Amy Scott's Thoughts

My last blog posted ended with us giving Toby away. I finished my blog and went to bed. Once I turned off the lights in our room, I started crying. I had cried right after Toby left and a little that evening, but when the lights went out we entered the “sobbing” phase of mourning. It was ugly. I couldn’t sleep. I felt sick. I felt panicky. Seriously, the worst feeling ever. I knew we made the right decision, but the emotions over took me and I was a wreck. A complete and total wreck. This little dog for good or bad was a big part of our lives. My day revolves around keeping an eye on him, taking him out to the use the bathroom, trying to keep him emotionally happy so he doesn’t pee on my floor… There were no sounds of dog paws on the floor. There was no barking. He left a void. Like I said, for good or bad, life was different and I was grieving in a more intense way than I expected. I think that all the emotions that I’ve been feeling inside over the last few months just exploded. The flood gates had opened. I broke down. Everything made me cry. So that was my Monday… crying, crying, crying. Good times, huh?

Yesterday morning Jeremy gave me a call saying that Toby was coming home. The lady that took him realized that Toby is going to need to be the only pet in whatever home he ends up in. She has too many pets to keep him herself and everyone she had in mind to place him with has another pet. She will keep looking for a home for Toby, but until the right home opens up, he is back with us. I have no clue how I feel about this. I grieved so hard when he left. I was looking forward to moving through the emotions and getting to a place where I could appreciate no longer having a dog. We never got to that point. Now things are back to “normal” and yet something feels like it has shifted in me. I guess it’s probably because I feel like Toby might be loan to us. Who knows if we have weeks, months or years left with him our household? I’m keeping an open hand with him. If I better home opens up then I want him to go there. For both his sake and our sake. However, I want to accept the fact that he might be back for good. It’s like this summer all over again, but way more intense. This summer I got to a point where I started to find a home for Toby. It was hard to come to that decision, but once I made it, I realized that finding him a home was going to be a challenge. The doors didn’t open and I accepted once again that he was ours to deal with. Lots of up and down. This time I thought it had really happened. I thought he was gone for good. And now… I just don’t know what to think about all of this. My emotions are shot.

There you have it. The next saga in the epic Scott family drama. After a day and a half of total and complete misery, we are back to where we started. I am tired. I am unsure. I’m trying to process how I feel about all of this. I do know that the world will keep on spinning. I have floors to clean and a snack to make for my class tonight and I have kiddos to take care of. I’ll keep you posted if any other drama arises. Until next time!

In big and small ways a lot has changed in the Scott household. The end of 2015 and the beginning of 2016 have left our family reeling. Some good things. Some hard things. Lots of emotions. So many emotions…

After doing a ton of minivan research and totally blowing our minds with details, Jeremy’s phone died. It was a long time coming since it has been cracked for months. With the death of Jeremy’s phone came more discussions, details and research. After comparing new plans and numbers, we decided to switch cell phone carriers. I have been with AT&T since I got my first phone at age 16. AT&T is all I’ve ever known. It’s comfortable to stay with familiar things. However, after crunching the numbers, we switched to Verizon. I know this is a small thing, but it gave us a major headache as we tried to figure out the right direction to go. I think our brains were fried from major minivan decision. Now we have new phones and a new cell carrier. Weird.

If buying a minivan, getting a new phone and turning 30 weren’t enough to making my head spin, we had to take our minivan into the dealer. Why you ask? Because I washed the car key. The electronic car key. The car would start with the key, but it would no longer lock or unlock the doors. This was our only key and a new key would cost $300. I felt sick. I couldn’t believe I had done something dumb and expensive. After calling around, Jeremy talked with a dealer that noticed an open recall on the keys. We were without the van for 24 hours, but we got 3 new keys for free thanks to the recall. It was crazy to be back in the car for a short period of time. After riding in the van, the car felt really cozy.

That brings me to the car. We listed it on Craig’s List with no interest. We listed it a bit high and there were plenty of similar cars in the same price range. We weren’t surprised to see that no one was biting. Then we got a call through a friend connection. On Saturday morning we got the call that they were interested and then by that afternoon the car was sold. Jeremy had some paperwork in the file for the car from my grandpa (the car was originally my grandparent’s). The paper had my grandpa’s handwriting and the stationary from his business that is now gone. Oh my! The emotions. Here we were selling car that we brought both of our babies home from the hospital with and I was sad to say good bye to the car because it’s been a good friend. We had many adventures in the car… but seeing the paperwork from my grandpa made me get a bit teary. The emotions have been riding a high these days.

Let’s add to the emotions, we got a phone call on Friday from someone who was interested in placing our Toby dog with a new family. I don’t want to blog about this… I do, but I don’t. This summer I seriously looked into placing Toby with a new home and all the doors seemed to be closed to me. It was hard to come to a place where I was ready to let him go. There are lots of pros to not having a dog, but the main reason we let Toby go was he isn’t good with small children. I’m constantly trying to keep him away from Owen. Owen and Toby had a love hate relationship. They had good times and bad times. But the problem is Toby is a biter. He has bitten Owen multiple times and others as well. I’ve stopped having play dates at my house because I’ve been too worried about my dog biting kids. It’s a rough road. Toby is a sweet, lap dog. He is perfect for an adult with a quiet life. He loves to snuggle. He adores attention. Our home was just no longer a good fit. Anyway, the doors opened quickly for Toby to leave our household. It was a hard decision, but Toby left us this afternoon. Oh the emotions. Ahhhhh!!!! It’s been a rough afternoon/evening. I’m not entirely sure that the worst is over yet. Owen keeps looking for Toby. Every time he asks I tell him that Toby is on a new adventure. It makes me sad to see Owen looking for Toby when their rough relationship is the main reason Toby is gone. Again ahhhh…. As Toby drove off, Owen said “Bye bye Tobers”. Tobers is one of the many nicknames we have for him. Have… Had… Time to start using past tense. There is a chance that if things don’t go well with Toby and his placement, he might come back to us. I doubt he will, but it could happen. There are a lot of pros that I don’t feel like listing right now because mainly I’m just sad. Really sad.

Moving on… Life has done a good job of making my brain reel. As silly has it sounds, since the arrival of Graham a lot of things have turned upside down for me. Adding an infant to the family, having struggles with Graham’s health, having to change my diet… all of the things I mentioned above and more. I feel a bit unsteady. There is so much good in the midst of the change. God is doing something. Jeremy and I can feel it. He is shaking us up. We are trying to keep up with him and trust more each day with whatever happens. There is a lot to process. Lots of decisions to make. We are doing the best we can for our family. Today has been hard. The good definitely outweighs the bad, but today, at this moment… it’s rough. I know our family will find a new normal… At least, I hope so. Normal would feel good right now. But maybe normal is a myth. I guess I’ll find out with time.

 

Graham has survived a quarter of a year with us. Or the other way around. Maybe we’ve survived him! I’m happy to report that he is a much improved kid now that he takes meds for acid reflux. It’s great to see him more relaxed. I truly appreciate not having a screaming baby 24/7. It’s been like a chain reaction. Now that Graham is more chill, Owen has gone back to being more chill around the house as well. No more diving for my lap or freaking out for attention. It seems like we have found a much more normal balance.

Things are starting to find a flow again. Right now both boys are napping at the same time. I can’t get Graham down for naps in his room with Owen around. I’m working hard to make sure that they both go down at the same time in the afternoon. This gives me a short window to not be on kid duty. It doesn’t always work out, but it’s now my goal to get them both sleeping their rooms at the same time. With Owen it was easy to work out a nap schedule. Graham is subjected to an older brother who makes tons of noise. Our house and Graham’s room placement doesn’t help cover up the noise of the toddler. I have a fan on Graham’s room for white noise, but that doesn’t always cover up the sounds of the house. Plus, I would love to quietly put Graham down, but Owen is always by my side. He talks loudly and doesn’t understand the concept of putting the baby down for a nap. Thus, Graham’s nap time is always after Owen is down for his nap. Graham will just have to live with interrupted daytime sleep.

The big news is that Graham now sleeps through the night. He sleeps 9-11 hours every night! He has been in his own room for a week now and I am singing the praises of having my space back. I love not having baby central in my bedroom. Now that Graham is sleeping solidly, I’ve been staying up about an hour or so after he goes down. With more rest, I’m not as ready to go to sleep the second Graham is unconscious. It’s nice to have some downtime without the kids before going to bed for the night. It’s amazing how life improves when solid sleep is finally achieved. I am so beyond happy. I am a much better person when I get my sleep.

Graham is just now starting to show interest in toys. He likes to grab things and hold them. He especially loves grabbing onto blankets and pulling them up to his face to suck on. He is a little Linus. I think a lot of times he grabs a blanket to hid from the noise and a chaos surrounding him. He will lay for short periods of time on his playmat and look up at the toys and mirror. Owen will snatch any baby toy I give Graham so we cycle through a lot of toys in the hopes of keeping both boys happy. It’s interesting to me that Owen is way more fascinated with baby toys as a toddler than he ever was an infant. He loves them. As Graham continues to grow and develop, I know that play time and toys will become an even bigger part of our lives. Graham is doing well at holding his head up and getting stronger. I look forward to the days where he can sit up on own and play with Owen.

Owen can now say Graham’s name. However, he says Baby Graham not just plain Graham. He also says Baby Boy a lot. It’s cute to see Owen learning how to treat a baby and what makes baby happy. He still enjoys giving Graham hugs and kisses. I’ve learned that I can use Graham to get Owen to do things. Owen will do almost anything if Graham has done it. Whenever I clip Graham’s nails, Owen asks for his nails to be clipped too. The other day I wanted to get Owen into his Seahawks jersey, but he didn’t want to until he saw me put Graham into his Seahawks onesie. Maybe there is some logic behind matching outfits.

Overall, Graham seems to be improving and growing and in general doing what he should do for a 3 month old. He has almost outgrown size 3 month clothing. I pulled out all the 3-6 month clothing last night. He is also graduating into size 2 diapers. I am looking forward to getting his weight at our doctor’s appointment at the end of the month. I’m sure he isn’t putting on a pound a week like before, but he is growing. He remains my little stout chunk.

The days are long and zany around this house, but we are slowly reclaiming ground and finding our new normal. It’s taken a while, but I’m not starting to feel more human again. Hopefully all the night sleep will help me keep up with these crazy busy and wonderful boys.

 

It happened! I entered my thirties! Whoa! To celebrate my birthday, I had a day where I let myself eat dairy. It was my first time testing waters (well, sorta. I had a small amount of cheese a few weeks ago). I wanted to see how Graham would do if I ate a day full of dairy. Because the small amount of cheese didn’t bother him, I had high hopes for my dairy day. I am happy to report that Graham suffered no ill effects from me eating dairy. I’m tempted to give up the dairy free diet altogether. If anything, I might allow myself to have dairy when I eat out or on special occasions. I’m still undecided. We have a follow up appointment with the GI specialist at the end of the month. I might wait until after the appointment to make a final decision on where dairy stands in my life.

Anyway, the day kind of revolved around food since I was going to let myself eat whatever I wanted without worrying about restrictions. The morning started off at a local spot for breakfast with my boys, mom and sister. I had a waffle with strawberries and whip cream. It was delicious! YUM! We took off after breakfast to hit Hobby Lobby. I had a vision of decorating a blank wall in our house. We walked out of Hobby Lobby with many new pieces that look great on our wall. I’ll post a picture when the project is complete. After Hobby Lobby, it was lunch at P.F. Chang’s. Jeremy told the waitress that it was my birthday so I got a giant slab of chocolate for free. And they don’t sing to you there. A non-embarrassing free birthday dessert is a win my book! The afternoon was spent shopping for some new clothes now that I’m living with a post baby body again. The shopping was very successful and not too painful. Praise Jesus! Dinner was clam chowder at Ivar’s and dessert at Krispy Kreme. Overall, a fantastic and ambitious day spent with my hubby and little boys. Jeremy took the day off to be with me and made this big outing happen. It was super sweet of him. He made the day special and wonderful. I was very blessed.

Today, I had my family over to celebrate with them. We made a huge pasta bar and we will be living off the leftovers for days. Pasta is a great for a dairy free meal and I made my lemon cake for dessert. Like most birthdays, Owen tends to be the star of the show. The kid demands an audience. Various family members took turns playing at the train table with him and running amok around the house. Graham as always got passed around and came back to me numerous times so he can could eat. It was a fun night to just hang out and enjoy the company of my loved ones. Good times all around.

30 has been pretty great so far. I’ve been loved on by so many friends and family. Three different friends gave me Starbucks cards so I am well stocked for the beginning of 2016. I might have to hit it before church tomorrow and splurge! I feel so blessed. I am loved by many and I am thankful for the people God has placed in my life. Seriously, age doesn’t matter as long as you are surrounded by people who make life a joy. I am thankful! I have a feeling my thirties are going to be amazing!

Tomorrow is my last official day in my twenties! How did that happen? Day by day, year by year. My twenties were a lot of fun. I got to travel way more than I expected. I visited places like Nashville, Washington DC, Chicago, San Francisco, San Diego, and Hawaii. I got married, graduated from college, bought a house, had two kids, bought a minivan. I realized that my minivan post on Instagram was my 666th post. Should I be worried or find that funny? I don’t know. Anyway, below are some pictures and a walk down memory lane! I am thankful for who I have become in the last 10 years. I know that I haven’t arrived. Perfection has not been reached. God has been good to me. I have grown and changed in ways I never expected. I walked down roads that I never thought I would take. I feel like I really grew up in my twenties. I was talking with my friend, Maggie, yesterday about being thirty since we both have January birthdays. She said that turning thirty made her realize that she is an adult now. Not a young adult, just an adult. It’s so true! I am an adult. I have grown up (to some degree). I have hopefully gained some wisdom from youth, but now I am an adult. I am excited to see what my thirties for hold me. Lots of friends have told me that they loved their thirties for various reasons. I plan on making the most of them. I don’t want to be upset about aging. I want to embrace it. I want to live a good life right now. Here’s to a new decade!

With the arrival of Graham, Jeremy and I have had a reoccurring conversation. It starts with me complaining about how cramped and crazy the backseat of our car is. Jeremy then proceeds to tell me how a minivan would solve our problems. I usually sigh and say that I don’t want to go there. I’m not a big rig girl. Minivans freak me out. Not in a mom jeans kind of way, but in a I don’t want to hit someone kind of way. I’m not a confident driver and a bigger vehicle meant I was more likely to hit someone in a parking lot. We knew that we needed a new (aka new to us) vehicle in the future, but I never let the conversation develop too much further.

Then we started to do some real research on minivans. After looking at details and price comparisons and seeing what’s out there, we took our first test drive yesterday. We were underwhelmed by the vehicle. Despite the great price, we didn’t like how the 2nd row of seating was a bench and would put the boys right on top of each other and on top of us. The bench was so close to the front seats. We drove away knowing that probably wasn’t the van for us. I should note that we went and test drove this van in Tacoma (yay for lunch at Chick-fil-A). Jeremy had another van in Scappoose he wanted to see that had bucket seats and the same amount of miles. It was just slightly higher in price. We picked up Owen from my parent’s house and made our trek down south. It was a big travel day, but we were determined to see the two vehicles that peaked our interest. Once we got both boys loaded into the second van, we knew we liked it a lot more than the first one. We took it for a test drive and liked it a lot. We went back to the dealer and talked the price down a bit and then signed the papers. Minivan search done! I am grateful to have the process over and complete. We are, however, still getting calls from other vehicles we inquired about. Car salesmen don’t give up easy.

So now I’m full on deep into motherhood mode! I own more hoodies and lounge pants than any other form of clothing. I rarely get dressed unless I’m leaving the house. This makes visits from the UPS man awesome. He gets to see me in all my messy hair, relaxed clothes glory. My car is full of crumbs and wrappers and partially eaten pieces of graham cracker and Nutrigrain bars. My kids love to do the same things at the same time – eat, cry, wake up, scream, need diapers. I am split in two all day long. I was texting with my sister about the minivan and I told her all I need to do now is chop off my hair and I will have embraced all the elements of motherhood. I guess it’s time to get Owen a soccer ball and we need a cheesy bumper sticker.

Life in this household is loud and insane most of the time. I knew that being a stay at home mom would be work, but wow, these kids kick my butt every day. I love them and they are adorable and that keeps them alive and me from committing a crime. It’s a good life. It’s a blessed life. I never saw myself with a minivan, but now that it’s here, I am jazzed about all the storage and all the space. Cluttered and crowded has never been my thing, so I’m hoping that this will improve things. I know for sure it won’t improve the crumbs, half eaten food and toddler toys laying about, but that’s okay. This is the season of life we are in. It’s a messy one, but it’s a good one. I am thankful. So thankful! On the bright side, this was Jeremy and I’s first time car shopping together. It pushed us out of our comfort zone, but it was an adventure and we did it together. It was awesome to see how in sync we were. We would often give feedback or critique a vehicle and we would totally agree. I love my husband. He is amazing and going through this process with him will be a memory we won’t forget. Our little family sure has a way of keeping us on our toes.

There you have it. In less than a week, I will turn 30. What a crazy, weird and wonderful way to end my 20’s. More about the big 3-0 and thoughts on saying good bye to the last decade of my life in my next blog post. That is if my old mom brain will remember it all! Kidding… but not really. Where did my memory go? Good thing I blog so I’ll be able to remember these years.

Happy New Year!!! 2015 was not my favorite year… It was pretty rough. I had a very uncomfortable pregnancy. I am happy to no longer be pregnant. Graham has been an unhappy kiddo for most of his small life. The transition to two kids started out well, but got complicated in a hurry. Owen held up for a good while before deciding to join in the crazy.  Thus making 2015 pretty insane from start to finish. It wasn’t a bad year, but I can’t say it’s a year I would like to repeat. I am thankful as a I reflect on 2015 because it is filled with family memories and a lot of love. I am blessed to be surrounded by family and friends who love me and keep me going. Despite the drama, I know that I am not alone and I am loved.

2015 ended with Owen getting the stomach flu. I had a play date with my friend, Kaly and her boys. Graham has been on his new stomach meds and drops for a week now. I am happy to report that I am seeing improvement in him. He is less fussy and has been crying less. I’m fairly certain that his tummy is feeling happier. Now he is acting much more like a normal baby. He fusses when he is tried or gassy, but that is about it. I am thrilled! I really hope we are on the road to a healthy, happy baby.

New Year’s Eve is my sister’s birthday. Her husband, Andrew, is one day older than her. We spent New Year’s Eve celebrating both birthdays. Since I can have soy again, we were able to go out to Chinese food at one of our favorite local places. YUM!!! Jeremy and I started a movie once the birthday celebration ended. We made it to 10:30pm and then decided to call it a night. I know, we sure know how to ring in the New Year!

For New Year’s Day, we took off to Portland to explore the Oregon Zoo. It was super cold. With the wind chill it felt like 18 degrees. We enjoyed the quiet zoo. Some of the animals weren’t out because of the cold. We stayed long enough to see all the Zoolights come on and then left before the big crowds showed up.

January 2nd was our 4th round of Christmas! This time we celebrated with my immediate family. Owen and Graham got a train table from Grandpa and Grandma. Owen has been in train mode ever since. He is obsessed and occupied. It’s fun to see him so focused as he plays with his trains. The train table definitely fit the train theme of this Christmas. We are swimming in Thomas items and trains. Owen is super blessed. Even though we celebrated Christmas in 2016, it was a great day and one worth waiting for.

I had three goals for the end of 2015 and I am happy to say that I accomplished them! Are you ready for this? I went to see Mockingjay Part 2. I visited the new Home Goods in Olympia and the new Hobby Lobby in Lacey. Yes, those were the three things I wanted to do before the end of the year. I made it to Hobby Lobby on December 28th, so that goal almost didn’t happen. Now that I look forward to what 2016 holds I can’t say that I have any super specific goals. I told Jeremy that I want to be an intentional parent. As I look at 2016, I want it to be a year where I continue to grow in my mothering. Especially now that Owen is at an age that requires a lot of discipline and guidance, I want to raise adults who will be functioning members of society. I want to model for them what it means to love Jesus and to serve others. I want to be intentional and keep trying to do the best for them. A slightly more specific goal might be getting out of my maternity pants… That one might not happen quickly. I’m loving no zippers, no buttons and not worrying about a muffin top. How is that for some honesty?

I’m not sure what 2016 holds, but I ready to face it with my handsome hubby and crazy wonderful boys! I am so blessed to do life with these three fantastic guys. I’m sure there will be many adventures with family and friends. I’m ready to make some memories that will last a lifetime. No matter what 2016 has in store, I will go forward knowing that God is for me and he is good. The best is yet to come. I fully believe that. I plan on blogging about it all! Stay tuned!

We have celebrated three rounds of Christmas so far with one more gathering still to come next weekend. I love spreading Christmas out over a few days. It makes the holiday season last longer. On Christmas Eve, we had Owen open his presents from us (and one from Santa). Owen was blessed with multiple Thomas toys and spent the morning happily playing with his new trains. Jeremy and I spent the day making dairy/soy free goodies for me to enjoy at the various gatherings we would be attending. Christmas Eve evening was spent at Jeremy’s parent’s house. We did a white elephant gift exchange with the extended family. Owen walked away with an another Thomas toy and some Hot Wheels! It was a very good day!

Christmas morning we drove up north to celebrate with my extended family. I was so impressed that we were the second family to arrive after my parents (who always arrive at the crack of dawn). Owen got more Thomas items (go figure) and Graham got his first presents. Jeremy and I didn’t get presents for Owen’s first Christmas and the same has held true for Graham. Next year will be fun with two boys to shop for. My extended family also does a white elephant style gift exchange. I walked away with what I brought. I am now the happy owner of more silicone baking mats.  Victory!!!

The day after Christmas is a shopping day for our family. Usually we drive down to Portland, but we had plans to go to the movies that night and we didn’t want to make it as big of a day. We were up in Olympia before the mall was open. We got Owen a few things. Mainly we were looking for a few Thomas shirts so he can wear Thomas out and about and not be in his pajamas. We also got him a new pillow for his crib. My mom got him a holiday pillow and he has since adjusted to having a pillow with him in bed. He now has a dump truck pillow that he has slept with every night. It’s adorable. Saturday evening we went to see the new Stars Wars movie with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law. We crashed their date! We enjoyed the movie despite having to sit to in the 2nd row. The theater was crazy busy!

Sunday was our family Christmas with the Scotts! Uncle Eric & Aunt Andrea finally got to meet Graham. It was the first time the whole family was together since October and the first complete family gathering with Graham. I love the chaos of opening presents and watching the kids reactions. The kids didn’t appreciate that I wrapped their gifts in diaper boxes. They assumed that I was giving them diapers. Oops. The kiddos got to watch big fat snowflakes fall outside the window and they even took a wet walk in it. It was a fantastic day.

Now on to Graham. We had our appointment with a GI specialist yesterday. Graham as been diagnosed with acid reflux. This was much better news than we were expecting. The doctor wasn’t concerned about the microscopic amounts of blood in his diapers. That was a relief to me. Graham will now be on Zantac and some soothing drops for colic. I was also told that I can eat soy again. I will have to continue the dairy free diet until Graham is 6 months old, but that is less than 4 months away. I think I can make it until then! There is a light at the end of the tunnel! I’m really praying that Graham will improve with the medicine and this new diagnosis.

My last blog was mostly about Graham so this one will be mostly about Owen. However, I will give a quick update on the last week. Jeremy gave me a head cold. This meant that I had a 102 degree fever while Graham had a 101 degree (thanks to his shots on Monday). I felt like death… And I was responsible for two children! It was grand. Okay. Not so much. I survived though! I’m doing a ton better now, but poor Graham is still fighting off the fever. Poor little guy. The stats from Graham’s appointments were not surprising! Graham weighed in at 12lbs. 2oz. (43%) and his height is 22in. (9%). He is growing in width faster than height. He is short and tubby! His head is at the 55% which is pretty average. No giant noggin like his brother. We did take a diaper to be tested and it came back positive for blood in his stool. I’m not surprised, but it’s still sad. I’m anxiously waiting for our appointment with the specialist next Monday. I am ready for answers.

Now back to Owen! It can be easy to lose track of the toddler while taking care of a fussy baby. However, Owen is making his presence more and more known. He has handled life with Graham fairly well, but in the last week or so that has started to change. He is super needy and I hear the words “Mama up” every 5 seconds. I am happy to be so loved, but there are times where it’s hard to balance it all. He has also thrown some epic temper tantrums. Oh my. The drama! The expression “save the drama for your mama” is not funny to me. Don’t give Mama drama! She doesn’t want or need it!

Okay, now for the good stuff! Owen is extremely talkative these days. He is a little parrot that says almost everything back to you. We’ve been practicing saying all the family members names. It’s cute because he can say almost all of them really well. He seems to struggle the most with Andrea and Grandpa. He can say Grandma just fine, but he wants to call both grandpas “Papa”. He is obsessed with Papa. He calls the church “Papa’s house”. One day every time a car drove by he yelled “Papa’s home”. The next exciting development in practicing names is Owen can now say his own name. He doesn’t say it a lot, but he told the cashier at Michael’s “I Owen”. The other day when I was taking my temperature, he kept saying “Owen” and pointing at himself so I would take his temp too. The other day he kept telling Jeremy “Owen’s seat” because he wanted Jeremy to load his car seat into the truck so they could go for a drive. He can also say please and thank you and a few times I have heard him say sorry (always to his brother). He likes to tell us that baby is crying or baby is sleeping.

It wouldn’t be a blog focused on Owen if I didn’t mention he is obsessed with Thomas and Friends right. Massively! We got him a pair of Thomas jammies and we have had a hard time getting them off of him. We actually got a second pair of jammies so he can wear a clean pair while we wash the dirty pair. It seemed like the best option or he would be a stinky kid wearing the same clothes until they fell off his body. It’s going to be a very Thomas Christmas for Owen. Most of the gifts from us involve Thomas. He can say the different train names and dances to the music on the show. The love of Thomas is deep. Deep.

Owen loves to run especially in circles. It makes me laugh really hard. I love to see him burn energy! He still has a hard time going into the nursery at church, but he calms down quickly once he gets in and starts playing (current favorite toy is the train). There is a window between the two nursery rooms and Owen will go to the window and say “up”. He loves the workers from the baby side of the nursery and they love him too. I have gone into the nursery more than a few times to discover that Owen is on the other side hanging with his favorite ladies. I don’t care where he ends up as along as he with responsible adults and happy.

Oh and potty training… It’s a slow endeavor. We’ve had 5 successful events in the potty. He loves wearing his Thomas pull-ups. I wish he was more focused on potty training, but at the same time, with Graham being super needy, I’m not sure that I have the energy to be on top of potty training right now. I’m fine with this being a slow process. I know that at some point it will stick… Or at some point, I’ll have more energy and be able to give it more attention. I wasn’t planning on starting the potty training process until spring, so I’ll just view it as we are head of schedule. Any progress right now is a bonus!

Tomorrow morning we plan on doing Christmas presents from us to Owen. I am excited for this Christmas since I think Owen will be more excited about the gifts than the wrapping paper. Last years was all about the bows on the presents. This year I wanted to make sure that Owen knew about the true meaning of Christmas so we’ve been reading the Christmas story at bed time. He says “Baby Jesus” in the cutest way.  He really likes that there is a cat that sits by the manger.  It’s sweet to see him interested in the story even though I have no idea if he gets that it’s about Christmas. We don’t talk about Santa a lot, but he has seen a few programs with Santa in them. He’ll say “ho ho” when he hears “ho ho ho”. I’m sure Christmas will only get more fun as Owen gets older. I had a blast shopping for him this year. Shopping for kids of my favorite thing! I am so excited that our Christmas celebrations are about to get underway tomorrow!

Next post will be full of holiday cheer – hopefully! I can’t wait to share our Christmas adventures with you!

Graham is two months old today! Parenting two is so different. When it came to updating monthly on Owen, I felt like I was studying a new creature. I had so much to say about his monthly development. I wasn’t used to baby life. Everything was new. Graham, on the other hand…. I guess I could sum up this blog in two sentences – Graham is two months old. The end. Just kidding. Graham has fully mastered the art of smiling and cooing. He likes to talk and streak. My chill baby has been replaced with a very fussy baby. This has made life complicated. On Thursday, I had my sister over for a visit in the morning and then I called in my mom for reinforcements in the afternoon. It’s been a rough week. Graham wants to eat or be held – 24/7. I’ve been able to get very little done around the house. That includes keeping up with my toddler. Owen has been practically diving into my lap whenever it is free. Plus, Owen has been sick this week, so he has been extra clingy as well. One mama and two clingy kids is a recipe for disaster. Oh my. It’s been insane. I love my kids, but man, it’s not always fun being home with them. I still hold to the truth that I am grateful to be with them, regardless of their attitudes.

As with each update, Graham’s tummy is still the big problem. He just isn’t feeling good and it’s hard to be a happy baby when you don’t feel good. It makes me sad. We have his two month well check on Monday. I plan on having them check his diapers again. I’m fairly positive they will still have blood in them. Our appointment with the specialist is in just over a week and I am so ready to have some answers. It’s been a long wait and I am growing impatient. I want to know why changing my diet hasn’t helped Graham feel better. I want to know if he really does have a dairy/soy intolerance or if it’s a different problem. Eating dairy/soy free has been hard for me when I see no improvement with Graham. I am happy to report, I did find a “cheeze” pizza with fairly decent flavor. The cheese stuck to my teeth in a weird way, but the food tasted okay. Also it was dairy/soy/gluten/egg free. If I have to cut gluten and egg out of my diet in the future, at least I can still eat that pizza. I might have to live off it… I’m learning a lot about alternative foods and I’m finding that cheese is hard to replicate. So far in the cooking/baking department, I have been impressed with coconut oil and almond milk. I did learn the hard way that almond milk doesn’t work for making pudding. The poor pudding didn’t thicken up at all and stayed pudding soup. I was really craving chocolate that night so it was a bummer that it didn’t turn out. I will admit that I did eat a serving of the pudding soup just so I could have the chocolate flavor.

Life with Graham has been an adventure. He is still sleeping on our room since sleeping through the night has not been achieved yet. Graham wakes up about every three hours. He has given us some 5 hour stretches a few times. I’m thinking once he masters 6 hours on a regular basis then maybe I’ll be up for moving him to his room. I’m also trying to figure out nap time with a big brother in the house making a ton of noise. I’ve moved Graham into his room to sleep in the swing a few times. He doesn’t stay asleep super long, but the logic has been to get him out of the center of the toddler chaos in the living room. Jeremy tried to put Graham down for a nap in his crib today, but Graham woke up and was so taken with looking at the penguins on the wall that he didn’t go back to sleep. The two big things I would love to see improve would be Graham’s tummy and his sleep. I’m thinking that if we can make progress with his tummy then his sleep will improve as well. I’m hoping… I keeping praying for him to be a happier kid all around.

I’m fully expecting Graham to weigh in on the chunky side at Monday’s appointment. He is filling out three month clothes like a champ. I’m so surprised to have a chunky kid! His tummy is huge. It’s quite the sight! He is way more wide than he is tall. I’m so intrigued to see where his percentiles will fall. I love getting stats at well checks, but getting shots is no fun. The first few times Owen got shots, he also got fevers with them. I’m really hoping that Graham handles the shots well. He is so unhappy as it is that he doesn’t need shots making him feel worse.

Speaking of Graham, he is stirring from his sleep. I better go be a parent! I’ll update you with his stats and our family happenings soon. Stay tuned!