4th Wedding Anniversary- Jack 17 mths, Sophie 3 mths

Background:
9.21.11
Wendesday, the day before our anniversary, we are bickering in the morning. I do more than you, no you don’t, why don’t you do this, your not helping… you know, the usual. I leave work mad. Daddy texts later in the day, “Start over?”. “Yes” and we are forgiven. Daddy spends all day working on the lawn and getting it ready- since of course- it died this summer. Why are we cursed with the crappiest lawn in the neighborhood? I don’t know… maybe because we have 2 babies in barely 2 years that we are trying to take care of. Sorry- the lawn falls down the priority totem pole. Anyways- we are trying to fix it so Tom has called the lawn care people to help. Of course he has 3 days of work to do in 1 day. So we call Gigi and Papa to come help with the kids. They stay all day. I arrive home barely at 6, and we are expecting guests. I pick up a pizza on the way home and have a good time with Dani and Matt, our friends that just got married. Jack screams most of the night- he’s tired. Sophie is good and doesn’t eat a whole ton. She is her happy self, as long as I am holding or touching or talking to her in some way. Don’t leave my sight Mommy.

9:29 Put Jack in his bed, he’s crying.

9:31 Jack stops crying and is asleep.

9:45 Sophie falls asleep and I hold her on my chest.

9: 50 Watch Teen Mom (haha, I know, I am a sucker!) and laugh about the kids talking. Bentley says, “Smart boy!!” mocking his mom and we crack up. Seriously- is Jack ever going to start talking?!

 Thursday, 9.22.11

12:00 Tom says “Happy anniversary” and we pass out. (Yes…)

5:14 Sophie awakes. Mommy feeds.

5:45 Jack awakes. Daddy shushes back to sleep.

5:55 Jack awakes. Daddy shushes back to sleep.

6:00 Mommy places Sophie back in her bed… just a little more sleep kids… plleeeasse.

6:05 Jack awakes. Daddy shushes back to sleep. Mommy gets up to get a bottle. I am going to sleep just a little more… please? Give’s Jack his bottle, he drifts back to sleep.

7:00 Sophie awakes. Nurses.

7:15 Mommy showers and gets ready really fast.

7:51 The lawn care people arrive- early. They are supposed to be here at 8, and Tom has things to do before they start. Awesome. Tom heads out to do some last minute things on the lawn. Hands over naked Jack to me and leaves Sophie on the bed. Good thing I am basically ready.

8:00 Gigi arrives. Mommy picks out clothes, brings down Sophie. Jack is at the top of the stairs, in jean shorts and no shirt, screaming with clenched fists. He doesn’t want to walk down the stairs. Carry me Mama!!!

8:06  Mom is picking up a tad (compulsive! I can’t help it!!), changing Sophie’s diaper, packing lunch, packing pump bottles, showing Gigi where the food is for the day. Jack is looking out every window in the house- he wants to go outside and mow with daddy. Alright, I am officially late.

8:10 Jack is screaming and pointing out the windows. He really REALLY wants to go outside with Daddy. Seriously Mommy, I just want to mow the lawn. I can’t help you honey, I am late.

8:14 Jack brings his shoes and shirt to Mommy. His face begs, please can I go outside with Daddy?

8:15 Mommy is basically ready and takes Jack out for a minute to see Daddy and the “tractors” in our yard doing the lawn work. Daddy is mowing and finishing up (nothing like the last minute huh? So daddy…) Jack points to his mower and then to the sidewalk (by squatting and bending over and actually touching it). Put the mower here Mommy. Jack is pretend mowing the sidewalk and happy as a clam. I know I am late, but have accepted.

8:20 Mommy goes in to get her cell phone, Daddy is basically done. Someone needs to watch Jack. Check in on Sophie- out the door. I am late.

8:25 Mommy is trying to leave, trying to get into the car. Where’s Daddy? He’s in the house, grabbing the doggies collars. Need to make sure the electric fence is working. He can’t walk around though, grass clipping’s everywhere. Gigi comes to the rescue. Jack is outside still mowing… I am late.

8:27 Daddy is back, Mommy gets in car. Jack SCREAMS. He wants to drive the car. He doesn’t want Mommy to leave! He’s behind the car, with his mower, screaming. His fists are clenched, straight down at his sides, and his binky wobbling in his mouth. Daddy is talking to lawn care people. Someone needs to get this kid out of the way. I walk over and pick him up. I love you baby. … I am late.

8:28 Mommy hugs Jack, hands Jack to Daddy. Daddy kisses Mommy real quick. Daddy, “Happy Anniversary Mama, see you tonight”. Me: *Smile*. “See you tonight”. *Sigh*.  I drive away with Gigi and Sophie in the window, waving. Oh man, I am late.

9:11  Mommy arrives seriously late to work.

9-5:20 ish – Long and busy day at work.

5:55 Arrive home from work. Daddy, Jack and Sophie are waiting on the porch.

7:30 Arrive at the restaurant. Jack is passed from Gigi, to Papa, to Pappy. Sophie is asleep.

8:00 Glass of wine for Mommy. J Daddy’s turn with Jack. Jack wants to walk around, wants to go to the car. Sophie is sleeping.

8:30 Papa is done eating, Papa’s turn with Jack. Can Jack drive the car? Daddy eats. Sophie is still sleeping. Glass two for Mommy. :)

9:00 Dinner is done, head home. Sophie is awake and happy. Jack is tired and grumpy. Mommy and Daddy are happy. Fun anniversary with the whole (and I mean WHOLE family!).

After two weeks of Mommy going back to work, and right around the 3 mth mark... Sophie has changed so much. She is holding up her head really well and likes to look around at things. She is entertained by the TV and Jack. She now faces out in the bjorn. She can go 2-3 hours without nursing and actually being a happy baby. She still seriously favors Tom and I, and will not let many other people hold her... especially if we are in the room. Its like a movie- I hand her over to my mom, Lucy or Gma and she cries. I take her back, and she stops. She is still playing favorites. She also smiles all the time and coos. It is absolutely the sweetest sound i have ever heard. Oooh, oooh, ooooooh she says. She works so hard to form her lips into a little "o". Every now and then a little laugh or squeal escapes when she smiles (eeh!) and it is so adorable. I love this sound. I need to video tape it...

Jack is a busy busy boy. He seriously can wear out 5 adults. Dinners are difficult because he wants to get down and walk all around. He really really doesnt want to sit any where for any length of time. He also LOVEs the car. He always wants to drive it. Wherever we are- he knows his way back to the car. At the tailgates, he starts heading in the direction of the car. At polaris mall, we were hanging out in the play area and he ran all the way back to california pizza kitchen and right back to our exact table. How in the world did he know that?! Well he did... Words seem closer than ever now. He is trying to form his lips to say words. He asks us what EVERYTHING is. He uses his grunts and points to boss us around. Still no real words that I can understand... everything still sounds like caaaa to me. But he knows what just about everything is. I am just waiting for this kid to say "mama". Come on!!! Mama!!! I know it is just going to start flooding out his mouth soon...

Things are good. We are back into the swing of mom back to work. Making dinner at night.. and starting to get used to it being dark early. Ugh. Not sure how we are going to survive this winter... Jack LOVES the outdoors. He has melt downs when he cant go out. Poor thing. This weekend we are going to the pumpkin patch, weather permitting. Thats all for now!

To go please?!?! Sophie 11 weeks, Jack 16.5 mths

Last friday we went out to dinner as a family. It was the first time we totally bailed on our situation. Tom came home and was looking nice. He had a new outfit on- his birthday outfit. A new WHITE shirt, cute tie and new pants. He was looking and feeling good so we decided to try to go out to dinner. Jack had taken a late nap and I grabbed my hooter hider to get Sophie through the dinner. Tom decides not to change and to keep his nice outfit on since he is lookin' good. Sophie is a little fussy in the car, but we've been here before. I can make it with the hooter hider. We did call ahead seating so just a few minutes. Jack is running around like a mad man... but again, we've made it past this before. Especially if he's hungry, he will settle down when the food comes. In less than 5 minutes our buzzer goes off- nice. As any parent knows you don't have precious time to wait on a table. We sit down in the back of the restaurant. We call it the "kiddie section" because every time we go to texas roadhouse with the kids we end up in this section with other families. That helps so we can all annoy each other. Plus, our kids can look at each other, and you get sympathetic looks instead of glares when your child is screaming. Then the problems start. Its about 90 degrees in the restaurant. Tom is BOILING in his pants and long sleeves. Jack is starving and in a bad mood. Oh... and then Sophie decides shes hungry. We are in a small, tight booth, but I get her out and put her on my lap. Using my hooter hider, I begin to nurse her. My hands are tied now with her. Then Jack starts. Peanuts, rolls, ketchup, menus, salt. He is grabbing peanuts and eating them whole. Then he wants ketchup. KETCHUP!!!! I mean NOW. Ketchup. OK. So we give him ketchup. He wants to dip EVERYTHING in the ketchup. Rolls, peanuts, his hands. Wait? Why does he need to dip? He can just eat it straight up. Salt shaker? Oooh, this is fun. Shake, shake, shake. All over. Menus, thrown at me, at dad. He wants down. Grabbing daddy, with ketchup hands on Tom's new white shirt. Dad is sweating, boiling. Patience is lower when you are SOOOO hot. We get our salads. Ok, food is here, he should calm down. WRONG. He wants to walk, he wants to get up. He doesn't want to look at the little girl next to us. I sit Sophie down. Want to sit with Mommy? Ok. He lays his head on my shoulder. Maybe hes tired. Sophie starts crying. Jack is done cuddling after three minutes. Disaster. We can't eat. We are fighting both kids. I need to hold Sophie again. Dad is avoiding Jack's ketchup hands like the plague. Jack is impatient. He wants down. He's not hungry. He's busy, busy. Finally we fold. "To go please?!" we both say in unison when the waitress comes back. Dad chugs his 8 dollar drink and we bail. In the car, the kids are sort of calm. Oh well. We get home and set the food up at the table. We are still going to eat and if the kids want to cry and run around at home, we can handle it for 10 minutes. Jack points to his high chair. Ha. NOW he wants to sit in it and eat. Of course. And sophie relaxes in her swing while we eat. The food is still sort of warm and Jack pigs out. I guess they just didn't want to eat out. I'd say for the many other times we have made it out to dinner and to clippers game, this one fail isn't so bad in the whole scheme of things. Kids 1 point. Parents still ahead. :)

These days Sophie is awake more and more and entertained by things going on around us. She likes looking at faces and smiles all the time at us. She can go about 2 to 3 hours without nursing. She enjoys her swing and bouncy seat. Sometimes the swing can be used for about an hour or more of time alone for her. The bouncy seat vibrations work and she likes to sit in front of the tv or in the bathroom while i shower. I think she likes the colors on tv and she likes the sound of the water in the bathroom. The car usually works to calm her. She seems to quiet when we put her in her chair, like she knows she is about to get in the car. Her cries are less piercing, and start out slower. Its like she trusts us to figure her out. They start out slow and give us time to change her diaper, feed her, hold her... see whats the matter. They don't go into melt down mode immediately. She still likes her sling. I took her to the ox roast and nursed her most of the time. My sister and Tom didn't even know I was nursing until I said something. She fell asleep and was content being in my arms. She is also a good sleeper. She sleeps every night from about 9 or 10 to 5am. We had a few nights where she slept til 7am. I think its because she is not a very good napper during the day.

Jack is the busiest kid. He is either on or off. Running, running, running. He can wear out 4 adults in an evening. He is learning so much. He knows so many words but doesn't say anything. We were looking through his book of first 100 words, and he knows so much these days. Duck, ball, shoes, clock, tv, couch, house, monkies, kitty, doggie, bike, airplane... but only pointing. We also look at magazines for new words and he likes learning new words. He still only says car. I say, "Mama" he says "Car". I laugh, he laughs. I say, "Mama" he says "Car". I laugh, he laughs. I say, "Mama" he says "Car". I laugh, he laughs. And round and round we go. It will come... he knows exactly what we are saying. He understands commands. I can tell him to put things away, give the doggies a treat (and he knows which is ellie and which is maya), to turn on the light, to push a button, to let the dogs out, to bring me my phone, to bring me my remote. He is a little helper. He is also obsessed with holding "Cry's" hand. He loves his sister so much. He always holds her hand. We can all be laying in bed and I see him reach over and hold her hand as they are both falling asleep. It's priceless. Jack is sleeping with us more and more. We are losing that battle. He keeps waking up in the middle of the night, even in our bed, and crying. I am wondering if he is having bad dreams? Jack is also obsessed with playing baseball. He plays baseball with daddy every night. He loves to pitch it to dad and then dad hits it. We are working on catching. I hold his hands and daddy throws to us, and then he catches.

Kids are doing well. I go back to work in just a few days. Worried about it, but know they will be fine and so will I. I have enjoyed the days home with them and each moment is precious. They are growing so fast already, and I just try to freeze each memory in my mind.