Never a dull moment

 What a week – I haven’t been able to sit down and blog, and now I don’t know where to start!  I guess I’ll start with today and work backwards because the fun never stops around here and I have stories gallore running through my head!

* While taking a shower today, I had Tripp sitting in his baby tub (so he could sit and play with toys without falling backwards) and Abby Ruth was also in the bathroom.  This is a normal occurance – as most mommas know, you don’t ever get to shower alone!  Usually they are fine – sometimes Tripp will fuss, or Abby will get into something she shouldn’t, but today definitely takes the cake!  I stepped out of the shower to watch my daughter pour a cup of water over her brother’s head.  I had to cover my mouth with the towel so Abby Ruth wouldn’t see me laughing… the look on Tripp’s face was priceless!  I did scold her and took her to bed (it was naptime anyway) – hopefully she won’t do that again, and if you are wondering why I was upset, stop for a  moment and think about where she got that water…  Tripp was then given a bath :-)

* Abby Ruth has been adding to her vocabulary on a daily basis – last week it was: dark, stuck, tear, tissue – just to name a few.  Now she is starting to string words together and she says the FUNNIEST things!  Sunday we had the following conversation at the breakfast table… Abby: “Abby and Doot Doot stuck!”  Me: “You’re stuck?  Do you want to get down?” (She got down from the table and walked over to Tripp’s highchair) Abby to Tripp: “Are you stuck?  Don’t be stuck!  Mommy, Doot Doot stuck!”  She cracks me up!

* We have a picture frame in the stairwell with pictures of many different family members in it.  After naptime the other day Abby Ruth randomly started naming EVERYONE in the frame.  It is amazing what she notices and picks up on everyday!   

* Tripp is starting to crawl!  He isn’t up on hands and knees yet but can scoot around on his own and is sooo much happier for it!  He does get up on his knees but hasn’t figured out the rhythm yet.  Abby Ruth never crawled (until after she had started walking) so it is really fun to see this stage in development!

* Running update – I ran 2.5 miles without stopping!  2 months ago I went back to the gym and couldn’t run more than .25 miles without needing a break – since then I’ve lost 4 pounds and am running over 3 miles each workout.  I can definitely tell a difference and I’m excited that my hard work is paying off - I’m officially BELOW pre-Abby Ruth weight and feeling great!!!

Like I said, there is truly never a dull moment at our house.  We are busy with life and loving almost every minute of it ;-)

Spontaneity isn’t dead… yet!

Here is my very delayed post about our trip to St. Louis!  This was a very spur of the moment trip – we decided to leave at 5:00pm on Thursday and were in the car at 6:15!  It was a little insane, but totally worth it!

Tom’s sister lives in St. Louis, and his parents were visiting for the week – so off we went to get a “family fix” and a change of pace for a few days.  It is a VERY long drive from Birmingham (9 hours if you don’t stop) so we opted to drive to Memphis on Thursday night (we stopped in Hamilton to leave Zoe with my parents) and finish the journey on Friday.  This turned out to be a great plan because the kids slept most of the way to Memphis and took naps on Friday as well.  All and all the drive up wasn’t bad – considering we were traveling with two very small children!

We had a really wonderful visit with Tom’s family and I got a nice break from full time motherhood.  Abby Ruth stayed at Kimmy’s house while Tom and I (with Tripp of course) headed to a hotel.  This was such a treat – beds you don’t have to make, breakfast you don’t fix or clean up after, towels that magically appear clean and folded – heavenly!  Also – one child is SOOO much easier than two – as Tom’s mom said, “One is the easiest number!”  We didn’t bring a lot of toys for Tripp, but who needs toys when you have a sink and shampoo samples?

We really enjoyed spending time with family – Abby had a great time with her Aunt Kimmy, Uncle D, Mimi & Poppy (yes, my daughter is calling Tom’s dad “Poppy” instead of Papa)!  It was a beautiful weekend and the kids got to play outside a good bit.  Abby Ruth loved watching the boys play ball – she even got in there and tried it a bit… but I don’t think she will be very successful without her eyes being open!

It’s good to be home and back in our routine, but the break was a welcome one and a trip we will remember for years to come.  We are very blessed to have a family (on both sides) that loves us and wants to spend time with us.

Weekend Whirlwind

It truly was a whirlwind since we just returned from Hamilton yesterday!  Here are some short updates about the littlest Nelsons :-)

* Abby Ruth had a word EXPLOSION last week!  She is now saying: fly, oh my, what’s wrong, star, pool, swing, slide, chip, running…. like I said, it was a big week for words!

* Tripp is sitting!  He isn’t very steady, and loses his balance if he leans side to side.  If he starts to fall backwards (onto his boppy), he can pull himself back to sitting – now those are strong abs!

* Potty training hasn’t been great… I think it’s normal that when you visit a new place there are more accidents, and boy did we have some accidents!  Hopefully this week will be better :-)

* I ran 1.75 miles without stopping!  There is a 3+ mile loop at my parents house that I am determined to run without stopping on my next visit.  Running outside in the heat and humidity - not as easy…

* We are looking forward to getting back to our routine.  Hamilton was a great break and the kids are worn out – but it’s always nice to be home!

Swim, Swing, Sand… Repeat!

We have been spending the week with my parents in Hamilton and Abby Ruth thinks she is at a resort!  We have spent our mornings rotating between the pool, the playset and the sandbox.  She is having a blast, and wearing herself out in the process – I have to admit, I’m pretty tired too!

Every time we visit my parents Abby Ruth wakes up VERY early – she knows her nana and papa are early risers and is motivated to get started… before 6!  The lack of sleep combined with playing outside in our Alabama heat makes for a very crabby child by lunch.  Over the past couple of days she has been ready for her nap by noon and it’s all we can do to get lunch in her belly before she passes out!  Tripp has been off his schedule as well – just part of visiting a new place I guess.

The last time we visited, Abby Ruth fell in love with the new swingset – especially the swings.  She points in that direction and says, “Whee?”  She has always loved playing in the sand, and the pool is fun – but has also held a healthy amount of fear and uncertainty for Abby.  Well, not anymore!  Abby Ruth is getting VERY brave when it comes to the “big pool.”  She can get in and out by herself and does so whether she is in a bathing suit or not.  She is working on blowing bubbles while kicking her feet and she has started jumping in from the side (if I’m there to catch her).  I love that she is enjoying the water – I’ve always loved to swim and I hope both my kids do too. 

As you can see, we are having a great time.  I miss Tom and the kiddos do too – but it’s nice to escape the normal every once and awhile.  Thankfully, my parents welcome our visits and help out with the kids enough that I feel like I’m getting a mini-vacation!  Hopefully I will go home refreshed, and the littles will be so tired that they will sleep in and take long naps for a few days…. well, I can dream can’t I?

Weekend Whirlwind

Notes from the weekend:

*  Abby Ruth is now in jail – well, she’s locked in her room at least!  She had been leaving her room to roam the halls in the middle of the night.   Instead of me having to get up and return her to bed, we turned her lock around and she is now stuck.  She doesn’t like this new system at all, but it keeps her safe and me sleeping!

*  Abby Ruth had a low-grade fever Thursday & Friday – so we began the weekend in “recovery mode.”  On top of that Tom had to work ALL DAY Saturday so I was flying solo :-(  We did get to meet him for lunch – a very welcome treat!

*  Tripp is almost sitting!  His balance needs work, but his back and abs are very strong – I think he’ll be sitting on his own soon!  He has also started pulling hair – an achievement that really upsets and confuses his sister.

*  Sunday was Father’s Day and the daddy at our house (who we love SOOO much) wanted to chill out :-).  So we had a calm, quiet Sunday.

Weekend Whirlwind

I will try to blog a few memories from each weekend on Mondays – hopefully this will cause me to have at least one blog post a week!

*  We had successful potty training days – including poo-poo in the potty!

*  Tripp added pears to his food list – he says they are much tastier than green beans :-)

*  Abby Ruth has begun picking up any object and pretending it’s a phone – SOO funny.  Her words are a blur but the inflections are all there and she always says “Hi” and ”Bye!”

*  As I was getting the kids ready for baths on Saturday, Abby Ruth decided to help… by pouring a cup of water on Tripp’s head BEFORE he got into the tub.  We had a very wet bath mat :-)

Update from the potty

We are into our 3^rd week of potty training and things are going VERY well!  I will spare you some of the “dirty” details but I will say Abby Ruth has caught on to the whole concept quite well.  There have been some amusing moments (of course) – we have to remind her to take off her panties before using the potty and this often means she pulls them down in the middle of the living room and runs toward the bathroom bare bottomed!  She also calls everything “poo poo” – which is embarrassing when out in public :-). 

On average, I’d say we have 2-3 accidents each day (I count it as an accident if she doesn’t keep her diaper dry during a nap or when we are out running errands ).  It hasn’t been a big deal since I have to clean up spit-up several times a day anyway – why not add another bodily fluid!  We are very proud of her progress and excited to only be using a couple of diapers a day – soon we might be done for good!

A quiet house no more!

After months and months of waiting on Abby Ruth to say…. ANYTHING at all, it seems we finally have a talker.  It is definitely true that kids say the CUTEST things!  My favorite new phrase is, “Don’t cry!” – this is espescially adorable because Abby makes it sound more like “cwry” and she is very serious about it.  It’s funny because her brother doesn’t really cry that much – not compared to other babies!  This afternoon he was getting quite upset in his swing and Abby Ruth repeatedly said, “Don’t cwry, don’t cwry!” and then added, “Please Doot Doot!”  I literally laughed out loud – I love to hear her string words together and let us see how her mind works :-).

One thing I’ve learned while waiting on her to communicate for the past year is that comparisons will KILL you.  I spent way too much time thinking about how far behind she was (compared to my friend’s kids) and not nearly enough time enjoying my girl and letting her do things at her own pace.  I won’t make the same mistake with Tripp – I hope!

The newest adventure

This might be the week for potty training… if I don’t chicken out!  We have been working on this for a couple of months now – just trying to put Abby Ruth on the potty after naps and maybe a few other times during the day.  Truthfully, I have been very inconsistent and fearful of how it would all go… but the signs are all there and I think our little girl is ready to do this thing – so she is in panties this morning and I’m hopeful that I won’t clean up too many accidents :-). 

We’ll see how it goes – I’ll keep you posted!

Onto year 3!

2 years ago God gave me the most amazing gift – a sweet baby girl.  He entrusted Tom & I to raise her and love her… it’s very hard for me to believe that 2 years have gone by since Abigail Ruth was born.  I am overwhelmed with love for her and thankful for the blessing that she is to here daddy and me.  Two years have passed far too quickly but I look forward to what lies ahead for our “little monkey.”  She brings a smile our faces and we love her dearly!

*  At her 2-year-old check up, Abby Ruth weighed 28 pounds, 2 ounces and was 34 inches tall.  She is in the 70th percentile for height and weight – very well rounded :-)

*  She is really starting to talk – what a relief.  The doctor said that she is making enough progress each month and we can officially stop worrying!  i don’t know if that will work or not, but it’s worth a try – HA!

*  She seems ready to start potty training - we have been putting her on the potty after naps for about a month now and she is really getting the hang of it.  We no longer have to wait 5 - 10 minutes for her to “go” – she does it right away.

*  Abby Ruth still loves to read and will sit in anyone’s lap who would like to read to her!  Her favorite TV program is now Veggie Tales - this makes me happy because it isn’t nearly as annoying as “The Wiggles.”  She also loves to be outside – the playground, the pool, the driveway… it doesn’t matter, as long as she is out!