Life as a family of four!

It’s only been 6 weeks since I wrote my last entry, but it feels like an eternity. Both Alex and Derek are growing up fast and changing every day. I really need to write more often. A few other blogs that I read regularly talk about their children and something daily that happened. I want to incorporate this into my daily evening routine. I will be eternally grateful when years have gone by, and I have so many more memories because of this idea. Another thing that I would like to do more often is scrapbook/journal the kids and their lives. I’ve been admiring other blogs who have been doing this lately. I began a Christmas scrapbook while on maternity leave where I plan to chronicle all of our family Christmas pictures as the boys grow up. I already have one other scrapbook of Alex’s first year growing up, and I plan to make a similar one for Derek. Then, I will begin creating a combined one of our life as a family of 4. So, four scrapbooks in all. Let’s see when I actually find the time to take this on!

What have we been up to?

Nana and Pepaw were finally able to come up and meet baby Derek during the first weekend in March. I can’t remember for sure, but when Nana arrived and walked in our house, she saw baby Derek and cried. He was sleeping in his cradle swing. I had a really nice conversation with Mom and Dad while we waited for Mark and Alex to come home for the evening. Pepaw was really antsy to see Alex! The next day, we went to the high school for a pancake breakfast and kid’s activities. It was really cold and windy that morning. We searched a long time for how to enter the school while I pushed Derek in the stroller. I had forgotten about my leg, started to run, and my leg almost buckled again. It was scary. The school was really crowded, but we had a good time. Alex played some of the children’s activities in the gym. It was so cute to see him trying to knock down cans and throw balls.

Aunt Diane came to visit us the following week. She brought lots of Christmas presents and even more presents for the boys. She is so good to them. In fact, Alex knows this and asked me right before her visit “Is Aunt Diane bringing presents?” He is probably going to love her more than Santa Claus. We visited the Cleveland Aquarium while she was here. I was super nervous about Derek having a screaming fit and/or Alex being in a pull-up while we were there, but it all worked out fine. Derek slept the entire time. We felt like we went through the aquarium pretty fast, so we did a second round through. I think Alex really enjoyed himself, and it was so nice to spend time with my sister.

During the 3rd weekend in March, we decided to take Derek to Indiana and surprise Mimi for her birthday. What an adventure that was. I knew it was going to be hard and test my patience beyond a level unimaginable, but I never realized it would take us 10 ½ hours to get there while stopping 12 times. We left at 9 am and arrived at 7:30 pm. Of course, eating breakfast and lunch, feeding Derek 3-4 times, and Alex needing to stop and use the bathroom multiple times could never all happen during the same stop. Alex did so well on the trip. We kept him in a pull-up during the car ride, and he didn’t use it once. He did have one small accident while he and Daddy played in a Burger King play area while I stayed in the car to feed Derek. He had some tummy bug that he was dealing with, so all in all, I was so proud of him. When we finally arrived at Aunt Barb’s house, the look on Mimi’s face when she saw me was so worth it. Her mouth dropped, and we both cried while I said “Happy Birthday!” She then realized that I lied to her by saying we were coming home for Easter. (I’m sorry, Mimi! It was all for a great cause!) The weekend was pretty good. Derek slept in his bouncy seat, and Alex slept in the twin bed with chairs against them in case he tried to roll out. We visited with everyone again on Saturday and Sunday before leaving on Monday. The trip home was shorter by one hour, but not at all any less stressful. Derek was pretty sick of being in his car seat.

The next weekend, I finally took Alex to the Lakeshore Learning store by myself. It was so nice to do something – just me and him. He had a blast. He played with lots of toys, and we spent the gift card that Aunt Barb gave him while we were there. He decided that he wanted these 4 colored rubber balls. They were deflated and in a bag. I turned them over to see the price, and they were $40! Not wanting to spend that much, I kept putting them down. He kept asking “Where are they?” Needless to say, we ended up purchasing them. The cashier blew them up with an air pump in the back, and his little eyes just lit up. We also left with a Marble Run, a new coloring book, and some other stuff. We spent the entire gift card! Then, I took him to Wendy’s and went grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s. He was such a good boy eating his cheeseburger in the shopping cart while Mommy shopped.

We also had Derek’s 2-month pictures taken and our first family photos. I just love how they turned out in spite of the fact that Alex refused to have his picture taken multiple times. We luckily got 3 good shots of Alex, and the rest of them turned out nicely as well.

Derek had his 2-month Well Baby doctor appointment where he weighed 11 lbs and 8 oz (I think). His Dr said he was in the 85th percentile for weight, and 50th for height. We also discussed the possibility of switching back to a more substantial formula since he was doing much better on the Zantac and Alimentum. However, not even a week later, he took a turn for the worse. He is now seeing a GI specialist, and we are still trying to figure out what is causing his pain. We first tried another formula, which had the amino acids broken down so his little body didn’t have to do much work. The specialist wanted to see if he had a milk protein intolerance. The formula made him extremely constipated and scared me with a bad diaper and yucky MSG ingredients, so that didn’t last long. We are now giving him probiotics twice per day, mixing bottles with Pedialyte, and he is about to start Nexium for the reflux. I’m hoping this does the trick. But the more people I talk to about Derek’s GI problems, the more people tell me their kids suffered from reflux too or they know someone elses baby who did. Many people have also said their babies just outgrew it between 8-10 months old. I’m hoping that is the case for Derek, and the medicine keeps him comfortable.

Derek has been so consistent in terms of growth and development as Alex was at 2-3 months old. His little eyelashes are super long, his eyebrows are growing in, and he is smiling at us quite often. He has just started giggling and kicking his little legs more and more. So, we recently pulled out the kickboard that Alex used to play with for his crib. He is enjoying that and his musical mobile too.

Easter weekend was quite busy, but very fun-filled for Alex. We started by coloring Easter eggs on Friday night with our friends the Piskula’s. Alex thought it was pretty cool to see the eggs changing colors. He wanted to play with them as soon as they came out of the water and before they were dry. He asked about them as soon as he woke up the next morning too. The Easter bunny came to our house on Sunday morning and filled Alex’s basket with Spider Man socks, a Spider Man bowl, a light saber lollipop, sidewalk chalk, a play doh bunny and chick, a paddle ball, and some other stuff I am probably forgetting. He also hid the eggs that Alex colored in our house, and he hid plastic eggs filled with candy outside in the grass. Alex had fun finding all of the eggs. It was so sweet and memorable.

Later that day, we went to Grandma and Grandpa’s house for another Easter egg hunt because the Easter bunny came to their house too! Alex and his cousin Joee hunted for eggs in their basement and found all kinds of surprises. I was pretty busy tending to Derek, so I didn’t get to see everything that he got from the Easter Bunny at their house, but I did see the eggs were filled with change, a watch, rubber balls, stickers, etc. Alex also received a cute basket filled with goodies too.

April is almost half over, but I’ve been busy planning for a little boy’s 3rd birthday party! I cannot believe he is going to be 3 years old. Time is sure flying by, and I get sad just thinking about it. However, we are going to enjoy this party, and I sure hope the weather cooperates. It is going to be at an outdoor park under a pavilion. We are having a little kids party (finally!), serving lunch, and letting the kids play on the outdoor playground. Mommy has certainly spent a lot of time planning the details. PLEASE DON’T RAIN ON THE PARTY!! :)

May will be filled with lots of activities. Mother’s Day is always special each year, and I am excited to be celebrating as a new mom again. We are planning to go back to Indiana again over Memorial Day weekend, and we plan to get Derek’s four-month pictures taken. It is my goal to work towards those daily memories and scrapbooks of the boys during the next month. Until then!