Week 150

Jan 11-17

I feel like my two boys are getting so BIG! People told me that with two kids the time seems to fly by even faster than before. It is so true. I feel like things are changing right before my eyes and I can't slow everyone down. I am going to take this post to talk about each kid and what they are doing. Coincidentally Abel turned 4 months old this week. FOUR MONTHS! He was just born. Wow. I took time this week to take some pictures of both boys together and then individually. Kind of a picture heavy post, but I really thought they turned out well so I hope you enjoy! :)

Abel weighs in at 18 lbs 9.6 oz and is 27 in tall (both 95th percentile). He is exclusively breast fed. He is an excellent eater and has been gaining weight without any problems. This time around I have had very much support with my job in being able to pump when I am at work. I think it helps that I work nights. He recently went from 4 oz bottles to 5 oz bottles when I am gone. The change caused him to sleep anywhere from 6-8 hour stretches at night. So amazing. He is taking around three naps per day. It is a little bit more of a challenge to get him on a schedule because we do more things and are on the go. With Jack we just worked around his schedule, but Abel sometimes gets moved around when it is nap time. He does okay though.

He is such a happy baby. Sometimes he will be asleep and I will think to myself, "he has been sleeping for a long time," and go check on him. I will find him lying awake in his bed waiting patiently for someone to come get him. He usually gives you a big smile when you come scoop him up out of his crib.

He loves his jumperoo. He will jump in that thing for 30 minutes if you let him. I think he likes it because he is upright and can see everything big brother Jack is doing. If you pay any attention to him he will laugh and smile. He is also a talker. A loud talker. He will go on and on in his little baby babble and it is adorable.

We think he is starting to cut a tooth because he has been excessively drooling, chewing on his fingers, and has the rosiest cheeks I have ever seen on a baby. So far we haven't seen anything, but we are on the lookout. I think it will appear in the next few days. Other things he likes to do: cuddle, sit in his Bumbo seat, play with big brother, take baths. He is a sweet baby.

Jack is almost 3 years old!!! He weighs 35 lbs 3.2 oz and is 38.5 in tall (both 90th percentile). He has really grown up in the past few months since baby brother came home. I am delighted that he doesn't seem to be jealous of his new brother. I think a big part of that is he is such a Daddy's boy and doesn't really mind when I'm feeding the baby. He is very helpful and will get diapers, throw things away, and share his bath with Abel.

For Christmas Jack got a new bike from my dad. He had a tricycle, but it was the more upright old fashioned one. This one is more of a "lowrider" tricycle and he jumped right on and pedaled it (with the help of Uncle Andy bribing him with candy). Ed and I got him the other tricycle last year for Christmas and he has yet to ride it using the pedals. Well suddenly he can do both bikes. He loves to ride them around. I am so happy we live on a cul-de-sac and he can just go down our driveway and have the freedom to ride his bike without worrying about traffic.

Jack has dropped his nap altogether, but he still goes to bed at 7:00 pm and wakes up around 7:00 am. He has always been an early riser. Sometimes if we are lucky he will get up and cuddle with us in our bed for an extra 30 minutes. We put on cartoons and he sits between us. We seriously need to get a king sized bed. Sometimes Abel will wake up to eat at the same time and all four of us are in a queen bed. It is a squeeze!!

He has started playing games. His favorites are Memory, Candy Land, the Fishing Game, and Hi-Ho-Cherry-O. He actually "gets" the rules and will play. Sometimes his attention span isn't great enough for an entire game, but he is getting better. He also has mastered upper and lower case letters and counts to 14. He knows all of his colors. He also can name basic shapes (circle, square, triangle, star, rectangle, crescent moon). He can draw a circle.

His vocabulary and language skills amaze me every day. He speaks in full sentences and says the funniest things. The other day we were in the car and I had the radio on. He said, "turn the radio off Mommy, I want to talk." Um, okay. LOL. He still loves to read books. We read every day many times throughout the day. He is really picking up on things. Today we were reading "Fox in Socks" by Dr Seuss and he pointed at the title and said "what does that say Mommy?" When we are focusing on one word I sound it out for him and show him how the letters fit together to make the word. Maybe we will have a good reader. I hope so. I loved to read when I was a kid and would literally plow through books.

Week 149

Jan 4-10

Since moving here we have been looking for a part time preschool for Jack. I definitely want to enroll him somewhere this fall so that he can be around other kids on a regular basis. He has a social personality so he absolutely LOVES to play with other kids. When we lived in FL and he went to "school" three days a week he really liked it. Now that we have Abel it is really hard for me to entertain Jack the way I usually do. Jack is a super smart kid so he truly benefits from structured activities. He especially loves to read books, play games, and do puzzles. He also likes imaginative play and will beg you to "play choo-choos" or "play cars" with him. Sometimes he will pretend that he cooked you dinner and you have to play along with his whole story line.

Almost 4 months old!

Getting so big!

I really enjoy playing with Jack, but he literally yearns for attention every waking hour he is up. I can't feed Abel, clean up, make meals, etc. Until we had Abel Jack rarely watched any TV. I am ashamed to say that lately he has been watching more and more because it is the only way we can get anything done around here. Hopefully if we can find some type of morning "school" that doesn't cost too much, he can have an outlet to really play with other kids.

Sitting up in his Bumbo

I can't wait until Abel gets a little older and bigger, because I can already tell that these two are going to be nice entertainment for each other. Jack seems to love his little brother, and is very sweet to him. Abel cracks up when Jack pays attention to him. He loves to take a bath with his big brother. These two crack me up when they interact.

Despite living in the middle of nowhere, we have tried to get out of the house more often. The Busy Bees play group has been a lifesaver. It's on meetup.com for anyone who wants to join. I would recommend it. So far all of the "bees" have been amazing people who have similar interests as us. Jack really enjoys it. One of the things on their calendar was $1.00 night at EdVenture Museum. It is a Children's Museum in downtown Columbia. They definitely cater to kids, because it was absolutely adorable. We normally wouldn't go to the museum so late (it was from 5:00 pm-8:00 pm) but we couldn't pass up this great deal. It would normally cost our family around $28.00 so we had a savings of $25.00.

Construction

Farm

Farm

Mini grocery shopping (super cute!)

Checking out.

Riding a camel.

Daddy and Abel jumped in for a quick picture!

We made a fun family night out of it. First we went for an early dinner at Andy's Deli (one of our favorite Columbia pastimes). Then we headed to the museum. Ed and I had never been there before. Jack had gone one time before with his Aunt Caroline. It was really neat to check everything out. They had plenty of activities for the kids. The hardest part was keeping up with him.

Music

Dentistry

Counting the teeth

Not sure what this is, but it looks cool

Veterinarian

I thought the dentist display was adorable. He loved pretending to clean the mannequin's teeth. Also the vet display was fun. They had all kinds of things. There was a firetruck display where you could put on uniforms and climb all over a real truck, but Jack wouldn't put the uniform on, nor would he look at me for pictures when we were in that area, so I didn't get any good pictures of that particular display. Oh well maybe next time. There was much more than what you see in the pictures, we just kind of checked everything out quickly. You could easily spend a whole afternoon playing in the different areas and levels of the museum. We enjoyed it.

In other news we have officially started a new workout plan. It's called Les Mills Pump. From the same people who do Insanity and Asylum. Here is the box. It's supposed to be pretty intense and lasts 90 days. We will track our progress and hopefully succeed. More on that later. :)

Week 148

Dec 28-Jan 3

Well I finished my first full week of working night shift. I have been so worried about returning back to work for so long. I can't even tell you how many times I have gone over the schedule over and over in my head. I worried that Abel wouldn't sleep at night for Ed, that I wouldn't be able to sleep during the day, that it would be horrible. I guess the only good thing about coming back to work after having a little baby is that you are already conditioned to be sleep deprived. I have to say, it is not half as bad as I made it out to be in my head.

The boys in their Penguins jerseys...thanks Pap and Mary Ann!

I love this!!!

Next kid better be a girl, or I'm going to have to get used to sports on TV all the time.

I am on orientation to the Pediatric Emergency Department. I really like that this hospital eases you into your new job. Not only am I with a preceptor (another nurse) for a few months, but they are also sending me to a bunch of different classes. Some people might think this would be overkill, but I think it's awesome. I love learning new and up to date information so I don't mind getting refresher courses on such topics as "Pediatric Emergency Situations" and "Documentation." It is always good to know what you are doing. I feel like when I am put on my own I will be very comfortable and ready for anything that walks in the door. Literally. In the E.D. you really never know what may fly through that door. You really can't even be prepared for 'everything' per say, but you should try your best to be!

Big boy Abel!

Awww! He will be 4 months old in a couple of weeks!

So after my first week of work I had the weekend off, which was pretty cool because it was New Years. Ed and I went out New Years Eve and partied it up. I think we were up until 5:00 am drinking and celebrating. It was out of control. WILD, WILD night!!!!

Um, NOT!

Hahaha! Did you think I was serious? We were in our pajamas at 8:00 and in bed asleep by 11:00. We haven't celebrated New Years properly since before we had kids. Here is the last time that was...we were pretty damn sexy in our day.

New Years Eve 2008

Want another laugh? Here we are later that same night...

Woooohooooo!!!!

LOL! Good times, good times! So anyway we were in bed by 11:00 and then the next day we went to Ed's moms house for New Years Day. I got some kind of nasty stomach bug (probably from my new job) and was pretty much laid up in bed most of the day in between puking. I was pretty annoyed because Ed's mom makes a really good New Years Day dinner and I was really looking forward to eating it. Oh well, there is always next year. Luckily it was only a 24 hour bug because the next day it was back to work.

During the week Uncle Will and Kristen came by to bring their presents. I told Will not to get us anything but he didn't listen and got us ALL something. It was super nice of him. We didn't get to see him on Christmas because he worked at the Fire Station. Jack was super excited to open presents yet again (this kid is so spoiled!). He loves playing with Will and Kristen so he was pretty happy about them coming over, as you can see in these pictures.

He couldn't wait to open them all up!

Hurry up mom! I can't sit still!

So it is now 2012. That is so crazy. Last year was a roller coaster of everything you can imagine, so I hope this year settles down a little bit. Not that I would change anything, but it will be good to just get into a routine and enjoy each other. New Years resolution? Well of course since I just had a baby mine is to get into shape. Ed and I gained almost 10 pounds each over the holidays...yeah I know...disgusting!! Most of it was just eating pure junk and drinking beer. Even this week when I cut out the obvious junk and the alcohol I already lost 6 pounds. That just shows how much beer can make you retain water.

Jack and his beloved train table

We have a long way to go. We are starting a new workout program. It's called Les Mills Pump. It's from the same company as Insanity and Asylum. We will see how it all works out. I am a little nervous about fitting in working out with all of the other craziness we have in our lives. Hopefully we make it through. This program is 90 days so it is by far the longest one we have ever tried. I have to lose weight though, literally none of my clothes fit. We will get there. I will make another video of my progress and will debut it once I finish.

To finish up this post here is a cute little video of Jack and Abel.