Animals | Jarvis

Jarvis could have cared less about stuffed animals... 

that is, until Christmas of last year. 

Despite all our efforts before (with nighttime scout), 

he just wouldn't get attached to any stuffed animals that might make traveling/bed transitions easier. 

Then out of nowhere, he fell in love with a Christmas bear (back right corner). 

this much [30 months] | Jarvis

I know I say this every month, but I just can not believe how blessed we are. This boy, my oldest son, has such a sweet and loving nature. I am constantly blown away by him. 

It seems like every month his verbal and cognitive skills nearly double! He speaks in complete sentences and is learning to use correct grammar. He understands nearly anything we say, and as a result, we have taken to spelling quite a few words! He can now follow a conversation and pick up on tones and feelings. And he will repeat just about anything you say to anyone! 

He fell in love with swimming while we were in Texas and spent nearly every day in the pool. He can kick his legs and blow bubbles, but holding his breath is still questionable sometimes! He just needs to get his arms working and I think he would be swimming on his own! Floating was still a foreign concept though! He did work up his courage to jump off the top step into someone's arms, but not the side of the pool yet. He learned to 'crawl' around the edge of the pool by holding onto the side and walking his feet on the side. However that resulted in some sore fingers and toes!

He had such a wonderful time in Texas visiting family, but I do have to say that the grandpas/uncles were his favorites. He really enjoys all of them. He has so many grandpas and uncles that he insisted on knowing their names so he could call them 

Grandpa ___. 

He has wonderful manners and it is so nice to see our hard, consistent work paying off. He will now say 'no, thank you' at least 80% of the time instead of just screaming no. This has made my days so much more enjoyable!! He is so sweet with his brother and sister and always shares toys with them and comforts them. He always says, 'it's ok, it's alright' if one of them is crying. It made me so happy to see him behaving and showing his real, sweet self in Texas. It makes my heart swell with love to hear people tell me he is a joy to be around.

home[pre]school update: He can count up to 13, and knows many numbers above that, although not in order. He know nearly all his letters and most letter sounds. He has several sight words and we have been working on rhyming. He is starting to recognize colors, and I think he knows most of them, but I'm not sure he understands the concept of shades. I have an activity planned to focus on that this next week. We almost have our first bible verse memorized and hope to move onto another next week!

knobby knees | Jarvis

It seems like I woke up one day

and your chubby, short little baby legs

had grown up on me.

bruises and scrapes

and lots of bony angles.

I think it's official.

You are not a toddler anymore,

but a little boy.

When did your legs get so long?

And where, sweet boy, did those knobby knees come from?

Slow down. please.

this much [26 months] Jarvis

First up... our picture for this month... (he's eating a special treat... haha! and you get mommy with no makeup and a ponytail...)

I am LONG overdue for an update on my big boy. So here goes...


He has been doing remarkably well with the babies joining our family. We have had a few jelousy issues and a few more temper tantrums, but seriously, he is doing AWESOME.


He adores the babies and has the cutest little 'awwww' sound any time he sees them. He loves to 'help' hold bottles and burp the babies. He gladly brings us the boppys or burp cloths. He loves singing them songs and wants to check on them all day long. He knows their names and even recognizes their faces. 


He is learning his colors and letters. He knows most of the colors, most of the time, and he knows at least 10 letters, sometimes more! He even has a few sight words that he can identify. He has had a language explosion in the past 6 weeks. He went from a few phrases to full sentences. He now will try to say anything and he is communicating extremely well. He does an excellent job of being patient and repeating what he's saying over and over again until we understand. He wants us to repeat what he says so he can make sure we get it right, haha!


His pretend play has taken a dramatic leap lately. He loves to pretend to change his stuffed animals diapers or pretend to put clothes on them. His trucks and race cars play together and he makes up stories and interacts with all of his toys. He is using 'tools' to fix his cars and substituting play items for real ones (using socks as oven mitts). This is by far my favorite play stage so far, he is such a joy to watch! 


We still haven't made any progress on potty training, but mommy isn't really at a place where she can focus on it, so we aren't worried right now. We are having to explore larger cloth diaper options, since he has just about maxed out the one size fuzzibunzs. 


His concept of time and location is developing and he is understanding key words relating to both of those. He adores playing outside and doesn't care how cold it is, he wants to stay out as long as possible. 


Once again, we just can not get over how AMAZING this little boy is. He is such a blessing and joy to be around!!

Insta-Friday | The First Week

It took me three day to get this post written... my computer time has dropped off significantly. Which is kinda awesome... Three kids are so much work, but so much fun!


Lots of pictures this time- but if you are on Facebook or Instagram, you've probably already seen them... oh well!

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

1. Last picture as a family of 3 as we head to the hospital!
2. Taken the day before the twins were born, holy cow, big babies! We love us some family reading time!
3. Jace holding both the babies for the first time.
4. Me holding both the babies for the first time.
5. Joelle and Jonah!
6. Heading home, exactly 48 hours after they were born- we are so blessed!!
7. Joelle's first headband! Made by mama ;)
8. Silly sleeping babies- this is pretty much how it was in the womb, Joelle in a little ball, Jonah taking up space!
9. The best big brother EVER!
10. Grandpa's here!!! And Jarvis is thrilled to have a new playmate, since Gammie heads back to Texas tomorrow! So thankful for tag-team grandparenting!
11. Their first night home... I have waited so long to see a baby in that bassinet again... The Lord is SO GOOD.
12. Getting their sun on to fight some light jaundice...
13. Snuggling my chunky boy, Jonah...
14. My current lifesavers- featuring the stylebabyLOG- which is AMAZING!! It's the only way I am keeping my brain straight right now!!




We took their newborn studio pictures yesterday- 6 hours in a *hot* studio, haha! But our photographer, Stacy, was awesome and the babies did so well!


So far they have both had ONE bath, haha, and are both really liking eating every 3.5 hours and being swaddled. We have been able to get latching and tandem feeding down about 80% of the time, and that saves me A LOT of time! It's definitely an art form to be able to tandem breastfeed twins, but I'm excited it's working so much better than breastfeeding Jarvis ever did- I'm so much more informed now!

Overflowing | p52 | 2012

This is the first time I have even touched my computer since the babies were born. I've been checking in online on my phone a couple times a day, but I was shocked when I get up this morning and there were links to project 52- is it really Friday? How did that happen?


The picture up above- the first one of my hubby with our 3 kids. Wow... how do we have 3 kids?? It's still so surreal!


Overall we are all doing very, very well. We were able to all go home only 48 hours after the c-section, which is amazing in and of itself, but even more so with twins! They are sweet, sweet babies and are growing. We are still learning to breastfeed, and every day/feeding is a new challenge, but overall they are doing so much better than Jarvis was at this time. Let me tell you though... nursing twins, tandem or separate is TIME-CONSUMING!! Sometimes it feels like I don't get out of the nursing chair for hours, which is true. They are still sleepy little newborns, but are just the sweetest things to cuddle. Unlike their big brother, who never slept as newborn and didn't like to be held, they both sleep pretty well and love being snuggled into anything, especially one another!


I am healing very well and expect to be back to normal in just a couple of weeks. Besides the actual surgery (which was a horrid experience, sigh), healing from the c-section has been much easier than the complications with Jarvis' birth. I am mobile and moving around, but still limited in how much I can do. Luckily, between Gammie and Jace, I am being well-taken care of. THe hubs has off for several weeks, which boy, do we need! For some reason, these babies sleep better in the middle of the day, so I am taking up napping when they do, because I've been getting less than 3 hours a night of broken sleep. Feeling a bit cut off from my normal social world, which is sad, especially since I know my friends are dying to meet and hold the babies. But I'm trying to remind myself that this will all go easier if we hunker down, get healthy, get feeding down, and figure out our routine as quickly as possible. And unfortunately, my dear friends are going to have to wait a bit longer for an open invitation. 


Jarvis has been AMAZING with the babies. This kid continues to blow me away. Things are crazy and out of routine (which if you know us well, you know we all like routine!) and the normal attention he gets from mommy and daddy is nowhere near being met. But he is behaving like an angel. He adores the babies and calls them 'my babies' and he loves to pat their heads and be around them. He loves to read them books and share his toys. And he's doing such a good job at attempting to control the 2-year-old noise level (although really, we don't expect him to- he's 2! and they have to get used to sleeping  through it all anyway!)


My dad flies in tomorrow to take over for my mom, who leaves the 14th. I'm excited to have my dad here, but boy does he have big shoes to fill with Gammie leaving. She has been absolutely amazing, and it has been such a blessing physically and emotionally to know Jarvis is well-taken care of and getting his attention and love while we work to include the babies in our family. 


Of course, the wonderful postpartum hormones swing throughout the day. I go from wondering how in the world I am going to handle 3 kids, especially 2 newborns, by myself when everyone else goes back to their normal world. A couple hours later I am crying in complete joy over the amazing blessing we have been given. 


We are so, so, so blessed and thankful for our little family and the love and support we have received. 

this much [25 months]

Hey, hey- check it out! I'm early this month!! That's because on the 6th (Jarvis' birthdate) I will be having 2 MORE babies! Be watching for their 0 month one!




This boy, my eldest, he's amazing.




Don't ever forget how special you are, sweet boy. I will always, always love you. Thank you for letting me be your mother.

linking up with styleberry blog for her this much project...

Daddy's boy | p52 | 2012

My boy, standing by his daddy while they read a book... They have the EXACT same hair (except Daddy has a double cowlick, and Jarvis only has one)... I swear this child is nearly a carbon copy of his daddy. Check out those little tufts of hair sticking out. We call it hedgehog hair, the thick, stick-straight-out hair that holds any slept-on or hat-shape. I cut hubby's hair that night (gotta keep up with the military regs!) but I'm letting bitty's grow out, I kinda like the shaggy-ness!

 Seriously- so sweet. He adores his daddy.

Check out other Project 52s at:

styleberry BLOG | The Carter Family | Bugs & Boo-Boos | What We're Sayin' | Moments & Impressions | Our First Little Bundle Of Joy | Phreckle Face Blog | Aubrey My Love

And if anyone else wants to link up- let me know!

Birthday Fun | 2012

Well, it's come and gone and I officially have a 2-year-old. Not sure how I feel about it... I wanted to share a few pictures from our family birthday at home, and his little party!


Here he is the morning of his birthday opening presents!

We got him the Tag Jr. Reader for his birthday.

His current favorite phrase is 'Oh, cool!' and you can see him exclaiming over some hot wheels from Poppy and Oma here!

With his expanded car collection!

Then after dinner, we had birthday cake (keep in mind, it's only 545 here, and it's pitch black outside :( )

Not sure of the candles...

Blowing them out with Daddy... 

Then the next day, we had a little low-key party with a bunch of his buddies. Last year I went over the top with his party- and although I wanted to do it again... I had to be realistic about what I could do! So we had the party at the indoor playscape on base with pizza, juice boxes, and cupcakes. Very simple and low-key, but he had a BLAST playing with all his friends! We didn't have anyone bring presents- because seriously, this boy has ENOUGH, and he had no clue they were missing!

Headed out to the party- he chose the new 'choo-choo' (chopper) shirt from Aunt Jackie and Uncle Patrick to wear!

My neighbor across the street made these delicious cupcakes!

His friends all singing Happy Birthday!

Cupcake!!

We learned to lick the frosting, lol....

He had such a blast, and I am glad we made a point to do something for him. I pretty much sat the entire time, but came in home in serious pain after just 2 and a half hours... unfortunately, my stamina is pretty much gone!

Two | p52 | 2012

My project 52 is going to look a little different this year- I'm trying to simplify it a bit, in order to make it easier for myself after the twins come. 

My theme will be 'in this moment.' I want to work on focusing on exactly that moment, and treasuring it for what it's worth, instead of trying speed things up or move ahead. Welcome to 2012!

Today, my sweet first born turns two... Here he is saying two and trying to show me 'two' with his fingers... he doesn't quite have it yet, but it's adorable!

I can't believe he's two. This child was so wished and prayed for. I still remember my absolute joy the first time I saw that positive sign- the first time ever after nearly 2 years of trying. 

We are so, so thankful for him! We are having a little family party here today with just the three of us, and then a very casual playdate tomorrow at the indoor playscape on base with all his buddies. Just perfect!

Update | Triphalangeal Thumbs

Time for another update on Jarvis' condition- Triphalangeal Thumbs. For more background information, see where we left off 6 months ago.


Last post, we were going to try out the new splints for 6 months and then check back in with the doctor. Basically, the splints were ineffective, for several reasons. Splinting would only really work if it was done 24/7, which just isn't feasible since it renders his hands nearly useless. In addition, he would have to wear them for an extended period of time since his bones are still growing. Add those to the fact that splinting a tiny little thumb is VERY hard, and at least half the time he got one thumb or the other out overnight and that we had rubbing issues- splinting did not work. 


However, both Jace and I felt like the curvature had not gotten worse over the past 6 months, although it had not improved either. We met with the doctor, who initially seemed to think surgery was a definite. He had us take another set of x-rays (in office and super quick!), and once we got the images back, he was actually not as concerned. It appears like Jarvis has a prounouced curve when you look at his hands, but his x-rays showed bones that looked to be forming fairly well, considering.


Basically, Jace and I both feel that surgery for cosmetic reasons is not an option. His hands will look unusual for the rest of his life. I don't even really notice anymore, it's just normal to us, but it will continue to look stranger as his hands get bigger. As long as functionality is not impaired though, we feel like it will not be that big of a concern to have his hands look different. Kids will always find something to tease one another about, and you just can't shield your child from everything, even if you want to. 


The functionality concerns would be the only reason we pursue surgery. The concern would be that if the last joint continued to curve in towards his hand, then he would lose the stability and maneuverability of his thumbs, which is essential for many tasks. At this point in time, the curve is not pronounced enough to cause any functionality issues. He uses both thumbs VERY well, and I am continuing to work on activities that encourage him to isolate and strengthen his thumbs.


Although there is some debate, most doctors recommend that any surgery like this should be done before 2, in the hopes of impairing fine motor development the least possible. Obviously we are already at that point. So right now, the decision comes down to trying to predict how much more (if any) his thumbs will curve and whether to do preventative surgery now, or wait to see if he truly needs it. The surgery would involve cutting the last joint out and fusing the last two bones together. This would make the thumb resemble and operate more like a normal thumb. His hand would still not look completely normal, as the entire make-up of his thumb bones and position on his hands is slightly different. 


At this point, we have decided to wait. We will take another set of x-rays in June and meet with the doctor to evaluate the bone shape and potential rate of curvature. Then, we will make a decision to continue to wait, or schedule a surgery. 


Here are a couple of x-rays. They really are quite fascinating (especially if you go back at look at his older ones, here). As you can see, his thumb basically resembles his pinky, and it is placed a bit higher on the side of his hand than a normal thumb would be. Jace and I were discussing that if they weren't labeled left and right, you might have trouble telling them apart. 

Several people have asked about the chances of one of the twins having the same condition, so I thought I would address that as well. As I talked about before, sometimes this condition can be an indicator of several far more serious genetic conditions, however, after testing, we have ruled those out for Jarvis. For now, it seems as though this is just an isolated gene mutation that is NOT passed down genetically. This means that the likelihood of either of the twins having it is the same as any other baby- around 1 out of every 250,000. So we do not expect the twins to have it. But you know it's one of the first things Jace and I will be checking, haha! And if one of them DOES have it, then expect much more genetic testing on Jace, me, and the babies...

I am happy to answer any questions you may have, or family, feel free to call and ask away. There is so much more information I could put in here (like bone shapes and growth patterns), but I don't want to bore you! 

Christmas Recap

Oh my. This boy, he's so very spoiled!! We had a wonderful family Christmas day, and we were able to webcam or talk to most of our family from all over the country- sometimes technology is such a blessing!


Our one big gift to Jarvis was a train table and all the trappings, which he loved! We got the train tracks and all the accessories SUPER on sale about a year and a half ago, and they have been sitting in the closet waiting. I managed to find the train table on base at a garage sale for a STEAL! Love getting a good deal. He also got lots of trucks, vehicles, and oh so much more from family. Thank you to everyone! He enjoyed opening all the presents and getting to show them to everyone on the webcam. Here are just a few pictures to share our day!

A little pre-Christmas bowling- their favorite!

Jarvis' ornament for this year.

Back of Jarvis' ornament.

Merry Christmas!! In our annual mama-made Christmas Eve pajamas!

Daddy bringing the boy in for his first glimpse of the train table...

ummmm, for me??

yay!! it's all blurry because he was SO excited!!

Dog pile!

I hope every one of you had a blessed Christmas with those you love around you!