The Brown Brick Road

Capturing our adventures one photo at a time...

Happy Halloween!

Boo!  Did I scare you?  We’re super excited for Halloween around here!  We’ve got the parade this afternoon and then are stopping by to see Maxwell’s friend John Tanner and his baby brother, Walker, for a little party before trick-or-treating.  We’ll see how the trick-or-treating goes!

In the meantime, Spencer and I are just monkeying around today while Maxwell is at school…

Remember when Maxwell wore this monkey costume?!

It’s still just as cute (if not a little big!) on this little monkey!

We’re also just trying to steer clear of witches, ghosts, goblins and other scary Halloween things like…

Lions and Tigers and Bears!  Oh my!!

Luckily we’ll have a Fireman to keep us safe tonight!  a very official Fireman too with the badge to prove it!  🙂

Happy Halloween!

Photo shoot and Doctor Update

What a great weekend we had!  The cold front moved in and it definitely feels like Fall now!  We had Lauren from Peppermint Photography over on Saturday morning to take some newborn photos of Spencer and he did great.  I tell ya – this the most laid back baby I’ve ever seen!  Maxwell was great too and I think we are going to end up with some really good shots of everyone.  Hooray!

Lauren’s pro set-up…

and Maxwell checking it all out!

In other news, we took Spencer to the doctor on Thursday of last week for his one week checkup and Dr. Walley thinks he looks great!  He was already back up past his birth weight to 7 lbs, 9 oz.  Hooray!  He’s a sleepy little guy but I guess he’s still getting plenty to eat!

Maxwell came with us and luckily Robert was able to meet us up there as well.  Dad plus an ipad makes the doctor visit much more fun for Maxwell..not to mention the sucker he got afterward!

Spencer did so well during the appointment.  He didn’t even cry when he had to strip down to his diaper and get weighed!  He then sat there and just happily let Dr. Walley examine him.  The only time he cried was when we were getting him dressed again and had to change his diaper.  I love this kid!

Bye bye for today!

 

TGIF!

TGIF!  I had this post ready to go last Friday and then…well…we had a baby!  What a wonderful week it has been.  My heart is full and so are my arms!  I still want to share these pics though because I love them of me and my first baby…

I’m so glad I got to enjoy the past few weeks soaking up my time as a mom of one with the apple of my eye(glasses)…

(get it!  see him in my glasses?!)  🙂

After all, he is my sunshine, my only sunshine…

Man, I’m on a roll today!  🙂

Seriously, I know things are all changing and I’m just grateful that I had 2 years alone with this little guy…

and I can’t wait for the next 62 (give or take a few!) with my TWO little guys!

Even if our life is going to look a little more wild and crazy like this!

Happy weekend!

1 week old!

Spencer is 1 week old today and he’s such a good baby.  I feel like we’re just starting to settle into some sort of “routine”…or at least a routine that will work for the next week before it all changes again!  I was pretty proud of myself yesterday for getting both boys out the door to get Maxwell to school on time.  Spencer and I then hit up the grocery store and Starbucks.  That afternoon, I even took both boys out in the stroller and the sling for a little walk.  Go me!  🙂

Spencer has been a great daytime sleeper and really snoozes from about 8 to 11:00 pretty hard.  Early evenings and night is when he really comes alive!  That said, he’s still pretty chill and doesn’t cry that often.  He’s proving to be a little different than his big brother in that regard so far!  🙂

He’s been a really good eater.  We go back to the doctor this morning and I’m very curious to see what he weighs now and if he’s back up to his birth weight of 7 lbs, 5 oz.  One other tip I want to remember – With Maxwell, I kept track of all his feedings and dirty diapers with a notepad.  This time I’m just recording it all in the notepad on my iphone and it’s so much easier.  All the info is in my phone which is ALWAYS right by me!  I love Apple.

Spencer actually slept great last night.  Instead of putting him in the bassinet by the bed, I had him on the bed beside me propped up on the boppy pillow.  He seemed to really like that so I’ll keep that up!  He slept from about 11 to 3:00 and then woke up again around 6:15.  Not bad at all!   and he doesn’t really cry when he wakes up.  He just starts making noises and I’ll scoop him up and feed him and then he conks back out.  I’m not sure how long that will last so I’m just enjoying it right now.

Maxwell continues to be a champion big brother.  We spent the afternoon outside on Tuesday and Maxwell kept wanting to come check on the ya-ya…not the best considering he was covered in “lallow dirt” from his sand table and had chocolate cookie crumbs all over his mouth!  Oh well, Spencer’s immune system is just going to get strong fast I think!

He is starting to act out just a little…I think it’s just a combination of some short naps and finally reacting to everything that’s been going on.  I can’t complain though because overall he’s handled it remarkably well.

I’m feeling good – finally.  I had a few really rough days with what I thought was going to be gallstones.  I was all prepared for surgery!  Turns out, no gallstones but just really, REALLY bad heartburn, likely from all the Motrin they gave me in the hospital.  Yea, that made me feel cool. Who knew heartburn could be that bad?!  But, after several days of Prilosec and none of my beloved Starbucks, I seem to be on the up and up.  Thank goodness because it was ROUGH there for a few days.

It’s been a great week with this sweet little guy.  I can’t wait to see how he continues to change…and whether or not he’s got dimples!  There was a possible dimple sighting but nothing can be confirmed yet.  We’ll see!  🙂

Have a great day and see you tomorrow!

Bragging about #1

I have to brag on my big boy for a minute and keep a record a few things I want to remember.  Maxwell has done SO well with this whole transition.  He loves the new ya-ya and wants to hold him and kiss him all the time.  He also really likes to try and stick the paci in Spencer’s mouth…and can get a little aggressive with that!  We’re working on being gentle!  🙂  There have been a few instances when I can tell he’s a little jealous and missing me so I’ve tried to just give him as much attention as I can, when I can. Overall though, he’s done really well.

I also have to brag about the fact that he now knows all of his letters!  It all started when GJ sent him this book and, in the course of just a few weeks, he has 100% learned the alphabet.  He was even calling out the letters in the parking garage of the hospital.  I think my favorite letter to hear him say is Q because he drags it out to be two syllables!  S is still tough for him but he’s getting better every day.

I am just astonished at how much he learns each day – he truly is a little sponge just soaking up everything we tell him – and repeating everything we say!  Some of his favorite expressions that he’s picked up lately are “no way!” and “oh geez!”  Also, he loves being 2.  Robert asks him daily how old he is and he always laughs and says “twooo!” and looks at Dad likes he’s so silly that he can’t remember and has to ask over and over!  Of course, that two is still accompanied by holding up 5 fingers but we’re working on that!

He’s also becoming a much better eater.  While still picky, he definitely eats more of the things he will eat.  As I mentioned before, we started doing family dinner every night and I think that has made a huge difference.  Dinner time is no longer a battle and he’s eating so much better.  Thank goodness!  He still loves his veggie corn dogs and quesadillas are always a hit.  We’re working on vegetables and I’m still not afraid to give him a jar of baby food veggies because he will eat them up like applesauce!  The evenings have become much less stressful that’s for sure!  Well…until this second baby came along!  🙂

Here are some iphone pics of my big boy over the past few weeks…

Love my big baby boy!

Tomorrow, a little update on this sleepy guy!

Finally, happy birthday to my cousin Amy today!!  Hope Birc and Savannah have a fun celebration planned for you!