Chunky Cake

So we had a birthday party for Tex the other night! He was SOOO excited and had so much fun! PS- don't judge. We love our dog and he TOTALLY deserves it! :)

Owen, Sunny, and the guest of honor! 

Showing Tex his chunky cake!

 Singing Happy Birthday!

Shout out to Kiki for taking the pics- I know she was REALLY

disappointed she didn't get to participate in the cake part :)

Owen helping Tex blow out his candles

Me taking over because they were trick candles.

Who thought that was a good idea?!

The party was fun! Tex loved his chunky doggy cake (Owen was horrified that he might have to eat it!). Sunny had some chunky cake of her own. And the people had brownies. I'm pretty sure Anthony wanted to leave the room and not be a part of it at all... TOO BAD!  :)

Jail!

Now don't get your hopes up from the title- I did NOT get thrown in jail this weekend (nor have I ever!).

No I am talking about Jay... Last week every time I walked in to get him out of his crib after a nap or in the morning, he was either sitting up or had pulled himself up to his knees. I think only once or twice did I find him laying on his back (making tooting noises and giggling- true boy!). Anyway, I started to panic because the crib was still on the highest setting, so on his knees I felt like he could topple out easily.

So I made Anthony lower the crib to the middle setting yesterday. Once we got the bed put back together it still looked awfully high to me- as soon as Jay learns how to stand I felt like he could easily tumble out. We took everything back off (Anthony did it all with a smile of course-ha!) and lowered it all the way down.

Well that felt way TOO low! I mean, c'mon Courtney- a little excessive there! But I knew Anthony might bury me if I made him redo it all again, so I planned on doing it by myself the next day.

Enter last night. I hear Jay fuss once that he was awake so I immediately went in there and he was STANDING in his crib holding onto the rails like he was in jail!!! Thank GOODNESS we lowered it all the way!!!! That was a first for sure- he pulled himself ALL the way up and his hands were by his head (that's how low the mattress is for his little body!) He did look precious though :)

I guess this will be our new norm from now on! Crazy boy- it's too early for these shenanigans! :)

Oh, and here is a picture from shopping the other day. He really does look like he is in jail here- or a kennel! :)

What a Read!

I just jumped on the bandwagon that a lot of you were probably already on...  I just read the book Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo. What a read!

If you don't know, this is a story about a little boy who goes up to Heaven. He describes all kinds of sights/sounds from Heaven that are totally consistent with what the Bible tells us. He also met people that he never knew about and could describe them in detail. This is truly an unbelievable book!

Whatever you decide to believe about this story, it's worth the read. It took me less than a day to get through. It truly makes you question your own ideas about Heaven and makes you look at things from a child's perspective- something we should all strive to do!

This was recommended to me by a dear dear friend who has had MANY struggles in the past 8 months. After infertility treatments she became pregnant with twin boys. She had a difficult start to her pregnancy, and ended up delivering and losing her boys at 19 weeks. These sweet angels lived for 27 minutes and she was able to hold them and love them. After battling back she got pregnant again in February- only to lose this sweet baby at 11 weeks. This book helped her (and others in similar situations) tremendously. It reminds us that God takes care of everything. And even when we are hurting, those we have lost are NOT! They are having an amazing time in Heaven- and they are just waiting for us to get there!

I HIGHLY recommend this book- go get it today! Or you can borrow mine!  :)

Playgroup Fun!

I love playdates! Jay LOVES being around other babies and I LOVE being around other mommies! Seriously soon-to-be SAHMs, this is how you stay sane! :)

Today was the first meeting of a new playgroup that we formed. It included two of my pledge sisters from college, Lauren and Courtney, my friend Michelle that took the pictures and I used to teach with, and Jennifer- our husbands worked at Jackson and Cooksey together! I love when new people get to meet each other! All of us have little boys except Michelle and sweet Riley. And I love how Riley just holds her own with the boys! She is SOOO cute!

I only snapped a few pictures from today.I can't wait for more playgroup fun!

This was the best I could get!

I love how Wyatt is alseep through it all! :)

Jack hanging out with Woody

Caleb and Jay and their little picnic!

They TOTALLY sat next to each other on their own!

William in action!

You can tell he is jumping because of his hair- so cute! 

For Real?

A few weeks ago I went to my well-woman visit. She did the typical stuff, asked the typical questions, and then stopped in the middle and looked at me. She walked over to me and started feeling my neck. I don't ever remember her doing this before, but after having a baby, this was the least intrusive test I had had at the doctor in a while so it was no big deal.

She told me that she thought my thyroid was enlarged and would like to take some bloodwork and send me to two other doctors. For real?! Argh... I have had enough issues after childbirth (not blogworthy) and been to my fair share of painful doctors' visits that I didn't really need this on top of it... But alas, that's what was in the cards for me that day...

As I was walking to the lab, my sweet sweet across the street neighbor (who is also a nurse there!) stopped me and asked what I was doing in the lab. I told her that Dr. McCloskey thought my thyroid looked enlarged and she said, "Well, yeah! Look at it!" For real? I kinda wish she had mentioned that when I saw her on our  walk the evening before... :/

Anyway, a few days later I got a call from the head nurse with the results. You know if they call you in a few days it's not good news- usually you get a letter or a phone call two weeks after a normal test.

She said that my labs came back abnormal and they would like for me to go ahead and see an ENT (for the enlarged part and to check for nodules aka LITTLE TUMORS) and the Endocrinologist for the abnormal bloodwork. Argh... All of this was being told to me as I'm greeting the babysitter before I take off for Junior League. Good times.

I make all the appointments and spend the next week in and out of doctors' offices and labs. Several appointments and an ultrasound later, it is determined that I have Hashimoto's disease. Now, don't let the name fool you. It is NOTHING serious. It's just the technical name for enlarged thyroid that causes hypothyroidism... Blah!

It's so funny because I feel like everyone and their dog (no seriously, our dog and my parents' dog have thyroid problems) have thyroid issues. But me? Bummer. When the doctors were asking me about my symptoms, I didn't know how to answer. Was I tired/fatigued? Of course. I have a seven month old. Did I feel like I had gained weight? Um yeah, it's called baby weight (but if the pills help me shed it I'm all for that!). Did I think my face was puffy? Again, see above answer. Basically, I wasn't recognizing any symptoms because they were masked by postpartum symptoms... Hmmm....

Now, I am TRULY thankful that all that was wrong was just the typical everyday thyroid stuff. Believe me, I know it could have been MUCH worse. But taking a pill every day for the rest of my life to regulate it? Sucks. One of the positives of the visits was that a lot of times abnormal thyroid levels can be brought on by pregnancy and postpartum. Many times the levels will correct themselves within the first year of baby's life, so we are praying that will be the case!

Anyway, I know this isn't a big deal, but since this is my journal of sorts and I share WAY too much anyway, I thought I would put it out there and let you know what's been going on with me. Now I get to join the thyroid club! Woohoo!  :)    And, for those of you who aren't feeling quite yourself, who knows??

Oh, and for those of you who don't know, there is a difference between hyPERthyroid and hyPOthyroid. Hyper makes your thyroid work overtime (and in turn your metabolism which makes for very skinny people) and Hypo makes your thyroid work under (hence the weight gain). One of the doctors (who had an AMAZING bedside manner- yeah right) said, "Well, I need to look at your labs, but if you have anything it would definitely be hyPOthyroid." Ouch.

Happy Birthday to our Favorite Hairy Boy!

(and clearly I'm not talking about Jay since he's bald...)

Today is Tex's 3rd Birthday!!!

Tex has been the best dog we could have ever asked for! He is so perfect for our family! He's fun and has lots of energy to go on jogs, play at the park, or just to play with Jay. He's our protector and guardian and takes care of his family. Many nights I find him sleeping in Jay's room by his crib- it's the sweetest thing! Tex loves his kitty sister and plays and snuggles with her. He's the dog that people stop to pet and let their kids rub all over. We love him SO much and are so thankful for our four legged boy!

Tex, we couldn't imagine life without you! You make our days SO much more fun!

Crawling!

I finally got a decent video of our crawler!!!! It's so cute and it's amazing how fast he's gotten after just a few days!

7 Months!

Our sweet boy is 7 Months today! It's weird to me saying I have a 7 month old. I feel like people have a lot of excitement for a new mom and a new baby. When they are 7 months old, I kind of feel like it's chopped liver to a lot of people. Like yeah, so what, you have a kid... But to us, it's still so exciting and every day is a new FUN experience! I just don't think it will EVER get old to us!

A FEW highlights of our big boy's life....

-Nursing 5-6 times a day and eating solids at least twice plus snacking throughout the day. We have a HUNGRY boy that LOVES table food now!
-Beginning crawler! Jay can take about 5 crawls at a time. He really never gets far enough away from something to need to crawl more. He will crawl to something then sit up or lay down. His control has gotten amazing!
-Sleeping not well. We had about a week of good sleep in the past two and a half months. Boo.
-Loves toys. He has certain ones that he just loves to play with.
-Is shy with new people. Once he remembers you or gets comfortable he is a HAM and a total flirt!
-Loves loves loves his momma. He snuggles me and hugs me like it's going out of style. I love this more than anything in the whole world. Honestly.
-He loves his Tex and Ella. They are so good to him!
-Loves to watch Wow Wow Wubbzy. If you don't know what it is, introduce it to your baby. Jay gets SO excited every time the show comes on!
-Trying to pull up on everything. He can get to his knees or a squat. It's super cute. When he crawls he also can do a bear crawl. He straightens his legs and gets on his toes.
-Still has NO teeth!
-Does really well in the car now! He will be in a pretty good mood for a while in the car. Give him a Mum Mum and he's golden!
-LOVES other kids and babies. He can stare at his cousins forever.
-He loves looking at pictures of people he knows. The smile he gets on his face is adorable! Then he tries to eat the picture. Working on that one... :)
-Wearing size 2-3 diapers and just about out of 6 month clothes.

He is SUCH a joy! Even though he doesn't sleep very well and doesn't like to play alone (mom ALWAYS has to be close!), I wouldn't change one thing about him. It's what makes him who he is and I love it! With so many people out there struggling to have a baby or those who have lost babies, I know how lucky I am to have mine. I will take the hard days and appreciate them all the same.

I love love love you Jay!!! You mean more to me than anything I could ever imagine.

UPDATE:

Our sweet boy officially has his first ear infection on his 7 month bday! Poor thing! That definitely explains the poor sleeping lately!

Fun with the Iveys!

Aunt Andrea and Uncle Mike came to Houston for a visit! It had been a LONG time since we had seen them and we were SO glad to have them here!

Jay LOVES his aunt and uncle. Seriously. He is not really a fan of most men (he cries at a lot of them), but Uncle Mike is an exception. He smiles and just stares at him- so cute!

Andrea and Mike also brought their precious new beagle-mix puppy, Dixie. Tex and Dixie had a BLAST playing together and totally wore each other out! Yay for doggie cousins!

Here are some pics from the weekend... We love Andrea and Mike and wish we saw them more. That will be our goal!! :)

First time playing in sand!

 The sand tastes yummy too!

Watching Dixie and getting some sun!

Rodeo Fun!

As many of you know from previous posts, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is one of my favorite things of all time! It is seriously one of my top three favorite times of the year!

Jay went the other day for his first time! I know this will be the first of MANY trips to the HLSR!

We had a FUN FUN time looking at all the animals and running around with the cousins. We also LOVED the food (of course!). I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I wanted, but I guess that's what happens when you are chasing six kids (not by myself!).

Here are some that I got...

Grandeb and the Fab Five

Meeting some animals

:)

Scared of this aggressive one! 

Baby Jay and Baby Goat!

Kinda scared...

The little cowboys!

We couldn't get Jill to get on... she was scared!

And I think EVERY Houstonian has the picture from their childhood... it's a rodeo must! 

Self Feeding

As I mentioned in my post last week, Jay is a super eater. Well, towards the end of last week he decided he was pretty much over pureed baby food.

I'm kind of sad about this, but I did get a GREAT 2 1/2 months of good eating out of him.

He has now decided he is over pureed food and will really only eat table food. Let me remind you that this child has no teeth... that's right. It's really funny to watch him "chew" with his gums, but man, he does a GREAT job!

He has tried a TON of stuff including: chicken, fish, broccoli, bread, rice, watermelon, banana, avocado, pork, sausage, hamburger, spinach, tomatoes... Ok, the list could go on and on. Basically he has tried everything except the big "no-no's" (honey, peanut butter, milk, shellfish, etc..).

And he is getting REALLY good at self-feeding! His coordination is still a little off because he's so young, but he actually makes it to his mouth every time and can open his hand and *usually* get the food in there. It's so cute!

The other day I was watching him eat in his highchair and I totally started tearing up. My baby boy is growing up WAY too fast! While this cute guy is ready, mommy's really not...  :(    And I honestly think that if he could survive on formula or breast milk or milk in a sippy cup, he would totally wean himself. He MUCH prefers eating foods and drinking out of his cup than anything else.... ahhhh.... Already learning lessons about letting them go...

Such sweet little hands...

Love watching him eat!

Such a jokester! Who needs hands anyway?!

Too much work- I'll just dive for it!

Again, who needs their hands for eating?!