Today was a good day..a very good day. I'm exhausted and worn out, but I have a smile on my face. Amelia was a trooper today. She took a couple of nice, long naps. She hung out by herself on the couch for a while, without crying. I actually got to each breakfast AND lunch today, AND get some cleaning done. She was a completely different baby that she has been, especially compared to yesterday.The day was made even better when my BFF stopped over for a visit!! Kari and Andrew came over after dinner to hang out and catch up. It was so nice to talk to her and get some girl talk in for a little while. And, Olivia just LOVES playing with Andrew...she's able to be rough and tough with him since he's older, so I think that is very enjoyable for her. Kari said he got very excited when she told him they were coming over to play too...he loves her.After they left, the girls went to bed and we are not far behind...I'm pretty much heading there as I type!Kari and I long ago decided that Olivia and Andrew would be married some day (even though he's much older)...tonight they went on their first romantic horseback ride :)
Today was just about the longest day of my life!About a month ago, before Amelia was born (AKA, before we knew how difficult she as going to be), a friend of ours invited Christian to a Twins game with a couple other guys. He "asked" if it would be OK, and of course at the time I was perfectly fine with it. Well, tonight was the night of the game...and I wish I'd never agreed to it! Luckily, I was thinking ahead, and asked my mom to take Olivia over night tonight, since she watches her tomorrow anyway, because I knew I wouldn't be able to handle her.Today was definitely the most difficult day I've had with Amelia so far. She cried, and cried, and cried...all day long. And ate...all day. If she wasn't eating, she was crying. She refused to sleep or take a nap. I couldn't eat, I couldn't get anything done around the house. Man, I've never been so stressed out.Breastfeeding is going really well still, thank god. Luckily I was still able to get a few pumping sessions in with all of the chaos today. It's so important that I stay on top of that, so I NEED to find the time to do it.Christian worked, like usual, then was immediately off to the game. So, it was just me and Amelia, from Dawn to Dusk. I was an emotional wreck today, so I'm praying with all of my might that tomorrow will be a better day. PLEASE!! Rico seemed very perplexed by Amelia's sadness today...in one of the rare moments I was able to set her down, he snuggled up next to her...
Today was kind of a blah day. Amelia was somewhere between her fussy and angelic sides today. I just wish there was a way for these little ones to just tell us what's bothering them! I know she gets really gassy, and I think her stomach bothers her...I just wish I knew why...and knew what to do! We've been using the Mylicon drops here and there, but who knows if the help. The bottle seemed to help tide her over again today during her cluster feeding time, so at least that's one plus!Christian picked up some McDonald's for dinner tonight...Olivia loves her cheeseburgers lately! After a quick dinner, he took to the yard and got that taken care of. Even though they lie a lot, the news claims we're in for rain and some more REALLY hot weather, and we have a busy weekend coming up, so he had to do it tonight.Other than that, just a low key night for us!
Well, it's day two of just Amelia and me. It started off OK. She was a little fussy this morning, but it was tolerable. She finally got her belly full enough that she was tired and ready to nap. I got her sound asleep and stuck her in her car seat...it was time for our first attempt at shopping! I needed to run to Sam's Club and Target...I had a few necessities to get each place, and wanted to just wander around Target for some extras. I got to Sam's, picked up my stuff there, and we left. She woke up as soon as we got there, but she survived and made it through the store just fine...HUGE relief!We got to Target, and it was a whole different story. The second we walked into the store, she started crying. So, I took her out of her car seat and carried her (while pushing the cart) through the store. That worked briefly...but she just got more and more worked up as we went along. Finally, I just had to say screw the extras and practically ran through the store getting everything I needed.Once we got home I was just exhausted. I was so disappointed...I hoped that she would like being out and about, taking in all of the new sights and sounds. Instead, she's just too clingy. And, I think with her eating habits still being so constant, she's just not ready to be out in the real world for long periods of time.Today was also out first attempt at a bottle. I started pumping, at the doctors recommendation, and gave her the first bottle this afternoon. I was actually in tears as I gave her that bottle....I'm so scared of doing anything that could jeopardize the breastfeeding. Thankfully, the bottle really did fill her up, and she took a nice, long nap. And, after her nap, she nursed just like normal, like nothing had ever happened. I'm so grateful for that! Now, hopefully this will help make her a happier baby! Here's our little peanut today...
Today was Amelia's 2 Week Well Baby check. Her doctor is very popular, so it's hard to get in, which is why it's a week late! Everything went well though. She's gaining weight great...she was 8lbs1ozs. That puts her in the 32%...so she's skinny :) She was up to 23", putting her at 65%..so she's tall too!I talked to the doctor about her constant feeding. As I had thought, she cluster feeds. And, also as I though, he thinks she does it because she's not taking in enough in one feeding, so then she gets hungry again, but my body hasn't had enough time to produce much more milk, so she again doesn't get much, and it's a constant cycle until she's finally full. He said we can either continue on if I can tolerate it, or we can give her a bottle of expressed milk during her cluster feeding times to fill her up. I have to start pumping and we have to introduce her to the bottle soon anyway, so we'll probably try that. When am I supposed to pump though when she eats so often???? Ugh, breastfeeding is much more confusing than I ever thought.She has a mixture of peeling skin and cradle cap going on right now. She has a blister on her lip that keeps coming back...he said it's a "sucking blister", which makes sense...she has a really strong need to suck. He recommended Infant Probiotics for her fussiness, and swears by it, so now I'll be on the search for that! All in all, it was a very good appointment! And YAY for a child with no heart issues! Such a relief!After the appointment, we hung out at home. When Christian and Olivia got home, I ran to a couple Pharmacies to look for the probiotics..the only brand I could find was pretty expensive, so I'm going to keep looking. Then, I picked up some dinner, and we just relaxed for the evening. Pretty exciting!!!Amelia was also acquainted with the dog for the first time today. He seemed very interested in her, but she was completely bored with him...
Well, today is our last day together...Christian officially heads back to work tomorrow. I'm sad...we don't get much, if any, quality time together, so it's been really nice having him around...being able to talk to each other, spend time together, run errands together, get stuff done around the house. Now it's back to jam packed weekends trying to fit it all in. Tear...
We spent the morning just hanging out together, relaxing. It's FINALLY, FINALLY, FINALLY cooled off here. And, I mean really cooled off, in the morning and evening you almost needed a sweater! It's so wonderful...windows open, a nice breeze, a break from the sweating. But, in a couple of days we're supposed to be right back to the heat and humidity...boo.
After nap time, we all headed over to Christian's parents' house for some dinner. He and his dad did a little more work on the car trying to figure out why it started by itself the other night. I have a remote car starter (basically a necessity in Minnesota), and apparently there is some "clip" that is installed under the hood to prevent car theft...and that's broken. Now Christian is on the hunt for that piece. They replaced a broken light, did some other stuff...ugh, I'm sick of hearing about the car though!
After dinner, we rushed on home for bed time. Of course it was a pretty early night for all of us with Christian heading back to work tomorrow...now it's just me and the baby...scary! Here's a picture of Amelia's new chubby cheeks :) 
Well, it's back to working on the car for Christian. I swear, it's just one thing after another. I'm beginning to hate that car! Christian was checking it out the other night and noticed that it was sparking under the hood...which apparently it's not supposed to do, so he and his dad are going to do some more work on it.My mom came over to help me with the girls this morning, and Christian headed over to his parents' house with the car. We girls hung out by the pool for a while...it was again really humid today, but today is supposed to be the last of the extreme heat for a while...fingers crossed! After some pool time, we played inside, and my mom was on her way. I got the girls down for their naps (go me!), and parked myself on the couch for a while. Peace and quiet!Christian and his dad got to work on the car. They replaced some kind of wires and the distributor cap (as if I know what that is). It took them a really long time to do - he still wasn't home when the girls woke up from their naps. So, I was on my own! Luckily Olivia was pretty well behaved...I fed her lunch (AND she actually ate!), then she played while I took care of Amelia. Thank goodness!Christian finally got home at dinner time and fired up the grill. We ate a quick dinner, hung out, got ready for bed and that was that. Another busy day done. But, at around 12:30 Christian woke me up to inform me that the car had started itself (in the garage on top of that)...so that was a little crazy. And, it was still sparking a little bit. But, the initial problem seems to be fixed. Man, did I mention I hate cars?!?Here is a cute picture of the girls, snuggling on the couch together :)
Well, I got about halfway through the day before realizing what day it is...it's Friday the 13th! I love Friday the 13th...it's usually a pretty lucky day for me. Nothing exciting happened today though, boo...Today was a pretty relaxed (aka boring) day. Amelia was up half the night last night, so we were pretty exhausted! We basically just spent the day around the house. I did some cleaning, did the dishes, did the laundry and spent a majority of the day like I usually do...feeling like a dairy cow. Christian was busy chasing after Olivia (since this would be my Friday home with her, she was here with us today) most of the day, and took to the lawn during nap time. With all of the rain we've been getting, the grass is growing like crazy!Of course, it was another super hot day today. And, we got another round of storms tonight. I can't wait for this to be over!!! I hate summer as it is...but this summer is just added fuel to my fire. Silver lining...at least I'm not pregnant anymore!Here is a picture of Amelia this morning...she's ALWAYS holding her head up...Olivia was the same way early on. Strong girls! I also added a picture of Olivia from when she was this age...they look so different!
While I'm excited to be off work, spend some time at home, spend time with Christian and the kids and get a little down time...this sure gets boring!!! I know I'll be eating these words in a few weeks when I head back to work, but I'm just not cut out for being home. Christian definitely is not cut out for it...he's very anxious to get back to work. He spends most of his days dreaming up little projects that "need" to be done, just to keep himself occupied. He's more than ready to head back to work. For me...I just get too lazy when I'm home...half the time I don't even leave the house! I know that will get better as I get back to normal, and as Amelia gets more manageable, but for now, it kid of sucks.
Today was just another day. Olivia was off to his parents' house for the day. Christian spent the day calling auto part stores getting prices on some stuff he's going to do to the car this weekend. Then, this afternoon he picked some parts up, picked Olivia up and we just hung out around the house. It was again too hot to really do anything outside. Then, we got some more storms late this evening. So, it was just a hang out around the house kind of day today. That's starting to sound repetitive...Here's just a cute picture of little Amelia for today, and her name letters that I finally hung up today! :)
Today I finally made my trip in to work for a visit. I had a little push when I got the call yesterday...it was time for me to return the lap top I'd been working on at home. So, this morning we got up and running right away. Christian dropped Amelia and I off at my work, and he was off to drop Olivia off at his parents' house. Amelia and I visited my office and some of the other offices around the building and everyone was so excited to meet her. Of course they just couldn't get over how cute she is :) It was also a nice visit for me...hearing that people miss having me around makes me feel special, and everyone thought I look so great...definitely can't hear that enough!!After our visit, Christian picked us up and we hung out around the house. Amelia took a nice long nap again. I caught up on some shows, Christian did some work on the car. It was pretty relaxing. Finally, it was time to pick Olivia up. Once home, we ate some dinner and got in some pool time. I don't think this horrible heat is EVER going to end! Our poor AC needs a break, as does our electric bill...BIG TIME!!!It was a taco bell for dinner kind of night tonight, and Olivia sure enjoys her Chili Cheese Burritos!
