Swenisms

One night Matt and I took the kids out for dinner because we had an awesome coupon. After we had been there a while, Swen became antsy so he got up and just wandered around our table. Before I could stop it, I looked over and saw him petting a girl's head at the table next to us. I quickly apologized, grabbed him and asked him what he was doing. He said, "good job be nice other people!"

I took Swen to the aquarium with a friend and her little girl. Whenever Swen was looking at some fish and another kid came up, Swen would immediately kick the other kid. After a few times, I told him he needed to be nice and stop kicking or we'd have to take a break from looking at fish. The next time a kid came to look at the fish with him, he would pat the other kid's head and say "good job be nice!" This happened over and over, and luckily most kids were confused, but still nice, when Swen would pat them. Now whenever we drive by the aquarium, he always says "So fun go look at fishers good job being nice!"

***Disclaimer: When Kennedy first was born and Swen was still adjusting, he would hit or kick her. So I would take his hand and put it on her softly and tell him "thank you for being nice. Good job being nice, Swen!" And that translated into be nice equals petting. And he's the nicest kid around, and therefore does a lot of petting! Haha!.***

Mom: Swen, we need to get ready for church.
Swen: Play toys with Marlee?
Mom: Yes, you can play toys with Marlee.
Swen: Share just one car with Marlee. No share two cars.

An entire community of town homes is being built next to us. Whenever we come home Swen, asks to go look at all the tractors working.
"Go look at tractors! Whoa look at that big huge tractor. Whoa look at that big huge cement truck. Whoa cool tractor. Super cool cement truck!"

Whenever we are out and he sees kids, he says, "Wow look at all those friends! Those are Swen's friends!"

While at Target we walked by the bra section and Swen said, "Look at all those boobs! Look at all those big huge boobs!"

Matt takes Swen disc golfing at least once a week. Swen loves it, and he especially loves the garbages there. This conversation happens several times a day:

Swen: Go disc golf with Dada, Eli, Seth?
Mom: Yes, Dada and Eli and Seth will take you disc golfing tonight after dinner.
Swen: Have black garbages there?
Mom: Yes, they have black garbages there.
Swen: Those are gross?
Mom: Yep, those are gross
Swen: Really, reallllllly gross!

Now imagine all these stories in an adorable Swen voice! He's hilarious. He cracks me up all day long.

Kennedy 7/8 Months Old

Dearest Kennedy,

You are only my second child and already I'm neglecting keeping records of your life! Sorry about that. Thank you for being such a happy and sweet little girl. Here's what your interests are at 8 months old.

Loves:
Being carried around
Eating any and all food (you are SO opposite or Swen with this!)
Playing with whatever toys Swen plays with
Sitting up all by yourself
Babbling constantly
Screaming and making loud noises
Smiling and laughing (especially at Swen)
Taking long baths
Showering
Riding in the front pack or back pack
Mommy (let's be real; Swen calls me "Mom" so you probably will too. Sad.)

Dislikes/hates because you're SUPER opinionated:
Mommy leaving you any time. Usually I can sneak away, but then the second you see me or hear me come back, you start screaming like the world is going to end.
Swen taking things away from you
Sleeping by yourself
Nursing if you don't feel like nursing- ugh this is so frustrating for me. I wish you would eat when I want you to! But I'm glad you know what you want and when you want it.
Loud noises. You still startle easily and get really upset afterwards.
Other people eating and not sharing with you
Not being able to crawl. You want to so bad, but you're just not ready yet!
Being alone

I love you so much, Kennedy! Even though I worry you may be a little bit of a drama queen, deep down I know we will be super close friends forever.

Love, Mommy/Mom

Stuck

When's the last time you ever felt trapped? I don't mean emotionally, like you're trying to make a choice and feel like like there's no winning. I mean literally and physically trapped! For me, it's every day between 2 and 4 pm. I often have missed calls and texts. Or people wanting do something and I have to tell them, "Sorry, I'm never available to do anything ever between 2 and 4. Ever."

Everyone knows it took 15 months for Swen to sleep well. Now at 33 months he is still a great sleeper. He sleeps all night long and naps every day from about 2-4 pm. He, however, isn't the problem. The problem is big eyed, chubby cheeked, gummy smiling Kennedy! She has followed in her brother's footsteps and will not sleep on her own. Unlike with Swen, I can't just hold her while she sleeps, because I have a two-year-old to take care of. This means that all morning long she is either cat napping or being tired because she won't nap longer than 15 minutes alone.

Then 2:00 comes! And oh it's a wonderful time. Swen, Kennedy and I all crawl into bed. Swen is on my left side, and Kennedy is on my right. Swen falls asleep RIGHT next to me. Sometimes on me a little bit. And Kennedy falls asleep nursing. And she continues to stay attached to me for the entire two hours. I usually can get about 30 minutes of sleep in before my hips and back start to ache from being stuck on my side. And then for the next 90 minutes I'm TRAPPED. I can't move. What if Swen wakes up? What if Kennedy wakes up? Nothing could possibly be worth it to move and risk Swen not getting his nap, or Kennedy not getting her only decent nap of the day.

So if you're thinking about calling me, or you want to do something with me between 2 and 4 pm, remember, I'm trapped, and I'll get back to you once my kids are awake :)

Life Lately

Here's everything we've been up to the last few months! :)

Kennedy: she's for sure done the most changing. This girl lights up my life. And everyone who is around her. She is the smiliest, happiest baby ever. I have yet to go out anywhere and not have someone stop me and tell me how beautiful she is! She thrives on people and loves to smile at them. However, she likes to smile at others as long as she's in my arms. She is very attached to me! She enjoys sitting up on her own and rolling over. She is very odd about how she eats. She only nurses on her own schedule. If I try to feed her and she doesn't want to eat, she seriously yells and whips her head away. Then five minutes later she will be starving and HAVE to eat right then. We've just barely started giving her tastes of some solid food. She's little, and I'm in no rush to get her to eat regular food. She's so healthy and growing so well that I don't want to interrupt that. She is obsessed with her big brother. He favorite activity is to watch him run around and be crazy. It cracks her up. I'm so grateful for this daughter of mine. Just a side note: I'm not mentioning her sleeping habits because my babies don't sleep on their own. They just don't! So I have about 6 or 7 more months of being exhausted, and I know she will learn to sleep on her own. Just like Swen did.

Swen: The biggest thing with him is how much he's talking! He can have conversations now, and I love hearing what's going through his mind. He's often figuring out where certain cars or people are. And also what he gets to do next in his life. He still loves garbage cans! Anytime we are in a restaurant, he throws away all of the garbage for anyone who will let him. He also got a basketball hoop for Christmas and he loves it! And he's getting really good. It's taller than him, and I'm shocked at how much fun he's having. He loves nursery at church and also playing in play places at fast food restaurants. He's becoming more assertive in his wants and tests my patience every single day. Make that every single hour. But I can see a difference in him when I'm kind and patient as to when I lose my cool and get mad. My goal is to always be kind and patient with him, so he knows that even when he's having a hard time, I will still love him and be there for him. I'm so grateful for Matt who is also so kind and patient. I don't know what I would do if I married someone who yells or screams at his kids. Matt loves Swen for who he is and is wonderful with him.

Shulamith: I'm still loving being home with my babies! Nothing's has changed here. I need a hobby. A hobby where kids are welcome. Anyone know of anything? Maybe I'll become a dog walker or something. I can push my kids in the stroller and walk dogs. Haha!

Mathew: he's now at Vision Solar working as the supply chain and inventory manager. He's really learning a lot and likes his job. He's no longer waiting tables on the weekend. Yay! He has two hobbies: rock climbing and playing Dark Souls. 

That's our lives in a nutshell! I so love going back and reading what I've written previously. So even though these posts are short and sparse, I still like doing them. 

September Updates

Kennedy:

Could this girl be any cuter? She smiles nonstop, and when she's not smiling, she's nursing. A lot. In fact, she really only likes to be sleeping if she is nursing while sleeping. This makes it hard for anyone to really get to hold her much. She isn't awake too long before she's ready to be asleep again, and she likes to sleep while attached to me. It is sad for other people, but I know soon enough she will be awake longer and then others will get more than enough time to hold her. It is frustrating in the days when I have nobody to help because she HAS to lie down sometimes so I can do other things. So she usually sleeps at the most 45 minutes before she's up again. In addition to nursing, she likes toys to be shaken for her, the fan, being sung to, and her most favorite thing: bath time. She can go from screaming to happy in one second. She's over all a very content little girl as long as she's not in the car. I can't believe both my babies have hated their car seats. How is that even possible? I'm so grateful that she's in our family, and I love her perfectness so much.

Swen:

Could this boy be any cuter? Not only is he the most beautiful boy on the planet, but he has the sweetest personality in the world. He still loves cars more than life itself, and he shares his love with everyone. He always has a car in hand and whenever anyone new comes into the room he runs over so excited to show off his "new car!" It does get a little old to for me to constantly express so much excitement over his new cars, but I want him to know I care about his interests, so I probably say "oh my gosh. Swen, is that a new car? I love your new car! It is the coolest car I have ever seen!" at least 20 times a day. But every time his eyes light up and he smiles so big that it's worth it. He loves Kennedy so much. He constantly asks to hold her. If he's not holding her, he's kissing her, petting her, and touching her. He still throws things at her, but it's happening less and less. Usually it's when I'm focusing on another person and he's needing some attention. If he's not talking about cars, he is talking about water. He loves to put everything in bowls of liquid. Like he's obsessed with it. Cereal, diet coke, soup, whatever it is. If it's liquid, he puts stuff in it. He is a pretty picky eater but eats cereal and milk at least three times a day. Also, he has recently become a finger sucker. It sort of just happened over night, and we think it's adorable. Swen is the most perfect two year old ever, and I wish everyone in the world could know him because of the joy he brings to people.

Shulamith:

Nursing Kennedy while Swen keeps me company. This occurs hours and hours throughout each day.

Could I be any cuter? Haha just kidding! I take care of my two kids all day and all night which pretty much sums up my life. I love it more than anything 99% of the time, but on very hard days, I think it would be easier to drop them off somewhere to mess up someone else's house and go to work, where I have friends and a social life while going to the bathroom by myself, eating by myself, driving by myself, oh and making money of course. Then I remember that this stage is so short, and I know my kids need me now, and I won't regret being poor for this short time with them. Also, I remember that I'm beyond blessed to have the opportunity to stay home with them.  I've been walking every day (where Kennedy WILL sleep for hours in her front pack!) and dieting on the weekdays to try and get back to pre-Kennedy size. The progress is slow, but I can tell it's working. Oh and it SUCKS. But so does being fat so too bad for me. And Sweet Tooth Fairy is sad about my diet too because they're almost going out of business without me buying cookies and cupcakes any time I'm in the area (daily).

Mathew:

Could he be any cuter? He has gone above and beyond all my expectations for a husband and dad. He is patient, kind, and loving to both the kids and me. He is working at Vivint Solar in supply chain. While it is a HARD job with little pay right now, he knows there is a future in supply chain and money to be made if he puts his time in. He is also waiting tables every Saturday night at Longhorn for extra income. Though he's doing all this, I have yet to hear him complain ONCE about going to work. When he gets home, he instantly starts playing with both kids. When weather permits, he enjoys taking Swen disc golfing. His favorite hobby is still rock climbing which he tries to do at least once a week. We often talk about how we have no idea how all of a sudden we are married with two kids. It all happened so fast, but we are loving it and learning lots.

Having Two

I'm sitting in bed nursing Kennedy to sleep while Swen is in the bath (where I can see him from bed so don't worry) and just thinking to myself how much I've learned in the last seven weeks since Kennedy was born.

1. Sitting down is underrated. Really, really underrated. Who knew I would miss just being able to sit for a few minutes without having to do something?

2. Nursing while doing ANYTHING is very possible. Cooking, eating, playing with Swen. You name it, and I've done it while nursing. Gone are the days where I could just sit and watch all my shows while nursing a baby.

3. Everyone should live in his or her parents' basement. We have it ideal because we have our own complete apartment under their house, which means total privacy. But even if that weren't the case, I think I would move in anyway. Their help is worth any privacy I would have to sacrifice. I think Matt would agree. He never has to worry about me because there's almost always someone home. Eli will be leaving for college soon, and Seth has already started school. That makes two fewer people here for support during the day, which makes me sad. Luckily, I have my mom and my dad, and my mom doesn't work many hours and not the same ones as my dad, so one of them is always around. Every mom needs her family upstairs. Period.

4. My house will never be as clean as I want. I love my house to be clean, and with Kennedy in the front pack and Swen playing outside, I can clean up and make it beautiful. Then Swen comes inside (or Matt comes home) and it's all over. Those two boys are messy. I've tried really hard to just accept it and not get frustrated when Swen destroys everything, but I definitely need more patience with that because he's two. And two-years-olds are messy.

5. Laundry never ends. Ever. Just adding Kennedy, I feel like I've doubled my laundry. I don't know why.

6. Seeing Swen pet Kennedy's head and love her makes me the happiest person ever.

7. It is possible to love two children equally. I was worried she wouldn't measure up to Swen. She does.

8. Going places is much harder and less fun. Being home with two kids is much harder and less fun. It's a dilemma on what to do each day. Stay home and try to entertain Swen, or go out while Kennedy screams in the car.

9. Most days I want lots and lots more babies. Other days, two sounds like a wonderful number.

10. It's hard to feel like both kids are getting what they need. I wish I could hold Kennedy all the time. I wish I could play with Swen all the time. I feel like I'm letting them both down quite often. Not to mention I feel like I'm letting myself down because I can't find time to do anything for myself. I don't even shower alone because Swen climbs in the second he hears water.  Hopefully I'll get into more of a routine soon and find a little time for myself each week. I'm not even going to aim for each day, ha!

11.  When I miss out on doing things that aren't kid friendly, I don't really care. I seriously love these babies so much, and nothing is more important than them right now. I will have years and years to go to movies, plays, vacations, and late nights staying up with friends, and I know they'll be grown up before I know it.

12. I love not worrying about Kennedy. With Swen I always worried about his health and that I might be doing things wrong. I doubted myself in everything. Now that he's two and doing amazing, I know the way I raised him was the right way for him and our family. Of course things with Kennedy may be different because she's different and has different needs, but I'm not doubting my choices with her because I trust myself and my instincts.

13. If I knew blogging on my phone was this easy, I may have been better about updating this blog!

14. I have yet to decide which is harder, going from zero to one child or from one to two children. It goes both ways. With a first child, for me, it was a huge shock, going from being totally selfish to being completely selfless and caring for a baby. Not to mention the shock of sleep deprivation. With number two, I have already been a mom for two years, and I am used to sleep deprivation (remember Swen didn't sleep for 15 months and then when he did sleep, he for up at 5:00 every morning?).  However, the business and craziness of two children is definitely hard. Feeling like one of them always needs something from me is exhausting. So I've decided it's a tie. But I have a hunch that going from 2 to 3 kids will be the hardest for sure. I can't even imagine it right now.

15. There's water all over my bathroom floor. Thank you, Swen. I should probably go get him out and clean that up. As well as remind myself about  #4 above.

More Titty, Big Cocks, and Bars

You might be wondering what those three things could possibly have in common. It just so happens that the three things Swen likes to talk about more than anything else are feeding kitty, cars, and granola bars. He just doesn't quite know how to pronounce them.

Swen loves to feed Kitty more than anything. He would feed her all day if he could, but he still doesn't quite know how to pronounce her name, and therefore calls her "Titty." That alone is funny enough, but now when he wants to feed her he runs around saying, "More Titty? More Titty" over and over. It cracks everyone up who hears it. I hope he never learns to say her name.

The second thing Swen loves is cars. Oh how he loves to carry them all around the house, line them up, and take them everywhere he goes. He also loves to ride in them! For how much he hated his car seat for the first eight months of life, he now loves to go anywhere. "Car" is also a very hard word to say, so he calls them some sort of a mixture between "gock" and "cock."  Then my mom recently got her van fixed, and after he rode in that for the first time, it was love at first ride. He could see out the window at all the other cars! But he doesn't call her the van, "van." He calls it the "big cock." For some reason when he says the word big first, the /g/ sound is totally gone and it is definitely "cock." Haha! So now EVERY TIME I mention going bye-bye, the first thing he says is, "a big cock?" Then he just starts yelling it over and over. "A big cock! A big cock!" If we don't go in that van, he starts crying and saying "a big cock" in the saddest little voice.

"Bar" is the one word he says correctly. He doesn't go to bars, but he eats them. Granola bars are his very favorite snack. There was ONE single time when he wouldn't come inside from the backyard to take a nap, so I told him he could have a granola bar after night-night time. Now every time I tell him it's time for night-night, he says, "a bar?" Then he continually talks about bars until he falls asleep. It's adorable.

I love all these words he says, and I'm mostly glad that he isn't saying bad words because he's heard them from me. People who know me, know I don't have the cleanest mouth. :)  Here are some pictures of my adorable children.