12/27/10 – 5 Months (And 1 Day)

First, with all of the Christmasness of the weekend, I decided to hold off and do Amelia’s 5 months post today!

Amelia is 5 months old now! It’s so hard to believe how fast it’s going. I feel like having this crazy toddler to chase after has completely taken away our ability to really take in these precious newborn months. Don’t get me wrong…it’s been a ROUGH few months, and a large part of me can’t wait for Amelia to be a little older and be able to play and interact with Olivia, but at the same time, I know they grow so quickly, and my days of snuggling a little helpless newborn are ending fast.

*She can just about sit up all by herself now…but she’s still a bit of a weeble wobble. She is a rolling machine though. She gets all over, back and forth, and usually flips over as soon as we lay her down. You can tell she wants to go, go, go the way she rocks and sticks her butt up in the air. She’s ready to show her sister whose boss! She “talks” more and more every day – she has A LOT to say, that’s for sure.

*Her bad days are becoming more and more rare, which is a blessing. She is on month three of her probiotics right now, and I’m sure glad we gave them a shot! I do think they’ve worked wonders.

*She is still exclusively breastfed…ZERO formula to date and I am beyond proud of that! We have not started her on cereal/solids either. Christian pressures me to do it, but I just keep reminding him that I am the one who does the research, and that I don’t feel like she’s ready for it. With her tummy troubles, I don’t think adding in anything else right now will help. And, I’d like to skip cereal all together, and just start her on veggies when she turns six months. Seriously, what’s a few more weeks at this point?!

*She slept through the night last night (2nd time ever), and I’m praying it’s a new fad!

*We will finally be moving her up to 3-6 months clothing this week! She can still fit into her 0-3 months stuff, but the pants are getting a little short, so we figure we might as well make the switch. I’m excited to get her into a new wardrobe finally! She is still in Size ½ Diapers, but when our current supply is gone, we’ll be moving up to Size 2.

So, that’s our girl! Growing as quickly as she can. She is still pretty much a mama’s girl, but she’s getting more used to Christian. He’s actually had to put her down to bed a few times lately because she just wants to hang out and stare at me when I try. LOL. It’s hard to believe she’s been with us for 5 months now…she’s had her first Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas and we’re about to ring in a new year as a family of 4!

12/26/10 – Bringing Christmas to a Close

Today was our final day of Christmas celebrations! It’s hard to believe another Christmas season is over!

The girls slept in a little bit, so that was a nice treat. By the time we were up and finished with breakfast, it was time to get ready to go again. Today we were off to my dad’s house to celebrate with sisters and all the kids. Now this is pretty much the definition of a mad house! It my dad and stepmom, me and Christian, my 3 sisters and their significant others, our 2 girls and my 11 nieces and nephews (the kids range from 5 months to 21 years old) PLUS, two of my nieces have one kid each…so there are 15 kids total running around! It’s chaos, and exhausting, but it’s always so fun. I think Olivia was in complete heaven having so many kids to run around with…plus, they’re all crazy, like her, so even better! Amelia again slept through most of the day. But, we did manage to get in some family pictures this time, and she was actually awake for them!
We skipped out after the picture taking, and settled in at home for the night. Olivia took a little cat nap, then was back to getting so good use out of all the new toys. Christian and I were pretty much dead men walking at this point, so she just went crazy. We just look around at all of this stuff, and think about her party next week and how much MORE stuff she’s going to get, and think…where in the WORLD are we going to put all of it?!? We are so blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives to spoil the girls like they do!

Now, it’ll be a week of PURE CHAOS trying to get the house in order for the party, get all of the final decorations and food, get the house cleaned and get all set up. Then, hopefully we can finally get a little break and some much needed rest!

We took some family photo's at my Dad's house today. What a family we are!

12/25/10 – MERRY CHRISTMAS!

It’s Christmas!!! I hope everybody reading has a wonderful Christmas, and is able to spend some time with those you love and care for most. It’s such an amazing time of year!

We were up bright and early and, oh boy did Santa show up! Olivia was so excited to see all of the presents magically appear under the tree this morning! She riffled through her stocking first. It’s so funny…it took her SO long to get through it because she insisted on playing with each new thing she pulled out. Finally, she finished, and was on to the presents…the GOOD stuff! The Mickey Mouse Choo Choo was definitely the hit of the day. We had to set it up right away in the kitchen, and she played with it on and off the rest of the day. YAY! Amelia got a few presents as well, mom helped her open those :)

After we finished up our little Christmas, my mom stopped over to celebrate with us. We all opened gifts together and she helped entertain the girls while Christian and I got the girls ready, showered and got ourselves ready. Finally, we were off to my Grandma and Grandpa’s to celebrate with the “Hartfiel” family. I love the feeling of a little house jam packed with all of us. Olivia had so much fun with all of the kids, and it was nice getting to see everybody and catch up. Amelia actually slept through most of the day. She fell asleep on the way there, and slept for about 3 hours! Slept right through lunch, present opening and, sadly, the group grandkid photo. She didn’t exist this year. But, she did finally wake up and everybody got to see her. Olivia did really well with no nap, I was worried about that!

After a little catching up, we were on our way home. The girls were getting restless and tired, and Christian and I just wanted to sit down and relax for a little while. Amelia went to sleep shortly after we got home. Olivia got to play with a few of her new toys for a while, and passed out shortly after….Christian and I were not far behind! This Christmas stuff is sure exhausting! Day 3, the final day, of celebrations tomorrow!

12/24/10 – Let the Chaos Begin!

Well, today was a very busy day, including the first of many Christmas celebrations.

I was up pretty bright and early, outting some final touches on the handprints. YAY, we actually got them done on time! By the time I finished, the rest of the house was up and running around. Olivia and I baked, frosted and sprinkled some sugar cookies. She was very into it, but also made the process a very long one, so she eventually got kicked out of the kitchen. Ha!

After we cleaned up and got the girls fed and dressed, we were able to get ready, and then we were off! Today’s party stop was Christian’s parents’ house. Since his sister moved, it’s just going to be us this year. Pretty low key! We had a nice big dinner, listened to some Christmas music and opened LOTS of presents! Because it was so low key, the girls even took their naps like usual, which was nice. Olivia had so much fun opening all of the presents. Of course, she was much more into Amelia’s presents than her own…goofy girl. Finally, she started acting up and bouncing off the walls because she was so tired, so we packed everything up and were on our way home. The girls passed out right away, so Christian and I watched a movie! We used one of our free pay-per-views and ordered “The Town”. It was actually really good, and I even stayed awake through the whole thing! Now it’s time to gear up for Day 2 of celebrations!

12/23/10 – Thank Goodness!

Well, I finally got a little sleep last night…no thanks to Amelia, but thanks all to Christian! He got her down to bed (she continues to refuse going down at night), and got up with her during the night and just heated her up a bottle. I hate dipping into our freezer stash, but I must say, it was a great break! It was nice to actually get some sleep.

Work was very quiet, and very productive. It was just my supervisor and me at work, so I got quite a bit accomplished…AND, she let me go home early! YAY.

So, I was off to the Dollar Store and the party supply store, and ended up getting just about everything we need for Olivia’s birthday party! I can’t believe it’s next weekend, it’s really snuck up on me! Not much time to get ready! We just have a few odds and ends to grab, and the food of course. I am getting nervous though…I ordered her the cutest outfit from Etsy.com (on black Friday), and it hasn’t come yet. I contacted the seller earlier this week and she assured me it will be here next week, before the party. Man, I’m going to be VERY upset if it doesn’t get here!

Christian actually got off work on time today, so he even picked the girls up! He must be sucking up for something big time! So, after shopping, I was able to sit down and relax for a little bit before they got home. We all just hung out, ate some dinner and had some long overdue family time. We are making clay handprints of the girls’ hand for my mom and Christian’s parents for Christmas…we got the prints done and drying…I can’t believe Christmas festivities are going to start tomorrow! WOW.

12/22/10 – Girls Day

Well, another sleepless night for me! We’ve honestly tried everything…different noises, positioning her bassinet differently…everything. She just won’t sleep! She ends up in our bed most of the night, but I still don’t sleep well. Ugh! I need sleep like CRAZY!

Anyway, I was home today with the girls because my mother in law had to work, so we had a girls day in. It was a wonderful day too! We all just hung out, and both girls were very well behaved! I got the dishes washed, the kitchen cleaned up, the trash and recycling together. The girls went down for their naps at the same time, and naps for 4 HOURS! So I was able to work on some projects on the computer and get some me time in.

Christian ended up working for 12 hours today! Poor guy. He finally got home with just a little time to spend with the girls. We gave them their baths and put them to bed. We wanted to see what Olivia would do if we put Amelia in the bath with her…so Christian held Amelia in there and Olivia just thought it was hilarious. I think we’re going to get one of those chairs that sit in the tub so we can put them in there together on nights when Amelia doesn’t get soapy baths. I think they’ll like it, and it’ll save on water! After the play time, we tried out some of Olivia's Christmas presents (a little early). LOL. We got her this little "fountain" that just floats in the bath, and some water color tablets. She LOVES them.

12/21/10 - Another Blah Day

Well, nothing too interesting happened today. I’m off tomorrow, and Friday, so it’s a pretty short, packed week for me at work. Today my supervisor brought in her annual Christmas breakfast for all of us. YUM. The roads weren’t as bad as I expected…I was only 30 minutes late for work! Ha.

Christian’s work is beyond busy being so close to the holidays now. He’ll be working early and late for the next couple of weeks! Christian’s mom sent home a big pan of pasta for us…so between that and Christmas celebrations, we shouldn’t have to make dinner this week. Big YAY for that!

So, it was just a pretty low key, boring day for us! I’ll take that! Today's flashback photos are of our Holiday photo session last year! I love looking back at this pictures. I was barely pregnant with Amelia, and Olivia was such a little sweetie. So fun.

12/20/10 – More Snow, Really?!

So, as if the 21 inches of snow we got last weekend wasn’t enough, on top of the initial blizzard we had in November…we had to get MORE snow today. My work actually sent us home early today…that NEVER happens. So, I left work like 40 minutes before I usually would, and was still late picking up the girls! We ended up with another 4-5 inches I think. Seriously, there isn’t anywhere to put the snow anymore! I don’t know now people without snow blowers do it! This is officially the snowiest winter on record here, and it's not even over yet!

Besides the snow, it was just a regular old day. The Vikings played tonight, and it was quite a joke, as expected. The Metrodome just keeps getting worse and worse after last week’s storm, so they ended up getting the U of M’s outdoor stadium ready to play in. Although, since it’s not meant for cold weather play, it was still a pretty hard, icy surface. And, the new layer of snow didn’t help. In the end, the Vikings lost…BIG TIME. Only two more games left…it’s sad!

So, that’s about it. Work, traffic, and Vikings. Pretty exciting! Of course, we skipped baths and the whole ritual so we wouldn’t miss the game. Priorities, right?!

I must admit...I will probably have a few flashback photos this week. With things being so crazy and hectic, the camera will probably be the last thing on my mind! Here's one from last year. Olivia so little, as big as a bag of chips! LOL - now, she'd have that bag ripped open in now time!

12/19/10 - Busy Day of Nothing

Today was a pretty busy day.

After getting up with Amelia, feeding her and getting her back to sleep, I was off to Target to do our weekly shopping. I like Holiday time because it really cuts down on our grocery needs, knowing that we'll be well fed by others for a couple of days! So, the trip was quick, and the list was short!

After getting everything put away, and eating some breakfast/lunch, I was off to wrap Olivia's birthday presents, and put the final touches on the Christmas presents. YAY...task DONE! We (or, apparently I) planned on going to watch the Holidazzle parade today. Being that it was the last day of the parade, I REALLY wanted to take Olivia. Of course, earlier in the week I asked Christian to talk to his mom about watching Amelia while we go (it's way too cold to bring her), but of course, he didn't, and by the time he called her today, she was off doing her final Christmas shopping. Apparently he can't be trusted with one simple task...MEN!

So, we just hung out the rest of the night. We didn't do much, Amelia slept most of the day, but then was up most of the evening. I think her relux is really acting up these days, she cries and writhes, seemingly in pain. Poor thing. I can't wait for that to be done! I did snap a "good" picture of Olivia's black eye...it's getting worse every day and it makes me want to cry.

12/18/10 – First Christmas Celebration

Today was a very great day! Well, maybe not completely for Christian…who had to work. Luckily we had plans, otherwise I think he would have been stuck there all day and night! He worked until about 12:30, then he and his dad worked on the car a little bit. They have decided to throw in the towel, for now at least. It’s just too cold to really put the time in and the weather just isn’t conducive to auto repairing. So, they’ll check it again in a few months and see what they can do. Until then, I guess it’s check the fluid levels and top it off as we go. Boo. I did get all of our Christmas presents wrapped while they worked on the car, so CHECK that off my list!

After that, we all ate some lunch and started getting ready. We were off to see Santa!! And, very excited about it. We made an appointment this year with Santa at the Mall of America. With two small kids, it’s nice to know we wouldn’t be standing in line for hours. Santa went well…Olivia was pretty shy about it, but didn’t freak out or anything. Amelia did REALLY well, until just as they were finishing up, then reality set in that I was not holding her any more. We got some great pictures though, and that’s all that matters.

After Santa, we were off to the Madrid’s to exchange presents. We got Meeka a Dora Backpack, she seemed to really like it…Olivia and Amelia each got a pretty awesome toy…and Olivia was very into both of them. HA. After some catching up, playing and snacks, it was WAY past our bedtimes, Amelia’s reflux was acting up and it was time to head home. At the party last night, Dan and Skaar gave us a couple of gifts for the girls. Olivia opened them up before bed. They got her an “Olivia” doll, which she took to bed with her. Lucky girls!