And out of the cave we crawl...

I am going to try to get back into the swing of things with this blog! I have been so bogged down with sick babies, husband, babies again, husband again, and a small operation for good measure! It has been an exhausting month and a half of puke, ear infections, tooth aches, headaches and that's right a little more puke. We have capped it off with Mark getting all four wisdom teeth plus one extra for good measure pulled last week. I say capped it off because nobody else is allowed to be sick. We have paid enough money to the doctors office and Walgreens and I have cleaned enough stomach contents out of my car to last me a decade.

There is a new ray of sunshine on our house this week as everyone seems to be feeling fine, the weather is GORGEOUS and we are getting excited about Mr. Ollybean's first birthday! Here are some pictures and updates on the boys.

FRITZ WILLIAM HOUSTON

Hobbies: Playing trains, cars, airplanes and dinosaurs

Favorite shows: Word World, Sid the Science Kid and Handy Manny

Favorite Movies: Robin Hood, Kung Fu Panda, anything Thomas the Train

Favorite Outside Game: Pretending to be dinosaurs or race cars, playing swords with noodles, playing soccer

Favorite Books: The Very Lazy Lion, anything Thomas the Train

Favorite Foods: Turkey and cheeto sandwiches, pancakes, fruit snacks

Here is a cute video of Fritz singing his ABCs. He gets lost in the middle, but he really does know them!

OLLY EDWARD HOUSTON

Favorite Hobbies: bouncing balls, capturing Dad's phone, banging cabinet doors

Favorite Shows: Any dance that Mom does, the Wiggles on occasion

Favorite Movies: anything that occupies Fritz long enough so he doesn't notice Olly playing in Fritz's room

Favorite Outside Games: Pushing trucks down the street, any playground equipment

Favorite Books: anything he can chew on

Favorite Foods: grapes, potatoes, mac n cheese, eggs, apples, broccoli, yogurt, chicken, anything that doesn't eat him first!



Here is a cute video of Olly walking down the street!

Thank you!

Thank you to everyone for your advice and comments on my last post! I tried cups and he is definitely using them for water now, but the second formula touched his lips in a sippy cup he scrunched up his little nose and pushed it away. I had the same results with Mark giving him the formula. He aint no fool!!! Mama's milk is just yummier. I am sure we could power through it, but I am pretty sure that it is not worth the effort. He is 9 1/2 months old already and eating all solid food that he is offered so he won't die if he has to stretch out the time between nursings when needed. He has in fact gone up to seven hours without nursing a few times over the past week. I think it is just that time when they slow down on the milk and pick up on the solids. So thanks again for the help!

Here is a cute video of Olly dancing:

Desperate nursing mother seeking formula drinking baby!!!

Okay so it is not that bad, but Olly needs to take some formula! He is 9 months old and still nursing, which I love, but I would love to have the ability to feed him a bottle when needed. He has taken formula a few other times when he was little, but has completely refused my random attempts over the past couple months. I wouldn't even offer formula except that when I pump now I can only get like an ounce or two out (not enough for a bottle.)

The problem is that my milk supply feels like it has dropped off significantly and so nursing seems more challenging for him and I am not sure if he is getting enough. He is still growing fine and doesn't seem to be starving, but it is my job to worry so I can't help it. It was my goal to nurse for a full year this time (with Fritzy I stopped at 7 months) and I plan to do that, but I just want the option to offer him a bottle if needed.

So today the standoff began. I got an ounce and a half pumped out and combined it with two ounces of formula. He knew instantly what it was. I think he could smell it. I don't blame him either that stuff smells like $%*@. I tried over and over again for two hours. He screamed his head off! Olly is a champion screamer too. You would have thought he was being stabbed. I kept thinking if he gets hungry enough he will eat. I just held him while he cried. He rested his little head against my chest and just sobbed. It was so painful. I really tried to not give in though. That went on for two hours before I had to leave to run an errand. Suprisingly Olly was fine while we were out. I think he was just relieved to not be battling the bottle anymore. After a Kohls trip and getting Fritzy fed and in bed I was too exhausted for another round. I nursed Olly boy and he was happy as pie. Oh well I guess I will try again another day.

9 Month Appointment and Flu Shots

Olly Edward Houston is 9 months old now! I have no idea where 9 months went. I know everyone says that, but it went by way faster this time than it did with Fritz. We went for his check up today and he is 21 lbs 3.5 oz and 29 inches long. He has dropped to 50% for weight, but that is not suprising since he is a crawling and cruising machine. Fritz and Olly also got their flu shots. They took them like men! No tears involved. I was a little worried about Fritz because he has not had a shot in over a year, but he wasn't bothered at all.

I checked with Dr. Mckillip about Olly and his reflux because I would like to have him off his medicine. I have tried to take him off his Prevacid a handful of times and it always brings on crying at mealtime after only being off the medicine for a day. I don't think he is quite ready, but we are going to shoot for taking him off at a year.

Here are a few cute pictures:

Fritz wrangling the dragon

Sweet boy

Olly's very favorite table (and anything on the table!)

Almost got it!

Halloween, Clueless things and Mary's Birthday???

Halloween: We had a great Halloween! Fritz was Thomas the Train's train conductor and Olly was a pumpkin. The kids got to have a fun hay ride around the neighborhood and Fritz got to stay up way past his bedtime. It was a success! Here are some pictures:

Olly the Pumpkin

Olly's first attempt at trick or treating (just for fun!)

Fritz and Olly with Daddy John and Mama Jan

Mommy and her boys

Brotherly love!!!

Clueless things: Daily I have to remind myself to slow down, breath or just be patient. Three year old boys are a piece of work. My once sweet angel has turned into a hyper, stubborn and sometimes bossy chatterbox. So by the time dinner rolls around I am always rushing to get food on the table, drinks filled and both boys rangled in their seats. Mark is always looking at me like I am crazy, but my nerves are usually shot.

So the other day I was nearing the end of these dinner preparations and everyone was sitting, but I still had to get bibs on and dinner on the table. So I was rushing madly before the meal got cold on the counter and I grabbed one of the bib's off the towel hook and was mindlessly trying to strap it on Fritz. It was not connecting for some reason. It has a little snap in the back that easily hooks, but I could not get the bib to even fit around Fritz's neck. I struggled for a good 20 to 30 second to get this bib on before I snapped out of my frenzied coma and looked down to see that I was struggling repeatedly to clasp this bib around my husband's neck!!! I am cracking up as I write this because if you could have seen the look on Mark's face you would have died! He was looking up at me like I was insane. I gasped when I realized what I was doing and started cracking up because I truly thought I was putting the bib on Fritz. It is not like Fritz wasn't in his normal spot at the table...I was just moving way to fast and thinking way to slow. Mark goes,"I thought you were joking!" It was the funniest thing that has happened in a long time. The whole family proceeded to crack up for the next five minutes.

Finally, Fritz said the funniest thing this morning. I had to drop a wedding gift off at someone's house this morning. Fritz sees a gift and automtically assumes it is for his birthday. I said, "No baby. Your birthday has passed. This is a wedding gift. Somebody got married." He said, "Oh, Mary's birthday. We go to Mary's birthday. She be so excited to see me. She want to play with me." I laughed so hard. We don't even know a Mary! We must have had that exact same conversation about six more times before I delivered the present. He heard married and automatically switched it up to Mary's birthday. He cracks me up.

Fritzy's extreme close up!

Seriously...could they get any cuter?

So last week I was dressing Olly to go run an errand and Fritz commented on Olly's hat. I said, "do you want to wear a hat Fritzy?" He quickly replied, "No...I've got great hair! I have lots and lots and lots of hair." I laughed hysterically and said "yes my love you do have great hair!"

He is growing up so much and really suprising me with the intersting things he says. He is so friendly and sociable with other kids. He calls any little boy or girl under 10 that he sees "his friend". This freaks out some random kids, but I love that he is outgoing.

He is loving his gymnastics class that he takes once a week at Flips. He is also still really into spelling out everything he sees. Since reading my creative friend Jessica's blog and getting ideas from her, we have been making books each day. We have been doing a book for each letter of the alphabet. He loves it! Every day he reminds me about the book that we have to do the next day. By the way tomorrow we are on G. He also still is still infatuated with trains.

Fritz rode the train twice at the pumpkin patch last weekend!

Olly Edward is crawling like a mad man! He pulls up to standing and gets into everything around the house. He is my little Jeckyl and Hyde. He is the happiest most smiley baby ever...until he is not. His alter ego is Sir Cranky pants and he is feisty! Olly is still very high need and the reflux is still causing us problems, but when he is happy he melts our hearts. He loves his Daddy and shows it when he babbles "da da da da."

My favorite thing right now is to go get Olly when he wakes up and see his big gummy grin as he stands at his crib rail bobbing around waiting for me. That makes the exhaustion worth it!

Handsome man!

Always happy at bathtime

Poor Olly was so sick and Fritz just wanted to get up and play!

Here is a cute video of Olly laughing. The camera work is HORRIBLE so please just close your eyes and enjoy the giggles!

September update!

I am just now getting back into the swing of things following Hurricane Ike! We made it through fine. We had no power or phones for five days, but we survived. The beautiful weather that followed the storm was actually a real blessing. We thoroughly enjoyed all the outside play time and quiet afternoons. You tend to forget the real pleasure that is laying on the couch with the windows open, breezes blowing freely through your house, smells of grass in your nose and distant sounds of people playing outside (sorry for the flashback to creative writing!) It was great family time.

Olly used the down week to learn to crawl. He loves it! He has become an expert in short time. Fritz started gymnastics classes in the beginning of September and is having tons of fun. I wouldn't call him the next Paul Hamm, but he sure is having fun.

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks.

Here is a crazy picture of Hurricane Ike blowing in: