Aedan's 4 Month Check-Up & EnterTRAINment Junction

Samantha: 39 Months, Week 3
Aedan: Week 19

September 2nd was Aedan's four month checkup, which included his four month immunizations.  So after dropping Samantha off at preschool, we headed to the Oxford pediatrician's office.  I had to fill out a whole bunch of new patient paperwork, and then we were brought back to the room.  Aedan was scheduled to see a nurse practitioner named Jill.  She was very nice, friendly, and welcoming.  She explained a little more about how they do things in their practice, and then checked Aedan's heart, lungs, ears, eyes, hips, the same things Dr. Esarey would check every time.  He weighed 18 pounds, 8.6 ounces, which put him in the 94th percentile.  His height was 27 inches, which put him in the 98th percentile, and his head circumference was 17 1/2, which put him in the 99th percentile.  Jill said that his height to weight comparison is exactly where it should be.  We looked back at Samantha's baby book to see what she measured at when she was four months old.  She was 17 pounds, 2 ounces and 25 1/2 inches long, so Aedan is heavier and taller than she was at this age.  Many people comment to me on how big he is, and sometimes that makes me feel self-conscious, like I make big babies or that I'm feeding him too much or something.  But I'm glad that Jill mentioned his weight and height are just where they need to be, that he is healthy and growing and happy.  After getting his check-up, it was time for the dreaded shots.  He had one to take orally and then one for each leg.  This office let me hold Aedan, rather than laying him on the table and holding down his legs, so that was nice.  The nurse told me to hold him like I'm nursing him to give the oral vaccine, and he did pretty well with that, not spitting out much at all.  But then came time for the shots, poor little guy.  The nurse was so fast with poking him, getting the band-aids on, and getting out of his face, but that didn't matter.  Aedan's whole body tensed up, his face turned bright red, and then the loud crying and tears came.  She let me stay in there with him to calm him down, but he was a pretty unhappy camper.  I hate having to do this to him, but I knew he'd be okay shortly and vaccines are very important to get.  Eventually, I had to get him his pacifier to suck on because cuddling him, holding him, and bouncing him around wasn't calming him down enough.  But after that, he calmed down pretty quickly, falling asleep in the car on the way home.  He was a bit more fussy that day because of his shots.  He was super tired and fell asleep easily for his afternoon nap, but then woke up crying quite a bit, even though I gave him acetaminophen before I laid him down.

Here he is playing on his play gym after his nap.  You can see his cool Spider-man band-aids on his legs, not that he knows who Spider-man is yet.  You also can see the new thing he is working on when laying on his floor gym.  He turns himself and pushes off with his right leg, like he is trying to roll over but can't quite figure out how.  Surely he can get enough momentum with those HUGE thighs of his!

Samantha took a good nap for me after preschool that day.  I peeked in her room during nap time because I left her room before she was asleep and wanted to check and see if she actually had fallen asleep.  I saw blankie cuddled right up to her chin, which meant she got out of bed and got her blankie out of the closet.  (For awhile now, we have restricted blankie just for bedtime because it was becoming too much of a toy and a distraction at nap time.)  It's so funny how kids her age will fess up to anything because when I went in to get her after she woke up from her nap, she had hidden blankie under the covers.  However, as soon as I got by her bed, she pointed to her covers, saying, "Blank (which is her nickname for her blankie)."  Then she pulled her blankie from under her covers and showed it to me, prompting a conversation about how we aren't allowed to sleep with blankie at nap time and that she shouldn't be sneaking out of bed to get it either.  I had to stop myself from smiling and laughing at her because it was just too cute.

I was looking forward to bed time after a rough and fussy afternoon/evening with Aedan.  However, as I was holding his sleeping body in my arms that night, my mind flashed forward to when Aedan grows up.  I started thinking about the day he might get married.  I started thinking about what he will look like and what career and what spouse he might choose for himself.  All those things made me wrap my arms around my little boy just a little tighter that night.  Kids grow up so fast.  The days are long, but the years are short. 

Aedan had a rough night Tuesday night, probably because his shots bothered him.  He woke up a lot during the night and wouldn't go back to sleep like he usually does.  Ben lovingly took a turn in there once, rocking him until he fell asleep, which I was grateful for.  In fact, Samantha even woke up crying during the night because she had to go potty.  So it was not a restful night for anyone.  Everyone was tired come morning.  I am part of a parents of toddlers group on Facebook, and every once in awhile they will organize a get together at various kid friendly places around town.  Well on Wednesday they decided to meet up at the library, so I decided to take Samantha and Aedan as well, hoping to meet some other stay at home moms in the area.  The library was packed!  We had never been there when it had been so busy.  Samantha enjoyed story time, and Aedan was getting pretty cranky and tired after that, so luckily I got him to take a nap in the Ergo while Samantha played at the library.

Here's our little guy that day.  Daddy dressed him in his cute little Cubs shirt and plaid shorts.  What a handsome fella'!

Aedan was a bit happier after having a decent nap at the library.  Here is a cute video of Samantha playing peek-a-boo with Aedan as I was getting lunch cleaned up.  She's so good at playing with him and keeping him entertained when I need to get some work done around the house really quick.

However, nap time was rough again, probably due to Aedan reacting to his vaccinations.  I got him to sleep, but he kept waking up, screaming and crying.  I got him settled back down a few times, but it never seemed to last very long.  Samantha was in her room playing for a little while instead of napping at first, so I told her to get back in bed and go to sleep, which she did, for almost two hours, so I was grateful for that.

Wednesdays are days that Daddy gets home from campus later, around 5:45, since he has a later class, so we had dinner and then spent the evening together. I was playing with Aedan and at one point he rolled over from his back to his front two times, but too fast for me to catch on video. Aedan was rather crabby no matter what you did with him that evening, but it was too early to put him to sleep, so I decided to nurse him a little before 7:00 in case he was just hungry and he ended up falling asleep on my lap in the middle of the living room.  He probably was super tired from not having a very good nap that afternoon.

It's kind of funny looking at these pictures because throughout the course of the day, Aedan wore several different shirts, and it wasn't due to messy diapers.  He drools so much that his shirts are constantly wet, sometimes so wet that it requires a change of clothes.

Samantha likes to dress Aedan up sometimes, putting her headbands on him, or in this instance, putting her sunglasses on him.  I meant to take a picture, but instead it came out as a video.

Then we gave Samantha a bath first because she wanted to help give Aedan a bath.  She loves helping with anything that involves her little brother.  She is smitten with him.  She enjoys helping us give him a bath, will dump water on him and even use the washcloth to clean his legs and tummy, and will make sure no water collects inside his belly button.  However, if you agree to bathing Aedan, you have to be prepared to get wet!  Aedan LOVES to splash and kick around in the water.

The last two nights we've told Samantha that if we see her light on at night when she's supposed to be sleeping, we will take blankie away, because we have caught her several nights lately out of bed, with the light on, playing with her toys instead of in bed trying to go to sleep.  So far, it's seemed to work, we haven't noticed her light on at all.  She loves her blankie too much to chance losing it for the night.

Aedan had a much better night's sleep on Wednesday night.  He did wake up at 11:30, which is unusual, but I was able to settle him back down quickly with his pacifier and putting my hand on his chest.  Then, he slept until about 2:00 at which time I nursed him (I think we both fell asleep in the glider together).  I laid him back in his crib and he slept through until the morning, making a little noise around 6:00, but going back to sleep until about 7:00.  It was a great night, hopefully he's recovering from his vaccinations and will get back into a good sleep routine again.  

Here a couple cute stories from Thursday:  When I went in to get Samantha up for the day, she had a confession for me.  She said, "Blankie fell behind the bed so I had to turn the light on to find her."  I have no idea when that happened or when she turned the light on, but it was at a time when we didn't notice.  She knew she wasn't supposed to turn the light on or she could get blankie taken away, so she felt like she had to fess up to what she did.  Hey, at least she's honest, right?  Then, at one point when I was laying Aedan down in his crib for a nap, he examined his hands, moving them back and forth and in circles, watching them very intently, like "Whoa!  What's this?!"

Thursday was another preschool day, and Samantha was being a bit pokey in the morning, but we were still able to get there on time.  Going to preschool is great motivation for Samantha to get up, dressed, and ready in the morning, usually a little faster than her typical pace.  Aedan fell asleep in the car on the way home from dropping her off, but luckily, I was able to get him out and lay him in his crib so he could keep napping when we got home.  While he was napping, I was able to work on my blog and relax some before he woke up again.  Then, he and I just played together until it was time to pick Samantha up from preschool.  Thursday mornings are kind of nice because I have a morning at home, and Aedan is able to take a nice morning nap.  Plus, we are able to get some one on one time together.

Samantha always has such a good time at preschool.  She loves it there, enjoys playing with her friends, and is learning more than she lets on.  Every once in awhile something will come out that she has learned at preschool, like a song she's learned or an activity that she did.  However, on some days it's hard because it ramps her up so much that she has a hard time settling down for a nap.  I still sit in her room for five minutes, as long as she is laying still and not acting silly, but that hasn't been working so well lately.  Unless she is super tired and falls asleep immediately, sitting in her room doesn't really do any good.  She will just wiggle around, look at me, whine, hang her feet out of her bed, you know, anything to delay sleeping.  But then when I get up to leave, she'll get upset and beg me to stay.  She's so confusing sometimes because she acts to tired, but won't stay in her bed long enough to let herself fall asleep.  We aren't quite ready to give up naps for her yet because she still needs them on most days.  However, when it comes down to it, whether she lets herself nap or not, we just want her to have quiet time in her room.  For example, on this Thursday she ended up not napping, but she was still quiet in her room, looking at books and playing with her trains.  As long as she is having some down time, giving Aedan a chance to sleep without being woken up, and giving me some time to get things done or just to have some down time myself, that's all we can really hope for.

On Thursday Ben had an interesting conversation with the chair of his department.  Apparently in a few weeks, the chair is having a meeting with some higher ups to discuss starting a Master's program in Political Communications at Miami, which would mean they would be hiring some tenure track people.  He was telling Ben about this to make sure that he doesn't jump at any old tenure track job, but only if it's one that he really likes.  He also let Ben know that another year at Miami is still available if nothing comes up for next year.  They will know more about the potential of that happening in October, which would be before Ben would have to make any decisions about jobs, if he were to have any offers for next year.  It would be interesting to have the potential of a tenure track position at Miami because in a lot of ways this is Ben's dream school.  Research is expected, but not crazy, and good teaching is valued.  It is a good location in relation to seeing family easily.  It's a well-known, well-respected school and would pay him much more than, say, a smaller Christian school.  It's an exciting option, so we'll definitely see what ends up happening with that.  I'm enjoying Oxford, and would certainly prefer staying here over moving to the west or east coast.

Thursday night Aedan slept well again, sleeping all the way until 4:00, then woke up at 6:30, and Ben went in to see if he could get him back to sleep.  However it seems like his fussiness due to his vaccinations is over, which I am very grateful for.  Being a Friday, Ben to campus to work, and since we didn't have anywhere particular to go, we stayed home and played outside.  Samantha practiced riding her bike, she drew with chalk, and played with bubbles.  Even though it was a little hot that day, it's shady on our patio in the mornings, making it the perfect time of day to be out there.  

Aedan took a nap in the Ergo while we were outside, but it wasn't very long so by the time it got to be lunchtime, he was tired and wasn't patient enough to wait for Samantha to finish eating.  (She likes to take her time eating.)  So I ended up having to leave her at the table to finish eating by herself while I took Aedan upstairs and started getting him ready for his nap.  I waited a little too long to get him ready for his nap, and he was very upset with me.  There were lots of tears and lots of crying because he was so ready to go to sleep.  However, once we got through lunch time and got both sleepy kids in bed, they both took good naps that afternoon.  Aedan woke up crying a couple times during his nap.  The first time the pacifier and my hand lulled him back to sleep, and the second time he fell back asleep on his own.  I know that he's not done sleeping if he wakes up crying.  When he's had a full complete nap, he wakes up happy and talking, just like his sister.  :)

Once Ben got home from campus, we had a good family evening together, eating dinner and then going out for ice cream.  I love our little family, and I love spending time together as a family.  Ben is such a good Daddy and loves his children so much.

I love my children.  Even though it's hard sometimes, they just love each other, and that makes me full of joy.  How can you not smile when you see this video?

I know back a few weeks ago I was worried about wrapping Aedan up for sleeping, wondering if I should start weaning him off it, and worrying how that would potentially affect his sleeping.  However, I should just know better than to worry about things like that because they always just work themselves out if you just wait a week or two.  Things change with babies so much that whatever phase you are in right now will not be the same phase you are in in a couple weeks.  And now, probably for the last week or so, I have been leaving both his arms out of his swaddle wrap and he stays asleep just fine.  He was working his right arm out of the swaddle every day anyways, so one day I just decided to leave it out.  He slept fine, so I just continue doing it every day now.

On Saturday we had a fun day planned as we were going to try a place called EnterTRAINment Junction in a suburb of Cincinnati.  Several people recommended it to me from Oxford, and Ben got a discount through being a Miami employee, so we figured we'd try it out as Saturday was forecasted to be rather rainy and humid.  This place has 25,000 square feet of model trains on an enormous train layout, a play area for kids, a track with a hand-cranked railroad car for kids to ride on, and a train ride.  The reason I wanted to take Samantha at this particular time was because everything was about Thomas the train, and I thought she would really enjoy that.  So after arriving at EnterTRAINment Junction, we got our wrist bands and walked through the model train layout.  It really was huge and rather amazing to think of all the detail into putting it together.  It was a chronological journey through the history of the train, all the way to modern times.

And, as you can see in this picture below, Thomas was everywhere!  It was exciting to see how many different places you could spot Thomas and his friends.

Samantha enjoyed the play area that you could climb around in.  Plus, they had train tables and a pretend train where you could shovel coal and ring the bell, pretending to be the conductor.

I think the most exciting part of the day for Samantha was riding on the Thomas train ride and on the hand-cranked railroad car.  Aedan even got to join us on the Thomas train ride. :)

They also had a fun house area included with our ticket.  Right before that, Aedan was getting pretty fussy so I nursed him, changed his diaper, and put him in the Ergo in hopes that he would let himself take a nap.  It took awhile to get him to settle down and let himself sleep, however.  There was just too much exciting stuff to look at!  In the fun house area, there was a small section with toy trains to play with and a table where you could make Thomas necklaces.  Samantha enjoyed lining up all the trains along the edge.

There was also a mirror maze and a crazy house with a room that had a floor at a twenty-five degree angle.  Samantha had a lot of fun in that room, crawling up the floor, and then sliding back down again.  Daddy went in there with her while I waited out in the hallway.  I figured walking on a slanted floor intended to make you dizzy while carrying a sleepy baby in a baby carrier would not be a good idea.

Before we left that afternoon, we let Samantha ride on the Thomas train one more time before heading out to get some lunch and get back home for nap time.

We got back pretty late from our family excursion and put both kids down to nap as soon as we got back.  In fact, Mommy and Daddy both took a nap that afternoon as well.  Aedan was extremely tired from his busy day and fell right asleep.  What a cute little sleepy guy!  I just love him to pieces.

Babies make all kinds of cute noises that evolve over time.  Well, Aedan's new noise is blowing raspberries, although it's more like spit bubbles.  He must love the sensation of the vibration on his lips because he does it constantly nowadays!  Sometimes his face and shirt will be covered in spit because of this new game, not only just because of all his drool.

Here's a cute picture of our little ones upon waking up on Sunday morning.  Samantha thought it would be great if her and Aedan would lie in Mommy and Daddy's bed together.

Oh these two just steal my heart away.  No matter how frustrating the day before may have been, or how long of a night with Aedan it was, when morning comes, I am always SO excited to see their faces and hear their voices.  We are truly blessed with these two little ones.

Sunday morning we went to both services at church because there was a new attenders class at OBF.  Samantha, of course, was fine with staying in the preschool room for two services.  I kept Aedan with me for the class during the first service because I knew he would be in need of a nap.  After a while of chatting with other new attenders, and once the class started I put Aedan in the Ergo in an attempt to get him to nap instead of fuss.  It took quite a bit of walking around, but I eventually got him to fall asleep, so then I was able to listen to the rest of the class.  We then took him to the nursery before we went into the church service.  However, I was only able to make it through about half the sermon before we got a text saying Aedan was ready to nurse.  So I spent the rest of the service downstairs nursing him, but that's okay.  We had already been at church for a long time, and I didn't expect him to last through the whole service.  I appreciate the nursery workers at OBF.  They are really good with Aedan and will try all they can to appease him before texting me to come down.  They dote on him and play with him, saying he's always flirting with all the ladies.  And Samantha really enjoys her preschool class as well.  She always comes out really knowing and understanding her Bible story for the day.  Plus, they are learning a memory verse, which I really appreciate.  Her mind can soak up so much information, so she might as well be soaking up Scripture as well.

On Monday we went to an event that was a combination of the local public library and parks and recreation department called "Stories, Strollers, and Nature."  We met in a gazebo at Oxford Community Park, and Samantha got situated on her blanket for story time.  Aedan had fallen asleep in the car on the way there, but woke up shortly after arriving at the gazebo and hearing all the kids talking and making noise.

Samantha loved having story time outside, loved being able to lay on her blanket, and loved that the librarian played guitar and sang songs.  It was definitely right up her alley.  After story time we took a walk with the other moms and children around the park, and then had some time to play on the playground.  It was a wonderful morning outside together, and I can't wait to go again next week.

On Monday I decided to sign Samantha up for ballet lessons at a local dance studio that a lady from OBF owns.  I had been throwing around the idea for quite some time and decided to sign her up at the last minute.  We tried on her leotard, skirt, and tights on Monday night to make sure what she had would fit her for her first lesson on Tuesday.  Then, of course, she gave us a little ballet demonstration.  She actually spins around pretty well!  She is going to LOVE her ballet lessons.

Date Night to Cubs Game & Daddy Gone at APSA

Samantha: 39 Months, Week 2

Aedan: Week 18

This week was busy with a lot going on all at one time.  Ben started classes on Monday, Samantha continued with preschool, the kids were still recovering from their colds, Ben ended up catching a cold and almost lost his voice, and all the while we were preparing for Ben to travel to Washington D.C. for the APSA conference.

Tuesday morning Samantha went to preschool, and Aedan and I went grocery shopping together, our now Tuesday morning tradition.  I was hoping he'd fall asleep in the Ergo as we walked around the store, but he was too busy looking at all the lights and people to fall asleep.  He's almost too social and distracted now.  It's harder for him to fall asleep when we are out doing things.  He did fall asleep in the car on the way home.  I tried to keep him awake, but when he's tired and he's in the car, it's almost impossible to keep him awake.  So then I was met with the decision of what to do.  Do I leave him in his car seat, bring him upstairs in the house, and hope he stays asleep?  Or, do I take him out of his car seat and hope he stays asleep so I can lay him down in his crib?  If I leave him in his car seat, chances are his nap won't be very long.  But if I wake him up, he may not go back to sleep very easily.  Samantha would always stay asleep for awhile if she fell asleep in her car seat.  We could put her up in her room and let her continue her nap.  Aedan, however, will wake up once there is no more movement, and he usually wakes up a very unhappy camper.  So, I decided to risk taking him out and getting him to nap in his crib, hoping for a good, solid nap that morning.    It turned out that I made the right decision, he fell right back asleep and had a nice nap for me that morning.

As a retreat before the craziness, Ben and I got to go out on a date Tuesday night to see the Chicago Cubs play the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ballpark.  We got tickets off StubHub for six rows behind the Cubs dugout at a pretty good price.  This was part of Ben's birthday/anniversary present, since I didn't do too much for him this year.  A baseball game is always a good present in his eyes.  Ben's mom came straight from teaching in Muncie to watch Samantha and Aedan for us, although I didn't tell Samantha she was coming until after she woke up from her nap.  Ben and I had a great time together without kids.  We ate dinner once we got to the park, and then just as the first inning got underway, a huge and heavy storm rolled through.  There was a rain delay for about an hour, so the game didn't pick back up again until a little after 8:00.  Here is a picture of me as we waited in the concourse for the game to start back up again.

It was nice sitting and chatting with Ben, watching a game together, not having to worry about putting kids to bed, and getting a night to ourselves.  Date nights are so important when you have kids, and I always look forward to any chance we get to do this sort of thing.  It's nice being close enough to family that we can go out like this together.  It will be difficult if Ben gets a job somewhere farther away, especially after living so close to family for the last four years.

Since Ben and I got back from the game rather late on Tuesday night, getting to bed close to midnight, we had a bit of a slower morning on Wednesday since Ben doesn't have to be to campus for an early class.  We thought about going to the library that morning, but Samantha was not in the best of moods and I had cleaning and laundry to do, so we just stayed home and took it easy.  Samantha played outside and in her play room.  Aedan took an hour and a half morning nap, and I had a productive morning at home.

Thursday is when the busyness officially started.  Samantha had preschool that morning and Aedan and I went to a local mom's house to talk about cloth diapers.  We have been using the set we got from Heiny Helpers in Bloomington, but we don't have enough to use them full time, and we can't get any more from Heiny Helpers since we are too far away to come in for an appointment.  So, Ben and I have been thinking about purchasing some cloth diapers to supplement what we have already.  I put feelers out on Facebook for recommendations from other moms, or even to see if any other moms have cloth diapers that they no longer are using for their children and are willing to sell at a reduced rate.  I got several responses from the Oxford Moms Facebook group.  One mom was willing to sell me her bumGenius diapers that she no longer uses, and this other mom is a cloth diaper representative and could talk to me about the many varieties and styles of diapers available.  So, I went over to her house for about an hour on Thursday morning to discuss diapers with her, what would be the best for our budget, and how we would like to use them.  She gave me SO much information to think about and talk over with Ben before coming to a final decision.

As I was talking with the mom, I was holding Aedan on my hip facing outwards, and he fell right asleep as we were standing there.  I flipped him around the other direction so he could cuddle into my shoulder as we finished talking.  Then, he stayed asleep while I put him in his car seat and all the way home in the car.  He woke up pretty quickly once we got home and out of the car, but at least he got a little bit of a nap in, and that's really all that matters.

After picking up Samantha and having lunch on Thursday, I nursed Aedan and we hit the road to take Daddy to the Dayton airport to catch his flight to D.C.  Aedan fell asleep right away, and the plan was to have Samantha take a nap in the car after we dropped Daddy off.  However, she was really tired with very droopy eyelids, asking every two minutes if we were at the airport yet.

While we were driving that afternoon, the Santa Fe crossed over the 100,000 mile point.  Wow, the miles we've driven in this car!  It doesn't help that we drove back and forth to Texas several times in it.  (It's kind of hard to tell, but the first picture shows 99,999 and the second picture shows 100,000.  And don't worry, Ben was driving, and I took the pictures.)

Dropping Daddy off at the airport was difficult for Samantha.  When he got out of the car and walked into the airport, she started crying, saying she didn't want Daddy to leave.  She misses him so much when he is gone.  She is certainly a Daddy's girl.  Then, Aedan was fast asleep in the car until we stopped and the car doors opening and closing woke him up.  I hoped that as we started driving he would go back to sleep so that way Samantha could fall asleep as well.  However, shortly after getting on the highway, when Aedan had fallen back asleep again, Samantha started crying, saying that she had to go potty, and that she couldn't wait or she would have an accident.  So luckily, there was a gas station to stop at at an exit we were already planning on getting off at.  I was pretty upset with her because she shouldn't have had to go potty again, and the act of getting out of the car and going in the gas station was going to wake Aedan up.  I doubted that he would go back to sleep after that, and we only had half an hour drive left which wouldn't really be long enough for her to nap, but would also be a really long time to have a crying baby in the back seat.  She did end up going quite a bit, which was good, as I would not have been happy if she really didn't have to go and woke Aedan up, making us stop for no reason.  And luckily, Samantha fell asleep in the car almost immediately once we got back on the road, and Aedan fell back asleep as well.  I had nothing to worry about, and the rest of the drive back to Oxford was calm and quiet in our car.

My parents like to come visit from Chicago about once a month, and we planned this month's trip around the fact that Ben was going to be out of town.  They offered to come this weekend to stay with me and help me with the kids while Ben was out of town.  They actually beat us to our house that night because I went out to pick up pizza for dinner and it took much longer than I thought it would to get there and then they couldn't find our order.  Samantha kept saying, "I look forwards to Grandpa and Grandma coming."

Meanwhile, Ben was giving Samantha a picture tour of his travel escapades, so she could see where he was and what he was doing.  Samantha thought it was pretty cool to see what Daddy was doing, except she kept saying, "Where's Daddy?"  She wanted him to be in every picture, not realizing that he was the one taking the pictures.

Thursday night after eating our pizza, we had time to hang out with Grandpa and Grandma before getting the kids to bed.  I was thankful to have two more sets of hands here to help, especially at meal times, bed times, and transition times when it's a little difficult to manage everything all by myself and stay sane.

Aedan was tired and went down easy that night.  My mom put Samantha to bed, but Samantha always tends to act up when people are here.  I had to go in her room at one point because her light was on, and she was sitting on the floor playing with her trains.  Then, she said she didn't get chapstick, which was a lie because it was out on the counter in the bathroom.  It was already 9:00, but she'll do whatever she can to prolong bedtime.  I told her if I had to come up again, I would take piggy (her stuffed animal) and blankie away from her.  Our silly little girl, she is just so extroverted.  Luckily, I didn't hear a peep after that.

After getting both kids asleep, my parents and I hung out and talked and watched some TV together to relax.  It's always weird sleeping alone.  I never sleep as well without Ben next to me.  We're not apart from each other very often, so it's very strange when it happens.  I was just glad that Ben arrived safely in D.C. and was staying with his friend, Dave, from Taylor.  It made me feel good that he was being taken care of in somebody's home, that he was getting decent food and not having to eat out all the time, and even that he had substitute children to keep him up at night (ha, ha).

When I go to sleep at night, I never know what kind of night lies ahead for me.  Especially lately, with Aedan being congested, coughing and sneezing a lot, his sleep has not been very great.  Well, Thursday night was no exception.  I was up with Aedan from 12:30 to 2:40 because he wouldn't go back to sleep after I nursed him.  I tried everything I could think of to get him to fall asleep: nursing him, rocking him, walking around with him, using the pacifier, and nothing was working.  I had thoughts go through my mind like, "Am I going to have to put him in the car and drive around until he falls asleep?"  It was a very difficult night for Ben not to be home with me because we would have taken turns dealing with Aedan.  I was so tired and just wanted him to sleep so badly.  Then, he woke up again at 6:00, much earlier than I would have liked, and again, he wouldn't go back to sleep.  I was so tired, so I brought him in bed with me after a little while so I could hold the pacifier in his mouth and still be laying down and resting myself.  But that didn't work either.  He was just talking and wiggling, looking around the room, wide awake and ready for the day.  Then, just because things had to become more difficult than they already were, Roscoe barked for some reason, and then a little while after that Samantha started making noise in her room.  All I wanted to do was go back to sleep, but that was not an option as all the children were wide awake.  Napping was definitely on tap for me that day.

Friday morning, after getting everyone ready, we took Grandpa and Grandma to the library with us.  It was a pretty hot day, so I figured that would be a nice place to go.  They enjoyed seeing more of our new town, and Samantha enjoyed showing off our new library.  Aedan was getting pretty fussy and tired while we were there, so I put him in the Ergo and walked around the library until he fell asleep.  I was glad he let himself sleep, making the rest of our time at the library much more enjoyable.

After sandwiches for lunch, it was nap time for all.  I got Aedan down pretty easily while Grandpa put Samantha down for her nap.  When I came out of Aedan's room, I heard Samantha playing around in her room so I went in there and had her get back in bed, then I sat in there for a little while until she fell asleep.  I knew she needed a nap if we wanted to have a good evening, and I desperately needed a nap, too.  Once both kids were finally settled in and quiet, I climbed in bed myself, getting a nice, refreshing nap in before they woke up from their naps.

Since Samantha took a nap, she was able to watch a show that evening and then she helped me make a cake to celebrate Grandma's birthday.  That evening we went out to Skyline Chili for dinner, giving Grandpa and Grandma a taste of Cincinnati style chili.  However, the restaurant was SO busy!  I don't know if it was just because it was a Friday night and because school is now in session, or if it was just later at night than we usually eat, or a combination of both.  We had to wait for a table, and then the restaurant was so packed and so noisy.  Samantha was pretty spacey and wasn't eating too well.  I couldn't wait to get out of there and get back home.

Chicago Grandma's birthday is actually at the beginning of August, but I was not such a good daughter and totally forgot to call her and wish her a happy birthday.  So that was why I decided to make her a birthday cake, kind of to make up for forgetting to call her.  Friday night when we got home from Skyline, we busted out the cake.  It still was warm from coming out of the oven just before we left for dinner.  It was chocolaty and delicious, and Samantha enjoyed singing "Happy Birthday" to Grandma.

After talking to Daddy on FaceTime, it was bedtime for the kiddos.  Aedan went to sleep well, like usual.  Samantha, on the other hand, was in her room with the light on again, playing with her trains.  I went in her room and was not very happy with her since this was the second night in a row she did that.  I picked up all the trains from the floor, packing them up in the bin, and putting them in her closet.  The plan was to keep them put away for awhile until she could get over the problem of turning on her light and playing at night.  She's such an interesting little child.  When people stay at our house, her behavior is so different from when it is just our family.  She always acts up more, doesn't go to sleep as well or sleep as long as she usually does, and misbehaves a lot more through whining and tantrums.  I don't quite understand why she does that, but it makes it much more difficult for us when we have other people around.  I don't know if she just gets overtired and overstimulated, or if it's just enough of a change in her routine.  Who knows, she just loves her grandparents too much and doesn't want to sleep for fear she will miss something fun.

Friday night was okay, but still not great.  He woke up at 11:40, pretty much right after I fell asleep.  Luckily, he feel back asleep well for me, so that was better than Thursday night when he was up for two hours.  Then he woke up again at 4:15 and as I was laying him down around 5:00 after nursing him, I heard Samantha crying in her room.  Who knows how long she'd been crying for because I couldn't hear her in Aedan's room.  So I went in her room and she wouldn't settle down for awhile, then she finally told me she needed to go potty.  I took her to the potty, and she actually went quite a bit.  (I guess that's what happens when we eat dinner late and then have dessert and let her drink later at night.  She can't make it through the night without having to go to the bathroom.)  Luckily, she went right back to sleep after that.  After all that commotion, it took me awhile to settle back down and fall back asleep.  Aedan woke up around 6:40, and I got him back to sleep for a little while, but not long.  Samantha woke up a little before 7:00.  It was definitely an earlier morning than what I was wanting, especially after a couple long nights of handling children by myself.

Saturday morning, after a breakfast of pancakes, we took a trip to Uptown Oxford to go to the farmer's market and to let Samantha play in the fountains for awhile since it was going to be a hot day out.  Even though she woke up early and was awakened during the night, she was in a pretty good.  Aedan ended up falling asleep in the stroller, and Samantha made a friend with a little girl at the fountains.  They ran around and played in the water together, talking and laughing, and having a good old time.  I love watching Samantha play with other kids her age.  It's good for her to socialize like this and to make friends with someone without us pushing it.  It was getting close to lunchtime, but Samantha was having so much fun playing with her new friend that I almost hated to make her leave.

The rest of Saturday went pretty well with both kids taking good naps, and then we just had an evening at home, eating dinner together, playing with Grandpa and Grandma, and giving the kids baths.

 She makes the craziest faces sometimes!  This is what she does when I ask her to smile for a picture. :)

August 29th marked Aedan turning 4 months old!  Here are his 4 month pictures, as best as I could get.  The first is a progression of him laughing at Samantha.  No one is funnier than his big sister.

Of course, we have to include one of him eating the sign, since everything he touches goes in his mouth these days.

And here he is showing his tummy time skills, pushing up on his forearms, and getting some loving from Samantha.

After a couple rough nights of interrupted sleep, Aedan only woke up once on Saturday night, sleeping until 2:30, nursing and going back to sleep, then waking up for the day at 7:00.  Yay!  I felt so much better after getting better sleep that night.

Daddy was so excited to get home to his family, to see his kids, and to have a family night at home.  I sent him pictures of Samantha and Aedan ready for church that morning, and we were also able to FaceTime with him before it was time for us to leave for church.  Aedan looked adorable in his tie onesie that Daddy picked out just for him one day at Target, and Samantha was a vision in pink.  Her whole outfit was pink, and she had two braids in her hair just like Anna from Frozen.

We went to the 10:45 service at OBF so that we could have a more relaxed morning, and it actually worked out really well because Aedan was able to take a morning nap in his swing and I nursed him before we left for church.  Since those two needs were met, he was able to stay in the nursery the whole time, letting me stay in the whole service to worship God and learn from His Word.  I think my parents enjoyed visiting our church home while we are in Oxford.

After having leftovers for lunch and getting both kids down for a nap, which took a little work that day, I left around 2:40 to pick Ben up from the airport.  It was nice riding in the car by myself, listening to "Car Talk" and "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" on NPR.  It's not very often that I get to drive in the car and listen to my own music/radio station.  It was lovely seeing Ben again and being able to talk about his experience at APSA the whole way back to Oxford.  It went really well, as the main purpose of him going to this conference was to have meetings with schools that are hiring tenure track positions for next fall.  There were several meetings that were especially positive, a few in California, one in Texas, and one in Ohio.  Ben made lots of important connections with people, and it seemed like a few people were really impressed with Ben and very excited to see his application come in.

It will be interesting to see what journey we embark on next.  We knew in coming to Oxford that it would only be for one or two years, but it seems strange to think that by December we could already know the next place we're going to move.  It's difficult to wrap my mind around because we both want a tenure track job for Ben, but at the same time, location is really important to us.  If we have any choice in the matter, we would like to stay in the Midwest so that we are within driving distance of our families.  Neither of us would really enjoy moving all the way out to California, and definitely not back to Texas again.  However, if one of those schools offers Ben a position and nothing else has come up, it would be difficult to turn down a job offer just because of location, not knowing if/when another job offer would come.  This is just another transition for our family that we have to leave in God's capable hands.  I know I tend to worry and always be ten steps ahead of where we are, but God has always taken care of us.  We feel strongly that God has always lead us where He wanted us to be.  Oftentimes we thought one place was better, but it fell through and we got discouraged.  However, looking back, we see that we would not have been happy at the place we thought was the best choice for us.

I am so proud of Ben for all the work he has done over the last four years on finishing graduate school and working towards the completion of his Phd.  He has worked long and hard, harder than most people I know.  He has done a fantastic job, has a wonderful repoire with the students and faculty he has worked with over the years, has very marketable interests and dissertation topic, and will put himself out there for as many potential jobs as possible.  I am so excited for this future we will have together.  I'm excited that he will complete and defend his dissertation by the beginning of December.  I'm proud that he got this VAP at Miami because that looks good to many schools that are looking to hire for a tenure track position.  I have a hard-working, driven husband, who has accomplished all of this in pursue of his career as a professor, while all the while, taking care of and loving his wife and two kids with all his heart.  I don't think many other people can say the same thing about their husbands.

Samantha and Aedan were so excited to have Daddy back home again.  Here is what he got to come home to that night.

Monday was Labor Day so Daddy didn't have class that day.  He stayed home with us for the day, and we just relaxed and hung out as a family.  It was nice to do that after a weekend away from each other.  Here is Daddy and his little guy after nap time that day.