Christmas 2008

Time flies when you are having fun! How cliche is that? How true it is though. With two little ones in the house their is NEVER a dull moment. (Three if you count Lucas) I have always thought that the older we become the less hectic our life would be because we would be settled into routine and more organized. I have been totally wrong in thinking that! It seems that everyday is a juggling act and we are hoping to get balance but it will probably never come. This is what makes life an adventure.

This year Robert has grown to become such a little man. He has taken to becoming a big brother much better than and has such a strong love for Thomas. Robert spent three weeks away from his mom and dad this year visiting New Mexico and for the first time California. In May, the Shiver's visited Kathy and Jason in the Washington, D.C. area and Robert saw his second professional baseball game and got to ride the Metro. (which he talked about for weeks afterward) His mind is quickly developing and he is beginning to make personal connections to the things around him. The brain is such an amazing tool! Robert started soccer this fall and seemed to enjoy it most of the time. (As long as too much attention was not directed to him) He is beginning to understand letter sounds and learn to write. He is a perfectionist and is working on accepting things that are not perfect on his first try.

Thomas has had a great 8 months. He is developing quite a personality and loves Robert just as much as Robert loves him. In October, he had outpatient surgery at Riley Children's Hospital in downtown Indianapolis to remove a small hemangioma on his face. It was not causing him discomfort but once he began to gain more control of his arms and hands he would scratch it and cause it o bleed extensively so we decided to have it removed. We thank everyone who prayed for Thomas and the staff Riley as the procedure was a textbook surgery, in and out in 5 hours. Thomas began to crawl this past week and is really beginning to love his new mobility.

Our family increased by two this year, obviously one being Thomas and finally our baby girl, Sweet Mary, a.k.a. the new greyhound. She is tiny and petite (for a greyhound), only 50 pounds! Unlike our other greyhounds who rocked the scale in the upper 70's and low 80's. She was a perfect match for Buddy who was becoming lonely without Rambler. Their friendship was short but they comforted each other when they needed it most. Buddy was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer in the summer and left our family in September. It was a difficult time for everyone but we are once again adjusting to life with one dog.

Lucas is a little more than half way through his MBA program and looking forward to his graduation in the spring of 2010. He once again will begin a new position at work for the new year. The travel will be minimal, thank goodness!

After havig Thomas in March, Michelle began to get her résumé together and apply for jobs. She knew that in His time the right job would come along but it was disheartening that she did not get a full time position at the beginning of the school year. Thankfully she is now employed as a Title 1 Instructional Assistant in the Franklin Township school district and as an independent distributor for Premier Designs Jewelry. When you ask you will receive, both jobs started the same week!

Christmas is looking to be rather hectic, we leave for New Mexico in one week and will be there for 10 days visiting family and friends in Albuquerque, Carlsbad, and Cloudcroft. Despite the craziness of driving all around we are excited to see people and introduce Thomas to green chile......well, we'll see if that happens.

Merry Christmas and God Bless.

Luke, Michelle, Robert, Thomas and Mary

On the Move

Thomas is beginning to crawl. This video was taken by our friend at Sharon and Vince's home.

Half a Decade . . .

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Thanksgiving 2008

It was a pretty quiet Thanksgiving this year with just the four of us. Robert tried turkey, cheese, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie at school, so we were excited to see what he would do around the Shiver house. He did try a piece of turkey, and by piece I mean a quarter sized piece wrapped in bread, but he tried it, and with him that is the biggest fight. He enjoyed the pumpkin pie as well, but gave up on it after Thanksgiving day and switched to an all whip cream dessert preference. Thomas tried a little bit of pumpkin pie and seemed to enjoy it, perhaps he will be eating turkey at this time next year, only time will tell.

Thankful

This time of year everyone reflects on what they are thankful for, here are a few of mine.

• Robert tried turkey, mashed potatoes, corn and pumpkin pie.
  
• Thomas has 3 teeth
• 2 healthy and happy kids
• 1 healthy and happy husband
• great friends (new and old)
• good jobs

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

TTT

Thomas is now officially, Two Teeth Thomas (TTT). Along with his second tooth coming in this week he also has his first REAL cold. Today he had a slight fever and just seemed to be feeling a little yucky. Of course anytime Robert comes into view Thomas' face light up. I love seeing how much they love each, I hope and pray that this will last forever! :)

Robert is getting excited to see The Lion King with mom and dad the day after his birthday. He is also enjoying showing us everything he wants for Christmas in the ads every Sunday.

Last week I begin a new position as a Title 1 Instructional Assistant for the 4th grade. I am enjoying meeting with my small groups. Hopefully, this week I will be moving into a bigger storage closet. (I am not joking) It will be nice to not have to have two walls of textbooks around me.

Pumpkins

Last week I went to the pumpkin patch with Robert's class and these are the pumpkins we found. You can't see Robert's but his is taller and slimmer than Thomas'. The pumpkin we found for Thomas fits him well, short and plump! We had a fantastic time, minus the wind.

I forget to post that Thomas can now sit up independently and has one tooth and another one on the way.

Robert has one more soccer game this weekend. We are surprised at how much he has come out of his shell during this soccer season. We would like to believe that is has something to do with playing soccer but it could simply be that he is just a social "late bloomer" like his mom. It is still a work in progress but he is really starting to be heard in groups now.

I recently became an Independent Distributor for Premier Designs Jewelry and can't wait to get started. I have three shows booked for November and possibly one for December. (Thanks mom!) So, if you live near us and are reading this be looking for an invite to my "Grand Opening" in mid-November!

Pictures

Long Day

Today was a long day to say the least. Thomas' surgery went well and he did wonderful until they tried to give him a sugar water bottle when he woke up in recovery. We were taken out of the recovery room quickly after he started screaming. About 10-15 minutes later in our alcove, we were allowed to give him some formula and his mood drastically changed. He drank his bottle so fast I was sure he was going to get sick, thankfully he did not.

The nurse came to get Thomas a little before 10 and we were able to see him around 11:30-11:45 and we left the hospital at 1. We were there for less than 5 hours, one family had an 8 hour surgery to sit and wait through, we are truly blessed with healthy boys. Whenever I felt sad about what he was going through I looked around and realized I had nothing to be sad about, we were going home in a few hours. The surgeon called about an hour ago to check in, very comforting. Unfortunately, I got the impression that tomorrow will be worse than today as far as looks and pain.

Robert once again has led us to believe we have the smartest kid on earth living in our house. He and Lucas were watching The Bee Movie when Lucas asked him if he knew what a hexagon was. Robert replied with, "Yes, it has 6 sharp things." Some of his details are a bit skewed but he at least knew that "6" was part of it. :)

FINALLY

So, I have finally taken a few minutes to blog. Things have been busy this month. We took an unexpected trip to Dallas for a funeral and we have not stopped since. My dad was here last week and we had a project for him to complete. We bought our neighbors play set the week before he arrived and he and Lucas put it back together, sanded and stained it. Pictures will be coming soon. It looks FABULOUS!

Thomas had his 6 month check up on Friday, he is now 17lbs 15oz and 261/2" long. I swear every night he changes. We met with the plastic surgeon at Riley this morning and finalized the plans for Thomas' surgery on Friday, October 17. Please pray with us that everything goes well and also for the doctors and nurses who will be taking care of him. We are so blessed to have such great friends to help us out during this time.

Robert is learning so much at daycare. He can now write his name well and in order on the paper. It is amazing to see him try to make sense of the world around him. He is now beginning to make connections with his previous experiences and is always full of questions. It is hard to believe that in 2 months he will be 5! Time really does fly. He is enjoying playing soccer most of the time. He really dislikes when we (or anyone) cheers for him. On top of soccer Robert is now part of the Awana club that meets on Sunday afternoons at our church. He is really coming out of his shyness.

Hopefully, it will not take me a month to get new pictures up.

Buddy--GB's Follow Me

Today was a sad day for the Shiver family, Buddy was quietly put to rest. Three weeks ago we took Buddy in to the vet and found out he had cancer in his spleen and that it was rapidly growing. Robert knows that Buddy is now in Heaven with Rambler and that Mary needs lots of love because she (and we) are going to miss him. He was a great dog and beloved member of our family.

5 Months (and other updates)

It has been a crazy week or so around here! Last Thursday morning Thomas scratched the side of his face, where he has a hemangioma, and caused it to bleed. The hemangioma should flatten out by the time he is 10, but the bleeding scared Lucas and I enough to make an appointment to see the doctor. She took one look at it and decided to refer us to a pediatric plastic surgeon at Riley Children's Hospital. We are waiting on a call to back to let us know when the appointment is, hopefully soon.

At the appointment we found out that Thomas now weighs 17lbs! He has started solid foods and has tried rice cereal, carrots, summer squash, and zucchini. This summer I made a bunch of food for him and froze it in ice cube trays. It amazes me how easy (cheap & healthy too) it is to make Thomas' baby food. Hopefully he will be more willing to try new things to eat than his older brother. He also rolled over from his back to his belly this weekend.

Speaking of, we signed Robert up for soccer and went to meet his coach on Saturday. But when we got there we found out his team did not have a coach and we were asked if we were interested. Thankfully, someone else stepped up and we now have a coach. His first game will be at the end of September.

Robert's Vocabulary

This week Robert has decided to share some new words with us. At dinner on Tuesday night Lucas had a glass a beer and Robert was asking him if he was sure he could drink it all. He then proceeded to ask "Why do you have a kegerator?" Then on Wednesday morning while we were putting Thomas' bottles in the fridge at daycare he asked me "Are those just breast milk?" We are not ashamed of the words he knows, but it is shocking when he uses them. The whole thing about watching what you say because your toddler will repeat it never happened with Robert . . . it is all coming out now!

4 Months

This morning Robert and I took Thomas for his 4 month check up. He is doing well. He weighs 15.15lbs. and is 25". He is in the 50% percentile for height and 75% for weight and head circumference. We have tried rice cereal but he does not seem too interested in it yet. Thomas only had to receive 2 shots today. Robert was very concerned while the nurse administered them, he was almost in tears. He did not want the nurse to hurt the baby, it brought tears to my eyes. Thomas is usually waking up once during the night which is nice for me.

Today was also his first day at daycare. Luckily, (I think) I had an interview and had to rush out the door so no tears were shed. I interviewed for a position at a school about 2 miles from our house and I will find out on Wednesday if I got the job. Please pray I do, I do not want to sit through another interview. :)

It will be a week or so before I can post pictures because my hard drive on my laptop died and we are waiting for a new one to arrive. So in the mean time I am working on the desktop and I can never remember how to upload the pictures from the camera.

He's Baaaaack!

After 3 weeks away from home, Robert finally arrived yesterday with Grandma and Grandpa Shiver. He was excited to see mom and dad but when asked who he missed the most, he told Grandpa Jack "Mary."

Gone Fishin'

Robert's travels through the Land of Enchantment continued Wednesday with a trip to Shady Lakes. The point of the trip was to try out his Lightning McQueen fishing rod, so Grandpa Jack enlisted the help of Great Grandpa Eddie as the Shivers are not known for their fishing prowess. After a few short casts Robert was soon hitting the middle of the lake, but he initially was not the best at "setting the hook." I had no idea what setting the hook is, but it is when you pull up on your rod to grab the fish. The first few got away but soon Robert got the hang of it and grabbed three trout in short order, one of which is 12 inches!

Milestone

Thomas has learned to roll over from his belly to his back.
Watch out world he is growing FAST!

Robert is on the final leg of his vacation, Albuquerque with Lucas' parents. Once again this week is full of activities--baseball game, hiking and fishing. I am not sure how he is feeling about coming home but I can hardly wait to see him. I have a feeling that as soon as he gets home he is going to run right past Lucas and I to see Thomas.

Robert Update

My dad called a couple of hours ago to let us know that they had just arrived at the San Diego Zoo. Yesterday Robert went to Sea World and had a wonderful time. His favorite part was feeding the sea lions. He also was kind enough to remember Thomas when he was picking souvenirs. My dad said that last night he had a blast picking avocado's off the tree at my uncle's house. Once again, it does not take much to entertain this child!

Of course this information is second hand, Robert still does not want to talk on the phone to us.

Where in the World is Robert?

Robert has been gone for 8 days now. He spent this past week with my mom and step-dad (Deryl) in Carlsbad. Thanks to "Uncle" Billy, he finally got the Lightning McQueen fishing pole he has asked me for every time we go shopping. The picture to the left is Robert casting his line in my mom's backyard with Billy and Elsie watching. They are probably remembering their baby casting a fishing pole, he graduated from high school in May and is off to college soon. Robert also saw Wall-E this week and spent some time with uncle Danny and GG. My mom gave Robert some Skittles one day when he was at work with her. A bit later they went to the park to play (he was VERY wound up) and while I was on the phone with my mom, Robert was playing with Deryl, and she had to get off the phone quickly because he was throwing his shoes and he hit another kid! That is what she gets for giving him candy!

Today he left for California with my dad. I believe that tomorrow they are going to Sea World in San Diego, Wednesday the San Diego Zoo and maybe the beach. Thursday and Friday they will spend in Calexico hanging out with my grandmother. I will update his travels later this week.

And finally, thanks to Ainsley for allowing Thomas to borrow her Bumbo seat, Thomas can sit up unassisted. What will they think of next.

On Thursday 6/3, Thomas was 14.3 lbs!

For Robert

Robert has been gone for 2 days but it feels like 2 weeks! I know he is enjoying himself but this year it is taking him a bit longer to adjust being without us. Sunday, he told my mom he was ready to come home. (That is the day arrived so this picture is for him) He is slowly warming up but it is hard to hear that your child is not having the time of his life. Today we went to the movies to see Wall-E. My mom said that he really like the movie and when I called she asked him he wanted to tell me about it and once again he said "NO." I am taking that as a good sign because last year he did not want to talk us either.

Thomas is now 3 months old and changing daily. I am amazed at all the new things he is doing. He has started to laugh out loud, but whenever I try to record him he stops. He is now wearing 3-6 month clothes. I have been reading books on making baby food for him instead of buying it. Maybe if I make food for him he will like more than 1 flavor of baby food. Robert loved sweet potatoes and that is all he ate, well fruit too, but no other veggies or mixed meals. Other than trying to broaden his palate it is more economical.

Today we went to visit a friend and had a great time. It is always nice to catch up. I have not been good about keeping in touch with people since Thomas was born but I hope to start being better.

5 Days Left

That is how many days we have left with Robert until he goes to NM to visit our family. I am starting to get sad but I know he is going to be so busy that he is not going to have time to miss us. My dad is taking him (and my nephew Jordan) to San Diego to meet his family.

Lately, Robert has been telling Lucas and I that we can play with his toys while he is gone. He has also reminded me not forget to feed, burp and change Thomas' diaper. (I think that he will miss Thomas more than Lucas & I.)

This week we are attending VBS and Robert is having a wonderful time. Someone told me last night that they had to look twice because they saw Robert singing and dancing. You all know that my son is pretty shy in public but he is starting to come out of his shell. Yea!

Finally, thank you to everyone who has brought Lucas a case of Shiner Bock when they traveled to a state where it is sold. It is now officially sold in Indiana! :)

Helping dad wash all the cars this past weekend.

More Broccoli Please

No Robert did not try broccoli but Lucas did and LOVED it. I have been thinking that we need to eat more vegetables so I pulled out a cookbook and found some new recipes to try. I figured that Lucas would eat anything with chipotle powder on it, and I was right. Here is the recipe for anyone who wants to try it.

Roasted Broccoli with Cumin-Chipotle Butter
5 tsp unsalted butter
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground chipotle powder
1/4 tsp sugar
1 bunch broccoli (1-11/4 lbs), cut into florets

Preheat oven to 450. Spray baking sheet with nonstick spray.

In a small skillet over med heat, melt butter. Add salt, cumin, chipotle powder, and sugar; cook 30 seconds. Toss butter mixture with broccoli in a large bowl. Place broccoli on the prepared baking sheet and bake 12-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender and lightly browned.

Serves 4



I thought this was a cute picture of Thomas. He does not take a pacifier well but loves to suck on his burp cloths or my shirt. Robert decided at the last minute to jump into the picture, he love being a big brother.

As a side note, we did not have any damage from the flooding this weekend but our neighborhood streets were flooded pretty bad. Two retention ponds in the front division actually flooded into one large pond for a couple of days. Columbus, where Lucas works, has been hit bad. A few of the Cummins buildings were flooded. Please keep the families in this area in your prayers.

2 Month Check Up

Thomas had his 2 month check up this morning. Not to brag, but I will quote Dr. Fox, "He is perfect. He is doing everything he is supposed to be doing." He is now 12.7 lbs (75%) , 22 inches (50%), and 16 inches for his head(75%). He also had to get 5 shots and 1 oral vaccine. The picture below is his thigh. Please take notice of the band-aid, no cute kid band-aids anymore, that is the name of a vaccine he got. Gotta love the pharmaceutical companies marketing. :) Nothing else exciting happened and he does not have to go back until August. That is when we will start talking about introducing foods. I am not ready to think about that, time is flying too fast.

Robert will be spending almost the entire month of July in NM this year. He is looking forward to it but I am the one that is more nervous. I know he will have a great time, he did last year, but I will miss him.

D.C. Vacation

This is the only family picture we have from our vacation this past weekend. Of course, Robert does not want to look at the camera. We drove to Cambridge, OH on Thursday night and stayed in a hotel so Robert could go swimming in the morning. It was also nice to break up the 10 hour drive and travel while the boys slept. We arrived in D.C. (VA actually) in the afternoon and then went to dinner at a wonderful New Mexican restaurant. They actually served green chile there! Remember, this is in Virginia!


Saturday morning we woke up and went to the National Mall to see some of the monuments. We went to the Washington Monument, the World War II Memorial, and the Lincoln Monument. On our way to lunch we walked by the Korean War Memorial. Because it was Memorial Day weekend there were tons of veterans at the memorials. When we were at the Korean War Memorial, a man in a wheelchair stood up and saluted and it brought tears to my eyes. There is something about a person in a military uniform saluting that makes me feel like I am not worthy of their sacrifice. After hours of walking we ate lunch and went back to take naps. Later that night we walked around Reston Town Center and had dinner outside. Luke tried a Bison burger and loved it. Go figure, Robert tried nothing. He could not even be bribed with ice cream.



Sunday we all slept in. We went to the new Washington Nationals stadium to watch the Nationals play the Brewers. If you can call it a win, I call it luck, the Nationals won on a wild pitch. Robert had a great time and of course all he could talk about on the metro ride to the game was popcorn. Both of our boys have been to professional baseball games as their first times to a game. It was an all day affair and so it was nice to just order in food and hang out.


Monday we woke up and left for home about 6 a.m. We were making great time until the fuel line on the truck we were driving broke just outside of Indianapolis. It had to be towed and a friend came and picked the boys and I up. Overall it was a great trip.

Indy 500

Here in Indianapolis the entire month of May is devoted to celebrating the Indy 500. Here is Robert's daycare version of the race.

A Few Ramblings

This is one of the few times I have been able to let Robert do a craft while Lucas was at work.

So, on to the rambling. With Thomas' acid reflux he spits up large amounts during the day and I was having a hard time getting the smell out of our clothes. He seems to have sensitive skin, so we have been using a free and clear laundry soap, but it did nothing for the smell. After searching around on the internet I found out that my laundry soap needed to have enzymes to zap the smell. Yesterday I searched the aisle of laundry soap, like a frantic dieter does reading the labels of food, looking for the word enzymes on the back of the bottles of soap. I quickly realized ingredients are not listed on all soap which now concerns me. Of course, Dreft has enzymes but I figured there had to be another one. (I am cheap) After searching for 5 minutes I decided that for sake of time and Lucas' sanity (he had both boys and was trying to cook dinner) I bought the Dreft. Go figure, laundry soap designed for babies gets the spit up smell out of clothes! So for any mommies reading this, use Dreft, your nose will thank you. (I am not being paid to push this product :) )

Here is a video of Robert teaching Thomas the important things in life.

7 Hours

It is 6 a.m. on Saturday and I am thrilled to be awake. Are you thinking crazy, sleep-deprived mom? That is not the case, Thomas slept through the night. I am sure it was a fluke and he probably will not do it again tonight and I am fine with that. I can not remember the last time I slept for 7 hours straight!

I am eliminating milk from my diet for a few weeks to see it helps Thomas' tummy. I started yesterday, but I am surprised at how many things contain some sort a milk product in them. Last night I resisted chocolate mint cake and cookies at our Bible study and came home to have granola and vanilla rice milk for dessert. Hopefully, this along with the Zantac, and Gripe Water will help make Thomas a happier baby.

We are taking our first vacation with Thomas next weekend. We are driving to D.C. to see my friend. When I told Robert we were going on vacation, he assumed we were flying to NM. I totally let him down when I said we were not going to NM. He was disappointed when I told him we are not flying but quickly changed when I told him we were staying in a hotel. I love how he reminds me it is the little things in life that are exciting!

Brotherly Love

Robert is in LOVE with Thomas. When Robert talks to Thomas (in a nice voice) while he crying, Thomas usually settles down. It is so amazing to see them together and interacting this way.

We did not expect Thomas to be like Robert. We did assume he would be laid like Robert was, but that is not the case. Thomas has been a lot fussier than Robert ever was but we simply thought that was just his personality. This past week it has become worse so Robert and I took him to the doctor today to discuss the possibility of acid reflux. He has been gaining weight well, he was 11lbs this morning at the doctor, so I was not sure if I was just being paranoid. As it turns out the little guy does have acid reflux and is now on Zantac. Hopefully, this will help slow the acid production in his stomach but Dr. Fox did say that it will not help with the spitting up. So I will have to continue doing laundry every day (or other day) to deal with that. As long as he becomes happier I don't care how much laundry I have to do each day.

Wii

Lucas has been wanting a Wii, so I bought him one as a late birthday present a week ago. Being more disciplined than myself, Lucas put it away until his finals were over. Last night we let Robert play and he had a blast.

One Month

It is hard to believe that one month has passed since Thomas was born. He is changing so quickly. At his one month check up last week he weighed 9 lbs. 10 oz. and is now 22" long! He is waking up only a couple of times during the night, which is nice because I can make it all day with out a nap. Robert is still enjoying his role as big brother and has enjoyed visiting with his grandparents. I feel like I am finally starting to get a handle on taking care of the boys and keeping up with the house. Usually the house gets put on the end of the list but I am fine with that because the boys will only be little once and we will never be able to get back this precious time.

Start to a career?

Even Emeril had to start somewhere. Well, Robert helped out Grandma Louise this morning as she was preparing some carne adovada (pork and red chile). Instead of "Bam!" Robert was doing "The alligator" with the tongs. In 20 years perhaps he will do this with a bit more flare and have screaming fans around him.

Follow the Bouncy Ball

Ever since I saw those big bouncy balls in the movie Big I have wanted one. That was one of many childhood dreams that was unfulfilled........but the good thing for Robert is that his Uncle Aaron and Aunt Michelle got him one. He is having a blast and I think that in only a little bit of time he will be chasing the dogs around on this thing.

New Backyard Friends

As I was typing up the last blog Lucas and Robert were enjoying the sun in the backyard when they found bunnies! Actually, Mary found them and picked one up. There are four bunnies and the mother lives next door under our neighbors deck. Here is a picture of a couple of them. Hopefully, the mini walls Lucas and Robert built will keep the dogs out and the bunnies in so we can all live peacefully together.

Life with Thomas

We are quickly adjusting to life with a second child, but the real adjustment will come when Lucas goes back to work next week. Robert is enjoying being a big brother most of the time and loves to sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star to Thomas when he cries. Lucas made a deal with Robert that if he slept in his bed all night for a week we would go to Chuck E Cheese. Well, Robert has been sleeping in his bed every night since Thomas has come home so we took him to Chuck E Cheese today. The picture above is Thomas after Chuck E Cheese, unfortunately big brother was not as tired!

Thomas lost 13 ounces four days after he was born, which is more than normal, but thankfully he is now just a few ounces away from his birth weight. He beginning to get into a somewhat normal eating routine making the nights a lot more tolerable.

Easter Eggs

Here are a couple pictures of Robert coloring eggs for the
Easter Bunny to hide.

Of course, we had to have Star Wars included in our decorations this year.
Here is Darth Vader, Robert's favorite Star Wars character.

Things are have been hectic in our house this week. We had a role reversal, as I drove Lucas to the ER at 5 a.m. on Wednesday. Luckily it was just a kidney stone and they gave him meds that knocked him out for 2 days! I now (somewhat) understand what men go through when their wife goes into labor. My doctor appointment this week was pretty uneventful,
still the same 2-3 cm dilated and 50% effaced.
If this baby is like Robert he is going to take his time coming into the world!

It All Comes Full Circle

I now see where Robert gets his love for boxes!

26 Days to Left

Ok, so here are a few pictures of me finally. Robert is also taking my picture with his digital camera. I figure with less than four weeks to go I am probably not going to get any smaller (hopefully not larger either). I went to the doctor this morning and everything seems fine. I am scheduled for an ultrasound in the morning. I will keep you all posted.

Popsicles for Dinner?

I know it is bad to trick your children into eating healthy but sometimes one just has to do what ever works. Robert loves sweets and not too much else so we have been trying to get him to try new foods. He is just as stubborn as his parents so he has only had dinner 2 nights since last Monday. One was a night out and the other we had spicy food so we made it an exception. Anyhow, last week Robert and I bought popsicle molds. This was a desperate attempt to get him to try juice, he drinks only milk and water, this is his choice. We washed the molds and poured 100% grape juice in them. He watched me pour it from the bottle into the molds but would not try a glass of juice. That night after dinner we tried our popsicles and guess what, Robert LOVED it.

I received the Jessica Seinfeld cookbook this year and decided that I would try to make the fruit punch that is in the book to make more popsicles. It contains raspberry, carrot, and pineapple purees mixed with a little sugar and water. He helped me make the juice and then I poured it into the molds. I was concerned about Robert not liking it because of the seeds from the raspberries. Much to my surprise tonight, (Robert begged for a popsicle) thanked me for making more and ate the whole thing. He did eat more than a popsicle for dinner but not much more. I am ok with that because the joke is on him! Terrible I know, but hey at least he is eating some form of fruit!

Dentist Visit

Today Robert went to the dentist for his 6 month check up. Robert goes to a pediatric dentist on the west side of Indy, I highly recommend that everyone take their child to a pediatric dentist. Robert's dentist has a basketball court and a coloring corner to make the visit a lot more relaxing for the kids. It works, until it is time to see the hygienist! He was not interested in letting her brush his teeth but was much better for the dentist. He has no cavities and the dentist said his teeth look good, but we discussed his bite and "The Marshall Gap." The Marshall Gap is from my side of the family and is a large gap between the upper front teeth. It will require him to have a muscle clipped when he is 7 or 8. As far as his bite, his lower jaw is shifted to the left and will require a retainer. Who would have thought that at age 4, we would already be discussing retainers! Thank goodness for dental insurance!

Like Father, Like Son

Lucas is in Phoenix tonight working on trucks so Robert has decided to work on "trucks" in the living room. As I have said before, it doesn't take much to entertain our son. I believe that the vacuum attachment is being used as a jack!

(He did not want me to take this picture)