potty win bed fail

So it took about a week, but J to use the potty!! I don't know how, because it seemed like we were in for a long training period (As with G), but I think we started young enough there wasn't a battle for control. That first week was stressful for sure...but 8/17 he woke up and just had it under control!! I'm so glad. Nap and nights are a different story. And he may get those if we pushed it, but since he doesn't wake up dry in the morning and rarely does at nap time, I figure we'd be in for many nights of changing sheets and after doing it for forever with G, I just want to wait on it for a while. My husband agrees.

Then there is the climbing out of bed incident that just happened. UGH! I didn't think we were there yet.
One major reason for not wanting to sleep-time train him was we wanted to keep him in a crib longer since we know he won't stay in his bed like G did. He's way to adventurous. So we thought we'd bide our time for a while, then rip the band-aid off and do both undies-while-sleeping and staying-in-your-bed training at once.

Guess it's not gonna happen because he popped his little cute head into my room today during nap time!! I instantly felt my heart drop....like, "are you kidding me!?" He looked shocked about it too, so I didn't scold him or anything, just told him to stay in his bed and go to sleep.
I should have just went with my gut and started it this past weekend, as he had started throwing huge fits about wearing a diaper to bed. I just really didn't want to lose sleep. Mom fail.

I'll keep you posted.

In other news his vocalizing is really improving, I'd give him another two weeks before true words come and I'm SO excited for it.

In more other news, we're busy as ever with work, playing, cooking, housekeeping, and attempts at being social...so forgive the lack of creative writing of this post!

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

Nine Months Old baby J

Having a nine month old baby boy sure is fun! He's into everything, makes everyone happy, keeps me on my toes for sure.

 J is very curious. He wants to see what everyone is doing, and likes getting into the action himself. He's feeding himself, army crawling (maybe it'd be better described as crocodile crawling lol), pulling-up on almost everything (except his crib, which is weird, because that's the first place G pulled up, but his crib is taller), clapping and waving, and just being a generally awesome little man. He plays peek a boo by pulling covers up and down, he can find some hidden things when shown them first. He can put things in and take them out. He's trying to mimic some motions, so maybe signing a few things might be in his future. He likes anything with a screen, which is a sign of the times, eh.

He is super into G's fan, cords of any kind, bathrooms, doors and door stops, and shoes-especially flip flops. Sounds like a puppy to me, LOL - of course I stop him from getting those things and so that probably increases his interest in them.

He eats 3 meals a day plus nurses about 5 times a day. He sleeps from about 8:15 pm - 5:30 am, nurses, and sleeps again from 6ish until about 9 am.... give or take, usually. He takes a nap from around 1:30 pm until 4 pm. Yeah, he's a one nap baby already. And I thought G was an early 1-napper.... though I did kind of push J into one nap so that our life opened up in the morning a bit.

J eat peeled/cut grapes, bananas, peaches, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, shredded meat, bell peppers, squash/zucchini, puffs, yogurt bites, pumpkin, and cheerios. He's tried lots of other things, but that's what he eats fairly frequently. He loves food and feeding himself.

He kind of drinks expressed milk from a sippy, with a lot of help and a lot of it spills, but this is helpful for getting through mass. I can't nurse under a cover because he pulls it off, so nursing discretely through mass isn't an option.

He's taken several tumbles because he's really top heavy, so when he pulls up on something and then tries to creep along or transfer between objects, he falls. I can't be right next to him every second...so long story short he topples over and cries. :-( Oh well, part of being a kid, right?

Then there's G who has pulled him over on accident a few times. She has just tried to help him "walk" but it ends up being her pulling him down since he can't walk. We've had a few talks about just letting him be....

She's a super awesome big sister, seriously, I've never seen a better one. She loves on him, plays with him, helps get his food, and takes care of him as much as a 2.5 year old can. Not that I put that on her really, but she's got a maternal instinct.

J is doing really well as far as CDPX1 (chondradysplasia punctata) is concerned, at least in my non-medical opinion. He seems to hear well, but we'll have his hearing checked pretty soon. He may or may not hear exactly right though, only time and monitoring will tell there. He seems to see well too, but again, we'll keep an eye on it ;-) His breathing is fine. He snores sometimes and makes odd sounds, but mostly does great. Let's all pray he stays healthy and avoids serious illness this Fall. His bones are the main thing, and we won't have x-rays again until December when he's almost 1. His torso and head seem to make up most of his body, so I think his legs are shorter than normal, which is why I think he's so top heavy....but he's only 9 months old ;-) so we'll see what happens in the future.

I'll update his height and weight tomorrow after his appointment. He's got two teeth on bottom and 4 about ready to bust through on the top.

Love you baby boy!!

Eight month + J-man

A few days late--j is now 8 months old!!

I went back and read G's 8 month post, and they are only a little alike. I wrote how she was the happiest baby around...but man I feel like J just knocks that out of the water. Maybe I'm forgetting since G can be temperamental these days, though she's not too bad. 

J takes one nap a day, which is kind of crazy, because I thought G transitioned early (11 months), but I kind of forced it on J....because I want the kids to sleep at the same time. He also sleeps about 12 hours at night (eating 1 or 2 times, though he's slept through a total of two times). So his total sleep is around 14 hours. 

He has eaten just about any kind of baby food around, loves puffs (duh) and Cheerios, and has had real pieces of cooked carrots, peach, banana, sweet potato and halved peas. He also had cherries, blueberries, and lemons in the mesh feeder. Once he's done with these pouches we have, I don't really want to buy more--just move on up to finger feeding or learning off a fork. By 10 months G could eat off a fork, so we'll see.

He's had breast milk from a sippy cup because its hard to nurse him at church and the timing was such I figured he'd want to nurse this past Sunday (err,Saturday  night)...so I pumped and brought the cup. I had to hold it for him & go slow since its much faster, but he drank it and was captivated. He hasn't been keen on bottles ever since he got off them after the NICU when I pumped more. I hate pumping. So I doubt this sippy cup thing takes off.

He is lightening fast at army crawling. And loves exploring, investigating, finding any cord possible, opening cabinets G never even tried to open until she was two... Crazy! (Though I wrote she loved exploring too, J just takes it to a new level)

Oh, and the first place he ever pulled to standing? The fireplace. Fantastic. Haha. I've got my work cut out for me with this one. He's since pulled up in G's rocking chair, and his learning table that we put the legs on now! Pretty exciting stuff around here.

He adores G and is also a big mommas boy--but thoroughly enjoys when daddy comes home. He seemed to miss him while my husband was away on business last week. Duh, we all did.

J can now; smile, roll, sit, clap, wave, eat, pick up small-ish things and bring to mouth, work age appropriate (and some advanced) toys, play peekaboo (moving the blanket on his own!), recognize his name and "no!", swing, army crawl, pull-up, laugh, make babble noises, and investigate. Take that mutated X chromosome!!

Love me some baby boy!!

He's in 9-12 and some 12-18 month clothes, weighs around 19.5-20 pounds and is 27 inches long. (Home measurements). He has 2 teeth.

On mothering two, versus one...or, Lessons I've Learned

I've found myself sounding like a broken record, of late. I'm pretty sure if we are friends IRL (you know, in-real-life), you've heard either A. about my birth opinions/J's story (which we don't need to rehash on the blog) &/or B. how I feel about the differences between having 1 & 2 kids. 

So here we go.... Kaylene's great insight into motherhood...which is what this blog is about anyways...and it's so funny to look back on old posts--if you're new here, hopefully you read this one before all the old ones...because I'm a lot less neurotic now. Well, sometimes.

You can not teach a woman how to be a mom. Trust me, I have BTTT (been there tried that, for those less acronymly inclined). While pregnant with G, I wanted to know how to be a mom, so I talked to moms around me, I read articles about being a mom, I read books (I read two books. really!), and I read TONS-literally hundreds-of mom message boards/forums about a plethora of topics. It.did.not.matter.
Maybe you've heard, "there's nothing you can do to really prepare you for that first night with your baby." I would argue that's not really true. You can do a lot to prepare...but that's totally different from actually getting your hands dirty. You can't teach that. True motherhood is something you have to experience on your own--to really figure out how to be a mother--because it looks different for all of us. Maybe someone told me that, it certainly didn't register though. I really wanted someone to tell me how to be good at mothering. I thought if only someone would tell me what to do, I would do it, and do it well, and then I'd be on my merry way to find the next task at which to excel.
You see, that's how I am. I get a goal, or a responsibility, and I work super hard to knock their socks off. Who is this someone, this their, this they, this them?? "They" are made up in my head, perhaps your head too.

Being a mother is not a goal, or a responsibility. It's a life path that is simply about the journey. There is never an end...well, there is, but it's pretty finite and let's not think about that, mkay?
There is no 'next task,' so don't look at it as something to be good at and move on, look at it as a daily way of life...caring for your babies. What ever that looks like for you, rock it, but know that there's no one who will come give you a gold star or A+. Do what you do, and do it so that YOU can sleep at night. That is, if your babies will let you. It was never about having the best kid, I just wanted to do the 'right' things for her...but thankfully I've learned that to be the best mom, I have to stop trying to reach the finish line. If I would have started this motherhood thing like I did my marriage, I would have been a lot better off. I look at my marriage like a path to stroll down together, and that's what being a mother is like too. My kids and I, taking this awesome walk. Together.

Being a mom of one, I was a total ball of nerves. I don't know why. And I was totally oblivious to it. People around me knew it, because they even TOLD me I was....but I deflected, because I honestly didn't think I was. I really was just trying to find my way. And that's how we ALL are. There are the natural-mothering-types, to whom being a mother comes naturally, and I actually think I am one of those women, but I had to relax for that to really show. I have a super type-A personality, but children--especially close in age--force you to let go on somethings...or at least they do if you want to have a happy life. So having #2 only 22 months after #1 was exactly what God had planned for my life. My natural mothering instincts were getting overridden by my forceful personality, and having baby J was a much-needed reset.

With G I wanted to control everything...I mean, I did and I didn't. I knew that  I had to let her "be", but...you guys have read my blog (or most of you have anyways) or remember me with her, and I was pretty anal about things, especially her sleep. With J, I wouldn't say I'm completely non-anal, I just know how to manage his sleep schedule without letting it consume my life. And I know that I don't give birth to children who like to sleep...so I gave up trying to force it. I actually gave up trying to force a lot of things. I don't get nearly as flustered as I used to. This too shall pass. Keep that on repeat in your head (that is, if you are looking for advice).

When you only have one baby, there's a LOT of time to think about how you are screwing them up, how you can do it better, and how other people are doing it better (or worse). When you have two (or more), there's substantially less time to do that...so you are lucky because your life is fuller and more complete with real-life activities. This is not to say those with only one child have an incomplete life, I'm simply saying there's more time to obsess.

As you recall, this blog used to be a lot more active. I had my reviews to give me something to do and feel productive (or over-stretched!), I wrote about my opinions on mothering (many of which I still believe in, but don't obsess over), and I shared miniscule details of my adorable baby girl's life (that are fun to go back and read, but also aren't all that noteworthy). But then baby J happened. and I got busy living life. THE LIFE. The one I thought having kids would be all about. Ladies and Gents, we have arrived. Come visit our house and you will find a real family lives here. Not one trying to maintain some TV show pedestal, or some parenting book model.

When I only had one baby, I thought...man this is so hard...how could I do it with more? How do bigger families manage? I may only have two now, but I totally know....they let the little things slide. They roll with the tides.

I have learned that it is okay if J chews on a toy that isn't specifically a "chew toy" (I mean, as long as it's not digestible-like paper-, or covered in dirt or something, it's fine, right?). I've learned it's okay that he's army crawling on the kitchen floor, even if it's been more than a day since I last mopped it (oh the travesty!). I've learned that even though he's "supposed" to take two naps today, it's okay if I pushed him off a little bit so that he takes one (fingers crossed) longer, better-suited-to-my-schedule, nap while G naps too. It's okay if I reuse a bib from breakfast at lunch (so long as it's not gross, I mean, I do still have my above-average clean standards). I've learned that he can slobber on his clothes a little bit and not have to change it right away (type A is something I'll never be able to get away from). I've learned that he can cry, or whine, or fuss, way more than I ever let G...and I thought I let her do that a lot...haha--nope.

My favorite thing I've learned? I can take two crazy kids to the store, with hardly anything, and be totally fine. I do not need to pack for deathcon5. I can take them to the park, J in the Beco and still be able to lift G up into the swing. I can take them grocery shopping, while one attempts to jump to his death from the cart-seat, and the other zoom-zooms her way around with the kid-cart, oblivious to the can of beans she just knocked over (actually, I added that for dramatic effect, G has the keenest attention to detail ever). I am, in fact, super woman, and haven't you heard--I'm freaking awesome at this mothering thing. If you don't think so, there's the door...because you know what? I think you're freaking awesome at this mothering thing too.

Recently, rather, constantly, we hear about this "mommy war" shiz...or parental-judgement...or whatevs.
I think it's a crock, and apparently a lot of you do too, because a big parent magazine did a nationwide survey and found that while parents believe the mommy-war exists, they don't feel it in their day-to-day life. And I couldn't agree more. I really think that social media, the internet, and news articles perpetuate this balloon of judgement. There is, as I've always maintained, a parent-information-overload. I don't interact with women who judge me, and I don't judge them. Sure we do things differently, and maybe I don't agree with everything they do...but I don't sit there and tell them they shouldn't do it that way.... I don't have their kid, or their life, and how could I possibly presume to know what they should do? I think tons of moms feel this way, and that's why this whole mommy-judgement thing is a crock. Sure there are a lot of people out there judging other people, there always have been and there always will, but as with anything--get away from them. And take it from me.....life is not all about the type of mother you are...life is about the little people that made you mothers to begin with. Take a deep breath, remember this could all be gone in an instant, and live a little.

As I say to my husband...."We've gotta live OUR life, ya know?"

We have tons of fun. Learning happens through play, real-world activities like errand running or play dates, and being a stay at home mom really allows me to foster an environment of success for our kids. We are truly blessed and judgement has no place in our life. I'm so much more relaxed as a parent and person. I credit my husband for being the ying to my yang, and I credit my kids for reminding me just how awesome the tickle monster is. We love hanging out with other families or couples, because we hope to be a good example of balance as a Catholic Family.

Half Birthday Boy

J is six months old and is doing great. He had his well child check 3 days early, and at it he weighed 17 pounds 2.5 ounces and was 26.25 inches long. His head his staying steady ay 99%, which was 18.1" around. I think that his huge head makes him look a lot bigger than he is. People comment on how big of a baby he is, but his length and height actually hover around 50% for kids his age...which means he is very average. No teeth yet, plenty of hair (he had a hair cut by me!).



about to topple over!



My sweet boy is a rolling fool. He squirms in circles, and has gotten himself into his crib rails or the end of his bed, but doesn't crawl 'for real.' He has kind of sat up, but usually just topples over. He loves books and tries to turn the pages! He also enjoys gnawing them...typical baby.

He rattles toys, rakes things in, recognizes family members, rolls over, transfer things from hands, grabs on toes (or boy parts at diaper changes...eeeek), loves mirrors and music. He's also started some stranger fear...like when my mom showed up this week, he smiled at first, then got kind of freaked out and cried when she got up close. He got used to her and it was fine later on. I think his favorite person is G...they are too freakin' cute together. So glad they have each other.

J has had bananas, green beans, carrots, and blueberry banana puree. The bananas were the only "real food," the rest have been jarred or pouches. He loves food and eating :-)

We'll keep solids as introductory for a while, and stick to nursing for nutrients. He's so great at it :-)

Sleep wise, he has good and tough days. Last night he actually slept amazing, 8.5 hours, eat, then another 2.5 hours. That was awesome. Other nights he'll be up every 3-4 hours. He is solidly on two naps now, so it means he's following in G's footsteps of transitioning early...so I expect to see him on one nap before December. That's both a good and bad thing. Good because then we'll have all morning to do stuff again without worrying about nap times, but it's bad because I lose that time to get stuff done or play alone with G.... oh well life moves at light speed!

I cannot believe how big he is getting. He's SO sweet, cuddly, and smiley. I don't want that to ever change....maybe it won't ;-)

adorable nose, thanks cdpx1

Things to Remember

I want to remember...

That G currently uses "It's dark...!" in a whiny voice as a way to get me to stay in her room for a bit before nap/night time. We chat about our day, and I sing her a song, and finally have to get up and leave despite her protests. She doesn't seem legitimately scared, plus she has a night light and at nap time it's definitely NOT dark. I think it's kind of sweet...though once it goes past 5 minutes, I'm like, "ok, good night."

blurry photo pic of her adorbs church outfit

That G's little voice is the sweetest. She says awesome fun things. "It's lost! We have to find it!" "Ohhh so brrriiigghht!" "Oh no! It's broken. Let's fix it!" "Tanks!" (thanks) "Luhew" (Love you) "Dipping Sticks!!!" (an occasional treat for keeping her bed dry) 

That we've been playing a lot of Dora Match Game. She's pretty amazing at it, especially for a 2 year old, but even just in general. It's teaching her a lot about rules, taking turns, and polishing her spectacular memory skills. I love listening to her say "Mommy's turn!" "daddy's turn!" "My turn!" She has also started using pronouns appropriately...though some still get messed up. The other night she said, "Come play Dora game with us!" This was said to me, in relation to the fact that my husband had set it up in the living room.

.....I mean. Having a 2 year old is super fun. Both my husband and I comment on how she just makes us so happy. Then there's the fits she's taken to throwing. I'm doing a fairly good job of staying level headed. I keep saying, sometimes even out loud, she's just two. She's just two. I sure do wish I could zap her frontal lobe and make it mature. Ha. Then again, there are times I lose my cool more than I'd like. It gets exhausting being with her 24/7...but again, I love it.

helping with the cups.

Oh....then that baby.... I could literally eat him up. He is so dang sweet and snuggly. I've been doing great with him. 

That J smells so amazing after a bath. I don't remember focusing on little things like that with G. I think it was because I was so busy learning to be a mom. And now that I am a mom, J is the baby I get to 'enjoy' a bit more. I guess that sounds bad, but it's the truth.

That he loves books, though he'd rather eat them I think. He loves gnawing on anything. Those dang teeth have to be around here somewhere.

"sit/standing in his go-pod"

That he is doing so amazing. That dang mutated gene will not drag him down. I found out last week that I am, in fact, a carrier. So he "got" CDPX1 from me. No biggie. I expected that....though I did choke back tears when I heard the official news. It's still a punch to the gut. One I assumed was coming, but that still doesn't take away the initial hurt. So...we are done having kids, in our opinion. We will leave it slightly up to God, as in, nothing drastic will be done, but there will not be any intentional procreating for us again. Kinda bummed/kinda glad. Okay, truth time, Actually really glad. We feel complete.

right after I got the genetic counselor call

That J adores G. I mean, that kid loves watching her, slobbering all over her. 

That I FINALLY have legitimate success with NOT nursing to sleep. I tried, pretty hard, with G to teach her to not nurse to sleep. I never really got anywhere, until she weaned. I didn't wanted to follow that same path with J...but it happened... Until this weekend. Since Saturday, J has pretty much been put into his crib wide awake, and fallen asleep on his own. MAGNIFICENT. It's helped him sleep {a tad bit} better at night too.

I also want to remember that date nights are vital to our marriage. We had one a two Fridays ago and I'm still thinking about how wonderful it was. Praised be to God for responsible baby sitters and family too.

in other news. I'm one full week into training for a half-marathon. I got about half way into training for one back in 09, but hurt my self so bad I had to shell out over a thousand bucks for an MRI, and was in PT for months... Here's to hoping that doesn't happen again. Week one was easy, and I'm pumped for... October.... What?! I have 20 weeks left. That's half a friggin' pregnancy. Ugh. At least I have PLENTY of time to increase my mileage. I've got a great training plan from Runner's World that's customized for me.

Next up, I plan to officially type out J's birth story for his half birthday. 

why this is blurry...idk. but its them hanging out in my bed

getting so BIG

sibling love

at the park

date night

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.