A new post, a new post!

Amazing! Seriously, I think this is the absolute LOOOONNNGGGEST that I've gone without posting anything. My sincere apologies. I can't possibly do a post about every thing that's been going on the past 6 weeks or so so you get just one really BIG post. How's that?

Hmmm, lessee.

Well, busy season is OVER and Jason is home much more. Thank God for that!

We had a 2nd birthday party for Jack. We just invited lots of kids over, bought tons of pizza and a huge cake and went at it. He had a great time and I still can't believe he's two!

We had Caroline's baby dedication/parent commitment at church on the lass Sunday of April. It was after church and a bit stressful. Tired toddler, tired baby, room full of folks you don't know - it'll make anyone want to tear their hair out, right? Ah well, it was quite a memory!

Caroline turned 4 months old. She's such a priss. Even her squeals and cries are dainty. She's rolling over both ways (pretty sure she was doing this at 3 months, right?), giggles, coos, blows bubbles with her massive amounts of drool, "swims" like a fish out of water when she's on her tummy, and has nearly cut her first tooth - I can see it peeking at me but it hasn't broken through just yet.

We celebrated mother's day at Jason's parents house. We had a wonderful time just being together and playing with the kiddos. Pattie made a yummy chicken fried steak meal... mmm... Emmalee made Pattie, Honey, and myself picture necklaces with the kids on them - just precious. I got an adorable card, signed in green crayon from Jack and a photo session for my gift from Jason and the kids - more on that later.

Jack's crib is officially gone and he's moved into a big boy bed. Mostly. Actually, the first night was the easiest and he's yet to take a nap in it. Bedtime is pretty difficult and I'm kicking myself for getting rid of the crib so quickly. I wish I had it back but what's done is done, you know? Anyway, we're using the pack and play for naps so Jack and I can both get a break.. We'll approach the nap issue later. I've got too much to deal with now to mess with all that.

We went to visit my mom at the farm a couple of weeks ago. We had such a good time. Jack absolutely loves it up there. Every time he'd look out the kitchen window and see the cows he'd sing "E-I-E-I-O!" So cute. We took his crib up to mom's so Caroline would have a place to sleep when we visited but didn't get it set up right away. Thankfully, my mom had an old doll cradle (must be for a big doll) that rocked and Care-bear took a good 3 hour nap in it and slept in it at night till we got the crib put together! Funny!

Last weekend we had a photo shoot with Cindi from Selah Studios. She is AMAZING! She has such a way with kids and we love the pics we've seen so far. We can't wait to see the rest of them! Check out her blog with our sneak peeks. Ours is the post titled "And he's off!"

Annnd, Jason turned 29 on Memorial Day. We had a little family party here at the house with fajitas and cake. Jason got a big ol' air compressor and he's in L-O-V-E!

I've been struggling with whether to post about my postpartum depression. On one hand I feel like I shouldn't. It's a pretty private matter. It makes me feel like a bit of a failure (but I know that's the depression talking). On the other hand, I know that there might be folks out there in blog-land that are dealing with what I'm dealing with and can relate or offer words of wisdom and hope. Well, that definitely trumps my embarrassment for being "inferior" (I know I'm not). So, here goes... postpartum depression sucks! Period. I've been more angry, sad, short-fused, frustrated, impatient, and unmotivated than I've ever been in my entire life. The depression has had me hopeless, to the point that all I could do on a given day was park Jack in the playroom or in front of the TV and stare. My house would be chaos all around me and I could give two shakes less. Thankfully, I'm working on it. After getting help from a therapist I know that after this spring busy season that I've been running on empty. I was reduced to survival mode and wasn't living up to my too high expectations of myself - and that had me in the dumps. I now realize that I don't have to be perfect, or do everything. I just have to love and care for my kids and husband and the rest will fall into place. I have up days and down days. Today is medium. Medium is good. Enough rambling.

So, I won't promise to better about posting. I'll try but, I'll do what I can do...

Jack, seeing how he measures up on his birthday!He really would rather play than open presents at his party!Jack and Daddy, playing with his new firetruck.

My sweet boyYay for bubble machines!

He woke up from a nap like this. Silly!

Daddy and Jack take a walk at the farm.Full speed in Yaya's yard!JoJo loves JackJack!

Mommy and Caroline on the farm.More kisses from Jojo!Jack and Honey playing at Daddy's party.

Birthday princess... he he! Everyone in the family HAS to wear the crown!

Jack helped with the candles...... and the cake!Caroline's loving the Jumperoo. Of course brother had to get in on the action!Wide-eyed!Check out the drool!Selah (the Coursey's little one and Jack's BFF) getting ready to slide into the pool!

Splash!

Say-say - as Jack calls herLoving the water!

Mmmm... popsicles!

Cheese!

Note: If you notice there are just a few pics of Caroline it's because she sleeps... a lot. Bless her!

I know, I know...

...it's been forever. What can I say. Family life is busy and postpartum depression is no fun. I'll get some posts on here in the next day or two. I've got lots to blog about!

3 months old!

Sweet Caroline turned 3 months old on the day her big brother turned 2 - see post below to read about our day. What a cutie our baby girl is! She loves to laugh and talk to you and is becoming quite the bubble blower! She loves to look at ceiling fans and is a great eater. She'll put a grown man to shame with the gas she has though - super loud! Caroline likes baths but HATES to get out. She loves to be held and sees no use for bouncy seats or swings - or the carseat for that matter. She loves her brother and he can almost always make her laugh. Caroline can now roll from tummy to back and just today rolled from back to tummy. Car-bear has also started sticking her tongue out at you if you do it first - so funny! Those 3 months went so fast! It's hard to believe she's not a "newborn" anymore!

Funny tummy time faces!What?!Woah, there are lots of colors on this quilt!

2 years old!!!

WOAH! Time has flown! It's so hard to believe that it's been two years since my life changed forever and I became Jack's mommy. Two years ago, I had a brand new baby boy that I was so in love with. Then, I couldn't possibly imagine having more love in my life than I did at that very moment. But, my love for my son has grown immeasurably since then. My heart swells when I think about him.

On Jack's birthday(this past Tuesday) we went to his 2 year check-up with Dr. Raine. Jack is the picture of health. He's 29 lbs and 3 feet, 1/2 inch tall. According to Dr. Raine, he estimates Jack's adult height to be 6'1"! He's going to dwarf me and Jason! After his doctor's appointment, we went to the store to pick up some cupcakes (or pat-t-cakes as Jack calls them) and headed to Dallas to have lunch with Daddy. We had some yummy pizza, since that's Jack's favorite and then Munchkin chowed down on his cupcake icing - after blowing out his candles of course (with a little help from Daddy). Unfortunately, we didn't get pics of this since I left the camera in the car. Grr.

Jack's such a precious little man who's discovering something new every day. He loves to look out the window at the birds in the yard or at trucks passing by the house. Jack often busies himself by taking kitchen gadgets out of the drawer to figure out how they work - usually they're used for banging on something.

Jack loves to play with balls and read books. He loves to play basketball. His favorite books are The Little Red Hen (with Sesame Street characters), Goodnight Moon, Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?, The Napping House, and Where the Wild Things Are.
Jack loves, LOVES Elmo... and Thomas... and Curious George.

Jack loves to talk and so he talks. A LOT. Oftentimes I can't understand what he's saying or I'll have to take a moment to remember just what the particular sound he's just made actually means. Jason finds himself turning to me for translation on a regular basis.

Jack's developing manners. He says thank you, excuse me when he burps or pretends to burp, bless you when he or anyone else sneezes or coughs, and is really working on his table manners as well (he always puts his napkin in his lap and attempts to use cutlery most of the time).

Jack loves to talk(or pretend to talk) on the phone. He often gets out his phone and pretends to call Papa (Pappaw, Jason's dad), Noney (Jason's grandmother, Honey), and Memmy (Jason's sister, Emmy). He always makes sure to say "Hi!" and "Bye, bye!" He's even figured out that mommy flips her cell phone closed when she's done talking and tries to do that too.

Jack is so sweet to his baby sister. He loves to give Caroline hugs and kisses. The other day we were in the car and Caroline woke up and started crying, quite loudly. After a few minutes I hear Jack saying "baby, baby" and Caroline's crying had stopped. I turned around to find my sweet Little Man holding his baby sister's hand and talking to her. He had calmed her down and gotten her to stop crying! So sweet!

Jackie, Mommy and Daddy love you so much. We are so blessed to have you in our lives. Two years ago you made us a family and we are so thankful for that. We praise God for you every day and can't imagine our lives without you. We love you so much Munchkin.

Love, Mama and Daddy

Climbing......getting ready......WHEEEE! SO FUN!

A lovely morning at the park!

Erin and I took Jack and Selah to the park to feed the ducks a couple of weeks ago (I think). We enjoyed a picnic lunch, a nice walk (even though I was wearing a baby and pushing nearly 100 lbs of stroller and toddlers, up hill, both ways, in the snow, wah, wah...) and beautiful sunshine. Jack and Selah loved swinging at the playground and watching the elementary school kids that were on a field trip to the park run around like mad. Too bad Jack had a fit when it was time to go home. Oh, well, we take the bad with the good, do we not?

Jack and Selah enjoying their lunch and watching the ducks. Jack was interested in meat, Selah was interested in Jack's fruit instead of her lunch.
Me and Caroline, all set to go for a walk!

Her first dress

My very first dress!

Of course there's a matching bow! Geez, mom!While I'm on the changing table... I think I'll poop!Much better. Mom can you take care of this, please?!

Happy Easter!

So, I'm a little late... what else is new?!

We had a very low key Easter Sunday this year. All of us were getting over being super sick so we didn't really want to do much. We spent the morning playing with Jack's goodies from the Easter Bunny and then headed off to church. We then came home to have a quick lunch and take naps. After all, that's what Sunday afternoons are for, right? We headed over to the Coursey's for some fabulous ham (Jason reeeeaaallly loved it) and playtime for the kiddos. All in all, a pretty laid back day. We didn't do an egg hunt though, there was one at church but we all felt so cruddy that we decided to forgo it this year. Sad but true... Anyway, here are some pics of the kiddos in their Easter best! Can you tell it was naptime?

Bakke-ball!

Jack's favorite sport, by far, is basketball! It's one of the first things he talks about in the morning and sometimes I can hear him saying "bakke, bakke, bakke" (basket) as he's going to sleep at night. He loves to play with his kids ball and hoop and experiments with what will and will not fit in the hoop. He even gets distracted from eating because he remembers he has a basketball goal in the play room and will often ask to get down so he can go play. He also loves to watch basketball on TV and will jump up and down and cheer when he sees a game is on. Now, if only the Mavs could bring home the championship...

Score!Two points!

Makin' it work!

Jack can still pound it out with the best of 'em... even with a broken collar bone! Incidentally, this was a couple days after Jack's fall and trip to the hospital. Later that day, he discovered he could actually take the bandage and sling OFF without my help. So, he helped himself. I was able to get it back on him a couple more times but after that it was OVER! Amazingly, Jack knew to be really careful with his left arm and held it close to his body as much as possible. When he went for his two week check up with the orthopedist, everything looked great and healed up nicely!

Hammer, hammer, hammer!

Notice he's sitting on his ball. He's seen me sit on my exercise ball so much that he's imitating me now and has gotten quite good at this!

Excuses, excuses...

Okay, okay. I know that a blog update is long overdue but we've been dealing with a lot these past few weeks. What, with a broken collar bone, all four of us getting sick, my being a "single-ish parent" thanks to tax season, Jason taking another part of the CPA exam, and my having to keep up with all the rigors of motherhood and wifey-ness, who has time to blog??? Honestly, I've just been trying to keep my head above water during this time and to spend as much time with the kiddos as possible. I've let some things slide, what can I say?

Enough excuses already, here come the updates!

Big boy!

Every night before his bath, Jack sits on the potty. He's never done anything other than sit before tonight. But, tonight he decided to do things right and POOP on the potty! Yay Jack!

Note: More Maurice family updates are indeed on their way. We have been dealing with everyone being sick this week and haven't had the time or energy to post.

Sleep tight...

Tonight, Jack was in the tub as I was putting Caroline to bed. As I shut Caroline's door and walked into the bathroom Jack said, "Night, night Sissy." So sweet.

Snap, crackle, pop!

My Little Man broke his first bone yesterday. Jack fell about 6 feet off a slide/play structure at the park yesterday and landed on his left side and shoulder. He cried and cried so I put him in the stroller and walked him back home. When we got home he was still crying (after about a 10 minute walk) and touching his left shoulder. I took off his shirt and felt along his collarbones and noticed a definite deformity on the left side - broken. So, I called Jason, Gigi, Yaya, and my good friend Erin to let everyone know what was happening. Then I packed up the kids and headed to Cook Children's ER after swinging by Erin's to pick her up (I needed the help and she was wonderful. Thanks Erin!)

When we got to the hospital we went straight back to triage and Jack was such a brave boy. He cried when we first walked back - I'm sure all the machines were a bit scary - and he didn't like having his blood pressure or pulse ox taken. He did like all the stickers he got, though. They also gave him a sling to wear with dinosaurs on it but since it's such a small sling, there's no complete picture of a dinosaur. Just dinosaur butts. Nice, huh?

When we got back in the waiting room, Jason had just gotten there and Gigi was coming in from parking my car for me. Jack and Daddy just walked around the waiting area (which was JAM PACKED, I might add) and played with the "aquarium" - there were lots of buttons for Jack to press so he was super excited about that. After a while my mom arrived and took Caroline home and put her to bed for me so I could focus on little Jack.

We went back and had Jack x-rayed - he didn't like that either but was very brave. After the fracture was confirmed (I knew all along, duh!) they put the sling on again and wrapped Jack's upper arm to his body with an ace bandage. He did not and does not like that AT ALL. We were then released and able to go home after being there for just under 3 hours! I was amazed at how quickly we were in and out.

Jack actually slept really well last night and is doing pretty well today. We're staying on top of his pain with Motrin and keeping his arm immobilized (trying, at least). He's actually wanting to use his arm and sometimes forgets that he is hurt. He'll put a little weight on it and then cry but settles pretty quickly. He's supposed to wear the sling/bandage combo for the next 2 weeks but we were told "good luck" by the folks in the ER regarding that. I just don't see how he'll tolerate it for that long. Although, he is getting more used to it now.

God was really watching over him when he fell. It was such a nasty, scary fall and things could've turned out much worse. I'm sure this is the first of many ER visits with my little boy. Poor guy. He was just trying to have fun and this is what he gets.

A day of firsts...

Sunday was a big day for Jack and Caroline. Jack "finally" got to ride in the car forward facing. I'm a huge proponent of car seat safety and believe that a child should ride rear facing until the limits of the seat. Jack's car seat has a rear facing limit of 33 lbs and I planned to keep him facing the back till we got to that weight. Well, Jack now weighs just a hair over 30 lbs naked - with clothes and shoes we were right on the line so we decided to turn him around. It was like a whole new world. As soon as I put him in his seat he said "WOAH!" and then pointed at the dash and shouted, "BUTTON, BUTTON!" (he loves to push buttons).

Sunday was also Caroline's first day to go the church nursery. I've been taking her to church with me since she was just over a week old but I'd wear her in the sling instead of leaving her in the nursery. At 2 months old, we decided that she was ready to go spend some time with her little baby friends and I could get a bit of a "break" (even though my break consists of taking care of other kiddos at church). She did great! Jason even got a picture of her snoozing away in the crib.

2 Months old!

My baby girl is already 2 months old! I know time went fast with Jack but I don't remember it feeling like it FLEW by like this. I guess it's cause I'm having to keep up with 2 now. Little Caroline is smiling, talking to us, turning her head, and lifting her head and chest up when she's on her tummy. We had her 2 month doctor's visit yesterday(Wednesday the 12th - interesting day, more to come) and she was 11 lbs, 2.5 oz and 23.5 inches long. She's such a cuddlebug and so cute. Check out these goofy grins!

23 months old!

Jack turned 23 months old on Saturday... this is the last monthly post I'll be doing. I figure, he'll be 2 next month and it's time for me to stop counting months. Right? This past month his language has really exploded and he's talking ALL THE TIME now. The other morning he woke up and Jason went to get him and he pointed out all the colors he saw on the way into our room - BLUE! (the curtains), YELLOW! (on his pajamas), RED! (the quilt on our bed). It's so fun to hear him talk and hear the new words he says every day. In addition to talking, he loves to bounce the ball, any ball. He could bounce, roll, throw, and kick balls all day long - believe me, we've done it. I'm amazed at how clean the playroom can stay because he's so immersed in playing ball that he doesn't even touch any of his other toys. He's such a boy!

He decided all the Diet Dr. Peppers needed to be stacked on the desk. Notice that he also has a pen in his hand - another big no-no.

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