New Years Eve 2011

We ended our year with great friends. It was a fun night for the kids and adults. The kids had a great time playing together and us adults played games and ate good food. 2011 was a great year and I am really looking forward to what God has in store for us all in 2012. Happy New Year!

Adi had a great time on Ben and Olivia's new "roller coaster". She was a bit skiddish after Brandon and Nate rigged it to go a little faster. (I'm hoping to upload a video too)




Exactly a year ago today we found out this sweet little guy was on the way! It's amazing how much better your life can get in one short year. We sure love our sweet and happy little Abram!

ICE - Nashville 2011

We went down to Nashville for a couple days to see the Ice spectacular at Opryland. We had such a great time with our good friends Nate and Lindsey and their kids. Opryland was just beautiful this time of year. The kids had a great time playing together. Lindsey and I were able to enjoy a massage this morning while the daddy's took the kids. We were also lucky enough to meet an old friend for lunch. My childhood babysitter and her daughter, Riley, met us for lunch at Noshville. It was a quick trip, but a fun one indeed!

Morgan Christmas Party

We went to Matt's parents Christmas party on Monday and had a wonderful time. Adi was a bit over dressed, but she had to wear her Christmas dress since we didn't make it to church the day before. We just love Matt's parents and feel so blessed they always make us feel so at home.

Christmas Day 2011

This was by far the best Christmas of our lives. I'm pretty sure Brandon said to me that he was having the best day/Christmas ever about four times. The great thing was we did nothing but stay home all day and play with toys, read books, and watch movies. I was pretty bummed we missed church. Abram got sick again - shocking right. He had a pretty high fever Friday afternoon and I had a hard time getting it to break. Saturday night was a rough one for both Bran and myself. It was clear Christmas morning that he needed to stay home another day. The fever finally broke and even he (Abram) enjoyed the day.
Adi had such a great time playing with her toys and reading books. I'm so happy she has such a great love for books! I was able to get my Mexican Christmas dinner made and it was pretty darn delicious. I think we might have a new tradition on our hands. The day was wonderful from start to finish. (No pictures of Abe - he made a very late appearance)

Christmas Eve 2011

Tonight was a magical little night for Ms. Adison. Our elf, Nick-nack, dropped off a note and Christmas pj's for the kids. She thought it was just amazing. The magic and excitement of Christmas is amazing to experience through your little one's eyes. We sure have spent a lot of time talking about the reason for the season and the best gift anyone could ever be given, Jesus. But, the magic of Santa will be a part of our family tradition. Speaking of tradition, we all opened one gift Christmas eve night. We read a bunch of Christmas books and it was off to bed.

Daddy reading Nick-nack's note to her.


Look at these two cuties - our three month old is almost as big as our two and half year old!


Story time - even Abram is listening.



Daddy's Christmas Eve gift.

A little pre-Christmas fun...

Oh my goodness we have had such a great week with Brandon home. We really haven't done anything too exciting but just getting to spend time together has been wonderful. We are so excited for Christmas and really being reminded what Christmas is all about. How lucky we all are that God gave His only son so that we too may live! We hope you all have a very blessed Christmas.

Playing with my Christmas tree from Grandma Millie.


We have been doing little Christmas art projects everyday!


I dressed Abram up in his Christmas outfit - happy little camper!


This isn't a great picture, but Adi loved going to look at Christmas lights tonight.

Paper Dolls

I found some free print outs for paper dolls today and was so excited to print and cut them out for Adi to play with. I distinctly remember a historical figures paper doll set that I had, and loved. I think she might be a bit young for them, but they held her interested for a little while.

Love for the NANE

Even Cooper loves all these crazy nanes we have laying around our house!!

Haubstadt Tree Lighting 2011

Tonight was Haubstadt's 2nd annual golf cart parade and Christmas tree lighting! We decided that we were for sure going at the last minute, so our cart was simply lit with twinkling lights (thanks mom). I think we might prep the cart ahead of time next year. A lot of people really went all out and there were some great looking carts. We had Adi and Abe all bundled up but we took a short cut to the tree and waited in the old gym where it was nice and warm. I just love this time of year. Family, friends, and Christmas lights. Our little town's Christmas tree looked beautiful!

Get yourself a homeopathic specialist!!!

WARNING: This post is for all those nursing mamas out there.

I normally wouldn't post about something like this, but after getting mastitis for the fourth time in under three months I thought I would post some info. I'll just start by saying the older I get the more I am a HUGE believer in natural remedies for the body. I understand that there are some things that require antibiotics, but if you can avoid them even better.
I had my first bout of mastitis when was Abe was four weeks old. The sickness and pain that is associated with this is crazy. A couple weeks later I got in on the left side again. They treated it again with a very strong antibiotic and let me tell you by this point my body was telling me enough is enough. I have never felt so bad in all my life. I immediately stopped taking the antibiotic when I finally figured out that is why I was feeling so awful. Things weren't too bad for a couple weeks until it came back for the third time on the right side. They put me on another antibiotic that wasn't nearly as strong hoping it would take care of the problem. In my head I thought, it is an infection and the only thing that is going to knock it is medicine. Well, while currently taking the third round of antibiotics it jumped to my left side. Yesterday, I said enough is enough. While skyping with Brandon he began to research some natural ways to take care of the problem.
I can't say enough good things about kellymom.com. I have used this site so much during nursing. The information and advice I find on here always seems to help. Brandon said I needed to go to the store and get some Lecithin. Lecithin decreases the viscosity (stickiness) of the milk by increasing the percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the milk. So basically the Lecithin is an emulsifier that is used to keep fats/oils dispersed and in suspension in foods. I took 4800mg last night (I was desperate) and shockingly I felt better this morning. I did see my doctor this morning and it sounds like I have a resistant strand of mastitis. They are culturing my milk to find out what is going on exactly, but the Lecithin seems to be working. Thank you Bran for always coming up with homeopathic remedies that really do always seem to work!

Abram is 3 months!

Where is the time going? I can't even believe he is already 3 months old. I am thoroughly enjoying my sweet little baby. I am so happy that I am much calmer and confident this time around. God blesses us with the most amazing and miraculous gift that could ever be given and the only way to respond is to be truly thankful!

Sleep - This "little" guy is still sleeping in his swing! Ha, in the past I would be freaking out. Now, I figure I'll get him out of there pretty soon. He is basically almost too big to be in there. So, when Brandon gets back from Japan I will transition him into the crib. It really shouldn't be too bad. I'm up three times a night still anyway. It is kind of funny, I should be pretty sleepy throughout the day, but most days I do just fine. I think it is more of a mind set thing with your second. I don't have the choice to nap with a spunky little two and half year old running around, so I think you more easily make do on very little sleep. He is sporadically napping in the bouncer, car seat, or crib during the day. He is awake most of the day and only naps maybe two to three hours during the day. I'm not worried at all about the sleep. I know that within the next few months his sleep will be more routine (and he'll be old enough for me to allow him to cry it out a bit more).

Eating - Abram is a great little eater and growing like a champ. He eats every two to three hours during the day and goes a good five hours stretch at bed time. He is going to sleep at 7:00 and absolutely can not stay up any longer. It seems like most babies his age stay up later, but I just can't seem to get him to do that. If I could I would get a longer stretch of sleep for myself but oh well, that will come. Aside from my crazy four bouts of Mastitis (read the post above for more details on that craziness) my man is a champion eater.

Milestones - He is talking a lot more this month. I just can't get enough of all the little oohs, goos, and squeals. This isn't really a milestone but it just stinkin amazes me that he is wearing 6-9 month clothes. I guess I am comparing him to Adison - big difference. He had his first trip to urgent care. When we all got sick his temp spiked a bit for someone his age. They thought he might have RSV, but after a quick swab that was ruled out.

Here are a few pictures of our little man at 3 months. Enjoy.

Such a happy baby!

This picture shows how long and big he is getting.

Rosy little cheeks :)

There is nothing better then his BIG open mouth smile!

sick and tired...

Literally - we've all been sick for a week now and honestly, I am a little tired! I'll just start by saying a huge THANK YOU to my parents for helping me out this weekend. I had big plans for us to go to Santa Claus, Indiana for Christmas festivities, Christmas shopping, going out to eat, and our towns Christmas tree lighting and parade. Instead, we read books, did puzzles, ordered out, and watched it rain all weekend (therefore, no tree lighting or parade).

The winter is a hard time of year. It just seems like everyone is getting sick, and our time we used to always spend outside has come to an end. I am beyond excited for Brandon to get home from Japan on Saturday. I think that having two sick kids wouldn't be so terribly bad, but me being sick on top of it makes it pretty tough (I don't even have enough space to list all my ailments these days :)

My parents were also kind enough to go out and rip out my garden for me before the rain began. I have been thinking that it is just going to be way to overwhelming to start seeds in the garage next month and start thinking about my spring/summer crop but NO. I am doing it. I think the work will be good for me, and it is very rewarding watch those little sprouts become a plentiful harvest later in the year. Just writing about it makes me excited to go out there and get my hands dirty!!!

Well, needless to say our week has been pretty uneventful, but here are some pictures (finally) for you Brandon. We miss and love you. I can't wait to see you Saturday!!!!!