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.