Card from Nana

Joey got his very own Christmas Card yesterday from Nana. And he found the fact that she was talking to him to be very cool. He played with it for such a long time. He was even saying hi back to her and having a conversation with the card. So cute... (and it was fun all over again today!)

You Know You Have a Toddler When...

1. You find yourself singing Barney songs to get yourself back to sleep in the middle of the night during one of the nightly "babies are sitting on my bladder" pee-breaks.
2. You instinctively turn the DVD player on in the car while driving ALONE, get almost all the way to your destination before realizing that you had the opportunity to listen to adult music instead of the Teletubbies or Elmo.
3. Your Christmas tree has Cheerios in it. (and you don't notice until someone else's child finds them and starts to eat them!)
4. The bathroom is no longer a sacred place. You are more often than not accompanied by a two foot tall person who wants to flush the toilet for you five thousand times.
5. You actually get a few minutes to take a shower but are reminded of the two foot tall toilet flusher when you open the shower curtain to find a random collection of items in the tub. Toys, snacks, sippy cups, shoes, etc.
6. Pretty much every boo-boo can be cured with a binkie, blankie, and snuggle.
7. In any given minute, chances are that you have said one of the following phrases. (probably more than one, and probably more than one time!): "no touch, sit down, do nice, no no, use your words, no stairs."
8. You have actually prayed for naptime to last longer than 1 hour.
9. You make up an errand just for an excuse to get out of the house and utilize the DVD player in the car. (does the Dunkin Donuts drive thru count as an errand?)
10. You have strapped your child into the high chair, put food on the tray, pulled the high chair into the living room, and gone to finish the laundry while the child has no other choice but to eat peacefully and watch Elmo on TV!

Are They Still Girls?

So today I went to the doctor for my 20 week appointment. This particular doctor is a frequent ultrasounder. For some reason, he often says, "I'd just like to do a quick ultrasound to see how everything is going." So I'm thinking, "Yippee! I get to see my babies again!" Today I was even more excited at the thought that he would be able to confirm the previous diagnosis of 2 baby girls. And he did. They are still girls. No boy parts grew in the last two weeks! I was shocked all over again. How did we get so blessed?

Could he be more UNCOOPERATIVE?!?!

I doubt it. Today was my first attept to get a picture of Joey for our Christmas card. He woke up from his nap in a great mood, I got him dressed in his cute little Christmas sweater and got my camera, which I (remarkably) remembered to charge the battery last night. I was feeling really good about this. I had a feeling we'd get it on the first take. Not so much. It was like Joey knew that this was important to me so he misbehaved on purpose. I almost think that he was prepared for this very moment. Like he said to himself, "Ok, cute outfit, combed hair, wiped face, she must want a good picture of me." Then it was lights, camera, NAUGHTY. He yelled, he cried, he barked, he hit. He laid down so I couldn't take his picture, he turned away, you name it... he did it. So, Operation Christmas Picture Mission 1 was aborted. We'll try again later. (maybe.)

• First we had crying:

• Then we had barking:

• Then we had just plain old miserable-ness:
  

Fall

Joey loves fall.

Back from hiatus

So I took a blogging hiatus for a while there. There were several reasons for this really, probably the biggest one being that I was too damn tired to come up with anything creative to write about for the first trimester of this pregnancy. Yep, that's right... pregnant again! And it gets even better than that folks... TWINS! So, that was probably the main reason I haven't been on here in a while. Other reasons are, um, I can't really come up with any other good reasons. So we'll just blame it on being tired. Sounds good to me.

Updates:
*Joey is well into "toddlerhood."
*It's more challenging than I thought it would be.
*He is so funny though, always doing something silly.
*He's walking (almost) full time now.
*Maybe by the 16 month mark we'll be able to omit the "almost."
*Only 3 weeks to go until we find out the sex of the babies!
*People are still saying, "you don't even look pregnant yet!" (that feels so good so hopefully they'll keep saying it for 5 more months!)
*I voted today... did you?
*I was totally bummed though that they ran out of the "I voted today" stickers... no free Ben and Jerry's for me. :(
*The vice principal came home yesterday and said, "I had so much fun at work today."
*That's the first time he's said that since the job started.
*The vice principal falls asleep on the couch EVERY night. tired much?

I think that's it for updates. I'll put up a new pic of the J.meister soon.

Back to School Shopping

I learned something new again today: Avoid mass retailers as much as humanly possible the week before school starts. I went to Target today to buy some stuff that we need. Huge mistake. There were so many people there shopping with multiple school-age children trying desperately to fulfill the back-to-school list while remaining within budget (impossible!) And to top it all off, the housewares department was swarmed with dorm-bound college students w/parents deciding which plastic crates will make a nice end table. Ohmygod. It was a madhouse. But I was determined to get my shopping done. I mean, I was there, had child in cart, and list in hand. There was no turning back. I managed to get most of the things off of our list. I never do better than most these days. Shopping with a toddler is like shopping with half a brain. And shopping with a toddler (who was extremely well behaved, by the way) when the store is swarmed with crazy parents and kids is like shopping with less than that. I think I need a nap.

Things I've Learned Today:

1. Do not waste all of your morning hunting for a cricket that has found it's way into your home. You will NOT find the cricket, only lots of dust, abandoned toys, and the occasional cheerio. This will only result in obvious vacuuming and as I said, you will NOT find the cricket.

2. Giving a 1 year old a chocolate chip cookie to eat so he is quiet in the car is only a good idea if bath time is immediately following; he (and his carseat) will be COVERED in chocolate.

3. Former homeowners who don't prime and/or paint walls before putting up (ugly) wallpaper are assholes.

4. A Comforter set should only be purchased if you are absolutely sure you are keeping it. This is not like purchasing a shirt to try on at home and simply return if you don't like it. We are 3 comforter sets into this fiasco and setting them up, repackaging them, and returning them to the store is a giant pain in my butt.

5. If a toddler only wants to eat various bread products with cream cheese for all 3 meals than he should be only be fed various bread products with cream cheese. It is just not worth the tantrum.

6. Do not waste additional time in the afternoon searching for cricket either. You will only realize that you didn't do a good job vacuuming the first time. And to make matters worse, you still will NOT find the cricket.

For the love of

Hitting. It's official: he's a hitter. Within the last week Joey has taken up hitting Ron and I frequently. We've picked up on when he does it most and we're trying to eliminate some "triggers." I spent the weekend comforting myself that at least it's just Ron and I that he hits, not other kids, etc. Not so much. The little bugger whacked the crap out of his cousin Mollie yesterday on more than one occasion over a toy or something equally stupid. It's very hard to deal with. Especially because he is only 1. Most articles and books I've looked at talk about this behavior in 2-year olds +, so the discipline is not quite appropriate yet. Hard to believe that it was just one short year ago that Joey did nothing but lay around being adorable. He's definately still adorable, with a mean streak that's not so much.

Look Mom! I'm Walking!

I've said for months that Joey has no interest in walking, although today it kinda seemed like the lightbulb went off. Like he suddenly realized that he can move in a standing position and get from one place to the other. (what a concept!) I've been standing him behind his walkers and he has to try to keep up as they scoot along. He thinks this is very fun. He may walk soon afterall!

eeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhh!!!

I'm working on learning to cope with the "whining stage" of having a 1 year old. Joey is so frustrated that he can't talk or walk or do other big boy things so he just whines. A lot. He still smiles a whole lot too, so that's good. But the whining...

The place where he whines the most is in the car. He used to just sleep in the car but now he gets mad that he can't get out, he can't fall asleep, he throws stuff and then can't get it, there is nothing to do, so he just whines. Then the whining turns into fake crying, that turns into real crying, and that turns into screaming. He cried for an hour on the way home from Logan airport yesterday. I had to stop finally and let him out because he was screaming so loundly. We walked around the rest stop for about 15 minutes and then he was better the rest of the way. Tempermental, but better.

I just keep telling myself that this is normal, he's ok, and we'll get past it...

Here's a cute pic of Joey NOT whining:

Been a While

Moving's a bitch and a half. I feel so disconnected from my life. Trying desperately to get back to normal. Boxes stress me out. There are boxes everywhere!!! The new house is great though. We are so happy here already, and I've accepted the fact that the boxes can wait.

So... now about Joey. He's 2 days shy of being 1 year old. WEIRD. He is very silly lately. He has 4 gigantic teeth and is very into whining while showing all of this teeth. (I'll post a pic of that soon.) I'm definitely ready for him to start talking. It will be such a relief when he can say, "mom, I want food" instead of "EEEEEEEEGGGGGGGHHHHHH!" through gritted teeth. He doesn't walk yet but I bought him cute new sneakers from Stride Rite anyway. One of the cutest new tricks Joey has is dancing. He bobs his head to the side whenever he hears music or singing in this odd kind of cockeyed motion (think SNL skit Night at the Roxbury). Sometimes he sings along too. It's super cute.

One more update... the person formerly referred to as "Ron" has earned the official title of Vice Principal. That's super cool.

What you don't know about DHA & ARA

I don't know how many people actually read this, and I haven't written anything interesting in a while, but I'm using this blog as a forum to increase awareness about an issue that concerns me.

My sister emailed me this article this morning, and I thought it may be interesting to some. As you know, more and more foods for children and babies are being marketed as containing DHA & (sometimes) ARA. Formula, baby cereal, jarred foods, yogurt, and more! In fact, there is only 1 formula on the market that does not contain it. What most people don't know is that unless DHA & ARA are in their natural form (i.e. breast milk) they provide no benefits and may even cause problems. In fact, my nephew has experienced the symptoms referenced in the article (diarrhea, bloating, discomfort, and vomiting) and is on a discontinued Similac Isomil formula that doesn't contain DHA (we drove to 5 walmarts to buy out the clearance racks last week!) This article states that this is a marketing tool so that companies can claim that their formula and products are as good as breast milk, knowing that the artificial forms of DHA & ARA are made in toxic chemicals from fermented algae and fungi and provide no benefits to children!

I believe the only way that we are going to stop these companies from putting toxic oils in our children's food is to increase the awareness. If you're interested, check out the article (it's 66 pages, but you can get the gist of it in the first 1-2) and email it to people that you think may be interested. Many people are falling into this marketing trap (myself included) while shopping and saying "hey, this contains DHA and that's good, so I'll buy this yogurt for my kid..." The companies that are doing this obviously don't care for the health of our children and I will no longer spend my money purchasing their products.

So if your interested, here's the article: http://cornucopia.org/DHA/DHA_FullReport.pdf

If you're not interested, sorry you had to listen to my rant!

Going to the Zoo

Joey went on his first trip to the zoo today. He wasn't as interested as I had hoped, but I think I set my expectations a bit high for a 10-month old. He liked riding around in his stroller eating puffs and zwieback toasts though. The only animal that he really got a good look at was the Emu. It walked right up to the fence and tried to poke it's little beak through. Joey was wide-eyed staring at it. Those things creep me out. I liked the wallaby the best. Super cute. Ron liked the wolf, and thought it would make a beautiful pet. The closest thing to a pet wolf we're ever gonna get is the quirky little 9lb cockapoo named Daisy who's terrified of everything, including her own food bowl.

Sooooo BIG!

Here's a little clip of Joey's latest trick:

Freecycling

People on freecycle are always so friendly and nice. It always seems to restore just a little bit of my faith in humanity. Everyone is always like, "thanks so much!" "that's just great!" "at your convenience," "have a blessed day!" "the items are terrific!" etc, etc, etc. It's got such a positive vibe, and generates so much friendly consideration for others. I just love it. Happy Freecycling Everyone!! Yay for freecycling!! As you can see, I'm a little freecycle-happy tonight.

Giggle Bug

We aren't meant to understand...

The tidbits of my life, of being Joey's mommy, seem so insignificant compared to what other's have going on. I write this with great trepidation, as I am unsure if it is even appropriate for me to blog about someone else's tragedy. However, I find it less appropriate to go on writing about the daily banter of stayathomemom-life, acting as if I am unchanged by this experience. I know I am unable to accurately describe the terribly painful and sorrowful experience of witnessing a couple say goodbye to their dear innocent babies. So all I will say is that they were taken too soon, and loved so very much. Their tiny lives touched mine in the deepest way. Hannah and Alex will be loved, missed, and prayed for each and every day.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

It took me a while to upload the pictures. This was just too damn cute to not post. Better late than never!

Things I Wasn't Aware Of...

Things I've learned by becoming a mom...

1. How squeaky the floors and doors are in my house... so much so that I find myself listening to other people's floors and doors and having squeak envy.
2. I can pee while holding a child. (wearing one in a sling makes this easier, but I've done both!)
3. I've become obsessed with the frequency, color, and consistency of my child's poop, boogers, and earwax.
4. I took for granted the childless trips to CVS, the bank, the post office, and anywhere else that required a quick run-in. (it is now a 10-step process...)
5. Having a night out with friends is an extra-special treat.
6. I can get in and out of the shower in 4 minutes. (and manage to get clean... not just step in and then step out... I can do that in about 2 seconds.)
7. I have fallen in love with the creators of Blue's Clues, Sesame Street, and even (gasp!) Teletubbies.
8. The mall is a fun place to go again.
9. My dog can be really annoying.
10. I've become obsessed with hand-sanitizing, toy-sanitizing, house-sanitizing, and just about any other kind of sanitizing there is....
11. Most of all, I never imagined that I would love someone this much...

My Days Are Numbered

Joey has become increasingly more mobile in the past few weeks. He basically rolls and turns in any direction, most often away from me! I usually manage to catch him and/or reposition him before he bumps into anything, but he has gotten a couple of bumps in the process.

Today was a first in the mobility department... he got up on his knees and rocked back and forth. He did it a couple of times throughout the day; at one point he actually wiggled his butt side to side like he was dancing.

I give it a week before he actually crawls. And I think I'm busy chasing him now.

Mostly Better

Joey and I went out today. (hurrah!) We hadn't been out since last Thursday because he's been sick. I couldn't stay cooped up in the house any longer! He is feeling better, I'd say we're at 70%... I didn't realize how hard babies get hit with "just a cold." Ron is now sick, and I've got a sore throat... I am really hoping that I don't get sick. Caring for a sick child is one thing, but being a sick mommy is a whole different story!

Visitor:Comment Ratio

I noticed something today as I prepared to write... my blog has been visited almost 1,000 times. But I have very few comments. Why is that? Are you too shy to comment? Are you a weird internet stalker who secretly reads mommy-blogs? Are you so dull and boring that you have absolutely nothing to say? Is the same person refreshing the page several times a day to drive the hit counter up? Do you find my writing painfully boring and leave with a feeling of emptiness? (if that is the case, then why do you come back for more?)

It will be very amusing to me if you decide that this is the post to comment on... I'll feel like I went fishing for compliments. (think along the lines of, does this dress make me look fat? no honey, you're beautiful.)

Now I can't remember what I planned to write about...

sick...

Joey has his first official cold. I feel bad for him with his little runny nose and cough. It's hard to watch him be so uncomfortable. He went to bed super early tonight (6:15!), but has cried a couple of times since then. I think I'm in for a long night...

I've decided that Joey needs new toys. When he gets better we're going to go *new toy* shopping. Yesterday he was so excited over the toys at our playgroup, I realized that he is probably bored with his! I know you're probably thinking I'm nuts, but seriously... he plays for like 5 minutes with his toys, but at Gracie's house he played for a good 20 minutes with her shape sorter! I think I'll check out the second-hand kid's store for a few new toys because money is not growing on trees, and new houses aren't free...

Tummy Time

Joey is spending so much time on his belly lately. I think he's getting ready to attempt this whole crawling thing. The insta-flip is making changing him especially difficult. Last night Ron was trying to get him ready for bed but he just flipped right over and started hamming it up for the camera! He immediately smiles when he sees me with the camera. Perhaps this kid is destined for stardom.

What a day...

Yesterday was a banner day. Here are the reasons why:

1. Ron's car wouldn't start.
2. While trying to push the car out of the driveway so he could take mine to work, Ron fell.
3. I think he broke his elbow. He's going to go get it looked at this afternoon (finally!).
4. Joey broke out with a rash on his legs.
5. After AAA came and fixed Ron's car (battery connection was loose) we took Joey to the doctor.
6. It's just hives, but I have no idea what he is having a reaction to.
7. I was strongly considering giving up nursing due to Joey's disinterest and the nipple-ectomy he's been trying to give me.
8. But he shows NO interest in the bottle either, despite many coaxing attempts...

On the plus side:

1. We didn't have to have the car towed anywhere b/c the AAA guy found the problem, which saved us $$$.
2. I decided to give it one more day, and Joey nursed well 3 times, with NO BITING, so I'm not giving up quite yet...
3. We had a great playdate with the mom's group! :)
4. Joey weighs 17lbs, so I'm not worried anymore about him not gaining weight. (another reason I'm not giving up yet...)

24 hour shopping

After our loooooooooong weekend trip and a tiring day caring for 3 small children, I decided the LAST thing I feel like doing tomorrow is taking Joey out in the cold to go to the grocery store, pack them into the car, bring them into the house, and put them all away. UGH. The whole process which used to take about 90 minutes now takes about 3 hours, and I'm just not up for it.

So, I decided to order my groceries online with peapod. I've done it once before, and have a few coupon codes bringing the total significantly down and making up for the small delivery fee, so I figured it was worth it. Well, I started my order at 7:15 tonight, took a break for idol, and I'm just finishing up now. I'm a very slow grocery shopper anyway because I'm always shuffling through coupons, calculating price-per-ounce, entertaining Joey, etc, etc. That being said, I'm pretty sure that this process has taken me longer than the dreaded trip to the grocery store. At least I was able to do it from the comfort of my own home, and I've avoided most impulse shopping. (notice I said most, as I did purchase a scrubbing bubbles toilet bowl wand that I've had my eye on for a while now) yes, a toilet bowl wand. most people have their eyes on $300 coach bags, but the stay at home mom on a budget dreams only of simpler solutions for sanitary living such as toilet bowl wands and swiffer sweepers. (i got one of those last month!)

I'm going to bed now. It's after midnight. I hope Joey sleeps late in the AM.

Still Sleeping!

Joey is still asleep. As I write this it is 8:57am. He hasn't slept this late in a really long time. Through the night too. Went down at 7:00, cried a little bit at 7:30 (I think his teeth are really bothering him), settled back down, an he's still sleeping. Guess that makes up for him skipping his afternoon nap yesterday.

In case you didn't believe me...

Just a Little Bragging...

This must be Joey's week of firsts. So far this week he has:

• Sat up for 10 minutes without support (not even using his hands)
• Said "dada"
• Got a tooth (this morning!)
• Found his binkie in the middle of the night! (YAY!)
• Sat in the cart like a big boy at Babies R US
• Slept through the night 3 times! (that binkie-finding definately helped!)

"Dadadadadada"

Joey says "dada" now! I can't believe how fast he is growing up! He's been babbling all week, and today he actually got "dada" out while we were out to lunch. (dada was at work, so I don't think he's made the word/object association yet, but it was awesome to hear him say it.) Then he said it all night while laying on the floor playing. Just a matter of time before he's saying all kinds of things. I'd better start watching my language or he'll be babbling things like *sshole, sh*t, and worse! Somehow I think *grandparents* and others might be slightly disturbed by hearing my baby say "awww, sh*t" when he drops his sippy cup! :)

Look Mom, I'm floating!

Joey is too big for his bath sling, yet not quite able to sit up in the bath seat that suctions to the tub. So Grammy suggested I bathe him in his bumbo seat in the tub. What a great idea, I thought! So I put the bumbo in the tub, turn on the water, pour in some bubbles (joey loves bubbles) and go to get him undressed. We get back in the bathroom and the bumbo is more like a boat. A bumbo boat. It's floating around in the tub. Figuring Joey would weigh it down, I put him in it to start the bath process. Well I don't know much about physics (is this physics?), but the shape of the bumbo allows water to get underneath it, plus it's very lightweight to begin with, and my 16lb. baby doesn't weigh quite enough to stop the seat from moving around the tub. He looooooooooved his bumbo boat though. I had to hold on to it so he didn't tip it over, but he was so freakin happy sitting up like a big boy in the tub! Here's a pic of my bumbo boat baby:

Mom's Day Out

When Joey was really little I didn't want to leave him. Not with daddy, not with anyone. I was just too anxious, and the thought of being away from him was a bit overwhelming. Now that he's a little older, and goes much longer between feedings, and is on a "regular" nap schedule I look forward to taking a break by myself. Usually I just go out to the store or run errands but today was so much better than that.

You appreciate things like going to the movies so much more when you have a child. Kate and I went to see Juno at a ridiculously cheap movie theater with really deliciously greasy popcorn and very clean bathrooms. Joey stayed with Daddy, and I appreciated my time away in such a way that I never have before! Seeing Kate is always one of my favorite things to do anyway, so needless to say I'm a happy girl now. :)

Ron is taking classes Monday, Friday, and Saturdays until May, so I'm hoping I can hit up Joey's Grandma for some Saturday afternoon babysitting from time to time...

Good Mornin', Momma!

Joey has never been much of an early riser. Even when he is up early morning (around 5 or 6), he usually eats and goes back to sleep for a few hours. His usual wake up time is somewhere around 7:30-8:30, which is great for me because I'm not much of a morning person! (Ron will agree...) Well, today he was up at 6:40... wide awake, smiling and talking. No going back to bed for Mommy! So I'm overloading on Caffeine to keep my chipper self awake. Guess we'll hope for a looooooooong morning nap and early bedtime tonight!

Happy (half) Birthday!

Today is Joey's half birthday. I can't believe that he has been here for 6 months already! But at the same time I can't believe he's only been here for 6 months. Not sure if that makes any sense... Will post a half b-day pic later.

Best Friends... well, sort of

Joey and Daisy have discovered each other. I don't know which is the more interested party, but Daisy is definately getting the short end of the stick out of this situation. She has been carefully approaching and sniffing the baby since we brought him home from the hospital, and until recently that has worked out just fine for her. However, Joey has started to pay attention to her and before she can retreat he grabs onto her with a death grip (usually somewhere on her head, face, or ears.) Poor Daisy just stands there pathetically until he lets go. Sometimes she'll try licking his fingers or nudging his hand with her nose. She has not growled at him or shown any aggression whatsoever, so that has been a relief. I still watch carefully though, b/c some day she might get pissed at his grabbing and grab back. I'm just wondering when she will learn her lesson and stay clear of this little person. When he does let go she runs for dear life, but her memory must be like that of a goldfish, becuase she returns moments later like the whole thing never happened. I feel like Joey is saying, "ha... you came back, you dumb little dog..."

I'm addicted

I'm addicted to shopping. It's official. It doesn't help that every store that I go into has super gigantic clearance prices going on. Today I was at Old Navy and got 2 sweatshirts for Joey for $2.49 each! Also a few onesies for a dollar each, and socks for $0.24! Who can pass that up? Seriously. But it's every where I go. It's like the sales are haunting me. I got him 2 jackets for the spring at Macy's for $3.48 each on Saturday. With prices like that it is very hard to stop myself.

And let's not just blame Joey here. I also got some new towels for the bathroom, $100 worth of new clothes for Ron, my most favorite soap from Bath and Body Works, and some new clothes for me too. Don't worry. All of what I purchased is 100% necessary. I swear.

A Very Looooooooooong Day

Today was just that. Two infants and a 3 year old... two of which aren't mine, make for one very exhausted (and grumpy) mommy. No one napped for longer than 45 minutes at a time, and the 3 year old had a very short fuse that needed to be reset every 27 seconds. Poor kid spent some serious time in the "time out" corner. Not sure it should really be called a "time out" with such frequency. Maybe "time in" is more appropriate.

I don't mean to complain, really. I love them dearly, no one caused any real problems, and everyone is still in one piece. So I guess my day was a success by those standards.

Joey Loves God

Today in church Joey started laughing. At nothing, just playing with his blankies laughing all by himself. And you know how churches are all echo-ey so I think the sounds that were coming out of him were pretty amusing to him and he just giggled more. Let's hope he is always so happy about going to church, and doesn't become one of those screaming 3-year olds that everyone rolls their eyes at...

Happy New Year

Last year's New Year's Eve was spent like this: Spend the WHOLE day getting the house super clean, pick up lots of food and even more alcohol, set up beer pong in the basement, have lots of people over and party well past midnight, with several crashers on couches and extra beds.

This year's New Year's Eve was spent like this: Take a family trip to Ikea, cook chicken and baked potatoes for dinner, baby to bed at 7:30, watch a movie, and go to bed at 10:30, because really... what is the point of staying up to watch Ryan Seacrest count down a giant glowing ball dropping?

My how things change dramatically when you have a child. :)