Are you there?

Hello friends!
Whew, that sure was a big hiatus wasn't it? A LOT has happened, so I'll try my best to catch you up! Makayla is now 8 and about to start 3rd grade. Um...yeah. Jackson is 4 and going into Pre-K! We bought a house out in Katy and absolutely love it! My brother and his wife Jen moved into our old house and did some major renovations and it looks awesome! Oh, and they had a baby boy in January of 2013, making me a first time Aunt!!! He is so precious and we just love him to death! He is now 18 months! I still work at Second on Sunday mornings and got a new job as a newborn photographer 8 months ago. I absolutely LOVE it! I'm at the hospital and get to see these precious little newborns and get to take beautiful photos for their family! I also have my own photography business, SMG Photography, that I started almost 2 years ago. We also got 2 sweet puppies (not really puppies anymore), Julie and Frodo! Don't worry, I'll post lots of pics! Well, that's ask I can think of right now, but I'm excited to get back into blogging! See you all soon!

Spring Break- Blessing or Curse?

Well, it's that time of year again.. Spring Break. At the beginning of March, I start getting really excited about it and thinking about all the time I will get to spend with my kids and all the fun things we will get to do. But then about half way through Spring Break, I find myself itching for it to be over! Not that I don't enjoy the time with kids, but with a very active 6 year old, it takes a LOT to entertain her!! 
We started off this years SB with a trip to Austin for a wedding, which was nice except for the weather. Rain, thunder, lightning... ugh! But the wedding was wonderful and we really enjoyed seeing our family. Luckily when we came home, the rain had passed and it has really only been overcast the last couple of days.  On Monday, I had heard that a guy we watch on tv was going to be at the Museum promoting his film on tornadoes and had his special Tornado Intercept Vehicle (TIV) out front for everyone to see! I was VERY excited about this!! So my mom and I took Makayla and she really enjoyed the whole experience. Although, I think she was a little disappointed that the dinosaurs were not real in the museum! Ha! Today is Tuesday and we went to the movies with a friend and her little girl and had a wonderful time! The girls are so cute together and were dancing at the end of the movie. So adorable! We are planning to go to the zoo on Friday, but other than that.. I've got nothing! Also, we do have to watch our money, I mean we are trying to move in May/June! I am hoping I can survive the next several days and keep Makayla entertained! If you have any fun (and cheap) ideas, please pass them along!! :-) 

Mothers of Boys

Ok, how do you do it? How in the world do Mother's of boys survive their childhood without having a heart attack or panic attacks at least once a day? I had such a moment today. Apparently we have these chili petin peppers growing in our backyard. If you don't already know, they are EXTREMELY hot, even more than jalepenos. Well Jackson decided they looked pretty tasty and decided to eat some tonight. When he started crying that horrible distressed cry, I immediately went into panic mode. It seems like when Jackson gets sick, it's always on the severe end, so I figured this was not going to end well. We washed out his mouth and gave him milk and bread to help absorb the oil from the pepper. Luckily after about 10 minutes, he stopped crying and trying to claw his tongue out, but his whole mouth area was splotchy and red. I now worried that maybe he was having an allergic reaction and his throat might close up. I quickly called poison control to see if a trip to the ER was necessary, but they assured me it was not. Sigh. My heart is still pounding 30 min. later. Lord, please let me live long enough to see my little guy grow up!!

Love is all you need?

I have a confession to make and it might upset some of you.. but for some of you parents, you might understand completely where I am coming from. I'll let you be the judge. 
Let me preface this by saying, I really do love my children more than words can say. I would do anything for them. Some days though.. this sentiment goes right out the window. Makayla is 5 1/2 and Jackson is almost 2, however these are not particularly fun ages. Makayla is in a defiant stage and likes to challenge almost every word that comes out of our mouths. She so desperately wants to be in charge of everything that she often just does things without asking and of course ends up in trouble. One example is that she wakes up before my alarm and instead of coming to my room like I've told her to do a million times, she will go into the kitchen and start eating whatever she can get her hands on. Now, if I could get her to make her own breakfast, this wouldn't be a problem, but she likes to go for the "off-limits" stuff. I like the kids to have milk in the morning, but she will go and get herself a big glass of juice, which again, she knows I don't like. When I ask her why she did it instead of asking me, she says, "Because I wanted it". UGH! It's like her personal mantra right now!! This doesn't just apply to food, it often applies to clothes, getting out too many toys, playing too rough with her brother etc. Here is where my confession comes in.. I always love Makayla, but sometimes I do not like her. Luckily, this feeling doesn't last long, just when I am super frustrated. 

Jackson is another story. He isn't defiant, but he's in a whiny stage. When he doesn't get his way, he whines. How can something so cute make a noise that obnoxious?! He loves to explore, which i don't mind, but when he gets into something I don't want him to and I redirect him, he just starts throwing a fit. He will stomp his feet or fall to the ground and starts whining and crying. Lucky for us, he doesn't do this that often, but when he does, it is definitely nerve-racking! 

Have you experience these moments with your children? Let me know one thing your child does that just makes you crazy!

Sprinkler + Kids = FUN!!!!

So Phil and I decided to replicate a fun summer toy we saw on a blog I visit a lot. It basically called for a few PVC pipes and assorted elbows and t-joints, some PVC cement, and well placed holes and voila! An awesome homemade "car wash" sprinkler! Since it was 104 today, we decided it would be a great time to test it out! I texted my neighbors and the fun ensued! Check out these super cute pictures! (First 4 were taken by my neighbor, Kiki)

Summer Craziness!

Well, we just finished up our week at VBS! What a great time we all had! Makayla absolutely LOVES VBS and I hope that stays with her for a long time. Jackson is still a little young, but getting out of the house and going to a room with lots of new toys is still lots of fun to a 16 mon. old!! 


Just a couple of new developments for you all...
Makayla lost both of her top front teeth and she already had the two teeth next to her bottom teeth gone for a while now, so she has a super cute smile! Our perfect little jack-o-lantern! She also just started a Gymnastics class and is loving that as well! She came home and promptly showed off her new skills of doing a cartwheel and doing a bridge! Yeah! 


Jackson is doing well and growing so big! I finally caved this past week and took him for his first big boy haircut!! He had the most beautiful curls, but his hair was just getting crazy out of control and now he looks like a little boy instead of a baby. Sniff... He also has 12 teeth!! Seriously, he looks so much older than he is with that mouth full of teeth! And boy does he have the appetite to go with them too!! He must be going through a growth spurt because he is constantly hungry! It doesn't matter if we have just fed him lunch or dinner, if he sees one of us with food, he comes right over and starts whining for some!! Lol! I foresee his teenage years of eating us out of house and home! 


I also started working again! Yeah! I work at my church in the Nursery! I LOVE it! It is a flexible schedule that is wonderful and I can take the kids with me whenever I want! We also just purchased our first car, a mini-van for me! A Honda Odysessy that I just LOVE!!! It has so much room and the kids love it as well!! 


Other than that, I am just busy keeping the kids entertained for the summer! I hope you all are doing well! Talk to you soon!

Pictures from this weekend!

Hey everyone!

This weekend was a special one as we attending a Surprise Retirement Party for our Uncle Kermit and Aunt Sandy! We had a great time and I just wanted to share the pics! Enjoy!

http://thegraffamily.shutterfly.com/

New Baby!

Bet I got you to do a double take on that one huh?? No, we are NOT having a baby.. but since Jackson got his tubes last week, it's like we have a whole new baby! He was one happy kid before, but now.. whoa! He's like 10 times as happy! He is just hilarious! It is crazy that a small plastic  tube can make such a big difference! He is crawling around like crazy and pulling up on EVERYTHING! He would love to try and walk, but is still too wobbly for that. We are excited that he is no longer in pain and will be healthy for Christmas! Yeah! 

Me, on the other hand, not so much. I have gotten ANOTHER bad sinus infection and my right ear is very messed up and not draining the fluid that has been in there for weeks now. My Dr. has me on some more heavy duty antibiotics and a steroid nose spray, so hopefully that will take care of the problem. I am very tired of these sinus/ear infections. We are praying that 2011 is a medical drama-free year for us!

Since it's so close to Christmas, I probably won't post again until after Sat. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!
I will leave you with the kids trip to see Santa! Enjoy! 

Set for Tube City.. Dec. 14th!!

Hey friends,

Some of you have heard that Jackson has been having a lot of ear infections lately. 4 to be exact, since Sept and he’s been on 4  rounds of antibiotics and nothing has helped. My Ped. recommend that he get tubes, so we met with our ENT today. They had to do some tests to check him out and here is what they found:

~His eardrums are not moving at all (apparently they are supposed to move)

~He has some minor hearing loss in both ears (from all the fluid in there from  his current infection)

~The fluid in his ear is very cloudy/yellow and it’s pretty nasty in there

So the Dr. said tubes are definitely necessary and we need to do it as soon as possible. The surgery will last about 15 min. and they have to put Jackson under general anesthesia. We will then be in the post-op room for a couple of hours and then we will get to go home. He will have the tubes in for a year, and we will go in every 4-5 months for the Dr. to check on them. They usually take out the adenoids when they put in tubes, but he said Jackson was too small for him to do that now. As Jackson grows and gets bigger, so will his ears and the tubes may possible fall out in about a year, which is fine. However, there is a small chance that even with tubes, he may continue to have ear infections. If he keeps getting them, then he will have to have an additional set of tubes put in next year and then at that time, they will take out his adenoids. But if he doesn’t have any more infections, then that’s fine and the Dr. will just keep checking on him.

Sigh. So it’s just a lot to take in, but I know this will help him and he will start to feel better almost immediately. The surgery has been schedule for next Tues., Dec. 14^th at 6:30am. (We have to get there at 5:30am!! Yikes!!) A few weeks after the surgery, we will go back to the Dr. and they will retest his hearing and they said his hearing should be back to normal.

Please keep my little guy in your prayers and us too, as this is very nerve-racking. I just worry so much about my children and as parents we want nothing more than for them to be healthy and happy! Thank you all for the support, love and prayers! We are very hopeful that 2011 will be a year of less Dr. visits and no more medical drama!

Where we go from here

Hey friends,
 I mentioned in my last post that our house has been under a virus attack for the last several months. Poor Jackson has had 3 double ear infections since Sept. and we have seen our Pediatrician more times than I can count on 2 hands. As of a week ago, he had finished his last round of antibiotics, but he wasn't getting any better. He started crying again when we put him to bed, so I took him to the Dr. again this past week and guess what? He has yet ANOTHER double ear infection!!!! UGH!!! This is 4 if you are keeping count! The Dr. said his poor little ears looked horrible and said this was the last straw. He has exhausted all the oral medication he can prescribe, so he has to get an antibiotic shot every other day for 3 days. But the Dr. said we definitely needed to see an ENT to get tubes and referred us to one. I went and scheduled and appt. and we will be seeing him this next Tues. The nurses in that office said we should be scheduled for Jackson to get tubes in his ears before the end of the year. I know this surgery will definitely help him and he will feel so much better, but the Momma Bear in me is scared to death. I've heard from friends that this is a easy surgery, but it still terrifies me for him to have a surgical procedure. He has been through so much in his short little life and I just want him to be healthy and strong. 
Once we've met with the ENT, I will let you all know what the Dr. says and when the surgery will be. We would appreciate prayers and good thoughts as we deal with this! Thank you! 

Where's Oct.?

I just noticed that I have left you all without an October! So much has been going on, most of which has been a whole lot of sickness. Both kiddos have had some kind of cough/congestion junk for 6-8 weeks now. Jackson ended up developing a double ear infection because of it and that just sucked. Then for about a week, it looked like maybe they were getting better, but then nope! The cough/congestion returned. Luckily they have been able to eat/sleep fine, but then a nasty stomach flu decided to invade all of Houston. Phil got it last week, but thinks it may be just been food poisoning, but I'm not so sure. Then I got it, then Makayla got it last night and was up from 1:30am on, throwing up almost every hour. Again, that sucked. Then at about 5am, Jackson wakes up SCREAMING in pain, and we figured out it was because it was SO congested that he just couldn't breathe! Poor baby! So I basically had to sleep (yeah right) sitting upright holding Jackson. That, in turn equaled no sleep for Phil and I. And of course, what would I have today, but my much anticipated Fall Market (my first one!) and I had to really debate if I should miss it. Phil stayed home from work and then his mom came over to help since my mom was going to help me at the market. 
After talking to the Dr. and luckily Makayla had pretty much stopped throwing up by about 8:30 this morning, he reassured me that she wasn't dying and would be ok. Yes, I am one of those Mom's that even though Makayla has gone through this type of sickness before, I panic. I always think that the worst is happening and she is getting dehydrated and that a Dr. needs to see her ASAP! But this is because I love my children with every fiber of my being and HATE seeing them sick and I want someone to fix them, NOW! 
So after getting that reassuring word from the Dr., my mom and I headed off to the market. Phil kept me updated and unfortunately Jackson started running fever shortly after I left. He took him to the Dr. (don't you know he was sick of hearing from us?!), and pleaded with him that Jackson really needs to be on some kind of antibiotic. He had been dealing with this sinus stuff for too long and the Dr. noticed he was starting to get a little fluid in one of his ears... which hello! means another ear infection is not far behind. So Jackson is on some good meds and Makayla is slowing on the mend as well. 
I, however am still feeling some effects of the stomach bug and now I'm really congested with a runny nose. Ugh. But at least my kiddos are slowly getting better. I'll take that any day! 


So that was my long excuse of why you didn't hear from me for over a month! We did go trick or treating on Sunday and I have some super cute pics of the kiddos in their costumes! I promise in the next few days I will post them. I just need a day or two to recover! 

Seriously, what's with the teeth in our house?!

So guess who lost her other bottom tooth? That's right, Makayla! I can't believe she has lost 2 teeth already!! So of course, what else could happen except that Jackson is getting yet another tooth! This will make his 7th!! What?! This is just crazy! Needless to say, we will be visiting our Ped. Dentist very soon just to make sure everything is going ok. 


Why do kids grow up so fast??? 

My baby girl is growing up!!

Ok, I will try my hardest to get through this without crying! My sweet baby girl started Pre-K yesterday! She was so excited, but nervous at the same time, which of course broke my heart! She was so worried about making friends and I tried my best to reassure her she would. We got to her class and she was really brave and met her teacher and I knew she instantly liked her. She sat down at her table and started coloring with the other kids, and didn't cry when I left! Such a big girl! She is a little thrown off by her schedule since some days she will go until 2:30, and other days only until 12:00. I think she was excited to come home at 12:00 since she got to eat lunch with Jackson and I and spend some time with us. She really loves him and said today when I picked her up, "Oh Jackson, I missed you!" Awwww! 

So of course, what else could happen but for her to also get her first loose tooth today!! Her bottom, middle, right tooth is very loose and will probably come out this weekend! She is VERY excited about this as well and knows all about the tooth fairy whom she lovingly refers to as the "Angel"! Ha! 

But seriously, what is going on this week?! I feel like I am being pushed to my emotional limit here and about to break any second! Any more "firsts" and I am done! Also, here are some cute pics from her first day at school! 

Who has 5 teeth?!

Well if you guessed Jackson.. you would be correct! My 5 month old baby has a whopping 5 teeth! CRAZY!! His other top tooth finally broke through the gums today and luckily he hasn't been cranky! Of course though, everything has been going into his mouth! If he can get his hands on it, rest assured it ends up a big drooly mess! He has also discovered that he can put his feet in his mouth, but then realized that with teeth, it doesn't feel so great to gnaw on his toes! Ha! He is hilarious though and is just getting so big! 


We have started him on solid foods as well. So far he likes applesauce, bananas, pears and rice cereal. He is NOT a fan of sweet potatoes! He made the most hilarious face when I first gave him those and promptly spit it out! After a couple more tries and more spit, I gave up. Our next thing to try is peaches, so I'll let you know how he likes them! 


Makayla is getting so big as well! She is so self-sufficient! I can tell her to go get dressed, brush her teeth, get her own food/drink and she just does it. Now whenever she wants something to drink, she can get out the big bottle of juice and a glass and pour it all by herself! And she doesn't spill either! Who is this big girl and what happened to my sweet baby?! I love that she is doing things on her own, but I sometimes miss that baby age as well. 


That's basically all that's been going on at our house! We are getting ready to take a trip to the Beach over Labor Day weekend to Corpus Christi! I am so excited for Makayla to see BLUE water instead of our dirty brown stuff down in Galveston. We are going to have SO much fun and we are counting down the days!! I will definitely post pics and details when we get back! 

Anywhere but here...

Well if any of you live in Houston or have been following Houston weather, then you'd know that it has been raining almost every day for the better part of several weeks now! I know we have needed some rain, but this is getting ridiculous! Especially if you have kids! We can't go outside most days and cabin fever is definitely starting to settle in. Poor Makayla has been a trooper, but her patience is wearing thin (as well as Mommy's!) and she is starting to do things she knows she's not supposed to, I guess for attention.  

Take tonight for example, I have been saving empty cartons and boxes of our food items to let her play "store". I had found some old Jello boxes and just gave them to her to play with. Tonight however, she wanted to cook like they do in "Ratatouille" and she proceeded to open some boxes, mix them with water and spill them all over the carpet. You may be asking yourself, where were you Mommy when this was going on?? Phil and I have been trying to encourage Makayla to play by herself more in her playroom. We honestly have been relying too much on the tv to distract her and want her to explore her imagination more! I honestly thought there was nothing in there that she would get in trouble with, but I had forgotten about the Jello boxes. Phil and I were getting Jackson ready for bed and when he took Jackson into Makayla's playroom to say goodnight, he discovered her "creation". I kept my cool, because honestly it was half my fault too, but we did discipline her and made her clean it up.

Tomorrow I am definitely getting her out of the house to exert some energy, even if it is raining cats and dogs! I will be very thankful when school starts again, because they can entertain her more than I can right now! I will miss her, but this year she will only be going until 12:30 and some days until 2:00, so it won't be that bad! But I know she will appreciate being around other kids and having projects to do on a regular basis! Lord knows, Mommy will appreciate it greatly!! 

We're Alive!!

Hey friends,

Sorry we've have been MIA for a while. This past week was absolutely crazy!! Makayla and I had VBS at church, and then she has another session of Swim Lessons in the afternoon, so needless to say, a very hectic week!

VBS is now over and this is the last week of swim lessons, so hopefully we will get back into a less stressful routine! I have some fun activities planned for when she gets stir crazy and we need to get out of the house!

I have some pictures and videos I will post this week, so thank you for being so patient!!! :-)

Mama G

Welcome to the new site!

Hello friends and family! I am happy to announce that this will now be the website for the Graf family where I will post all about the kids. I am sad that I had to ditch our last website, but they got a new parent company that no longer wanted to offer a Free option anymore. I really liked them a lot, but we really don't have the money to shell out to them, when there are others sites that are free. I am still tweaking the settings, so things may look different from day to day until I get everything the way I want it! Thanks for being patient and making the switch with us!!

Sincerely,
The Graf Family