Will lending a hand

Southern Living

I have not updated the blog in a little while and for a very good reason--we've been busy doing other things! Our days and weeks are getting fuller now that it's so warm down here. Between the MOMS group that I joined and the MOPS group that we're part of, we have plenty of fun things to fill our weeks. Will got to try hoopster tots with the MOMS group. He was one of the youngest to participate, but as you can see on the video, he was very into it. I decided that he needed a basketball hoop at home, so after trying to find one through Craig's list, I ended up buying a new one at Walmart. He is quite the little basketball star, and he gets very serious about making sure that the ball goes in the hoop. I am continuing with Will's homeschooling, and I am also trying to get involved with a homeschool co-op for next year. It is possible that I could even teach some writing classes there, which would put a little extra cash in our pockets. Brighton continues to grow, and she wants so badly to be on the move with her brother. She gets so excited watching him, and her little legs start kicking so hard that I sometimes think she could just take off running if I were to put her down. She has been enjoying the company of a little lamb that Miss Jan from Jon's office gave to her for Easter. She has become very attached to it, and it's so fun to watch her grab it every morning with both arms and try to cram it in her mouth. Brighton is often "along for the ride" as she spends time in both her jellybean carrier and the Baby Bjorn. One nice day last week, we met some friends at the park, checked out books at the library, and grabbed some groceries (even stopping back at the house for a quick potty break), while never going more than five miles from the house. I am really loving small town living in Covington. The weather is beautiful right now, and although I know that intense heat and humidity are waiting for us in the coming months, I can't help but soak in all the great things that life in the deep south has to offer. These small blessings help to make life so far away from friends and family (including my new sweet baby neice, Callie) a little easier.

Hoopster Tots

Daddy's lil helper

Brighton's Buddy

Fontainbleu State Park

We had the chance to get out over the weekend...enjoy the pics and be sure to click on older posts to see them all!!!

Brighton Beach...well, Brighton on a beach

Gator Huntin

B&B under the oaks

Racing day on the shores of Lake Ponchartrain

My sweet baby girl :)

Daddy Kisses

Exploring the Swamp

All the Schus in Schuville...

have been very busy!! Brighton has been busy turning 4 months old. She had a visit to the doctor, which went very well. We switched doctors since I had not been happy with the doctor we chose when we first moved down here. The kids' new doctor is much better, and I am so much happier having found one that I can trust and who trusts me as a parent! Brighton weighs 16.1 lbs and is 26 1/4 inches long now. The doctor said she is about two months ahead in size and development. She can sit up in the tripod position already! She is still a very happy baby, but she is not sleeping through the night yet. She does go to sleep on her own for naptime, but she requires more attention (rocking, nursing, swaying, even Mommy doing lunges) at night.
Will has been busy completing an intense potty training marathon! He is going to the potty now, and has not had an accident of either sort in four days! He is wearing big boy underpants even to bed at night!!!! I created a chart for him in which he could earn a car. He earned one sticker for everytime he went to the potty, and twenty stickers earned Wingo (the car that he wanted). He was more successful than I was anticipating! I think I should've made it thirty or forty stickers! He is wearing underpants when we go out too, and he has not had any accidents. I took him to the potty during church, and he was completely fine to go weewee on the "big church potty."
Speaking of church, I am happy to say that we have found a church that we like and will eventually make our church home. It is Faith Presbyterian Chuch in Covington. It is a smaller congregation, but there are many families in our age group. They have a great program for children (starting at age 3) where they stay in the service until right before the sermon. Then, the pastor invites the children to the front of the church where they listen to a children's sermon and then proceed to children's church where they do follow-up activities. Will is only 2 1/2, so he gets a little Sunday School lesson, and then stays in the nursery, or he can come into church for a short while too. I will be excited when he can participate in the children's sermon because it's really cute to listen to the little ones making comments to the pastor :)Jon was able to go with us this Sunday because he did not go into work, despite the fact that he has much to accomplish in the coming days and weeks. He is very busy preparing the NOLA branch for the Warehouse Management System roll-out. He will be having to work every weekend this month, which means that I will be alone with the kids quite a bit. We are both looking forward to the month of April when we can spend some family time once again! Until then, we appreciate the prayers as we get through the strain of time apart.:)

Brighton at 4 months!

Will's Potty Success Chart

Will earned his Wingo

Daddy snuggle time

Our Mardi Gras

We have been very busy lately spending some much-needed family time. Jon did not have to work this past weekend, so he got to wake up and play with Will. Will and Daddy had a little jam session in the morning, and Will is really starting to take a bigger interest in music. He will dance to ANYTHING, and he is always trying to make music on his toys--even those that don't actually make music. Will made huge strides in potty training on Saturday. He went poopoo on the potty all by himself. He did not want Mommy or Daddy in the bathroom with him, so we left him alone with his book, Jonah and the Big Fish. After some personal time, we were delighted to hear, "Mommy, Daddy, my poops are in the potty!" I suppose he is just your typical male--he does his reading while he does his business! I have been very happy with one less messy bottom to clean! On Saturday evening, we decided to go check out the Krewe of Endymion down in the city, but once we got close, I decided that I did not want to have the kids around the chaos, so we went back to the Northshore (minus Daddy who stayed down with some coworkers to see the parade). We have been going to other more family friendly parades, which has been much easier to do now with our new double jogging stroller. This is stroller number four for us, but I think this one might be a keeper. It works well on the world's worst roads (which is what we have down here), and Will is able to entertain his sister when she fusses. She seems to be teething lately, which is not surprising since Will did the same thing for five months before he got his first tooth at seven months. Brighton is still a very smiley little girl, but she has had some bad nights :( We enjoyed Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday). Jon did not have to work since most of the state is shut down anyway. We went to the Krewe of Covington, which could be best described in a country song. We took walks around the neighborhood and took some pictures (please enjoy--you may need to click on older posts to see all of them.) Last night, we actually got to go to a New Orleans Hornest game. We all went--including Miss B! Jon has been going the extra mile for a guy at work, so he repaid him with four tickets in a super suite! We had great seats, free food and beverages, and it was a great game (the Hornets barely beat the Pistons). Will had a great time watching "the bee," and Brighton was mesmerized by the lights and sound. She did fall asleep by the third quarter. I was even able to nurse her since there were couches in the suite, and everyone was paying attention to the game and not the baby under the blanket. It was a great family evening, and Will said, "Mommy, I loved the basketball show." We are still working on plans to visit Eastern VA in the spring to see baby Sophia (born Feb. 18) and baby Callie (due in early April). It was hard to not be around for Sophia's birth, and I try not to even think about not being around for Callie's. I will be very ready to meet my two new neices!

Mardi Gras in Covington

Sometimes a boat is required to get next door!

It's a swampy neighborhood :)

A sign at the end of the street--we get quite a bit of boat traffic!

We walked to the end of our street with the new stroller...it dead ends at the Bogue Falaya.

Bed Head Band

New Pics

The pictures posted below are from recent days. (Pope's visit, a rainy day, and Valentine's day) You will need to go to Older Posts at the bottom to see all of the new pictures.
I just heard from Mom, and Dad's surgery went well. He is recovering in the hospital today, and I will update the blog on his progress as I hear news. Thank you to all who prayed, and thank you to the Pizzinos for treating Mom and Dad like family. It was hard to be away from them during this time, but it is so reassuring to know that their church family was there for comfort, support, and prayer.

Sweet kisses

Bucket Baby

Puddle Jumper

Aunt Wendy, Mommy, and Brighton (in the bjorn)

Daddy, Will, Uncle Geoff, Brady, and Zach catching beads

Will and Daddy got lots of beads!

Brighton and Mommy enjoying the parade

Will and Zach (Will does whatever Zach does)

Our recent events and upcoming events

We have just finished a round of visitors. We entertained Ed and Caren (Grandma and Granddad) first for a weekend in mid-January. My parents came for a week over my birthday. I like to have them around every year at that time because Jon has inventory, and they are a big help with the kids while he is working. We had a good time with them, and they got to spend some time with both kids. They also did some yard work (I can never keep them out of the dirt), and we moved Brighton's room from upstairs to downstairs. I like having her room closer to ours. She seems to enjoy it too because she is sleeping better in her crib.
On my birthday, Will knocked my morning coffee over on our ibook, so we were without a computer for about 10 days. It was completely ruined, and we our now using a new laptop. We decided not to get a mac this time around, and we are both getting used to a pc again.
Will seems to be healing ok. He has no pain, and the doctor's visit went well. He should be entirely healed in a couple more weeks.
We just finished a weekend with Jon's sister Wendy, her husband, Geoff, and their boys, Brady and Zach. We had a really good time with them despite Brady's stomach bug. The boys slept in Will's room, and he had a ball with his cousins. Wendy was anxious to meet her new little neice, and I really enjoyed spending some girl time with her. Jon and Geoff had many "work" talks, and it was really good to see Jon relaxing after a very stressful inventory.
Brighton has started rolling over. She can roll completely from her stomach to her back, and she can almost roll over from her back to her stomach. She is quite a strong little baby, and she really enjoys sitting in her bumbo. Every day she is growing more and more. She is a very happy baby, and I can't get enough of her sweet, chubby cheeks!
On Monday, my Dad will be having neck surgery. He has been diagnosed with erosive arthritis. He has quite a bit of pain in his neck and down his arm. He went to see a neurosurgeon who told him that the disc was dangerously close to his spinal cord, and he should get have surgery ASAP. Please, please pray for my Dad and Mom (for his surgery and recovery and my mom's nerves and anxiety). I will be updating the blog soon with more news on how he's doing and the rest of the goings on in Schumerica.

Bumbo Brighton

Visit with Nana and Papa

cold days

I can't believe how cold it's been down here! I would've thought we'd be exempt from the extreme temperatures that the rest of the country has been dealing with. We've actually had a few days of hard freeze, which hopefully means that perhaps the pre-historic sized mosquitos have met their demise. One can only hope! We are supposed to be back in the 70's this coming week. Mom and Dad will be driving down this weekend to visit with us. Jon has inventory, and I am having a birthday, so they've decided to keep us company while Jon is busy. I am excited to see them since it's been almost three months! We had a nice visit with Ed and Caren over the weekend. Despite their flight delay woes, they were able to spend some quality time with both kids and us.

Will's arm seems to be healing nicely. We can't keep him from using it at this point. He will be going to an orthopedist on Monday for more x-rays. He does not seem to be in any pain, and he is no longer running a fever. I'm not sure what the fever was from, but I have a feeling it was his body's reaction to pain since he really didn't have any other symptoms. He is up to his old tricks, and it has been exhausting trying to keep him from re-injuring himself!

Brighton is all full of smiles these days. She has been laughing (which results in hiccups) and smiling with any attention that she gets. She is lifting her head up nicely and has even been rolling over! I unfortunately discovered this when she rolled out of her boppy onto the floor! She was fine-just a little scared, but I felt my dreams of getting mother of the year slip away. :) I also think I lost a few years off my life!! She is not yet sleeping through the night, but she sleeps better than Will slept at this age, so here's hoping! I don't have any new pictures to post (Grandma took a few with her camera this weekend), but I'm sure I'll be able to post some after the weekend. Love to all--and a big Happy Birthday to Cecile, Heather, and Victoria!!

Photo tag

I have been tagged by my friend Chantry, whose daughter Lilianne, is two days younger than Brighton, to particpate in a photo tag. Here's how it works:
1.Go to the 4th folder in your computer where you store your pictures.
2.Pick the 4th picture in that folder.
3.Explain the picture.
4.Tag 4 people to do the same.

Photo tag

Photo tag

This picture is Jon with a two-month old Will watching a football game. Will is wearing a Bob Marley shirt (on loan from his cousin, Jake). Jon and his brother Eric are Bob fans, so they generously loaned the onesie to Wil once Jake had grown out of it. Notice that Will is staring at the TV with the same intensity as his Daddy. Will loved watching football from day one. After I took this picture, I remember thinking that Jon would never watch football alone again. :) Will is definitely a Daddy's boy!

Now I tag Amanda A., Naomi, Becky, and Amanda (seester)

Trip #2 to the ER

Yesterday (Monday) I took William to a MOPS playgroup at an indoor playpark. He was so excited to be around other kids and different toys, and he was completely wild! He was running around, playing in ball pits, jumping in the moon bounce, and then the bubbles began. Anyone who knows Will knows that he is a nut for bubbles. He started running around trying to pop the bubbles and bouncing off of other kids. I pulled him aside several times trying to calm him down. Once the bubbles stopped, he was still running around like a wild animal and he collided with another boy his age. I knew the second it happened that this was no ordinary booboo. His cry was unlike anything I'd ever heard him do, and he was absolutely inconsolable. He immediately wanted to get home, so we packed up and left. I told him I wanted to take him to the doctor, but he screamed that he wanted to go home and take a nap. I decided that maybe he was just completely exhausted, and I would evaluate how he felt after his nap. I talked to Jon about it, and we decided he was probably overly tired. He woke up a couple hours later in a sweat and shaking. He was still completely hysterical. That was it...I took him to the ER (for the second time since moving here). The ER was packed with Covington's finest, so I kept my little ducklings next to the door. I put Will in his stroller and carried Brighton in her carseat/carrier. Thankfully, she slept. Jon arrived just in time for xrays, and he went back with Will while I was ushered to a private room to nurse Brighton. When all the pictures were taken, the doctor came in with a sling and told us that Will had a fractured clavicle. It is a very small crack in his collarbone. She assured me that it was going to be ok, and we will be following up with an orthopedist as soon as possible. It's so hard to think of him going through that much pain. He's so little, and I hate thinking about one of his little bones with a crack in it. Keep him in your prayers as he heals. It's hard for him to understand that he can't do all of the fun little boy things he typically does. He had just started really enjoying his tractor (as you can see from the pics and video), and we are scheduled to meet with a new playgroup next week. We had a wonderful weekend together enjoying the warm weather. I was able to leave both kids for an hour to get a haircut. It took my mind off of missing Amanda and Victoria's baby showers. I wish I could've been there! Enjoy the pictures--we love you all and are looking forward to seeing you soon. (We are excited about our upcoming visitors and we'll update the blog after each visit!)

Brave William this morning (post-injury)

Will (pre-injury)

Daddy is head of YPR (Yard Poop Removal)

Will on his tractor

Brighton is two months old!

All things Baby B

Brighton had her two month appointment today. She weighs 13.10 pounds and is 23 inches long. She is eating very well and sleeping a little better. She gets fussy in the evenings when Jon gets home. I think the combination of being tired and having a wound-up big brother is too much stimulation for her. But I know that this too shall pass, and I love waking up in mommy paradise every morning!

Will dances till his pants drop!

Christmas in the Bayou

This year, we weren't able to travel to see family for Christmas. Jon really didn't have the vacation time, and Brighton is still too young (and constantly hungry) to make a long car trip. We had a relaxing Christmas at home in Louisiana. We have now really started settling into life with a new baby. Will is now sleeping in his big boy bed once again (YES!), and there seems to be some semblance of a daily routine taking shape. Getting Will into his bed took much planning. I gave Will a 10-day countdown for getting out of his "crib," and we promised him he could open one of his big Christmas presents early if he successfully stayed in his bed all night. We even showed him the present each day to remind him of what he was "working" for. Mom and Dad had brought his train table down when they visited, and they even managed to wrap it. It served as the perfect motivation for little Will, and he sleeps beautifully. He is really enjoying the train table too. Unfortunately for Jon, it took 3+ hours to set the whole thing up once Will tore the paper off. (Not exactly just snapping the legs on, Dad!) Both Ed and Dad got a laugh out of Jon's pre-Christmas toy construction this year. Will received a Powerwheels John Deere tractor from Grandma and Granddad (Ed and Caren). He is still a little hesitant about riding it. He has really enjoyed his new Cars, especially since he has so many now. We thought this year we wouldn't have many presents under the tree, but we should've known that the Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles wouldn't let that happen! Thanks to everyone that went to the trouble of mailing gifts down here--Will had a ball tearing into his gifts. Brighton did a great deal of sleeping on Christmas day, which was fine with us. In fact, I got the BEST gift of all--two children taking a nap at the exact same time for over three hours, oh, it was phenomenal! We did get out a little over the holiday. On Christmas Eve, our neighbor, Kathy invited us to her sister's home for their annual family gathering. Her sister has seven children and 18 grandchildren, mostly under the age of five. Kathy only has one daughter and no grandchildren, so she has kind of adopted Will and Brighton as her grandchildren. We had a wonderful time. Will got to play with kids his age and we met several couples our age. Just being able to socialize with other moms was great. We actually met a Hokie there too! The house was an old, enormous Southern home and their were fireworks and lots of yummy food. We really appreciated being included, especially since we couldn't be around our own families this year.
I am looking forward to New Year's day, if for no other reason, than to be able to take down Christmas decorations. For some reason this year, I am chomping at the bit to get going on a new year. I think that I am craving more organization in my life, and I'm ready to establish more of a routine for this little operation I'm running. I've begun planning Will's preschool lesson plans, and I'm anxious to see whether we will be able to function as teacher and student. I think we'll be ok as long as I keep a sense of humor. :) I'm actually looking forward to trying this arrangement because I've been looking for an outlet for my need to teach. I would welcome any advice from homeschool/preschool moms on how to keep things running smoothly. For now, I will keep in mind that I may be overly ambitious, and Will is a smart boy who is already proving to be a quick learner. He is also very very sweet with his new baby sister, and I couldn't ask for better children. They are absolutely the most beautiful things to wake up to each morning, and I'm so thankful for my family (including my very hard-working husband) :)

William the Engineer

The gift of sleep (much appreciated by mommy)

Presents aplenty (Thanks to the Grandparents!)

Our little Christmas Present

Attempting a Christmas card photo

Looking down our street

Will in the Snow

Daddy's Girl

Snow on the orange tree

The Effects of the Snow

Getting out of the house on Saturday in Covington

We have power and cable!!!

I haven't been able to update the blog recently because we did not have power for one day, and our cable just came back on after five days. My visit with Amanda was great. We did a lot of sitting and talking. Of course, we had to watch the Cars movie twice with Will, but we did get out to do some sightseeing. It was so nice to have her here to meet Brighton. We took her back to the airport on Monday, and both Will and I spent the rest of that day a little sad. Amanda had a cold when she left, and I started to get one on that day too. I don't think we had the same germ because we had such different symptoms. I did spend the rest of the week with all of the fun, messy cold symptoms we all love. Thankfully, neither of the kids have shown any symptoms of being sick. On Thursday, I woke up to see snow falling outside. I really couldn't believe my eyes! I never thought I'd see snow falling (and sticking to the ground) while living here! I rushed upstairs to get Will up because I thought if he slept too long he would miss it! Of course, once he was up he wanted to play in it. I had to put his snow clothes on over his pjs! I found out later from my neighbor that he was probably the only kid around who actually had snow clothes! The snow kept falling and falling. It was heavy and wet, and soon our power went out. Jon came home because of the power outage and because there was talk of the causeway being closed. When he got home, part of our live oak tree was sitting on top of two lines (formerly overhead lines) in our driveway. The house started getting very cold, and Will was starting to get ants in his pants because I kept trying to keep him wrapped up in a blanket. Since there was nothing we could do about the power, we got some snacks and drinks and DVDs and went out for a drive. Will was able to watch his movie in the car. I was able to sit in the heat and as long as we were moving, Brighton was asleep. The whole city was a ghost town! We tried everywhere to get lunch, but the snow had scared everyone into staying home-or possibly in caves since I didn't see homes occupied either! We finally found one drive thru open, so we had to eat in the car. We decided to go home before dark and put some of our food in coolers just in case. But shortly after we got home, the power came back on. The lines were still in the driveway, and we soon discovered they were not power lines but cable lines. This morning, Charter finally came to get the lines out of the driveway, and so I can use the computer once again! I will hopefully be getting some Christmas cards out soon, but we have not been able to do that yet because we haven't been able to get a decent picture of both kids at the same time. Maybe today will be the day! I have been a little lonely because my MOPS group was canceled (even though the snow had melted), and I haven't been able to use the phone to call friends and family. I'm hoping that Will and I will be able to get to some kind of playgroup soon! We both could use some local friends! Until then, we will continue to be each others' best friend. Will is really becoming a big helper with Brighton. He helps me bathe her and always lets me know when she is crying-just in case I couldn't hear it myself. :) We are continuing to adjust and look forward to a visit to VA with friends and family in the spring.

Will's Tree Fort

Schu Men

Will's Unique Artstic Style

Daddy's been hit with a spit-up bomb

Mommy and Brighton

Rainy Thursday in Louisiana

We are spending the morning watching the rain fall outside and watching Dora and Boots attempts at stopping that sneaky fox-"Swiper, no swiping!" We have had a bit of a wearisome week. Brighton has not been sleeping well, and Jon even stayed home to work on Tuesday because I did not sleep at all Monday night. Will wakes up at 6:15, so any attempts at sleeping in are always foiled. I was very grateful for Jon on Tuesday. It was really nice that he recognized what a zombie I would have been had he not stayed home. I took the kids out later that afternoon and picked up a "miracle blanket" at a specialty store fore babies in town. This blanket keeps babies super swaddled and has a money-back guarantee to work in 30 days yada yada yada. I must say that I had my doubts, but I am sitting here this morning having slept more than four hours last night! I was able to feed Brighton and put her back in the bassinet where she fell peacefully asleep! I was able to wake up with Will while Brighton stayed asleep long enough for me to read to Will and get his milk.
I have a busy day today preparing for Amanda's arrival tomorrow. I am very excited to have my sister for a visit since we haven't seen each other since August. We have been decorating for Christmas this week, and I can finally say that I'm finished. I made wreaths for the door and enjoyed putting out all of my Christmas dishes. We bought a very "Charlie Brown" tree this year knowing that it may possibly be pulled onto the floor by overly curious hands. We figured that should this happen, it would be better that the tree weigh next to nothing and not be filled with irreplaceable ornaments. Will has pulled a few ornaments off, especially the Cars ornament I picked up for him this year, but he is learning how to be careful with them too. He has also made the Christmas tree corner his little fort for parking cars and eating snacks. Jon and I found him behind the tree last night quietly eating Chex mix.
We are still adjusting to life as a family of four, and I am slowly learning what it takes to be a mother of two. I received a very nice card from a friend from Trinity Church. It couldn't have come at a better time, and I broke down in tears just reading it. I needed to hear some encouraging words from a mother whose "been there." It is wonderful to know people are praying for us. I needed a reminder that the exhaustion will pass, and I need to relish each moment with my two little ones. I love being a mom even for all of the stress and challenges. It is a constant learning experience, but the rewards just keep coming!