Favorite Things: Teasing your sister. Amen. So help us. Alaska is going through a puzzle phase right now and you are smack-dab in the middle, all the time. Before she can get her things to the table she hollers at you, "Talmage! No!" and you bounce up and down like crazy, enjoying the distress as if it were your own personal soundtrack, but you don't touch when she hollers. This gives me hope. That you will know your boundaries.
Eating: You seemed to choke really easily back when you were 6 months and I have been super timid ever since then to give you food that's not baby food. I am just now getting brave enough to give you regular food, but cut up small. The weather has been warmer so you've voluntarily been drinking more water. Thank goodness. I was beginning to wonder if you were going to be our juice baby.
Favorite Foods: Lovin' on the pasta and teddy grahams. Graham crackers are too messy for me right now, they just crumble all over the place. But the teddy grahams are already small enough they seem to contain themselves better to your highchair and you love them.
Special Talents: You got up on all 4s and are crawling now. I am now holding my breath for you to start walking. 27 pounds is getting heavier and heavier and I know you know it because instead of carrying you up-right anymore, I am carrying you more like a football, tucked under my arm.
Favorite Pastime: Eating. You could eat all day. When you are in the highchair and I bring food near you, you kick your legs uber-fast and the anticipation of the moment pulsates through your whole body.
Sleep: 7:30 is bedtime so you can be asleep by 8:15 when Alaska is finally headed that way. You scream and cry for a good 20-30 minutes before settling down. Ever since we moved you and Alaska into the same room you've had a harder time with bedtime. Adjustments.
Crying: At night when you don't want to go to sleep. You know everyone is still partying and don't want to give it up. You will also come find me and whimper while climbing up my leg when you are hungry or tired. It's nice that we've got a language for those two things because often enough I forget that 9:00 is here and you need a nap or 12:00 is here and you need some lunch.
Dislikes: Sweet one - there is hardly anything you don't like. You are our mild, sensitive one.
My Favorite Part: When I come to pick you up after being away at school all day you come crawling over to greet me. Miss you, too, Bubby.
Saturday, May 16, 2015
9 months with Talmage
Favorite Things: Watching Alaska play around you.
Special Talent: Crawling and then sitting up.
Favorite Pastime: Army crawling laps around the house. You want to explore everything and while you spend a lot of time chasing after your sister, you also spend a good amount of time crawling under and around the table, down the hall and on into Alaska's bedroom if the door happens to be open. She has learned quickly that if she wants you to stay out of her stuff she needs to have her door closed.
NickNames: T-Man and Bubby.
Sleep: Up at 7, down at 8. A couple naps, one at 9 am and another around 1 pm.
Eating: You are all switched to cereal and a baby food. I give you 4 oz of formula in a sippy cup when you are all done.
Crying: At night when bed time rolls around. You don't cry until I have you in bed. You would be happy to stay up until midnight, but as soon as I get you in bed you break into all kinds of crying.
Dislikes: People being too close. You are always backing up to get a better look at faces.
My favorite part: Your slobbery kisses. When I am kissing on you, you will often turn on me and open your mouth wide for a taste of my cheek and chin.
Special Talent: Crawling and then sitting up.
Favorite Pastime: Army crawling laps around the house. You want to explore everything and while you spend a lot of time chasing after your sister, you also spend a good amount of time crawling under and around the table, down the hall and on into Alaska's bedroom if the door happens to be open. She has learned quickly that if she wants you to stay out of her stuff she needs to have her door closed.
NickNames: T-Man and Bubby.
Sleep: Up at 7, down at 8. A couple naps, one at 9 am and another around 1 pm.
Eating: You are all switched to cereal and a baby food. I give you 4 oz of formula in a sippy cup when you are all done.
Crying: At night when bed time rolls around. You don't cry until I have you in bed. You would be happy to stay up until midnight, but as soon as I get you in bed you break into all kinds of crying.
Dislikes: People being too close. You are always backing up to get a better look at faces.
My favorite part: Your slobbery kisses. When I am kissing on you, you will often turn on me and open your mouth wide for a taste of my cheek and chin.
Saturday, February 28, 2015
7 Months with Talmage
Favorite Things: Watching Alaska play around you.
Special Talent: Rolling over and over and over. You don't have much direction, but you make up your fun as you go.
Favorite Pastime: Being on the floor. You learned to sit up maybe a week or two after turning 6 months and it's about time. I have been waiting and waiting. You are so incredibly heavy that I hate carrying the carseat with you in it everywhere we go. I have been waiting for you to sit up since you were 4 months and weighed 15 pounds. You now weigh 20 pounds and enough is enough of hauling the carseat around.
NickNames: T-Man and Bubby.
Sleep: Up at 7, down at 8. A couple naps, one at 9 am and another around 1 pm.
Eating: You are all switched to cereal and a baby food. I give you 4 oz of formula in a sippy cup when you are all done.
Crying: Never, never, never.
Dislikes: Green Beans.
Likes: Being with me. You make me feel so awesome and special because you are so smiley and happy. I am absolutely in love with the idea of me being your first love.
My favorite part: I think it is just the cutest when you push yourself up off the floor and suspend there, looking around and taking in the world.
Special Talent: Rolling over and over and over. You don't have much direction, but you make up your fun as you go.
Favorite Pastime: Being on the floor. You learned to sit up maybe a week or two after turning 6 months and it's about time. I have been waiting and waiting. You are so incredibly heavy that I hate carrying the carseat with you in it everywhere we go. I have been waiting for you to sit up since you were 4 months and weighed 15 pounds. You now weigh 20 pounds and enough is enough of hauling the carseat around.
NickNames: T-Man and Bubby.
Sleep: Up at 7, down at 8. A couple naps, one at 9 am and another around 1 pm.
Eating: You are all switched to cereal and a baby food. I give you 4 oz of formula in a sippy cup when you are all done.
Crying: Never, never, never.
Dislikes: Green Beans.
Likes: Being with me. You make me feel so awesome and special because you are so smiley and happy. I am absolutely in love with the idea of me being your first love.
My favorite part: I think it is just the cutest when you push yourself up off the floor and suspend there, looking around and taking in the world.
Ooozy Love
Sometimes my dreams and hopes and wishes are so powerful and big that they make me forget to breathe. Sometimes I look at my little family - my babies - and I want so much more. More love, smiles, hugs, sharing, laughing, more stories. Adding Talmage into our family made me realize even more than ever before that our family is not complete. His sweetness and the diversity that just one more person can add has awakened all my senses. Perhaps I am being falsely coaxed because he is just so incredibly wonderful and relaxed and mellow and I always feel like, "I've got this." More so than the, "What am I doing? I can't go out in public at all." I am rocking this Mommy thing and I am not afraid to say it like it is, and I want more.
I always knew that I had more love than just Alaska could handle and that my love would be expanded equally for all the children I have because that's what love does. It just grows and develops and oozes all over the place. What I didn't expect was that my love for Alaska would grow so tremendously by having another baby around. But I look at her and how she treats her little brother and look at him, how he smiles big and bounces around when he sees her after a mini absence and my heart just fills. And I want more of that. I know that with each addition our family gets that the love will keep growing and oozing until there's hardly room for anything else. Sure, I know there will be fights and hair pulling and pinching and biting, but perhaps those things make room for more love by giving opportunity for "I'm sorries" and "It's okays".
But I do remember the feeling of only wanting to be Alaska's momma. I wanted to be able to give her all of me. Everything. To be there for just her when she had a class party or to be able to record her every move at a recital when in all reality, there's a big chance I could miss it by taking someone to the bathroom that needed to go. As much as I still want all of that - I can feel the love magnify between the two kids and I want that everyday love more than I want the perfection of giving 100% of my attention all of the time. I can do this.
I want more babies to keep proving to myself that I've got this handled. I feel so stagnant. So... boring when I have to stay at home with the two of them. They are so easy and I am grateful for that because I don't have to worry about them when they are at the babysitters. It makes it easier for me to leave them and go sub. Which I absolutely love. Love love love. I definitely picked the right degree. Just flexible enough with just enough reward for working all day, it is absolutely perfect. I am really loving it, especially since I know they are with people who love them (Steven's parents) and I have a great back-up babysitter that loves on them, too, when I am working. But when we move and I don't have all that, I am going to need another baby to keep me busy.
I always knew that I had more love than just Alaska could handle and that my love would be expanded equally for all the children I have because that's what love does. It just grows and develops and oozes all over the place. What I didn't expect was that my love for Alaska would grow so tremendously by having another baby around. But I look at her and how she treats her little brother and look at him, how he smiles big and bounces around when he sees her after a mini absence and my heart just fills. And I want more of that. I know that with each addition our family gets that the love will keep growing and oozing until there's hardly room for anything else. Sure, I know there will be fights and hair pulling and pinching and biting, but perhaps those things make room for more love by giving opportunity for "I'm sorries" and "It's okays".
But I do remember the feeling of only wanting to be Alaska's momma. I wanted to be able to give her all of me. Everything. To be there for just her when she had a class party or to be able to record her every move at a recital when in all reality, there's a big chance I could miss it by taking someone to the bathroom that needed to go. As much as I still want all of that - I can feel the love magnify between the two kids and I want that everyday love more than I want the perfection of giving 100% of my attention all of the time. I can do this.
I want more babies to keep proving to myself that I've got this handled. I feel so stagnant. So... boring when I have to stay at home with the two of them. They are so easy and I am grateful for that because I don't have to worry about them when they are at the babysitters. It makes it easier for me to leave them and go sub. Which I absolutely love. Love love love. I definitely picked the right degree. Just flexible enough with just enough reward for working all day, it is absolutely perfect. I am really loving it, especially since I know they are with people who love them (Steven's parents) and I have a great back-up babysitter that loves on them, too, when I am working. But when we move and I don't have all that, I am going to need another baby to keep me busy.
Monday, January 12, 2015
Random Ponderings
I need more reflection. More quiet. More peace. Which I know will translate into more energy and more amazing things I am able to do. I feel like I need a little fire under my bum, a little wind in my sails and a little energy.
So this year, instead of aiming to blog every day (who did I think I was?) I will compromise with a little reflection time in my day. A little time where I can do what I want and grow in my spirituality, which in turn will be passed on to others. I know for a fact that if I am reading my scriptures every day then I am much more smiley and happy with other people and not so worried with what everyone is thinking - just happy jogging through life at my own pace, waving and cheering on to those around me.
Being part of the young women presidency in our ward (unofficial at this point, but whatevs) we have ordered study books and journals for the weekly yw lessons and I can already see it making a difference. I love journaling, I really do, but it's hard to do when I don't have a goal. These journals are absolutely amazing because they have fill in the blank questions. Questions with lines made just for my special answers. It's been really great. And the girls got journals for their lessons, complete with entry squares down in the bottom of each week that ask questions like, "How am I going to serve God this week" and "How will I apply what I learned this week" - I am really excited to use them and our goal is to make them a smash book style thing with lots of handouts and washi tape and colored ink. I hope the girls can catch the vision.
We are losing one of our girls to a boarding school where she supposedly is going to make up a lot of lost credits due to her being in and out of homeschooling and regular schooling and switching high schools and stuff. She's not a beehive, but we have a special connection because I helped her make a baby quilt when neither of us knew what we were doing. We worked merely be faith and a 'well, let's get this done' kind of attitude. Which is really the only kind of attitude that gets things done. We spent a whole day on it and concluded with binding it, as well, which I will never do again, and honestly, looking back, don't know how I did it the one time. She's super outgoing and the most interruptive of all the girls we have. Knowing the bigger picture of energy, I know she is the kind of girl who will actually go and do something and as she gets older that energy will tame and she will be an absolute joy to be around. It's just a lot of lessons to get through between now and then, ya know?
I am going to miss her and want to let her know we're all back here rooting for her. Some packages and letters and things. Don't let me forget, that's why I am writing this down.
So this year, instead of aiming to blog every day (who did I think I was?) I will compromise with a little reflection time in my day. A little time where I can do what I want and grow in my spirituality, which in turn will be passed on to others. I know for a fact that if I am reading my scriptures every day then I am much more smiley and happy with other people and not so worried with what everyone is thinking - just happy jogging through life at my own pace, waving and cheering on to those around me.
Being part of the young women presidency in our ward (unofficial at this point, but whatevs) we have ordered study books and journals for the weekly yw lessons and I can already see it making a difference. I love journaling, I really do, but it's hard to do when I don't have a goal. These journals are absolutely amazing because they have fill in the blank questions. Questions with lines made just for my special answers. It's been really great. And the girls got journals for their lessons, complete with entry squares down in the bottom of each week that ask questions like, "How am I going to serve God this week" and "How will I apply what I learned this week" - I am really excited to use them and our goal is to make them a smash book style thing with lots of handouts and washi tape and colored ink. I hope the girls can catch the vision.
We are losing one of our girls to a boarding school where she supposedly is going to make up a lot of lost credits due to her being in and out of homeschooling and regular schooling and switching high schools and stuff. She's not a beehive, but we have a special connection because I helped her make a baby quilt when neither of us knew what we were doing. We worked merely be faith and a 'well, let's get this done' kind of attitude. Which is really the only kind of attitude that gets things done. We spent a whole day on it and concluded with binding it, as well, which I will never do again, and honestly, looking back, don't know how I did it the one time. She's super outgoing and the most interruptive of all the girls we have. Knowing the bigger picture of energy, I know she is the kind of girl who will actually go and do something and as she gets older that energy will tame and she will be an absolute joy to be around. It's just a lot of lessons to get through between now and then, ya know?
I am going to miss her and want to let her know we're all back here rooting for her. Some packages and letters and things. Don't let me forget, that's why I am writing this down.
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
6 Months With Talmage
Favorite Things: People playing down on the ground with you.
Special Talent: Rolling in circles. Somehow you do it. I haven't payed much attention as I am always off doing something and then coming back to you, but one minute you'll be faced one way and the next you'll be 180 to it. You chewed your first item that you weren't supposed to be able to reach and make a big, paper and spit mess on the floor and whimpered as I dug it all out of your mouth.
Favorite Pastime: Tummy time. You absolutely love being on the ground.
NickNames: T-Man
Sleep: Winter break really threw a curve ball at us this past month and you were getting up around 8 am after going to bed closer to 9 and 10. Never did you throw a fit or anything about not being in your bed. You catch naps after being up for every two hours until the evening. Then you last from about 3 - bed time without a nap.
Eating: Maybe this is your favorite thing, actually. You love your food. I give you enough cereal to mix with 3 or 4 ounces of formula combined with one pea or carrot food jar. I was topping you off with 4 oz of water until Nana added some prune juice to your water and you haven't been happy with water since. So now you are a juice boy and then I remembered that you should probably still be getting more formula than just from your cereal so instead of juice I give you 4 oz of formula in a sippy cup after each meal to top you off.
Crying: Poopy diapers and when you're tired.
Dislikes: Loud noises and people in your face.
Likes: Toys. They have finally grabbed your attention and you love them. Especially a ball that you got 3 of this past Christmas. It's easy to grab onto because it is more like a wired together ball than an actual ball, so it is very easy to grasp and you love getting it and throwing it and getting it back.
My favorite part: Kissing your forehead goodnight. It is the perfect size and shape right now that my lips can just press against it perfectly. I also like getting you up in the morning. You are so happy to see me that you squirm and smile really big. No noise, just a lot of wiggling back and forth and big smiles.
Special Talent: Rolling in circles. Somehow you do it. I haven't payed much attention as I am always off doing something and then coming back to you, but one minute you'll be faced one way and the next you'll be 180 to it. You chewed your first item that you weren't supposed to be able to reach and make a big, paper and spit mess on the floor and whimpered as I dug it all out of your mouth.
Favorite Pastime: Tummy time. You absolutely love being on the ground.
NickNames: T-Man
Sleep: Winter break really threw a curve ball at us this past month and you were getting up around 8 am after going to bed closer to 9 and 10. Never did you throw a fit or anything about not being in your bed. You catch naps after being up for every two hours until the evening. Then you last from about 3 - bed time without a nap.
Eating: Maybe this is your favorite thing, actually. You love your food. I give you enough cereal to mix with 3 or 4 ounces of formula combined with one pea or carrot food jar. I was topping you off with 4 oz of water until Nana added some prune juice to your water and you haven't been happy with water since. So now you are a juice boy and then I remembered that you should probably still be getting more formula than just from your cereal so instead of juice I give you 4 oz of formula in a sippy cup after each meal to top you off.
Crying: Poopy diapers and when you're tired.
Dislikes: Loud noises and people in your face.
Likes: Toys. They have finally grabbed your attention and you love them. Especially a ball that you got 3 of this past Christmas. It's easy to grab onto because it is more like a wired together ball than an actual ball, so it is very easy to grasp and you love getting it and throwing it and getting it back.
My favorite part: Kissing your forehead goodnight. It is the perfect size and shape right now that my lips can just press against it perfectly. I also like getting you up in the morning. You are so happy to see me that you squirm and smile really big. No noise, just a lot of wiggling back and forth and big smiles.
Thursday, January 1, 2015
She's Still Got It
26. The magic age that years start to feel not so long. 6 months. The magic amount of time after having a baby that I feel like I can conquer the world, again. I might be able to do this, after all.
Days hold lots of smiles and memories, punctuated with pictures. Weeks fly by, measured by Sunday lessons taught and days spent at the gym. And the months. They add up with days of substitute teaching counted and students I have met. It's a good life right now. Maybe in an apartment that is too small and a car that is even smaller, but it's good.
We went to a new year's party last night. A 1920s murder mystery. The most fun part: dressing up. I scoured a couple of thrift stores before settling on what was once the most ugliest piece of clothing invented. But it was sparkly and that's what I needed. And, guess who pulled off 'Best Dressed' for the night? Yeah, this girl right here. I've still got it. Take that. And I was able to do it modestly, neckline, sleeves, and length. You can do that when the piece you originally start working with is a long sleeved, floor length, turtle-neck. I have the before and after pictures to prove my awesomeness.
Days hold lots of smiles and memories, punctuated with pictures. Weeks fly by, measured by Sunday lessons taught and days spent at the gym. And the months. They add up with days of substitute teaching counted and students I have met. It's a good life right now. Maybe in an apartment that is too small and a car that is even smaller, but it's good.
We went to a new year's party last night. A 1920s murder mystery. The most fun part: dressing up. I scoured a couple of thrift stores before settling on what was once the most ugliest piece of clothing invented. But it was sparkly and that's what I needed. And, guess who pulled off 'Best Dressed' for the night? Yeah, this girl right here. I've still got it. Take that. And I was able to do it modestly, neckline, sleeves, and length. You can do that when the piece you originally start working with is a long sleeved, floor length, turtle-neck. I have the before and after pictures to prove my awesomeness.
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