Mommy brag post

Flipping the bird

Wesley will be 7 months old in a week, but I wanted to post about his 6 month stats I just haven't had time. At his 6 month checkup he was 18.1lbs and 26.5 inches long. I was surprised that he only gained a pound since his 4 month checkup. His pediatrician wasn't worried since he has been a very active baby. He was more active then Xander in my tummy and he started rolling at 4 months. Right now he can roll across the floor. He does the baby push ups like he is trying to crawl, but he's not quite there yet. He can also move himself around in a circle on the floor. We are still working on sitting up, but he just doesn't seem interested. If I sit him he tries to lunge onto the floor. I have started giving him cereal. I waited until after his 6 month checkup. We are not regular with eating though. I maybe give him cereal only a few times a week, not everyday. He seems very healthy and happy. He smiles and laughs and I enjoy being with him and caring for him. I'm sad he will not be this way for much longer. He's already changing way too fast! The only thing we really wish would change is that he would sleep better. He was sleeping all night at about 9 weeks old and was doing great until January. Now he is waking up too early, or just waking up several times in the night. I'll admit, Jerry does most the work in helping him, but we are both exhausted from the whole situation. I know Xander went through something similar at his age, so that's what I'm hoping we are dealing with and that it ends soon.

Xander is doing great as well. He hasn't had a checkup recently but he still weighs about 33lbs which was his weight at his 2 year checkup. He is about 36 inches tall. He is making some progress with his speech. He knows a lot of words and he is always imitating us. He is finally calling me mommy which makes me happy. He says I love you, "Muv woo." He is very energetic. He loves cars, Buzz and his baby brother. Sometimes he loves Wesley too much and I always have to watch that he doesn't smother him with all the hugging. We are working really hard on potty training and making some progress. He will go #1 on the potty sometimes. I would love to have one kid out of diapers. Hopefully that day will come soon.

When I am home with them I feel super busy keeping them both happy. When I work I just have to pray that they will be kept safe and happy. I have yet to find a daycare I can be completely happy with. I wont even start to write the long list of things I have been unhappy with in all the places I have tried. These two kids are a lot of work, but I look forward to the days I can just have fun with them.

Life so far in 2011

I have been wanting to post on here forever but I have been super busy lately. I just transferred to a new job in my company so I could have better hours and because I was feeling a little burned out at my current job. I gave my boss my notice in at the end of December, but they really needed me to keep working in that lab so I finally just finished my last day yesterday. In the meantime I have been working my seven on and training for a couple days on my off week, so I have been getting lots of overtime and just being too busy. I can't wait for things to settle and fall back into some sort of routine. I'll miss my old job but sometimes it's good to change things. I have been wanting to get a little more sleep. I never felt rested especially since I had to be at work at 4am. I don't think that is good for my health to keep working a schedule like that, especially with two young children. If I didn't have children to worry about and care for then I know I could find a way to get more rest on that schedule. As it is right now, Wesley has been sleeping poorly lately, which in turn causes Jerry and me to get poor sleep. I have been running on sleep deprivation for a long time now. I would love to find a way to catch up on sleep. Honestly if somebody offered me a vacation right now without my kids in tow, I would choose one where I could just relax and sleep. That would be so nice right now! I think any parent with young kids could agree with me!

January was a month of birthdays, sort of. It was Jeremiah's 31st birthday on the 30th. Both our children have their half birthdays in January. We didn't celebrate those, but it's still significant, especially when a baby reaches 6 months. They really start to change their personality. For Jerry's birthday we left the kids with my parents and we did laser tag and a movie. I had to work on his actual birthday so we did this on a different day. It's always nice to get away and be alone. Luckily we have friends and family around to watch our kids once in a while.

We have been trying to find a way to move closer to Jerry's job and possibly even downgrade our housing situation so I can be home with the kids, but the outlook doesn't look good right now. Hopefully we will find a way. I have been praying about it, but we haven't found an option yet. We can't even refinance our home right now. This market is just really tough for families like ours. In the meantime I am grateful that we do have a beautiful home to live in and we can afford our payments. I know there are people our there who find themselves all of the sudden not being able to have the money and having to lose their house. However, if one of use lost our job or couldn't work we might be in a similar situation. All we can do right now is work on paying off debts and paying our tithing and just hoping something works out. It's still my greatest dream right now to take a few years off of work to be home with my kids. I didn't realize how important that was to me until 2008 when I had Xander. I only wish I had realized this dream sooner and things might be different today. I can only count my blessings I do have right now.

I'm looking forward to a good 2011 and trying to keep my perspectives in the right place. I know there is so much I can work on, but it's just easier to do one thing at a time.

Christmas 2010

Christmas Morning!

Wesley enjoying some lights

I have been wanting to post on here for a while about our Christmas. Things have been so hectic and busy for me so far this year that I haven't had time yet. We had a wonderful Christmas with our family and my family. I thought it would be tougher with two kids, but Wesley is such a good baby, he hardly changes my routine at all. Jerry had 10 days off from work so we spent the whole holiday together as a family. On Christmas eve we finally made it to temple square. I love going there. I pass by it often on my way to work, but never actually have time to just walk around the temple grounds. We have been to see the lights almost every year and I hope we can keep making it a tradition as long as we live close to Salt Lake. It really gets you in the proper mood for Christmas, especially with the nativity scene they have in front of the visitor's center.

On Christmas day we opened presents at our house first, then drove over to my parent's house to open the rest of our presents. Our little boys got spoiled with lots of toys and some cute clothes. I think Xander is understanding the holiday a little more. He had fun opening his presents and helping other people open presents. He must have picked this up in daycare, but when he saw something Santa related he would point and say, "Ho, Ho, Ho." It was pretty cute. He had new tubes put in back in November and I think this time around it's helping him to hear better so he can learn new words. He has a good vocabulary, but he's not saying sentences yet. He still has a long way to go. I hope he can catch up with kids his age with his language development.

Surviving the Holidays

He started rolling to his tummy at 4 months old!

Once you make it through Halloween, Thanksgiving flies by and then it's already Christmas. This Thanksgiving, I made my first turkey dinner ever. I've never cooked a turkey and I was so worried about ruining it. Luckily I was really only cooking for 3 other people, Jerry, Xander and my brother Michael (Uncle Jose). The turkey was still frozen solid when I took it out of the fridge on Thanksgiving morning, even though I had placed it in the fridge 2 days before. I had to thaw it in a sink with cold water, and that did the trick. My parents and my sister and brother-in-law were all out of town and I didn't feel like dragging two kids everywhere to eat other relatives' food. I have always wanted to make my own dinner anyway. I missed out on some of my favorite dishes, but I did make some of the traditional ones. I did the turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, cranberries and rolls. I think my mom usually makes a shrimp salad, yams and fruit salad too, but I didn't have time. I hate yams anyway! I also made my favorite thing, the fruit cocktail with 7up. It all turned out well and we were all stuffed afterwards.

Now I'm working to get Christmas together. There is still so much to do, but I'm trying not to be stressed about it, I will get done what I can get done. I think we mostly just need to shop for Xander and Wesley. It's hard hauling around two kids, but we still try to see the lights on temple square. I love going there and seeing it all lit up. You really do get so caught up in the presents and everything else that you need to step back and let yourself be reminded of the true spirit of Christmas. For those who are religious the meaning is celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ (even though his birthday is really in April). We celebrate his life by helping others around us, friend, family and strangers. I try to keep this with me throughout the year. My biggest excuse for not helping others enough is that I feel so busy. I am busy, but I know that if you truly want to do something you make time. Just like I love to workout at the gym, I make that time almost every single day. I need to make time once a week or more often to do service for others. I did make yummy treats for my neighbors to enjoy, but I know there is so much more I can do to help out. I also love doing the angel tree every year and buying things for children, who just want one toy, or just desperately need a new pair of shoes to give them a good Christmas.

I hope this Christmas can be a really good one for everybody. We only have 12 days left until the 25th!

Picture overload

Xander as Buzz (his favorite character ever)

Welsey modeling one of my creations

Tummy time, he's getting so good at 15 weeks old

Halloween

Xander and me getting ready to go out in the rain for candy

Two cute brothers

Bathtime!

He loves those hands!

Well I've gone to back to work and it has been hard! It think it has been harder then it was when I left Xander. I feel like a bad mom that I can't stay home with my kids, but I blame myself. It was just poor planning on my part. A few years ago I didn't even want kids, so I never even planned for being a stay at home mom. Now that I had a taste of it for 3 months it's all I want more then anything right now! It really does just come down to money. We just can't afford the house and the cars and everything else without me working. We are willing to give it up for me to stay at home, but getting out of the house will be a huge challenge. I think we are going to put it on the market anyway and see what happens. It's a beautiful home and I'm going to be sad to leave it, but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make to be with my kids, at least while they are young and need me so much. I just think figuring out what to do will be really difficult and I don't know where to start.

I think the kids are adjusting okay. They are in a home daycare in Kaysville. I just feel like there is no place good enough for my kids, but they are only there for 7-8 hours on the weekdays that I work. Jerry takes care of them on the weekends that I work. It has been really exhausting! Hopefully someday soon we can figure what to do so I can be with the kids, if it is possible.

Xander has to get another set of tubes almost exactly a year after his first set. Poor little guy! Apparently his old set keep getting clogged and one is coming out. They told me they don't think he can hear very well. He is still speech delayed and not making too much progress. I think the surgery will be really easy and go well. I just really really want him to be able to hear. He needs to catch up with kids his age.

Wesley is doing really well. He is such a healthy, happy, content baby. He is easier then Xander was at this age. He still has his moments but he is just awesome. I don't know what he weighs right now, but I'm going to guess at least 16 lbs. He is a good eater and he likes his mommy milk. Everyone comments on how big he looks for a 3 month old. My kids just grow really fast. Xander gained weight really quickly too his first 6 months of life. I think he is hitting his milestones. He is getting good head control. He doesn't roll yet, but I'm sure he'll figure it out when he's ready.

Life is too crazy as a working mom. When I work I go pick up my kids from daycare and they both demand so much of me when we get home. I'm so exhausted from getting up at 2:40am, that if I didn't have two kids to take care of I would take a 2 hour nap after work. Yesterday was my last day of work for seven days and I was so tired after the kids went to bed that I could not stay awake for anything. I can't keep working a schedule that requires me to come in at 4am. I get more rest when I'm off work taking care of my kids, but they do both sleep through the night. Wesley started around 9-10 weeks old going about 10-11 hours and he does really well most nights.

Yikes, look what showed up on our front lawn!

In case you couldn't tell..we like Halloween! If we had more time and money we would probably decorate more, it's way more fun then decorating for Christmas. Jerry got the idea for this evil centipede from a book last year. He has been wanting to do this forever. It took him a few hours, but I think he did a good job. I can't believe Halloween is just three weekends away. I haven't even thought of a costume. We took Xander trick or treating last year when he was just barely walking. This year I'm sure we will take him out to more places and I think he'll have a blast.

My life as a stay at home mom is coming to an end.

I only have 2 more weeks left until I have to go back to work. I'm sad and I know it's going to be so hard, especially that first week. I don't hate my job, but the two things that make it the hardest are getting up before 3am so I can make it in at 4am and leaving my kids in daycare. I hate being super sleep deprived for seven days! It's awful. We did find a place and I do have a good feeling about this daycare so I hope it works out. I just really want my kids to be in good hands if I have to go to work and I had some bad experiences with the daycares that Xander was in. We didn't even start Xander in daycare until he was 5 months old. For the first couple months after my maternity leave Jerry stayed at home in the mornings to watch Xander. Eventually this arrangement got too hard, so daycare is our option for now. At least they will only have to be watched for 7-8 hours. I might start looking for a position with more normal hours so I'm less exhausted.

I'm still not completely sure if I could just be a stay at home mom, but these last few weeks have made me feel like it would be possible. I like being in full control of my children's care. We have a routine going as well. I try to get up before they both wake up and have some mommy time. I get the kids up and get them fed and then we go to the gym so I can enjoy a workout. We then get home and do feedings and I try to get them both to sleep. In the afternoon I also try to take care of things like housework, bills, or we try to go out and shop if we need something.

I have also picked up a hobby that I am really enjoying lately. I learned to crochet while I was still pregnant with Wesley. I wanted to make him baby hats and a blanket. The hats ended up too small but the baby afghan turned out really well and I'm sure we will get a lot of use out of it when it gets colder. I would love to get better at crochet so I can make nice stuff for my family and friends. I did make a cute baby baseball cap for a friend for her baby shower, but I would love to get better. I figured out how to read the simpler patterns so I think I'm slowly getting better. It wouldn't hurt if I found a place to take a crochet class. I'm still looking into that.

Wesley and Xander both continue to grow like crazy. Xander is saying more words but we still don't really understand him. I hope by the time he is 3 he will at least use small sentences. He is still doing speech therapy, but it is slow progress. He loves doing animal sounds, but I think all kids love animals, so that's just fun for him. He just seems healthy and his congestion problems haven't been as bad the past few months. Wesley is already 10 weeks old and he just keeps growing. He is a good eater and was 14lbs 2oz at his 2 month checkup. They said he was only 22.5 inches but I was looking at the measure and it looked like he was hitting the 23 inch line. He started smiling around 6 weeks and now he smiles all the time. He is a very good baby and he is kind of sleeping all night, he usually makes it from his last feeding at 8pm all the way until 5am. Our ultimate goal with his routine is getting him sleeping all night and on the same schedule as Xander with a bedtime of 7:30pm. I love an early bedtime so Jerry and I can get a break and spend time together every evening. Our kids are just both very cute and we are so blessed to have them and that they are so healthy. I just hope I am doing a good job and I just want them to grow up having fun and being happy. I can't wait until they are older and I can teach them things like snowboarding and water skiing. We need to buy a boat someday when we are rich. I hope these last two weeks don't go by too fast because I am going to be crying all the way into work on my first day. If our finances ever allowed it someday (and we are trying) then maybe I can stay at home or at least only have to work part time.