Today I decided to grant myself a day of rest! It was such a busy weekend, and I have a week of errands, chores and activities ahead of me, so today will just be a day of nothing!Amelia has still been pretty fussy and crying a lot. We've tried everything, and it's just not helping. I couldn't take much more of the crying, it was driving me insane, and it was constantly making us worry that something is wrong with her. So, tonight, Christian and I finally gave in...gave in to the pacifier. We are not fans of pacifiers...I worry about trying to break the habit in the future, I don't like the effects they can have on children's tooth/gum development, and I despise the idea of getting up during the night to replace a lost pacifier. But, we've spent 4 weeks trying everything we can think of to make her happy, and this was our last resort. And, to mixed emotions, it did help. She seemed to calm down immensely when we gave it to her. And, she did well keeping it in, until she would fall asleep or get hungry. So, for now we'll just thank our lucky stars something is helping. And, pray that it's an easy thing to get away from her in the future!Other than that, it was just another day. Once Christian got home, I took Olivia with me to do some much needed grocery shopping. We ate some quick dinner when we got home and it was just about bed time already. Boy, the days sure do fly by....
Today was a very fun day!!! We spent the morning hanging around the house, being lazy! I love lazy!!Then, we were all off to a birthday party!! Today was my friend Melissa's daughters first birthday party! Melissa and her family and friends are all so friendly and welcoming, and we couldn't wait to celebrate Payton's big day with them!! It was pretty warm out, but the party was lots of fun...I'm totally jealous of their planning abilities, the party was great!Olivia was the biggest kid there (one of the kids was slightly older than her, but was born a little early so she's pretty small for her age). She was NOT a fan of that in the beginning. She just doesn't know what to do with kids smaller than her...she likes big kids that she can run around with and rough house with. Eventually, she warmed up to everyone and had a blast though!After the party, we stopped over to Christian's parents' house so they could finally finish up my car. Christian was able to find the little "clip" he needed for the remote starter, so they got that installed and everything should be good with the car..for now anyway. We had a quick bite to eat afterwards, then it was just about bed time, so we were on our way home! Busy day, but very FUN!!
Here's a few pictures of the birthday girl, and the kids playing :)
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 :)
