34

I started and did not finish a number of posts, and I know this has left some of you missing me. Everything is fine and is just extremely busy. Little Miss started crawling about a week ago and it's kept me on my toes. Then the holidays and December birthday fever (read: 7 family birthdays in December!) took hold and blogging was the last thing on the list.

A quick update from the last month+

We took a trip to Dallas so that I could attend a reading conference and rack up some ce credits. It was good, but left me feeling pretty negative towards teaching in Texas. I started a whole post about why, and perhaps I will actually finish that one. Let's just say the low salaries aren't the only thing justifying my desire to stay home longer.

Dear friends B from San Fran, and Roasted Beat came for a visit just before Thanksgiving. The weather was horrible until the last day, but it was so great to catch up and have time to spend with them that didn't involve somebody's wedding. I hope we can get together again like that soon!


We shared a lovely Thanksgiving with other family-less Austin friends. Great food, great company, cooperative napping babies, and super well-behaved three year olds.
We now have a lumberjack in our midst complete with a lumberjack song. The jacket is a coincidence that I bought last year on sale.

Santa has begun watching J to see if he deserves a bike for Christmas.

In addition to the crawling, Little Miss has begun solids and also graces us with one of the worst sounds in the world. If you didn't see her face, you would think she was being poisoned and is trying to cough up a hairball at the same time, but she actually smiles as she vibrates the back of her throat and tries to clear said hairball. An awful, wonderful sound. She also takes food best from her big brother, so we let him feed her quite a bit.

We got our tree. It took over three hours to get standing correctly in our living room. There were some slight miscalculations of the height of our ceiling.

We decorated the house with lights. Everyone does this so early in Texas (the day after Thanksgiving) that I was beginning to feel that we were really out of the loop. Some really cold weather didn't help us get this done any earlier. (J also got to see snow!)






I turned 34 yesterday. Saying it sounds so old, but I don't feel that way at all. The boys made me a cake and it was yummy. J thinks I am the coolest because I kept sneaking him little pieces out the refrigerator while he was eating his breakfast a la Bill Cosby. I mean, cake for breakfast really is the best way, is it not?

I will try to be better about posting, but it will more than likely be after Christmas. I do promise to post pictures so you can see how Christmas as the S household was.

Booooo

Poor Little Miss. She was the victim of Mommy's fashion whims all day. We started out in a Baby's First Halloween outfit with matching pumpkin hat and pumpkin booties...




Then we squeezed into a 0-3 month dalmation costume that barked. It was actually given to J, but since I misread the label, he never got a chance to wear it. She was happy for a brief moment...


But perked up when we dressed her in this...I think she was the happiest flower on earth.



J was a skeleton for Halloween. He was having a hard time deciding between a skeleton and a golfer. I suggested both and being a skelegolfer. He loved the idea, but we forgot to carry around the golf clubs. It was just as well. He had a blast anyway. I was really proud of J for choosing a skeleton costume because he is afraid of skeletons. Last year, a scary skeleton came to our house trick or treating and frightened him to Dallas and back. He's been talking about it all year long. When we saw this costume, he said he wanted it, and I wasn't going to question it. I think it made the grade because it looks more like an x-ray than an acutal skeleton, and he thinks x-rays are way cool. Go figure. He still doesn't like the spooky stuff and I can't say I blame him, but J really took the cake for bravery this year.




He also was a super sharer when it came to his candy. At first he said he would only go to three houses since he was three. When I suggested he could go to more, he said, "Mommy, how would you feel if I went to 5 houses or more and they ran out of candy for everyone else? You would be sad." Okay then! He ended up going to a few more, but he said he was done when he thought he had enough. Then he sorted through his candy and offered some to all of us if he thought we liked it. And it wasn't even the Mary Jane and the Bit of Honey! He gave away good stuff. Of course his pile was the biggest, but props to the not yet four year old for doing it right!


Now we need to take down the decorations, which I have been told, "need to stay up through Thanksgiving because Thanksgiving doesn't have good decorations." I'll have to see what I can muster up. Maybe I should go straight to Christmas lights since that's what all the stores are doing.

October Fun

J got to help out his favorite band, The Biscuit Brothers on stage at a recent concert. That's him teaching the crowd how to sign, "Go Make Music."



I give smiles to practically everyone, as long as I know my mama is around.


Pumpkin patch time! My head is way too small to make this look good!



We didn't get any good shots of the two of them in the pumpkins, so we had to do with one in front of a painted pumpkin cutout.


B's birthday trip to visit Thomas the Train. He told J that's what he wanted for his birthday. J said, "I don't think they make one of those, so maybe we can just take you on a train ride."



These were the expressions on J's and Z's faces when they saw Thomas.




The looks on their faces when the shock wore off and they realized they were going to ride on Thomas!


Yeah, I know I am wearing boy colors, but it has my name on it!!!



Probably Mom's favorite picture of me to date. Can my smile get any bigger? I'm smiling because I know it's only a matter of time before I can crawl around after those cats...

Sneaky Little Devils

J got in trouble at school on Friday for stuffing paper towels in the sink and making it overflow. Or stuffing the paper towels up the faucet and making water squirt out everywhere. Either way, it was bad behavior. I am not one of those people that tries to pass the buck when my kid does something wrong, but I have to admit, my first thought was, "How is a 3 year old given the opportunity to do something like this when someone is supposed to be in there watching him?" It would have taken more than 30 seconds to complete such a task, which is way too long to not have your eyes on a 3 year old in a bathroom.

Little Miss gave us a full night of sleep the other night! Well we would have had a full night of sleep if we went to bed at 7 like she did. Instead, we were up late and then up early when she did decide to be fed. We'll get it right one of these days. Last night was interesting, though. She fell asleep at 7:30 and stayed asleep until around 2. That's technically sleeping through the night too. Then she was up for 2.5 hours. She ate and then she squealed and talked to herself for the rest of the time. I couldn't believe it. She was actually having that little crib party everyone always jokes about on baby bibs (Party in my crib, 2 am). I don't know what she was thinking, but I hope this doesn't repeat itself tonight. We are way too old and lame to party at 2 am and she needs to get on board with that ASAP!

Let's see, what else? I made chocolate chip cookies out of rice milk and dairy free/ soy free mini chocolate chips. Let's just say that they are fine and you would never know the difference if you'd never had a real chocolate chip cookie. But, I've had real ones. Oh well. They'll do in a pinch. I also discovered that I can have my decaf chai concentrate mixed with rice milk and it pretty much tastes the same, so that's good. I was missing my morning hot beverage since I like cream in my tea or coffee. This will do just fine. Oh, I think I forgot to mention that we're also not doing soy anymore. The dairy thing was taking too long to show a real improvement and so I decided to be proactive and eliminate soy as well. I figured it would be better to do that than wait for the doctor to say to eliminate soy, so when the time comes, I'll add that back first and see what happens. So I am eating little more than fish, salads, fruit, and Annie's graham cracker bunnies. This elimination diet has made me so aware of what is in packaged foods (soy is virtually in everything and pretty much, so is milk). Hopefully we won't have to do this for too long, as babies usually grow out of their intolerances by 6-9 months. In the meantime, the pre-preggo skinny jeans are buttonable, but I still won't scare anyone by convincing myself that they are wearable yet.

It's a beautiful day here in Austin and we're hoping to have some fun outside. J and B are at soccer/t-ball and I'm waiting for Little Miss to wake up from her nap. We'll see if she sleeps longer because of her antics last night. Later!

I Promised You Pictures..

From our trip to NY...


She has such an awesome smile!



Uncle M loved playing in his pajamas before 10 am!


J and his cousin R, who gave J a giant inflatable baseball bat and ball, which he LOVES!



Rocking out with Tante L, who was in NY bringing Cousin L to college. Good timing!



I love my play mat!




And my Baby Bjorn! Slobber, slobber!



We went to a glasses party for a friend. J wears his every morning to help see his cereal better.



L also came to the party


Little Miss also sported the look.



One of the best pictures of the cousin visit. Simply awesome.

The house is very quiet now. In all, we managed to get most of the kids to bed at the same time. It was chaotic and fun all at the same time. I can't wait to get them all together again soon. Next time S will be more mobile! Ahhhhh!

Keep your fingers crossed for us over here. She's now going to bed at 7 and staying asleep! Not sleeping through the night yet, but only waking once or twice. We're slowly getting there!

Three Months+

I've been neglecting you again. Sorry. We went out of town and I still haven't uploaded my photos yet. The trip was to NY to visit my parents and "help" them (aka take all the crap we could load into a pod and have it shipped to Austin) get ready to move. The kids did great on the plane. S even kept it together for a car trip to Philadelphia (we left J with the grandparents to spare him the crying). I sat in the back and kept her occupied. It was fun. The rest of the week was spent having lots of wonderful people come and visit us, which was awesome. My brother was even in town for a wedding, and B's Aunt L was in NY taking Cousin L to college. I promise pictures, I promise!

Today we are starting Day 1 of the dairy free challenge. S has been congested pretty much since birth. That can be a normal part of life in Austin, but her diapers have been pretty gross. I'll leave it at that and if you want more details on what I mean, let me know and I'll give you more info. What it all means for me is cutting out milk, cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, ice cream, and anything else that has milk or a milk derivative in it. Hopefully things will clear up on her end and we'll go about our business, and slowly add things back to my diet as she gets a little older. Worse case scenario is she has a true milk allergy, but I doubt it since it doesn't run in the family. It' s most likely a milk protein sensitivity that most kids grow out of by their first or second birthday.

The other bummer about that is I will most likely have to throw out a whole bunch of frozen milk that I have pumped because I wouldn't want to reintroduce milk by accident. Pumping a bottle is like pumping gold and it kills me to throw any away. I think I have a few days stashed in the freezer, so that will be tough.

But it's not like she takes a bottle willingly anyway! My mom babysat for us on Friday night as B and I went to Fogo de Chao for a meat-fest. S completely refused to eat anything until I came home. On Saturday, we went to see Wicked and she would only take a bottle while laying on my bed on her side. I would say the girl's just a little bit picky.

Tomorrow we pick up Feathernester, Cousin L, and Uncle D. They'll stay with us for the next week. Lots of playtime for J and L, and three different nap schedules and bedtimes for us all to figure out. That should be enough birth control for all of us. Again, I promise pics.

I'm off to finish the closet cleaning project that began yesterday when I was trying to organize S's 3-6 month clothes. It's turned into a 4 closet reorganization. I'm sure she'll wake up just when I get started. Later!

Two Months

Grandma came for a quick visit just in time for S's 2 month birthday. We pulled out the fancy dresses for the occasion, too.

Laughing at being dressed up for no reason at all


Joking with Daddy


Her serious corporate pose


Hanging out with two week old boyfriend, J. She's twice his size, but their heads are about the same.


It was 80 degrees and breezy this morning. Because it's been over 100 for 3 weeks, J said it was cold outside. Here's how he dressed himself for the blustery weather.

We have a doctor's appt. tomorrow, so we'll find out her current stats. I can't wait, but I'm not looking forward to the shots.

Funnies

I know I need to post some new pics, but the camera battery is dead, so that will have to wait. In the meantime, some funnies from J:

"Mommy! S is getting bigger and you're getting smaller! Wow!" (Can you see why I love this kid?)

J brings the boppy over to S and says, "Okay, S. I'm going to feed you now." I ask J if he would like to try to give S a bottle, which has been a gigantic challenge for two weeks (her taking a bottle that is). J says, "No, I'm going to breastfeeding!" I wished him luck in that endeavor. Maybe he is a man of the future.

Yesterday J woke up from his nap early. Correction. He never fell asleep for his nap and I heard him saying, "I think I'm sick. I think I'm sick." So I went in to see what was wrong. He said, "Mommy, I think I am sick in my throat because I have been eating too many donuts." (He had a donut on Sunday). A quick sip of water made it all feel better.

Taking a shower doesn't always happen when you have a newborn in the house. I've been lucky to get one once every other day, which is only because I choose to go to bed later some nights to take one. Yesterday was day two without a shower. Out of nowhere, J says, "Mommy, you're a little stinky. I think you need your hair washed."

That's exactly how I felt too, but I didn't get one until this morning. I plopped S in her bouncy seat after J went to school, showered, and toweled off. Then I noticed S had a major blowout though her cute little outfit and all over the bouncy seat, which is why she was scrunching up her face in a really strange way. And you take a moment to ask yourself, "Should I get dressed first or clean that up?" You really just want to take the two minutes to finish up and think to yourself, "Hey, she's already been sitting in it for a few minutes, what's a few more?" But then you know you just can't do it because it's one thing when you don't realize that it's there, but it's another thing to ignore it when it is. Everyone is clean now. And napping. So that's what I have to do too. Later!

Six Weeks

j playing in the bubble mound at july 4th fiesta



s celebrated by sleeping through the whole thing. no, we are not blanketing her in 100 degree heat. a burp rag must be near at all times while in car seat. it is the evil spit up machine.



laying around and smiling


sporting some red, white, and blue


one of this week's bounties from the garden of weeds. unfortunately i am only looking at them because tomatoes seem to make s pretty fussy.

and no, i am not going all ee cummings on you people. i am typing with one hand as s fell asleep sideways in my sling and my other arm is holding her head.

Four Weeks

10 days old

It's hard to believe but we've now had two kids for four weeks. All of our fabulous help has gone back home and we're all by ourselves now. B is "on vacation" this week, but he's since been to the office twice. I keep telling him that he wouldn't rush back if he were in Vegas, so he should just pretend that he's there instead. Unfortunately the lure of a root canal is just too great for him.

A lot of people have been asking how we're doing, so here's a quick update:

• We're changing at least 10 diapers a day. Apparently swimming around in fluid for 9 months has not made this girl immune to a wet diaper. She gets annoyed by the slightest drop of pee. I guess I can understand that.
• I've been feeling like quite the milk maid given that she likes to eat between 10-12 times a day. At least she's pretty quick about it or else I would feel completely strapped to the couch.
• We've had our first real smiles! It's so awesome to know that she has the ability to smile at something other than gas and poop. She's also started cooing and making some noises other than "Waaaaa". I think she sounds pretty content, so that's good.
  
• No, we're not sleeping through the night, but we are getting some sleep. The days and nights are a little confused, but not too badly. Thankfully, aside from a few crying jags here and there, S doesn't really fuss when she is awake at night. Mostly she'll just stare and say, "Ba" before she drifts off again.
  
• She takes after her brother and hates the car seat, but I think she may be warming up to the swing after she took a nap in there yesterday and this morning.
• She loves being in the sling, which is such a blessing because it means that I can get some things done around the house.
• We are so grateful to everyone that has cooked or sent us meals, and especially to my mom, B's mom, and B's cousin L for taking on the roles of J watcher, dish washer, kitchen cleaner, and baby holder while we got used to the idea of taking care of two little ones. I'm still wondering how it will be (other than exhausting) next week when J is off from school and I am completely on my own, but I know we'll manage.
  

Getting in a little bit of tummy time before heading out her first baseball game

J still likes his sister and enjoys holding her and helping to burp her.

L was a bit nervous holding such a small baby, but she was a pro by the end of the week!

Not sure about the swing...

Just Pictures

Proud big brother

The trauma subsides after 1st bath at home

Grandpa popped down to meet his new granddaughter

Sleeping it off after an eventful afternoon at the photographers-- somebody is a little diva-- waaahhh!

Holding hands