She sat in the high chair pretty well, although she was definitely lounging on the side for support. I'm sure she will get the hang of sitting in there in no time! Obviously she was thrilled about this new 'milestone'...
September 30, 2010
embrace the camera
Miss Ryann tested out a restaurant high chair for the first time today! We had lunch at California Pizza Kitchen with my mom. I had the Waldorf Chicken Salad with Balsamic (YUM!), Ryann had, well, formula :o).
She sat in the high chair pretty well, although she was definitely lounging on the side for support. I'm sure she will get the hang of sitting in there in no time! Obviously she was thrilled about this new 'milestone'...
She sat in the high chair pretty well, although she was definitely lounging on the side for support. I'm sure she will get the hang of sitting in there in no time! Obviously she was thrilled about this new 'milestone'...
September 29, 2010
six months
Half a year has gone by since Ryann Elizabeth entered the world. I wonder if her age will ever stop baffling me. Probably not, but oh well. I am absolutely loving the little person she is turning in to, but I keep telling Chris, I wish I could hold her small itty bitty newborn self just one more time. I want her to grow up, but I want her to stay little. Oh man. I'm sure I'm not the only mother with that dilemma.
Miss Ryann is definitely getting BIG! We don't go to the doctor until next Thursday, so I went ahead and did my best to approximate her stats at home. She weighs 17 pounds 5 ounces (this girl was as little as 5 pounds 5 ounces six months ago!) and is roughly 25.75 inches long. She is still wearing mostly 3-6 month clothing, because all of the 6-12 month stuff we have is HUGE! I have put some of the Carter's 9 month onesies on her, because a lot of her 3-6 ones are too short. Plus I don't have anything with sleeves in the 3-6 month range. We are definitely at an awkward inbetween size, in the midst of awkward inbetween weather. She is still rocking a size two diaper, but I think when this box runs out we are just going to grab some threes.
Solids, or wannabe solids, whatever you like to call them, are going pretty well. This month Ryann has tried sweet peas, sweet potatoes, avocado (that did NOT go over well!), carrots and green beans. Her is definitely sweet potatoes. We thought she was going to like green beans a lot as well, but tonight she was disgusted by them. Who knows :o). We generally give her the solids about an hour after her last nap, around dinner time. She is also usually getting five 5.5 ounce bottles throughout the day. She doesn't always take the whole thing, but around 4.5-5 ounces.
I honestly cannot believe how much Ryann has changed over the last month, and how much life with Ryann has changed as well. Now that she is putting herself to sleep, I feel like both of us are happier. She isn't always 100% thrilled when I lay her down, but we don't have to fight all day about sleep. Plus I think the fact that I am not so stressed about getting her to sleep is rubbing off. It is definitely true, a happy momma equals a much happier family. As of the past couple days, she will fuss for about a minute when I put her in the crib, and then rolls to her side and just sucks on her sleep sack until she is out. She is a side and tummy sleeper now, unless she happens to roll over to her back while she is asleep and ends up awkwardly up against the side of the crib. I do miss holding her after she falls asleep. I've said it more than once, the feeling of a warm baby melting into your body is pure bliss in my opinion. But there is something to be said for a happy well rested momma and baby as well.
Currently (as this has been the trend for the last four days) Ryann is waking up around 7am. She takes hour long naps at 9:30, 1:30 and 4:30. We start our bedtime routine around 7:30 and she is in her crib by 8. She is still waking up in the middle of the night. I try to only go in there once, after she has been fussing/playing for at least 30 minutes. If she has eaten in the middle of the night and wakes up at 5 or some other horrible hour (in my opinion) I will let her be, and she has put herself back to sleep a few times. Unfortunately she has started a trend of pooing around 5:30am, and after all the clean up and what not she is up for the day.
Her developing motor skills never cease to amaze me. She can sit for several minutes at a time by herself just playing with toys. That is as long as a cat or something else equally exciting doesn't grab her focus too quickly. Since she is still pretty tippy on occasion I generally just leave the boppy behind her. The past couple days she has started banging toys around. She likes to slam the rings from the duck stacker into the stand, it is pretty funny to watch. And somebody get me a baby gate (ok I plan to do that ASAP), this girl is learning to scoot. She has been doing her face down push with the legs move for a while, but Tuesday night we got a definite army crawl. There was no forehead on the ground, just arms pulling and reaching while the legs were pushing. If there is an object she wants bad enough, she is going to get it! She is also working on pulling herself to her hands and knees and rocking.
Ryann's favorite toys seem to be the snail (has been since day one!) and her jumperoo. If she isn't tired but just a little fussy, the jumperoo can definitely make her happy. Sometimes she goes a little crazy in there. Also, she now knows how to turn herself around to play with the various toys. She is also thrilled with looking at herself in a mirror. I recently hung one by her changing table and it makes her giddy almost every time we pass by it. She loves playing super baby, and more often than not she likes when I blow raspberries on her chubby little thighs. Her laugh is so funny when I do that!
Speaking of the jumperoo... here is a video of her being crazy in it.
Sometimes I think people are just saying, but everyone keeps telling me what a good baby Ryann is. And really, they are right, she is pretty easy going most of the time. A lot of the time I think she puts on a really good show while we are out and about, being super quiet and not fussing at all. Last week we went out to dinner with some girlfriends, and she sat in her carrier for a good half hour without making a peep. Just checking out her surroundings. At home she is LOUD. Not necessarily upset, but lately it is like somebody turned up her volume. When she laughs it is loud, when she babbles it is loud, and when she screams it is REALLY loud. The only time it is a wee bit annoying is if she wakes up early and we bring her to bed with us. She isn't necessarily a fan of just hanging out and cuddling, and she definitely lets us know!
A little video of the girlie from today...
Miss Ryann is definitely getting BIG! We don't go to the doctor until next Thursday, so I went ahead and did my best to approximate her stats at home. She weighs 17 pounds 5 ounces (this girl was as little as 5 pounds 5 ounces six months ago!) and is roughly 25.75 inches long. She is still wearing mostly 3-6 month clothing, because all of the 6-12 month stuff we have is HUGE! I have put some of the Carter's 9 month onesies on her, because a lot of her 3-6 ones are too short. Plus I don't have anything with sleeves in the 3-6 month range. We are definitely at an awkward inbetween size, in the midst of awkward inbetween weather. She is still rocking a size two diaper, but I think when this box runs out we are just going to grab some threes.
Solids, or wannabe solids, whatever you like to call them, are going pretty well. This month Ryann has tried sweet peas, sweet potatoes, avocado (that did NOT go over well!), carrots and green beans. Her is definitely sweet potatoes. We thought she was going to like green beans a lot as well, but tonight she was disgusted by them. Who knows :o). We generally give her the solids about an hour after her last nap, around dinner time. She is also usually getting five 5.5 ounce bottles throughout the day. She doesn't always take the whole thing, but around 4.5-5 ounces.
I honestly cannot believe how much Ryann has changed over the last month, and how much life with Ryann has changed as well. Now that she is putting herself to sleep, I feel like both of us are happier. She isn't always 100% thrilled when I lay her down, but we don't have to fight all day about sleep. Plus I think the fact that I am not so stressed about getting her to sleep is rubbing off. It is definitely true, a happy momma equals a much happier family. As of the past couple days, she will fuss for about a minute when I put her in the crib, and then rolls to her side and just sucks on her sleep sack until she is out. She is a side and tummy sleeper now, unless she happens to roll over to her back while she is asleep and ends up awkwardly up against the side of the crib. I do miss holding her after she falls asleep. I've said it more than once, the feeling of a warm baby melting into your body is pure bliss in my opinion. But there is something to be said for a happy well rested momma and baby as well.
 |
| those baby blues melt my heart every time |
Her developing motor skills never cease to amaze me. She can sit for several minutes at a time by herself just playing with toys. That is as long as a cat or something else equally exciting doesn't grab her focus too quickly. Since she is still pretty tippy on occasion I generally just leave the boppy behind her. The past couple days she has started banging toys around. She likes to slam the rings from the duck stacker into the stand, it is pretty funny to watch. And somebody get me a baby gate (ok I plan to do that ASAP), this girl is learning to scoot. She has been doing her face down push with the legs move for a while, but Tuesday night we got a definite army crawl. There was no forehead on the ground, just arms pulling and reaching while the legs were pushing. If there is an object she wants bad enough, she is going to get it! She is also working on pulling herself to her hands and knees and rocking.
 |
| Uh oh mom, look what I can do! |
Speaking of the jumperoo... here is a video of her being crazy in it.
Sometimes I think people are just saying, but everyone keeps telling me what a good baby Ryann is. And really, they are right, she is pretty easy going most of the time. A lot of the time I think she puts on a really good show while we are out and about, being super quiet and not fussing at all. Last week we went out to dinner with some girlfriends, and she sat in her carrier for a good half hour without making a peep. Just checking out her surroundings. At home she is LOUD. Not necessarily upset, but lately it is like somebody turned up her volume. When she laughs it is loud, when she babbles it is loud, and when she screams it is REALLY loud. The only time it is a wee bit annoying is if she wakes up early and we bring her to bed with us. She isn't necessarily a fan of just hanging out and cuddling, and she definitely lets us know!
A little video of the girlie from today...
Happy six months pretty lady. I am so proud to say I'm your momma.
a day in the life - amber
Another Wednesday, another day in the life! Meet Amber from A Life Uncommon. I hope you enjoy a peek into her life!
My name is Amber and my blog is A Life Uncommon . My husband, Chad and I have one child, Morgan who was born on May 28, 2010. We live in Mississippi. After getting married on May 24, 2003 we lived in Starkville (Go MSU Dawgs!) and then moved to Nashville (2 years) before moving back to Mississippi to be closer to our family in 2007. After a struggle with infertility we got pregnant with our little girl and she has blessed our lives. I am a high school business teacher and my husband Chad is a software engineer for the school district and we love all the time we get off to spend with Morgan.
Today I am doing the life of Morgan on a Sunday since we get to spend the entire day together:) Normally Morgan sleeps from 8:00 to 6:00 am straight but for some reason the past 2 nights she has decided that sleeping is not as much fun. I believe she is starting to teethe which maybe a little why.
12:22 am-wakes up and wants to nurse
12:30-first diaper change of the day
12:33 to 12:40-Morgan nurses
12:50-I think she is back to sleep so I go lay down only to find out she is awake very quickly
1:10 to 1:20 am-Morgan is back up and her little tummy is not full so I nurse her again
1:30-back to sleep she goes until 6:05 am (4 hrs, 35 min)
6:18-needs her diaper changed just a wet one for now
6:22-nurses for 22 minutes
7:18 to 7:58-she falls asleep and I lay down with her for a few minutes until I need to get up to get ready for church. Chad leaves at 7:40 because he had setup that morning at church.
7:35-I finally get up and leave her laying in our bed and she decides to wake up about the time I hop out of the shower.
8:00-figure out that I had left my makeup in the car after Chad had already left so I went out to search for some makeup to see what I could find. Found something that will work.
8:10-I start to get dressed and put Morgan in her bouncy seat while I dry my hair and straighten it.
8:35-mommy finishes getting ready-Morgan gets a little bored in the bouncy seat so I sit her on the bed
8:40-time to get Morgan dressed for church
8:45-get bottles ready to go and start getting ready to go out the door so I can leave on time
8:55-finally leave the house
9:00-have to stop and get gas before heading to church and decide that breakfast sounds good since I actually left in time to do so.
9:25-get to church and meet Chad and he brings her into the nursery
9:30-11:35-Morgan is in nursery we went to church and Sunday School
11:40-go pick up Morgan and figure out its pouring down rain and for the one time I dont bring a blanket in is the time I need it. Morgan gets a few drops of rain on her but I was trying to shield her as much as I could.
12:00-went over to my parents while Chad finished taking down things at the church. My aunt and uncle came in from Louisiana to see my grandad who is not doing so well (he is almost 92). That was the first time that they have met Morgan.
12:10-determine that Morgan has her first poopy diaper of the day and grandma (my mom) gets to do the honors.
1:00-we eat lunch while grandma feeds her the bottle.
1:30-we finally head home and Morgan falls asleep within seconds of leaving my parents house.
1:40-we get home and I decide that a nap sure does sound good so while Morgan takes a nap I laid down on the couch and took one as well.
2:45-Morgan wakes up from her nap and I change her wet diaper
3:00-Morgan decides that one nap wasnt enough so she needs another one.
3:45-she wakes up
3:50-Chad runs over to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things for church tonight. I play with Morgan and start to fix the bottle.
4:15-we head out for church and forgot something at Wal-Mart so we stop by the one closer to our church group.
5:00-arrive at our community group for church and were the only ones there for about 15 minutes as the others were running late.
5:30-Morgan decides that a bottle is in store after her last one was at 1:00 so thats 4.5 hrs.
5:45-everyone starts to eat and Morgan is finishing up her bottle
6:00-I grab a plate to eat dinner while Morgan is still a happy camper since her belly is now all full
6:15-lesson starts for our group and Melissa holds her for a while until she discovers that she has a bad poopy diaper
6:30-I go change her and boy was it a bad one.
6:40-come back after changing it. She sits still for a little while and then it quickly turns south.
6:50-daddy holds her and takes her outside and she falls asleep
7:00-community group is over with but Chad helps out with a computer issue
7:15-we wait for daddy to stop chit chatting so we can head home
7:30-we finally head out and I call my cousin Joy back as she wants to know how grandad (who is almost 92) is doing. Pretty much tell her that things arent looking so grand for him. Just dont think it will be long. Morgan is screaming bloody murder because she is ready to be home and pretty much cries the entire way home. Nothing seemed to help for long. She was tired and that combo just doesnt go over well.
8:00-we get home and Morgan starts cracking up laughing. Now we are truly convinced that Morgan just doesnt want to be away from home. She has done this on more than one occassion of screaming then we get home and she stops crying.
8:02-daddy gets a quick pictures of Mommy and Morgan before changing into her nightime items
8:05-get her changed for bed time, discover that her new favorite word is tootsie socks. Anytime I say this she just cracks up laughing-silly little girl.
8:22-nurses for 21 minutes
9:00-she is out for the night (and hopefully she will sleep all night:)
Questions from Ashley....
1. What is the most surprising thing to you about being a mother?
I know everyone says how much you will love your child but the love and what you will do for the child is amazing. There is absolutely nothing that I will not do for this little girl and her smiles just melt my heart.
2. What are some tips you would give to new moms, or soon to be mommas?
Take things day by day. Just because you think everything is grand one day it maybe totally different the next day. I am a person who loves schedules but during the day I about drove myself crazy and have learned not to have such a strict schedule. In the morning and at night those are set in stone but the rest of the day is not. I found that trying to make such a strict schedule just made me a crazy person.
3. What are your top three baby products?
1) Bouncy seat-I dont know how I would function without this thing-its wonderful!
2) iphone app baby connect -it has kept me sane so many times. Its well worth the money. Ive used this since day 1 and I put in all of Morgans stats about her weight, height, what she eats, when she sleeps and I can go back and compare days, months or weeks. Chad and I both work in technology so we of course love technology and anything that can make our lives easier Im all for it!
3)Lamaze cube -she loves this little ball and even when fussy this can seem to calm her down most times
Thanks Amber!
***
My name is Amber and my blog is A Life Uncommon . My husband, Chad and I have one child, Morgan who was born on May 28, 2010. We live in Mississippi. After getting married on May 24, 2003 we lived in Starkville (Go MSU Dawgs!) and then moved to Nashville (2 years) before moving back to Mississippi to be closer to our family in 2007. After a struggle with infertility we got pregnant with our little girl and she has blessed our lives. I am a high school business teacher and my husband Chad is a software engineer for the school district and we love all the time we get off to spend with Morgan.
Today I am doing the life of Morgan on a Sunday since we get to spend the entire day together:) Normally Morgan sleeps from 8:00 to 6:00 am straight but for some reason the past 2 nights she has decided that sleeping is not as much fun. I believe she is starting to teethe which maybe a little why.
12:22 am-wakes up and wants to nurse
12:30-first diaper change of the day
12:33 to 12:40-Morgan nurses
12:50-I think she is back to sleep so I go lay down only to find out she is awake very quickly
1:10 to 1:20 am-Morgan is back up and her little tummy is not full so I nurse her again
1:30-back to sleep she goes until 6:05 am (4 hrs, 35 min)
6:18-needs her diaper changed just a wet one for now
6:22-nurses for 22 minutes
7:18 to 7:58-she falls asleep and I lay down with her for a few minutes until I need to get up to get ready for church. Chad leaves at 7:40 because he had setup that morning at church.
7:35-I finally get up and leave her laying in our bed and she decides to wake up about the time I hop out of the shower.
8:00-figure out that I had left my makeup in the car after Chad had already left so I went out to search for some makeup to see what I could find. Found something that will work.
8:10-I start to get dressed and put Morgan in her bouncy seat while I dry my hair and straighten it.
8:35-mommy finishes getting ready-Morgan gets a little bored in the bouncy seat so I sit her on the bed
8:40-time to get Morgan dressed for church
8:45-get bottles ready to go and start getting ready to go out the door so I can leave on time
8:55-finally leave the house
9:00-have to stop and get gas before heading to church and decide that breakfast sounds good since I actually left in time to do so.
9:25-get to church and meet Chad and he brings her into the nursery
9:30-11:35-Morgan is in nursery we went to church and Sunday School
11:40-go pick up Morgan and figure out its pouring down rain and for the one time I dont bring a blanket in is the time I need it. Morgan gets a few drops of rain on her but I was trying to shield her as much as I could.
12:00-went over to my parents while Chad finished taking down things at the church. My aunt and uncle came in from Louisiana to see my grandad who is not doing so well (he is almost 92). That was the first time that they have met Morgan.
12:10-determine that Morgan has her first poopy diaper of the day and grandma (my mom) gets to do the honors.
1:00-we eat lunch while grandma feeds her the bottle.
1:30-we finally head home and Morgan falls asleep within seconds of leaving my parents house.
1:40-we get home and I decide that a nap sure does sound good so while Morgan takes a nap I laid down on the couch and took one as well.
2:45-Morgan wakes up from her nap and I change her wet diaper
3:00-Morgan decides that one nap wasnt enough so she needs another one.
3:45-she wakes up
3:50-Chad runs over to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things for church tonight. I play with Morgan and start to fix the bottle.
4:15-we head out for church and forgot something at Wal-Mart so we stop by the one closer to our church group.
5:00-arrive at our community group for church and were the only ones there for about 15 minutes as the others were running late.
5:30-Morgan decides that a bottle is in store after her last one was at 1:00 so thats 4.5 hrs.
5:45-everyone starts to eat and Morgan is finishing up her bottle
6:00-I grab a plate to eat dinner while Morgan is still a happy camper since her belly is now all full
6:15-lesson starts for our group and Melissa holds her for a while until she discovers that she has a bad poopy diaper
6:30-I go change her and boy was it a bad one.
6:40-come back after changing it. She sits still for a little while and then it quickly turns south.
6:50-daddy holds her and takes her outside and she falls asleep
7:00-community group is over with but Chad helps out with a computer issue
7:15-we wait for daddy to stop chit chatting so we can head home
7:30-we finally head out and I call my cousin Joy back as she wants to know how grandad (who is almost 92) is doing. Pretty much tell her that things arent looking so grand for him. Just dont think it will be long. Morgan is screaming bloody murder because she is ready to be home and pretty much cries the entire way home. Nothing seemed to help for long. She was tired and that combo just doesnt go over well.
8:00-we get home and Morgan starts cracking up laughing. Now we are truly convinced that Morgan just doesnt want to be away from home. She has done this on more than one occassion of screaming then we get home and she stops crying.
8:02-daddy gets a quick pictures of Mommy and Morgan before changing into her nightime items
8:05-get her changed for bed time, discover that her new favorite word is tootsie socks. Anytime I say this she just cracks up laughing-silly little girl.
8:22-nurses for 21 minutes
9:00-she is out for the night (and hopefully she will sleep all night:)
Questions from Ashley....
1. What is the most surprising thing to you about being a mother?
I know everyone says how much you will love your child but the love and what you will do for the child is amazing. There is absolutely nothing that I will not do for this little girl and her smiles just melt my heart.
2. What are some tips you would give to new moms, or soon to be mommas?
Take things day by day. Just because you think everything is grand one day it maybe totally different the next day. I am a person who loves schedules but during the day I about drove myself crazy and have learned not to have such a strict schedule. In the morning and at night those are set in stone but the rest of the day is not. I found that trying to make such a strict schedule just made me a crazy person.
3. What are your top three baby products?
1) Bouncy seat-I dont know how I would function without this thing-its wonderful!
2) iphone app baby connect -it has kept me sane so many times. Its well worth the money. Ive used this since day 1 and I put in all of Morgans stats about her weight, height, what she eats, when she sleeps and I can go back and compare days, months or weeks. Chad and I both work in technology so we of course love technology and anything that can make our lives easier Im all for it!
3)Lamaze cube -she loves this little ball and even when fussy this can seem to calm her down most times
***
Thanks Amber!
September 27, 2010
uploading...
I'm working on uploading videos to youtube so that if anyone ever wants to watch long videos that are probably really boring to everyone but me, they can. :o) So, I don't have anything exciting to post right now, but if you want to check out a video or two... here you go!
I love my silly baby :o)
I love my silly baby :o)
September 25, 2010
i heart playdates
I love when Jenn and JT come over. For starters, it is always nice to talk to someone who actually participates in the conversation, in a language I can understand.
Secondly, it is so much fun to watch these two cuties hang out together.
Ryann was very interested in JT on Thursday. She wasn't exactly being the most gentle, poking him in the face and touching his head and all...
... but JT didn't really seem to mind :o).
Sometimes her smile looks very mischievous.
Makes me a little worried about my future :o).
September 24, 2010
happy girl
On Wednesday Ryann was extra excitable after her morning nap. Her, Chris and Max were just hanging out for a little bit. It was so cute!
I love how happy Max can make this little baby. Even if she is super crabby, when Max walks by she gets frantically excited. The poor guy has lot a good amount of fur thanks to her grabbing fingers, and probably a whisker or two. Luckily he is pretty good about letting Ryann beat him up. Occasionally if she pulls really hard, or grabs at his legs he will get mad, but has yet to really nip at her. Hopefully it stays like that! (and yes, we make sure not to leave the two of them along together)
pumpkin nutella bread
Last week I came across this recipe via Bambina Babe. Umm, let me just say I'm obsessed with Nutella, and it is the perfect time for pumpkin bread, so why not combine the two right?
Actually, last week I didn't have any pumpkin, but had the stuff for my mom's banana bread, so I thought I'd give banana Nutella bread a try. It didn't exactly work out. It didn't taste bad or anything, but my Nutella just stayed in a big clump at the top. Not exactly what I was looking for. So when I made the pumpkin bread, I heated my Nutella up a little bit and swirled it throughout the dough batter. The Nutella taste isn't as strong as I was hoping, but the bread is still AMAZING.
I love pumpkin bread. When I was little and my mom would make pumpkin bread, I refused to eat it. I thought it would be gross. What was wrong with me?!?! I love pumpkin bread, and I really love pumpkin Nutella bread.
Enjoy!
September 23, 2010
embrace the camera
Yesterday Ry and I got all ready to head to the park for playgroup. Then it started raining. :o( Not a ton or anything, but enough that me and my baby who dislikes the outdoors the majority of the time were not going to hang out at the park. So we went to the grocery store with daddy and took pictures at home instead.
It is generally difficult to get her to look at the camera because she is watching the cats.
One of Ryann's favorite things lately is what I like to call 'super baby'. I don't know why it is so fun, but she really enjoys it!
September 22, 2010
a day in the life - lisa
Happy Wednesday everyone! Today I'd like you to meet Lisa from Trapped in North Jersey. I hope you enjoy a peek into her daily life!
***
Here's a pic of my babies: Greg, Princess and Peter. I tried for 10 days to get a picture of all three children smiling and looking at the camera. It didn't happen. At least no one is screaming in this picture.
2 am to 5 am: Princess is getting four molars and has been waking repeatedly. I don't get much sleep lately.
5:40 am: Greg comes in for a morning cuddle.
6:20 am: I wake up when the Mister puts the Princess in bed. She crawls over and starts pulling my shirt down. "Num num!! Num num!!!" I nurse her for a bit and chat with Greg while the Mister gets up and starts getting ready for work.
6:40: I'm already running late. Throw on some running shoes, brush my teeth, tell the Mister I'm leaving for a walk. On my way out I hear Peter in his crib "A little help in here??? A little help in here, pweese??" I detour to his room, find he has peed everywhere. Arg! Running late! Change the diaper, fresh clothes, change the sheets.
6:48: Out the door for a short brisk walk. It is becoming clear now that school has started I need to get up earlier, or I don't have enough time for exercise. But I get so little sleep as it is, the thought of willingly getting up at 5:30 in the dark in order to exercise is depressing.
7:15 to 7:30: Back home, hop in the shower. Beauty routine: moisturizer with sunscreen, partially blowdry hair. Done. I am clean, that's about as exciting as it gets. Children are screaming and banging on the bathroom door.
Its kind of chilly out this morning, so I look for pants in the pile of fall clothing I brought in yesterday from the garage. What, I have no pants? I brought in clothes for everyone but myself? This was poor planning on someone's part. I put on shorts and a short sleeve shirt. Apparently I only have dainty summer-weight elbow-length cropped sweaters in my closet. Sigh. Put on a short sleeve sweater. Must rectify this situation today.
7:30: Lunch was made last night, so I take it out of the fridge and put it in the lunchbox. Make sure folder and lunchbox are in schoolbags, everyone's coats and shoes by the door.
7:34: The Mister goes to work. Put a bowl of oatmeal for myself into the microwave. Try to trick children into eating breakfast. Yogurt and chocolate cake for breakfast! They gobble it down. Joke's on them! Its chocolate ZUCCHINI bread!!! Made with a weight Watchers recipe! Bwuhahahahaha......
7:45 Get everyone dressed. The crying begins. We are on day four of going to kindergarten, and Greg is slooooooow to accept change. "I won't go! I don't want to! I want to stay home with youuuuuuuuuuu." And so on for the next hour.
8 am: Let Greg watch 10 minutes of tv before leaving. Pack up diaper bag, I need to run errands when we get back.
8:06 Pull oatmeal out of microwave. Have four minutes to eat it. Wish we had not run out of blueberries. Oatmeal is much tastier with blueberries. Choke down dry plain oatmeal. Think to myself that I need to get up a lot earlier, because this frantic pace in the morning is not something I enjoy. I like to sit down and have a leisurely meal, read some blogs, check my email...and that is not going to happen unless I get up earlier. Gah.
8:10 to 8:24: Put coats on kids, grab bookbag and diaper bag, go downstairs and out Grandma's house to get the stroller in the garage. Put kids in stroller, toss diaper bag in minivan, walk to school. Greg has still not stopped crying or telling me how much he doesn't want to go. We have our daily pep talk; new things are hard and scary, but when you get used to them they get easier and more fun. You can't get used to something unless you do it all the time, therefore you have to go to school every day so you get used to it and learn to like it. Greg is not impressed with my pep talk. He thinks it sucks, actually.
Tried to get a pic of the three of them, but as usual, Greg will not allow his picture to be taken. That's him hiding behind the stroller.
Thank goodness that drop-off is finally on the playground instead of inside the gym. The only handicap entrance to the school is locked in the mornings and it is difficult to get the BOB stroller up all the stairs into the school. Greg starts wailing in earnest when we hit the playground and glues himself to my leg.
8:40: the teachers come out and bring the kids in. Peel Greg off my leg, hand him over to his teacher, kiss goodbye, see you at 3! He stops crying as they walk in the building and I see him chatting and smiling with the teacher.
Walk home, toss the younger two in the minivan, off to run errands. We need a specific toothbrush as a part of Peter's speech therapy. No one seems to carry this special toothbrush. Should we go to the small, crappy Target near our house that never has anything, or the Target with the great selection that is far away but means we will sit in bridge traffic on the way home? (We live very close to the George Washington Bridge into NYC).
I decide to go to the good Target, because then I can also return some stuff in the mall attached to the Target. We get on Route 4, drive for a bit, make a mental note that the bridge traffic is backed up pretty far and I should take a different way home....and come to a complete halt and sit for a while. Usually traffic jams up a bit further, not all the way back here....arg. Get off Route 4, remember that there is another Target (also not a good one, but can't be too picky here). This Target also does not have the special toothbrush, but I manage to spend money anyways.
Peter is obsessed with the Buzz Lightyear display found at most Targets---he asks to go see it at least once a day---so we stop in the toy section.
10 am: Done, back out the door, put Peter in his carseat. He freaks about wanting to buckle himself in. Okay, okay, you do it. I turn around to see a nice lady catching my 1 year old who has climbed out of the cart (she was strapped in! I swear, no straps can hold this little Houdini) and is perched to do a swan dive onto the pavement. Thank you, nice lady in the Target parking lot!
10:05 Can see that Route 4 is still backed up, so we take a back way home. I am not that familiar with this area but I remember my mother in law taking me down this other road, so I will try that. We get lost. Drive around for a while before figuring out where we are.
10:30 to 12:15: Get home, make and eat lunch (pastina with Grandma's delicious meat sauce.) Princess goes down for a nap at 11:15 while Peter plays in the playroom. Peter helps me eat my salad for lunch, and then goes down for a nap himself at 12.
12:15 to 2: Blessed silence. I fold some laundry, clean the kitchen, clean off the dining table, generally pick up, sort some mail. Finally, I can read my blogs and check my email. I have a Honeycrisp apple and surf the innernets. Keep an ear out for the Princess. She usually wakes up at 12:30 but today gets up at 1:30. Woohoo!
2 to 2:40: Wake up Peter, play for a while. Keep Peter sans pants, as I usually do lately when we are at home. Potty training is....eh....not exactly going so well.
2:40 to 3:15: Put the kids in the stroller and go get Greg at school. Come home and have a snack. I promised Greg we would play with the Wii this afternoon. I try to convince him to go to the park, but he wants to play video golf. Weirdo.
4:30 to 5:30: making dinner while the kids play in the playroom. Pasta with pesto, an arugula salad with tomatoes from our garden, some good bread.
6 pm: Kids are allowed to watch an hour of tv before bed. They take turns picking the show. Greg is getting very frustrated lately because Peter ALWAYS picks the movie Toy Story 2. Always. Princess wants to nurse but its like trying to nurse a spider monkey on a sugar high. She literally climbs over my shoulder to nurse.
7 pm: Bedtime! Brush teeth, pjs, potty, bedtime stories. The Mister comes home around 7:15ish most nights and reads stories to the kids. After a few stories I nurse the Princess and put her down while the Mister puts the boys down.
8 pm: The kids are usually asleep, although Greg is staying up later and later lately. The Mister has some dinner, we chat, watch some tv. I am not a huge tv watcher; I usually catch up on blogs and write posts for my own blog while sitting next to the Mister.
9:30 to 10:40: Pack a lunch for Greg, clean the kitchen, run the dishwasher, switch over the laundry, pick up the playroom, do general clean up, brush teeth, get in bed. Princess wakes up, nurse her back to sleep. Get into bed. Laying in bed I realize I forgot to get myself some fall clothes out of the garage. Finally get to sleep myself around 11:15.
1. What is the most surprising thing to you about being a mother?
My kids have such amazingly different personalities. And that means the tricks that worked with the first kid don't always work with the second kid.
2. What are some tips you would give to new moms, or soon to be mommas?
a) Pick your battles. Currently Greg is in a very argumentative mood. So for things like getting dressed (I use this approach with all my kids), as long as they are attired in a seasonally appropriate manner, I don't care what they are wearing. (I pack away things I don't want them to wear, like shorts in January.) Stripes and camo? Two pairs of underpants? Different sneakers that don't match? Knock yourself out, kid. I save my arguing for things that matter, like yes, you have to wear a seatbelt and stop beating your brother.
b) Take some time for yourself. I'm a much nicer person when I get my daily morning time to eat breakfast and surf the internet. If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.
3. What are your top three baby products?
a) I love love love my BOB Duallie and Maclaren Twin Techno double strollers. The BOB is great outdoor stroller that we use every day on walks, and the Maclaren is better for indoor activities.
b) My Cuisinart mini food processor. The only baby food I buy is pureed fruit. Otherwise I puree whatever we are eating for dinner.
c) This hands-free bustier made pumping much easier. http://www.amazon.com/Medelas-
Expression-Hands-BUSTIER-Bustier-Medium/dp/B002NUWQUM/ref=sr_1_1?
s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1284762225&sr=8-1
***
Thanks so much Lisa!
September 21, 2010
somebody has a message...
So it's a little hard to read, by Ryann just wanted to say...
she was so confused by the paper :o)
Happy Birthday Grammy!!
Today is my mom's birthday. I hope she is having a fantastic day. If you happen to see her (and actually know her) make sure you wish her a good one!
Love you Mom!
September 20, 2010
September 19, 2010
this and that
Please excuse the color of my photos. Sometimes I am too lazy to set the white balance when I am taking pictures, and then I kick myself for it later when I am editing.
:: Ryann tried sweet potatoes this weekend. She is a HUGE fan. Seriously, she looked like a hungry bird and was opening her mouth so wide! It was awesome.
:: Umm, Ry has been getting to her hands and knees pretty frequently lately. It is freaking me out. I'm not ready for a mobile baby. I mean her log rolling has been enough trouble. She is all over the place. Last week I caught her eating the curtains by her playmat, and at one point she had ahold of the charger cord for Chris's iPad. Both items were out of her reach, so she had to get there somehow! She tries to go forward when she is on her hands and knees, but unless something is behind her to push off of, she ends up scooting backwards.
:: I am trying to create a facebook page for the blog but for some reason I have no idea what I'm doing. I am also thinking of creating a twitter account. I said I never would because I thought it was stupid, but I kind of want to see what all the hype is about :o). Anyone really love twitter? Or is it a waste of time?
:: This weekend we went to my parents house so my mom could babysit Ryann (read below to find out why!) Here are a few pictures from the little trip.
oh you know, just checking out the Sunday morning ads
she was playing peek-a-boo with Grandpa :o)
:: On Saturday Meaghan and I traveled to Marysville to visit our friend Katelynn and participate in the Highway 36 Treasure Hunt. Long story short it is 400 miles of garage sales and yard sales. We only looked around in Marysville, but if you made a weekend out of it all you great thrifters and yard salers could find some awesome stuff. Before we got there Katelynn and her mom scoped out the PERFECT bookshelf for Ryann's room. It was only $5, score! It needs a little help. I'm trying to decide whether to paint it white, dark grey or a color. Also if I should paint the back a different color. What do you think? There is a big ding on the top that I'm going to have to repair, but does anyone have any other brilliant ideas on how to fix that? I thought about doing tile on the top...
:: Ryann is in love with the ceiling fan in our bedroom. She has been for a while, but I thought I'd mention it so I remember it. She looks at it and does this really awkward laugh. Cracks me up every time.
:: And just a couple other pictures that I feel like posting...
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