What a faker!

Ty has a new talent. He's just started fake coughing this week. It's so funny. Tom's the one who started it all. As soon as Ty sees Tom he starts coughing. It's hilarious. The video is a little hard to hear since we have Jack The Chatter Box going on and on and on. He doesn't stop talking all day long. This is normal for Jack and it was first thing in the morning which means he was EXTRA chatty. Not sure where he gets that from. If you listen close enough you can hear Tom coughing in the background then that cues Ty. Hahahah. So funny!!!




In other news we had a great Thanksgiving! I love cooking for people. We hosted a classmate of Tom's. Nate's a single guy who's clearing his house and flying out to Connecticut for 6 months in a few days. Jack was a little stand-off-ish when he first met him but the garbage truck brought them together. Hahahah! We also had our neighbors join us. Rebecca and Ray have a little boy named Vinny who will be 2 in January. Ray and Vinny made it, Rebecca was recovering from gall stone surgery. We hope she's feeling MUCH better than she was! We missed Rebecca. (Rebecca, if you're reading this....we'll have a make up lunch when you're up for it!!) Jack and Vinny immediately became the best of friends. They've played together before for little bits of time but this was for a few hours, and they lasted as happy little friends! They sat at their little kiddie table and played together so well! I don't think I told them "no" to anything all night. They got along so great, it was so sweet to watch! Vinny was a huge fan of "baby", aka Ty. :-) Rebecca....I think he's ready for a little brother. Hahahah! No pressure! :-)

I'm so thankful for everything this year has brought us, I won't bore you and list everything. It's all the sappy stuff! :-)

Here's a few pictures of all the boys and one really tired girl!

First Jeans

Ty had on his first pair of jeans the other day. It's crazy to me how grown up a little baby can look when he's sportin' a pair of jeans. Hahaha. And in saying "little baby" I mean "butterball".







Here's a little clip from my afternoon yesterday.

We were playing in Ty's room and Jack sat down right in front of him and started to read him a book. I didn't get to catch all of it on video but it was the sweetest thing I've seen! Jack loves being with Ty and giving him toys and making him laugh, but this made my heart melt. (You have to excuse the mess in the background, I had a laundry basket full of socks and Jack decided they wanted to be scattered on the floor)

Need to read

There was an article was on CNN today that you all have to read.

106 backpacks for the children of Moberly

It's heart breaking and heart warming all at the same time. It made me cry then count my blessings. I love how this community and school has pulled together and these children are given help discretely. The truth is times are tough right now and we don't always see who's hurting the most. It's reminded me of what's going on out there. It's all warm and fuzzy in my little bubble but there are people and children out there who are suffering and I want to help.

The Mailman gets all the credit...

Who doesn't love getting mail? Especially packages! :-) Jack is a huge fan! He's been stalking the mailman since his birthday packages came in August. When he hears the little half truck thing they drive he runs up and glues his face to the window until the mailman's so far down the street he can't see him any longer. Well, today was very exciting because Jack and Ty got a package from my Aunt Lisa, a.k.a. "Aunt Lisi". He had a great time going through all the things she sent him. Coloring books, colored pencils, a movie and the best part....Spider Man tatoos! hahaha Anything Spider Man is a hit in our house. In the video you'll see who gets the initial credit, but he remembered that Aunt Lisi was the one behind all the goodies. Lisa....thank you, Jack and Ty loved everything!!!!

Jack the Builder

Jack is obsessed with anything in the construction world. Backhoes, cement mixers, cherry pickers, and skid loaders. The list goes on and on. The army is building new housing here and we can't go to the grocery store without him begging to see the "machines". Whenever we see a cement mixer or type of truck when we're driving somewhere he screams...."Mommy, catch up to it!!!" Hahahah! He loves his trucks! Tom got him a CAT backhoe a little while ago, and it's right up there with the garbage truck in the favorite toy department. It came with a hard hat and a little action figure which we named Tom. hehehe! Not after my Tom, after Tom's dad. We have a Henry for my dad, and now we have a Tom for Tom's dad. :-) Anyway....We were outside the other day enjoying the sunny weather and he insisted on wearing his hard hat. He's so funny! He was having his backhoe scoop dirt and drive it and lemons around the yard all while sporting his hard hat. I wish I could bottle up these moments where I can just sit and watch him explore and see his imagination come to life. I don't want to wish away Ty's baby days, but I can't wait to see them play together.






And this video cracks me up so I had to share. Jack's on a "big boy" phase. I have baby oil in Ty's room and when I told Jack what it was he immediately corrected me and said.....No..."Big Boy Oil". He had me rolling when he first said it. Of course as soon as I took out the camera he went shy. Sorry for the bad video-ing but my hands were full and Jack has a mind of his own. :-)

Rough week

I wasn't sure if I was going to blog about this or not. I try to keep my blogs happy and upbeat and non controversial. I'm always editing and deleting what I write because I started this blog as a way to keep in touch with family and friends. A way for us to feel a little closer to everyone who's so far away with lots of pictures, videos and crazy stories about the boys. There have been many times where I just wanted to use this blog as an old school diary and vent and go off about stupid things that aggravate me or make me boil. California drivers, rude people at the grocery store, some people's total lack of self awareness of how they sound to others, pretentiousness, just those things that get me going. I type it out then think....no one cares or wants to hear about that.....*delete*.
Anyway, I decided to share what Tom and I went through this week because, 1... A friend of mine just went through the same thing. I want her to know that she's not alone. And 2...I want to feel better and thought talking about it could be good therapy instead of trying to just forget it happened all together. That didn't seem fair.
I had a miscarriage this past week. Tom and I found out we were pregnant about a month ago. It was quite the surprise and after a day of it sinking in, and the "oh boy, how's this going to work with Ty and this baby being 1 year apart?" Tom and I were so excited! Having our kids so close together would be crazy, but we seem to do craziness well, so it seemed to be perfect. Somehow I found out really early. I have no idea what made me take an at home test, it was just a feeling, and sure enough there were 2 lines...and it wasn't an ovulation test...I checked. :-) I found out on a Tuesday and had a regular yearly appointment scheduled for that Friday just by sheer coincidence. After getting a quick referral from my family doc, I had my first ultrasound that Friday. I was so early that the only thing my OB saw was thick walls. The bun hadn't made its way into my oven just yet. He guessed I was probably only 2 or 3 weeks after conception. So I was scheduled for weekly visits to see the process and some blood work. The next Friday we saw the start of a yolk sack and the doc said I was probably about 4 or 5 weeks along. That following Tuesday I had started spotting. Called the doc and he had me come right in. Tom stayed home with the boys and I was trying to stay positive. I just didn't have a good feeling. When I had the ultrasound I got to see the baby's heartbeat. It was so tiny, the baby was only about 2mm, but I saw it. Doc said it was implantation bleeding and everything seemed fine. I just never had this with Jack or Ty, I just couldn't shake the feeling it was more than that. I was sent away with orders to take it easy. I had another appointment for Friday (this past Friday). Thursday night the spotting turned into more than spotting. I went in on Friday and there was no longer a heartbeat. The doc said the baby just stopped developing. I am a very scientific minded person. I know that there are religious beliefs out there about why these things happen. I respect everyone's belief system, I really do. I however believe that this wasn't God's choice or that he has some plan for me that doesn't include a third baby right now. I don't think someone's sitting up above us with some type of clipboard with a tally sheet saying...."Oh, not this time, not for you, not now" Please don't be offended by what I'm saying. This is just me. I believe that there was just something chemically off. Something just wasn't right when things got going. I have to believe that there was no control and no amount of anything thought or said or prayed for that could have changed this. That is what I believe.
Unfortunately, This wasn't my first miscarriage. Before we had Jack we also lost a pregnancy. I was about 8 weeks along that time. I was around 6 weeks this time. To be honest, if I didn't take that at home test, I'm not sure if I would have known I was pregnant at all. Did you know that 1 in every 6 pregnancies ends in a miscarriage? Isn't that insane? That is a HUGE amount. I wish there some crazy research and they could figure out why and how to prevent it, but that's just how it is, right? It sucks!
Tom has been amazing through all of this. It's been a roller coaster of ups and downs for the last 2-3 weeks. Not to sound sappy and cliche', I don't think I could have a better man as my husband. He is my everything and keeps me going and reminds me that what we have is beyond amazing. He makes me smile everyday, even through all of this. I wish he could have been there with me to see the heartbeat. I feel like I robbed him of the happy moment and he's only been burdened with the tragedy and keeping me from falling apart. Not fair to him. Jack and Ty are the best distractions. Their smiles melt away all the sad thoughts, and Jack is our little comic, he just cracks me up with what he says everyday.
Overall I'm doing OK. I opted to not have a DNC and let my body take care of things on its own. I just wish my body would fast forward to the point where everything's said and done. The constant reminder isn't helping but I'm getting there. I had an appointment yesterday for another ultrasound, just to check. When my doctor, who I really do like, walked in, he thought I was there for a happy ultrasound appt. I decided to throw him a bone and REMIND him why I was there before he made me break down after having 4 days to get myself picked up. That could have gone better but he's a busy guy.....Take a second and glance at a chart before you start talking, but whatever. I'm glad the appointments are done and I can start focusing and worrying about other things. Like, what am I going to buy everyone for Christmas, or how are we going to keep the kids busy on a 6 hours plane ride home, or how excited we are to be counting down the days until we fly back to PA for the first time in 18 months. Life keeps happening all around so I can't sit still and let it pass me by.
Sorry for the heavy blog. Hopefully these pictures could end it on a happy note....


One dirty garbage truck!




Ty's new Breathable Bumpers...the kids loves sleeping with his face in the corner.


Hanging out at the airport, plane watching.

More Spiderman Chewies

So Jack's favorite snack is spider man fruit chewies. It's sad how many videos I have with Jack and Spider Man chewies. hahahah Here's the latest, it was from a few weeks ago. I need to do some research and learn the words to the classic Spider Man song. Is it sad that I know the "Spidey Pig" song from the stupid Simpson's movie? Who knows why I even watched that but I did. Anyway.....Here's Jack.

Rub a Dub Dub and a potty where???

Everyone loves a good bath tub picture and this kid LOVES his bath! Ty's faces crack me up! :-)






I know no one out there wants to see a video of any type of potty training stuff. This is not one of those videos even though it's main characters are Jack and the potty. Trust me when I tell you this....Jack has interest in the potty but we are far away from being trained. I had to post this video just because it's funny. A few weeks ago this is how I found Jack awake in his room after his nap. I would seriously pay big bucks to know what goes through that kid's mind! Never a dull moment in this house....

Videos

I have a bunch of videos that I've been meaning to post but keep forgetting. Here's a few and there will be more to come.

Jack "reading" (reciting) one of his favorite books.


Jack and his new hobby....jumping, and Ty waking up from a nap.


Ty and the Giggles

Halloween

We had a great Halloween here last night. Jack didn't start off loving this holiday. Not because of the scary costumes or anything but because I was begging him to put on his costume. Hahahah. It took me about 30 minutes to get him to be Elmo. I tried all forms of bribery but just telling him "Ok, let's wear Elmo, let's put it on, Hurry, Hurry, Hurry" in a pretty fast and excited voice worked.....who would have thought??? So after we suited up we headed to our neighbor's house. This was Jack's first trick or treat experience. Imagine his face when he realized that all he had to do was say "trick or treat" and some one gave him candy. hahahahaha. He was very excited! We ventured down the street to a few more houses then Tom and I switched roles. Tom walked him up the street, and Jack had a blast! Ty had taken a late nap (he had 3 shots on Friday) so once he woke up he transformed into a billy goat. Here's our little trick or treaters.....