October

We love the month of October at our house. It is by far our favorite month. It seems like it is also one of our busiest months too!! We have been so busy these last couple of weeks. I was going to try to do a blog post for everything we have been up to but I only have about 15 minutes before WK's nap time is over so here goes...

• Wade finished up swimming lessons and did really well. They were free because we had some points with our gym but I am not sure I would pay for them. I really think Josh could teach him how to swim just as well.
• We are still trying to all (minus Josh) get over this lovely cold. We feel pretty good but it is just lingering around
• Thankfully our property manager got everything done in the 9 days and our new tenants are happy and moved in Monday. We are so thankful he got it rented so quickly!!
• This past weekend we went to the beach for Josh's birthday. We went from Friday to Monday and had a great time. The weather was perfect and the kids had a blast. My in laws brought my sweet niece Peyton and Wade and her had so much fun and were so cute playing together. I am so thankful they are close in age and love each other so much. My parents went for the weekend too. They stay right down the street from our condo and it was so fun to have everyone there. Wade was over the moon to have both sets of grandparents there all weekend. The kids weren't spoiled at all!! Ashley and Zach were there too at Zach's uncle's place which is just about 10 minutes away. The guys played golf Saturday and we played outside. We had a little cake and ice cream after dinner to celebrate Josh's 31st birthday. Such a great time of year to go to the beach.
• Yesterday was Josh's actual birthday. Happy Happy Birthday to my sweet husband. We love you and hope you had a great birthday; thanks for all that you do for us!!!! We hope that you had a great day. He had to work all day :( but we ordered his favorite pizza for him when he got home. It was nice to eat at home and not have to cook!! After dinner I surprised him and had some of our friends meet us for yogurt. It was a lot of fun.
• Tonight we leaving WK with my parents and we are taking Wade to the fair. Wade is so excited and so are we. I couldn't ride anything last year because I was pregnant so I am so excited that I get to ride with Wade this year. He loves rides just like his momma!!
• Saturday we are finally getting to the pumpkin patch. We already bought ours for the front door but we want to take the kids to play and to do the hay ride. We are just trying to fit it all in in one week  :) We are all going to need a nap on Sunday.
• I am sure I am forgetting something but this is mostly what we have been up to. We are loving this weather and loving being outside and doing all this fun family stuff. I will get some pictures up soon!!
• Oh I forgot in my last post that Westin Kate now knows her name and when you call her or say her name she will smile first and then turn her head to look at you. It is the cutest thing! She also is learning the word "no" and when she pulls my hair and I say "no no" she will smile/laugh so big and keep doing it.
• Yesterday I saw a glimpse into our future...she was being dramatic. Oh welcome to the world of girls. She did not want to sit in her stroller and thought it would be cute to squeal and throw her head back a little bit. Oh trouble is coming!! I am not ready for her to get big.

Lately...

Things have been a little busy around here. The kids have had a little cold and we have had some issues with our house in Greenville. Long story short we have had some issues with this lady and cutting her grass. Pretty much this was the only issue we had for 10 out of the 12 months she lived there. Well the last two months of her lease she decided not to pay rent either. We thought we were going to have to evict her to get her out but thankfully we didn't have to.

Wade was so proud of himself. He came out of his room at nap time and said "I packed for the lake!" He got his suitcase out of the closet and packed one pair of shorts and one shirt and he was ready to go.



We are SO happy we have a property manager to handle all of this mess. She said she was going to be out two weeks ago but she wasn't. So our property manager emailed her and told her we would be there Friday to help her move out (this was a week after her lease was up.) So mom and dad took Wade to the lake and the three of us headed to Greenville. We got there Friday night and thankfully she was not there. The utilities were off (I am sure she didn't pay the bill) so technically the house was ours again. All the eviction/getting people out of your house rules are insane in NC. Thankfully it didn't come to that. All the neighbors were so excited we were there because they were SO ready for her to move. They have been cutting the front yard and said she was "crazy!!" I am just so thankful she did not trash the house. It was not clean by any means but it could have been a lot worse. Now the back yard....Holy Cow. It was a jungle. I don't know if she ever cut the grass in the back the entire time she lived there. It was almost up to our knees. Once again this is where we love having a property manager...now we don't have to worry about cleaning up all this mess.

However the reason we went to Greenville in the first place was because we had a showing at 10am Saturday for new tenants. They knew she was not out completely but were in town that morning. So we got to the house at 7am Saturday to do our best to pick it up a little before the showing. Our property manager found these people and said they were really interested. It needed a ton of cleaning and she had stuff in every room so there was no way with WK there that we were going to get it all done. We basically put all of her stuff in one room and just swept and wiped down the counters etc. We promised them when they got there that we would have it professionally cleaned and that the yard would look very different. I forgot to mention she had a huge POD in our front yard-in the grass of all places?? Thankfully they over looked the mess and the yard and signed a years lease. They seem really nice and I am glad we got to meet them. We have not met the last two tenants. Now PJ- who is the realtor that takes care of everything is busy busy. They want to move into the house in 9 days. I don't know how people rent without having a property manager. It is so nice that he gets everything done for us. The only thing we have to pay for is to have it cleaned. Because she neglected the yard he is charging her for that. Thankfully we get to keep her deposit so we really just didn't get paid for one month. So thankful for new tenants and they may want to stay 2 years which would be wonderful!!!! I took a picture of the yard and will have to put it up here. You wouldn't believe how bad it was.

WK was a trooper while we were there. She was so off schedule but she did great. Thanks to the Nicholson's for letting us sleep over Friday night. And thanks to Erin and Stephen our great friends and neighbors that we miss dearly. Because our power was off I had to pump at their house and WK even got to take a great morning nap over there. We appreciate all the help!!! We are so glad it rented again so quick and so thankful our old tenant has moved out. Here are some pictures from this week. WK looked so cute for church this past Sunday in her little flower bow. I am amazed at how easy it is to only have one child to get ready. We used to think one baby was hard but after having a weekend with just Westin Kate we realized how easy one was!!

All ready for her first Halloween!!!

8 Months Old!!

This past Saturday 10/6/12 Westin Kate turned 8 months old. She is growing WAY too fast. I went shopping for the kids tonight and it about broke my heart that I was shopping in the 12 month section for winter clothes. I still can't wrap my head around the fact that she is going to be one this winter. I am not going to have a baby anymore. I told Josh get ready because I am so going to baby her as long as I can. With Wade we took the bottle away at 9 months, the paci at 19 months etc. Not this time around. She is going to be our baby for awhile!!  She has been getting over a cold and now Wade has a cold so needless to say I am just getting around to posting this. Plus we have had some house drama in Greenville (I will save all that for another post!!)

Westin Kate is doing pretty good. She is just a happy girl all the time. We have had some issues with her not wanting to eat and it is driving me crazy. We never had any issues with Wade eating/pooping (tmi I know) but this is where they differ. I don't know if its from her reflux or because she is constipated but the child won't eat. Now in her case looks can be deceiving. She is a big girl but she pretty much weighs about the same as she did a month or two ago. She is not loosing weight but not gaining either. I have to force her most days to take in 4oz every 4 hours. I know newborns who are drinking 4 oz. So she gets only 16oz a day and should have 24oz or more for her age. Therefore I am still doing a 2-3am feed because she will actually nurse and its a good feed. During the day she will hardly ever nurse so now I have a love/hate relationship with the pump.

I don't know how moms do it when they don't breastfeed and just pump. Breastfeeding for me is so much easier and faster AND there are no bottles to wash!!! I think it would be better if I could pump both sides at the same time but one side of my pump is broken . It takes forever to pump one side at the time. I am going to try my hardest to get her to 11 months pumping but I am not making any promises :) She also does not want to eat baby food. I don't know what we are going to do with her. I can get her to eat 3/4 jar for breakfast and one jar at dinner and that is it. I really have to make her eat the entire jar. She would stop at half. Wade was eating three meals a day and eating 1-2 jars at lunch and dinner. I know its different being a girl (I guess) but 1/2 jar doesn't seem like much for a 8 month old. Any suggestions?? I have increased her reflux meds as of today so maybe that will help.

We did a suppository this weekend (will never do that again.) She had stomach cramps/gas for the rest of the night and felt horrible. It did help her use the bathroom but was not worth hearing her cry. I guess because she never ever cries that it just breaks my heart when she does. She goes to the bathroom most days but it is such a small amount. I just hate it for her :( I am trying to add some prune juice to her oatmeal but so far it hasn't helped any. Other than this she is doing great and here is what she is up to:

Clearly she was getting bored with our photo shoot at this point!!



• weighs around 19lbs; I don't have a clue how long she is
• wears size 3 diapers and mostly 9 months clothes. Is still wearing some 6 mo and some 12 mo PJ's
• eats 4oz of breast milk every 4 hours. We give her two oz of formula with breast milk for her night time bottle
• hates her baby food and only eats two jars a day if that-eats some table food every now and then
• takes a one hr morning nap and a 2-3 hr afternoon nap (has dropped her evening catnap)
• sleeps ok...goes down around 8/830p and sleeps until about 3am-eats and goes back to sleep
• smiles all day long at anyone and everyone
• loves to hold someone's finger/hand while falling asleep-sometimes we give in and stay with her :)
• loves sitting in the shopping cart and watching people
• is sitting well but doesn't want to stay in one spot; she falls over towards her stomach like she is ready to crawl somewhere
• is really pushing up with her arms and trying to get those knees up to crawl
• rolls all over the floor and can scoot herself backwards ( I do not want her to crawl yet so I keep putting her back on her little behind!!)
• just today she grabbed the side of the exersaucer and acted like she wanted to pull up (not ready for this either!!)
• loves Wade and little kids so much
• gets so excited when Josh gets home
• pulls Charlie's hair every time he gets close enough
• still only has two little bottom teeth
• pulls her paci out on purpose when you lay her down at night
• loves anything that plays music or sings
• laughs so hard when you say "bye bye" and tried to put her little hand up the other day to wave
• smiles so big when she sees all her hair bows hanging in her room

Westin Kate,
Please stop growing so fast and please start eating better!! I know I can't keep you little but I love this sweet baby age and hate to see it go. Before we know it you are going to be a toddler. You are a busy girl and your brother better watch out once you really start moving because I can tell you are going to be into everything (especially his toys!!) He got mad at you today for taking his new toy and chewing on it. You are sweet as pie but you are sneaky and we are going to have to watch you every minute. Daddy is going to have his hands full too. Tonight I saw him rocking you to sleep (we never do this) because he said you didn't feel good. Pretty sure you are not sick anymore but Daddy just wanted to hold you!!! You have him right where you want him these days. We are so excited about your first trip to the pumpkin patch and about your first Halloween. We are so thankful we get to be your parents!!! Happy 8 Months. I am sorry about your 8 month photo shoot-it was pajama day at our house because it was cold and raining and I didn't want to change you for your pictures.

It's hard to tell in these but she is trying hard to push up and get on her knees

This child is crazy...he is always making us laugh. He thought it would be funny to put WK's sticker on her head.

3.5 years old!!

Today my crazy, wild, stubborn, funny, silly, LOUD, happy, witty, and sometimes even sweet first born is 3.5 years old. I feel like it was just yesterday he was born or just last week that he was 18 months old and walking down the isle at Ashley's wedding. I really don't remember him as a little baby that well but I do remember his early toddler days. He was so so cute and chubby with his little blond hair. I still can't wrap my head around the fact that we are 6 months away from his 4th birthday.

Today as a three and a half year old he is busy all the time. He is so smart its scary. He is either loud or extra loud. He still looks just like his daddy. He can be the happiest child ever laughing so hard and literally 33 seconds later he crying and acting like the devil has invaded his body (kidding obviously!!) You get the point. Happy one minute and mean as a snake the next. He loves his sister and just yesterday he told me "You have to leave her door open when she is napping" I asked him why and he said "so I can hear her if she cries and go and check on her." He sometimes will be so mean to Charlie but two days ago he cried so hard when I spanked Charlie for running off!!! He has this sweet and tender side that I just love. Here is what he is up to: These pictures explain him to a "T."

• weighs 37 pounds
• around 38-39 inches tall
• wears mostly 3-4T clothes and size 11 wide shoes
• sleeps without "night night" underwear now but still has accidents at times during the night
• sleeps from 830p-7/730am every night
• takes one nap-usually around 2-2.5 hours long (sometimes he still naps on his floor!)
• loves to play in his playroom
• loves to play games/watch tv on the Ipad
• loves being outside and playing sports
• is really into anything super hero these days
• likes to pick out his own clothes and would pick pj's over anything
• loves school so much and has at least 9 girlfriends!!
• loves for anyone to tell him a story
• loves to draw or color
• would eat ice cream for every meal if he could
• pretty much a daddy's boy still (unless he gets in trouble by daddy...then he only wants mommy!!)
• is so cute and picks a couple of "favorite" things and always "needs" a bag to put them in and will carry his bag everywhere!
• loves his "pappy" bear best and still sleeps with all his animals

Wade,
We love you so much. You will always be our "baby" even though you are getting so big these days. Most days you look like such a big boy and it makes us sad. You are loud and crazy but oh so funny and so fun to be around. We even have a hard time disciplining you because we are trying not to laugh at you. You are smart as a whip. Your sister thinks you are the best thing in the whole world and you always make her laugh. We are so proud of you and can't believe you are 3.5 today. Thanks for being such a great "little" boy. We love you!!!!

Our Weekend

We had one of those weekends that are far and few between. We stayed home and did NOTHING!! It was fantastic. I didn't have to work and the weather was gloomy and we just hung out. Josh and I rented a movie Fri, Sat, and Sun night!!! Saturday Josh and Wade went to Lowe's and WK and I went to Target during her morning nap. It was heavenly. I got to spend 45 minutes walking around target with just myself and a sleeping child. 

Saturday Wade had his first real "play date." Courtney (Chase's mom) called me Saturday afternoon and said they wanted to have Wade over to eat dinner and play for a couple of hours. She really wanted him to spend the night but we had church early the next day and I just don't think Wade would actually sleep all night there. They live a good 15-20 minutes away and we did not want to have to get up at 2am because he was wanting to come home. So he went over for a couple of hours and had a blast. I think he would move in with him if he could. Josh and I still can't believe he is old enough to go play at a friends house.

Sunday our church had a celebration because we have been at the "West Cary" location for one year now. It was a great service and they had cake afterwards for everyone. We are so thankful we have found our church!! Wade loves it too and that always makes me so happy. It was so fun to all be at home together without a lot to do. Tomorrow my big boy is 3.5 years old. I will have to do a little post about what he is up to!!

Have I mentioned how much I love this sweet face!!!

End of the week random's

There is no explanation for this picture. Josh called me into Wade's room during nap time last weekend and this is what I saw. This is typical Wade...he was sleeping like this!! Wade asked me last week if he could sing "Whistle Baby" at school. I told him that wasn't a good idea. So then he asked if he could sing "Wrap you up" a county song. I don't listen to country but I guess Josh and him do!! He also knows the words and lets just say most of them are not age appropriate.

I never bring my camera to the park so Wednesday Wade was out of school and I decided to take it. We spent a few hours at the park and had the best time. We love this park best!! Here are a couple with Wade and his "brother" Chase. His "real brother" in case you were wondering!! I love their sweet and silly friendship.

It has been really cool in the mornings so I have had to keep her in a sleeper and once she takes her morning nap at the park I change her into something cooler. She is so ready to get down and move too. I love this group picture of Wade and his buddies. Poor Chloe is out numbered by boys in this picture.



Finally remembered to take some pictures of our finished products. Josh did a great job painting our chalk board. We also (Josh) painted the top of our half bath. We went with a grey blue that my sister used in her laundry room and I really like it. I love that we are almost all done updating the house!

These two little lovebugs make me smile. Wade got a hair cut today and it looks so cute. I will take some picture this weekend. Hopefully I will keep up with blogging. We have a big week coming up because Wade will be 3.5 and Westin Kate will be 8 months. My babies are growing way too fast :(

Love this time of year!!

We have been loving this weather. Sometimes I think I could do without Spring, Summer and Winter and just enjoy Fall weather year round. I love the cool mornings and the nice afternoons. We have been spending so much time playing at the park and it has been wonderful. Wade is LOVING school and everyday that he is not there he is asking to go. Part of this may have to do with Morgan and Brooke. I sure do hear those names a lot!!! Sometimes I feel like I am talking to a 13 year old and not a 3.5 year old. Here are some cute things he has said about them.

"Morgan and me smiled at each other and then I shared my toy with her!!" I was so proud of him. Then he tells me "I don't play with M anymore because he smells bad," "his hair smelled bad when we were in line!" Oh this child kills me.

"When I am a little older, like five or something, I am going to take Brooke on a date to Bojangles!" I told him I would drive them and he says "Parents don't go on dates with you." "I won't be scared when I am five."

 I told him he couldn't date or drive when he is five and he says "Wouldn't it be cool if there was a bike with another seat and another handle bar." Pretty sure he wants a double bike so they can go alone on their date. Um when did we learn the word "cool?"

He even picked a flower the other day and said he was going to take it to Brooke. Aren't we a little young to already be doing this??

Here are some pictures. Westin Kate has been doing great and loves playing with her feet and her toys. She has also found her hands and is so intrigued by them. She will hold them in front of her little face and just stare at them. I just love that she is getting to wear some of her Fall clothes. She looked too cute in her jeans the other day.

This is how we spend a lot of our time if we are inside. They both love to play in the playroom after their naps.

Oh and this was happy Wade before his first swim lesson. I just knew he was going to do great.  WRONG!! He threw the biggest crying fit he has ever done. He was really scared and would not get in the water. After a good 10-12 minutes of screaming and crying and two bathroom trips later we finally got him in the water. We were those parents who told the nice big guy to pick him up screaming and "carry him to the deep end" I knew once they got him in he would be fine. Parent of the year here!! His sweet teacher was too nice to make him get in.

These are not great pictures but notice the nice black guy in the water...he is the one who carried Wade out there. Of course he swam great and his teacher was SHOCKED that he wasn't scared once he got out there. We have been one other time since the "episode" and he did wonderful. He loves Miss Mallory now and got right in the water with her. We may even get her number in case we ever need a babysitter!! He has two more lessons with her.



My sweet child who is always smiling. Have I mentioned that she is the happiest and sweetest baby in the whole world (well at least to me!!) She was supporting the Pirates last week against UNC. Of course we wish the outcome would have been better. Poor little thing is sick this week and I just hate it. It hasn't been anything but a stuffy nose but today she woke up with a bad cough. It sounds pitiful. Thankfully she is sleeping pretty good and not coughing to often. I am ready for her to feel better. Wade my stubborn  sweet 3.5 year old would not stand with WK and take a picture; so I took one of him anyways and I love it even if he wouldn't cooperate!!