THE GOOD, THE BAD, & THE UGLY.

THE GOOD:

baby boy smiles all the time. and everyday i'm so thankful that he's not sick like rorie was. he only fusses if he has a bubble or needs to eat or sleep. other than that he's smiling at everything. which includes smiling at absolutely nothing (so weird...why do babies do that?) and now he's full blown talking and having conversations. he's also super active and very strong, just like his sister. moving like crazy. almost figured out rolling over onto his back...eating his hands constantly. he gets super smiley and then bashful, which is the cutest thing ever! i'm already proud of the little man we created.

as a family, the summer has been great. lots of family and friends. LOTS. lots of traveling for us. a bit of relaxation at camp and touisset. it was just great. we are slowly getting into the swing of things at home and making new routines and grooves. hoping to make some friends and maybe get out more?

baby girl had a fantastic summer. and it ended with her paci's being taken away from her cold turkey. day one there was screaming and crying at nap and bed. day two and beyond... nada. really glad that it wasn't a big to-do. she will proudly tell you that there are "no pacis in MY bed".

aaron and i are not as tired as we were two months ago. (but we are still tired. see the "ugly" section).

rorie says "arts and craftses".

baby girl has almost 100% potty trained herself. she decided to do this the week we went to camp (so fun! nope not at all)...and we haven't really looked back. she also often sleeps dry at nap and overnight. not sure how that happened, but i'll take it.

baby boy is growing like crazy pants! having our first baby not put on any weight was rough, so every morning when i pick him up i am amazed at how heavy he is! and long! he's not a chunker, but he's very tall and has filled in quite nicely. i think he's around 13 pounds? rorie hit that mark around 7 month... and that's just crazy to me.

my last visitor is here: my bro bro, sam. and i love every minute of his existence in my life.

photo by Kelsey Stevens Photography.

THE BAD:

we've had three bats in our apartment. not cool. i captured one. aaron the next. and the third... i called 911. seriously. i'm home alone at 2:30am with two kids. my two year old wakes up right after i feed and get the two month old back to sleep. i walk to her room and the third bat is swooping in the living room right outside her room. i race through the door and i'm pretty sure i yelled "crap". but i can't really be sure because my adrenaline was pumping at that point. rorie was crying about wanting milk? she never gets milk in her bed... but she has a water bottle, so i gave that to her and left- hoping it would do. i ran to my room to put my figurative big-girl pants on and a hoodie to protect my head. ran back to the living room and balled up a blanket and began swinging. by the third bad i no longer wanted to let it free outside. i wanted to kill it. long story short. i became unbearably exhausted and i didn't know what to do. i just knew the bat needed to go. i called the only people i knew would come to my rescue no matter how silly it was- the police. and the nice policeman saved the day just in time for jacob to wake up again to eat and then not go back to sleep. i was very tired the next day.

jacob is sensitive to caffeine. enough said.

THE UGLY:

i absolutely hated saying goodbye to my mom, dad, and gracie this summer. for some reason i've been ugly crying like my first semester in college. i miss them so much. trying to pull myself together, but also letting myself be sad... because it means i love them so much (:

my children are on opposite schedules. the days and nights i'm alone with both of them are very hard, but it can only get better right? i mean, "going to bed" at 9pm, getting up almost every hour some nights, and always starting the day at 4am doesn't really make for an easy start to the next "day"... lets be real. there are no days. it's one continuous day that hasn't stopped yet. my two have a nice nap together in the afternoon that seems like it's pretty consistent, but after that they are on total opposites and i feel like i'm a chicken with it's head cut off (plus i'm watching game of thrones and now i'm picturing lots of severed heads. people's. not chickens. yuck). so my day usually begins at 4am. that's when #2 wants to eat and become unburpable. literally has unending burps. which means he won't go back to sleep until 5:30am. which is when i can finally change my probably soaked from spit-up pjs, pee, wash my hands, lay down, pull the covers up, and listen to rorie yell to me that she's awake from the monitor. see how it doesn't end? i think they're testing me.

thrush. if you don't know what it is you can read about it here. i'm putting this in the "ugly" section of this post because it was ugly and long lasting and really tested my limits as not only a mother, but a human being. it absolutely sucked. jacob and i battled it together for a whole entire month...and it can and might come back. which sucks again. right now i don't think we have it, so it could go in the "good" section. but i'm still mad about it, so it's staying here.



and there you have it... the good, the bad, & the ugly with two kids during the summer of 2014.

and i just noticed photos of our cats are in the right side bar...yeah... they are still alive.

PRE-EASTER BEACH TRIP.

it seems that i totally forgot that i had other pictures from our easter trip to touisset. we had a lot of fun hanging out with my cousins, aunt, and my grandma and grandpa redding. rorie calls my grandpa, "grandpa-grandpa ready" because we told her we were going to "grandma and grandpa redding's house". it's really cute. i kinda hope she keeps it up.

rorie is an old soul like my dad. the two of them could spend days at the front beach if we let them. they'd never come home and they'd smell of sweet salt. there is an infinite amount to discover... and the same amount of rocks to throw... so i completely understand.

the days at touisset were chilly, but the sun warmed us up as we searched for treasures at the water's edge. the wind was blowing rorie's unclipped hair and in most of the pictures we snapped she looked a lot like cousin it. oh well... we had fun!

after the beach we dyed and decorated eggs, played games, and rorie played with stickers. rorie still asks me to this day if she can color eggs- meaning with crayons. it's really cute.

the we had a fantastic lobster dinner. a staple when aaron comes to visit :) i get a lot of praise for bringing home a seafood lover!

it was a great weekend. this weekend rorie and i are sick. i've been sick since monday with a cough and irritated throat. rorie started to not sleep well at night and then had a fever yesterday. we spent most of the day on the couch watching shows and napping. her highest temp was 103.8, but we managed to get it down with a few home remedies and some medicine before bed. poor baby is still not feeling well today, but her temp has cooled off quite a bit. got any tips for a sick baby? or a sick pregnant mama?! i'd love to hear.

EASTER 2014.

the easter bunny came to grandma & grandpa redding's house this year! last easter was fun (check out how short rorie's hair was!), but this easter has taken the cake! 

since rorie's tummy doesn't do well with chocolate we notified the easter bunny that she needed some extra special treats left around the house. and boy, does that easter bunny know what she's doing. rorie's eggs were filled with annie's bunny fruit snacks, stickers, fruit leather, original goldfish, and mini muffins. she also got play dough, a new water bottle,  a stuffed friend, and a finger puppet. she was a happy little camper and kept wishing everyone a "happy easter". it was wonderful. 

after church we all went back to grandma's for a ham dinner and easter egg hunt. it was a great 1st holiday to have in our new area. we loved being such a short drive to family. i also really loved the easter message this year. i was worried beforehand that i would feel uneasy about the death of jesus, but the pastor's message reminded me that that isn't the end of the story! and that's something i needed to hear. i'm going to hold on tight to that message.

now we're back at home and ready to settle in and wait on a little man to make his arrival...

PACKING TIPS.

1) start early. a few boxes each day starting a month or two before leaving helped me to not feel too overwhelmed. plus, packing and organizing is my thing. i don't consider it a chore. i mean, i even love to unpack the grocery bags and fold laundry (no, really...ask my mom)...so packing is sort of my "happy" place.

2) never buy boxes. we got our boxes from a grocery store. they have too many anyways and are happy to give them away for free. and a lot of them are really, really sturdy... it's great!

3) enlist the help of friends. we've got a good group of solid friends on both ends. i'm really thankful for that.

4) starbucks. i'm just saying... i've been giving them a lot of business because i'm 30 weeks pregnant and i'll miss my local java.

5) you can do it. a simple saying to keep me going. as well as talking to people about my feelings, fears, & worries. i'm a firm believer in community and know how healing it can be to spill your guts. i'm thankful for family & friends who care so much.

today we pack up. we prepare last minute details for our trip tomorrow out of our sleeping city we have called home for the past 8 years...

OUR TRIP TO NH.

we just got back from our trip to NH. we flew united on the way there- boo - and my most favorite airline ever, jetblue, on the way back- yay! we, as always, bought rorie a seat and brought her car seat on the plane. it's the absolute safest was for children to travel and it keeps your car seat as safe as can be.we're not rich by any means, but we make it work each and every time we fly. and that's that.

rorie did not like the first flight (well it was united). it fell right when she was supposed to take her nap. and we all know how well rorie naps on planes. (if you don't remember- see this post). aaron had worked the night before and was in the row in front of us. so it was me and rorie in our happy place. ha! i mostly let her watch curious george on my phone and play with stickers because i was just exhausted already and there was no way she was going to fall asleep and my partner was down for the count exhausted, too.

for the first part of the trip i made an effort to tell her not to kick the seat in front of her. well... then the dumb guy reclined his seat and i may or may not have encouraged her feet movement after that. i mean really. our trip home was a beautiful thing. we left boston at 8am. we were bumped up to the second row- the one with extra room between the seats- and i had no one sitting next to me. it was perfection. thank you jetblue. you are, as they say, amazeballs.

we set out to find a place to live and for aaron to meet his floor managers and get a tour of the hospital (he's a RN for anyone who doesn't know). it was a great trip overall and we are hoping to hear back from the places we liked and find out where we will officially be living in a few weeks. i'll keep you posted.

for now... we are really glad to be back in our city apartment. rorie is busy coloring, reading, and building towers while aaron and i are freaking out about life (in good and bad ways, of course). we are really relishing the time we have left here.

it's so bittersweet!!! AH! i can't take it...

SEWING CLOTH WIPES AND THINKING.

i've been feeling really antsy the past two days. rorie started to not eat two days ago and told us she had a "tummy ache". which really is the cutest thing to hear her say. as clear as a bell. she was lethargic and sleepy. that night she threw up a few times in her bed. i was really glad i bought all the extra sheets from when she had reflux because we ended up changing her bed a lot that night. she hasn't gotten sick again, but she still constantly complains about her "tummy ache". ugh... this girl has had enough. i'm not going to lie... i do remember a very specific time in target when she went all ravenous cave woman on the shopping cart. must have picked up a few things from that. whateeev.

today she's been slightly better. she took two long naps and at little bits here and there throughout the day. yesterday it snowed all day and i plopped myself down to make us some more cloth wipes. i've been meaning to do it for a while and the perfect time and setting presented itself. it was absolutely what i needed. i'm not a sewer by any means. i can some what successfully sew in a straight line. so that's what i did. over and over. twice around each flannel wipe. i thought of my grandma who sewed our huge "sewing pile" each time she visited out house. i thought of the blankies she's knitted for each grandchild and now each great-grandchild. i thought of my mother who sewed me a ring sling in the dark during a power outage the hottest summer that rorie was born. i thought of the cloth wipes she meticulously sewed for me the days before rorie was to make her eventful entrance. i prayed for the women in my life who sew as i sat at my machine watching the snow fall steadily.

i also thought of my brother... who sewed a pillowcase out of boxer looking material when he was in high school. he was really proud of it and i'm not likely to forget that little bit of happiness he exuded.

i sat and sewed while aaron and mikayla entertained rorie in the front room. i listened to their laughing and jokes and funny voices they gave our stuffed creatures. i breathed in my whole world while sewing cloth wipes for our new edition. preparing for his arrival as best i can amidst a move.

i've been feeling really antsy the past two days. the preparation to find a place to live in NH is weighing heavy on my heart. i don't quite feel like i posses the adult-like qualities to do it on my own. i still wish i had my mom and dad to help me out with everything. i mean, my mom even helped me find the apartment we're in right now. i guess it's just time for aaron and me to branch out, become adults, and find our own place to live. let's be real... we are going to be parents of two soon.

so please keep us in your happy thoughts and prayers.( my happy thoughts were always supposed to help the red sox win. since there's a thick layer of snow over most of my world... i think it's ok to think of us instead)

RORIE, JACKSON, & SULLIVAN.

jackson and rorie met for the first time back in december 2012. so... it's been a while since these two have been together. this trip was kind of a first for rorie, because who remembers what happened to them or who they met when they were 5 months old? anyone? exactly. and mr. sullivan was born in the beginning of october, so we were all excited to meet him.

rorie was really enamored with sullivan. she loved to help out and give him hugs and kisses and tickle his feet. she was super gentle and always excited to see him. it makes my heart happy to know that we made the right decision to promote her to "big sister" in a few months.

rorie and jackson were extremely fun to watch. sometimes they were the most loveliest things to each other. seriously, adorable. and other times they really got on each others nerves. two very stubborn kiddos makes for a good time. i'm really glad we got to see everyone. it was seriously a nice trip, considering.

we are actively planning our move to NH now that we are back at home. boy, there's a lot to do. we leave on thursday for our first trip up to find a place to live and get a feeling for the area. i'm very excited. and also freaking out.

WHAT'S NEXT FOR US.

there's something you should know. within the month we will be packing up our little apartment. all the mess will head into a box. all the paintings and coloring pages will be filed away. we will travel and search for a new rental. we will come home for the last time and put everything into a big truck and drive away from the city we have called home for seven to eight years.

aaron got a job in lebanon, nh. he's been applying for jobs since he graduated from nursing school. we have never had a better hiring experience than the one we just had. it was a positive experience from the get-go, which made the whole process almost dream like. aaron is so excited to work for this hospital. he says it sounds like a dream. and that is a first for all the jobs he's had.

we have always known that the city of chicago was not where we were supposed to be. it has been a fantastic place to go to school, to begin dating each other, to move into our first apartment, and to be newlyweds. it's really been a fine place to live with a baby, too. we fit well in our tiny space, but it has a lot of hassles. it's not great for a family. it's actually become harder with each day of this pregnancy. so we know, in that way, we are making the right decision.

we are nature people. we are family people. we are summers at lake swanzey people. we are adventure people. so we looked for a place that would be all that and more for us. we think we've found it in nh. we surely hope so. because we are diving in head first and not looking back.

i'm actually really nostalgic now that we have the official news. i'm really, really excited about the move (don't get me wrong), but i've finally found my groove here. i've memorized streets and found my favorite places to eat. i have old friends and new friends. a gym and yoga membership. finally feel like i own the place... and now we're going to start over.

it's a little heartbreaking to know that rorie will be our only child who grew up in the city. my friend, briana, just went through a similar move last year before she had her son. it's extremely sad to know that my friends who helped me when rorie was a newborn will probably never be able to interact that way with jacob. my friends who brought me starbucks and held rorie while to tried to put myself together. my friends who went out to eat with me when i needed a break. my friends who would text me encouragement when i was down. my friends who showered us with gifts and love when our baby wasn't gaining weight. my friends who still try to invite me to things when 99% of the time i can't go. my friends who will come over to my apartment just to see us. i'm sad to be leaving them. to be leaving my small chicago support system. i'm already sorry that jacob, and whoever comes after him, will only get a little portion of the love we have here in chicago.

it's all bittersweet. but i'm glad it's that.   it could be way worse.

wish us luck on our new adventure!

AND NOW WE HAVE CONQUERED OVERSEAS TRAVEL.

we are definitely not in thailand anymore. i'm currently making vegetable broth on the stove, have enjoyed a cup of tea from our new keurig vue, and am watching the snow fall outside my window as my toddler takes a nap.

is this real life? i can tell you that i've been asking myself that question a lot the past few days. rorie and i arrived back in chicago on tuesday. we didn't leave the apartment or see another human soul (other than aaron) until friday. jet lag is a tough pill to swallow- especially as a mother of a 1.5 year old.

it seems that we have come to a turning point and i'm hoping that by the end of the weekend we will be fully back on chicago time. fingers crossed. rorie has also decided that it's time for only one nap a day, which i'm totally on board with, but it's thrown a wrench in our attempt to acclimate back to CST.

our trip back was highly eventful in a horrible, you-must-be-joking, i-can't-believe-this-is-happening, i'm-not-going-to-make-it-out-alive way. it was a pretty simple trip. leave bangkok around 1 am. stay on a plane for 12 hours. get off in stockholm. do something for 3.4 hours. get on another plane for 10 hours. arrive safety back in chicago. and really, that's exactly how it went... except for the whole, rorie's complete inability to sleep in a car seat (she gets this from me and i am eternally sad for her-and us).

first flight- 

rorie has a window seat and i am next to her. a father of two is next to me in the aisle seat and sleeps the whole time (bless his soul). i try to keep rorie's attention with stickers, books, and a plethora of newly downloaded curious george episodes on our new ipad (it was a lifesaver). but every 30 minutes or so, we have to get up. i have to pee and she needs to walk around. mind you- it's the middle of our freaking night. so we pace up and down the two aisles. past the other 5-6 babies sleeping soundly on their mothers. i almost cried. i really wanted to... because i was so tired already. and we had 9 hours to go still.

when rorie sleeps on a plane it's very consistent: put up a fight, slowly drift off, jump and wake herself up, cry because she didn't want to jump and wake up, suck on her paci and fall back to sleep for 15-20 minutes, wake up screaming bloody murder, and possibly fall back asleep, but usually not. it's horrible. especially the screaming part. i feel sorry for her and for the people on the plane. but what could i do? rorie is a mover. she moves in her sleep, she changes positions constantly, she is an active sleeper (again, this horrible trait i can only call my own). if she's strapped into a car seat she's unable to move into a comfortable position and continue sleeping. i totally understand why she can't sleep.

the lady behind me did not understand.

she loudly "shushed" rorie every time she woke up upset (because that's super helpful). she grumbled about my crying baby loud enough so that i could hear. then she had the nerve, right when i knew rorie had had enough and needed to sleep (and was putting herself to sleep the way only she does), to loudly and angrily confront me about how i should do something to stop my child from annoying the entire plane. i gave her a piece of my fragile and exhausted mind and then proceeded to sit in my chair imagining how i would physically hurt her if she got in my face again (i know- i'm super mature).

second flight-

no, there was no lady on my second flight... but it was still no fun. i think rorie had slept a total of 2 hours on the 12 hour plane ride. it is an understatement to say that she was tired. she was in a world of her own. she was not awake or asleep. she was existing. which resulted in her waking her self up after 10 minutes of sleep and screaming inconsolably for an hour and a half. maybe more. i totally checked out too. it was bad. but we somehow landed in chicago and aaron took us home.

i'm going to be bold and say that i feel much stronger than the average mother after completing this month long journey with my daughter. just bringing her into the world was a marathon in itself. the first half of her life was a struggle to live and survive. and now we have conquered overseas travel. and rorie was sick for half of our trip if not all of it. and after all of it... i would still suggest to every family... to travel overseas. and if not that- take long car trips. just travel as a family. it really strengthens you as parents. it pushes your limits and tests your boundaries- which i think is a very good thing for parents and family units. it gives you new experiences and unique perspectives that you would be unable to have if you never traveled.

so go out there! explore the world!