Cereal Boy...

On Friday I finally decided to give Dylan cereal for the first time. Mackenzie had it before she was even 4 months old, but I resisted the temptation to give it to Dylan until he got to the point where we couldn't keep him fed anymore. (It's amazing to me how much bigger Dylan is than Mackenzie and yet he didn't hit that point until he was around 3 weeks older than Mackenzie. Every kid is different!) Well last week he hit that point, so I decided to give him cereal on Friday so I could watch over the weekend and see how things went. He was right at 4 1/2 months old.

He did better than Mackenzie did her first time, but still ate like it was his first time... Cereal having to go in more than one time and a crazy tongue. Ha!

First Taste... doesn't look like he's excited does he?

Slowly getting the hang of it.

Now that looks about right... cereal everywhere!

He's still learning how to eat cereal, but he's already starting to get mad when I don't get the spoon there fast enough. Just like with his bottles... In addition to the cereal we've also had to bump his bottles up to 8 ozs from 6 ozs to try to keep him satisfied. Thank goodness for "fast" nipples!! Makes things go soooo much faster! Needless to say I expect him to grow QUICKLY!!! Big Boy is about to get even bigger!!

Spoon out. Thumb in.

Wanna venture a guess as to who he was grinning at???

If You Can't Beat 'Em, Join 'Em!

Can I get an Amen??? Every Mom out there, has been in this spot!! Sometimes it just helps...

Don't be jealous!

Don't be jealous... My kids have the best Daddy in the world!! Sorry if it makes you jealous... but its the truth. :)

I knew when I married the man he'd be a wonderful Daddy, but seeing him in action is a whole different story! Just seeing him with the kids is enough to make my heart melt! (Except for when I hear him teaching Mackenzie the words "Chinese Barking Spider"... if you don't know, don't ask...) I could sit here and list the reasons why he's such a good Daddy but it would make me cry and make you vomit, so just trust me... He is the best Daddy ever!

Tonight when I was cooking Father's Day dinner I kept hearing Mackenzie coming in and out of our bedroom. I knew BK was in there watching the US Open after putting up some laundry, and I also assumed Dylan was in there after I was in the middle of cooking when Dylan needed a diaper change. So I went back to investigate and this is what I found...

Mackenzie informed me they were watching baseball. I said "Baby, it's golf." She said "Golfball". I decided not to push the issue. Thought it was so sweet to see them all laid up on our bed "watching golfball"! Mackenzie was even sweet enough to share her blanket with Dylan, because "we have the fan on because you're not in here and we need to see". (According to Mackenzie.)

We love you Brian! So blessed to have you in our lives!!

Fave Pics

I recently discovered that in Picasa you can make collages of your fave photos. And I love it! Now instead of being limited to one pic for my wallpaper (or two since I have two monitors at work) I can now look at alot of my pics at one time! It doesn't matter what kind of day I'm having, as soon as I see my kiddos I have to smile! Even if it is short lived... Oh the joy so adulthood! (Sarcasm...)

Following It

Last weekend Brian was working all weekend so that left me alone with my two insane children all weekend long. At some point on Sunday, Dylan was hungry and tired and Mackenzie also needed something. (Shocking I know!) Anyway, I propped Dylan up on the couch to go handle big sis and also to make his bottle. When I left he was propped up on the couch, fussing, with a paci. When I came back this is what I found...

Of course I had to take a pic before I had to half wake him up to feed him. I was gone 2-3 minutes tops...

And of course I had to send a pic to Brian at work because I knew he'd get a kick out of it. His response... "He's following it" I was totally lost... Then he said his thumb. Then it clicked. And I had to giggle, because that's totally what he was doing and ended up almost asleep propped up on his elbow sucking his thumb. Silly boy!

Wow! This has crept up on me...

Once you realize what this post is about you'll realize the humor in the title...

Tonight I laid Dylan on his belly to let him practice his rolling over. Well in the process I noticed he put his head to the ground and started digging in his toe-toes... And on top of that he actually moved!! (I was surprised!) So after a breather from playing on his belly and a brief nap I tried it again and got out the temporary video camera. (My point and shoot since we have NO idea where our DVD recorder is...)

You'll have to excuse the shakiness of the video and the accidental zoom at the beginning! You'll also hear Mackenzie whining in the background because she had gotten out of the bathtub to tell us something I am sure was REALLY important. :)

I checked out Mackenzie's baby book tonight and noticed that she was starting to scoot at about 4 months and 3 weeks and then full on scooting about 10 days later. (Full on crawling came later...) Dylan was just 4 months on Friday, so I guess he's trying to get a head start on his Big Sister. We're in for alot of that I'm sure... I can't believe we're already to this point with Dylan, it makes me sad! And proud at the same time! He's getting so big so quick!!

Priceless Moments!

This afternoon after Brian got home, Mackenzie was playing in the sunroom by Dylan and started talking to him. Little did we know that she was about to be the first to get him to really laugh out loud and alot! I don't think it anything else could have made our day any more than watching it! Mackenzie was just eating it up and Brian and I were loving every minute of it! For some reason a toilet from her "little girl" doll house got him started and then he just kept doing it over and over again. (No clue...) The video below is taken after he'd already laughed at her several times and he just kept laughing and laughing! Brian looked at me and said Mommy is going to cry... I said if it had happened with anybody else probably... but I'll let big sister have this one. :)

Our life may be a crazy life but its a BLESSED one!!

My Daily Reads

Ok so I'll admit since returning back to my blogging world... I've become obsessed, no wait that sounds wierd. I've become enamored, no wait that sounds like I'm a stalker. I've become addicted, no wait that sounds just plain creepy... Good grief, how's this? I've now found 3 blogs that are my fave's and are now my daily reads.

The Pioneer Woman

This blog is ALWAYS good to read, and she is HILARIOUS on top of all of it! She lives on a cattle ranch and is always sharing hilarious stores of the ranch and her kiddos. She also has awesome recipes, homeschools her kids (no wonder she's cool... Ha!) What got me involved at first is that she's a photographer and has awesome photography resources in every day language. It's helping me so much to learn how to understand my new camera and if I get 5 minutes maybe I can take pictures too! Ha!

Momtog Blog

I love this blog because she's a Mom who is also a professional photographer... hence the name Momtog! Ha! She is always giving tips on how to take better pictures, but even more importantly she has a precious little boy who she is always sharing stories about. This one is another great resource for those of us learning to use a "real" camera.

The McMommy Chronicles

I love this hilarious blog because she's random just like I am! You never know what to expect from day to day, but its always great and hilarious stories!

So if you have any free time (yeah right) or you just decide to forfeit a little sleep check these ladies out! Watch out or you'll find yourself going thru their archives and lose an hour you should have been doing laundry, cleaning, or worse sleeping!

Ahhhhhh!! We have a back yard!!

One of the things we LOVE about our new house (well Thanksgiving weekend is still new when you have an almost 4 month old...) is our backyard!! Not only do we have a back yard, but its a BIG BIG backyard! We have a swingset, a sandbox, two storage building and still have plenty of room to run around and setup Mackenzie's pool on the weekends.

Mackenzie has always loved to play outside ever since she was a baby, but at our old house we didn't have much of a yard in the back and what we did have was full of holes and dog poo-poo. So we could only play on the deck or the driveway, neither of which were ideal for a a growing kid or a mommy who never really enjoyed being outside and getting sweaty! Ha!

But at our new house we try to get outside as much as possible now that we have a yard she can play in and stuff for her to play with. So this weekend while Brian was mowing the front yard the kids and I went into the backyard as has become our norm with Brian working.

With Dylan being so young I set him up underneath my makeshift umbrella stand which consists of our beach umbrella, a cinderblock, and a couple of bricks. Hey don't judge me it works! Then Mackenzie runs around like a crazy person from thing to thing and I alternate between a chair right outside of the umbrella's shade (as evidenced in the pics) or trying to entertain a baby boy who loves to be outside as well but is getting a little too hot for his comfort... (Refer to my post Exhausted for an example...)

Here are some cute pics from this weekends adventures in outdoors on Saturday. Sunday was RIDICULOUSLY hot and I just couldn't make myself go out there or entertain taking poor Dylan out there.

Sweet Big Sister giving her Baby Brother his bop so he'd stop whining.

She decided she needed to stay cool for a few minutes... the propped up leg trips me out everytime I look at this pic!!

Big Boy hanging out in his bathing suit.

Playing Softball... Daddy would be so proud!

Playing in her pool! (You can see our setup in the background... I feel like I move every time!)

I love this one because I caught all the water drops in the air. She just didn't seem to splash as good when she was facing me... oh well I got the token "hiney" shot as well I guess.

P.S. Told you she did a million things in the yard... and I didn't even get the sandbox or swing set.

Doing the Dishes

Mackenzie LOVES to do the dishes! (Think there is any chance she'll maintain that love into her teenage years??? DOUBT IT!!) Every time I'm in the kitchen cleaning or cooking she wants to know if she can do the dishes. She used to just love playing in the water and making a HUGE mess, now she adds rinsing off the dishes to the mix. It's really funny to watch and listen too, until you hear SPLASH all over the floor. Then you hear... "Mackenzie!" and "Sorry Mommy!" Is it frustrating to have water all over my floor every night? Yep. But are these memories I'll cherish forever and miss when she doesn't want to do it anymore? Of course!

I love this pic! She looks so sweet and innocent!

Sure water ended up on the floor after this...

More dishes!

Notice the wet shirt!

I know one day I'm gonna miss seeing those blonde curls playing in my sink! *Sniff Sniff*

Exhausted...

We had been playing outside in the backyard on Saturday afternoon when I remembered I needed to come inside and marinate the chicken for dinner. So because Brian was working in the front yard I had to drag both kids inside in their bathing suits for a few minutes so I could get it done. Last thing I knew Dylan was in the sunroom talking to himself and watching the fan, about 3 or 4 minutes later I found this...

Think he was worn out?? Isn't he cute??? Wait... handsome???

To give you a little more perspective as to where he was...

See, told you he was tired!!

And yes, for those of you who are wondering... I left him there to finish his nap! (Hey I'd sleep on that rug if I wouldn't get attacked by a blonde headed crazy person!) I setup the video monitor to keep an eye on him and Mackenzie and I went back outside.

Let's Roll!

Well on Friday, my baby boy reached a milestone in his "baby life"... He rolled over from his belly to his back! When we were at the doc last week, our pediatrician asked if he'd rolled over yet, and I said no not yet. And honestly I hadn't even thought about it... guess I didn't realize eventhink it was time for that yet. Well when Dr. Ray flipped him over and he almost rolled over I could have cried! And when I put him on his belly Friday night to try, bam there he went! The first time I didn't get but a before and after picture, but the second time I got it in motion! I was so proud and wanted to cry all at the same time!

First time to roll over! Pre-roll and Post-roll... didn't realize he was about to do it! Ha!

P.S. Wanna guess what he was doing with that intent look on his face??? Watching baseball on ESPN!! His Daddy is so proud! Ha!

If I do this again will you leave me alone?

Ok fine...

Let's get this over with.

Almost done.

Happy now? Can I watch baseball in peace please??

Have I mentioned how much he LOVES LOVES LOVES to play on his belly? See the evidence below...

My Precious Little Boy

My Precious Little Boy... I must use the term "little" lightly! When I use that term I am referring to his age because we all know it's not in relation to his size! :) Yesterday we had to go to the doc for an ear "re-check" after his ear infection 2 weeks ago. In those 2 weeks Dylan went from weighing 15 lbs 11 ozs to 16 lbs 10 ozs... Yes ladies and gentlement in 2 weeks my child grew 1 oz shy of a lb!!! Like I said I must use the term "little" only in reference to his age. When his pediatrician came in he said look at that big boy! He said "Are you feeding him?" I said "Nah.... didn't think it was that important". Needless to say we were both laughing by the end of the conversation! All of this to say here are some pics I took of my sweet boy tonight after his bath.

Still hasn't decided between bop and thumb...

Grinning at his Daddy

(Good thing his sister has long eyelashes or she'd be sooo JEALOUS of him when she gets older!)

He was thinking, Really? Do I have to do this now? (He was tired of almost rolling over)

Chilling with his feet up in the air.

The Mickey Chronicles...

As I said  a few days ago in my post about the Mickey Wuvey I said I thought I had inspired my next blog... and I did. Below you'll find what I affectionately call, the Mickey Chronicles. Many Many pics of our sweet girl with her favorite thing(s) in the world.

Mackenzie's 1st Mickey and Minnie. I went out of town for a week and came home with a full size Mickey and Minnie for her. (Should have seen the looks in the airport...) She took them EVERYWHERE! Aug 2007

Ever present at naptime and bedtime. Sept 07

Hall Picnic (Check out those curls!!)  March 08

My Silly Sleeper May 08

Holding Buddy's hand while she takes her nap. Dec 2008

What was one of the first things that went on her big girl bed??? All of her Mickeys and Minnies of course! Jan 2009

Sweet Sleeping Baby! March 09

Surprised she could still fit in the bed... April 2009

The REAL Mickey! Not to be confused with the FAKE Mickey... April 2009

Think she has a problem?? June 2009

One day Mackenzie came home from Wanda's with a "bed" for Mickey. Wanda had made it out of an empty diaper box. I don't think either Wanda or I expected it to become such a fixture in our daily lives... It began to go to Wanda's daily. :) June 2009

Mickey (Little Buddy - bottom right corner) sharing his bed with Jamaica Mickey, Minnie, and the first replacement Mickey. June 2009

Mickey and Minnie tucked in their beds. (They may look upside down to you... but from a 3 yr olds angle they were just right!) July 2009

Sleeping crazy again... but with all her buddies! August 2009

Take Buddy to Work Day (see my Mickey Wuvey post for details...) August 2009

And pretty recently... her tea party. March 2010

See when I said Mackenzie was obsessed with Mickey I wasn't exaggerating... Told ya!