What we do on the way to the beach....

We play Daddy's Ipad and watch Disney Jr

Daddy listens to music to mask the crying!

Isaac is absorbed in some book

We listen to music on Isaac's penguin because Eli broke the car CD player

Livi sleeps soundly

Eli sleeps!

Mommy sits in the back and fetches trucks, puts the passy in, soothes babies and tries to catch a few zzzzz's. 

Dog gone

See this dog? It's not ours. It showed up last night with a hurt leg and we gave him water and food. This morning as we were packing the car it jumps in and takes a snooze on MY pillow. I was very nice removing it. We searched the neighborhood for his owner and luckily one of our neighbors (not his owner either) came to get it since we were leaving. He is a nice pup and I hope he finds his home.

So helpful

I think it's so important for my boys and girl to be able to take care of themselves as they grow up, as well as be helpful around the house. Isaac is very helpful... Eli not so much. These are a few of the things Isaac helps us do: he entertains Eli for us when needed, carries in groceries, makes beds, put his sheets on his bed, puts laundry in occasionally, vacuums, mops, dusts, empties the dishwasher and puts away dishes, as well as works out side (mulch banks, work on landscaping, water plants, move rock). Even though the dishes may not be put in the dishwasher exactly how I would or there are areas not vaccumed I  don't re-do the task. I don't go hunting for his dirty clothes; when he needs clothes washed he brings them downstairs and sometimes puts them in the washing machine. I will wash his sheets but he is responsible for putting them back on. When he does a slack job then he does it again until the job is right. I believe this teaches him responsibility as well as teaches him the skills he needs to be a functional adult.

Eli is 2 but these are some ways he helps at our house: he puts clothes in the washing machine (and then pushes the button), bring things to us, helps Daddy plant grass, likes to help vacuum, picks up things (with much prodding), and helps water the flowers. He likes to go bring me diapers and wipes for baby sissy and is getting better at following directions. Most of Eli's 'helping' makes more work for Mommy but it makes him happy.  I am very proud of Isaac because he also does this without complaining. Oh yes, we have days when there may be a frown or a minor gripe but for the most part when I ask him to do something he stops what he is doing and completes the task.

This is Isaac cooking supper for the first time. I sat in the kitchen and gave directions and he did it all by himself. I think he was pretty proud of himself!

2nd opinion

We took Olivia to Chapel Hill today for a second opinion on her hearing. We found pretty much the same thing... A mild to moderate loss bilaterally. The loss sloped down to the moderate line for the high frequencies. We were able to get her to sleep for another unsedated ABR and hopefully we won't have to do another one. She will be able to start behavioral testing around 7 months in the sound booth. We were able to get more information on specific frequencies so I feel comfortable that the Audiologist can amplify her appropriately. We will return on August 13th for her hearing aid fitting... Pink with pink sparkly ear molds!! Won't she be adorable :)

We also met with a lady from CASTLE and right now there is a grant for birth to three for distance therapy. They provide a CASTLE teacher to work with us via the computer. They can provide a web cam, toys, etc and will also come do a home visit and video a play session with Olivia and I every 6 months. I still haven't heard from the CDSA or Beginnings... Hopefully I'll hear from them soon.

I'm all for anything that will help our sweet girl. Early identification, early amplification, and early intervention make a huge difference! Our audiologist encouraged us that with these things most of the time it's hard to tell the difference between a child with hearing loss and a typical child. Josh and I have both talked about the cosmetic side of wearing hearing aids and how cruel kids can be... however maybe by the time she is a teenager they will have invented some almost invisible type of hearing aid. You never know! Regardless we are going to encourage, tell her how 'cool' her hearing computers are and give her the confidence that she needs. I don't want to her to look at it as a negative thing and I think for that to happen it has to start with us.

Daddy dressing Olivia for the day... including the pink headband!

Mommy holding Livi for over 3 hours... my arm and shoulder were killing me.

Are my kids spoiled?

This article popped up on email and struck a nerve right away. I think it's so true and I am just as guilty as anyone. I honestly try not to spoil my kids too much but I definitely do. For example, Josh drove to Asheville at 9:00 at night to get Isaac golf clubs so he could play golf with the guys and we took off to Forest City in the middle of a rain storm to find Eli a blue power wheel he has been wanting. I have to give my kids props though.. neither was was begging or requesting the item at the time we went but point being is we went! 


More often than not I say "No"... we don't leave Walmart with an item for the kids on each trip. They don't get excessive birthday presents and we only buy 3 presents for each one at Christmas. I don't want any of my children to think they have to have something everywhere we go. I know that Isaac is going to start paying attention to name brands as junior high approaches but I am thankful so far he hasn't. He wears his cousin's hand me downs a lot, mesh shorts from Walmart, and old college tee-shirts of mine. I have no problem going to buy Eli $5.00 pajamas at Walmart. Am I guilty of overspending.. yes! Have I bought expensive name brand outfits for my kids... yes. Will I buy more??... 'yes'.  I struggled on whether to get Eli this power wheel and we have talked about it since Christmas. He has a plasma car and a tricycle which he loves and honestly that is enough. Can he ride 3 vehicles at the same time???.... No!  However, when we go to my sister's house he absolutely loves to ride Carter's power wheel John Deere. So yes, we did.. I spoiled him for no apparent reason... it wasn't Christmas or his birthday. I will be honest. Isaac has 2 gameboys,a  X-box, an I pod, a Nook.. too much technology for an 11 year old. I think I could do a better job saying "no" more often. 


Here is a quote form the article about American culture raising overindulgent kids:


“With the exception of the imperial offspring of the Ming dynasty and the dauphins of pre-Revolutionary France, contemporary American kids may represent the most indulged young people in the history of the world. It’s not just that they’ve been given unprecedented amounts of stuff—clothes, toys, cameras, skis, computers, televisions, cell phones, PlayStations, iPods. (The market for Burberry Baby and other forms of kiddie “couture” has reportedly been growing by ten per cent a year.) They’ve also been granted unprecedented authority.”




http://blogs.babycenter.com/mom_stories/06252012are-u-s-kids-the-worlds-most-spoiled-children/?scid=bcToday

Sunday

Here is an idea I got off pinterest. It's a water noodle...how cheap and ingenious! You just cut it and put it under the sheet so your toddler doesn't fall outta the bed!

Pinterest idea

I'm home right now instead of church because I didn't want to take Typhoid Mary (Eli) to the 2 yr old class and infect other kids with the Hand Foot Mouth virus. Isn't that also ingenious to keep your kid home when he/she is sick... One of my pet peeves btw.

I'm suppose to be packing because we are headed to Chapel Hill to this afternoon to take Olivia for a 2nd opinion on her hearing tomorrow. However I'm just piddling...for example..taking a pix of Eli's mattress and blogging!

We are making a detour to Charlotte for an awful reason. My sweet friend Ginnie's husband  died unexpectedly Thursday morning. He was a lawyer and my age...31. They aren't sure why he passed away but he went to the ER with unexplained abdominal pain the night before. I can't imagine what she is going through and my heart hurts for her. Please remember her in your prayers.

This is Ginne and Brandon are her bridesmaids at their wedding 5 years ago

Adios Passy

So I randomly decided on Tuesday afternoon that Eli should give up his pacifier... he is 28 months old you know!  I found two that he had almost chewed in half and 'helped' them out a little with the scissors. I told him we needed to throw them away because they were broke and he was big boy and didn't need them. He studied them for a while and then threw them away. That night he asked for his passy and I reminded him that he threw it away because it was broke. He exclaimed, "lets go to the grocery store and buy some more". It took me  a minute to come back with a reply but he did fine and went to bed without any tears. He did ask for it during nap time Wednesday and that night as well but after a reminder that they were broke and thrown away he went right to sleep. This was sooo much easier than I anticipated. If I knew he wasn't going to get upset I would have taken it away a long time ago.

However... the poor child started crying about his mouth hurting Tuesday as well. My Eli is not a crier. He can stub his toe (blood included), scrape his legs, bump his head and never shed a tear. He has a HIGH pain threshold. So when he cries I know he is hurt. The poor baby just clawed at his mouth and cried saying "it hurts, it hurts". I've been giving him tylenol every 4 hours for pain and we bought orajel to put on as well. I thought maybe he had bit his tongue. Last night we were able to see white sores beside his back molars on his jaws. This morning I took him to the doctor and he has Hand Foot Mouth. Of course since it's viral there is nothing we can do but treat the symptoms.. hopefully it won't last too much longer.

Olivia is 2 months

Weight: 12 lbs 4 oz (75%)
Height: 23 1/2 inches (75%)
Head: 50%

Olivia had her well check today and shots :( I hate seeing my babies get shots so luckily my sweet mom came with me and held her during the shot part. She screamed to the top of her little lungs and was inconsolable until I nursed her in the car. She got a good bill of health at the dr. Olivia will coo and smile when you talk to her, she likes to take a bath at night and will kick and smile. She loves to eat as you can see from her weight gain and likes to lay on my chest. She took a bottle of pumped milk the other day and did fine. I have been exclusively breastfeeding and not pumping anymore since I am staying home. It is so nice not to have to worry about stockpiling milk. I am trying to introduce a bottle once a week so we don't get stuck on the same situation my sister did. Livi is a laid back and sensitive soul and doesn't like to be messed with when she is comfortable. However, she gets swarmed with kisses and love from Eli and handles it quite well. She has gone 6 hours at night between feeds but usually it's around 4 hours. I did panic the other night when she slept from 12-7 without waking but she's not done that since. She is still sleeping in the cradle beside my bed.. I will probably move her around 4 months or when she outgrows the cradle. She is about to outgrow size 1 diapers and wears size 3 month clothes. It is so fun to dress her up...my mom is making her some headbands! I am loving having a sweet darling daughter! We love you Olivia Jane!

I just realized as I looked back at my blog that Olivia and Eli weighed the EXACT same amount at their 2 month check! He was 1 inch longer but still I thought that was pretty wild. This is why I love keeping a blog and writing things about the kids... all the little things I would have forgotten I have safely tucked away in cyberspace :)

Landscaping 101

I will try to post some better pictures during daylight hours of the plants.. we planted blue hydrangea, red twig dog wood, Japanese maples, gardenias, and lime light hydrangeas. We still need some more plants especially near the front columns. I think I want some evergreens so everything won't look so dead in the winter. I had a picture of Josh and Isaac working but I realized that Josh was showing crack so I didn't post it :) Isaac worked hard and moved a lot of rock.. unfortunately he smashed his thumb on the rocks and his thumbnail turned blue and fell off. He milked it for a couple weeks though.

My flowers- I made this little flower bed with left over bits of rock

Olivia snoozing in the swing- I had a fan blowing on her to keep her cool

Eli watering the plants

Up-lights installed

More swing snoozing

Show Us Your Life- Bathrooms

Here is another "Show us Your Life" post link up from Kelly's Korner

Master Bath-

 I love our bathroom and one of the perks to building is designing everything exactly the way you want. Josh and I both wanted an open shower...  I joke that it's so we can wheel right in when we get old. This is our "forever house" so we tried to keep that in mind when we were building. We picked out the little stones for the shower floor so it wouldn't be slippery and we both liked the look. We are both 'bath' people so we decided on a big corner tub. I opted for no jets just because of past experience and the nasty gunk that comes out when they aren't used. All my fixtures are oil rubbed bronze and I especially love the shower handle at the tub... it works great for rinsing hair, washing the tub, etc...

Our cabinets are one of my most favorite features.. I have sung praises of our cabinet guys in previous posts. I went with a dark wood with a distressed look and black glaze. The bump outs are roped and there is also matching rope trim on the crown molding at the top of the center cabinet. We went with the cabinet in the middle to I could hide my hair dryer, curling iron, and make-up. I don't like clutter! I thought my mirrors went great with the cabinets.. 30 bucks at Kirklands! 

The TV was a bonus...we have it mirrored to the TV in the master bedroom so we didn't have to purchase another Direct TV box. The downside is that you have to watch the same thing in the bedroom as you are watching in the bathroom. Eli has enjoyed taking a bath and watching Mickey Mouse at the same time. When ever I have time to actually take a leisurely bath again (in like 5 years) I will enjoy watching my shows :)

We put the toilet in a separate room so we can still use the shower, tub and sinks if someone is using the bathroom.  The last perk is the heated tile.. we haven't used this much with 100 degree weather right now but I know this winter it will be nice to step on the toasty tile floor. 

Master bath

Master bath "his and her" sinks

Master shower floor

Water Closet in Master bath

TV in Master bath

Mirror in Master bath

Corner tub in Master bath




Downstairs Bath

     

                                    Downstairs bathroom- we found this remnant piece of granite that had a lot of movement and we both loved it. The cabinets are Alder wood-stained and glazed.

    

                                 Downstairs bathroom shower- I actually switched the shower tile and the floor tile during building because I didn't want the floor to be so dark with the cabinet.

Downstairs bathroom copper sink I ordered online. I just hoped that it would look okay with my granite selection and luckily it matched perfectly!


*I don't have a picture of the upstairs Jack and Jill bath. It's pretty plain.. I still need to decorate upstairs. Both boys  have a toilet and sink and they share a tub.  I opted for a Jack and Jill so I don't have to clean so many tubs!

The last one is true!

I saw this on Facebook the other day and it made me laugh. I would enjoy my job a whole lot more without the mounds of paperwork! IEP's and Medicaid requirements get longer every year!!

PlayLodge outing

Audra and I decided the kids needed to expel some energy and we needed a change of scenery since its been raining for days. We loaded up car seats and headed to the play-lodge in Asheville. Good thing Isaac is at camp or there wouldn't have been room for him. Carter and Eli had fun climbing and playing and little Cam had fun crawling around. He is standing a bit without holding on to anything! Livi just watched all the kids and then took a nap in my arms. We stopped at Cold Stone and had ice cream before coming home.

Camico playing puzzles

Isn't that castle neat.. Eli loved the slide

It's a car.. wait no it's a slide! 

On the way... the car is full

Eli playing in the Jail House

Eli is on the red car getting ready to slide down

Sweet Princess sleeping on Mommy- look at those chub cheeks 

Carter and Eli 'taking turns'

"The Farmer and the Dell" by Eli Thomas

Here is a video of Eli singing "Farmer and the Dell". His little country accent just cracks me up. All one syllable words are have become two syllables. He can't say his /l/'s and /r/'s and it's just adorable hearing him say  /g/ /u/ /ə/ /w/ (girl).  He calls sissy "sweet little girl" and tells her that he loves her with such conviction. "I wuv you baby sissy, I wuv you!" Josh and I were talking about how wonderful it is Eli is not the least bit jealous of Olivia and how Isaac wasn't jealous of Eli either when he was born. We are very thankful that both brothers have joyfully welcomed their siblings. 

Swaddle blankets

I love this swaddle blanket! It gets softer with each wash and it's perfect for nursing under, covering up on hot summer nights, and keeping the mosquitoes away. This one is by Aden and Anais from a store in Greenville but I recently found that they make some for Target so next time I am near Target I am going to purchase a few more. 

Look at that lip

Summer fun

Wow! I can't believe it is already July. This summer is flying by and this month is going to go even faster. These are a few things we have been doing this summer. Most mornings we start stirring around 9:00... that's when the E-mister wakes up. He is ready to eat as soon as his little feet hit the floor so I usually scavenge the kitchen to prepare a delicious, nutritious homemade breakfast.. ha. Usually we have eggs, oatmeal, muffins, frozen waffles, applesauce, yogurt... breakfast for champions. However there are  times such as yesterday when I haven't been to the grocery store for a week and all that is left is a couple boiled eggs and a peanut butter sandwich! Hey it works... Eli didn't seem to care the bread was a bit stale! That child can pack away the food.. he ate 4 boiled eggs the other day. Isaac, Eli, Olivia and I then go water all our newly planted plants and the porch ferns. Eli rides his power wheel around for a while while Isaac and I work. I will post a few pictures of the landscaping in progress. We have done it all ourselves so it is taking time. I try to clean, do massive amounts of laundry, pay bills, etc while everyone plays for a while. Some mornings we go to Mom's and swim in the pool... other days we just stay in our pj's :) The afternoon is nap time for Eli so Olivia gets extra special Mommy time. Occasionally, Isaac and I sometimes start projects like window washing. Isaac has been taking golf lessons this summer and is improving. He is getting ready to go to church camp for a week next Wednesday.  Evenings are always busy... we are usually outside with Daddy doing some type of house project while Eli plays and Olivia sleeps in her garage swing. Oh yeah...we have to squeeze in supper, baths and bedtime. 

I touched up all the walls today with paint after my recent blunder.. Never use a magic eraser  colored paint.. it takes the paint right off. Here is a picture of Eli painting cookies yesterday! I couldn't find any clean unused paint brushes so he used his finger. Then we mixed colors for a brief color lesson. Even in the midst of time outs, crying fits and days when I don't even get to drink my coffee I wouldn't trade it. I am enjoying watching the brief moments fly by with my three babies!

Show us your life- Kid's rooms and nurseries

I  am linking up my blog to Kelly's Korner for the Show Us Your Life post.

Olivia's nursery. I had chair railing put up and painted the walls offwhite and tan. I found her bedding and rug from Restoration Hardware's Baby and Child. She has a dresser and armoire in her room as well. 

I ordered this monogram and my sweet hub helped put it up. This is over her dresser/changing table

This is one of my favorite items in Isaac's room. I get sentimental each time I add another picture!

Isaac's room.. He picked out his bedding and had first dibs on the rooms. His room overlooks the mountains .

This is all Isaac so I had to show it. He loves to read and play nerf and airsoft with his cousins.

This is Eli's room. I kept his nursery theme when we moved so I didn't have to buy new bedding. We recently took the rail  off the crib to convert it to a toddler bed.