A Tragic Morning

What a morning - our little peanut was walking to the patio door to watch Tank play outside. She has only been walking a couple of weeks and can often be found stumbling around. She tripped, fell and hit her head on the bottom of the door leaving a nice little split in her forehead. Fortunately, she never lost consciousness and after the initial tears she seemed to be acting normal. However, there was no doubt in my mind that she would be visiting the ER. The staff's initial reaction was that she was going to need stitches. However, after numbing and cleaning the wound, she revealed a nice straight split and they were able to glue the cut closed.

Before the ER

After the ER

A Couple of Cute Kids

Guess what? Peanut and Violet snuggling.

Deacon Stands for the First Time

Double Trouble

Miss Avigail

Our Goofball

Our New Ride

Check out my new ride.

Watch out drivers...another female driver!

Swinging

Not sure about this swing thing...

Chelan

Tami and Tyler at Blueberry Hills Farm It's 5 o'clock somewhere

Deacon and Avi DID NOT like the way the grass felt

Avigail at poolside Deacon enjoying some lunch

Enjoying the pool

Avigail loved checking herself out in the mirror!

Deacon's first time on the swing

The Johnson Family

All the Karr grandkids...Avi, Lucy, Kailey, Preston and Deacon

Most of the clan... (missing Andrew & Diana)

A quick snoozey...

Mom & Deacon

Avigail & Dad

Two In A Tub

Tyler is not really on board with Deacon and Avi dressing alike, but he has no problem with the boys dressing alike. I guess it's okay when you're in a Pink Floyd shirt.

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Deacon and Avi had their first bath together tonight. It was honestly one of the funniest things I had ever seen. They both seem to have their own language which consists of screams (good ones of course) and lots of laughter. One will scream and laugh and then the other follows. They usually do this while facing each other in their own high chairs. Facing each other in the tub was no different! They really do seem like best friends.

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Our blue-eyed little lady Avi's cute little feetMy Pink Floyd rocker boysDeacon and Avi's first bath together!

Sleep Training

While I absolutely love rocking my children to sleep around 10 p.m. at night (Deacon is one of the best cuddlers, just like his dad). But, I have missed spending some quiet time with the hubby too. Tyler and I agreed that we were going to "attempt" to sleep train Avi and Deacon.
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Ferberization suggests creating a night-time ritual. Ours consists on closing the blinds, dimming the lights and turning on the Rockabye Lullaby CD while the kids get their night-time bottles. After bottles, we brush their teeth and get in some last minute snuggles. Then, it's off to their cribs to "cry it out". After putting them down, you're supposed to return at progressively increasing intervals to comfort the babies. For example, we would return to their room after 5 minutes, then after 10 minutes, and thereafter each 15 minutes, until they would fall asleep.
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We planned to start the training on a Friday night, so we would have the weekend, just in case the kids were up crying all night. The first night was absolutely miserable. Deacon cried for about 2 hours straight. It was very hard to return to his room to reassure him that we hadn't moved to the Bahamas and he was doing a great job soothing himself to sleep. He would give us the saddest look like we were completely abandoning him. He'd reach his hands through the crib rails as if he was locked in jail and we wouldn't let him out. Making eye contacts with him made him cry even harder and louder. As a parent, it was the worst I've ever felt.

Avigail was a bit easier. She cried for about 30 minutes, but her cry is so soft it's almost adorable.

On to night 2...things got a little easier. Deacon "only" cried for about 40ish minutes. He did wake up around 11 p.m. (if this happens, you repeat progressively returning to the room until he falls back asleep. Avigail did really well too. At 8 a.m. the next morning, we had to go and wake both our children up! Ferberization suggests that you don't let the child sleep more than 12 hour increments.

Night 3...a bit of regression from night 2, but still better than night 1. Things are getting easier and there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel.

Our First Family Vacation

Our first family vacation was a success! We spent a week in Kissimmee, FL (outside Orlando) with the whole Johnson side of the family. Tyler and I were very nervous about flying with Avi and Deacon for the first time. Not only because this was their first flight, but it was a 6 hour flight. Needless to say, the kids were absolute angels. We had 3 seats so we would have a whole row to ourselves and have an extra seat for feeding, changing or just needing to free up hands. After we landed, we got multiple compliments about how great the kids were. This led Tyler and I to believe that they were all very frightened when they saw us boarding the plane with two small children.

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We were able to spend at least a couple of hours at the pool everyday. Deacon's favorite part about the pool was his afternoon nap. Someone would hold him (grandma seemed to be the best poolside cuddler) while his feet dangled in the water as he fell asleep. Avigail on the other hand is our little water bug. She loves sitting in her float and being pulled around the pool by her legs.

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All in all, it was a great trip! Florida...we may just be back next year!

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Deacon and Avi waiting to board the plane

Avigail trying to buckle herself inDad and Deacon getting ready for take-offDeacon playing the air guitarAvigailDeacon Avi was very interested in touching the waterAvi taking a quick nap between swims and hanging onto Gramma J.Deacon cruising around in his carDeacon and Avi taking a break inside from the heat!Deacon and Dad at Logan's SteakhouseAvi, waiting for dinner to come...The Johnson Family (Mom, Deacon, Avi & Dad)The sun makes Deacon sleepyThe Johnson FamilyDad and Uncle Brad headed to the gate so we can go home!