Success!

I just had a proud me moment I thought I should share...

Nap time was going to be a struggle... Ethan did not want to get a diaper change or put his comfy pants on... so I did not say much just did the usual routine, laid him down for a diaper change and he seemed to eventually get the idea. Then came time to get in bed. He was ready for a fight, I was not: crying and getting right out as soon as I left the room and shut the door. Then came the door pounding; not my favorite consequence of shutting him in with a baby proof door knob, but he must not be able to get out into the rest of the house during sleep time... So I stood there a few seconds and let him pound - it was loud, so I went in and said nothing and put him back in bed, more crying and such and I left the room and did this about 3 times. On the 3rd round I had given him a kiss, so when the 4th round came, I went in after waiting longer with the door pounding and put him in bed and I said nothing, then as I was going out the door, he said "Big Kiss?". I obliged. and then left and now he is down for the nap... I so wanted to react, but I held strong today and did not engage in the toddler games... end result =good:)

Part of growing up

Can you find the car? Jenna at 7 weeks old, a little smile...

Ethan playing cars (27 Months old)

So who thought that 2 years olds could take a tantrum to the max for 1 hour straight? I sure did not...

10pm last night I hear a knocking at Ethan's door. I answer it and other than the usual "fix the bed" it is "book?" .... My reply is "No we already did story time and now it is time for bed"... Lets just put it this way, he did not like that reply. Soon Ethan and I were stubborn head to stubborn head.... It was an all out battle of the wills, and I didn't have time for his games of indecision(wanting something then not and the wanting again etc....), Jenna was crying and hungry, and as soon as Ethan was in bed I shut the door and he then would get out and pound over and over... It was not a pretty sight, I have to admit, what is a parent to do when the needs of 2 kids clash? Why the heck am I wanting to reciprocate the tantrum? One is about to rip down the door and probably wake our downstairs neighbors kids, the other is about to turn purple from crying.... near tears my hubby arrives home and he takes over while I feed the baby.... and get her to bed... then I go back to assist in the battle of wills...which ended much better than my previous frustrated attempt. He reached out to hug me and I held him and he calmed down, much better than the trashing about we had already been through. He looks at me and says "It's mine?", the new dreaded word... then he says, "Share toys" puts his head on my shoulder and gives out a last sob. I ask if he wants me to sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", and he said yes.... then at 11pm he goes to bed... Lots' learned in that hour....

I am glad we made it through that but at the same time I can't believe how frustrating it can be to raise a toddler and care for a newborn who doesn't understand and can't care for herself. I just had to cry it out and try to not feel guilty that I raised my voice and yelled. That is not who I feel I am.... So after much thought over how I handled it, I have a new plan after researching methods on how to either avoid those episodes or simmer them down quicker. More sleep for me and more activity for him would do us both some good (Pending the weather and germs don't ruin every day of the week)...

Parenting is not always easy, but it is always rewarding. Every hug I get from my little man is worth every "bad" moment, because it weighs more heavily. He makes me laugh and cry, he makes me less selfish, and melts my heart with his dimples. It is certainly a learning curve. So that is that. I can't take him for granted and need to dig deep within to master myself and help him in self mastery. Here is to a better day...

SO I am bad at blogging....

So here we are February 2011......

Just an update on life in general....by person

Scott - Graduated June 2009 from Harvard Business School and took a job at a consulting firm called OC&C Strategy, which he will soon be leaving for another job at a PE placement group called Harken. SCott has been busy traveling for work but loves the challenge it has brought, but we are looking forward to a new adventure in the career area of life. Scott has sicne been enjoying being a great dad to our little(well, not so little) Mr. Ethan. He enjoys working on some family history and just relaxing from the craziness life brings. We moved from our apartment in Arlington, MA, to Medford, just the next town over. We were sad to leave our place of nearly 7 years(holy cow), but are enjoying our new place and the basement has become one of Scott's weekend projects that never seems to end. After accumulating lots of stuff over 7 years and having a kid, not to mention the slow trickle of childhood sentimentals being sent our way, the basement is in constant motion.... Therefor it needs maintenance.. Also Scott has become very invested in our family emergency preparedness plan, so we have made a goal of house 3 months worth of our family needs, so more stuff in the basement..... But we feel that is a good thing.

Brittany - I am a proud mommy of now 2 kiddos. I am bust just making it through the day and making sure the house does not fall apart. After leaving home I slowly turned into a very tidy person so I clean up a lot since I have a living tornado in the house. I also have continued to play around with crafting and decorating the house... I love to relax and to get my "therapy" through being creative, but time is not something I have a lot of. I have a quilt for Jenna that I am needing to finish, since I have a goal of making one for each of my kids.... I continue to work per diem as an RN at Beth Israel Deaconess Med. Center, but right now I am on Maternity leave, so we will see what the future holds on that front. I do want to keep my skills up, plus I have enjoyed the intillectual stimulation and social aspect of working here and there. Over this past summer, Amanda, my sister in law was our live in nanny that watched Ethan while I picked up more shifts, it was great to get out of the house a bit:). I enjoy hanging out with friends and going to the park with Ethan, although New England winter has been harsh and keeping us inside a lot.....

Ethan - Turned 2 in September and is a joy to be reckoned with. He is full of all the fun a 2 year old brings, ranging from infectious laughter and cuteness to mischievous naughty behavior with a tantrum thrown in every so often. But he truly is a good and loving boy. He loves Cars, and Thomas (what boys don't?). He likes to run fast and his favorite new word is "cool". He is a cute kid especially with his little glasses on. He is a very picky eater, but we will wait it out.... He learns very fast and already knows his letters and numbers. He loves his new little sister and when the Jenna cries he says "what's the matter?" and he says "I love you, baby" and gives her sweet kisses. When Jenna is happy he mentions it... He is just lots of fun.

Jenna Lianne - Jenna joined us just before Christmas 2010. She came at a whopping 9 pounds and 7 ounces. A shock to me since Ethan was 6 lbs 13oz. She is very sweet and a very good baby. I think she is going to bring us lots of joy and mommy is having fun having a girl. It is amazing how the time has flown by, she will be 7 weeks old on Monday. We had a very memorable Christmas with her as my mom, dad and sister Jessie joined us out here in Boston for the holidays and Jenna was the cherry on top.

If I did not mention it before - we have no kitties now, we had to give them away. Ethan is allergic to them and so we found a good home. Bucky and Boo went together so that made mroe feel better about parting with them, but it was a hard adjustment for me, and Scott would never admit it but he misses them too:)..

So what is in store for us? Will we stay forever in Boston? The answer is that there is the potential that with his new job we can choose any location we want to live. So after about 6 months we will be looking at how things are going and see what and where it makes sense to be... most likely it would be either A). Stay in Boston, B). Move to SLC, or C). Move to Seattle area... I will hopefully blog more and keep you all posted. Plus this might be a good place for me to document my musings and life experiences as a mommy, and keep you updated on what is going on in our little family.