Justa Swinging

There are many things that bring joy to Leighton’s life but at the very tip top of the list is not me or Jon, not  ice cream or even TV with Peppa Pig and Dora!  The number one thing that brings pure joy to our munchkin is swinging!  This girl could spend hours swinging and I am not kidding… she will literally swing for hours.  In our recent past, every weekend  in the Cumberworth house was spent pack up and heading to a local park where Jon and I would take turns pushing Leighton to her little hearts content… or until we had had enough and we would pry her little fingers off the swing chains.

 

 

 

On the days we didn’t have time to head to the park we would get this…OMG mommy and daddy… can we go swinging?!? Now please now now now now now!!!!!

 

What do you mean we don’t have time?  You don’t have time for your oldest child’s favorite activity on Earth?  Well, I hope you can feel the daggers my eyes are throwing at you right now and I hope they hurt and crush your soul just like you are doing to me at this very moment!

 

So what do caring parents do? (And by caring I mean smart but extremely lazy parents!)  They buy a swing set for their backyard!!!  So for Leighton’s 2^nd birthday we gave her the gift that will keep on giving…. a bad-A set of swings!

 

Wait… what am I looking at?

 

Holy balls… those are swings!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

Who is going to set this thing up?  Am I going to have to do it by myself?

 

In classic Dubai fashion they sent the wrong color and proceeded to try to tell Jon that it is meant to have one tan side and one blue side… in the swing company’s words, “it is the newest style.” Um… No! So we got a new blue side delivered the next day.

 

 

HURRY UP MISTER… HURRY UP… THIS GIRL WANTS TO SWING!!!!!

 

I am going to sit right here Daddy…

 

SUCCESS!!!!!

 

 

Unfortunately mean mommy had to swoop in and drag the little swinger (that just sounds wrong) upstairs for bath time.  Every family can only have one fun parent right? I had to play bad cop this time… oh the joys of parenting!

 

 

 

The swings have been a hit thus far… we have used them with our friends!

 

 

 

We have swung by ourselves…

 

 

 

And we enjoy swinging really really high!!! Or in Leighton's words, "SUPER HIGH!"

 

 

We even enjoyed swinging as a Hawaiian cowboy princess! 

 

 

I have no doubt the swings will be a hit for years to come and I know Leighton cannot wait for her baby sister to join in the fun.  Almost every day I find her hanging out on the swing like the picture below yelling, “mommy push me… mommy PUSH ME!” 

 

I am very happy that we made this purchase and I know it has and will continue to make our oldest lady happy, but if little miss Leighton doesn’t learn to pump those legs soon I think I might get a touch of the carpal tunnel from the repetitive pushing… do you think I can file for workers comp with Jon?  Momma could use some disability pay!

Until Later...

Never Nude

Recently, Leighton had the worst case of diaper rash I have ever seen... Like port wine birthmark red...ouch! It was pretty intense.   As every parent knows, medicine can only do so much and the best way to help speed up the healing process is for your munchkin to go foot loose and diaper free for as long as possible to air that puppy out.   So I rolled up the rug in our family room and prepared to clean up a few accidents while Leighton’s lady bits took in the fresh air. Naked for longer than bath time? I think most two year olds would be pumped... NOT OUR KID! Every time I would take off her diaper she would walk around for about ten seconds and then start yelling, "Diaper ON!" Thinking she didn't want to have an accident in the house, I tried taking her outside to frolic in nature. This landed us in tears while yelling once again, "Diaper on Mommy, diaper on pleeeeeeease!"

She is actually begging for her diaper to be put back on in this picture... 

 And then she ran over to try to put on her old dirty diaper by herself.

So we officially are raising a never nude... Like Tobias from Arrested Development.  Just replace Leighton’s diaper with some lovely cut off jean shorts...  He wears them in the shower, under ass-less chaps and when he joined the blue man group.   So Leighton, welcome to a very special club and know that as your parents we will always support you and your decisions... Unless you are still wearing a diaper in kindergarten, then Jon and I will pretend we don't know you.

Until Later... 

PS... If anyone wants to shoot their Netflix log in info my way I would greatly appreciate it!  There are 15 new episodes of Arrested Development out there calling my name... it is literally killing me!

 

The BIG 2!

Leighton is two!  I felt as if the first year took an eternity but this second year has flown by in the blink of an eye!   I am not a baby person… I like a little person that can interact with me, run around and tell me if they are in pain…. So, I am loving 2 (minus the timeouts, tantrums and “MINE” all the time!) 

Last year we had a ton of people celebrate with us for her first birthday and that did not go over so well with little Miss Leighton.  She was completely overwhelmed with unfamiliar faces and so many people in her home, so this year we threw Leighton a little birthday fiesta with just a couple of her school and playdate chums. 

The birthday girl

And her friends…

It is a 2 year olds party… of course there would be a potty in the background of at least one picture!

 

 

We did a lot of sliding

 

And swinging...

 

 

Who knew a cooler with Ice would be the hit of the party? (yes, that is beer in that cooler... we had to keep the parents entertained also!)

And then out came the cake…

 

 

Yes, I made the cake… I was very impressed with myself!

 

 

Then it was time for goodbye hugs…

And off to nap time…

I could give y’all a list of what makes Leighton so awesome, but I am a little competitive and that list could go on for quite a while.  I’ll just leave it with she is a badass and we count our blessings every day to have made such a cool kid… did you catch that?  We made her… and guess what?  We will never stop reminding her (especially in her teenage years) that our genes made her as awesome as she is. 

 

Until later…

 

 

Vocab

It is amazing to me how much Leighton's vocabulary has grown in the last five months. Kids really are little sponges... Guess I am seriously going to have to start watching my mouth now!

This is why it takes us so long to get to the park…

 

You heard her correctly.. ready, STEADY, go… apparently our kid wants to be British or Peppa Pig.  We are planning an intervention.

 

I am pretty certain that her vertical is already higher then mine and her spanish skills are about to pass me by too.
 



Until Later…

 

Little booger…

Mom came recently to visit but as always we let our guest take all the pictures, so once I receive them I’ll post about our time together.  Anyways, things are pretty good around here with our newly expanded family.  We are finding our new normal and getting into routines.  Corbin is still rocking and rolling and getting much better at nighttime, only waking up once… Praise the freaking lord above!  

 

Obligatory cute pics of baby Corby

 

              And Leighton, well she is turning into quite the little booger…  She is getting too smart for her own good… well, maybe not just smart but funny.  We realized a while back that she was going to be a great party trick… hell, why do you have kids anyways but to turn them into walking party tricks.  Jon and I decided that we were going to teach her “earmuffs”, like in the movie Old School, where the kid puts his hands over his ears so he won’t hear the parents cussing and saying inappropriate things.  We gave ourselves a weekend to make this happen.  Well, we showed her how to cover her ears with her hands when we said “earmuffs” and she got it after the first try… Jon and I were ecstatic and we decided then that our kids gets humor…. AWESOME!  Then, Jon and I looked at each other and said, “well that took two minutes, what do you want to do for the rest of the weekend?”

Basically, Laylay is a hoot! Yesterday she was walking around the house holding two toy tea cups and she started hitting them together while yelling in a monotone voice, “TEA HANDS, TEA HANDS, LEIGHTON’S TEA HANDS!)  Maybe she isn’t funny, just a little special… but I will take that! When people meet her for the first time she usually doesn’t put on a show… she sits there shyly, meekly and most likely giving the new person the stink eye (we have really got to work on that).  However, get around her a few times and she lets her hair down.

 She makes the most ridiculous faces so when she does them I have started calling out names to go along with them… here are her latest faces (at least the ones we have pictures of)…

Happy

 

Fish face (or "Bitch" face in leighton lingo... It's always fun walking towards the Aquarium in the mall with that newly acquired word!

 

Angry

 

This is her watching DORA face… she doesn’t know it is a face!  L is obsessed with TV and Dora which makes me want to shoot myself (especially when I find myself singing the songs while I am alone… I hate you Dora!)

 

And the piece de résistance, Popeye!

 

 

On top of the faces, Leighton has become skillful with using her words… she totally understands everything and she has already started using that against us!  What is the normal exchange when a kid is going to bed?

Mom/Dad: night night, I love you!

Kid: night night, I love you too….

Well, this is how it goes in our house;

Jon: Leighton, Go give mommy a Hug and besos and tell her night night.

(Leighton runs to me, gives me a hug and kiss)

Me: night night honey, I LOVE YOU! (BIG HUG)

(Leighton runs back to Jon saying nothing… Jon picks her up to take her to bed upstairs)

Jon: Tell mommy, I love you.

Leighton: night night mommy

Jon: Say I love you mommy.

Leighton: mommy Night night

Jon: I love you mommy, night night

Leighton: Bye bye mommy, Bye bye

(Jon and I both shake our heads and Jon takes the little booger up to bed)

In Leighton’s room:

Jon: night night baby, I love you, sleep tight.

Leighton: night night daddy

(Jon turns off the lights and is about to shut the door when Leighton grabs a random toy she calls bodyboss and she proceeds to say, as she gives it the biggest hug ever…)

Leighton: Bodyboss, I love you!

 WHAT A LITTLE SHIT!  But how can we be mad?  Her comedic timing is impeccable and you can’t teach that folks!

 

Until Later ...

 

Corbin Ann

Right now I am supposed to be pregnant.  I am supposed to have another 3 days until our little bundle makes her appearance in this big world… 3 more days of wondering, waiting, trying not to worry about what is to come.  Well, life has a way of being funny and keeping you on your toes… because our little lady decided to come two weeks early!

 

Here is how it all went down…. our family of three had a great night Skyping with my sister and her family and then helped my mom book her flight to Dubai for the 14^th of March (about a week after the baby’s due date).  Then we got ready for bed… what? Yikes! I think I just peed myself a little (sorry for the over share!).  I didn’t really think too much more about it and went to sleep.  The next morning I had a normal weekly doctor’s appointment, but I kind of felt like something was up so I gave Jon the heads up that he might have to leave work early to head to the hospital. At my appointment I told my doctor, Dr.B, that I think my water ruptured but I wasn’t sure… she said, I bet you just peed yourself but I’ll do I test just to make sure… five minutes later, sure enough my water had indeed broken and she told me we were going to have this baby today!   My insurance company had to be called to get a verbal confirmation that the bill was going to be approved for labor and delivery and once we got the A okay, a nurse had to walk me to another building to the Labor and Delivery wing.  So at 11:30 I was all settled into my room awaiting Jon’s arrival.  I couldn’t officially be checked in to the hospital or get my IV drip (even though the IV had been put into my arm) until my Husband took my insurance card and passport to the administration office to check me in.  Having a child out of wedlock is illegal over here and apparently your husband has to be the one to sign you in to the hospital to have a baby.  Once Jon got there and had completed the paperwork and only when he completed the paperwork could I get the induction drugs. 

 

 

My water had broken but I didn’t have contractions of any kind so they had to induce me… which was fine with me!  So the rest of the day went like this…

12:30- Pitocin drip was started       

1:00- They gave me lunch  (one big perk of having a baby over here is they feed you up until you get an epidural!)

1:45- got the magic juice- aka an epidural.  I know there are a lot of people in my generation that choose or think they are going to go all natural during their delivery… well, I am definitely NOT one of them.  It is 2013 and I don’t need a badge of honor saying I pushed a kid out of my fouff with no drugs… I want to stay calm and focused while getting this little thing out of me and not curse my husband while fantasizing about cutting his penis off (which is how I imagine myself acting)!  Anyways, they keep the epidurals turned down low over here (I could still move my legs and can walk around minutes after delivering) so it doesn’t take away all the pain… but it definitely cuts the edge! (I am stepping off my soap box now.)

3:30- nurse checks me… says I am 3ish cm dilated so sit back and keep waiting

4:15- rolled on my side and thought, holy hell this baby is going to come out… NOW! Nurse checks me and sure enough (just like last time) I was fully dilated and the baby was ready!

4:30- Doctor arrived winded after literally running over from the other building

4:51- Corbin made her big arrival into the world!

 

 

Corbin Ann Cumberworth was born on February 20^th, 2013 at 4:51pm weighing 7lbs and was 19.5 inches long and 2 weeks early.  I really wanted her born yesterday, March 2^nd, Texas Independence Day… and not in February because I don’t like the month of February.. Don’t ask me why… I just don’t like it, but some things I guess you don’t have a say in and this was one of them. 

Anyways, we named her Corbin because Jon and I played basketball in the Corbin J. Robertson center in College.  We have a lot of memories of that building and the times at Southwestern that made and at times defined us and our relationship.  Also, my brother in law Joe’s given name is Corby Joe and I have always loved it… and him too!  And it is a freaking cool name!  Ann is for my grandmother, our Memaw on my Father’s side.  She was a wonderful lady with a kind soul whom I wish I would have gotten to know better but she passed away when I was 5.  Also for my sister whose middle name is Lee Ann.  With Jon and I coming from a generation of Jessica’s, Lauren’s, Lindsey’s and our parents coming from a generation of Sharon’s and Linda’s, we wanted to name our kids something “normal” but uncommon.  We know Corbin (Corby) is traditionally a boy’s name but so is Leighton…  and it is our kid so if you don’t like it get over yourself, have a kid and name it what you want (WHAT post pregnancy hormones, what are you talking about?)!

Baby Corbin was so nice and got Leighton a sweet little Camel as a gift for their first meeting!

 

 

 

I think Leighton approves!

 

 

MELTDOWN!!! What did I get myself into? Lord help US!

Welcome Home Baby Corby!

 

 

 

And this is what we have ALL been doing a lot of…

 

 

 

 

 

One week old

Baby Corby (aka. Baby CC to Leighton) has been an awesome baby thus far and very similar to her laid back sister… except for the fact that we went through an entire pack of diapers in like three days versus her sister who only pooed every 5 days!  EVERYONE has been asking how Leighton is handling the BIG change in her life… well, she has been awesome.  Leighton will run into a room yelling Baby CC, Baby CC!!!!  It is really cute but we do have to watch out for Laylay being a little rough with excitement… Corbin’s belly button might be an outie after this exchange!

Overall our family of three became a family of four a little sooner than expected but everything has fallen into place and we seriously couldn’t be happier.  With that being said, check back in a week or two when this newborn really “wakes up” and see if I am still singing the same tune!

Until Later…