March Madness

A couple of weeks ago I was thinking about my March post for the blog. I thought to myself, "It's going to be a small post because it's been a quiet month." After uploading all of my pictures to the computer I've decided I was wrong. It may have had "quiet" moments, but it was full of adventures like every month is for our little family! We wouldn't have it any other way!

Our month started out with a weekend trip to Utah. One of Dave's nephews was being baptized in to our church and one of his nieces was having a birthday party so we decided it would be fun to attend both family events. It was nice to be at the baptism. It was a first for Miles. He was so excited to watch his cousin get baptized. In our church we believe in submersion and Miles thought that was especially cool. I, unfortunately, didn't get any pictures.

Later that night Dave and I got to go on a group date with two of Dave's brothers and their wives. An older niece and nephew offered to babysit their brothers and their cousins so we could all go out and have some adult time. This boy and girl sibling pair watched two of their own siblings plus four cousins. They had their hands full! Our niece really wanted us to leave Oliver there too, but we figured they already had enough kids to watch...they didn't need a 3-month-old on top of that...so we took Oliver with us. We went out to eat at Firehouse Pizzeria in Smithfield, Utah (one of my favorite places to eat while in Northern Utah) and then went bowling afterwards. It was so loud in that bowling alley. I hope we didn't damage poor Oliver's ears. We had a good time hangin' out with Dan, Tonya, Jake, and Megan. Bowling is the only sport that I can beat Dave in so I rather enjoy bowling with him!

Oliver glowing at the bowling alley

The next day was Lily's 4th birthday party. She is one of Miles' favorite girls. He has even often referred to her as "my girl." He loves her so much! Lily is in to Jake and the Never Land Pirates which was the theme of her party. Her mom did an amazing job at decorating for the party and an even more amazing job at making a cake that looked like Bucky, their pirate ship. The party was late in the day on Sunday so we didn't get to stick around for the actual party (had to get back to Colorado), but we were able to spend a little bit of time with her earlier in the day. Miles had fun playing with her and was sad to leave.

THE cake, Miles, & Lily

This month we've gotten a couple of cute videos of Oliver. If you are friends with me on Facebook then you've already seen them, but just in case you haven't, I've added them here too.

He loves to talk

He loves to giggle

Dave and Miles both got a two week spring break this year! In fact, they are starting their second week of it right now. It's been nice having Dave around so much to help with the boys and get a few spring cleaning projects done as well. We've also managed to have a little fun too. My mom flew out for the first part of Dave and Miles' spring break. She was here for about 7-1/2 days. Miles was in HEAVEN having his grandma around.

We did a lot of shopping and eating out while she was here. She always spoils us! She even watched the boys a few times so Dave and I could have some time alone. We don't have a babysitter picked out yet in Fruita so time alone is a rare commodity these days. 

Dave feeding Oliver in Target so us girls could keep shopping!

We took her up on the Colorado National Monument because Miles wanted to show her the "mountains." She's been up there numerous times before, but it was a new adventure with Miles!

The boys standing close to the edge and giving Grandma a heart attack

Family picture

Grandma & Miles

On March 22nd, we thought it would be fun to take Grandma down to see Mesa Verde National Park in Southern Colorado. We took the scenic way down and probably almost gave her a heart attack. I had forgotten how narrow and winding that road is through the mountains. The road has HUGE drop-offs on the side as well. My mom is scared to death of heights. She was a nervous wreck. Miles also got car sick on the way down so that was fun! What should've been a 4 hour trip turned in to a much longer trip with all of the stops we made along the way, etc. We also decided to forgo seeing the park the first day and instead head to our hotel since Miles wasn't feeling well. We stayed the night in Farmington, New Mexico because it is only about an hour away from Mesa Verde and the room rates were so much cheaper. We got a nice little two bedroom suite. It was so nice to all be in the same room, but have our own space to sleep in! Miles and Dave spent some time in the pool Saturday night. Miles loves the water!

Sunday morning we got up and did some more shopping before heading off to Mesa Verde. It was a perfect sun shiny day! You can see a lot of the cliff dwellings from the car or from short walkways, but there was one hike that Dave, Miles, Oliver, and I decided to go on while Mom waited for us in the car. It was a 100 foot descent down a winding path to see this cliff dwelling. Miles had such a good time. I wasn't quite sure I'd make it back up to the car, but it actually turned out to be a bit easier than I thought. I'm glad the four of us could experience that up close.

At the top of the 100 foot descent

We made it!

 

Trying to get a selfie family photo isn't easy these days!

There is a 6 mile loop on top of one of the mesas that gives you a pretty good view of a couple of cliff dwellings, but it also contains several pithouses that you can get up close to without much walking. After our little hike we drove that loop so my mom could see more of the park as well. It's so amazing to learn about the Ancestral Pueblo people who lived in that area for over 700 years, from A.D. 600 to 1300.

An early pithouse or surface dwelling

Grandma & Miles

Reading the signs

Sleepy boy

Trying to find animals

Posing by the Sun Temple

Pretty cool if you ask me!

Christmas in March! We got a nice package from one of Dave's sisters in the mail yesterday. Apparently it was our Christmas present that didn't quite make it here in time for Christmas! Miles LOVED getting presents, but kept asking, "Why did she get this for me?" We were trying to explain to him that it was a belated Christmas present, but he wasn't quite understanding. He still loved it anyway! Thanks, Shannon, for such thoughtful gifts! Both of the boys love their loot!

Miles with all of his new Cars toys

Oliver got a new sock monkey blanket toy that rattles

...and new clothes!

Yesterday we gave Oliver rice cereal for the first time. There's debate over whether or not 4-month-olds should have solids yet or if you should wait until their 6 months old. We decided to go ahead and give it a try at 4 months. Oliver is such a chunky little monkey and is so hungry all. of. the. time. Plus he is showing signs of being interested in food when we are eating, etc. We had him sitting at the table with us today while we ate lunch and he got mad that he wasn't eating too so Dave got him some rice cereal. He did really well with it and seemed to know exactly what to do. We couldn't tell if he was a big fan of it though because he was still so mad at us and would cry between bites. He ate more than I thought he would. We shall see.

First bite

Reaction to first bite (you can see the tears in his eyes)

And that is how we spent our month of March.

Oliver's 3 month pictures

Because of a coupon I had for the JCPenney photo studio, we had Oliver's 3 month pictures done a few days before he turned 3 months old. I had to do it during the week because of when the coupon expired, so I picked a time that would work for Dave's schedule. It wasn't the best time for Oliver though so I'm thankful we got as many good pictures as we did! He only really started to get super frustrated with the process towards the end when we put him in the only outfit I had brought. As a past photographer, I know from experience that you do the outfit the mom brings in FIRST and save your ideas for the end. Oh well. We got some cute naked pictures of him at least!

Here are my favorites!

I ordered this 10 x 10 for our wall

Friends and family, if you'd like a copy of any of these, just let me know which one and what size and I'll print them out and mail them to you!

3 months

Oliver turned 3 months old on February 25th. There was no well-baby visit this month to the doctor so I don't have any stats on him, but you can tell he is growing like a weed. He is starting to put on the pounds and is getting those cute baby fat rolls. His thunder thighs are so. darn. cute!

He wanted to eat his hands during his photo shoot so it was really hard to get a good picture. This is what I got. When I went back and looked at Miles' 3 month picture, I got a good chuckle out of it. Click here to see! How funny is that?

Oliver is officially on soy formula now. He is doing much better on it. He still spits up some, but the volume is not nearly as much as it was. He does have an occasional large spit-up, but it is usually because he was worked up before he ate or ate too much. We are definitely happy with the progress! We both have decided to burp him in a different manner now too (on our lap sitting up instead of on our shoulder). That may help out as well.

Oliver is still a super smiley boy. He wins lots of hearts over when he flashes his gorgeous smile!

He is not a huge fan of his car seat, but he will put up with it if the sun is shining. If we are out and about when it gets dark, we get to listen to him cry all the way home. He does NOT like to be in his car seat in the dark for some reason. It's so funny. We've resorted to turning on the dome light in the car as we drive home so we don't have to listen to him cry the entire way. He isn't affected by the dark at home when he sleeps. Such a funny baby!

He continues to sleep better in his swing than in the crib. We can get him to sleep in his crib for the first half of the night, but after his first feeding (sometimes his only feeding) he won't sleep for much longer than an hour in his crib. If we want to get any more sleep early in the morning, then we have to put him in his swing.

He is wearing a size 2 diaper now and is in 3 to 6 month clothing. He is drinking between 5 and 6 ounces of formula every three to four hours during the day, but can go as long as six to eight hours at night, usually closer to six though. If he is awake for a big portion of the evening, then he'll sleep longer at night. If we have errands to run in the evening, he is wide awake the entire time. He isn't one to fall asleep in his car seat very easy. He has to be super tired and bored!

He's starting to fall in to a pretty regular routine during the day, taking about three to four naps each day. I'm such a planner/scheduler so I'm glad he is starting to be on a schedule. It definitely helps with the work-at-home thing!

In honor of him being 3 months old, we took him to JCPenney for pictures. I just got the disc back today so I'll post those pictures soon.

February

Being a work-at-home mom with two boys keeps me super busy and super exhausted! I'm not doing such a good job at keeping my blog updated (what's new, right?), but my goal is to do at least one post every month so I don't get too far behind. I also want to do Oliver's monthly post so I guess that makes at least two posts every month. We'll see how that goes.

Dave blessed Oliver in our church on Sunday, February 2nd. In our church we give babies blessings basically to get their name on the records of the church and then it gives the dads the opportunity to give them a blessing to help them out in their lives. We invited Dave's family to join us that day, but unfortunately no one was able to make it. Because of this we almost cancelled it, but decided to go ahead with it anyway. During the blessing Dave took Oliver up to the front of the church. We had talked with Miles to warn him about this event so that when Dad left with Oliver he wouldn't freak out like he's been known to do. He was a good boy and sat with me and listened to the blessing. When Dave was finished and started walking back towards our seat, Miles blurted out, "Good job Dad! Good job Dad!" I was so embarrassed, but everyone around us laughed. I think he knew that Dave was nervous about it and was so proud of his dad. He kept saying, "Good job Dad!" over and over, but I was able to convince him to lower his voice at least. In honor of the event, I decided to do a little photo shoot in his temple/blessing outfit. Below is my favorite one.

If you read my blog, then you know that I like to make ties for Miles. I even sold several of my ties when we lived in Kansas. They are super easy to make! Well, Miles has decided lately that it is fun to chew on his ties while he is in his primary class at church. I'm not sure if it is an anxiety/comfort thing or what exactly, but it's so frustrating to see them all balled up and soaking wet. They don't fully recover from it either. After searching the internet for a kid bow-tie pattern/instructions I came up with a super easy way to do them as well. And best of all, Miles can't reach them to chew on them!

To not leave Oliver out, I've been searching for a onesie that has a tie printed on it for him to wear to church because he's too little to wear an actual tie. In the past when I have seen those onesies I thought they were a cute idea. Well, I've searched and haven't had much luck. I happened to stumble across an iron-on applique at Hobby Lobby one day while looking for Valentine shirt ideas for the boys. The iron-on was of a cute little red and blue tie. It was only $1 so I figured I could just make my own...and so I did.

My handsome model

My other handsome model

On Thursday, February 13th, a lady in our church threw me a baby shower for Oliver. She asked me several weeks before if she could do it and I sort of discouraged it since Oliver is our second boy child. From my experience, typically showers are thrown for your firstborn and then again when you are expecting a baby that is the opposite sex of your first. She agreed with me at first, but then decided to go ahead and throw one anyway since we adopted him. Her daughter is in the process of adopting their second child so she has firsthand experience with how expensive adoptions can be, etc. She wanted to help us out anyway she could. The shower was a diaper/formula shower since we have everything else. I haven't been in our church long enough to know many people so I was amazed by the response! We got so many diapers! What a great group of women. We are so unbelievably thankful for their kindness and generosity. I'm also glad I had the chance to get to know a few of them a little bit better. I forgot to take pictures at the actual shower, but I did snap a few pictures of the loot when I got home.

Lots of size 2, 3 & 4 diapers and lots of wipes!

A very cute Valentine's Day bouquet

Advice written on some of the diapers (my favorite one - wake hubby & go back to sleep!)

For Valentine's Day, Miles' preschool teacher asked that he make a box at home that could be used at school for his Valentines. While searching for box ideas, I sort of got the craft bug and ended up making several things for Valentine's Day this year. I love being crafty!

My V-day crafts: Miles' box, 3 teacher gifts, 13 friend gifts, & 2 T-shirts

We made this for Dad to hang up in his classroom (this is unfinished, but you get the idea). Miles' hand print and Oliver's footprints

Miles & his box (there are two Miles in his class so he is Miles K)

Modeling his T-shirt

Modeling his T-shirt

My sweet boys!

On Valentine's Day, Miles' preschool class had a party and parents were invited. As part of my present from Dave, he took the day off of work. He attended Miles' party with me and Oliver...and boy was he a HUGE help. Miles tends to get really excited and super rambunctious when Mom and Dad are around so the extra help was appreciated. For the party they got to munch on lots of good treats and then pass out their Valentines to each other. Miles was so excited to get candy! I think Miles had a lot of fun at his party, but by the end Mom and Dad were exhausted!

Dave spoiled me this year for Valentine's Day. I have such a wonderful husband! He took the day off of work to spend more time with us. Over the weekend he also slept in our extra bedroom on an air mattress with Oliver so that I could sleep undisturbed in our bed for an entire night (no night feedings of Oliver). Too bad Miles didn't get the message to stay in bed that night. Oh well, he tried! We also made a day trip to Provo to eat lunch at my favorite place, Bajio. I don't know many people that are willing to drive 3-1/2 hours one-way to treat their loved one to their favorite food! I really do have an amazing husband! All he got was that handmade wall art to hang in his classroom. Poor Dave!

As you can see, we had a wonderful month full of lots of LOVE!

2 months old

This little man turned 2 months old on January 25th! Time is flying!

Oliver is such a happy baby! He loves to smile, not only at Mom, Dad, & Miles, but also at complete strangers like the nurse at his 2-month doctor's appointment, the nurse at the health department giving him his 2-month shots, and one of my visiting teachers who came over on Friday. He's just full of smiles! He really only cries when he's hungry or SUPER tired. He's pretty laid back.

He's starting to suck on his hands some. We give him a pacifier, but if it falls out and we don't give it back to him soon enough, his hands will end up in his mouth. He has to be swaddled any time he is sleeping because his hands tend to wake him up. He also has a pretty loud older brother to help wake him up too! And speaking of sleep, he doesn't really sleep as much as I think infants should sleep. He can stay awake for hours! We've found that he does sleep better in his swing versus his crib though so that's helping some at night. He also has been sleeping almost nonstop since he got his 2-month immunizations last Thursday. Poor guy.

Ever since birth he's spit up a significant amount of his formula after feedings. We mention it to his pediatrician every time we go in, but because he's gaining weight and growing fine, his pediatrician doesn't seem too worried. At his 2-month appointment though he suggested that we might try soy formula to see if it helps. Oliver's birth father is lactose intolerant so we wonder about Oliver too. Oliver has been on the soy formula now for about three days and we aren't convinced it's helping but we'll see. His pediatrician recommended giving it a week. Oliver's eating schedule is all over the place. Sometimes he'll want a bottle every two hours and sometimes he'll go as long as six hours. Of course he'll go longer periods of time without eating during the day and shorter ones at night! He's eating 4 ounces of formula at a time.

At his 2-month doctor's appointment he weighed 12 lbs 9 oz which is the 50th percentile. His length was 23 inches which is the 35th percentile. His head circumference was 15 inches which is the 15th percentile. So, he's pretty average in weight, a little bit smaller in length, and his head is a lot smaller than most. He's definitely not growing as fast as Miles did, but he's a good size.

He is wearing a size 1 diaper, but we are thinking about moving him up to a size 2. He is in 0-3 month clothing but is quickly outgrowing them. Anything that is a one-piece in that size is just not quite long enough. The 3-6 month size clothing is huge on him though. He's definitely in between sizes.

And if you're curious, click here to see Miles at 2 months.