The Last Gymboree Class

 Today was James' last day at Gymboree.  I am super sad about this.  I really enjoy our Gymboree days, and remember back to the first day I went with Joel Andrew.  Joel Andrew did so well with the classes and really learned a ton there.  In the beginning it just got us out and taught me basic things like kids like bubbles, and when you sing, and peek-a-boo. When I was working part-time it was part of our great Mommy-Joel days home together.  And, when I was super pregnant and/or when James was super new, it kept us together - gave him something to do and something to do with me, or with his grandparents.

Joel Andrew is semi-grown out of it, but mostly the times of day were hard for us with his schedule.  Plus, it was hard to bring James at this point and I felt a sibling class did not do it justice.  So, I left Joel Andrew out and kept bringing James to his own classes.  And it was a good thing too.  Because otherwise when I am home alone with him those days I just find myself lugging him places and setting him down with toys while I did laundry, while I cooked, while I played on the computer.  Gymboree forced us to have play time, just the two of us.  I will so miss it.

He was just starting to really enjoy it too... Last week he almost pummeled another baby for moving in on his "girlfriend."  He giggles and dances when we sing the song with all the noise, and of course loves the bubbles.  His favorite though, is eating the bells there.  Gross.  I know we can do all these things at home.  But, at home there are distractions, and his brother...  I need to make a promise to him that he will have Mommy time at least a few times a week.  He deserves it.  He is awesome.

So, it was super-sad to walk out of class, but I know we will be back in some form or another.  They have weekend classes that we might try in the fall.  In a few weeks we are going to start a pool class for the both boys on the weekends, and then it is lake/travel time so for now we are taking a Gymboree break.  Thanks for all the memories!

Skiing, The conclusion 2012

This weekend was our last weekend skiing at Sunday River.  In the coming weeks we are off to Chicago and then I am going back to work and will probably not be able to handle a weekend trip in the first few weeks - so it looks like we will not be up again this year.  It is sad to say goodbye so soon to our ski place.  I love it up here, but have had a bit of a love/frustration relationship with it the past few years. 

It is hard to be up here with little kids.  The place gets small quick when we are all couped up inside.  And, as much as this is a resort area, there really is nothing else to do but ski (I know, duh! - but seriously I thought maybe one or two other activities...).  Besides the fact that they are too young for tubing and ice skating - those activities only happen on the weekends at night, fireworks are now infrequent (and usually after kids are in bed), and restaurants get crowded quickly. Of course there are no playspaces, and going for a walk in the lodge is our big outing for the day.  There are places to go to for rock climbing, snow mobiling, dog sledding, cross country skiing, snow shoeing, but again, not for kiddos...

All that being said, all those things will be awesome in a few years.  Whenever we close up Sunday River I think about how much will happen between now and the next time we will be up - either for wife carrying in October, or more likely in January... I have already gone through the toys we have up here as some will be obsolete by next winter.  Next year Joel Andrew will be old enough to go into ski classes, which should change everytihng.  I am hoping he will love it. 

I look at all the families in the lodges, Moms with teenage boys, and I think how awesome things will be in 5 years, in 10 years, and how in 15 years it will be almost all over.  This place will be golden when the boys are 4-18.  There will be so much going on we will be exhausted and craving for an afternoon where we just sit and watch a movie in the condo! I don't want to wish my time away, but I am looking forward to it a ton.

Other things we discovered this year is that the lodge food is actually not so bad - they have a great sushi place there!  Also, at the Bethel Inn you can go on horse carriage rides.  Our neigbors were nice enough to take us when they were up in January, it was awesome!  Of course, there is also the pool that Joel Andrew loves.  We took James for the first time yesterday and he had a ball.  Mommy does not really know how much fun he had, however, because I try to steer clear of the pool.  It icks me out.  I am a bit of a germie.  That's pretty much it of stuff to do if you have a baby here. They do have a great on-mountain day care that Baby James loved.  I wonder though if next year when I have James in daycare all week, if I would put him in day care on the weekend too...  Hmmm.  Only two more years with babies here...

So, to end our note on Sunday River...  Joel Andrew went skiing yesterday for the last time this year.  And, boy is he glad. Since he did so well the day before with Pa on the basic lift, we thought we would push our luck and take him up the Chondola - which goes about double the height and to more advanced trails.  Obviously not a good plan, but it seemed like a good plan since he would get to ride in the heated gondola.  Anyway, long story short - the ski run ended almost as soon as it began with a Joel Andrew crying and screaming "Pick me up!" "Pick me up!" over and over again while simultaneously Joel Husband trying to be as patient as possible repeating "Stop crying" "Look at me" over and over again.  It was a sad way to end the ski year for Joel Andrew - I was so proud of him, 2-1/2 and going on the lift, up until this point loving going down the mountain...  But it was also a funny way to end it too.  I looked at my son, throwing a tantrum on the mountain and I wished I had my video camera.  This would have been an awesome moment to capture and play back to him later when he is begging for one more run!  Plus, he looked erriely like Mommy - when I learned to ski when I was 22 I pretty much had the same episode, to the T - with Joel Husband trying to be patient with me - but sadly Joel Husband could not carry me back down the mountain then...  That lesson 10 years ago taught Joel Husband and I that it is better to have someone you are not related to or friends with teach you how to ski - and so we will carry that lesson onto our children and next year, first thing, Joel Andrew will be going into ski classes.  And, he will probably love it.

So, that is all Sunday River!  We had fun.  We are getting excited for next year already. 

Baby James Days

I am generally excited about going back to work.  In a few weeks I will be rejoining my old place of job, in a more senior position.  This is super exciting and I am ready for the challenge, thrilled to be back with my old co-workers (and new ones since there has been some change since I have been gone), and have an exciting mix of knowing what to expect since I worked there, but changing things up since they are in a neat transition period and I will be in a new position to boot. It really is an awesome mix and I could not have asked for more for going back to work.  Well, I could have asked for all this and part time, but that wasn't going to happen.

So, I am not sad for Joel Andrew.  He is already in "school" 3 days a week, and loves it.  He is thriving there and they love him too.  I know an additional two days a week will be a transition for him and I too, but I am not too worried about it.  He does well on routine, and this will be even more of a routine then we have now.  He will be good.

James will be good too.  The one time we put him in daycare thus far (on the ski mountain) he loved it.  Did not even know I left, or care when I came back.  Kids, toys, new people to flirt with, he was in heaven!  The exact opposite of when Joel Andrew first went to daycare.  We went to see where he will be today and I think he wanted to stay there.  I told his teachers that he sleeps 4 hours during the day each day and they better not mess him up (the only bummer of the ski place daycare was that James did not nap, at all there).  They assure me they just go with my schedule, until he turns one.  He will have a good 6-8 weeks of our schedule, continued, but at this new place with new friends.  I know he will love it.

But I am super sad.  I will miss my little man.  Don't get me wrong, I will miss Joel Andrew too - but I am super sad about missing my little man.  We have the best days together when Joel Andrew is at school.  When Joel goes off, James and I play together.  I am trying to teach him to clean up (by putting shapes back in his little bucket), but he does not seem to like this at all, and prefers just to dump things out. He then naps the rest of the morning, and I get stuff done (blogging, album making, travel plans, laundry, cleaning, etc).  He wakes up and we go on our excursion which is usually errands but he does not care because he just likes being out and seeing things and people.  He loves the supermarket, he loves shopping carts of any kind.  On the way home from our excursion we pick up lunch, eat together at home and then he naps, while Mommy is supposed to be getting dinner ready but usually ends up on Pinterest or napping herself.  These days are lovely.  Relaxing.  We have fun together.  He is my buddy.

I know that things will change shortly anyway.  He will get older and no longer like shopping.  He will someday no longer nap.  I will not be able to be on the computer anymore when he is around.  But I still like him, he is my buddy.  My husband says I baby him too much.  I think I am just making up for me not being so nice to him in the beginning when I had a tough go of it.

I just keep thinking that going back to work will be good for all of us.  I will miss my days with both boys, our excursions out - but I know we can continue these days through vacation time and weekends.  What I will miss the most (and ironically the reason that drives me back to work the most) is focusing entirely on them, what they are doing, what they are wearing, what they are eating.  No doubt about it, when my new and very busy job kicks into high gear, I am not going to be able to coordinate outfits so often.  I just have to remember all the time I have had with them, over two and a half years with Joel Andrew and almost 11 months with James Morris - all to myself, and be thankful.  Of course, I need to put things in perspective too...  I will still see them first thing when they wake up and last thing before they go to bed, and all throughout the weekends too.  (I am hoping my job will not go crazy with weekend events, hint, hint job people who are reading this!)...  They will still have their Mommy and I will still have them, we will just all need to adjust.

In the meantime, Baby James and I are going to enjoy one of our last days together, alone, without working Mommy.

Jump On In

 Yesterday Joel Andrew and I ditched Baby James with daddy, and went to an indoor playspace by ourselves.  There are actually quite a number of indoor playspaces in the area, we happened to visit Jump On In in Portsmouth (part of a chain and there are also locations in a number of places including in Mass - Lowell, Woburn, Haverhill, even in NJ and Texas!).  We ended up here because the timing worked best for us.  It was the second time we ran into an old classmate of Mommy's from Colby.  He has an adorable little daughter, and also has a love of getting out and having fun with her too (obviously!).  While making idle chatter, he noted I had two kids.  To which I replied, "Yes, and you should keep the one for as long as possible before you go to number 2."  To which he replied, "We are due in July."  Awesome.  I am very good at stepping in it.

Anyway, back to the fun.  It was a lot of fun.  It was $10 for two hours of open bounce.  I believe you get a discount the more kids you bring.  We had to sign a waiver, and then that was it.  Take your shoes off (wear socks), leave coats and bags to the side, and literally jump on in.  I guess it gets pretty crowded, and sometimes they close the space when it is at capacity, so you can reserve your space ahead of time online.  I find this to be an awesome gimmick by the company - because really, with little kids how do you know what you are going to do days in advance?  How many times have people paid and just not shown up, I wonder?  That wasn't going to be me...  We did not reserve online and we were there at opening, and got in no problem.

Joel is under 3, so he was good to go in the under 3 jumpy house.  Pretty quickly the place filled up like you wouldn't believe, and there were 5, 7, even 10 year olds running around and jumping everywhere.  This made it a little hard on us to get into the bigger kid jumpy houses, which of course he really wanted to do.  The slides are huge and scary for Mommy!  But not my kiddo, right up and then down them.  I was very nervous for him all by himself in one of the big kid houses so I went with him each time.  But, I can see that once he is older it will basically just be me sitting on the sidelines and him running and jumping all around.  There were lots of parents there just chatting on the side.  This place should probably serve alcohol.  Ha, can you imagine?

There were 5 bouncy houses in all, most with slides, and there was an area to practice playing baseball, as well as an air hockey table.  I think you can have parties there, I might look into it for Joel Andrew's 3rd.

All in all, it was a good time.  The vending machine was probably the most educational part of the visit.  Joel got to pick a color soda, we identified the letter and the number slot it was on, found the letter and the number on the selection pad, and watched the new fangled vending machine gently lift the sods bottle and deposit it for us.  Too funny.

So, some rules if you want to go - do not bring your baby if your other child needs assistance.  Think about going with other Moms and Dads, as the kiddos are so occupied and easy to monitor (almost all the houses only have one way in and one way out, so easy to figure out where they are) so you can get some good chatting done if you do not feel like you need to assist them.  But, if you do feel like you want to go in with your kiddos, prepare to get a workout.  All that jumping and climbing is a lot of work!  Joel had a great time but after 45 minutes he even said he had enough.  I think you can buy a pass to save some money, but we will try some of the other playspaces first too just to see what one is the best.  But otherwise, I highly recommend what we did - which was to let him jump like crazy for the first 45 minutes of our day, and then drag the kiddo who is now tired on errands, and then to lunch, then home for a late nap.  Worked perfectly!  

PS - someone brought this up, I am never compensated for any of my posts.  Just like to share the places we go to, how it was and perhaps pass some tips on for you guys!

Joel Andrew, 2-1/2 Years!

 This post is about a month over-due, but my first baby has passed the 2-1/2 year mark!  Can you imagine? My little man, the one that did not want to eat, the one that had all the rashes (I should say has), the one that  was my buddy and could not stand to be away from me for a millisecond, is over 2-1/2 years old!  Not so much my little boy anymore, but still my main-man.

Joel Andrew has always had personality, and as he grows his personality shines more and more.  He is, of course, the best little guy ever!  Except when he gets the evil look in his eye - and he does - then he is slightly challenging.  It is funny, it just comes over him in waves, he gets this look like - "I am going to be bad, and test you" - and he does.  But, with some calm coaxing I am usually able to settle him down right back into his normal, awesome self.

He really is awesome.  He has been in the "big boy bed" for a few months now, and still waits in bed every morning for me to get him up.  He puts his dirty clothes in the hamper without me asking.  He cleans up his toys, always, without a whimper.  He frequently hugs his brother out of no where, totally unprompted and says "I love you Baby James."  He also does the same to me.  Melts my heart.

He is a little picky with the eating, but only for a little bit and if we hold out long enough, he ends up eating whatever is on his plate.  He is about to kick napping altogether, but we hang on and all enjoy the days he gets a good snooze.  He loves school, but even more school loves him.

I think he is really appreciating all of the excursions I have been taking him on.  Today we had a day together (full post tomorrow) and he kept saying he was going to the Museum (even though I told him 10 times we were not)...  But, he likes Museums!  I always line up our days for him, and what we are going to do, and now at the end of every description of our day he responds with: "That sounds like a good plan, Mommy."  Come on, can you get any cuter?

It is so awesome to watch his personality unfold.  He does have tantrums and the "terrible twos" (which I hear really are terrible 3's), but I feel like even he doesn't want to throw them and he is just doing it because that is what you are supposed to do at this age.  It is hard to believe that Baby James will be this big one day.  I am certain Baby James will not be as neat, or as good at staying in the bed...  

I can't believe he is 2-1/2.  We are half way to kindergarten!  

Boston Children's Museum

Today we went to the Boston Children's Museum, for the second time.  I am happy to say that I have now broken even on my ASTC-ACM membership, $120 earned and spent!  And, it is only February.  Two reasons why I am glad I got my money's worth now, even though the membership does not expire until November:  1 - I am going back to work, probably not going to be able to manage weekly excursions any longer...  But, and duh - something that was just brought up to me is #2 - I work for a non-profit that has reciprocal free entry with other institutions...  So, starting March 19th I am going to have a whole new set of places to visit, for free!  Love it!

Anyway, once again I felt the Museum was mobbed.  But was told by many that it was practically empty.  They cautioned that it would be madness next week (school vacation).  We will be happy to stay away!  We stayed mostly in the playspace area, which is also where we ate.  I brought peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, which FYI are a no-no in these sorts of places.  The other Moms I was with were in the know, they had jelly and cream cheese and jelly.  Whoops.  Baby James ate everything, ran around using the push cart, crawled all over the place and tried to eat every small toy.

Joel Andrew had an awesome time too.  He played with the choo-choos, enjoyed some games and puzzles, drove his fellow friends in the car, and asked to go poopy on the potty.

Yes, you heard me, the day came when I had to take my toddler to a public restroom and watch him touch the toilet and the stall walls and deal with all that while a baby was in the carriage, all so he could go poopy on the potty. This has been our last hold-out for complete potty training, because I am such a germie that I did not think I could handle this.  Luckily Kate was there to support me, and Joel kinda forced the issue because he asked to go - so it all worked out.  Mommy wiped it down, he went on, did his thing, and that was that!  It is especially hard though because school taught him to sit backwards, so he needs to take his pants off which means he needs to take his shoes off too - have you ever heard of this?  Can I now re-train him to go forwards?

It was a great day, and they are "chill in' " in their beds now.  It makes me sad because with all of our travels coming up this maybe our last Museum excursion as I am a stay at home Mom.  I am going to need to take a day here or there to go on one, or get out on the weekends too.  Because even though it is challenging and a lot of work, it is a lot of fun too.

For memory sake, thought I would record what a day like today usually looks like:

7am - wake up boys, potty try, get dressed, play in rooms
7:45ish - downstairs, bottle for baby james while we watch the news.
8:15ish - breakfast for all  - today, eggy-woos
8:45ish - mommy cleans up while the boys watch a Mickey, then it is "spa-time"- boys get their nails cut
9:15ish - we all go upstairs and all get changed into our second outfits (the real-camera-ready outfits for the day)
9:45ish - last part of the Mickey, and baby james has another bottle (have to pack them in now, because he is not a public drinker).  Then load up in the car, and go
10ish - Ride in - quick stop at Dunkin Donuts for coffee for me, and three plain munchkins for Joel...  By the time we are on the highway baby james is passed out for his morning nap.
11:15ish - arrive at our destination.
Play time
2:30ish - back on the road, all ride home baby james naps.  Sometimes, usually with 5 minutes left in the ride, Joel naps.  Today Joel did not nap, which meant baby james only napped 40 minutes, which means awkward afternoon (since he is accustomed to napping 4 hours during the day and today only caught 90 minutes).  If Joel does fall asleep, I drive around and around until one or both wakes up.  If he doesn't we book it home, get Joel in for a nap and try to transfer baby james.

Sadly, today baby james did not transfer.

Baby James Morris, 9 Months

This weekend Baby James Morris turned 9 months old.  Normally you would say, just as much time out as in - but I will reserve that comment for when he is 10 months old.

What a charmer this guy is...  A go with the flow, always happy, always loving little man.  He is walking now - if he just had the confidence.  He cruises everywhere and walks with his push cart.  But the second he takes a step away from the couch he gets a look on his face like -wait, what am I doing?  I can't do this? - and falls.  My ped told us yesterday he will be walking within the month, and running in a month and two days.  I am pretty sure he is right.

As always, the kid is into the dangerous stuff, right away.  His new fav pastime is pulling the Wii from the entertainment center in the playroom.  The only thing in there that is slightly dangerous.

He is a great little guy who is not so clingy to his Mommy.  I hope this keeps up as in one month I will be back at work...  But I left for the weekend, no problem.  I came back though to the biggest smile ever.  His new thing, is to crawl at me with so much excitement he just can't handle it and he needs to stop, put his head down, and then rev up to get going again.  It is pretty much so cute that I can't take it.

Each night that Daddy is away in Canada, we have a dance party filled with Beyonce songs.  Joel Andrew specifically asks for "Booty Delicious" now.  I really want to get it on video camera, because James is a dancer.  The little man stands up, holding onto the coffee table and bops like crazy.  The other night he was doing it in nothing but a diaper, I don't think any of us were ready for all that jelly...  Seriously, if I just had video of this he would be on Ellen tomorrow.  The problem is he only bops when you are bopping, and it is hard to take video when you are bopping...

My little baby boy is quickly turning into a little boy.  The baby is moving fast, but he will always be a little baby to me.  Even though he is a biter (how do I stop this?  I look like a vampire has attacked me) and a hair puller, I can't stay made at this little perfect face.  Happy 9 months, James!

Seacoast United

 Today we went to the Seacoast United indoor soccer place for play time.  This weekend was girls weekend, and although Joel Husband did a great job keeping the house clean, and the boys fed, etc - they did not leave the house the entire weekend.  So, this morning the first thing we did was get out to some place where Joel Andrew could run.  And, run he did.  I ran with him while Baby James chilled in the corner.  It was a great time!  $5, one hour, now we can have quiet time while Baby James naps.

BUT - and a big but here.  Towards the end I could tell Joel Andrew was getting thirsty and hungry.  He was also getting pissed that I had now started to carry Baby James (lots of people started showing up and he could not longer chill in peace).  Finally, I was chatting with another Mom - and he turned into MEGA BRAT.  After a few tantrums, I finally got him outside. In the parking lot he broke away from me and ran away.  This is the second time in less than a week he has done this.  I screamed bloody murder and yanked him by his hood on his jacket.  Still does not seem to be getting across to him.  Fine, throw a tantrum, but run in the parking lot?  What do you do?

See Science Center

 Today we went to the See Science Center in Manchester, NH.  What an awesome place!  I guess I was not expecting much, since it is in Manchester, but it was fantastic!  First of all, kids under 3 are free; adults are only $8 (I was free with my ASTC/ACM membership, which I am now up to $96used/$120 spent), and it is huge!  Well, certainly not as huge as the Boston Science Museum, but pretty big.  Two floors!  One floor has a massive Lego town, with a choo-choo that goes around and round, so Joel Andrew was content staring at that for hours.  I think Joel Husband finally found his volunteering niche should they need assistance building a massive lego town again.  He could totally help them.

 Anyway, the very simple and easy to use science experiments were all over the place.  Kids that are 2 can operate them and have a good time, and kids that are as old as 12 can actually learn the principles behind them.  It was genius the way they set things up.  Not too many labels to overwhelm or bore kids, and lots of interactive fun too - a place where you can pull yourself up in a chair, a place to make music, a place to have a ball float on air (clearly the scientific stuff was lost on me but I had a baby and a toddler to deal with, people...  maybe in a few years).

 There was even a baby/toddler area for Baby James, who was shocked when he could participate in our Museum going.  I am not trying to badmouth MoS here, but something about that place is so overwhelming.  This was very easy to get around, easy to see your kids (I hate museums that have so many tall exhibits that your kid can disappear around a corner ever two seconds), just easy in general.

 Clearly, Joel Andrew and James had a ball.  There was one point though, when Joel Andrew flat out ran away from me. I lost my parenting cool but I firmly believe that they need to know they can't run away in public, right?  This happens to others right?  Your not shocked and horrified are you?  Anyway, we both calmed down and had a good ride home for Quesadilla.

 Now Mommy is about to go off on girl's ski weekend!  I cannot wait...  Joel is in nap, 15 more minutes for Baby James to nap and then Mommy packs up!  What do you think Daddy is going to do at home with the boys all weekend?  This is one of the first times he will have the two for an extended period of time... Maybe the first time he has brought them out in public together alone?  No, probably the 3rd...  But still!  I think they will be good.  But what am I going to come home to...

Resolution Check-In

Here was the list of my New Year's resolutions, thought I would do a check-in...

1. Aunt Pat needs to meet Baby James.
• She is being slightly difficult about this.  We were going to go down to visit her in NY in May, but now she wants to come up here.  90-something year old Aunt Pat!  Oh boy!
2. My camp friends need to meet both my kids.
• Again, something we would do on our visit to NY - which will still happen, whether Aunt Pat wants to see us there or not!
3. Make $2,500 by selling all of the things that we do not use, do not want, do not need and are collecting dust in our house. You hear me, $2.5K. We have that much stuff. Donate or toss the remainder. Decrease possessions by 1/8.
• Done.  I sold old, broken, and no longer used jewelry and made $2,560.  You heard me!  Nothing was really big either. I was so worried I swindled the guy or the check wouldn't clear, but it is the truth.  A gold bangle, that was broken and would cost $150-$200 to repair, got me $400.  It is the gold people, now is the time to look through your jewelry boxes and sell.  That earring you only have one of, the old gold charms from childhood, the broken gold chain, etc.  Otherwise they are just sitting, collecting dust. I recommend going to a Pawn person and not a jewelry store per say - and especially NOT a chain.  I bet you one of those chains would have only offered me 1/4 of the money.
• I still need to get rid of stuff even though I made the dough.  So far I donated 4 jumbo bags of clothes and shoes to good will.  We cleaned out the man room and numerous extra glasses and things are going to our cleaning lady.  We are having 1-800-Got-Junk take away our old TV.  Old computers, scanners and printers are ready to go to the dump White Goods day this spring.  
• Now what do I do with the 8,00 other small item things I need to get rid of?  Sitcoms on DVD? Men's cologne? Do I donate them to the Lincoln Akerman school garage sale (benefit for local elementary).  I am kinda selfish and thinking what if I put them in a box in the basement and donate them when Joel goes there...  Only 3 years away?
4. Find a craft hobby and keep with it. Previous attempts at sewing and knitting have not gone so well.
• I put chalkboard paint on porcelain mugs - idea from pinterest - and now when we are up at the lake everyone can write their names on their own mug.  I thought this was pretty crafty. As for a hobby, not sure how far this goes...
5. Create Blog Books, paper copies of all previous blog posts.
• Done, posted about it in January!
6. Create Yearbooks. Photo scrapbooks and DVDs since the kids were born.
• This is taking a lot longer, but now that our computer is saved, I will get right on it... Maybe, after I finish this blog post...
7. Go places with the kids: Bronx Zoo, Zoo in Chicago, and all the area usual’s at least one trip each. Try to double our money on the Science Museum/Children’s Museum membership I bought.
• Went to the Children's Museum last weekend, we are now up to $88/$120 spent.  Went to the Zoo Monday - we have broke even with that membership!  Lots of trips left to go, but I am going to have to be really disciplined, as I am going back to work soon. Ummm.  Public places on the weekends. 
8. No more cursing as Joel Andrew has taken to repeating everything we say.
• This has now been amended to no more temper tantrums by Mommy in front of kids.  I know, a normal thing I should definitely not be doing.  But with Joel into the tackling his brother and pretending not to listen stage, my temper has hit an all-time high.  I need to be the calm one, here.  Still working on this.
9. Add 25 more go to, easy dinners to the family repertoire.
• Blogged a few in January.  Really need to get some more going, as work is eminent.  Will have some more blogs soon hopefully.
10. Be Better. Start to take care of my skin, get the lasik, and loose 20 MORE pounds, and keep the previously lost 20 off.
• I used all the fancy skincare stuff I got for about 1 week.  Whoops.  Keeping previous weight off, but having a hard time getting going again.  Any tips?  A few more months until Lasik! 

Top 10 Things I Have Not Learned...

Top 10 Things I have Not Learned Since Being a Mom of Two Boys...

10. How to stay dry when giving one or both boys a bath.

9.  The answer to the question: "Why?"

8. Whether little boys should be sitting on the potty or standing.

7. How to avoid getting whatever plague my children bring home.

6. How to travel long distances without panicking ahead of time, or worrying the whole time about the other people around us on the plane.

5. A way to avoid doing laundry every single day.

4. Related, where the other socks go to - I do laundry every day - how can they get that lost?

3. How not to get grossed out each time I see a spider or an insect.  I almost lost it when I saw three different types of cockroaches at the Stone Zoo on Monday.  I know pretty soon these things are going to be making it into my house, in cages hopefully!

2. How not to stain stick and be upset over every drop of grape jelly or fruit punch (or blow out) that goes on the boys clothes.  They are just clothes!  They have 8,000 shirts.  I do not need to save every last one!

and the number one thing I have still not learned since having two boys...

1.  What does a Giraffe say?

Good Morning

 Just some photo back-up from our many days without a computer.  Life was tough, man!  I don't know what I would have done if it wasn't for my iPhone!

Last night we had dinner with dear friends.  It was a nice night away from the kiddos, at a local place that turned out to be quite excellent - for years we have been meaning to try but did not.  Despite being pricey, it was a nice atmosphere, delicious food, and delicious drinks.  Though it still seems as though no one knows how to really make a Sidecar.

Anyway, my point was that the couple we were with also have two boys, within one or two months of our boys.  And the husband said: "It is just going to get easier and easier."  He is so RIGHT!  The first few months with two kids was the worst.  I should say here, it really wasn't terrible in the grand scale, there could have been something actually wrong, someone sick, we were all healthy and we had a happy and healthy new baby boy - obviously.  But, all that aside, adjusting to a family of four was the most difficult thing, ever.  It was rough man.  I damn near lost it (I actually think I did loose it) once or twice.  Sleepless nights combined with a needy toddler combined with family obligations, combined with lots of visits and lots of this is my life forever thoughts by Mommy was a lot for our family.  But we pulled through, and it is only going to get easier.

Even now, Baby James is a reliable sleeper (knock on lots of wood), and we are back to our routines.  Joel Andrew is thriving and learning and growing like crazy.  James does not need to eat every five minutes and can generally eat the food at our table.  Can you imagine in a few, very short months when James no longer needs a bottle, and Joel Andrew no longer needs diapers?  I think we are at the 1/2 way point to extreme fun - when both boys will be out of diapers, into beds, done with naps.  Don't get me wrong, that presents its own challenges sure, but think of it.  How much easier it will be.

At least for me.  I know a lot of people out there that would take babies over toddlers any day.  I am just not one of those people.  I will ooh and ahh at your babies but I will mock you behind your back about how crazy you are for voluntarily going to the no sleep, poop every three minutes, spit up all over the place, struggle with nap time, not yet big enough to do fun things like amusement parks the movies, museums or whatever stage.  (combined with the crazy emotional Mommy not fitting into her clothes and boobies shooting milk stage).

All that being said, I will remember and cherish my babies when they were babies.  But I will be more excited to remember and cherish the way they were this morning.

 This morning was awesome.  You would think, after a night out with friends at a restaurant with good drinks, this morning would have been rough.  Perhaps it was the water I chugged at 4am this morning, but I prefer to think it was my boys.  When I woke up at 7:15 and looked at my monitor and saw I had two awake boys, I thought - Uh, Oh.  I blew it.  I need to get up in time to head Joel Andrew off at peeing in his pants, and to change Baby James right away since he has had incredible diaper rash recently.  But there the two of them were, on the monitor, just chilling in their cribs.  I love them.

I went to get Joel Andrew first, and asked him if he had to go potty.  He said, "yes!" And then proceeded to take off his pjs and run to the bathroom.  Totally dry diaper.  Potty it was.  He is totally getting this potty training thing and now it is just time to bite the bullet, underwear time.  The only thing preventing us is public bathrooms.  Mommy is scared of them.  What do we do if he needs to go potty in public?  I can't get over how much easier the diaper seems to be at this point...  I know it is only a few months of annoying asking every 20 minutes do they need to go and having a boy hover over the potty (I am hoping he will get standing and peeing sometime soon, don't they?). But, I am lazy.  But, he is ready.  We are really doing him a disservice.  He asks to go to the potty when he has to, and in the past week has averaged only one wet or soiled diaper a day and that is 99.9% of the time due to Mommy and Daddy having been lazy about asking him if he needed to go/we were in public.

Anyway, apart from potty training, my pro son then asked to wake his brother up.  So, we get Baby James who is as happy as can be waiting in his crib for us.  The poor kid has an ear infection, and all the medicine he is on is making him have terrible diarrhea, which has led to the worst diaper rash I have ever seen.  The little man is trying to tough it out.  He was a doll as always even through the worst of getting him changed, and the two of them played until my toddler said: "We have to brush our teeth!"  Seriously, how awesome?

Anyway, one more thing and I will stop posting about how awesome my children are (by the way, I owe them this because during the preliminary Baby James months I was not this nice, I was kinda mean)...  Baby James is starting to babble actual things.  So, this morning I kept saying "Dadadadadada" - nothing.  I repeated, nothing.  Finally Joel Andrew says it, and wouldn't you know, Baby James repeats right after Joel Andrew. I try again, nothing.  Joel Andrew tries - and he repeats right away.  We did this for 10 minutes, until of course Mommy got the video camera.  They everyone stopped.  Sad!  Maybe next time!

Sa Kang Rao

Our computer is broken, sad face...  but I am trying to keep up on posts by stealing my husband's work computer (don't tell).  I hope we get our computer fixed soon!

Joel Husband was in Canada and I decided not to cook, and instead get take out the last two nights.  Luxury.  One night we had our normal Quesadilla (also called Dilla) - but last night we tried something different for the kiddos - my favorite, the local Thai spot.  I love to get the Sa Kang Rao there which is a delicious - and very healthy - thai soup.  I got some dumplings and rice for the kiddos.

The big news is not the food, per se, though it is the best Thai I have had - it is the people there.  The ladies have come to know James and I as we go there every Wednesday usually after Gymboree and get take-out.  They love James.  Lately they have been stealing him from me and taking him behind the counter.  Last night, he went in the kitchen.  They love him. 

They also love Joel Andrew.  (how could you not?) and supply him with candy everytime I go - give this to your other boy...  So, last night when he was actually there, they had a ball.  He went behind the counter, he took a peek of the kitchen, he was king of the place and of course got some candy.  They got a photo of this and it is supposedly on the restaurant's faccebook page.  Can't wait to check it out!