Things I've Learned With Two...

-They will be complete opposites.  Just because "this" worked with the first one, does not mean that it will work on the second.  It actually seems like it will be the complete opposite. 

 

- You will figure out how to nurse, and cook, and clean, and play with your toddler, AND talk on the phone all at the same time.  

-Having one kid was SO EASY!  (Actually, having no kids was super easy.  Having one kid was not that bad.  Having two kids makes every task seem like climbing Denali!)

- I will never ever say that I am a great multitasker again.  Ever.  When one kid is throwing a tantrum, and the other is screaming to be fed, I completely shut down.  I thought I could handle anything thrown at me.  I was dead wrong.  If someone tries to ask me a question or talk to me while the above situation is occurring, I am like a brick wall to them.  Unresponsive and hard. 

- I will not be bored again.  I will crave those slow times during the day just so I can actually get a little time to myself.

-  I will look forward to not having any human touch.  When two little humans are constantly fighting for your attention and touch all day long, you get maxed out!  By the end of the day, all I want to do is veg out on the couch and not be touched by anything.  

-  You will figure out a way to share the love between both kids.  

- You will also find the physical strength to carry two human beings...a lot!  Even if you're back and knees are killing you, you will still happily pick up your 30-pound toddler and baby just to make that toddler happy.  

- You will most likely want to punch your pre-baby self in the throat for everything you said and thought prior to having children.  Stupid ignorance.  

Half of 10

Bristol is 5 months old this month!  So much has happened this month for baby girl...

She had her first play date with her bud, Avery, who lives just a few houses away.  Avery and B loved having a staring contest while (p)laying on the play mat.  The cool thing about this friend is that A's older sister is Joey's buddy.  A and B are only 2 months apart, with B being the oldest.  And Joey and A's sister are only one month apart!  How cool is that?!?! 

Bristol has really come into her own with her fashion sense.  

Bristol's love for her brother just keeps getting deeper and stronger.  

Bristol is getting so much stronger and that much closer to sitting up on her own!  I think that is my favorite time in a babe's life, sitting on their own.  A couple of more weeks and she'll be a pro at sitting up.  

She has definitely found her voice.  Most days I have to shush her so she doesn't wake up Joey during his nap time!  She likes to yell and babble loudly!  She really likes the sound of her own voice!   

Bristol started rolling over while in her swaddle this month.  This meant "no more swaddling!".  This was super scary for us since that was the way she slept the best.  However, while my Mom was here, she was able to get her to sleep in her crib un-swaddled for long periods of time!  So very nice! 

Happy 5 Month Birthday, Bristol!  We love you and can't wait to see what the next month brings!  

Grateful

We have decided to stay in our homes versus visiting family back in North Carolina for most holidays.  It is just way easier to stay where we are instead of buying expensive tickets, traveling during super busy times, having quick visits with family members because they have another party to go to, and now that we have kids, we want to do our own traditions in our home.  I know a lot of our family members aren't happy about this arrangement, but the plane flies both ways.  You all can come stay with us for the holidays!  ;)  

We had a Thanksgiving Feast in Joey's Mommy and Me class.  Daddy got to come eat lunch with us which was super nice.  However, there were three classes crammed in one tiny room during a lot of kid's nap times.  Can you say stressful and chaotic!?!?  Michael told me that he didn't know how I do this with two kids twice a week.  I told him I don't...this was not a normal day!  The teacher even told me that she will never combine the classes again if we don't have a bigger venue.  Ha!  

After the party, Joey rode on this miniature carousel.  He loved it and talked about this for days.  

 In preparation for Joey's feast, we made turkey hats and place mats in class.  

 Our little turkey!  

For Thanksgiving day itself, we invited a few friends over to eat.  Our friends, Shawn, Cari, and Ella, (the ones Joey and I went hiking with at Joshua Tree last year) are back in Arizona for the winter, so they drove out to spend the long weekend with us.  Two different neighbors of ours also joined us.  We had seven parents, two babies, and FIVE toddlers!!  I think we were crazy!  

We had dinner at 430 so all of the kids had a chance to nap.  Some did, some didn't.  We also placed the food on the counter and did buffet style so the kids wouldn't mess with the food on the table.   We also set the table for all of the family members to sit down together.  That was stupid.  This is what our table looked like.  Notice any kids?

Yeah, they're not there because they were in here and outside.  Way too busy to eat.  I don't think any of those toddlers even ate anything at this dinner!  We said next time we do something like this, we're going to set the table for adults only.  We'll just let the kids run and play while the adults eat and actually get some adult conversation going on!  This dinner was so anti-climatic.  Cooking and preparing for days, and we didn't really sit together and the table just didn't look like Thanksgiving.  Ahhh, how kids change things.  

The next day, we took our friends to the San Diego Zoo.  They had never been to this zoo so it was nice to see it through their eyes.  We actually got to see some new stuff ourselves since we never visit the whole park and we always go the same route.  

The beginning of the day was great!  The kids ran, laughed, played, and just had fun.   

 

It was so nice getting to hang out with our buds.  It's so cool getting to hang out with friends from the past.  We were discussing that we've known each other way longer long distance than we did in the same location!  Ha!  The story of our lives.  

The kids did pretty great most of the day.  But once we hit one o'clock... 

it was over!  Tantrums, tears, breakdowns, the works.  This stroller for these two toddlers was probably a bad idea.  It was great only having to deal with one stroller, but these two were constantly messing with each other and when one got something, the other saw it and lost it.  Fun times.  I hope this isn't what I have to look forward to.  

The next day, we took our friends to the beach.  It was actually a little chilly that day, but the kids didn't mind.  They threw rocks into the ocean.   

Ate sand.  A lot of sand.   

Enjoyed the sun and fresh ocean air...well, as fresh as southern California air can be.  Ha!  

Loved on each other!

And played in the super cold water!  Don't worry Grandmas...we only let them play in the water for about 15-20 minutes before we took them home to warm up.  We actually stripped Joey down to his birthday suit and let him ride home like that since he had sand in every unmentionable place!  Both kiddos got lunch time baths!  

 The zoo was fun, but very exhausting.  This beach day was a nice, relaxing way to balance that out.  Once we got the kids home, they all three took naps, and Cari and I went and saw the last Twilight movie!  It was so nice to go to a movie with a friend.  I miss those days.  We then convinced our friends to spend the night at our house so we could have a fire and actually get to visit once the kids went to bed.  It was such a great visit and I'm so glad we got to see them.  

This was a great Thanksgiving and we are so very blessed.  I am truly and honestly grateful for two healthy children.  You hear people say that and think that it's not such a big deal, everyone has healthy kids.  But this year has been a sad year for some people I know and really makes me realize how very lucky I am to have healthy children.  

I am so very grateful to have a husband safely home from deployment.  In the five deployments Michael has been on, he has never missed a Thanksgiving or Christmas.  He's also come home *almost* unscathed those five times.  Two guys in his company weren't so fortunate this time.  They never made it home.  Unfortunately, it's things like that that really make you appreciate your blessings so much more.  So this Thanksgiving, I give thanks, a hundred times, for my children and husband.  

Bristol #4

Miss B turned 4 months old this past month.  Wow, time is flying now!  I'm not going to lie...I wanted time to fly when she had colic, but now that that's gone, I want time to take it's time because I love this little baby girl so much and I want to soak up every minute I can (since we're not having any more babies!!).  

Bristol has started to teeth this month.  Big fat boo to this!! She's sucking and biting on anything she can get her hands on! 

She is such a happy happy girl!  She smiles and laughs a lot!  It's so refreshing to see! 

Bristol is not one to just sit in the corner/bouncy seat...she usually fusses until you pick her up and actually interact with her! 

Just when I think she's outgrown (or not grown into them, period) something, she shocks me.  I had taken this photo to place the swing on a selling website.  However, B actually fell asleep in the swing, in the grass, with all of the vehicles driving by!  She also fell asleep in the swing the next day!  Needless to say, we still own the swing. 

Her favorite place to sleep is still on a breathing body.  She'll sleep in her crib or car seat without too much objection, but let her lay out on you....she's in heaven! 

B is a very smiley and laughing kid!  She loves to be tickled and watch her brother run around and be wild!  Those two things can get her going like nothing else!   

Speaking of which, her brother is still her favorite person.  She always smiles when she seems him enter the room.  I really hope they keep this bond up in the future!

Bristol has also discovered her feet this month.  Anytime that she can, she has her feet in her hands or her mouth!  Who needs a pacifier when you have a foot?!?!

Since B is teething already, we have invested in a teething necklace for her (and Joey for those pesky two-year molars).  Don't worry, she doesn't sleep in this necklace, we actually put it on her ankle with a sock over the necklace to keep it in place.  The necklace is made of pure amber.  When the amber is close to the skin, it is supposed to go into the skin and release a "calming agent" (for teething, headaches, joint pains, etc).  I'm not sure if it's working or not, but she's not too fussy when she's wearing it.

 

On cue, Bristol started to roll over and lift her head up at the 4-month mark.  Just like the books said.  

Overall, B is a very happy, easy going baby.  As long as you stick to "her" schedule, you're good to go!  :)   

At B's 4-month checkup, she weighed in at 15 lbs, measured in at 25.5 inches long, and her head measured 40.5 inches.   She's doing great and growing right on schedule.  Her left eye still has a plugged tear duct...if it hasn't cleared up by one year old, they will probably do surgery.  :(  Hopefully, this tear duct gets its act into gear before July!  B also has cradle cap, but not that bad.  Doc said just to rub some olive oil on her head to help clear this up.  

Happy 4th month birthday, B!  We love you!

Boo!

Happy belated Halloween! 

We were able to score a few pumpkins for this season.  Instead of carving them and dealing with a fight/tantrum for the knife with Joey, we decided to paint and glue our pumpkins!  This worked out great!  Gotta love Pinterest!

 We both liked the hand painting the best!

 I made Joey's costume this year.  I mean, spent days and days on this damn tiger costume.  

Just for Joey NOT to wear it to his class Halloween party!  He didn't want to wear any costume!  So frustrating!   Luckily, I was smart enough to throw this giraffe costume in the car so if he changed his mind.  As soon as he saw his classmates, he wanted that costume!  The above photo is Joey with his Mommy and Me teacher!  

Joey actually wasn't feeling too hot this day.  He started to run a fever later in the day, but I was determined to make him go trick or treating.  He, thankfully, wore his tiger costume and pushed through his crappy feelings to appease his momma!  :)   

 I thought for months about what B and I could be.  I knew I was going to wear her in the carrier, so I wanted to incorporate the carrier into my costume.  I came up with B being a monkey and me as a tree!  Freaking brilliant, if I do say so myself!  

Our entire family was actually a "date mate".  Michael was the zookeeper, Joey was the tiger, B was the the monkey, and I was her tree!  

We didn't trick or treat too long since Joey wasn't feeling up to speed, so when we got home, he helped hand out candy to "friends".  This was probably his favorite part of the entire evening!  Go figure!