December, 2009

Here is a quick run down of what Ford has been up to this month.

Birthday party at friend Emma's:

"Reading" a Christmas book he made at school to Daddy (or Dada as Ford still calls him sometimes):

Lovin on his baby brother:


Not wanting his picture taken:

Bundled up:

Making a gingerbread house with Granny:

Can you tell how proud he is?

Hooprama birthday party for friend Noelle:

Ford in his first official performance ever. His class at school sang Star of Bethlehem in English AND French. Ford is behind the guy in the snowflake sweater:

My boys and me at the Christmas program:

Ford sticking his foot in front of the camera while I'm trying to get a cute shot of my boys:

Him thinking it's very funny to stick his foot in front of the camera:

Hanging Christmas lights with Daddy:

These are pictures of everything in December except for our actual Christmas with Santa and family. I'll end with a few cute ones of Miles.
Showing his love for the Titans:

How reflux babies play on activity mats:

Sitting in his Bumbo seat:

What is that black thing?

Have you ever seen cuter thunder thighs?

Miles is Four Months Old (and Almost Five!)

I see a trend with my blog happening. It seems that I am always apologizing for not posting often enough. I've decided that I sound like a broken record, so I'm going to stop apologizing. Please don't give up on me and please continue to check in on my blog. Who knows, maybe I'll take the time to blog more frequently!

Miles turned four months old on December 2nd. He got a great well check up at our visit to the pediatrician. He continues to be on two medications for reflux and special (expensive and stinky) formula. It's pretty obvious that he still has reflux issues and needs to be on the medication for now. He recently outgrew his dose and was spitting up and crying in pain. The doctor said we will try and take him off of one of the medications at six months and see how he does. We can also try and switch formula then. He also has a blocked tear duct. If it doesn't correct itself by nine months, he'll have to have a minor sugery/procedure. Other than those two things, he is extremely healthy! Praise the Lord!

Scott and I are amazed at what a good baby he is. He is so content and really only cries when he is hungry or really tired. He always has a smile to offer us! He has started baby talking and it is the cutest thing. He just squeals and laughs all the time. He is such a blessing! Here are some pictures of our sweet, sweet four month old. These are almost a month old, so I'll need to post five month pictures soon!


In other cute baby news, Miles is grabbing his feet now and putting them in his mouth:

We found out about a new bed you can get for reflux babies. It's called a Nap Nanny and this is what it looks like. Miles is able to sleep comfortably in the Nap Nanny IN his crib:

Since I do have another child, here is a picture of Ford with Papa, Granny and Miles on a recent trip to Kentucky:

Ford is getting ready to celebrate another birthday in January...the big "4". We had a wonderful Christmas and Ford got lots and lots of new toys. We've had a very busy December and I really will be posting pictures so you can see what Ford has been up to!

Sweet Baby Miles

My, oh my! Time just flies and I can't seem to make myself sit down to create a post. It requires too much thought and I can't seem to keep my thoughts straight since Miles came along!

Miles turned three months old on November 2nd. It also marked colic being over. His evening crying started to taper off as he was nearing three months old. And, darn if it didn't just stop by November 2nd. Praise God! He has also turned into the sweetest little baby. I will hear him waking up in the morning and I'll look in on him and he'll just give me the BIGGEST smile. He does cry when he's overly tired or when his reflux is bothering him, but unlike his older brother was, he's consolable. And, we've been putting him to bed between 7:00 and 7:30 and he goes to sleep! He wakes up to eat during the night, but will go back to sleep afterward. Now I see why all these people swear by the book Babywise.

Ford is doing great and we have been really busy this fall. Hopefully, I'll post some of our fall pictures before it's time to post Christmas pictures!

Two Months Old

One Month Down, 215 to Go

OK, this is an unfinished post that I started a couple of weeks ago. I'm going to go ahead and post this, before Miles turns two months old!


Whew. Having a newborn baby doesn't lend itself to a lot of free time for blog entries. If you read my last post, we are trying to survive colic and painful reflux. Some of the things we have tried seem to be helping some with Miles' reflux. We just hope and pray that we will find a medication that works well and/or that he'll outgrow it extremely quickly. Either of those options would offer all of us relief. Colic, well, we'll just try and tough it out until November 2nd. Our doctor says that fussiness peeks at six weeks and then tends to taper off after that. Ford defied the law of averages. We can only hope that Miles will fall into the average category where the fussiness is concerned.

I do apologize for not posting more pictures sooner. For all of you friends and family that live far away, I'll try and do better.

Reflux and Colic and Crying, Oh My

If you've talked to me for more than five minutes about when Ford was a baby, then you know that he cried all the time. He had reflux and colic and would start crying at 10:00 am and cry until 10:00/11:00/12/00 in the evening.

We were prayful and hopeful that our new baby boy wouldn't have reflux and colic and that he would be a calm and happy baby. Everyone I know has prayed this on our behalf. But, God didn't chose to answer that prayer the way we had hoped. Don't get me wrong. We are blessed that Miles is healthy. However, he has been diagnosed with reflux and yesterday at the doctor's office, Dr. Heil said the "C" word...colic.

I don't think there is any way to put into words what this is like. Taking care of any newborn is exhausting and challenging. When you throw in the baby crying constantly and not sleeping unless being bounced/held/rocked/strolled, it's even more wxhausting and challenging. As a parent, you go back and forth with feeling sorry for the little guy and just wanting him to shut up.

Having experienced this before, Scott and I do know that colic ends eventually. But, November 2nd seems like an eternity away. The days and nights seem to drag on when all you do is try to console, mostly unsuccessfully, a screaming baby. I just get to a point where my arms are tired and I just can't hold or bounce him any longer.

We are trying several different things to try and help with the reflux. As the doctor said, there is no magic medicine that will cure reflux. We are prayful and hopeful that one or some of the things we are trying will help.

Welcome to the World, Baby Boy

We welcomed our second baby boy, Miles Chandler, into the world at 6:17 pm on August 2nd. He weighed 7 pounds and 13 ounces and was 20 inches long. We are thrilled to have this new addition to our family. Ford is a very proud big brother!

Pamela Stafford Stout

My cousin, Pam, lost a nearly two year battle with cancer today. She was 56. She was loved and will be missed. Especially by her husband Brian, her daughter, Shelby, her mother and her siblings (pictured). May she rest in peace.

Julia, Greg, Joy, Mike and Pam (seated):

June part 1

We've been busy this summer. Here are some of the fun things we were up to the first part of June. We met a bunch of friends at the sprayground to play in the water. Thanks for inviting us, Shannon!
Kate and Ford:

For some reason, Ford thought he needed goggles for the sprayground:

Playing the sprinklers:

Becca and Ford:

On June 13th, Ford's friend, Tyner, turned four. We were invited to their house for a cowboy birthday party complete with a hot dog roast! (It was after this party that we had to go to the emergency room for the second time).



Red icing from the birthday cake:

We had been invited to the Pewitt's house for a cookout on that same night. So, AFTER the emergency room trip, we went to their house for the cookout. It was good for us to be around my sweet girlfriends and their husbands after a scary afternoon.

My sweet friends (not a great picture of me. I was a little bit stressed out):

Will and Ford cracking each other up:

Mary Ann told us about a kid's club they have at Opry Mills Mall. It's $5.00 to join for the year and they have activities for the kids about once a month. In June they had a tour of The Rainforest Cafe.

We stayed and played at the bookstore afterward.

Our cute boys:

Ford "reading" a book:

Since Ford was so brave at the emergency room, we gave him a batman backpack. He LOVES it:

These are some of the things we did the first part of June (along with a trip to Tampa and two visits to the ER that I have already posted). Now, I'll try and get caught up for the rest of the summer!