Our Brick

I have said this many times, but Covecrest holds a very dear place in my heart and in my family's heart.  There are so many memories that have been made in this special place...I truly feel the Holy Spirit fill me the moment I drive up that gravel road!

Covecrest has grown so much since the first time I ever visited and that just leads me to believe that God sees how special it is too!  One of Covecrest's most recent projects is the Art Barn!  I cannot wait to go and visit again and get all crafty!  But I think I will be more excited to see Our Precious Brick that helped to build up the Art Barn's walls!

I can't help but love seeing my son's name.  Brings tears to my eyes anytime I hear it.  I miss him so much. But I love that I can have so many reminders, and there are never too many, of his time here with me...in me!

Love!

I have absolutely loved watching these two fall in "love" with one another.  When we first brought Evan home, Zoe really could have cared less.  Now that Evan actually interacts with Zoe...she is just smitten with him...and Evan with her!

 Evan watches Zoe's every move...and usually giggles endlessly when she is around.

 Zoe loves to sit right next to him and tickle Evan or do anything to make him laugh...and quickly says, "Mommy, I make him laugh!"  She is so proud!

 And there are always plenty of hugs and kisses...even in the middle of eating a carrot.

I can't wait to watch these two grow together and fall more and more in "love" with each other!

Weaning Woes

Evan is just a little bit over 9 months old.  Since Evan was born, in my mind, I always said I would be really, really happy if we could breastfeed until he was 6 months old!  Well, we made it and have continued strong!  I even had a freezer stash until April which is pretty amazing if you ask me!  But the time for weaning is coming and I have so many mixed feelings....

For the longest time, I was so ready to wean in order to get my flow back, if you know what I am saying...and that was my main reason for weaning earlier than 1 year.  Well...its back...and we are still going!  I am so happy!

But now I can definitely tell that my supply is lessening....and for some reason....it is making me really sad that my breastfeeding days could be coming to an end....why....I could not tell you!

I think there is such a difference in emotions when you choose to stop and when you have no choice and you have to stop.

With Zoe, there was no choice.  With Evan, I could stop at any time if I wanted to.  Evan eats everything under the sun and eats a lot...that is probably why my supply is diminishing and I think I am kind of sad because very soon he will no longer "need" me...the same way he used to.  Silly, I know...but true.

I have so loved breastfeeding Evan!  The time I have spent with him is priceless and irreplaceable!  But...I can't help but think that we are in the process of weaning.

Our night feeding before he goes to bed just isn't cutting it anymore.  For about a week, Evan woke up around 4 and 5 some mornings, just starving.  So we have started to give him an additional 4 oz before bed after our feeding.

My thoughts are that by mid June, we will probably start Evan on half milk/half formula for his afternoon and night feeding and by the beginning of July, have him completely weaned and on all whole milk.

How has time flown so fast....I feel like Evan was just born!

30 & 9

Earlier this week, we had Zoe and Evan's check ups at GPAM.  I scheduled them at the same time...hit two birds with one stone!  I never have issues with appointments and both my kids are pretty chill for the most part, so I knew it would be fine.

Evan went first.  He weighed 17lbs 12oz (10%), is 26.75 inches tall (7%) and has a head circumference of 17.75 inches (43%).  The doctor was a little bit concerned that he hadn't gained much weight in the last 3 months...I very quickly explained to her this kid and his extreme eating habits...she no longer is worried.  One of her other concerns, which has also been one of mine, was Evan lack of reaching certain milestones typical of a 9 month old.

3 main skills the doctor was looking for that Evan is no where near achieving is crawling, pulling up and going from laying down to sitting.  I knew this going into the appointment, so it was no surprise to me.  Dr. Evans referred us to Children's 1st-Babies Can't Wait.  This program sends a physical therapist to your home to evaluate your child and then give you some helpful tips and exercise to get your child on task.  In my heart of hearts, I know Evan will catch up...he is such a content little guy and he is getting stronger and more curious every day...but I am perfecting fine with asking for help and receiving some great advice from professionals on ways to strengthen Evan.

Next was my Zoe Zoo.  Zoe weighed 29lbs (54%) and is 35.75 inches tall (50%).  On the charts, Zoe looks great!  So the doctor started her physical exam.  Anytime a doctor goes silent or pauses...as a mom...your heart starts beating a little bit faster and you just say a little prayer quick!  Well, Dr. Evans listened to Zoe's heart for what seemed like 15 minutes, but was probably 2.  She detected a heart murmur had formed and suggested we see a cardiologist very soon.  She stated that it should be nothing to worry about but just wanted to take the precautions just in case.  I appreciated her referral...but to be honest...it is something you never want to hear...you never want to hear the words 'something is not normal' and 'specialist'!

So I got a lot of not so good news in a very short amount of time.  Definitely not my typical doctor's appointment.

Good News is that we saw the cardiologist the next day.  Zoe does have a murmur, but it is a normal one and one she will eventually grow out of.  We have also been working much more aggressively with Evan since our appointment and I can already see differences in him...so good!

9 Months Old

• Evan wears size 9 month, some 6-9 and some 12 months clothes.
• Evan wears size 3 diapers, but probably will be in size 4 very soon.
• Evan wears a size 2 shoe.
• Evan goes to the doctor tomorrow and we will have all his stats then.

• Evan breastfeeds right when he wakes up, at Noon and right before bed.
• Evan eats like a machine!  You cannot feed this kid fast enough...if he sees food, he will cry until it is in his mouth.
• Evan eats everything....to list all the things he has tried this past month would go on forever.  Anything we have eaten this month, he has eaten.  We do not smash his food up anymore, just break into smaller bites.  His gums are extremely strong.
• Evan has no teeth.

• Evan sleeps great and has only had a couple nights where he has woken up this past month.  Once you give him his pacie, he is right back out.
• Evan wakes between 6-6:30am, takes a nap around 8, another nap around 12 at the same time as Zoe and his last nap is between 4-5 depending on the day.  Bedtime is around 7pm
• Evan loves his pacie and blanket when he sleeps.  He covers himself with his blanket...it is so sweet!
• Evan sleeps on his side or tummy.

• Evan sits like a champ and doesn't ever fall back.
• Evan rolls great and moves constantly when on his tummy.
• Evan just recently showed signs of crawling by pulling his knees up closer to his body.  He is so content and just happy where he is.
• Evan has started to move his way to items he wants when he is on his tummy...he will roll and stretch to get things he wants and move little by little until he gets to the toy.

• Evan loves to be sung to!
• Evan loves his lullaby music that we play for him at night from his glow worm or elephant.
• Evan LOVES his pacie and plays with it constantly...even uses it as a teething toy.
• Evan gets compliments all the time about how good of a baby he is...he is so chill and easy to please!
• Evan is such a snuggler and it is the sweetest thing ever!

• Evan loves Zoe...he watches her all the time and is constantly giggling at her every move.  His favorite thing she does is when she jumps off her chair onto the floor.
• Evan loves to sit in his Bumbo...probably because he knows when he is sitting in it, he gets fed.
• Evan loves to sit on the floor and pull toys out of a basket...over and over.
• Evan scratches when he gets really tired...it is calming for him.

• Evan has brown hair.
• Evan has greenish hazel eyes...very similar to his Daddy's.
• Evan has a deep voice and he talks the most when getting his diaper changed...his favorite phrase is 'DaDa'...of course!
• Evan loves to blow raspberries and spit everywhere!
• Evan loves bath time and does really well when Zoe pours a ton of water on his head.

• Evan smiles with his whole face!
• Evan has the most adorable little nose!
• Evan had his first formula bottle this month.
• Evan likes to be rocked now before bed and has started to put up a little bit of a fight.

I am so blessed by my Evan!  He is such a joy every day...can't imagine life without him!

Happy Mother's Day!

 What a wonderful weekend!  I hope you all had a great Mother's Day!  I just love days like today that focus on the gifts God gives us and Motherhood is truly a gift...something never to be taken for granted! 

Rickey and Zelda were able to come up for the weekend!  I knew I would have a busy couple days helping at the flower shop and anytime we need help...Grandma and Grandaddy are always so willing to make the trip and are such an awesome help!  I love having them so close that my kids can see them often and spend some one on one time with them!

 I got to work at A Daisy A Day all weekend and I had so much fun.  The women at the shop are so much fun and the atmosphere is so enjoyable.  Plus, I love meeting people and talking to everyone...I know...big surprise.  

 After a busy weekend, we got to enjoy a relaxing dinner at our favorite family restaurant...Taco Mac!  Wings and Beer...yes please!

 Today was so nice, too!  We went to Mass this morning...unfortunately the nursery was not open today...so it wasn't as relaxing of a Mass as I had intended.  But still rejuvenating all the same.  After Mass, we stopped for a Mother's Day treat at Starbucks for my favorite Toffee Nut Latte!

 We ate lunch at The Foster House with Grandma and Grandaddy and Cory and Kimberly to celebrate.  Can we say YUM!?!  Southern style buffet was beyond perfect...topped off with banana pudding for dessert!  Heavenly!

 Are these two not just precious!?!

What a wonderful weekend spent with family and friends!

A BIG Happy Mother's Day to my Mom!  Can't believe how blessed I am by you each and every day!  

Busy, Busy

So much going on in the Phillips House this weekend!

I have been busy working hard at A Daisy A Day learning all the ins and outs!  This weekend we are celebrating Mother's Day and our largest local high school, Brookwood's Prom...the phones haven't stopped, walk in traffic is out the door and the delivery vans haven't parked for days!  It is so much fun!

Our Evan turned 9 months yesterday and I have a post full of fun details about him for Monday!

Also, Zach parents were able to visit this weekend and celebrate Mother's Day with us and Cory and Kimberly, which is really special!  We are headed to The Foster's House from Lunch on Sunday to celebrate!

What is Zoe Zoo Up To?

• Zoe is 2 1/2 years old
• Zoe is so close to potty training...Mommy just isn't quite ready yet!
• Zoe is wearing size 2T clothes and still some 24 month.
• Zoe wears whatever size diaper is lying around...at this time size 3 or 4
• Zoe weighs 28 lbs!
• Zoe is a great sleeper...She goes to sleep around 8 and wakes up around 7-7:30.  She also still takes a nap for 2 hours.  I will be one sad Mama when she gives this up!

• Zoe loves to be outside!  Her favorite thing to do right now is ride her bike down our driveway.  She will do it over and over again!  Such a daredevil.
• Zoe loves water!  She plays in the sprinkler anytime it is one and is swimming great in the pool!  The floaty we have for her allows her to jump in by herself and swim everywhere on her own...and she loves it!
• Zoe loves to eat!  She will eat just about everything...but typically asks for ice cream and cake!
• Zoe has gorgeous blue eyes and beautiful bleach blonde hair!

• Zoe loves to dance!  She asks us to dance with her all the time and she will hold our hand and spin around.
• Zoe's Ballet Class is the highlight of our week.  She begs to go to ballet!
• Zoe loves to sing and her microphone is usually a flashlight.  Zoe also has a play guitar and she loves to play it and loves for us to play it, too!
• Zoe would color or paint all day long!
• Zoe loves for songs to be sung to her in the car...and she will let you know very fast if you are singing the wrong song by screaming 'Stop Mommy' and raising her hand!

• Zoe knows all her letters, their sounds and an animal that goes with that letter (thanks Leap Frog).
• Zoe knows her numbers but we are still working on keeping them in the right order.  When she plays, you can hear her counting everything in sight!
• Zoe knows all her colors and many shapes!
• Zoe is learning her right and left right now.  She helps Mommy and Daddy drive.  When we need to turn right or left, we raise our specific hand and scream 'Left, Left, Left'...she loves it!
• Zoe loves to play with our nesting alphabet blocks.  She builds towers with them and we has to find the next three letters...she also likes to place the blocks on the ground and make tracks for the train.
• Zoe is starting to play by herself more...but she would rather have Mommy or Daddy right beside her at all times.

• Zoe has definitely hit her terrible twos...everything is 'no, Mommy, no Daddy', we see an occasional tantrum and Zoe has made great friends with Time Out.
• Zoe loves to do everything by herself.  She has started dressing herself in the mornings and if you dare try to put on her shoes...she will put you right in your place.  She also loves to buckle herself in the car.
• Zoe loves to play dress up!
• Zoe says 'I love you, Mommy' all the time and my heart melts!
• Zoe requires a kiss for every 'boo boot' and it has to be in the exact spot that hurts or she will make you kiss again!

• Zoe always knows where we are when we are in the car...when we pull into our street she says 'home', when we pull into Chick-fil-a she screams 'chicken or play', she knows our friends house and other locations we got to a lot, like the flower shop, the park, ballet class.
• Zoe knows all her cousins and aunt and uncles names and she pairs them together with the right families.  She asks if we are going to see people by saying 'Carson Colin' or 'Ian and Tucker' or 'KK CC'...I love that she knows and loves all her family so much!  She even knows the dogs she sees when she visits Grandma's house.
• Zoe is crazy scared of bugs...if she sees one, she shakes and makes a crazy face!  It could be a wasp or a teeny tiny ant...and she freaks!

• Zoe is finally smiling for the camera!  But she will throw up that hand and scream stop if she has had enough.
• Zoe's favorite show is still Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Numbers and Letters (LeapFrog DVDs).
• Zoe has learned how to procrastinate bedtime like a pro...more hugs, more kisses, water, another book...it is so funny!
• Zoe finally can sleep with people in the same room...and has been asking to sleep in Mommy's bed a lot lately! 

• Zoe loves to play with cars and trains.  She always build roads and tracks for them out of anything that will lay flat!  She also has started playing with her babies more and her people dollhouse.
• Zoe is doing great with her prayers and we now can sing grace before meals.  She almost has the Sign of the Cross down...she can say Father, Son, Holy Spirit...she just points to the wrong parts...it is so cute!
• Zoe says Hi to Jesus every time we go to Church.  There is a gorgeous crucifix right when you drive into our church parking lot.
• Zoe loves big kids!  We are so lucky to have awesome neighbors...Bridget is in middle school and lives two house down and comes and plays with Zoe all the time.  Our neighbor across the street has 2 nieces, Peyton and Reagan, and Zoe asks to play with them constantly!  We have quite the social butterfly on our hands.

• Zoe loves her brother!!!  She is always trying to make Evan giggle and she is starting to share with him!
• Every morning, if Evan isn't up, and after naps, Zoe wants to go get him and she climbs up his crib to say hello.
• Zoe wants Evan to go where ever she goes...
• Zoe still sucks her thumb and is quite attached to her pig pillow pet and 'ho ho' Santa blanket.
• Zoe has learned to make her tongue a hot dog.
• Zoe has no patience...none and she is very persistent!
• Zoe is a talking machine..she says anything and everything...she articulates great and is really starting to describe things more and more!

I just love this kid so much!  Zoe is so fun and loving and I am really blessed by her and her little personality every day!  I jsut love watching her grow and seeing what each day brings!

Ruffles

I think the ruffles really make a difference, don't you?

This picture oh so perfectly sums up my shopping experience yesterday!

I went bathing suit shopping...

I have been so looking forward to spring and summer...to spend more time outside without a chill in the air...yet I in no way, shape, or form have been looking forward to the attire that is necessary during these warmer months.

Don't get me wrong...I have come a long way in these last 9 months...well really 30 months since my first born arrived.  Out of the past 30 months, I have either been pregnant or breastfeeding for all but 2...2 my friends!  For the last 3 summers, I have been pregnant.  It has been okay to be huge and wear whatever was comfortable at the time...it was okay to let me belly hang out!  Ya...not so okay now.

Like I said...I have come a long way in these last 9 months...I have lost 27 lbs since August....but standing in the dressing room yesterday reminded me very quickly that I have a long way left to go.  

I just long to feel comfortable in my skin.  I don't care the number on the scale...I just want to feel comfortable!

Yesterday, I bought a bathing suit with ruffles...that is not quite my comfort zone.  Let the hard work begin! Again!

Blast From the Past!

Do you remember these!!?!?!

Oh the memories...I loved these things growing up and I had no idea they were Tupperware until I saw them in our May Sale Flyer!

Say goodbye to the ice cream truck...and say hello to making your own yummy Lollitops Popsicles!

www.my.tupperware.com/rbphillips

Where did this week go!?!

I cannot believe it is already Friday....so happy....but this week FLEW!

We were busy bees this week playing with all our friends and staying outside all day long!  The weather here in Georgia has been perfect and you just can't help but bask in it!

Last Saturday we met up with The Koerner's at Suwanee Town Center to play in The Fountains!  The kids had an absolute blast....Greggie's face sums up the experience!

We packed up dinner and ate picnic style on the lawn...it was so nice!  Dessert....can't pass up some Yogli Mogli!

Sunday we headed to Mass at Prince of Peace and every time we go...I fall more and more in love with the community!  This past Sunday was Good Shepherd Sunday.

I am the good shepherd,
and I know mine and mine know me,
just as the Father knows me and I know the Father;
and I will lay down my life for the sheep.

Fr. Eric's Homily was fabulous!  He started by asking each of us if we knew the people to our left, right, behind us, in front...nope!  I grew up in the Catholic Church and it doesn't matter which one you attend...all in the Atlanta area are large...very large!  And I love that...but it means you have to put forth effort in getting to know people, really make relationship...sometimes come out of your comfort zone and that is what Fr. Eric called each of us out on.  So Zach and I met all the people around us and it was AWESOME!  There was a couple behind us, the wife was Kelly, and they had a daughter a little older than Zoe and a newborn!  There was a older couple...my grandparents age and the man laughed just like my PopPop!  Come to find out his name was Tom...warmed my soul!  Fr. Eric continued to talk about the importance of community and how God has called us to be communal people!  Loved every minute of his Homily!

Monday, Zach and I were so blessed to be asked to be part of a parent panel for a new ministry in the Archdiocese of Atlanta called embrace.  embrace is a ministry to help families who have suffered infant loss through miscarriage, stillbirth or infant death.  The workshop we attended on Monday was to help educated clergy on ways to better minister to these families.  It was so therapeutic going and telling everyone about our sweet Oliver, expressing how The Church was helpful and where they could have helped more.  After the parent panel, so many men, priests and deacons, came up to us and thanked us, cried with us, prayed over us...it was truly beautiful!  And it is so clear that Zach and I are right where we belong and God is leading us to do good and to use our Little Oliver for His Glory!

Tuesday was back to the Fountains in Suwanee to play with Carson and Colin!  So much fun!  Tuesday night was our Rally for Tupperware and I was #10 in sales for consultants for our district.  I was so excited!!!  And I learned a very valuable point that many of you might be able to take with you if you are in the home sales business.  I need to stop seeing myself as a pest to people.  I am offering my customers one of the most known, reliable and loved products in the history of the US.  Sales are sales....and they can be tough, but if I stay positive and realize that I am partying with these people to show them an amazing product and I chose this route so I could stay home with my children...those two reasons are good enough for me and will keep me going!  Stay Positive!

Wednesday we played with Greggie and Ria in their fun backyard!  I am learning that Zoe doesn't really like to be hot...and she was begging to go inside.  Can we say Girly Girl!?!  Not sure where she got that from because you could not get me in the house at the end of the day when I was little.  Wednesday night I hosted an Initials party for a woman from Church.  Their products are so cute and my list was a mile long!  It was nice to have the girls over to some drinks and dessert!

Thursday we ran around all day with errands and grocery shopping.  And we had dinner with friends at our house and just had a blast playing outside in Zoe and Evan's new sandbox!  Can;t wait for our deck to be done so we can lock the back gates and just play in the backyard for hours and hours!

How is it that my days just seem to fly right by?!?!  Does this happen to you, too!?!

Happy Friday....Hello Weekend!!!