Riding out Isaac

In our neck of the woods, Hurricane Isaac wasn't too bad.  We got lots and lots of rain.  We never lost power, but I know people who did. People south & west of us and those in south Louisiana did not fare so well.  And the images are truly heartbreaking!! The kids got two days out of school and Kyle two days out of work due to unpredictable weather conditions and dangerous roads. Having been through Katrina and being without power for almost 2 weeks, we were less than excited about riding out another hurricane with an 8 week old and two other young children.  Let's just say we were PREPARED for the worst, physically and mentally. Thank the good Lord we did not need any of our supplies.

We got to spend lots of quality time together!

We took advantage of the electricity and made pancakes with homemade blueberry syrup. Delish!

We played some games.

And tried to stay occupied with crafts. 

This morning was back to normalcy. Brantlee thinks she needs to hold up 3 fingers in every "before school" picture now, ha. 

Random note here: Since Brantlee has started school she has noticed some new hairstyles of other little girls.  She is all about the "side ponytail" and this morning she made me put her hair in pig tails (or two side ponytails, as she calls it ;) And don't forget the ribbons or bows. I am LOVING it! I've practically begged her to wear her hair different ways. So glad it is now HER idea :) 

Photography by Collin

Collin got a camera for his birthday, and it was hands down his favorite gift! After about a month of taking pictures, we downloaded all 200+ this morning :) Most were pretty hilarious. But some were actually good! Here are just a few. Thanks Mee Maw and Paw Paw!

Collin's most interesting subject is his sister, of course. (When she's willing to cooperate.)

Trying to squeeze in the Nap Nanny.

And every now and then, she gets a turn with the camera.

SILLINESS! 

Posed toy pictures are my absolute favorite. Get your kids a camera people. It provides hours of entertainment!

A really sweet one of TyTy before his bath the other night.

Poor Daisy. 

I spared the blog from the countless pictures of ceiling fans, Ty's crib, and other random objects around the house. Looks like we may have a budding photographer on our hands!

Shots & School Days

Ty had his 8 week appointment for shots today :( He's technically not 8 weeks until Tuesday. I'd like to report that appointments like these are easier with the 3rd child, but that's honestly not the case for me. It's still so pitiful to watch my sweet, innocent baby get those painful shots, especially when they don't have a CLUE what's about to hit them :( He cried and it was sad.  Anyway, moving on. We survived.

Ty weighs 11 lbs 5 oz and is 23 inches long.  He's grown A LOT! His doctor confirmed what we have suspected for weeks now; he likely has an allergy to cow's milk. We've tried a milk-based & soy-based formula so far, and they were both a complete disaster. This means we will have to use hypoallergenic formula when/if we supplement. It's very yucky milk and he doesn't love it :( :( She recommended we not try anything else milk-wise until he is 6 months. She also recommended I stay away from dairy... not an easy task for someone who eats cereal EVERY DAY and is obsessed with ice cream. BUT we will manage :)

This was a "before" the appointment picture.

Collin got to be the leader today AND it was Show & Tell day!! After we talked him out of taking Corky and Speedy (his new pet frogs- we weren't sure how his teacher felt about live creatures in the room) he decided to bring Mickey and tell all about our Disney trip. 

School is going really well for B! Her teacher (a friend of mine) sent me the following text. 

"I just LOVE Brantlee. I have to stay one step ahead of her. She keeps me in line!! :)"

HA! I laughed out loud in Target when I read it. She convinced me that B wasn't being too sassy and bossy.

(not sure why this pic is sideways)

Mr. Smiley wishes everyone a great weekend!

School is Great!

School started this week for Collin and Brantlee, and they are LOVING it! I was of course emotional about it, and it has nothing to do with the fact that they are "away" from me everyday now. (They are both only going half a day for goodness sakes!) BUT this means they are getting older. More independent. And a part of that hurts!! When I look at these pictures, all I see is happiness. Happy for them, sad for me ;) I know the new will wear off soon and we'll be dragging them out of bed, but it has been a great few days. It has also been a very busy week for us... so busy that I missed my own doctor's appointment because I came at the wrong time. (sigh)

Before orientation Monday night. Ty stayed with Mee Maw, Paw Paw & Pammie, which worked about best for everyone :)  That morning the kids stayed with Aunt Casey, while I had to help with a teacher luncheon at their school. It was a long day!

Tuesday morning on her 1st day of K-3! She was soooo ready :) 

She marched right in her class and hugged a few teachers on the way in. She is already the "mother hen" of the class according to her teacher. Oh to be a fly on the wall! She says she helps her classmates that are sad at school :) (Also notice the candle in the picture. B has a connection with this candle and it has to be in pictures sometimes. Love our baby girl ;)

1st day of Kindergarten! It has taken me a while to accept how old he looks in his uniform :( Collin's first day was very abbreviated. We had a coffee social/meeting with the principal and other K-5 moms while the kids got familiar with their classroom and teachers. I loved this! Collin was a little apprehensive about a new big school, so this made the transition so easy. He LOVES his teachers!

Day 2. Still excited!

Day 3. Pardon B's eyes being closed. They are totally over getting their picture made before school, so I'll stop now. Promise. 

Also on Tuesday Ty had an ultrasound on his hips to check for hip displasia (sp) because he was breech. We are happy to report that his test was normal! YAY! 

He is also 6 weeks old now. Crazy.

He is such a pleasant, easy going baby. Not that he has much of a choice. Let's see, this week alone he has attended church, a 2 hour luncheon, a parent meeting at the school, an ultrasound, a playdate, and 6 week pictures. He loves to ride in the car. PTL because it looks like he is going to spend lots of time there :) Hang on TyTy!!

Sweet Summertime!

Well it appears that summer is over! School starts for both kiddos Tuesday. They are both very excited about it. I think a daily routine is going to help everyone around here, including Mommy. This post sums up the rest of our summer. We have done some serious swimming, but for some reason I never bring my camera to capture it.There are lots of pictures just thrown in here in no particular order because that's sort of how we roll these days. And seriously, where did summer go?!?!

We have gotten a tremendous amount of rain lately. PTL for this! Here are all 3 chickens watching it rain.

When we do get outside late in the afternoon, we break out the sprinkler and jump on the trampoline... and play monsters and dragons and such.

We went back-to-school shoe shopping. Brantlee was showing Ty her new sparkly Bob's.

Last weekend we had a Crager gathering at Uncle Mitchell's house. C & B (and Poppa) were entertained by the swimming pool.

Cameron, Ava (5 months), Kyle, and Ty (one month)

It must be great to have a fairy as a sister. 

We have done some serious lounging in our pj's.

Trying out some spin art and they were obsessed with it! It eventually had to be put high in the closet. Spinning paint can't just happen anytime with no adult supervision, you know.

OH! And let's not forget the OLYMPICS! That's something else we have been obsessed with. There were several days that the t.v. never played cartoons, only coverage of the Olympics. We couldn't believe how much the kids were into it. Gymnastics was everyone's favorite!

Sweet Ty at 5 weeks. He is officially smiling, but it's still hard to capture it on camera. This was the end of one of little brother's smiles :) :) Goodness we love this fella!

Kyle and I took the kids to the Jackson zoo this past weekend for one last day of fun before school starts. Here they are at the splash pad. We were shooting for the water park on the coast, but we were afraid the weather wouldn't cooperate. Thank goodness these two are still young enough that this single tiger slide sufficed, ha! Ty didn't make the trip. We were afraid the heat would be too much for him. So he stayed home in the air conditioning and got rocked by Nana and Lolly. I'm pretty sure he didn't mind ;) 

Mid-afternoon trip to the snow cone stand. We definitely did this more than once this summer.

Collin riding at our friend Charlie's birthday party.

Another one from the zoo. We had a great zoo experience. Collin couldn't get enough of the snakes :/ :/ 

It is truly hard to wrap my mind around the fact that Collin will be at an elementary school!! Our B has grown up so much here lately and I know she will even more once she starts school. Man, this is hard!! And wonderful at the same time. We are very grateful for happy, healthy, active, growing kids (even if they do make us a little crazy at times :) 

One Month

Our sweet Ty is one month old!! While it does feel like a month has passed since we were in the hospital, it is hard to believe we have a one month old! And I have to say that while there have been a few bumps in the road, it has been a wonderful month with our new addition. We are adjusting to our family of five, and every day I feel a little more capable of actually taking care of three young children. Well most days anyway :) There have been a few days where I've had my doubts.

At 2 weeks old we started noticing some familiar signs of reflux that troubled Collin and Brantlee as babies. He seemed so uncomfortable after eating and in the night he would spit up and grunt and squirm in his sleep, even if we elevated his bassinet. He usually ended up sleeping on one of our chest for most of the night :( But after a prescription of Zantac and the purchase of a Nap Nanny, we saw immediate improvements!! We also discovered that the formula we were using to supplement was hurting his stomach. He is now a pretty good sleeper for a newborn and a very pleasant baby so far.

Here are some facts about "TyTy" as we like to call him. At one month Ty

• eats every 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours during the day. I honestly rarely watch the clock with his feedings, not like with brother and sister.
• loves to nap in the swing (or while someone holds him, of course!)
• will hang out in the bouncy seat for a little while, but much prefers to be held and rocked :)
• is still breastfeeding, but does take a bottle of formula before bedtime
• usually sleeps 4, sometimes 5 hours at night. He has slept 6 hours recently, which made us soooo happy!
• weighed 6 lbs 14 ounces at his one week appointment
• weighed 8 lbs 10 ounces at his three week appointment
• has started focusing on objects and our faces. (And I'm not going to call it officially, but I really think he smiled at B and me twice the other day... could have just been a reflex tho :) 
• he STILL has a portion of his umbilical stump!!! I'm serious. His doctor worked on it at his last appointment. It looks like it will fall off in the next day or so. So weird!! And we are SO ready to not have to bathe around it. Let's just say he was very well attached, ha

Ty went to church this past Sunday. We sat in the balcony and made it through the singing service, until he got hungry. We hung out in the foyer for the rest of the service and listened to the sermon. 

We don't love tummy time. I mean, who would???

Collin is the ultimate entertainer, ha

Visiting with Mee Maw

He is most awake during the first part of the morning and the evening.
The evening isn't his best part of the day.

He has been several places this month including Sam's twice, Sweet Peppers, McAlisters & Kroger. It's hard to sit at home!

I know each month will only go by faster and faster, so we are soaking in this newborn sweetness all we can!