Brian's Home!!!

Check out the new haircut : )

In case you don't know, Brian's finally home and JJ and I couldn't be happier! He got in Wednesday night and JJ, me, Michael, Krista, and their two boys, along with about 500 other people were there to welcome him home. It was a great day and JJ was very responsive to him and excited to see him. It went better than I expected, which was really nice.

We've spent the last few days getting to "know" each other again and settling in back as a family. JJ was completely attached to Brian for a few days, but is now being more "normal" and throwing tantrums around him. It is definitely a period of adjustment for all of us, but we are so happy to be back together again : )

This morning we went out to breakfast, then played in the park for awhile, then JJ got his first "real" haircut. He fell asleep in the car on the way there which actually turned out to be a good thing because he was so relaxed during the haircut and just laid on my chest the whole time. My mom is sad because he looks more like a little boy now than a baby, but a few tantrums this afternoon proved that he is still a toddler, not yet a little boy!!!

Hanging with JJ, oh, and Easter. . .

I've had the last few days off of school, so JJ and I have been hanging out, which has been a lot of fun! On Thursday, he still went to his daycare so that I could get a bunch of errands done before Brian gets home, including getting a pedicure. I hadn't gotten a pedicure in almost a year and JJ thought it was hilarious. He kept looking at and touching my toes and saying "ewww." He then laid down and kept touching them and then leaned forward and licked my toes!!!! It was so gross!!! I'm afraid he might have a foot fetish! (Janessa, I thought of you when this happened!)

On Friday, we always go to the Farmer's Market and then over to Target since they're in the same parking lot and I seem to always need something there. This week, I didn't though and JJ freaked out in the parking lot that we were just going home and not to the store, so I decided to walk around just to make him happy. The minute we walked in the store, JJ said "home." I swear we don't go there that much!!!! Apparently he doesn't understand what that word means : )

Easter. . . what's there to say. . . we're all still alive and that's the important thing!!!!!! Krista, Michael and the boys came down on Saturday to celebrate with us. On Sunday, we got up, went to church in the morning, came home and opened Easter baskets, then the two younger boys each took an hour nap which was not even close to being long enough! We added some more adults and JJ's girlfriend Avery for dinner and an egg hunt, so we had a full house. It was a very crazy night. By the time dinner was over, the kids had thrown all the pillows off the couch and were running up and down the couch and jumping off onto the pillows. The kids seemed to have a great time with only some tantrums, crying, yelling, hitting, running, and luckily lots of laughing. We were all exhausted by the end of the night and I'm pretty sure if anyone had set up a hidden camera, they would never have children!!!

Krista and the boys stayed down here to keep me company until Brian gets home, which is great. Today, we took the boys to the Wild Animal Park. They currently have a butterfly exhibit that was pretty neat and 2 butterflies landed on JJ's head! We had a good time, but we did learn one pretty valuable lesson. . . taking two active toddlers and a 4-year-old on a 25 minute confined Safari ride during nap time will result in lots of screaming and kicking! Once again, none of the boys took the needed nap, so it looks like it will be another long night. Right at this second, Tristan is just talking and playing, the little one is wandering around crying, and JJ is sitting on my lap just staring at them since he's so exhausted!!! Lots of fun!

PS - Brian comes home in about 48 hours!!! YAY!!!!!!

Beach Boys. . .

JJ and I drove up and met Krista, Tristan, and Colton this afternoon in Laguna Beach. It was a little overcast, which was kind of nice because it wasn't too hot. We had done this about a year ago, but it was definitely a different experience this time! Last year, JJ wasn't walking yet, Brian was there, and Michael and Krista only had 1 child. Last year, both JJ and I both got to sleep on the way home! This year, adding a child and subtracting a parent made a HUGE difference and I was exhausted when I got home!!! Krista and I were soooo outnumbered!!! It was hard to keep track of the three of them and going out to dinner was a nightmare! The three of them kept us very busy and on our toes. I think if someone was keeping score for the day though, it would have ended at Kids: 55, Moms: 7!!!!!!

This is the first time that JJ has been to the beach in awhile and it was pretty fun to watch. He would back away from the waves and just watch the other kids. He was doing pretty well until he miscalculated a wave and it got up to almost his waist which almost knocked him over, I got him, but he was very upset about it. After that, he found an "ocean puddle" that he was more comfortable playing in : )

Tonight as I was driving home and wishing Brian was there, I heard "kissing noises" coming from JJ. I looked back and he was kissing his dirty, gross, sand covered feet! It was so gross, but made me laugh so then he started laughing and kept doing it! Oh, boys : )

It was a GREAT weekend and only one more to go until Brian gets home!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!

P.S. - JJ conned me into buying him $17 worth of rubber duckies today at a little boutique! Gotta love Orange County: )

Sunny Saturday . . .

We spent this afternoon with our friends Chris, Renee, and Ashley and had lots of fun. Ashley has 2 train sets, so a lot of the afternoon was spent playing with trains, which of course JJ loved : ) It's nice that they can actually play together now and we can try having adult conversations while they're playing!

JJ's been cracking me up lately. He's just becoming more like a "real human" and I'm really enjoying it! A few nights ago when I was reading him bedtime books, he was playing with a toy penguin. On every page, JJ made the penguin "kiss" the other animals on the page. It was really cute! This morning, JJ got up nice and early so I was laying on the couch while he played with his train set trying to relax for a little while longer before starting the day. JJ was playing nicely by himself for awhile, but then apparently decided I should be up and playing too. He walked up to me with a mouth completely full of milk, opened his mouth, and "spilled" all the milk out of his mouth onto my phone and the couch!!!! I got the hint and got up and played with him : ) If he had asked, I probably would have gotten up, but I guess he already understands how to be passive aggressive!!!

JJ being JJ. . .

JJ's been saying some pretty funny things these days. When I can understand him, he cracks me up : ) Yesterday when I went to pick him up from daycare, the 5-year-old daughter of the woman who watches him wanted to show me the bows and headbands that she's been making. I put one of the headbands on JJ and he loved it : ) He actually looked at me and kept saying, "I'm pretty, I'm pretty" until I would agree with him!!! Brian really needs to come home so that JJ can stop wearing headbands and my high heals around the house : )

We went to the zoo this morning with JJ's girlfriend Avery and her mom Erin. The kids were really great with only one meltdown when it was time to leave. JJ's favorite "exhibits" for the day were puddles, every bird that he could hear or see, and Avery : ) It rained last night, so JJ had a great time finding and splashing in every puddle he could find while Avery didn't step in a single one! Oh, boys : )

Brian's ship is in port today in Okinawa, Japan, so we were able to Skype with him tonight, which was great. JJ and I had just gotten in a "fight" because he refused to eat dinner again, so it was really good to see Brian's face to calm us both down. The connection wasn't too good though, so every time Brian would "go away" JJ would yell, "uh oh dadda." It was pretty funny. My favorite part of the conversation was when Brian asked JJ if he could see his new Thomas train. JJ got up, went in the other room and came back with the train and showed it to Brian! It was super cute : ) In between the tantrums and "fights" that we get in, I think that JJ is very smart : )

Random Videos and Stuff. . .

JJ and I had a rough, but good weekend. JJ is definitely more calculated now in showing me when he's upset. Tonight, I made dinner and when we sat down to eat, he refused to even take a single bite! I guess it was partially my fault since I let him eat almost a whole "sleeve" of Ritz crackers and 3 glasses of milk before dinner, but I was really irritated. Since he wouldn't eat, he didn't want to sit in his chair, but wanted me to let him sit on my lap. I explained to him that if he wasn't going to eat, then he couldn't sit on my lap while I ate. This did not go over well! After some screaming at me, he went over to the book shelf and slowly pulled down every book and threw it on the ground. Not a big deal, but I had just put them all back on the shelf about an hour prior to that! I think he was definitely trying to get my attention and make me mad! Being the bigger person, I ignored him and he finally stopped and started reading a book : )

Tonight at bedtime, we both ended up having a meltdown. JJ has a book that Brian recorded his voice reading and he loves it. He was "reading" it tonight, but kept pushing the record button, so Brian's voice would stop. JJ was getting really mad at it, so I sat down with him and helped him so that we could hear Brian read the whole book. It was right before bed, so I told him we could read it twice, then it was time for a bath and bed. After the second time through, I put the book down and JJ got really mad. He kept crying and rolling around on the ground crying, "Dadda, Dadda, I want Dadda, I want Dadda, Dadda." This made me start crying and saying, "I want Dadda too, JJ." When JJ saw me crying, he got up off the ground, stopped crying, and went upstairs to get ready for his bath. Maybe I should cry every time he has a tantrum!

Once JJ was finally in bed tonight, I felt completely exhausted. With finding out Brian's not coming home on time and with being home with JJ alone ALL weekend, it was really tiring! If JJ and I both end up alive by the time Brian gets home, it's going to be a miracle!

19 Months, 1 Day. . .

New video from Brian, JJ had to show him his new train : )

This past week has been a pretty eventful one. . . He got three new teeth, with a fourth about to pop through probably tonight. He also started sleeping through the night!!! It's been three nights straight, so I'm probably jinxing it to be typing this, but these last three nights have been amazing! He has woken up a few times every night, but I've let him cry for a couple minutes and he will put himself back to sleep, so I haven't had to go upstairs and get him until about 6 am. I never knew how happy I'd be "sleeping in" until 6 am! So I'm thinking that all the sleep problems could be related to him being a horrible teether, so maybe that now he's done until his 2-year molars, maybe he will really start sleeping through the night every night. It's a mystery, but time will tell : )

JJ's obsession with trains keeps growing stronger every day. I had a Brio set that I never played with as a kid and Tristan has been playing with it for the last few years. Last weekend, he generously gave it to JJ to enjoy (well, actually he started crying and screaming when he saw Krista giving it to me, but I'll say he was sharing!). It is now his favorite thing to do! He will actually sit and play with it for a long time, which is great. I must admit, I'm pretty good at building a circular track, so it's a fun activity to enjoy together : ) The only problem happens when the track comes apart and JJ starts screaming at me, but it's extremely easy to put back together, so it's an easy fix and I am the hero!

Brian sent a new video that we got in the mail today. It made me cry, of course, which JJ thought was funny. He's so sweet : ) He did give me a hug too, so that was nice. We've had a countdown for Brian to come home since the day he left, and unfortunately the date keeps getting pushed farther and farther back : ( He'll hopefully be home now at the end of April. Luckily JJ doesn't understand time, but we all really want him home : (