February's finished....yay!

February was less than fantastic for us(at least health-wise). I got some type of the flu, Cody got sick, as did the kiddos, each in their own way. I still do not have 100% of my energy back.

Tanner turned 4 months. Apparently, I'm not crazy and they finally accepted the fact that I was right....he really does have a problem. He weighed in 3 lbs under where his doctor had hoped he would be at that point. Lightbulb! He does have a spewing problem. He is now on Zantac and still soy formula and at his 5 month weigh in this week he is finally gaining at an acceptable rate which is exciting for us. Unfortunately, he also had his first ear infection(and so it begins) and he's allergic to penicillin, and it did nothing for his ear infection. He really is my high maintenance child. But we think we have it figured out now. He's still just scooting to items he wants and does laps in his bed during his sleep. Considering he's had an ear infection for a month and felt like trash, no new developments but he does get to be more and more fun. We laugh at him because he doesn't just smile...he opens his whole mouth like he's going to

eat you when he laughs and gets excited.

Poor Baylee has been sick as well. We haven't been able to keep her better and as of last week, she had tonsilitis and her first sinus infection. Then caught a tummy bug a few days later even after being on antibiotics. I feel so bad for her when she cries after what has been weeks of being some sort of sick and says "Mommy, I just want to feel good." We are definitely ready for some nice weather and warmer temps.

We got the ice storm of the century here in Illinois. It was insane. But we managed to be lucky and have a backup generator(we didn't have to use it) We were part of the 30% in our county that never lost power more than a flicker. I was

glad to stay home during the craziness though.

We celebrated Cody's 33 birthday. We love him so much and were glad to celebrate his special day. It was a quiet time at home with his requested cake and dinner. We had attended Miss Izzy's 2nd birthday party that day and with everyone still a little under the weather, the quiet night was what we needed. We did light the candles 2 times so that Baylee could help him blow his "fire" too. She was so proud she helped with the cake too. In true Baylee form, she let him know what his presents were before they were opened. It just made us laugh. She's a funny girl, that Baylee.

All the time in between was spent doing the usual and we even missed a few meetings because we were sick. I am thankful I am feeling better and the kiddos seem to be on the mend. Though poor Cody is getting his butt kicked again and can't seem to get over it. I'd say it might be time for him to break his rules and go against everything he stands for and visit a doctor.

I feel like an old lady because I mostly have health to talk about right now, but it's a pressing issue and it's been the whole focus of our month. Sad but true :)

January in a Jiffy

So far this year has been go go go go go for us. I like to be busy but sometimes it's just nice to be at home. Here's what we have been up to...MOPS, Teen MOPS, play dates, lunch dates, dinner dates, chore charts, lots of baking and cooking, some fun times with Baylee and Tanner and COLD COLD COLD weather. (Isn't it summer time yet?)

With Tanner's eating issues, he got his first cereal snack a little early. He loved it from the first bite. We have continued with that since he was right at 3 months. My thought process was with the thickness, he wouldn't throw it up. It was mostly true. Baylee loves to be there when we feed him. It's quite intriguing to her.

Tanner and Baylee just adore each other. He cracks up at her all of the time and she loves to try to entertain him. He started sitting up on his own some, he gets tired fast and if he's feeling lazy, he will not show off no matter what. Baylee's interpretation of that was that he would soon be chasing Odin with her. I wasn't going to burst that bubble :)

I also gave Tanner his first haircut(he needs another). That was an adventure, but looked so much better. The scraggly hairs are killing me.

December

I've become one of those....poor full time child number 2. I am (by far) slacking in keeping up with everything as well as I did with Baylee. The blog is definitely one of these items that seems to be at the bottom of the to do list.

The first part of December was spent finishing Christmas gifts, preparing for MOPS and teen MOPS Christmas parties, and trying to get in the Christmas spirit. Somewhere in the mix we had time to hang out with friends still and go to lunch with Amber since she's not in school right now. Tanner has also mastered scooting the length of his crib and he started holding his big noggin up way better. He still HATES the camera and it's difficult to get him smiling

but dang it I sure am going to keep trying. Baylee is still the proud big sis and loves to entertain her lil T from dancing for him to singing and sneaking in squeezes. She constantly reminds us that he loves her and she loves him for it.

We had a play date with just a few friends on Dec 23 where we made and decorated cookies for Santa, had lunch and a little bit of adult conversation in between tending to the kiddos. We had a blast, though it was decided another cookie decorating play date is needed but minus the kids or at least with the kids preoccupied by dads. We still are children at heart sometimes too.

Christmas was a blast. Tanner slept in and missed the first half of the festivities. Baylee was hilarious. She ran in and went straight to Tanner's gifts and completely missed her own. I had to lovingly point them out to her and then she got super excited. She helped open everyone else's as well, so as we approached the last few gifts, she was done. She just couldn't resist her toys any longer. She got some great things including her requested dress and new book. In addition she got ZhuZhu pets(thanks MaaMaa) and a new big girl fishing pole from Santa. She got clothes and dresses, toys and books(thanks grandparents, aunts and uncles). It was a fun day for all of us. We had a white Christmas which unfortunately meant Cody had to go plow snow. He did get to take his little sidekick with him though.

The day after Christmas we went out to enjoy the snow more. We had a great time throwing snowballs for Odin. He's quite the jumper (thus the missing his head in one of the pictures). We also buried dad, sledded a little, had a snowball fight and buried Baylee up to her knees. Thanks goes to the munchkin for sleeping so I could go have some fun too.

New Years Eve was spent with Dan, Hannah, and Miss Izzy, of course we did not make it to midnight. I'm only 28 and apparently that's history for us already (ha). But we sure had a fun evening hanging out. Happy New Year!

November in a Nutshell

I'm starting to think our pictures best show what we've been up to, but here's the general idea. Tanner is growing like crazy. He loves to play with Baylee. We had Tanner's one month check up, everything went well. He rolled over the other way, from his back to his belly. We attended the Christmas parade in Mattoon. Since we don't have any family close, we spent Thanksgiving with our friends Dan, Hannah, and Izzy and Dan's family in Decatur. (and yes it was nice to only have to make rolls) We set up our Christmas tree. Baylee was a great helper. Though this year we had to help even out the weight of the ornaments so that our tree did not topple. We started gearing up for the holidays and even did a little shopping on Black Friday. It was only so successful when I had a 3 year old and infant to lug around alone... but we found a few good deals still in stock. It started getting cold so we spent a lot of time playing in the house. Unfortunately, the long, bitter winter has returned....time for the annual outbreak of cabin fever!

rest of October

I'm just getting around to catching up. Unfortunately, it seems like that's all I try to do these days with most things is "catch up". It somehow never seems to be done though...not just the blog. We do give it a shot though. Tanner has just gotten thrown into our busy schedule and is quite the trooper being dragged along to where ever our adventures lead.

His big accomplishment in October was he rolled over from his belly to his back at 2 weeks and hated it. He would just holler because he was no longer on his belly. Silly little guy. He did good at his 2 wk checkup and had gained back the 13 ounces he lost in the hospital plus 3 more.

Baylee adores him still. She loves to hold him. I tried to capture just how fun it is for Tanner. Only pictures can tell that story.

And the rest of the pictures, surprisingly there are not many, are just random photos.

Tanner's birth announcement...go Shutterfly!

Mod Block Boy Baby Announcements

Customize your own baby announcement at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Trick or Treat?

It was as fantastic as Baylee expected. She loved trick or treating. She ran from house to house after she figured out how it all worked. We went with Hannah and Izzy as well. Dan held down the fort and handed out candy and we assisted when we finished getting treats for the kiddos. Tanner stayed awake for most of it in his little bundle and only slept for the last few minutes. We had a great time though. It was fun watching Baylee enjoy herself so much. And of course I think I had the cutest kids out there :)