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Oh Sully, Sully, Sully. You are so stubborn. And cute. And cuddly.

The teachers at daycare were telling me the other day how Sully has a lot of the staff  wrapped around his little finger. Megan and K.C. are the main people that work in the baby room and they were telling me all about it. And I think I have ruined him...not for life or anything but temporarily. I can not for the life of me get him to sleep in his crib longer than a half hour. I have tried to let him cry it out, but he just keeps crying. Doesn't matter if I am leaning over the crib, putting my hand on him or talking to him - he just wants to be picked up. I feel like I would have to let him cry it out for hours and then maybe he would be so exhausted he would fall asleep. The longest i have let him cry it out has been 45 minutes I think. And it took me another 15 minutes to calm him down after i picked him up. He gets so worked up. So I either have to do this sleep training thing really slowly or I go all out and let him cry it out for hours. I think that latter idea though would break his little spirit. Plus Z will be working long hours again, so doing this on my own does not sounds fun.

Sully also refuses to drink formula. Even if a little is mixed in with the breast milk he refuses it. The funny part is he gets mad about it too. He doesn't like to be fooled with.

So spoiled this one!
                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

So last night was our first night of trying to instigate some crib sleeping for Sully. How did it go? umm...not so well. He cried a lot and his crying woke him up so he was just wide awake. We kept going in to soothe him and to cuddle him, but as soon as he was laid back down in his crib he would start to cry right away. I made it to 11pm and then once I heard the continuous little choked up inhale he was making I couldn't handle it anymore. He was so so sad to not be with someone. I gladly swooped him up and tucked him into my side to cuddle. He was so sniffily. Now the plan is to integrate him to the crib routine a bit more slowly. Ok- not really a team plan. I think Z would prefer to not rip the band-aide off quite so slowly. And he is right to some extent. I mean I guess that would be less confusing for the child in the end, but I literally get so stressed out to hear him cry that I the tension in the back of my shoulders and neck is so intense that I truly fear I might pop off my head. So we will rip the band-aide off more slowly. I will do a short little bed time routine with him and put him in his crib no later than 7:30pm. And from there I will go into reassure him every so often, but will continue getting big Bro ready for bed. I will do that until my bed time and if he is still crying then I will bring him into my bed. So at least he is getting a little use to it and hopefully we can continue to extend his crib time into the night. We will get there eventually. I think R was two and a half before he really learned to sleep on his own and he still comes to sleep with us most nights. So basically I'm a sucker and I love my boys!

Sitting Up

My Sully main is sitting up! I walked into the baby room last week and was astonished to see Sull just sitting there like a regular little kid. I knew this was coming. He has been doing half sit ups for weeks. I knew his abs and core were getting strong, but I still wasn't quite prepared for his newest trick. He had apparently been doing this all week in the baby room, but guessing I just had not seen it because I tend to hold him a lot when we are home. Or I just put him down in his bouncy seat. So the world has just opened up for Sully with so many new possibilities. Now he just wants to touch and grab everything.

And not only that but this kid is full of smiles. For the first three months he always had this worried or hard expression on his face. Like he wasn't sure he liked this place or maybe we were all just too strange for him, but now he is loving it. Over the past week he also held his arms out for me to pick him up (loving it) AND he will now cry if I leave the room or R leaves him and he is all alone.

He is still sleeping in bed with me and now because he has been sick and congested over the last 2 weeks he prefers to sleep on me while I am sitting up a bit more in bed. I initially slept this way with him so he wouldn't get so clogged up, but now he seems to prefer it. My back and neck, however, don't. So some bed time routines are gonna need to be changed up soon. Keep you posted on how that goes.

Things to know about Rogan:

• known as Van Jokester by his classmates. Definitely seems to be leaning towards being the class clown
• wants to be a paleontologist when he grows up
• likes to know the name of songs and the band when we are listening to Pandora at home or music in the car
• said to me about a month ago when I was putting him to bed: "Mom, I worry when you worry." Ahhh...completely melted my heart
• already says he doesn't like school. He would prefer to stay home all day with me. Me too little man...me too!
• he tells me all the time how much he loves his brother
• loves to go on road trips to visit family. I think he might be a world traveler some day
• not much interest in dancing - (boo!)
• Pickiest eater ever! What kid doesn't like pasta, mac and cheese, and peanut butter??? Those are the basics. Some days he hardly eats at all. I don't know how he grows. Main likes right now are pizza, grilled cheese, soy beans, apples, strawberries, blueberries and a variety of nuts. Favorite food night: NACHO NIGHT!!!!
• current best bud is Beckett
• girl he wants to marry is Ava and he seems very serious about this crush. He was contemplating while we were driving to Zack's soccer game the other day and asked me how Ava could agree to marry both him and Beckett. He said he was the first one to ask her

Well- I know I have many many more to add to this but can't think of them all right now.  I will keep the list growing. Just also want to add here that my love for my children is unimaginable. Daily I am blown away about how much I can love these two little guys. And when R tells me randomly that he loves me...my heart just swells with absolute delight!


Doesn't Rogan look like a ten year old in this picture? I don't know if it is the look on his face or what...I just get a glimpse into what he might look like in 5 more years.

Roll Over!

I am such a bad mom to not have documented this yet anywhere. Sully rolled over. From front to back just about a week ago!!! At least it is the first time I know of - he may have done it in day care. He is so strong and really wants to sit up. And now he is very interested in toys too and can spend a good amount of time grabbing and looking at toys or hanging out in his jumpy thing. He is so fun to watch!

Happy Halloween

We had fun on Halloween night! I loved seeing Rogan all giddy with anticipation. He was so excited! We went over to Beckett's house to meet up with some of their friends from TCCC. It was actually hard to get them out of the house. Beckett has an amazing toy collection so all the kids seemed quite happy to be sitting and playing. Finally after trying to get them to eat at least a little pizza before the sugar overload was to begin, we got them outside. They just ran from house to house saying trick or treat and at some point were brave enough to say the smell my feet version.  Us parents had to follow close behind reminding them to say their thank yous and trying not to loose them in the crowds. After about an hour, Rogan was done. He wanted to go home. Sully did great even though I am sure he was cold. He slept in the stroller for the first half and then started to get fussy towards the end. When we got home I immediately fed and warmed Sully up and then Rogan and I took inventory of his candy. He seemed pleased with what he got even though it is mostly chocolate, which is not always his favorite.

Here we are at the Fall Festival - Sully was a magical magician. 

And just to take a quick look back. Both of these pics are from 2009. Rogan had two costumes. He was a ninja at the Fall Festival with his friend William and a dinosaur on Halloween night.

Nap Time

Rogan's teacher, Delysia took this picture of Rogan and his friend Imogene today. They feel asleep holding each others hands.

Lots to catch up on

So this happened...

And I figured I better start writing again to keep my family in the loop. Now life is really a blur! This sweet little boy was born on June 7, 2012 weighing in at 9lbs and 6 ounces! Big baby - especially for me. I was a little worried as to why he wasn't moving around much, but it all made since once he officially left the womb. He didn't have any room to move.
So a quick recap...just to help me remember all of this some day...
Had a scheduled c-section. Overall pretty easy. No complications. The 2nd child is way easier - I have been so much more laid back. A whole different experience. I even loved being in the hospital. Mom stayed in town for about 2 weeks - which was great since Zack was working and still is working crazy hours. Pretty much hit the ground running with this little guy. Was taking him out and walking around when he was just a week old. Was on maternity leave for 2 and half months - it went by so so quick. I loved being on maternity leave. Loved it! Returned to work mid-august and now am always exhausted.
Don't have a great balance between work, motherhood, and life in general. Hopefully I will find that at some point but maybe not.
As far as this guys personality - he seems pretty chill overall. He is Sully afterall - kind of comes with the name. He was a little fussier than Rogan - a lot more gassy. But now that he is 4 months old he is digesting my milk better. He is a very serious little guy - see here...

That is pretty much his main expression. A lot like his dad I think. He has just recently started laughing and smiling more. have to share some video soon. 

Rogan adores him. Loves him more than me he says. I'll update on Rog soon. 

Spring is here!

I love this time of year, but for some reason my allergies are out of control. Usually I just have fall allergies, but either because of the mild winter we had or the pregnancy, I can barely step outside without sneezing. Hopefully it will pass soon. I am dying to get out in my garden a little bit to spread some mulch, Not so easy to do when you have a big belly hanging out in front. I am 31 weeks and feeling huge!

I love it when Rogan talks to my belly. Usually at a fairly loud volume and he will demand for LT to kick or something. He even tells his friends they can talk to Little Toe when I drop or pick him up for day care.

Rogan's room is pretty much done. I think it turned out fairly well and most importantly he loves it. He moved right in as soon as I got him a space themed comforter. We love reading to him in his big full bed. Enough room for all us to get super cozy!

Just wanted to mention how proud Rogan was this morning to help me pump gas into the car. As soon as we got to day care he was telling his friends. I told him he was probably the first kid in his class to do that and he beamed with pride! I also let him use my garden clippers to cut off the dead parts of my plants yesterday evening. I know...scary..what is she thinking???? But Rogan happens to be a very cautious child. I probably would not let most young kids handle a pair of clippers, but R is so careful and exact that I can just look over his shoulder to make sure he is holding it correctly. And he did a great job, but I had to demand him to hand them over so I could continue cutting back my monster of a plant - my rosemary bush.

Oh my...

I can't believe my little baby Rogan is going to be 4 so soon! And he seriously gets cuter every day! It seems like the last month has flown by. I guess this is kind of how this part of the year starts off and then it gets even faster as the days get lighter and the temperature warmer. We have had an awesomely mild winter, which I have loved. Rogan though has been anxious to build himself a giant snowman. Maybe we will get one in before the season is over.

Little Toe, or LT for short, is kicking away. I am almost 24 weeks and feel huge already. Rogan named him Little Toe quite some time ago. He actually gave him many names - most of which contained the word Moon in them. We thought Little Toe was the best and Rogan has declared himself Big Toe. I truly have no clue what we are going to name this next little boy. Hoping Zack will pull through with the perfect name like he did last time.
This weekend we will be pretty busy. Pop Pop and Grandma are taking Rog to see the performance of Lion King and then we will be having dinner with Steph and her family. Hope we get to work on the laundry room a bit this weekend. We need to get that finished so I can have extra storage and then we can get Rog's new room going.

I was kind of thinking of a space theme, but don't want to get locked into one thing too much. So far he does not seem very excited about a new room. He would rather be in our room, which is where he usually ends up between midnight and 2am. I often wake up to hear the pitter patter of his feet coming down the hall and him saying mommy -I'm scared. And then I say come on in and he jumps in and he is freezing. He doesn't like to wear PJs to bed, so usually it is just the diaps! He has peed one too many times in our bed, so we make him wear them at night now.

I know him sleeping with us is such a bad habit, but I do love it. I love warming him up when he first gets in and snuggling next to him. Sometimes it sucks and he turns around in every direction resulting in kicks to our faces on occasion. Those are the nights when we think about putting an end to it - well, at least Zack does mainly. I think he gets kicked more than I do.

God and Religion

So my hubby and I are not the most religious people. I believe in something - just not sure what. I mainly think that we are all connected, we all have some purpose, and it is truly important to be a good person. My son goes to a Baptist day care. Bible study has been a part of his weekly schedule since he was able to walk. He also attends a week long bible camp there during the summer. So of course, he comes home talking about heaven and God from time to time. We picked this day care based on recommendations and the family feel of the place. I think it has been a great place to send Rogan and I am amazed that life and death concepts have been so important for a toddler to understand. I think it has been good for him to be in an environment that help him make sense of this for now. And as he gets older, if he chooses, he can add or alter his beliefs based on his experiences.

When Rogan starts to talk about religious stuff I mainly tend to listen. I don't want to cloud his vision or confuse him with my uncertainty or worse, misinformation. So the other night when we were lying in his bed together, as I do every night for a few minutes, he started to pray. It seemed pretty out of the blue, but he is known for some random thoughts for sure. He asked God to make him like spinach so he could grow to be big and strong. And than he laid back down. He immediately sat up and put his hands in prayer position and than asked for God to make him like onions. Again, he laid back down, and then bolted back up to ask God one last time to make him like broccoli.
Cracked me up to say the least. I love that he knows he needs to eat his veggies to grow big and strong to the point where he is asking God for his help. Of course, every night I ask if he will try a new vegetable and he always says no.

On another night, a  month or two ago while he was taking a bath he started to talk about heaven. He said he didn't want to go because than he wouldn't be able to have all of his stuff. To reassure him I told him that we could take our house up there and I said  we could put ropes around the house and have a helicopter take it up with us. His response - "Yeah! A heaven-copter could come down and pick up our house!" Hilarious! This kid is a genius!