Dessa's Baby Shower!

I have been working my butt off lately to plan Dessa's shower.  I wanted it to be just right for her and Chris.  

I finally got it all planned out and yesterday I went shopping with Dessa to get everything.  It took us hours but we got it all done and I dropped her off and headed home.  I had a bunch of stuff I needed to print and thankfully Mark got our printer working, yay!  So I got all of that done, put together her gifts and got things organized then I just couldn't take it any longer and had to sleep.  

Got up this morning and I have been working all day on finishing everything up.  Casen was a huge help, he is so excited for Baby Isaiah to get here.  He helped me make a diaper cake, first one I've ever made...I think it turned out pretty good

The baby shower theme colors were blue and green and then Chris really loves monkeys and Dessa really loves ducks

We then labeled all of the water bottles with super cute labels that Nikki designed

I really love how those turned out, probably my favorite thing.  

I finally got everything done, got myself, Casen and Preston ready to go and headed out....LATE!  I hauled butt.  My maps program told me it would take 30min to get there, so Casen set his timer on his ipod to see if we'd make it in time.  We ended up having to turn around 3x because it was back on some country roads that weren't marked well.  Even with that I made it with 5min to spare haha.  We hurried in and got everything all set up.  Everyone started arriving and we played some games

Winner!  Perfect size

Concentrating hard on the baby word scramble

Baby food tasting game

I was mean and bought a meat one hahahaha

Then we had all the guys race to drink beer out of baby bottles...that were then throw away lol

Winner!

Happy couple

Everyone said they had a great time and it turned out well.  I'm really glad Dessa and Chris had a good time, especially.  I was so worried it wouldn't be good enough but they seemed to have really enjoyed themselves.  She got lots of great gifts which is always fun too.  I gave her some XS Fuzzi Bunz diapers, 2 newborn goodmamas, 2 covers and a dozen prefolds.  Also made her a cookbook because she is just learning to cook, bought her a really awesome crock pot (I'm totally jealous!) and got her the onesie stickers that have the ages (newborn-3wks and then 1mo-12mo).  

It's been a long day so I'm headed to bed...first big event of the month over!  Next weekend is Thanksgiving with friends...should be lots of fun.  But tomorrow is church so I need to sleep :)

Thumb Sucking Baby!

First, I was chosen by a popular baby gear company to do a review on a new product that isn't even released yet!  It will be released in January, exclusively to Babies R Us, so my review will be posted mid Jan-beginning of Feb.  I can't say yet what the product is BUT it came today and I love, love, LOVE it!  As does Preston :)  Can't wait to do my review and show pics, hoping that when the time comes maybe that company will sponsor a giveaway.  But the review will be posted here sometime around that time, so stay tuned!  

In other news, Preston now sucks his thumb.  None of my kids have ever sucked their thumb, well I have one pic of Casen doing it but it was a one time thing and I happened to get a pic of it.  Preston, on the other hand, has been doing it a lot lately.  It is super cute BUT I'm not really sure how I feel about him doing it.  I'd really rather he didn't just because I know how hard a pacifier can be to take away from some kids and that you can actually TAKE away, out of sight out of mind, and it makes that a little easier.  But it's not like you can take a kids thumb away, I'd imagine that habit would be MUCH harder to break if he ends up being a kid that is super attached.  Plus it really grosses me out imagining him as a crawler-toddler touching everything then sucking his thumb...yuck.  But then I'm not stopping it right now, it's not like he understands and maybe he's just exploring and it won't last, I guess we'll see.  For now look how cute <3

Little man is getting big way too fast!  He can now lift his entire chest and most of his belly up off the floor when on his tummy

Sweet smiley baby

He is also very attached to his blanket from Casen.  We gave it to him while he was still in the NICU and he always has it now, it goes everywhere with us.  None of the boys were blankie babies either but he just loves his and it makes it even more special that Casen gave it to him and was the one to design it

He has something out for that frog...."Now look here Mr. Frog...."

"I'M GOING TO EAT YOUUUU"

"WTF"

"Uh oh, you been watching me?"

Haha I love it, he is obsessed with that frog, though sometimes he likes to attack the sun behind him too.   

Museum Play Date with New Friends

Thursday we had a play date with a Mom I met through youtube/facebook.  We met at the Ft. Worth Museum of Science and History, first time Hayden has ever been.  He had so much fun!  I had fun too :)  She had brought her 3yr old daughter and then 4mo old daughter with her so the kids were all very close in age.  It took a bit for Hayden and her daughter (J) to warm up, they were more playing on their own instead of together.  In the little kids section they have a little store with carts, Hayden was playing with one.  He kept coming over to us asking us what we wanted to eat then going and getting it.  Then he started running back and forth with the cart....being a 4yr old.  Well J wanted a cart but couldn't find one so Hayden disappeared for a minute then came back pushing 2 carts...he had found one for her.  It was really sweet <3  

At one point I had to take Hayden to the bathroom and as I came back in L (other mama) was really upset and telling a chaperone that was there with some kids that looked to be about 6yrs old on a field trip, that they were throwing balls and almost hit little P in the head!  The chaperone's response?  "A little boy that's with yall was pushing a cart around!"  ummm ok???  Isn't that what they are supposed to do with them?!?  Yeah ok, maybe he shouldn't have been running, but he didn't run into anyone, he was playing.  This kid had been told not to throw the balls, and right before this happened Mama L had specifically told him not to throw it and he did anyway and right at her, she had to actually block the baby's head to keep the GOLF ball from hitting her!  Needless to say, she was very upset, rightfully so!  I still can't believe that woman's response!  It's no wonder some kids these days behave the way they do, the adults around them making excuses for them and not addressing the issue.  From what I saw she said nothing to the kid.  They did leave soon after though. 

Not long after that we went to grab some lunch from their cafe.  I think that's when J and Hayden bonded over pickles haha.  J really loves pickles but Hayden doesn't...none of my kids do, aren't they weird??  But he saw her eating them and picked his up and was watching her close and tried his. Still decided he didn't like pickles.  But after they finished eating they were running around playing together while we chatted some more and finished eating, too.  

We had to leave after that to make it home to get the boys.  Actually, had to haul butt to make it home!  Didn't make it in time....world's worst mother, I think so.  The big boys had gone in through the back door though, it was unlocked, smart kids.  Then Landon said Casen said they should eat candy but Landon told him no and they came outside to wait for me.  Would have rather they didn't do that, but they did pretty good seeing they've never been home alone and had no clue where I was lol.  I was home within 5min of them getting home though, so they weren't home long.  

Hayden couldn't stop talking about them for days, he kept bragging to his big brothers that he made a new friend and went to the museum.  But when Mark asked him how it was he said "I had a lot of fun, I have a new best friend, BUT there weren't any monkeys so that was sad" lmao

We really had a lot of fun though, hopefully we can get together again soon.  

We have teeth!

How could I forget to update about this??  

Preston has 2 teeth!!!!!!  They came through on Nov 1st...5mo 1 day old :)  He got both of is bottom front ones the same day.  No wonder the week before was such hell haha.  He's sleeping SO much better since they broke through, back to napping really well and he isn't doing AS good at night.  He used to do 6-9hrs for his first stretch then nurse, then sleep again for 3-4hrs, nurse and repeat.  Now he's doing maybe 5-6hrs if I'm lucky then every 3-4hrs.  Maybe we'll work back up to longer again....either way I think he's sleeping great, still so much better than Casen and Hayden did at this age.  And he's only up long enough to nurse then back to sleep so it's no big deal waking with him at all.  

I weighed him this morning and he was 15lbs 13oz BUT he had just eaten (which I've done a before and after eating weigh in and he takes about 4oz) and the kid hasn't pooped in a good 5-6 days haha.  So he's probably more like 15lbs 5-8oz.  

He tried bananas on Friday for the first time, his tongue thrust reflex is gone now, that's the first time in a week or so we'd tried any food.  He still only wanted a couple bites then started spitting it out though so I stopped offering.  But on Saturday I offered him about 1oz of bananas and he ate it all!!  He really likes bananas apparently.  That is the most he's eaten.  On Sunday I gave him a couple bites of mango...first time....but he wasn't interested.  Think it was too many days in a row of solids, so we are waiting a few more days then will try some more mango.  

And just in case I forgot to update about this too...he now gives kisses!  It is the sweetest thing in the world!  If you have him standing up in your lap you can say "give me kisses" and he will grab both sides of your face, lean in and plant a big open mouthed kiss right on your lips....drool and all.  Adorable <3  

Casen's repeat hearing test

Just a recap....

Casen had a hearing test done about 2wks ago, he failed.  It showed mild hearing loss in his middle or outer ear, most likely caused from his wax buildup or fluid.  He produces WAY more wax than the normal person, it's ridiculous the amount really.  So we were sent over to our pediatrician to have his ears flushed out.  Really gross BTW.  I then called and set up another hearing test with his audiologist.  

So that appt was today.  His hearing is better!!!!!  It's not perfect BUT his right ear showed that is ear drum is intact and moving and the fluid is starting to work it's way out.  The left ear drum is not moving and no fluid is moving but she said that it's most likely because his ear was so full of wax his ear drum wasn't able to move.  That left ear was worse, had more wax.  She said that she thinks it's going to resolve on it's own and nothing further needs to be done unless he starts asking us to repeat all the time again.  There has been a noticeable improvement in his hearing since having his ears flushed.  So I'm going to buy one of the things to flush it myself.  Our pediatrician will not set up appts to do it, we have to do it as sick visits which for 1 cost me a copay, 2 it's a 30min drive away, 3 sick visits there are ONLY walk ins they don't do appts for sick visits.  We can easily sit there a few hours waiting to be seen.  I can't do that once a month or whatever to keep his ears clear, he has to be in school.  

So now he is going to get evaluated for speech therapy at school to get a bit of help there.  I think it's going to be easily corrected now that he can hear us and himself better...it is actually already a bit better.  So good news all around on that!!!!

Also his new prescription cream for his eczema has fully cleared up his horrible dry skin patches in his ears.  He has a bad patch on his back that isn't fully cleared up but looking much better.  Then his horrible sores on his head are getting SO much better with his new medicated shampoo.  We had tried a couple but this one is a lot stronger and works so much better for him.  So yay!

Then I also called about Hayden's speech therapy today and the soonest they can get him in JUST for the 2hr evaluation is FEB 7th!!!!  Can't believe that.  Then after that he'd start speech therapy.  I really hate it's going to take so long because he really needs some help and his stutter is getting very very bad.  Each day it's a little worse it seems.  

But another thing about speech....Preston started saying mama today!!!!  <3  Not completely sure he knows what it means but he seems to.  He will call me when he's upset instead of actually crying.  He doesn't do it every time so I think he might know because it's like he's calling me when he wants me but he'll cry if it's just upset about something.  Who knows...all I know is it's ADORABLE!!!!

5mo and Halloween!

Today Mr. Preston is 5mo old!!!!  It's going by way too fast, makes me sad.  He's doing really well!  Yesterday he found his feet finally :)  He's now about 15lbs 4oz, not sure how long he is.  He's now pushing straight up on his arms sometimes when on his belly and can turn in circles while on his back or tummy.  Still not sitting up, needs full support.  He is still just tasting solids but not really eating anything yet.  

5mo pics

Sucking on his bottom lip, he's started doing that recently

Those toes

Sitting in a restaurant high chair for the first time

And today was also Halloween!!!!  We got our pumpkin yesterday and started to carve it but ran out of time so only got it cleaned out.  

Ready to carve

Casen helping clean it out

Landon getting some of the yuck out

Preston decided he would just watch haha

We just got it cleaned out then dinner was ready and it was already past bedtime.  So the rest was saved for today.  When the boys got home from school we did our chores then they got to paint their pumpkins!  They love doing it, we do it every year.  They always pick a small pumpkin each and they paint it

I thought for Preston's I would put his handprint on it but yeah that was a mess.  I let got of his hand for a second and he grabbed both feet lol.  Then trying to get his hand opened that was covered in paint...yeah just a big mess

So he got a bath while the other boys finished up

Finished pumpkins, left to right

Landon's was a yoda pumpkin, Casen's a rainbow, Hayden's a mess and Preston's 

3 pirates and a parrot

Hayden put  on a show for everyone.  He kept going up and saying "arghhhhh" and posing with his sword, he earned himself a ton of candy lol.  Even one lady brought him back over and dumped tons more in his bag haha.  He loves to put on a show

Casen the pirate

Landon the pirate

Our little parrot, this was before trick or treating, he was so exhausted that after pics I took him inside and put him to bed and Mark took the big boys out

Ready for bed

Finished pumpkin

Their loot

Oh and while out Casen ran into his kindergarten teacher, Mrs Nutt!!!!  He was so excited he just loves her!!!  He was very sad when he started back to school and found out she had moved to another school to teach so he hasn't seen her since the end of last year

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween and Happy birthday to my Mom!!!!!!!!!