Everett turns 3

My precious Everett Tristan Neal, Monday was your 3rd birthday and I cannot believe it! You have grown so much so quickly. You seem  so very grown up but you are still the sweetest little boy in the world!!

Everett you still love all things Dinosaur and if you could have you would have had another dinosaur party this year for your birthday. You don't just like dinosaurs you like to know their technical names. You run around calling out a Triceratops from a Maiasaura and a T-Rex from a Long Neck. It has really challenged your Dad and I to brush up on our Dino knowledge. We got you a big book with all different dinosaurs in it and their names. You Love it!! I gave you the choice of Cars, Trains, or Animals and you choose "Choo Choo's" So this year we celebrated with a Choo Choo Party. I of course dressed you up like a train conductor for your pictures and you are the cutest sweetest little train conductor I have ever ever seen!

Everett you remain a picky eater. We can only get you to eat well if it is chicken, noodles, or cheese (grilled cheese or quesadilla.) You love applesauce and yogurt. You are very particular about the snacks you have and choose different things everyday. You absolutely Love apple juice! In the mornings you come in and ask for "Wawalles" (waffles) and milk and are very good about drinking it all up.

In the past few months you have developed a new habit of coming into our room in the middle of the night and crawling into bed with us. We would take you back 4 times a night and you just kept coming. Finally we brought back your sound machine and it has helped your midnight wakings. You used to sleep until 8 or 9 in the morning but now you are up at 5:30. This has been especially tough on your Mama who has never been a morning person. You come crawl in bed with us and lay there until your Dad gets up to get ready for work. We put you down to bed around 8 PM.  You still sleep with Meyer and a paci. The paci must be a specific one though, you refuse to use any but a few specific paci's and this can be incredibly frustrating to hunt down these few paci's when they continuously disappear. Along with Meyer and your paci you take an armful of toys with you to bed each night to keep you company. Every morning I clean out your bed and we start it over again the next day.

Everett you are fiercly protective of your sister. You are really enjoying getting to play with her unless she touches one of your hundred dinosaurs. She chases you in her walker and you think it is the funnest thing ever. We are still working on helping you learn she is still to little to wrestle with though. If anyone messes with your sister though you are the first to speak up to her defene and the first to come get me when she is crying or awake. You are such a sweet and loving big brother!

There are some other people that you absolutely love and that includes your Nana's. It has gotten so hard and confusing to distinguish between Gran-Nana and Nana so they just kind of run together. However you always refer to Reilly (Gran-Nana's dog) when talking about her. You love to go play cars at her house and lay on the couch and have her tickle your back.  I get jealous because I remember loving to have her do that to my arm growing up. You ask me everyday to go over to see her. Your Nana is also one of your favorite people to see. We go up to visit her at the home she is in and you love to walk with her. She is very fast and quickly can get out of view so you run after her. There are a few other residents there you have grown to be a fan of and you yell out their names when you see them. Everett you light up those people's faces in a way that hasn't been done in a very long time. You are so precious about giving them all high-fives and a big smile. I am so proud of you for being so compassionate at such a young age and not being afraid. You are such a big boy that you now walk into bible class on Sunday Mornign and Wednesday nights with a wave bye bye and no tears. When we get you out at the end of service you walk around saying Hi to anyone around that is listening. You can be quite the little social butterfly!

Everett you crack us up constantly! We are shocked by the things you are picking up on so very quickly! We have tried to work with you on numbers with some resistance from you then all of a sudden one day you were counting to 10 on  your own. I have to continually remind myself that you are stubborn and will do things in your own time. Most recently this has showed up in potty training. We bought you some cool big boy underwear that you love to look at but tell us "NO POTTY" when we talk about sitting on your little toilet. I have even offered to bribe you with animal toys, which you love, but you don't care one bit and want absolutely nothing to do with the potty. I am sure one day you will just decide on your own to do it when you are ready!

Your favorite show right now to watch is the Lion Guard on Disney. You have collected all the little figures and shout out their names as they come on the screen. You rotate your movie preference from Toy Story, Monster's Inc., Ice Age, and Frozen. You discovered Frozen right before Christmas and were a big fan very quickly! When we are in the store you shout out "ANNA, ELSA" If you see something from it. It is pretty funny!

Everett I could not imagine you being a sweeter, more loving little boy if I had gotten to create you myself. You Love to be held by Mom and love to wrestle with Dad. We are so proud of you every single day! We are beyond blessed to get to be your parents and have a front row seat to  your discovery of the world around you. I cannot believe 3 years have already gone by since we first laid eyes on you. My heart continues to grow every day with love for you in ways I never knew were possible.  Happy 3rd Birthday my beautiful boy!

Happy Valentines Day!

We are full of Love over here this Valentine's Day!!

Haven's 10 Month update

 

Haven Molly you are such an absolute delightful mess! You my sweet little lovey manage to get into anything and EVERYTHING in the blink of an eye. You are learning to be very independent, as long as you have your eye on someone in the room with you. You like to take toys from your brother and paci's from anyone who has them around you.

Haven, you have had a few nights of sleeping through from 8 PM to 8:30 AM which has been AWESOME! However there have still been a few nights here lately where you insist on waking up at 2:30 AM. You stand up in your crib and scream from the side. You have been working really hard at getting new teeth in. You now have 4 on top and bottom. This has made chewing yummy foods all the more easier!

Moving around the house continues to be so easy for you. Lately you have become an expert at standing up and walking with the help of whatever furniture you have to hold on to. When there is nothing to cling to you are a super fast crawler even though the floor is painfully hard. You continue to babble more and more and although you are an expert at saying "Dada," "Mama" is still not quite in your vocab yet. You love to try and mimmick the animal noises that your brother is running around making. You also have this little "HA" laugh that you like to do  and it is absolutely hilarious and adorable.

Haven you are ornery, hillarious, stubborn and a bit dramatic. Basically a typical Blanton woman! It has started so early.  I couldn't love watching you grow and learn any more than I do each day! I am honored and to get to be your Mom little love!!

58.

This past Wednesday was Mom's 58th Birthday. Her birthday is such a bittersweet day to me. It means we get to celebrate another year of life which is such an accomplishment but with each year we add another mark to how long she has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. This year makes it 6. With each January 18th that rolls around I think "how can it get worse? how can I lose her more?" and then the year continues and I see how it gets worse and she seems further and further away from the Mom I remember.

The past 5 months have been particulary hardest for me. Getting to the point of realization of knowing that we have to move her to a full time care unit was difficult but actually placing her there was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. It seemed like we have been on a continuously steep declining slope since the move. Little glimpses of hope would come here and there, hope of seeing a small bit of Mom again.

The week and a half before her birthday Mom began to stand upright again. This was HUGE! We hadn't seen her face and eyes without getting down on the floor and looking up at her since August. All of a sudden she was walking down the halls, head up, eyes up, smile coming at me. It has been the greatest blessing.

I wanted to do something special for her birthday. I have wanted to take her to Outback Steakhouse, her favorite restaurant, for a long while but with her not sitting still and not sitting up it seemed impossible. With her standing up straight the week before her birthday and having good day after good day after good day I began to think it may just be an attainable goal. Patrick and Taren flew in  and we planned to meet family at Outback for an early birthday lunch. To my amazement she sat still head high through the entire meal. She laughed at things, she cried as her Mom's card was read aloud, she devoured her steak. I could not have asked that her lunch go any better! She was awesome. It was amazing! I am so thankful for that lunch. To get to take her out to do something she loved. To get to spend a little time feeling slightly normal with her.

The weeks after have been hard. I cling to the memory of her smile and laugh as she enjoys the simple pleasures of her favorite food and the joy of celebrating her!

Happy 58th Mom! Forever and Always you are my absolute HERO!

Christmas 2016

This Christmas was a very different one for me. We had the blessing of Sweet Haven's first Christmas this year and Everett really being able to get into Christmas, in this sense it was such an exciting Christmas that I was really looking forward to. It was also the first Christmas with the exception of maybe one that I was not under the same roof as my Mom on Christmas Eve. Having moved Mom into Heartis Nursing Home at the end of August and her declining condition meant that this year we would have to change some of the traditions I was used to. My heart breaks with each new special occasion that is unfairly altered due to Mom's condition and not being able to celebrate with her the way we are used to. I am so thankful for the two sweet kids I have that I was able to focus and put my energy into this year and to making this a very special Christmas for them.

Patrick called me early December to tell me that He and Taren would like to come for Christmas again this year. I was honored to host their first Christmas together last year but that was when Mom lived with us, this year I honestly couldn't bear the thought of not having family around on Christmas morning so I was elated to hear of their plans. Shortly after that call I got one from Ryan telling me that Peyton, Oakley and He would like to come the few days before Christmas. All the better! More Family, More distraction!! I was a bit of a nut trying to get everything done and perfect before the boys arrived. Ryan and the girls came in on Wednesday and left Saturday. We went to see Santa, did some shopping and let the kids play together. Everett was a much  bigger fan of visiting Santa this year than in year's past.  It was so good to get to be together with Ryan and the girls for that time! Oakley and Everett walked the halls of Heartis together bringing joy to all the residents who saw them. Friday night Patrick and Taren arrived and for a few short minutes we all got to be with Mom together! It meant so much to me because I knew it would have meant so much to her! 

Christmas Eve Drew fried a turkey and we brought Mom over for a bit for dinner. Patrick and Taren worked on a puzzle while Drew and I got the kids ready for bed and prepared for Santa coming. Lots of egg nogg was drunk, Christmas Vacation was watched and quoted and gifts were wrapped and put together. It was a grown up Christmas Eve for us while we finished the night watching Saturday Night Live and playing Super Mario until 1 am.

Drew and I grew up with very different Christmas' I was used to a very big Christmas morning presents and he was not quite as much. It has become clearer to me that although my Mom absolutely went above and beyond each year to make our dreams come true on Christmas morning, she did so out of a desire to put smiles on her kids faces! This year as we thought through the perfect presents for our two kids we quickly found ourselves going over the edge of rational and into bigger is better. While out running around on Christmas Eve to come up with another present for Haven because Drew couldn't resist buying Everett a Thomas the Train trike I talked myself down from the ledge and recalled my sweet 9 month old girl already had amazing presents at home to open and she wouldn't realize if her brother opened one more than her ( of course she wasn't going to do the opening anyway). The distraction of going overboard, spoiling if you will, our precious children was such a thrill this year and the joyous look on Everett's face when he walked out to a mound of presents from Santa was worth every single bit!!

Everett has been in a habit of waking up insanely early, 5ish, and coming into our room. Since we had company he was already sleeping in our room and he woke up and crawled into bed with us around 6:30. We distracted him with shows locked in our room while I went out and started the coffee, breakfast and the Christmas music. Everett didn't remember that Santa came that night and he was easily distracted not caring about the music or the coffee but it was tradition! We finally went and got Haven up at 7:20 debating on if we should wake up Patrick and Taren or not. We tried to get Everett to go in and wake them up but he would only crack the door and shut it. After a group meeting between the four of us in the hall Drew and I decided that if they hadn't woken up with all the commotion we ought to just let them sleep. So we excitedly walked Everett around the corner to the living room where Santa had left his presents. I was sure the gits would elicite a "wow" or "whoa" from Everett but he just stood stunned. He would pick up a toy and say Dinosaur  or  Present but that was it. We had to prompt him to dive into his stocking. Halfway through he was way more interested in showing Haven her toys instead of discovering his own. Shortly he had dug into everything including Haven's toys and the living room was covered in wrapping paper and toy boxes while he played with his new toys. It was perfect!

Patrick and Taren eventually woke up and after eating breakfast we had our family tree together with them. Our house was to serve as the location for our big family tree later that day so  while the kids napped we picked up a bit and fell asleep for a little bit ourselves. Patrick and Taren went to pick up  Mom later and we opened her presents for her and showed her what she had been gifted. Around 6 Neeley, Lane, Norah and Merritt arrived for the family tree quickly followed by Doss and Charlotte. Nana, Aunt Tammy and Kelsey all came after a few minutes. We had decided to have Nana's waffles for dinner that night and sat down in shifts eating before we opened gifts together in our big family tree. Mom relaxed in the recliner for a bit before eating up a waffle. Patrick took her home before the tree because she was getting a little agitated. It was really a great evening spent with the important people in our lives celebrating getting to be together! I am so thankful for every person we got to spend Christmas with that day! I am not one to like change and this year was a little bit of old with some new and it was just enough of both for me!

2016 Christmas Photos

The kids and Drew tolerated me turning our living room into a make shift studio space for the afternoon to capture the perfect picture for our Christmas card this year. I did not achieve what I was going for but I think it turned out better than I could have wanted. Two sweet little babies (Everett is still a baby to me) in matching Christmas jammies on an antique sleigh in front of a Christmas tree looked pretty perfect to me! For memory sake here are some of the other pictures from our afternoon of hard work.

 

 

Haven's 9 month update

Before Christmas our sweet little Haven hit her 9-month-old mark! It seems unreal to me that we have been blessed with this precious girl for 9 whole months! 

Your smile lights up a round beautiful girl! When someone smiles at you, you quickly return it with a smile that shines through your eyes. Right now you have two sweet little teeth glistening in the front of your bottom gums that show when you smile big, which is just about every time. Your eyes have turned into a beautiful dark brown, much like your Daddy's. Your hair is coming in fuller and getting darker although I can still see hints of auburn when the light hits it. I am still holding out for it to be the color of your Nana's. 

You love to eat sweet Haven girl! Everything and anything you can get your hands on. We have to be very careful about what is within reach of you these days because before we know it you will have a handful of Salsa, beans or whatever is at your level. You have been eating a lot more table food lately rather than baby food and enjoying all of it. Mashed Potatoes and beans have been your favorite although you recently tore up some guacamole as well. Cheerios are a new hit with you and you have also tried gnawing on some animal crackers and most recently some noodles! 

For the past month you have been waking up around 4 AM every morning. I thought you were probably teething and finally just before Christmas I felt two teeth coming in on the top right side of your gums. You had been extremely fussy the two days before, very unlike you, and I was finally able to get you to let me feel around for a minute in your mouth. Once the teeth broke through you have been back to sleeping from when we put you down at 8:30 PM to about 8:30 AM. It is wonderful!! You also take a 2-3 hour nap during the afternoons. Sometimes you fight taking a nap but need a little one in the evenings of mid morning if you have woken up early. Chris Stapleton's song Tennessee Whisky is an automatic way to get you to immediately calm your self and close your eyes. Your Dad began playing you this song as soon as you were born and it has stuck ever since. It is a treat to get to rock you to sleep and hold you in my arms at night little love. You just stare up at me with those big beautiful eyes until you can’t keep them open any longer. During the day I don't for naps we usually just lay you in your crib where you cuddle with your bunny and blanket and drift quickly off to sleep. Your most favorite position to sleep in is on your tummy with your bottom up in the air. We had to lower your mattress down as low as we could because you are now an expert at pulling yourself up on things and would pull yourself up standing in your crib!

Haven you want to be where the activity is.  As I walk from room to room during the day doing housework you quickly follow crawling quickly behind. You are so fast! If you are in your walker and the carpet stops you then you immediately whine until I get you.  You do not like to be alone.  
For such a sweet little girl nothing at all scares you. You are fearless. Uncle Patrick was recently here with his big lab dog Whitten and although your older brother liked to view Whitten through a glass door you would go right up to him and let him lick all over you. You crawl to pull yourself up on everything. I am constantly worried about you falling and hitting your head on something you have fearlessly climbed to.  

We just came back from your 9 month wellness check-up with Dr. Fletcher. He told us you are absolutely perfect and ahead of the curve developmentally! You freaked out when he tried to listen to your heart with this stethiscope... he said well this is a little early for her to be acting like this but that just means she is ahead of the game. Your brother immediately started crying with you as a form of sibling solidarity. Haven you weighed in at 21 lbs exactly putting you in the 75-90%, you were 29 inches putting you in the 90% and your head was 18 inches also putting you in the 90%. 

You are babbling a lot more but you are still shouting "Dada" above everything else. I am working so hard to get you to say Mama but nothing yet! Haven you are doing amazing discovering with your hands. You are so quick to turn things around and switch them from hand to hand. Your pacifier is the first thing you learned to do this with and I watch you as you still do it lying in your crib.

Haven Molly my dreams of what a daughter would be like are nothing compared to the joy and happiness you have already brought your Dad, brother and I. We all adore you to the moon and back! Love you sweet sweet girl!