Happy 6 months, Elise!

Well, we had a busy weekend. I was in my friend's wedding and we traveled up to the Cities to attend it. We had so much fun! Andrew stayed with my mom and he had more fun there than he probably would have had at the wedding. My husband got pretty drunk, and those who know him know that Drunk Rob is a different guy than Regular Rob, so it was pretty awesome to see him out on the dance floor. He would NOT be able to do it sober. He kept grabbing drinks off the table, left unattended by other people in the wedding party. He had many glasses of champagne and wine. I had a few sips of champagne, but kept it G-rated for the most part. OH WAIT. I did flash someone. No, that's not what happened, but hen I was changing into my dress at the church, the photographer (a friend of the bride and groom) walked right in and I was just in my panties. He saw everything else! Yikes. He quickly dashed out of the room, apologizing, but I was so embarrassed! Oh well! Gotta have some silly story from a wedding to remember it by, right?

I didn't want to forget to acknowledge Elise turning 6 months this past Friday, so I will share some pics I took of her. Enjoy!

Emotional . . .

My mom watched Andrew this weekend because I was in a wedding out of town and DH and I just took Elise (she's easy to take to a wedding -- Andrew, on the other hand, is not . . .).

Anyway, Andrew was obsessed with this book that used to be my brother's -- it was all about lightning and other weather phenomenons (it's made for middle schoolers but Andrew found it -- LOL). Anyway, after going through it like, 50 times with him, my mom asked if he'd like to watch a movie with a tornado, and he said, "um, yes!" (that's his latest thing, always saying "um" before "yes" even though there is no hesitation).

So, she puts in The Wizard of Oz. He was mesmerized. He didn't move or talk, just watched it. Finally, it came to the part where Dorothy says good-bye to the lion, the scarecrow, and the tin man. My mom looks over at Andrew and he has big tears running down his face and he says, "No! She doesn't wanna go home!" He was just sobbing.

Isn't that sad? Poor Andrew! I mean, it's sweet that he understands the emotions of it all, but so sad!!! At least my mom was there to comfort him. He did like the movie (and wasn't even scared of the flying monkeys -- he loved them!).

Happy 3rd birthday, Andrew!

I was super busy at work today and then had some special time with Andrew after work, but it's 11:31 p.m. and still his birthday so I want to acknowledge it!

Three years ago, my life changed forever. I became a mom. As I held my bundle of joy, all 6 pounds of him, for the first time, I could not believe this miracle was mine. Mine to hold and love forever. We have so many memories and I look forward to many more.

Here's to Andrew -- my son, my dragon, my beautiful tow-headed boy. May all your dreams come true! Know that I am always here for you.

Random stuff

-I ordered (or my husband ordered for me) a new Dell laptop. I want something that I can use to edit photos and this way I won't have to fight DH for his computer (which is actually mine that he stole after his broke, but I digress . . .).

-I got a new cell phone so this means, for the first time in 6 years, we have TWO cell phones -- one for each of us. We like Tracfone -- I couldn't pass up the deal Target had -- a slider phone with double minutes for life for $19.99 -- can't beat that! I then went online to purchase a 450 minute card (with 80 bonus minutes) so then I got 980 minutes to add to the 10 that came with it. SCORE!

-I am in a wedding on Saturday and I haven't been in a wedding since I was 5, since I was a flower girl in 2 family weddings. I am heading up to the Cities on Friday for the rehearsal/dinner and the wedding is on Saturday. We are getting our hair did. ;) Andrew will be with my mom from Friday night through Sunday morning because I cannot fathom watching a wild (almost) 3-year-old while I am IN a wedding -- this child runs and runs and never stops. Seriously, he is the kid that you see in group of kids that is the wildest. I am not exaggerating. Anyway, DH can handle the baby just fine and I need her there so she can feed on the tap (she doesn't take bottles) whenever necessary. It should be interesting with the dress, but we'll make it work. The dresses are a really pretty candy apple red with spaghetti straps. While I am welcoming a break from Andrew, I know Mommy Guilt is going to kick in and I hope that he has fun -- I'm sure he will. He loves Grandma, or "Grammon", as he calls her.

-Speaking of Andrew, he turns 3 on Wednesday. We're going to just do a small gathering with my mom and siblings at my mom's house on Thursday. It should be fun.

-Andrew has some "friends" and they are not people, nor are they animals. They are Clementine oranges from the other day. Tonight he set them on his stool in the bathroom before I set him on the toilet and he turned to his "friends" and said, "What think, oranges?" It was so funny!

-I got Elise 2 more diapers -- I had to try the BumGenius 4.0 snap diapers! Now I have 30 diapers total in my stash and I'm done buying.

Deep thoughts for Friday

I feel so blessed. If I would have imagined 15 years ago that this would be the life I would have today, I would worry about nothing, live for the moment, and be more carefree.

My philosophy is just to get through the day, because I have struggled as a full-time working mother. Having to leave the house with my beautiful children in it to go to work 37.5 hours a week leaves me with a feeling of guilt. How important is this -- this what I'm doing at work? Does it really make a difference or an impact in anyone's life? Yet, I am thankful that my kids are home with my husband, whom the kids adore -- as he adores them. My days start very early and they don't stop until I go to bed, generally around 11:30. I long for my bed, where I can snuggle up with my sweet Elise and smell her sweet head. As she wakes, she moves her head, asking for milk without making a peep, and I latch her on and hold her close, so incredibly grateful for this healthy, beautiful daughter -- so similar yet different than her older brother -- yet our moments we share while I nourish her are almost exactly like the moments I shared with Andrew when he was a baby.

Sometimes I do look at my kids with amazement -- I will glance back at Andrew in his carseat and see his beautiful blonde hair, and his eyes lighting up with joy as he dances to the music -- always smiling, always making everyone around him smile -- and I think, how can he be mine? Wow, I am so lucky and so incredibly blessed.

When I'm holding Elise, I look into her beautiful, blue eyes and she is so quick to smile and coo -- I can't believe this sweet, little angel is mine. She is forever and always mine.

The thing that makes me sad -- the thing I don't talk about -- is the fact that someday I will have to leave this earth and leave my beautiful children in it. There is no greater fear and that is why I do not think about it. I can only pray that they are lucky enough to enjoy it and live life to the fullest, with as much innocence as they possess now as carefree children.

My life really is beautiful. I live for the evenings and weekends and although my work weeks can drag on and although every day sometimes feels like a repeat of the previous day, my life -- stable and continuous, is something to feel rich about. My heart swells with joy. I know that my world as I know it is unique and nobody else gets to experience it exactly as I do and that is definitely something to marvel at.

Update from the appointment

So, it went pretty well. Dr. H agreed that Andrew is still in need of a nap, but we need to:

-wake him up earlier in the morning, by 6:30 a.m. (he had been sleeping in until 7:45/8:00)

-no naps after 2:00 p.m. (keep them between noon - 2:00 p.m.), and wake him up after an hour/hour-and-a-half

-keep putting him back in his bedroom at night if he gets out, telling him, "it's time to go to bed, Andrew" -- being very persistent and not letting him out (HUSBAND was guilty of this). If he asks for water (as he generally does, just to get my attention), we need to tell him he can have water in the morning, or we already had water/hugs/kisses/books.

-if he does wake during the night and come into my bedroom (as he has been doing lately), I need to tell him that he can either go back to his bed, or lie down in "Andrew's spot" -- put a comfortable sleeping bag and pillow on the floor -- a spot that is all his own, but this way he won't be fidgeting in bed next to me.

-our goal bedtime will be 8:00 - 9:00

-if he does not nap during the day, we will do our best to deal with the behavioral issues so that he exhausts himself by about 8:00

I was embarrassed because he was throwing toys all over the exam room and eventually started pitching them all into the garbage. :( He doesn't normally throw toys but does act up in new scenarios.

She did suggest we consider some part-time daycare so he can have some structure and learn how to behave around other kids, but we really can't afford it. I mean, our whole point of having one of us stay home is so that it's one of us with the kids during the day (that would be DH, since I work 37.5 hours per week out of the home), plus it saves us money. We will wait it out a year and hopefully get him into 4 year old kindergarten next year -- he will turn 4 on August 25, 2011. And yes, this means in 9 days, my little guy is turning 3! It's very hard for me to believe.

I have so many hopes and dreams for my young man. I love who he is: he's silly, he's smart, he loves to dance, and he loves to laugh. There's nothing "wrong" with him; we just need to work together as parents -- and work hard at it -- so that we can curb some of these behaviors. Oh, and sleep for all of us would be nice, too.

Andrew and his bedtime issues

Well, I do have an update on how bedtime has been going and it's not a good one. If you remember, back in January I posted with enthusiasm on Andrew's success. Well, when I was on maternity leave, things got all messed up again because he refuses to nap when I am around (always has, really) so he would be overtired and then would be cranky. I think it was sometime in May or June where he started protesting bedtime again, screaming in his room, and I just let him be. Well, my lovely husband said, "just let him out" and he told Andrew he could come watch t.v. or whatever.

In the past 3 weeks, it has come to a head and one night, Andrew fell asleep at 7:00 p.m. (which, really, I consider to be a normal bedtime for someone his age who hasn't napped during the day), and woke up four hours later at 11:00 p.m., full of energy. He was up until 5:00 a.m. -- yes, you read that right. I even spent 1/2 hour driving him around from 4:00 - 4:30 a.m. and I kept looking back and his little head was wide awake. Most nights, he's been going to bed at 1:00 a.m., and I get up for work at 6:30 -- not to mention the 2-3 times I am somewhat awake while my infant is night grazing (that I do love and am not complaining about -- I am in no hurry for her to sleep through the night if she isn't ready to do so). If I let him lie in bed with me, he will fidget for hours and it about drives me nuts (I let him fidget next to me for 3 hours the night he was up until 5:00 a.m., and he still didn't go to sleep.

Needless to say, this cannot go on. This is not normal behavior for an almost-three-year-old, so Monday he goes back in to the Pediatric Specialist to see what we can do for his bedtime woes. I won't say I am against medication, but I really am -- it would be a very last step for us after all other avenues have been exhausted. My nephew, who is now 10, has ADHD and had to go on medication in kindergarten. He exhibited some very similar behaviors as Andrew and I kind-of hope that isn't the case here. I would hate to suppress what I consider to be his personality if it's really just an issue that needs to be taken care of separately.

I will keep you posted!

Wordless Wednesday!

The weekend is coming to a close . . .

I'm sharing a few pics today! It's been really hot here -- REALLY hot, so I haven't been babywearing too much because I'm a sweaty beast as it is. However, this morning I did put Elise in the kangaroo carry and she really liked it! See? She looks quite proud of herself! Oh, don't mind me -- I look like crap -- those are my jammies and this is pre-shower on a Sunday morning!



Oh yeah, and I am now 8 lbs. below my pre-pregnancy weight! Go breastfeeding (because I really haven't exercised in this horrible heat we've been having all summer)! Here is Elise enjoying some yummies.



In other awesome news, I have finally gotten in touch with my wonderful midwife! I didn't know her last name because she was the student midwife but if you remember my birth story, you will see that she's the one who helped me through my waterbirth the most. I sent her a letter (to the OB/GYN department) a few weeks back with a copy of the birth story and a few pics that she was in and I got a letter back from her Friday so now we've been talking! She rocks. I just had to thank her for making the experience so wonderful -- for my whole life I will be ever grateful. ♥

Wow, she's going to be crawling soon!

She gets up on her hands and knees and kind-of boosts herself forward. She's so strong! I wonder if it's because she's so porky. ::giggle:: It's so cute to see her getting around; it really won't be long before she's actually crawling! Andrew was 9 months, I believe, so she's definitely ahead of him. It just goes to show that all kids are different!

Wordless Wednesday!

Oh Mr. Andrew...

Right now I have the Chipmunks DVD in (the first one) on the main menu. Andrew started crying when the movie stopped (dramatic and sad cry) so I am letting him watch the menu because it plays music and he loves to dance to it. Talk about annoying! But cute.

The things we do to keep our kids happy...