The Welsh Way of Life

Ellison- 11 Months

2012-01-24T17:09:00.002-06:00

11 months! Ellie is such a silly, happy girl! She is happy about everything! She is such a joy to be around with her constant smiles and playful demeanor.

both Whitney and Ellie love to look through this radom collection of small toys I keep in a basket under the coffee table. If you don't have one for your kids, do it!

Ellie likes to play with Whitney, Whitney- not so much. Whitney is trying to get the ball back.

I wish the picture had turned out clearer, because this it totally my silly girl!

Milestones- not a whole lot this month. She is continuing to perfect her walking and balance. She has mastered standing up unassisted. Her vocabulary has really taken off. Combining words and animal sounds she is at last count at about 25 words. They are in her baby version for a majority of words. The funniest words she says are Sponge Bob, Dora, boo, boobies, and ta da. She loves books and will point at pictures and ask "that". The other day she came into my room, looked at me and said "boo!" She is SOOO silly! She knows a few body parts like eyes and tummy. She would probably know a lot more of anything if I took more time to teach, but she's not even one so there's plenty of time to learn :)

Eating- still an eating machine! Still has a bottle, about four a day averaging 4 oz a time. I recently read that babies are down to about 12 oz forumla/bm by 9-12 months. This may be our last container of formula, we'll see how ambitious I am to take away that morning bottle. She's not crazy about milk so far but will drink it if she's thirsty. She likes orange juice but not apple juice. She will eat about anything as long as it is not slimey in texture. She can drink through a straw and likes those yogurt smoothies.

Sleep- doing pretty good! She is back to averaging 10 hrs before waking. Goes to bed between 8-9 and will wake around 6/6:30 and may or may not go back to bed. Now, she still DOES have quite a few nights where she will wake about 3:30/4, if I give her a bottle she will sleep the rest of the night. She is down to one nap which last 1-2.5 hrs. She is ready for an early bedtime if she only sleeps an hour. Her nap time is around noon. I'm not strict with sleep, i follow her cues and accomodate based on last sleep/waking. She just got ANOTHER cold, so we'll see what happens with that in the sleep department.

Stats- guesstimating about 20lbs. Size 3 shoe, size 3 diaper. 12-18mo clothes, 12 mo carter's jammies. She has 6 teeth, four on top and two on bottom

she loves playing with this doll house. This is one thing will somewhat play with together. Ellie so loves to play with Whitney but Whitney is in that possessive stage and doesn't want Ellie to touch anything she is playing with. Ellie learns so much just from watching Whitney. I try to encourage play as much as I can, I hope it is a stage that will be outgrown soon.

total paci baby! She HAS to have one to sleep. i keep about 4 in her crib so she can always find one at night. She is sucking on one less during the day. i'm just now actively trying to keep them less available as she is awake, unless we are at the store or library, then they keep other things out of her mouth!

Still not crazy about bathtime. She prefers to stand in the tub which drives me nuts because I have to hang over the tub to hold on to her. The more I try to get her to sit the more she just wants to be done with bath. She does finally lay still for diaper changes and getting pj's on. She does patty cake with her feet when I change her diaper.

She loves to poke people and say "boop!" and back up and giggle and do it again and again. She likes to help with laundry putting wet clothes into the dryer that I hand her. She knows the word laundry so I can't say it unless I'm actually ready to do it. She likes to wear necklases and anything else she can put around her neck, always has. She laughs when she farts or burps.

It may seem like Ellie is all rainbows and sunshine but she does have a her moments of tantrums to get what she wants. For the most part she does really well when she's over tired, but when she's really reached her limit, watch out! She is also possessive of me. She gets jealous when I hold or sit with Whitney. She tries to push Whitney away or if she thinks Whitney is coming for me she will come sit in my lap or try to get me to hold her first.

Can't believe my next post will be for ONE year! but thank goodness. This was the fastest and slowest year ever. I love the toddler stage so much better and am so looking forward to it. There's a reason parents continue to love each growing stage, it's so you're not stuck in babyhood!

It's Friday

2012-01-20T17:05:00.001-06:00

Is anyone else feeling like a loser with everyone pinning, blogging and facebooking their acheivements, or is it just me? Ok, I don't really feel like a loser because I know that right now in my life I don't have a lot of time at home to accomplish these things. Either that or I don't know how to multi task and have too much guilt for not playing with my kids for x amount of time. Okay, it's a combination of needing to take care of my 2 1/2 year old who doesn't nap and my almost 11 month old who is down to one nap and not organizing my time properly when they are awake. I literally have about zero me time (at home, I do get out alone bc of the babysitter, hallelujah!) until 10pm and who wants to do anything then?

Ellie is in that, " I HAVE to know what you're doing and I will cry and pull on your leg and fall over backwards because I have my head tilted back too far trying to look up at you " stage. If we're just hanging out around the house she is fine. The second I try to cook, unload the dishwasher, brush my teeth or use the bathroom she is all up in my business. One thing I CAN do is take a shower. She will finally leave me alone to do that. She used to cry and try to climb into the tub. I can see into the future and know that someday soon I will be productive and creative and my children will continue to grow with indepence. Whitney is mostly there.

I am a little jealous of all the cute things everyone is doing. Take my SIL. I'm too lazy to create a link so you can check out her blog, The Vandewater Voyage under my blog list and check out Abby Maddy Inspired too. That lady can multi task in a crafty way! Any way, my SIL has posted some food ideas that are easy and yummy and I have been trying them. It's easier for me to steal her ideas than to scour Pinterest myself! Works for me!

I'm hoping once we get to Omaha I can get Whitney into a preschool of some sort and Ellie will allow me to do things without holding her. Maybe then I can buy one of those sewing machine things and cook with more than 3-5 ingredients. For now I will dabble and be happy that my kids are well and my house is moderately clean. Clean enough that you won't be grossed out if you unexpectedly dropped in. And if anyone wants to do so feel free, we are ready for company every day. Desperate for company!

I got it on camera! Whitney can twist her tounge sideways and does it out of habit all the time. She doesn't even know she does it. In fact, if I ask her to show me she can't do it.

This is Ellie's purple ear because she won't let me do anything!! I was trying to put some pants on and she made a mad dash for me because hold your horses if I try to do anything. She tripped up and slammed her head into our bed rail. Speaking of hold your horses, I said that to Whitney the other day and she goes, "huh? you can't hold horses!" Kids are so literal!

this is my brushetta I made last night. See, I was inspired by my SIL! Easy and yummy!
I used a can of petite diced tomatoes and it worked well. Way faster than dicing your own. And we had tubed basil and that was good too! plus olive oil, balsamic vinergarette, salt, pepper, onion and shredded parmesan. And just eat with tortilla chips or triscuts, don't worry about toasting fancy bread!

(More Than) Five Minute Friday

2012-01-13T13:49:00.000-06:00

Friday the 13th, but who really believes in those shenanigans? The only thing bad about this day is that it is the last day of One Life to Live. Sad day for me. It is my one hour mental break during nap time. Maybe I will be more productive after it is off the air.

After the holidays and Wade leaving for his ILE course, we are working things out as just us three girls. So far so good. It certainly helped having my mom here this last week. We kept busy and did some mean shopping! Might have to take the girls back to the mall this afternoon! GAP sales!! It might not make any sense, but I almost do better with them alone. I know that I have to and can't let me guard down. I feel like a stronger, better parent these last 10 days. But it's early, we'll wait until April when this course is near the end and I'm trying to organize a move! I'm looking forward at everything we have planned these next couple months and am optimistic these next three months will quickly. It's nice that we are around family, I have made some great friends, we have activities to keep us busy and a baby sitter to call on.

Who else is loving this weather?!?! Below are some pictures of the week, playing at a park in January!!

Just a Few Pictures

2012-01-09T14:59:00.000-06:00

I cut into a kiwi the other day and saw this!

One of Whitney's new favorites... Sponge Bob. She got a few SB things for Christmas as well as Barbie/Princess/Tinkerbell items. Sigh.... my little girl is growing up :)

Ellie likes Whitney's underwear. (these are clean btw) she holds them up to her and bends down and tries to put them on. I put them on her and she wore them the rest of the evening and she was happy.

PINK!!!!

She just had to go outside in her life jacket. She wanted to go to the beach and I had to explain to her it was too cold, go outside and see for yourself!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-30T21:27:00.001-06:00

One big long post, here we go..........

December 17. Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa Schmitt and Great Grandma Audrey. There was no shortage of presents or food!

if you look at Whitney she found some presents with her name on them. She carried them around everywhere and was afraid someone was going to take them. She even had to eat with them.

they look like little Ghost Busters with their matching sleepingbag backpacks with flash lights

Whitney and Brynna

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December 22

Christmas at my sister's. Again, no shortage of presents.

Lawton

Whitney doesn't give sister love very often, but we got this one on camera!

Callie

Alaina

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December 23, back at home playing with new presents

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December 24

Back at Jessica's for Chirstmas with Papa

Grant's expression cracks me up!

Owen, Tiffany, Elijah, Matt, Papa, Grant, Lee, Brynna, Jessica, Ellie, Me, Wade, Whitney

I wanted a cute picture of the girls since they were dressed up. This is what we got. They were pictured out and we were late for Church.

Santa Came!!!

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Christmas Morning

Whitney eating cookies that Santa didn't finish

Ellie wasn't big into opening the presents, she let Whitney do all the unwrapping

Whitney has been asking every day if she can wait for Santa. Sorry honey, it will be a long wait! I have to show her the calendar with everyone's birthdays and holidays and anything else that comes first before Santa comes again.

The End

Ellison- 10 Months

2011-12-20T14:55:00.001-06:00

I'm doing this a few days early because I have the opportunity now and we'll be busy the end of the week when she really is 10 months on the 22nd. She has been busy this month. I'll just jump right in to the milestones. She is walking. Totally walking. No more crawling for this girl. She can stand in one place, turn corners, turn around, the whole nine yards. She's ready to run and chase sister but can't get her legs to move as fast as her mind and she face plants squealing the whole way. Now that Ellie is walking Whitney is starting to interact with her more as a playmate. She can communicate with me by leading me by the hand, or stretching out her arm on where she wants to go. If I ask if she has a hungry tummy she will take me to the cupboard or her chair. When she is done eating she raises her arms up for me and I swear she said "all done" the other day. Not all done as we would say it, more like ah dah, but she's 10 months so that is how she speaks. She also tells me she is done by throwing her food on the floor. Just last night we learned she could point at a specific picture when asking her. for example, "where is the monkey" and she finds it and points right at it. (we have a George book and a little George head is hiding on each page and she finds it and points at it) Totally cool. First I didn't even realize she was paying attention when I would point out George and second I didn't realize she could point with her index finger. When she is all done with bath time she reaches for her towel. She can roar like a lion, moo, say mama, dada, oh no and wow.

she thought it was totally fun pounding on the presents. This is usually how she is, mouth wide open, excited and happy. she is the best baby

this is her serious sassy face. her "I'm going to put this in mouth, are you watching me?" face. she does this a lot too. and if I tell her no, she will reach her arm out at me and grunt

Sleep- really great now!! She sleeps about 9-10 hrs and has a bottle and will usually go back to bed for another 1-2 hours. Her bedtime is 8:30, give or take depending on her last nap. She has had quite a few days lately that she only takes one nap and then she is ready for a 7:30/8 bedtime. She can put herself to bed just fine and prefers to do so. She is not a cuddler. She is all business when it comes time to go to bed. So unlike her sister it just blows my mind. She is usually up 3-4hrs before her first nap, so her schedule depends on when she starts her day.

Eating- still awesome. Again, she totally blows my mind compared to Whitney who didn't and still does not like to eat. Ellie has 4-5 bottles per day about 4oz each time. She completely self feeds and finds it very odd if I try to feed her off a spoon. She is not crazy about smooth textures. She loves blueberries, strawberries, toast, cheese, fries, raisins, cereal bars, pancakes. she does not like bananas or pears. she's not real crazy about vegetables except sweet potato fries.

size- 19lbs, wears size 12mo pj's and 12-18 clothing. Size 3 shoe. Size 3 diaper.

likes- books, babies, stuffed animals, opening and closing doors, pretending to do puzzles with sister, push chairs around the kitchen, pull books off the shelf at the library, eat wet wash cloths, walk, carry things while she walks, soft blankets, going to the gym to play, being naughty to see see my reaction, bite my shoulder to see my reaction and then pout and cry when I tell her no biting, toy computer, go through bags, open and clothes drawers, play peek a boo, push buttons

dislikes- diaper changes and getting dressed. She still acts as if I had never done that before. there isn't much she doesn't like. She doesn't like to be told no but loves to figure out what she needs to do for me to say it. she's getting better about bath time. she hasn't ever hated it, she just doesn't like to sit down and play and then doesnt want to be in there very long. Very opposite of Whitney.

So, that is my 10 month old baby, toddler? Are they toddlers once they learn how to walk or toddlers after they are one year?

Five Minute Friday

2011-12-16T07:44:00.001-06:00

I feel like I don't have much to say today, so we'll see where this post takes me. I do have exciting news, my sister in law had her baby boy yesterday. Elijah Douglas. He is the second boy for Matt and Tiff, joining his older brother Owen.

I found a new blog to follow. If you like sarcastic humor you will love People I want to Punch in the Throat. Val, you would get a kick out of it. I think like this blogger, but am too afraid of hurting people's feelings to actually put it out there. I guess I'll just stick to updates and photos.

We have our first Chirstmas this Saturday. I am looking forward to the girls getting new toys. Never thought I would say I want more!

Ellie is completely walking now. Rarely will she choose crawling as her means of transportation. Just last night she was trying to run after Whitney. When they learn a new skill they just take off with it!

Wade noticed I have a crooked spine. I suppose I should get that looked at. It probably doesn't help that I have held a baby on my left hip for years. I know you should alternate hips but it's really impossible and not practical to do anything with my left hand.

Dec 3 and Dec 10

2011-12-13T11:57:00.000-06:00

December 3rd we had a wedding to go to. Wade's friend Nolan got married. It was a beautiful wedding and the day went really well. We did get our first winter storm that evening. It rained all day and then turned to snow. It was slow driving home until we got closer to Ames and it turned to rain again. We stayed until 10, not getting home until 11. Thankfully I packed pj's in case we did end up staying that late, and the girls fell asleep on the way home and straight to bed. We all slept in that next morning!

this is Dave (cheeseball) Doesn't he look like a proud papa!?!

Nolan, the groom

Whitney had a blast dancing! The wedding was a lot of fun for her.

Wade had to leave for San Francisco Dec 4 for five days

December 10

Saturday we FINALLY got ornaments up on the tree and then went out to The Perfect Gift.

Ellie was excited to see the tree when she woke up from a nap

Who needs to wait for a first birthday for some sprinkles and frosting!?!?!

It was really cute, this year they had a tea party section

Ellie just loved on the bear while Whitney had tea

Whitney's version of decorating the tree

My Ornaments

2011-12-11T13:48:00.000-06:00

We finally had some time as a family to decorate the tree. I was getting other things organized and Wade was snapping pictures of Whitney. Little did Wade know was that Whitney found some special ornaments of mine, they are from my late Grandma Lucy. She would buy us engraved ornaments. I have three of them. One from the year I was born and two other random years.

Ellison- 9 month appt

2011-12-09T13:10:00.001-06:00

19.2 lbs

28.25 in

I would offically call her a walker now. She walks 50% of the time. She tries to walk before crawling, getting steadier every day. She can go across a room and even around corners. She can crawl up stairs and has added "moo" to her vocabulary. The doctor was very impressed with her, saying she was operating as a 12 month old. Yes, it's all that smart milk I make(made) :) j/k, take a joke! No, it's my super teaching skills, (j/k, take a joke people!) Whitney was a smarty pants too, hitting milestones early.

this is why I have a hard time unloading/loading the dishwasher. little miss is all up in my business!

she would have kept going, but you can see her feet slipped on the linoleum

She is just the happiest girl! Literally everywhere we go people always ask if she always so happy. YES, she is!! She is a very content girl. I love her :)

Five Minute Friday

2011-12-09T07:51:00.000-06:00

It's friday, it's friday! We survived the week and Wade comes home today! The week actually went quite well (minus the ER trip monday night). Ellie has been sleeping all night!!! She naps a lot less during the day, but I'll put up with that if it means 9-12hrs in her crib at night!!! It makes a world of a difference in my mood and energy and how I react to outbursts and tantrums. Whitney is so like me it's scary. I have to remember love and logic when I deal with her. Anyway, not where I really wanted to go with today's post. Just wanted to share a few pictures from our week.

Talking to Daddy on the phone. I told Ellie to say hi to daddy and she started waving at the phone. It was hilarious!

time to throw out the thanksgiving leftovers. have you ever seen red mold??

what a portion of our house looked like yesterday morning. Whitney took lots of pictures but I'll spare you of the play by play of our house!

I was invited to a cookie exchange by our landlord/neighbor. I didn't want to go. I don't like to bake, especially when I have two girls underfoot or using up precious nap time when I could be doing other things, like watching One Life to Live while browsing the internet! I felt obligated to go and my mom played on conscience too. I am a baking failure. I had a box of brownie mix so I thought I would add marshmallows. I have never baked with marshmallows before. They melted into the brownie and left pockets of air. Those stayed home last night.

I rant to Target yesterday afternoon because I destroyed the brownies and over baked (burnt) most of the pumpkin spice cookies I had made earlier. I got a roll of peanut butter dough and these mini Hershey kisses. Target does not have those chocolate stars. Have you ever seen them done this way? No, it looks ridiculous!

I was getting stressed out that I spent all this time baking ( ie using prepackaged goods) neglecting the girls and the house, failing to get dinner on the table and our appearances were in shambles with 45 minutes to spare. On the way over I let Whitney carry the container of frosted cookies. They ended up a globbed mess. We stayed about 45mins. I chased Ellie around and Whitney chased me chasing Ellie. My neighbors daughter talked to me making me fell welcome while the older neighbors talked about school issues. Bath time was calling.....

First ER Trip

2011-12-06T12:54:00.000-06:00

I have said Ellie will be our ER baby. Last night was our first trip to the ER. Not my first trip, I have been for my second miscarriage. Not because I was in pain or bleeding incessantly but because it was a saturday and I couldn't wait until Monday to see if the pregnancy was still progressing. Second trip to the ER for me was when I was in my first trimester with Whitney and had bleeding. Again it was a saturday and I was on my way to the crazy train so I couldn't wait until Monday.

Last night we were playing in the living room until bath time. It was 7:45. Ellie was walking to the couch and stumbled up on some blankets on the floor and went down hard on her arm. It twisted funny under her and she CRIED! I instantly had that feeling that something was wrong. She wouldn't let me touch her arm and was being careful not to put pressure on it. I thought her shoulder was dislocated. I tried calling First Nurse and their lines were tied up. I decided I better pack up the girls and head to the ER. I hate wondering what you should do and what warrants an ER trip. A dislocated shoulder needed a trip in my book. Now it's 8 o clock. The ER didn't seem overly busy but apparently they were. It was an hour and half before we were seen. In the mean time Ellie is using her arm more and more and people were asking me which one was sick and that the baby seemed fine. Thanks, but I'm here and it would probably be child abuse if I just decided to go home and come back tomorrow during reasonable hours.

Thank goodness the girls were doing great and I still had some toys and snacks in the diaper bag from the wedding we were at on Saturday. And I had milk for each of the girls. I almost went empty handed because I just wanted to get there. Okay, 9:30 and we see the doctor. She immediately does not seem concerned and moves Ellies arm around testing it out and feeling it. She does not see the need for an xray and said from what I described it was probably nursemaids elbow. This is a common injury in older infants and toddlers where a bone in their forearm dislocates at the elbow commonly happening from being pulled on too roughly. Did I mention I was rough housing with the girls and swinging them around holding their hands and tossing them onto the couch. This is the first I had done that with Ellie just because of babies seeming so weak and it feels like you can rip their arms out of their sockets. Apparently you can. I was doing this with them shortly before Ellie fell. I don't think I gave her the injury, but maybe I loosened up the joint and when she fell on it it popped it out? The doctor said the injury usually fixes itself, either they do it on their own or when I put her coat on or in the car seat you can move it just right to pop it back in. I don't know if she really had nursemaids elbow or just a really painful fall, but I do know that she cried alot and wasn't acting right with her arm.

I'm glad it was nothing, but you sure feel like an overreacting mother when you take your kid to the ER and that you wasted healthcares time and money. But I am so thankful that the Army treats you right when it comes to healthcare, because I don't have to think twice about getting care for my family and what it will cost us. NOTHING!! Well, monetary wise. It does cost us time away due to deployments.

Did I mention that Wade is in California this week? Yeah, I had to pack up the girls and handle it alone. I had a moment in the waiting room where I just wanted to cry because I was feeling overwhelmed and about sick thinking they would have to relocate Ellies arm but then I remembered it is what it is, I'm in the ER waiting room and I have to take care of my girls. No sense getting all sappy about it. Sad but hopefully not true, that may not be the only time I have to take the girls to the ER by myself. Better get used to this independent parent thing.

Today she is fine. She is clapping, crawling, pulling up and using her arm just fine. Was it necessary to go to the ER? I don't know but I don't regret taking her.

Five Minute Friday

2011-12-02T12:05:00.001-06:00

I don't even know what to write about today, so I guess I will kind of ramble.... we got our Christmas tree monday afternoon. It is in our house undecorated yet. Wade has been busy with his thesis staying at school until 10/11 at night so we have yet to find some time to do it together. Hopefully I don't kill the thing, I keep forgetting to water it before I go to bed!

We have our first Christmas party tonight at a professors of Wade's. We went last year as well. I remember last year when we came out of the party it was snowing like mad. I'm glad winter hasn't started quite so early this year. I like a pretty snowfall, but there will be plenty of that come January. We will leave the girls with the sitter. Tomorrow we have a wedding in Iowa Falls. The second to last of the Alden boys is getting married. All that is left is "Cheeseball", getting married in the spring!

Ellie is really walking now! She can stand alone well and she is can go farther and farther. She tries to walk wherever she goes instead of crawling. Won't be long and she will be walking full time. Thank goodness my girls are early walkers, I love it when they can finally walk. I haven't decided if walking/talking/crawling/sitting is nature or nurture. With Whitney I encouraged her to do everything and really worked with her, even working with her to get her to roll over. With Ellie she definitely learned to crawl on her own, she was only 5 1/2 months! I for sure push the girls and don't wait for them to learn on their own. So who knows when they would have picked things up on their own. I guess from my point of view and the way I do things I'm going to go with a lot of nuture and a little nature. Each kid will learn how to do everything, just a matter of time and guidance! Curious what other mom's do. Do you push your kid to learn or let them do it on their own?

We Got a Tree! And a New Camera!

2011-11-29T10:04:00.000-06:00

Every year my parents get us a big gift. Yes, we are in our 30's and still incredibly spoiled for Christmas. This year we chose a new camera. All I can say is WOW! The picture quality is AH-MAY-ZING!! So totally worth it. And the things you can do with a nice camera! I'm not much of a yearly family photos from a professional kind of girl so it will be nice to have quality photos we can do ourself.

Last night we went out to a tree farm to get our Christmas tree. If you remember last year we didn't have a completely successful outing in the fun department. This year wasn't much better. Maybe we just need to pick one out at the Flowerama on the corner! I wrote down the directions and put down 580th st when it should have been ave. That can totally throw you off. Like 40 minutes off track when it only should have taken about 10 minutes to get there. Thank goodness Wade can keep his cool and make light of the situation. I can not. And thank goodness Whitney was quiet and Ellie slept as we drove around trying to find the darn place even though we went there last year too. Any way, Whitney was pretty excited about it until the sun started to go down and the temperature dropped quickly.

they got to ride up front as we drove around to find the perfect tree. They thought that was pretty cool.

Ellie Walking

2011-11-29T09:48:00.001-06:00

Not the greatest video, but you get the idea. She can do better than what's on the video but it's hard to break out the camera to catch her in action. The other night she went about 12 feet! In the last few days she has started to walk a few feet from furniture to furniture. Sometimes she will just take off towards nothing, like " here I g"o! Won't be long!

Five Minute Friday

2011-11-26T06:35:00.000-06:00

(saturday morning)
Thanksgiving has come and gone. The month long celebration of Christmas has begun. It used to annoy me that stores and people didn't at least wait until December before breaking out the Christmas music, lights and decorations, but it's different for me after having kids. Whitney is way excited about Christmas this year and can't wait to put up a tree. She even remembered where we put it last year. Unbelievable!!

We hosted Thanksgivng this year, and Wade did a great job with the meal. He is the new cook in the family :) Now my parents are here for some visiting and for me and my mom to do some shopping! Without the girls!!!!! Bring it on! Hope I don't get wore out, it's currently 6:30 am. Ellie woke me up at 4:50, which woke Whitney up so that shot any hopes of getting Ellie back to bed, but they have both gone back to sleep now. I have already had coffee and new that once I finally fell back asleep it would be time to get up again. Ugh! Guess I'm getting my internet fix early today.

painting with Owen. They have such a cute little friendship!

How many Thanksgivings in Iowa can you hang out in the back yard!?!

having a snack, because of course kids don't love the Thanksgiving dinner the way adults do!

this is what has been on our kitchen counter for 9 months. Wednesday I packed it all up. I had to leave it out because we didn't have the cabinet space, and for most of my pumping duration I was pumping 5-6 times a day. Figure at least an hour of my life every day for 9 months was spent hooked up to the pump. Wow.

Ellison- 9 Months

2011-11-22T14:58:00.001-06:00

We have a little barn on our fridge that plays music, she like to push the button and rock back and forth. No she is not "special". You will also hear how she likes to "talk" to us. She grunts at us as her primanry form of communication. And yes, I am annoying in the video.

Nine months! My favorite, favorite, favorite baby stage!! This is the peak of baby cuteness before they become little toddlers. She still curls her little toes when she sits, still has that baby chubbiness, mostly gummy smile, little hair, and the dependency of a baby. (yes I also dislike the dependency of a baby, go figure!) I love the way she kicks her legs when she is excited when I pick her up.

She is still such a happy little girl. She smiles just from looking at her. She does great playing on her own, but still likes to know where I am. She does not like to play with sister, and sister doesn't like to to play with her either. If Whitney takes something from Ellie it is the end of the world. Tantrum and tears!

Eating- does great! I am just beside myself at having a "normal" eater. She has anywhere from 4-6 bottles averaging 5oz at a time between 5:30 am and 8:30pm. These last few days she has been drinking less, not sure if it is the formula change or she is over a growth spurt. She also likes to snack and eat little meals with us. She only eats finger foods. She hasn't had baby food or baby cereal in forever. She doesn't care to eat off a spoon. Her favorite foods are blueberries, cheese, Pepperidge Farm Brown Sugar toast and pretzels. She has figured out how to use her teeth to bite off little pieces. We are in the process of going down to strictly formula. We are in the last few days of ever having breast milk again!! (maybe a post on it's own to come)

Teeth- four, two on top, two on bottom

Sleep- She has been a sleeping machine lately! Woo hoo!! Could be from the hormone drop from breastfeeding. I have felt yucky and sleepy since weaning and I think the change is affecting her too. Hopefully once we get past this change she will keep it up though. She still goes to bed around 8:30, wakes between 5:30 and 6 and has a bottle and may or may not go back to sleep. She will take two shorter naps or one long mid day nap. She is a tummy sleeper or side sleeper. She likes her soft blanket and pacifers in her bed. I have about 4 pacifers in her crib so she can find one if she wakes up at night.

Milestones- She is on a roll in this department. Again, why I love this age. Their budding little personality and smarts start to show. She is furniture cruising and starting to walk ON HER OWN! She will walk between Wade and I, or rather she will walk from Wade to me, she doesn't like to go to him unless he can bribe her with something. She is starting to get brave and let go of what she is hanging on to and just go for it. She can go about six feet on her own. At the library this morning she was hanging on to a table and spotted a foot stool and just started walking to it. She has some balance issues to figure out, but I give it about two weeks and she's good to go. Whitney was walking well on her own by 10 months, so worst case scenario we have another month of practice. Enough about walking, I can blog about that later..... She is talking. She can say mama, dada, oh no, no no, and ah choo. And yes, she uses them in the correct context. She likes to put things away. She will pick up a toy and put it in a basket, go get another one, etc. She can clap, wave and do so big. Her pincer grasp is perfected. She pretends to do puzzles like big sister. She understand "no". She dances.

Likes/Dislikes- likes to eat, suck her pacifer, be with her mama and her big sister, cuddle soft blankets and toys, put EVERYTHING in her mouth, walk, suck on wet wash cloths, be outside, go to the library, ride in the wagon, swing. She dislikes diaper changes and getting dressed.

We don't have her 9 month appt until next month, you'll have to wait for stats then!

Five Minute Friday

2011-11-18T09:25:00.000-06:00

I'm actually doing it. I'm weaning. I'm done breastfeeding. Ellie is sleeping better (9hrs now!), she only wants a bottle, and I just reached my limit of making time to pump. Not to mention we've had pump parts and pump bottles on our kitchen counter for almost 9 months now. Ellie will be 9 months on tuesday, I feel that is an adequate amount of breast milk. I don't have any supply strored in the freezer and I really wanted to go to 10 months, but I'm done. I read that to get the full benefit of breastfeeding you need to do it for six months. Check. When I would take Ellie in for her 2 and 4 month appointments they would say if I could keep going until six months then that would be ideal and anything beyond that is just fantastic. Formula is way gross, but she takes it without batting an eye so we'll go with it. I don't know what I am going to do with all my free time from not pumping! Have a cleaner house? Yeah, probably not!

We got a babsysitter again this week. We have date "evenings". We have the babysitter from 3:30-6 and go to a bar/resturant and get appetizers and $1 pints. We joke that we need to start taking CyRide! The girls seem to be doing good with her and she even gave the babysitter a hug goodbye and watched her leave out the window. You know Whitney likes you when she wants to watch you out the window.

Tonight I'm meeting friends in Des Moines for dinner. Getting lots of me time lately :)

Whitney still doesn't like to poop on the toilet. She doesn't like to poop period, but we're thinking of forcing her to on the toilet, any thoughts?

First Words

2011-11-16T12:44:00.000-06:00

I am so excited to share this, I can't wait for her 9 month post. Ellie is learning her first words! Last week she woke up one morning and said "ah choo" for about two days straight. Whitney likes to "ah choo" at Ellie to startle her and to make her laugh. Just the other day she started repeating "no no". Sometimes it's a perfect no no, others it's more like nah nah. Cute! AND she is starting to take about 3 steps or so on her own!! She still has a lot of balance to figure out, not sure if she will be walking by 9 months or not, but it's getting close!

Blank Park Zoo, Round 5

2011-11-16T12:32:00.000-06:00

I know, just what you want to see is us at the zoo for the FIFTH time in a year! We have a membership and certainly got good use of it! We went monday afternoon. We practically had the place to ourself and the animals were pretty active (the ones that were still out that is).

the sea lion display is finished!! it had an underwater viewing and and above platform too. i did get pictures of sea lions swimming by but hte lighting was poor

acting like a kid again! i told Wade I wanted to get into rock climbing and he laughed at me, said I wouldn't be strong enough, I'll show him! (rock climbing walls of course)

Cousins

2011-11-14T10:28:00.000-06:00

Alania, Whitney and Callie

Ellie, Alaina, Whitney, Callie and Lawton

Whitney's First Haircut

2011-11-13T11:37:00.000-06:00

Whitney's mullet was getting quite long. She still has very little hair around her face, it was beginning to look like we needed to move into a trailer and time travel back to the 80's. I did it myself. It was hard to cut off what had taken so long to grow, but it's just hair, it will grow back. I did it in two different days. I cut it up a little, then evaluated and decided to cut up a little more. Really it wouldn't hurt to cut it up some more, maybe next time. No, I didn't save any of her hair, I'm not that sentimental of a person. Pictures work for me!

before

after, it's a little unkempt because it has not been combed yet today

Five Minute Friday

2011-11-11T12:32:00.000-06:00

I'm back!!! Yes, I neglected to post last friday. Wade was gone hunting and took the netbook and I do as little as possible on the dinosaur desktop in the basement.

I have hired two babysitters, I know, can you hardly believe it?!?! For those who know me well, you know that I do not like to leave my babies. I'm okay leaving Whitney, I know she is fine now, but I just have an attatchment to my babies. I suppose it's because they can't talk and I hate that pouty lipped whimper when someone different holds my babies. Whitney and Ellie both did/do this as babies. Maybe it's my breastfeeding attatchment. This is less of a plausible excuse with Ellie since she takes a bottle and formula. However, I do need to pump and hate to do it away from home. Speaking of pumping, I may be finishing up. I told myself I would go to 10 months, it is so close now, but I am loosing desire to continue. I know I have said this before, but I really am now. Just yesterday I breastfeed Ellie for the last time. It is too scary to let her latch on. I never know if she is fed up with me and will bite. Not worth it. She gets a bottle 100% of the time now. One of my top reasons for continuing was the convience of just going into her room in the middle of the night to let her nurse. She will be 9 months in 11 days, I may let myself call that good. I would be content with that.

Back to the babysitter. I used sittercity.com and found both my babysitters that way. It is free to military members! She is a sophomore at IA State (they both are). She came over for two hours. I picked up Wade and we went to Oled Main for appetizers and drinks. It had been at least 9 months since we had gone out alone together. You don't realize how important that time is until you do it. Wade has been bugging me for months to get a babysitter and I just never thought it was necessary. I admitted last night, "yes, I should have done this sooner!" Whitney did fine and said she liked her :) Ellie seemed to be okay too. It will be nice to get a babysitter established before Wade leaves. I will for sure need some relief then, and won't feel a bit bad paying for it!

I have the itch to buy Christmas presents already. Must come with having kids, I have never been this eager to buy gifts for anything!

I cut Whitney's mullet off. I don't love it, but it's better than what it was. It was so hard to cut off what had taken 2 1/2 years to grow!!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T14:27:00.003-05:00

I made pumpkin pancakes. Sunday night we weren't that hungry and didn't know what to make, so I said I would make pumpkin pancakes. Wade was very skeptical of them, in fact, he laughed at them as they were on the griddle. They were delicious!! Whitney said "no thanks, i'm not hungry for breakfast" but she decided otherwise after she tasted them with ice cream and cinnamon and sugur sprinkled on top!

my super garage sale skills got the dress and shoes for $3.50!!

she was so excited to trick or treat for a week straight, that when I finally got her ready to go and gave Ellie a bottle before we left the house, Ellie decided it was nap time. Whitney was fed up with waiting.

trick or treating on main street. Whitney had no recollection of this last year, so she was pretty nervous at first. It was nice not to carry Ellie, but manuevering a wagon in and out of stores by yourself was a bit challenging. The second store we went into was a photography studio and they would take your picture in the back and they also had the candy back there. Trying to nudge Whitney to go ahead of me as I pulled the wagon was not working. She was so frightened, I'm not sure if she passed out or tripped on her own feet, but I gave her a little push and she went face down stiff as a board, rolled off her basket flat on her back. Then just started sobbing. Not a great way to start. Thankfully she got over it and did good the rest of the time, even saying trick or treat and thank you.

Ellie did amazing in the wagon. She sat there for 1hr and 20 mins. She had a container of pretzels and her first sucker, she was good to go!

SUGAR BUZZ!

Whitney picked out suckers every time!

Round two of trick or treating Whitney wanted to be Dora so I made Ellie boots. Both costumes are super simple. Dora has white shoes, yellow socks, orange shorts, pink shirt, purple back pack. Whitney already has the brown hair brown eyes. Done. Ellie can't stand anything on her head so I didn't bother with really doing her costume. She was to sit in the wagon anyway. Well, unless you know who Dora is, it's kind of hard to tell what Whitney's costume was. Older folks had no idea and I'm certain they thought we just gave our kid a purple back pack to put her candy in. We were kind of embarrassed and even thought about running back home to get her Dorothy dress, but then figured Whitney is having a good time, and she thinks she is Dora, so who cares. I pulled the yellow tummy off Ellie, so she just looked like a boy. Oh well. No Dora and Boots next year.

these college kids? were going down the street and pretending they were a house??

Ellie's favorite activity, walking around holding your hands. Can you say "kills your back?!?" I remember Whitney doing this for a month and getting SO MAD if we walk with her.

Five Minute Friday

2011-10-28T14:07:00.000-05:00

I don't have a lot of time for this today, but I'm going to do it anyway because both girls are sleeping and this is the first time I have sat down since 6:30 this morning. Well, besides the time I sat in the car to drive to the dentist and back, and sit in the dentist chair. I am beginning to wonder if I am too young for dentures? Seriously. My gums feel tender and sore, exactly the way it felt before I needed a root canal. I figured I better not wait it out on a friday morning to see if it got worse. They had an opening at 9 am. This was 7:55 that I called. That is the fastest I have pumped and gotten three girls out the door. No root canal needed this time, but they couldn't tell me the reason for my soreness. I hate teeth. If you're wondering, I do brush daily, a good day I do it twice. I floss a few times a week. I don't drink pop or sugary drinks, but I do eat sugary food. I hate teeth.

My mom is coming today, woo hoo! Wade is hunting again this weekend, boo hoo. Whitney really needs some attention and love. I wish I had more time for her. I keep telling myself once Ellie can walk I will be more available. Available to Whitney, Wade, MYSELF, the house, etc. We're getting close.

Whitney is so excited for Halloween. I can't wait until Monday to do trick or treating on main street, and again that night. Whitney has been asking all week if she can go trick or treating. I tried to make a calendar and drew pictures on each day showing her what we were doing each day and when Halloween finally is. She didn't get it.

I tried to do a Chirstmas photo shoot with the girls in their cute matching dresses. I took them outside on a nice afternoon with a red velvet tree skirt for a blanket, some red ball ornaments and some garland and it just looks like I took Christmas pictures in the middle of fall. Didn't really come out the way I pictured it. Pooh!

Carving Pumpkins

2011-10-26T12:58:00.000-05:00

this was a brief moment she was actually having fun with the pumpkin guts. She was not that into it like she was last year. With all the Halloween cartoons on she has been asking repeatedly to go trick or treating. I think she will have fun with it this year!

she is very ready for the snow and cold. She will randomly ask if she can eat snow. not sure if she remembers that she was obsessed with eating it last year?? We rented Christmas Classics and she is very into Rudolph and the "hairy monkey" (abominable snowman)

whitney insisted on putting this on yesterday afternoon and when I asked her where she was going "I'm going to Wal-Mart!"

Ellison- 8 Months

2011-10-21T21:57:00.003-05:00

Just taught her that tonight!

My baby bear is 8 months old now. I could almost, almost, keep her at this baby age forever if I didn't already know that the fun is just beginning. She is learning so much so quickly and I am so looking forward to these next four months until she is one.

She is developing a fiesty personality lately. For the most part she is still happy all the time and will contently play by herself as long as she knows where I am. If you take something away from her or she is frustrated, watch out! She has crying temper fits and lately has taken to biting. Biting anything she can get her mouth on. She acts like an ornery little ankle biter dog that you don't want to cross. I am not looking forward to the day Whitney is on the receving end of the bite. She has three teeth, two on bottom and one on top. Her second top one should be popping through any day. She is just like Whitney getting one tooth at a time.

Sleep- We were getting better but she is getting over a cold right now so I hope she goes back to her old sleep pattern. She still goes to bed around 8:30, give or take depending on her last nap. She will wake between 4-6, nurse and go back to bed until 7ish, when she hears the rest of the house waking up. She will take a morning and afternoon nap if we are home. We usually are not home in the morning, so lately she will catch a quick snooze in the car and then take a 2-3 hr midday nap and that's it.

Eating- about 4-5 oz milk at a time. She prefers table food and lately will not eat off a spoon. I may be done buying baby food. I recently gave her a chicken nuggett (small bites of course). Amazing how much earlier you give things to your second. She has mastered the pincer grasp and prefers to feed herself. She still takes formula and just a few days ago I dropped down to 4 pumping sessions a day. I had a good supply going and rarely needed to supplement. I have a feeling my supply will drop more than I care for it to, but, oh well.

Milestones- She loves to play peek a boo. She holds a blanket over her head and waits for you to ask, "where is Ellie?" and then she'll pull the blanket down smiling. She has mastered the drop game. It isn't so bad when you have a two year old to keep picking up the items! She likes to do "so big". She can wave. She tries to share things and puts stuff in your mouth. She furniture cruises like no other and now likes to walk holding your hands. She knows exactly where she wants to go steering us around. She babbles a lot now, saying mama, dada, ba ba. She says dada when she is happy babbling and ma ma, or mom mom when she is whiney. I really think she is whining for me. She likes to "talk" and say "ahh" really loud when we use public restooms because they echo. Like I needed more attention drawn to me taking two girls to the bathroom. She is not a cuddler, but loves to cuddle soft blankets and stuffed animals. She can doodle. We have one of those magnetic doodle board things and she will watch me write and then she tries too.

playing peek a boo under our coffee table. she usually will bend down to peek under and then stand back up

Size- about 17lbs??, size 6-12 month clothes, size 3 diaper. She is a bit leaner than Whitney was, but she is a lot more mobile at this age

She is a total mama's girl, but what's wrong with that?!?

Five Minute Friday

2011-10-21T12:52:00.000-05:00

It's that time again when we learn of Wade's new duty assignment. It would probably take some big changes for this NOT to happen, but this is what the Army has planned for us next. Wade will complete his ILE course in Alabama starting January. I will stay here with the girls until he done with school in April, and then it is off to Offutt AFB, just outside of Omaha, NE for a two year assignment. We have been fortunate to stay around the midwest so far, Kansa, Missouri, Iowa and now Nebraska. Being in the Army we would like to take advantage of being able to live somewhere cool, so don't be surprised if we move far away next time. We would love Colorado, but so would everyone else. I would like to try Hawaii and Wade would like Alaska. We will see if either one of us wins that one. We for sure would like to live in Germany when the girls are older and will appreciate being able to do all of the touristy things. After Omaha, it is crazy to think that we will have to consider what school Whitney would be going to! When Wade finishes his course in April we have one week to get him home and us to Offutt. Makes my head spin thinking about the packing and unpacking that will happen in that week, but we've done it before many times. And finding a house while Wade is in Alabama, oy!!!

I have been on the hunt for a babysitter, trying out care.com and sittercity.com. Sittercity is free for military members so we'll see what luck I have with that. It looks like there are alot of candidates on those sites. Thanks to FB we can kind of see what kind of person they are, and if we can't find a profile at all we consider that a good thing! I will for sure need to take a break while Wade is gone for three months.

Callie Turns 2

2011-10-20T20:56:00.000-05:00

My niece Callie had her 2nd birthday party last weekend. Whitney just loves going to their house to play in their play room and out on their swing set. My little miss who doesn't go anywhere on her own will go upstairs and turn the light on herself to go play. She won't go back to her own room if it's dark!

her favorite present was a package of wipes!

Callie loves her Grandpa!

I was looking at her the other day as we were ready to go play at the gym thinking "when did she turn into a little girl with her pig tails, blue jeans, and UNDERWEAR on underneath!?!?"

Sniffles

2011-10-18T11:30:00.000-05:00

My girls have colds again... surprise surprise. Sunday Whitney's nose was dripping so i said, "hey sniffles, do you need to get a kleenex to wipe your sniffles?" She looked at me and looked at her sleeve, "no, I just wipe my nipples on my sleeve, okay." Wade and I about died laughing, I'm sure she was wondering what was so funny!

She also likes to ask Ellie if she is "faking" "are you faking?" She clearly does not know the context of the word. She also says "that be an idea?" as in, "we go to the park today, that be an idea?" or "that be fun?"

Five Minute Friday

2011-10-14T12:41:00.000-05:00

If you're expecting complaints out of me this friday you're not going to get it. I've been trying to focus on what I'm thankful for and seeing the joy in every day moments. If you would ask Wade he may say other wise, but really, I'm trying and I've been less stressed and ornery this week, really! So this friday I am doing a few of my favorite things.

apple cider donuts. I can't get enough right now. Dahls has this this weekend for 2.99 for 6. It's worth it. We had donuts for lunch today! And coffee, I love my coffee right now. (decaf)

Hudson jeans. have you heard of them? I had not, lucky for me they didn't fit my friend and she sold them to me super cheap. These babies will cost you close to 200 bones retail and I can see how they are worth every penny. They fit like a glove!, in a good way!

and of course my favorite girls, because who would I be without them right now?

and my favorite man who gives Whitney the love and attention she needs at the end of the day

Just the Beginning

2011-10-13T12:08:00.001-05:00

Ellie has been pushing around toys for a few weeks now. She is starting to get much better at it, however, I do think it will be a while before she masters the coordination to walk on her own. Another month? Even these last few days she is getting better and better and furniture cruising.

Potty Training Whitney

2011-10-11T11:50:00.001-05:00

It's time I do the potty training post, and I feel it's safe to say that she is potty trained. We certainly aren't going to revert back after making it this far! I (we) started potty training about 4 weeks ago. We had been trying to get her to use the toilet for a long time with occasional cooperation. We had been discussing setting a date to start the training because we weren't sure she would want to do it on her own, that she would need that decision made for her. She did transition to her big bed with no problem, so we were hoping the same for potty training. Well, the weekends started filling up (we wanted to start when we were both home so we could give the attention needed to both girls, because you hear of those potty training stories where you read a book for 20 minutes in the bathroom before they finally go) and we weren't sure when we were going to be able to commit to it.

Well, one monday morning she wanted to be naked butt and use the bathroom. She had been being "naked butt" more and more recently for an hour or two at a time. This monday morning I asked her if she wanted to be all done with diapers and be a big girl and use the potty. She said yes, I said okay, and we haven't looked back since. She surprisingly has very few accidents. We basically let her be naked for two weeks straight before we got grossed out by her naked butt all over everything and curious little fingers constantly touching herself, and then toys or snacks... you get the idea. We then let her be naked butt under her pants and just recently she has some interest in wearing underwear. It took a while for her to get the concept of underwear, she had more accidents in them. She does really well in pull ups. She is fascinated with public restooms, but doesn't like to use the if they look dirty. She will even ask to go more than once, but how do you tell a potty training two year old that they can't use the bathroom? Not an easy feat with a wiggling 7 month old.

She can hold her pee for longer periods now, and I am comfortable leaving the house without pullups for short trips and if there are bathrooms available. If I leave the pull up on too long after we get home she will likely wet it because she is too lazy/busy to use the toilet. She poops and sleeps in diapers. We have to ask her a lot or just take her to the bathroom. When she has pants and/or underwear on she is less likely to go on her own.

I'm very proud of her and surprised with how easy it has been for her. I guess we did the right thing with waiting for her to initiate it. I was begininning to think she would be three before she was potty trained (which I was okay with) because she had been so resistant to it previously. Great job Whitney! I'll pat myself on the back too, I didn't think I could start it without Wade's help and attention, and man, is it some extra work when you throw a baby into the mix too!

What the Heck....

2011-10-07T12:57:00.000-05:00

A long while back I said out loud, "what the heck are we going to do today?" Not really thinking 'what the heck' is a horrible thing to say, until it stuck in Whitney's head and she pulled it from that incredible (selective) 2 year old memory and ALL THE TIME she randomly will sing song... 'what the heck do today!" "what the heck do today!"

Five Minute Friday

2011-10-07T12:45:00.001-05:00

This is what is going on in my head today (lately). I won't lie, I have been overwhelmed/stressed with the day to day demands of being a SAHM. Now, I wouldn't trade it for the world to be able to stay home with my girls. I wouldn't go to work right now if you paid me (ha ha!). I think I have been feeling defeated lately because I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it's not getting brighter fast enough. Meaning- a full night of sleep is oh.... so...... close! Getting stuff done in the kitchen without a baby hanging on my legs is oh... so.... close! Not having to carry a baby on my hip while we are out is oh... so.... close! I love my little Ellie bear and I do cherish her baby days and just kiss those chubby baby cheeks all day, but I'm exhausted. . It's not just the baby phase that exhausts me. It is the 2 year old stage too. Not listening, whining, potty training, never been much a sleeper, etc. I know I need to suck it up and regroup and I'm not the only SAHM out there that also does it every single day who doesn't complain (publicly). There are more good moments than bad and I just need to shake that whoa is me mindset. I have had the opportunity to get out without the girls lately. I went out to eat with my SIL's one evening, I got an hour massage last weekend (heaven!) and have been to bible study two weeks in a row at 1 1/2 hrs each. I was okay without having me time with Whitney, but with two, whew!, I sure need it and feel great after I get it. Call me a whimp, I don't care, that's how I feel right now and I know it will get easier. I am grateful for being able to stay home and know many moms would stay home if they had the opportunity. I can vent, can't I?

As for my breastfeeding update... I will go to 8 months because that is only two weeks away now. My long term goal is to make it 10 months. That will put us literally right before Christmas and before Wade will have to leave in January. I'm holding this goal loosely, but I think I can do it.

Boone Scenic Valley Railway

2011-10-03T13:29:00.001-05:00

Yesterday afternoon we went to Boone to ride the train. Wade and I never had so we figured since we were so close we may as well go. It was a gorgeous day and the leaves are starting to turn. Well.... we weren't the only ones with the great idea to ride the train. It was PACKED!!! The train left 15min behind schedule and they claimed they are always punctual, but so many people showed up that day to ride. It was about an hour and a half ride and the girls did well. It was at 1:30, so it was at Whitney's nap time and she fell asleep on the ride back. It is crazy how high up the trestle bridge is.

if you click on the picture you can see Ellie's bottom teeth :)

Five Minute Friday

2011-09-30T08:31:00.001-05:00

I am starting to loose steam on my desire to continue breastfeeding. There have always been more reasons to stop, they are just starting to come to the forefront of my mind. Like..... having to wear a bra 24/7 is irratating, having my nipples sucked by a pump five time a day is less than awesome, taking the time to pump, having Ellie crawl all over me while I try to pump, taking my pump with me and finding a place to pump while we leave the house for a day, pump parts and pump bottles cluttering my counter, having a pump bag sitting in our living room... and it doesn't help that I feel less of an attatchment because I pump. Ellie wakes up once in the early morning and will breastfeed then, so I don't have that breastfeeding bond like I did with Whitney. During the day Ellie does not want me AT ALL anymore.

What is keeping me going is the nutrition of breast milk. It is what she has been drinking for 7+ months. I fed Whitney for 11 months so I want to do the same for Ellie. I stay home so it isn't as difficult to pump as I make it sound. My supply is just fine. Ellie will take formula if she needs to. And least important to me but is a nice bonus, is that breast milk is FREE! I am undecided what to do, set a new goal to keep going to 8 months??? Oh yeah, they calorie burn of breastfeeding is a nice bonus too. I won't complain about getting sucked down to pre pregnancy weight after two kids in a matter of six months. BUT, it does take a lot of energy to breast feed and some days I feel completely depleted, no pun intended.

The Bible study that I went to last year started back up again. Wade was able to watch the girls and I was able to attend worry free. Sometimes it amazes me on what the lesson is on, like they knew I was going to attend this week. It was about the power of our tounge and the words we use. How quickly it can praise or critisize and the effect our words have on people. I tend to complain and be critical to Wade, which he tells me all the time I need to think before I speak and am I intentionally trying to piss him off? The study asked if you have recently started a fire with your tounge that you needed to put out. Why yes, just last week. How did they know? So, it was a good reminder for me to watch what I say and to be more careful and selective with my words. I hung the lesson on my fridge for a daily reminder. Just as I say to Whitney, if you speak nicely to me I will speak nicely to you.

Fun With Friends

2011-09-26T15:14:00.000-05:00

My old friend Misty, and I don't mean she is old, I mean we have been friends for a long time... like pre kindergarten long time... came for a visit this last weekend. She brought her soon to be 3 year old Griffen and fiance Artie, also a friend from my hometown. It's one of those friendships where you just pick up where you left off. We don't talk on the phone and we email occasionaly to check in or to have some girl talk. If we're lucky we get to see each other about once a year. Fun weekend. The kids got along really well, Griffen is such a sweet boy.

Saturday afternoon we went to the orchard again.

that's me and little Ellie bear, she liked it too!

Misty, Griffen and Artie

Five Minute Friday

2011-09-23T21:14:00.000-05:00

I don't have a lot to say this friday, and yes, it is still friday. 9pm, but it's still friday. I love today. It is the fall equinox. It is the perfect temperature and the perfect amount of light. Dark enough in the morning to sleep in a bit, and gets dark at night just before bath time. Every day could be the first day of fall. 7 months in and I am still struggling with juggling a house, kids and a marriage. Maybe by the time the girls are in college I'll have it down pat! I am going to try to plan out meals a week at a time, and maybe a month at a time if I'm really good at it. All I have to do is plan it, Wade takes care of the cooking! I should be able to handle that. And buy the groceries to go along with the plan.

wade asked me to keep an eye on the sauce as he went out to grill a chicken breast, I don't think this was supposed to be a secret ingredient!

Whitney let me do this to her hair today! it last a couple of hours

Whitney's random photography, hilarious to go through the camera to see what she takes pictures of. Through the eyes of a child!

ellie bear

Ellison- 7 month photos

2011-09-22T21:21:00.000-05:00

Ellison- 7 Months

2011-09-22T11:13:00.001-05:00

Ellie continues to be my sweet happy baby girl. I am so lucky to have such an easy going baby. She contently plays by herself sucking away on her pacifier. In the last few weeks she has developed an attatchment to pacifiers.   It looks strange to me, but traveling and just hanging out around the house is even more peaceful now than it was before. Ellie loves Whitney to pieces and just smiles and giggles when Whitney is being silly. Ellie continues to be a mama's girl and will immediately quiet and smile after she is handed to me when Wade is trying to watch her. The other day I showered and Wade said she just sat outside the door, knowing I was in there.

Stats- Ellie is around 17lbs. She wears a size 3 diaper and 6-12 month clothing.

Sleep- getting better. Now that we are over ANOTHER cold and I had to be mean mommy, she goes to bed around 8:30 and will wake between 4 and 5, I will nurse her then and she will sleep another 2-3hrs. I can live with that for now. If we are home she will take a morning and afternoon nap. If we are on the go she will catch little naps when she can and then take one good one mid day. I have started to just put her in her bed for naps and she crys it out for a few minutes. If I don't she will just go and go and get cranky. That also helps for the middle of the night when wakes up, it doesn't take as long for her to cry it out then. I keep some pacifiers in her crib so somtimes she will find those during the night.

Eating- the same as before. She will not take more than 4 oz at a time.  She is primarily on breast milk but will continue to take formula if necessary to supplement at the end of the day. Still only wants a bottle during the day, which suits me.  It is pretty nice not to have to sit down to nurse when we are out. Which is funny because when I exclusively nursed Whitney I thought that was the easy way to go. She eats twice a day plus a few snack items like puffs, yogurt melts, crackers, etc. She is not crazy about fruit but does well with vegetables.   She likes to drink water straight out of a cup but I don't do that often because she spills it down her shirt.

Milestones- not too many new tricks. She is getting a little more stable as she stands and plays, which is a few less bruises to the forehead. She is starting to let go to try to stand alone, that doesn't last but a second or two. She can slowly furniture cruise. She can crawl incredibly fast and will venture all over the house, especially if we have left the room and she is trying to keep up. She can feed herself small pieces of food, she has learned to open her fist to get the food in there. Nice, but kind of dangerous because now I REALLY have to keep on no small objects or food pieces dropped on the floor.   She has one bottom left tooth with the other bottom tooth through the gums. She is starting to experiment with sounds, with baa baa baa being her favorite.   I have heard ma ma ma a few times, but not in reference to me. She is also fond of EEEEE!! She sounds like mini me off of Goldmember.

pictures to add later......

Farmyard

2011-09-16T12:32:00.001-05:00

We went back to Center Grove Orchard on Sunday. Whitney had lots of fun!! And we did too, of course.

just like her daddy, she chooses a seat in the last row!

we were trying to finish up lunch and Whitney spotted the hill slide. She was anxious to go, so she told us "i go by myself" and off she went and didn't look back once. Wade followed her from a distance and she climbed to the top of the hill. who knows if she would have gone down by herself. You ride a burlap sack down and it is FAST!!!

Some other things we did but didn't get pictures was the bounce pillow, feeding the animals and the hay ride. Fun place!

Five Minute Friday

2011-09-16T11:40:00.001-05:00

I have a few things to talk about this friday. Ellie picked up her 4th cold all on her own this week. It started monday and finally last night she was able to sleep 5hrs straight in her crib. She was/is so terribley stuffed up she had to sleep in bed with me propped up on pillows waking up every 1-2 hrs to choke, cough and cry. Then I would nurse her back to sleep. I see some sleep training coming up again in our near future. Isn't breast milk supposed to be some super power? I think Whitney has had about 4 colds in her life.

Speaking of Whitney, we started potty training on monday and she is doing absolutely fantastic. We had been talking about setting a date and to just start doing it, but monday she wanted to be "naked butt" and use the potty, so I asked if she wanted to be all done with diapers and she said yes, so I went with it. I haven't done anything special and she had occasionaly been using the potty when it suited her, the timing was just right for both of us. She even keeps her pull ups dry when we leave the house and she is okay with going potty in public restooms. Not such an easy feat trying to hang on to a squirming baby and to keep Whitney from falling in the toilet, but it has to be done. She prefers to be naked butt or naked butt under her pants. She's not crazy about underwear. So far so good. She has been so accepting of it, that I can probably say that I have a potty trained toddler. I will post more later about her potty training.

Hunting season is starting back up. I have the girls alone this weekend and next. It seems like yesterday that I had Whitney alone every weekend in Novemember and I would take her to church every Sunday morning.

Whitney had her first nightmare last night, she thought an alligator with two teeth was trying to chomp her in her bed and she was terrified to go back to sleep. I blame it on Cailou. Just that day Caliou was afraid to go to sleep and thought monsters were in his room. By the time I noticed what the episode was Whitney was already sucked in and looked scared so I wanted her to see that everything was okay in the end. Hope she doesn't do that this weekend.

I made my first apple sauce. It was good but needs a few adjustments.

We went to play pals this morning. Whitney was much better at independent play than she was last year.

I am desperate to hit some fall garage sales for 3t winter tops, size 7 shoes, and a Halloween costume for Whitney.

Whitney is so comical in the things she says lately. She is constantly telling me "two hands mommy" when I am driving. She randomly asks, are we lost. Are you lost mommy? and are we there yet, are we there yet, are we there yet?

Five Minute Friday

2011-09-09T15:07:00.001-05:00

Five minute friday skin care edition. I don't have great skin, never have, but I figure now that I'm in my 30's I better start to fork over some dough for the good stuff. I have a lot of sun spots, acne scars, etc that aren't going away on their own. I don't break out a lot, just the occasional pimple. Like I said, my biggest problem is evening out my complexion. Because we are visual creatures I took a picture of the products that I have been using recently and I like them and think they are working. I love to know what works before I spend my money, so if any of you care to know.....

Ambi- sold at drugstores/big retailers around $10. It has hydroquinone which is a lightener. Not ever where carries it and you really have to look for it, like on the bottom shelf. I think it is marketed towards black people, but it works for every one

Philosiphy- this was a gift so I can't tell you what it costs, but I know Philosphy will cost you a few pennies. Purity is great, but my FAVORITE is the microdelivery exfoliating wash. I keep it in the shower, LOVE IT!!!

Clinique Even Better Clinical Dark Spot Corrector- I ordered the 1.7 oz for $59 off ebay to save a few bones, other wise I think it is about 69 at a department store. It works, just not as quickly as I would like it to.

Aveeno Positively Radiant light tint SPF 30- 14.95 at Wal-Mart. It's a moisturizer and foundation in one! And with the soy it supposedly evens skin tone too. Being 31 I need the daily spf of 30, I decided 15 was too low now and I'm too lazy/rushed to put on any foundation before I leave the house. Now with this, I can put it on, add a little blush and done. A little better than before! It is very light weight, and I don't recommend using your serums underneath, it didn't mesh well and the Aveeno kind of peeled/globbed up. So, use alone or wait until your serum completely dries before applying

Cleansing cloths- idk, $5? I always buy the generic brand, they all work the same to me. Again, I'm lazy and looking to cut a few minutes off the bed time rountine and they're super easy. I can wipe my face and done and I never feel dirty after using them.

Best Friends

2011-09-08T13:48:00.000-05:00

Yesterday afternoon we were in the back yard having a little snack picnic, and Whitney climbs on my lap and says, "you're a best friend to me." Awww, melt my heart! I don't know where she learns these things, but I like it!

Picking Apples

2011-09-07T13:37:00.001-05:00

My parents came down for Labor Day weekend. After rainy saturday day, the rest of the weekend was absolutely beautiful. We did the usual... went to the mall and took the girls to parks and out on walks. Monday morning I found an orchard to go to centergroveorchards.com. The weather was perfect and we had lots of fun. They have THE BEST apple donuts!! We are so excited about this place being so close that we got season passes. After this weekend the farm yard opens, can't wait! If anyone wants to go with me, give me a jingle. Age 3 and under is FREE!

Five Minute Friday

2011-09-02T16:03:00.000-05:00

SEPTEMBER!!!! Who else is so excited that it is September and the cool weather is on its way?!?! Fall is my favorite!

I'm not going to talk about my kids today, because who but me and Wade wants to hear about them all the time? Today I had the luxury of going on a walk/run (mostly walking, I'm not going to mislead anyone into thinking I'm any sort of runner) at Ada Hayden lake. Wade asked if there was anything I wanted to do by myself before he went into school. I chose to exercise. I have not exercised for.... let's count. Whitney is 28 months + 9 months of pregnancy = 37 months. Let's say 3 yrs because I have gone on the occasional stoll, but haven't raised my heart rate above a brisk walk for 3 yrs. Wow. That's a long time, considering I have always been one to exercise. I don't exercise to lose weight or to look like an aerobics instructor. I simply like a little bit of muscle tone and it just makes you feel good.

Okay, so I tried to run today and I got such a painful side stitch I had to walk. I figured for my first time out I better not push it and just enjoy being out alone in nature with the occasional other passerby. So let me tell you, I weigh between 105-110 and not because I diet or exercise. It is simply from taking care of my kids and I don't over indulge in bad food and drink. Believe me, I indulge, just reasonably. For those of you who know me you know I will eat anything. I'm not a calorie snob. Just because I am thin does not mean I am fit. My lungs feel like lead weights and every muscle in my legs were tingling. Even my shoulders were sore from swinging my arms back and forth! After I drove home I about fell out of the truck as my legs betrayed me after I tried to step on the ground again. It will be a slow process, but I will regain physical fitness again!! For now, I will accept that my 50+ age parents are in FAR better shape than I am right now! Heck, I think my 80 year old land lord is in better shape than me right now!

Ellison-6 Month Update

2011-08-30T17:14:00.000-05:00

We had Ellie's 6 month appt. today. She weighs 16lbs 13oz and is 26 inches. They went through the checklist asking me what she can do, and I said, and she can crawl and pull up to standing. The nurse joked, are you sure this isn't her 9 month appt?!?! um, no, my baby is crazy. just look at her.........

I love how she hooks her little toes under the tray, just like Whitney used to do
(that's a plastic cookie, give me a break people!)

why sit down and play when you can stand?!?!

Over the weekend Ellie learned to pull up, on E V E R Y T H I N G!!! She's a little dangerous. Correction, she's a lot dangerous because she is so little and unstable yet. She has no fear of consequences and is already cruising a little bit too. She lets go of what she is hanging on to and you can see her thinking, "where can I go next?"

Her favorite thing to do right now is stand, and after that is to play with balloons and her sister. She's not digging her bouncer any more I suppose becasue she's trapped and can't go any where. She will stand at the outside of it and play, but God forbid she have to play inside of it.

Who knows what I will post at her 7 month update, walking????? Now that would be really crazy.

Today's Funny

2011-08-27T07:50:00.000-05:00

Now that Ellie is crawling Whitney is just dying to ride on her back and asks me all the time, "can I ride on her?" No honey, she is too little. One day I even found Whitney sitting on her back. Fortunately she knew better than to put all of her weight on her back. Yes, I'm sure she looks like a fun little ride scootin across the floor, but please stay off of your sister! :)

Five Minute Friday

2011-08-26T13:41:00.001-05:00

Ahhhh, that is me breathing a sigh of relief that it is friday. The girls are asleep and One Life to Live is on. This is not going to be my typical friday post where I ramble on. We have been trying to keep extra busy as Wade is gone to help the days go by quickly, which they surprisingly have. The girls have been on great behaviour, minus Whitney's attitude at my sister's house. I don't know why, but she seems to be at her worst when we go there, even though she has so much fun. Maybe she just gets worn out and cranky??? I do want to give a little rant about an ornery guy at a garage sale who sent Whitney into an hour long tantrum. I was driving home this morning and saw a garage sale sign the next block over so I circled around and pulled up to the garage sale. They had all kinds of kid stuff set out, other people were stopping. I got Whitney out and she was so excited to see all the toys and this man comes down the drive way, "we don't open until 11. we're not open yet! we're not open until 11" as he is herding us back down the driveway like cattle. Another car pulled up and he went up to their window and very rudely told them "we don't open until 11!" serious???? it was 10:30, everything was set out and they were all outside. do you want to sell your crap or what?!?!? So, Whitney was devasted that we didn't get to look at all the fun toys and she cried about it and I couldn't find another garage sale to take her to. fun. thanks ornery guy, we're not going back to your house.

all the grandkids love gramdma and grandpa, again, I did not get any pictures of Lawton, ugh!

Ellie loved the pool this time, it certainly helps that they keep it warm as bath water!

this is my little groove girl. I tried to tell her that Ellies pants were too small, but go ahead and put them on. Well, they fit, only as capris. then she wanted to wear her socks pulled up with her sandals (she's not crying, the sun was just really bright)

this is how we do our daily strolls

Ellie thinks she is little miss stander. she can pull up to the leather couch because she can keep her grip on it. she is trying to pull up on EVERYTHING, she doesn't realize she is only six months old with the ambition of a ten month old

Too Tired for Temper Tantrums

2011-08-23T16:42:00.000-05:00

I put her in her room for time outs, this afternoon she was just too tired to keep whining.

Ellison- 6 Months

2011-08-23T11:50:00.002-05:00

I have a six month old!!!!! I just love her right now. She is so happy, chubby and just darn cute. She has the sweetest little voice as she experiments with different sounds.   This is the baby stage that I love. She is so easy going and hardly ever throws little fits, unless I am changing her diaper or trying to get her dressed. She eats well and does really good with playing by herself and kind of exploring around.

Sleep- Totally sporadic. She has been completely messed up as we pick up cold after cold this summer. She either takes two good naps a day, or three short ones.  Her bedtime is between 8 and 9. She knows her routine and wants her bottle just after she gets her jammies on.

Eating- She drinks breast milk and formula if needed. I haven't decided what I am going to do with pumping now that I made it to my 6 month goal. I have dropped down to pumping 5 times a day. She generally drinks about 4oz at a time. She eats baby food well but I think she prefers vegetables over fruits and really doesn't care for bananas. We have tried puffs and yogurt melts, broken into smaller pieces and she likes those. I have tried a cracker and she did okay with that.

Size- size 3 diaper, not necessarily because she needs that size or protection, but she's close enough and it's easier to have one diaper size in the house. She wears 6-12 month clothes.

Milestones- crawling, gets into sitting position, pulls up to standing on things that are lower to the ground, starting to make different sounds besides aahh, but it is only vowels sounds, oooh, e, o, a.

Her eyes are still blue and her hair is still blonde. She is such a happy baby and people comment on that all the time. I am truly lucky, as my first child was not so easy going and is still not. She loves watching her sister and laughs at her all the time. She may be easy going, but that doesn't mean she is not busy. She is not much of a stroller baby or a car seat rider, though she is far better compared to Whitney as a baby. She does not have any teeth yet, but I suspect one will be popping through in the next week or two. She still has stranger danger and prefers her mom. She does okay with others holding her if I am not around.

I hope to get some recent pictures up soon and to add more about her development as I think of it.   We have her six month appt. next week.

Picture Update

2011-08-19T11:21:00.000-05:00

at dairy queen with Grandma Cathy, Ellie even got some and loved it!

I got some beads and pipe cleaner for Whitney to do special crafts while Ellie is sleeping

at Lake Sundown with Grandma Cathy. We succusfully "camped" but I don't think I will be doing any more camping until Ellie can walk is off the breast milk. Monday we closed on more land.

trying a ritz cracker for the first time

Where's Ellie? She is starting to venture off so I never know where I will find her when I come back into the room.

she is trying to pull up already, yikes!

Five Minute Friday

2011-08-19T07:48:00.001-05:00

My children are sick AGAIN!!! Poor things, third time in about two months. With company from last weekend it is unfortunate that the cousins end up sharing a little more than toys. Whitney's symptoms started monday morning and for the most part she is unaffected from the cold symptoms, besides a little extra crankiness in the morning when her nose is stuffed up from the night. Other than that she is herself and can still sleep just fine. Ellie's cold symptoms started wednesday. She just wasn't quite her usual happy self. Unlike Whitney, Ellie cannot sleep through a cold. Last night was AWFUL!!!! We got little snippets of sleep as I tried to prop her up on pillows in our bed to keep her comfortable. But, as soon as she realized I was around she would want to nurse, so she ended up sipping and sleeping all night long. I hope this passes soon. Just when she was sleeping goood and up to 8 hrs, it will be back to sleep training (again) since she will probably get in the habit of waking and nursing again. Knock on wood, I do not have the cold (yet).

As I mentioned we had a garage sale last weekend. It was a huge success and we ended up with great weather all weekend! We all got rid of lots of stuff and have minimal to put away. Lee and Jess did especially well raking in more than $500!!! You should have seen the trailer they unloaded! We have had three garage sales in about a year and a half, so it should be a while until we have one again.

Wade left yesterday for a 10 day antelope hunting trip to South Dakota with his Dad, Brother and Cousin. Wade has been planning this trip for months, no joke. He has been on the phone and internet relentlessly, so thank goodness the trip is here, I about couldn't take all the planning any more! I think my SIL will agree!

All the plants in my house are dying except for one arrangement I got from my old boss in Manhattan KS. I suppose it's better that I neglect my plants than my children. And we can never get into a house that has good lighting for them.

New Tricks, New Problems

2011-08-14T07:53:00.000-05:00

Ellie quickly mastered getting into the sitting position from her hands and knees. Now last night she woke up and I was letting her cry because it was way too early for her to be waking up, like she had only been asleep like 3 hrs. She started crying a little too loudly so I knew something was wrong like maybe her leg was stuck through a crib rail or something. No, she was just sitting her crib crying, like "I'm tired but now I'm sitting here and I don't know what to do!" She did this twice last night. Ugh, it's always something. I remember when Whitney learned to stand she would pull up in her crib and stand there and cry like she was stuck. Just when we were getting some shut eye at night......

Five Minute Friday

2011-08-12T08:03:00.001-05:00

I feel like it should be five second friday. We have so much to do today, but I'm pumping so I do have five minutes and I may as well be doing something. We are having a garage sale today. We had two successful garage sales last year, so don't ask me how we have so many things again this year. Along with my two SIL's, we come up with a lot of stuff!! I guess I do have all my baby stuff up to 6 months that Ellie doesn't need any more. A friend came over last night to pre-shop and asked if it felt sad to be getting rid of all of the baby stuff. You know, it didn't even cross my mind so no, it doesn't feel sad. I am in such clean out declutter mode, that it is like good riddance!! And a majority of the clothes was my sister's so maybe I don't have such an attatchment because I didn't actually buy the stuff?? I keep saying stuff, it's not stuff, it's good quality belongings. Maybe that's how you tell yourself it's okay to sell things, you call it stuff and not belongings. Now I am rambling.

I thought Ellie crawling early would be really awesome, you know, less carrying her around (which I do a lot because I have mommy guilt when I leave a room without her) but she is dangerous because she is so curious yet clumsy!!! Yesterday she hit her head on our fireplace bricks and smashed her forehead on the bottom shelf of our coffee table. (don't have heart attacks grandma's, she'll be okay, my mother in particular, and yes I did raise the crib rail) It is not very safe for me to leave the room or pump while she is on the loose! I guess practice makes perfect and I don't remember it being so dangerous with Whitney because I had about every second of the day to keep my eye on her.

Ellie finally slept 8hr 15min last night!!! I think she has done that once so far!! The not so fun part was that at 5:15 she felt pretty refreshed and it took her an hour to decide she was sleepy again.

Whitney has been less whiney this week. I have been trying extra hard to give her more attention and patience. She really needs hugs and kisses ALL THE TIME to be a good girl. Her new favorite saying when we ask if to do something or if she wants something, "no way!" "uh uh" or if she does want something "okay okay" "yeah sure" Silly goose! Instead of whining all the time she has taken to asking "can I do that" or "can I help". She wants to do EVERYTHING, she can even crawl up into her car seat by herself now, thank goodness the Xterra has a step rail, it is one less step for me to put her up into her seat.

Ellie is Crawling!!!

2011-08-11T13:13:00.001-05:00

Ellie is crawling!!! Just yesterday she has really taken off. She went length wise across the room, about 15 feet. She is getting faster and more aggressive each day. Not the greatest video, but you get the idea, I'll get a better video eventually.

Five Minute Friday

2011-08-05T13:14:00.001-05:00

I am so tired of whining. Don't mistake whining for winning, no, no , no. I did not have a typo. Whitney's whining is out of control and I'm at my whit's end (ha, no pun intended, seriously). It is nails on the chalk board whining like one of those old wind up sirens, it just increases in intensity. We are pretty diligent about asking her to speak nicely and she can turn it off and ask nicely. It that doesn't work or I simply don't have the patience to work with her she goes to her room with the door shut. It's worse when we are at home. I can recongnize the contributing factors to this whining She is bored of being at home and jealous of the attention that Ellie requires. Whitney is a huge cuddler and craves physical contact. We stay busy, even during the recent heat. We go to the park 3-4 mornings of the week and again at night if it is cool enough. We go to the library, shopping, play outside in the hose, eat popsicles, etc. She is pretty spoiled with everything I try to do for her (maybe that's the problem) We are busy with family nearly every weekend and she adores her grandparents and cousins on both sides. I gather I'm not alone, but someone with older kids, please tell me they grow out of this!

Ellie is sleeping really great now. She goes to bed around 8:30/9 now and wakes up like clock work at 4:30, eats and goes back down for a few more hours. She has learned to crawl. Yep, she is 5 1/2 months and crawling. Insane. Not crawl across the room crawling, but she is on her hands and knees, alternating hand, leg, hand, leg. Total text book crawling. She only goes 2-3 feet before she gets wiped out and it will take her a minute or two to go that far. I suppose it is mentally and physically challenging for her age. She also can just about get into a sitting position from her hands and knees. Again, insane. We worked with Whitney to get her to crawl and she was just shy of 8 months before she crawled. With Ellie it seems instinctual. Whitney excelled with her vocabulary and early walking and I guess Ellie with her active ambition for motion. Thank goodness Ellie is such a good and happy baby while I am dealing with a tempermental toddler who replies to everything with "NOOOO" even if two seconds later she means yes. Then it's, "I DOOO IT!"

And I must say, I seriously love One Life to Live. I look forward to the one o'clock hour every day. I just may cry when it goes off the air.

Welsh Family Reunion

2011-08-03T14:13:00.000-05:00

I did horrible about getting pictures, just too busy I guess. It was a great weekend with great weather and great company. A picture of the Welsh clan and Ellie with "Uncle Poppa"

Blank Park Zoo, Round 3

2011-08-03T14:09:00.000-05:00

My parents came for a visit a few weeks ago and I am finally getting some pictures up. We went to a small lake saturday morning for some swimming and then the zoo on Sunday. Our membership has paid for itself and then some. I don't anticipate us going again this month, but Sept when it has cooled off some will be nice. And maybe Ellie will start to notice the animals, maybe? Yeah, probably not yet.

the grand finale of the zoo. we were feeding the swan in the above pictue and it latched on to her finger. I was feeding it too so it was biting me, so i doubt it hurt her. She STILL talks about that darn swan biting her finger!!

What to Wear?

2011-07-30T09:07:00.000-05:00

I'm going to rant as I sit here pumping. TMI? I don't care. I'm trying to get ready to go to a family reunion today and I have nothing to wear, literally. Well, unless I want to wear a boring old t-shirt, which I opted for. I tried some of cute tops and it's like, nope, nursing bra hangs out. Nope, nursing tank is too bulky. Nope, not going to wear a nursing bra, normal tank, and shirt. Too much for this weather and too annoying to get through all those layers to pump. UGHH!! I'm back to pre preggo weight, but certainly not to pre preggo body. Can't wear that shirt and/or pants, muffin top hangs out, stomach roll is too visible. It's moments like this that I want to be done nursing, but I will soldier on becasue these moments are few and far between. How often does a SAHM dress nicely? Not very often. It's moments like these that reassure me of our decision to be done at two. I will never have to do this again. It will be a short six months until I am completely done. Right?!?!

Five Minute Friday

2011-07-29T17:16:00.002-05:00

Hello Friday!! I love you today!!! I am home alone with Ellie and it is MARVELOUS!!! We have a Welsh family reunion this weekend so Wade left a little early and took Whitney with him. I love my little Whit Whit but it is nice to have quiet time with Ellie and to get stuff done at home. I have a list a mile long that is slowly getting checked off. I would be getting more done had I not had a tooth ache that needed emergency attention. The root of my top front tooth next to my big tooth has been tender periodically for years. I assumed it was tender because of having braces and tooth movement. And most recently I thought it was starting to get sore again because I have been less than consistent with wearing my retainer. Two days ago it really started to hurt and my gums got red and sore. It hurt so bad last night I wanted to throw up. This morning I go to the dentist (in Ankeny because that's the closest practice that accepts our insurance) and find out that I need a root canal. YIKES!!! The kicker is that they can't get me in until Aug 9. I'm beginning to think I should have gotten dentures instead of braces, I do not have the strongest most healthiest teeth.

Now, on to Ellie. She is mobile now. Not in a crawl across the room mobile, but she can rock on her hands and knees and throw herself forward to get what she wants. Interesting. She is for sure at least a month ahead of Whitney's mobility. She seems to be my active grabby baby. She is the reason I am home alone with her. We are in the middle of a sleep battle. I started sleep training her (again) a few nights ago. She was getting better but dramatically regressed and is going through that seperation crying as soon as I lay her down. One night she woke up e.v.e.r.y h.o.u.r. We have been doing the cry it out method. No going in every few minutes to let her know I'm here, just strict cry it out. That's what seems to be working for her, which is funny because with Whitney I had to do the Ferber method(periodic checking) Last night was the best night. She went to bed at 9, woke up at 11:45, cried for two minutes and then slept until 4. I hope I win this one, I've been sleep deprived for far too long!!

Story City Carousel

2011-07-22T15:14:00.000-05:00

We visited the Story City Carousel today. Wade found a garage sale ad on craig's list that he wanted to check out, so we made a little family trip to Story City just north of Ames. The carousel is an old wooden one, one of the few left in the U.S. It went surprisingly fast. Whitney was not very fond of it and didn't want to ride again. Ellie thought it was great!

Ellison- 5 Months

2011-07-22T15:00:00.000-05:00

Ellie is 5 months today. I just love this baby stage. I love the 5-8 month range when they are learning new things, able to eat foods and learning to crawl. Ellie continues to be a happy baby and is easily amused, especially by big sister who unfortunately does not think a giggling little sister is as cute as I do.

She rides in the car just okay now. If we travel any distance it is best to do it at nap time.

Sleep- getting better. She goes down for the night around 8:30 and has been doing 5-7 hrs for her first stretch. She will then do about 2 hr increments after that and wake up for good in the morning between 6 and 7. She is never fussy during the night and goes right to bed after I nurse her. I did a little bit of sleep training that if she woke up too early, I didn't feed her. She wasn't too happy about that. I also put her in warmer pj's which seemed to help as well. Maybe she was just cold??? We all picked up round two of colds, so Ellie is way stuffy by morning. That certainly isn't helping the sleep department. Poor thing is only 5 months old and has had a cold for the last month straight. We no joke were not completely over the first cold and we got a second one. Naps- not quite regular because we are busies in the morning. If we are home she will usually take a long morning nap and another afternoon nap. If she catches a short morning nap while we are on the go she will take a long mid day nap with a little pick me up early evening/late afternoon.

Eating- she takes a bottle of pumped breast milk during the day and then nurses in the middle of the night and upon waking in the morning. She drinks 3-4oz at a time whenever I think she may be hungry. She eats really well, however the cereal seems to harden her poops too much so she only gets cereal once every other day. There hasn't been a baby food that she has refused to eat.

Size- she has grown out of most of her 3-6 month clothing. She wears a size 2 diaper and a 3 at night. I don't change her diaper in the middle of the night in order to keep her in sleep mode, so she needs that extra protection. Lately she has peed out her 2's at nap time so as soon as we get through the 2's I'm going to bump her up. I'm going to have a 2 year old and a 5 month old in size 3's!!

Milestones- sits unsupported, rolls front to back and back to front, rocks on her hands and kees, blows razzberries, coos, tries to pick up small objects, likes to stand, laughs, shakes rattles, pulls around in a cricle, works to get a toy out of reach

She has stranger danger and little tolerance for other people holding her, including Wade. She is starting to dislike her little tub, which stinks because she is a little too unsteady yet in the big tub and it is really hard to lean over the tub to hold her. She loves her bouncer and to get out to see new places.

Five Minute Friday

2011-07-22T09:37:00.000-05:00

I don't have much to say this friday morning. It's been a HOT and boring week. I tried to keep our routine as much as possible.... going to the library, getting groceries at 8am and going to parks early in the morning. The rest of day is spent indoors. We got a nice break in the weather yesterday with some rain storms.

Whitney saw her first rainbow!!! I couldn't capture how big and bright it was with our small digital camera, but it was a good one!! It was even a double rainbow that stuck around for a long time. Whitney saw it and says, "it's not a sticker"

I let her out in the down pour last night, then decided it would be best to just let her be naked, then decided we would give her a redneck bath!! Wade got the soap and washed her up, that is her washing her hair.

Recent Pictures of the Girls

2011-07-19T13:52:00.000-05:00

Welcome Home Lee!!

2011-07-19T13:39:00.000-05:00

Our brother in law is home from Afghanistan after a year long deployment. He is one of the many Iowa National Guard soldier's returning home. The ceremony was thursday afternoon in Boone.

after the ceremony, combing Grandma Cathy's hair

Grant was so excited to have his Daddy home!!

Five Minute Friday

2011-07-15T08:19:00.001-05:00

Okay, I'm going to type away for five minutes then later today I hope to get some photos up.
I have been breastfeeding/pumping for 20+ weeks now, yay me! I am a little less strict on my pumping schedule, going closer to 3 hrs than my previously rigid 2-2.5 hr schedule. I don't mind if Ellie is no longer on exclusive bm like she had been just so she can keep the taste of formula in her mouth because it is super nice to have formula as a back up. She still does not like the breast during the day, I gather she prefers the steady flow of a bottle. In other Ellie news she learned to roll back to front!!! I am elated that she is learning new tricks to gain a little more independence. She is also sleeping a bit better at night. She has done 6,7, and 8 hrs this week, with a few nights of waking up after a few hours. I'll take it, I think we are on the right track!

Yesterday we had a welcome home ceremony for our BIL Lee whom had been deployed to Afghanistan for a year. It is such an occasion of mixed emotions. You are so happy to see Soldiers reunited with their loved ones, yet so saddened when you think they had to go without each other for a year. That's some tough stuff. With that said, we are so thankful Lee is home safely and is together with his wife and kids as a family unit. Many others in Lee's Brigade were not so lucky, it was a tough deployment for the Iowa National Guard.

I agreed to let Wade buy some more land at Lake Sundown in southern Iowa, where we currently own 19.75 acres. There is a plot right next to us of 9.51 acres that opened up for sale and we were given a good deal being previous land owners, supposedly. I get super nervous about debt, especially since Wade also got a new truck. Some people buy nice clothes, houses and furnishings, and vehicles- we buy dirt. And trees and grass. Wade says "we are adding to our empire". I say, "oh boy!"

Wade has his "man surgery" today. Or rather his "un-man surgery" lol, I'm so funny! Our decision to be done with two kids will be final in a matter of a few hours. I think it will be a relief not to have to think about it any more. Some times I hold Ellie a little longer than necessary and give her extra hugs and kisses knowing she will be our last baby.

Whitney is talking in paragraphs now. Her vocabulary is expanding every day. She can string together two 5-6 word sentences. Sometimes she stutters and jumbles up the order of her words as she tries to piece everything together. We are constantly laughing at the things she says!

TOT Collar

2011-07-10T10:56:00.000-05:00

I had a moment of panic and ordered Ellie a TOT(tubular orthosis for torticollis) Collar. She still holds her head crooked, or rather she lets it rest sideways. For only $60 (don't ask me how plastic tubing costs $60) I figured it would be money well spent and I didn't want to wait around for a doc's scrip to get insurance to cover it. It's a fight to get it on, but once she has it on she tolerates it really well. Hopefully it will help out. It surely is better than nothing now that she is getting less tolerant with her exercises and stretches.

this is her without it, and how she likes to rest her head. Her back right neck muscle is long and stretched, and her left side muscle is short and tight.

Five Minute Friday

2011-07-09T07:19:00.001-05:00

Okay, so it's saturday morning. I've had it! I've had it with lack of sleep and waking up every two hours to comfort Ellie back to bed. Sleep training begins tonight!! As I mentioned before, we all got colds three weeks ago. I am still blowing my nose a few times a day because of it, but I am done making excuses for Ellie that that is the reason she is continuing to wake up. I think the cold started the whole wake up routine and now she is just in a bad habit. She was consistently sleeping for 8 hrs before this began, I know she can do longer than 3 hrs. It can't be good for her either to be waking so often. The other night in my sleep deprived craze I thought Ellie was in bed with us and I picked up my pillow, slung it over my shoulder and began burping my pillow. It took a full minute for sure for my mind to fully process that I was not burping Ellie, but a pillow! Last night I was up four times with her by 12:30, ridiculous!! I pulled out the big guns for breakfast this morning, coffee and I have chocolate chip cookies in the oven.

We finally got some word as to what Wade may be doing when he is done with school in December. He has been approved for an ILE course in Alabama from Jan 6- April 20. Wade will kill me for sounding like an ignorant Army wife, but I'm not sure what ILE stands for, Intermediate Level Education?? There are so many acronyms in the Army that I just accept the acronym instead of asking what each one stands for. The ILE course is something you have to complete when you are a Major. Wade is not yet a Major, but should be promotable in the spring. Usually the course is a year long course at Ft Leavenworth, KS, but the course is very backed up and it would be a good opportunity to get that completed while he is in between assignments. Part of the package deal of him getting this masters degree is to work for the Corps of Engineers for two years when he is done, so again, it's kind of works to get that course out of the way. This is a TDY (temporary duty) assignment, so we don't know if the girls and I will stay here in Iowa or try to go with to Alabama. The dilemma to decide would be where would we live, what would we do with our stuff, would the Army accommodate us, and do we choose to be apart for 3 1/2 months when Wade could still deploy for a year at a time. This is not confirmed, nothing is until you have orders, but it is a likely scenario for us.

Five Minute Friday

2011-07-01T21:51:00.000-05:00

Whitney got her first black eye. Like, a real good shiner. She hit her cheekbone on a fire place ledge and the next day the black eye came too. I was worried we should xray her cheek, but Wade insisted it was fine, which I'm sure it is.

I have been battling sleep with Ellie these last two weeks. I hope it is cold related and not bad habits that are starting. It all started Father's day weekend and has gotten worse from there. I am lucky if she will sleep four hours straight and 1-2 hrs after her first waking. It is wearing me out. It's like she is a newborn again. I stopped nursing her for her first waking, I know the girl isn't hungry and she was just doing 8 hr stretches of sleep. It was a battle the first two nights of not nursing her when she awoke, but last night when I picked her up she just laid her head on my shoulders and went right back to bed. Hopefully she is learning. She sleeps on her tummy and likes to roll to her side to sleep, but wakes up and freaks out if she falls to her back. It instantly wakes her up. That is also part of the battle. I had to take blankets out of her bed too. She tries to eat them and twice I have woken up to her sounding panicked and go to find her with a blanket over her face. Whitney was an easy sleeper. Put her down on her tummy and she stayed there all night, still does. Ellie on the other hand is going to be a mover and going to be a challenge.

Wade got some new wheels today. A new Toyota Tundra. I'm not talking new to us, it is brand new, new. We just had some issues with his truck and he decided he was tired of buying used and didn't want to put another dime into that truck.

My sister had a boy on June 26. Lawton is name and we are going to visit them this weekend.

Whitney's new favorite phrases.... yeah sure, that's my favorite, you're funny,

"Ellie's a Big Girl"

2011-06-28T16:11:00.000-05:00

a recent conversation with Whitney......

I was holding Ellie in a standing position and Whitney said, "Ellie's standing!" I said, 'yes, mommy is helping her to stand. She has to learn.' Whitney says, "Ellie's not a worm! She's a big girl" I laughed and said "yes, mommy has to teach her" Whitney says, "Ellie's not a teacher, she's a big girl."

Five Minute Friday

2011-06-24T11:50:00.000-05:00

Is it Friday again already??? I have already told you what is going on with us lately. We did the "camping" last weekend and if you missed it Ellie turned 4 months on Wed. YES!!! Ellie is going to look back on this blog when she is older and think that I didn't love her, I really do, I am just ready to fast forward about two more months. I shouldn't say that, it really is easier every day now that she is starting to master sitting up and sucking on a pacifier.

We are all sick this week. I know we shouldn't have colds in June but we do. It started with Wade when he thought he was developing allergies last week. When Whitney was drinking some water Sunday night and didn't want any more because it hurt, I knew Wade didn't just have allergies. Sure enough I got and Ellie too. Whitney has been really good with the cold, it hasn't disrupted her sleep but Ellie has been sleeping in her car seat and waking up every 2-4hrs. I sure hope she doesn't get used to that because we were doing so good!

We had our first major battle with the stubborn will of a two year old. It started with Whitney playing with tongs. She calls them "chompies". She chompied Ellie's arm and made her cry so I told Whitney she needs to tell Ellie sorry. She refused and ran away so I told her tell Ellie sorry or go to your room for time out. She still wouldn't say it. She didn't intentionally hurt Ellie and it wasn't even that big of a deal, it just really escalated from the fact that she refused to apologize and continued to disobey. This went on for an hour and a half last night. Whitney was sobbing and screaming and wanted out of her room and would say from behind the door, "tell Ellie sorry, I'm sorry" " I want out of here" so we would ask her if she was ready to say sorry- "no". Close the door again. Every few minutes we would give her the chance to calm down and apologize and Wade and I were calm about it the whole time, she just REFUSED to say the words I'm sorry to Ellie. Whitney went to bed without, a bath, pj's her milk or us to tuck her in. She slept from 8:15-6:30. Not too bad. I brought it up this morning and she still wouldn't apologize. She won.

Girls at 4 Months

2011-06-22T13:59:00.000-05:00

first two Whitney, second two Ellie

Ellison-4 Months

2011-06-22T12:26:00.003-05:00

As I breathe a sigh of relief, I can finally say that Ellie is 4 months old!!! I love my babies, but those first few months are nothing but survival, and now is when the fun begins!!!

Weight: 14lb 4 oz (60%)

Height: 24 1/2 inches (50%)

The doctor doesn't think she needs a tot collar for her neck and thinks her case looks pretty mild now and just wants to continue PT.

Ellie continues to be a really good baby. She is happy and content unless she is hungry or sleepy. I started cereal and most days she has it twice a day. We are almost through a box of cereal already. I have already tried baby food too and she was non reactive to it. I started with squash and she didn't make the typical yuck face, just smacked her lips a little and kept eating! I am still pumping all day, only two more months of hard core pumping, then I may supplement more as long as she continues to take formula. She sleeps well. We were up to 7-8 hr sfor the first stretch every night, and then we all got colds this last weekend so that's a bit out the window and she is sleeping in her carseat. I unswaddled her a few weeks ago and she sleeps on her tummy all night. She still goes to bed about 8:30.

Milestones- supported sitting, holds head steady, pushes up on arms, rolls over front to back, babbles, blows razzberries, smiles, giggles, reaches for objects (and gets mad when she doesn't know what to do with them!) and bears weight on legs when standing.

Favorites- mommy!! eating, she smiles at the spoon as it comes to her mouth and gets mad when she is all done, sucking- she now takes a pacifier and is figuring out her thumb, bath time, the outdoors

dislikes- being left alone, I hate when she cries when she realizes you have to put her down to walk away, the wind, laying on her back- she really wants to sit up all the time

on to the next month!!!

Father's Day Weekend

2011-06-20T12:55:00.000-05:00

We went to Wade's brother's for father's day. Wade really wanted to do some camping and he knew the only way I would "camp" with a baby was to do it in a house, so we both got what we wanted! I stayed in the house with Ellie and Whitney camped with Wade. Matt and his son Owen and our nephew Grant camped in another tent. I think the kids had fun, but they sure where tired!! The pictures are a little out of order.....

Sunday we went fishing, Whitney walking on the dock... the thrill of fishing doesn't last long for toddlers, even though they were catching them one after another. Not to mention, it was HOT!!

Whitney on the way home yesterday, so totally wiped out. She is very tired today too.

eating giant marshmallows

getting mulberry's from the tree. Can you see matt up in the tree shaking them out??

eating smores

Grant was making Ellie giggle, it was hilarious! He loves babies!

the next morning, they were so tired

Five Minute Friday

2011-06-17T09:07:00.000-05:00

Another typical week. Library, parks, wal-mart..... Ellie continues to have physical therapy once a week. Sometimes she holds her head straight really well, and other times it is still pretty crooked. We're working on it, and if it doesn't completely straighten out it's not the end of the world. There are worse things that could be wrong with your child. They recommended a tot collar for her. It's a collar to wear for a short time during the day to help her get used to holding her head straight and to stretch the tight muscle on her left side. Maybe this is how civilians deal with insurance every day, but let me tell you, I really dislike dealing with insurance outside of the Army. The Army had it's 236th birthday on the 14th BTW. Happy Birthday big bad fighting machine!! With the Army you go to the hospital on post, see the doctor you need and pick up your pills in the pharmacy in. the same building. You don't have to do anything, make any phone calls, or see any sort of deductibles or EOB's. (explanation of benefits) Being remote we have to make appts to get referrals for special care (ie having a baby) and call insurance first to figure out what or what not is covered. This little rant stems from having to order this tot collar. It's only 50-60 bucks but I wanted to figure out if insurance covers it to save a few bucks. The PT didn't think insurance covered it and since she is not a doctor she cannot prescribe it. After talking about it for the second appt in a row, she finally mentioned a medical code. I found the medical code for the collar, called insurance and they DO cover it, told me to get a doctor to prescribe it and pick it up at a local medical suppy store. So I called peds and they seem clueless. We have to wait until her 4 month appt next week for the doc to look at her and decide if he should prescribe it or not. Even if he doesn't think it is necessary I can order it myself online and try it out. All a very dumb process..... like you care.

Ellie has taken to the pacifier this week. I'm not sure how I feel about this. It's nice to have her soothed by something, but in hind sight it was nice that Whitney never took to one. She never took to anything, but me. She doesn't suck a pacifer, her thumb, have a favorite blanket or animal or doll. So, I have no experience with an attatchment. I wonder if I should keep popping the pacifer in Ellie's mouth and potentially create a monster, or just let her be happy in the moment. She can't suck on it forever.

I sold my first piece of baby equipment this week and I am super excited about it! It's one less item in our house and I am going to keep all the baby selling money seperate to do something fun with when I am done breastfeeding. Yes, that means we are done after two girls and we are in the process of making that permanent, if you must know.

Tonight we are going "camping" at Wade's brother's for father's day. Ellie and I are camping in the house and Wade and Whitney in a tent in the yard. Wade is super excited about this. Will let you know how that turns out next week.

I took way more than five mintues, but who's counting?!?!

What We Do

2011-06-15T14:36:00.000-05:00

Sunday ended up being rainy and yucky and we did not leave the house all day. This leads to one bored toddler. I decided to let her play in the rain. She could not believe I would let her do such a thing!! What a blast!

She was using the bowl as an umbrella

She took this picture, it's so funny to look through the camera at what she finds interesting. She loves her rain boots, I am so glad I found them. At a garage sale of course!

Ellie is starting to sit up well and likes to sit with us at the table

Helping me me pick cilantro leaves

today, I was sitting right next to her on the computer and had no idea she was painting her hands and feet. good job mom! It's all washable, so it's all good!

Now we are going outside to have "cicle cicle's" befoer Ellie wakes up.

Blank Park Zoo, Round 2

2011-06-12T11:33:00.000-05:00

We went to the zoo again yesterday (saturday) and it was a zoo! As members we can get in a half hour before opening, which was our intentions, but that of course didn't happen and we were there with everyone and their dog. Still fun though. It will be really nice when they have all the exhibits finished, there is quite a bit of construction going on now.

Wade, Great Grandma Audrey with Ellie, and Grandma Cathy

This was after the zoo, my crazy hat lover found this stocking hat in the Xterra, and then Grandma thought Whitney needed to learn how to climb a tree.

This is how Ellie does the zoo. She was much easier this time around and I know it will only get better. She is done with the infant carrier in the stroller and likes to sit up like a big girl.

Can't forget about the goat resting on the bridge!

First and only camel ride for this mama! They are surprisingly very tall with a very wobbly gait!

Petting Zoo

2011-06-11T07:15:00.000-05:00

Whitney had a blast with my parents last weekend. They kept her very busy with parks and petting zoo, and my mom even took Whitney to the pool on opening day.

She didn't like the friendly cow so much trying to lick her all the time.

Five Minute Friday...

2011-06-11T07:12:00.000-05:00

on Saturday morning. Am I really that busy that I can't do a five minute post on Fridays??? Well, yes, sometimes I am. I did have time yesterday but I chose to go to the mall BY MYSELF!! The girls went down for their nap within minutes of each other and Wade came home early from school, so I went to the mall. And do you know what, I got kind of bored. I didn't know what to do without a stroller and trying to look for a sippy cup and snacks or chasing a two year old because I figured she could handle walking. I got Whitney a new pair of sheets because she has been peeing out her diaper lately. I got her size 4's now, so we'll see if those help once she gets in them. Any way, I got her hot pink sheets thinking they would be fun, well they are kind of obnoxious. I should take a picture of them. I also found a cute summer dress for myself, now all I have to do is wear it!

Monday we made it back from Postville. It was another successful trip, though I think I have reached Ellie's limit for taking a three hour nap in the car. She did wake up on the way home and wasn't very happy. After 25 mins of her screaming, I managed to crank my arm around the back and held a pacifier in until she fell back asleep. Not very safe, I know, considering she is directly behind me.

Yesterday morning we went to the library to see Dan Wardell from IPTV. He was doing story time for the kids. It was a bit disappointing for Whitney. It was geared towards kids a little older who could interact and answer questions. Oh, well. We went to the library twice this week, target, walmart and the park. Trying to keep busy and get out of the house!!

First Ponytail

2011-06-08T12:05:00.002-05:00

Five Mintute Friday (on Saturday Afternoon)

2011-06-04T13:37:00.000-05:00

I am getting worse at this update thing! Here goes again....

We had a fairly busy week. Wade's truck broke down a few weeks ago now so he went and test drove a Dodge Ram. He is conflicted on whether to keep fixing his '04 F150 or if we should just get a new truck. Last year we had to replace the transmission. Not fun to have vehicle problems.

On June 1 wade turned 32. Yes, 32!!! We are old. Or he is, I am not old yet! He had to work all day in the field and didn't get home until 10pm that night. No birthday fun for him! I did buy a leftover memorial day cake at the store and called a Memorial Day/Birthday cake. Yeah, I'm that cool, I didn't even bake a cake. I tried to book a cabin for a weekend at one of the state parks for his birthday/father's day, but you had to make a 7 day reservation for a cabin. I'm sorry, but who wants to take a 7 day vacation at a state park in Iowa? not me, so sorry, no birthday present for Wade this year.

Since he was gone and I had the girls all day by myself, I decided that I for sure was taking the girls to my parents house for the weekend while he was down helping his mom on their land. Too boring to be home alone all weekend when I do it all week long. We left friday afternoon, which is why I didn't get to this post, and we made the 3 hr trip without stopping!!! It's all about timing, and the fact that Ellie will sleep in the car. I wouldn't dream of making that trip when Whitney was 3 months. She would scream the whole way.

times up

2011-06-01T21:08:00.001-05:00

first ice cream cone

Five Minute Friday (on Saturday morning)

2011-05-28T09:23:00.000-05:00

See, I'm already not very good at keeping up with this!!! As I mentioned in my previous Friday post we were going to the Vandewater's to see Lee, our bro in law. He is home on leave from Afghanistan and is soon to go back in a few days, to return home for good in early July. It was great to see him, like he hadn't even been gone. Whitney warmed up to him quickly and my little Ellie even let him hold her. He keeps a blog, Operation Enduring Freedom 2011 that you should really check out, if you don't already. It's an excellent inside perspective on a deployment.

I have been getting the girls out to the park a few times a week and Whitney is turning into little miss dare devil. Its hard to help her play with a baby strapped to my chest! She says the funniest things and I mean to write them down so I can remember it all and laugh about it again some day. The other day we were driving and we were going by a church, she says.. "whoaaa, that's a big house!" We were getting her in the bath and she was standing next to the tub fully clothed yet, and she says, "you can't wear clothes in the bath. You can't wear clothes when you're naked!"

It's Memorial Day weekend and my parents are coming to visit. Love it when they come to play with Whitney, and that my mom always brings me goodies to eat! I don't do much baking around here, unless it's refridgerated cookie dough!

My Girls at 3 Months

2011-05-24T13:59:00.000-05:00

I have heard both- your girls look nothing alike and your girls look the same. When Ellie was born my first reaction was that she looked just like Whitney. It felt like I was holding a newborn Whitney all over again. And then over the next few days I thought they looked nothing alike. Now that Ellie is filling out, I think they look alike again, despite the different eye color, and Ellie will likely be a blonde. The first four pictures are Whitney, the last four Ellie. I don't know how to do them side by side, but if you know how, let me know (ahem... Michele or Melissa!) I make some chubby girls, huh!?! Whitney cracks me up with how fat she was!

First Cereal

2011-05-24T13:42:00.000-05:00

Whitney took these first three pics of Ellie, I think she did pretty good!

supported sitting

at the park

I have been eager to give Ellie cereal so I finally did last night and she did really good, and slept a little bit better last night!

Ellison- 3 Months

2011-05-22T16:27:00.001-05:00

Baby Ellie is now three months old. She is getting stronger and more alert every day. She coos and squeals and smiles a lot and is generally a pretty happy baby. She is starting to get stranger danger, apparently my girls are not the type of babies that just goes to any one. She does better with Wade than Whitney did, but Wade is also around a lot more than he was when Whitney was a baby. She does pretty good on tummy time holding her head up and can sit in the bumbo for a good period of time now. She is becomming a supported sitter and if you prop her up you can see her working to try to sit upright. She tries to suck on her hands and fingers but can't yet keep her hands in her mouth. She will occasionally take a pacifier, but generally does not care for them.

She sleeps pretty well. She has given me 8 hrs a few times and then the next night she will go back to 5 hrs, which isn't so bad for a 3 month old, but it stinks when she goes to bed at 8/8:30. I would love to put her to bed later, but she set her bed time so I just go with it. She wakes up for good in the morning between six and seven. I don't set schedules for my babies, I let them sleep when they are tired and eat if they seem hungry. She is getting a more predictable daytime sleep pattern and would probably be even more routine if we would stay home in the morning.

We have gotten the eating problems worked out. She nurses at night and I pump all day and she drinks from a bottle. Most days I can keep up with her and if not she will take formula. How lucky am I? Hopefully she will continue to take formula because it is pretty nice taking a thermos of hot water when we go out to mix formula. Figuring out how and where to pump isn't so much fun, but it's working so far. We made it half way to my minimum goal of breastfeeding for six months, so if I can make it another three, I'm sure I can go a year. I'm anxious to start cereal to see how she takes it. Some days she seems like she could use some, and other days she barely finishes the milk I have pumped. I can tell when she hits a growth spurt because she will poop every other day and eat like mad.

She is in size 1 diapers that are quickly getting too small. She wears 3-6 month clothing that fits perfectly. I give her about 6-7 weeks before she will probably be in 6-12.

She has had a couple of sessions of PT for her tortecollis, and the therapist said it is a pretty mild case, but she still holds her neck pretty crooked depending on her energy level.

Five Minute Fridays

2011-05-20T14:42:00.000-05:00

I was blog hopping just now during nap time and came across this post that you just ramble on for five minutes. I'll give it a shot and try to do it every friday as a recap of our week. Don't hold me to it though, we'll just see!

Here goes...It's a rainy friday with not much to do. There was a lull in the rain this morning so I took the girls out to garage sales. It has sort of become my new obsession. I wish we lived in DSM where I could hit some serious garage sales in the super nice parts of town. I have realized I have become a garage sale snob. I check out craigslist to see what they are selling, and if they list name brand kids clothes I am totally there. I also get really excited when they are in new subdivisions. You know they are young couples unloading their baby/kids stuff. I do drive by garage sales. If the house looks yucky from the outside or they don't have good presentation from the street, I don't stop. Sometimes if Wade is with me he makes me stop so he will get out and look and within a minute he's back with nothing. He needs to trust my instincts if they are good sales or not! We're on a mission for kids clothes/shoes and we have limited time with an infant!

Tomorrow we are headed to the Vandewater's. Lee (BIL) is home on leave and we are looking forward to seeing him and it's always fun to get the kids together to play!

time's up!

Through the eyes of a child

2011-05-18T14:45:00.000-05:00

Most of you probably found these pictures super boring, but Whitney took them, so I think they are cute! I used to have the camera as off limits, but she is pretty careful with it and figured out how to take pictures, so if she has something to do that keeps her content and occupied, what the heck?!?

Another funny thing yesterday, she noticed a plane in the sky and you know how they leave a vapor trail, she looked at it and said, "plane drawing". Yeah, I guess the plane is drawing! Simple minds!