Wit by Amanda: Francine (6 months) - Jack (2.5 years) post

So here we are...round 2 of an update on the Phillips in 2015. This highlight real happens from around June 3-September 3, 2015.

Francine's first trip - Norway! She was the same age as Jack when he went to Japan! (Photo Courtesy of Alyssa Joy Photography)

Siblings!

Family!

Man, parenting. Its some tough stuff. Yes, the second time around there are things you are way better at and more confident in, but it still throws you. For the most part, I would consider myself an intelligent and pulled together person. Parenting reveals the opposite of that in me at times. I feel like I have way more dumb and disastrous days than I ever have in my life. I guess parenthood brings you to a very vulnerable place and allows you to face your inner flaws or "demons" and hopefully grow and mature. Life seems to be very raw with kids and with that if you are not aware, present, and in the moment, you miss a lot.

The saying "the days are long, the years are short" I have tried to keep as my mantra in these infant and toddler days. I don't want to forget these moments as they go by, but in the trenches of exhaustion, schedules, and to-do lists...sometimes you get a little caught up with the wrong things.

However, I do finally feel like I may be close to the living and the normal. For the first 3 months of Francine's life...we kept it really close to home. In fact, we didn't leave home at all. I am thankful that our home is a safe sanctuary for our family. I think when Francine was about 4 months old, I got the confidence to get out there with two kids and run an errand. I kind of had to. Just DO IT AFRAID!

Christopher did a lot of traveling in these 3 months for a lot of different things so I had to be the only full time parent quite a few days. I can honestly say that some of my worst parenting moments came during this time. I am an imperfect mom that's for sure, but I try my best to start over fresh/clean slate each morning. Its all I sometimes I feel I have at this point. New mercies every morning...

**Story of the month**

We took a trip to Georgia to visit with Christopher's family. On the way back home, we stopped and picked up Lucy at our friends house. I was not out of the car for 60 seconds when I heard Jack screaming. I got Francine out of the car ran to the back yard and Jack had a goose egg on his forehead. This was his first real injury. It was mostly his fault because he walked in front of a swing. I was absolutely beside myself and so was he. Christopher took him to a walk-in pediatric clinic and they thought it was all ok. It took a good month or two for it to completely heal.

#Jackamadeus update

This boy is just awesome. His little brain is growing in leaps and bounds. He started his 2nd year at Mothers Day Out at Christ Church. He is doing very well. Most of his little friends from last year are still a part of this class. His vocabulary has quadrupled in the last 6 months I think. He knows his ABCs, shapes, can count to 20, and is learning to memorize songs and scriptures very fast.

Favorite color - orange

Favorite number - 2

Favorite food - macaroni and cheese

Favorite toys - Thomas and friends

Favorite song - Old MacDonald

I went through some pretty emotional times in getting ready to leave him for 11 days with my parents. I know he was going to be in good hands, but the weeks and days leading up to leaving, I thought I may have a heart attack. All the preparing and planning that I did, could not prepare me fore the anxiety and stress I carried those days before leaving. The good news is we all got through it and we all did better than we thought we would.

Here are a few cute stories from around this time frame:

We were reading "Pout Pout Fish" one day and we got to the octopus. He got up off the couch and ran into his room to get his alphabet puzzle. He brought it back and showed me that the O had an octopus on it and he wanted me to see that there was another octopus. He also cant say "octopus" and called it an "applesauce".
The other night when we were praying for dinner Jack said, "Thank you Jesus for macaroni, God, and Jesus." I know that made God look down on the prayer of a little kid and just grin so big!
I was reading in his Jesus Storybook bible the story of Jesus and the tomb and the line was "no one could get in or out" and Jack said "Noah could not get in". - Ahhh the English language. Its a tricky one fella

#Francineclaire update!

First - she is just beautiful. I know I want her to have long blonde hair and cute little baby teeth but for now her little hair and gums are just perfect. I think she is good hybrid of me and Christopher. :)
Highlight from 3-6 months - we took Francine on her first flight... to Norway (August 27, 2015). She turned 6 months in Norway. She suffered from some pretty severe jetlag both there and at home. One of my values I have for our family is travel so even in these hard stages of the early years, sometimes you have to do the hard things in order to stay in line with your values.

Norway photo outtake! :)

Sleep - we still do not have a sleeper on our hands. She loves a good 3:30/4:00 am feeding still. She also would wake up crying because she lost her beloved paci. Most nights in this time period I would go in there at least 1-2 times and put her paci back in for her to go back to sleep till the 4am feeding.
Schedule - she had the same schedule from 3 months to almost 5 months. At 5 months, it was a game changer for this mama. We went to 6 feedings a day instead of 7 and 2.5 naps a day instead of 4. TOTAL GAME CHANGER! Now her and Jack both have the same afternoon nap time and it is so nice to have those 2 hours to myself.
Clothes - She is in 3-6 months clothes mostly.
We are swaddle free as of about 4 months. She started rolling over on to her belly and started scaring me in the crib.
Diapers - Size 2 diapers.
Food - Breast milk
We are holding off on solids till we get back from Norway at the beginning of September. It just seems easier to start that transition after we get back.

Skills - at 4 months old she holds both feet with her hand. She also began to laugh right at 4 months old

New things: She is putting things in her mouth constantly.
Bad things: Francine's first melt down happened when we were out with friends for dinner (rather - we were about to sit down for dinner after waiting for a table). Our friend Gerica was keeping the kids and she could not console Francine for anything. This happened at about 3.5 months old. Her separation anxiety is definitely a bad thing that we are dealing with. She really wants no one to look at her in the eye let alone hold her. She is a mama's girl.
Crying - its gotten better for sure but she still only wants her mama to hold her for the most part.
Schedule right now

7:00 wake up and eat and play for 2 hours
9:00 nap
11:00 wake up and eat and play for 2 hours
1:00 nap
3:00 wake up and eat and play for 2.5 hours
5:30 nap
6:15 wake up and eat and play for 2.5 hours
7:45 down for the night
9:30 - "dream feed" so she sleeps till like 3 or 4am.