Hit The Beach!

On Friday my sister, mom, the boys and I all left to meet up with my cousins from Austin and their kiddos to go to Galveston for the weekend. We were originally going to drive down on Saturday morning, but changed our minds so that we would have two full days. Ryan was planning to fish with the guys Friday night and wouldn't be around anyways so I didn't feel guilty about leaving him behind.
Yesterday we hung out at the house with all the kids. My sister and cousin, Kim, got the kids a pool to put out at the house under the deck so that they wouldn't get burned during the day at the beach. Yesterday evening we went down to the beach with the kids. Although it was 5 in the afternoon, the sun was still blazing and the pink tent on the boys face was a red flag for me after the last burn to get the back to the house. They were so cute through because I sat up at the top of the beach where the waves were just barely hitting the sand with Jason on one leg and Reece on the other. They sat their for a while just watching the waves. They were so fascinated by the people, sound of the ocean, and the sand.
After the beach we brought the boys in and bathed them and then got ready for bed. Yesterday morning the boys went down for a nap and I sat outside with my ipod on the deck. My ipod hasn't been updated since college and I am so glad because all of the songs are like an escape to my youth and take me back mentally to when life was just a little more carefree...As I sat there on the desk with the sun beaming down on me with my music turned up, I felt like I didn't have a care or worry in the world. For a few very brief seconds I wasn't stressed or thinking about the kids, what to cook for dinner, and didn't have my daily task list on repeat playing in my head. I felt like I was 20 again enjoying the sun and laying out by the pool after finals were over...and then I came back down to reality. I think people who might read this would think to their selves oh how selfish to think such thoughts and not be grateful for your children. Funny things is unless you’re a parent you have no idea what its like to just have a few minutes of your own "me" time and how powerful those moments are.
So today we plan to do pretty much the same thing as we did yesterday. Currently the boys are sleeping and I am outside enjoying my music on my ipod and sitting on the desk soaking up just a little bit of the sun. My cousins are about to go for a run so we will throw all the kids in the pool and hopefully grab a bite to eat later and wrap up the day with a little beach time. It’s so nice to get away and relax. I think J&R enjoy this just as much as I do. To get out of our routine and do something different is always needed from time to time. I plan to fully enjoy the next 24 hours before getting back to the norm tomorrow. Here are a few pictures of yesterday and the boys first beach experience. I just love these two sweet babies and am so glad for the little moments and memories that we are making with them. They may not remember going to the beach or San Antonio a few weeks ago, but they will have the pictures with family and friends and see just how much they are loved. (There are so many cute pictures, but these are just a few. After the 30th I will post the 10-11 month album with all the photos.)

Who Needs Toys?

I have been meaning to post these just because it was funny. Reece got a magazine at my Moms and was having such a geat time. Jason quickly joined in the fun...

Camping Out In The Play Room

Yesterday the boys and I were playing in the play room as we usually do and I draped a blanket over their floor jungle mat. Oh my gosh...Reece crawled into that little tent like area and had a field day. Jason was a little past tired so his attention span was short with it, but Reece literally stayed in there for a good 25 minutes and did not want to come out. It was so cute because he would crawl out and smile at me and the turn around and crawl right back in and go back to playing and talking to himself. He laugh all the time and say he would have made a great only child, because he is so independent and plays well by himself...unlike someone else I know. Haha. Here are a few pictures of my little campers.

Aunt Ashleigh

Ryan's sister, Ashleigh, is home for the next two weeks from college before starting her summer sessions at Ole Miss and came by to see the boys. Here are a few pictures from the evening.

Yummmm Spaghetti

Last night the boys had spaghetti and beef chunks for dinner. They are starting to pull away from their baby food more and more, but I can still get them to eat it if it has chunks or real food in it besides all much. Tonight they had spaghetti and a MuMu cracker and ohhh boy what a cute mess it was!!!

We have been trying to get the boys use to being at the table by having them sit with us while we eat dinner. Our second high chair is broken and Reece throws himself out of it so he has been sitting in the Bumbo during meal time on the table. Not exactly proper, but we have second high chair coming that matches Jason’s. Now if we could just work on their table manners…lol

Reeces Surgery Update

I took Reece back to TCH to have his catheter removed and for his first check up. The appointment went great aside from the doctor’s office running thirty minutes behind and getting stuck in traffic on the way home. Reece was a little fussy because it cut into his nap time, but all and all did ok. The nurse said that everything is healing wonderfully. His only restrictions are bouncy toys or anything he has to straddle to sit in. Before the appointment he was fascinated by the aquarium and all the little fish. Too cute!

Love my boys...

These are just a few pictures I wanted to share of the boys and I from Mothers Day. They are getting so big and so grown. It seems like just yesterday they were 5.2 and 2.12 :( I couldn't ask for better babies. They are so good and such sweethearts!

Happy Mothers Day

I just wanted to wish everyone a happy mothers day and also post a little update about the boys as of lately. I mentioned in my last posted Reece has started crawling. He hasn't taken off or built up the speed that Jason has, but it won't be long and he will be all over the place just like his brother. On Monday Grandma Judi was over and sure enough he was scooting around and next thing we knew he was doing "baby crawl crawling steps". I didn't have the video camera charged, but did capture it on my cell phone! So so cute. Over the last week he has made some progress in his ability to be mobile, but gets pretty frustrated.
As for Baby J, he is starting to get brave. He thinks he is a big boy and is trying to figure up how to stand up without pulling up. In other news, he is starting to pull away from his baby food and wants to feed himself his own finger foods. He loves mashed potatoes, mashed green beans, spinach and anything he can feed himself. I heated up microwave cream spinach the other day and he gobbled it up. My great grandmother always made that for us as kids, so spinach holds a special place in both our hearts and appetites in my family!

It's incredible how far we have come in one year. This time last year I was in the hospital spending the day with my Mom while Ryan fished with one of his buddies. Ironically, it was the same buddy he fished with all day yesterday. Yesterday, my mom sister, boys and I spent the day running errands and shopping then had dinner with my parents at their house. We had lunch at Culvers for Mrs. Ginas fundraiser and while we were there got a few pictures with the giant ice cream cone. Jason was fascinated by it! Later, when we got home the boys rode on the lawnmower with PawPaw and it was so precious. They loved the vibration and Jason wanted to hold the driving stick. They are getting so big. For Mothers Day today we did our own thing this morning (which was nothing) and then this afternoon I went with my Mom to get a pedicure. My sister had bought both of us a gift certificate and Ryan upgraded it to the deluxe spa for me and my Mom treated herself to it as well. Oh my gosh...it was soooo wonderful! My feet and legs are still tingling! The boys are currently asleep so I left them at home with Daddy for the afternoon. It's nice to have an excuse to do what I want and not having to cook today. I got a sweet card from Ryan and he also signed one from the boys. On the boys card he had dipped their feet in paint put their foot prints in the inside of the card. I was impressed because I honestly thought he didn't even buy a card since I didn't get it until this afternoon. Here are a few more pictures that I took this week that I wanted to share. Thank you Lord for letting me be a Mommy and for giving me the absolute best…

Reece Update

So I haven't had the chance to update on Reece since he had his surgery, but he is doing great. On Monday he was up on all fours trying to crawl around. I had extra hands with us this week to help keep Jason off Reece and all because Reece has his catheter. He hasn't been too fussy or bothered by it all like the doctors said he would. Once again he proved them wrong. I will be taking him downtown tomorrow to have the catheter removed and then I guess from there we will see what they say. During the surgery they were suppose to do three procedures; construct a new hole to urinate from, straighten his penis and also circumcise. Once they cut the skin on his penis, the penis automatically straightened out. Basically the skin was causing it to curve. Poor kid…I think the worse part of this week has been having to sponge bathe him. He loves his bath time and hates being restricted so that has been a battle. I am hoping after tomorrow he can be back to his old self again. Thank you for all your prayers and kind words!

Updating From Texas Childrens

Today is the day Reece has his surgery on his penis to correct his hypospadias. In addition to that they will straighten his penis and also perform his circumcision.

I have been here enough now that I know that TCH has free wifi in the west tower and near the food court so I brought my computer along for the wait while Reece undergoes surgery. I woke up my sweet baby this morning at 6:15 and he just wanted to go back to sleep. When we got here we checked in at 7:20 and then proceeded to register, met with the nurse practitioner and then the doctor followed by the entire team. They took Reece back just a little after 9:30.
Ryan and I volunteered to participate in a study that is being conducted by urology. Basically they are taking samples from 1000 children and parents who have the same issue as Reece. They have to draw blood from and collect saliva from the both of us. They will use the samples to see if there is a similar mutated gene amongst all the samples. I thought it was pretty cool.
As for Reece surgery should take around two hours. The doctor said they don’t foresee any problems and would go over post-op procedures once he is out. I also asked the doctor about Reece’s kidneys and he didn’t act to alarmed about it and said they will monitor as we continue to follow up with urology. So for now we have a pager and are sitting out in the west tower walk way. I was about to freeze to death everywhere else in this place so it is nice to be in the sunshine!
Keep my little man in your prayers. I feel certain God has his hand on him and in a few hours he will be kicking around and ready to eat.

Road Trip!

We had our first weekend getaway with just the four of us. Ryan’s brother graduated from basic training with the air force this past weekend so on Thursday evening we loaded up and headed to San Antonio. We left around 6:30 with the thought in mind that the boys would sleep. As it turned out they didn’t do much sleeping and mostly watched My Baby Can Read and Baby Einstein. We got the hotel about 11:30 that night and checked in and got settled by 12:30. The boys thought they were in a giant playroom. Jason was jumping around o his bed and they were both wired. Reece ended up falling asleep but J was fighting it and by 3am I threw him in bed with me so we could all get some sleep.

We got up early on Friday morning to catch the graduation. I guess I never realized what it was like to live on base or what a base even was. I must say that I was pretty proud of Trevor. He has grown up so much in 8 weeks. The boys were pretty good during the graduation parade. At the end they were a little tired of sitting still so we played in the grass together and then headed back to the hotel so that everyone could nap. All three boys (Ryan included in the 3) took a pretty solid nap and then we went to dinner on the river walk to eat with Ryan’s mom, sister and Trevor’s friends who came to town. That evening we strolled up and down the river walk and then stopped by Ryan’s grandparents hotel to feed, change and visit for a bit before heading back to the hotel for the night.
On Saturday we slept in for a little bit and then loaded everything up in the car and cleaned up the room and meet Ryan’s Dad and family for brunch. After brunch we took a little walk down to the Alamo. Jason was asleep in the stroller for most of it..or should I saw until I woke him up to take pictures. At noon we headed back down to the river walk where we walked for nearly 2 hours. The boys LOVED the scenery and being pushed around in their stroller. Around 2 we stopped to rest with Ryan’s Mom and sister while we waited on Trevor to arrive. By 4 we were back on the road and got home last night around 9.
We took a bunch of pictures, but near as many as I would have liked. The boys were in their stroller a lot and Ryan hates taking pictures so I kept telling him this is the vacation of horrible pictures because for the most part they weren’t good but that’s ok.

There are a lot more pictures. They will all be posted in the 9-10 month album when I finish uplaoding all the pictures.