4/15/11: And, It's Friday

Yes, it's Friday. Sweet, sweet Friday. We have a nice weekend coming up, a good mix of plans and nothing on the agenda. And, with how crazy things have been at work, the weekend is more of a blessing than ever! That place is just a mad house these days, and I don't think I've had my head above water there for months. No end in sight either. Job Security = YAY, but that doesn't make it ideal.

As usual with Friday’s, Christian had some OT tonight. So, it was just me and the girls. My mom had a pretty good day with the girls. Olivia is definitely still turning that corner with the way she acts towards Amelia, and my mom noticed the same thing. For the most part, Olivia is doing great...sharing, showing Amelia how to do things, encouraging Amelia to stand and play and do things. Olivia was still napping when I got home, and continued to nap for while, so Amelia and I got some one on one time together (as if we don't get enough of that, LOL). As Amelia and I played, I looked out the window and notice it…SNOW. It was coming down, and coming down good! Grrrrrr. We were hoping that, like usual, the weather guys would have it wrong this weekend, but alas, there was the snow. And through the course of the night it just got heavier and heavier, windier and windier. Who knows what it’s going to look like in the morning!

Once Christian got home, we ate some dinner and just hung out...our usual Friday routine. We have an early Saturday morning planned, so I was pretty much off to bed once the girls were down. Christian and I were chatting about it, and I said hopefully one day we'll actually be able to stay up on the weekends again. To me, it's just not worth it right now...knowing I'll be up at least once, but who really knows how many times, a night with Amelia, and that the girls are always up for the day around 7:00/7:30, staying up late just doesn't really feel like an option these days. Maybe one day....

Anyway, here are a few pictures from today...I borrowed a food scale from a coworker to do what the doctor suggested...weight her before she eats, feed her, then weigh her again to see how much she's eating when she nurses. Well, the scale didn't really work (too small), but it provided a cute photo op anyway! And, I received a few headbands I’d ordered from etsy.com, and love, love, love them! So, I had to have Amelia model them right away.

4/14/11: BABIES

Today was a good day. I started it off by finding out one of my friends had her baby this morning...YAY, Congrats to Melissa & Jake on the birth of little Colton! Of course, every time somebody has a baby I'm filled with envy and jealousy over their new little bundle of joy. Then I come to my senses...mainly by remembering Amelia is only 8 months old, but also by remembering how crazy my two little devils in disguise drive me! LOL

So, after a long busy day, complete with a meeting from hell, I stopped at the hospital to visit Melissa and snuggle the baby. He just slept the whole time, and I think I more than stayed my welcome because I just couldn't let him go. But, I finally did, and was on my way home. Christian and the girls ended up having dinner with his mom since I wasn't going to be home, so I picked up something to eat and got in some alone time before the rest of the how arrived home.

Today, Olivia received a fun piece of mail… a "Get Well Soon" card from one of her online friends, Lily. When I was pregnant with Olivia, I joined babycenter.com, and eventually joined the community group for January 2009. The board was also broken into weekly groups, and I was part of the "Snowbabies" group. There are several of us that to this day continue "talking" and chatting with each other...only we're friends on facebook now and keep in touch that way. It's so great being part of these groups, and making these lifelong friendships over such an amazing part of our lives (I'm also in a group for Amelia...the "Little Rubies"). So, one of her fellow snowbabies, from Arizona, sent her a little card. She loves it, and she put it right up on the fridge!

Here is a picture of Olivia showing off her card.

4/13/11 - Adventures in Baby Food - Blueberries

Today was another pretty good day. One of the sites I follow on facebook was having a referral contest to win a Ring Sling, and today I found out that I won!!!! YAY, I’m so excited. So, right now I’m working with the owner to order my sling. I’m going to be getting a hemp ring sling, and I can’t wait to try it out!! That was my exciting news for the day. The weather has taken a turn for the worse. They are calling for snow this weekend...SNOW! We just got rid of our snow. This truly is the winter that won’t end. So, that’s our not so exiting news for the day.

I went online and used one of those “due date calendars” and found out that today was the last day I would need to get pregnant in order to have a 2011 baby, and have 3 under 3 (though it would just be for a couple of days). Don’t get me wrong, we weren’t interested in doing so, or trying to in the least bit, I just thought it was interesting. So, it looks like 2011 will be the first year in a long time we have no life changing events (I mean, there are other things that could happen, but we’ll assume not). In 2006 we got engaged, in 2007 we got married, in 2008 we moved into our first home and I got pregnant with Olivia. In 2009 Olivia was born and I got pregnant with Amelia In 2010 Amelia was born. I think we’re due for a more low key year!

After work I took to more baby food making. Today was fruit night, I tackled the frozen fruits tonight...Peaches, Mangos and a new one, Blueberries. Blueberries have a whole host of amazing nutrients in them and they are often referred to as a "Super Food" for this reason. Blueberries are high in antioxidants and they also contain fiber, Vitamin A and Vitamin C. Blueberries are also thought be cholesterol reducers. Blueberries are a wonderful healthy food and make a great snack food for babies and adults alike. One of the greatest things about blueberries for snacking is their portability. There is no need to prepare blueberries, just wash 'em and toss 'em in a small bag or snack bowl and off you go.

You can introduce blueberries to baby around 8 months of age. There is much confusion about when you may feed your infant blueberries. Many believe that blueberries fall under the "no berries until after age 12 months old" rule. However, blueberries are not a common allergen and they are not in the allergenic "berry" family? Blueberries are actually related to cranberries and are in the Heath family. The blueberry shares no "family" relationship with the strawberry, blackberry or raspberry. Those "true" berries may be mild to highly allergenic. By "true berries" I am referring to those berries that pose allergy problems for infants and are in the same family. There are horticultural differences in blueberries/cranberries and in strawberries, raspberries and blackberries as well.

As I mentioned above, I used frozen blueberries. Fresh are just too expensive right now, and you get more for your money with frozen. Be warned, those bad boys are MESSY!!!

Cost Savings:
- 1 Bag of Frozen Blueberries = $3.19 – Makes 7 Jars
- 7 Jars of Gerber Stage 2 Blueberries = $4.17
- Cost Savings of $.98

Here are some bad quality pictures of the blueberries! Again, didn’t have the camera handy, and far too lazy to search it out!

4/12/11: Off to the Park

Today was pretty much just another day. Work, Work, Work. You know, the exciting stuff!!!

The weather was AMAZING today though, that's for sure! I rushed home after work to get some more food cooked up for Amelia. Today was kind of a hodgepodge of foods. I made some apples, pears, sweet potatoes and squash. Again, sounds like a lot, but wasn’t bad. I started pre-heating the oven as soon as I got home, cooked up the sweet potatoes and squash, and then pureed each. Meanwhile, two pots of boiling water going on the stove, boiled the apples and pears, and pureed those. Not much to it!

Amidst the cooking frenzy, Christian and the girls arrived home, we loaded up the stroller, and we took a stroll down to the park. The weather is supposed to take an evil turn after today, so we knew we needed to take advantage of the nice day. Olivia had a blast, like usual. Amelia was quite intrigued with her first visit to the park. She played in the sand a little, took her first ride on the swing. All the good stuff. And of course, she just laughed away.

After some park fun, we ran home to eat some dinner and clean up a little before bed. The girls were pretty wiped out after the fresh air, so hopefully we'll get a nice, quite night of sleep. Amelia's second tooth is officially popping out now; you can feel it and everything! Hopefully it'll be all the way out soon, and we'll get a little break before she starts up again.

Here are some pictures from our trip to the park.

4/11/11 - Adventures in Baby Food - Cauliflower

Today was basically a long day, all around. Work was, of course, very crazy, just as I expected after being "off" Thursday and Friday. I swear, you can't be away from that place for one day without falling eons behind. So, after a very long day, I was off to Target to do our weekly shopping. We didn't really need many "necessities" this week, so it was mainly grocery shopping...specifically lots of fruits and veggies since it's time to restock the baby food again. I did pick up a new pair of shoes for Olivia...some open tennis shoes. Now, we just need some regular old tennis shoes, and we'll be set for summer!

Christian stopped to get his hair cut after work, and because he was already going to be late, he and the girls just ate dinner with his mom. So, he still wasn't home when I got home. I quickly put away the groceries, started on some baby food, and ate some dinner myself. Tonight was veggie cooking night. I whipped up some Broccoli, Green Beans, Peas, and a newbie, Cauliflower. Sounds like a lot, but super easy. I used frozen veggies for all four "recipes", so I grabbed four pots, filled each with a veggie and some water, boiled/steamed them up, and pureed them. Easy peasy, and she's stocked up on some yummy veggies.

The rest of the house arrived home as I was finishing up...it was basically time for baths and bed, so not much family time tonight!

Now, for today’s food. cauliflower (like other cruciferous veggies such as broccoli and brussel sprouts) is packed full of phytochemicals, which are said to help prevent cancer. Just one cup of cauliflower is packed with Vitamin A, Vitamin C and even calcium. Cauliflower is a great addition to a healthy diet but it causes many people to be a bit gassy. As with broccoli, cauliflower is not a good choice for one of Baby's first vegetables. It may cause gas and may also be a bit difficult for a young infant to digest. Cauliflower is best given to babies between 8-10 months old but you could try to introduce it earlier. If your baby has had any digestive issues, it would be best to introduce cauliflower into the diet later rather than sooner.

As I mentioned above, I chose to use frozen cauliflower, and just steamed it on the stovetop. Note, since we don't add water or liquefy her food anymore, so you’ll notice most of the foods don't make as many jars as they used to. But, homemade is still healthier and worth it though!

Cost Savings:
- 1 Bag of Frozen Cauliflower = $.89 - Makes 7 Jars
- 7 Jars of Gerber Stage 2 Cauliflower (which I've never seen) would be: $4.16
- Savings of $3.27

Our camera was downstairs, and I was too lazy to go down and get it, so I used my camera phone to take today's pictures. Excuse the poor quality!

4/10/11 - Mish-Mosh Sunday

Today was a pretty busy day around our house. The girls didn’t sleep well last night. It seems like Olivia has been having bad dreams or something, because she wakes up yelling or crying a lot. Sometimes she’s not even really awake. It’s weird, and kind of scary. She is teething…one of her 2nd molars is FINALLY out (hopefully the rest aren’t far behind), so that could be bothering her too. Amelia had a pretty rough day. I got a good peek into her mouth today and there is a nice big hole next to her current tooth, so tooth #2 should be popping out any time now. Hopefully she’ll be a happier camper then!

In the end, we were all up pretty early today. That wasn’t so fun. But, the sun was shining and it was actually HOT today, not just warm, HOT. Christian took the plastic off all the windows and we opened some up and finally started airing out our sick-germ-filled house. YAY. To be honest, it got so warm in the house the thought of turning the air on did cross my mind. Only in Minnesota are you wearing winter coats complaining about the winter that won’t end one day, and considering air conditioning the next. Ha. We did end up surviving without the air, and once the sun started setting, it cooled off and it was just perfect!

I finished laundry…all the clothes, all the bedding, so that should help with some of the germs too. I managed to get the girls’ clothes packed up for daycare and get everything else put away. I took down Amelia’s bassinet…away to storage it goes! We were actually able to get them to take a nap, at the same time, in the room together today, so we’re making progress people! I also managed to get all of the dishes washed and the kitchen cleaned up. I was on fire!

Christian took Olivia and Chuy outside to play for a while, and then later took Olivia over to his parents’ house for dinner. I was supposed to go too, but there was just too much to do…I wasn’t expecting to lose 3 days this week to illness, so the chores sure stacked up! Amelia was attached to my hip today, which was exhausting enough, let alone all the chores!

Speaking of Amelia…she can officially stand herself up from sitting, unassisted! Seriously, you have to see it. It’s so funny to see her tiny little self standing up like a big girl. The best part is she’ll look at you; waiting in anticipation for cheers and clapping, then laughs her butt off when you do praise her. Even better, Olivia runs over and says “soooooo big” and praises her too, which is too cute for words. Amelia is getting better and better at cruising the furniture, and just getting more mobile each day. I’m really wondering if we’ll have steps before she turns 9 months!

So, that was pretty much our days. Lots of cleaning and chores and not so fun stuff. Today’s picture is of our little beggar, sneaking a bite or two of Olivia’s lunch.

4/9/11 – Kicking off Easter

Today started off VERY early for us, especially for a Saturday! We were actually successful at getting the whole house up and ready and out the door a little after 8:30 this morning. We were heading off for our first Easter celebration of the year…a big Easter egg hunt at a local indoor park. It was for kids 2-5, so really fair, and Olivia had so much fun. There weren’t a ton of kids, so she ended up with A LOT of eggs (which means lots of candy for MOM). After the hunt, we changed out of our Easter best and into play clothes so she could run around the play area for a while, and ware herself out of course. Amelia was quite jealous that she couldn’t join in all of the festivities, but she sure enjoyed all of the fun things to look at!

Olivia seems good as new today. Christian was not back to 100%, but I feel like I am, so maybe tomorrow he will be. This little bug sure did a number on our household, that’s all I know! We managed to get both of the girls to take a nap at the same time for a while today, so we both actually got some chores done. Christian’s friend stopped over so Christian could help do some work on his car. I got a couple loads of laundry done and paid some bills…you know, the fun stuff.

After naps we all just hung out. Amelia was quite crabby all day. Probably a mix of teething, her shots yesterday and Olivia pushing her over all day long getting to her. Olivia was absolutely out of control today, other than when we were out playing this morning. She is SO GOOD when we are out and about, but when we’re home, she just cannot leave Amelia alone. It’s beyond frustrating and we just don’t know what to do anymore. Grrrrr

We managed to get the girls to bed a little earlier than usual tonight. Amelia was so crabby, we just skipped baths all together and put them to bed. I waltzed out to the living room all amped up to spend some time with Christian, only to find him snoring away on the couch. So, here I am, updating my blog instead. What a life we live!

Here are some pics from our adventures this morning!

4/8/11 – Long Day

Today was a long day. I was feeling MUCH better…not 100%, but I felt like I was actually alive today, so that’s a big deal.

The morning started off early with a trip to the clinic for the girls. Amelia had her weight check and vaccinations today, and Olivia had her ER follow up because she’s just not quite getting better. Which was made evident by her throwing up in the waiting room of the clinic. Fun stuff.

Amelia did well with her shots, she wasn’t a fan, but she was consolable. Olivia was very worried about her, which was nice to see. She just kept throwing (literally) toys at her, trying to cheer her up. What a sister. She did only weight in at 14.72lbs though. Only up .72 since last month. She’s dropped down to the 2% for weight…BUT, she has FINALLY doubled her birth weight!!! YAY, it only took 8+ months! The doctor said he’s still not too concerned…as long as she keeps gaining, and doesn’t lose, he can live with it. He basically said it’s a 50/50 shot in the dark, either she’s genetically small, or she’s not taking in enough calories. He said to either meet with a breastfeeding doctor to discuss things and have her weighed, or just get a good food scale to weigh her before and after feedings to see how much she’s taking in. So, we’ll have to decide how we want to proceed there.

Olivia’s appointment went well. The after talking with the doctor, he said it’s most likely a stomach virus, that just has to make its way out of her system. He said there is a small chance its strep throat, and a smaller change it’s a urinary tract infection. So, just in case, they tested for those too. The tests eventually came back negative, so stomach bug it is. Hopefully it won’t be much longer.

After the appointments, we made our way home to relax the rest of the day. Olivia took a nice long nap, but of course, Amelia pretty much refused to take one at all. So, there wasn’t really any down time going on today. I really could have used it, especially when I got the “OT Text” from Christian in the afternoon. Olivia was a little difficult today, but not as bad as she has been, so at least I had that going for me.

Christian finally got home a little after 6:30, only to announce that he was suddenly feeling very ill. Oh joy, apparently it’s his turn to live through that hell! He pretty much took to the couch, and I continued trying to entertain the girls. We finally got them to bed after what seemed like the longest day ever, and we both passed out right away. We have a pretty busy weekend ahead of us, so hopefully we’re all feeling better tomorrow!

Here are a few cute pics of Amelia today. I love the one of her double-fisting her mum-mums…don’t mess with her!

4/7/11 – Holy Hell

Yes, I used THAT word in my title, because that is where I spent the day.

I had a long night…a very long night. Amelia was up a few times, but after last night that was to be expected. She ended up eating again around 3:30, and kept that down, so we are pretty convinced her episode last night was food related. What was NOT to be expected was me getting sicker and sicker as the night went on. I started feeling ill last night when Amelia threw up, but I thought it was just a reaction to her being sick. Well, by the time I woke up this morning, I knew that was not the case. My stomach was so upset, and I was in a lot of pain. It wasn’t a turning kind of upset stomach, just pain.

I thought if I just got up, got ready and got going I would feel better. And, tomorrow is my day off, so I really couldn’t let my work sit for two days. Amelia hadn’t shown any more signs of being ill, so we chalked that up to too much to eat at dinner, and figured the girls would do OK at “daycare”. I dropped them off and was on my way to work like usual…and ALMOST made it before I had to pull over on the side of the road. Sick, sick, sick. It quickly became apparent that I wasn’t going to make it through the day. I stopped into work, and worked the most time sensitive stuff I had. After a couple hours I just couldn’t take it anymore, and headed home. I passed out as soon as I arrived home, and basically slept from 10:30AM until 5:00PM. It was wonderful, and much needed. Christian and the girls arrived home shortly later. At this point I hadn’t eating a thing all day. I kept trying to take in water, but couldn’t really do that either…so, not looking forward to what this does to my milk supply!

Christian took Olivia outside with him to get the leaves in the backyard picked up. Because it snowed so early in the fall, and it never left, we didn’t get a chance to pick them up, so he’s been in a rush to get them up now before the grass starts to mold. Amelia was pretty good for me, which was good because I was very weak, and my body ached from my head to my toes. I ended up feeding her and we both fell asleep for a while.

Finally it was time for baths (Christian handled both of them tonight), then the whole house went to bed. I can honestly say, I have NEVER felt this way before. I mean, I had a lot of morning sickness with Amelia, but it was nothing compared to this. I sure hope it doesn’t jump to Christian now, but by the looks of it…he’s screwed. Olivia did end up throwing up a couple times this morning again, so Christian ended up making an appointment for her…I’m taking Amelia in tomorrow anyway, so we thought it best to just get her checked out too.

Here’s a picture of Olivia today…she’s deceivingly happy here!

4/6/11 – I Forgot to Knock on Wood!

I think the “all better” call yesterday was a little premature. We thought we had Olivia’s illness under control, but maybe not. She ended up throwing up a few times today. Every time she starts doing better, and we start getting her diet more on a normal track…she gets sick again! Poor thing, I wish this bug would just go away already!

The day pretty much flew by. Christian’s mom ended up calling him this morning, not only to update on Olivia, but to also vent some frustration. It seems she’s pretty much at the end of her rope with Olivia’s aggressiveness and the way she is towards Amelia. Let me tell you, I don’t blamer her. In just the few hours we’re with them in the evening it’s hard on us! So, I don’t know where things are going to go from here. She ended up making us all some dinner tonight, and we decided to talk to her about it a little bit. I’m obviously most comfortable with the girls being with her, somebody we can trust, but in the end, if it’s not the best fit for everybody involved, it’s not going to work out.

We basically told her that if she feels like she can’t handle it, she needs to just be honest about it, and we can move forward. My ideal plan in that situation would be my mom and I continue watching them on Friday’s, she could watch them one day a week, and then we’d do daycare 3 days a week. At least it would only be part-time then, and she would still get some time with them. She said she wants to give it a little more time, especially now that it’s getting nicer out. She’s hoping that getting them out and about for a while during the day will help keep Olivia more entertained, and less obsessed with Amelia. So, we’ll see what the future holds here.

After dinner, we were on our way home. We gave the girls their baths, and went about our evening as usual. I was feeding Amelia, and she stopped eating pretty quickly. It usually takes her forever to eat, so this made me a little nervous. Her head started rocking back and forth, and I noticed some milk dripping down her cheek. She hadn’t spit up for so long, this really made me worry. Next thing you know, I could hear her tummy rolling, and her throat gurgling and I knew something was going on….and yup, up came her entire dinner. I yelled for Christian and I was scared to death! She quickly recovered, but required another bath at this point. So, we got her cleaned up and relaxed, and I went back to feeding her. And up, same thing happened (but much less this time). So, we cleaned her up again, and just rocked her to sleep…she was pretty exhausted at this point, so that didn’t take long. After I put her down in the crib, we watched the video monitor for a while to see what she did. Just a few minutes later I saw her head start rolling again, and knew it was about to happen again…Christian went running in just as she threw up…again.

At this point I was very worried, and in tears. Watching my 2 year old go through this was torture enough, I couldn’t sit there and watch my 8 month go through it too! We were fairly certain she’d just had too much to eat at dinner, and was too active too soon after eating, but you just never know. We decided to keep her in bed with us so we could keep a good eye on her. NO FUN!

I did manage to snap a picture of her ONE tooth. It’s finally all the way out, and she looks very goofy with one little loner tooth.