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Dance Machine

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 21:34:21 -0400

I’m a gigantic fan of this 2 year old age. Jackson is more fun than he has ever been (i say this as we reach every stage, of course), and if I could freeze time and keep him as his is now forever, there is no doubt in my mind that I would do it. Tonight was probably one of my favorite moments with him. Just before bed, we hooked the iPod up to the surround sound in the living room, and Jackson put on a dance show for us. Zac & I were laughing hysterically at some of his moves, and he was SO into the music. He air guitar-ed:

He did his grandpa dance:

The Michael Jackson:

Clapped when each song was over:

And busted a whole host of moves, many of which I’ve never seen before:

I love that children have the ability to not give a damn about what anyone thinks. They are unashamed, outgoing, and literally have no filter. It is actually kind of sad that as they grow parts of their true self will be chipped away and repressed because of what others might think of how they look, act, or feel. I hope that I can bottle up some of this glorious part of jackson, and that when he is grown, some part of him will not dance like nobody is watching, but rather be proud of the dance moves, knowing that everyone is, in fact, watching.

These two!

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 12:16:33 -0400

These two!

Welcome Tiny Ryan!

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 22:31:32 -0400

Last Wednesday my sweet friend Emily went to her 37 week prenatal appointment only to find out that she was in active labor and already dilated 3 cm! She made arrangements for big brother Ben, and made her way to the hospital to welcome the sweetest boy into the world. I made my way there not even 24 hours later, and met the tiny guy myself. I cannot believe how alert he was for being less than a day old.

World, meet Ryan, or as big brother Ben would say: Meet Rhino:

Love you little dude!

when did he decide to look like he is 5 years old. slow down!

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 21:59:07 -0400

when did he decide to look like he is 5 years old. slow down!

Do you guys know how hard it is to squeeze this giant belly into...

Sat, 01 Jun 2013 14:02:59 -0400

Do you guys know how hard it is to squeeze this giant belly into a dress with nobody there to zip it up!?! Hubby is on official wedding business, and judging by the moves I was doing to get this thing zipped, I would make it big in cirque du soleil 💃

14 Weeks!

Thu, 30 May 2013 10:00:23 -0400

This pregnancy is literally flying by. I have already had two appointments with my OB and everything is looking great so far. I still feel great, and am happy to report that I have had no morning sickness at all with this kid.

I have that familiar bump of early pregnancy where, when you have pressure on your lower abdomen it feels full and hollow and just a little sore. ESPECIALLY in the morning. Also, thanks to my uterus moving higher into my abdomen, my pants are all too tight, my shirts are snug, and I feel (and LOOK) like a whale, so that’s cute.

I don’t really have much to update. Things have been crazy busy here and I feel like time is passing so fast. I kind of wish it would slow down, because I know this is my last pregnancy, and it has been wonderful so far, and I would really like to savor every part of it, but can’t seem to keep up with the speed of time right now. In the spirit of comparison - here are some noticeable differences between my first and last pregnancy so far:

Morning Sickness: First Pregnancy it was awful, last pregnancy it is nonexistent - Yay!

Fatigue: first pregnancy it was debilitating, this time I’m really not that tired.

Hair & Skin: with J i had GREAT hair and clear skin. This time - hair is still falling out and I am breaking out constantly. This part, I could do without.

Movement: I first felt J move (both on the inside AND outside) at 18 weeks. I swear I have felt something in there TWICE this week. Is that even possible this early on?

Insane Veins (see here.): had em then, have em now.

Weight Gain: at 16 weeks with J I had gained 0.2 lbs and then gained like 9 in the following four weeks. This time I have actually lost two lbs, but I have no idea how, because all i do is eat.

Other Changes: I didnt ever notice this with J, but holy crap I have a stuffy nose all the time, and the amount of drooling I am doing is ridiculous. Is this even a real pregnancy symptom?

I am looking forward to the end of July, when I get to find out the gender of this little thing - I am one of those that NEED to know ;). I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a girl, and feel like it is one, but don’t want to SAY that because I don’t want to jinx it. I KNEW Jackson was a boy, and I love that I have a boy (the most wonderful, sweet, cuddly, smart, adorable, loving boy), but man would I love to have one of each!

Daddy go Dada

Wed, 29 May 2013 22:54:11 -0400

If there is one thing about Jackson that always holds true, it is the fact that he has a crazy fun personality. He has been communicating so much more lately, and speaking in very complete sentences. He can always use language to talk about his needs, and tell us about his day. One of my favorite things about this stage of communication is the alter-ego he has created for his daddy.

Jackson always calls Zac ‘daddy.’ As long as he has been talking, Zac’s name has been daddy - except for the brief period where he referred to him as Zac, which was my favorite, but I don’t think Zac loved it. Too bad it didn’t stick. Anyhow - Zac is daddy, but lately Jackson has created a secondary persona for him known as dada. Dada makes his appearance only when doing something action packed, like driving the big truck, towing a trailer, mowing the grass, or driving the boat. Jackson will refer to Zac’s truck as the “Dada Truck!” He has a toy truck that is the same model as Zac’s and pulls a giant trailer - he always calls that the Dada Truck also. My favorite part of all of this is when he exclaims “Daddy go Dada!” as if Zac is making some great transformation into his alter ego (superhero?) of Dada and donning his cape and sword. Hysterical.

Thank you all so much for your kind words and congratulations on baby #2. We couldn’t be more...

Sun, 19 May 2013 21:42:41 -0400

Thank you all so much for your kind words and congratulations on baby #2. We couldn’t be more excited! I am having a hard time imagining Jackson as a big brother these days, but I am sure he will fall into the role with ease. I am 12 weeks 3 days and I must say that this pregnancy has been so very different from the last. With Jackson I was soooooo sick for the first 14 weeks, and unspeakably tired. This time, I have felt great, and if it weren’t for the sore boobs, and very telling bump, I would think that I am not even pregnant. It also took what seemed like forever to conceive this time. Jackson was easy - it was literally one try and 42 weeks later there he was. I had my IUD taken out at the end of November and it took 4 cycles to actually get pregnant this time. I am all about instant gratification and immediate results, so that part was difficult for me to say the least. Eventually I learned to not take the test every day starting 5 days before a missed period, and rather until after I had already missed it. The 3rd cycle brought what is known as a chemical pregnancy, where you have faint line positives, but miscarry within the first week of conception, so that was a bummer, but the very next month it was a strong line positive, and here we are today!

I had an ultrasound at 9 weeks and heard the heartbeat and confirmed that it is JUST ONE BABY, thank god. My master plan is to have a total of two babies, not two at the same time ;). However, my body didn’t seem to get that memo and is showing as if there are 15 babies in there. Whatever. I will probably be 300 lbs after this (especially if I get hooked on donuts like I was with J). Don’t judge. So to wrap up: 12 weeks, feelin’ good, and going to be fat. Here are some photos of my fully gestated nugget from the weekend:

He runs with his tongue out. Cute but dangerous. We may lose half of it one of these days : /

Big, EXCITING news today! Newest little nugget will be...

Fri, 17 May 2013 11:56:06 -0400

Big, EXCITING news today! Newest little nugget will be completing our family on approximately November 28th!

Benny Turned TWO!

Tue, 14 May 2013 20:00:00 -0400

Over the weekend Jackson’s little buddy Ben turned 2! He had a fun pool party followed by pizza & cupcakes. All of the little ones were so cute, and Jackson was more than happy to show off his swimming skills. Here is some photo spam of Ben’s party:

Shall we start with the many faces of Benjamin?!

:) Here are all the little buddies:

Sidenote: J & Diego might have the cutest toddler friendship in the history of the universe:

The three Amigos!

Ben was SO cute when we sang happy birthday. It started out ok, but then he decided it was far too noisy!

Happy birthday Benny, we love you!

Sometimes I like to put off getting him out of bed in the...

Sun, 12 May 2013 07:19:36 -0400

Sometimes I like to put off getting him out of bed in the morning to listen to him sing over the monitor. Today he has been singing about mommys car, daddy’s truck, touchdowns, the jungle, schoolbuses, and repeating “daddy (or mommy) where are you?!” 😂

A Traintastic Birthday Celebration!

Tue, 07 May 2013 11:37:09 -0400

You know what is absolutely ridiculous? The fact that it has taken me 2.5 weeks to post photos from Jack’s 2nd birthday party. Inexcusable, really! The theme for the party this year was trains. Kid loves a good choo choo train. I want to keep the photos of the details to a minimum and overload you with photos of the kids, because, really, who doesn’t like to see cute kiddos?!

I used a lot of blue ticking fabric for the details of the party, to give it a real vintage conductor feel. I made the special hats (which i mom failed and forgot to even put on Jackson for his cupcake :(), and used red and white accents for a color scheme. The table had a fabric runner with some flowers, balloons, and stars. Simple & Easy.

My friend and cake baker extraordinaire, Megan, made the most fantastic train cake (like her page)!!!. The tracks around the bottom and the smoke coming from the train were fantastic details, AND there was a number two on the back of the locomotive :). I also purchased chevron paper straws for some added flair. I made the banner using my trusty cricut (seriously - a cricut turns a 2 hour job into a 10 minute job. get one), and some scrapbooking paper. The bottom right photo shows the dessert/favor table. My sister made amazing cupcakes, and I displayed Jackson’s Year I and Year II Photobooks. Also, I used a vintage traincase to hold the favor bags which included: Conductor hats, train whistles, bubbles, and other fun kid-friendly things!

The main activity for the littles was to paint wooden trains to take with them as a keepsake. It was messy, but so cute.

Here are some photos of my favorite little man and his buddies enjoying the festivities!

Playing football with Jesse :)

Hi Alex!

Lovely Miss PBT <3

Vaughn in all of his two week old glory!!!! I will be stealing him very soon!

Ben gives dirty looks ;)

Hi Diego!

Ben & his mama Emily :)

This is 8 month old Caleb, he is a flirt and soooo cute!

Presents!

Cupcakes!

At least someone got some use out of the party hats!

I still can’t believe my crazy, sweet, awkward smiling, trailer loving boy is 2 already!

My work situation is interesting in that i work from home two...

Fri, 03 May 2013 16:20:00 -0400

My work situation is interesting in that i work from home two full days each week. Because of the large amount of time spent working at home, I often get the question “how do you get any work from home done with a toddler to take care of?” The answer for me is simple.

Jackson has always been fantastic at Independent play. I simply make the “office” into a place that he actually wants to spend time. Of course, he is spoiled so its now more of a playroom, but the point is that I can get a ton of work done while he keeps himself entertained with access to all of his tractors, trains, books, and puzzles. It’s better for us than having him staring at the TV all day, and I am able to join him whenever I feel like it ;).

I also try to log as few hours in the times that he is most active as possible. I can bank on him napping for a solid 2-3 hours in the afternoon, so I always use that time to make calls and really get the things that require extra concentration taken care of.

I am also happy to push 2-3 hours of work each day to 6 or 7 pm. Daddy has come home so Jackson is more interested in him at that particular moment and then I take a break to put him to bed and finish up by 8 or 9 pm.

Things work really well for us this way because I get to maximize my time spent with Jackson - we can still have play dates, park time, swim lessons, and hours outdoors. But the key is that I still have a workspace where he can be happily occupied for HOURS if I absolutely can’t push the work stuff off to nap or bedtime.

It's not a competition.

Thu, 02 May 2013 10:35:42 -0400

On the way to work this morning I was listening to a popular radio show when a stay at home mom called in. I missed the first part of the call, but the gist of it is that she has 3 children and has a hard time finding a moment of peace and solitude. I think we can all relate to that as parents of young children. Sometimes you just want to go to the bathroom by yourself or take a longer shower than normal. I don’t think its too much to ask, and neither did any of the DJs on the show. You can imagine my shock, then, when another stay at home mom called in and actually passed judgment on this lady for asking for a few moments away from her children.

What is it with women these days making every. single. facet. of parenthood a freaking competition?! Why is it that because you don’t wish for a few minutes alone and feel fulfilled with your life as a stay at home mom that you would think you are better than someone who has a completely different experience with a completely different set of children who you don’t know and frankly, know nothing about? Look, we all love our kids, and we all know that time is so very fleeting, and that this time when they are little is so precious…but we also know that parenting is hard. It is the toughest job I have ever been entrusted with. I don’t need the opinions of others and judgments and competitions of who is a better mother because they don’t want 5 minutes to pee alone, or breastfed longer, or cloth diapers the best to make it that much harder on me. Give it a rest already.

I love this post by Glennon over at Momastery about how you don’t have to carpe the whole effing diem, but rather celebrate the most precious moments. Let’s face it - we all have our days, and I really think the judgy caller this morning had to be lying. Nobody’s that perfect, and let me tell you, I love every minute that I have with my one kid, but there are days that I am counting down the minutes to bedtime. Kids are challenging. They are supposed to be challenging. Its not always rainbows and butterflies in the world of parenting, but I can definitively say that it is mostly rainbows and butterflies. To all my WAHM’s, SAHM’s, Working Mom’s, and especially you single mamas out there - if you need some me time to be a better parent - TAKE IT. You are doing a great job, and I commend you for recognizing that you need time for yourself to be good. And if you miss out on a few moments with your little ones, its okay. I will never judge you for trying your best.

I have been horrible at blogging lately. J’s party was...

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 08:00:57 -0400

I have been horrible at blogging lately. J’s party was nearly two weeks ago and I haven’t even posted about it! We have been moving and things are finally starting to calm down, so ill be catching up soon, but in the meantime here is a 20 second video to promote good self-esteem in toddlers ;)

Party time!!!

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 12:06:13 -0400

Party time!!!

Happy Birthday to my favorite TWO YEAR OLD of all time! Click...

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 07:35:00 -0400

Happy Birthday to my favorite TWO YEAR OLD of all time! Click play for a montage of his second year :)

Spring has Sprung!

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 22:34:23 -0400

We are so happy to finally be able to enjoy the warmer weather. Jackson has been spending as much time as possible outdoors, and as exhausting as it can get, I can’t say that I mind at all, because within seconds, the funniest and cutest expressions come across his little face:

Wednesday marks two years for our boy, and I honestly have been trying to figure out just how we made it here so quickly. He was just a baby, and now he is BIG. Opinionated, carefree, demanding, sweet, loving, and BIG.

All I know is that I have loved every single second that he has been here, and I am so looking forward to the next 8 decades or so, just to see where this lovely little journey takes us. Big things are in store for this big kid.

king of the awkward forced smile

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 14:02:00 -0400

king of the awkward forced smile

Day 12: (Santa was) in the middle. Also, Jackson pointed to me...

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 21:03:08 -0400

Day 12: (Santa was) in the middle. Also, Jackson pointed to me in the pic and said “it’s Jackson!” This is mega exciting because he never ever on e has been told he looks like me, even better that he thinks it himself. @arice730 #apparentlyiwaschubby #imsocool #flashbackfriday #fmsphotoaday #photoaday #day12