Visitors

Last Thursday my brother, Steve, called about visiting on Friday...this was going to be a surprise (and oh how I love surprises-- well, most the time) but for one reason or another he ended up telling me. He and Will's cousin Cian arrived Friday morning and to my surprise (!) Becca, his wife, came too. Will and Cian had so much fun playing on the swing set, getting pizza, watching Star Wars: Clone Wars and playing around. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time. They had plans Saturday, so they left late Friday night. We had to wake Will up to say goodbye and he was sad but fell right back asleep.

Then yesterday my MIL, SIL, neice and nephew came down for the day. Again, they arrived in the morning and we talked about doing something fun (science center, zoo, etc.) but we wound up playing at the house most the day and met Daniel for lunch. I know Claudia (MIL) and Buffy (SIL) were happy about the weather because they escaped the rain and cooler temps. Will thorougly enjoys having company, especially his 'friends' that can run around and play all day! I think Bailey and Sam enjoy seeing him too. :) After dinner they loaded up to head home...Will was sad again but didn't last long before he drifted off to sleep. We had great day.

Maggie six months

Maggie's check-up was yesterday but I didn't have time to post. She weighs 13 pounds, 10 ounces and is 26 inches long-- 25th and 75th percentile respectively. The pediatrician is referring us to a physical and occupational therapist to assess Maggie's motor skills. She's not passing objects from one hand to the other which is typical of most six month-olds and she keeps her right arm straight alot. The doctor said she can't look at her for 2 minutes and determine if it's a problem or not but she thinks it's a little stiff. We discussed that there's a range of development for little ones and they all progress differently, but given Maggie's birth history, she (and I) want to have her evaluated earlier rather than later. If the PT/OT determine there's nothing to worry about then we won't. Otherwise, she'll receive therapy; we won't get a call for a couple weeks to schedule the evaluation.
I'm not thrown off by this- I went to the doc expecting to request some physical therapy- I think she could be a more proficient grabber. I'm grateful to have a doctor that wants to get some early intervention instead of waiting to see if things improve on their own, which may be all that's required but we'll know for sure after she's evaluated. Please pray that if Maggie does require some therapy that she's able to breeze through it and catch right up. Thank you!

Pancake Breakfast

I made good on my promise and first thing this morning we got ready and drove to Cracker Barrel for pancakes. Will had to grab a toy to play with at the table (even though he brought his own) this is a tradition his Grandma started. We sat down, ordered and I watched Will and Maggie play with their toys.
Then Will says he needs to potty. Nice. What am I to do? I'm the only one who can take him and I can't exactly leave Maggie alone at the table. I felt safe leaving the diaper bag and car seat...luckily I didn't bring my purse in. So I grab two kids and a fairly heavy camera and head to the bathroom where helping Will pull up his pants and lifting him on the counter one handed was not easy but not as difficult as I expected. I fully anticipated returning to a table full of food, but we did not, kinda surprising since it wasn't very busy. Perhaps she came out to an empty table and brought the food back. Ha! How funny would that be? Where did my whole table go? Haha.
Anyway, I digress. It was a good breakfast...



I actually beat it! And nobody (who understands) was

there to see it!...

That's a lot of butter...gotta spread it out

I bought him one pancake. What?!?!! One? Is she

crazy? A kid's gotta eat! No, I'm not

'cause he didn't even finish it. He did, of course, have

to eat some of my eggs, yogurt and muffin



Cute conversations

After bedtime story, songs and prayers, Will likes to mention what he'll have for breakfast in the morning. Tonight he said "tomorrow we have pancakes!" to which I replied, "ah! we don't have the ingredients, I forgot to buy Bisquick at the store." We explained further why I couldn't make pancakes and the following conversation ensued:

A: but maybe we can GO somewhere to get pancakes in the morning!
D: did you know you know you can go out to eat in the morning?
W: yea. And Jesus will be there
A: Jesus?
W: No, Joshua
D: No, Joshua won't be there
W: Only Jesus?
A: No, Jesus won't be there
D: Well, he will, but you can't see him
A: you can't see him, but he's right here
W: in your belly?
D&A: in your heart
W: in you heart? You can see him?
D&A: no, but you can feel him
W: feel him? (pause) Ah! he bite me!
D&A: no, son he doesn't bite. Goodnight.


Other funnies lately
(3/4) W: you done working yet?
A: no honey
W: but after you done you get me cheese chips?
A: yeah
W: ok. that sounds good mommy

(3/4) A: Will, 3 more bites and you can get that brownie
W: Oh! 5 more bites?
D&A: Yes, 5 more bites
--great negotiator, this one--

(3/5) W: I hurt my lip on your bed!
D: How did you do that, jumping on the bed?
W: No. I..... (silent)
D: What did you do?
W: I don't want to tell you
D: Why not, did you do something you aren't supposed to?
W: Yes
--Will walks off--

(3/8) I'm too fast for rain

(3/12) D: are you going to finish your spaghetti?
W: No
D: Why not?
W: They talk to me and say 'Will, don't eat me'

LOL, how can you argue that?

Updates
(3/15) I drink all your fruit fruit. My tongue getting so cold. My tongue talk to me and say "I don't want to be cold."

(3/16) while lifting weights:
W: that hurt mommy?
-shake my head-
W: daddy don't make mommy do that! It hurts!

New toy and Buster Browns

Yesterday was a big day at the Belcher house! If you know me or have been following this blog for awhile, you know that our camera broke last summer when Will dropped it in the dog's water bowl. I decided since I had to put out the money anyway, I might as well spend a little more and buy an SLR to take really sharp pictures. I've been saving for awhile, finally purchased online and received my camera yesterday!

I still have a lot to learn but already love the seemingly unlimited options with this camera and the quality compared to our point and shoot- though I would not have replaced had Will not broken it. It's 14 megapixels, shoots 3 frames per second and takes video in 1080p. It's a beginner SLR, which is what I need (I'm not trying to start a business), I just want to catch my kids in motion. :) Below are a few practice shots...not sure if the quality difference will show through online.

Will dug through his closet yesterday and found an old pair of boots he outgrew and insisted on wearing them. I explained they were too small but he couldn't take my word for it so I had to prove myself to the 3-year-old. Not sure what sparked this interest in boots, but we went to the outlet mall after dinner to see what we could find. Much to Will's excitement, we found a pair of Buster Brown's on clearance and bought them. I might add they're a couple sizes too big. They had sizes 7 and a 9...the7's fit but will be outgrown soon. So we got the 9 and they will take awhile to grow into. An 8 would have been ideal, but alas. I also found a pair of shoes on clearance for $20 that rang up for $5 at the register. Score! So Will got his Buster Brown boots and wore them all day today....even while he napped. Haha.





Half a year!

Happy 6 months Maggie, you have an ear infection. Again. That's right, our sweet giggly bear is sick again, poor baby. This is her second ear infection! The good news is it's only her left ear and not a double ear infection. I expressed my concern to the pediatrician even stating Will did not get sick this much and she said it's a bad time of year, she's little and it's been a really bad winter. She said hopefully Maggie will come around when spring gets here and said they don't have any reason to be concerned about her immune system. So, it stinks she's been getting sick but it's good to know I don't have to be concerned about her immunity.
Due to the ear infection, she'll be re-checked in 10 days and we'll do her 6 month check-up at that time so I'll post her stats at a later date.

A day at the zoo

Friday we met up with some friends- Lisa and her two boys, Joshua and Caleb. Maggie and Caleb were quiet most of the time (they're close in age- Caleb ahead by about 6 weeks) but Will and Joshua had a great time talkin' it up and looking at the animals. The zoo is currently under construction paving way for Trails of Africa where the animals will be in a more open habitat which more closely resembles their actual environment -- plus we're getting elephants which Joshua is very excited about! This project has been under way for quite some time and were well aware of this before going, BUT we didn't expect everything else to be shut down too. Well, that's an exaggeration, not everything, but it felt that way. Almost everywhere we went had a roundabout detour, this area was closed, that animal was off exhibit. I think we were there an hour and a half and saw everything or close to it! Lisa and I didn't get too much time to chat with the kids around, pretty much par for the course, but we still had a great time and it was yet another beautiful day.

So it didn't take us long to get through the zoo which was fine, lunch and nap times were approaching any how. As we said our goodbyes, I renewed our membership and Will asked if we could eat lunch at the zoo. Well, instead of paying $5 for a hot dog and $2 for chips (I don't know if those are the actual prices, but you know how it is) we had an impromptu picnic on the benches out front. I planned ahead and packed lunch for both kids as we moms are accustomed to, but did not think about myself. Hah! Just as well, it took me longer to feed Maggie as it took Will to eat.

 stop taking pictures mommy, I'm hungry!

 chasing a bird

 playing with a stick

 and making a friend



Oh they grow so fast

So I was uploading photos and picking my favorites for my 365 project and ran across one of the kids similar to one I took last year. Day by day you know you're child is growing but coming across pictures and actually seeing the difference a few months makes gets ya every time! Oh my word, my babies are growing up too fast!!!! Below the top pic was taken in early October, Maggie not quite 4 weeks old and the bottom pic was taken yesterday, Maggie 25 weeks old. Can you believe it??!!!?