Turn Page: New Chapter

Yesterday marked something new for us.  Livi started "school."  Well, actually its just Toddler Time at the Library, but she feels like such a BIG kid calling it school, so we go along with it.
This is new for us because other than church, its our first place actually getting ready and getting out.  Brandon scheduled his lunch so he was able to go with us the first day (since I was unsure how it was going to go, and you throw in Jameson and a Mom only has so many hands).  But it went GREAT.  She had the best time and has talked about going back ever since.

This is just what we were needing in our lives - something to look forward to, something to get us out of our pajamas.  Sometimes I get very overwhelmed staying at home all the time.  I went from college where I juggled 18 hours of classes, work as a secretary, President of sorority, captain of cheerleading, planning a wedding, marrying and playing wife (aka taking care of my hubby) TO staying at home with 2 small children all day long, every day.  And while this job is very fulfilling, important, and something that I LOVE, it can be very repetitive and mundane when I was used to a life on the go.

And for Olivia, she loves to be around other kids.  She lights up like you wouldn't believe and loves to make a friend anywhere she can.  I'm so blessed to be able to stay at home with her, but sometimes I wonder if she wouldn't rather be in daycare.  She just loves stuff like that so much.

So here it begins - a new chapter in our lives.  A real sign that in fact, our little babies are growing up.

She was so excited!!!

Her being silly face.





Don't Worry - Be Happy

Birth = Never having a good night's sleep again.

As a mom, I worry.  I probably shrug a lot more off my shoulders than other moms, but I still worry.  This is especially true at night.  Olivia has been sleeping through the night (like 12+ hours at night) since 2 months.  Jameson has been sleeping 10+ hours since 2 1/2 months old, but I, however, have not had a solid 6-8 in years.  Something's just not right about this.

During the day, I've got my to-do list in one hand and sippy cups in the other (oh, and the bottle propped up with my chin as I run around looking for my keys.  why yes, this is a daily occurance).  So when Olivia bounces her nose off the pavement (again) and she "accidently" hits Jameson with her toy, I tend not to think twice about it.  Because in the chaos of the day, there's no time to worry.  You just live with what life gives you & survive.  But at night, its a different story.  My insomnia gives me plenty of time to worry about my kids.  So as I trek through the sea of toys that barricade myself from my babies for the third time that night just to hear their sweet little breath & sleepy sighs, it gives my worries a small sense of relief.  (Although as I step on the play fork, block, and barbie along the way, my worries seem much smaller in comparison to anger, but that's a different story).

Why as mommies are we programmed to worry?  We worry when our infant has the sniffles.  We worry when a bully is mean to our kid at school.  We worry when our daughter has that first date (with an older boy, no doubt).  Now I'm assuming the last two, but I have no doubt these will occur sooner than I'm prepared for.  Daddies are programmed much differently.  I can hear my loving husband now with his "deal with life" personality.  "Shrug is off", "No sense in crying"... He would word them in a much funnier way, I'm sure, but you get the picture.  Daddies are amazing at what they do, they just don't worry.

But I guess that's part of the job.  Wanted Ad:  Mommy, a woman to feed, burp, change diapers, rock to sleep, play, snuggle, doctor boo-boos, many many other hats, and WORRY for the rest of our lives.  Welcome to Mommyhood!!

I say it many times, it must be nice to be a Daddy, but there's nothing compared to being a Mommy.

******

Jameson had an appointment with the specialist last week.  We went in for an emergency weight check since he wasn't showing much weight gain.  Once we got there, the prayers kicked in because he showed remarkable improvement.  We decided to keep doing what we're doing in hopes of continuing improvement.  Around the 4 month time frame is supposed to be the worst time for this reflux, so we're hoping we'll kick it in the next few weeks & it will start improving.  For most babies with this problem, it causes severe pain (think of constant heartburn for an infant), however for a small number, they call them "happy spitters" because it doesn't cause any pain.  You can tell my smiley little baby is definitely a happy-spitter, he's never even had the first tummy ache.  He's beyond what you would call a happy baby, that's for sure.

*****

Picture Catch-Up!!


First time eating cereal




I think he likes it. :)



Watching Sierra at her show - Of course, Daisy HAD to have her own seat

Happy 4 Months, Baby Boy!

Holding his cereal bottle all by himself

watching it rain



playing with her green car Papaw got her.




What's this?????




Too cute for words!!



Doing damage on some corn on the cob

I love her effort here. haha!

*****

Isabella (my sister-in-law's niece) turned *1* with a birthday bash at the park.  We all enjoyed ourselves so much & Isabella is just a little beauty.

What's a party without the classic "Bubby's sleeping" picture

The Birthday Girl eating her pizza





Uncle Mikey & Livi



Bubby's Awake!!!




Sweet, sweet baby girl.



They almost match



Yum!  Cake



I'm pretty sure she enjoyed it.

 

It's her party & she can cry if she wants to!
(No really, she didn't like when they took her present for her to open another one)



Watch out, Miss Diva comin' thru

*****
And more....

A Dora Band-Aid WILL save the world one day

 *****

We had an impromptu date to the park, to visit my Grandmother's, and a pit-stop to McD's drive-thru for a Happy Meal.  Oh, the simple days are the most fun!

A babydoll is much more fun to push

My Grandmother with Jameson

and with both of the kiddos.





Bubby in his jumper for the first time (notice the pillow under his feet)

Olivia now thinks you should do this to ALL babies & their things. haha!

Daddy's boy, right there. I can't wait until a few years when he'll enjoy football with Dad

*****

Another post soon to follow!
Until next time.. :)

Its all in the Name

As soon as you find out you're pregnant, you're asked the standard 3 questions.  1)  When are you due? (That's usually followed with "Whoa you're about to pop" or in my case the more annoying "Are you sure you're eating enough").  2)  Do you know what you're having?  (That's followed with why girls are better than boys or boys better than girls.. never fails).  And 3)  Do you have names picked out?

Names.  One of the toughest thing you'll ever do as a parent.  Why?  Because a name defines you.  Its a large part of what makes you YOU.  You'll hear it the rest of your life, there's no way to get around it.

With both of my kids I wanted to wait until they were born to reveal their names because as soon as you say it, you always hear "That's what this person's named their kid" or "It makes me think of this, I don't like it."  With Olivia, Brandon couldn't wait to tell.  With Jameson, I folded as soon as we finalized.  Its just not in our cards to keep such a secret.  I always say "maybe we'll do it with the third" while Brandon follows with "third what? are you crazy?" hahaha!!  (We've got a little work to do on that one).  Anyway!  In follow-up questions regarding names, people always want a story.  What led you to that name, what family member is named that.. can't people just be random these days?!?!?!

OLIVIA - I chose Olivia before I ever found out I was pregnant.  I had no idea why, just always loved the name.  It wasn't until after she was born my brother talked about how I named her after Law&Order:SVU, a show that I am completely obsessed with (its no joke, I'm watching it right now.  Side note:  I have 47 episodes saved on the Tivo that I watch constantly - Beat that!).  I guess in a round about way, yes, Olivia was named after the lead character on SVU.  So much for being random.

ASHTON - It is my middle name & a family name from my mom's side.  I HATED it as a child, I have no idea why, but I cried everytime in school when they asked me what my middle name was.  It should be a line on Alanis Morissette's "Ironic" that I named my first born child a name that I hated growing up.  Over the years, I grew to love it.  I loved that it wasn't your standard name & that it was in fact a family name.

So on Friday, April 10, 2009, Olivia Ashton Bevins came into this world and it's the perfect name for her.  Every name comes with nicknames.  Livi has stuck & has morphed into her more common name by Brandon & I "Livi-Lu."  Livi-Lu is short for Livi-Lucifer, an endearing term we refer to her as she's destroying one thing after another.

Fast forward to the next child.  Oh no, we have to choose another name.  We knew Olivia was a girl from the moment the stick said "pregnant."  With this child, again, we just knew BOY.  Boys names are tough.  There's not a lot of options other than the spell changes.  Aidan, Aiden.  Michael, Mikel.  Eric, Erik.  We wanted something not on your standard top 10 list, but Brandon & I never strive to be "different."  We like to be ordinary, normal folk that have kids with names our grandparents can say.  We soon chose Jameson & fell in love.

JAMESON - I'm so sorry to disappoint, he is NOT named after the whiskey, porn star, or hotel chain.  I guess it would be a more interesting story if he was.  His name was initially chosen as random as they come, off the baby name list & its the ONLY name we could agree on.  Brandon did have a fraternity brother whose last name was Jameson, but you know guys, everyone called him "Jameson."  So I guess that maybe influenced our decision a little.

BLAKE - Choosing a middle name was the hardest decision.  Nothing goes with Jameson.  We chose Blake because its the ONLY name that sounded good to our ears.  Jameson is also a little formal, so I wanted to be able to call him JB if it stuck.  Its not stuck yet.

Friday, April 15, 2011, Jameson Blake was born.  Around here we simply call him "Bubby."  I have translated that into "Bubby-Boo" because it sounds so good with Livi-Lu.  That's turned into Bubby-Boo-Boo, or just Boo-Boo. haha!  We very rarely call him Jameson around here, although I really do love the final choice of his name.

Have I done good with their names, only time will tell.  (If they change their name on their 18th birthday, I guess that will be an epic fail, but we have at least 16-18 years to find out).  I wonder what their friends will call them in school.  Will he be referred to as Jameson, will they call her Livi, or will they come up with something crazy (my brother's name is Michael, but he was lovingly referred to as "Trash" in high school, it was a basketball thing).  I can't imagine any other names being strung across their rooms other than Olivia & Jameson.  As their mother, I think its simply perfect.

Splish Splash

Our church had a Pool Party last week.  This was our first venture to the Wise Pool this year, and it turned out to be a blast.  Jameson of course slept through it all, but we had to drag Olivia out screaming when her lips were blue, she was having so much fun.  We're so thankful for our church family & the good times we have with them.

*****

Thursday's pool party got us in the swimming spirit.  So Friday we went to my aunt's beautiful pool to swim some more and this would be Jameson first trip in the water.  We got all ready & made it there and....

of course he falls asleep. 

But that's okay, it gave us some time to really swim before he got in.

One of my favorite pictures

actually swimming by herself

we probably went down this slide 100 times

She loves Nese's pool

first time in the water

I mean if you're going to go swimming, you have to go in a private pool with a huge slide & with water that's 91 degrees, right?!  Yes, Bubby, this is the life.

*****

On a more serious note, please be much in prayer for my family, especially Jameson.  We have a very important date with the specialist next week to discuss some serious issues.  Last time I asked for prayer, Jameson made a huge improvement, so hopefully prayer will get us through again.  Thank you, blogger-friends.

Well, bed is calling my name.

Until next time....