Levi's had a birthday party...

Finally!

Yep. I'm pretty sure I get the "Worst Mother Ever" award for this one, folks. Levi just had his first birthday party ever. And it's 5 months after he turned 2. Yikes!

We had a great time. It was quite impromptu, so we kept it very small. Levi loved having both sets of grandparents over, and his Auntie Kayla. {Yay for airplanes that enable "quick trips" for grandmas missing their grand kids!}

I think his favorite part of the whole thing was getting the balloons...

and his favorite present was stickers, for sure!

This is Levi enjoying the miracle cake! It's wasn't too much to look at, as I was missing a number of ingredients, and couldn't find my decorating supplies to save my life. {Note to self: Never try to throw a "party" on a Sunday if it's not pre-planned and you know in advance that you have everything you need to make it flow, lol.} However, it tasted downright yummy and it matched the balloons and table decorations, so I...errr, I mean...Levi was happy. {I tried to tell Joe-Z that it totally mattered to Levi...he just couldn't bring himself to agree with me...}

Happy Birthday Levi! We love you so much!

To give in, or not to give in...

Tonight, before bath time, I said "Levi, do you want anything to eat?" "No" was all he said. Me, again, "Are you sure? Aren't you hungry?" {Looking at me with his ever-so-cute "duh" eyes} "No hungry Mom. I don't."

Upstairs we went.

We get to the bathroom, he realizes what we're doing, and beelines for the door. Of course, I stop him. After I take off his shirt, with puppy dog eyes, and as he rubs his tummy, "Mom. Hungry." I just stare, trying not to laugh. "Yeah Mom, hungry? Yeah Mom, dinner, yeah, yeah. Dinner Mom?" As if in the last 2 minutes he realized he'd become famished.

I bathed him and put him to bed, amid many requests for many different types of food. The next 45 minutes, sounding like his little mouth is right next to the microphone on the monitor, he keeps saying "Mommy, dinner? Mommy, hot dogs?" Over and over :o)

I finally gave in after 48 minutes (and in his defense, he did down 2 hot dogs in about 30 seconds flat). He was so sweet.

But he does this all. the. time. And I always give in. I just can't stand it {see aforementioned comment about sweetness}. So, now I ask you, where do you draw the line?

John Morgan's walking...

A little, anyway.

*Note: Sorry for the horrible quality. We're still working on getting a new cord for the video camera {where the good videos live}, apparently they don't sell them in stores. You have to order from the manufacturer. So for now, you get to keep watching cell phone videos. Yay!

He's been taking those baby steps for about 2 and a half weeks now. He'll walk up to 18 steps if he thinks he's going to get ice cream from my bowl, which of course he doesn't b/c of the milk allergy, but he does love the cold spoon, lol!

Pretty cute, huh?

*Afterthought: Joe-Z wants me to assure you that the fall wasn't as bad as it may seem. He just tumbled into my lap, happily searching for the spoon ;o)

Happy {9 month} Birthday John Morgan!

John Morgan turned 9 months old yesterday. I really can't believe that time has gone by so fast!

In just these 9 months, he's brought joy beyond measure to our family!

Advice Needed:

See this sweet little face? How precious his little cheeks are, so round and pinchable? Pretty cute when he's asleep, right?

Yeah, I think so too. The only thing that could make it better was if he was doing this at night!

Here's the problem: I think my 8 month, 2 week old is trying to wean himself from the bottle!

Take yesterday for example. He ate a full bottle for his "night/early morning" feeding, but the throughout the day, only ate 3 oz, 2 more times. He did, however, have 3 full "solid" food meals. The last one {which I gave him only 20 minutes after we'd had a knock down, drag out wrestling match in which I tried to make him eat his bottle, of which he decided to finally slurp down 3 oz}, consisted of a full bowl of oatmeal (we're talking a huge bowl...made with 4 oz of his leftover formula), a jar of peas, a jar of squash, a jar of carrots, 3/4 of a jar of bananas, and 1/2 a jar of chicken (see picture below for visual). So, I know he was hungry...he just wouldn't take the stinkin bottle!

So, twice in the middle of the night last night, he got up to eat a full bottle. Urgh.

We're exhausted. We can't believe our 8 1/2 month old doesn't sleep through the night (back to 2 night feedings, really?). And I'm concerned {It's okay, you can call me a worry wort. I always am. Especially when it comes to my kids. Way to overly-concerned.} that he's not getting enough of the nutrients from his "solid" food to make up for what he's lacking in his formula.

Any ideas?

Up, up, and away!

Well, not the away part yet, but here he comes, up and up!

I walked into the boys' room this morning and found this:

which was promptly followed by this:

(do you see him there...flailing backward, limbs a blur?)

He's been trying for the last couple of days now. Just like Levi, actually, his first attempt was on a case of Zephyrhills water, lol. After 3 or 4 days of practice, he finally has it down.

And so this has become our new fun game. He stands up on anything he can possibly find, gets excited, bounces, waves his hands, and falls because he's not holding on anymore, lol. It's a blast! Levi is really enjoying it too...he keeps saying, "Gain!" and pointing at John Morgan, trying to get him to do it again!

My most favorite, though, is when he crawls over to me, grabs one hand and pulls himself on his knees to take my other hand, then pulls himself up to standing. He's so close to me, looking me right in the eyes, giggling in excitement over his new found independence. So sweet.

I love being a mom!

New Tricks

John Morgan has learned a new trick...

(Please ignore the baby talk coming from the overly-excited mommy!)

6 months, 2 weeks, and 1 day later, and we have a full-on mover and shaker! He's is so pleased with himself and is LOVING being able to go wherever he wants to, although his poor forehead isn't so thrilled...it's kinda like a magnet...he crawls over to ______ {fill in the blank} and doesn't know to stop! So he's had a few bumps...

Little children as comedic relief...

There are so many things I love about having children! Tonight, I'm especially grateful for the comedic relief that can come from the mouth of such a little child!

I had just bathed John Morgan and I was getting him into his pajamas for bed. He's got a terrible diaper rash (his first one...boo!), and so we're having to use diaper cream and gauze pads smothered in vaseline. Needless to say, it can be quite messy. In my frustration, while orchestrating this whole diapering mess, I exclaimed "This is a joke!"

(Cue Levi) "Joke. Joke. Joke! This joke! Joke, joke, joke." And so on and so forth. He totally broke the tension of the moment! It no longer mattered that there was diaper cream all over me, the baby, the bed, and everything else, or that I my hands (and hair at this point) were layered in vaseline, and that by now we needed a new diaper. John Morgan's crying turned into excited giggling at his big bro.

Levi, with his cute little smile, his disheveled hair, his dinner-covered Sunday outfit, and his precious baby-trying-to-be-a-little-boy voice made it all better!


What a little blessing he is to us and our family!

We're back...

and SURPRISE*...we're in Florida!

I've been missing lately in the blogging world, but for good reason! We've moved!

Joe-Z has always wanted to work for the Church Educational System. We thought he could get the training he would need anywhere we went, but later on found out that most people are too busy to do any type of training on a one-on-one basis. Getting into this position is very competitive, so we figured that we'd need all the help we could get, which included training, so we decided to go to the place we knew it was available...back to Tallahassee! Yay! We love Brother Bowcutt and Joe-Z is very excited for the opportunity to learn from the best!

The day we found out that this would be an option, we were going through a random box of papers (left over from a previous move, lol) and we found Joe-Z's acceptance letter to Flagler from last year and thought we'd call to see if they'd still take him this year. Sure enough, after a couple of signatures here and there, they said..."Welcome back...school starts on the 25th!" That gave us just 10 days to be there!

So, we found all that out Thursday about noon and we had packed and left by the next Friday afternoon. We drove down that weekend and Joe-Z made it to school by 5 o'clock Monday night! It's was a wild ride and we could not have done it alone! We are SO grateful for all of the help we received...it is no doubt to us that the Lord works everyday miracles through the good brothers and sisters we see every Sunday, that will come together in a pinch to help out.

Thanks friends!

So, here we are now...in good ol' Tallahassee! We really miss our new found-old friends in Minnesota, we're very excited to be back in town and have the wonderful opportunities in front of us! Joe-Z is loving his new job with the State so far and school is going well, and we'll be moving into our place at the end of the month!

Sorry no pictures yet...our USB cable got packed on the P.O.D., but once we move in...you'll get pictures galore! I can give you a couple of updates of the kids though:

John Morgan is getting so big, and is enjoying meals of oatmeal and peas...yum yum! He's about ready to crawl...we're thinking within the next month (but now that we've said that...it'll probably take twice that long, lol).

and Levi...there's just so much to tell here...but here's my newest fave...he's learned how to climb out of the pack-an-play! YAY...not. Now there's no stopping him...he climbs out, throws his arms in the air, and screams "Woo-hoo!" I'm just hoping that when we get into our place, he won't try the same stunt from within his crib...that could be disastrous!

Anyway...hope you all are doing well, we're (mostly I'm) glad to be back to the blogging realm!


*If you're a Burtoft reading this (or anyone down south for that matter)...don't tell anyone else in the fam...this is still supposed to be a surprise for you guys!

Guess who...

rolled over!?!?!

You got it, John Morgan did! Now he rolls from front to back and back to front again! He was so cute when he did it for the first time...he giggled and giggled!

John Morgan's 4 month Check-Up

Today was John Morgan's 4 month check-up. He passed with flying colors! He comes in at 83% for both height and weight. He's 16 pounds, 14 ounces and 26 inches long!

The doc said he's ready to start solid foods, which we're very excited for! The poor little guy has been longingly staring at our food lately, and it's been so sad! So, bring on the rice cereal!

Here are some pictures I took yesterday while we were playing outside, enjoy!

Swimming for the first time...

No, not John Morgan...Levi! I know, he's (almost) 2 years old and JUST went swimming for the first time! What can I say!?!

As was expected, he loved it!

Can you see how big that beach ball is? It was humongous! Any of you that know Levi know how much he adores any and all objects that are shaped like a ball, so this was hog heaven for him!

This is my Auntie Donna...she finally got to meet our {not so little} John Morgan!

It was so neat to go visit her (thanks for letting us come swim and hang out, and for the DELICIOUS cookies!) and talk with her about my Grandpa and that whole side of the family. I even learned that he had helped build the house she owns. It was such a neat experience, getting to know her better and being somewhere I knew my Grandpa had been...I felt a connection to him that I never had before. It was a great day!

2 Milestones in 2 days!

So, John Morgan turned 3 months old on Monday...a big thing in and of itself. However, much to our joy and amazement, he slept through the night Sunday night to Monday morning! Yay! We're hoping it's not just a fluke (last night he had 1 middle-of-the-night feeding, still much better than the normal 2 to 3)!

Then this morning, at his Physical Therapy appointment, he rolled over! Woo-Hoo! He did it 6 times, once to the left and 5 times to the right! He's getting so big so fast...

Here's a short clip of him at P.T.

(Sorry for the poor quality, I had to catch it quick on my cell phone.)

An update on John Morgan and a little bit of Levi...

Well, results are in and he's okay! Woo-Hoo! The kidney ultrasound showed he has Hydronephrosis. It's an enlargement of the renal pelvis in his left kidney. They're not suggesting any follow-up treatment, as mild cases usually resolve on their own...phew.

And the GI doc said that if he were having any new blood in his diapers, then he would want to do an endoscopy, but since he hasn't, he thinks the risks would outweigh the benefits (at this point, I feel like a thousand pounds have been lifted off. I was terrified by the thought of such a little guy having to be put to sleep...yikes). So, he said to give the new formula another few weeks to kick in and heal his insides (which he says he feels is the reason for all the crying).

On a wonderful note, he hasn't had a 3-hour long crying spell for the last 10 days!!! Hallelujah! In fact, it has been quite dreamy around our house as far as he's concerned (Levi on the other hand, not so much, but that's another story).

And the reversal of his torticollis is coming along rather nicely! He doesn't mind the stretches too much anymore! And he love, love, loves tummy time on the Boppy and especially on the exercise ball! His head is still a little flat, but they say that can take up to 18 months to "grow out."

Take a peek:

And an update on our Levi...

...there isn't enough time in the day to share all of his new happenings! He's at that age now where he's learning something new everyday...actually, like 50 new things everyday! Seriously, he learns to say at least 1 new word each day and he recognizes like 10 new things each day! His newest accomplishment is to say "There it is" whenever I ask him to point to something. It's absolutely adorable!

I love being a mom. And I love little babies. But thus far, (in my vast parenting experience) I have to say that this age is by far the best. It is just so much fun to see him becoming a little man. He is such a joy. He does this super-cute thing. When you pick him up (especially if it's first thing in the morning or after a nap) he wraps his arms around you, puts his head on your shoulder, and pats your back. This is followed by a little rub, then more patting. It's just so sweet. He's the best.

Here's a little video:

A little perspective...

So, we've been having an extremely hard time with John Morgan. His crying borders constant. The past few days have been dizzying. He'll cry for hours at a time, until he loses his voice, then he whimpers until he falls asleep, tears still dripping down his cheeks. He gets little bits of sleep at a time, every once and a while he'll be able to sleep for 2 or 3 hours.

It's so strange...sometimes he'll lay on his blanket and stare up at you, just smiling and cooing like crazy, and 20 minutes later he's in hysterics. It's hard to see him so happy, and then so in pain the next minute.

We took him to his pediatrician yesterday who ordered a kidney ultrasound (scheduled for this afternoon), and told us to consult with our GI specialist from Children's to have an endoscopy done. So, we'll meet with him on Thursday and go from there.

With all of this going on, last night I'm on the computer perusing blogs, and came across this great "mommy interview" on the gab blog. From there, I went to this post about her daughter Rachel, who is handicapped. This story really put me in my place. I can't imagine going through something like this. I was left feeling so grateful that I was able to catch a little perspective in the midst of my so-called "rough" day.

I'm also really grateful for both of my boys, who teach me so much about patience, selflessness, and love, and remind me that if I feel this way for them, how much greater are those feelings that our Heavenly Father has for us. I know that he loves us and that he wants us to be happy, and will never give us trials greater than we have strength to bear.

Updates!

Well, life has been fun! We've had lots of action in the last month. The story, post-birth to present, in a nut-shell:

John Morgan eats all the time...literally! He cries whenever he's taken away from the food source. If he sleeps an hour at a time, we consider ourselves lucky. I take him to the pediatrician 4 times in 3 weeks. He tells me I'm just a new mom and that all babies cry...thanks Doc. Thursday morning last week I change a poopy diaper, only to discover that there's blood in the diaper! My heart sinks and the pessimist in me starts thinking the worst. I call my ped's office first thing and we have an appointment for that afternoon. By noon he's made 3 more bloody diapers. I call the triage nurse at Children's Hospital, who tells me to bring him to the ER right away.

~At this point, can I just say how grateful I am that we live in the place we do, where we have access to a specialty children's hospital, and it's only an hour away~

We take him to the ER where he's seen by two different doctors, who decide to admit him overnight and they start the ball rolling on all the tests. We're given a list as long as your arm of the things that could be wrong and all of the surgeries that could be needed to fix them. Just what I'm wanting to hear...not.

~Here, another thing I'm so grateful for: Priesthood Blessings! Through a friend of a friend (thanks JoDell) we were able to have a wonderful man by the name of Matt come and help Joe-Z give John Morgan a blessing. It brought a wonderful Spirit to the room and a much needed peace to my heart and mind.~

When all is said and done, we've been seen by the ER docs, the General Pediatrician Team and had been handed over to the Gastrointestinal Team. The GI specialist hands him a diagnosis of guess what folks...a cow's milk protein allergy. Yep, that's right. The same thing that Levi had that wreaked havoc on us a year and a half ago, the same thing that I asked not once, but twice if my pediatrician thought could be the problem and was reassured that "sometimes babies just cry".

So, basically, his body was rejecting the protein and released acid to fight it off. This was burning his intestinal tract which was causing all the discomfort which made him want to eat all the time to comfort his little tummy, which only made it worse. This, in turn, caused all the crying for baby, which caused the crying for mommy and daddy, lol. The treatment...Nutramigen, a special formula where the proteins are broken down into a different shape so that he'll be able to accept them.

How much better could it have turned out? We were so incredibly blessed. He's a happy baby now. He eats 5 ounces of formula and then wants to hang out for about an hour, crying free! Then he'll sleep for about an hour and repeat the process (all though at night, sometimes he'll skip the staying awake part and let us get 2 hours of sleep at a time!!). He's still only sleeping in the swing or car seat, but we're happy for there to be sleeping at all!

One other great thing that came out of all this: we found out that there is "about a 100 percent chance that your future children will have this allergy, so start them on the formula from the beginning, and you'll save yourselves all this trouble." Thanks Dr. Aurora...we love you.

Now, onto bigger and better things. John Morgan was blessed this past Sunday, and it was BEAUTIFUL. I am so grateful for the priesthood and that my wonderful husband lives worthy to use it. What a special gift, a blessing right from his Father in Heaven to him, through the hands of his father here on earth. With Levi, the underlying theme was definitely love...that he would be able to love those around him and be an example through that love. For John Morgan, almost every blessing focused on how faithful he would be and how he would treasure the gospel. We figure with a foundation like that, everything else should fall right into place!

A special note of thanks to those who participated in the blessing: the Bishopric, our Home Teachers and our good friend John!

One other really great thing that has happened lately is just watching Levi love his brother. He has been so wonderful about having another member of the family here. The first thing he does in the morning and last thing he does at night is kiss his brother. Any time John Morgan cries, Levi is by his side and usually loudly alerting me ("Dadadaaaaaaaaaaa") that my attention is needed, lol. He loves to "share" his toys with him, and always wants to lay with him under his play mat or on his blanket. It is such a privilege to be the mother of such wonderful boys.

Now just more pictures of cute John Morgan (who still looks just like Levi)...who turned 1 month old yesterday.