Highly Motivated

Ro is highly motivated (see pictures below). She wants to get around so badly (crawling doesn't seem good enough anymore) that she'll try and try, grow frustrated, get stuck, and start crying. Little Roji (Romey’s new nickname courtesy of Dan, pronounced like Row-G) is crawling, and attempting to pull herself up, known as “cruising” for our non-mommy readers. This crazy kid will even “walk” (move her feet as if she were walking) when we hold her upright. I’ve heard it before, and now believe it to be true, the second child hits their developmental milestones so much faster than the first did. It's hard to believe that she'll be nine-months old on September 6.

As I’m typing this quick post I can hear (through the monitor) Avery “praying." Her prayer is always the same: “Thank you Jesus for Mommy and Daddy and Romey. Amen!” It always makes me swell up when I hear her “pray.” It’s cute how she has her prayer memorized and races it through it and ends with her little amen finale. We’re talking about thanking Jesus, talking to Jesus, etcetera, which sometimes prompts her to make some additions to her prayer, but mostly she thanks God for her family. It’s hard to believe that she will start school in a few days. I will.............miss her.

Ro: "I see you!"

Ro's newly acquired skill, which has recently turned into finding her in the same spot but on her knees.

Attitude August

Prior to having children most of our friends were like us: kid-less. We did have a few "kid couple" friends. One of these "kid couples" came to mind recently. Dial back five years, and we were having dinner with this couple at their home, and one of the parent-child interactions was quite memorable. It went a little something like this:

The mom (exhausted) said: “Greg, Josh needs an attitude adjustment.” Note: Josh was three at the time, and giving his mom a hard time.

Greg (the dad) said: “Okay, I’m on my way.”

Now, what’s memorable about this isn’t necessarily the interaction between the two parents. What’s memorable is how Dan and I thought it was absolutely hysterical. We laughed about it for weeks, and still remember it to this day. I’ll bet you can see where I’m going with this…..karma has slapped us in the face, and over the past month we’ve seen an eruption of attitude from our dear sweet Avery. Avery’s become increasingly more demanding. She’s sweet as pie as long as she’s getting her way, but whoa to the parental who dares cross her. Avery attitude is best characterized as screaming, hollering, adding the word NOW to every phrase, and the best are the looks and the way she crosses her arms. I’m impressed, really, by her little looks –not particularly effective, but very laughable. Yes, she’s all three-year-old—a little manipulative negoitator swallowing up her parents. Homes where three-year-olds reside really should be outfitted with a trap door. Are you with me on this?

Aside from a little sprinkling of attitude, we’re doing well. Here are a couple highlights from the past several weeks:

*We celebrated my mom’s birthday with the ‘best steak ever.’ While we were indulging Avery was torturing the baby sitter, and ended the evening by doing cartwheels down the stairs. Super.

*We took a tour of Avery’s new pre-school, and, wow, was it awesome. Honestly, I did have a moment of “Wow, we’re here already? I can’t really believe it.” We’re all stoked, but I expect that Dan and I are going to have some first-day jitters (September 2). Avery, though, is going to love it. I’d be kidding myself to say that introducing Romey into the mix hasn’t totally TKO’d Avery’s social life. It has.

*I woke up one morning hearing Avery say, "I cut my hair while mommy and daddy were sleeping." Luckily it isn't very noticeable. Her shorter-layered hairstyle conceals the choppy parts fairly nicely. As typical with Avery type experiences, Dan and I said, "It could of been so much worse."

*Romey continues to be a joyful and happy kid. She’s just pure sunshine. Romey has started crawling and displays fierce determination when she’s got her sights set on a toy. Romey is sitting up, and has started babbling. She’s got one little tooth now, and continues to be such a sweet little girl. We’re still waiting for her to develop a love for solids, but, sadly, it hasn’t really taken off yet. It’s hard to believe that she is 8 ½ months old. Gratefully, though, she’s finally sleeping through the night (well, she won’t tonight cause I’m jinxing myself).

*It seems that there are a lot of babies sprouting up recently. I think I counted five in one week (born to friends/acquaintances). All these new baby pictures cause me to wonder, “Are we really done? Should we try for one more?” And then it occurred to me: I’d love to have another baby in the hospital but I don’t want to bring another baby home. We’re done. So done. Again, am I jinxing myself?

*Dan’s still a weight-loss fool, and we’ve been steering clear of the summer heat by watching some of the past seasons of the TV show 24. Wow, it’s cool. Don’t mess with Jack Bauer. ;)

Enjoy these recent pictures of the girls. We might be a little partial, but we sure think they are beautiful!

Our beautiful little brown-eyed blondie. Check out her first tooth.

An attitude moment.

Avery as a joey at Brookfield Zoo.

Avery feeling a little un-impressed by the giraffes.
All she wanted to do was play at the park and ride the merry-go-round.

Finally, Avery rides the merry-go-round and perfects her Miss America wave.

Lil' Sweetie

A Mommy Moment

I can tell that I am out of balance when my social graces start disappearing. When I’m out of whack my expectations become a tad unreasonable, my patience is thin, and holding my tongue takes extra-ordinary will power. So, what’s an out of balance stay-at-home-mom to do? Let’s go to the mall! And so we (me, Ave, and Ro) did just that.

Let me begin by saying that fat people and summer don’t mix (and yes, I’m speaking from experience). I’m total chub-club right now, and I swear I can feel every extra inch, bind, etcetera, when it is warm outside. I can tolerate it to a point, but beyond that, forget it. I’m totally scoping out the nearest air-conditioned hideaway.

So, I’m hot and my mood is fair, teetering on foul. Avery’s had a 0 for 2 record on the potty this morning, and had royally ticked me off by biting Romey. Mix in a little extra bossiness from my fair Avery and everything’s churning just fine. I’m determined though—we’ve got a few quick errands to do, and I’m thinking we can do it. We’re in the car, and we’re off.

We make it to the mall, and we’re unloading the double-stroller, and Avery decides that she doesn’t want to ride in the stroller today. Channeling my inner sweet mommy I tell her, “Sorry, honey, but you’ve got to ride in the stroller.” So I buckle her in—mind you it is a buckle that she can’t un-buckle—and we’re off to the first store.

Well, Avery still doesn’t want to ride in the stroller, so she bucks, and yells, and screams, “HELP!” Great, right? You know the drill—I can’t touch the kid. I can try to reason with her, negotiate with her, give her “the look,” and pull every piece of candy or food item from my purse to try and quiet my out-of-control three-year-old. When I first became a mom it really bothered me to have the out-of-control child. The curious glances and stares were really unsettling to me. Now I just kind of roll with it—knowing that my turn’s up today, and that the gawking mom’s turn will be up tomorrow. I’d be lying though to not admit that I’m thinking that they’re thinking that I’m the crappiest mom in the world, and that they just might be right. ;) But I’m embracing my crappiness, and am going to conquer these errands, and take no prisoners in the process.

This set the scene for two lapses in social graces. I won’t even document them because I know I blew it. I knew I had a choice to make, and I made the wrong one—twice. And I know that what I say sometimes isn’t nearly as bad as the looks I’m capable of giving. However, on this particular day my repertoire of looks wasn’t getting me anywhere—Avery was still bucking the system, and I was really getting annoyed with the kid. Romey’s still smiling, chewing on a toy, and Avery’s going berserk. What’s with this kid?

So, who should appear?—a woman in total headdress, covered head to toe in black drapery (except for her eyes). Avery starts gawking, and really who can blame her? I don’t dress in a headdress, and she’s probably never seen someone dressed like that before. It’s different; it’s curious. So, at the top of her lungs, Avery says, “Like Jesus!” Huh? Okay, I’m not making the connection either. Avery keeps repeating herself, the clerk is going on and on about their rewards program, and I’m desperately clicking my crocs together thinking get me out of here!

We did make it out of there, but without the help of an able-bodied gentleman who just stood there with this thumb up his......while I was struggling to get two kids (one of whom is bucking and crying), a double stroller, and some bags out of the mall exit. Seriously? Give a sister a hand!

Okay, we’re good. Thanks for going a little crazy with me. Praise God for a trip to Pleasantville. It’s time to pass the baton.

The latest

I’m so grateful for Romey and Avery. I’m especially thankful that I get to spend my days with them, and really get to know them. I always regret the days where I apathetically float through the day just trying to survive from one moment to the next. But, that’s often the life of a stay-at-home mom—toggling between loving it and hating it (not much in-between).

I recently went to an event that had me contemplating what it means to be ‘dialed in.’ And by ‘dialed in’ I guess I mean ‘in touch,’ have a finger on the pulse, and to know what’s happening. My earnest desire is to be ‘dialed in’ to these girls. Although many days seem to drag, I feel as though my time with these little ladies (as little ladies) is so short.

And speaking of short, check out Avery’s hair (below). One day I sort of reached my boiling point with Avery and her hair (because she doesn't like to have it combed), so decided to take her to the hair salon for a new cut, and by new cut I mean six inches. It’s pretty cute, and is ‘growing’ on us. ;)

What else is new? Here’s a quick rundown on Avery and Romey:

*Avery loves to cook and bake. She gets such a charge out of helping in the kitchen. A couple days ago we decided to make cookies. When the cookies were done I brought a plate of them to the table. Dan instinctively dips his cookie in a glass of milk, so Avery thought she’d do the same. What’s funny about this is that Avery tried to dip her cookie through the spout of the sippy cup. Naturally, she grew very frustrated. Dan and I are likely to be the only ones who will think this is funny, but thought we’d share. How did it end? Avery had chocolate smeared everywhere and was dripping in milk. It's good to be a kid.

*Avery is getting more and more communicative. This morning at church she was impatiently waiting for the elevator. The short and long of it: Avery’s hand got stuck in the elevator door, and she started crying hysterically, screaming “My hand hurts! It was stuck in the alligator!” Really? Alligators at church?

*We are on our third accident-free day (as refers to potty training). I never thought we’d get here, and totally get that ‘here’ isn’t somewhere I’ll always be, but I’ll enjoy the scenery of being ‘here’ while I’m here. Clear?

*Ro is still our smiley little kid. She’s still a toothless gal, but is majorly drooling so we expect that she’ll sprout her first tooth soon. Romey is sort of crawling and is sort of sitting up on her own. The jumperoo continues to be her favorite toy. And speaking of toys, Avery isn’t appreciating Romey’s new mobility (as Romey is getting into Ave’s toys), so we’ve had to run a little interference lately.

*Otherwise we’re surviving the heat, and already looking forward to fall. We can’t believe that Avery will be going to pre-school. Simply unbelievable! Stay tuned......Dan's nearing the 100-pound weight loss marker......

Avery helping with dinner. Check out those cool undies!

Avery taking a taste.....after I told her not to.

Lil' Ro -- nearing the 8-month old mark