Ten on Tuesday

1. Now that the cat is out of the bag, so to speak, I can tell you what we have actually been doing the past few weeks. To sum it up we have been packing our life away and working like crazy to get this house ready to sell. Things are going well, I think, but there are quite a few things we have to get done before we can put it on the market. Thankfully my husband is very handy, I'm very organized, and we have moved a lot, so we have a pretty good system going right now.

2. Zane loves packing, but I don't think he grasps that what he puts in boxes he won't see for possibly a very long time. This has helped get him to pack away most of his toys. He doesn't seem to mind, or miss them, too much at all. We are making lots of trips to the library since we packed most of his books, but all and all he is doing great with most of his stuff being gone. I'm thinking a lot of it doesn't need to come back into wherever we end up.

3. This weekend the weather was beautiful so we spent some time outside trying to pull our yard together. It turned into quite the adventure. Zane found a squirrel's skull while daddy was mowing the front yard. Then when we took apart our raised bed Zane got to see carrots growing under the ground and the ants/various other bugs home. It was all very exciting indeed.

 Could my children look anymore like their father?

Checking out all the bugs.

4. Meanwhile, when we were working in the backyard, Rowan was playing in/on the playhouse for the first time. He also got set free in the grass for the first time without a blanket, which turned into eating grass and dirt rather quickly, but he loved it. 

"Hi guys, just hanging out up here."

 Oh yeah, Rowan was also working on standing up.

5. While going through Rowan's closet I found the baby shell toes. Jess got these for Zane when he was a baby and they remain one of my favorite things. Rowan rocked them today while playing in the living room, just to cheer me up. How adorable are these??

Did I mention Rowan thinks he should be cruising??

6. Which brings me to the next big happening of today. After several days of trying to pull up on things, Rowan was finally successful at getting to standing from sitting. It didn't take him very long at all to get himself standing up by his toy table downstairs. He was very proud of himself, bouncing around, and squealing with glee, until he came tumbling down. Thank God for camera phones. I have a wonderful video of the whole things and was able to capture these adorable photos of him standing like a big boy.

And that is pretty much the play by play and our world was never the same.

7. Here is Zane's favorite find from our packing, my whale slippers from college. "They my slippers mamma, my feet too cold." I think they might have ended up in the Goodwill Bag, but they were fun while they lasted. 

8. Since most of the living room toys have had to be put away we have been spending a lot of time playing in Zane's room. Zane usually gets to pick the toys that Rowan can play with. On this particular day Zane gave him the big T-Rex, which sits eye to eye with Rowan. Crazy adorableness ensued. 

 Talking to T-Rex, he had lots to tell him.

 Chewing on a snake,

yhen giving Mr. Rex some pats!

9. Here is what I wake up to most mornings, these three boys cuddling in our bed. I probably took seven pictures, but Zach and Zane's eyes were closed in them all. They both claimed it was too bright. What a adorable crew.

10. Lastly, Rowan has finally reached the point where he will crawl after us and follow us from room to room. He is fully mobile and loves chasing his brother and his toys. Still not up on all fours crawling, but moving around quickly, finding all sorts of trash to eat off our floor. Here he is, having made it from under the table, all the way to daddy across the room. He was very proud of himself and adores his daddy. 

Side note, this cardinals outfit was what Zane came home from the hospital in. Yes it was pretty big on him as a newborn, but definitely didn't fit him at 7mn old. 

Big Announcement

It's with a bit of a heavy heart that I make this big announcement. As most of you know Zach and I's long term plan has always been to end up back in Oklahoma, closer to my family, before our kids started school. About a month ago we started the process of trying to find Zach a job in OKC, with the thought we could possibly get down there by the first of the year. But since my husband is such and amazing engineer, and all around wonderful guy, he was offered the first job that he applied for. He officially accepted a position with Guernsey Engineering in Oklahoma City on Friday and we will be moving back the Sooner state at the end of October.

We are both very excited about this big life change, but also pretty terrified. For me the move is going to be bitter sweet. St. Louis has truly become my second home, with the people I work with becoming my second family. During some of my darkest days this place and those people helped me move into a much brighter, happier space in my life. This is where we started our family, we live in the house that we brought our children home from the hospital to, and this city is full of wonderful memories with family and friends.  It is going to be extremely hard to say good bye, but I know it's the right time to do it. Though I love my job here, and adore everyone I work with, I think it is a good time for me to explore other avenues in nursing. The twelve hour shifts, nights, weekends, and holidays, not to mention the huge emotional toll of the type of patients I take care of, has really started to wear on me. I have no idea what my next career path will be, but I continually hear that there are tons of different options for nurses outside of the hospital. Hopefully this proves to be true as I start my job search. The goal is for me to work part time somewhere, but with a better schedule, and maybe in a happier area of medicine. 

Lots is up in the air currently, selling our house, finding a new place to live (renting/buying), moving our life, up rooting our kids, but we are trying to stay focused on this being the right decision for us long term. I am very much a planner and need to know what the next step is going to be. Going into a lot of things blindly is terrifying, but trust that it will all work out according to a plan bigger than anything I could come up with. The tentative plan is for the boys and I to stay at the farm for awhile and Zach would stay OKC during the week. Hopefully the house sells quickly and we can move to the Edmond/OKC area soon, most likely in a rental situation (unless our house sells phenomenally, that's the prayer!). Currently Zane is very excited about living at Grandma's. I'm praying the excitement of that is big enough to over shadow the fact that he won't be seeing daddy everyday, which is usually devastating to his him.

For now I am trying to soak up my friends here, trying to enjoy the time I have left at Children's, and put positive thoughts and energy out into the universe for everything to work out wonderfully. We are packing up the house and trying to get it on the market as quickly as possible. Anyone in the St. Louis area looking for a wonderfully, adorable, home in South City, I have just the place for you! My days are full of prayers about our future and giving the whole situation over to the Lord to do with it what He will. I think we have tentative plans in place for all scenarios so in the event that things don't work out perfectly we aren't brought to our knees. It is definitely going to be difficult for a while, but know that it will all work itself out in the end. 

P.S. No I'm not pregnant for everyone who saw that title and thought I had lost my mind and gotten pregnant when I had a seven month old. Yes I'm crazy enough to move our family to another state, but not crazy enough to do that! Wish us luck!!!!

Rowan's Seventh Month Update

My little baby boy is seven months old today. Rowan has become quite entertaining as he has grown into his own personality. He loves to laugh and giggle with us and his brother. He has all sorts of new sounds, squeals, and screams that he uses to make his presence known. Most of Rowan's talking is happy and very loud, but it can take a turn very quickly. He is content to play by himself, up to a point. When that point is reached he will let you know that he is done rolling around on the floor or jumping in his bouncer. I will hear him banging his hand on the floor repeatedly and/or his high pitched screams. That is my cue to to go rescue him.

Rowan remains a very happy camper who goes with the flow of our crazy life very well. This month he has seemed to make some big jumps forwards in development. He has mastered the army crawl which he uses to get around the house quite quickly. He chases after toys, his brother, his parents, and unfortunately he has started to use this new skill to find all sorts of little pieces of dirt, paper, ect. on our floor to try to eat (Not my favorite stage of babyhood). When Rowan wants to be picked up and cuddled he very quickly looses this skill. When he starts crying he high centers himself on his little belly and kicks his arms and legs out, throwing a little fit, until he gets picked up. "No I will not crawl to you mamma, you will come pick me up, ASAP!" 

This week Rowan has added clapping to his arsenal of adorable things that he can do. He mainly claps when we are in the car. He loves watching himself in the mirror that's in front of his car seat. I hear him clapping and giggling back there all the time now. I think he might also start using this skill as a tactic to stay awake, but we shall see. Zane loves when Rowan starts to clap, but usually proceeds to try to "make him clap faster." Everything that Rowan learns how to do, making him one step closer to being able to play with him, Zane loves!!!

This month Rowan started sitting up in all shopping carts and has grown to enjoy it. I can't get over how funny he looks sitting up since he is so little. He is still in six month clothes, with some nine month jammies thrown in to accommodate for his huge feet and long legs. He remains very little, but eats like a champ. I think he is starting to like real food more than milk, which is a step in the right direction. He loves all kinds of foods and is starting to move into eating what we are eating not just baby food. He tried his first puffs a few days ago. Not really sure how he feels about them, but he does like trying to pick them up with his tiny little hands.

Loving some spaghetti!

Mr. No Cuddles now needs to be rocked with his blanket and a bottle before his naps. I think this is mainly due to how loud, bright, and crazy the living room is, so he can't focus on eating/sleeping. I love these small moments of cuddles, but sadly most of the time I am worrying about what Zane is doing in the rest of the house. He still doesn't sleep well being held, but I sneak quite a few cuddles in when I can. Nothing like a sleeping baby's little head on your shoulder!

He still is not sleeping through the night. I admit defeat on the sleeping through the night situation. I obviously am doing something wrong and have no idea how to get kids to sleep all night. He eats a ton before he goes to bed, we keep him up pretty late, don't late him take late naps, blah, blah, blah, and he still gets up once or twice a night, at completely random times. I did serious research on this subject before Rowan was born, but I can't seem to keep my kid on a Nazi like schedule, which is apparently the key to success. He briefly would sleep until 5:30, which is morning time in my world, but then got sick and all our work was for not. We will try again after my trip to OK next weekend. If I knew how to make kids sleep all night I would probably have a lot more kids.... or not.

Ok that was a bit of a rant, a sore subject to say the least. What else did our little man do this month. He was terribly adorable, very funny, super busy, always exploring, feeling things, trying to put everything in his mouth, and needing to be part of whatever is going on. He continues to keep a very close eye on his brother and loves it when Zane figures out how to play with him gently. He knows his name, is quite the little daddy's boy, and loves the challenge of climbing over a pillow (do not think surrounding this kid with pillows will keep him on the bed.) He thinks he can walk, sliding down my leg to stand up, and try to cruise (he cannot cruise or walk, but don't tell him that.) He loves to bounce in his bouncer, which can get pretty loud, but keeps him entertained for quite a while. Rowan continues to bring us great joy and I continue to marvel at how he is such a tiny, ball of fire. I continue to love seeing the world through my children's eyes and can't wait for all that lies ahead with our boys.

Today we did Rowan's seventh month photo shoot, with props provided by Zane. Zane thought that Rowan needed a cap "to his birthday" and I think it really added a lot to the pictures. The cape seemed to give Rowan super crawling powers as he managed to get up on all fours, and rock back and forth, a lot while we were trying to take pictures. After looking at the pictures I realized that he is most likely teething a bit too as there were lots of pictures of him drooling and has a different finger in his mouth in everyone.

Ten on Wednesday

I worked yesterday and couldn't manage to get this posted after I got home, too exhausted from saving lives I guess:) But here goes!

1. Well I was planning on having a cardiac update on Zane this week, but instead of Zane and Mommy's day of fun on Friday, we had Zane and Mommy sick day at home instead. Zane woke up in the middle of the night with a fever and threw up. Is it weird that I feel like Zane actually being able to throw up in the toilet is a major milestone in our life? Anyway after scheduling his cardiology appointment a year ago and pushing it back because his cardiologist was on paternity leave, we have pushed it back again, until next month.

2. Zane was terribly pathetic all day Friday. He would occasionally try to venture off the couch, but it never lasted long. When I tried to actually do something other than hold him and watch movies/iPad he would quickly be hanging on my leg saying, "why you not cuddle me mamma?" And then I was back to cuddling and patting. I hated seeing him sick, but having him actually sit still and cuddle, without screaming, squirming, or climbing on me, was pretty wonderful.

This was Zane most of the day, asleep, or dozing with Wilbur, his blue blanket, and his blanket from Grandma Blakley. I tried to have him nap in bed, but even at three his body knows you have to sleep on the couch when you are sick.

At the end of the day, on our third set of jammies, we went outside for some fresh air and after about five minutes in his chair he got up and said, "I think I feel better." Hooray!

3. By Saturday Zane felt better and Rowan missed the stomach bug (knock on wood) so the boys were here with Daddy all day while I worked. I think daddy had come down with a bit of sinus/head cold situation so not sure how much fun they had while I was away.

4. This week the boys had a big milestone in that Rowan and Zane can now sit together in the car shopping carts. Zane was devastated every time we went shopping and he couldn't sit in the car shopping cart. But now things are looking up because not only can he sit in the car, he has a passenger with him. So far they have done this twice. The first trip at the grocery store went better than the trip to Lowes, but Zane absolutely loved it both time. I could not get over how adorable Rowan is, looking like such a big boy, but being oh so tiny all at the same time.

You can see that Rowan is having a blast (??) and taking the whole thing very seriously.

5. Recently Rowan has also really wanted to take part in book time. So Sunday I let Zane hold him while Daddy read books. It went pretty well except when Zane decided he wanted to hold Rowan like a baby, then things got a little dicey. Rowan rebelled by standing up and trying to eat the couch.

Yes, Zane's book choice that night was How The Grinch Stole Christmas. 

He loves to stand up like a big boy.

7. Zane's new favorite thing is Bread Co. white mac and cheese. He asks if he can have it for lunch pretty much everyday. I'm not sure how he remembered that it existed but a few weeks ago he did and has been asking for it daily ever since. So far I have given in twice, once when Grandma was here, and then on Sunday since we didn't get to go after his Cardiology appointment. We have made white mac and cheese at home, but it obviously isn't the same. Here we are celebrating his favorite lunch!

8. Yesterday I took Rowan to have the doctor look at the random rash he has had on his back for the past week. As luck would have it they had their flu shots in so Rowan got his first flu shot and Zane was old enough for the nasal spray this year. The rash is still a bit of a mystery, trying oral antibiotics currently, but we shall see. I HIGHLY recommend everyone and get a flu shot and get them for your children as well. No it will not make you sick after getting it, but it will prevent you from getting the flu or spreading it to other immunocompromised. Ok off my soap box, but seriously! Here is Zane pretending to be the doctor and Rowan not finding it entertaining, at all. 

9. This week Rowan has learned how to clap, which is highly adorable, and very entertaining to his brother. He also seems to have a lot more to say, specifically adding da da da da da, which could be interpreted as dada being his first word, but I choose to think he is just practicing his d's. Either way he has lots of things to say, very loudly. His army crawl is getting much faster, which has led to many fun games of chase the ball with his brother. This has also led to me being very paranoid about Zane leaving the basement door open!

10. Lastly, it finally rained a little bit last night and the weather is starting to feel like fall. I am so excited for all the fun fall things that are just around the corner. Hopefully summer doesn't randomly come back again this time!!

The Cutest Thing Ever: Rowan's Six Month Pictures

So I have been trying to decide if I wanted to do six month photos for Rowan for awhile now. We did his three month pictures closer to four and a half months and I really don't want to pay for them, so here is the alternative I came up with, so far. I have to say it is quite possibly the cutest thing I have ever seen.

His fancy bow tie outfit was five dollars from Target, as opposed to the really cute Etsy bow tie onsies that I want, but cannot bring myself to pay forty dollars for. The hat was Zane's first scally cap, he obviously has another one now, black velvet, very classy. Here is what Ro and I did this afternoon while the other boys slept, so stinking cute, I can hardly handle it!

 Love this one because Rowan is always playing with his ears, especially when he is a little sleepy.

 Up on his hands and knees, ready to take off, with his hidden lip smile.

 Seriously, look at those eyes and those ears, just too much!

Surprisingly enough Rowan happily kept his hat on the whole time, not even noticing it was there until I took it off for some pictures of his flowing locks. His long hair on the top of his head is still going strong. I think I am probably going to end up having to cut it, which will break my heart, but it's starting to get in his eyes. We might do another photo shoot soon in a different outfit, sans hat, for some more six months pictures, but for no these are perfect. Love our tiny little man!