I'm Not One of Those, Am I?

Before I had a baby, I never really gave much thought to whether I would be a "schedule mommy" or a "go-with-the flow mommy."

When I was nursing JD, I spent the first couple of months alternating between feeding JD, changing JD, smiling at JD (and kissing his sweet little toes and fingers) and putting JD down for sleep. It was all about whatever JD wanted in his own sweet time. I rarely got out of my pjs during the day and I made my poor husband stop by the grocery for me on his way home.

Then I guess the light switched on for me. If I was EVER going to get out of my house again or take a leisurely shower or have a meaningful conversation with my husband, I needed some level of predictability with this whole mommy business. I needed to know when JD was going to eat/sleep/poop again, so I could plan a quick errand or two.

And so it began. At the recommendation of our pediatrician, I got JD to eat every four hours for 20 minutes at a feeding (before he would take FOREVER to nurse). He got good and hungry and ate fast because of it! Hooray! This opened all sorts of doors (smooth traveling with JD - in the car and on airplanes, getting my hair done, going on dates with my husband again).

Then we worked on his sleeping habits. We started playing with JD after a feeding and keeping him awake as much as possible. Then he got tired from exertion, as opposed to falling asleep after eating. He slept longer stretches and would sleep in the stroller or infant carrier because of it! He slept in his crib at night and the time he stayed asleep kept getting longer - 5 hours, 7 hours, 9 hours and then finally 12 hours! Hooray again!

We never mastered any predictability around pooping, but I got pretty crafty with changing diapers and pooped-out clothing on the road. Anyone remember my movie experience with JD last fall???

I even started working out with JD at around 5-6 months since things became so smooth. We were able to join Baby Boot Camp and finally drop those 5 nagging pounds of baby weight last year!

So what it comes down to a year and a half into mommyhood is that we have a routine, somewhat flexible, but it doesn't change much. Okay, call it a SCHEDULE if you want...

I may as well step forward and announce that YES - I am a SCHEDULE MOMMY and I am PROUD of it!

Weekend Warriors

That's what I feel like!

It all started on Friday. I was scheduled to work Care Corps, our serving ministry at church, in the afternoon and my mom couldn't babysit. So I planned ahead and tried to get JD down for an early nap (ha ha - silly mom - there is no such thing). He didn't fall asleep until 45 minutes before we were about to leave, so that is the only nap he got on Friday (his normal being anywhere from 2 to 3 1/2 hours).

He actually did pretty decent at Care Corps and played with Davis Dowdey, a 3 year old friend from church. He got to bed at a good hour and slept in until 8:15 on Saturday morning!

On Saturday, we took a roadtrip to Arkansas to meet our new nephew, Jackson Ware! Dan, Heather and Kenna joined us, and we had a pretty easy ride up. Kenna took some naps and played, while JD refused anything to do with napping and played the whole time.

I started to get a bit worried once we arrived in Arkansas, since JD hadn't had a nap, but he did pretty well.

We enjoyed meeting Jackson, who is a sweetheart! He snuggled the whole time we were there. Sarah and Joel appeared to be doing well, considering their first week with a newborn.

Gerry and Ouida had a grandkids picture moment. All of the parents were doing their best to try and get the kids' attention. I was just trying to keep JD from running away!

Then we went to visit Mamaw, who lives in a retirement home. JD made a good first impression, by showing Mamaw all of the cool things that her walker could do.

Afterwards, we went to Aunt Barbara and Uncle David's house for a cookout and we had ourselves a regular playschool of kids! Jennifer was so sweet and brought some trains for JD to play with, which kept him occupied and distracted the whole evening. I think he even forgot that he was tired!

We put him to bed around 8 in the hotel and he passed right out. He woke up around 1:00 am, a little scared and disoriented, but went right back to sleep with a little patting.

But by Sunday, all of the lack of sleep started to take its toll. JD was pretty grouchy most of the morning and fussed and yelled for the first half of the car trip. By the time he got back in after lunch, he was actually a little pale from being so tired and passed out for most of the last half. Yay!

We took him to the chili cookoff at church to see the firetruck (his favorite thing ever), which he enjoyed, but it didn't last for long. He proceeded to meltdown after about an hour and that was the end of the weekend for us. He went to bed at 7 and that was that!

I decided it is pretty scary what lack of sleep will do to JD. So I don't think we will be skipping any naps in the near future.

Looks Can Be Deceiving

Since the weather has been so nice, we have been taking advantage of it after naptime to go in the backyard and play.

Often there is a rabbit nibbling on our grass or shading himself under JD's sandbox table. We always use this opportunity to talk about bunny rabbits and how they hippity-hop, etc.

The other cool thing we have in our backyard is a pile of unused paver stone rocks from our earlier patio project. JD loves the rock pile and goes over there to collect rocks and bringing them to his picnic table to line up. Sometimes he just digs through them to find just the right one.

Today was no exception. He was hard at work collecting rocks and putting them on the table, while I sat on the porch to watch him. I noticed that he was sifting through the grass to gather small rocks too. Since we have smaller pebbles between the paver stones, there are a bunch of these little rocks all over the place.

He worked on this for a good 15 minutes and pointed to the table and said "Rock." So I went over to examine his industriousness and give him a pat on the back.

Instead, I found, very carefully sorted out and lined up, lots and lots of rabbit poop, which coincidentally are pebble sized. Imagine my son's surprise when I swept off his handiwork back into the grass and pulled him inside for a massive hand scrubbing. I know a picture would have been good for the blog, but I was too grossed out.

I think his feelings were a bit hurt by my abrupt response because he cried a bit as we went back inside. After the hand scrubbing with the anti-bacterial soap, he cheered up over some fruit and a few animal crackers.

And I explained to him the difference between nice rocks and yucky rocks.

Welcome to Our Posse!

JD's newest cousin arrived last night - Jackson Ware! He weighs 9lbs 8oz and is 20 1/2 inches long. I know his mommy Sarah and daddy Joel are so proud and happy to see Jackson! If you are keeping count via my blog - yes, this is cousin number 3 this year for us! 2008 was a good year for babies!


JD already told me that he is excited about playing with his new cousin and can't wait to meet him! Jackson looks like he can hang with the rest of the cousins - no problem!

A Pirate Says Arrrgh

Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day! If you are interested in the origins of this holiday, you can check out Wikipedia's entry here.

We have already celebrated by watching JD's favorite Pirate show ever on LazyTown. Of course, we watch several times a day already, so today was nothing special. Except I did bring out JD's pirate hat for the occasion. He added the spoon swords on his own later.

Here is JD watching the song "You are a Pirate." If you listen closely, he tries to say pirate hat!

So get in the spirit today and say "Arrgh" or "Walk the Plank Matey" to someone you love!

Free-flowing Into Fall

We've been dealing with some runny noses here in our household lately. I have really terrible fall allergies, so I have been itching and sneezing and wheezing and red-eyed for a week or so.

About the same time my allergies started, JD caught his first cold of the season and had some pretty rough days and nights over the weekend. He had a mild fever that made him pretty uncomfortable, and he had a yucky nose and a cough that kept him (and us) up at night.

But I think we are on the tail end of his sickness (I wish I could say the same for my allergies - pray with me for an early first freeze to kill off the ragweed). So for the first day in awhile, he actually felt like having some fun.

He enjoys sitting in Daddy's chair in the office (as he calls it the "shair") and playing with his cars, while mommy tends to important computer matters, like looking at pictures of JD's cousins.

Whenever the phone rings, he points to the phone and says Dada. He doesn't understand that Dada is not actually in the phone or that the phone is not called Dada.

We had some fun outside - JD calls it "side." We stayed as long as I could deal with my itching eyes and sneezing attacks.

He has figured out the important, not-so-obvious features of his playset - how to stand in the swing (and give me a heart attack) and how to climb up the slide.

But he still loves the old classic - sliding down the "sly."

Quirky or Just Weird?

Since Becky posted her quirks, I decided to put some of mine up. You can decide if it is just cute and quirky or just plain weird.

1. I have an irrational fear of big bodies of water. I HATE to drive over those big, long bridges and have this fear of going right over the edge into the water. Swimming in the ocean or lake freaks me out because who knows what's in there with me. I haven't ever been close to drowning or had a shark bite or anything, so who knows what has instilled this in my head.

2. I like to sort through my french fries and potato chips and popcorn for just the right one. I'm not really sure what I am looking for, but there seems to be a definite order for how I eat them. They all end up being eaten, so I can't tell you why I have to dig through them before I find the next one to eat.

3. It isn't enough to just kill an insect in our house. It MUST also be flushed down the toilet. I am sure that they will come back to life, even if they have been squished beyond recognition. So I make sure that they are given a watery grave, just in case. Sending it outside isn't even an option because I know it will just come right back into my comfortable, warm home and probably bring its friends.

4. I'm still scared of open doors at night. Every night, we go through a ritual of shutting all of the closets and doors and making sure all the doors are locked. Watching Poltergeist in the 3rd grade really did a number on me. And now our tv armoire needs to be closed so I can't see the screen. (Thanks a lot to the creators of the movie The Ring).

5. When I read a book, I skim through a lot of the descriptive stuff the first time I read it so I can just get through the plot. I can't stand the suspense of not knowing what is going to happen. Then I read it again, so I can enjoy the author's use of description to enhance the story.

6. Before I leave the house, I always look down at my shoes. One time I went to work with one brown boot and one black boot on (I got dressed in my dark closet). So now I always look down to make sure that the shoes and socks match.

Whew - that was almost like a therapy session for free! You can feel liberated too if you want to comment here on your quirks or post them in your own blog!

Spoon Adventures

We are still bravely battling the adventures in eating with a spoon. JD is very enthusiastic about doing it, but still lacks the patience to accomplish the task.

We have been practicing with empty bowls and spoons and he looks like a champ then.

But then we add some food and he ends up wearing more of it than he gets in his mouth!

At least he is enjoying the meal! Nothing like Mommy's Spanish Rice to hit the spot (or spots as the case may be)!

We Heart the Cowboys!

We have been watching the Cowboys with JD ever since he was a newborn. He loves to watch sports on tv anyway, but I think he really likes the Cowboys.


During yesterday's game, we got him in his Cowboys t-shirt (thanks Aunt Sarah and Uncle Joel) and sat him with Daddy to watch the game.

Jon also taught JD how to do touchdown arms - very important since the 'Boys made SO many yesterday!!



We are looking forward to a GREAT Cowboys season!! Go 'Boys!!

Froggy Fun

We had my sister and her husband and the kids over on Labor Day with our friends Jordan and Emily to enjoy the day together.

The boys cooked up some yummy food on the grill for us, while we kept the kids entertained (not an easy task).

Since it was too hot to eat outside (as previously planned), we all ate together in the dining room. JD was NOT on his best behavior and threw food across the room and fussed and whined. I think he really just wanted to play!

So after the meal, we turned the kids loose in the backyard to run around in the sprinklers for awhile. Then we brought out the baby pool to let the kids sit and cool off. Even though it was pretty tiny for all three of them, they still really liked it!

Guess it just goes to show you that you don't need a big swimming pool to have a good time on a hot day!

Imagine

Imagine, if you will, a room filled with 18 kindergarten/first grade girls. They are squealing, screaming, running around the room, filled with excitement and energy. They are dressed up in their best princess finery and enjoying getting a royal makeover.

If you can imagine this, then you know the kind of energy and enthusiasm that this age can bring. And how fleeting their attention span can be.

Now picture trying to get these girls focused on something productive, so they don't yank each other apart or trample each other in all of the party dancing frenzy. Helping them to decorate cookies without getting frosting and sprinkles all over themselves, each other and the house. Getting them organized to take a picture with beautiful hairdos, makeup and nail polish, one by one.

Now you have an accurate picture of my Sunday night.

My niece Emma just turned seven and celebrated with a princess sleepover party on Sunday night. She invited 18 of her closest buddies (I don't think I even knew 18 people at that age), who all genuinely seemed to think Emma was just the greatest ever.

My sister planned an elaborate party for Emma with costumes, makeovers, cookies, movies, cake and ice cream and more (I left after the movie, so I'm not sure what the "more" entailed). The girls had a BALL (ha ha - this pun was intended) and loved every squealing, dancing minute of it.

I'm pretty sure that Emma loved it too and I know she enjoyed being the center of attention and playing dress up with her friends. I felt sorry for my sister who was going to have to get all of these sugared-up girls to sleep at some point!

At this point, I have to say that I am pretty grateful that I have a little boy.