A Good Day

Today was a good day...

Adam was up only once last night to nurse. I am crossing my fingers that he is coming off of his two week long nursing strike. I have been having to pump and give him bottles because he has absolutely refused to nurse. I have tried everything. We are working through it and he nursed three times today and did not choke once which is good for him. We'll see if it lasts. I have been really upset that I might not be able to nurse, but then I stop and think about how lucky we are that he is healthy and growing when there are so many sick babies out there.

Today we went to In the Net to visit Mike. The third, forth, and fifth graders from his school were there on a fieldtrip. Owen had so much fun running around and playing soccer. We were not there long, but it must have been long enough to wear Owen out. He came home and slept for 4 hours and Adam slept for 3 hours! It was wonderful. I do have to be more productive though. I spent most of the time they were napping talking on the phone, on the Internet, and watching the Ellen show. I really should have done laundry, cleaned the bathroom, or ran on the treadmill instead.

Tomorrow it is going to rain all day so we are taking a trip to the library. I think Adam might be starting to feel better. He seems a little less congested, but still has a nasty cough.

Daddy's Home!!!

Mike was in Gettysburg with the kids from his after school program from Saturday morning until this afternoon. Boy were we glad to have him back home! It just makes things so much easier when he is here with us. Thankfully my parents were able to help out a lot while he was away.

Papa stopped over this evening and we went to the Quentin Tavern for dinner. It was so nice to sit on the deck and they even had some country guy singing which helped to entertain Owen and create more noise (since having kids, I really enjoy noisy restaurants). Adam was such a good baby. He happily sat and slept in his car seat almost the entire time. That's pretty impressive for him since he tends to cry a lot of the time he has to be in his seat. Maybe he's starting to like it??
Now I am off to drink a decaf vanilla bean latte, pump, and watch the end of the Flyers game.

One of Those Days

Today was one of those days....

Poor Adam still has his awful cold. Last night he had a temp of 100.3, one tenth away from having to call the doctor. Luckily, after some Tylenol, it was back down. However he was up twice in the middle of the night to eat! He has not gotten up twice to eat in the middle of the night since he was just a couple weeks old. I decided it might be time to try a little cereal so this morning was Adam's first taste of solids, if you can call it that. It was so diluted that it was more like spoon feeding him milk. But, he enjoyed it! I'm not sure if he liked being spoon fed or liked the taste of the cereal. Not much of it made it into his mouth. Maybe we'll try again tomorrow.

Owen had a birthday party today for his buddy Aiden from daycare who turned 4. The theme was "Spiderman". It was such a nice party with tons for the kids to do and good food too! I was a little nervous because the party was from 12-3 and Owen still naps around 1 everyday. Owen was doing pretty well playing and interacting until he fell and scraped his knee. He cried and cried and had a hard time getting over it and shaking it off like he normally does. After that he was very clingy and kind of a party pooper. A little pizza seemed to do the trick and I thought he would be back to playing and having fun, but I was wrong. Right after he ate Spiderman showed up... Aiden is really into Spiderman and it made his day, however Owen was terrified. He would not let me put him down and his poor legs were clinging to me so tightly. I knew then that it was time to say good-bye and head home for a nap.

After naps we went to the horse show. As I was loading the stroller in the truck the porch door blew open and Cheech ran out. He hid behind a bush and I had to practically jump on him to get him back inside. He (and I) were covered in mulch.

Needless to say, I was very happy this evening when bedtime rolled around!!

Wordless Wednesday

haha! I thought it was Wednesday and I just realized after I posted this that it is Thursday! Oh well. I don't have much to say about this picture. Mike is balancing Owen on his chest and Adam is wishing he could try. Notice Adam is holding one of his socks in each hand. He loves holding things.

Happy 3 Month Birthday Adam!

Dear Adam,

Today you are 3 months old! I wish I could freeze time. You are growing up way too fast. Here's what you are up to:

- You grab anything you can get your hands on! I have to be especially careful with my hair and earrings.
- Your head is getting so strong. You are getting close to being able to sit up and roll over.
- You love when we sing "If You're Happy and You Know It". You just smile and smile.
- Watching your brother is one of your favorite things to do. Today you were crying and he came over to talk to you and put your pacifier in your mouth. You immediately stopped crying. Then, when he walked away you started to cry again. You love your big brother!
- Today you were at the doctor because you have your first big cold. You weigh 14 lbs 8 oz.
- You are down to about three naps a day. A morning nap, afternoon, and evening nap. I wish I could say you are sleeping through the night, but you aren't. You were getting close, but then got this bad cold. The past two nights I felt like you are a newborn again getting up every couple hours!
- You love to talk to us and have a lot to say. It is so cute to hear you talk. You say "Ahh goo" and talk with the back of your throat.

We love you so much!
Mommy

Priceless

What makes this picture so special is that I never told Owen to hold Adam's hand. He just did.


Owen is checking out what train he is going to get once he fills up his new potty chart. He does not look too happy with me taking his picture. I learned my lesson and made the chart much bigger so it takes longer to reach his goal. He filled up the last chart in less than a week! However, he's still not 100% potty trained.

It's Official!

I had a really nice Mother's Day yesterday. I am so thankful for my boys and so happy to be their mommy!Yesterday was also a big day for another reason... I "officially" sent my letter requesting to extend my maternity leave through next year. I couldn't be happier! I am grateful to be able to spend more time being a mommy and focusing on my boys (Mike included). I know it will make going back to work even harder, but it's completely worth it! Mike works very hard doing extra jobs so that we can make it work. Owen and Adam are growing up so quickly and I want to make the most of my time home with them and enjoy the precious moments that I might have missed if I were at work all day. We're going to have so much fun going to the library, having play dates, going for walks, playing outside, having "school time", going to the playground, snuggling, and much, much more!

How We Named Our Boys

I am not sure how it is for boys, but most girls start thinking about baby names long before they are married, or dating, for that matter!

When we found out we were pregnant with our first son we decided we were NOT going to find out the gender. Pretty quickly we were able to come up with a boy name. We both loved the name "Owen" and it is not overly popular. I have never had a student named "Owen" either which was an added bonus. "Arthur" is a family name on both Mike's side and mine. Mike's grandfather's name was "Arthur" and my great uncle's name was "Arthur". We loved the initials O.A.R because Mike likes kayaking and we also like the band OAR (more so in our younger years than now! ha!). Our girl name was going to be "Olivia", but we were not set on her middle name. It probably would have been "Nora" after Mike's Nan whom he adored. Since we ended up having a boy, we named him

Owen Arthur

I just love that name and I call him by his first and middle name all the time!

When we found out we were pregnant with our second baby, we decided to find out the gender, but before we had the ultrasound we had some names in mind. If it was a girl, we liked "Allison" and "Abigail". We were not going to use "Olivia" since so many of our friends had girls named "Olivia". After a lot of thought, we both agreed her name would be Abigail Grace. We'd call her "Abby Grace". I love girl names that use a first and middle name. "Grace" is not a family name, but a really pretty name. We found out during my ultrasound that we were having another boy. We liked the name "Benjamin" for a boy and that was going to be his name, however friends of ours had a boy a month before us and named their son "Benjamin". Both boys would be in daycare together and possibly the same class at school. So that name was out and we had a month to come up with a new name. Our second choice for a name was "Adam". I really liked that name too. Like "Owen", "Adam" is a strong name and not very popular. Mike kept coming home from work suggesting new names. We also liked the name "Andrew". To be honest, we were still contemplating names up until I delivered him, but "Adam" was always at the top of our list. I had not had an "Adam" in my years of teaching either. Our second son was named

Adam Robert

"Robert" is a very special name because it is Mike's middle name and Mike's dad's first name. His dad is such a kind person and a wonderful dad and grandpa. Mike and Owen really look up to him and I know Adam will too. I also call Adam by his first and middle name a lot. I don't really know why, I just think it sounds cute.

I love that both boys' names start with vowels and are two syllables. Also, you can't shorten them, although we sometimes call Owen "O" or "Owie".

I love my boys so much and love their names too!

Cinco de Mayo

Yesterday we celebrated Cinco de Mayo. It's become a family tradition. I believe the first year we celebrated it, Owen had just turned one year old. We were sitting on the deck and he was dancing around in his diaper. We had so much fun that we decided to celebrate it every year. Yesterday, I made chicken enchiladas and rice and Aunt Judy and Uncle Boo came over. Aunt Judy made delicious margaritas and also brought over some chips and salsa. It was so much fun! Then, we all played Frisbee, soccer, and tried to do cartwheels, which didn't go over too well.

Adam was being fussy, as he can be in the evenings, but he enjoyed being held by Uncle Boo.
Here is Adam sitting on daddy's new lawn mower. Our old one died and was revived many times, but it was time for a new one.
On a different topic...Potty training is draining me!! I hear all these stories about kids that were trained in a day or two. I have a feeling it might take us a lot longer than that. I decided to start a potty sticker chart on Tuesday. Owen gets one sticker for pee and two if he poops. It seems to be motivating him. He only gets chocolate after 5 stickers. He pretty much has the pee part down, but we are still working on the other. He's not as consistent as I'd like and wants so badly to wear underwear, but every time I put them on him he has an accident almost right away. I think he is just so excited to be wearing "big boy underwear" that he wets himself. I am trying very hard not to make a big deal about accidents and I am encouraging him to use the potty constantly throughout the day, but it is a bit exhausting.

Chaos

The day started out great. Mike and I were able to go for a run together while Owen and Adam stayed at my parent's house. We ran for 33 minutes. Only 100 more minutes to go. I felt ok except my ankle/foot was and still is really bothering me. I have to find out if I can take an anti-inflammatory pill while nursing. I have a feeling I am going to have a lot of aches and pains especially in the beginning. The extra 20 pounds I am carrying around is probably not helping the knees and ankles either! ha!

After that we got ready and headed to Lancaster so Owen and I could get some new sneakers. I hate going shopping on nice days, but it was so darn hot and humid that I thought it would be nice to be in the air conditioning for a while. It was such a chaotic trip. Owen was all over the place in the Nike Outlet. He was not being naughty really, he was just excited. He kept pulling things off the rack saying, "This is nice Mommy". "How about this?" Then, he was complaining and whining that his heiny hurt. Lately his bottom has really been bothering him. I think it's the heat and wearing a diaper is not helping his situation. Adam began to fuss. He is not good at napping while traveling. Neither was Owen. Both my boys like their beds when they are tired. Anyway, Adam was getting hungry and fussy and I had some things to try on so all 4 of us went into the large dressing room. Mike changed Owen's diaper to try to help his heiny and I nursed Adam. Then, Owen was all over the place in the dressing room. He kept opening the door while I was trying to feed Adam. Meanwhile, they had this horrible techno/hip-hop music playing. Mike and I both agreed that it was definitely making us feel more stressed out. Then, Adam pooped so Mike changed his diaper while I quickly tried on some clothes. Then, Adam started crying because he did not want to go back in his carseat and just wanted to sleep. UGH! Mike and I could have gotten very frustrated at the situation, but we just looked at each other and laughed. It was pretty funny.

Afterwards, we went to lunch. Luckily we were able to get a booth far away from all the other people in the restaurant. Adam was still fussy and so tired that I put a blanket down on the booth seat and he finally fell asleep. I can't believe I did that, but I did. Parenting is very humbling. In the past, I probably would have looked at a mother that did that and wondered why she did not just get her baby home to sleep. I also would have thought it was gross and full of germs. Actually, I still think it is gross and full of germs, but I did it anyway.While we were sitting at the table and Mike was at the salad bar, Owen tells me he has to go potty. I was ready to just tell him to go in his diaper because it just seemed easier, but I didn't. Mike took him when he came back and the most glorious thing happened. He PEED AND POOPED in the potty. He was so excited. He came out of the bathroom yelling, "Mommy, I pooped in the potty!" So much for trying to be inconspicuous. I was so proud and told him that he would get to put on big boy underwear when he got home. Then he kept singing in his usual loud voice, "I get to wear big boy underwear!" Oh my. The people around us were either cracking up or getting really annoyed by us. Owen was disappointed that I forgot to bring chocolate. Yes, I do something else I never thought I would do... we reward going potty with chocolate. I am totally against using food as a reward, but we were getting pretty desperate with potty training. I have heard some moms give their children one mini M&M each time they potty, but Owen hates M&Ms. Since I was so against food as a reward, we were rewarding him with trains, but that got VERY expensive. Chocolate seems to be working for now.

Just when Adam finally fell asleep, it was time to leave. We had one more stop- to try to find me a pair of running shoes. By the time we finished at the shoe store, we were all very ready to be home and take naps. Luckily, even though Owen and Adam fell asleep in the car on the way home, they continued to sleep once we got home. That does not usually happen. So while our day was very chaotic, we know this type of chaos won't last very long and it is just how things are with two young kids. We try to enjoy it as best we can.