15 months

I really cannot even believe my babies are 15 months old!



Mason and Brody are doing so well, and the doctor says the boys are "perfect." Ha! No wonder we chose him as our pediatrician.

Mason weighs 24.7 pounds, is 32 inches long, and his head circumference is 18 1/4.
Brody weighs 24.1 pounds, is 31 3/4 inches long, and his head circumference is 18 1/2.

Both boys are in the 25-50th percentile for weight.
Brody is in the 50-75th percentile for height while Mason is in the 75-90th percentile.
Brody's head circumference is in the 50th percentile and Mason's is in the 25-50th.

Mason's favorite thing to do is climb and "talk." He knows what the duck, cow, baby, monkey and car say. His favorite toy is anything he can climb on- cabinets, the baby picnic table, chairs, couches, ottomans, etc. He has escaped out into the freezing cold about four times through the doggy door the past two weeks without us knowing. His favorite foods are green beans, milk, strawberries, grapes, string cheese- actually, he pretty much loves all food and is an amazing eater. He loves taking baths and showers. He loves to play with Moxie, but he has become infatuated with Tucker Bug. He gives open-mouth kisses, waves hello and goodbye, and says about fifteen words and sounds that are recognizable. He is a total ham and loves to make faces when you try to take pictures of him. Our Mason keeps us laughing!







Brody's favorite thing to do is read books and be held. His favorite toys are his tennis shoes. Literally. He carries them around and swings them by the shoe strings. His shoe is the first thing he wants in the mornings when he wakes up. He has about six molars coming in right now, so he has needed lots of attention. I had a wonderful evening about a week ago where he let me hold him and rock him and sing to him. It reminded me so much of when he was a tiny baby, and it made my heart so happy. Brody's favorite foods are fruit and breads. He loves waffles, bagels, crackers, cookies and all kinds of fruit, both real and dried. He loves to take baths and showers as well. Brody gives open-mouth kisses, sleeps with a "baby," "loves on you" by rubbing your hair and says about ten words that are recognizable. Brody is our "hold me baby" that loves one-on-one attention. Although more serious than his brother, he still makes us laugh.



Brody loving on his friend, Presley.


Both the boys are wearing 18 month clothes and size 5 (Brody) and 6 (Mason) shoes. They no longer drink from bottles and are only using sippy cups. We weaned them off their night time milk this week, and they did marvelously well! They sleep from 7 PM until about 7 AM and still take two naps during the day. We are blessed that they are such great sleepers! They still share a room and are just such amazing little boys.

Next on the agenda- I go out of town for a week and leave Allen home alone with them. Wish us all luck that we survive. HA! And then when I return from my work conference, we have to get these little guys haircuts. I can hardly even type that without tearing up. My little babies are growing up, and it is affecting me more than I care to admit.

What are your plans for the next week or two? Anything exciting?

Thinking

We lost a sweet friend last week. He was 43 and died of a heart attack. It hit Allen and me hard. Really hard. More than anything, it was a complete shock. Things like this really make you think hard about life~

• Have I accomplished everything I want to accomplish?


• Do we have things in order in case something happened to both of us?


• Would I die a happy person?


• Who would preach my funeral?


• Does Allen know what songs I want played at my funeral and my preferences for the service and vice versa?


• What would happen to Allen and the boys or the boys and me?


• Where would we be buried?


• How much does cremation cost?

Which led to personal thoughts~

• Don't put me in some $5000 casket. Don't spend lots of money on the arrangements.


• Donate my organs, if possible.


• Ask for donations to charities in lieu of flowers.


• Oh my word. Death. How scary. I don't want to die yet.


• I can't think about my husband or children dying.


• Life is precious and unpredictable.

I would like to hope my services would be light-hearted and fun, the way I think of myself. I'd like people to tell funny and completely inappropriate stories about me. I'd like there to be a celebration of my life with a service my kids could attend even if they were screaming and crying. I want a slide show and great music with my favorite songs played intermixed with some of my favorite serious and funny quotes. I want to be cremated. Don't dress me up, put makeup on me and put me in an open casket for everyone to stare at me and remember me that way. Just cremate me and get on with the cheapest service possible. I want emotional support for my husband and continued prayers of encouragement and hope. I'd count on my friends and family to provide this for Allen and the boys, even though he would never ask. I'd expect them to know his needs and take care of them.

Wow, my mind is reeling, my heart racing. I don't like to think about death, but I have been been perplexed by happenings of the past few weeks. We can die at any moment. For any reason. I'm not ready, but I want to be as prepared as I can be by telling loved ones of my desires.

As weird as it is to think of these things, do you have specific requests? Do your friends and family know your preferences? Anything you care to share?

*We'll miss you and your "joke of the day," Shad. Rest in peace, happy friend. Thank you for your amazing smile, positive attitude and outlook on life, and for making everyone look so "fabulous."

New Year's Resolutions

I've never really had any New Year's resolutions in the past, but I thought I'd try a few this year. I think mine are all doable; I just really need to think about them on a daily basis. I need to ask myself questions before I act to see if I am keeping these overall goals in mind.

1) Save more money. If I purchase items on sale, that doesn't mean I need to spend the difference somewhere else. I need to purchase wisely and with purpose.

2) Waste less food. When I do cook (which is not often), the leftovers often go to waste instead of being eaten. We should take advantage of everything we purchase and everything I cook. I also want to only purchase groceries we need and will use. When we clean out our pantry and fridge, we end up tossing bags of chips that are half empty, celery that has not been eaten, moldy cheese, etc. I really want to work on this and do better.

3) Listen. I used to be a really great listener. Now that we have the boys, I often find myself trying to talk over them and listen over them. It's not working for me. I need to listen, and I need to hear. I need to listen to my instincts too because they are usually right on target.

4) Unplug when I'm with the family. I tend to come home from work, eat dinner, and then let the boys play while I am on my phone or watch TV. I would really like to unplug and spend time with the boys and Allen until the babies go to bed. Allen has said that I have a tendency to "tune out" once we finish with dinner. It's true, and I need to fix it and work on this.

5) Dress the Part. When I'm at home, I am usually in pajamas with no makeup. When I am at work, I wear work clothes. I'd like to see myself actually take a shower and get dressed in jeans and a sweater on the weekends instead of just staying in pajamas every weekend. I'd like to wear more skirts and dresses and dress more on the "business" side than on the "business casual" side. I think this will also help my self-confidence.

6) Date my husband. We have spent so much time focusing on the boys that we have neglected our husband/wife time. I would like to have a date night once a month where we go to dinner or a movie or bowling or something that is outside the house and away from the boys. We need time as a couple and not just time as "Mama and Daddy."

What are your goals? How do you intend to keep them this year?

Where the heck have we been?

Good grief! I cannot believe it has been so long since I last posted. We have been sick and insanely busy, but I hope to make blogging a larger priority in 2011. Once a week. That's my goal.

So, here's what we have been up to the past few months:

• In November, I had college friends in from Texas. We had a great time hanging out and reminiscing while my mom kept the boys for us. Allen got some alone time too, and of course, he loved that!
• I realized that once you have kids, your friendships are very hard to maintain. I have always had pride in myself for putting lots of time and effort into relationships with good friends, but I haven't really had the time or energy to do so. It has kinda bummed me out a bit. Anyone else feel the same way?
  
• I also took a road trip with Aunt Leah and the boys to Houston. We had a great time! I was glad we decided to make the seven-hour drive while the boys slept though. It gave Leah and me lots of time to chat without crying babies. Leah's family is so amazing; I love all of them and was so happy to finally take the boys to Houston!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The boys got really bad colds one we came back from Houston. I wonder if it had anything to do with the 80 degree weather they had there. Geez.

• Then we had Thanksgiving to round out the busy month. What a time to reflect on blessings of the current and previous years.
  

• We also had some family pictures taken by Mandy Stansberry Photography, a college friend. She did an amazing job capturing the boy's personalities along with a few great family shots.

• Allen started really working on remodeling our guest bathroom. I'll save pictures for a later post when it is completely finished.
• Mason started climbing. He thinks he is invincible. Seriously. Have you ever seen a thirteen month old climb like this? Fearless, I tell ya. And a heart attack for Mama.
  
  
  
  

• And the boys started finding more and more trouble around the house. Curiosity killed these cats. Hey- at least they keep us entertained!

• In December, I was sick with a cold and then sinus infection and then bronchitis and a viral infection. I couldn't stay well to save my life! I ended up being sick the last part of November and stayed sick off and on for about six weeks. No fun!

• During my last sick episode, Allen got really sick- puking out both ends for nine hours straight. I ended up having to take him to the ER. The doctor wasn't sure if it was a virus or food poisoning, but they gave him fluids and meds and sent him home for lots of rest.
  
• Since Allen and I were so sick, my mom watched the boys for two days and nights so we could recuperate before Christmas. It was not a pretty time at our house. Not a pretty time at all.
• Mason also had a minor surgery for a "circumcision revision." It ended up being much worse than Brody's head surgery several months ago, but it is likely because it involved such a sensitive area. Thankfully, he has full recovered and everything is fine. *Note to all- If you have a baby boy and get him circumcised, you can call in a urologist to do the circumcision. I would highly recommend this and didn't know this was even an option.
  
  

• Allen continued remodeling the guest bathroom. We are getting closer to being finished!
• Christmas! What a merry one it was. Santa was very good to our family this year. We must have been on the "Nice" list. The boys were still more into the tissue paper, bows, and boxes than the actual gifts, but it was so much fun having kids around during the holidays!

• The boys have really started saying words. Mason says "quack quack," "Dada," "Ooooo Ooooo Ooooo"(what a monkey says), and "nite nite." Brody says "outside," "Mama," "Dada," "nite nite," "out, out, out" (when he's into something he is not supposed to be), "okay," and "a bath." They are both still doing baby sign language and have mastered "milk" and "hungry" and "more."
  
• I sure love these guys. I don't even know what we did before we had them. Our lives are so busy, but our lives are also so full. Full of life and love and joy.

I hope your holidays were grand and exciting and lovely! I apologize for the delay in posting, but I'm sure everyone has been busy. I don't even know if anyone reads anymore, but I'd love to have you say "Hi" if you are still out there.