Who has time to blog lately? Not me! Having two kids is pure exhaustion most of the time with almost no time to myself. But I sure love those little guys to pieces. Life has certainly changed once again. It was very challenging at first (as it always is for us when we have a new baby), but now we're starting to get the hang of things.
Gavin:
Now that we have Gavin, I can hardly remember what life was like a few months ago without him. I can't imagine my life without that little guy. He brings SOOO much happiness and joy to me. He is such a wonderfully happy, smiley, content, "easy" baby. Thank God! He has always been a great sleeper, he "got" nursing from the get-go, and he's almost always happy and smiling. What a change from Evan! Love my Evan, but that little guy was a difficult baby. I never fathomed just how much I'd love Gavin. Of course I knew I'd love him, but I am IN love with that sweet baby. I was very worried about having another, even though we planned him. I never got sleep with Evan, so I was dreading the newborn stage with Gavin. I remember praying, "God, please help me be so in love with my new baby that I won't even mind getting up at night with him." Boy did God answer that prayer. It wasn't ever brutal this time. He started sleeping in 4-5 hour stretches immediately. At 2 months he was sleeping 6-7 hours and his pediatrician said that was stellar for a purely breastfed baby. And at 10 weeks, he started sleeping 9-10 hour stretches! He sometimes sleeps longer at night than Evan does! He was super quick to smile, he doesn't mind being passed around to a thousand different family members and he's always happy. Oh and he laughed out loud at me, like a belly laugh, the other day. Soooo precious! (July 3, 2010)
I'm very happy that breastfeeding worked out this time and is going well. I still had to work at it at first and it's still very time consuming, but I'm enjoying it this time. I spend about 2 hours total during the day just breastfeeding. But it truly is convenient and easier than bottles but only once you get the hang of it, definitely not at first! I have this huge diaper bag, but now realize you only need a big bag if you're bottle feeding. It's so nice not having to carry bottles, a bottle of water, formula, etc. The downside is nursing in public. But I just do it. I can't always scurry off to a hidden area, plus it takes so long that I don't want to spend 20 minutes by myself away from people every time I need to nurse. My friend Aimee loaned me the cutest "hooter hider" ever. That thing is priceless. It's a beautiful "cape" that I wear when I'm nursing that covers everything...love it. I laugh but am slightly horrified at places I've nursed Gavin: in the car...lots. At Zumba class. During Sunday School. At dinner (but I was covered up, Kim Kardashian!). Walking around Chuck E Cheese, yes walking. Like I said, slightly horrified, but it's a part of life and I don't just whip my boob out for everyone to see.
Evan:
Evan has entered his most challenging stage yet. Most notiably, I potty trained him in a matter of days and he was fully, completely trained for 6 weeks. Only had one accident during that time. And then Gavin came along. Man oh man. Evan has only poohed in the potty a few times since then. He continues to pee in the potty but mostly poohs in his underwear. It's almost always when I'm nursing Gavin or paying Gavin attention. I swear, after 3.5 months, it's about to drive me insane. Actually, it's already driven me insane. I've had fits of rage where I have to go in the other room and scream my head off. I've tried absolutely every-freaking-thing with no luck. Rewards, candy, toys, lots of praise, to spankings, time out, etc. Nothing works. The worse part is that I can't (and won't) put him back in diapers. I actually broke down after 2 months and bought pull ups, but he just takes them off and then I have to deal with poop in the floor. It's potty purgatory. I know adding Gavin to the family has been very hard on Evan...in more ways than I know. He loves Gavin so much and doesn't take his frustration out on him, but he takes it out on me. I feel like he's mad at me for making him "share me". It's tough. I pray this horrible phase will end soon.
On to happier topics...
I'm so proud of how Evan is putting words together and speaking in longer sentences. He's really grown a lot in the past 6 months. Everyone thinks he's older than he is because he's so tall and looks so boyish instead of toddlerish, but he's still only 2. He has a lot of 3 year old friends, but when I see him around them, it's obvious that he's younger. He can't articulate things quite as well as them because he's 6 months away from being 3. I think he's doing really good for where he's at. Physically he's strong and active and can do all the things older kids can do. He's going to a summer day camp where he's the youngest one. I begged the Director to let him in even though he was supposed to be 3. He got to ride a pony which he looooved, go down a big waterslide and hear special storytellers. I'm really impressed with all the school is offering this summer. Every Tuesday, we have playdates with a Moms group I'm hosting at church. We've gone to Monkey's Treehouse, community pools, movies and we're set to go to a splash park. Evan's made tremendous progress swimming in the pool this year. He now swims without us being in the pool. Still have to keep a close eye on him, but he's gotten over his fear...a little too much!
Steve:
We (Steve) started teaching a Sunday School class a few months before Gavin was born. The Sunday School Director at church approached him about a class that he needed a teacher for. The old teachers stepped down and he really needed someone to step up. Steve was just the guy for the job! He's a natural leader, facilitator, speaker, etc. Love that about him. Those are all the things I stink at. Anyways, the class is a 20's/30's couples class. It started out pretty small, but it's doubled in size now! Woot! His first series was one we pulled from Pastor Davis: "How God Speaks to You". My fave of Pastor Davis's series that everyone can relate to. Then he did a series on the disciples and leadership and now we're doing "The Secret to the Marriage You Want". It struck me as laughable that we're teaching on marriage since we have a whopping 3 years experience under our belts. But we're not deriving from our own experience...it's a marriage study kit by two reknown Christian authors. Actually we're learning as much from it as probably anyone. It's all about how empathy for your partner is the keystone to a successful relationship. Good stuff that's already proven its success in our marriage.
Steve's been slammed at work lately. The popular "CU" case is hogging all his time, even though he has several other huge cases that demand his attention. Then he has to come home to a screaming 2 year old, a frantic wife, a dirty house and a crying baby lots of nights. Poor guy. I don't blame him if he doesn't come home one night! lol Just kidding baby, you know you love us and all our craziness!
I admire Steve so much. So, so many people come to him for free advice, which he handles with grace. He likes helping people, but I'm sure it can be stressful, dealing with everyone's problems all the time. Not to mention, our own! He does such an amazing job being level headed, juggling our crazy lives and working so hard for our family.
Family:
For Father's Day, we took both of the boys to see Toy Story 3 in 3D. Evan loved it. He did great wearing the glasses too. We loaded up on popcorn, Reeses Pieces and Diet Coke. We had a great time. Even little Gavin did great. For 4th of July, we went camping at Center Hill Lake. It seemed like luxury because we actually rented a pop-up camper instead of a tent. We also rented a huge 14-person pontoon boat with a waterslide. My family was also camping there and Steve's family came up for the day. While the boat was a blast, the trip was just way too much for us at this point with kids. Totally exhausting for both of us. But hey, it was an experience. We go to the neighborhood pool all the time. We've thoroughly enjoyed hanging with our neighbors and their kids this summer.
Me:
All of the above describes what's going on in my life, since taking care of our family is my job. In addition to that, I was asked to be on a steering team for a new Moms group forming at our church. I'm super excited about it since my MOPS group dissolved. This new group is somewhat like a mentor program where older moms mentor younger moms (according to the Bible). It doesn't start until February, which is a ways off, but we're in the planning stages now. I can't wait for it to begin. MOPS was such a tremendous support system for me and I made a lot of wonderful friendships that way. I love that it was Christian based and this will be too...even moreso.
I'm also hosting a summer moms group for my church. We get together every Tuesday and do fun things with the kids. We've done some really fun things so far and I've enjoyed meeting some new women from church.
I'm doing Zumba on the mornings that I don't have other commitments. I've always loved Zumba and am pleased to get back to it. It really has helped me shed some post pregnancy pounds too. I've lost 13 pounds and have 12 more to go. I pigged out when I was pregnant and I knew I'd have a lot of work to do after. But oh well!
Lastly, I'm searching for a hobby, a possible future career for when our boys are in school, something for ME. I have interests, but I'm looking to deepen them. Steve and I always talk about being "interesting" people. We never want to become boring and monatenous. Plus there's so much to explore and learn in the world. I only have very, very limited time to explore my interests at this stage in my life, but I will as I can. For now, I'm happy just contemplating the possibilities.
Wow, what a marathon. I don't even have the energy to proof read this thing. :)
