Who said....

adding the second baby is hard but after that it's easy?! Obviously that person never had a fourth!! HAHA

This is Antonio James:

Week One: Went to the doctors for normal check up - found out that he is tongue tied, not bad, since he is nursing fine, so we do nothing and just watch it. (Basically there is a chance it could lead to speech problems but we will wait and see. When you google search it it freaks you out could lead to teeth issue..etc, that is why they tell you not to google things)

Week Two: Went to the doctors to get him circumcised. Yes we circumcise. I am learning that AJ is not an easy baby, lets just say he is sensitive.

Week Three: Went to the doctors (do you see a pattern) for a bad rash. It is yeast. Also went to a nutritionist who has helped many a mama solve lactation problems because the kid spits up his entire meal every time he eats and eats every 1.5hr, 2hr if your lucky (yes this is at night too)

Week Four: Yup you guessed it, went to the doctors bad rash still there. Still believes it is yeast but we added neosporin to our regiment, this helps a lot. Oh and did I mention there was a thought in week one that he might be club foot (google search that one!! AGH) but we started foot exercises and the doc said he all ready looks better and ligament is not tight at all, therefore no club foot.

Week Five: Oh yes that is right, went to the doctors he has a hernia. Yes a hernia, but again it is a waiting game. The type of hernia he has is called an Umbilical Hernia, the most common hernia in infants. The treatment is to let it close itself over time. And get this...it could take up to a year!! If it isn't healed by 2 then you look into surgery.


Oh and did I mention there are 3 other kids at home?!? I almost forgot, on top of the baby who loves to visit the doctor, is still nursing every 2hrs (not throwing up as much now, we are thankful for little blessing), and is only happy if I am holding him, feeding him, or he is moby wrapped, there are 3 other children to take care of. Whom I must say are handling the new baby great. They are nothing but dolls to him. Matteo is a little more quick to cry which makes evenings difficult but they all love there brother.

What amaze me the most is the fact that I am operating on little to no sleep. I am so surprised at the fact that I haven't crashed and burned yet. In the last few weeks I have been known to clean the kitchen at 4am in the morning, fold laundry, and even make lunches, mainly because I figured if I am all ready up with a moby wrapped baby to my chest trying to clam him down might as make good use of the time. However I do have a wonderfully support family both on my side and Matt's side that help me constantly, anytime I ask. And my mom bought us that hammock thing in the picture above that has been a God send, he will sleep in there for a couple hours which rocks.

So that is where we are...if I owe you an email...forgive me...if you have face booked me....forgive me....if you have called me....forgive me....I have not had much time to return messages.

Memorial Day Weekend

Just a little look into our Memorial Day weekend! Enjoy.

Scrapbook design made with Smilebox

New Do

Finally - for a few weeks now I have been asked by a couple people to post pictures of her new do. I am finally getting around to it. She was sporting it in Sam's birthday pictures but I thought I would post a head on shot of her new...bangs!

This is Whitney, a very closed family friend who also is a hair stylist, and she was the one to cut the bangs! Thanks Whitney, they are fabulous.

PUJ

Yes you read the title right PUJ. This is my first ever product review on my blog and no I am not being paid or getting a kick back of any type; I just think this product rocks!!

What is it you ask....

A baby bath, yes a baby bath that rocks. Heart be still, a baby bath that I actually look forward to using. I don't know about anyone else out there but I HATE big clunky baby baths that you have to use cups to fill up or bend over a tub. They are annoying. With our past baby's we have used them for maybe the first few weeks and quickly moved on to handing them to someone in the shower. But no longer we have found the PUJ Tub.

The PUJ tub is a big piece of flexible material that is soft and antibacterial that easily folds up to fit into a bathroom sink. When in the sink in creates a soft, supportive place that cradles your baby. It is so cool and AJ loves it. The material acts as a insulator and they way it cradles him makes him feel very safe and makes mommy feel safe to take her hands off him to grab what I need. It takes up no room in the bathroom and there is no filling up this huge unnecessary tub. When done you just unfold it and hang it up to dry! I would recommend this to anyone. You should go check it out: http://babybathtubs.com/

Here are a few pictures of AJ enjoying his new tub:


On there websites they have pictures of bigger babies using this tub and when you see him in it in real life you can see where it will last until he is sitting up and can use the real bath tub.

Have a great Saturday!

Eight-Years-Old

On May 6th Sam turned 8yrs old! I can hardly believe how fast the last few years have sailed by. He is full of energy and loves to learn facts about our world and repeat them over and over. He has found the joy in reading and moved up to a third grade reading level. His other love is books on CD which he checks out at the libary (and mom and dad bought him a couple more for his birthday). His current favorite activity is attending Awanas at our church! We are so proud of the young (extremly active) man he is becoming.

In an effort to not let his birthday be lost amongst the hoopla a new baby brings I decided that a birthday at a bowling alley, or gymnastic (where they do all the work) would be the best bet. So I gave him a few options and he chose our local ice cream parlor Doc Bernstein!! I booked it before the baby and then on the day of simply had to show up with the camera. So easy and it was one of the best parties! They definitely know how to bring the birthday excitement. Sam had a great time and I believe he felt properly celebrated. They played games, made balloon animals, got there ice cream served out of freight cars, ate pizza and every child went home with a very cool gift bag in the shape of an ice cream cone.

Happy Birthday Sam, we love you!!



Limbo was a major highlight:

When it got to low, they just pulled each other through!

This and That

I hope all the mom's out there had a wonderful Mother's Day. We didn't do anything wild for the weekend but instead just hung around our house and enjoyed being our little family. On Saturday night we attempted to take all 4 kids out to dinner. We went to the kids favorite place Chili's and had a great time. For the first dining adventure out with everyone it couldn't have been better. (Don't get me wrong there were a few moments I thought why, but overall it was a great family time!) Here are a couple pictures marking the occasion.



Next: I finally was able to get and upload pictures of what my 3 oldest kids did while mommy was in labor. Trevor and Jen watched them and to my surprise took the kids to the nursery, pick out pots and plants, then returned home to paint, and plant special flowers for AJ. The pots turned out so cute and what a wonderful surprise for AJ's home coming. Here are some pictures they took to mark the occasion:


Painting:

Pouring in the dirt:

Planting the flowers:


Watering: (yes those are my cookie icing bottles!!)




The finished project:


Thank you Trevor and Jen!! And this last week I attempted to get a picture of AJ with his flowers this was the best shot:

Apparently AJ is not fond of marigolds!

This is the end of my random post, I will leave you with a cute picture of Serafina and AJ. The girl is in LOVE!! I cant keep AJ out of her arms!

First Week

I have so many things to post about but no time to post them. By the time I have all 4 kids busy or asleep there is no time to sit and upload photos. Today I do have time to write a little something. In the last week since AJ was born we have not slowed down one bit. We attended a Spring Fling Auction, Serafina tried out a horseback riding class (Sam is trying it this summer), and Matt left town for Florida for a few days. All this and we have spent time learning about AJ. Here is what I have learned about our new little guy:

1. He HATES to be naked. I thought he just didn't like his diaper being changed but no, it is naked in general. On about his 4th day of life I attempt to nurse him with his legs naked, this was to try and keep him awake through the feeding. Well the little guy refused to attach and nurse until I put pants on him, then he nursed like a champ.

2. He would like me to be his personal pacifier. Those crazy other things I keep sticking in his mouth will not do.

3. If he is awake he better have something to suck: This makes his choice of pacifier an issue.

4. When he smiles in his sleep he has adorable little dimples.

5. He is a love and we wouldn't trade him for the world.

That is our mini update!