Christmas is in full swing!

This has been a fabulous month so far!  I am really enjoying being able to be home for the holidays this year without the pressure of traveling.  Our entire family, in fact, has really gotten into the spirit.  We have lights on the front of the house AND the back, every single Christmas decoration and ornament is out, the guest room even has Christmas sheets, a throw, and pillows!  Rylan is thoroughly enjoying Nick, our Elf on the Shelf, his countdown to Christmas calendar with daily activities, and three other Advent calendars.  Now, I may not be on top of my game as far as timing on getting things together, but I took a new approach this year...one day at a time.  It seems to be working wonderfully and I am enjoying the season more than ever.  Of course it helps to have a smiling 9 month old that fills your heart with love every single day; thank goodness, because the 4 year old acts like he's 10 lately!  ;)

Rylan has been really enjoying school this year.  He asks every day, "do I have school tomorrow?"  Ms. Debbie told me yesterday how proud she was of him.  Apparently they had a substitute Motor Skills teacher and she thought his name was Ryan.  I guess he politely told her that his name was not Ryan, R-Y-A-N, that it was Rylan with an L in the middle.  He says his name pretty darn cute because he has just recently picked up the middle L sound.  Debbie was very happy!  He continues to work hard on practicing writing his name and even signed about 30 of our Christmas cards!

Life is sweet.  Sometimes I wish I could just bottle it up and keep it like this forever.  I LOVE this phase of innocence, flexibility, fun, and play.  I am so glad that I am able to keep Ry this way for another 1.5 before the craziness and pressure of school begins.  I always thought that it would stink not being able to send him to Kinder next year because of his late birthday, but I have really embraced it and look forward to my little sweet family for an extra year.

God has been so good to us and has blessed us in ways that I can't even begin to explain.  Even in times of sadness, I know that He is always there holding me up.  What an amazing blessing to have Him to always lean on. 

Love, from Texas.

XOXO

Christmas Card

As much as I don't like to give you a preview before the actual mailing, I LOVE a deal.  I got $10 off just to post the card!  Sorry to spoil the fun :)!

Stationery card

Wall Of Memories Christmas Card

Shop Shutterfly's collection of Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

The Eckel Family just returned from New Jersey!  We had a fabulous visit with GG and GG Pop, Aunt Lynn and Uncle Jim, and Missi and Pop!  Rylan and little Miss Callie Jae were very well behaved, slept great, and had lots of fun playing and relaxing with everyone.  The weather could not have been more beautiful.  It was in the sixties almost every day.  In fact, the day that Jason, Rylan, and I made a trip into New York City, it was a record breaking warm day...no coats needed!  It felt more like a warm spring day then the end of November!  Rylan thoroughly enjoyed the The Radio City Christmas Spectacular, especially since we were center stage and SIX rows back!  The seats were amazing, the entertainment spectacular, and the expressions and comments from Rylan priceless!  Rylan might just be a city boy one day, which would make his father very happy.  He had a blast and talked like he was Mr. Big Shot walking the streets of New York.  He loved the hot spots we hit...Lego store, FAO Schwarz, Rockefeller Center, Times Square, M&M store, and riding the train back and forth of course!  Thank you so much for the fun packed weekend GG and GG Pop!  We love you and miss you already!

11.11.11

Happy 11.11.11!  That is kind of cool :)!  Things are looking up at the Eckel house.  Today felt normal for the most part which was very pleasant and nice.  Our Friday began by going to one of my Friday Mother's groups.  It is always a nice couple of hours for me when I get to sit with other mommies and discuss our lives, knowing that there are other people out there that can truly identify with the stage that I am in.  Rylan and Callie Jae were great as always in their respective childcare rooms and we headed home for lunch immediately following the meeting.


Jason came home early afternoon, right about the time the kiddos were going down for their naps.  It really felt like a Saturday because we started working on a house project, replacing the fan in the game room with a light fixture, a little bit of housework, and then playing soccer on the XBox.  It was a very normal day but a very welcomed one after the last several months.  The kids were still sleeping after 3 hours and it was 5:15.  I decided that I should probably wake them up since their bedtime was only going to be a couple of hours later. 


Thank you God for the simple things.

NOVEMBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I was so thrilled when November 1st came!  It has been a CRAZY two months.  In some respects, I don't even know where the time went, but in others, it was the longest and most draining two months that I have endured in a LONG time.  I could even go on record saying that I would rather deal with the last two months of pregnancy than have to go through another stretch like that.  I am hoping that with the turn of a new month, we will receive a new lease on life.  Hoping for some good health, happiness, and family unity.  Life is never supposed to be easy breezy, and we always learn from the experiences that we endure.  I am constantly reminded to be thankful of it ALL because there are so many wonderful things in store.

Surgery #1, Rylan's Train Party Birthday, Surgery #2, a second Missi visit, Gma and Papa's visit, Fall Festival, stomach bugs, Callie Jae turning 8 months...I'm not even sure what ordered they all occurred in, but they did all happen and here we are with Thanksgiving and Christmas right around the corner.  Thanks to all of my amazing family and friends for getting me through.  Your prayers, your thoughts, your loving hands and hearts, are something that I think about often.  I am so fortunate to have you all in my life. Whether you have been with me since my first blessed day on this earth, or if I've only known you for a short 10 months, I love each of you with all of my heart and am so lucky to be able to call you my friend or family. 

Fall Festival!

St. Peter's Fall Family Festival is tomorrow and I couldn't be more excited!  It is such a great family event and I am excited to see all of the fun that our children have tomorrow.  It makes all of the hard work so worth it!

Once again, I feel so blessed to have family here.  My Mom and Dad have made the chaos of this week go so much more smoothly.  It is so nice to know that when I walk out the door to take care of things, that both of my kiddos are in the loving hands of their grandparents.  Rylan's had a fun filled week and Callie Jae has been able to have a solid week of an uninterrupted schedule.  Monday, my parents are taking Rylan for a short trip to Corpus Christi and San Antonio.  They are going to visit the state aquarium and a battleship, play on the beach, and go to the San Antonio zoo.  It will be his first big boy trip away from home.  It will also be fun for me as well, because I will get to spend a few days alone with my sweet baby girl.  She rarely receives that one on one time so it will be fun to have that with her.

Jason is healing very quickly.  Thank you God for being with us during this time and for healing him so quickly.  Walking still proves to be difficult and painful by days end, but he will get there eventually.  Please continue to keep us all in your prayers.

Life

Life threw us a curve ball this week.  Jason developed an infection in his foot and had to have surgery again.  He was in the hospital for a couple of days and was pretty darn miserable.  Things are starting to get better now and thankfully his foot seems to be on the mend, hopefully for good.  The bad thing about curve balls is that they are unexpected.  Just when you think that things are going great, it happens.  Fortunately, I am constantly reminded that life could always be worse.  I have been overwhelmed with the outpouring of love, prayers, help, and well wishes that embraced my family.  From the moment that I called a couple of friends at noon on Tuesday after receiving the phone call from Jason that he was being admitted to the hospital, until now, I have felt blessed each day from the support.  Thank you friends for your love, for listening to me cry, and holding my hand through this.  Thank you to my mother in law for rescuing me once again in the chaos that surrounds not having family around during stressful times.  You will never know how the everyday tasks of feeding and playing with my children will be forever appreciated.  You are my hero!  The next couple of weeks are probably not going to be very easy or pleasant.  The stress and frustration of dealing with this again has taken a toll on all of us.  I would ask for continued prayers for healing as we try to get over this hurdle one more, and hopefully last time.  Love.

Life

BUSY Mom = BAD Blogger

I swear I will get to this sooner or later but a quick glimpse into our lives:

Mommy: trying to be a good wife, being a Mom, part of two Mothers groups on Fridays, helping to prepare for Rylan's preschool's Fall Festival, being a nurse to my immobile husband, trying to get more involved at church, and trying to train for the San Antonio half marathon in November

Callie Jae:  first tooth, can sit for a couple of minutes by herself, getting up on hands and knees, bouncing with her knees while standing, amazing sleeper, DROOLING EVERYWHERE, happy as can be, Mommy sees tons of similarities between CJ and Rylan's personalities and developmental milestones

Rylan:  an amazing helper and little human, sweet as can be, loves his sister, plays nicely with his sister, shares with his sister, loves preschool, happy, still a great sleeper, looking forward to his choo choo party at the Katy train park

Jason:  foot surgery (stitches out Friday and hopefully will be able to begin to put weight on it), BUSY school semester, new role at Dow (should say roles cause it seems like he has multiple jobs rolled into one),  trying to be as supportive as possible even with a bum foot of my crazy schedule

Need I say more?  We are busy, tired, and trying to have fun all at the same time.  Life will calm down or so in about 6 weeks.  Til then, please bear with my lack of updates and communication :(.

Love to all of you that care enough to be interested in our lives!

September?

To quote a friend on FB, "where did August go?  I swear I had it around here somewhere..."  How true is that statement?  Although, when you leave for half of it, I guess it goes by pretty quickly.  Leaving for the last two weeks of August proved to be a very smart thing to do because here in Katy, the temperature was around 105 degrees for almost that whole period of time.  During our two week adventure, not only did my brother marry my amazing new sister-in-law Liz, but Rylan is now less than one month away from being FOUR, and Callie Jae turned 6 months old...momma is feeling old :). 

We had an amazing time on our adventure up north.  It began visiting my very best friend Katie in Ohio.  Rylan and Ashlyn played hard for 2.5 days straight, Callie Jae and Ben did their baby thing of eating, sleeping, and a little playing (Ben tried to pull off Callie Jae's ear ;)), and Katie and I stayed up late to the wee hours of the morning doing what best friends do best...talking and sharing our lives with each other.  I really do not think that two people could be more alike.  We think the same, have very similar tastes, both have children the same age, both love being moms, have extremely hard working husbands, and people have even mentioned that we look similar.  I love her to pieces and am extremely lucky and blessed to have her in my life.  I hope one day we will be able to be closer to each other, but if not, we will always pick up right where we left off.

The second lag of our trip took us Up North to my parent's place in Northern Michigan.  I don't know what it is about Up North, but I get a feeling that I have never gotten anywhere else.  There is a sense of peace and serenity about the Leelanau Peninsula and it definitely deserves "the most beautiful place in the country" award (according to Good Morning America).  Rylan had a blast playing with his cousin and was so tired on a couple of occasions that he was seriously delirious.  They played long and hard most of the week and even took little Elliott, Liz's nephew, under their wing.  I called them the three little ducks because they just followed each other around wherever they went.

And then there was the wedding...  This was the second wedding that I have attended in Northern Michigan, the first one being my own :), and can I just say once again that it is a magical place.  Liz and Jim did an amazing job planning for the big day and it was perfect down to every last detail.  The rabbi that performed the ceremony was truly amazing.  The ceremony was very touching and sincere and the party was a blast.  Congratulations to the two of them and I hope that the magic of Up North continues through their lives as it has fortunately through ours.

quick update

August is ticking away and we go up north in a week!!!!  We are so excited to get out of the 100 degree weather for two weeks.  My Mom said it was barely 70 today!  I can't wait to pack jeans and long sleeves!

Callie Jae has been quite a little character lately.  She is beginning to mimic a little bit.  For about a week straight, she focused real hard on blowing raspberries constantly.  Each time I got near her belly, she stuck out her tongue and did it...very cute. 

Today, 8/9, was the first time since we began solids, that she actually opened her mouth like a little bird when the spoon came near.  It was fun to see her do that.  Her favorite foods so far have been avocado and banana puree, sweet potato, and she enjoys when I mix formula into her cereals (instead of just water).  Making her food has been easy and fun so far.  I actually bought baby food green beans from the store yesterday because mine did not turn out very smooth.  I have to mix mine with rice cereal in order for her to eat them.  I actually felt really good when she completely spit out the store bought stuff.  She wanted NOTHING to do with those!  At least she will eat mine with rice cereal, so beans and rice it is!

My favorite joy as a Mom right now is to watch Callie Jae's face light up around Rylan.  Those stares and little joys that I used to love getting from Rylan when he was a baby seemed to be saved for him this time around.  I still get some of them, but Rylan ALWAYS gets the loving looks from his little sis.  Love it!

quick note

just for my own memory...

Callie Jae's accomplishments:
end of 4M...giving kisses (first trick she has done)
beginning of 5M...mimicking raspberries (does them quite a bit and it's pretty darn cute)

Little Miss Callie Jae

Our sweet girl turned five months old on July 28th!  She is really becoming a little lady!  These next few months should bring lots of changes, but for now we are working on eating solid foods (rice cereal, bananas, green beans), rolling over, pushing up pretty far on forearms, and interacting with her brother.  Rylan was the sole source of smiles from the little photo shoot that we had for her five month pictures.  She loves looking at him and following him around.

Callie Jae is also beginning to get the "pay attention to me" squeals when we are not giving her our undivided attention.  My sweet girl is on a great schedule nursing four times a day at 8, 12, 4, and 7:30 and eating solids after the 8, 12, and 4 o'clock nursings.  I sometimes feel like I live in my kitchen between feeding her, Rylan, myself, and making dinner, but that is the great thing about being a stay-at-home-Mommy.  It's my job and I am enjoying mostly every minute ;).  I am attempting to make my own baby food.  I am not against buying baby food out of a jar for convenience at times, but while we are at home, I am going to have some fun experimenting with a great little gadget called the Beaba.

Fun times all around from the eckel home!

Happy Anniversary!

July 26th marked our 8 year anniversary.  Just like everything else, it is amazing to me how quickly 8 years has gone!  We have been on quite an adventurous road in 8 years and I wouldn't change a thing.  I think we have a stronger marriage today more than ever and it's because of our journey that has gotten us to where we are today.  Jason and I celebrated at The Capital Grille in Houston and it was the most fabulous meal that I have ever had paired with a very fun wining tasting called The Generous Pour.  I definitely think it may be our new anniversary restaurant.  I love you more than words can express Jason and look forward to all of the new adventures we will continue to embark on through the years!  Thank you for being an amazing husband, father, provider, and most importantly, friend.

Yum!

Day one of solids for Miss Callie Jae was a success!  She has been all over the place lately with her schedule.  I remember month 4 being the month of all new things for Rylan as well.  She began actively rolling over in both directions the last few days.  Callie Jae is also picking up on her verbal skills again "talking" quite a bit.  I swear she's grown in both directions as well in the past week.  I love these new stages as they come.  It is so fun to see her developing into a little person!  So I decided to cave in and give her solids today.  It went extremely well.  She LOVED her rice cereal, was mad if I slowed down giving it to her, and she ate the whole darn bowl.  After she was finished, she sat in her high chair for about 10 minutes while I was cleaning up and "talked" about it.  Now the fun begins and add another thing on my list that I have to do :).  Let the fun baby food making begin!

So don't think I'm a bad mom...

Last night during dinner, we watched that show on TLC about the ice road truckers.  Rylan was fascinated and barely could even eat.  After dinner, Ry and J went upstairs to play while I stayed downstairs and nursed Callie Jae.  Apparently they were simulating the trucking experience and at one point I hear "holy shit!"  Guess who it came from?  From the mouth of my sweet boy!  Not only did he say it, but it was clear as day, and for those of you that know Rylan, his speech is far from being clear.  But of course, holy shit comes out perfectly and in the right context.  Where he got it from?  Lord only knows.  Jason and I were trying to figure it out.  The "s" word has on occasion slipped out from both of us, but never the "holy" part.  I give J a lot of credit because he held it together and did the parent thing.   I, on the other hand, was in tears on the couch.  I barely could contain myself.  J gave him the substitution of "holy cow" as being appropriate, so if you hear that...well, think whatever you'd like :).  I have a feeling this is just the beginning!

Tired Momma!

The Fourth of July weekend/celebration was a huge success!  We had so much fun and Rylan and Callie Jae did a great job even though they were both exhausted!  I think Rylan had blood shot eyes for the last two days from being so tired.  We had a blast with the Harper side of the family hanging out together for various activities, especially the 60th Anniversary party.  Jane and Diane did an amazing job organizing everything.  We always have so much fun when everyone gets together and we look forward to maybe next summer doing it again at Lake Nottely! 

We are on a slow road to recovery, well at least Mommy and Callie Jae.  She's had a rough last couple of days in the afternoon trying to readjust to her schedule and/or possible growth spurt.  I haven't quite figured it out yet, but unfortunately there has been lots of crying and tears which breaks my heart.  I am hoping that by later this weekend we will be back to normal.  We haven't done much of anything because we are trying to get back on schedule, and I think that makes me a little more irritable being "stuck" at home.  Sometimes the constraints of nursing and napping can really be difficult.  Ry and I were able to get out to story time at the library yesterday while J worked at home while Callie Jae was napping.  Life was much easier with one ;) but two will get easier when naps are not so important...in like 3 years!  LOL!  Oh well, life happens and continues to pass by like I never thought it could!  I know not to "wish" forward so I will just deal with what I am given for the time being. 

Babywise does pay off!

So I relinquished some control to my sweet daughter today.  I think I have always looked at her as being such a little peanut that I forgot that her nursing habits might actually change.  I mentioned in an earlier post that it seemed as if she was trying to put herself on a four hour nursing schedule.  Well, check this out.  This is what she did today completely ON HER OWN!

8:00 woke up and nursed
9:00 naptime (slept until 12)
12:00 woke up and nursed
1:15 naptime (slept until 4)
4:00 woke up and nursed
5:30 naptime (slept until 6:45)
7:30 final nursing

WOW!  Can't wait to move to this permanently after Milwaukee!  I hope she doesn't sleep as long though.  I missed her today :/!

4 Months

Callie Jae had her 4M check up today.  Dr. Harry said she looked great and seemed to be a happy baby and a good girl for sleeping through the night.  He gave me the go ahead to start solids whenever I choose.  Since she is sleeping so well and gaining weight fine there really is no reason to start yet.  I think I'll wait until 5-6M or if she starts to seem hungrier and/or fussy.

She was 25.5 inches long (91%), 12 lb 4 oz (21%), and 12% for head circumference; my long and lean, tiny head peanut.  Quite a difference from her chubby large head brother!  She may be taller than him some day ;).

She received 2 shots and an oral vaccine.  I made J come along to hold her down.  Mommy emotionally has a hard time with her little girl getting poked.  She did awesome though and only cried for about a minute. That's my girl!

hmmm...

So apparently it seems as though Callie Jae is ready to move to a four hour schedule.  I went to church yesterday and left J in charge of my babies.  I usually wake Callie Jae to nurse her on a 3 or 3.5 hour schedule, which means she is usually taking a 2 hour nap or so in the morning.  Apparently, yesterday and now today (thought I'd try it out), a three hour nap is something she is enjoying rather well.  I referred to my Babywise book yesterday and it pretty much says that after a few weeks of sleeping through the night, they are usually ready to move to a 4 hour schedule.  Having to wake them to nurse, which I typically have to a couple of times during the day, is also another sign.  Who knew?  I guess Daddy :).  Now the problem...do it now or wait until after the Milwaukee trip where she most likely will not be taking 3 hour naps cause it will be next to impossible.  Think I better wait.  Big girl!