Eight Months

I have been defeated by an 8 month old! I have had this post written up for two weeks. I was just waiting to pair it with his adorable block pictures. Let me tell ya, did NOT happen. He wouldnt lay still for one single second. I tried multiple times and have simply given up. (I don't even have access to those pics because they are on our desktop which is sitting unplugged on our living room floor and will be until next Friday when we get Internet!). Oy! Before I forget, here are his stats:

You crawl everywhere and get faster each day.

You pull up on everything. Sometimes, you even try to stand with your hands on the ground, like a bear crawl.

There have been many instances where you’ve let go and stood for a few seconds.

You clap! A lot! It took you two days to teach you this. Now, I don’t even clap along. I simply say, “Do Yay!” and you happily cooperate!

Ama taught you to raise your arms up high aka. Do “So Big!” You are very proud of yourself and do this often.

You eat three meals a day now. Usually its yogurt in the morning, fruit in the afternoon and a veggie or dinner at night. Some real food is thrown in, but we have to be careful because you still have no teeth!

Speaking of teeth, the doctor predicted you'd teethe for a while and return to your happily self before a second round of teething pain came again. She was right! Currently, you are as pleasant as ever.

You usually take two naps a day. One in the morning, shortly after you wake up. One in the afternoon, after lunch and a nursing. That second nap tends to be nice and long; at least 2 hours. You were still needing a catnap in the evening until recently. We have been pushing your bedtime up and dropped that.

You love the water! Daddy does your bath every other day and its your special time. You were in the bath ring for about two days before we realized you'd do fine with nothing holding you back. Now you crawl around and stand on the side of the tub. You are such a water baby.

You are a complete Mamas boy(and always will be, right!?) You call me Maaah, and know who I am.

That being said, you have a very special relationship with your Daddy. You light up after not seeing him all day. You boys are so silly together and I love witnessing it.

You stare at strangers and people you don’t see often. You don’t usually cry, as long as Mama holds you tight.

One little add-on here~I saw the white and felt a hard spot AKA tooth! on July 26th! It should pop through soon!

I'm dying only having Internet access 1 hour/day. I have a to-do list a mile long and many of the items are on the computer! Such as..fall baby classes, birthday party items, printing out pictures.

In other news: Tom had his final interview with the County on Tuesday!! We hope to hear something back sooner than later. The condo is coming together, slowly. Toms working overnight security all weekend, so Ill be running my million errands and organizing like crazy. I'm hoping to get our life back in order so we can really enjoy the rest of the summer!

Goodbye Grandpa

Toms grandfather passed away Monday evening. He was 85 years old. We knew it was coming. We spent last Wednesday evening by his Moms house, enjoying his company one last time. His Mom called Monday at about 5 and said the hospice nurse couldn't get a blood pressure reading and the end was near. We rushed over as quickly as possible and he waited until Tom was there to let go.

Tom is heartbroken. His Grandpa was, hands down, his favorite relative. He is who he is named after. Their personalities were very similar. He spent a lot of time with his grandparents while he was younger. As he grew older, he still made time to call them in Florida and keep in touch. We made trips down to visit as often as possible.

Ill never forget the first time we flew down to see them. It was actually the June after we got married, so a bit over 4 years ago. We were in Orlando with my family and we drove with my parents to their condo in St. Petersburg. My parents dropped us off and they went to hang at the beach. As we were about to walk in, I was feeling really nervous. I was anxious to meet the wonderful people Tom talked about often. I stopped Tom and said, “Wait, what is your grandpas first name again?” Haha, Thomas, of course!

We visited them again the following Christmas. I surprised Tom with a trip down. It was the most laid back trip we have ever taken. Our days revolved around meal times and Wheel of Fortune. It was wonderful. We actually had booked another trip the following year, but they had grown older and were unable to take care of themselves anymore. So, they returned to IL to like with Toms mom and have remained there since.

We were lucky to have his grandparents in the area the past 2 years. Grandpa was able to see how happy Tom is, to see my belly grow, to hold Trevor. He was ready to go be in Heaven and we are blessed to have him looking down on us.

Rest in Peace, Grandpa, Thomas John, Bud. We love you!

Pretty Blog

Ta-Da! What do you think of the new look? I personally think its GORGEOUS! I had many offers of assistance in designing my much-needed new blog and I'm so glad I went with Leslie. She is professional, sweet and helpful as can be! I strongly urge you to check her out. She is currently offering 15% off her packages if you sign up by tomorrow!

http://sweetiebabysblogdesign.blogspot.com/

Now if I could just get her to do my grocery shopping for me...;)

Bear with me (I totally just googled the proper spelling for bear) as I update the sidebars and our info. I cant wait to have it all done!

I'm heading up to Wisconsin for COUNTRY THUNDER this evening. Ill be seeing a few small known artists..Jason Aldean, Sugarland, Miranda Lambert, Kenny Chesney.. It feels like I marked this weekend in my calendar so long ago..and here we are! Have a great weekend, everyone!

Tuesday Thoughts

Well, were officially moved. I am still exhausted. Moving (A LOT) of stuff all weekend in 90 degree heat=draining! The condo is a wreck. Its going to take weeks to get everything in order. For now, Trevor's crib is up, our bed is made and we have a few items in the fridge. That's all that matters!

Trevor started clapping and doing "so big" this weekend. Talk about making my heart melt. He is standing up on everything and even on his own for bits at a time. Today he shocked me and climbed up the step from the family room to the kitchen at the house. He is growing up too too fast.

I am starting to really yearn for a sibling for him. I think about it all day. One of the kids is in a camp these next two weeks where I drive past our clinic..4x a day! Talk about a reminder of my uterus aching..I tried only offering him a bottle one day last week. He drank ONE ounce the entire day. Wonder where he gets his stubbornness..? Oh and my crazy cycle last month? It came to day 55 and I started bleeding. I was excited my period finally arrived. Or at least I think was a period. It was like nothing Ive ever had before. So light, I didn't even need tampons. It was spotting for a few days. And then nothing. I was left confused and annoyed. Well see how long this cycle is. I cant believe I still have to stop feeding him 100% and get 2 periods before I get the chance to be pregnant again. It seems so far away..I think the 3 recent pregnancy announcements in the past 2 weeks are not helping. All of which were surprises. Why does it still hurt?

Fourth and Car

So, going back to 4th of July weekend! It was another holiday weekend we LOVE celebrating at the cottage. Tom and I both had the Monday after off, so we were really looking forward to the 3 day weekend. The weather was fantastic; not a single rain drop. We spent all day Saturday on the boat. We parked it at the sand bar, had a few drinks, swam, listened to music, tubed, etc. Days like that are what summer is all about! The tiny town our cottage is located in has a Liberty Fest every year. We went to that for a bit on Saturday. The town always splurges on fireworks over the lake. This year was extra special because we sat on the new pontoon boat to watch them! I was sure they would scare baby T, but he just sat in awe.

Brady and Mikey soaking up the sun

The boat is an insta-nap for the little ones. Here are Trev and Tyler after about 5 minutes.

Tom performing his traditional backflip..

Mike and Mikey

Braydon jumping off

Me and my Laney girl

My Mom and Aunt Jean

Bradyo and Tomtom

At the fest. I have SO much love for the 5 kids in this picture. I truly cant put it into words..

Mikey won Trevor a bear!

Cant see, but his shirt says Mommy's American Hero.

Fireworks!

First 4th of July as a family!

The actual 4th was very low key for us. We spent more time on the boat, napped and went to dinner in Lake Geneva. Driving home from there was neat because we saw many different firework shows happening at once.

The Monday after, we spent an hour or so on the boat and headed home. The water was very choppy and it was overcast, so we were a bit discouraged. Its always nice to get home a little earlier than planned, so we can catch up on laundry and prepare for the following week at work!

Yet another nap on the boat. This is the life, I tell ya!

The cottage is one of the reasons we were in the market for a bigger car. When we travel there, roughly every other weekend, we put the dogs in the trunk of my Pontiac Torrent(exact same as an Equinox) and pile our bags next to Trev in the backseat. This was obnoxious at times and we wished we had more room. Also, when I take all 5 kids somewhere, I have to arrange it ahead of time so I can borrow my sisters or Moms car.

Toms car, a Pontiac G6 we loved, was a SmartBuy which was ending this November. We went to talk to the guys at the dealer and were told we could extend the payments or trade it in. After doing some math, we realized we wouldn't pay much more by doing so. Plus, we now have a vehicle that can accommodate 3+ car seats in case we get a surprise and have twins when we do our FET this fall.

We looked at a few SUV's with the 3rd row and hadn't fallen in love with anything..until I set my eyes on the Pathfinder. Its perfect! I love the look of it, you feel safe sitting so high, and the pickup is awesome. We plan to take great care of it so we can keep it for a few years after we pay it off. After all, isnt that the point?!

I get the condo keys at 5pm tomorrow! Moving starts immediately after! Yipeeee!

Way Behind

Surprise, surprise, I am behind on blogging. Again. Grrr!

Just when I was back into the swing of it, life happens.

I have good reasons, I promise..

1-Started watching the new baby at work. Now, I care for 5 kids, ages 6, 4, 3, 8 months and 5 weeks. I no longer have any downtime at work for my nifty laptop to get use.

2-We were car shopping. And bought one yesterday. Nissan Pathfinder. I love it!

3-We were home rental shopping, too. We signed a lease today and move in, uhm, Friday!

4-Trevor has been crawling/pulling up/standing for a while now. If I am not near him every second, he ends up with an average of 3 bumps and bruises at the end of each day.

5-Tom has been working a ton of overtime for my dads security business. I have had Trevor pretty much every minute the past few weeks. No complaints, its just nice to have extra hands sometimes!

I have a millions posts in my head. It helped to write them down as a reminder, so here it is:
4th of July
Car
Rental
Breastfeeding
8 Months
Girls Trip
In-laws

What the HECK, Mom? Get back to blogging!

Pool Float

Trevor tried out his new pool floatie at Grandmas house last week. He LOVED it! I am the worst swimmer around..ie-doggie paddle queen, but somehow I birthed a total water baby! He didnt get much time in it because a storm was rolling in, but him and Auntie Stefi had a blast.

Now if we could just get Daddy to drive a REAL one of these around..COME ON COUNTY!

In Common

What do these two boys have in common?

They're both November babies, 9 days apart to be exact.

They both have handsome, doting Fathers.

They both have button noses.

They both have chubby cheeks.

They both have piercing blue eyes.

They're both Mama's boys.

They're both perfect in every single way.

AND, they're both IVF babies!

Sunday, we met with our good friends in downtown Naperville. Jennifer is the only person in-real-life that has dealt with IF and IVF. We leaned on each other through clomid cycles, failed IUI's and finally our first IVF cycles. Both resulted in positives and both resulted in healthy little boys. We have gotten together three times since the kids have been born. We would like to do so more often, but its hard with both of us working.

We had SUCH a great time. We went to Barnes and Noble and picked Trev up a few new books. We walked around to a few more shops. Then, we had lunch at Mongolian BBQ, yum! Thankfully, the sky cleared and sun started shining, so we were able to set the kids in the grass and let them play. Finally, we stopped at a delicious cupcake shop and bought a few to bring home. My first red velvet cupcake=delicious!

We cant wait to get together again. Its so much fun comparing milestones and seeing them interact. I think they'll be good buddies. :)

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Before I forget, this was a big week for Trevor. We dropped his crib, he started drinking from a big boy cup, AND he discovered his penis. Haha Diaper changes are even more fun now!

And yes, I will take a picture of the statue. Then maybe fellow IF battlers can rub body parts on the screen and try to get her..mojo..?!