Stay-at-Home Mom of Two: Week 7

Yeah, I'm pretty much going to stop promising to keep the blog updated because once again, it's been awhile. ;o) Since I'm no longer teaching and have also removed our last name from the blog, I've gone ahead and relaxed the privacy settings a bit so that more people can read it (if anyone even cares). Maybe I'll update more if I think people are actually reading. Maybe not. We'll see. Anyhow...here's life as I know it right now:

CJ...
...is a sweetheart.  At one month (so, roughly three weeks ago) he weighed in at 10 lbs, 6.5 oz...placing him in the 70th percentile. Compared to Ava, he's petite! :) He naps well during the day, usually in his swing or in his crib, and has slowly but surely been doing better at night--Ava had better nights faster, but his days are a little less fussy so it all evens out. Last night he slept from 10:30pm until 5:45am! Ava had a meltdown at 3am (probably stemming from a nightmare) and then I was in major pain from going so long between feedings that I didn't get any more sleep than normal (normal = 4-6 hours total) but I was ecstatic to see him sleeping longer either way! After I fed him at 5:45 he went RIGHT back to sleep so I crashed from 6:15 until Ava got up at 7:45. Good stuff!
Anyhow, my second born is very smiley and very vocal...we love "talking" to him and making fools of ourselves just to see that huge grin of his. We are definitely done having children so I've been soaking up every moment and just enjoying my last baby. Not that I didn't enjoy Ava's infancy, but it's different. I'm actually not sad at all about not having more kids--the thought of going through another pregnancy and another newborn phase makes me want to cry-- and we feel so incredibly blessed to have two beautiful, healthy children and think that two is just right for our lives: we can easily care for and provide for them, both financially and emotionally.

Ava...
...is going through an extremely difficult phase right now. The combination of no more day care, a new baby, being at home with Mommy, Daddy out of town constantly, visitors in and out, being three years old, and her strong-willed personality are a lethal combination. I am trying to be as consistent as possible with her and am trying to make sure I praise and reward good behavior, but it's a challenge. She usually lashes out the worst when I'm nursing CJ--probably out of jealousy and because she knows that while he's got my undivided attention it's hard to deal with her properly--and she'll physically attack me. Depending on the offense, she's either placed in her room or spanked and placed in her room until she calms down. Yesterday we were at a friend's house and she didn't want to leave, so she expressed this to me by screaming her head off, scratching, biting, and pulling my hair. I gave her a spanking and then I had to just bear hug her until she calmed down. I almost feel bad for her because I don't think she means to get so out of control...after the bear-hugging, she just sat in my lap and hugged me and said she was sorry. Hopefully this blows over soon (I'm hoping that by her fourth birthday she's calmed down), I'm currently trying to find a preschool program for her because I think that having structure and authority figures and friends outside of the home will be great for her (and for me)...she's also very bright and loves learning, and there's only so much I can do for her. I've found three that look promising, one in particular that I'm interested in--I've called them to see if there are any openings and if not I will call the other two.

Craig...
...is busy with work, studying for his GMATs (in a few weeks...pray he does well so we can put some of the craziness behind us!), and finishing up his undergrad degree so that he can (hopefully) start the MBA program he's interested in next April. Even when he's home we don't get to spend much time with him, which is difficult on all of us, and I am pretty much on my own with the kids. We're just trying to hang in there for about the next six months and then it will start to get better!

Me...
...I'm exhausted, but am slowly adapting to a new version of normal and am trying to find my groove. It'll happen eventually. :)

All right, that's all for now...I'll post a few pictures ASAP but if you are on my facebook page, you've likely seen them already. Duty calls....