Something Cute

Just had to share a cute toddler moment--

Jayson had a very active day today and was outside all day until he crashed around 4pm. He slept for about 2 1/2 hours so it's pretty much a guarantee that he will be awake late tonight.

Well, it's 9:45 pm and I was just trying to convince him that he wanted to go to bed and he is trying to convince me to do everything else besides sleep. 

So, he is listing off things that we could do instead of go to bed like, "Let's watch The Incredibles," and "Let's go read books in Mommy's bed" etc etc and apparently JJ has found my weak spot--he knows who I'm voting for in the fall and he said in an adorable sing-song voice, "We can go watch Marack O'Mama..." Well that's the way to my heart. No bed for him!

On another fun note--JJ has become fast friends w/ the twins down the street and spends every waking minute w/ them--they are 6 and play on a hockey team and JJ seems to now be enamored w/ the sport. I don't know if I would pick hockey as the sport I would want my child to play but it's great to watch his interests develop and to see who he is and who he will become. It's just so darn  cute to watch this three year old carrying a hockey stick around and trying to score goals in driveway hockey games :)

ommmmmmm....

I saw this meditation on another blog and I just loved it--it sums up everything I should be trying to achieve everyday:

"Four Meditations"

My job is not to be perfect.

My job is to participate in the evolution of consciousness.

My job is not to provide a perfect life for my child.

My job is to support him while his own resources are awakening.

When I am strong, I contribute to the Universal Mother. 

When I am weak, I call upon Her.

I have more resources than my mother; I do not judge her.

My daughter will have more resources than me; I do not judge myself.

~Holly Keinath Eckert

Cooing :)

Kayley LOVES to coo and talk:)

Mike and Kayley have a special bond--they take turns "talking" to each other--she will only do this w/ her daddy!
(Just try not to have motion sickness, sorry!)

Wedding Fun

We had a great time in Pennsylvania! Both kids did great on the 6 hour drive--Kayley slept 2/3 of the way there and then was awake and content the rest of the way. The same happened on the way home. JJ played w/ his little action figures, sang songs, and watched movies. It really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be (if you ignore the breastfeeding at the rest stop w/ people coming up to the car to see the cute baby...oy.) 

JJ loved staying in the hotel--and his grandmother taught him to jump from one bed to the other...we are still trying to "unlearn" that one at home! 

It was great to see so many members of Mike's family-- JJ really liked playing w/ his older cousins. And as usual, JJ was the life of the party at the reception and stayed on the dance floor the entire night! And everyone loved Kayley--she was so well behaved and never fussed or cried!

**More wedding photos are on our shutterfly website**

Let's Get Physical...

JJ has decided that his "swimmies" make much better leg warmers...

ONLY MY LUCK.

Ok, seriously? Sharon Stone and her crappy Karma need to leave me alone!

I got a RANDOM voice mail today on my new cell phone--some guy telling me that he saw my profile on the internet and that if I wanted to take a ride over to Niagara Falls to meet him to feel free, blah blah blah and I just about freaked. 

The only thing I could think of was that I just sent my new contact info out to everyone and this was a joke being played by one of the Elmira gals. But, alas no...I was wrong...

I googled my cell number and apparently the previous owner of my number was an adult entertainment venue in Rochy. Perfect. 

ARG!

If it wasn't happening to me, I would think this is hilarious.

2 Month Check up :)

Kayley had her first real check up today--and she's so healthy!
Her head circumference is at the 50th percentile, her weight is in the 75th percentile at 12 pounds and her length is in the 90th percentile! She is ridiculously long...
She got three shots so she's a bit cranky but that's it!

What Would Sharon Stone Say About Me...

So my Karma sucks pretty bad lately...
The kids are getting healthier...finally...JJ still has a bit of a cough and runny nose but that's it. My allergies are killing me--I'm not really sure what I can take while nursing so I haven't been taking anything...any ideas?

Yesterday I had planned on donating my hair to "locks of love" but I decided not to at the last minute. I figured it's summer and I really don't want to style my hair while I'm home w/ the kids so I will wait until I go back to school in the fall to cut it off. Well, somebody upstairs didn't like that idea--I ended up w/ a crappy cut (people trying to hide weight in their faces should not get layers...), crappy hair color (you can't even see it) and the girl who cuts my hair raised her rate fifteen dollars since the last time I was there. So I paid more for something I really don't like!

Then, driving home, Mike paged me and told me that the house door was locked
because he was showering, Kayley was sleeping and JJ was watching a movie. Well I didn't have a house key. So I paged him and told him to wait and when I arrived 2 minutes later, guess what? The door was locked.
So, dumb ass here decided to pound on the door hoping my deaf hubby could hear me. Well, I put my fist through the glass in the door. Note to self: DO NOT bang on glass windows in doors. They break.
I was really lucky--I have a few cuts but that's it. But glass went EVERYWHERE. Because it was the side door into the back hall, there was glass inside every pair of shoes in the hallway, every jacket--it even shattered and sprayed glass into the kitchen and bathroom. Ugh.
So, I spent every available minute last night cleaning--JJ doesn't wear socks or shoes in the house so I'm terrified he is going to step on a sliver of glass.

Mike fixed the door today (who knew he knew how to replace glass in windows?? So handy...) and everything is all clean and my hand is healing so THAT'S IT. No more bad karma please!! I will be nice and patient and positive from now on!!

We leave tomorrow for Pennsylvania for the weekend--Mike's niece is getting married so it's Kayley's first trip and hotel stay! I don't think she will remember it at 2 months old but oh well... Will post pictures when we get home--JJ and Kayley are wearing SUCH cute outfits! That's the real reason people have kids right?? To dress them up? Thought so.

Rockin' With Laurie Berkner

JJ is still sick, but we bought tickets a few weeks ago to go see The Laurie Berkner Band for a "JJ only day!" So he braved his sickness and rocked out w/ his bad self!
My mom watched Kayley, while Mike and I took JJ and Kevin and Lisa brought Emma and we had a fun afternoon! We had ok seats (at least we had "under the roof" seats and not lawn seats--it was 90 degrees and humid) so we moved down closer to the front and JJ spent the whole time in the "baby mosh pit" :)
So, this has to go in the baby book right? First concert!

SICK!

You might not be able to tell from this photo but we are one sick bunch over here...

I thought it was bad last week when both kids had disgusting colds and JJ had ear infections but ohhhhhh nooooo...

Now, Kayley is having some problems and has started bleeding--we are trying a dairy free diet to see if the bleeding is caused by digestive problems. So far, it looks like that is it--so no more dairy for me--AGH. I'm ADDICTED to cheese so this will be a challenging time for me. Please keep the dairy-free prayers of patience coming my way ;)

JJ stopped his antibiotics for his ear last Thursday and by Friday he had a cough...now he has a wicked fever and a horrible cough. I will take a junkie cough over a junkie nose any day tho...sorry, trying to find my blessings where I can!

And Mike went to NJ to visit his mother who has been sick. At first I felt guilty about not going with him but now I am thankful--I wouldn't want to have two sick kids so far from home--we have been living at the doctors office!

So a single parent weekend w/ two sick kids...I have truly proven that God never gives you more than you can handle, because I survived!

Mike will be home this afternoon, JJ is upstairs lying in our bed watching tv, and Kayley is of course lying on her changing table chatting w/ the bears :) 

I told Mike that when he gets home I only need about 30 minutes by myself w/ no sick kids hanging on me--it's 80 and gorgeous here so I just want to sit outside and re-group and re-center!

Kayley's Favorite Pastime

I know life isn't very exciting at 7 weeks but you would think this girl won the jackpot with the way she carries on!
She LOVES to talk to the teddy bears on the mobile above the pack n play changing table in the living room... She could lay there all day!!

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a great long weekend!

JJ had his first birthday party at Build-a-Bear, and we spent Monday w/ my dad and Cheryl and Steph and her family. JJ LOVES the pool--I can't wait till summer is truly here so we can swim everyday!

Hope you all had a great weekend :)

Pandora Music

Hey--great website for free music--

www.pandora.com

you can create your own stations by artist or song and Pandora will create a station with similar artists and genres. I really like it; nice "noise" while I'm working on the laptop--and did I mention it is free??

Here's my Pandora page:

www.pandora.com/people/lrivera98

you can see my stations, favorite songs, etc.

enjoy!

Six Weeks

Here is Kayley at six weeks old--all alert and social!

There is also an appearance made by Batman :)

Our Weekend Visitors

Julie and Tova (otherwise known in our house as "Jetplane"...don't ask...) came over to visit during their Rochester trip. The kids had such a good time playing together; they are one year apart and they got along really well! The popular game of the day was "let's shove each other down the slide 5 million times" :)

And most important, Julie got to eat Dibellas! YUM!

Our Final Pregnancy/New Baby Pictures

I am SO blessed!

Just an update from our end--

It's been 4 weeks since we became a family of four and we are all doing GREAT!

Jayson has gotten used to his new role as big brother; he had a bit of a tough go when we first came home--he didn't like how much attention I gave the baby w/ feedings and it didn't matter what I said to him, the answer was NO!

But now, we are all doing well w/ our new roles--JJ still goes to preschool 2 days a week and music class at Eastman on Saturdays. When he is not doing that, he is home w/ Mommy! I LOVE staying home! I will have to go back to work for two weeks (June 16th-27th) but it's Regents week so at least I won't have to do any formal teaching :) Then I'm staying home for the whole summer! We will be on a tight budget but I'm so glad that we were able to save some $$ to make this possible. 

I'm feeling great--I had to learn to "check myself" and listen to my body so when I feel like I'm doing too much, I just need to take it easy. But recovery has been great--so much better than my experience with the first c-section. 

Kayley is such a good baby--she really never cries; just fusses when she is hungry or uncomfortable. She is so alert and loves to look around all of the time. She is also on an awesome schedule! I think God said, "let's not give this girl more than she can handle..." so JJ is in bed by 7:30-8:00 every night and Kayley is asleep by 9ish. Then Kayley wakes up to eat at around 12:30am and 4:30am. Then, THE BEST PART, everyone sleeps until 8:30am! JJ, Kayley and I all get up together at 8:30 for breakfast :) It's awesome! I really don't feel that sleep deprived anymore and I'm sure that is helping w/ my more positive outlook! 

We have also been blessed w/ Mike having a lot of side jobs coming in for painting--he is pretty much booked for the rest of May and he has other people that need estimates so that means extra summer money for us :) He is very busy and gone more often but he is being a great provider for our family.

That's all from our end, hope all is well w/ you!! Happy soon-to-be Summer!

Our First Family Picture!

Are you kidding me?

So, only a true dumb ass can end up on bed rest after having a baby...

I over-did it when I got home and my doctor put me on bed rest--basically she told me to put my feet up and only take care of the baby. Which selfishly is nice, but it's pretty unrealistic. 

It's completely my fault because I was so excited to be home; wanted to spend time w/ JJ,  wanted to prove I could balance two kids' needs, wanted to be outside because it has been so gorgeous, and wanted to start losing the weight that I have left over. Well, at 2 weeks post-partum my body said, "You are on crack, right?" and put a halt to my ambitions. 

So, now I'm trying very hard to take it easy and pay attention to what my body is telling me. It's hard for me to slow down but I have to let some things go--like doing the laundry, going for walks outside and running errands. Thank goodness Mike has been so helpful. We had a very trying week b/c he had to work nights this week--so he would leave around 9:30pm, work all night, be home by 7:30am to get JJ ready for school and then attempt to sleep for a few hours until JJ had to be picked up at 11am. The lack of sleep was very tough on him and the lack of support through the night and part of the day was tough for me. Luckily, after I was put on bed rest, Ashley was able to come yesterday and today to take JJ to the park and the beach and help me clean up the house. I'm so glad that Mike's schedule will go back to normal next week!

Spring!

We are loving (oddly) warm weather here! JJ is all set for the summer w/ his gadgets--he loves his tractor and he just got a new bike. Such a big boy! 

Kayley is doing well; she is so strong and independent for only 2 weeks old--she picks her head up and likes to be awake a lot during the day--she doesn't want to miss a thing!

Pixs above:

JJ and his tractor

JJ and his new bike

Kayley

JJ reading to Kayley :)