Welcome, one and all!

Howdy howdy, everyone!  Glad to see you!  :)

Just to clarify, yes, there are now TWO blog to chronicle our lives--this one, and uswilcoxtypes.blogspot.com.  Instead of completely censoring what I say when I "blog", I've decided to have our blog here and "blog lite" at the other site.  All the good, juicy details of our lives will be chronicled here, and the leftovers go to the other blog.  I want to be free to share the more "intimate" details of our lives without having to worry about our privacy being breeched.  Does that make sense?

Anyways, I hope you enjoy.  I'm sorry if there's been so much confusion with what's been going on with our blogs.  Rest assured, this is the last stop.  So feel free to link to Us Wilcox Types from your blogs (most have already done so,) and stop by here when you want the meat and potatoes.  :)

And now, a few *exclusive* bath time fun shots!

Mmmm.... bath-water soaked fingers...

"Seriously? You're taking my picture while I'm trying to chill in the tub?"  Yes, sweetie, I am. :)

Pre-bath teddy love!

Jesslyn's 5 Months!

Yeesh... Been trying to post this post FOREVER! Oh well. Whatcha gonna do...

Anyways, Jesslyn is 5 months now! Hard to believe, really... Part of me feels like she's always been around, and it's like, "What, she's only been here 5 months!" The other part feels like, "really... it's only been 5 months?" Either way, it's all good.

Every day, she's becoming more and more fun! She's mastered rolling over, both from front to back and back to front. And I think crawling is within her grasp, as she can scoot herself all over the place! No elevated place is safe, anymore... It's only a matter of time before she'll be chasing Jeremiah around the house, trying to steal his socks (as she was trying to do earlier today.)

Teething wise, we're on the cusp, I think. She's not been napping very well lately, waking up after only 30-45 minutes. But, if I give her some Tylenol, or Motrin, then a 30 minute naps turns into two hours! Go figure. So while nothing's actually shown up yet, I think they're coming... and she's not afraid to let us know.

Along those lines, we had an unusual experience at church today. We dropped the kiddies off at their respective rooms--Jeremiah in the "Navigators" and Jesslyn in the nursery. She was asleep, as she usually is when we drop her off, since it's during her nap time. The last few weeks, that's how she's stayed the whole time, barely, if ever, making a peep. Today, though, about halfway through the service, I saw her number flash up on the LED screen. :( So I got up to go see what was wrong (half expecting it to have been a mistake... there's no way she woke up and was then so upset they had to page us, after all!) Well, I was wrong... She was crying... And no one could get her to stop. It was the saddest cry I've seen... that lower lip of hers just quivered so much, and the tears, and the sobs... But as soon as she saw Mommy, she started calming down. Once I was holding her, she calmed down, except for a few angry cries, as if to say, "What were you thinking, leaving me here with all these strangers, while I was asleep! Are you crazy!?" Sorry, sweetie... Mommy thought you'd sleep the whole time. Next time, I'll give ya a swig of Tylenol before we leave. :)

That is all, for now! Some pictures?




Where have we see this dress before.....

Oh, I don't know....

For a while now, I've been contemplating what to do about the blog.

As you may have noticed, I divulge quite a bit about our lives here. So much so that one does not have to try very hard to know what is going on in our lives--they just have to come here. This is intentional, since both our families are spread out quite a bit, and the density of traffic around here prevents us from seeing friends very often.

However, sometimes people piss you off/hurt/annoy you so much that you don't feel the need to share with them anymore. They do something so stupid, and so.... vengeful, that there's really no reason to keep them in the loop anymore, related or not. That's part of the reason why we moved the blog.

Now, it has come to my attention that I probably use the blog as a sounding board a little too much. I say things in frustration, and "to vent" and the next thing I know, some folks are reading into what I say WAAAAAAAY too much, and nearly ruins Jeremy's birthday as a result [which was yesterday, btw... HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABISH! ;) ] It's amazing how much hurt/anger/annoyance e-mail can cause... [and how even more strained relationships become because of it....]

Anyways, I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. I'd like to keep the blog as is, but now realize that that is unrealistic. So do I open it up only to invited readers? Do I start posting "bare-bones" posts with pictures and captions only? Do I create a different blog to use as my "sounding board"? I don't know yet. There are people who read our blog that probably wouldn't if they had to create a Google account to do so. And I personally don't see the point of just posting pictures and captions--I could use a photo-hosting service for that.

All I know is that this will be the last "personal" post on here until I figure it out. I'm extremely disappointed that I finally have to make this decision, but if it saves us the turmoil of the past week, it'll be so worth it! [i won't TEll you who Deserves the thanks for that... i'm sure they know.]

So don't be surprised if it's quiet here for a while. A break from the blog world might be good for me, anyways. That's a couple of hours a week, at least, I could spend doing other things. We'll see, I guess.

And that is that. NAP TIME! :)

Jeremiah's 2nd Birthday!

Yeah, this are a little late... I just noticed that I had uploaded these to the server, and forgot about them.





Lunch at Red Robin...



He didn't like them singing to him...



The ice cream sundae made it all better, though!



Here's Jeremiah's Chuck E Cheese fun from his 2nd birthday! It was his first time going, and he LOVED it! We couldn't get him to leave without a fight! Though he did freak out a little when they stamped his hand when we first go there.... (it's a "kid check" thing they do--kids hands get stamped with a number and parents get the same. Even Jesslyn gets a sticker with it! But yeah, freaked Jeremiah out.)

Bouncy, bouncy, bouncy!

Jesslyn LOVES to bounce!

This girl is a motion maniac! If she's not bouncing in her "play thing" she's bouncing in her bouncer we put up in the doorway. Or on your lap, which is especially cute.

She doesn't bounce that much in this video... kept getting distracted by the sun. But when the camera wasn't rolling, she couldn't stop!

Yet another active child! I don't know how we did it. :) Didn't get it from Mommy & Daddy, that's for sure, but now it'll force us to be more so. Not a bad motivation to get up and moving!

And here she is....

LUNCH!

Tomatoes, cucumbers, and a little blue cheese dressing. Oh, and hot chocolate (not shown) to wash it all down.

That's what he wanted.... Interesting combo, I know. :)

BTW, he can say three words perfectly now (and many more that we can translate...) "apple" "baby" and "people" which I think he learned how to say by combining "baby" and "apple" ["bapple" --->"people" makes sense, right?]

Jesslyn's 4 Month Checkup

Cliff's Notes version!

99th%+ weight [20/10].  99th%+ height [27] 99th%+ head [17?]

New doctor.  Good visit.  Mutual respect.  No tears.  Lots of drool. :)

Next up: solids!

LOST, Season 5

Only 29 episodes remain.  Wow.  

This past week's episode was much better than the first two!  The less "Oceanic 6" focused, the better.  It was particularly interesting to see the the islanders traversing through time, meeting some "old" friends in an earlier state.  And we now have some answers as to the problems that plague the island (preggers problems, Rose's cancer cure, "mysterious" island disease...)  It's amazing what a little radiation leak outta a Hydrogen bomb can do!

Anyway, I won't be doing reviews this year, as I tried to last year.  Too much commitment with not enough time to gather all my thoughts into one place.

Therefore, I'd like to introduce you to Erika!  Erika writes up a weekly recap for her blog, Long Live Locke (she's a bit of a Locke fan...) and they're also posted on DarkUFO's site, as well.  Her recaps are pretty close to how I feel/think about the show, and she can explain things in a far more simplistic way than some other writers tend to do.  In a nutshell, she speaks for me!  :) 

I'll be linking to her blog here once she uploads it, usually on the Monday following the episode.  If I think there's anything she left out, I'll add my thoughts.  She's usually pretty good, though, so I hope you'll enjoy!

Oh, and a couple of things--her pictures always have captions, so scroll over them and all her subject headings are song lyrics.  She will usually name them in the comments section.

Without further adieu...

LOST 5.03 - "Jughead"

LOST 5.02 - "The Lie"

LOST 5.01 - "Because You Left"

SnOOOOOOOOOOOOW Day!

Well, it happened, somehow... We got SNOOOOOOOOW! Surprisingly, it stuck around all day, too. AND, it looks like we'll have to shovel again, since more has fallen since we did it this morning ("we" being Jeremiah and me!) Right now, though, it's freezing rain... So I dunno what we'll have in the morning, but today, we had FUN! Jeremiah's been in the snow only once before. This year, we were prepared! I just hope he gets to use it more than ONCE!

All dressed up and ready to go!

"This is kinda cool, Mom. Get it? Cool??" Ra-ra-ra....

Our attempt at a snow angel...

"Hmm... now what???"

"I know! I'll clear off Mommy's van for her! Well, at least the headlights."

Not sure what he was trying to do here, but he sure was enjoying himself!

Best. Bath. EVER.

Hmm... Ball pit or bath? How 'bout both!

Update

So here's the latest on Jesslyn.

She's fine.  :)

We took her to the Dr's on Thursday to follow up, and while I was under the impression that she definitely had a UTI, apparently this isn't the case.  While some of her test results suggest that, they could also be interpreted as just a viral infection that needed to run its course.

While we're still waiting on the final test results from the hospital, her fever is pretty much gone and she's her happy self once again.  However, the antibiotics the ER Ped was SOOOO anxious to prescribe for her (to treat the supposed UTI) has given her the runs and has, in turn, caused a painful rash on her tiny little bum.  :(  So until we hear back from our Dr. with the final results, we're not giving her anymore antibiotics.  

I have a feeling the results will be negative--the test only takes 24-48 hours, though it could take up to 72.... why?  Because if nothing's grown within 72 hours, nothing will.  Chances are, if there was a bacterial presence, something would have shown up much sooner.  And since we've crossed the 72 hour mark and have heard nay a thing, I'm assuming nothing was there, and she didn't need the antibiotics that gave her a rash NOR those they shot her up with in the hospital (oh, and they had this *bright* idea to stick her with two shots, one in each leg, at the EXACT SAME TIME, because that would be less traumatic than one after another....)

Needless to say, I'm not taking her to the ER anymore unless there's a definite EMERGENCY.  Yes, her fever was a bit high, but it had just started that day, and didn't cross 104 (which is when MOST pediatricians would tell you to head to the ER....)  Had she had that fever for even a second day, I would have been more eager to bring her in... Or if she had had other symptoms to worry about, like a cough or runny nose... she had neither.  All she had was a fever.  

We're also going to take her to a different dr in the practice.  Dr. Atiyeh is fine for Jeremiah, but I think she needs a gal dr, so that's what we're doing.  Plus, I never feel like he listens to my questions.  Like when she had her two month checkup and they wanted to give her vaccinations--I asked what BRANDS they used (some have higher aluminum counts than others... after all she'd been through at the NICU, I wanted to minimize any chance of complications from vaccines, included too much aluminum in one day.)  His response:  "Oh, all of our vaccines are mercury free."  Umm... that's not what I asked.  Anyways, I'm ready to switch practices altogether, but since they both need a check up right now, I don't have time to research a new one yet.  That will definitely be my priority before her 6 month check up.  I'm just tired of driving to Falls Church for a check up....

[ rant ]

One more thing...

Boy, am I SICK and TIRED of EVERYONE in the medical community trying to tell me that something is wrong with Jesslyn because she was a HOME BIRTH!  Seriously, both doctors we saw used that and the fact that she was in the NICU as a ******RED FLAG!!!!!!!!!!!!****** to keep her in the ER for extensive testing.  Oh my gosh, I was so ***FLIPPING*** mad!  Apparently, they only listen to their OBGYN friends who tell them, "Home births are so dangerous!  The only safe place to have a baby is in a hospital."  Never mind the fact that I had, not one, but TWO nurse-midwives (okay, so one was a student, but still a nurse,) whose job is ONLY to deliver babies.  They've delivered more babies vaginally than I'm sure most OBGYN's have delivered.  That's all they do--deliver babies to healthy Mommies.  They're not going to take you on as a client if you're high risk, so the chances of complications are very low.  Yes, Jesslyn had some trouble breathing when she was born.  What our midwife did here was the SAME thing they did in the hospital, with less fancy equipment.  And if Jesslyn hadn't had the breathing issues she had, they would have never bothered checking her heart and finding a [really really tiny] hole there that ended up healing itself for the most part (the fact that it's more common than they'll admit does not escape me... I did the research.)  That would have been the situation whether here at home OR in the hospital.  Only had she been born in the hospital, she would have definitely been a c-section.  How do I know?? Because no doctor (at least that I know of) would let a woman even ATTEMPT to deliver an 11 lb+ baby vaginally.  In their minds, it's "impossible."  Yay, so I get to have major abdominal surgery for NO REASON!  Because my "Dr" is SCARED!!! [i.e. doesn't want to deal with the possibilities of complications...]  Don't get me wrong, there are women out there who need C-Sections, and drs, and OBGYNS, and epidurals, and all that other fun hospital stuff.  But I didn't.  And I did not "endanger" my child by choosing to do so.  Would anyone tell me that Jeremiah is any less healthy, because he was born at home???  Did I "harm" him, somehow, by choosing to use a midwife, and delivering him in the comfort of our home, in our room, the way I wanted to, with just friends and family around us???  Wow, I'm a bad mother, huh?  

I swear, the next person that implies that I endangered my baby, or somehow harmed them by choosing to have a home birth, I will punch them in the face.  No reservations!  I've had to deal with so much CRAP from people, and y'know what--they're OUR kids!  It's OUR right to chose how we want to deliver OUR babies!  You have NO right to push your agenda on us, whether your a doctor or otherwise!  We've done the research.  We've got the best team available in Northern VA, when it comes to delivering healthy babies to healthy mommies.  And we're a 5 minute ambulance ride from the hospital should anything go wrong.  So BACK OFF!   For your own good.  :)

[ /rant ]

Yes, so Jesslyn is fine.  :)  Well, minus that rash on her bum.  Poor thing.  Thanks for your prayers!  She's tough little cookie, that's for sure.  So cute!

Did I mention she was 20 lbs? [!!!]

Not how we planned on spending "LOST" Premiere night...

Well, once again, Jesslyn is keeping us on our toes... After having a *perfect* birth and *perfect* first year with Jeremiah, we're really not used to all this drama. Is it really normal for a baby to end up in the hospital TWICE in her first 4 months?!?! Really, I don't think the ER Pediatrician should know who we are as easily as he did....

Anyways, it really wasn't that bad. Poor thing woke up from her nap yesterday afternoon just not herself... She was wimpering, grunting, shivering, and only wanted to cuddle with her binky, despite having taken a good nap. I couldn't get her to smile, laugh, nothing! She just wanted to cuddle. Checked her temp, and it seemed fine, so I figured she just hadn't gotten a long enough nap and wanted to go back to sleep. I figured it was teething, so I gave her some Motrin (didn't have any Tylenol handy) and back to sleep she went!

Woke up a little while later, and was her fine, merry self again. YAY! She ate, played, laughed and went back to bed for her afternoon nap. By the time she woke up from that nap, Daddy was home and she was actin' all weird again. Checked her temp and it was high--102.7. Called the Dr's, stupid nurse told us she was probably constipated (though she had proven otherwise twice earlier that day...) Gave her a "cool" bath (cool for her, at least... She likes her baths on the warmer side and will cry if it's too cold,) check her temp again, and it had gone up! Spoke with Dr. Atiyeh this time, and he recommended taking her to the ER, "just to be on the safe side."

Great.

Thankfully, Grandpa was still driving home from work, so he wasn't too far and was able to come hang out with his "favorite grandson" while we took our little girl in. She was a trooper, though! Of course she cried when they stuck her, trying to put an IV in (just in case, since they had to get blood anyways...) and she cried during her X-Rays (to make sure all was good in her chest) but otherwise, she was great.

Can you guess how much she weighed??? I'll give you a hint--she weighs more than some one year olds I know. :) 20 lbs 4 oz! HOLY SMOKES! I've dubbed myself "Super Woman," as all too often, I have to carry BOTH her AND Jeremiah up and down the stairs. That's almost 60 lbs! Yeah, baby! There's my new workout routine--carry them both up and downstairs a couple of times in a row, couple times a day. Boo-yah!

Yeah, I think this gown was a little too big for her....

Anyways, turns out it's a UTI.... they shot her up with some antibiotics, gave us a script to fill and we're checking up with our Dr. today. So she's fine, just a little blah-ish for now. Compared to last time, this is nothing, though, so we know she'll handle it a-okay.

GooooooOOOOOOOOO STEELERS!!!!

Yeah man! Steelers are BACK in the SUPERBOWL!

And whoda thunk it--they're playing the Cardinals. Really??? Yes. Crazy!

It was an intense game... there was a moment when I thought the Ravens might make a comeback and tie it up, possibly even win! But that quickly subsided, and a couple of D-picks later, we're on the way back to the Superbowl! Woot!

And now, a couple of quiet days at home before Jeremy has to return to the daily grind. Snow is in the forecast again for tomorrow. We'll see. They say we should get an inch. Uh huh... Doesn't matter to me, either way. I don't have to go anywhere. I don't plan on going anywhere. So it's all good.

Thankfully, Jeremy is no longer planning on heading downtown for the inauguration (there was a possibility of meeting up with a friend, but now, we'll just have a quiet day at home.) I'm SO GLAD! Yeah, not at all interested in braving the crowds. Not that standing in line, in the cold, so we can squeeze onto a metro train and then walk miles, in the cold, only to stand in more crowds, and then walk more miles again, stand in the cold again, wait to squeeze on to the train again, fight traffic on the way home, and so on, all for what??? Yeah, no. Not going to happen. We may catch it on TV. We may not. Either way, doesn't matter to us. More interested in cozying with the family instead!

The weekend has been equally quiet, except for this afternoon. We've just been chillin' at home (instead of chillin' outside--it's been freakin' cold here!) Jesslyn's had a stuffy nose all week, something we suspect she picked up from the nursery at church last week, so we'll probably stay away until cold and flu season is "over." Thankfully, there's internet campus available! I do miss actually going to church, though. Praise and worship just isn't the same watching online. But at least it's something.

Today was nice--we had our friends John "Juanaldo Valdez Barbados II" and his fiance, Carolyn over for the playoff games. Had to keep it tame, though, as Jeremiah would get very upset when the cheering got too loud. My poor little man--he's learning how to handle his "meltdowns," specifically when he gets upset due to 'overstimulation' I guess. The Steelers made a great play, and we all cheered. Jeremiah, who was sitting in his high chair, eating dinner at the time, threw his sippy cup on the floor and started flailing his arms across his tray, sending food everywhere. At the same time, he started screaming, which then turned to crying/screaming, and couldn't be consoled. I had been planing on giving him his dessert right before he lost it, so we went and picked out a cupcake that Miss Carolyn had made and that cheered him up. But my goodness, it breaks my heart to see him upset like that. You can see the frustration on him, that he can't express himself, and so instead, he freaks out. This is something new with him, and it's not a tantrum, he just can't handle his emotions yet. Earlier today, he had a similar meltdown when I was using the handvac to clean up a bit. I guess I didn't catch his reaction soon enough, because by the time I saw him crying/screaming, he was also hitting his chest, and was very anxious for me to pick him up. Yeash. My poor little man.

Alright, I'm tired. Time for bed!

CPSIA--Too far???

I'm sure most, if not all, of you have heard about this CPSIA initiative set to take place by Feb. 10, 2009. It is an answer to prayer for some, in that the government will FINALLY be stepping in and putting some rules and regulations in place regarding the toys, clothing and feeding items our children use on a day to day basis. Dangerous chemicals are now "outlawed" if you will, and we'll be able to buy, with confidence, knowing that the items we sell are "safe".

It's not all roses and peaches, though... With this new "law" comes strict testing regulations, and harsh fines for offenders. Resellers, while exempt from testing requirements, do have to go through reasonable measures to make sure the products their selling for children are safe--if they are found to be in violation, fines and prosecution could await them.

At first, I was on the fence about this issue... I'm glad the government is starting to step up and say, "these things are dangerous and shouldn't be exposed to children in any way." But I don't want to hurt the homemade and small business owners and thrift shops who are also being held to these standards.

ZRecs wrote a great article today about 10 predictions that could happen if the bill goes through as it stands now... As a parent, I'm a bit freaked. And if I were a reseller, like my friends the Meny's, who have their own little shop, Little Lords and Ladies, I'd be sweating bullets... This is going to hurt a lot more than it will probably help, unfortunately.

More on what you can do, once Jesslyn's not screaming in my arms... :)

**Product Recall!

For those of you who haven't signed up for the CPSC emails with all the latest recall notices, do so now! You never know what you may need to worry about...

That being said, this one is a doosie... I'm sure many of you have them, and are probably letting your little ones play with it, so be aware! I Heart Guts is recalling their "Plush Uterus," due to the possibility of detaching ovaries, which could pose as a choking hazard for young children. If you're an adult playing with it, probably not a good idea to put the ovaries in your mouth.... FYI....

Yeah, I know, ewwwwww.... :) Thanks, ZRecs, for the heads up. :)

It's kinda cute, though...

LOST is BACK!

Well, kinda.  Wednesday, Jan. 14th, at 9 p.m., ABC will air the season four finale, for those of you who've forgotten (heck, it was, what 8! months ago!)  According to my "sources", the first two episodes of season 5 (of 6... yes, next season after this, 2010, is the LAST season of LOST!  AAAAAAHHHHH!) will be heavily "time-travel" centric.  And from what I understand, many questions that fans have been pondering during Season 5's gestation will be answered.  

Seriously, has there ever been a more thought out/provoking/frustrating/awesome show on TV???? EVER?!?!  No.  And for the haters out there, well, my guess is you haven't watched from the beginning, because, yeah, if you pick it up mid-season, and especially, MID-SERIES, it ain't gonna make a whole lotta sense.  But wow... it's gonna be awesome, come Fall 2010, to be able to sit down and watch all 6 seasons [preferably in Blu-ray,] back to back, no commercials and see exactly what kind of genius came up with such a masterpiece!

Okay, I may be going a tad overboard... then again, if you don't agree, well... then you haven't seen it.  Or you don't "get" it (you do have to invest at least a little effort to follow what's going on--the depth is part of what gives the show its "power of awesome."  Something Heroes lacked, unfortunately.  You can't just "watch" LOST.... just like you can't "skim" a book to truly "read" it.)

Anyways, the season premiere is next week, and I'm [we] are lookin' forward to it!  So let us know if you're on board--it's always fun to have other folks to chat with about it, share theories, figure out what's going on...  Part o' the fun!

Don't feel like you have to comment if you aren't... [I'm looking at you, Ali.... ;) ]  Playa's ONLY! [which means instead of 1 comments, we'll have 0 or -1 comments... if that's possible.  Seriously, you people don't know what you're missing... but I digress...]

I don't know if I'll be getting around to posting epi synops this time around...  We'll see how things go...  If this season is as awesome as all the spoilers have shown thus far, it's going to be hard to NOT say anything.  

By the way, Jeremiah's talking a lot more now.  :)  He's been saying, "that's like this, too!" or something similar, whenever he sees two of the same thing (like if we're both having oatmeal for breakfast, or he's looking at the fan in the breakfast nook, and will point to the fan in the dining room, etc...)  He also likes to say, "E," "T," "S," "C," "ice," "dank ooo," and a few others that I'm still trying to translate.  What a guy!  :)

Just thought I'd throw that in there.

Happy 4 Months, Jesslyn!

Jesslyn is 4 months old today!

What's new?  Not a whole lot, though we had one biggie this week--she rolled over for the first time!  Technically, she was 3 months and almost 4 weeks old when she did it, but it happened... I was there.  :)  Well, I saw her no longer on the side I put her down on, at least.  :)  And then Jeremy found her the same way again this morning.  Pretty cool stuff.  Our little girl is growing up!

So much for 6-9 month clothes, though... I got her a bunch of cute things, and she's already starting to outgrow most of it, especially pajamas.  It's almost like she's skipping 6-9 and wants to go right to 9-12 or 6-12.  Maybe we'll just skip the 12 month sizes and go to 18 months...  Might be a little big early on, but I have a feeling it won't be long before she can wear it comfortably.  Definitely a big gal.  She's already hitting the back of the seat when in the car, and has to have the straps at their longest length... My guess is that we'll have another month or so, at most, until we need to move her into a convertible car seat.

Otherwise, things are about the same.  She continues to be a happy baby, in general, still quick to let you know when she's tired/hungry/wants to be held.  Drool seems to be more frequent than spit-up nowadays, so that's good.  I haven't scheduled her next appointment yet (we're still "working" on it....) but that should be soon, and we certainly are interested in seeing how much she's grown.  

Unlike Jeremiah, we'll probably be waiting until she's closer to 6 months to start solids--she definitely knows her bottle when she sees it, and loves to watch us eat, but doesn't seem that interested in eating herself--yet.  Fine with me--just makes things more complicated when she does.  :)  So I'm in no hurry!

**UPDATED w/ VIDEO! Happy Birthday, Jeremiah!

The birthday card I made for Jeremiah and sent in to Sprout--we'll find out soon if they show it on TV!  Like my penguin?? He LOVES Pingu!

Two years and 5 hours ago, Mommy and Daddy were playing Singstar at Grandma's house when Mommy's water broke.  A few hours later, Jeremiah was here!  

And boy has he changed in those two years!  He's becoming such a handsome, young man, with such a loving, sweet heart.  He's always trying to be helpful, looks after his favorite baby sister, and is perfectly happy just sitting with you watching YouTube videos one minute, then running off to play with a car or truck the next.  And while he has his moments where he really "tests" Mommy and Daddy, he limits those to the house only (for the most part) and is easily distracted to something else.

We are so proud of our little man, and watching him grow into the Godly man we know he'll be someday.  'Til then, we're enjoying the ride.

Happy Birthday, Jeremiah!  We love you lots!

These were taken last night, post-haircut!  Isn't it cute???

Bumbo vs. Bebe Pod

I'm not really the "reviewer" type, but this time I decided to make an exception.... since I have both.  :)  I will preface this by saying that we had neither when Jeremiah was a baby.  Back then, we mostly hung out in the living room where his activity center "thingie" was (I don't know what the official name is... hopefully you know what I'm talking about.)  Now that we're in our house, there are many more places to go--family room, play room, breakfast nook (though we'll usually stick her in a high chair there,) Mommy's room, etc...  Jesslyn, like her favorite big brother before her, always wants to be upright, whenever she's awake.  If you "lay" her anywhere, or have her in any type of semi-reclined position, she will try with all her might to sit herself up.  So we broke down and asked Santa to bring her a Bumbo seat.  He didn't, but she did receive a Target gift card which hooked her up.  

Originally, we had decided on the Bebe Pod--I'd read other reviews comparing the two, and that review basically boiled it down to two things:  If your child is chunky, they'll probably prefer the Bebe Pod, since it's less molded.  If on the smaller side, the Bumbo seat.  Knowing how cute and chunky those thighs of hers can be, we opted for the Pod for Jesslyn.  Ordered one for $54 (with tray, after coupon) off Target's website, and got it today!

Well, while out shopping at Target Friday afternoon, we came across the Bumbo seat, with tray, on clearance for $35!  The seat by itself is normally $39, so we scooped on up and figured we could decide which we liked better and return the Bebe Pod if it wasn't worth the extra bucks.  Here's everything out of the boxes--Bebe Pod on the left, Bumbo on the right (yes, we like orange. :)
The Bebe Pod also comes with a Sassy toy, fun tray inserts (there's a second underneath that looks like an orange slice) and also has straps.  The Bumbo seat keeps it simple--seat and tray.

First, the Bebe Pod.  (Jeremiah volunteered to be my "test subject" since Jesslyn's asleep.  :)  Right off the bat, I notice it's smaller than the Bumbo seat, though their weight is relatively the same.  The box it comes in is less cumbersome to carry around, since it's rectangular in shape, but I don't expect to use the box much, if at all.  

The white "nub" comes off so you can attach a tray to it, and is pretty easy to do, once you figure it out (or read the directions.)  Jeremiah fit in there just fine, though it was tough getting the tray on once he was seated (not that it's designed for 2 year olds, so probably not a fair assessment.) The inserts for the tray are cute, though they don't stick or anything, just sit there.  You kinda have to use 'em, too, as there are gaps in the tray itself from where the locking mechanism attaches (so it can lock onto the seat.)

The Sassy toy is cute, and since it appears that Sassy has successfully gone "BPA-Free", I'll let Jesslyn play with it.  But it doesn't attach to the seat in any way, so I don't really consider it a feature (I kinda wish it did, since she's still in the "flailing" phase of playing with toys... They go flying pretty easily.)

Now the Bumbo seat.  Since I mentioned it with the bebe Pod, I'll mention it here, too--the box is pretty big.  It wasn't easy to move around, since the cardboard couldn't support the weight of the seat if you were only holding it by one handle.  I know, minor thing, but it was driving me crazy.  We won't be keeping the box.   

Otherwise, the seat itself is nice--very simple design.  It's like they took a baby and sat them in a pile of soft rubber to create the perfect "mold".  It is more contoured than the bebe Pod, and so far, Jesslyn's had no problems fitting in it (she hasn't sat in the Pod yet, but I'd expect her to fit just fine in that one, too.)  

The tray pops on over the top and secures itself underneath the seat.  Personally, I haven't been able to do this with a baby in the seat.  I just can't get the tray to lock underneath like it should, and since you're not supposed to "tip" the seat while the baby's in it, I just haven't really been using the tray with her.  I don't know what I'm doing wrong but I'm sure I'm not the only one who's had the issue.

And that's about all there is to say about the Bumbo seat.  It does what it says it will do--help a baby sit up.  Simple and to the point.

So which is better?  Well, from their function point of view, they're the same.  The Bumbo is a little larger, so if space is an issue, the bebe Pod might be the better option.  If you're buying the seat and JUST the seat, then I would probably prefer the bebe Pod, just on looks alone (the straps, by the way, I see as pointless.  This is not a chair you really strap your baby into--neither should be used on an elevated surface, so I don't really see the point in including them.  If the baby can get out on their own, I'd rather have them be able to get out completely, rather than tip out and still have the seat attached to them--I can just picture Jesslyn hanging mostly out, over the side, and getting really mad about it, once she's a bit older.  Maybe someone else knows of a better reason to use the straps...)

Now, if you're going to go the tray route, I actually prefer the Bumbo.  I know I said I had a tough time with the tray, but I'm sure I'll get that figured out and it won't be an issue.  My big thing with the bebe Pod tray is that you can't really use it without those inserts (which, I'm sure, will get all nasty and covered in drool/spit up/etc....)  You could, I guess, but I don't get the impression it's designed for that.  Also, there are a lot of extra parts to keep track of with the bebe Pod--that nub you twist off to put the tray on?  Where do you stash that when you're using the tray?  I'm sure once a baby's old enough to get good use out of the tray, whether for snacks or toys, you won't need that nub, so it'll just get put away somewhere.  Yet something else to keep track of.  And those tray inserts, too.   Just seems like too much "stuff".  I'm trying to "de-clutter" not add more stuff that I need to keep.  

So that's that.  We'll probably keep both, since we got a good deal on each of 'em (and Jeremiah likes to sit in 'em... I'm sure he'll want to sit with Jesslyn once in a while...)  But if I could only keep one, it would be the Bumbo--I just don't need all those "extras".  Maybe I'll bring the bebe Pod to Grandma's, and she can keep track of all those extra pieces.  :)

EDIT:  I was wrong, you CAN attach that Sassy toy to the tray... hence, those gaps in it.  So that's nice.  However, it doesn't attach very firmly--I can see Jesslyn pulling it out first try.  Therefore, my opinion doesn't change.  Maybe I can use those safety straps to attach her toys instead of her...  :)

"Sproles"

Jeremy and I just finished watching the Indy-San Diego game, and it seems like every other minute, someone is talking about Darren Sproles... I guess it makes sense, since he did get the game-winning touchdown, in OT. Now it's off to see who wins tomorrow to determine who goes to Pittsburgh next week.

And that's all about that. :)

Well, 2009 is here, and so far, not much has changed. I haven't had to write the date on anything yet, so my life is still pretty much the same. We're all a little older, hopefully a little wiser, and my kids are getting bigger! Jeremiah is just a few days from his 2nd birthday, Jesslyn just a week shy of 4 months and........ yeah, that's it. Just two. For now, at least. :)

I don't like this time of year, though... The holiday season is so much fun, and there's such a lead up to the "big day" that once it's over, and everyone goes back to work, it's kinda like, "Blah." And I feel like we kinda let the true meaning of Christmas, the reason we celebrate, fall by the wayside. It didn't help we really didn't make it to church in December, either (too tired post-party, late night out the following week, sick kids the week after, etc...) There was so much more I had planned to do to keep "Christ" in "Christmas" but when you're sick, and both your kids are sick and not eating, it sucks the life outta ya, Christmas-spirit filled or not. I guess I kinda feel like I didn't get to make this Christmas the Christmas I had hoped to give my kids, and I'm disappointed about that. I guess we'll just have to do extra next year!

Anyways, we've had a nice couple of days with Jeremy home for New Years. A huge blessing came to us on Monday this past week when Jeremy hit his quota for the year (three years in a row, now...) That was awesome! It's always stressful coming to the end of any quarter/year and not knowing if we're "going to make it." Well, God pulled some strings for us and helped deals close that probably wouldn't have closed otherwise (seriously, in this day and age, who buys stuff they don't use??? Thankfully, some of Jeremy's customers!) So we're very thankful that God has once again shown us how He's in control and taking care of us, like He always does, though we may sometimes forget. Yay, God! :)

Jeremiah and Jesslyn enjoyed their first sleep over at Grandma/Grandpa's house last night. Jesslyn didn't do as well as her favorite big brother, though my parents still said, "she was great!" I think the biggest issue was that we forgot the 2nd pack n' play, so she had to sleep in her moses basket, which is just a teensy bit too small. Grandma ended up letting her "nap" on her most of the time, so 2-3 hour naps became 45 minute naps. But, THANKFULLY, she's finally got her appetite back. While she's been eating without difficulty for the past 5 days, she's been getting about 4-6 oz less than she should be. Well, today she made up for that, eating well over 30 oz by the time we left Grandma's and headed back home. The only downside--diaper changes every hour, or she soaks through them! Guess I need to start stuffing them a little thicker.

Jeremy and I had a lovely evening while the kiddies played with their Grandparents. First, dinner at a Japanese steakhouse with brother & sister-in-law. :) Then an intense Game of Life, where us ladies were thoroughly crushed by our hubbies (with mine doing the most crushing...) Then finally off to our neighbor's house for an equally intense game of Gin Rummy. We called it a night around 1, slept in 'til 10 (after going back to sleep at the normal "wake up" time...) ran some errands and then off to Warrenton to get our babies! We had a great time and are always extremely grateful for my parents willingness to take such good care of our most precious little babes (even if they do let them watch TV, and sleep in bed with 'em.... Jesslyn was clearly confused when I put her in her crib tonight--she just layed there, eyes open, like she was trying to figure out why no one was rocking her to sleep.... Sorry, sweetie, Mommy's not Grandma. :)

Earlier this week, Cotton Babies held another photo contest, this time on Facebook. I entered once again, trying out my new favorite Christmas present from my always-favorite hubby, but I'm still learning how to use it, so the shots didn't come out as well as I had hoped. But we ended up with a few cuties. Didn't win, or even get an honorable mention, but that's okay. There were some great shots on there, so I can't blame 'em for not picking us (out of about 1200 entries, after all...) For your viewing pleasure, here are the shots I submitted.

Jeremiah is SUCH a boy--he LOVES his trucks, and pushing cars around the house. He does it for HOURS. We didn't teach him that. That's just what he likes to do. Like he was "wired" that way... hmmm... :)

Heh, poor Jesslyn. Her hair would just NOT lay flat. And she hates being on her back--she kept doing crunches, trying to sit up. I swear, she's got a tone six-pack underneath all that baby chub. So roll-ey poley!

I had another GREAT pic of Jesslyn by herself, but I was trying not to use a flash, and there just wasn't enough light coming in from our cloudy, windy day to do the trick. It would have been such a great shot, though! Argh! Maybe someone out there with an SLR can give me a few pointers....?

Awww... sweetness. Can't ya tell Jesslyn is thrilled?

I think this one's pretty self explanatory. :) He LOVED trying to get this right for me. lol

Happy New Year!

Wow, only 7 hours left in 2008. I've got a couple of bottles of bubbly in the ole 'chill chest' ready to go, hopefully around 10 p.m. Seriously, we stay up 'til midnight or so nearly every night. If we truly want to celebrate the new year, and all it has to bring, we'll be in bed by 10. That's my goal, at least. Yeah, we're pretty boring...

Anyways, it's been quiet on the blog here for a while. Main reason: too much sickness. Seriously, who wants to hear about how sick everyone is. It certainly wasn't "in the spirit" of the holidays around here... Poor Jeremiah got it first--congested head and chest, cough, fever, zero appetite. Then as soon as he started getting better, I got a head cold. And to top it off, Jesslyn caught it next. The funny thing was, we all had different symptoms. Poor Jesslyn had everything Jeremiah had but no fever. However, as you're probably aware, babies have to breathe through their noses when they eat. Next time you're all stuffed up, try breathing through your nose exclusively for a while. Yeah, not happening. So the poor thing didn't eat hardly anything for 2-3 days. She's finally eating again pretty regularly, and we've never been more thankful! Seriously, there were two days there where it was HELL! Not the way we hoped to spend Jeremy's time off.

Luckily, everyone's nearly back to 100%, and Jeremy has another long weekend where we can try to have fun as a family. YAY! First on the list of things to do: get a new dining set for the breakfast nook. Ours is just barely holding itself together... Definitely time for an upgrade. Then hopefully the kids will enjoy a night with Grandma/Grandpa, and we can go out. YAY!! Still on the tentative list: a birthday party for Jeremiah. Kinda wanna do it this weekend, but kinda wanna next weekend... Hmm.... Doesn't help his birthday is on a Wednesday this year. Can go either way. I had wanted to do a "Noah's Ark" party (kinda like Build a Bear, but they come to you with lots of different animal choices,) but I think it's too late to plan that, and Jeremy doesn't think Jeremiah needs anything "big" as far as parties go. I'm sure we'll have fun no matter what we end up doing. :)

Kids updates: Jesslyn is SOOOO CLOSE to rolling over. She's got the form and technique down, just needs a little extra "oomph". She loves to chew on your finger if it's wrapped in a blanket, and has mastered holding her head up/sitting with support/lifting her chest and head up when on her belly. That's 'bout all for her.

Jeremiah's a riot. He's slowly adding new words to his vocab. His new favorite word? "Nooooooooooooo!!!" Not said in a rebellious-I-don't-want-to-listen-to-you-Mommy way, but rather an, "uh-oh, Big Fella, I'm going to run you over with my new dump truck!" or "oh no, Mommy's chasing me!!" kind of way. It's so funny. He's also saying lots of letters, and "counts" 1-2-3. The best, though, is still when he says, "apple." It's really more like, "ah-pull" but he says it perfectly, and will even say it in different ways, like in a whisper, or like "grandma" when she was sick and sounded like she was talking through a machine.... It's pretty funny. He'll also "moo" if you ask him what a cow says. We're still working on other animals.

And that's all for now. I'm on the crappy laptop, so typing is pretty annoying. Happy New Year, everyone! Stay safe.

Jeremiah's New Favs

Merry Christmas!

We just got home from my Uncle's house for the Portuguese side of my family's Christmas celebration!  It was crazy... Jesslyn was wayyy overtired (and sick,) so she was very cry-y.  But we survived and they both went right out.  In fact, Jeremiah never woke up--he was TIRED!  He didn't even wake up when we were changing him into his pj's.  We thought we'd take the opportunity to pose him with empty bottles and such, but all we had handy was a bottle of benadryl and his thermometer.  Awww... my little man was so tired!

Anywhoo, I'm trackin' Santa right now, and he's just left Chile... gotta finish a few things before he makes it to the East Coast!  Late-ah!

We're here...

We're just sick.  :(

In a nutshell, Jeremiah's been hit the hardest, with a runny nose, cough/congestion, and a fever.  Other than the fact that he's not interested in eating, he's himself--boundless energy, happy, playful, etc.  And with the help of a humidifier and Vicks Vapors, he's been sleeping pretty well, for the most part.  

Jesslyn seems to be coming down with what Jeremiah has, though it hasn't really hit yet.  Hopefully it doesn't.  

And I seem to have something completely different, but annoying nonetheless.  Hence the lack of posting.

And tomorrow's Christmas Eve!  Not exactly how I had hoped Jesslyn's first Christmas would go.  If there are no improvements, we may have to skip out on some family gatherings, which would SUCK.  But, that's the nature of the beast, I guess.  Gotta love this time of year.  

In other news, Jesslyn seems to have found her voice.   :)  She loves to squeel now, and uses that to let you know when she wants something.  Hey, it beats crying.  She definitely seems to be getting older (I know, no duh, but she's becoming less of a baby and more of a little girl.)  I love that she plays in her crib instead of just crying after her naps (definitely sets a nicer tone for her awake time.)  She's very interactive, and is so happy to just "talk" to you.  My little girl is growing up so fast!

Speaking of, I hear her squeeling now.  Guess she's done napping.  :(  Oh well.  We're just chillin' anyways.  

If I don't post again, Merry Christmas, everyone!  Hopefully we'll have happy, well babies to photograph and post!  :)

A MUST have for Christmas...

Especially if onion dip or green bean casserole (with fried onions) is being served...

http://www.flat-d.com/flatdpremium.html

I know a LOT of people who would benefit from this. :)

Awesome cards.

These have gotta be some of the neatest handmade cards I've seen.  Every person I've given one to has been very impressed by the quality of the craftsmanship put into each and every one.  I'm definitely going to be picking up some more.  I'd rather support a local craftsperson than Hallmark anyday!  

They're made by a gal at my folks' church.  She was originally selling them in support of their "missions" week last month.  Good stuff.  If you'd like to get some, shoot me an email.  I'll set ya up with her email addy.  :)

The ultimate bad boy look.

All he needs is a chain, and no one will doubt his toughness!  This kid means business! :)

Christmas!

Alright, here ya go:  Pics of our Christmas Trees!  That's right, trees, as in, more than one.  This year, Jeremiah is too big to simply barricade away from the tree, and since we spend most of our time in the family room, I wanted a tree in there, but didn't want him to destroy it.  So we bought two trees.  Well, one was free (thanks, Grandma's work!) and the other was only $20 from Home Depot (pretty good size for $20, I think!) So not a bad deal, all around!  

I love them both.  The tree in our "formal" living room is the "fancy" one, with all our sentimental ornaments and pretty ribbons.  Jeremiah's tree, in our family room, is definitely more whimsical.  Bought some funky ornaments from Walmart and Target (all the ornaments on both our trees are shatterproof, but they sure look like glass!) and made a construction paper chain as a garland.  When was the last time you made one of those?!  So fun!

So yeah, Jeremiah's is fun and kooky, yet we still have our "grown up" pretty tree.  It's a win win all around!  

So without further adieu... pics!

The "Formal" tree.  Pics just don't do it justice...

The "FUN!" tree!  Notice how most of the ornaments are towards the top?  That's because Jeremiah insists on pulling them off.  So when I put them back on, they go higher and higher...

He helped make that snowman!  And the snowflake, right in the middle of the pic.  We actually used those for our Christmas party--the numbers for our Yankee Swap were on the back of the ornaments, and then you got to keep your ornament as a favor!  That snowman is actually Uncle James'.  He took it yesterday, but not before I snapped a pic while it was on the tree! :)

First Stroller Ride!

Today is a beautiful day, sunny and 60's.  Much better than this past weekend, where it was only in the 30's and cold.  So we seized the opportunity to get in some vitamin D and headed out for a short walk around the block.  Usually, I "wear" Jesslyn, or she's in her carseat.  But today, I decided to let her try out her "seat" in the stroller.

It went well enough.  Jeremiah enjoyed pointing out all the garages (he's obsessed with them...) and looking at the different Christmas lawn ornaments people had out.  Jesslyn did not like the wind blowing, though, and started fussing about halfway through.  Amazingly, she survived.  :)  Now, she's napping, and Jeremiah's winding down with some Yo Gabba Gabba!

Maybe we'll go for a drive around the neighborhoods to look at Christmas lights tonight.  Depends on the kids' naps.  Hopefully everyone will sleep well!