A day in the life...

of Jonah and Elisabeth's mom. I took Jonah to a kids hair cuttery, anticipating a difficult time. Boy was I right. Jonah screamed and cried all through his haircut. I think there were more tears and snot on his cover-up than hair. I had to hold him in the chair trying to make him happy with crackers and candy. Nothing worked until near the end, I ask him if he wants ice cream, which of course he says yes. He continues crying and fighting though until we give him a lolly pop and another lady comes over and starts blowing bubbles. Then he settles down enough for the beautician to clean up around his ears and neck. After Jonah calmed down, Elisabeth, who has been sitting quietly in her carseat this whole time, decides she isn't happy and starts crying. So I pay and we get loaded back up in the car and I realize I now have to find a place to get ice cream because I said he could have some and I don't want to be a liar. So we are in route to the grocery store and I start thinking, "I could just get ice cream at the grocers and save a stop," but Elisabeth is crying hysterically in the car seat to the point that I think she is going to pass out or something. So I decide to stop somewhere for ice cream, which will give me an opportunity to calm her down. So we stop at this place I see along the way that has ice cream in the title. The nice gentlemen behind the counter says they don't have ice cream but haven't had enough money to change the sign (in that moment I am reminded of the financial crisis going on in the nation - easy to forget about when you have two kids). I see that he does have frappacinos and I figure that's close enough to ice cream that Jonah won't know the difference and I would really enjoy that as well. So we get our order and sit down. I nurse Elisabeth and at the same time give Jonah a lesson in sharing as he keeps saying "mine" and won't take turns sipping on the frappacino - little stinker. (By the way, that is the best frappacino I have ever tasted.) So we finish up and I manage to get everyone loaded back in the car after having to pry some toy Dinosaurs from Jonah's grip and carry him to the car and then change his diaper - just a wet one - Thank God. Elisabeth, of course, wakes up in the car seat on the way to Food Lion and isn't real happy but she's not screaming quite as bad as earlier. We arrive at the grocery store and I have to think through how I'm going to get myself, an active toddler, a baby, my wallet, and my coupons in and out of the store. I decide to put the baby in a snuggli on my chest as she obviously hates the car seat. I decide on the huge cart that's shaped like a race car to put Jonah in as well as my diaper bag and coupon binder. Jonah wants in the big basket area instead of by the steering wheel. So here I go through Food Lion with a baby on my chest and Jonah in the cart and me trying to keep him from throwing the cantaloupe like a ball or eating the grapes that I haven't paid for yet. People who see me look on with pity or like I'm crazy, but on we go, some people going out of their way to "make way" for us and to help us get checked out. We manage to get back to the car and this older gentlemen comes over to help me load the car and to take my cart back for me. Elisabeth is freaking out again through this process. I thank the man and take Elisabeth to the driver's side with me and nurse her again until she falls asleep. I managed to get her strapped back into her carseat without waking her up. She stayed peaceful for the drive home while Jonah watched a DVD on the portable DVD player - so I spent a very peaceful 10 minute drive back home. Elisabeth wakes up as car pulls in the garage. I get groceries and kids inside and manage to get the little girl down for a nap, feed myself and Jonah ......there is more but they are both sleeping now. And so I thank God for giving me grace for today and for Elisabeth sleeping 7 hours straight last night - you're much less likely to flip out during all the craziness if you're well rested. :)

Cake Anyone?

We went to a dinner celebration the other evening and Jonah was nice enough to share his cake with his best friend Olivia.



Notice he's sharing the best part - the icing :)

Elisabeth's Video Debut

I took this video of Elisabeth a few day's ago. I was trying to get her smiling. Of course, she doesn't like to cooperate when I have the camera, but there are a couple glimpses of her smiling and you can hear a few coo's too. Enjoy!

Giggles and Fun

Elisabeth giggled for the first time. Yesterday afternoon I went to clean her ear with a Q-tip and she shrugged her shoulder and giggled. I was shocked and delighted of course. I don't recall Jonah giggling so soon, but then it may be that time just seems to go slower with the first child. Later, when Kelly got home he held her for awhile and she was very alert and talking and smiling. Then he started tickling her and she started giggling again, which made us giggle as well.

Jonah has advanced in his playing recently. He has a couple of little people that he has been playing with a lot and pushing them around in his Little People boat. And what is funny is I think he is calling one of them Redgy which he actually pronounces "Ready". I think he is associating that boat with his Papaw who took us on a boat ride during a recent visit. Jonah heard Grammie calling his papaw, "Redgy" and started repeating it. He still says "papaw" but he still remembers "ready" as well. :-)

Early Teether

Well, I have determined that Elisabeth really is teething and that has been the source of much of her fussing the last few weeks. I gave her tylenol pretty much around the clock last week and it was a much more pleasant week than the previous month. Jonah cut his two bottom teeth at 3 months - his first 3 months were really difficult - being a first-time mom I didn't realize the cause of his crying until afterwards. This time all the drooling and the fact that tylenol has helped confirms it for me this time - even though I don't see teeth yet. She has been a much more smiley girl this week. I keep trying to catch her smiling with the camera but it hasn't quite happened yet.

Jonah Likes to Dance

We went to a wedding reception for a friend a week or so ago and when the music started Jonah showed us he knew how to "cut a rug."

Weekend in the Mountains

We went to the mountains this past weekend for a little getaway. We really enjoyed a little hike on Friday and then Jonah got to sit atop a horse on Saturday when we visited the same spot.

Nap Anywhere

As I mentioned in a previous post, Jonah is no longer sleeping in a crib. It has made naptime particularly interesting. We pretty much lock him in his room. Most days he goes to sleep fine, but you never know where exactly.

First Daycare Experience

I went to my first MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) meeting this week. I was a bit apprehensive about the childcare aspect, particularly with Elisabeth. Jonah did great - and it was his first experience in a daycare type setting. Elisabeth was having a fussy morning, but the ladies in the nursery really worked with her to sooth her. I checked on her 2 times - the first time she had fallen asleep. The second time I had to nurse her. When I picked her up at the end she was having one of her alert & calm moments. But she started crying when I put her in the carseat.

So far we haven't found any foolproof ways of soothing her. Sometimes one thing works, other times it doesn't. And sometimes she can cry so loud my ears litterally ring. But when she's having one of her quiet alert times, she is so sweet. She coo's and even smiles if you talk and smile at her. It looks as if she is going to have some striking blue eyes of her own, but darker than her brother's.

Screaming Contest

Okay, lots of blogging this week, but this is really good. We went to Florida a couple of weeks ago to see family. Jonah spent some quality time with his grandparents and aunts and uncles. Here is a clip of Jonah bonding in a way that only he can with his Aunt Christina, "AunTie." It begins with Jonah innocently putting a tuperware over his head and then deciding it's a good idea to scream also. Which is fine at first as it muffles the noise. Then AunTie does the same thing, and Jonah finds it hilarious, screams back, and falls on the floor. They do this for awhile until AunTie no longer has to make any noise at all; she just opens her mouth as if she's screaming and Jonah fills in the noise. Be prepared for some gut-wrenching histerics.

Juggling Act

I've posted a lot of Jonah pictures and didn't want to leave the little girl out.

She has been eating nonstop today. This may be the precursor to a growth spurt. If so that means she'll sleep all day sometime soon - that could be nice (sigh). It seems like for the most part I spend my day going back and forth between kids meeting their needs. Elisabeth slept long enough for me and Jonah to have lunch. Then she had a quiet moment when I was dealing with Jonah at nap time. But there are those moments when the baby is crying and Jonah is into something at the same time, that's when it gets a little hectic. I just signed up for a Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) group that meets twice monthly. The fact that I found myself being so excited about means I probably really need it. And they watch the kids for two hours. I don't know what I'll do with myself.
On a separate note, I'm starting to think I'm too lazy to keep calling her Elisabeth (Not that I call her by her name much now anyway - usually it's baby doll or baby girl or something). I may end up calling her Rose. I guess that means I should call her Elisabeth Rose until I make up my mind so I don't confuse people by changing her name on them. I'm sure this isn't the last thought on that though :-)

Jonah's 2nd Birthday

Yesterday was Jonah's actual birthday and since they sent us a coupon for a free kids meal, we went to Red Robin for dinner. Jonah really enjoyed meeting the Red Robin and eating spaghetti. They brought him a free dessert and sang a happy birthday song to him which he really loved. There is a couple of videos below (the lighting isn't so good but you get the feel of it.)

Jonah's Birthday/Labor Day Party

Since Jonah was born on the Labor Day Holiday in the year he was born, we had a party for him this labor day and invited a few friends. He had a great time at the park. Here are some moments from the day:





For more pictures from the party click here.