3 Months

Blogging Updates...They say you don't do as much with your 2nd child as your first, and while that may be true, I'm trying to keep up :) But I know why you can't, it's because now you're taking care of 2!!!! I want to blog about Lilly Grace as much as I did with Lucas, but it's hard. We are currently working on getting them on the same schedule (as far as naps) and it's going well for now. Lilly Grace is starting to fall into her own rhythm. At 3 months she is currently sleeping in her crib for naps and bedtime. As of July 17th she started staying all night in her crib. She wakes once or twice to eat at night (currently). She loves to lay on the floor and coo and talk. She rolls onto her side and is not a huge fan of tummy time. She'll do the tummy time, but seems to be over it rather quickly. However, her legs are constantly moving when she's on her tummy. I think once she figures out how to roll over though, she'll love being on her tummy. I think she'd sleep on her tummy if she could. She's got good head control and neck strength, but watch out she will head butt you accidentally. She use to be a late riser, sometimes her morning nap was combined with her sleep the night before, but in the past few days she's been waking closer to when her big brother wakes up. Her first nap is around 9/10am and again around 1pm when Lucas naps, and occasionally she will cat nap throughout the day. She is literally so cute and happy!! We are working on a nighttime routine, it's still new to her but she is doing well and we are, too for now :)

Here's a look at this cutie right before and right after she turned 3 months 

Cow Appreciation Day 2016

3 Months

A girl can do no wrong in Vera and Jacks! 

Cutie Patootie 

One Year

It's been just over one year...

Since the little red itchy rash appeared on the back of Lucas' neck right before a trip to the lake to celebrate my dad's birthday in June

And that spot didn't stop there...it began an all consuming issue for our family. From medicines and creams to an allergist and dermatologist after seeing his pediatrician with a food trial taking away soy, dairy, and egg...we finally came to the conclusion that Lucas has eczema. He scratched until he bled, his scratches got infected, it was literally from head to toe. My poor sweet boy was miserable, although you wouldn't truly know it, he was still happy, but you could see it. There was one point in which we were at an appt almost every week or every other week. It was hard, taxing, upsetting, and so draining on us all. It was even harder with Andrew being away for work Sun-Thurs for a couple of months, but we pushed through. We prayed, we researched, we made appts, he took meds and we tried different lotions and creams. We literally changed and tried so many things, it was very life changing. When the food trials didn't help, we realized he has eczema, which has no 'cure'. His eczema does flair up more, like when he rolls on the dogs because that is his biggest trigger.

For about 6 months we worked to find what worked or helped, and finally the answer seems to be zyrtec each morning and benadryl each night. We found that the Aveeno Eczema Therapy lotion helped heal the scratches and ease the pain. And somewhere around Dec. it seemed to slowly just disappear. There are still spots that appear and he still scratches but it is NOTHING like what we experienced last summer. We hope and pray it never returns to that level.

 

Above you can see the difference if you look at our sweet boy. Sadly, in the picture on the left you can definitely tell he doesn't feel well and in fact after our Chick fil A date that day we were headed to the dermatologist. This was one of his really bad days, swollen, red, itchy and yet 99% of the time he had the greatest disposition on it all, but it was a task keeping an 18 month old from scratching. Most of that summer he spent his days and nights in long sleeve, zip up pjs to keep him scratching his skin. Our friends and family were so helpful, especially for my sanity, because most of this fell to me with Andrew starting a new job. I emotionally was so exhausted and then to find out in August we were expecting baby 2 only added to the exhaustion. I cried, I prayed and prayed and prayed, I researched, I made appts and went to appts, (not to mention he broke his arm in all of this in Oct that year), and I cried and prayed some more. In the midst of it all I trusted God. 

A year later I can say Lucas and his eczema are much better.  There are still days where he scratches and days where he flairs up, but nothing like last summer-and for that, I am so grateful. We are so blessed and I praise God for the relief and healing. Our Lord gave us strength when we felt hopeless, and although we don't have an answer or a fool proof solution, we do have improvement. I also pray he grows out of it, as lots of kids do. I am so thankful for the strides he's made and improvements, and I pray it continues! 

Norah, Sushi, Zoo and More

Lucas spent some time with Grandma and Poppie and his cousin Norah!! Norah got to meet Lilly Grace and snuggled her lots-she didn't want to put her down, which LG loved!!! Here's a look at our weekend when Norah and Lucas came home! We took a trip to the zoo!! We went to eat at Miyabi's --Andrew and Norah enjoyed sushi, and we all enjoyed the show!! 

Cow Appreciation Day 2016

We had fun this year at Cow Appreciation Day 2016. Don't you love babies dressed up like cows? Especially when they wear tutus? 

A Look at the changes over the years at Cow Appreciation Day 

Howe Fun with the Howe Family

A year ago we said good bye to some of our dearest friends--the Howe Family. They moved cross country and it seems to have been the fastest year ever. However, we never expected to visit with them and see them so quickly after the move. I always assumed we would go west first before they came back east, but having Jordan's parents live in Florida really helps the possibility to visit with them. Here's a glimpse at our visit together--it was short but very sweet and lots of fun!! We found out that Parker LOVED Lilly Grace, and we also found out that Parker and Lucas together is TROUBLE. When the Howe's moved, Parker was a little too young to really interact with the boys, but not now...