Emerson, 6, 7, 8 & 9 months

First, let me say how bad I have failed to write these monthly updates.  I'm feeling like a huge failure, but at least we're getting something going here with 4 months in one post. 

Dear Sweet Emie Ann,

You are a very happy little baby that brings so much joy to our lives.  You've done quite a lot over the last 4 months that it's going to be hard to document it all in one post, but we're going to give it a try!

In month six, you went on vacation to Virginia and had both your aunt and their aupair watch you which worked out just fine. We also celebrated your aunt Mindi's birthday, your Papa's birthday and your aunt Julia's birthday!  Sadly, we were able to spend a lot of time with uncle Colin this month because your grandpa was in the hospital a lot and that meant that he was spending a lot of time at our house so he could spend time with Tom.  You were also rolling around a lot during this month and on March 10th you finally were sitting up on your own!  What a fun milestone that seemed to happen so quickly.

{I'm sorry.  I have to pause here to say that looking back at 4 months of my little girls progress and all that has happened in these 4 months is very overwhelming.  A. LOT. happened and it's just emotional how fast it's all passing by. Note to self, don't do four months in one update again.}

• We took you and Coen to visit Tom for the last time.  This is very hard to write and hard to read when I we reviewing my calendar.  It was actually a really great experience.  It was fast and important for us to do.  We knew that it would probably be a good visit and it was.  Tom perked up and seeing you guys meant the world to him.  You could tell by the expression on his face.  As we were having you say your goodbyes, we brought the car seat over the his bed so that he could see you.  He was trying so hard to reach for your hand.  He was so close and so hopeful to just grab your hand.  We eventually guided your hand to his and he was just so joyful to touch your hand and hold it.  Thinking about that now is so emotional.  But he was so happy to have you there.  Your brother was able to give him a kiss on the cheek and a hug before leaving. Just a few days later, he was taken home and is pain-free.
• We celebrated your first Easter which was fun and you were starting to stand up more and more and pull yourself up on things.  Still just rolling around and rocking on your knees at this point.  No true crawling yet.
• Your personality was really shining through and you can tell that you love for your brother is really developing.
• You had croup for the first time in month 7.  That was fun, but you powered through.
• And on April 9th, you started really crawling around on your own!
• April 12 you got your second bottom tooth!
• Around this time, we were really trying to have you sleep more in your room. There is still a transition period of you getting up in the middle of the night, feeding and going back down in our room.  We'll work on getting this to not happen, but I'm not too worked up about it because Coen did this until he was 11 months.  {I'm entering the crazy train but thankful I'm not pregnant and nursing like I was with Coen. }
• You're still nursing like a champ, but you have issues when you're distracted or feel like you're missing out on something.  I have found over the last few months that I have to nurse you in private or you just don't nurse well.  And thankfully, with two teeth on the bottom and now one coming in on the top, you have yet to really bite down on me.  I'm so happy about that.  With Coen we went through a phase that was awful.  We made it through, but it wasn't a good time.  So, thank you.
• In month 8, you finally were sleeping a lot better in your bed and into month 9, you're doing even better!  Eating is helping, I think, because you're eating more solids and those are keeping you full through the night.
• In month 8, we had you and your brother dedicated at church on Mother's Day.  It was a beautiful service and while unfortunately it was in the prime of your nap, you did really well!
• Over the next few weeks leading into 9 months, we had a TERRIBLE spell of flu and a few other things run through our house, literally.  THANKFULLY, you didn't get what everyone else had.  It was awful.
• In the beginning of May, you were really crawling well and holding your own with the older kids at the sitter.  You do not let Coen pass you by.  You keep up with him which makes me think that in a few more weeks, you're going to be running right by his side playing.  He's struggling with sharing and knowing to be gentle with you, but he will learn and it doesn't really seem to phase you much.
• You're also starting to cruise around furniture like a champ.  You're so fast!
• You try to play with your brother and keep up with his as much as you can.  You're pretty much his shadow and you find him hilarious.  Lately, you guys have started to wrestle with one another which is cute until you get hurt or squished and we have to break it up for a minute.  You don't give up very easy.
• We have learned that both you and Coen, have no fear.  You're very adventurous, you try things you know you haven't done before just to see if you can do them, and you don't give up until you're hurt.  In the bath-tub, you stand up against the sides and hold on until you fall down.
• You can be very strong-willed and yet so affectionate. You have such a sweet smile and have learned how to be "shy" when new faces greet you.

It goes without saying that you have been such a blessing in our lives and we love spending every waking moment with you, even if that means that my dinner gets cold and sits on the counter for 2 hours before being eaten.

You're currently:

• Nursing about 5 times a day and eating solids about three meals a day with a few snacks here and there.
• You're in a size 3 diaper, but I could see you moving to a 4 very soon.
• You're still able to wear most 6 month items and you're moving into 9 month items and 6-12 month clothes.  It's very fun to dress you in a romper or dress, every day.
• You're taking anywhere from 1 to 2 naps in a day, but that all depends on what you feel like doing.  We don't enforce a nap time, but we're going to be working on that throughout the next few months.
•  You're still very into your paci and we're going to work on phasing that out too.  We started to not use it as much during the day and mainly after eating or sleeping, but we're going to weed that out a little more over the next few months, too, we hope.
• Your eye hand coordination is getting really good and eating in general is starting to seem more normal for you, as we continue to add different things to your menu.
• You're sleeping through the night, almost every night. (Which is awesome.)

In just a few days, we're going to be celebrating your brother's 2nd birthday!  I cannot believe that he's going to be 2 and that you're going to be 1 year old in just a few months.  Time sure isn't holding still.  It's moving at rapid speed and I'm so happy to be spending this time with you!

We love you so much,

Mama & Daddy

brain dump

• Coen has turned 23 months and in just a few more weeks, he's going to be (I can't even say it...) 2 years old.  I'm in utter shock that he's already 2, but at the same time, I'm so excited for what year 2 is going to bring us.  We're planning a fun family and friends birthday party that should be pretty fun for him and I cannot wait for it to get here so he can see all that we've planned.
• The last two weeks have been tough.  We've had a series of viruses go through our house that have affected everyone except Emie (thankfully).  This was the first time in a LONG time that I was actually sick and home sick for almost 2 days, just laying in bed.  It was the most awful thing I've experienced in a long time and I'm hopeful that we are all on the mend and it doesn't come back around in any other form over the next week or more.  And, like all moms know... when you're sick, the rest of the world has a hard time function.  Boy did I feel that last week.
• Last Saturday morning, Sean work up and was completely feeling the virus, himself.  I left and took the kids to a bagel shop in town.  We were having a good time just hanging out and eating breakfast together.  As we were wrapping up, the lady that was making bagels said that there was a fire that she wasn't able to get out and that we all needed to leave.  I was so nervous about getting both kids out of there in such a hurry by myself, that I left my table a mess and just booked it out of there.  I had a nice older lady try to help me, which was really sweet, and also helpful.  I don't think that the fire became anything devastating, but still it scared the crap out of me.
• Emie, for the last week has been doing a lot better with sleep and sleeping almost through the night.  I usually put her to bed around 9:30pm.  Before I go to bed, I go and nurse her one more time and usually she won't wake up until about 5:15am.  This has been dreamy and I hope that it continues.
• Coen is getting so much better with listening and following directions that we rarely have to use time-outs to help remind him of his manners and listening skills.  This is such a blessing and such an accomplishment!  
• My brother came home from Malaysia this weekend and it was nice to spend time with him, meet his girlfriend and just hang out with my family.
• Being Memorial Day weekend, my mother in law was having a very rough weekend.  My father in law was in the military and this was just another holiday that is passing that is going to be hard to swallow.  It's not going to be easy and we won't forget, but thankfully he will know we are thinking about him.
• I'm ready for summer.

Lost time

In the last few weeks, I've noticed that I have no good recollection of the last 3 years and what happened when.  I struggle with memory issues all the time, but the last couple weeks I have found myself becoming that mom.  The mom that constantly has to refer to when she was pregnant or how old one of their kids were in order to remember how long it's been since something happened.

For instance:

Sean's Aunt passed away two years ago and before I could even utter the words, "NO WAY."  I had to think... Well, I was pregnant, but we didn't have Coen yet, so yes, that was 2 years ago.


This happened on more than a couple occasions lately and I cannot help but think that this is going to be my new measure of when things happened.

I'm that mom.

the f word

About 2 months ago, Coen picked up the F word (not exactly the word we were hoping he'd repeat, but here we are).  It was something that was used in a car (because someone was out of line) and any time he repeated it, it was used in the car. 

After a few rounds of, "do not use that word", "that's not a nice word", "Coen, do not say that word", etc... It started to happen in my car.  After a few rounds of the same sort of discipline above, I decided to tell Coen that it was daddy's word and that he wasn't allowed to say it.

That seemed to be the ticket, until I hear him say, "F&*^.  Daddy's. Don't Touch."

I like to refer to that as a "Mommy Moment FAIL."

through the night

This winter has been really hard on a lot of people, causing illness after illness and we're all trying to recover as best as we can.  The unfortunate part is the moment we get a good couple of days of weather, the temperatures change and we're back to where we started.

At 7 weeks, Emie was sleeping through the night with no trouble.  Since about 10 weeks, she hasn't done that but maybe a handful of times.  She's almost 36 weeks now, so you can imagine how I'm feeling.  After 36 weeks, it's surprising how your body can just adapt to no sleep or at least broken sleep.

A couple weeks ago, I got really frustrated with the way things were going for us and I went back to look at Coen's 1 year calendar and his blog updates.  Good news, by 10 months, he was sleeping soundly through the night, with a good bedtime routine and hardly any hiccups.

With Emie being just over 8 months old, I'm hopeful that by 10 months, we fall into the same routine.

My normal reaction is to be so frustrated and wanting to blame it on something, but in reality this phase doesn't last too long and while I would love more sleep, I'll get it someday.  And by then she might be in high school and I'll be missing these baby moments so dearly.

Don't worry though, today I put on makeup so that even if I am asleep at my desk, people might not recognize me anyway... 



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helicopter

There's this guy I work with that I would describe as a young man who is a flower child at heart.  He's very carefree, caring and full of educated, but useless knowledge. Our office was hosting a baby shower for a co-worker and he had his child with him who was having a great time.  She was running around, eating, giggling and having so much fun.  I overheard him say that he's just not interested in being a helicopter parent.  At the time, we didn't have kids and thought that this was a pretty hilarious comparison between how parents parent.

Since, then (not to state the obvious) we have had two kids and I have become that helicopter parent, but (in my opinion it's only) to an extent.  My husband would state and argue otherwise.

Let's be honest.  When you have a child, you are trained to always keep them safe.  Your brain is wired that way.  And well, mine might be over-wired.  I have this constant fear that something will happen to my children that will be completely out of my control if I'm not watching them.  I think I've said before that I have this thought in my mind that any time Sean calls me in the morning when he's with the kids in the car, it usually means that something bad has happened.  Now, he's probably called me a dozen times from the car in the morning and nothing has been wrong, but my mind still goes there.

If I'm my kids, I try very hard to play the "cool-non-helicopter-parent" role and while that usually lasts for about 15 minutes, I immediately revert back to the "worry-wort-helicopter-parent".  I wonder where he is, who he is with, what he's playing with and if he's playing nicely.  I think or thought that these were all things that normal parents worry about, but I'm learning that maybe I'm an outcast. 

When they are young and don't know rules, manners, right from wrong (do they ever know this?), what can hurt them and what can't, where the edge is and when to stop, etc... I cannot control myself from wanting to hover and help them.  I know that there is a bit of trust and they will learn and I do understand that, but that doesn't mean that I'm also not the the first to respond when something happens because I was trusting and allowing them to learn (aka trying to release my helicopter duties).

This is a very hard thing to let go of and it's also a very hard thing to learn.  They are your kids.  You want them to be safe.  And you can't help but protect them, in every aspect of life.

So, with all of that said, I'm stating all of this aloud, to let you know that I'm fully aware of my position when it comes to my kids and parenting them and I don't plan on changing much.  I will loosen the "leash" as they both grow and learn the things that I'm protecting them from learning the hard way.

Are you this way?  Have you been this way before and it gets better?  Do you have any insight?

Coen, 21 & 22 months

Dear Coen,

Boy is time continuing to fly by.  I cannot believe you're just a few months from turning two.  To be perfectly honest with you about these last two months; they have been some of the hardest months that we've faced.   This month, we lost a very important family member, your grandpa Tom.  It was only 32 days from the time we found out about his tumor to the time that he passed, but  you were able to visit him in the nursing home and lift his spirits before he went to Heaven.  We actually talked about Grandpa Tom last night when I was talking about the thunder storm that was rolling through our town.  I told you that it was just Grandpa bowling upstairs... Then I said that he probably wouldn't be bowling but maybe watching other angels bowling, but laughing about us thinking that he could be bowling.  The positive side to all of this happening is that we are seeing Grandma more and more and you get so excited when she comes to visit.

The other hard part of these last two months is working with you to figure out your way to express yourself and that is trying for everyone. Terrible Twos are the real deal and we're getting them just a few minutes early.  We let you work it out a lot of times, we also use time out a lot and we all know that this is just a phase and it too, will pass.  It's just a trying period and makes it hard to go anywhere without a tantrum of some sort.  It's all part of the fun and as soon as you're through this phase, your sister will be there and we'll have to do it all over again. Maybe we'll know more the second time around?!?

You're still the sweetest little man, when you want to be and you're the most cuddly right after you get up in the morning, right after your nap and sometimes right before bed.  You've become more of a daddy's boy lately and have started to spend more and more time with him.  I think this stemmed from Dad wanting a lot of hugs over the last month because of what was going on with his dad and you were one of his biggest comforts.  It's great to see your relationship unfold and grow.  He loves every second that you want him over me... It's only fair because of all the months that you were purely a mama's boy, so I'll take it.  And I want nothing more than for you to grow up like your father.  He's so smart, a great student, an overachiever, great sense of humor, pretty handsome, easy to get along with, a great teacher and a great role model.  You'll be just like your dad, I can see it now... but you better have my patients!

Your vocabulary is sprouting at rapid speed and you literally repeat just about everything we ask you to say.  It's fun to watch you learn and catch onto things, reactions and others feelings. It's getting hard to understand you sometimes, we try very hard to listen, but sometimes you just talk too fast and we can't make it out.

Your relationship with your sister is pretty sweet.  As much as people react when I tell them how close you are with your sister, I have to say that watching you two learn together and grow together, is really great.  You help your sister whenever asked, you give her kisses whenever we ask and sometimes whenever you want.  You mostly try to aim for her head, but sometimes you try to kiss her on the lips and that doesn't always work out.  She moves fast a lot of times those mouth kisses end up in her eye.  Either way, really sweet.  She LOVES you too.  She reacts to you no matter what you're doing or saying.  Your dad was watching her get so frustrated the other day because she couldn't keep up with you.  She's starting to move around more and is getting faster... before we know it, you'll both be running!!

 You're still so very active and all over the place all the time.  You love to be the show off and sometimes that gets your into a time out because you get a little carried away and then we have to correct you with a time out.  You're doing ok at the sitter's house too, but time outs happen there too.  Recently, you and your friend at the sitter were put in time out at the sitter together (in a big lazy boy chair) and you were both screaming and crying so much that you eventually fell asleep on one another!  Silly, cranky boys...

You're starting to get the idea of listening and you're getting much better at following directions.  There are some things that don't always work out as planned, but it's all part of us learning together.

We love you so much Coen.  You brighten our days and I'm not just saying that because I'm you're mom.  You literally are the happiest little guy that we know and everyone who spends time with you understands why we love you so much.

Happy 21 and 22 months, Bubba.

We love you,

Mama & Dad

Stats:

Diaper: Size 4

Clothes: Tops:12, 18 and some 24 months, Pants/Shorts: 12 & 18 months

Food: You eat just about everything but you haven't really found a love for meat.  You prefer veggies, cheese, dairy and bread.  You LOVE PB&J, yogurt, maderine oranges, blueberry muffins and pizza (but cheese only).  You have no trouble telling us when you're done eating or when you don't like something.  Sometimes meals just don't work out and even when we give you options, you'll still turn us down.  It's okay, because most of the time if you don't eat well for one meal, you will for the next and it's just a bit of a catch up.

Liquids: We are still a water and milk, only, household.  Again, we have given him sips of juice or punch but it's just not part of his diet and he doesn't need it.  So we don't offer it.  Plus, you LOVE milk and water and drink them with NO trouble.

Babywearing: I'm the proud new owner of an Ergo Organic carrier and I'm so excited about this because I can now carry Coen on my back, if I would want.  I've tried it with him a couple of times and he seems to like it.  When we have an event that he'll need to be on my back... that will be the real experiment, but until then, Emie sure loves it.  :)  I'm just glad that it carries up to 45lbs of baby weight!  Just means I'll be using it for a while!

Toby (our dog) & Coen: I wasn't so sure about Toby at first, with the kids.  When Coen was in the crawling phase, Toby almost lost his life when he reacted to Coen pulling on his fur.  Luckily, that didn't happen and everyone survived.  The best part is that they actually get along and play together.  And Coen has learned how to treat Toby, so their relationship is actually a lot better than I was every hoping it would be!  The sweetest thing is when one of the babies are crying and Toby can't get to them, I will usually find him at the bottom of our stairs by the gate, just waiting for one of us to respond.  He's a great dog.  I don't give him that credit too much and I should.  I just get so frustrated with another being under my feet and he just ends up taking the brunt of the orders.  I will get better with time, I hope.

Church: This is actually getting much better with time too.  At first, when we would drop you off in the nursery, it was TORTURE and you wouldn't un-cling.  Now, we take you down, you start to fuss, you end up crying as I hand you off and by the time we come back you're just fine and usually playing with a friend. It's not perfect yet, but you're getting there.  I'm not sure how they calm you down, but whatever they do it works, and we're happy about that.

Colds/Sickness: Thankfully, this has been the worst winter for illnesses in our house and because you and your sister basically share the same colds (and sometimes over and over again) it makes it really hard to have a healthy house.  January, you were both sick and Emie for a longer period than you.  February was okay but at the end, you both were sick again all the way through March.  Ear infections, croop, respiratory inflammation, etc...  Basically, you were both a snotty, congested, coughing mess.  At one point, I had to take you for a chest x-ray to confirm that you didn't have pneumonia.  Thankfully, that was a big negative, but you still had so much congestion that took forever to clear!

Being a mom of two under two has proven to be some of the happiest and hardest moments in my life.  I wouldn't trade a single one of them for the family that we have grown and all of the memories that we have made with one another.

Until next month...

Good Days

My goods are starting to out number my low days and I feel like myself again.  There is a tentative plan to help me get off my medication but I was told that I have to wait until Summer is in full-motion before I can talk about that again. Sunshine brings happiness, is what my doctor is leading to, I believe.  So, I'll be patient.

In the meantime, I've done a few things to help me feel better about me.  First, my doctor said that I need to start working out and I have to make it an appointment in my calendar and DO IT.  So, with that, I played around with a couple of ideas.  I thought that joining weight watchers would've been the best option because I've had success in the past, but I ended up tossing that idea out because it wasn't what my doctor said to do and I just wanted to sweat.

So, I went with a friend on a free weekend to Jazzercise and from there, I was hooked.  I went a few more times on the free weekends and then before too long, I became a member.  Let me tell you how awesome it is... IT'S AWESOME and while I may not look awesome doing it, I don't care.  I feel really great when I leave, I'm typically dripping in sweat and the next day, I always feel the burn.  It's been about a month and while I haven't lost a more than 3 pounds, I can see my body transforming.  It's a great feeling and I'm so happy that I did it!

Secondly, I bought some self tanner for my father-in-law's funeral because I didn't want to look so pale in the dress that I was wearing.  Can I tell you how much better that made me feel about my legs and myself in general?  Seriously, it was such a confidence booster!  I think everyone should use self tanner... such a cheap way to feel great about yourself.  Especially when it's 45 degrees outside!  Oh and I did happen to get water on my leg that dripped down to make a really nice streak but I didn't mind.

Lastly, I've been coloring my hair at home.  Getting it done at my salon is always nice, but in my ripe age of 30, I've realized that I don't have to do that to feel good about my hair.  Plus, since the majority of it is falling out, I'd rather just color what I have at home and wait for it to thicken up to get it done at the salon.  I do have an appointment to get it cut, but it's 6 months since my last one.  My hair will be out of control, but I don't mind because it looks really nice.

It's those sorts of things that are really helping me get back on track to feeling like myself more and more.  Seems silly and so cheap, but I'll do whatever works.

Tom, my Father-in-Law

On February 26, 2013, my husband went with his dad to have an MRI done on his brain.  He was having, what the doctor thought were a series of mini strokes and they wanted to see what was going on. Within a very short amount of time following the MRI, they were told that they had found a tumor in Tom's brain. 

They were sent to the ER to wait on a neuro-surgeon  to meet with them and unfortunately, that took quite a bit of time. Sean's mom spent every day by Tom's side, Sean spent every evening there after work and by the end of the week his brother had come into town and they were all staying at the hospital for 8 to 12 hours at a time.

On March 4, 2013, the doctors finally scheduled a biopsy to see exactly what was going on. The doctor reported that it was cancer and that it was the most aggressive of it's kind.  It was a type of cancer that was taking over/eating away at his brain, it wasn't a mass growing on his brain, it was literally attacking his brain tissue.

Sean's brother went home after the biopsy and returned 11 days later.  By this time, Tom was moved from the hospital to a nursing home where they had hopes of Tom getting stronger and improving.  At the time that he was in the hospital, he was far too weak to receive treatment and the cancer itself was inoperable (because of the location and what would be damaged to retrieve the mass, plus there was not guarantee that it would stop the mass from continuing to grow).  The doctors prepared Sean, his mom and brother that if things don't progress, that time was not on their side. 

The day before Sean's brother returned, the nursing home doctors reviewed the information from the hospital and told them that Tom might have a few days to a few weeks left.  Something that no one was prepared to hear, but after the review of information, it was pretty clear that this was going to be the potential timeline.

Tom was very weak and the tumor was effecting EVERYTHING that Tom did.  Everything.  His need or ability to eat, his ability to get out of bed, his ability to recall certain events that had happened within the last few months or days, the ability to answer fairly simple questions, and the ability to eventually swallow or speak.

Within the next 16 days, Tom was moved to the nursing home, Sean's brother returned for 8 days and his family of 6 joined him to visit with Tom during some of his last really good days (comparatively speaking). During that time, Sean and I had a planned trip to Florida that we had every intention of cancelling, but after hearing from the doctors on Thursday, that week (March 21st), about Tom's condition, we decided to still go.  There was a LOT of guilt felt during this time away.  Not only about Tom, Sean's family and everything else involved but for out kids as well.  When we returned, Tom was not doing very well and it became very evident that his body was starting to shut down.

In 32 days, Tom went from basically a functioning 69 year old man, with some short term memory loss and lack of energy to a 69 year old man that was now, completely bedridden and unable to speak.  The deterioration of one person, in 32 days, is just unbelievable and completely unimaginable. 

I have said a couple of times that because of how things played out, I'm just in shock.  I'm sure that this is a common feeling that most are feeling right now.  I mean, 32 days is not a lot of time.  And for the most part, he was pretty healthy.  There were a few unhealthy things that we knew about, but nothing that ever indicated the events over the next 32 days.

Death can be scary and so unpredictable.  You're never fully prepared to say everything that you've ever wanted to say, right in those last moments.  I remember hearing Sean say that while he wanted to say things to his dad or ask his dad questions, he also didn't want to depress his dad more by preparing him for what was about to happen. And yet, in those moments, the things that are said, radiate in your mind and memory forever.

March, 30, 2013 at about 10am, Tom passed away, peacefully. 

 December 2012, just 4 months ago. 

With that, I'll leave you with verses that will be read by Sean's brother at Tom's memorial this weekend and a little note to Tom.

John 14:1-21

New King James Version (NKJV)

The Way, the Truth, and the Life

14 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. ² In My Father’s house are many mansions;^[a] if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.^{[b] 3} And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. ⁴ And where I go you know, and the way you know.”

⁵ Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”
⁶ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

The Father Revealed

⁷ “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”
⁸ Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”
⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰ Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. ¹¹ Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.

The Answered Prayer

¹² “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. ¹³ And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ If you ask^[c] anything in My name, I will do it.

Jesus Promises Another Helper

¹⁵ “If you love Me, keep^[d] My commandments. ¹⁶ And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. ¹⁸ I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

Indwelling of the Father and the Son

¹⁹ “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. ²⁰ At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. ²¹ He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”


Tom,  

You were a great father to your boys and you will never ever be forgotten.  You'll be happy to know that I'm comforted by the memory of your laugh that was naturally produced by something that I probably did and because of that I cannot help but smile when I think about you and your impact on my life.

We love and miss you very very much.

Jill, your Daughter-in-Law

Randomness

• I have been stressing and stressing about my milk supply.  Ever since the nuva ring, I hadn't gotten back to full speed and I was really getting down about it.  For a whole week, I decided to pump 4 times (instead of my usual 2 to 3 times) a day.  That helped immensely.   I had started to have my sitter implement 1 bottle of formula a day so that I'd have enough milk saved for S and I's Florida trip.  Anyway, I was counting them last night to see where I was and I had 26 bags frozen!  Go me!  I needed 29 for our trip that's coming up and with another couple of days left until we leave, I will blow that "needed number of bags" out of the water!
• The other day, I pumped 20 ounces while at work!  That's almost double what I was pumping a month ago!  Feels so awesome to have my body bounce back and respond like that!
• I have photos to edit and I'm procrastinating.  I want to do them but chores and sleep are taking precedence. I'll get to them all very soon.
• My father in law is still not doing well, still.  But he's been having some really good days, lately.   I know that those will come and go, but the good days are reassuring.  We took our kids there to see him last week and he lit up!  And, he talked about it the day too, as if he remembered!!
•  Our trip to FL is quickly approaching and while we have talked about cancelling it about 5 or 6 times, we aren't.  We're going.  We're going to be traveling without the kids and we're really looking forward to celebrating our marriage and our family, together.  I have to say that I sort of forget what husband time feels like since we're usually running around with the kids or doing things for the kids or sleeping when we are home.  I'm looking forward to it but it's going to be a little hard.
• I haven't worn makeup all week and I think my face is breaking out more than normal.  Strange.
• I've started blogging at my job, which takes away time from thinking about blog posts that are worthy for here, so I must apologize.

Have a great weekend!  Hopefully Spring will be here soon.

Thank you!

making good progress

I started this "challenge" back in the beginning of January and I'm realizing now that I've failed to actually take some of these things out of my house, but they are in my basement (bagged and) ready to roll. Most things that I'm finding to get rid of are goodwill worthy, the rest that has been trash has been making it to the trash each week. We are making some great progress.

I'm gearing up to tackle the kids clothes this weekend.  It's a project bigger than non-other.  We are beyond fortunate to not only have the clothes that we have for our kids because of hand-me-downs and what not and the space to store it in, but I have to be somewhat reasonable and get rid of the things that I either don't need or don't want.  I also have to be aware of the things that I have from Coen that I can also use for Emie. There was a time that I thought I was really organized with baby clothes, then Emie came along and nephew W. and my organization has sort of come to a screeching halt.  I plan to work on this project next so that I can start setting aside items for my nephew and for Emie as well.

Speaking of clothes, I had cleaned out my closet about 2 months ago (maybe), and when I did that I set a few items aside to potentially sell.  They didn't and now they are still in my closet.  Guess what?  Those are out of here this weekend too.  They might have some value, but for now, I'm just going to pass them along to another home and wish them well.  AND, I also have several pairs of "I wore them one time" shoes that are getting a new home too.  My feet did change a lot after two pregnancies back-to-back and some shoes just won't even come close to working, like I had hoped.  It's okay though, because I do enjoy shoe shopping and when I do need something, I will go and get it.

So, let's see how the progress is going:

1. Kitchen
2. Pantry
3. 1/2 bath
4. Coat closet
5. Laundry room
6. Master bedroom
7. My dresser
8. S.'s dresser
9. Under our bed
10. Master closet
11. Master bathroom
12. Living room
13. Toy cubes
14. Loft/toy room
15. Emie's room
16. Emie's Closet
17. Coen's room
18. Coen's closet
19. Linens
20. Books
21. Winter coats & sweaters
22. Pre-pregnancy clothes & maternity clothes that I never wore
23. Swim gear
24. Frames & decor
25. Scarves/hats/gloves
26. Holiday boxes
27. Garage & Cars
28. Toys
29. Desk/office supplies
30. Sewing/craft table

Getting crap out of our house feels really good.  I know with Spring around the corner, it's going to make me want to do more.  Maybe I should save this crap and have a garage sale?  Anyone have any luck with garage sales?  I probably could make a little money, but is it worth the effort?

Gah.... Who knows.  Either way, we're cleaning up some things and moving it out of here!  And it feels great!

Emerson, 6 months

Dear Emie,

You are becoming more and more sweet with every moment that passes and everyone around you can see it unfolding.  Your smile lights up the room and your giggle is so contagious.  You love your family so much and you adore your brother more than anything.  You're such a joy to have around and we're so excited to continue to see your personality unfold.

You're very "talkative" and make a lot of noise trying to talk.  You're drooling like crazy and soaking through 2 to 4 bibs in a day.  You're rolling and getting around SO MUCH and you're yet to crawl, but you're getting very close!  You'll get up on all fours and rock around.  In the last week, you're started to lift your head up when you're rocking on your hands and feet which is an improvement.

It's so exciting to watch your learn.  In the last week, you're gone from sitting and falling over almost immediately, to tripoding really well, to full blown sitting by yourself with the occasional face-plant.  It's so crazy how fast your get that strength to hold yourself up, so quickly.  I don't like this sitting business that much because you will always be falling and hurting your head until you really get the hang of catching yourself, but at least you're making the right progress.

Your brother loves you so much and loves watching you learn and do new things.  He follows my lead and your dad's lead with what we call you and how we encourage you.  He calls you big girl, happy girl, silly goose and Emie (really loud)... He's so proud of the things you're learning to do, he's also a little possessive of his toys which we are working on, but it's very fun to see how gentle he can be with you and yet how much fun he can have when playing with you.  We put down the "dance floor" (this big quilt blanket that your Nana and Great Aunt Kathy made) and you both roll around and play on there a lot.  Coen loves to have the "dance floor" and loves to roll around on there with you, while you roll around like crazy too.

You love grabbing anything in front of your face and typically you pull whatever it is, right into your mouth.  You love to hold onto people's faces when they get close to you and you'll push their cheeks together which is really funny to watch people to react to when they aren't ready for that. You're loving Sophie the giraffe right now and play with her for 20 minutes or more at a time. I tell people all the time that it's like baby crack... you just can't get enough.

While writing this, it made me think about my update that I would've done for Coen at 6 months.  It's interesting to read about how you're basically the same baby as him.  Very calm, happy, easy going, wiggly, on the move, never crying, etc... It also makes me think about how when you're brother was this age, I was already pregnant with you.  I hope to be pregnant again sometime soon, but not right now.  I think we are shooting for another year before adding another child to the mix.  We'll see when that time comes.

Recently we went on your first wagon ride and I'm pretty sure that you and your brother were just excited to be outside.  We've had quite a long winter.  We've gone from having about 9 inches of snow dumped on us to having a 65 degree day, all in the same month. We never had you play in the snow, but since we live in Ohio, I'd hate to say that we still have plenty of time.  For all we know, we might get a couple of inches next week.

Last Sunday, we went to church without dad.  This meant that I wore you in the bjorn and carried Coen in.  It worked, but I was completely sweating by the time I got into church, took Coen to the nursery and came back up.  It was fine, but I was a little stressed while doing the transfer.  I was happy that we went because they did a blessing for all the children and they brought Coen up into the church service which was really sweet.  Very special for me to see and I'm thankful for that.

 You're still wearing size 3 diapers, you're creeping very quickly into size 6 and size 6-9 month clothes and you're still eating really well.  Breastfeeding is going great (pumping at work is not that great, but it's working), you're also eating bananas, avocado, sweet potato and squash. It all seems to be happening so fast, but that's how it always seems.

Sleep has never really been something that we've struggled with for you.  Lately, you've been up and down with colds and stuffy noses, so we've been keeping you in our room which has worked out and has been nice because I know what's going on with you.  However, this last weekend and week, we've been trying to get you to sleep in your room.  This has worked out just okay, so far.  I imagine we have about another week before it works out really well.  The first night was great, the second night you woke up your brother with your chatter, the third night wasn't good and you weren't happy about it and last night was okay too.  See another week or two, we'll get this under control, we hope!

We're so proud of you, Emie Ann, and we look forward to all that you're going to learn in do in the upcoming years.  You're such a special little girl and we're so happy that you're so happy, all the time!

Happy 6 months, Emie!

Love, Mama & Dad

Carolyn on Family Health & Wellness

Today, I have a guest writer that is joining me to share in something that is very important for parents to be educated about, Diabetes.

Carolyn is a 20-something year old with a passion for a life, fitness and overall well-being.  She is an avid cycler, golfer and has been known to bust some serious moves on the dance floor.  You can learn more about Carolyn and her motivations and her story, here.


Here's Carolyn's document:


Put Your Heart into Raising Healthy Children

Although November is National Diabetes Month, families such as mine, with members who suffer from Type 2 Diabetes, have reason to actively raise awareness all year long. One of my younger cousins was
recently diagnosed with Type 2 just a few short months ago, and it has completely changed our family’s outlook on the disease and our habits.

Information from Syracuse’s St. Joseph’s Cardiac Hospital reports a clear connection between diabetes and heart disease. Since February is National Heart Month, now is a great time to start working together
in your own family to prevent these awful diseases, and to promote healthy living and habits. If you are concerned about your family’s well-being, consider some of these tips to get you started on the track of prevention:

Get Moving!

The first step towards diabetes and hear disease prevention is simply to get kids moving! If the winter weather has you feeling cooped up, get creative with indoor activities:

- Go to your local library and checkout family-friendly exercise DVDs to try with one another – my cousins especially like Yoga and Pilates

- Turn on some music and stage your own dance off! If you own a gaming console, borrow or purchase some active games such as Zumba Fitness or Just Dance.

- Create a “timed-race” to see who can get their chores done the fastest (and completed well) – activities such as dusting, mopping, vacuuming, etc. can really get you moving!

- To make a habit of exercising together, start your own family fitness club and train together.

- Have a fun, friendly competition after a month of practice to see who can jump rope the most times, do the most pushups and sit ups, and so on.

Eating Well

As your family gets more active, make sure to feed their bodies with good fuel:

- Begin by replacing foods high in trans fats and processed sugars with more natural ones.

- Breakfast should include fresh fruit and whole grains.

- Snacks of nuts, dried or fresh fruit, or fresh vegetables are particularly good replacements for unhealthy snacks such as candy or chips. If kids are hesitant to embrace these changes, make it more fun by letting them help make their own snacks.

- For a fun snack, let kids stack fresh berries, pieces of apple, and a few cubes of cheese on bamboo skewers. Place on a plate to enjoy along with a meal or eat the creations alone.

- At dinnertime, replace processed meats with lean cuts of white meat or kid-friendly vegetarian options.

A few healthy changes in your family’s habits will make a big difference for your children. It doesn’t take long to establish healthy habits, and the results will benefit you and your kids for a lifetime.

My girl

Two things about these pictures.

1. I can't believe I have a daughter.  If you ask my husband, he will tell you that having a girl wasn't really on the top of my list, or I wouldn't express that verbally because we had Coen and he was a great little boy and because that was all I knew, I just assumed that the second one would be a boy too.  When I think about having a daughter, I think about all the time that I've spent with my mom and the relationship that I have with her and my sister... It's irreplaceable and I'm thankful for those friendships that we've created over the years.  So, thinking about Emie and what our future will look like, I'm going to be blunt and admit that I'm a little scared of the middle to high school age, but I know that after that, we'll be good.

Emie is the sweetest little baby and if she takes after her brother in any way, she's been a very sweet toddler too.  She's always so happy and I can't help but think that it reminds me of me... always laughing and being happy.  It's fun watching both of my children grow up, but with Emie 14 months behind Coen and really starting to find her personality, it's going to be a lot of fun to watch it all unfold.

And, those mother daughter moments that are in my future, I'm very much looking forward to those.

Can you believe how long she looks in this pictures?!?  I know she's doubled her birth weight, but geez-la-weez!

2. I can't help but look at myself in both of these pictures and think that I look just about the same... size, thickness, heaviness, etc... I need to work on this because with all the before and after pictures going around, I'm pretty sure that this one wouldn't get that many compliments sent way.  Losing weight is not easy.  Eating right, all the time is not good when all I can think about is eating a snickers when I'm stressed out.  Time will help me and eventually I'll get on the right path, but for now... I'm just living with what it is.

Mush

Mush sounded like a fun word to use because it's really how I've been feeling lately.

My love handles are mushing, I look mushy in the mirror, my daily schedule has gone to mush, my time with my husband is mush, at the end of the day I'm mush, and because it's winter all of this is normal, right? Mush, mush, mush...

• Sean's dad had a huge step in the right direction last night which was AWESOME.  Sean was able to hear his dad say answers to questions that he's asked every day.  Seems like something fairly easy... What state are your in, what's your cats name, who are the OSU football and basketball coaches, etc... These sorts of questions have proven to be very difficult for him to answer over the last week.  Last night, however, he answered them ALL!  I wasn't there to witness, but I can't help but get excited about this.  Give us a little glimmer of hope.
• Coen had to go to the dr yesterday because he was still feeling pretty crummy and not doing well at the sitter.  While I was there, she suggested an x-ray to rule out or confirm that he had pre-pneumonia. Luckily, we got the results this morning and it was negative.  Thankfully!  He is at the sitter today with another antibiotic in his system that will hopefully make him feel better.  He will grow out this and we will move pass this sick stage but in the meantime it's very hard to deal with.  I feel like it's good training for when Emie might be dealing with these same things, but I look forward to them both feeling well, again.
• Last night we got about 7 to 9 inches of snow.  I woke up with Emie at 11:56pm, 12:35am, 1:05am and while I was pacing around the house, I was SHOCKED that the snow they predicted actually arrived!
• I'm participating in a busy bag project with some other moms and I've chosen to do this patriotic busy bag that looks pretty cute.  I have two more things to pick up before they are complete, but I'm looking forward to completing this and receiving 7 other bags to have Coen and Emie attempt.  It's fun to have these sorts of things on hand for when I might need a few minutes to myself or to complete something... and I can trust that he's doing something fun and quiet.  I plan on doing these this weekend after a quick stop to Joann's.
• My giveaway winners will be receiving their products this weekend!  I'm excited to get them in the mail and have them use those items for their children!  So cute!
•  I have a couple sewing projects that have taken a back burner lately, I'm hoping to get around to those this weekend, as long as my kids feel better and actually sleep well in the evening.
• I've fallen off the wagon when it comes to exercising in the morning.  This is partially due to the fact that my sleep has been interrupted nightly for the last week.  Either by Emie not being able to breath or because of Coen coughing through the night.  Either way, when 5:45am comes around, I want nothing to do with getting up.  My sleep is too precious right now.
•  On a positive note, I will be attending a Jazzercise class on Saturday to hopefully get me back in the spirit of working out.  Lord knows I need something and anything with a schedule of classes is so much easier for me to actually attend than trying to schedule something on my own.  We'll see how it goes.  It seems like something that only older women do, but I understand that is not the case.  Thankfully, it's free on the weekends in March so I'm just going to give it a go and go from there!
• If you're wondering, our Florida trip is approaching at RAPID speed and I'm starting to flip out a bit about it, to be honest.  Not only do I worry about my milk supply but I also worry about  my kids, getting there, having everything fall into place, enjoying myself and having a good time with my husband even though we'll be leaving behind a lot of stresses.  It's going to be great timing, I think.  And I look forward to just being with Sean and being the two of us.  It will be really good for us, because we haven't had a lot of couple time lately.
• Spring is only 14 days away.  COME ON AND GET HERE, would'ja?!?

when you're down and out

There has been a lot of mommy-baby time lately.  We have been having a good time, aside from the fact that we miss dad a lot and we have all been a little under the weather.  I don't know what it is about my kids (especially Coen) and never catching a break with illnesses.  I mean, they were both breast fed babies, that's supposed to be liquid gold and prevent them from getting junk but that's not the case in our house.

January was pretty much a wash in our house.  Emie was sick the whole month and Coen was for a portion of that month.  February we had some runny noses and some typical cold weather colds, now it's March and everything seems to be starting all over.  I don't get it.

Coen got pink eye last week, then he's had a fever and an incredibly running nose.  This is all accompanied by a cough and really crabby attitude.  He just doesn't feel good.  We've been doing eye drops and antibiotics but that's not really doing the trick and is only tearing up his diapers and his wardrobe.

Emie got pink eye as well and she's been super snotty which is just hard to deal with when she's so little and doesn't understand what's going on.  This also halts her eating a bit... Stinks.

The most important thing that is going on right now is about someone who is a very important person in our lives.  Sean's dad has had some very difficult news, health-wise.  Last week, they discovered a brain tumor while doing an MRI.  As of yesterday, 6 days later, we now know that it's an inoperable, very aggressive brain tumor and on Wednesday/Thursday this week we will learn what it is and what the next steps are that will be taken to potentially treat this tumor.

Assuming it's cancer, there is a very long road ahead of us.  It's the most awful and most terrible thing to hear, watch, witness, understand, and to have happen to anyone.  It's very difficult to understand but Sean, his mom and brother are all trying to communicate with anyone who will talk to them at the hospital and educated ourselves about what's going on, as best as we can.

If you're a prayer warrior or have the ability to pray or can send positive thoughts, we need them.  Tom needs them.

Thank you for your continued support.

feeding herself

She's in love with trying food and for now, we are using this Kidsme food feeder to let her feed herself.  So far she's had avocado, banana and we plan to try sweet potato soon, too. 

Doesn't she look so excited?

Emerson, 5 months

Dear sweet baby girl,

I cannot believe how quickly we are approaching my most favorite age!  You're growing and changing so much with every day!  You're personality is really starting to shine and you're still the happiest baby on the block!

This wasn't your healthiest month of your life.  You started with an ear infection, that led to rotovirus that led to roseola and after almost 4 weeks of battling blow outs and multiple outfit changes, you're finally back to normal.  It wasn't my most favorite month, but we got through it and fortunately, it didn't bother you too much.  We had a couple of nights that you just didn't know what to do with yourself, but overall, you were pretty calm through the whole thing.

Sleeping has been a little rough because we had to have you sleep in our room so we knew what was going on with you.  Because you're bowels weren't on track, we would more than likely wake you up at night to change you so that you'd sleep through the rest of the night.  Not ideal, but it was what worked for us.  We had just got you back into your room, but having you close was far more important while you got better.

Physically, you are so strong!  Holding your neck and head up like a champ, rolling and moving around on the floor really well and really fast! The other day your dad was watching you and you went from the front of the couch, around to the side and ended up all the way behind the couch.  You prefer to roll to your right, but you will roll from your left as well.  Just not the preferred direction.

Your communication is improving at rapid speed.  You're even starting to sound like you're saying babababa or dadadada and sometimes mamamama.  It's very cute because we can tell that you're trying so hard!  You're a really good screamer and you give these little bursts of yells sometimes to get attention.  You've learned how to do a fake cough which is pretty cute.  I sometimes feel like you're mocking us when we make noises.  Watching you mock your brother is pretty cute too.  He does the same to you, as well.  He's really good at giving you squeezes and kisses and enjoys doing it... when he gets close to you, you grab his face with both hands on his cheeks.  He likes this most of the time but he pulls away when he's not into it.  Sometimes your nails are sharp and it hurts... but faces are really something you're curious about right now.

You love getting eye contact and sometimes when you don't see anyone close by, this freaks you out a bit.  Outside of not having people close, if you're really tired, if you're hungry or have a poopy diaper - those are really the only times you're not happy. 

You're still doing really great at the sitter and she's got a jumperoo/exe-saucer that you use and seem to like for a little bit.

You're eyes are true blue, just like your dad and brother and they are just so pretty.  You're hair is still pretty brown, but you can see that it's growing in a little lighter.  I imagine that you'll be blonde like you're brother, but who knows.

You're currently in size 3 diapers from Target or Luvs.  You're almost fitting perfectly into size 6 clothes.  We tried to put a 3 month outfit on you the other day and it was just really snug.  I'm still a big fan of putting you in tights and a onesie because it stays on better than socks and pants and all of those small pieces that fall off.  You don't seem to mind and it keeps you warmer, too!

You've started to fall to sleep better when holding someone's hand.  You do this a lot in the morning when your dad is driving you to the sitter's house.  It's a calming thing for you to just have a good grip on someone close by.  We've started to give you your Ellie Cozy Plush friend or your Sally the Seahorse when you're sleeping and we're watching you so that you have something close by that you can hold onto that is also soothing.  You seem to like that.  The other day you were cuddling with Sophie and that wasn't working too well because she kept squeaking!

You're getting really great on the floor and have started to get up on your knees and hands.... I cannot believe it's already time for this.  I keep encouraging you, but in all honesty, I'm sad that you're going to be VERY mobile very soon.  Is it even time for this?  Your current problem with getting on all fours is that you don't lift your head.  So you give your face a rug burn but you do make some movement forward.  Poor thing.

Riding in the car is still no big deal to you, you take a bottle like a champ and you pretty much love every new face that you meet.  You're very smiley with everyone and sometimes bury your face in our shoulders or your hands when you're trying to be shy or silly.  It's really sweet.

Every month has been a lot of fun, but I'm very excited for the next couple to watch you learn so much more and show how strong you really are!  We've been working on sitting up and you'll tripod for a minute but you fall over quickly.

Eating this month has been good.  You're still nursing really well and taking the bottle at the sitter's house really well.  You've tried avocado and bananas and we're going to be trying sweet potato and squash soon.  I'm excited to have this self feeder that you seem to enjoy.  It makes it easy to have you try things because it's in your control.

I hope to get you back in your crib in the next few weeks.  You do really well in our room and sleep through the night, for the most part.  Sometimes I do have to wake up and feed you or help you find your paci or hold you hand to get you back down, but all in all you sleep really well and for a long period of time too!  I'm still nervous about having you sleep in your room for all the normal reasons.  I was afraid that you'd wake up your brother, but in all the times that we've had you up there, your noises don't even phase your brother.  We'll get you back up there soon.  Maybe this weekend!

You're growing up so fast and proving to be a very easy going baby!  We love to watch your relationship with your brother and the rest of us grow and develop every  day.  Your smile is so contagious and we love spending every minute with you.  You brighten up our lives.

Happy 5 months, Emie Ann!

Love, Mama & Dad

Coen, 20 months

Dear Coen,

We love you... SO much!  You make us some of the proudest parents out there and we couldn't be more luckily to have you in our lives.

Over the last month, your vocabulary has grown daily and this is so exciting.  For the most part, we understand what you're saying but we have had a couple of moments where we just don't know.  We try to figure it out and sometimes succeed, but sometimes fail and just let you run off hoping that you don't realize that we never were able to figure out what you were saying.

You're starting to say three syllable words with not a lot of struggles... You repeat just about every word that we say or that we ask you to say.  This has proven to be a really great thing, but also a not-so-great thing too.  We're working on the not-so-great words that are being repeated, but that might take a little more time to remove that we thought.

 

(He's standing INSIDE of a pitcher - the lid is the white thing on the floor...)

You're becoming more and more independent and helpful.  You're really big into helping with cleaning up, throwing trash away, putting diapers away, putting the wipes away, "helping" with the laundry and getting dressed and undressed.  You're not doing the dressing and undressing thing very well, but you're trying.  Striping down to your onesie in the dead of winter isn't really a great thing because it's so cold, but you do it and seem to enjoy it... I just laugh at you and let you run around like crazy.  It's more fun than trying to fight you to keep things together.

You don't like socks or shoes, still.  You take these off the section that you get in the car and you think it's funny to tell me "don't touch" so that you can do it yourself.  Mr. Independent.
 

You're starting to have a bit of those "terrible two" type outbursts and tantrums, but we are trying our best to deal with them or let them ride out a bit.  This includes a lot of use of the word, "No" but it's all part of the fun, right?  To stop you from saying "No" so much, we've started to say "YES" back to you and you seem to think that this is funny most of the time.

We've started to brush your teeth every morning and night.  You love to help and this is a struggle, sometimes.  You do really well upstairs in your bathroom but hate EVERY SECOND OF IT in our bathroom.  We let you help but we have to do most of the scrubbing ourselves, otherwise it doesn't get done.  It's a work in progress.

Your dad brought home a hand-me-down fisher price basketball hoop.  At first, you could barely touch the rim.  Now you're dunking.  Seriously kid.  Stop growing up so fast.  You're breaking my heart.  In all honesty, the hoop has been your most favorite thing!  You wake up asking to play basketball (said like this... basskeet-keetball) and that's before you can even see it and you're still standing in your bed.  It's been fun for your dad and I to play too.  We play pig while we let you attempt to play as well.  The walls might be getting a little dirty and I might have hit the tv a time or two (don't tell dad)... but who is counting?!?!

Your sitter has been working with you on your numbers and your letters every day.  Some days you're really into sharing what you know and other days you don't.  It's fine, but when you are caught counting by yourself, that's pretty awesome.  You're not always in order, after 10, but you give it a great effort.  The alphabet isn't something that you spout off randomly, but you do recognize letters in books or on tv.  Those moments are pretty great to watch... WOSU or PBS kids TV has proven to be really great for you!  You learn a lot from those shows!  Word World, Sid the Science Kid, Martha Speaks and Super Why are your favorite.  And still, you don't really watch these shows intently.  You watch a portion and then move on... especially if there isn't a song playing.

You're still in a size 4 diaper from Target or Luvs, you're wearing a mixture of clothes right now which until last week was starting to make my head spin.  You're mostly in 18 month clothes, but you're still in a lot of 12 month tops.  Some 12 month pants are just too short for you and so, we've had to pack those away.  18 month shirts and pants are both too big, but they actually fit better than the 12 month pants that are just too small.  It's a little bit of a gamble based on brands and sizes right now, but we're just trying anything to see what works best.  I got a little misty this weekend when I moved all of the 18 month things into your "currently wearing" drawers and 2T clothes into your "will be wearing soon" drawer.  I cannot believe you're almost 2 years old!

 (This was our sitter's way of being silly but also helpful.  It's a great way to keep your pants on!)

We've been doing swim lessons this month that have been fun.  Our only trouble is that they run right into lunch and nap time so sometimes it's really great and other times it's just okay. You're learning and trying a lot and that's all that I can ask for!

You're still a cuddle bug, you still suck your thumb, you're starting to show interest in going to the potty (but not a ton), you're a great hugger and kisser and you love giving nose kisses.  You're not so crazy about strangers, but you're starting to warm up to some with more time that we spend with them... like at church.  You find toys and books (sometimes) and will sit and play with them for 20 to 40 minutes at a time... without getting up, looking up or moving onto something else.  That's really impressive to watch.

We traveled to Virginia this month and it was a lot of fun.  Watching you with your cousins was pretty fun because you matured so quickly.  You didn't fall asleep in the car until 12am, you played hockey in the street, you visited your great Uncle & Aunt in Alexandria and you tried your first chai tea (only a sip)!

We love spending every minute that we can with you and from what we understand, so does everyone else that meets you.  You're a really great kid and we couldn't be more happy to be your parents or to have you in our lives.

You're a complete joy and we love how happy you make us!

Happy 20 Months, Coen!

Love, Mama & Dad

february brain dump

1.  Giveaway WINNERS!

We have winners from the giveaway that was run earlier this month.  We have one winner for the boys tie shirt and another for the bows.

 

I think it goes without saying, but if you're MSDeyle, could you please email me so that we can talk about the details of getting you some very cute new bows for your little girl?  My email is happyhopefuls at gmail dot com.  Congrats on winning the bows!!

And secondly, Written Kitties, if you could please email me at the address above, let's talk about the details of getting your little boy a new tie t-shirt!  Congrats on winning, as well!

I look forward to hearing from you both!
 
2. Instagram is depleting my blogging efforts and ideas.

I have been on Instagram for some time now.  I have 966 photos uploaded and a number of followers, most of which are people who's blogs I follow on my reader and through facebook as well.  Because it's so easy to keep up with what's going on in their lives through Instagram and vise versa... I have found that I have less and less that I return to the blog to document.  I still enjoy my monthly posts for my children, which always run behind a bit, but aside from that, because of IG, I'm completely slacking.  My apologies.

Are you on IG?  What's your IG name?  Leave it in the comments and I'll look you up!  I'm happyhopefuls... search for me, if you'd like!

3. Salad kick vs. Weight Gain

Lately, I've been eating like there won't be any food available in an hour and I have to fill my stomach now!  It's a little insane and I recognize that, but the problem is, is I really like food.  Like really like food. 

We went on a little road trip over the weekend and I don't remember the last time I had eaten so much but I kept joking that we were on vacation and that's just what we were supposed to do.  In return, I got on the scale just to monitor what I had actually done to my body (that I already hate) and the result was a gain of 5 pounds.  Not joking.  So, this week, my goal... Salads.

I'm basically single-mommying it this week, so that means that I have to make my own dinner and have something at the house for me to make... otherwise, I will eat junk.  I've been on this salad kick for a little while now and it was starting to happen before we went on our little vacation to VA, but then in VA it went down the toilet.

Today, however, it's starting up again.  I'm going to kick some of this weight off and remind myself that I can feel better about my body if I'm kind to it... meaning watching what I put in my mouth and remember that everything I eat will effect me.  So salads, it is!

4. Visiting the White House.

This could really be a post in and of itself, but I'm just blending it in here.  As I said above, we visited family in Virginia this weekend, for a long weekend and Thursday morning, we actually toured the White House. It's not something that just anyone can do.  You have to be approved and go through this approval process before receiving confirmation that you're allowed to tour.  We sent in our information months ago to our representative...names, socials, address, phone numbers, etc. And a week (or less) before our trip, we were approved!

To say that it was really awesome, is an understatement.  I mean, we were IN the White House!  We went through a handful of security measures and then before we knew it, we were opening the door to the White House and walking right in!  We were on a self guided tour which was ok, but I would've loved to of had a guide telling us all sorts of tid-bits about the rooms and everything else.  Like what documents were signed in these rooms or who uses these rooms the most or what the Obama's brought into this home, etc...  There were small signs in every room that helped a little but I wanted to know more!  There was security all over the place and they would willingly answer your questions, but you had to prompt them with them.

We saw the Library, the China Room, the Blue Room, the Red Room, the Green room and two ENORMOUS dining rooms.  It was so cool to be in there and looking around.  Walking where Presidents have walked and a number of other historical figures have been.  It was really surreal.

They are VERY strict, as you can imagine, about what you can bring into the White House.  Basically you can bring yourself, an ID and a cell phone.  You cannot use your cell phone but you can have it on your body.  You weren't allowed a purse, a tube of chapstick, a bottle of water or food of any kind.  Seems reasonable to me, but I didn't think we'd even be allowed a cell.  Either way, we complied with their requests and had a great time inside.

The only question I asked was what the Obama's have done to redecorate the house.  He said that they had helped to redecorate a dining room, but had to comply with the White House historical regulations on decorating and work with an interior decorator to make it all happen.  They do have some leeway in their quarters, but not a lot.  I would've loved to have seen more of the house, but we were only able to see what they offered and then we literally walked out the front door.  It was probably the coolest part of the whole thing!  Obama's family was there when we were there, we didn't see them, of course.  We did see his helicopter leave as we were leaving the area.  That was cool.

Going on the tour was a once in a lifetime experience and I'm so glad we did it.  We had a great time!

That silly ugly truck ruined a great picture, but you get the idea... we were RIGHT there!

This is the Inauguration seating set up that they were taking down when we were there.  I don't know who uses this seating, but I'm sure someone could've told us.  It was just neat to see it... whatever it was.

 
5. Valentine's Day.

In our house and throughout our relationship, we haven't really done much for Valentine's Day...  It's just not something that my husband is really crazy about and over time, I've just become okay with it.  We usually will get each other a silly card and maybe do something a little more fun for dinner.  But nothing really elaborate.

Last week, I received flowers at work from my husband.  Something that doesn't happen very often and especially on Valentine's Day.  Aren't the pretty?

Sean was saying that he was so jazzed (my descriptive word not his) to send flowers to me because they would also be addressed to Emerson, too.  His second Valentine!

I sent a picture of them (the same one above) to my sitter to have Emie see how pretty they are... Coen smelled the phone because he LOVES to smell flowers.  He's seriously, so funny.

6. Update on BC.

The update on my birth control situation is this.  I'm not taking anything.  Period.

I did the switch from the depo shot to the nuva ring and when my milk supply started to deplete I freaked out.  Took out the nuva ring, asked for something different and now have the mini pill.  I haven't taken it because I just didn't want to deal with reacting to another birth control that just won't mesh well with my body.

Thankfully my body did what a nurse suggested and it psyched it into having a "cycle" over the weekend.  So, now I can at least start to chart and track where I should be in a normal cycle, even thought I probably won't be having anything normal for a while.  We shall see though.  Anything is possible at this point and since I'm refusing to take birth control, I have to be really careful.  We do want 3 kids and possibly 4 (depending on the day) but we aren't ready to expand our family right now.

I want SO BADLY to talk to my doctor about it, but I'm not able to get into my OB until next week and my general doctor until mid-March!  I just want to know what I can do to control everything and get off the other medicines that I'm taking.  It's very frustrating, but I'm trying to be patient and ride it out.  I'll have some answers soon.  Hopefully.

7. Swim Lessons.

Swim lessons were a hit!  After about 15 minutes in the water, Coen was kicking, letting me put him and hold him on his tummy, blowing bubbles in the water with his mouth, splashing water like crazy and loving every second of it.  We, unfortunately, got there a little early so by the time the class started, Coen was almost done.  This last week we had to miss a class but we have 3 more to go and I'm very hopeful that it continues to be a good thing for Coen.

Oh and the instructor?  She was in the water and interacting with EVERY student.  It was great!  Looking forward to this coming Saturday and going to the class again.