Frequent Phrases

There are some phrases I could hear all the time. Like Jackson's form of appreciation: "Thanksmuch mom!" Or Allie's giglge. Oh mommy rewards.

There are others that make me laugh. "Jackson, do you want to go to the park?" "I did mom! I did!" [AKA, "I do"]. Or the little baby toot that Allie couples with this funny face:

Of course there are many phrases that make me cringe, and send me into the land of chaos as I try to prioritize dinner, phone calls, and which child's cries are more important at the moment. "Mommy" "SHAUNELMOM!" "NO! That's MINE"  or "I DON WANT TAH!" or "I do it MYSELF!!!"  Allie's cries are generally subdued with being held, fed, beded, or protected from the over-attentive 2 year old in the house. Jackson's usually demand... being held, fed, beded and distracted from the cute baby in the house.

These more negative phrases and conditions feel much less burdensome as I interact with other 2 1/2 year olds, who seem to be a part of the same phrase club. Their bossy, excited, demanding selves come out just as frequently in public as Jackson's, and make me feel like I'm part of a wonderful parent club full of chaos ridden, tired parents who keep at it for love and all the mommy rewards.

Mommy rewards like this: a gentle Jackson zipping up Allie "all by [him]self."

"I do it mom, I zip Allie up!"

Giving Thanks

Thankful to finally have a good photo of both kids who I adore so much.

Thankful for the terrible twos and the preparation it's giving us for teenage-hood.

Thankful Allie has shown signs of starting to sleep more at night.

Thankful for federal holidays, and all the time we get to see Mark.

Thankful for the abundance of dishes we get to wash, and the hot water that flows easily from the faucet.

Thankful for a small house to clean and working radiator heaters.

Thankful to have so many family members and friends we want to spend Thanksgiving with.

Thankful someone thought of creating a substitute for butter, and that I've never had to use it before this week.

Thankful for antibiotics, stickers and health.

And on to finding excellent fruit pie recipes.

Allie Love

Time for some Allie love. Recently, this girl is full of sweet coos and gurgles. She even will coo at Jackson when he remembers to say "Hiii AAAlllliie!" with a reasonable amount of space between his nose and hers. When they talk to each other, my heart melts. Two happy kids is more than I ask for most days.

Allie is especially chatty at night. Likely because it's the time when I stop and focus on her. She seems to like to talk to someone (not just at the air--go figure). I caught this video last night, after talking to her for a good 5-10 min. Maneuvering the camera was a bit tricky, since she won't talk unless there's eye contact. So, I rigged the camera from above, but you'll have to forgive the lack of focus.

I'm in love with the little coos, the giggle, and those smiles. My favorite it how she slowly works up to her spit up that comes at the end. So telling of her calm personality.

Ever since I went off dairy, she has changed from an often pained, high-pitched screaming child who couldn't keep much down, to this little angel who slowly works up to her state of fussiness or discomfort. She certainly still has her special days, but majority of the time she is happy to be around the action, and happy to go to sleep when she's tired. The slow transitions are so different from Jackson who is still a 0-60 type of kid. Happy to Armageddon in 2 seconds flat. Giving up cheese and my plain yogurt during these warm and cozy months has been quite limiting on my cooking cuisine, but it is SO worth it to have this cheery little gal around to brighten our dark little house.

Her hair is also starting to brighten... be on the lookout for a lighter-haired Allie in a few months. (Baby hair is so bizarre!)

Halloween Fun!

Apparently the 5th pumpkin in  "5 Little Pumpkins" says, "I'm ready for some fun," not "It's Halloween Fun." And I thought I was such a good mom for teaching him holiday appropriate rhymes! He picked up "Halloween Fun" as quickly as he did trick or treating, and has been saying all month, "Halloween Fun?" Poor kid is going to be terribly confused in preschool next October.

We have had lots of that Halloween fun this year. Beside making all our decorations (various kinds of paper Jack o Lanterns with eyes in interesting spots), we got to go to our church's Halloween party all dressed up.

This year, we were all facets of our personality. Can you figure out what everyone is and why?




Mark the cowboy [his ranching past]; Jackson the "Track Star" [who will never stop running]; Allie the cute little Pumpkin; and I am opera singer [bonus points if you know the character's name]

Mark was a bit sick for pumpkin carving night, so Jackson and I took it on with enthusiasm. 




Jackson drew his own face right on the pumpkin, and Brunhilde made a second appearance this Halloween.

For sure the highlight of the month, was watching two 2 year olds trick or treat. It was pretty much straight "Halloween Fun."

Little Lilia the Lion, joined Jackson the Track Star in pounding on doors in our neighborhood [every door received multiple enthusiastic knocks from both kids]. They both would have been satisfied with the first candy they got, but the parents enjoyed watching their total innocent faces figure this thing out. Should have video taped it. Jackson now requests to go "trick or treating" everyday. Who could blame him?



Our cute little pumpkin was not as excited about the holiday, but she thankfully fell asleep for the door to door excursion which made everyone's life easier. 

Most of the candy has been consumed by the resident cowboy, but even without the candy, everyone but the pumpkin can't wait until next year's Halloween FUN! [As I wrote this Jackson continued to say that line, and ask if he and Lilia were going trick or treating tonight.]