Look A Likes

How cute are these two?

You can definitely tell the difference between Reese and James, but still, I think they favor each other. :)

Reese

James

Reese is 4 months!

Reese turned 4 months old on September 27th, 2011.

Stats:

Weight: 12 lbs 12 oz (50th %)

Length: 24 inches (50th %)

Head: 16 inches (50th %)

She gained 2 whole pounds and has just turned into a little chubster! She has a HUGE grin now, which makes it funny since her cheeks are so big ;) She actually has rolls on her legs which I never saw on James. This month, she has been talking all the time and just started to reach for objects. She tries to hold things, but she is still not very good at that yet. Reese loves sitting in her bumbo so that she can look around.

Her longest stretch at night is 9 hours, but most of the time she sleeps only 6 or 7 hour stretches. Occasionally she will only go for 4 hour stretches...yuck! She is eating every 2 1/2 - 3 hours. I can't wait until that stretches out. Her naps range from 45 mins to 1.5 hours. She is really good about me putting her down for nap and bed at this point.

4 months

That's one happy baby!

Love those cheeks!

She will just stare at you until you smile at her....

then comes the smile...

She gets so excited that she can't keep that paci in!

Still enjoys her bouncer

Little chubby thing! :)

Big brother loves her

Big Hug!

Boy, don't they grow up fast?

Nonie and Pops Visit Reese!

During the first week of September, Nonie and Pops came to spend time with us and to see Reese! We loved having them stay with us. The time always goes by too fast!

Pops getting to hold Reese for the first time!

(since Reese had been in the NICU for so long)

Nonie's turn!

I think they are all watching "Thomas".

Boy, James just LOVED seeing his POPS. :)

He kept saying "Pops" over and over and had lots of "conversation" with him!

Nonie and Pops worked lots of puzzles with James.

He was having so much fun!

Pops making Reese smile ;)

She loved just staring at him and cooing!

I love this picture :)

James had lots of hugs to share with his Nonie.

Thanks Nonie and Pops for a wonderful visit!

Reese Is Three Months

Reese turned 3 months old on August 27, 2011.

Stats:

Weight: 10 lbs 13 oz (25%)

Height: 23 inches (50%)

Head: 15 1/4 in (25%)

It is super easy to get her to smile!

One of her favorite things to do is to just stare at you, wait on you to pay attention to her, then she will just smile so big and start talking to you! Then if she loses your attention, she just waits patiently staring at you again! LOVE IT!

Reese sleeps best like this :)

Daddy swaddles the best!

Working so hard on that tummy time!

At 3 1/2 months, she finally used gravity to roll from her tummy to her back.

Visiting Daddy in his classroom at ECS

Cuddles before bed.

Reese is sleeping about 8 hours at this point.

On random nights, she will still wake up twice wanting to eat.

Getting so chubby! Love it!

Her tummy problems are just about all gone now! Yay!

(of course, I still don't drink regular milk. Sticking to almond or soy milk. Strongly believe that's what is the biggest help to her right now)

Herb Parsons

One Sunday afternoon in August, Justin told me about Herb Parsons Lake. He said it was beautiful and only 10 minutes away from our home! Sometimes he and his buddies would bike on the trails out there, but I had never been there before. So after naps on that breezy Sunday, we packed a picnic dinner, loaded the kids and Kramer in the car, and headed to Herb Parsons.

We decided to just take a hike on the trail that leads around the lake.

James LOVED walking on the trail and just doing his own thing.

Of course, we went at a snail's pace because he had to stop and look at every little interesting thing he saw! He had so much fun. (And got so many mosquito bites!)

Reese had a good time too!

She just chilled in our arms or in the front carrier.

Loving the outdoors :)

Justin said we should do this EVERY Sunday afternoon!

(It hasn't happened yet, but maybe once our busy football season comes to a close. Go Eagles!!)

Kramer LOVED being there with us. He got to stay off leash quite a bit.

James had fun throwing rocks in the lake.

Such a pretty area :)

We could go a little faster when James rode on Justin's shoulders!

Boy, James loves his Daddy!

Yumm! There's nothing like a good PBJ sandwich after hiking!

Before we left, Justin threw Kramer's favorite football into the lake so he could retrieve it! I think Kramer could have done this for hours. James sat in Justin's lap the whole time and watched Kramer have a good time :)

I just love family time! Can't wait to do this again!

Just James

James is nearing 2 1/2 years. He can be the sweetest boy you have ever seen. Or he can be that terrible toddler that makes you want to pull your hair out! But most of the time, he is just a happy-go-lucky kid with a big heart, and a desire for adventure and fun.

Here are some descriptions of James:

He still LOVES to be playing outdoors.

Here he is having a blast with daddy :)

Still loves his swing

Loves looking at bugs. We have a lot of Stick Bugs and Praying Mantises in our back yard that James gets excited about finding. One day I even caught him putting a black beetle in his mouth! YUCK!

So excited to see airplanes in the sky.

"Look, Look! Big airplane mommy!"

Hugs all the time now!

Wants to be near us, finally!

Likes to wear hats like Papa...

or visors like Daddy! Oops...too big!

Likes to walk around the house wearing "Daddy's shoes".

You should see when he tries to wear mommy's wedges!

Is obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine!

(don't let the elmo slippers fool you. He has only worn them once!)

He is pure B-O-Y. For example, what else do you do with an empty trash can except put it on your head!

Loves trucks! We got him this one for cheap at a consignment sale.

Loves tractors. Here he is with "toach tutto" (Coach Hutto) after a Friday night ECS football game. Coach Hutto let him ride the tractor (at 10 pm) while he cut the field. James was in toddler heaven!

Loves Fire Trucks! One night, a neighbor's truck caught on fire, and 911 was called. A fire truck came and James was in awe. The fireman let James sit in the truck (after the fire was put out!).

Loves doing what baby sister does. I find James constantly in Reese's car seat, bouncer, activity mat, crib, bumbo...etc.

Favorite foods: Pistachios, gold fish, fresh spinach leaves with ranch, hotdogs, chicken, green beans, corn, frozen peas, yogurt, cheese, strawberries, french fries, "cake" which could be actual cake, donut, banana bread, cinnamon roll, cookie...etc.

Recently, James has been in what we call a "destructive mode" where he goes from room to room knocking over whatever he can find. Everything ends up being upside down.

One minute his room is tidy. The next minute, no, the next 30 secs, his room looks like this.

His book shelves are wiped off, toys are dumped out of bins. He even drags stuff out of his closet!

The play room. There is not much playing going on. Just "dumping".

We finally took his basketball goal out of his room, because we kept hearing him do this.

And it continues outside. This is a huge play house dumped upside down. Notice that Reese's bouncer is upside down underneath it.

Toys are just thrown around. James dumps the bin of toys. He even dumps over his dump truck! I feel like I am having to re-teach him how to PLAY.

Still sleeps with his "cut" pacis and now TWO, yes TWO, puppies. He found the "extra" puppy one day, and he has been hooked on sleeping with two ever since. He is sleeping about 10 hours at night (8:30 pm - 6:30 am), and takes about a two hour nap during the day. We make sure to still wake him up by 2:30 pm, and we are still having to lock the door at bedtime.

Despite all the areas of "training", James is a great kid. He is our sweet little boy who will one day love the Lord with all of his big heart. We just can't get enough of him. Our house is usually filled with laughter.

James, you are a joy to our family. We love you!