Happy 1st Birthday Amarah Grace!

Love you baby girl!

Psssst....

I'm still here. We've just been really busy with trips here, there and everywhere. I promise to update everyone when I get more time. Just wanted to let everyone know we are still alive. Peace out!

It's uh-mar-uh!

Not am-uh-ruh or uh-mare-uh or however else one can think to mispronounce it.

UH-MAR-UH. You know, like Amanda.

There, now you know!

Preschool

Addison started his 1st day of preschool yesterday. He will be attending Wednesdays and Fridays for 2.5 hours. For the first day, he only went for an hour and Amarah and I stayed the whole time to watch him adjust.


Here he is ready for his big day!

He couldn't wait to play with all of the new toys and dove right in.

He enjoyed storytime and surprised us later with how much he was actually paying attention.

His 2nd day is tomorrow and he's already talking about what he's going to play with first. Something tells me he's not even going to notice that Mommy and Amarah aren't there this time.

Random things

• Amarah is crawling and pulling up.
• Addison starts preschool tomorrow.
• 5:00 am comes way too early in the morning.
• Tofu is actually quite good.
• Things you never ate as a child and thought you didn't like because of it end up actually being quite good when you try them as an adult, namely blueberries.
• We've rarely been in our backyard all summer nor used our grill at all this summer.
• Babies don't need toys, just outlets, cords, ficus trees, vacuum cleaners, cat doors, door stops, vertical blinds and the ever popular car keys and cell phones to play with.
• There are only 4 more months until Christmas. YIKES!

So we still aren't crawling but...

We are able to get to a sitting position on our own. That's something, right? We'll get there!

OUCH!

Well, we officially have 6 teeth now. 2 on bottom and 4 on top and what looks like 2 more coming in on bottom. Gosh! She's going to have 8 teeth before she turns 9 months! Addison only had 6 teeth by the time he was one. Breastfeeding just got a whole lot more fun! Are you sensing my sarcasm here? Lord help me!!!

Date Night

I decided this morning that Addison and I need to have a regular date night, or day. Doesn't matter. I just know that I've been neglecting him in the one on one department so we are headed to Sweet Tomatoes tonight. Addison loves this place, and I must admit that I love it too.

Before Amarah was born and when Pete would be gone in the evening, Addison and I frequently spent many evenings stuffing our faces full of beans, beets and blueberry muffins. I enjoyed that time. I forgot how much I missed that time. And I think that Addison needs that time.

Mmm...I can smell those blueberry muffins now!

Man, I'm a slacker!

I can't believe I have gone almost another month without posting anything. Sorry to the 2 of you that read this. As always, comments are more than welcome. It at least lets me know that someone is actually reading this and I'm not just wasting my precious free time, what little of it I do have.

Hmm...updates...Amarah is still army crawling. Just tonight she started getting up on her hands and knees more but no movement forward...yet. She has 2 bottom teeth and 1 on top and I do see 1, possibly 2, peeking out. There's no telling how many are going to sprout out of this kid's mouth at one time. Along the food route, we have had green beans, watermelon, bananas, sweet potatoes, squash, pears and avocadoes. The only issue we have had thus far is with avocadoes. Her stomach did not seem to tolerate them being in there. There's nothing like going in to get your baby up from her nap only to discover a lovely avocado mess all over the crib, which was repeated in the living room several times until every last bit of avocado was out. Eh, we'll try again down the road.

Addison has really taken an interest in reading. Now our bedtime routine takes twice as long because he wants to read his bedtime books to me as opposed to me reading to him. We went and looked at a preschool last night. Addison loves the place. He did not want to leave. As soon as we walked in the front door, he looked up at the lady and said "Hi! I'm Addison!" I don't think I'll have any separation issues with this kid. He will be the one I will have to drag out the door kicking and screaming. Ahhh...my baby boy is growing up!

As far as Pete and I are concerned, we have decided that we would like to put our house on the market by next spring. We've come up with a nice, long list of everything we feel needs to be done with our current house before we would feel comfortable putting it on the market. I just pray the market will be slightly better by then. I know we won't get as lucky as we did selling our first house. 8 days! Can you believe it? There is no way that could ever happen again. No way! Not in this market.

So now we have one more weekend here at home before the craziness picks up again. Holy moley! It's July already! Where is this year going?

Happy Birthday Addison!

I still can't believe that my baby boy is 3! We had a wonderful day today. We had a playdate with our friends, 3 year pictures and lots and lots of yummy food! Happy Birthday Addison! You will always be my baby boy!

Update Extravaganza!

Once again, I apologize for not having posted in awhile. I should do it more often. It would make it alot easier on me since I wouldn't have to post a novel everytime.

Without further ado, here are your updates:

Addison is still working on the potty training. He is really doing well at the pee training. The poo training is a slow go but we are making progress. Night training isn't really happening. 9 times out of 10, he wakes up soaked. Thank goodness for mattress underpads, washing machines and extra sheets.

I can't believe my baby boy is going to be 3 in a week! No big parties here. We will be celebrating this weekend with my parents in Virginia and heading to the good ole Virginia BBQ. Then we will hopefully have a little playdate with some of his friends on his actual birthday, followed by a trip to Pete's parents that following weekend to celebrate. Man, is this kid getting spoiled with so many birthday parties or what?

Disciplining Addison has become quite the issue lately. Things that used to work are no longer working. He simply looks at you with that expression "what are you gonna do about it?" I ordered a couple books off of Amazon regarding discipline and am hoping to find some new ideas in those. And I thought the terrible twos were bad! HA!

He still amazes us everyday with his memory and a real thirst for knowledge. I love that he wants to learn about things and that he asks questions. Granted, I get tired of answering questions all day long, but I love that the kid wants to know how to spell a certain word or talk about his day.

Amarah is approaching 7 months. She is starting to army crawl and has 2 bottom teeth starting to make their appearance. Finally! She is starting to babble more and has started saying "dada" although I do believe her first "real" word was "baba" which is funny, because she never gets bottles. Pete is overjoyed of course because she says "dada." He was quick to point out that both of our kids said "dada" before "mama" to which I was quick to point out that most kids do because it's easier for them to say. :-P

She still spits up like a volcano getting ready to erupt although I have noticed it happening less and less in the past couple of days. We started solid foods right around 6 months. So far she has had rice cereal, carrots and avocado. She's definitely showing great interest in eating solid foods although she's still not quite sure what to make of them once she gets that first bite. I also forgot how extremely messy it is. I feel like we both need to take a bath after she's done eating.

Pete is keeping busy with work. Now that spring/summer has rolled around, he's begun attending more motorcycle events. He still keeps extremely active mowing our ginormous lawn which he forgot how much he loathed doing. And now he has a jogging stroller that he likes to use to take Addison for runs through the forest preserve, or "jungle" as Addison likes to call it.

And me, I'm still here. I looked back at my very first blog entry and realized how gung-ho I was about getting in shape and working out. Man, I wish I still had that motivation! I am still focused on my goal of getting down to the weight that is listed on my driver's license by Amarah's first birthday. Yikes! That means I've only got 5 months to go! Time to get remotivated!

We are excited for the summer. It appears that this summer is going to be just as busy as last summer with birthday parties, retirement parties, concerts, family reunions and then fall will be here before you know it! Whew! I'm worn out just thinking about it!

Adventures in Potty Training: Take 3

Day 3 Tally:

3 pairs of underwear used
19 pee-pees on the potty
1 bottle of Propel drank
52 times the words "do you need to go pee-pee or poo-poo" uttered
2 proud but very tired parents

So as you can see, we made it through Day 3 of the 3 Day Potty Training Method. Addison is by no means completely potty trained but I definitely feel we have turned a corner.

Before this weekend, Addison would never have peed on the potty unless he was sitting on it practically all day long. I had always hesitated putting him in underwear because I didn't think I had the patience to deal with all the accidents.

I am glad that we went through this process and I am glad that Pete was able to take a Friday off to help out. I can honestly say that I'm not sure I would have been able to carry it out without his assistance. Thanks honey!

I am relieved that Addison "gets it." We didn't have to remind him nearly as much today as we did the past two days. He would often stop what he was doing and tell us he needed to go without either one of us prompting him.

We are still working on #2. I think Addison is hesitant to go poo-poo on the potty. Plus, it's easier to learn how to go #1 when you're going all day long. You get plenty of practice. #2...not so much. Well, not unless you've had your fair share of Taco Bell. We'll get it though!

Night training is also something that we are working on. I really struggle with how to approach this issue. Most people would say just put him in Pull-ups at night. I don't think I can do that. I'm afraid this would send mixed signals to Addison and he would feel like he was back in diapers again. I think I would much rather wash sheets every morning than resort to Pull-ups, but we'll see. If anyone has any advice, I'm all ears!

Overall, I would say that this weekend was a success. As the days go by, Addison will only get better and better. Yes he will still have accidents but I'm happy to report that we are well on our way to being potty trained. Now to venture out and about!

Adventures in Potty Training: Take 2

Day 2 Tally:

1 set of sheets changed
5 pairs of underwear used
22 pee-pees on the potty
1 poo-poo on the potty
2 bottles of Propel drank
134 times the words "tell mommy or daddy if you need to go to the bathroom" uttered
2 very exhausted parents

As you can see from the tally, today went much better than yesterday, aside from the exhausted part. Oh, and Addison waking up this morning completely soaked along with his bed, but I didn't have high expectations for nightime, so I wasn't surprised.

Pete was able to sum up today best. This method is similar to when new parents bring home their newborn baby for the first time. The first day you are running on pure excitement and adrenaline. By the second day, the initial "newness" has worn off and the exhaustion has officially set in. This is what happened today.

I can honestly say that I am exhausted. I am happy that today went even better than yesterday, with fewer accidents, but I am beat! I have a headache and I don't think I can spend 1 more day cooped up in this house...but I will!

It is so exciting to see it all come together. It's finally starting to click. I am anxious to see what tomorrow's tally will be. But for now, my eyes are blurry and I am way too tired to write more.

Stay tuned...

Adventures in Potty Training: Take 1

Day 1 Tally:

18 pairs of underwear used
11 successful pee-pees on the potty
6 bottles of Propel drank
267 times the words "do you have to go potty?" uttered
2 very happy and relieved parents

PRICELESS!


Okay, I couldn't resist.


Today went sooooo much better than I thought it was going to. I thought Addison would be extremely resistant to throwing out all of his diapers but he was so excited to do it. Here he is getting ready to pitch them:

Then it was off to pick out what pair of underwear he was going to start off the day with!

Decisions! Decisions!

The morning went awesome! We had so much fun with it and made a huge deal out of it.

Then naptime came and that was a little rough. Addison is used to having a clock in his room and not being able to come out of his room until the 2:00 turns to a 3:00. I knew this could no longer happen.

I told him that he would have to take a nap and that once he woke up from his nap, he could come out of his room. After several unsuccessful trips to the potty and 1 accident, he eventually drifted off to sleep only to awake, crying, about 30 minutes later.

I rushed him to the potty, thinking he would for sure have to go right after waking, only to realize that he was clearly not awake. It was quite humorous to watch and I wish I had thought to videotape it.

Unfortunately, he was an absolute grouch potato after that and I was not impressed with how the afternoon was shaping up. But we had our snack, did some dancing, and everything was back to normal.

By the end of the evening, Addison was completely wiped out. We were reading books and he commented to me that he was "tired of reading books." This kid NEVER tires of reading books!

We tucked him into bed and reminded him for the 134th time to keep his underwear clean and dry. He rolled over, grabbed his blanket and was out within a matter of minutes.

*sigh* Overall, I would say today was a success.

Now on to Round 2!

Let the potty training games begin!

We have decided to use the 3 day potty training method with Addison starting tomorrow morning. What is the 3 day potty training method? It's basically potty training bootcamp.

Tomorrow morning, we will get up and have Addison throw the rest of his diapers away and then it's only underwear from here on out! We will pump him full of liquids. I'm thinking Propel in this case, or mommy and daddy's water, as he likes to call it.

Then you basically have to become his shadow. Stalking him like an animal stalking his prey. The idea is to always catch him in the act of going and quickly rush him to the potty so he can finish going there. Eventually it will just click and he will start realizing the sensation of having to go.

To be completely honest, I'm terrified! The thought of trailing after him all day long and asking him if he needs to go potty every 15 minutes isn't exactly my idea of an awesome weekend. Neither is cleaning up after all the accidents that he is going to have.

Where I'm torn is using underwear at naptime and bedtime. The author of this method says you cannot use pull-ups or diapers because it sends mixed signals to the child.

I don't know. I think I might just have to invest in some rubber sheets. Do they still sell those things?

Pete has taken tomorrow off to aid in the process. The author also says to only have one parent doing the training but I just can't see this being possible with me nursing Amarah so I think it's going to be a tag team approach.

This afternoon I am off to stock up on Propel, big boy underwear and some snacks. Wish us luck!

Wait! Isn't this weekend Mother's Day? What the heck was I thinking?

April showers bring...

May flowers? NO! They bring a big freaking lake in our backyard! When the winter snow melts away or we get just a little too much rain for our liking, we suddenly look like the house on the lake. Do you think we could list that as a selling point when we get ready to move again?


So what do you do with a very active 2 year old boy that is just itching to get out of the house? Just add water!

To heck with May flowers! I'll take a very happy (and soaking) little boy anyday!

I want my baby back baby back baby back...

No, seriously, I want my baby back! I don't know what has happened to my laid back, easy going little girl.

I swear she has been teething for what seems like months now! And just recently she has decided that she doesn't want to nurse. Not because she's distracted but because she appears to be in pain.

This has not been going over well with me. I told you Addison was a champion teether and never seemed bothered by the fact that teeth were trying to cut through his gums. OUCH! So I'm having a very difficult time dealing with Amarah's constant fussiness.

And I don't even know for sure if it's teething! Thought it might be an ear infection so I took her to the pediatrician last week. Nothing.

I feel like I'm torturing my child by forcing her to eat. I feel like she is slowly going to start rejecting me or have a negative association with breastfeeding.

Many tears have been shed over this by both of us. I don't know what to do anymore! Do I take her back to the pediatrician again only to be told there's nothing wrong?

A couple of my friends have suggested having her seen by a chiropractor. Still not sure how I feel about this.

I just wish that if it was indeed teething, I would see a stinkin' tooth already!

Maybe I'll just have to resort to rubbing a little whiskey on her gums like they did back in the day.

Here you go Amarah! 1 shot for you and 2 shots for Mommy!

A conversation with Addison

Addison: I'm short Mommy.

Me: Yes Addison, you are short.

Addison: You're tall Mommy.

Me: Yes Addison, I am tall.

Addison: You're tall like a mountain.

Me: (laughing)

Addison: Amarah is short...like a blueberry. I'm going to call her Mr. Blueberry.

Addison to Amarah: Hey Mr. Blueberry! How's it going Mr. Blueberry? Do you like your crib Mr. Blueberry?

Ahhh...the mind of a 2 year old!

Happy 5 Months Amarah!

You're getting bigger and bigger everyday! Love you baby girl!

It's official!

We have a finger sucker! Neither Addison nor Amarah took to a pacifier, much to my dismay. It would have made our lives so much easier those first few months but no such luck. I know I will appreciate this later.

Just recently, Amarah has discovered her fingers. Not her thumb but her fingers. 2 fingers to be exact.

































She even enjoys them with a side of bathwater.




















Ok, I'll admit that I think it's too cute now, but ask me again in 5 years how cute I think it is. Can't complain right now though. Self-soothing at it's best!

What have we been up to?

Let's see! A couple weekends ago we went down to Springfield because Pete had a legal class to attend. Had supper at D'Arcy's Pint. If you ever find yourself in Springfield, please stop by this place and try one of their delectable horseshoes. What's a horseshoe, you ask? Well, unless you are from central IL, you have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about. This will explain everything you need to know about horseshoes.

I thoroughly enjoyed the chili cheeseburger one and Pete had the supreme.
Here's Amarah trying to sneak a bite of mine:




















And here's Pete's monstrosity:















The kids and I hung out at the hotel while Pete was at his class. Addison entertained himself by jumping on the couch.




















Then we headed to my parents in Virginia for the rest of the weekend. We had a nice time getting to see my parents along with my brother, Joel and his fiance, Amanda and their 2 kiddos. Here's Amarah and Addison with their cousins Sierra and Austin:















We've been hanging around the house lately. It snowed like crazy Saturday night/Sunday morning. Hopefully this will be the last of the snow for awhile. It is spring, right?

Addison has been an absolute joy as of late. The age that he is at right now is so much fun! He is so curious about EVERYTHING! He is spelling words and wanting to know what those words mean. He continues to talk 24/7. I think we are in trouble when he starts school.

Amarah is approaching 5 months. She is rolling all over the place! I'm sure it won't be long before she is crawling. You can tell she wants to so bad. She's got a big brother to keep up with!

She has been overly fussy lately. We think she is teething but have yet to actually get visual confirmation. This has all been very rough on mommy. Addison was a champion teether. Aside from the constant stream of drool coming out of his mouth, you would never know he was cutting teeth until you saw one sprout through.

Amarah is a different story. She is drooling like a rabid dog. Her hands are constantly in her mouth. She is extremely fussy and not nursing well. I'm starting to wonder if Lake Forest Hospital has a money back guarantee!

This coming weekend we are headed to Pete's parents to celebrate Easter with them. We are looking forward to that. I'm sure there will be more pictures to come! Stay tuned...

Our little ham!

Who needs Pledge for dusting when you've got Addison's bum?!

No longer in denial

Ok, I am officially coming clean. I have an addiction. I am seriously addicted to Ben and Jerry's Karamel Sutra ice cream.

There! I said it! Now I am no longer in denial.

I hope by coming clean that I have stopped at least one person from picking up a spoon and trying this scrumptious, er...I mean terrible, evil concoction.

Oh sweet Karamel Sutra! Why can't I quit you?

Addison's Quote of the Day

Me: Addison, can you come give me some lovin'?

Addison: No I can't, because I don't have some.

Addison's Quote of the Day

"I love rain, it's my favorite kind of water."

4 month checkup

Amarah had her 4 month checkup this morning. Pete and Addison tagged along for support. I'm proud to report that she is above average on weight, height and head circumference. She now weighs in at a whopping 15.8 pounds and is roughly 25 inches long. The poor girl had to get 5 vaccinations today, 1 by mouth and 4 injected (2 in each leg). You would think it would get easier watching your child get stuck with a needle but I tell you it doesn't. My eyes well up with tears everytime I see that face ball up after the first needle stick and wait for the loud screech soon to follow. She was a trooper though and was completely wiped out after that. Here's our growing girl at the doctor's office before that mean nurse lady came in and ruined her morning!
















Now if only I could find some Miracle-Gro for her hair...

She's rolling!

Happy 4 months Amarah! And how did our baby girl celebrate being 4 months old today? She started rolling! I heard her screaming bloody murder in her crib so I went to check on her and she had rolled from her back to her tummy and did not like that one bit.

Later this morning, she was playing on her activity gym and I was lucky enough to capture her rolling from her tummy to her back Check it out!





Congratulations baby girl! We are so proud of you!! And just in time for your checkup tomorrow!

What's in a name?

So I happened to be looking over the top 100 baby names of 2008. You can find that list here.

Go ahead and look. I'll wait...

I am most displeased by #9 on the female side. Thank you very much Grey's Anatomy! I blame you for all of the girls that will be in my son's class sharing the same name as him. I had that name picked out way before your show was ever thought up.

It was back in high school. I was sitting at Lanphier Park in Springfield watching the IHSA state baseball playoffs and there was a team there by the name of Addison-Driscoll. Ever since that day, the name Addison has been stuck in my head.

Fast forward say 7 years to Pete and I sitting around our first apartment in St. Louis, talking about what we would name our kids. I blurted out the name Addison Dace.

I came up with the middle name after having worked at a daycare for a year. There was a boy there who's first name was Dace and I thought that was a pretty sweet name. I also like somewhat unique and interesting names.

When I became pregnant in 2005, we knew that if it was a boy, his name would be Addison Dace. There were no backup names or girls names picked out. When we did receive confirmation that it was indeed a boy, we hosed his room down with blue paint and Addison Dace it was!

Now Amarah was a different story. We didn't even start talking about names until we found out she was a girl. We bought one of those lovely baby name books. I must have looked at that thing as many times as there were names in the book. We considered Keeley, Braelyn, Rylan, and Afton. I loved the name Olivia but it was just too common for me.

We had to come up with a way to narrow our options down. The list of names was just too overwhelming and we didn't have any clear front-runners. I was still waiting for the name to just jump off of the page and say "pick me! pick me!"

I finally said to Pete that we should just pick another "A" name. I've never been one for having a trend when it comes to naming our kids but it was the only way I could think to narrow the choices down. We both agreed and I started scrutinizing any and all "A" names.

Finally I came across the name Amara. I said it aloud to Pete. He liked it. I liked it. And that was it! Now the hard part was over. On to the middle name. We both thought a one syllable name would work best with her first name. I mentioned the name Jade. Pete didn't like it. I mentioned the name Grace and we both liked the sound of it. Plus, it went well with Addison Dace.

I will admit that I had a hard time getting the middle name Jade out of my head. For awhile, everytime I said her name in my head, it was always Amara Jade. And I had to keep reminding myself that wasn't right.

So now we had a name for our baby girl, but everytime I would type it out in an instant message to Pete, something just didn't look right. It just seemed liked something was missing. I decided to add an "H" onto the end of Amara and the rest, as they say, is history!

I don't think you will be seeing Amarah on the top 100 anytime soon, and that's perfectly fine with me!

I'm still here!

Pete has been reminding me lately that I haven't blogged in awhile, to which I reminded him that I was only going to blog when I had something interesting to blog about. So, what cool, hip and exciting things have we been up to? Not a darn thing! But it has been just over a week since my last entry so I thought it was due time.

Update on the kiddos: Addison is fantastic. He cracks us up everyday with the words and phrases that come out of his mouth. I should keep a notepad handy just so I can jot them down whenever he spouts them out. I could fill another blog with those! I have begun the process of looking at preschools as he will be 3 in June. Everytime I type it out it still amazes me. I can't believe he is going to be 3 already! And starting preschool?!? YIKES! How can I make him stop growing up?!

The latest issue we are working on with him is yelling and patience. How the heck do you teach a 2 year old patience? He wants what he wants when he wants. He also doesn't quite get the concept of time. He thinks that when he wakes up from his nap in the afternoon that it is the next day and it's time to have breakfast at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Hey, can't blame the kid for trying. Breakfast is great anytime of the day!

Amarah has been a bundle of fun lately...or not! She's been such a grouch potato and I started to think that maybe she was teething so I felt around her mouth...nothing. She does seem to be drooling alot more as of late, either that, or she has become rabid. I don't know. She will be 4 months in a week. We are going to start the sleep training by the end of next week. She sleeps so well when she is swaddled but then absolutely hates being in it. I don't recall at what age we started sleep training with Addison. He did so well with it. Can we get just as lucky the 2nd time around? Hmm...what else? Amarah still hates tummy time. I'm sure she thinks it's mommy's form of torture, or at least that's what she acts like.

Not much else is new. My parents are coming up tomorrow to visit for the weekend. Looking forward to that. They were supposed to come up last weekend but the beautiful Chicago weather put a stop to it. Well, that's all for now. Gotta go enjoy the wonderful silence that is naptime!

My Morning

I would like to share with you a short play that I wrote titled, My Morning:

The scene opens to a couple sleeping soundly in there nice, warm bed. The alarm clock on the dresser reads 6:15am. Suddenly the couple is awakened from their slumber by the rattle of a bedroom door. They both realize that their young son has opened his door and is ready to begin the day. The father tosses off the covers and slowly walks to his young son's room. The following conversation takes place:

Father: Buddy, it's not time to get up yet. The sun is not up yet. It's 6:15 in the morning. It's still dark outside.

Son: Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

Father: Time to get back in bed bud.

Son: Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

The father places the young son back in bed and pulls the covers over him.

Father: Close your eyes buddy and try to go back to sleep.

Son: Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!

The father comes back to the bedroom and trudges into the bathroom to shower and get ready for work. The sound of silence can be heard from the young son's room. The mother rolls over, pulls the covers up to her neck, closes her eyes and listens to the sound of the shower running.

Cue baby girl

Baby girl: WAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!

End Scene

Sleep Deprived

When Addison was born, he was a very unhappy and difficult child for the first 3 months. If he wasn't constantly in motion, being walked around and around and around, he was not a happy camper. The swing didn't work. The bouncy seat didn't work. Car rides didn't work. If he was awake, he was fussing. He was what we labeled our "high needs" child. The only consolation we had was that he slept through the night almost immediately after being born.

Once I became pregnant with Amarah, we both hoped and prayed that we would not have another "high needs" child for the first 3 months. We figured there would be a trade off. Addison was fussy during the day, but slept through the night. There's the trade off.

So what would the trade off be with Amarah? Well, I think we have officially figured that out. She is a pretty laidback, easygoing baby during the day who rarely fusses. She likes her bouncy seat. She likes her swing. However, she does not sleep through the night.

She had been doing okay. We got the Miracle Blanket and started using it right away and that seemed to help. There was a period of time where she would sleep from 7:30pm to 6:30am and this seemed to be the norm for her. I thanked my lucky stars and went on my merry way.

Right near the 3 month mark, she started waking up in the middle of the night. And what made it worse was that it was never at a consistent time. It could be 12:30, 3:00, 4:15, but never the same time.

I figured she had reached the 3 month growth spurt so I attributed her night wakings to that. She seemed to settle back into a more predictable pattern a few days later. Within the past few days, she has started waking in the middle of the night again. What the heck?!?

Now in all fairness to Amarah, she does currently have a cold and is really congested so I am crossing my fingers and toes and eyes that this too shall pass once she is better. If not, then we will have to come up with a new plan of attack.

Zzzzzz.....

Comments

Okay, so I was having a minor glitch with my comments section. If you tried posting a comment, you know what I'm talking about. It appears that I have this issue resolved, so for the 2 of you that actually read this blog, feel free to post away!

My love/hate relationship with breastfeeding

Let's get the negatives out of the way first:

1. I hate that I am the only one that can feed her. (I realize that I can pump but what's the point when I'm right there anyways.)
2. I hate pumping. There is nothing more unattractive than using a breastpump and feeling like a dairy cow.
3. I hate how long it takes to breastfeed. Don't get me started on roadtrips!
4. I hate the first 6-8 weeks.
5. I hate the breastfeeding Nazis that make you feel like a failure because you gave up or didn't even try at all. Why should it matter? As long as the baby is fed is the most important thing, right?
6. I hate having to NIP (nurse in public). Sorry, I'm just not comfortable enough to whip one out and start feeding my baby. If you can, more power to you!
7. I hate that I can only be gone by myself for a few hours at a time. Yeah, the pumping thing again. I know!
8. I hate nursing bras and nursing pads and all the other junk that goes along with breastfeeding.
9. I hate waking up with a wet shirt and a soaked bed.
10. I hate trying to breastfeed and take care of a toddler at the same time.

And now for the positives:
1. I love that I am the only one that can feed her. (I know...HYPOCRITE!)
2. I love that I am giving her the best.
3. I love that she is growing and gaining weight all because of me.
4. I love when she looks up at me and smiles.
5. I love how excited she gets when she sees me first thing in the morning because she knows it's chow time!
6. I love when she wraps her hand around my finger when she is nursing.
7. I love that I get to be lazy sometimes because I'm feeding the baby. (Yeh, I'll admit it!)
8. I love that I still get to eat extra calories because I am breastfeeding.
9. I love that breastfeeding has helped me shed weight. (Still have a long way to go!)
10. I love that I've stuck with it this long.

I exclusively breastfed Addison for a month. No, actually, I think it was less than a month. He just never seemed satisfied after nursing and I was becoming more and more frustrated with breastfeeding and not enjoying any part of it. We started supplementing with formula. When he hit the 3 month mark, I went back to work and he went to daycare. Gradually, the number of bottles with formula started to outweigh the number of bottles with breastmilk until he was switched completely over to formula by 6 months.

Do I regret that decision? Not one bit! He is currently a very happy and healthy 2 year old and still has that insatiable appetite. However, once I quit nursing him completely, I did find that I missed that one on one time with him.

So, when I became pregnant with Amarah, I decided that I wanted to breastfeed her as well. The first 6-8 weeks were rough. I'm not going to lie. Breastfeeding is a learned process. I don't believe those people that say it just comes naturally.

Part of me thinks it's going alot better this time around because I educated myself more on the topic. Part of me thinks it's because I'm staying at home now. Whatever the case, 3 months, 1 week and 1 day and still going strong! Go me!

Happy Wednesday!

Yuck! It's such a blah, rainy day out today, but I guess I should look on the bright side. It's raining rather than snowing.

We had a rough night last night. Addison got up twice in the middle of the night. The first time Pete heard him, I didn't, and got him back to bed. The second time I heard him, Pete didn't, and I got him back to bed. He's so funny. I heard his door open. Don't recall what time it was. I go to his room and he's just standing there in his doorway. As soon as he sees me, he turns around, heads back to his bed and climbs right in. Maybe he was sleepwalking, I don't know.

Then Amarah decides she's going to fuss all night. Not to the point of me actually having to get out of bed and check on her but just enough to keep me awake. You know that feeling. You're laying there nice and cozy and you start hearing this little whimper coming from the monitor. You start silently chanting in your head "please go back to sleep! please go back to sleep!" in the hopes that the Gods of sleep will hear your plea and grant you a few more hours of shut-eye just this once. All hail the Gods of sleep!

So Addison finally got up for good at 6:15 this morning. UH! And Amarah followed shortly thereafter. Now it is officially naptime! The time of day that parents look forward to the most. Ok, maybe second to bedtime. I'm sitting here salivating as I smell the freshly baked strawberry cupcakes that I just took out of the oven. I'm delivering a meal tonight to one of the moms in my mom's group that just had a baby. Mmm...chicken tortilla soup and strawberry cupcakes. Good thing I made double!

Did I mention I hate winter?

So it's an absolutely gorgeous day out today. In fact, the high today is supposed to be a lovely 64 degrees. Not too shabby for February 10th! However, Addison and I have both come down with colds so once again we will be stuck inside. It must have been from all the traveling this weekend and the fact that we don't go out too often. Addison's nose started running on Sunday and I woke up yesterday with a sore throat and stuffy nose. Oh joy!

Addison has a wonderful way of letting me know that he needs his nose wiped. I was at the kitchen sink this morning washing up our dishes from breakfast when I hear what sounds like Addison spitting. I go into the living room to check on him and he's sitting there playing with his toys while snot is dripping from his nose down to his upper lip and he was trying to "blow" it away, thus the spitting sound that I heard. So now anytime I hear this wonderful sound, I know it's time to grab a kleenex!

Hopefully Pete and Amarah will be spared.

Just another manic Monday...

I got that song stuck in your head now, didn't I? You're going to be singing it all day long and then you will stop yourself and curse me for doing that to you. Sorry! :P

We are back home this wonderfully blah and rainy Monday. We had been in the Quad Cities (or the QC) since Thursday. I mentioned in my first post that Pete is a personal injury attorney. He travels alot because of his job and on occasion, he has to stay overnight somewhere, which was the case this past weekend. He had a court appearance Friday morning in Monmouth, which is about 45 minutes from the QC, and then he had to travel back to the QC for a boat inspection at a salvage yard. Yeah, good times!

We decided to tag along and spend Thursday and Friday in the Ramada Bettendorf/Davenport. It was a decent hotel with a wonderful swimming area catered towards families with young children. I decided upon that hotel after consulting with Trip Advisor. If you have never been to this website before, I highly recommend checking it out when you are planning your next vacation or just an overnight hotel stay. Love, love, LOVE it!

We had a wonderful time in the QC. The kids and I were able to meet Auntie Gwen for lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings (another one of my many loves) and visit her office afterwards. We had a nice little post-birthday party for Mimi N. at the hotel and the grandkids thoroughly enjoyed swimming with the grandparents. Here, see for yourself!

Addison, Mimi N, Papa N and Laney














Amarah taking her first dip



















He hates getting his face wet so I'm really surprised he did this.



















Man, there is nothing like swimming to help the kids sleep like rocks!

The next day the guys went off and did what guys do when they have guy time: Cheerleading Competition! Okay, I should mention that my father-in-law is a high school principal and his school's cheer team made it to the state finals in Bloomington and the guys headed over there Saturday morning to watch them perform and take 6th place! Congrats to them!

Here are the guys getting ready to leave.















So what did the girls do while the guys were away? Why, shop of course! What else is there for us to do?

So that was our weekend. We made it back in time last night to watch the Grammy's. So now it's just another Monday for us and back to watching my soaps and eating bon-bons. AHHH...the life!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Just wanted to pass along birthday greetings to my dad! Sorry we can't be there to help you celebrate but we are thinking of you and hoping that you have a wonderful birthday! Love you! See you soon!

One baby burrito comin' right up!

So the majority of my posts will most likely be about Addison or whatever crazy thoughts are running through my mind at the time. Sorry Amarah! You just don't do a whole lot right now. However, I thought I would take this post to introduce everyone to our best friend, The Miracle Blanket. We discovered this marvelous contraption when Addison was a couple months old. Being the difficult baby that he was (that's another post), we were looking for anything to help him sleep better at night. Laying him down in his crib when he was completely asleep without waking him was something we referred to as the Olympic dismount.


Fast forward 2 1/2 years and we decided this little lifesaver was worth shelling out the $30 again to have for Amarah, seeing as how we misplaced our last one not to mention it was blue and I can't swaddle my baby girl in blue! That's unheard of!


Once again, this fancy schmancy piece of fabric has blessed us with many hours of uninterrupted sleep at night. Unfortunately, baby Houdini has now figured out how to free herself from the straight jacket, but we will press on and continue to use it until she either outgrows the darn thing (which is getting pretty darn close) or she learns how to fall asleep without startling herself awake every 15 minutes. Tried it last night, didn't happen!


Here's our little burrito!



I think she has a future as a member of KISS!

Coming to a store near you: Mr. Couch Potato Head!

Okay, I swore up and down that I would never be the kind of parent that would allow my children to watch large amounts of television or use the television as a babysitting tool. I hate to admit it but I have become that parent and I'm not happy about it.

It all started when I was close to the end of my pregnancy with Amarah and had little to no energy whatsoever. I began to use the television as a way to pass the time throughout the day. Prior to this, Addison would only get an hour of television right before naptime as a way to help him wind down before his nap. Once Amarah was born, I found myself still relying on the boob tube to help keep Addison entertained so I could focus on taking care of a newborn. You see, Addison is very much an in-your-face kind of child. If I am sitting down somewhere, he has to be either sitting, standing, jumping, etc. right next to me or right on top of me. This can be very difficult when you're trying to nurse a baby. Unfortunately, I have resorted to using the television to distract him so that he's not always up in my business.

As part of my new year's resolution, I said I wanted Addison to watch less television. We are doing better but not great. Pete says I shouldn't feel bad. It's only a few months. We just have to get through winter and then I will be able to take him outside and to the park. I cannot wait! I think we are both going crazy being cooped up inside all the time. He is so full of energy and such an active little guy that we have a hard time finding an outlet for all of his energy. Pete has been wonderful about taking him out places on the weekend. It's their guy time.

I would love to be able to take Addison and Amarah out somewhere, like the play area at the mall, but this nightmare keeps playing over and over again in my head. I'm sitting in the play area watching Addison play when Amarah decides it's time to eat. As I'm nursing Amarah, Addison decides he wants to venture out of the play area into the mall and does not listen to my threats to come back to the play area. So there I am, chasing a toddler through the mall with a baby attached to my boob! I know! I know! I am just being paranoid. I should just suck it up and do it already! Maybe I will....someday!

But for now, I will try to limit the amount of television Addison watches. He honestly does just fine without it. He doesn't need it. It has just become a habit out of convenience and I am the only one to blame for that. How many days until spring?

C'mon ride the train!

Okay, so I've officially jumped on the Blog Bandwagon. Yea, I know! I just thought it would be a nice way for our families and friends to keep up with what was going on in our life. Now please bear with me, this is very much a work in progress. I will try to update and post pics as often as I can or as often as I have something interesting to blog about. These days, that's pretty few and far between!

We are all doing well! Pete is keeping busy with work. (He's a personal injury attorney for those that don't know exactly what he does.) He is doing awesome with his new year's resolution and has already lost a ton of weight. He is training for a half marathon in March and had his first run outside the other day. Crazy!

The kids are fabulous! Addison will be 3 in June. WOW! My baby boy is really growing up! The kid talks non-stop from the moment he wakes up until the moment he falls asleep at night. He is constantly doing the play-by-play of the day and his favorite question to ask as of late is "What are ya gonna do afta dat?" I think he has a future as a sportscaster. Amarah will be 3 months in just 2 days and she is all smiles. She is becoming more vocal and loves to look at you and carry on a conversation. We are still working on tummy time. She absolutely hates it but we do our best. Addison adores his baby sister and tells us throughout the day "I love my sister." I think the adoration goes both ways. Whenever Addison is in eyesight, Amarah can't stop looking at her big brother.

I'm doing wonderful and feeling just as great. I also embarked on a new year's resolution to lose 30 pounds by Amarah's 1st birthday. So far, the official tally is 12.5 pounds lost. I can now wear the clothes I wore before I was pregnant with Amarah. How am I doing it, you ask? Just by walking on the treadmill and keeping a food journal. My ultimate goal is to get down to the weight that is listed on my driver's license. Yikes! Aside from the weight loss, I've been quite the homebody lately. I absolutely loathe winter! Why did I let Pete talk me into moving up here? We (meaning the kids and I) rarely go out. I hate getting bundled up and taking the kids out in this cold, especially with Amarah being so little and all the sickness that is going around so we tend to stay at home.

Well, that's it for now! The little monkey man just woke up from his nap so I can't type anymore.