Emma Loo

Well, I hope she's teething because she is driving me NUTS! She wants to be held ALL. THE. TIME.
Which is a problem if you are trying to get anything done. And she is so STRONG willed! My word, the girl has a serious stubbornness issue. :) I wonder where she got that from?
I am trying to remember to just hold her, because she is only going to be a baby for a very short amount of time and then she is big forever.... so sad.... :( So let her be clingy and want to be held. She's a sweetie and a doll baby and I love her BUNCHES!
She is pulling herself up on EVERYTHING and getting into everything that she shouldn't and walking behind a chair pushing it along... Oh and she climbed up the stairs without me noticing. I showed her how a couple of days ago but she always wants me to carry her, so I haven't practiced much with her. And low and behold, she can do it just fine on her own. Scary child.

We went sledding yesterday with them both and it was so fun to go do something outside with our kids. I felt so joyful with the weather and the people I was with. I love my little family!

More of Jack

Tonight Dan started giving Jackson Emma's applesauce and I told him I wasn't finished with it, and he says, "What a minute! I have an idea! We can share!"

So cute. He is doing really well with going to the potty too. Though we had a poop episode yesterday. But he did go poop on the big potty the other day too, so he is making progress!  Hurrah!

10 Months Old!

This girl is 10 months old! Though technically she didn't have a 10 month birthday because of February.  :) 

She is a mover and a groover and has quite the attitude at times. She is a terror teether.. BLAH! Poor baby. She has two on the top and two on the bottom. She's been acting horrible recently so maybe more coming... 

She is 20 lbs and 13 oz with her clothes on and I need to measure her still. She is so much fun and loves her big brother more and more all the time. 

She has been pulling herself up on everything and getting very angry that she can't walk. 

She has a lot to say but not much that is understandable. She is eating big person food now. Suddenly last month she decided she was all done with mushy food and would have none of it. It's actually really nice to be able to give her food right from the table. 

She is only nursing twice a day and pretty soon I am going to try to give her goats milk to supplement the night time nursing. 

Still not much hair, but that will come eventually. She is on all day childcare two times a week and though I miss her, I can actually get work done! Yippe! 

Quotes of Jack

"Bye guys, I'm going into the closet to do dirty things."  - He said as he headed to the closet with some dirty safety glasses.

"It's my wrapper." - He said as he pulled his foreskin up over the tip of his penis."

"I just want to poop and pee on the floor." I said, "only yucky boys  go pee and poop on the floor." He responds, "I'm a yucky boy." - Nice, I'm not getting through.

A little story

Tonight I was peeling roasted garlic and it was kind of hot. I kept saying "ow!" And Jack, who was standing beside me puts his arms around me and says, "It's Ok Mommy, I'm here. I have you mommy." He kept putting his arm around me and telling me it was OK every time I said OW! So cute. :) love my boy!

Jackson

He is now peeing in the potty! Yippe! He has yet to actually sit down and poop in the potty,  but he stayed dry all day today. Even though he pooped in his pants twice, I still count that as a win!

He also told me that he was going to fall on me and squish me and then I wouldn't be able to say hi. :) Oh and I asked him if he wanted pee on the floor and he said yes. I asked him why and he said, "It's yellow and yummy and I like it.." Then grinned and laughed at how funny he is. What a strange child I have.

Emma pulled herself up today and by the look of it, she desperately wants to just walk. She's so aggressive it's amazing.
She is now nursing two times a day, because I was tired of getting chewed on. Literally. She bit me so hard last week that she not only broke the skin, but she cut me enough to leave a scab. Little twit.
So two times it is and she is loving the big girl food. She wants nothing to do with anything blended up. It's meat ball and noodles and bread and chicken for her all the way.

What a girl!

And we have some PEE!

Jackson actually and really peed on the potty today! So jazzed. He was giddy with excitement, jumping up and down while I clapped for him. Hopefully this is the beginning of potty training. It's the first sign on any interest or even toleration of the idea.
Another Jackson tidbit is the other day I was sitting down to the table and groaned because my quads were really sore from a work out. He was like, "What's wrong Mommy?" "I'm sore because of my work out." He looked up at me and started stroking my leg, saying, "that better Mommy?" I said yes and he  said, "I take care of you Mommy, and I take care of Daddy and Baby. I'm a nice boy..." It was so cute and genuine and sweet.
Love my boy!

Wow

I realized today that I wasn't writing down enough about Jack and Emma. I just forget all the funny things he says by the time I have time to get to the stupid computer. But I am going to try to do better. They will be teenagers before I know it... AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

Emma's 9 Months OLD!

Wow. At this point I don't really want to do any blogging.  Just sleep. She is sick and was up every 45 minutes all night and now she woke up 1.5 hrs before she was supposed to and woke up her brother. GREAT!

BUT, she is nine months old. She is clapping, waving, says Bye bye, Dada, Mama, Bubba, Emma, and other things. She is REALLY into screaming and I am waring against that one for sure. I hate screamers.

She has three teeth and one more popping through on the top. She normally nurses four times a day but I am trying to get her to drop the after nap one. I am doing this by moving her lunch time one to right before her nap. She is eating tons of stuff and today even had some ground meat and cottage cheese. Silly girl. She would have nothing to do with the blended food I had for her.

She is crawling all over the place. And getting into everything. Cords are her special interest. Oh and books of course. She is also always trying to pull herself up on everything. But she's not quite there. She also likes to get up on her toes into a push up sort of stance for some reason.

She is around 28 inches long, and 20 lbs with clothes on. She's long, but not that chubby. Nothing like Jackson was.

Emma Joy

Our girl is starting to crawl! Hurrah! She is so adorable! I don't know how we got so lucky to have such awesome little bunches.

She is also really starting to assert herself. It's going to be a chore curbing her temper. She is going on Childcare now and unfortunately, she has been sad and not wanting to be put down for all of her teachers.

I was hoping for a smooth transition, but it seems like we'll have to work a bit with this one.

She still only has the two teeth, which is really surprising but I am pretty sure that she is still working on the front two. I just wish they would finally pop through!

She can wave hi and bye and even kind of says it too. It's pretty cute. When I go and pick her up after her nap, she likes to give me big open mouth kisses. Slobbery, but very sweet. She is a snuggle bug at times too, though a lot more wiggly then I was expecting. She is still high rev, despite being a girl.  I will post a pic or two a little later.

Bubba's here

Emma was crying today and Jackson kept saying to her, "It's OK, Bubba's here baby." in the sweetest voice. So cute!
She is also saying Hi and Bye Bye and waving. It's amazing how quick she is. Still trying to get the crawling thing down and she get's really frustrated when she can't get to what she wants.

8 Months Old!

This little ham is 8 months old! She is as sweet as can be. Though she does have a temper...... it's kind of cute actually, but I will still come down on her. :) She is able to sit up all by herself now without falling over every two seconds. She can get from her belly onto her knees and rock a bit, scoot backwards and get into a sitting position. She is also babbling away. She can make bbababab, daddddaa and papapapa sounds. She is a thumb sucker all the way. No more nuk. She'll have none of it.
She is nursing four times a day, though I think she will probably drop the 5:00 one pretty soon. In one way, I can't wait to ween her, but in another way that means she'll be 1 year old!
She is weighing in at 19.5 lbs and is about 28 inches long. She's the best girl a Mama could ask for and I'm so thankful she's my baby Emma.

PEACE!

Akkkee! I need peace! The whole situation with the Eads is really getting to me and I find myself being angry a good portion of the time. I am trying to let it go and really praying that the Lord give me peace about it. I want to be able to forget about the hurt they are causing and really leave the situation in God's hands but I just want to HURT them!

I asked Dan to pray for me that they can stop taking up residency in my mind.
My babies have been sick lately and so not a lot of time for things like thinking up something to write about. But I will be here again at some point. I keep wanting to remember things about the kids, but when I sit down to type something.... nothing. A big fat nothing. Oh well. I have a couple of videos that I want to put up just to have. I'll have to get to it later as Emma is awake and needs attention.

7 Months Old!

My little muffin is seven months old. (Really a week ago, but life has been busy, so oh well.)

She is 18 lbs 10 oz. and 28 " long. She is trying really hard to move and I think will probably be crawling before too long. Maybe another month or so. She is saying lots of "mamama ma ma ma sounds and also likes to yell" She loves to chew on her tongue, which is pretty funny.
She still beams at everyone who walks by. She has two teeth on the bottom and I think she is working on the top two as well.

Unfortunately she is having a bit of a sleep relapse. She has been waking up between 4:50 and 5 for about a week. And it SUCKS!
I am so tired. Blah!
Anyway, I do know from past experience that this to shall pass... THANK GOD!

She is a constant delight and I really love that little squirt!

Here are some pics.

First tooth is THROUGH!

And we have our first tooth! She popped it out today. It's her bottom middle right. I think she is working on the middle left. And she is showing signs of hair growth, AND she can sit up unsupported for quite a while. She is just growing up!

Jackson is doing well and being a spunky little two year old, and he pooped in the potty ONCE! :) Small victories. I know. 

Six Months Old

Emma Joy is six months old! It's amazing how fast she is growing up!

She weighs 17.10 and is quite long. I need to measure her, but haven't gotten around to it yet. She is eating three meals a day and LOVES savory things like potatoes and carrots, and bread. She loves her oatmeal too, and it's a staple. 

She is working on sitting up on her own and can do it really well if she's sitting in a lap. She Also puts EVERYTHING in her mouth, which is pretty normal.  She is happy most of the time and we are working on getting her to take two long naps during the day and getting a to bed around 8:30 to 9:00 at night. 

She really is such a Joy!

They Days when you hate everyone.

Today is such a day. I literally hate everyone. Even my children. I don't hate them, I just don't want to be with them or anyone. I want to go back to bed, or sit by myself in a comfortable chair and watch a movie. But instead, I will entertain the friend coming over and play with my kids and suck it up. Because that's what is required of me.

Jackson

He is turning into such a gentleman.(Sometimes) The other day he ran around to my truck door and said, "my help you out Mamma. " And he grabbed my hand tried to hand me out of the truck. It was super cute.
The other day we were singing "you are holy, you are holy, you are holy seated on the throne of my life" and I said , "Jack you can sing this." He looks at me and says Holy Cow! :) It was so funny.
Today, after exercising, I let him walk on the treadmill and asked him if he wanted to be done. "No Mamma, give me two more seconds." (Have I mentioned he is two and a half?) There are so many things that he says that are funny and I try to remember them, but alas, I don't! I will try to be better.

Parenting

What makes a good parent? What choices do you have to make to fit that mold? And what in tartnation does that mold look like? I was totally sucked into reading a LONG article on vaccinations and basically the stupidity of people who don't vaccinate. I also found another blog about why there are those of us who question the establishment and don't vaccinate our children. It made me reexamine my motives and reasons for not vaccinating.

Here are the blogs.
Pro vaccinate: http://bostonwed-murakami.blogspot.com/2013/09/vaccination-laypersons-perspective_26.html?m=1

Anti vaccinate:http://www.modernalternativemama.com/blog/2013/08/26/monday-health-wellness-why-the-anti-vaccine-movement-exists/

My initial reaction when reading pro vax stuff is instant distrust and anger at being called irresponsible, ignorant, neglectful, stupid, unwise etc etc etc. It pisses me off that the immediate response of so many is that "you idiot, you believe false information and are going to not only kill your child, but all the people with weakened immune systems!"
My reasons for not vaccinating?

1. I think that part of the reason my mom felt not to vaccinate us was because of me. I have many auto immune system disorder markers. Skin issues, allergies, and digestive issues. - perhaps if she had immunized me, I would be that one in a million person who's life is destroyed by complications. And so because those auto immune diseases are in fact hereditary, I'm no comfortable risking MY children being that one in a million. I'm sorry, it's not my job to be the mother of all the kids in the US. It's my job to do what I think it right for my two. 
2. I seriously don't trust the established policy on vaccinations because of the enormous money behind it. When there is SO much money in any area there is greed and power and I don't believe that those people making the decisions on what vaccinations are necessary, are not influenced by nothing more then money. 
3. I don't trust that all the scientist doing all the research telling me that it's best to give my children these vaccinations are really looking out for my wellbeing or that of my kids more then the wellbeing of their research projects, their jobs and their livelihoods.
4. I'm not even close to being able to read and understand study after study after study of information on this subject and being told that "googling" it is not good enough and reading studies on the internet aren't good enough and by the way you can only know enough to make a decision by going to med school and reading enough medical journals and studies (and understanding what the heck they are saying) and paying for subscriptions to medical journals etc etc...  I don't have any way to know what is a valid study and what isn't. I don't have enough time, money or energy to get so versed in all the science that I actually am educated about EXACTLY what vaccination's benefits and harms are. All I have is some information that I have found and my instinct as a mother. 
5. No I don't trust doctors. I'm sorry they are just people and often times too busy to give a damn about me or my issues or my concerns with their established protocol. I've had SO many experiences of the ignorance of doctors who don't try to find out the real problem, but only treat symptoms that I have NO faith in some pediatrician telling me that "no, no, everything will be great and dandy when you inject your two month old with viruses!"   

Those are some of my reasons, though not totally extensive as I don't dare quote any of the information that I've found because it's bound to be debunked as totally false and ridiculous. But I can't quiet the fear that if I do go ahead and vaccinate, I'll be doing the wrong thing, so I'm not going to until I feel otherwise.

I also read this article which is a really good reminder that we shouldn't be parenting while comparing with everyone else..

http://www.mothering.com/community/a/my-choice-to-parent-differently-does-not-imply-your-way-is-wrong

Potty Training

Where do we start? Jackson is so aggressively uninterested that it makes it hard to even want to try to get him into it.
We have been nudging him ever so gently to sit on the potty. Last night he actually pooped on the potty, but I think it was more of a matter of him having diarrhea and happening to be sitting on the potty then actually feeling the urge and making the connection.
We did a big party for him, so hopefully that will encourage a return performance.
These are my thoughts for how to proceed from here.

• Get a goody bag: Fill it with special treats and let him decorate it. 
• Get a Sticker Chart: Get fun, truck & airplane & train stickers and let him help decorate it. 
• Decorate the potty: Let him go wild with the potty. 
• Get fun pull ups: make them interesting 

I am going to try the above and see if we can't generate some interest.


As far as Emma goes, she is thriving and doing wonderfully. She is still nursing six times a day which seems like a lot to me. But I don't remember what I was doing with Jackson at that point. I am also feeding her oatmeal twice a day and will probably increase it sometime in the next month. I LONNNNNGGG for the day when I can put her to bed at 8 or 8:30 and actually have an evening.  I think part of that is going to be not letting her sleep so long in the morning, but it's SOOO nice to have a little bit extra sleep on the rare days when I get to sleep in. She is getting more dexterous all the time and can now grab things and pass things back and forth. She can also sort of sit up with a little help and she's rolling ALL OVER THE PLACE!

As for me, like I said, I LOONNNGG for a little break. Just a day or even a night and morning to sleep until I wake up on my own. I am weary of always being needed and having demands on my time, body and energy. But really, it's not all that bad, I'm just going into the long, dark and cold of winter in Alaska and wish I didn't already feel to drained and TIRED!
 We'll make it and I really don't want Emma to get big too fast. Tonight she was sitting next to Nathaniel and flirting away with him. It was so cute. She is probably the most friendly, smily baby ever. :)