1 day done - the rest of her life to go ...

The big girl went the entire day with a dry diaper (except after nap and there wasn't much in the diaper).  I am SO proud of her!  I think having a team effort between the hubs and myself REALLY helped.  I also set up a chart in the bathroom that she gets to mark if she does everything.  She frequently asks to go make marks and we tell her she has to do the steps first and she gladly does them.  As I mentioned earlier, I am VERY proud of her.  Hopefully we can go the rest of the weekend with the same success.

Oh, update on the BG4.0 as an overnight diaper for her - it worked like a charm.  There was nothing even close to a leak.  The inserts we soaked, but that's supposed to happen.  As I mentioned before I used a BG microfiber insert and then I added a gdiapers hemp insert as a doubler.  She is a flipper, tosser, turner, you name it she moves it while she sleeps too!  I'm very happy with the results.  Hopefully we won't have to use them for much longer though.  I'm crossing my fingers that this potty training thing is successful this time. 

There IS a reason (update on Monster post)

Makena is teething.  That explains sooooo much when it comes to her attitude lately.  I didn't even think about checking that until Christin mentioned that Ava was teething.  I then thought, hmmm, Makena has been awfully cranky and touchy lately - I should check ....

Sure enough - the top two 2 year molars have popped through halfway.  Hopefully it will only be another week before they are all the way in and the grumpy monster exits our house!

Just another GAME day!

For those of you that don't know, Makena LOVES games.  We play all of them several times a day.  Her new favorite is the "Busytown" game.  She got from Grandma and Grandpa for Christmas.

The new favorite game

Of course her old favorite the "Butterfly Game" (Elefun) is a close second.  I think we played both twice before lunch.  The Busytown one is fun because she gets to look all over a 6 foot long game board for various objects.  We don't play it that way you're supposed to, but she has fun.  We've also played Preschool I Spy, Memory, Old McDonald, and some others today.

Today we've also played barbies and dress up.  She put on the Pinkalicious (her favorite book character) dress and it puked glitter all over my basement.  She loved it.  She also put on a furry shawl and fur trimmed gloves with it.  It was quite the look.  I didn't have the camera, so I couldn't take a picture.  I didn't want to ruin the fun by going to grab it.

Makena's favorite book

I was even able to sneak out of the house this morning (during Elmo's World) to shovel the fire hydrant out.  I saw how nicely Christin and Tony's looked so I had to copy.  Of course got lazy and didn't use my snow blower but that's because after I started I realized it wasn't about looking pretty but being safe. So I shoveled it out and went back inside.  I think it took me about 5 minutes.

Matthew seems to be grumpy off and on today.  I'm sure it's from yesterdays shots.  Hopefully he will be back to himself by tomorrow.

Hopefully we have as much fun this afternoon as we did this morning!

What a monster (and not in a good way)

We started our day with doctor appointments for Matthew and myself.  Of course Makena had to come as well.  We got there the recommended 15 minutes early then sat there until 10 minutes past our appointment time.  While waiting Makena and I played a tickle game, watched Spongebob on the tv in the waiting room, and chatted.  Once we were called back I started the dvd player for Makena.  She just sat in the chair and watched Blues Clues.

Matthew was a whopping 14 pounds 61/2 ounces (98th percentile).  He is 24 inches long (90th) and his head is ... I don't remember but it's the 56th percentile.  By the time we were done with Matthew, Makena was losing her patience.  Uh oh.  I then had my appointment.  After I was done Matthew got his shots then we went to the lab to get my blood drawn for a thyroid level check (it needs to be checked every year and after having a baby).  Makena did pretty good and I was impressed.

The event AFTER the doctor - not so impressive.  We went out to eat with the gals at Perkins.  She was a nightmare.  Probably because I woke her up walking into the restaurant.  She was also really hungry.  So tired + hungry = nightmare child.  It didn't help that she threw her snack on the floor of the doctor's office, so we didn't have that.  ugh. After the pancakes she was a little better, but not great.  I rushed out of there and on the way home she was asking for a nap.  Thank goodness.  We're going on over 2 hours of her sleeping right now. I'm loving it.  I SHOULD wake her up since she has to go to bed in 2 hours, but I don't want to.  

Pics from lunch: (Makena took all of them except the first one)

I typed too soon, she's up now!  Write more another day.

Christmas Re-cap

Whew, what a whirlwind!  We had a fun Christmas at home and up at my in-laws.

The evening of the 23rd, Makena was allowed to open her presents from us.  She got some new pjs, an ants in the pants game, food for her kitchen, and a little people play set.  The next day she took a bath and we headed up to Grandma and Grandpa's.  Once there we played and played and played. Grandma had bought some barbies to keep up there and Makena loved them! She was so excited to get to go up there and now I understand why - different toys!

Let me tell you about packing for up there though ... not easy with a newborn and a 2 year old.  It was just starting to get easy with packing up Makena because she doesn't need much, the BAM new baby and we start the packing of the whole house process again.  It really wasn't THAT bad, but just not as easy as it was.  I was able to get all 4 of us packed into one suitcase.  Of course we had a bunch of other things to pack: presents, dog stuff, dogs, milk, computer, etc etc etc.

On Christmas morning we got all dressed up in our Christmas garb and we were ready to have a fun day of seeing the entire family!  Of course I was TERRIBLE about taking pictures this year.  I think I only got a couple of Matthew and a few of Makena.  It's just a lot harder to manage a camera plus feed/hold a newborn.  I'm sure the family understands.  The day was filled with lots of presents for all.

Matthew's thoughts of Christmas:

Braden is VERY excited to get the Star Wars Guess Who game!

My little fashionista:

Still loving Christmas, huh Matthew?

Makena REALLY wanted to play play-dough right then and there

 More presents:

Toy chest of dress up clothes:

 bwah hahahahaha

The spread:

She ate so nicely at the table ...... or not

Makena was also able to play with her cousins.  Her favorite right now is Maddi.  I think it's because she was allowed to play her DSi and there was a zhu zhu pet game in it.  Maddi also sat by her and helped her play it.  It was SO cute. She had more fun playing with that one than she does with mine.  Probably because I don't have any kid games.

I got to partake in the kid fun when they all wanted to go outside.  After the older kids were all bundled and out the door Makena asked to go out.  Good thing I brought her snow stuff with.  We went sledding, swung on the swings, and smashed snow balls.  Once again she had a ton of fun with Maddi.  Maddi brought her down in the sled with her, made snow balls for her to smash, and even threw snow up in the air so it was "snowing".  It was so fun to watch and hear them laughing together.  I'll also have to say that when the kids were inside they were fairly quiet and they were all very good with one another.  It was such a nice break from the usual.  The meal consisted of appetizers and it was wonderful. I was able to take just what I wanted and not feel guilty!!

Once we got home Saturday night we unpacked while the kids slept. And I thought packing was bad ... there was SO much new stuff, I just didn't know what to do with it all.  I spent 2 hours unpack-aging all the new toys.  Those things are locked up tighter than a prison.

Sunday I spent most of my time playing with the new toys.  After Makena went to bed I rearranged the play room to fit the new toy chest (that Grandpa made) filled with dress up clothes.  I also added all the dolls and their clothes to the chest.  There is still room to spare!  I also packed up some of the older toys and re-arranged the play room closet so we could fit all of her new (and old) games into it.

I got to test drive the new layout today.  I like it, Makena didn't seem to care and Matthew REALLY didn't care.  It was a LOT easier to play games though.  I didn't have to try to dig them out from the cupboard behind the bar.  I still have all of her craft things in that cupboard, but once we put shelves in the closet, I hope to move those items as well.  It will be crazy having all that space back.

Merry Christmas!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

We're at my in-laws enjoying the evening.  Tomorrow we will have our Christmas celebration, then we're headed home.

On the drive up Makena got to watch The Little Mermaid.  It's her favorite movie.  She watches it every day.  It was truly the best drive up, as far as her behavior, that we've ever experienced.  It was so nice.

We had a little incident at nap time.  Makena pooed in her diaper (she WAS doing so well for so long with going in the potty) and then it created a gap in the diaper which led to pee everywhere.  So we are washing her clothes and bedding.  I brought an extra outfit for Matthew, but didn't think I'd need one for Makena so .... she's been in her pj's since 3:30.  hahaha  She ended up eating her supper in her pjs so now her pj shirt is all dirty too.  sigh.  Kids are just so messy.

We have also played barbies and colored pictures of Santa for Grandma and Grandpa.  Matthew has eaten way too much and slept.  Yep, that sums up his ENTIRE day. (and pretty much every day)

Our evening plans: read books, play with toys, and read books.  Makena is only up until 7, so only an hour left for her!

Salt ....

Who knew that I subconsciously hated salt so much?  I made a batch of cookies today and forgot the salt again.  Go figure.  Christin says she can't tell, but I don't know ... I think she's too nice to say anything. Oh WAIT - no she's not.  :)  Speaking of Christin - the little booger gave us Christmas presents last night after a mom's night at her house. I was too tired to look last night, but Makena saw them right away this morning so I let her open hers.  It was a cute purple fairy dress up outfit with shoes and a wand.  She put it on right after breakfast.  She's been playing in it all afternoon as well.  It's pretty cute.  Matthew got the CUTEST Columbia jacket and I got a cute wrist purse.  It was a brand that I've never owned before, I'm pretty excited!!  (Coach)  I think I need her to take me shopping so I can be more up on all the other fancy brands out there in the world.  Jared even said I could go to New York with her sometime.  Guess who's going to take him up on that offer.  Oh, like how I invited myself to New York?!?  LOL  Anyway, I figured she would go and get me something, so luckily I had planned ahead and ordered hers and received it a few days before.  I got something that I would want, so if all else failed I would get new presents.

I had mentioned we had a mom's night last night.  Well, we went to Christin's and did a cookie and gift exchange.  It was so fun hanging out with other moms and not having to chase kids around.  I came home with a large assortment of cookies.  I haven't even tried them all yet.  Well, I was reading on facebook that Christin's peanut butter kisses (the ones I made) were gone already.  I insisted on making her some more. She is eating for 2 and all.   It was also my way of saying "thank you" for watching Makena.  I had a dentist appointment this morning and she REALLY helped by being willing to watch her so I didn't have to try to tame a 2 year old at the dentist office.  So ... that's why I made another batch of cookies today.  I brought them over this afternoon!!!!

Off to make some supper for the family.  Jared says we're having cookies for our meal, but I don't think that's a very good healthy option.

1 Christmas celebration down - 1 to go ...

We had a nice Saturday at my brother's house.  Makena had SOOOO much fun playing with Brooke.  Later in the evening the boys were playing with their new toys and they were nice enough to let Makena and Brooke join them.  They were running around, laughing, and just gleaming with joy.  Makena got her very first NEW Barbie doll.  She has played with it every day so far.  It's one that rides a bike.  She likes to put her helmet on, get her shoes on, then try to put her on the bike.  She needs help though, the little part that holds Barbie on is pretty tricky for a 2 year old to manage.  She also got a new book for her Tag Jr.  She was loving that too.

Yesterday Makena and I made cookies for our play group's cookie exchange.  She had SO much fun.  I, on the other hand, screwed up the first batch.  I was so focused on not letting her touch the food that I forgot to add brown sugar and salt.  I didn't notice until they were already baking. I just decided not put the chocolate star on top.  They are actually pretty yummy.  Jared added chocolate frosting to them so I know they'll get eaten.  The other batches (that did get stars) were made correctly and are DELICIOUS!  I'm even going as far as saying they are my best cookies to date.  The cookie part is soft and the perfect peanut-butteriness.  mmmm  Total there were 5 dozen cookies to choose from for the exchange.  We only need 3 dozen for that!

Going in for the spatula taste (the one used for pb):

going to the mouth: (don't worry, I got a new spatula for the other batches!)

 mmmmmm:

Time to make cookie balls (these are the screwed up ones):

Ta da:

So tired and busy ...

I am exhausted.  I just want to nap, but whenever the one child is sleeping (Makena) the other one is awake.  Go figure.

Anyway, Makena is doing well with things.  We continue to read a lot of books, she plays nice while I feed Matthew, and she's doing well with the potty.  Now, to get her to tell me when she needs to go potty.  That is the ONLY thing stopping us from being trained.  She will go to the bathroom every time she gets put on the toilet, so how do I get her to tell me when she needs to go?  hmm hmm hmm.

Okay the boy fell asleep on me.  Time to try to sneak a nap in for myself.

Goll darn it ...

Time really flies with two kids, that's for sure!

Well, where to start ...
Jared went to Florida for work on Sunday and came back last night.  None of us have seen him yet.  Yes, he was in bed with me last night, but I was too tired to notice. No really, I didn't hear him come home or get into bed.  I noticed him when I woke for Matthew's 2am feeding, but he was sleeping so I didn't say hi. I did get a kiss goodbye when he left for work, but I was too tired to say anything but goodbye!

We did lots of play time with Ava while he was gone.  I like Ava time too, since I get Christin time.  It keeps me sane!! On Monday morning we went to Eagle's Nest, then she came over in the afternoon after nap time!  Yesterday we went over there for a bit after we went to Target for some needs.  After play time we went to Riverdale to get some herbs to increase my milk supply.  When I took Makena out she was soaked . . . she had just had a new diaper an hour before.  MAN, when this girl pees, she pees.  Anyway, I changed her and got my supplement, I hope it works!

This weekend we're going to celebrate our first Christmas.  We're going to my brother's house in Princeton.  It should be a fun time for Makena.  She does like having her cousins to play with.  They are SO good with her to.  They play tag and let her win, they also teach her fun games to play with them.  You can tell the boys are big brothers and you can tell that Brooke likes to have another girl to play with.  The girls like to play play-dough and with barbies.  I'm going to bring Makena's snow stuff with just in case it's warm enough to go outside.

What should we do the rest of the week?  I have 3 days to fill yet.  Hmmmmm ....

Pics

Just some pics quick, I'll write later!

She looks so much older than 2 in this pic:

He "Mr. Chubby Cheeks" looks older than 1 month . . .  perhaps I should call him my chipmunk?

This would have been SO cute if she didn't have her tongue sticking out:

Giving her baby a hug:

Bye Santa, I love you!

Makena got to see Santa tonight!  He was on top of a fire truck riding around and waving to kids.  Blaine does this every year.  They sound the fire truck sirens then wait at the end of the street for about 5 minutes.  She loved it.  I was fine with it since we didn't have to get too close!  Santa is in the same category as clowns for me.  I have a phobia of anyone dressed up in costume.  I have since kindergarten . . . I remember some crash test dummies came to our class and I was terrified!!!!  Anyway, once we were back inside watching her evening movie - she started saying "Bye Santa, I love you" and blew him kisses.

We went out and did errands today.  It's quite the workout hefting two kids in/out and around!  We were productive - 4 stores!!

Not much else going on  around here.  Makena is still being a good big sister and Matthew has his moments . . .

Here are some pics:

Makena being a big sister

 "ahhhh"

My little guy!

Daddy's little guy!

Loving his onesie from Katie:

My growing boy!

My little man is officially out of his x-small diaper covers.  I'm also going to try switching him to infant prefolds instead of newborn ones.  He just pees so much that I have to double the newborn ones up anyway.  I still want to try a pocket or all-in-one diaper with him, but that would involve me purchasing one, and I'm too cheap for that.  I switched to cloth to save money, not to go and buy more more more!

Anyway, I started working out and REALLY watching my calories on Monday and I jumped on the scale today and I'm down 5 pounds already.  I would normally say that it's water weight, but I drank 128 ounces yesterday - so I think it's actual weight.  Those well balanced and nicely portioned meals really do pay off.  I was starting to get discouraged with the scale not moving those first few days.  It sure paid off today though!!!!

The little guy decided that 4am was a good wake up time today, that was rough.  He went back to sleep around 5:45, so I got 1 extra hour of sleep before Makena woke up!  The early morning probably happened because I let him take 2 long naps yesterday during the day.  I need to limit those day naps to 2 hours so he sleeps longer at night!!

I think we're going to go play with Ava today!  Makena needs to get out of this house.  I'll let you know how that goes!

Update time

We had a fabulous weekend up north at Makena's grandparents house!  We started out leaving early on Wednesday to beat the snow.  Then on Thursday we had a very nice Thanksgiving with family.  Everybody got to meet Matthew.  I also enjoyed being somewhere other than my house.  It DID get a little too loud for my liking when all the kids were running around. It was also hard for us since Makena wants to play with the big kids, but can't play as rough as them.  She's just too little yet.  Of course Grandma and Grandpa really wouldn't want her playing on a cement floor in the basement and getting hurt either.  She had a really hard time when we wouldn't let her go in the basement with everyone else.  Thankfully some of the girls came upstairs and played dolls with her.  It was quiet, she was entertained, and it was good for her to play with older kids.

The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful.  We played with her toys most of the weekend and we were able to go outside on Saturday.  We left right after lunch on Sunday.

Monday was a day of playing with all her birthday presents!  She officially likes her Mrs. Potato Head the most.  Who would have thought?  She also really likes her Tag Junior.  She calls it her robot.  Everything is getting used though.  She is having a blast with new things!  I was also able to leave the house in the evening to get some grocery and Christmas shopping done.  What a relief.  I am usually done by now.  I still have the parents and 1 nephew left.  I plan to get those done today (online)

Yesterday we did lots of art projects and I even took out the glitter glue.  We were both a mess when we were done.  Let's not mention what the table looked like . . .   She even took a 3 1/2 hour nap.  I think it's because she actually ate her lunch for once so she didn't wake up hungry.  She had mac & cheese, with veggies and a clementine for dessert.

Today has been . . . interesting.  She has some 'tude and isn't wanting to eat.  Of course she didn't eat her supper last night but did fine.  Toddler appetites - ugh, they're so frustrating.  Gotta go - someone wants me to play ponies!!

Makena's Presents

I forgot to post what Makena has received for her birthday so far:

From Grandpa B:
Glow Doodle - LOVES!

From Uncle Ryan, Auntie Amy, and cousins:
Leapfrog scribble and write - she loves this too!!!
2 pads of paper and multicolored colored pencils (very cool)

From Mom and Dad:
Graco playset for her dolls
Play food

Christmas Lists

This is worded funny because it was originally an e-mail to someone and I'm too lazy to re-type it!  I'll add mine later.


Cyndi:
NICE bathroom scale (anything is nicer than my $5 one)
Queen sized sheets - color is usually called grey or pebble
Rachael Ray spoon and ladle set
RR tongs
RR bakeware of any kind


More to come ....




Jared:
Blaze camo hunting parka (e.g. Gander Mountaion TecH2O)
 Blaze camo bibs or pants (e.g. Gander Mountaion TecH2O)
MN lake map chip for Garmin (Lake Master)
Gift Cards: Gander and/or Cabela’s
Ice Armor Fleece Lined Wind Pants
Clam IceArmor™ Jig Box
Drake® MST Eqwader™ 1/4-Zip Pullover (Gander Item # 415086)



Makena:

Tag Jr. Books - she has the ABC Orchestra book so far (I'll let you know what other ones she gets for her b-day from Grandma)

Bathtub set for dolls

keyboard or something similar

Princess dolls

Dress up clothes

Movies (burned are fine!!)

kitchen/cooking things:  example#1 #2

blocks

doll clothes

Melissa and Doug lacing beads

clothes size 3T

books - she LOVES to read. Any books you want she will read!

Matthew:
clothes

alphabet/counting/learning toys by leapfrog, melissa and Doug, vtech  Anything really, hahaha

Sunday was a FUNday!

We had a TON of fun today!  Well, Makena did.  3 of her 4 cousins came over today and they played "chase" with her, she got new toys for her birthday, and they all got to eat pizza and cupcakes together.  Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun.  Makena also got to see her Grandpa B.  She was shy at first, like usual, but then warmed up VERY quickly.  Everyone was here for the start of the Vikings game, but her cousins had to leave before the end since there was a playdate for her oldest cousin set up.  Grandpa B stayed until the end of the game though.  Unfortunately she didn't get to say goodbye to him since she was napping when he left.  She took a LONG nap too.  All that running and laughing must take a lot out of a little girl!  I wish she could laugh and run like that every day!

Okay onto the list from yesterday's post:

Birthday - 
She had a wonderful birthday!  It started with french toast, a snack of fruit snacks (by far her favorite), lunch was chicken nuggets with bbq, and supper was Chili.  We rounded out the "healthy eating" with a nice big piece of birthday cake!  She was super cute with her cake too!  We let her touch and do whatever she wanted to the whole cake.  She ended up swirling her finger across the top and smearing everything.  It looked like fun. While she was eating her cake I realized I hadn't wrapped her presents yet, so I had to sneak away and get those wrapped before she finished her cake.  I barely got done in time!

Cloth Diapering a newborn - 
This is proving to be more challenging than diapering the big girl.  He poops a lot more and needs a lot more changes in a day.  I changed the fold we're doing on the inside and it does seem to be going better now.  I was doing a "fan fold" but switched to the "bikini twist".  They both are good folds for newborns to help contain that poop.  I just have a super pee machine and he gets so wet so fast.  I feel like I have to change him every hour.  It's the same way with the disposables too, he just pees SO much.  It's a good thing, but it drives me nuts when I have to change his entire outfit 3 times a day.

Matthew's sleep - 
I was intending to complain about the lack thereof at night, but the last couple of nights he's been pretty good.  Last night he was up every 2 hours to eat, but then went right back to sleep.  I think it helps that we're using the swing or the bouncy chair to help keep him upright a bit.  He was suffering from a bit of reflux which would wake him up and irritate his nasal cavity.  The doctor informed me that his nighttime snorting was due to that.  OH, well good to know and I'm glad I was able to help him sleep better.

My health - 
I'm doing SO great.  I feel wonderful.  I'm still on the antibiotics, but I have no pain and am pretty sure the mastitis is completely gone.  Of course, as with any antibiotic, I have to keep taking it until it's gone.  I'll do whatever I need to if it keeps me feeling good.

My outing -
Friday night I was able to go to a friend's house.  It was wonderful.  Just us moms.  I had to bring Matthew with since he eats so often in the evenings, but nobody minds having a newborn around.  It's those darn toddlers that can be annoying when you're trying to have "mom time".  I was out from 7-10 and it felt like forever (in a good way).  I was tired when I left and slept well that night.

x-mas shopping - 
Oh I just want to get this done, but I don't know what to get.  PLUS, trying to Christmas shop with 2 kids - doesn't happen.  I tried bringing both kids to Target the other day and it went well, but I can see it being a "once in a while" thing instead of Target being my getaway.  I used the cart that has the toddler seats added to it and told Makena she was a BIG GIRL for getting to sit in there.  She ate it up.  I was then able to put Matthew in the area that Makena used to sit and all was good.  I just stuck to the list and got out, but we did make a trip through the Christmas decoration section since Makena LOVES to look at everything they have.  She especially loves the light up figures for the yard.  Silly girl.  Anyway - I'm pretty sure I'll end up doing my shopping online, but that's okay.

Bullet Points

Here is a list of things I need to talk about in my next post:

* Birthday
-presents (my oops)
-meals
-Cake
*CDing a newborn
*Matthew's sleep
*My health
*My outing (C's house)
*x-mas shopping
*Target with 2

And there are some other things that I want to touch on, but I'm drawing a blank.  I'm tired right now, so I'm going to bed.  :)

Feeling Spectacular!

I'm back to feeling 100%.  I know that I'm not actually back to normal, but I feel it.  I am still taking a lot of meds, but they are wonderful!

Yesterday I was feeling good enough to vacuum all the floors in the house and dust the lower level.  Today - I had to take a nap.  :)  Not because I wasn't feeling good, but because the new little guy spent all night trying to get a poo out.  He was whining and crying all night.  I made it through the morning - barely.  Poor Makena had a mommy with a patience level of negative 5.  We all napped for over 2 hours.  It was wonderful.  Everyone was in a GREAT mood afterward as well.

This evening I was able to put together some new lamps and rearrange a few thing in the upstairs living room.  Now I just need to figure out where to put the items I took out of the room.  hmmmm.  Left on my list of things to get/do: new lamp for the basement, ottomans for the 2 living rooms, end tables for the basement, and perhaps a little decor for the entryway.

I should probably wake up the little monster and feed him again.  It's about that time.  I just HATE to wake him though.  It seems SO mean.

On the mend

I have mastitis.  Yep, I said it.  I have an infection most commonly found in cows.  However, in a human it causes severe pain and syptoms similar to the flu.  Not a stomach virus, but the FLU.  There IS a difference.  ;)  I do feel better today after getting some sleep, but it would be nice if this NASTY headache would go away.  It makes it hard to think.  At least I have the energy to eat, function, and take care of my babies.

Anyway, between the extremely high fever, lack of hunger, inability to eat in general, uncontrollable shaking, and incredibly sore body - I did lose 5 pounds.  Now, only 20 more pounds to get to pre-pregnancy.  I think I have definitely gotten to the hard part.  I don't think it's just going to disappear like the first 35 did.


I also got the diapers to test package for Bummis today.  I can't talk about them, but I can let you know that I'm testing them!  I'm very excited.


Once I'm feeling 100% I will write more.

Life with 2

Well, it's been a while since I've posted, but there's a good a reason for that.  I had a baby!  He is wonderful and the delivery was so easy.  I am already feeling back to normal.  The tiredness is catching up to me, but otherwise normal.  Jared's paternity leave is over and he goes back to work on Monday, so that will be the true test - can I handle two kids by myself?  I know I can, but it will be tricky if the baby wants to eat and Makena is craving attention.

She's already had a few episodes of needing me.  I can't blame her, she's had a lot of daddy time which has been SO good for both of them, but her routine is totally out the window.  Don't get me wrong, the whole routine isn't shot, but what I had built with her is.  That's probably a good thing since things will have to change with a baby around anyway.  I just wish she wouldn't act out in a negative way to get our attention.  She's so weird about it too.  She will be acting so nice, playing with us, asking to do things, then all of a sudden WHAM - tantrum and attitude.  It usually can be pinned down to hungry or tired, but sometimes not.  I'll figure it out.  I think I'm going to implement a "Time Out" rug or something.  I have a corner that I put her in, but there aren't really boundaries with it.  I think if I had a stool or rug or something, it would be a bit more clear for her.

Oh - I used newborn prefolds and a cover on Matthew one day and it went great!  I had to stop since he had his "procedure", but the healing time for that is half over.  Then I'll be able to cloth diaper him full time.  It can't be any MORE leaky than the sposies are.  Seriously, he leaks through the diapers ALL the time.  One night he went through 2 sets of sheets, 4 pjs, 4 sleep sacks, and who knows how many diapers.  He was literally leaking every hour.  That made for a frustrating night.  At least I know he isn't dehydrated, haha.

We're going on night 2 of no crying in a colicky way as well.  Hopefully we've broken that cycle.  I've made my diet "bland" with no dairy and I'm drinking a ton of water to try to get things moving through my system.  Putting all of this together seems to be working.  Of course I will be slowly attempting to add foods into my diet to see how he tolerates them, but that will be SLOWLY so I know what triggers the crankiness.

I will hopefully be able to keep this updated in the evenings!

Still pregnant . . .

Well, here I am - sitting on the couch at nap time instead of sitting in the hospital with a new little boy.  Oh well, I guess my little turkey just isn't done yet.  I have a doctor appointment tomorrow morning, so I hope it's with my usual doctor and we can discuss options on making him come out, since the exam is done and all.

As an EXTRA special Halloween treat - Makena slept until 8:15 this morning.  What a deal!  Of course I can't let her do that tomorrow since we have to have breakfast done and such before the doctor.  I am convinced she's having a growth spurt with all this sleeping.  That would also help explain the attitude of last week.  She's been good, for the most part, this weekend.  Just a couple of meltdowns, but she's doing much better.  I've found that telling her "we only cry when we have an owie" has REALLY helped.  She stops crying during a fit almost instantly.  She has also stopped with the hitting, I think it was just a few days of testing us, well, me.

After she wakes up today we're going to go for another walk and most likely visit the park on our way home again.  It's good exercise for me and fresh air is good for her too.  I just wish she would keep her mittens on.  She likes to have them put on, but she doesn't like to keep them on.

Tonight is also the big night for trick or treating!  I'm thinking we'll just do a couple of houses on our street then she can stay in the house and help hand out candy the rest of the night.  We usually shut down the show by 7:30 - 8 anyway.  All the young kids are done by then and we can also get Makena into bed on time.  I hope she has fun.  If not, we'll just come home and have a night as usual.

Ahhh, a nice day!

Jared is done with his latest actuarial exam and this was the first Saturday that we had in a long time to do things as a family.  The best part - Makena slept in until 7:15.  It was a whole hour more than normal.  It was wonderful.  I treated us to homemade waffles for breakfast.  Then I was able to take a bath without feeling guilty that I needed to hurry so Jared could start studying.  Ahhhh.  We also went to a few stores to see what we could find.  Well, all we found was a lot of people driving like idiots, so we left.

After nap time (for me and Makena) we went for a walk, or as Makena calls it a "stroller ride".  Of course we made a pit stop at the park for Makena on the way home.  She loved it.  I just loved the fact that I didn't have to push the stroller.  Yes, it's the little things that make me SO happy.

We also let Makena wear her costume again today and she actually kept it on for about 5 minutes.  That's 4 minutes more than last time!  We JUST may make it out the door tomorrow night to get to a couple of houses.  She says "trick or treat" clearly as well, but I KNOW she won't say it to any strangers.  Oh well.

Oh, to top of our great day, Makena got actual mail in the mailbox today, not just the junk mail that we give to her!  She got a Halloween card from her Grandma and Grandpa.  She LOVED it.  We got the mail as we started our walk and she played with the card almost the whole time.

Here is what we've come up with for Makena's Christmas and birthday wish list as well:

Makena’s wish list: (b-day and x-mas)

The toys can be found almost anywhere (Target, Walmart, Mills Fleet, Kohls, etc)

http://www.amazon.com/Graco-Play-Set-Stroller-Accessories/dp/B002PU9JA0

http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-Beginner-Pattern-Blocks/dp/B00005O63Q/ref=sr_1_145?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1288388527&sr=1-145

coloring books

Clothes – 3T

Shoes – Size 6

PJs - 2 piece, non fleece

Stickers

Kid movies (burned from your own collection is fine with us!!)

For more IDEAS (don’t feel the need to get from toys r us or get the EXACT same thing)  feel free to go to:

www.Toysrus.com and click on “wishlist” then search for Makena's first and last name.

Diapers Diapers Diapers

I have been doing laundry every other day lately, but last night I pushed it to 3 days!  SUCCESS!!  I had enough prefolds and inserts to make it happen.  I ALMOST ran out of covers though.  I recently went to the new CD store here in town (All Things Diapers) and got 2 more covers for free (I was their first ever customer, WAHOO).  I washed those up with the laundry last night, so we shouldn't have that problem again.  Of course I have all the toddler prefolds to go through too if I were to run out, but those are SO big on my big girl!

So, what I have so far:

3 Blueberry one size - 2 snap and 1 velcro.  I love the snaps, but the velcro is so much easier to get on.  Such a dilemma on which to stick with for when Matthew gets here.  They all have leg gussets which I REALLY love.  It helps hold the piddle in without turning M's legs all red.

1 4ward thinking - it's okay, but it leaked BAD the first time I used it.  I was able to get through an entire day with it this past weekend though, so I think I just had it too loose the first time.  I also don't like how it snaps.  I have to tilt Makena to the sides to get it snapped, she wiggles enough without having to do this too!  I like it since it's Halloween themed though.  :D  I'm so vain sometimes!

1 Bumkins - HATE it, enough said.  Okay okay, I'll tell you why.  It is like wrapping my baby in a plastic bag.  It doesn't feel nice, it's noisy, and the only venting it has is on the back, up on the back.  The print is cute though, LOL.  Oh, Makena can whip this one off in 2 seconds too, not cool.  This was surprisingly the first one to start smelling too, which I didn't understand since it was the one with the least to it.  Oh well, the stink is gone after a soak, but still . . .

1 snugglibebe - SO cute and I LOVE it.  It's easy to snap, fits nicely, and she hides the PUL inside so you can have cute prints on the outside.  I also haven't had a problem with leakage or smell.  The snaps were a little tight at first, but now that we've used it a few times, it's good to go!

1 thirsties duo - haven't tried yet (New one)

1 bummis - haven't tried yet (New one)

1 softbums - This one took me a while to get sized correctly to prevent leakage around the legs.  he nice part, it's SO easy to size.  It has a "drawstring" system hidden inside.  I also had to get the fold right for the insert.  It is nice since it snaps into the diaper.  Very nice design.  This one also picked up stink quickly, but has been fine since I did a nice long soak on everything.  Since it has a lining inside it maybe wasn't washed enough before we started to use it.  I also am appreciating their customer service.  I am having an issue with the velcro starting to fray and she is willing to take a peek at it.  Of course it helps that the designer lives in the next town over . . . LOL.   I'll let you know what she has to say or does about it.

1 best bottom - LOVE this diaper.  Like the softbums the insert snaps in, but this one snaps in the front AND back.  Nice when doing a diaper change, but not so nice when you're CHANGING the pad.  Touching the wet pad is SO gross sometimes.  I also like that this one has leg gussets. A definite must.  I would LOVE more inserts for this diaper and perhaps more of this diaper in general.  There is only one retailer for this one though, and she's in Wisconsin.  Of course - it's all online so it doesn't really matter where it's coming from.  I hope to get myself some smaller inserts so I can use this one on Matthew as well.  Granted it will be a couple of months before this one (or any of the one sized) will fit him.

Windy Day!

We hunkered down and played inside most of the day!  We DID head out to the library for story time.  She was such a good girl today!  I was proud.  Perhaps Ava excites her too much and she acts out - I don't know.  Ava wasn't there today, which is why I say this.  Of course, she could just be getting over the whole "be a snot" in public thing.  It was costume day as well.  She wore her gorilla outfit for about 1 minute, no exaggeration.  It was on, then off.  Grrr.  I think I may have gotten one picture out of the deal, but you can't really see the outfit.  I haven't uploaded it to the computer, so I'm not sure it will actually be in focus.

The rest of the day went well.  We played, napped, had a snack and played more.  Her new thing - thinking it is SOOOO funny to fight and kick when trying to get her pants on after a diaper change.  It's incredibly frustrating.  Mainly because she won't listen and then starts to laugh at herself.  I've tried talking nice, talking sternly, getting loud . . . NOTHING works.  She just laughs and keeps kicking.  I hope it's just a phase.  She is also hitting and slapping a lot.  I wouldn't mind if it were just me, but she is doing it to Ava too.  I don't know where she picked it up and and I don't know how to make her stop.  I believe Jared that it's just something they do/try and don't "pick it up".  I just don't know how to convince her that it's mean and hurts and that she shouldn't do it.  Any ideas?

Sigh . . .

So I got to my doctor's appointment early like usual only to find out my doctor was gone doing a delivery - that's wasn't mine.  That shouldn't be allowed!!  Anyway, I was rescheduled to see my old doctor, no biggie.  So after waiting for 25 minutes I went to see what was going on.  They said it'd be about another 10. UGH.  So I had my appointment (no changes) and went on with my day.  It was 10 before we left the clinic.  Our playdate started at 9:45 in Hugo.  Needless to say, we didn't get to go to the petting zoo, pumpkin patch, or play with others.  :(  I didn't tell Makena about it, so she didn't care, but I do.  We were going to have to kiddos in their costumes.  Now she doesn't get to wear hers until tomorrow at storytime.  sigh.  Also, I'm already bored with the day.  Playdates take the boringness out of my life.  Oh well.  Makena is eating lunch now and she'll be ready for a nap very soon.  She's already in zombie mode.  I've decided I'm going to take a nap today too.  Makena decided that 4am was a good time to TRY to get up.  We sent her back to bed, obviously.  She then tried to get up every hour after that.  I finally gave in and got up with her at 6:30.  We got up before daddy.  That's just not right . . .

Weekend (and week) in review

What a week this last one was.  Monday started with  a trip to the Como Zoo.  Makena was a nightmare.  She was grumpy, threw multiple fits, and was just all around terrible. I was pretty embarrassed.  On Tuesday we went to story time.  She was good for all of that until the VERY end.  I had to swoop her up and leave because of another fit.  She is becoming "that kid".  I hope she gets over it soon.  Wednesday we went to Ava's house for a homemade play-dough playdate.  She was pretty good until it came time to leave again.  She even fell asleep on the way home from that one and we live only 5 minutes from their house.  We were there for about 2 1/2 hours.  Thursday was a day where we laid low.  It was boring.  :D  Friday we used the pass from the library to make a free trip to the MN Zoo.  We invited Christin and Ava to join us and we had a VERY fun time.  Lots of animals, fish, and people to look at.  At supper we asked what her favorite animal was and after naming a bunch for her she came up with "goat" on her own.  The goat did make an impression on her.  She was in her stroller next to their gates and a baby one poked his head through and was nose to nose with Makena.  She didn't seem to like it so I baced her up and I petted it to show her it was okay, but she still didn't want to touch him.  I enjoyed it though. Surprisingly, Makena only took a nap for 40 minutes the entire day.  Ugh - even I needed more sleep (but since she napped in the car, no nap for me).  Yesterday Makena and I went leggings shopping (for me) and THOUGHT I found what I wanted, but they got all pilly after about 3 hours; so they are going back today.

Play-dough date:

When did my baby grow up?

MN Zoo:

Makena has a new diaper cover on today.  It's a pretty cute one.  I won it from an online giveaway.  So far so good.  It fits well, she doesn't complain about the legs hurting, and it holds a prefold nicely. Yesterday we made a trip to the new cloth diaper store in Blaine and since I was the first customer EVER in the door I was given a gift certificate. We used it to get MAKENA 2 new covers.  All the covers I've purchased have all been gender neutral so Matthew can use them too.  I even let Makena pick them out.  She seemed pretty excited.  I did, however, feel bad since Christin and Ava came too and they didn't get anything.  :(  I feel as though I should give them half of what the GC was worth.