Productive Day

Today so far I have done all the laundry, cleaned the bathroom, sorted through baby clothes and space bagged them, made cookies and chicken salad, did dishes, got the toddler bed put together and had a minute to post! All of this with Tyler's help of course. And don't forget about the boys! I also got my January pictures sent out in email! Enjoy!

Helping taste test the cookies

Helping with the chicken salad

Just being cute :) Hes not a bink sucker he just likes to chew on it once in awhile. That is Ratatouille on the TV, Owens new favorite movie for the moment

helping with the laundry

Wrapping up January

We are almost through our first month of the new year. The boys and I are down with colds but getting better. School is still keeping me very busy. We were at the capital for a tour today. It was nice but a long drive. Not to much else new is happening.

Chubby got his first toothbrush since he now has Six teeth.. Well almost six the last two are just starting to come in.

Owen is getting ready for the super bowl this weekend! Hes trying to swing his terrible towel, so cute :)

Owen's Book

Owen's class made a book in school and it is very cute. He had a chance to bring it home to share with us so I thought I would share it with all of you. These are the students in Owen's class and his teachers. Enjoy!

This is Owen's Teacher

Bevy is a paraprofessional in his class along with Peggy below her.

Dee is their speech therapist (She is also my friend Mini's mom)

Appointments

My first visit went well. We got to hear the heartbeat which was a nice relief. My due date is Aug 9th, and of course you may want to add at least a week to that with my track record. I go back in four weeks for my next check up.

Brett on the other had needs a little love and prayers. The poor guy started running a fever yesterday around 102 F. He didn't get his shots today so he goes back in two weeks for them. His pedi said it was just a little viral bug and nothing to worry about. He is miserable though :( As for his growing he is now 31 1/4 in. tall and 20 lbs 15 oz. He is getting tall and thin! Not so much of a chubb bubb anymore.

Owen has been coughing up a storm I noticed today also. I hope it passes soon :( I hate cold and flu season!

Also keep my Meme and Poppy in your prayers. Pops got an injection in his back today, I haven't heard how it went yet. Meme goes next Wednesday for a total knee replacement! Hope all goes well. Love you guys!

Thats it for now. I need to get some more pictures taken to get them up for everyone! I know I am slacking!

Popping In

Sorry to everyone who reads regularly. There hasn't been much action on here. I don't have enough time! Hopefully things will start to get onto schedule. Here are some 'quick' updates and things coming up!

Tomorrow 1-22 - My first OB appt! FINALLY. Some officialness. I am so looking forward to hearing the little heart beat. I think it will ease my mind a little. Today I was having some lower pubic pains that felt to me like period pains and was very paranoid all day. They seem to have subsided for now.

Friday 1-23 - Brett's 1 year check up. He gets a round of shots :( Poor guy. I was debating on the Chicken pox vax and I think I have decided on declining. At least until he goes to kindergarten.

as for me I have been very busy with school and clinic, I can't wait until it is over! Owen is doing well. We are working on night time potty training. So far its not going well :( any tips?

Party Time

This has been a pretty busy week and it flowed right into the weekend! Brett's party turned out great, and he had a blast. Thank you to everyone that came :) Brett loves his gifts. He doesn't know what to do with all the toys! Finally he has something that is his own.

The birthday boy

opening presents

We had lots of help :)

before the party started, Chubb, Grammy, Oliver, and Owen

This is little Riley, hes ten months. Love the hair big boy :)

Time to breathe

This week has been crazy busy! I have been staying till almost three at school. We started maternity this week. Our first test was Tuesday and I got a 96 percent :) YAY for me. Of course I am an old pro at this maternity stuff. The boys have been keeping me pretty busy too. Brett is almost taking off but he still needs a little practice. I don't have any new pictures uploaded but I can share one of little chubb a year ago today! Hes still on his billi blankey

I got him hooked!

Owen is now a fan of E.T.!! I love this movie as most know. I recorded it on our DVR the other day and now its all he watches. The picture is him sitting in a clean clothes basket with no pants on watching E.T.



Brett on the other hand is really taking off with his walking! Still wobbly but taking A LOT more steps and more often. He crawled into a clothes hamper this evening and got stuck...Not sure how he managed that, but I just had to take a picture :)

Happy 1st Birthday Brett!

Today is the day :) at 9:50pm one year ago today my little 8 oz 7lb bundle of joy came into this world! I can't believe it!

Owen loves birthdays...or maybe its just the cake :)

Brett even got to enjoy his first 'snow storm' today. Of course we were out playing in it this morning.

Owen coming down the hill
'sledding'

Owen's snow angel

Jinxie in the snow

We've all been waiting for this one

One year ago today I was preparing for the hospital the following morning (The date on my camera was wrong by the way). This is how HUGE I was. I can't believe Chubby is a year old already. Where does the time go?

A "Mr. Quigley"

Heres a Quigley for you, as Aunt Stephie and I say. You had to be there :) I have been feeling pretty lousy this week. Hungry all the time but when I eat I feel like throwing up. Very tired and haven't been sleeping well. Brett has been up every night for the past four nights around midnight and doesn't go back to sleep until between one or three. He has been very fussy and hard to please. I don't know whats going on with the little man. I need to get him weaned off the bottle and somehow find something to soothe him and get him to sleep without being rocked. My belly is going to get to big to fast and I don't know what I am going to do! Any advice is greatly appreciated :)

An Aaaa-HAaaa moment!!!

This has been added after my original post (above) I found an article on askdrsears.com and I wanted to share it all with you. For those of you that know Chubby this fits PERFECTLY. I have a HIGH NEEDS BABY. The part I put in bold describes him to a T.

5 REASONS WHY HIGH-NEED INFANTS SLEEP DIFFERENTLY

"Why do high-need children need more of everything but sleep?" a tired mother once asked me. Until we had a high-need infant, I would have guessed that these babies would be worn out by the end of the day and would actually need more sleep; certainly, their parents do. A tired father once told me, "When it comes to sleep, I'm a high-need parent." Here's why high-need babies sleep differently.

1. Different temperament
The same tense temperament that causes daytime neediness results in nighttime restlessness. These babies come wired differently, day and night. Their supersensitive nature during the day carries over into their sleep habits during naps and nights. Their keen awareness and curiosity about their environment carries over into being awake and aware at night. It seems these babies have some internal bright light that stays on all day and isn't easily turned off at night.

2. Different stimulus barrier

Ever wonder why some infants can fall asleep and stay asleep amid the noise of a party, while others awaken when you tiptoe quietly past their bed? This is because babies have different stimulus barriers, which is the ability to block out disturbing sensory stimuli. Some babies have an amazing ability to block out sensory overload, as if they conclude, "I can't handle all this commotion, I'm tuning out." They fall asleep. High-need babies can't rely on sleep to retreat from sensory overload. Instead, they overreact.

Not only does an immature stimulus barrier keep babies from going to sleep; it interferes with their staying asleep. Infants with a maturer stimulus barrier may sleep through a slight discomfort, such as being too cold, too hot, slightly hungry, or even lonely. These nighttime discomforts awaken highly sensitive babies.

3. Different transitions

High-need babies don't transition easily. They don't willingly switch gears. Going from arms to carseat to arms to shopping cart is hard for them. Going from the state of being awake to sleep is a major behavioral transition, one these infants can't make without a lot of help. While you can put some infants down in their crib and they fall asleep, high-need babies have to be deeply asleep before you can put them down. Even with older high-need children, their minds race so quickly at bedtime (the time you assign for them), that they cannot wind down without parental help.

4. Different sleep maturity

Young infants spend much of their sleeping time in a light sleep state called REM sleep from which they are easily awakened. During the night infants normally alternate light sleep with deep sleep stages, switching from light sleep to deep sleep and back to light sleep as often as every hour. When making the transition between deep and light sleep infants go through a vulnerable period in which they are easily awakened. As infants mature, the deep sleep stages lengthen, so that by four to six months they sleep for longer stretches. High-need babies seem to take longer to develop sleep maturity. They are more prone to awaken during the vulnerable periods of transition from one sleep stage to another. Yet high-need infants often seem to be totally "zonked" when they are in the stage of deep sleep. Eventually, these infants are able to spend more time in deep sleep, yet they do not "sleep through the night" as early as less sensitive babies.

"I soon realized that my baby's sleep problem was really society's problem, the fault of its expectations that babies will sleep through the night. My problem was that she wasn't sleeping as expected by me or by the cultural norms."

5. Different nighttime needs

Craving constant physical contact and not being able to self-soothe are characteristics of high-need babies during the daytime. They are also nighttime features. High-need babies demand whatever day and night parenting style gives them a sense of well-being, and that usually means sleeping in physical contact with someone, preferably mother. They won't surrender to any arrangement that takes them out of their mother's arms, not even a much-needed nap. It seems that they need a womb-like environment at night as well as during the day. But just to be inconsistent, as high-need babies get older, the nighttime closeness itself can stimulate them into waking easily. High-need babies also have a high degree of separation anxiety, which can contribute to problems with going to sleep.

"He wouldn't even settle sleeping next to me. He had to sleep on me."

Outside

I was so sick of being inside that Sunday evening Tyler and I took the boys outside. Owen got to ride his buggy for a little and Brett got to also. They loved it. I can't wait until summer or even spring when we can get out more often. The pictures came out darker than it really was. I am starting a "new camera fund". Let me know if you want to donate to it ;) just kidding!

Owen putting corn on the 'squirrel' feeder (It feeds anything but squirrels! Nellie, blue jays, bunnies, the cat... you name it!)

The boys on the buggy

He loves it outside. It started to sprinkle rain as soon as we got out there.

P.S. I just wanted to remind everyone that you can leave comments for me or the boys! I love getting them :) just click on the comments link at the bottom of each post (its very small). Lots of love and hugs!