snow play

Family driveway shovelling
Adam and I helped too
First time this year that the snow has been snowman sticky. 

Girls and Boys

We had a girls morning out and boys morning in today. Laura and I left early and went for blueberry pancakes and bacon and chocolate milk at the diner down the street and Jim and Adam hung out at the house. It was great for everyone. Jim only gets to see Adam at his grumpiest (in the evenings) usually, so this was a good chance for them to bond. And Laura and I needed some girl time away from the stinky, noisy boys. 

Then we all went to Fleet Farm and found lots of things to spend our money on. Jim and I bought snow bibs to share for $25! He's going ice fishing next week, so he's going to need them. And we found Laura an awesome slot car track with loops for pretty cheap for her birthday. And they have cheap nuts too. I bought cashews, walnuts, pecans and pistachios. With Laura not eating much meat, we eat a lot of nuts. 

Hopefully, this afternoon we will get to go play outside. Its 45 degrees today! 10 higher than I was even hoping for. I wore my T-shirt with no coat and felt great. If Laura's still up around 3, we plan to break her free of naptime and find a hill to slide down.

overalls!

aerosol nasal spray

aerosol nasal spray rocks! Drip spray, humidifier, sleeping on an incline, bulb syringe, even q-tips (doctor recommended) couldn't do what this stuff does for Adam's nose. I'm sure I'm just blasting all the boogers back into his system, but at least he can breath again and get back to sleep. 

Jim wants to know if they make sleep apnea machines for 2 months olds?

cookies!

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/01/28/girl.scout.cookies/index.html

what is happening to this world? They are already like $5/cookie. But soooo worth it.

swaddling

Believe it or not...I actually laid Adam down AWAKE today and he went to sleep by himself - alone! He was very tired, calm and swaddled and it didn't happen the other 3 times I tried it later in the day, but I'll take what I can get. Do you even know how amazing it was? Laura never did that, even once. Maybe I'll write it on his baby calendar...

Pirates

A friend of ours asked what we needed for Adam and since we don't really need anything, I mentioned that Adam might be getting tired of being wrapped up in pink blankets. Here's the result: 

If you can't tell, its a skull and crossbones with a pacifier on a black blanket. Sooooo manly! I love it. Thank you Jacob and Rachel!

Adam Bubbles

This video is mostly me just making a fool of myself with baby-talk, but he grunts a little and smiles a lot. Its also my first attempt using iMovie on the iMac.

Green Eggs and Ham

Jim and Laura made green eggs and ham this morning while Adam and I slept in:

Laura loved the ham and tried the eggs, then had cereal. I'm not too sad that I missed it, but they had fun.

Closeable, half hair day, cooking, doctor #2

The other night, Laura was having a hard time going to sleep. I told her to just close her eyes and see what happened. Her response was "But my eyes aren't close-able!" Holy cow, sometimes her grasp of the English language astounds me. I know its not a real word, but she knew enough about how the language works to make up her own word that makes sense, even while she was crying and upset. 

Yesterday, I seriously only brushed half my hair. I can't believe that I couldn't find time to brush the other half. Maybe I was making a statement or new fashion trend or something.

I've discovered that cooking anything complicated with a young baby and a toddler makes me wig out (do people say that anymore? wig out?). I enjoy trying new recipes and making complicated meals, but I get very anxious about the timing of everything and in the 3-5pm hours, both kids are pretty unpredictable. The nights I try anything difficult are the ones that one or all 3 of us ends up crying. Soooo...spaghetti anyone? I can handle that.

Took Adam to the doctor AGAIN for a sort of emergency visit because I was sure that his breathing was the 'labored' breathing that the doctor warned me to look for. We went to a pediatrician this time, instead of our family practitioner, and it turns out that he's just fine, of course. No sinus infection or anything. She said the structure of his face is such that his nasal passages are very small and so any little congestion makes him sound terrible when he breathes. She gave us a few more suggestions on clearing him out, but basically just took our money and said "see ya." 

feeling embarrassingly well

Today went embarrassingly well, after my whiney post last night (actually early this morning).

We watched about an hour of the inauguration. Laura was bored, but a good sport. She kept asking if she could turn the TV off yet. ha, should have recorded that for use when she's older! I really enjoyed watching it when I wasn't quieting a crying baby or reading a book to a toddler. 

We made Aunt Karol's recipe for rice pudding and it was delicious. Must have been good, because its all gone less than 12 hours later. oops. Laura sure was hungry. yeah right...it was Laura...

Adam and I fell asleep at 3 and I woke up at 5:15.  Laura was still in her room, singing. I think she must have slept at some point because she was quiet chipper and didn't seem put out that I had left her in her room so long. 3 1/2 hours! another oops.

So tonight, I'm feeling good after such a nice nap. Adam didn't wake up until 6 and is back asleep in the sling at 8. Guess yesterday's wakefulness was just a fluke. 

All in all, a quick, fun, happy day!

yep, still cute

At some point, I wondered when Adam's little pouty lip would get annoying instead of cute. Happy to say that we haven't reached that point yet. Still cute. 

Be assured that I didn't make him cry on purpose and that I am holding him. I promise I consoled him as soon as I snapped the picture. I'm not a mean mom, just a little delayed.

precious sleep or woe is me

Bad news:

i'm awake with insomnia at 4:45 wasting precious sleeping time.

Jim was gone a lot of this weekend working and looking for a truck.

Jim worked 6:30am to 9pm Monday and will do the same Tuesday and Wednesday to meet a submittal.

Jim takes the car to work because the other choice is me and the kids waking up early to drop him off and then going back to pick him up at some point. I choose to stay home.

I'm not very good at being cooped up inside. I much prefer to go places and do things.

Jim and I are both tired!

Good news:

Laura's been sleeping until at least 8am!

Laura takes a 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 hour "nap" in her room by herself every afternoon.

While Adam was awake  a lot yesterday, at least he was pretty happy most of the time.

It was up to 20 degrees outside so we could go out and play in the snow yesterday.

I have playgroup on Wednesday just down the street, so we can walk there and I get to see other moms and Laura gets to play with other kids.

I've relaxed my position on caffeine while nursing this kid. Caffeine makes me happy. (Maybe that's why Adam didn't sleep today??)

Both kids usually play nicely while I take a shower, so I'm looking forward to that tomorrow.

The inauguration is tomorrow, which I'm looking forward to watching with Laura. 

We have lots of rice and barley leftover. Maybe Laura and i can make rice/barley pudding tomorrow? yum

Looks like the 'goods' have it! Guess my life is pretty good. Back to sleep...

crazy kids

What happened to my sleepy little baby? He has slept a total of 2 hours today - compared to his normal 2 hours of being awake. It has totally exhausted me and my fear grows as the evening moves on. A total meltdown is probably on its way. But maybe he'll sleep all night? haha

At one point today, Laura was running circles around her teddy bear and Adam was laying on the floor watching her. Every time she came near him, he started to giggle. They probably did that at least 50 times. I can't believe they can play together already, but I'm loving it.

Still no truck, but Jim's doing his best to find one. 

all's well in Adam land

Adam and I ventured out again tonight in the cold (-13) to go to a doctor's appointment. Yes, I am still an anxious mom, even the 2nd time around. He's doing fine, just a little grumpy in the evenings and congested at night. 13 pounds of happy baby boy (88 percentile).

We had friends bring us dinner tonight. Thanks Kyle and Nealy! I felt so bad because it was a whirlwind of chaos, and I only have 2 kids! They are about to have their first next week and I didn't show a very good example of how lovely kids can be. 

playing

We received a new and improved tent set yesterday (thanks Mom & Dad)! I set it up in our bedroom thinking that I would fold laundry while she played. It ended up taking over the room as I took out more and more pieces. She had a blast. Check out the static-y hair.

who me??

cold

what do you do at 7:30am on what's probably the coldest day of the year? it was -20 and we packed up the kids and plunked them in the car to take Jim to work. Parents of the year! Moldy Goldy (aka Jim's 1989 truck, $500 2 years ago) died yesterday, poor thing. Not a big surprise, but a hassle nonetheless. So, we're in the market and living as a one car family for a while. Guess we'll survive, its been done before.

deep thoughts

Laura can now open her door even with the safety door handle thingy on. I just took it off and we had a talk. She's been very good about staying in her room for naptime and time outs. I'm really impressed.

Adam's been sleeping one good stretch of 4-5 1/2 hours and then he's up every 2 hours after that. Its working great for me, except that after his long stretch of sleep, his nose is so full that he needs to sleep in the recliner to breathe well. Might take him to the doctor to see if its anything serious. He's been stuffy for 2 weeks and sleeping 20 hours a day, so I wonder if he has a sinus or ear infection or something.

Its hard to be all high and mighty about whole wheat flour when you realize how much nicer it is to work with white flour. It kneads nicer, risers faster and better, and makes a much better pizza crust. 

stuff and best picture ever

Love the wrap. put it on in the morning and don't take it off until night. he goes in and out easily, plus its warm in the winter!  no, he's not supposed to be oozing out the side like that, but he obviously didn't mind.

One of my favorite pictures ever.
this one's pretty cute too!

yea! for daddy/daughter adventure saturdays! grocery store, bank, and library. I think she even got her own bank account (both kids) and library card today. 

Adam slept 10 minutes in his bassinet today. woohoo

starting to put away clothes that Adam has now outgrown. sniff sniff

Laura's newest pretend game is that she is Dandy the horse, I am Aunt Rosemary and Jim is Uncle Kenny. 

Its amazing how my standards have lowered since I had 2 kids. Why did I ever think it was so important to separate laundry? shove it in and set it to cold and you're good to go. And wooden spoons are now A-OK for the dishwasher. at least they aren't sitting in the sink waiting to be washed and growing mold. Hope I don't embarrass my mom with my housekeeping confessions...

Adam's a big help with the laundry. he sits in his swing and i describe our clothes to him while showing him what I'm folding. Another 10 minute break from holding him!

Madam, I'm Adam

6 weeks old - So, Adam is definitely getting more of a personality...and becoming more cantankerous.  He has a couple of hours every evening where he's very touchy and sometimes cries inconsolably. Taking off his diaper seems to help, but that's a little dangerous! Last night was better. I made sure he had plenty of food going into the evening and we took a little cat nap around 7:30-8. After that, he was pretty happy, but it took all of our power to keep him that way. I think part of the problem was that he really needs some attention and Jim and I are ready to relax by then. I guess there will be no "kid free" time for a while. Aww, well, we signed up for it! 

Anyways, Adam is cooing and smiling a bunch. He's also a great sleeper. He sleeps in bed with us and wakes up 4-5 times to eat. Not too bad, since I can just nurse him in bed. He probably sleeps 18-20 hours a day, which is amazing. He's not great at going out and about since he either wants to sleep in our bed or be held to sleep. The car seat just doesn't cut it for him.  We may have to stay home a little more than we had been, which will be just fine with Laura. She loves to be home. But I'll have to adjust my attitude a little to make it at home all day.

Hooray for size 2 diapers! No more leaks!

Laura's "nap"

Laura's really into rhyming lately. She randomly recognizes rhyming words in our conversations. Its pretty cool. 

Here's a recording of her "naptime"

snotty, puny, and hook

I am currently the only healthy one in the house. Adam has a snotty nose that really only shows itself at night. But that means we're back in the recliner. woohoo. Laura is recovering from croup. She's had it a few times before and dealt with it better this time since her throat is bigger and has more room to breathe, but its still terrifying to hear that dying, barking seal cough. And Jim has nasty cold. But since that wasn't enough to whine about, he broke his hand too. He was holding Adam am tripped on the step between our living room and hallway. He landed on his left-hand (his dominant hand) close fisted. The bone in his hand that connects to his pinkie knuckle is the one that broke. Poor guy. He is currently wearing a splint, but it aches a lot. He goes to the doctor again today to see what needs to be done for the long term. So, hopefully we got all our troubles for 2009 out of the way early. Everyone seems to be in good spirits, though!