Our two little Valentines

Brandstetter Look-alike Meter

Oh what fun! A friend of mine just posted this on her blog, and I just had to try it. Sorry, Ben, but I guess all those strangers are right about Adam. :)

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family history - Vintage photographs

Brandstetter Look-alike Meter

Precious baby Tyler is looking more like Dad! :)

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Genealogy forum - Roots

Great Grandmother

While the boys and I were in GA last week, we got to introduce Tyler to my grandmother. Grandmother S will be 90 years old one month from today! I think she looks wonderful for an almost 90-year-old. She has macular degeneration (which runs in my family), meaning she can't see too well, but she sure enjoyed seeing her great-grandsons.

Go, Diego, Go!

The boys and I are having a blast down in GA with Nana and Granddaddy. The weather has been wonderful compared to the cold in NKY. Adam has enjoyed playing outside several times!

The Go, Diego, Go! Live show at the Fox theater was the main reason we came down to GA this month. Tyler spent the day at Granddaddy's office, while Adam, Nana, and I went to Atlanta for the show. Adam didn't take his eyes off of the show the entire 90 minutes!! He loved it! He didn't interact with the characters, but he doesn't do that while watching the TV show either. We chose the balcony seats just in case he got too scared sitting on the main floor, and the show was awesome from our view. The Fox theater is beautiful, in case you haven't been there, so seeing it was a treat in itself. Unfortunately, both Nana and I had dead batteries in our cameras, so we didn't get any pics of Adam at the theater. But I'm sure we'll have some pics to share later from our GA visit!

Our Little 3 Month Old

Tyler is 3 months old today!! He's growing so fast and getting so big. He's an adorable baby, just like his big brother was, so we are truly thankful for that. He does sometimes have some trouble falling asleep on his own, but we're working on that. He's quite the eater these days, eating anywhere from 6oz to 8oz at one feeding! Tyler loves to smile, and quickly brightens up when he sees his big brother. Adam is SO sweet to Tyler and loves to give him kisses. I believe Tyler was trying to laugh yesterday, so we'll get some cute videos later when he starts doing that. He's chewing his hands these days like he's looking for his thumb, but he hasn't found it yet. We're praying he does (like Adam) because we're getting tired of pacifiers falling out during the middle of the night. One negative thing we're dealing with lately is Tyler's eczema. It's so cold and dry up here, and his skin is so sensitive to it. Poor little guy! But that's really the only complaint I have right now!! We love him SO much!

Dora is not only "the Explorer..."

...she's also a fantastic teacher! Yes, Adam LOVES watching "Dorrie." It's been his favorite show for a few months now, and I can tell through his speech and thought process that he's truly learning from her show. How wonderful as a parent to realize that watching TV is good for him. :) Adam has mastered a certain concept that I've read in magazines is not usually done for a long time, well into the preschool years. He can process the "now...then" or "first...next" concept. For example, we were driving to the YMCA last night for Mommy to work out and Adam and Tyler to go to Child watch. Adam said as we were leaving the house, "Mommy, I play with toys first, and Mommy workout, then I go home." I said, "Yep! That's right!" I'm so proud! He does this all day long. "First I read book, then go night-night next." "First I eat lunch, then play with toys next, Mommy."

This is a recurrent theme in all of Dora's explorations. Their adventures are centered around getting from one place to another by going through several other places. Hence, the "first...next" concept. They repeat it several times, "First, we go through the chocolate river, then over the big red chicken hill, then we get to the playground!"

I know Adam has excellent speaking skills when compared to other kids his age, my goodness, he talks nonstop! And in complete sentences, too. But it makes a Mommy proud to read in her parenting magazine that he's accomplished something that usually wouldn't happen until later in his sweet little life. :)

Tyler leans to the right...

Yep, life father, like son, Tyler leans to the right. I'm sure he'll grow into a good conservative eventually, but he's literally leaning to the right these days. Tyler had his two month well-child checkup yesterday (yeah, he's almost 3 months, but our favorite doctor was booked up solid until now!). He's doing great! Weighed 13lbs 2oz (but had just eaten a 6oz bottle), length was 24in and I think his head circumference was 16-something. He was pretty much 75th percentile across the board. He's growing like a weed! But, he's favoring keeping his head turned to the right. So we have to hold his head to the left 10 times a day for 10 seconds each time. He really doesn't like it, but it's good for him to stretch his neck muscles. He's such a trooper, though! I can already tell a difference in his head movement today. His neck muscles are definitely strong enough to hold his head up, we just have to get him to "look both ways."

And here's Adam being silly in front of the camera!! He's too cute when it comes to "cheese!" time. :)

Tyler's overstimulation

We put Tyler in Adam's old aquarium bouncer seat tonight, and he was certainly enthralled! Check out these adorable expressions.

Another Christmas has come and gone

I can't believe Christmas is already over! All the preparations and decorations that take up so much of our December time has faded, and we're getting ready to ring in the new year. We had a wonderful Christmas down in Lexington this year. Tyler's first will certainly be memorable to all! Enjoy the pictures in this slide show. Our camera batteries died during our stay in Lex, so we have no pictures of the boys first thing on Christmas morning. But we do have video that I promise to upload one of these days!

We love you, Sue Sue!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Our first snow of the season was heavy at times, but only amounted to about 2 inches. It didn't stop us from playing outside with the neighbors, though, who built a fort! In every picture below, Adam is telling me to stop taking his picture. His expression says it all in the last picture! We even bundled Tyler up in his "snowsuit" and took him out to enjoy his first snow ever.

'Tis the Season

Thank you, thank you, thank you! to everyone who sent me emails regarding my last post about the boys. I felt so loved and really appreciated the support and help. (I promise that I will respond to your emails very soon). Our second week was MUCH better than the first. Adam didn't throw quite as many tantrums, and our schedule seemed to get better, as well. It also helped me a lot that Ben came home in time to help me with the kids at night. Tonight, we are going to a Christmas party without the boys, so it'll be fun to be adults again! Our wonderful friends Mark and Gina are keeping the boys for us - THANK YOU!

I have some random pictures to share that haven't made it on the blog yet. Everything from gingerbread houses to trains to trimming the tree. Hopefully some videos of the boys will be coming soon...

Maddie turned one!

I'm finally getting around to posting some pictures of our niece, Maddie, who turned one on November 7th. Her Mommy, Stacy, threw a very cute Strawberry Shortcake party, and we all had a great time. Enjoy the pics!

Life with two kids and no help...

Tonight, I am blogging while sitting at the dinner table finishing our Red Baron personal pizzas, Adam's favorite dinner. This week has been my first week at home alone with both boys withOUT Nana. It's been quite an adjustment! It also doesn't help either that Ben has been home late every night this week........that's overwhelming! But we're managing, and I thought I'd share a few thoughts about what we've experienced this week.

TYLER

1. Does anyone have any thoughts on how to keep a pacifier in a five-week-old's mouth?? He loves to suck on it, but good gracious, he can't keep it in his mouth to save his life! My back is killing me from leaning over to put it back in all the time when he cries.

2. He's going through a growth spurt today, I just know it! I'll say that every time he seems to want to nurse every hour...it's always a growth spurt, right? But then again, it's times like this that I'm afraid I don't make enough milk for him to feel full and then I stress myself out too much. But he's had two good weight checks this week, so I've got to get those thoughts out of my head. (Reminder: I never produced enough milk for Adam and only nursed for 3 months with a supplemental bottle at EVERY feeding. Nursing is going much better this time around...Tyler's last bottle was a week ago).

3. Despite keeping us up after his middle-of-the-night feeding, he's still an adorable, precious, lovable, darling little baby boy. He melts my heart every time I look at him. :)

ADAM

1. Oh boy, this week has been an eye-opener! A friend of mine gave me a book titled "1-2-3 Magic for Disciplining your Children" and I'll be cracking that sucker open tonight. Adam has been defiant, stubborn, resistant, you name it this week. He's been in time-out a couple of times, where this requires me to physically restrain him in the leather chair in our room. It's not fun, and I just don't think he's understanding why I'm putting him there until he cries his heart out. I guess we're getting into the terrible twos, but I hate to use that term because my child can't possibly be terrible.

2. I hate having to tell Adam that I can't do something with him or for him because I'm tending to Tyler. I feel awful because I know he doesn't understand that I have to console Tyler's crying or use both hands and arms to nurse Tyler. It breaks my heart when he looks at me like his feelings are hurt. Tonight, we did attempt to read books while I nursed Tyler. That seemed to work out alright.

3. Why does Adam feel the need to turn on Tyler's portable swing when Tyler isn't in it??

4. Any suggestions on what to do with Adam while I'm nursing Tyler? I've resorted to lots of TV this week, and I think that's why he's somewhat lashing out a lot. Luckily, he doesn't try to crawl all over Tyler and me while we are feeding. I'm waiting for that to start.

5. On the positive side, Adam is such a BIG help! He will bring me Tyler's burp cloth or pacifier when I ask. He's now standing on a stool to "help" me change Tyler's diaper on the changing table. He loves to kiss Tyler's forehead and give him hugs. It's adorable!

A cute picture of the boys to share......

Baby Dedication

On November 10th, our church held it's fall Baby Dedication ceremony. We dedicated Adam and Tyler's lives to the following of Christ. Our church does baptism by submission later in life when a child or adult decides to accept Christ, but as babies, they have a very special ceremony where we, as parents, dedicate them to Christ, and we dedicate ourselves to raising our children as Christians. It was a great occasion, although Tyler got pretty fussy during the ceremony. But he wasn't the only child crying, so we weren't too embarrassed.

This was also the first time I got to dress the boys in the same shirt........adorable!! :)

Halloween - Do we really need costumes?

Halloween was fun this year........but as you'll see in the pictures, Adam refused to wear his pumpkin costume. But did it really matter when he showed up at our neighbors' front doors? Not really, as Mommy was right there next to him holding the torturous costume to prove he actually did have one. Adam collected handfuls of candy, which he proceeded to eat almost all the chocolate that night at our neighborhood block party! I believe he was still on a sugar high the next morning when he woke up.
















Tyler, on the other hand, slept right through all the festivities, as usual. Not complaining though as new parents of our second son.........it's been nice that he's a good sleeper already. What were all those comments about the second child being the total opposite from the first? Not the case with us..........YET!

Pumpkin Patch

The day before Tyler's birth, we took Adam to a local pumpkin patch for his birthday celebration with his grandparents. We had a great time and the weather was awesome! Adam wasn't so sure about the hayride out to the corn maze, but he enjoyed the ride back.

Brothers

It's crazy to look at Tyler and see all of the old pictures of Adam we took two years ago! The two boys look so similar at birth that it will be fun to see them grow up together. I have a feeling people will think they are twins when they get older!

Not only did they look a like at birth, it was almost deja vu at the hospital for us. When we arrived for surgery, I was taken to the pre/post anesthesia room, and they put me in the exact same bed/bay (bed #3) where I recovered from surgery with Adam. After Tyler's delivery, I returned to bed #3 for recovery for about an hour. Then, it was time to be transported to our regular room, and we were taken to the exact same room where we stayed with Adam (rm 1324)! Of all the rooms in the Family Birth Place, how crazy is it that we would end up in the exact same room TWICE!

Here are a couple of pictures of the boys to compare their looks.........I'm sure we'll be comparing them a lot in the days to come!

Adam - 12 days old

Tyler - 7 days old

Tyler Joseph

OK, so it's time for some pictures, right? Life has been turned upside-down this week, but of course, it's all good! We're enjoying our new little one, and it turns out, we did actually pick a name for him! Tyler is doing great, and Adam is too sweet with him. It's adorable, and we can't wait to watch the two grow up together as best buds.

So here are a few pictures...........Tyler was a big baby, but very proportional. We kid around that he'll be our football player, but I'm sure things will even out and he'll be just like his big brother. Their baby pictures are identical. I'll post more on that later.

Tyler was monitored in the nursery a little bit while Mommy's surgery was completed.

Tyler's first bath at the hospital

Big Brother Adam meeting Tyler for the first time

Our first family photo (who is the large lady in the bed??)

Granddaddy and the boys

Tyler's really long, 21 inches!

Chubby cheeks and his Daddy's dimpled chin

Ready to go home from the hospital!