Or should I say the lack of sleep chronicles. Our little bundle of joy has been with us 4.5 months now. He'll be 20 weeks this Sunday, the day after my birthday. Yet we are up pretty much all night long. It started when I went back to work, nearly 2 months ago, and in our world of colds and RSV it hasn't gotten better. I am tired all the time, and especially tired of walking around like a zombie the majority of the late afternoon or evening hours. I'm not sure where we went wrong with Kellen. He almost always goes to bed happily and falls asleep on his own in his crib. It's staying asleep that's the problem. Lately he wakes up a minimum of 3 times, and more likely 4 or 5. While he might be hungry one or two of those times he certainly isn't needing to eat each hour from 2 on. So judge me if you want, but as long as I know he isn't hungry and is fine otherwise, my little love is going to have to do some crying himself to sleep if he won't stay asleep or go back to sleep on his own. My sanity and my job depend on it. So Kel, you are on warning. Let's get our acts together and all wake up a little more refreshed each day! 5 o'clock already comes pretty darn early and I'm pretty sure I can't physically go to bed any earlier and still get things in my life done!
At least my 2.5 year old sleeps all night long! And she appears to be immune to her brother's all night squeals!
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Monday, February 27, 2012
Pampering
I am not a girly girl. At all. I wear flat shoes despite being just over 5 feet tall, would lounge around in sweat or yoga pants all the time if it was socially acceptable, and actually beg my mom's group to have all mom's nights at people's houses pajama themed. However, even I enjoy an occasional pampering! Last Mother's Day, two local friends from graduate school and I had brunch and massages to celebrate Baby Peach since Nicole's baby showers weren't in MD. This was my first ever massage, but not my last, as late in my pregnancy I went for another one to relax and relieve some of those super fun back aches preggos get. In fact, if I could work it in to the budget I would totally get a massage every month. Alas, it's not to be, at least not while we pay for daycare for two little ones!
This past Saturday, the other friend from our Miami group decided she'd also prefer a girl's day to a local baby shower (yes, Kellen is super excited to have all of these little friends!). So off we went to brunch (this is really the best meal invented!) and to another new pampering event for me, spa pedicures! In high school before one or two proms I had manicures, and then I also had one for my wedding and Catherine's, but I've always been both cheap and a bit leery of strangers touching my feet so there were no pedicures in my past. But since massages turned out to be the best thing ever I was missing out on, I decided to give the spa pedicure a shot as well.
And it was great! We had a lovely morning of chatting, eating, and relaxing! And even better, when I got home my children were asleep for their naps and Ellie's underwear had been dry all morning. Small steps in the war against diapers in the Saxton house!
Of course I was running out of the house to make the morning on time and forgot my camera. If only I remembered my phone has a lovely camera on it more often! Oh well, no pictures of the girls or our beautiful toes!
This past Saturday, the other friend from our Miami group decided she'd also prefer a girl's day to a local baby shower (yes, Kellen is super excited to have all of these little friends!). So off we went to brunch (this is really the best meal invented!) and to another new pampering event for me, spa pedicures! In high school before one or two proms I had manicures, and then I also had one for my wedding and Catherine's, but I've always been both cheap and a bit leery of strangers touching my feet so there were no pedicures in my past. But since massages turned out to be the best thing ever I was missing out on, I decided to give the spa pedicure a shot as well.
And it was great! We had a lovely morning of chatting, eating, and relaxing! And even better, when I got home my children were asleep for their naps and Ellie's underwear had been dry all morning. Small steps in the war against diapers in the Saxton house!
Of course I was running out of the house to make the morning on time and forgot my camera. If only I remembered my phone has a lovely camera on it more often! Oh well, no pictures of the girls or our beautiful toes!
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Strike!
Last Friday after Kellen's doctor appointment, we headed to the local bowling alley for a birthday party. I parked my sleeping, sick baby in his stroller away from the kiddies and got down to helping my little girl power some bowling balls down the lane. This was Ellie's first time bowling and she had a blast! And while she may not have gotten any strikes, between the bumpers and the ramp that she used occasionally she definitely was doing pretty well! And for her, hitting one pin was like a strike. After she released the ball each time she would jump up in to my arms and we'd watch together to see if any pins went down. Then we did a little dance if she hit any. It was all very cute and so fun for her and her friends.
Here is my little bowler in action!
Waiting for her turn patiently. Excuse the clothes. We had a spill during lunch. Note to moms: Always go back to the car for the sippy cup you left behind. And if you do forget it, going with water for your child's drink is always the right choice. Thankfully I am a mean mom that pretty much only gives my children water when we are out!
Look at that form!
Mom, I think I might hit one!
Kellen's contributions on the sidelines. Would you think a baby this satisfied with life had RSV? This picture is my defense as to why I didn't take him to the doctor sooner!
Here is my little bowler in action!
Waiting for her turn patiently. Excuse the clothes. We had a spill during lunch. Note to moms: Always go back to the car for the sippy cup you left behind. And if you do forget it, going with water for your child's drink is always the right choice. Thankfully I am a mean mom that pretty much only gives my children water when we are out!
Look at that form!
Mom, I think I might hit one!
Kellen's contributions on the sidelines. Would you think a baby this satisfied with life had RSV? This picture is my defense as to why I didn't take him to the doctor sooner!
Friday, February 17, 2012
Four Months
Today I packed up Ellie and Kellen and journeyed over to our favorite place, the Pediatric Center for Kellen's four month appointment. Kellen's stats:
14 pounds, 2 oz (30%)
26 inches (90%)
42 cm head circumference (40%)
Most of the first half of the appointment was spent discussing his eating and sleeping habits. The nurse felt that he was old enough to sleep through the night and that I needed to stop feeding him every 3 hours. Then she weighed and measured him. And said well maybe ask the doctor. Um, yes, that is what I planned to do. This is the one nurse I really don't enjoy at the center so I take what she says with a grain of salt.
Dr. Burke came in and let me know that she felt that based on his stats (long and thin), the fact that I am working and he misses me, and that he is exclusively breastfeeding, waking every 3 hours at night to feed isn't a problem and that I should go ahead and feed him if he seems like he wants food. This wasn't exactly what I was hoping for either. I kind of wanted her to say it was fine to just feed him once a night. They aren't really worried about his weight, but definitely want me to feed him when he wants food. I can start rice cereal if I want, but as I'm not really a fan of this (no benefits other than weight gain), I am going to hold off and see what things look like in a week.
The big news of our appointment was that Kellen's cold is actually RSV. He is fine, no hospital necessary or anything like that, but we are monitoring his breathing over the next few days. They gave him a nebulizer treatment to try to clear things out a bit and it seemed to make him a little better. Dr. Burke felt that since he was happy and had slept better Thursday night than Wednesday he didn't need anything else and was probably on the back side of the illness and would be better by the end of the weekend.
So that's the story of our doctor visit. Not quite what we were expecting. We'll go back in a week for a follow up to make sure the RSV is all cleared up and to get his 4 month shots since he wasn't well enough for those today. And we'll take him back before then if he gets any worse.
As for the rest of the four month report, Kellen continues to be a happy guy. He is starting to get on more of a schedule with his naps and he took a nap for the first time in his crib last week. He loves bedtime, and always goes to sleep awake the first time. That often doesn't work in the middle of the night if he wakes up so we are working on that. He is a pacifier and hand guy - loves to gnaw on everything! He loves reaching for his peacock toy and our fingers and laying on the ground and just looking at the world. Tummy time is still not his favorite thing but he'll do it for a few minutes when we make him. He isn't a roller yet - he rolls occasionally from front to back, but there is no consistency there and he has never gone the other way. He is super chatty and talks the majority of his waking time. I finally have someone that likes to tell me stories! Too bad they don't mean anything yet!
Kellen loves his sister, Maddie, daddy, and especially mommy. He thinks we are hilarious and loves to smile and laugh at us! He really is a joy and we hope he kicks his latest sickness and stays healthy for the rest of winter!
14 pounds, 2 oz (30%)
26 inches (90%)
42 cm head circumference (40%)
Most of the first half of the appointment was spent discussing his eating and sleeping habits. The nurse felt that he was old enough to sleep through the night and that I needed to stop feeding him every 3 hours. Then she weighed and measured him. And said well maybe ask the doctor. Um, yes, that is what I planned to do. This is the one nurse I really don't enjoy at the center so I take what she says with a grain of salt.
Dr. Burke came in and let me know that she felt that based on his stats (long and thin), the fact that I am working and he misses me, and that he is exclusively breastfeeding, waking every 3 hours at night to feed isn't a problem and that I should go ahead and feed him if he seems like he wants food. This wasn't exactly what I was hoping for either. I kind of wanted her to say it was fine to just feed him once a night. They aren't really worried about his weight, but definitely want me to feed him when he wants food. I can start rice cereal if I want, but as I'm not really a fan of this (no benefits other than weight gain), I am going to hold off and see what things look like in a week.
The big news of our appointment was that Kellen's cold is actually RSV. He is fine, no hospital necessary or anything like that, but we are monitoring his breathing over the next few days. They gave him a nebulizer treatment to try to clear things out a bit and it seemed to make him a little better. Dr. Burke felt that since he was happy and had slept better Thursday night than Wednesday he didn't need anything else and was probably on the back side of the illness and would be better by the end of the weekend.
So that's the story of our doctor visit. Not quite what we were expecting. We'll go back in a week for a follow up to make sure the RSV is all cleared up and to get his 4 month shots since he wasn't well enough for those today. And we'll take him back before then if he gets any worse.
As for the rest of the four month report, Kellen continues to be a happy guy. He is starting to get on more of a schedule with his naps and he took a nap for the first time in his crib last week. He loves bedtime, and always goes to sleep awake the first time. That often doesn't work in the middle of the night if he wakes up so we are working on that. He is a pacifier and hand guy - loves to gnaw on everything! He loves reaching for his peacock toy and our fingers and laying on the ground and just looking at the world. Tummy time is still not his favorite thing but he'll do it for a few minutes when we make him. He isn't a roller yet - he rolls occasionally from front to back, but there is no consistency there and he has never gone the other way. He is super chatty and talks the majority of his waking time. I finally have someone that likes to tell me stories! Too bad they don't mean anything yet!
Kellen loves his sister, Maddie, daddy, and especially mommy. He thinks we are hilarious and loves to smile and laugh at us! He really is a joy and we hope he kicks his latest sickness and stays healthy for the rest of winter!
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Two and a Half!
It is pretty awesome that both my kids were born on the 16th. It makes figuring out exactly how old they are pretty easy right now! So today, Kellen is 4 months, but more importantly, my baby girl is 2.5! Kellen goes to the doctor tomorrow so I'll do his update after I get his official stats, but here's the 2.5 year update for Noelle.
As perhaps evidenced by her dramatic flare, Noelle is smart. She talks in sentences, knows some opposites, speaks some Spanish, can recognize most letters, and does a bit of counting. This is a mixed blessing - we are glad she is bright, but it keeps us on our toes!
She is very determined and independent - when she wants to be. She likes to pick out her own clothes, put on her hat, gloves, and shoes, brush her own teeth, etc. Except when she doesn't want to do it on her own and whines til mommy or daddy helps her! Noelle is pretty whiny still, and we are working on deep breaths and breaks to calm down! She prefers dresses to other clothes, but loves a good pair of jeans. Her "snow boots" (really just an ugg-type boot) are her current favorite footwear.
Noelle remains about average weight and is pretty tall for her age. We don't have percentiles since it is a half year, but at 30 pounds and a little over 36 inches, she towers over most of her female friends. She is very active, loves running around the house and outside, and enjoys riding her ice cream truck or tricycle to the living room "where Costco is" to go shopping. Yes, her favorite store mirrors my own! She is also quite a fan of Target and Home Depot, the bank (they have lollipops!), Chick-fil-A, the mall, the library, and every playground in our general vicinity!
Noelle's favorite books right now are One Fish, Two Fish, Pinkalicious, and Harriet, You'll Drive Me Wild. It is fun to start getting in to some longer books, although it does make bedtime take longer! She also loves anything and everything Dora, and has lots of books and a few movies about Dora's world. Her other favorite show is Fresh Beat Band, a sort of 2012 version of Kid's Incorprorated from our generation. They have some pretty catchy songs so mom and dad highly prefer this show to some of the others! Noelle has also started liking movies. She can't sit through a whole one but we have started watching some of the Disney and Pixar classics in quarter or half doses. Toy Story and Cinderella are her current favorites.
Favorite toys currently include her easel, dry erase crayons, and magnets, her kitchen, cupcake, and pizza sets, her "barbie," a few stuffed animals, her cat piano, and anything she thinks her brother might want to play with. The sit and spin animal speller just returned to our house from the Hollywood's and while it is really for younger kids, in her determination not to let Kellen have anything that was hers and could be fun, she likes to play with it. She also likes to "drive" some of her little cars around the upstairs of our house, especially when she is waiting for daddy to get ready in the morning.
Noelle is a great eater. She loves vegetables and her current favorites are broccoli and edamame. She also loves fruit. She is developing a sweet tooth like her mother but we don't give her much in that department. She likes peanut butter and meat but definitely prefers fruit and veggies to her proteins. We have always made her have what we are eating and had her eat her veggies first and that seems to have served us well!
Knock on wood, Noelle has been consistently pooping in the potty for about 3 weeks. It is pretty awesome to no longer change poopy diapers for two kids. We are still working on peeing. She is dry occasionally for a whole day, but often has 2 or so accidents (she still wears diapers or pull-ups). She still won't tell us when she needs to go pee so everything is just based on us making her go once an hour or so. We think we are getting close to having a potty trained little one. About a year after we hoped it would happen, but I guess we didn't take into account that our daughter would be as stubborn as her parents!
Noelle's two best friends are Katushka and Oliver at daycare. They are almost like siblings in that there is some pushing and hitting occasionally in between all of the hugs and playing. We're working on that. With her other friends, Noelle is always super well behaved. Noelle is also hit or miss on her feelings about her brother. One second she is saying he is her best friend, and the next that we should leave him upstairs and that we don't love him. I am hoping this is normal sibling jealousy! Just in case, we are making sure not to leave her alone in a room with her little brother!
So that's the 2.5 year update. I can't believe she is already a little lady!
As perhaps evidenced by her dramatic flare, Noelle is smart. She talks in sentences, knows some opposites, speaks some Spanish, can recognize most letters, and does a bit of counting. This is a mixed blessing - we are glad she is bright, but it keeps us on our toes!
She is very determined and independent - when she wants to be. She likes to pick out her own clothes, put on her hat, gloves, and shoes, brush her own teeth, etc. Except when she doesn't want to do it on her own and whines til mommy or daddy helps her! Noelle is pretty whiny still, and we are working on deep breaths and breaks to calm down! She prefers dresses to other clothes, but loves a good pair of jeans. Her "snow boots" (really just an ugg-type boot) are her current favorite footwear.
Noelle remains about average weight and is pretty tall for her age. We don't have percentiles since it is a half year, but at 30 pounds and a little over 36 inches, she towers over most of her female friends. She is very active, loves running around the house and outside, and enjoys riding her ice cream truck or tricycle to the living room "where Costco is" to go shopping. Yes, her favorite store mirrors my own! She is also quite a fan of Target and Home Depot, the bank (they have lollipops!), Chick-fil-A, the mall, the library, and every playground in our general vicinity!
Noelle's favorite books right now are One Fish, Two Fish, Pinkalicious, and Harriet, You'll Drive Me Wild. It is fun to start getting in to some longer books, although it does make bedtime take longer! She also loves anything and everything Dora, and has lots of books and a few movies about Dora's world. Her other favorite show is Fresh Beat Band, a sort of 2012 version of Kid's Incorprorated from our generation. They have some pretty catchy songs so mom and dad highly prefer this show to some of the others! Noelle has also started liking movies. She can't sit through a whole one but we have started watching some of the Disney and Pixar classics in quarter or half doses. Toy Story and Cinderella are her current favorites.
Favorite toys currently include her easel, dry erase crayons, and magnets, her kitchen, cupcake, and pizza sets, her "barbie," a few stuffed animals, her cat piano, and anything she thinks her brother might want to play with. The sit and spin animal speller just returned to our house from the Hollywood's and while it is really for younger kids, in her determination not to let Kellen have anything that was hers and could be fun, she likes to play with it. She also likes to "drive" some of her little cars around the upstairs of our house, especially when she is waiting for daddy to get ready in the morning.
Noelle is a great eater. She loves vegetables and her current favorites are broccoli and edamame. She also loves fruit. She is developing a sweet tooth like her mother but we don't give her much in that department. She likes peanut butter and meat but definitely prefers fruit and veggies to her proteins. We have always made her have what we are eating and had her eat her veggies first and that seems to have served us well!
Knock on wood, Noelle has been consistently pooping in the potty for about 3 weeks. It is pretty awesome to no longer change poopy diapers for two kids. We are still working on peeing. She is dry occasionally for a whole day, but often has 2 or so accidents (she still wears diapers or pull-ups). She still won't tell us when she needs to go pee so everything is just based on us making her go once an hour or so. We think we are getting close to having a potty trained little one. About a year after we hoped it would happen, but I guess we didn't take into account that our daughter would be as stubborn as her parents!
Noelle's two best friends are Katushka and Oliver at daycare. They are almost like siblings in that there is some pushing and hitting occasionally in between all of the hugs and playing. We're working on that. With her other friends, Noelle is always super well behaved. Noelle is also hit or miss on her feelings about her brother. One second she is saying he is her best friend, and the next that we should leave him upstairs and that we don't love him. I am hoping this is normal sibling jealousy! Just in case, we are making sure not to leave her alone in a room with her little brother!
So that's the 2.5 year update. I can't believe she is already a little lady!
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
And the Oscar Goes to...
My darling daughter!
On Monday I got a call from Ms. Rose at about 3:30 saying Noelle was crying hysterically, complianing of things hurting, and just generally not being herself. Over the weekend, we had been concerned Ellie might have had a little virus, so I asked to talk to my little girl, she sounded pretty miserable and sad, so I rushed out of work and went to pick up my two children at daycare.
When I got there Noelle was in hysterics. Her ear hurt. Her back hurt. She didn't want to be picked up. She didn't want to lay down. She couldn't get in her carseat because it caused her to much pain (until I told her I'd have to leave her there then, and then she got right on in.) The sun was in her eyes, she couldn't turn her head. Seriously with the performance she was giving I was ready to get her checked for meningitis!
When we got home I gave her tylenol and we brought her blanket and pillow downstairs to watch Dora. She cried hysterically and said she needed more medicine. I hid the medicine. She felt slightly warm, but Rose had just taken her temperature and it was normal and she was resisting the thermometer.
And then, she hopped on my lap, told me everything felt fine, and that she just doesn't want to go to the same daycare as Kellen. Um, yeah, sory kid, that isn't happening. So we talked about how she likes her friends. And she likes Ms. Rose. And she needs to help take care of Kellen. And she was fine. So I was manipulated by a 2 year old.
On Tuesday, she told Ms. Rose she was going to continue to play sick until Kellen no longer goes to her daycare. Because Ms. Rose can only love her. And daycare was her place. Awesome. Jealousy rears its ugly head 4 months in. And I swear, Kellen spends about 80% of his life chilling in his swing, on the floor, or in his crib. He gets no attention compared to baby or current Noelle!
I'm pretty sure we are in for major trouble in about 10 years!
On Monday I got a call from Ms. Rose at about 3:30 saying Noelle was crying hysterically, complianing of things hurting, and just generally not being herself. Over the weekend, we had been concerned Ellie might have had a little virus, so I asked to talk to my little girl, she sounded pretty miserable and sad, so I rushed out of work and went to pick up my two children at daycare.
When I got there Noelle was in hysterics. Her ear hurt. Her back hurt. She didn't want to be picked up. She didn't want to lay down. She couldn't get in her carseat because it caused her to much pain (until I told her I'd have to leave her there then, and then she got right on in.) The sun was in her eyes, she couldn't turn her head. Seriously with the performance she was giving I was ready to get her checked for meningitis!
When we got home I gave her tylenol and we brought her blanket and pillow downstairs to watch Dora. She cried hysterically and said she needed more medicine. I hid the medicine. She felt slightly warm, but Rose had just taken her temperature and it was normal and she was resisting the thermometer.
And then, she hopped on my lap, told me everything felt fine, and that she just doesn't want to go to the same daycare as Kellen. Um, yeah, sory kid, that isn't happening. So we talked about how she likes her friends. And she likes Ms. Rose. And she needs to help take care of Kellen. And she was fine. So I was manipulated by a 2 year old.
On Tuesday, she told Ms. Rose she was going to continue to play sick until Kellen no longer goes to her daycare. Because Ms. Rose can only love her. And daycare was her place. Awesome. Jealousy rears its ugly head 4 months in. And I swear, Kellen spends about 80% of his life chilling in his swing, on the floor, or in his crib. He gets no attention compared to baby or current Noelle!
I'm pretty sure we are in for major trouble in about 10 years!
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Which Baby Is It?
In the middle of the night when I'm feeding Kellen, I'm always struck by how much he looks like his big sister. At least his big sister when she was a baby. And then I was looking at her baby pictures the other day. I would have thought they were him if they weren't labelled fall 2009. Replace that light hair for dark locks, and they are pretty much identical. So here's an installment of what is sure to be everyone's favorite game, Which Baby Is It?
It was hard to find pictures where the clothes didn't give it away! But for those still playing, the answers are:
Kellen
Noelle
Noelle
Kellen
Noelle
Noelle
Kellen
It was hard to find pictures where the clothes didn't give it away! But for those still playing, the answers are:
Kellen
Noelle
Noelle
Kellen
Noelle
Noelle
Kellen
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Kellen's Christening
Last weekend we were able to celebrate Kellen's baptism with friends and family. Of course when I scheduled the event in October I didn't think about what else might be happening the first Sunday of February. That's ok, we also got to enjoy the Superbowl with our family!
Unlike Noelle's baptism, we decided not to do Kellen's christening as part of mass. Noelle has been behaving better at church lately, but 2 hours of being on her best behavior would be pushing it, so we decided to do the baptism at 1. Deacon Joe, who we had met in our prep class when we had Noelle, christened Kellen and a little girl (named Harley Quinn, I kid you not...). We were honored to have my parents, brother, Catherine and Jake, Lindsay and Adam, Mrs. Lanigan, the Coyles, my grandmother, my dad's brother from Georgia, and my aunt and uncle from New Jersey for the big day. Kellen also is blessed with great godparents - our good friends the Hollywood's! Nicole, Sean, and Annabelle were so wonderful all day too! We really appreciated everyone coming out on the busy February day and were so excited that the weather cooperated!
Kellen was a rock star throughout the ceremony despite having a bad cold. He didn't make a peep when Deacon Joe poured the water on his head, and thought getting anointed was pretty cool. So cool that he still smells like the chrisem a week later! Sean did a great job with the fire and Nicole placed his new white garb over him with great finesse. Then we took about a million pictures, all of which have people looking at different cameras so very few of them are good!
After the baptism most people were able to come over to feast on some BBQ, meatballs, baked potato bar, buffalo chicken dip, other munchies, and of course, cake! It was a really nice celebration and it was great to see everyone.
Kellen contemplates being a child of Christ!
And Noelle enjoys her baked potato - whole without the fixings!
Friday, February 10, 2012
My New Addiction
During all those late night feedings (seriously my son is eating like 4 times every night right now!), I'm always looking for things to entertain myself. Enter my new addiction. Pinterest! This site is so simple but so hard to sign off of. Basically it is a way to organize web links that you want to remember for later. I use it to organize recipes I can use for freezer cooking, general recipes that look yummy, and projects I want to do with or for the kids. You can see what your friends are interested in too, and as several friends have organization as an interest, I often see these ideas. Enter, the simplest thing I was not doing to organize my car!
I should have taken some before pictures. My car was a disaster between crumbs, Noelle's various toys that had been left in the car over the past two years, tissues, miscellaneous supplies, etc. Enter the cheap and easy addition of two containers. One is organized with things I might need when out with the kids.
This basket includes diapers, wipes, sanitizer, tissues, sunscreen, sunglasses, a blanket, a towel, changing pad, emergency snacks, and an umbrella. Now they are all in one place in a basket that sits on the floor behind my passenger seat.
The second basket is for entertainment.
There is a small rattle for Kellen but everything else is for Noelle. I have her etch-a-sketch, several books, the lacing cards I made her, her paint chip matching game, and her button snake game. There is also a stuffed animal and dinosaur for when K gets a bit older. Noelle discovered her goodies today on the way to Target and played quietly the way there and back. She was pretty excited and I was pretty excited too. And when we got home we cleaned everything up in about 5 seconds and put it back in the basket. No messy car!
I know, so not strokes of genius, but my car makes me much happier after a good vacuuming and these baskets!
I should have taken some before pictures. My car was a disaster between crumbs, Noelle's various toys that had been left in the car over the past two years, tissues, miscellaneous supplies, etc. Enter the cheap and easy addition of two containers. One is organized with things I might need when out with the kids.
This basket includes diapers, wipes, sanitizer, tissues, sunscreen, sunglasses, a blanket, a towel, changing pad, emergency snacks, and an umbrella. Now they are all in one place in a basket that sits on the floor behind my passenger seat.
The second basket is for entertainment.
There is a small rattle for Kellen but everything else is for Noelle. I have her etch-a-sketch, several books, the lacing cards I made her, her paint chip matching game, and her button snake game. There is also a stuffed animal and dinosaur for when K gets a bit older. Noelle discovered her goodies today on the way to Target and played quietly the way there and back. She was pretty excited and I was pretty excited too. And when we got home we cleaned everything up in about 5 seconds and put it back in the basket. No messy car!
I know, so not strokes of genius, but my car makes me much happier after a good vacuuming and these baskets!
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Hours of Fun
We started putting Kellen in the activity seat recently. He loves investigating the little toys!
Look mom, my feet almost touch! I'll be bouncing in no time!
We look forward to watching Kellen grow and enjoy his new toy for hours in the coming weeks and months!
Look mom, my feet almost touch! I'll be bouncing in no time!
We look forward to watching Kellen grow and enjoy his new toy for hours in the coming weeks and months!
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Here We Go Again
Noelle asked to put socks on after her bath last night. I should have caught on. This is not normal behavior for a child who tears her socks off before every nap and highly prefers to never wear them in the house at all. But I was tired, and stuffy, and I didn't think anything of it. Until Noelle woke up screaming in the middle of the night and then clearly felt warm this morning. 101.7 degrees warm. Thank goodness she is a trooper and didn't really seem to care that she had a fever. Except for being cold she said she was fine. And she did dance around the room after breakfast to the Fresh Beat Band so can't be feeling that horrible. But sickness has struck again.
Actually, that is probably not true. Really someone has been sick in our house since about October 18th. Kellen is now on his 3rd major cold (and he hasn't even hit the 4 month mark yet!) Bryan can't speak he is so hoarse. And I am doing only slightly better than the rest of the bunch thanks to an afternoon to rest on Monday and the magical powers of breastfeeding. I am glad we haven't had anything major, but being super congested and struggling to breathe through your nose sucks. And not getting much sleep because your baby can't breathe well either doesn't really allow for recovery. Someday hopefully!
So Bryan is home with Noelle and it is again a case of the sick caring for the sicker. Although her temperature is already down thanks to the wonderful power of tylenol. Let's pray she has a fast and total recovery and that her little brother doesn't get this fever - 101.7 for an infant is a big deal!
We did have a great baptism weekend with friends and family despite our colds. We are working on downloading all the pictures and then will post!
Actually, that is probably not true. Really someone has been sick in our house since about October 18th. Kellen is now on his 3rd major cold (and he hasn't even hit the 4 month mark yet!) Bryan can't speak he is so hoarse. And I am doing only slightly better than the rest of the bunch thanks to an afternoon to rest on Monday and the magical powers of breastfeeding. I am glad we haven't had anything major, but being super congested and struggling to breathe through your nose sucks. And not getting much sleep because your baby can't breathe well either doesn't really allow for recovery. Someday hopefully!
So Bryan is home with Noelle and it is again a case of the sick caring for the sicker. Although her temperature is already down thanks to the wonderful power of tylenol. Let's pray she has a fast and total recovery and that her little brother doesn't get this fever - 101.7 for an infant is a big deal!
We did have a great baptism weekend with friends and family despite our colds. We are working on downloading all the pictures and then will post!
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