Baptism

Tucker was baptized this past Saturday, June 8th at the 5pm Mass at St. Mathias Catholic Church, which is the same church that we were married at as well as where Cooper was baptized.  Everything went well and we are so happy to say he's baptized.  Thank you to all the family that traveled here for Tucker's big day and for all of the wonderful gifts....we greatly appreciate it!  And we wanted to apologize if we didn't get to visit as much as we would have liked to....it was a crazy weekend/day! 

Door

Our door project started off with me wanting to save money, so I had all intentions of painting our old door blue.  Jason said the maroon paint needed to  be stripped off, so I put paint stripper on it and let it sit.  To make a long story short, the paint stripper didn't work and Jason finally had enough and made the executive decision to buy a new door.  :)  I was not upset one bit.  The old door was functional, just outdated.  Like, 1970's outdated.  We checked on menards.com and I showed Jason all of the styles I liked.  (I had to stay home with the boys because they were both in bed and obviously couldn't go with him.)  They had my most favorite style in stock, a little beat up, but nothing that my Uncle (who's a carpenter) couldn't fix.  A 10% discount off the sale price and it was ours.  This was in the middle of the week, my Uncle came over on that Saturday, had it installed in 3 hours, and all that was left to do was paint it and install the trim on the inside.  Jason finished painting it this past weekend and I absolutely LOVE it.  I think the addition of the blue looks great with our brown/tan/cream color scheme.  We have a little left to paint on the front as the painting of the cream color around the outside trim is on the tan color of the house.  Won't take long at all.  I am so happy with how it turned out

 

 

This is our new blue front door!  You can't really see too well in the upper photo, but you get the idea.  :)

 

 

And I threw this one in because it was so adorable to watch last night.  Jason was planting trees out at our new lot and Cooper was trying to 'help'.  He was actually planting sticks in the ground, or trying to.  :)

 

Memorial Day Weekend

We were quite busy this past Memorial Day weekend. Friday, Jason and I both worked.  I get off work pretty early, so I picked the boys up and we ran to the store to have Cooper pick out a big boy potty and big boy underwear.  The other day he took down his pants and came up to me and told me he needed his diaper changed.  I immediately knew it was time to start potty training, which is unfamiliar territory for me, and we are giving it a go.  He was super proud as he went 4 times in his big boy toilet, but before every time, he'd go a little in his undies and then realize he needed to go on the big potty.  We've had a couple big accidents, but I'm sure that's normal.  Our sitter is having a harder time with it since he's terrified of a normal size potty and that's all she has at daycare.  She said he saw one of the other boys using it yesterday and was slowly warming up to it.  I'm crossing my fingers he'll get used to it otherwise this will be a major set back.

Saturday we worked on projects around the house.  Jason got the back side of the front door painted and I got the majority of the wallpaper off in the kitchen.  All that's left is what I can't reach and Jason will have to use a ladder to get it.  It actually went pretty smoothly and took only a few hours.  We visited with a family that came down from MN that afternoon/evening and got to bed late.

Sunday our niece, Molly, graduated from high school.  CONGRATULATIONS!  She is going on to play softball for a junior college here in the Quad Cities, Black Hawk College.  She's already got her apartment and is dying to move out and be on her own.  This will give us something to watch next spring and summer as Cooper loved to watch her play basketball and I'm sure he'll love watching her play softball. 

Jason got the entire garage cleaned up (it was pretty bad....can you say hoarders?).  It looks fabulous and there is some rhyme and reason to it now. 

Tucker's baptism is in a few weeks and it will be nice to have family and friends from out of town over.  We're having A Guy and A Grill cater the food at our house and I'm crossing my fingers that it doesn't rain.  I'm hoping to have tables set up outside, otherwise everyone will have to be scattered in our house.  I'm sure I'll figure it all out and it will work out one way or another.

 

We caught Cooper playing in Tucker's seat the other day.  When he saw us with the camera, he turned around and said, "CHEESE!"  Didn't care one bit.  :)

 

 

Tucker must have had a rough day at daycare.  He passed out in his exer-saucer.  :(





And this is all of my happy boys on Saturday morning.  :)  

catch up

It's been a while since I've updated, but like every other family, we've been busy. 

Tucker turned 5 months last Friday (post coming soon).  He's such a joy.  He  makes any day brighter with his sweet smile and adorable dimples.  We just love him to pieces.  We've been continuing with his exercises for his torticollis and in our opinion, they seem to be helping.  He goes back to see the physical therapist every 3 weeks since they really just check to see his progress.  The child is rolling everywhere and you really have to watch him so that his big brother doesn't accidentally hurt him.  :) Cooper tends to forget or doesn't see that his rolled under his little chair or that he's right next to him on his bike sometimes.  :)

 Cooper is hilarious.  And also challenging.  He has taken off in terms of talking and sometimes I wonder where he's heard half of the things that come out of his mouth.  It's great, but also makes me sad as he's growing up very quickly.  He can be such a little stinker, but he is so tender hearted.  The other day I was opening up the curtains in our living room and the rod some how came flying off and I had to duck so it wouldn't hit me in the head.  He witnessed this and after it fell, he started bawling because he was afraid I was hurt.  I just love that child to pieces.  Eating has become our biggest challenge with him.  One day he likes something, the next day he doesn't.  He can be so stubborn too.  We could literally sit there for hours and he wouldn't eat a thing.  It drives Jason and I insane and makes us worry, but I'm hoping he grows out of it soon.

 

We had family pictures on Saturday morning and it went as well as could be expected with a 2 year old.  He was more interested in throwing rocks in the water and looking for birds than smiling pretty for the camera.  :)  On our way back to the car, he tripped and fell on the concrete and split his lip.  Poor little guy was crying and I felt so bad for him.  Then we had gone over to my parents and when he was trying to get down off the kitchen chair, his feet got stuck and he fell backward, hitting his head.  Sad day for our little guy. 

House projects are still ongoing.  We had our new front door installed by my Uncle Fred and it looks so nice.  I still need to paint it, but we both have to be home all day and it needs to dry all day before we can actually close it.  Jason said yesterday we could go look at getting a new storm door.  :)  

Last week we purchased a lot in the Wildwood addition.  So happy and excited!  Our plan is to build in 5-10 years.  We've been looking at different styles of houses and it's fun to kind of get an idea of what we want.  We had been looking at buying this lot for a while, but what made us go for it was when we heard that a road will be going in behind our house connecting Hwy 61 to Hwy 38, with the potential for businesses/light industrial/etc going in.  We want our privacy and we always talked about staying in our house for a very long time.  That changed when we heard this.  It's not something that was announced recently.  I guess they've been talking about it for a few years, we just heard about it recently.  The road is supposed to go in within a year, so it will only be a matter of time before businesses go in as well.  We liked where the lot is because it's still close to Mary's in case we still have children going there if our time frame gets bumped up in terms of building.  It's still close for me to go to work and it's a large lot with the privacy we want.  We took a walk on it last night and I think we're really going to like it.  I hope the boys enjoy growing up there too one day. 

Stroller

Last week I ordered our new double jogging stroller from walmart.com.  I was so excited to get it this coming Wednesday, and to my surprise, it showed up last Friday!  I ordered it on Thursday and did the ship to store since it's free and it came the next day.  Awesome since I was planning to take the boys to the zoo!  This is the exact stroller I got:  http://www.walmart.com/ip/InStep-Safari-Double-Jogging-Stroller-Gray-and-Green/15689707 .  I ordered it not able to actually see it in person and I was a little nervous, but I am so happy that I bought it.  I didn't want to spend a ton of money since the boys won't be in it forever, but I wanted something where I could take them for walks when Jason wasn't around.  I looked on Craigslist and all the strollers that I found were $100 and up.  I figured I would buy this one for a little more and get a brand new one and not wonder how well the used stroller was taken care of. 

Here are the boys enjoying our Saturday morning walk.  :)

I took them to the Niabi Zoo yesterday along with my parents while Jason was golfing in a tournament.  Cooper took everything in and was super excited about the reptile house.  I took Cooper in while my parents stayed outside with Tucker since there's not much room for strollers in there.  Cooper loved it so much and ran outside to get Nana and Papa to go in with him.  Super sweet.  He did not want to ride the carousel when I asked him.  I think he thought the animals were real and he didn't even want to walk close by it!  He's kind of a timid little guy, but he had a nice time.  And the weather was beautiful for it too.

My new project is trying to paint our front door a different color that the marroon that is currently on it.  I thought when I painted it that color that I would like it, but I've decided it's way too dark and I'm going for a blue color to add some contrast to the house.  I'd much rather just buy a new front door and storm door, but it's not in the cards right now.  Some day!  The kitchen project is still ongoing, but we got more wallpaper off this weekend.  Only a little bit more to go and we can start painting!!!  After the painting is done, we get flooring!!!!!!!!!!!!!  So.Super.Excited.  Can't even explain.  :)

Boys

Tucker

• He had his first physical therapy appointment on Wednesday and we learned some stretches and positions to get the muscle in his neck to stretch out.  I felt better when we met with the therapist and his daughter also had toticollis.  We go back next week to follow up and then every other week until they don't feel we need to come back.  Our sitter thought he was doing better already, but that might just be wishful thinking.  :) 
• He's rolling over everywhere and he's started sleeping on his tummy.  It makes me so incredibly nervous, but if he can roll over and wants to do so, then I can't stop him and he can roll back the other way if need be.  It's actually really helped with his sleeping and he's not getting up during the night.
• He is such a happy baby and was so excited to go to physical therapy!  Not that it was hard by any means, but he would giggle and smile at the therapist and it just surprised me how comfortable he was around a stranger.
• He eats cereal 3 times a day.  Once at breakfast or lunch with a fruit or vegetable, at dinner time with a fuit or vegetable, and then before bed time.  He's doing much better actually keeping the food in his mouth and gets very upset if you don't get it in his mouth fast enough.
• I'm having trouble finding clothes in our bins for the warmer weather.  Cooper was wearing 6-9 month clothes in the summer time and Tucker is currently in some 9 month clothes and mostly 12 months.  I think it's going to be a onesie summer.  :)

Cooper

• I took him to get his hair cut last night and he does so well sitting there while Sara uses the clippers on his head.  I didn't even have to bribe him with my phone!  I got it cut a little shorter and he looks so much more like his Daddy.
• He started calling us Mom and Dad instead of Mommy/Mama/Daddy/Dada.  I feel like he's 15 calling us that.  Makes for a sad Mama.  :(
• He surprises me all the with the words that come out of his mouth.  He learns something new every day and he sounds so grown up.  They truly do grow up right before your eyes.
• If I'm ever upset or sad about something, he rubs my head and tells me it's going to be okay.  It just melts my heart completely.  I love him so, so much.
• He loves being outside and hasn't learned yet that we can't stay outside all day and night.  When you tell him it's time to come inside, he gets so upset and throws the biggest fit.  We're working on this one since I'm sure we'll be spending so much time outside.
• He loves the bird feeder we moved from the back of the house to the front of the house.  He loves watching all the different birds and also the squirrels that come to eat.  It's actually neat to watch all the different colored birds come to eat.  I learned the other day that there are 2 different kinds of woodpeckers!  Didn't know that!

Jason

• He had his CT scan of his heart last week and got the results today.  Everything looks good and one artery has a 20% blockage, which they're not concerned about.  They get concerned when it gets 70% blocked or more.  He has a follow-up appointment in a year and he's to continue on eating healthier and losing weight.  Soooo glad for good news.
• Golfing season has begun and his Monday night league started up this week.  I know he's been dying to get out there since we've had some ugly weather this spring.
• The creek at the farm was high earlier this spring with all the rain we had and some of the sand up above the hill built up on the sides and it's really hard to drive across the creek to get across the other side.  So, he had rock delivered and is hauling concrete to fill in the creek.  One of his co-workers is going to bring their tractor out and they're going to level out the sand aslo to be able to drive across the creek again.
• He's starting on the kitchen again and wants to get a lot done before Tucker's baptism June 8th.  Backsplash, painting, and flooring all needs to get done. 
• Work is going well.  He has to present at the annual meeting and he's stressing about it.  They take turns every year and I believe he did it 3 years ago.  I know he'll do great and won't have any problems!

This Sunday I'm taking the boys to the Niabi Zoo with my Mom.  I can't wait to go and use our new double stroller that I'm picking up tonight!  I missed the chance to buy one off a website on Facebook for $40 and then everything else I've seen on Craigslist is up toward $100.  I figured I'd just buy a new one for a little more than that and know the use it's had.  So, I found one on Walmart.com and ordered it yesterday to ship to the store and it's already here.  So excited to pick it up tonight!

Jason and Tucker

Last week was the week for appts.  Jason had his CT scan of his heart last Thursday and we won't know the results until sometime this week or early next week.  He said it was easy and quick.  Hopefully we hear good news soon.  Since the cardiologist told him to lose a few pounds since he was a borderline high blood pressure patient, he's lost 15lbs so far and looks great!  He's really watching what he eats and is just trying to be more active in general.  He's on a good path and it's also helping me lose some of this baby weight. 

Tucker had his 4 month checkup on Friday.  He is 18lbs 11oz and 26.5 inches.  Still a little chubby.  :)  But he sure is a happy guy!  I've been concerned about Tucker's head shape since he was 8-10 weeks old.  When I would bring it up to people, they would just dismiss it and say it looked fine.  So, when we took him in on Friday, I brought it to Dr. Wettach's attention.  He looked him over and noticed it too.  Tucker has torticollis, which is the muscle in his neck is tight, causing him to favor his right side.  The back right side of his head is flat and the left side has a bulge.  His forehead, eyes, and overall shape of his head is off, so Dr. Wettach suggested physical therapy for him.  Our first appt is this Thursday at 3:45pm in Muscatine.  I was so nervous the doctor was going to dismiss my concerns and we'd have to go elsewhere.  I was beyond thrilled when he suggested physical therapy.  He said now is the time to seek out treatment and it will speed up the molding process.  So happy to start therapy this week.

Jason's first solo weekend went great while I had girls weekend in West Des Moines shopping at Jordan Creek among other places.  So.Much.Fun.  We ate at PF Changs and the Cheesecake Factory.  And shopped until we dropped, literally.  We were all so exhausted by the end of the trip.  I had a great time and hope to make it an annual trip!