She's here!

Heidis due date of October 19th came and went. A few days later, we escaped Will  and Heidi sharing a birthday. The next morning though, I woke up at 2:30am to contractions 2-3mins apart. So I must have slept through a good bit of them! I woke Billy up and he was a bit panicked because the contractions were so close together, but we both managed a quick shower and made it to the hospital by 3:30.  My midwife arrived a bit later and broke my water.  I was so excited to already be at 7cm, but a few hours later, I had barely progressed.  I asked for something to take the edge off, and they gave me Nubian.  It made me so sleepy, but gave me a break from the intensity for about 30mins.  After it wore off, I decided I wanted the epidural, but it was too late and time to push. Ultimately it was what I wanted, but was so scared!!!  I think I only pushed for 10 minutes, but I don't want to ever forget that pain and think it was no big deal! I remember saying that I didn't want to do it anymore.  Billy and the midwife basically told me, "too bad!"

She came out screaming at 8:13 and with the cord wrapped around her ankle.  We couldn't believe she was more than 9lbs!  My mom and Will came to visit us about and hour later.  Will didn't care. And just wanted to eat crackers.  Ha!  But since then, Heidi has been such a great baby and Will has been adjusting.

Heidi rarely cries loudly(unless I give her a bath) and is a pretty good eater/sleeper.  She was back to her birth weight after 4 days and has given me close to 4 hour stretches of sleep at night.  I think having low expectations of a newborn, not having a pounding epidural headache and knowing a bit more about what I'm doing with nursing has made everything easier this time.  The only bump is Will's adjustment.  He wants to get in her swing, rock her a little too hard, and has spots of jealousy.  But, he's 2 and I don't think I can expect anything much different. Yesterday was my first day home alone with both of them all day and we survived.  The worst part was post-naps when they both had dirty diapers and we somehow got it in Heidi's hair.  Then of course, they were both hungry.  It was almost 80 degrees, so it was easy to play with Will in the backyard and keep Heidi inside where I could see her.  Today, I was able to get the three of us out of the house to take Will to school.  So far, so good!

Will is two!

Two years old! And he's going to be a big brother any day. We think back to two years ago...late at night, we finally agreed to go to the hospital during halftime of a Steelers vs. Bengals game.  Of course, since we were in Pittsburgh, we got to finish watching the game in the waiting roommate then the triage room.  After the win, Billy then started giving the birth of our first child his full attention. ;)

Sixteen hours later, our boy was born! Our life hasn't been the same since.  Not even close.  We keep wondering what we did with all our free time before Will!  I've been saying it for two years, but he really gets more fun all the time. 

He is now adjusted to being dropped off at school and knows that I will come get him each time.  It also makes the child watch rooms for MOPS and Bible Study easier.  He talks to his little friends, even if they don't talk back yet.  Most afternoons, we meet the same friend at the park, and they have a little routine of trading snacks, fighting over a ball and chasing each other.

Some things I want to remember about Will being two:

-A few weeks ago, he asked for ice cream for breakfast.  Obviously I said no.  A few minutes later, I went to the bathroom and found he had opened the freezer and was helping himself to an ice cream sandwich.

-I have a problem with not closing cabinet doors.  Billy has trained him to say "Close door, Mommy!" when he sees an open cabinet.

-He still loves puzzles, and can sit with 5 around him and put them all together at once.

-He is finally drinking water again!

-HUGE breakthrough with sleep.  I read on a local message board that some toddlers drink a bit of tart cherry juice before bed and it helps with their melatonin levels.  I made this juice into a popscicle and lo and behold, Will has been sleeping all night for more than 2 weeks.  This has never happened! Maybe a coincidence, but I will keep buying these $7 bottles of juice for now!

-He likes to share his snacks and food.

-His favorite toys are Little People, stickers and his kitchen/play food.

38 weeks

Almost to the end! I finally feel pretty ready for what's ahead.  Mom gets here in a week and the nursery is pretty much complete.  Her glider that I ordered from Target took over a month to get here!  My midwife and the OB that I see will be at a conference in Grand Cayman the 14th-19th, so it's likely I'll end up with another OB from the practice, but that should be fine.  Some timing though!

The acid reflux is in full force now, which isn't so bad, because I had it much longer with Will.  Overall, I just feel huge and uncomfortable, which is par for the course.  Only a few tops fit me now, so my friends see me wear the same outfits over and over.  Speaking of friends, they pulled together an awesome breakfast to celebrate Baby Heidi a few weeks ago - and planned it while Will was in school.  I was really in awe, not really realizing I had met so many great friends in our nearly two years here.  

Another funny comment from a family with 3 kids at church: "We're not sure if things really fell apart after the second kid, or third."  Haha.  Again, so encouraging.  I imagine it will be crazy for a while, trying to wrangle Will for diaper changes, feeding Heidi and just getting out of the door some mornings.  But pretty much everyone figures it out, right?

Will at 23 months

Not sure how another month went by so quickly!

Will is changing so much lately-mostly in his vocabulary.  We can have little conversations now, even if they are a little obscure.  I keep asking him who is in his class at preschool, and he keeps telling me "Owl!"  I have no idea what he is referring to.  He can string four words together now.  My favorite is "Daddy clean up mess!"  

The kid loves songs and requests them all day.  Mostly Wheels on the Bus, Yankee Doodle, Ring Arouns the Rosie and the "party song" aka Happy Birthday.  When he gets in his crib, he always asks for "song" and "back" which means he wants me to sing and rub his back.  I oblige, of course.  :)

His sleep is still erratic.  One backfire, that may change as he gets into more of a routine is his nap after school.  I assumed he would be exhausted and go right to sleep.  Nope.  His brain must still be turned on, because it is usually quite a task to get him down for a nap on those days.  Other days, are pretty easy.  We usually have something fun to do in the mornings, and are back home by lunch and start winding down.  I know I NEED his nap time to get rest too!

Another weird phase right now is fighting getting washed during bath time.  All we hear is "No soap! No soap! No soap!" So that's not easy.  Billy has been taking care of baths, and I'm the sideline cheerleader, trying to get him to calm down.

Eating is still pretty good.  Still on the milk kick, but he drank a cup of water at school last week, and a every watered down cup of Gatorade for me this weekend.  He loves pickles even for breakfast and has been chowing down on applesauce and oranges.  Now that he can talk, it does make things a little easier.  Until he requests a popscicle for breakfast.

He hates diaper changes.  It is a serious task to get him to lay down and be still.  Just getting him in his room and shutting the gate is a small victory for me.

He loves going to the park.  We still go just about every afternoon and some mornings too.  He likes to see other kids there and refers to them as "friends".  We have gotten him into watching football-mostly the Steelers of course, and he likes when we all put on our jerseys.  His favorite book right now is the 3 Little Pigs and when I ask what the wolf does, he says, "Eat piggies!"

He'll be TWO next month!  Sometimes he seems like such a big boy, but other times, still so little.  I'm up in the air about a party still, because I'm about to have this baby, and he wouldn't know the difference.  We have been practicing singing Happy Birthday though.  We'll celebrate of course because October is THE month for birthdays around here.  Maybe two of his little friends over for cake and balloons...we'll see in a couple weeks!

Will at 22 months

This month almost went right by and I didn't even realize Will was 22 months old. Almost 2 years!  Things seem to be happening so fast with him now, especially his language.  It is so fun to watch and hear.  He tries to repeat so much of what we say.  Yesterday I told him I needed to wipe his snot bubble(gross, I know) and of course, he immediately repeated "snot bubble".  Billy then heard this and got him to say it over and over.  Hilarious for everyone, I assure you!

Sleeping is still not great.  I thought he was on to something early this week.  There were three days Ina row that he slept all night and past 6:30am.  Then on Wednesday, he couldn't get to sleep for nap or at night, and two of those nights, was up for two straight hours.  I have no idea what is going to happen when Heidi gets here because he still doesn't want Billy at night.  His eating is pretty good though. He's pretty consistent with what he eats.  Still a lot of fruit, loves noodles with parmesan, peanut butter, and some meats.  Still drinking only milk; no water for some reason.  Vegetables are easier now, as long as this cowboy figurine we found sings a song about carrots, avocado, etc.  Whatever works!  

He can count to ten, and sometimes twelve.  Most of the time, he skips the number one and nine.  But just in a month, he has changed so much!  Billy got him to do it, by inticing him with throwing him on our bed, which he loves!  I don't know why one and nine are consistently skipped though.  

This kid scares me, by what he is not afraid of! We were at a new park, and before I could realize what was happening, he scaled a climbing pole and got onto the playground that was much taller than me.  He's so fast!  The puddle jumper I bought him for the pool has been great!  Now, even as I see him darting toward the lazy river, I'm not quite as panicked. We have had so much fun at the pool this summer!

In less than two weeks, he starts a morning pre-school at our church two days a week.  He knows one teacher from the church nursery, so I don't think drop off is going to be hard for him at all.  His class is four boys, so they should keep their teachers busy!   For about a month and half, I'll have 6 kid-free hours too!

A few funnies:

Yesterday, I was shooting his ball at the basketball court with him and every time I missed, he said "nope!" and laughed.

I was cooking dinner and then noticed a naked little body hugging my legs! He can now take off his shirt, shorts and diaper - and those cloth diapers are not easy to get out of!

My mom sent him the 3 Little Pigs book and when we read it, he flips through all the pages to find the wolf.  He mostly says, "Wolf. Eat. Bad!"

He runs away when he realizes it's time to change his diaper or he'll tell me "no" when I ask him if it needs to be changed.  Ok, this is more frustrating than funny.

He knows that pirates say "arghhh" and always requests his pirate pajamas.  He also asks for the raccoon pajamas, which we gave to Lucas in the beginning of July. How does he remember?!

When he swings at the park, he always says, "Mommy, too?" 

31 weeks

Countdown is now in the single digits in weeks.  I finally ordered a crib, and it arrived yesterday.  One thing down, 25 to go! We decided to keep Will in his crib, since he's still not a great sleeper, and this way, they'll both end up with full beds once the cribs convert.  The fed ex man isn't going to be happy with the rest of the ordering I plan on doing over the next few weeks!

            

See Will's little head getting into trouble in the background? Taking him to dr. appts is so fun.

It seems that I got so big all of the sudden!  Baby Heidi is pretty much full grown, and is just fattening up now.  You know I love a chunky baby and I hope she does not dissapoint!  I've been so hungry lately, I am sure she's getting enough to eat!

This pregnancy is different in some ways.  I have an outie belly button, which I never had with Will.  I started eating meat again a lot earlier.  The heartburn is minimal, in comparison to last time.  My lower back and what I think is my sciatic nerve hurts so bad, I have a hard time walking sometimes.

A mom of three boys was chatting with us at church today, and Billy was asking about having multiple children.  She sort of laughed and said that it really is a full time job for about six years.  What???  No.  I guess with all the tying shoes, meals, baths...until they can do it on their own, it can be consuming.  For some things though, I can already see it getting easier with Will now that he can(sort of) talk.  

So since I've barely done any documenting of this nine months, I just wanted to jot a few things down to remember!

Mo?

Just another cute story I want written down...

At Will's pediatrician appointment last week, the doctor needed to look in his ears and mouth.  Most toddlers I know won't let that just happen.  So being the baby whisperer that she is, the dr. told Will that Elmo was in his ear and she needed to see him. Lo and behold, he let her take a look! Then she said Cookie Monster was in his left ear, and Big Bird was in his mouth and she needed to see them.  He was such an easy patient after that!

For the rest of the day, he kept pointing to his ear and asking me, "Mo?" - as in Elmo.  Several days later now, he still remembers it, so today, I tried to tell them that they moved back to Sesame Street.  He did not buy it!

Will at 21 Months

What a fun little boy we have!  He makes us laugh so much.  And those terrible two tantrums are peeking through too, I can't lie.  And trying to guess what he's saying...it's like a game of charades.  The other day he was trying to tell me, "bagel" but what I heard was "bowl" and boy he was not happy about that!  So I think I have that "ba-yu" term committed to memory now.

Another "funny" moment was our trip to SAMs this weekend.  I let Will hold the umbrella on the way in.  When we got inside and in the cart, I told him it was time to close the umbrella.  Well, he was not a fan of that idea!  So, there I was, that parent, with a screamer for the next 3 minutes.  Then I realized I had raisins and that was the end.  Always carry snacks.  That's the rule now.  

Will had a nice meeting of his face with the concrete at the pool last week.  Those scratches look like Mike Tyson's face tattoo.  

We went to a much bigger pool today, without a gated toddler area and I might as well have worn sneakers because I was running after this dare devil constantly.  And he just laughs and thinks its a game!  I promptly ordered a life jacket online.

Will discovered shadows last week.  He points to mine and says, "Mommy" and points to his and says, "you".  I guess the English language is pretty confusing.  I refer to him as "you", so why would he call himself, "me"?

For a month now, I have not been able to get this kid to drink anything but milk!  Not water, juice...nothing but milk!  It started when we began our 2 week journey mid-June and I can't break him of it.  So now when we're out, I also tote around a little lunchbox with an ice pack and milk.  Oh, the things we do for them!

Everything is green and we have two of them.  

"Will, what color is this?"  

"Geen!" (It could be purple)

"Will, how many ducks do you have?"

"Two!" (There are three)

He has started organizing toys and lining them up.  I looked up the other day and all of his Little People were lined up on the train table staring at me.  Same thing with his stuffed animals in his crib.

He says Heidi's name a lot and points to his belly when he says it sometimes, too.  Not quite, bud!

We head to the pediatrician later this week and my guess is that he's still just over 30lbs but has certainly grown taller.  He is growing out of his 2t pajamas and most of his size 6 shoes.  

Kitchen Reno

Still a lot to be finished up, including countertops and moulding, but the change so far is amazing!

First there was a wall:

Then no wall!

Not sad to say goodbye to old cabinets, a sagging ceiling, laminate flooring and a plastic sink.  Will is especially pumped about the crushed ice option with the new fridge.

24 weeks

Baby Heidi is now about a foot long and just over 1 pound.  Seems pretty skinny to me, so she has about four months left to fatten up.

2014:

(Will with a mouthful of fig newton)

2012:

We've been in NC for over a week now and Billy/Patton come tomorrow.  Traveling with Will is generally not easy, but here, they have 2 high chairs, 3 cribs, tons of toys and books, and under the house is nice and shady for us to play in the afternoons.  Will's sleep isn't much different than home(terrible all the time) but here, there aren't any black out curtains, so he's up before 6 just about every morning.  

He calls my mom Gram-Gram and my dad, Gaamp.  We'll see if they stick, but it's pretty cute right now.  During this extended stay, they're also getting to see all sides of Will: the whining, crying and stubbornness too.  Billy keeps asking if they want us to leave yet.  I'm pretty sure the answer is no.  

Trains and Automobiles

We made it!  Will and I made it to our final destination: Grandma's house.  So much more fun than our house.  Helicopters, airplanes, boats, frogs, THE BEACH!  It was quite a trip here though.  On Friday, Billy dropped Patton off at the boarder and we loaded up the Tahoe to head to DC for his buddy's wedding.  Such an easy drive and we got to Aunt Connie's house near Dupont Circle in almost record time.  Nana came over, and Will had so much fun running around her five floors of house and her backyard park.  After he went to bed, Billy and I even had a chance to take a stroll around our old stomping grounds and remember what it was like to be young, and not go to bed at 9:30. 

Cue: Crazy Saturday.  We woke up to rain, but walked around with Will in the stroller a bit anyway.  Around lunch, Billy hopped on the Metro to Bethesda and I headed to Falls Church to drop Will off with Georgia.  Luckily, he caught a nap en route and I somehow got him into her house while still sleeping.  I seriously never have that kind of luck!  After some time for him to get acquainted with his surroundings, I tearfully left him in really the best of hands!  The pictures GA sent for the next few hours showed me that he was having way more fun without me!  I was able to make it back up to Bethesda to get ready, attempted to straighten my unruly hair, and get to the church just in time...to find standing room only!  Pregnant in heels is not my game!  A very nice man insisted I take his seat, so I obliged.  The ceremony was AN HOUR and mostly in Armenian.  I should have really just taken a nap in the hotel.  Two and a half hours of waiting around later, I got through my salad and decided I didn't know any of the 300 people there, and headed back to Georgia and Will.  Good decision and one which should have been made much earlier!

Sunday morning, we played with the munchkins before Will and I went to retrieve his extremely hungover father at the hotel.  We then set out to Bristow to see the Gellners and their new addition and the rest of the crew.  Will had a blast terrorizing their Boston Terrier!  A good time was had by all, and then we headed 50 miles back east, to check into our Union Station hotel.  We lucked out and found a pizza place and a playground to spend our time before bath/bed for Will.  Bonus: overnight parking in our hotel was $50!  We found a place for half the price around the corner.  Seriously, we aren't in West Virginia anymore!

Monday: We packed up our things, went for a walk around town with Will(the kid was beside himself with all the trucks and buses) and headed to Union Station to check in for Will and my train ride to NC.  We had no idea what to expect.  After seeing the 100 person line for the train to NY, Billy arranged for a service which allowed him to walk us to the train door, before anyone else was permitted to board.  Will screamed until I broke out the cheez-its and he realized he was ON A TRAIN!  Like Thomas!  I could have had him ride on my lap, but on Amtrak, kids ride for half price, so for both of us, the price was $100.  Two seats was absolutely the way to go and there was SO much more room than an airplane!  We could also easily walk between cars, sit in the dining car, and generally roam free.  Five hours was a bit long, but I was able to get him to nap for over an hour.  Overall, two thumbs up to Amtrak to get us to NC.

So now we're here.  Our kitchen at home is being renovated over the next week or so, so it just made sense to come down here.  We had planned to be down here a week later anyway, and Billy/Patton will join us for the regularly scheduled vacation.  So far, we have gone to the library for story time, the beach, and tomorrow we're headed to the aquarium!  Looking forward to this extended time in our favorite place to be!

21 weeks

So I don't have a 21 week comparison from last time, but I think we're good for here on out.  Billy is convinced that we will have less pictures and documentation of baby #2 and he's probably right!

Our neighborhood pool opens this week and I am pumped! I have a sweet farmer's tan that I need to get rid of by next weekend's wedding.  I know summer just started, but I'm already dreading the end of it!  

City mouse to country mouse

When we moved to this little corner of West Virginia, I ran into a few people in Pittsburgh who actually knew of this area, and all told me there was nothing to do here.  I have found that to be so untrue!  We don't have the big museums of a big city, but there is an active community here, to be sure!

                               

This morning, I went to a Mommy and Me fitness class with Will, which was pretty hilarious.  Any other day of the week, you could find us at one of two library's story time, Kindermusik, MOPS, Moms Club, DAR, Gymniks(like little gym) or even a church activity.  A park is being renovated a block from our house, where movie nights will start this month, there are farmers markets, strawberry fields, ferry rides, an art museum with kid and adult classes, trails, pools, and endless parks.

    

Now, with a grain of salt, I really cannot speak to the adult life here.  I've been nursing or pregnant pretty much the entire time we've lived here and we have never hired a babysitter. Lame, I know!  But for being a small area, in this state that has a certain reputation, I am seriously impressed.  

20 weeks

Halfway there.  Twenty weeks down now and time is going fast!  Being pregnant in the summer is great, because of shorts, sandals, and loose clothing!  I would feel like a sausage in winter, I think.

I told my mom yesterday that I thought I was smaller this time around, but judging from these two pictures, it appears that I am mistaken!

2014:

2012:

Exciting week

What a week.  We signed the closing documents for the sale of our FL house and found out that baby H2 is a girl!

The sale of our FL is really an incredible situation.  When we moved north 3 years ago, the FL market was down and we knew we were slightly under water, so we rented it out.  Initially to 2 young guys, but they were the tenants from hell and we had to evict them.  Then, our current tenants were sent from above and they have been a dream!  Long story short - we have been following the real estate market and the south FL market is making a fast comeback.  We told our tenants that we would not be renewing the lease because we planned to sell, and now they are buying our house! So that means no realtor fees, and the house does not sit empty while it is on the market! Win win win!  Ideally, we would like to have a rental property, but being a landlord 1000+ miles away is not the way to do it.  So we officially close next Friday! Woo!

And so yes, the second bit of exciting news is finding out that we will have a daughter.  So many people told me that I was, because I was so sick this pregnancy.  I'm sure there's no science behind that, but they were right!  Truthfully, Billy wanted another boy - mostly because I think he was traumatized by 3 sisters.  But we're both so happy and both grandmothers are extatic.  Now, onto the name game and cleaning out my junk room to make space for baby!

We had a fun Friday with Will's little friends at the park today.  A true miracle that we got them all to sit!

Some funny Will things:

I've been trying to show him how to blow bubbles, and when I give him the wand to blow, he only blows out of his nose!

He says "down" for up and down.  So when he wants to be picked up, or sit on my lap, he stands in front of me and says, "down, down!"  I try to tell him to say "up!" But so far, no dice!

The things he says

Will has pajamas with raccoons on the feet, so we show him the raccoons, and identify the animal. So now, even when he's not wearing those pajamas, he refers to his feet as "'coon". I do believe we have confused him!

Will refers to anything with wheels as a car. We try to show him tractors, trucks, motorcycles, etc., but he refuses.  Billy says, "Will, say truck!" and Will says, "car!"

When reading certain books or doing "this little piggy", he shouts, "den!" at the end, which means "again".

He shouts "cheese!" every time I open the fridge. Every time.

When choosing which show he wants to watch while I shower, he refers to Daniel Tiger as "Daan", Sesame Street as "Mo" and Curious George as just making a monkey noise.

This weekend, Billy's months-long renovation project on our backyard came to a close. He worked so hard to make our yard useable for Will and we had so much fun during the inaugural afternoon.  I told Billy that I would not want to own a home without him.  Yes, he comes up with some projects that aren't needed, or takes longer than necessary with some things, but he's so dang handy! He built a new fence, tore out all the old bushes, trimmed the tree, put in sliding glass doors and built a deck, which is not a one man job!  And all finished in time for Mother's Day and warm weather!  Bravo, Billy!

     

     

Will at 18 months

I took Will to his well visit this morning and he weighs 30lbs and is 34inches. Height is the 95th percentile and weight is still slightly off the chart.  He has really slimmed down though! A lot of his clothes from last summer still fit!  I even squeezed some 18mo shorts on him.  He is generally in 24mo and 2t clothes, with some 3t shirts.  His shoe size is a 6.  Speaking of shoes, I tried to put some sandals on him and he lost it!  Did not want to wear them!  So back to sneakers. I've slowly been easing him into crocs. This is one of those things, that I was appalled at when other parents spoke of their kids "not wearing" or "not doing" - eesh.

       

He loves being outside and especially at the park with Patton. He tries to chase Patton around to give him sticks.  We go to the park every day, and sometimes twice.  I pull him there in his wagon, which he LOVES far more then the stroller.  Usually leaving the park is a bit of a struggle and he pulls the straight back trick, so I can't buckle him in. What a joy, this newfound independence is.

A newfound emotion of his is also fear.  At Kelly's house, he was afraid of her shower head, and could not get out of the tub fast enough. So then we bathed him in her garden tub. Also afraid of his shark towel, his shark tshirt, Anders's tractors, and a small decorative bunny I had out for Easter.  No idea where any of this came from!

                            

His favorite things to eat are cheese, grapes and pretzels. Getting him to eat in the evening is a struggle because he just won't! During the day he eats a normal amount, but for dinner, he doesn't seem to be hungry.  The kicker is that he wakes up at night and signs for milk/hungry.  So that's frustrating. As is sleep with him, in general.  He sleeps about 10hrs at night and takes a little over an hour nap in the afternoon. When Lisamarie was here and I brought him down after his nap, she said, "that's it??" YES, that's it! If you have a good sleeper, thank your lucky stars!

Will says about 7-8 clear words: tree, car, dog, ball, mamma, dadda, cheese, teeth...and some others that are only discernable to me.  Some of the girls his age say so much more!  But, I also see that they sit and color, and generally aren't as strong willed as this boy I have!  One mom asked if Will had seen Frozen?  There is no way he would sit through a movie!  

                  

Let's see what else...he still eats handfuls of dirt and sticks.  He climbs on everything he can scale.  He brings me clumps of dog hair he finds in the house(thanks for the hint). He continually dumps th dog's water bowl.  He no longer enjoys teeth brushing.  But he also gives good hugs, laughs a lot, loves to help vacuum, is an expert at puzzles, puts his dirty clothes in the hamper and trash(among other things) in the trash can.

So much happens in 6 months. In another 6 months, he'll be two and be a big brother!

Funny things

Man, it has been tough keeping this going lately. I want to remember some funny things along the way though.

Today when I left Will home with Billy to run an errand, he had Will in the kitchen and he kept pointing to the cabinet that I keep the dishes in and saying, "ca!"(meaning cookie/cracker) Finally, Billy opened the cabinet to discover my secret stash of Teddy Grahams.  Will is always watching, I guess!

Last weekend when I left for a few hours to bring my mom to the airport, I came back to a disgruntled Billy about how terrible disposable diapers are. He still has a mental block about putting cloth diapers on Will, but at least Will now admit how superior they are when it comes to leaks and gaps.

I took Will to the park this week and I told a little boy that Will wanted to be his friend. A little later, I heard him and his sister arguing about which one them was going to be Will's friend. There is enough Will love to go around, kids!

At Kindermusik, when it is time to put the toys/instruments away, if other children are not putting them away fast enough, Will takes them out of their hands and puts it away for them.

He cries when I either don't let him vacuum, or we are finished vacuuming.  Who does this child belong to???

One more park story. We were there sort of late one day, and all of the sudden, Will walked over to his wagon, got in and sat down, and signed for food.  Guess I forgot about dinner! Ma, the meatloaf!

I'm sure there is more that I am forgetting....I need to start writing them down more often!

I'm back from slacking, posting from my new birhday gift - my iPad case with wireless keyboard!  Probably the first gift that I have not sent Billy a direct link to, or bought myself in years!  ;)  Bravo.  So hopefully, it will make me less dependant on my ancient laptop.  So far, it is much easier to type than on the screen keypad.

Will turned 17 months yesterday and I turn 31 today!  He is changing all the time and has become quite the climber.  His favorite is to climb on his chair, onto his changing table.  Today, he climbed into his high chair, and then onto the kitchen counter. Yikes.  He can do a lot more on his own at the park now, but also still likes to eat dirt, grass, mulch, etc.

                                

So yes, we drove to NC with a friend and her toddler.  The way down was pretty easy, mostly bc I think we were excited to get there.  The way back was much more trying!  The stay at Grandma's was so nice though!  We were their for four days and it was so nice to be able to have help with Will, have time to relax and see my nephew/brother/SIL!  

     

This kid is obsessed with cheese in the most annoying way possible.  Every time I open the fridge, he says, "cheese?"  I'll let you guess what happens if I don't give it to him.  Billy caves more easily.  His other popular word is "teeth" because he lives to brush his teeth so much.  Can't get too angry with that one, although it's still a battle to take it away sometimes.  His vocab is still pretty limited beyond that, even though he can identify so many objects, animals and Sesame characters in books.

So, not too extensive of an update, but something for now.  I'll try to get better with the new keyboard!

What a slacker I have been.  I've just been in a fog.  This weekend, everyone was sick and it was miserable.  I felt awful, but went for a walk both days bc a) Will wouldn't nap, b) it was beautiful out and c) men are the most annoying sick people.  So now Will is better, Billy is mostly better, and my nose still feels like it is full of cement.

                              

So here are some things:

-Billy thought he would reheat some left overs in a Pyrex casserole dish on the stove.  Good thing Will and I were not in the kitchen when it EXPLODED! Glass everywhere: in the dog bowls, the sink, the high chair, etc. Downside is that I need a new dish. Upside is that I got a cleaned kitchen!

-Will is/was getting up btwn 4:30 and 5am. I have been going to bed about 8:30 to ready for the mornings. On Saturday, Billy Got up with him and I heard Will crying for nearly an hour. Turns out he wanted pretzels for breakfast and Billy obviously wouldn't let him. And then I was instructed to never bring them in this house again!  

-We finally cut cable!  Through signing in to my mom's HBOgo through the Roku and Billy's mom's Netflix, we're pretty set for now. Thomas and Sesame Street are still available! So we'll be good until football season, when we'll need an antenna for local tv.  

-I have sold about $150 worth of stuff on ebay this month! Jeans I haven't worn in years, unopened perfume, a camera and an oxford shirt! I'm on a roll!

-Sometimes it is so hard not to laugh when Will is doing something wrong. When he opens the fireplace doors, we tell him to shut them, and then he turns around and starts applauding himself. Not quite, kiddo.

-I took Will to the library last week, thinking he would like to look at some new books. What he really wanted to do was take every book off the shelf. Maybe next time! 

-If you have time, read this about the evolution of parenting with Jerry Seinfeld. My favorite part is about his bedtime story: darkness. :) http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/hannity/2014/02/21/seinfeld-right-about-evolution-parenting

                              

Have you ever overdosed on chocolate? I think I did on Saturday. My method of getting chocolate out of the house is to eat it as fast as possible, so then it's gone. Genius, I know. This lead to a huge stomach ache and headache and now the rest is in the trash! We got a box from my mom earlier in the week, and then one from Billy's mom in Friday. Too much of a good thing!!

And yes, it snowed again. I took Will for a wagon ride and he was holding his hand out in the snow banks like you would do riding a boat with your hand in the wake. And then of course, he wanted to eat the snow.

                           

I've slowed down on all the pictures because I ran out of room on my phone and need to figure out how to store them, or really what to do with them all!

In other news, we bought 30lbs of shredded cheese at Sam's this weeknd!

Enjoy the warm!!

Here we go again

So here are a few back-dated posts.  I'm not nearly as consistent as I was two years ago. It could have to do with not sitting at a desk eight hours a day.  And the pictures probably won't be as good either, because I'm certainly not dressed for the day by the time Billy leaves for work, so he can't be my photographer with our real camera. So fair warning.  

Feb 11

Two years, to the day that I found out I was pregnant with Will, I found out I was pregnant with baby #2.  Billy left this morning for a 2 day work trip, so the only other person who knows is Will.  I'm going to the mall to buy a "Big Brother" tshirt after Will wakes up from his nap, and I think that is how I will tell Billy on Thursday.  The estimated due date, is the same as Will's due date.

Some things that are gong through my mind:

Two in diapers?

I better figure out a way to get Will to nap without rocking him bc soon I will be too big and then who will have time for that?

I will be the only one in our family without an October birthday. Even Patton was born in Oct!

Heartburn. I know it's coming!

Bob Duallie, I have my eye on you!

March 21

9.5 weeks already! It's been a doozie.  I'm exhausted and I have been vomiting a lot more often than I did with Will.  I lost my dinner for three nights in a row this week.  Even small meals like an orange. I have been wondering how women have 4-5(or nineteen!). So hopefully just a few more weeks of misery!  We have the first ultrasound next week and Lisamarie is coming from PA to watch Will.  After bringing him to our first appointment last month, we decided to try to never bring him back!

March 25

On the way home from Bible Study, I had to pull over into a used car lot to vomit. Later, when Will woke up from his nap, he wouldn't stop crying and wouldn't eat. He would stay still long enough to get his temperature either. So off to the pediatrician we went, to find out he had a fever with a double ear infection. Cue: Grandma(my mom) to the rescue! I had to cancel Lisamarie's visit bc of Will's illness, but luckily, Spirit was flying the next day direct to WV for only $20!

March 27

Everyone is feeling better and we got our first look at our new baby on the ultrasound. Everything is looking good, which we are so thankful for! Even better, Mom could stay with Will why we went to the appointment!

April 1

I thought the vomiting was behind me. April fool's! This time, in front of 1/2 the women in Bible Study while loading up the car. But really, what better place than in front of a bunch of moms? 11 weeks now...so hoping and praying the end of the sickness is near, two kids is IT after this mess!

April 22

14 weeks now and out of the first trimester! We head to the dr again on Fri.  Below is a little comparison. Certainly, a little bigger this time.

Last post with snow?

So yes, there is more snow.  These poor school kids around here have missed close to 15 days already.  I think everyone is pretty much over it.  It's pretty, and I don't mind, as long as it does not mess up my plans!  We made it home from church just in time yesterday.

 Family fun weekend included Will's 2nd real haircut, and making his first fort.  The haircut...I warned Billy that there would be screaming.  He let Will touch the clippers and get used to them first, so it was more bearable than the first time at Great Clips.  He was still pretty wriggly and Billy definitely needs to work on trimming around the ears. I'm going to spare Will, and not post a picture of that massacre!  I'm just glad his little friends can't talk!

Last week, I bought a book of stickers at the Dollar Store and Will loves to put them in his coloring book.  It was all fun and games until he tried to eat them.  Of course, crying ensued.  Have you seen the site, Reasons My Son is Crying?  I could post daily on this, I believe.  He also cries because I will not let him eat: dog food, toilet paper(any paper), rocks, and mulch.  Yes, the mulch really puts a damper on trips to the park.

New things this week:
Will says "neigh" for horse and can sign for "please" - although he surely doesn't understand the concept of manners yet!

Good morning, more snow!

Good thing we finally bought a snow shovel! We got about six inches last night! We probably should not have gone out to our friend's Super Bowl party, but didn't realize that it was going to snow so early.  We left for home right before half time and it was pretty slow driving home. Will crashed as soon as we got in the car- there were 17 kids at the party and he was loving it! He also got into some hot Scentsy wax and made a mess...so we told them to keep our Squares winnings ($100!) to have their couch and carpet cleaned. Eesh!

Billy took Will out for the first time alone this weekend-woohoo! They dropped me off to get my haircut and they went to stock up on beer and meat at Sam's. Everything was just fine, and I left them stocked with raisins just in case. Hopefully this will lead to many more boys outings!

Will was pushing through his last 2 teeth(until his 2yr molars) and had a constant runny nose that he became raw under his nose. His diaper rash ointment cured it so quickly!  I'm so happy to be done with teething for a while!

New this week is saying "boo" when referring to a book, "bit" for ribbit-a frog sound and attempting to jump. The jumping is really funny to watch...he does not even get off the ground!

Here's to another snow day and being stranded at home!

15 Months

I was snowed in all weekend, and surprisingly, we all survived without argument!  I even had to cancel a haircut on Saturday, which to me, is like cancelling a vacation.  Wahhh!  Will woke up at 5:50 on Saturday morning, which I thought was awesome compared to the 4:40 garbage he has been pulling a few other times this week!  I try to rock him back, but he just wiggles out of my arms, and makes his way to the stairs, signing for food.  Pre-parent Jackie would have wondered who is in charge here.  Hahaha!

 But seriously, my goodness this is the coldest winter I have endured in my life.  Tuesday we're going to reach a high of seven, and then it looks like it should get back to close to normal.  Our gas bill should be lovely.  This 58 year old house has a hard time staying warm!  And this is how I really feel:

I took Will to his 15 month well visit on Friday and it was a doozy!  I think he's starting to have a prolonged memory, because as soon as I put him on the scale, he lost it!  Measuring his head and length caused hysterics, so you can guess how the shots went!  The dr. tried to give him a lollipop, but he didn't know what to do with it...so no help there.  I tried to put Thomas on my phone, but it was just too rough a situation to cure.  Poor buddy.  But he is 30lbs now and 33.5 inches...so still off the charts, but not as far away from average range as he was at the last visit.  I think it is because he gives Patton 1/2 of his food.

Speaking of food, I've been participating in an online childhood nutrition class and it has really helped me realize how easy it can be to make more of our own food.  Last week, I tried homemade bread and pasta sauce.  Neither were spectacular, but it's a start, and I'll get there!  As a family, we're working to "clean up" our diet and start spending a little more to get better quality food.  I don't think Billy is ready to give up his Pop Tarts or hot dogs, but I never ate that garbage to begin with.  And luckily, Will is still young enough to think raisins are treats.

And for the weekly humor:

-As we were going to bed, I was showing Billy a video of Will's animal sounds.  He noted that Will is getting "...a little lazy with his monkey sounds."  Hmmm...I guess we'll work on that.

-I was tossing Will's diapers into the wash and out of the bag came a book, my belt, and a puzzle piece.  Perhaps I should keep a closer eye on him!

Will on the loose

We're suffering from a little bit of cabin fever here.  Will ended up with a stuffy nose this weekend and was pretty pathetic yesterday.  When I woke up to it on Sunday, I had a flashback to the kids he interacted with last week and it could have been from any one of them - or even the play gym.  After I was done being angry about it, I realized that he's going to get a little sick eventually and the benefits of him socializing really do outweigh a little snot.  And really, for 15 months, only getting sick one other time, this is pretty minimal.  I'm sure this a concern of a one-kid mom...my friends who have 4 or 5...it's just another day!

This crazy kid.  All of the sudden likes boxes on his head...and it's all his doing!  He'll walk around like that too.  And now, he has started running!  Watch out!  He dumped Patton's water bowl three days in a row because he's too quick...I can't react fast enough!  Or he'll do it while I'm pouring coffee.  This weekend we also had to take the large bookcase out of his room and replace it with shelves.  He's a climber and that bookshelf was going to end up on the ground in a matter of time!

The before picture below is the only evidence that our basement is ever without toys covering it!  How thankful I am, to have this space.  I hope we never have to move into a house without a basement or playroom!  I love having an area that is all his, and I don't have to clean it up every day.

Some other funny things...

-When I'm rocking him to sleep, he has to have both of his hands suppressed, so one is usually behind my back, and the other is in my armpit.  What a weirdo.

-He'll point to the cabinet where we keep Patton's treats if he wants to give Patton a bone.

-After dinner, we let Will open Patton's gate to help clean up and it is a MAD DASH between the two to get to the high chair which is littered with food.  Patton is running to eat the leftovers and Will is running to try to hand Patton the food.  Will's running is the most hilarious thing to us - his hands straight down or behind his back, with his belly out.  We die every night.

-I now can't even say "Sesame Street"

Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?

This time last week, the wind chill was -25.  Today it will be 55.  ABOVE ZERO.  I'm in favor of the latter.  A lot of people have been asking if we have been affected by the Kraton spill and if our water is ok. To my knowledge, it is fine.  I don't watch the tv during the day, so I usually have no idea what's going on.  When the first person asked, I had to go online to our local news to see what was up.  I think for most of our family and friends, we are the only people they know in WV, so when they hear about it on the news, we're the first people that come to mind.  So yes, we're fine.  But in the event of a similar disaster, we have close to 2 weeks worth of water in the basement.  We are "prepped", if you will.

I have started letting Will watch Sesame Street after breakfast.  Because many times, he gets up at 5am and I am just not with it enough to entertain him.  And it seems that he has become quite fond of the Sesame Street crew.  I was telling Billy about this, and how he knows some of the characters in books now.  So my dear husband, not really believing me, thought he would ask Will if he wanted to watch Sesame Street.  Will doesn't say much, but he KNOWS what you are saying.  He ran to the tv and started pointing.  When Billy wouldn't turn it on(bc he doesn't know how to access saved shows), a meltdown ensued.  Luckily, I came to the rescue.  This kid amazes me every day at what he is understanding!  I don't blame him for crying in this instance, because it was a bit of a tease.  A similar situation: I started singing the Thomas the Train song, and Will ran to the tv.  I didn't need to turn it on though.

 Another funny Billy-related story: as we were getting ready for church(I was getting everyone ready), I asked Billy to give Will some peanut butter toast.  I hear the shout from downstairs, "He is so messy!"  I guess he's never had the pleasure of watching Will pick all the peanut butter off the bread with his hands and then eat the bread.  I see it every day, so I'm just not phased by the mess anymore I guess!  Everyone is learning!

And last night, while Billy was getting Will ready for his bath, he took off his diaper and clothes while they were waiting, and Will peed on the floor.  Billy says, "I can't believe he peed!"  Really?  Our non-potty-trained kid peed on the floor while he wasn't wearing a diaper?  Shocking.  Of course, I laughed and left him to clean it up!

Never a dull moment around here - and that is fine with me!