Two Is Better Than One

I would have to say that having two children is much better than having one! As I said in a previous post, the heart has an amazing capacity for love and it is a wonderful thing!! However, two children is NOT better than one in the case of picture-taking...

To take a picture of both of my children together it is best if Creighton is laying in bed watching cartoons and if Miss Jo has just woken from a long nap, been fed, and a fresh diaper placed on her bum.

I have been wanting some professional photos taken of the kiddos. My couch is not the cutest backdrop. I contacted my photographer and since the weather was GORGEOUS today we decided to head out to take some spring photos outdoors. 

I have had some great experiences taking pictures of Creighton and some not so great experiences. Today was a not so great experience with him and the little lady was not having it either. Ugh... to say the least it was miserable. And my poor photographer is 36 weeks pregnant as well. After 2 hours we gave up. I just keep thinking, "There has to be AT LEAST 1 good one!!"

It could have possibly been my fault. I was probably sending out negative vibes. I had worries about the pictures from the beginning. Easter Sunday there were many attempts made to get the kids together for a Easter Sunday photo in their Easter-best! This is all we were able to achieve:

Oh well. I guess that is what we can start to expect for family pictures from here on out.

 

Taking pictures of the kids really is fun though. I love to take pictures of whatever we have going on so that we can remember! I know that many years from now, I will even enjoy looking at "poor" pictures because they will bring back memories. 

This Easter...

 We colored lots of eggs. But even more fun, we put stickers on them!

 The Easter Bunny visited our family as well.

It sure was exciting!

Easter was Papa's birthday, so the next day a whole lot of family got together to celebrate!

Sometimes I bribe my children to smile big with King Size candy bars!

Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out anything to make these two cooperate today for our professional photos. Just another thing that I am going to have to learn to understand and be okay with!

Overall, two is better than one.

MacGyver Bowholder

A few days ago our family got a new dishwasher. After installing the new one, Cason was throwing out the packing material. I yelled, "Wait! What is that?" And he showed me something that looked like a frame. It was made of cardboard and wood. I asked him to keep it. He thought I was nuts. 

Here it is:

I had a vision for a bowholder. It turned out GREAT!! 

It matches Macey Jo's room beautifully!

In fact, she loved it so much, we were able to capture a smile on camera for the first time the night we hung it up!

One of the wonderful things about having a husband is always impressing him. He still can't believe what I made from the dishwasher packing material! (Hence the nickname I gave it, "the MACGYVER bowholder") He says, "I never would have thought of that!" Well, of course not! It is my job to do that kind of crafty-thinking. 

As I was making it he loved joking about how big it was and that it STILL wouldn't be big enough to hold all of her bows.

Oh no! There is still PLENTY of room for more bows. And just in case you didn't know... a girl can NEVER have too many bows!

Mother of Two

Everyone who told me that the change from one child to two was going to be difficult... was right! 

However, the first few weeks weren't difficult at all. That is because Cason had 4 weeks off of work and mostly online classes. We spent a lot of time together as a family and if we took the kids anywhere we were always together. It was so nice to always have an extra pair of hands and 2 kids seemed not a lot different than one...

 Oh boy. When daddy went back to work we (me and occasionally a child) had a few meltdowns. Cason has started 12 hour shifts at the prison, 10 am-10 pm, and it is sometimes rough for this mommy of two. One day I texted my cousin whose husband was across the country in Louisiana working. He only comes home once a month for a few days. I said, "How do you do this by yourself? I feel like I am turning into a crazy woman!!" (she has three kids) She assured me she definitely has had her crazy moments. But I guess you also do what you have to do to take care of and provide for your family. Even if sometimes it is overwhelming, exhausting, frustrating and sometimes just no fun. But who am I to complain? It's only 4 days a week for me...

One day I think that I really scared Cason. I called up to the prison just sobbing. He was very concerned. I just needed to cry and have him listen and complain about what a rough day it had been. Then I felt much better.
Another day I called my mom and said, "Anyone who has more than two children must be insane and should be committed to the crazy hospital!"

I didn't go anywhere with both kids for several weeks except for to my mom's house. But the last few weeks we have been extremely adventurous and made several errands around town at once and even with a potty-training boy in tow! In fact just the other day we braved a snow storm to run to the grocery store for non-essentials. This momma is feeling extremely proud of herself. 

There were some difficult days with two kids. I won't share too many of my meltdowns, I get embarrassed easily... But I feel like I am now "getting the hang of it".

I am so blessed to have a great husband who does take a very active role when he is home. He always gets up at night-time with Macey Jo when I have to go to work the next day. (But she doesn't get up much at night anymore... hooray!!) He loves his baby girl and goes running when he hears her fuss. He loves to talk to her and try to make her giggle.

He also likes it very much when she makes funny faces!

Our little lady had her 2 month checkup yesterday and she is growing great! We feel so blessed to have a healthy little girl.

 She weighs just a bit over 11 lbs and is 23 1/2 inches. She wears mostly 3 month clothes and looks beautiful in everything! She doesn't like the bows mommy puts on her very much, she is always pulling them down over her eyes! But that doesn't stop mommy. Her hair is growing fast and is getting so thick in the back you can hardly see her scalp. I know ponytails are in our future soon!! She also has the most beautiful, thick, long eyelashes. I love to adore them as she sleeps. I have some eyelash-envy.

 She is starting to coo and smile and giggle. It doesn't take much for a smile to appear on her face. She loves to be talked to and loves to talk back. She loves to sit upright and observe what is going on. Her favorite place is still the fish swing. When in doubt what to do for a fussy Macey Jo... put her in the swing! But she hardly ever fusses. Unfortunately she did go through "night-time fussiness" for a few weeks in that transition time when daddy went back to work. But now she is over it. Yay! Listening to too much crying is exhausting and frustrating.

 Miss Jo LOVES to take a bath. She didn't like riding in the car for a long time. But we found that if we don't put the carrier cover on and bring back the canopy she really enjoys it. She just likes to watch her brother while we are driving. Today she went swimming for the first time. Unfortunately I couldn't be there, but I hear she really enjoyed it!

Even though the transition has had its hard times, of course I wouldn't change it for anything. Having these two kiddos is so much fun! When you have just one, it is hard to imagine loving another as much as you do the first. But the heart has an amazing capacity for love!!

 Mr. Creighton also had a 3 year checkup yesterday and is doing as well as his sister. Unfortunately he wasn't too happy to be there because just the night before he had been in the ER. So he didn't want to be "poked" again. He keeps saying, "Doctor poked me!" He bonked his head at church, then threw up, and didn't stop... He was getting dehydrated and had a high fever. So Cason took him in Sunday night around midnight and they fixed him up good and the next day he was doing very well.

Creighton has been begging for a picnic so we did have one in the living room the other day. He wanted "a picnic with hot dogs". Creighton just can't wait for the nice weather. He always wants to go outside for walks, to blow bubbles, to play with Callie (our dog), to jump on Grandma and Grandpa's trampoline and to play baseball. Soon enough though! 

I wanted to start a tradition where every year on Creighton's birthday I ask him the same questions and see how the answers change. Like a birthday interview. Well, I think 3 years old was too young to start with Creighton. Perhaps I will try again next year. He's not big into being "formal" and being calm enough for a few minutes to answer my questions is too much to ask of him. Here is a little bit of what I was able to get out of him...

Me: Creighton, what is your favorite food?

Him: Chips! Please can I have some chips? A cookie? Some candy? Puh-lease!!!

Me: Creighton, where is your favorite place to go?

Him: Can I go to Grandma and Grandpa's?

Me: No.

Him: To the park?

Me: No.

Him: Play with Papa and Sam?

Me: No.

Him: Puh-lease go to Grandma and Grandpa's?

His daddy has been teaching Creighton to say his name with his middle name included. Tonight Cason said, "Why do you have to be so destructive? Is your name Creighton Destruct-o?" Creighton, "No!! I am Creighton Eli!!" We were also making cookies tonight and Creighton was being very bossy to me. Cason said to him, "Can you say, I'm a back seat driver?" Creighton said, "I'm a back-seat driver named Creighton Eli!"

He is learning so much and recently discovered puzzles. He is so great at doing the 24 piece puzzles. His favorite ones are Doc McStuffins! He has also discovered signs. As we drive he says, "There is a sign! There is a sign! A sign in the grass!  A sign in the road! There is a sign!" Oh boy... I have discovered with Creighton in the car that there are signs everywhere!!

 As I mentioned earlier, Creighton is potty-training. This is like round 9. So far though things are really going great with #1 in the potty. Not with #2 unfortunately...

I sometimes still can't believe I am a mother of two! And to say "the kids" still feels a little strange. We have a lot of fun with these two... and a lot of crazy times... But boy is it great!

A Birthday and a Blessing

What a great past week we have had! So many milestones and excitement in our household!

First of all, on March 7th, our little man turned 3 years old!! Memories of him being born are still so fresh in my mind...

It has been a fun three years with Creighton! One of the words I would use to describe Creighton is curious. And he has recently discovered Curious George and loves all things George. I know why he is drawn to George. Like George, he is always a very good boy (sometimes monkey...), but curious... and when something "bad" happens it is usually not on purpose, but Creighton trying to be helpful or just being... curious... 

We decided to celebrate our Curious Creighton's birthday with a Curious George party!!

Creighton began his day by going to one of his favorite places- the park! And he invited a friend, Tiana, to come and play! We were grateful for the nice weather.

Then it was off to another favorite place... Arctic Circle and the best chicken and fries this birthday boy could ask for! Sweet Tiana even gave Creighton a Jake doll and bubbles as a gift. He LOVES Jake!!

A special t-shirt, balloons, and cake made this George party feel very curious!!

 Of course, our Curious Creighton found the cake in the morning, before it was supposed to be eaten, and ran his hands through the red piping. "Mmmm... candy..." he said. "Aaaahhhh!!!" said his mommy. But it still tasted delicious! Creighton loves Reeses peanut butter cups so I made a chocolate cake with peanut butter filling. DELICIOUS!!

 Creighton opened many gifts, including Curious George books and movies, a t-ball set, clothes, and a Jake gameboy.

But the gift of the evening was this Jake camera from Grandma and Grandpa Wilde!

Creighton LOVES cameras and this was a hit! Creighton took several pictures of everyone there and pictures of all his presents. Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate with him!

 And Creighton even had a late-night birthday surprise visitor...

Big Daddy flew to Idaho from Arkansas and as soon as he walked in the door he unzipped his suitcase and Creighton received more fun gifts, an Arkansas Razorback shirt (with Mickey) and a Skycopter!

The next morning Creighton had remembered the Skycopter and insisted on going outside to play with it and his t-ball set and the bubbles. This little boy never has a shortage of fun things to do! And neither did Big Daddy this weekend.
Creighton and Big Daddy are so lucky. They both have March birthdays, and every year since Creighton has been born they have received a special birthday present every March... being together!

 Big Daddy got some alone time with the kiddos one evening as Cason and I went to a Bar-J Wrangler concert to watch my mom receive an award. She was inducted into the Highland High School Education Foundation's Hall of Fame. Her award was for "Distinguished Activity Service". Way to go Momma!!

What a great start to the weekend celebrating Creighton's birthday. To end it we blessed our sweet Macey Jo. This little babe, like Creighton, has plenty of people who love her!!

Macey Jo's daddy gave her a beautiful blessing. He such a wonderful father. He is always saying to me, "Oh, she is just so beautiful." I am starting to get jealous... But he is right! A beautiful baby girl we do have!

We feel so blessed to have family so close and so many willing to travel to be with us for a special day.

Since Grandma and Papa Chambers were visiting for Macey Jo's blessing we took the opportunity to celebrate Creighton's birthday once again! But this time with Curious George cinnamon rolls!

Creighton also got a big boy kite from them... our spring is going to be busy with lots of outdoor fun!!

Wow!! What a weekend we had! It was so fun to celebrate our Curious Creighton's 3rd birthday- what a ball of energy he is! It was a wonderful Sunday as we blessed our precious Macey Jo. She is such a special addition to our family. And it is always so wonderful to be with family!

 Ahoy, mateys! Until next time!!