9 months...and moving!

pickle pants,

i've never called you that, but now that's it come to me, i think i will start. :) tomorrow you are going to be 9 (!!!) months old and if that wasn't enough, we're moving back to AZ. i am terrified! and excited! and so many other things, i could dedicate an entire blog post to it (them? who has time for grammar anyway?).

so, you've been with us for as long as you lived inside me, and i have to say, "where in the hell has the time gone?" i wouldn't be your mom if there wasn't a swear word in there somewhere. ;) hardest habit to kick! haha. anyway, my darling girl, you are amazing! your smile, your laugh, your easygoing nature, you pretty much rock my socks off on a daily basis. you still suck at sleeping, but we won't get into that.

in the past few months since i last blogged, you started cruising, you said, "mama," and you finally decided to allow baby food to enter your mouth. it was kind of a fluke because you only did that day and the next, but i have to admit i don't try very hard, because i'm not really all that worried about. since we're moving back to AZ, and daddy doesn't have a job anymore, i'm going to have to get one, so you'll be nursing less and eating more soon, i'm sure.

we're not sure where this year is going to take us, baby girl, but hopefully to bigger and better things. that's all i'm going to say about that because this is supposed to be about YOU, but just know that everything i do, i do for you and your brother.

love you, pickleface.

xoxox,
mama

pickle - 6 months

so it's been forever since i've posted here, but yesterday when i was voicing my frustration with certain pickle-isms, my baby daddy had the idea to read my blog from when jacob was the same age and pooint out that i had the exact same frustrations. this led me to a.) feel like an ass because DUH, why didn't I think of that??? and b.) feel like an ass because DUH, why haven't i been writing a monthly update for pickle??? shittiest mom on the planet award goes to...ME! but in all seriousness, if the shittiest mom on the planet award were to go to me it would most definitely be because of other parental faux pas, not for waiting 6 months to post my daughter's first monthly update. :)

anywho! in reading some of my posts from back in the day, i realized that i miss my personality. the one i used to have. before i became a stay-at-home-mom to TWO babies in the middle of nowhere ND and forewent any kind of social life whatsoever. well, okay...a toddler and a baby, but until they wipe their own asses they're still babies to me. i love being a mom, and most days i would rather do nothing but cook, clean and do laundry for my family whilst they shower me with undying love and gratitude, but other days i long for just a slight break from the monotony and a chance to just be me. i try not to focus on that too much because i know that this is just a phase, one that all parents of small children probably go through, and that before i know it they won't be my babies anymore and i will long for the days when i could kiss and snuggle them whenever my heart desired. but still, sometimes a girl needs a break!!! or a drink.

since i have started writing this i-don't-know-how-many-days-ago i decided it's probably best i get this over with or it will probably fall by the wayside with the other 10 unfinished posts i just found. so without further ado...

pickle girl,

oh my darling baby girl...you are too big for your britches. you are my pickle wickle, fancy dancer, lovergirl. i never could've imagined having a daughter would be so amazing. it's not any more amazing than having a son, just different. akin to what it must feel like when a man finally has the son he's always dreamed of. there's just something special about our relationship in a totally awesome way and i love it. and you!

the week before you turned 6-months-old you started crawling, sitting up and pulling yourself up on things. so now your favorite activity is ignoring all of your toys and crawling to the nearest piece of furniture you can pull yourself up on, squealing in delight, and then crying because you can't get yourself down. let's work on that, shall we? especially since the other night you were standing in the kitchen and fell backwards and hit your head on the hard floor. your cry was heartbreaking and a mama can only take so much of that!

at your 6-month appt you weighed exactly 17 lbs and were 25 2/4 inches tall. your brother already weighed almost 4 lbs more than you at this age, but he was a fattypants. you are pleasantly plump. =) your sleeping habits are less than desirable, i must say. from 5-6 months i was afraid you'd be a cat-napper for life, but i'm happy to say you've stopped that and nap for 1-2 hrs (sometimes 3!) in the a.m. and again for an hour or so in the afternoon. you could take a 3rd nap, but then you'd be up all night and i can't have that. oh, wait! you are up all night anyway! seriously, you wake up every 45 minutes to an hour after i put you to sleep for 3-4 hrs and then wake up every 2 hrs at least for the rest of the night until 8am. KNOCK. IT. OFF. because if you don't i'm gonna have to let you cry it out and i really don't want to have to do that to you. or myself. you breastfed babies can really be a pain...always wanting my boob and stuff. there must be some really delicious stuff in there because SHEESH.

we are taking a mommy & pickle trip to phx this weekend to go wedding dress shopping with auntie yaya. we're going to stay with auntie candi and little t and see your other aunties and cousins too. i'm probably more excited about this than you, but you're pretty easy to please so i'm sure you'll have a blast. and you get to have mommy all to yourself, you lucky ducky. just do me a favor and be good on the plane.

SMOOCHES,
mama

now or never

updates are clearly a thing of the past around here, so i thought i'd take a few minutes to share some of what's going on!

jacob is now sleeping in a big boy bed. it's been 3 nights so far, 2 of which he's slept thru the night. for the 10 days leading up to the big boy bed, he had been climbing out of his crib multiple times in the middle of the night, turning me into a monster. i do not do middle-of-the-night very well now that i have had a taste of 8 consecutive hours of sleep. everyone told me he was ready for a big boy bed and i refused to believe it, mostly because i wasn't ready for my big boy to be a big boy. i'm still not ready for a big boy bed, or big boy anything for that matter - my son is not even 2!!! - but he seems to like it. i even caved and bought him a cars bedding set to make it extra exciting. something i swore i'd never do since i hate character ANYTHING, but i think i love cars even more than he does. =)

i am 1 quiz away from finishing my 4th of 5 courses in medical transcriptioning. i mostly started as a way to keep busy and use my brain while phil was away last year. i figured it would be something to stimulate me intellectually and bring in some extra $$$'s at the same time. i am pleased to annouce i am kicking some serious medical transcriptioning ass. also, i ran a mile yesterday! go me!

my parents are coming on wednesday to spend easter with us. thank god for personal trader joe's delivery! then at the end of the month we're all going to ga to see my other son. can't wait to watch the boys play together. in june i'm taking phil to memphis for his birthday. mostly to visit the gibson guitar factory, but also because we plan on trying for another baby this summer and need to get away just the two of us. we never went on a honeymoon and the only other trip we took just us was to san francisco where i ended up with food poisoning on the 2nd day. we are long overdue!

jacob is talking so much these days...he is so sweet and lovable and squeezable and everything you want your baby to be one second and then the next he turns into a screaming, whining little monster. gotta love the 2's. he loves his "melmo" book and goodnight moon before bed every night. he would spend every waking moment outside if we let him. he's wearing 2T or 3T depending on the brand, eating like a champ (he likes tilapia!), and amazing me more every day with how utterly awesome he is.

all in all, life is good. :)

new year, new beginnings

i don't want to jinx myself by saying that 2009 was the worst year of my adult life thus far, but it pretty much was. lots of bad combined with just enough good to keep us hanging on leads me to believe that 2010 can only be better. to assist this in happening, i am putting all of my positive thoughts and energy out into the universe KNOWING that it will be.

so far, we hope to go visit jacob's big brother, try for baby number #2 (for us), and live under the same roof for more than 24 hours a week.

don't let me down, 2010...i'm counting on you!

month 17!

hi my smoochy moocher,

it is getting harder for me to write these things every month, but i am going to try and stick with it until you're 2. which, realistically speaking, is only 7 months away...?!?!?! soooooooo, my little boy. you are a dancing fool. i am pretty sure i have never seen anything so funny as a toddler dancing. every time those damn imagination movers come on, you get down, and it is the cutest thing i've ever seen. you are blibber blabbering away, but haven't really added any words except for "baby" to your vocabulary. you are still napping twice a day (THANK THE LORD, see previous post), but i don't hold out hope that it will last much longer. i am just not sure what i will do with ALL OF THOSE HOURS IN A DAY with you AWAKE. ;)

we took our first family vacay with just the three of us at the beginning of september. we stayed in keystone, sd and visited so many fun places that i hope we can go back to one day when you're a bit older. the first day we got there we stopped at the cosmos and you were hilarious! we were letting you waddle all over, which in hindsight probably did not make us look like the best parents ever, but sometimes you have to sacrifice your image for a laugh. the cosmos are this strange phenomena where although you are on level ground, gravity pulls you sideways. it is impossible to stand up straight and we all had to hold on to the walls just to keep our balance. i don't know if it was easier for you because you were closer to the ground, but you managed not to fall over!

we also went to the reptile gardens (daddy's favorite), the petting farm (my favorite), and bear country - where bears walk right in front of your car! it was tons of fun. we also took you to toys r us for the first time and you loved it there. but then what kid doesn't? you climbed all over the shelves, up onto power wheels, behind boxes, and just generally ran amuck. daddy and i really enjoyed watching your face light up as you ran from thing to thing. we also visited mt. rushmore which was our main reason for going to sd in the first place. it is a lot smaller than i had imagined it, but still pretty awesome, and i'm glad i can finally say i've been there. strange, since i still haven't seen the grand canyon after living in phoenix for 17 years, but we are going to try and rectify that in december when we go visit grandma & grandpa d for christmas.

so, my lucky little guy, you have offially visited 7 states already in under a year and a half of life. you have been to arizona, nevada, montana, north dakota, south dakota, indiana and illinois! wow! before you know it you'll have been to all 50! it was great to take a trip somewhere as a family and i can't wait for our next family vacation. :)

that's about all i have to report this time, but stay tuned for your next update. i'm sure i will have LOTS to tell you about being ONE AND A HALF!

love you lots and lots,

mama

oh boy...

son,

i think you are close to ridding yourself of your afternoon nap. you may not find it necessary, but i find is absolutely necessary. there will be tears, for sure. most likely they will be mine, so bear with me.

also, i am sorry i didn't write you a 16-month post, but it was a shitty month and i just didn't feel like it. so there.

love,

mama

month 15!

jacob,

you are the most kick ass kid on the planet! i took you for your 15 month check up today and you didn't even cry when you got your shots...in fact, you smiled at the nurse after she did it! YOU ARE SO COOL. don't get me wrong, if you had cried, you'd be just as cool, but i think not crying during shots is unheard of and makes you exceptionally exceptional. :)

you weigh 26.4 lbs and are 31 1/4 inches long. you are starting to look more like your daddy every day, and it's very clear to me now that you have his build. it's especially apparent now that we buzzed your head. you are TOO CUTE. i mean, so much cuteness should not be allowed. it nearly kills me on a daily basis.

you are saying "ball" and "hot" now. you babble so much and i am fairly certain we will have no trouble getting you to talk when the time comes. you walk up the stairs like a big boy, holding onto the wall for support. you walk downstairs as well, but not without the aide of my hand, so far.

you are such an easygoing kid, i can't believe how lucky i am. although, i would like to take just a tad bit of credit for that. ;) you have no attachment issues, you eat great, you love everyone, you sleep well, drive well. you and i went up to bottineau this past weekend to see daddy, and although it is a 4 1/2 hour drive with no stops, it was a 6 hour drive because we had to take a few breaks. you did not freak out once! you napped on and off, babbled to yourself, or just stared out the window. have i mentioned you are AWESOME?

this is by far my favorite phase of your life, and i am trying to enjoy it as much as i can before the tantrums and what not start. you are my little buddy and i enjoy you so much it's almost indescribable. you love to chase me around the island in the kitchen, and then collapse in laughter when you catch me. i nibble your knees and it elicits an adorable peal of giggles every time. you sit in my lap to read books, you hold my hand and pull me to the gate when you want to go out and play, and you rest your head on my shoulder and play with my hair several times a day when you want a snuggle break.

your brother is going to turn 8 in 10 short days, and it makes me sad that i missed out on seeing him do all of the adorable things you're doing, but it also makes me that much more grateful. i can't wait for the two of you to have a relationship as you get older, and see the two beautiful boys i've given birth to play together. i am so glad that he has been able to have the kind of life i'm now able to give to you. you are two very lucky little boys.

I LOVE YOU, MY SON.

love,

mama