2014 - Week 28

On Monday, Eliza hit the big 2 Month mark. I can’t believe it’s already been two months!! And boy is she growing like a week. She’s currently wearing 0-3 month clothes, some are still baggy on her, but most fit her well. She’s wearing Size 1 diapers still as well, but I’m not sure that will last much longer. She’s been smiling up a storm lately, eats like a little piggy and “talks” all day long. Some days can be hard, but she’s really the sweetest little thing. She is consistently sleeping for about a 5-hour stretch at night, occasionally longer, which is nice. But, naps are pretty hit or miss. About the only thing I’m looking forward to in regards to putting her in daycare…it should help her get on a better daytime sleep schedule, and she’ll learn to sleep when it’s noisy, which will be great. She’s working pretty hard on her focus and coordination right now, starting to really follow us around the room with her eyes. And, she LOVES to be outside; it seems to put her at ease. Time needs to slow down! Other than that, it was a pretty low key day. The big girls were home with us for the day, but it was a rainy day, so they were stuck inside most of the day. There was a little cabin fever going on, but we all survived. Baseball did get canceled tonight though, which is a bummer, since it’s the last week.

Happy 2 Months!

Twinsies!

Tuesday was a quieter day at home, just me and the babe. Christian met me at KinderCare so we could take an official tour of the infant room. We’ve never had an infant in daycare, so we’re a little first-time-parenty when it comes to it. It will definitely be much different than leaving her with our parents, like with the big girls. However, it does help that we do know the center, the teachers, the director…we know they’ve taken great care of the other two since they started there…and I think that helps a lot, rather than going in blind to a new place. The tour went well. Drop off is definitely going to be more of a hassle, having to fill out her daily sheet and get her bottles unloaded (turns out you have to have their bottles pre-made, which  freaks me out a little. I know we’re going to have to supplement, but I had hope you just send a can of formula and they use it when they need to, but that’s not the case. And if they run out, and baby gets hungry, you have to go get them. AHH!) and all that, but it shouldn’t be horrible. They have a “curriculum” for each stage of infanthood, so it’s nice to know she’ll constantly be learning and working on age appropriate things. She has her own crib, and of course they are a safe sleep center. They also follow some recent guidelines that recommend not using swings, walkers, etc., and let kids “discover” on their own – which is a great theory, but seems strange to me when it comes to the little ones. I mean, she can’t do much on her own other than lay under a mat, which is only interesting for so long, so I’m curious how they handle it when there are several little ones in the room and not enough hands to hold/feed, LOL. They provide formula, which was actually kind of exciting, so when she gets her one bottle a day there, at least it will be “free”, and they provide baby food and all that when we get there. I was planning on making her food, but I think I’ll just do that for at home, and she’ll get Gerber there, again, since we’re paying for it anyway. While we were there, Eliza sat in her carseat with the teachers, smiling away. Overall, everything seems promising and we’re a little more comfortable having actually seen how everything works, but it’s still pretty overwhelming and emotional. After the tour, we picked the girls up from their rooms and made our way home for the night.

Smiles!!

Wednesday was another pretty quiet day. Eliza and I continue to spend our days playing, chatting and working on some baby basics. She still isn’t a great napper most days, and still spends a great deal of time eating. But, I’ve been getting some REAL good smiles from her. Like big ol’, light up her whole face smiles, which are so wonderful. There’s just not much that can warm your heart like a baby’s genuine smile can. We picked the girls up from school and met Christian at baseball for Olivia’s final game of the season. It was our week to bring snacks too, so of course I was a frantic mess trying to make sure we had everything as we ran out the door. I can’t believe the season is over, it went by so fast. Olivia really seemed to enjoy herself, so I’m hoping she’ll stick with it as she gets older. She did really well tonight, getting hits every time she was up to bat, and was so proud of herself. After the game, the kids all got a little participation medal, which they were SO excited about, we had snacks, took some pictures and everybody took off. I already can’t wait until next year, and Amelia is already pretty excited at the thought of playing too. Now we get a little break until the girls start soccer next month. Eliza fell asleep at soccer, and stayed asleep once we were home, so we let her sleep until she woke up. Always a bit of a risk, but I prefer to follow the “never wake a sleeping baby” advice.

Last Day of Baseball Pics!

Thursday was another quiet day. Eliza ended up sleeping until around 3:00 in the morning, which was crazy, but then ended up being awake/eating until around 5:00, which was not so fun. We did finally get back to sleep for a little snooze, so I can’t complain too much. We spent the day cuddling on the couch and hanging out. My big success of the day was getting her nails clipped…while she was awake. I mean, that’s pretty much a miracle! She’s been scratching me like crazy, so that will be a nice relief.

My throwback Thursday photo this week, about 5 years ago, taking Olivia to the zoo for the first time

Friday was a pretty exciting day…first up, Friday marked Christian and I’s 13 year dating anniversary. When we met, I had just graduated high school, and he was no summer break before his Junior year. At my graduation party shortly after, he worked up the nerve to give me a card, with a note in it to “give him a call”…wow, now THAT is very high school. Well, of course, at 18 you do NOT call boys first, so I returned his message, with a thank you card and my number. A few days later he called…but not really, he had his friend call me. Seriously, SO HIGH SCHOOL! We ended up making plans to go to a dance club the following weekend with a friend each. He ended up calling me a couple days later (yes, HE called) and invited me out for an impromptu date to the mall. I had to quick round up a friend for safety, and on July 11, 2001 we went on our first date, to the Mall of America. He and his friend got us lost, even though my friend and I knew exactly how to get there – already your typical men who wouldn’t listen to driving advice. By the time we got there, most of the mall was closing. So we walked around a closed mall. Why I ever went out with him again after that is beyond me, but we never really looked back after that. While it took some time to officially be a couple, neither of us dated anybody else during that time, and it all just kind of fell together. So, here we are, 13 years later. 6 years of dating, almost 7 years of marriage, two well-established careers, a house, 3 kids. Can’t say I saw us where we are now 13 years ago, but I wouldn’t change our journey for anything.

Celebrating 13 Years Together!

In other news, today was Eliza’s 2-month check-up. I dropped the big girls off at my in-laws on the way to the doctor for an overnight (which is extremely rare, so they were beyond excited). Eliza weight in at 12lbs 3 ozs (up 4lbs 5ozs from birth, and at 67% for her age) and she’s 23” long (up 3” from birth, and at 45% for her age). She’s on the bigger side, but happy and healthy as can be. She has a few different infant rashes going on, and some cradle cap, but she should grow out of everything over the next few months. She did have to get an oral vaccine, and three shots, and OH MAN, those did NOT go over well at all. She just screamed her head off, completely miserable. She’s pretty dang dramatic as it is, so you can just imagine how heartbreaking she was post-shots. We made our way home, and I picked her up some Tylenol, just in case. She did get pretty warm and was pretty crabby the rest of the day/night…fussy, not eating or sleeping well…so she did get a couple doses of it. Hopefully it passes quickly. Since the girls were out of the house for the night, and Eliza was a crabby mess, Christian picked up some Thai food on his way home, and we had a mini “24” Marathon (until we passed out pretty much).

On Saturday, we got to sleep in a little (well, sleep was intermittent for me all night) with the girls being off at the in-laws. Eventually, we had to roll out of bed, get ready, and head off to meet my father in-law at swim class. He dropped the girls off and we made our way inside. It was so, so, SOOOOOO hot in there this week. It’s always humid and warm in the observation deck, but it’s been ridiculous the last couple of weeks. I just sweat to death sitting there watching them, it’s miserable. Especially when you’re staring at a nice cool pool that you can’t go in! We made our way home…Eliza was still having a rough day, and I was just feeling hormonal and emotional (and exhausted). I’d had plans of taking the girls over to meet our friend Sara’s new baby, Connor (Olivia’s BFF Bella’s new brother), but I changed my mind and decided to stay home, and sent them down for a nap. Well, Christian convinced me to get out of the house and go over there (it’s across the street), so I finally did (with baby in tote). Eliza was still crabby, and I was still plenty hormonal, but I will say it was nice to get out of the house for a little bit. Once Eliza drove everybody crazy enough, we made our way back home for the a pretty quiet night.

Meeting her new friend

Sunday was a bit of a better day. After a little quiet time around the house, I took the girls over to Sara’s to play with Bella and meet the baby. They didn’t pay too much attention to the baby, but of course were excited to have some playtime. She had a couple friends over, so we all chatted and hung out for a while, trying to keep the girls from destroying the house. Christian and Bella’s dad, Mariano, picked up some lunch for the girls and I, then hung out at our house watching the World Cup finals (yawn). Eliza was still a tad crabby, but wasn’t crying the entire time we were there like yesterday, so that was an improvement. We finally made our way back home and settled in for the night. With Amelia’s birthday party in a couple weeks, it’s really time to buckle down and get working on the house. It’s not in horrible shape, but with the baby here this year, we’ll definitely need more time to get all of the cleaning and shopping done. I sent the girls down to clean up their play room today – more to get them out of our hair, and pulling their weight a little, and they actually did a pretty good job. Still needs some work, but they’re getting better.

Big Sisters

So Pretty!

Until Next Week XOXO

2014- Week 27

Monday marked officially one month until I’m back to work. Seriously, where does the time go?!? It’s so unfair, I’m SO not ready. After a good night of sleep, the day ended up being quite frustrating. She continues having trouble eating and nursing has become very frustrating again. It’s like newborn painful all over again, constant, and she’s super fussy. While she’s growing, latching and I’m definitely producing milk, nursing has been a challenge this time around. My feelings have been really negative towards it…I feel tied down, I feel like I can’t go anywhere or do anything. The pain coming and going has been miserable. It’s just been rough. Nothing like with Amelia. While she nursed a TON in the first couple of months, I never felt like this. I’m hoping that I can overcome these feelings and stop myself from giving up. I’m debating adding in some formula supplementing, but we’ll see. I haven’t made a decision yet. I don’t want to…I’d love for her to make it the full year formula-free, like Amelia, but if it saves my sanity, I think it may be best for everybody. Every day I just wake up and pep talk myself into making it through one more day. Aside from that frustration, the big girls were home with us and they were OUT OF CONTROL, all day long. They just drive each other insane. They fight non-stop, they argue over everything, they pick on each other. It’s just exhausting. ALL.DAY.LONG. I’ve never had a sibling, but I think it’s completely over the top. All I know is, them going back to school full time when I return to work is going to be a blessing for many. They need the separation, they need the time apart, or I’m pretty sure they are going to kill each other. Luckily, we all survived the day though. We had some dinner, Christian took them outside to play for a while before bed, and they last day of June came to an end.

Tuesday brought us a new month. It’s officially July…we’re officially halfway through 2014. Can you believe it! This year is just buzzing by! The big girls were back off to school today, so things were slightly less chaotic. I loaded up the clothes I wasn’t able to finish drying this weekend (thanks to the broken dryer), and headed across the street to our friend Sara’s house. She let me take over her dryer, and we spent some time catching up and visiting. She got in lots of baby cuddles while I got a little break, and folded laundry. It was definitely nice to get out of the house for a little while. Once home, I got Eliza fed, put her in her swing, and eventually she passed out, all on her own! It’s rare, but man do I love when that happens. While she slept, I ate some lunch myself and did a little cleaning around the house. Things were moving along smoothly, until some a**hole solicitor knocked on the door…OVER AND OVER again (I do not answer the door, especially when home alone), sending our annoying Chihuahua into a tizzy. Luckily for everybody involved, Eliza somehow slept through it, or this guy would have been lucky to leave our doorstep alive. I HATE SOLICITORS! I need a sign, for real. Our neighbors have one…they are must smarter than I. Eliza woke up refreshed and we had a good evening. Christian picked the girls up on his way home, we had some dinner, took baths and relaxed. Tonight I was reminded of one of the reasons I adore co-sleeping so much (and, trust me, there was a day I thought people were insane for doing such a thing…childless and naïve!). As I was getting Eliza to sleep, laying her down, she woke up. I started to panic, thinking we were going to have to start our whole little routine over again, but she just caught my eye, gave me a little smirk and drifted off to sleep. It’s so perfect. She just seemed so at ease, realizing that sure enough, I was still cuddled up right next to her. I just love this girls to pieces!

Wednesday marked Olivia’s ½ birthday! She is official 5½, and she will definitely tell you so! It honestly feels like just yesterday she was born. It feels like it was just HER so small and helpless, needing me for everything. She’s definitely not my baby anymore (technically anyway)…she’s so smart, so full of life. She’s a giant, ready to start kindergarten in just over 2 months. She’s become my little helper, and loves taking care of Eliza. I can’t believe how fast time goes, and how lucky we are to get to watch her grow up and become her own person. It’s just truly amazing. While she and that naughty 3 year old were off to school for the day, Eliza and I had a pretty standard day around the house. Pretty quiet in fact. Christian left work a tad early to run to an appliance store and get the pieces he needs to fix the dryer. Then, spent the evening fixing said dryer. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again…I’m so lucky to have a husband who loves to take apart cars and appliances and attempt to fix them. I can’t imagine the money we’d have spent over the years if he didn’t!

Olivia also turned 5 1/2 today! So crazy, she's growing up!

On Thursday, it started becoming very apparent that Eliza just does not like to nap. I try so hard to get her to nap and she just fights it with all of her might. One, maybe 2 days a week she takes a nice, good, lengthy nap. Otherwise, it’s cat nap heaven around here. It wouldn’t be so bad if she wasn’t clearly exhausted, and clearly needing a real nap, because man does she get crabby. I think part of the problem is that she can be a pretty lazy nurser and likes to doze off on and off while eating. That should work itself out as she gets a little older though. And, I just have to say, I HATE the dog next door. Well, maybe I should rephrase that…I hate the owners of the dog next door. We live next to quad-homes, and the one right next to us has a dog…a big dog, retrieverish. Of course they have no yard and/or fence, so they chain him up every time he goes outside. He immediately starts barking/yipping and continues to do so the entire time he’s out. Today he was out there a large majority of the day, and I was getting beyond fed up (with the noise, and the fact that this poor dog was chained up by himself all day). I was thisclose to calling the police station about it, but thought better of it. He’s not being abused by any means, and I’m returning to work in a few weeks and won’t have to deal with it much after that, so it wasn’t worth rocking the neighbor boat. It was probably the first time I’ve been grateful for Chuy…while he drives me pretty crazy, he rarely barks, and never really does when outside, so at least I don’t have to deal with that. Tonight I was a pretty hormonal basket case. Tomorrow is the 4^th of July. Typically, we have friends and family over for the local parade, a BBQ and we light off some fireworks. I decided I had already been roped into 3 BBQ’s that I did not want to host since having Eliza, I just was not in the mood for a 4^th of July one this year. I wanted to actually relax and enjoy the holiday this year, rather than run around like crazy making sure everybody else enjoyed it. Christian still insists on lighting off fireworks tomorrow, even though I told him he’ll be doing it by himself because I’m taking the girls to watch the REAL fireworks this year. So, I made him get some little, fun fireworks and sparklers to do with the girls tonight, and planned on having a bonfire and some s’mores. Of course, he was busy running all over until pretty late, and by the time he got home Eliza was so crabby and would not go to sleep for anything. So, I had to stay inside getting her to sleep while they had a bonfire…I felt so overwhelmed, so hormonal, it was ridiculous. Like I had explained earlier this week, I felt like I was missing out on everything (while I could nurse her and try to get her to sleep out in the yard, I didn’t want her by the bonfire obviously). While logically I know that it’s one time, and we have plenty of bonfire opportunities in the future, I can’t think logically in the moment. Just not my day.

My throwback Thursday this week, in honor of the 4th of July tomorrow, was a picture of watch of the girls' first 4th of July. So Cute!

Friday was officially the 4^th of July. While it felt very strange to not be preparing for a house full of friends and family, it felt pretty amazing to have a nice, relaxing morning. We had some breakfast and hung out around the house all morning, we loaded up the wagon and stroller and walked down to our spot along the parade route and settled in (yes, OUR spot…if you want to actually see the parade, you must go out the day before the parade and reserve your spot. It’s ridiculous to me.). The girls had such a great time. Each year they get more and more into the parade. They get more candy, they admire the floats and entertainment a little more, they appreciate everything a little more. It’s fun to watch. Eliza happened to sleep through most of the parade (somehow, loud marching bands and all), which made for a more relaxing day for us as well. After the parade, we stopped home to change and feed Eliza, then made our way to the local carnival for a few hours. Olivia’s BFF, Bella, and her dad met us there so the girls had a blast playing together and going on all of the rides. They had a special $10.00 unlimited ride wristband going on, so that was AWESOME! They got to go on each ride a couple times and were so excited. Eliza again slept through most of the event…clearly, she’s making up for her lack of sleep the last few days. We let the big girl play one game…where you throw the ping pong balls into fish bowls. Well, Christian helped them, and of course, we went home with two Goldfish (I don’t have faith that they will last long). We all made our way back to the house to let off the girls’ fireworks and relax for a while. We brought Eliza’s swing outside, and she eventually dozed off, again, for a while. A couple more friends stopped over to hang out (while it wasn’t planned, it was informal, so not stressful!) and watch the little fireworks…and they hung out to do the big fireworks with Christian, while the girls and I were off to my mom’s to watch the real fireworks. She can see the fireworks in her city right from her balcony, so it was very convenient. The big girls ate some food, I fed the baby, and we settled in just in time to watch the show. So cool – I hadn’t seen a real fireworks display in years – in fact, I don’t think Amelia ever has, and Olivia was just an itty bitty, so they were pretty excited. We made our way home right after the show, and straight to bed. All in all, this year was a perfect 4^th of July!

Saturday was a lovely, lazy (HOT) day. With the holiday, we didn’t have swim lessons this week, so the morning was nice and relaxed. No rushing out the door bright and early for this crew! We had breakfast, played outside for a while and just hung out. After a while, we packed up and headed over our friend Mariano’s apartment so the girls could play with Bella and we could all enjoy the day by his pool. The girls would not get out of the water for anything. I did a little swimming, and then a little sunbathing, and it was perfection. Eliza continued her wonderful routine for the weekend and just slept the afternoon away by the pool. We’ve been getting mighty lucky with her sleeping, that’s for sure! After we were all waterlogged enough, we went back to Mariano’s place for some pizza and playtime for the girls. By the time we arrived home, it was basically bedtime, and we were all exhausted! Sun and water, nothing better to make a couple of little girls pass right out!

Sunday was a pretty low key day around the house. I did some laundry and a little picking up (but, of course, being on leave it’s wonderful that I don’t actually have to worry about finishing my chores…It’s one thing I really relish in during my maternity leave, actually having time to get stuff done!), we hung out with the girls and played outside for a while again. Eventually, the big girls were off to spend the night at my mom’s house. She has tomorrow off work, so she has a day out and about planned with them tomorrow. Christian and I decided to take advantage of being 2 kids down, and took a risk heading to Applebee’s for dinner with the babe. It didn’t work out too well…she wanted out of her car seat the minute we got there, and, of course, was starving a few minutes later. We decided to break down and give her her first bottle of formula. I haven’t been pumping a ton…and, I have to make sure I have a little stash of what I do get for when I return to work, and I’ve been debating adding some in for a while, so we gave in and went for it tonight. I wanted a peaceful dinner out, and, I REALLY wanted to indulge in a Perfect Margarita….I’ve been dying for one pretty much since I got pregnant (of course), and tonight was going to be the night! She took the bottle well. I’m feeling a little guilty right now (and, please don’t read that as formula bashing – I absolutely have NOTHING against formula, Olivia was 98% formula fed, and she’s perfect as can be, LOL), but I do think giving ourselves a little flexibility will be helpful in the long run. I was talking to some friends about it and one of them pointed out exactly what I needed to accept…with each child you add to the family, dynamics change. Sometimes things aren’t always as convenient with each added child…sometimes I don’t have an hour to sit down and nurse her when I have a 3 and 5 year old with me needing something. And, I just need to accept that…which I am. I swear.

Olivia drew me a picture of my favorite animal. Pretty dang good if you ask me!

“Funny” story to end the week, I’ve been seeing previews for a new fall show called “Selfie” – it looks horrible – and guess what the lead character’s name is. Guess. ELIZA! What?! I mean, I know the name is not unheard of...but it is pretty dang rare, so that caught me off guard. Don’t get me wrong, I have absolutely nothing against common names, popular names, etc. I mean, come on…I’m Ashley, my husband is Christian – you don’t get more “normal” than that. When we named Olivia, I swear I had never heard the name before. I know, you think I’m crazy, but it’s true. I think it was really just hitting its peak around the time she was born. Our method for naming Olivia was me looking through a baby name book, making a list of I think 8 names that I really liked, giving it to Christian to narrow it down to what he likes, and we were pretty much left with Olivia. We both really loved it, it just clicked. Once she was born, GOOD LORD it was everywhere. I couldn’t believe it was like #3 on the baby list. How had I not been hearing it around if it was so popular? Anyway, it doesn’t bother me. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous to worry about how common or popular a name may be…especially this day in age. To this day, I’ve never met another Olivia in person, there’s never been one at daycare (in any of the classes), so for as popular as a name might be, it’s not like back when we were kids. Next up was Amelia. I can’t even tell you where Amelia came from…but I stuck to it like glue from the day we found out she was a girl. Christian would not agree to it…yet, would not suggest anything else. So, we were about a week from our due date and he finally agreed. It’s not nearly as popular as Olivia, but it still fairs pretty well. Yet, again, I’ve never met another Amelia in person either. Once she was born, we realized that our girls, and Christian’s three nieces names all end with an “a”, so we decided if we had another girl, it had to keep with that tradition (honest, it was not intentional before that – for us anyway). We also decided we’d stick with a vowel as a first letter like our other girls. When pregnant for the last time, though we didn’t know (for sure) she was a girl, I ended up with two girl names that I really liked, Eliza and Elaina. Again, Christian wasn’t too keen on either. Again, Christian had no suggestions. We literally went to the hospital with no agreement on names, boy or girl. She came out and after some time the nurse asked us if she had a name…I looked at him and he gave in to Eliza. Other than Eliza Doolittle and Eliza the actress from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, I’ve never hear it before (and it’s not super popular on the name lists). Now that this new show is coming out, it’s bound to gain in popularity, even though the show looks horrible. It just cracks me up. Each name has gotten a little more “out there” (and yes, I realize my “out there” is much more tame than most would define it), yet still fairly common.

Until Next Week XOXO