J.A.B.

Introducing.....

John Allen Butler, my newest little nephew.  (I can't believe I have six - soon to be seven! - nephews!).  Isn't he the sweetest little boy you've ever seen?  I love the name, and I LOVE the face (those lips!).  He looks exactly like Emma's other two kids did when they were first born, I can't believe it.  I wish I was there to snuggle with him (it almost makes me want another one!).  What a blessing he is.

I've talked to Emma pretty frequently this week as she was preparing for the birth, and I couldn't stop thinking about how amazing my little sister is.  I've known it for a while, but I want to say publicly that Emma is the kindest, most patient, loving, and generous person I know.  She is an incredible mom, and she loves motherhood.  I was especially touched by her post that she wrote last week as she was anticipating baby #3.  Having two kids is big for me, but Emma doesn't even seem to bat an eye when she says she wants lot of kids - and I believe she should have lots of kids because I can't think of a better person for a child to call "mom".  She even blogged from the hospital (while she was in labor!) about the blessings of motherhood.  (I don't think many women would be thinking about that between contractions!)  She is beautiful inside & out.  Emma and John are so generous with their time, their money, & everything else they are blessed with.  Emma is in the Young Womens program at Church and I hope her girls know just how lucky they are to have her as an example. I am always impressed by Emma & even though she is my little sister, I know I will always look up to her.

John & Emma... isn't she gorgeous?

PS - Emma, you can pay me for this post via Paypal or personal check. Thx.

Lunchtime

Lunch is late today.

Ellie napped for 3.5 hours this morning, fighting a fever and runny nose.  I finally woke her up at 1pm to eat lunch, and I hope that she'll sleep again this afternoon.  Usually her second nap starts about now.  We'll see.

I stand in the kitchen, unloading the dishwasher as I watch the girls eat.  The kitchen is so small that I can pretty much put everything away without moving my feet.  I reload the dishwasher with the dirty dishes from the sink (and the dishes that didn't get clean the first time around), and wonder how in the world a family of 4 needs the dishwasher run every single day... sometimes twice.  Kind of embarrassing and wasteful.

The girls are eating leftover rice and beans, and apple slices.  I keep a close eye because I'm paranoid about choking.  George Strait music is playing on the computer speakers.  I glance at the clock for probably the 8th time in the last 30 minutes.  Garrett left for work at 7am yesterday morning, and 31 hours later is still not home from his shift.  I was expecting him home 2 hours ago, so I'm anxious, but in some ways it's easier if he's not home.  When he gets here, he'll need to sleep and I'll have to keep the girls quiet which is not a fun (or easy) chore.

I eat a sandwich... turkey, lettuce, pickle, avocado, red onion, tomato, homemade hummus, on a toasted whole wheat bagel thin.  Delicious.  It's even better with red & yellow & orange peppers but we're out.

Abby finishes her lunch, so I give her a pudding cup with express directions please do not give any to Ellie - she needs to finish her lunch first.  Thirty seconds later I glance at the table, and both girls have pudding-covered lips, giggling.  Ellie has a plate full of apples that will not get eaten now, and Abby is spooning another large helping of pudding into Ellie's mouth.

After lunch we will read some books, straighten up the house (a chore that is never done for long), and hopefully run some errands once Garrett (and the car) is returned home.  A typical lunchtime here.

Hot in here

It was really hot today.  And that doesn't even begin to describe how bad the humidity was...

Superlatives

Abby, 4 July 2010

Favorite food: Quesadillas, hot dogs,
Favorite movie: Lady and the Tramp (this week, anyway... she only has 3 movies though, so it's not hard to choose one!).  She also thinks she loves "Dumbo" and "The Little Mermaid", but really she has only seen the previews.
Favorite color: purple
Favorite activities: sidewalk chalk, playdough, cutting paper with her new scissors, making necklaces with beads, pretending, going running (riding in her stroller), going to the park, playing with Ellie and Janey, getting herself dressed, brushing her teeth (as we brush her teeth, we have to list all the foods we are brushing off her teeth, i.e. everything she ate that day.  She never forgets a thing!  Right down to the mustard and ketchup on her hot dog)
Favorite songs: I am a Child of God, Popcorn Popping, The Wise Man and the Foolish Man, Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam
Vices: Not cleaning up her toys, running away from me when I call her, snatching toys away from Ellie
Funny quotes/sayings: 

"Mom, let's play that you are the Mommy, I am the Abby, and Ellie is the baby." Okaayy...

Today I threw on Garrett's t-shirt and while we were making breakfast she said, "Mom, that's Daddy's shirt when he goes to the beach.  You can borrow it though."  Um, thanks. [I put on the shirt that Garrett wore to the beach several weeks ago.  She has a great memory]

Just the other day, Abby put a stick in her mouth and said, "Look Mom, smoke is coming out of my mouth".  I don't know where that came from and she only did it for a second so I didn't have a chance to say anything.  I'm waiting to see if she will do it again; if she does, I'll talk to her about it.  I have noticed that a lot of people smoke around here, so it makes sense that she would pick up on that.

In other news... I made this birthday banner for Ellie's birthday a few weeks ago.  I wanted to make a cute girly one but decided to keep it neutral so I wouldn't have to make a new one when (if?) we have any boys someday.

My single/double/jogger stroller

So, I've gotten a lot of questions about my new stroller so I'm dedicating a whole post to it!  Yes, I love it that much, too. :)

The stroller brand is Phil & Teds.  It's called an "inline" stroller because it takes up the space of a single stroller but it can also be a double.  This is Ellie in the single-mode.  This seat holds a toddler up to 55 lbs.

If you have an infant that can't sit up yet, the seat fully reclines (with the help of some snaps and zippers) so they can lay down (for some reason I think it looks like she is only partially laying down, but she is completely reclined -- and not too happy about it, haha):

Now, say you have an infant and a toddler.  No problem!  You can take off that bar across the front and pop the jump seat into the clips from the bar:

If you look carefully you can see Ellie's toes under there by Abby's left leg.  Ellie is laying down and Abby is sitting in front.  Here's another shot:

Ellie is still laying down and Abby is sitting in front/on top of her.  The jump seat in the front position holds a toddler up to 44 lbs.

But of course, Ellie isn't an infant anymore so she likes to sit up most of the time.  This is the configuration we usually have the stroller in:

Ellie is sitting in the jump seat in the back (in this position it holds up to 33 lbs) and Abby is sitting in the main stroller seat.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this stroller!  Even though it's not really advertised as a jogging stroller, we take it out running about 3-4 times a week.  I know other people run with it too (I think it's not technically a jogger because the tires are too small?  I don't really know though).  The front wheel can either be in a swivel setting or it can be locked.

The handlebar can be adjusted higher or lower depending on who is pushing it.

There is undercarriage storage down under the main seat, by Ellie's feet in the last picture.  It's enough storage for whatever we've needed, but if Ellie was much taller it would be harder to store much (her legs don't go past the seat right now).

Lots of people wonder if your shins hit the rider in the lower seat.  I have never had that problem and I don't think Garrett has either.  The seat can recline a little bit, so that makes it stick out in the back a bit more.  I tried that out once and I did have to consciously avoid hitting my shins, but it really wasn't a big deal.

I got rid of my old single stroller, which freed up some space in our closet.

There are a few cons:

-It's expensive.

-The sun shade is pretty pathetic.

-Sometimes I worry that it will get stolen because it is so cool. (haha... seriously though)

-There are no cup holders or snack trays.  I do miss this from my other stroller.  Phil & Teds does sell accessories for the stroller (a nice sun shade, cup holders, rain covers, etc) but obviously those are all additional costs.  You'd think that for the price of the stroller some of these extras would be standard but they are not.  I don't really see myself needing any extras besides maybe the cup holder or a snack tray for the kids.  Maybe.

-You CAN hook a car seat into the front seat, but there is an attachment that you "need".  It's $40 or something (cheaper on ebay) but I did read a review once where someone said they were able to put the carseat in without the attachment and never had a problem with it.  I assume you just recline the seat back and  put the car seat in that area.  I'm sure I'll try that route with our next baby.

-And probably the biggest con (but still not a huge deal) is that you have to take off the back jump seat before folding it up (it folds very well, by the way, and takes up only a little space in our small front closet).  Apparently you can fold it up if the jump seat is in the front but I haven't tried that yet.  So, there are two parts to carry around when you bring it out to the car.  Not a big deal, but it would be nice if it was just one piece.

And those are the only cons... definitely nothing that was a deal breaker!

Phil & Teds offers 5 different inline strollers: the classic, sport, dash, hammerhead, and vibe.  I got the sport version.  The classic is the cheapest but it only comes in bright red and I'm sorry, but I really don't like that much red!  I don't know much about any of the other types because they are a lot more expensive than the sport & classic and don't offer many additional perks.  The only real difference that I know of is that with the "vibe" you can fold it with the jump seat still attached in the back.

I bought my stroller on ebay.  I'd been searching for months on Craigslist and on ebay.  I had also been looking on Craiglook.com, which is a site that allows you to search ALL Craigslists in all cities.  Back when Garrett was interviewing all over the country I tried to find one where he'd be so that he could bring it home to me, but I never did find anything. :)

So, a few weeks ago I saw a navy blue sport version on ebay.  It was brand new in the box and it only had 7 hours left on it, and no one had bid on it (and, it was in the color I had been wanting, which was a huge bonus)!  For some reason, the seller didn't post a picture so I think that people were overlooking it... there were strollers in the exact same brand/color for sale at the same time that already had at 15 bids on them, but this one was completely left alone. I bid on it with one minute left and I won!  It was from a legitimate seller (they had 300+ sales), the shipping was free, and I didn't pay any taxes.  Score!  And, the jump seat was included (they are sometimes sold separately and are pricey of course).  Since I bought this stroller (and even beforehand), I have never seen this stroller sell for this cheap on ebay so I really got lucky.  I mean, it was still pricey, but not like they usually are.  (To give you an idea, on the Phil & Teds website, the stroller I have retails for $529 with the jump seat included, but that's before taxes and shipping.  Since it's from the retailer, this is the most expensive price. You should be able to find them cheaper than this at most places).

Here's a link to Phil & Teds strollers on ebay right now.  In fact there is a navy sport listed right now with no picture... only 7 hours left! :)  From the same seller I bought mine from.

365.

Our little Ellie Bean turned ONE on July 1.  In true second-child fashion, we did nothing to celebrate.

Just kidding. Sort of.

Both the kids were sick that week though, so we didn't do anything too big.  We sang Happy Birthday, played games, and we went running that evening and then took the kids to the park.  Garrett snapped some pictures of the birthday girl.  It was low-key but fun to be together as a family, and the weather was great.

Ellie's first year was quite a roller coaster... for me.  Adding a second child to our family was pretty overwhelming for me and I struggled quite a bit.  It didn't help that she had failure to thrive from the start.  She lost over a pound after her birth, weighing in at 5 lbs 5 oz at her 1 week appointment.  For a long time, she had weekly doctor's appointments to make sure she was gaining weight and getting healthy.  I remember sitting in the doctor's office week after week, praying that she had gained a few ounces.

I always assumed that all my kids would be 100% breastfed for the first few months, and that I would breastfeed until 1 year (or more).  Abby was perfect in that regard, and I always assumed that the rest of my kids would be, too.  Ellie hated it from the start.  So, we tried bottles and that seemed to work.  I, however, was insistent that my child only have breast milk (you know, the BEST) so I decided to pump until she got used to breastfeeding.  And since Ellie was to eat every TWO hours (remember, failure to thrive), I would try to breast feed (20 minutes), then we'd resort to the bottle (20 minutes), and then I would go pump for the next  feeding (20 minutes).  60-90 minutes later we'd start all over again.  It was a hard time and it lasted for about two months.  Finally, my mom convinced me to supplement with formula (she convinced me by saying that my brother Mike was on formula starting at 2 weeks, and "look, he's normal".  Um, not really but okay.... just kidding, Mike).  Anyway, it was a hard decision for me and I felt like I had failed big time.  I remember giving Ellie her first bottle of formula and just crying because I felt like I was a bad mother.  Ellie, on the other hand, loved it and we never looked back.  At six months I gave up breastfeeding altogether and she was on formula-only from then on.

Ellie has been doing great health-wise since those first few months.  She still small (she weighed a whopping 17 lbs on her first birthday) but Abby was petite too.  It sure makes it easy on me!

Ellie has the cutest little grin and loves to make people laugh.  When we are sitting at the dinner table, if her foot ever touches someone else she just starts laughing and grinning.  She loves to tease.

She is a FAST crawler and has recently started to stand alone for a few seconds at a time. No walking yet but I think it will come in the next couple of weeks.

She still only really says one word - "Dada" - but she's started to be a little more verbal and you can tell that she is trying to speak sometimes.  She likes when we say "Ready, set..." and she'll make a noise and you can tell she is trying to say "go!"

Ellie loves her big sister.  She mimics her actions, and she tries to mimic what Abby is saying too.  It's the cutest thing to see them playing together and enjoying each other (when Abby is not taking toys away from her).

Ellie is very stubborn.  She knows what she wants and will whine and/or cry until you give it to her.  When she gets mad she puts her head down on the floor and starts screeching.  She also likes to bang her head into things, especially when she is mad.  Like any 1-year-old, she puts everything in her mouth, which is really annoying (Abby never did that so I am not used to that).  She is also a pickier eater than Abby ever was, so it's hard to know what to feed her!

We love our little Ellie and we are so glad she came into our family.  Happy Birthday, Ellie!

Let's talk about me.

I am 99% sure that in this picture I am telling Abby to "share" her Care Bear with Ellie.

Taken 7.4.10, waiting for the fireworks to start.

Since this is my blog, I'm going to take this time to grace you all with my random thoughts and things that have going on with me lately..... feel free to skip this post if you only read my blog for the kid stories/pictures (mom + dad).

• I am pleasantly surprised with our apartment.  As you know I was very nervous about moving to an apartment because I've only ever lived in one once, when I was in college.  It was great then, but I was nervous about moving our family from a house to an apartment.  All in all, though, it's worked out really well.  Of course it has its downsides, and probably the biggest one (for me) is that there is a real lack of natural light in our home, which I really miss.  Our house in Augusta had great natural light (lots of windows/glass doors) and I miss that.
• I really, really, really want to decorate our house nicely. I want it to look put-together and coordinated and lovely.  After the kids go to bed I spend hours looking at pictures of house interiors and I love so many different things that I don't know where to start, which style I want to do, how to bring everything together, etc.  It's really frustrating.  Some days I want one thing, and then other days I want something different.  Or, there are some things I know I want, but Garrett isn't on board with them.  I also feel really stuck because of the things we have now.  I like some things we have, but most of them I could be happy to get rid of, but obviously we can't afford to just redo a whole room at once.  I just don't know how to decorate a room piece-by-piece.  I can't visualize a finished product unless I have everything in front of me.  Today I went to several stores looking for throw pillows in a desperate attempt to lighten up our apartment.  I saw a couple that were okay, but nothing I was visualizing beforehand.  Then I saw a couple that I really liked, but I was too afraid to buy them because I was afraid that it would force me into a certain "style" or certain colors for the rest of the room, and I wasn't ready to commit to that yet.  I'm so lame.  So anyway, I ended up leaving all the stores empty-handed because I was too afraid I would buy the wrong thing.
• Getting a paycheck is extremely exciting.  Garrett has gotten two paychecks so far and it feels so great to see money coming INTO our checking account... money that is OURS and not a loan!  AND, we don't have any tuition bills to pay... first time that's happened in the (almost) six years we've been married (BYU, then medical school). (SIX?? I'm old. Or, I got married really young.  Yeah, definitely the second one.)
• I am the Primary chorister at Church.  This means I am in charge of music time for the kids ages 3-11.  I also go into the nursery class and do a little music time with the 1-3 year-olds.  Last week I went in there for the first time, not really knowing what I was doing, so the teacher helped me out by telling me which songs they usually sing, etc.  "We have to start with this song," she told me.  So we started with a certain song that lists all the kids' names (I don't remember any of them), and then I asked what else they like.  "Ohh," she said, "they LOVE to sing 'The Wise Man and the Foolish Man.'"  "Ok," I said, "let's sing that."  So "we" sang that one and I say "we" in quotations because it was just me.  The kids just stared at me while I sang song after song that they apparently "LOVE to sing!!".  Fun.  
• We have been eating a lot of fish lately... Garrett goes fishing just about every Saturday morning and has been coming home with about 8-10 fish each week.  We've been making fish tacos, which are SO good!
• I've been working out like crazy lately... I am getting desperate to lose the last of this baby weight.  It's hard to say how much I have left to lose because my weight fluctuates so much.  I'd say I have about 5-6 lbs to lose in order to get down to my "best" pre-Ellie weight. (the weight I was when we went to Maui two years ago).  I'd love to lose another 10 lbs after that - that's the goal anyway.  We'll see.  It's just so frustrating!  I am pretty conscious about what I eat every single day - I am pretty careful and I rarely eat any sort of dessert or candy (sweets just aren't really my thing).  I also work out a lot.  Garrett and I have been going running about 3-4 times a week.  I don't run far, only a couple of miles, but it's been so hot that it's all I can handle!  On the days we don't run (and even sometimes on the days we do run) I also do a workout video here at home for 45 minutes or so.  It's just frustrating because you see tv shows of people who have to lose 8 lbs in a month or 6 lbs in two weeks, so they go to a "boot camp" type person who whips them into shape by making them go running, lift weights, and eat right.  And then at the end of three, weeks, the (enter random article of clothing here) fits! Um, hello, I've been working out regularly (and sometimes intensely) for the last 6 months and I would be thrilled to lose a pound a WEEK! I would be thrilled to drop ONE PANTS SIZE!  My body just does NOT lost weight easily.  It's really frustrating!  Granted, I am back in my pre-Ellie clothes but it's been a YEAR since she was born so I would hope so.
• In HAPPIER news... I finally, finally got the stroller that I have always wanted. (I know how that makes me sound.  I'm a mom, ok?).  This may sound dumb (ok, it does) but ever since Ellie was born I've been struggling with how to take the girls out and about.  I got a double stroller that was highly recommended, both online and by friends, but I just hated it!  It was incredibly hard to steer, it was heavy, it was bulky, and it was ugly. I felt like I was pushing a bus.  I just didn't like it at all, so I didn't use it much.  And thus, I didn't GO many places because I didn't want to carry around two little kids that wanted to be held and carried.  I really felt like this old stroller was holding me back from going out and doing things. Also, I hated that I had to have this huge double stroller and keep my single stroller... since we are living in an apartment that just couldn't happen. Enter: the new stroller.  This baby is awesome.  See, it's a single stroller at first glance.  However, when you have a second child, there is a jump seat that you add underneath the first seat, thus making it a double stroller.  A double stroller that pushes and feels like a single.  It's great!  My only regret is that I didn't buy it years ago when Abby was born (although the reality is, I couldn't have afforded it until now.  And I didn't know about it then.).  And before you go thinking I went out and spent all this money because Garrett is a doctor and suddenly has a paycheck... no.  I saved up my own money for a LONG time and bought it all on my own. :) Garrett would never have let me spend our "real" money so frivolously.  And just as a sidenote, this stroller also doubles as a jogging stroller, so that's how we've been able to go jogging together. Oh, and I bought it (new) on ebay, so I got a great deal and free shipping. ;)  So, for one price, I got a single stroller, a double stroller, and a jogging stroller all in one (for a cheaper price than your traditional top-of-the-line jogging stroller). I'll post pictures of it soon. I am completely in love with it, if you can't tell.  Best purchase I've ever made. Literally. (PS - Emma, last night I had a dream that you owned 32 different strollers.  Seriously-- they were all hanging on hooks in your garage.  All different brands, different types of strollers, etc.  It was insane.)
• And speaking of running with Garrett.... by the time I run 2.5 miles, he can run 3 miles pushing a stroller.  I am so slow. Oh well - I am okay with that.
• Most days I am car-less because Garrett takes my car to work.  His car has been giving him a lot of problems lately and while he is usually able to fix it, it's not something he can just get under the hood and fix.  The car actually has to be jacked up and he has to change his clothes.  So, it's pretty embarrassing for him to have to do that in the doctors' parking lot (plus it's difficult to do when people are parked next to you.  Plus, the last time he fixed his car he accidentally crossed some wires and gave himself third degree burns on his hands, so... needless to say we are on the lookout for a new car.   Well, new to us.  We'd be happy to buy a Camry with 100k miles on it.  It just needs to get him to and from work, and it needs to actually start up. :)  Of course, on days when I need the car I could just drive him to work, and that would work out pretty well on this rotation (ICU) but he starts his medicine rotation in August and that one's going to have some crazy hours.  I can't exactly pick him up at midnight, and I'd rather not get up at 5 a.m. and drag the kids into the car to drive him to work.  So, we'll see what works out.  The unfortunate thing about Virginia is that the cars have to pass inspections,  so we can't just drive a certain Rodeo with a cracked windshield that his parents currently have.  I supposed we could fix the windshield but frankly I think that that's the least of it's problems.  But hey, at least it starts, which is a lot more than we can say about Garrett's current car.

Anyway... more posts coming this week.  Ellie's birthday, fourth of July, new stroller, etc.