8 weeks & the potty

He's been ours for 8 weeks now.

And he's still perfect.

And now...a new stage of life for Miss P will begin tomorrow.

My baby is going to learn how to "go on da potty."

She's SO very excited.

Wish I were equally as excited.

Anxious, nervous, & nostalgic.

That's how I feel about this Minnie Mouse panty moment.

How it goes, being a mom:).

But, the moment Mitchel and I realized we had possibly just bought our last package of diapers for her, I have to admit, we both had giddy smiles cross our faces...

That sweet boy & Cora's for Calla

I love this boy.

He's just so darn sweet.

I just want to squish that face...

8 weeks old tomorrow.

Cora's for Calla

Click here to check out what baby Cora's mom is doing to raise money for baby Calla.

There's also a blinkie on my side bar where you can click to read baby Calla's story.

Thanks:).

Scissors & Crayons

Did you know that crayons work better with their points cut off?

Last night, while I was cooking dinner, Parker was sitting in her high chair coloring.

I was also letting her "practice" with scissors.

She was very happy.

And proud of herself.

After a few minutes, I went over to see how she was doing.

Now, I had taken time to discuss with my precious 2 year old daughter the do's & don't's of using scissors.

And she was following my scissor rules perfectly.

Except for the part about ONLY cutting PAPER.

That's when I see her crayons, points removed.

Then, after I discovered that creative move (not that big of a deal) I notice she's chewing on something.

Me- "Did I give you something to eat?"

Parker- grin "no."

Me- "What are you eating?"

She opens her mouth wide.

Silly me, I forgot to tell you NOT TO EAT THE CRAYONS YOU CUT UP when you play with scissors.

The scissors have since been put away for safe keeping.

I think it'll be a while before she gets to chop away at paper (or crayons, or sippy cups...) again.

Countdown 1 year {6 weeks}

Six, almost seven, weeks into baby Tuck's little life has been really cool.

He's such an easy, squishy, cuddly, happy baby.

He only cries when he needs to be changed, is tired, or just wants a change of scenery.

His favorite place to sleep right now is at the end of our couch, on his belly cuddled in his brown snuggle-saurus blanket.

He likes his paci, but rarely "needs" it:).

But he sure is cute sucking away at it.

He still really likes to be snuggled.

He loves to look and smile at our fan and lights.

And, I have to admit, I seem to be a favorite to smile at too.

Which, completely melts my heart.

I've been known to stand in that guy's face for 20 minutes at a time while he smiles & talks to me.

He knows his sister.

She comes into the room & he looks for her.

She of course delights herself in that. Ha!

She plays her "bio-lin" for him & sings Twinkle Twinkle Little Star about 10 times a day.

He smiles almost every time.

I keep telling him to stop smiling if he's tired of that song...but I think he likes it.

She is turning out to be an excellent big sis, why should I have expected less?

He even talks a lot. 

He's got the /a/ sound down.

Which, to a teacher's ears, are wonderful developmental music.

He still grunts.

He smiles after he poops.

And he's always sticking out that tongue.

Needless to say, he's most certainly a boy.

hehe :)

His favorite position is on his back.

He's pretty observant & seems to like to know what's going on around him.

He gets very excited any time he's on his back, and when he's on his play gym, his excitement makes him accidentally kick or hit one of his toys.

Usually confuses him.

I love babies.

Good buddies.

Mitchel's been having fun having a little man around during football games.

As you can see, Tucker is most certainly into watching the game ;).

But he does like his dad.

He checks him out more & more thoroughly everyday.

He's starting to rival my smile count.

But that's okay.

He's still on an awesome schedule & I think it's safe to say we're on the right road.

He wakes up once in the middle of the night to eat, & that's it.

He even goes right back to sleep.

I can't believe that he gets it already.

So cool.

He eats during the day, plays for about an hour/ hour and a half, then sleeps for a good hour and a half to 2 hours.

I'm loving having another baby.

You forget how very sweet these times are.

It's making me try even harder to relish times with Miss P as a 2 year old too.

Good times at the Mershawn house these days.

Tucker I tell you everyday....you're a good man.

We love you. :)

This just in...

Tucker's turning on the charm:).

And it's working...

All I want to do is sit around and let him smile at me.

It doesn't get any better than that...

In my personal opinion, they're the cutest kids on the EARTH.

And, I'm not biased at all...

Couldn't leave this one out...

Sorry kid.

If you weren't so darn cute, you wouldn't have a camera in your face all day long...

not my fault;).

And, just in case you were wondering...

I did not pass on a virus to my baby after all.

Test came back negative, spots are pretty much gone, and I'm one relieved, overly dramatic mama.

I can't help it. I hormonal.

My excuse for everything these days.

Thanks for the prayers!

GO Cowboys!

The Cowboys first playoff game was Saturday (as you probably know) & I made dessert for our family get together.

Parker (who clearly could care less that football is not about pink) wanted pink cupcakes.

I, being a sweet mom, decided to make strawberry cupcakes in her honor:).

And because I knew Mitchel liked strawberry too.

I love baking.

I even love cooking, when I'm not stressed.

I got a Martha Stewart (a true hero) cupcake cookbook for my birthday, and made her strawberry cupcakes.

You can find the recipe HERE.

You even use real strawberries.

Thrilling. Really.

I know, I'm easily entertained. :)

Instead of the strawberry buttercream meringue frosting the book used, I used THIS frosting instead.

I thought the pretty pink frosting was a little much for a football party.

hehe

And, the finished product.

I had fun finding footballs for the tops.

The brown ones were Wilton candy toppers.

They were ROCK hard.

Parker figured that out.

Ugh. Or yuck.

And, as a reward for all my hard work on my, made from scratch cupcakes...my 9 & 10 year old nephews & their 9 year old friend ran in from eating them and said...

"Who made these? They're SOOOOO weird!!"

Whatever.

:) 

Countdown 1 year {1 month...um, again}

Well, I made Tuck's 1 month post before his 4 week check up & thought you all would like to know that my teeny baby is actually... BIG.

Weird. He's supposed to stay small forever.

I made him promise.

Oh well...

At today's checkup:

Weight: 10 lbs 15 oz (75%)

Length: 23 inches (90%!)

Head: 16 inches (90%!)

Isn't that crazy?! 

More to love. And I do love him, he's so squishy.

And so cute.

BUT... :(

I discovered a fever blister on my lip yesterday morning.

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday, & he saw it & prescribed me something.

Then last night we find 3 weird, tiny bumps on Tucker's leg.

Today they look bigger & weird.

His doctor looks at them & notices my fever blister (starting to feel self conscious about the thing now), then decides to lance his spot, culture it, prescribe him antibiotics (oral & topical) & tells me to wash my hands a lot.

Apparently fever blisters are not all that great.

Especially not for babies. And now I feel sad.

I gave my baby a yucky virus that could make him sick.

Ugh.

So...I'm praying that it's nothing & that it all goes away & I'm left with a super healthy baby.

I told the Lord today that sometimes it stinks to be a mom.

I hate it when my kids are sick....terrible feeling.

Ho-hum.

I'll let you know when he's all better.

I'm planning on tomorrow:)...

Countdown 1 year {1 month}

Today our little guy is officially one month old.

It's pretty crazy to think it's already been a whole month.

Of course when you have a baby right before Christmas, I suppose you should expect time to fly even faster than usual.

So, 4 weeks and 3 days into life at home with a baby boy, I have to say it's just plain great.

He's sweet, cuddly, grunts a lot:), eats well, & has most certainly turned my heart into mush all over again.

Feels good to love another person so much.

Good to know you can do it.

My little monkeys up there.

Monkey #1 has some super sweet moments with her brother.

And then occasionally, some not so sweet.

But overall, she's doing really great & is growing into this big sister role.

Yep, definitely cuddly.

Mitchel has been off for 2 weeks, and it's been awesome.

He went back to work officially yesterday, and I was one sad girl.

It was so nice to have him here as we adjusted to our new little family.

Now, I get to readjust to life as a mom with 2 kids around.

Should be fun:).

 

Training that girl right! :)

That was a sweet moment.

And don't you just love those little teeny arms, thrown in the air, fists tight?

I could just squeeze him!

Did I mention he's good sleeper?

I got one of those kids who came with the knowledge of a schedule already wired in him.

Weird, but oh so cool.

(did you notice his fuzzy head?)

We took pictures for his announcements, and I've ended with those.

It's been such a surreal month for us.

And I can't believe it's over.

Nuts.

I'm so looking forward to the many days to come in this new year.

I was looking through old pictures of Parker today, remembering what we have coming our way.

I can't wait & yet I'm remembering how fast this all goes.

So, we're relishing all those late nights, sweet noises, little bitty cries, stretches, squished body parts, and so much more.

You're just so perfect for our family Mr. Tuck, and we're so very glad you're here.