Christmas

Okay, I deleted my last post because it was dumb and bugging me and totally did not do justice to Christmas which is only one of the greatest days of the year, so here goes try #2.

This was my first Christmas without having any family around. I felt so overwhelmed by my great luck to have my own little family that I was blessed not to miss those who were far away too much. Today, though, I find myself wishing they all were a little closer!

Maggie was TERRIFIED of Santa all season. I didn't push the issue much. I figured it was a good opportunity to focus on the more meaningful parts of Christmas. Still, even on Christmas Eve, Maggie remained in denial that Santa was coming. She kept emphatically saying, "Santa is NOT coming." I explained that he would be really sneaky while she was sleeping and that she would not even have to see him. On Christmas morning she woke us up by walking into our bedroom carrying her stocking--half as big as she is-- and said with wide eyes, "Santa put presents in my stocking!" I think her feelings toward the jolly old man have been a little warmer ever since. 

Christmas Day was so fun. Maggie opened nearly every present given to any of the four of us. Because she thoroughly enjoyed each gift before moving on, the whole process took about 10 hours. We enjoyed ooey-gooey pull-aparts for breakfast as I have for every Christmas I can remember.  I love my little family. I feel so blessed to have such a loving, kind husband and two beautiful children. During a season which reminds me about how blessed I am, I hope that I will help my children learn that giving is greater than receiving.

Ho Ho Ho

The many faces

Joe has been out of town for 8 days and it is getting lonely around here. I would just go sleep in Maggie's bed, but I am afraid that Jack would wake her up in the middle of the night too. The last thing I want is all three of us awake at 4 a.m. I think two of us is plenty. So, here I sit uploading pictures to my blog instead of crawling into an empty bed. Man, I am lucky to have these two around to keep me company. I think I might go crazy if I had to actually be all by myself.

I feel like a mean mom for taking a picture instead of picking him up. But how cute is he? I just want to hug and squeeze and gobble him up. Those cheeks are seriously crying out for some kisses.

That's better

Stink Eye. This is the look I got from Maggie when I asked for a smile. 

One Hershey candy bar (still lingering in her Halloween pumpkin) later . . . 

Just call me sticker face and other stuff

Maggie LOVES Jack. Tonight she demonstrated her love by putting stickers all over his face. Later when I was putting Maggie to bed, Jack was snuggled next to her (a nightly tradition) when he demonstrated his love for her by grabbing a handful of hair yanking. As he started pulling he started laughing, and the longer it took me to get the hair from his hand and as Maggie's panic grew, he started laughing harder. You would have thought that he knew exactly what he was doing, and I had a vision of him as a 2 year old, then as a 5 year old, then as a 16 year old still yanking on Maggie's hair and laughing. And he looks so innocent.

It's okay though--I kinda laughed too.

It wasn't more than a couple days ago when I snapped these pictures (below) and all of a sudden Maggie was biting Jack's finger. In her defense (not that I am defending her but . . .), she is usually NOT a biter and she felt really bad when she realized what she had done. She has totally been teething (who knew 2.5 year old's did that?). She has been biting EVERYTHING, (including her own fingers). She has also been cranky and waking up at night. Drooling a little. Yep, snotty nose too. Slobbery fingers in her mouth ALL THE TIME. This teething phase can end anytime. The rest of it? Please slow down!

Little stinker. This was the last picture that I got.

Maggie is always telling me that she needs to do her "work" or that she is going to school. Wonder where she gets that from? I don't do any work :)

The toe grabbing phase is one of my favorites. I find those chubby little legs irresistible.

Ceiling fan. 

In case you were wondering, we still like each other. I needed to find a picture of Joe and I together from the last year and I couldn't find one. NOT ONE. This is seriously the best I could do, and I am blurry. He is kinda cute though, right? Anyway, our love doesn't need to be rekindled but our my taking photos of anything but the kids does need some work. So does my writing about anything else. I'll work on that next year :)

Here are a couple more things to remember (about the kids, of course).

Maggie has a few dyslexic phrases that she uses:

• "all for my blessings" when praying instead of "for all my blessings"
• she recently called a cowboy a "boy-cow" I thought she had actually figured out gender and was talking about a cow. Oh no, she was talking about the boy-cow.
• Finally, (this one I hear a lot). "I can do it all my byself!

Jack has a couple funny little quirks that I love.

• When he is excited, he smiles with his whole body. His face lights up, his mouth smiles, and his arms and legs spasm. This especially happens when I walk back into a room and say hi to him. Talk about a heart warmer! 
• He spits up a lot (don't love that) but it often comes in three's. Weird. This is how it goes. He spits up and you start wiping. Just then he spits up again, all over your hand and the cloth you were using to wipe. You scramble to stop the flow from his mouth when number 3 hits you. I wash lots of laundry. 
• Finally, he has lately been fighting sleep big time. When he is finally to the point that the battle is lost, he starts making this noise. It is kind of talking, whining, moaning, sighing all while sucking on his binky. It can go on for 10 minutes at a time before he really gives up and goes to sleep. Funny. But when I hear the noise, I know that I, and sleep, have won.

As a team they're unbeatable

Just watch.

Okay an explanation. This is a video application that Joe's team created for a marketing competition at Wake Forest. The grand prize (for winning the entire competition, not just getting accepted) is $75,000, so I guess I kinda hope they win. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjijriEw1tU&t=120s

Fall Farms = Fun + pumpkins + apples + squash = Sad to see winter coming

The lovely and rainy fall weather has past us by leaving behind a very cold wind, but I really enjoyed the harvest season and the beautiful autumn leaves.  I remember autumn always having been my favorite season. These activities are long past, but to recap, we (meaning myself, the kids, and some friends while Joe toiled his life away at school) made visits to a couple of farms. We picked apples, walked around pumpkin patches and corn mazes, fed farm animals, waded through mud, played on toys, blah blah blah. Even though I often miss Santa Monica, I actually love Ithaca's rural setting. I love driving and running on country roads--which are rather easy to find around here. Anyway, even though upstate NY looks nothing like Idaho, the rural, peaceful setting sometimes reminds me of home. 

Grismore Farms

This place is BEAUtiful! Just for the record, I did not touch up these pictures at all, but even I almost can't believe the colors when I look at them. BUT, it had just rained so everything was fresh and vibrant. And for some reason I can't take an in focus picture to save my life. Some day.

Maggie was in apple picking heaven! While the other kids ate a few bites from apples here and there, she ate 5 whole apples (or at least that is how many I counted). She would have continued chowing down, but I made her stop. Then she ate one more.

Apple orchard

Notice, she is eating an apple

Another apple 

Sweet boy along for the ride

Iron Kettle Farms

We made two trips to Iron Kettle Farms. The first time the place was deserted. Almost spooky. The second time the place was crawling with kids, mostly from schools. Both times Maggie LOVED driving this bus. During our second visit, she also claimed this driver's seat. The bus was FULL (standing room only) of school age kids (i.e. a lot BIGGER than Maggie). Several of them (wanting a turn to drive the bus) blocked Maggie into the seat. She WOULD NOT give up her seat. After watching for awhile I started to worry that they were going to eat her, so I pulled her out the window on the opposite side because I could't even get into the bus (too full of kids!). I was rather impressed with Maggie's courage though. That girl knows what she wants. 

Maggie is a little scared of the idea of Santa Claus. If ever he comes up, she says, "Santa Claus is not coming."  This farm had a fake Santa (with a pumpkin for a head, little weird) and reindeer on the roof of a barn. When I showed Maggie, she froze, said nothing, and made this face in response. She held this pose long enough for me to laugh, wait, laugh again, pull out my camera and snap a picture. I am thinking that after Santa comes this year she might have a little bit warmer feelings towards him.

Pumpkins!! Maggie is partial to the little ones that she can carry around. 

Happy Halloween

Maggie somehow lucked into two costumes this year. Okay, it wasn't luck; it is because her mom is horribly indecisive--a fault which I think I may never overcome. Nevertheless, Maggie asked to be a princess (she is a true girl), so I refashioned an old leotard that I found at Salvation Army into this little princess dress, and I am proud of my efforts so that I must share it with you. She looked ADORABLE! She wore the dress to all of the pre-holiday parties and our trunk-or-treat. Also I picked up a little spider webb (ha ha) costume because I couldn't resist. Then, when Halloween night was freezing cold and wet (in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and also we live in upstate NY so of course it was freezing) she had a nice toasty spider suit. It turns out that Halloween pretty much rocks with a two year old. Trick-or-treating is SO MUCH FUN. Maggie was ready to quit long before I was. Also, she likes suckers and smarties and leaves all the good candy for us. Or me. Jack also had two costumes. He served as her prince charming (you can check out his highness in the blue and white laying next to his little buddy), but he donned a much more weather appropriate monkey suit lent to us by some friends for the Halloween night festivities. 

Do you think they are related?

I find it rather odd that these two look exactly like each other and not a bit like either of their parents. When I took this picture I was for a moment, overwhelmed with a feeling of great blessing to have two such cute, healthy kids sitting happily on my (messy) bed while I folded a mountain of laundry. 

Maggie pretty much thinks she owns Jack. I think this is probably the blessing you get when you have a girl first. Maggie calls him "my baby" or "my Jackie boy." She is very possessive and sweet when it comes to her Jackie boy. She pushes him in the baby swing (I think shooting for an underdog--luckily she can't quite make that happen) and shouts in his face, "I am rocking you to sleep, Jack! I am rocking you to sleep, Jack!" She has yet to get him to sleep with her method, but she gets lots of smiles and laughs. I think the affection is mutual.

Looking at that picture I see one half of my two year old. It is the half that is sweeter than sweet, fun, silly, and happy, and it melts my heart. The other half is independent, bossy, and super stubborn, and is making me want to pull my hair out. It is hard to believe that the second half can peacefully co-exist with the first in such a tiny person. Still, she makes me smile. Except when she doesn't. Jack on the other hand, pretty much just smiles. I like these two.

Blessing

We blessed Jack in our church on Sept 30. As Joe was carrying Jack to the front of the chapel, I had a horrible moment of dread when I thought Joe might "accidentally" name him Jackie instead of Jack. The origination of this fear dates back to the beginning of our marriage when Joe informed me that we were going to name our first son after his childhood hero, Jackie Robinson. Joe and I debated this name for 7 years (with many family members and friends weighing in) before we happily compromised with the name Jack. Still, with the nickname "Jackie-boy" floating around our house Joe could have easily claimed had a slip of the tongue. Luckily my fears were unjustified. Joe said he actually worried that he might slip up too. We were lucky to have Joe's parents here for the blessing and really enjoyed their company during their visit.

A rare shot of all four of us

I love this picture--didn't know it was being taken, but it makes me happy

On his blessing day

A few things about Jack right now (Nov 4 . . . only a month later . . . yes, I am behind)

--Jack is a super sweet, happy baby! He hardly ever cries. Whenever I get in his face just to say hi I am rewarded with a great big smile.
--He loves chewing on his hands; not sucking on his fingers, but really gnawing on them.
--He gets really animated and talkative during diaper changes. Sometimes he gets hyper and starts kicking his legs really fast. Cracks me up!
--Usually he wakes up to eat once during the early morning hours (sometime between 4:30-6:00)
--He is pretty quiet most of the time, except during diaper changes when he is really chatty. He has also learned how to really squeal.
--He has kept most of the hair in the middle of his head leaving him with a bit of a mohawk. His hair is brown and right now his eyes are a dark, gray blue. He has the perfect amount of chub; just enough to make me want to squeeze him and kiss his little cheeks all. the. time.

A moment that made it (potty training that is) worth it and why being a mom is great

Well, I have a lot of catching up to do on this blog. But, it is so much more enjoyable to write about my life right now so all the catching up will just have to wait.

In my life right now we are potty training. This is a phase that I have been dreading. I don't want my baby to grow up (bad reason I know). Also, I like freedom (I just need to focus on the liberation that being potty trained gives Maggie). Also I don't like scrubbing up messes. But I have put it off long enough. Yesterday we embarked on the potty training journey with an intensive "training in one day" sort of method. As much as Maggie has been ready to be potty trained for awhile, the whole process is just not going super well.

Maggie is SUCH a sweet girl. She has been trying so hard. Over the last two days she has literally been sitting on the potty for 30-45 minutes at a time as I read her books and sing songs with her (luckily activities that she loves). When I suggest that she takes a break (she has been very determined) she would stand up, run around, and pee within 2 minutes. This has happened over and over with no evidence of progression. Maggie would tell me that she needed to go potty and sit down and wait and wait and wait. Nothing. We have tried running water, letting her play with her little hands in warm water, nothing. Tonight Maggie went to bed in a total fit because she was so exhausted; an hour later I hear her sweet little voice. "Mommy, I need to go potty." With a sigh (deep down I was sort of wishing she would have just used her pull-up) I brought her from her crib and set her on her Minnie Mouse potty. We waited, ran some water, and waited. I was debating how long to sit there (since I fully expected her NOT to go potty) when all of a sudden, success!! Wow, who knew that a little trickle could be so relieving. Pun intended. ha ha.

Anyway, after we celebrated a good deal, the best part of the night happened. I settled in a rocking chair with her to help her calm down before going back to bed. As I was snuggling with her and looking down at her, some of my hair (not in the best shape after these last two days!) fell into my face. She brushed it out of my face and said "There. Now I can see you. I love you so much!" Then she snuggled closer to me. What sweet words to hear. All of a sudden the last two days seemed practically painless. We stopped in to say goodnight to Joe on her way back to bed. When he scooped her up to hug her she said, "Can I keep you as my Daddy? Can I keep you as my family? I love you so much!"  Anyway, being a parent is amazing because two such frustrating days can suddenly feel worthwhile after a moment like that. I feel so blessed to be the mommy of two sweet little children. We are certainly going to have some more frustrating times before this whole potty training thing is done, but all of a sudden, I think that I could do it for a year. Okay... not a year. Definitely not a year. Let's hope it doesn't take that long.

This is how I feel 99% of the time

Some stuff we have been doing

Well, it turns out that it is really hard to get out of the house when you have a two-year old and a newborn. It seems like by the time I finish feeding Jack and getting us all ready to go it is time to start all over again. Luckily we have been able to sneak in a couple of fun trips lately.

The first was to a place called Flat Rock. Maggie has been (regularly) asking to go the beach. Sad, I know. She just doesn't understand that there is actually no beach here. So, we decided that she needed to at least have a chance to play in the water. Flat Rock is a portion of the river where the water is very shallow and passes over large slabs of slate. It is the perfect little swimming spot and only about 10 minutes from our house! Maggie had a blast wading in the water, throwing rocks, and standing on her hands while letting the current tug at her feet. Every now and then she would lose her balance and roll under the water. She would stick her hand up for help, stand up, wipe the water from her face and go right back for more. She really is a little fish!

Next we went swimming at Treman State Park. There is a swimming hole carved out by a waterfall. Even though it is very improved and you have to jump from a diving board instead of from the rocks, the water was cold and refreshing and the setting was beautiful! One of the highlights for me was  doing something marginally active (sad that I am that desperate to work out). Even though I only jumped  a few times it felt great to sneak in a little tiny bit of exercise. I am counting down the days (only 3 more) until my exercise ban is lifted.

Maggie'isms

I have started emailing myself (so that I won't forget) when Maggie says or does funny things, or things that just melt my heart. Here are a couple that I came across in my inbox recently:

While hustling around the living room and moving random things from here to there: "I need to clean this for daddy. It is so yucky in here." (No comment on whether this reflects my behavior or the general state of my house)

"Hi Jackie boy. You okay? I just playing soccer ball with Daddy. When you get bigger you play with me, okay?" (And yes, this did make me very happy).

I think she is a beautiful little girl.

A letter to my Jackie boy

Hi Jackie boy,

Little cutie, I cannot believe that it has already been almost six weeks since you came to join our little family. You gave us a few worries the first week when you became overly sleepy because you were not getting enough to eat. I was sick and the doctor told us that that I was not making enough milk. He recommended that we give you a bottle. No sooner had I finally convinced you to drink from a bottle then you promptly forgot how to breastfeed. This led to some stressful, stressful days, but finally everything resolved--I had enough milk and you remembered how to drink it. Here is a snapshot of your numbers during the first 4 weeks.

When, after about two weeks, you finally started gaining weight as you should, I was so relieved! Now, you are growing up too fast! When you were born you were the same size as Maggie's little baby doll. Your little legs were so scrawny that your skin wrinkled over your thighs. I joked that you didn't even have a bum--just a hole on your back. Now you have started to fill up your skin. Your arms and legs are just a little pudgy (cute too! and just like they should be). You have the sweetest little dimples by your elbows. You have perfect hands and feet.

You have a couple of little quirks that just make me laugh! Usually you keep your legs tightly tucked up by your belly. When you don't, you stick them straight up in the air (hardly ever just relaxed). You HATE having a poopy diaper. For the most part, you are a pretty mellow baby, BUT, when you have a poopy diaper, you let me know! You sometimes even wake up from a dead sleep and scream, and I will find only a tiny smear of poo, maybe the size of a dime and completely absorbed by your diaper. As soon as your diaper is changed, you return to being a happy, mellow, sweet little baby.

You make the funniest expressions. Sometimes you squeeze your mouth into a teeny tiny 'o'. As I am sitting here picturing that face, your little tiny 'o' lips remind me of a cheerio. I think they are about the same size. You have the CUTEST little sad face. At the end of each cry, you close your lips tightly into a little frown. Even though I hate to see you sad, your little tiny frowny face often makes me smile. Every time you sneeze, you ball up your hands and jerk them to your face. Then, after your sneeze, you  often make this funny little sound, kind of like a loud sigh. So sweet. I have been trying to catch it on camera, but those sneezes are hard to predict.

Maggie adores you. She often tries to share her toys with you (usually by piling them on top of you while you are sleeping). She also mimics the words that she hears us say. She says, "it's okay Jackie boy," when you are crying and "come here Jackie boy" as she tries to pick you up (we always quickly intervene before that happens!) Yesterday when you were crying Maggie turned on music and started to dance for you. You immediately stopped crying. You seem to really tune in to her voice. I hope that you grow up to be great friends.

Even though I am looking forward to watching you grow and to getting to know you better, everyday I snuggle you to my chest and try to lock away a memory about what your snuggles feel like because I know that they will be gone all too soon. I love it when you rest your head on my shoulder and drape your arm over mine. I love it when you lay on my lap and look intently at my face. I love it when you nestle your head into my neck.

I want you to know that your family loves you! Your Daddy, myself, Maggie--we all adore you. I feel so blessed that you have come to join our family.

Love,
Your Mommy