Mommy is crabby

As this blog is intended to chronicle our kids' lives. I feel the need to blog them a warning. I am crabby. I have been told this by my mother growing up and now by Scott. Example from today. The boys awoke earlier than usual, which for them means 0745 instead of 0900. Scott and I are spoiled, yes, but by them getting up early it meant that I didn't go for a run or anything and I had had multiple wakenings through the night from Jake, Sam and the cats. At this time of our life, most crabbiness gets taken out on household individuals in this order: cats, Scott, Jake, and Sam. So Scott felt the brunt of my aggravation this morning. I do recognize when I am crabby; so when I knew that the morning was only going downhill because of my mood, I loaded up Jake and Sam into the P&T's stroller and we took to the neighborhood. We live in a beautiful neighborhood and this morning was extra beautiful with quiet, lots of fall colors, and cool but not cold weather (mood elevating). We walked about a mile and then landed at the park where Jake played with a boy his age, Sam chilled quietly, and I was able to drink my coffee and socialize with some nice neighbors (more mood elevation). When we had returned Scott had a delicious breakfast prepared for us (mood back to euthymic level). As an aside, Scott impresses me with his cooking abililty. This morning he made an omlet of turkey, cheese, asparagus, and red onion. Great mix of flavors as Jake would say!

Jake and Sam, here are recommendations for how to predict my level of crabbiness or how to "keep mommy happy" as Jake says right now: sleep at least 7 hours, exercise once a day, hang outside for at least 15 minutes, socialize with adults, drink coffee, and reduce hunger level. I think that about covers it, right Scott? Interestingly, my work is not consistently the cause of my crabbiness. It contributes, but all of the above, if applied on a bad day of work, can still equal out in the end to happy mommy. Sorry, boys, I wish I wasn't so crabby. I'll work on it, I promise.

Take your toddler to work day

Well today was a first for me.  Our nanny showed up sick today.  With Mandy already at work I had to make some quick decisions.  She was well enough to take care of Sam by himself for a few hours but clearly could not take care of them both.  Fortunately I had clinic today and nothing I could not reschedule for the afternoon.  I decided that he should come to clinic with me today and charm the office staff while I saw patients.  I know this probably makes me a bad parent but sometimes when I just need to keep him out of trouble I let him watch the ipod.  Mandy actually bought it for me last Christmas but if you ask Jake he thinks it is his.   We intially used it during his potty training but he recently dropped it in the toilet.....Mandy did however buy the special warranty from Best Buy and it was replaced without any questions.  I put a bunch of his cartoons and Pixar movies on the ipod and he watched them for almost the whole morning and never caused any problems.  In any case the ipod saved me today and I definitely will get another if this one breaks.  Now if I can just figure out a way for him to scrub on the days I have surgery.........

One of the last times the previous ipod was seen alive.

It's Time for Football

One of my favorite things about Fall is the start of the college football season.  Being from Oregon and growing up going to many of the Ducks home games in Autzen stadium made me into a fan even though I went to school at Willamette.  Now that I have two boys part of my fatherly duty is to prevent them from becoming OSU fans so I started them early by getting them each the proper attire.

Divide and Conquer

Scott and I are learning that with two kids, it sometimes works the best to divide the kids between us and then accomplish things. This weekend we did just that. Scott took Jake to Portland to visit Grammy Barb and had some great adventures. Sam and I drove to Augusta to visit Jenn and Jimmy and Eloise in order to try and not be overwhelmed by my messy, unorganized house and to try and start Sam's baby book. I think we both had great times, though it was good to be back together. Jake seemed to have grown up in just the four days they were gone! Here are some pictures:

Sam blending in with the jungle themed play area. I think we have to get one of these!

Sam and Eloise (6 months old) wondering what is going on...

"Hi, Mommy, we're having a great time with Grammy. Daddy can't figure out how to match my clothes, though..."

Jake asleep with his bear sleeping bag, a gift from Grammy Barb.

Great picture of Jake, Marc, and Levi fishing.

Sam is two months old!

Sam is two months old today. I can't believe it! We're having a fairly quiet weekend here at home together. The weather is beautiful and we've been to the pool, walking, running, playing football. We plan to bike tomorrow and probably another trip to the pool.

Here is Jake wearing Scott's operating loupe glasses and looking pretty goofy:

Here is a good picture of Sam today at 2 months:

Here is a picture of Jake in the same cute, fall outfit. Jake was only 6 weeks old in this picture:

More cute sayings by Jake

Additional quotes by Jake:
"Pickles make me happy."
"One minute, Cat!" In reference to putting the scary cat toy that Henry left at our house in time out. When asked why the cat was in time out, he could not say.
"Hit the road squirrels!" What Jake yells out the window at the squirrels that insist on eating all the bird seed from our bird feeder.

Bowling and sleeping

Last night, Sam slept for 8 hours straight! I am so thankful as I am going back to work in 5 days and getting regular sleep will really help. We have been Babywise adherents with both boys and both have been sleeping for 7-8 hours by 8-9 weeks. I know they were probably predisposed to sleep, but I feel confident that Babywise helped me get them there. I just hope it continues...sleep is so wonderful!

Jake has been progressing well through potty training. Today he was discussing bowling with Elizabeth, our Nanny, and decided he really wanted to try bowling. Scott made a deal with him. Poop in potty for bowling. Sure enough, he went, so we went bowling! We tried out a bowling alley that is in a somewhat sketchy area, surrounded by interesting clubs and "spas", but it was a great bowling alley! We'll definitely go back! Here is a video of Jake in action: