4 and 18 months

My babies are growing up before my very eyes! I remember after bringing Jonah home from the hospital and I would just hold them and cry wondering, what if these are the best days of my life and they are going by too fast? There's not anything much better than a newborn baby and a loving 2 1/2 year old big sister!

 Then as my hormones leveled off after a couple of weeks, I cried less and less. Every now and then though they'd give me a tender moment that would make me weepy again or I'd read some sappy article that was floating around on Facebook and cry, but for the most part I was fine. That is until Avery turned four, then BAM here come those crazy hormones again! Is there anything better than a funny four year old and a sweet little 18 month old little brother that copies everything she does? I don't think so. I mean it's literally the two most fun ages at the same time! It's too much to handle sometimes and it has made me an emotional wreck.

Possibly the only time she kicked the ball all season

But she sure has fun!

And looks cute doing it. 

Avery is the funniest, smartest, most sensitive, imaginative, perfectionist kid I've ever met. She's beautiful, polite and so caring on top of it all. Of course she's a handful sometimes, but those moments are less and less as she gets older and she's truly a joy to everyone she is around. She loves being the center of attention and putting on shows, telling jokes, being on her soccer team, going to school and snuggling with mommy on the couch. When she grow up she wants to be a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader then a Mom, and here's a video of her favorite things right now.

I just want to keep her this age forever, but there's the jerks like her Dad that say "Wow you're four! Only one more birthday until kindergarten!" Um no. Shut up! Just shut up! I refuse to believe you. Lucky for me, she will be almost 6 before she starts Kindergarten because of her fall Birthday, but still! How dare you say that in front of me! I can't imagine not seeing my little bestie all day every day anymore. I'll hold on to this precious time as long as I can. 

Then there's Jonah. Sweet, sweet Jonah. He's just blossomed from baby to toddler over night. Once he started walking (finally at 16 months) he ran and is now trying to jump and climb. He's talking up a storm, repeating everything and is a whiz at animal sounds. He thinks his big sister hung the moon and literally spends his days mocking her. They are best buddies and I pray they always will be. There is starting to be a little sibling rivalry, but they get over things quickly at this age. 

Jonah's favorite things at 18 months are balls, bubbles, beep-beeps (cars and trucks), neigh-neighs, washing hands and waving to airplanes. He started Mother's Day Out once a week and doesn't like me leaving, but is starting to enjoy all the fun stuff they do. He randomly shouts "Hobby Lobby!" to make us all laugh and is surprising us with new words each day. He is definitely mama's boy and I kiss his squishy cheeks five thousand times a day. He gets super excited to see Dada after work and every five minutes after that.

Two? Three? Or not to three?

That is the question.  I get asked on almost a daily basis if we are done having kids or if we want one more. Let me just say--we have no idea! We have one girl and one boy and they are both beautiful, well mannered, great sleepers and healthy. I feel like having a third might just be tempting fate. What if it's one of those kids that doesn't sleep through the night until they're three? Or what if they are a complete monster? Or what if they have some kind of horrible condition or illness? It's probably smarter to stop while we are ahead.  I'm about 65% sure I'm done, and Jon is probably 90% sure. 

I am one of those crazies who LOVES being pregnant, thinks giving birth (with an epidural) and nursing babies is magical, and can't get enough of newborns. The smell, the tiny toes, the way they curl up to nap on your chest...everything about them just melts me to the core. It's sad to think I'll never hold another newborn that's my own, or feel their fluttering kicks in my belly again. Most days I'm ok with it. My heart and our home is definitely full. 

Honestly, if money wasn't a factor and we could run out and get a bigger house and car right now, I think we'd want another one soon. But it's never ending expenses with kids. Not just talking diapers and possibly formula, but doctor visits, birthday parties, extracurricular activities and a new wardrobe every few months. Then there's cars, college and weddings in the future. It's a lot to think about!

Not that I was underprivileged as a kid, but I am the youngest of 6, so I didn't grow up with family vacations or birthday parties, which is something I love being able to do for my kids. I would hate to sacrifice those things for Avery and Jonah if we were to have another child. Speaking of sacrifices, I would also hate for them to have to split their attention, too. Right now we have man to man coverage, and with a third kid, Jon and I would be outnumbered. Everyone I know with 3 kids, although they say they wouldn't have it any other way, never fails to mention how chaotic it is, at all times. 

Then there's three times to potty train (hell on earth), three times the chaos, toddler tantrums, and teenage drama. But also it's three times the love! It's one more little person to completely make your heart burst out of your body, and it's one more forever friend for our other kids. 

But with three kids, isn't one always left out? Avery and Jonah are already so close, where would number 3 fit in?  Avery wants a little sister so bad, but is she got one, how would little Jonah feel? And what if it's another wild little guy? And if we have another one in a couple years, what about the age gap between Avery and #3?  See the dilemma? There's no perfect answer and no perfect timing. 

Our family is already so symmetrical too. Jon's birthday is 6 months and 6 days before mine, and ironically Avery's is 6 months and 6 days before Jonah's, and their birthdays are perfectly spaced between ours. We have a birthday in each season, one every three months! The OCD in me finds great joy in this, but the baby loving part of me wouldn't care to mess it up too much. 

So the bottom line, no baby number three right now. My heart says yes, but my brain and wallet say no. Jonah is still such a baby anyway and I want to just soak up all his squishy adorableness before thinking about adding another mouth to feed, which sounds crazy since Avery was only his age when we started trying for baby #2. Nothing permanent has been done if we change our minds in a year or two, but we are most likely done. 

So for now we have decided to get a puppy. Everyone, meet Lyla Mercer! 

Our Sweet Summer is Gone

Ever since becoming a mommy, I have made bucket lists of activities for every summer and Christmas season, in order to squeeze as much fun in as possible! Here was my bucket list at I made in the beginning of summer.

I'm proud to say we knocked most of these off, and even did some of these several times!

We haven't made it to the Little Elm beach since April, but we did make it to the lake house.

We made it to the splash pad a few times, and just found out they stay open through mid October, which is a big WOOHOO, especially since it's FREE!

We went to the Rosemeade Rainforest (local public pool) more than ever this year, since Avery finally liked the water, and since Jonah's swim lessons were there. We will probably need the season pass next year!

This year Avery went to Vacation Bible School for the first time, and although was pretty overwhelmed the first day, ended up loving it! Bad Momma forgot to take any real pics though. Y'all gotta get Snapchat I tell ya! They did a "game changer" patriotic theme, and Avery has been obsessed with American flags and Texas flags ever since. In fact, she wants an "American Flag Minnie Mouse party" for her 4th (WHHHHATT?!) birthday next month that we have started to plan. 

After dance wrapped up, Avery wanted to give gymnastics a try, so I bought a groupon for 6 weeks. I expected her to love it, but she was kind of indifferent to it. She  enjoyed it, but when I told her it was the last week, and asked if she'd like to continue or try something else, she begged to try soccer instead. On the last day she asked to give her coaches a hug, because she would miss them, but she hasn't really mentioned gymnastics again, except for wanting all the sparkly leotards on the Olympics! 

We had a fun and hot play date playing Putt Putt, which Avery was very serious about! 

I scratched the Six Flags idea, and replaced it with Sandy Lake Park, a local carnival sized amusement park, for this year. We went twice and it was the perfect size and price for us!! 

We played water balloons several times and there's a video on Facebook somewhere, but have yet to make ice cream this year. We may get on that this weekend!

We went to Ham's Orchard to see my sweet friend, get the world's best peaches, and yummy peach ice cream too! 

We also tried another peach farm in Denton, which let us pick our own peaches. Fun, but not quite as yummy! 

We also went to Finding Dory, which was the first movie that Avery had been counting down the days until it's release! 

She even got to go see it a second time with her cousins! 

We had lots of Sno cones and even tried frozen cotton candy! 

We didn't make it to our friend's barn to ride horses, but she did get a pony ride at Sandy Lake. We'll make it out to the barn in the fall I'm sure, though!

We went to the Fort Worth Zoo with sweet friends for the first time, which was super fun but also super crowded. We'll also have to go back in the fall! 

One of Avery's favorite things all summer was definitely the going to her first Texas Ranger's game! It helps that she saw some awesome homeruns with fireworks too! 

Off to the side of the list were the travel goals for this year...on top of all this fun, Daddy even took his first over seas trip, to visit a friend in Japan. We had to survive 10 days without him!

River trip for Mom and Dad and friends was so much fun on my birthday!

To Mema and Pepa's house, and bonus--they made it to our house this summer too! 

And best of all, we had the most amazing family vacation to "Cancuns" and we can't wait to go back! The first day was a little rough with a long flight delay, but the rest of the trip was nothing short of fantastic. The kids did awesome especially flying for the first time, and luckily everyone stayed healthy. My aunt was able to meet us there which made it so nice to have a couple more grown ups with us too!  

It was the best summer ever. We had play dates and library time every week, lots of splashing a few fears conquered.  Now we are excited to start soccer and for back to Preschool, and maybe even letting Jonah start for one day a week too! 

See ya next year, swim suits and sandy toes. You're our favorite. 

15 months

Well Jonah is 15 months now and STILL not walking. He's just way too terrified! He's made great progress this month and will now walk pretty confidently with just holding one hand, and we are working with him on different exercises every day. He'll get the hang of it one day, and will probably take off running. 

At his checkup he was 23 lbs 14oz and 31" tall. He's getting so big!! He's gained 3lbs and grown 2 inches since his birthday, which the doctor thinks is one reason he's not walking yet--he's having a hard time balancing it all, plus he's stubborn and scared. If he's not walking independently by 18 months we will begin physical therapy. 

The doctor isn't worried, but it's still hard for me not to be. I see babies up to 6 months younger than him starting to toddle all over the place, and it seems that everyone wants to comment on his lack of walking, which makes me feel like there's something obviously wrong with him. 

I start blaming myself. "Maybe it's because I've carried him too much. Maybe he didn't do enough tummy time early on. I must have let him stay in the jumparoo too much, and he hasn't developed the proper muscles. Maybe he's so scared of everything like Avery was because Jon and I have never really been the ones to roughhouse, throw our babies in the air or hang them upside down. It's probably because he lost muscle tone when he lost 14% of his body weight at 6 months old, because I was literally starving him and didn't know it. Maybe it's because he was in distress during my labor; I shouldn't have been induced--he wasn't ready. Maybe it's the glass of wine I had a Christmas dinner while I was pregnant with him. What if he truly does have a condition setting him back?" I know this all sounds crazy, especially since he doesn't have an official developmental delay, but it's so hard to not compare him to his peers and babies younger than him and see that he's light years behind in his motor skills, and feeling like it's got to be my fault. 

I do know he's smart though! He's learning new words and tricks every day. He consistently says in the correct context: Dada, Mama, A-ya (Avery), Dog, ball, all done, nana (banana), Hiya, high fi (high five), no-no-no-no, yah!, bye, duck, mmm yum. 

He can make the animal sounds of a dog, monkey, elephant, chicken and as of last night  the "yeehaw" of a cowboy. 

https://youtu.be/lP8mT7wlQc4

This month he is really coming into his spunky personality. He's hilarious and naughty and sneaky and sweet. His favorite things right now are eating dog food, putting dog food into the dog's water, throwing the dog his people food, slamming doors, terrorizing Avery, punching dad, chasing balls and balloons, anything with a steering wheel, and dancing every time he hears music. 

Now that he's 15 months I'm starting to give him time out in his crib when he does any of the above activities that involve the dog and food. Avery tried explaining to him, "You're getting bigger, Bub. You're gonna make mistakes and you're gonna get consequences and that's ok. Watch me how I eat. See how I don't throw it to Abby? That's all you need to do." 

Is there anything cuter than that?! Love these babies and their special little relationship!

14 months

It's been awhile since my last update!! We've been busy, busy, busy over here. I'm just going to recap some highlights from the last 2 months. 

 Jonah's Mickey Campout party was a success. Everything turned out so cute, we had great weather, and lots of family and friends made it! 

The next few weeks, everyone rotated being sick. Stomach bug, rashes, colds and ear infections--oh my! 

Then Avery had her last day of preschool this year and her dance recital! 

We went to the lake for Memorial Day.

Abby turned 8!

Jonah got his 1st haircut! He already needs another one. 

                          After

My friend Alli got married! We had a blast and danced our booties off! 

Jonah started swim lessons and Avery started gymnastics! I have only taken pics of her class on snapchat though...oops!

Jon's wheels got stolen from behind our house.

We celebrated 6 years of marriage!

Jonah is 14 months old as of yesterday. He's cutting 4 molars right now and can be found with his hands constantly in his mouth. He is finally doing a regular crawl, and cruising more and more, but refuses to stand or walk by himself. His sign language and words are becoming more clear, and he's got some tricks like fake yawning and coughing  when you ask "are you ok?" that crack us up. He's still the most easy going baby, but is starting to dabble in tantrums when he gets something taken away that he shouldn't have. He's bashful when pretty girls talk to him and has a crush on his swim teacher. It's hilarious! 

And now we are up to speed! We have been marking things off of our summer bucket list each week, but I'll save those adventures for another post.