Two Birthdays, One Party

It's birthday month in our family and I did the one thing I promised I wouldn't when we first found our our youngest was due the same week as our oldest's birthday - I combined their celebrations.  I really didn't feel like doing anything, this is my third "first birthday" in four years and I'm kinda over it all.  But I couldn't not throw a party for Julia.  Especially since she may read this blog one day, and she'll certainly look at pictures, and see her brother's parties (here and here).  And then I couldn't throw a party for Julia, and travel home to PA to visit friends and family, without giving a nod to Jack's birthday.  Of the two, he's the one that was actually aware of the significance of this month.  He's only been talking about "Ogtober 12" for weeks and weeks now.

Jack's birthday morning surprise.

So we threw a party for Julia and added a little line for Jack at the bottom of the invitation.

Yup, that's an electronic invite... and I emailed it out less than two weeks before the party.  I was totally on the ball this year.

A few people wanted to know what the party theme was.  There wasn't a party theme.  Perhaps we should use the word influence, and that would have been: tea by the sea, Portsmouth, England, 1813.  I know, I know, me and my nautical themes.  And I decided to go with a blue and yellow palette, since I wanted to use what I had on hand.  No pink, no purple, apparently I haven't had enough blue these past four years.

Since we were still setting things up when the guests started to arrive, I did a very poor job of documenting the decor.

It was fun to plan out my ideas on Pinterest.  I wanted to utilize as much of my own resources as possible - my set of Blue Willow dishes, a dress that Marmie had picked up at a yard sale last year, a headband I made from material scraps, tablecloths that I had around the house and food that would be easy to make or buy.  In the end, the only thing I ended up buying was material, and a significant portion of that is destined to be turned into a valence in our living room.



I always say I'm going to keep things low-key and yet we still ended up with over 30 people that stopped by.  I specifically avoided meal time so I could get away with less food.  Okay, that's not entirely true.  10:00am actually worked best with Julia's napping.  But it also meant we could do brunch foods and I gotta say, quiche is so delectable in miniature form.

And of course, Marmie made the cakes.

Jack specifically requested a dump truck with dirt.

And thankfully my brother Micah graciously opened up his home to our party and guests. His house is a great central location for both of our families and he's always happy to host friends for the day! I'm sure it's not easy for a bachelor to clean and prep for guests, plus he helped me by picking up some of the food the morning of the party. Oh yeah, and he also raked up this big pile of leaves as a place for the kids to burn energy. I think it was a success!









Present opening is always a bit crazy, times that by two and it was nearly chaos.  I was just trying to unwrap toys fast enough that each of the kids quickly crowding in would have something to occupy them and stop fighting over the first thing that got opened!

 

Thank you Uncle Micah for the Billy Bob binky.

Funny story about this doll...



Girlfriend was being all sweet on her.  Lovin' up on dolly, giving hugs and big, drooly open-mouthed kisses.



Then I turn around and the next thing I know she's got a little plastic knife and is literally trying to saw Baby's arm off.  Like actually making sawing motions on the dolls arm.  And then she starts stabbing Dolly in the eye.



All I can say is, it's a good thing Lia's got some baby dolls now because she could definitely use a little practice in the caretaking department.

So we survived gift-giving and the resulting toy explosion.  I think we even got away without leaving any small pieces behind.  And we partied.  At the end of the day we met my goal, and that was to celebrate the life of my little girl and big boy. They're pretty cool kids.

And I think that should be enough first birthday parties for a while now ...

A grand ole time

We were honored to have Jon's grandparents come visit two weeks ago.  I'm sure the 6-7 hour drive was tough enough, but then to spend 4 days with our clan?  Well, let's just say the kids were just a tad excited ...



Look at that air!



Of course, anyone who has visited us before knows how Jude works.  He starts out at Jack's level of excitement and often he'll be the first one out the door, but generally changes his mind about halfway down the driveway.

Julia is still getting lessons on how to say hello.

Prior to their arrival I was working on some grape jam from the bounty of Uncle Jared's vine.  Jude was helping, as usual.  We had just finished up the batch and left the jars to cool on the counter when the Grands arrived and the fesitivities began.  Oh, and one other thing.  Jack pulled out a jar of pepper jelly from the pantry earlier that day.  I believe I said something along the lines of "put that back, it's for Daddy" and he somehow interpreted it as "this is a special treat for Daddy and Grandpa" because one of the first things he did when Grandpa arrived was tell him about the pepper jelly.  And then he ran inside and was showing Grandpa the jar of jelly before he even had a chance to say hello to the rest of us.

And then there's the little brother, who doesn't want to be left out.  He decides he needs to show Grandpa his own jelly and goes to grab a jar sitting on the counter.  A jar that is still cooling and doesn't have a lid.  A jar whose contents he sends flailing down the wall and onto the floor.  So, instead of greeting and hugging the grandparents upon their arrival, I was scooping up handfuls of hot jam off the floor.

And THAT was the start of our fun-filled long weekend.

I think the grandparents brought some of the cool fall weather from New York down with them. One of the first things we did was light a fire and we kept it going all weekend.  Since we hadn't seen Grammie and Grandpa since Christmas, we had a lot of catching up to do.  And next to the crackling logs was the perfect place for chatting.

In fact, most of our time together consisted of just plain old visiting.

Grammie and Julia have a little game they play - Grammie moves in close and Julia whacks her in the face.

And of course watching the little ones. 

Grammie and Grandpa put up with a LOT this weekend.

Or doing both at the same time.  Goodness, they're entertaining.  And just a little excited ... even after the third day.

Good thing Grandpa is tough!

During their stay, we invited Grammie's cousins over for dinner.  Grammie has some extended family in the area that she visits when she comes to see us.  Since we had never met, and since it's a lot harder for us to take our little brood places, we decided to have everyone here.  Jon's been looking for an excuse to do a seafood boil and we finally had our chance.  And let me tell you, when my huband offers to do the cooking, I just step back and let him have the kitchen.

 
He did a phenomenal job.  We used three different recipes but this one has the gist of it. 

Clams, muscles, shrimp, sausage, potatoes, corn and eggs!  My mouth waters just thinking of it!

But no meal with Jon's grandparents would be complete without finishing it off with a slice of Grammie's famous pecan pie.  She never comes visiting without one!

 

We had a wonderful time celebrating the many generations in our family and look forward to our next encounter!

Life at home

I'm now in my third week of being a stay-at-home mom.  I've been mulling over this post for a while now, trying to figure out just exactly how our life has changed in these past three weeks.  I'm still not sure.  One thing I will say though, I certainly have more peace.  Not having work constantly in the back of my mind has been a huge stress relief.  I didn't even realize how much it was weighing on me until it was gone.  Of course, it didn't happen all at once.  Although technically my last day of work was a Friday, I ended up working on a report over the weekend that I emailed out on Sunday night.  And then suddenly on Monday, when my boss had a few questions about the report, I found myself cut off from my computer and email account, which brought on a frantic set of emails, calls, and texts until things were sorted out.  And then another co-worker called with a question.  And my boss texted me a few times about another possible job opening that didn't pan out.  Ironically, my first day not working felt very much like a regular work day.  But by the end of the day things quieted down.  It's been silent ever since.  I've finally stopped checking my phone every few minutes.  I no longer turn my computer on first thing in the morning.  And I can sit down to read my book without worrying that I didn't clean off my task list.  Yes, life is certainly more relaxed.

Well, as relaxed as it gets with three little ones.  I was all set to dedicate my first day off the job to my kids - the park, a walk, lots of books ... and then our small group leader called to say her son was sick and could we have small group at our house that night?  So I ended up spending the entire day cleaning my house, making apple pies, and paying very little attention to my children.



So I decided we'd do something fun the next day.  I drove us all down to the consignment store (20 minutes away).  I even packed a lunch for the kids.  We pulled into the parking lot, my excited children jumped out of the car, and then I realized I had forgotten my wallet.  I had grabbed coats, lunches, drinks, toys, the boys' favorite music... But somehow neglected to grab my purse.  So then I had to explain to the kids that we were only window shopping and after a quick swing through the store in which I pretended I couldn't find what I was looking for, I lured them back to the car with promises of a trip to Target.  (This wasn't all a get-of-the-house-ploy, we were actually looking for sneakers for Julia.)  So we turned around, headed home to get my purse and then back out on the road where we got sidetracked by Goodwill.  We love Goodwill.  We don't love that they don't have restrooms.  My kids enjoy playing in the toy section so much that they will neglect to tell me they have to go potty... until it's too late.  So we had one accident in the thrift store.  Or so I thought.  Later I got home and realized one of my children had had another accident, of the more stinky variety, but rather then tell me or do something about it, he chose to play for another hour before I finally realized something didn't smell right.



We took care of that, and since I was in the cleaning mood, I decided to tear apart Julia's carseat which she had smeared with her lunch that afternoon.  While I'm working out buckles and straps she wonders off towards the steps and soon I hear that heart-stopping "thump thump smack ... scream!"  Now, she had just fallen down the steps a few days earlier and was fine.  Thankfully we only have 6 steps in our split-level.  But this time was different.  She was really screaming.  And there was a little blood in her nose.  And 20 minutes later I still couldn't get her calmed down.  I couldn't tell if she was really in pain or just really tired.  Eventually, after some rocking and nursing, she fell asleep in my arms and I laid her in the crib to keep a close eye on her over the next few hours.



When she woke up it was clear she was going to get a black eye.  Her nose was also a little swollen too.  In fact, she couldn't breathe out of it.  And when she tried, it made this strange clicking sound. I noticed all this while she was lying on the changing table and I suddenly felt queasy.  Then the room started to spin and the corners of my eyes grew dark.  I'm not typically a weak person, I don't get sick too easily, I practically delivered my own baby for goodness sake.  So I don't know what was going on.  All I know is that I was certain shes had broken her nose and it was all my fault.  It was a horrible feeling.  I kept one hand on my half-naked baby, still lying on the changing table, and crouched down on my knees until it passed, meanwhile Jude is standing next to me trying to pass off another one of his boogers.



Anyway, to make a long story short I did call the nurse (as well as a few other people) who reassured me she thought Julia was fine.  She had her 1 year check-up the following morning and the doctor confirmed her face was just a little bruised and swollen and nothing was broken.  I thought for sure she'd be black and blue for her birthday pictures but surprisingly it cleared up within a day.  Babies really are so very resilient.



We did put a baby gate up but Julia hasn't attempted the stairs since then.  And she now has two watchful older brothers that keep me apprised of her every move.

So yeah, so peaceful around here.  And when I'm not taking kids to doctors appointments (we've had 3 in 3 weeks) we're taking cars to "car doctors" (what my boys call the mechanics).  We had two cars in the shop at the same time last week, and had to get a rental so Jon could get to work.  Which meant lots of driving, driving, driving.  Picking up, dropping off ... and picking up and dropping off. My kids were so sick of being in the car by the end of the week.  Because there are errands too.  Now that I actually have time to run them they've seemed to multiply - Groceries, Target, CVS, the library, birthday gift shopping (we have 5 birthdays in the family in October), MOPs at church...



In other words, I'm still waiting for life to settle down.  For that opportunity to really get organized.  To fully delve into homemaking.  It's going to happen, right?  Nearly three weeks in, and I'm still waiting for it. 

Happy Birthday to my 4-year-old

I actually wrote this on Friday - Jack's birthday. But then we went to Pennsylvania to celebrate and between all the traveling and packing and unpacking I'm just now getting around to posting it.



Today marks the end of my stint as mama to three 3-and-under. I hang this hat at willingly. It was a good run but I’m anxious to begin the cool down. Today my oldest turns 4. That’s totally cool down age, right? Actually, I heard 5 is the most marked change, the time when your baby can finally start doing things him- or herself. That will be a nice place too. But for now I’m going to enjoy the year of the four year old and all the fun this active, quizzical age brings. Jack has been talking about “Og-tober 12” for quite a while now, and he has big plans for what he’s going to do now that he’s four years old. I’m just happy he’s finally putting his underwear on all by himself!

 

One of Jack’s favorite things to do when he has me all to himself is to get on the computer and look at pictures and videos of “baby Jack.” Four years seems like such a short amount of time, and yet look at what was accomplished. My baby has turned into a little boy.

 

Nope, check that. A big boy. Don’t ever make the mistake of calling Jack a little boy. If you do, he’ll make sure to correct you. He’s a big guy. He can pour his own milk, pick out his own clothes and be a good example for his siblings. He’s also working on plans to start wearing his daddy’s clothes soon. Physically, he is big. Although he has really thinned out this past year, he’s still solid. And heavy. I can barely pick him up. When he wants to be put into the grocery cart he has to count to three and jump just so I can use the momentum to lift him that high. And the saddest part is I have no idea when it happened. When I stopped picking up my baby. When he stopped resting in my arms... I couldn’t even tell you.



But that’s not to say we don’t enjoy a good snuggle. Jack loves his quality time. If we’re not looking at old pictures together he likes to curl up next to me on the couch with a book. I had this genius idea to record myself reading a few of his favorite books. I did all the voices, even used a chime tone on my phone so he’d know when to turn the page. And guess what? He hates it. He wouldn’t sit through two pages. He just kept saying, “But I want YOU to read it to me Mommy!” A few days later his Uncle Jared was pushing him on the swing and Jack finally figured out how to pump his legs and swing on his own. When Uncle Jared excitedly pointed out that he could now swing all by himself Jack stopped and has refused to go anymore. Why? Because “I like when Mommy pushes me.” I’m learning that my firstborn’s happiness has very little to do with what we’re doing but rather just that we’re doing it together.

 

And I do so enjoy spending time with my big guy. He’s quite entertaining and it’s usually not intentional. You just can’t help but be interested in the viewpoints of one fairly new to the world and still trying to sort it all out. My goal for this next year is to have more conversations with my son, because he’s not the only one that has a lot to learn.


Yes, today is my son’s birthday. But it’s also a sort of birthday for me as well. One October 12, 2008 I became a new person – a mama. And I’m ever so thankful to this sweet boy for giving me the opportunity to take on this role and for sticking it out with me as I learn and grow along with him. I love you Jack!

Jude-isms

Well if you've been following me on Instagram you may have noticed that I opted to craft instead of blog this past week.  What can I say, I only have so much creative energy, and more than one way to channel it.  I think I'm all crafted out for now and will try to work on a little more balance in the future. 

I was going to write another installment of Jack- and Jude-isms but with Jack's birthday this week I think I'll wait and devote an entire post to my firstborn.  And since Julia only says one word (Mama) and just screams for everything else ... and since Jude is the only one of our kids not having a birthday this month, well this post is for him.  Our awesome 2 year old and all those amazing things that come out of his month (and I'm not referring to the chewed up carrot that he couldn't swallow either).  I wish this wasn't just a written post.  I wish I had video recordings of my little guy chatting because his voice, oh his little toddler voice, just slays me.  Sometimes I have to turn my head and give the wall my biggest, broadest smile so I don't offend the little guy because that voice just tickles my heart!  We've actually had friends tell us that hearing Jude talk makes them want to have another baby.  I don't blame them, toddler voices and phrases are one of the best parts of motherhood!

So here we go:

Sorry about the photo quality this week, I was shooting in auto mode *tsk, tsk*

"Yooooouuuu stubbo, stubbo Jack!  You stubbo, stubbo!!"
I have no idea where this came from.  Jack started it one day.  I'm assuming it's a made up word because I can't recall hearing it before.  In recent months Jude has picked it up and started directing it towards his big brother.  It's his one defense against Jack.  He simply has to yell "Yoooooouuuuu stubbo, stubbo Jack!  You stubbo, stubbo!!" and his big, bad older brother will be reduced to tears and running to my arms.  I wish I knew what either of the boys thinks this means but that will forever remain a mystery.  A funny one at that.

"Poppa's red truck."
My dad has a red truck.  And Jude has a thing for it.  Actually he's really into cars all around.  He's always asking where "Daddy's new car go?"  And after Nonnie's visit we heard all about Nonnie's blue car.  But the red truck is a biggie.  Apparently he is not aware that red is a color, or a descriptive word.  One day he was playing with a yellow matchbox truck and called it "Poppa's red truck."  I said, "No, that's a yellow truck."  So he said, "Poppa's yellow red truck!!"



"G'morning swee-heart!"
The boys fight over who is the first to greet Julia in the mornings or after a nap.  You can imagine how my sensitive, dramatic daughter responds to the two sqawking, fighting boys who come tearing into her quiet space moments after waking up.

"E okay Yaya, e okay."
"It's okay Julia, it's okay."  He's a great comforter, particuarly to his little sister.  He is also often the cause of her discomfort.

"Pop-si-go-go"
A much more roundabout way of saying popsicle.

"Hi-cream"
Ice cream.  Naturally.

"Note"
This is no ... with an extra consonant.

"Kindness, goodness. Kindness, goodness."
We're working on learning the Fruit of the Spirit in our house.  So far two have stuck with Jude. He's been known to walk around the house randomly chanting to himself "kindness, goodness, kindness, goodness."

"Miss Ky-ee's bed."
Everyone else calls it the guest bed.  But Jude has a serious crush on Miss Kylee and ever since she visited this summer it is officially her bed and her room.  He's very particular about "no jumping on Miss Ky-ee's bed."  He's also been known to "draw a pee-cher (picture) for Miss Ky-ee." And will forever refer to the Thomas the Train puzzle she once helped him with as "Miss Ky-ee's choo choo."

"Dat choo choo train Thomas!"

"Choo choo train Thomas"
We do have some Thomas the Train toys, and Jude has a favorite pair of Thomas pajamas, but now everything that resembles a train is a "choo choo train Thomas."  Even if it isn't anything like the beloved cartoon.

"'Cool bus"
School bus. We like to watch for this every day.

"Whereareoooo?"
Most people would pronounce this using three words.  Not Jude.  "Where are you?" is said in one breath, usually over and over again until said person is located.

"So mean ... so rude."
Jude likes his adverbs.  He uses the word "so" several times a day, generally to inform me that Jack is "so mean."  I don't know where he gets this excessive adjective modification from.  Maybe me??  This morning, between the hours of 7:11 and 7:13am, Jude asked Jon approximately 100 times: "Daddy, where rescue hel-copper go?"  I was nursing Julia and both of us were still trying to wake up but I think Daddy said something along the lines of "be quiet Jude" because then Jude walked into the nursery, with his bottom lip sticking out and fighting back tears, and told me "Daddy so rude Mommy, he so rude." Nothing like a good laugh within minutes of waking up.

Grammie T. and Jude

"Pease"
While I do try to teach my kids good manner I don't think I'm real stickler about it.  But Jude is by far the most polite person in the house.  Sometimes a little too polite.  He'll say, "Pease go 'way" to the ants crawling up his arm.  He'll ask his sister "Pease stop kicking me" (instead of just moving away from her swinging feet) and the other night he wet the bed and all I heard in the monitor was a little voice saying "Pease change my 'jamas Mommy, pease change my 'jamas."  He also does very well with following-up with a "Hank you."  It's irresistable.  Which is probably why I give my secondborn way too many snacks throughout the day.

"Hole-choo"
What he says when he wants me to hold him.  It could be "Hold Jude" but I think he's just repeating what he hears me say when I pick him up - "Want me to hold you?"  "Hole-choo" is usually accompanied by uplifted arms and big sad puppy eyes.  It's just to much.

*sigh* 'Pease Jude, stay like this forever!

Twas the night before...

My baby girl turns one tomorrow.  Tomorrow we'll celebrate and be happy and have fun.  Next weekend we'll party and have pictures.  But tonight, tonight I'm just gonna let myself be a little sad and sentimental.  Because for the first time ever, I'm celebrating a first birthday without the expectation of another one to follow in 18 months.

This face. I die.

I guess I didn't realize how much of a difference that makes.  It's one thing to say goodbye to the newborn days.  To fold up and pack away the swaddle blankets and baby swing.  To switch out the carseat and lower the crib mattress.  It's another thing to do all that and wonder if you'll ever get a chance to do it again. 

This was supposed to be a picture of the cute little headband I made for her ... as if.

And maybe, just maybe, that's why I've been putting off a lot of those things longer than usual with this one.  Why I sometimes keep her with me during church instead of putting her in the nursery.  Why I've kept up with the nursing.  Why I haven't been concerned with her lack of mobility.  And why I can't imagine leaving her overnight. 

As much as I enjoy getting to know each of my kids better and watching them grow, saying goodbye to each age and stage has its bitter moments as well.  And as long as the days seem right now with three little ones, looking back there never seems to be enough time.  It all just goes by too fast.

She was mad because I walked away to grab my camera and left her there, apparently she doesn't know how to sit yet.

Kinda like my labor with Julia. A year ago this evening, I was sitting in the very same spot I am now, much less comfortable that night of course.  Breathing, focusing, counting.  Seconds, minutes, hours.  Agonizingly long when it hurts, but breathlessly fast in the end.  The memories are already getting hazy, but certain moments are imprinted vividly in my mind - her head in my hand, the midwife's coat covering us both, that awkward walk into the Birthing Center, the first moment she nursed... Those tiny patches of memories are as clear as if they happened yesterday.

She's found the buttons and is mighty proud of it!  See that green one above her head.  It makes a cool noise when you push it ... 100 times a day.

But they didn't.  It was a whole year ago.  And it's only going to get farther and farther into the past.  I suppose that's what motherhood is all about.  Savoring the memories, looking to the future ... and embracing the present.

Moments before Jack's couch cushion "beaver dam" came crashing down on her.

And at present, we have ourselves a crawler.

Can you tell what prize was worth crawling for?

Funny little thing, decided to figure it all out the day before her first birthday.  And so adorable too, so different from her brothers.  I would have never guessed one could crawl "daintily" until today.  But despite the fact that it's just another "step" toward grown-upness, I'm happy for her.  Happy that she now has a way to get what, or whom, she wants when she wants it.  Instead of sitting there doing that high-pitched scream that makes me cringe.

... her brother's discarded underwear.  Mmm, nice.

And I love how just this simple new development is already giving us new glimpses into her budding personality.  Girlfriend has her Daddy's confidence.  She decided to attempt the steps before learning to crawl.  It ended disasterously ... all I heard were the thumps and her screams.  I scooped her up, carried her back upstairs where she rubbed her nose on my shirt, screamed two more times, and then started lunging for the stars again.  Thirty seconds after her first failed attempt, she was ready for round two.  And this is where I begin to wonder - how much of her personality is her own and how much is the product of her environment, i.e. growing up with two older brothers.  I guess we'll never know for sure.

Not that it matters, we love her like crazy.  Our Little Miss,"Yaya", "swee-hart"... our unexpected blessing.  A year ago we thought our cup was quite full, today it's overflowing.  She fills our hearts with such happiness!  Happy Birthday Julia!