My 3 Year Old Superhero

To my sweet Holt,
You are 3 now. I still remember everything about the days leading up to your birth and the day of your birth like it was yesterday. I can't believe you're 3, it's major big boy stuff now. This has been a big year of changes for you. Soon after you turned 2, you welcomed your little brother Jett into your world. You have quickly become Big Brother of the Year! From the early days of completely ignoring him and wanting nothing to do with him to being very concerned about him if he is crying or sleeping. You always want to help with him and I catch you giving him hugs and kisses. I couldn't ask for a better big brother for him. You always ask me, "Is Jett coming?" when we are getting ready to leave the house. You make him laugh when he is sad and you are always helping him choose "baby friendly" toys. You say, "Oh Jett is too little to play with this, I go get him one of his toys." I am so lucky to witness your growing bond and friendship on a daily basis.

You also were potty trained in March! This was something I was truly dreading, but like most things, you made it easier than I could have ever imagined. We decided over Easter weekend in March that you would not be wearing diapers anymore. Daddy took you to the store to buy your own little potty when we discovered the big one was more challenging. You had an accident right there in the aisle at HEB! OOPS. Daddy sat with you and read books and watched YouTube videos with you while you got the hang of it. The next day we went to Church in the evening for Easter and you asked Mommy to take you to go "wee wee". I was so proud of you! On Easter Sunday, Daddy took you to an Astros game in a pull-up just in case. 3 times you asked him to take you to the bathroom to do your business, both kinds. There was no turning back from that point! You have had a small accident here and there (mostly in the first week) but I considered you fully potty trained within a week! For something I was dreading so much, I can't imagine you being in diapers anymore! You still sleep in a pull-up at night, but 9 times of of 10 you are still dry in the morning.

You also went from a toddler bed to a big boy bed! Another change I was dreading, but you did great. We put pillows on the side just in case you fall out. You hardly ever get out of your bed unless we come and get you, same after your nap. You really like your bed too and you share it with all of your monkeys. You sleep with at least 10 things in your bed, mostly your monkeys, but any new toy has been known to sleep with you the first few days. I also find books in your bed, you still love books. I love to see you sleeping, you look like the sweet baby I brought home 3 years ago.

You are still the pickiest eater I have ever known. When I tell people how picky you are, they are in disbelief. I can't even call it picky because that would mean you actually try food and decide you don't like it. You just look at food and decide you don't want anything to do with it. You don't like the foods that most toddlers survive on like chicken nuggets, pizza, mac n cheese, and hot dogs. You won't touch those, except maybe an occasional Chickfila nugget. Your daily diet consists of something for breakfast (poptart, cereal, breakfast cookies, and a fruit) crackers and yogurt pretty much make up the rest of the day. You will almost always eat queso when we go out to eat, but not the rice or beans and most the time not even the tortilla. You obviously aren't starving, but I have no idea where your energy comes from. You eat nothing! You are learning to like more fruits but will not touch vegetables of any kind. I've tried everything to sneak in more nutrition for you and you refuse it every time. You're even choosy about the flavor of pediasure I give you, which we call a milkshake.

I must say you are very well behaved. I get compliments about how well behaved you are, especially from your teachers at school. My little teacher's pet, somehow that does not surprise me. They tell me all the time what a great listener you are. So I wonder how that changes when I bring you home? For the most part you listen to what we tell you, sometimes you choose not to listen at all and keep doing exactly what we have just told you not to. Mommy gets very frustrated with you when do you not listen to me. I think you are so smart and that you know better, but maybe sometimes you just don't. You're so good so often, that I find it hard to deal with you when you aren't minding me. You are also very smart. You have a vocabulary that shocks me (narwhal, what?). You can remember anything and everything which has proved to be a blessing and a curse.

All of your toys must now come in collections. Toy Story and Superheros are your favorite. You can't just play with Buzz and Woody, you have to have the entire cast of characters. We've been working on adding to your collection since Christmas. Luckily for your birthday, you got most of your Superhero action figures. However, we don't have Thor, gosh forbid, and we hear about it all the time. On top of those loves, you love dancing and singing, and playing instruments. I think you like the instruments so you can sing loudly. I'm also impressed with your pop culture knowledge. You can spot a Pink song within seconds. I'm not sure how this love come about, but I think it's really funny.

You've also gotten in touch with your spiritual side. You enjoy saying your prayers, mostly thanking God for what you have. After every prayer at dinner you say, "Wow, that's a good prayer Mommy and Daddy". You also really enjoy Sunday School at our new church. You even cried one Sunday when we couldn't go.

You're 3, and you're all boy, and you're all ours. We love you Holt Cannon Kummer.

Pajamas and Donuts, Holt turns 3!

We had his birthday party Saturday morning, my new fav time for a birthday party, by the way. There were all kinds of donuts and breakfast foods. We had kolaches, fruit salad, donut holes, cake donuts with sprinkles, regular donuts with sprinkles, glazed donuts, and my Mother in Law's special Charger Re-chargers. (One of Kyle's favorites from high school) They are butter tastin' biscuits with sausage and cheese inside, highly addicting.

I figured this is probably the last year I could do his party without much input from him. I've always wanted to have a breakfast themed party. Holt fights me every morning to stay in his pajamas, so this theme was truly perfect for him. Not to mention donuts are one of the only things he will eat, even if it's just the icing. We had around 40 people here, maybe more, and it was so fun. The kids loved making their Froot Loop necklaces even if they did not stay on their necklaces for long! Holt finally understood what his birthday was all about this year and could not wait for his friends to show up. He would keep asking me, "Are my friends here yet?" It's hard to believe he is 3! I'll have a separate post on that later. Here are some party highlights.

Keep Calm and Eat a Donut, ain't that the truth

10 dozen donut holes to make a tower, for the record

She's cute

Froot Loop Necklaces

Blowing out his candle on his special donut

Loved every minute of his party

Jett is 10 months!

How can this be? I just truly can't believe it. I can remember Holt being 10 months old so vividly this is crazy to me!

Jett has finally started to crawl! He was just happy as could be sitting there playing and watching his brother all this time. Now I'm sure he wonders why he didn't do this sooner! Although I am already missing the old days. He li
kes to play with things like the barstools and kitchen chairs or attempt to climb on the fireplace. So in other words, I have several small heart attacks a day. Sometimes he stops and puts both his feet down like he wants to stand, but he does not have the upper body strength for that just yet. He prefers standing to sitting these days. His obession is doorstops. He can spot them anywhere. He crawled all the way from the kitchen to the front of the house because he spotted the doorstop by the front door. He finds them fascinating and hilarious. He prefers to play with whatever big brother is playing with, much to Holt's dismay. I've already gotten rid of a lot of baby toys because I honestly don't think he will ever play with them!

He still loves books, absolutely loves them. As soon as we sit down in his glider before naps or at bedtime, he leans over and reaches for them. Usually he's happy with what I choose, but if he's not, he lets me know it and I choose a different one. Sometimes he is just so tired that he closes the book and turns and lays his head down on me, like he's saying "That's enough Mom, goodnight."

He has 4 bottles a day with 6oz each. 7:30, 11:30, 4, and at bedtime. His naps are better, he's a bit more predictable than he was the past few months. He naps at 10 and 3 usually for about an hour each time, sometimes an hour and half. I'm shocked if it's 2 hours. He has about a 4 hour awake threshold, but again this has gotten much easier. He's easier to distract or keep happy if we are out and about and he's tired. I still prefer to be home at naptime, so I spend a lot of time at home between the two boys and their nap schedules. Call me crazy but I know it's why they have both been great sleepers. Jett typically sleeps about 8pm-7am, but is happy in his crib until I get him around 7:30. Sometimes I just need to get myself going in the morning before I get him.

Jett is still completely attached to my hip. He has a little more freedom now that he is crawling, but usually it's just to find me...or a doorstop. He does not seem to have much stranger anxiety, even reaching out to some of them, but only briefly until he realizes he would rather me hold him.

As far as new foods, he still likes his baby food so I still give it to him. At every meal I am offering finger foods, but he would rather play with them. Another picky eater on my hands, fabulous. I've given him meatballs, chicken, grilled cheese, mac n cheese, peas, carrots, watermelon, bananas, blueberries, pancakes, and pretty much anything we eat within reason. He just doesn't eat it. He likes to squish the fruit and throw everything else to Bentley. I will continue to offer it in hopes that he just starts to like it one day!

He is 21lbs 5oz (he went to the dr for a severe diaper rash, that's how I know). He wears size 4 diapers, 12 month clothes (although they are getting snug), and is still my chunky monkey! He still has just his 2 bottom teeth with no sign of any others popping through.

Jett's smile just lights up my days and my whole world. It's just the absolute best smile ever! He makes us so happy and his laugh is just so funny. I'm waiting for that big belly laugh that he just can't stop, but for now his silly little giggle will do. He's also sensitive. When I have to tell him No-no for pulling up on barstools, he gets very upset. Poor guy. It's going to be hard to get mad at him. I say that now...lets talk again when he's 2.

2 teefers

Attached to my hip, can't get anything done

Shopping is so much easier when the snack cup is mastered!

Happy 10 months baby boy!

I'm falling apart, y'all!

I have not been afraid of getting older, ever. I'm not afraid of 30, it doesn't mean anything to me, it's just a number. Plus I got carded a couple weeks ago, so I know I don't look 30. *ear to ear grin*
However, my body is like "hold up!" I figured I would be one of those annoying people that bounced back to their prebaby weight within the first month, both times. I was wrong, both times. I was 92lbs when I got married and 100lbs when I got pregnant with Holt. I remember at that time I was trying to lose 5lbs before I got pregnant. Ummm, what? 95lbs, are you kidding? I have always been tiny and petite and never had any trouble with my body image or losing weight. So then come the kids. We all know what that does to our bodies during pregnancy, nothing can prepare you for what happens after! This skin, the spider veins, the pooch, the c section pooch, all of it!

This is why I am falling apart before the age of 30. I have keratosis pilaris, I have sun damaged skin, I have diastastis recti, I will battle kidney stones the rest of my life, I have chicken wings, I have 10lbs to lose, I have floppy flappy deflated balloon boobies, the list could go on. Who would have thought 10 years ago as I was getting so excited to legally buy alochol in one short year that I would be battling all of this drama on my body years later.

So what is keratosis pilaris? It's a hormonal change after you give birth, or really it can be in anyone, mine just appeared after having Holt. My arms are covered in tiny lil whitehead bumps which is basically my keratin cells getting stuck under my skin not able to leave my body. Whatever. They are ugly, bumpy, and make me super self conscious in sleeveless shirts. But, hey, I live in Texas and I have no choice. And by the way, it's dominant so there will be a 50% chance I pass it along to my children. I'm now using a $25 lotion to eliminate the bumps...it's been 3 weeks, they're still there. I'll have to use it forever or they will come back.

If you saw my FB post, you know I am totally freaked out by diastasis recti. My ab muscles are so weak from my babies that my stomach just pushes right through them when I'm full or just standing there. I still look pregnant because of this. Y'all are so nice and saying I look great, blah blah blah. I want to wear tighter fitting shirts again and I want to wear a 2 piece bathing suit again. None of this will happen until I am certain a stranger won't ask, "So how far along are you? You're just cranking them out aren't you!" It could totally happen. Not to mention, I still have a very dark and visible linea negra so I wouldn't blame someone for asking me if I was expecting again. That stupid thing won't go away.

I looked in the mirror one day and saw sun damage. I totally abused my skin in high school and college. My face is showing the proof. Thank you Retin A, I will be using you the rest of my life as well as another expensive face lotion "for best results."

Kidney stones, oh kidney stones. I did not know I had these until I was pregnant with Jett and I passed them. At 32 weeks I was hospitalized with major pains and unknown to me, small contractions. I knew I should have gone to the hospital. I woke up in the most excruciating pain from my back to the front. I thought it was a UTI. After taking a prescription, it did not get better within a few hours so I asked to go to the hospital. They took me to labor and delivery and gave me my drip of drugs. I don't remember what they were, but they were amazing. After an ultrasound they saw I had kidney stones. I passed 3 a week later...and it was weird. After I had Jett I was told to go back to my urologist for a follow up. An X-Ray and an MRI showed I still had kidney stones that my urologist said "Are going to get you eventually." Oh joy. There was only one that could be seen in the X ray, so I was not a good candidate for a procedure to remove it. So I'm a ticking time bomb for more excruciating pain someday, could be tomorrow, could be 10 years from now. There is no way of knowing. So what is causing the kidney stones? It could have been something in my diet or something I was not producing. Turns out I have incredibly low citrate levels. Thanks to a 24 hour urine test, they were able to find this. That's right. I pee into a bowl then dump it into a giant container and mix it around after 24 hours. Then I drop the sample off at my doctor's office. An abnormally low citrate level that is concerning is 320...mine was 107. My body does not make enough citrate to prevent the stones from forming. I went on a prescription that I would have to take my entire life. After 3 months and another 24 hour urine test, my doctor saw my pH levels were too high because of the medicine. I didn't like the medicine anyways, so I was fine with stopping. Now I am on magnesium oxide and 2 glasses of Simply Lemonade a day. I am due for another urine test so we will see what is wacky this time. My doctor said this is a lifelong problem and he will see my children grow and I will see his grow. Fabulous.

So I can only credit this all to getting older. I was fine with 30 coming up...now I am terrified what in the heck my body will do next. I mean this is weird stuff. TMI...nah.

Jett's First Haircut

As most moms, I was a little apprehensive to take him, especially at 9 months. I like his long, out of control hair, I always have. That crazy piece of hair that stood straight up from birth until it got too heavy and laid down...was still there. His hair has always made me smile. It's just so him. His hair needed a trim though. It's very fine, so I am not sure how to fix his hair. Not to mention he has a crazy cowlick smack dab in the middle of his head in front. There was no denying he needed the sides and the back trimmed up, so that's what we did. I thought because of his age, I would probably have to hold him the whole time on my lap. I was dreading this because I didn't want all that itchy hair all over me! When he saw the cute cars to sit in, he reached out and I gave it shot and set him there. He was all smiles. He barely knew anyone was cutting his hair. But when he figured it out, he gave the funniest "What the heck are you doing?" look. He handled it like a champ and I got the pictures to prove it. I also asked to keep that piece of hair that means so much to me, so it's mine forever. 

Before

Having fun "driving"

After

His sweet lil piece of hair

July 4th!

So I have majorly slacked on any type of posts that weren't related to one of my children's growth or development. We had such an amazing 4th of July, that I just feel like I need to remember it! We left Wednesday afternoon and headed out to Horseshoe Bay where Kyle's parents have a house right on the water across from the Marriott. Those that knows us, know that this is our happy place. (Besides Cabo) We love going here. We got married here and we take a picture every year in the place where we stood saying our vows just to see how we change and how our family changes over the years. I am so glad we decided to start this tradition. I'll have to post pictures later because I haven't a clue where our camera is since getting back.

The 4th of July is one of my most favorite Holidays. I love the food, the colors, the fireworks, and SPARKLERS. Forget the big expensive ones you can buy at the firework stand, just give me some sparklers and I'm thrilled. This has just always been a fun Holiday for me. What I really love, going to watch the Fireworks, especially on the boat in the middle of the lake. I mean, it just doesn't get any better as far as a fireworks show goes. Icing on the cake, watching it through my son's eyes.

We started the day with a parade right out in front of the Marriott, a quick 2 minute walk from my in laws. Holt wasn't sure why all these nice people were throwing candy to him from their decorated cars and golf carts, but he sure didn't mind either! It was just as entertaining for Jett who happily watched from his Papa's lap or Lala's arms. We enjoyed ourselves. We headed back to the house where Jett took a nap and Kyle and I took Holt out on the Jet-Ski, or "jexsie" as Holt says. Every TCU flag Holt saw around the lake he happily chanted T-C-U! You couldn't wipe the grin off Kyle's face. We headed back in for lunch and I was thrilled to learn Jett napped until after 1! My plan of keeping him out late to watch fireworks was working since he took later naps. I took Jett for a little swim while Holt was napping before putting him down for his afternoon nap. He had a blast splishing and splashing in the baby pool.

After the boy's afternoon naps, we played outside some more and watched Kyle and his dad prepare our annual Crab Boil feast! We had shrimp, crab legs, corn, potatoes, and sausage. We look forward to this every year. The sun was beginning to set so we let Holt see some of the items Kyle picked out for him at the Fireworks stand. I'm not sure what he loved the most, the poppers or the smoke bombs in all colors. Every smoke bomb that was lit immediately became a Superhero to him. Green was Hulk, blue was Captain America, yellow was thing, red was Spiderman and Iron Man. You can see where his head is these days. He got the hang of the poppers too but had a hard time throwing them down hard enough some of time. He was just in complete awe of everything that had gone on this day, and the best was still yet to come!

After an attempt at sparklers, we headed out on the boat. I was a tad nervous about the sparklers and Holt was a tad afraid. We tuned the radio into the right station and watched the show begin. Even Jett was in awe as he laid on Kyle's chest looking up into the sky. He barely made a sound. Holt was having fun making up his own words to songs "Captain America! Captain America!" At least he said America. He did not want the show to end. When it was over we said we had to head back and he said, "And den we will come back in just a little bit-it!" Needless to say both boys slept great that night. It was a 4th of July to remember for sure! I love that Holt is getting old enough to understand the holidays and all the fun stuff that goes along with it!

The rest of the weekend consisted of boat rides, an attempt at tubing, putt putt, fishing, and swimming. We thought Holt would like the tube, and he did until Papa went a little too slow through a wake by another boat and he and Kyle got submerged in the water briefly. Oh the look on his face, heartbreaking. I decided I would ride with them too, it was a two seater. I held onto Holt for dear life so it wouldn't happen again. Tubing is not quite as fun as it used to be I must admit. I find it terrifying now! Haha! Another thing Holt did not enjoy as much as we thought he would, fishing. He enjoyed throwing it out there and reeling it in. He especially liked seeing that he caught a fish. He did not like Kyle trying to take the hook out of the fish's mouth. He saw a little bit of blood and then came the tears. He is really sensitive about that kind of thing. He said, "I don't like fishing because Daddy (insert finger in side of mouth and pull) on the fish and I don't like that."

We were always planning on leaving Saturday afternoon, but we decided that morning that we were having too much fun so we stayed until Sunday. Once we decided that, Kyle and I took Holt to play putt-putt while Jett took his morning nap. It is so fun to see Holt growing and maturing and able to handle fun little excursions like this with us. We enjoy our one on one time with him. Just as much as I enjoy my one on one play time with my littlest munchkin. I am sure Holt appreciates all the attention he gets while we are with him too. Like allowing him to have ice cream for lunch because it's just too hot for anything else!

We had such a wonderful weekend at the lake and we made some incredible family memories that will last a life time!

Jett is 8...uhhh 9 months!

Oh hi everyone. I did not forget that Jett turned 8 months, I just didn't get to blog about it. By the time I had time, I figured what's another few days until he's 9 months. There was not a whole lot of "new" to report really. I've concluded that since my computer is in the office, I don't get to it much. When I have time to myself, I don't come jump on the computer. I just want to do nothing for the 30min-1 hour I might be lucky to get to myself each day. So enough about me, back to my sweet 9 month old baby boy. I can't believe it, 9 months. It's just crazy to me. Jett Paul is the light of my days. He is always happy, happiest on my hip, but very happy. He smiles all the time and absolutely thinks his older brother is the funniest thing on the planet. He is mesmerized sitting back and watching him.

Here are his stats:
20 lbs 4oz (44%)
28.75in (65%)
45.5in head (55%) This shocks me, I could have sworn this kid had a humongous head
Size 4 diapers
12 month clothes (thank goodness I did not buy any 9 month Summer clothes!)
4 bottles/day 6oz 3 times and 8oz at bedtime
2 naps

These past few months Jett has really taken an interest in books. He gets so excited when I pull one out before his naps. He is picky too. I will start reading one and if it is not to his liking he pushes it out of the way and reaches for the next one on my lap. 3 of his faves right now are Fuzzy Yellow Ducklings, Mirror Mirror (A baby Einstein book), and his absolute fave is Brown Bear, Brown Bear. He gets his hands and feet moving in circles and squeals with such delight when this book comes out...or if he picks it out. I love seeing him enjoy books as much as Holt. Holt still loves his books. I was a little afraid I would not have the same amount of time to read to Jett that I did Holt, but I see that won't be a problem now. He's also just recently let me know he would like to read before bedtime. As we sit in his glider he leans over and looks down at his basket with the books, like "Hey Mom, pick one of these up would ya?"

I weaned Jett at 8 months. I was keeping up with it just fine, but just like his brother, he was over it. We made it almost 8 months without a drop of formula. Morning and nighttime were never a problem for us. Daytime feedings were frustrating for both of us. He just did not have the time to sit there for 20 minutes when he could be watching his big brother play! I tried going in another room, turning off the tv, it didn't matter. As long as he could hear anyone else in the room, he was completely distracted. I felt it was more important for him to get proper nutrition and for me to not spend half my day incredibly frustrated that I couldn't get him to nurse. So I was happy to say bye bye breastfeeding. He has done fine with it, the first couple weeks at night he was a little confused even after his bottle, but he didn't lose any sleep over it. He's been sleeping on average 11 hours for quite some time now. There was one rough night, the night before Kyle and I went to New Orleans that he woke up several times. It was the day after I stopped nursing him, but that had nothing to do with it. He just wanted comfort. He didn't even attempt to root around when I went in there, just simply laid his head on my shoulder. That has been the only night we've had a problem. He's a pretty good sleeper at night. His naps are still a little off, but not everyday. A good day for him is an hour in the morning (10-11) and about an hour and half in the afternoon. (2:30-4). That's a good day. Many days it is 30 minutes and I would say on average probably 45 minutes.

Some of the sleep disruptions I think could be the 2 new teeth he had pop up this past month! Much sooner than his brother's first tooth appeared. It has been pretty smooth for him overall. He doesn't seem overly bothered by them coming in, just clingy and cranky, but for the most part he has been fine with it. I can't wait to see them poke up enough to see!

He has also been much more active trying to get around. Holt was a roly poly all over the place from about 6 months on until he could crawl. Jett prefers to just sit and watch. He gets up on all fours and rocks and likes to sit and scoot in circles. He has yet to move from the all fours position into crawling, but I expect it any day now. Holt was also 9 months before he started crawling, so this comes as no surprise to me. One thing about the second baby, you stress much less about milestones and you could also care less to compare with someone else's baby about the same age. In fact, I'm savoring these last few days of him staying where I put him. Before I know, he's going to be into everything! I've been in no rush for him to crawl, haha!

Some more of his faves:
Bathtime with Holt
Watching Bentley
Grabbing Ripping out Mommy's hair
Touching my face as he falls asleep at night
Daddy making him laugh (Jett does this hilarious "old man laugh" as we call it)
Holding his own bottle
Food, especially puffs
Clapping- as soon as he hears someone say "Yay!" or "Clap!" He's happy to show us how.

We are trying more and more table foods. I'm shocked that he mostly just likes to play with them. He picks them up no problem, but has no interest in putting it in his mouth. So much for having this one not be a picky eater! He has yogurt or a stage 2 fruit for breakfast, stage 2 veggie at lunch, and one of those nasty meat with veggie or fruit baby food containers for dinner. I never gave these to Holt because they grossed me out so much, but I think that's where I went wrong with him too. Jett LOVES them. And as I've said before, I plan on making some for him myself so I know more about what is going into them. We will see how far I get on that. I'm not trying to win any Mommy awards here, just keeping them happy and alive is good enough for me.

Jett is a ray of sunshine to everyone that sees him. He is constantly getting compliments on how much he smiles and how happy he is. People are also quick to point out his piercing blue eyes. So blue they are scary sometimes! He's chubby and I love it. I kiss kiss kiss his lil cheeks all day. He wants Mommy to hold him all the time and really no one else. Daddy is ok with this since Holt has just entered his Daddy phase. If Jett sees me, it's all over. He must be picked up or you would think he was being tortured. I get nothing done, but I'm also trying to relish in these moments because before I know it...they will be gone. As my dad calls Jett, Mr. Million Dollar Smile...I couldn't agree more. He's pure awesome, joy, happiness, and love rolled up into my baby boy. I'm blessed.