Sleep...or Lack Thereof

Miss A hasn't had any night terrors in about a week since we started getting her up at 7 each morning. Once we started getting her up earlier, she started taking naps again! Because she's been getting naps, she's not overtired at bedtime and thus-no night terrors! But it requires us (the 'rents) going to be earlier each night...it's really making me schedule my evenings better too.

This past weekend we decided to tackle getting Miss A back to sleeping in her bed all night long rather than bringing her in our room whenever she woke during the night.

The first night was the toughest as she woke up 4 times. The first two times were the hardest as she was really upset. FJ slept through most of it but he woke up later on his own as he is getting 3 top teeth in at once! Saturday morning we noticed that one had finally broken through!
Miss A is still waking up at night...several times...but we just go in and calm her down and she is quieting down much faster. FJ is also waking up because of his teeth so between the two of them, we aren't getting much sleep around here!

Broken Camera and Various Activities

Miss A accidentally broke our camera. :-( After she used it snap a photo the other day, she dropped it while the lens was still open. Now, the lens won't retract and whenever we turn the camera on, it says "Lens error. Restart camera." and then shuts off!

We will surely need a new one before FJ's first birthday!

As for our household, the boys have been healthy this week and E went back to work on Monday! It has been a great week! Having good health is priceless and I have been so thankful each day this week that we have been able to get out of the house. This week we were able to go to CBS (Community Bible Study), the grocery store, the park on a playdate, and tomorrow is MOPS (Moms of Preschoolers).

Now that the school year has started, CBS and MOPS have started up again. We did CBS last year but MOPS is a new thing for us this year. Miss A loves the children's programs they have and I really enjoy hearing about what she did while she was there.

FJ has napped at both CBS and MOPS so he seems to be having a good time too! (Side note-Miss A would have never napped at either of those things when she was 11 1/2 months old. She had to have her crib. FJ can just about nap anywhere!)

CBS is 2 hours long and while the children are in their rooms, I get to worship the Lord and have a Bible study with a group of ladies of various ages and stages of life. This year the focus is on the book of Acts. I am looking forward to gaining a deeper knowledge and understanding of this book.

MOPS is also 2 hours and while my kids are in their classes, I get to listen to a speaker, play games, make a craft and enjoy some great food all while connecting with other moms.

After going to CBS and MOPS, I always feel so renewed!

Rough Week

This was probably the roughest week so far since becoming a parent 2 1/2 years ago.
This week E and FJ were both sick and we finally realized that Miss A has been having night terrors.
Last Saturday night E came to bed with a fever and that fever didn't even let up until today!
FJ also caught that same fever on Tuesday and his fever finally lifted today too.
E was diagnosed with a sinus infection and has been on 3 medications. FJ has just had to tough it out with some TLC and breastmilk.
Miss A was healthy but she has been having night terrors at night and I'm the only one healthy enough to get up and go and comfort her when she wakes up. FJ is waking up during the night even more than usual so I've also been tending to him in the middle of the night too.
The most challenging thing of this week was taking care of 2 small children...one of them sick...and taking care of a sick husband.

The things I am thankful for though are:
1. Miss A and I stayed healthy-Praise God!!
2. My mom in law came over 4 days in a row to help out! She brought us soup, she helped with bed time, she put away dishes, she tended to E and Miss A and watched our children today so I could take E back to the doctor.
3. The fevers for E and FJ have finally let up today and we are hoping that we will see the end of this virus/infection!

Cape May, Take 2

We ventured to Cape May again for Labor Day weekend. We went last year for Labor Day also and little did I know that I was only 4 weeks away from giving birth!
We had a grand time in Cape May and it was a little cleansing for me. I was a little worried about the emotions I might feel going back. The last time we were there was in July right in the middle of my grandfather's funeral. While we were there, I flew home with FJ to go to the funeral and then flew back to PA and rode back down with Aunt S and E's mom to CM to continue the vacation with the family. It was difficult to fully be there in my mind and heart when I couldn't help but think about my family back in Louisiana.
This time it was different. It was refreshing and renewing.

Without further ado, here are some fun pics from our trip-
Some pics of the kiddos-

Miss A's curly pony tail-

FJ fell asleep on the beach and Miss A just rested-

I love Miss A's chubby cheeks in this pic-

Yes, I made it to the beach too!

Miss A and Aunt S reading-

Miss A took this pic of her"Grandmon"-

Miss A also took this photo of Uncle R-

And this photo of FJ with the drooly chin-

The kids piling on daddy-

We were in CM during Hurricane Earl and thankfully it only produced rain and large waves...

We had fun hanging out on the beach after most of the rain had come through-

The large waves formed this little "river" that Miss A finally got brave enough to play in...but first we got some photos of Uncle R and Aunt S-

Miss A made a new friend during her time in the "river"...this cute little girl was a little over 2 years old and her parents had dressed her up to take some cute photos of her...luckily they didn't mind Miss A in most of her photos!

We hit up the arcade while we were in CM and had a blast with skeeball-

Uncle R helped Miss A to understand the game because as you can see she liked to toss the ball into the other person's lane...

 Nothin' like playing skeeball with the little guy in the carrier!

Miss A enjoyed some time at the fountain in the downtown shopping area-

Aunt S holding FJ-

Some play time in the house the morning of the day we left to come home-

Miss A watching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang from a nice, comfy rocking chair just her size-

And trying on Aunt S's sneakers right before we were getting ready to head out that evening-

We had another relaxing, fun time in Cape May. I got lots of reading done and E and I had a date night too!

Party Snapshots

Lindsley invited us to her son's first birthday party in June and it was such a fun time! She took quite the fabulous snapshots of our little ones and sent them to me. I really like these photos that she snapped-
FJ-

Miss A with some ketchup/dinner on her face-

FJ hammin' it up for the cam-

Miss A after hanging out in the sandbox-

Nature Walk

In August, we did a nature walk at Carrie's house. Here are some fun pics from that day-

Miss A's face watching her friend, P, come over the little bridge-

FJ hanging out during the picnic-

Picnic Pics

A few Sundays ago, our church had a picnic for the people who serve in leadership in some capacity at our church. But we had forgotten about the picnic and not put in on our calendar! Thankfully, my great friend, Carrie, called me on her way because she was lost and didn't know how to get to it. You can imagine how funny our conversation was as I didn't know what she was talking about! Anyway, we were already in our car so we stopped by a grocery store and picked up some food and headed to the picnic. A new friend of mine, Megan, took these awesome photos of the kids at the picnic.
I love Miss A's eyes in this photo-

Miss A cheesin'-

Megan asked Miss A and her friend, I, to hug and this is what she got-

My little man who is almost 1!-