Tuesday, January 31, 2012

January 2012 in Review



As I mentioned in my 2012 Goals, setting goals keeps me motivated and gives me something to look forward to, however it doesn't mean there will be 100% success in every area but here's a recap nonetheless (and I've still got 11 more months to work on these things).  



  • Keep up with a daily Bible reading plan through YouVersion I have thoroughly enjoyed the "Parenting by Design Daily devotional".  It is a lot less Bible reading than I'm used to however it has allowed me to really focus on one thought and verse per day on the topic of parenting which is my world right now.
  • Read at least 1 book a month I hosted a Book Exchange Party for the first time and loved it.  I got the book "The Best of Me" by Nicholas Sparks.  First time to ever read one of his books but I really enjoyed getting lost in a fictional book.
  • Train for and run a 5K Well are you ready for my first excuse...there's probably not really a good one but our treadmill did break (it was used and we only paid $50 for it).  I tried running on the street but its just too painful with an old knee injury.  We've been pricing around for a new treadmill.
  • Ideally would like to lose 35 pounds (this is my real challenge) Not there yet but still working at it.
  • Blog monthly updates for both Mack and Parker Check!
  • For the most part I'm pretty organized but now with 2 little ones it is a lot easier to let things slide or forgotten all together so my goal is to intentionally be more organized across the board which includes meal planning, cleaning, personal time, date nights and quality time with each boy Micah and I still do what we call Crump planning but I'm still trying to get in a groove with planning meals, I've started a cleaning schedule, definitely made some personal time to read, blog and have some girl time, enjoyed date nights with Micah and of course time with each boy.  Mack, we are learning is very sensitive and we need to be mindful of that, I've intentionally worked at being more calm with him when he does have a melt down because getting upset with him only fuels it.  Parker is beginning to crave a little more attention, so I've also made sure I take advantage of feeding times and down times for Mack to spend time with Parker.  
Well I feel like it was a good start to the year but definitely want to keep at it.  

Mack 26 months

At 26 months here are just a few of Mack's highlights:


  • Loves watching football and mimicking the players as he gets in position to run with the ball and then falls down.  He thinks to tackle is to get a touchdown and loves tackling his daddy and yelling touchdown.
  • Mack is constantly talking, unless he just met you but give him about 5 minutes and you'll be his best friend if you give him any attention
  • Constantly singing, dancing, playing instruments
  • Discovering old toys as if they are brand new
  • Knows several of his shapes such as triangle, square, circle, heart, star, flower etc
  • Can count to 10 (sometimes in random order but he does know his numbers 1-10)
  • Knows his colors but has a hard time if it's a lighter or darker hue of a color, it can tend to confuse him but he has the basics down
  • Playing cars, his favorite is to line them up in a perfect row
  • He has a best friend named Ethan, who is just a few months older than him.  He also has a younger brother who is just a few months older than Parker.
  • Mack has learned that daddy, Parker and himself are boys and mommy is a girl
  • Still loves to help but new things that he particularly likes to help with are loading and unloading the dishwasher and helping make his bed.
  • Mack is a very picky eater, he will look at something and if he doesn't like the color or the way it looks he says, "I don't like it".  He will also change his mind from one day to the the next whether he likes something.  He loves fruit but won't touch a vegetable, some days he likes meat other days he doesn't.  One thing that is unusual is he drinks more than anyone I know (well except for his daddy), the kid drinks at least 100 ounces of liquid a day!
  • Gets excited every time we go to church and loves trying to tell us what he learned in his class, how he marched to some songs, what toys he played with and with who he played with as well as part of some Bible story.  
  • Mack knows the general direction to get to his Grammy and Papa's.  (What 2 year pays attention like that, it really amazes us!)
  • One of our favorite moments this month was on January 15th, we were putting Mack to bed and reading a bible story to him.  He noticed Jesus on the cross had some owies and kept mentioning them.  We explained that Jesus got those owies so we can be forgiven of our sins.  Mack says, my sins? mommy's sins? Parker's sins? daddy's sins? Then he says, sorry Jesus, my sins! What an awesome way to end our day.








Went to Build a Bear for the first time, he's giving his dog a bath.

We named his dog Patches.

Mmmmmmm

Meeting Great Grandmother Marian for the first time.




Mack's friends, Ethan and Sophia.

Loves holding his plush Nemo while watching Finding Nemo.





Taking his medicine.

He says he's going to the store to get bananas!

Playing at the beach.



Daddy has been training for a triathalon and Mack wants to be like him.



Helping mommy at the grocery store.

Lining up his cars.

Playing his guitar.



Mack in his class at church.


Riding the train at the mall.


Mack's best friend, Ethan.


Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Parker 4 months

Time just keeps passing... Parker is already 4 months old and yet it seems like just yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital!  Parker is such a joyful baby who constantly smiles and coos at the sight of any attention he gets.  He is a very vocal baby, squealing, cooing and gurgling! His favorite thing to do right now is watch his older brother, Mack.  If Mack is in the room, Parker wants to watch what he's doing.  Mack does so well with him and loves to be his little brother's helper.

At 4 months Parker is now capable of rolling over from his tummy to his back but tends to get stuck on his back (he's working on it).  He loves playing on a mat with things dangling above him, now that he can reach them.  Being very fond of his tummy we find that we have to make sure and give Parker time on his back where usually with babies it's the other way around.  Parker does very well holding himself up on his forearms and being on his tummy.  He can also pull himself to a sitting or standing position when we hold his hands and slightly pull.  Parker is also beginning to sit up with the support of a bumbo seat.

Since Parker was about 10 weeks old he started sleeping 10-12 hours through the night and has kept it up.  His normal schedule looks like this: Bottle at 8:30 am, 10:30 am, naps for an hour, eats at 12:30 pm, naps from 1:00-5:00 pm, eats at 5:00 and 7:00 pm, naps for an hour and then has his last bottle about 9:00 pm and goes to bed for the night.  He is very routine and stays happy if he keeps to his schedule (and everyone else in the house stays happy too).

This month Parker got to meet several of Micah's family members: from his mom's side he met Great Aunts Janice, Dob, Pat, Donna, Reba and Uncle David. From his dad's side he got to meet Great Grandmother, Great Aunt Jan and a 2nd cousin.  We also took our first family of 4 vacation to Dallas. Did great traveling and being in a new place, kept to his schedule as well.





Great Uncle David and Aunt Reba

Great Grandmother

Great Aunt Dob



4 months old: weight - 13 lb 14 oz (25%), 25 inches long (50%)



Monday, January 16, 2012

Jesus's Owies

So last night we were going through our normal bedtime routine with Mack, reading one of his bible story books called "Jesus Saves the World". Towards the end of the story he noticed a picture of Jesus on the cross and kept saying owies, very inquisitively. We explained that Jesus got those owies so we can be forgiven of our sins. He said, my sins? Mommy's sins? Parker's sins? Daddy's sin? To which we replied yes. He then said, sorry Jesus, my sins! It was a special moment for all of us. (Mack is just barely 2 years old!)


Mack has The Beginner's Bible as well as several individual bible story books. Tonight he flipped through his 511 page bible and found the same story we read out of his other book and pointed to the picture again and said Jesus owies!

Friday, January 13, 2012

January 13

Dear Parker,

A year ago today I took a home pregnancy test.... for about 2 weeks prior I had been feeling a little nauseated so I had my suspicions.  But let me back up just a bit.  Your daddy and I had been discussing having another baby, our only hesitation was finances; we've always wanted to make sure the decisions we make are glorifying to God and we didn't want to put ourselves in a financial bind.  Financially it just didn't seem wise but knowing the desires of my heart, I prayed, "God if it be your will..."

On New Year's Eve (December 31, 2010), just 4 days after I believe you were conceived I was nauseated for the first time.  At first I just thought it was some bug that was going around but with high hopes before I went to sleep that night, I laid my hand on my tummy and prayed for "you" not even knowing if "you" were there or not.  The nausea continued for the next 2 weeks and when I was a week late, I was anxious to say the least!  Knowing daddy was coming home for lunch that day, I decided to take a test.  It was positive! 

Trying to be creative, I put a bun in the oven and set the table for lunch.  Daddy came home and I asked him to get lunch out of the oven, puzzled by the bun he put it on his plate and cut it in half and gave me some, saying I guess I can share, is this really what's for lunch?  I laughed and handed him a box with the pregnancy test with a note saying, "it's positive"!

Daddy was a little more in shock than I was but as we let the reality set in, we were very excited!!!  Today was also your Grammy's 71st Birthday so we thought it'd be a cool gift to tell her today. It was indeed!

Now at just 4 months old we are delighted to have you as part of our family!

Monday, January 2, 2012

Mack 25 months old

Ahead of the game, Mack continues to fly past each milestone.  He's becoming very inquisitive as he's anxious to learn new things.  As any 2 year old is, Mack is quite the sponge! He is very observant and doesn't miss a thing from the tone in your response to what your wearing.