Carson's and Spenser's Birthday Party

The birthday boys- Spenser (3) and Carson (4)

Jake devoured the birthday cake!
They had an awesome inflatable slide!...

...but Jake preferred the baby slide.

Ryleigh Kate

My mom and Jace

My sis, Jace, and Courtney

My adorable nephew, Jace.

The birthday boy

Amy and Walker

My grandparents and Walker

All the cousins

(L to R Carson, Walker, Connor, RK, Jake, Chase, Jace, and Spenser)

Again...this time without the guitar.

Connor, Walker, and RK

Jake kept saying "I'm gonna be a rock and roll star!"

We travelled to the big city of McRae, Georgia this weekend for Carson and Spenser's birthday party. Carson turned 4 on August 8th and Spenser will turn 3 August 30th, so their smart Mama threw one big party for the two of them. And man was it big! There were so many kids there!

Not only did we have so much fun celebrating the Ellis boys' birthdays, but we also had fun seeing our family. My sister and her family, my grandparents, and my 3 first cousins and their families were all there. So much fun!

Happy birthday, Carson and Spenser! We love you!

Relief!

Don't worry, Amy, the dogs are in good hands!
Relaxin'...

...and sweatin'! It is HOT here!

Granddad pulling out the ole tickle bug!

You like my Dad's new UAB shirt?...and Jake's fake smile?

Some black and whites...

This is Jake playing with his trains.

It has been a long week and a half of football camp for Tyson, I'm sure, but also for us. I have to say, though, I am finally getting a hang (I think) of being a football widow/single mom to a 4 month old and a 2.5 year old. It's been really hard at times, but we're adjusting. I say that, but I also took off and headed towards my parents' house (and help) at the first chance I got! :) Ha! What can I say? I'm sleep deprived and in desperate need of some adult interaction; the free help doesn't hurt either! ;)

All that being said, the boys and I are enjoying some time with the parentals for a few days. Lately, Walker has been getting up every 3 hours to eat at night and Jake has been getting up super early (0545-0630ish) to go potty and has been having a hard time going back to sleep. Needless to say, I'm exhausted. I'm looking forward to having my mom around to at least get up with Jake and entertain him for a while in the mornings. We're also here for bottle bootcamp and a little get together this weekend to celebrate 2 of our favorite little cousins. Details on both later.

For now, we're just enjoying getting spoiled by the grandparents, playing with my sister's dogs (who my parents are babysitting), and getting some much needed rest...kinda.

And me at the end of the day: spit-up on my t-shirt, hair a HOT mess, make-up (if I wear it) all sweated off, dark circles under my eyes, but still smiling and in love with my boys.

4 Months Old

Yesterday, August 10th, my sweet Walker turned 4 months old. I've been a bad Mama and haven't taken any new pictures of my babes lately, so this old one will have to do for now...I kinda like the "pouty Walker" look, though!

Walker had his 4 month check-up today and it was a doozy! First, he measured 27 inches long which was off the chart...literally! I was shocked! I was also shocked to hear that he weighs only 15 lbs (60%)...I say "only" very loosely because I know it is still pretty big, but it is concerning because he went from the 75% at 2 months to 60% now. The drop in percentiles along with the fact that he still eats very frequently raises some concern that my body isn't providing enough "nourishment" (as my Grandmother calls it) for him. So...he needs some supplementation from formula to get where he needs to be...the only problem with that is that he WON'T take a bottle! So, we devised a plan: bottle bootcamp**! Yuck. Dreading it!

Oh yeah, his head circumference was 16 3/4 inches but I can't remember the percentile...maybe 50% or so? And for those of you who wonder how Walker's measurements compare to Jake at the same age, Jake weighed 17 lbs, was 25 3/4 inches tall, and had a head circumference of 16.5 inches. Walker is obviously a lot taller at this point and a lot skinnier...whose child is this? Tall and skinny?? Ha!

The other concerning part of the checkup was about Walker's unequal pupils. We are going to get his pupils checked by a pediatric opthamologist here at UAB because they should have been equal by now. We'll see. I'll keep you all posted as soon as we know something. I'm trying not to worry, but I think it is only natural to. :(

Otherwise, Walker is way ahead of where he needs to be for 4 months, so Dr. Dudgeon was very pleased. And I'm very pleased as well! Thank goodness for a healthy baby!

TMI (too much information) WARNING: STOP READING HERE, DAD!
**For those of you who want to know more about bottle bootcamp, here is our plan: Cold turkey stop breastfeeding and give him nothing but a bottle (via another caretaker). It may take days (and lots of screaming from my hungry baby), but he will eventually take the bottle. Unfortunately, there is no going back to breastfeeding since he has proven so difficult and stubborn with the bottle. (I will pump, though, so he will still be getting some breastmilk.) I knew this was coming anyways (despite the lack of "nourishment" issue) because Walker starts Mother's Day Out in September and has to be able to take a bottle. Anyways, that's bottle bootcamp. It's gonna be a rough few days as we get through this, so please pray for my sanity and Walker's nourishment. My mom is going to help me out and be the one to actually give him the bottles, so pray for her, too. :)

Saturday at the Zoo

The fake smile.

Poor Walker...Jake always figures out some way to torment him!

My 2 pouty faces.

The boys and I made a quick trip to the Zoo this morning. This was my first trip to the Zoo by myself with the two boys, and we didn't last that long for many reasons. For one, it was HOT! And secondly, Walker insisted on being held the entire time and wouldn't have it any other way. Jake was awesome and a huge help, but I could only push the stroller, hold the baby, and keep up with Jake for so long. I was exhausted by the end of the trip, but we survived and I now feel pretty good going by myself. Next time, though, I just gotta figure out how to get Walker to like the sit and stand stroller and actually sit in it!

After we left the Zoo, we got to go eat lunch with Tyson at the football office. The boys haven't seen Tyson since last Sunday afternoon except for 2 middle of the night potty breaks for Jake of which he exclaimed, "Daddy, you're home!" I don't think Tyson has ever been so excited to get up in the middle of the night to take Jake potty!

Jake has really been missing his Daddy. Tyson calls every day around lunch (and any other break that he may get) to check in and Jake gets on the phone and immediately asks, "Daddy, you at the football office?" One day he even said, "Mama, I want to jump into your phone so I can see my Daddy." I could go on and on with the things like this he has said this week, but it just breaks my heart. I knew football season would be hard on Jake, but I had no idea it would be this hard. :(

Andy Summers

During his football days at the University of Florida.

You can see where Tyson and Walker get their chins from.

Coaching at Tift County High School.

Working on the Beach House

Tyson's Aunt Ann, who is his Dad's twin sister, asked me to post this first picture of Andy, so I figured while I was at it, I would post these other pictures of him that we've had so much fun finding on facebook this week. Some of these pictures Tyson had seen before, but there were a few surprises. My favorite is definitely of him in the group photo with overalls and a toboggan on...Tyson looks just like him there.

And of course, I couldn't leave out a picture of Tyson that I also ran across. This is from his glory days at Tift County High School:

I didn't know it at that time, but I sure do love this guy! :)

This Morning with Walker...

Since Jake goes to Mother's Morning Out 3 days a week, Walker gets lots of "Mommy time" on those days. We do make a weekly trip to the grocery store and run a few other errands, but for the most part, we just use that time to just play on the floor and take lots of pictures. :)

A few new things that I've noticed lately about the boys that seems bloggable-

• Walker is obsessed with his big brother. He literally stares at Jake the whole time and watches his every move; I can tell he is gonna be one of those little boys who just idolizes his big brother. Too sweet.

• Jake is finally getting to a point where he wants Walker to play with him. He is constantly handing Walker one of his trains, cars, etc in hopes that Walker will actually do something with them besides slobber on them. No such luck right now, though. :)

• Jake is also getting to the point of wanting whatever Walker may have in his hands at the time- whether it's a rattle, teething ring, whatever...Jake wants it! Jake is great at sharing, but he is also great at snatching. Makes sense, right?

Happiest Baby Ever

Tyson said it best this past weekend, Walker is the "happiest baby ever." He hardly ever cries** and he just loves to give out smiles. What a joy this little boy is to have around! We've been extrememly blessed with two wonderful children who have been good (and pretty easy) babies. We are so lucky!

Oh, and another note for the baby book: Walker rolled over for the first time today (August 2nd) from his back to his tummy! So proud of my baby!

**Walker has still been giving us a hard time taking a bottle. In fact, in the 12 hours I worked Saturday night and the 4 hours that I slept on Sunday, he only ate 5 ounces in that 16 hour period. Needless to say, he wasn't a very pleasant baby to be around. He ended up being okay, so don't worry, but I didn't want to paint the picture that he is perfect all the time...but he's pretty darn close! :)

McWane Science Center

G Mama, Jake and his fake smile, and Tyson

At least Grandmama was amused by Jake's antics!

Jake's handprints

Meteorologist Jake and Daddy

Hurricane Katrina

And one of baby Walker for good measure!

We had a very busy weekend this weekend. G Mama (Tyson's mom) came to town for one last visit before starting school and to help keep the boys while I worked. Yesterday was our last full day together as a family of four for a while (like October...for real), so we all loaded up and went to the McWane Science Center here in Birmingham. It was Jake and Tyson's second time going, but my first. We ended up having so much, G Mama got us a family membership for the year! Thanks G Mama! I'm sure we are gonna get a lot of use out of it!