Every day I'm shuf-f-f-ling!!!!

Hi everyone!  Hope everyone is doing well!  Lily started her first ballet/tap/gymnastics class last week!  I am very excited for her.  She gets to be in a recital and everything!  Should be interesting! 

Lucas loves the camera!  

Looks can be deceiving!  She behaved like a typical 2 year old in class! 

She starts her fall semester of school right after Labor Day and I know she is ready for it.  I am finding that putting her in school at 2 has been very beneficial for her.  She is so eager to learn and with a 15 month old (as of Aug 26 :)), I can only stimulate that brain so much before baby brother intervenes! 

Lucas is doing great!  Growing like a champ and eating just about everything in sight, but he is really a happy go lucky boy!  He isn't talking too much like Lily was at this age, which kind of concerns me, but I'm guessing it will come in due time.  I am using some speech therapy skills with him that I learned from ECI and my speech therapist friends PES so hopefully that helps.  :) 

He is such a good boy.  We don't have ANY sleep problems with him like we had/have with his sister.  I ask him if he is ready for bed, he nods his head, waves good-bye and goes quietly into his bed.  SO DIFFERENT from his sister!!! 

Speaking of his sister and sleep, Miss Lily has decided to give up her naps (for the most part).  At school, she takes a nap but if she naps at home, she is awake until 10:00!  No bueno!  I know she still needs the nap but that bedtime is just too late for her (AND ME).
 One month left until our 1 week trip to Disney!!!  We are so excited!  I am a little nervous how the long days, lines and waits are going to go over with my little ones, but we are gonna truck through it and we WILL have a good time!  :)  My mom, sister, lil bro and his girlfriend are going with us and we are all so ready to go!  My mom seems to be the most excited out of all of us!  I think she has long been awaiting taking little ones to Disney and seeing the magic and excitement in their faces that we used to have as little ones.  I'm sure that taking moody teenagers/adults to Disney gets old very quickly so this trip will be a nice change of pace from our past Disney trips!!!

 Here are a few other things going on right now! 

We are in the process of putting Lily and Lucas into one room and reclaiming our house!  Lily will be in one loft bed and Lucas will be in the bottom part of another bed.  Gotta love Ikea!  Especially ikeahacker.com!  We are obsessed with the Swedes (and their delicious meatballs) right now! 

We are looking in to moving!  We expected to go international this year but that won't happen for a few more years so we are looking to get a bigger house in the Houston area...if we can sell our house!  

Scentsy is going great!  I am really busting my butt trying to get my name out there, but business is steady and doing pretty good for now!  If anyone is interested in joining my team, hosting a party, or loading up on Scentsy greatness, you can visit my site at www.jennycasey.scentsy.us!   I really appreciate the support!  :)

Hope everyone is doing well!  Till next time! 

Back from the Infinite Abyss...for now!

I guess I can go ahead and claim the award for the most neglected blog in history? So sorry about the lack of updates! As I said in a previous (much previous) post, we have had a lot going on lately.
I'll just go ahead and start a fun little list to catch everyone up to speed:

My brother John and his wife Christine had identical twin boys in March! There names are Ben and Sam.  When I say identical, I mean IDENTICAL! One of them has a green toenail just so everyone can tell the difference! They are so sweet and beautiful!

Ben and Sam's Christening and I am Sammy's godmother!  :)

Brandon and I got to go on an anniversary trip to San Antonio by ourselves!  It was wonderful.  My mom kept the kids at our house.  They had a great time and Brandon and I were so grateful we got to get away and just have some time to ourselves!  4 years and counting!  Love you, baby! 

My BFF Katherine had her sweet baby girl, Juilet, the first week of May. Juliet was not due till July 5th but made her grand appearance at 30 weeks. We were so worried about her and her mama who suffered from pre-eclampsia but today, I am happy to say both are doing fantastic and Ms. Juliet is already home! Such a strong little trooper like her mama!

My sister, Ali, had a huge summer, she had her 10 yr dance recital, got her senior ring AND turned 21!!!

We got Lily potty trained! We did the 3 day potty training method and it worked like a charm. I tried back in early March and she let me know quickly that she was not ready. After doing some research and lots of talking with experienced mommies, I waited till her cue and just a few weeks later, she let me know. Ahe told me one morning that she did not want to wear pull-ups, we talked about it and started that day. The 3 day method worked like a charm. We continue to wake her up once a night but she's showing lots of progress as to not needing that. Consistency is the key.

We went to a beautiful wedding in Dallas for Brandon's cousin Lindsay! We drove out there and had a very fun weekend with family.

Unfortunately, our friend James Wood passed away a few weeks ago. He was the best man at our wedding and is gone way too soon at just 29 years old. :(

My sweet boy turned 1 year old! He enjoyed a fun family birthday in LA and had a great Kindermusik birthday in Texas with his friends. My man is growing so fast! My niece also turned 5, my nephew 3, and my other nephew 4. All within 2 months of each other!

Great news on Lucas' heart! We went to his 1 yr appt on May 29th and found out that will NOT need to have surgery THIS year! If you can recall, at his 6 mth checkup, his heart was enlarged on one side. Well, t his most recent visit, it was no longer enlarged! The heart is a really resilient muscle and we are very lucky this happened. He still has the large hole (which is now looking like 2 holes) which will need to be closed but is the heart isn't showing any signs of stress, we can put the surgery off a few years. :). God is GREAT!!

The kids:

Lily

Wow, I can't believe she is already 2 1/2! She is doing great. She goes to summer camp 2x a week and will start a preschool prep program in the fall going 2 days a week. She loves going and is really independent and outgoing. Active and a wild woman at times, but a sweetheart. She is really a good girl and I'm finding she is at a good age for school. The stuff that comes out of her mouth cracks me up! I HAVE to start writing this stuff down!

Lucas

One year old and a total ham!! He is in to everything but his favorite thing to get into is any and every kind of electronics he can get his hands on. His favorite toy is the remote...the $400 remote. Eek. His favorite thing to do is play "pooters" with his dad. He sits on his lap while he is playing computer games or even just answers emails. It is definitely their bonding time and they both enjoy it soooooo much. He isn't talking a whole lot but will try to have a conversation with you in his own gibberish. He engages and tries to converse so I'm not worried right now. His favorite word is "dad" because that's his favorite person! I'm his mama, but dad is his buddy!

Brandon and I:

We are doing great. Brandon is wrapping a huge project up at work and has been working his butt off. We love having him home on the weekends. The weekends are never long enough!

I'm just doing my thing trying to keep up with life! I gave up soft drinks and have been diet coke free for about 2 months. Every now and then, I crave one but I'm trying to control that. Trying really hard some days! :)
I recently made a big venture in life! I started selling Scentsy wick less candles! I'm doing really well with it too! I love the product and it's a nice change of pace to be able to work on something and succeed at something for myself!
If you would like to order from me, host a party or become a consultant (you can work from home), let me know! I would love to help you!
Here is my site!
 http://www.jennycasey.scentsy.us/
I would truly appreciate your business!!!

BTW, if you at looking for a great scent, my favorites are:
Hemingway-I love this because it smells like a Warm and cozy Christmas
Welcome Home- It is a great everyday cinnamon apple scent
Zeppelin- It is a sexy man cologne smell...Love it!
Beach-soft, clean, serene

I really hope everyone is doing well! Take care and God Bless!

Big love, big happenings

Hello! Lots have been going on this month! We left LA on the 27th of December and right before we got into the car to come home, baby man started crawling! Yeayyyy! Since then, he hasn't stopped and is now super fast at crawling and has started cruising along furniture. He also said "da-da"! I know the books say they really don't know who they are referring to, but I really think he does!!! When Brandon is home, he says it over and over again! I started writing this post over a week ago and the other day, Lucas started saying "ma-ma".  :)

Lily has been super cute at helping getting him to talk. She'll say" Say da-da, bubba. Say ma-ma, bubba" Say we (Lily), bubba.". She is such a good sister. Tonight I sat and watched him try to wrestle her on the ground by pulling up on her. Right now, she laughs at it, but he better not DARE pull her hair. If he pulls her hair, it's over and a meltdown ensues! All we have to worry about is the hair pulling.  It seems that they wrestle and laugh all the time!  I think it bothers me more than it bothers them! 

 Baby man at 7 months!

8 months old!

The kids are getting so big, the other day, he weighted in at 23.6 lbs and is 30 1/4" tall and Lily is now 37 1/4" tall and 33.8 lbs.   Lily is recognizing a lot of her letters and numbers these days and working hard on potty training....well, we are in a bit of a slump right now, but that's ok.  We were doing AMAZING the past few months, but not so much the past few weeks. Lucas is doing everything he is supposed to and more.  He is a great eater just like his sister and is ACTUALLY using a sippy cup wayyyy better than Lily did.  He went straight to the tilty cup!  No valves.  We use it sometimes for Lily at the table when her open cups are dirty and one day he picked it up and just started drinking it!  He ended up drinking it completely!  Very strange as we had such a hard time finding a good one for Lily to take at this age, but I'm happy.  Those valves are such a pain to clean!

My sweet Lily belle also started Mothers Day Out one day a week this month. She is doing great there and really enjoying herself.  She isn't napping at school, but that's ok.  She's always been a finicky sleeper.  I just pick her up a little bit early and she naps at home. She also started SoccerTots this month.  She loves it!  They do very little that resembles soccer, but she really enjoys getting out there and running around with her friends. 

We have a lot coming up in the next few months and we are just going to be all over the place this summer.  My dear friend Katherine from high school is expecting her first baby in July, I'm co-hosting a baby shower for my friend Melissa next month, I'm trying to plan a Mardi GRAS party for our playgroup, my sister is having another surgery, John and Christine's twin boys are expected March/Aprilish and then everything just goes cray cray with dance recitals, weddings and vacations.  This all leads up to our big trip to Disney in October!  :)

A much needed update

Hello everyone!  Sorry it has been so long since I have updated.  The kids barely give me a free second to use the bathroom these days!  Since I last updated, Lily has turned 2 (dec 1st) and Lucas is now 6 1/2 months old!

We had Lily's 2nd Birthday this year at a great place called Kids In Action.  She had an absolute blast!  Right now, she is doing GREAT with potty training.  I am not pushing it too hard yet because there is a lot going on and I really want to be able to follow through with it when we start but she goes close to 4x a day when we are at home. 

Baby man at 6 mths :)

Time sure is flying by!  Lucas is doing everything he is supposed to be doing and is working very hard to crawl forward.  He is awesome at crawling backwards right now and pulling himself to stand!  He has cut 2 teeth and working on his 3rd right now.  He is a sweet baby and just so darn happy!

We had his 6 mth cardiologist appointment on the 16th and it went ok.  I was really hoping we would go to the appointment, they would do the echo and tell me that the hole has closed, but....that was very wishful thinking. 

Lucas' murmur is still there and the hole has not changed any in size, but one side of his heart has enlarged.  This tells us that there is indeed a lot of blood flowing through the hole (still measuring approx 8mm).  We go back in 6 months and if all is well, we may go a year before meeting with the surgeon.  He will have the surgery around his 2nd birthday.  :(  The doctor thinks Lucas is growing very well and should do well with having the surgery around that time.

Other than that, life is great right now.  I am enjoying staying home with my sweet babies and everyday I thank the Lord for our health and happiness.  We have a lot to be thankful for as we celebrate sweet Lucas' first Christmas!

 

4 months old!

Lucas is 4 months old!  

At his well baby visit on Sept 28th, he weighed 18 lbs 3 oz and was 17 1/4" long.  The doctor said that he looks very strong and confirmed that he is indeed a little ham. :)  I also asked about the sacral dimple that he was concerned about at his 2 month visit.  The doctor said that it seems like (as gross as this may sound) it isn't as hairy and it looks like he is growing into it!  YES!  He said we will still keep an eye on it and if Lucas starts to act like he is in pain when he is starting to crawl or walk, then we will revisit the idea of getting an MRI.  Hopefully, this is just a thing of the past.  :)

Here is a few things he has been doing:
He has been trying to roll over while he is sleeping but unfortunately, that is causing him to wake up because he is just not quite there yet.  He is trying though!
He is rolling from his belly to his back all the time now.
He is a thumb sucker.  We have officially given up on a pacifier. 
Bearing lots of weight on his legs and playing in his exersaucer and jumper.

He is doing great and is such a sweet smiley baby!

Little Miss Lily

Wow.  What can I say?  These terrific twos are rough!  These past few months, I have learned that Lily is a VERY independent girl.  Not only is she independent, but she is controlling of her space.  You wouldn't guess this when she goes to playgroup.  She plays very well with other kids and is very kind.  When we are home though, she thinks she rules this roost!  Well, unfortunately, I do too.  It's definitely been a struggle around here, but we are moving forward.  I think it would be easier if I was completely able to devote 100% attention to the situation, but with Lucas, Lily is having to learn patience and sharing on a MUCH bigger level at a really difficult age. 

Lily is now sleeping in a toddler bed (yeayyy) and is doing amazingly well.  We moved her when she finally climbed out of the crib and honestly, it was a great choice.  She is sleeping great in there and I think she is enjoying the independence of the situation.  We watch her on the security camera and she NEVER leaves her bed.  She did the first night. but hasn't since.  She has a bin of books near her bed and she will read until she falls asleep.  This toddler bed has done WONDERS for nighttime tears! 

For my  birthday, I brought the kids to Maryland to visit my sister in law, Candice.  The trip there was hard with a lap infant and an under 2 yr old, but we got there in one piece.  We had so much fun.  The first day we were there, we went on a 7 hour shopping spree for the kiddos at the Annapolis Mall.  The kids did amazing and we were even able to bring all 4 of them out to dinner by ourselves at the Cheesecake factory.  It definitely was not easy with a 22 mth old, an almost 2 1/2 yr old, a 4 year old and a 4 month old but we did it!  We did lots of fun stuff and lots of shopping.  The kids did really well and thoroughly enjoyed being with each other.  Nothing warms my heart more than seeing Lily and her cousins play together. 

On the day of my birthday, my little family made me feel so special!  We ordered Pei Wei, ate it at home and Brandon and Lily went and bought an ice cream cake and gave me some sweet cards.  It was a great evening. I felt so special having my little family throw me a little birthday party.  I ordered my Snow White doll a week earlier so that was my present, but what was more special was how excited Lily was that it was my birthday!  She brought that ice cream cake inside the house with such pride, and excitement.  It was so cute.  That, along with the week long "Happy Birthday Mommy"s made this 30th birthday really great! 

Hope everyone is well!  I will be updating soon with Lucas' 5 month update!  :)  Take care! 

Little man, big smiles

Hello everyone!  

Lucas is 3 months old!!!!

On the 26th of August, our little baby man turned 3 months old!  I can't believe it is flying by so fast this time!  He is such a good baby and is ALWAYS smiling.  ECI came for Lily on 8/22 and he was 16 lbs 2 oz and 26" long.  That is up 4 lbs and 2 3/4" since Jennifer's last visit when he was 6 weeks old!  He is growing like a weed. 

Things we have learned recently about Lucas. 
He loves his swing...loves loves loves. 
He is a thumb sucker! Actually, it is more like a pointer finger sucker.  He absolutely hates pacifiers.  
He is a squirmy child!  He learned that he can bear weight on his legs and likes to jump everytime his feet are flat against something. 
He also discovered his toes and thinks they are just the coolest thing EVER! 
He is hitting at his toys and really focusing on things. 
He had his first giggle on August 31st. 
He rolled over twice a week ago!  He hasn't done it since, but he definitely has done it! 
He is just the sweetest little boy!  We are absolutely smitten with him! 

Miss Lily is doing great!  

She is talking and singing a WHOLE bunch these days!  We are learning that she knows parts of "Tangled" and "Princess and the Frog" word for word.  Needless to say, it's been a long, hot summer and we've been watching a lot of movies!  I have been working with her a lot too though.  We are working on her shapes, colors, and letters right now.  

At her ECI visit on 8/22, she was 31 lbs 10 oz and 36" tall!  She has come so far and it's really cool that now when Jennifer comes, Lily opens her bag, tries to take the scale out, lays out the length chart and runs around the house with her tape measure.  The last time she was here, Lily sat on her lap and drew the whole time we were talking!  Jennifer has been seeing her since she was 2 weeks old and it's really cool to see how Lily has evolved around her. 

We also learned recently that John and Christine are expecting identical twins!  Christine is 8 weeks along.  I am so incredibly excited!  If you can't be the parents to twins, next best is an aunt!  Congrats John and Christine! 

Hope everyone is well.  Next week, we travel to Louisiana for the weekend to get Lucas christened.  While we are there, we have to get Christmas shopping done!  We need to get it done early so we can get the big things and store them in LA. 

Take care! 

2 months and a hairy dimple??

Hello all!

Last week our little baby man turned 2 months old!  At his well baby visit, he was 14 lbs 5 oz and 25 1/4" long.  He is a big boy just like his sister!  It just astounds me how fast he is growing.  Last month, he looked like a skinny old man and now he is just a cute little chunky monkey.  He is such a good and sweet baby. 

Around 6 months old, we have to get an MRI done on him.  He has the symptoms of what they call a tethered cord.  It is essentially a sacral dimple that is very hairy.  I have a picture of it, but I am debating posting it.  Lots of people have this dimple, but APPARENTLY the hair makes it suspicious.  Here is more info about a tethered cord.  I have talked to a lot of people recently who have the dimple and the doctors don't think twice about it.  All I know is he said he wanted to get an ultrasound done but then said, "no, I think we need to get the MRI".  Apparently, the ultrasound isn't as reliable.  They like to wait until at least 6 months to do an MRI because they have to sedate them...that being said, Lily had an MRI done at 3 days old, then again, she was all hopped up on phenobarbital. I am taking this along with the heart murmur one day at a time.  I can't worry about it until they tell me there is something to worry about.  Again, we are very lucky to have this sweet baby in our lives.  I'm not wasting one second of his babyhood fretting over something that MIGHT be.  

Miss Lily

Sheesh, were do I start with this little hot mess??!!  She is getting to be such a big girl and we are so very proud of her.  Right now, she is learning her shapes, colors and a few letters.  As far as her shapes she knows triangle, circle, heart, star, oval, and square.  With her colors, she knows, red, green, blue, pink, and purple.  Such a little sponge these days...a sponge that repeats EVERYTHING but a sponge nonetheless.  At her last ECI visit, she was 31 lbs and 35" tall. She is doing much better with her "baby bubba" these days.  She loves him so much and is such a big helper. 

Having the two of them has it's pros and cons.  I feel like our day FLIES by and our routine is more set in stone then it has ever been.  I love that.  A massive con is that we are entering the "terrible twos" and getting out and about is nearly impossible to do in a time frame where she doesn't have a meltdown and he doesn't have to eat.  We don't go very far without daddy there to help, but we do stay busy.