Brotherly Love

When I was pregnant and we found out Walker was a boy, I was so excited...especially for Jake. I knew he'd have an automatic best friend and playmate for life.

I'm sure there will be lots of fights along the way for the boys, but for now, I'm just going to enjoy how sweet they are together. It's amazing how attached they are and how much love they have for each other in two short months. I just love my boys!

A Potty Training Necessity

Ok, we are less than 2 weeks into potty training, and I'm not claiming to be an expert at all, but I've already fallen in love with this- a travel potty. I've told several of my friends about it, but no one had ever heard of it, so I thought I'd post it on here.

One of my friends, who is also a germaphobe like me, told me about this travel potty when Jake was baby. I thought it was a brilliant idea, so as soon as I thought about potty training Jake, I purchased one. I think the potty is intended for situations where a potty isn't available, but I have been using it in parking lots and lots of other places instead of having to deal with nasty public restrooms. Crazy, I know. It's also very handy, though, since it isn't always easy taking Jake to the potty with an infant in tote.

What's awesome about this potty is that it comes with these baggy-insert things that hold the pee and poop, so you just tie it up when you get done and toss it! No messy clean up! (Am I starting to sound like a commercial for this thing or what?) My friend also said she used to just use big ziplock bags in it, too, and then she would just zip it up and toss it. A little TMI?

Anyways, Jake is still doing awesome with #1...he hasn't had a single accident at home since he started potty training. (He did have an accident at school, but I think there's a whole lots of reasons for that- distraction, holding it too long, being scared to speak up about it, etc). #2 is a whole different story, though! He hasn't exactly gone in his big boy pants at home, but sometimes I wish he would...is that bad? He is absolutely scared to death to go #2 and will hold it til the last possible second, and even sometimes then we're too late and it ends up on the floor. Gross right? He will tell me he has to go and for almost 2 hours, we're running to the potty every few minutes only for him to chicken out and say "I not try." It is so frustrating for both of us (but I try not to show it)! Does anyone have any advice about this? This has turned into such a huge production that I'm scared to leave the house until after he goes poop, and we're sick of being in this house! HELP!

8 Weeks Old

My sweet baby is 8 weeks old! And in 2 days, he'll be 2 months old! Time is flying by!

Walker has started to sleep through the night this week (from 9:30 pm to 5:30 am), so I'm starting to feel like a normal person again. I have to say, though, I haven't minded at all getting up with him at night; I love my alone time with this little fellow and I'll take it any way I can get it.

Walker is such a happy baby and loves to give out smiles to anyone that will take them. We were at the doctor this week (Jake has strep and Walker has bronchiolitis), and Walker was in his carseat screaming his head off as I consoled Jake (who was also screaming his head off...fun times!)...the pediatrician walked over to Walker and started talking to him in a sweet voice, and Walker immediately started smiling at him. No joke, he went from screaming to cheesin' it in like 5 seconds! Too cute! The doctor was so impressed! :) And big brother Jake loves to make Walker smile, too...he says "he's smiling at Jake....he loves Jake!" So sweet!

Happy 2 month birthday, Walker! We love you!

More Redneck Activities and Kaitlyn's Here!

(L to R) Ryan, Brantley, and Jake

Look at those cute little tooshes! (Jake's is in the middle!)

Hot stuff!

I don't know about y'all, but it is HOT here! We go to the pool almost every day, and sometimes, it still isn't enough! And my poor little Jake (and I think Walker, too) is such a sweater. Anyways, we were outside playing with the neighbors the other day and we ended up having to pull out the water table to help cool the boys down. Before we knew it, all three of the boys were IN the water table at the same time...they are such a mess! They had a blast but ended up getting soaked, so all 3 boys ended up getting stripped down to their skivvies...what a site that must have been for our other neighbors! :)

Kaitlyn and Walker

Kaitlyn Madden (Ryan's sister) is here! She was born this past Monday, May 31st and was 7 lbs 4 oz; Ashley and Kaitlyn got to come home Thursday and are both doing very well. We are so excited to finally have a girl in the mix! When Ginger delivers baby boy Turner (aka Bubba) in the next few weeks, Kaitlyn will be the only girl with 5 big "brothers" to look after her! So exciting! I have a feeling that Kaitlyn and Walker are gonna be best friends just like their big brothers! Welcome Kaitlyn!

2 Month Checkup and No Accidents!

Walker had his 2 month checkup yesterday and got his first round of shots. Everything looks great so far!

Here are his stats: 12 lbs 1.5 oz (75%) and 24.5 in long (95%). Dr. Dudgeon was shocked at his length (especially since Tyson and I are sort of vertically challenged), but I had a feeling he might be a tad long since he had already outgrown most of his 0-3 month clothes by the 3rd week. :) He can still fit in the 0-3 onesies, though, so that is pretty much all he wears.

In comparison, Jake was 13 lbs 7 oz and 23.5 in long at his 2 month check up. I wonder if Walker might end up being taller and thinner than Jake? I try not to compare them, but it's hard not to in some ways.

Dr. Dudgeon and I had some pretty lengthy discussions about all of Walker's "issues," and I feel a lot better now. First, Walker's ingrown and infected toenails look a lot better but are gonna take some work from me and Tyson; Dr. Dudgeon said he had never seen toes like that on a baby. Ha! Also, we came up with a plan for the blocked tear ducts since it is going to be a chronic issue and has reoccurred so quickly. And lastly, I noticed a few weeks ago that Walker's pupils are different sizes sometimes; my friend Ginger's husband Ryan is an ophthalmology resident at UAB so he checked Walker out and said everything looked okay. After that, I wasn't really worried about it. Well, Dr. Dudgeon gave it a name (which I can't remember for the life of me), but I think it is called anisocoria ...anyways, it is because of his immature neurological system and should go away over time.

That's all for now! Praise the Lord for a healthy baby! Enjoy these pictures from Walker's newborn photo shoot!

Oh, and I have to brag on my oldest baby...Jake is doing great with his potty training! He started school yesterday for summer session, and he didn't have a single accident! In fact, he hasn't had an accident since Monday....knock on wood! Way to go, Jake!

This is the best picture we could get of the two boys; Jake was off the chain that day and wouldn't cooperate for the photos. This picture trips me out because it looks like he has Walker in a head-lock. Poor Walker!

Future Quarterback and "A Football Player"

Walker smiling at his big brother, who he loves so much!...

...until he gets really close! :)

The look on Walker's face cracks me up! Gotta keep his guard up at all times!

Sweet brothers!

Today, I took Jake and Walker to Tyson's office for Walker's first visit, so I had to dress Walker accordingly...in his "Future Quarterback" onesie, of course. As I was walking in, I noticed that Walker's eyes were the same color as his onesie; who knows what color his eyes are gonna be, but they are so beautiful! Anyways, we had a great visit with Tyson; I wish I would have had my camera on me because Jake was super cute. He is all about being a "football player" these days, so he wore his Georgia hat and his sunglasses into the office and he thought he was so cool. (For some reason, he calls baseball hats "football hats"). Such a mess these days!

And now to brag on my big boy, Jake is diaperless! I don't want to say he is potty trained just yet because 1) it's only been a couple of days and 2) going #2 in the potty still scares him. He caught on to potty training pretty quickly and has far exceeded our expectations; we were planning on putting him in pullups during nap and bedtime, but he has stayed dry for both (except for one nap and one bedtime) surprisingly! I am so proud of my big boy! This is only the beginning, though, so I'm sure we'll have lots of accidents along the way...but what a huge accomplishment for now!

7 Weeks Old and Potty Training: Take 2

I can't believe it, but Walker is already 7 weeks old! He is starting to sleep better during the day, and he is getting better about having to be held constantly. He is still on the same nighttime sleep schedule as the last time I posted (9:30 pm, 3 am, and 6 am), but he actually had one night this week where he slept from 9:30 until 5 am! It was amazing...it was also a fluke, but I'm hoping it happens again really soon!

As you might can tell by the pictures, Walker's tear ducts are blocked again. This is the 2nd time this has happened in his right eye and the 1st for his left eye. I feel so bad for the little fellow; we go to the doctor this week for his 2 month checkup, so hopefully we'll find out more about it.

Walker is really cooing and smiling a lot these days; he is such a sweet baby! He is also batting at objects in front of him...including big brother at times. :)

We just love this little guy so much, but his biggest fan is definitely his big brother. If you ask Jake who he loves the most, he says "Baby Walker." So sweet...I just love my boys!

Speaking of Jake...

...we started potty training again this weekend! It's already going better than last time so I feel really good about it (knock on wood!). We are using a little different method this time...we started the day with a "Big boy party" that consisted of lots of balloons, cupcakes, and singing "Happy big boy party to you!" several times (this method we are using doesn't mention this, but what I thought it would be fun anyways). We then had him throw away all the diapers and then don the big boy underwear, which he actually asked for anyways when he woke up. We are also saying lots of "you need to tell mama when you have to go potty" instead of asking "do you need to go potty, Jake?;" we are also letting him tell us when he needs to go versus putting him on the potty every hour or so like I did last time. And lastly, we are also focusing more on a potty training chart for rewards instead of just giving "M and M's" when he goes. So there you have it! So far, so good! He's only had two accidents (one wet and one dirty), but otherwise, he has gone potty 23 times today! Yep, 23 times! Crazy huh? The method (as do most) calls for an increased fluid intake, so that's why he is going so much. We are so proud of our big boy! I just hope it works! Wish us luck!

Showing off his Thomas the Train underwear!

And now showing off his potty training chart!

2 Little Rednecks at the Pool

My little redneck

Jake and RyanSomeone asked if they were twins...it happens all the time!

The future cover of "GQ?"

Ashley is due in 1 week! Doesn't she look great?

Ashley and Ryan

I can't tell you how much trouble they got each other into this year at school!...I can totally see how! By the way, that is Ryan on the left and Jake on the right.

Sweet little Walker chillaxin!

Ashley and I and the boys met up at the park this morning, but it was so hot and the boys were so sweaty that we decided to make an impromptu visit to the pool. We unfortunately didn't come prepared for the pool, so all the boys had were their swim diapers. They looked like little rednecks...it was so funny. We definitely got some looks from the neighbors!

I was so proud of Jake...he is usually pretty timid around water, but he followed in Ryan's lead and got right in and had a blast!

Walker was a trooper and lasted for a good 3 hours outside! He is such a good baby!

Oh, and I survived my first 4 hours back to work last night! I worked with some of my favorite people, so it really wasn't that bad...for me. Tyson, on the other hand, didn't have it quite so easy. Let me back up, Tyson probably does a better job with the kids than I do; he is very patient and calm and just everything that I'm not. Anyways, he has never had to call me at work with problems, but last night, I had only been there about 10 minutes and I had already gotten my first call of distress. About an hour and a half later, I got my 2nd call....this time, Walker was screaming bloody murder in the background. I felt so bad for Tyson...Walker has become really attached to me and can be pretty difficult to console. It was a long 4 hours for Tyson, but we made it. I think we are all already dreading my next shift!

Our Family

I finally got the proofs back of Walker's newborn photo shoot from my photographer friend, Kelly, so I thought I would share this one of our precious little family. Jake is sporting a fake smile, but at least it's a smile! I just adore this picture!

I'll post some more pictures another time...I don't want to ruin the surprise of the birth announcement! :) It's amazing, though, how different Walker already looks from those pictures! He is getting cuter and cuter by the day!

In other news, IT'S OVER!...May recruiting that is! Hallelujah! We survived! For those of you who aren't familiar with recruiting, it's a college football coach's wife's worst nightmare...or mine at least. Tyson recruits for about 3 months a year and is gone pretty much all week long and some weekends for the whole month; we hardly ever get to see him during that time, so I refer to myself as a single mother during those times. As you can imagine, it's very hard on our family, and Tyson, too. Our recruiting coordinator and head coach were very good to Tyson this time, though, given our situation (a newborn and a toddler and a stressed out Mama), so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Plus, my parents were awesome and helped me out tremendously...I say it all the time, but I don't know what I'd do without my Mom. We always joke that when I married Tyson, my parents married in to the college football lifestyle, too! Thank goodness for amazing and supporting parents!

You know what else is over? My maternity leave! These last 6 weeks have flown by! *tear* I'm extremely nervous about returning, especially since Walker is almost exclusively nursing and since he is no where near sleeping through the night. Thank goodness I only work once a week; I have no idea how Tyson and I could handle much more. Actually, Tyson is an amazing father, so I'm sure he could have handled it, but I just feel so bad for him. He works really long hours during the week, and then to come home on the weekends and keep both boys all by himself for 12 hours of work and then about 5 hours of sleep AND get up in the middle of the night to feed the baby? He's got his work cut out for him, but I know he'll do just fine! We'll see how I handle it! :)

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I'm gonna go enjoy my time with my boys!

Happy 60th Birthday, Mom!

I hope I look this good at 60!

Walker joins in on the celebration, but no cake for him!

My mom celebrated her 60th birthday last Thursday, but since we couldn't be there, we had our own little celebration when she came to Birmingham this week. Of course, no birthday party is complete without a cake from Edgar's Bakery! Believe me, it was delicious! Happy Birthday, Mom! I don't know what the boys and I would do without you...you're the best! And I mean it! We love you "THIS MUCH!"

Jake's newest favorite thing to do at the zoo...eat popcorn!
So Mom and I enjoyed some popcorn, too!

Walker sported his Georgia hat to the Zoo...

So big brother had to put his Georgia hat on, too, once we got home!

We made another trip to the Zoo while Mom was here; this time, we got wristbands that gave us unlimited trips on the carousel and train...Jake was in Heaven! I told mom that I'll never be able to top that trip to the Zoo again!