Living in FL and updates on the boys

Just found this unfinished post from January.  I'm not going to finish it because I don't remember that far back!!!  So when reading this keep in mind that it is from January and Anderson is not six months old anymore....

The boys and I went to Honey Grove for a visit before moving to FL, and were able to show off Anderson to all of the family who hasn't met him yet. We were even able to make it down to Santa Anna to see Grams and Grammy. While we were doing our Texas travels Chance, Grampy, and Bella were driving from Arkansas to Florida. The boys and I were supposed to fly to FL on Oct. 22, our flight ended up being cancelled (and our bags were lost), and we were finally reunited with Chance and Bella on the 23rd. Flying with both boys by myself was easier than expected even though the flight attendants were less than helpful. We're living outside of Fort Lauderdale, and Florida is beautiful!

Anderson is growing like a weed. He will be six months old on the 16th, and I can not believe it! At his five month check-up he weighed 15 lbs 1 ounce and was 26 1/4" long. He was recently diagnosed with GERD, and is now on Zantac twice a day to help him feel better. It is certainly working! He has gone from waking every 2-3 hrs at night to (as of last Tues) waking only for one feeding or not at all until 5 or 6am!! It has been amazing to get more than two hours sleep at a time. After repeatedly failing OAE hearing screens we took him to Boca for ABR testing. Thankfully, all looked ok with the ABR testing, and it seems that he doesn't have hearing loss. Now we just have to get him to pass the OAE. He will be retested in February. He has such a sweet demeanor and loves laughing at his big brother and Bella. He has started using his exersaucer and jumperoo and likes both in small spurts. He is also content in his Bumbo for a few minutes. Mostly, he wants to be held. He has his two bottom teeth, and tried cereal for the first time a week or so ago. He was not a fan, so we're going to try again later. Last night he tried using a sippy cup for the first time and loved it! I have been letting him take sips out of my water bottle for a while, and he always shouts for more. He can roll from belly to back, but not back to belly. He loves to sit up, but isn't able to do it without assistance yet. He has finally gotten to the point where he doesn't scream while he's taking a bath. He sleeps best in his Nap Nanny swaddled tightly. Well, honestly, he sleeps best swaddled tightly being held, but we can't hold him constantly.

Everett turns four and we're moving!

On September 13th Everett turned four years old. My how time has flown by! We had his birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese the Saturday before his birthday and he was surrounded by his family and friends. Nana, Zach, Blayne, Uncle Lee, Aunt Lanita, Grampy, Chinah, Grace, and Chinah's boyfriend, Preston, all came in from Texas from the party. He had a 3D Toy Story cake and received lots of awesome presents! He had so much fun!! On his actual birthday Chance was off work so we planned a special day for him. He wanted to go to Larry's Pizza for lunch and The Wonder Place for play. We even let him eat cake for breakfast. :) Lately he wants to know what everything is made out of, what people's second (middle) and other (last) names are, and how to spell everything. He is very helpful with his little brother and talks pretty much non-stop.

In other news, the Horner family will be moving near Miami, FL in October. Chance received a great job offer down there. We're excited and know that it is a great opportunity, but we're also very sad to leave all of the wonderful people we have grown to love in Little Rock.

Everett's Eye Appointment and New Glasses

In August Everett went back to the Opthamologist for a check up. Dr. Lowery said that his eyes have improved some, but that he did need a slightly stronger glasses prescription. He also told us that we can do the eye drops in the left eye only once a week instead of the left eye only once a week and both eyes once a week. Overall, Dr. L was very pleased with his progress. We left ACH and went to the optical to pick out new glasses. I think he's absolutely adorable in them. He looks so much older!!

Everett is a big brother!

On August 16 at 1:37 pm Everett became a big brother to Anderson Dean. Anderson weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces and was 21 1/4" long. At their first meeting, Everett proclaimed that "He's adorable" and "He looks just like me". Everett has been absolutely wonderful with Anderson and we couldn't ask for a better big brother for him.

Sugar Free Allstars

Last week we went to the local library to watch the Sugar Free Allstars perform. They're a kid-friendly duo that sing fun, silly songs. Everett had SO much fun and danced the entire time. Here's a picture of him breaking it down.

4th of July 2011

On Monday evening Chance, Everett and I went to Lake Willastein to watch the fireworks show. E loved it and proclaimed that "I am brave because I'm not even scared". The show was really awesome and we were close enough to the fireworks that with the breeze we were sprayed with ash. We came home and let E do some sparklers and set off a few other low key fireworks. Bella was a complete and utter mess the entire day from all of the fireworks that were set off.

Everett is growing quite independent these days. He can totally dress himself head to toe, can get in and out his car seat and the car. He even likes to wash himself up in the bathtub some nights. He is totally potty trained and only wears a pull-up or diaper for nap and bedtime. He has been doing many of these things for a while, but it just hit me lately that he's so grown up. It will be nice that he's growing independent after the baby comes, but right now it's pretty bittersweet. While we're going down the list of things he can currently do he can also spell his name. :) He's excited about his baby brother coming and frequently asks when we're going to "get him out".

In other family news, I'm currently 33 weeks pregnant. We had a bit of scare of Thursday that ended up with me being in L & D in preterm labor. I was having contractions a good portion of the day and they weren't letting up so we went in. They got progressively worse so I had four shots of Brethine and an oral dose as well as an IV. They finally let up some and spaced way out so I was able to go home. They did a fetal fibronectin test to determine whether or not I'll go into labor in the next two weeks, and thankfully it was negative so it looks like Anderson is staying put until I'm at least 35 weeks. We're shooting for full term (37 weeks +) though. I'm still having contractions pretty regularly, but as long as I'm off of my feet they're pretty manageable. It may be a long four weeks!

Hearts on Wheels

Last weekend Everett, Chance, and I went to Hearts on Wheels. Hearts on Wheels is a local Congenital Heart Disease Awareness event held at War Memorial Stadium. It was hosted by the American Heart Association and Dr. Kimberly Skelley, a fellow heart mom who also happens to be a pediatrician at the clinic Everett goes to, All For Kids Pediatrics. Chance brought his work gear and shot some video to put together a package to get the word out about CHD's. This meant that I didn't have any help with E, but he did a fabulous job on the story.

Everett had a blast in the tricycle race, dancing with the people from Radio Disney and the giant heart, and running around on the football field (it's the field that the Razorbacks play on when they're in LR). It was really neat being able to see kiddos who has been through similar situations as Everett, but it was also really emotional. I caught myself getting choked up a couple of times.

In other news, we had a fetal echocardiogram for baby boy #2 and based on everything they could see he is completely heart healthy! Woot!! He was SUPER active during the sonogram and the tech had to use both hands on the transducer while the doctor did the buttons to get the pictures that they needed. This little guy is quite the mover. Chance felt him move for the first time just a couple of weeks after I did for the first time, and at this point you can see him doing all kinds of crazy moves on the outside of my belly. I will be 28 weeks pregnant on Tuesday. I'm finally to the point where I'm not constantly nauseous which is nice. Other than being extremely tired I'm feeling pretty well.

Watch Chance's coverage of Hearts on Wheels below: