What I've Been Up To...

As for me, I've been a busy lady! My almost sister in law and I have started a baking business, Sweet Cinnamon Bake Shoppe. We don't have a store front at this time but rent commercial space to do all of our baking. We are currently providing local delivery as well as shipping across the US! We've been working hard planning a vendor & craft fair to take place Saturday October 22 from 6-9 pm at the Goddard School of Howell located at 65 Kent Road. We have 20 amazing vendors... Avon, Lia Sophia, Tastefully Simple, Recreated Jewlery by Laura, Wipers & Diapers, Tutus by ME, Sweet Pea Cupcakes, The Stylish Diva and MORE! Its definitely going to be an fantastic night of shopping so grab the girls and your wallets and come check it out!

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I've also been keeping up with doing Zumba. It has tremendously helped me both physically and mentally! I love it so much so that this Sunday I will be training to be certified to teach! Its going to be a crazy long day, and from what Ive been told, an amazing day. I am so excited about this new venture for me... now just to get over the slight fear of teaching a room full of people :-)

Baby Getting Big Blues

I cannot believe that Ryan is 6.5 months old already. The time I feel like goes extra quick the second time around, especially when the older one is only coming up on 2.5 years old. Jack keeps me running all day long and sometimes I miss the fact that I don't have all the time I did with Jack just to sit and stare at him.

Ryan is doing AMAZING! He went from commando crawling to real crawling to pulling himself up on things and getting into standing position within the past couple weeks. Its crazy! Where has the time gone. I feel like I just had him and here we are half way to his first birthday.

Maybe things are different this time around because Ryan is most likely the last baby we're having and I absolutely adore the baby stage. I so badly want to pause life sometimes or at least do things in slow motion once in a while. I can't help feeling a little bummed out that Ryan isn't just mush in my arms anymore, that he wants to just get down on the floor and go. Yes, I get this is what is supposed to happen, they are supposed to grow and develop but why does it have to happen in the flash of a second?!?!?!

Jack is doing incredible. He is so smart and his vocabulary absolutely amazes us, we sometimes forget how young he still is. He's growing into a very funny little man! No luck on the potty training frontier but hey he is my stubborn child. Some days he is a little chimpanzee, wild child. His energy seems to be endless and boy does he know how to push the limits... somedays I think I need a nap more then him. Jack has decided to be a clown for Halloween this year.. he's got a thing for the circus at the moment. His costume came today and it is absolutely adorable and he spent most of the day wearing it... hoping the costume survives to Halloween LOL! When he's not pushing my buttons he does and says the funniest things. He always has a completely logical answer to everything so yes, the two year old wins debates sometimes.

The most incredible moments are those when he is being gentle and sweet to Ryan. I don't think there is anything more amazing then watching Jack make Ryan do a real belly laugh, hugging and kissing him and even pulling him away from things he could hit his head on.... Jack trying to fee Ryan a goldfish tonight, not so great HAHA. Seeing the boys play together is absolutely incredible and I certainly wouldn't trade any of if for anything in the world!

Live and Learn!

Live and learn right?!?! If my husband and I learned anything from our first son it was that we waited way to long to allow him to learn to self soothe. I know there are plenty of you that may disagree with the ferber method but it works! With our first we tried every gentle method we were told about or read about and nothing worked with jack! He was absolutely horrible! We didn't get him to sleep through the night until he was a year old. Jack is now a little over 2 and the night time can still be a struggle some nights!

Ryan will be 6 months old on the 26th. Everything ice read says if you wait much linger past 6 months they start to understand much more and will protest. Getting Ryan to sleep isn't the tough part. The tough part is getting him to stay asleep. We could have gotten him down at 8 but from then until 11/1130/12 he'd be up three times. After that point he'd sleep a little better but still get up at least twice a night. So to the point... Last we decided to start the process. He is still little so I am not stoping feedings. We however decided that he needed to be laid down awake and allow him to fall asleep on his own, after finishing a bottle of course... In the middle of the night last night he woke up maybe 10 mins after finishing a bottle we decided to let him cry it out... Hearing him cry for 30 minutes was nearly unbearable but I know that in the end he will be a better sleeper which means well rested and happy! We stuck it out! Today for nap he cried 15 minutes then took an hour and a half nap! Tonight he cried 5 minutes and has been sleeping since 8!!! Progress is happening so much faster then with jack. We pray we can get through the frying part fast and that sleep time becomes a simple thing with baby 2! 

Challenges

When you first discover you are pregnant there are so many emotions that go through your mind... joy, excitement, nervousness, pure love... there is no way of truly knowing what challenges are ahead of you. You can have some sort of idea of what it will be like when you have a screaming baby at 4 in the morning that despite your every effort, just doesn't want to calm down. We have all been there right? But then there are the little bumps along the road of parenthood that I don't think you can foresee.

Mommyhood, and yes daddyhood too, is far from a simple thing. The loving your child/children unconditionally with everything that you are is the simple part. You would do absolutely ANYTHING and EVERYTHING to make them happy, to keep them from feeling pain, to keep them healthy. Ok so thats the very general plan right? Raise them to be strong, independent, smart, successful, kind and loving but how to get there is the challenge.

I always thought having one very active and incredibly smart little boy was a challenge. Things are now just a little harder with 2 little boys. Jack learned to push buttons and with every stage of growth came new challenges. The hard part is that I always had this plan in the back of your head as to how I would deal with each situation, how I would react when they decide to throw a box of rice on the floor, or continually climb way too high, when they take a marker to your newly painted walls. Is it just me or does the great plan not always work out perfectly. I feel like this is such a tough topic because as a mother I feel like I should be prefect and that is so not the case and in a way I feel ashamed of my reactions and frustration some days. I admit that there are times that I raise my voice louder then I should, that I overreact, that I have overly high expectations for a 2 year old.... Everyday I try to be better and some days go so smoothly and then there are days I just want to crawl into bed and cry... is this normal?

Ryan is a little over 3 months old and demands so much time but so does Jack. How do you explain to a 2 year old to be patient while mommy works on getting the baby to fall asleep? How do you relax your mind to the point that you can just hangout and have fun? I feel like I always have a million things going through my head that its so hard for me to just forget about what needs to get done around the house and just PLAY. Between cooking, cleaning up, laundry, Avon, diapers, pumping.... my mind just needs a break and I feel like I am on overload sometimes. I try so hard to make every mishap an opportunity to teach Jack something, but sometimes the aggravation gets in the way and it just makes the situation worse, no lesson learned and then we're both upset. I'll gladly take any coping advice. I sometimes worry that Jack not listening to us is all on me and Steve, that we are screwing up but I don't see where the problem is. I stick to what I say, I don't let him get away with things, I let him know when he has done something that is not ok.... is it just because he is only 2? Don't get me wrong, Jack is such a smart 2 year old, he amazes me everyday!! He is so kind and loving I just want to squeeze him with the hugest hug most of the time. Its just those little things throughout the day that sometimes challenge me. Is it maybe because we tend to have big reactions to everything that he can't tell the difference between us joking and playing with him to when we are serious?

I guess its all a learning process... its always something new and we are always trying to adapt to the kids needs. I understand that each stage of their lives requires an updated parenting approach.... now how to accept that I will never be perfect?? Please feel free to share your thoughts and advice in the comment section!

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My Zumba Addiction

My husband and my brother are always making fun of me and I'm pretty sure they think I've lost my mind but YES I am totally addicted to zumba!!!! I have never been great at the gym going routine, it's bored me to death which leads to me giving up on it really quickly. I have to thank my friend Jamie for getting me into it because it was her idea for us to look into it. I went once, sweated my butt off and felt great afterwards, I was hooked!! Of course who knew I was going to get pregnant just 2 months after starting, more on that later.

I have found the most incredible instructor, Alexis 'Zumba' Roe. She has started up her own thing that runs out of Station 55 Firehouse in Jackson NJ. I highly recommend you give her classes a try. The other instructors there are great as well!! I am a mom and wife first and always but I truly believe that everyone needs at least one thing that is all for themselves.... Zumba is my thing! I am so excited to be part of a group of really great women and Slinky too.... They are kind, strong and motivating. Zumba gives me a chance to step away from diapers, bottles and Yo Gabba Gabba for a bit... When that music is blasting my mind gets to focus on that moment and only that moment, not the long list of things that need to get done. It gets my heart pumping and though I may not look great doing it, it makes me feel strong and good about myself.

It's funny because I only gained 17 lbs when I was pregnant with Ryan. I actually did continue to do Zumba until I was around 8 months. After giving birth I dropped 13 of those lbs. Ryan is now 10 weeks old and I now weight a few lbs less then what I was before getting pregnant... This is great, I know that but still it's driving me nuts because I feel like it's not enough and I am in some big rush to drop more weight. I've also started taking a tushie and tummie class which is also great! I was sore for days after! I'm going to keep with it and hopefully I'll start seeing more results. I love that I am able to do this a few days a week thanks to my hubby supporting my addiction lol! I definitely think everyone should give it a try!

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Ryans Here!!

It's been four months since I last wrote and so much has happened! Here's an update...

On Saturday March 26th at 330 am I got up to pee for the 100th time and just like with Jack, my water broke (even funnier is that it's almost exactly the same time with Jack at 300 am). Yes, again I fall into the small percentage of people that have their water break before having any contractions. So we got everything ready to... I walked into Jacks room, woke him and said it was time to see the doctor to get baby Ryan out of mommys belly. Amazingly he did amazing! We had our family meet us there ASAP so Jack could hang out with them. After all the annoying paperwork I was admitted and prepped for the joys of labor... IVs hooked up, monitors on. At this point the contractions are coming several minutes apart and I was handling them very well. When I was checked I was only at 2 cm. Now I'm thinking wow it's going to be awhile! They start getting more intense but still I'm doing good and yes I refused an epidural just as planned. I had to have one for the c section with Jack and I knew i didn't want to feel numb during it all. Checked again, ive made it to 4 cm! Doing ok, Steve stepped out to get a bagel. No sooner did things flip a switch fast!!! Literally a few minutes after he left I got the most intense back pain, stabbing pain. I texted Steve to hurry back. From that point on the pain of the contractions was nothing compared to the back labor. My God, it was the worst pain I have ever felt and unlike a contraction, the pain is constant, no rest period what so ever. There was no position that gave me any comfort. So from going to handling everything amazingly well, I was at the point of standing leaning on Steve screaming and crying because the stabbing pain was so horrible. I remember the nurse saying "I think it's time to meet your baby, lay back in the bed".... The pain was so bad that at that moment I couldn't move so the nurse literally pushed me back in bed. I pushed for maybe 25 minutes, had an episiotomy and then the moment... The first sound from Ryan! I just broke down in tears. Ryan arrived at 940 am. Weighed in at 7lbs 5 oz and was 20 inches long. I do have to stay that I didn't experience the whole thing that everyone told me, that the worst part would be the head and shoulders... Again the back pain was so bad that the delivery didn't feel so bad.

So there he was, though I only saw him for a few seconds before they brought him over to the warming table... After what felt like forever, they handed Ryan to Steve and I finally got to hold my beautiful baby boy. What an incredible feeling and such a different experience then having to have a c section with Jack. Once I was a stitched up, Steve was able to bring Jack into the room. My little trooper was up for hours! He came right up onto the bed with me and leaned on me while I was holding Ryan. There was no jealousy, just a bit of confusion on Jacks part.

Tomorrow Ryan turns 10 weeks old. I have to say that it has been an amazing experience. Jack has been so great! He wants to help with everything and has the power to get Ryan to stop crying just by talking to him. It's certainly not easy with two babies but it's amazing. I love watching the two of them together and I so look forward to watching them run around with eachother. Its still so crazy to me that Steve and I have two kids!! We are incredibly lucky to have such a wonderful family!

So, yes a lot of other thongs have gone on in the past few months but I'm pooped lol... Another day I will write about the amazing 2 year old Jack has become!!!

So Much Going On

I feel like the days, weeks and months are just flying by lately. I feel like I was just planning and setting up for Christmas dinner and that come and gone. I must say this year was special, and it is amazing the difference that a single year makes. Last year Jack was about 7 and a half months old and showed very little interest in the whole gift thing. Hey to him, it was just a bunch of people in the house. This year was fantastic! We took out the Elf on a Shelf, not that he really understood the point but we at least told him it was Santas helper and that he was watching to make sure he was a good listener. He definitely gets "Santa" now! We didn't actually take him to see Santa this year, though we intended to when we took him to Storybook Land, the line was crazy long and he would have been miserable, instead we went on all the rides! We did see pictures of Santa and we got to see him go by on the firetruck, which I must say Jack really got a kick out of! He is still asking for "ho ho" when he hears sirens, too cute! Christmas morning, just the three of us, Jack couldn't wait to tear into everything. This year he was definitely more interested in what was beyond the paper... he wanted to open up all the puzzles and toys, he tested out his super adorable chair (even said ahhh when he sat down). It was so great to the excitment on his face. If you were to ask him who got him a toy or book, etc... the response is now always "Ho Ho". We even had a special visit from Santa on Christmas Day, my dad (always dressed up for us too). Jack jumped at first but then just stared I think in amazment. Steve and I soaked it all up and still couldn't believe that next christmas there would be two little boys!

Jack is doing amazing! He just turned 20 months old (AH 4 months until the 2nd birthday party!). He amazes us everyday... he so quickly leanrs new words. He speaks so clearly, well at least we think so, but hey we are with him all the time. He is now using three word "sentences" all the time and pretty sure there has been one or tow times that there has been 4 words! He is so incredibly smart, the things he can do amazes me.... show him something once and I swear he is a pro! You should see him work an iPad... bizarre how good he is... I think he should definitely appear in an Apple commercial! Anyone know how to contact Steve Jobs, haha! Jack has learned to jumpwith both feet off the ground, he now enjoys swinging on the bars at the gym like a little monkey. He is climbing all over everything! He is getting to be a bit stubborn and very opinionated, like us I guess! He now says please and thank you too... its adorable!

Me, I'm now coming up on 29 weeks pregnant. Yea this pregnancy seems to be flying by, I think because I am always so busy with Jack that I don't really have time to keep track of everything going on. Baby Ryan is doing great! I started my twice weekly appointments this week... everything is good but its all just to make sure that my graves disease doesn't get passed along... better safe then sorry... though I am terribly dreading all the driving I will be doing and all the time I will be spending sitting in the doctors office. Its especially going to be tricky to arrange for someone to watch Jack but we'll figure it out!

Our next HUGE project is tackling the basement, well I will be doing more supervising then actual work :-) We live in a three bedroom so with the arrival of Ryan in just a few months, we are losing the guest room/ office. We decided that since the house feels likes its shrinking but we can't move that we better go ahead and finish the basement... we're making an office, playroom and storage area. How great will it be to have the majority of toys down there, especially since we will have newborn baby stuff plus a two years old stuff all over! Really looking forward to the finished product !

So thats basically whats been going on here.... busy busy as usual!

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AVON CALLING

Ok so this post is really for me but figured I'd try to get the word out there. I've been selling Avon for a little over a year now and its been great!! Avon is going on to celebrate its 125th anniversary!!!! Its a fantastic business and is so because of all of its representatives.

Being that I'm a stay at home mom with a very active little boy, this gives me the opportunity to bring in extra income every two weeks and doesn't take up too much of my time. It is basically your business... you put as much or as little into as you'd like to. There are countless women that have made a huge success out of their sales.

Right now if you sign up to become an Avon Independent Sales Rep through me the sign up fee will be waived. This would be especially perfect for any stay at home mom, teacher or just about anyone that has a lot of women friends that love great beauty products! Parents if you have kids in school or involved in sports or other activities, theres your in with a lot of potential costumers! Teachers you work with plenty of other women again all potential costumers..... Its as easy as handing out an awesome catalogue, maybe some samples.... letting the products and prices sell themselves.... you simply submit an order every two weeks, or once a month if you choose... the products get delivered directly to you... you give them to your costumers and collect your money. Of course if you want to just give it a try and decide later on that its not for you, you simply stop no questions asked.

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Seperation Anxiety?

Here we are yet again. I cannot believe that after 18 months sleeping is still an issue that we are trying to figure out. Jack was doing great for several months. After going on vacation he was completely thrown off and it took about a week to get him back on track. We thought we were good after that and yet here we are at a complete loss yet again.

For the past couple weeks getting Jack to sleep has been a horror. We used to be able to put him in his crib, he'd wimper for a minute or two and then be out cold for the night. Now he screams for what seems to be an eternity and is waking up in the middle of the night again screaming "MAMA" for what seems like forever. Even if we go into his room and try to rub his back he still fights. Several nights weve given in and just brought him into bed with us. We go back and forth... are we screwing up by bringing him in bed with us getting him used to that and creating some evil cycle and that is the reason he is waking during the night... is it a seperation anxiety thing which I've read peaks at 18 months... we are lost lost lost. I thought we had finally gotten past the craziness and here we are again... this time knowing that baby number two will be arriving in April... so not only will we have Jack who is sleeping very light, waking and screaming but we will have a newborn getting up every 2 hours... we are kind of dreading very sleepless nights. Our goal is obvious... get Jack back to sleeping wonderfully and praying that a new baby in the house doesn't throw him off. Problem is we have no idea what to do anymore.

So besides that Jack is great. He is so smart he amazes me though the word "no" doesn't seem to sink in with him... I'm thinking this is a normal thing for his age and he is testing me and Steve to see how much he can get away it... boy does the button pushing mak me nuts sometimes! He started making pee pee on the potty though the actual concept of potty training is not there yet but thats ok, no rush.

I'm feeling good. I go for my 20 week sonogram tomorrow to see how baby is growing and to see if their guess of another boy was correct. We've been keeping busy of course! We're trying to plan ahead a bit and thinking its time to finish the basement.... toys and things are taking over and soon baby baby stuff will be added to the chaos of our home. A pretty big project to take on but sooo soooo needed! Other then that taking one day at a time and trying to enjoy all the little things.

Finally Back At It....

Yes, yes I know I have been a huge slacker. Its not only on my blog though, I've barely touched the computer since getting pregnant again. I am very happy to report though that the nausea and vomitting has finally come to an end! YAY!!! The extreme exhaustion has also faded and I no longer require at least one nap a day to function properly. Oh yes, the joys of the first trimester. I am actually feeling pretty good now. I still have days where I feel like patience is non existence and sleeping all day sounds lovely but definitely sooooo much better now! This one has definitely been tougher then Jack, maybe that means this one will be mellow? One can hope haha. Oh and as of right now they are thinking it looks like we will be having another boy. I willbe very out number, even the cat is a boy.

So a lot has happened since the last time I wrote. Jack has become a little chatter box, no surprise really, maybe he takes after me a bit... my nickname in 6th grade given to me by my teacher was gabby and i'm pretty sure that when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade that a letter went home to my mom about my talking a bit too much during class... oops :-) Anyhow his word list is growing all the time and he has even been putting 2 or 3 words together, my little genius! We also discovered that Jack loves the beach, yea go figure we waiting until after labor day to give it a try but at least we know for next summer. Its funny, the age and having no fear... he would have just jumped right into the water if we let him go. More recently he has developed a new LOVE, choo choos!! He is absolutely crazy about them. We got him a really cute Thomas set while we were on vacation (more on that to come) and then his Papa introduced him to the train set that has been around since we were kids. He now very much associated Papa with choo choos and yes I don't think a day has gone by since getting home from vacation that Jack has not uttered the words... Nana, Papa Choo choo... its pretty hysterical... now if only we could get him to wear the little hat to go with it.

So we just recently got back from our first family vacation. I think I mentioned it before.. we did a 9 night cruise that stopped in Portland and Bar Harbor Maine, Halifax, St Johns and Boston. I must say, vacationing with a little one in tow is definitely not the same as it just being the two of us, not that I actually expected it to be but it was an experience. I am definitely glad we decided to go for it. We are lucky because generally Jack is super easy going with a few meltdowns here and there. He really did do great. I guess it was a matter of just keeping him on somewhat of a schedule. He always got a nap in, otherwise forget it, my sweet little guy turns into a bit of a monster child. We always made sure to find a park or somewhere he could run around, stretch the legs and get the energy out. Amazingly he sat nearly perfectly everynight for dinner in the seated dining room. It was pretty funny because I would guess approx. 90% of the people on the cruise where 65+ and they all got a kick out of Jack. Pretty sure he somehow managed to become the mayor of the boat. Speaking of the boat, Steve was nervous about keeping Jack busy on the sea days... it worked out great... they had a fisher price room where we could bring him to play and color or hear a bedtime story. He also got a HUGE kick out of the arcade, so did Steve and I actually... he likes to sit at the racing games so he can pretend to drive and says beep beep while doing it. So while it was a lot more work and the nights ended very early (not that I really minded going to sleep early) it was so worth it and we did have a great time away together.

So Halloween is just around the corner and Jack got to pick his own costume and he decided to go with a COW! He actually looks very adorable in it! It is however quite a struggle to get him to wear it, we'll see I guess. Our community is doing a childrens Halloween party the day before so we're going to give that a try then on the actual day, I will be at the Giant Packer game with my dad and I think Steve is going to try to take Jack out for a little bit for some trick or treating... yup collecting candy for me and Steve to consume :-)

I'll try not to be such a slacker from now on and keep on updating.

Better Days....

Its been a while, huh? I generally do my blogging while Jack is napping but lately Jacks nap time= mommy nap time. I am just pooped!! I'm nearing 10 weeks now so I am hoping that in about 2 weeks I will be having better days! While some of the intense all day nausea is gone, the vomiting has gotten worse. I guess I was lucky, with Jack I only threw up twice the entire pregnancy... this time I am up to 8 so far. Yes I realize thats not horrible either, that some people do it everyday but either way, I still feel like crap! I had my first appointment almost 2 weeks ago and everything was good. At that point I'd actually lost 2 pounds, which is no surprise really since I have no appetite and getting anything down is a major chore.

This past Monday was a really really difficult day, one I'd rather not have had. I had some spotting in the morning which of course freaked me out and immediately made me think the worst. After a very long day and plenty of crying we had a sonogram appointment that night to check on the baby.... Thankfully I was wrong and the baby is fine! What a huge relief it was to see that little heart beating away, and yea I burst into a hysterical cry as soon as I saw the fluttering! Hoping to never have to go through that again, it was a draining day and we are just glad that everything turned out fine.

Other than all that, I have been a total lazy butt! I have zero energy which makes me no fun for Jack i'm sure. I have no desire to go do anything and I am definitely a little less patient with people... ah hormones. Please cross your fingers that by time our vacation comes around, that all this has passed so I can enjoy it!

Jack is doing good!! Hes such a little wild guy full of energy! This is of course that much more exhausting for me at the moment but hey he is only almost 16 months. He is picking up words a lot more easily lately. We've added pretty, spoon, uh oh, baby and whoa. He is getting so big too fast!! The gym we were bringing him to has closed so we signed up at another one... not nearly as awesome but for now it'll do and he still had fun.

Well little man is waking up from his nap.... tootles :-)

And baby makes four...

Yes I've been slacking lately, I admit, I've been napping every chance I get. So some very big and VERY surprising news.... On July 31st we found out that we are expecting baby #2 which will bring our little family of 3 up to 4!

Have to say this didn't work out the way Jack did. With Jack we came home from a vacation, the timing worked and we gave it a try, the next month we found out it worked and we were expecting our first peanut. I think I may have mentioned this before and yes I'm sure you're all laughing... we had thought we were going to wait until Jack was about 2-2.5 to start trying this way we had plenty of time with just him, he would be old enough to entertain himself for a while, and possibly even out of diapers. So things didn't quite go as planned, but don't get me wrong we are super excited!! This baby was definitely an oops baby, not planned and totally unexpected. I think Steve and I mostly laughed the day we found out. I think the entire family was pretty shocked as well since we told everyone we wanted to wait a while. Of course everyone is thrilled!

So I do have to admit that I am a bit nervous. Jack is a super active, energetic, wild little boy and the thought of watching after him and taking care of a newborn is a little overwhelming. Yes, I had the same nerves with Jack and everything works itself out just like I am sure it will this time around too. I am definitely concerned about the whole pumping thing. I think this was the biggest challenge with Jack, finding enough time to pump as much as I needed and the timing of it as well. This is definitely going to be a bigger challenge this time around. I know that eventually the routine of it all will set in and all will be fine.

So the way I figured it I'm about 6 weeks now, my first doctors appointment is on the 24th, so they will confirm, but according to a calculator I am due April 4th. So yea Jack will be almost 23 months and definitely will not be out of diapers by then. It will be interesting for sure! The great thing is that this new baby (which according to a chinese prediction chart is going to be a boy) and Jack will be so close in age which will be great as they grow up together.

How I'm feeling.... the nausea started a couple days ago and I'm pretty sure that just like with Jack it will be here for awhile, at least until the end of the first trimester. I'm definitely tired and trying to nap whenever Jack does. Other then that I'm doing good. Will keep you updated!

I read this book with Jack and it was definitely helpful!

Please Touch Children's Museum

What a fantastic day!!! This past Friday Steve took off of work to spend the day with us. We went into Philadelphia, to the Please Touch Children's Museum. I must say I was very impressed as soon as we saw it. Its massive, it looks like a "true" museum, not a place for kids to run around. The inside was just as impressive. Must say, the price to get in, only $15 a person is totally worth it!!! I certainly would recommend it as long as your child can walk they will have a ball!

Its broken up into sections... Car garage, Water Play, a Music room, Air Exploration, Alice in Wonderland, Grocery Store, Dump Truck, Childrens Hospital, Trains.... there are a few toddler only spaces throughout but Jack definitely was not limited to these areas. He did a little of everything and seemed to have an amazing time. It was a joy to watch him interact with everything.... sitting at the mad haters tea party and pretending to sip from the cups, walking through the maze, pushing around a mini shopping cart, his first carousel ride.... huge overload in a great way!


Its a great place where kids can explore and you don't have to worry about them touching something they aren't supposed to or breaking something... it is a free for all! I might have had just as much fun as Jack! Its funny to watch how they interact with the other kids too. Jack tried to give a plastic hoe to another little boy but kind of threw it at him, hit him in the face and the poor little guy cried. Oops!

The timing worked out great too... Left home at a time we knew he would nap on the way there, which he did, thankfully since we hit quite a bit of traffic in Philly. We played until 1, had some lunch... also impressive for a little cafe in a museum.... played some more and then that dreaded 300 hit.... Thats when the melt down starts but it worked out because by then we had made our way through just about everything, He passed out about 5 mins into the car ride... he was exhausted and definitely should have been with all the running around he did. It was a perfect day out, just the three of us... will definitely be going back!!

Phases and Stages

I know I have said it a thousand times but I am still amazed at the quick changes that just keep on happening. Yes, I understand that this is what is supposed to happen but it all happens so quick there is sometimes no time to adjust to one phase because it is constant change. Jack is getting bigger and bigger and much smarter all the time. Hes now 14.5 months and I must say it is an interesting age. I look at him now and feel like wow he is a little boy, hes not a helpless baby anymore. Part of me misses that little peanut very much and part of me loves to watch him grow.

Its funny because when he was younger he would do something and my reponse was always, oh he doesn't know what hes doing, its not intentional, he doesn't understand yet. Now, though its only months later its different. Hes running around the house, he makes this crazy mean looking face, he throws things, doesn't listen for beans and can't seem to sit still for two minutes (unless hes asleep). Its funny because while yes he is now able to do so much more he still can't exactly understand right from wrong, he doesn't understand empathy yet, he can't read others emotions... and yet sometimes I find myself expecting way too much from him. He is only a baby still and yet I sometimes expect that he understand that throwng the sippy cup is annoying and not a game, that you are only supposed to use the hockey club with a ball not to hit people. I'm pretty sure there is a name for this, something about looking at a child as a little person when they are not yet capable of comprehending things the same way, that we expect too much of them at a young age.

I consider myself to be a smart person and yet I find myself getting aggrivated over the silliest things sometimes and then one minute later I'm like, well of course hes laughing, hes a baby and everything is funny. I then just get annoyed at myself. Its sometimes hard to step back and just take a breath. I'm not at all saying that there is no need to correct and try to explain because I know at some point he will begin to see a pattern and start to understand what is ok and what is not. I can't fault him for not understanding, he has a long way to go and I must learn to be more patient. I think most of us have these moments. I know that new challenges will continue to arise and some things will get easier. These are the phases and stages that we as mothers go through right along with our children. I guess it is all part of the learning process for all of us and working hard to find the ways that work for us.

He is a doll, hes so funny and has little quirks about him. He has a way of just looking at me and Steve that melts our hearts and makes us forget in the blink of an eye that he just dumped a dish of food on the floor, or pulled on the cats tail. We can't help but laugh at the things he does, when sometimes laughing probably isn't the right reaction. He is growing into an amazing little person and all these little bumps in the road are part of life to be taken one step at a time. I never did think this would be easy....

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Home Sweet Home

Ahhh, vacations are always wonderful but I always feel the need to get home by the end of it. By the way, when I say home sweet home, I do not mean NJ but simply my home where my husband was and all our things. We left for Canada last Thursday and arrived home at 2 am Tuesday morning... oh yea that is a story!

Here it was Jacks first real vacation and his first flight. If you have been reading my blog then you know I was quite nervous about the whole process. Thankfully Jack proved me totally wrong! He did amazing!!! Granted the actual airport part isn't easy because he wanted to run around but the flights themselves could not have gone any better! Both flights he was pretty content just hanging out on my lap, flipping through the sky mall to find pictures of kitties. He didn't make a single cry of pain or frustration, there were however a few screams of excitement. He even clapped at the end of the flight when we arrived in CA. I was so nervous that the pressure in his ears would make for a miserable trip but he didn't seem to be bothered at all. Certainly the quietest baby on a plane ever, I'm sure!


Our first day was just a hang out day with the family. Jack and I finally got to meet cousin Nolan! Him and Jack had lots of fun together though Jack was a bit rough with him... and yea Nolan is 3 but Jack didn't seem to mind the size difference! We had a lovely lunch, spent the afternoon hanging out in the yard, Jack played in the kiddie pool with Nolan and then we had a wonderful dinner. I have no idea how he did it but Jack was up at 520 am on Thursday to leave the house, he napped in the airport for about 25 minutes and then didn't sleep again until 830 that night... he was out cold by then! I guess there were too many new people and there was too much to do to give into sleep. He was a trooper! No surprise though that a playpen didn't work... just like home he screamed his head off when I put him in so instead I took out the mattress and put it on the floor.... I could lay with him until he fell asleep and then leave him. It worked out prefect and he adjusted to it quickly!

Day 2... Hung out at the house, did some grocery shopping and waited for some more canadian family to arrive. It was so great to see everyone! And yea Jack spent most of the day in and out of the pool again. That night my moms cousin had made reservations for the family (40 of us) to go have dinner at a massive chinese buffet while they went to the rehearsal dinner. This buffet was not like they have here... this place was massive and packed! Jack, though I fed him dinner before since we weren't going until 7....well he ate like a little piggie... he had his first taste of noodles and chicken dumplings. I have no idea where my little guy fits all the food but he definitely loves to eat! It was a late night but he did great again! While he has his moments he is so good and easy going!

Day 3... My cousin Alex's wedding day!!! Ok so I must say with like 15 family members in one house, full blown Italians... the morning was not a peaceful one... there is always a bit of drama... who doesn't like their hair... me I brought 2 black dress shoes from different pairs... any how we all managed to get ourselves together after there were a few screaming matches between a couple of aunts..... The wedding was at the Toronto Botanical Gardens... a beautiful setting.. perfect for the outdoor ceremony. Its funny because the receptions there are so different then here... a lot more causal and not nearly as foo foo.... Jack took a liking to the DJ, perhaps he liked his long red curly hair??? It was adorable to watch Jack run around with the other kids even if he had no idea what was going on. It was great to see everyone! My the end of the night Jack was pooped so we cut out a little early otherwise he would have been a very unhappy camper... I must say thank goodness for GPS! I got drove us all over Toronto no problems!

Day 4... Breakfast with the family then we headed over to the Toronto Zoo with my mom, uncle, cousin Vin, his wife and daughter and my moms cousin. What a massive place! We got some more use out of the harness! He fights it a little but once he's distracted he doesn't seem to mind as long as he gets to run around. It was a hot day which made it rough, maybe more so for me then Jack, I am not a heat person! Makes me a bit cranky actually. I think the only thing that Jack really got into were the big "kitties" and the seagulls flying around... yup good ol seagulls, but hey the kid likes birds! Jack and I shared lunch, chicken fingers and fries... Jack had his first taste of ketchup and just like his mommy, he loved it, even tried to stick the whole little cup in his mouth. He just kept on dipping the same fry into it, so cute! He was pooped from all the excitement and totally conked out in the car!

Thats it last day.... Spent a little while at this cute place, Spring Ridge Farm... they had an adorable store, a enormous sand box, a little maze (with no turns) which Jack enjoyed running through, an area with giant hay stacks that Jack enjoyed running through and getting on top of, a little tractor ride (which we skipped) and a area you could feed goats and chickens. Jack had fun! We grabbed some lunch there, Jacks came in a sand pail, really cute!

WOW I missed Steve and couldn't wait to go home but it did go by fast and I am so glad that I went. We don't get to see each other often enough! Actually the flight home is the best part of the story... Its amazing that always when your trip is at its end and you are super ready to get home... thats when all the crap begins! So our flight was supposed to depart at 540 pm. Before leaving for the airport I checked the flight and it was listed as on time. Yippie! We get there to check in and are told there is a 2 hour delay already. FANTASTIC... who knew it was going to just keep getting worse... The customs line was ridiculous and took an hour to get through... Jack was not very happy so yea that was a bit of a struggle... we get through there, breeze through security and start making our way to the gate.... still the flight is listed as being delayed 2 hours... we go to grab dinner and surprise surprise the restaurant doesn't have high chairs... can't catch a break! We go back to the little stand and get a pre wrapped sandwich, yuck! Go back down to the gate, which I might add was in a corner downstairs all by itself... at this point Jack is getting fussy, he hadn't had an afternoon nap and is being very stubborn. Me and my mom try for a while to get him to sleep but he keeps fighting... finally he fell asleep around 730 pm. Oh and did I mention that at this point they have made an announcement that all flights going in and out of Newark were grounded due to bad storms.... great further delays or who knew at that point if we were even getting out of there that night... I was determined to stick it out especially since we finally got Jack to sleep. The flights were back on and then off again and then finally some good news.... the plane we were getting on had finally left Newark at 930 pm! YAY we were going to get home, I didn't care how late at this point... just wanted to get home! Jack, thankfully slept until 10.. he ran around for a while and then finally around 11 we boarded the plane.... The flight itself was perfect. Jack did amazing again! Finally made it home a little after 2am Tuesday morning, ugh it was a long long day but so great to see Steve and be home

Overall a great first vacation experience with the peanut! Really looking forward to the cruise with the three of us!

Countdown to Canada!

I have to admit that as it gets closer, leaving in a few days, I am getting a bit more nervous. I don't at all regret deciding to take the trip because I am thrilled that I will get to see everyone!! I'm so glad that I will be there for my cousins wedding since we have missed several events in the past few years because of conflicting schedules.

I think its a few things that are running through my head at this point. The first being that Steve won't be with us, so theres two things there, my first time traveling without him and that he won't be there to help out with Jack. Yes my mom will be there but she hates flying so it will be interesting. Then there is the simple thing of being away from Steve for 4 days, yes I know thats really not a long time but we haven't been apart for that long in a very long time!! Yes we are that couple, can't sleep well when the other isn't right there next to us. Then there is the whole pain the butt process at the airport! Ugh... finding your gate, security, waiting and waiting because there is never a flight on time at Newark! I have decided to check my bag. Was going to try and get away with just a carry on but thinking if I check it, well thats one less thing I have to worry about dragging around... instead I will only have to worry about my backpack filled with diapers and bottles and Jack of course! The flight itself is a big worry. I am kind of dreading how Jack will do. My child doesn't sit still for more then a couple minutes unless he is asleep so it will be interesting to see how he does. Then there is the whole pressure in the ears which bugs me so I can't imagine how Jack will feel. Hoping he will just take a bottle, so help with the pressure and that maybe, just maybe he will fall asleep since it will be an early start to the morning.

It is just going to be so weird to be away from Steve! Ok, so backwards a bit... I've started packing and as I go I seem to remember more and more things that I use for Jack on a daily basis, and yea that is a LOT of stuff! I am lucky because my cousin has a car seat and play pen for me to use. Steve then remember the little travel booster seat thing too which I might shove into the suitcase since I am bringing the big one now anyhow. Its funny how such a little person needs so many things! We've never been away from home for more then a night so this is all new to me and I have no doubt that for this one I will be overpacked! Oh well, live and learn I suppose. This will also be a good tester to see how he handles flying since we may fly out to Arizona next winter to visit family.

Fingers crossed! Wish us luck! Will post after we get home on how everything went!

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Its a Damn Shame

This is a short one but figured it is important to make others aware...

What a shame... I just read an article about a new study done on lead content of childrens juices and snacks. The article I read is posted on the seventh generation website (unfortunately i'm having trouble linking it)

Here I am, I try as often as possible to get items for Jack that are all natural or organic and even that isn't enough. A new study has shown that some very huge brands are putting out products for consumption with high levels of lead in them... "The results: 125 out of 146 products tested, or 85 percent, contained alarming amounts of lead." You can view the list of products and whether or not the items tested positive on the seventh generation website.

Its just aggravating when you think you are doing good and in fact these companies are not as safe as they claim to be. How are we supposed to know this, who are we supposed to trust? Its a bit ridiculous that we pay extra for organic items and even those might still be harmful. Is there any alternative short of raising your own meat, growing your own produce, etc??

I guess we should be very thankful for these independent research groups that blow the whistle on these things but it's ridiculous that this is what has to be done to get a safe product. Shouldn't these things be tested for before a product is given the okay to get out there on the grocery store shelves? Makes you wonder what the hell have we been consuming over our lifetimes? Who knows what it could have done or is doing to our bodies.... we need to go back in time and become self sustainable like the amish!

Fireworks!

Before I go into the exciting weekend we had figured I'd give a quick update on the new things Jack has been doing. So first, still expanding the variety of food for him. He downed a fresh fig yesterday! He has at least tried just about anything, except seafood and nuts but besides that the list is endless! I am lucky, my kid loves to eat! And even better he will eat almost anything you give him! He loves ice cream just like his mommy and actually like pickles also like mommy, but no not together! He is getting so big, it kind of makes me sad! I feel like hes going to be taller then me soon. So he's been saying mama for a while now and knows its me, his new thing is that he points and taps my arm and says mama... so cute!!! Dada is still a little rough... comes out either as bubba, gaga or even mama (opps!). His vocabulary is getting there too! Bubbles, ball, bbrrrr (yup when he touches something cold), woah... its so cute to hear that little voice! He is also starting to climb up on things taller then hes been and now enjoys spinning himself in circles!! He is so much fun to play with and his laugh just makes us smile! He is still chasing the kitties around with whatever he can swing, yes we are working on being gentle. And swinging.... he loves anything that resembles a stick that he can run around the house with and swing at all the balls, his or the cats, doesn't make a difference to him. I'm thinking he just might be an awesome golfer or hockey player!

That leads me into this weekend, and yea definitely a busy one. Friday night is daddys hockey night so we went to watch and as usual Jack loved it! Everyone gets a kick out of him when he cheers and after the games he grabs whoevers stick is laying on the ground and starts walking around with it. They won by the way! YAY still undefeated... this from a team that two years ago lost every single game! GO MITSUBARU!

Saturday I took Jack for a bike ride with his papa (my dad). Jack I think still has mixed feelings about the whole thing. He certainly isn't a fan of being strapped down and the whole helmet thing is a mini battle. Once we get going hes generally content though most rides he ends up toting along with a bottle in his mouth... we always go in the morning before it gets uber hot which means that half way through is usually around nap time so thats when the crankiness begins and the bottle goes in. For me, I was also feeling a bit on the cranky side, actually for the past two bike rides... my knees are bugging me on those hills! Hoping it eventually fades. ((On a side note... still going to ZUMBA and still loving it!!! I've lost 2 lbs so far, slow and steady i guess. I've actually also signed up for a trial membership at gym where I can do a classes only membership. First class there I think will be Wednesday night zumba, so we'll see how it goes.)) After the bike ride we went to lunch with Steve and my parents and Jack very much enjoyed his ice cream after his grilled cheese. He gets so darn mad when you take it away... pretty sure if we left it up to him, he'd finish it all. Then the fun... we rented a carpet cleaner to do the rugs at the house... i am a bit embarrassed to say but this is the first time since we've moved into the house, yea 3 years... and yup as expected... it was gross how black that water came out! Certainly going to be doing this more often now! And for a while anyhow I will be one one of the crazies that makes you take your shoes off at the front door.

Ok so Saturday night (deserves its own paragraph)... We met up with my brother, his fiance and some of their friends for dinner. Afterwards we headed over to Red Bank for the fireworks... what a mess!!! Good thing is that they closed off the streets because there were a lot of teenager roaming around!! We had to park far away and walk but it was nice out so it wasn't so bad. There was a zillion people all over to we figured that when Jack got tired of sitting in the stroller we'd give the harness a try. As i've mentioned before my opinion of the child harness has made a 360* since having Jack... previous opinion is that they were ridiculous and that leashes were meant for pets not kids... now the complete opposite! They are brilliant! Kids want to run around and parents want to not have their child lost = the harness is a great solution! So we gave it a try and yes I still think it looks silly, it totally works... Jack felt like he had some freedom to roam but I was never more then a couple feet behind him with a hold on him. Oh course we got looks and even some lovely gentlemen made a comment as he walked by with his friends... "oh look at the cute little dog"... c'mon really? Its really not nice to call some ones child a dog! Learn some manners. Anyhow jack was getting tired and cranky but finally the fireworks started and he got a kick out of them... pointing and "oohhh", so cute! The real mess started at the end... trying to clear out was ridiculous with the amount of people... I was actually waiting to get trampled.. we finally made it out onto the street and there in the middle of the road to our right are a bunch of idiots fighting... then town minutes later to our left another idiot is setting off fireworks in the middle of the very crowded road! Why do people have to do stupid things when there are young people, kids, and well behaved adults all around??? GROW UP!!!! So to avoid all that chaos we go down an alley where there happens to be two cops running over to another fight... I really couldn't believe that this was the scene in Red Bank! We finally make it back to the car and just sit there because we can't get out of the parking lot... to cut to the end... it took about 45 minutes just to get to the parkway... thankfully Jack passed out 10 minutes into the car ride.

Sunday... HAPPY 4TH!!! BBQ, pool and wiffle ball game at my Uncles house.... it was a good day! Especially good since we won!!!!

So there you go... an eventful weekend! Hope everyone had a fun and safe weekend of festivities!!!