Playing In The Backyard with Grandpa

We were at my parents' house yesterday so Adam could help them dig out an area of their backyard for a hot tub. (Which, by the way, I am VERY excited about.) While we were there, my dad took some pictures of Jayden in the backyard.

I love them so I decided to share :)

So proud of himself for getting the little pumpkin to stay on the big pumpkin.

-----------------UPDATE--------------

I could not find these pictures when I originally did this post, but I just found them on my Dad's Facebook page.

These were taken exactly one year earlier than the above pictures :)

He was 6 weeks old in these pictures.

 

Friday Fun- Write Your Own Caption!

We have a lot of fun Fall/Halloween things planned for this weekend that I am looking forward to. I just have to get through this afternoon first! I bet there are others in the same boat so I thought we could do some "Write Your Own Caption" to pass the time!

Aaaaaaaand....GO!

Road Trip With A One Year Old

I'll admit that the comments on my pro/con list about whether to go visit my sister after her baby was born kind of bothered me. (Not to mention all the twitter comments.)

None of them were mean and I completely understand where everyone was coming from.

But it made me feel really defensive. I had good reasons not to go, but I felt like everyone was saying they were just silly or selfish reasons. Why wasn't it a major factor that we were going to be spending a lot more money than we had? Why wasn't strapping a screaming baby into a car seat against his will something I should take into consideration?

The plan was never to go to see the baby right away. My sister wasn't expecting us. We would be seeing him in December either way. Me not going wouldn't have been some major insult. The idea of going was a last minute crazy idea I had.

I just found myself so defensive....when in reality I was about 99% sure I was going so I was in agreement with them.

At the time I wrote that post, I already had reservations and an open suitcase that was half full.

But after reading the comments, I was defending the "con" list more and more in my head and I almost convinced myself we shouldn't go.

Adam read the pro/con list and started e-mailing me from work that we were not going. He was serious. Seeing it listed like that made him realize how big of a sacrafice going there would be.

I responded with, "But, did you see everyone's comments? We apparently HAVE TO GO! or we are the worst people ever." He pointed out that people don't know how precarious our financial situation is until we get our adoption tax credit...or how much Jayden really hates even short car rides.

I kept packing as Adam and I went back and forth about whether we should go. It was kind of one of those things that we knew wasn't a great idea, but we also knew deep down that we were going. By the time he got home from work, the suitcase was almost packed.

We left after work the next day.

It was definitely smart to leave in the evening. Adam drove and I sat in the back with Jayden. The first two hours were rough, but then once Jayden's bedtime hit, he fell asleep. He woke up a few times, realized he was strapped into his car seat, and screamed for a bit. Nothing huge, but I did feel awful wiping tears off his face. Poor little thing didn't understand what we were doing to him.

We got to the hotel about 12:30 AM. We checked into our room and saw there was no crib or pack-n-play like we had requested. I sent Adam back to the front desk and the man told him that it was in our paperwork, but nobody set it up and there wasn't anything they could do now because it was too late. I was so mad. They were well aware that we were arriving late and that we needed a crib.

Adam was exhausted and fell asleep pretty quick.

Meanwhile, Jayden, who had been sleeping for hours in the car, was WIDE AWAKE. It was like having a wild animal in our hotel room. Curtains were moving, lamps were shaking, snacks were all over the floor...and this little being was running all around yelling. Jayden and I hung out in the room until about 3 AM when I finally got him to settle down enough to get into bed with me. The bed was smaller than our bed at home so it was not a comfortable fit with all three of us in one bed. I was imagining all the things I was going to say to the front desk in the morning. (None of them were actually said.)

Morning comes and we get a call from my mom saying my dad is sick. Ugh.

Then she tells us that my sister is worried about the germs and she doesn't want us to see my parents at all before coming to see the baby. (We had breakfast plans with them.) It was a really bad start to the trip. At this point I was overtired, crying, and just wanted to go home.

But things got better once we went to my sister's apartment and Jayden got to meet his little cousin.

Although he was much more impressed with their cat!

He seemed to notice all his old baby stuff. And decided he could still use the bouncy seat.

"Mom, I wasn't done with this, why did you give it to the new baby?"

Me with both babies.

Adam with both babies.

It was really hard to believe that Jayden was ever that little. The only way I could believe it was because Ben was wearing Jayden's old clothes and they fit exactly how they used to fit Jayden.

I am thankful we were able to go and see Ben while he was so little, although my sister was still recovering from giving birth and getting the hang of breast feeding so it felt like we barely got to visit with her while we were there.

Adam, my Mom, Jayden, and I had a chance to get out of the apartment for a while to visit a zoo, which was fun.

Ahhhh...this is much more comfortable.

We had a lot of fun in the hotel pool, but I think Jayden's favorite part of the hotel was the other baby in the room.

The trip definitely had it's ups and downs and it wasn't exactly the smart choice financially, but I am glad we went.

One thing I learned was that road trips go much faster if you listen to a book on tape. I highly recommend Bossypants by Tina Fey!

Therapy Isn't Free

The truth is, I either need to start really blogging again, or go to therapy. I need an outlet. I work at home all day with kids. My only regular adult interaction comes from twitter. And my brain is always on full speed. Worrying and overthinking are my real full time jobs.

I don't have money for therapy.

So, blogging it is.

I think if I get a little better with my time management, I can make blogging more of a priority.

I mean, really, who needs to actually fold laundry and put it away when you can just wear clothes that have been sitting in the laundry basket on your bedroom floor? ;)

Do you have any time management tricks?

Blogging

I really want to blog about something, but I don't want to deal with people's reactions to it.

So, I won't blog it.

That has been happening a lot lately. Of course I always considered these things before posting, but it's at an all time high lately.

I'm not sure whether the solution is to maybe start a new blog...or care less about what people think.

When you are blogging, how much do you take into consideration what other people will think/comment? Do you sometimes fear comments? Or do you just write and post freely? (I envy you.)

Have any of you had real life consequences from something you blogged?

Have you ever had a troll that was particularly threatening/harassing or scary?

I'm interested in hearing your thoughts and stories.

12ish Months

Okay, so it's almost 13 months now. I started this post weeks ago, but never ended up taking official 12 month pictures and then kind of gave up and left this post just sitting here.

So...here is Jayden's 12 month post :)

Jayden is one!! And it's awesome. I am amazed everyday at how smart he is and how much he understands now.

Last night, Adam was in the dining room talking to Brinkley as he gave him medicine. After he was done, he said "Okay, you're finished." Jayden, who wasn't in the same room as them and couldn't even see them, signed "finished." Then Adam told Brinkley he did a good job and Jayden started clapping. Sometimes it amazes me how much he picks up on that I wouldn't think he was even paying attention to.

One of Jayden's new signs is "fish." Why he picked that one, I have no idea. We don't have fish. He has only seen real fish a handful of times and that was months ago. But, whenever we say fish, he signs it. He also signs it whenever he gets to the fish page in his sign language book. It's the only sign he does as he goes through the book. It probably confuses him that I say "fish" when we see them in books and also when he eats goldfish crackers.

He loves his stuffed animal kitty. Loves. He carries it around and gives it kisses. And if you tell him to get his kitty, he knows what you're talking about.

One time I was telling him he should say thank you to Aunt Katie for a present and he went and picked up kitty instead. hehe.

Speaking of our cats, for the life of me I can't figure out why, but they aren't afraid of Jayden anymore. In fact, sometimes it seems like they seek him out. I don't get it. They lay down right next to him and he starts off being gentle for like a minute and then before you know it he's pulling their hair. Both Adam and I have even seen him try to pick cats up by their rump. They don't care. WHAT? We can't figure it out. We separate them as soon as we see it get rough, but it drives us nuts. We're so afraid that at some point they will snap and scratch him. We've been trying to teach him "nice" and "gentle."

Just recently he started to say "Daddy" instead of just "Dada." He signs it as he says it. I tried to teach him "Mommy" (instead of just "mama") but every time I say it, he responds by saying "Daddy" and signing it. It makes me wonder why I taught him how to do it in the first place! haha.

He seems to have a better understanding of kisses and hugs now and he likes to give them out, which is adorable. His kisses are wet and sloppy and I'm a little afraid each time that he will eat my face by the way he comes at me, but they're great.

 He's so funny. He makes us laugh all the time. I remember at an early appointment, I think his 4 month appointment, our pediatrician asked us a word to describe him and we said funny. We could tell already he had a sense of humor and liked to play and make us laugh.

I put away his summer clothes and bought him all new Fall/Winter clothes... and then realized size 12 months was too big for him. Over and over again I tried different outfits and his pants kept falling to his ankles. Even with the cloth diapers. Plus they were too long and he was tripping over them. I don't really know what made me so convinced 12 months should fit. Because he is 12 months? I don't know. (Although in my defense, some of his all in one summer outfits were 12 months. But, I think the sizing on those are more like onesie sizing, which seems to run small.) So, after a big shopping spree weekend I ended up going back the next weekend and getting him 9 months clothes. It's a good thing I buy all his stuff at consignment stores! It would be nice if he would hurry up and grow though so he can wear the 12 month wardrobe I bought him before it's spring time!

Jayden's little cousin was born!

I had sent my sister most of Jayden's clothes, but not any of the super small stuff. My little nephew decided to come two weeks early and is as small as Jay was, so I ended up going through Jay's super small clothes. Which made me teary. I can't believe he was ever that small!

For some reason packing up bottles also made me weepy. We've been off of bottles for a couple weeks now but I finally packed them all up. (It took them all falling on me when I opened the cupboard for me to finally do it.) I'm going to miss them. Feeding Jayden while all snuggled up together was so special. Now he drinks from a sippy cup while walking around the room and playing.

Sleep is finally starting to get a little better. He's actually had a few nights recently of sleeping through the whole night in his crib. The only thing that gets in the way of him doing it more are those darn teeth. New ones keeps popping up! He now has 4 on top and 3 on the bottom.

Even though it makes me weepy that Jayden is now 1 year old and will never be that tiny baby again.....this age is awesome. He is so much fun.

Pie!

He thinks anything the big kids do with him is awesome.

Visiting the bunny at the Apple Mill.

He discovered that the way to win Lilly over is with ribbon.

Lately he spends more time sitting in his toy box than playing with toys.

Any toy with wheels is usually found like this. He loves wheels!

Everyone wears their shirts like this, right? It's the new style.

(He's figured out how to take his clothes off.)

Pro/Con List

My nephew was born! I am an Aunt!!!

My sister lives about 7 hours from us. I would obviously love to go meet my nephew. When my sister went into labor, my gut reaction was to hop in the car and drive. And when I realized I couldn't, I cried. I hate being so far away. (I have been hard at work on a campaign to get them to move back here.)

I actually made hotel reservations to go the same weekend as my parents.

But, I have changed my mind 943 times since making those reservations.

So, I decided to make a Pro/Con list.

Pros:

• I get to see my sister. (And brother-in-law.)
• I get to see my NEPHEW!!
• Swimming in the hotel pool.
• Taking Jay to their local zoo so he can see new animals.
• Road trip in the Fall.
• Mini vacation.
• Trader Joes & Whole Foods

Cons:

• Just in the past week we have finally gotten Jayden to start sleeping through the night in his crib. It was such a long road to get here. Sleeping in a hotel may ruin that. He will most likely be sleeping in bed with us for those nights.
• 7 hours in the car each way.14 hours of Jay being strapped in his car seat and hating it. HATING IT. Screaming, crying, etc.
• $$$. My sister lives just outside a big city and the hotel prices are not cheap. Add in food and gas and it's a lot. We will be paying for it for many months. (Not to mention the money I am losing by taking off from work.)
• I've been feeling really sleep deprived and overwhelmed lately. This would be a weekend away getting nothing done. (I still have all of Jayden's birthday party stuff taking up my entire back porch!)
• Packing for a trip with a one year old is really hard.
• An entire weekend of being places that are not baby proofed.
• We would need to find someone to house sit/take care of our cats.

I don't think I can express how much Jayden hates being strapped into a carseat. Whenever we go anywhere, after about 20 minutes, he tries to unbuckle his car seat (which he can't do...yet) and then starts yelling out and then crying. Even on a normal trip somewhere in our town, I sit in the back with him to keep him company and distract him. We went to Ohio last April and the car ride was hellish. This would be even longer.

But....tiny new baby nephew!

I don't know what to do.

What do you think? Advice?

(One way of the driving will be at night when Jayden is usually sleeping.)

In The Box

I almost forgot!

In case you were still wondering what was in that box...

It was.....

A 5 foot tall giraffe!!!

Jayden loved him.

I got him all animal themed things for his birthday this year. A kick ball with animals on it, animal pajamas, an elephant book, and a big stuffed giraffe.

I think Grandma loved the giraffe as much as Jayden.

The giraffe on party day.