TJ at 4 Months!

Our sweet little boy is so big! On December 1st he turned 4 months old. We went in for a doctor's visit - which ended up being a sick visit too, thanks to a nasty ear infection - and despite feeling pretty awful, he did really well.

TJ weighed in at 17 lbs 5 oz and measured 27 1/2 inches. That puts him at the 85th percentile in weight and 98th percentile in height.

The doctor signed off on feeding him solids. We're waiting for him to finish up his antibiotics and then we'll start introducing rice cereal. Then, if that goes well, we'll move on to veggies. I'll admit, with Miller I was SO excited to start feeding him solids. But this time around, I'm much less eager. It's so much easier for him to eat one thing! I think he's ready to get started though, so we'll see how it goes!

TJ at 4 Months

With some love from Winston

Thanksgiving in DC

We were so fortunate that Dave's family came to DC for Thanksgiving this year. Carrie (also known as "Aunt Bee-Boo") was able to come a little early - on break from business school - to spend a few days with us leading up to Thanksgiving. Dave's parents arrived on Wednesday to begin the celebration.

We spent actual Thanksgiving Day with Dave's extended family as well. There's a great DC Williams family tradition going back 25 years where all the extended family members either living in DC or visiting get together for a large potluck meal. Every year seems to get bigger and bigger!

This year we were hosted by John Williams (Dave's Uncle) and were joined by about 35 family members.  It was a wonderful weekend of family time, including the annual 5k turkey trot, dunkin donuts stop, making cookies and just spending time together. Here are some pictures of the weekend!

Turkey Trotters - Abby, her friend Samantha, Grandpa H, Ginny & Dave (not pictured, Carrie who was watching Miller during the race, possibly more difficult than the run!)

Always need a little Dunkin after the race!

TJs first Thanksgiving!

Family Christmas Card picture time

TJ getting some love from cousin Jake while Great Grandpa Jack looks on

Miller playing with his airplane with Granne

Making cookies with Aunt Bee-Boo

Christmas Card Outtake!

A Shared Bedroom - The First Night

There are a few posts I still need to write - all about TJ's name, TJ's 4 month check up, Thanksgiving, our trip to Ohio and of course, Christmas! However, I'm going to skip ahead first and write about something exciting from last night - the boys are finally sharing a room!!

TJ has been sleeping in a co-sleeper next to our bed since we brought him home. This has been very different from Miller, as we had him sleeping in his own crib in his own room since he was six weeks old. TJ has just gotten too big for the co-sleeper and none of us were sleeping very well at night. So last week Dave bought Miller a "big boy" bed! We decided to make the transition after Christmas when we were back in town from visiting Dave's family in Ohio and my Dad and Marcine in Maryland.

I know it's only been one night, and there were several interruptions (by both boys), but it's off to a good start. We had both boys in bed - asleep! - by 8:15 last night. I'm so impressed by how they both responded to the change. Last night was the first night we actually put TJ to bed - meaning we didn't just let him snooze with us downstairs until we were ready to go up to sleep. And Miller didn't complain once about TJ sleeping in his crib (which I was sure would be an issue).

I'm sure we'll have some difficult nights, and at some point one of the boys is bound to wake the other one up, but I think we're headed down a good road!

Here's to sweet dreams!

-Ginny

Honoring Isaiah

In May of 2010 we lost our nephew, Isaiah, to an epileptic seizure. He was 11 months old. During his short life my brother and sister-in-law grew frustrated with the inadequate pediatric neurology resources available to them in Oklahoma. After his death, they decided to do something to ensure other families in the state wouldn't experience the same struggles that they did.

They formed the Isaiah Stone Pediatric Epilepsy Lectureship Series to raise funds to assist their ongoing efforts at OU Children's Hospital. When Isaiah had his first seizure there was only one pediatric neurologist in the state of Oklahoma, now there are seven.

Dave and I weren't able to attend last year's event, but the timing worked out that we could make it this year, and bring both the boys to spend some time with their cousins, Nana and Pops as well!

It was a great week, we even found time to celebrate an early Thanksgiving, complete with Pop's green bean casserole and Grandmother Bowman's Pumpkin Pie. Here are just a few of the pictures from the week!

ISPELS Fundraiser at Wine & Pallette

My butterfly painting at the ISPELS fundraiser

 

Hanging with the cousins

 

Bath Time!

 

 Morning Snuggles

 

Piggy Back Rides With Jackson

 

 

 Photo Shoot with the Cousins

Playing in the leaves with Walker

Fun times with Nana

 

It was a lovely trip, the kids did great on both flights and we had so much fun with Ren, Lee Anne, Jackson, Walker, Nana and Pops. It's a great start to the holiday season!

 

Pumpkin Patches

Changing of the seasons, especially the transition from summer to fall, has to be one of my favorite things about living in Northern Virginia.  The seasons seem to change so sharply here, though they sometimes change back for a few days before committing to the new season!

This fall has been so beautiful, the trees have been so pretty and the weather has been lovely.  It's an especially great fall thanks to sweet baby TJ.  As nervous as I was to have a toddler and a baby, it really hasn't been very tough, and that's mainly because TJ is such a good baby. Yes, I could use a little more sleep (I'm ready for him to sleep through the night!), but when awake he is very sweet and calm, smiling and laughing, or just sitting back and observing.

Anyways, we took advantage of the great fall weather and did two different pumpkin patch trips this year. One with Dave's sister Abby and her good friend Megan, and one with my good friend Kendra, in town from Seattle.

Here are some pictures of our farm/pumpkin patch adventures!

Great Country Farms (I promise TJ and I were there too!)

Miller and Abby planning their fun day!

 

 

 

 

Cox Farms - Centerville, VA

 

 

No, Dad, we don't think this makes for a great "photo op"

Sweet cuddles with Kendra

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brotherly Love and Halloween

The most common question we get these days is, "How is Miller handling the new addition?". While he has his moments of frustration ("No TJ Mama!"), he's mostly been very sweet with TJ.  He loves to play games that incorporate TJ in some way. All of a sudden he likes playing in his crib, if TJ is in there with him. I love watching TJ start to interact with him more and more each day, it's so fun to think how much they will play together in a couple of years!

 

 

Last week was Halloween, and while TJ is still too small to care much about it, Miller really enjoyed himself this year. He dressed as Elmo and TJ wore Miller's monkey costume from his first Halloween. We went to a children's parade last weekend with the boys dressed in costume. One thing I hadn't anticipated was how many kids would approach our little Elmo, wanting to touch him and hug him. It was like having a celebrity kid! To them he was Elmo. Miller was really great about it, high fiving and hugging kids when they approached. Proud of my sweet boy.

 

Our little Elmo

Monkey Man TJ

 

Miller also went trick or treating for the first time and seemed to enjoy it. He's still not big on candy (who is this kid!?), but had fun meeting all the neighbors and seeing all the costumes.

 

Now that Halloween is over, we're getting excited for Dave's family to come to town to celebrate Thanksgiving, just a few weeks away!