Monday, December 29, 2008

Winter Break

We packed our bags and headed to Kansas last week. We where taking our annual winter trip to see Jeff's family. Luckily Jeff's parents have most things that we would need so we didn't have to pack much more than clothes. We had great plane rides both directions. This may be our last easy flight with Jessie. I imagine next time she will want to run around. Jessie had her worst cold yet which had me freaking out. I was away from our pediatrician (though I called and he called me back on Christmas. nice. I told him merry Christmas because that's what everyone seems to say, he didn't say it back which made me think... hmm he's probably Jewish..oops next time I should keep to the happy holidays). Even though I had talked to him I still took her in to urgent care because I wasn't going to feel better until someone listened to her lungs and looked at her ears. We where given antibiotics for her ears. She hates taking medicine but her body seems to tolerate it better than Jamie did.

Anyway... we all had a great time. Jamie loves this time of year.

Though, it is nice to have my kids back to their bed time routines. I depend on it.

Jessie's third tooth broke through. They seem to be coming fast and furious.

Jamie just loves to play with her sister. She loves that she can make her laugh and is in her face every chance she gets... I wish the car was bigger..

Jessie is starting to wave which is really cool. She seems like she is really close to crawling and really enjoys standing... though.. I wouldn't be surprised if we still had to wait awhile for that stuff. (fine with me)

I will try to post pictures soon. Jeff took some nice pictures and I just have to figure out if we have made them small enough to put them on the blog.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

correction

Yesterday I said Jessie just had the one tooth. Well, last night I noticed number 2 had broken through. Maybe that explains the rough day at school on Monday. Poor baby.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Jessie turns 8 months today.

Jessie is 8 months today. So what is she like at 8 months... She is still a very happy baby. When she gets excited she flaps her arms up and down (which always makes me laugh). She always has lots to say (not as much as her sister). She says mama (I swear she knows how to use it) she says dadada, bababa and my favorite ohhhh and oooohh. She plays very well by herself. Though, there are the moments where I can't so much as touch her toe to the ground or she stars crying. She wraps her arms around my arm as if to say.. don't leave me. It's so sad. If I'm not with her but she sees me in the room.. get ready for the tears. This can make getting ready in the morning tough.

Jessie loves to stand. Her face lights up when she does. She is getting a little more sure footed and can stand up holding on to something (without parent support). Last night she even took some steps while holding my fingers. She doesn't seem to want to pursue crawling. I'm not worried either way.. she will figure out what works for her when she is ready.

Big sister Jamie adores her. Though, not a good idea to turn your back on them. Jamie's hugs can border on tackling and she always wants to hold her hands with every germ known to man on them. That's a little tough for me. The other day I stepped out of the room for less than a minute and Jamie was bouncing her a little too hard in the bouncy. Yep, don't recommend leaving a five year old with a baby. Jamie loves to have her around though, she likes to help give her baths, change her, and sometimes feed her.

Oh.. and how could I forget... teeth.. we are standing strong with our one bottom tooth. I'm sure more are on their way. Along those lines, she loves to eat. She will eat nearly any of the jars we give her and anything that you can mash up on your plate. She also enjoys toast.. and anything you will let her put in her mouth. She watches everyone eat and appears to be studying. She also likes to have her own spoon when she eats. She will take up to two (size 2) jars of food a day (usually 1.5). She nurses 3-5 times a day with me and I'm lucky if she will take any milk at all at school. We got all excited yesterday because she drank 3 oz. This doesn't seem right to me, but everyone tells me since she looks healthy not to worry about it.

I'm starting to buy 12 months clothes and they fit. She is a big little girl but somehow it seems just right.

She makes us all very happy and we are a better family for having her in it.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Jamie's pics


Jamie took some pictures on her own.

p.s she took more pictures than this.. I included more of them in this blog but for some reason they didn't show up.. next time I have time I may post more of them

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just the girls.. (and logan)

A portait of the ladies (also taken at bree and john's).
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family portrait

Yeah! We have a family portrait. We took this picture at a lovely dinner we had at Bree and John's house.
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santa party


My work had an event where we got to make ornaments and receive a gift from santa. We go every year and it's lots of fun. This was Jessie's first year.
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Fire Truck


We got to ride the fire truck for a donation to Toys for Tots. Jamie and I where very excited!

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brrr... it's cold


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bouncing fun!




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woops

for some reason this didn't show up in the fall fun blog and it's my favorite
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Fall fun


Since no one ever let me jump in a leaf pile I decided to make a leaf pile for Jamie to play in. I wanted to find a place with nice big leaves but couldn't find an ideal spot, so we made due with our yard. The neighbor kids started to line up. I new the look, so we invited them to join us. After awhile the parents came over and started to help me rake the piles back together. There where actually a couple more kids that just didn't make it in to the photo. Everyone had a very good time.

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More bath pictures...


Jessie loves to be in the bath. Jamie loves to take a bath with her little sister. Though, Jessie doesn't want to be in the bath with her sister for to long because that usually reults in water in the face.

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Monday, December 1, 2008

I'm coming up...

Jessie's first tooth is coming through. You can hardly see it, but it's a little white bump, poking through her gums. Jessie is about 7 1/2 months old. When her big sister Jamie's first tooth came in she was 14 months old. We kept thinking Jamie was getting a tooth.. and they didn't come for awhile. Once Jamie's teeth finally broke through, it didn't seem to bother her much. Jessie however, seems bothered. She cries hysterically at what seems like the smallest things. She is also not as interested in jars of food. I'm not even sure what the protocol is these days for this. Jessie seems to appreciate the refrigerated teethers and we gave her some tylenol which made her feel much happier and willing to eat.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

I swear I don't do it on purpose...

I keep dressing them the same. That's not a bad thing, but I'm not aware I'm doing it until I see them together.

Now that I can sit....


I want to sit in the bath too!

Couple of pics from Halloween
























Robert (Yoda) joined us for some trick or treating!


Jamie had a parade at school.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Jessie turns 6 months

Jessie turned 6months on October 17. We had our pediatrician appointment yesterday. We are in the 75-90 percentile on everything. A well proportioned baby ; ) (his words). For those of you keeping track.. I can only remember that she came out to 18 pounds. I think her height was 26inches (or maybe it was 23, but I think 26 makes more sense). He also thinks she may be an early crawler based on how she could get her butt up. Well, she is or she isn't I'm in no hurry. This little bug loves to eat. She is a happy baby and a total joy. This was Jessie's first ride on a swing. She had a good time and I had to snap a picture. (even if it had to be with my crappy camera phone). P.S these days her tongue seems to be permanently sticking out.


Monday, October 13, 2008

Halloween Cuties




My friends where nice enough to snap some pictures of my cuties at molly's first b-day party, with a halloween theme.



to see more pics, click on the links.










Friday, October 10, 2008

Sleep Blog Day 3

I put Jessie down last night at 8. I was tempted to keep her up longer so I could enjoy her company, but that seemed selfish with her yawning. She fell asleep right away, but then woke up at 8:30 and proceeded to cry about it for an hour. I went in every five minutes and did the patting. She was asleep by 9:30. She woke up at 3am and I nursed and she agreed to go back to sleep (crying for about 30 seconds). She woke woke up again at 6am but was asleep by the time I got to her room. I suppose that's how it's suppose to work, put themselves back to sleep and all. She woke up for the morning at about 7:50. Not to shabby. I hope she cries less tonight and sleeps through the night too. I think we are on the right path though. The teachers at Jessie's school applauded me yesterday and suggested I talk to some other parents ; ) I have to pat myself on the back too, it certainly is not easy and takes a lot of resolve.

p.s I can't tell you how much peace of mind the mattress alarm brings me. I no longer stare at the video monitor to make sure she's breathing.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Sleep Blog Day 2

Last night we put Jessie down for night number 2 in her crib. I followed my same routine that I did the night before. Of course she fell asleep again while nursing, which I can't let her do (bummer). I put her down awake in her crib. She cried for an hour and 20 minutes. I don't know who was more upset, her or me. Jeff and I took turns going in to her room every 5 minutes, patting her and reassuring her, so she would know that we are still around. We kind of felt that things didn't go right on the first night. She fell asleep to quickly and didn't learn to soothe herself. The crying for over an hour is how I remember this process from last time. Poor baby, it was very hard.

I saved the good news for the last part because I'm so excited!!! When she did finally go to sleep, she slept the whole night!! I think if I did not have the mattress alarm I would have had a panic attack. There is a good chance that we will still have a couple of tough nights ahead of us and we may even have a night tonight that is worse, but.. I'm thinking in a week, she will have it down.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Sleep Blog Day 1

Background: Up until last night Jessie had been sleeping with me in bed. It started off that she couldn't sleep unless I was holding her, and there she stayed because I wasn't sure what to do with the fact that she could only stay asleep on her tummy (though she did back sleep next to me). The school where she naps even told me it's not likely she will sleep on her back, they tried and failed. So, now that she is nearly 6 months, can roll back and forth (when she really wants to), and I have the mattress alarm that I purchased (it arrived yesterday), it was time for her to move to her crib.

The Technique: We went through this sleep situation before with Jamie and the technique that worked for us then, was from a book, the sleep solution. How it works... You set up a routine, you do that same routine every night. for example, pjs, milk, book, say night-night. They need to be put to bed sleepy but not asleep. The book warns against forming associations like music or noise, that they might always need that to fall asleep. The purpose is that they learn to soothe themselves to sleep so they can always fall asleep. When they start crying you can go in every 5 minutes or so, pat them, say night-night (or whatever) and then leave. Once they are asleep and wake up you can put them back to sleep however you normally would (rock, nurse, whatever). The theory is that since they are learning how to put themselves to sleep when you put them down, they will eventually put themselves back to sleep at night.

Past Experience: When we did this with Jamie, she cried the first night for an hour, the second night for 2 hours, third 45 minutes, fourth 20 minutes and then she wouldn't cry to go to sleep anymore. 3 weeks later she was sleeping through the night. It worked exactly how the book said it would go down.

Night One: I do the night ritual, set Jessie down on her tummy, turn on the alarm, go sit on the couch and brace myself. She cries for 7 minutes and falls asleep. I could not believe what a contrast. Jeff says let's go to sleep (at 9:15). I'm afraid to believe that I could actually be so lucky, but 15 minutes later I agree. I get ready for bed and I'm in bed for about 5 minutes when she starts crying. I went to her room to try and put her back to sleep. She falls asleep I try to set her down, she starts crying. I repeat this again and again. I see 10pm go by, then 10:30, I think no big deal since I'm usually awake at that time. By 11, 11:30 I'm starting to feel pretty tired. I go back and forth between her room and mine. From 1:00am to 4am we both are sleeping soundly. Strangely the way I achieved this was putting her on her back, face to the bumper like she sleeps with me (don't worry, plenty of air around her mouth and nose). I felt the sting of irony. Jessie wakes at 4am. I'm thinking, ok, I'll put her back to back to sleep and I can still sleep till 7. I do the dance like before, putting her down, she wakes up and cries, back and forth between our rooms. Jeff sleeps soundly this entire night. I watch 4:30 on the clock, 5, 5:30, 6. At this point Jessie and I are both crying. At 6:15 I decided to just start getting ready for work. I slept for 3 hours the whole night. I'm tired. I put her to sleep in my bed so that I could at least get ready for work. She slept soundly.

Stay tuned for day 2.

Friday, September 26, 2008

You win some you loose some

Well, as most of you know, whenever possible I like to follow the Dr. rules or if I've read something in a magazine or what have you. So, when Jeff decided he wanted to start feeding Jessie solids I called the Dr. office and asked if it was ok and where to start. The advice nurse told me that Jessie gets all she needs from breast milk and they usually advise people to wait until 6 months (unless she doesn't seem satiated with just the milk). So in my mind this is the law. To Jeff... not so much. I believe his response was something like "pbfhh". Needless to say, this was not a debate that I won. Jessie has had sweet potato, peas, and carrots.

First was sweet potato, she made a face like she was eating a lemon, but still kept opening her mouth. The next week we tried peas, Jeff felt vindicated as she lunged for every bite. This week we tried carrots. Carrots where well received and she is now showing a preference for them over the peas. Jeff is very happy. (Especially since Jamie never would eat that stuff. We kind of had to wait until toddler foods came around for her.... and we're still kind of there with her.)

Well, we don't give Jessie very much since I was told that it should not displace milk and we do wait at least 4 days to try something new (in case of allergies). So I suppose it has been somewhat of a compromise. More to come on baby food preferences. She does seem to have taken to it like a natural.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Times, they are a changin'

Jessie and Jamie have changed so much with their first two weeks of school. It surprises me how much can change so soon. Jamie's reading and writing has taken a leap, she is doing so well. Jessie can roll from her back to her tummy (maybe she was supposed to be doing that a long time ago, I don't know I'm not caught up in that stuff this time around) she's playing so intently with toys (she never seemed to care before) and she's doing great with belly time. She is able to go to her baby school and be put down and play (big deal to me) and she's drinking milk from a bottle like a champ (yeah). Sitting and crawling are right around the corner. I'm cautiously watching the thumb the keeps going in her mouth, given the choice I'd rather her suck a binky. I'll keep you posted as the excitement continues.

p.s Jessie is 5 months today. next month will be a big milestone with a dr. visit, eating, and more abilities.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

A bit of Irony

So ... those of you that have been following the saga know that it's been trying, trying to get Jessie excited about the bottle. I've been really stressed with Jessie starting school and needing to take a bottle. Well, when I spoke with her teacher at school today she told me " I switched to a different bottle and it worked great, she took 4 oz (compared to the struggle before of getting her to take 1.5 oz)" Here comes the irony... The bottle she did "great" with is the avent bottle, the same one I have a bunch of at home because that was the bottle Jamie had. I've been running around buying all these premium bisephonol -A free bottles and she like the very one that I already have at home. go figure.

Another thing that is funny, Jessie for some reason likes to nap listening to Celine Dion. (I'm not much of a fan) Jessie's teacher is sweet and made a cd just for Jessie to listen to for her naps. I can add that to the lengthening list of why I like this school.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Trip to Kansas


Cick on the picture for pics from our trip (the first few where actually taken at home, but I kept them with this group anyway).

I needed pics for my desk