Catching Up With the Jones'

I'm back by popular demand!   Just kidding. No one asked for new posts. I decided it was time to grace the world with our presence once again and let you all know what we've been up to.

Let's tune in again to the Jones' life and take a look at the last few months, shall we?

Jeanie discovered selfies

We apparently started eating yogurt straight from the big tub

Family time on Daddy's birthday

More birthday parties

Birthday nails from the 5 year old daughter

Snow days

New additions!

Alex loved his new car seat so much, he took a nap in it fresh out of the box.

Happy big sisters

Easter egg hunts

Loot from the egg hunt - promptly followed by many sugar highs

Pictures from Jeanie, waiting in her new baby sister's bed.

First wiggly tooth!!

Just a few more weeks before they can finally meet their sister!

I love my kids!!  

The Truth

Believe it or not, I think about this blog every night, feeling guilty that "once again, I didn't record anything." Most of those days though, there's a reason I don't write a post: my life is the same day, after day, after day. The main events being, breakfast, dressing everyone, snack, lunch, nap, snack, dinner, bedtime. Everything in between consists of a variation of children's play, learning numbers/letters and colors, enduring tantrums, breaking up fights, and time outs. Oh, and let's not forget the never ending cleaning, heaps of laundry, and mountains of dishes (with no dishwasher - what a joy). Every day. Always the same. Slight changes to our routine are always welcome: trips to the library, grocery shopping, outings with friends, or even the rare outing with Daddy.

This life may sound depressing (and sometimes it is), but I would never trade the way things are for anything else, because I know for sure that I would never find as much satisfaction anywhere in the world as I do from being a mommy to somebody. Two somebodies. Two amazing, absolutely incredible somebodies.

Anyway, everyday I look back on what happened and  have a hard time coming up with things to write about that I think might be entertaining to somebody else. Because, let's face it, snack time and piles of laundry really aren't that interesting. And as dramatic and loud as fights and time outs can be, I just can't seem to figure out a way to write about them that will hold everyone's attention. I just can't. Because, I'm not naive; I know that the everyday events of other people's lives are usually boring. Unless you're living it, it's really only fun to hear about other people's lives for two reasons: if there is humor involved, or if there happens to be an exciting, out-of-the-ordinary event. And the 10 times a day I wipe someone's butt, or sweep the floor, or chase down a tantrum throwing child through Walmart, just don't make the cut.

I follow and read several Mommy blogs out there, and surprise surprise, they are all funny! That's why I read them. If you can't find the humor in the things that happen while being a mommy, you will go crazy. Psyco, maniac, I'm-going-to-run-away-and-never-come-back crazy. So I read the humorous antics of other mothers to help with that not going crazy thing. Sometimes though, what you need is a, "This mommy thing is really hard, but you are doing great and here's why" type of read. One of my favorites (if not my most favorite) blog for when I need that type of fix, is written by a lady with seven kids. Her main focus is finding the joy in motherhood and it's genius, heartfelt and relatable. Her post from today was all about the monotony of your days with young children and how to survive. She calls it, the days of "treading water," which is exactly how the majority of my days feel. It gave me some validity in feeling like I just don't have anything worth writing a blog post about. Some days I don't. And that's okay. My life, and what I'm doing with it right now, has more value than anything else I could be doing. And that's the truth.

Who Needs Sleep?

What's the deal with my kids when it comes to sleep? They each have their own separate issues, but seriously, where do those issues come from? I love to sleep. If I could, I'd go to bed every night at 9 o'clock, and not wake up until 10 or 11 the next morning. And I'm a dead rock. I don't move, and I don't make a sound. And from what I gather, Bryan was a tremendous sleeper as a kid; falling asleep quickly and peacefully at home, in the car, anywhere. So seriously, what's wrong with our kids?

Jean was terrible from day one. Fighting and fighting every single nap and bedtime. She cried every night for 45 minutes or more for the first two years of her life. Whether or not anyone was in the room trying to comfort her. Then she started waking up in the night All. The. Time. Which meant, I was up All. The. Time. (And listen, don't tell anyone, but I've been known to slip a tiny amount of over-the-counter sleeping stuff into her milk at night when we have stayed at hotels or someone else's house. Don't judge. After multiple nights of 2 hours of sleep because your daughter just can't function with the excitement of her new surroundings, you'd do the same.) Then, she began having night terrors. If you don't know what those are, good! I hope you never do. I'm not sure who was more frightened, me or her? And sleeping in the car? Forget it! What a total joke. She has now grown out of most everything, except the whole waking up early nonsense. At least it isn't 5 am anymore. Now she can usually sleep all the way to 6:30!

Alex, once again, is totally opposite. If he's tired, he will sleep. Anywhere (except in our bed. Both of the kids think it's play time if they are snuggled in bed with us). However, we found his weakness:

Sharing a room.

How do you parents do it?? How do you get your kids to sleep in the same room? I shared a room as a kid. So did Bryan. Neither of us remember having issues. But Alex just can't handle it.

A few nights ago, I had this brilliant idea of putting Jeanie's bed into Alex's room for a night, just to try it. We thought it might be fun for the kids, and also might be good practice for when we go to G/ma's house (where they need to share a room). Bad idea. The boy just cried. And screamed. And yelled. At one point about 15 minutes into this, Jean came out rubbing her eyes and said, "I think Alex is crying." Which was funny, and I felt bad for laughing, but we told her to let him cry for for a little longer until he fell asleep. She was fine with this, but after another half an hour or so, I felt so bad for the poor girl, that we moved her bed back into her room so she could get some sleep. Within 2 minutes of her bed leaving the room, Alex went to sleep.

So does anyone else have children with troubles like this? Or are mine just sleep handicapped? I mean, I know they are; there's no reasonable explanation I can come up with. But I assume I'm not the only parent doomed to no sleep for the next couple of decades, right??

The Moments

I'm sure many of you out there can relate to me on this:  a child that refuses your love. I mean, sure, they take the food you make (eh. some of it anyway), the juice you offer, your help to clean up their toys and junk, and your willingness to wipe their bum. But when it comes to hugs, and snuggles, and kisses, they raise a huge fuss.

My two children are polar opposites in this area. Alex looooovvves to be loved on. Loves it. He comes searching for it. He cries for it. He pushes his head harder into your lips as you kiss his forehead. He wraps his little meaty arms tight around your neck as you hug him. And he will sit in your lap, or snuggle under your arm for long periods of time as you watch a show or read some books. But my little Jean? Pffffff. 

From the time she came out of me, she was ready to be on her own. "Oh, you want to hug on me? I'm going to arch my back and grunt as I try my darnedest to get out of your reach. Yes, I am only a week old....your point?"  "I'm terribly, terribly hurt because I just ran my head into the door frame and have a huge purple lump sticking out! Owwwie!! BUT IF YOU TRY TO HOLD ME CLOSE IN COMFORT, I'M GOING TO TURN AND TWIST MY WAY OUT OF YOUR ARMS!"  "Can you read me this story, Mommy? Just, don't try to cuddle me as we read."  "I know we're walking across the parking lot, and I know the rule, but LET GO OF MY HAND! If you don't, I'm going to scream, 'Ow, ow, ow! You're hurting me!!'"   Oy. It's exhausting. Not to mention, pretty defeating and sometimes depressing. 

So, when nights like tonight come along, and you're getting ready to put her in bed and sing some songs, and she says, "I want to give you a hug," you drop to your knees and pull her in close. You hold her tight and close your eyes as you wrap one arm around her tiny back, and the other hand rests on the back of her head. You push everything out of your mind as you relish in this beautiful moment that comes around so rarely. And you feel so lucky that this busy little independent girl that always pushes you away so readily, actually stays in your arms for a whole entire minute. The knowledge that she sometimes actually does need my love keeps me going until that next moment decides to come along. And it will. Hopefully soon, because I really, really love those hugs. 

Spring Break

Last Friday, we packed up the kids and drove to Grandma and Grandpa's house for part of Bryan's Spring Break. Which by the way, does NOT correlate with Easter anymore, why? It's not cool, School. Not cool. It would have made it even nicer of a trip if we could have spent Easter with family. Regardless, we still had a fun time.

Bryan and I went on an actual date for the first time in months. You'll never believe the extraordinary fun that we had. I mean, come on. Does it seriously get any better than wandering around furniture and appliance stores, dreaming about the things we will actually be able to buy in a few years, and making fun of the hideous things that, I assume, must be bought bysomebody out there? And then going through the McDonald's drive-thru for a shamrock shake and a chocolate chip cookie that we eat in the parking lot next door? No. It does not get any better than that. Especially not when you top it off with an hour's worth of driving to and from the store, which we filled up nicely with talking back and forth. Ha! I love our lame dates. We actually did have a nice time though. Don't make fun.

And we all had a great time at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Our kids slept relatively well; better than they've managed to before at Mama and Papa's house (what Jeanie calls them), which helped us all enjoy ourselves much better. I run a lot happier on 7-8 hours of sleep, even if it's interrupted, than I do on 4-5.  We all gained about ten pounds or so in the 4 and a half days we were there (Grandma keeps us well fed). I saw and talked to old friends at church. Jean got to play for hours upon hours with her aunt's Barbies. Bryan got to relax and put away school for a few days. And Alex reveled in the dozens of new things to play with, climb on, and eat (like chocolate pop tarts for breakfast). Completely worth the drive! Even with the four of us and our german shepherd crammed into our Dodge Neon.

As much as I loved being there with family, I gotta say, i hate packing and unpacking. Especially for four people. It's very stressful for me: Am I forgetting something for someone? Why do we need so much stuff? Do we have enough stuff? And running over and all around my house a hundred times, grabbing all the things we need. Also, I'm ready for someone to invent the teleporter . . . anyone? If I could just skip the part where we have to endure the crying of our children because they can never be satisfied with anything in the car for more than three minutes, that'd be great. There's only so many toys I can pack (or am willing to pack) in the car, and only so many songs I can sing to keep a 1 and 3 year old entertained for more than a few hours.

There was one thing I did forget to pack: my camera. I am bummed that we didn't get any pictures - especially of the last day. We went to an arcade and the kids were adorable with how much fun they were having. With our winning tickets, Jean bought a pack of giant Smarties, a tiny soccer ball eraser, and a black rubber snake. All of which, she picked out on her own. I understand the candy, and maybe even the eraser (which she promptly lost before we made it home). But the snake? It's a scary snake. It's got the tongue and some scary teeth, with its mouth wide open. And she loves it. Whatever, weirdo. As long as you are happy, you can have all the creepy rubber snakes you want. Anyway, since I forgot the camera, here's a picture of my cute kids from a couple of weeks ago. I sure love them.

March 7th

Yesterday happened to be a pretty significant day.

My handsome little son "turned" 18 months old. What?!?  I seriously can't figure out why time keeps passing so quickly. It's one of those things that people always have to tell you - one of those things that grates on you every time you hear it. It's as if they cannot help themselves and the words just fall out of their mouths when they talk to someone with young children. "Enjoy this time with them because it'll be over before you know it."  "Cherish this time, it goes by so quickly."  "They'll be grown up and in college by the time you blink your eyes." You know why people say this?  Because it's true.

I mean, look at that kid. Look at that cute backpack. You seriously can't tell me that you didn't smile when you saw this picture. Everyone in the family had a backpack but him and he was always trying to sport one of ours, but of course Daddy needs his, and Jean was not a fan of sharing her's. So, we let him pick one out at Walmart the other day. He loves wearing that thing. 

Yep. He's my man. 

Yesterday also marked both mine and Bryan's 21st anniversary of our baptism and confirmation. As we said that out loud, we couldn't believe how long it's been. I guess we are growing up quickly, too. And yes, we share the same anniversary. Also, another crazy tidbit:  we were due to be born on the same day as well. He came early and I came late. How's that for "connected from birth?"  Just kidding. I'm not that weird. I just think it's a neat fact that we share. And I'm really, really glad that we did eventually meet and end up together. It's been an amazing ride. 

Making Memories

One of the, let's say, "conveniences" of being a parent to a newborn and toddler, is that you can almost guarantee they won't remember anything from that part of their lives. If you happen to have a not-so-great parenting moment, it's probably okay. If you slip a bad word out, you're in the clear. If you walk around in your underwear, so what? But then, all of a sudden, they are mimicking you. You may hear that naughty word come out of their mouth in their cute little voice. Usually at an inopportune moment. Or maybe, when you ask them to pick up a toy, they may tell you, "Not right now, I too busy." And of course you automatically kick yourself for ever using those words to them, or even in front of them.

But at the same time, watching my little Jean pick up on the good things we try to teach her, is one of the most rewarding feelings I've experienced as a parent.

I've been watching her lately, realizing that everything that happens from here on out, has the potential to become a memory for her. That realization has made me a lot more aware of the things I do, the things I say, and any other things she is exposed to. It also makes it fun to watch her experience things, play pretend with her toys, and interact with other people. Particularly her little brother. I wonder which moments she is stowing away to call on later. Which memories are she and Alex going to laugh and cry over as they reminisce about their life as kids?

I love that Jean and Alex have become such good friends. They push, hit, and scream at each other sometimes, but for the most part, they love each other. They laugh, hug, and play nice more often than not. Just today, I lowered my rear view mirror to look at them in the back seat, and saw them holding hands across their car seats. Something that happens often, but makes me feel all good inside every time I catch it. I hope they stay good friends through life. It would sure make this mommy happy.