Lucas' Nursery

Well it has taken me way to long to post the pictures of Lucas' Room.  His room is Toy Story themed, the hubs painted all the characters on to canvas and then we hung them.  This was different than Kalen's room, because the Hubs just painted the Nemo characters right on to the wall, Kalen's Room.  There is still some extras we want to add to Lucas' room but we haven't found the right items yet.  I made letters spelling out Lucas' name to go over his crib, it seemed a little lonely above there.  I got my crafting on!! Yay

His crib

Buzz Lightyear

Mr. Potato Head

Woody

Pizza Planet sign above the door

Bullseye

Slinky- above the window

Rex

Bullseye and Rex are above the guest bed in the room

 
We are also thinking of maybe adding a different color to the bottom of the wall.  He room just doesn't seem to be nurseryish (my made up word) as we would like.

Lucas turns 2 months

The littlest man of the house is growing too fast, he turned two months old on the 24th of July.  On Friday the 29th we headed into Ocala to visit his pediatrician for the evil 2 month shots.  I wish there was another way to give them immunizations besides stabbing them in the leg and in Mommy's heart. Luckily Dad came along this time and held the little misters hand.  Lucas actually did pretty well for his first time, he screamed but it was mostly an anger scream and he stopped as soon as she was done.  Lucas clocked in at the 50th percentile for weight and height, he was 11 pounds 8 ozs and 23 inches long.  Such a difference from Kalen who always seems to clock in at almost the 100th percentile. 

Little man loves to talk to us, anytime we ask him questions or just talk he begins to coo, I just love when he talks to us.  He smiles even more now, as soon as he sees Dad or Mom bamm there is a smile.  We have started calling him our little smilebot, because he seems to always be smiling.  His little eyes follow everything in sight now.  The other day he was tracking Reggie, our dog, all around and would smile and coo when he got close.  Tummy time is becoming fun for him, we mostly lay him on our chests and let him pick up his head and look around. His head holding skills are superb.  The littlest man is also becoming more independent.  He loves to lay on his play mat, the couch, or in his pack and play and just check out his surroundings while wiggling.

Lucas is becoming a better sleeper by the day.  He has been moving his bedtime up lately, which is always nice to go to sleep a little earlier.  Then he usually wakes up for some grub anytime between 330-5.  He also has been getting his business done quickly as well, getting his diaper changed, eating, and then quickly heading back off into dreamland.  THANK YOU Lucas!! This has been great for your mommy.

My Smilebot

Giving Smiles even after his shots earlier

Yay I'm 2 months Old

Not so Child-Proofed

This is exactly how I felt today!!! Kalen feels that if something is Child-proofed he must break in!  A few weeks ago he ripped.. yes ripped one of the doors off our entertainment center to get to his DVDs.  There was a cabinet lock on it. But, it stood no chance against my little muscle man.  He also insists that he must be in the office/craft room.  I figure it is because this is the one room in the house he is not allowed.  So he just pulls down the gate or scales the gate to climb in.  The child has free reign of pretty much the whole house, clearly he just wants this last room open.  In the post the other day, here , I said how he almost can open our bi-fold pantry door.  Well scratch the almost, he can and he must take whatever he can get his hands on out of the pantry.  Needless to say I had a glass of wine with dinner tonight.

Family Planking

This not so new game called Planking has swept across the nation and our family got in on the fun.  It was originally titled the laying down game.  In order to play you are suppose to take pictures of you laying on various objects with your hands at your side.  It is important once you take your picture to post it for your friends to see. Who is going to believe you otherwise?  The more Public the place the better, and bonus points for the most creative spots. Well here is our various family members getting in on the fun. I believe this is the order in which the planks occurred.  *Please be careful apparently some people have injured themselves partaking in the fun*

Michael getting us started by planking our couch- First Plank

Michael's dad, Mike, planking a stool- Bar Plank

Me Planking the rocker- Rocking Plank

Mike's mom, Jeanette, Planking the chair- Pajama Plank

Jason planking the bed- Lazy Plank

Danielle planking her laundry basket- Clean Plank

Michael planking the watermelon- Winning Plank

Lucas planking the basketball hoop- Baller Plank

Mike's Dad, Mike, planking his lawnmower- Grassy Plank aka Dwight Howard Plank

Blase planking the baby seat- Superhero plank

Grace planking a box- Traveling Plank

Kalen planking dads head- Brainy Plank

Michael Planking the trashcan- Dirty Plank

Mike's cousin, Matt, Planking his staircase- Balance beam Plank



Matt's wife Bridget Planking their porch- Backyard Plank



Mike's cousin, Ricky, planking an electrical box- Electric Plank

Rolly Polly

Well Lucas will be 7 weeks old on Tuesday.  He celebrated his first Holiday, July Fourth , and was a trooper through the fireworks-he slept right through them.  He also had his first milestone on July 4th, he decided to roll over from his stomach to his back.  Yay.  Little Mister actually likes to be be put down on the ground to play under his activity gym or just to wiggle.  He lets you know when he wants to be down as well, he becomes a little wiggle worm in your arms.  He is enjoying tolerating tummy time.  He will give you a good ten minutes before he wants to be on his back to wiggle.
Lucas is now starting to become more vocal, not just making noise when he is hungry, sleepy, or needs a diaper change.  He lets out squeals when you talk or sing to him, he also oohs and ahhhs when he looks at you.  Lucas has also become Mr. Smiles, he lets out smiles much more often now.  Just looking at his daddy or mommy produces a smile.  You can really get him to smile by playing with his lips, he thinks that is just too funny, often smiling and letting out squeals at the same time.  He is still a milkaholic but he still only needs one formula bottle in addition to all the breast milk bottles.  He eats about 4-6 ounces every 3/4 hours. 
He is becoming a slightly better sleeper.  He has now slept two times through the night, both times till 7:30am.  Allowing me to catch up on some sleep, although I felt more tired both times.  I guess my body was use to 5 hour intervals.  He consistently sleeps each night from 10/10:30 till 4/4:30 and then falls back asleep till 7:30/8.  Lately both kiddos have been waking up at the exact same time in the morning. Which makes for a fun morning.  We have been able to get him to take two good naps during the day rather than the one he was taking.  Each nap is usually 3-4 hours long.  Saturday we got a 5 hour 2nd nap. Every now and then we get a third one in depending on how long his other naps are. His long naps allow us to give Kalen lots of one on one attention.  Which Kalen seems to enjoy. 

Lucas Rolling over (From stomach to Back)

Kalen has had free reign of the house for awhile now.  Only the bedrooms, bathroom, and office are off limits.  Well he just can't handle not being able to go into our office area and has begun to pull the gate out of the way to get in.  We have now drilled the gate that is in the door way into the frame.  The other side is a little more tricky it  has good 15 ft opening that we have to gate off.  Well the gate we currently have is now tied to an ottoman to keep him from moving it.  We are looking into other options to keep the room gated off.  It currently isn't the most ascetic looking enclosure.  We have also had to up the baby proofing in the kitchen.  We finally locked the last cabinet, the Tupperware cabinet because we were tired of almost killing ourselves every time we walked through the kitchen.  All the drawers are now locked because Mr. Sticky fingers likes to open them and pull out whatever he can.  Luckily I was cooking when he decided to stick his hand in the silverware drawer and pull out a Knife...eeeekkkk.  That's just what I need is Kalen running after he pulls a knife out of the drawer and falling.  So now the kitchen is completely childproof, until he outsmarts the locks.  We are just waiting to find a sliding lock for the bi-fold pantry door because he is now figuring out how to open that and pull out whatever he can.  

Dancing

Smirking

All Smiles

Hey!! No Time Outs

Playing the Drums

Getting all cozy for his movie

UPDATED: Super Stroller

So I have some wonderful friends and family who all pitched in to get me this FABULOUS double stroller I wanted for Kalen and Lucas.  I had been scouring the web looking for the perfect double stroller for me.  I had read all kinds of reviews about all the different double strollers available.  When I finally settled on the Baby Jogger- City Select.  I was telling my mom about it and she decide to round up a few friends to pitch in, since I wasn't having a 2nd baby shower.

This stroller can function as a single or a double and has 16 different combos of seat arrangements when being used as a double.  I do not have the bassinet, Lucas rides in his car seat.  I have the second seat for when Lucas gets big enough to sit in it.  Currently Lucas sits up top in his car seat while Kalen takes the low spot.  It is such a smooth ride, the wheels are rubber air filled tires, and it is much lighter than other double strollers and isn't as long.  You can always remove the seats before folding to make the stroller even lighter.

All the different seat combos

Picture of the stroller with Kalen in it

Special Shout out to Ashley M, Ashley G, Megan L, Megan Z, My Mom, and my Dad for this awesome Stroller!!

Proud to be an American

Well as many of my family and friends know The Fourth of July is my favorite holiday!! I love what the holiday stands for and that we are able to celebrate this holiday every year because there are men and women out there who are sacrificing there lives everyday to keep the rest of us Free.  I Thank them today and everyday for what they do especially my Brother-in-law Tyler Hensley and Mike's cousin Matt Lacey, whoa are both Marines, currently stationed in California.  We can have our parties, BBQ's, firework displays, and spend time with people we love because of them.  I love spending the day with my family and seeing the fireworks at the end of the night.  For the past couple of years we have been spending the Holiday in St.Cloud with Michael's family.  We would have our BBQ and then head out on the boat with Mike's uncle Rick to watch the fireworks!! Being on a boat is the best and my favorite way to watch the Fireworks.  Well this year the 4th fell on a Monday and the hubs had to go to work the next day so we decided to stay home this year and find a festival to attend here.  Well we don't have a boat so we had to settle for watching the fireworks on dry land.  This would be Kalen first time watching the fireworks since he didn't go out on the boat last year.

I looked up area festivals and we had picked three we would try (so we would know which was the best for following years).  There was one in Crystal River which was on Sat, it was called Uncle Sam's Scallop Jam.  On Sunday night there was one in Inverness, then Monday there was the God and Country Day festival in Ocala.  We never made it to the Scallop Jam considering there was a 5 dollar entrance fee, which wasn't a big deal but we didn't want to have to leave after paying if the Kiddies didn't enjoy the fireworks and we aren't big on scallops.  Sunday afternoon we loaded up the truck with our cooler of snacks and our family and headed out.  We had to make a quick stop at Kmart to pick up some chairs since both of our were broken.  We ate at Sonny's to get our fill our BBQ for the day and then parked the truck and loaded up the stroller and went walking down to the park.  We found a perfect spot in the shade of a big tree but no trees in front of us to block our view.  We had about 3 hours to kill hanging out before the fireworks began.  So we each took turns walking around with Kalen so he wouldn't get bored just sitting on the blanket.  The night kicked off with a precious little girl singing the national anthem at the end they shot off a few fireworks.  Kalen's love affair with fireworks began.  He spent the next hour and a half pointing to the area the fireworks came from and yelling.  He wanted More!!! When the show finally began we strapped him back into his stroller seat so it would be easier to leave at the end.  Kalen sat staring at the sky I am pretty sure he didn't blink for the first 5 mins.  Through out the show he would let out some whoa's and ohhs, there was clapping and more pointing.  This was the firework show that just wouldn't stop.  No one knew when it was over and if they should start clapping.  Several times clapping would start and then more fireworks.  Even after the grand finale when everyone was leaving more fireworks.  It was a great show and Lucas slept through the whole thing (I covered his little ears with a blanket for the noise).  So he will get to truly experience his First 4th of July fireworks next year. 

On Monday we headed out to Ocala but we did not last long.  It started off on the wrong foot when we parked and the grass came up to Kalen's knees.  I guess they couldn't be bothered to mow the area before, its not like they did not know people were coming, it was the 42nd annual festival. The festival was strange, it had home made fair type games and even stranger prizes (not sure I would let my kid have the prize if they won).  The area to watch the fireworks had no shade anywhere.  We couldn't sit in the blazing sun with Lucas and Kalen for the next 2-3 hours waiting on the fireworks.  So we decided to head home at least we celebrated the day before.  Our neighbors were actually setting off some pretty decent fireworks down the road so we watched those with Kalen and Lucas before bed.

Showing us where the Fireworks are gonna be

Lucas taking everything in

What's a 4th of July without Elvis?!?

My hot sweaty mess of a son

My favorite Men

Watching the Fireworks

Watching the neighbor shoot off fireworks

Lucas and Mommy watching the Macy's firework special



(Beyonce pissed me off, she sang Lee Greenwood's "Proud to be an America",I love this song and I pretty much cry everytime I sing along, I know I'm a sap. She decided to change the words. Instead of singing "It's time we stand and say" she sand "Its time we make a change". Seriously leave your politics out of this American Classic!!)

That I’m proud to be an American,

where at least I know I’m free.

And I wont forget the men who died,

who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,

next to you and defend her still today.

' Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,

God bless the USA

I hope everyone had a fabulous Fourth of July

Relief for the Bottom

Poor Kalen has been battling diaper rash off and on for weeks now.  He even had a yeast infection diaper rash (that we got a prescription ointment for).  Even though we would lather on different types of creams and ointments it never seemed to fully go away.  It would get so bad at some points he wouldn't even sit in the tub because the water made it burn.  Sometimes he would have small spots of blood and areas would be rubbed raw.  We would use cloths with just water to clean his bottom because the wipes seemed to burn him, and then pat him completely dry and let him air out before placing a new diaper on. He would scream bloody murder when we tried to change his diaper.  I felt so bad when I changed him but I couldn't let him sit in his poop or pee that would just irritate his bottom further.  I remade a batch of the homemade diaper rash cream that had worked wonders in the past, getting rid of any diaper rash with in one change of his diaper, but that failed.  The hubs and I sat thinking about the fact that Kalen never use to get diaper rash, so we tried to think of what was different then.  Well Kalen has been eating a massive amounts of fruits, so we tried to cut back on those, thinking the acid in some of the fruits are bothering him.  We limited his apple juice to just a few drops in his water or none at all.  Nothing... We noticed that the Huggies Snug and Dry diapers seemed to only make matters worse.  So we finished those off.  Moved on to Huggie little movers.. still nothing.  Pampers Cruisers nothing.... So finally we went back to Target's Up and Up brand diapers.  Well his butt is no longer red, he no longer screams through changes, and he can happily go back to sitting and playing in the tub for bath time.  In this case the more expensive was not the best for us.  He never had a problem with any of the brands of diapers before, this has been a recent occurrence.  I guess the chemicals in the Pampers and Huggies reacted with his pee and poop and caused his bottom to be burned.   So now we have gone back to just using Target's trusted brand of diapers so our son can have a Pain free bottom!!