It may be difficult to see as a scan but this is Abby's first family portrait and I'm so proud I have to blog about it and show it to everyone. In the upper left hand corner is Cate. Then to her right is Abby. The big "person" is Mommy and under her is Daddy. You can tell it's Daddy because he has glasses. That's right folks. My daughter is 2 (almost 3) and she drew glasses on her daddy. I'm especially impressed with the fact that she "wrote" The Adams Family at the top. There are mouths, arms, legs, eyes, noses... many details that I wasn't sure she was up to doing. Yep this is a brag blog!

All Veggied Out

This family has been sick in one way or another for a month now. It's hard to be sick with little kids because they depend on you for everything. You can't tell your toddler to go get themselves something to eat. You can't expect them to do a whole lot of entertaining themselves. If you are sick, they are watching TV so you can rest. If they are sick, there is more TV while they rest. When your husband is sick, you are wiped out from taking care of everything and everyone and there is more TV to pacify them and hope that their brain isn't mush.

Everyday for a month now, Abby has gotten up and been parked in front of the TV for Veggietales. This morning, everyone is well! Can you believe it? I can't...

She comes into my room this morning at 6 and I think, 'I'm not going to be well after this. How is it possible that the baby stays up until midnight and then the 2 year old gets up a 6?!'

I hear her little sing-song voice, "Mommy, I ready to watch Beytales. (She still doesn't say veggie...)" That's when I knew I was in trouble. This is what she thinks her life is about. Veggietales. Clifford. Thomas the Train. When did these characters become a part of our lives? When we were sleeping, that's when.

Time for the intervention. I'm cutting her off. It's going to be a long hard road to recovery with her. We are going to have to deal with the withdraw and the screaming that goes with it but hopefully, after all that is through, she will know there is more to life than vegetables.

Missed You!

We (the girls and I) went on a mini vacation to WA last week, therefore the lack of posting. We are back and have been for a day or so but you all know what it's like to get back and have to deal with unpacking and such. Anyway, I saw my cousin and her family and some more family and then... we hit Sabbath School and it's like Facebook in there. When you have parents who worked at academy's and then you worked at academy's and went to academy's and basically spent your whole life in this little Adventist bubble, you are bound to see someone you know anywhere you go. So I'm in Sabbath School and a face from the past walks in. We did the eye dance for a while as we hadn't seen each other in 15 years (and that's half my life span right now). She whispered to her friend and then I was whispering to my cousin and then we locked eyes and did that silent, "Are you ______?" "Yeah." "HEY!"

So I did what I thought was customary and waited until Sabbath School was over and the din of toddlers was getting to a maximum just before everyone headed up to church to go over and WAIT AND WAIT for her to talk to me or for there to be a break in conversation for me to talk to her. She didn't and there wasn't.

After standing there for a while, I finally was like, "Hey."

She was like, "Hey."

And that was IT! 15 years and we didn't have anything to say to one another. Now, I can usually make conversation like crazy no matter who it is but this girl (now a lady) was really hard to talk to. I'm not sure why but it was the most awkward moment I have had in a long time.

Lost in Translation

I remember when there was an event that had many Spanish speaking only people in attendance. My father had sent my sister and I down to Costa Rica for some schooling and to learn the language. Since he paid for the education, he got first dibs on the translation services and we spent most of the event translating for him over our own conversations. I even taught a guy how to play golf by translating Dad's instructions... very interesting since my Spanish was terrible and I did a lot of guessing.

We are in that stage (about 2 and some months) where Abby is talking in what may be full sentences. I say "may be" because there are a lot of unintelligible filler words that make it somewhat difficult to decipher what she is saying if you are not her mother. I'm already getting looks from people. You know, Abby will say something to them and they will look at me with that inquisitive look that says, "Translation, please."  She also still talks in third person so every sentence starts with "Abby."

Interesting thing, just because you can translate your own kids language does not mean you will understand other kids in that same stage. This language they develop is individual and the translation ability comes from hearing them develop it and knowing your own kids sound substitutions.

Abby has taken to saying, "Baby Doll drink-a-da meowk a-da-button." This means, "My baby doll is drinking milk out of my belly button." This is how she "breast-feeds" her dolls now. LOL!

Breaking the Rules

Last night, Abby was running to watch Clifford and have her hair put in curlers when she took a tumble. That is pretty typical so I didn't react but then she really started crying and I went over to comfort her and then I saw the blood. It was everywhere. She had hit her mouth on the coffee table and split her lip open on the inside. She bled FOREVER and I almost cried myself. We got her cleaned up but I couldn't stop thinking about her injury. I just naturally worry like any parent. I thought about taking her to the emergency room because she might need stitches but we held off.

Today was Freshman church service and my pediatric dentist was in the congregation watching his daughter lead in worship. He usually goes to a different church. Now my rule is to never have an appointment with a professional outside of their office if I can help it. If I'm really desperate, I will call them at home and ask a question then make the appointment for office hours. I have been sitting next to an ophthalmologist when someone blocked him into the pew and said with upturned head, "Is this normal?" as they practically popped their eye out of the socket. I sat and watched when my friend, a radiologist, was bombarded in a restaurant by a colleague who wanted his toe looked at. "Should I have this x-rayed?" Therefore, I try and stay in the office with my appointments.

Today I broke the rule. I stopped the dentist in the parking lot and asked him to look at Abby's gums. They were still black and blue this morning and she was poking at them. He said she was fine and was VERY gracious. I guess when it comes to your children looking like they are from some European, socialist dental plan country or talking to the dentist in the church parking lot, you choose to throw the rules out the window. Thank you, Dr. Campbell.

We did do the curlers and she slept on them nicely. Here's how her hair turned out!

My Diet Plan

I am a mom. My diet plan is my babies. I will sit down with my food and Abby will run up to me. "A bite! A bite!" She want's food even though I fed her first and she said she was done. But NO! Now she want's to pull what Andy and I affectionately call Helen-Kellering. This is where she eats off of everyone's plate that has food. No longer the cute little habit that started out when she started walking... now... just annoying. So she's eating my food. Then there is a cry from the corner and Cate needs to eat. So I put down my food to be pillaged by my two year old and possibly the dog while I feed Cate. I come back to way less than I left and that, my friends, is how mom's diet.

I have been walking and that is great but I felt the need to tone up so my mom sent me Jillian Michael's workout video. I'm doing it and Abby has been "dancing" with me. Her best part is the cool down. First day, I asked her if she could reach her toes and of course she could but she saw that I was not touching mine. She walked over and totally pushed me down to my toes. What was this?! She was totally chanelling Jillian! Then, today (3rd day) I asked her again and she saw that I was totally touching my toes duyring the stretching. Yes, she checked on me! Who is this kid? She goes, "Good job, Mommy!" LOL! My two year old is training me. I feel totally bad if I don't do the work out because she just loves it! She gets to tell me what to do!

EXAUSTED

I'm tired. Potty training is literally the worst part of parenting EVER! Abby did really well today but I am worried that now that my mother in law is gone, she will have trouble as I am breastfeeding and I can't just yank one kid off to help the other when the call of nature hits.

We have moved the baby potty into the bathroom and she is using it as a stool to get on the big potty. She told me today that she needed "prishey" which I figured out was privacy when she pushed me out of the bathroom and shut the door. We are also leaving the door to her room open a bit when she is down for a nap and for bed so she can get out if something happens. She uses potty as an excuse to get out of bed time and nap time but eventually, she does get to sleep and I'd rather have to take her back to bed over and over than clean up another crazy mess of POOP ALL OVER HER ROOM!!! We'll see how it goes. I think it's going to work out this time. I wonder when we will be able to transition the whole way into underwear and not use diapers EVER AGAIN!!!

A FewMore Pics

Here are a few pics that don't fit in any category that I am going to blog about right now but are sooo cute.

Here is Abby and Daddy at Biltmore. She got this sweatshirt that says Adams State College from Auntie Casey in the mail. She matches Daddy now.

I love it that Cate is such a snuggler. I get to hold her and she loves it! She also likes the swing so I have the best of both worlds!

It's so funny to see my baby smiling and know that it's just gas. Not real smiles yet but cute non-the-less.

First Dr. appointment after her new patient appointment. She has gained almost all her weight back and she has been pronounced perfect! Again...

There was a PA student there that did the check up. She was a sweety.

We headed to the petting zoo at Biltmore with Grandma the day before she left. Abby refused to get down and see the animals. I carried her through the whole thing.

Spa Day

Casey bought Abby some spa stuff for her birthday.

Always rest up before you head to the spa.

Always hydrate before you get a massage.

Cate hates getting a bath.

Abby organizes her spa stuff.

Daddy gets cucumbers. Abby calls them pickles. LOL!

Now it's Abby's turn.

Even Cate gets in on the action. We use cucumbers because they're moist.

Mother of Two... AAHHHH!!!

I have been the mother of two for 8 full days now and I'm going nuts. How do you discipline a two year old and breast feed an infant at the same time? Why has modern technology made our lives more fast paced and crazy, instead of slowing us down and helping us relax? Mabye it has always been like this and I'm just now feeling it because it's my turn. Some days, I'm nuts and some I'm just feeling down and low and tired. Coffee is the only thing that gets me going and all this time, I have had my mother here. I have not done a stitch of laundry. She has cooked all the meals and cleaned the kitchen. "What else is there to do?" you ask.

I feed the baby. I change the baby. I sooth the baby. I let Abby hold the baby. I pump and then it is time to start all over again. Infants are 24 hour jobs. It is literally like that all the time: day and night. I get no sleep and when the baby is napping, Abby is not and I'm dealing with, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy..." I love it but it's wearing me out especially because my iron is so low and I don't know how long it will take to build back up the blood that I lost.

A couple of nights ago, right when my boobs were about to explode from being filled up all day, my pump died. I cried. I broke down and cried. I'm tired, I'm stressed and then my boobs were hurting and there was no relief in sight. Don't think I didn't consider every option... yes, I considered exactly what you are thinking! But... my friend had a nice pump that she wasn't using and the next day I broke every speed record getting out there to pick it up. Thank goodness for good friends who let you borrow their stuff. Thank goodness for mother's who keep your house from looking like a bomb went off in it. Thank goodness for husbands who don't freak out when you cry and cry and cry and cry...

I Love You

I have been telling Abby I love her several times a day, every day since she has been alive. Andy tells her also. When Grandma comes (from either side), they say it also. Finally, when my mom got here, Abby was heading out to bed and Grandma called, "I love you, Abby." She responded with, "Love you, too." It was the sweetest thing. Grandma got to be the first one to hear it from her. (Unless Andy heard it sometime and I wasn't around. But she still hadn't told me she loved me, EVER. Ouch.

Last night, I was putting her to bed and she kept coming out of her room. I told her to go back in and she turned and said, "Ok. I love you, Mommy," all on her own! I almost cried. It ALMOST got her out of her bed time but no such luck. I did go back with her and snuggle her into her bed... for the third time.

It is the BEST to hear that from your kid. She is saying it this morning to Daddy as he goes off to work and I have a feeling that we are embarking on a new phase where she starts to understand what that means.

Breastfeeding

Well, we have started the Adams' Dairy again. Last night I went to be a nice 36 C and woke up a 38 DD. Woosh! Here was the milk. Cate was getting fussy every time she ate and then, after having a nice meal for the first time, she slept forever. Today she has been in a milk comma all day which is not good for a mommy who's boobs are getting to be hard as rocks as the minutes tick by. Therefore, I have broken out the pump (yucky...) and I am well on my way to having leather nipples. Went off the pain meds today and that basically made breastfeeding TORTURE again.

Abby has been facinated with the whole thing. She watches me feed the baby. Today she said, "Baby drinkin' milk." Yep, she gets it. She pulled up her shirt and fed her baby. It was so funny. She points up her shirt and says, "Abby's boobs." Well, kid, thank goodness you don't have boobs yet but yes, that is where they will be when they get here...

Cate is Home

I am home with Cate. It is interesting to see how it all is going. I'm so weak from losing so much blood and tired from breast feeding at all hours. But seeing Abby with Cate makes it all worth it. Actually, when I got here, I felt this overwhelming need to spend time with Abby. After being with Cate for two days and not seeing Abby at all, I was really worried about Abby and how she was going to be when I got home. I fed Cate and handed her off to my mom to burp and comfort while I played with Abby as much as I was able. Problem: I am getting light headed and nauseous. It's hard not to panic everytime I feel weird after having a near death experience.

I am going to say something I never thought I would: I really had a good experience with this birth. I got to see the baby come out and I didn't think I would want to but I went ahead and got the mirror thinking that I just wouldn't look if I got to wierded out. I closed my eyes at the end because I was pushing and kinda freaking out but I actually saw the crowning and all that and I could feel her coming out. It was painful but kinda... awesome. I mean, I really never thought I would say that but the actual pushing the baby out part was crazy cool. I felt so accomplished.

I'm so much more tired than I thought I would be. I think I'm going to take a couple of days to not see very many people and just sleep and rest and stuff although its hard. I feel like if I'm in bed, I'm missing out on something out in the world. Crazy right? I'm like a 5 year old. Cate is amazing. Abby is amazing and I wish I could just give over my time to both of them.

Heading Out to the Dr.

Today I head out to the doctor at 4. Yes, my appointment was originally at 10 am but they called and switched me to later because the Dr. was out of the office or something. I think it's just to torture me. So here I am trying to decide whether I should bake cupcakes with the words I'M READY on them and try and beg for an induction or just let go of the guilt and not worry about it anymore. I'm not THAT uncomfortable. I'm just guilty about getting everyones hopes up over and over with the contractions and dilation and all that. I really just want to get it all over with so we can get into a schedule. But with my Murphy's Law life, I know I will be dragging this out until the actual due date or beyond because that's what happens to me. Here's how I know I'm cursed:

I got a kidney stone DURING MY PREGNANCY!

Right after the kidney stone, Andy's mom rushed down to help us get it together. I was fine until the day she left when I got the flu. I am still hacking up a lung every day from that. And of course, I'm pregnant and HUGE and I really feel like with every cough, I am going to smash out little baby.

I was going into labor and my mom rushed out from CO costing her several hundred dollars and my sister her free babysitter, then my labor basically stopped and she has been here for a week just putzing around with me...

If I had not had my mother come out, I would have this kid already and she would have missed the birth. We all know it's true!

In the last 6 weeks of my pregnancy, I found out I won't have a job next year, Abby waffled back and forth between potty training and waiting causing clean ups on the FLOOR when I can't even see my own feet, and my husband is working more than he has all year.

Despite all this, I think I'm going to make it. Suddenly last night, after finding out we had money problems that I didn't know about... I decided that none of it mattered anymore. I'm just going to sit down on the couch, watch Project Runway and zone out from the world until Cate is born. I can only do one thing at a time and I'm creating life here, people.

Adventures in Water

So my mom is here and you would think that would totally make everything ok. It does. But she left for a few minutes to get a breather and take a little walk in the beautiful weather we are having and I decided to give Abby some lunch. As I was cleaning up, I heard a drip drip drip down under my sink.

Crap... I open the cupboard and sure enough. Our sink pipes were completely undone and all the water was leaking down into the cupboard. I opened it up, cleaned out all the stuff, and Abby helped me put towels down to clean up the water. I can't use that sink. So I decided I would take a shower but with all the chemicals out and Abby loving to put those bottles in her mouth and suck out whatever is in, and my mom still on her walk, I took Abby in the bathroom with me and put her to brushing her teeth while I showered. Suddenly, I hear her talking, which should NOT be happening if she had the toothbrush still in her mouth. She has gotten into the guest shampoo basket and is pouring out bottles of stolen hotel shampoo all over the toilet she is standing on. She is saying, "Bye bye shoap." I freak out but I'm soaped up and shampooed and as I stand there telling her, "No, don't touch!" in a frantic voice, the shampoo leaks into my eyes and I'm blinded. I feel around for my toddler, get her off the toilet before she slips and falls and gets the next great time travel idea, and get her sitting on the floor. I rinse as fast as possible, get out, clean up the spilled shampoo and just as I am finally getting the discipline thing done with Abby, I hear my mom coming up the stairs. She has missed the whole episode.

Hope she is having a great vacation. LOL!!!

Potty Training (cont.)

I have decided that Pull Ups are evil. We are trying to potty train Abby and any time she has anything resembling a diaper on, she just pees in it. She get's upset about poop but pee... nothing. She doesn't even notice unless she is naked and it's going to go on the floor. Therefore, we are going into what I am going to call intense potty training.

We are leaving her naked unless people are coming over or we are going out. Then she gets a regular diaper and we are "taking a break." Other than that, because it is break (and particularly, the side that we have no responsiblities for) we are just leaving her diaperless. She may have a shirt on but that can also get tricky. Then, one parent has to sit close to the potty training potty and call her over every time she starts displaying signs of needing to do something. She is getting the idea that she needs to sit if she feels "the feeling." I think we are getting somewhere and hopefully, by 2010, we will have a mostly potty trained kid. Not a big deal if she doesn't. We are giving her chocolate (M&M's) if she does something in the potty as well as praising her like crazy. I think she really likes this whole deal because there is a parent playing with her (watching her like a hawk to protect the carpet) all the time... literally. We are giving her tons of liquids and trying to keep her fed more than normal to keep the pipes moving. We'll see how it works out. I'm hoping to use some of her Christmas money for new panties for the new year. We'll see how that works out as well.

If anyone has more suggestions, we are open to them. I will say that Pull Ups are definitely out! We will not use them until we are DONE figuring out what it feels like to pee and poop and all that. Hopefully, we will just get into the underwear thing and leave Pull Ups for night time use only for a while.

Poo-pawie?

When Abby wants to sit on the toilet, she says, "Poo-pawie?" Which translated is, "Poop in the potty?" But this always comes directly after she has already pooped, or she is trying to get out of bed time, or she is sick of being in her diaper. So, today I was in the bathtub and she was messing around in the bathroom and I saw the look come over her face. You know the one, that watery eyed, red cheeked look with the lips pooched out that said, "I'm going to poop and you are going to have to chase me around to change this diaper."

She has been doing this thing where she hides behind a wall in the kitchen to poop and then she runs from me knowing that I'm going to change her immediately because I hate the smell and I don't want her getting used to being in a messy diaper. I leaped from the bathtub, as fast as a huge pregnant woman can leap. I grabbed my somewhat frightened daughter, ripped off her pants and diaper and sat her on the big toilet. She was freaked into constipation.

I knew that poop was waiting to come out and I wasn't going to let it get the best of me. I put her training potty behind the kitchen wall, got her some wipes (her favorite just-sit-there toy) and sat her down, naked to learn what pooping in the potty really meant. I didn't want to scare her again so we played with wipes and we washed the wall. (Before you start thinking what a mean Cinderella step-mom I am, realize that these are her favorite activities...) We scrubbed carpets and jumped around in blissful naked freedom. Several times, the look crept back onto her face and I would rush her back to sit down armed with a juice box to get the pipes moving and keep her from being scared about what we were doing. Finally, she got the idea that when she started to feel that way, she was to sit and she would rush there herself only to lose that feeling and run off to jump some more. Finally, after an hour and a half, she sat down just in time for the poop to rush out INTO THE POTTY!!!! She was scared at first that she had done something wrong with me sitting right there but as she sat, I praised the heck out of it. I smiled and clapped and made a general fuss. She got excited also and after a good wipe down, celebrated with me. So maybe we have closed the lid on what it feels like to poo-pawie. But I'm not sure. We will try again tonight and every day of break after that.