Thursday, September 16, 2010

I’m pleased to announce…

our newest member of our family…

“Baby Jim”

Swimming and Baby Doll 047 Matt had this cabbage patch doll when he was little.  He claims the only reason that he had it was because the doll’s name was “Matthew”.  However, throughout this post, I will share many pictures of this baby doll and I want you to note the scratches and marks on the head of this doll…indicating that the doll was INDEED played with at some point! :)

Anyway, I brought this doll out while I was pregnant and would occasionally hold it just to  see what Trigger would do.  At the time, he would ignore it completely OR take it and throw it on the ground…you can see why I was worried about his reaction to his REAL baby brother.  Thankfully, his reaction was the total opposite…LOVE and excitement!  Trigger rediscovered this baby doll a couple of weeks ago and became attached for a few days and still brings him out and will play with him.  Immediately after discovering him, this is how I saw Trigger walking around the house. (please excuse the fact that Trigger has on just a shirt and diaper…he had just gotten up and i usually let him eat breakfast in his pj shirt and diaper and THEN put on his clothes for the day…so that he doesn’t have strawberries, syrup, etc. on his clothes for the day).

Swimming and Baby Doll 017 The whole time he was walking, Trigger was saying, “Heavy…heavy”.  I guess I must say that alot…and I do when carrying Trigger…not Campbell.

Swimming and Baby Doll 027 I asked Trigger, “What’s your baby’s name?”  He repied, “Baby Dim” which I interpreted as Baby Jim since we still have a hard time pronouncing some initial sounds.  Trigger thought that Baby Jim need to do things that all babies do…

Swing…and get kisses…

Swimming and Baby Doll 019 Swimming and Baby Doll 023 And all that swinging made Baby Jim hungry…

Swimming and Baby Doll 033

And apparently Baby Jim needed a little demonstration of what to do with his lips…haha! Swimming and Baby Doll 037 Baby Jim must’ve still had a difficult time because Trigger decided to help his lips a little bit!

Swimming and Baby Doll 038Maybe a new position will help…Swimming and Baby Doll 029  Then, it was naptime with Campbell

Swimming and Baby Doll 043 Up for a little playtime in the Bumbo..

Swimming and Baby Doll 046 And I guess Trigger got tired of squatting so he took over the Bumbo.

Swimming and Baby Doll 050 I did not get pictures of this but the pictures above are of “Matthew” OR “Baby Jim”’s original outfit.  While we were getting ready to go to Liz’s, Trigger felt it was necessary for us to change Baby Jim’s diaper and clothes…just like I was doing for Campbell.  Let me just say that WHEW…I’m glad Campbell isn’t a twin…There for minute I felt like I was getting three babies ready to go somewhere….minus the crying!  Haha!!!  When we arrived back home from Liz’s, it was time for supper.  Campbell was still in his carseat because he had fallen asleep on the way home.  I told Trigger to go put Campbell down to take a nap while we ate.  When I went to check on Campbell, this is what I found…

Swimming and Baby Doll 054

I guess if it was good enough place for Campbell to nap, then it was good enough for Baby Jim! Swimming and Baby Doll 055 Oh and see the new outfit on Baby Jim.  That is one of Trigger’s preemie outfits…I can’t believe he was the size of a baby doll!!!!  AMAZING!

I know boys aren’t really suppose to play with baby dolls…but I don’t have a girl and probably never will so I think it’s sweet.  I tell him all the time that he’s going to be an awesome father…I mean how could he not…he’s got THE best example to look at.  Matt is such an AWESOME daddy!

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Soooo behind…

I wish I were one of those people that blogged nightly about their day but I just can’t seem to get it together enough to do that so I’m always running behind on posting pictures and end up doing this kindof post.  I am going to post a few pictures from our lives lately….these are pictures that don’t really deserve a whole post to themselves but of course are precious pictures so I have to include them on the blog!

First of all, guess who was looking at this book…NOPE, not Matt!  Haha…Trigger has destroyed this book! :(

Campbell in Bumbo 102 Trigger had to have a nap mat for Mother’s Day out so I went to the Children’s Shoppe to get one…I think this one is adorable and just perfect for him since he loves any and all vehicles!!!  It has a pillow attached with construction trucks.  I showed it to him right after he had gotten up from nap at our house…he sat down on it immediately and Liz and I tried to explain what it was for.  We told him to lay down on it and put his head on the pillow.  His response was, “I sit…I sit”.  Ha…I’ll let him take that up with his teacher! :)

Campbell in Bumbo 105 Campbell in Bumbo 106 Matt bought one of those keurig coffee machines for his office and I thought I would be creative.  I cut holes to make it like a box you wear…I just knew Trigger was going to love it…he did NOT…instead he crawled in it.  Glad I wasted my time!

Campbell in Bumbo 095Campbell in Bumbo 098  Look at that precious smile! I could just eat Campbell up!  And, he has dimples just like Trigger and Sydney!

Campbell in Bumbo 070 Tummy time

Campbell in Bumbo 079b Campbell in Bumbo 085 Trigger mowing with his daddy

Trigger with Woody figurine 080 Trigger with Woody figurine 088 My parents with First National on their annual trip…My dad is on the board.  They went to Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  While they were there, they bought the boys some surprises.  These are two of the ones they brought to Trigger…a raccoon hat and a Yellowstone park ranger vest.  He LOVES the vest because it has so many “pocs” (pockets) to put things in.

Campbell in Bumbo 154 Campbell in Bumbo 160  My sweet little sleeping monkey!

Campbell in Bumbo 142 Sweet brothers

Campbell in Bumbo 109 Campbell in Bumbo 110 Playing “pattacake”

Campbell in Bumbo 118 Campbell in Bumbo 120 And a little love…

Campbell in Bumbo 122 Campbell in Bumbo 136 What?  I’m not doing anything, Mom!  What?  My car?  Oh…is it on Campbell?  Sorry…I didn’t mean for my hand to slip and make it drive on him AGAIN!

Campbell in Bumbo 137 More Bumbo time…he really has only been in it a few times but seems like more since I’m posting them all together.  He does love being in it though because he LOVES sitting up and looking around but I have to sit RIGHT there or you know who will come and push him over or tackle him OR drive a tractor/car/truck on him!  I just realized that these pictures were taken almost a month ago so he was only 2-2.5 months old in most of these pictures.

Trigger with Woody figurine 089 Trigger with Woody figurine 092 Trigger with Woody figurine 100 Trigger with Woody figurine 104 we LOVE woody

Trigger with Woody figurine 116 I’m going to stop there because it is going to take FOREVER for it to post this many pictures…I will work on more posts later and TRY to get caught up soon!  I HATE being behind!

Mr. Campbell’s Baby Dedication

On August 29, 2010, our church (Temple Baptist) had baby dedication.  I love that our church has a service where we can stand before the church and make a commitment to bring our children up in a God fearing/God loving home.  I feel like I fail at this daily…miss out on opportunities with Trigger to show God’s love to him…especially since I seem to be yelling most of the day…I’m not really but that’s what it feels like. Anyway, we participated in the service with Campbell.  It was fun because there were so many couples that we are friends with participating too. 

Here we are on stage with the rest of the couples…Trigger got to stand with us too…talk about nerve racking.  I really wasn’t worried about Campbell; I was worried about Trigger.  Oh and for the record, Campbell slept through the entire thing…as you can tell in the picture, he is OUT!

Campbell-Baby Dedication 004  And do you see Trigger pointing?  He is pointing at his cousin, Anna Grace.  Annnnddd, he didn’t just point…he yelled out her name too! :)

Campbell-Baby Dedication 007 I hate that I didn’t get more pictures before the service but we were so rushed to feed babies and change diapers that I did not have time for pictures.  And, I don’t even have a close up picture of Campbell in his little Feltman brothers outfit.  He spit up on it as soon as we got home and I changed him quickly.

After church, our whole family (all 22 of them) came over to eat lunch.  I just got some deli meat, croissants (and other fancy bread), broccoli salad (made by matt’s mom), fruit, english pea salad (which was YUMMY and I had not had it in years), and chips.  For dessert, I made a trifle dessert with brownies, pudding (with sweetened condensed milk), cool whip, and butterfinger.  It was so good!  It was a little stressful getting the house cleaned up and everything prepared and displayed for 20+ people (with Campbell and Trigger) but it was so fun having everyone over!  Here are some pictures of everyone and everything.

Campbell-Baby Dedication 015  Campbell-Baby Dedication 013

Campbell-Baby Dedication 012

 

Campbell in outfit #2.

Campbell-Baby Dedication 010 Then, I think he tee-teed on outfit #2 so we moved on to outfit #3.

Campbell-Baby Dedication 018 Campbell-Baby Dedication 022 Campbell-Baby Dedication 025 And we all thought this was funny.  While we were cleaning up, I put Toy Story on for Trigger to watch and guess who had to watch it too…that’s right!  another way that Trigger reminds me of Seth…and the reason that I often yell for Seth to come see me when I really mean for Trigger to come! :)

Campbell-Baby Dedication 016 Campbell-Baby Dedication 017

frustrations, worries, guilt, etc.

I’m feeling pretty down tonight…and do feel this way alot these days.  Don’t get me wrong….I am LOVING my life.  However, I stay frustrated and have loads guilt.  I remember feeling this way with Trigger…constantly worried or feeling guilty about something.  I told this to someone the other day but I don’t remember who and I probably shouldn’t admit this…but with Trigger, once he started eating real food, I would get soooo stressed out if he didn’t have the correct amount (3/4 cup) of vegetables a day.  LIKE really stressed…like I guess I thought that he would wither up and die if he didn’t have his 3/4 cup of vegetables.  Now I am still pretty strict about what he eats but I have gotten ALOT better!!!!!  Now it just seems that my stress and frustrations come from not being able to get anything done.  I try and try but feels like my wheels are just spinning.  Campbell, as I have mentioned before, is not the laid back second child.  I’m still waiting for that quality in him to appear…so far, he’s pretty high maintenance…I really didn’t think one person could have TWO very high maintenance children.  Anyway, Campbell pretty much would like to be held and talked to ALL day everyday…preferable held while standing!

Okay…so in an effort to make my frustrations/stresses/guilt go away, I’m going to list a few here.  I’ve always been told that talking about your feelings helps and Matt is working so I will vent on here and maybe I will laugh about all of this trivial stuff that I think is earth shattering right now.  Oh and before I get ugly comments or emails from the three people reading this, I realize that if you have three or more children that you have it WAY more difficult than me..seriously, I do! and I realize that some of you are thinking, “please, you think you’ve got it hard now…just wait”.  Well, these are my feelings whether they make sense to anyone else or not.

1. I can’t get a single thing accomplished.  All those books about Terrible Twos were written ABOUT TRIGGER!  Seriously, I am not sure if there is a method that would work for him…and if I had the time or energy to read one of those books, I might would find a good way to handle him…but Time/energy is something I do NOT have.  Anyway, I clean up one mess of Trigger’s, he makes another one.  Here’s an example: I walk in the den to find that Trigger had gone to the back and gotten my makeup bag.  He had it open with containers of makeup spread ALL over the den rug.  I cleaned it all up and headed back to the kitchen where I had been preparing his lunch.  He had pulled down his plate and there was macaroni, green beans, and milk ALL over my kitchen floor and cabinets…that was within about 3 minutes of the day.  And while he is awake, that is what is going on EVERY three minutes.  I mean unless I had a padded room, I just don’t think it is going to get much better.  Anyway, ON top of my WILD two year old, I have a 3 month old that wants to be held all the time and if I do not hold him, he screams and screams and screams….and it pretty much doesn’t stop.  AND it drives Trigger (which makes him more wild) and me crazy!!!  Soooo…the laundry stays piled up, the dishes unclean, and bed unmade, AND toys all OVER MY HOUSE!!!

2. I can’t go anywhere.  I seriously can’t!  I do not own a double stroller and really don’t want to purchase one.  For safety reasons, Trigger can’t just walk beside me…the boy would be gone in a heartbeat so he has to be contained.  Walmart:  If I take both, which I have, this is what it looks like and I have NO room for groceries.Vanna's shower and trigger's first glove 048 Vanna's shower and trigger's first glove 050 3. Breastfeeding….or actually ANY form of feeding my precious baby.  I am a huge fan of breastmilk.  Most of you know that I am like a diary cow and produce ALOT of milk.  With Trigger, I pumped for 8 months…most of that time getting about 60 ounces a day which was double what Trigger needed.  He got breastmilk until 15 months old.  Because of Triggers size (and needing to know how much he was getting) and going back to work when he was 5 weeks, I never got to actually breastfeed him.  With Campbell, I knew that I wanted to breastfeed and NOT pump.  Pumping is MISERABLE because it takes so long to pump and then feed a bottle too…at night with Trigger, Matt and I both had to get up EVERY three hours until he was THREE MONTHS OLD!!!!!! Matt would feed, I would pump.  MISERABLE.  So this go round, I wanted to avoid that.  I’m not sure if I have mentioned this but Campbell had a hard time with feedings while in the NICU.  The nurses just told us that he was not a good eater.  He had a feeding tube for the first 36 hours and then wouldn’t really breastfeed.  On top of that, he couldn’t decide what kind of nipples on bottles that he liked.  It was very frustrating because Trigger was  born at 34 weeks breathing and eating right away.  Campbell was born at 38 weeks and was on oxygen, had a feeding tube, and had a difficult time with feedings.  Anyway, Campbell is still having a hard time feeding.  He clicks his tongue…we’ve been to our pediatrician…she referred us to a speech pathologist…and still have no clue what is going on or what to do about it.  The clicking isn’t the only thing…he gets very frustrated and screams.  Soooo…every feeding is a battle. 

4. Trigger is still in speech.  He has improved alot but he’s still very hard to understand.  And, just in the last couple of weeks, we have gotten him in Occupational Therapy for some sensory issues.  He hasn’t started yet because all the paper work had to go through and so we should start this week.  We have already started brushing and joint compressions morning and night….and guess what, he doesn’t like them. I’m hoping Mother’s Day Out will help him with both the speech and sensory problems.

I think I will stop there…but let’s just say that have two children less than two years apart is a tad difficult…especially when the oldest one is a WILD boy!  Sorry for complaining…I really just want to remember these frustrations when I look back and not just have all the hunky dorey stuff documented.