I am still around, PROMISE!

Hi ho my blogger friends! Man it has been a while since I have blogged. Life is just plain crazy and time goes way to fast. So here is a quick (everything I do is quick now that I have a 2 year old on my hands) update on life around here with a little randomness in between.

In June for Logan 10th birthday (we are in the double digits now, remember?) we took the kids to Great Wolf Lodge. Wow, we had a blast and can't wait to go back. I HIGHLY recommend it if you have one near you.

In August our Noodle turned TWO...say what!? I just hate how fast time goes these days. We did a circus themed party this year and it was awesome. He is a 33lb, silly, sweet and oh so cute little guy that keeps us on our toes everyday!

In September, my big kids went back to school. This is the last year they will be in school together until Logan is a senior and Abby is a freshman, CRAZINESS! Also, this is the last year they will ride a bus together. Again, time please slow down!

October marked 17 months (where I started) since I started my AdvoCare journey and I am proud of myself for sticking and staying for 17 months to become a healthier mama for not only myself but my 3 kids. I will ALWAYS be thankful for AdvoCare and speak of it with passion because I believe it taught me it is not about dieting but a lifestyle...one I will live the rest of my life. I LOVE helping others see how it can change their life. If you've been waiting & watching, today is YOUR DAY! I wouldn't wait another second to say yes. I would love to coach you & help you reach your goals too!

This past weekend Matt and I had a date night that was long over due! We didn't do anything crazy. just dinner and a little shopping/browsing. Time with this guy makes my heart so very happy! He is the love of my life, best friend and I can't imagine doing life with anyone else! <3

That is all I have! I will try to touch base more often than every 4 months, haha! Hope everyone is doing well and happy Monday! :)

Big Boy Status!

How is my little baby a toddler now!? The last 18 months have gone so fast. He is becoming such a ham and going through a VERY friendly stage. He will walk up to just about anyone and put his arms up. Total 180 from a few months ago. At his check up he weighed in at 29lb and 32ins. He is officially off a bottle (thanks to a nasty cold this week). He will drink only water from his cup and it has to be a straw cup. This was of course harder on mama...no bottle mean BIG BOY STATUS! He has had TWO haircuts and Matt is still itching to take the clippers to his hair. I, of course, told him he would be in BIG trouble and be sleeping on the couch if he comes within 10 feet of Lucas with the clipper. I LOVE his wild and crazy hair!

We have two words...go and hey/hi! While 10-15 words is the average for kids his age I am trying to not "compare", which we all know is hard. We are looking into getting more "aggressive" with his speech therapy. I want to make sure we are doing EVERYTHING possible for him! Right now we are sticking with in home speech therapy and starting the VERY long process of getting him in with Children's Hospital. We have an eval appt with them in May and hopefully can get him in within 6 months from that. We are going to the ENT Monday to just make sure his ears are good. I don't expect to found out any different but we are covering all bases at this point.

Here are some pictures of this big boy! He kills me with his cuteness on a daily bases! 

He definitely has his mama wrapped around his finger...even if he is a daddy's boy! ;)

the blog slacker award goes to...

YOURS TRULY!!!!!!!!!!!

What a complete slacker I am. It has been way to long since I blogged because life is beyond crazy these days. I am not even sure were to start. Christmas was low key and relaxing, which was nice but Matt didn't get much time off so that kinda sucked. Kids loved everything they got and Lucas was so fun to watch this year.

New Years day we took the kids to the National Harbor for the Gaylord ICE! thing (not sure what to really call it). It was super super cold so we walked through it super super fast, haha! After that we ended up at Georgetown Cupcakes (imagine that, haha) and then head home. It was a great family day that of course went by way to fast.

Kids went back to school after winter break but have not had a FULL week back yet. Between super cold temps and snow storms we have been getting to sleep in a lot. I am totally not complaining! Matt hasn't had to work any storm trouble so that is an added plus. Thank you fluffy light snow!

The weekend of the 10th Matt and I went on our first ever mini trip for AdvoCare success school. Leaving the kids (especially Lucas) was so hard. We left Friday morning the 10th and drove back over night Saturday, getting home at 4am Sunday.  It was totally worth it for the amazing training we got plus the kids had fun with my parents.

This past Saturday was our 11 year wedding anniversary. Where has 11 years gone!? We had a nice dinner out at Bonefish, followed by a few errands and were back home by 9:30pm! I know, party animals! haha

Logan and Abby are both doing great in school and enjoying the snow days. Lucas is changing so much week by week. I love seeing his personality come out. He is still doesn't talk but is doing amazing with signing. I think his first and only word at this point is "Hey" which is totally adorable!

Well that has been life around here the last month or so. Hope everyone is doing well and has had a GREAT start to 2014...I know we have!

An award for ME!?!?!?!

I am a little late getting this post up. Life happened and I just got busy! 

Back at the beginning of September I was contacted by Jenny Franklin over at Party Pail about the decorations I did for Lucas' party. They wanted to award me with the BEST DECORATION award. Of course, I am so excited because I made every single thing which makes this award even more special! I put so much time and thought into every detail so this is definitely the icing on the cake for all my hard work!

Thanks so much for this award!

Lucas Parker ~ 14 month update!

 

Yesterday Lucas turned 14 months. Time is seriously flying and I wish I could slow it down. He is walking about 80% of the time now and has 6 teeth, 2 on top and 4 on the bottom. He is a GREAT sleeper and sleeps from 8-9pm to 8-9am! He is in 24 month clothes, size 4 diapers and still getting 3 bottles a day since he is not drinking from a cup yet (more info on that below). His hair is so long and wavy not curly like Logan and Abby. I still don't know what color eyes he is going to end up with. They are more blue then Abby's (Logan's are VERY brown like Matt's) but not as blue as mine. We shall see!

I started taking him to a local place twice a week call Toddlin Time. He LOVES it. It is a 45 min class with 30 mins of free play and 15 mins of singing and learning. I love watching him interact with kids his age. Since Logan and Abby are so much older this class is good for his social skills.

On Sept 4th I had to take Lucas to the ortho to have his leg check because now that he is walking more and more his right leg "clicks". Everything checked out fine though. We will follow up in 3 months if it is still doing it. We also had the consult with early intervention and found out that Lucas is "Low Tone". We were concerned with the lack of sounds/talking. After a 2 hour in home visit we have some answers and a plan. We are having them come weekly for the next few months to work on speech (he is about 3-4 months behind) and getting him to drink from a cup. His struggles with a cup are part of the low tone. We are working with a straw cup to help strengthen his jaw muscles. It is still a work in progress but he is getting better with it. I will continue to do bottles until he is fulling drinking from a cup. It is more important to me that he stays hydrated then worrying about him still being on a bottle.

We are still working on finding shoes that fit his feet right. Right now we are just using Robeez because his little foot is so chunky even wide or extra wide is hard to get on him. We don't have a Stride Rite here anymore so I haven't been able to get him fitted correctly. There are places that sell Stride Rite shoes but they kinda suck at fitting kids. Like trying to jam his foot in a shoes to the point I thought she was going to brake his ankle, NOT OK! Closest one to us now is an hour way so not to bad, just need to find the time to get up there!

I feel like this boy is going to be 2 in a blink of an eye so I am enjoying every little milestone. He is so much fun to sit on the floor and play with so that is what my day consist of which makes my heart happy! I am so thankful I get to be here for it all. <3

Next update at 16 months!

Proceed with CAUTION ~ overwhelming cuteness ahead!

I finally got the CD last Friday with all of the pictures. We took decorations from his party and I think that totally made the pictures more awesome! He was not in the best mood toward the end so you can see he was crying in the last few. 

I might have waiting longer then a would have liked to get them but boy was it worth the wait!

Can he get any cuter!?

I am not sure how I will ever pick from them all for printing and framing! Think it would be weird to have a whole wall of just Lucas pictures!? haha I kid I kid! Which is your favorite!?

Happy Hump Day everyone...don't forget to link up for A Hump Day Hop!