Piggy, Piggy, Piggy

As you can probably tell, I am trying to write a post every week...so far, so good. Brenton just turned 3 weeks yesterday, and he's growing like a weed. Our home scale says he weighs 8 1/2 lbs (about a pound bigger than his birth weight). Aleigha is also growing a bunch...she weighs 19 1/2 lbs...lol..can you believe it...almost 2, and doesn't even weigh 20 lbs. I think Brenton will out past her weight before he's 8 months.
Anyways, we've had a another good week. We spent a great Father's Day with my Dad and Molly coming over for the day to eat, play games, and watch a movie. We had a great time. Aleigha enjoyed swimming and the play ground at Gramma and Grampa Richie's house (Unfortunatly, I didn't have my camera with me at the lake).
Aleigha loves the fact that all her grandparents and so many cousins live so close by and that we can visit with family a couple times a week. I have to admit...I love it too. Our parents have come to the rescue several times in babysitting, coming along on trips, and doing whatever they can to help us out. They are really great. We have talked about moving, but I do not want to leave so many family members. I love being so close to so many.
My posts are always sooo long, so this time I thought I'd just write about a couple of highlights of things that happened this week. First, Chris put Brenton on the floor for some tummy time. Then he left the room for just a minute. Aleigha was NOT in the room when she left, however, I think she has parent radar that lets her know when Brenton is available to play...on her terms. Well, it wasn't more than 20 or 30 seconds from when I heard Chris leave the room to when I hear..."Help, help...heavy, heavy"...I run into the living room to see Aleigha actually carring Brenton. Aleigha responds with, "Help, mom, heavy." She had walked about 3 or 4 feet with him. I have to admit though, she was doing a pretty good job. She had him under the arms, and she wasn't dragging him on the floor. As much as I wish I had a picture of it...I don't think it would have been very good parenting skills by leaving them alone again to go find and get my camera ready. As you can tell, it's a lot to adjusting to having 2 kids, and Chris and I still have a lot to learn.
So for another cute thing Aleigha has been doing, is playing "This Little Piggy" with Brenton's toes and her own toes. She will wiggle his or her toes and say "piggy, piggy, piggy." I will say the beginning of each line and she will finish. The following is the poem (the regular print words are what I say, and the bold print words are what Aleigha says):

This little piggy went to the market.
This little piggy stayed home.
This little piggy had cream (what she calls ice cream).
This little piggy had yogurt (no idea where this one came from).
And this little piggy went wee, wee, wee, wee, wee. (as she tickles Brenton or herself up their legs).

Oh...he is sooo precious

Her newest thing....pouting...anytime she gets in trouble (or even things she's in trouble)...she goes to the swing...leans in..(usually covers her eyes)...and does a fake cry..it's the funniest thing...you can't help but laugh

Sharing secrets

Giving kisses

Chris put their car seats next to each other so I could sit more comfortably in the back seat...never again though...Aleigha kept sticking her foot on him...she wanted him to smell her feet...some big sister..huh...lol.

Me and my baby girl

Best shot I could get with her and the flowers

You can't help but to love her to pieces

She loves her swing at Gramma's and Grampa Richie's house

Brenton's "girl-getting" outfit...he's such a stud

Sporting his swim trunks..the beginning of a smile

smile getting bigger...look at that dimple..so adorable

WOW!!! A full blown smile...gotta love it.

Aleigha is still our little ham...she's such a character..I love it!

She climbed into Brenton's napper (in the pack-n-play),
pulled up the blanket, and acted as if she was asleep
(don't let her fool you though...she was wide awake when this pic was taken)

Me and my precious babies

Aleigha feel asleep in her high chair while eating lunch...so cute

Enjoying another week as a family of 4 (week 2)

Another week has passed...and we are enjoying every moment..well almost every moment. Things are going very well. Every day Brenton is staying awake for longer periods of time. He lost his umbilical cord today....day 15. He's growing very well. On Monday, June 15th, he weighed 7 lbs 11oz. He passed his birth weight before 2 weeks, so I know he's getting plenty to eat. Aleigha is back to not having any accidents...YA!!! Pain wise, I am feeling pretty good for the most part. Some days I am in more pain than others, but nothing I can't tolerate. I am very very tired a lot of the time. Brenton staying awake for longer periods of time also includes during the night too. Plus Aleigha is still waking up in the middle of the night and coming into our bed...so need less to say, I don't think I'm getting a good nights rest every night. But hey, that is what it means to be a parent...and it's worth it. Aleigha is still doing great with Brenton. However, every morning she is very very cranky. She's still sleeping for about the same amount of time, but now that she's coming into bed with us...it is interrupted sleep, and I think it is wearing on her as well. As for this past week, we have been enjoying it by spending time with friends. We went and visited with some friends over the weekend, Brian and Emily...and their children Brian and Lilly. Lilly is about a year older than Aleigha, so they have a blast together. They went swimming, played on the swing set, planted flowers, rode bikes, and lots more. They are really cute together. We also had our friends, JD and Ashley over this week for dinner and games. It's nice to be able to spend time with friends. We've also been fortunate to have many visitors. Also, last Friday was my birthday. We celebrated it by going out to eat at Gran Ranchero in Parkersburg. They sang Happy Birthday to me ( in Spanish of course) and made me wear a sombrero and gave me fried ice cream (mmmm....i love fried ice cream). My parents, Molly, a couple of her friends, Jared, Leta, Richie, Johnnie, and Carrie, and of course Chris, Aleigha, and Brenton were all there to help me celebrate. We had a great time. For my birthday we got a 42 inch, flat screen tv. It's my birthday, mother's day, and father's day gift. That way we were able to justify the price a little...however, we did get a really good deal...it was on sale for $300 off the original price. Well, that has been our week. Here are some pictures captured during the week (plus a few others that were not put on earlier).

The morning I gave birth to Brenton

About to leave for the hospital

39 weeks and 1 day

Pretty much all baby

I don't think these pictures ever made the blog before...
so I wanted to add them...better late than never

Grandma and Brenton

cute profile shot

playing with bubbles

check out those cool shoes...not really sure where they came from

Aleigha's bubble hand print

I finally got a picture with his eyes open

He loves his mommy's kisses

Mommy and Baby

the bowl is bigger than she is

licking the brownie bowl

Getting some tummy time

Enjoying some Grandma time...I swear it is b/c of her why Aleigha is sooo smart...she gets on their level and talks and talks to them...it got Brenton all excited...he started cooing and kicking his legs...it was really cute

Mine and Brenton's hands

Love it

Our precious baby boy

He always squints when I take a picture...I can never get his eyes open

Brenton's profile...look at that cute little sloped nose and those chubby little cheeks

The First Week

Well, we have made it through week one with two children under the age of two. Things for the most part have gone very well. However, there have been a few stressful moments. Aleigha is a very good big sister. She loves her brother...the first word out of her mouth every morning is "Brenton." She loves him to pieces...however, sometimes, I'm afraid she's going to put him into pieces b/c she loves him so much. For the most part she is very gentle with him, but she likes to give hugs that consist of her lying right on top of him. She also likes to hold (or should I say "squeeze") his hands. She does not show any bit of jealousy towards him though. She does throw some temper tantrums...usually over food. She is not eating as much as she used to because she has wanted to nurse. I did not have Aleigha completely weened from nursing when Brenton was born. She would nurse once a day...but would go anywhere from 24-72 hours without nursing. It was something she did for comfort. Now that Brenton nurses, she insists (and I am not kidding when I say insists) on nursing as well. I want her to know that she is still special and has a special bond with mommy. Fortunately when you nurse, your body produces milk on a demand basis. Therefor, I am making more then plenty of milk for the both of them. In fact, I think I have enough milk for 2 more babies. I don't mind nursing Aleigha, what is hard on me though, is the fact that she wants to nurse at the SAME time that Brenton nurses....let me tell you...it's not the easiest thing in the world, but it is possible. I have been getting a little more strict with her though and have been telling her that she can't nurse unless she eats her big girl food first. This has helped a little with the eating. As for potty training, she has regressed a little. She has been completely accident free for almost a month. However, now she has been having about one pee accident every other day. Which is completely understandable with such a big change. She is very good about letting us know. She will tell us she as had an "accent," and then she usually will go and get a new pair of pants and put them on. The only other thing she has regressed on a little, is waking up in the middle of the night and coming into bed with us. She's also teething, so that could be adding to the problem. Nothing is very extreme...I think most everything will correct itself within a few weeks...once we are in a pretty regular routine. Which, speaking of routines, I've never been one in favor of them. I feel that they are more for the parents then for the children because if a routine has to be broken...then it is really hard on the child. So, unless you have a very regular life, then I think it's not worth having a routine. Now, with that being said, now having two children at such young ages...I think I need some routine in our lives...(for my own sanity). Hopefully I can manage this and if does have to be broken, it won't be too hard on either child.
As for progression with Aleigha: Her speaking skills are incredible. She continues to add new words every day. She has extremely good manners. She says "please," "thank you," "welcome," "excuse me," "bless you," and "sorry" all at appropriate times. She speaks in sentences several times a day. It's really cute to hear her say things like, "I want a sandwich." or "I don't like it." Also, Aleigha has an incredible memory. She's also really good at making connections....such as, a few weeks ago we went to one of Johnny's (Chris' brother) track meet, and it started to rain. Now every time it rains, she says "rain...Johnny....run." Like I said earlier, Aleigha is such a good big sister. Every time he cries, she will start to sing him a lullaby. She will also say things like..."shhh....it's kay, i got you." She has become our little "diaper sniffer." She'll smell anything you tell her too, so we have used it to our advantage to have her smell Brenton's butt. If it's dirty, she'll tell us "diaper."...most of the time, she's right. And when she's not, it's still really cute and funny to see. It's amazing how big she looks all of a sudden. One day she was my little baby, the next day, she's soo big. I try to get some one on one time with Aleigha everyday. One time I asked her if she wanted to play with me. She said "yes." And when I asked her what she wanted to play, she responded with "Brenton." Yesterday, Aleigha and I got out for a couple of hours while Chris watched Brenton. We went to the park and the library. She definatly needed and enjoyed her time with just me. We had a very good time together.
As for progression with Brenton: His birth weight dropped from 7 lbs 9 oz to 7 lbs 1 oz and on Sunday it was up to 7 lbs 3 oz. He will be weighed again on Friday to make sure his weight continues to go up. On the first night Brenton was born, he started to lift his head. He continues to do this everyday, and it is obvious that his neck is getting stronger and stronger. He can lift it and move it from one side to the other before it drops again. We give him about 5 mins of tummy time once or twice a day to help make his neck strong. On June 4th we saw his first smile (wether gas or not...it's still a smile)...and now he smiles often. On June 7th, he turned from his back to his side. He doesn't do this often, but any time (which is about every night), when i check on him in his bassinet, he has moved from his back to his side all on his own. I suppose he likes to sleep on his side. He is a very happy baby except when he needs something...fed, changed, hungry, or being changed. I'd have to say that being changed it what he hates the most. For the first week, he slept most of the time. Starting today, he has been awake for much longer periods of time. It's a lot of fun to see him look all around to explore his environment. I often wonder what he thinks about Aleigha...lol.
As for Chris: He returned to work a few days after Brenton was born. He has been a great help with everything. On Sunday before church, he got both kids dressed...although he put both of their outfits on backwards...I truely appreciated what he did. He often gets Aleigha breakfast so I can feed Brenton without the persistent insisting from Aleigha that she needs to nurse as well. He makes sure he gives his one-on-one attention to Aleigha as well everday. He is very excited to have a little boy as well now. I know they will do a lot of father-son activities. He's already talking about how he wants to coach his sport teams. He is a great dad and a wonderful husband. I am so lucky to be married to him.
As for me: I am doing pretty good. I have not had to take any pain medicine after the first three or four days (I had to take it for almost 3 weeks w/ Aleigha). I am very happy to not be pregnant anymore. But I'm even happier to be able to hold my little boy and my little girl in my arms. I love being a mom...it is the greatest gift that God has given me. Right now, I'm feeling pretty good about myself because I feel that I have my house under control (which I was really worried about with having two young children). I've learned it's a lot easier to keep on top of things if you do it right away. Now we wash our dishes with every meal rather than just once a day or every other day. I try to keep everything put away as we use them. I do the laundry every couple of days rather than every couple of weeks. I've been teaching Aleigha (and Chris for that matter) to put their things away as well. They've been catching on pretty quickly...lol.
Anyways, life is good right now. And I am very very thankful for having such a great life with such a great family.
I want to apologize for such a long post. I use this blogspot to not only keep family and friends updated with our family, but also as a journal. Therefore, I add a lot of details that I might not necessarily post but that I want to keep recorded of.
I have posted several pictures and a couple of videos of the first week of Brenton's life. I hope you all enjoy.

Our precious son right after birth

Brenton with Grandpa John

Peaceful in the swing....Aleigha thought he needed some toys to play with

Brenton's first sponge bath at home

Getting all clean

Quite content after his bath

My sleepy baby...his lips are just like Aleigha's when they sleep
....they get all big and pouty

He's a pretty peaceful sleepier during the day...
during the night is a different story

Aleigha playing in her food

She painted her WHOLE body with spaghetti

Letting me know she's all done

Stripping her clothes so she can take a shower

My pretty baby...after she took a shower

She's beautiful

His favorite place to be...next to mommy's arms of course

Mommy and Brenton...one week old

Aleigha's way of playing with the tummy time mat

Silly Aleigha

Pure love in Aleigha's eyes

Aleigha consoling her brother??...or Aleigha the reason for his troubles??
She is such an amazing big sister, however, she likes to show too
much love sometimes.

Brenton doing the "Act Surprise" face
Brenton is a quick learner and Aleigha a good teacher

I think they will be very close

My favorite feet to give kisses too

Brenton's little feet and toes