kiddo update

Wow- it's been two months since I've updated. We visited Jeff and Brielle and it was really fun! Carson was an angel the whole time! He only fussed during the ear-popping parts of the plane ride. Brielle let him use Austin's crib which is the same exact set up he has at home- (just diff bedding fabric) so he was as good as sleeping at home. That made our trip great! Thanks Brielle; it was nice of Austin to share. We visited Purdue and some different little shops around West Lafayette; the locals pronounce it LAH-fee-eht. That's 'Sarah phonetics,' so I hope that made sense.

Athena's newest thing is playing with her tea set she got from Grandma Patty. She sits at the barstool and has me pour juice in those itty-bitty cups. I love having that sweet girl. She likes to dance in the living room. I'll have to get some video of that for you. She also directs music with her sweet little girl arms.

In her earlier potty training Athena was trying hard to make it to the toilet but had missed it and dirtied the floor instead. She would be so frustrated with herself and cry a lot. I knew she was trying and I wanted her to know that she didn't have to be perfect right away, but I didn't want to excuse the behavior entirely so pointing at the mess on the floor in front of the potty I said, "It's okay Athena. You tried. It is a little bit naughty, but you can try harder next time." Fast forward to a few days ago- I was toasting a bagel and before it popped up she sneaked some cream cheese out of the container, (which is not really a big deal.) I looked at her and from her perch on the barstool, her head tilted, a content smile crossed her face and her big blue eyes were half shut when she said, "It's okay. It's ownee a yiddle bit naughty." (only a little bit naughty) And I had to laugh.

I think it's so funny - she doesn't know about deception yet. Lately she wants gum and will climb up the pantry shelf to get some. After I stopped her from this she said, "Mommy, I want to be awone. (alone) You and Carson doe away and I tan be awone."
To which I replied. "Do you want to be alone so you can climb up the shelf and get some gum?"
"Yes." she said matter-of-factly.
I had to humor her and smile at her honesty. (Conrad and I both want to be careful not to punish her too much when she tells the truth or she will not want to tell us the truth later.)

Her potty training is going wonderfully, though today she had many accidents which she got in trouble for. 'Trouble' means mom is disappointed with her -which she hates- and then she has to sit in the laundry room- which is just a boring hallway to the garage. If it was a very naughty thing she did then she gets a 'knuckle' (a knock on her little noggin) and sometimes a little whop on her bum before she goes in for the time-out in the laundry room. There's a child lock on the door knob in there so she can't get out; same with her bedroom. She will be outraged that she is in 'trouble' status and she will scream and throw things at or hit the door. But as soon as she calms down I open the door and tell her what she did wrong and then she can apologize. We hug and then she's not in trouble anymore.

If I get short with her over trivial things because my patience is thin that day then she will be difficult to live with; bothering/bossing/controlling Carson or general irritating pesty-ness toward me. She acts this way when I have been unnecessarily grumpy or demanding -which I should not do, but I do it from time to time. To avoid this behavior I have to sincerely say, "I'm sorry. I was grumpy. I'm not mad at you and you're not in trouble. I'll be nice now." Then she feels understood and cared about. She is a sweet angel again after that.

She often says, "I want to have uh easter hunking egg" (I want to go on an easter egg hunt). We do little easter egg hunts every now and then. 3 to 6 eggs, with whatever sweet thing I have around the house. She's excited for Halloween and talks about trick-or-treating every day! She decided herself that she will be a scary blue monster.

We haven't spent much time outside lately. The hotter weather had kept me indoors, but the cooler weather is bringing us back out so we typically swing after dinner before coming in to jammie up in front of the tv before bed.

Carson can sit! He can eat finger foods too. He won't take a sip-pie or bottle though and this is bad because he needs more liquids in his diet than he's getting from me (nursing). He's got hard rabbit pellet turds; hey, this post wouldn't be complete if we didn't mention poop at least once! Anyway I'm having to give him liquids via medicine dropper. I guess I don't mind as long as he's getting more liquids; I love looking at his adorable little face. I love to kiss his baby mouth and squish his little cheeks. I love kissing his little neck and sniffing up his naked little tummy.

I give the kids baths together and it's even more fun now that Carson can sit up. They play well together. Athena has recently begun to roll him around the floor over and over. He likes her and he smiles about it good-natured-ly. He bobs his head to music. Yesterday Athena sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Carson bobbed his head to it with an easy-going smile. He is genuinely a happy and easy baby. He will sit happily eating cheerios and raisins in his highchair for about an hour sometimes. Like all babies he has his tough days where he is more clingy, but those just end up being cuddle days which are sweet! For me, the hardest part about kids is losing sleep though. I develop some stressful anxiety if I know the kids are going to wake me up all night.

Let's see; I recently bought kid clothes at Kid to Kid. I do all my kid's shopping at Kid to Kid or Other Mothers. I love getting cute clothes for great deals. I also played soccer with Conrad's work team for the first time ever in life. The opposing team was very nice and they weren't super skilled so it was a good practice game. I loved it! But I really bunged my knee up good just from jumping around so I'll be more careful on it next week. It's mildly swollen.

I still love going to the gym but as far as weight loss goes, a person can lose weight on controlling food intake more than they can via exercise. But sometimes it's harder to say no to a bowl of ice cream than it is to just do a half hour of spinning to make up for said ice cream. For me junk food and exercise cancel each other out and I neither gain nor lose. But if I never eat junk to begin with then I can really lose something. I aim for 130 pounds by December 5th. And I'm at a rough 136 right now so that's totally do-able. I might shoot for 125 after that, but we'll see how I feel.

Lately I'm carrying around the motto's, "Leave it better than you found it," and "do it faster" (because I operate slower than your average Jane and I want to change that.) by "operate" I mean to say everything I do; showering, flossing, yawning. :) I take my sweet time, but this is a hindrance at times. The "leaving it better" motto applies to my house. If I leave each room better than I found it then I'm constantly cleaning up after myself/and kids bit by bit and not making a mess. It makes my life a little easier and less stressful. I hate when the whole place is a dump, I can't find my such-and-such, and I'm trying to hurry out the door.