an update

this is just going to be a  bit of a hodgepodge of stories since I haven't really done an update in many months, just a bit what's been going on in our lives.
So Jocelyn is 7 months tomorrow and is crawling everywhere! well, not so much crawling on hands and knees but more of the worm dance move. where she uses her feet to move her but boy does she get where she needs to go. she also pulls herself up on things like no other. the fireplace, the ottoman, whatever is close by she can pull herself up and stand there for 2-3 minutes at a time. the other day she also tried to take a step while holding onto the ottoman. I'm not sure why she thinks she needs to be walking already but I'm so not ready for that. I'm just getting used to the crawling. My SIL says it's because she wants to play with the big kids and I am thinking that's pretty accurate. Any time her brother or one of the cousins is around she just stares at them and wants to go chasing after them. She's going to be trouble soon I am thinking.
Also she eats like a champ, so far I haven't given her anything that she refused to eat. She definitely has her favorites (peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, and turkey purees at the top of the list) but she seems to always be hungry. It's almost as if I can't give her enough during to the day to keep her asleep at night. She was waking up 2-3 times a night wanting formula on top of the 1-2 times I was feeding her. So after playing around with meal times and quantities I think we may have discovered what works best. She likes to eat 2-4 ounces of formula when she wakes up, then about a hour or so after waking up she eats yogurt or rice cereal/oatmeal and about half of a container of banana/pears/peaches puree. Then she likes another 4-6 ounces before naptime, takes a nap and wakes up to eat a 3/4th to a full container of veggie puree and some rice crackers and little yogurt melts.  She'll get another bottle and nap and then for dinner she gets another full container of veggies plus a starch (depending on what we are having she'll eat that or get more cereal). seems like a ton of food to me but apparently you need to eat to grow. lol. other than that she is a happy little girl. talks all the time and has the cutest laugh. no teeth yet but is working on it. :)

My little man is not so little anymore. He is almost 4 and will tell anyone who listens when his birthday is and what he wants that particular day. He usually rotates through a handful of his favorite toys/cartoons. He is so smart, I am amazed every day at what he can remember and the knowledge he picks up on his own. I bought him a pre-k study book that helps with numbers and letters. He loves looking at it and practicing his alphabet. He can watch something one and remember every detail. We started him in swim lessons at the local YMCA and after 7 weeks he is ready to move up to the next level and is practically a swimmer. He can swim under water for 5 seconds, can float on his belly and his back and is getting better at swimming on his back. He has a harder time concentrating when he is on his back and get distracted by his surroundings sometimes and will go under water but he gets better every class. He loves his classes and is always asking if today is swimming lessons. He seems to be getting a better sense of time and days. He asks what day it is and if its today, tonight. tomorrow.
Today we made a paper chain link garland as a way to count down the days until Christmas. He is very excited to be able to tear of a link every morning.

Tomorrow we are getting out our Christmas decorations and will get the house in the Christmas spirit. I am really looking forward to it this year, I think it's going to be so fun since Adam is old enough to remember it and appreciate everything. It definitely gets better when you have kids to share it with. lol.

The Dance

Is she really hungry or is she just used to waking up at this time and eating? I enter her room to find her thrashing about but her eyes are still closed. Truly she can't be hungry if she's not even awake.  Is she simply crying out of habit? Because she knows she will get rewarded with a bottle? Or is she too young to have those kind of deeper motives. I find her pacifier and give it to her but she is still restless. Her eyes are shut but clearly she is looking for something, I pick her up, begin to rock her. She settles a little but every minute or so she twitches about.  After about 5 minutes she had calmed completely and the frantic sucking as slowed. I rock for a few more minutes and she eventually spits out the paci.
So was it really hunger? Have I just delayed the inevitable only to wake minutes later? Or perhaps I just need to break the habit of getting a bottle in the middle of the night. "They" say she should be able to sleep through without replenishing the supply but lately we've been awake multiple times a night feeding. So if I can cut it back to just once a night that in itself would be a small victory. I kiss her forehead as I lay her in her crib. A silent prayer for sweet dreams and restful sleep runs through my head as I watch her roll to her side and pull the blankets to her chin and sigh.

A New Hope. Yes I didn just make a Star Wars reference. I'm just that cool.

I've been avoiding this place for a while now. Wandering in out of boredom occasionally, trying to find a way to put down the words rattling around in my brain. I begin a half hearted story about life, only to hit the delete key 2 minutes later. Some how it just seems contrived, the bubbliness I'm trying to convey a lie. So the space sits empty, a whole period of our lives undocumented. The pumpkin patch, Halloween, her 6 month photos, his swim lesson update, my birthday, honoring of a great man, generosity of spirit, the birth of my two (yes, not one birth but both births) beautiful nieces. None of it got it's fair share. Nothing preserved because of a fog in me. It hasn't always been foggy, this past 3 months. There have been plenty of great days but the motivation to write as been lacking.   So I guess in a way it's more of a haze than a fog. Thin enough to see through but just slightly muddled. Just enough of a blur to stop me from living in the moment. Constantly feeling this thin barrier between everyone. I know why, what's causing this haze. I try to remind myself tricks to help be present in the moment, to enjoy it, but having to constantly think about making that effort is tiring. So that, combined with the little sleep I've been getting has been too much.  Something had to take a back seat. And this little piece of the internet, a place I should feel the free-est to express myself has been left blank. Sometimes out of a conscious choice not to let on about the haze, other times just out of survival. The need to just get through the day too strong to be creative. In this rare moment when inspiration strikes I find words spilling out of my brain faster than I can type. And it feels good. I hope it sticks around for a while. Perhaps I can make up for some lost time.  

Friday Figures

The scale says: 227 (-2 for the week, -2 total)

Exercise: I did the first week, 3 days, of Couch to 5K. If you are unaware of C25K it is a program that gets you from no exercise/running ability to running a 5K within 9 weeks. Alternating running and walking until you are able to run 30 minutes without needing to walk any.  I made it to the gym 3 times last week so I was happy about that.
Highs: The first day I thought I wouldn't be able to do it all. I was about 15 minutes into the 30 minute program and my legs started to feel like they were going to cramp up but I stuck with it and got it done. Day 2 seemed so easy that I increased my speed and did a little more running than program called for.
Low: My eating habits aren't as great as they need to be. Yesterday I made a pear crumble and lemon bars, I ate some of each.
Moral Victory of the Week: I have greatly decreased my soda intake and have started drinking a LOT more water and only occasionally did I actually crave a soda.




*** updated- was suppose to post on Friday but for some reason it blogger doesn't like me and it didn't post it as scheduled so I am posting today ***

a little taste

 

here's a little look at Jocelyn's first taste of lemon for your sunday :)

 

out with the old

ok so I am making a change. I have let myself get off track on my weight loss journey in the past year. Granted I did have a baby but I let that be an excuse to eat whatever and stop even the simplest exercising. As a result I have not only gained back all of the weight I lost before pregnancy I added another 5 pounds on top of it. So in full disclosure and to help be accountable I am putting it all out on the interwebs. That's right I will be posting my weight and progress every Friday in a post I will be calling Friday Figures.
Welp. Here goes...


The scale says: 229.0 (+/-0)
Exercise: I'll be going from Saturday-Friday so this past week I exercised once. Last Saturday I walked a 5K with my sister. All in all we walked about 5 miles that day. That's it. No other days of exercising, I am hoping to get to the gym 4-5 times a week.   *fingers crossed*  :-/
Highs: Completing my first 5K in probably 5 or so years.
Lows: 3 pieces of birthday cake, the birthday pie (both accompanied with ice cream) but luckily this won't be a normal week.
Moral Victory of the Week: I didn't really feel winded whist walking the 5K. This is especially victorious because there was a pretty steep climb for some part of it but I didn't feel as though I couldn't do it PLUS I was pushing Jocelyn in a stroller. Sure my feet hurt for a day and a half afterward but that's to be expected since I not only added poundage I haven't been doing a lot of exercising. I'm hoping to do Barber to Boise, another 5K, October 15th so we'll see if the recovery period is shortened this next time. :)


Time to get this weight loss show on the road and get to a healthy life style. Bring it on! :)

My Bucket List

I've been seeing these around a lot lately, especially since the movie came out. So here is my list of things I hope to accomplish in my life time. I am adding a page to my blog where you can see them at any point and as I do them, I will update and cross off the item on the list.


-Learn Italian
-Run a marathon
-Buy/Pay off a house
-Get a tattoo
-Go on hot air balloon ride
-Witness a birth, not my own
=Swim in the Mediterian
-Visit Australia
-See the pyramids
-Find something super rare at a thrift store/garage sale
-Sky dive
-Read War and Peace
-Learn to quilt and/or knit
-Organize and pull off a surprise party
-Cook an entire Thanksgiving meal
-Learn to ski/snowboard
-Go on a cruise
-Eat Chinese food in China
-Take my family to Disneyland (preferably while they still believe in magic)
-Buy and re-purpose furniture
-Paint a landscape worthy of hanging on the wall
-Live in a foreign country (preferably for at least 6 months)
-Have someone pay me for my photographs
-Learn how to fondant/decorate multi-layered cakes
-Travel across the country
-Learn to ride a motorcycle
-Teach my children compassion 
-Make/bottle my own alcohol (beer, wine or liquor - doesn't really matter which)
-Learn how to make bread from scratch
-Successfully grow a garden for a whole season
-Attend a taping of a TV show
-Learn to scuba dive then visit a shipwreck
-Visit Ireland
-Get Lasik





That's about all I can think of now.... will add more as they come to me, but in the mean time what's on your bucket list?!?

oh where oh where did my little boy go?!?

My little boy isn't so little anymore. Today marks his 3rd un-birthday and he is officially 3 1/2 years old. I couldn't begin to think about where my life would be without this little boy. He has filled my life with love, patience and purpose. I am so very lucky to be his mommy despite the days when I just want to rip my hair out in frustration. He is stubborn and free willed, not to mention so incredibly smart. Some times I just can't believe he's only 3, other days it seems like he is going on 13 what with the attitude he can dish out. I can't wait to see what else he has in store for us. I love you little dude. Happy Un-Birthday :)


                    Now here's a little look down memory lane....

His first photo with Mommy

I had planned to write more but with all these cute pictures to choose from I just decided to add more and write less. lol.

He was always such a happy baby. I just love those cheeks and that big ol' grin. 

It melts my heart just looking at them. 

1st birthday :)

Watching him grow these past few years has been both a blessing and a challenge. He is such a fearless little guy already, I'm almost afraid to see him as a teenager. lol

how does 3 months just fly by?

I realize this is a theme among many new parents, well anyone really, but I can NOT believe how fast these past three months have just zoomed by. It seems like just yesterday that we were bringing our little peanut home for the first time and here she is sitting next to me in her Bumbo putting fingers in her mouth and cooing like the best of them. She recognizes us and smiles when we talk to her, her favorite being when Jeff talks to her. Her face just lights up when she sees him. It seems like she is constantly blowing bubbles or gurgling, I think we've entered the drool all over everything phase. She has quiet a grip on her also, the other day I got my first hair pull :) hehehe


Well here are this months measurements (unoffically, since no doctors visit this month)

WEIGHT: 13.5 pounds ~if this is accurate that means she gained 3 pounds in a month. little piglet :)

HEIGHT: 22 inches

and on to what everyone is waiting for..... her 3 month pictures

insert clever title here

I can't believe how fast time has been flying by lately. Seems like forever since I've posted and there's been some good times that need to be told.

Our little nugget is going to be 3 months old next week!!! She is growing and changing everyday. She prefers to be upright and is constantly trying to sit up on her own. In my non-medical opinion I'd say she suffers from reflux occasionally and that is the most comfortable position for her. We were having to hold her all the time (which is great when you have nothing to do but when trying to make dinner, not so much) so my darling SIL let us have her BUMBO and boy does that help. For those of you not in the know it is a little hard-ish foam seat that lets her sit up on her own. Normally I would just lean her against the couch but she's a bit of a drifter and within minutes she would be on her side and unhappy again. The BUMBO is great because she is totally supported and I get to use both hands to cook again. LOL.

BUMBO = lifesaver

She had her 2 month check up, oh about 3 weeks ago now but anywho, I wanted to include her measurements so I can look back one day.  She weighed in at 10.6 pounds! Gaining a whole 4 pounds in 2 months, quiet the little eater. lol. She also grew 3 inches and is now (was now) 21 inches long. She has been sleeping through the night almost every night. (sometimes 7 hours, sometimes for close to 12,but most often its somewhere between 8 and 9 hours a night). I don't want to jinx it but it's been almost a month now so starting to set a pattern :) She has another appointment next month at 4 months old and hopefully it won't take a month to get her stats up.

her 4th of July outfit

first time in her stand up toy

Part of the reason I haven't blogged is that we have been spending a LOT of time outside at the local lakes/beaches. The local parks and recs department has a yearly pass that you can purchase and it lets you into the parks and lakes at a great discount. This is our 3rd summer getting this pass and it is such a great investment. You can get into any park in the state without paying the day fee with this little pass on your windshield. I highly recommend it for anyone in the state. Our favorite has got to be Eagle Island. It's got a little beach and the lake is pretty shallow. It's great for Adam because he can actually walk out quiet far so he gets to play with the big kids. I think we spent 3 out of the last 7 days last week at the "beach". A few friends of mine that have kids a little older than Adam that have passes so we'll sit in the sand and the kids will play. It's a perfect way to spend the day :)
 (I should add that Jocelyn usually spends the day with my mom since she's a little too young to be out in the 90+ degree weather all day)


Here are a few pictures from our adventures but if you want to see more here are the links to my facebook photo albums.   
june- http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1770137489978.192152.1135450170
july-  http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1878934129826.196357.1135450170

he loves helping out with Jocelyn

dipping her toes in pool for first time :)

coolest beach toy EVER! 

Dance Along

You can't really hear Elmo singing as well as I thought but still cuteness all over :)

There's something so cute about little kids dancing. Last week at taco night the kiddos found a Hokey Pokey Elmo and while Adam has been dancing along with him for a while, this was the first time Natalia really got into as well

Charlie had to get in and show them how it was  done. Their faces are just so cute!! I think we were all crying from laughing so hard.  

Adam looks like he is just running around waving his arms in a circle but I think that was his attempt to put his left arm in, take his left arm out, etc....

 Watching Natalia try and shake like Elmo was HILARIOUS!! You can tell she's definitely starting to get the hang of dancing. I love watching these two play together. Some times there are tears, and not sharing and typical toddler tantrums (can you say that 3x fast :D) but you can tell that they love to play together. I can't wait until the other cousins get to join in the fun too!

Milestones

This week marks a few milestones here at Casa de Hubert.


Adam is "officially" potty trained. I say officially in quotes because he still wears a pull up to bed and he does have an occasional accident, but for the most part he is potty trained. It actually went pretty quickly and there was a surprising lack of accidents. Sure, he did have some, but I bet the amount was in the single digits. I always said that once he decided to give it a go, it would be full steam ahead. Glad to know I was right :) 

A few weeks ago we were at Steph's baby shower and there was a pool, he wanted to go in there sooo bad. I had forgotten to bring a suit.  Luckily Steph's sis in law lived across the street and loaned us a pair. He normally loves playing in the water, splashing around and jumping on the steps. Well, this time he pretty disturbed that he couldn't swim like the other kids. Anytime someone asked him if he went swimming that day he would say "no, i don't know how to swim". He's such a literal kind if guy. So I took it as an opportunity to motivate the potty training and told him that once he was trained we would enroll him into swim classes. done and done. he will begin classes July 11th :)


Miss Jocelyn Ann is 2 months old this week. She is starting to notice her surroundings more and more. She will smile when tickled, follow with her eyes if you move out of her eye sight and try to stick your finger in her mouth when holding on to it.
This past week we have been off on her sleep schedule, she was doing so well then I put it out on the internet and voila. Back to not sleeping through the night. :( I do enjoy the bonding and quiet time with her but I have noticed I am definitely a little more cranky on those days when we have to get up multiple times.
I'm not sure about her weight/height right now and her next appointment isn't until next week. :( I was weighing her at home by weighing myself then subtracting the weight of the 2 of us to get hers but I think this isn't very accurate. My scale gives .1-.9 pounds but the doctor uses ounces (16 in a pound) so when I get a difference of 9.9 pounds I think she is growing like crazy which could be true or it could be too high since not really showing ounces. I guess we'll have to wait until next week to know for sure.

Other than that, not much going on here. Yesterday was Father's Day, we just hung out at home and then ordered food from a local Mexican restaurant. It was what Jeff wanted to do but I had hoped to get outside and play for a bit. It has been so cold and rainy here lately and yesterday was what looks like the beginning of our actual summer weather. I will admit to having cabin fever and wanting to do all the fun summer activities that we would normally be doing by now. When Jeff said he would rather be low key and hang at home I got a little bummed. I am so ready for the heat and fun of summer. Trips to local lakes and water parks. Granted Jocelyn is a little young for some of the stuff we'd be doing, I'm sure I can find a babysitter for her some where ;) hehehe


Guess I better get to the laundry while she is still sleeping and Adam is entertained playing in his room. Hoping to get some pictures posted soon.. I usually write these posts on my laptop on the couch since it's more comfy but it's not where we store our pictures. So I'm usually too lazy to go to the other computer to add the photos. I have a hard enough time writing the post in the first place, if I have to edit it at the other computer who knows how long it would take to post these :)

A Potty Story

**** FAIR WARNING - THIS IS A POST ALL ABOUT BODILY FUNCTIONS OF A 3 YEAR OLD, and a rather long one at that  ****


Sunday night came and we discovered that we were down to the last diaper for Adam,and I asked him if he wanted to start wearing big boy undies. He normally says he wants to keep wearing diapers but that time he chose the undies. Sunday morning he woke up and we asked again, should we run to the store for diapers or was he going to start using the potty. Again he said no to diapers, so we out him in pull ups and told him he needed to tell us when he needed to go. Now we've tried the pull up thing before with no success. He'd always go in them and then say that the pee went away. I think they were too close to diapers for him to tell the difference but I figured it was a place to start. The first part of the day we weren't having any luck. He had peed in his pull ups multiple times and there hadn't been any in the potty. At noon Jocelyn and I left to go to a baby shower so it was just Daddy and Adam at home to carry on. I got a text while out saying that after yet another accident Daddy decided the pull ups weren't working so he striped him down to nothing and told him there was nothing to catch the pee so he had to either sit on the potty or go outside. Daddy also told him that he could have a OtterPop if he peed in potty or outside twice so after many accidents he managed to pee outside twice and once on the potty.

Monday we started over again with a fresh plate and a naked toddler. It seemed like him being without clothes worked best. Those pull ups weren't working during the day (we use them at night since he's not use to waking up to pee) and the undies were just getting in the way. We also discovered that he didn't like sitting down to pee and wanted to stand up like daddy does. He managed to pee standing up in the toilet, he's not a fan of the potty chair we got him, quiet a few times in the morning/early afternoon. Then I started getting the house ready to have people over for a Pampered Chef party and wasn't watching him like I should. I noticed the smell first, then heard the foot steps running to the bathroom. As I walked back there I saw 3 small pieces of poo on the floor. Our first poo accident. :(
After cleaning him up we put on some undies since "you can't be naked when people are here" and went about over day. I sort of blame myself for the lack of parenting the rest of the night that resulted in another poo episode. I did notice at one point that he was peeing outside while playing with some friends. But overall Monday evening wasn't a great success but we were see some progress.

Tuesday was the third day of training and started off with a pee in the potty. YAY! We had continued success with peeing standing up at the "big potty" and he got a few OtterPops. lol. I was waiting for the time when he would need to poo since we had yet to go on the potty. I kept asking ans asking and at one point he sat on the potty for probably 20 minutes because I was certain he was going to poop. The day before when he had his first poo accident I had asked him if he had to go and he said no then not even 5 minutes later he was running down the hall. So I didn't want to let him up thinking that as soon as I did he would have an accident. Well, he never did poo but said he had to pee so I called it a wash. We had told him that if he went poop in the potty he would get a Push Up Pop instead of the OtterPop and he was really wanting one. He went running back there and Jeff went to see what he was doing. I hear him say "do you want to green seat (top of the potty chair) or to hold yourself up on the big potty?" Being the rockstar that he is he chose to hold himself up and managed to poo on the potty!! Huge excitement all around. At that point I decided I couldn't put off going to the store and he said he wanted to go with. I asked him if he wanted to wear the pull ups or undies. He chose the undies and while I was a little scared I followed his lead and let him wear the undies. Our first successful trip out of the house ensued. We only had one accident Monday.

So far this morning (day 4 of training) we have been doing great. Peed three times this morning and is loving the stickers he gets to put on the chart. I've pretty sure that he is getting the hang of it and am super proud of the progress he has made in the past 4 days!



UPDATE: Since posting this he has done the potty dance and barely missed the toilet and also had a poo accident. Hopefully I didn't jinx it by posting this earlier than should have. Fingers crossed to no more accidents

one day i'll be able to post regularly.....

 

 

 

 

They were both just staring at the screen, enchanted by Mickey and his Clubhouse

I had originally planned to keep a weekly update of Jocelyn's growth and the happenings around here but as it sometimes does time has gotten away from me. I can't believe that she is 5 weeks already. I weighed her the other day and I may have messed it up but I calculated her at 8.8 pounds. For some reason that seems like a lot to me but I guess we'll see how much she really does weigh at her 2 month appointment in a few weeks.
Lately we've just been hanging out at home, the weather has been kind of stinky. Rainy and Cold. :(
Can't wait for it to be warm and sunny for more than one day, I have visions of playing in the back yard and visiting the local parks. I know she'll be a little young to go to the local lakes but mom has offered to babysit so Adam and I can go. 
Jeff and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary on Tuesday. We had tossed the idea of leaving the kids with some one and going out to a nice dinner but in the end we decided to stay home and hang with the kids. Seemed fitting since this is our live now. I am just grateful that I found someone that I want to spend the "nothing days" with. You know those days that you don't do anything and you barely have enough energy to take a shower/change out of the pjs. :)

 

My SIL took monthly pic with my niece so I thought I'd give it a try :)

She spit up right after I took some pics so I figured better get some semi-naked baby pics

Adam has become such a great big brother I can't believe how great he is with her. He is always trying to put her pacifier back in if she spits it out. He has on more than one occasion tried to get her to play with him. He is always worried when she cries, he goes and checks on her and reports back. Telling us if she's hungry or tired or "just talking". I couldn't ask for a better first born/bigger sibling. He never gets mad when I have to say "just a minute" or "not now, I'm feeding Jocelyn".

Such a amazing big brother <3