Big eyes

FAIL

So I just got home. Today was the day. The first day that I took both kids to town to do our grocery shopping. Don't get me wrong, I've gotten out with both kids many times now but it has only been to the post office and to Jessica's house for play dates. I've been taking Greta with me to go grocery shopping on the weekends when Sean was home to watch Wesley. But enough is enough, it's time to get back in our routine. So this morning I got little shoes and jackets on and got two kids loaded in the van. My plan was to put Greta in the front pack and Wesley would get his normal spot in the seat of the cart. Half way to the market it starts pouring buckets of rain. Great. Then we pull into the parking lot and Greta starts wailing. The kind of crying that makes your ear drums wriggle in agony.

I promptly turned the van around and we went home. No amount of food is worth carrying around two screaming soaking wet kids.

We shall return to our old routine some other day. Preferably a dry day. But on the plus side, it wasn't a total bust, I got some Wendy's for lunch. Yum.

Jack and Frankie

Halloween is tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to it this year. It's a fun holiday for kids and grown ups alike. Surprisingly I had some of my most enjoyable Halloweens after I graduated college. A few years back I stumbled across a costume, that to this day still makes me laugh out loud. I'm sure you've seen them, they are inflatable suits. They made an overweight ballerina, a cow (with udders sticking out) and a sumo wrestler. My friend Jessica and I purchased the sumo wrestler suits and had fun being idiots for several years in those suits. To this day I still have that suit hanging in the closet (still works!). I hope to break it out soon and wear it while trick or treating with my kids. Not this year as the sight of Mommy in an inflatable fat suit might send Wesley over the edge.

Ahhh...memories


This year with all the illness/flu going around I've been keeping Wesley and Greta away from big groups of people. We decided to skip the pumpkin patch and do more projects at home. We've been having play dates with Jessica and her kids several times a week in an attempt to keep the kids socialized and help burn off some of the never ending toddler energy. When she visits she sometimes brings art projects for the kids. With it being almost Halloween the subject matter of the projects has been spooky in nature. As a result our sliding glass door is decorated with cute Halloween cutouts that Wesley has "helped" put together and decorated with his crayon and marker skills. He often runs to the window and points at his creations and calls out all their names. May I present: Casper, Frankie, Jack and Glenda. He loves Jack and Frankie the best.



And of course we can't forget pumpkin carving. The kids are far off from carving their own pumpkins so old Mom (with Greta in the front pack) got to carve them yesterday. I did a big pumpkin for Wesley and a tiny one for Greta. I think they turned out cute.



Hope everyone has an enjoyable and safe Halloween tomorrow!

Sleeping Beauty

It's only been a few nights now but I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Greta has been sleeping beautifully only waking up two times at night. She's going four hours between feedings and it's simply wonderful. This has been the most sleep I've gotten since early in the pregnancy. I'm so attuned to her at night that I wake up to her slightest grunt. Getting her fed and back to bed before a major melt down has helped her sleeping habits (and mine) ten fold. Having her crib in our bedroom is a good thing, for now anyways.

From what I've read it's a good idea to move the crib out of our bedroom at around four months old. We've been discussing what to do with her at that point. We have two bedrooms on the main floor of our house...we are in one and Wesley is in the other. There are several more bedrooms upstairs but I just don't feel good about her being that far away from us at night, just yet anyways. At some point both kids will have a bedroom upstairs. I also don't want to move her into Wesley's room....ever. I know people do this and it works but I don't want to screw with Wesley's beautiful sleeping habits. So I guess she'll be in our bedroom and hopefully we'll figure out a better plan when the time comes. For now, sleep baby sleep.

Small Tidbits

I just have some random things to share today. No rhyme or reason.

• First off, I'm so excited because I just pre-purchased my tickets for the Twilight Movie sequel New Moon. I'll be heading in there opening weekend without the baby, my first outing without her. It's still a month away so I'm breaking out the new pump with the hopes of pumping enough to keep her happy while hubby watches her. I'm going to the latest showing so at least Sean won't be saddled with both kids. Can't wait!
  
  
• This will be Wesley's first Halloween of dressing up and trick-or-treating. It's actually his third Halloween but he's just finally at the age to possibly enjoy it. He'll be going as Thomas the Train. He's slowly been taking an interest in the show that comes on TV on Saturdays. We went online to look at costumes and this was the only costume he seemed excited about so that's what I bought. When I got it home I tried really hard to get him pumped about wearing it but, alas, he's scared of it. He'll wear the hat for hours but the pull over Thomas costume is the Spawn of Satan according to him. I hope within the next week he'll warm up to it.
  
  
• My sister is due to have her baby this week and we can't wait to meet our new nephew! I'll keep ya posted as to when he arrives.
  
  
• I've mentioned that Wesley enjoys watching Sesame Street several times a week, well I'm excited because Sesame Street will start their new season November 1st. For the past three months we've been watching the same six episodes over and over and over. You'd think a show that has been on the air for 40 years could go back in their archives and pluck out a few different episodes to air. But nope, they've been regurgitating the same stale six episodes from their current season. Uggg, maybe now you can understand why I'm excited for the new season to start. Only one more week! It's sad what my life has come down to....waiting for new Sesame Street episodes.
  
  
• This might sound strange but my baby produces poo that smells like buttered popcorn. Yeah, you hear me correctly. Fresh, tasty, buttered popcorn. Don't ask me why, but when I go to change her diaper I get hungry for popcorn. It's the most bizarre thing. I never experienced this with Wesley and I suppose that's because he was being supplemented with formula in the early weeks (formula makes the poo stink). Anyways, just thought I'd share. I wish they made scratch and sniff computer monitors so you'd believe me (not that you want to smell my kids poo or anything).
  
  That's all for now, hope everyone is having a nice weekend.
  

Survival mode

I have a new respect for parents with two (or more- gasp!) children. I had no idea what you folks had gone through. Two children are quite an experience. Before Greta was born I realized once she arrived that life as I knew it would end for at least several months or at the most a year. The thing is, with baby number two, you at least know that there is an end to the somewhat insane "baby blob" stage. You know, where they just eat, sleep and scream. Literally. I guess I thought since I've done it once, well, the second time would be a snap. Ha! I have to admit that the two kid thing is kicking our butts! Maybe I should clarify....the two year old and a newborn thing is kicking our butts.

Sean will occasionally ask me if I have any plans for the weekend and I just laugh. My plan for every day right now is to just survive. To wake up and take care of two small people. Get them fed, dressed, wipe their hineys and keep them entertained until Dad gets home at which time I can take a minor break (meaning toss a kid in his arms for the evening). That's it. I'm not saying I don't enjoy it, it's just what life is right now. I know it will change, things will get easier as they grow. I have to remind myself that the "in arms" time of a baby's life is so small and to enjoy every second of it because they don't fit in your arms very long. I know this because my two year old just recently climbed up into my arms and laid down in the same manor that my 4 week old does, it was shocking to see how big he is. I'll miss this chaos when it's gone but for now I'm just in survival mode.

Two Years and Three Months

I thought it only fitting to say what Wesley is up to at his age since I did it with Greta yesterday. Wesley is 27 months old and this is what he's up to:

-Able to say all of his ABC's (and can identify about a third of the letters on sight)
-Can count to 20
-Loves his Hot Wheels
-Still sleeping in his crib, loves his crib...it's his comfort zone.
-Showing signs of wanting to potty train, will tell us when he's about to poo and sometime pee
-Can stack blocks higher than he is.
-LOVES to color with markers and crayons, will do so every night for at least an hour.
-New phrases he loves: "I appreciate that", "okie dokie artichokie", "Bless you Daddy (or whoever sneezes)", points at his diaper and says "there's a lot of pee pee in there"
-He's a hugger
-Loves to be read to, could sit for 5 hours being read to.
-Knows his shapes well
-Starting to finally figure out his colors, still having a hard time with some (possibly color blind?).
-Just learned his last name and loves to tell everyone.
-Enjoys "time out" a little too much.

Month One

Our little Greta is one month old today. Overall it's been a good month, lots of learning all around. Greta at one month:

-Still loves to be swaddled at night.
-Always wants to eat no matter what time it is (takes after her Mom).
-Getting the chubbiest little thighs.
-Takes several naps a day in the front pack.
-Sleeping in her crib at night.
-Has been in size 1 diapers for a couple of weeks now.
-Cried the entire trip through Wal-Mart last weekend. Happy joy.
-Burps, farts and hick-ups like a drunken sailor.
-fits in wonderfully in our crazy family.

Fall

What beautiful weather we are having! Fall has finally settled in after having a few weeks of winter like weather. Wesley, Greta and I went outside to enjoy it yesterday. Greta has taken nicely to the Baby Bjorn front pack and she is in it pretty much all the time now. It's helped a lot when she gets into her fussy time of the day (pretty much whenever she's awake..HA!). I have more pictures to share, so enjoy!

Little Man walking.

Such a sweet smile.

Greta enjoying her ride.

Rocky getting some attention.

Forever in love with the sandbox.

Sweetness

Wesley finally has been asking to hold "Little Sister", as he calls her. It's too precious. This is why people have kids.

Our champion eater

I have to admit that breastfeeding this time round has gone far better than it did with Wesley. We haven't supplemented at all, there is no pumping (I'm so happy I bought a brand new Pump In Style by the way, that was pointless), no guessing if she's getting enough. I think it's actually what breastfeeding is supposed to be like, what every other woman in the world experiences. I thought this time round would be just like the early weeks with Wesley with the constant crying (me), the constant hunger (Wesley), the constant pumping to try and get my milk supply up. I think the difference is this time I'm just trusting my body to be able to feed my child. It also helps to have a pediatrician that is pro breastfeeding and didn't jump on the supplementing bandwagon when she wasn't back up to her birth weight at two weeks old.

Greta is gaining weight like a champion. She's a little over 9.5 pounds according to my baby scale. She should be gaining weight, she eats every hour during the day and every two hours at night. I hope that slows down at some point, but for now I'm just happy she's growing. She's fit into our family wonderfully and I feel blessed to have two happy, healthy children.

Just pictures

Wesley's first bubble bath, he loved it!

Cute little mug. Three and a half weeks old.

Wesley wants nothing to do with holding his sister, so this is the only way to photograph both kids.

Always happy on the changing table.

Shockingly wonderful

You could say we've been having issues with our outdoor dogs and barking. They bark at everything, all the time. In fact, it's rare for them not to be barking. When a leave blows by they bark, when a bird crows they bark, when a cow farts a mile away they bark.....you get the idea. They've gotten to the point that they sit outside the bay window while we are eating dinner and bark nonstop because they want to come inside. It's beyond frustrating.

I started looking into bark collars about a month ago. I knew once the baby arrived they would be spending more time outside and therefore would be barking more than they already were. First I looked into the Citronella Collars. These collars spray a puff of citronella in the dogs face when they barked. It was supposed to be "kinder" than the shock collars. I read every review I could find and it was a mixed bag. Some people said they worked wonderfully others said their dogs figured out how many sprays were in a can and would empty the can so that they could bark nonstop. I also looked into shock collars and was on the fence about that whole concept. I didn't like the fact that it would hurt the dog but I also couldn't take the constant barking. Something had to be done or I feared the dogs would have to go live somewhere else. Sean was pretty much at his breaking point. I reviewed several different collars and found two different brands that had high ratings and weren't overly expensive. I remembered that Sean's brother had used shock collars with their three large dogs so I emailed my sister-in-law to see what she thought about the collars. I learned a lot about bark collars through emails with Becca and she even offered to mail two of their unused collars to us to see if they work.

Well, it has been two weeks since putting the collars on the dogs and it has been the most sane two weeks of my life (and with a newborn that's saying something). Do I feel bad that they get shocked? At first, yes, but that quickly disappeared. When we first put them on they both barked once and got a mild shock. I have to admit it was slightly satisfying watching them "learn" to stop barking (yeah I know I'm a horrible person). But they did learn quickly. Sophie learned with just one bark. Both collars are set to the lowest setting and they apparently are doing fine at that setting. They will bark on rare occasions when a neighbor dog comes to visit, apparently the shock is worth it. It's truly been like heaven, the peace and quiet is wonderful. I can't thank my brother and sister-in-law enough! Thank you Becca and Jeremy! I just want to smack myself when I think about how many years we've lived with the incessant barking when it was this easy to control. I feel my sanity slowly returning.

Weekend

This weekend has been a sleep deprived one for me. I'm running on about four hours sleep. This little lady on the other hand has been out all afternoon. It's so hard trying to get her on my sleep schedule. I've been trying to sleep during the day when she sleeps but that can only be done when Wesley is also sleeping. So I'm pretty much a walking zombie. Wesley was sleeping through the night at four weeks old, I somehow doubt we're going to be that lucky again.

I think the drastic weather change has played a role in Greta's non sleeping at night issues. She's gotten used to sleeping in my warm arms during the day and doesn't like to be laid down on her cool crib sheet. It almost immediately wakes her up. I'm hesitant to put a warn blanket under her since that is a big no no with SIDS prevention. In an attempt to get some sleep tonight I think she and I will be sleeping in the recliner all night. Oh what fun!

Where she is most of the day


The weather is down right cold with highs barely getting out of the 30's this weekend. It seems Fall lasted about two weeks long and Winter is already upon us. The weather man said averages for this time of the year are the low 70's so we are about 30 degrees off of the average right now. Sean spent the weekend weather proofing the house. He put some insulation in some areas that needed it and did a lot of caulking around drafty areas. I hope it helps out keeping the house warmer this winter.

With the turn in the seasons it has become apparent how important Wesley's outside play time was. He's just bouncing off of the walls lately without the ability to run around outside. In an attempt to channel that energy into something productive and not destructive I went to Target today and bought a big box of crayons and a giant coloring book along with some ColorWonder markers and paper. He spent a couple of hours today coloring and is just in love with his crayon box. We've done coloring in the past but after several eating episodes I decided he wasn't old enough for crayons and they got put away. Looks like he's finally at the age where the crayons get used more on the paper than in his mouth. He didn't try to eat them even once today. Finally!

In love with his new crayons


Showing off her new adorable hat Noni Randi made, it sure got a lot of comments at Target!

Catching up

It's amazing how hard it is to anything, little own blog with a newborn! I'm typing this entry with one hand as the other is holding a sleeping Greta. I find it hard to put her down. She'll wake up pretty quickly when placed in her crib during the day. She's doing really well though. We are finding a routine during the day that works for all of us. Her big nap coincides with Wesley's afternoon nap, which allows me some glorious and much needed quiet time.

Wesley is doing well with the new addition. We are finishing up our first week without Daddy or Grandparents here. It's gone much better than I imagined. I have to admit I was scared. Me against a newborn and a two year old, all by my lonesome. Turns out I wasn't all by myself all week. We spent three mornings this week with my friend Jessica and her kids. She was a big help, thanks Jessica.

I swear Wesley has changed so much in the past three weeks. He's growing like a weed. Maybe it's just being able to compare him to a newborn, but he's huge! His vocabulary is growing like crazy as well. The other day I was getting ready to go get him out of his crib after he woke up from his nap and I heard him yell out "Somebody please open the door!!" It made me laugh. Hey, at least he's polite about it. He also caught me off guard this morning, I asked him if he wanted a banana with his breakfast and he said "si". I asked him if he just said "si" and he said "yes". I don't recall teaching him Spanish but I'm sure he's picking it up from Sesame Street and DragonTales (his two shows he gets to watch). I was shaking my head over that one. The kid's a smarty pants.

We experienced our first power outage of the season yesterday. It was only out for two hours but it made me realize how important it is we have a generator before the first big snowfall. I refuse to go through another winter living out where we live with no back up electricity source and a newborn. Let the generator shopping begin.

Holding her head up like a champ

He loves the hat Noni Randi made for Greta, still scared of the froggie hat she made for him

Aunt Jessica with Greta

The swing has become our friend

To the doctor

Greta had her two week doctor visit today. She needed to be back up to birth weight and she was three ounces shy of it. I was afraid they'd want to put her on some supplements but was happy when the doctor said it wasn't a problem. He said right now babies should be gaining a half to one ounce per day. She's up to 8 pounds 9 ounces so she's been gaining over half or an ounce a day since she was last in the doctors office. The doc is happy with that. I'm happy with that too! It's so easy to second guess how effective the breastfeeding is going. Too easy to assume something is wrong and I'm not able to feed her enough. I'm just thrilled this time round is going better than the early weeks with Wesley.

Her two week stats are:
Weight: 8 pounds 9 ounces (59%)
Height: 20 3/4 inches (66%)
Head: 37 cm (75%)

Traveling with Greta has been a treat. The second you place her in the car seat she starts screaming and doesn't stop until she is removed from the car seat. So my hour long car drive this afternoon was especially pleasant with her screaming bloody murder in the back seat. The only upside to this is that she slept all evening and is peacefully sleeping in her crib as I write this. There is something to be said for wearing the poor kid out. On that note, I'm off to bed!

Fruit Loop Sharer

The early days

So it turns out blogging with a newborn in the house is pretty difficult. She's pretty much been attached to me eating or sleeping on me since she came home from the hospital. I remember this from when Wesley was tiny, I just don't remember being this tired! With Sean's folks still here they've been taking care of Wesley, which has been wonderful. The kid is in hog heaven. We all are going to miss them when they leave tomorrow.

Breastfeeding is going ok I suppose. Some days are better than others. We are still trying to get in the swing of things. I have learned Greta is much more sensitive to what I eat than Wesley was. The first day Randi was here she made a big delicious chocolate cake that we all but inhaled. The next day poor Greta had the worse gas ever. She just cried and cried and her little tummy rumbled and gurgled. Sean and Rich even made a run to the store at 11 pm for some infant gas drops. They sure helped! I've since removed some foods from my diet in hopes of figuring out her sensitivities. Poor little girl.

Greta and I go back in to the doctors on Monday for her two week visit. She needs to be back up to her birth weight by then. The way she eats I don't think it will be a problem. That's about all that is happening around here.

Sean and Rich put together the dog kennel and Wesley loves playing in it

Noni Randi and Wesley playing soccer

Sean and burrito baby

Sleeping burrito baby

One Week Old

Our little Greta is a week old today. It's been a great week. Greta is sleeping at night now and has been for the past several days. She wakes up every three hours to eat and then promptly goes right back to sleep. She's been sleeping in her crib for the past several days and seems to like it. The bassinet was a bust just like it was with Wesley. I think it doesn't feel very solid underneath them. That's ok though, it was only $15 at a garage sale. Plus I'd rather she got used to her crib, it will be better in the long run. She loves her swaddling blanket and sleeps the best when all wrapped up like a burrito. What a great little invention.

Sean's parents got here Saturday and have been so helpful since arriving. Randi spent the day in the kitchen yesterday cooking up a storm and we enjoyed a tasty home cooked dinner last night. It's so nice having them here for the week. Wesley is just soaking up the attention and loves having all these people doting on him. It's going to be a shock to his system when everyone leaves next week (including Dad) and he's stuck with old Mom. That should be interesting.

Wesley in hog heaven with Papa Rich reading to him.

Randi cooking up a storm in the kitchen...have I mentioned how I have an awesome Mother-in-law?

A little quality time with Daddy

Greta had a bow on so Wesley wanted a bow on. Isn't he purdy?.

Greta's Birth Story

It all started last Sunday (a week ago?! Yikes, where does the time go) right around dinner time. I started feeling contractions as we ate and started timing them. They came every 23 minutes. Then at 9 pm they started coming around every 14 minutes. They weren't painful, just consistent. I really didn't think they could lead to much so I took a shower and went to bed. As soon as I laid down at 11:50 they started coming every 7 minutes. Still not very painful but I could definitely feel them. I still didn't think "this is it" but I did get up and go blow dry my hair. Went and laid down again to time them. Still coming every 7 minutes. It was now 1:30 in the morning. Decided to get up and call the birthing center. Talked to a nurse, told her we were about 45 minutes away and she said to start making my way in there. I still wasn't convinced since every image I've ever seen of a woman in labor was the Hollywood version of the panting, hunched over, severely in pain woman. Definitely not me. So I laid down again to time them. Now it's 2:30 in the morning. They are coming every 6 minutes apart, kind of painful. I really didn't want to wake my Mom up and have her come over to the house to watch Wesley if they were just going to send me home. You have to be 4 cm dilated for the Birthing Center to admit you. So I woke Sean up and told him I'm driving myself in and if they admit me (still thought it was a fat chance) I'll call and have my Mom head over and for Sean to head in.

The drive in wasn't bad. I had about about six contractions that were definitely painful along the way but I was in control and wasn't a danger to other drivers. Not that there were other drivers on the road at 3am. Got to my destination and signed in. A nurse took me back and checked me out, I was 4cm dilated. Yea, I could stay!





I called my Mom and Sean. At that point it was 3:45 and they were putting in my IV so that I could get the antibiotics needed since I'm Group B Strep positive. Contractions were now every 5 minutes apart. Still not horribly painful but I did need to concentrate during them. Nurse came back in around 5am to check me and I was 5 cm dilated. She said they would most likely break my water in the next hour. I remembered how quickly contractions picked up after they break your water so I asked for the epidural first. I think I could have easily got to 6 or 7cm without the epidural but thought "what the hay?". I figure if I'm going to get one why wait until the really painful contractions appear? So around 6am I got my epidural and then my doctor came in around 7am to break my water. The nurse said I was a "stretchy 6" at that point and all but guaranteed me it would be quick from then on out. She was wrong, another hour goes by without any change. They decide to speed things up with a little Pitocin. So around 8:30am I got some Pitocin added to my IV. And speed things up it did! I started feeling a lot of pressure in lower back about an hour later. Nurse checked me and I was fully dilated and ready to push. Of course they had to page my doctor so we waited around for half an hour. The pressure was so strong that I had to lay on my side with my legs closed. The nurse said if I had my legs open the baby would come on her own. I have to add that the epidural was perfect. I didn't feel the pain of the contractions but I still felt when they started and ended. Also that pressure really made it easy to push, knowing when and where to push. Finally the doctor made her way in and got prepared. Three pushes later little Greta was born at 10:49 am on September 21st weighing in at a whopping 8 pounds 11 ounces.







The doctor commented on how perfectly round her little head was. Most babies are born with little cone heads because of the time spent in the birth canal during pushing. Little Greta came so fast she never got the chance at a cone head. The down side to all of this is that while it was an easy delivery she never got the pressure needed in the birth canal to push the fluid out of her lungs. So she had a decent amount of fluid that had to be suctioned out of her lungs after she was born. That was kind of hard to watch. We had to watch her pretty close those first 24 hours to make sure there were no adverse reactions. Luckily she's had clear lungs ever since.





It was truly a wonderful birthing experience. Like I had mentioned in a previous post, it was so much different than being induced with Wesley. So much better. I feel very blessed to have two healthy happy children.