Long Time, No See

Wow, March 28th was a long time ago! Updating this darn blog takes so much time and we're so busy enjoying the boys, I just never seem to be able to get around to it. However, it is summer now and I'm down to part-time hours, so you can look for another one of those super-long let-the-pictures-do-the-talking catch-up posts... within the summer. :)

Brotherly Love

Jackson loves to observe Carter while he sits in his vibrating bouncy chair. This time he chose to do so while riding his Tonka truck around the kitchen.

I can barely keep Jackson still enough to pose for the camera anymore. Now that he knows he can look at the screen and see an image on it, he thinks he only has to be still for one nanosecond and can then come over and see the picture.

Taking turns getting diapers on after bath time. Look how big Jackson looks in this shot - unreal!!!

Enjoying a moment during tummy time

Carter is totally unaware of the mischevious grin behind him...

Hard to Believe...

... that since my last post, my first baby turned two and my second baby was baptized! They are already growing up way too fast. I will forever be amazed at how quickly time passes before one's eyes, which is never more evident than when raising a family.

The birthday boy posing with his cake and opening a present from cousins Maddy and Jay.

Carter's baptism. Curt's siblings Matt and Erin did us the honor of being his Godparents.

We've Been Busy...

Here's another catch-up post where, instead of telling complete stories (which takes too much time that I don't have), I'll let the pictures do the talking with brief captions. We've been quite busy since my last post, having lots of fun with family and friends...

Most of the Beaudoin clan, plus other families/friends, who attended the second annual sledding party at Grandpa B's last weekend - a rare group photo. The weather was awesome and we had a blast! We drank coffee and hot chocolate outside, and cooked hotdogs over the huge fire.

Sliding down the long hill; walking and riding up the other side

Snuggling with Grandma

Working on grooming the trail a bit more - the snow was soft and powdery, so it didn't pack down as easily

One of the boys brought trucks to share to play with outside. Jackson kept calling them all racecars. He did a great job that day, staying outside with us for over 4 hours! There were plenty of Cheetos to eat, so he was happy. :)

Here's Andrew trying to get the fire going. He and Curt finally fanned it to life with the sleds!

The next few photos are from our house. Andrew and Brea were up for the weekend, along with our college buddy Chee, and we got to enjoy some outside time in the snow-covered yard.

Maybe if they stare at it long and hard enough, the frozen shed door will magically open. Or maybe Sadie can bark it open.

This is how to have a good time in the snow, and...

this is a not-so-good time.

Later - thank goodness there were plenty of Doritos to keep him happy.

And these next few are from Grandma Paula and Papa's trip up for an overnight in the middle of one week - a nice change of pace for us!

Jackson likes to be a little helper now that he's cool with Carter being around :)

In the tub, showing off to Grandma & Papa his mad skillz at identifying letters and numbers. Aren't those cool? They stick to the walls of the tub! (Moms: they're available at Target)

Still doing a great job in the big-boy bed

Our boys, enjoying a good book with Daddy...

and a snuggle with Mommy...

and Grandma.

Tummy time

Big Boy Room

Jackson has officially transitioned to a big boy room with a big boy bed! It took only a little while for this to go smoothly for him, thank goodness. When Curt and I first began discussing the idea (before Carter was born) of moving Jackson into the bedroom next door and keeping his old room set up for the baby, I was admittedly horrified at the thought of having my (big) baby move out of his crib and into a bed. This was a step towards growing up that I was just not ready for. I had lots of excuses and tried to pass it off as Jackson's not being ready when in reality, it was me. But now that we've done it I can look back and admit that Curt was right, it was a good idea and something we really needed to do.

I was all worried about Jackson because we hadn't done this before the baby came home, so I thought it would be too much for him to get used to in too short a time, but he did really well. His getting used to Carter pretty quickly probably helped. We began by moving most of his toys into his new room and playing in there a lot so he could get used to it. The next step was taking naps in the "big boy bed," as we call it, which Daddy helped him get used to by laying with him the first couple times until he fell asleep. When Daddy stopped doing that, Jackson just stayed awake in there, playing and reading books, until either he was tired enough to lay down and go to sleep on his own or until I went in there to lay him down and tell him it was night-night time, at which point he'd stay in bed and nap well. Since we already had a mattress, we didn't buy anything else, so the bed is just on the floor, which alleviates my worries about him falling out of bed and waking up or being injured.

Once napping was easy for him, we took the plunge and tried it out at night. The first time was a disaster. Surprisingly, I did not break down and cry, but I was close. He cried himself hoarse, standing by the door and knocking, calling for Mommy and Daddy. We were heartbroken, of course, and we kept debating whether to go in, whose turn it would be if we did, and what we would do once inside. We were both ready for bed ourselves, and Carter was asleep, so that was another stressor: we knew that he'd have been sleeping comfortably in his crib in mere minutes had we not decided to try the bed that night, and we could have been doing the same. Instead, we went in and out of his room, trying to console him and get him to stay in bed, Daddy even bringing him out for drinks of water, for well over an hour and a half, before we finally gave in and put him back in his crib for the night. We decided that minute that we would have to wait until we had almost a good week of being home at night with no company over before we tried this again. The last thing we wanted was for him to wake the whole house up while family was visiting that weekend.

We decided to make this week the week so he would have enough time to get used to his new room before Carter moves into the baby room in another week or two. We had established the ground rules and knew who would do what: Jackson would be given ample warnings about sleeping in the big boy bed; we'd let him cry for half an hour before returning to put him down without talking to him; Curt would get up to do this once I'd gone to bed since I'm getting up frequently to nurse. On Monday night, bedtime began much the same way as it had on that disastrous night the week before, except the crying was maybe a bit less intense. We had agreed to intervene after half an hour, but we didn't feel he needed it as he had had some quiet spells in that time, and I could tell that he had attempted to go back to bed a couple times during that half hour. So we left him alone in his room, hoping the crying, knocking, and calling out for us or for water would soon end. After only about an hour total, he finally fell asleep, exhausted, as we guiltily discussed our success at resisting the urge to go in there and save him from the unknown. Of course he woke up a few times that night, repeating the whole crying-knocking-calling-out routine, but Curt was able to get him back into bed quietly and quickly. It helped that Jackson now had all the necessary items in bed with him or near him: his music machine, which he would turn on to soothe himself back to sleep when he'd wake in the night in his crib, two of his blankies, a teddy bear, his glow worm, and a cup of water.

Last night, night two: I was on my own since Curt worked the evening shift and was on-call overnight, so he stayed at the hospital. When I gave Jackson his first warning that bedtime in his big-boy bed was near, he cutely said, "Okay, Mommy." He didn't hesitate when it was finally bedtime, and he snuggled right into his pillow and kissed me goodnight. I walked out of the room marveling at how easy that had been on what was only the second true night of this new experience for all of us. After about ten minutes of silence, though, he was up and crying at the door. I reminded myself that I had to fight my motherly instincts and stay out of his room. He whimpered for maybe 20 minutes, walking back and forth from bed to door, before finally staying in bed. He was up again half an hour later, so I went in and quietly put him back down. Throughout the night, he did not get out of bed once, just turned on his music machine or played music on his glow worm when he woke up, and he stayed quiet and went back to sleep on his own. We are really lucky to have such an easy-going boy, because I know this could have been a lot harder and was totally expecting it to take longer, but in just two nights, SUCCESS!!!

Although I struggled with the decision to move Jackson into a big-boy room and bed at first and we had an unpleasant couple nights, this transition was probably the first of many where we will have to do something difficult as parents for the benefit of our children. It was really hard to sit there and listen to him crying out for us, even though we knew that denying him was helping him in the long run. This is just another step on the road of growing up, a road I sometimes wish my kids didn't have to take, but one that I am proud to see them walk down nonetheless.

A Weekend With the Wojos

This past weekend was our belated Christmas celebration with Curt's side. Every year for the past six years we've gotten together on a weekend in January rather than packing in our family time during the actual holiday season. We see each other then, too, if possible, when there are bigger family gatherings with his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, but we've come to appreciate the time that just the immediate family is together at Mom & Dad's, especially now that there are kids involved. What we've done in the past is gone out for dinner, followed by a night of gifts and games. Each child took his/her turn each year choosing the restaurant and location. Last year there were only two babies, so family friends came over to watch them while we went out. This year, though, we decided to stay in and host it at our house, which ended up being much easier for Curt and I than packing up our entire house to spend an overnight now that we have two kids. And since there are four kids total, three of whom wouldn't be comfortable with an unfamiliar babysitter at their ages, they were part of the festivities as well.

Maddy and Jackson checking out their new presents

Curt had decided that, since it was his year to choose the meal, he wanted each of his siblings to make something "exotic" that they - or at least most of us - had neither eaten nor made before (that's how he defines "exotic" food). We ended up having a really good meal consisting of duck, jerk chicken wings, stuffed peppers, ham and potato soup, and tiramisu for dessert. We had fun sharing our opinions of the different foods, and the siblings even came up with a contest to choose the winner (the peppers and dessert tied). After dinner we exchanged white elephant gifts, which was hilarious, and played some games. On Sunday we went to church and came home to a nice breakfast, followed by an afternoon of snacks and Vikings (n0tice which I wrote first) before the family departed.

The white elephant exchange. I should have taken a full-length picture so you could see how awesome this sweater truly is. Curt's is a hand-made t-shirt from his sister Erin (she's in the above photo).

Spending times like this together reminds me how lucky we both are to have such great families. There is so much love and laughter shared among us all, and I am always so touched when I see how much love our parents have for our children. Watching the kids spend time with their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins as they grow up has already given me such a deep sense of pride and joy, which I'm sure will only continue to grow as the years pass by... all too quickly.

Bringing Home Baby

While Jackson stayed with the Wojo grandparents, Curt and I brought Carter home on Tuesday night and finished getting everything situated for days and nights at home with a newborn. I felt so good after this delivery, and Carter was doing so well, that we decided we had no reason to stay at the hospital any longer. The transition was difficult at first because he wasn't nursing all that well or that often, and I finally had to pull out the pump once my millk came in to relieve the pain and pressure. At first I was worried that he wasn't getting all that he needed, but after the nurse's home visit and the doctor appointment this week, we found that he's already over his birth weight, so that was a relief for me. Now that we have figured each other out, it's so much easier! He's got a more consistent nursing schedule, I am better at using tricks to keep him nursing equally from both sides for the most part, and I'm not so worried about how he's doing. He is just a very efficient eater, that's all! I struggled with nursing Jackson at first, too, who turned out to be the opposite - a nursing session could take 50 minutes total with him, whereas it's closer to half an hour at the most with Carter, which is actually kind of nice now that I'm more relaxed about it! I was also worried because he was somewhat jaundiced, for which they're supposed to be brought into the hospital, but it was snowing too hard and was Christmas the day I would have done that. By the time the nurse and then the doctor saw him this week, though, they said his color looked great, just a bit of yellow left in the whites of his eyes, which is the last part to go back to normal color and has done so by now. He is a very content baby, like his brother, with not much crying, just fussing when hunger strikes. He has his days and nights sorted out and is slowly gaining more awake, alert time during each day. It's so much fun to watch his sweet little expressions and hear the tiny baby coos he's starting to make! I'm definitely in love. :)

The Wojos brought Jackson to the hospital to meet his brother on Monday night, but he slept right through it! After holding Carter for a while, they took Jackson back to their house for a couple days so we could finish up our stay and have our first night at home with just one child, which really made things go smoothly for us. They came back up Wednesday evening to bring him home, and Curt and I made sure neither of us was holding Carter when Jackson came in. He approached the bouncy chair where Carter was sleeping, not really knowing what we meant (I don't think) when we told him there was a baby in there, and physically backed away upon seeing him, repeating, "No baby, no baby," and taking my hand to try to pull me away from him. He was emotional and whiny for a while, saying "no" to everything we offered or requested. Neither of us held the baby at this time, but Grandma did, and he didn't like that very much! He was okay once Grandpa distracted him with some toys, but it took him a while. He avoided Carter the rest of the night and kept saying "No baby" when we'd say anything about him, until I had to nurse. He started to get fussy then and wanted to be in my lap, too. "Mommy, mommy, mommy!" he cried as he tried to climb up into my lap. I tried to explain that I had to hold Carter so he could eat, but Jackson was pretty jealous. At the same time, I got a phone call, his grandparents were leaving, and Daddy decided it was bedtime, so things were very chaotic for hime for a while there! He cried about going to bed and had to be rocked by Daddy. Needless to say, I think he was stressed out and confused after all that. Since then, though, he's really done a good job. He doesn't try to do inappropriate things to his brother; in fact, he mostly ignores him, except to say, "Oh, baby" when he cries or makes noises. He still doesn't love it when I nurse, but if Daddy's around to play with him, then it's no big deal. He will now give Carter kisses if we ask him to, and he even "held" him for a picture already! He likes to bring Mommy things the baby needs if I ask for them, and he's learning that Mommy and Daddy can't play ball with him while holding the baby. :)


As for me, it was very strange to see my toddler again after giving birth to a tiny thing. Jackson seemed so much more grown-up, and he looked like a giant! And the first time I changed his diaper, I couldn't believe it - he took up the whole changing table! Carter only takes up about 1/6 of it! That's when I pulled the potty chair back out of its storage place and set it next to the toilet. :) Jackson went back to daycare yesterday to see his daycare lady again (she really missed him!) and keep him familiar with that, and I think he really enjoyed it. He seemed to be getting a little bit bored here at home with us! It's too cold to play outside this week, and Daddy's been busy working on his shed, so I was happy to give Jackson some much-needed kid time yesterday. It gave us a nice break as well. I am very blessed to have two happy, healthy little boys, and I've been impressed with how much help my great big boy has given me since he's been off work. He even has two more weeks to be home - lucky us! We are one happy little family! :)