We're Back!

So, I guess this is turning into a monthly update. That's ok. I have more to say.

It is 730am and I HATE our new sleeping schedule. Logan wakes up at 5, plays until 730, goes back to sleep. Kylie immediately wakes up at 745 and demands breakfast. So, this means my new wake up time is appx 5am every morning. I am learning to go to bed earlier though.

We have had an eventful month. We went to the zoo yesterday. This is Kylie's favorite place in the world right now. She wakes up, demands to go to the "ooh" and see "ebahs." That's zebras for everyone out there. She loves zebras and teddy bears (Panda Bears). Sometimes Aunt Lori meets us at the zoo. Lori and Kylie love the zoo much more than Mommy and Logan but that's ok. Speaking of Lo...Logan is crazy. I think it is a boy thing but that child is into EVERYTHING. He is already pulling himself up on furniture and if there is something within a 50ft radius that could cause him harm...it is his favorite toy.

Eric is good, running another 7k this month. He is really into this running thing right now. He will be out of town in April and I'm already dreading it. I am still working PT and it is a really good fit for us. I feel like I have the best of both worlds. Kylie loves going to see Ms. Jean and actually gets excited to see her every Monday and Tuesday.

We have friends coming in for Easter....so EXCITED! We are going to have an egg hunt in the backyard and also take the kids somewhere for a public egg hunt. We are fencing in the yard next week....landscaping to come.

Wow, not much to report for a month. Maybe I should only update once a year!

I'm supposed to be working. I'll get to that in a minute. Sorry no update in February. We had a Valentine's Party, I went back to work, Eric ran a 10K. That is pretty much the month in a nutshell. Going back to work made life a bit more manic, but in a controlled, two days a week and then it is over kind of way. The kids love their sitter and I love her too. That makes all the difference. I don't want to work full-time for a long time though.

Things are just good right now. I love our little family as incredibly lame as that may sound. Logan is getting bigger every day. We are looking at a home equity loan to finance our grocery bill for that little guy. My little baby girl is growing into a sassy little girl with a wicked sense of humor and I still think Eric is pretty cool. Life is just good.

We may be coming home for Easter again this year. Kylie had a great time last year going egg hunting with Emmett and all her cousins. It's been a while since we've been up. I miss you guys!!

January

Yes, I know it's been a while. I just haven't had much to write about. Logan's six month checkup was yesterday. He is 19lbs 7 ozs (80%) and 27 and 3/4 inches (90%). We picked up Kylie's new glasses today. The shop repaired the old ones so that we would have a back-up when (not if) but when she breaks the new pair. Winnie the Pooh now has the old pair tied around his head. It looks ridiculous but she refuses to wear her new "eyes" unless Pooh wears "eyes" too. Whatever works, right?

We had company in town last weekend. Selena, Tyson, Emmett, Angie, Cory, and Alex came to visit. I love watching the kids play together. We went to eat Mexican Saturday night and I couldn't believe we had to get a table for TEN! We are multiplying. We left the men in charge on Saturday night and went to see Twilight. I have read all four books in the series and loved them. The movie was odd. I might go see New Moon but it will probably be more of a wait for DVD movie.

Hmm, What else? I'm going back to work next month. Not full-time. Only two days a week. I have a friend that is going to watch the munchkins two days a week on Mondays and Tuesdays. As with every decision I make, it took me forever to decide, and I still don't know if it is 100% the right decision but I'm tired of going back and forth about it. Eric said it must be exhausting to be me. Yes. It is. I'm not good with decisions, but he is on board with it and the extra money will be nice. It is hard to turn down any work in this economy. Eric's job is secure for now but who knows what the future holds. I'm sure a lot of the 70,000 people laid off on Monday thought their jobs were secure too. Better safe than sorry.

Lazy Post

So it's been a while. I'm reposting a 25 Things About Me post from Facebook because I am lazy.

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you.

1. I have a girl crush on Carrie Underwood. Eric is fully supportive.
2. I would rather have two or three really good friends than a huge group of 20 aquaintances.
3. My best friend is really my husband. He is my favorite person in the world
4. I prefer Elvis to the Beatles.
5. I hated E. TN while I was there, but now wish I could raise my children there.
6. I was the first in my family to graduate from college, but not the last. My two brothers are currently getting degrees. Go education!
7. I wouild rather eat at Chipotle than Chops.
8. I hate wearing shoes, even in the winter.
9. I hate wearing coats too.
10. I would rather tell you how cheap something is than how expensive something is.
11. My dream job would be full time student.
12. I tried to learn German in college. It didn't work out so well.
13. I thought I was a socialist for one semester sophomore year at UT.
14. I credit Selena for keeping me on the straight and narrow in college. She was my mama.
15. I do not like wine, I prefer beer. Black and Tan to be specific.
16. I would rather have Dunkin Donuts coffee than Starbucks, even if that isn't so cool.
17. I think my brother Ron is the best parent of all of my siblings. Thankfully none of the others have facebook.
18. Fall is my favorite season.
19. Keri is my favorite in-law.
20. I have a scar over my left eyebrow from my brother pushing me into a table when I was a toddler.
21. I think Jessie's Girl is one of the top 10 songs of the 80's
22. I have horrible short term memory.
23. Eric and I have become addicted to VH1 reality tv.
24. I would rather be a parent than a president
25. I prefer mama to mommy.

No More Monkeys in the Bed.....

I think we might have a neon Vacancy sign flashing over our bed. Logan is finally sleeping peacefully in his own bed. I actually think he prefers it. We were laughing last night as we watched him stretch and roll around in his crib. However, this morning around 5am Kylie wakes up and says she wants to go to Mama's bed. I'm trying to send psychic messages to Eric---don't bring her in here, do not bring her in here. Then I see them coming around the corner. At least he pretended to look apologetic as he dumped her in the bed and went back to sleep. She is a smart cookie.....goes right to sleep. I let her get nice and groggy and then put her back in her bed. The goal is to have them sleeping in their own rooms at night, maybe by the time they go to college right?

The thing I'm enjoying right now is that Kylie seems to like classical music. We have a couple of soft classical cds that I put on at night before she goes to sleep. Now she asks for them. I hope she has some sort of interest in music someday. I'm not going to push it but if she (or Logan) is interested, I will certainly support it! I remember my dad listening to classical cds and telling us which ones were his favorites. I liked marching band so that I could go to the sporting events but my love was in the symphonic band. I enjoyed knowing the stories behind some of the pieces. My favorite piece to this day is Caccia and Chorale by Clifton Williams.

You can read the story here: http://catpages.nwmissouri.edu/m/ewoodru/caccia.htm

And hear the piece here: http://www.auburnschools.org/ahs_band/piece/c.html
It is a high school band, so you will hear some bumps and squeaks along the way....

It is a beautiful day today. I'm waiting for nap time to be over so that we can get out and enjoy it. That's the great thing about living in Atlanta. It can be winter one day and spring the next. I think I'm going to go to the park and let Kylie kick the soccer ball around a little. She starts soccertots in the spring. It is going to be a Kylie/Daddy activity. I know they both will enjoy the time together. He is the first person she asks for each morning. She thinks he drives a trash truck for a living....which is hilarious. Every morning she asks if da da went to work in his truck. I say yes Daddy is at work...she then replies Dada at work in trash truck? I just say yes. I wonder if she will be disappointed someday that he isn't a trashman?

Long Ramblings About a Book

My sister-in-law gave me a book titled My Sister's Keeper for Christmas. I picked it up today and just finished it. In the process of putting Logan in his crib I have confused my days and nights. No, I am not sleeping all day, I am just not sleeping at all!

This isn't a book review but I am going to talk about the book so if you haven't read it and wish to, don't read this post.

I have never been so affected by a book in my entire life. It was such a tough read that I had to walk away from it a couple of times and then come back. The ending left me crying off and on for about a hour. Eric, my gentle, sweet, husband says to me, It's fiction Jennifer, not even a true story, get over it. This is why women give birth to children and not men. I honestly do believe that while men are connected to their children in a way that women may not understand, the bond between woman and child is not stronger per se, but different?

The parents in the story have two children, one created to save the other who has cancer. The younger child decides she doesn't want to "save" her sister anymore. We find out later that the older sister doesn't want to be saved anymore and as usual, the youngest is fulfilling her role of being her sister's watchdog.

If I only had one child, I think I would have come away from this book angry at the younger child. I mean who wouldn't want to save their siblings life? How would I look at and care for the younger child if she didn't want to save her sibling who was the other half of my heart? Since I have two living breathing individual children whom I love so deeply for such different reasons (other than the fact that they are my children of course) I felt differently. I can only hope that I would never place that type of expectation of either of my children. More than that, I can only hope that we never have to even think about something like this.

I felt such sorrow for Anna, the youngest, who had such adult decisions placed upon her at such a young age. She never was an individual to me, only a body to be harvested for the older child's relief. I wonder if her mom truly looked at her that way or if she thought of her as being even more special, because she could do what the mother yearned to do....cure her child. I would imagine she thought of her as being more special but was so wrapped up in the illness of her eldest that she forgot to be a mother to all her children. When one of your babies are ill or upset, you just want to fix it. I think the guilt the mother carried had to be immense.

I told Eric that I think this book affected me so much because I was afraid that I would have reacted like the mother. We would be faced with a crisis, there would be an obvious answer, and I would just expect everyone to fall into place and do what I expected of them. I know Eric would be Brian, the father who would be able to step away from the emotional whirlwind and see the points of view of all of the children. It made me love Eric even more for being our moral compass but it made me so sad for the mother and the struggle she had for both of her children.

As a side note, the ending was so traumatic that I don't even know what to do with that. I mean really? You are going to kill Anna anyway? So much for happy endings. The interesting twist is that all the guilt that Anna carried was transferred to Kate. So really, in the end, no one really "won" I guess that was the point though.

Ok. I got that off my chest now I'm going to sleep.

Someone Else's Commentary on Toddlers....

I just read this one someone else's blog but thought it was pretty hilarious so I'm reposting....this is not from me, but I can relate to every one of these....

Ten Comments to not say to a Toddler's Mother while Shopping...
Strangers' Comments Couldn't Be Stranger

The little guy looks like he needs a nap.
But it's only eight o'clock in the morning!

I'll pray for him!
Recently, as I was leaving the store pretty thoroughly embarrassed, my usual state these days, a woman turned to me and said, "I'll be praying for him. I always pray for the little ones that cry." I wondered as I took my exit why she wasn't praying for ME. I was the one dealing with the little terror.

And on a related note...
Sure makes you believe in original sin...
I kid you not. Someone really said this to me. Actually I don't believe in that but let's not go into that here.

Tell your mama to hurry up and finish shopping!
Today when a "nice lady" directed this comment to my 21 month old son, I turned to her and said, "ma'am, I'm almost seven months pregnant and moving as fast as I can." If you must direct a snide comment at a kid's parent, through the child, don't expect him to pass it on.

What did you do to him?
I have heard this question so often now that I have a standard response. "I've been beating him with a wet noodle." Once someone didn't hear the wet noodle part and responded, "Oh, well I wouldn't do that if I were you."

What's wrong with him?
Do you mean besides the demon child inside of him that's making his head rotate 360 degrees on its axis? I have never actually said this to anyone, but the temptation grows stronger each time the question is posed to me.

Staring and head shaking
This one falls more into the category of non-verbal communication. I don't have a comeback for this one, but it isn't helpful. Save your disdain for the trip back home in the car.

And you're having another one?
Sheesh. Gimme a break, will ya? Don't kick a pregnant woman while she's down.

MY grandbaby loves to go to the grocery store!
"...His mother has really trained him well to sit quietly in the cart." Obviously, people who say such things are just looking to affirm their own positively perfect parenting skills. But every once in a while, just for a moment, I think, "Oh yeah? Wanna trade?"