Saturday, November 27, 2010

Calming Down

It seems that my house is calming down a bit.  Sadie is feeling better and not needing her breathing treatments anymore so she's getting into a routine.  She has slept through the night twice now so I'm thrilled about that!  She's even getting better with her daytime naps.  She used to not want to relax enough to let herself fall asleep until this week.  I've started a nap time routine that includes closing her blinds, closing the drapes, turning on a cd of lullaby music (to drown out the other noises in the house), rocking her for about a minute then putting her down and giving her a little kiss.  Sometimes she fusses for a few minutes, but most of the naps (4 per day at least) she just puts her thumb in her mouth and goes right to sleep.  Her naps are lasting about an hour to an hour and a half but this afternoon she slept over 2 hours.  YAY!!  I'm pretty sure she's hitting that 3-month growth spurt because she's also eating a lot more frequently during the day.  But, hey, I can't complain about that when she's sleeping through the night!  The good thing is that at least one of Sadie's naps overlaps with Maddie's nap so I have a little time to myself.  I've napped twice and the other times I've either showered or gotten some cleaning done.  It's so nice knowing both girls are sleeping so I can let my brain relax a little :)

I'm so glad I'm feeling like my life is getting more predictable now.  I can actually plan out when I'm going to shower or do chores or cook.  It's nice since I can be a bit of a control freak...I feel like I'm back in control and not my girls.  The inmates are no longer running the asylum :)  (that's for you, Guy!)

Well, it's 7:20pm and both girls have been in bed for 20 minutes so I'm going to get the kitchen cleaned up and catch up on my DVR'd shows.  I always have to get that cleaned out before Eric comes home.  When he's home I end up recording so many shows that it fills up before I have a chance to watch what I want :)

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! 

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Next Week?!?!

That last post just has me all flustered...next week is a HUGE week for us!  Sadie will be 3 months old next Thursday, Eric will be home (after nearly 11 weeks) on Friday and Saturday we'll be in Knoxville, TN to celebrate the holidays with Eric's family!  Oh my goodness...where has the time gone?!?!

The Elf on the Shelf

Tonight I started a new Christmas tradition with Maddie.  The Elf on the Shelf is a story about a little elf that comes to see if you've been naughty or nice.  Every night he flies to the North Pole to report your behavior to Santa.  Then every morning he comes back to your house and you have to find him :)  He can be in the livingroom, the kitchen, the bathroom, or even in the car (which will come in handy when we drive to Tennessee next week!!)  Holy cow, did I just say NEXT WEEK??  :)  Sorry, back to the Elf...in the book it says you are to give your elf a name of his very own.  I asked Maddie what she wants to name our Elf when we see him tomorrow.  She said "Pyga" (pronounced PIE-ga).  I said that was an interesting name and asked what it means.  She said, "It means to jump and roll".  A few seconds later she said it means to chew apples (she was eating an apple slice).  I think it's a cute name and I'm glad she came up with it on her own.  Alright, I have to be honest...Pyga wasn't the first name she suggested.  The first name she said was San Diego.  However, she recently named a giraffe and TWO stuffed dogs San Diego so I suggested she give him a name of his very own.  Then she wanted to name him Maddie.  Nope, try again :)  That's when she said Pyga. 

(please excuse the quality of the pictures, it was easier to snap a few with my phone rather than the camera...)
The book

Here's where Maddie will find Pyga in the morning:

a close up of Pyga :)

Stay tuned for updates on where we find Pyga!!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Christmas Before Thanksgiving

The retailers finally sucked me in...we started decorating for Christmas today.  Let me just start off by apologizing to my husband for getting a little sidetracked at Walmart today and splurging on some unexpected Christmas decorations :)  Sorry sweetie!  But when you see what I bought and how overjoyed Maddie is, you'll get over it...  ha!

When Maddie goes shopping with me at Walmart we always go see the fishies (by the way, don't EVER buy a fish from Walmart.  They all look diseased and there are ALWAYS dead fish floating at the top, so gross!).  Back to the story...the fish tanks are located back by the seasonal area and I thought I'd go look for a stocking for Sadie since she doesn't have one yet.  Maddie wanted to look at the Christmas trees and went right over to the little 3 1/2 foot tall trees and started touching them.  She told me the trees were wonderful and she loved them.  I HAD to buy one for her :)  I asked her if she wanted the pink one or the purple one and my heart did a little happy dance when she chose the purple!  The tree was only $20 so I was super happy about that.  Then we moved on to the decorations.  I had beaded garland at home already then I bought a few sets of ornaments and one set of super cute Tinkerbell Fairy ornaments.  I was definitely enjoying it more than Maddie was :)

After Maddie's nap today we started decorating the tree.  Maddie was so into it!  We had to take a break so I could feed Sadie, have dinner, give Sadie a bath and put her to bed, then get Maddie a bath and ready for bed.  Then it was back to decorating!  I recently downloaded the Veggie Tales Christmas album for free so I turned that on to get us in the Christmas spirit.  I let Maddie do as many ornaments as she could do on her own (after I did the garland).  I only put an ornament on if she told me she couldn't do it.  The ornaments started out all clumped together in one spot so I told her to try spreading them out a little.  She started putting an ornament on every branch around the top of the tree :)  What a little perfectionist she is...I call her my little Eric.  hee hee

Here are some pictures of the festivities:

So happy with her new Christmas tree!  (we had the windows open today, it was 80 degrees!!)

Putting the first ornament on :)

Trying to put the star on top.

Tinkerbell!!

Looking so pretty!

My favorite ornament, one of my favorite pictures!

Focusing on putting one ornament on each branch (I hate to break it to her...I didn't buy that many ornaments!)

She stood beside the tree, counted to 15, then leaned in and said "cheese" for me to take her picture :)

Giving the tree a kiss.  Then she said, "I love you, Christmas tree."

THIS is my favorite picture!

See, Eric, you forgot all about me spending extra money today, didn't you?  Love you and can't wait to see you in 12 days!!!

Saturday, November 20, 2010

A 2-Year Old and a Paintbrush

Today was a SUPER fun day!  I took Maddie to a local paint-your-own pottery place to make a "cookies for Santa" plate.  While I was busy working on the plate, I had Maddie work on a bowl...something to keep her busy :)  It went really well, although she kept asking if we could share.  Sweet, but we were using different colors and I didn't want her blue mixed with my green and brown.  We had a few little mishaps, she put her blue paintbrush on my plate when I wasn't looking, a pink handprint on my plate and a pink handprint on the bowl.  I was able to wash it off of my plate since there wasn't anything else painted under it.  The bowl just has a pink handprint on top of the blue paint...no big deal, afterall, it was her project!  The thing that impressed me the most about Maddie today was her patience/attention span.  We arrived at Mudpie just after 10am and didn't leave until after 2pm!  (Thank God it's strategically placed next to a McDonald's)  Beth, Dan and Eli (my aunt, uncle and cousin for those who don't know them) were there to paint projects too so it was nice having extra eyes/hands to help me with my two girls!  Dan walked to McDonald's to get the kids lunch, which helped out A LOT!  You know how fussy hungry toddlers are...Then Dan took Eli home for some daddy/son time while Beth finished up their projects.  When Beth was finished she took Sadie to the grocery store with her!  Ahhhh...what a relief :)  Sadie had been getting fussy and I was working as fast as I could, I just needed a little more time to finish up.  By the time Beth was done at the store, I was done at Mudpie so she brought Sadie back to me in time to head home!

Overall, we had a really nice time.  It was much less stressful than I thought it was going to be so we'll be heading back next week for one more project!!

Here's a picture of Maddie painting :)  I'll take pictures of our final products when they're ready!

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Maddie always says cute things. Today she had a lot so I started writing them down to share with you :)

This morning Maddie wanted to play with a purse. When I handed one to her, she looked at me and asked, "Where we can meet?  I will meet you at the top of the coconut tree."  (Reference to her Chicka Chicka Boom Boom book)  She said it in such a serious way, like we were actually going to meet there. 

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The last time we went to Target (a few weeks ago) Maddie coughed so hard that she choked and threw up in the store.  Nice, huh?  Well, today we went to Target again and as we were walking in the doors, Maddie told me, "I not gonna throw up this time". 

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While playing this afternoon:
Maddie:  "I tooted"
Me:  "Well, what do you say when you toot?"
Maddie:  (after a brief pause) "I tooted"
Me:  "No, how about 'excuse me'"
Maddie:  (big smile) "Excuse me"

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During dinner, she pointed to her rice and said, "Mommy, this has lots of caffeine".  She raised her eyebrows and tilted her head down a little and said it so matter-of-fact like.  It was so funny!

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Then after dinner Murphy licked a piece of chicken off the chair that Maddie had dropped.  Maddie said, "Mommy, it's ok.  Murphy can lick my protein."  Yes, I tell my daughter the nutritional benefits of food.  Chicken has lots of protein to build big, strong muscles...just like Daddy's.  :) 

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Sadie was sitting in her bouncy seat this evening, Maddie knelt down beside her to talk to her then ran into the kitchen to me and said, "Mommy!  Baby Sadie just opened her eyes and said hi Mister Maddie!"

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And finally...I was getting Sadie ready for bed in her room and Maddie was pretending to put Snuggly to bed.  She put it down on the floor and said goodnight.  Then she walked to the door of Sadie's room and held up one finger while looking very stern in the face.  She said, "Snuggly, you have to stay in you bed.  You come out of you bed and I will SPANK YOU BUTT."  It surprised me to hear her say that because I threaten to close her door all the way if she gets out of bed, not spank her :)  Of course after the baby oil incident the other day she always sleeps with her door shut now AND I put a child proof door knob thing on too...just to be sure she doesn't come out!

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Well, that's it for quotes by Maddie for tonight.  Goodnight :)

Friday, November 12, 2010

Is it Spring Yet?

I'm so ready for this vicious cold "cycle" to end!  It seems that just as the girls are starting to feel better they get stuffy/snotty/congested all over again.  I bought some children's Claritin for Maddie today to see if maybe she's affected by allergies.  But, in true mommy brain fashion, I forgot to give it to her tonight.  I think I'll move it upstairs to her bathroom so I can remember to give it to her before we brush her teeth at bedtime.  I'll probably still forget it, but we'll see :)

Now I promise to make the rest of this blog post more positive...

Sadie has gotten so much more enjoyable by the day!  As I typed that it sounded kind of mean, like she wasn't enjoyable until now...but you parents know what I mean.  She's been so responsive to my voice and Maddie's voice.  She smiles and smiles and smiles when I talk to her.  You know how the Grinch has that smile that just keeps growing and growing?  Well, Sadie's smile grows and grows too!  She smiles so big that her whole face smiles, then she even tilts her head back as if she's trying to smile even bigger.  It's so sweet to see.  There's nothing in the world like a smiling baby!  Yesterday she started trying to play with toys.  I had her on her activity mat and she swung at one of the toys.  I'm not sure if the initial swing was intentional but after she did it she kept swinging at the toy.  It was really sweet to see!  Now I'm trying to give her more time on her activity mat to encourage her to play. 

Some new things Sadie has experienced in the last week:  riding facing out in the Sleepy Wrap, sitting in the Bumbo, playing with Sofie the Giraffe and "helping" mommy in the kitchen.  She also went 8 hours between feedings last night!!

Maddie continues to crack me up and frustrate me every day :)  She's a toddler, it's her job to push my buttons.  I keep telling myself that!  She's continuing to get into things way more than I like.  Last week she managed to dump about 3 ounces of baby oil all over herself and my rocking chair...Mommy was a VERY grumpy mommy that morning.  Anyway...I said this was going to be a positive post :)

Maddie and I have danced to "Single Ladies" three times in the past two weeks.  Last night she was in the bathtub singing "Ima shave my legs, Ima shave my legs" to the tune of "all the single ladies, all the single ladies".  I took a video with my iPhone but since she's in the tub I'm not going to share it...sorry.  I will hold on to it for when she's older to show her what a goof ball she was!  Today Maddie was singing "Mary had a Little Lamb" and at the end she started saying, "Go Mary, Go Mary.  Go Mary, Go Mary".  I really shouldn't be surprised by anything anymore!

Well, my eyes are closing as I type this so I'm going to go to bed for now.  I'll try to keep up with the blog a little more...I'm finally starting to feel like I'm getting into a good routine so I'm going to try to post on the blog at least once a week.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Sadie's 2 Month Check-up

Sadie did great at her check-up today.  She weighs 12 lbs 8 oz and is 22 1/2 inches long.  She's just above the 50th percentile for height and at the 90th for weight!  That's our little chubba wubba :)  However, I looked at Maddie's baby book when we got home and at her 2 month appt she weighed 13 lbs 9 oz and was 23 1/2 inches long.  Looks like I just have big babies (and good, whole milk!)

Sadie also received her first round of vaccines today.  Two in her left leg and one in her right.  She's kind of tender now and has been pretty cranky all afternoon.  Hopefully she'll sleep well.  Poor baby just can't get one day of feeling 100%!

I'll leave you with a picture of Sadie with her band aids...

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

A Little More

I didn't want to make that last post too long, so I thought I'd start a new one :)  It's time for an update on Maddie and me.

Maddie is now 2 years and 5 months old.  In just one month she'll be half way to 3 years old! WHAT?!?!  How is that possible?  Anyway, let me focus on the present.  Maddie continues to grow and blossom.  She's turning into such an incredible little girl.  She's so polite and uses her manners most of the time.  She's considerate and always asks me how I'm feeling or if I like something or if I'm happy.  She's just so sweet. 

On the other hand, she's also starting to get a little sneaky.  She knows mommy's occupied with Sadie so she takes that opportunity to get into things she's not supposed to be getting into.  She's been climbing up into our bathroom sink lately and helping herself to our toothbrushes, the Q-tips, my eyeliner.  Basically anything on the counter is fair game.  And I should take a picture of my mirror...it's never had so many hand/finger prints and smears on it!  The other day she came out of the bathroom with the cap off of her toddler toothpaste and was squeezing in to her mouth and eating it!  There's no limit to what she'll get in to.  What a handful. 

Maddie has started opening doors now.  One day when I went outside to take out the trash she LOCKED ME OUT OF THE HOUSE.  Thank God she can follow directions so I was able to talk her through unlocking it.  Now anytime I go out the door I make sure to take the key with me :)  She has unlocked and opened the front door when she was playing her cousins were coming to visit.  I'm glad I was nearby so she didn't wander too far. 

Maddie's really into the Christmas spirit already.  She didn't care much about Halloween but has already started asking me about Christmas.  One night I was up feeding Sadie and as I walked by Maddie's room I opened her door to turn off her ceiling fan and she said to me, "Mommy, you just 'heared' Santa?".  I guess she thought the noise I was making was Santa coming.  Then one day she randomly said to me, "Mommy, please tell Santa I want some more kitchen stuff".  She has told Sadie that they're going to Santa's house.  I don't know why she got into such a Christmas mood!  This Christmas should be really fun :)

I can't even think of all the cute stuff she's been doing...it's getting too late and I'm too tired!

A quick update on me and the household.  I'm still managing to survive as a mom of two!  Most days I feel in control (of everything except Maddie) but I'm definitely tired every day.  My biggest personal struggle right now is letting go of control.  I KNOW I can't be in control of everything all the time but it's so hard for me.  I'm a planner.  I like to know what I'm doing, when I'm doing it, who I'm doing it with and where I'll be.  I like to be early for things.  I shoot to be 10 minutes early at a minimum to appointments and HATE to be late.  I like to have my meals planned out and have dinner on the table no later than 5:30.  These days I'm lucky to be on time to anything, even with serious planning.  I can pack the diaper bag the night before, pack Maddie's lunch, have the coffee pot prepared, etc. but somehow there's still some kind of melt down (by either Maddie or me) in the morning that causes a delay.  I'm still making my menu for the week and doing my grocery shopping according to the menu.  The problem is that I sometimes don't get to my grocery shopping at the beginning of the week so then I don't have all of the ingredients I need for the first few days so I end up feeding Maddie whatever I have around the house.  She's had a lot of mac and cheese lately.  The other meal problem I have is that when I plan to cook dinner it never fails that Sadie is having a "bad" day and wants to be held all afternoon.  Then I don't get around to cooking and I have the ingredients on hand that I had planned to use...BLAH.  So far I've had very few days where I felt like I couldn't handle things.  I've also had days where I turn into the kind of mom I don't want to be.  I've lost my patience a lot with Maddie and I've yelled at her out of anger.  It kills me when I can't control my emotions with her.  I'm trying to teach her how to control her emotions but here I am losing control over mine.  I'm not setting a good example.  I try to wake up each morning and start fresh.  I'm trying to put yesterdays stress behind me and deal with what the new day is going to throw at me.  Yesterday Maddie and I made sugar cookies.  It wasn't planned, but I felt like I hadn't been giving her enough attention with Sadie being so sick and needing me all the time so I took advantage of a little spare time and we made cookies.  It was the first time she used cookie cutters and she had a blast!  Then she had even more fun decorating them (although she says, "I decorationed these cookies") and eating the icing. 

Here are a couple pictures of the cookie festivities:





Another Month Down

Sadie hit the 2 months old yesterday.  It's absolutely amazing how fast time is going, and just how much she has grown and changed in a short 8 weeks.  She has become so social in the past 2 weeks.  She likes to smile a lot (showing off her cute little dimple) and coo now.  It's sweet to see her react to seeing or hearing Maddie!  She already looks up to her big sister :)  Sadie likes to lay on her activity mat now and look at the lights.  I've even caught her looking at the tv a few times.  She's like a typical baby and LOVES to look at ceiling fans.  Other than that, there's not much else going on.  I mean, she's only 8 1/2 weeks old!

In other Sadie news...she's been sick for over half of her life now.  The poor baby just can't catch a break.  I had her to see the pediatrician on October 7th for a bad diaper rash that just wouldn't go away.  It turned out that she was allergic to Pampers with Dry Max.  I changed the diaper brand (to much cheaper diapers!), started using a $40 prescription diaper cream (which didn't work) and her diaper rash eventually started to get better.  On October 18th I took her back to the pediatrician.  This time it was for congestion.  She had been congested for over 2 weeks and I didn't know how long I should go without having her checked.  I was letting her sleep in her carseat so she'd be elevated and using the vaporizer so she'd have some warm moist air to breathe.  I was also suctioning her nose and using saline drops.  The doctor checked her oxygen level (it was perfect) and checked her for ear infections (her ears were perfect).  She told me I'm doing everything I'm supposed to be doing so just let it run it's course.  While I was there, I had her check out her diaper rash, which had gotten worse, I think from her sitting in her carseat all the time, never getting a break from sitting...the diaper rash had become yeasty so I ended up with a prescription for that.  She started to feel better and was getting less congested when her big sister brought home another nasty bug from MDO.  Sadie ended up with more chest congestion (it was more nasal the first time) and was coughing a lot but not producing anything.  I took her back to the pediatrican this past Monday (November 1st) to have her checked AGAIN.  They checked her ears first and it turns out that she now has double ear infections.  They checked her oxygen level and it was still perfect.  The doctor didn't like the sounds coming from her lungs so she decided to give her a breathing treatment in the office and see how she responded to that.  After the breathing treatment, there was a lot more rattling/wheezing after the treatment but the doctor said that's a good thing.  Her airway was opened up more from the treatment so she should be able to get some of that gunk out of her lungs now.  The diaper rash is still there and could possibly get worse now that she's on an antibiotic.  My poor baby!!!

Sadie is well on her way to recovery and will be rechecked this Friday to see how she's progressing.  In the meantime she's getting her antibiotic twice a day and a breathing treatment 4-6 times a day.  She's responding well to the breathing treatments and even fell asleep during it last night.  She's such a precious little angel!

Here is a picture of her getting her breathing treatment:

She looks a little freaked out, but she was ok, I promise :)