A Day In the Life of...

MJ-February 11, 2012

MJ:  He is just a few weeks shy of turning 3 years old!  I can not believe it!  3 just sounds so much bigger than 2 for some reason, and MJ is certainly growing more and more into a little boy.  He continues to be an amazing big brother to his new little sister.  He's so enamored with her, loves to help mommy change her, and worries about her anytime she cries.  He regularly says "Pooooor baby," when her fussing starts.  He loves to pull the rocking chair over next to her changing table while I'm dressing and changing her.  He gets up close to her and uses a high pitched sweet little voice to talk to her.  It's so cute to watch!  MJ is making good progress with potty training.  He's wearing underwear now except for when he's sleeping.  He likes to sit on his little potty and read books or watch cartoons while he does his business.  Pretty cute!  He'll go on the big potty every once and a while at home, but he's scared of them out in public, so we're struggling with that one a bit right now.  He does good holding it, but if we're gone for more than a few hours, we'd better have a back up outfit on hand.  He's talking more and more of course, and says the funniest things!  Daily, I just crack up at least once at something that comes out of his mouth.  I started a little notebook where I try to jot them down from time to time.  I know one day I'll forget them and will love to look back on his cute little innocent sayings.  Right now, he's constantly saying "I need..."  It's "I need Dora," "I need chocolate milk," "I need cookie", etc.  Little does he realize that he doesn't need any of this.  :)  We're working on rephrasing these statements with him!  He's definitely become more social and loves to have play time with other kiddos.  He enjoys going to the mall playground and making friends with just about anyone.  He's also made some friends at his school, and we've gotten together for a few playdates outside of school with those friends.  He generally plays pretty well with other kiddos from what I can tell.  I think MJ is such a sweet soul.  Of course I'm a bit biased I'm sure, and this is not to say anything negative at all about other children, but seeing him interact with others as well as us, and in comparison to other little boys, he just seems quite sensitive and intuitive.  He certainly has his full on toddler moments of defiance, don't get me wrong, but generally speaking I think he's on the laid back, calm, and passive side.  He's pretty willing to go with the flow.  He constantly asks how others are doing, comforts little ones when they're sad, and picks up easily on our emotions.  I think he's going to make a great friend to others as he grows up.  He continues to be a good sleeper.  He sleeps from 7:30PM-7:30AM most days, and takes about a 2 hour nap the majority of the time.  He's a skinny little guy still, but he's had a growth spurt recently and has gained some inches in height.  He was in 24 month pants in the early fall, and then quickly shot through 2T pants, and is beginning to wear some 3T.  Thank goodness for adjustable waists because he could probably still wear 12 months sized clothes if it was just for the waist size!  He's a finicky eater.  Waffles are a definite fave and requested nearly every morning.  He also likes crackers, fruit snacks, yogurt, pudding, fries, apples, sausage, peanut butter and jelly, grilled cheese, some soups, and pretty much any dessert he tries.  Veggies, a few fruits, and most meats continue to to be pushed aside, although we continue to put them on his plate in hopes that he'll one day cave in and suddenly like them!  MJ is a typical toddler.  Some days he wakes up with a huge smile and ready to start the day, and other days he wakes up fussing and in one of those moods.  It's often challenging meeting the needs of his sister, while also giving him enough attention, but we're managing and taking it one day at a time.  He continues to fill my heart with love and happiness.  He just has no idea how much I love him!

Charlee Noelle-February 14, 2012

Charlotte:  She is just a couple days shy of being 2 months old.  Time moves too fast!!!  Yet, as sweet as those first couple weeks are of those precious newborn moments, I'm enjoying this stage much more.  Now that we're doing much better with breastfeeding, starting to see her little personality develop, and getting into a bit of a routine (verrrry loosely), it makes it more enjoyable.  Charlotte has become one AMAZING sleeper.  I hate to even document it because I'm afraid I'll jinx it, but she's currently sleeping an 8-9 hour stretch at night, waking to eat, and then sleeping another 3 hours.  It's incredible how much better I feel and am more equipped to handle the days when I get good rest at night.  I know that it's very likely that this won't last, so I'm enjoying it while it does.  She's sleeping in her own room, but she's in her swing, which probably isn't the greatest, but we'll work on getting her in the crib before long.  With her tummy issues, we're supposed to try to keep her upright for 30 minutes after she eats, so the swing seemed like the easiest way to do that, not to mention that she of course is soothed to sleep in it much easier, and we just kind of went with it. MJ was a swing sleeper too for the first several months.  It must be our weakness! During the day, I think she makes up for lost time by nursing every 2 hours quite often, sometimes 3.  She takes short cat naps throughout the day, and occasionally one long nap in the afternoon.  She enjoys lying in her crib and looking and listening to her mobile.  She also likes to lay on her activity mat and swat at her toys.  We often do tummy time on her changing table.  I'll pull the rocker over and sit and chat with her in order to get her attention.  She seems to like this much better than being laid down on the floor.  She's smiling more and more and making little cooing sounds to "talk back" when spoken to.  She loves watching faces!  I think MJ gets the most reaction out of her than any of us.  She just loves the way he talks to her and she'll smile so big and reach for him.  I love watching them interact!  We started Charlotte in cloth diapers a couple weeks ago, and it's been even easier than I'd expected.  I'm loving the switch and wish I would've done it with MJ.  She's currently wearing mostly 3 month sized clothes, but many are starting to become a little snug, and I don't think it will be long before she's moving into 6 month sizes.  I love my baby girl so much and am in awe of how much my heart just aches for her.  It's kind of funny because I look forward to her sleeping times so that I can finally have a moment to myself and try to get something done, but yet I miss her so much when she's away from me in another room.  She's made such a wonderful addition to our family and find it funny that I ever wondered how I'd be able to love another child as much as I love MJ.  My heart is so full! 

The days with two little ones are challenging!  There's always tears...it's just a matter of are they MJ's, Charlotte's, or mine! Ha!  Sometimes all three!  There are some really rough times when I feel like I'm checking the clock every five minutes wondering if it's getting close to nap time or time for Mat to come home from work.  Charlee is definitely a mama's girl right now, and never getting a break from her is tough at times.  I struggle to keep up with my teaching online, I find it luxurious to get a quiet shower, I miss snuggling with my husband, and I wonder if I'll ever have an ounce of me time, again.  BUT, I find the good in each day.  I know this time will pass too quickly, so I reallllly try my hardest to treasure it.  We were out to dinner this weekend and Mat just kind of looked at me and laughed.  I was holding Charlotte, bouncing her to try to keep her quiet, had the Hooter Hider hanging around my neck as I'd just finished trying to nurse her, had the diaper bag sitting in my lap, was eating with one hand, and apparently had a smile on my face.  He just kind of made a simple comment about how in the world was I still smiling...he was stressed/mad just looking at me!  It brought a good laugh and made me think about it....I really just do feel more at ease and relaxed at this second go-round with motherhood.  Not to say I don't have my moments of being TOTALLY stressed out, but I'd much rather try to eat my dinner one handed while multitask with nursing, cramped into a booth with the big diaper bag, and just try to enjoy it rather than wish those moments away.  I truly feel that God has blessed me and after much struggle and loss, given me this amazing opportunity to parent these two beautiful babies.  It won't always be easy, but it will always be a privilege to be their mother.