Life With 2

Jackson 26 mos Julia Fuller 2 mos

 Given that I hadn't blogged since having the baby that should be a dead give away that life with two is... just a little more hectic?  A lot.  Some days I wonder if I actually have 200 not 2.  I'm still working from home and that just adds to the chaos.  Jackson goes to preschool MWF for half days and the baby is home with me for now.   Not gonna lie- I'm already looking forward to summer and all of our sitters to be out of school for three months :)

Nice outfit.  Making muffins- our favorite

Sometimes we lose our minds and do things like agree to having other 2 year olds come over to make crafts.  I like to think of it as intense behavioral therapy for my OCD because having a house full of toddlers negates the possibility of things staying orderly or fingerprint free.  More than anything else I am SOOOO thankful for our playroom this winter.  Sometimes Dad even gets in on the mess.
   

 Jackson is still obsessed with Curious George and reading.  We read two books and sing a song before nap and his bedtime.  He'd rather have a book than a toy just like his mama.  He likes reading to Julia Fuller and teaching her things. 

If only I could keep them in here all the time!

 Even though it was cold and wet all winter we get out when we can. 

First hockey game for both of them.

Zoo time!

Riding the trolley.  Best day of Jackson's life so far.

Helping Dad mow. 

Feeding the ducks at Furman University

 Things are settling down now and we are getting into a routine.  He still gets up by 6:30.  She sleeps until at least 8.  Their afternoon naps are getting closer together.  It'll be a great day when they are at the same time so I can get more done around here.  We can't complain too much.  It's not like we had twins.

Our twin friends.  No, just no. 

 
 

More summer fun

 Since school was out for the month of August we tried to stay busy doing things with our moms' group here in Greensville.  I was fortunate enough to meet a great group of ladies who get together and do all kinds of things from book club to nights out to library events and play dates.  It is so nice to be a part of a group like this and get to spend time doing so many things with our little guys!

We had everyone over to make suncatchers

 It wasn't nearly as hot this summer as last so we've taken advantage of it and gotten a few park outings in lately.  There's a really great one close to our house called Century Park that we love. 
 

 We stopped in to see Greatest Grandad on the way down to the beach.  I told Jackson where we were going as we got close and even though it had been a few months since he last saw G Gdad as soon as I unbuckled him he ran over and hugged "Dad dad" as hard as he could.  He LOVES some Dad dad.

The peaches were so good that we went back a second time for more.  This trip he knew what to do and was not very happy once we filled our basket. 

Look who has a new big boy bed!  We were going to wait a bit longer but after being gone at the beach for a week and not being in his crib I thought it would be better to go ahead and make the switch.  He loves his bed.  In the last week when he wakes up he gets his books and climbs up in his rocker to read.  If it means we don't have to get up at 6am then I will build an entire library in there for him!   

I can't remember if I blogged about this before but every night when Matt gets home Jackson runs out and gets in the car with him to "vroom vroom".  He insists on wearing his belt.  Safety first, Dad.

This is his penguin.  It is nearly as big as he is.  The darn penguin is a permanent fixture here lately- even while eating. 

Dinosaurs and beads.  Can't go wrong.  

Nothing beats the Gulf

A verrrry sweet lady who used to work with Matt was kind enough to offer us her beach house in Pensacola while she was on vacation.  Matt had to travel that week so I asked my friend Melanie to come down from north Alabama and you bet she took me up on that!  Granted, hitting the beach with a not even 2 year old is just not the same as the old days, but we had a great time catching up and catching the sun when it wasn't raining.  I can't even begin to express how grateful I am to Diana for trusting her home to the three of us!

We'll get him up on a board in NO TIME! 

Jackson absolutely loved the beach.  He could have stayed there all day. 

He may have loved the pool more.  By the end of the week he would jump on in if we weren't careful.  He obsessively likes to float and got brave enough for me to let go and just let him do it.  Next summer he will be swimming like a dolphin :)  I took a couple videos and need to add one on here. 

Just a little behind... meet Julia Fuller!

This little peanut caused contractions for months.  Sometimes they were so strong that if I hadn't already had a baby I would have thought that "surely" that was IT.  It never was.  For days, weeks, months even.  Four days before her due date was no different.  We went to a tailgate at our neighbors' house across the street that afternoon but mama got tired of standing around and left early. 

At midnight my water broke but I wasn't 100% sure.  My mom thought I peed myself but I was pretty sure I'd have known that... after about a half hour I woke up Matt and told him and then we called the hospital.  Our sweeeet neighbor April came over to spend the night with Jackson and we headed out.  Yes, we actually stopped for coffee (for Matt) on the way and the lady handing it over commented, "You having that baby tonight?"  "WHAAAAT I better hurry on up!" and about had a fit of laughter. 

 Once we got to the hospital they told me I wasn't in labor.  NO WAY.  I had done this before.  I told the nurse I most certainly wasn't going home.  A half hour later she was convinced enough to admit me.  From there things rocked and rolled as usual.  The epidural didn't take.  For hours.  Four hours to be exact.  If I'd wanted to go natural that would have been fine but I did not.  After that things stalled out so Dr. Cook came on in and helped BabyThing on out of there.   

 She weighed in at a whopping 8lbs 3 oz and was 20" long.  Champion eater and sleeper right out of the gate. 

 

We stayed the full three days (heaaaaaaven to be waited on hand and foot!).  She was back up to birth weight by the time we left.  Oh my.  Here is her grand arrival home.

These are a few of my favorite things

Jackson had some pretty big news to share this past Easter :)  Yep, he is getting a brother or sister in early November!  He wore his new shirt to tell everyone.  Aunt E and Erik hid eggs all over Grammy and Dad Dad's house.  We took him to a big Easter Egg hunt, but getting to find them over and over again was much more fun.  He even got to sit in big church and lasted for most of the service.  He claps and cheers at the end of every "song" which is cute at Easter, but not exactly appropriate all the time.   

 For Mother's Day we went out to the airport for lunch.  Our regional has a great little place to eat called the Runway Cafe.  Small planes come in and out every few minutes and they are putting in a nice playground. 


There is always something fun going on in Greenville.  One of the best loved events is called Touch a Truck.  They had about 25 different kinds of trucks that all the kids could climb in, honk the horns, and explore.  He and Dad had a great time. 

We've been working on our yard.  He's quite the little helper.  He has his own shovel and rake and loves watering all the new plants. 

This year Nana and Grandad invited us to join them and Aunt Rachel's family for a few days in Monteagle, TN.  It had been six months since the cousins all saw each other so they were very excited the whole time and really loved getting to play non stop.  Jackson and Meredith wore each other out.  By next year James will be running around too and all three of them will be unstoppable!   

We are really, really fortunate to live in the upstate.  There is pretty much something ready to be picked all year long within a half hour drive.  We missed the blueberries because I just didn't feel well enough to go and it rained every day for two months, but we did peach picking twice.  Sooooo delicous.  

The little engineer is at the stage where he loves stacking, sorting and organizing his toys into lines and groups.  He's obsessed with airplanes and trains.  He jumps all day long and never walks- he runs.  If I only I had half his energy. 

 


Potty training is going really well for now.  We go on short trips to the store with no diaper and he doesn't wear one at home.  He's getting pretty good about letting us know when he needs to go instead of just making him try every 25 minutes.  He doesn't like when we put a diaper on him so that's a good sign! 
 

Helping Mama at work

We are getting him ready for his big bed so we converted his crib about a week ago.  Most of the time he stays in it but every so often at nap I have to turn it to face the wall if he's just too rowdy and bouncing all over his room.  He likes being able to get in and out all by himself.  We could probably put him in the bed now, but I like being able to trap him instead of having to go lay him back down every 10 seconds for an hour on the days he isn't cooperating.  It's staying like this for at least two more months until we take it down completely and move it back into the nursery for #2. 

School is out the month of August so we've gotten to spend a lot of time doing fun things.  Sometimes we just go to the pool, sometimes we make crafts, we go to a lot of play dates, hit the zoo, and have taken a lot of little weekend trips while Dad works on projects around the house.  I'm enjoying my last few months of one on one time with my little Penguin!