Let the playdates begin!

I think life is officially going full swing and we are in what will be our "routine" through the next four months (I was approved to take off the first quarter of the school year next year, so my first day back is in November). We had such a fun and exciting week, it was just wonderful. I cannot express enough how blessed I feel to have such wonderful friends and family. It was nice getting out of the house this week, and although sometimes the car rides got a little long with one (or two) crying children, both kids seemed to have a nice time wherever we went (Abby didn't necessarily express how happy she was, but she was held lots and I had fun getting her all prettied up).

Abby is now nursing every 1-2 hours, so a little bit longer of a stretch than before. She is holding her head up so well, smiles more consistently, and is starting to coo :) When laying on her tummy, Abby is able to lift her head up and then flip it to the other direction, and she is tracking an object from side to side when laying on her bed. She is still such a happy and content little baby, we are so blessed! She will cry if she wants to be held, but the second she is picked up she stops crying (unless she wants to nurse, then as soon as she nurses she stops).

AJ had so much fun playing with friends this week. During his bedtime routine every night we "talk" about his day and the next day's schedule. He enjoyed every one of his friends, and was very happy to be out and about more. We saw lots of smiles, and get this, not even one time out was needed the whole week!!!

I tried to get a sweet and cuddly picture of Abby after bath time, so I put on this cute little hooded robe, but this pretty much summed up how bathtime goes :)

Last night Adam and I took the kids to the local elementary school and he flew his airplane and helicopter. AJ loves to watch Adam fly, but last night was extra special because he also got to see two hot air balloons, a helicopter, and an airplane. He loved playing on the playground equipment, until he fell pretty far. He is such a tough kid though, because after about a minute he was ready to go on the swings.

I need your votes! I took these pictures before church yesterday and think I want to use one for our birth announcements. Email me or write a note if you have an opinion on which of the two pictures to use :) AJ LOVES to hold his little sister, and she truly smiles the most for him.

Choice A:

Choice B:

AJ had so much fun playing with his friends Marisa and Mallory. The next few pictures are from a barbeque Mike, Jodi, and Marisa hosted. We were lucky to have our friend Joanna and her
daughter Mallory there too!

AJ loved throwing water balloons! He kept asking Adam to blow up "one more" :)

Here is Joanna and Mallory with Abby. Mal loved holding Abby, and did a very nice job being gentle and careful with her :)

I was a little worried Jodi wasn't going to give me back Abby, but she did when we left, so all was good :)

The kids LOVED playing in the pool and sand box. My little stinker jumped into the pool right after I changed him into his dry clothes. Good thing I had a second set of clean clothes for him!

Adam and I took the kids to the zoo on Saturday. AJ had a BLAST!
Here is AJ and Adam at the water park at the zoo. This is AJ's favorite exhibit at the zoo.

AJ LOVED to watch the geyser at the bear exhibit. He kept calling it a waterfall, and was screaming in glee whenever it went off. He kept shouting "OH, SO PRETTY!!!"

I caught this sweet gaze as AJ and I walked over to Adam and Abby after playing at the playground.

Abby spent most of her time sleeping in the stroller while at the zoo. She loved the breeze!

Thought this was a pretty picture Adam took.
We went and visited our friend Kim and her sons Simon and Levi. Both of our sets of kids are within a few weeks of one another. Kim and I worked together at PIE and taught together for a year at Sweeney, but we haven't seen each other in about a year. It was so nice to see them!

Abby loves to get all snuggled in the blankets!

AJ used to hate lotion, but whenever I put it on Abby he wants to "do it myself". The cutey lathered it all over his face! My friends Loretta and Tammi came to visit us this week. AJ loved playing with Loretta! She taught him how to play peek-a-boo. He kept asking for her all night and the next day too! It was so nice to visit with these ladies, I have missed them this past month (We work together so I am used to seeing them daily).

Tammi has a way with babies :) She makes a mean chicken dinner too! (Thanks Tammi!)

The kids and I went to meet Adam at the park by his work one day for lunch. AJ found the cookies, and ended up eating the cookie before he ate anything else (which, surprisingly enough, wasn't a whole lot :)).

I didn't get a chance to take pictures at our "sweeney playdate", so if anybody has a picture to share, I would love one! It is so nice getting together with co-workers who have all become such good friends with their little ones. All of our kids are two and under. The poor principal at our school is wonderful about it, but he has needed to hire many long-term subs to help us all out :)

Celebrating the 4th

This had to be the best fourth of July I have ever had. We spent the weekend at my parents house in Alexandria, which for those of you who have never been to, is just beautiful. We brought the boat with us, and Adam was able to find a few opportunities to go fishing while I enjoyed having some helping hands from my parents and sister with some pretty happy children. The weekend as a whole was wonderful, but the fourth of July was similar to the fireworks show AJ saw with my family - it just kept getting more and more wonderful and exciting.

We spent the morning at a festival in Starbuck. AJ had fun doing many of the games and activities they had set up for children to do. We did miss the parade, but with the heat and sun, that was probably a good thing. I didn't get pictures of one activity, but one of AJ's most favorite events was the big blow-up slide that you climb up and go down. He was afraid of going up alone, so I ended up doing it with him a few times. I was beat, but it was actually fun!

Abby spent most of the time at the festival in her stroller. She was nice and cool in the shade of the stroller - I think I see a little smile on her!
After AJ's nap we went to the airport. My parents had bought a half hour flight at a fundraising event. I didn't tell AJ that he could go up in the airplane until after he woke up from his nap, and he was soooo excited when we got there. It was a complete bummer when we found out that there was an error with the person who scheduled us, and the pilot didn't know about our time, and we weren't able to go flying. I asked if the guy at the desk could let AJ touch the airplane, and he did let him go sit in the airplane and touch some of the controller buttons. AJ was a wonderful sport, and he kept saying "No fly airplane - airplane stay on ground". He was visibly disappointed, but handled it really well, and i know he did enjoy seeing all the airplanes. We were told that when we do go flying in a few weeks, they will actually let us go up for closer to an hour. I can't wait to see AJ go in the air! He LOVES airplanes - just like his daddy!

At the festival AJ got not one, not two, but three ice creams! The first one did fall on the ground, so he only ate two. He enjoyed every lick!

Both of these ladies are smiling! The black cord around my mom's neck is for the camera. Betweenthe two of us we looked like the paparazzi around AJ and Abby!

AJ got his first "tattoo". He was a little upset when he realized it wouldn't come off and kept trying to pull at his arm on the truck ride home. He enjoyed it once he realized it wasn't coming off, and today when Abby was crying, and he was trying to cheer her up by saying "It's okay Abby" - I told him to say something funny, and AJ kept saying "see, Elmo Abby. Tattoo". It was really sweet and cute.

I think this is considered cheating :)

The duck pond was, as always, a hit!

Here is AJ riding on the train :) He was so excited, until he realized that no adults were going with him. My hip was still hurting me, so my mom ran a few blocks with the train to help him stay smiling the whole time!

That is one satisfied customer!

Abby enjoyed being held almost the whole weekend. Here is my dad admiring her :)

Here are my two handsome men sharing a piece of chocolate over my daughter :) We had fun making smores that night with a bonfire pit on my parents deck, and this was one of the pieces of chocolate for the smores. AJ didn't like to eat the marshmallows, but we all laughed so hard for about twenty minutes when my dad and I started throwing marshmallows at one another. When I ripped one in half and gave it to AJ to throw at my dad, it kept sticking to his finger. I think it is one of those situations where "you had to be there" to see how funny it was, but trust me, it was a good laugh!

I didn't get any pictures of the fireworks, but my parents and sister took AJ out to a look-out point to see the fireworks. AJ LOVED the fireworks, and he talked about them for about two hours of our two and a half hour drive home. He kept asking for more fireworks, and didn't really understand that there are not fireworks shows every night of the week. On our drive he kept saying "Fireworks...Asheyy...Gandpa....Gandma....pretty....truck...." etc. He was just listing everything that he did and who he did it with.

Twice this weekend we spent time at a small beach by my parents home. AJ had SO much fun here and kept asking to come back once we left. He had fun playing in the sand, getting wet in the water, and most importantly "fishing" with his little fishing pole that has a toy fish tied to the end of it (this happened the time Adam and my mom took him fishing because he kept throwing the fish in the water. My mom put two and two together that he thought that the fish was like the lure Adam was using, so they tied it to the pole). If you go "fishing" with AJ, stay at least ten feet away, because I can almost gaurentee you that he will wack you either with the pole or the fish tied to the end of it :)).

It just melted my heart to see how happy AJ was this past week. I really feel like in general things are back to normal as far as him feeling secure in our family and his place in our hearts, and now we have the wonderful bonus of a beautiful and healthy little girl who already is deeply loved. AJ has had no timeouts since my last posting, and today was a flawless day. We played outside for two hours, and he was back to playing more independently and wasn't trying to climb up on my lap when I nursed Abby in the backyard.

Abby is making great progress developmentally this past week. When laying on her tummy yesterday and today she has been able to lift her head and look to the other direction. She is tracking objects all the way from one side to the other, and is able to hold her head up for a while (as in a few seconds). She is making great eye contact and is smiling more and more. She is nursing less often this week, which has been nice. She nurses about every two hours, so I am feeling much better rested and am able to better balance my time with AJ.

The 16 minute time-out

Here is a picture of our princess sleeping.Here is a picture of AJ playing with his bubble maker my parents bought him last year. I don't know who gets more enjoyment out of it - him or Maggie! She loves to run and bite the bubbles, which makes AJ laugh hysterically!

Nana Giles made this hat and blanket set. The lighting wasn't the best, but they are just beautfiul, and I love the little wrinkles on her back!

I bought a "Moby" carrier recently, and have been carrying Abby in it when we are outside. It hugs her super close and spreads her weight out so my back doesn't hurt at all when I hold her for a while.

I have tried to have our days "scheduled" now that we are going to be home another four months. We have arts and crafts time as well as a music time every day. AJ loves to get out his guitar and "jam" on it like daddy does sometimes.

Here is Abby "enjoying" tummy time. She does very well actually, and here is looking at her mat that we were given for AJ.

Here is a close up :)

And another...

This is Abby's "concentrating" look :)

Another close-up...

Here is AJ and daddy catching fish in his pool :)

AJ learned how to drink water from the hose. I prefer this over drinking pool water since both dogs lay in the water after running in the mud to cool off - uck!

Poor little Abby - I NEVER would have used a pink blanket to swaddle him up in!!! This is Abby's lounge chair for when we are having our outside time :)

This was so sweet. Adam wanted to make sure to teach AJ how he could play in his sandbox. He just loves to play in the sand! (both of them do actually!)

Here is a picture I thought was sweet from last week of my mom holding Abby. I wasn't sure if she would leave Abby here when she went back or try to sneak her in her luggage!

Okay, so I didn't really put AJ in a sixteen minute time-out, but it did take sixteen minutes to complete a full two-minute time out. Poor little guy is showing some extra rebellion with sharing my attention, and as a result, we have been visiting the time-out chair more regularly. Once he serves his time, AJ gives me a hug and almost always says "sorry mama" and then doesn't do the same crime a second time (at least in the near future). It has been a bit difficult in the middle of the night if he wakes up crying because I am still nursing Abby so often, chances are I am in the middle of nursing her, so a few times I have brought her into his room still nursing to comfort him - which ends up not being the best thing as I think he is waking up because he wants comfort, which I can't exclusively give under the circumstances. I am learning though, and have found it to be best to finish nursing her and then to go and rock and cuddle him. Sometimes he falls asleep first anyway, which is probably best, I just hate to hear my little one cry!

We have had lots of fun outside this week, and surprisingly it hasn't been as difficult as I thought with having both kids. We have gone for a morning "stroller ride" in our double stroller to give me some workout time (pushing the massive thing is a workout in and of itself). I can't go very fast with my hip still being sore (I ended up finding out I have "hip displacia", which will take some time to get better), but it feels good to walk, and AJ and I have great conversation while Abby gets some good nap time in.

Adam graciously let us buy a nice sandbox, which AJ LOVES! What little boy wouldn't love playing in dirt/sand? We brought out some of his toy trucks and water toys, and he can easily play in there for an hour at a shot. He does get a little sad when I am too busy to play with him, which is about half the time as Abby continues to want to nurse every 1-2 hours, closer to the one hour mark. I also bought him a sprayer for the hose, which he loves, and I love since he uses it to water my plants and garden :) He is still so sweet with Abby, and takes great pride in the fact that he makes Abby happy ("AJ make Abby happy" is what he will tell you if you ask him if he is a good big brother). He truly does though. She smiles the most with him, and anytime she cries he runs over to comfort her. He loves to hold her and just lights up when she looks at him. I do see improvements with his jealousy, and am sure that in no time at all they will be the best of friends and he will forgive me for not dropping everything to be right by his side :)

Abby continues to be super mellow and in general an incredibly happy/ easy baby. She is smiling now fairly regularly when she is completely alert and not hungry. She can lift her head for a few seconds to 45 degrees when she is laying on her tummy for tummy time. She looks and tracks different sounds an objects. She loves to snuggle and loves being held!

Not to brag, but my husband is blessed with an incredible memory. He remembers little and big details on just about everything - if you ever play trivial pursuit with him, make sure you are on his team! AJ has completely amazed me with his memory as well - he definitely got Adam's genes with this! He heard thunder with my mom one day last week, so I taught him a thunder song from a book I have. The next day he not only remembered that we sang the song, but he remembered almost every word and sang the song in perfect tune and rhythm (he is a musical savant as well!) :) AJ got upset the other day when I had my hair down. He told me "mommy, hair up". He got upset when I tried to talk him into me wearing it down, and after some conversation of trying to figure out why my hair down bothered him, he told me that I was sick with my hair down. He then said purple shirt, sick, all better now. I remembered from some pictures that I wore a purple shirt on the day he visited me at the hospital, and my hair was wet and down that time too. I think he made that association that my hair was down that day and that I was "sick" as he calls that time. He still asks to play with Gabrielle, our friend who visited over our spring break, and knows all the names of the dozens of trains my mom bought him from Thomas at a garage sale after asking only a few times what all their names are. He knows most of the letters in the alphabet and most of their sounds. He can count to fourteen in English, but once you say 19, he can keep going to 29. He can count to five in spanish and knows several words in spanish thanks to Dora :) My little smarty pants! I am so jealous!!!

Bye bye grammy!

For some reason I wasn't able to figure out how to slide my pictures down, so you will get to see those before you read about what we have been up to :)

Abby and my mom connected and bonded this past week so much! Abby responds well to her name and has smiled a few times for grammy. My mom is awesome at changing poopy diapers -something that both Abby and I appreciate!

AJ loves to throw rocks into the pool! Between the rocks and Maggie laying in the water, it gets pretty dirty by the end of the day! AJ loved the water park at the zoo when we went on Monday!

Here is grammy and AJ hanging out in the backyard. They were deep in conversation when I interrupted them for a picture. Here is our father's day picture - pictured below is Adam, AJ and Abby, "papa" (Gordy Giles) and great-grandma Giles.

Great-grandma Giles enjoyed holding Abby when we were visiting Adam's dad for father's day.

Abby started crying and AJ ran over and said "it's okay Abby"... I was so glad I had my camera handy!

Abby is such a snuggler - I love it!!!

Here is AJ just "chillin" by the pool with grammy.

AJ loves to balance on the border at the park. He is very coordinated!

I love her smiles - and especially when she laughs. Isn't she cute?

My mom bought this ridiculous hat for Abby - and it has matching "shoes/socks" too :) Poor thing was a great sport!

I can't tell what color Abby's eyes are going to be. Right now they are very similar to AJ's when he was born - a bright blue in the middle and a little darker around the outsides. I swore the other day they were turning brown, but now I am not so sure.

I am so blessed to have had my mother visit and help out this entire past week. I don't know what I have done without her (and am not quite sure what I will do without her starting tomorrow!). She has helped me in so many ways, I am forever grateful to her. The most helpful thing my mom has done over this past week has been to spend countless hours with AJ outside and to continue to help him adjust to our beautiful addition to our family. AJ had a bit of a difficult start to the week, getting a few extra time outs than normal and always wanting to be on my lap, especially if Abby is nursing (which continues to be very frequently - she nurses for about forty minutes at a time about every two hours now). By the end of this week he has almost completely stopped whining and only got one time out today so far, and none the past two days.

This week has physically been much more difficult for me. I ended up getting mastitus (spelling?) on Wednesday in the middle of the night, and was in much pain most of Thursday, although I did start to feel better by Friday. I also realized I threw out my hips during labor and needed to start seeing a chiropractor. My back is getting better, but I feel like an old lady hobbling around! Again, thank the Lord for my mom being here - the timing couldn't have been better. She watched AJ while I went to the dr.'s, to get my prescription and to the chiropractor. She even brought me my meds and water throughout the day!

We have spent a lot of time trying to arrange our toys in the back so AJ can be content with staying just back there instead of venturing to the park for our outings, and that has been a huge success! AJ loves to sit by the kiddie pool with his feet in the water, and especially likes to slide into the pool from his little slide. He is awesome at watering my flowers - which is very helpful since my hands are usually full :) He continues to do a wonderful job with Abby - he is so gentle with her and recently has been really wanting to hold and carry her. I have let him hold her, and you can just tell how proud he feels when she is in his arms.

It will be interesting how this next week goes with flying solo, but I am sure things will be fine once we take the plunge and just go for it :) Here are a few pictures from this week. I tried to have a little photo shoot for Abby today to get a picture for her announcements, but none were "just right", so I will need to try again another day :) Enjoy!

updates

Thank you for those of you sharing in prayer for Adam's cousin and his wife. Their names are Guy and Debbie, and they are incredible parents and people. I can't imagine how they must be feeling now, and I pray that I never know, but I do continue to ask for your prayers and support for this family. The wake will be tomorrow night and the funeral is Friday.

I hope to post more in the next few days about AJ and Abby. AJ has just done wonderful with his little sister, and I swear she is genuinely smiling now, although I could be wrong. She has laughed a few times while nursing, and I get so excited to see her do that as a reaction to being happy with something we do. She has dimples too! I will write more on this all later, but I wanted to share the updates from my previous post.

God bless!

Prayers Needed

This morning Adam and I got very sad news. Adam's mom called saying that his cousin and his cousin's wife went into their 3 month old daughter's room to find her passed away in the crib. They don't have answers at this point as to why or how this terrible tragedy happened, but I ask for your prayers right now for them. Adam's mom also said that they were bringing their two year old to the hospital this morning as she has been "sick" for a few days and they were concerned that possibly it was something contageous. I will keep you all posted as I learn of more details, but in the meantime, I ask for your prayers and thoughts for this wonderful family.