Vacation, Day 13

Oh my gosh, what a long couple of weeks it's been. We've been on the road since July 1st. Really, hasn't been too bad. The kids have done reasonably well in the car, Jack is high maintenance, Abbie is perfect... they average out to a couple of decent travellers. Hated the first few days in Montana because my sister in law was being weird, as usual. Cried a bit because she can get away with being so horrible, wanted to go home. Since the day they went home, however, we've had lots and lots of fun.

On our way, we picked up my brother Ryan in Utah and took him with us to Montana. He was great with the kids. There were lots of boat rides and playing outside and hanging out with the grandparents (with a few guitar hero sessions thrown in). Jackson swam in the lake (once) and had his first campfire hot dog and roasted marshmallow. Abbie was delightful the entire time.

A few days ago, we drove back down to Utah. My brother Marcus is back from a two-year mission in England. It has been amazing to see him again after so long. His girlfriend has been glued to his hip the whole time we've been here. It's pretty cute. He gave a fantastic talk in church on Sunday and we all went swimming today. We were supposed to leave for home tomorrow, but I talked Greg into staying one more day. I like being home.

I didn't bring my laptop on our trip, so I've been downloading pictures onto Greg's work laptop as I run out of space. So many pictures. I may be up for a few more hours tonight trying to organize them.

Also, I am fat. Greg took a few pictures of me from behind at the swimming pool today. At first sight, I thought they were pictures of my mom. I wanted to cry. I have a mom butt. I decided I never wanted to eat again... then promptly had two helpings of dinner tonight. Maybe I'll start being better once we get home. But. I doubt it. So much for reaching my goal weight by my birthday, and so much for trying to look good for our trip to Hawaii next month.

Hello!

We met Liz on Friday! She is lovely, fun and interesting -- as I already knew, that's why I read her blog -- and has a wonderful family! Adorable, happy kids and such a nice and helpful husband! They were in our area on a family vacation, so we met them down at the San Diego Zoo. I've been following Liz's blog for at least three years, maybe four? We were born one day apart, got married a few weeks apart, had our first kids a few weeks apart, had our baby girls only one day apart. I believe even our cats are nearly the same age? I could search for years and doubt I would find another person closer to my same stage in life as Liz. I feel lucky to know her!!

It was such a fascinating experience to meet her in person for the first time. I really felt like I have known her for years, like an old friend. We already know almost everything about each other and have practically watched each other's kids grow up via pictures and stories. It was a once in a lifetime experience. I especially enjoyed having a public-nursing buddy. I've had to feed the babies while out and about so many times, but this was my first time having another nursing mom with me. It was so nice to not be the only one for a change!!

So, the kids actually showed some interest in the animals! I'm not sure about Ava, but this was the first time Jackson was like 'Hey, there's an animal I don't see every day!' He liked the camels, elephants, polar bear and flamingoes best, I think. He caught a glimpse of a monkey (moments before an 'I'm late for my nap' tantrum) and made ee-ee-ee monkey sounds at it. I've don't remember showing him a picture of a real monkey before and got a kick out of seeing him make that association on his own.

We walked over to the gorilla statues so he could burn some energy while I fed Abbie before our drive home. On our way, we ran into a couple of dueling peacocks. Jackson was transfixed. He was alternately laughing and screaming in terror. One of the peacocks flew up and landed on the fence less than two feet in front of my face. Jackson clung onto my leg and screamed so loud, so dramatically, so long that I'm sure he could've gotten a part in a horror film. I have a new-found appreciation for how big and scary peacocks are!

I hope we all made an okay first impression and Liz doesn't think we're too weird! You know, like more than she already knew! :) Here are some pictures from our visit. I still can't get over how crazy it is to see pictures of us all in the same place at the same time!!!

All of us together
(Liz, did you guys get a better picture? I think
the kids had had enough by time we got to my camera :))Calling the camels horsesDigging for dino fossilsRunning through tunnelsCan't beat having a curb to climb onPointing at elephantsAva and Jack on elephant statuesAbbie sleepingPolar bear cooling off his bottomBaby flamingoMy friend the peacockRiding on the gorilla's back
Probing the germy depths of the gorilla's nostrilThis picture made me laugh SO hardWhew, finally asleep!

Wasted Money

I have been so amazed at how helpful my blog is when it comes to remembering things. I used it yesterday to remember how tall Jackson was when he was born, last month to find out how much I weighed four years ago (to make a weight loss goal), and just now looked up when I purchased Rosetta Stone (lost the cd, need to find proof of purchase). Incredibly useful. So, even though the mundane details on my blog are painfully boring for everyone else, I am extremely enjoying it! I also enjoy looking back at my many many many kodak gallery albums (also frightfully boring to everyone but me) and remembering exactly when things happened... vacations, visitors, the kids' milestones... I looove it.

So, back to my whole reason for writing this... My next stop on my search for proof that I purchased Rosetta Stone was my old faithful financial spread sheet archive. HO. LY. COW. did I ever used to spend a lot of money. I seriously can't believe it. What I wouldn't do to be able to go back in time and tell myself to stop throwing money away! Please save it so future me can spend it more wisely! Dining, entertainment, clothing, charity (not that charity is a bad thing... ). Those categories don't even exist to me anymore! In 2005 I spent over 14 thousand on things in those four categories alone... now, maybe closer to 14 *hundred* a year? Insanity.

Anyway, big trip down memory lane complete, still haven't found proof of purchase. I would like to find it because it means paying $30 for a replacement instead of $380 for a new set. Or, more realistic options are paying for replacement, or nothing at all. Back to work before Jackson wakes up from his nap!

Can't Sleep

I'm so starved for time to myself that spending time on the computer at 3:30am has overruled sleep. I've been on the internet doing absolutely nothing of value for over an hour. Shopping for kids toys, email, facebook. Enjoying letting my brain unwind.

Earlier this week I finally worked through a 2-3 month home video backlog. Organized, dated, edited and posted on youtube. Feels good to have that done. Used up all of our hard drive space though. I think we may end up getting a desktop to store all of it. I will be so tempted though... all that storage space, all that memory... BEGS to have Sims 3 played on it, right? I wonder if Sims would still be fun for me to play though. As Greg pointed out, I have a real-life family to raise now, why would I want to spend time with a virtual one. I miss playing computer games so much. So relaxing, and good for stretching my brain's processing power. I've been feeling so, for lack of a better word, stupid lately. I miss my games.

I am still hoping to reach my 'under 130 by 30' weight-loss goal. Got down to 136 at one point this week. That day I walked past the mirror and didn't feel fat for the first time in over a year. Good day. Unfortunately, I was up to 139 yesterday morning. Extremely discouraging. Then I did what I always feel bad for other people for doing... I ate, a LOT, because I figured the damage had already been done. I don't understand why my weight swung back up though. I ran 3 miles on Thursday morning. The only thing I can figure is that running makes me hungry. So hungry that I end up eating more calories than I burned during the run. I have to get my eating under control!

Greg is up and telling me to go back to bed. I can't think anymore, might as well lay down for a few minutes before the kids get up... which should be any moment now...

Four Months

Here's a link to her week 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 albums.

Little Miss Abbie is growing up! She is more baby-like and less newborn-like every day. Tonight we sat her in Jack's highchair while we all ate dinner at the table. Jackson wanted her to have cereal... and it's almost time! A couple more months and she'll be sitting in a highchair eating meals with us, I can't believe it! I swear she grew an inch or two during her nap this morning. She's getting so big.

She's really good at putting herself to sleep most of the time. I lay her down in her bed, turn on her aquarium, talk to her for a minute, then she rolls her head to the side, pops in her thumb and goes to sleep. I never thought a child of mine would do anything like that. We were shopping for father's day gifts the other day right around nap time and, without a peep, she put herself to sleep and slept for the rest of the shopping trip. I can't get over it. I wonder if Jackson would've been a good sleeper like her if I had taught him better in the beginning.

She smiles and laughs all the time. As a matter of fact, I don't think she's ever anything but happy except on the rare occasion when she's overtired and can't get to sleep. She loves hearing her Dad's voice when he comes home. Smiles and kicks her legs and coos. She learned how to roll over this week. I haven't been very good about doing tummy time in the past, but her development hasn't seemed to suffer too much.

My biggest problem is her man-sized hiccups. I have to feed her to help get rid of them. Very inconvenient when we are out and about. Other than the hiccup feedings, I feel pretty confident getting out and about with the two kids. They're pretty good most of the time. I don't deserve her. She's such a joy. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she'll stay a good baby. I'm worried that I'll have to pay for all this goodness one day.

21 Months

He loves his new airplane fork from Aunt Aly.
Here's a link to our May album.

Bribery, bribery and more bribery. This may turn out to be the biggest mistake of my mothering career, but I've found that constant bribery and strong negotiation tactics are the easiest way to get through the day. Most of my sentences are if/then statements. (HA!! I just re-read what I wrote and realized I'm using programming logic to deal with my toddler.) If you let me brush your teeth, then you can have a vitamin. If you let me change your diaper, then you can watch TV. If you take a bite of your carrot, then you can have a cookie. This may be one of those times where I am opting for short term results at the expense of long term growth.

I also count to 3 about a hundred times a day (and use his extreme desire to do everything himself) to get him to do what I want. 'I'm going to count to three and if you don't do this by yourself, I will do it for you'. Most times, before I get to two, he's running to do it by himself. I don't know how long this tactic will remain effective. He's started counting with me and loves to say 'fffffffreeeeee!' at the end. He has also started counting to three every time he starts running or gets ready to go down the slide. It is very cute.

Besides needing to be coaxed into doing almost everything, he's a pretty darn good kid. He is SO good to his sister. Loves her so much and loves being sweet to her. Every time he makes her smile or laugh, he runs up to me, and says MOM! MOM! MOM! They were making each other laugh in the bathtub the other night. He was drinking tub water and saying 'YUK!' which made Abbie laugh, which made Jackson laugh. This morning while he was trying to go potty (he never actually goes, but how can I resist a voluntary request to sit on the toilet), I was reading him an ABC book with Abbie on my lap and doing the signs for the words we know. He thought it was pretty cool and was smiling and saying 'Yeah yeah yeah', and Abbie thought that was hilarious.

Just now, while I was putting him down for his nap, he asked for Abbie to lay in his crib with him. I put her down on his pillow while I read his bedtime books and sang him a song. She reached over and put her hand on his forehead and he melted into a big puddle of buttery goo. He covered her up with one of his precious blankies and gave her his teddy bear and monkey. Then he put his arm under her and hugged her. It was TOO MUCH CUTENESS! I can barely stand it! I ran for my camera and got a few pictures before Abbie declared she'd had enough already.


He's been trying to talk more. Trying out almost every new word he comes across. Everything is still sounding garbled and lazy though. If it weren't for the sign language, I don't know how much I'd really be able to understand. He's starting to put together 2-4 words to get a point across. Yesterday during lunch, he said/signed: Daddy, Home, Eat. To say that he wanted Dad to come home and eat lunch with us. He also often says: Play, Outside, Park, Sauds. To say that he wants his buddy Saudre to come over and play at the park with him. My favorite is when he says: Bees, Flower, Wet, Cold, Don't Like. To say that the bees don't like it when the flowers are wet and cold (my daily explanation as to why we don't see bees on our morning walks). I've been worried about him, but I think he'll be okay. He will learn to speak sooner or later.

His most favorite thing to do is to ride on his little plasma car -- with his helmet on (he insists!) -- down to the park. He is so adorable going down the hill on his little 'bike'! I can't believe how big he's getting sometimes. It was only a few short months ago that he couldn't even walk to the park, now he's flying down the path full-speed! Here's a video of him scooting down the driveway. Those plasma cars are such a great invention! (Speaking of videos, I've spent hours and hours and hours editing and uploading a three month backlog of home videos. Finally finished posting them to our channel on youtube this morning.)

Last month I bought the next two videos in the Signing Time series. They teach the signs for letters, numbers and colors. The alphabet song is very catchy, and I really appreciate the song about eating five fruits and vegetables a day. Maybe he'll listen to Rachel (the host) and start eating his veggies! Anyway, after a few weeks, I was SHOCKED (shocked because I didn't think he was even watching!) to see him recognizing, saying and signing letters!!

For a couple months we've been writing letters together on the shower door. I associate someone or something with each letter. Like, I write and A and say 'A is for Abbie' or 'P is for Papa' or 'G is for Grandpa'. Then he tells me that he wants me to write an 'Aggie' (Abbie) or a 'Papa' or a 'Babu' (Grandpa). After he started watching the videos, he started calling them A's and P's and G's, like he's supposed to. It never ceases to amaze me how smart little kids can be. I thought he was too young to start learning letters, but apparently that's not the case. He helped me mail the father's day cards last week, and immediately pointed out that one was for Papa and one was for Grandpa. Really really amazing.

He is still really shy and quiet (just like his parents). I worry about him being able to make friends at school one day. Heck, I worry about him just being separated from me one day. He is still very passive, but I have just recently started to see glimmers of him fighting back for the things he wants. I hope we can nurture that into a healthy amount of standing up for himself, without swinging 180 degrees the other way into 'mine mine mine' territory. He is currently extremely good about sharing and waiting his turn and understanding that some things are not his. I would say those qualities are what I am most proud of. He's such a sweet little boy. It's too bad the world can be so rough, or I wouldn't worry about him at all!

Deck of Cards Workout

I am absolutely determined to wear a bikini at some point this summer. I'm so hopeful that I even put self-tanner on my gleaming white midsection so it will match the rest of my body (and perhaps hide stretch marks?). I need to get rid of more jiggliness and figure out how to stand up straight again. Being pregnant wreaks havoc on my posture. My stomach usually hangs loose and makes me look like I am at least three months pregnant.

For the last four weeks I've been walking and jogging every single morning. Even on the weekends, even in the rain, even when Abbie is fussy. No matter what, after breakfast every morning, I put the kids in the stroller and go. I think it's a great start to my day. As long as we go for a walk, the rest of my morning schedule falls into place... Abbie takes a nap, Jackson and I shower, brush our teeth, take our vitamins, get dressed for the day and start a load of laundry. All without tantrums or distractions, Jackson knows the drill and does everything without direction. I love it!

Two of my neighbors run twice a week early in the morning before the kids get up. I've gone with them a few times and am absolutely floored at how long I can keep running. I usually tell myself I am not a runner, I can't run, and so I always quit... but not wanting to be the one in our little group to give up and walk, I keep going. Last time, I wanted to quit at least a dozen times, but I didn't, I made it all the way home without stopping. Oh my gosh, I just mapped our route on google. It's 3.5 miles?? Looks like we walk 1 mile and run 2.5 miles home... I RAN 2.5 miles!!! I'm in shock. I hate running, but apparently I CAN RUN!

So I've been walking and jogging and running every day for about a month. The scale hasn't budged. It's very discouraging. I'll admit I feel better... stronger, with more endurance. I have the strength to get through the day and not pass out dead asleep after the kids go to bed. Still, I'm not losing any weight. I would love love LOVE to lose ten pounds before my 30th birthday. I would love to just dip into the 120s, even if it's only for a moment. It would make me feel SO good to see those numbers again, perhaps for the last time.

Last night we ate dinner and got both kids in bed by 7. Greg and I sat there for a minute looking at each other, fascinated by the fact that we were both awake with time to kill and nothing to do!! I would guess it has been well over a year since: we've eaten dinner before the kids' bedtime AND they have been asleep before 7:30 AND I haven't been drop-dead tired afterwards. It was really really really weird. We didn't know what to do with ourselves! I suggested we exercise and Greg, miraculously, agreed!

I remembered hearing about working out with a deck of cards on The Biggest Loser, so we looked up the rules, tried it out, and had a great time!! I absolutely love that it adds variety and suspense and competition to something that is usually extremely boring. I also like that the rules can be modified endlessly to fit anyone. I hope we can make it a 3-4 times a week thing. Maybe this will be the extra kick I need to start the scale moving in a more favorable direction. It took us almost two hours to finish our deck of cards, but I suspect it will take a little less each time we do it.

I've already written about five paragraphs more than I had intended. The middle of the night has turned into morning, and Abbie is ready to eat (I wish she'd start sleeping past 6 again). I'll outline the rules of the game really quick while I'm feeding her and get this posted already before my free time is gone again. Here are the rules we decided on --


Supplies: One well-shuffled deck of cards per person and a copy of the rules.

Place the deck(s) face down and flip the top card over for each exercise.

Hearts = crunches
Clubs = reverse crunches
Spades = push ups
Diamonds = lunges

Number on card = Number of reps
Numbers < 5 = 5 reps (my addition)
Face cards = 15 reps
Aces = 1 min rest
Sevens = 7 min on elliptical (Greg's addition)
Jokers = 3 min cleaning the kitchen (my addition)

I believe that adds up to 105 reps for each exercise, 4 mins of rest, 28 minutes on the elliptical, and at least 6 minutes of cleaning per person.

First person to finish their deck wins!!


I won last night... my last two cards were aces!! :)

We had to lay down additional guidelines around the elliptical. I was very surprised we even ran into these situations: If someone draws a seven while the other person is still on the treadmill, you have to use the time you are waiting to clean the kitchen (happened twice). If you draw sevens simultaneously, the winner of 2 out of three coin tosses gets the treadmill first, loser cleans for 7 minutes (this actually happened!). As a tangent, I would like to say that whoever decided to put Tetris on an elliptical machine is a GENIUS! It's like an extra-large version of Tetris too... could go on for hours!

So, we got in a 2-hour workout and, by my approximation, spent about 25 minutes cleaning up our post-dinner mess (and making brownies :P). I'm feeling good and don't have to go downstairs to a dirty kitchen this morning which, unfortunately, is the case more often than not.

Eleven Hours!!

Abbie just passed the eleven-hour mark. She's been sleeping since 6:30 last night. This is really amazing, especially since I woke up 1-2 times a night with Jackson for NINE months. I want to cling onto this good sleeping forever! She's rustling around only half-asleep right now, but that's okay by me because Jackson usually gets up between 6 and 6:30.

The last 24 hours have worked out pretty well. Jack and Abbie woke up at the same time yesterday, napped for three hours together in the afternoon and went to bed at the same time last night. So, it was great for me, but not ideal for Abbie. Even though she got in two additional short naps in the morning (I hate cat naps), she was up for over three hours in the afternoon because we went to a park playgroup for Jack (he had an amazing time, actually played WITH other kids!). I don't think it's good for babies this young to be up for more than two hours at a time. So, while, for my benefit, I'd love to re-live yesterday every day, I don't think it's in Abbie's best interest. She needs longer, more consistent naps, not just cat naps with one really long nap thrown in.

I'm interested to see how today turns out. Whoa, there she goes! Waking up with GUSTO!

Three Months

Here's a link to her week 9, 10, 11 and 12 albums.

Abbie is still holding onto her 'perfect angel' title. She's such a happy little thing. She's coming up an hour or two short of sleeping entirely through the night. We get a good 9-10 hours out of her. I'm hoping one day soon it'll be 11-12. I have a hard time getting back to sleep after feeding her around 5am. Although, the 5am wake-up time is a good excuse to get out of bed for a head-start on the day... something I rarely actually do.

She is so much different from Jackson. So much more social. Smiling, laughing and cooing all the time. My favorite moments are when Jackson gets her laughing, which in turn makes him laugh. I love seeing my babies play together. I think she's a cute little thing. Her hair and eyes seem to be getting lighter every day. Definitely blue-eyed, but still not sure if that hair will go blonde or stay light-brown. I love her chubby little cheeks and thighs. I just want to munch on those cheeks of hers. The fat rolls on her legs are so deep that sometimes it's a two-man job to get down to the depths to clean and dry them.

We've gotten into more of a night-time routine. She takes a bath with Jackson (I put her baby tub inside the big tub), eats while Jackson plays in his room, then is completely ready to conk out. I hope we can keep this up because it works out nicely. Sometimes I can get both kids bathed and in their pajamas before Greg makes it upstairs. He says I'm like edward scissorhands. Dirty kids... whoop whoop whoop... clean kids.

She's recently grown into her 3-6 month clothes. Seems too soon! She's like a 'real' baby now instead of a teeny delicate little newborn. She can hold her head up pretty good and just today pushed her head and some of her chest up off the floor during tummy time. I'm not the greatest at having tummy time with her, but try to 'exercise' with her at least once a day. She loves doing squats and bouncing up straight again. Always SO proud of herself!!

Here's my new very most favorite picture ever. Jackson making Abbie laugh:

20 Months

Here's a link to our April album.
And the pictures from my parents' visit last month.

Oh, hi. I have a blog, and I am way behind on my self-imposed monthly update deadlines. The days, heck, the hours, keep slipping away faster and faster. I've also been using up all of my former computer time (and sleeping time) by reading instead. Finished First Family and The Glass Castle recently. I think I want to read The Glass Castle again, what an amazing story. Anyway, both kids are asleep (it's a miracle!!), I finished reading my book, nothing critical to get to... so it's finally time to write.

Just like every month, Jackson has done an amazing amount of changing and growing. He still speaks with a slur, but tries out more words every day. I am getting to the point where I can understand almost everything he says, but Greg still has a hard time. Jackson is just like my brother Ryan was at this age, speaks his own language. I've said it a million times, but thank heavens for sign language!! We're on our 10th signing DVD. Learned signs for 'feelings' last month and are working on the alphabet and counting this month.

He is quite a paradox in the gross motor skills department. He's seems very athletic and is extremely coordinated when it comes to running, kicking and throwing balls, climbing [everything], but he still trips and stumbles and runs into things several times a day. That kid is a rotating bruise factory. We got him a little 'plasma car' last week. All the kids on the street have one. He can get that thing going so fast! He scoots down the driveway and into the street at full speed (glad we live at the end of a cul de sac!). He also coasts down to the path to the park so quickly that even if I run full speed I can barely catch him before he gets there. Luckily he is really good at wearing his helmet and seems to be learning where his outdoor boundries are.

Our most recent development has been his strong 'I can do it by myself' attitude. Just like I remember his Aunt Maren being at this age! He says 'JACK-JACK!!' (aka 'ME!!') and vigorously points to himself whenever I start doing something for him that he thinks he can do for himself. He washes his hands by himself, climbs into his carseat by himself, gets in and out of the stroller by himself, climbs into his booster seat by himself, gets into his crib by himself, closes doors by himself, turns on the radio by himself... EVERYTHING by himself. Oddly enough, the one thing I have consistantly encouraged him to do by himself, going up and down the stairs, he still won't do. Sure, he can walk up and down without a second thought if he wants to, but as soon as *I* want him to do it he needs "HEP! HEP!" Hmmmm...

Cute things he's done this month: 1. I was trying to explain what a pinecone was and told him it was like a baby tree. He said 'Awwwww' and snuggled it like a baby doll. 2. I told him we were going on a road trip this summer to see his grandparents and Uncle Ryan'. He immediately ran downstairs yelling 'EEYA-EEYA' (Ryan), put on his shoes and pointed to the car. 3. He wanted to wear his coat outside, but I told him it was too hot. I said that he could wear his coat when we go to Montana. He thought for a moment and signed Grandpa... because Grandpa lives in Montana! 4. We were walking up the stairs together and one of the stairs creaked when I stepped on it. It sounded just like a toot. Jackson whipped his head around to look at me and said 'MOM!' in a mix of surprise and faux-scorn. I lauged so hard that I had to lay down on the stairs.

He's pretty good at puzzles, learns most things quickly, and I think he's fairly clever too. He makes some interesting connections and conclusions that always surprise me. He LOVES talking on the phone. He'll say Dad or Grandpa or Papa or Ryan, point to the phone, then point to his ear. I always get a kick out of what he tells people. Of course, they can't understand a word, but he usually talks a lot about Abbie and trucks and bees. My favorite is that he always talks about how we don't see bees on our morning walks because the flowers are cold and wet. Adorable :)

I'm a little bit concerned about what I would call obsessive-compulsive behavior in an adult. Maybe it's all part of being a toddler? I don't know. Examples: 1. He stumbled slightly while walking down a step at the park (first time without holding on to anything), he was frustrated, so he went up and down that one step four times until he got it perfect. 2. He won't hold my hand to start going up our stairs (when he wants 'HEP! HEP!') unless both of my feet are on the floor, one foot on the first step is not acceptable. 3. If I try to carry him up the last few steps because I need to hurry, he has a meltdown and walks all the way down to the bottom (alone) and screams, wanting me to help him walk up all the way again the 'right' way. 4. This morning I helped him out of the stroller and he had a fit because he wanted to do it himself. Not only did he need to climb back in, but he wanted to re-create the original situation. Garage door open, Abbie back in her side of the stroller, snuggled up in blankets, everything. I'm not having any of that craziness, so I let him scream in the garage for about 20 minutes until he gave up and came back in the house. Ah, the joys of motherhood. Seriously though, what the heck?

He seems to be enjoying the fact that we have a consistent morning routine. Eat breakfast, walk, shower, play alone while I do housework, play outside once Abbie is down for her morning nap, lunch, then nap. I like it too. It cuts out unnecessary unpredictability and I hope will eventually streamline our day. I'm particularlly hoping for less time spent discussing and negotiating basic movements... like, upstairs for showers, downstairs while I clean, inside for lunch, upstairs for nap. It's amazing how much time it can take to convince him to do something as basic as 'come here'. Especially difficult when I have a baby in my arms and picking him up and taking him where I want to go is not an option. My best weapon? 'I will do this for you, or you can do it yourself...' The answer is always 'JACK-JACK!!' and he comes running!! :)

Despite his little temper and super-stubborn streak, I adore and love him more than I ever thought I could love anything. What an amazing experience to have children. They're a heck of a lot of work, but well worth it.