Blogger Blows

Well, hey there.

I'm actually around and have lots to talk about...except Blogger won't let me upload pictures and it's so obnoxious that I generally quit trying after a certain point each day.

I have pictures from the weekend...want to talk about the post partum bod...Charlie starting daycare...potty training that is officially going down this weekend...and so much more.

If anyone knows why blogger is being the WORST, let me know.

xo,
H

Weekend in pictures

Park date post Target run on Saturday

Nap time project, semi-complete

I want to squeeze her all the time.

Interesting flowers (haha) with a sweet message from my boo.



Tutus and play time.

All the "friends" that G snuck in her purse to our weekly brunch.

Solid naps for everyone.

xo,
H

Bribery & Big Girl Beds

We've been a little lax about some toddler transitions around here. Namely getting Grace out of the crib and then there's potty training. I just wasn't up to either of them the last few months of my pregnancy and though we tried the bed thing for naps a few times, night would roll around and G would beg me to get back into her crib. I'm talking, running to the other room and trying to climb in. This is from a kid that not once has tried to climb out, sleeps soundly, and goes down easily each night. I felt a little silly trying to mess with that.

 

I also realized that though Charlie would be in our room in her bassinet for a few months, it would be nice to get Grace settled and give her some time so it didn't seem like we were kicking her out because of the baby. I also realized I was already up with the baby at all hours and didn't want even less sleep than I was getting...so I knew if I was going to do the bed swap, it had to happen while I had help. So, during my mom's last visit (oh yeah, I haven't mentioned that I guilted her into coming back...) we got busy with the big move.

 

First order of business? "Breaking" the crib.

 

 

I knew she'd never switch while things were status quo, so while she was at school one day, we took the front off and hid it.

 

Her reaction?

 

Overjoyed. "I JUMP!" she said.

 

That night she slept in the crib with no front, and I let her after we read books and did our nighttime routine in the other room. Baby steps.

 

The next night was a Friday and I let her stay up a little later than usual until she was super sleepy, went through our nightly routine and stayed in the room with her singing and playing with her hair until she fell asleep. She slept through the night, called for me in the morning, and didn't get out of the bed until I came upstairs to get her and made a huge deal out of the fact that she slept there.

 

 

 

 

Naptime on Saturday was in the big bed too. Same routine...let her stay up later than usual and she passed out quickly while I was still there.

 

Saturday night I knew we had to move forward. We did our nightly routine, I got prepped to say good night and leave her room and she got upset. We talked about being a big girl and I casually mentioned that if she was big enough to sleep in a big girl bed, she was probably big enough to have a pet fish. I didn't think she'd remember in the morning, but it helped to talk about what color fish she might want and what it would be named.

 

I left the room, she cried a little, but never left the bed. She slept through the night and when I came up to get her in the morning the first thing out of that girl's mouth was, "I get a FISH!" She was pumped.

 

My mom left that afternoon, so after naptime (where she slept in the bed again...and even let me walk out without crying), we dropped Nana off at the airport and headed to Petsmart. Our first outing with me and both girls.

 

Grace picked out her fish, the bowl, and the rocks. She proudly held the fish food through the store and all the way home. I asked her what she wanted to name the fish and she suggested, "Grace". We were holding out for some more inspiration...

 

So that was Sunday.

 

Every morning Grace would wake up and the first thing she'd do when we got downstairs was feed her fish. She'd say good bye before we left for school and run over to see him when we got home. At night she'd ask if her fish was sleeping and say "good night Fish!" before we went up to bed.

 

Tuesday afternoon I was at home with Charlie and doing some work when I glanced over at our fish. He really did look like he was sleeping. You know why? Because the damn fish was dead. Not even 48 hours after coming home with us, he bit the dust.

 

With Grace doing awesome with her bed, there was no way in hell I was chancing regression --plus she was obsessed with the thing-- she would notice it was gone. So C and I ran out to Petsmart, WITH the dead fish, to demand a new one and get him home and settled before we picked up Grace from school.

 

I looked crazy, desperate, sleep deprived, and had a dead fish in tow...no one wanted to mess with me, so we got a replacement without any problems.

 

Except that the new one was red...

 

All of the blue ones looked like they were another 48 hours from dying and I'm not trying to be at Petsmart every other day, so I went with it and concocted and big story about fish changing colors that I planned to tell Grace after school.



 

She came home, I held my breath as she ran to the fish bowl, and she happily yelled, "We have a NEW friend!!"

 

And that was that. No elaborate lie needed. We have a pet fish. Grace sleeps in her new room, doesn't even go in the nursery anymore and life is good.

 

Oh, also our fish got a name.

 

Goldy.

 

xo,

H

Charlie - 1 Month

{April 24, 2013}

 

Time flies when you spend half of the month in a sleep deprived blur. I think some women have to forget labor before they can consider having another child...in my case, it's the first two weeks. They knock me down pretty hard and without D here and with another child to care for, I'll be the first to admit that times were rough.

 

My baby? Perfection.

 

 

She is seriously the most calm, sweet little thing...better than I could have hoped for.

 

My hormones? That first week where I slept maybe 10 hours in 7 days? Not great.

 

Right on schedule my hormones went all haywire and around 6pm every night, I'd be a crying mess. Just dreading another night of no sleep, feeling guilty that I was having to let other people pick up the pieces like putting my first baby to bed, and just generally emotional. Thankfully, right at about the two week mark, things got a lot better. I was sleeping solid stretches and starting to notice that things were getting easier each day. Charlie's addition to our family seemed so natural and I can't wait for D to get the same feeling when he comes home and gets to really meet her for the first time.

 

Here's my little beauty...

 

Stats:

 

Height- 22" at her 2 week check-up

 

Weight- 9 lbs 3oz at her 2 week check up...estimating 10+ now.

 

Eyes- Slate blue. Some days they look light depending on what she wears. G's did this too and are brown now.

 

 

Hair- Auburn! Her hair started out medium brown, but has lightened to a pretty auburn color. You can really see a reddish tint in the sun. I love it.

 

Clothes- We barely got any use out of our newborn sizes this time around. Charlie is definitely into 0-3 months and filling them out more each day!

 

Diapers- Out of newborn and into Size 1's.

 

 Food- Breast milk supplemented with formula...almost 4 ounces 7-8 times a day.

 

Sleep- Much like Grace, Charlie has begun to stretch her feedings. She takes her last bottle between 10 and 11 and wakes once around 3 or 4.

 



 

Visitors during her first month:

Nana

Pops

 

Ali

 

Sister Status- Grace is doing better than I ever could have imagined. Aside from asking for me to get her and our visitors to "get that baby" when we get out of the car, she is super sweet and constantly doting on her sister. She likes to lightly touch her hair and little feet and likes to tickle the baby too. We work on being gentle...but it's never because she is being mean, just because she gets a little excited sometimes! Grace really deserves a post of her own at this point. Her personality and vocabulary have exploded and she is 100% every bit of a 2 year old. Ohhh the drama. I'm so in for it in about 10 years...times two.  

 

 

So much has already changed since this update, 2+ weeks ago. Can't wait to see what the rest of the month brings us!

 

xo,

H



Meeting little sis

I was so excited for this moment to have finally arrived. As I waited for my mom to bring Grace upstairs I started to get nervous about the big meeting and what would happen. I knew G was aware that a new baby was coming, but I don't know how in touch with the "sharing mommy" factor she was.

 

I paced the room, set out her gift from Charlie, and put the baby in her hospital bassinet so that I'd have my arms free to squeeze my girl for the first time since Sunday morning when I'd left the house.

 

She came in and ran up to me. I picked her up and took her over to see the baby. She acted semi-interested, but was more happy to see me than interact with her little sister. She thought the baby was, "SO toot!" --and still does, but quickly changed the subject to asking if I'd come home with her. 

 



 

 

She grabbed my hand to try and walk me towards the door to leave and I tried to unsuccessfully hold back tears. All she wanted was her momma to come home, but I had another night that I would have to stay in the hospital and her lack of interest in the baby (at first) combined with my lack of sleep made me an emotional mess. Luckily we settled down, opened her present, and were able to even get a picture of all of us together.

 

 

 

Once she was distracted with her new baby, she seemed to warm up to the real one in the room. We decided to take a walk around the floor and Grace was thrilled to push Charlie down the hall and show her off. She got graham crackers and juice from the snack area across from my room and the hospital started to become a cooler place. ;)

 

 

She and my mom got dinner from the cafeteria and brought it up to eat with me before they went home for the night. I was preparing for a meltdown, but she did just fine and seemed pretty satisfied with the promise of getting to push the elevator buttons when they were leaving. Ha. Here's a pretty sweet video of before they left...

 

 

Now that we are home and settled I am happy to report that Grace has become a wonderful big sis. She is never anything but sweet towards Charlie, and seemed to just be nervous around her the first few days. At this point (6+ weeks later), I just have to remind her to be gentle when she tickles her or touches her hair or little feet. She still thinks her baby sister is SO cute and asks where she is first thing in the morning when she wakes up and first thing in the afternoon when she gets picked up from school. I guess babies aren't very threatening when they are too little to share your toys. I'm sure that will come in due time. ;)

 

xo,

H