Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Potty time update
Xander has started wearing big boy underwear full-time! (Except during naptimes and bedtime.) He's told us multiple times that he needs to go to the potty. I'm so proud! In fact, he seems to tell us better when he's wearing the big boy underwear. I think the pull-up is so much like a diaper that he didn't see a problem with going to the bathroom in it. Makes sense to me! Hopefully we're making great strides in this department. :)
Life is not a bed of roses...or is it?
It's been an emotional week for me. I've probably cried close to 15 times. Seriously. And the crazy thing is, I really don't know why. Things are actually going very well overall and I don't feel like I have much to complain about.
My 3-month old baby sleeps very well - anywhere from 7-10 hours at night. She's a good baby who really only cries when she's sleepy or hungry. Her little smile and sweet cooing melt my heart.
My almost 3-year old is amazingly well-behaved, calm and patient for his age. He helps me with his sister, getting things I ask him to get and doing what I tell him to do most of the time. He will read books and look at pictures for hours, literally.
My husband has a good job (praise the Lord!) and helps me out with the kids and around the house. He loves me, tells me so and spends time with me.
What do I have to complain about?
I talked to my mom today and she spoke some words of wisdom to me. She reminded me that going back to work, even just part-time, and having two children (emphasis on the word two) is hard. For someone like me who likes to make a list and check items off, it's very difficult to end each day. Rarely is my list completed by the end of the day.
I have an ideal world in which I would like to live. I also have small children. Those two worlds have a hard time co-existing.
Here are a few things I've been dealing with:
David logged 57 hours at work last week by the end of the day Wednesday. He also worked full days on Thursday and Friday. That means he worked a total of 73 hours last week. I like when that number is closer to 40.
My kids are both sick. They have colds. They've had colds since November, it seems to me. I'm so over it!
Though I love my job, it's fairly stressful to be gone for 3 months and attempt to figure out organizational changes (for which we've had many since I left), reschedule programs and reconnect with daycares and schools, go through my supplies to see what I need for the next year with programming money that must be spent by the end of February, and get back in the swing of working outside the home.
So what do I need? Grace. I need to give myself some grace. I have a wonderful husband who is easy-going, easy to please and doesn't ask much of me. My kids are forgiving. They don't know or care if the house is clean, the laundry done or their Valentine's Day was celebrated "good enough." I have this ideal picture in my head and when I don't live up to my own expectations, my world crumbles. Nobody's perfect. So, grace. That's what I need to get through this time.
Thank God that his grace is sufficient for me.
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
2 Corinthians 12:9
My 3-month old baby sleeps very well - anywhere from 7-10 hours at night. She's a good baby who really only cries when she's sleepy or hungry. Her little smile and sweet cooing melt my heart.
My almost 3-year old is amazingly well-behaved, calm and patient for his age. He helps me with his sister, getting things I ask him to get and doing what I tell him to do most of the time. He will read books and look at pictures for hours, literally.
My husband has a good job (praise the Lord!) and helps me out with the kids and around the house. He loves me, tells me so and spends time with me.
What do I have to complain about?
I talked to my mom today and she spoke some words of wisdom to me. She reminded me that going back to work, even just part-time, and having two children (emphasis on the word two) is hard. For someone like me who likes to make a list and check items off, it's very difficult to end each day. Rarely is my list completed by the end of the day.
I have an ideal world in which I would like to live. I also have small children. Those two worlds have a hard time co-existing.
Here are a few things I've been dealing with:
David logged 57 hours at work last week by the end of the day Wednesday. He also worked full days on Thursday and Friday. That means he worked a total of 73 hours last week. I like when that number is closer to 40.
My kids are both sick. They have colds. They've had colds since November, it seems to me. I'm so over it!
Though I love my job, it's fairly stressful to be gone for 3 months and attempt to figure out organizational changes (for which we've had many since I left), reschedule programs and reconnect with daycares and schools, go through my supplies to see what I need for the next year with programming money that must be spent by the end of February, and get back in the swing of working outside the home.
So what do I need? Grace. I need to give myself some grace. I have a wonderful husband who is easy-going, easy to please and doesn't ask much of me. My kids are forgiving. They don't know or care if the house is clean, the laundry done or their Valentine's Day was celebrated "good enough." I have this ideal picture in my head and when I don't live up to my own expectations, my world crumbles. Nobody's perfect. So, grace. That's what I need to get through this time.
Thank God that his grace is sufficient for me.
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
2 Corinthians 12:9
Happy Valentine's Day!
I got a call from David right before lunchtime.
He asked if I could meet him in the lobby.
And this is what he brought me.
Hand-delivered and sealed with a kiss.
I love that man!!
I will not reveal how many of the chocolates I've already eaten. :)
Happy Valentine's Day, y'all!
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Wishes
I find myself reading other people's blogs and wishing I was more like them.
I wish I was as passionate about that subject
or
I wish I wrote as eloquently as they do
or
I wish I had thought to write about that
or
I wish I was funnier
or
I wish I was more talented
or
I wish my life was more together
or
I wish I was as good a mom as she is.
Sometimes I could wish my life away! But the fact of the matter is that I don't need to wish for so much. I have so much.
Maybe I didn't record every little detail of being pregnant, but I can remember lying in bed in the quiet of the early morning and feeling that little baby move around inside me. I talked to that baby and my love grew.
Maybe I don't have the cleanest house, but my son knows that I love him because I play with him.
Maybe I don't have the most exciting life where I make tons of money and travel to exotic lands, but I think it's pretty exciting to see two little people change and grow right in front of my very own eyes. To have a husband who comes home to me each and every night. To know that I'm loved by all three of those special people in my life.
Maybe my husband and I are pretty boring, but when I look in his eyes, I see his love and passion for me.
Sometimes I wish I was different. But most days I'm thankful that God made me who I am.
Deuteronomy 2:7
"For the LORD your God has blessed you in everything you have done. He has watched your every step through this great wilderness. During these forty years, the LORD your God has been with you, and you have lacked nothing.”
I wish I was as passionate about that subject
or
I wish I wrote as eloquently as they do
or
I wish I had thought to write about that
or
I wish I was funnier
or
I wish I was more talented
or
I wish my life was more together
or
I wish I was as good a mom as she is.
Sometimes I could wish my life away! But the fact of the matter is that I don't need to wish for so much. I have so much.
Maybe I didn't record every little detail of being pregnant, but I can remember lying in bed in the quiet of the early morning and feeling that little baby move around inside me. I talked to that baby and my love grew.
Maybe I don't have the cleanest house, but my son knows that I love him because I play with him.
Maybe I don't have the most exciting life where I make tons of money and travel to exotic lands, but I think it's pretty exciting to see two little people change and grow right in front of my very own eyes. To have a husband who comes home to me each and every night. To know that I'm loved by all three of those special people in my life.
Maybe my husband and I are pretty boring, but when I look in his eyes, I see his love and passion for me.
Sometimes I wish I was different. But most days I'm thankful that God made me who I am.
Deuteronomy 2:7
"For the LORD your God has blessed you in everything you have done. He has watched your every step through this great wilderness. During these forty years, the LORD your God has been with you, and you have lacked nothing.”
Monday, February 6, 2012
Tummy time
Amelia Jayne LOVES tummy time! Now that she's rolling over both ways, she likes it even more. It's amazing to me that she's already rolling over - she started going from back to tummy on Saturday. She's been working so hard to roll and all that hard work has paid off! Look out, world - she'll be mobile in no time :)
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| One of her favorite places |
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| "Take a picture of me!" |
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| She's always captivated by her big brother :) |
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| His fake smile cracks me up! |
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| They love each other :) |
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| Already drooling like crazy! |
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| I love you, too, Amelia Jayne |
Friday, February 3, 2012
Potty time
We're still working on the whole potty training thing. I had hoped we'd be finished with the harder parts by now, but it's slow going. Xander does a really great job using the potty - when we ask him to go. He won't tell us when he needs to go, so if we don't ask, there's always an accident. He's still in pull-ups for this very reason. And on occasion it's a fight to even get him in the bathroom. He just doesn't want to stop what he's doing to go. He's worn big boy underwear a few times and hasn't had a pee pee accident yet. Poop is another story. He has done #2 many times in the potty, and he gets a special star cookie if he does, but recently I think he's deliberately not going #2 so that he can go in his pull-up when I'm not looking. Sigh. It'll happen eventually.
He can actually do everything he needs to do by himself except pump the soap. He goes in the bathroom, pulls down his own pants, pees (standing up since he wants to be like daddy :)), wipes the seat, closes the lid, flushes, pulls his own pants back up (somewhat correctly), climbs on the stool, turns on the water, then calls for me to pump the soap. I'm fairly impressed with this, anyway! Baby steps. :)
I decided to make a potty chart to get him more excited about telling me he needs to go. It definitely worked the first day - hasn't been as interesting since, but we're still working on it. :)
He can actually do everything he needs to do by himself except pump the soap. He goes in the bathroom, pulls down his own pants, pees (standing up since he wants to be like daddy :)), wipes the seat, closes the lid, flushes, pulls his own pants back up (somewhat correctly), climbs on the stool, turns on the water, then calls for me to pump the soap. I'm fairly impressed with this, anyway! Baby steps. :)
I decided to make a potty chart to get him more excited about telling me he needs to go. It definitely worked the first day - hasn't been as interesting since, but we're still working on it. :)
About AJ - Three months
Amelia Jayne turned 3 months old on January 24th. One day later she rolled over. Twice! I was so shocked! She was too :). She did it again almost instantly. David got his phone to video it, but she decided it wasn't happening again. Most of the video is of Xander trying to jump on everyone, screaming loudly amidst commands of "Take a picture of me!" which resulted in me getting out my phone to film him screaming playing.
No doctor's visit this month. We'll have her next one at 4 months. She's still a very happy baby! She sleeps about 7-10 hours per night, eats well and is growing so much! Her favorite thing to do is watch her big brother. She'll follow him around the room as he dances around doing his silly antics. She also loves to talk, cooing and squealing at anyone who will pay attention. :)
She loves for me to wear her in the "sleepy wrap," appropriately named since she sleeps there a lot. It makes life so much easier when I still have both my hands! I can do more with Xander and get things done around the house without feeling guilty about not spending time with my sweet baby. Time is precious these days and I want to soak up each moment of her babyhood! I know it will be over too quickly. I have an almost 3-year-old little boy to prove it!
No doctor's visit this month. We'll have her next one at 4 months. She's still a very happy baby! She sleeps about 7-10 hours per night, eats well and is growing so much! Her favorite thing to do is watch her big brother. She'll follow him around the room as he dances around doing his silly antics. She also loves to talk, cooing and squealing at anyone who will pay attention. :)
She loves for me to wear her in the "sleepy wrap," appropriately named since she sleeps there a lot. It makes life so much easier when I still have both my hands! I can do more with Xander and get things done around the house without feeling guilty about not spending time with my sweet baby. Time is precious these days and I want to soak up each moment of her babyhood! I know it will be over too quickly. I have an almost 3-year-old little boy to prove it!
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| She would not smile for her 3-month pic (with the sticker). Oh well. She actually looks pretty annoyed. :) |
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| Oh boy, was she done with this activity. |
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| Now she's happy! (After I took the sticker off - ha!) |
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| Cutting her eyes like her brother. BTW - this is the blanket her Nana made for her. Beautiful, huh? |
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| "Take a picture of me!" |
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| "Take another picture of me!" |
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| I love her triple chin! Why are fat thighs and double chins so cute on babies?!? |
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The library
There are some cool things going on at the library. I happen to work at ImaginOn - the #1 children's library. :) Makes me proud!
Check out these links:
http://charlotte.news14.com/content/in_depth/652838/in-depth--david-singleton--charlotte-mecklenburg-library-system
http://livability.com/top-10/top-10-libraries-for-children/charlotte/nc
Check out these links:
http://charlotte.news14.com/content/in_depth/652838/in-depth--david-singleton--charlotte-mecklenburg-library-system
http://livability.com/top-10/top-10-libraries-for-children/charlotte/nc
Thursday, February 2, 2012
What.A.Morning
I've had a full day and it's not even noon yet! I guess in hindsight, it really hasn't been that bad. It could've been worse. My car could've broken down. I could've been mugged. I could've been up all night with a crying baby. I could've had strep throat. I could've found a bug in my coffee. I could've been struck by lightning. I could've had to shovel out of 6 feet of snow. My cat could have thrown up right outside my bedroom door so that as I left my room in the pitch black I stepped in it. I guess, really, it's not so bad.
I set off the alarm in our building this morning. $500 a pop when someone sets it off. Thankfully I don't have to pay that. The security officer was not so nice. The police officer, on the other hand, was extremely nice. So, it could have been worse.
I started back programs today. Or so I was supposed to. I went to the wrong place. First time going there, and I missed it. I pulled over to call the lady and she said, "Oh, well if you mapquest it, it'll send you to the wrong address." Thank you. I figured that one out all by myself. So instead, I got there, met with her and told her about this grant that allows for programming and parent workshops. I didn't do my story times, but at least I did something productive. It could have been worse.
Here's to a better afternoon.
I set off the alarm in our building this morning. $500 a pop when someone sets it off. Thankfully I don't have to pay that. The security officer was not so nice. The police officer, on the other hand, was extremely nice. So, it could have been worse.
I started back programs today. Or so I was supposed to. I went to the wrong place. First time going there, and I missed it. I pulled over to call the lady and she said, "Oh, well if you mapquest it, it'll send you to the wrong address." Thank you. I figured that one out all by myself. So instead, I got there, met with her and told her about this grant that allows for programming and parent workshops. I didn't do my story times, but at least I did something productive. It could have been worse.
Here's to a better afternoon.
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