Jane turns two!

Trying to get mom wet!

Jane is Two years old! She has grown so much. She has stayed as full of energy, excitable and smiley as ever. After playing with her second cousin, Colin, (who is 4) He said, "Jane is just too crazy for me!" I said "I don't blame you, she just gets so excited." He asked, "Why?" His mom replied, "She just loves life." He asked again "Why?" She said, "Because that's just the way God made her." Yep Jane loves life and that is the way God made her and I'm so glad. She makes life so much fun.

Playing with cousin Colin

She can be a challenge sometimes, like any toddler, but she is learning and responding to discipline. Most of the time when she gets in trouble it's because she can't quite control herself and let's her excitement get the best of her. When she is playing with Atlas she will get overwhelmed with excitement and either tries to pick him up or just gets too rough. She is confused as to how to make Atlas stop crying and will hit him when he's crying sometimes. Other times she'll tell him, "No, No whining!" Which is what she is told a lot. ;) Like I said she's learning. She can throw a fit like the best of them, but it normally doesn't last very long and they seem to be decreasing in number. I think it's because I won't give her what she wants until she calms down and asks nicely and sometimes she doesn't get what she wants at all if she throws a fit even if I was planning to give it to her otherwise.

"I do not want to wear those shoes!"

I don't always react to her bad behavior in a proactive way. I'm learning too. I thought I had left my anger problem behind me long ago, but man, does Jane bring it out of me. What I'm finding is if I stay calm and don't get angry at her disobedience it really helps me to have a clear head and react constructively instead of destructively. It scares me to think how easy it is for me to hurt my kids emotionally or physically by a quick reaction motivated by anger. For example, a couple of weeks ago Jane hit Atlas on the head while he was crying and I angrily pushed her away from him, which made her fall down and hit her head on her nightstand. I thought, "Great... now I have two crying children and one of them is my fault..." I was so disappointed in myself. Jane retreated to her bed and was crying under her covers. I felt terrible. I went over to Jane and told her I was sorry asked if she would forgive me. I then asked if she would tell Atlas she was sorry. (A word she learned quickly after Atlas was born). She did and we all gave each other hugs and kisses.

Hugs!

I was embarrassed by my overreaction. I didn't want anyone to know about it. After I reflected about it some more I thought "I don't know why I would worry about telling anyone about it. Nobody is a perfect mom and we all need to be more transparent with each other and encourage each other with our mistakes along with our successes." So here I am telling you all about my failings as a mother and I feel better because of it. It's too stressful to try to maintain the image of perfection. After all God didn't ask us to have a perfect looking life, he called us to serve him and others, do our best and ask for forgiveness when we fail. I think it's important for us as Christians to be transparent with others and not be hypocrites, because who likes a hypocrite? Most importantly, It turns people off from finding their Savior and that's not ok. Let's not be whitewashed tombs. Let's show everyone that we're just as messed up as anyone else and the only reason that there is any good in us and we're able to love life and anyone around us is by the grace of God and Jesus who is continually saving us from ourselves.

She LOVES the trampoline!

Now let me get off my soapbox and get back to talking about my little firecracker who is growing up way too fast! I went back and read my blog of Jane's first year and I thought it would be fun to continue with a summary of Jane's second year including her growth, firsts and favorites. :)

Those shoes look like they were made to go with that dress!

Weight

Birth: 8 lbs

1 Year Old: 18 1/2 lbs

2 Years Old: 25 1/2 lbs

Jane has always loved climbing in between these arches

She has never been a heavy weight partially because she won't sit still long enough to eat a big meal. She was that way when she was nursing. It didn't change when she stopped nursing and went to all table food and cows milk either. She's almost always moving when she's awake and I think it keeps her slender, but not too thin.

That's her swimsuit she's carrying around. :)

Height

Birth: 21 inches

1 Year Old: 28 1/4 inches

2 Years Old: 32 3/4 inches

Same dress as above. I love to watch her grow!

Jane has stayed pretty close to the middle on the percentiles of the average height for her age. I kinda feel like she'll be a petite person like myself, but who knows, she could end up being tall like her daddy. We'll have to wait and see!

Love that smile!

Her head has finally come to be pretty proportionate to the rest of her body. :)

Hangin out with Atlas

She has 15 (almost 16) teeth! That's a big change from the 3 teeth she had on her first birthday.

Firsts!

Jane asked her first "Why?" just the other day! Which I think is a pretty big deal. I know it is the first of countless more! My mom was taking Jane to my mom's parents house for a visit while I got to stay home and get a few things done with just one kid to worry about. They were about to leave and she said, "mommy go!" I said, "No, I'm staying home today." and she asked "Why?" Of course, I didn't have an answer that she could totally understand, so she said "Why?" again. I told her I needed to get somethings done and she soon left with no fussing, but probably a lingering "why" in her head. She knows more words than I can count even though I have trouble understanding one word from another sometimes, because so many sound similar. She will finally repeat words after me and can say at least 8 different colors pretty well! She will surprise me with words that she knows. Like when we were at my parents a few weeks ago she grabbed my hand and took me over to the side of the pool and said "Buoboo!" It sounded like a cross between bug and booboo. I asked her if she saw a bug, there were a bunch of mosquitoes over there because of the rain we had recently. She frowned and said it again. I asked if she got a booboo she said no. I asked my dad if he said anything to her about that area and he said he told her it was bamboo plants. OH! of course you were showing me the bamboo on the side of the pool. I had no idea she had ever heard that word, so I didn't expect her to be saying it! I've heard that two year olds learn about 5 new words a day. I believe it!

Steadly walking - 12 months

Big swing - 13 months

Running - 14 months

Falling asleep on the floor - 15 months

Video Game - 15 months

Anime! - 15 months

Ponytail - 16 months

Playing dress up - 17 months

Trip to the Library - 17 months

Pretending to talk on the phone - 18 months

Playing in leaves - 19 months

Washing the car - 20 months

Playing with dirt - 20 months

Sibling - 21 months

Tire swing - 21 months

Wearing mom's jewelry - 22 months

Toddler bed - 22 months

Swimming on her own - 23 months

Favorites

First time in a booster seat here.

Her favorite food is Mac & Cheese. Other favorites include, strawberries, hot dogs, pizza, cheetos, fruit snacks, ranch dressing, meatballs and marinara. She will eat a whole can of sliced olives if I let her.

Yay books!

Her favorite books seem to change on a weekly basis. Her current favorite is Creaky Old House. Other recent favorites have been Panda Club's Tree House, Dr Seuss ABC, October the Octopus, Berenstain Bears-Soccer Tryouts, Learn to Share, and Goodnight. She loves books and loves to read them in her bed with me or in the glider before bed.

Bah! I just love her hair in this photo.

Her favorite toy at the moment is hard to say... toys have never been a big thing with her. But she does like to play with her elephant train a lot and she's always liked her talking puppy and toy house. Running around on the driveway with her toy strollers was a favorite for a long time.

Watching Team Umizoomi

Her favorite TV show varies from time to time and has changed from Blues Clues to Daniel Tiger to Team Umizoomi and the most recent favorite Doc McStuffins.

Picking out Frozen!

Her favorite movie is undisputedly Frozen! She will pick it out time after time. She loves her Frozen bedding and any Frozen clothes she owns. Tangled is a distant second but she does like it a lot too because one week she said no to Frozen a few times and wanted to watch Tangled instead, but went back to Frozen the next week. She really liked Guardians of the Galaxy when she watched it the first time, but didn't sleep well that night and seemed scared, so we'll have to wait on those kind of movies for a while.

Look at those smiles!

Her favorite activity is to swim in Marmee and Pappaw's pool. Jumping on the trampoline takes second place.

She's gotten so good at jumping!

She continues to love people and is excited to try just about anything! She'll see someone doing something that interests her and start saying, "my turn, my turn, my turn!" She loves music and will sing and dance when it comes on. She is a girly girl and loves shoes, jewelry, purses and dresses. But she's kind of a tomboy too and loves to play anything that involves a ball and likes to play in the dirt. She still loves to be outside more than anything, but TV is becoming a big favorite and might watch it all day if I let her. She likes to play games on my iPod, but it's a special activity that she only gets to do when Atlas is nursing or when we're on a long car ride. She loves the park! In fact her biggest meltdown ever was when we had to leave the park one time. (most of the time she leaves without any problems.)

Climb, Jane, Climb!

It's so fun to watch Jane grow up! I'm continually trying to not wish her older or younger than she is and enjoy every age as it happens. I'm loving getting to watch her mature and learn something new everyday. It's amazing. So glad God blessed me with her and made me a mom. Happy 2nd Birthday girlie! We love you so much.

This is me attempting to get her to sit in the chair for a
picture...  I guess she's graduated to climbing trees!

She'll pose for a picture if her new horse, Max, is in
the chair instead. :)

Matthew 23:27-28

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness

Romans 5:8

But God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Mother of two, Family of four

We did it! We made it through our first month of having two kids to take care of! It has been a month of growing in love, learning more patience and exercising grace. There have been moments of immeasurable joy and moments of sleep deprived helplessness. God has sustained me through it all. At this moment, I'm lying in my bed, it's midnight, I haven't slept at all and I am nursing my one month old who has been refusing/resisting sleep for the past 4 hours. I'm also thinking about the fact that he will wake up at least two more times before my almost two year old wakes up around 7:30am ready to play. All of this has me wondering, "How in the world will I have enough sleep to get me through tomorrow?" The answer, I know all to well from experience, is God. He gives me the patience I need when I'm exhausted and my toddler won't stop trying to touch her little brother with her feet or the energy I need to chase and tickle that same energetic toddler through the backyard so she can feel a sense of normalcy in the midst of change.

Family nap time!

Update, I made it through the night! Atlas finally started sleeping at 12:30am. He would not settle for sleeping anywhere but in bed right next to me. He did wake up a couple of times through the night but went back to sleep easily. Jane woke up at 7:45am like I thought she would. Of course, thanks to God I feel pretty rested for about 5 hours of sleep. Now we're sitting on the couch while Jane watches Team Umizoomi and I nurse Atlas. I feel some mom guilt about letting Jane watch TV almost every time I nurse Atlas, but it's the only way I can get her to leave him alone while I nurse him and not be crying asking me to play with her. She doesn't quite understand the concept of "later" or "in just a few minutes" yet. So when I tell her I need to focus on Atlas right then and we can play later she doesn't really understand and gets upset or she understands the focus on Atlas part and tries to help by holding his hand or something, but it always ends up causing Atlas to stop nursing. I try to keep the TV shows educational, like Team Umizoomi, Daniel Tiger or Blues Clues. Anyone have suggestions for shows that are educational or teach social problem solving and the like that also don't drive adults crazy? :) 

Working while the kids sleep

Watching some TV is also how I am able to still work a couple of hours these days. I let Jane watch about an hour of TV so I can work for about an hour in the mornings then I work an hour or so in the afternoon while Jane naps. I actually think some TV is partially a good thing because sometimes Jane will do something (like say a new word or do a new action) and I'll wonder where she learned it then we'll watch one of her shows and I realize she learned it from the show. That also means I need to really careful about what she is watching and what it's trying to teach her. She's a little sponge right now!

Going on our first walk in the double stroller

Let me move past my mom guilt about TV and summarize, as best I can, the last month. I took Atlas for his first check up at 4 days old. He had only lost about 4% of his birth weight which was great! That meant he was nursing well, but the doctor said he had a pretty severe tongue tie that we should probably get clipped. I had been having more pain while nursing than with Jane and he seemed to have some trouble staying latched. The doctor also said if we didn't get it clipped it might cause speech problems later on. So I agreed we should schedule the procedure. I was a little sad we had to have it done. I know it's a pretty minor thing to be wrong, but any medical procedure done on a newborn feels scary. He had it clipped when he was 10 days old and It really was no big deal. It was done in 2 seconds and barely bled at all and he nursed immediately afterwards and was perfectly fine. He might have seemed just a tad more fussy the next day, but not too bad. I was more comfortable nursing and he seemed to be able to nurse better as well. So I'm happy we went ahead and did it. 

Trying my hand at a Pinterest idea. Birth stats.

Atlas had his 2 week check up and was still growing well! He had gained a pound over his birth weight and had grown half an inch already! His length measured in the 97th percentile. Maybe he's going to be tall like his daddy. :)

Right after his two week appointment 

2 weeks postpartum and feeling good!

My recovery was so much easier and faster than with Jane! I felt pretty normal after just a couple of days, but I still made myself relax and take it easy for a couple of weeks. I had the help, so I may as well take advantage of it while I had the chance! Atlas was born on a Friday which was convenient because then Sam and my mom were off for the weekend to help. Sam took off work the first week after Atlas was born to help me. It was a great bonding week for our new family of four. We watched a lot of kids movies together and napped on the couch. Jane got a lot of quality dad time! Sandra and Charlie babysat Jane a couple mornings so we could all get a nap in. Sandra brought us dinner a couple of nights as well. The second week, when Sam went back to work, my mom took off to help. My mom cleaned my house for me that week. She's cool like that. She also took Jane over to her house or to the library some days so Atlas and I could have some one on one time. It was a nice two weeks of rest and transition.

Giving Atlas a kiss while holding him for the first time

We are definitely still in the middle of transitioning from having one child to having two. Juggling both of their needs can be quite the balancing act. I do feel like we're learning together and we are improving day by day. I have my meltdowns some days, but when I do I always feel like I come out the other side stronger and with a better perspective and much less likely to stress out over the same issue again. One of the things that will easily stress me out if I let it is wondering if each child is getting enough attention. Mostly because I remember how much time I was able to focus on Jane when she was a newborn and how I can't quite duplicate that with Atlas. Then I think of how much attention Jane was getting right before Atlas was born and how much that has decreased. I have to remind myself that there is no way I can give the the same amount of attention to two children that I previously gave to one and that is completely fine. I am encouraged by my mom who had two babies just a year apart and I never felt like I didn't get enough attention. I'm pretty sure my brother feels the same way. :) I will just keep doing my best to divide my time wisely and make sure each child gets some one on one time with me.

The life of a little brother is sometimes being a felt board.

Having a newborn and an almost two year old means I don't have the time to do all the things I would like to do. Obviously, my blog has taken a hit. I used to blog after Jane would go to bed. Now as soon as Jane's in bed, Atlas starts to get restless and fussy until almost midnight and some nights it lasts until after midnight. So I'm writing this on my iPod Touch while Atlas nurses. It takes me a while to get a post together, but at least I got something! During these newborn weeks it feels like I don't have any time for myself, (mostly because almost anytime they are both asleep I am trying to work) but it is all worth it! The good times far outweigh the difficult times. Plus I know Atlas won't ever be a newborn again, so I am trying to soak it up and not let my selfishness get in the way of enjoying my kids. Satan is really good at trying to make the frustrating moments steal my joy. I am praying for strength every day to resist the temptation to be irritated and to stay calm and love this time while my kids are so little.

Jane on top and Atlas on the bottom both, 4 weeks old

Here are a few highlights from our first month. These are the moments that make the difficult times fade away. A family nap on the couch while watching Frozen with Atlas just days old. Atlas holding Jane's hand for the first time. Jane holding Atlas for the first time. Going for walks together with the double stroller in the beautiful spring weather. Braving the grocery store with two under two for the first time and making it through the whole trip without anyone crying! Working from home with Atlas napping in his bouncer and Jane napping on my lap.  Atlas sleeping 6 hours straight at night and Jane not waking up until 8:30am! (sweet sleep!!) Swinging Jane on the tire swing, chasing her around the backyard and blowing bubbles while Atlas contently watches from his bouncer. Jane trying to breastfeed Atlas. :D

Love cuddling my kids!

God is so good to us. He has fulfilled my dream of being a wife and a mother with an awesome husband and two wonderful kids. I can't praise Him enough!!

Mark 10:13-16

Then they brought little children to him, that he might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was greatly displeased and said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it." And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.