Oliver @ 5 Months

May 2nd marks 5 months since "baby Aw-ver" (as Owen calls him) joined our family.

At 5 months, he:

• weighs16 lbs and is 27 in tall (according to my measurements)
• wears size 2 diapers and 6-9 month clothes for the most part
• is still exclusively breastfed and has started eating cereal every night for dinner
• generally only wakes up once a night to eat and occasionally goes all night
• is a roly poly. You have to be careful where you put him down on the floor now because he will end up half way across the room.
• has started playing in the exersaucer. Owen loves to show him how to push all the buttons.
• loves to make noise and is really loud.
• rolls all around his bed. I find him in a new position every morning. I did have to remove his crib bumper as he kept rolling face first into it and it made me nervous.
• fights sleep like it's his job. He has also started rolling over in his sleep and tends to sleep better on his belly. He is taking 3 to 4 naps a day though they are short (45 mins). Just this week we have started to let him cry it out so he can learn to self-soothe. Surprisingly it only takes him about 20 mins, which is WAY faster than it ever took his brother. Why didn't I do it sooner?
• may be teething...he is chewing on everything and slobbering like a faucet
• doesn't hate stoplights as much anymore. :)
• We think his eyes are going to be bluish/green like Jeremy's. His hair is starting to thicken and fill in and seems to be as dark as mine and Jeremy's. Everyone says he looks so much like Jeremy, which is becoming more and more apparent to me. I do think, however, he has more of my personality and volume. :) I think I'm his favorite and I'm ok with that.

At his last well checkup, his pediatrician wanted a physical therapist to look at his right arm (the one with the tumor) to make sure it had the same range of motion as the left. We were sent over to the Children's Development Agency for evaluation; these are the same people who did Owen's evaluations and coordinate his therapy. Tuesday, 2 evaluators came and put him through a variety of exercises and tasks to see what he could do. Their results were kind of surprising; the tumor is not having any effect on the use of his arm, but he is behind in one area of development. They said he was in the normal range for all fine motor and speech, but he was behind in some gross motor skills. He is in the normal range in regards to rolling over, but they said his trunk and neck strength were below average. He does plenty of tummy time and can support himself on his arms, but for some reason it doesn't help him when trying to sit up right. Anytime we try to sit up, even assisted, he folds in half. I never really thought anything of it, thinking he just wasn't old enough yet. They said he is about 3 months behind on this milestone and therefore qualifies for physical therapy. While normally I probably wouldn't start services this early, we already have a physical therapist who comes to our house weekly for Owen. Now she can just stay a little longer and help Oliver. I really think that this area is something he can catch up super quick and won't need receive therapy for long. Honestly I think it's our service coordinator and therapist's fault that Oliver needs therapy; both were sad that Owen was getting ready to age out of the program and jokingly said maybe Oliver would need services so they could still see our family. I think they jinked us. :)

We went back to the oncologist on Thursday for our 3 month follow-up to check on the size of his tumor. The good news is that it hasn't grown, but sadly it hasn't shrunk either. Dr. Patt says he isn't worried at all and he has full confidence that it will or it will not be a problem for him. We follow up again in August to measure it again...hopefully this time we won't have to wait an hour to be seen for a measly 5 mins checkup. :P

Wow this post has taken all week to write up and post. Who knew Oliver was interesting?! ;)

Updated: Easter 2011

**I'm way behind on blogging; it's not really my fault. Our computer is still not working so I am not able to download our pictures and edit them regularly. Thankfully we have Jeremy's work computer, which has all the same software. So for now keep on scrolling down and enjoy the plethora of posts. :)**

He is Risen! The greatest gifts God ever gave us was His son. He died for our sins so that one day we can live with Him in eternal glory in Heaven. Sunday we celebrated this joyous occasion with my family (Shannon) and church family.

Easter isn't about bunnies but we still wanted to give the boys a basket full of goodies. Of course, Oliver has no clue what is going on. He got some bibs and a onesie in his basket while Owen got a set of golf clubs, coloring book, bubbles, Elmo notepad and toothbrush, and some candy. Papa and Nana also brought them a basket; Owen got his first Tar Heel hat, some clothes, and 2 new DVDs (including his favorite Curious George). Oliver got hat and clothes too.

Daddy helping Owen look through his goodies. You can see the full effect of Jeremy's sunburn here. Ouch!

"Umm..what's in there?"

Growing up, we always had to have a cute new outfit for Easter morning service. I kind of like the tradition, so we're keeping it up. This year the boys had matching overalls made especially for them by their sweet Grandma. Emma made (and monogrammed) all the grandsons these cute Carolina blue overalls. We tried to take some pictures as a family, but I'm finding it nearly impossible to get a picture of them both smiling, let alone looking.

The boys with Papa and Nana before church

Trying again after church

Our family of 4
The family (minus BP and Lauren)

We had a wonderful day celebrating our Risen Lord with music, a great sermon, and an awesome lunch. Afterwards, we all "rested our eyes" until Papa and Nana had to go home. My prayer is that we reflect on the power of Jesus' death and resurrection every day, not just Easter. :)

Put It in That One

In my opinion, Easter would not be complete without dying eggs. Though we don't really do the Easter bunny, there is just something about brightly colored eggs that screams Easter. This was Owen's first year to really participate in the whole process and he proved to be quite the supervisor. He told everyone what color their egg should be and even made me drop an egg in a color when I was only trying to dye half of it. He was very disappointed when there were no more eggs to dye, but we promised him that he could eat them the next day. To be honest, I could have dyed more eggs too, but who really needs more than a dozen hard boiled eggs.

Is it ready yet?

Ok give me some eggs..
Mommy, you put it in there.
You have to stir it around.
What is this for?
Is it ready?
The finish products

We enjoyed the eggs for breakfast on Easter morning then again as deviled eggs for lunch.

Captain BP

This past January my brother bought/took over The Boat Club of Lake Norman. The club is a low cost alternative to owning a boat. Basically you buy a monthly membership and you get to reserve and use a boat like it's your own. The best part is that you don't have to do any maintenance, storage, or towing of the boat and get all the perks. It's a pretty sweet deal!

Last Saturday my parents were in town for Easter so Brandon reserved the pontoon boat and took us all out for a tour of Lake Norman. Sadly it was very overcast and cold when we first got out there. Luckily we thought to bring sweatshirts and blankets. Halfway through our trip, the sun came out and it turned out to be a beautiful afternoon.

Ready to go..wearing their Tar Heel hats.

Oh wait..he needed to be just like Papa...he added his sunglasses too

Oliver volunteered to drive us.

But once his hat was on, he couldn't see a thing..

So he let his brother drive.

Mom and I snuggled up front together to keep warm.

Because of the dreary start, we neglected to think about sunscreen. Luckily the boys and I were wearing long sleeves and pants, but unfortunately Jeremy was not. Owen fell asleep in his lap and he couldn't move. Poor guy got fried (he is still red a week later).

Oliver slept the whole time, thanks to his sweet Aunt Lauren for snuggling with him under the warm blanket.

Once the sun came out, so did all the people. Loved this big sailboat!

Being back out on the water brought back lots of great childhood memories. For most of my elementary and middle school days, my parents owned a boat that we would take out on Lake Gaston most weekends in the summer. I believe this is where BP first found a love for the water and boats. I'm excited for him that he gets to do what he loves and hopefully we'll get to get out on the water again. ;)

We're Going on an...

Easter Egg Hunt and we're not scared. (Sorry Owen and I have been We're Going on a Bear Hunt all week and it's stuck in my head.)

Friday the 15th Owen participated in his first Easter egg hunt. I helped organized a hunt at my friend Caron's house since I didn't have a yard big enough. We invited all the moms and kids from HOME club to come over to hunt and have lunch.

Waiting to get started...

Caron entertained all the kids with the real Easter story and some fun songs while Angela and I hid the eggs.

Owen started out great...

His friend Jade..

Brennen excited about his find...
Owen was doing great until he realized there was candy in some of the eggs. Once he made that discovery, he was done. He sat with his basket and opened all the eggs and ate the chocolate. I finally had to take the candy away so he wouldn't get sick.
Finally got him to hunt more..
Mommy, why do you keep taking my picture?
A group shot..
Attempting to get a family shot
Our lovely host Caron and her daughter Katie (Owen LOVES Katie and talks about her all the time)..

After the hunt, we had a fun picnic lunch and the kids played some more. It was a beautiful day and lots of fun to just hang out together. Maybe next year, we can get Owen to look past the candy!

Get in My Belly..

Around Oliver's 4 1/2 month mark, we started feeding him whole grai

n rice cereal. He was waking up more frequently in the night and he was more interested in our dinners, so we thought it was about time. He did surprisingly well!

He only spit out the first bite or so and then was a champ at using the spoon.

The boy loves cereal now! You cannot get the spoon in fast enough and he finishes all of it almost every night.

Everyone says he looks like his daddy...I think he eats like his daddy too. ;)

Girls' Night Out

The Lord has blessed me with an incredible moms group here in Charlotte. The group is a ministry of our church and is taught weekly by a mentor mom, Sharon. Sharon is my mom's age and is wise beyond her years. Her heart for the Lord and the women in this group shines so brightly. Because we all love her so much and are so thankful into how she pours into our lives, we hosted a "Night to Bless Sharon". Cheryl hosted the dinner at her house and we all came dressed in Sharon's favorite color pink.

I LOVE these ladies...I feel truly blessed to have in my life.
Brigetta, Haley, Angela

Cheryl K and Sharon
Kate and I. Please disregard the stupid pink bow around my neck. For some reason, I only own one pink shirt and it had spit up on it. Therefore, I wore black and white and my pink shoes. Angela did not think that was sufficient and harassed me from the minute she walked in the door. To make me more pink, she tied this stupid bow around my neck.
Sara, Jen, and Alyson
Sharon and Dora. Dora makes the most amazing cakes. Tonight it was peanut butter cake with Reese's on top.
Thanks to Kim for taking these pictures on her Iphone so we could have documentation of the fun night. We were all too busy talking and stuffing our faces to take pictures. :)