Out with the Old... In with the New

I've taken a bit of a blogging hiatus over Christmas break but I just wanted to take a few minutes to reflect on what a year we've had.  2012 brought us many wonderful things.  It brought us a walking, talking, and wild 2 year old, our 3rd wonderful year of marriage, and most importantly, a wonderful, beautiful, healthy, happy, loving, and sweet baby boy.  We added a big brother and little brother to the mix and have been amazed as we've watched both of them grow.  Our lives have definitely changed tremendously over the last year but it's been an incredible change.  The Lord certainly blessed the Smithson family in 2012 and I pray He's as good to us in 2013 even though we don't deserve it.  Happy New Year!

Happy 5 Months Clark!

Yesterday we were very busy so I didn't have time to write this post on Clark's actual 5 month "birthday" but my baby is 5 months old now!  We didn't have a check up this month but a week or so ago when he was at the doctor for his ears he weighed 15 pounds and 10 ounces... a little porker!  Hard to believe he's almost half way to 1!  I feel like I don't have a "baby" anymore and it breaks my heart.  He's learning so much every day and is so alert!  One of his favorite things to do is to watch his big brother play, run, and jump on his trampoline.  Clark gets so excited when Cooper's playing that he sits up in our laps and practically shakes all over out of excitement.  I know he can't wait until he can get down and really play with his brother.  A few of his other favorite things at this stage in life are playing in his exersaucer, playing with his new stuffed animals, loving on his blankie, taking baths, and rolling all over the floor.  He's an absolute pro at rolling 360 degrees now and we can't keep him in one place when he's free.

Over the last few weeks he's turned into a really good napper.  He usually wakes up (on his own, when I'm not working) around 7:30am to eat and will go down for a 1 hour nap around 9:30 or 10:00.  He'll take about a 2 hour (or sometimes more) nap around 1:00pm and then he usually catnaps on his daddy at night.  He still catnaps some throughout the day in addition to his naps, mostly when he gets done eating.  He's usually in bed for the night by 9:30 and sleeps through the night.  He's still having some waking issues once or twice a night but he soothes himself right back to sleep and Andy and I rarely have to check on him when this happens.  He's sleeping on his belly now... I know some may frown upon that but since he's a pro at rolling over we don't worry about SIDS as much anymore.  He sleeps so much better on his belly and if we lay him on his back he flips right over.  He naps with his blankie during the day but his crib is free from anything but him at night.

He's still 100% formula free!  He'll take a bottle of breast milk if he's desperate from my mom but when he's with me he's only breastfed.  I'm really proud we've made it this long without formula and without switching to more bottle feedings.  He's still breastfeeding 5 times a day even though he's shortened the length of his feedings and will sometimes only eat on one side during a feeding.  It probably won't be too long before he cuts down to 4 a day.  On a good day he'll nurse 5 times, on both sides, for 10-12 minutes per side.  He does his best eating when he's drowsy.  He's also become a pro at eating baby food.  He's been eating sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, and we've just introduced bananas, which he loves.  He has one jar of baby food per day but it probably won't be long until he's eating two a day.  He's come a long way with his baby food feedings and I'm proud of him!

He's still got a really sweet personality and, for the most part, only gets upset if I try to feed him and he doesn't want to eat.  He's colic free and loves to laugh and smile at anyone who talks to him.  At times he shows a preference for Andy or myself but most of the time he's happy with anyone.  We're pretty sure he's teething but nothing has popped through yet.  I'll leave you with some pictures of my happy boy on his 5 month birthday!

Merry Christmas!

We had a great Christmas yesterday and today we were lazy. Well, the boys and I were... Andy had to go back to work unfortunately. He's got a little more time off next week and we're looking forward to it!

Santa was too good to us all.  Cooper LOVES his trampoline and so far it's helped cut way back on the bedtime bed jumping.  He also loved all his other gifts and has played with everything a ton.  Clark got some really cute clothes and stuffed animals that he's been loving on.  It's so sweet to watch him get excited when I hand him one of his new friends.  Andy got me an amazing new shower head, some planter boxes, and is going to buy me a new phone whenever we get out to the mall area.  We both got lots of money that we're trying to decide how to spend.  Ever since I had Cooper I've been wanting to buy a really nice camera.  All we have is a little point and shoot and I don't feel like that's cutting it anymore.  I've never had enough spare money all once to go and buy a nice camera so that's what I'm in the market for.

I've been reading reviews comparing the Canon Rebel t3i and the Nikon d5100. Since I'm pretty clueless when it comes to digital photography I really have no idea which one I'll end up with. I know I want one that feels heavy and sturdy in my hands so that may be the deciding factor. I think I'm leaning towards the Canon though. It probably won't matter much either way since I'm just buying it to take pictures of the boys, I've read both are great. Anyways, whenever I make my final purchase I'll let you know which one I picked.

Here in the next few days I'm going to post some of our Christmas pictures but for now I'll leave you with one I snapped on my phone a little while ago. I think we may have a future Olympic gymnast on our hands!

Photo Friday

We made it to Christmas break!!!  I've got 2 free weeks with my babies!  I'm so excited!  The only pressing issue I have to deal with on my break is taking my GACE exam, the Georgia teaching test to add elementary grades education certification to my teaching certificate, but that's at the end so I'm trying to not worry about it too much yet.  Now if we can just make it through Christmas without anyone getting sick it'll really be a Christmas miracle!  Our family festivities start tomorrow so I'm praying everyone is happy and healthy for our busy days ahead.  I have 2 weeks worth of photos this week so enjoy!

Advent calendar crafting!

 Chubby cheeks! 

 Someone is beginning to like running around shirtless... definitely a man thing!

 Mickey Mouse came by to visit.

We had a candlelit family dinner last week, complete on my "new" Christmas china passed down from my mom!

Clark is bootylicious! 

 Cooper decided that his daddy needed a delivery break so he jumped in and helped!

 Oh, the terror of Santa Claus!

 My sweet boy had an earache.

 Christmas lights coma.

 I believe we have a future artist on our hands!

 That little face melts my heart.

 I caved and gave Andy his Christmas present early.  I usually don't do so well with gifts so I was really excited.  I went all out and got him the mac daddy Keurig... he loves it!

Ahh, what a life we live with this sweet little monkey.

An Ear Infection Re-Check

Clark went to the doctor last Friday and was diagnosed with his first double ear infection, his right ear being a lot worse than the left.  He was put on amoxicillin and some numbing ear drops and we were told we were good to go.  This is the first time he's ever been on antibiotics and really ever taken medicine (besides some Tylenol for the flu) and it's been a nightmare!  Cooper was a pro at taking medicine at Clark's age so I assumed Clark would be too.  Boy, was I wrong!  Most of the time he just lets it all run back out of his mouth.  No matter how far I put the medicine dropper back in his mouth he still manages to get it back out.  If we're lucky enough to get the majority down his little throat he usually spits, or throws, it all back up within a few minutes.  We have no clue how much he's getting but with the way he's been acting I felt like it wasn't enough for him to be getting completely better.  We're almost a week out and he's still having breastfeeding issues, is cranky, and WILL NOT sleep.  Last night he was up every hour or so, just "talking" in his bed.  We'd go in a check on him and he'd just be rolling around, not upset.  Andy rocked him for 45 minutes to get him to bed the first time and Clark just stared at him, his eyes the size of golfballs.  Once he was finally asleep we laid him down and his little head popped right back up.  Usually at bedtime Andy will have to rock maybe 5 minutes before he's passed out.  It's just like he's wired.  I finally called this morning because I didn't want to be doing this over the weekend or on Christmas and told the nurse what all was going on.  They wanted me to bring him back in to be rechecked and assess the medicine situation.

I was dreading going because it's been so nasty today.  I hate driving in the pouring down rain. We got in rather quickly though and got some good news... Clark's ears were both completely healed! It's a Christmas miracle! I thought there would be no way since he'd thrown up so much. Dr. Meredith told us we could stop the antibiotics since they're more than likely the cause for the sleeping and eating problems. He also said that next time he gets sick they'll try a different antibiotic. Hopefully my sweet boy will be back to normal by Christmas!

The Joys of Holiday Shopping

Normally the title of this post would be laced heavily with sarcasm but my holiday shopping has been extremely painless this year.  I'm not a girl who loves to shop.  In fact, most if the time I hate it.  My brother was able to add me onto his Amazon Prime account (free 2 day shipping!!!) and I've done 99% of all of my shopping online.  It's been so nice!  I did 100% of the boys' Christmas online, all of our nephews and niece's online, and the vast majority of Andy's online.  The only issue I've had is the UPS guy ringing my doorbell during nap time.  Notice, I said UPS, not FedEx... FedEx guys know better than to ring a doorbell during nap time.  ; )  Also, it wasn't our normal UPS guy who rang the doorbell. He's seen us playing in the yard before and knows we have babies so I'm not complaining about our "normal" delivery guy.  Okay, enough about that!

I know a lot of people think Amazon is just for books but you can find ANYTHING on Amazon.  I mean anything.  Any idea that's popped into my head I've been able to find and, most of the time, for a lesser price than in stores or other websites.  It's also tax free, and with the Prime account, free shipping!  I've still got a few things for the boys' stockings that I've got to go buy in stores and I'm dreading it!  I think I may hit up the Dollar Store and get stocking gifts for them there... it's so nice that they're young enough to not realize that mommy and daddy didn't blow the budget on Christmas yet.

Monday Mayhem

This past weekend was a bit of a crazy one... we had some sickness, some business, and a lot in between.  I was getting a post ready for "Photo Friday" this past Friday when my mom called me with the horrible news of the Connecticut shootings.  After that I was glued to the TV and never got around to posting.  I'll save those pictures for this upcoming Friday.

Last week Clark was acting very fussy and wouldn't breastfeed well.  All around he wasn't his happy little self so I decided to take him to the doctor.  He's had a runny nose since he had the flu so I was afraid he had an ear infection.  We had to go after hours Friday night but I'm glad we did... he had a double ear infection!  I felt so bad that I didn't get him in sooner.  He's just like his brother, he never ran a fever with it.  I've been giving him his antibiotics faithfully but that kid is awful at taking medicine.  He either lets it run out of his mouth or he spits it all up about 15 minutes after taking it.  If he keeps it up I'm going to call the doctor back in a day or so because he's still fussy.

Saturday night when Andy got home from work we took the boys to the Chattanooga Zoo for their Christmas festivities.  They had a lot of lights and some of the animals were out (Cooper couldn't see them though).  It was extremely crowded and not too cold.  We went to meet Santa... that wasn't a big success.  Cooper was terrified.  As soon as I got him out of his stroller and tried to hand him over he clung onto me for dear life.  Clark went to Santa rather willingly.  Andy passed Cooper off, ran out of the frame for a picture, and then scooped him back up.  Even Santa was a little rattled by the whole experience.  Luckily it was only $5.

We've been keeping up our advent calendar even though we're behind on Saturday's activity.  We were supposed to make our neighbors some cookies that day but we're going to do that today.  My main goal this week is to get everyone in our house feeling as good as new for Christmas, finish up all my last minute shopping, and surviving this crazy week at school... wish us luck!

Christmas Tree Handprints

We had another day of Christmas crafts on our advent calendar so I kept with the theme of footprints/handprints.  I did feet last time so I wanted to do hands this time around.  I chose a Christmas tree theme and we got busy.

This time I cut our cardboard first so I knew the perimeters we needed to stay in.  I did Cooper's hand first.  His first print was a little light and off center so we did his hand twice.  It made his tree nice and full.  It's almost impossible to get Clark to open his hand up.  As soon as the paintbrush touches that sweet little hand he curls his fingers up and makes a fist.  I finally got him painted and pried his hand open to make his print.  It actually turned out pretty well.

After they were finished I added the trunks (which I probably should've made bigger), the star, and ornaments. This craft is a little more abstract than the last but I'm very pleased with it! I love all these little memories we're making!

Busy Boys... A Long Post

I've slowly come back from the dead.  Today is the first day since Friday that I've felt almost back to normal.  Besides a bit of a sore throat still barely lingering I feel fine.  While I had a bit of a blogging hiatus due to strep the boys were still as busy as ever, both learning some new tricks.  Sorry this is so long!

Clark first rolled over from his back to his belly last Wednesday and had it mastered by Thursday.  By Saturday he had figured out how to roll back over from his belly to his back.  I was shocked at how fast he learned how to do that!  As soon as he figured out how to roll a complete 360 degrees he then started rolling and scooting all over the floor.  He's trying his best to army crawl... I thought he was a little young for that!  I know he's not anywhere close to crawling but I'm impressed that he's progressed that quickly!  One thing that hasn't impressed me in the midst of all his learning is how it's disrupting his sleep at night.  We had just got him sleeping good again and now rolling over has interrupted that.  Last night at 1:40am he was screaming like crazy because he had rolled over to his belly.  Once I flipped him over he went back to sleep quickly but it was the same thing this morning at 6:30.  We watched him turn back over to his back but he was still upset.  I'm hoping he'll learn to like sleeping on his belly... Cooper loved sleeping that way once he's got the hang of rolling over.  He's napping right now and when I put him down I put him on his belly to help him get used to sleeping that way.  I know that some may frown on that because of SIDS but since he can roll anyways I know he's strong enough to move if needed.  Plus, I'm awake and checking on him like crazy.  In other news in Clark's world, he's really taken to baby food the last few days.  We're sticking to yellow vegetables right now (squash, sweet potatoes, and carrots) and he's eating them like a champ!  Most days he wears more than he actually eats but the last few days he's taken the whole jar.  The first week or so it was a chore to get him to open his mouth.  Now he gets excited when I strip him down and he sees the spoon coming!  He's growing and learning so fast it's amazing me!

Cooper is as busy as ever.  That little monster is 100% boy and never stops.  We're trying to work with him on a few different things right now.  Our main goal is trying to get him to talk more.  I've mentioned in past posts that we're about 95% sure his speech issues are from stubbornness (and most likely from him being a preemie) but I still don't want him to get behind.  He's getting better on saying his "normal" words much more and getting better about telling us the things he wants (juice, cookie, choo choo...) instead of just pointing and grunting.  He's still not saying new words we're trying to introduce but I guess that will come with time.  I seem to be the only one worried about it, the pediatrician isn't concerned, so I guess the best thing to do now is keep working with him and give him time.  Last night we started working with him on feeding himself.  He does fine with finger foods, when he's interested, does great with a cup, but he's never used a spoon or fork.  Honestly, I'm not sure if a brand new 2 year old is supposed to be comfortable with utensils but I figured we'd better introduce them sooner or later.  Any lack of eating skills comes directly from me.  He's not a big eater so if I sit food in front of him he'll throw it, play with it, or simply not eat it.  To make sure he's getting enough to eat and to keep the mess down I always feed him.  Last night when he used a spoon and fork he hardly got anything in his mouth and it was an absolute mess but he showed interest and wasn't as clueless as I thought he'd be.  We're definitely going to keep working towards the independent eating goal!  Oh, yesterday he had a bit of a scare.  He uses his bed like a trampoline.  Some days when he's supposed to be napping he's literally jumped for over an hour.  He just holds onto the side and jumps with all his might.  It's a miracle he hasn't broken the bed.  He busted his lip last week, pretty badly, doing that and we thought he may stop.  He didn't.  Yesterday, about 5 minutes after I laid him down, I was rocking Clark and heard a crash that sounded like a bomb had been dropped on our house.  I knew immediately what had happened, put Clark down, and took off running to his room.  About the time I got to his door he was screaming frantically and opening the door (oh, he's mastered doors now).  He had fallen out of his crib!  We had been waiting for this day but I honestly think it was an accident.  He's still so small I don't think he could've climbed out on purpose.  I think he propelled himself when jumping.  He hasn't done it again.  We're hoping it was just a fluke!

Photo Friday a Few Days Late

Oh what a weekend its been. The boys finally seem to be better besides some runny noses but now the sickness has hit me, that's why I'm a few days late on this post. Strep throat has been spreading like wildfire at work and it hit me Friday. Just as I was leaving school Friday afternoon my throat started hurting a little. By the time I went to bed Friday night I could hardly swallow, I was aching all over, had the chills, and was running a fever. I went to the Minute Clinic Saturday morning, waited 2 hours (ironic for the name huh?), was tested for the flu and strep, and was told it was strep like I had expected. I haven't felt this bad since I was little. I had always heard people say how horrible strep was as an adult and they weren't lying. Today I'm not quit as achy and my fever isn't as high but my throat is still killing me. Swallowing is excruciating. Hopefully my antibiotics will take care of this soon! We had so many fun Christmas things planned for this weekend and didn't get to do any of them... I was so upset! Mommies don't have time to be sick! Here are my pictures for the week... enjoy!



Daddy's boys! This is their favorite time of the night.


I was feeding him a banana while he was lounging... spoiled rotten!


Yummy!


Baby feet!



My rollie pollie Clark! He's got the hang of rolling over now but he gets mad anytime he's on his belly.





Yummy squash!


One of our advent calendar activities was a red bubble bath. Cooper was slightly terrified at first but warmed up to it.


He was so tired from rolling over all day that he passed out in the floor while his brother was screaming beside him.

No Motivation and High Expectations

I'll be the first to tell you how much I HATE laundry.  It's the one chore I loath.  It always seems to get put on the back burner and I have no problem with that.  I'm more OCD about cleaning/picking up so the dirty clothes get pushed back to the laundry room with the door closed and often forgotten about, leaving it to build up until I get around to it.  Between the four of us we generate a lot of laundry.  I don't care to wash and dry the dirty clothes so much, it's the folding and putting away that depresses me.  It's so time consuming and exhausting!  Ok, maybe I'm being a little dramatic, but I do hate doing it.

The other day I had a laundry epiphany. One thing I do love to do is watch tv. That's what I do during nap time, I catch up on my DVR shows. I have several I watch without Andy so I do my DVR cleaning then. Hey, it is a form of cleaning.... technically. On a good nap day I can usually get through 2 shows, (1 hour shows) sometimes 3 (that's pushing it). So I came up with a bit of a rewards system for myself when it comes to laundry. For every tv show I watch I must first either start a load, dry a load, fold a load, or put away a load of laundry. High expectations, I know. Before I hit play on my DVR I make myself do one of those. If I'm folding a load I fold as I watch. If I'm starting a load or moving clothes to the dryer I usually get a couple of loads done per show since those tasks are easier.

I've been doing this for two days now and it's going pretty well. I've successfully put away 3 loads of clean clothes and have many more on their way. The only downfall is that I'm in charge of my reward system and I don't know how long I can keep myself accountable. Sometimes Criminal Minds calls a little too loudly for laundry duties!

Rollie Pollie Clark!

Clark finally rolled over today! He's been getting so close the last few days and finally figured out how to get his arm out from underneath him. Of course, I was feeding Cooper dinner and missed it. I heard him babbling in the living room and when I walked in I found him on his belly. Way to go Clark!

Rudolph Baby Feet

One of the activities on our advent calendar was to make a Christmas craft.  I love making crafts with the boys but sometimes it can be a bit tedious with a 2 year old who never stops.  I picked one I thought would be simple and waited until Andy was home to help me.  I love handprint/footprint crafts so I decided to do that.  Cooper had made a snowman with his foot when he was about 3 weeks old so this time I went with a reindeer... more specifically, Rudolph.

I had a ton of acrylic paint so I grabbed my brown and a sponge brush and got busy.  I did Cooper's first.  I sat him on the table and painted his little foot.  The cardboard that these are on was much bigger originally and then I cut it down.  His foot went on a bit crooked but he kept it still on the board and didn't smear it any!  Next I grabbed Clark and painted his chubby foot.  He loves to keep his toes curled up so his was a bit more of a challenge.  We ended up with a good print though and I was pleased!  I then added some eyes with paint and some Christmas lights (tangled in the antlers) with some markers.  Once it dried I put it in a frame.  They are a bit crooked and a little of each foot got hidden by the frame but I love them!  I put the year on the bottom so I wouldn't forget but I'm sure by the size of Clark's foot I'd easily know it was from his first Christmas.  They look great sat out with all of our decorations.

 Their feet look huge in these pictures but they aren't that big.