Life with the Liggetts: Flying Solo

I've been doing this whole stay-at-home-mom-of-two thing for about a week and a half now, and I'm happy to report -- so far, so good. It helps that Dean seems to be such a good baby thus far {knock on wood}. I definitely don't want to jinx myself, but his only demand is that he be fed every three hours, and other than that, he's pretty go-with-the-flow.

It also helps that Jackson is still going to my mom's house two days a week. They both love their time together, and my mom really wanted to keep their routine going even through my maternity leave, so who am I to argue with that? So while Jackson has been busy living it up at Mimi's and making cupcakes out of playdough {and singing "Happy Birthday" and blowing out real candles}, Dean and I have been taking it easy -- napping, resting, getting some things done around the house, and even running a couple of errands.

I forgot how easy grocery shopping is when you don't have a toddler with you and therefore don't have to be strategic about which aisles you go down or creative enough to keep them from seeing all of the candy, which is pretty much everywhere -- with the yogurt, in the big bins by ziplock bags, and at the checkout lane to name a few.

With Ben at work and Jackson at Mimi's, I initially had big plans to tackle my growing to-do list, but apparently I had forgotten just how long it takes to admire a baby. Answer: all day long.

I had also forgotten how much I enjoy just sitting and holding a sleeping baby while listening to all of the sweet little grunting noises.

My first day at home with both boys was challenging, but we survived and even had quite a bit of fun. We spent the morning in the backyard digging in the gravel and making water balloons, and then just as I was acing the whole parent-of-two thing {and taking a picture to prove it}, Jackson accidentally overfilled that red water balloon all over Dean.

Dean was far from impressed, but thankfully it was pretty warm out {which is the reason that he was in just a diaper to begin with}, so after quickly wiping him off, all was right in the world again.

After nap time, we immediately headed back outside. Unfortunately, Ben had to work late that night {apparently taking two weeks off will do that}, but I didn't want that to keep Jackson from having fun, so when he asked if he could go on a scooter ride, I quickly convinced myself that I could handle it. Things went well for the most part, too. He did a great job of waiting up for me and Dean {while I did my best to keep up}, and he even stopped to check on Dean {and stroke him on the head a little}, too.

When we got to the point at which I was planning to turn around, Jackson decided it was time for a water break, and that's when things got a little rough. He decided that he no longer wanted to ride his scooter or put his helmet back on, so instead I carried them back -- all while pushing the stroller, too. And the worst part was that Jackson wanted me to carry him as well, and because I couldn't {because #1.) My c-section incision is still healing, and #2.) I wasn't even close to having a free hand}, he instead followed behind me sobbing the whole way. It definitely wasn't the trip around the block that I had in mind.

And on that note, this also happened on that very first day.

One of my biggest worries about being at home with both boys by myself was what kind of mischief Jackson would get into while I was feeding Dean, and on that first day, I found out that it includes taking a screwdriver to our leather ottoman. In his defense, he really wasn't doing it to be malicious. We were watching TV together, and I knew that he had found the screwdriver, but it wasn't until I heard the second scratch that I realized what had happened. I'm almost positive the first one was an accident, and I think he only did it a second time because he was so amazed by what had happened. And to think, just a few minutes before that, he was sweetly consoling his brother saying, "it's okay...want milk?"

Thankfully for Jackson, his brother did his best to keep things even that night and was up a lot of it. All I gotta say is that it's a good thing he's so cute.

Luckily each morning brings a new day and with it a blank slate, and thankfully the rest of our days were not nearly as "eventful" as that first one. Jackson continues to check on Baby Dean as soon as he wakes up in the morning and after nap and to share all sorts of treasures with him, too -- his lovey, matchbox cars, batteries. You know, all sorts of small and potentially dangerous objects. But it's the thought that counts, right?

As expected, Dean has spent most of his time sleeping and eating...and eating and sleeping.

And while I fed Dean, Jackson kept an eye on things next door and even did a little bit of his own construction -- using a roll of toilet paper to build a track.

We've also had a few visitors...Ben's cousin Maria.

My friend Megan from Stroller Strides.

The McHorses -- Megan, Beth, and Tyler.

Jackson was thrilled when he found out that they brought presents for him, too -- a set of tools and a pillow that Megan made just for him, and he was even more excited that they stayed to play with him for a bit, too.

Last week, I also loaded both boys up and took Dean to his two-week well-check appointment. Thankfully, everything looks great, and Dean now weighs 8 pounds 6.5 ounces, which means that he's put on 12.5 ounces in a little over a week {nicely done, mom!}. They also did the PKU heel prick, which I just hate watching. Jackson, on the other hand, was interested in seeing exactly what was making his brother so upset, so while the nurse squeezed an excessive amount of blood from Dean's heel, I did my best to distract him...because honestly there's just something not right about that.

In other news, Dean's umbilical cord fell off -- but if you ask Jackson, there's a good chance that he'll repeat exactly what his dad told him and tell you that Baby Dean's tail fell off. Obviously Ben think it's hilarious, but I'm just dreading the day that he tells some random stranger that his baby brother's tail fell off.

Over the past week and half, we've done a fairly decent job of getting out of the house, but I credit most of that to the fact that keeping an active toddler entertained at home all day is much harder than getting everyone out the door. Unfortunately, our first two outings are undocumented -- Bailey Splash Pad with the Crisp girls and the Thinkery with my mom -- because, as it turns out, remembering to bring your phone with you and then remembering to actually take a picture is a lot harder with two. I did remember to grab my phone and to snap a few pictures when we went to Mount Playmore with my mom yesterday though.

We had never been before, but Jackson loved climbing all over that place.

He also enjoyed the little rides and arcade games despite the fact that we never put money in any of them.

As for the toddler area that was specifically designed for his age group? I think his face says it all.

Thankfully Dean was so good. He slept the whole time that we were there and even let us run through the Chick-fil-a drive-thru on our way home.

This past weekend, we were so excited to have Daddy home again.

Friday night, I went to pick up a pizza, and as I was backing out of the driveway in a car all by myself, I suddenly remembered that the first time that I was ever away from Jackson was also to pick up a pizza. Deja vu, for sure. We spent the rest of the evening playing outside, doing a little bit of toddler-led "yoga", and looking for bugs, which Jackson referred to as "looking at mine friends".

Saturday morning was our appointment for church pictures. I had scheduled to have our pictures taken on the last day hoping that Dean would be born early and in the pictures, too -- and thankfully it worked out. Instead of being the chubby pregnant girl, I got to be the one proudly holding up our adorable two-week old baby.

We didn't order any extras {mostly because we did Dean's newborn photo shoot earlier this week, and I know those will be so much better}, but I can't wait to see our picture in the directory and our free 8x10, too. Part of me thinks that there's nothing cornier than church pictures, but I absolutely love that I'm the mom of this cute little family.

Afterwards, we headed to Jumpoline because after sitting around all morning, we knew that we were going to need to wear Jackson out if we wanted a good nap.

Surprisingly it wasn't very crowded, and Jackson had a great time going back and forth between jumping with Ben and with a group of girls who I'm guessing were there for a birthday party. They were all wearing cat ears {the cute mom included} and having so much fun together, and it was so cute how Jackson would join up with their group every once in awhile and do his best to keep up with whatever they were doing -- clapping to the music, etc.

Meanwhile, I sat on the sidelines with Dean and hid under a blanket when I realized that this had happened. Seriously, motherhood is not for the faint of heart.

Church pictures and trampolines really take it out of a guy.

After lunch, Ben left town for a quinceanera for the daughter of one of his employee's, and I did my best to hold down the fort. As soon as Jackson got up from his nap, we headed over to Pease Park to play on the playground and in the splash pad.

The only way to survive summer in Texas.

"Baby Dean, wake up...play in splash pad."

I was a little worried about getting both boys fed and down for the night by myself, but thankfully my dad and Patty were in town visiting my Grandma, so they came by that night after dinner to lend some extra hands -- for both bathing and baby-holding.

Of course, both boys were fast asleep, and I had literally just finished picking up the house when this handsome guy got home.

On Sunday, we went over to Kyle and Steve's house to for the usual shenanigans, and I even treated myself to my first post pregnancy beverage -- a delicious peach wine cooler that I just happened to find in one of the coolers.

Matt and Lexi also stopped by to meet Dean, and despite the fact that he slept through pretty much the whole thing, Dean was thrilled to finally meet his namesake. I've said it many times before, but I hope both of our boys turn out to be the wonderful young men that both Matt and Sam have grown up to be.

In other news, Jackson somehow managed to find where Kyle hides her surplus of toy trucks, and as soon as he did, we heard him holler from across the house, "oh my world!"

And "oh my world" is right.

And what's a party without a little body paint?

Tonight Dean and I made the trek to Lakeway {30 minutes each way} for his very first happy hour. My friend Stephanie from Stroller Strides is moving to Colorado this weekend, so a group of us wanted to get together to say "goodbye" and wish her well. I don't get to see these girls nearly as often as I used to, but I had a great time catching up with them tonight and introducing them to Dean.