I thought I couldn't wait for this...

What a bittersweet time.  Things are touch and go right now with my emotions.  I've been looking forward to Seth starting Kindergarten and Abby going to five day a week pre-school.  But, now it's here.  I have a work schedule that has me working more day/morning hours so I can pick Seth up from school and even get home to put the kids to bed some.  It all worked out how I had hoped.  And I WAS so excited to start this new adventure.  Now it's here.  I'm happy and I'm sad.  I've cried several times today and I'm about to cry again now. 
I'm excited because I know Seth is totally prepared for Kindergarten.  He had the best preschool teacher to get him where he needs to be.  He is socially ready.  He is excited to learn! I couldn't ask for more from him.  Yes, he went to preschool for 2 years!  And last year he was there 5 half days a week!  So why is this so different? 
I read a blog to new kindergarten moms.  It talked about this being a celebration for us moms.  Not that we have a few hours to maybe clean without kids in the house, or sit down for 5 minutes without ANY sound in the house, but a celebration that we prepared our children for the beginning of their journey.  I feel great about how prepared he is.  I'm proud of Seth and I as parents for the struggles we've endured (so far). How much we've grown and learned in raising our son (so far).  I am happy to have those few minutes of quiet.  But I'm sad. 
When I first had my kids, everyone told me, "it goes so fast."  I was not a fan of people "putting their feelings on me."  I wanted to figure it all out.  I didn't want to hear "wait until he starts..." I wanted to enjoy what was going on then.  I thought, "that might not happen with mine," or "maybe I won't feel that way."  Well, I do, and it does go by fast.  And it's not like I won't see my son every day and experience all the new exciting things with him.  But I'm sad because I don't know if I took FULL advantage of the time I had him home.  I can only imagine how working mothers feel.  I do a lot with my kids, but as a mom I question "did I do enough?"  And then I think to a conversation I recently had with a friend when I said "but do you remember the things you didn't do or didn't get as a kid?"  I don't.  I remember the fun things we did as a family.  The special trips to the toy store. Saving my money and quarters and pennies to buy that plastic charm necklace and charm clips to put on it.  And that wasn't just handed to me and it obviously meant more to me.  So I guess I need to keep telling myself that. 
Seth is prepared for school.  He's so excited to learn.  He is so outgoing and great at talking to people, kids and adults.  He's not thinking about the last 5 years and what I didn't do with him.  He's looking at what's ahead and how much fun he's going to have.  So I guess I need to keep thinking about the fun things ahead.  I'm doing the best job I can.  I'm keeping busy while the kids are in school - God knows I'd go crazy if I wasn't busy!  So tomorrow I will try so hard not to cry in front of him. I will send him into school thankful for what a special boy he is and how happy he is.  Thankful for how far we have come with him.  Thankful that we have this son that we can continue to make memories with.  And then...I'll take Abby, stop at Starbucks, and go to work for a few hours. 
And then...we'll pick him up with balloons and go get him a special treat to remember his first day of school.  Because those are the happy memories I want to make with him, not the sad mom crying ones...

Seth's 4th Birthday

I have blogged on SJ's every birthday until now.  I have a good excuse though...it was Thanksgiving, so things were a little crazy.  Couldn't be a better day to have a birthday.  So he knows his birthdate and that it was Thanksgiving, BUT he was VERY confused because his birthday party was last weekend.  He has been asking for a Buzz Birthday since the SPRING!  AND he invites/has invited every person we meet. My super friendly little guy walks up and talks to anyone and every conversation somehow always turned to "I'm going to invite you to my Buzz Birthday!"  So he had his birthday complete with Buzz decorations, pinata, balloons, and of course you can't have a Buzz Party without Buzz so we got SJ a Buzz costume to wear.  He LOVED it.  And of course loved his family party. 
So we have come so far this past year.  This time last year, Seth was easier to handle than the year before but still very difficult.  He is no longer very difficult, but he takes a lot of energy.  He is super energetic, sweet, lovable, and DETERMINED!   His personality is that which when he says "Mommy what flavor is that yogurt?" and I say "strawberry," he responds "no it's grape." Doesn't matter that I can read and read the package, he's got the right answer...must get that from his daddy the lawyer. 
Since his Birthday was on Thanksgiving this year, I need to say how thankful I am for his outgoing personality. He is 180degrees different from me.  I do not like to talk to strangers/random people, and I'm not outgoing enough to approach people even to make friends.  BUT, my son is forcing me to be better and for that I am forever grateful to him.  God gave me that child so that I would have to work on being more outgoing, that I can talk to random people, he knows...
So as I write this, I'm sitting in the dark living room with out Christmas tree lit, and I think about the month following his birth that we sat together while Daddy was at work and watched Christmas movies in the dark, and snuggled, and napped, and what great memories they were.  I say it often, but I'm so lucky and blessed with all I have and I would be just as lucky and blessed if the only thing I had was my family.  The truly mean the world to me...

Seth's first day of Pre-K3

Today is Seth's first day of School!  My big ole guy is getting too big.  I put the kids to bed alone last night and struggled saying prayers, praying for a great first day of school.  I know he loves it, he's been asking for friends to play with (poor guy) and loves to socialize AND learn!  I'm so excited too, to have a few hours each week with just Abby - to run errands, clean, and we may even take mommy and me swimming again while he's at school! 
Seth was very excited for his first day. Daddy and he went to get a big boy backpack yesterday - he calls it his camoflauge backpack (I'm not a fan of the grey, black, and blue thing), he picked it out himself.  Last night, he got out of bed once which he hasn't done in forever, because I think we got him a little too excited about the whole thing!  This morning he got up and got dressed, took pictures with Daddy before he left for work.  Unfortunately it's a court day for Daddy so he couldn't stay.  We had a good breakfast and then Mimi came over to help get everyone out the door.  Of course 15 pictures later we left!

We found his classroom, he picked his cubby out himself, gave his papers to his teacher, foudn his name on the school bus and put it in the basket.  Then he went and foudn the fishing game that he played with at his Orientation the other day.  I think it's his favorite toy already!  I asked for hugs, he gave us all hugs and we pretty much left. He ran and started playing!  Couldn't ask for a better drop off...for him.  Mommy struggled to hold the tears back for him - like I am now.  Abby was sad in the car, but is good now. We came home and she asked to go snuggle in her bed.  Couldn't ask for more!  Sounds like a perfect idea to me!  And thus begins, the next I don't know how many years of "First days of school..."http://www.facebook.com/#!/KGreer5http://www.facebook.com/#!/KGreer5

Wow, it's been a while

So I guess as the kids get older and life gets a little more crazy, I post blogs a little less. Luckily, I find I'm not the only one this is happening too. I see many of my friends haven't updated blogs in a while either so that makes me feel better:) Obviously a year has gone by so lots has happened. In July we went on our family vacation to Myrtle Beach. What a great time, but right now the age of the kids makes things a little less relaxing, but I think that may start changing this year. In November we had SJ's 3rd Birthday! Holy cow! I can't believe it's been 3 years. We have definitely gone through our rough spots but we are learning how to deal with his personality and realizing how we deal with him affects how he acts. So, we are working on how we act towards him and he is starting to learn to deal with his feelings and reactions. He's definitely a total boy! He's got a TON of energy! He's got such a personality too...and very smart might I add:) I'm a proud mommy! Seth had 2 birthdays this year. He had a party in Maryland and then we flew to Louisiana on his birthday and we had another party there with the Greer's! We had a Robot cake (thanks Aunt Step) and everything. That kid was spoiled because a few days later we celebrated christmas down there. So he got presents in Maryland, birthday presents in Lousiana, and then Christmas presents.
Christmas was in Maryland this year and I think I was just as excited as the kids. We had Snowflake the elf stay with us from Thanksgiving until Christmas and the kids were excited to see where he landed each day. Seth was super excited christmas morning when he saw Santa brought him a Rocketship! Just what he asked for! Abby was just happy with whatever. She kept telling us that she cried when she saw Santa. Hopefully she'll be happier seeing him next year.
Next week is Abby's 2nd Birthday. She is definitely all girl. She loves her dollies and dressing up. She LOVES shoes which she totally doesn't get from me, must be daddy...he loves his shoes too! Abby is totally into Peppa Pig on Nick Jr. so we are having a Peppa Birthday this year. She better realize how much Mommy loves her because the decorations are coming all the way from the UK. That will never happen again because mommy thought the price was already converted to US $ and it wasn't! Let's just say when I saw my bank account I tried to cancel the order but it was too late. So...Abby is now potty trained! Our biggest accomplishment for her this year! She is still wet at naps and in the morning so stays in diapers then, but she is in big girl panties the rest of the day! So proud of her and excited to not have to change poopie diapers anymore! HOORAY!
I think that's all for now. Better get back to my stay at home mommy work! Still loving every minute of being home during the day!

Abby's First Birthday

Wow...wow wow!!! I can't believe this will only be the 4th blog I've written since Abby was born! Obviously a lot has happened. Abby is 100% walking. She started shortly after she turned 11 months just like Seth did. It was a fight to get her to take any steps but she would stand up on her own without holding onto anything from sitting. I knew she COULD walk if she tried, but she just never wanted to try. Which I WAS fine with. She and Seth interact a lot more now too. Abby will crack up at Seth and that eggs Seth on to make her laugh. It really is awesome to see that. We went through a VERY dificult couple months with Seth right before and right after he turned 2. He was NO FUN! He spent a TON of time in timeout and it felt like we were constantly getting on to him. But timeouts are not very common anymore and we do the "if I count to 3" thing. It REALLY works. I can tell him to do something 100 times, but as soon as I tell him "if mommy gets to 3 you go to time out, do you understand me" and he responds "yes m'am." He listens. It REALLY is amazing that it works! But it makes me realize that all the hard work DOES pay off even if it IS easier to let some things go.
We are starting to realize that we probably spoil Abby a little too much. She has started whining when she doesn't get her way. But she's so darn sweet we usually give her what she wants because she plays on her own and is so happy and easy to get along with. We continued with her crazy sleeping patterns (from the last blog) until right after Christmas because it was just easier to get up with her than have her wake up little Seth. But when we got home from Seth's parents, we decided "it was on." So the first night, we let her cry, and of course, ever since then she's been consistantly sleeping til 6:30 or 7. So bedtime for both is now 8pm and wake up ranges from 6:30-7:30 for the 2 of them....so nice!
So let me reminice (sp?) a little for a minute. Abby was up at 6:30 this morning and I was thinking, now is about the time last year that I was NEEDING an epidural...and then at 9:30 I was thinking I was probably holding that baby girl in the hospital. And then I put her to bed tonight. She layed with her tummy on mine while we said prayers and I sang to her and I sang the song that I made up in the hospital for her. Our first night together, Abby and I spent alone. Seth went home to feel better and take care of little Seth. So I was struggling a little feeding her and getting her to go back to sleep. So I sang this little silly song: Abby Jo, Abby Jo, Abby Jo, I love you so, I love you so my Abby Jo. I sing it sometimes still, but not very often. But it reminds me of our first night together. Just us girls...I can't wait til we have many "just us girls" times. I love having my little boy, our times together and those big hugs and kisses from that sweet guy are uncomparable. And I love having my little girl, to look at me with those big eyes, and give me unsolicited kisses and hugs when she gets up from her nap. It's amazing. I feel so blessed. My little family 100% feels complete...and I'm a lucky lady...

where has the time gone...

So my baby is 8 months old today...where did the time go? How much has changed!!?!?!? Who knows...and a ton! Seth is talking like crazy...up to 3 words together. He knows what he wants and he knows how to push mommy's buttons. He is a handful these days and has a TON of energy. He needs to be going going going...BUT he does love his Yo Gabba Gabba. He's pee peeing on the potty again. Not all the time but a decent amount, but only pee pee...it's a start! We're going on about 3-4 weeks now. He'll tell us sometimes...but not all the time. If this trend continues longer we'll do something more to get him really potty trained...these $45 a box diapers for 2 kids is EXPENSIVE! They wear the same size diapers though, so really I only have to get 1 box at a time. Yep, you heard me correctly, my 22 month old and 8 month old can wear the same diapers!
Abby is the best...she is SUPER happy...I thought SJ was happy, but Abby, is crazy happy. I love it. She's getting a little needy lately though. She wants to be right next to me all the time, has to see me and if I'm down on the floor, she is in my lap. If I'm changing SJ's diapers, she's right there in the way. Her smile though...the thought of it even, just makes me smile. Don't get me wrong, SJ's smile makes me smile too...but he is more of a handful at this point. Abby has 5 teeth now, and is crawling like a crazy woman! She started that shortly after she turned 7 months. She's pulling up on everything too. I have no doubt she'll be walking before she's 1 too. Which is completely fine with me! She gets heavy to carry...fast! But I do love that she likes to snuggle some still....because SJ is too busy right nowfor that. I know it will come back soon.
Abby's sleep changed from 12hours to waking up at 5:30 am most nights andthen back to sleep for 2 more hours. I'm not complaining, she goes from 7:30-5:30, but we could have done without this change. We get up and give her a bottle then even though the doctor told us not too...but the dilema is...let her cry and wake SJ up and have both of them cry (because believe me they do feed off of eachother when it comes to crying) or get up for the 10minutes it takes to give her a bottle and put her back down. I choose the 2nd rather then having 2 screaming babies up at 5:30 am for good!
I love my babies more than anything...they are so much fun and I am such a lucky person to have them and Big Seth. I can't imagine my life without them in it. Awesome...that's all I can say! Seth and I both think our family is perfect right now. I honestly don't think I could do the infant thing again anytime soon...I'm worn out!

How quickly things change...

So it's been a LONG time since I wrote a blog...
Abby had her 2 month appointment and weighed close to 14 lbs. She was sleeping til 5 am for the longest time and going to bed around 9. The past week or so we've put her down (well Seth has) around 8pm, right after SJ goes to bed, and she's been sleeping til 8:30...one day til 9!!! So WONDERFUL! She's sitting in her bumbo and holds herself better everyday. I can't believe she's almost 3 months old already! I tried to put her in her crib for naps last week and almost lost my mind. She was fighting me pretty good and barely slept each day.So I gave that up quickly. Then this week she fell asleep rocking in my arms and I took her up and she slept in her crib for 45 minutes. I did that 2 days. Today, I did the same thing and we're going on 2 HOURS! Seth is also in his crib and we're going on 45 minutes of them taking naps simultaneously...which is why I have time to write this!
Seth peed and pooped on the potty this week too. First time on my Birthday and he pooped twice and peed 4 times. The next day he did it again and then Wednesday he went all day with a dry diaper. He pooped in it but no pee. Then Thursday he only used the potty once, and today, after starting to pee on the floor, I put him on the potty and that's been it for today. Oh well...
We've been playing outside a lot, and Seth LOVES it. The weather has been mid to upper 80's a few days this week...so I've been in heaven too...I love it! I like the cool, windows open weather too, but summer...I can't wait for summer!!! Big Seth and I took SJ out this past Sunday morning to play while we had some bloody mary's and Abby napped. It was wonderful....we've planned to continue this as long as we can...Bloody Mary Sundays...
Not too much else going on...super busy with work and just LOVING this time of year and feeling so blessed with my little family...Seth and I tell each other every day how lucky we are...we don't taken any of this for granted, we're so thankful.