What's new?

I'll tell you what's new. After battling with our old computer for months on end, we finally went to Best Buy and got a new computer. Maybe I'll feel move compelled to blog with our shiny new computer.

Next up on my list of wants and desires is a nice camera that I can take stellar pictures with like Mindee or Pioneer Woman, but since I'm really hard on cameras, that day probably won't come for a while.

But since I have taken a few pictures, I'll share what I have, rotten or not. Here's my small landscaping project. As you can see I took advantage of the torrential downpour that interrupted my project and took a picture of my progress. There will be about 20 pastel tulips and 40-50 crocuses here come spring next year if all my work pays off. And that tacky looking downspout coming out of the siding? That's the former homeowners great idea for a dryer vent.

I guess I've been setting a good example, because the girls latest hobby is cleaning. They each get a towel, a spray bottle, and permission to hose down any surface that is glass or shiny plastic. Next on the list of fun things to do is go to the library. I spend most of the trip chasing Kayla around and trying to prevent her from eating crayons, but Alaina has a lot of fun picking out 4 books. She gets to pick out four books and then mommy picks out a few more for her to read.

That rule came about because I have to admit that there are some really weird children's books out there, and I want to make sure that I have a few good selections to read her as well. Here's my little lovelies rocking together is Uncle Scott's rocking chair. I had to run and get my camera, and I wish Alaina would have given me a smile, but Kayla would only sit still for one picture.

I just couldn't resist taking the photo of the girls because it reminded me of this picture that Mimi took of my brothers. Big brother offered to rock little brother to sleep when Mimi was took pregnant to do the job herself. (Did I tell that right Mimi?) We also had friends over for the great Husker victory last weekend. Alaina was ecstatic that her friend 'Phie' was able to come over and stayed for 2 hours past the football game while her parents went to the Husker volleyball game.

I had a small taste of what life was like for Mimi as I bathed and got four kids, ages 6 months to 4 years, ready for bed that night. Baby K went first, then Phie's brother. And while I was putting him down, Phie apparently got sick of waiting for me to get her bath ready, so she shed her clothes and got into the tub and played with the bath toys until Alaina told Daddy that he needed to fill the tub for them.

A good time was had by all.

Confession time again

Dear blog-gods,

it has been over a month since my last post so I beg forgiveness and offer the following update to appease you . . .

Life still refuses to settle into a steady rhythm at our house as well all struggle to march to a different drum but the beats are at least starting to sync up a little. Alaina is getting more and more into her role of big sister everyday, instructing Kayla on how to best please big sister and enjoying it immensely when she gets the desired results.
Kayla is practically running around now and I've slowly caught on to the fact that childproofing was not a factor when Alaina was a baby which is why I'm struggling with door latches and keeping the carpet cleaner than the table.
But lets get a few pics out now for the photo starved . . .
2 Weekends ago, we headed up to the zoo. We arrived and departed in good time, spending 3 hours pushing and pulling one stroller and one wagon, because we learned on out last trip that a wagon is too close together for the girls, and one stroller guarantees a hurting back from carrying one of them around for an hour. At least I wizened up and ordered a canopy for the wagon.
Since we arrive within 1/2 hour of the zoo opening, we have a pretty easygoing trip for the most part. Alaina enjoyed the penguins and Kayla hollered for all she was worth at the gorillas that were getting a morning treat of apples and oranges.

And while that wasn't much of an update, my camera has decided to run out of batteries, so I'll just give up and post a short update.

A picture is worth a thousand words

It has been a while since my last confession blog entry and I keep telling myself that I'm going to get better, but I'm pretty sure I'm lying. Living with my sister in the house is getting easier, but living with Jeff on a different shift is not. I miss having family time in the evenings, but Jeff misses it even more. We're pretty much to the point that I'm not allowed to even say the words "I miss you," because he can't stand it.

But on to happier things . . . .

Kayla turned one on Friday. Like her sister, she's going to be walking on her own soon, but not quite yet. She dearly loves chasing the cats around the house and testing their patience as well as her sister's.

Recently she has discovered the sheer joy of climbing in and out of her sister's rocking chair and the ability to put on and take off necklaces.

Today I just stared in disbelief as I watch her plug and unplug the bathtub. I had no idea she actually paid attention to what I was doing.

Life is good for this little one.




Big sister is really enjoying being four. She has the memory of an elephant which makes me glad that I've never promised her a pony. She's one smart little cookie.

She doesn't listen to me one bit unless she likes the answer, so I've already lined up Sissy to be her go-to for grown up talk. Of course that is going to have to be for fashion and makeup advice too since I'm hopeless unless you want to talk sewing or costume talk. As me about seams and the fit of a garment, but ask Sissy about the color and style.

I suppose its too early to sign her up to be a future president or lawyer, but she has some mad negotiating skills that would do any politician proud, not to mention she is rather adept at side stepping questions. I've gotten pretty good at asking the "Right Questions" to get to the truth.

And still all I can do is marvel at how different they were in their first year.

Alaina was a rather contemplative child.

She was more than happy to sit and watch me wrap presents at Christmas time when she was little. I'd put a bow in front of her and she'd rub it between her fingers and toss it around for 30 - 40 minutes until she had in memorized. She'd explore every crevice of a new toy, flipping it over and over to check all of the screw holes and seams until she was satisfied that she knew exactly what could be down with it.

She was like Winnie-the-Pooh sitting there just thinking thoughts and pondering things. She loves new words and figuring out they fit into her speech. I call her a little parrot because she can repeat back just about anything you say to her perfectly.



But if Alaina is like Pooh, Kayla is Tigger.

She's a bouncing ball of energy.
She's not happy if she's static.
If you are sitting down, she's crawling all over you.
If you are standing up, she's trying to figure out the most interesting way to wrap herself around your ankles or climb your pant legs.

She can't stand 5 minutes in the baby saucer that her sister would cry to be put in. I never even childproofed my home with Alaina because she had no desire to get into any cupboard or go near outlets. I'm debating buying a Roomba automatic vacuum because Kayla has to stick EVERYTHING she finds in her mouth, where as Alaina cried when I tried to stick her fingers in the frosting on her first birthday cake.

And while I knew that my kids would be different, I didn't quite realize how different they could be.

So if I have another child, will I get a melancholy Eeyore, a wise Owl or a modest piglet?

And for the story of the day:

Alaina is rather adept at using the bathroom all by herself, but every now and again she gets distracted and we have to request that she speed up the process because she gotten distracted by trying to reach the bottom of the sink with her toes or trying to get on the toilet with her legs crossed. Her natural curiosity just won't let her do things the easy way.

And so I went to hustle her out of the bathroom this last week and found her sheepishly looking down and avoiding my eye.

Never a good sign with Alaina. Her unwillingness to provide answers leaves me no choice but to deduce that the wetness was supplied by a less than sanitary source . . .the toilet. Of course asking the obvious questions will get you nowhere with Alaina, so you have to circle around to the truth.

"Alaina, were you playing in the sink?"
No
"I didn't hear the tub. You didn't try to turn on the tub did you?"
No
"Did you dip you hair in the toilet."
(No answer, so I must be getting warmer.)
"Did you finish going to the bathroom?"
Yes
"Were you looking in the toilet?"
Yes
"Were you sitting on the toilet when you looked in?"
Yes
"Did you bend you head down?"
Yes
"Did your hair touch the water?"
(No answer)
"Alaina, did your hair tickle the water a little bit?"
Yes (That worked because it implied that something fun and not punishable occurred)
"What were you looking at?"
Myself in the water (aka - reflections)
"Well toilet water is yucky, so next time just let me know right away so we can wash the germs out of your hair."
Okay

I let it slide that her hair was rather dry for having took a toilet bath, so I subtly removed all the towels and put them in the dirty laundry. It wasn't worth the effort to try to get to admit which of the four towels hanging up she had used to try to dry her hair and hide the evidence.

Clever girl.

Update #2

Jeff and I juggled parenting responsibilities last week because Kayla was home sick Wednesday through Friday with a fever. I'm personally very happy that she wasn't throwing up like Alaina was the week before, so I tried not to mind the sleepless nights.

Friday, Jeff's cousin's came down from Minneapolis and brought their one year old son to stay with us for the weekend. The little man's birthday was in February and I had a present that I never mailed waiting for him. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of him in his snazzy new Husker jacket, but needless to say his daddy was thrilled, and his mommy, the gopher fan, was a little less thrilled



Jeff's family gave in to impulse a couple of times this weekend and would just stop in at random which is usually okay, but since Kayla had been sick and I didn't get much sleep, I pretty much disappeared into the depths of the house whenever the doorbell rang.

My brother and his family from Denver stopped by for a quick birthday celebration since they won't be back until after my daughter's birthdays so we had a quick meal and gift exchange. I'm always happy to see my niece because she is so funny and makes me giggle. She reminds me of Alaina when she was just figuring out that everyone but mommy would laugh at her when she was being ornery. And then give her hugs, kisses, and treats. (Ahem, Papa!)

And after we ate . . ..Cake!

Alaina was very excited to blow out the candles all by herself.

The candles are supposed to have flames the color of the candle base, but unless you get close enough to singe your eyebrows, its hard to tell.

Kayla was a little unsure about the cake so first she took a little bite.

And that tasted pretty good, so she had a little more . . .
And ohhhhh! It was soooo delicious!

Poor baby

Kayla was officially off of breast milk as of Monday . . .meaning I'm no longer grouchy and moaning about pains in my chest and already enjoying the feeling of waking up without sore spots on my ribcage from wearing a bra all night.

But yesterday Kayla got sick. And when I say sick, I mean sick.

She's running temps of 103 and won't eat anything but yogurt because her throat hurts. As soon as I picked her up from daycare I phoned the doctor because she felt hot enough to cook an egg on her forehead. So for now its just a virus.

But knowing that its just a virus doesn't make me feel any better when she can't sleep because she's so miserable. It doesn't make me feel an better when I have to hold her all night because she just wants someone to make everything all better. It doesn't make me feel any better when the ibuprofen I had to drive to 2 stores to find isn't helping bring the fever down.

And so here I sit ready to start my day at the office and all I can think about is going home and holding my baby so that she knows that mommy loves her.

That and the possibility that stopping breastfeeding led to her getting a virus.

Either way I'm probably the droopiest looking girl in the office today.

The Dressmaker

Time is a dressmaker specializing in alterations - Faith Baldwin

Faith sound like my kind of girl. Well the dressmaker is almost here to do some major alterations in our home. We found out Monday afternoon that Jeff starts his second shift job on the 29th and Aunt Sissy will arrive to live with us this Sunday. Those are the big adjustments.

The rest have just been little nips and tucks along the way.

Everyone in the house is finally well, even Pixie. Its amazing what a round of antibiotics can do. Apparently the siezure-like spasming was atributed to a tooth infection and the piddle was from a bladder infection. Of course, the antibiotics also had the lovely side affect of Pixie vomiting all over . . . but at least that is easier to clean up than piddle. With the unexpected joy of Jeff getting a raise, we've been dreaming a little bit bigger and spending a few more dollars. Alaina has probably benefitted the most from this as she has gotten new decorations for her room and was able to get a new princess doll and the Princess and the Frog the day it came out on DVD.
Alaina now equated me with Tiana's momma that make beautiful princess dresses by the dozen. I have now be informed of the fact that she doesn't have a dress like Princess Tiana and I need to make her one. I'm not sure how I ended up with a princess in the house, but at this point I'm just glad that she only calls herself a princess when she's pretending to be a specific Disney Princess.Kayla in the meantime is a clapping, crawling, cereal eating, two toothed wonder. She loves to make music, laughter, and splashes in the tub. And speaking of splashes, Saturday will be Alaina's last swimming lesson with Mommy. After this, she's in the 'Pike" class which Mommy's and Daddy's aren't invited to attend. (Yay!) It's been a wonderful time, but having that lovely bouyant weightless feeling for 50 minutes every Saturday make me feel rather heavy and sleepy for the rest of the weekend.

Work has become stressful as I strive to impress my new boss . . .I've always worked with Miss L and readily enjoyed it, but now I'm doing double time trying to work my way toward a raise.

And with that all said . . .my banana bread is ready to come out of the oven.

Food Glorious Food!

Today is the day!

Kayla went to daycare with a diaper bag stocked with yummy mashed bananas and pureed squash. But for some reason even though I bring my own food, I'm still signed up for the food program? I feel like I should ask for an itemized list of what I pay for so that I can argue the point.

But the BEST news is that Kayla didn't have any 'fussies' since the cheese incident on Sunday! I've decided to truly test the theory and in honor of the fact that I forgot to brew my coffee this morning, didn't wash my daily oatmeal mug from work, and ran out of poptarts and granola bars, I headed to McDs for a truly milky meal with a bacon egg and cheese buttermilk biscuit and cream in my coffee!

Woo Hoo!

Now we'll just have to wait and see how Kayla handles it so I know if I need to take baby steps toward milk and soy or if I can take the plunge and stuff myself full of chocolate, pizza, cream, yogurt, lattes, and cream cheese fruit dip.

Kayla the Tiny

Happy 4 months! Kayla turned 16 weeks yesterday and she is tinier than ever!

I can't believe I have a child with an 18 percentile head size. . .granted that's only 1 1/2 inches smaller than Alaina's at the same time, but sheesh! Grow already! Shots went well and we are headed back to see Jeff's parents this weekend.

Here's to hoping they fix something I can eat.

In four weeks I get to try adding a little soy to my diet . . .we'll see how that goes.

Speaking of eating, Kayla has been enjoying squash, against the recommendations of our pediatrician. (Wait until six months to start feeding MSPI babies, they say) She's starving and desperate to taste everything, so why not try some food? Its been over a week and she's still doing fine.

Well that's about it, sorry for the disjointed thoughts. Much sadness today, but trying to feel joy for him getting to be at peace. (If you don't know, I'm not going to be the one to break the news, cousins. Call your mother.)

Coupons, colds, and criminals!

That's it! I'm going to jail! I'm going to be locked up because . . .

I ruined a library book.

Okay, so I didn't ruin it, but I spilled water and it got on the latest book I have from the library. It soaked in 1/2 inch from the end of the page the entire length of the book.

I hope I survive the punishment.

Kayla is getting a cold. Bless her little heart, but she has the sneezes and that cute little cough that babies get just before it gets really bad.

And I invite you so share in my shopping joy!
I wore a hole in my post baby jeans I bought when I had Alaina so I finally got around to using my birthday gift card for JCPenneys. I had a coupon for $10 off and it was a buy one get one for $1 sale.

I ended up with 2 new pairs of jeans for $7.

Yay!

Unfortunately, all I can think about is how if I would have completed the survey from the shopping trip a week or two ago to get Alaina shoes, I could have saved another 15%. Oh well! Maybe I'll forget after I wear my new jeans a few times!

Long weekend.

So the results from Kayla's appointment are . . .

She has the same 'yeasty beasties' that Alaina had, even though I tried my hardest to keep her neck folds clean and dry.

If you didn't hear me talk about it with Alaina, it seriously is a yeast infection just like athlete's foot. In fact the doctor recommends antifungal foot cream to treat it.

Good thing Jeff gets AF foot cream for free from work.

And the shots went okay, I nursed Kayla as soon as we finished and then she slept the rest of the afternoon. But the calm gave way to the storm and she hasn't slept through the night or slept much during the day since.

Friday, was however, My day!

My best bud Mrs. S and I headed up to get Miss O from the airport. She's back from CA and spunky as ever. The best part of the trip was our little adventures in the Old Market. We went to a bar and grill to eat, but we figured out it was pretty much just a bar after we got our food.

I tried to find something MSPI safe, and this is how the conversation went.
"Do you know if there is milk or soy in the buns?"
"No, I don't know. Tell me what you can eat and I'll tell you if we have it."
"I can eat chicken."
"We have that. How about a salad with chicken?"
"Okay, I'll take this Blackened Chicken that says it is on a garden salad. But no cheese or croutons please."
"We don't have cheese or croutons on our salads."
"What does come on your garden salad?"
"Black olives and tomatoes."
"And the menu says eggs."
"Nope! We don't have eggs. What kind of dressing? We have Bleu cheese and ranch . ."
"I can't have those. Do you have a vinagrette?"
"Yes we have red wine."
"Sounds great!"

I paid $8 for a lump of lettuce, tomatoes and olives (which I don't like), and the vinagrette he was talking about? It was just plain vinegar.

I won't be going back to Billy Frogs anytime soon, for any reason.

But it was fun laughing with Mrs. S and Miss O about it.

Is it hard?

Everyone who has finally noticed that I'm back at work asks the same question.

"Is it hard leaving your girls everyday?"

There is no easy answer because

1) Yes is is hard to leave my girls at daycare instead of getting to watch them everyday.

2) It is nice to know that Alaina is getting good social exposure to other kids and learning in a structured manner that it would take me months to plan out let alone execute.

3) It is nice to challenge my brain with things at work and interact with adults during the day

But most of all, my working allows us to continue to live in our big house. Jeff and I sat down before we had Kayla to look at our finances and see if I could stay at home.

You know how everyone says there is always a way? Well there was a way for me to quit working full time. We could . . . .

a) have me work part time when Jeff is at home 20 hours a week, but Jeff and I would never see each other and the girls would only ever be with one parent at a time. Not to mention I would never get to do anything on the weekends.

Or

b) move out of our house back into a very small apartment with barely enough room to sneeze without running into each other. And doesn't that sound fun?

Anyway, Kayla will be two months this thursday which will be very exciting except when I have to take her for her immunization shots.

Yuck.

West Wing baby

I can't even remember who gave them to me . . . but I have season one and two of the West Wing on dvd. I started watching them while on maternity leave and got so into them that I borrowed the rest of the seasons from the public library. I personally think that this show helped soften the nation to having our current president, but that's just my opinion.

But my love of the West Wing led to the greatest discovery.

It puts Kayla to sleep.

Picture a dark house, with a soft blue glow coming from the tv and a show that features almost no action scenes, no teenagers, and with no commercial breaks. AKA - no screaming, gunfire, loud noises, crying or other hullabaloo. (great word!) I bounch on a big exercize ball until Kayla slowly dozes off which usually takes hours but with the loving glow and witty charm of West Wing for us - the glow fo Kayla, the charm for me. She is out in ten minutes.

And last night while watching Donna said my word!

Snarky

I heart The West Wing and all of its wonderful characters.

I tried . . .really I did!

I tried to blog while on maternity leave, but looking back my efforts weren't so good.

I'm back at work and Kayla is at her first day of daycare . . .I'm going to have to go visit at noon because I have to drop off another bottle . . .

Which makes me very unhappy. I tried so dang hard to pump when I could to build up my milk supply so that I wouldn't have to 'bus' milk around town.

And then MSPI struck.

I have approx 10 oz of milk in the freezer waiting for Kayla's digestion to acclimate to soy and milk again. 10 oz just waiting to be used.

But not for another two months.

Kayla also has the worst case of baby 'back-ne' that I've ever seen too. It was so bad I took her to the pediatrician to see if it was a rash.

But to close, here are a few things I learned while on Maternity leave.

1) There is always at leave on version of CSI, Law and Order or The West Wing playing all day on TV.

2) I should not be allowed to watch any of the above shows for more that 2 days of leave because I start telling myself that I should study law, forensic science, or politics just so I can pontificate like my favorite characters.

3) I hate hemming things by hand.

4) Ironing curtains sucks.

5) Having to read the ingredients of everything you eat sucks big time

6) The public library is a blessing and a curse

7) I do not trust anyone with a Y chromosome with the exclusive care of a baby under 6 weeks for more than 30 minutes. And the women that I trust with one for more than 2 hours is very short indeed.

8) Movies are getting too long if I can't figure out how to go see one in between nursing sessions for Kayla.

9) Those stupid mittens they make for babies are useless. A good pair of their socks over their hands works much better.

10) those stupid mittens are not for keeping baby from scratching their face, but are to keep babies from trying to nurse from their hands and howling in frustration when trying to sleep.

11) I'd rather have to break my child of using a pacifier, than have a child who refuses to suck on one for comfort.

I could go on, but I have to go home to scrounge for food, go to daycare, and maybe sneak in an eposide of The West Wing over lunch.