We're back from New Jersey.....

During our 10 day visit to see Yaya and Papou in New Jersey, Yaya took us to Cape May. We ate lunch at the Lobster House, YUMMY! Then we walked through the Main St and saw some beautiful Victorian homes. Afterwards we hit the beach. It was a warm and sunny day. The kids loved playing and watching a ton of dolphins dance in the ocean! I'd never seen so many! Amelia stood up, faced the ocean and started to sing and dance to the dolphins. Waving her arms, pointing her toes in the sand and just singing her heart out. It was so precious. All the while, brother watched his sissy, shaking his arms and shouting out. What a joyous day.

Final days of nursing...

Welp, I'm winding down to my final days as a nursing "pumping" mommy. It's a sweat farewell but sad too. I dried out at 9 months with Amelia and thought I had failed as a mommy. I tried vitamins and everything under the sun to keep my flow going, but it wasn't happening. Two nights ago, Straty's parents took me to Whole Foods to buy formula. I ran into a Dula (probably not spelling it right) who said "oh no, don't even buy the formula or you're going to use it." She picked out the herb teas for nursing mommies. For two days I drank A LOT of tea. No increase in supply and the stress of Stephanos not getting enough milk kicked in, oh along with pain. You see, this same lovely lady said "keep him on the boob as much as possible." Last night at 11pm when he bit me with his new teeth, REALLY HARD!!! That was it, no more "boob." (hate that word now, not because of this though.) Anyway, Cyn went to the store today and bought the formula. I'm so proud of my son, he took it like a champ and made me feel less guilty. He looked at me like, it's gonna be okay mommy. He such the lover! Thinking positively, I will be gaining about 3 hours of my day back, not counting the heating of breast milk and cleaning the equipment. That's huge, because the "mommy, please don't make baby milk, play with me," is killing me. I'm also hoping to focus hard on getting rid of some baby phat now. It's a good thing. I have been pregnant or pumping for almost three and a half years now, minus 5 months somewhere in between. I wonder what will happen to this body? Could it get any worse?:) I have enjoyed these past years, even though at times I'm selfish and wish I had my old body back and a little quite time, but I wouldn't trade the "I wuv u mommy, I'm ur girl!" for nothing!!!!! Or that big ole loving smile from my son. I'm looking forward to what our next phase of motherhood looks like!!!!

Tonight we had a wonderful dinner with Auntie Carol & Uncle George, Uncle Jimmy, Cousin Tommy, Mr. and Mrs. Ellis, Cyn, and Straty's parents. We went to Toscana a fabulous Italian restaurant. Amelia and Stephanos enjoyed the attention and love from their East Coast family. Uncle George gave Stephanos his bottle and held him for a long time! Stephanos of course enjoyed it. I have to tell you this...when we returned home, Uncle Jimmy handed me a folded up $ bill and said "buy the girl a bathing suit with this." I hugged and thanked him and stuffed it into my pocket. Later tonight I cleaned out my pockets and there was a hundred dollar bill. I thought that was so cute: "buy her a bathing suit." He so precious. I just love watching the kids with family. Amelia was a pistol with cousin Tommy! She had such a fun time hiding from him. Cousin Tommy with Trouble, just like his Uncle Nick!!!! Amelia is still putting spoons on her nose, thanks Uncle Nick!!!! xoxo Tomorrow we head to Jersey City. Girls on the road!!!!! Pray the coolant stays in the car.

Trip to the East Coast

Well the kids and I made it to New Jersey yesterday. They were amazing!!!!! It's hot and muggy here. Reminds me of our summer gatherings in Champaign as a child. Straty's parent's front door smells like my Grandma C's kitchen. The locust humming outside and the thick air reminds me of our evening walks, just to cool down, but not really, since we'd end up sweating, but it was still cooler outside then inside. Then our bath:) We'd all lay out on blankets in the living room: Shannon, Shelby, Me, Krista, Sarah and Missy. Sometimes Casey. We had some crazy fun summers. I remember running through the back of grandma C's backyard through the neighbor's backyard over to Grandma H's house for a little A/C, tang and sweets:) Then back to Grandma C's for some homemade fried chicken (how she cooked in such heat is beyond me) and that yummy mashed potatoes. It's been fun remembering my childhood and the fun times we had. I miss my cousins!!! I hope Amelia and Stephanos have such wonderful relations, as I did, with cousins. We'll see what memories tomorrow brings. In the meantime, I'm enjoying a few minutes of silence (well except for the news playing in the background) :) It took Amelia and Stephanos ONE house of crying, negotiating, singing, praying, begging!!!!!! only to end with a story about a little girl who was afraid to go to bed and finally closed her eyes. She dreamt she had a fabulous day with Minnnie! Amelia and Stephanos calmed down and went to sleep. I got to take a shower!!!!

Papa took us to the Circus!!!!

I remember as a kid in IL, we would go and wait for the elephant train. They'd off load them right before our eyes and walk them to circus location. It was so awesome to take Amelia and Stephanos to the same circus. Of course the elephants were favored by most. It was so fun to have Jessie join us as well. Amelia just loves her. Thanks Papa for the circus. As Amelia said as we drove away, "That was a fun day Mama." Indeed it was!!!!!

Amelia's first big bump..

While Amelia was tripping, heading face first into the playground platform, she was stopped in the head by a pole. Darn pole! That's what happens when you try to run away and not listen to your parents!!!! She's fine, but is fashioning the fabulous purple/blue bruise on her forhead. Thank goodness the gynormeous bump went down!!!

Amelia's new binkie....

No she doesn't still sleep with a binkie, but I'm sure wouldn't mind a lollipop instead!

I'd rather play with my toes...

Stephanos knocked over his basketball game onto himself then rolled over only to find his toes. I peeked around the corner and at one point he had them in his mouth. Crazy baby!

Pigtails!

She loved it at first, but soon made me take them out. She's such the model!

Playing in the park!

"Mommy, I push baby brother, go away." She's become very bossy!!!!!

"Excuse me guys..."

July 27th, Amelia got her first Tricycle!!!!

It was a little crazy trying to find the right tricycle for Amelia. She loves it though! She's had a few falls, but she gets right back up on the saddle and keeps riding! I love it in the park, she's riding along and up come a couple strangers walking. She approaches them saying "excuse me guys." and rides along. Sometimes she'll say "Hi guys." She's such a hoot!

Nana's After party

The after party was at Sarah and Dean's house. We danced, made noises, and ate yummy cake!