Candy & Temper Tantrums

Thatcher can be the most cuddly & most polite little boy there is. However, like all of us, he has his weaknesses. Candy happens to be one of them. From the moment he gets up in the morning he's asking "candy, candy" and it just breaks his heart when I explain to him that he may not have candy EVERY DAY.

We use to keep a bowl of goodies out on our table for our guests to feel like they can help themselves, but lately it has been tempting Thatcher way too much. I have even caught him standing on top of the table to be close to the bowl. (I wish I could just wear my camera on my hip so when moments like this happen, I am ready. Sadly I have no evidence of it) I decided that I would just take the temptation away. At least I thought that I was. It now sits in our pantry cupboard but every time the door opens when Thatch Man is around, he goes into his candy frenzy. Today I caught him in action with a piece already in his mouth I believe.

I have no idea how he got the bowl. Probably with the help of a chair or his older sister. I had to take the bowl away and here's how he handled it. A temper tantrum.

He spent some time cuddling with his daddy and then received some explanation that he may not go into the pantry without asking. By the time this was done, he was already drooling pink from the candy that he did manage to stuff into his mouth before we caught him.

Big Sister & Big Brother

I am getting so big and can interact with my sister & brother more and more every day. They love me SO much and I love them SO much. I love to smile at them, coo at them, and even read stories with them. They love to...

Put in my pacifier


Kiss on me

Read me stories

Hold me

Lilly's Park

Yesterday was so beautiful that we, as a family, headed to the park not far from our house. We are blessed to be so close. It has become known as 'Lilly's Park'. It has been great to see Lilly grow each year and become more adventurous and now be able to handle virtually everything that is there, which makes life easier when you are out-numbered kids to parents:-) but...

...there comes 'Thatch Man', our new nickname for this adorable yet stubborn little brother. He's come to think that if Lilly can do it than why can't I? This can get interesting which is why I don't dare take them to the park by myself yet. (I do believe I am getting closer to convincing myself that it wouldn't be that bad).

We had a great time. I thought that I would catch some pictures this time as I haven't shot any yet this year. Hope you enjoy.

Swings

Monkey See Monkey Do

Daddy makes me show off how strong I am. I can hang from monkey bars already:-)

So Can I
Trying out the slides in 'various' positions
Yep, that's right, "I'm flipping over"-A little scary
We didn't even know she could climb this by herself yet. She showed us!
Always exploring
Just Hanging out in the stroller, playing with my toys. Notice that I can hold my toys now. I am so big!

Just Having SO much Fun!

He's BIG (2-month checkup)

Here's the stats on Tucker Harvey at 2 months old:
*Height: 23.25" (90th%)
*Weight: 13lb 7oz (97th%) WOW!!!
*Head Circumference: 15.51" (?%)

We've always had plump babies but never long babies. I was pretty shocked at that stat. Adam had the privilege of taking Tucker to see Dr. Pals for this 2 month checkup with a list of questions in hand (his idea, not mine).

Tucker's doing great. We were advised to keep him on the Zantac for a month or so longer. His feeding issues are no longer, just the normal spit up that babies can have and the normal gassiness that can sometimes happen too, but nothing like before.

I did notice that Tucker's been having diarrhea with every feeding so I had Adam bring that up at his appointment too. Doc said to not worry about it if it's not bloody and if he keeps gaining weight. She said it just is how his digestive system is working right now.

I moved him up to Size 2 diapers because he was blowing out the size 1 every time. It was very annoying and gross. I guess he's pretty powerful because he's even blowing out of the size 2. I am just going to have to strategically hold him and position him when he has a bowel movement so this doesn't happen EVERY time. Such is life and I am good with that.

We have a healthy boy and are very blessed for that.

Sunday School

Lilly got to go to Sunday School for the first time today. She was SO excited when we told her the news. She could hardly wait until church was over.

Sitting in church, listening (trying to listen) to the sermon. Our conversation:

Lilly: (loudly) "Mom, I want to go home NOW"
Mom: (whisper) "We need to listen to Pastor Jeff. Besides, I thought you were going to go to Sunday school after church?"
Lilly: (loudly) "I want to go to school NOW"
Mom: (whisper) "I need you to behave like a big girl and soon we will get to go to school"

Lilly listened well and got her wish. She's growing up so fast, I just can't believe it.

Just Because

Just some fun pictures that I wanted to share with you all!

All playing in Lilly's bed. So much fun.

Sporting a pretty cool hat that she found in my closet.

Thatcher feeds himself but often times it ends up all in his hair, like in this picture. But he's still so precious to us.

Throwing a temper tantrum. He's getting to be a pro at them so we're working on that with him.

Just so darn cute!

Sleeping

For two nights in a row now Tucker has decided that he will let his mama and dada sleep! I have been praying for the Lord to bless us with this event for about a week now and hopefully it's here to stay. It's amazing how a well rested mama feels so much better which in turn can accomplish a whole lot more. Tucker's been eating his last bottle at about 9:30pm (I think a little later last night with the babysitters) and not waking up until 6am to eat again. It's so wonderful!

Today we decided to try the early service at church which means we had to be out the door at 8:15am to catch the 8:30am service. I ended up having to wake all of the kids up, including Tucker to get them fed, dressed, and ready to go. It was such a great night. More importantly, the kids did awesome in church (with the exception of Lilly needing a couple reminders of how to act).

Another changing event that will soon take place is transitioning Tucker out of his cradle and into the pack and play but still sleeping in our room. The pictures to follow with tell you why this event is to happen:-)

Have a wonderful Sunday!

You can't really tell from these photos, but both arms are sticking out throught the cradle spindles. He's getting SO big!

Tucker 8 weeks

My Beautiful Children
(looking so innocent)

Tucker was 8 weeks old yesterday. He's growing so fast and is adjusting to our life so well. He's loved by so many people as you can see.

We got to head to Sioux City with Dad yesterday. We had a great time in Lowes which is where we spent most of our time. The kids had fun looking at brochures of tools, running up and down the aisles of lumber, talking to everyone who passed them by, and eventually even had a game of hide-and-seek going in between all of the quickcrete bags. We probably looked like wild animals in Lowes, but the kids sure had fun.


What is Tucker doing at 8 weeks of age? We're still not really on time-based schedule b/c he's not waking up at the same time each day. The consistency is that he's eating every three hours and is having a little awake time after he eats and before he naps during the day. At night he usually goes 5-6 hrs until his middle of the night feeding and then another 4 hours before his next feeding and that's when we start his day. (he has done 7 & 8 hrs between his last night feeding and morning feeding, but still inconsistent.)

So we have a middle of the night feeding (hopefully he won't need this much longer), early morning feeding, and every three hours after that. After the late afternoon feeding we usually use this time to go to the park, go visit dad, walk to the grocery store, or just play outside. Tucker usually falls asleep at some point during this time and then I wake him for a 6 or 6:30pm feeding.

Between 9-9:30pm we give him 5 oz of formula and then he goes to bed and we do the cycle over again.

Here's what I'm striving his schedule to look like:

8am: Eat 4 oz
10am-11am: nap
11am: Eat 4 oz
1pm-3pm: nap
3pm: Eat 4 oz (I know it's a 4-hr stint but he often does this already at least one time a day) Go do our errands/etc after this feeding
6pm: Eat 4 oz
7:30pm-8:30pm: nap
9pm: Eat 5 oz (also takes Zantac at 8:30pm before this feeding)
8am: Eat 4 oz

What else do you do? You are smiling, cooing, using your pacifier to go to sleep, feeding better than a few weeks ago, wearing 0-3 & 3-6 mo clothes, wearing sz 1 diapers but could probably fit in a 2 better, & discovering that you have arms and legs and have a world around you full of bright colors and moving objects.

Check back on Wednesday to get his stats from the doctor. We're excited to see how big you are!!

Helping Dad

This past weekend Adam worked on the house a little bit. He's working on taking our rod iron 1960s support posts out and is going to replace them with craftsman-looking wooden posts instead. I am so excited to see how they turn out. He started the project when all of the kids were down for naps (when we do most of our projects) but was still working when they awoke so he had LOTS of help. Good help:-)

Here are some pictures of their quality time together. Even though he didn't get much done I don't think that Adam would have traded this time for anything. He was glowing just watching his kids do what HE loves to do.



































Lilly reminds me of her Uncle Colin and Cousin Jack with the whole tongue hanging out of her mouth.

Garage Sale

Just giving you all an update on what's been going on in our home lately.

I have been busy going through all of the kids' outgrown clothes because I am going to have a garage sale here in September during the city wide garage sale weekend. Boy, this is quite the task. I have all of the kids' clothes gone through and priced. I have yet to do my own, Adam's, and other misc. items. Hopefully I will continue to do just a little bit everyday. There will be tons of items for all different people so come on by!!!

All three of my kids have colds right now. Lilly's cold is getting better. I am chalking her's up to allergies b/c once I gave her her singulair the next day she was tons better. Thatcher I am not sure about. I am debating whether to give him some Singulair too just to see. His cough sounds terrible. This is his first ever "sickness" That's pretty good being that he's 19 months old. We think he stays so healthy b/c he's well rested. Tucker just gets congested at night when he's been laying for hours at a time. Last night his nose must have been draining into his tummy b/c he threw up all over Adam and it was very mucusey. Poor thing. His eyes are watering quite a bit, but that could be his blocked tear duct too.

Overall, we're doing pretty good. Adam's busy building a house and doing a million other things on top of that. I am just trying to keep up with everything and everybody.

Hope this post finds you all well and check back tomorrow for Tucker's 2-month update.

Tucker Update

Ok. So the last time I posted I think that I had decided to not switch his formula but to see if the Zantac would work first. Since then, things have changed. I thought that my family wouldn't get assistance anymore for purchasing formula, cereal, juice, etc. but we do so my game plan changed with Tucker's feedings.

He now is on Similac Sensitive and still receives 1 ml of Zantac twice a day. He seems to be doing much better. He definitely doesn't spit up like he used to and he doesn't have quite as many fussy feeding times either. I know that now I am not really finding out what the root cause of Tucker's fussiness was but the doc did say that the Zantac won't hurt him, so I am content with doing what we're doing.

Last night Adam & I went on a double date with some dear friends so we left ALL THREE kids with a babysitter (who brought backup help too). This was the first time that we left Tucker at home with a sitter so it was kind of a big deal for us, even on our third go around. I guess that Tucker did struggle with his 9pm feeding but he did eat all 4 oz and they even got him to bed, so overall I think it was a success--Right Elizabeth???

Today Grandpa and Grandma Kollasch are coming to stay while Adam & I help some other dear friends cater a wedding, so that should be fun. Hopefully I will remember to take some pictures of the kids with their grandparents to share with you all.

Have a great weekend!!

SMILE!

I captured Tucker's smile on camera the other day and thought that I would share it with the world. It's kind of tricky to get it on camera since you have to be like right in his face in order for him to get a good look at you which in turn immediately leads to a smile.

I love how my nephew, Orin, is such a smiley little boy. I pray that the Lord blesses me with one too. It's so cute when you just take one look at Orin and he immediately gives you his big flirty smile.

Here's one of many many more smiles of Tucker.

Afterthought

I forgot to mention that Tucker was also weighed at the doctor's and he was 12lb 12oz--big boy and that put him in the 97th percentile!!!! WOW!! Also, I need to note that not only is he smiling adorably but he also is cooing just as adorable. That's it for now.

Acid Reflux or Formula

So we just got back from the doctor and it's so hard to know what really is going on but this is what we decided to do. The doc prescribed Zantac (1 ml twice a day). We are going to be giving this to Tucker for awhile (I haven't decided what "a while" means yet) and we are going to stay on our current formula, Good Start. If the fussiness/spitting up/being uncomfortable continues, I will make the assumption that it's not really acid reflux but the formula. If this happens then I will take him off of the Good Start and give him the cans of formula the doc also sent home with me, Enfamil Gentlease that has partially broken down proteins.

I have a feeling that Tucker's going to be relieved finally and I am very greatful for that.

I will leave you with just a cute picture.

Tucker 6 weeks Old

My baby boy is 6 weeks old already. I can't believe that time goes by so quickly. Things have been well around the home front. It seems like we haven't been home all that much since Tucker was born, I guess in some ways that's good and in some ways it's good to just be home for a while so that we can establish routines.

Activities that you've done in the past month and a half include: spending the 4th of July at the Cabin in Spirit Lake (just a week old), spending 10 days in Grundy Center with Grandpa and Grandma Doughan while Daddy worked there, and camping in Austin MN for the Bartolo Family Reunion. You did awesome through all of this!

What are you up to at 6 weeks old??

• Eats every 3 hours 4 oz of Goodstart formula (your eating problems is a whole other post)
• Sleeps 6-7 hours starting at around 9pm and then sleeps for another 5 or so after that
• Spits up a lot and does not like to burp even when we give you gas drops before EVERY feeding
• Loves your swing (but can't spend much time in it because your older brother will destroy you)
• Is starting to smile for real (it's not just gas)

Overall, you are adapting well into our family. I wouldn't say that we've (meaning "I") haven't really gotten a good routine down yet, but we are making progress. I mean, Thatcher still has to stay in bed until 9am because I haven't figured out how to get him out earlier than that with Tucker's feeding schedule (but at least he doesn't mind staying in there for a prolonged period of time). I guess that's the biggest obstacle to overcome right now. But I think that once Tucker's feeding dilemma gets solved, we'll be able to feed him in a shorter amount of time which means we'll be able to get Thatcher sooner.

Sorry for such a long post, but this leads me to talk about Tucker's feeding problems. Pray for us, we actually go into the doctor today at 2:30pm to see if we can't figure it out.

When do you know that your baby has more of a problem than just being gassy and it just being a stage??? I think putting up with a fussy fussy baby while he eats for 6 weeks is long enough. He may have acid reflux, a digestion problem, or maybe even a milk allergy, but nonetheless he is not a happy camper when he eats. This is what I DO know:

• His legs go stiff as a board after only 1/2-1 oz of formula
• He has trouble burping so he just stays in pain
• Sometimes I can get him to burp but then it's followed by a whole lot of spit up
• So far, he has thrown up 3 times. I say thrown up because it's definitely more than just spit up because it uses all of his body to get the job done and it has just kept coming and coming and coming
• He goes a day with great feedings-still a lot of spit up and not very good burps, but then the next few are terrible and the pattern just repeats itself

Hopefully we can figure out what's going on and life will seem that much easier. I thank God that I have been blessed with these three kids and I would have to say that overall I have it pretty good!!! Thank you Jesus.

I Gave In

Ok. So I have been contemplating whether to start a blog or not. I decided that "NO" I shouldn't because I don't really have the time to blog, but the more I got to thinking about it the real reason was because I didn't need to start another addiction. I convinced myself that even if it does become an addiction, it will be a good source for me to look back at when it comes to all sorts of things in my life right now.

It seems to me that my life is pretty crazy at this point. I have a 3-yr old daughter, Lilly, who loves life. She's as sociable as they come and talks nonstop (I believe she got that from me). She dances better than most adults. We'll put her into dance as soon as we feel that we're in the position to do so. She definitely likes to use her motherly gifts as well. I have to say that if it weren't for her, I would have gone insane a long time ago.

Then comes our charmer, Thatcher. He's 19 months old and is learning new things each and every day. He's a bit of a mommy's boy (or daddy's) but definitely not just anyone's. (it's getting better though). Thatch makes it known when he feels comfortable around people. He'll just slowly maneuver his way to his chosen and reach up with hands and hope that the gesture is returned to him. He has a few favorites when it comes to our family & friends (Uncle Ry Ry, Andy and Brandon to name a few). Thatcher is as persistent as they come but is as equally adorable.

Last, but certainly not least is Tucker. He was 6 weeks old yesterday. I will go into detail about Tucker in a later post.

My husband and I have always been entrapreneur minded. While he stays busy with his businesses, I have started a new business with my sister-in-law, Katie, called The Dotted Duck. Right now, we sell handmade greeting cards, bibs, and burpies.

That's enough "about us". I guess that I envision this blog to chronicle the moments of being a mom, a wife, and most importanly a servant.