Photos pre-Charlie

These are photos my sweet cousin Amanda took of us the week before Charlie blessed our family. If you need a great photographer, she is amazing!!

Griffin is a yard boy

My boys are growing up too fast!!! The perfect example is happening in my yard now. Griffin has been begging to learn to mow the yard all summer. Jason finally decided it was time to let him try out his hand riding our zero-turn mower. I guess the years riding four-wheelers is paying off because he is doing GREAT!! He will be guiding the Dixie (as I call her) around all our trees in no time. Little does he know he'll have years to mow before he leaves our nest. Jason will have a full-blown lawn crew with our boys.

In fact, at dinner tonight, Griffin told him that soon he could sit on the back porch "like an old man" and watch he and his brothers do the yard. Personally, I can wait for few more years before seeing that around here.

Isn't my big man handsome!!




And this is sweet Carter when he's sleeping...too darling!!

Random thoughts and new photos

I spotted my first gray hairs last night while the big boys were showering/bathing. I can't imagine why I'd be getting any gray hairs with three boys, can you?? I'm so okay with getting a few grays. I have no idea what my natural hair color is anyway (does any woman really know??), so they will get covered up just like the rest by my wonderful stylist, Jan.

So I get home this morning from my 6-week checkup with my OB, and the big stool was out in the kitchen. I asked Carter why it was out, and he said, "Mom, I blowed a BIG HUGE booger out of my nose, and I had to use a tissue just like you always tell me." I guess the boy does listen to me every once in a while!!

Here are new pics that my sweet sis-in-law Sherri took last weekend.

Carter is funny

One of our neighbors, no, it's not one of our sweet Hillside Dr. neighbors, is burning leaves tonight. Our whole house reeks of the nasty smell (at least when we burn, it's mostly brush and dead tree limbs that doesn't smell too bad). The smoke was so bad at our house that one of our next door neighbors came over to make sure it wasn't our house!! Anyway, Carter told Jason that if Jason caught on fire, he'd melt like a marshmellow because he's so white. I guess it takes a marshmellow to know one...he he he. Those two sunburn so easily.

New pics of the boys

Griffin is my "baby wrangler" as I like to call him. He loves to hold Charlie and will help with almost anything I need. Carter is my diaper-changing helper. He likes to open up the diapers and marvel at the color of Charlie's poop.

Charlie's checkup and first outing with all three boys by myself

Charlie saw his pedi on Thursday for his 1-month checkup . The little piggy continues to gain weight -- he was at 9.9 pounds, which is one pound over his birth weight. And he grew an inch!! He's in the 95% for height and 50% for weight. So far, he's more like Griffin then Carter in how he's built.

On Friday, Grif and Carter had haircut appointments, and Griffin had "meet the teacher" at school, so the boys and I had our first outing by ourselves. It was a little daunting to get out the door by 10:30 a.m., but I'm proud to say we were on time to the salon for their haircuts.

Our good friend, Dawn, called on the way and asked if we were available for lunch. I had already planned to go to Tommy's Hamburgers for lunch as it's next door to the salon. Dawn and her sweet hubby have three boys too (8, 6 and 3) so our kids all love to see each other. Two mommas and six boys were quite the sight at Tommy's -- I walked out with all the boys while Dawn cleaned up our table (it was a hopeless cause). People at two tables asked me if the baby in the car seat (Charlie) was a girl. They actually looked a little sad when I proudly told them Charlie was a boy. Poor people, they have no idea how much fun boys can be!!

Check out the big boys' sleep over with Sydney

Susan was so nice to recap the evening and post pictures, so I had nothing to do:-) Thanks for having them over. They really did have a great time!!

Charlie and his baby sling

Here's how I'm able to update my blog while holding Charlie at the same time. He loves to sleep in this thing, and it's actually pretty comfortable.

Busting out of baby jail

It's been a crazy few days for us. My brother and his wife were in town to meet Charlie. We spent most of the day Friday and Saturday with them. Lauren loved her new nephew. She held him every chance she got. And Josh was quite busy with the other two. Griffin and Carter were so glad Uncle Josh was here...especially since their daddy hurt his back riding the Texas Giant at Six Flags last week and couldn't throw them around in the pool. The boys cried when it was time leave my parents' house as they wanted to go to San Antonio with Josh and Lauren. We promised them we'd figure out a time for them to visit.

They will make great parents, won't they!!

Charlie had another weight check on Friday, and he's up to 9 pounds now. As often as he eats, he ought to be about 20 pounds. Today was the first time I was able to get out of the house without a kid, and guess what exciting place I went. No, not for a pedicure or massage (I wish!!). I went to Albertson's for groceries. Jason asked me if I was glad to be out of baby jail, and honestly, it was nice to be by myself for an hour with no one hanging on me. Charlie slept in our room while Jason worked, but of course, five minutes after I got home, he woke up hungry. Imagine that!!

He has a checkup with his pediatrician Thursday afternoon, which I'm sure will go great. The only problems he's having are spitting up quite a bit after feeding and not burping very often. If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears. Our other two were burping champs.

The boys and their "Big Girl" Sydney

We are so blessed to have Sydney B. in our lives (not to be confused with our other sweet Sydney, our cousin -- pics of her coming with the boys soon). I have known Sydney's mom, Susan, for more than 9 years. She helped me when I was interviewing for my job at RadioShack in March 2000. She was pregnant with Sydney at the time. Our bond grew once Griffin was born, and by the time Carter came around, we were very close friends.

Sydney and Griffin have been friends since they were toddlers, and she's loved it as we added Carter and Charlie to our family. Sydney loves babies!! They came over to spend the day with us on Monday. It was so nice to have them here. And Susan made a wonderful pasta salad for our lunch. Note, she added feta cheese to it which was yummy!! If you need a great salad to take to a party, try it!!

Here is a photographic chronicle of Sydney and the boys:

Sydney (almost 3 years old) and Griffin (20 months old)



Sydney (5 years old) and Carter Magee (1 month old)

And finally from Monday, Sydney (who just turned 9 last week, sniff, sniff) and Charlie (3 weeks old). Charlie was hungry, so he wasn't very happy, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE the expression on her face. It's classic Sydney.

New pics of Charlie

We bought two awesome new lenses for my camera, so bear with me as I try some new things with my photos.

Pedi appt, visitors, church -- it's been busy the last few days

It's been a busy few days for us. Charlie had a follow-up appointment with his pediatrician Friday afternoon. He gained 5 ounces, so he weighed 8.8 pounds, which puts his almost at his birth weight (I'm sure he's over it by now since it's Sunday afternoon). One thing she HIGHLY encouraged us to do is keep him away from lots of people touching him and other children as best we can. While he's not on "house arrest," we will be limiting his exposure to crowds over the next several months, or at least until the springtime, so we can make sure his lungs stay as healthy as possible. He goes back to see her on Aug. 13 for his next check-up. I think we'll be seeing her a lot in the coming months as she wants to make sure he's progressing as he should be.

We've had lots of visitors this weekend, and our family, friends and neighbors have given us many wonderful gifts for Charlie. I promise I'll be getting around to thank you notes soon, so don't think I've forgotten about you!! He still has his days and night somewhat mixed up, so he and I are awake most of the night. Last night, the longest stretch he slept was two hours...sigh. While it's very frustrating to be awake so much, I know this is part of having a newborn, and I remind myself constantly during those 3 a.m. feedings what it was like to have him in the NICU for 12 days. My pity party quickly vanishes once I do that, and I'm able to focus on the important job of caring for this sweet angel.

For the first time in six weeks, we went to church last night. It was the first time all five of us have been in the truck together. It felt so good to be at church among our friends and family. It was "Snack Saturday" as Griffin calls it when we have communion. The boys love to take communion with us (which our church highly encourages all children to do if they'd like).

When our pastor saw us coming up to take communion, he swooped in and took Charlie from Jason. Pastor Rick held Charlie, introduced him to the congregation and briefly told them Charlie's story. His message was about God's promises, and he held Charlie up as an example of His promises. Of course, I had to hear what Rick said second-hand as I was busy helping Carter fish his bread out of the juice cup -- thank you Summer for taking it all in stride!! Regardless of whether I heard every word or not, it touched Jason and me that Rick would use our baby as an example to drive home his message. God is GOOD!!

I'm off to catch a quick nap while the two youngest boys sleep. Wish me luck:-)