Shout out

Thanks so much to Aunt Beth and Uncle Ben!!!!!!  After we got home from running errands there was a package waiting for us......

Inside was a box of diapers of each boy!

How generous and thoughtful of them to buy not one, but 2 boxes of diapers!  It is astounding how quickly diapers rack up our grocery bill, so this will help us out tremendously. As an added bonus, the box was so big that Jake can play in it!

This face says it all, don't you think?

Thank you so much.  Dan and I cannot express how much we appreciate it.  Can't wait to see you guys in less than a month!!!!

Summertime slump

I don't know what my problem is, but I am constantly angry and fed up at the world.  It could be the diet and exercise,(lack of sugar and walking everyday, it could be that I am stuck at home EVERY SINGLE DAY and never have a moment to myself, or it could be due to all the family problems Dan and I are having.  Your guess is as good as mine.

The weather has been gorgeous.  Cool in the mornings and warm in the evenings, perfect summer weather and I don't want anything to do with it. We play outside about 5 minutes and then come and watch tv.  I feel guilty for not taking advantage of the beautiful weather and teaching my son to watch tv instead of playing, but I can't summon the energy to do anything about it.

Watching endless TV 

Jake has hit the terrible twos.  He refuses to take naps and then is a crying mess for the rest of the day.  He is obsessed with TV.  He finds the remotes, iPads or phones and hides in the bedroom watching his shows.  He finds pens and the colors on every surface. He also throws fits and screams his head off when he doesn't get his way.

Pen on the blanket and wall

Throwing a fit because I wouldn't let him eat Legos

Caleb, my wonderful guy, is the only light in my darkness.  I love sitting with him and and making him laugh or listening to him babble.  It's amazing how happy he makes me.

Our fridge broke and we had to last 5 days of eating out of a cooler until the new fridge was delivered. We had to pitch all the food that wouldn't fit into the cooler and go to the store every night to get something for dinner.  Our cupboards were very bare and I was starving.

I think I need a vacation.  Time away from everything and everyone.  I need to recharge and reset and get happy.  But, alas, that won't happen;this is the life of a mother.

4 months!

This boy is always so happy. He is a smiley laughing machine.  All you have to do is look at him and he gives you a 100 watt smile.  

He is a great baby.  Sleeping at least 10 hours a night, almost rolling over, sitting up with little help and ever so happy.  He loves his monster blanket and cuddles with it.  He is a drooling mess and puts everything in his mouth.  

Every mother says that time is going by so quickly, but I feel that is perfect.  I am a not a fan of the infant stage and can't wait for him to be older, but Caleb makes it easy for me to love this stage. I love his smile and is by far the cutest best looking babe (but I'm a lot bias!)

Playmates

Our next door neighbors grandkids visit 2 days a week and they invite the boys to play with them.  The girl is 5 and the boy is 3 months older than Jake, so a perfect age.  The first time the kids visited, Jake heard them playing and went right over and starting playing next to them. No shyness or hesitancy from my big guy!

Look at the size difference! Jake is 3 months younger and he is twice the size!

I love that Jake had some one to play with during the summer.  He never had another child his age as a playmate.  All is cousins are older and we don't see them enough because they live in a different state (we FaceTime and he recognizes them but it's not the same as playing with them).  He does great playing with his friends.  They don't fight or squabble over toys, and everyone gets along.  I'm so proud of him playing nicely with other kids. I was nervous about him grabbing toys or hitting, but he surprised me.  Every time we go outside, he runs next door and looks for them.  I wish we had more kids his age who live around us, but now that I know he can handle playing with new kids, I should look for play groups or take him to kid friendly places.

Bigger beds

Over the weekend we moved the boys to bigger beds.  Jake is now sleeping in a toddler bed and Caleb is in Jake's old crib.  We put the beds up in the morning so the boys would have a chance to get used to sleeping in them before bedtime.  We put up the video monitor to check on them and make sure they were okay.  Jake cried and got out of the bed and banged on the door until we had to yell at him to lay down.  He eventually fell asleep and was very anxcious to get out of the room when he woke up.  Because he didn't take a second nap in the afternoon, at bedtime he was exhausted and fell asleep right away.  It's going to be a hard transition for him.  He usually handles new things very well, but something about this bed is throwing him off.  We will have to stay vigilant and help him learn to stay in bed when we put him down to sleep.

This is an hour into nap, still awake and walking around. Finally fell asleep at the 2 hour mark.

Caleb handled his transition much better.  He sleeps like a champ in the crib.  He is such a good baby! He is in the crib, asleep by 8:30 pm and wakes up around 6:00 am.  I think he would sleep longer if his brother wouldn't wake him up, but there's nothing I can do about that.  Our job with him is to get him to fall asleep in the crib not in his bouncy seat.  It's hard because Jake is in bed at 7 pm and Cal doesn't go to bed until 8 pm.  Either we will push Jake back or Caleb earlier.  Hopefully both boys are sleeping perfectly by the end of the month.

Busy weekend

Jake and I had a very busy but fun weekend!  Thursday Jenny came over in the afternoon so we could hang out.  We went to Noodles and Company for dinner then walked around some shops to get steps.

Friday after work we met Allison at the lake!! We went for a walk first and when we finally became hot enough we jumped in the water.  Jake is much better at swimming now and we no longer have to worry so much about him dunking.

Saturday we went to the local park to go canoeing with my siblings.  Jenny and her boyfriend rented a canoe and Ben and Allison rented a paddle boat so Jake and I could come and not feel excluded from family outings.  We didn't boat for long because it's so much work, but we did go swimming afterwards. That night Ben and Allison took us out to eat at Famous Daves, a BBQ joint.  After a delicious meal we went to a playground for Jake.  It was pretty relaxing to sit and watch while they chased Jake. :-). We had ice cream for dessert, then came home and went right to bed!

Sunday we moved the boys room around so we could fit a bed for Jake and a crib for Caleb.  I felt it was time for both boys to sleep in bigger beds.  More on this later...... Then we took a walk on the bike path.  I loved getting out of the house this weekend and finally doing something.  I also love spending time with my family and them playing with the boys.  It means so much to me that they include us even though our kids have to tag along and create problems sometimes.  Maybe Allison and I could make swimming a weekly outing!