Random pictures

I just thought these pictures deserved their own post.

Scary muscles

This one makes me dizzy

Cute

These rocks were entertainment for hours

And hours...

Thanksgiving

We went to Charleston for Thanksgiving and we had a wonderful time.  Before packing, I checked the weather.  It said it would be 80 on Thanksgiving.  Well, since it has been freezing here, I kinda forgot what 80 was like.  Yeah.  HOT!  I had packed up all of Jack and Abby's summer clothes already, so I only had 2 outfits to bring with us which I didn't pack in case it gets hots again.  I didn't think we would really be in shorts in Charleston.  I am not sure why 80 degrees did not register with me.  I even brought Abby's pedicoat.  Total waste there.  When I first put Jack in his short sleeved shirt, he kept pulling on the shirt sleeve to get it to his wrist.  It was pretty funny.  He already forgot what summer clothes felt like. 

On Tuesday, Paula and I decided to take a short trip to Folly Beach.  Man, I love that place.  So cheesey and homey, all at the same time.  Even though it was 80 out, it was too cold to go in the water, so we took Jack and Abby on the pier.  They both LOVED it.  As a super special bonus, we got to see dolphins (or porpoises, I don't know the difference).  Jack was really happy about that and kept talking about how they would "pop up!" and go back down.  Abby only cared about going up and down the stairs.

We also hit the Charleston Aquarium on Wednesday.  This is the first time Jack was really into it.  Abby seemed to really like it as well.  I already posted the after picture of Jack when he got his finger nibbled on.  That was priceless.  Abby was good about keeping her fingers to herself.  Jack didn't want to touch the starfish or any of the other creatures they have for people to touch.  I touched a sting ray, it was pretty neat.  Probably the biggest hit was the play area.  They both had a blast running around.

Thanksgiving day we hung out around the house.  I was really tired this trip and napped when they napped most days.  Although, I will say I ran 4 miles Thanksgiving day morning on the greenway.  Guess all that napping helped.  Paula made a fabulous meal, as she is such a fabulous cook.  Of course we had turkey, but we also had monkey bread, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, dressing, green beans & succatash.  And gravy.  Paula makes the BEST gravy.  Doug is good, but she is the master.  Then for dessert, we had cranberry tart, my favorite cherry-cheesecake pie and whooping cream as Jack called it.  He was pretty happy to make whooping cream with Bunny.  Everything was just awesome.  There were only a few guests, Paul & Kathy (who come every year) and Paula's friend, Nancy.  It was nice having a small crowd. 

Now, on to the pictures:

Jack on the pier

Abby cruising along

Of course, we had to stop for a snack

Nice picture of mom and Abby, until....

She got me with her left hook

Trying to get them both together is like herding cats

Too cute part 1

So sweet.

Jack wished he could read

Jack's expression after putting his hand in the tank and getting his finger nibbled on at the Charleston aquarium.  More to come...

Applesauce!

Today Jack, Abby and I made applesauce in the crockpot.  It was delicious!  Jack helped sort the peelings while Abby threw the apples and the lemons to the floor.  She is helpful like that.  We all had a great time until Abby slipped off the chair and hit her chin on the counter.  Jack was impressed with the blood and screamed at Abby that she needed a band-aide because you need to bleed around her to get a band-aide.  Just a fun rule I came up with to save my band-aide stash.  Anyway, I saved the day by offering both children lollipops and ending the cooking class.

  http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/09/crockpot-applesauce-recipe.html

Loving two

The following was posted on a listserv I am on.  It really moved me...

I walk along holding your 2-year-old hand, basking in the glow of our magical relationship. Suddenly I feel a kick from within, as if to remind me that our time alone is limited. And I wonder: how could I ever love another child as I love you? Then he is born, and I watch you. I watch the pain you feel at having to share me as you've never shared me before. I hear you telling me in your own way, "Please love only me." And I hear myself telling you in mine, "I can't," knowing, in fact, that I never can again. You cry. I cry with you. I almost see our new baby as an intruder on the precious relationship we once shared. A relationship we can never quite have again. But then, barely noticing, I find myself attached to that new being, and feeling almost guilty. I'm afraid to let you see me enjoying him -- as though I am betraying you. But then I notice your resentment change, first to curiosity, then to protectiveness, finally to genuine affection.
More days pass, and we are settling into a new routine. The memory of days with just the two of us is fading fast. But something else is replacing those wonderful times we shared, just we two. There are new times -- only now, we are three. I watch the love between you grow, the way you look at each other, touch each other. I watch how he adores you -- as I have for so long. I see how excited you are by each of his new accomplishments. And I begin to realize that I haven't taken something from you, I've given something to you. I notice that I am no longer afraid to share my love openly with both of you. I find that my love for each of you is as different as you are, but equally strong. And my question is finally answered, to my amazement. Yes, I can love another child as much as I love you -- only differently. And although I realize that you may have to share my time, I now know you'll never share my love. There's enough of that for both of you -- you each have your own supply. I love you -- both. And I thank you both for blessing my life."

--author unknown

My heart aches

An online friend of mine's baby passed last night.  Jedidiah was born with trisomy13, a chromosomal malformation that is not "compatible with life" and manifests itself in various ways.  She chose not to have an abortion and was able to enjoy 13 days with her sweet son.  Her journey and blog have been so special to me. I have learned so much about myself in reading her posts of uncertainty and now, sorrow.  Please say a prayer for her family.  Goodbye sweet little Jedi.

http://trisomyjourney.blogspot.com/

The window

It is amazing how children have a "sleep window" and if you miss it you are screwed.  Well, tonight we missed it, for the both of them.  Rookies.

Athens

This past weekend we went to Athens to visit with Doug's family.  We had a great time.  Eleanor stayed the weekend, so Jack and Abby were thrilled to have a playmate.  So were we.

Jack was in total heaven.  Granddaddy and Gramma have a huge yard and a lake.  Granddaddy keeps a big bucket full of rocks by the dock.  I am fairly certain there are few things better than throwing rocks into a lake to a 3 yr old boy.  Except maybe ice cream and they had that too.

Abby was able to roam around and do her thing.  They had some ride-on toys so she was all set.  She did take a nasty spill but got up like a champ.  I wish we had taken a picture of her all bloody.  Luckily all the blood came out of her white coat.  One thing being married to Doug has gotten me used to blood and broken bones.  I am not sure if that is a good thing.

Doug and I went for an awesome road ride in the Winterville country side.  We even rode across a covered bridge.  It was a perfect day for riding.  So nice to be back in the saddle.  We rode for a little over 2 hours which was the longest time I have been on the bike since before having Abby.  That night Denny made reservations for the two of us for dinner at five and ten, an awesome restaurant in Athens.  PLUS he picked up the bill (which was quite large...not sure how that happened, perhaps we shouldn't go to dinner after riding 2+ hrs, we were starving!).  I must say, it was so wonderful to have dinner without having Jack telling me he had to go potty two seconds after Abby threw her plate to the floor five seconds after I sat down.  Life was very good.

Of course, Granddaddy had to put the children to work.  I think Abby got the better end of the deal.

Some lake shots:

Then Gramma got them working inside.  I tell you, no rest for the weary.

Martha showed up, but Abby had to warn her of all the work they had to do.

Abby's busted lip.  Had to share that one.

We also visited Doug's Aunt Bootsy and cousin Valerie.  Jack, Eleanor and Abby had a great time playing with all of Aunt Bootsy's classic toys.  It was a wonderful, relaxed weekend.



Is it mean?

Is it mean to put your children in clothes with faces on the feet?

White-eyed rollback

When Abby starts nursing her eyes will totally rollback and close.  I have often wondered if formula fed babies did it when they started sucking on their bottle.

Oh, yeah!

I forgot to mention I swam a mile today.  Well, 0.965 miles, but I will be wild and round up.  I swam 1700 yards.  It felt good.  It was also nice that I was WAY faster than the old man I shared a lane with.  Who cares if he was old?  I was faster!  Tomorrow I am going mountain biking after I drop Jack and Abby off at school.  And the 4 huge loads of laundry?  It can wait.  I am going to get into my size 4 & 6 jeans again.  I am determined. 

I am also going to race the Snake Creek Time Trial this year.  Just the 17 mile option, not the 34.  My guess is it should take me around 3 hrs to finish.  Give or take a day or two.

Storytime at the library

Today Abby and I went to storytime at the library.  Denise offered to watch Jack at the library park, so Abby and I could meet her playgroup and have some time together. Abby LOVED it.  She was happy sitting in my lap and then after a bit got up to explore.  It was nice to be able to do something with just her.  Jack and I have "just us" time after his nap, before Abby wakes up, but I rarely get time with just Abby.  We do have Mondays together, but we are usually racing from the Farmer's Market, to Publix to Sams, home for lunch then off to get Jack from school.  I thought I had more to say, but it is late, I need to nurse Abby and get to bed. 

Oh, I did finish another bow board tonight.  This one is for Abby.  I love it.  I will upload the pictures in a day or so.  I want to get some more bows done.  I guess my next craft I need to figure out is knitting.  Yeah, with all my spare time...

Pizza

This is from the other night.  Doug makes the best pizza ever.  I am so spoiled.

Stinky breath

I think it is so sweet when I go in to dream feed Abby and she opens her mouth wide to latch on and I can smell her sweet, stinky breath.  I just don't want to forget these moments.

Bow Board

Last night I made my first bow board. It took forever but I blame Jack for that. He kept coming out of his room until 9:40pm. I mean seriously, doesn't he ever get tired? Anyway, I made my first bow board for Sam Shelton (furkids) as a thank you for sending me hairbows.

I am pretty proud of it. Pretty good for a non-crafty mama.

Family Size

Before I was married, I didn't want children.  I actually really never wanted to get married.  I then met Doug at college and well, the rest is history.  We waited 6 years before we had children.  In one way, I think the transition to children was more difficult, because we were used to doing what we wanted (racing), when we wanted (every weekend).  We thought we would leave it up to God to see if we would become parents, because we could never pick a time to "start trying" so we just stopped not trying.  Well, 6 months later, I was pregnant.  After having Jack, we quickly realized we wanted more than one child.  Fast forward to Jack being 13 months old and I got pregnant again.  I didn't think it would happen so quickly since it took 6 months with Jack.  I really wanted them to be at least 2 years apart. 

Now that the first rough TOUGH as hell year is over and I am sleeping through the night, I am pondering the timing or possibilty of a third child.  I am the middle child.  I never really felt all the hangups most middle children feel.  So, I am not all that concerned about Abby being the middle child.  Heck, she is tough as nails.  She would handle it pretty well, beating up on both siblings.

One holdup is Doug's work situation.  He doesn't have the traditional 9-5 job with the traditional 9-5 salary.  This I think is good in one way because it gives us a chance to "make it big".  Plus, I love him being home and he is a huge help.  I don't think I would consider 3 if he was gone until 6:30pm every night.

Another concern is our home.  It is tiny now with 4 of us.  I would have to swap Jack & Abby's room with the playroom and I would make the back room the nursery/office.  I think I could type and not wake a newborn.  ;)  I am not ready to lose my desk yet.  haha. 

There is also the age spacing to think about.  I don't want too much time to lapse between Jack/Abby and the baby.   I don't want the baby to feel like a third wheel but I also want to be able to enjoy my baby.  Nothing in life is easy.  I think I will just worry about this tomorrow.

Voting

This morning we took the family to show them the importance of voting.  Jack was very excited to go vote.  So, we loaded up and went to the polling place.  Of course, as soon as we got there.  Jack had to christen the bathroom, as he feels the need to do all over Atlanta.  Once that order of business was handled, he went with Doug to vote.  They filled out the paperwork, got the card, Jack helped by pushing buttons on the touch screen, then he turned in the card for a sticker.  He had a VERY active role in voting.  So, we get out of the building and he started whining he wanted to go vote.  Um, yeah, that was it.  You just voted.  He didn't quite get that what we just did WAS voting.  So, he wanted to do it again.  Doug explained if he was a Democrat, he could go vote again, but he wasn't, so the one time would have to do.  It was priceless.

Unstoppable

Now I can blog from my phone.  There is no stopping me now.

nails

It is just so nice when I remember to trim Abby's nails. She has a lovely habit of digging her thumb nail in you.

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Halloween 2010

Jack totally "got" Halloween this year.  Abby did too, once I gave her a M&M.  Funny, how candy didn't touch Jack's lips until he was over 2 and Abby gets M&Ms at 15 months.  Anyway, we had a great time trick or treating.  As tradition has it, my mom came over to watch the children trick or treat.

It is hard being Mom, because on the one hand, I wanted to capture the moment on film (which is like herding cats getting them to both look the same direction at the same time) and living in the moment.  That is a constant battle for me.  On the one hand, the pictures are good, because my memory is awful.  I can't even remember what Jack was for Halloween last year.  I remember Abby wore a little knit cheerleader outfit, but I think Jack wore a sweatsuit with bones on it?  I will have to ask my mom.  She will remember.  Or I could look at the pictures I guess.

This was the first year Jack picked what he wanted to be.  I found it very interesting he picked a monster, because he is afraid of monsters.  I think that tells a lot of his personality, he will over come his fears.  I wanted to have him go as Bam-Bam and Abby as Pebbles, but since he wanted to be a monster, I figured I would be a good mom and let him choose.

Abby was my little ballerina.  I LOVE tulle, so I am sure you will see more of that on her.  I already have dress up tutus.  I love them.  Now I just need to find some that will fit me.  ha.  I think after 2 years of TRUCKS I am ready for Barbie.  Diane got me a berry princess/fairy costume for her, but it was too big for this year.  So, I am pretty excited I have her costume for next year all set.  Hopefully, she won't have an opinion on what she wants to be.

Overall, we all had a great time.  Jack is already talking about going trick or treating again and I am having to explain the concept of next year.  Now if I can just keep my hand off their candy (which Jack gets a piece after nap every day).

(Abby getting M&M)