Almost a month later

I can't believe it's been a month since I last posted.

Woah. Wait.

Yes I can.  It's been a crazy month.

Our closing date on our new house got pushed out three times.  That meant that I got to reschedule everything (movers, cable installers, etc) three different times.  Even when we were in the car driving to the title company I wasn't sure we were actually going to close that day.  Luckily, we did.

We moved the next morning (Tuesday before Thanksgiving), and have been loving our new house.  Drew has done surprisingly well.  I fully expected him to ask to go home or wake up in the middle of the night confused about where he was, but he never had any issues. 

This new house is his playground.  It has lever door handles, so he can open ever door in this house.  We finally installed a top lock on the front and back door after he opened the front door one day and let he and Sophie into the front yard.  We have introduced him to the neighbors and asked them to send him back our way should he escape. :)  He can operate all of the handles in the bathtub, and has been known to draw a bath when no one is in the bathroom.  I hope the newness of that wears off soon!

The new house really is great.  It has significantly more living space than the old house did, so I have been working on trying to furnish it.  Since the first floor is so open, everything is going to need to go together and I am a little afraid to start on one thing without a plan for the entire space.  I am paralyzed with indecision.   I did order couches, however, which may get here tomorrow, and will hopefully serve as a jumping off point.

It was surprisingly hard to leave the old house.   Rob and I re-did much of that house, and so I LOVED so much about it.  Loved the floors, loved several of the light fixtures, loved my striped hallway.  The things that didn't work for us couldn't be fixed with new flooring or paint, so moving was the right choice, but walking out of that first house was hard.  The new owners are a sweet family with two young boys and I feel confident they will love it as much as I did.

The last several weeks have been a wild ride, and I fully expect it to continue through Christmas, so I'm looking forward to a calm start to 2013.... we shall see!

Must be the red cups....

A bedtime prayer:

Me: Dear God,
Drew: Dee Gah
Thank you
Dank do
For
Fo
Today.
Aday.

Thank you
Dank do
For
Fo
Mommy
Mommy
And daddy
A daddy
And sister.
And COFFEE SHOP!

Drew at Two

Precious, loving, smelly, wild, charming, goofy boy, you are TWO!!

I can't even get over how much fun you are.  You legitimately talk to me now.... I can ask you about things you did yesterday or at school and you can understand the question and give me a correct answer.  You probably speak in 4-5 word sentences, but I counted one 8 word sentence today.

Your favorite things to do are exactly what your mama and daddy are doing.  You are a parrot and a monkey and we really have to watch what we do now.  You love to get your stool and stand up on the other side of the kitchen and "cook" with me.  I give you a skillet or bowl and a spoon and all our dinner scraps and you mix up some interesting concoctions.  Carrot ends and white cheddar cheez-its, anyone?  You would rather take a shower our shower a lot of days, and I've been known to let you jump in with me when your dad is out of town and I need a way to prevent you from breaking stuff while I get clean. It works for both of us.

Your eating is actually regressing, but the doctor told me that was normal.  You used to have things that were slam dunks no matter what.  Now you will eat it one day, and not the next.  You have 0 interest in actually consuming a vegetable in its normal form, but I can give you the veggie squeezie packs to get those nutrients in your diet.  I can already see me packing Happy Tot packs in your lunchbox for high school.

Speaking of school, you LOVE it.  We moved you up a class, to the young twos, so you are the youngest kid in there, but you seem to be holding your own just fine.  You will be the oldest in your grade when you start elementary school, but for right now I love what you are learning from the kids that are older than you.

Your favorite things right now are cars, balls, animals (Elephants are your absolute favorite) and dinosaurs.  You really love to sit and "read" books.  We have realized you are an auditory learner when you started "reading" books to us and mostly getting it correct.

Most importantly, Drew, you are an amazing brother.  You really love your sister (though I am starting to see you being more annoyed when she reaches for your stuff).  You like to "hep" her put her paci back in, get the toys she throws from her high chair, and make her laugh (which actually means you stand in front of her and just start laughing).  We have a ton of fun watching you together.

Drew, I have no idea how to tell you how much we love you, how proud we are of you, and how much we enjoy laughing over the things you do/stuff you say after you go to bed.  Our lives are happier every day simply because you are in them.

Much, much love,
Mom and Dad

Pass the (packing) peanuts

Life hasn't slowed down in the least, but at least it seems to be on a positive upswing.

Our house is under contract after 8 days on the market. The buyers are friends of friends and I am great friends with their realtor, so that has been ideal. We are negotiating the final things from our inspection now.

The seller of our new house saw that our house was under contract and asked if we wanted to move up the closing date, so we may be doing that once we are 100% locked and loaded with selling our house.

I haven't packed one box. I may be moving in 3 weeks. Come on, motivation!

My baby boy turned two yesterday. I can't even stand how much I love that stinky kid. His sister is 6 months old. Where is time going? Posts to document those things soon!!

Woah Nelly

I have no words.

These last several weeks have absolutely kicked my tail. Buying and selling is moving at such a frantic pace that I can't even keep up. Just the brain power that it takes to be ready to leave at a moments notice is frying me.

Then there is the other stuff. A birthday party that needs planning. A sick little girl and a trip to Dell Children's (she's fine- I don't even have the words to explain that). Halloween.  I can't keep up, and this little 'ole blog is struggling.

So for the next little bit, silence may be golden. I'll be back.

Ticking Time Bomb

This little princess has thrown up on me 3 times in the last 30 hours. I have stopped wearing clothes that match since I get to do several wardrobe changes a day. She doesn't get to wear clothes at all.

I am considering buying stock in carpet cleaner.

On Pause

I had hoped by now I would have been able to write a clever post (already had the title in my head) about how we were moving.

But it appears this is going to be the longest, slowest, most draining process ever and I might as well just blog about it half way through. The ending will be a surprise to all of us.

Rob and I have been looking at houses for some time. We were hoping to move in the spring/early summer, but said if the right house fell into our laps, we would move on it earlier than that.

Enter "The House" two weeks ago.

It is literally just down the street, and has everything we hoped for (even the stuff that was on our "joke" wish list). We loved it instantly, despite having a background than would make a convict look good (explosion, fire, jail, foreclosure.... Don't worry, it's all been rebuilt).

We had some concerns about a few structural things, but calls to an engineer told us it could be done like that, so we moved forward, made an offer, and it was accepted!

Then we had the inspection. Structural issue was still unknown after that, and one other potentially major issue popped up. Otherwise the house looked good. We were afraid the sellers wouldn't play ball about this stuff. We asked- and got radio silence for about 18 hours. We figured they were trying to get to the end of the option period and push us to either accept it or walk away. We almost walked away.

Then we get a call from the seller that he agrees there is a problem and will bring someone out to look at it and repair/replace any problems that have arisen, and will make the engineer he used available to talk about some of this stuff. He also voluntarily pushed back the option period. Sounds good, yes?

So right now, things are looking up, and maybe we will be moving. Or maybe we won't be.

In the mean time, I have no idea what to do about Drew's birthday party. We were going to do it on a Sunday afternoon, but you know when is a bad time to have a ton of people over when you are hoping for showings on your house? Sunday afternoon.

I feel like I need to keep my house relatively picked up all the time (we have a "coming soon" sign in our yard, so people are calling about our house), which is nearly impossible with 2 kiddos.

Between meetings and calls and inspections and paperwork that comes with buying and selling a house (particularly this week when we are trying to get everything in order before our option period is up) I feel like I can't commit to anything because I risk totally flaking out.

First world problem? Totally. But I am a planner and want to know if I need to plan a party here or at a park, if I should be worried about having a play date and making a mess, and if I should be mentally decorating a new house. :)

I will keep everyone informed about what happens next!

Bed head is real

Please forgive the banana.

Confessions

1. We finally had a maid come today. Rob was so excited he said it was going to "save our marriage." I hope that was more than a little dramatic. He makes it sound like he lives in a future episode of "Horders."

2. Ellie has been out of whack lately, but nothing I could really put my finger on. I chalked it up to one of those colds where they say to elevate her head and use a humidifier (I bet I have paid $140 in $20 co-pays for that medical advice), so I didn't take her to the doc until today. Where she had a 101 fever and they had to draw blood. Excellent mothering. I take my son in for every snotty nose, and when my daughter is sick, not so much.

3. Drew started school yesterday. It needs a post of its own, but the gist is he didn't miss us AT ALL and has been asking to go back all today. I am sort of insulted. And sort of relieved.

Four Months!

Dear Ellie,

Once you were four months old.  You were darling and precious and I loved you to pieces.... and that's about all I can remember since I am writing this post 3 days before you were 5 months old.  I feel like everything I could say now applies to 5 months, and not to 4.  So here are some pictures of you at 4 months.

You swung...

And played with trains...

 

 

And hung out in your high chair with an awesome case with bed head.

 



We love you Elle belle!

New Rule

I have felt convicted about my iPhone for some time. I, like so many with smart phones, have become addicted to information. At the drop of a hat I can check up on friends, read about foreign policy, and pin that nights dinner.

I look at my phone at night to wind down. I need it when I am feeding Ellie. Drew squeals with delight when he gets his hands on mine, and regularly calls the sound machine iPod "Drews phone." So. Not. Good.

I justified having it with me by saying that I would miss so many great pictures if I didn't have it, and that's true. But I am missing out on playing and interacting with my kids.

So, starting right now, the iPhone is going to stay on the kitchen counter when I am in the house. Every hour I will check for text messages and voicemails (let's be honest- I do nothing that is time sensitive- I could probably check at the end of each day and be fine, but this is a weaning process). But it will remain on the counter the other 59 minutes in that hour.

So I won't answer your phone call- but I will call you back. Non-urgent emails will be returned at the end of the day or at nap time (which is happening right now, if you are wondering). Texts might get returned every hour.

I wouldn't get to play on my phone 8 hours a day if I worked at a desk job. My job right now is to raise two little people to be kind, compassionate and contributing members of society... Probably well worth giving my full attention! ;)

Confessional

1. Apparently I only blog about confessions these days. I swear I will do E's 4 month post before she hits 5 months.

2. Drew is putting together sentences, which is great. Today I heard "mama- look!- a blue truck!" Unfortunately in his speech it comes out "mama- wook!- a boo f$@k!" I laugh every time.

3. 9 out of 10 times the truck color is NOT blue. It's just the only color name he knows. Fail.

4. While in a state of hyper today, Drew whirled around and ran straight into the corner of the door jam. He cried, but recovered quickly. I just looked at him and he has a giant blue bump on the side of his head and may have given himself a black eye. This is excellent timing with his school meet-the-teacher tomorrow. But it will be a nice addition to the cut on his chin.

5. While driving back from Houston today, Ellie screamed, squealed and hollered from Bastrop to our house. I pulled over at one point to console her-- it happened to be a Goodwill parking lot. I may or may not have considered donating her.

Confessional

1. Earlier this week I served Drew left over grilled balsamic flank steak for dinner.  He grabbed it all off his plate and handed it back to me saying "no meat, mama."  Later that night I caught him eating dog food.

2. That was not the first time this week I caught him eating dog food.

3. I took my mattress topper to the laundromat to be washed-- it had been YEARS (Gross).  Technically it said not to wash, but I decided it was cheaper to try to wash it and find out it didn't work rather than just go buy a new one.  It turned out TERRIBLY and is lumpy like you wouldn't believe.  Rob said to put it back on the bed because he thought it would calm down.  I sort of feel like I'm in the 1700's, sleeping on a mattress filled with straw.

4. Drew seems to have a blood sugar dip around 9-10 in the morning.  He gets super cranky until he has a snack.  The other day I was racing home at 10.  Ellie was crying in the back seat because she wanted to eat.  Drew needed a snack.  I ran through Shipley's on the edge of my neighborhood and got him a donut because I figured he needed the sugar spike.  Awesome parenting.

5. I've been trying to be better about cooking and eating healthy.  This week I made 100% whole wheat graham crackers for a snack.  Drew could take them or leave them, but since I have banned all sweets from our house, I am eating them by the handfuls.  Even if they are only mildly sweet and carb-y. 

6. I have had  "write Ellie's 4 month post" on my to-do list ever day since her 4 month birthday (August 5th). My computer is such a piece of junk at the moment that dealing with pictures just about shuts it down.  I think I'm going to buckle down and do it tonight.

Wednesday Confessional

Some of my friends have started posting confessions on Wednesdays and I liked the idea, so I am jumping on board. I would link to the other posts but....

1. I never get on my computer anymore, and linking back to other blogs or commenting on blogs is a pain in the rear. So I just don't do it. That is also why my last several posts have been short with just one picture-- I do it from my iPhone.

2. I consider getting chick-fil-a for lunch every single day. It works out to me actually getting it once a week. Any time a bag gets handed through my window, Drew immediately begins asking for French fries.

3. Ellie gets bathed once, maybe twice, a week. With Drew we bathed him every other day. I now realize she doesn't get that dirty and out nighttime routine is busy enough without superfluous baths. I can't wait until they can bathe together.

4. Drew burned himself on a pan fresh from the oven yesterday. To his credit, he did announce that it was "hot" first. Once he touched it he knew we weren't kidding (also, he is fine now).

5. My house is filthy. Every time I say I need to clean it, Rob tells me to get a maid. I like that idea better, so I don't clean. But I am making slow progress on the maid.

6. I have several unexplained bruises. You would think I remember what I did, but I have no idea. I probably walked into something... That seems to be a pretty regular occurrence.

Ok, 6 seems like a good start. I will start storing them up for next week!

Blessed Tacos

We ate as a family of four last night. As I told Rob, it was the first time that he have eaten when Ellie was awake that one of us wasn't holding her!

Drew enjoyed his dinner, especially the part where we held hands and prayed. About every 3 minutes he would hold out his hands and we would stop and pray again (I mean really, can you say no to a boy who wants to pray?). We might have prayed for the tortilla, the meat, the cheese, and the lettuce all in different prayers. :)

Those were some blessed tacos.

And I am one blessed mama.

Olympic Fever

Tumbling class + Olympic gymnastics = monkey

Snapshots

- I am pretty sure my name is now "no mama" instead of just "mama"

- we had 2 crimes of opportunity that did not go over well with my 21 month old. I was feeding Ellie, so he decided that would be a great time to swipe my wallet from the table. When he did that, he put the 3 ritz crackers he was holding on the floor, and Sophie saw that as her chance and moved in. His frustration led us to have a little chat about hitting the dog and the word "mine."

- since Ellie will need the high chair in a month or so, I need to transition Drew out of it. I preferred him in there because it gave me a spot to put him where I knew he was stuck, but now he can Houdini his way out and I have found him standing in it on multiple occasions. So we sat him at the big table and he pushed the entire table away, uninterested in dinner. Then he put his feet on the table. Out of frustration, we turned his chair around, facing the window. He thought that was great, and now only wants to sit in his chair and look at cars. Fail.

- the best one? Yesterday my kids played together! Sneak peek at what is to come. He was kicking a ball to her (us). I held her under the arms and swung her so she "kicked" it back. They were both dying from laughing. It made me very very happy!

Never say never.

My 3 month old has an iPhone.  Actually, it's technically registered as "Callegari Kids."  And I guess technically it's an iPod touch now.

When Ellie was born I downloaded a white noise app on my iphone, which worked like a charm.  We got to where we listened to "violet noise" all night long.  Problem was every time Ellie was asleep, my phone needed to be with her.  And did you know newborns sleep up to 18 hours a day?  That's kind of a lot of time without a phone.

So yesterday I set about cleaning off my old iphone that was sitting in a drawer, downloading the white noise app, and putting all of the kid's music on it.  In the process I managed to delete all adult music from my current iphone (imagine my surprise when my morning jog was accompanied by "the wheels on the bus"), but I think I can fix that. 

So my phone is now mine again.  Drew is welcome to mess with the other phone as much as he wants, but since it has no email contacts or phone service plan I am not concerned about him firing off gibberish or calling China.

But now I just have to shake my head at the Lindsey that said "I have no idea why people give these young children phones!  As if!"

I eat my words, world.  I'm sure it won't be the last time.

3 Months!

[Edited to add: Look at Drew and Ellie's 3 month pics side by side in the sidebar.  Think they are related? :) ]

Ellie,

You are three months old!  Rather, you were three months old 11 days ago-- I'm keeping up the trend on being late writing these posts.  I blame it on two things.  First, I have two kids under 21 months old.  Second, my computer is TERRIBLE and your dad refuses to buy me a new one because he works in computers and always knows the next greatest thing coming out and wants to wait.  At this rate, I will get a new computer never.

4th of July at the pool

Biggest change from month two to three?  You have established yourself as a TALKER.  Oh my.  I'm pretty sure you've babbled more "words" this month than your brother did before he turned one. I am mentally preparing myself for "Ellie won't stop talking during class" notes from your future teachers.  But right now, it's precious.  You will totally have conversations with me-- pausing while I talk, and then responding.  On several occasions you have woken up in the middle of the night talking (sidenote- you are moving upstairs SOON).

Solving the world's problems, I'm sure.

Otherwise, you are SO MUCH like your brother as a baby.  And the same as your brother now. You want to go to bed at 7PM and wake up at 6:00AM-- Drew's exact schedule.  It's nice from the standpoint that your dad and I have our time after 7 and can almost depend on that, but it makes it REALLY hard to get you both to bed if one of us is doing it alone.  Your happiest time is in the morning right after you get up. You take about an hour to wake up before you want to eat, and you will talk and smile for all of it.  On July 15th you slept all night (YAY), but you followed it up by waking up a couple of times the next night.  But we are getting somewhere.

I told him to "hold your hand and smile."  He did this.

This month mommy got brave and started dropping you off in childcare-- something I didn't do with Drew until he was closer to 7-8 months old.  But I have gotten used to the workers in church child care and trust them, plus I think I have come to the realization that you CAN survive time without  me.  You have also gone into childcare at the gym, where you have made quite an impression.  You were declared the "favorite" of one of the workers there.  That makes a mama feel good.

Bear sneak attack.

But along with childcare came your first cold.  Actually, you, Drew and I all had it, but you and I had it the worst.  You never had a fever but battled a stuffy nose and cough for a couple of weeks.  I knew there was nothing a doctor could do for you (see that?  I'm learning!) so we just did the whole humidifier/elevate the mattress thing.  Eventually I took you in when I could hear junk in your chest because we were going to Houston and I didn't want you to get sicker there.  The doctor said you were fine, but we weighed you while we were there- 11.4 lbs.  You are SKINNY.

You are wearing 6 month clothes, mostly because of the length.  Anything that is two pieces you really need in 3 months size because your waist is so small.  You eat 4-5 ounces every 3-4 hours.

Mama was unsure about the tutu, but has now determined it is precious.

Ellie, we love you.  This month has been great- I look forward to seeing what happens next!

Mom, Dad and Drew

She did it!!

Slept from 10:30pm - 6am!! Hallelujah!

Six.

Six years ago today a young, clueless baby [me] walked down the aisle to a slightly older clueless baby [Rob] and said "I do."

Like all couples who have never before wed, we had no idea what we were getting into.

Looking back there are 1000 things I didn't consider when I decided Rob was "the one." Luckily not one of those things has come back to bite me because, thankfully, my 23 years of wisdom, good examples and common sense told me exactly what I needed to know- our hearts were in the same place and we valued the same things. I couldn't predict what issues would (and will) arise in our marriage, but I can predict EXACTLY how Rob will react to them when they do. And that knowledge allows us to conquer everything-- as a team.

Happy "iron" anniversary to the other half of my heart. I am so happy to call you my husband.

The Gym

Today I re-joined the gym. I was a member years ago (my card says "since 2006"), but I dropped it when I got pregnant with Drew because I preferred to get fat without trying to mitigate it.

I.Am.So.Excited.

Not just because of yesterday's blog post where I mentioned I needed to get on trimming up, but because THEY OFFER TWO FREE HOURS OF CHILDCARE PER DAY! Sure, I have to have the kids on the membership ($12/month), but that's like the best deal out there.

I can go to the gym and work out.

I can go to the gym and read by the pool.

I can go to the gym and get a manicure (it has a "spa").

I can go to the gym and sit in the cafe and play on pinterest.

The possibilities are endless.

I feel like I just won the lotto.

In all honesty I will probably just drop the kids off to work out (and maybe leave Ellie in a little longer so Drew and I can swim when I am done), but just knowing I can go up there and drop them off on a day when I really need a break is precious.

If nothing else my mental health is looking up already.

Now to work on my waistline.

A whole lot of randomness

I want you all to know that I compose about 4 blog post daily-- in my head. Only a few of them make it to "paper."  Here are bits and pieces of some of the most recent ones, in list form.

1. I left Ellie in the church nursery the other day while I had my MOPS leadership meeting.  It was a spur of the moment decision, so I didn't have things organized the way I normally would have.  When I came back to pick her up they informed me that when they went through the diaper bag the diapers they found were a little big, but it was all they could find in the moment.  After they got it on her they found hers and realized she was wearing one of Drew's size 4s.  I'm pretty sure I could have changed her a week later and it would have been fine.

2. I've taken to bribing myself to exercise.  About three weeks after I gave birth people kept telling me "you look great!" Music to a new mother's ears.  Problem is my kiddo will be 3 months old on Thursday and weight loss stalled about the 4 week mark.  So the new rules- NO coffee unless I run/walk in the morning first.  And NO wine at night unless I do some sort of ab workout during the day.  Problem is none of these "rules" prevent me from picking at the pan of brownies on the counter like I have been doing all day.

3. Ellie needs to move upstairs to sleep.  She's just too aware of her surroundings now, and will wake up when Rob and I come in our room to get ready for bed.  I have no idea how that will work with Drew being upstairs.  We could be in for some long nights ahead.

4. I'm stumped on potty training.  Drew totally gets it.  He can make himself pee on command (ALL boy!).  He wants to use the potty.  I actually went and bought a jar of M&M's to use as rewards for when he uses the potty, and I think he has the type of personality that will transition easily with the M&M reward (the kid dropped the paci and went to whole milk with no problems at all).  I'm just not sure I'm ready to do it.  I know once I start I can't go back.  There will never be a good time, will there?

These are the days of [my] [life]. Exciting, yes?

Pinterest Pressure (and potty training!)

Back in the day it was peer pressure. But since my "peers" these days are two under two and one on four legs, I am not quite feeling it anymore.

But Pinterest... Oh my. It's like a glimpse into all the mothering that other people are doing that is better than what I am doing (Dear PBS, I love you.)

A while back I started pinning ideas for the summer. Last summer Drew was content to sit on a blanket and stare at his toys. Occasionally we would go for a walk. As he got bigger we got involved in more things which was great until EVERYTHING took a summer break. So my pinterest ideas were going to fill the time.

That is why I sat my son down with a pan of jello, a toddler knife, a cookie cutter and some penne pasta and let him go to town. Totally entertained him for 20-30 minutes. Win.

I write this from atop the toilet seat where I am supervising an impromptu bath to remove the jello. Thus making the total time for this activity over an hour. TOTAL WIN.

Update- I had to stop posting because my kiddo told me he needed to poop, so we went ahead and did that on t potty. Since we don't have a baby book, I need to note that here. :)

2 Months!

Sweet E, you are two months old!

You bring a new picture to the word "string bean."  At your two  month check you were in the 90th percentile for height.... and the 15th for weight.  No wonder all your dresses are mini skirts!  The doctor said you were tracking well and definitely knew what direction my voice was coming from.  The only one not doing so well was me.... apparently I hold you in my left arm so much (so I can mess with your brother and do things with my dominate right hand) that your head is getting a little misshapen. What IS it with my kids and head shapes?

Your brother thinks you hung the moon.  If I don't take you up there with me when I go get him up, he asks for you and I have to come get you.  He wants you in his crib, where he will cover you with a blanket and kiss you on the head.  Precious.  I'm not sure if he is getting gentler, you are getting bigger, or I am more trusting, but I am letting him get closer and closer to you without fear of a trip to the ER.

I love this picture- I wish your brother wasn't sick!

You are an incredibly easy baby, and for that I am very very thankful.  You have been going to church and bible study with me from week 3.  If we want to go out to eat or take Drew somewhere (like the zoo), we just load you up and you come with us with no complaints.  You have been to Houston twice (once where I was alone driving you, Drew and Sophie)-- road trips don't seem to phase you either.

You attended a baby shower.  You would have preferred this iced sugar cookie bottle over your own, I assure you.

Your 7-9 witching hour has turned into a bedtime.  By 7:30 you are ready to be put down and left alone.  You usually spit your pacifier out a couple of times and we have to come in and give it back once or twice, but then you are out.  Your dad and I are enjoying eating dinner with both hands again.  Last night (10 weeks, 1 day) you slept from 9:30 to 4:15.  If we could get to where we fed you at 10:30 and 5:30 I would be so very happy.  We are getting there.

We just moved you to a level 3 bottle nipple, which I think is technically for 6 month olds.  You just weren't eating and it seemed to me like you were getting bored before you finished anything.  You were already at a 2, so I just decided to try the three and knew we would stop immediately if it looked like you were having any trouble.  From that point on you have been finishing 4 ounces at almost every feeding with no trouble.  I think this change will help with both sleep and weight gain.

Playdate!  Pretty easy at this age....

You are doing well with head strength and look like you might be getting close to rolling over.  I catch you flipped to your side pretty often, so one more little push and you are going to be on your stomach.  You love to smile when you are being entertained (which is a need more and more often now).

We love you, Elle belle.  Couldn't imagine our lives without you!

Random bits of nothingness

1. I have forgotten my google password, which is problematic when EVERYTHING is attached to google. The last time I forgot I changed it, then the next time I went to sign in I remembered the old password. Now I remember the old password, but they won't let me change it back and I can't remember the new one. I keep wiring blog comments and then I abort that when they ask me to sign in.

2. If you have a toddler, look at www.twitter.com/honesttoddler . Cracks me up.

3. If you have a kid of any age that needs entertaining, produciveparenting.com will send you and age specific activity every day. Some i have gotten are good (shoe matching), some are over the top (take a 2x4 and some scrap carpet and make a balance beam. Yeah right). But my child must be entertained or he goes into destructive mode.

I will post an actual blog post with pictures when I remember my google password and can sign in on the computer.... Pray for me.

Drew isms

Conversation from today:

D: "down!" (point at Ellie's crib)
L: "You want me to put Ellie down?"
D: "Yes." "Up."
L: "You want me to pick you up?"
D: "Yes." "apple"
L: "you want an apple?"
D: (big smile, nodding) "Yes!"
L: "I am glad we had this conversation!"

And in other, less endearing moments, he crawled on the dining room table to get to Ellie in her bouncy seat. When I told him to get down, he hid behind the the infant car seat which was also up there. And looked sheepish when I "found" him and made him get down.

In the bath he was using two toys and splashing water all over the place. I asked him to stop twice. We have a "three strikes and you are out" rule, so the third time I asked him to stop I touched his face and told him if he didn't stop I was going to take the toys away. He paused, sized me up, started grinning, and did exactly what he was doing, but vvvveeerrryyy slowly-- like I might not notice.

He lost the toys anyway.

And I laughed.

Stinker.

Various Updates

1. I am almost afraid to say this, but I think we may have broken Drew of the pacifier!  He has gone to sleep the last 4 nights without it in his crib or even asking for it.  I hesitate to celebrate yet, since Ellie has one and I know he will bring it up again, but after fighting through it for a week we aren't giving it back.

2.  I saw my boy getting older before my very eyes, but in the last few days the toddler "switch" flipped.  I knew we were there when instead of chatter over the monitor in the early morning, I started hearing "no... no.... no...."  Drew always used to want what we were drinking so we would pour some in his sippy cup-- now the ONLY thing that makes him happy is having the actual cup, the bigger the better.  And when I tried to discipline him for hitting me today, he just laughed.  Thank goodness he is generally pretty good and cute.

3. Drew's two newest words are "TV" and "remote."  Whoops.  He can also open up the iphone, find the picture icon, and scroll through the pictures.  He believes every screen is a touch screen, and can often be found touching the "NBC" icon on the bottom of the screen on the TV and telling us "uh oh" when nothing happens.

4. Ellie is still a doll- doing great with the sleeping, and tipping the scales at over 10 lbs!  She is an amazingly loud sleeper, so I'm thisclose to moving her to her own room.

The WRONG Choice

Not sure if I have mentioned it on here, but Drew has had somewhere upwards of a billion ear infections.  Apparently there is a genetic component to them, so Drew, when you read this in 15 years, go thank your father.

Anyway, I've gotten good at noticing the "signs" for Drew.  Many kids pull on their ears and sleep terribly.  Not my son.  He just starts oozing green from his eyes and nose.  I was seeing all that last weekend when we were in Houston, so I took him to the doctor when we got home.  She said he had the very, very beginnings of an ear infection in one ear.  She prescribed an antibiotic (his 4th in 5 months), but said we may be able to treat the eyes and ears and hold off on the meds to let his body fight off this early, easy infection.  Sounded good to me.

And it looked like it was working.  His eyes cleared up and we didn't see any more snot.  I was pretty happy with my decision.  Saturday the kid slept until 8AM.  I sent up a silent prayer of thanks for letting him do that on a weekend before I went to get him..... and realized he was burning up.

He was pretty puny all day Saturday, but I knew we had a big problem when he sat on the couch with me for almost 2 hours watching the Preakness and didn't even move.  Then we moved to my bed, where we watched even more TV and snuggled.  Drew is NOT a snugly kid. I was thankful to have a prescription to fill to get this under control.

He didn't want to take a bath, but went down normally that night.  Rob went up to check on him, touched his cheek, and he was burning up.  We woke up Drew, took his temp, and it was 104.2 in his ear and 103.3 rectally.  I went to call the doc while Rob commenced sponging him off with cold water.

The nurse call line at Seton Hospital agreed that this was probably just the infection, and said we didn't need to go to the ER unless it got to 105.  By Sunday morning his fever had come down and he was acting happier, but he still didn't want to eat.  Then we had a repeat performance on Sunday afternoon and evening- lots of cartoons in bed and a 103.3 degree fever.  He isn't running a fever as a write this, so I'm hoping the antibiotics have had time to kick in and we might be winning the battle against the ear infection.

So I have learned not to mess with Drew's ears.  Even though I would like to keep him off medicine if at all possible, if there is ANY sign of an infection we are going to fill that prescription and start it ASAP. The last couple of days have been rough!

Willpower

I snipped the end of Drew's pacifier today.

I have officially lost my mind.

But the pediatrician said it was easier to do before 18 months (hey, we are close) and I am up all night now anyway, so if he wakes me up crying tonight it won't really be any different.

When I gave it to him he took it right. back out of his mouth and said "uh oh" then asked for "more.". He knew it was broken.

It took him about 20 minutes to go to sleep tonight, which isn't too bad. But depending on how rough the next couple of days are, he may end up getting a good one back. I hope not, but mama can only handle so much crying....

Dear Mailman,

You remember last Wednesday when I opened the door holding a baby wearing a floral dress and you (a) asked if it was mine (??) and then(b) proclaimed her "a little boy" (?? Floral?  Dress?).  I was a little annoyed with you at that point.

But today, when you came to my door and RANG THE DOORBELL just minutes after both my kids fell asleep and woke them both up, well, you are taking your life into your own hands.  Exhausted mamas of two cannot be held responsible for what might happen next.

Lindsey

Ellie- One Month

Precious Ellie,

You are (over) one month old!  It is amazing how quickly the time has gone.

You are so very much like your brother.  I'm told you look alike (just like your daddy), although we are confused because you look very much like me as a baby.  So who knows what you will turn out looking like.  Right now you have olive skin (that won't change) and dark hair, so you resemble me more.  But Drew had dark hair when he was born, then it all fell out and came back blonde.  Your slate grey eyes are turning bluer now, so maybe they will stay that way.  You DEFINITELY have my fingers.  Your grandmother always says the first things she noticed when I was born was how long my fingers were.  It was the first thing I noticed about you as well.

You are a string bean just like your brother.  You are in the 75% for height, and the 25% for weight.  This causes all of your dresses to be mini-dresses and the bloomers slide right off.  I may have to invest in some leggings for you.

Not a fan of the big bow.

You will tolerate this one....

Our biggest accomplishment this month is keeping you from being squished by your brother.  Ellie, he adores you.  When he says your name it comes out more like "Ella," but he has "sister" down pretty well and will call you that.  If you are laying on the floor on a blanket, he will cuddle up next to you and tell you night-night.  He can scale the side of your pack-n-play so he can peak in on you.  He happily shares cups of water, pacifiers, and whatever else he has.  However, he has no concept of "gentle" or "don't touch her head."  So I do a lot of protecting you.  But I love seeing how much he loves you.

You fell right into our routine, as I am told second children tend to do.  We all wake up at 7- you included.  Even if you aren't hungry right then, you start to stir and come sit with us in the kitchen while we get your brother breakfast.  You will kick out and really SLEEP if you are in your bed in my room, but otherwise you are mostly awake.  So I have been lucky enough to be able to put you and Drew down at the same time twice a day, and you will usually sleep.  So I get 2-3 hours a day where I can do stuff around the house.  Thank you, love. 

You also sleep very well in MY bed.  My spot, specifically.

We've taken you to sit-down restaurants, church, MOPS and bible study-- places we didn't even ATTEMPT with Drew for months.  Last week I changed your diaper right as the sermon started, carried you in to the sanctuary, and you sat awake and listened to the ENTIRE sermon on Esther without so much as a peep.  I was impressed- your dad, however, sat on the edge of his seat the entire time, nervous that we would have to run from the room at any moment.

First Outing. Mexican Food. Naturally.

Sophie shows almost no interest in you and wasn't phased at all when we brought you home from the hospital.  I think she knows your brother and his crackers are her meal ticket, so she doesn't bother keeping up with you yet, but I'm sure the time is coming.  I do think she is used to that particular "infant cry" again.  The first couple of weeks we would find her in Drew's room every morning, presumably trying to get away from the cry.  But last night she got up with me to make bottles and feed you every time.  I bet it doesn't take long for a bond to develop there.

Anneliese Corrinne, we love you.  We can't wait to watch you grow up!

Mom and Dad

"I deed it!"

Drew's current favorite phrase is "I deed (did) it!" He uses that phrase for everything, including things he did not do.

I punch the remote and the TV comes on. "I deed it!"

I walk into a room and flip on the lights. "I deed it!"

But tonight, he did do it! The kid peed in the potty. And I think Rob and I actually scared him with our excessive celebration. Now I am scouring amazon for books about various creatures using the potty.

My how life has changed.

So, send me recs on potty books. Also, send me recs on "how to discipline a toddler" books. Someone's new favorite word is "No!"

Drew- 18 months

Sweet D,

These last couple of months have been CRAZY in terms of learning and speaking and exploring and generally being a boy.  I've sat down to write this post about 14 times, but I never finish it and by the time I go back you have done 15 new things that need to be recorded.  I was going to use this post and just update it, but I realize that two weeks have gone by, and it is woefully out of date.  So I'll start over.

The biggest thing that happened for you recently is becoming a big brother.  It was a rough start-- you weren't so sure you liked this new thing, and in fact cried when she did.  But you quickly learned to love her.  The voice and tone that you use when you tell her "hiiiiii" melts my heart.  You try to share you water and your cheerios and your paci, and as much as it scares me right now, I hope it sticks when you get older.  You want to lay with your sister on the floor and really want to hold her (I had a heart stopping moment where you tried to take her out of the swing).

"Hiiiiiiiii"

"Crying huh?  Need a paci?  I happen to have an extra on hand."

As much as you like your sister as a whole, you still have your moments when you realize that you want me to hold you, but my arms are occupied by your sister.  We taught you tell Sophie to "drop!" the ball when you want to throw it for her.  You have translated that and will not point at Ellie's swing or bouncy chair and ask me to "drop!" her so I can pick you up.  Cracks me up.
The doctor says you are ahead verbally (yay!  Because you are in the 10.98% for weight.... we need to be ahead somewhere!).  You have a ton of words, and seem to average about 1 new one a day.  Today it was "blueberries."  It came out sounding like "blu-blus" but I actually realized what you were asking for.  There are a lot of things you are trying to say to me, but I'm not figuring out yet.  You will repeat the exact same sounds several times and then start asking "please.... please.... please."  It makes me so sad that I can't figure out what you are asking for so politely.  I remember going through this with you a few months ago.

At this point in time, there is no place in our house that is safe from you.  You can climb chairs to get onto tables and counters.  You can climb the ottoman to get on our bed.  You are tall enough to swipe things from tables and counters and open doors.  One day while we were sleeping we put some toddler-proof door handle covers on.  For several days you pointed at them and said "uh-oh!," like it was a mistake that they were there-- let me assure you, it is not.  However you are also small enough to fit under your crib, behind toilets, and between the washer and dryer.  Literally, no place is safe.

I had to pull you out from under here.....

We bought you a potty right after Ellie was born because you were telling us when you had to go/went "boo-boo."  The first day it was scary.  Ever since then you LOVE it, to the point of not wanting to get in the bathtub some nights.  We have yet to have a successful attempt at pottying on the potty, but I assure you that when you do, your parents are going to make the biggest stinking deal of it ever.  Right now we are not trying to potty train at all, but the doctor said you would show interest between now and when you were two, so I guess I need to figure that out.

You are a mimic, and watch (and repeat) everything we do.  You brush your hair, talk on the "phone," type on your computer and even throw things away (nothing important....yet).  One day you watched me put medicine in the dog's ear-- and then did it too.

You want to eat everything we eat, and just as we eat it.  You have recently begun to like raw veggies when you can dip them in ranch dressing or hummus.  You love Mexican food (good man!).  You hate veggies in a solid form, but will ask for "eggies" that come in a squeeze packet. 

Yep, we let our kid eat queso with a knife for lunch.

Drew, you are my absolute sunshine.  You keep me laughing and guessing and challenged, and there is never a dull moment.  Watching you grow up is the highlight of my life.  Never change, little man.

Bad pic of mom 36.5 weeks pregnant, but I loved your face in this picture.

Love, Mom and Dad

This was just a practice, but your dad was so happy to finally take his boy to watch UT Football.

I am, in fact, still alive

Yes, I realize my last post was April 23rd. 

Having two kids has not killed me.  It has, however, given me very little time to sit down and write a blog.  Ellie has a witching hour that starts at 7 and lasts until 9:30 or 10.  I should note, Drew goes to bed at 7, so this is less than excellent timing.  So one of us has to hold her for 3 hours.  And several times this week Rob had conference calls at night, so I was holding her.  When she goes to sleep, I do to.  Then Drew wakes up around 6:45, and the day begins.

What I'm saying is there are about 45 minutes in my day where both kids are asleep and I'm not asleep as well (RIGHT NOW). 

I need to do a Drew- 18  month post (he is closer to 19 months at this point) and an Ellie- 1 month post (tomorrow).  Hopefully it happens sooner rather than later.  If you get lucky, I might even import a picture or two.  Maybe.

Because not enough is going on

We bought this little item this weekend.



Not that we are really starting to potty train, but since he can now tell us when he is poopy (and sometimes tell us BEFORE he is poopy), I figured we could start spending a few minutes on the potty before bath time.

At first he was scared to sit on it. Now it is his preferred place for catching up on the classics.

Runway

I need a short runway.

I figured that out in the shower the other day. I don't make unresearched decisions, but once I set my mind on something I am quick to make a plan and to carry it out. I don't dawdle. If the plan doesn't work, I chart a new course and try again. But I am not one to need a lot of hand holding.

Rob took a week off when Ellie was born, and then my mom stayed last week. And as much as I loved having their help, I am anxious to figure out how I am going to make my life work. Maybe this "runway" into being a mom of two kids has been too long.

Tomorrow I am on my own. Rob is nearby and can come home if I drown, but I won't. I will set a plan and if it doesn't work, I will try something new on Tuesday. My kids will be fed and changed. If all works out, I may even get a shower. Someone might not be attended to as quickly as they would like, but no one is going to die.

I am not the first person to have two kids.

I can do this.




Right?

:)

Melt my heart

Ellie's Birth Story

A few days old.  10PM.  Not tired AT ALL.

Thursday morning I woke up having contractions that were about 12 minutes apart-  And then they stopped.  Totally.  Rob came home around 1 to watch Drew while I went to my regularly scheduled doctors appointment.

I told the nurse practitioner about the contractions that morning, and after she did an exam she told me she thought I would go into labor in the next 24 hours.  I.  Was.  Thrilled.  I called my parents on the way home and they decided to go ahead and drive up that afternoon so they would be here in case I went into labor in the middle of the night.

Meanwhile, I went home feeling nothing.   No contractions whatsoever.  She had said 24 hours, right?  Around 3:30 I noticed some sporadic contractions.  By 4:30 they were about 12 minutes apart again.  Anxious to not repeat the morning, Rob, Drew, Sophie and I packed up and went on a walk.  BOOM.  Contractions went from 12 minutes apart to 6 minutes apart instantly and HURT.  Not sure what happened to 11, 10, 9, 8, or 7 minutes.  Those warnings would have been useful. 

About 5:30 I called the doctor and told her what was going on.  She suggested that if I wanted an epidural I should start to head to the hospital. We called my parents, who had just gotten into Austin, but were stuck in rush hour traffic.  Vicki was driving from Westlake, also stuck in traffic.  Austin (Rob's brother) was coming from ACC and was actually the closest.  We were just waiting for someone to get her to keep Drew.  Meanwhile the contractions were coming faster and hurt more.  I think I looked at Rob at that point and said "we've missed the epidural."

Austin and my parents arrived at almost the same time, so after a hurried hello to them and goodbye to Drew, we ran out the door.  Rob jokes he was happy he didn't have to deliver a baby on the flyover to Mopac.  I am too.

We got to the hospital about 6:00.  Since I hadn't been seen by a doctor, they put me in a triage room to assess whether I was really in labor.  It felt like it took 3 hours for someone to come in and check, but I bet it was closer to 15 minutes.  I knew we were in trouble when she said "you didn't want an epidural, did you?"  When I responded I did, she said "we will see."  It was never mentioned again.

They went to move me to a labor and delivery room.  I told them I could walk, but once they saw what a slow process that was going to be they threw me in a wheelchair and ran me down into an open room.  A nurse was in there waiting for me, already wearing the hairnet they put on to be sterile when the baby was born.  She was having me answer questions at the speed of light (I was screaming answers at her between contractions) while another nurse started an IV, set up the baby portion of the room, and set up the sterile table. 

The nurse then let me know that the doctor who was on call that evening from my practice was in doing a c-section, and they weren't sure she would get here in time.  They were frantically looking for the "hospital doctor," which I think is just a jack-of-all-trades with an MD, since someone had to deliver this baby.  He came in and we were introduced, but he was quickly replaced by the bewildered on-call doctor.  She was shocked when she walked out of surgery and they told her the lady in room 10 was ready to push.  There wasn't a lady in room 10 when she went into surgery.

Dr. Colins came in, introduced herself, and sat on the end of my bed.  That was when I realized this was going to be 100x different than having Drew, and not just because of the lack of the epidural.  There were about 14 people buzzing around my room when Drew was born doing all sorts of things.  There were bright lights and they were ripping the bed apart before I delivered.  There was a doctor and two nurses (and Rob) in the room right now.  No one seemed rushed.  There were no bright lights and my bed stayed in tact.  I have NO IDEA why it was so different.  Maybe there just weren't 14 spare people around the hospital right then?  Maybe they were trying to keep the screaming banshee as calm as possible?  Maybe that is how Dr. Colins prefers to deliver?

Regardless, I told them I wanted to push.  After the first contraction they told me that I really needed to funnel the energy that was coming out of my mouth as a blood curdling scream into the push.  Ok. Done.  On the second push they broke my water (which made the contraction feel a lot better- why didn't we do that sooner?).  On the third push, she was out.  The quick pushing was a gift from God- I really don't know how I could have done that for much longer. 

She cried some, but Ellie came out completely alert (maybe she was wondering who this hollering woman was?).  They weighed her and wrapped her up, but no one was in any rush.  Rob held her and showed her to me for quite awhile (I was completely shaking,  which they say is normal and due the rush of hormones.  But I wasn't sure I could keep a grip on her). 

All in all, we walked into the hospital at 6:30 and she was born at 7:51.  By 10:00 I was in the postpartum wing.

friend, though. :)

So now she is here and is perfect and lovely.  I have a lot of posts to write, but seeing as this one took 3 days to compose between dealing with children, it may take some time!

Happy Birthday Ellie

Anneliese Corrinne Callegari. Born 4/5/2012. Accidental natural childbirth. :) Birth story to come.

An Open Letter to Ellie

Hey Ellie Belle!

It's me, your mama.  I'm the one that has been hosting you in my stomach for the better part of 10 months.  I thought we should have a quick chat.

The doctors say you are set and can come out any day that you wish.  Your current home is getting a bit snug, and I'm having some issues even just looking at my belly these days- it looks like it should hurt.  And I'm gonna be honest, mama is starting to really want some red wine and is starting to think about getting into the white jeans she bought last summer.

So I thought I would alleviate some of the concerns that might be keeping you in.

1. It's April 3rd.  You made it to April.  So your birthstone will now be the diamond, which has to be one of the best options out there.  I'm pretty sure you don't have a calendar in there, so I thought I would let you know the date.
2. Your brother has had an ear infection the last several days which has made him crankier than normal.  He is generally a very sweet, loving and fun boy.  I know your hearing has gotten a lot better in recent weeks, so don't let his crying scare you.
3. Your dad is really anxious to meet you.  I've never seen a grown man ooh and ahh over baby girl clothes like he is doing.  He'd like to meet you, please.
4. Speaking of clothes, you have a closet full of adorable stuff and a super cute bedroom made with love by your grandmother (who still will not pick a grandmother name).  You are set, baby girl!
5. The birthing process really isn't that bad.  I promise, I've never meet a single person who can remember their own birth.  It will be a little rougher on me (and I'll remember), but I'm willing to put that aside. 

So, Miss E, how about it?  Exit today?

With Love,
Mama

What I did......

I left him with the employee. And since I haven't posted about my missing son, everything was fine.

I really felt like I had 1 minute to make a decision. But he was on the curb with the lady (I could see him the whole time) and I wasn't getting any strange vibes from her. Plus, let's be honest, the population of people who DON'T take children is greater than the population who does. Thank God.

Plus (facts omitted from the original story) the other lady left her daughter with the woman to move her car also. That little girl was 4 or 5, so I figured she could protest for both of them if something were to go strange.

I guess sometimes you just have to trust people, even in a world where people seem to be getting generally less trustworthy.

Not that i plan to leave my child in the care of store employees in the future.

WWYHD?

Ok, I found myself in a pickle with no time to make a decision.... Wondered what others would do.

D and I finished grocery shopping at HEB when an employee asked if we were going right or left out the doors. I told her right, and she said there was a large bee hive with swarming bees in one of the trees to the right- she would walk out with me to show me where it was.

As luck would have it, my super close parking spot was right under what was a huge beehive with a black swarm of angry bees. I have a baby and 7 bags of groceries that need to go in my car before I can leave. Now what?

The employee offers to watch my cart (with D in it) so I can jump in my car and bring it to the doors to load and not risk D getting stung (this woman had been).

So what would you have done? Risk yourself and your child? Leave baby with a stranger on the curb? Some other option i didn't think quick enough to come up with? I will report back later with what I did. :)

The Waiting Game

Well, little miss is officially later than her brother, much to my chagrin (not that I really wanted an April Fools baby, but.....)

I am making progress and have had some pretty good contractions, so I am hopeful it may be this week. When I saw the doctor last Thursday she was reminding me about when to call, what to take to L&D and saying "we may not see you next appointment." Not sure if she was being nice or using her background to say her experience said I was on the right track.

Today's only plan is to go to the grocery store. Then I may throw D in the stroller and walk for as long as he will let me. I am not above (naturally) forcing this child out at this point!

Who needs sleep? (T- Minus 1 month)

I am less than a month away from my due date (and 9 days from the time Drew was born), and getting about 4 hours of fractured sleep each night. Not good. Last night I woke up around midnight to feel a little girl doing MMA in my stomach for about an hour (and also a pounding headache). I truly worry she is trying to bust her way out through my belly button.

On the up side, I am much more ready for this wee one having already done it once! Since D was early, I am at least planning that she could be that early so I won't be taken by surprise. The infant carseat is out and has been washed. The little bottles are in the cabinet. There are tiny diapers in my bedroom. Her room is pretty close to all set. All we need is the baby!! And a good nights sleep!!!

Funniest Conversation Yet

Rob: "Drew, who do you like best- mama or dada?"
Drew: "mama"
Rob: "Drew, who do you like second best- mama or dada"
Drew: "good girl" (Sophie)

Sorry dada- apparently he went for the the option you didn't give him.

Bathroom Remodel Reveal

I mentioned in a post last month that our horribly outdated bathroom was going to be updated.  It was supposed to be a 3 day job.  Well, true to most contractors form, it took closer to three weeks.  But it's done.

I almost feel bad showing the reveal photos, since it seems to go with general "reveal" photos.  You know the ones- the makeover photos where the women aren't smiling or wearing makeup and are being photographed wearing the worst color for them in the worst possible lighting.  Cue the makeover- now they are made up, dressed nicely, smiling and in great light.  How much of that reveal is really the makeover?

But whatever, here it is.

I have some Etsy artwork to add, but otherwise I'm pretty happy with how my guest/kids bathroom turned out!