Happy Thanksgiving!

Our little turkeys!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! We had a great holiday with family and friends. On Tuesday, MJ had a "Thanksgiving Feast" at his preschool. I was in charge of set up with a couple of the other moms - it was such a cute party! MJ's class dressed as pilgrims, and the older 2-year old class dressed up as indians.

"I'm a pilgrim!"

Thanksgiving day was wonderful. I ran the Atlanta Half Marathon that morning and had a blast running in a race for the first time this year! Steve was extremely busy taking care of the boys and cooking the turkey while I ran. We had some of Steve's family and the Dubose (my sister-in-law's family) over for dinner. Steve did TWO turkeys - one fried and one on the Green Egg...both were DELICIOUS!!! I still can't decide which one I liked more.

On Friday morning, my family came over for a champagne brunch. MJ and Ty had so much fun visiting with everyone (as always)!

Here are a few pictures...

Ofcourse, both boys have their hands in their mouths!

YUMMY!!

Champage brunch

Ty wore MJ's old Thanksgiving outfit, so I decided to compare pictures...you can definitely tell that they are brothers!!!!

MJ (3 weeks old at the time of this picture)

Ty (7 weeks old)

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with lots of turkey and pie! GO JACKETS!!!!

Moms on Call

As many of you know, Ty has been a terrible sleeper...Steve and I basically did not sleep for the first month of his life. Last Monday I reached my breaking point. After yet another sleepless night, I decided to do the Moms on Call online seminar. (For those of you interested, you can check out momsoncall.com). They teach a lot about basic baby care, but their specialty is getting your baby to sleep at night. Two words: IT WORKS! I started implementing their method, and Ty now only wakes up once a night to feed. I no longer feel like a walking zombie! So, I just wanted to say THANK YOU, Moms on Call, for making me feel human again!

Last weekend, my parents watched the kids so Steve and I could go to the GT vs Miami game. It was a beautiful day, and it was so nice to actually be able to socialize and watch a football game without chasing a toddler or feeding an infant! I was sad to see Tech lose (again), but we still had a great time.

Granddad and MJ planting flowers for mommy

Ty - 6 weeks old!

MJ is TWO!

Happy Birthday, M.J.!! (eating his birthday biscuit)

MJ turned 2 last Friday (Nov. 5th). I can't believe it! We had a pretty low key day in preparation for his birthday bash on Saturday. We had a Thomas the Train themed party in our backyard, and it was a blast! The kids had fun jumping in the "bouncy house" and playing on the swingset and in the sand box.

Steve had this sign made for the party

Fun in the "bouncy house"

MJ's Thomas cake (It was made by Publix...who knew they made such cute cakes?!). He subsequently devoured two pieces!

Our family on MJ's 2nd birthday

We had a busy weekend between MJ's party, my friend, Carrie's, wedding shower, and the Falcons/Bucs game! Steve's brother, Andrew (who is the long snapper for the Buccaneers) was able to sneak away for a couple hours on Saturday to visit Ty for the first time and wish MJ a happy birthday.

We took MJ and Ty to the pediatrician today for their 2 year old and one month old check-ups, respectively. They are both doing great. MJ is in the 80th percentile for height and weight. Ty has gained TWO pounds in the past 3 weeks - YAY!

Here is a picture of Ty this morning (5 weeks)

October Fun

I just loved this picture of MJ and Ty, so I decided to start the post with it. :)

We have been having a lot of fun (in spite of MANY sleepless nights) the past couple of weeks.
MJ was a "T. Rex" for Halloween, and he had a blast trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. He got scared of some of the decorations (moving skeletons, monsters, etc.), but he powered through. Ty was my little lion and seemed content in the stroller.

MJ had a Halloween party at school, and his class had a "parade" in the parking lot to show off their costumes. Note to self - not a great idea to have a bunch of almost-2-year-olds see their mommies - they all started crying! I felt so bad for the poor teachers. Once I got out of sight, though, MJ was happy to be back in the classroom without me.

Grandma and Grandpa Engle took MJ to a pumpkin patch up in Dawsonville, and he is still talking about it!

We went down to our cabin just south of Griffin last weekend. Steve shot AT a deer...still no luck in the hunting department, but he had a lot of fun. MJ loved the cabin, and he had fun seeing all of the animals. Ty did great on the car ride there and back.
When MJ was 2 weeks old, we took him to the cabin and I took a picture of Steve holding him. I took the same picture this year with Steve and Ty - it's a little scary how similar they are! See pics below.

MJ as T.Rex

Ty the little Lion - the costume was supposed to be 0-3 months, but I swear I could have fit into it! haha

MJ's school parade. Note that he let go of the rope and is headed straight for me!

Grandpa Engle with MJ at the pumpkin patch

Steve and Ty (3.5 weeks old)

Steve and MJ when he was 2 weeks old

Stay tuned...MJ turns TWO tomorrow and we have a big party on Saturday!!!

Goodbye, 20's...Hello, 30!

That's right...I turned the big 3-0 yesterday! I have been dreading this day forever, but now I have decided to own it (well, sort of). I thought I was going to be 9 months pregnant on my birthday, so it was a treat to be able to drink wine and celebrate! Steve and I decided to go out to a romantic dinner - just the two of us - while my mom watched the kids. We went to the 57th Fighter Group Restaurant and had a wonderful view of the planes. I have never been there, so it was really special.

My mom makes my favorite cake (yellow cake with homemade chocolate icing) every year for my bday - it is even more delicious than it looks!

Our family

Ty is 2 weeks old now, and he is doing really well. We went to the pediatrician today, and he has finally gotten back to his birth weight - YAY! I feel so relieved. He is starting to eat more...I just wish I could say the same about his sleeping habits. :)

Here are a few pictures of my boys

MJ giving Ty a kiss

The boys snuggling on the couch

It's a BOY!

Stephan Tyler Economos ("Ty") was born October 5th, 2010 at 5:34pm. He was 6 lbs, 2 oz and 19.5". He was 3 weeks and 2 days early, so we were a little surprised to have him here this soon!

The sequence of events went something like this...

Monday, October 4th: feeling great until late evening.
11:00 pm: GI bug - All. Night. Long.
5:30 am: call in sick to work
8:30 am: call OB's office, schedule appt for 11:00
9:30 am: Uh Oh...did my water just break?!?! Call OB's office again - come in now
10:00 am: Steve meets me in waiting room. "Honey, I think my water broke." The look on his face was priceless
10:30 am: OB checks me - "Yes, your water broke. You are already 4cm dilated and 70%effaced. Congratulations! You are going to have a baby today!" This was quickly proceeded by a few minutes of me freaking out...But, we're not ready yet! The baby isn't even at term! We don't even have a boy's name picked out!
Thankfully, she and Steve were able to quickly calm me down. She assured me that although the baby would technically be a "premie," he/she was far enough along that there was no need to worry.
10:45 am: Walked over to hospital with the family
12:00 pm: Epidural in (God bless anesthesia)
4:30 pm: Steve and I decide on a boy's name (we already had a girl's name picked out)
5:30 pm: Start pushing
5:34 pm: Baby Ty is born!

Our families had a bet on time of birth, sex, weight and length. Steve won!

Mommy and Ty

Ty sleeping in Grandma's arms

All my boys

So peaceful

The family goes home!

MJ is doing really well and is fascinated by "Baby brother Ty." He tries to hold him and kiss him a lot, so we have to watch him like a hawk! Ty needs to gain some weight, so we have been working hard to bulk him up (=sleep deprivation). I have to say, I have not missed my breast pump these past few months. It was hard to bring it out again - a sign that I am a slave to my son's feeding schedule. :)

We are so thankful to have a wonderful family and great friends who have been helping us out the past week!

Stay tuned for more updates on our little family!

An Elk Hunt, A Tribute to Bobby Cox, and...Cankles

Steve went on his annual elk hunt a couple of weeks ago out in Colorado. Unfortunately, for the past 3 years, hubs has been unsuccessful at shooting anything. Therefore, his growing family is starving. We are depending on getting meat from MJ's Uncle Nick (who actually got an elk) to help feed us through the winter.

Aside: sorry I had to announce this to everyone, honey, but you promised me an elk this year!!!

MJ missed his daddy while he was gone, so he wore his shoes around the house every evening..

Daddy - look at me, I was the man of the house while you were gone!

Bobby Cox is retiring this year, and we were fortunate enough to be able to go to his tribute game this past Saturday. It was a beautiful day, and the stadium was absolutely packed. (Unfortunately, the Braves lost to the Phillies 7-0)...Here are a few pictures of the occasion.

GO BRAVES!!

Daddy and MJ

It has been a busy few weeks for the Eco family. My belly is growing bigger by the day, and sleeping is getting more and more sparse (thanks to the multiple contractions and trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night). Here is a belly pic for those of you who have been asking for one!

3 weeks to go!!

At the end of May, Steve and I went to Aruba (I was about 5 months pregnant at the time), and we took this picture...

I miss skinny ankles!

Here are what my cankles looked like by the end of the work day today:

Yikes!

MJ is getting ready to be a big brother, and he asks to "kiss the baby" quite often. He is doing great at preschool, and he is able to tell us what he did during his school day...

Me: "MJ, what did you do at school today?"

MJ: "I saw my friends. I gave them a hug."

Me: "That's very nice. Did you go to the playground?"

MJ: "Yes, I went down the slide."

Me: "Did you color?"

MJ: "I drew an apple with a worm."

I can't believe how much my baby has grown!!!!