Our First Week

This is our first "official" week back to the grind. As much as I miss having Mike home during the day, I am glad to get back into a regular routine.

Yesterday Owen and I had some school time. It went really well and was a lot of fun. I am teaching Owen about opposites this week . We started by putting together a puzzle about opposites. It is so cute to hear him tell me what "opposite" means and give me examples. He has been exceptionally chatty this week. We are also going to be making a book and drawing pictures of opposites and going on a walk outside to look for things that are opposites.

I got this really cool idea from another blogger. She makes a bin called "The Bin of Quiet Time Fun". I think I am going to put one together. I won't explain much about it since it was her idea and she wrote all about it. If you want to check it out... just click HERE.

We also had a playdate on Monday with Tyler, Matthew, Gavin, Eva, and Lucas. We met them at the playground at Mt. Gretna and played for a while and then had a picnic lunch. It was so nice! We can't wait to do it again.

Today Owen went to Linda's. After I dropped him off I put Adam down for his morning nap and I was sitting on our front porch drinking my yummy instant French Vanilla Latte and reading my book. All of a sudden I hear Owen singing at the top of his lungs the "Hot Potato" song from the Wiggles. It was so funny! Linda's house is right around the block from our house so I usually can hear the kids yelling while they play, but I thought it was so funny that he was singing so loud that I could pick out his voice. He must have been having a good time!

Once Adam woke up we went to Wal-Mart and he rode in the front of the cart for the first time rather than sitting in his carseat or being carried in the front pack. He was so proud of himself.
This afternoon, after both boys got up from their naps, I filled up our little blue pool. We did not get it out much this summer, but our pool is closed all week and it is soooo hot out that I thought they would really enjoy it. They are beginning to play together and Mike and I love watching them interact. Owen crawls around on the floor with Adam and they laugh and laugh.

Baby on the Brain

I've heard about this before. A friend of mine said she got "baby fever" every time her baby turned 6 months old. I thought she was crazy. Then, she'd get pregnant again. Don't worry.... I am NOT pregnant nor are we going to be getting pregnant!!! At all!!! But, in case you couldn't tell from my last couple posts (and as much as I was trying to deny it), I have baby fever.

I did not really get this so called condition with Owen until he was 2 years old. I think I knew that we were going to have another baby so that helped, plus I was only home with Owen for 5 months before going back to work and starting a new job so another baby was far from my mind. This time though, I think we could be done having kids and that is difficult for me to grasp right now. I am perfectly happy with my two boys and I am not sure I would even want a third, but it is sometimes hard watching Adam reach these milestones and move farther away from the cuddly, needy newborn. I am trying to savior his "babyness" as long and as much as I can. Mike is fully aware of my baby fever. The other day he saw me making the slide show of Adam and he said, "Wow. You have baby on the brain!" If you ask him, he is done having children. Two kids is perfect and just enough for him. He is so thankful for our two boys as am I. If I even mention another baby he starts to sweat and his heart races. He thinks logically (something I am usually really good at, but having trouble with right now)... money, college, house space, etc. The other day I was lugging a huge bag of baby clothes up to our tiny crawl space attic and he said, "Aren't you gonna get rid of those?" and I almost had a panic attack. I told him that just like he has anxiety over another baby, I have anxiety over getting rid of my boys' baby clothes. I am just not ready yet.

Maybe once my sister and cousins start having babies that will be enough to satisify my baby craving... or make it worse.

Maybe the fact that Adam is STILL not sleeping through the night is a gentle reminder to me that he is definitely STILL a baby. After all, he's only six months old. But I miss this...

Sunday Funday

I can't really remember what we did Saturday so it must not have been that exciting. I do know that after naps (well, Owen did not nap for the third time this week) we went to Lancaster to go to Babies-R-Us and the mall for a few things. I don't know what we were thinking going to the mall when everyone was there doing back to school shopping. It was very crowded. After that we splurged and went out to eat. Mike wanted to drive into Lancaster city and eat at the Brick House. I don't know what we were thinking there either. Owen did not nap so he was not behaving as well as he usually does. Adam decided to be a pterodactyl almost the entire time. We kept taking turns walking him around and not even that helped. Both boys were so tired they were acting crazy. We ended up getting half our meals to-go, put on some calming baby music in the car because we ALL needed it, and both boys fell asleep on the way home. Mike was able to carry Owen into the house and put him to bed he was that tired. He slept from 6:15pm till 6:30am the next morning! Adam, on the other hand, was up until about 9 since he napped in the car and then woke up.

We had a very enjoyable Sunday. This morning we went to church. All four of us. Adam went to the nursery and did not seem to mind at all. I think he liked the fact that he was the youngest one there and got a lot of attention! I think it is good for him to go so he gets used to other people holding him and being away from mommy and daddy for a bit. Owen didn't want to stay in the nursery and play, in fact, he refused to even step foot inside the nursery room for fear that we'd make him stay. He ended up sitting with us in church and did a terrific job. He enjoys the music and was so well behaved. I did show him his Sunday school room where he will be going starting in two weeks. He has some anxiety over that, but I think he will like it. I may have to bribe him the first time with the yummy powered doughnuts they have in the snack area. He had three of them today. The message was really good today. Mike said it pumped him up for the first day of school :) It was on hospitality.

After church Adam took a nap and Owen played outside. My once anal retentive, neat freak child is starting to FINALLY enjoy getting his hands dirty when he plays outside. In fact, lately I have been catching him burying himself in his sandbox. Today he was so dirty and sandy that I had to make him take all his clothes off outside and then gave him a bath before he could get in his bed for his afternoon nap. Just the way I like it. I resisted the urge to find my camera to get a picture of him, but he was very very dirty. Sand and dirt covered every square inch of his body. After his bath I had to clip his nails to try to get the dirt out and there is still some in there. It will come out eventually.

This evening we met my parents at the QT for some dinner and to listen to Scott G. sing and play the guitar. Owen loved it and Adam did not mind the loud music either.

Tonight I am going to have a moment of silence so I can truly appreciate and enjoy the fact that I am NOT starting school tomorrow. It is a wonderful feeling. A feeling I may never get to have again until I retire, so I want to relish it as much as I can. I did pick out Mike's shirts and ties for the week and iron his pants. I've never really picked out his clothes before and it was kinda fun! I told him he needs some cute ties for special occasions. Kids get a kick out of that.

Ok. Off to give Adam a bath and put him to bed!

Adam's First 6 Months

I made ANOTHER slide show. I really should stop and do something else with my time... like clean my house. Although it only takes me about 30 minutes. I heard this Raffi song the other day as we were driving and I really like it. I thought I should compile all of Adam's baby pictures and make a slide show. Then, I will have it put onto a DVD and I'll always have it. The pictures are almost all the same ones from my blog so it is really nothing new.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Cocoa Castle & Buzz Lightyear

The other day I asked for some suggestions over Facebook for cool playgrounds in the area. We usually go to the same two and I thought it would be fun to try out some new ones. I got a lot of good suggestions and today we tried one of them out. First, we had to go to the Disney Store at the Hershey Outlets because Owen decided he wants to be Buzz Lightyear for Halloween. I thought we better get the costume before they sell out. Ideally, I like to make Halloween costumes. I think they are so much better when they are hand-made (like Owen's costume last year), but there was no way I was going to try to make a Buzz costume. Adam is going to be Woody and we are going to make that one.

After we got the costume, I took the boys to the Cocoa Castle to play. It was really neat. We packed a lunch and ate under the pavilion and then played on the playground and in the sandbox.


I told Owen he could try on his costume after his nap today and that's the first thing he did when he woke up. Then, we stopped into Daddy's work so he could see Buzz!

I Think It's Time...

to lower Adam's crib.



These milestones are so bitter sweet. Bitter because it means he is growing up and moving further and further away from being a newborn, yet sweet because I love watching how proud he is when he learns to do something for the first time.

Way Back Wednesday

Two cousinsWho were more like two sistersEach had a babyBorn two months apart

And now those two babies...
are like two peas in a pod

Recipes

I am NOT a good cook. I'd like to think I am getting a little better, but I still have a long way to go. Mike still jokes with me about the first meal I ever made when we moved into our town house... chicken nugget casserole. I was so proud of myself. After that, I would buy those boxed meals where you just have to add chicken or something and I thought that was great.

I really enjoy having the time to try new recipes now that I am on maternity leave. I have been getting recipes from other bloggers, cookbooks, friends, and Online. I try to plan out our meals for the entire week and use that to make my grocery list. I've found that saves some money and we waste very little food. I usually try at least one new recipe a week.

This week is a "use up what we have" week. Every now and then I take a week and I buy just a few of the necessities at the grocery store. Then, I try to use up as much food as I can from our fridge, freezer, and pantry. By the end of the week our meals are pretty interesting, but Owen and Mike don't seem to mind and I am glad to get rid of food before it gets old and we have to throw it out.

I tend to misplace my recipes. I don't take the time to write them down on neat little recipe cards like I should. If I try a new recipe that I get Online, I don't take the time to write it down and then when I want to make it again I can't find the same recipe or I forget what website I used. When someone gives me a recipe, I fold it up and put it in my recipe box. Sometimes I lose the recipe. A little while ago I decided to put all my recipes Online. I started typing them on a separate blog and I am going to try to take a picture of each recipe so I also have a picture.

Unlike this blog which I write for my kids and my family, my recipe blog is for me. I am going to put a link to it the sidebar so that if anyone wants a recipe they can get it Online. I get excited when I make something and someone asks me for the recipe. It does not happen often. However, this past week, I made lattice chicken pot-pie for our playdate and my friend asked for the recipe. Instead of writing it all down, she can just get it Online.

The only problem is... I realized after I started typing out some of the recipes that they are not all that healthy. I have been trying to cook meals with more veggies lately so hopefully as time goes on, my recipes will be a little healthier.

(click HERE to go to my recipe page)

A Good Laugh

Occasionally I read MckMama's blog. She is a pretty well-known blogger in the blog world. She just had her fifth child (her 4th boy!). She wrote a post that cracked me up. Check it out by clicking HERE. You'll really appreciate it if you are a new mommy!

A Playdate, The Wiggles, Running, and A Soccer Game

Friday we had a playdate at our house. My two friends, Jill and Crystal, brought over their kids and we all played for a few hours. We had 6 kids ages 4 months, 6 months, 1,2, and two 3 year olds. All boys, except poor Olivia, but I don't think she minded. It was a little nuts! I definitely don't think I could have an in-home daycare! The kids were fine, but we had to be on our toes the entire time. We were pretty tired afterwards and felt like we did not get to talk that much because as soon as we'd start a conversation we'd have to run off to get/stop/hold/help/take care of one of the babies. It was still a lot of fun getting together. Next time we leave the kids at home and meet for lunch (we get the kids together every other time, which works out nicely:) My camera died so I am still waiting for Jill or Crystal to e-mail me some pictures. They got some good ones.

Friday night my mom and I took Owen to see the Wiggles!! We wanted to have dinner at Houlahan's first, but the wait was too long so we tried the Devon Fish Market restaurant. It was really nice and the food was delicious! Afterwards, we walked over to the Hershey Theater for the show. I think I enjoyed it as much as Owen did! They are really funny and the kids go nuts over them. Our favorite songs are "Fruit Salad" and "Hot Potato". I can't wait to take Adam in a couple years!
Saturday morning my mom came over to watch the boys so Mike and I could go to Harrisburg to do a practice run for the half marathon. I had it in my head that I had to do 10 miles because that's what was on my schedule and any more I did was just extra. Well, we ended up running all 13.1 miles! It's a nice, flat course and we had great weather with a cool breeze which made it more enjoyable. The first three miles were rough, but after that I felt pretty good until mile 11. Then, I told Mike I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open and they just wanted to keep closing. ha! He told me that's what happens when you "bonk". Your body wants to go to sleep. Sooooo..... I was proud of myself for finishing and not walking, despite partially "bonking". I don't think it was a complete "bonk" or I would have fallen over, right? I "woke up" a little more in the last mile and was able to run as fast as I could across the bridge. I feel much more confident now that I can finish the race on September 12th. I learned a few things from today:
1. I need to cut my toenails even shorter than they already are
2. I need to be consistent in taking my multi-vitamin
3. I need to bring along a granola bar. Mike had a Gu and I tried it and almost threw up. I just can't eat them.
4. I need to do some short, fast runs. I am pretty slow. I finished in 2 hours 5 minutes and I would like to be under 2 hours on the day of the race.
5. I MUST put some special running vaseline on my leg before the race. Last week, after our run, my right leg was chaffed and black and blue from my shorts rubbing up against my leg. I thought it was the shorts (not my chunky thighs), so I wore different shorts today and it happened again, but this time it was worse.

After our run we had the best idea ever.... we stopped at our old gym (New York Fitness) for protein shakes. They were incredible and just what we needed after our run. I think we were both finished with our HUGE shakes by the time we pulled into our driveway. Being at the gym and sipping on the protein shakes brought back memories from our pre-children gym days.

Tonight we went to the alumni game at Cedar Crest High School. It was this same night, same game, 8 years ago that Mike and I started dating. Every year we get a picture of Mike on the field with Owen. Here he is this year with his two boys. And here he is two years ago with Owen. At first I thought it was last year, but it has to be from two years ago. I searched and searched for our first picture of Owen and Mike on the field, but I can't find it. Being at the game tonight made me realize that I am going to miss going to soccer games this fall and watching Mike coach. However, I'm sure I would not be able to make it to many games anyway since Adam goes to bed so early. On the other hand, it is going to be soooo nice to have Mike home in the evenings and not coaching every night in the fall! I used to count down the days until the season was over. It was a BIG time commitment.

Owen was happy that his two friends, Aiden and Hannah, were also at the soccer game. They played soccer and ran around the track together.
Both boys are fast asleep at it is only 8pm so I am going to go read. Paige and my mom both recommended the book "The Help" and it is really good. I love to read and hope to have time to read some good books while I am off on maternity leave.

Adam Crawling and Jumping

Here are two short videos of Adam crawling and jumping. He is 6 months old.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

A Busy Week

We had a really busy start to the week. On Monday, Paige and I went to the Hershey Spa for hot stone massages. It was really nice! Then we met my mom and sister out for lunch in Hershey. Monday afternoon there was a tornado warning so we played in the basement for a while. Beth and Eric stopped by for one last visit before going back to Baltimore and brought us a sandwich. We had a little picnic in our basement while we waited for the storm to pass.

On Tuesday, Paige, Ella, and Samantha came over for one last visit before heading back to Maryland. It was so good to see them and spend time together. Marybeth also came to visit for the day. It was great to be able to catch up while the boys napped. Once Mike got home from work we went to dinner. Then, MB and I went to Katie's house for a 31 party. It was a busy, but fun day.

Today we laid low. After Adam woke up from his nap I took the boys to the library. Then we stopped by a consignment shop. For some reason, many of the toys Owen played with as a baby do not work even after I replace the batteries. I was hoping to find a few toys for Adam, but did not have much luck. I've bought some toys from consignment shops in the past, but after looking at some of the toys and knowing that Adam was going to be chewing on them, I thought it might be best to buy a few new toys. Although maybe I should just forget about buying any toys. He much prefers to play with and chew on Owen's trains, cars, puzzles, shoes, and even electrical cords if I don't catch him right away (which I always do!). Adam is into EVERYTHING!!! He's just beginning to get up on all 4's so I know it is only a matter of time before he is crawling the "normal" way and then he'll be even faster than he is now! He's a hand-full, but so so sweet.

I am looking forward to fall. I love the weather, the slower pace, and I am looking forward to getting back into our usual routine of story time at the library, swim lessons, playdates, and walks around the neighborhood. :)

Way Back Wednesday

We've gotten a lot of use out of this $1 cowboy hat from the clearance rack at Gymboree. Here's Owen wearing it at his 1 year birthday party.
I'm guessing Owen was around 9 months old in this picture because it looks like Mike is helping him walk.
Owen was probably around 2 years old in this picture.

Weekend Wrap Up

We had a great weekend! I was worried we weren't going to be able to do a lot of the things we had planned, but it all worked out. Thursday night Owen had a fever and a headache. He was up from 2-3am on Friday, but luckily, by the morning he was feeling better and his fever had gone down. Friday morning we laid low and then in the afternoon Ella, Paige and Samantha come over to visit. Owen and Ella are 2nd cousins and they have so much fun playing together. I just wish they lived closer!!

Saturday morning Mike and I did our long run. We ran about 9 miles (1 hour 41 minutes). We started out on the rail trail and then did "Brightbill's Road/Driveway" and did some trail running through Mt. Gretna before getting back on the rail trail towards home. Brightbill's road is probably the steepest hill I have ever run up in my life. If you could even call it running. At one point I thought I might pass out or throw up. As grueling as it was, I was happy I did it and the rest of the run did not seem so bad! This Saturday we are going to Harrisburg for our 10 mile run. We are going to run the course and maybe walk a little at the end, unless I am feeling really good and want to run all 13 miles. We'll see. The actual race is less than a month away and the training program I am following only has me doing 10 miles at most.

Later Saturday morning, Paige and I took Ella and Owen to the horse show. It was a beautiful morning to be outside. The weather was perfect!

Saturday afternoon we went to my aunt and uncle's for a party. It was so much fun! There was so much for everyone to do.... volleyball, soccer, feeding the fish at their pond, climbing up the tree house, swinging, corn hole, quoits, see-sawing (my favorite!!), not to mention slushy machines and a cotton candy machine. I have always wanted to spin my own cotton candy and that night I got to. We brought the boys home around 7pm and put Adam to bed. Once Lindsay arrived to stay with the boys we went back to the party to hang out with everyone and listen to the guy they had singing/playing the guitar. Unfortunately we left before the bon-fire and a lot of people were spending the night in tents by the pond.

Today we hung out at home and played with Aunt Beth, Eric, Paige, and Ella. This afternoon we took all took a long nap. I love naps. Especially on rainy Sunday afternoons. Then, this evening we went bowling with my parent, sister, and Eric. It was Owen's first time bowling and he really liked it! I bowled a little too, but it was kind of tricky because Adam was sleeping in my front pack. After bowling we came home and made dinner and now we are all relaxing on the couch watching Caillou, reading books, and blogging. Well... all of us, but Adam. He's asleep.