Fibbing gone wrong

So tonight we put Sadie to bed early because she skipped her nap and was cranky. Chase and I were pretty excited about eating dinner in peace for a change. However, Sadie decided to scream and bang on her door for the duration of our meal. I knew she needed her "bahh" blanket but I wanted to chow down before Jack woke up. I figured I could eat and find her blanket after. Sadie wouldn't have it. She wanted it NOW!! So after about ten minutes (I ate fast because I could hear Jack stirring) I ran up there and presented her with her "bahh." As I was getting her ready again to sleep this is what our conversation was:

Sadie: Mommy, I was crying the whole time.

Mom: I didn't hear you because I was in the basement looking for your "bahh"..(a total lie, I knew exactly where it was but I wanted to eat before the other kid needed me.)

Sadie: I heard Jack crying. I think he's awake.

Mom: Yes, he is awake. He woke up because you were screaming and kicking your door. It was really loud Sadie.

Sadie: So..... you did hear me.

I guess I should either stop fibbing or cover my bases better. I can't disguise words by spelling anymore, she's already started recognizing several words (like ice cream for example). Also, when she asks for something and I tell her it's all gone, she wants to see the empty wrapper, box, or container for proof because obviously my word isn't good enough. My kid is too smart. I can't keep up with her.

One month older and wiser too

Our little Jack is one month old!! It's been such a tornado of a month I didn't even realize how fast time was passing. As of now we think he's probably a genius because he holds his head up really well and burps better than any Cannon I've ever heard. He sleeps five hour stretches at night (occasionally) and takes great naps during the day. We're training him to fall asleep on his own and as of today, he's been just super!! I'm really enjoying my new camera. Here are a few (several..it's hard to narrow them down....he's just too cute) of my favorites this month:

Member of the AA

My name is Abby Cannon and I am an Afrin Addict. I am proud to report that it's been five days since my last squirt:-) There is a light at the end of the nostril.

The Napping House

If only we could get him to sleep like this at night:-)

Boys Night Out

Our friend Ben was in town last week so we had everyone over Sunday

night for dinner and a little speed scrabble. Jack fit right in with all the boys. I even played a round or two.

Sadie Graduates!!

We had a little preschool graduation party for our kids in joy school this last Friday. I am going to miss having Sadie play with these little kids. Hopefully we'll be able to schedule some fun play dates so their friendships can continue to flourish. Great job Sadie and thanks to all the other moms for putting together such a fun party.

Quite the handsome brute

I've been taking quite a few pictures of Jack trying to get a good one for his birth announcement. Of course out of all the hundreds of photos I've taken, there have been number of funny ones. Here are a couple to make you laugh a little:

Chase got a job!!

My whole life I was always told that the IRS was BAD!! My parents were never very fond of them so I assumed they were people you didn't want to fraternize with. Well, who would have known that in 20 some odd years my husband would be working for them. We feel so fortunate to have a job right now during this weird economy. Chase was fortunate to continue working for the tax court and was offered a position at the IRS's chief council's office for the next three years. Hooray for job security!!! We are really excited about this job because not only will it be awesome for his resume but he will be working in the Employee Benefits sector which is the type of tax law he wishes to pursue further. We hope that by working for the "bad guys" the good guys will hire him in three years as their "inside man." I love having Chase work for the government right now. He leaves every morning at 8 and gets home every night at 6. No billable hours!! This will be very helpful during this next year while I try to tackle two kids. Congrats to Chase for landing a great job!! He takes such great care of us. Thanks buddy!!

Sadie has not been a "lady"

Wow!! I had myself fooled if I thought this was going to be easy. The first couple of weeks with Jack home were pretty mild considering my parents were in town and Sadie always had someone to play with. Then they left and lets just say it's been a very interesting two weeks. Sadie has literally turned into a person I don't even recognize. Instead of sleeping in her bed, she sleeps on the floor right by her door. Instead of going to the bathroom after her afternoon nap, she wets her pants. The other day she even left me a little surprise on the carpet in her room. The worst part was she sounded excited when she yelled down to me "look Mommy, green poo!!"

I of course have no idea what to do. She has totally regressed and I feel like all my hard work getting her potty trained is going down the drain. She has also decided to be extremely disobedient and aggressive against me. I am actually happy that she hasn't lashed out against Jack. I guess if I have to have a little monster in the house I'd rather it be scaring me. For example, the other day while I was feeding Jack (most of these lovely incidences occur while I'm feeding Jack) and she told me she was going to spit her juice on the couch. I told her not to (maybe I should have told her to do it...reverse psychology?) and she looked right at me and spit juice all over the couch. I of course couldn't jump up and put her into time out because I was feeding Jack. She's a smart little cookie because she knows I am powerless once I start nursing. She will pound on her door and scream until she eventually falls asleep on the floor every night at about 10:00 after we put her to bed at 8:00. She comes into our room at 5:00 a.m. in search of her "genta bibi" (magenta binki) or to tell us it's "summertime" (her version of wake time). Chase and I are exhausted because at 5 we finally have Jack back to sleep after he's already woken up twice that night. Did I mention that she usually wakes Jack up when she comes in at 5 a.m. I've heard from Sadie about ten times a day "sorry Mommy, I won't do it again..I promise" and then goes right ahead and does "it" again. How do you explain to a 3 year old about integrity and telling the truth? Do you think she would understand what "crying wolf" means? I thought three years was a good gap but I'm starting to think that we should have introduced Jack to her when she was younger, that way she wouldn't really know what was going on. I really hope this is just a phase and that she will get better. Our first week was manageable but week two just about did me in. All of the plans I had made for Sadie fell through so she was bored stiff. Monday was such a horrible day once Chase got home I was in tears. I was so offended by the way Sadie was treating me that I completely lost it. My sweet little girl has turned into a monster!! Luckily Chase has taken a leave of absence from work to study for the bar so we all went swimming the next day which helped a little but I still fear the week he leaves for California to take the bar. I don't know how I'll manage Sadie. Jack seems to be the easy kids these days. Hopefully by the end of this month I'll have everything under control and Chase can leave knowing that all three of us will be alive when he returns. If you have any advice I'd love it. Now is the time to give it to me straight.

The training wheels are off!!

I was so great to have my parents here for a few weeks. My Dad left on Saturday and Monday was my first day alone...with no help....ahhhhhh. Luckily I had some amazing women from the ward bring over dinners and I had Jill to hang out with which made Sadie (and me) feel a whole lot better. The first week went pretty well although it was REALLY HARD entertaining two kids at the same time. Sadie would always need me just as soon as I sat down to feed Jack.

I worked on playing with her as much as possible while he slept but it seems he was always waking up and spoiling her fun. We spent a lot of time in the back yard playing with her kiddie pool. I made a huge batch of play dough hoping it would entertain her while I nursed Jack but to my disappointment, she only wanted to play with the play dough when I could play with her. She only needed to use the potty when I couldn't stand up to help her. It was pretty rough. I found myself singing "I'm so glad when Daddy comes home" in my head most of the day, and once he came through the door I felt a transformation come over me. All of a sudden I'm a new mother, with patience, love and charity and leave the battered, tired, curmudgeon behind. I then all of a sudden fear the next day the second he comes home because I know he'll be leaving us again. I don't know how women send their husbands off to Iraq or how resident's wives survive with out their husbands home every night. I guess I'm a wimp. I couldn't handle their hardships. This is a very humbling period when I realize I am very blessed and my life is really not that hard but I just have to deal with what's going on the best I can. I'll definitely be on my knees a whole lot more begging for a little more patience, love and understanding toward these two "widdle" kids I am so blessed to have in my life.

Thank you Mimi and Grandpa!!

We've had some visitors. My mom arrived the Monday after Jack was born and it was amazing to have her at home with us. We actually got quite a bit accomplished. I am amazed at how quickly I've recovered this time around. With Sadie I was still taking narcotics and waddling around. I am not even medicated and could probably jog if I wanted to. My only issue has been nursing. Of course I was worried that Jack would have a tongue tie just like Sadie did and make the whole nursing experience a very unpleasant one. Luckily he is tongue tie free but still a very aggressive eater and left me pretty sore the first couple of weeks. However, I am totally fine now and he's eating like a champ. We took him to the doctor for his two week appointment and he already weighs 9 pounds 6 ounces!! A whole pound since his birth. I bet he is well over 10 pounds now that he is almost a month old. So because I could walk and run errands my mom took me to Costco and we got all sorts of yummy foods. My mom always tries all the new products I am usually too afraid to buy (in fear that it will be disgusting and then a waste of money). She also took me to H&M. It was so fun to get some new clothes now that I'm not huge and pregnant any more. I also took her to my local thrift store where I like to buy old pieces of furniture to restore or find other fun stuff (I am amazed at what people out here donate). We both had so much fun!! I have to admit it was funny to see my mom shopping in a thrift store. She and Sadie had such a fun week. They read a lot of books, painted fingernails, and just hung out. Sadie loves her Mimi!! It was so nice to have her here for my sake as well. After Sadie went to bed it was hard for me to want to sleep because I just wanted to relish each moment I could talk to my mom with out any Children's Hour interruptions. Of course we even watched Little Dorrit, the latest Masterpiece Classic. You can't hang out with Mom or Dad with out seeing one of those. It was heavenly!! She and my Dad switched off with the Jane duties at home and he came a couple days after she returned home. Sadie LOVES her Grandpa. The second he arrived she asked him to do all the fun tricks she remembered him doing. He even introduced some new ones. Dad wanted to see the Georgetown campus so we headed up there one day. We watched the airplanes at National airport and just ran all over the place outside. I wish I had my Dad's energy (and patience)that he has with Sadie.
It was so fun to see him chase her all over the park and let her kick him while in the swing. Grandpa was able to see Sadie's last ballerina class and Sades thought it was pretty special to have him there. I don't know what we would have done if my parents hadn't come out. If only I could get them to stay forever. Sadie was so well behaved while they were here, probably because she always had someone to play with. Thanks again for coming guys and for taking such great care of us. We love you!!

Presenting...Jack Etherington Cannon

Our little Jack is finally here!! We actually went to the hospital on Friday night because I "thought" my water had broken. I had never experienced the breakage of water so of course I was mistaken and sent home. The next day I woke up with contractions but they went away during the day.
It wasn't until about 5 p.m. that I started having some heavy duty pains. I ignored them as we continued to do some errands and actually played a round of croquet with some of Chase's friends from work (I watched). I finally gave Chase the look of death and he told them we had to leave. One more stop at Target and then I thought it would be fun to show Chase where Jill and Behrad lived (we were in the area). We pulled up and because my last contraction was over we went in to have a tour. Then they came again and we decided it was time to leave (sorry for the quick departure Jill and Behrad).
We went home, put Sadie to bed and called Erin to come over. Once they were five minutes apart we headed to the hospital. Erin stayed until Uncle Curtis arrived to take over the midnight shift. Sadie woke him up at 5 a.m. due to the thunder and lightning going on outside. Poor things. I don't know who I feel worse for, Sadie or Curtis. Thanks again guys for stepping in to help. I was dilated to about a four once we got there and I was quick to mention to the nurses that I was ready for the epidural (although terrified at the same time). At that point it was 10:00 p.m. and they sent me over to labor and delivery. IV was put in and then I received the blessed most wonderful epidural. If I worshiped false gods (which I don't) then I would definitely have a golden epidural somewhere in my home. It immediately started working and those wicked contractions became a memory of the horrible past. They left us alone to sleep for a while as they added a little pitocin to speed things up. Well around 1:30-2:00 a.m. they came back and found me completely dilated and ready to go. I didn't even use that much pitocin. Pretty crazy how fast my babies come out (I was just grateful it wasn't in the car).

Chase and I had our cheesy moment where we even recognized how cheesy we were being and didn't care because we knew that we were going to have our little baby soon and were totally overwhelmed. It was such a calm delivery. The doctor came in to prep and I started pushing. We pushed for about 20 minutes and he was out at 3:02 a.m.
The whole process was only 6 hours. Hooray!!! What a sweetheart. He gave little whimpers but was so calm and cool about the whole thing. I was worried that something was wrong because he was so calm. He is just fine..in fact...he's perfect. I am totally in love. For the first hour I felt a little guilty for loving him (kind of like I was cheating on Sadie) but it didn't take long for me to feel a real loving bond with him that I felt for Sadie when she arrived.
I can't believe I am a mother of two and we are a family of four!! Crazy!! Jack weighed in at 8 pounds 5 ounces. He was 21 inches long and is very much an Etherington. We were still deciding between the names Jack (after my grandpa Jack or Charles after Chase's great grandfather Charles). I knew all I would need was to see his face and it was immediately Jack. He looks just like an Etherington baby with chubby cheeks, a round head and a stubby little nose. I am actually very excited to finally be representing my gene pool. Sadie looks so much like her daddy (she's starting to look more like me now that the freckles have appeared) and it's fun to have one look like mom for a change. I am enamored and completely head over heels for this little man I've only known for a whole two days. Chase says I've known him longer than that (being in utero for 9 months) but I like him a lot more outside than inside (very uncomfortable pregnancy:-). We tried to get some sleep but because we were in the hospital people kept coming in to poke and prod the poor little thing. They wouldn't leave me alone either. I appreciate their looking out for us but if I don't get sleep I turn into a manic depressive lunatic. That afternoon I completely broke down because they were banging so many doors and kept leaving my door open to hear everything that was going on. I finally called the nurse in and told her to put a note on my door and amazingly, everything became pretty quiet.

Sadie came to see him after her nap that afternoon and the first thing she said when she walked in was "where's the baby." She was very sweet with him wanting to share her lollipop and kept saying "ahhoooo..he's so cute." Jack arrived bearing gifts for Sadie. She was first presented with vinyl princess paper dolls which she hasn't stopped playing with. Then the next day she received a CARS race track. She has since made it into a train race track. We thought she would like him more if he buttered her up a bit (with our help of course). Uncle Curtis came too and we weren't at all surprised to see him fall asleep having a very early start that morning with Sadie.
Cate, MJ, and Richie came to the hospital to see Jack and then took Sadie back home with them for the night. Such a heaven sent to be able to have Chase with me at the hospital. Thanks again Cate and Mike.
Jill and Behrad also arrived and we all had a party in the room passing Jack around to be adored. Once everyone left we settled down and slept pretty well considering the millions of people that come in to check up on you. We decided to leave the next day instead of staying the full 48 hours. I was ready to have some uninterrupted sleep even if that means sleeping when Jack sleeps. I'll take anything. He was circumcised the next morning and that just about did me in. I couldn't talk about it with out crying (here comes the sleep deprived manic depressive lunatic) and because I was totally against it Chase is on diaper duty until it heals completely. This was agreed upon beforehand:-) So now we're home.
Leaving the hospital was fun. It was a beautiful day and even though Jack cried the whole way home (thus making Sadie cry..she's had a rough couple of days) we made it home in one piece. It was so nice to have Janine's delicious dinner waiting for us once we arrived. Thanks Janine!! We all slept great last night and are finally starting to feel more normal. We feel so blessed to have such a heavenly baby boy. He really is a dream boat. He's eating great and sleeping almost too well (waking him up to eat is quite a challenge). I can't stop staring at him. His little face is just too adorable and his cheeks are too chubby to not want to squeeze every second. Sadie is doing pretty well. I have to remember that this is going to be hard for her. I been giving her lots of extra hugs and mom time to make up for the guilt I feel at having to share my attention. She's been a little sassy lately and I hope it's just a stage. I just hope I know what I'm doing. This is all a new and very exciting (and terrifying) time for all of us. We'll keep you updated on our progress but until then we'll just keep squeezing those cheeks.