Dear August,

You are the longest, busiest month of the year. You make me want to sleep for a week. Good thing you're also lots of fun or we might have to have words.

I was looking through our August photo album last night and it hit me: This month has gone on FOREVER! I'd like to think that the coming months will be a bit more laid back, but we would never let that happen around the Schweighardt house.

Our visit with Auntie Em this weekend was phenomenal. (as usual) Audrey did really well in the car going to and coming home from Portland. She only really started getting fussy toward the tail end of each trip--or when it was important for me to be able to hear the instructions from the GPS. I told you--this kid is smart!

Once we got to Portland and met up with Emily, we headed straight for sushi. Audrey loved the restaurant and ate all of the avocados from her avocado roll. She had some edamame too and spent the rest of the time trying to fling the super sticky rice off of her fingers. It was classic! We stopped by Voodoo Donuts on the way out of town and picked out a delightful selection of sugar-loaded, strange-looking yummies. My favorite is the voodoo doll donut. (complete with raspberry filling and a pretzel stick through the heart)

Friday, we three girls hit the town while John was at work; we got Audrey some sweet new clothes and some more sugary treats at Kelley's bakery. Auntie Em bought her a lady bug cookie and Audrey now has red and black frosting stained into her car seat--It gives it more character.

Saturday was Fair Day!!! Audrey had a ridiculous amount of fun. The adults ate a ridiculous amount of fair food. And we were all ridiculously exhausted by the time we got home. Bunnies were petted, goats and ponies were screamed at, giant pumpkins were drummed on...it was a good day.

Next up in the crazy world of the Schweighardts?

John and I are trying to plan a camping trip for just the three of us sometime in September. The end of the fiscal year at PNNL is coming and he has some vacation time he has to use up before October. I can't really think of a better vacation than chilling with my two favorite people in the middle of the wilderness...and eating s'mores. (it never hurts!)

My best buddy from High School, Jessica, is getting married in October (she somehow willingly convinced me to be a pregnant bridesmaid) and we are getting very excited for the little trip back to Mtn. Home. I am, however, not stoked about taking Audrey on an airplane when she can walk...and attempts to escape anyone's lap she is sitting in. As I type, John is forcing her to sit with him in the man cave on his lap. She's got two remotes and a teddy bear and is still periodically testing the waters. Do you think they'll let us take Bomb Pops on the plane? Is the name too suggestive of something potentially hazardous? I guess I'll just try not to think about the actual traveling until I'm at the airport.

That's all the update I've got for today. Bailey/Georgie is still 19 weeks old, the size of a Mango and is kicking Mama a LOT more. She's not gonna let that big sister of her's steal all the attention.

George Bailey Lassos Stork!

That's Code for: It's a Girl!! Again!!

Lil Bailey Marie is looking good! She was all curled up on one side of my uterus for most of the ultrasound, but she finally woke up and started playing toward the end. We got to see her waving and 'breathing' amniotic fluid and we also got a good look at those girl parts. Take my word for it; even I could tell it's a girl!

We are so excited to know who's been hiding in there! Even though we've been referring to Bailey as Audrey's brother for the past few months, I told John I'd be surprised if she were boy...and I was right! I know John is just as happy as I am, but the fact that he is truly outnumbered now is starting to hit home!

Audrey seems to be remaining skeptical of the whole situation. Boy or Girl, I don't think she was too keen on sharing her room or her parents. Emily has promised to teach Lil A all about sibling rivalry and how to steal attention from her parents. She couldn't have asked for a better tutor!

Speaking of Emily...she has openly admitted to not being in love with the name Bailey for a girl. (it reminds her of It's a Wonderful Life) So, John decided, as a compromise, Bailey's new nickname will be George...hence the title of this post.

So, there you have it, folks! I'm on my way to having alphabetically named offspring. Next up? Claire! (just to put John firmly in the minority!)

Never Say Never: A Case of Mom-Karma

Fact: Nothing soothes a fat lip like a bomb pop. If you had asked me if I would let my one-year old daughter eat popsicles before I had children, the unequivocal answer would've been "No; kids that young don't need sweets." Ha! Hahahahaha! Old you, you are so funny!

It wasn't long into this parenting thing that I figured out Mom Karma. Meaning: Every parenting issue you get up on your high horse and swear to God you won't do...you will. And even if you don't, it won't be because you didn't already try and fail. A little advice for any new/ thinking of being new parents out there: do not throw off your Mom Karma. Don't believe me? Let's take a look at some of my sordid experiences mothering Audrey:

First of all: Somehow, formula companies know who's pregnant. They know which women are thinking about getting pregnant. They probably know you're pregnant before you do. Then the mass mailing begins: formula samples, odd coupons, strange magazines and pamphlets of useless pregnancy advice. Unlike many first time soon-to-be mothers, I pretty much just trashed these items without a second glance. "I don't need to worry about formula", I thought "I'm going to breastfeed!" (said with head held proudly high and nose prominently in the air) Ohhhhh, what a good mother I was going to be! Not like people who use formula; people who formula feed are either quitters or failures. Common knowledge.

So, it should come as no surprise that karma bit me in the butt, took me down a peg (you name it) and blessed me with an inadequate breast milk supply. BAM! Where were all those free cans of formula? Why is this stuff so incredibly expensive? Where are the coupons? I was right in the middle of something I had not only not prepared for, but pretty much despised. Thank you, humility! And even though I learned my lesson on that one (fyi: parents who formula feed are capable of loving their children just as much as parents of breast fed babies) Karma decided to make sure I didn't forget and started sending me sweet, sweet $11 formula checks...the month Audrey switched to whole milk.

That one pretty much took the cake. From then on, I started making a concerted effort to be more understanding of others' parenting choices. Just a few ways I've slipped further from my old image of the ideal parent? Using OTC drugs for teething, letting my kid gnaw on my cell phone/car keys/wallet, giving Audrey solids before 6 months and praying to God it would help her sleep through the night, having the kid with graham cracker crumbs on her face in public. We even tried to get Audrey to take a pacifier for a while and (thank God) she wouldn't.

The point is: Bomb Pops are not only a potentially addictive, super sugary treat, they're also the fastest way to heal a fat lip. The secret to good Mom Karma for me? Audrey's happy--I'm happy.

Norbert is almost 19 weeks old, the size of a mango and is happily kicking Mama's belly because he got to have a bomb pop too!

Walking!!

I finally caught Audrey on camera! Enjoy!




...and here's another for good measure. I mostly just love the gremlin noise she makes at the end.

Weekend Update

I went to Norbert's doctor on Thursday and I have been, yet again, deemed "medically boring". This is good! Now I just have to work to keep it that way. We scheduled our ultrasound for next Friday (while Auntie Em is here!) and we've been thinking of possible cute ways to tell people the sex of the baby. Here's what we came up with: "cute" takes too much effort, so you'll have to read it on the blog, hear it through the grapevine or (if my brain is even functioning that day) on the phone...probably from John since he's responsible like that.

This weekend has been a lot of fun; the Moore clan has been in town. Audrey is becoming more and more attached to my mother's little helper D'Arcy (a.k.a Duck) and we definitely miss the rest of the rugrats who temporarily took over the house too!

We're starting to transition back to working on indoor house projects since it's been so hot out. Grandpa S. has been slaving away building a mud room onto the kitchen in the garage. He's raised the floor already and is set up to install the new utility sink and move the deep freezer up too. It's exciting! I also finally picked a color I love to paint the Man Cave and, let me tell you, it's niiiice! In a few more months, we'll have carpet installed and the remaining black panels up on the stage--all we'll be missing is a HUGE TV, which John will not cease to nag me about until I happen upon several thousand spare dollars. Let me know if you find any.

Audrey has really started taking an interest in walking the past few days. She's gone from hesitantly taking two or three steps at a time to walking all the way across the pool room by herself today! We're so proud of her! I know, I know! You're yelling at the monitor about why I don't have video of this so you can stream it 24 hours a day. We were just too darn excited to even think about grabbing the camera! I promise I'll work on it in the next few days to appease the addicts. I love you. Please don't hurt me.


This week promises to be lots of fun too. Auntie Em just flew into Portland today for a conference and Audrey and I will be picking her up Thursday morning. We have plans for sushi and donuts (best combo EVER) in Portland and then we'll head back to the Tri-Cities for the fair. Audrey gets to see the bunnies again!!! And this time she better not be sleeping. Maybe we'll even get to take one home!

Norbert is 18 weeks old, the size of a sweet potato (I know--these veggies are getting sketchy) Tonight, when I was putting Audrey to sleep, he kept kicking her in the bum like "Hey! This is my room! Get up and find your own!" That's the most movement I've felt at one time so far...spurred into action by aggression toward his big sister. Classic. We're in for a ride!

Don't forget to check out the new photos I posted!

Now, Even More!!

Pictures!!!

P.S.

I forgot! I uploaded pictures! Check 'em out!

Servitude, Schmervitude

Quick Story: When we were still living in Illinois (I was probably a few years old) both of my parents came down with what they call the Alien Death Flu and couldn't physically keep up with all three of us kids, so they pulled an air mattress into the living room and Joe (I'm assuming he was about six...I only have these memories falsely implanted in my brain, so what do I know...) was in charge of making sure we generally stayed out of trouble and made cereal and chicken noodle soup to eat. That's right--the six year old was in charge of caring for the family and from what I understand, he did a darn good job. If Mom hadn't instilled a sense of independence in us and encouraged us to do things on our own, life during the Alien Death Flu would've been that much more miserable for her and Dad.

Reflecting back on that, I've officially decided to take a page out of my mother's book and lead the charge in making our kids as autonomous as possible. This definitely goes against the grain for a first time mother, but I think crossing over from baby to toddlerhood has really helped me realize that Audrey is capable of doing things herself and also helping me do things; the sooner I start encouraging her, the better.

Considering life is going to become significantly more challenging come January, I've started having Audrey help me with little things around the house so she'll have the hang of it by the time Norbert gets here. Right now, her chief responsibilities are mail lady and laundry gal. Every day, we take a bag to get the mail and she pulls it out one at a time to help me sort it. Then, we deliver the mail where it needs to go in the house--It's good one-handed walking practice! When I do the laundry, she pushes the laundry basket wherever we need to go, pulls out the clothes and hands them to me to fold and once we're done, she pushes the basket full of folded clothes to go put them away. How many one-year olds are that helpful??

It sounds kind of like indentured servitude and some moms may consider it making my daughter grow up too fast, but Audrey loves getting to be a helper and it's an important step for us to take to remain sane with two under two in the house. Next step? Cooking dinner and vacuuming.

Norbert is 17 weeks old, the size of an onion (really?! I don't find onions to be cute.) The little onion is kickin' Mama every once in a while to remind her that she's not alone and is also going through a growth spurt that makes her super hungry and tired!

The Monkey Turns One...and many other shenanigans

So...I'm a slacker. Big time. Do I get to play the "I'm the mother of a toddler" card and the "I'm pregnant" card at the same time? Does that make up for the fact that my kid has been a year old for a week and a half and I haven't uploaded pictures or posted about it? Probably not. Bad Blogger!

Enough guilt tripping--let's get down to brass tacks! A LOT of stuff has happened in the past two weeks:

First and foremost: The Dragon turned one! And she's really more of a monkey now with her enhanced verbal skills and climbing abilities...we may have to make over the blog again.

I wanted to write a post about all the things I've learned thus far as a parent--figured the one-year mark would be a good time, but we'll save it for another time when I'm not recovering from...well, we'll get to that in a minute.

Top memories from Audrey's First Birthday?

1) Starting a new tradition of getting Daily Donuts on Lil A's Birthday morning. Audrey got an apple fritter the size of her head. yum!

2) Uncle Joe and John's cousin Jasmine decorating for Audrey's Birthday: The Engineer and the grade-schooler make an amazing team when it comes to balloons and crepe paper!

3) Everyone but Audrey wearing crazy hats

4) Auntie Em spending the day making a mini strawberry cake from scratch with pink icing and decorating it with fruit for Audrey...and Audrey picking every piece of fruit off of it without touching the cake. Classic Fruit Monster!

5) Audrey's favorite present? The floating xylophone from Grandma G. It's amazing how the most ridiculous gift became the most practical--Audrey will actually sit down and stay down in the bath tub now. Wohoo!

John and I are proud to say we survived our first child's first birthday party and are unbelievably exhausted thinking of how many birthday parties are still in the future. Whew!

The day after Audrey's Birthday, we headed into the wilderness with four Grandparents, one Uncle, one Aunt, a Mama and Papa, the coolest kid in the world, a great family friend, three cars, three tents, one trailer, enough food to feed China for a week and a partridge in a pear tree.

We camped at the Ohanapecosh Campground near Mt. Rainier and on Monday, Grandpa G, Auntie Em, John and his buddy Dustin headed for Camp Muir. (elevation. 10,080 ft.) John had committed to hiking as far as he was comfortable and made it up to the snow field (a little over half way) and the other three made it to Muir in 4 hours. This was a really big acomplishment for my Dad, who has been training for months to get to hike Rainier. Next year, he and Dustin are planning on going for the summit. I'll commit to staying at the campsite and having a ton of food ready for them to eat when they get back.

Audrey took to camping like a duck to water; she thought living outside under the trees was the best idea ever and even made friends with a chipmunk ...who I consequently attempted to kill. The stupid thing was scavenging at our campsite and I found it in Audrey's diaper bag! Eating a banana! If I had better reflexes, we would've had chipmunk stew for dinner. I did trap him in a tree trunk while I finished getting all the food in the trailer. ...stupid chipmunks.

Anyway, we had to come back to civilization sometime, even though I think Audrey and I would make it just fine living in an tent, eating chipmunk meat for the rest of our lives. We spent the rest of the week bumming around the Tri-Cities with the Gamelin Fam. We ate a lot of food, Audrey got a ton of quality time with her Grandparents and Auntie Em and Uncle Joe, and I actually got to sit around, relaxing and reading...which is why I haven't posted anything in forever--I've become accustomed to time for reading and that leaves no time for anything else since I'm back to watching the kid full time without my devious mother's helpers about.

It took a few days to fully recover from the festivities--the house looked like a bomb had gone off and I had to see if I actually had the physical stamina to chase around a toddler all day after such a long break. So, things are pretty much back to normal, meaning I'm sure to update more often with a bunch of mundane, everyday information. Maybe I'll even get around to uploading pictures!

I guess I can't end without spouting off some stats about my Big Girl!

Audrey:

• Is almost 24 pounds and 31.5 inches long
  
• Can walk, but she doesn't know it yet...we'll let you know when she figures that out
• Calls EVERYTHING "Caba", but has an ever-extending vocabulary that she never feels the need to use
• SLEEPS THROUGH THE NIGHT! 3 times! 3 times, she has slept through the night! This is an amazing accomplishment after a year of sleep deprivation for Mama.

That's pretty much all I've got for now...If you've made it this far, you must have either read this in installments or have the patience of a saint. I'll make the posts brief(er) from now on...until the next big thing happens and I'm too busy to post. I feel a trend coming here.

Norbert is 15 weeks old, the size of a navel orange and is starting to kick for Mama. We go back to the doctor on the 20th and will schedule the first ultrasound soon after. We'll keep you posted on the Norbert vs. Norberta debate!

I haven't forgotten about you!

I'm just in the midst of a strange reading binge and haven't taken the time to blog...especially because I know there's a lot to write about. Have faith! I'll get something posted some day! If you're feeling pangs of withdrawal, feel free to blame Terry Goodkind and Stephenie Meyer...I know I do!