Thanksgiving

This year Nancy arranged for a student Thanksgiving dinner which ended up being only 4 out of the 20ish couples.

(This is Nancy, and Micah loves the way she holds him. She can always calm him down.)

But having a small group turned out to be very nice. I got to talk to Melissa Howell a lot more than I ever had before. That was fun because now I feel like we are better friends now. We all met at the church which was great because 3 out of the 4 moms have nursing babies and all of us had kids. So we had a perfect Mother's room for feeding newborns and all the nursery toys for keeping the older kids entertained.

We had a full table-- turkey, ham, stuffing, green bean casserole, jello salad, cranberries, rolls, sweet potatoes, corn, and lots of desserts. Yum! After we ate the boys played a game of Risk and the girls chatted. Time went by so fast! Before we knew it, it was 7:30 and bed time for the kids. I still can't quite figure out how the time passed so quickly. But we did follow one tradition before we broke it up and went home. In Keegan's family, they would take turns naming things they were Thankful for until they had reached 100 things. So we did the same thing. With 8 of us, we each had to list 12 or 13 things we were thankful for. It was a great exercise in recognizing blessings and it led me to do the previous post. It's a tradition that I would like to continue in our family each year. And before we left, I had Melissa take a quick family picture-- our first since Micah joined the family.

Luke had a blast as well. He spent most of the time playing with the "CD play-der" that is kept (usually) in the kitchen at the church and the rest of the time chasing Rachel and Caleb and screaming.

All in all, a great Thanksgiving.

P.S. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving birthday, Michael!

Thankful

I have always had a lot to be grateful for, but his year I feel especially blessed and would like to write down some of the greatest blessings in my life right now. I think it would be easiest to do it is list format, but even so this will undoubtedly be really long as I want to expound on many of them.

1. JARED: I love Jared so much. He is an exceptional husband and father. I think he has been under-appreciated lately even as he has stepped up and tried so hard to help me more. I take out my sleep-deprivation on him, but he has arranged his schedule so that I can sleep in most mornings. He takes Micah when he knows I need a break. He helps with Luke when I can't get to him because I'm feeding Micah. And not only that but he tells me I'm beautiful. He lets me rant about my day and complain about my frustrations. He listens to my "deep" thoughts. He laughs at my lame jokes, and he truly loves me back. And most of the time he takes out the trash. I am thankful that we are sealed in the temple. (Consequently I am very, very thankful for temples.)

2. LUKE: I love Luke's enthusiasm for life. Jared said something to me along these lines: How would it be to be so excited for the day that you couldn't fall back asleep-- you just have soooo much to look forward to? For Luke, Jared observed, a blender is enough to make it impossible for him to sleep. I think that kind of enthusiasm is amazing. I (usually) love his enthusiasm for Micah. I love that he is obedient most of the time. I love that he is gentle with babies, friends, and animals. I am thankful that he continues to make progress with speech, etc. It is so fun to see him grow up. And I am thankful that he will (knock on wood) make it to his 3rd birthday without any major illness, injuries, or setbacks in his life.

3. MICAH: I am so grateful that he is a healthy, beautiful baby. As complicated as the whole creation of a human life is- with all the processes that have to take place- each healthy baby is a miracle. I am thankful that Micah is usually a good eater and sleeper. And he is starting to smile! I am so thankful for that.

4. My body. To be honest, I wish it was thinner. But I am so thankful that it works. I made a baby! I got it out! And know I'm feeding that baby. Isn't that amazing? And to top it off all my body parts work. I am thankful that my eyes allow me to see my beautiful family and my ears let me hear them and my hands let me feel them and I can walk to get them, etc.

5. My family of origin. As the Jan in my family I got everything. I had 2 great big brothers, an awesome big sister, an amazing younger brother, and a better than terrific little sister. And in addition parents who love me and who love each other. I am so grateful for all their advice, examples, friendship, and love. I really, really believe that my life is as wonderful as it is because of them. They taught me how to make good decisions, how to (mostly) be responsible, how to exercise faith, how to parent, how to work hard, how to wait, and much, much more.

6. I have great in-laws. After reading The Art of Racing in the Rain I have truly pondered the blessings of having a wonderful in-law family. Mom and Dad Wilkerson were so wonderful to come when Micah was born. Mom sewed crib bumpers, made meals, and taught me some new recipes. And Dad was Luke's best friend for the week. Thank you for accepting and loving me.

7. I am lucky enough to have THREE great families. I have an adopted mom, Debbi; dad, Terry; sister, Jennifer; and brother, Daniel. I guess I also have an adopted dog named Annabelle though I don't think she likes me very much. I am grateful for the love and support I continue to receive from them.

8. I am thankful for Jesus Christ. I know that on the days I consciously try to follow Christ's example I am a more patient mother and a happier person. I am thankful for His example and for His power. I am thankful that I always have the ability, through His Gift, to become better, to repent, and to live again. I am thankful that through Him death is not the end of life.

9. I am thankful for prophets. I am especially thankful this month for the Ensign. I have re-read Elder Uchdorf's talk several times because it gives me comfort and strength. This is my favorite part: "My dear brothers and sisters, we would do well to slow down a little, proceed at the optimum speed for our circumstances, focus on the significant, lift up our eyes, and truly see the things that matter most." This advice has helped me let go of the house a little bit, enjoy my children more, forgive myself for the things I just can't do right now, and focus on my blessings.

10. I am so thankful that we made the decision to come to Williamsburg for school. I love it here! We have great friends and a great ward. Jared likes William and Mary. He's had many wonderful opportunities there. It's a beautiful place to live!

And for the others:

11. I am very thankful for modern medicine and that I have access to wonderful modern science. 12. I am thankful that I was born in and live in America.

13. I am thankful for my education.

14. I am thankful that I achieved my childhood dream of becoming a teacher.

15. I am thankful for our safe, clean, warm, and in all ways adequate apartment.

16. We have plenty of good food to eat and warm clothes to wear.

17. I am thankful for the Christmas season starting up. I love Christmastime!

18. I am thankful that Jared has a job for this coming summer.

19. I am thankful for good books.

20. I am thankful for Netflix, especially in the middle of the night.

21. I am thankful for helpful advice. Currently I am especially grateful for the book The Happiest Baby on the Block. It has helped a lot.

22. I am thankful for Chick fil' A-- Luke's favorite restaurant.

23. I am grateful for modern appliances (stoves, vacuums, microwaves, DVD players, etc.)

24. I am thankful for hot, hot showers.

25. I am thankful for friends.

Independence

Today, while I was nursing, Luke poured some more cereal.

All by himself.

Making Faces with Micah

"I am so cute!"

"That's interesting"

"Whoa! What in the world is that?"

Feeling smug

"Got poop?"

Pondering Heaven

"How 'bout a knuckle sandwich?"

"It wasn't me! Hee Hee!"

"Doi!"

"Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya!"

(you can't see the sword, but the stance is clear)

Ta Da!

Sleeping Children

It's always nice to look at a sleeping baby or child, but there are days when it is imperative in order to help one remember the true joys of motherhood.

Monday was one of those days. It actually started out nicely thanks to Jared who let me go back to bed for awhile in the morning while he worked from home. Worked is a relative term because with Luke running around in his office he doesn't obtain a perfect level of focus, but he took one for the team.

When I got up I decided that I'd try to clean the bathrooms. Let me just say that cleaning a bathroom with Luke tagging along is like trying to clean a bathroom with a monkey tagging along. He was climbing on EVERYTHING and grabbing sponges, sucking on toothbrushes, flushing toilets, pumping soap, etc. So I decided it was a day when we needed to go outside for a bit. While I was getting ready to go, Luke went into his room to find his jacket. Pretty soon he started tattling on himself for being bad. I could hear him yelling, "No, Luke! That's so naughty!" I went over to his room where I found he had emptied both his and Micah's shirt drawers and thrown their shirts all over his bedroom floor. After cleaning that up I found his jacket and got both kids into the car. We got into the car and I looked at the clock and realized that more time had passed than I realized and it was actually lunch time, so instead of booking it right to the playground we went to Chick fil' A. Admittedly this was mostly because I wanted a pick-me-up of sorts, and while I am a little irresponsible for spending money on lunch I was very responsible by not ordering the peppermint chocolate chip milkshake that looked oh so good. Anyway, he was very well behaved at Chick fil' A but was disappointed not to swing, so we went over to the playground that is across the street. While Luke was swinging and laughing a nice mother commented on how adorable my children are. I agreed with her (nicely of course) Unfortunately after only 10 minutes or so it was Micah's lunchtime, so we didn't get to swing for very long and Luke threw an out and out HUGE fit when we had to go. I had to pick him up kicking and screaming with one arm while carrying Micah's car seat in the other. I don't think that mother found my child so adorable anymore, but I didn't catch her expression.

Once we got into the car, though, he was his angel self again and was very well behaved. He even took a good nap. Then in the afternoon it was Micah's turn to cause some problems and Luke made the most of a bad situation. We went to CW with my friend Nancy to have a short walk. Luke did not want to ride in his stroller because it limits his rock-chucking-into-garbage-cans hobby as well as his ability to dart across the street to any and every air conditioner he can find. (Which is exactly why I wanted him in the stroller in the first place). Nancy wrestled him into the stroller for me and I wrestled Micah into his baby carrier. All went well until we said good-bye to Nancy and headed into the gardens. Luke's favorite place in CW is the palace gardens, and his favorite place in the gardens is the bridge over the canal which is the prime location to throw rocks into the water and to look for fish. I let Luke out of his stroller so we could descend the 3 sets of steps to get down to the water, and he was so good on the way down. He held my hand without any argument and said a polite Hello to all the squirrels. Really. He would yell "Hi, Squirrel!" very loudly. So cute. Unfortunately right when we got down to the canal, Micah had a huge blow-out and as I was wearing him and as he started to scream for a change, we didn't make it to the bridge. Holy Luke melt-down. I had to pick him up kicking and screaming, this time in a body bind behind my back so that I could protect Micah who was strapped to my front (I hope you can picture this-- but to get the full effect you have to imagine me in black sweat pants and crocs and with my hair sticking out funny because I didn't blow dry it. The only thing missing was my "white trash" sticker stuck to my forehead. How far I have fallen. Sigh.) Anyway I carry him like this huffing and puffing back up 3 sets of stairs to strap him back into his stroller and then wheel him as fast as I can to the family restroom where I change Micah's diaper and frantically yell at Luke to get his hands out of the urinal. Next time I will park the stroller facing the opposite direction. Then I get Micah back into the baby carrier and head out. But 2 minutes later Micah decides it's time to eat and he starts screaming again. So I book it as fast as I can back to the car where I stuff Luke into the drivers seat to let him "drive" while I nurse the baby-- with no nursing cover because I forgot it and in a crowded parking lot where I had the prime spot right across the street from a fairly busy shopping center. Awesome. Amid regretting letting Luke drive (which consisted of him re-adjusting all my mirrors, opening the sunroof and turning the volume dial up full blast) Micah had another blow-out. So I had to change him on the front seat after strapping Luke into his car seat. All this added up to a pretty intense half hour.

Well we got home. Luke was good during dinner meaning he actually ate. We mixed up some cookie dough and then I put Luke in the bath. The timer went off so I ran to the kitchen to take out the cookies. I could hear Luke playing and figured all was okay so I took the time to spoon out the next batch and pop them into the oven. Mistake. When I got back to the bathroom I saw that Luke was playing by dumping cupful after cupful of water onto the bathroom floor. I finished washing him really fast and then dumped him into his room and locked the door (which is what we call "big time out" in our house) while I finished mopping up the floor. I was a bit concerned because Luke wasn't screaming his head off as he usually does during "big time out" and then I heard his tell-tale trouble warning, "Luke! That's so bad!" Dang it! I opened the door to his room. He had peed on the floor. So I cleaned that up, stuck a diaper on him, and made him finish mopping the bathroom floor. And then I stuck him in bed. It was 6:50. Luke's normal bedtime? 8 pm. But sometimes it's just time to call it a day.

But later when I peeked in on him this is what I saw:

And somehow it made me laugh. I really do have a good kid and a good life even if they're both a little crazy.

And of course seeing this is always sweet:

Mama and Micah

I can't believe Micah is over a month old and these are the first pictures I've taken with him!

He's such a cutie! He sleeps a lot more than Luke ever did, and when he's out he's out! I try to wake him up to make sure he's tired when I'm ready to go to bed, but it's almost impossible to make him stay awake when he doesn't want to. The only 2 sure-proof methods are changing a diaper and giving him a bath. He HATES both of these things. He gives a soft little fuss when he wants to eat. When he's poopy or getting a diaper change it's a full-out screaming wail. He still isn't on much of a schedule, but he IS going longer stretches at night. It's pretty common to get a 5 hour stretch at night before he wants to eat again. (That's 5 hours from the start of the last feeding, so I get to sleep about 4 straight hours during his long stretch. That's a big improvement from 2 hour stretches the first 4 weeks.) He loves being swaddled and held on his side. He's a big fan of his binky, and he likes to hold our fingers. He's growing a lot every week. I'm pretty sure he'll be out of his 3 month clothes by the beginning of December. His eyes look red in these pictures (oops! meant to do the red-eye reduction), but we're pretty sure they're going to be blue.

I wish I got to hold him more often. Sometimes in the middle of the night I just cuddle him after I feed him. I should probably go right back to bed, but it's the only chance I get to just completely love on Micah. During the day most of my time is still consumed by Luke. Even when I'm feeding Micah I'm yelling at Luke or listening for Luke or singing songs with Luke or reading books with Luke. And when I'm not concentrating on Luke I have so much to do with the house. So I love my little cuddle times at night. Weekends and evenings are also good for cuddling because I can play with Micah while Jared wrestles Luke, but at night when it's all quiet... I love that the most.

I know Luke copies a lot of things I do...

But when it comes to pumping...

it's going a bit too far!

His Good Qualities

I feel like the last several posts have been all about how naughty Luke is. And while it's true that he is often naughty (and it has gotten worse since Micah is born) I know that Luke is just testing his boundaries. He really is a good kid. A very CURIOUS good kid. Here are my favorite things about Luke:

1. I love his hugs and kisses.

2. He is very gentle with Micah and gives Micah nice kisses.

3. He will almost always stop doing his naughty thing as soon as I tell him to. He has never gotten to 3 with me.

4. If I tell him to go to time out, he actually goes-- crying, but he goes.

5. He has a great memory, so it's fun to sing and read with him because he can finish the phrases in the books and songs.

6. He has a GREAT imagination.

7. He provides plenty to blog about.

8. He is just TOO DARN CUTE.

9. I absolutely love how friendly Luke is. He accepts people right away. He fell in love with Grandma and Grandpa and Megan and Taylie within 10 minutes of meeting them.

10. I still love his fake evil laugh. He doesn't do it as much as he used to though :(

11. We have fun doing art together and reading together.

12. I love that he loves his Blankie.

13. I am impressed by how observant he is. He copies phrases I say in the exact tone I say them, and he copies what he sees in the kitchen. He can spot an air conditioner ANYWHERE (which is perhaps not one of my favorite things-- but still impressive), and he spots shapes all over the place.

14. He very rarely goes way over the line. He likes to test his boundaries, but I can tell that he also wants to be good.

15. He is mine forever.

So this is how my day started out

Mostly due to Luke. I woke up to the sound of him yelling "It's sleeping!" That would be Luke screaming in Micah's face. Luckily Micah did not wake up, and I moved him to our room before Luke could do any more damage. But here's what happened later.

1) While I was nursing Micah the first time this morning Luke went into my room (oops! forgot to close the door) and got himself wedged (very tightly) between the headboard and the mattress of our bed. So I had to detach Micah and rescue our little climber.

2) While I was nursing Micah the second time, Luke opened the door to the washer/dryer closet, got the dryer door opened, used the dryer as a stool, climbed on top, and then wedged himself in between the dryer and washing machine. Why he was trying to climb down in between them is a mystery to me. Are you sensing a pattern?

3) I put Micah in his bouncer and realized that no matter how many times I readjusted him, he kept tipping to the left. After looking at the bouncer more closely I realized that it was because the bouncer is bent in such a way that the left side is about an inch and a half lower than the right. Apparently Luke sat in it at some time.

4) Fits. All. Morning. Long. (When he wasn't climbing, he was whining.) I'll just leave it at that.

5) Luke can unlock and open the sliding door that opens onto our balcony/ mini deck. And chuck things off of it. He really likes to do that. I really hate it.

And this was after last night when Luke:

1) Pushed a chair over to the counter, climbed up, and pulled out the butcher knife.

2) Decided I was taking too long getting him out of his high chair and so took the tray off and let it fall to the floor. His dinner took a while to clean up.

3) Got into the cookie jar and took one bite out of like 5 cookies.

These stories make it sound like I'm a negligent mother, but I promise that I'm not. Most of the time he does these things when I'm even in the same room and just turn my back for a minute. I'll just say that LUKE IS FAST.

Anyway, this morning's escapades were all before 11 am. Luckily my friend Nancy came over this morning and held the fussy Micah so that I could clean up Luke's messes and regain some sanity. She must have brought a calming spirit with her because Micah fell asleep and slept until 2. Luke went right down for his nap and joy of all joys... I ACTUALLY GOT A NAP TODAY. And from nap time on the day went great. So, thank you Nancy.

Pumpkinville

Last Thursday we went to Pumpkinville with a few friends. I was worried about how I would keep up with Luke, but my friends were a big help in helping me. And just so you know, my hair didn't look that bad when we left. But it was really windy.

I am loving the baby carrier cover. This is what I got with the gift card that James send me. It attaches right onto the Baby Bjorn to keep him warm and to protect him from the wind. It also makes it so you can't see him. Sorry about that.

Again-- the hair!!!

There is a little corn maze at Pumpkinville-- nothing compared to the corn mazes in Utah, but it is still fun. And to tell the truth since Luke runs so fast I'm glad it isn't as intricate as the ones in Utah because I'd probably lose him.

Luke was the leader, of course.

Luke was very happy that his friend Tucker was there. I didn't get any pictures of them together, though. They had a blast chasing each other around the maze.

Proof that Micah was actually there too.

He's kind of bald on top-- his celestial dome. Hee Hee

After the maze Luke and Tucker each grabbed a wagon and went out to the field to find the perfect pumpkin.

I see one!

Luke got so excited that he stopped and did a little dance right in the pumpkin patch.

He LOVED pulling the wagon!

He got a little carried away. When it was time to leave I picked out the 2 best and put the rest back. Luke spent the whole time I was unloading reloading. Luckily my friend Nancy was there to help me convince Luke that we were done.

On Saturday Jared and I took Luke back to Pumpkinville, but that time it was SUPER crowded. Luke doesn't like big crowds, and he started whining and wanted to be picked up. So we ended up leaving right away. There was no point to staying if Luke wasn't going to like it. So I'm very glad that Luke and I made one trip in the morning when it wasn't crowded and he could enjoy himself and enjoy the "bumpkins" with his friends.