Where's the normality???

And I'm back.  This blog post has been days in the making.  We still don't have internet at our house so I have to use a computer when I can find time.  I have downloaded pictures twice at Trey's office and now I am at Puddin and Pops' house working on it.  I am just ready for some normality in my life.  Yes, we still have workers in our house, Trey is still in Jackson because the session has one more week, John Brantley has been sick, and today my house smelled like rotten eggs.

I called Trey to tell him of the major funky stinch and he said it might be a gas leak and to leave.  Well, hot dog.  Fortunately, the boys were at school so Annie and I packed up and headed out.  I'm hoping the issue is resolved when we go home. 

The other night someone brought us supper and even brought flowers!!!!  How nice was that!!!!  They have been a lovely addition to my kitchen table this week.  It's the little things in life, people.

To keep my life interesting, Bitty got the stomach bug last Saturday night.  When kids learn to get sick in the potty my life will be complete.  I believe my washing machine ran for 48 hours straight.  THANK GOD no one else got sick.  I am not even lying, I prayed and prayed and then prayed some more that no one else would get sick.  I'm pretty sure I couldn't handle that.  We eventually ended up at the doctor and the little guy lost a pound.  He was down to 25.5 lbs.  That puts his BELOW the 5th percentile in weight for his age.

This cool cat fled the coop when he learned that Bitty was sick.  He had his Puddin come and rescue him asap and stayed the night with her!

Whenever I sit down to feed Annie I always have a little visitor to come and check on us.  Usually he "needs me" or he wants to kiss Annie.  Nonetheless, I get company from the Bit.


He was pleased to go to school this morning equipped with his Easter eggs for the big hunt next week.


Ford just looked tough before school.


Yesterday, Ford and I had to go to the dentist.  I prepared our hygienist that she should rest her ears.  Ford always has a lot to say.


X-rays!!!!


Now if this isn't sweet, I don't know what is!!!!!!!

  While we were at the doctor when Bitty was sick, I asked them to weigh Annie.  She was 7 pounds 3 ounces at birth and 4 weeks and 2 days later she had gained a whopping 2 pounds and was 9 pounds and 3 ounces.  That puts her in the 25-50th percentile.

I'm just hanging out waiting until my momma feeds me again.

Baby sister and I spend a lot of time together.  She knows and prefers her momma.  Even when it's 3:00 AM and all I want is to sleep I try to cherish these moments.  She's my last baby, and I don't want to regret not snuggling enough.  

Annie does some amazing napping in her rock-n-play.   Big girl graduated to a size 1 diaper today.

I'll let the boys sleep with me "sometimes" when Trey is gone.  The other night I decided I needed a picture.  I absolutely sleep better when they are NOT in the bed with me, but it's a sweet time and I know one day I will wish they were snuggled up with me.

In other news, Ford starts baseball tomorrow.  It's going to be freezing cold and wet, but we shall be there with bells on.  Go Bandits!!! 
 
P.S.  My plan is to blog again before a week is over.....

 

Breaking out....freedom

I have escaped.  I'm on the outside right now,....alone.  Freedom is a lovely thing and it's something that I don't see often.  No, I haven't been locked up and I escaped from jail.  Rather, I have escaped my house....alone!!!  I rode in the car by myself.  No one talked to me.  There was no crying.  No noise.  Just the sound of the radio and my car driving away.  I have escaped to Trey's office to blog.  How therapeutic is this!!!!

 

 

My time here is limited on this blog post because Fancy instructed that I not be gone long.  I told him I needed 3.5 hours like he had this morning at his office.  He gave me the hairy eyeball.  Nonetheless, I needed to update y'all on my life.  We are all still alive, the house isn't completely done, and Annie will be 1 month old on Monday!!!!



My helpers!!!!  They are taking the dirty diapers to the outside trash.  Miss Priss probably goes through 14 diapers a day.   I am not even lying... and 12 are dirty.

Annie really isn't into being swaddled.  I swaddled my boys for almost 4 months.  This chick is not a fan.  She is like Houdini.  She manages to free her arms every time.   She is waking up twice a night.... about 1:30 and 4:30.  Those 4:30 feedings usually end her with her going back to sleep and me beginning my day.  To say that I am tired would be an understatement.

 

She won't take a bottle.  Now we have only tried once.  My parents stayed one night last week and mom, Gran, attempted the feeding.  Needless to say, she didn't get it.  She was majorly confused.  We must master this bottle deal.

 

She's still in newborn diapers, but I am thinking after this box is gone we will graduate to size 1.  She likes a bath more now.  She's not a fan of the head washing part though.  Honestly, she hates for anyone to mess with her head.  Period!



All good things come to an end, right?  Well, Annie sleeping 90% of the day and being calm and laid back went out the door.  And fast!!!  I wasn't blindsided, I knew it was colic time.  My boys both had stomach issues which lasted about a month or two and now Annie has caught on to this act too.  I went straight to Walgreens and bought our good friend, Colic Calm.  And I have since changed my diet.  Nothing spicy or greasy or acidic.  

Can you tell she has brothers??????  This was definitely one of Ford's pacis.  Bitty had nothing to do with such!

So we have wooden stairs in our house.   I have been a little worried/paranoid about the boys coming down the stairs for fear of falling.  Who knew you had to worry about them going UP the stairs too.  Yelp.... Stairs-1... Bitty-0.  Bitty was sock footed, slipped, and crashed head first into a step.  Fortunately, he's tough and only cried about 2 minutes.  Nothing some Ibuprofen and Gatorade can't fix.

This kid loves to go places.   If I have errands he's my right hand man and WILL be in tow.  He isn't going to miss an outing.  The other day he and I went to Walgreens and Wal-Mart.  Upon leaving Walgreens we passed another mother coming into the store with a child comparable in age to JB.  However, this child was ONLY dressed in a diaper.  John Brantley stared and then as loud as he could said, "Momma, why that boy nakey (naked)?"  I hurried him out of the store all the while wondering the same thing myself.  I told him he probably spilled something on his clothes!!!

 

Next stop was Wal-Mart.  While in the beauty and personal care section we see a girl in a t-shirt and pajama pants.  Again, as loud as he could he says, "Momma, why her in her jommies?  You no wear jommies (pajamas) to Mart!"   All I could do was say "Sshhhhhhhhh!"

I was paying some bills the other day and Bitty was all up in my business.  After I finished and stuffed the envelope I licked it to seal it closed.  All the while, he is watching and then comes the comment, "You not posed (supposed) to eat paper, Momma!"


There is NO privacy in my house.  If you come to visit and stay the night please note that you will be barged in on at any time.  When I do anything I have an audience, including nursing Annie.  Right after she arrived John Brantley came to investigate what I was doing.  He stared and stared at her eating and then says, "What's her doing?"   I responded, "She's eating."  He thought for a minute and came back with, "Dere's (There's) not milk in dere (there)."

 

The next day he comes back and sees me feeding again.  He stares and then says, "You gots more???"

There other day they had Pirates and Princesses Day at school.  I am all about dressing up and if you're going to do it.... do it right!  Amen!!??!!???

This dude is obsessed with weighing himself.  He knows you must weigh 40 pounds (MS law) to ride in a booster seat.  He is constantly fluctuating between 39 and 41 pounds.  He weighs himself numerous times a day.

 

He is also into the weather.  He grabs my phone any chance he can get to see what our weather looks like, along with Jackson, NYC, and Cupertino.  He always wants me to guess the temp and then ask me where I would rather be at the time.

NO ONE wants to hold and love on this baby more than Ford Lamar.  No one.  He takes being a big brother very serious.  Please note that he prayed and prayed and PRAYED for a baby sister for at least a year before I ever got pregnant.  Send your prayer requests his way... God listens apparently!!!!

New house.  Yep.... we built one.  Critters inside.  Absolutely!  Yep... we have now caught THREE baby flying squirrels in our attic.  This was the first one we caught.  The boys were super excited to release it one morning before school.  And Delta, our dog, was super excited to chase the poor thing.

 

BIG congrats to Representative Daddy!!!!  He was unopposed again and will be back in Jackson as the Representative for District 8 for four more years.  God be with me!

Sister and I do a lot of rocking and snuggling.  She absolutely knows who her momma is, and I can calm her down.  

The boys sleep together, otherwise John Brantley ends up in my bed.  This night I put them all in the bed together for a picture.  Notice Ford.... he's all about Annie.

God is good.  I have three beautifully healthy children that brighten my day!

 

There's no place like home

 

There’s no place like home.  Yep.  That’s right.  And I will be quite honest…. None of us even know where our home is at the moment.  We have successfully lived in 3 houses in the last 10.5 months and it’s a lot to take on, especially for the boys.  John Brantley has spent a lot of time upset, usually at bedtime, crying because he wants to go home.  I think a portion of this is attributed to the fact that his outside play toys haven’t been moved from our rental house because of all the rain.  The other night he started saying, “I want to go to the old house.”  Ford wanted to know what he was saying so I told him.  The next thing I know Ford is crying too!!!  He said he missed the basketball goal at the old house.  I told him maybe he could ask for one on his birthday on May 1.  That’s not too far away, but in a child’s eyes it really is.  And to top it off, Trey started in on me too.  Last night I walked into the living room and he was lying on the couch.  He said he wasn’t sure about our new couch (I think he meant the comfort level) and felt like Bitty.  I asked what that meant.  He said he missed home too.  I thought, “CRAP!!!”  We have spent a year building “our” house and now everyone isn’t settled.  It’ll take time.

Honestly, a BIG part of the problem is…. We moved about 2 weeks too soon.  We still have builders all in our house.  It’s a mess.  They have tracked dirt in, beat hammers everywhere, taken doors down and rehung them swinging other directions, ripped apart my kitchen etc.   It’s a HUGE mess, people.  Our kitchen still isn't in complete working form, and I am sooooo grateful for those people who have brought us supper.  It has meant the world to me. 

I can't even make myself a pitcher of unsweet tea!!!!!!!  Hopefully I'll be able to use it this week.  Hopefully.

Gosh, I almost forgot the most exciting part!!!!!!!!....  So we moved last Saturday and as I have stated, things have been hectic to say the least.  Well, after we got all the offspring to bed on night #1 we sat down to enjoy the peace and quiet and discuss what all needed to be done the next day.  In true Jill fashion, I started some laundry.   Why not, right!?!?!  Well, I thought the washing machine sounded loud.  And it was loud.   After a few minutes I went to check on the situation and we had a FLOOD!!!!!!!  The movers didn’t stick the hose for the water down in the hole and it was pouring all over my floor.  Thank goodness it’s concrete floors and we used a ShotVac to get some of the water up before that broke.  We opted for towels…lots of towels.  And will you know that after all the nightmare, the dryer wouldn’t work.  I thought a lot of not nice words.  A lot of them!!!!  Trey fixed the washer and the electrician fixed the dryer.  He had a bad switch on the breaker box.  Night #1 was not my idea of fun.

 

Kids....

 

Tomorrow Annie will be 3 weeks old.  My oh my, how did this even happen???  I feel like I have lived in a funk the last three weeks.  I do.  I have been trying to cope with sleep deprivation, a newborn, two small boys, a husband, moving, and the fact that I was sliced open like a Christmas ham.  I am about to toot my horn… I am pleased to announce that I have acted very good so far.  I don’t feel terribly crazy (post-partum fun) and I haven’t slowed down yet.  I think I deserve to since I did have major surgery, but I haven’t had time to.

Back to Annie.  For the first 15 days she slept like a champ.  I mean sleeping like 90% of the day.  This was a huge blessing considering that was during our move.  On day 15 she pretty much came to life, if you will.   She still sleeps more than my boys, but not 90% of the day.  We went to the doctor when she was two weeks old and she passed all of her tests with flying colors. 

Weight: 7 lbs. 14 oz. – 25^th percentile    (birth weight was 7 lbs. 3 oz.)
Height: between 20 ¼ and 20 ½ inches- 50^th percentile
Head circumference: 36.5 in.- 25^th percentile   (Might I add, the boys both scored 75^th on the head)

Her naval dealy fell off at day 18…. Finally!!!  She’s waking up twice a night to eat.  Usually she manages to pee or poop all over herself, while being changed, during one of those feedings, so we have to have a complete wardrobe change.  This is always a fun activity because she detests changing clothes and then she is wide awake by the time we are dressed again.  She cries when it’s bath time.  Hates that!!!!  She gets pretty ticked when she ruins her britches or if it’s time to eat.  I think it’s safe to say she likes to be held and cuddled.   We do that a lot!







The morning that she turned 2 weeks old

Annie met her new friend, Maggie, last night.

The Bitty Man has done better at this big brother business than I thought.  He hasn’t been jealous.  He’s intrigued by her.  Sometimes I catch him doing things he shouldn’t like: putting a whistle in her mouth or trying to share his sippy cup of milk with Annie.  He likes to hold her, know where she is, and assist with bath time.  It’s hard to balance his needs and hers at the same time sometimes.  He’s still very much a baby and dependent on me for so much.  He says, “I need you” a lot of times when I am rocking and feeding Annie.  I have mastered holding them both at the same time.  Going up the stairs isn’t possible though.



The other night I asked him to go upstairs and get the white soap.  Well, I heard all kinds of commotion.  He tried to carry two white soaps and some Johnson’s soap down the stairs.  Maybe he put one in his mouth, I don’t know, but he started crying.  I asked what happened and he was hollering that he had soap in his mouth.  I laughed, took a picture, and then we got water to wash it down.  Naturally, all the fun stuff happens while I’m feeding.

Bitty and cousin Jack playing a ditty.

Bottoms up!!!!!

Then there’s sweet Ford.  He has done exceptionally well with being a big brother two times.  And might I add that he takes this job very seriously.  He is pretty self-sufficient.  He can get himself something to drink or eat.  He can go to the bathroom alone and work the dvd player (we still don’t have cable).  He is also helping in the potty training with John Brantley.  He is just as excited as Bitty is when he tells someone or uses the potty.

He will be starting baseball this week.  This is the real deal city league baseball.  We have moved on from the church and are about to start playing some ball.  I love baseball and can’t wait to see my little man out on the field.  I pray that his OCD obsessed self with being the best will simmer down a bit.  Otherwise it might be a long hard season and life for that matter.

I have enjoyed my therapeutic blogging time here with y’all.  The layout of the blog didn’t go as I planned because I’m at Trey’s office working on this post.  Hopefully, we will have internet soon. 

 

Yes, we had another inclement weather day!

Well, we've been home for a week and things have actually gone surprisingly well.  Annie is a dream baby.  I don’t want to jinx myself, but she really is.  I have allowed my boys to be loud and wild all around her.  She sleeps through major chaos and rarely cries.  She gets upset if: she’s hungry, has dirty pants, or is tired of being in a certain position too long.  And her cries aren't much… just little whimpers.   Ford and Bit are obsessed.  The newness definitely hasn't worn off.

Ford wants to hold her all the time.  Who am I kidding, John Brantley does too.  John Brantley has actually far exceeded my expectations.  He is super sweet and helpful.  If she starts crying he will take off running to get her paci.  He also assists with every diaper change he is awake for.  He likes to hand me the wipes, diaper, and he disposes of all dirties.

His lap runneth over….

I’m breast feeding Annie, as I did my boys.  I honestly can’t imagine not being able to feed her myself.  I know that some babies won’t cooperate and some moms just can’t do it, so I am so thankful I am able to.  It’s a huge commitment, but I love it.  It’s a special time and I feel such a bond with my babies.  Annie caught on to eating a lot quicker than Ford and Bitty did.  She is a very messy eater and dribbles milk all over both of us.  She eats every 2-3 hours during the day depending on her sleep schedule.  At night she goes about 4 or 4.5 hours.

 Bobba and her first great-granddaughter

 Again, he loves the child.  He also finds it necessary to hold her head.

 Looks like Ford had a rough night.

First bath at home...

 She got M-A-D when I pulled a band-aid off of her leg from the hospital.

 This little guy loves some tools.  We put batteries in his drill and he fixed things in the house all day.

 Annie at one week old....I wish she would show you her little dimple in the right cheek.

 Excellent sleeper.

 Most people in the south get very excited about snow and days off of school.   Honestly I used to until we missed 7 or 8 days in the last 3 weeks.  I’m over it people.  OVER IT!!!!!!!  Today was another inclement weather day, and guess what???.... tomorrow is too.  The boys wanted to go check it out today so out we went during one of Annie’s naps.

 Ford walked down the street to get his friend, Cade, who is in 7th grade, to play with him.  Bless that child's heart for playing with my 5 year old!!!  Ford later came in crying because he was so cold.

 John Brantley got frustrated that his 4-wheeler got stuck so many times.  After about 15 minutes he requested to go inside and take a hot bath.

We are moving this weekend.  It's crazy that 10 days ago I had a baby via C-Section and since then I have been packing boxes to move.   I could collapse and die soon.  Trey wants to know why I have started snoring since coming home from the hospital.  I responded with... I'm EXHAUSTED!!!!!!!

And a BIG BIG thanks to those of you who have brought us supper.  It has made my life so much easier and for that I am thankful!!!!!