/> SLO in Arkansas: September 2009

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Still growing

My little guy is 5 weeks old today. He won't stop growing up!! We go to the doctor tomorrow so I will have some stats on him and see how much he has actually grown:)


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posted by Lauren at 9:30 AM 1 Comments

Thursday, September 24, 2009

1 Month Old!

My sweet little Jace is already a month old! Time sure flies when you are having fun:) He is such a calm baby and fits right in with our family so well. He will be tough having Tyson as an older brother for sure too! Luckily he is laid back and takes most of Tyson's "loving" without much fuss. These first 3 pictures were taken just this morning on our way out the door to take Tyson to school. He is definitely alert and taking everything in these days. I sure do love my little cuddle bug:)


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posted by Lauren at 8:51 AM 2 Comments

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

And So It Begins.....

I am hesitant to even write this post because that makes everything real!! Silas and I have been doing some serious discussing over the past week or two and have decided to put our house on the market. Yep, we are downsizing. And I am full of conflicting emotions over it all. I love my house. It has been a great home, and one we fully planned on growing in to over the years. But things change, the economy changes, and priorities change. This has been a very difficult year juggling finances while trying to pay out of pocket for having the baby, and me trying to stay home with the kids as much as possible. I love working, and love my flexibility, but I like working a lot more because I want to, not because I "have" to. I don't want to be a slave to material possessions or think I have to have something. My kids are more important and me not being stressed out:) So we have decided to take a step back and are looking for a smaller and cheaper house to call home for the next few years. We feel this is the best time to buckle down and get things paid off before we have kids needing braces and cars to drive!! It will also be easier to move while the kids aren't in school yet. I am both excited for this adventure and sad to leave the home we built. But I know that home is where you make it, and we will be happy where ever we go. We are staying in Jonesboro and looking for houses closer to our church and Silas' work. I am completely overwhelmed at the thought of packing up and moving AGAIN, now with two kids in tow, and one being only 4 weeks old!! But this is for a good purpose and because we choose to do it. I think I am most stressed out at trying to even imagine how I will keep the house clean enough to show being here with the kids all day! Anyway, the past few days have been a whirlwind of activity, lots of decisions being made, and going on not much sleep as we still adjust to the baby. Life is crazy for us right now, but in a really good way. I love a challenge, a project, and having a goal oriented purpose. So here we go! Please pray for us during this journey, however long it may be. It is not the best time to sell, so we are hoping to get the most we can for our house to make the move worth it. I will keep the blog updated with our progress and am hoping this goes as well as can be imagined!! Hopefully I will be sending out our new address to everyone soon:)

posted by Lauren at 7:55 AM 1 Comments

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Getting Into the Groove

Little Jace is 3 weeks old already and time is flying. Adjusting to a second child has been so much easier than our first, and I am so thankful for that!! Tyson has done great and is having more fun playing with the baby by the day. Jace is a fantastic eater, and I think we are going to have a big boy on our hands. He had already gained a pound at his 2 week appointment, and weighs around 9 pounds 3 oz!!!
Just check out those chubby cheeks!!! He is definitely filling out fast, and is growing into all his clothes. I can't believe how fast they change in just a few days time. He is already too big for his newborn diapers, and I am trying to use up what I can before moving up to size 1. Jace has enjoyed having some tummy time lately, and Tyson enjoys trying to put toys in his hands to "play" with.
Look at how big Tyson is!! We just got his hair cut and it instantly aged him into a little man:) It looks super cute with some gel and spiked up, but I can't keep him from messing it up as soon as I get it fixed!!!
A rare picture of me and my boys. I love these kiddos so much and am having fun being a mom of 2:) We are still working to find some balance and routine in our days, but are doing pretty well if I do say so myself. I went back to work last Wednesday and have been busy trying to figure out how to balance work with everything else going on! Of course I couldn't do it without my rock star husband, who does so much to help out at home. I learned a lot from having Tyson about getting the important things done and not stressing (too much) about the rest! I am still learning to try and let some things go, but overall we are getting done what needs to get done. I have managed to get myself and the boys out of the house several times a week on my own, which I am pretty proud of. It definitely wears me out though!

The weather is cooling off here and I am super excited about Fall!!! I love this time of year so much! I have the house decorated with fun fall festivus and have really been enjoying the season already. We are looking forward to the county fair next week (which hopefully will not be rained out), and have already had a ball watching as many football games as possible on TV. I am ready to pull out my sweatshirts and jeans and have smores in the backyard as soon as it cools off just a tad more:) Life is good and I have so much to be thankful for:)
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posted by Lauren at 7:39 PM 2 Comments

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Yehaw!!!!

Guess what my little man did yesterday??!?!? Yep, he went poo poo in the potty!!!! And I could not be more thrilled about it! We were just hanging out watching TV yesterday afternoon and he walks up to me and says...potty?? Silas ran him to the bathroom since I was feeding the baby, put him up on the big potty, and he did his business just like that:) We fussed over him and tried to make a big deal about it so hopefully it will lead to more trips to the bathroom. I haven't tried to do any official training with him, since I figured bringing the baby home would possibly mess up any progress we made, and I am so glad he is showing interest on his own. I guess we will just wait and see what he decides to do from here on out. I was also also doing a big happy dance about this development after going to the store and having to buy two different packs/sizes of diapers yesterday and gagging at how much they cost!!!
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posted by Lauren at 5:53 AM 1 Comments

Friday, September 11, 2009

Busy Busy

The past 2 weeks have flown by. We have been blessed to have many family members come and visit since Jace was born. Tyson has loved all the attention, and I have really appreciated the helping hands! Things continue to go well. Jace is growing by the day. He now weighs 9 pounds and 2 oz. I am glad he is a good eater:)
Tyson started back to Mother's Day Out at the church down the street last week. He has had a great first two weeks and seems to really enjoy his teachers and his class this year. I am glad for the small break it gives me to only have one kid at home, and happy for all the fun things he gets to do while he is there.
Here are a few pictures of family loving on the boys. Silas' sister Sherrie came and stayed with us for a week, and was super helpful:) I was so sad to see her go back to Texas!
Mimi and Papaw got some good time in with the kiddos too over Labor Day weekend. My mom stayed with Tyson while we were in the hospital, and my dad is heading out here next week as well. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family and thankful for the time we get to spend together:)

We still haven't settled into much of a routine yet, but things are seeming more normal as the days go by. I even made it out to Ladies Bible Class with the two kids the first day I was home with them by myself! We are having fun and enjoying our time as a family of four. It seems things have already gotten busy for the fall, and I am just trying to keep up as best as I can. I even went back to work this week on Wednesday. I am mostly doing some paperwork and catching up on phone calls, but I have managed to see a couple of clients as well. So far our afternoon schedule is working out well around the baby's feeding schedule, so that has been good. I am sure things will get crazier before they settle down, but I am much better at letting some things go for now than I was when Tyson was born!!
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posted by Lauren at 12:12 PM 0 Comments

Friday, September 04, 2009

Forklifting

Tyson has a new obsession with forklifts. He discovered them while visiting his daddy at work over the summer, and has been crazy about them ever since! He can sit and watch the forklifts move pallets forever, and always asks to go see them in action. We looked everywhere for a toy forklift for him to play with, and could not find one anywhere. Luckily one of the men who comes to Silas' job to repair their forklifts was able to order one for him, and here it is:)
We bought him the truck and trailer (just like daddy's) for his birthday this summer, and he has had a ball being a working man! The little pallets were some promotional items Silas got at work. They had little sticky notes attached, but we pulled them off and now Ty has his own set of real pallets to play with.
The kid is crazy about this stuff. He sits there and "forklifts" for hours every single day. He is so busy moving his pallets around, and everything else he can find.
If you happen to come across any more toy forklifts, let me know where we can purchase some extras!! This one has already been repaired several times from its many hours of daily use by a crazy toddler!!!
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posted by Lauren at 2:49 PM 1 Comments

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Our First Week at Home

We have had a great first week at home with Jace. Things continue to go well as we all adjust. Here are some of our cute pictures from the past few days:)




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posted by Lauren at 6:47 PM 3 Comments