Killing two birds with one stone

Today was B's 17 month old checkup and Bitty Baby's 2 month old check up. Both got shots. The did really well. Both only cried for about a minute. Bitty Baby went right to sleep.....and is still asleep now.

1 Month
8 pounds 7 oz and 20 1/4 inches

2 Months
Weighing in at 10 pounds 15 oz and 21.5 inches long

Bitty Baby can now hold her head up (most of the time), pushes all the way up on her hands, and can roll from her back to her side and from her side to her belly. She now will turn her head and follow me with her eyes as I cross the room. She loves to be held and snuggled. She is still colicky, but she has just recently started sleeping 5-6 hours at a time during the night, which has resulted in her eating every 2 hours during the day again. But I can handle that.

B

I haven't told you all the things she has been doing lately. She has grown so much. Her favorite thing right now is books. Books, books, books! They are all over the place. She loves to dance. Anytime I sing or put music on, she dances around in circles. She is starting to put words together. "My mote (phone/remote)", My ball",  " Mama.....bow".  The doctor was really impressed with all of her milestones. She has surpassed all of them. B measured in at 21 pounds 5 ounces and 31 inches long. 

Well, that is my update for today. I'm wiped out from dealing with the "Monkey" at the doctor's office and I only got about 4 hours of sleep last night.

Take care! And hope you continue to enjoy reading my blog. Share some love and leave a comment, if you wish.

Thirteen years ago..........yesterday

13 years ago, I was blessed with a son. He is my only boy. I was only 19 when he was born, so young, and didn't know what I was getting into. After having a scare at 35 weeks into my pregnancy, I was put on bedrest. They had me on medication for exactly 1 week. As soon as they took me off of it, I went into labor. He was ready, no holding him back. After 10 minutes of pushing, he was born at 10:55am, 36 weeks and 3 days. A beautiful baby boy! 6 pounds 5 ounces and 19.5 inches long. He tried to take in his first breath, but only gurgled. The nurses quickly took him from me, and began pumping air into his tiny new lungs. They pumped on him for 5 minutes. It seemed like an eternity. My mother ran from the birthing room to have our guests in the waiting room to pray. Finally he turned from a gray putty color to pink. He then had to stay in the nursery on oxygen for a few hours. He had a rocky start, but has been so healthy ever since that day.

Moments after his arrival

He has brought so much joy into my life. Looking back, I was so young when I had him, and have learned so much more about being a parent since then. Every now and then he reminds me of our age difference. "Mom, you know you are really not that much older than me", he says. And I reply, "But I am still your mother.". 

Baby Shower #3

My son has one of those personalities that is magnetic. He's sensitive, caring, and very in tuned to your mood. He can just sense it. Anytime I have needed a hug, he's always known. He is growing into a fine young man, and a Godly young man at that. 

2 weeks old

6 weeks old

I am lucky to be his mother. God knew what he was doing, when he sent him to me. 

Present day with his middle sister

Happy 13th Birthday, Son! You make me proud!

11 years ago

This time eleven years ago, I was holding my 7 pound 5 oz baby girl. She was beautiful. Well, she still is. She had the cutest little baby chubby cheeks.

Just look at those cheeks!

1:09 pm

It was a Monday morning. Her father got up to go to work, and I discovered that my water had broke during the night. He decided to go on to work to find a replacement, and my mother had to take me to the hospital. Her delivery wasn't near as dramatic as my last one's, but she came swiftly. My labor needed a jump start, so they started me on Pitocin. Within a couple hours, she was here. And that was only 10 minutes after I gotten my epidural. She was pretty much natural. But all that pain was worth it. She was amazing.

She is my Mini-Me, not only in looks, but in attitude too. 

Happy Birthday, Sweetie! I love you. I wish I could be with you today.

There's a busy Mama at this house!

Whew! Where do I start. It's been a week since I've posted and a lot has happened. 

First off, Congratulations to my oldest daughter! She made the cheerleading squad for the Middle School she will be attending next year. She's so excited. I don't think she knows just how much work it will be, but it will be worth it. Cheerleading and gymnastics has kept her fit, in a world of video games and tv. We actually didn't have to buy her any new jeans this year. She has worn the same size for 2 years now. Yeah! That has really helped our wallet.

Saturday my husband was going to mow the front yard, but the mower wouldn't start. We had just bought it at the end of last fall, and had used it once. Just one time! So......he took it back to Home Depot, they couldn't start it either, and we got a brand new mower. Hallelujah!This one is running just fine, and our front yard got mowed.

To be quite honest with you, last week is all jumbled up into a blob. Sitting here, I can't remember what I did on what day. I blame it on "Baby Brain Rot". That's my made up word for not being able to remember anything here lately. If it's not written down, it doesn't happen.

Lets' see.......I do remember going to church on Sunday and having some people over for dinner. That dinner was kinda like when Jesus fed the 5,000. I had just enough dinner sat out for Hubby, the kids, and I, then 2 by 2 more people kept showing up. I prayed that God would spread out the meal so everyone would get enough and be full. Sure enough! Everyone ate and ate, and we even had some food left over. It was amazing! God is good!

Monday, I took the girls to walk at the park, after I had dropped my older 2 off at their schools. The weather has been great! My energy has picked up a bit, and I felt like working in the yard after that. So, I cut down a very large forsythia and some type of tree. I've never seen this tree anywhere else before. So, I don't know what it's called, but it's really ugly. It's not totally gone, but I trimmed it down to about 2 ft tall. It has a chance to come back out again.

Yesterday I met with our Playgroup. So much fun! I'm starting to see some friendships blossoming. It's so easy, when your a stay at home mom, to stay at home and not socialize. I get so caught up in feeling like I need to stay here and tend to everyone else and the house, that I kinda forgot about me. And building friendships is healthy. Unless you have ever stayed home with a toddler for any amount of time, then you will have no idea what I'm talking about. I'm not a shy person, so I don't know why I had kept myself bottled up for so long. But now that it looks like we will be having weekly outings, and I'm super excited. 

Today I took B to the Library for a preschool story hour. She enjoyed it. Her attention span is still small, but I think she will grow with the program. She loves books. We read to her and she reads to us. Right now she plays with books more than she does her toys. But that's a good thing. She's smart and we're encouraging her. That's what good parents do. We had a fun time a the library, but towards the end she was tired. We had a bit of a melt down, but it didn't last long. We got out of there without too much of a fuss. As soon as we walked in the door, she was trying to climb into her highchair by herself. Apparently she was hungry. And she's even taking a great nap, as I type this. All those books must have worn her out. Today has been beautiful, once again. I worked in the garden for a few minutes. The cilantro was starting to get tall, so I cut it back. I got a huge bowl full, that I'm going to chop and freeze for later use. My hubby and I love salsa, and cheese dips. And we love lots of cilantro in it. We'll put it to good use. 

I don't really have much planned for the rest of the week. I'm flying by the seat of my pants. I would love to hang out some laundry on the line, but the pollen is still so heavy. I would bring back yellow/green clothes. LOL!

We'll, I hope you all have a great week. Here's some pics to carry you on until the next post........

An afternoon with Big Sissy and the sidewalk chalk

And an evening with the colicky baby

My huge bunch of Cilantro

What's growing at my house?

This morning I got up early to get ready for my postpartum checkup. I sneaked around quietly and got my shower and breakfast before the 2 little ones woke up. I baked three beautiful loaves of sourdough bread. And then I wondered if I needed to get to the Dr's office early. They had my appointment at 11am and I was supposed to have my blood drawn for a 2 hour glucose test, which meant I would be sitting there until 1pm. Thank God I called. Apparently no one told me to fast for the 2 hour test. Really, I don't remember fasting at the last one. But anyways, they rescheduled it for another day. I'm glad. I got to take a walk with the girls in the stroller and then eat lunch with my mother. 

Let me know if you want some starter. This makes awesome bread.

After lunch I took a walk around the yard, and thought about all the plants that were growing. I love spring and summer. My favoroite color is green. I love all the other colors, but to me green is life. I read somewhere that the human eye can distinguish more shades of green than any other color. Think about trees and grass. You could look at a field lined with trees and see all different kinds of green. I once said that if I could I would paint the rooms in my house all different shades of green, although I don't think that my husband would let me. Ha Ha! But I took my camera out with me today and took some pictures of what I enjoy seeing grow around my yard.

Tulips. I love tulips! These are my favorite of any flower. I actually took a pic of these before I left my mother's house. Unfortunately, I don't have any tulips at my house......yet! But I will have some soon.

Potatoes. These I started from some old Red Potatoes in my kitchen. This will be my 3rd year growing kitchen potatoes. Still haven't had to buy seed potatoes yet.

I can't remember what this plant is, but it has beautiful fuchsia blossoms.

Rows of Lettuces. Were growing Mesclun, spinach, romaine, and salad lettuces.

Our strawberries are starting to bloom. I really need to thin them out. I have a place I want to move the extras, but with a newborn, I'm not getting much done these days.

This Cilantro has been growing since last fall. The original plants went to seed. I collected most of the seed, but a few found soil. I was really surprised that these lasted all winter. We have had fresh cilantro all season.

Forsythia. These are so pretty when they bloom and then IMO they're useless the rest of the time. We have two rather large bushes that need to be trimmed WAY back.

 

Leeks. This is the first year that they have gotten so big. I planted the first ones in 2009. And transplanted them here in the boxes last year. They have really loved the new soil.

In addition, I still have oregano, catnip, peppermint, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, rosemary  and cherries growing outside. My husband says I have taken over the backyard. He's right and I'm not done yet.

Leave a comment and tell me what you have growing at your house.

Toddler Time

Yesterday, as we were waiting on Daddy to get home. I wanted to take B outside. But I still needed to stay close, because the baby was asleep. So we swiped Big Sissy's sidewalk chalk and sat by the front steps. She loved it. Normally she tries to run off, but she sat right there. I showed her how to draw some pictures, and she colored on top of them. She didn't want to come inside, but the baby was calling. 

It looks here like she is counting the chalk. I wish! But sorry, she's not.

She loves the outdoors.

Coloring on top of Mama's beautiful artwork.

We'll have to dust that bottom off.

But Mama, I don't want to go back inside.

We had a peaceful evening. I made Lemon-dill flounder, quinoa, and creamed corn. And then I read B her Bible, while my husband read his. I cannot tell you how calm our house has been in a long while. Somehow, all of our stresses went right out the window. I don't care if they never come back.....really. Usually after dinner, I try to keep Bitty Baby up for a while. And that's most likely when her colic starts up. But she didn't fuss last night. She was just as calm as everyone else. Maybe that's the key to her happiness. We played on the floor for a while, and she let me exercise all those gas bubbles out of her......without a fuss.

My little chunky monkey.

See those fat little thighs.......  She did not like the Boppy Pillow.

For a while I have been wanting to start a playgroup. There were several ladies that I had in mind with girls that are my girls' ages. We kicked off our first playdate this morning. What a success! It was a perfect morning. The only thing I would have changed was the wind. We all went on a stroller walk, even one of the toddlers rode in a wagon, and then the girls played on the playground. I think it's so funny how all three of us moms have girls. An almost 18 month old, 17 month old, 15 month old, 7 week old, 6 week old, and one due in June. All girls! The toddlers played so good together. The slide was a hit. B didn't quite understand that she had to sit down before she slid down, and another girl wanted to climb back up. They are growing up so fast. They all want to be independent until it came to the slide. That will come next.

B waiting on her friends to arrive.

That was their favorite part.

What a fun time!

Time to slide again.

Almost time to go home.

They had a blast. And this was just the first one. I'm hoping to schedule something at least once a month, and possibly once a week. Us SAHMs need to band together, if even only for our sanity. Not only did the girls have fun, I had fun. It was so refreshing to have conversation with an actual adult, and we threw in a bit of exercise. The park was beautiful today, and the weather was just gorgeous. I'm sure these little girls will sleep good at their naps today. Ahhh......both of mine are sleeping right now.......think I'll join them.

Until next time Blogger Friends............

Loving this weather!

Good morning Blogger Buddies! 

We had such a great weekend. The weather was wonderful. It took some patience to wait through all the rainy, dreary days, to finally have some pretty days. And it's supposed to be nice this next week too! Yippee!

Hubby and I have decided to make some healthier choices in our lives, so what a better way to celebrate  then with a huge heart stopping breakfast! Lol. I love to cook from scratch. Biscuits and pancakes will now be reserved for special occasions. We're hoping to make better choices concerning cholesterol, fats, carbs, and exercise. 

The fruit salad with greek yogurt was the only healthy thing on this menu.

B just loves her big brother and sister, and they just love her. One of her favorite things to do is sit (climb) on the couch with them. And especially sit with her big sister all cuddled up in her fleecy blanket. That's a special treat. As soon as she sees the blanket come out, she starts giggling non-stop.

She actually said "cheese" for this picture. She's becoming quite the ham.

Friday while my husband was at his doctor's appointment, I let B play in her room by herself, while I straightened up the house. I noticed she was getting quiet, so I checked on her. She had climbed up into her closet, which is on top of a set of drawers, and had pulled out a ton of baby blankets. Some of my days feel like I take 2 steps forward and 5 steps back. Gotta love her though. She definitely makes my day more interesting. I could probably write a book on all the mischief she gets into in a day. 

Thursday night I started a small project and finished it up on Friday. With 2 in cloth diapers now, I needed more cloth wipes. I have a huge stash of old receiving blankets that I ripped into equal sized rectangles, folded them over, and zig-zag stitched around the edges. They are so much better than disposable wipes and more gentle on their sensitive little bottoms. I make my own wipey solution out of warm water, baby wash, and baby oil, then store them in a large Tupperware container. When used, they go right into the wash with the diapers. One day, I'm sure they'll be retired to dust cloths. Next I made Nursing Pads. I had bought some Medela brand nursing pads, when the last baby was born. And I thought I could make them.  They turned out almost just like the original. The only difference is I used a zig-zag stitch instead of a surger, and of course these were mint green instead of white. I've tried out a couple of the new ones over the weekend, and I believe these are even more absorbent than the Medela brand.

Cloth diaper wipes and flannel nursing pads

Saturday morning we stopped by a yardsale. We found B a few pairs of shoes and a cute Christmas dress. Most of what we have for the girls are all second-hand, but it makes it so much better (in my mind) when I can buy things from people that I know. In this case, we go to church with this lady. I'm hoping to get to know her better. She seems really sweet. 

After the yardsale, we went to the healthfood store. This is something pretty new to my husband, so it was pretty fun to help him find some supplements to help him out. I love healthfood stores. A few years ago, the only pill bottles that you could find in my cabinet  were vitamin or supplement bottles.....and maybe a bottle of Tylenol. I really do believe that God put these things on Earth for us to use. After the Healthfood store, we  grabbed some lunch. We almost never eat out, so this was a treat. $31 dollars later......yeh. That's the reason we don't eat out. And that was only for a party of 5. I can imagine how much it will be when all 6 of us are eating out. Then over to Kroger, baby was hungry. I got her fed while Hubby grabbed some fruits and veggies to Juice. I may have gotten him on board for juicing. Yeah!

Yesterday our church went to two services. Its sort of bittersweet. I really liked going to the early service. I am going to miss seeing everyone though. Having 2 little ones, we were able to keep at least on of them on schedule, with extra playtime with big brother and sister before they left for their visitation with their dad. 

 

Early morning snuggles.

Bitty Baby's not so itty bitty bow. Hah! I think the camera angle made it even bigger than it really was.

One of my pretty girls!

After B's nap, we got some playtime outside. I thought she would like to ride her car in the driveway, but she didn't want anything to do with it.

So we played ball and ran around the yard.

I think she posed for this one.

Picking dandelions with Sister

Look Mom a flower!

My handsome husband and his dreamy blue eyes.

So that's it. We are breaking out the warm weather clothes, working in the garden, and enjoying these beautiful days. I'm hoping to meet some friends at the park for a stroller walk and playdate this week. 

Hope you all enjoy these beautiful days too!