Lillie is 6 months old!

I can't believe I'm already posting her 6 months news. Last week, she turned 6 months old, and the very next day she got her first tooth. She is such a sweet girl. She'd probably be even more content if her brother didn't steal her toys or wake her up from naps, but he wouldn't be much of a big brother if he didn't torment her a little. Just a few days ago she learned to crawl! Saturday evening I came home from bowling with my sister for her birthday, and Lillie got up on all four. The next day Ryan called me into the room to show me that she was crawling! She's such a fast learner. Her technique is a little funny as of now. It starts out on all fours, but then she kind of lengthens out and it ends up in an army crawl. She has her 6 month check-up on Wednesday, so I will have to report later what her current weight and height is. I'll also attach a picture!

**Update**
Lillie had her 6 month check-up yesterday, and is growing nicely. She was 26" long and exactly 16 pounds.
This morning (8/20) she awoke with another new tooth.

A Thank You

I don't know if the person this blog is aimed at reads my blog or not, but I am writing this anyway.

Last December, I had a falling out with one of my best friends. More like a sister really, and to lose her from my life has been difficult to say the least. She said somethings to me that were really hurtful, and especially the things about my child. One thing she said, however, was a great gift. She told me that I wasn't very fun anymore, and that I was grumpy all the time. At first I didn't want to hear it, but then my husband echoed the same thing, and about how I was short with our son as well. After I cried and ranted and raved I made a promise to myself, and them that I would try to see the humor in life again.

What a revelation. I cannot put into words the things this has done for me as a person, and for my family. I feel like that one change has made a world of difference for us! Ryan and I rarely fight anymore, making this 4th year of our marriage the best so far. We laugh more. I don't take the messes that Byron makes so seriously now, and usually laugh about them later. I use my stories to make other people laugh with my other blog (I Hate Pink.)

I love my life now. I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted from my shoulders!

Another thing she said was that I wasn't a very good friend. I don't believe this is a true statement, because I always make an effort to call my friends to see how they are doing or just because I'm thinking of them. Her saying that to me was a blow, and it made me probably overly cautious about my friend's feelings. But I am now perhaps more mindful of my appreciation for them. My few close friends are very important to me and I hope they know that.

To my friends and family who are reading this, I love you.

To the person that said those things to me. I will always love you as well, and I forgive you for things you said about Byron. I forgive you for being so absorbed in your bad relationship that you can't see a person that really loves you. I forgive you for not valuing my honesty. I hope that you learn to love yourself enough to demand respect. I hope that you learn that pretty
things can never replace faithfulness, and treating you like the real treasure. Thank you for telling me I was being too grumpy. That has changed my life. I hope you are well and happy.

A forward that describes my problem perfectly!

Recently, I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D. -Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.

This is how it manifests:I decide to water my garden.

As I turn on the hose in the driveway,I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.

As I start toward the garage,I notice mail on the porch table thatI brought up from the mail box earlier.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.

I lay my car keys on the table,put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table,and notice that the can is full.

So, I decide to put the bills backon the table and take out the garbage first. But then I think,since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway,I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my check book off the table,and see that there is only one check left.My extra checks are in my desk in the study,so I go inside the house to my desk where

I find the can of Pepsi I'd been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks,but first I need to push the Pepsi asideso that I don't accidentally knock it over.

The Pepsi is getting warm,and I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the Pepsi,a vase of flowers on the countercatches my eye--they need water.

I put the Pepsi on the counter and discover my reading glasses thatI've been searching for all morning.I decide I better put them back on my desk,but first I'm going to water the flowers.

I set the glasses back down on the counter,fill a container with water and suddenly spot
the TV remote.

Someone left it on the kitchen table..I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV,I'll be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flowers,but quite a bit of it spills on the floor.So, I set the remote back on the table,get some towels and wipe up the spill.

Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:the car isn't washed the bills aren't paid there is a warm can of Pepsi sitting on the counter the flowers don't have enough water, there is still only 1 check in my check book, I can't find the remote, I can't find my glasses, and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.

Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day,and I'm really tired.

I realize this is a serious problem,and I'll try to get some help for it,but first I'll check my e-mail.....Do me a favor. Forward this message to everyone you know,because I don't remember who I've sent it to!
Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet, your day is coming!!

4th of July 2009

Every year for the 4th we go to Ryan's parent's house. They take the boat out and swing my husband behind it on an inner tube. (I don't do those things.) They have lots of delicious food and beverages. This year it was nearly 100 degrees, so I wasn't outside much. I'm breastfeeding and my baby is only 5 months, so we were both avoiding dehydration. My SIL took lots of pictures of the day so I can share them with you all.


These are two of the prettiest girls in the world. Lillie and her cousin Jaymie.


The kids and I. (Byron, Lillie, Jaymie)

Ryan looks like Baby Huey, but this is a good picture of the rest of us. LOL The shirt sizes were a little off. Let's just say Lillie is wearing a 18 mos shirt and it fits her.

Byron and Jaymie enjoying the raft.

Ryan paddling the kids around.

15 Books

Don’t take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you’ve read that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes. Copy the instructions into your own note, and be sure to tag the person who tagged you.

1) Treasure Island
2) Crimson Petal & the White
3) Dangerous Fortune
4) Lion Witch & the Wardrobe
5) Pippi Longstockings
6) The Valley of the Horses
7) Outlander
8) Harry Potter
9) The Other Boleyn Girl
10) The DaVinci Code
11) The Red Tent
12) The Mists of Avalon
13) Humbug
14) Water for Elephants
15) Garden Spells

May Recap

Well, May was a pretty busy month for us. I seem to never have enough time to do all the things I want anymore. I feel like everyday is booked up for me lately. As you know, we got back from our trip to Iowa at the beginning of May. That was so fun, and I'm really missing everyone in Iowa now. Of course, I don't miss the stressful dramatics of my children while I was there.

Ryan and I got to go on 2 dates last month, which is very rare for us. Grandmom said she likes to watch the babies, so I like letting her. For one date we went bowling, and that was super fun. We bowled like 7 games though, and by the end I wasn't doing very well, and I had a huge blister on my thumb. Stupid rental bowling balls don't fit my fingers right. The second date we went to see Angels & Demons at the movie theater. It was a pretty good movie. I liked it better than the DaVinci Code. I've read both the books and loved them. Maybe it helped that I read the book 4 years ago, so it's not fresh in my mind.

We also went to Spokane for a mini-vacation last month. I had a doctor's appointment there and Ryan was getting his truck wheels polished, so we took advantage of that and stayed there 2 nights in the Davenport. (I got a different car the day before we left. It's a GMC Yukon Denali. It's so nice to have extra room!) This time we stayed in the Tower instead of the main hotel. It was really nice, but it didn't seem as nice as the main hotel. The bed was the same though, and that is the most important part. It's like sleeping on a cloud! So comfy. Too bad I had to sleep in the other bed with Byron and Lillie. Ryan got a bed to himself, because our son kept having bad dreams. If I'm in the other bed then Lillie has to be by me so she can nurse. I do kind of like cuddling with the babies though. While we were there we ate at some really delicious places like Old European, Gordy's Sichuan Cafe, and of course the hotel restaurant called the Safari Room. All yummy and recommended!

Then we had Memorial weekend, which was pretty low-key for us. We just hung around and enjoyed the warm weather. We got Byron a baby pool with a little slide. I took the kids to the parade on Saturday night. On Sunday we went to Ryan's parents for a while and went on a little boat ride. Monday, was just a normal day for us, because Ryan had to work.

The last week of May, I started moving all of the things upstairs around to make a room for Lillie. That has been a huge project that resulted in me cleaning out most of the whole upstairs of silly junk that I saved. A good thing! But it really took over my house, and I feel like I'm just getting a handle on it again.

So anyway that was our month. Here are a few pictures of the babes.

Visiting my grandparents while we were in Spokane.

Lillie on the first hot day of the year!

Byron on the first hot day!
Byron's new pool.

Iowa Trip

The kids and I made a trip to Iowa from April 28 to May 2. We went to visit my brother, niece, and a couple of old friends. Travelling with two small children on your own is challenging, and I wouldn't recommend it. If you want to read more about that side of the trip you'll have to read my other blog. It was really great to see everyone though, and after a few days Byron was more normal.

This is my brother and Byron on the first night we got there. His poor nose looked terrible from the cold he had.

My step mom Kathi made some matching outfits for Lillie and Naomi. So we took some pictures for Grandma to see!

They are so cute I had to add two pictures of this !

My brother, Jed, with the little baby girl.

On Thursday we went to the mall and walked around with my friend Brooke and her daughter who is also named Lily. This is the meeting of Lily and Lillie.

Byron was not enjoying himself. He kept asking to go home and was in a bad mood for the first 3 days of the trip.

This is him yelling at me that he wants to leave Stella's (a really fun '50s diner), and me trying to get one decent picture of the two of us on this trip. Didn't happen.

He didn't even think it was fun to get a milkshake poured on your head!

Naomi thought that it was cool though. She didn't cry!

On Friday we went to lunch with Kelli at her parent's restaurant and then to their house to play. Byron really enjoyed doing something more normal, and had a much better mood the rest of the trip. I wish I got some pictures of that day!

Then on Saturday my friends Stacy, Kelli, Brooke and I took all our kids to the zoo! This is Byron in front of the aquariums.

This is Grayce (Kelli), Byron, and Nina (Stacy) in front of otter. I thought this was such an adorable photo! I only wish the otter had managed to swim in to the picture at just the right time. THAT would have been perfect.

This is Kelli (my best friend from high school in Iowa) showing Byron the zebras. I had a baby strapped to my chest, so it wasn't easy for me to pick him up.

Byron really loved interacting with Lily (Brooke). It was so adorable how he kept holding her hands and showing her affection. He even helped her stand up to see the goats. He's so sweet with babies.
This was the last day in Iowa. We spent the whole day with Uncle Jed, and relaxed eating Chinese food. We were sad to go home, but it did feel great to sleep in our own beds once we got there. (For a more thorough and humorous version of the Iowa trip broken into 3 parts visit my other blog http://www.ihatepinkmom.blogspot.com)

A gratuitous Lillie Post

Lillie is doing great. She is my little smiley girl. It doesn't matter how bad of a mood she is in you can start smiling and talking sweetly to her, and she will coo back and smile with those precious little dimples. It makes my heart melt! I have two beautiful children. I can't believe she is going to be 11 weeks old on Saturday! It's going by so fast already. Here are a few pictures of my pretty girl for your enjoyment.
This was out at the park on Tuesday. It was gorgeous! In her pretty spring dress that Jennifer gave her!

Easter 2009

This was the first year we really "did" Easter with Byron. Last year he participated in the playgroup egg hunt, but he was still a little young to get into it. So this year we did the whole shebang! We decorated eggs, and went to 2 egg hunts (plus we did our own at home today).

Here is a picture of him decorating eggs with Conner.

It was so much fun to see him figure out what the whole egg hunt experience is about. If you read my other blog, we had quite crazy experience at the big egg hunt yesterday. But it was still fun, and I was so proud of my little guy. I coached him before he went out on what he was supposed to do, and he did a good job.

Here is a picture of him during the egg hunt.

Here he is hunting his eggs at home this morning.

Three days of Easter festivities gets a little exhausting! Last night I felt like someone had taken a blow dryer to my eyes and shot me in the butt with a tranquilizer dart. I had to counter act it with candy for breakfast! haha At lunch we had a birthday celebration for my mom with ham, and a gluten-free carrot cake. I told my sister that it gets a little hectic to try to find something we can all eat these days. We have someone who eats Kosher, someone with nut allergies, someone who doesn't like fish, someone with wheat allergies, and people who don't like vegetables! YIKES! It was a lot of fun anyway. I think my mom had a pretty good birthday party.

Last weekend we went to the Spring Fair, and the Chick Days at Basin Feed. Here is a couple of pictures of Byron with the baby animals.

New Blog

I started a new blog. This one is just about being a SAHM, so I can post some of my funny stories for everyone. It's called "I hate pink." Go check it out!
I'll still post our family stuff and pictures on this one.

Happiness

For a few weeks now I've been wanting to write a little blog about happiness. I guess the big news is, I have it. Before Lillie was born I was worried that maybe it would make our lives too stressful, or push Ryan and I apart. So her birth, joyous and pleasant (scoff) as it was, I was nervous about how it might change things. I didn't realize that it could change things for the better. I feel like my body is humming with happiness right now. It's so nice to not be stressed out over things all the time, and just take them in stride. I got NO sleep the whole time we were sick, and I was still happy. I don't know how much of this has to do with finances. We have our finances much more under control now, so I feel very liberated by that, even though we are still paying our debt off. Or maybe it's because Ryan and I work together more to take care of the kids. I don't know what it is, and I don't care. I'm just so excited to be in this happy place. I mean it's snowing outside right now, and I'm still happy. It just makes me want to bake cookies. haha My body is thrashed by giving birth to a big headed child, and I'm still happy (it helps that I know my husband loves me, and my body no matter what.)
Happiness I haz it!

Now I wish that I could give a little of my happiness to the other people in my life that are having a tough time right now. I have friends going through divorces, cheating spouses, financial hardships, and illnesses. It almost doesn't seem fair that I should be happy right now, and have nothing to complain about. So I'm going to enjoy it as long as I can, because believe me there has been a lot of struggle to get to this place. I guess that means I've earned it!

March Recap

Well, I haven't written much this month, because we've spent the last couple of weeks being sick. First Byron had some kind of stomach virus, which thankfully the rest of us didn't get. Then he must have picked up a case of the flu from a shopping cart or some other lovely germy place...which turned into RSV. That nasty little bug had all of us (except Ryan) sick as dogs for a week and a half. (The cough we have will likely last another couple weeks.) RSV can be pretty serious for little babies, but I took her into the doctor early enough that it didn't have time to really compromise her breathing. So the treatment was relatively easy, and she didn't have to go to the hospital. The sickness made for a couple very cute pictures of Byron.

This is him sleeping in the dog bed. He got mad at me for watching Oprah (instead of his cartoons) and cried himself to sleep in the dog bed. LOL And the next one is when he rolled over. His face is so peaceful.
Poor Lillie just looks miserable in her picture. This is her at 6 weeks old and just coming down with the nastiness. Okay maybe she only looks sick to me because I knew she was. LOL
Other than that we've had a pretty quiet month. Not a lot to complain about these days, so that is wonderful.

The rambelings of a tired mother...

Okay, I know I said before that having two isn't so hard. It's not that. It's this stupid daylight savings crud! I feel like my brain fell out, got kicked around in the mud, and put in upside down. I'm so tired and mixed up. Plus, Byron is being EXTREMELY two this week. He is getting into things he's not supposed to and mostly just ignoring me. I can yell things at the top of my lungs and he "doesn't hear me." Or he will look at me with a devilish smile and continue doing what I said not to. *sigh*
Anyway, other than that things seem to be going better than usual. It's so nice to have our finances under control. It's a huge weight off our shoulders, and one less thing for Ryan and I to fight about. I feel like Lillie has made our family even closer. Ryan and I are so much more of a team now, and we spend a lot more time doing daily things as a family. Poor Ryan is having a hard time getting enough nap in when he is at home now though. There just aren't enough hours in the day!
I'm starting back at Weight Watchers in about a week. That is when I hit the 6 week mark. I'm excited to get skinny again, but nervous that I will have a hard time getting back into weight loss mode. I think it will be important for me to go to the meetings again. I hope I can swing that with the two kids.
Lillie had her 1 month check up this week. She gained another pound, and is now 10lbs 8oz. She grew another half inch so she's 21.5" now. My little chunky monkey! She is so beautiful though. I marvel everyday that I made those two beautiful babies. I'll post some new pics soon!

2 weeks in

Now that I've had a little time to adjust to the reality of having two kids I thought I should write a little update about how it's going. First of all, babies are so easy. Even her big problems seem so much smaller to me than they did with Byron. I remember calling my mom crying, because Byron "always wanted to be held" and I "couldn't get a minute to myself." Now I feel like sitting there holding a newborn IS a break! It's this toddler that still exhausts me on a daily basis. Okay, so I miss the sleeping through the night thing. She still sleeps more than Byron did. He would wake up every 2 hours on the dot and nurse for 40 min. With diaper changes and burping that translates to like 30 min of sleep in between nursing. Now, I remember why I co-slept with him. Lillie, sleeps longer between nursing. Usually 3-4 hours, but sometimes less. Unfortunately she has a little reflux, so that makes for a longer time after each feeding to go back to sleep. I have to keep her upright for a while otherwise it's pukesville. (And not just tiny baby spit up...it's "look out across the room" and "it looks like you showered in spit up.") But this sort of rules out co-sleeping, because she isn't upright enough. So she's sleeping in the car seat inside the bassinet, next to the bed. Ryan prefers this, so he's happy. I miss just letting them latch on and drifting back into sleep, but it will probably make switching to a crib easier later.
Now, about the toddler. People keep asking me how it's going, and truthfully it's not that much different. It just takes longer to get ready to go places. And it does make coordinating bedtime harder. (Lillie's reflux acts up at night, so she wants to be held constantly.) Byron is just as energetic as he was before she got here, and he still doesn't want to go to bed. So that remains the same pain in the ass it was before. He loves the baby, and wants to hold her and kiss her all the time. He's really accepted her into the family much faster than I imagined.

Lillie had her 2 week appointment yesterday. She weighs 9lbs 8oz now and is 21.5" long. She's in the 90th percentile. That is so strange to me, because Byron has always been on the smaller side. He started out higher up there, but now he's right at 50th percentile...so average. I'm assuming she will level off later on. I kind of hope so. I don't want her to be an amazon! She'll have to protect her older brother! haha

Lillie Anna's Birth

Well, I finally wobbled my way upstairs to update all of my internet friends about the new arrival. As you can see she waited quite a while to come out. We decided to induce on Friday morning, because her head wasn't moving off my pubic bone to dialate the cervix. Also, my doctor wasn't on call over the weekend and we wanted to make sure she would be there during the birth. So we went in on Friday morning and they started me on pitocin, and then broke my water around 8am. I had the epidural about an hour later, because your labor CAN progress very quickly after your waters break. That didn't happen to me of course. So I spent the rest of the day dozing off and waiting. Around 6pm my doctor came back and started a Foley bulb to help dialate my cervix. That took me from a 4 to a 6 immediately, and then finally a 7 when they took the whole thing out. Then my contractions got really painful, which I wasn't expecting because of the epidural. Apparently her head pushing on my pelvis, combined with the fact that she was face up made for a very painful combination. I'm no hero when it comes to pain, but the anesthesiologist said that he could have paralyzed me from the chest down and I still would have felt the same pain. The epidural just doesn't work on that kind of pain I guess. Finally, we decided to have me push through my last centimeter while the doctor came down to the hospital. When she got there I pushed for an hour or so, but the baby just couldn't get past that bone, even when we tried several different labor positions. So we used the suction, as I pushed, and within 4 good pushes she was out. I can't explain the feeling of relief to anyone that hasn't given birth, but it is immense. Plus, just to look at her face finally, made the whole thing worth it. I don't think I want to do that ever again, but it was still worth it. haha

Holding Pattern

We're still waiting for the little girl to make her appearance. She's been in position now for 2 weeks, so she could literally come anytime. However, she's my daughter, so she's stubborn. :) I had my 39 week appointment this morning and everything is still checking out great. My weight is well managed, my blood pressure is normal, and she's measuring 38.5 weeks. It's good to know that everything is going well. I'm getting a little impatient though. Mostly because I'm not getting any rest now with my hips hurting, having to pee every couple of hours during the night, and also Byron has decided to be difficult at bedtime, and started waking up during the night. Last night it took me 30 min to calm him down and get him back to sleep. I suppose it is partially to do with the big event coming up, and then we think his allergies are really acting up at night too. He's been very attention hungry lately though, so I know that's at least part of it. We've taken to calling him "the wee fiend" or "dr. jekyl/mr. hyde." One minute he's sweet and cuddling. The next he's rampaging through the house leaving a wake of distruction.
That's two year olds for you. :)
Anyway, I hope the next update will be an announcement and have cute baby pictures with it. (I've been really bad about downloading my pictures lately. Sorry!)