End of January Pictures

New favorite activity is swinging.

Hanging out on a lazy afternoon

What Expression Do You Wear?

Today I was thinking about the type of mom I am, why I am the way I am with my kids. There are of course thousands of influences that determine everything from what I feed them to the stories I tell and the songs I sing. I can pinpoint some of the events and others I have completely forgotten, remembering only the lesson I learned.

I remember one day I was watching Oprah. Yeah I can feel the judgment through the computer but whatever, I like her and I find some of her shows interesting. Anyway... she was talking to Toni Morrison, I don't even remember the theme of the show but I remember what she said:

What every child wants to know is, do your eyes light up when I enter the room?

I admit I had to search online for the exact quote (I'm not sure this is the exact quote because it has been paraphrased so many times) but the message has always stayed with me . I saw this well before I had kids but even then I felt it's importance.

It's easy as a mom (or a dad, or daycare provider or whatever else) to get frustrated, or wrapped up in unimportant stuff and forget that kids see everything. They see your anger, your love, your frustration and your patience. You have an opportunity to build up their self confidence or break it down. You might not be conscious of which you are doing but you are doing in none the less. Even if the emotion isn't directed at them, they probably think it is. There are also the times when you ignore your child all together- you are too busy looking at your phone or your computer to realize that they might feel overlooked.

I admit I am not perfect (shocking I know), there are times I get distracted by something stupid (Facebook) or I get frustrated because I am tired, or I am just not in the mood to be smiling and engaged. But because of that 6 minute clip on Oprah I actively think about things from my children's point of view every single day- I try to see myself through their eyes. I try to be better every day because I know how much of an influence I have on their lives at this point. They will grow up and go out into the world and it is my job to give them the skills to do that, it is my job to not only tell them how much I love and adore (which I do) but to show them every single day.

This is just one of the things that make me the mom I am.

Gag-worthy

I'm pretty sure I used to have a normal gag reflex... then I got pregnant with Ryan. Suddenly, everything made me gag and I was living in Chicago and taking public transportation... so you can imagine how well that went. Then I had him and there is a lot of gross with a newborn and my gag reflex began to deaden. Then I got pregnant with Audrey and I swear I wanted to throw up at the thought of most things... Now I have two babies and after this last week I swear I have no gag reflex at all.

Ryan got sick (he is better now), but it was bad for one day. He was snotty, at one point in the day I swear he came over, pretended to give me a hug and wiped his nose all the way across the front of my shirt. Then he projectile vomited at me. No joke.. at me. After that he felt much better, all smiley and running around.. I was not. Anyway, after he felt better I took a shower to get all the gross off. I sat down with Audrey after I was all clean and she spit up all over me. Almost immediately after that she had a diaper blow out. I swear it was just one of those days. I however somehow took it all in stride and didn't gag once.

I guess it's like parenting in general, you never know what the day will bring you. Today nothing. Nothing gross has gone on and in fact I got a lot of cleaning done so I feel cleaner then I did at the beginning of the day. Hopefully my gag reflex remains MIA because I am not sure how I would get through some of the gross days.

Fun with New Camera

I got a new camera for my birthday, I am going through cameras pretty quickly with two children, especially with Ryan who wants to take pictures himself. Well here are some pictures taken while trying to figure out all the new settings. Enjoy!

So close to crawling, yesterday she got up on all fours. Now she just has to learn how to move once in position. She can turn in circles, but other then that she is pretty stuck in place.

Ryan trying on my glasses

What are you looking at?

Ryan! Pay attention to me!!!!

6 Month Stats

Audrey had her 6 month appointment yesterday. Her stats are Weight: 16 Lbs, 7 oz (60th), Length: 25 1/2 In (50th) and Head: 44 1/2 cm (95%). She is pretty consistent with where Ryan was at her age (and the percentages are about the same as what he still is).

She isn't a huge fan of the doctor and ended up shredding the paper on the table she was sitting on, but I sort of figure, if you leave a 6 month old in a room for an hour you sort of deserve what you get. We now get to wait 3 months until the next appointment!

Birthday Brunch

In celebration of my birthday my mom and I held a brunch. It's always great to catch up with friends and when you have kids the middle of the morning is generally the best time to do it, and being me the celebration needed to revolve around food :). I had a really great time, this might end up being a new birthday tradition.

Audrey is 6 Months!

Audrey is 6 months old today!

I can't believe that... She is starting to try and crawl, so far she goes around and around in a circle... but if you put your hands on her feet she will push off then and propel herself forward. It's funny, she doesn't realize when she is tired that she should roll onto her back so she just rests her forehead on the ground and waits until someone comes and gets her, she doesn't even complain most of the time.. just waits it out.

She is getting more confident in her sitting, and no longer requires anything to help her. Randomly she wobbles so I usually keep a pillow behind her but for the most part she is just fine. She is eating lots of oatmeal, but we haven't been as successful with the fruits and veggies though honestly we haven't tried all that hard.

Well, that's all for now, she has her 6 month check up on the 18th so I will list her stats then (it was going to be tomorrow which would be closer to her birthday but I really didn't want to have to take her in for shots on my birthday).

Video: Kids Playing

Ryan and Audrey are obsessed with each other. Here is a clip of a game they are playing. Audrey obviously thinks he is hilarious. (make sure to have sound on)

Family Update

Now that life is getting back to normal after the holidays I might actually have a few minutes to update on the going ons of our household...

Audrey is eating more then I could ever imagine a baby eating. She will have 6 ounces of milk (sometimes actually 8) and a bowl of oatmeal before she stops freaking out for food. Speaking of which she has started solids. She is still getting the hang of it but she loves oatmeal. She isn't such a big fan of the fruits and veggies but we will get there. She is somewhere around 17 pounds now and getting a good case of pudge (which we are hoping leads to more sleep). She can sit up on her own with a little bit of wobble still in her... but she loves that she can now watch Ryan while on the floor playing with her toys.

Ryan loves school and was excited to go back today after their winter break. He often lists for me his best friends from school (in which he includes his teachers = good sign). We are potty training... it's going okay. I have realized that I NEVER want to house train an animal.... kids are enough, I guess I will have to stick to fish for pets.

We have reorganized our entire downstairs and our house officially looks like a preschool. It's great for the kids and at least it's organized which makes me happy.

I think that's all for now.

For the New Year...

At almost 6 months I thought I would have a baby that slept through the night... or at least slept consistently. What I have learned after having 2 children is that you can prepare for nothing, I am a super planner so this is very hard for me. Audrey doesn't sleep, there are days where she naps for a total of maybe 1.5 hours all day... from 7 am-6pm she will take 2 - 45 minute naps, and to tell you the truth if she slept at night I would actually be okay with that.

The issue is that she wakes up a million times a night, she sings and plays and cries and eats... but she doesn't seem to do much sleeping. I swear an adult would have issues sleeping as little as she does and she is supposed to be getting about 12 hours a day. I miss my husband and having a rested family. If I was a single parent I would have thrown in the towel, luckily I have a great husband who requires less sleep then me and takes over at night... can you imagine going 6 months without getting more then 3 hours of sleep at any given time? Yeah I can't either...

So this New Years Eve my resolution... okay my prayer (that I have no control over- but man I hope and pray for it) is that my lovely, happy, wonderful daughter starts sleeping.

I am writing this alone in my living room as my husband puts Audrey back to sleep for the 3rd time tonight (and it's only 10:15 Pm). So far she has peed on me, woken up to eat and woken up after losing a pacifier... We have been watching the movie hangover for about 3 hours now and are about half way done. My husband is convinced the Audrey does it because she doesn't want us having any more children... that she wants to be the baby of the family forever.

Send some good sleepy thoughts our way this New Years night!

Snow Day!

We are having a very white Christmas (okay the day after but it's close enough in my book). We have 8 inches which for the south is HUGE. Ryan is running around outside yelling "Really fun, really fun!!!"

Gingerbread House

Making Gingerbread houses has never been one of my area of expertise. I think they are very nice looking but honestly it is just out of my skill range. Well if you add a 2 year old into the mix it just becomes so entertainingly bad it's funny. So here is the adventure of the gingerbread house in pictures...

Opening up the candy... well this doesn't seem to hard...

Look at how neat and tidy everything is... well just FYI it didn't stay that way.

Here is the end result... there are no in between pictures because the walls started falling down and the roof started slipping and it took 2 people (I was one) to hold it all together while it dried. If you were wondering... the upside down gingerbread man is holding up the roof. You can't see in this picture but one of the walls completely fell into the inside of the house... but I have to tell you, while I wouldn't want to live in the house it sure was fun making it.

Christmas Pictures!

I confess there are a lot of pictures here... but honestly if there is ever an occasion to take a lot of pictures this is it, enjoy!

My angel opening up her stocking!

Ryan playing in his new kitchen

PJ time... we have a tradition where on Christmas eve everyone gets a new pair to wear that night and through the present opening the next day.

Nice shades

New dinos

Our traditional picture of the men

3 generations of women

Quick update

This week, okay the last two weeks have been sort of overwhelming and so I haven't been blogging. It wasn't anything in particular it was just sort of that I was always busy and therefore never had a moment for blogging. Let's see what's been going on...

- Audrey doesn't sleep... like at all. She can go for days without being asleep more then 3 hours at any given time. It's not that she has night and day mixed up, it's that she has awake and sleep mixed up. I have been a little under the weather and this sleeping pattern is wearing me out. I have never been as thankful for my husband as I have been lately. I'm hoping one of these days a switch will flip and she will start sleeping.

- Ryan went from not being able to say more then a few words 6 months ago to speaking in long complex sentences. Today I took a bite of the muffin he was eating... he gave me a look and said "Mom, Say 'thank you' for a bite of Ryan's muffin!"

- Ryan and Audrey are still obsessed with each other. He holds her hand, he tries to take care of her if she is upset and he has figured out how to make her laugh uncontrollably.

We are getting ready for Christmas.. I am still trying to figure out what to cook. I am at a loss for some reason. I think I'm trying to hard to make it perfect because I want to start establishing traditions. Hopefully by tonight I will have decided on everything. I'll post some new pictures soon!