Reid is 6 months old!

Who is officially the momma of a 2 year old and a 6 month old? This girl!

I can't believe Reid is already halfway to a year. It really does go faster the second time.

On his six month birthday, I took my baby to the pediatrician to have his ears checked out. The poor guy has rarely, if ever, not had an ear infection. As I suspected, his ears were still infected. I don't think the last infection ever totally cleared up. We had just finished his last round of antibiotics the day before we left for Michigan.

Despite the never-ending ear troubles, and as a result, lots of night waking, Reid remained his happy, adorable self. We are seriously blessed to have such a sweet little guy.

A week after the sick visit, I took him back to the pediatrician for his scheduled well visit. According to Dr. C, his ears were still full of fluid, but they weren't as red anymore. Still, he wasn't very confident that they would clear up entirely, or that they wouldn't become infected again as soon as we stopped the antibiotic.

The fun part about the visit, of course, was finding out our (not so) little boy's height and weight. His official 6 month stats?

Weight: 18 lbs 4 oz   |   Height: 27 1/4 inches

At first, I thought that sounded huge, until I looked up Colin's stats at the same age. Reid is a full THREE pounds less than Colin weighed, and one inch shorter. Holy cow!

Fast forward to the next day... Reid had an ENT consultation. I tell ya, this kid's been through it this week. We thought it would just be a consultation, but at the visit, Dr. B said she could put his tubes in at 2:30 the very same day. Say what?! I was under the impression he would have to undergo the whole surgery deal, with anesthesia and everything. Apparently, there is a certain window when they can put tubes in a baby's ears right in the office by using an ear drop that numbs the area locally. We agreed, and amazingly enough, that afternoon my baby had a five minute procedure, and bam - he suddenly had tubes. He was fussy that night, but overall he has done amazingly well. The doctor said she drained quite a bit of fluid, and we can already tell that his hearing has improved as a result. I am so glad it's all over and done with.

So, there you have it. I have a six month old. With tubes in his ears. And also, an almost two-and-a-half year old, who has a post of his very own coming soon. Stay tuned!

Use Shutterfly for all your photo gift needs!

I am a mother. Therefore, I take a lot of pictures. Like, a lot. As in, there are rarely less than 400 photos on my phone at any given time. So when Shutterfly contacted me to create a photo gift and write a review, I was thrilled! 

I chose to create a photo mug for Justin for Father's Day. Here it is, in all its glory.

Cute, right?! The quality is awesome. The colors, fonts and images on the mug are completely true to what they looked like on the site, and the template was easy to choose, insert photos and customize. I am very happy with how it turned out. My one complaint about the site would be that the template isn't fully customizable. If you use a template, you can't move things around, add or take away elements. On the flip side though, that makes the ordering experience very easy and straightforward.

I would definitely recommend Shutterfly to anyone looking to create a high quality photo gift for any occasion!

Hint hint: Use coupon code SHIP30 to get free shipping on any order over $30!

As compensation for writing this review, I was given a $20 Shutterfly.com credit..
 

A road trip, a wedding, and more

Where do I begin?

This past week has been a complete whirlwind. On Thursday, we left at the crack of dawn for my sweet little hometown in Michigan.

We drove all day. Yep, all four of us.

We talked, played, listened to music, watched movies, stopped a ton of times to change a diaper, run around, breastfeed, grab some food. It was a long trip. Two years ago, with one kid, it took us about 12 hours. This time, it took closer to 14.

But we made it! What an amazing feeling to finally drive up to the house I spent so many years in, and to bring my kids inside with me.

We spent the evening with family. Snuggling, playing, letting the kids stay up far later than bedtime. Friday, there was more snuggling, more playing. A rehearsal and then dinner, and then even more snuggling and playing.

On Saturday, my little brother married the most wonderful girl, and I gained a sister.

photo courtesy of instagram.com/callieliz

It was simple, and sweet, and emotional. There was a small cake and coffee reception at the church, and then a beautiful party at a little red barn in the country. I was a "groomswoman" (meaning I stood beside my brother during the ceremony), and with everything going on, I left my phone at my parents' house. Unfortunately, that means that I didn't get any photos, but I'm sure there will be plenty of pictures floating around social media soon. The photographer was also an old friend from college, and it was amazing to see her! I'm so eager to see how her shots turned out.

It really was a wonderful day. I'm going to choose to remember the good parts, and not the crazy toddler meltdowns Colin had throughout the day. To be fair, we put him through a heck of a lot over the weekend. He even had a job to do during the ceremony; but more on that when the pictures come back. :)

Sunday, we started our trip home. We decided not to put the kids through another all day journey, and instead opted to stop at a hotel at the halfway point and drive the rest of the way home on Monday. It worked out pretty well, but Reid was fussier than usual. He also felt a little warm to me, and I had a hunch that his ears were still infected (he finished his last round of antibiotics last week).

Long story short, our little turkey, on his six month birthday, got a new prescription and an ENT referral. Yayyy. We are looking into the possibility of tubes. More on that later, too.

So then, today, I finally go back for my first full day of work this week, and.... daycare calls me at work. Twice. The first phone call is from Belinda in the baby room. Reid has pooped through all of his extra outfits, and is currently dressed in a diaper and a way-too-big t-shirt they had laying around. Okay, no big deal, I'll bring more clothes tomorrow, I say. The second phone call is Ms. Pam, the daycare director. Colin threw up all over himself at the lunch table. Oh dear.

I told my boss and left, and thanks be to God, Colin seemed fine when I picked him up. Maybe it's a mild bug, maybe it was something he ate... who knows. He's been sleeping for an hour and a half now and I have been keeping an eye on him. Hopefully tomorrow we will all resume our schedules as usual.

If you've read this whole post, thanks for sticking with me! As soon as I have a few more minutes to breathe, I will have more to share about my little men, including Reid's 6 month stats.

More to come!

My kid doesn't sleep

So, my kid doesn't sleep. Well, not at night anyway. It's been rough. This momma is a walking zombie most of the time these days. There's not enough coffee in the world to keep me perky all day long until bedtime.

Apparently the white noise machine doesn't work.. it's gotta be the real ocean.

So, I think there are a few different reasons for the current lack of sleep in our house.

First off, Reid is growing all the time. He is probably in a growth spurt as we speak, as he has recently started downing two full jars of stage 1 baby food a day - one at daycare and one at home. I am also filling his daycare bottles with 6.5 oz of breast milk, which he always finishes. He has put himself on about a four hour feeding schedule there, but still nurses more frequently when I'm around.

Secondly, my poor baby is getting over his fourth ear infection. As a result, he has been on antibiotics (again), which irritates his tummy and gives him gas and diarrhea. Probiotic powder has helped some, but he is still going through two or three outfits a day thanks to nasty blowout diapers.

Thirdly, as if the first two things weren't enough, my little guy is in full blown teething mode. We actually have two teethers in our house now, as Colin is still working on his last set of molars. Reid is showing every symptom in the book. He chews viciously on everything he can get his gums on, he has been fussing and running a low grade fever, and he has become a fountain of drool. I think we will see his first teeth emerge any time now.

As desperate as I am for sleep, it's hard to be upset when I know all the things that are upsetting my sweet boy. Plus, he's really cute, and I know this stage won't last forever, so I'm really trying to focus on the good in all this - that I get to spend quality time alone with my little turkey at midnight... and 2, and 3, and 5....

more to come. :)

I'm on Bloglovin!

Hey, guys! As you are probably already aware, Google Reader is going away in the very near future. As a result, I finally got with the program and joined Bloglovin. Come join me so you can still find me after Google Reader bites the dust!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

This concludes today's public service announcement. Sorry I didn't have anything more interesting to offer. Here, have a cute photo of my kids.

 

Beach Babies

This weekend, we embarked on a brief getaway to the beach, which is just a couple hours away. It was Reid's first time at the ocean, and while it wasn't Colin's first beach trip, it was the first time he was old enough to walk on the sand, play in the water and swim in the hotel pool. Here are a few snapshots from our mini vacation.

 The weather was perfect, the kids did well with the drive, and Justin and I were even able to escape for a bit one night to walk on the beach and enjoy the hotel's jacuzzi. My only complaint is that we couldn't stay longer. Here's hoping our trip to Michigan for my brother's wedding in a couple weeks is just as smooth!