This is why I need to start packing only during nap time.......

Give Grant a minute alone and he goes directly to the stool so he can get up high enough to reach the activity tub with the markers.  And then he quickly colors on some "owies".  Thankfully these were washable markers and I caught him before he did any more damage to the house!

Ten on Tuesday

1.  We are working through our hundredth cold of the season.  Poor Grant seems to have it pretty bad this time around.  The other day he woke up and was all congested and was pulling at his ear.  I asked him what was wrong and he said,"my ear is turned off."  Obviously his ear was full and he couldn't hear. I just thought it was so cute the way he explained it!

2.  Ashton had his 6 month check up last Friday.  He weighed 14 lbs 15 oz.  That puts him in the 6th % for his weight.

3.  At that appointment, I mentioned that I was concerned about Ashton's hearing since he slept through 5 fire alarms going off in our house the other day.  Dr S checked his ears AGAIN.  This resulted in a full ear irrigation since Ashton is a really waxy baby.  He was less than pleased to endure all of that.  In the end, we discovered a double ear infection with a lot of fluid built up.  Funny that we were just there the week before for that reason and supposedly he had nothing......  The dr thinks his hearing issue is due to the infection and fluid.  We will have a follow up in 3 weeks to be sure.  That ear check punch card would come in real handy right now!

4. This is why Grant prefers to sleep on the floor!  His toddler bed just does not handle his wiggly little body.  Thankfully our rental house has 3 bedrooms so he will have a full size bed to wiggle in (with a bed rail of course!).

5.  Did I mention that selling your house is a pain in the you know what???  We are preparing our major pack this weekend and then will move out the first weekend in May.  I am exhausted yet teary eyed at the thought of all the packing, moving and then leaving this house full of so many memories... 

6.  Guess who returned?  Sophie the Giraffe!  2 months after giving in and buying a new one, we found the Sophie that was MIA.  She was at the bottom of the recycling bin in our garage- you know where every teething toy goes to hide..... pretty sure I can guess who put her in there!   After a good clean, she is slightly less squeaky, but will be a good back up in case we lose one again.

7.  Revenge for all those times Grant tried to sit on Ashton....... the look on Ashton's face as he pulled Grant's hair was priceless.  Wish I was quick enough to capture that on camera!

8.  Anyone know how to get permanent marker off the wall???  G was left alone in our basement and found the moving box marker and took to the walls with it.  So far I have tried scrubbing the heck out of it, rubbing alcohol, magic eraser and nail polish remover.  Nothing has worked and we really don't want to go out and buy the paint for that wall 2 weeks before we move!

9.  As I prepare to move into a house with little to no space to store everyday essentials, I really wish I lived close to an Ikea.  A road trip might be needed in my future...

10.  Blessing of the week:  Grant pooped on the potty again.  He is still going in his pants more than on the potty, but it was another baby step toward our goal!

6 months

Ashton Nowell,

6 months ago today my heart was overflowing with love for you as I held you in my arms for the first time.  You are my little love and I can hardly believe that you are already 6 months old.  You are my constant reminder that when you are not looking, God will surprise you with the desires of your heart.

This is what you have been up to lately...


*at your last ear check you weighed 14 lbs 8 oz

*you wear size 3-6 clothes and size 2 diapers

*you are rolling all over the place.

 *you love to put anything you can into your mouth.  We call you a piranha because you literally go towards things with your mouth open ready to chomp.  Your favorite thing to eat is paper so we need to be really careful where we leave things now!   

*you babble all the time - usually when we are trying to get you down for a nap.  Just gagas for now, no mama or dada yet.

*you love it when Grant plays with you and makes you laugh.  Mom loves to see you two interact as well- such fun to watch your relationship develop.

*I think you are actually growing hair!  It is coming in quite blond, but if you rub your face against it, you can feel the fuzz coming in.

*you started sitting up last week and love it...

 but, you still topple over quite a bit!

*you have experienced a lot of illness over the last month and unfortunately, you are sick again.

*due to your illness, your sleep is all over the place.  You usually like a short morning nap, long afternoon nap and then sleep from 10-7ish.  Lately though you have been waking up a couple times during the night since you don't feel well.

*you love to eat! You eat 2 T of cereal at lunch and dinner and then add a veggie or fruit at dinner as well.  So far you have eaten rice, oatmeal, and whole wheat cereals, peas, carrots, green beans, sweet potatoes, bananas and pears.  The ironic thing is that you seemed to not mind the veggies at all, but you give funny faces when you eat the bananas and pears.

*you are so smiley and happy.  When someone glances your way, you break out a huge smile that just warms your heart.

We love you so much and are so grateful that God blessed our lives with you.
~mommy and daddy

Ten on Tuesday

1.  Nobody told me that selling your house was such a pain!  We have had one inspection after another and they have not all gone well.  At this point, I am ready to just get out of here and leave all this moving stress behind me!

2.  Our great rental fell through last week.  The house was on the market for 2 years and wouldn't you know, it sold the month we were supposed to move in.  I am SO glad it happened now and not 2 weeks after we moved in.  Our new plan is to move in with my in laws until one of our rental houses is updated.  I am not thrilled with this choice, but I have to remember that it is only a temporary road block to getting us into our new home.  I am trying my hardest to look at it with positive thoughts... an old house like that will certainly have lots of opportunities for Pinterest projects!!!

3. I am totally addicted to Kilwins salted caramel ice cream.  I would eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner if I could.  This addiction is not good for my last 5 pounds of baby weight.....

4. I think I might suggest to my dr that they do a punch card for ear checks.... like after 10 checks, you get a free one.  I feel like all I ever do is take these kids in to get their dumb ears checked!!!  Ashton was cleared at his ear re-check but he still pulls on his ears and cries so I am not totally convinced.

5.  Have you tried this super easy recipe from Pinterest yet?  If you have kids that like yogurt, I recommend you try it immediately- you will not be sorry!  Grant loves them and thinks they are ice cream because I used the orange creme yogurt so they taste like an orange push up.

Source: onegoodthingbyjillee.com via Roe on Pinterest

6.  Grant finally pooped on the potty last week!!!!!  It was a morning that I had to take the boys to day care and I was trying to get ready and Grant casually said he had to go potty.  I told him I would be right there to help.  I walked in and he was sitting on the potty and he had already pooped!  It was such an exciting moment for both of us.  Unfortunately, he pooped in his pants an hour later at day care..... baby steps I guess.

7. I did finally give in and put Pull Ups on Grant at night.  He protests and wants his underwear, but he won't wake up to go potty so for now, this is our only option.

8.  The other day I wasn't sure if Grant was 2 or 12.  I heard him wake up from his nap and he was laughing.  I opened the door and he was reading a book and he looked up at me and said,"get out mommy and shut the door."  I was shocked and left the door open a bit and he got up and shut it himself.  Oh my- imagine what my world is going to be when he is a teenager!!!

9. Ashton is sitting up!  He still topples over occasionally, but he seems very happy with his new view in life.

10.  Blessing of the week: family that gives up their off time to help us get our rental house ready for our move in day.  And a father in law that is putting down a new floor so I won't have to live in a house with 4 mismatched types of floor visible from the couch in the living room!  :)

2 1/2 years

grant,

2 1/2 years ago I held you  in my arms for the first time.  We had longed for that moment for so many years that it felt like a dream as I touched your precious arms and legs, and wiggled your little nose.  You are now my little boy that is full of adventure.  You show me everyday how I need to slow down and enjoy the little things in life.  My heart overflows with love for you....

love, mommy

Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 

Ten on Tuesday

1.  I really had great intentions of getting out a real blog post this past week but then life got crazy and I simply ran out of time and energy.

2.  After our house inspection, we were told we had to put on a new roof.  This was something that we pretty much knew, but were hoping we could just give an allowance for and not have to do ourselves.  Unfortunately, we had to do it.  So, last week Jason was up on the roof every evening taking it off and getting it ready for the roofers to come put our new one on. I was trying to keep track of a (still) sick Ashton, a really whiny Grant and nurse myself back to health from a nasty cold.  Hence, the life getting a little crazy mentioned above. 

3.  Grant's potty training is also starting to wear on me.  The 3 day method did not work for us.  He is doing well during the day (minus the pooping part of course) but he has started wetting the bed at night.  This method involves throwing away the diapers and not putting them back on even for nighttime.  I hate to go back, but waking up with a wet Grant everyday is starting to break me down!

4.  What a great way to end this crazy week.... celebrating the risen Lord with these two loves in my arms.

5.  I confess that I really need the Clean Sweep crew to come through my house as I pack.  I am a total pack rat and have serious attachment issues to everything from old Christmas ornaments from my college days to clothes I haven't worn in about 6 years!  I really need someone to convince me that I will survive without keeping all these treasures...

6.  I came across my fertility binder while I was packing.  It seems like forever ago that we sat down with the specialist that first time.  Our hearts were full of excitement and hope for what they could do for us and fear for what struggles lied ahead.  Little did we know the plans that God had in store for us- miscarriage, twin pregnancy, infant loss, preecalmpsia and two beautiful baby boys.  I am so grateful that in the end of this roller coaster ride, we were given the desires of our hearts.  I will never forget what we went through to get here though and for that reason, I wanted to keep the binder.  Reference #5 for attachment issues!!!

7. Grant started singing Oh Christmas Tree out of the blue the other day.  This kid really does share my absolute love for everything Christmas!  And yes, he still sings Jingle Bells all the time too....

8.  Grant and I headed to the Children's Museum last week with my SIL and her kids.  Grant just loved it.  Although, three people referred to Grant as a girl.  I am thinking it might be time for a haircut for him!!!

9.  My little bunny...

10.  Blessing of the week:  Family and friends that came out to help Jason take the roof off.  We couldn't have done it without you!

Ten on Tuesday

1.  First off, thank you for all the prayers for peace.  I definitely feel a little calmer about our housing situation.  We have an opportunity that is too good to pass up so we are heading to a town about 20 minutes down the highway for the next 6 months or so.  It will be extremely inconvenient for me, but the sacrifice will be worth the good deal that we are getting from a friend.

2.  Jason won't let me start packing until we pass all of our inspections and it is killing me.  I have moved many times in my life and I know what a pain it is.  I only have a month to purge and pack up 10 years of stuff in this house and I feel like it is not enough time at all!

3.  Grant, Ashton and I headed down to my parents house this past weekend.  We had a wonderful time visiting mom mom and pop pop.  We played outside, did an Easter egg hunt6+ and just enjoyed being spoiled for a few days!  The down time definitely helped me to calm down and collect myself over all this moving chaos.

4.  Where are the fashion police?  Grandpa P dressed Ashton while he was here... apparently he thought A was going to Jazzercise!

And, Jason put these pants on Grant last night.  I almost peed in my pants I was laughing so hard because these are Ashton's pants.  Jason thought they were shorts for G!  The sad thing is that my skinny little boy actually fit into Gap 0-3 month pants pretty well!

5.  I never wish my kids to be sick, but after being up 3-4 times a night with Ashton this past week, I was really hoping the dr would not say that there was nothing wrong with him!  Unfortunately for our little guy, his sinus infection never really went away and now he has an ear infection as well.  We got some stronger antibiotics and are crossing our fingers we can get back to sleeping through the night really soon.

6.  Grant is still doing well with the potty training.  He has his good days and bad days but most of them are accident free.  However, with that being said, he refuses to go poo on the potty.  I have tried all the tricks in the book I read and nothing.  The poor kid holds it for days even when I fill him with up with tons of fiber.  Please let me know if any of you have any tips to share.

7.  I was so excited to see this in the Pottery Barn Kids catalog!  Wish I could show this to all the people that told us Ashton was a strange name for our baby boy.....

8.  I finally watched The Descendants this weekend.  It was a great movie but definitely brought back my spring break fever and made me want to get on the next plane to Hanalei right away!


9. Funny Grantism of the week... I was in the shower and Grant walked into the bathroom...
Grant:  "Mommy, don't poop in the shower." 
Me:  Laughing hysterically, "Ok Grant" 
Grant:  "Mommy, only poop in the potty ok"
Guess he is actually listening to me when I tell him not to poop in the tub!

10.  Blessing of the week: Hearing Grant say,"I love you so much mommy."  Melts my heart every time I hear it....