Summer Recap

We have had such a busy summer. I am so sad that it is just about over. I am going to warn you. This is a very long post. Mostly pictures, but long.

G and M chilling after eating . M is on top of G.

M is a little monkey when he sleeps. I can put him on one side of his crib and you can never tell where he will be when he wakes.

One mile stone this summer is the Bumbo. The boys are doing really great sitting up with a little bit of support.

M posing for the camera.

G posing for the camera.

They were facing eachother and playing footsies the entire time.

We got home one day during the middle of one of the boys naps. G stayed asleep in his car seat while M woke up. Mommy really wanted to make dinner but doesn't like to cook with a babe in arms (I'm afraid I'm going to hurt them). I moved the cradle out of the dining room earlier that afternoon so Jon could bring it up to the attic that night. I was so glad that it was in the kitchen. I was able to spend a half hour making dinner and M just chilled in the cradle. He was so happy.

M snuggling his daddy.

G left, M right. Chilling on the bed after a yummy breakfast.

G

Mommy and G taking a little nap. When the boys nap mommy normaly doesn't. G wasn't a happy camper this nap so I tried snuggling him. My boys NEVER snuggle me. I was soo happy that he snuggled me this time. So we snuggled and then I put him down. I have only slept in the bed with my boys twice, and each time it was G. Lucky duck.

G sleeping on the boppy next to mommy while she was feeding M.

One day we decided we wanted to look at all of our toys. Mommy brought out the basket of toys and poured them out ontop of the boys. They really seemed to enjoy themselves.

These weren't the pictures I wanted to post of M and G, but they were two pictures where they were actually 'playing' with the toys.

M

G

The next set of pictures are bath time pictures. I think summer baths are the best. You don't have to worry about the babe getting cold in our our of the bath. It's so nice to be able to pull the nakey babe out and take your time putting a diaper and slimes and then their jams on. Oh I love it.

Here is M in the bath.

Here is G in the bath.

Sleepy pictures.

M sleeping.

G sleeping.

Just hanging out.

G on left, M on right.

M

M on top, G on bottom loving their Mama.

M on left, G on right.

M on left, G on right.

The boys LOVED swimming. This was the first time they went in the water. It was REALLY cold, but we had to give it a try. It was actually to cold for me :/ No big suprise there, but the boys seemed to have fun!.

Daddy with M.

Daddy with G. He didn't like it too much. He agreed with mommy and thought it was COLD.

This time we went to a friends pool. It was much warmer so Mommy decided she would go in also. Daddy with M and Mama with G.

The boys giving their Uncle Jimmy noggin. M is the top picture, G is the next.

We had a chance to go Upstate NY to visit my Dad's Dad. My Dad lives in NC and he was visiting his Dad. So we decided to take the boys up for the day to meet their Great Grandpa and to visit their Grandpa.

G on left, M on right.

I just love this picture of G.

We had another big mile stone this summer. Well a few, but this is their first time eating cereal. We started with rice cereal. We decided that it was entirely too binding and switched to oatmeal.

I have put the boys in their highchairs once before. I used them during bath time. I would put one in the chair next to the sink and the other in the bath. That way they are both at my reach. They both enjoyed the high chair. Well this time we put them in the high chair right after they woke up. M wasn't too thrilled with not being nursed and being put into the chair.

G's first bite of food...

M's first bite of food....

M.. Hmmm this is weird.

G looking at M while he was being fed.

G breaking down about half way through his first feeding. He decided he wanted Mommy to feed him...not the spoon.

M really enjoyed his first eating experience. That is, after the initial shoke of being put in the chair right after waking.

Here are some pictures after a few times eating cereal. They really seem to have the hang of it now. M has on the car bib and G has on the truck bib.

Jon's brother and his family came to visit us from Minesotta for a long weekend. We were so happy to see them and have them stay with us. We have such a little house and no toys for the ages of their children that we decided we needed to do as many day trips as possible.

One day we went to the shore. We set up a large sun tent for the boys. It worked beautifully. Haha, this is the first summer that I haven't gotten any color...I wonder why :)

We were very upset to find out after we got there that the water was 'closed'. This was the first time that their kids have ever been to the ocean and they weren't even allowed in. :( They seemed to have fun anyway!

M & G chillin in their sun tent.

It started to get chilly so we bundled up.

Cousin Elias with his sand beard.

After a full day in the sun the boys were exahusted. G in green and M in blue.

The next day we decided to go see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. I haven't done this since 8th grade. Jon hasn't gone since highschool. I'm not sure if his brother has ever gone and I know his wife has never gone. Everyone, even the kids, seemed to really enjoy this day trip.

Here everyone is walking up to the old train station at Liberty Park. They sell the ferry tickets here. I took so many pictures of the old train station, ferry, Ellis Island, and the Statue.

Here the boys are on their first ferry ride. Looking at the pictures you have no idea they are on the ferry, but these are the cutest pictures of M & G!

Here is a shot of the Statue of Liberty from the ferry.

A view of NYC from the ferry.

Here I am feeding one of the babes at the base of the Statue.

The hubs holding M (left) and G (right) at Ellis Island.

My turn to hold the boys.

One happy family.

We all had a little snack at the base of the Statue of Liberty.

Here are Jon's brothers kids, Silje, David, and Elias waiting for the ferry.

We still have two weekends left before I have to go back to work. I'm sure we will have more adventures and more pictures to share!

Finishing Up Summer

It is so sad to think that summer is almost over. By the time school starts I will have had a 7 month break. I am so thankful and greatful and lucky that I will have been able to be a stay at home mom for just about 6 months of my boys lives. With all of my heart I wish I could continue to be a stay at mom forever, or at least until all of my kids are in school. Unfortunetly at this time I can't. However, I have to remember that one of the main reasons I became a teacher was because of all the 'days off' and summer vacation. Too bad I didn't know before I became a teacher that all of the 'days off' aren't really days off. A lot of teachers I know, myself included, work on our days off. We are always thinking about our students and what more we could do. We (or at least I) always bring work home. People say to me, "At least you only work until 3:30." I just laugh at that. My first year teaching I didn't get home until 9pm. I HAVE gotten better every year that I have been teaching, however there are still late nights. I hope that I will continue to get home earlier and earlier. Now that I have my babes at home I know that I will do my best to run out of the building as QUICKLY as I can.

I'm sure you are asking yourselves, "What is she going to do with her babes now that she has to go to work?" I looked into a bunch of different possibilities for the boys. At first I wanted to go with a Nanny. However, we just couldn't afford it. So then I decided I would want to bring the babes to someones house. That way they would have a little bit more of an intimate setting. However, at home Nannys were also too expensive. So I decided to look into at home daycares. After I called a bunch of different people that have at home daycares I decided I didn't want to bring the babes there either. Each person I called with an at home daycare I called before school let out and I talked to each of them during the 'school day' for over an hour. I didn't like the idea that they were completly ok with talking to me for that long with their 'charges' running around. So the last option we had was to look at actual daycares. There are 3 in our area that accept babes. I took Jon with me to see one. I felt that it was dirty, however, I really liked the owner. Jon thought it was fine. He wasn't happy that we had to do this at all and kinda shut down. So I decided I wasn't going to take him with me anymore. I called my mom and asked her to come look at daycare options with me. I was a little nervous having her come with me for some different reasons, but was SO happy that she did. When we got in the car I told her that we were going to go look at 2 places and that I didn't want her to say anything when we were there. I told her to even keep her opinions to herself when we got in the car and that we would say what we liked and didn't like after we saw both places. It worked out really great! We first went to the one that Jon and I went to. Then we went to the second place. After seeing each place we sat in the car and listed what we liked and didn't like. It was so helpful to have a 2nd pair of eyes. I really liked the second place, but after discussing it with my mom I decided it wouldn't be the best place for my babes. She saw things that I completely missed. After talking through the places I was sick to my stomach. I HATED both of these places. Of course I was thinking I'm sure I hate it because I HATE the idea that I'm not going to be their 24 hour care giver. Then I decided I wanted to go see the 3rd place. I originally didn't want to see it becuase I knew it was going to be WAY to much money. Well, we walked in and we both LOVED it! My mom didn't say anything when we were there, but I could tell she loved it, I mean come on, how couldn't you. After seeing the facilities we sat down with the director and I knew that she was going to give me some financially bad news. I was dreading hearing the price, I knew it was going to be too much money. Let me tell you...IT WAS! However, because I am a teacher I get an awesome discount. This place is only $69 more than the place I was 'ok' with. We got in the car and I was almost excited.

I am still so depressed that I am not going to be my babes 24 hour care provider. I am terrified that their demenors and personalities are going to change so much. I know that they will and that they would even if they were home with me, but I am so scared that I will not ugh, I don't know, have control over it. I am crying at the computer knowing that I will very possibly miss the first time they sit up on their own, crawl, take their first steps, etc. .....

well now that I am bawling my eyes out, I am going to show you a sweet picture of me and the babes and finish crying in bed.

Florida Jaw Check Up

Two years ago I had major jaw surgery. The discs in my jaw were disintegrating and breaking apart. I also had some major arthritis in my jaws. So two years ago I traveled down to St. Petersburg, FL to the Piper Clinic and had a special jaw surgery.

Dr. Piper went in next to my ears and removed the discs. He took fat from my belly and did a complete fat graph. The entire process is just amazing. The fact actually solidifies and becomes viable tissure. It's crazy! What's even crazier to me is that I have basically been PAIN FREE for two years!!

For the first year after the surgery I had the pleasure of HAVING to fly to Florida every three monts for a check up. My check ups have been going great. At my LAST check up I was 3 months pregnant so I wasn't able to get my final CT. Dr. Piper said he wanted to see me one last time to get the CT.

The boys and I (and my mom) arrived the evening of the 4th just in time to hear the fireworks. None of us had any desire to watch them. :( I know if Jon was there he would have dragged me out to watch. I wish he was there. The boys were very festive on the 4th. I don't have a picture of them in their day outfits (while shirts with a blue collar and blue and red motorcycles on them and blue shorts). Here is a picture of the boys in their 4th jams.

Here is the view from out balcony at the hotel. Very pretty.

We had a blast while we were there. I was pleasantly suprised with the most amazing well behaved babes! I thought that their sleep schedule would be thrown out the window. Being in a hotel I didn't feel comfortable with allowing them to cry for even a minute. I was assuming I was going to be holding and snggling and singing and etc the whole time. Which trust me, I woulnd't have been upset with the holding and snuggling, but I did know that if I threw all my rules out the window it would take a while to get them back when we got home.

Suprisingly enough there were NO tears when we were there! I put them down for their naps and they fell fast asleep. They slept through the night every night but one. One night Gunnar had a hard time falling asleep . I was so tired and couldn't keep picking him up from the low crib and rocking and bending back over to put him back in, so I put him in bed with me. I've NEVER done that before. Not even for a nap. Oh it was lovely! I held his bink in for a little bit and we both fell fast asleep. In the middle of the night I woke and put him back in his brib and he slept the rest of the night.

This was the first time that the boys continuously woke from their naps and night time sleep with smiles. I could even leave one in the crib while feeding the other. The babe in the crib and I would just look and smile and coo at each other. It was so sweet.

My Aunt Doris, who lives in Vero Beach, FL, drove the three hours to come play with the boys. They wore a special shirt that she bought them when she came out to NJ to meet them for the first time.

While in FL we had a lot of swim time. One-three times a day we would go down to the pool during our wake time to go for a dip. My mom and I had so much fun swiming with the boys.

My mom and MicaiahMe and Gunnar.My mom and Gunnar.Me and Micaiah.

We even tried bringing them to the beach. YIKES! My mom went down there during one of their naps and set up a big SPF tent. After the boys woke and ate I brought them down to the beach. Gunnar didn't seem to mind too much, but I don't think Micaiah really liked it. He had a hard time opening his eyes. I know it was bright, but no brighter than at the pool. I wonder if the sand or salt water stung his eyes a little. After about 5 minutes I called it quits and brought them back to the pool.

Oh...what about my doctors appointment you are asking yourselves. Haha! Well my CT was great. He said I look good, but both sides are healing differently. He said that's fine but he's suprised that I'm as pain free as I say I am. One of the sides has healed bone on bone. So I will always hear a little scraping when I eat or open my mouth. He said not to worry about that. It's annoying buyt it doesn't cause me any pain. The other side seems to be healing perfectly. He did say he wanted to see me ONE more time. Oh bummer I have to go back to FL. He doesn't need to do another CT, but he wants to see me before my braces come off. See my braces aren't on just for cosmetic reasons. I had to have the braces put on to pull my top and bottom jaw together. After the surgery there was a gap between my top and bottom teeth so I coulnd't chew things like lettuce, (things you have to grind). My top and bottom now touch, but they are pullying my bottom jaw forward now. A lot of WHATEVER to me...just LET'S GET A MOVE ON IT!! Haha.

Here are the boys and my mom on the tram to get to the gate that our flight was taking off from. Mc looks so funny. Here are the boys chilling on the airport floor right after eating. Trying to get some play time in before the flight.

Micaiah on left and Gunnar on right.