Update....

Wow, poor Grayson gets even less posts than Jared! The good news is, we do have a plethora of pictures! It's just so much easier and faster to post a FB status with the picture than do a blog post. But, here's what we've been up to lately.


Isaac is turning into quite the big brother. He likes to tell everyone what to do. He thinks that being the oldest brother makes him the oldest and smartest in the house, so Daddy has to frequently remind him that is not the case ;) He's so incredibly sweet though. His tantrums are most definitely dying down now. He still has them occasionally, but they are occasional and certainly not the norm like they used to be. As it's gotten easier for him to express himself he's been able to tell us what he's feeling much easier. He definitely wears his heart on his sleeve and when he gets hurt he's quick to tell us that he's "hurt my feelings" as he puts it. He's been completely potty trained for awhile now and we've finally got him trained to stand up as well, which is a nice relief. He loves Jared so much and it's clear that they are best of friends. He's still indifferent toward Grayson. He's not mean or anything, but he just ignores him. He will tell me when Grayson is crying or sad, but he's not going to give him any hugs or kisses. :) He's been learning so much at church, too. We love the program our church has for kids. He has been telling us daily that Jesus is his friend and he often sings the songs he learns at church. He'll start pre-k in the fall and we are very excited about the school we've chosen. It's a La Petit and he'll do the Georgia Funded Pre-K. It was funny- after research private pre-k's and the Georgia Pre-K, we found we actually preferred the Georgia Pre-K philosophy over some of the more academically geared private pre-ks. It's going to be very hard to see him going to school, though!


Jared is doing so great. He's talking so much more now. Even this morning, when we got to church, he said "I'm going to see my friends!" For him to say a complete sentence like that was just...well, it was wonderful. He recently let go of his paci and I am so glad that is behind us. I was so worried about how that would go, but he was in a bad mood one day during nap time and I asked him if he wanted it. He said no and I took his lead. I told him he was a big boy now and he could say Bye Bye Paci. He did and he hasn't had a pacifier since then. Every now and then I can tell he misses it because he says "I say Bye Bye paci" and I tell him that's right and that I'm so proud of him. He needed a few extra snuggles the second night, but he's been great! He's proven to be quite the middle child as well. He has a horrendous high pitched extra loud scream that he saves for only the most important occasions- like if Isaac takes a book he wanted to read. Sigh. The two of them are at that age where they love fiercely and they fight just as fiercely. He's so mischievious and so funny at the same time. He's our drama kid. He does anything and everything that Isaac does and he loves Grayson the way Isaac loves him. He gives Grayson hugs and kisses all the time. I'm glad he will have Grayson to play with when Isaac starts school!


March 11 Update
Good grief. Ok, short and sweet updates on Grayson
We had his 6 month check up yesterday and the pediatrician loves him! (And I love her! She started explaining to us the benefits of extended breastfeeding during the check up. Not sure if that's a route we're planning to go, but I am so grateful to have a pediatrician who knows about that stuff!!) He is in the 90-95th for weight and height and 75-90th for head circumference. I was joking that we can no longer call him "Monster Baby" because he's not off the charts anymore. She agreed and said now he's "just" a big baby haha! He really is developing beautifully. He's such a good-natured baby...as long as he gets what he wants. And we're fine doing that for him! He's not sleeping through the night, but he's also not taking a bottle through the day, so I don't mind. I've come to love co-sleeping with him. He sleeps with his little feet pressed against my leg and he keeps one hand on my chest. He's really just holding me down so I can't go anywhere, but I love how much he loves me. When I do get him to sleep and manage to leave the room, I can't go back in because he smells me and instantly starts to stir. Makes it hard to do anything like laundry and such after he's asleep. And now he's so stinking heavy that it makes it hard to do things when he's awake, but we'll get there. We're hoping to get a different carrier soon (the Ergo) which provides better back support. I read an article recently that had a long list of medical advantages to the baby with baby wearing. I had NO idea! I just started wearing him out of necessity. OK, moving on... he's sitting up all by himself now. He started that around 3 months with support, then all of a sudden right when he turned 6 months he started sitting up really well with no support! He would rather stand though. He locks his knees when you try to sit him down because he wants to stay upright. Crazy! He'll be walking soon! 


Us... 
I'm tutoring for DFCS now. It's going well- some days are hard. I have a preschooler, kindergartener, 16 year old and 17 year old. It's a lot and it's hard with the kids, especially because Grayson won't take a bottle. We have times when all of us go in the van together to my lessons so I can nurse between sessions. The kids go to the park and to eat dinner with Larry while I tutor. It's tough, but it's temporary and it's for a great cause- to get out of debt!! 
The Dave Ramsey plan is hard on us. It's a Catch 22- we are working harder and more hours to make more money to pay off debt, but it's also stressful and takes a lot of time so we can't always keep up with the budget like we should... but again, it's temporary! It's hard to believe that we'll be celebrating our 5 year wedding anniversary next month. I remember staying at The Mansion on our wedding night and telling Larry I wanted to go back for our 5 year wedding anniversary. That seemed so far away! I had no idea I would have a baby that I would be nursing and couldn't leave for a night, and I certainly didn't think that the baby would be our 3rd! We have been so incredibly blessed. If you read this blog, hopefully you follow me on FB because I've been updating everything on there much more frequently. I want to get back into the blog, though. I like looking back at all the pictures from the past few years :)


Well, this post took a month and a half to write! Such is the life. As it is, right now Isaac and Jared are watching Super Why and Grayson is playing with plastic eggs while Larry is at rehearsal for a show coming up. (He's been drumming for a band that plays for charities.) Have a great night all!