Mirror

He's enamored with that super cute little boy looking back at him.

A Return to "Normalcy"

Just in the last couple of weeks (days even) I have found my groove with the boys and Eli has settled into a real schedule. Thus, I am no longer in a constant state of zombie-esque sleep deprivation and slowly my powers of higher thinking and reasoning are returning. Ah, to no longer feel like my head is stuffed with fuzz. In fact, as I type the boys are taking their afternoon naps and I am blissfully getting stuff done (okay, so maybe I'm blogging and not getting stuff done, but I did work on some things before blogging).

I am currently living the longest period of unemployment that I have had in a number of years. I knew I would go back to work after Caden and so I think my "maternity leave" (the time I waited before applying for jobs in Indiana) was very different mentally. Although work is certainly not easy, there are things that I absolutely love about working as a nurse ( I won't say "being a nurse" because I am and will always be a nurse). Yet, almost all the perks I can think of pale in comparison with the perks I get while with my two sweet boys. I still long for work some days, but I try to keep things in perspective. No matter what the situation a year from now, or 5 years, or 10 or 20, I am working to fully live every moment (every day, at least). I don't want to wish away the less desirable parts, although I am working on potty training in hopes of reducing some of those less desirable moments. Life is hard, no matter what our choices, but our wise choices can make it easier.

That being said, here's some pictures of my sweethearts:

Jess and the boys in a fun house. The room was steeply slanted and Caden would climb up the side and then tumble back down over and over again.

Caden and I watching a Thomas train going around the track.
Our happily sitting baby Eli
Caden taking pictures of Eli. He always needs his camera if I get out mine. Eli is actively falling over in the picture.

January happenings

Besides staying home and finding fun things to do inside, not much has happened with us. We're gearing up for our move in March, and the boys are learning and growing like crazy each day. Here are some snapshots of our lives recently:

Caveman Eli

Caden in his new big boy bed! He has done awesome with it, and in the week that he's been sleeping in it, he has only gotten out once when it wasn't time. That being said, he has figured out the joys of springing out of bed the moment he wakes up and coming to find mommy. He used to sit and read books for a good while before he would call for me to come get him, so now naps are "shorter" and he wakes up "earlier".

Eli eating cereal for the first time. He's had it a couple of times now, and he is fairly ambivalent about it. If it means more food in his mouth, he's pretty much game for anything.

Caden with his first "real" haircut. We had a coupon for a free cut, so Jess took him and with the help of many mints and dum dums, Caden experienced clippers for the first time. His hair hasn't been this short since he was about 5 months old.

Styled hair and ready to go, but no good smiles for the camera.

Eli grinning and happy as usual.

Caden with his tower of boggle cubes. He's pretty good with those little blocks!

4 month stats

It almost feels redundant to keep posting Eli's stats, because I really could sum it up with one short phrase: Off the Charts. He is still huge, and still a lovable, cuddly little teddy bear of a baby.

Weight: 20lbs 40z (>97%)
Length: 27.5 inches(>97%)
Head Circumference: 17.5 inches (95%)

Okay, so technically his head is on the charts. He is wearing 12-18 month clothes, which are the clothes Caden wore when walking. Jeans and cute button up shirts are great for a walking baby, but not so much for a massive 4 monther that doesn't even roll. Good thing he looks cute no matter what he's wearing! One of my favorite Eli quirks to date: he giggles like crazy whenever you undress him, particularly when pulling his arms out of his sleeves. Which is good, because sometimes getting his chubby elbows out of his shirts is quite the difficult process!

Jess' First Post

I usually don't post anything on our blog, but I am bored and Eli is asleep so I guess I have nothing better to do. Our 8 months here in Cincinnati are quickly coming to an end. Before I know it we will be on our way down to Atlanta for our next 8 month adventure. Since most of you who read this mostly want to see pictures of Caden or Eli I will not bore you with the details of my life as an Engineer.

Here is a picture of Caden with his favorite 5 trains at the children's museum here in Cincinnati. If no other kids are around he will take all 20+ trains, but these are the 5 he really cares about. With his love of trains Grandma and Grandpa Watts got Caden a train set of his own for Christmas that he can play with all he wants. The big benefit is that at home he currently has no need to share it with anyone else. He loves his trains. As a side note the complex setup only lasted a few hours at home before Mom and Dad got tired of fixing it as Caden's feet kept destroying the bridges.

Another highlight of Christmas was Caden's wishlist from Santa. Every time we would ask Caden what he wanted for Christmas he would say, "candy canes, pretzels, vitamins, and mints. He was pretty happy to find candy canes waiting for him in his stocking. He also got mints, but the candy canes were the real prize. Here is a video of Caden opening presents Christmas morning. The video is after he opened his presents from Aunt Andrea. I guess Andrea thinks it is time to start potty training. I am not quite as sold on the idea, but I guess we will have to bite the bullet some time in the near future.

Moving on from Christmas here are just a couple of cute pictures showing Caden and Eli playing together in the pack-n-play. They sure do like each other. It is lucky for us that Eli is as big as he is because otherwise I think Caden would crush him numerous times a day as he tries to hug or cuddle with baby Eli.

The Cutest Boys

I can't get enough of my two cute boys!

November, so far

Here are just a couple of more recent shots of our boys. Eli is two months old now (Wow, that went fast!) and is a sweet, smiley baby. Two nights ago I got 9 hours out of him!! Now I just need that 9 hours to start a little later (not at 6:30 in the evening). Don't be too amazed- usually we get 5-6 hours out of him at night. Caden is transitioning pretty well. Tantrums have definitely increased but his language ability has exploded and his ability to communicate his wants has helped the situation. Caden knows his colors, can count to 13 (that's how many stairs we have) and is working on the alphabet (as I type he is singing "w x y and z" over and over). Caden had his first dentist appt last week. The hygienist and other staff repeatedly said it was the best 2 year old appt they'd seen. Caden sat in the chair and apprehensively let the hygienist clean his teeth without a struggle or a tear. He loved the suction ("Mr. Thirsty") and quickly figured out how it worked. Overall, a highly successful visit!