Tucker Monthly(s)

The summer months have come and gone and documenting our adventures has not been a strong suit :) Tucker is 34 months old and I'm going to attempt to remember the highlights from the last few months with our little man.

All in all, Tucker is just shy of his 3rd birthday and seems to be in full effect with all the challenges that can come with this stage. Through the years of taking care of other kids, I always found that 3 was harder than 2... and I can definitely say it was easier dealing with other people's 3 year olds! :) His will is strong, his attitude is developing, his vocabulary is sharp, and his meltdowns are unpredictable. These days, discipline and "rearing" feel nonstop and exhausting at times but I'm trying to remember that the consistency will be worth it...

We had a lot of beach these days these summer and Tucker loves it...the sand, the water, and riding the golf cart :)

Tucker is a great big brother to Hadley. He says "Hey Sweetie" all the time to her...since Brad says that. He loves to snuggle with her in his bed and when she cries, he'll say, "I'm here, Hadley, I'm here." They're starting to interact more now that Hadley is playing with toys on the floor with him. She'll be forcing Tucker to learn about sharing daily since her favorite toys seem to be the diggers :)

And speaking of diggers, they are still the love of his life. We'll probably be making plans soon to have a birthday party that somehow involves these...

Tucker and Max - Best buddies!

We had a "sleepover" with Max, as Tucker called it, and it was fun--especially bathtime :)

And there was play-along-with-Zac Brown-time...

I don't have pictures to prove it but Tucker has been playing soccer on Saturday mornings with Daddy. He's in a little 2 year old league and although it doesn't involve actual games, he loves going and I think he's learned more about listening in a big group...hopefully good prep for preschool!

He loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Lightening and Mator, construction sites, his "big dee dee", ketchup, "He's got the whole world in His hands", reading, swimming, giving hugs and kisses, and pushing Mommy's buttons :)

We love you Tucker!

Brave boy!

This was Tucker a few weeks ago at a pool party we went to...

This is one thing I will not forget about his 2 year old summer...he is extremely brave and independent in the water!

Hadley Weekly!

Last week, Hadley was 32 weeks old! These weekly updates are turning into every-other-weekly updates but such is life with 2 busy little ones, right? Hadley turned 7 months old this week! We're at the beach for the week so we'll have to take our bear picture when we get home... it's hard to believe we're now closer to 1 year old than to the day she was born!

She is crawling everywhere and I officially can't leave her alone in a room. She's after Tucker's toys...the diggers are her favorite...seriously.

She's interested in Grey and crawls over to her if she's around. Grey is such a great sport, just like she was with Tucker...laying down and letting her crawl on top of her.

Her hair is getting a little longer and she's just looking more like a little girl to me :) She's got the best smile and it instantly fills her face when anyone looks at her.

She's spends most of her awake time hanging out on the floor with a bunch of toys but she still enjoys the exersaucer. As of this week, she's outgrown the Bjorn and it's just a matter of time before we move her out of the infant carrier.

She's taking 2 2-hour naps a day now with cat nap around dinner some days...I can tell she's close to dropping this all together.

She's eating 3 meals a day--with rice cereal and fruits and veggies. She loves to eat :) I'm beginning the process of slowly adding foods back into my diet so I'm hopeful that both of our bodies will adjust well!

First boat ride in a lifejacket! In just 2 minutes, she was asleep and once she woke up, she seemed to be content!

1st tractor ride with big brother!

Hadley Weekly!

Hadley is 30 weeks old!

Lots of "big girl" moments this week since Hadley had her first sleepover and her first night at home with Daddy without Mama! Last weekend, I went on a quick overnight trip with a few women from my church. Brad said he was willing to brave it alone with the 2 kiddos. I was looking forward to the break but had mixed feelings about leaving Hadley for that long. I'm happy to report that I had a great time and Hadley took the bottle great while I was gone!

Just a few nights later, our dear friends, the Seferyn's, offered to have Tucker and Hadley over for the night so Brad and I could enjoy a quiet night to ourselves. And was it QUIET! I've decided being at home without kids is just as nice as going away on vacation. 18 hours of not taking care of anyone felt like 5 days :) THANK YOU to our friends!

In other news, Hadley is still on the move...crawling wherever she needs to go to get a toy-especially Tucker's toys :) She's now eating 3 meals a day in addition to her 4 feedings. The food she seems to like the least are bananas, which seems odd. She's paying a lot of attention to Grey these days and Grey is gentle with her just like she always has been with Tucker.

We love you Hadley girl!

Praying for Amy

Thanks for continuing to pray for Amy. She has her first round of chemo tomorrow and hopefully she'll breeze through it like she did last time. She is such a warrior and I'm amazed by her grace as she walks through the valley.

Stay posted through her caring bridge.

Thanks.

Food/Allergy Update

At Hadley's 6 month appt a few weeks ago, we were planning to do some blood work to test for allergies. It was a whirlwind of a day after having her regular vaccinations and then being sent to do emergency blood work because of a weird rash she had on the bottom of her legs (NOT FUN to watch a nurse find a vein on your baby!). While they drew her blood, they went ahead and drew enough for 2 different tests--an allergy test and an intolerance/sensitivity test. My main objective in doing the testing was to make sure there weren't other foods she had an intolerance to that I didn't already know about. As we've started feeding her food, I've been more fearful about what may or may not bother her. So, we waited a little over a week and landed back at the dr. this past Monday. The Dr. walked in, gave me a you're-not-going to-believe-this-smile and told me what I had a feeling she would--everything was PERFECTLY NORMAL! There wasn't a single number "off". What? Seriously? We weren't expecting the allergies to be present but thought that surely something would appear as an intolerance. My Dr. did say that the intolerances may not show up without the things that she's intolerant to being in my body at this time. So, either she is still sensitive to those things (dairy, soy, and gluten) or she's grown out of it and will be fine moving forward. Regardless, time will tell and now I'll have to make decisions about if I want to add them back in, when, how quickly or how slowly, etc... As we've thought through those decisions this week, I must admit that it's been tempting to just keep doing what I'm doing. With feeling like we've finally hit the cruise control with Hadley, we're definitely not interested in causing any hiccups.... HOWEVER, my diet has been really hard and 4-6 months more of doing that does sound tough. We'll keep you posted on what we decide to do but we will definitely wait a month or so before we add anything back in. We are so, so grateful to be allergy free... I will forever feel compassion for parents who go through what we have endured with our Hadley girl. Hopefully the worst is behind us!

Cooper Wheatley!

Our dear friends, Scott and Ashley, welcomed their second little boy, Cooper Wheatley, into the world a few weeks ago! We were so happy to meet him and I'm so excited he and Hadley will be so close in age.

I think Cooper's already making the "touchdown" sign here :)

We love you guys!