love.

I also want to pay tribute to my Dad, who is always a loving, supportive and giving Dad, too. You have instilled so many wonderful qualities in us! (Top row left to right: Rebecca, John, Julie; bottom, Dad and Mom) Thank you!

Soon to come

I know I've been out of the blogging world for quite some time. We've been super busy, including a formal gala event, boating, out of town, first foods, a visit to River Legacy Living Science Center, swimming, sliding, painting, baseball, and a special photo with someone famous. That ought to bring you back for more!

Please check back soon. I promise to post a little bit of everything in the next couple of days.

Thinking

This is a picture my Dad captured this past weekend of Nolan and Jessica, the next door neighbor's granddaughter.

Notice how intent he looks. I wish I knew what he was thinking when this picture was taken. You can just see the wheels spinning in his head!

Will my sister ever be old enough to run around and play with me?
Man, I think you're pretty, Jess.
Do you want to pull each other in the wagon again?

Any other ideas on what he could be thinking?

6 Months

Yes, it's true, Ella celebrated her half-birthday on Monday the 12th. It's crazy! I can't believe she's already six months old. Where does the time go?

She is such a happy, content, joyful little girl. Her smiles will melt your heart, and that giggle she gives (mostly to her brother when he's being super silly) is just so catchy! What a delightful infant she is.

I took her in for her 6 month checkup this morning, and she's definitely packed on the pounds since her last well-baby checkup at 4 months old. At 4 months, she weighed just under 9 pounds. Today, she weighed just under 14 pounds! She's gained 5 pounds in two months! Way to go, Ella! The doctor is very pleased with her weight gain.

Unfortunately, she still has some fluid in her ears. She's had a couple of ear infections, one that persisted over several weeks. So since she doesn't have a full-blown ear infection now, we're going to see if her ears will drain on their own. I'll take her back at the end of June for another ear check. If the fluid is still there, we'll do another round of antibiotics. (That will be the fourth round of antibiotics for her!) If that doesn't seem to completely clear her ears, then we'll be referred to an ENT to see what they recommend we do next. Please pray for this situation as, of course, we'd prefer that her body can clear up the fluid on its own.

What a beautiful daughter we have. I try to treasure these precious days, as they grow in a blink of an eye! We love you, Ella!

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!

I am so grateful to be a mom. Although the chaos and stresses of being a stay-at-home mom overwhelm me sometimes, I am quickly reminded that I am doing the most important work God has challenged me with, raising our children to become His followers.

The Steven Curtis Chapman song, which I've added to my playlist, is a beautiful reminder that the work we do raising and taking care of our children really does matter!

Me with my babies, Nolan and Ella, on May 11, 2008, Mother's Day
I'm also fortunate to have a very loving, caring, and giving mom as an example to follow. Now that I know the challenge that is being a mom, I'm even more appreciative of the work and sacrifice my mom endured to raise three of us.

Although, I probably could have found a better picture to honor my mom, I chose this one, a true example of love; no matter how old we are or how big we get, we're always still our mom's baby. This picture was taken the day Ella was born. (You can barely tell I'm holding my sweet baby girl all swaddled up, but she's there.)

Today I am challenged to be like my mom, a true example of God's love, grace, and mercy; to sacrificially give to others, putting their needs above your own; to be the ray of God's light for all to see through your love of life and people and the joy of living.

Thank you, Mom, for being you! I love you, and I love our great relationship!

Love your mom, whether she's here on Earth or in Heaven, as my mother-in-law. Moms do God's work here on Earth, changing the world one heartbeat at a time!

Blessings

I have constantly been reminded over the last few weeks of all of the blessings God has given me. This post is a recognition of the many ways my life is just as God intends it.

Although, I've posted my two beautiful, healthy babies, I'm also grateful for the Godly man that I call my best friend and husband, who is an amazing daddy to these precious babies of ours. We have a great house, which we've made into our own nurturing home. I'm fortunate to be able to stay at home with our children. We are surrounded by loving family and friends.

The list goes on forever, but I'm so humbled by the way God provides for our every need. I'm truly at a loss for words, other than to say, trust in Him, and He will provide. He is the source of all good and precious things.

First Trip to the Zoo

We took our first family trip to the Fort Worth Zoo a couple of weeks ago. (I know, I'm getting behind on my postings!) We had such a nice time spending some quality family time together. Nolan's been learning about different animals and the sounds they make, so he was very interested to see some of the animals in person. He almost had an initial look of awe that the animals in his storybooks are actually real animals. You could almost see what his mind was thinking.

We caught a family picture in front of the fish pond. Ella slept through most of her first zoo experience, but we lucked out to snap a picture while she was awake for a bit.
Nolan's very interested in elephants. He makes a very cute elephant noise while holding his arm up to his face, mimicking an elephant's trunk.
Posing on a display aligator.
I love this photo. Father and son watching the bears outside.
Nolan's also very interested in trains, I mean, choo-choos. I took Nolan on a train ride from the end of the zoo back to the entrance, while Dad and Ella walked back. He loved it and was very disappointed when the ride was over!

Family time is so important; that's when memories are made that will be cherished for a lifetime!

Ella's first food

Miss Ella was very excited to FINALLY get her first bite of food. (If that's what you want to call it.) Due to her lack of weight gain, her doctor advised me not to start her on any solids until she was progressively and consistently gaining weight. When I took her to the doctor Friday, she weighed 12 pounds 3 ounces and is back on the curve! So at almost 5 1/2 months old, we're finally able to start her on some solids.

She's looking pretty excited!
Her first bite of rice cereal.
She wasn't so sure what to think.
Although she didn't eat much (which I didn't expect), she got the hang of it after a few bites. She was happy to finally be able to eat like "the big people."

5 months old!

Wow, Ella's five months old, and she's growing like crazy. She's put on nearly three-and-a-half pounds in the last month! When I took her to the doctor for her four-month checkup, she weighed only 8 lbs 14 oz. When I weighed her this morning, she was about 12 lbs 3 oz. She's soley on formula now, and she's doing wonderfully!

When I took her to the doctor almost two weeks ago, she was definitely making progress back to the growth curve she had dropped off of. (3-12-08 post, Under the Curve.) I'm taking her back to the doctor later this week to make sure her ears are clear, and I'm sure we'll do another weight check.

Ella at five months
Ella at 4 months when we started supplementing.
Ella at three months

Opening Day

As many of you know, Craig and I try to make it to the Rangers' home opener every year. The ballpark is near and dear to our hearts; we met at the ballpark while working our second jobs, we had our wedding reception at the Diamond Club, which is located on the 3rd base line, and our son was born on Opening Day 2006.


Nolan loves baseball, and this year we had a great time taking him with us. Although Ella stayed with our dear neighbor, Lou, she still dressed up for the festivities.

Opening Day, 4-8-08.
Before the game, we took Nolan to check out some of the fun kid-friendly activities. After a few tries with Daddy, he swung and hit the ball!
He got a little pitching practice in, too. This two-year-old boy has got a pretty good arm!

He was so sweet with his hand over his heart during the National Anthem that I had to snap a shot.
He's checking out a baseball great, Gaylord Perry. I just think this is a cute picture.
Although nobody will believe us, our Nolan wasn't really named after Nolan Ryan. It is quite coincidental, though, especially with all of our ties to the ballpark. We had to get a picture in front of Nolan Ryan, a Texas Rangers' great!
Although the Rangers didn't win, we all had a wonderful time at the ballpark. Nolan was pooped, to say the least, once we got in the car.

Nolan's Birthday Party

This past Saturday, we had family and close family friends over for a small birthday party. It was nice to enjoy lunch together. We are grateful for each one of you! Thank you for blessing our family in your own unique ways!

The Birthday Boy with Mommy and Daddy
Yum! I love Elmo cake, Mom! Can't we have this every day???
While playing outside with some of his new toys, Nolan tumbled down the concrete stairs that lead up to our pool. He's a trooper, but he got a good shiner from it.
Miss Ella was sick with a bronchial virus and missed out on the party. She napped the entire time! Even though she didn't feel so hot, she dressed up in her Elmo shirt for her big brother and gave him a big birthday smile.