Oliver: The Family Clown

**This post as been in my draft folder sent January.  I had all intentions of taking pictures to go with it, but alas it hasn't gotten done.  We've just been so busy! So without further ado, here is it without pics.**

Oliver is one of the silliest kids I know. There are so many things I love about this kid, but I wanted to document his awesome-iness so I won't forget.

His favorite new game/activity to play his Naked Boy.  He will strip off his pjs or clothes and run around the house in his diaper.  Once the clothes come off, he becomes extremely hyper and runs around like a crazy man.  He usually makes laps around our downstairs.  The best is when he adds a super cape to this outfit.

The boy LOVES to sing.  He will sing in the car, while he plays, at the dinner table, etc.  The best part is that he will skip big chunks of the alphabet or the chorus. He always ends the song with a clap and a "Yay!".

He loves to wear things on his head. Owen made an alien headband thing one day at preschool and he immediately put it on and wore it the rest of the day.  Yesterday is made a heart headband at the Y and he wore it then and put it back on again today.

He will imitate any silly thing you do or say.  Owen has been into playing pirates lately and Oliver loves to shout "Shiver Me Timbers" now that he heard me say it.  He does the funniest face with it and then normal jumps into the pile of pillows.  He also loves to play Superheroes with Daddy and Owen.  His favorite move is He-ya where he yells, "He-ya" and does a karate kick.

Lately we have been working on names. We taught him his full name and so when you ask him his name now, he'll say, "Oliver...James Oliver Cox. (James Bond style)  If I ask him my name, he immediately says Mommy, then I say my real name and he'll say Shannon.  Same goes for Jeremy.  He has learned to spell Owen's name since we have sung it so much. We made a song for his name, but he hasn't caught onto it like Owen's.

He loves to identify the letter O where ever we go. He finds it on cars, buildings, in books, etc.

We have been working on table manners at dinner.  He constantly wants to put his feet on the table, which immediately gets reprimanded.  We have also been working, "May I be excused please?"  Right now it just comes out as "excused please?" but hey he's doing it consistently.

Halfway Point

Last Saturday we hit the 20 weeks mark so we have reached the half way point of this pregnancy! I realized I've done very little to document it so here's how it has been going.

1st Trimester:

• I was definitely more nauseous this pregnancy than any of the others.  I drank lots of ginger ale and ate a lot of peppermints/candy canes. Luckily I only threw up once, after brushing my teeth.  
• Cravings: spinach artichoke dip, chick-fil-a chicken nuggets
• I was always tired and took a nap almost every day
• Surprisingly I am not as emotional as I have been with past pregnancies.  I could watch sad stuff without crying, which is weird since I cry when I'm not pregnant. 

2nd Trimester thus far:

• Nausea is gone!
• Cravings: chocolate, fried pickles
• Still tired but I don't nap every nap
• I started to feel her move. 
• I started sleeping with a body pillow and it seems to increase the quality of my sleep. I still toss and turn a lot.
• I'm very tired of drinking so much water.  I feel like I'm constantly thirsty and drinking, which results in many trips to the bathroom. Not always the easiest when you are teaching. My favorite way to change it up is to put some fresh lime slices in my water. 
• I feel like my patience and tolerance is lowered. This makes me kind of a snippy teacher and mom at times.  Whoops!

Total weight gain so far: 8 lbs, which I feel most in his my legs and butt. Random I know!

This pregnancy I have also had extremely dry skin. My poor hands are so chapped from the continued washing (trying to keep the sick germs away).  I also have a real chapped spot on my neck and over my eyes.  I have tried all kinds of remedies from hydrocortizone creams, to olive oil, to now coconut oil.  Nothing seems to make it better. :(

We're still stuck on a name for this little girl.  We think we have narrowed it down to 2, but are having a hard time committing to one.  I'm having so much fun though looking at girly stuff on Pinterest.  I've bought her a couple of dresses so far, but I have a big consignment sale coming up in two weekends so she'll get plenty then. :)

I can't wait to decorate her nursery! Right now it's Oliver's room, but we'll move him in with Owen in the next few months.  I honestly scared of that transition because the boys sleeping style is so different; Owen likes to read and play a little bit before bed most of the time, while Oliver will go right to sleep. I'm worried they are going to disrupt each other.  They'll adjust though.

Can't wait to meet her!


 

January Recap

I never remember to take out the real camera these days.  While it takes great pictures, it's big, bulky, and takes effort to get the pictures downloaded to the computer. Plus I never have the big camera around when the boys do something quirky or fun.

However, my iPhone is always near by so luckily these moments of life are getting preserved. So here is January in a recap via my iPhone.

We had a few warm days (like in the 70s) the last week of January. We loved being able to play outside!

Owen's outfit that he picked out for himself one evening

After learning how to sew over 8 years ago, I finally sewed my first pair of pajama pants.  Not sure what I was waiting on because they were so easy.  Owen has been begging for me to make him some so I finally gave in.  I think he was pretty pleased with the final product.

Cold weather= lots of indoor play.  Owen and I created this track one afternoon while Oliver napped.  Sadly tracks don't last long with Oliver, the destroyer, around.

Our poor boys have probably inherited their parents' bad eyesight.  Oliver is giving in already and trying out my glasses.

The boys got a jeep for Christmas and love showing it off when their friends come over for a play date.  Oliver is already the ladies' man, taking his girl Lillian out for a drive.

My aunt and uncle's exchange students came back for a visit from Italy.  We made a quick overnight visit to Raleigh at the beginning of the month to see them. Oliver wasn't born when Francesco was here, but he took to him very quickly. Sadly we didn't get a picture of Matteo (Francecso's brother) though. 

Oliver learned how to crawl out of his crib shortly after Christmas so therefore got to move into a toddler bed.  He did awesome with the transition! He never gets out of bed and sleeps like a champ. Before too long, he'll transition to the bunk bed with Owen.

One Saturday night we went out for pizza at a new place in our neighborhood.  They gave the boys a ball of dough to play with while we waited for our pizza. (Genius I tell you!) The boys had fun making all kinds of creations and of course putting it on their face.

Wow! January has been a busy month! Things not pictured:

• Owen had a tube put in his right ear again on the 22nd. He also had his adenoids taken out.  Surgery this time was  little harder as he was more aware of what was going on.  Even though they gave him medicine to relax before the surgery, he still was very apprehensive about us leaving.  The doctor literally carried him in his arms from the triage area to the OR. He also woke up very upset and cried until we got home. Just like last time, once he had a drink and food he returned to his old self. 
• My parents were in town two weekends in a row.  They were gracious to keep the boys over night at their lake place so we could have a date night.  We used the time to look at/test drive mini-vans. We also enjoyed eating out and watching some basketball (despite the Tar Heel lost).  I think the best was sleeping in until 8. :)
• We celebrated Dad and BP's birthdays with an oyster roast.  There will be a separate post for that.
• We found we will be adding a baby GIRL to the family! See previous post. 

Right now the calendar looks pretty empty for February, but we'll see...:)

Baby #3 is...

 We could not be more excited!!! I have always wanted a little girl to complete our family.  We feel so blessed that she is healthy and growing right on schedule.

We had the big anatomy ultrasound on Jan. 30th and then we went over to a friend's for dinner and she snapped a few pictures for us.  She has lots of girly stuff at her house so it worked out lovely!

Pictures of Baby GIRL at 18 weeks 4 days...

Now the big task of giving her a name. If it were up to Owen, her name would be Robin (like Batman's sidekick), Pollywollywina (from the Froggy Books), or Smart Pea. We are so excited to meet her at the end of June.  In the meantime, I'm off to buy dresses and bows! :)

2012: The Year of the Lord's Provision

This morning at church our pastor asked how we would see the Lord's hand in our last year. For us, it was blatantly obvious that the Lord's hand was in our lives.

Let's take a little trip back down memory lane....

May 15th: Jeremy is laid off from ClickCom.  We were blindsided by this and I spent the next few days in shock. The Lord provided such peace during the next few weeks as Jeremy went full force into job hunting.  Just two short weeks later, the Lord provides Jeremy a new job..a better job..with a raise, better working conditions, and where he is appreciated.

June 1st: Jeremy starts new job after being unemployed for only 15 days!

July: Offer finally comes on our house! After just a few months of being vacant, a couple finally makes a reasonable offer on our house.

Sept: Mom and Dad buy a new condo at Lake Norman to be near my brother and I.  We finally sign over/sell our house after almost 3 long years out of it.

Oct.: We find out we are pregnant with baby #3 without even trying.

This year we have seen time and time again how when the situation seemed bleak that the Lord was with us and He provided. We are in awe of how we have seen Him work this year and know never to doubt the Lord's goodness for those who trust Him.

We look forward to seeing His hand in 2013!

Christmas Day

On Christmas morning, Papa and Nana got up bright and early to join us.  The boys each got 3 gifts from us plus their stockings. 

Papa helping Oliver open his first gift.

Their own headphones

 Owen showing off his Hulk hands that Oliver gave him

Oliver got Cogsley the Robot

Kicking it old school with Hungry Hungry Hippos

Oliver trying to figure out his plasma car

New hat in his stocking

Oliver found a candy cane in his stocking

The aftermath

 Jeremy and I also opened our gifts to each other. (No photo documentation). After presents, we made red velvet waffles and sausage.

After showers and some playing with our new toys, we headed over to Papa and Nana's lake place to celebrate Christmas with the rest of the family.

Oliver trying out his new sleeping bag from Mark and Jen

Papa and Nana had a fun surprise gift for the boys together... a Powerwheels Jeep

This is the clock we made Mom and Dad for the new place.

It was great Christmas Day and we enjoyed having our family here in Charlotte to celebrate with.