4 months old (and his first "baycation")

David turned 4 months old last week! Where does the time go!?! He is so grown up to me already... I don't like it! It's going so much faster this time than it did with Presley. Anyway, we had a good visit with his pediatrician last Tuesday. He's 13lbs, 11 oz (41th%, a percentile Presley never reached!), 24" length (40%) and 42.5" head circumference (70th%).... that last one is definitely bigger than Presley ever was, but coming from a family with large heads, I'm not shocked!  He is truly flourishing! He just today rolled over from tummy to back twice. He has found his toes the past few weeks and love to roll around on his back holding onto his feet. (As Presley says, "he likes playing with his piggies.") She is definitely his biggest fan, cheering him on while he does tummy time and being almost more excited than I was when he first rolled over. He is such a wonderful baby! Still very inconsistent at night (slept through the night 3 times total, but then last night up at 1am, 4:30am, 8am).  He is taking some short naps in his crib during the day. He usually sleeps about an hour after each meal, sometimes it's for 5 minutes, sometimes 45, just depends. I love you so much my little man! You make mommy so happy! 

Amelia and Daniel got married this past weekend in Charleston so David had his first "baycation" as Presley calls it. Mal and Lynn drove a bunch of wedding items over from TX and stopped at our house on their way to SC. 

 Pres had a little bit of a rough week... she would not nap in the hotel. It was probably because David was crying or making noise, but there was just no way I could convince her to close her eyes. Everyone who knows my child knows how much she loves food, especially desserts. She was so tired at the wedding that she fell asleep while eating her cake (I know... mother of the year)! That alone tells you how exhausted she was! I am so appreciative to my in-laws for coming to the wedding and helping with the kids so I could enjoy the wedding! They took Presley back to the hotel after the wedding and even watched after both kids Friday night while we went to the rehearsal dinner. Thank you, Lea and David!! It was so nice for me to get to be with Amelia during this time and get to have some fun!!

The kids did really well on the trip there. It was a 6 hour car ride that took us 8, but he really only cried out at the very end of the ride and it only lasted 10 minutes before he fell back asleep. He is already getting some bad separation anxiety, though. I thought for sure he wouldn't be as bad as Presley was early on since he's around so many different people every day, but he definitely prefers his mama! He will go to others if you keep him busy (ie, let him watch TV, look outside, look in a mirror, or something else to occupy him); otherwise, he would prefer for me to hold him 24/7. We're working on this, but for now, I don't really mind that he wants to be with me all the time :)

 Little man sleeping at the hotel in his pack and play... I swear, it looks like his neck is broken when he sleeps.

 Pres and Bryn reunited!

 I think this is the only family picture we got all weekend...

 This is really all the pictures I have of the whole weekend!! I will post more once I get them from Emily.  Until then, here's my sweet babies!!

 

Spouse Spur Ride

I participated in my first ever spouse spur ride!! Every Cav officer does a spur ride and they had a modified version for the wives to do this past weekend. It was a lot more fun than I thought...I was a little nervous. We had to line up in formations like privates, do a PT test (push-ups, sit-ups and a run- all were modified versions so not as tough as what the guys go through), participate in a team building training, obstacle courses, first aid training, shot a M2.50 Cal gun and did a paintball course through a small mock village. I really enjoyed the paintball! Although, my arm got tired from holding the gun. Definitely learned that not only do I not want to be a soldier, I'm not sure I could do the training and that I have no upper body strength! Here's some pictures Cameron took.

My other Bravo Troop teammates lined up for our PT test.

Not a cute action shot of push-ups.

Starting our run, thankfully it was only 1/2 mile. I'm not quite back up to my normal running since having David.

Presley congratulating me after the run. It rained the whole time we ran, so that was interesting...

Shooting turkeys on the computerized screen. This was an M2.50 Cal (this is what Cameron shot on his tank during his deployments.) My little bicep could barely pull the piece back to charge the weapon! I definitely could not be a loader on a tank!

Team building exercise (we didn't even finish cause it took us too long...oops!)

Getting my gear on for paintball!

Our Bravo troop ready to go!

Amber getting her certificate from the SCO.

Breanne, she was our first babysitter.

Cameron was so good... he took care of both babies the whole morning! He did a pretty good job, I will say! Everyone kept telling me how he seemed to have things under control with both of them.

It was a fun event, but glad it is over! It was a long day, but we celebrated that night at a wives' coffee with chair massages! 

Valentine's Day... a few weeks late

I am very late posting about our Valentine's Day.... it's been a busy, quick month!  I can't believe February is almost over.  Cameron is still working crazy long hours and every Saturday. We are SO looking forward to him starting the career course later in March and being home more. This job has been pretty demanding, but we've made some good friends and learned a lot. He got farewelled last night at a dinner at the Colonel's house. It was a Mardi Gras theme and actually a lot of fun. We had our first ever paid babysitter come over to watch BOTH kids. I completely trusted her and it was nice to know we have someone here if we need them (plus, we were only 2 minutes away so that made it a lot easier).  The kids did pretty well, she even got David asleep. He was not happy, though, when he woke up. He's definitely a mommy's boy!

I'll get back to Valentine's Day... we had a party at Presley's school, then a family party that night. Pres helped me make daddy's favorite, chicken parm for dinner. She got lots of packages in the mail! Thank you, family! She loves getting mail, especially packages and cards that have princesses on them. I wish I could remember exactly what she said opening the cards, but she loved them all!

 These are the contents of G and D's package. She LOVED all of it. She named the monkey Sam, then changed it to Emmalynn, her friend from school.

  Mallie had this oneside made especially for our second child. It fits him perfectly!

 Here's her school party.

 Singing a song about love and doing the motions.

 Making her valentine's day cookie.

 Playing musical chairs. She actually did pretty well, but did not want to leave when she got out. She had on a cute pink dress, but this is the green "princess" dress she wears everyday when she gets to school.   Her teacher said she takes off to go potty and she'll put it right back on.

 My happy boy!!

 Her treats from Mallie and Logan. The Belle t-shirt was a huge hit! It's a little 80's for my taste, but she loves it and would wear it everyday if I let her.

 We went to D and G's house later that week. Cameron had to go in the field for 10 days and I was headed to Vegas for the weekend for Amelia and Daniel's bachelor/bachelorette party. I really appreciate D and G keeping the kids!  I had a blast in Vegas! It was fun getting to see my sisters and all our friends! I can't believe their wedding is in 2 weeks... going to be so fun to see all the family!

Pres and David had a fun weekend in Birmingham! They got to hang out with Craig, Charelette, Caden and Grandmom.  Thank you, everyone, for all your help with the kids. It was so hard to leave them, but it was so comforting to know they were so well taken care of!

 Wearing one of Cameron's old t-shirts

 Went to the dr this morning, another ear infection :( Nothing a day of snuggling and movie watching can't fix.

3 months and almost 3 years

First, I'll update on Presley. She is going to be 3 in April. She acts like such a big kid. She listens so well and rarely loses her TV shows or goes to time out these days. That makes me VERY happy since the 2's started off kind of rough. She is so loving and maternal toward David. If he wakes up from his nap crying, she panics and runs in his room and starts talking to him. It immediately calms him down and he usually starts talking back... precious! 

She is very into the Disney princesses... they consume everything she does! She puts on her princess lips all day long (little princess chapsticks she got from Santa with a different princess on each), she woke up from her nap the other day telling me her stepmother was evil to her, but the king was nice to her.  Last night, she put on all her princess gear (tiara, dress, wand, "glass" slippers) and had me introduce her "Ladies and Gentlemen, Princess Presley" then she told me her name was Cinderella and she was going to teach me how to dance.  She is so girly and I really was not expecting this, but it's hilarious. This morning, she told me she needed to put on her princess dress so she could get married. When I asked who she was going to marry, she told me the king.  She told Cameron last night that she got married at school.  I'm not sure where this fascination with marriage came from, but I can only assume she's heard it from the princess stories. What is funny is she's never even seen Cinderella, the movie she seems to reenact the most. She just watched Alladin when we were in Birmingham for the circus and Jasmine is quickly becoming one of her favorite princesses. I still think Belle is on top, though.  

Her teacher told me that she keeps on the princess dress at school from the moment at drop off till pick up. The other day I laughed cause her friend Emmalynn arrived before us and was already dressed up in her princess dress and she said "Presley, here's your princess dress." She had it all laid out ready for Presley. We've started going to the water fountain at their school after pick up and the kids all run around. Presley loves this new activity and calls it the waterfall and the water mountain. 

Baby David just turned 3 months old last week. I can't believe how fast he is growing. I wish I knew how much he weighed, but we don't go back till 4 months. He's starting to get rolls in his thighs and wrists.  His head seems to have grown a lot, too! He isn't rolling over completely yet, but he will roll onto both of his sides and spin circles in his bed at night. He's still in the pack and play in our room. Partly because I like him being right there and listening to him breathe all night and partially cause the nightvision isn't working on our monitor and I really want to be able to see him at night. I just discovered it wasn't working this week, though, so I really haven't even considered moving him to his bed till this week. I'll do it soon, though. He is starting to get a good routine during the day. He still eats every 2 hours, then takes a nap an hour after he eats. He takes a bottle great when I give him one (just slow). He talks a lot, especially right after he eats. He still sucks on his wrists and arms a lot, I think this comforts him. He really only wants the pacifier when he's trying to get down for a nap. He doesn't even use it in the middle of the night. He still gets up 2 times a night, rarely 3 times and last night was once! He's very unpredictable through the night, but at least we get some nights with a good stretch between feedings.  He loves to watch Presley and will smile at her when she sings or talks to him. He loves to hold my hand when he's trying to go to sleep. It's really sweet and reminds me of my cousin, Max, who used to hold his mom's finger when he was going to sleep. He loves when I rub his wrist and he loves to be sung to while I rock him for naps and nighttime.  We've also started reading books with Presley before her naptime. We all lay down in her bed and he will stare at the books. I swear he really focuses on the book. I think he's going to love reading like Pres and all our neices and nephews.    Here's some recent pictures. I'm still not taking a lot cause I just don't have enough hands during the day to hold the camera too. Cameron is still working long, crazy hours and usually every Saturday. We are really looking forward to March when he will start the Career Course and have a lot more time at home!

Pres doing tummy time with him

 Reading books at naptime one day

 These are all the animals Presley sleeps with daily! It's getting out of control!

This is how I found her last night in her room, digging through her dress up chest.   

2 months old and the circus

In reality, baby David is almost 3 months old already! Where does the time go?  He is doing so well. He is still sleeping 5-6 hour stretches at night, eating every 2 hours during the day, taking a bottle well when we give him one (trying to give him one every 2-3 days) and starting to play. He can kick and push off of people really well and is getting good control of his head.  He still goes through 18 diapers a day, no joke!  He's such a happy boy! He follows our faces now and smiles back when we talk or smile to him. It's so sweet! I love that he's starting to respond back to us. He LOVES to watch Presley and loves when she talks to him.  I feed him every night at 9:30 for the last time and rock him to sleep. I know this may be a ad habit, but I love getting to rock him. I really think he could take or leave the paci. Sometimes he chomps on it, but most of the time he prefers to suck on his wrists or hands. His whole sleeve will be wet with drool by the time he's soothed himself to sleep. He is starting to take some naps in his bed; otherwise, he naps on the couch on the side of his head.   Here's some recent pictures:

Presley sleeps with all of these princess dolls in her bed, along with Minnie Mouse (a given) and her owl blanket from Aunt Tippy.  The dolls often look like there was a fight in the bed...

 He does SO well with tummy time... 

We went to Birmingham last weekend and went to the circus with the family and Charelette's family. It was a lot of fun! Presley loved it! She's starting to drop her naps (only napping 3 days a week) and had to skip it this day to get there on time.  She started jumping and dancing like crazy when it first started. 

hahahaha

 What 2 month old wouldn't want to go to the circus!?! He did great except when he needed to eat, the noise was a little much. Otherwise, he slept through most of the circus.

My sweet chubby boy!