Long time, no post!

Well, it's seemingly been forever since my last post. Things have been crazy busy in the Diefenderfer house. Let's see, Christmas was A.W.E.S.O.M.E!!! It was especially fun because not only did we have Maren's first Christmas, but, Jack pretty much GOT Christmas this year. We got the biggest tree outside of Rockafeller (sp?) Plaza it seemed. Here is a few of it with all the Santa gifts!

I think Jack might have OD'd on unwrapping gifts. At the point that he was done with his, he came over to help me unwrap mine. It only took him looking at a few pieces of clothing and a pair of tights to realize that Mama's presents weren't nearly as great as say.......Maren's. Poor girl. Everything she got was whisked away by her brother, including her Fisher Price Tea Set. We keep telling ourselves that he'll grow tired of them as soon as she realizes that she really loves playing with them.

I just had my birthday, last one in my 20's, but, that's ok. I don't feel older, so, there's no need to dwell on it. We had a wonderful evening out with the Azar's at Sa Za's. The food was WONDERFUL and the company even better, so, all that to say, it was a great birthday.

Maren is getting ready to start crawling like a machine pretty soon. She's 7 months old already. I can't believe it. Here's my sweet girl :)

And Jack is almost 2 and a half. He's so funny and just makes my heart happy! He says something new everyday. 'Stuck' is his new favorite word. He finds every opportunity to tell me that something is stuck. His toy, his cup, himself, everything ends up STUCK! Here is my Jack in all of his glory.

Well, that's about it for now. Must go calm down the craziness in the other room. Until next time :)

Mice and Teething Diapers

Well, it's been pretty eventful these past few days. Jack has got to be getting one of the last set of molar's. It's been intense, diaperwise. The kid is a champ when it comes to pain. He's truly a tough guy. The only sign (besides the diapers) that he's been exhibiting that he's probably teething is that he's been waking up SUPER early. Before 6 o'clock early.... and getting out of bed and playing. I've finally been going into his room and telling him to close his eyes and rest. That lasts all of 30 minutes, then it's back up and play time (at least it's after 6 by this time). This morning I walked into his room to get him ready for school and I was literally almost stiffled by the smell. Not normal dirty diaper smell......teething diaper smell. He looked at me from his book and said, "Mama, Jack Jack stinky. PEEE HEWWWWWW!" I informed him he was correct and got down to business. Not pretty, but, it could have been worse.

On the Maren front, she's now a rolling over phenom. Which means, middle of the night rolling is as good as anytime and she's really fond of sleeping on her stomach now. While this worried me to begin with, I remembered when Jack started doing this. It's time to also take my sweet girl out of her sleep sack. Both of my babies loved their sleep sack until it became wrapped around their legs and feet. So, time for lots of warm jammies and light blankies.

Now for the mouse. Stuart Little, he was not. He was a little, brown, run of the mill field mouse who made a home in my kitchen for a day. EWWWWWWWWWWW!!!! If I had seen him on TV, he might have been cute. But, the thought of him running around in my house in the middle of the night was nausea inducing. Todd, master of the mouse trap, Diefenderfer bought some spinner traps and set them up around the house. And do you know, by the time I came home the tiny brown invader was deceased in the mouse trap nearest where I saw him that morning. I think the best thing about those traps is that you can't see a thing. The arrow basically points to "occupied" and you toss the whole thing. No muss, no fuss. Not that you all wanted to know the gory details, but, this was a big event for me. Glad at least Todd got a good laugh...

Fact v. Fiction 2 Year olds and Showering

While having 2 children is definitely more work, the 2 year old remains the most work. With the little one, you can still contained them in an exersaucer or bouncy seat of some sort. Not so for the 2 year old. You can exhibit limited freedom for the 2 year old, but, be prepared to stay after them. Here is my case in point of the limited freedom.......taking a shower while the 2 year old roams free.

1. Fact or Fiction: With a two year old there is no way to work in a deep conditioning treatment while taking a shower.

-Fiction! You can work in a deep conditioning treatment, but, you should limit it to a 2-5 minute version. I've found that Frederic Fekai has a wonderful one that does the trick!

2. Fact or Fiction: There is no way you can work in a shave when you are trying to limit your shower time to 10 minutes.

-Fiction! Somehow, someway, your body senses your minds anxiety at having your little one out roaming in your room and bathroom and pushes into an adrenaline rush type of frenzy for 10 minutes or so. Your arms, hands and fingers have never been so dextrous! Believe it or not you've flown through a shave virtually unscathed. Only a knick here and there. The key here is using a trusty razor. Schick Intuition is NOT, and I repeat NOT a recommendation. One would think that it would cut out some time because it is a razor/cream combination. If you want your legs not to look like they've been attacked by a weed eater, do not use this razor.

3. Fact or Fiction: Your showering process can be just a peaceful as it always has been in the past.

-Fiction!!!! So, limited freedom is just that, limited, so you try to keep that sweet little 2 year old within ear shot. I still have no idea how I accomplished the amount of pampering I accomplished while fussing/threatening spankings/and giving "atta boys" to Jack through the steamed over glass of my shower. He thankfully knows when I'm being serious and when I'm idilly threatening. Luckily, when he grabbed my Pepcid Complete off the counter and somehow yanked the cap off, he knew my "JOHN BARON DIEFENDERFER, PUT THAT CAP BACK ON OR YOU'RE THIGH WILL NEVER BE SAME AGAIN" meant business. No spankings occured, the cap went back on and he resumed pulling all of the q-tips out of the box and stuffing them into one of Todd's shoes.

I don't know about you, but, when I read this back through, it made me nervous all over again. But, when that face looks like this, I realize it's worth it :)

The Quiet of the Evening

Well, it's around 8:45 and the babies are asleep and Todd is photographing a homecoming game (his LAST of the season) in Eufala. I have a familiar movie going in the other room and I'm enjoying my beverage of choice (a nice glass of Red) and thinking of where to go with this post. I'm so thankful for the blessings that I have been given. They(I'm not even going to be specific here, because, there are so many wonderful blessings) are so precious, each and every one of them, big and small. Speaking of the big one's.......Jack had Maren belly laughing tonight. I am talking REALLY laughing, she actually got the hiccups from laughing so hard at him. Everytime he'd look over and smile at her she would grab a fist full of his hair and laugh. I think for everything he's been thrown in the last 4 and a half months, he's pulled through like a champ. He loves his "baby sisser Mawahhn" so much. Even more so now that she smiles and laughs at his dances and songs. I mean, look at this face. How can you not smile and laugh at that face?!

Tomorrow we are going to Nonna(not to be confused with Nonnie)'s house for a fun Halloween party and hopefully Trick or Treating if it's not pouring rain. Jack will be Thomas the Train and Maren is a monkey. I have to say, the monkey costume is one of the cutest I have EVER seen. Jack's is fun and he absolutely LOVES that he gets to wear Thomas tomorrow, but, I have to show a picture of the monkey. Hopefully, we'll get some better one's tomorrow, but, in the mean time feast your eyes on the overwhelming preciousness that is Maren "the Monkey" Diefenderfer and my mom :)

Well, I think it's time to go watch my movie and enjoy the rest of my evening and my beverage. Happy Halloween everyone! I hope to have a really cute picture of the two of them in their costumed glory. Until inspiration hits again :)

Only Child Syndrome

Well, this is my very first post and while trying to think of where to start, I hear Maren yelling in the background. Jack is telling her to "hush" and Todd is trying to soothe her. It's gotten LOUD in my house. Being an only child, excessive noise has never been my favorite thing. In fact, I used to get so excited for time to myself that I would willingly go to my room and revel in the silence. I've also had a few friends call me "Grandma" because my ears are so sensitive. That said, the quient moments now are few and far between. Jack is now 2 and Maren is 4 and a half months. Jack has always been loud and vibrant, just a crazy, happy clown of a kid in general. Then Maren came along. At first she seemed so quiet and reserved. While yes, she is much more quiet than her brother, she has now found her voice........and she LOVES it. The screaching and screaming are followed with huge smiles. Jack stares at his competition not quite sure what he should do. He's tried a few tactics so far.

-First was running to her to get her everything that he thought she would need(i.e. blankie, paci, soft cushy toy, etc.) and telling her that everything was alright and that she would be ok.

-Second was looking at me expectantly in the hopes that I would do something.

-Third was telling her to hush or put his hand over her mouth (this took her from happy with her voice to mad at him quicker than you can imagine.)

-Fourth is the most recent. He starts singing louder and louder with no breaks and the rare breath in between renditions of his favorite songs. Twinkle, Twinkle is a favorite, as is "God is Love".

As you can tell, none of these are quiet tactics except the second. And while it's no longer a quiet house, it's still a happy house. I guess I'll just have to save my "Only Child Syndrome" moments for bedtime.