Screens

Sometimes I feel guilty about the amount of time my girls spend in front of a screen (at this point in their tiny lives, it's TV, iPod, and (very recently) my work iPad (under very close supervision). In retrospect, they really don't have lots of time (obviously this is a little different for Hadley as she "watches" TV for 5-20 seconds before something shiny/noisy/more distracting enters her little world).

I thought people were crazy when they said their kids learned from TV shows.*** Back then, though, it was (ack, gag, scream, run) Barney or Sesame Street (this one's legit!) and again, crazy. That said, the shows that are out there now have me on a completely different level in terms of how I feel about my kids and TV/iDevices. Here's why: 

•  TV shows
• Jake and the Neverland Pirates - this one is a spin off of Peter Pan. Three siblings (two boys and a girl) are on an island (without their mother?!) and get through a myriad of adventures in the jungle while trying to outsmart Captain Hook who, let's face it, is not the brightest crayon in the box. Morgan loves this show so much that we're using it as the theme for her 3rd birthday party. Thank you birthday close to Halloween...perfection and eye patches all around. :) 
• Team Umizoomi - This show is about math and it's legit. Morgan has learned about measuring and numbers and will routinely tell us that something is "5 units long" or she's going to be "8 units" big when she's bigger. I love that this show helps her see that numbers have a purpose and can be used SO many ways. And of course, the music is catchy.
• Mickey Mouse - concepts galore along with a goofy hot dog dance at the end. I don't know too many kids who don't like MM so I won't explain this one.
• Go Diego Go - Morgan LOVE LOVE LOVES this show. It's a spin off of Dora (another fave, but she's losing interest b/c it's almost too young for her now) and is about animal rescuing. Morgan rescues ANYthing all the time and there is no "rope like" item that is safe from her using it as a rescue rope. She can tell me things about animals I am shocked she even knows exists.
• Mike the Knight - I'm not sure what the draw is for this show and maybe it's a little more "show-y" than educational, but Morgan loves it and she gets to watch it a few times a week. 
• Doc McStuffins - Morgan freaking loves this show too and I think is what has inspired her to be a "people doctor" which is all she talks about being when she grows up. The little girl is a "doctor" like her mother and heals all stuffed animals in the tri-block area. It's cute and I can sing you the theme song like a champ. 
• Bubble Guppies - this show is equally adorable and educational. The little mer-people go through the whole gammot (sp??) of preK concepts as well as teach about different places to be seen in any given community. A few funnies from this one - their teacher is a big orange fish called Mr. Grouper and Morgan now accidentally calls all ambulances "clambulances" before correcting herself. :)
• Little Einsteins - we don't watch this one tons but it's also AWESOME for right side brain development as they learn SO much about music, travel, and thinking. 
• There are also several shows that I know she watches from PBS at daycare but we haven't ventured into those at home b/c A) she sees them at daycare and B) we have plenty of shows to choose from that I don't think she sees at daycare much anyway. Wild Kratts is a heavy favorite about animals, I know that much. 
• iDevice games
• Peek-a-boo Barn - Hadley enjoys this one (remember, I just introduced her to iDevices this past weekend) as you just tap on the barn door and an animal appears and makes its noise while the girl tells you what it is. Baby perfect.
• Baby Chords - a big little baby piano. Hadley hearts it. Morgan tries to take it over. :) 
• Pirate School - see Jake and the Neverland Pirates above. :) It's fun and a little more advanced than some of the younger apps I have. Bonus - it was free. 
• Facebook - oh wait, that's me...
• ScramblePCS - It's a spelling game that I showed Morgan and if she liked it, great, but it was a little advanced...sure enough, she liked it and rocked it at least for the 3-4 letter words. Sheesh. How did we learn to read when we were little?!
• My PlayHome - this is the coolest thing ever. It's a dollhouse in digital format. Almost everything you touch in this app does something - touch the toaster, toast pops up. Touch the light and it turns on/off. Put the apple by the person's mouth and s/he takes a bite. It's awesome since we don't have a giant dollhouse (much to Adam's delight).
• Alien Buddies - this is a game with little aliens that has quite a few games within it. Matching/IDing numbers, puzzles, letters, the list goes on. This one's great and the background music is fun.
• Letter Quiz - this app is awesome for PreK kiddos. It teaches them how to write their letters and won't put a line in unless you do it the right way. There is also letter/number matching/ID on here but Morgan's past that really, so she just practices writing her letters. 
• Monkey Preschool Lunchbox - Morgan loved this app while she was learning basic concepts and counting. She doesn't play it much anymore but it was great when she needed it. 
• UmiNumbers - see Team Umizoomi above. A game that's full of different ways to use numbers with Milly, Gio, and Bot.
• Angry Birds - shocker - Morgan rocks Angry Birds in Space(she doesn't play it very often but is awesome when she does). It's not easy, either! Dang gravity messin' with my system...

Now that I've listed a hundred things that they watch/see/play/etc on screens, you are thinking all we do is let our kids be in front of a screen. On the contrary, my friend. Sometimes during the summer when it's 900 degrees outside, or if I need a shower during Hadley's a.m. nap, or something else comes up where I need at least one kid to be non-mobile, screen time is an easy go-to (except for Hadley, as she still thinks screens are tasty - fail, they are not).

On a given normal summer day (as I cannot speak for daycare but know that she doesn't watch tons there either and plays all. day. long.), Morgan will watch 1-3 shows (each are only about 23-24 minutes in length) and have maybe 20 minutes in front of an iDevice (all interchangeable). 4 shows = 900 degree day, mom's brinking on insanity, mom needs a shower, daddy's traveling and mom's been home alone all day. Either way, all said and done, I'm thankful that the girls have these things to learn from b/c let's face it - I'm not always a steller mom ;-) and I need that time while they (mostly Morgan) are quiet/still. Thanks, Nick Jr, Disney Jr, and Apple!

***Disclaimer - To each their own about how they choose to let their children spend their time either independently or with them in front of or not in front of a screen. I'm not saying we're right/wrong with how we choose to parent our children, but I'm just offering up what our style is in this aspect of their biglittle lives.

Annnndddddd....crawler. Sort of.

Hadley had 6-7 reciprocal moves today that made her look like a real live crawler baby today. She's not terribly far behind but I think Morgan was crawling by now. I don't think Hadley's going to crawl for long as she seems to really enjoy standing, takes tentative steps, and today made moves like she is going to pull herself up on whatever is close to her but can't figure out how that dang leg moves out of the way and turns into a kneel instead of an "in the way limb."

After modeling mamama babababa dadadada to Hadley for a ton of time now, today she finally said a few "mmmmmma! mmmmmma!!"s today which was fun for us. It's hard not to compare the two kids and their development but we do and then try not to. :)

Morgan is the sweetest kid I know. Adam was reading to her before bed and she HAD to have me in there to listen as well. She (interrupted and) said, "Mama! My bed looks so nice! (I had made it after she put all her toys away) Thank you!" Heart = melt. :) I also got another "mama, you're a genius." afterward. ;-) Keep talkin', kiddo.

Rain. ALL day. Almost 3". On the day we had a double date to golf with Ries' and had a great sitter lined up to watch 5 girls. Le sigh. We shall try again before this season's out, I tell you. We shall try!

And just like that, tomorrow starts the 3rd week of this school year. FLYING already!

And we're off!

To a great start to the school year, that is. I've officially put in 2 full weeks of work and they've gone smoothly. Mornings are 100 million times easier without a nursing baby and since she's almost independent with a bottle (she takes a different kind than Morgan did and they leak - which she thinks is great fun if she's not starving) so we still have to keep an eye on her. Both girls are increasing their independence in the mornings and it's wonderful. Morgan gets dressed almost independently and Hadley is able to entertain herself more and more each day.

Today (written Friday, posted Saturday), both girls woke up almost simultaneously so I nabbed Morgan first since she LOVES to get Hadley up in the morning and we walked in on a baby who was easily sitting up in bed playing with her hippo. She's able to do this no problem when playing but hasn't done this in bed yet. And project, Adam, he will be lowering her mattress this evening after supper.

For the record, Morgan told me at bedtime last night that I'm a genius. Specifically, "Mommy, you're a GENIUS." We'll see how long she actually thinks that (ahem, 12 and disagreeing, I'm sure, ahem) but I had to write that one down.

Work. I should talk about work. I love my work. There are so many things I'm excited for and I can't believe I'm already putting in my 5th year here at the AEA. This is my second year in my 3 schools and I couldn't be more excited. I asked the principal if someone could at least paint my cinder block, exposed ceiling, janitor's large closet room over the summer b/c it was a scary place and I know my kids (and preK parents) hated it. I came back and not only had they painted a bright, clean white, I had a real ceiling, white walls, and general beautifulness that I would never have expected. It was one of those things where I thought I was asking a lot to have the district spend money on paint/labor but to remodel and make it an actual ROOM that is learning-friendly and not scary was more than I could have asked for. Automatic 100 Points to Washington Elementary/Muscatine CSD.

Besides the awesome new room, I have less chaos in both of my rooms (my 3rd school is tiny, should be closed, and I'm only there a few hours one time each week) and there is organization galore at least visually which is huge in my world of "must be orderly to function." I also had some time at the end of the last school year (and a TON of energy to do so) to create some things to help my kids learn language skills (thank you Pinterest and pals) and make articulation therapy more fun and I'm excited to see where it all takes us as SLP and students. I'm also just more confident in my roles at these schools since they're not my "new" schools anymore and that's always a good feeling to be one of the "oldies" in this field.

Lastly, we have an AWESOME set of new hires this year and my sector/dept is going to be really strong. I'm actually excited about our PD plan this year as I sat in the "creation committee" (is that what it should be called?) and it seems like it will help us really refine what we're doing (even though some SLPs are already doing much/some of what's going on)...either way, I think it will be a great learning experience and help me grow professionally (which is not something I've been able to say in PD years past...).

That was a lot about work. I'm just excited about it, my numbers are kind of low to start the year off but I have lots of check-ins and a few slam-dunk evals to get started from the end of the year last year so I know things will fill in quickly. We also have more progress monitoring to do (ha. of course.) so I'll be on my toes for sure.

I have something controversial to be excited about and that is the new iPad I received from my department yesterday. Here's why it's controversial (I'll try to keep it short - I could go on for hours) - there are roughly 50-55 SLPs in my area/region and ... dun dun dun ... only 10 of us get iPads. Other agencies in Iowa had ALL SLPs receive iPads last year and since our agency has preached and preached that we're so far ahead of other AEAs and so great and whatnot, it was a tough sell when we were told flat out NO, we wouldn't be getting any last year, especially when we are being drilled with "21st century skills" constantly. Fast forward to end of last year - we were asked by our dept if we had or used our own personal iPads with our students. I said no b/c I didn't have/use one and I didn't use my iPod with my students b/c (this may not be right but it's how I felt) it was a personal one and heaven forbid it be broken/lost/stolen/etc., I really didn't feel like forking over the cash for a replacement. SO, I don't know how their decision making process worked but I ended up being one of the ten SLPs who was set to receive one this year. Their rationale is that they will buy 10 each year until everyone has an agency one.  That's at least 5 years, folks, and makes me incredibly frustrated. I don't feel like I deserve an iPad b/c there are certainly better and more knowledgeable SLPs in my dept who deserve it more than I do, have done more research, know it better than I do (iPads/iPods are similar but it's still a little different), etc...so I feel bad being excited but I am excited nonetheless as I feel like it will revolutionize my therapy in many aspects and keep my kids motivated and focused. I'm eager to ditch the artic cards and do fun things on my iPad. Morgan is going to pee her pants if/when I ever show it to her. We're still planning to hopefully pool resources and get a family one at Christmas since I can't download anything besides free apps (and don't want to since it's a work device) and apps purchased with work funds so she'll have more access later. For now, free preK apps galore for Miss Morgan Pie and Hadley too - she LOVED the baby piano I let her play with on the iPod this morning so I could get a piggy in her hair...

Well that was a longie. If you didn't figure it out already, I'm SUPER excited about this school year and being a better SLP than I feel I am sometimes. I'm also eager to not have a maternity leave this year and be able to use the whole year as I see fit. Disclaimer - I am so thankful I was able to take leave on so many levels last year but to have your year split in two with a giant gap and new schools and life in general left me feeling a bit inadequate with my students last year. It was constant prep, then catch up with a lot of prayer involved. ;-) So here we go, year has started, and I'm so thankful for all I will be able to do this year. (ps. more on the girls later b/c really, who wants to read about my work? no one. who wants to read about the girls? ME!! and hopefully who ever reads this too.) 

8 Months of Hadley

Yeah, yeah, I'm a day late but it's fine. Hadley's officially 8 months old and I can't believe we only have to buy formula for 4 more months-ish. She's getting so big I almost can't stand it but I love it at the same time. Here's some info about where she's at! She's growing/changing fast, as they all do, I suppose...

• We went to the doctor's office for a weigh in since I had the time and wasn't working yesterday. She is 19lbs, 1oz and 27.5" long. The nurse guesstimated 75th and 50th percentiles, respectively, but she was eyeballing the chart (not actual plotting) so it might be a little off. Either way, she gained almost a pound and an inch in a month. Big kid!
• Still only 2 bottom front teeth but her behavior/slight fever/chewing fingers/all other potential symptoms, have us thinking she might be starting to get the top two in which are usually bears b/c they hurt. :( Poor baby. No white gums or anything so I'm thinking they're just moving around and getting ready instead of actually coming down. Rats.
• She is thisclose to crawling and I know I've said it before but she's close! A few days ago she lifted her hands while on all 4s a few times so maybe she's thinking about that reciprocal movement? Meh, as long as she crawls before she walks, it's fine.
• She also loves to stand and will do so at her music table for.eh.ver until someone gets sick of sitting there with her (she's not a reliable hiney faller yet) or it's finally time to make dinner and she needs to sit and play. She goes from sitting to belly purposefully and is almost there with going in the opposite direction.
• Fine motor-wise, she can easily pick things up with her finger tips but just doesn't have it in her yet to accurately make it to her mouth. Part of it is I need to stop helping her for time's sake and just let her fail til she gets it. I suck at this and have to actively work at it every day of their little lives. 
• She understands lots - shake-a shake-a, bounce a baby (she bounces up and down), high five, waves bye/hi, claps but not consistently for yay/clap your hands, no, no bite, drink (signed), more, and is starting to understand some "where" questions for people but this isn't consistent yet either. She's getting really close to signing on her own, too. 
• She is now a champ at getting her paci in her mouth on her own unless she's thrown it out of her crib (imagine that.). Last night I watched her take it from one hand, bring it to her other hand, flip it around, and put it in her mouth, all in her sleep. It was pretty sweet.
• She eats all kinds of baby food and oatmeal at each meal (rice cereal didn't agree with her as well) and is now quitting on the baby food about 2/3 of the way into a meal b/c she wants some of what we're having. She LOVES cheese and will mutilate a graham cracker like nobody's business. She also loves chicken and other meats. 

Enjoy the photo shoot pictures. There were WAY more fails than good shots so I'll include both in case anyone else things they're humorous, too. Sigh...she's getting so big! Happy 8 months, baby Hadley!

8 months! 

And now I run away from you.

Shrinking polar bear...

And....tackle polar bear.

Sister fail #42

Best we could get! 8 months and a little over 2 months shy of 3 years...

Hadley's best pose of what a deer looks like in 

the headlights with poor bow placement

Not running away while getting her picture taken at

 her music table, a HUGE favorite

Cutie patootie pie.

I stand all by myself!*

*all by myself meaning someone has to be there to catch me when I'm all done

For the past few days she's been way into raspberries 

again and thinks she's quite hilarious. She's right.

Honest Toddler

If you enjoy crying from laughter or dying at how hilarious someone's words can be, you MUST follow this blog. I seriously have to read this somewhere I can be obnoxious and crylaugh when I read it. Every time. Thanks Katie for introducing me to this one HA HA HA !! Bonus - the material is even funnier if you have any sort of access to a toddler now, in the past, or ever.

http://honesttoddler.wordpress.com/

Enjoy. I know I do.

Things that make me smile today

1. I sent the girls to daycare this morning and went shopping to stock up on summer stuff for Morgan next year, with my best guess being that she'll be in at least a size 5/5T for next summer for tops, with some bigger-looking 4T stuff as well. That said, I made an insane steal at JCP where I got 27 items for $110, one of which was a $25 jacket for M for fall. I WIN. 
2. When we go to a restaurant now, Morgan often asks, "Does this place have a play date, too?" Apparently that's what a play place is called and we've frequented them enough this summer for her to remember that, be it a little off the mark. 
3. The older girls at daycare asked Mary if "Morgan's mom is going to be able to have a baby for them to play with next summer b/c Hadley is getting too big too fast." HA HA HA. I'll (not) get right on that for you, sweeties. :) First, baby factory has shut down. Second, that would mean 3 in daycare at one time and my checkbook is crying at the mere thought.
4. Last night when we finally got a chance to Skype with Adam, Hadley, who had been relatively quiet throughout the day, started jabbering up a storm and reaching for the computer screen like a crazy person. Cute cute cute baby missing her daddy. Everyone is going to be glad to wake up from nap time tomorrow when he's home, pending all flights go as planned (fingers/toes crossed!!). 
5. I read something on FB last night that really really got me and I think is going to help me as a parent in all aspects. "The way we talk to our children becomes their inner voice." That said, I am now doing my best not to be so quick to my temper and to take a step back before responding to less than ideal situations that arise with a baby and toddler (although it's almost not right calling her that anymore b/c she's so big) and that makes me feel like I'm a better mom than I sometimes feel.
6. Hadley was up (I lost count after 7x) a lot last night and then tried sleeping in. I woke her at 7 to get ready for daycare and then she took a 2 hr nap there and was woken at 11:30 for lunch. I didn't think I had a prayer for her to go down at 1pm with Morgan but when Morgan went down, Hadley wanted NOTHING to do with 1:1 time with mommy and fussed until I made her a bottle and put her to bed. Um...ok! Deal! And with that, it's time to get stuff done so Adam doesn't have to come home to a dirty house. I know I wouldn't want to. :) 
7. Oh, and tomorrow night I'm going to a Lia Sophia party two doors down and I'm excited b/c I can drink all the punch I want, skip out on bedtime, and walk home without leaving my car behind if I so choose. ;-) Happy almost Friday!!!!!!!

It's about time...

for a family update. I haven't done one of these in a while and it's time. A few items of note before the individual shenanigans...

• We were just in WI this past weekend to meet our newest niece, Teegan. She's adorable and tiny and quiet and tiny and beautiful. She looks just like her sisters and they are so lucky to have such a cute baby in their family!
• Adam's traveling in southern FL this week and it's my last week home with the girls before starting work full time again on Monday. I have mixed emotions about this and will fill you in below.
• Not much else to report outside of what I'll put below...

Starting with the tiny one...

HADLEY:

• goes from sit to side to laying to hands/knees/toes with ease. She rocks on her hands/knee/other toes and sometimes just hands/knees. She's sooo close, you guys. After she starts back to daycare next week and watches her little buddy Scout (who's 4 months older and crawling like a crazy baby), I'm guessing she's going to take off and it will finally be time to break out the baby gates for a few months again.
• naps 30min-1.5hrs in the morning and 1-2 hours in the afternoon. She can really vary on her nap times. 
• is working on eating more and more and new things. She is enjoying trying new things like eggs and a few tiny pieces of soft meat here and there and LOVED mac 'n cheese yesterday until I had to finally cut her off. She takes 4-5 bottles a day and will vary from holding it herself to being lazy and making us do it (which is ok with me b/c that means she's still my baby).
• She's made some nice receptive gains as of late but over the weekend she started clapping for "yay!", does "so big!" and waves good bye. I feel like she's getting this much faster than Morgan did but I'll have to look back. I know Morgan was using more consonants than Hadley at this age. It's so interesting to watch them grow differently. 
• Hadley's officially got "stranger danger" now. Sometimes she's ok but it's not a shock if she freaks when being held by someone she doesn't see almost every day. Sigh. A phase.
• She is at the point in the car where she's ok with toys for a bit but really just wants someone to sit in the backseat and give her oodles of attention. Super, right at the beginning of "drive to WI 2x/month season." Although kudos to the rest of my family yesterday - Adam for suggesting leaving right after her morning nap/bottle. Hadley for sleeping TWO HOURS in the car, some of which included going back to sleep after multiple stops (lights) in Madison. Morgan for sleeping 1.5 hours and being super quiet for the last half hour of Hadley's nap. 
• She loves standing. Loves it. She frequently will become stick straight if she thinks she's going to be sitting b/c she'd rather stand. I really hope she remembers to crawl between sitting and walking b/c it's good for brain development (and you have a paranoid mommy, Hadley, sorry tutz).

MORGAN:

• She is a ball of wonderful right now. She's starting to ask how things come to be (I'm just waiting for her to ask where babies come from...it wouldn't shock me with some of the stuff she comes up with. Yikes.) and is so beyond excited for Sunday school she could almost pee her pants. 
• She still naps in the afternoons anywhere from 1-2.5 hours. Usually she's almost spot on for 1-1.25 hours and asks to go down for a nap b/c she's tired. 
• I don't know if I ever blogged about it but she's fully out of diapers overnight and all. She hasn't had an accident for a long time (although last time I posted that I'm pretty sure she had one two days later...) and is good to go there. ::still crossing fingers and toes that Hadley follows in her footsteps for potty training::
• She has a "WI jar." We put things in it to help her count down to the next time we go to WI, otherwise she gets sad when she doesn't understand 12 days vs. 12 hours vs. 12 minutes until we leave. Last time we put tootsie rolls in it. This time it's puff balls. Next time, she's asked for buttons. :)
• She tells the truth until the very end. This kid will tell me things she knows will get her in trouble (which actually gets her in less trouble since I'm so impressed she's willing (knowingly??) to put herself out there even though she knows I might not like it). 
• She's asked to have a Jake and the Neverland Pirates birthday party (say what?! she's turning 3 in less than 3 months!?!). I think this is perfect as her birthday is just before Halloween and we should be able to find pirate stuff EVERYWHERE. I know we'll have at least one birthday party back home but I'm not sure I'm ready/willing to go for a big birthday party here yet for her little friends. Maybe for her 4th birthday...
• I think she used a /k/ sound the other day...but then couldn't replicate it. :) I have to keep reminding myself she's totally normal even though we probe it once in a while just to make sure. :) Besides, it's really funny when she says, "Hurry duys! We dotta doh TWIT!" (hurry guys, we gotta go quick)
• Her DVD player was acting funny in the car yesterday and while Adam was trying to figure it out, Morgan said, "This is SERIOUS!" Agreed. 
• She now sings "Call me maybe" with me. Fun. She loves singing in general and makes up her own songs all the time. 

LISS

• Ahh....work starts next week. It's almost fitting that it's Monday the 13th. At this time next week, instead of putting off cleaning up around here, doing the bathroom, etc, I'll be sitting in a meeting helping plan our PD for the year. Super. In some ways I'm so ready to go back but this year it's definitely more not ready than ready. My tune may change after a week of single parenting Thing 1 and Thing 2, but for now, I'm not ready. I don't want to leave them. I don't want to give up our freedom to play outside (now that it's not been 1,000 degrees out for a few days) or watching them do new things each day. I don't want to fix other people's kids when mine are doing what they're doing. That said, I'm so excited to see the progress my kids at work have made and get a few new ones going that were brought to my attention at the end of the school year. And I dearly miss my colleagues and all that comes with that. It will be good for us, but don't get me wrong - I love being home with my babies even though it's not 100% of the time (thank God for Mary! I had a little me time this summer!).
• I'm still about 5-6 lbs above where I wanted to be at the end of this summer meaning I'm still 5-6lbs above pre-pregnancy weight with Hadley. I'm hoping that being at school with limited access to food (only what I bring) will help me out. That, and I find I drink lots more water at school which I definitely DON'T at home....I know, I know. My fault. It's just so nice to do whatever I want with my body b/c it's ALL MINE now and apparently the novelty hasn't worn off since mid-June. :)
• I'm working on a more positive attitude. I have been letting my temper get to me lately which in turn obviously affects the rest of the yahoos around me, poor girls and Adam. I wonder if it has anything to do with hormones, as I had something like this happen around 6 months postpartum with Morgan, but sometimes I just need a reality check and I'm good. Adam asked me the other day if I was ok. He meant more than just that moment and after I thought about it, I realized I really need to kick it in gear and behave a bit better. Always a work in progress, no? :) 

ADAM:

• He's recently turned into the walking wounded. He'd aggravated his wrist during a home workout and after it felt better for a few weeks, he reinjured it. Then his shoulder went out the other day and he thinks rotator cuff possibly. Maybe he golfs too much... ;-) He will disagree. 
• Works fine. Nothing too new as far as I know. He's still doing really well and getting new business almost weekly which is pretty good. (In case you don't know, he's in sales at his company and sells products made from corn. Or something like that.) :)
• He's lost 10lbs and is looking good, let me tell you. I'm proud of him and we've each only got a little more baby weight to lose... ;-)

I don't know much else that's going on right now other than what I've listed. We're both getting more and more sure every day that our family is complete and that having 4 of us is just right. Ok, who are we kidding, Adam's sure, and I'm also pretty sure. We were discussing this on the way home yesterday and the mere thought that I never have to pump again makes me almost giddy. Let me set the record straight, however; if God surprises us with a 3rd b/c he thinks we should have one, then we'd welcome that baby with open arms but if we're the ones making the decision, it seems like our family is a family of 4. With two crazy dogs. And now I have a few things to do before we go to a play date/borrow a baby monitor b/c we left half of one of ours in WI and we can't hear the girls from our room at night. Toodles, folks.