Life Lately!

As per usual, I have done a poor job of keeping the blog updated. So prepare for some rambles.

easter morning

We've been super busy. A major factor was the wreck I was in about 6 weeks ago. The long story short of it is that I went through a yellow light, t-boned a car that was turning, and it totaled my car. Her insurance has accepted liability for the wreck but I haven't gotten money yet. We had to buy a new car because it was the only vehicle we had that the kids could ride in. We were not prepared for that kind of expense. We financed all of it. It's an 07 toyota with over 100000 miles on it, so the rates, regardless of my 800 credit score were terrible. So I started tutoring 4 nights a week to make some fast cash. It's helping, but it sucks to have to be away during the dinner hour. I know it's tough on my husband to have to come straight home from work and be thrown into only caretaker at home role (also making his work day much tougher because he literally can't stay late even if he wanted to because he has to get home to watch our kids). I know this is a middle class, stay at home mom problem, so I don't expect any pity. I am still working for Happy Family about 30 hours a month, and trying to make other cash as I can. My mom suggested I advertise that I would do other family's ironing....but ironically I'm like the only one that still irons. My friends joke about it.

If I could keep G this age forever, I would. She's pretty much perfect and I am super lucky. She's respectful, funny, sweet, caring, and smart. But she still does get selfish sometimes, and does throw some diva fits but it's really totally manageable.
She is doing great at her sight words and working on adding. I'm trying to help her practice saying the hard g and k sounds. She's not able to do it--she always sticks her tongue up like for a duh and tuh sound. If she hasn't figured it out by fall, I guess we'll do speech through the public school. We are going to start her in official kindergarten this fall (homeschool). I also taught her how to play the card game "war" this weekend. That's a subject in homeschool right? Part of socialization, right next to paper rock scissors. That's another thing we've taught both the kids. Life with a 4 and 2 year old is pretty fun.

J is a little less difficult than he was a month ago, so that's positive. He sometimes (versus rarely) stays in his bed--but naps are still tough initially. His vocabulary has exploded but his pronunciation and others' ability to understand him are still bad. He knows his colors about 90% of the time, and a few letters. They are proving to be challenging because he's less interested and I have less time to just sit around with him and casually play. Second child probs. I've considered putting him in 'gym school' like G goes to now in the fall, and using that time to hit some serious home school lessons with her. She'd be pretty jealous, I bet though, so obviously I'm looking for some enrichment program for her. Right now my top choice is a nature school once a week. J is also very sweet. Yesterday he shared the elmo snack cup with G, even though I gave it to him. She was having a diva moment about not getting it, and after he realized that she was sad, he handed it over to her. I melted. He also gives the best hugs and kisses. Sometimes if I snuggle him to tightly he says, "mush! mush!" (smushed!! smushed!) and it's really the most adorable thing ever. He is super bright (even if not interested in learning letters), and I caught him 'reading' brown bear brown bear to himself before nap today. He understands patterns, routines, and is getting quite good at puzzles. He plays pretend so well and takes turns better than any other 2 years old I've seen (aside from G).

After all of the baby shower sweets and foods in early March, we decided to do another Whole 30 to bounce back from the yucky feelings physically and mentally from so much junk. It's been a lot easier this time around, but we are both pretty much done with being so strict. Yesterday was Easter and I made us a paleo fudgy brownie for our 'treat.' It was made with whole 30 compliant foods, but the presentation of it as a brownie is really not allowed on the whole 30 program. I'm not sad about it, because it means we didn't eat like crap or have tons of Easter candy, as in years past. So if nothing else, the sweetened with dates treat gave us a sense of some kind of tradition.

The husband's job is keeping him quite stressed, but he's managing it well. I think not drinking (due to whole 30), has really helped him figure out that he doesn't need it to manage stress. I'm sure there are times when he really just wants a drink, but he deals with it and is stronger for it. So I'm proud of him there :-) We thought we might be moving back to California, but that doesn't look like it'll be happening anymore.

I'm feeling stronger than ever, and happy with myself (not really my abs, but I know that's vain so trying to ignore the nagging mental hang up about them). My faith is at an all time high, and there's no going back there. Far from perfect, it's a life long journey toward holiness.

Speaking of.. How crazy do you think we'd be if we went to Philadelphia in September for the Pope's visit?? I mean. He's so awesome, truly radiates God's good news, and we both would love to go see him in person and experience all of the faithful people there too. And we'd want to take the kids, because....how awesome is that for them!? But A) money and B) that's crazy.

Other things we've been up to;
home improvements
gym time
park time
bike rides
planning our future

see more easter photos below!

opening easter presents that grandma and grandpa sent

throwing easter grass while wearing tiara grandma sent

The latest happenings

Basically my kids have been sick in some form or fashion since the middle of October...so that's been....awesome.

stomach flu
runny nose
cold
flu
rsv

hoorah!

I've been sick twice (I started the stomach bug in early October and had a cold or the flu over Thanksgiving), and my husband once. The kids just can't seem to get out from under it. We've had brief periods of health, and I use that term lightly, but 85% of this winter has been confined to our home with snot rags, sick juice, and TV. Ugh.

I know that it's "good" for the immune system to be boosted, and we are "due" because last winter there was one round of colds after the birthday party / baptism weekend, but that was all since we were homebound. I tried to be relatively homebound this year, but I guess you either are or you aren't because going to target doesn't count as being homebound and clorox wipe or not, there's millions of germs floating around that store and anywhere else we went....even if it wasn't some indoor play center. Heck, maybe those woulda been cleaner.

My life looks like this;
 
Run. Cook. Wipe noses and butts. Breastfeed. Watch TV. Work (I worked 50+ hours this month! money FTW!!!!). Attempt to visit friends, but generally lose on that due to illness. Attempt to go on a date but that hasn't happened due to illness. Go grocery shopping. Go to church when we aren't sick. Attend a few meetings. Go to the doctor. Oh, and I went to the dentist once. Woooooo!

Since I last updated you we celebrated my husband's birthday. That was nice, though it was supposed to be nicer with the date night attempt I mentioned above that still hasn't happened. Such is the life of a parent. He also kind of got hurt running and trying to be a general badass by beating my on our 9 mile training run. It's been almost 2 weeks since he last ran and I'm starting to worry he won't be prepared for the marathon. I really don't want to run alone...

G has gone through periods of awesome behavior and then crappy behavior. I'd like to think I'm doing a rockstar job of rolling with the punches, and have only really yelled once in MONTHS, so that's cool. I credit Daniel Tiger, The Orange Rhino Blog post I read, internal motivation that I don't want to model bad behavior and GOD above through prayer and intervention. Sometimes you just have to kill 'em with kindness and that's what I've been trying to do. We do discipline, but try to do all things with love. We are Christians, ya' know.
I also read St. Gianna's book (seen here Saint Gianna Molla: Wife, Mother, Doctor). Even if you aren't Catholic, it has a great message of being a better wife, mother, human....My husband has been reading it too, very motivating.
So back to G. Well, she's working on handwriting, because I feel like once she can write, at least a little bit, official homeschooling will begin. I'm beginning to feel more and more out of place with 'preschool' conversations because she's not going anywhere and won't be. I wish people wouldn't judge me for that. She'll be socialized just fine, thanks. I'm not crazy. I asked her today if she wanted me to be or teacher or someone else and she said me, so there's that :-)
She does want to go to a "school" / "somewhere else" for school, so I guess I'll have to work on that one.

She didn't used to get confused with "b" and "d" but out of no where she has started to. And also "6" and "9"

celebrating her besties birthday

She totally used to know those apart....maybe she's got dyslexia, or has too much swimming around her brain nowadays. I don't want to diagnose her since I'm not a doctor, but I'm pretty sure she has sensory issues and may even be on the ASD, but not nearly enough for treatment. Especially since it is such a broad spectrum (I think nearly any kid could fall on it KWIM?). She's definitely not a truly typical kid though, but we've known that since she was a baby. Even my mom pointed out how quirky she is when G was only like 8 months old or something. Basically I am her mom, and I see her all the time. I also see a lot of other kids her age, and I know she's not like them in weird ways. Not that I think that's bad, and I'm certainly not seeking out treatment, because I think she has to develop her own personality and learn to manage her quirks. If there was something debilitative, sure, but in my opinion, there's not. What quirks you might ask.... well she's just extreme on so many things. OCD like, emotional overload like, extremely amazing memory....IDK I can't explain it, she's generally a sweet preschooler just weird, in an okay way. I love her to the end of the universe and back though. She is beautiful and makes me feel so happy.
Wow...got on a tangent there.

sick faces:-(

So J... he's doing really well despite his sicknesses. He's walking a lot at home these days, but not 100% of the time, and not when we are out and about for me to go get him some stride right shoes. That is on my to do list though. I can't wait for spring to get here so we can all go play in the yard together. Last spring was kind of a wash, because he had to be held when we were outside, and that's not as fun!
He has some "words." He'll say (in his own baby speak way) "bite"(which my husband unfortunately started him on as meaning "more food") "all done" "bath" "bed" "momma" "dadda" "ahh" (maybe G's name??) "bye" and "yeah"
He's getting a bit of an attention span FINALLY. He will read books for a little bit, and even has a few favorites (Sesame Street Nighty Night and a Colors slide-the-door book). He's not too interested in G's shows yet aside from the songs, and easily gets bored with toys (and moves between them quickly). He loves musical things and kid songs. He tries to write/color, but still tries to put them in his mouth, so it's a supervised activity only. He likes turning light switches, pushing buttons (like on the food processor), and being as "helpful" as I'll let him. He is OBSESSED with the dishwasher. He has sat on the potty a few times, but never gone (it was just because it's sitting right there next to the tub). He LOVES his blankey but doesn't have a lovey other than that. He's much more of a climber than G ever was, and he's much more curious (Whereas she was more likely to size things up from afar, he must try it to find out). He's still sitting rear facing, still nursing over night, and still my baby boy. I wouldn't change that for the world. XOXO.

Thankful

Today I am thankful for;

Heaters.

Last night my husband was complaining about how much the heater was running because of how high our gas bill will be. I gently said, "well...I'm just thankful we even have a heater on a night like tonight."

My kids love for each other.

They are so sweet together and the best thing we ever did for G was have J. They are so fun to watch & I'm very grateful they are getting old enough to entertain themselves together.

Downton Abbey.

So I know season 4 started last night but my husband and I just signed up for our free amazon prime trial so we could watch season 3...two episodes in one night because it's just that good. We both really like the show so it's nice to have that together time :)

And now just a PSA for myself and all you out there who made resolutions. You are not a number on a scale or item of clothing. I caught myself thinking negative things today, looked up to see my daughter looking at me and smiling while we played on the floor. I instantly told myself I'm better than negative body image and kept on playing with her. 

For posterity

Today when I was getting the kids settled for nap time.... J crawled up onto bed with G and gave her the best snuggles and kisses. He, for once in his life, was not being rough at all, no hair pulling or anything. It was SO sweet. I just kept watching them be snuggley and wished I could get a photo if it but I knew if I left, the moment would be gone.

So I'm here writing it down so I can remember it always. J would give open mouth cheek kisses and then put his cheek against G's cheek; they would both look at me with angel eyes and I felt so much joy. 

They are so good for each other & I'm glad to be their mom. 

Best part? G said,  "j wants to sleep in my bed ! Take nap here!"

I melted, but then took him to his room lol

Maybe when he wouldn't fall out of her toddler bed, but doubtful because they'd be too rambunctious!

Moments like those make all the challenges worth it because you can't have the good without the bad.

J is ONE! Chondradysplasia Punctata is mild.

I blogged way more through G's first year of life, but that is just the nature of being a new SAHM...you need to vent more, you are less certain, you have more time.


J hasn't been shorted in any way, shape, or form; aside from less face time on this blog...and I do not think that's a bad thing.

He's doing so amazingly well. He is super smart, super funny, and super sweet. He's a really happy and friendly boy. He wants to be the center of attention and is very investigative. He wants to be BIG really bad, and just the other day he climbed into the toy basket. I have no idea how! He's been known to get into the pantry and pull out cereal too. His latest mischief is climbing into G's bed and reaching onto her night stand to get whatever he can reach. (throws hands up, I can't win!)

As a one year old, J is;

• about 21 pounds and a bit under 29" -- he's in 12 month clothes and size 3 diapers when he wears a disposable.
• he has 4 top teeth and 3 bottom teeth (working on the other 1 for the past month now - boooo)
• He sleeps from about 9 pm to 6 am ish, eats, and back to bed until around 9 am ish
• He sleeps with a blanky, but doesn't really have a lovey, nor does he suck his thumb.
• He is nursing before nap, before bed, once overnight, and 1-2 other times.
• He eats BLD and a snack usually
• His favorite foods are cheese (but we think he's sensitive to dairy), puffs/rice cakes, pears, shredded chicken, and peeled/sliced grapes.
• His favorite toy is MY PHONE (that is a no no) or G's fan and music box and shoes (all no no's), so his favorite 'allowed' toy is the Elmo music thing, or stacking cups. That about sums him up--music and investigation. I wonder if he'll be "left brained" as he grows up. 
• For early Christmas from my in laws, he got a baby "computer" and he LOVES IT.
• No favorite show, he doesn't care about the TV, unless it's the remote, then he's totally into that.
• His favorite person is momma :-) :-) but he loves almost anyone as long as he's in a good mood. He's started pushing G away if I am hugging/snuggling her, so that's developmental but still sad.
• When daddy sings 'row row row your boat,' he tries to sing along. He has also tried to say "I love you," in baby speak, of course. Speaking of daddy, he's trying to teach J the parts of the body and sometimes J gets it right, but not all the time ;-)
• He says "upp uppp uppp" and "nananana" and "dadadada" and a few other correct sound references. I'm counting dada as his first word and up as his first non family word.
• He has hit all developmental milestones, including making 2-3 block towers! We are so blessed.

He vocalizes some, points all the time, creeps along walls/furniture, has taken a few steps, crawls really fast, can go up stairs if we let him, opens flaps in flap books, turns pages in real books, turns the light switch on/off if you hold him up, swipes up/around on my iPhone, climbs up into G's toddler bed, and he has the most mischievous grin. He is a handsome little boy and totally knows it.

I cannot say enough good things about him, but he isn't perfect. I just have a grounded perspective when it comes to him being clingy sometimes, or screaming sometimes.... I'm so much more comfortable in my motherhood than I was with G, but she's benefiting from that now and we are all just chugging along :-)

 

 

  

Dear J,

You are so special and our lives are forever changed by your entrance into our family. You give the sweetest snuggles and brightest grins. I cannot wait to see what you become, I know it will be something amazing. Never forget how we are your biggest fans, and never stop loving your sister. She is the best friend you'll ever have. She gives you 'hugs, and kisses, and pats' every day. She lets you pull her hair, steal her toys, and sings you songs. She loves you beyond belief, and as your mom, I am so blessed to get to watch the two of you together. Happy Birthday Baby Boy, you have made me a better person.

-Momma

A busy October and a lot of photos

Last October was super busy for us, moving cross country, buying our first house, and everything that goes with that....

I don't know how, but this October is even busier!

First of all, if you didn't know, I have a work from home part-time job with a super awesome organic food company. So that's about 12 hours a week plus events (of which I have two BIG events this month). I do grassroots marketing and it's pretty much the perfect job for me. I get to interact with moms like me, manage myself (yes, I do have a real manager, but day-to-day I'm fairly independent), use social media, find events and groups to have a vendor table at, and best of all...still be a SAHM.

Secondly, our half marathon is FINALLY here. It's next weekend. We've been training for 20 weeks (21 by race day) for this. That's half a pregnancy. A tad shy of half a year....you catch my drift. A long time to train for something. There's only been one injury scare and I'm hoping we both stay healthy through the race. The kids have gone along for many rids in the Chariot, though not longer than 6 miles because they get antsy. Training plus eating (mostly) clean has helped us both lose some weight. I was hoping to be about 5 pounds lighter by the race, but I'm close enough for me to be happy.

Third, family has been visiting us...which is my favorite. I love having them come see us. I love having a home to host in. I love having kids to share.

This season of life is pretty awesome right now....much more than last year at this time when I was stressed out, worried beyond words, and relying heavily on my faith. Currently, I thank God daily for my blessings and don't have too much to ask for....well, nothing really. I feel like I have it all....and that's scary because when will we go speeding down toward another life "valley" if you will... Life is like a roller coaster, I'm sure you're aware.

Randoms-
We are moving toward a substantially less-gluten diet...mostly at my husband's pushing. We'll never be GF though.
I am perfecting my time management skills. I think it's safe to say I am a full fledged momager now that this job is picking up. Cleaning / Cooking / Kid Activities / Mom Activities / Work ..... never ending cycle, and it's a good thing I don't need a lot of sleep (though I'd like it)
We've been to two pumpkin patches. I love fall. I've had 4 Pumpkin Spice Lattes-not clean I know. I've made clean pumpkin scones. Halloween is decorated for, and costumes are arranged (J was easy, since he's going as the same MU Tiger G did at his age).
We are going to a BYOB paint date next month & I'm sooooo looking forward to it.
My sister and I are going to Justin Timberlake's concert next month.... again, stoked.
I'm the co-president of my mom's group next year....love this bunch of ladies!
J and G are just getting along so well...and he's getting so big and she's getting so "old"
-I could write so many blogs about all the funny things that happen around here but there's not enough time in the day and I forget.... just trust me, life is never dull around here.

photo bombs below--

Quotes of the day and fall fun

"It's kinda like pizza!" Regarding the eggplant Parmesan she was eating

"It's park, mom" regarding how I said we were going the parkski.

Other fun things from today, th weather was beautiful so we went to a little park and had it all to ourselves. J was in the beco and I sat on the swing with him strapped on to me and we had a grand ol' time swinging like that...literally he giggled at the wind in his hair.

Days like today are what life is about.

We also went to the library :)

Catch up, briefly

I know you've all been on the edge of your seats, wondering when my next blog post would go up.... but May has been BUSY!

We went on a middle of the month grandparent-visiting-graduation-celebrating trip that was certainly fun, but definitely glad it's over and we are settled back home. My husband was with us for half of it, so that was nice, and then he came home, worked, and got some to-do-list items check off his list during the evening hours.
We've also had countless play dates and many meals with friends...with more coming up. I love having a social life again....much improved from our homebound winter & fairly lonely California days.

Here's a catch-all bullet list to catch everyone up to speed. In no particular order.

G is now talking well enough to almost everyone can understand almost everything she says. What a blessing/curse that is...haha.
My favorite, but least favorite, thing she says now is, "No! Don't like that!" Cracks me up, but frustrates me too. She says it in reference to activities, food, etc..
J has very briefly sat up independently, but he can't always do it and it's never for very long...but it's progressing!
G's potty training is great...ish. She doesn't have pee accidents, and lately has had more poop successes than accidents, so that's good. Her issue is getting her to sit on the potty and relax long enough to get the poop out... TMI, sorry. She's wet the bed a few times this past week, but had been on a perfect streak for a while..last night was a dry bed night, so here's to hoping we move forward again.
On our trip, she did awesome with potting. It's kind of funny, though, that she wouldn't use her little potty in the back of the car--but if I took it into the gas station bathroom, she'd go right away. She is very aware of social cues. Cracks me up. She didn't have any accidents the whole time, pee wise, but had several poop ones. Bummer.
I don't want to re-hash the driving with two small kids shenanigans, but at some point, you just have to block out the screaming and whining and drive (so long as you know there's nothing you can do for them regarding eating/diaper/potty/etc...). There were times when it was nice--and they both slept ;-)--but then there were others where J was crying and G thought it'd be funny to whine too....seriously, I think it was just funny to her. I ate a lot of pretzels. Like a whole bag. Ha.
We've been doing a lot of house projects lately. Painting trim, minor improvements like a new fan & a new shower head, painting the powder room (separate post to come soon), landscaping projects... Fun times being a homeowner :-)
I've been doing great with running and am 90% sure I'm running the KC half marathon in October. My training plan starts this week.
G took May off of gymnastics because we've been so busy, but she got to go to open gym this week & did great. Her beam walk is pretty awesome. She also always asks to flip over the bar. Somersault is 90% there sometimes, other times its a flop-over.
Park dates have been super fun, and it's a great poop-training motivator, and the weather has been great, so we've been outside a lot....especially doing side-walk chalk. She loves that...and I kinda do too, Can't wait until J is big enough to join in the fun,
Speaking of big...he's growing so much! He was 16 pounds, 5.5 ounces as of last Thursday when we got 2 shots. He turns the big six months in about 3 weeks....crazy how time flies!
G & J continue to get along awesome. She is such a sweet heart, and the other day she brought her Elmo over to J and laid it by him. She said, "Chare, Emmo!" (Share Elmo) She shows him books, gives him hugs and kisses, and brings him toys. He is trying SO hard to keep up with her....wants to crawl SO bad. He's semi-mobile, in that he has rolled around and around to get somewhere a few times, and can crawl in a circle, or inch worm a TINY bit (mostly in his crib...how he ends up in the rails EVERY NIGHT, I have no idea).
He's sleeping pretty shotty.... like every 2-4 hours at night, and short naps, 2-3 times a day.... he just does not want to miss anything. ugh. If this is my plight, I'll bare it...willingly, because in the big scheme of things, it's not that bad.
My husband and I got an awesome date night this weekend, thanks to our normal babysitter's best friend. We went to a winery/restaurant and splurged a little, seeing as how we hadn't been out like that in...oh....ages. We each got a flight of wine (equal to about glasses), and we got two awesome entrees to split. It was delicious and so fun. On the way home, by husband asked if I had "that song we danced to at our wedding..." Uh, duh. I popped the CD in and we had a sing along on the way home. It was so fun. You definitely need nights like those to keep your marriage strong through these kid-years. I'm thankful I have a true partner in him & appreciate all he does for us.
Speaking of how awesome my husband is...for Mother's Day, I got a spa/salon gift card. So far I've gotten a glorious pedicure. There's enough for a hair cut and manicure left.... Yes, I am a lucky lady.