Johnny's Third Month

Expectations...

Now, why is it that we set ourselves up to expect certain things under certain circumstances? Besides, isn't it only when we have expectations that we get disappointed?

Today (well, now technically yesterday, since it is past midnight) is my birthday. I turned 32. Isn't that wild? It sounds so much older than I feel.

My only expectation for the day was to make sure I actually did my hair and make-up (quite a feat when I have a two-year-old and a three month old) and to have a nice, relaxing evening with my family. I didn't think those expectations were too high...but I guess they were!

Is that what I got? Not really. EVERYONE was in such a cranky mood...which, of course, put me in a cranky mood.

At least my hair and make-up got done! So, except for the fact that I still need to lose 15 pounds of baby weight, at least I looked kind of cute on my birthday even if nothing else went right!

Now, to off-set the cranky venting above, I'm going to post pictures of my sweet boys. Because even though they can be a lot of work, I would say that they have definitely exceeded my expectations. In a good way, of course!

And as for Peter's addition to the drama of the day, I partly have myself to blame. He definitely inherited my flair for the dramatic. I remember one time when I was little that I wasn't sick, but I wanted attention for some reason. I think I wanted to stay up later and watch more TV. So, I coughed and coughed as loud as I could (even though I didn't have a cough or a sore throat) in order to garner the attention and sympathy of my mother. She didn't come (probably because she was quite accustomed to my shenanigans). The only result? I actually got a cough and a sore throat. That little story explains a lot about Peter's personality...and where he got it from.

Above: My sweet talking, blue-eyed baby boy, Jonathan. Thank goodness for baby carriers when you have a fourteen pound three month old!

Above: Pete and Dad just hangin' out and looking at airplanes flying in the sky.

Above: Look at those sweet cheeks (this was not taken on my birthday...it was taken on another rare day where I did my hair and make-up!).

Above: This picture has nothing to do with me or my boys. This is just a house close by to where we live. It just makes me happy. I've always thought it was pretty. It looks like it should be in England with its pretty ivy and flowers.

Above: Pretending to eat food at Nammy's house. Peter rarely actually eats dinner when we go to Nammy's. There's just too much to do. But, since he's a healthy 32 pounds, I'm not going to stress over it.

Above: Pete still loves playing outside with his Dad.

Above: Rain or shine, Pete craves the great outdoors.

Above: Cute smiles (but tell me, why do grocery stores dye frosting in such awful and stainable neon colors? Can't they make white cupcakes or keep them in pastel shades? Especially when they stock the cupcakes next to the fruits and vegetables that you have to get--not a section of the grocery store you can just skip?). But don't you just love Peter's big brown eyes?

Above: My sweet talkin' Guy Smiley. What a cutie!

Above: Pete playing with Mimi's barn. He loves that barn! It's currently on loan to us. It will be returned once Pete gets sick of it!

Above: Pete loves animals!

Above: Pete loves playing with stickers.

Above: All smiles!

Above: Finally, a day warm enough to actually go outside and play. We had to take advantage of this quickly because it worked with Jonathan being awake and it being warm enough. There was no time to lose...hence the explanation for going outside to play while Peter was still in his pajamas. Seriously, there was no time to get him dressed...it would have wasted precious play time.

Above: Peter loves Mimi and Papa's trampoline.


Above: Just passin' by.


Above: The dreaded tummy time. Jonathan usually only allows tummy time for a maximum of ten minutes. Then he has had enough and he voices his opinions until I roll him over to his back.


Above: Jonathan sure is cute while tummy time lasts though!



Above: As soon as we get inside, Peter insists on removing his clothes! Jonathan is only in his diaper because he just spit up on his pajamas.

Above: Peter loves the mountains. We went last Friday and Peter had a blast throwing rocks into the river and hiking with his Dad. I couldn't keep up with them since it was pretty steep and I had Jonathan in the baby carrier. Plus, we hadn't really planned on hiking and I was only wearing flip flops.

Above: I was soon left far behind!


Above: Peter was excited to see the moon in the daytime.

Above: The river that benefited from so many rocks thrown into it by Peter (though none of the rocks Peter threw in are actually visible...those boulders didn't come from Pete).


Above: Jonathan being held up by Daddy. Jonathan is in shock at Daddy's blatant mistreatment of his fashionable onesie.


Above: Cute baby chubs!


Above: How can someone so young already know where his loyalties lie? He must know where Mommy got her bachelor's degree from.

Above: Macho, macho man! Seriously, I can rarely get this guy to wear clothes at home. But dangerously tromping around in Daddy's ski boots? That's another thing entirely. At least he doesn't have a problem wearing clothes in public. Pick your battles and count your blessings, eh?


Above: Don't let the smile deceive you. Jonathan has absolutely no idea what in the world to do with this exersaucer. He's simply smiling because he's so sweet. I was pretty sure that he would be too little for the exersaucer (I think he will be up for it in about a month or two at the most). But I got impatient and wanted to try it out. I had to stuff the seat with his blankets to keep him propped up and then, of course, he couldn't have reached any of the toys--even if he had tried or wanted to. But he's my sweet smiley guy, so he smiled just the same.

Above: Ahhh. Now this is the kind of play time that makes sense to me right now!

Above: Jonathan isn't naked (though it looks like I strategically used his blanket to cover his nether-regions. He's wearing a diaper...but as is the case with all of his diaper-only pictures, he spit up on his outfit and he just looked so darned cute in his skivvies that I couldn't resist taking a picture or two).


Above: Peter is finally loving his little brother (this magical change took place right around the time Jonathan turned two months old). In fact, while I was talking to my sister on the phone, Peter snuck in a couple of sweet kisses--right on the mouth. So sweet. But it looks like Jonathan is going to catch Peter's cold now! Maybe there was no way around it. Peter just caught this cold and he has been sneezing like crazy...and every time he sneezes, I swear his sneezes create a two-mile radius of germ infestations!


Above: What a rascal!


Above: Oh nooooo!


Above: Jonathan sweetly enduring Daddy's kisses.


Above: What a day! Time for some sleep. That definitely applies to me. I stayed up way too late, but after the day I had today, I definitely needed to blow off some steam and do something to cheer myself up. And even though my boys tucker me out, looking at sweet pictures of them and reflecting on the good times always helps me to feel better.

Hopefully I'm not dead on my feet tomorrow...I think I'm starting to feel Peter's cold coming on...uh oh!

Hooray for...

The fact that I'm not pregnant! That's right. TMI you say? I don't care. I'm so relieved! I forgot to take my birth control two days in a row this past month. I was so worried that I was pregnant again. I need a little more than two months off from being pregnant, you know?

Now, it wouldn't have been the end of the world if I was pregnant because we are planning on having more kids. But I would like them spaced a little further apart. 11 months apart wouldn't have been enough!

Besides, our goal has always been to have the hospital bills paid off from the previous baby before we have another. My personal goal is to have lost the baby weight before I get pregnant again. I did it with Peter, but I still have 15 pounds to lose from my baby weight with Jonathan. Besides, I am not physically, emotionally, financially, or spiritually prepared to welcome another baby yet!

Whew! What a relief!

Thanks for letting me share! Oh, and I have now set a daily reminder on my phone to remind me to take my birth control pills!

Blessing Day

Above: My sweet little Jonathan.


On Sunday, May 1st, we blessed Jonathan Jeremiah Washburn.

Church starts for us at 9 a.m., so we all had to get up bright and early to get there on time. Sunday was the first time that all of us have gone to church together since before Jonathan was born. Peter was sick two weeks before Jonathan was born and I kept him home after he broke his leg because he only had a splint and couldn't walk on it. Then, of course, Jonathan was born. I kept both Peter and Jonathan home with me during RSV season. Because I tell you, if there is a cold, flu, or other sickness to be caught, Peter will catch it--even if he was only exposed to the germs/viruses for ten minutes (or less).

It was kind of crazy getting everyone ready--and getting up myself! Jonathan is still waking up to eat 2-3 times a night and I'm not getting a ton of sleep as a result. So, these days, I mostly lounge around in my pajamas because no way am I getting up early to get ready when I could be sleeping instead! I am doing my best to use the boys' afternoon nap time to exercise (when they cooperate and actually nap at the same time). So, on the days I do get ready, it doesn't happen until 3 p.m.!

Above: Jonathan looking sweet and content...as he does every morning!

It was so nice to get out with our entire family though. It was a beautiful, warm spring day. Both Peter and Jonathan were in good moods. We got Peter fed and then we got everyone dressed.

Jonathan looked so cute in the blessing outfit that his Nammy made for him.

Above: Jonathan in the blessing outfit his Nammy made for him. I couldn't get him to smile though because he was cranky that I had squished his feet into shoes that were too small for him. Here he is right after I took the shoes off of him. I'll have to put the blessing outfit on him again and take more pictures when I have time. It's too hard to get a glamour shot when you're trying to get to 9 a.m. church on time! I took nearly ten pictures and none of them were great.

And Peter looked so grown up and handsome in his church clothes. He was so proud of the way he looked that he snuck up behind me, tugged on my dress to show off his outfit, and then looked very shy as I admired it.

Above: Peter in his church clothes. Though he was being sassy and wouldn't let me get a decent picture.

It was so nice to have our family there to participate. It meant so much to us.

Jeremiah blessed Jonathan to take after his namesakes in the Bible. Jonathan is named after one of the best examples of being a friend in the Bible--Jonathan, King David's friend. He is also named after his Dad, and the prophet Jeremiah. One of the most well known scriptures in the book of Jeremiah is about missionary work. It is Jeremiah 16:16 "Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks."

Jonathan was blessed by his Dad to be a good friend to all those around him--especially his big brother Peter. He was also blessed with a desire to be a missionary and to share the gospel. Finally, he was blessed to turn to his family as a support group to help him throughout his life. It was a very special blessing.

Peter and Nammy missed it because Peter lead her out of the chapel as soon as the opening song was finished. He did come back into the chapel for a few very well-timed moments of drama.

I bore my testimony on the importance of names. I am grateful for what I have learned about the Savior and the ability to come to know His personality through the names He has been given. For instance, I love that one of His names is Alpha and Omega--which means "the beginning and the end." I know that the Savior is the beginning of all things good (love, repentance, happiness, families, forgiveness, etc.) and the ending of all things bad (unhappiness, hate, sorrow, fear, etc.). That name, alone, teaches so much about what kind of a person Jesus is. And Jesus has MANY names. So much to learn from all of His names!

I am grateful that I have been able to grow and take on different responsibilities with the different names I have taken upon myself. As Sarah Mackay, I gained the capacities and talents to carry the responsibility of being Sarah Mackay. When I became Sarah Washburn and Wife, I grew in my capacity and took on new responsibilities and grew. When I took upon me the name of Mother by becoming the mother of Peter, I grew again and learned as my capacity further expanded. As I have become the mother of two sons by becoming the mother of Jonathan, I have felt my capacity growing even more. I was terrified of becoming a mother of two boys--especially since Peter is quite a handful. He is the most adorable, loving, rambunctious little guy. But just as HIS namesake Simon Peter, he is just as passionate. My Passionate Peter. I was so scared of how I would juggle the two of them and give them both the care that they needed. I really didn't think I could do it. I had many pregnancy hormone induced breakdowns regarding that fear.

But again, my capacity has grown. The Lord saw in me much more than I saw in myself and He has given me the ability to tackle the tasks that have been placed before me.

As I bore my testimony, my sweet passionate Peter heard me in his wanderings around the ward house and ran all the way up the aisle to me (calling "Mama! Mama!" the whole way). While everyone in the whole ward shifted their gaze from me to Pete. I closed my testimony and picked up my sweet guy who was doing his chin quiver. A little dramatic trick he picked up on his own.

Oh, and during the closing hymn, Peter (who had gone back out into the halls with his Nammy), somehow got away from Nammy and ran back up to the podium (I think he thought he would find me there again since that's where he found me last time). I had to be the one to chase him up the aisle. Oh, and I was wearing a new pair of high-heeled shoes which I discovered the hard way will only be used for fancy dates because I can't walk fast enough in them to run after Peter. When I got him, he screamed for his Nammy at the top of his lungs. I had to take him out of the chapel and into an empty classroom to (unsuccessfully) muffle his screams. For those of you who haven't heard Peter yell, he is pretty darn loud. I told a few ladies later that I get my attention through my kids and that I just wanted to make a dramatic re-entry into church-going.

By the way, as a side note, thank you to all those people out there who understand what it is like to have a strong-willed child. I was so appreciative of the sympathetic or amused expressions from the majority of the congregation...as opposed to the few looks of disapproval I got. I am grateful that most of the people in my ward realize that Peter being so passionate is not a result of me coddling, overindulging, or spoiling him...but a result of his nature. He was born with that. I'm doing my best to teach him! I really am! Contrary to what some people may believe, I don't let him have his way in everything. He does get told "no."

I told Jeremiah that I'll have to study up on ways to discipline him in public because time-outs are proving really successful at home, but what do you do when you're not at home? Oh, and for any of you moms out there who have dealt with rowdy kids in sacrament meeting, I would love any and all tips that you have for keeping your kids in their seats and quiet!

Needless to say, it was a very busy morning. Because Peter has been mostly house-bound with me and Jonathan, it was the most action he had seen in the morning in a long time. That's why I can understand why Peter fell asleep on the drive home. Though Jeremiah and I were pretty surprised. It has been at least 6 months since Peter has fallen asleep in the car!


Yes, I do believe my capacity has grown and will continue to grow...indeed!

Above: Bonus picture of my three boys sitting in a fort/pirate ship that I made out of the little couch. It looks like Pete has my childhood habit of smiling in an overzealous manner for the camera!


Above: Bonus picture of my hero. Electrical Tape Man! Seriously, I can't get Peter to wear clothes at home! At least he doesn't object to wearing clothes in public. I guess you have to pick your battles, right? We got creative with some electrical tape (he thinks it's so funny when you put tape or stickers on him). He thought he looked so cool! And he does!


Above: Casual breakfast at the Washburn residence. Dig Jonathan's double chin!


Above: A parting view of my sweet sweet Jonathan.