Saturday, November 26, 2011

Baptism, Thanksgiving, Santa and a few things in between...


We've been pretty busy lately and I lose track of time and what's going on with the boys so I'll try to remember everything! Teddy is now 4 months old, as of last Saturday and is growing rapidly.

I weighed him last week and he was 14 pounds 6 oz. I just looked back at Charlie's 4 month stats and he was 13 pounds 12 oz, so Teddy is only slightly bigger than Charlie was at this age. He feels so solid though! He was sleeping through the night for a good 7-9 days (I'm talking went to bed at 9:30 and woke up around 9, no eating in between!), but somehow has not done that recently.  I think it may be a growth spurt or something (I'm hoping?) and he will go back to that sleeping through the night deal again.  Right now he cluster feeds in the evening until about 9:30 and then will wake up again around 2-3am to eat and then goes back to sleep until 6-7am.  :( I know he's only 4 months old so I should be thankful for the times I do get to sleep all night, and I am. I just know that he had gone all night before without eating so lets go back to that! :) But anyway, he's smiling and interacting a lot more now and has discovered his hands and that he can use them to put things in his mouth.


Smile!



 He's also rolled over a few times and it won't be long till he's doing it more consistently. Here is the first time he did it:  

Teddy rolled over!
 He loves to watch everything that is going on around him and especially loves to watch Charlie.  He's starting to laugh that really sweet belly laugh and we actually caught it on video:






Charlie continues to be the cute, sweet kid he's always been. He's like a parrot these days and I have to answer the same 2 questions multiple times daily. He always asks "What's THAT, Mama? and Where'd Daddy go?" over and over and over. Every. Day.  But that's how they learn, right? :)  Gotta love him!


Asking "What's, THAT, Mama?" 

We are very excited that the LSU football team is doing so well and we all get dressed up in our LSU gear when the games are on. I think they look cute, don't you?



Geaux Tigers!


Last weekend we had Teddy baptized at St. Mary's Catholic Church here in League City.  We had most of our families come in for the occasion so I had a brunch before church so we could all talk and visit before hand. I worked hard all week baking and cooking and I think everything came out great. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of that, but I made pumpkin and zucchini bread, homemade goldfish crackers (in the shape of longhorns cause it was the smallest cookie cutter I had), granola, greek yogurt, doughnut bread pudding with a cappuccino sauce, hash brown omelet, mini quiches, bacon, bisquits, chocolate croissants, coffee and oj! Whew! That was a lot of food! We made it to the church on time and sat through a very.long. service. Even by Catholic standards, it was long. But the kids did great. Teddy was a trooper and Charlie entertained us all with his comments.  He was playing with my phone and I have a flash card app and he was going through them and all of a sudden he busted out with "I want some carrots!".  He was going through the C flash cards and one had a carrot on it and he suddenly had a craving for carrots.  Then he came up with me to get communion and saw me get the host and he said really loudly, "I want a cookie!". He would have been very disappointed with that cookie if he would have gotten one! Never a dull moment around him. Anyway, we had a private ceremony after Mass so here are some of the pictures.  The Godparents are Stephen, Jeff's bff, Carrie, Jeff's sister, and Nicki, my sister. After that was over, we went back to our house for more food. I made a roast with gravy for sandwich's and sugar cookies for dessert, along with the rest of the food from the morning. 



The Mauldin family with Deacon Sam

Nicki, Deacon, Lauri, Charlie, Stephen, Teddy, Jeff, Carrie

Lauri's family

Stephen, Teddy and Jeff

Jeff's family

Jeff, Carrie (Jeff's sister), Teddy

Nicki (Lauri's sister), Teddy
The next day we went to see Santa at our mall.  It's been a tradition the last couple of years to get Santa pictures with Charlie and my sister's kids the week of Thanksgiving. And we usually alternate where we do them. The first year was here, last year was in Baton Rouge and this year here again. I guess next year we'll need to go to Baton Rouge!
I was worried that Charlie would not like Santa and I was right. I put him on Santa's lap and he immediately starting crying and trying to get away.  I was prepared though and brought something I only use in emergencies...jelly beans! He loves them and I told him if he sat in Santa's lap he could have some.  And just like that, he sat in his lap! Of course he is chewing the jelly beans during the picture so he is not smiling, but he's not freaking out either, so I guess it's a win.  Teddy just chilled out on his lap. And he also fit in Jeff's old outfit that Charlie wore the first time he saw Santa.  Amazing it fit!

All smiles before Santa:
Grayson, Nicki, Charlie, Kirsten waiting for Santa.
Santa:
Teddy and Charlie with Santa

Kirsten, Grayson, Teddy, Charlie

 Jeff had to work evenings Mon-Wed of Thanksgiving week, so we stayed in town for the holiday. We went to our friends house for Thanksgiving day and had a great feast.  Unfortunately, no pictures from that either, so I'll leave you with these two:

Cutie... 
...Patootie!

 We're relaxing and enjoying Jeff being off from work for a few days and getting the house ready for Christmas.  We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We have a lot to be thankful for this year, mainly Teddy and my 2 years of being cancer free.  Life is good!


Wednesday, November 16, 2011

2 year checkup

I had my checkup this week and we got great news! Still no new tumors on my chest ct! This is awesome news! I haven't reached this milestone yet in my entire cancer journey.  My first "two year checkup" in 2007 after my leg surgery revealed the metastasis in my lungs, which followed with chemo and 4 thoracotomies. October 14, 2009 was my last surgery (when Charlie was only 2 weeks old!). I have now graduated to every 4 month checkups instead of every 3 months, which we'll do for the next 2 years and then go from there. Thank you to everyone for all your prayers. I truly believe we have beaten this!
What a great time for Thanksgiving! :)

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

A wedding, pumpkins and Halloween


2 weekends ago we went back to Louisiana for my BFF's wedding. It was a short trip but we had a lot of fun. The wedding was Saturday and my mom babysat while Jeff and I attended the wedding festivities. We had a great time seeing two great friends get married and we got to see lots of old friends from high school and Camp Avondale (where Jeff and I met).
Besties
The bride and groom

Camp Avondale Peeps
 On the way back, we stopped at a pumpkin patch and met my sister and her family there. The kids had a great time playing on all the different things there and each kid got to take a pumpkin home (even Teddy!).  We took a bunch of pics but here are a few...




Charlie, Grayson, Kirsten

Kirsten, Charlie, Grayson


Charlie and my mom, aka Grams

Charlie in the hay maze

climbing on top of the hay maze


Charlie, Grams, Grayson

 Charlie got to dress up for a party at Mother's Day Out last Tuesday. I hadn't finished his "real" costume, so on Monday I brilliantly came up with this:




The cutest Saints player you have ever seen! There was even an LSU cheerleader in his class, too. Teddy and I went to his "party" at school. It was nice to see what he did in class and how he interacted with the other kids.

Yesterday was Halloween and the first year we went trick or treating since Charlie wasn't walking last year. He did great and said "Trick or Treat" when we reached the door up until someone opened the door.  Oh well! He had a great time going door to door getting candy. We put Teddy in his car seat and he and Charlie got to ride in the wagon around the neighborhood. Teddy was awake the whole time just taking it all in.  Next year will be even more fun when he can actually participate (and hopefully be walking!).  Charlie was Mickey Mouse and Teddy was a mummy. I made both of their costumes and I think they turned out fabulous!

Mickey and Tiger

Mickey

Mummy



Pumpkins Jeff carved