Pumpkin Patch 2009

Took a little trip to the Pumpkin Patch this weekend. One child loved it, the other really did not want to cooperate. I am sure you will be able to figure out who the lover of the Pumkin Patch happened to be...

Such a happy little boy.

They had a little Pumpkin Chariot that was interesting. The kids loved it and Emma kept calling it a wagon.

The sweetest little pumpkin in the patch.

Hmmm...we will take a fake smile if that is all we can get Emma.

Gavin loved sitting by his Big Sister in the "Great Pumpkin".

Now that is the kind of smile we like to see baby girl.

My favorite BOYS in the whole world.

We could not stop taking pictures of our little man & he just kept smiling...

...and smiling

...and smiling!

Emma's Pumpkin 2009

Gavin's Pumpkin 2009

We will carve a few this week and get ready to do a little "Trick or Treating" Saturday with our friends Zach & Lizzie. We had a busy weekend getting ready for our MDO & Gymnastics party.

I am so excited to see my kiddos in their Halloween Costumes. I put the final touches on Emma's and can hardly wait to see her in it.

Looks like we will be pulling a wagon with Nemo & a Pirate aboard this year.

Wordless Wednesday (almost)

Fall Festival...Lines were long...Brother was sleepy...I will paint your face like a Butterfly when we get home Emma...Get in the car...Drive home...Paint her face...She thinks it is beautiful...Not very artsy...She is proud...One happy girl...Messy job...She thinks I am the best Mom ever

...Next time, stand in line!

Hard Work

Yesterday was grocery shopping day for this Mommy and it seems I had a little helper tag along. I only go to the grocery store every couple weeks, so it was going to be a big trip. Emma decided to join me, so we loaded her little grocery cart up and headed out with a list in hand. Yes, she wore her "cheer weader outfit" for the 3rd day straight. She loves to play dress up and pretend all the time.


She was quite the little helper and wanted to fill her buggy completely up, as you can tell she succeeded. It was the cutest little thing and I was so proud of how well she did following behind me every step of the way. She kept up and was exhausted by the time we got to the frozen section.


We were getting close to the end of the trip here and she kept taking things out of her basket and telling me she was starving.

Needless to say, she had to get a little snack to be able to make it through the rest of the trip. She kept saying, "This is hard work Mommy, this is hard work" and as soon as we walked in the door she told her Daddy the same thing.

I must admit that this was the most memorable grocery shopping trip ever. Emma did such an awesome job and was as helpful as could be. I think God knew what he was doing when he gave me this baby girl to share life with....what do you think?

It's Fall Ya'll

We attended our neighborhood Fall Festival on Saturday and the kids had a great time. There was lots to do from picking a pumpkin, games, train rides, petting zoo, playgrounds, hay rides, face painting, a farmer and much more.

The best part of my day was seeing my sweet babies ride around in this wagon together. I always dreamed of having a red wagon. We got this one when Emma was 6 months old and from the time we got it, I always dreamed of having another child to ride in it with her.

My little man got to sit in a pumpkin patch (well a make shift one) for the first time. Look at that sweet boy. I will have to post some pictures later in the week of how we decorated his pumpkin...it is so cute.

This little girl enjoyed walking around in search of the perfect one & she found it.

It is impossible to get a picture of everyone looking at the camera these days, but we try every chance we get. Gavin was having fun chewing on the hay, so he would not look at the camera.

We had a super busy & fun weekend. Spent lots of time doing things with the kids and a good time was had by all.

Have I told you lately that I am proud to be part of the Frazier Four?

28 months, oh so Sassy!

Our sweet baby girl turned 28 months old yesterday and she continues to make us smile day after day. We are amazed everyday at the conversations she has with us and the witty little comments she makes. She is super silly, to say the least and always up to something. She has the sweetest little spirit and her heart is so tender. Telling us daily, usually 3 or 4 times how much she loves us and that she is happy. Every time I hear her say it my heart just overflows with joy.

Emma, you are our life and we could never imagine it without you. Your spunk and zest for life are contagious and you leave everyone you come in contact with smiling. You are the most independent little thing I have ever laid eyes on and it makes us proud that you are such a little go getter.

You have changed so much over the past month and we have loved watching you along the way. Here are just a few of the things you have started doing:

• Praying all by yourself before meals and during the day (Heavenly Father, once again, Thank you for your blessings, Amen).
• You woke up 2 weeks ago and said you were a big girl and you wanted to wear panties and have been using the potty ever since. Oh and you pooped in the potty for the first time too.
• Dressing yourself and picking out your own clothes (some days you do great and some days you look like a rag muffin)
• Sleeping in your big girl bed & you never get up (you just call for us to come and get you)
• Learned the days of the weeks and recite them
• Know your Months and recite them
• Can identify letters of the alphabet and associate a word that starts with the letter
• You love for Mommy to paint your nails and talk like the ladies at the nail shop, you just giggle and mock me (Daddy does not think it is funny)
• You had to give up Caillou because he is a smarty pants and you were learning some bad habits from him
• You constantly talk about your friends at MDO
• Your eager to help with chores around the house
• You love your little brother and are always watching out for him

There are so many things that you are doing these days that we will cherish for the rest of our lives. Every day with you is a new day and a fun one too.

Thank you Emma Lou for teaching us to be parents. You have given us the best 28 months of our lives and we look forward to all the years ahead. We love you so much and are so proud to be your Mommy & Daddy.

You, my sweet child are ONE OF A KIND!

Mama...Mama...Mama

Guess who said Mama yesterday and clinged onto me for dear life on Monday when someone tried to hold him? My sweet, smiley, chunky, happy little boy! Oh, and he didn't just say it once...he said it 5 or 6 times. It just does not get any better than that.

While I have you guessing and this one is a little personal. Guess who was eating dinner and said, "Daddy, I have to go to the potty?" Her Daddy got her down and she ran into the bathroom and said, "this makes me sick." When she stood up she looked in the potty and said, "Look Daddy, I pooped...just like Beamer" (Beamer is our dog). This kid is something else. Oh she was so proud of that poop, we talked about it for hours last night. We are so proud of her. She made up her mind 2 weeks ago to wear panties and now the poop. Way to go Emma. She is 28 months old today, so I will be back later for her Birthday post.

Big Changes

This little girl is so excited that her Daddy turned her bed into a "big girl" bed today. She must have told him a half dozen times, "Daddy, thank you for making my bed a big girl bed, I love my bed." Sweet girl, she is growing up right before my eyes. Oh and check out those cute little braids in her hair today.


We heard horror stories about what it would be like when we decided to convert her crib. I am happy to tell you that she has been in bed for about an hour now and NEVER once attempted to get up. I really did not think she would. I explained to her that it was important she stay in her bed and to just call us if she needed anything and we would hear her on the monitor. She listened closely and said, "just call Mommy & Daddy if I need them", you got it baby girl.

While I am bragging, let me also document that we have been going to the potty on our own for 2 weeks now. No reminders, she just tells us or goes and gets on the potty all by herself. We are so proud of you Emma Lou!


Here she is all snuggled into bed. Yes, she sleeps with all that stuff too. We go through roll call every night, goes a little something like this....Baby, Beamer, Cousin, Bunny, Aerial, B-dog, other bunny & Minnie. Some days I wonder how there is room for her, but she would not have it any other way. She knows if one is missing and she also knows if her little blanket is on the pink side or the floral one. She is such a little creature of habit already.

I had to post a couple pictures of my little man. Just so you know, we are not breaking the rules with our cranial band. We are allowed to take it off 1 hour a day.

We are enjoying the Fall weather and the little front that has blown through this weekend. Looking forward to the cool days ahead and loving on these two sweet babies of mine.

Wordless Wednesday

7 months & growing...

Today we celebrated as our "little man" turned 7 months old. Someone pinch me, is this for real? My baby boy is already 7 months old...I really can not believe it.

You are growing up right before our eyes sweet boy. Here are just some of the things you have accomplished in the past month:

• Weigh 24lbs 9oz
• Began wearing your cranial band for Plagiocephaly
• Scooting (you look like you are doing the centiped, you get up on your knees, push forward and flop to the floor)
• Started eating fruits, vegetables and Yo Baby Yogurt
• Still nursing
• Said "Dada" for the first time today
• Rode in your blue car for the first time
• Love to take baths
• Began riding in your big boy car seat, but it is still turned backwards
• Fallen in love with our dog, Beamer
• Sitting in your high chair to eat
• Sitting up for a few seconds by yourself
• Turn on the musical aquarium in your crib
• Hold your bottle on your own
• You have started getting up in the night and we think it is a result of wearing the cranial band.
• You laugh constantly at your sister when she says your name
• You love to be held
• Have outgrown your baby swing
• You are off the charts as far as your growth stats are concerned

You are such a fun little boy and so easy going. We constantly brag about what a good baby you are and people constantly comment on what a happy little boy you are. I could just eat up those little rolls on your legs and arms. I love your chubby little hands and feet, along with that beautiful smile. You bring an unexplainable amount of JOY to us Gavin. There is not a day that goes by that we don't THANK GOD for blessing us with YOU.

If Blogging...

were a course, I would get an F! There are just not enough hours in the day for this Mommy to get everything done. I am going to try and do a little better, but I will stick to my word of not blogging while my babies are awake.

There is so much to say, but it is all sort of random. It is so hard to get back to blogging when you have been away for a while.

I found this picture of our little man while I was looking thorough some pictures. Gavin is growing so fast, unbelievable that he is about to be 7 months old.

This little girl enjoys sitting out in the garage with her Daddy no matter what he is doing. She will sit out there for hours and talk to him while he washes the car or works in the garage.

I am thinking that we have another dog-dog lover in our house. This little boy will watch Beamer all over the house and scoot as quickly as he can to get to him. The funny part is, Beamer will not even make eye contact with him.

Miss Emma turned 27 months old on the 15th and I did not post about it, so we will let this serve as her 27 month old picture.

Guess who helped me cook breakfast Saturday morning? She had her own bowl and yes, she cracked her own eggs. They were on the counter, running down the cabinets and egg shells were all in the bowl. She had so much fun cooking with me and felt like such a big girl.

Speaking of big girls, she woke up Saturday morning and said, "Mommy, I am a big girl. I don't want to wear diapers, I need panties on today." Needless to say, we grabbed the panties and she has gone to the potty faithfully for 2 days now. Guess she just made up her mind she was ready and we are so proud of her.

Emma is so responsible these days with brushing her teeth, getting herself dressed and putting her shoes on all by herself. She is so independent and wants help with NOTHING. We have gone places with shirts on backwards and inside out. She went to the Drs. office last week with shorts, a shirt, bug crocs and a cowboy hat. Did I mention that NONE of it matched? Sometimes it is just best to pick your battles with a 2 year old. So I want to offer my apologies to all the Mom's out there I thought were crazy when their kids looked like, pure MESS! We are officially part of the club these days.

Dreams Come True

I am living the life I have always dreamed of and I am loving every minute of it. What more could I ever ask for, seriously? Like every other Mommy in the world, I believe I have the most amazing kiddos ever.

We took our first walk tonight through the neighborhood with Gavin in his car. The little ones really seemed to enjoy themselves as we strolled. Gavin could hardly take his eyes off his Big Sister and she could hardly keep her hands off of him.

Gavin has the updated model of this car and it is so nice and quiet compared to Emma's. I highly recommend spending the extra $ and getting the Quiet Whisper Step 2 car. Ours was a gift and we love it.

One of our cousins owns a car dealership and gave this to Gavin. It was so cute, because they told us they gave us this one so we would come back and buy his first car from them. They even joked about putting their dealership sticker on the back of it.

I fall deeper and deeper in love everyday. These two give me a reason to be the very best person I can possibly be.

What a week...

it has been in the Frazier household. Honestly, it has been the roughest week we have had as parents. It all began last Friday when Emma came down with fever of 101.7. This poor baby was sick for 7 days straight. We visited the Dr. twice and the Emergency Room once in the past week to be diagnosed with Croup and Pneumonia. On day number 4 of her sickness, our Little Man started running a fever and also had to be taken to the Dr. He was diagnosed with an ear infection, they also gave us a prescription for the Croup if he just happened to get it too. Needless to say, the prescription has been filled and we are currently treating him for Croup also. Ugg...I just want the germs and infection to leave my house and my sweet little family. I need my babies to be back to their jolly little selves and I need it QUICK.

As if all of this was not enough, Gavin received his cranial band and had his initial fitting yesterday afternoon. They actually put it on his little head, marked it with a sharpie and cut it down to the perfect size right there while we waited (the mold was made 2 weeks ago).

This is our sweet friend Aaron who has worked with us at the facility to get Gavin scanned and fitted for his cranial band. He has gone out of his way to make us feel comfortable with our decision to move forward in this process.

Well, it did not take me long to get some stickers put on this new accessory my son is sporting. These stickers are actually just very temporary and not really wanting to stay on. We have ordered permanent vinyl stickers that should arrive in the next couple days.

So far, so good. Today we had to wear the band for 1 hour and then remove it for one hour all day long. The time will increase over the next 4 days until we are wearing it 23 hours a day. We should be to that stage by Wednesday if all goes as planned. Believe it or not, Gavin does not seem to mind it at all. We will see how it goes tomorrow when we increase the length of time he is required to wear it each day. The only problem seems to be the sweat, poor little fella. We have been told by several people that his body will adjust to the heat within about 2 weeks and he will stop sweating. I sure hope this is true for his sake. My goal is to get some better shots of him tomorrow and of that sassy little girl of mine.

Speaking of Emma, she is just the sweetest little girl ever. This morning she woke up and Gavin had his band on and she said, "Brother, I like your new helmet. I like your stickers Gavin." I am telling you she loves her little brother and is so protective.

Between Doctor visits, paying for our cranial band, buying medicine and an additional humidifier we could have gone on a really nice tropical vacation. I feel like we have spent so much money this week, maybe because we have. Oh and did I mention, we need to buy 3 new toddler car seats tomorrow? This little guy needs more room for his thighs and his helmet. OUCH...we will really be broke.

I just keep reminding myself...we are blessed, oh so blessed.

Wordless Wednesday...

Happy 1/2 Birthday

A special little boy had a very special day today as he turned 6 months old. He was so much fun when we took him outside this evening to get some shots of him.

That smile melts my heart more and more everyday. Not just because he is mine, but I think he is the happiest little fella I have ever come across. Seriously, he smiles non stop. When I hear him talking on the monitor in the morning and I go in his room, he is smiling from ear to ear.

He got real serious on us when we put him in his car. It was the cutest little thing. Today was the first day we put him in this little car and he did pretty good. Give us a couple more weeks and we will be cruising the neighborhood.

I loved this picture of him looking up at a tree in our front yard.

Do you think he likes this car? I think he loves it and I can not wait till he is sitting up a little better, so we can go on walks with him. Emma has a matching pink one, but hers is not quite as fancy. They have added a cup holder since we purchased hers, too cute!

No birthday would be complete without a cake. Just something simple to help us celebrate this little guy.

We sing Happy Birthday to our kids every month on their Birthdays and Gavin seemed to really enjoy it this month.

I am not sure I could have a sweeter little boy on my hands. I hope he always has the same zest for life that he seems to have now.

Milestones...this boy has become wild in the past month to say the least. Here are all the things he has done between month 5 & 6:

• Eaten cereal, fruit and he started vegetables last night
• Wearing a Size 5 diaper
• Still nursing, no formula (Yay me!)
• Rolls from back to stomach & stomach to back
• Laughs really loud all the time
• Very ticklish
• Loves to pull my hair
• Can get up on all 4's and rock back and forth
• You will wiggle your way out of our arms and to the floor in no time flat
• Scoots everywhere before you even know it
• Cut 2 teeth on the bottom within 1 week of each other
• Got released from physical therapy for Torticollus
• Measured for a Cranial Band for Plagiocephally
• Ate from a spoon for the 1st time
• Attended your 1st Volleyball game at Mommy's school
• Love to take baths
• Stare at your Big Sister all the time & hold her hand
• Drool constantly
• Enjoy watch Baby Einstein DVD's

Just in the past month it seems like you have become more of a little boy. I must admit that I got really excited tonight when I saw you in that blue car. Your Daddy & I started looking at dumptrucks and boy toys last week and it made my heart giddy. You are going to be so much fun, but I think you might be a very active little thing.

You are such a JOY, JOY, JOY to have around every second of the day. Your little cheeks and smile can light up any room and people often tell us that you put a smile on their face. One thing is for sure Gavin Thomas Frazier, we LOVE you more than we ever thought it was possible to love. Never stop smiling, Son!

Thankful...

Today was the day we had Gavin's appointment to have his head rescanned and to meet with the specialist to determine our next plan of treatment for this little guy. I would be lying if I said I did not struggle a little today or that my heart did not hurt the past couple of days. I thought I was okay with all of this, but I must admit that I have had very mixed emotions about this as the time got closer for us to find out what our next step would be. After a long day, I sit here tonight at peace with the decisions we have made in regards to Gavin.

We started our morning out at the Orthotics and Prosthetics facility having his head rescanned to see if the measurements had changed from one month ago. When they put this sock on his little head, I could not help but laugh. It reminded me of how some of my students come to school in the morning. He looked so cute.

This is the machine that scanned his little head. It took several times to get a good scan because he kept moving, but we finally got one. This boy is WILD!!!

Technology is just amazing and thank God for it. Immediately his head popped up on this computer screen and the technician went to work crunching numbers, comparing it to his previous scans and aligning everything up. It was amazing to watch.

Just another shot of him comparing Gavin's scans that were done 4 weeks apart to see if there was a change in his Plagiocephally.

We took Emma along with us today so she could be involved in this process. We wanted her to be fully aware of what was going on with her baby brother and see exactly what he would be wearing in the next couple weeks. Did not take her long to pick up the cranial band and try to put it on herself. All day she kept saying, "my brothers getting a helmet like me"...yes, we require her to wear a helmet when she rides her tricylce.

After leaving the prosthetics facility, we went to see the specialist who had a good time doing some test on Gavin to document his range of improvement with the Torticollus and give us her recommendations on the cranial band. She was so impressed with how much he had improved and how active he was compared to last time.

Just look at that happy little fella, he never stops smiling. We were so proud of him today through out all of his appointments. He is such a super good baby boy.

So, we will be getting our helmet next Friday, September 11th. We will begin wearing it immediately and within the first week we will work our way up to wearing it 23 hours a day. As for how long he will wear it, that is unknown. It depends on how much growth he has and how quickly he responds to it. Our goal is to have him out of it by his 1st Birthday, so that would be within 6 months.

Despite the fact that it was a long and emotional day, I am THANKFUL. Thankful for health insurance, thankful for amazing health care, thankful for a healthy son, thankful for a supportive husband, thankful for a daughter that can put a smile on my face when I am sad, thankful for our pediatrician who referred us to therapy, thankful for the second referral that led us to the facilities we are working with presently, thankful for an understanding boss and coworkers who filled in for me today and are concerned, thankful for our families and friends support, thankful for prayers, thankful for Mrs. Jenny that loves and cares for my babies like they are her own, thankful we were so aggressive in getting this taken care of early on and most of all thankful for my GOD that will carry my little family through, while walking this journey with us, protecting our hearts along the way.