365 Days of Duran

This is the Duran life. This blog, which started in 2010, as part of the "365 Project", aiming to document a year of life through photo has morphed through the years. First into a "52 Weeks of Duran" format, and now into (pretty much) photographic documentation of our lives now. While life has caught up to me as our family has grown, photography means the world to me, and often speaks volumes beyond word, and I cherish the chance to look back on our memories, so I continue on...

Thursday, March 31, 2011

3/31/11 – Thursday…Enough Said

I don’t really have anything interesting to report today. Sleep didn’t go quite as well last night. Olivia woke Amelia up shortly after putting them down. We got them back to sleep, and then Amelia was up again a short time later. I kept trying and trying to get her back to sleep, and she just wouldn’t cooperate. I finally gave in and just kept her in bed with me. I couldn’t take it anymore. I’m such a quitter! But, we’re not giving up yet. We’re getting back on the horse tonight, and sticking with it! I know we need to just be consistent about it, and they’ll get used to the arrangement, It’s just so frustrating, and exhausting, get up over and over again!

The rest of the day was pretty boring. The weather has been really iffy lately, and it looks like that is going to continue for a while. Gotta love Spring! But, this weekend should be pretty nice, so hopefully we’ll be able to get outside for a while.

Work has been going well for both of us. I approached Christian about carpooling a while back, and he really didn’t take to it. One issue is that he drives a friend of his to and from work, and the bigger issue is that he has his random, mandatory OT all the time, and that adds a little kink into it. Now, with gas prices being so out of control (and just getting higher), he actually brought it up to me again. His friend at work is supposed to be getting a car soon, so he won’t need rides any longer. So, it would just be a matter of working through the OT issues. If we carpooled, I would cancel my parking at work (to save that cost), and we would use my car (WAY better gas mileage). Friday’s are easy, either I don’t work, or I can use my mom’s parking pass and drive on the Friday I do work if there is ever a Friday issue. The rest of the week would be the issue. I researched some bus routes from my work to his work so we could maybe work around the OT issues. So, we’re starting the early planning phase of doing it. Hopefully it’s something we can actually implement. It would save us SO much money, and of course, we could erase some of our carbon footprint!

After work, it was just the usual, of course (broken record much?). Today was the 2011 baseball opener, so Olivia sported her Twins Tee for a while! YAY, go Twins! I would love to take the girls to a game this year, so hopefully we can make that happen. Here are some pictures of her showing some Minnesota Twin love!

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

3/30/11 – Adventures in Baby Food – Mango’s

Well, last night went much better than I expected. Amelia did wake up somewhat early, but Olivia slept through it. Unfortunately, Olivia then woke up a while after we got Amelia back down, and she woke Amelia up, so we had to get both of them back down. And, we did. It ended up working out well. Of course, I still didn’t get much sleep because now I had to worry about her being in a different room! You just can’t win. I forgot the adjustment period that came along with that move. I think we’ll try to stick with this, and see how it goes. Hopefully we’ve finally found something that will work!

Work was busy as ever. Christian started off the morning at the ear doctor, getting a post-surgery check up. They said his ear is healing perfectly, there’s no infection and that from what they can tell and it definitely shouldn’t come back. They want him back in a couple of weeks for another injection, so hopefully it continues healing well. He ended up working a little late to make up some time, and then his mom was cooking some food for him to bring home, so I had plenty of time to get some stuff done around the house. I did a couple loads of laundry, washed dishes, make bottles, made some baby food (peaches and mango’s) and did a little cleaning up. Everyone else finally arrived home, we cooked some dinner and watched American Idol. Nothing too exciting.

Tonight was my first batch of Mango’s. Of course, like a lot of other stuff, Mango’s are not in season right now, so I used a frozen bag. Mangos are another fruit that is loaded with Vitamin A and one that contains a higher level of carotenoids than almost any other fruit. These carotenoids are said to reduce the risk of cancer as well as heart disease. Carotenoids are also thought to be successful in warding off the common cold. Mango’s are low in fat, low in calories but very high in fiber. You will also find lots of Vitamins C and B in Mangoes as well as iron, potassium and protein. Mango’s are tropical fruits and their age for introduction is varied - while they may make a great first food, they are probably not good as THE first food. Mango’s may be allergenic as many tropical fruits tend to be. However, they are not known to commonly cause life threatening allergic reactions however. The type of allergic reaction a Mango may cause is topical or dermatological. The allergen itself resides in the skin/peel of the mango and not within the actual fruit itself. Eating the mango “meat” or pulp will not cause the rash to get into the throat or tummy per se but if the oleoresin from the peel/skin has touched the Mango “meat”, a rash may erupt around the mouth. Some sources say that a Mango allergy may in fact cause a rash around the bottom as the mango is digested and passed through. That being said, there are many pediatricians who say that tropical fruits should be held off until 8 months old and up.

Homemade mango’s are definitely NOT the most cost effective, but you still have some savings, and nonetheless, it’s still healthier, so it’s still a win. The bag was pretty small, so it didn’t make a ton.

Cost Savings:
- 1 Bag of Frozen Mango’s = $2.96 – Makes Roughly 6 Jars
- 6 Jars of Gerber Stage 2 Mango’s = $3.57
- Cost Savings of $.60

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

3/29/11 – Still Functioning, But Barely

Well, of course, you know the drill…another bad night at our house! Although, I will admit, it STARTED badly, but then wasn’t so bad. Amelia was up pretty early, and I was just so upset. I am so beyond exhausted, I don’t even think most people could understand it at this point. So, when she woke up, so soon after going down, I just cried. I cried, she cried, we cried together. There was nothing more I could do at that point…the frustration, the stress, the exhaustion, my sore body, my burning eyes….it all just caught up with me in that moment.

Christian eventually came in, and of course all of my emotions came boiling over and I started a big fight with him. Like it was his fault she wasn’t sleeping! Like usual, he insists that we should start giving her cereal, which just makes me even more upset. For one, because I have no interest in giving her cereal, but more importantly, because she’s not waking up because she’s hungry. I am SURE of it. When she wakes up, I feed her…she only actually nurses for 2 or 3 minutes, then it’s just a comfort thing…she’s not even eating.

So, my fighting ended up waking up Olivia (mom of the year right there), so Christian had to go get her back down. I ended up just sleeping, sitting up, “feeding” Amelia for a good hour or so. I woke up, she was passed out, so I just laid her next to me and fell asleep. Luckily she stayed down the rest of the night/morning.

Other than that, the day was pretty normal. I’ve spent the last few working days thinking I was finally catching up and making a dent in my work…meanwhile my box of new requests has been filling up somehow. Not sure how I missed that. So, back to square one! I haven’t heard any more about a government shutdown, or the employee bills going through the legislature lately. Christian hasn’t heard anything about the job he applied for. I assume they’ll do interviews, but he hasn’t heard anything. After work, I stopped quick to drop something off to my BFF, and was rewarded with yummy cookies and a muffin! YUM. Christian and I arrived home at the same time, played outside for a bit with Olivia and Chuy, then made a yummy taco dinner together. After a little playing, it was time for our latest task…lowering Amelia crib a step because our new idea is to just go ahead and try having her sleep in the kids’ room, in her own crib. LORD help me, I don’t see this going well! Fingers crossed though.

I also have to add that today is my stepmom’s birthday, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY Renny!

Here is a shot of Amelia in her crib. How is it that at 8 months old she seems too small to be in it, yet Olivia seemed to fit right in at 3 months?!

Monday, March 28, 2011

3/28/11 – Play Date

Well, it was just another Monday in our world. I spent the morning catching up on work from Friday, and ended up leaving a couple hours early to get some stuff done. I ran home to do some uninterrupted “picking up” around the house, washed some dishes, pumped, made bottles and then I was off to Target. Oh Target, I seriously had the fullest cart ever by the time I was done…people were looking at me like I was crazy! Well, that’s what happens with you need cat litter, dog food, two boxes of diapers and a box of wipes, along with all of the groceries, all at the same time. I swear; I keep Target in business!

I was finally home, and Christian was right behind me with the girls. I quickly got the groceries put away and whipped up some dinner. One of my sisters ended up stopping over to visit, with 3 of her kids, and it was such a great surprise. We had the chance to catch up, which we NEVER do, and Olivia had SO much fun playing with her cousins. We definitely need to get together with them more often!

After they left, we did a little cleaning up, and then it was straight to bed for the girls. My mother in law gave both of them a bath today, so that was one thing we got to check off our list! Tonight we removed the bassinet portion of the pack n’ play, and we’re going to try having Amelia sleep in the pack n’ play. Maybe some distance between us will do her some good. I guess we’ll see. We just have to try everything we can at this point, and, hopefully something will look promising soon!

Tonight Amelia tried Sopa for the first time (on its own, it’s a very plain tomato-like soup, with noodles). She actually ate a whole little bowl of it, she loved it. It was hard to get decent pictures of her, but here are a few. She like playing with the noodles, and kept giving me a very confused look, even though she liked it. Probably because dad was feeding her, so she thought something was up. LOL

Sunday, March 27, 2011

3/27/11 – Sunday Girl’s Day!

Today was a great Sunday! Amelia was up a few times last night, like normal, but she did end up “sleeping in” this morning a little bit, so I guess that’s something! We all had a quick breakfast, and then I hopped in the shower and started getting ready for the day. We both had pretty busy days, but mine was much more fun!

After feeding Amelia and getting her down for a nap, I was on my way to meet my sisters, stepmom, grandma and aunt for a girl’s day! We grabbed some lunch at Green Mill, and stopped into the Plymouth Playhouse to watch a show, the “Marvelous Wonderettes”. It was actually really good. It was just four women, singing 50’s and 60’s music. It started off with them as a high school seniors glee-type club, performing at the senior prom. Then, it was them performing at the 10 year high school reunion. Good music, it was pretty funny, and the storylines were good. I was very pleasantly surprised.

While I was gone, my mom dropped Olivia off at home to Christian, and he was off to his parents’ house. They bought new furniture for their upstairs, so Christian had to go over and help unload it. I met up with them after the show was over, and his mom made dinner for Christian’s birthday and we hung out for a while. Finally, we all headed home, put the girls in the bath right away and put them to bed. By the time I got Amelia to sleep, Christian was passed out sleeping…apparently turning 27 is hard work! So, off to bed I went. Which I’m sure is for the better anyway since sleep doesn’t usually last too long in our house!

Here are some bath time photos from tonight. Bubbles galore!

Saturday, March 26, 2011

3/26/11 – HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAPA DURAN

Today is Christian’s birthday!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my wonderful husband! The big 2-7...LOL.

Amelia and I woke him up bright and early and gave him his birthday present. On the other hand, Olivia decided to sleep away the morning today…apparently we should go play with Andrew more often! Once Olivia was up, we all just hung out for a little while and relaxed. Then, Christian was off. His mom is babysitting Amelia tonight (thankfully, even though she works in the morning), and part of her stipulations for doing so was that Christian had to pick her up from work today because his dad had to work. So, he was off to pick her up, and grab us some lunch from a little hole in the wall Mexican place in the cities. YUM.

I jumped in the shower quick, fed Amelia, and got her down for a nap. Then, I was off to drop Olivia off at my mom’s for the night. It’s easier for us to get out, and stay out a little longer, this way…so we can just quick grab Amelia on our way home, and Olivia gets a good night’s rest. I rushed home to finish getting ready, and we were off. Christian’s mom and sister surprised him with a few gifts when we dropped off Amelia, so that was nice. Finally, we were on our way! We picked up our friend Gini, and headed to Chatterbox for the night. We love that place…they have all kinds of unique food, and board games to play and it’s just a really fun atmosphere. We weren’t sure in the end who was going to be able to make it out…but much to our surprise, all of our friends were able to make it out, at least for a little while. Man, that was so great. We never get out any more, and it’s so rare that we see ANYBODY, let along all of our friends, in one place. We caught up with everybody, chatted, laughed, joked around, played some “Would You Rather”, had some beers, and just had a good ol’ time. It felt like old times again.

It started getting pretty late, so we bid farewell, and were on our way. Amelia was great for his mom, she took her bottle and passed right out until we got there. Hopefully my late night doesn’t come back to bite me in the butt….I’m not holding my breath on this one!

Here are some pictures of our night. One of JUST ABOUT the whole crew and one of Nate, all on his own, because he’s always late to the party! LOL, so fun!

Friday, March 25, 2011

3/25/11 – Almost 8 Months

It’s FRIDAY! And, my Friday home. I’m ashamed to admit, I started off the day a bit bitter. Tomorrow is Christian’s birthday (which is why I’m posting Amelia’s 8 month post today). We are going out with some friends to celebrate tomorrow, but his co-worker wanted to go for dinner and a few beers with him after work tonight, which left me home with the girl, all day, and all night, all by myself. Ay, talk about a long day. Don’t get me wrong, I know that’s the daily case for many people in the world, but not me, and I definitely don’t have the patience for it!

But, we made the most of it. Olivia and I were up before Amelia, so we hung out and did “puzzles” (aka, played on the iPod) for a while. Once Amelia was up, we all had some breakfast and played for a while. Finally, I got the girls dressed and we were off to Target. I haven’t really had time to shop for Christian. For the longest time we didn’t even exchange gifts, but we’re trying to resurrect that. Unfortunately, I just had no idea what to get him this year. So, I decided to just wander around Target and see what I could find. I grabbed a couple shirts and some random necessity things I found around the store. And, if you didn’t catch that, I took the girls, to Target, all by myself! This is the first time I’ve taken both of them anywhere like that on my own. Amelia was so difficult, for so long, it wasn’t worth it for me (or fair to the general public) to bring her anywhere. Thank goodness things are getting better in this area! I do get the strangest looks though when I walk around with her in the sling! I think a lot of people just think it’s pretty cool, some people maybe thing I’m weird. Whatever, it’s the easiest way to get two kids out shopping!

After Target, we all ate some lunch and the girls went down for naps (very late naps). However, Amelia decided that she did not need a nap and woke up a short time later. So, I gave in, and just brought her downstairs. We hung out, played and watched some TV while Olivia got a nice long nap. Finally I was so sick of being at home, I guilted the BFF into letting us come over for dinner and playtime with Andrew. So, as soon as Olivia woke up, we packed up our bag and were out the door. It was much needed too…adult talk, and Olivia wore herself out silly running around with Andrew. She passed out as soon as we got home. I stayed up for a while watching some TV, and contemplated waiting for Christian to get home, but that definitely did not happen.

In other news, Amelia turns 8 months old tomorrow!!! Man, I can’t even believe it. Seriously, where does the time go? I think it’s even crazier to me just because she’s so small; it’s hard to believe she’s really 8 months old. She’s been doing great lately. She still thinks sleep is for losers, but other than that, we’re making constant improvements. Her first (front) tooth is finally all the way in, and the second front tooth is trying with all its might to poke through. She can crawl without any issue, and often ends up trying to go faster than she physically can, and face plants. She can sit herself up and pull herself to standing no problem at all. She can even stand all on her own for a few seconds now! She’s been doing downward dog for weeks now, trying to stand up, and the other day she actually did. Just for a tiny millisecond, but she stood herself up. We couldn’t believe it! She is still eating fruit and veggie purees only, but much chunkier than they were before. I plan on starting meats very soon. On the milk front, she is still 100% breastfed, and we’re going strong. No cereal, no finger foods, no sippy, no other liquids.

While she exhausts me, and I could do with a few less late night parties with her, she still amazes us every day. So much energy and ambition in such a tiny body. She is so focused, always learning, taking everything in. She mimics our facial expressions, she can copy a few sounds, she can play with toys, use her hands, no problem at all. She is our little energizer bunny, ready to go, go, go!

Here is her 8 month picture! Love her!

Thursday, March 24, 2011

3/21/11 – 3/24/11 – Oops

Well, I made it just over a year, posting every day, and I pat myself on the back for that. Unfortunately, my streak has come to an end. Things have been so crazy that I haven’t had the chance to keep my posts up to date. Top that off with the sleep deprivation that makes it impossible for me to remember what I do from day to day, I just can’t recall enough to provide a decent update for this time period.

But, here are a few pictures to make up for it! Olivia has been doing so well drinking from a regular cup lately, VERY exciting! My mom sent home ribs one night this week (for Christian)…Olivia got a hold of one, and ate the entire thing! A cute one of Amelia crawling around, and another of her trying acting like she’s in jail at the top of the stairs! Of course, Olivia had to join in then. Gotta love these girls!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

3/20/11 – Adventures in Baby Food - Broccoli

Of course, another busy Sunday around the house for us! The girls had us up nice and early today, BUT, for the first time in days Amelia only woke up once, so that was a nice gift. I was surprised they were up early though…it had rained all night, and was still raining, so it was nice and cloudy, so I thought for sure we’d get to sleep in. Apparently, they knew there was a lot to do today!

We had some breakfast, hung out and relaxed for a little while, watched some movies on TV amidst doing a little picking up around the house. It was finally time for me to tackle my main task for the day….baby food! Our freezer stash was just about depleted, so it was time to cook, cook, cook! I made apples, pears, sweet potatoes, squash, green beans, peas, carrots and a NEW food, Broccoli. This task took me all day, on and off, and I still have lots of freezing to do, but it’s all made, so that’s good! Christian kept the girls busy and entertained most of the day, and got them down for their naps. We ate some random leftover our of the fridge, and I cleaned up the kitchen between batches. I also managed to get a couple loads of laundry done throughout the day…of course it’s not put away though!

Christian ended up taking the girls over to his parents’ house to hang out for a little while around dinnertime. I was nice to get a little peace and quiet and time to myself.

As I mentioned, today I tried out a new food…broccoli. Broccoli is very high in Vitamin C and is a great source of soluble fiber. This makes broccoli wonderful to add to baby food recipes. Soluble fiber is the fiber that helps loosen up the bowels as it changes its form as it passes through the digestive tract. An overabundance of soluble fiber in a diet may produce diarrhea. Insoluble fiber does not change its form or make up and simply helps to add bulk and too much of it may cause constipation.

Broccoli is not a good choice for one of Baby’s FIRST vegetables as it may cause gas and may be a bit hard for a young infant to digest. Broccoli is best given to an infant between 8-10 months old. We started it slightly early, because it’s one of the vegetables that we often eat, so it would be nice to have the finger food option for her soon, as she gets ready for that. If your baby has had any digestive issues, it would be best to introduce broccoli into the diet later rather than sooner. I purchased a bag of frozen broccoli, steamed it on the stove and pureed it for our batch. Super easy. Now, will she like it…that is the real test!

Cost Savings:- 1 Bag of Frozen Broccoli = $.89 – Makes Roughly 10 Jars- 10 Jars of Gerber Stage 2 Broccoli (Which I’ve Never Seen) Would Be = $5.95- Cost Savings of $5.06

Here are some pictures of the baby food making extravaganza!

Saturday, March 19, 2011

3/19/11 – Family Day

Today we had a pretty low key, family day. After yet another sleepless night, we were up for the day pretty early. We all ate some breakfast and hung out for a while in the morning. After Amelia ate, we get her some Tylenol to help with her aching teeth, and she ended up taking a nice long nap! Christian and I got ready for the day. Since most of Amelia’s 6-9 month clothing is summer stuff, we have to get out and buy some warmer clothes to get her through the next few months. Of course, we knew that would be a difficult task as all the stores have their “Spring” clothes out now. Once Amelia was up, we got the girls ready, ate a quick lunch, and were out the door.

It was SUCH a beautiful day today. Lots of sunshine, warmer than it’s been in a LONG time. So nice to be out and about. We stopped into Carter’s, and had a little luck. Most of the outfits were short sleeves, so we had to get some long sleeved onesies to wear underneath, but they did come with pants at least (rather than shorts). We ended up finding a really cute diaper bag…more compact and appropriate for our outings, and they were having a decent sale on them. YAY. After Carter’s, since the girls were doing so well, we stopped in to Target to do our weekly shopping We picked up some PJ’s for Amelia, some Motin, in hopes that it helps more than the Tylenol has been, and some groceries. Mainly, fruits and veggies to make some baby food. Of course, our usual stop after the grocery store is some take-out food for dinner, so we grabbed dinner and headed home. We pretty much just took it easy the rest of the night. The girls were playing so well together, especially since Olivia didn’t really get a nap. Finally, it was time for them to head to bed. I was so tired and exhausted after days of no sleep, I really wanted to settle in with a glass of wine and relax. As I poured my glass, and took a sip, I was quickly reminded that I do NOT like wine…I keep hoping that I’ll find one I like, but I never do. So, I was going to crack open my one and only Mike’s Hard Cranberry instead…but, I fell asleep before I had the chance. Seriously, how sad am I?!

Here are some pics of the girls enjoying their treats from Chipotle…Amelia a lime, Olivia her chips and guac.

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