"Q" the babies

It's her 9 month birthday...

2012-02-13T20:47:00.002-06:00

and she'll take her first (official) steps if she wants too!!!!!!

Please read her 9 month birthday post to catch yourself up to speed with her walking but tonight, she took 5 steps, twice, and it was all her idea.

The first time she was hanging on to the ottoman and Tom's feet as he was sitting on the couch snuggling with Donovan. I was sitting on the floor about 3-4 feet away from her and she was reaching for me, doing that "come here" thing she does with her hand that she does when she wants you or wants something. So I held out my arms and said, "Ok come here" not thinking she would and just like that, she let go, and took 5 steps all the way to me! We were shocked! She did it without us having to give her the idea first (ie pull our fingers out of her hands). Then, just like that she did it again. Then she tried to do it about 50 more times but this was 7:15pm and she was obviously happy and tired and excited all at the same time so after the first two, the rest were pretty good tries, but pretty sloppy. She was just speed walking/diving all over the place. But still, the first two tries really counted and she was great! And she really knows how to take a licking and keep ticking. She just wipes out and gets back up and tries again. Falling does not phase her. We will try to get some video of it soon. We got some tonight but it was after her better tries and it is really long and we are too tired to crop it right now. Exciting non-the-less!

9 months old

2012-02-12T21:28:00.005-06:00

Here is what Reese is up to now:

Eating: Reese is still going strong with the nursing. In fact, she is kind of reverting with the bottle and not taking it as easy as she had been. She is down to about 4 milk feedings per day and eats 3 meals of solids. We are starting to offer her more finger foods like shells and cheese (left over from what Dono doesn't eat), cheese, soft apples, steamed carrots, green beans, crackers, tortilla chips (that was her idea when she snatched it off the table herself), cheerios, and meat sticks (baby food variety). She does really well and really likes feeding herself. She still gets one tub of stage 2's for morning and lunch, then a tub and some milk and cereal mixed for dinner. She is doing so much better with her sippy cup too. She has figured out that she needs to tip it up a little to be able to get her water out so it is nice that we don't have to do it for her every time now. (We do still have to do it sometimes though).
Enjoying Dono's leftover mac and cheese.

Talking: Reese is saying mama now! Yeay! I don't think she knows what it means but I still love hearing her say it.

Speaking of mama: Reese is a total mama's girl right now. If she doesn't see me, she is usually perfectly happy with someone else. But when she realizes I am there and she is not in my arms, DRAMA. Tears, reaching, more tears. Home girl knows how to get what she wants.

New business: Reese learned how to play peek-a-boo yesterday and it is adorable. She puts a toy or tag blanket on her head, then brings it down over her eyes, then we say, "Where's Reesie Poo?" and then she rips that toy/blanket down and smiles so big as we say "There she is!!!!!!". She is so proud of herself and I love it. Also, yesterday I decided to test out her walking on her own and I got her to take probably 5 steps unaided to me repeatedly. So then we showed daddy and Donovan, and Donovan loved it and thought it was so cool she could take some steps on her own. Then of course he wanted to get in on the action so he walked like a Frankenstein to us with his arms out like Reese, and we all clapped and said "Look, baby Donovan is walking too!" The things we do so our kids don't have to go to therapy later in life. Anyways, back to Reese. She even performed for my parents as we facetimed them to show them her moves. Today we practiced again with her walking about 4 feet from Tom to me and back again. We did it for probably 10 minutes straight and she loved it, but she wasn't very good at it today. She was trying to walk diagonally so she was doing a lot of diving into our arms. But it was fun anyways. I think she will be walking by 10 months, if she can get her confidence up. She is definitely steady enough and she knows how to fall gracefully so she is close. She usually just holds on to one finger on one of our hands now so it is much better on our backs then two hands. It is so cute just walking side by side with this tiny thing, holding her hand like I do with Donovan now. She just doesn't believe in herself enough yet. Tom and I will both be walking with her and she is so steady that we both wiggle our fingers out of her hands so she is walking by herself but after she takes max 2 steps and realizes we left her hanging, she lowers herself to the ground and starts crawling. (That is how we got her to walk back and forth to us, by pulling our hands out when she is walking to the other person). Yesterday she took 2 steps by herself, unprompted from the ottoman in her room to her dresser, but that was the first time she has ever done that and she didn't do that at all today. So she will be walking soon hopefully so our back can get a break and she can be happier.

High chair hijinx: With Donovan, we never even had to strap him in his high chair one time. We didn't even pull them through the seat cover. Reese is the exact opposite. A couple weeks ago I watched her basically try to throw herself over the side of the chair while she was reaching for a bowl full of tortilla chips. I had to grab her legs to keep her from going overboard. So then we decided that she was to be strapped in at all times. Only we didn't have them super duper tight so the little Houdini would twist and wiggle herself out of them anyways and get whatever she was reaching for on the table. And almost launch herself out of the chair in the meantime. She is so crafty. She puts her foot on the side of the chair and pushes until she can get the other foot up and she is almost standing in her chair. What a turd. So anyways, Tom tightened the straps but she still wiggles and tries to get herself out so we are never far when she is in that highchair.

Reese still loves Petey, Donovan and is still being wrapped when she goes to sleep. Still taking just 2 naps a day, at least one usually over an hour and a half. Since I started this new job she has a routine bed time, which is 8pm. Sometimes is later sometimes it's earlier but the vast majority of nights she is in bed by 8. It is wonderful. She is our little sweety pie and we are so lucky she is in our family.

(editor's note: I actually wrote this post last night to all me more sleep tonight so change the days of when she is doing things appropriately- I only say this because of the big even she had tonight!)

"Take a picture of me, mommy!"

2012-02-11T13:55:00.000-06:00

Me first please

2012-02-11T13:50:00.004-06:00

Everyone in this house needed to take baths/showers today. Reese volunteered to go first by using the universal sign for "I would like a bath sooner rather than later", which of course is a half eaten animal cracker on your head.

She makes that look good.

Easy entertainment

2012-02-01T21:11:00.004-06:00

Easy entertainment for Reese tonight meant that a)she was nakey b)she was sitting on our bed and c)there was a wipe box within reach that had the top opened up. She sat there on two separate occasions for at least 10 minutes combined and tried to shut that flap. She loved it. And so did I.

On a separate note, RIP seal/army crawl. You did us well for a long time but as of this past week, Reese is over you. Crawling on all fours, Speedy Gonzales-stylee, is the new hotness. Only when she is not using one of our fingers to help balance her as she walks everywhere, of course.

This morning

2012-01-30T20:26:00.003-06:00

This morning as Donovan and I were getting ready to leave for the day, he coughed this yucky sounding cough a couple times. He hasn't had a cough in a few weeks, so more to myself than anything, I said, "Where did that cough come from, buddy?" To which he replied very seriously, "From my mouth." Touche, Donovan. Touche.

Update from the past week

2012-01-29T21:18:00.004-06:00

So my goal is to blog at least once a week, so here it is. This week was busy, with Donovan's first week at school. He did very well. No tears from either of us the first day drop off, or any of the following days for that matter. Tom did call to check on him that first day and the teacher said he was doing well and she was scratching his back to get him to sleep. She said he had had a few times where he had this piercing scream, one that she mentioned was "very piercing" again when I picked him up that night. You know your child is loud when the teacher of 10 plus years of many, many kids is particularly surprised at the decibel your sons scream can reach. Poor guy. He also had pooped in his pants twice that first day. Lovely first impression. Overall though, he did very well for his first ever day at school by himself. The next day, he did very well, had no accidents and when I went to get him to go home, they were outside playing and he looked at me and looked away and just kept on playing. That turd. 10 minutes later I had to practically drag him to the car. Then Thursday he had another good day. They are learning about China in his class last week so I asked him what he was learning about at school and he said "We're learning about China!" I said, "You are? What did you learn about China?" and he said "He put his jacket on." So apparently China is a boy in his class (not really). He did tell me that they made fans and put them in the hall way, which was true. I told him Thursday when he told me once again that China put his jacket on, that China wasn't a boy but a big country. So friday when I got home from work he told me, "China is country" and I said "It is?" and he replied, "Yeah, he is really big!" Baby steps.

Anyways I thought Donovan was handling this transition so well until a few nights ago when he started refusing to sleep in his own bed. Wed and Thurs he fell asleep in our bed, then Tom carried him to bed in his. Then Friday, nothing, no complaining, perfect. Then Saturday came and all hell broke loose. Two hours after we started the sleep process he was finally asleep. I finally had to lay in bed with him and restrain him by basically bear hugging him as he screamed things like "GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME! I DON'T LIKE THIS! STOP TOUCHING ME! PUT YOUR GLASSES ON! (he tells us to take our glasses off when he wants us to lay down and sleep with him) DON'T SCRATCH MY BACK! I DON'T WANT TO SLEEP IN MY BED!" Nothing makes you feel worse as a parent then hearing your kid yell those things and know that what you are doing is causing him to say that. But we were out of options, trust me, we tried it all. So after thinking about it, I think that this is how he is breaking down a little bit with all the big changes, from the schedule, to the school, to me working more, to potty training, it is a lot for one little guy to handle. Today was much of the same but not as long or as severe for both the nap and the night time. Hopefully it will keep going this way because it takes it out of you when you have to spend an hour plus convincing your kid to a) go to bed and b)go to bed in his own bed and c)do it without you in bed with him. We used to look forward to 8pm, now we dread it. Plus that is our time to get things done so if we are spending it fighting with him, there goes the whole house. Fingers crossed. That being said, I am exhausted and I need to go to bed. Here are some pics from the last week.

Thank God for Reese this past week. She has been such a joy. Such a good girl and so happy. Definitely a balance to her brother's crazy. Her latest love is banging on the computer. See how happy it makes her? (I can hear my dad cringing right now after reading those last two sentences)

Bang bang bang.

Another love of her and brother's right now is playing the guitar.

My mom watched Reese this week as her sitter's kid was sick, and Grandma took Reese for a walk.

Today was nice again so we spent some time playing outside. Reese got to put some shoes to good use for the first time ever.

First sibling bath

2012-01-23T21:29:00.004-06:00

Brothers are oh so helpful in the rinsing department. ("Not on her face Donovan, not on her.... Ok, thanks for listening Donovan." -read that last part with lots of scarcasm) Thank the Lord that Reese pretty much loves anything Donovan related so she took the soaking in stride.

Potty Training adventures

2012-01-22T21:09:00.004-06:00

Donovan has been going pee on the potty for many many many months now but with no further signs that he wants to ever stop pooping and peeing in a diaper. When we were looking at different daycares to send him I started to think about how close he is getting to 3 yrs old and how that was always my goal to have him potty trained by then. So on Friday Jan 6th, on a whim, I asked Donovan if he wanted to try wearing underwear that day and he eagerly agreed. Win number one. I had him pee, then put his undies on and potty training was underway! (I was home by myself with both him and Reese, who was super crabby and clingy so what possessed me to think this was a good idea is beyond me). I didn't really have a plan, just try to get him to pee every hour and put a diaper on him for his nap. 20 minutes later, first accident. 20 minutes after that, second accident. So far, not so good. In the past when we had tried underwear and he had an accident we went straight to the diaper but I was determined to see this experiment through at least until the afternoon so I kept putting underwear back on. The first accident was a lot, the second barely any and the rest of the day, dry!!!!!! So he learned like I hoped he would, that it feels yucky to be wet. Fast forward to today and I would say we are doing pretty good overall!

He still wears a diaper at night and naps, except for 2 nights ago and the past 2 days during naps. Both naps were monster ones and he was dry for both but 2 nights ago when he refused to put a diaper on he peed a ton in the bed, but not til 5am so kind of a win I guess. About 50% of the time his diaper is dry in the morning but it is dry after naps about 98% of the time, which is wonderful. He is doing much better about telling us when he has to pee, but originally he wasn't telling us at all so anything is better than nothing. He doesn't have pee accidents very often, unless we let him go a long time between potty breaks without asking if he needs to go, or if we are doing something really fun and different, like when we were going to check out different schools.

Poop on the other hand, now that is a doozy. He has gone poop on the potty multiple times but usually only after he has gone in his underwear a little. And instead of pooping everyday, he goes every other so now that "other" day you have to be on major high alert. Today for instance was one of those days. Now he knows he needs to tell us when he has to poop, so he does, and we RUN to the potty, and we sit. And sit. And sit. He gets stage fright. If I had to estimate I would say we spent close to an hour and a half total today just sitting on the potty, waiting for the poop to come. He had two minuscule accidents with poop tonight too so I know he really had to go but he would just clam (or clamp) up. And tomorrow is his first day of school so I was getting sweaty just thinking that I was going to drop this ticking time bomb off with them and hope that when I picked him up at night that they didn't tell us that we were not welcome to come back and also, they had never seen that much poop come out of one child. I got so desperate that, against my better judgement, I offered to put him in a regular diaper so he could just poop in there. He agreed but then no poop. So right before bed he always pees, and instead he said "I have to poop". Well duh but we had heard that before. 20 minutes later, he was still on the potty and he would occasionally stand up and say "I feel bad" and I felt so bad for him. I know he was hurting but he just could not get it to work out. We were trying everything, reading "Everyone Poops", promising toys, I even let him ea a kit kat thinking that might put him over the edge. Then suddenly, about 30 minutes in, he produced. A man sized production. He was so cute he said "My tummy doesn't hurt anymore!" as soon as it was over. And I felt the weight of a thousand potty training kids, lift of my shoulders when I realized we might not have a massive accident tomorrow at day care and get kicked out.

All in all though I would say he is doing very good (other than poop). He is so proud of himself, loves that he wears "underwears" or "undies" as he will call them. Sometimes he requests to run around in only his underwear, and we let him. When we ask him how he is doing or if he needs to go pee and he doesn't he tells us, "No, I'm doing pretty good." For deciding to see if we could potty train him on a whim, having done no research, I am pretty proud of us. Now if only we can learn from our poop experience tonight and have more successes like that.

Week #1 in the books

2012-01-20T21:49:00.002-06:00

Week number 1 in the new job is officially over. I had training all of this week, and will have it all of next as well so it will be a while before I actually start doing what I was hired to do. So far I have learned that I need to wear my glasses on days that I will be sitting in the computer lab, doing computer based training all day because round about 2pm my contacts dry up and try to cement themselves to my eyeballs and that is not conducive to learning. In other news, so far I have met a lot of nice people and I am excited about the other new people that were hired that I will be working directly with. The most fun part of my orientation was walking up to wear all the new people were gathering on Monday morning and before I even had a chance to scan around the room I heard someone say "Is that ELLEN?" all loud and I look over and it was Lanita, one of my best friends from nursing school whom I have not talked to since her wedding several years ago. It was so fun to see her there and to already have such a great friend to start this process out with. And I'll always have someone near and dear to me working at SLUH who I can meet for lunch dates and what not down the road. I was very impressed with the majority of speakers that came and talked with us during our orientation. There seems to be a true sense of pride at SLUH and people are genuinely excited to be a part of the hospital. I hope that wasn't just a show. I hope to spend many, happy years here now that I made the change!

In other news the kids seem to be adjusting well as far as us jacking around their schedules goes. Reese went to her babysitters on Tuesday and Thursday, Ms Amanda. Ms Amanda is a former coworker of mine who I love and trust so I have no reservations leaving Reese with her. I know she will treat her and love her as if she was her own. Ms Amanda has a 6 month old boy and Reese is the only other child she is watching so it seems like the perfect situation. Little Nicholas and Reese are fast friends already, taking turns on the push car and being carried around by Ms Amanda while they chase the dog. Reese did well both days, eating all her food and drinking her bottles like a good girl and even taking good naps! I am so proud of her. On Tuesday after we got her home and she slept and ate I noticed she had a rash on her head and chest and back. Of course I panicked, thinking she was allergic to Ms Amanda's and I was going to have to smuggle her to work with me on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but alas, we brought her her own food to Ms Amanda's (instead of what Ms Amanda had made) and no rash yesterday so hopefully it was just a random rash or she just didn't agree with something she ate that day.

Donovan got to go to his preschool with Daddy for a little on Tues and Thurs. The school he is going to wants the kids to get to have two or three short, "testing it out" days, before you drop the poor kid off for 9 hours, so that they have an easier transition. I think it will be great for him so I am excited. Tom admitted he is having a harder time with Donovan going to school that he is with Reese. (Adorable). He said it is because Reese doesn't know any different but he worries that Donovan will act up or will need him and he is worried how Donovan will do. Just another reason why I love that man. I think Donovan is excited and from what Tom said, he seemed to like school. He tells us "I'm gonna go by myself" because I have been prepping him for next week when I drop him off instead of someone staying with him. Fingers crossed that goes ok.

The other 3 days of the week the kids were with Grammie Q, that saintly woman, bright and early. Today was a little rough for Donovan with Grammie asking, "Did you say you signed Donovan up for 5 days a week school?" Two year olds can test the reserve of even the best of the Grammies. From here on out though, Donovan will only go to Grammie's on Wed and Fri with the rest of the days being at Preschool. That means Reese will have Grammie Q all to herself on Mondays so they can have some girl time. I think that will be good for both of them. Big brother is fun, but a girl needs some one on one time on occasion as well.

Also, Reese has finally seemed to shake the majority of the cold she has been hanging on to for the past 2 weeks. It is still there a little but no fever for 5 plus days and yesterday we finally saw the return of her personality and the Reese we know and love (and really, really missed!) Crabby, clingy Reese is a lot to handle, especially with a potty training brother (more on that at another post, coming this weekend). Since yesterday she has been a joy that doesn't have to hang on you at every second. She smiles, she talks, she laughs, she even eats! And as a bonus she has been sleeping through the night (like she was prior to the devil cold)! As a matter of fact, both kids have been going to bed by 8pm, sometimes as early as 7:30pm and what a difference that makes! You can actually get a bit done before bed, who knew? She also has been going down, and not making a peep. No protesting or fighting, just sleeping. It is lovely.

Ok that is all I have the energy for now. It is Friday night at 10:15pm, the husband is downstairs making music, and both kids are asleep so you know what that means. Yes, sleep for mommy. Goodnight all!

8 months old

2012-01-14T21:13:00.006-06:00

Poor sweet baby Reese. She got to usher in her 8 month birthday with a fever and a cold that she has been fighting off for the past week plus. She is the picture of pathetic. Eyes crusted over when she wakes up from sleeping at night, nose constantly running, screaming when her nose is wiped, breathing like a rhinoceros, VERY low reserve (really crying at anything), and just crabby all around. I wish there was something I could do for her but I think we just have to cross our fingers this cold is going to see it's self out very soon. You are not welcome cold. Our little girl needs a break. On to happier things though...here is the rest of what she has been up to this past month.

Eating: Still breastfeeding, yeay! This is when Donovan stopped so I am pleased we are still going strong. She nurses exclusively from me when I was home and seems satisfied so that is good. I am nervous how my supply will hold up with the new job and the good chance that I might spend some time standing and pumping in a public bathroom during my first week of training so we will see. She is also eating 3 solid meals a day, 1-1.5 hours after she drinks milk. Her morning one she usually gobbles up, her afternoon one she eats about half (1 stage 2 food container with some dry cereal mixed in each meal) and then for dinner cereal and milk and a fruit and cereal and she usually has no problem eating all of that. She also loves finger foods, especially her yogurt melts. She is drinking milk 5 times a day, sometimes 6 on an off day. She usually gets up for a feeding at 5:45-6:30am and then goes back to sleep until somewhere in the 8 o'clock hour. That's gonna change soon with the new job so next month will be totally different I am sure. We haven't tried any stage 3 foods but we will when we have to buy her more food next. On a somewhat eating-related note: she doesn't spit up a fraction of the amount she used to. Thank you cruising stage! Hopefully this means we can cut the Pepcid out, which we have been skipping some nights to test it out. So far so good.

Sleeping: Still going to be in the 8 o'clock hour and sleeping until her first feeding and then going back to bed until the am 8 o'clock hour. She is down to only 2 naps (unless she is sick or it is a weird day) and one is usually 30 min and the other is bigger (anywhere from 1.5-3 hours but usually in the 1.5-2.5 hour range.) Still swaddled, still on her stomach, still nothing else in her crib.

Development: Major developments this month are pulling herself up, cruising, walking when holding on to your fingers, and crawling on all fours (something she started within the past week and a half). She really doesn't crawl much at all anymore, army, all fours or otherwise because she would prefer to walk where she wants to go while holding on to your fingers for guidance. She prefers this above all other forms of travel, even over the lion, which she loves to push and be pushed on. She has an amazing balance for how young she is so I would not be surprised if she is walking by 10 months. In fact, our aching backs are counting on it. She is so steady and sometimes can walk (for short distances when she isn't trying to hurry {read: "catch the dog"}) holding on to only one of our fingers. She definitely has big ideas and plans for where she wants to go. It is really fun because she leads you exactly where she wants to go, and as mentioned before, that is often in hot pursuit of petey. She is so sweet when she is standing holding on to something and wants to walk with you instead. She smiles real big at you and flirts with you, then does this kind of upside down wave with her hand like she is telling you to "come here." Then you give her one hand/finger and she zero's in on that next hand like, "I am still learning, I need that second hand, ok?" It really does make her so happy. That coupled with her crabbiness/neediness/fussiness this past week and come to thing of it, I have barely seen her crawl at all recently. She is ready to be onto bigger and better things.

Believe it or not, this is a smile. And one of the very few from today at that. This was her crawling after me when I walked away from her. All fours baby!

With the mobility and the pulling up, nothing is safe from her now.

This caption is for my LOL cats loving husband. "I can haz food?"

Enjoying the cozy coupe, one of the few places she is happy this past week.

One of the best things about this past month is the change that has taken place in the relationship with Reese and Donovan. She is learning how to play with him and he is learning she isn't just a pest. It really makes all the stress and hard work that two kids are, totally worth it. Donovan loves pushing Reese around in the Cozy Coupe downstairs and she eats it up. He also pushes her very carefully on the lion as well, another thing she loves. Tom and I love it because we get a break and both kids are happy. Donovan also has started giving Reese "horsey" rides, where he crawls around and she rides around on him like a rider on a horse (I hold on to her for stability of course). But by far the best thing they have started doing is playing together in the car. They started it coming home from Tom's parent's house with Tom one day a couple weeks ago and they do it almost every time they are in the car together now. There is this one particular soft, monster rattle that Reese has that we usually give her in the car and she hold it out, as if to offer it to Donovan. Then Donovan reaches for it and sometimes she rips it back out of his reach and they both have giggle fits. Sometimes he takes it and when he gets it he says "Thank you VERY much!" and then they both giggle and giggle and giggle. Then he'll give it back and they continue the game. I love everything about it. Listening to them giggle together, that's my happy place.

Reese testing out the horsey. The horsey is tired though so he is laying down.

And once the rider, now the horsey.

Taking a turn in the tunnel.

We have lots of big changes coming this month, my new job and the kids new daycares. Here is to hoping for all the changes to be good ones and for that dang cold to go kick rocks!

Snow!

2012-01-12T22:31:00.004-06:00

Today we had the first snow of the season, and although it was quite the pain in the butt for travel, and it was freezing cold, we enjoyed it! Donovan and I went to go check out a school for him and after we came home he wanted to go play in the snow. So we both bundled up and went outside. For all of 10 minutes but it was a successful 10 minutes. In that 10 minutes Donovan managed to make his first snow angel (he walked right into the snow, hesitated for 5 seconds, then flopped down on his knees, then laid down and rolled to his back and made an angel with his eyes tight shut. The best), eat lots of snow (and some grass), and throw lots of snow balls in the street. He wanted to make a snowman but it was way to cold and the snow was too dry for that (also there wasn't that much). I was just happy he got to put those snow boots and snow bibs I bought for him this year to use since this might be our only chance this winter.

This is an out-take but I love it. Pre-snow playing. All bundled up.

It was less than 20 degrees but he would have stayed out there all day if I would have let him.

Brother's kitchen is fun

2012-01-10T21:14:00.000-06:00

NYE

2012-01-08T21:17:00.006-06:00

New years eve we had our friends Maria, Tom and Claire over for the night. I worked that day but got off early so instead of starting the party after I got home at 8pm, we got to start it when our guests came at 6. The kids were adorable together. Donovan and Claire get along so well and even played downstairs by themselves for a little bit (although Donovan was not to sure about that idea). They also spent a good amount of time standing against the door in the kitchen, counting to random numbers together, and then racing around the living and dining room, back to the kitchen door. Donovan even had his first friend sleepover- sort of. Claire slept in a sleeping bag on his floor until Maria and Tom took her home at 1am. Us adults had a great time too, lots of good adult conversation time. The next morning it was pretty cute, when Donovan woke up the next morning he popped up and the first thing he did was look on his floor and say "Claire!" They love each other.

The highlight of the night was when Donovan and Claire danced together. Tom O. told them to go dance and he said to Donovan, "You be the prince and Claire will be the princess." I figured Donovan wouldn't know what that meant because there aren't a lot of princes in books and shows about trucks and trains but it didn't matter because either way, he told Claire "I'm the prince and you are the princess" several times.

This is the prince and princess waiting for their music ("tale as old as time" from beauty and the beast) to begin.Claire twirled herself.

Once again, when Donovan and Claire were holding hands I over heard him saying "This is adorable."

Reese and her lion

2012-01-05T21:55:00.002-06:00

Our sexy little sleeper

2012-01-03T08:49:00.002-06:00

There has been a handful of occasions that we have gone to get Reese out of her crib after a nap and she looks likes this.

What a nut.

Some big changes for the new year

2012-01-01T20:27:00.005-06:00

So for the past few months I haven't posted as many updates as I have wanted because I have been really busy. Busy with work, busy with the kids, busy with the holidays and also looking for a new job. I have known for a while now that I wasn't meant to be a labor and delivery nurse, or a bedside nurse in general, forever. So I had decided last year when I got pregnant with Reese that on my maternity leave I would update my resume and start looking and applying for new jobs. Of course I waited until the last week of leave to start doing that but I did finally update my resume. Just to learn that you really need cover letters to to apply for anything worth while. Long story long, for these past several months when I wasn't looking for jobs, writing cover letters and applying for jobs, I was feeling bad about not looking for jobs, writing cover letters and applying for jobs. So that was the reason for much of the lack up updates.

But now that is all over because as of two Thursdays ago I have accepted a new position at SLU hospital transplant clinic as a Vascular Access RN Coordinator. So I will be making sure patients with vascular access needs (dialysis patients), and patients with liver and gall bladder issues have all their appointments and are getting the care they need in an appropriate time. I am so excited for this new phase of my life, I think it will be a perfect fit for me. In addition to that, it is Monday-Friday 8am-4:30pm, no weekends, no holidays, salary and a nice pay bump. So all in all, a lot of good changes for me. I will miss having random days off with the kids, but it is going to be so nice to know I am off every weekend and holiday and to do little things like have dinner together every night. How much do I know about the subject matter that I am going to have to become an expert on pretty fast? Not much but I am a smart girl so I can figure it out. I have a week between my last day at St John's and my first day st SLU so I plan on using some of that time to start reading up on it. My new boss said it will take me about 6 months to feel like I really know what I am doing so I have to remember to give myself that and not stress that I don't know everything right now.

How did a labor and delivery nurse go from delivering babies to working at a transplant clinic you ask? Well I have a friend who does the transplant surgeries and it sounds so interesting. And I have always thought care coordination or case management sounded like something I would like to do so I started looking for transplant coordinator jobs. BJC and SLU are the two hospitals in the St. Louis area that have those services. BJC shot me down immediately (as in I am pretty sure no one even read my resume). And I couldn't get the HR contact to return my emails or calls. Then I applied at SLU and heard nothing. I was starting to think about transferring to a med-surg unit in the hospital to make myself for marketable for case management/care coordination type of jobs when I saw an opening for a RN in SLU's transplant clinic. I thought maybe they would hire me, I would get to know the subject matter really well, and then they would eventually hire me into the coordinator position. So I applied and heard nothing until about 3 weeks later when I got a call. They apparently had called and left a message right after I applied but my phone messes up sometimes so I never got the message. So I had a phone interview. The next day I was offered a face to face interview for the following Thursday. That Thursday I interviewed with the HR lady, then the head of the transplant clinic. During the interview with the head of the clinic, I mention that my goal is to ultimately become a coordinator, to which she starts to tell me about the 2 different coordinator positions open, none of which are transplant coordinators but one is this vascular coordinator. By the end of the interview, I realize that she is considering me for the coordinator position. So she tells me the next step is to meet with some physicians and then have a peer interview. We set that up for the following Tuesday. Tuesday comes and I have my peer interview followed by the meeting with the physician. I felt like it went well so I was pretty confident I was at least going to get an offer for the RN position at the clinic. I just hoped it was a good enough monetary offer to be able to take it since we would have to put the kids in part time day care. They told me I would be hearing from HR by the end of the week. So on Wed (the next day), I am at work and I get a call from SLU, I dash into the bathroom to answer my phone and get the news that they are offering me the coordinator position for enough moolah that we could swing it with child care and not eat saltines every day!!! It was so exciting and a huge relief. So on Thursday I accepted the job. (Later on that same Thursday my sister was offered a job and the next day Tom's brother got engaged, we kind of like to steal each others thunder. Not really, but on a serious note, what an awesome 2 days for our family).

My first day is Jan 16th and my last day at St John's is this coming Saturday the 7th. It will definitely be bittersweet leaving there. I have come to care about so many of the girls there but I know I can't stay, doing something I don't love, just because my co-workers are awesome. (Well...most of them I mean, I do work with almost 200 people, they can't all be winners). It is scary going somewhere new and having to learn so much in a short amount of time but I am up for the challenge and I know I will do well if I set my mind to it, which I have.

The other part of this is that Tom's mom is going to watch the kids M,W,F which means that we need to find care for the kids on Tu, Thurs. I know this will be great for Donovan, he needs to go to school and play with kids his age and learn new things. I was just having a hard time thinking of where I would feel comfortable sending Reese. Thanks to the magic of facebook though, we have found Reese's daycare and I am so relieved. She will be going to one of my former co-workers house's who lives pretty close. Her name is Amanda or "Ms Amanda" as we will be calling her. She is wonderful and I trust her and she is just going to be watching her own son Nicholas, and Reese for now. I know she will love and treat Reese like her own so I have no reservations sending her there. This week we will visit some places and decide where Donovan will go. We have one place in mind we really want to send him, so fingers crossed they have an opening and it work's out.

So anyways, 2012 is going to be a year of big changes, hopefully all good!

Christmas overview

2012-01-01T11:43:00.009-06:00

We had a wonderful Christmas weekend celebration, complete with me getting called off work on Christmas day! Saturday my sister came over early and we made some gooey butter cookies and Oreo balls. MMMmmmmm. Then my parents joined us that evening and we ate a nice dinner together and then opened presents. Donovan shocked me with how well he did that night. When my parents got there and brought in all the presents he was so excited but I told him that he had to wait until after we ate dinner to open any. And he was so good! He didn't pitch a fit or whine, although he did ask a few times after that so Grandma had the great idea to let him open one present which was a shake and go Lightning McQueen car that he ended up playing with for the next 20 minutes like a perfect gentleman. He could have not opened any more present that night and he would have been perfectly happy. He actually ate a regular dinner with us too (pulled beef and cheesy potatoes) so that was special (anything not macaroni or grilled cheese these days is kind of a big deal). Then we opened up the rest of the presents and again, he was so good. Helped Reese and myself open our presents and played so nicely with the presents he got. He did have a hard time going to bed that night but that was to be expected.

Reese's booty reindeer.

Big shake n' go lightning was the center of attention for the night.

Donovan would take the presents to grandpa, and grandpa would tell him who to give him to. He needed help with this big one though.
Tom and I got an Ipad from our parents. We fancy!

Donovan cutting his wooden food.
Can you tell Donovan was excited about his drag racer track?

Christmas morning both kids got up early, and Donovan was again so good. Taking turns opening presents and all. Then we did our traditional breakfast casserole with Jenna and got ready and headed out to Tom's parents house. More presents over there and then lunch, which he was way too busy to touch. Somehow we did manage to get him down that day for a nap, and then after that it was straight to my Aunt and Uncle's house for celebration with my extended family. Donovan was wiped by 7:30 so we went home pretty early, but then when he got home and saw all of his toys again, wouldn't you know who got a second wind. All in all a great weekend.

Donovan's cool new garbage truck that Reese got for him for Christmas. It's actually a recycle truck but Donovan pushes it around and says "Gawbidge, gawbidge, gawbidge" and it makes Tom and I laugh so we don"t correct him.
At grammie and paw paw's.

Once again, Donovan passed out all the presents under the direction of Paw Paw.
Reese's new babydoll.
Tom's special brother and his new fiance decided to test out our camera and it"s self timer. I have about 20 variations of this picture.
4 generations of the Q family. Grandma is 97!
4 generations of the H family.

Reese seemed to enjoy her first Christmas. She thinks her presents are ok but brother's are really cool. Brother got a big kitchen that she wants to stand up with and play on constantly. Probably her favorite present is the blanket she got from Donovan that is just like his favorite blanket, except for pink. She wants his sooo bad and he is very possessive of his so it was the perfect gift for her. Good choice of present Donovan! Christmas day was a little over whelming for little missy so she was a little fussier than normal. She is in the beginning of the stranger danger phase so she was a wary of all the strange people.

Random pictures

2011-12-23T23:18:00.003-06:00

I was looking through some pictures from the past few months and ran across a few I wanted to share. They are old but I like them.

Back in mid November we got a tricycle from our friends with kids who had grown out of it. Donovan loves it and so do we as it has a handle we can push him around with (without crouching) and also steer with. We even got him to wear his helmet with it the day of these pictures too! (He had only worn it once before, when we got the helmet, and even then he was done after 1 minute).

Rocking the helmet. Safety first.

I love this picture. Leaning back like he is going SO fast.
Looking at me and saying "Cheese" (unprompted) instead of watching where he was going. He forgot to turn.
This is one of my favorite pj's he has ever had. I love everything about them.

One night after a bath Donovan was running around the house naked while I ate a snack. He then requested to have some of my pretzels too. Then he wanted some bread. Then he wanted to make a pretzel sandwich so he put pretzels on his bread and ate it like that. I asked him to put his head near the sandwich for the picture and this was what I got.
In the early part of December when Donovan was having a rough few days we had a disagreement about something (I think it was how much juice he should be having that day and that particular moment) and he threw an epic fit right before nap time. I stayed in his room with him because I was worried if I left him alone he would go so crazy that he would have pulled the dresser over on himself since we still haven't anchored it to the wall (these are the things that keep me up at night people). Anywhos... he was so mad at me he went in his closet and tried to shut the door. He couldn't so I did it for him. He stayed in there, screaming, for 10 minutes before I finally cracked it enough to scratch his back until he fell asleep. So this is how Donovan started his nap that day. Look hard at the first picture. He is there.

Oh did I forget to mention he threw this whole fit while pantsless? Tom helped me hold him down to put his diaper on during his fit and then 4 seconds later he had already ripped it off. So I just waited til he fell asleep, then put his diaper on and put him in bed. It is tough to be 2.

She's been good

2011-12-23T21:03:00.005-06:00

Reese just wanted me to take a few pictures of her in this onsie in case Santa was looking at the blog to see how the kids had been. She is right. She has been a very good girl. Her brother on the other hand...

Super belated 7 month post

2011-12-21T08:26:00.003-06:00

Ok so I found a few minutes so I will try to crank this post out before Reese turns 8 months old.

Eating: Reese is still doing well with bottles and is still breastfeeding when I am here. She is so inquisitive (I restrained myself from saying nosy) so breastfeeding is increasingly becoming a challenge. She is just like her brother was. Eats for a few seconds, pops off and looks around. So annoying. I might have to start feeding her in her room when Tom is here to entertain Donovan. She is eating two solid meals a day. One stage 2 tub of food (or two baby bullets of food, usually veggies) for lunch with some cereal mixed in and one stage 2 tub of fruit with about a table spoon of cereal mixed in as well as a tablespoon plus of cereal and milk for dinner. She does pretty well and is usually a very good and quick eater. She also eats puffs and yogurt melts and is pretty good at getting those in her own mouth. I have too much going on to make all her food so we are doing a little of both, right now she is eating the majority of store bought but I will get streaky and make a bunch of food when I have time and then she will eat a lot of that. Hopefully when the holidays are over and things calm down around here I can start making more again, it was just getting to stressful to try and worry about making all of her food.

Sleep: She is only taking 2 naps most days now. Usually one of them is at least an hour and a half, sometimes 2 and a half. Every day is different. She goes longer between sleeping too, sometimes 5 hours or more. She is still swaddled and sleeps in her crib. Sometimes she has a hard time putting herself to sleep and fusses and cries for 15 min, sometimes she goes to bed wide awake and you don't hear a peep, you just never know what way it is going to be til it happens. She is also still sleeping through the night. Seems like it doesn't matter if she goes to bed at 7:45 or 10, either way she is going to be up at 6-6:30 for a feeding, which she then goes back to bed after until 8:30 or 9 usually. She is usually in bed between 8:15-9:15 at night, depending on what time she got up from her last nap.

Development: This was a big month for Reese as far as she is now sitting! She can't get to a sitting position herself and is kind of stuck there once she is placed in the sitting position so it's kinda nice as it is the only way to keep her stationary for now. When she is down she just jets off, army crawling after you. It is so funny how fast and determined she is. She gets mad if I put her down and walk away so she will chase me into whatever room I have walked too. It is so funny to see her little head peeking around the corner, looking for me. Also, her newest news (as in she started doing this about 3 days before her month bday) is that she is doing a modified pulling up. It is more like pushing up. She needs something about mid body height for her and then she crawls over to it, pushes up, then totally stands up. She loves to stand! So she is practicing standing and trying to walk while holding on to your hands. She is so proud of herself too. (See below pictures). She has yet to do any typical crawling but gets on her hands and knees fairly often. That is how I find her in her crib 90% of the time. She is just so efficient at the army crawl I think the regular crawling is a non-issue. Her newest skill has left our playing on the ground time mostly her fussing until you lay on the ground so she can crawl over to you and push up on you and stand up. So play time with Reese is a lot less of independent Reese time and more you down there with her the whole time.

I tried to get an action shot of her playing with the table but every time I did she would look up and smile like this. She is just so darn proud of herself for being able to stand like this. She is pretty steady too. You can walk away from her and she will be up like this for 10 minutes or more before she falls over. (But man is she unhappy when she falls. Oh the drama.)

All in all another fun month on the books with Reese. Sorry it took me a week plus to get this posted. Life is busy!

One last side note: It has become clear that Donovan thinks Reese's name is "Reesie Poo". That is the only thing he calls her. Even when he is mad at her. He'll yell at her "Don't eat my blanket Reesie Poo!!!!!" or say "Mommy, put Reesie Poo down on the ground". I guess maybe we were using that nickname too often. Poor girl is going to be picked up for a date in highschool and Donovan is going to yell "Have a nice time Reesie Poo!".

More pics

2011-12-19T21:59:00.003-06:00

Ok so Thurs and Fri came and went and I still didn't do the post on Reese and I got news for you, I may actually be busier now than I was then so it ain't happening tonight either. But here are some cute pictures of Reese from the other day when I thought we were going to go see Santa but then Donovan had a monster melt down.
The fit thrower taking a pause to get in the way of the camera. (Reese is directly behind him)
Showing off her underoos.
"No more pictures!!!!!!"
"Ok fine, one more"

Happy 7 months Reesie!

2011-12-13T23:41:00.004-06:00

Dang you are adorable. Even when you are just eating puffs with no shirt on. I don't have time to write about what she is up to tonight so that will have to wait for Thursday or Friday. This will have to hold you over until then. (In that third picture she is dropping a puff over the edge to Petey. Man kids learn fast!)

Two peas in a pod

2011-12-12T22:53:00.002-06:00

Or monkeys on the bed would be more appropriate. Donovan and his best friend Ian. (Although the other day I asked Donovan who his best friend was and instead of saying Ian like I had expected him to he said "Daddy" Awwwww. Tear.)

My favorite one of these two.

They are at such a great age. They play really well together now. Watching them interact is so funny. It is also nice because they entertain each other so well that us adults get to (GASP!) actually talk and enjoy each other. It's been a long time in the making for that.

Two things I forgot

2011-12-08T22:25:00.002-06:00

Two more little sayings/stories from Dono I want to document:

-Donovan:(Sliding down the stairs, backwards, on his belly, laughing) "How funny is that?"

-And a story that kinda breaks my heart: A couple weeks ago Donovan was playing with this helium balloon we got from my parents before Halloween. It was losing air slowly so it was low enough he could grab it. He brought it over to me and asked me to help him tie it around his waist. As I was doing it he kept saying, "Help me get up. Help me get up, mommy." So I was like, "Ok" even though I had no idea what he was talking about. When I finished tying it around his waist he straightened up, looked up in the air so proud and excited and said "Help me get up in the sky" and it was suddenly clear he was expecting that balloon to lift him into the air like the balloons did in the movie "Up" which we had seen the week prior. It broke my heart it was so sweet. I told Tom, I couldn't stand the fact that he was so happy and so excited that he was going to get to float around and it wasn't going to happen. For a few minutes I was really thinking about getting on google and seeing how fast I could get mass quantities of large balloons and helium tanks because if that is what my baby wants, that is what he gets. But really, it is kind of heart breaking to realize there are things that your child will want to do that you can't make happen for them. But instead of focusing on that, I am trying to focus on the adorableness of child innocence. God bless that kid for thinking that half dead helium balloon was going to lift him up into the sky. So sweet.

Conversation with Dono from today

2011-12-08T15:04:00.002-06:00

Donovan: "I want to hold hands with Reese"
Me: "Ok"
Donovan offers his had to Reese, she reaches out and grabs it and they lay on their tummies facing in each other on the ground, holding hands.
Donovan: (turns to me and smiles real big) "This is adorable!"

.....

Me: "Donovan, do you want to make a fort?"
Donovan: "Ok"
1 minute later
Donovan: "This is gonna be so much fun!"

.....

Dono:(setting his crackers and water cup on the ottoman instead of throwing them on the ground) "Mommy, this is a good idea."

Can you tell we are having a much better day today? Thank the Lord for new days with 2 year olds.

.....

Other things Donovan says that crack me up:
-"I don't want to put my neighborhood on" (he was referring to his hood on his jacket)
-"I love you too mommy!" when he is the first one to say it. I guess he doesn't realize "too" means you are saying something back to someone.
-"I have-a be right back" - Instead of "I'm gonna be right back"
-"Reese is a fish. Reese is a pumpkin. Reese is a grammie Q." -naming random things and saying that is what Reese is
-"I have-a say sorry" When he does something naughty, purposeful or otherwise he runs away immediately when we scold him, then he says he wants to say sorry on his own accord, and then sweetly does so. As in "I'm sorry for peeing on your pack-pack (back pack) daddy"
-"This is the biggest hammer ever seen!" There are a lot of ordinary things that are the "best" or "biggest" thing Donovan's ever seen.

One last story. The other day Donovan and I were in his bed looking at the pictures on my cell phone. One picture was of the Sydney Opera house and he pointed at the different size scallops of the opera house and was telling me all about their sizes. Donovan: "This one is sooooooo huge, and this one is sooooooo little, and this one is soooooo tiny, and this one is sooooooo medium." Man I love that kid.

Big girl bath

2011-12-06T23:03:00.002-06:00

Tonight Reese had her first bath in the big girl blow up tub. Since she can sit and all now. She really liked it until she did a face plant into the water right at the same time I was turning back around from reaching for her towel so she learned inhaling water is not so fun. Donovan was trying to be a helper but really he just got in my way and stressed me way out by throwing every toy in with Reese and just being a pest in general. He is VERY 2 right now. Some moment's he is sweet, and then there's the rest of the day. But that's for another post. Oh well. Hopefully it's just a phase. Thank the lord for angel, almost 7 month old babies though.

Guess what

2011-11-28T21:51:00.002-06:00

Reese is sitting!

It was bizarre. Yesterday, she was still resisting bending at the waist. Not much practice at sitting. Today, bending just fine. Sitting by herself. For 15 plus minutes at a time. Weird. I guess she just decided today was the day since she is officially 6 1/2 months old now.

Also, she is eating solids like a champ now. For the past couple days she eats a tub of fruit or veggies twice a day with at least 2 tsp rice cereal mixed in. 3 days ago you could barely talk her into opening her mouth wide enough to get much food in. Now, eating expert. We even gave her some finger foods yesterday. She got 2 yogurt melts in on her own. She liked them (we think).

And in other random, surprising news, after brushing Donovan's teeth today before his nap I discovered he has 2 new molars, which from the feel of them, have been in for a few weeks now. Huh. Who knew.

So weird how they just grow up before your very eyes.

Hanging Christmas Lights

2011-11-25T23:00:00.004-06:00

Our little helper.

My favorite supervisor.

Spikes

2011-11-25T22:57:00.002-06:00

6 month stats, some pics and a video

2011-11-20T21:30:00.009-06:00

We had Reese's 6 month dr's visit on Friday. It went well all save for the double melt down at the end when Dono had to get a drop in his nose (flu mist) and Reese had to get 2 shots. Overall the Dr had no concerns for us and he felt around on her neck and said he thought the lymph nodes felt smaller and less hard, which is what I think too so that is good. Hopefully we won't have to see him again until our well visit at 9 months. Here are the stats for this month:

Weight: 15lbs 8oz- 37%
Height: 27 and 1/4 inches- 92%
Head Circumference: 17 1/4 inches- 83%

So, long and skinny with a good sized noggin. That's 'cus she's so smart. I hope she starts fattening up now that she likes bottles but I don't think that's likely given her activity level and the fact that she is only going to get more active.

Here are some pictures of Reese from yesterday with her new hat I got her to replace the one that is 2 years too big. In some of the pictures the tag was still on because I just plopped it on her to try out the size and then it was too cute to take off.

Here is a short video of Reese scooting tonight.

We have a 6 month old!

2011-11-15T21:10:00.006-06:00

Happy belated 6 month birthday to Reese! It feels like she has been with us forever so it is hard to believe it was really only 6 months ago that she officially joined our family. Here is her latest:

Eating: Thank the lord, as of last Monday we have had a bottle break through! That day Tom's mom watched her, and we switched her to level 3 nipples and the first bottle she took 8 oz!!!! Then she took 6oz and then 8oz for the rest of the day and since that day she has never looked back. No more wimpy 2-3oz bottles. The least amount of milk she has drank since then at one feeding is 5 oz. And she is making up for lost time too. Sometimes drinking 5 or 6 oz and then another 5 or 6 oz less than 2 hours later. Such a relief. Now we can give her bottles without fear of her fighting us and not getting enough milk when I am working all day. I think switching the nipples had a little to do with it but I think she just finally decided it was ok to like bottles too. One less stress in our lives. She also eats solids once or twice a day and sometimes eats a lot and sometimes eats just a little, just depends. She has had pears, apples, banana's and sweet potatoes so far in addition to rice cereal. So far pears is the winner for favorite food.

Sleeping: A couple weekends ago Tom went out of town for a day/night and the week before it I was about to have a mental breakdown just thinking about having no Reese relief and help for 24 hours, and it was all because I was tired of living my life with only short increments of sleep between feedings. So I decided it was time to sleep train her and "Ferberize" her and she has done so well. After not even a week we had her going at least 9 hours between feedings at night. We worked really hard on putting her down awake and letting her comfort herself and also not picking her up or feeding her overnight. (oh and we cut out the swing. Don't use it at all anymore). She still wakes up and cries at some point over night most nights, but depending on how long and hard she cries, we either just let her cry it out or we go comfort her and re-wrap her in her bed. Yes, she still is a swaddle baby. Who knows how long she will keep that up. It calms her down and she likes it really tight. Also, if she is fussy, she gets catatonically calm if I blow zerberts on her neck. Calms her right down and she closes her eyes and just grins. I love it. She usually takes 3-4 naps a day, usually 3. One is usually a long one, anywhere from 1.5 hours to 3 hours. The short ones are 30-40 min. Today all she had was 3 30 min ones but yesterday she took two 2 hours ones so you just never know. Overall though, we are in such a better place with sleeping so I cannot complain. I am starting to feel human again.

Development: Reese is no where near sitting, which months ago I thought she would be doing for sure at this point. Since she refuses (mostly) to bend at the waist it really puts a damper on learning that skill. In actuality she does ok at it when you force her to bend but we don't practice as much as we should. She'll get there eventually. She just does not see how that is a skill that will be useful to her. She would much rather skip right on to walking. She wants so badly to be able to stand at her brother's train table and play with his stuff. She is Tom Hanks in the movie "Big". She is mobile now. She has this army crawl/scoot that gets her from here to there. She is actually pretty fast and man does she have quite the determined face when she see's something she wants. Which is usually one of her brother's toys/things which leads to sibling rivalry since Dono does not appreciate the fact that Reese is a baby and does not follow his orders. A quote from Sunday morning, "Don't pull my shirt Reese! That makes me not so happy!" She is also talking. Some mamas, dadas, yiyis and what nots. So fun!

This past month Reese gave me a health scare. Tom noticed a lump on her neck and I felt a couple hard, immovable lymph nodes that really scared me. The next day we saw the pediatrician and he said they were a little harder than he would like to feel so he sent us for blood work. Sad to see your little 5ish month old getting blood drawn from her. Of course my mind went to the worst place possible. It was the scariest 5 days of my life. After the lab results got back I had to call him for the interpretation and got to talk to the nurse instead of him (awesome. actually the exact opposite of that) and through her he said it looked indicative of a virus but he wanted us to go see a Pediatric surgeon anyways. What he was thinking behind this, I don't know, I didn't get to talk to him. So we went and that surgeon was a saint and took lots of time looking and feeling all over her and asking me questions. He thinks they are either just weird lymph nodes or dermatoid cysts and he reassured me and dampened all my crazy mom thoughts. He wants to see us back if they get worse or in 6-8 weeks from our appointment, whichever comes first so hopefully it is the latter. So anyways, hopefully it remains no big deal and we don't have to have him take them out, which is still a possibility. I'll keep you posted. Suffice to say that I hope this is the biggest health scare my children have for a long, long time. Being a parent is too scary.

I bought this adorable hat for Reese on Etsy last week. Ordered a size 6-12 months so it would last her all winter. We got it and it was WAY to big. The sizing is totally off. So to illustrate that, I had Dono try it on and what do you know, it fits my 2 1/2 year old boy perfectly. (excuse Dono's pink teeth, he was slamming some juice).

Donovan wanted me to put Reese in his hiding spot yesterday (the cool spot under his bed). I said I would put her in there if he went too. I got about 5 pics of the two of them in there and this is the best.

Reese was playing with her toys and brothers bag (actually it was originally Petey's dog bag) and it ended up on her arm just like a little purse. Little lady is accessorizing already.

All in all, such a fun month and I can't wait to see what is in store for us this month. Hopefully a happy and healthy baby girl that continues to light up our life! We love you Reesie Poo!

Fun in the bath tub

2011-11-10T21:36:00.005-06:00

Today for a windy day activity Dono got to "paint" with shaving cream colored with food coloring in the bath. Super easy and a big hit!

I told him to make a funny face and I demonstrated one and this was his attempt at imitating my silly face.

Planes, Trains, and...

2011-11-06T18:32:00.001-06:00

Guest post by Grandma "B"

Steve and I are enjoying living back in Missouri. One of the best parts, is getting to see the world through our grand childrens' eyes. That also means we have been getting to spend time taking Donovan places while his parents get to spend more one-on-one time with Reese. That's a win, win, win, win situation.
So here are some photos of our latest "Days with Dono"

September 25, 2011
We took him to the Radio Controlled Airshow at Buder Park, a big hit.

They flew pretty high.

Standing by one of the bigger planes, but focussing on those in the air.

Looking cool in his shades.

Pointing out what Granpa B should be looking at.

Apparently he needed a rest near another big plane.

He pointed a lot of planes out to us, he did not want us to miss a thing.

He liked it when a few of them made a lot of smoke.

In early October we took Donovan to the model train show in Kirkwood, MO. I have a feeling we will be on the circuit now, as it was also a big hit.

This is a working train and village, made of LEGOS.

It even had it's own space shuttle and wind energy...sort of.

This train was small enough to run in a box.

One of his favorites was this "Thomas" train.

A Santa Train had puffs of steam, and a car with coal for the bad boys and girls.
It also had a car full of toys for the girl little girls and boys.

The big train on the floor really caught his attention. The kind gentleman let him blow the whistle, start and stop the train.

He was not the only one to be entertained by the show.

We look forward to future adventures with the kids.

1st trick-or-treating adventure

2011-10-31T22:36:00.006-05:00

Tonight was our first trick-or-treating experience with Donovan as well as Reese's first Halloween. I was so worried (as in, had butterflies in my tummy all day) that Donovan would not keep his costume on and would not want to Trick-or-treat and we had his friend Ian coming over so it was kind of a big deal. Well all my days and weeks and months of getting him excited worked because homeboy put his costume on, wore it the whole time without whining (there was lots of pulling at the neck but that's to be expected from him) and was so adorable trick-or-treating! A total success! Ian and Dono were both Thomas the Tank engine and we pulled them around in a wagon and they would get out at every house and say "Trick-or-treat!". They were so pumped that they got candy, Donovan thought he needed to eat it as he got it but I had to nix that at the first house. I was so proud of how polite he was and by the end they were saying "Happy Halloween!" to the people too. We probably made it to about 15 houses then the boys wanted to go home and play....Thomas the Tank engine. Reese did awesome too. Awake and happy the whole trip. We had three outfit options for her. We settled on a Dragon and then had to do the chicken for photo's later anyways. All in all a total success. Good weather, good friends and family. I can't wait for next year already!

Before we left the house.
On the way to get the candy!
Most of the gang. (There was a pack of us)
Waiting patiently.
Kids after we got home and after Ian left with the pumpkins we carved last night. Believe it or not this was the best picture of the two of them.
Auntie Jenna did the STL (in tribute to the recent world camps) and Tom did Mickey (since Donovan watches approximately 26 hours of Mickey Mouse club house a day).
Reese's back up outfit. Really just wanted the photo to compare to her brother.

Bee-nanas!

2011-10-31T05:25:00.004-05:00

So here it is 5:35 am and I have been awake since 3:30 with Reese. Yeay sleep training. It is night number 1 and it's not going so well. Why don't we have children that like to sleep? Really kids, we are not that fun, you can be without us for a little while, it will be ok. Anyways, I might as well do something productive since I am up.

So remember how excited I was about making my own baby food? Well I did it! We started with Bananas (or Bee-nanas as Dono says). Super easy to make and Reese loved them! I hesitated giving her them because she seems not to like her cereal so I thought it was solids in general, turns out it is just cereal. She ate the entire serving I gave her (2oz) and never made one funny face (like her big bro did). I didn't get any video since dad was busy with Donovan so it was just the ladies trying the bananas but here is some of the photographic evidence.

October 22nd- First fruit- banana's

Satisfied customer

The not a spoonful left!

Trying to get any last hint of leftover banana

Yesterday (Oct 30th) we tried sweet potatoes. A hit as well! She likes these fruits and veggies.

The best part of waking up...

2011-10-27T21:10:00.003-05:00

...(with a cold) is hot chocolate in your cup.

My yikes pickles!

2011-10-26T22:03:00.003-05:00

What happened?

2011-10-22T00:15:00.003-05:00

Oh nothing. This is just the daily reaction we get when we try to change Donovan's diaper in the morning. Unless pee is running down his leg, he doesn't see the need for a new diaper. He just throws a fit and repeats "I don't. I don't. I don't need new diaper." Oh the inhumanity. (my favorite part? the tears on the chin)

Punkin Patch Pat-chers

2011-10-16T19:59:00.010-05:00

We went to the pumpkin patch with our great friends Tom, Maria, and Claire. This is our second annual pumpkin patch days with them and if we thought last year was fun, it was nothing compared to the fun the kids had this year. Last year I remember thinking, "Donovan can do that...next year" and he did. He had such a great time. We would have stayed longer so he could do more but the mobs of hoosiers (seriously, there is some awesome people watching there) was getting bigger and bigger and it is a wonder none of our children were lost (especially that time where we thought Donovan was with Tom and Maria and they thought the opposite and then we found him, standing by himself 20 yards away from us, oops). Reese even had a good time people watching. Afterwards we went to Qdoba and all had lunch together. Donovan and Claire play so well together so it is a fun time when the two of them are together. So fun.

The big inflatable slide was a hit once Donovan learned how to crawl up it. Claire showed him the ropes.

Donovan wanted to take this playground home.
This slide was "so fast!" according to Donovan, slide expert.
Riding in the barrels. This is one of the things I saw last year and knew he would love this year. He did!

Reese requested a meal so we both skipped the big tractor ride but Tom and Dono went with the rest of the crew. I heard everyone enjoyed it.

You should see the out takes from this picture. Since Reese refuses to bend at the waist this is the best we could do.
A closer look at Reese's adorable outfit (minus the headband).

5 months

2011-10-14T09:32:00.008-05:00

Our little lady is 5 months old (as of yesterday) and she is getting to be more and more fun! Here is the latest with her.

Sleeping: We are getting there! Sunday-Monday night she slept through the night for the first official time. Going 8 hours between meals and not getting me up til almost 6am! I slept so hard I hurt my neck and it is still hurting but totally worth it! She is still getting up for one feeding over night but I am not sweating it because it usually isn't until 4 or 5 that she wakes up. No more 1 or 2 am feedings thank the lord. I'm not really going to try to worry about that one feeding until she is eating a bigger solid food diet. Then if she is still waking up we will do some work to try and get her to knock that feeding off. She eats only last time in the 9 to 10 o'clock hour and then goes down. Still is being swaddled but she always breaks out of it at some point and she flips herself on her side or belly as soon as she can. We have another stomach sleeper that is for sure. She takes one big nap a day and 2-3 little 30 min ish ones too depending on the day. We swaddle her for those and then put her in her swing. She usually fights and protests going to sleep in the swing and tries to flip over (she can't, she's strapped in) but if we put her down in the crib awake instead she just gets even madder. So who knows. Our kids just likes us too much to sleep apparently. We are just that cool.

Eating: She is still mediocre at taking the bottle. Here mantra, "Boobies are where it's at". She is getting better with the bottle still and on occasion will take 5 1/2 ounces at a time. She eats about 5-6 times a day. She gets one meal of rice cereal in the late evening and does ok with that. Sometimes she eats it all, sometimes she doesn't but we still have time so we aren't forcing the issue. Last night I got an unexpected package from my Aunt. She bought us a baby bullet, a baby food making system and I could not be more excited! I had entertained the idea for making Reese's food before she was even born but I never got a blender or anything to actually do it so I was probably going to just buy her food. Well not now! It even comes with a schedule of when to do what and how much to put in the fridge and how much to put in the freezer. So cool. Anyways, to say I am excited is an understatement. And Donovan was too. He said "Let's do it mommy!" about 25 times as we were opening the package and I was telling him what it is. He will be my food making partner I feel.

Activity: Reese loves being as mobile as she is but is ready to walk. Or so she thinks. I try to have her practice sitting in front of me and she straightens those legs so she can stand, or at least roll. She is going to sit around 11 months at this rate. She loves to roll, roll, roll and is really good at it. She can also pivot around so she is facing the exact opposite way you set her down about a minute after you set her down. So she can get most places she wants already. Which means we have to be diligent about making sure brother's toys are appropriate if they are within rolling range. She can reach for toys she wants and her parkinson's like hands have steadied out very much. She graps pretty strong and is playing more and more with the toys on the front of her jumperoo, which she still loves. She also is pushing up when on her stomach so much that her whole upper body is off the floor to her belly button. And she gets up on her knees but when she does that her head is buried in the floor so it is never at the same times as her upper body. She is still such a lover and laugher. Mostly a very happy and flirty baby, save for when she is going down for a nap. We went to a birthday party at a bounce house last weekend and there were so many strangers oohing and aahing over her. I almost had to physically move one woman who was in her face. Ohh, the problems of having a gorgeous daughter. :) I am slightly worried about her teenage years already though. Reese loves to be tickled or soothed by kissing or rubbing your nose or lips on her neck. Calms her down to near coma like happiness. She smiles and squints her eyes and even gives you good belly laughs. So I am worried about how many times we are going to catch her talking the boys into "necking" with her (yes I realize no one but grandparents use that word, but I just did so it's cool again now). In other words I think she knows her name because she looks when you call her. Could be a coincidence but I think not. Also still likes baths. She just sits and smiles and eats her hands. No splashing or kicking, she prefers to relax. Ok thats all for now. On to the cuteness.

Testing out the jumper at Grammie Q's house.
Must...eat...this....leaf.
Success!
More pictures from the 5 month photo shoot. Snuggles from daddy.

This is how she looks a lot lately, sucking on her bottom lip.
Or like this..... pursing her lips together and blowing raspberries.
Watching TV with her daddy.

Playoffs baby!

2011-10-07T23:12:00.002-05:00

So the Cardinals are in the playoffs and to say that Tom is excited is the understatement of the year. Every game he dresses the kids up in Cards gear and he has stirrups that he himself wears every game day THAT HE HAS NOT WASHED! Gross. But it is working as we just advanced to the national league championships tonight. Tonight Tom went a step further and gave Donovan some Cardinals tattoos. Donovan thought they were pretty cool and stayed so still while daddy was drawing them. This will not be the last father, son, weird baseball thing they do, I know that for sure.

It is a baseball incase you couldn't tell.

The STL symbol.

Daily cute

2011-10-05T09:35:00.002-05:00

Dono was just hanging on the floor, snuggling Reese unprompted so I grabbed the camera and took a few pictures. When he was done with my taking pictures he let me know by saying, "All done cheese-ing".

Family fun day

2011-10-02T22:06:00.005-05:00

We went to Eckert's Milstadt Family Farm today for some family fun and apple picking. I have been promising Donovan I would take him apple picking since he learned about orchards in one of his favorite books. Unfortunately, he has been feeling a little under the weather the past few days with a fever at night and general tiredness. All things considered though we still had a great time, he just wasn't as crazy man as he normally is. Reese was a great girl, had a fabulous time looking around, strapped to her daddy's chest. The highlight of the day was watching the big pumpkin cannon shoot pumpkins out super high in the sky. It was our first time going to Eckert's but I think it is going to need to be a yearly tradition. In fact, when I was putting Donovan to bed tonight he said "Go pick apples again". We'll call that a success.

Flying the airplane. He took this so seriously, barely cracked a smile after the ride started. Had a death grip on the steering wheel and would not look away from the plane in front of him for the longest time. I think he thought he was really flying that thing.

Bouncing. For a minute. Then the kids got to close to him and he wanted down. That's how I know he wasn't feeling like his usual self.
Brave boy did go down an underground slide with Grammie Q though.
Feeding the sheep with Grammie and Auntie Jenna.
Kinda far away but this is the one shot we got of Reese, which is a shame cus she was so cute. That's her strapped on Tommy with our friends Kris, Lynn and their little girl Penelope.
Reaching to get those apples. "I picked a big one!"
Another way I know he wasn't feeling well... he refused to leave his blanket in the car. Carried it around like Linus. Literally. Drug it in the dirt. Here is that blankie draped over saint Grammie's arm.
Penelope showing that branch who's boss. "I'll get that apple......"
Unfortunately no pics of the pumpkin cannon. Turns out even having 5 adults to 2 children, sometimes you just don't have enough hands.

Our secret handshake

2011-09-26T22:13:00.002-05:00

My whole life I have been jealous of people that have elaborate high five/handshake things going on. I always wanted someone to have something fun and personal like that with. Well my dream has come true, but instead of a secret handshake, it is a series of kisses with Donovan. Every night before he goes to bed I give him kisses. Along the way in the past month, we evolved into it being 4 official kisses long. He knows what's coming next, as do I and we both love it. It goes like this:

1) kiss on the lips
2) Eskimo kisses (rub noses)
3) Butterfly kisses (Eyelashes on cheeks)
4) "Regular" kiss (another kiss on the lips)

I love that Donovan enjoys our little kiss series as much as I do. He always squints his eyes when it gets to the butterfly kiss, and I always ask him "What's next?" and he tells me while smiling all big. My favorite is that the first kiss is just a kiss but the last one, which is the same thing, is called a "regular kiss" and gets the biggest smile.

I had to wait 30 years to have a secret handshake (ok kiss series) with someone, and let me tell you. It was well worth the wait.

Things that go

2011-09-24T20:58:00.005-05:00

Today we had our Parents as teachers "Things that go" day at the school. There is lots of cool trucks and vehicles for the kids to play on as well as fun activities. I was supposed to work today but got called off so all of us went and had a great time! We look forward to this event every year!

Driving the fire engine.
Hanging out in the ambulance.
Back of the fire engine.
Pretending to be a patient. This is the last time I want to see him on a stretcher in an ambulance.
Hanging out in the police car. Again, I only want to see him in this thing at events like this.
Driving a bus. He likes driving.
Loved the trampoline.
Driving some sort of bobcat thingy.
Reese was a good sport during the whole visit. Hung out in her stroller and blew raspberries (a skill she learned last night). She did wear a cute outfit and was flirting with all the firemen and what not. We got a few pics of her there but she was all covered by her spit cloth so here is what the little fashionista looked like.

Hmmmm

2011-09-23T12:09:00.003-05:00

Donovan playing under his bed in his hiding spot just now-

Donovan: "Oh no, my sock fell off!"
Me: "Your sock fell off? Well put it back on."
Donovan: "I can't, I'm too short. I'm too heavy."

Oh. Makes perfect sense. Thanks for clearing that up.

Cheap fun

2011-09-21T22:55:00.003-05:00

Sometimes, pushing your 2 year old around on your carpet at a high rate of speed while he sits in the laundry basket is a ton of fun! (and coincidentally, a great quad work out).

We pushed him around like this.

Then we pushed him around like this. (He requested this picture. Even was saying "Cheese" and smiling as he laid there.)

This was right after Dono told Tom "Daddy's turn" and insisted Tom get in the basket so Donovan could push him. It was quite a site. (Tom was in the basket, leaning over the front, pulling himself across the floor with his arms and Dono was pushing the back). Then Dono jumped in too and said "Dono too".

What they did when I told them to do a funny face picture.

First rice cereal

2011-09-21T22:45:00.003-05:00

Yesterday Reese tried rice cereal. I am certain some got in her mouth but I have no idea if any got in her belly. We'll try again soon.

I think where I went wrong was letting her sit next to Dono as he ate his chocolate poptart. She was eyeing that bigtime. Anything less than that was bound to be a disappointment.

"Hey brother? Can you help a sister out? Slide some of that there poptart on over. And let's keep it between you and me. Mom does not. need. to. know."

Staycation conclusion :(

2011-09-19T22:23:00.008-05:00

Today we went to the Zoo. Reese's first trip to be exact. The weather was just gloomy enough that it kept most people away which was great for us, it was almost like we had the place to ourselves. We got there early enough to be able to do the Carousel, the stingrays and the children's zoo all for free. I was especially happy about the free part after Donovan refused to touch the stingrays and sharks so that would have been 12 dollars for nothing. Donovan had a fabulous time as did Reese, who stayed awake for the entire 2 hrs 45 min we were there, only to fall asleep walking back to the car. We learned that Reese really likes waterfalls as she got really excited and kicked and flapped her arms and talked a lot every time we passed one. We also saw one of the Orangutans swinging around and hitting his body against the window and she thought that was hilarious. The animals were very active for the most part so it was an especially good day at the zoo. We wrapped up our family fun weekend with family naps today. Me and Dono in his bed, and Tommy and Reese in the family room. There is nothing better than a good nap with your kid on a rainy day. Best thing about Dono's big boy bed... it's big enough for mommy and daddy to sleep in on special occasions. Tomorrow it is back to the real world. Sad. As Donovan would say, "I need mo staycation!".

All goats of the world need love. And Donovan is going to give it to them. One hug at a time.

Donovan loves this play car in the children's zoo. As soon as he got in it today he saw the cup holder, requested his sippy and made use of it (see below).
Hugs don't stop at goats. Guinea Pigs need some too. "Awww, gimme pig. Awww, gimme pig." (Dono' s version of "Guinea" pig)

Posing in front of Raja.
Sometimes he cooperates, sometimes he doesn't.
Too bad that flash showed. Otherwise I might have been able to convince you there wasn't any glass between the Penguins and Donovan.
This is what Tom rigged up for Reese to stay warm in the Penguin house. All you could see was her head and her little shoes. And yes, babies need shoes. To keep those stupid socks on.

On the way to the car. Sacked out. Didn't even fuss. Just slumped on over.

Staycation part 1

2011-09-18T15:22:00.010-05:00

The Q family had us a Stay-cation this extended weekend. I was off for 5 days straight so Tom decided to take Friday and Monday off to give himself a nice little break from work too. So Friday we loaded up the car and took the kiddies to Grant's farm. The first time for Donovan this year and the first time for Reese ever. They loved it! (ok so I'm just guessing Reese did). Donovan loved the Tram, he was looking at all the animals, pointing at them and telling us all about them and and soaking it all in. Then we decided to try feeding the goats for the first time as I always thought he was a little to little for it. He took to it right away and wasn't afraid of them at all! He fed them from outside the gates at first, then I asked him if he wanted to go in with the goats and he said yes. So Tom took him in and he loved it. He walked from goat to goat, petting and bending down to hug them. I am so glad I got some video and pictures of it because it was adorable. This went on for about 10 minutes but then he got a little freaked out when I goat had his whole hand in his mouth. He also got to ride on the carousel and feed some geese and a llama and he loved that too! All in all a great day at Grant's farm! Without further ado, the pictures and video.

Pretty girl and her parents.

So excited for the tram ride.

Loving it.

Taking the goat feeding very seriously.

Headed in. This is where I thought he was going to turn right around and head for the hills.

"Oh look, this is great. I can pet them!"

"And hug them!"

Another goat in need of a hug.

Donovan kept calling to the llama "Come-mere mama, come-mere mama" when she was getting petted by other kids and Dono wanted to feed her. I tried to explain she was a "llama" and not necessarily a "mama" but he didn't care.

Then Sat we went to Greentree festival in Kirkwood which I have very fond memories of from when I was a kid. We missed the festival last year because I was working so I was really excited for this year. Donovan did great at the fair and even walked on his own through the crazy crowds for most of the time. He even helped me eat a funnel cake that nice young man. He was very well behaved which I am sure was helped by the fact we picked up a "really big" train for him. (it is a little bigger than all his other ones). That night Tom and I got to go on a date while Auntie Jenna watched both kids for us and they did pretty well for her, at least she didn't look terrified when we came home which was good since it was her first time with them both by herself.

Sunday we had our family friends over as well as Jenna and my parents. It was a good, low key rainy day so it was the perfect day for people coming over to our house. We were celebrating the August birthday's, which was for four of us, and Donovan took full advantage of the cake as evidenced by these pictures.

Today was a fun day too but it gets it's own blog post.

Dono and Reese

2011-09-16T23:12:00.003-05:00

Dono was "scaring" Reese the other night by yelling "BOO!" at her and she just thought that was hilarious, as evidenced below:

Look who found her feet!

2011-09-15T22:06:00.003-05:00

Now if she could only get them a little closer to her mouth things would be perfect.

She did not find those puppies a moment too soon either because now, she is WAAAYYYY better during diaper changes now that she has something to distract her from how much she wants to roll onto her belly.

The doctor's visit to day was another non-eventful visit, just the way we like them. He had no concerns for her and said it was up to us when we wanted to start feeding her solids, whether it be now or in 2 months from now. I did ask what we could do to get her needing less feedings over night and he said start the solids sooner so we might pick up some rice cereal and give that a whirl in the next few days or so. No rush but it sure would be nice to get more than 4 hours of sleep in a row. Living like Zombies has lost it's appeal (...or did it ever have any?). Her stats are as follows:

Head circumference: 16 1/2 inches- 75%
Weight: 13lbs 15oz- 57%
Height: 25 3/4 inches- 93%

I was worried her weight would have dropped off more since I have gone back to work since our last appointment and she is having the problems with the bottles. I was actually happy with how much she gained and the Dr wasn't concerned either. So hopefully it doesn't drop off anymore and I will be even happier. Reese took her shots like a champ, didn't even flinch or cry with the first but cried for only about 30 seconds with the second.

I will leave you with my parenting fail of the day:
I had a brilliant idea to go to Kohl's and get some more pants for Dono after the Dr's since I had a coupon, we were already all out of the house, and it is getting colder and Dono has 5 pairs of pants. Well that was a horrible mistake. Missy was great but Dono started whining as soon as we got in the door and he was told he could not ride in a cart but had to walk. He sat on the ground in protest. So I somehow rigged a cart to carry both Reese in her carseat and Donovan, who of course wanted out once I started looking at the kids clothes. Then he wouldn't stay near me. Then he wanted every toy. Especially the "Cars" toys that were like 12-15 dollars and were similar to what we already have. He was not leaving without a fight and I wasn't going to give in to anything more than a 5$ one and he was not having it. So I carried him screaming and flailing and trying to climb out of my one arm, up to the front of the store, the whole while pushing Reese and the cart with my other arm. He was screaming and sounded like he was possessed by the devil, no lie. This nice worker lady saw this scene, offered to push Reese and my cart and even opened up a new line so she could check me out right away without making me wait in the lines that were a couple people deep. She offered to help me out to my car which I declined but shouldn't have because we get out the doors and he gets worse, which I didn't think was possible. Fighting to get out of my arms so much that his whole body is over my back, upside down, his butt by my face and legs kicking in the air. At this point Reese and the cart start rolling down the ramp into traffic but I have to use two hands to wrangle Donovan so that he doesn't fall out of my arms and get a head and neck injury so I am panicking inside but I throw my foot out just in time to get under the wheel of the cart and stop it from rolling into traffic. I finally get him so that I am holding him like a sack under one arm so I can push the cart to the car. Once at the car it takes me 15 min to get him buckled. I have never felt so helpless as a parent (other than with health stuff). I even contemplated calling Tom to come help me (he was at least 30 min away) or calling the police to have an officer try to help me restrain him enough to get him buckled in. Had Reese not been in the car, crying and hungry at this point, only adding to my stress, I would have just locked the doors and sat in the car til he tired himself out and I could win the physical battle. But I did not have that luxury. So we battled and battled (he even lost a shoe in the fight) until I finally had to click the bottom part of the buckle together and was able to pull his legs out from under him and make him sit on his bottom long enough for me to get him snapped in. It was exhausting. All this over a damn car toy. It is crazy the strength a 2 year old has when they have their mind set on something. It was superhuman. I am still shocked I was able to get him properly belted in but I knew I had no other choice and no one to help me. Next time I will think twice about taking both kids to Kohls.

4 months old

2011-09-12T22:40:00.008-05:00

Happy 4 months old to baby Reesie! Here is our big girl. (I realize I am 30 min early but I have to work tomorrow on her actual birthday so it was post now or Thursday. I chose now.)

Sleep: Is Reese 4 months old or 4 days old? Sometimes I think the girl forgets. For instance, Saturday night she ate at 7:40, then went to sleep probably around 10, was back up for a feeding at 11:15, then again at 2:15, and then I had to get up at 6 to work. Brutal. So that night I decided she needed to start sleeping in her crib in her own room instead of the cradle in our room. My theory is that since she wants to flip on her tummy all the time now (more on that later) she needs more room and in our cradle we prop her in the boppy because the mattress is so hard so it limits how much room she has so she wakes up when she flips over and the boppy is all in her face. Did you follow that? Bottom line, she is a tummy sleeper like her brother and is doing better (knock on wood) so far since we have made the switch. Yes, it's only been one night but still, it was a victory (slept from 10:45 til 5:25) and I will take it. We did some experimenting with not swaddling her or only swaddling her body and not her arms so she could use them when she inevitably flips over to her stomach(we still always put her down on her back) but those have all been fails so swaddled as tight as we can get her it is. But to sum it up, Reese has not been sleeping that well overnight. Still feeding at least once but usually twice a night. Naps are better. She takes several small ones throughout the day but one big one that I am so thankful for. It is usually anywhere from 2-3 1/3 hours and God bless her for that. It usually coincides with Donovan's nap or at least me putting him down, which has been a test as of late so it is wonderful. Today she slept for over 2 1/2 hours so I got an hour 45 min nap myself. It was wonderful. Keep it up Reese!

Thinking about flipping.

The view of Reese that we see the majority of the time now when she is on the floor. We have NO problem getting our tummy time in.

Notice big brother's i-phone. He knows how to use that better than I do.

Feeding: She eats about every 3-4 hours during the day and is doing much better with the Bottle. She now takes 4oz at a time pretty regularly and from what I hear, doesn't fight very much at all. She is very inquisitive so breastfeeding is becoming a challenge because she wants to see what is going on at all times so it's drink for 30 seconds, look around. Drink for 15 seconds, get frightened from a noise and look around again. Drink for 1 min, smile at mommy. Such a silly.

Playing: She is just starting to reach for toys but the poor girl's arm's look like she has parkinson's when she reaches for them still. Needs to work on that coordination a little bit more. As of Aug 24th she started rolling from her back to her front and she has never looked back. She is my turtle, hates being on her back. Diaper changes have become much more stressful now. It's like a time challenge every time. She still loves to eat/suck on her hands and burpcloths, just like her brother at this time. And also like her brother, she prefers to spend her time with you holding her, facing out and preferably, you are also standing. She is not as patient as she used to be as I believe she is starting to get bored with being a baby. I call that Donovan syndrome. She laughs daily and my favorite thing is when she laughs at something that is not Tom or myself trying to make her laugh. Lately it has been Petey doing doggy things. Just cracks up. It is so fun.

We haven't tried solids yet but we go to the Dr on Thurs so we will see what he says about that. I am not trying to rush it but if he thinks we should start trying, we might. She seems satisfied with just milk for now so I hate to rock the boat. I am interested to see how her weight is doing since she doesn't eat as well with the bottle feedings. Hopefully she didn't drop percentage that much.

In Dono news we got to go to our 3rd ER trip of his life on Friday. He stopped putting weight on his left hip and started collapsing when he would try to take a step on it. He told me his knee hurt but it was his hip that he was grabbing. He couldn't even stand up from a squatting position it hurt him so bad and he had to crawl to get to the couch and then to get his juice. This went on for 45 min. Other than whining about the pain and grabbing that hip though, he was perfectly happy. So I called the Dr's exchange and by the time they got back to me he was only favoring it a little. The Dr was concerned enough that he thought we should go to the ER. Tom was at the baseball game and luckily my sister was here to watch Reese so off Dono and I go. And I will be damned if that kid didn't walk in to the ER perfectly. Never showed any symptom or pain afterwards so we never even got any tests or x-ray there. I am taking full credit for healing him. Right after I called the Dr, I took his diaper off and looked all around, pressing on his belly to make sure it wasn't a hernia or there wasn't anything pinched or visible. I also moved both legs all around to see what type of range of motion he had and to see if anything hurt or I could feel anything weird. Nothing. But then after that, is when he was much better and only started to favor it a little. So what I think (and my Dr friend agreed) is that it was something that was tweaked a little off, like a ligament or something, and when I moved his leg all around it righted itself. So I should have waited longer to call the Dr is the moral of this story. And he has been fine ever since. So we got to go home from the ER with a diagnosis of "crazy mom" which I will proudly take because I would much rather that then something have actually been wrong with him. I love my little boogers so much.

Your reward for reading this whole post. I love that smile.

Jumper Time!

2011-09-07T08:55:00.003-05:00

30!

2011-08-28T21:57:00.003-05:00

So the week plus of birthday celebrations has drawn to a close. Tear. Guess I have to wait 10 more years this much birthday fun. We started celebrating last weekend with some of my best friends at the Melting Pot like I had previously mentioned. The night was awesome (and I want to do it again already), the only thing that could have made it better was if my best friend Kate and her husband Kurt could have been there but they live in Duncan, OK so there was no way that was going to happen. Then on Thursday, my actual birthday I had the day off so I packed up the kids and went to my parent's house to hang out with my mom. She bought me lunch (Imo's, yum) and we all played and then the kids and I all took a 2 hour nap together, Reese in her swing and Dono and I snuggled together in bed. Best nap I have had in years. Nothing beats snuggling with your kids, even if your weirdo son is insisting on you scratching his belly button til he falls asleep (I kid, I love that crazy boy).

Then we went home, Tom had cooked dinner and then our neighbor friends Sarah and her two son's came over for cake and ice cream. I had in my head that I really wanted Dono to sing me happy birthday but him and Tyler totally flaked on the singing and poor Tom, Sarah and Trevor (almost 4 yo) had to carry the song themselves. Turns out 2 year olds are terrible serenaders when it is not their idea. The buddies had also come over earlier in the day and brought me a present and a homemade card. Friends that are your neighbors are the best. So all in all, a great, laid back day.

Then Saturday our families (minus Nick) came over for a birthday celebration. We had a lot of pizza, dessert and game fun. They didn't leave til midnight which was late for all of us but nights like those are getting rarer so when we have them we make the most of our time. It was the perfect low key night with the fam.

Today I had my surprise. Tom told me a month or so ago he lined up a surprise for my birthday and I honestly didn't think much about it because I didn't want to get my hopes up for something that turned out to be no big deal. So he mentioned a week or so ago it was going to be on Sunday. Ok, still had no idea what it was. Then today I even forgot about it and was telling him at 10am how I was going to leave to go shopping and he told me I couldn't because of the surprise that was happening at 11. He was like "Do you already know what it is?" I assured him I had no idea, which was the truth. In the next hour I came up with 3 possibilities. 1) Flowers delivered. 2) Singing telegram (?!?) 3) He called up the cardinals pregame people and my name and birthday message was going to be scrolled along the bottom of the broadcast (I had no idea if there even was a day game today, there was). I asked Tom if I needed to get dressed or if I could stay in my PJs and he said I could. So at 11am I am walking up the stairs with Dono to get some Cheese-itz for the boss and Tom is at the door holding petey and he tells me my surprise is here. So he opens the door and now I know it's a singing telegram (again, why?) and then I see Kurt!!!! And Kate!!!!! YIPIEEEEEEEEEEE!! I was so happy and shocked I cried. And I'm crying again just thinking about it. We haven't actually seen them since December and they are two of my favorite people ever so I can't tell you how much that meant to me. Best surprise ever. Kate even tricked me because she texted on my birthday and told me she would call me this weekend so we had set up Sunday for a phone date. This was WAY better. So we got to talk and catch up for the next 3 hours and it was everything I could have hoped for. Yeay Tom and yeay Kate and Kurt! The best way to wrap up my week long "Diva" birthday (as Tom calls it. For the length, not my behavior during it.)

Suson Park

2011-08-21T13:39:00.004-05:00

This has been such a fun weekend! Tom and I did something we have never done since either of the kids were born, gone on two dates on two consecutive nights, and it was awesome! Friday, Tom's parents watched the kids while Tom and myself went to the Melting Pot with some of my favorite friends to celebrate my 30th birthday. We had such a great time, we shut that place down and then went to the next door bar for more drinks. Judging by the way I felt the next day, I apparently thought that 30 was the new 21. Then last night we went to a dinner with three other couples that happen to be our neighbors, and fellow Valley Park Country Club (VPCC) founding members. It was our first VPCC founders dinner which we are going to try to do monthly. It was great too! (Yes, we started a fake country club and yes, we have t-shirts and washer boxes embellished with VPCC on them. It's kind of a long story.) So today, since I behaved myself last night and therefore felt better, I thought we should do something fun with the kids. We woke up too late to try to tackle the Zoo in this heat, so we decided to go to Suson Park, which I had taken Dono to last summer. Tom hadn't been in a long time and it was Reese's first time so it was kind of a big deal. Donovan loved all the animals. We even had to do two laps to see everything twice. Then he played with daddy at the playground while I fed Reese in the car and when we were going to leave he wanted to see the animals again! It was so hot so we told him we could save it for another time.

We got there in time to see the end of the cow milking demonstration. Donovan thought that was pretty cool. I am glad he did not try to make any comparisons to me pumping for Reese and the cow getting milked...

This fat lady in the background was the highlight! She was laying in the mud, splashing in the mud, shaking the mud off, possibly eating the mud, and then doing laps to walk off her mud calories. Donovan loved her. There was another pig across from this one that didn't have any mud to roll in (tear for the pig) so Donovan referred to that one as "clean pig" and the other one as "muddy pig". "Come mere clean piggy!"

Donovan the farmer.

About halfway through our visit Reese decided to wake up and join in on the action. Her favorite part was anything that did not involve being in the direct sunlight. Also, eating was a highlight.

"Oh, you want my signature pose?"

Reese posing in front of the mini pony.

All in all a succuessful trip. I will have to take Donovan back a time or two before they close for the fall.

Daily dose of cute

2011-08-21T00:06:00.003-05:00

Friday I was going through some hand-me-down clothes that we got from our neighbor's family for Reese and I came upon these two tiny adorable swimsuits that Reese is almost too big for already. So we had a fashion show for dad and brother so she could at least wear them for a few minutes. She cooperated nicely and I am pretty sure that I need to do this on a daily basis now. So stinkin cute.

And outfit number two.

And finally, the reason Reese needs to be strapped in her bouncer at all times. She is so wiggly.

3 month pics and info

2011-08-17T21:28:00.005-05:00

So sorry, so late. Life gets in the way of blogging sometimes. Reese, please don't take this as us not loving you as much as Donovan, we are just a little busier with two of you tykes to look after and with mommy and daddy trying to get other stuff done in their lives. We did manage to get the pictures of the 3 month birthday on the correct date, just not the post obviously.
Straight leg Reese.

Monkey Reese.

The latest on Reese:
Her reflux seems to be doing just fine with the meds she has been on for the past month plus. She is also taking the bottle much better. As best I understand (as I have boobs and therefore do not give her a bottle) she latches right on nowadays, but once she unlatches, it is hard to get her to take more. She usually drinks about 2-3 ounces from her bottles per feeding. Which is only about half of what she gets from me most times I think, judging by what I get when I pump.

She is still over all a very happy baby and the same happy, eat, happy, sleep routine applies now as it did last month. She is still talking a lot and as of July 25th, is giggling. Donovan gets her to laugh the best, which is funny in itself because he is never trying to. Him talking with his hands or slamming a wiffle ball bat on a foam mat is enough to get her belly laughing sometimes. She doesn't do it everyday, but when she does it is the highlight. Reese thinks Donovan is the best. She loves to watch him and I love that she thinks he is so great. Her face lights up anytime he is around. Unless he is headbutting her on accident. Then her face does something the opposite of that.

A week or so ago I tried putting Reese in the jumperoo, since she loves standing so much (see following picture) and she loves it! She doesn't really jump yet but she is able to hold her own in there. She has great neck and core control so no more bobble head baby. Her strength surprises me. Just today (ok, so technically should go under the accomplishments during the 4th month) she rolled from her back to her front. All except for one shoulder, which made her very mad. She did it a couple times but never got that shoulder to cooperate. When I put her down on her back she often rolls to one side a lays there, chewing on her hands. She still loves those hands. She also still loves to be swaddled and put in the swing. As far as driving goes, still doesn't like when you are going slow and the bumpier the road the better.

The one thing I would love some improvement on with Reese is her sleeping. I just re-read my 2 month post and I got a little depressed. I think with me going back to sleep it messes with her schedule, since she doesn't eat as much when I am not here. So her sleeping hasn't improved at all, almost the contrary. She still gets up once to twice a night and she likes to stay up late, til 10 or 11 most nights. So I am way sleepier that I thought I would be at this point. She does often sleep at the same time Donovan does so that is nice but I usually use that time to get things done versus take a nap myself, which is what I would really love to do. Oh well. What is a baby without a little sleep deprivation? Ok well, little miss is cranking up for a feeding. Gotta run.

Get ya stunna shades on

2011-08-09T14:24:00.004-05:00

Our friends Kris and Lynn got these for Reese last week. How could we not have owned a pair until now? I personally think all baby girls should be discharged from the hospital wearing these after they are born.

Is she flipping me off in this one? Geeze Reese, I'm just trying to have a little fun.

The chilrens enjoying the much appreciated break from the oppressive St Louis heat.
Reese: "Ummm, brother? Is that lady always going to make us do things like this?"
Donovan: "Get used to it kid. This is just the beginning."

Big enough for the bumbo

2011-08-08T08:43:00.003-05:00

"Wow mom! That flash is shocking."

Big news for the big boy!

2011-08-05T23:25:00.003-05:00

Donovan is sleeping in his big boy bed!
Sitting up!

That is what he looked like when he first fell asleep and this is what he looked like after I pulled him down and tuck-tucked him in.

Yesterday my mom was over helping watch the kids so I could run a few errands. That morning when I got Donovan up I laid Reese down in his crib and told him that Reese was going to sleep in the crib soon and he was going to sleep in the big boy bed. Not news to him but I guess he took it to heart. Nothing more was said about it so when nap time came, I was home feeding Reese so my mom was going to put Donovan down. He was in major stall mode so after about 10 minutes she got him to agree to go in the big boy room for book reading. Not 1 minute later I hear her telling him she is going to shut the door and saying goodnight. I was shocked she was out so fast and that the room she was leaving him in was the big boy room! Apparently they got in there and he requested some books and to be tucked in. I had no hope this was going to last, I thought we would hear him playing in there until he decided he had enough and then we would hear yelling for us to come get him, or he would just open the door and come out himself. 5 minutes later we heard him and my mom went in. All he wanted was a book that was out of reach from his spot on the bed. So she gave him that and his milk that was also out of reach and once again left him and shut the door. 5 or 10 minutes later I peek in on him and there he is, bobble heading it and drinking his milk while sleeping sitting straight up. The milk had fallen by the time I grabbed the camera. I could not believe it! Then I was just sure he was going to wake up scared and confused 45 minutes later and that would be the end of nap time. Well I was wrong again because he slept for an hour and 45 minutes! So great.

So then last night we tried again and similar story. He didn't make Tom read 10 books and went to sleep pretty easily. He screamed when Tom started to shut the door because we used to keep his nursery door half open and his big boy room door is either all the way open or all the way shut, so we kept it open and he was fine. We usually hear Donovan wake up and cry once or twice a night but it usually varies on how long and how upset he is. Most times he gets himself back to sleep within a minute or two but some he has to be comforted with a pat and a tuck tuck. We thought last night would be full of those so Tom went to bed early in preparation for dealing with those. There was only one and I went in when I heard him scream around 2 am. I got in there and he was sitting straight up, crying to be tucked in. So I take his blanket to tuck him in and he pops up, stops crying, and kneels on the bed and points to his "Cars" poster we just hung up yesterday that we got from my Aunt and proceeds to point out and name all the characters. In the dark. Wide awake. What a nut. So I tell him it is night time and he needs to lay down, so he does and I tuck him in, kiss him and then go back to bed. Then I was sure I would see him bright and early standing next to my bed. Wrong yet again! I heard him at 8:20, and then again at 8:30 so Reese and I went to go investigate and there he was kneeling on the bed, looking and pointing to his "Cars" poster again. Angel boy had not even got himself out of bed! Today my mother in law watched the kids and she said he requested the crib for a nap, but she thought it was only because it was storming, but she managed to talk him into the big boy bed. And tonight he went to sleep in the big boy bed after only 1 book like a perfect angel again!!!! (Tom even said Donovan requested to go to sleep, he rarely does that).

Tom and I are so proud of him! Had we not been cheap skates or had another crib to borrow we wouldn't have even pushed the issue at all because he loves his crib and NEVER climbed out of it, even though he is plenty big enough. Then we wouldn't have to worry about him wandering around the house or falling out (even though we have bumpers in the big boy bed). I was really starting to sweat it though and was about to put a facebook plea out to anyone who had a crib we could borrow and if that didn't work we were going to have to buy one. I didn't want to have to force Donovan into something he wasn't ready for so we were just going to have to come up with a second crib for his big boy room until he was ready but apparently he is ready. I don't know if it was Reese hanging out in his crib that day that finally made him want to or if my mom just influenced him or what but it is awesome timing. Hopefully he continues to do well and we can put Reese in her crib when she is ready for it. Not after several more months after we find/bought a second crib for her big bro. And big bro he is! What a relief.

Things Donovan is doing right now

2011-08-02T22:40:00.003-05:00

There are lots of things that Donovan has done or said or is still doing and saying right now that I want to remember because it makes me happy. Here are some:

~Donovan insists on being "tuck-tuck"ed in before naps and night time. You have to put the blanket over him, tuck the blanket around his body (green side UP please) and say "tuck tuck tuck" repeatedly until he is satisfied. He also needs all of his guys up by his head and his monogrammed Donovan pillow must be Donovan side down. Also the milk sippy must be placed in the corner of the bed when you sneak it in there in the morning.

~Donovan appreciates a good scratch. He often request "cratch the belly" or "more cratch the back". He especially loves his belly button scratched. I know. Weird. Apparently there has been enough times when I scratch him and then ask "Does that feel nice?" because now every time I scratch him he looks at me and whispers "Feels nice" in the tiniest of voices, even when I don't ask.

~When you sneeze he blesses you. Multiple times. As in D:"Bless you mama." M:"Thanks Donovan" times 10.

~He also says "Cuze (excuse) me mama" as he slides by me or when he burps "Cuze me".

~He is peeing on the potty at least once a day and sometimes as much as 4 times per day for the past couple weeks. Once we even had a poop on the potty by accident. (He pushed his pee out too hard and got a bonus). When he does go potty on the big boy potty he will often look at me directly after he does it, lean over to me with his arms out and say "Proud of you" as he waits for my hug and my enthusiastic compliments which always include me telling him how proud I am of him. I said it so much he knows what's coming.

~He has no interest in sleeping in the big boy bed. He insists on "read a book in the big boy room" before every nap and nighttime, but when asked if he wants to sleep there he says "No! Sleep in the crib!" Looks like Reese might have a bed mate (not really).

~Instead of just saying no to us, he now says "No way Jose!" and if not that, at least "No way!". Me:Donovan do you want to eat some macaroni for dinner?" D: "No way Jose!"

~He is very into poop. Wants to see his own. Repeatedly. I often have to unwrap the dirty diapers so he can get a 5th look. And he wants to see Reese's too.

~He has heard me and Tom say "Sounds good" to enough stuff that he has begun to say it himself. Tom's mom asked him if he wanted some of her fruit crisp the other day and he said "Ok. Sounds good."

~He has also heard us ask "how are you doing?" and so now he asks it too...to the dog. D:"How you Petey? How you? Awwwwwww. (he actually says "awwwww" as he pets Petey). Pet Pet Petey."

~When he pretends to play on our old cell phones, he always want to call his Aunt Jenna.

~He has added the phrase "I need mo (more)...." to his vocabulary. The other night at 9pm he was stalling before bed and climbed up into his chair at the dinner table and said "I need mo dinner! I need mo dinner!" Then he went to bed asking for a "pah-tart" (poptart) which he is very fond of right now. We didn't give in. Then that night at 2:38am we hear him wake up with a blood curdling scream followed by screeching of "I NEED MO PAH-TART!!!!!! I NEED MO PAH-TART". Tom went in and calmed him down and convinced him that it was still nighttime and he did not, indeed, need a poptart.

~Donovan has a favorite commercial that is played while the cardinals games are on repeatedly. It is one where a guy is dancing with a flash mob but he is the only one dancing because he got there too early. The guy does this shuffle backwards across the floor and waves his arms in front of him as he does it. And so does Donovan. There is a second favorite commercial that has the lyrics of "Uh oh, sho did" in a rap song and Donovan sings "Sho did!" every time it comes on.

~He loves to dance and "shake-a da booty! shake-a da booty!"

~Whenever you go somewhere out of his sight he will often follow you saying "Dono"s comin! Dono's comin too!"

~When he can't find something he calls for it, inanimate or not. "Where are you Petey?" and "Where are you football?".

~A few weeks ago Donovan and I were sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast and Reese was in the bouncer in the middle of the family room. She was cooing and talking and Donovan looks at me and says "Reese's talkin". Me: "Reese is talking?" D: (matter of factly) "Talkin to Dono". Me: "She's talking to Dono, huh?" D: (stands up on his stool step and looks over the couch til he can see Reese and address her personally) "Eatin a muffin Reese! Eatin a muffin Reese!" Oh good Donovan. She was wondering why you weren't responding appropriately to her questions.

Her father's daughter

2011-07-25T22:34:00.005-05:00

Tom has been known, on many occasions, to stick his tongue out when he is really concentrating on something. And apparently he concentrates a lot because he sticks his tongue out a lot. Reese has taken on this part of his DNA and is flaunting her cute tongue to us all the time the past few weeks. Here is the view we often get of her.

Sticking her tongue out and looking at the fan.

Sticking her tongue out and looking at me.

Sticking her tongue out and looking surprised.

Letting it hang out inside her mouth with she smiles for a few seconds.

And..... right back out of her mouth. Soooo silly.

Picasso...

2011-07-25T16:55:00.004-05:00

must have gotten his start eating his finger paint too, right?

Reese's 2 month docors visit and stats

2011-07-18T21:33:00.002-05:00

Reese's 2 month stats are as follows:

Height: 24 1/4 inches (96th%)
Weight: 12lb 6oz (83rd%)
Head circumference: 15 3/4 inches (77th%)

Reese was her normal angel baby at the doctor's today. Since the place was crazy with back to school physicals we met with the office's nurse practitioner instead which at first I was not happy about but after today I am very impressed with her. She came in, very relaxed and before she started her exam asked "What questions do you have for me?". Perfect. Reese smiled and talked to everyone she saw at the office so she was a big hit. The nurse practitioner had no concerns for us and since she has been doing well with her reflux ever since we switched her to Pepcid, neither do I. Well, aside from her reluctance to take bottles. I asked her if there was something we could be doing that we aren't and she said it sounds like we were doing everything right. She is just stubborn. Reese had to get 2 shots and one oral vaccine today. She was brave but definitely did NOT appreciate the pokes. She has been sleeping more today as a result and is much fussier than she normally is, which is still 10 times less fussy than Donovan was on a normal day so we can handle to occasional day like this.

As far as what she is doing as a 2 month old now, well we will start with the flirting. Home girl is a flirt! She gives out the smiles very easily and is very social for a 9 week old. She talks and tells you about things in her life. As a matter of fact, I think she is having an affair with the fan in our living room as much as she looks at that thing longingly and tells you about it. Joking aside she loves fans, lights and windows and is now looking at closer things too, like the mobile above her swing and bouncer. And speaking of swings, we have two in the house and I am pretty sure I am no longer leaving the house without one of them. Our saintly neighbor friends let us borrow their larger, electric swing which at first I thought was overkill. But now, I thank God for that thing. We would be running out of batteries weekly if not more on our smaller portable one without it. She Love's her swing so much and Tom and I get to eat almost all of our meals together while they are hot, which is quite amazing if you ask me, because of it. Sometimes, like tonight, she will even be fussy in your arms, but if you swaddle her and put her in the swing she calms right down and usually falls asleep pretty fast. I try not to abuse the swing but it does allow us to have our hands free and get a lot done. This child is nothing like her brother. He probably spent 10 minutes of his whole life in a swing, thank the lord she is not the same.

On other news she is still hating the bottle. She refused it tonight and Tom gave up after an hour of struggling. Oh well. She will get it eventually. I just hope she gets it before she makes her dad's blood pressure go up any more. She has just discovered her hands in the past week and in the past few days she has really found her love for them. She sucks on them hard core and I am happy she has found something to soothe her when she is mad in the car. I can't remember if I have written about this before but she is quite the back seat driver. If the car is moving, she is happy and quiet (95% of the time). If we are in traffic or at a stop light, she is mad and is yelling at you to "drive!!!". She also loves the changing table like her brother did at this age. That is where she does much of her flirting and smiling at you. She is also very good at tracking you and I notice it as I am moving around her changing table when she is up there (on the pack and play one where she cannot roll off of of course, not the regular one). She is still rolling a fair amount with tummy time but she doesn't do it every time and even when she does I just roll her back so she still gets a good amount of time on her tummy.

She also loves her baths and tries to eat the water when we pour it on her chest to rinse her. It is too cute. For the most part we have a nice routine down. She wakes up, has happy play time for a little, then when she gets fussy she eats. Then more happy play time and then when she gets fussy again, it's swaddle and nap time. Then repeat all day long. It is so nice to know that is her pattern because it takes all the guess work out of parenting. She doesn't really fight before she goes to sleep anymore like she used to but on occasion she still does have the "storm before the calm" as Tom puts it.

Reese is eating about 6 times in 24 hours and has gone as long as 8 hours between night time feedings, which is great! She gets up at least once over night, but lately that one time has been around 4 or 5 which is awesome. She still has nights where she gets up at 2 or 3 but I'll take the good with the mediocre. I think that about rounds up the latest with Reese. She really is just an awesome baby and we know how lucky we are to have her. I will leave you with a couple pictures of Reese and Grandpa B, who has officially moved out of our basement and into his very own house, (along with my mother) that is a mere 30 min away!!!!! Yippie for no more 12 hour drives to see them! We are a little sad that Donovan does not get to see Grandpa B every night anymore. He lived with us for 8 weeks while my mom was selling the house and getting back here and we all benefited from his company. Tom and I got an extra set of hands to help with the kids and the meals and Donovan got to have another person to play downstairs with. I miss Donovan running to the door every night when my dad got home saying "Gwan-pa Bee! Gwan-pa Bee!". It was fun while it lasted but now we get both sets of grandparents close and that will be awesome for all of us!

Hanging and watching TV with her grandpa B.

Reese 2 month pictures

2011-07-17T13:00:00.003-05:00

I'll write all about her 2 month info after tomorrow's 2 month doctor's visit. And for the record we did take these pictures on her two month birthday but I have been too lazy and busy to post yet.

And a tummy time for good measure.

Reese... on a chair...with a friend...

2011-07-12T21:27:00.006-05:00

who happens to be a wolly mammoth.

In other news Reese is NOT, I repeat NOT a fan of the bottle. We found that out the hard way when Tom's mom was watching her for a couple hours while I took Donovan to the pool. I came home to a screaming baby who had refused to drink any milk. She had successfuly taken a bottle on two seperate occasions but that was probably a month ago so lesson learned, we should have been giving her more bottles to make sure she kept up that skill. So to combat this, we have been giving her a bottle a day since Wed. (skipping friday when we bought a couple new kinds of bottles to try). So far she did not take it at all for the first few tries (we only gave up after at least 30 unsuccessful minutes), then my sister, like the angel she is, got her to take all 2 oz of the bottle she tried on Sunday. It took her forever to drink it, but drink it she did! Tom has gotten her to take a bottle both yesterday and today as well. Yesterday it took her 54 minutes from the first time the nipple touched her lips until she finished her 2 1/4 oz bottle and tonight she shaved off 15 minutes of that time. She still fights, gets worked up, cries, swallows air, and has to be calmed down and burped multiple times but they manage to get it done. It is hard for me to be around while they are doing this because I know it would just be easier if I just breast fed her but I know she needs to learn and practice because I go back to work in a week and a half and I won't be able to help then. Tom is a great dad and is very patient with her. I am one lucky girl.

Switching subjects, Donovan and I have been swimming 3 times in the past 2 weeks. A local public pool has a "tot time" for 2$ a person from 10am-11:45am for parents and kids under 5. You can only swim in the kiddie pool but it is pretty big and has lots of fun things for the chil-rens including a cool slide that shoots water down it and Donovan is brave enough to climb up on and slide down on his own. He also loves to lay down in the water and "swim" by kicking his legs (occasionally) and pulling himself around the pool by walking his arms on the bottom of the pool. The deepest part is only 1 ft deep so it is a nice area for the little guys. I taught him that trucks and other things make a beeping noise when they back up so when he swims backwards he says "beep, beep, beep". He's great. Reese went to the pool one day with us when my neighbor and her mom could help me watch her and she slept the entire hour we were there like the little angle she is. Next year both kids can go swimming and it is going to be so much fun!

Ice cream face and a cutie

2011-07-10T21:44:00.003-05:00

Head tickle

2011-07-04T22:48:00.003-05:00

We have been talking a lot lately about giving Donovan a buzz cut. There are two main reasons for this: 1) he hates getting his hair cut and it would give us more time between cuts and 2) he is such a sweaty mess with his thick head of hair when he is running around outside playing, a buzz would hopefully help him stay cool in the summer. Well today was the day we finally broke down and did it. We have been prepping him for it for the past week but I still didn't know if it was actually going to happen. So today we borrowed our neighbors trimmers and Tom and I took him out on the deck. We showed him the trimmers and told him it was going to cut his hair and it wasn't too thrilled about it. Then we told him it wasn't going to hurt, but rather tickle, and I turned on the trimmers and touched them to my neck, then arm. Then he held out his arm and I "tickled" his arm. He thought that was nice and he asked me to tickle his other arm, then leg, then we tickled his foot and cheek. Then I made the mistake of saying we were going to cut his hair then and we were right back to square one. So then we learned as long as we didn't say the words "hair cut" but rather head tickle everything was A ok. So I tickled a few more things and then he asked me to tickle his ear and then I said "tickle the head" and there I was cutting his beautiful blond hair off. I almost cried but I was trying to keep as happy as I could to encourage Donovan to keep doing as well as he was doing. He did so well! He never cried, only whimpered towards the end when the cut hair was tickling him too much. But as far as the trimmer was concerned, it never bothered him. So it was a large success! I am sad because he doesn't have his gorgeous hair anymore and he looks even older but I know that this will be much better for him as far as heat control goes during the summer. And I know it will grow back. So far he seems not to care too much either way. He says "short hair" and he looked at it in the mirror a few times but nothing more than that. And it has been good so far because tonight he played outside with his friends and he did not get the red cheeks he usually gets right away and he was much, much less sweaty. But enough of the talking, on to the pictures.

Before:
After:
His beautiful hair.
I swept it into a pile but then I had a hard time sweeping it off the deck. I just wanted to put it in my hands and cry into it. (I'm very emotional right now in case you can't tell).
The happy boy after a bath eating his promised ice cream treat.
A couple more close ups of the buzz.

Even Tom tonight admitted that Donovan's buzz cut makes him sad. He peeked at him while he was sleeping and said that he went from being his little boy to being a little man. They are growing up too fast!

Making Blueberry muffins

2011-06-28T15:38:00.001-05:00

Pretty smile

2011-06-27T11:31:00.002-05:00

1 month stats

2011-06-25T10:35:00.002-05:00

Oops. I'm a little late (1 week and 2 days to be exact) on Reese's 1 month doctor's visit stats but here they are non-the-less.

Height-22 1/2 inches- 91st%
Weight- 10lbs 14 oz-89th%
Head circumference- 15 1/4 inches- 83rd%

The doctor looked Reese over and declared her healthy and had no concerns for her. When he asked about how feeding was going I mentioned the symptoms she had been experiencing and he said that it sounded like she had silent reflux. That is what I was thinking so it was nice he came up with the same conclusion I did without me telling him my opinion first. He told me to cut all spicy food out of my diet and to continue giving her the over the counter meds and see how it went and call him back on monday and see how she was doing because if she wasn't doing any better he wanted to put her on a prescription med. Well that night (thurs) it got worse and she was fighting me harder and harder and friday and saturday were worse still. Then saturday night she fought me so hard that she ended up throwing up her entire stomach's worth of breast milk all over me. I don't know if you have ever seen a 5 week old throw up, but it is scary. Poor girl was wiped out after it too. So after that I said enough was enough and called the doctor's exchange and they ended up calling in a prescription for Zantac for us.

So we have been on the Zantac since Sunday and it is definitely working, just not as night and day as I was hoping. She threw up once on Sunday again and (knock on wood) none since and overall the feedings are less drama and fighting. She seems to do the worse in the evening. I am thankful for the change I do see though because it was so sad to see her so panicky and having such a hard time eating. Obviously we were powering through it because she was gaining weight but it is still not fun to have to work that hard to get your child to eat. Plus no one wants to see their child in pain.

In more exciting news, Reese is sleeping so well!!!!! 2 and 3 nights ago she had a 6 hour stretch between her first night time feedings and last night she went 7 and a half! I am so happy and so proud of her! Especially since we had friends over last night and had such a great time that they did not leave until 1:30 am which means we probably didn't fall asleep until almost 2 am. I was sure she was going to get up any minute when I laid down but next thing I know it was 4 am. Then she ate, we were in bed again at 4:45am and she slept til 8am so even though I didn't go to bed til almost 2, I still ended up getting 5 hours of sleep over 2 stretches, which surprisingly has me feeling pretty good right now. I am going to try to get a nap in today so that will help too. So she was so nice to her crazy parents that were hanging on the deck and pretending that they were young again.

Also Reese is smiling a ton now and man is she cute! Donovan has really started to show an interest in her these past few days and it is so fun. He will often call for her, saying "Baby REEE-eessee". He wants to hold her and hug and kiss on her a lot now and has his stool right next to the pack and play so he can comment on her poopy diapers as he watches her get changed. Donovan is really into getting tucked in under his big blanket right now so he wants to tuck Reese in under her blankets, even if I have untucked her on purpose. Oh well, it's adorable.

Ok well better late then never. I need to post some video of and tell a story about Donovan and baseball soon so hopefully I will get to that in the next few days.

Reese photo shoot

2011-06-20T19:47:00.005-05:00

For father's day for both grandpa's we gave them a framed picture of Reese and her footprint. Both grandma's got the same for mother's day when Donovan was a baby so we had to make sure Reese was represented as well. I took about 30 pictures of Reese and finally settled on one to frame but here are some of my favorites.

Dono decided to love on the covergirl after he saw how cute she was.

Holding her hand.

Snuggling.

In awe of his sister.

Tummy time...

2011-06-20T19:33:00.003-05:00

is a group activity around here.

Reese getting some support from her dad, brother and Grandpa B.

Happy 1 Month to Reese!

2011-06-13T21:48:00.009-05:00

Our little girl is one month old today! Time has flown. Here is what we are up to...

She is a pretty good baby overall. Not totally laid back but not as crazy demanding as her big brother. She will sleep in her cradle and pack and play by herself, as well as her swing, which are all welcome departures from what Donovan would do. She does not sleep half as soundly during the day as she does at night though unless she is in your arms so much of the day she is being held. She does request this as well so we have already broken out the baby bjorn since when I have both her and her brother by myself and her brother needs help with something, I can't do it so easily with her in my arms. She still loves to be swaddled and sleeps best when swaddled tightly. She does fight sleep during the day and will often make you walk laps around the house holding her before she finally surrenders and goes to sleep. You would think this would have allowed me to lose my baby weight by now but no no, don't you fear, I'm still hanging on to some. At night she does much better going right back to sleep after feedings. In fact, sometimes she only eats for about 5 min and then insists on sleeping which does not make her mama happy at all. Before the last two nights I could count on her doing one 4 hour break between feedings for the first break at night, then a 3 hour one and then the rest being 2 or 3 hours between feedings til it was time to get up. The last two nights have been bad. Only going 3 hours at first and then every 2 or less. Boooo. Lets hope that was a small fluke and tonight will be better because getting 4-5 hours of sleep a night for a mommy, all in hour nap increments is no good.

In other feeding news I thought she had reflux for a while but now I think she might just be an over eager feeder at times. She will be eating and then all the sudden get very frantic and panic looking, then her face will get red and she will start fighting my boob and yelling, all while still latched on and eating. Then she ends up gulping down air and needs to be burped more often, which then produce beer drinking man sized burps. It's very frustrating for both of us when she does this because she ends up eating so poorly. As a result of this, on friday night she ate so poorly that I think she backed up my milk and gave me Mastitis. Lovely. I thought it was reflux at first and we tried some over the counter meds that didn't really do anything for her, but I don't know if that is it anymore since she only does this during the day and not at every feeding. It's strange. Hopefully she will grow out of it soon.

In other news she is one feisty girl with her movement. She is pushing up with her feet, trying to stand pretty often now, especially when I have her facing me and I am burping her. She also rolls over multiple times every time we do tummy time. Her head and neck control are getting pretty good too. And on occasion she will flash us a smile, which just makes me start to count down the days until she turns 6 weeks old and really starts to smile for real. She is definitely filling out as well. I love the cheeks she is getting and her new thigh rolls delight me. I love the extra work I have to do to clean them every diaper change and bath. They are just so dang adorable. She just graduated to size 1 diapers on Sunday after multiple days of pooping out of her newborns, so it is probably something we should have done days ago. She is also too big for most of her newborn clothes, but not quite big enough for the 0-3 month ones so she is in the gray area. She ends up just wearing clothes a little too baggy for her currently.

Overall she is a pretty bright eyed baby. She wants to know what is going on around her at all times, which is also why she fights sleep during the day so hard if you ask me. I love giving her kisses and calling her "girl friend". It just rolls off the tongue. I told Tom tonight that I never thought I would have a daughter so little things like the fact that I get to take her to get her ears pierced sometime, and I get to paint her toenails and possibly enroll her in dance class are so exciting to think about for me right now. Oh the possibilities! I think those are the basic one month facts. We go to the doctor on thursday so you will have to wait til then for more facts. I need to get to bed anyways, especially how things have been going these past few nights.

Pictures from our bath tonight.

A little blurry but this was the tail end of a smile.

And for posterity's sake, this is Donovan's belated 2 year growth picture, with the appropriate age documented. With all the hub-bub around his birthday with this pregnancy and what not, we forgot to take one so tonight he got to take one after Reese was done. Oops.

Siblings

2011-06-12T21:31:00.004-05:00

Dono "helping" fix Reese's bouncer. (I had taken that part off on purpose. He disagreed with that decision obviously.)
"Oh Hi brother!" Sweet brother kisses.

Bother and sister.
This was Dono going in for the kiss right before Reese lost it. As soon as she started crying he hopped off that couch so fast you would have thought it was on fire. She scared her big brother.

Stickers!

2011-06-12T21:18:00.005-05:00

Donovan is really into the "Cars" characters Tow Mater and Lightning McQueen and last time we were at the Dr's I picked up some "Cars" stickers for him. Then promptly forgot about them. So few days ago I got them out and gave them to him and he was in heaven.

These first pictures are from when he first got them at night after his bath. He really wanted them on his arms so I obliged. When he was done with them on his body and shirt we put them on his toy tub, then back on him, then eventually on his wipe container.

I love how happy he looks in these pictures.

Then the next day he woke up and requested the stickers be put on him again. I have no idea how they had any stick in them left but by the grace of God, they did. He was only in a diaper when he put these on originally but I put shorts on for the picture.

My two bathing beauties

2011-06-08T21:44:00.001-05:00

Missy in her bikini or "kini" onsie.

Fiesty

2011-06-07T20:39:00.002-05:00

Just a short little video I took of Reese, trying to get some tummy time. She had other plans.

Kids update

2011-05-30T21:31:00.005-05:00

I am happy to report that Reese is an awesome baby. Our first three nights at home were rough ones but since then she has really impressed us. On the fourth night at home she showed that she had figured out the difference between her days and nights and that has made all the difference. Tom gets full nights of sleep now because I don't need to wake him up to help anymore since as soon as I feed her, she goes right back to sleep. So no more crying overnight for long periods of time! And she usually goes 3-4 hours in between feedings at night too so I usually am able to get a couple hours of sleep at a time. And the best part... she sleeps in her cradle! I can't believe what a difference it makes to have a child that will sleep somewhere other than your arms! We prop her in the boppy in the cradle in our room at night because I think the mattress is too thin for her but she sleeps like a little noisy angel. During the day she will sleep in the pack and play well for us too but she doesn't sleep as soundly as she does at night so a fair amount of the time we just hold her. Plus my parents are in town so there are several other hands that want to share holding time with her. Reese is definitely a swaddle baby. She looooooves being swaddled. When she is fussy, we swaddle her and after we get her half swaddled, she is already calming down. She sleeps best in her swaddle too and actually when I want her to wake up for feedings, all I have to do in general is unwrap her. She really is the best. We are so thankful that she is not nearly as fussy as her brother.

I do think however, that she does have some problems with reflux. Sometimes when she is eating she will start crying, while latched on still, and get this panicked look on her face. Then she unlatches and arches her back and, looks frantically to latch back on but still is crying. I feel so bad for her. She ends up taking in a lot more air when she eats when she gets like that, then she needs burping more and the cycle continues so some feedings are very frustrating and a big struggle for us. Overall though she does well with feedings, I just hope she outgrows the reflux really soon.

Donovan is doing really well as well. He is in such a fun phase right now. He is repeating lots of words and he is putting more and more sentences together. He is very interested in seeing everything that is happening around him and requests to "look" at just about everything. "Look at grandma", "look at trains", "look at buddies", "look at video (sounds like "figaro")". He goes to bed and naps so easily, although he has decided his new wake up is between 7-7:30 and I would prefer it to be at least 8 or later. He still pretty much leaves Reese alone. He gives her kisses and requests to look at her in her pack and play on occasion but that is about it. He is such a good sharer and friend. The other day a new friend Tessa came over and he had no problem sharing his blueberries with her, and his toys and also he took her by the hand and led her up the stairs. He does the same with his buddies and doesn't get too upset when they take his toys. He is just awesome. He also is starting to get opinions on things like, what shoes he wants to wear and what everyone in the room should be doing. He will tell you he wants to to get out of his chair, or that he wants a "different fok (fork)" when he is not satisfied with the one you gave him or that he needs a new bowl when the one he has is too messy or empty or just not the one he had in mind. It is so fun to watch him grow and mature before my eyes. I feel truly blessed to be able to witness his growth.

Donovan and his friend Tessa. They had a pool date last year but haven't gotten to play since then until this past week. They were so cute together.
Donovan feeding Tessa his blueberries. He is very romantic like that.
Given Tessa kisses. I am not sure if his lips actually ever touched her, but the intent was there.
This is one of my favorite jammies of Dono's ever so I had to get a picture of it for memory's sake. In case you can't tell it's a baseball outfit complete with fake shoes on his footies.
Our little papoose baby snuggling with her grammie B.
I highly recommend these muslin blankets for swaddling during the summer months, they are so light and airy. If someone you know is having a summer baby they would make great presents!
This is my picture of Reese's tummy time. I was just thinking as I went to grab the camera on Saturday how she hadn't rolled over during tummy time since the first time we attempted it and as I get the camera on and poised for a picture, thump. She rolled over again. So this was what the end of tummy time looked like, directly after she rolled over. She is getting so strong and fiesty! She tries to stand when you are burping her on your shoulder now. Such a big little girl.
Sacked out. This was supposed to be her waking up because it had been three hours between meals and it was time to eat. I unwrapped her and she didn't care at all. Sleeping hard!

Donovan and Jenna playing on the I-Pad. He probably knows how to work one of those better than I do. Both his grammies have one so he has lots of practice with the games and books they both have on there for him. Also this is a picture of Donovan's 4th haircut. Both grammies took him and they both said it was the worst haircutting experience ever, despite him having both M&Ms and a chocolate shake. He screamed and cried the entire time which we are contributing much of to him needing a nap. Looks like next haircut might be a buzz at home on the deck.

Drummer boy video

2011-05-30T21:26:00.002-05:00

Our fans (Ian man) have been demanding a new video so this is one we took today of Donovan drumming. He is the best.

More pics

2011-05-25T21:55:00.001-05:00

Grandpa B and Dono enjoying the new deck, playing cars.

Getting clean.

Maxing and relaxing.

Our cutie

2011-05-21T20:55:00.004-05:00

A week ago tonight

2011-05-19T22:24:00.004-05:00

A week ago tonight we were getting induced. I was sitting on the birthing ball, waiting for things to start happening at this exact time. It is crazy to think that I was pregnant not a week ago. In some ways it feels like it has been forever. As strange as it sounds, I miss being pregnant. Don't get me wrong, I was ready to be done at the end and I am so happy I am a mother of two children who are outside of my body, but I feel like I am not done being pregnant. I know it is early to make that statement, but that is how I feel as of now. So lets reminisce how last week became Reese's delivery week...

So last thursday I had a 4:45 doctors appointment with my OB at which point I was supposed to have the same testing done that I had with Donovan to make sure the baby was doing a.o.k. in there since I was past my due date (by one day). Well my doctor messed up because she told me just to come to my appointment that day for the testing, when in reality the doctor that works with her is apparently the only one that does the testing and she does not work on thursdays, which I didn't know until I was at my appointment. When her assistant told me this, I stopped talking, because I was pretty sure I was going to start crying if I said anything. That or hurt someone. So when my doctor came in she mentioned how there was a misunderstanding. She then listened to the baby with the doppler for an extra long time, which is when I realized she wasn't going to do the testing or try to do the testing herself. I was crushed and nervous. I see lots of happy things at work, but the sad things that you see are the things that you think about when you have worries about your own pregnancy. I was worried that since Dono didn't have much fluid at the end and that was 2 days before the gestation I was at that day, that maybe this baby didn't have much fluid either. I just wanted to be reassured there was enough fluid to keep this pregnancy going and it was clear I wasn't going to get the reassurance I needed.

So the doctor checked my cervix, and I was 3-4cm dilated, 70% effaced, which is a good start. I think she sensed my disappointment, and nervousness and she said "So do you want to be induced tomorrow?". I think it was for no other reason than she knew I was going to break down without a baby soon, or reassurance and since I was postdates, she was going to go for the induction. She also offered we could do it that night, but I said it was up to her because I didn't want to totally inconvenience her. So we called up to labor and delivery and asked if there were any induction slots open for the next day and there was. So she was scheduling me with the crazy secretary that doesn't know much and didn't recognize my name for the 4th morning induction for friday, meaning I would be the 4th person to be called in and you get called in according to how busy they are. Well somehow the charge nurse, who is a friend of mine heard the secretary scheduling my induction and she told the secretary that room 24 (one of our new big, nice rooms) was open then and had her ask Dr Shelton if I just wanted to do it that night. I really did want to do it that night because the nurse I have always wanted to take care of me at some point was working, and I wanted to try to deliver the next day as soon after midnight as I could so I could get an extra night in the hospital since last time I felt like I got robbed from one of my nights since I delivered so late (9:43pm) and then had the nurses in my room a lot that night since I was bleeding more than normal. So anyways my Doctor asked if that was ok with me, and I said it was and so it was decided we would be induced that night.

It is so funny because as nervous as I was before hand about when everything would happen, I was so calm as soon as the decision was made. I called Jenna, had her come over to watch Dono, called Tom and told him the good news and headed home so we could get our things together and pack up. We took a few belly pictures and tried to get a picture of the three of us together as a family of three for one last time but Donovan was not co-operating. So we got a shot of me and Tom and me and Dono and that was the best we could do.

Me at 40wks 1day, right before we left for the hospital.

This was what Donovan was doing instead of posing with us. Throwing a fit at the top of the stairs because he wanted Jenna to go downstairs and play with him and we were preventing that from happening (she was taking our pictures).
Last picture of me and my only child. By the looks of this we had to bribe him with a cookie to get him to comply (but I can't remember for sure, this baby sucks my memory away).

We didn't get to the hospital until right before 7pm and by the time my nurse finished admitting me, starting my IV, and talking to the Dr getting orders, we didn't start the pitocin until 8:35. I was fine with that because I was convinced that I was going to go really fast since my last induction was only 7 hours from start of pitocin to delivery, and I was only 2cm dilated to start and it was my first baby so those usually go slower. So at 9:30 I was already hurting with the contractions on only 2ml/min of pitocin, which is almost nothing. So then I was REALLY scared I was going to go too fast. So I got on the birthing ball to help with the pain, and it did so well, that I almost had no pain. We held off on the pit for a little but then when it became clear I was totally comfortable, we started going back up. Fast forward a couple hours and we are on 6 of pitocin and I am almost sleeping between contractions I am so tired. So I get off the ball to see if I can get a few minutes rest. My contractions were worse in the bed and sometime after 1am I had Sherry recheck me and I was pretty much unchanged. And annoyed. I was in enough pain that I got the epidural, but not as much pain as I was in last time when I got it so it definitely hurt and felt like it took a lot longer to administer than my last one did. Once again when it was done and had fully set up the doctor had to come and give me more pain meds because it had not totally taken the pain away like it should have (this happened last time too). And once again my blood pressure dropped, twice actually, when they gave the initial epidural and then the redose, much like last time.

So anyways I was comfortable but not relaxed. My anxiety was running very high so I spent the rest of the time until delivery resting but never really sleeping, and shaking whenever I would talk to someone or someone would be in the room. When I wasn't distracted I could control the shakes, otherwise, no way. At 2:30 Sherry checked me and broke my water because I was only 4-5 cm dilated and contracting every 2-4 minutes. I think at the highest the pit only got to 10. She checked me again at 5am when I was feeling a little pressure and I was only 6cm, 90% effaced although she said she could stretch me to 7cm. I was so annoyed. I could not believe it was taking this long! And to think, I was telling her to hold off on the pitocin at 9:30 because I thought I was going too fast!!!! So I asked her what we could do to get me delivered before she left at 7am. She said she would have me sit up pretty much all the way upright to see if the baby's head would make the cervix change faster. Then at 6am she would recheck me and if I was any more than I was then, she would have me bear down to see if I could get that cervix to go away. So it was a plan. I started to feel a little more pressure soon after, but nothing as clear as last time so I was not too optimistic. Then at 6 she checked me and I was 10cm, 100% effaced. Then she got all her stuff ready, notified the dr I was complete and had me practice push. Once, then she stopped me because she said I moved the baby really well. (After that, the pressure was very intense so I was counting the minutes that went by until the dr was there.) Then she called the doctor for delivery and by the time she got there and everyone was assembled, it was almost 7. I had to push through 2 contractions, 7 total times and then out popped Reese! And the rest is history!

Last time I had a small postpartum hemorrhage, so this time I warned everyone and had a resident assist with the delivery incase my dr needed an extra set of hands if it happened again. This time I did not have extra bleeding, that is right away. Once all the dust had settled and I was all put back together and had visitors in the room, I noticed that I was bleeding more than normal so I had my nurses all over it. I was bleeding enough that they had another resident see me, and she had to do a quick manual evacuation of my uterus (yes I know this is a lot of info, but this is the way I keep record of things for myself so I don't leave much out) and yes, it is just about as fun as it sounds (read: not fun at all), but luckily my epidural was still in effect enough that it wasn't too terrible. They also gave me another bag of pitocin and started me on an oral medication called Methergine for bleeding that I took every 8hrs for 24 hours total.

As far as recovery goes, the second time is the charm! The next day I was up, showered and in my own clothes by 9am and I felt great! Even later the same day as delivery I was up, moving and feeling good. It makes me look forward to the next time I deliver, since I know that the recovery was exponentially easier. I didn't have near the swelling or pain as last time and that was the worst part. Ok I think I have written enough of the labor story. If you are still reading this you are either 1)myself at a later date 2)my parents or 3)my cousin Ann, a labor and delivery nurse who loves these kind of details. If you are anyone else, congrats! You made it! I admire your patience.

Bottom line, I can't believe how fast a week goes and how much changes so fast. Just this time last week she was still trying to kick out one of my ribs :)I love Reese and I am so glad she is on the outside now!

Picture catch up

2011-05-19T16:06:00.006-05:00

Friday May 13th:

Honorary "Aunt" Michelle visiting in the hospital.
Uncle Nick and his girlfriend Anna meeting Reese for the first time. Anna was nice enough to share her birthday with Reese.
Mommy and Miss Reese snuggling.
Saturday May 14th:

Pretty girl sleeping at the hospital.
This was the second time Donovan met Reese. As soon as he came in the room and saw her he started reaching for her and requested to "Hold the baby". So he did. And it was adorable. And of course he had spotters.

Auntie Zenna, Dono and Grammie B. They were checking out Grammie B's I-pad.
Sunday May 15th:

Daddy and daughter right before the hospital check out.
Dono at home with his new shirt. It was made by our family friend for his birthday. It has tattoo sleeves.
Donovan and his friend Claire. They had such a fabulous time running around and playing together. We will have to get together with them much more often after I saw how great they got along.
Donovan giving Claire a tackle hug.
Donovan showing off his big muscles with his cool tattoos.
Monday May 16th:
First bath. Obviously not a fan. She has gotten one more since and the reaction was the same. I can't wait for her belly button to fall off so we can do a real bath.

First Doctor's visit

2011-05-17T14:15:00.005-05:00

Today's stats:

Weight: 7lbs 14 oz (back up from 7lbs 8z on sat night)- 55th%
Height: 20 and 3/4 inches- 85th%
Head circumference: 14 1/4 inches- 75th%

Reese was on her very best behavior during the visit. She had eaten right before we left and was alert, awake and happy the whole time (she did fuss a tiny bit as we were waiting to schedule our next visit). She passed all Dr Rezabeck's tests with flying colors and he said he has no concerns for her. We did however. We asked him about the sleeping and he gave us some tips on how to keep her up during the day a little more so she switches her schedule. He also said it was perfectly fine if she slept in her swing or propped in her boppy in her cradle. We also mentioned how she refuses to do tummy time. As in I put her on her tummy yesterday (at 4 days of age) and she rolled over on her back 4 times in row. She did it once, I thought it was a fluke. I set her back on her tummy, again she flips over. Then again. Then once more for good measure when my dad and Tom came back in the room. So I asked him what he thought we should do and he agreed that we should try to prop some blankets on either side of her so she was forced to do tummy time and not just roll right over. She seems to hate tummy time as much as her brother loved it, that is if yesterday was any indication on how it will go.

Donovan got to go along with us to the doctor's and he was a pretty good boy. He ran right up to the window to check in and I let him tell the ladies that we were there. He said "baby Reese". So cute. He was also a good supervisor when she was getting measured but really was more interested in reading the books they had there then paying attention to anything else. When we were in the car leaving we were driving away and he started shouting "ICE CREAM! ICE CREAM! ICE CREAM!" After his visits he usually gets ice cream from the Culvers next door. Dang kid has a memory like a steel trap. He didn't get any but then again he wasn't the one that had to see the doctor.

Overall today has been a good day. Reese spent more time sleeping in her pack and play so that was nice. She slept during dinner so we all got to eat at the same time! Now it is 10:15 and she is awake and has been for a while so we will see if she wants to play all night or go to bed soon (fingers crossed). Donovan was an awesome boy tonight. Took a huge nap, was lots of fun, ate a great dinner (a whole hotdog, lots of strawberries and some potatoes) and then was even more fun after dinner. It is nights like tonight that I get such a kick out of him. I am so thankful he had such a great day, it gives me hope he isn't going to be so messed up with this baby here. Here are a few pictures from today.

Our little ladybug in the car seat. She looks so teener in there!

Hanging with Grandpa B. She was telling him how she was ready for some dinner.
Donovan has discovered he can see his reflection in the skylight at night. Here he is hamming it up to himself tonight.
He was showing himself his new Chuggington trains, then said "Choooo, Choooo! Puff, Puff! Allllllll Aboard!" He was also doing the choo choo hand signals, which is what I caught him doing here.

Settling in

2011-05-16T23:03:00.002-05:00

Tonight is our second night home with little miss Reese. Yesterday we came home, got to spend some quality time with my mom before she left to go back to Denver (my dad is living with us for the time being as he got a job here and started it today. Yeay for us! Now they just have to sell the house in Denver and my mom will be back too) and had some friends over to meet the little one.

Yesterday was great, Reese just slept, ate and pooped/peed. She was so great we remarked several times how it seemed like we didn't even have a second child. She would just sleep like a little angel in her pack and play and only wake when she needed to eat. Tom and I even got a little worried there might be something wrong with her because she was not crying or awake much. So I consulted my baby book and found out that this is in fact, normal. Who knew. Donovan was such a colicky, unhappy baby that we don't think he was ever happy if he wasn't in our arms, and even then, he wasn't all that happy. So we were counting our lucky stars to have a baby that seemed to be the opposite of that. And then last night came...

Reese decided that she did not want to be set down. Ever. I fought with her til 3am when I finally tagged Tom in so I could get a power nap and then I took back over at 5am. I finally got her to sleep in her cradle at 5:30am, but I had to put her in the boppy for her to agree to sleep. Then we were up at 7:45 for the day. So needless to say I was VERY sleepy today. She did much better today with sleeping on her own. She slept once for me in the crib in the boppy again, but when Donovan was napping at 1pm today, I thought, "Let's try just the cradle" and I put her down in there without the boppy after she was done eating at 1:20pm. She was asleep when I laid her down, then she woke back up after a few minutes, which is what she was doing over the night so I thought "Oh great, here we go again" but she was able to get herself back to sleep without any help and slept until 3:45, which means I slept til then too because Tom took care of Donovan when he got up at 2:45. Thank the lord for naps! It is because of that nap that I am able to sit here and type this at 11:15pm. I am also stalling because she should be getting up to eat anytime now (ate last at 9pm) and I don't want to lay down just to hear her start up crying. The good news is, she has been sleeping in her pack and play since 9:30 so hopefully this means she will not be having as horrible of a night as she did last night.

Tonight I gave her her first bath since the one she got at the hospital. I had to wake her up to do it so she screamed at me the whole time but it was 1,000% easier than I remember Donovan's sponge baths being. It is amazing how different everything is the second time around. I think it took me easily half the time Donovan's did and I did it without any help as I delegated my dad to paparazzi and Tom was putting Donovan to bed.

Reese is a fabulous breast feeder. She has not had any problem with latching and eats like a champ. She sure roots at anything close to her mouth when it is close to eating time. After the bath I put my face next to her's and claimed she was giving me "kisses" even though she was just trying to suck on my cheek and get some dinner. I love her. It amazes me how much she looks like her brother. Especially when she is awake and quiet. She looks just like him. Only she is wearing pink. I have gotten so many cute outfits from people, it is amazing how much cute stuff there is out there for little girls. I assume this is just the beginning and I will be broke with a little fashionista before I know it. Reese has very long fingers and toes, like Donovan did when he was a baby and like her father does now. And so far, it looks like she may have gotten her daddy's hair color. It is definitely darker than Donovan's was. His was darker too but I would say her's is a dark brown now and I never would have called his that.

As far as Donovan goes, he is doing pretty well considering everything. He is a little whiny and clingy to me at times but overall he is not upset or jealous that I have the baby most times. He does try to take my hand and lead me places when I am breastfeeding so that doesn't work out to his favor. He is very interested in watching Reese while I change her diaper, or rather he is interested in looking at the "yucky poopoo". He calls her Reese about half the time and "BAAAAAAAAYYY-BEEEEEEEEE" the other half, like when he hears her crying in another room and he is calling to her. He holds her every once in a while but otherwise he pretty much ignores her. He does love all the presents he has been getting from everyone that comes to visit.

I think that is most of the stuff I wanted to update about for tonight. I will try to post some more pictures tomorrow at some point since I know that is really what people want to see. We have Reese's first doctor's visit tomorrow so we will have a little update with that too.

P.S. This is Ellen writing. I spilled a cup of water on my computer during labor and effectively killed my computer. So while it is at the shop trying to be revived, I have to use Tom's computer, which is signed in under his name. So unless it is titled "dad post", realize that it is actually me doing the writing

She is here!

2011-05-14T15:42:00.011-05:00

Reese

Reese Jacqueline was born yesterday, May 13th 2011 at 6:55am. She was 8lbs 1oz (the exact same as her big brother was when he was born), is 21 inches long and had a 14 inch head circumference.

Although we were both predicting she would be a girl, we were both shocked she actually was! Tom was so surprised/confused that when it came time to announce her sex he hesitated so long that I was the one that said "It's a girl!". We are overjoyed that she has chosen us as her parents. We could not love her more. Donovan has been a great big brother so far, he actually asked to hold her first thing today when he came to visit (he came to the hospital yesterday and met her).

Both Reese and I are doing well. This labor was longer than my last but my recovery has been much, much easier. Reese is a champion eater and pooper. Two things you definitely want your baby to be good at. She was pretty laid back until today when she is showing some of her brother's characteristic baby fussiness associated with not being a)held all the time and/or b)not having a nipple in her mouth at all times. This time we are more experienced parents so she will not be able to get away with as much as her big brother did.

Anyways, onto more pictures. These are mostly of labor and right after delivery. I just sent Tom home to be with Donovan tonight so Reese and I are on our own so more pictures from the rest of our hospital stay will have to wait for another time. Thanks for all of the prayers and well wishes!

Beginning of the induction, still feeling good.
Waiting for the doctor to come to have our baby!
Our very own little girl! You can't see it well in this picture but as soon as her head came out, she stuck out her tongue until the rest of her body delivered. Silly.

Giving Reese her first of many kisses.

Sunbathing under the warmer. So pretty and pink.
She was such an alert baby right away.
So young but already has her daddy wrapped around her finger.
What can I say? I grow them the same size :)

Our birth crew. Sherry, my nurse, was the nurse that trained me in L&D. She is the best!

Hanging out, learning to text with mommy.
Showing daddy what she was doing as she was coming out. (She also had the cord wrapped around her neck two times)
Big brother checking out his sister. So far, he likes her!
"Hold the baby"

Reese was a busy girl and managed to do some shopping on the way out the birth canal. She bought Donovan this Blues jersey which he loves! After he put it on he said and signed "More presents". Oh boy.

Mommy and her firstborn.

Our little CEO

2011-05-08T21:25:00.002-05:00

Purina Farms

2011-05-08T20:15:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day in St Louis so we decided to take advantage of the weather, and the fact that we are not carting around a newborn and worrying about feedings times and what not yet and visit Purina Animal Farms. It has probably been 10 years since I have been there but not much has changed. All three of us had a great time. Here are some of the pictures from the day.

Donovan petting a bunny, his favorite part. He also got to pet a chicken, although he much preferred the bunny.
Dono and daddy watching the dog show. Donovan was very excited to see dogs jump into the pool while trying to catch frisbees but once they were in the pool he did not like it. I think he thought they were struggling too hard to swim so after about 3 jumps, he was signing and saying "All done wa-wa", meaning, "Someone stop those dogs from swimming in the water. Someone is going to get hurt". So we had to leave the show early. Interesting enough this is the first thing he tells people about what we saw there that day. "Doggy jump in the wa-wa"
Playing with tractors in corn. Another highlight.
With momma on the tractor ride. He liked it so much, he fell asleep on it.
And the little guy all tuckered out on the ride home. Thanks for a good and free time Purina Farms!

Counting

2011-05-04T22:16:00.002-05:00

Today Donovan was really fun and really spazzy. For 20 min in the afternoon and then again for about 20 min straight at night he ran up and down our main hallway, would "slide" or throw himself on the floor head first and declare "Safe!!!!!". Apparently someone is already practicing for the MLB. I tried to get some video of it this afternoon but he was not cooperating because as usual, once he see's the video camera, all he wants to do is see himself on it. It worked out for the best though because I got him to count to 10 on it (sort of 14) and for the first time in the history of his life he didn't skip 3 or 4 (unprompted I mean)!!!! I was so impressed! I have never heard him go straight through without skipping at least one number and to do it on film for the first time ever, I was shocked. So here is the video of it for your enjoyment.

39 weeks

2011-05-04T21:33:00.003-05:00

Pictures of me from today.

Today I am 39 weeks preggers and I had my routine OB appointment. I have been contracting a little more the past few days but I didn't expect to hear any crazy news today. The good news is I haven't gained any weight since last week (when I was up 4 lbs) and the even better news is I am 3 cm Dilated!!!!! Who knew? I was shocked when the doctor told me that. I even told her she was lying I was so surprised. So the stats from today are 3/50/-2 for those of you who know what that means. All good news and all signs point to a shorter labor, when I finally do get into labor. I very well may still have to be induced at 41 weeks, but at least I would be starting that induction at 3cm and not 1 and thick. It is usually a much easier road the further along you start. This also means that those random contractions are actually doing something, other than making me go pee every 20 minutes so thank you random contractions. The Dr did say that at my 40 week appointment we will do the same testing we did last pregnancy (the fluid level and putting baby on the monitor). This is just to make sure baby is still happy in there. Donovan famously flunked and that is how he got his induction/eviction so we will see if this baby follows in his/her big brother's footsteps. It's getting close... I can't wait!

How Dono eats a cinnamon roll

2011-05-02T21:17:00.004-05:00

Before:

After:

My silly silly:

Don't worry, in addition to the icing, Donovan ate his weight in blackberries for breakfast so he was mostly healthy.