Polar Express ~ 2015

This year Mike and I took the kids up north for a ride on the Polar Express. Every holiday seems to be better and better. As Blip grows, so does his understanding. And excitement. Even the little holidays are fun with little kids.  Kicking off Christmas was no different. This year the added benefit was my complete little family...finally. We kicked off our first Christmas as a whole family by taking a train ride to see Santa.

I booked our tickets a little later than I should have, so I chose a Friday night...that way Mike only had to take one day of work off.  I paid for the tickets and then booked us a hotel room, bought the kids matching jammies, and waited for the fun to begin.

We drove to Flagstaff hoping for snow and spent the fun afternoon wishing we knew what to do. There was no snow...and not enough time to do a lot, so since we didn't know what to do...we did nothing.  Seriously. We hung out at the hotel until it was time to leave for Williams. Neither of us had ever been to Williams, Arizona, so we did not know what was there. Had we known there was a cute little town there we would have spent our time exploring...I guess we will do that next year.

Blip decided he didn't want to wear jammies on the train, so we didn't. We ended up having seats in a train car right smack in the middle (which didn't matter until the ride was over) and our seat in the car were in the last two rows. Oh my goodness it was fun...and I loved watching my kids love it.  

We sang songs, drank hot chocolate, ate cookies, listened to the story, and waited for Santa. He boarded the train and met with each child. I loved watching all the kids' faces...the wonder and awe in their eyes. I think it's one of the best things about having kids.

Blip and Sister collected their bell...their first gift of Christmas. And just like that the magic of Christmas began.


P.s. This year wasn't the same without the boys. Blip was sad without them. 

From Polar Express 2014 & now 2015

Rocking Chair

One of my very favorite "splurges" we bought for the nursery was my rocking chair. It's not a wooden rocker, or a glider, but a big, comfortable, regular chair...that rocks. With an ottoman. It was one of my must-haves...and it was a bit pricey, but I can promise my used-to-be, pre-kid savings account that I've rocked every penny outa that chair. And then some.

I rocked Blip in that chair every single night (we spent at home...which was all but a few) since they day we brought him home from the hospital. Mike rocked him often, too. Especially on the nights he was home for bedtime. We have read countless books, sang songs, listened to music, watched videos, played games, Face-timed our favorite people, and said at least a million I Love You's while seated in that chair.

When Blip was getting too big to cradle, I cried. It felt like it happened overnight. But we just changed the way we held him a bit...and continued our routine.

Around his third birthday...just before Sister arrived...Blip was evicted from the nursery. He moved into his newly renovated Big Boy room, but the first thing he wanted in there was his rocking chair.  We struggled with Blip at bedtime the first several weeks (months?) and I often wonder if it was the biggest creator of our nightly bedtime woes. Not being rocked to sleep. It was hard for all of us.  Especially my little boy.

Once the baby was born things began to become more routine; Blip in his new room and the baby in hers. He never acted jaded or jealous about giving his sister the "baby room" or the "bumble bee room"...he's just cool like that, I guess. Not to mention his replacement room was pretty dang cool, if you ask me. 

But one thing he still asks, "Mama, will you rock me?" He doesn't do it too often, so when he does...we sneak into Sister's room after she's asleep, Blip crawls up in my lap, and we rock. He asks for his bedtime music (a playlist we've been listening to since before he was born), snuggles up against me while clutching his blanket...and we rock.

Some nights I'm so exhausted and I have fifteen things to do before I can go to bed...and I haven't eaten dinner...and and and...I always rock him. I know some day he'll stop asking...or I won't be here anymore, so I always want him to know I'm never too busy. Some nights, a lot of nights he asks me to "lay with [him] for one minute, please?" I always do. And then one night this week I told him I would be right back to lay with him. I knew he'd be asleep in about 20 seconds, so I finished putting the baby to bed and then worked on something else, and when I finally made it back he was fast asleep.  

He asked me the next day why I didn't come back to lay with him. I felt awful. I promised myself I would never do that again. It's such a little thing...and it's obviously important to him.

I have the fondest memories of my own mother sitting in the hallway outside my bedroom door reading to me (almost) every night. She read book after book after book...Anne of Green Gables, The Boxcar Children, Where the Red Fern Grows, The Secret Garden, and so many more amazing books. She would read a chapter or two...and then we'd sleep and I'm sure she stayed up late finishing her list. But I never remember her being too busy, too stressed, too tired, or any other excuse she could have rightfully used to get out of that 30-60 minutes a night...sitting on the floor in the hallway reading by the hall light.

Sitting outside my kids' bedrooms reading books to them at night is something I look forward to doing some day, so taking five minutes to lay with Blip (or however long it takes to rock him) is just the beginning.

Tonight I was asked, "Mama, will you rock me in Sister's room?"  So we quietly snuck in, he climbed up in my lap, asked for his music, and we rocked.  And rocked.  He fell asleep rather quickly, but I wasn't done yet, so we rocked and listened to music...and I could smell his clean hair as he snuggled up against me.

His sister is a much better sleeper (the going to sleep part...they are both excellent sleepers) because I don't have an hour every night to rock her after I get Blip to bed. By the time we get to bedtime we are all exhausted. She is fed her bottle while we read stories and then in the crib she goes. Lately, I have been making sure to rock my sweet baby girl often...even if I sneak back in and scoop her up, but it isn't as often as I'd like. Blip needs more attention than that at bedtime because of our rocking routine, but I wouldn't change a thing.  

I hope I get to be around for many years, but the older I get the more fear I have of dying the way my mother did. It doesn't control my life, but it's definitely a thought in my head. She barely made it to her 49th birthday. I have so many (which feels like so few most of the time) memories of the little things she did to make my life better. It's always the littlest things I remember the most often. I know she loved me. I know she sacrificed a lot for me...for my happiness. I know she did without so that we could do with.  

I hope these are the things my children always remember about me.  Whether I am here with them or not, I hope they know how loved and how wanted they both were. I longed for them, and I prayed for them.  I hope they know how much they changed my life.  How deeply I learned I could love the second I felt them move inside of me as they grew, when I heard their voices...and touched their soft skin.  I had no idea it was possible to love someone so completely. I hope they will remember that I was never too busy...and I always had time to rock them.

First Swim

Baby sister went swimming in the pool for the first time!  We didn't stay in too long, but she seemed to love being in the water.  We are a little slower (and a lot busier) getting her in the water compared to Blip.  We took Blip every weekend to a class at Hubbard's Swim school from the time he was three months until we started ISR at six months. I am keeping my fingers crossed that Ellie will get to start ISR this year...otherwise she has to wait until next summer.

Blip has found a love for the water again.  The summer started out a bit rough.  He got scared the first time he was in the water this year and that lasted for weeks and weeks. And weeks.  I bought him a little tube to play with in the pool, so using that he has gained some confidence back.  He is having a refresher with ISR in a couple weeks, so I hope that will help him even more.

We are wanting the kids to be in the pool year round from now on.  The months and months of being out of the pool just doesn't keep their skills sharp enough if there was an accident.  I'm not sure how we will be able to do it working opposite schedules...not sure I am brave enough to take both kids by myself.

School Summer Program 2015

Blip's school had a end of summer program to send off the kiddos that will be starting kindergarten this year.  The kids sang, danced, recited some stuff they've learned, and showed off how smart and well behaved they all are thanks to our beloved Ms. Barbie.

 It seems like every program there has been so far we don't sit near where Blip stands.  It's comical, but he was at the opposite end most of the program...until he got moved to the middle by Ms. Barbie.  I'm wondering what he did (because we couldn't see what he was doing) to get moved...made us laugh.  He was dancing around and only half paying attention, so I'm thinking that may have had something to do with it.

We sat with Amy and Dave...so Amy stole the baby and snuggled with her the entire time.  Sister is the best baby ever.  I always joke that if all babies were as good/easy as she has been...everyone would have 12 kids.  She is so easy going and happy...she doesn't really cry unless she needs to eat and feels ignored (while you make a bottle).  She lets out a little yelp to let us know she's ready...and if you don't move quick enough she let's out a scream (like a normal baby).  It always surprises me to hear her cry because it's so rare!

Anyway...the kids recited the presidents (up to Theodore Roosevelt), the Preamble (that I learned in the 5th grade), several cute songs...including Old Miss Barbie Had a Farm.  Each of the kids was asked to make/bring a mask for the animal they chose.  We had to make a puppy dog mask.  I found an idea I thought I could handle on Pinterest and went to work.  Surprisingly enough...I had all the supplies on hand.  Like I'm a regular old mom.  I was happy about that.

I was pretty happy with how it turned out, too.  I think it was perfect and Blip was super cute as a puppy dog.

1 Flavor

We got extra lucky for a Friday!  Mike was asked to change his schedule at work to help with a project (from my unit), so he was home before 7pm.  Sister rolls over from her back to her tummy the second you put her down, but then she pukes...almost instantly.  She then manages to get puke in her face, mouth, nose, ears, hair, etc. Propping her up seemed to help quite a bit...so we'll have to see if that keeps working.

Because it was the 31st Baskin Robins had a 31 deal.  On the 31st they offer a discount of some variety.  I thought it was scoops for 31 cents or something, but it was really $1.31 sundaes...or something along those lines.  We didn't learn that until we were already there, so we just ordered whatever we wanted.  Blip got a scoop of chocolate.  Shocker!  haha...it's the only flavor they need to offer.  He doesn't even want to look around or try any other flavor...he just wants plain chocolate.  Easy enough.

The weather was gorgeous!  It had just finished raining when we went out to get ice cream, so we were able to really enjoy the beautiful sky.

We sat and ate our treat together...while Blip made a ridiculous mess.  He wasn't even trying to be messy, but I think mess just happens all around him without much effort.  Dang I love this kid.  He's one of a kind for sure.  Even if he does like chocolate.

Family Night

Monday nights are my favorite night of the week because we are together as a family...like a normal family.  But when I'm on standby...ugh.  The night could be interrupted very easily, so I dread those nights.  Not the work...just the leaving.  Mondays are easy for me to choose because Mike's home, so I have no worries about who will watch the kids, but it is still hard to know I might have to leave...or not come home after work at all.  So when someone wants my standby...they can have it.  I'd much rather be at home making memories with my family...and putting my kids to bed with help. (Since I only get 2-3 nights with help...it's a really nice break.)

 After a friend took my standby because he didn't have any for the month of July, I rushed home to have a fun-filled family night.  I made it just in time for Sister's evening cat-nap...it's probably the part of my day I live for most right now.  I only get to see my babies between 2-3 hours a day Monday through Thursday, so each moment is important to me.  Getting to feed my sweet baby and having her fall asleep in my arms for 30 minutes or so each evening is wonderful.  It is starting to happen less and less, so I really look forward to the evenings I can still get it.

I have been buying games for us to play with Blip, so that all of his time isn't spent watching a show.  He's a great age for some of the games, so I've been searching for some good ones that we can play as a family.  Don't Break the Ice looked super cute...and he thinks it's awesome.  He still thinks it's the coolest thing ever then the bear falls through the ice...he doesn't quite get it yet, but it's fun anyways.

Sister had more oatmeal for dinner and even tried some green beans...which she LOVED.  She is doing a great job eating.  I've been impressed with her thus far.  She already leans into the spoon for more.  She is making this transition very easy.

Teaching Moment & Matching Cousins

Before Patrick and Sarah brought the kids over to swim, Blip thought it would be fun to try to teach Sister peek-a-boo.  I wish our entire life was somehow on video that we could go back a review for the parts we desperately need/want to keep forever. 

In the afternoon, Patrick, Sarah, the kids, plus Pat and Ken came for dinner and swimming. We ate and then Mike took Blip to swim with Molly and Sarah.  Patrick kept Tucker inside with Sister and me.

It was a fun afternoon and a late night.  The kids did great and played for hours together.  Sarah put her kiddos in their jammies before leaving...and we noticed that Tucker was wearing his bug jammies.  Blip has the same pair, so I grabbed them and let excitement run wild.  They were super excited to match...I love the innocent, small things that make them so happy.

We love when we get together...and I love when the kids get to play and make memories. Cousins are the best.  I'm so thankful Blip has one or two on both sides that are close in age.  Poor Sister won't have anyone, but hopefully my nieces will have more babies sooner than later so she had SOMEONE to play with.:)

First Solid Food

I don't remember Blip being this little when we started solids, but he was almost the exact same age.  I can't believe it's happening already, but Sister was definitely ready.

The look on her face is priceless.  Blip is trying to show her how to play with the highchair toy...and she must think he's crazy!

She tried oatmeal for her first meal...and she loved it.  She was pretty much the opposite of Blip.  He was a strange eater from the very beginning and he still is.  Blip at just about everything I made or bought that was pureed, so I guess his true pickiness didn't start until he started chewing foods.

Sister did great with her oatmeal, so let's hope she continues loving food...even past this stage.  Having one regular eater would be a really nice change.

P.s. Mike and I bought that NYPD bib when we were in Vegas celebrating his birth in 2009...two months into trying to get pregnant.  We thought we'd conceive so quickly...we had no clue what we were in for.  I honestly wouldn't change a thing.  Our struggle was so good for us.  I wouldn't wish it on anyone, but it made us better...and I think we definitely appreciate each other and our kids more knowing how hard we fought for them.