Its a New Year. A Fresh Start.

stop whining - just DO SOMETHING ALREADY!!!!
grrrrrr.
Im feeling motivated.
inspired even.

Couple More Weeks of Leave

Im sad thinking of going back after spending everyday with my 3 favorite little peeps. ;) Even though tantrums and being showered in spitup has its challenges - I cant think about going back to work with crying like a blubbering baby.

boooooooooo

Two Months Already?

I know Im getting old because I no longer think the time between christmases is too long and I say things like "How time flies!". Theres other reasons I know Im getting old too like how my husband and I discuss the state of our lawn and how we go to IHOP for dinner occasionally- but we wont go there today.

Today Im just going to talk about life with my crazy crew and the wonder of human development.

Daytons' 2 Mo Stats:

My baby has doubled his birthweight folks - thats right; alert the media. These are big milestones in our house. After getting sick at a mere 7 weeks old (Thanks Brooklyn) and being hospitalized we are excited with every pound gained and week passed. I cant wait to celebrate his 1st birthday and slightly more mature immune system. For the record hes 14 lbs 7 oz - the little man has rolls ON his rolls.

He is smiling all the time and such a sweet little guy. Hes very alert and we love to watch him grimace when Brooklyn screams. Poor little dude.

Life with 2 under 2 plus a big kid:

Brooklyn is jealous. She loves on the little guy but she is blatantly pissed off at us most of the time. She shows us in many fun ways: like screaming bloody murder when we try to have conversations, flinging food across the room (I swore we were past this stage a looong time ago) and darting across the park towards moving cars, heading for the hills, as we nonchalantly yell "oh are you ready to go home now, Brooklyn?". She has reverted back to plenty of screaming, some hitting/kicking and lots of 'No's'. Totally age appropriate stuff, Im sure. :-/

Im trying my best to be consistent, take her outside alot and fit in one on one time as often as I can. I know it will be fine in time but for now shes, like I said, pissed.

Kalina takes it all in stride. Shes a wonderful big sis and helps She started 6th grade and is a bit overwhelmed as its a new school, new classmates and a new year. Theres a ton of homework and Science Camp coming up! Pics to come!!

Juggling it all is where it gets a little hairy. I do not have high expectations for myself but some things just have to get done {laundry, dishes, showers, etc}. I've enlisted help and seem to get by ~ Ive also started rules about how many outfits can be worn, towels can be used, etc per week. I wish I were joking.

Going out in public can be like toying with a ticking time bomb so I work fast and do not mess around. I get in, get out. When we go out to eat {which is rare} we sit in a booth to trap them in and ask for the check when we get the food.

All in All:

Life is good - we are very blessed. Im soaking up Maternity Leave and pretending like it will never end. :(

Im also getting ready to celebrate and welcome in my Thirties! I'll blog about it soon.

Boys like flowers too.

What happens when Mom forgets my jacket at home {I wear hers}.

The most awesome 10 year old I know.

Pure Love - in the form of utter chaos.

Why didnt I get this before??

I wasnt as thrilled with my Phil&Ted Vibe as I thought I would be.

I loved my City Mini So I decided to give the City Mini Double a try and honestly dont know why I didnt get this one sooner!!

Not to mention I got it for $340 (here) - with No Shipping and No Sales Tax (WHO does that?!) Did I mention it came the day after I placed the order? Maybe they sensed the desperation in my voice.

Though it may look like one; this is not a tantrum, Brooklyn is screaming with delight. ;)

"Id kinda rather stay in the car, Mom"

The other day I loaded up the kids after breakfast & headed down to the local Drive-thru Starbucks.

I glanced in my rear view and noticed Brooklyn quietly reading a book to herself & saw Dayton had fallen asleep with the vibrations of the car.

We had the most quiet pleasant trip to get coffee. When we pulled back into the driveway Kalina looked over at me and said "Id kinda rather stay in the car, Mom."

"I hear ya Lina - I hear ya." I replied to Kalina and proceeded to make one more wonderfully peaceful loop around the neighborhood. ;)

Post-Partum - Week 5

Im slowly but surely making my way back to reality. I love it - I almost feel like me again!

Life with 2 under 2 plus a big kid:

Dayton is a stud - Hes growing and eating and growing some more. Last time we took him in for a check up (2 weeks) he was 9lbs ~ up 2 lbs from his birthweight! We're following our pedi's orders as best as possible to avoid crowds with the Pertussis outbreak but its hard as we both have large families and can only be confined to the house for so long. For the most part though - we're home & staying healthy.

Week 1 & 2 for Brooklyn was tough. Brooklyn was showing some obvious regression and acting out as expected but I must say it only took a couple weeks to notice she was back to her normal crazy self. She loves on him like there is no tomorrow and melts our heart when she says "HI DAYYYNE~! Love you." *sigh* Theres nothing else as sweet, I tell ya. Ive taken advice from other moms & fine tuned my multitasking skills to include breastfeeding him & just about anything else you can think of; short of changing her diapers. :P

The 'big kid' part is where we are infinitely blessed. Kalina is an amazing sister and daughter. She helps a ton and seems to truly love her role as 'Big Sis'. Shes a busy sister with chores, soccer practice and getting ready for 6th grade.

Breast-feeding:

I dont know why I thought that just because it was my third time it would be a walk in the park. It wasnt. I had issues from the get. I was sore up until week 4 and after getting a great reccomendation for the Day One Center I learned a had some easy to fix issues (... but issues for sure.)

Now at week 5 Id say its going well. There is no more pain, his latch is much better, hes choking less, and feeding sessions are quicker. Sometimes hes done in 10 minutes! Im gearing up for the 6 week growth spurt and expecting all hell to break loose.

Sleep:

... or lack there of. Brooklyn & Kalina are sleeping the same. Thank. God. Dayton is working his way up to 3-3.5 hour stretches. This feels like an eternity compared to the 1.5-2 hour stretches we've been doing. Its all pretty textbook though.

Some nights, David takes him around 7-730pm, after we put brooklyn down & lets me sleep until 10 or 11 ... one night he fed him a bottle and I was able to sleep until midnight. Let me tell you - those 4 hours made me feel like a new woman.

I drink a coffee a day and without it I would not be deemed safe to leave the house (not that I do that too often these days anyways).

Me:

I feel like the newborn part is easy this time around. Then again, It hasnt been that long since I last had a newborn. The hard part is sticking to the low expectations. I cannot expect much from myself with 2 babies. Some days I consider it a good day when all Ive done is not lose my cool - other days Im able to shower, pick up the house a bit, make a trip to the library and even still feed my kids and myself. Those are good days and I remind myself that even the worst of days involve little sleep, lots of milk production for the little one and then much patience production for the tantrum wielding toddler - not too shabby if you ask me.

Emotionally I was a wreck the first couple weeks. Having lost my grandma within days of having the baby, I felt like I was in a fog and cried often. Hormonally this was to be expected regardless of the circumstances. I was prepared for it this time and reminded myself it was temporary ... at least the hormonal part of it.

Physically I feel great. Nothing like childbirth to cure the waddles, sciatica woes, sleeping challenges, and so much more. The recovery was a lot easier this time around. But in exchange for these gorgeous babies of mine I get Nat-Geo ta-tas, a pudgey abdomen & major bags under my eyes ... I still say its a small price to pay.

David is a huge help to me and has stepped up in ways I didnt expect. Ive found him working as hard as I am and enjoying it more than I imagined he would. Parenting consumes us right now. Theres little left over at the end of the day ~ but once again we try to remind ourselves that this is temporary. Well in some respects anyway.

All in All:

I cant believe we were blessed with another little person. I try to keep my neurosis in check so that I can enjoy it all - instead of freaking out over our unkept house, our piles (upon piles) of unfolded laundry or rarely leaving the house. I also try to nap whenever I get a chance ~ or whenever David 'encourages' me to. He says we're all happier when I've gotten rest and I tend to believe that.

ps. I found good use for the pudgy abs anyways ...

Zombie-land

Im living somewhere in an alternate reality - almost a zombie-like state - where your brain goes into auto-pilot. Im absolutely useless most days when it comes to anything I used to be perfectly capable of; paying bills, remembering things, holding a CONVERSATION. My main concerns are to not lose a child or my sanity completely. (as if these are uncharted waters right??) Most days Im covered in baby spit up or projectile poo. Im perpetually sweating - either from the milk production or trying to keep my germy 20 mos old from coughing on my newborn, Im not sure.

I remember when the Pediatrician told me my only goal the first year with 2 under 2 should be to survive. Ha. If only I had known then that he wasnt joking.

I checked in with mommy-friends and was assured that around 2-3 weeks you start feeling normal again. Im starting the countdown and hoping to be back to semi-normal in about 3 days ... Give or take a year.