Pregnantly Plump

Stormin' Bob music video time!

2010-02-06T05:43:00.000-05:00

Now that I'm getting used to the new editing software, expect more of them! This video was shot last year, and edited last year. The death of my old computer happened before I could put it up. Oh well.

Cameo commentary from songwriter Bob --
Since I have been a student, teacher and weather forecaster, I have seen snow days from all sides (even from the side of the parent, as Little Elvis has had a snow day from preschool this year). I wrote this song from the perspective of the hopeful child, going to bed with dreams of a day off, waking up early to listen to the school closings just to be able to go back to bed. I hope you catch the "Let it Snow" melody in the harmonica break.

How do you not cry at a parent/teacher conference

2010-02-03T14:55:00.006-05:00

Little Elvis will be a big 3-year-old in a week. It's amazing how much he's grown and accomplished since last year.

The twos, they were not always easy around here. But we've seen glimpses of the threes and are optimistic.

Bob and I were talking last week about how much we like the little guy that Little Elvis is becoming. He's funny, silly, sweet, extremely loving, smart, demanding and stubborn as all get-out.

He's full of hugs, loves and kisses. Every night he expects (demands) that I snuggle with him. He wants to snuggle in his bed and "talk about the day."

Little Elvis will usually tell me at least once a day that he loves me. It's not in response to my telling him. He will just feel the need to come up, hug me and say, "I love you."

On Monday I had a parent-teacher conference with his pre-school teacher. He's not even three.

I went in expecting them to tell me about my bad parenting -- did he repeat a word I shouldn't have said in front of him?

Instead they presented me with a list of his "quirks." Some of the things were things I think every preschooler does -- he's impulsive and repeats himself.

Some things we've been working on -- he's quite the close talker with other kids.

One thing we assumed he inherited from his Daddy -- walking on his toes sometimes.

And three things we had never noticed -- he stays in his own world, doesn't make eye contact and will hold things and stare off into space.

Lots of issues immediately jumped into my head and I teared up. They said they think he's language delayed and I need to get him tested so they can start to "fix" him before these habits set in. (They didn't say fix, but that's what they meant.)

Little Elvis often engages us in conversation, and he does with other people as well. And the only time he won't make eye contact with me is when I'm scolding him. I don't even know what to say about the final thing. He's never done that around us.

Little Elvis is speaking in sentences now and using the correct tense and proper words a lot of the time. We are so proud of his accomplishments.

I've made the recommended calls and they are going to get us an appointment when they can fit us in. My parents think it's bunk. I talked to Little Elvis' nursery teacher at church. She doesn't think anything is wrong, either, though she did say he was high-strung. She had also never witnessed some of the issues.

We plan on getting him tested. I know his preschool teachers know a whole lot more about this stuff than we do, and I respect that.

Every night this week at bed, we're not only talking about the day (and not getting so close to people we don't know.) I'm also telling him how proud I am of him. What a good boy he is. How smart he is. How sweet he is.

He's heard these things before, but not always at night, when it's quiet and dark. When he's not distracted by toys or books or his brother.

Little Elvis is an amazing little boy and I want to make sure he knows it.

Baby Plum's debut

2010-01-31T05:15:00.000-05:00

Sweet Baby Plum finally has his first music video! It took me four months, I know...

Baby Plum was born on September 25th. It was a scheduled C-section, because Little Elvis' birth was an emergency C-section.

I didn't want to pick Baby Plum's birthday. I felt that was something he should do, but I didn't have a choice.

Bob's birthday is September 27th. My mom's is September 26th. I wanted him to have his own day, and if we picked Friday, the 25th, then Bob would only have to take one day off.

The Wednesday night before Baby Plum's scheduled arrival, I started having contractions. They hurt, but I didn't think they were contractions. They felt different from the ones I experienced with Little Elvis. Only the top half of my stomach hurt. It was intense, but I assumed it must be some sort of really bad indigestion.

I felt better on Thursday, so didn't think too much more about it. It was hard to sleep Thursday night. We had to be at the hospital by 6 the next morning. We got there at 5:30 I believe.

Due to my last experience, I was very worried about the pain of certain procedures. The nurse we had for Little Elvis' delivery was a battle ax. She was pretty mean. Certain things she did hurt so much, even after the epidural. (I felt LOTS of stuff after the epidural, and when I cried, she would tell me that I wasn't feeling things.)

This time, I had to have stuff done before they anesthetized me. I dreaded this more than the actual surgery. It didn't hurt -- was mildly uncomfortable at most. That was such a relief.

This C-section was also a completely different experience. (We were so scared with Little Elvis' delivery -- we lost his heartbeat and had to be rushed into the surgery.) The atmosphere was much more laid back. Since I didn't have an epidural first, they anesthetized me and laid me back very quickly.

Once the surgery began, I felt tugging around my rib cage. I thought that's where they were operating and asked the doctor if they were using my old scar, just to make sure they weren't cutting by my ribs.

The doctor said my cervix was extremely thin and couldn't believe I hadn't experienced any contractions. That's when I connected those dots. He led me to believe that Baby Plum would have selected September 25th on his own.

Baby Plum came into this world screaming mad. He started screaming before they even cleaned his mouth. The doctor held a very angry little baby over the curtain so I could see him. He was a very cute screamer. The doctor thought he was really long and skinny.

He screamed through the measuring, weighing and APGAR test. He screamed until they handed him to his Daddy. He weighed 8 pounds, 2 ounces, and was 19 1/2 inches long. He had a head full of dark fuzz and bright blue eyes. He was beautiful, and other than the eyes looked just like his big brother.

Bob took him to the nursery and they wheeled me to recovery. I was fairly loopy and am not sure how long I was in there. I believe it was a few hours before I got to hold him.

He was so tiny and light. I know Little Elvis was actually a little smaller, but it was hard to remember that. Bob and I had to learn how to dress an infant all over again. We were used to Little Elvis helping us out.

Baby Plum was an eager eater. Very eager. He latched pretty quickly.

My parents kept Little Elvis, but brought him for lots of visits. But there was one point where it was just us -- Bob, me, Baby Plum, Little Elvis. Little Elvis would not stop pushing the call button on my bed and yelling, and I thought that was proof that we would not be able to control them both.

We did get Little Elvis to settle down, and Bob was changing Baby Plum in the bassinet. Baby Plum peed during the change and it got all over Little Elvis! Poor baby just cried, and I thought, "That's it. He's going to hate his little brother now."

Thankfully I was wrong on both counts.

Finally, here's our sweet baby's first music video. I heard the song last year in a commercial and thought it would be perfect for this occasion.

Bottoms up!

2010-01-27T22:10:00.002-05:00

Look at those little legs!

(I checked with Bob before putting this picture up.) But seriously, how cute are those little legs?

Baby Plum is happiest when he's naked. He's always smiled during diaper changes, but now he laughs when he's getting changed. Just the thought of being free for even a few seconds makes him giddy.

We try to let him get his naked time in every night, although with the recent cold snap I wasn't as diligent. I also try not to do it in front of Little Elvis. No need to give him any extra excuses to strip down.

Sick baby

2010-01-25T10:19:00.002-05:00

So, our assumption that Baby Plum was cutting teeth might be wrong. On Saturday, we noticed that he sounded hoarse. His little coos and cries sounded like he'd been hitting the Marlboros for weeks.

I called a nurse hotline on Sunday and they paged our pediatrician for me. The pediatrician was rude (naturally), but assumed he had a chest infection. I couldn't get us into see the doctor until this afternoon.

No need to vent my frustrations about our awful pediatric practice. If today goes as badly as our other experiences, we will be changing doctors.

Back to my sweet little baby. He sounds awful and feels awful. He's crying a good bit now, especially around Little Elvis. Poor big brother doesn't understand being gentle and poor little brother gets very frustrated over this.
Even though it's very clear that Baby Plum feels awful, he's still super-sweet. And he just loves rolling. He rolls to his right as soon as you put him down now. He attempts his left and gets frustrated, so he flips to the right.

Go Colts!

Baby Plum also keeps his head lifted off the ground when you lay him down. It looks like he's working on his core. I told Bob that if he keeps this up, we'll have the only baby with roly-poly legs and six-pack abs.

Teething?

2010-01-20T14:36:00.002-05:00

Baby Plum will be 4 months old at the end of this week. Four months! Last week, our little sweetie began drooling... a lot.

This didn't worry me. Little Elvis began drooling at 3 months and didn't stop until he was 13 or 14 months.

Baby Plum also began chewing on his hands. I think Little Elvis did this some, but not to the extent that Baby Plum has been doing it. I figured Baby Plum might be a thumbsucker.

My dad mentioned teeth on Monday. My aunt and grandmother mentioned them yesterday. I didn't want to consider that.

But, I can't easily explain away his new fussiness. He wants to eat or be held all day. All day. Well, he's content in the Bumbo during supper.

Last night he fought sleep and fought sleep. This morning, I finally tried to check his gums. I'm not 100 percent sure, but I believe I saw two little teeth on the bottom.
This is early. Little Elvis began teething around 4 1/2 - 5 months. Except for the first two, his teeth came in one at a time and took several weeks each. Little Elvis was not a good sleeper as a baby, and I blame his constant teething for these problems.

A rare nap this week -- I put his pacifier in upside down before rushing off to do something with Little Elvis.

Intention versus reality

2010-01-19T15:05:00.006-05:00

Little Elvis looked so debonair on the way to church on Sunday. His little black velvet jacket was snug, though. I knew we would need to take a picture when he got home, because the jacket wouldn't fit another day.

I was busy once we got home, and asked Bob to take the picture. I had images in my mind of a dashing little boy looking like he did when we went to church that morning -- shirt tucked in, jacket buttoned, hair combed, face clean, etc.

This is what I got. To clarify, I didn't say, tuck him in and button him up. I just said I'd like a picture of him in his cute outfit. The pictures made me laugh when I downloaded them. They are a whole lot messier than I intended.

This one is my favorite. He looks pretty happy and whole lot more comfortable than he did that morning heading for church.

This is my new favorite picture of Baby Plum. Bob took it as well. He's a much better photographer than I am. But I think I'm the better stylist.

That's just how he rolls

2010-01-14T13:59:00.002-05:00

Baby Plum's been working on his rolls -- both the sweet ones on his hands and legs and the one where he goes from his back to his stomach. He's doing a good job on both counts.

This is him shortly after his first non-assisted roll last night.

He was pretty proud of himself. He's been trying to make it to his tummy for a few days now.

And here's my best shot of his super-sweet smile. He's got an amazing little smile. But I can't seem to catch it with the camera. When the little red light shines on his nose, he stops smiling to try and figure out what is going on. Bob doesn't think I have the camera on the right setting. Oh well. You'll just have to trust me that he smiles a lot, and it's a beautiful smile.

"Mommy, I coming to get you!"

2010-01-11T15:25:00.002-05:00

Little Elvis just gets funnier and funnier. I'm hoping that the threes will be a lot better for us than the twos.

Last week I put Little Elvis down for a nap, not expecting him to actually take one. He was quiet for a good long while, but after about an hour I heard yelps.

I took my time getting back to his room and called out to him while I was approaching. I opened the door to find my little boy stark naked and crouching on the end of the bed.

As I start laughing, he looks up at me and says, "I lost my pants."

Naptimes are still an issue for us. He usually fights them. I put him in his room and after trying to calm him down, I leave. Once the door is shut, he starts yelling out, "Mommy, I coming to get you! I coming to get you, Mommy!"

He somewhat willingly rides the cart at Wal-Mart and Sam's these days. But when he wants out, he wants out right then. He will usually say, "Let me out! Let me out!" But if we don't act quickly enough, he starts saying, "Get out of my way!" Considering how some people park their carts in the middle of the aisle, I think this command is quasi-appropriate.

Little Elvis still loves Baby Plum. Last week, he sat down next to us on the couch, kissed Baby Plum's head and said, "Oooh. Love you, Baby Plum." Usually, he'll sit next to us and say, "Aww. Miss you."

To reward some of his sweet behavior, we took him to Chick-Fil-A for supper the other night. After his meal, he got to play in the play area. Since most of the kids were a good deal older than he was, and the play area was kind of situated so you can't really see the kids from outside, Bob and I took turns sitting in there with him. He was thrilled to be around the other kids. He would try to get in their faces and say, "Boy! Whatchoo doing?" "Girl! Whatchoo doing?" Then he would jump up and down.

A nice little girl, maybe 8, helped him climb into the high places with the other kids, and he just had a blast. I was so proud of him.

Our child is obviously not shy, and a very-close talker at the moment. I hope his happy, funny, outgoing nature sticks around.

Snow day

2010-01-08T22:42:00.002-05:00

Bob here again -- the cold and snow that has swept across the Mid-South has left me with some time on my hands, both for playing and posting. We received about an inch of sleet/snow early on Thursday which gave me the day off. Little Elvis was thrilled to see the white stuff and couldn't wait to get out and play. While there wasn't much accumulation on the grass or pavement, I managed to scrape together enough wet snow from the cars to assemble a 1/32 scale model of a real snowman.

The road taken

2010-01-08T22:28:00.002-05:00

Bob here, Meredith's husband, here with another cameo appearance. Wanted to send out a big "thank you" to my dad -- a devoted PregnantlyPlump reader -- for the very special Christmas present he sent to Little Elvis.

Needless to say, it was a big hit and completes the automotive theme of Little Elvis' bedroom.

Welcome to our funhouse

2010-01-06T15:32:00.004-05:00

I'm quickly learning that taking pictures of two incredibly cute baby boys is way harder than taking pictures of one.

You think it would be easier. Twice the cuteness equals an even better picture, right?

Out of dozens, these are my best of the pair of them. If Baby Plum is looking at the camera, then Little Elvis needs to run and inspect what's going on behind the camera. (Which is why Santa brought him a digital camera for Christmas. Go Santa!)

And sometimes, our angel baby is upset. Here, he is hungry.
Ditto for this one.
Why won't my mommy feed me? She needs to put that flashy thing down and feed me... right... now!

In my defense, they had on matching shoes and I wanted a picture of both of my boys in red high tops. We tried several times and now both pairs of shoes are too small. This is the best shot I have of them and their shoes.
In other news, Little Elvis helped me put away the laundry the other day. Yes, I do in fact just shove shirts and jeans under the TV. The way I figure it, Daddy gets a little news while he gets dressed. It's a win-win situation.

To celebrate his helpfulness, Little Elvis jumped on his bed.

That's just how we do things around here. We dress in matching shoes, put clothes up under TVs and jump on beds. All while Mommy takes pictures.

How I spent my Christmas vacation

2010-01-03T20:21:00.006-05:00

Bob (Meredith's husband) here with another cameo appearance. My holiday vacation is drawing to a close -- Tuesday it's back to the grind, but I certainly have no room to complain. While there are drawbacks to the teaching profession, the long breaks (winter and summer) are certainly a plus.

Anyway, I've really enjoyed having more time to spend with Meredith and the boys this Christmas. We didn't have to travel hundreds of miles to visit family for a change, which meant a lot more time to simply enjoy each other. Of course, this year Little Elvis was much more into the whole Christmas experience.

(bathroom before -- note ugly pink tile board and pink walls)

I wasn't just sitting back watching the boys and sipping hot chocolate during the entire vacation. With the help of my father-in-law (also in the education biz), I managed to finish up the bathroom renovation which had started as simply demolition during my Thanksgiving break. Considering that we expected the project to drag on for months (we pretty much gutted the bathroom -- taking out the shower surround, walls, floor, toilet, vanity and uncovering electrical, water damage, and plumbing snafus along the way), our finish time of about a month is nothing to sneeze at.

. (bathroom after -- bead board, new chair rail, new linoleum floor and overall duck theme)

As the bathroom project was drawing to a close shortly after Christmas, we decided to dive headlong into getting our kitchen floor redone (decided to go with tile to replace several layers of old, ugly linoleum).

(kitchen before)

With tiling being a task beyond my skill and patience (and the clock running down on my holiday break), we decided to leave this part of our remodeling to the professionals. However, I am good at destroying things so, in order to cut down on the overall cost, I (again with the help of my father-in-law) spent the last week or so pulling up the layers of linoleum (and plyboard underneath).

Anyway, the professionals showed up today and managed to get the tiling done in one day. What do you think?

(kitchen after -- Little Elvis seems more interested in his lollipop)

Now we just need to paint the ugly paneling and cabinets -- is it Spring Break yet?

Happy(and healthy) Holidays!

2009-12-30T17:10:00.003-05:00

I realize we're a little late on wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, so it's Happy Holidays instead. I've been bad about logging on with my computer, which is where all the pictures are. What fun is a post without super cute pictures?
Little Elvis had a very good Christmas, even though he wouldn't get too close to Santa. He needed Gram's support with the Home Depot Santa.
Baby Plum was always asleep around Santa, so he didn't get to visit this year, either. I understand the napping, he looks pretty snug, doesn't he?
Baby Plum had an ear infection in both ears the week before Christmas. Here we are at the doctor's office -- only an hour and a half wait this time.

I thought he just had a cold, and had no idea about the ear infections. He wasn't fussy, just wanted to feed a whole lot more (and as you can see, he already likes to feed a lot.) Poor little baby had a cough, though.

Little Elvis came home from his last day of pre-school before the break with pink eye in both eyes. At least I assume it was pink eye. The doctor's office didn't want us coming near their office, and just let me diagnose him. They called in the prescription, which really frustrated me. My BA in communication did not give me any expertise whatsoever in diagnosing pink eye in my baby.

At least they saw Baby Plum, because I would have been way off on that diagnosis.

Bob and I both battled sinus infections. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day I sounded like Rachael Ray. Little Elvis kept telling me to stop whispering.

Thankfully we're all pretty much better now. I'm not nearly as husky voiced and all of my boys sound better as well.

A room fit for a (little) king

2009-12-16T14:42:00.002-05:00

Little Elvis' room has been complete for a while. I just never got around to taking photos. Here it is!

My aunt came up with the idea of the road bisecting the room. I used the blue paint from our bedroom and the green from the playroom. Little Elvis LOVES signs as much as he loves cars. The Welcome sign was my idea, and it turned out pretty well.

The valances are courtesy of my mom, my aunt and Bob. My mom bought the cool racing flag border. There wasn't enough to do the entire room. My aunt suggested a sort of wooden valance, and Bob made it happen. It's very cool and certainly makes the room. A different aunt made the Cars themed fleece blanket last year. I picked up the Cars wall hanging at Wal-Mart, thinking it was pillow material.
As you can see, there aren't many cars parked on his custom gray rug parking lot, or in the gray garage behind the traffic cone. Little Elvis prefers to park his cars on our couch in the living room during the day, and along the sides of his bed at night. Oh well.

The train table up top is empty. I made the room too fun, and Little Elvis wasn't napping. So I put the train stuff in his closet. It comes out if he's being a good boy, but goes up before nap and bedtime.

It took a lot of work, and I learned some valuable lessons -- mainly that I should not paint if Little Elvis is awake. He "helped" me, painted green where the street was and then got green all over a favorite shirt of his.

Here are some shots of the playroom. The color is called Sugared Lime. The flooring is actually peel and stick eco-friendly carpet tiles. Our only option was gray, but I think it looks fine with the bright green and blue of the room. The tiles are a low-pile carpet made out of recycled bottles. They are super easy to clean. Bob put them out, and though it took a while, we really like them.
We put alphabet and number decals behind the couch, and Little Elvis loves them. He still says he doesn't like his new house, but when I ask if he likes his play- and bedroom, he stops whining -- sometimes.

On Baby Plum

2009-12-14T16:04:00.003-05:00

Wow, do I love this little baby. I had no doubt that I would. I had my doubts that his older brother would love him, and am thrilled that I was wrong... so far.

His bright blue eyes are so shocking to us. My other two men have dark, dark brown eyes. Baby Plum's set him apart.
Baby Plum is the happiest baby. Yes, he cries. But that's pretty much only when he's hungry. He loves to be touched. It seems like his belly button and rib cage are pretty ticklish. He will light up in the most beautiful open mouthed grin if you tickle his tummy or chin. He'll also light up if you change his diaper -- he likes diaper changes and LOVES naked time. He also loves laying flat on his back and kicking. And being held. Baby Plum is a snuggler.

He's been doing such a good job holding his head up that we brought out the Bumbo last week. He's not quite sure what to think about it, but I like giving him a different perspective on the world.

We just adore our new little bundle of sweetness so much. Although little isn't exactly the right word for him. He's a chubby cherub. I hate that it's winter and I can't share his sweet roly poly legs with the world.

I've been terrible on getting his first video edited. Truth be told, I'm worried about trying out the new editing software that comes with this computer. I have his song picked out and have some great footage of him being sweet. It will be my first computer project during the Christmas break!

Little Elvisisms

2009-12-08T16:28:00.004-05:00

Little Elvis can be very, very cute. Which is a good thing after 9 days of no naps. He finally took one yesterday and it was a much more pleasant evening for us all.

Last week, our PBS loving son demanded to watch his favorite channel. It was Sunday evening. I knew he wouldn't find cartoons or puppets. Instead we hit upon a telethon featuring a violin virtuoso and John Denver.

Little Elvis was mesmerized by the violin player and immediately said he would ask Santa for a violin. And he did, two days later. He's now back to asking for cars, but Bob was thrilled about this development. Thankfully, Bob has a violin. They can learn to play it together... after Mommy gets some earplugs.

Little Elvis, Baby Plum and I got to spend 3 hours (!) in a tiny patient room at the pediatrician's last week. It was for a scheduled well-baby visit. When the doctor finally came into the room, Little Elvis told her that he didn't like me, and Baby Plum didn't either. Shortly after that little gem, I got the news that Baby Plum and I both had thrush. It was definitely my least favorite doctor visit yet.

For my dad's birthday, we went out to eat. There was a girl behind us also celebrating her birthday. Her mother was taking pictures and telling everyone to say cheese. My little ham said cheese and did his best to get into the pictures. I'm sure that they have a cute little smiler in the background of their pictures.

We are a sneezy bunch. Baby Plum is like his big brother. He sighs after most sneezes. And it's been impossible for me to get video of it! Still, he's a sneezer. The other day he sneezed and I said, "Bless you."

Little Elvis fake sneezed for me and said, "I bless you-ed!"

He's also big on telling me that he "do-ed it." I repeat with the word did, but think do-ed is pretty cute.

Last night, Little Elvis rubbed Bob's stubble and said Daddy had pepper on his chin.

We got his flu booster shots this morning. Little Elvis made a little friend and they danced, spun and ran around until it was our time to go back. At one point, he went and sat down in a chair outside of a cubicle and tried to order a "break" from the window. I guess he thought it was like a drive-thru.

On our way out, he said "bye" to everyone in the waiting room, and then added, "Thank you for helping."

And Little Elvis still loves his baby brother. For a while now he's been saying, "Ova." We've had no clue what he was talking about. It's baby talk. He's been repeating Baby Plum's coos. He sat down by the bouncy the other day and even baby talked to his brother.

One more cute thing, Little Elvis apparently likes pretty blonde women. My cousin's wife brought her daughter over the other day to play with Little Elvis. Her daughter wasn't into Little Elvis, but that didn't matter. He was more interested in her mother anyway. He kept sitting in her lap and petting her arm. Silly boy.

Bad Mommy

2009-12-07T17:34:00.003-05:00

Is there anything cuter than a baby pout?
It took me several (maybe 20?) shots to get this pout. And it's not a true pout. Baby Plum crinkles his little forehead when he's really upset with me. That's reserved for times when he's really, really hungry.

My mom said it was mean, but most of my shots are some version of a smile/happy face. So I'm not too awful, right?

We're back in business

2009-12-03T14:51:00.003-05:00

It's been a long time since I could post pictures, and they've really been piling up. This happens when you have two super cute little boys.

When Little Elvis was still an infant, one of my mom's friend's husbands made this for him. He's big enough to ride this beautiful horse now and has named it Russell. We're not really sure where the name came from, but were impressed with the choice.

I think Fall might be Little Elvis' favorite time of the year.

This is his loot from one of our walks. I think he picked up 5 leaves and one twig.

Baby Plum is a lot more alert these days. His smile is beautiful.

I love this outfit. The same friend whose husband makes beautiful gliding horses also has great taste in baby outfits. This one is super snuggly and has little ears. I LOVE outfits and hats with ears. Love them!

When Little Elvis was an infant he wouldn't let us get him anywhere near a swing. He loathed them. We borrowed one from my aunt for Baby Plum. But Little Elvis wouldn't leave it alone if his brother was in it, and I decided not to risk it. Now my big baby has taken it over. He loves the swing. He wants to sit in it and watch PBS Kids. We have to get this thing back to my aunt before he destroys it.

We had a playgroup over to our house two Monday's ago. Bob had the week off and was the entertainment. He played 4 weather songs for the older kids. Little Elvis was NOT happy about that. He just really hates live music, especially if his daddy is playing. I think I will write more about this at some point. I believe he really likes music, but he's got a very odd relationship with it.

Baby Plum on the first day of hunting season.

Baby Plum napping. He looks like a little doll in this picture.
Baby Plum gets my dad to join him for a nap. My dad's stomach is one of his favorite places.
Here's his smile. He's a very sweet little baby. He's also a very big eater.
He's showing off his chest in this picture. Girls better watch out! (There are two little girls in the playgroup that are about the same age as Baby Plum. He's already been putting the moves on them. I have super cute pics of all three of them, but wasn't sure if their mothers wanted their pics put out there. Baby Plum is a Mac Daddy, though.)

Bob up late working on his Masters. Baby Plum was a big helper.

Here are my boys together. Little Elvis just loves his little brother. We have to keep him away sometimes.

Trying to get a Christmas card picture.

This look by Little Elvis is fairly common. I'm not sure why he does it, but it's cute. Maybe I wasn't giving him clear directions...

Getting them to both look at the camera with their eyes open wasn't the easiest task. Our Christmas cards will be pretty interesting this year.

Picture issues and a very affectionate little boy

2009-11-28T22:02:00.011-05:00

I have so, so many cute pictures of our super-cute babies. I don't have so, so much time with the computer. I've tried a few times to upload pics and blogger is NOT having any of it. Must be jealous of my super-cute pictures. I say it needs to get over it.

Since I have no pictures and I haven't updated in a while, I'll just write about some developments.

Baby Plum is looking to be a pretty happy little guy. He's starting to smile and coo a good bit. His favorite time? Naked time. Second favorite? Diaper changing time.

Little Elvis still adores his little brother. He's constantly kissing on him. We have to keep a good eye on him, because he's a little rough. And he doesn't seem to care if the baby is sleeping when he wants a kiss.

We've been fairly successful in getting Little Elvis to kiss Baby Plum's hands instead of his little face.

Over Thanksgiving, he got to see some of my cousins' kids, who are all around his age. My affectionate Little Elvis tried to hug all of them. None of them were having any of his hugs, so he tried to make do by kissing their hands. At first, I couldn't figure out where he got that from. Then I caught myself telling him to kiss Baby Plum's hands. Aha.

I'm proud of our little boy, and his affection doesn't bother me. I'm sure he's confused, because all of the adults want him to hug and kiss them. The kids don't. Poor guy. I think the hand kissing was a very interesting solution on his part. Hopefully the kids will let him hug them at Christmas. If not, we'll just hug him lots more.

We'll keep trying on the pictures. Hopefully at some point, Blogger will push the pictures through.

What a week!

2009-11-18T15:37:00.004-05:00

It's been a very busy week for poor Bob. He's averaging maybe 3 hours of sleep a night. I'll be glad when this project will be finished, not just because we'll get to see him more, but because a huge weight will hopefully be lifted off of his shoulders.

And, he gets the whole week off next week! Little Elvis doesn't know this yet.

We have a big picture window in our living room that looks out on our street and driveway. Little Elvis will sometimes sit and watch for Daddy, and gets so excited when Bob drives up. He throws his own little party waiting for Daddy to come through the door.

Bob tries to come and wave at him through the window, but Little Elvis is so excited that he usually doesn't see him.

Next week will hopefully be lots and lots of fun for all of us. (And hopefully we'll let Daddy catch up on his sleep!)

No like-itis

2009-11-13T15:55:00.002-05:00

Little Elvis has caught a nasty bug. At first, I thought this would be a short-lived illness, and wasn't too concerned.

Some of the symptoms were even kind of cute. But after several days of hearing, "No like Little Elvis' new house! No like Mommy! No like Mommy's singing!" I'm ready for this bug to run its course already.

In hopes of curing him of this little illness, I've been working tirelessly on his bedroom. As tirelessly as I can with two littles. And I've already learned an important lesson -- 2 1/2 year olds should not help when painting,

Little Elvis seemed interested, so I let him in the room while I painted the grass. He wanted to help, and ended up with the back of his shirt covered in green.

He loves the room, and seems most impressed with the small touches. It's just about done. I will post pics of the completed project because I'm pretty proud of how it's turning out. It's definitely the room for our little car/sign/parking lot fan. He doesn't complain about his room.

Baby Plum seems to like it as well. Good thing because they'll be sharing a room in a couple of years.

Picture posing can be exhausting

2009-11-09T15:17:00.005-05:00

Things are settling down a little bit for us. I have most rooms in the new house moderately organized. Little Elvis' room is just about finished, as is our room. Still a lot to do, but I feel better about it.

Here's a small sampling of the cuteness around here.

"Oh no! Mommy's got the camera out again."
"I'll just show off my profile."
"All that posing sure can wear a baby out."
"Posing doesn't wear me out! Cheese. 'nother one! 'nother one!"
"Guess the posing wears Daddy out, too." My parents HATE the playroom paint color, but obviously Bob thinks it's soothing...
A quiet break in between the constant "Feed me!" wails. We've hit a massive growth spurt and I'm struggling to keep up with my little eater. People keep commenting on how big he's getting and how much he weighs. His cheeks get chubbier every day, and his little legs are really filling out.

My dad says he eats too much, but I've seen my baby pictures. I look just like the Michelin Man -- bright white and rolls on both arms and legs.

My favorite time

2009-11-05T14:53:00.002-05:00

I absolutely LOVE how talkative Little Elvis has become. He blows us away with the things he says and remembers.

He must have learned the word favorite at preschool. He likes to tell me things that are his favorite. The most mentioned? Mango lollipops. I hope we still have more of this flavor in the bag.

Speaking of favorites, Baby Plum has a favorite as well. He much prefers to be fed on the left side. I have to really work to get him to eat from the right side.

Yesterday Little Elvis told me that Baby Plum was his best friend! Totally unprompted. My reaction was such that he now knows this is a very cute thing to say.

When we're riding in the car and Baby Plum is crying, I always ask Little Elvis how his brother is doing. He always replies, "Good?"

What makes Little Elvis cry in the car? Me singing, or changing the station during his favorite song.

I now ask permission before changing stations. (I know, but it's a whole lot easier.) Yesterday some sappy song came on and Little Elvis said, "I don't like this song." He had to say this twice, because I was blocking out the sappy song.

Little Elvis is a PBS Kids junkie. At the beginning of a show, he immediately asks (demands) to see the end of the show. At the end, he wants a "nother one!" He "reads" the Thank You message that pops up on the screen, and loves the Dept. of Education Tree that also pops up.

Today he got to watch some Sesame Street, and kept telling me he needed to watch the end of Messy Street.

He's getting his needs and wants a little mixed up. But he can recite pages of his favorite books.

It's naptime for both boys right now, and I'm holding Baby Plum. It's so great. I can kiss his little chubby cheek whenever I want to.

Home is... where is home?

2009-11-03T15:04:00.005-05:00

We've been working hard to make our new house a home. But Little Elvis isn't quite convinced that his new house is home.

At least three times a day he asks to go home, to Gram and Coachpa's house. He'll bring me toys that he wants to take home. He sometimes cries when I turn onto the road to go to our new house.

It's worse on pre-school days. He wants to leave pre-school and go straight to Gram and Coachpa's. We almost made a surprise visit yesterday, but I needed to get my car inspected. The trip to the "car place" (I didn't know what else to call it) made him forget about needing to go "home."

I'm not complaining. He has been through so much in the past few months, and handled everything so well. I mainly feel guilty. Most of the changes he's experienced have been brought about because of me. So his confusion and tears are essentially my fault.

Thankfully, Little Elvis still enjoys being a big brother. He wants to kiss all over his little brother, hold his hand, show him books and cars, give him a pacifier, turn the bouncy chair up to it's highest power, etc.

Baby Plum has been so much more alert this week, and yesterday I'm convinced that he smiled when Little Elvis went up to see him.

As for the new house that isn't yet a home, I'm down to actually organizing the kitchen,and painting Little Elvis' room. My aunt is coming by this evening to help me come up with a fun car themed mural. Maybe once that's done, Little Elvis will feel more at home.

And maybe it will just take some time. He's been very patient with me these past few months, so I'm going to be patient with him.