Time Out

Today, I'd like to put myself in timeout. No more two year old temper tantrums, no more undiagnosed baby screaming, no more "wifely duties" (dishes, laundry, bills, phone calls...), no more nanny, no more work - just quiet.

I actually did give myself a 30 minute time out last night and soaked in a fantastic bath -- but alas, the sun came up today and I find myself even more behind and frustrated than last night. And then I feel guilty for being so frustrated with what can only be considered "the small things". A friend from college is celebrating the fact that his two sons have been removed from their incubators and were able to spend the first night together in the same "crib" at the hospital. Another friend is praying for the health of her friend's son who was hit by a truck - he's 9 and stable, but still experiencing swelling in his brain and lots of internal bleeding. Other friends and acquaintances are experiencing way worse times than me -- not to mention the portion of the world that's wondering if their 'glass' of water is going to make them sick because they're drinking from the same source that the animals bathe in....

All told, my life really is a bowl of cherries... but for some reason, it's just all getting to me this morning.

Stop with the Crazy

Seriously. Enough. Quit trying to do harm to others....

Shots fired at UT Austin

Religion

While I know this study speaks the truth... it's a bit sad. With all the hub-ub and people (grown adults) throwing tantrums and threatening to burn religious books -- you'd think we as a society would know more about our own religion and those that we're so "against".

Sigh.

That's one of the fantastic things about living in the USA -- you're free to practice the religion of your choice. I don't have to agree with it. It's your choice!

Just be a good person and do right by others. That's all I'm asking.

Two Steps Forward

We have tinkle. I repeat. We have tinkle in the potty! It's only happened once, but this is quite the first accomplishment I think! Way to go Atticus.

On the other hand, he's still having a tough time with bouts of crying and whining at school. I'm not sure what it's about. He's prone to throwing full out fits at home too when he doesn't get his way, so maybe he's just got a case of the "twos". This morning - we had a screaming session while walking into school. It was raining outside, so I was trying to get my coat on, get Atti's coat zipped up, get Wren covered up with a blanket and get all of us inside the school. Because I had my hands full, I didn't let Atticus "honk" the horn on my keys to lock the car... this apparently sent him over the edge and I was practically dragging him from the car into the classroom.

Last night however, he was a gem. He was blowing kisses to Wren, running around the basement with Greg and giggling like no other in the bath...

I guess it all balances out in the end...

Susan G Komen

The four of us went for a walk this morning. :-) In theory, we were part of the Legally Pink squad walking in Toledo's Susan G Komen Race for the Cure 5K. We got the the "meeting" site a few minutes late however and while scouring the crowds of 10,000+ we were unable to locate the Legally Pink team. So... we set out on our own. It was a chilly morning with temperatures in the low 50s, but when you add 10K+ people to a few streets, most of the wind was blocked and it was rather nice.

So many people are touched by breast cancer in one way or another... so, here's to you and your loved ones. May there be a cure in our lifetime!

Big Talker

Wren is turning into quite the talker. If she starts babbling and you babble back at her, she'll keep going for an hour, easy! I'll try to get it on video...

Night!

Atticus now says "night!" after bath, pjs and books. He says "night!" to Greg as he leaves the room. I normally stay in for one more book and to put him in bed.

I've been trying to get Atticus to say "I love you" for ages... so far, it's one of the only things he won't repeat. :)

Today, as I dropped Atticus off in his classroom at school, I gave him a big hug and said, "I love you." He looked at me (big tears still in his eyes) and said, "night...".

I'll take it.

Etsy

I admit it. I love Etsy. There are so many creative people in the world! Check out this shop that was recently featured: Graphic Spaces

I could list several shops that I've found that I love... but do you have any favorites?

So Sweet

If only I had an ounce of this creativity...

Mila's Daydreams

Are these not the sweetest images?

Continued...

I'm exhausted. Quite literally exhausted. I just woke from a 3 hour nap and I'm on my way to bed, but wanted to post a few quick thoughts...

1. If you've received an email from my Yahoo account that contains a link with no subject line, please delete the email without clicking through the link. It appears one of my computers (not sure which yet - work or home) has a virus. Lovely.

2. The mind of a 2 year old is a peculiar thing. Atticus showed every emotion today and at times when least expected. He threw temper tantrums and he sat quietly on my lap in the dark and rocked in the glider for 20 minutes. He giggled and then got sad... Perhaps he was experiencing his own Yom Kippur.

3. Somehow after the apple picking and chasing through the orchards successfully I lost my sunglasses. I have them on my head in one of our last photos where I'm holding Atticus by the sunflowers. This photo op was just before we headed back to the car... I'm irked. I've had those glasses for close to 10 years! Sigh... I left my name and number with the staff - and I'm hopefully optimistic, but not holding my breath.

4. I'm feeling guilty for not attending services this year. I wanted to. I'd actually done the research and found a local synagogue, yet I still couldn't get my ducks in a row to actually make it to services. Today marks the end of a period of reflection. This has been a year of highs and lows. We never talk about the lows, but they're there. I haven't always been the best friend, sister, child, parent, spouse this year and for that I ask forgiveness. There are lots of areas for improvement. My wish is that my name is inscribed in "the book" and I'm given one more chance to live the life I should. So - if you and I have had good days and bad - and even if I'm unaware of the extent of your feelings, I seek forgiveness. Sit me down, talk to me, I promise to try and do better...

Yom Kippur

Unconventional doings today. Since I don't have a synagogue, we're having a family day on our own. We're in the car headed to Erie Orchards for some apple picking!

~ Jen
Sent from my iPhone

Opposites

Atticus is having fun with opposites right now. He likes over/under, in/out, on/off and up/down. I can't begin to tell you how many times we've found a way to use these around the house...

He's definitely repeating more words - we hear new words everyday. The pauses between his words are getting shorter too. Progress.

My favorite words that he says right now are lawnmower, motorcycle, tractor, and camel. And maybe "woof" -- if you ask him what sound the puppy makes he says "whoop, whoop". Too cute.

Sigh...

I've cleaned up dinner, run a load of laundry, sort of updated the blog - I still need to upload photos, I've written up a grocery store list, yada yada... I look over to Greg and he's sound asleep on the couch. Must be nice. I still have to fold the laundry and take a shower before bed!

And - well, I have to decide if I can swing another girls weekend if it's not combined with a work trip. My annual girl's scrapbook weekend is coming up in less than a month. I was so hoping the timing would coincide with our team meeting for work... I think Greg might have a coronary if I keep leaving him home alone with Atticus once a month. Such a wimp! And, well -- see earlier post -- I'm a little nervous about messing with Wren's schedule again. She'll most likely be back on schedule within the next couple of days and the thought of another airplane trip and time change doesn't thrill me...

I need to decide soon. Oy.

Wren 4 Month Stats

Our little songbird is growing so quickly. Poor thing did not have a good day yesterday -- 5 shots! I felt like the worst mother ever. We used a slower paced immunization schedule for Atticus, but I was just nervous for Wren. She's around her big brother who spends his days around countless other little germ-ridden kids. But I still wonder if I did the right thing -- but to be perfectly honest, I hadn't thought about the schedule we were going to follow with her until we were at the pediatrician's office.

Sigh.

The other thing that's kinda strange at this pediatrician's office versus our old one -- the scale they use for the babies is an old school type of scale where you slide the weighted block thingies and get the bar to balance. I'm not sure how accurate that can be with a squirmy infant. Oh... and we left the diaper on. Previously, we stripped them down to their birthday suit and put them on a digital scale. Eh... what can you do?

Wren weighed in at 14lbs even according to their scale and 25.5" tall. That put her in the 75-90% for height and 25-50% for weight. Tall and skinny. At least that's consistent from birth! I just checked and at 16 weeks Atticus was 16lbs and 1 oz and 26" tall. So, she's definitely skinnier than her big brother (which you'd never know from looking at her roly poly thighs) and almost as tall as he was!!

She's also quite the little mover. She can flip from back to belly in no time flat and while on her belly, she's already starting to hike her little knees up under her! Eeek, it won't be long before she's up and walking, running and chasing after her big brother!

Broken Foot?

Ok... one last post. I've been whining for a couple months now. I think I've broken a toe and or something in my foot. It's annoying. I'll think it's getting better then suddenly it starts hurting again. I know I need to have it x-rayed but somehow me finding a doctor for myself has been low on the priority list. So I'm whining to the internet universe right now. Ooooowwwww. My flipping foot hurts. Sigh. I guess it can wait till Monday.

Back to the Grind

Where does the time go? I know I say that a lot...

The past couple of weeks have been pretty packed for the Badens and life in Mayberry. We've gone to visit Yvonne at her office (Peanut needed a check-up), we've spent several hours at the local park (which is pretty dang awesome), we've walked the neighborhood, met some neighbors and run circles around the basement. And that's just the beginning!

Last weekend, Greg and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary. I really do feel like the wedding was a week ago. I still recall the planning, the first time I saw Greg when I turned to walk down the aisle, the ceremony and the incredible reception.

In honor of our anniversary (ok, not really) I flew out to San Diego with Wren for the long weekend. My bff, Nicole is currently in the states visiting her in-laws out in California. Nic is currently 6 months pregnant and looks fantastic! I love that part of the pregnancy -- everyone (strangers) can see that you're pregnant (and not just chubby), but you don't look like you've swallowed a whale just yet. The pregnancy glow is still shining bright and on a good day, you can still almost see your toes!! It was so much fun to spend time with Nic, Brad, the in-laws AND my sister-in-law Rhonda (and her bff Mary). It was my first time out to San Diego and I can't wait to go back. What a fantastic place. I wish I had more time out there -- I've got several other friends that live in SD and I just didn't have the time to see them.

The only bummer of late is that everyone has a cold. When Wren and I got back in town, it was just Atticus... but then Wren started getting congested and now I'm sneezing up a storm and can't breathe. Ugh. I don't even mind me being sick, I just feel so bad for the kids. Atticus, bless his heart, his little nose is all red and chapped and it's even starting to crack a bit from all the runny nose/wiping! Wren, she just can't breathe and the only thing I can do for her is put saline drops in her nose. I also think she may be teething. Yes, I know it's early - but you should see the amount of drool she's producing, coupled with the strong desire to chomp down on pretty much anything/everything and the late night fussiness.... no guarantee, but it's one possibility.

Greg's still loving the new job. He's trying to plot out his boy's weekend with Rob. So far, they haven't been able to coordinate yet. I'm planning my girl's scrapbook weekend -- I'm just nervous about taking Wren on another trip. She really was settling into a great routine when I up and moved her three time zones for a few days. Texas should be easier on the system, but still...

Well, it's late and I really need to upload all the recent photos. That may have to wait until tomorrow. Right now, my book and my bed are calling to me...