Success!

We made it through the transition-week to Austin's 'big boy bed'. The first few nights he liked to take advantage of his new freedom and it took quite a while to get him to lay down and finally go to sleep. But each night, it has taken less time. And tonight, at his regular bedtime, he told me he wanted to go "lay down in his big boy bed and go nite-nite, Mommy". So, off we went, tucked him in, hugs & kisses, and that was that! I can't believe how grown up he is now. It's definitely funny in the morning to wake up to him standing next to our bed, as he's holding his pillow, Woofie (his constant companion), his blankie, and his giant Buzz Lightyear doll. He just says, "Hi Mommy!". And this morning he even had his baseball cap on backwards, with his pajamas. Priceless!

I'm a Big Kid Now!

Okay, I know that phrase is usually associated with potty training (which we have not nearly mastered yet), but we got a big boy bed! While Austin was at school on Friday, I took the front off his crib to convert it to the 'toddler bed' stage. He was pretty excited about it when he walked in there. :) It took quite a bit longer to get him to lay down that night, since he wasn't used to the freedom of being able to get out of the bed. And when I went in to check on him before I went to bed, he was hanging half way off of it. I scooted him back in it, but an hour later he was asleep on the floor. Needless to say, this 'toddler bed' wasn't going to cut it. So, we decided to convert it all the way to the full size stage today. We still had an extra mattress that used to be on the guest bed before we made Chase's nursery, so all we had to get was some new bedding. I gave Austin the choice of getting some sports bedding to match the rest of his room, Cars, or Toy Story. Well, Toy Story was an instant 'Yes!', especially when we were shopping at Target and he saw all the bedding. But then we ran into a problem; all Target carried in the store was twin-sized Toy Story bedding. However, he did talk me into buying the Woody and Buzz large dolls to put on the bed. :) Anyways, I found some sheets at Wal-Mart and the comforter at Kohl's. We were all set! Austin wasn't the only one excited about the conversion. I think he may have a new roommate, Brady! As I'm writing this, he is curled up in Austin's bed with him. :)

Tummy Time!

Chase has become quite the fan of tummy time these days. Maybe because I've been forcing it upon him, since letting him sleep on his stomach at night. I want to make sure his neck muscles are getting good and strong and that he can easily move his head from side to side, which he can pretty well. For about the past week, Chase has slept in the pack-n-play in our room so that I could keep a close eye on his tummy sleeping. (And he's had a cold with lots of congestion, so he's been waking frequently.) Well, today I scored my Angelcare monitor on Craigslist from a very nice teacher in Frisco. I paid 30% of what Babies R' Us sells it for, and she had it all in the original packaging with the instruction booklet. So, tonight Chase is back in his own bed, and I can hear the 'tic' on the monitor with every breath he takes; definitely puts my mind at ease as he sleeps on his tummy.
And as you can see in the above pic, his eyes are still an irresistible shade of blue! I'm starting to think that they may stay this way and not change to brown/hazel like the rest of the fam. :)

Our Little Sports Star!

It looks like our money is paying off! We have Austin enrolled in the 'Amazing Athletes' program at his daycare where an outside group comes in once a week to work with them on various sports drills and athletic activities. And he has his own personal baseball coach, Uncle LoLo, so he's bound for athletic greatness! :)

Here he is mid-pitch; he already has quite the arm on him!

Practicing on his t-ball set!

Playing some hoops with the family!

I don't know where he gets it from.....

But Austin has been in a phase recently where he likes to remove his pants and diaper in his crib at night. This is what I found when I went to tuck him in before I went to bed tonight. He obviously gets this from Jordan's genes, not mine!

Brothers Forever!

Austin seems to love Chase more and more each day! And he loves to help Mommy out! The other night, Jordan had to work late, so I was solo with the boys. Austin helped me mix up Chase's bottle, helped me give him a bath, and helped calm him down by rubbing his hand while I was trying to get him dressed. I truly am so surprised at how well he has adapted to having a sibling that needs Mommy's attention as well. Now, I'm sure in 6 months when Chase is trying to play with his toys, it may be a different story. But in the meantime, I will cherish these sweet moments. :)Austin looks so much older these days as far as his appearance goes, and is acting more grown up as well. He refuses to sit in his high chair anymore, or the booster seat on the chair. So, we have brought a bar stool to the table that is perfect height and he loves it. On Valentine's night, I had wine glasses out for me and Jordan to partake in some wine. Austin wanted some, so I found a small plastic wine glass and filled it with apple juice. We then taught him how to 'Cheers!' and he thought it was the greatest thing drinking out of that glass. He looks so big in his bed these days, and I'm debating on when I want to convert his crib. He doesn't really try to climb out of it yet, so I'm hesitant to change it. I can just imagine him getting out of his toddler bed at night and wandering around his room.

As for Chase, he is nearly 6 weeks old now. In fact, I have my 6 week post-partum check-up at the Dr.'s office tomorrow to see if my blood pressure issues have finally resolved, check on my c-section incision healing, and to make sure my 'lady parts' have gone back to normal. :) Anyways, I can't believe how big Chase has gotten. I think he's approaching 10lbs. now and is finally outgrowing some of his newborn-sized clothes. As for his sleep situation, the kid just hates to sleep on his back. That's all there is to it. He loves to nap in his swing, bouncy seat, or while being held, but not so much flat on his back in his crib. Last night, I thought I had planned on finally laying down the law with the back-sleeping. But after going in there 10 times in a 2-hour time span, I was exhausted. So, I finally gave in and brought him into our room. He fell asleep in my arms and then I laid him in the bed in between us on his tummy and he slept 8 hours! He sleeps so soundly when on his tummy. And I swore up and down I would never put a kid in the bed with us; we never did with Austin. But at some point, Momma's got to sleep! Since Jordan's working right now and I'm not, I bear the burden of having to get up at night.But the tummy sleeping has me a little stressed. I know the APA recommends that you put babies to sleep on their backs to reduce the risk of SIDS and all. But when I was little, they recommended you put kids on their tummies, and I turned out okay. Chase has been doing pretty good with lifting his head and stuff, so I feel a little bit better about putting him on his stomach. But just to ease my mind, I've decided to get one of the Angelcare monitors that has a sensor pad under the baby to detect the baby's movements. If there is no movement for 20 seconds, an alarm sounds. In the meantime before I get it, I've set-up the pack-n-play in our room for him to sleep on his tummy. That way I can keep a close eye on him. Ultimately, every parent has to do what they think is best for them and their baby, so that's what we're doing. :)

And I finally got my birth announcements mailed out. Yay!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Happy Valentine's Day!! Jordan and I had our Valentine's date on Friday night. Our daycare was doing a 'Parents' Night Out', so we took advantage of it for both our boys. That's right, they watched Chase as well, even though he's not even going there yet. We were pretty excited! Definitely worth the $25 each to keep them until midnight. :) I thought I would have been nervous to leave Chase, but I wasn't. I think it's because I know the women up there now, trust them, and have seen what a great job they have done with Austin.

Anyways, Jordan had some beautiful tulips delivered to the house for me on Friday afternoon. Then we got all gussied up for our date night! We enjoyed a delicious hibachi dinner at Kyoto and then checked out a movie ('Just Go With It'). We had a great time having some rare Mommy & Daddy alone time. We picked up the boys at 11:30, and what do you know, Austin was still awake playing! And Chase did great up there too.

Hope everyone has a terrific Valentine's Day with the one you love! I know I am thankful for all my boys! Love Love!