Paper Only

Josiah has really been interested in drawing lately. But after I caught him coloring his train set with crayon, I decided to buy him a set of Crayola Color Wonder markers and "special" paper to prevent him from coloring the rest of the house--they are MESS FREE. De-Solv-It will remove crayon from the toys but it won't remove crayon from the rugs, walls and furniture.

However, "drawing" is not limited to crayon and Color Wonder markers.....if a pen is sitting anywhere in his view and reach, he'll pick it up and either take it apart or color with it. I don't know how many pens we've thrown away in the last couple of weeks because one small peice goes missing. :-) Anyway, we've told him repeatedly that he can use the pen, but he has to draw on paper ONLY.

Well, this is what happened when I went into the kitchen for a few minutes to fix Laney a bottle.....

(He had actually drawn all over his shins but I had wiped most of the ink off prior to taking the picture.)

And his body was not the only one that received some temporary tatooing. Poor baby.

Wordless Wednesday

Moving In Together

After much consideration, I decided to move the kiddos in together. I told myself that once Laney started sleeping through the night that I would really consider moving her crib. "Check"....Laney actually started sleeping 12 hours somewhere around 3 months. So last Wednesday (3.5 months), I decided to rearrange the furniture. I would post a picture of their room but I've done absolutely NO decorating since moving in...so I'm a little embarrassed.

The first full day was a little rough since I thought that she would tolerate the pack n' play okay for naptime so that Josiah would still have access to his room for playing....nope, she wanted her CRIB. So after the relocation of a few of Josiah's toys, Laney naps in her own crib while Josiah plays in our bedroom or the living room. And then when it's time for Josiah's nap (if I can convince him that it's necessary in order to go "somewhere" after nap), I'll sometimes put him in our room or other unconventional locations......

such as our closet...his new fun place to play.

Thankfully, there hasn't been too much headache with moving her in....once I figured out that she hated the pack n' play. :-) It's just one more milestone screaming "SHE'S GROWING UP". Now comes the teeth, cereal, rolling over...in no particular order, of course.

His & Hers

Today we spent the afternoon at the beach with our friends from the Residency Program. It was a lovely day of fun in the sun (or shade for those of us in the family with a lighter complexion--um, that would be me) and sand. Josiah loves running into the water, finding little wading pools, and throwing sandy mud. He has an absolute blast!

While Randy adores his beautiful daughter, she's not at the stage yet where she's as much fun as Josiah. Therefore, Laney gets left behind, in the shade, with her whiter than white skinned mother. Laney does enjoy the water, listening to the waves, and watching all of the activity on the beach (so I'll take her)...but she shows her excitement through a BIG smile not a "watch me, daddy" and then run into the water only to get sloshed around and fall down. SO MUCH FUN!

So many of our "fun" activities result in me bonding with Laney and Randy bonding with Josiah---"His" and "Her" kids. I really don't mind at all, though. Josiah needs that "daddy time" since Randy spends a lot of time now at the hospital. And truthfully, there's only so much that Randy can do for Laney since she's still nursing. :-)

And because I've been silently designated as the Family Historian, there are MANY pictures of the kids with "Daddy" and FEW with "Mommy". But today, I handed Randy the camera and requested that he take a few pictures of me with my little princess. :-)


Isn't she just the most adorable little thing in this pink hat? Thanks, Uncle Pete & Aunt Carol!

Flip It Back--Wait, Let It Be!

I'm, for the most part, loving Josiah at this age. We are able to hold brief conversations, he understands (and sometimes follows) simple directions, he will let me know what he wants to eat and drink, he notifies me when he needs to be changed ("change, Mama, I have poo-poo."), where he wants to go ("go somewhere, go to HEB/Walmart/Mall"), and he lets me know when Laney's spit up ("Laney spit up, Mama. Need rag.").

While there are definite things that I LOVE about this age, there are definitely things I wish didn't come along with it. As Josiah approached 2 years old, I started noticing some slight changes in his behavior....but it wasn't until last Wednesday (his actual 2 year birthday) that it seemed like a flip was switched. He suddenly refuses to take an afternoon nap (although I've started enforcing "quiet time" and generally he will fall asleep anyway), eat a decent meal (something other than grapes and Goldfish), and constantly tests boundaries. "No" has become a permanant word in his vocabulary and "I don't want to" has become a popularly used phrase. This new found desire for independence has me wanting to pull my hair out most days of the week. I do know, however, that the boundary testing and vocalizing his "not wanting to" do certain things just comes with the territory of learning about the world (and our family rules)....I just wish it wasn't in the middle of the Mall/Walmart/grocery store/library, etc. It's definitely at these times when I want to flip the switch back.

But to speak to the positive of this switch flipping....Josiah will (most days) follow simple instruction/commands with a smile and say "yes, sir" and "thank you for listening" (so that I'll say, "Josiah, thank you for listening"). Just about anytime he asks for something: juice, blankie, outside, eat; he'll follow it with "please". The other night we watched Michael Phelps clench history by winning his 8th Gold Medal of the 2008 Olympics. I responded outloud, "He's just awesome". And Josiah repeated, "Mama, he's awesome." How neat is that that he understands what "awesome" means!? And he's also really starting to think things through....if I ask him what he wants to eat/drink, he'll say, "I want....I want.....I want....milk". It just amazes me and makes me smile just thinking about all that he has learned already in his short little life.

God definitely gifted/loaned me my children to help me work on my patience (or lack there of). I'm constantly asking "is Josiah doing X,Y, Z because he's 2 or is he being flat out defiant?" And to be honest, I have very little tolerance of either answer. I'll be the first to admit that I'm a "work in progress". I'm reminded of shirt that my little sister used to have, "Be patient with me, God isn't finished with me yet". :-)

If I'll just keep my focus on the wonderful things that Josiah is doing instead of how he's driving me crazy, this year will be a lot of fun.

And really, how can I stay mad/crazed when I have such a sweet face to wake to EVERY morning?

(He put the hats on all by himself....and then I asked him to go get the camera)

And She Giggles....

The day after Laney's 3 month birthday, she giggled for the first time while in the tub. Since then I've tried and tried to get her to giggle again....after all, it is the most wonderful sound...but she hasn't wanted to cooperate. Until a couple of nights ago...I tried again, with a different sound, and it worked. Here is the result of my sounding completely silly (I would have used stupid to describe my sounds but I'm working on saying less harsh words for Josiah's sake).

Oh, the things we'll do for our children. :-)

(Sorry for the poor color of the video....I didn't have enough light)

2 Years Ago

At 4AM, 2 years ago today, I awoke with a sudden need to use the bathroom (not entirely unusual at 39 weeks pregnant); however, it wasn't just the usual 2 minute trip. Instead, I was leaking what I knew wasn't urine and experiencing some mild cramps. It then occurred to me that I might be in labor. I immediately woke Randy and told him what was going on. His response....he quickly jumped out of bed and started doing laundry. It still makes us laugh thinking about how he was busy doing laundry while I laid on the couch timing contractions. :-)

I then called The Birthplace to find out what I should do next. As per their recommendations, I laid on the couch, on my left side, drank a good bit of water, and watched a movie for an hour. The contractions kept on. We made it to the hospital around 6AM where the nurses confirmed that my water had broken, but that I was only 2cm and only about 20% effaced. "That's all?" So to encourage my cervix to ripen, they gave me Cytotec...and boy, that is some nasty stuff. Not more than 30 minutes later, I was asking for pain meds....I'm a wimp, I know. Once the Nubain (which is WONDERFUL stuff) wore off a couple of hours later, I received my epidural. Another couple of hours passed, and I'm a 10...time to push. I was very excited about the delivery of my baby....we had waited 39.5 weeks to find out what the Lord had blessed us with. But unforunately, it took longer than my estimate of 30 minutes-1 hour.....1 hour turned to 4 hours of pushing before I decided that my contractions/pushing/small episiotomy alone was not going to get this baby out. So we agreed, with many tears, to use the vacuum. 12 hours later and with 3 contractions, we pushed/pulled Josiah into the world to take his first breath.

It was such an amazing experience, despite the extreme exhaustion. There was nothing more wonderful than to have little Josiah placed on my chest. And the fact that he was covered in lots of goo didn't phase me....I gave him lots of kisses anyway.

So here we are, 2 years later. Our little Josiah is not so little anymore. He has learned so many things and it amazes us every day what he can do, say and understand. There have definitely been challenges in this last 2 years, but we wouldn't trade it for anything. And we look forward to this next year as his continues to learn about the world he has made better for living in it. :-)

Happy Birthday, Mijo! We love you!

And just so that those of you who are reading can feel a little nostalgia just as we did looking through the last 2 years of pictures, I thought I would include a few. Enjoy!

Birth: 7 pounds & 19 inches at 4:11PM

2 weeks

1 Month

6 Months

1 Year

2 Years

Since Randy is on-call tonight, we decided to celebrate Josiah's birthday last night....we headed to the beloved Chuck E. Cheese. Josiah just LOVES that place (this was just our second time taking him).

Following dinner and games at Chuck E. Cheese, we drove home to do all of the "other" birthday stuff...we sang "Happy Birthday", ate cake and ice cream, and opened his gifts from us (a Handy Manny DVD and a few puzzles). Since learning that fire is hot and dangerous, Josiah refused to get close enough to his cake to blow out the candles. :-) Oh well. But he did really enjoy us singing "Happy Birthday" to him...nothing but a big smile.

My mom ALWAYS baked/decorated our birthday cakes growing up....it was a big deal to flip through the most current edition of the Wilton Yearbook and "pick out" a cake for her to make for our birthday. This is a tradition that I'm keeping up for my children. Josiah is REALLY into tractors, so his cake this year was just that....a tractor. Thanks, Mom, for the pan!

(This was not my most perfect cake decorating job to date, but I still think the end result looked great--and Josiah LOVED it, which is all that matters.)

More New Toys

The kids weren't the only ones to get new toys this past week. Randy somehow talked me into buying a motorcycle in an effort to save $$ on gas. So after spending nearly $300 this past month on gas for just the truck, I decided to give in. Randy was able to find a pretty good deal on a bike, the only hiccup was that he had to drive to San Antonio to pick it up. So, Randy is now the proud owner of a 2002 Suzuki Marauder.

(This one was just too hiliarious NOT to share)

Prayers for Stellan

I'm not entirely sure how I stumbled upon My Charming Kids, but I've been so blessed since I started reading it. MckMama is currently 25.7 weeks pregnant with her fourth child, Stellan. But this pregnancy is no ordinary pregnancy....here is a brief exerpt from her blog:

"MckMuffin is our 25 week old unborn son S--our fourth blessing! He was quite unexpectedly given to us, and even more unexpected was his diagnosis of heart failure: Premature Atrial Contraction at 20 weeks, and Supraventricular Tachycardia, mild hydrops, and intermittent advanced secondary heart block at 23 weeks. We were told at 24 weeks that he would surely die. God performed a miracle and MckMuffin is still with us! The doctors are giving him a 50/50 chance of survival. We are praying for MckMuffin's full healing. But we know that God is good no matter what He decides. "

It's been amazing to "see" the faith MckMama has in the Lord and His plan, especially during this time in her family's life. It's so easy to get angry with God when His plan doesn't match up with your own. MckMama has exhibited unwavering faith the past couple of weeks as she's been in the hospital for Stellan's Tachycardia....but good news....she was discharged today...PTL!

Please pray for Baby Stellan as he continues to grow and live for His plan.

New Toys

For Laney's 3 month birthday, I purchased the beloved Exersaucer and Jumper....Josiah just LOVED these things (and still does, apparently--he enjoys showing Laney how they work), so I was anxious to see if Laney would like them as well. It's a whole new world when you can observe it standing up. So far, she really likes the exersaucer, although, not for longer than 10 minutes.

I knew those old medical school textbooks would come in handy.

She's not too sure about the jumper...she's still a little small yet, but I just wanted to see how she would respond. Josiah really likes the musical toy on the front.

A Post Just for the Kids

It's been a while since I've last posted pics of the kids, so I thought I would devote a whole post to provide a brief update.

Josiah
Josiah will be TWO in just 1.5 short weeks. I can't believe it. He's grown so much this past year. And he's talking up a storm. Here is just a short list of the things we hear:

• "Please" follows just about anything he asks for, "Juice, please", "Bath, please", "Outside, please"
• When someone sneezes, he says "Bless you". But when the sneezer says "thank you", Josiah responds with "You're welcome".
• If you ask him if he needs his diaper changed, he says, "I'm fine, just wet". One time I asked him if he had poo-poo because I thought I had smelled something funny and Josiah responded by saying, "No, working on it".
• He got a spanking once for not listening. A few minutes later, he repeatedly said, "Sorry, Daddy". Randy asked why he was sorry and Josiah shook his head and said, "I no listen".
• EVERY morning and each time Josiah gets up from nap he says, "Good morning"....it's so cute.
• Whenever Randy leaves for work, Josiah says, "Daddy, doctor. Check on patients".
• Whenever we call for Josiah, he responds with "what?"
• The other day in the car, Alayna was crying (a pretty normal occurence) and Josiah said, "Almost there, Laney".
• If he hears Alayna get fussy in her bed, Josiah responds, "I go get her".
• And then there is anything he hears me say....so I definitely have to watch what I say, especially in the car in response to dumb drivers. I said, "oh my gosh" once and 2 seconds later Josiah was saying it, too.

Oh, and he counted to 7 ALL BY HIMSELF yesterday. Randy's and my jaw dropped to the floor. Now, we have been counting for a long time to HIM but this was the first time that he counted to US. Josiah is also very good at catching....and throwing. In fact, he's so good at throwing, that I won't play with him if he's going to throw a hard ball because you never know where it's going to hit you (and it hits hard). Randy says it's funny to watch me play catch with Josiah because I usually turn my back (to protect myself) when Josiah's getting ready to throw.

Josiah also loves listening to his Kids Praise CD. He picks up his Wiggles guitar and pretends to play while singing and dancing. And we have seen him raise his hand once or twice like Daddy does in church...it's precious to watch him give the Lord praise.

Moving to Harlingen, where the sun is always shining, has resulted me in becoming jealous of my son. Why? you ask....The kid just tans and tans while his hair gets lighter and lighter.--just give him a surf board already. Also, he's learning Spanish--a little bit at a time. A couple of days after we moved, he came inside and said "Hola, Mama". He also knows the Spanish words for hair, nose, ear, eye, and feet...and if you ask him where they are, he'll point.

While we are still working diligently on getting Josiah to use a spoon or fork at every meal that requires it, he is quickly becoming an expert "big boy" cup drinker. That's right, folks, the sippy cup for the Little Man Martinez may just be a thing of the past in another couple of months....and then it will be Laney's turn. *sigh*

Alayna

Alayna (aka Laney) is 3 months now. Sometimes it seems like it was just yesterday when we heard her cry for the first time, and then there are other times when it feels like it's been an eternity already. Laney has really started to mellow out and enjoys watching her big brother sing and dance....she finds him pretty funny. Here are a couple of little "facts" about her:

• As long as her tummy is full and her bottom is dry/clean, she is a happy camper and will smile, smile, and smile.
• She doesn't really enjoy "tummy time" too much (neither did Josiah).
• If she's really tired, she will fall asleep on her own if I lay her in her bed, along with a paci and a blankie.
• She's not a lover of the paci, she would rather suck on her two middle fingers.
• Her tongue is always out, licking whatever she can (shoulders, fingers, blankets, etc).
• She's been in 3-6 month clothes for about a month now and is quickly on her way to 6-9 month sizes. She weighed in at 13.5 pounds last month, and I have no doubt that she'll be around 17 pounds next month at her 4 month well-baby appointment (and 20 pounds before her 6 month birthday).
• Alayna's eyes have not yet turned, what I call, "Mexican brown", they are very similar those of her Pappo's--Hazel (brown with a little bit of blue).
• Laney is what we call a babosa (the dictionary Spanish translation = drooler)....she has been an expert at soaking whatever she's wearing since she was just a couple of weeks old.
• She is pretty much sleeping through the night, from 10PM-6AM & 6:30AM-10/11AM. This sleeping pattern has me seriously considering moving her crib into Josiah's room, to begin the sharing process.

That's about all to report on for now. Randy and I are very blessed to have TWO such wonderful little people fill our lives.

Enjoy the pics!