FALLing back into a routine

As you may remember when I posted back here, I am not really looking forward to fall this year. However, because it IS inevitable, I am trying to find things to keep me looking forward! Pinterest is a great pick-me-up and if you haven't discovered the wonderful world of Pinterest, then allow me to introduce you...

Pinterest, meet fellow blog follower who has never met you... (you will need an invite to actually join and start your own pinning so just let me know and I can send you one!)

Anyway, I spent a good hour finding all sorts of yummy fall foods, decor, crafts and toddler activities associated with a fall theme so I'm sort of, a little more, kind of, ready for fall now. Now I just need to find cute fall outfits and that might boost me over the edge into a teeny more ready for fall!

On another note, fall has brought with it a bunch of work. I started back to work two weeks ago and it's been a whirlwind to say the least. I am forever grateful to the woman who took care of my duties while I was out but it was a little much for her since she was taking care of my work PLUS still doing her own work that gives her a full-time job. So I started out behind and I am still behind but slowly creeping forward day by day. 

On top of my work, I have decided to keep Ava home with me until she is six months old. At six months or so, she will start part-time at the same day care that Jayden goes to but I wanted to wait until she was a little more independent and aware of her surroundings, not to mention she can get a flu shot at that point. Sooo many germs in a day care, especially in November or December when she will start going! But for now, she is with me. I work when she sleeps or when she's happy to stare at a toy or sit on my lap but the rest of the time, I have to wait till everyone has gone to bed and get some work done then. I have also "hired" two girls to come watch her three afternoons a week so that gives me some solid time to get things done which has been a sanity saver for sure!

We're well into football season now too which makes for busy weekends! So far we have either been gone or had company every weekend since September began and that will continue till about mid-October. It's great having the diversions but it sure does make the weekends go by fast! Unfortunately our Cowboys are 0-3 so the football aspect of our weekends haven't been near as much fun as we would like. Here's to hoping that will soon turn around!

Jayden is going to day care full-time now but, to be honest, I haven't missed him as much as I thought I would, only because I have been so extremely busy while he is there. I don't even have time to miss our park visits....yet. As soon as I get caught up on my work though, I know that will change. And as soon as the first snow falls and it's not as easy to make a run to the park, I will definitely be missing him like crazy!! He seems to be handling the transition from part-time to full-time fairly well. He has developed a new little "habit" which shows itself when he doesn't get his way or gets frustrated. He has started hitting. Nothing painful for the one getting hit but definitely a new challenge for us parents as we try to figure out how to change that behavior. He also bit another kid at his school one day - now that was a shocker! He has never been a biter and so far, that was the only instance (and they're not even 100% sure it was him although it's quite likely based on what they told me they saw after the incident - they didn't see the actual incident itself) so I hope that was just a one-time thing!

DJ is busy as ever but I have found that not thinking about when he will get home (usually around 7:30-7:45 pm every day except for Fridays and Sundays which are later and Mondays, which have been earlier) or when he will leave in the morning (6:30 every morning except for Wednesdays and Fridays when he has to be gone by 5:30 am) has helped my mental state. I just get in the groove and determine to get things done without his assistance for the most part. It is much easier than what I had been doing the last couple of seasons. I always expected his help and then would frequently get disappointed when he would be late or unable to be home for something. I think we are both happier this way! He doesn't feel like he's always disappointing me and I don't get constantly frustrated with his ever changing schedule.

Coming up this fall, we have several trips planned, some with the kids and some not. I will be going to Reno, Nevada in a few weeks for the football game and it will be the first time that the kids will stay overnight without me or DJ being there. Crazy to think about but probably time! I also have planned trips to Albuquerque and Phoenix - the former trip, Ava will be going with me and the latter trip, both kids are going with me along with my brother.

So as much as our life right now is NOT a routine, it sort of is. Things are a little more predictable week over week and since I've read that kids like a routine, then I guess I am grateful for that aspect of fall this year.

Angel Sightings

About a week ago we had an interesting occurrence around here. My mom was staying with us for the week while I got back into the work routine. She and Jayden were playing in the living room while I was making dinner one night. I was sort of listening to what was going on and I faintly heard Jayden asking "Who's that?" I assumed he was at the window asking Nana who someone was that he was seeing outside. He asked it again and I hear Nana asking Jayden "Who's who, Jayden?" 

And then she asks ME, "Nichole, is there someone upstairs?" 

Instantly my heart jumps a little and startled, I say "No!" and quickly walk over to where Jayden is now standing, by the stairs. 

Pointing up. 

He's still asking, "Who's that?" When I ask him, the same question my mom has been asking, "Who's who?" he replies, "Man." 

Well I'm still slightly puzzled about what's going on, but Nana, who's had time to process what's going on, is extremely concerned and bordering on frightened. My mom tells me that Jayden seems to be seeing someone upstairs, A MAN, and I should go look up there! I am feeling mildly horrified at that idea and when she suggests that we go outside instead, I jump at the idea and grab Ava and make a beeline for the door. My mom grabs Jayden and her phone and we take off. 

Once outside, we're not really sure what to do. DJ is not due home for hours and the male neighbors that we know aren't home yet either. I call DJ, tell him what's going on but he's in the middle of practice and can't come home.

We hang up. 

I tell my mom to go stand at the side of the house (we're currently at the back of the house in the car) and I'm afraid if there IS someone in the house, they could just escape out the front door so I want her to watch the front door. I'm about ready to call the police to see if they can just send a car over when DJ calls back and tells me that a friend of ours, a man, is headed to our house to check things out. 

Thank goodness! And on the other hand, Oh great... 

because I realize that I feel slightly crazy that I am listening to my two year old who, I've read, is developing an imagination and believing that he actually saw a man in our house when I know this is just not logical. I was, after all, just upstairs working and there was really no way for someone to get upstairs AND we can hear when people are walking around on the second floor and it was quite still when we were inside a bit ago. 

Nevertheless I start quizzing him about who or what he might have seen. I try not to lead the questioning but if you've ever asked a two year old questions, you know it's easier to go with yes and no questions however unreliable they might be.

"What did you see Jayden"
"A man."
What did the man look like?"
"Ummmmm..."
"Did he have dark hair like Daddy's?"
Ummmm....
Did he have blond hair like....um....(I can think of NO ONE with blond hair that Jayden would have a good memory of...) "Oh! Did he have blond hair like Miss Kylie?" (His daycare teacher.)
"Yeah!" Interesting...
Then I see if he is just saying yes to everything.
"Did you see Mickey Mouse?"
"Yeah!" Ha, this is getting nowhere. And yet...
I ask him again, "What did you see upstairs?"
"Big man."
A big man??

Our friends drive up at that point (the man's wife had picked him up from work so the whole family - wife and kids -- were privy to this crazy scenario) and I get out of the car to inform them that we are officially crazy but would he please satisfy our crazy and go upstairs to check things out. These friends of ours are seriously the nicest friends we have here in town and without hesitation, he heads in. Unarmed. I am thinking, I really should have armed him with at least a golf club!

When he comes back out a while later, he, of course, tells us that no one was up there. He checked the closets, under the bed, in all the rooms (my dirty bathroom, eek!!), behind the doors and he's sure there is no one up there. So they leave. We head back inside. And we naturally continue talking about what happened.

Jayden keeps saying that he saw a man or a big man upstairs whenever we ask him. AND, what I didn't mention before was that my mom had been videoing him when they were playing and she happen to catch bits of when Jayden first saw "the man." We watched that several times and this is what we have concluded,

Jayden saw an angel! 

A real life angel, with wings. Or not. I did ask Jayden if the man had wings and he did say yes but I'm not really sure he would even know what wings would look like. Other than bird wings.

Here are the facts that convinced us that he actually did see an angel:

(1) he saw a man;
(2) it was a big man;
(3) he was not afraid of a big man;
(4) Jayden is afraid of most, if not all, men, big or small, when he first meets them;
(5) Jayden did not hurry to me or my mom when he saw the man, he followed him; and
(6) Jayden continued to talk about the man, in a non frightened way, for the next day or so.

I have to admit, the whole thing freaked me out just a little. At first, I didn't think that it could be an angel because God wouldn't do something to scare us. I mean, we were completely freaked out. But I don't believe in ghosts. And I do believe that Jayden saw something. And then I thought about Mary, as in the mother of Jesus, and how she was frightened when the angel first appeared to her and I suddenly felt a little more "in the know" about what Mary must have felt when that angel appeared. It took me a couple of days to get over the eebie jeebies of feeling like someone was in every room with me and just about to suddenly appear. I really didn't like being scared, knowing that angels aren't something to be scared of, but come on! having something just suddenly appear in a room, is just not something we are used to in this world so naturally, I would be scared.

I have decided, and this is what I told Jayden the next morning when he mentioned the man again, that God sent an angel to Jayden and the angel is there to protect him. It is a special thing to be able to see the angel and there was nothing to be scared of. 

Oh the life of a toddler, what an adventure!!

Jayden - 2 Years Old

Oh my goodness, where do I start? First of all, I feel so guilty for not having this post already written! Jayden has been 2 years old for 10 whole days now and although I've certainly THOUGHT about writing a blog post to document my feelings on this, it has not been done. Life is SO busy right now, but I think that busy is here to stay, so I just have to sit down and do this!

My Jayden, he amazes me every. single. day. He is a talking, singing, running, hopping ball of energy. The joy this kid brings me is unimaginable and I know this because never in my life before having this child did I know that my life could be so FULL just by adding a little person to it. I love it. And yet, it also brings so much worry, guilt, heartache and fear at the same time. I've never known such a paradox and I am often shocked by the turmoil that I can find myself in. I've always been a fairly even keel person, at least not one to make big scenes (my parents may object to this since I may not have always been like this, i.e. stories have been told about blood curdling screams in very public places when I haven't gotten my way...but people, I was TWO or thereabouts...); however, now, I would without hesitation or any doubt in my mind, throw myself in the front of a moving bus if it meant saving either of my children or, on a less dramatic front, confront anyone who so much as thinks about hurting my child. And that is something to be proud of I think. The momma bear in me is fully matured. 

I find it interesting to see how I have evolved as a mother and how I am still very much a "baby" momma, trying to learn this very complex job of being a parent. It's been fun having Ava around for that reason because I can compare myself now to how I was just two short years ago in this same life stage of my child. I am more relaxed, for sure. In fact, my mom was visiting last week and noted that I did not immediately jump up and rescue Ava when she so much as whimpered. I can remember that feeling of slight fear, not knowing what was wrong with my baby for him to make such a sound. But now, I am more familiar with the sounds of a baby and don't feel the need to jump at every innocuous cry. I am quicker to listen and slower to act when the situation doesn't call for it. It is a comfortable feeling knowing that one is familiar with the sounds of her children.

But enough about me, I'll write more on my thoughts of being a mother later. For now, I just have to write about my amazing, complicated son who has me intrigued with every word that he says.

Jayden's interests these days revolve around trucks, especially construction trucks that were in abundance around our house this summer, stickers galore, trains, pine cones, and general hoarding or "packratting". We all find it pretty amusing at Jayden's tendencies to store things in little pockets all over the car, house, garage, or anywhere else that he frequents. Here is a picture of the items that we emptied out of Ava's cosleeper pocket. Hilarious? I think so. Random? Definitely.

Some things that Jayden likes to do are:

• Watch Little Angels - he would watch this all day, every day if he could. As it is, we allow him to watch all or part of 1 movie each day. He knows more about Noah than Santa Claus which became apparent to me the other day when, pointing at a picture of Santa Claus, someone asked him who it was, and he said Noah. I had to agree there were similarities with the beards. So funny.

• Do puzzles. I think we need to start giving him some more complicated puzzles because these are becoming too easy for my smart little boy! He can finish them in minutes!

• Play with stickers. He loves to stick these on paper, on himself, and basically anywhere that has a surface.

• Play with water and sand in his water/sand table. He received this table from his grandma and grandpa this summer and can spend forever playing in it. He likes to find rocks and sticks and trucks and a whole variety of other things to play with in the water and sand. And usually this play time evolves into playing with the water hose.

• Play with his Legos and build towers and houses. I love that there are activities that he is interested in now that keep his attention for more than two minutes! This is one of them.

• Moving things from one place to another. This may actually be the thing that takes up the majority of his time! He moves everything around -- stuffed animals, pieces from his toys, cards -- he likes to move them all over the house and put them in piles of like items. And if we are going upstairs, he is always intentional in bringing certain toys that must go with us upstairs. Not that he wants to play with them up there, but just to have their presence upstairs...I guess.

Jayden is a great eater but oh so messy! We are trying and trying to keep him from throwing things on the floor when he eats but it is a rare meal when the floor stays clean. But Jayden is usually pretty willing to try anything we put in front of him even if it's just enough to appease us. He is known for just barely touching his tongue to a new kind of food in order to satisfy our need for him to at least try it. He is a sneaky one, that boy.

Jayden is wearing 24 month and 2T clothes. The 2T clothes are usually too long and we mostly just have pajamas in this size so it's not a big deal. The 24 month pants are really too big but the 18 month pants were too short so he is officially stuck between sizes when it comes to pants. At his 24 month appointment, he weighed 28 pounds and is 33 inches!

We haven't started potty training him yet, mostly because I don't feel that he is ready and also partly because I'm not ready nor do I have the time right now. Since he just turned two, I will start thinking about it and hopefully by the time he starts showing more signs of readiness, I can muster up enough courageenergywhateveryouneedtogethroughthispottytrainingbusiness to get him trained. (I've heard it's rather difficult...)

Jayden is a good little talker. He has a pretty decent vocabulary, is saying two and three word sentences and will work at getting his point across when we don't get it at first. He is really cute when he says words wrong and he knows it, because he will try again and go really slow, enunciating it very carefully.

He can walk up and down stairs, run without tripping (98% of the time), is starting to understand football or at least really enjoy the games, can sing "Twinkle, twinkle, little star" and the ABC song, can count from 1-10 (always skipping 6), can take off his shoes and buckle his car seat, and many more things that I had no idea two year olds could do! What can I say, I'm a proud momma!

There is so much more that I want to say but it is late and this is getting long so I will end with this. Jayden's personality is so sweet. He is funny, considerate - always saying "thank you" without being prompted, thoughtful, helpful - always helping his momma whenever I ask him to bring me things, and so very smart. I love watching his brain work and process things. The past two years have been an adventure and, although I fear time is already moving too quickly, I cautiously look forward to the years ahead with him and am grateful that I have the Lord to guide me since every new change with Jayden scares the crap out of me. Sort of joking but not really... I am realizing more and more that DJ and I are in charge of molding this little body into a God-fearing, responsible, respectful man and that is some "I-am-in-this-thing-with-no-way-out" scary stuff!

Happy Birthday baby boy!!

We spent Jayden's birthday day in Austin, Texas for the Wyoming Cowboys first football game of the season (with my brother - DJ was in Laramie already) and with no real plans, per se. We were just waiting for our flight later that day. So this video was our attempt at "officializing" his birthday with candles and a cupcake. (More to come on that trip later!) The first 50 seconds of this video are the best part and then the rest is kind of drawn out; it was such a random day!

Eyebrow Entertainment

Birthday Week

We are within days of my baby boy's day of birth and I have been giving him lots of extra lovin' in the form of sweets. That's the only excuse I can think of since I don't normally give him tons of sugar but it's been fun for me too since he gets so much pleasure out of eating these special treats.

Case in point...

We made cupcakes WITH FROSTING on Sunday and I let him eat an entire cupcake right there in one sitting. I decided to video him eating it and I'm glad I did because he was too cute!

Summer Update

I am so not ready for this summer to be over. I mean like really, really, REALLY not ready. Just the thought of cool weather makes me feel dizzy and insecure. Part of my unreadiness is that we have had a GREAT summer. Another part is that my maternity leave will be over and let me tell you, it has been a fabulous break. And yet another part is that cool weather, or rather COLD and FREEZING weather as we know it here in the Laramie Plains, is one of my least favorite things, at least at the moment. 

I dread the thought of having to entertain two children inside for months and months. I mean, even if we break up the monotony and do go outside, it's not like going outside in the summer. It takes way more effort. You can't just open the door and say, ok! let's go outside! and head out. No, you have to decide that in 30 minutes we could go outside (given that a last minute blizzard doesn't decide to hit us) and we have to start preparing now. Feed the baby, change the diapers, get on the warm clothes, find the missing mittens, tug on the heavy winter coat that makes moving for a toddler almost impossible, now find the hat that has once again gone missing, and lastly put on the boots that are nearly impossible to get on over the heavy socks. Oh wait, now we have to change diapers again because since I changed them 30 minutes ago, both kids have now decided that it was time for their daily poopy diaper. Restart the process. And all of that for about 15 minutes outside because it is too cold to spend more time than that or you risk exposure. The cost benefit analysis that I tend to apply to situations such as this just doesn't quite add up to making it worth it, ya know?

But for now, I am trying to do my best to forget that any day now, we could wake up to the telltale signs of fall (and once they make their appearance, they won't go away...THAT, I have learned about living at this altitude...there is no warning...cold weather just appears and stays...forever, or what seems like forever anyway...). I am enjoying hours at the park, lazing around in the yard, watching Jayden play in his sandbox, laying on a blanket under the clouds, taking field trips to anywhere we want, making road trips to South Dakota and whatever else we think of. 

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks. We spent another 2 weeks in Rapid City, this time staying at my inlaws. We had another great time and it was hard to leave when we decided to go.

Bonding time with Papa - Jayden fell asleep on the way up to Hill City where one of my favorite restaurants, Alpine Inn, is. It's a short 20 minute drive but we had a pretty big day that day and there was no nap.

Our little thumb sucker - it's a wonderful blessing! I'm just hoping she outgrows it at a decent age!

Ava is getting to be so much fun; she makes lots of funny faces and fun noises!

This was a day out with momma while we were in Rapid. We went downtown to one of my new favorite places and had some lunch. A funny story...another woman with two kids that were similar ages to my kids came over to me and said she was really impressed that I was eating out with my two kids by myself (she looked like she was with her parents) and she didn't think she was ready for that. I just told her thank you and tried not to think too much about it since I knew things could quickly turn...Sure enough, shortly after Jayden had a mini meltdown and Ava started crying and I couldn't get the stroller to work correctly and the woman kindly came back over and held the stroller while I put Jayden in. And we shared a knowing look. We still had a nice time but I realized that I have definitely gotten better at doing things by myself with the kids and for those times where I do need the help, I've also gotten good at relying on strangers for a little assistance!

Jayden loves to play with his Legos and we build a lot of towers and "houses" these days. This was a tower that he built with his grandma - it was taller than Jayden!

We went to a place called Old MacDonald's Farm which Jayden loves. I wish we could have gone more while we were in Rapid. They have all sorts of farm animals which Jayden is familiar with from his books and you get to feed some of them too. His favorite animals (currently) are the pigs. This particular horse was HUGE. His rear end was taller than my head! I took this picture to try to get some perspective relative to the stroller. Jayden refused to get too close and I don't blame him; I was even a little intimidated and I'm about 3 feet taller than Jayden!

I took my first road trip alone with both kids and I took a picture when Jayden finally fell asleep because it was such a relief! He didn't sleep long though and we actually ended up turning around about 2 hours into the trip because of a bad car accident that closed down the road. We waited 2 hours on the road with 2 miles of other people also waiting and then decided to go back to Rapid City and try again the next day. The day was successful though when it comes to the kids and the car ride and it was good practice for the next day when we tried it again (and made it home that time)!

I cut my hair! I am losing so much hair from being pregnant and with it being shorter, it is a lot easier to manage. It's not necessarily easier to do every morning but at least I think I look a little more put together every day, which is a good thing. 

This is one of the first 6 month outfits that I put Ava in. I wasn't sure she would get to wear it since it was a summer outfit so I'm glad we have a little time left to wear it before the cool weather comes!

Jayden is in 24 months clothes now and since I had no clothes in that size, I went to Cheyenne and did a little shopping at Once Upon a Child, the best consignment store for kids ever! This was one of the outfits I got - Jayden looks like such a big boy!

Having a little fun at Daddy's work - that's the face Jayden makes when he's unsure of a situation. He plays with his tongue in his mouth. Ha ha I don't blame him for being unsure about being wrapped up in this tape stuff!

Jayden's new football jersey for the season! I got him a gold one this year since he had a brown one last year. I like it!

Three Months

Ava Grace is...

• Growing! Ava is still wearing some size 1 diapers that we've had left over but fits more comfortably in size 2 diapers. Her hair is getting long and just the other day I was checking to see how much longer it would need to be till I could get it in a little pony tail! She's wearing 3-6 months clothing and the last of her summer clothes in 3 months. We are going to Texas at the end of the month and I bought her a few 6 month outfits since I didn't think she would fit in her 3 months outfits that long. 

• Sleeping! This girl is a dream baby and I just love her so much! She sleeps 9 hours a night going to bed about 8:00 and waking up about 5:00 for her first feeding of the day. She then goes back to sleep till about 8:00. She takes a nap about 10:00 and another nap sometime between 12:30 - 1:30. She also takes another late afternoon nap usually while Jayden and I are playing at the park. Sometimes she'll take several cat naps and sometimes she takes longer naps depending on the day. I have absolutely nothing to complain about when it comes to sleep with this sweet baby! 

• Talking! Or at least vocalizing. I can already tell that our little girl is going to be a talker. She loves to use her voice and I love hearing it. Here's a video to hear some of what we hear every day! It's like music to my ears.

• Laughing! Sometimes I get a little giggle out of Ava and I just love that noise. There's nothing like watching a person learn how to do one of the best things in life! Ava seems to find it especially funny when I am changing her clothes. For some reason when I put her clothes over her head, maybe I am tickling her unintentionally, she will giggle. It's so funny!

• Eating! Right now Ava seems to be eating less or at least there is more time between feedings so I don't know what that's about. She is still growing, as evidenced by the new rolls that we are seeing all the time and the clothes that seem to be steadily shrinking plus she has lots of wet and dirty diapers every day so for now I will just be thankful for a little extra time to do get things done! 

• Working out! This girl is trying so hard to sit up already; I swear it looks like she is doing crunches! I will sit her in the bouncy seat and she lifts her head and strains to sit up. Poor thing, I have to tell her that she is too little and just needs to sit back and relax till she gets a little older! She is also constantly kicking her legs and moving her feet. When I lay her on her back she always rolls to one side like she is getting ready to roll over. She's an active little baby!

• We spend our days right now enjoying each other's company because soon that will be over or at least for me. I start back to work September 4 so while she can still enjoy watching me; I will have to enjoy these last couple of weeks soaking her in. Ava is such a joy and every day I fall more in love with her. She is just the sweetest blessing in my life and we are all thoroughly enjoying her, including Jayden!

Miss Ava is a mover so it's tough to get a decent picture these days! This outfit is what she wore to church on Sunday.

I don't think I have ever seen anything as precious as these little feet in these little shoes! Jayden never really could wear actual shoes till he started walking and slimmed down a little bit. 

 I told Jayden to show me his teeth so I could get somewhat of a smile, lol. He is so hard to get a picture of too these days! He is just going, going, going!

Ava sure is loved by her big brother. Jayden loves to get right in Ava's face and say "Hi Ava!" Every morning when we wake up, one of the first things Jayden does is lean over me and point at the sleeping baby next to me and exclaim "Ava!" and gives me a huge smile like he is shocked that she is still here!!