Happy 2nd birthday, Jeremiah!

J started the day out watching Daddy mow the lawn. He loved it. He's at the stage where he repeates everything. And I mean everything. All I heard all morning: "mower? Mower? Mower?"

Fun sunglasses. He's a superstar!

He wanted to take a pic with Sarah.

Grandpa and Grandma G came over early to help entertain J while I finished up party decorating.

Thanks Kim for this fun fishing game! J loves it.

Baby Archer had a blast!

J loved the chips...

Lily and Holden coloring.

Goody bags, cups, etc.

Lily was so sweet to baby Sarah.

FINALLY! The pizza arrived. (only 30 minutes later than it was supposed to..) J loved it, of course. Like his bib? Ha ha.

Everyone eating.

The cake (that I made and decorated myself :)

Cake time!!

Started out pretty clean....

By his second cupcake he was a mess!

Family pic that he wanted no part of!

Sweet! His own camera.

Sarah says: "Please someone, put us to bed!"
Overall, a great party. J loves having everyone over at the house and of course loved all the sugar. I can't believe my little munchkin is 2 already. It seems like we just had his first birthday party. Hopefully Sarah doesn't grow up as fast as he is.

This is the face that will get her whatever she wants.

She has a pout like nobody's business! J & I were watching Nemo and making the whale noises and for some reason it made her really sad. Her entire top lip disappears!


Also, today is our 4th wedding anniversary! Happy anniversary - dare I say it - we're just as cute as when we got married. (probably a little more tired and a little smarter, too)


Have to include a pic of my little guy. Couldn't find one with just him, so here's one of him and my little girl.

I had to bribe him with candy.

She looks almost as big as him - I swear I didn't angle this shot funny. He's just on the small side and she's on the giant side.


J was so cute - laying on Shawn's leg while he played with his computer before bed. I can't believe he'll be 2 soon!


Girlfriend has dimples for days...


And I'm not really a bow person - but this was cute.



She's becoming such a little baby! That's what I keep saying - she's really changing from newborn to baby and I feel like I am more aware of it than I was with Jeremiah. She's 11 weeks old and the size of a 5 month old. (Or at least I think so) She's darling and cute and starting to be happier - either her reflux meds are working, or my diet changes are helping (no more bloody poo yay!), or the magic "3 month" thing is happening. Or all three. Or none. Who knows?


J wanted to ride in the moby - it actually wasn't too bad...but getting his long legs in and out of there... He's silly.

QT videos

My two munchkins.



J is a good big bro.


Sarah woke up from her morning nap today and was still a little out of it so I put her in the bouncy seat for a little bit. She was doing this weird scream/cry/whine thing. I thought it was funny.

The latest...

So Sarah's been doing pretty good with my changes in diet. Last Thursday/Friday/Saturday and Sunday she did have blood in her diaper again, but I think I may have eaten something I shouldn't have (had a salad from a restaurant even after checking w/ the manager about allergens...ah well). So far today, though, no blood.

Sarah definitely got the "Chapman genes" - she is very chatty and loves 'talking' when you look at her and talk to her. She will even go from screaming to talking if you can get her to make eye contact.


In other news, we bought clippers the other day to try to save money on haircuts for the guys. We cut J's hair the other night.

Here we go...


"This tickles!"


The finished product - a sweet summer 'do.

2 months!

Sarah is 2 months old today and she is doing great. I've heard her laugh a few times - too bad it's while she's sleeping but she's getting close while she's awake. She had her checkup and did great with her shots - and she's growing steadily - 14lbs 3oz and 24.5" long. She's 97th percentile for both - I knew she was getting big because we're moving from 0-3 month clothes to 3-6 months. Yikes!

The two kiddos on the couch - again. She loved it. :-)


In the bouncer (that's a 6 month onesie from Carters)


She has some great expressions. Reminds me of J so much sometimes.



Shawn and J dressed alike the other day - not sure if it was on purpose but it was cute.


Being their typical goofball selves.

Update...etc...

Sarah had an appointment with a GI doctor @ Phoenix Childrens Hospital yesterday morning. He checked her out and also ran a test in the office that showed just a tough of microscopic blood in her stool. His recommendations were to first eliminate soy and eggs (so that means I'm now on a dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free and soy-free diet). Hopefully with the elimination of those two protiens the bleeding will stop. If it doesn't, the next step (which I really don't want to do) would be to put her on a special hypoallergenic formula. There is nothing wrong with formula, but I would be heartbroken to have to wean her at such a young age. So I'm praying that elimanating the soy and eggs works.

Thank you all for your prayers!
Here are some recent pics.

A friend of mine had professional photos taken of her sons - one of the poses was like this and I found it so adorable I had to try and copy. Not the same, of course but it's still cute. J-squint and all.


Yesterday morning we played outside in the drizzle. J had fun in his sandbox.




My view of Sarah (all wrapped up and snuggly in her wrap)


This morning we went to the science center in Phoenix. Apparently every school district decided to go too. Things were a little 'old' for J but there were plenty of buttons to push. His favorite.

Sarah

I mentioned in the last post that Sarah had a little 'issue' and she still seems to be having problems. It started on May 6th - I changed her diaper and there was blood in her poop. The doctors office advised me to take her to the hospital since she's so young. They couldn't find anything - basically all they did was an x-ray to check for an obstruction and check her temperature - both were normal. I took her to the doctor on Friday morning and was advised to try cutting out dairy from my diet, which I had actually started the day after we visited the hospital. Unfortunately, the problem persists.

At this point it's very tiny amounts of blood - but it's still there. The doctor is running a few more tests and if those don't provide answers and it's still happening, we have to see a GI doctor. At the advice of a friend who's daughter had the same problem, I've also cut out all peanuts/tree nuts. The next to go is soy, which is in almost everything. Right now I'm eating fruit as a snack which I've never ever done in my life...but almost all snacks have milk or nuts in them. Guess it's a great way to lose the baby weight, huh?

Please pray that we find some answers this week or that the problem resolves itself soon. I am confident that God is in control of this situation and that Sarah will be okay.

Now for some pictures.

Last weekend my mom and Ronnie (aka Grandma G and Grandpa G) came up from CG for a visit! We love hanging out on our back patio with the misters. Makes the 100 degree heat feel alright.


J & Ronnie coloring on our back wall.


For some reason, when you tell J to "smile" he thinks you mean "squint." Makes it hard to get a good picture.


Making his 'monkey' face.


Pretty Sarah - extreme close up!


Happy smiles and sad pouts




The kids and me.


Shawn and baby girl (photo by J)