While the Cat's Away...

The mice will play, or in this case...

SHOVEL SNOW!!!

Yes, while I was doing this, Mat was lounging in Jupiter, FL.  How's that for a little guilt trip, honey?  :)  One thing I learned is that I have been pampered in not having to shovel a single time since we moved to Iowa.  This was only a small snow by Dubuque standards, probably 4 or 5 inches tops, but it still felt like it took a long time!  The fun part though was having MJ out with me and getting to play in the snow with him.  I've looked forward to doing this all winter, but have never had the chance because Charlotte's too little to take out in it.  But, this time the opportunity was perfect, because guess who was inside to watch little Charlotte....



GIGI!!!

Yep, Gigi was nice enough to drive to Dubuque to help out while Mat was out of town.  It was my first overnight time on my own without Mat since having two kiddos, so it was wonderful to have her help.  Getting two little ones to bed at the same time and then getting them both up in the morning is no easy task and having two sets of hands is a huge blessing!  She was able to get lots of quality time with her grand kids, catch up on Charlee's growth over the last month, and help me out all at the same time.  It was wonderful for me too just to have some face to face time with her.  Since becoming a mommy of two, I feel like there is very little time to talk on the phone lately and when I get the chance to talk to her it's usually rather short and to the point, so just having some time for a little girl chat and catching up was wonderful! 

To back up a bit, Mat went down to Jupiter, FL to meet my brother for a little spring training Cardinals style and relaxation time.  He was due a little break and had been looking forward to a long weekend of guy time and baseball.  It was his spring weekend at school, so he had to travel on certain dates and unfortunately it didn't line up with any games, but he was looking forward just to watching practices, hanging out with Jeff, enjoying the warmth, etc.  Baseball didn't cooperate too well and due to scheduling and weather, they got to see very little.  They still enjoyed eating out, a movie, and just hanging out, and he came back refreshed and very much looking forward to seeing the kiddos.  My little break will be coming up next, once Charlotte doesn't need me quite so much.  ;) 

While Mat was away, Gigi got to jump right into our normal routine.  She took MJ to school on Thursday, spent lots of time trying to get Charlotte to sleep, did some laundry, and made time for plenty of fun too! On Saturday, we visited the aquarium, where MJ had a blast looking at fish and playing with boats, and Charlotte took a nice nap in her stroller.  :) 



We're glad Daddy had a restful little break, and we had so much fun with Gigi, but Daddy, please don't leave again anytime soon.  It might make us sad...

2 months: My Chunk of Love

Charlotte Noelle turned 2 months old last week on February 23, 2012:

My sweet girl in all her glory

Is it weird that I just want to nibble on those thighs?



My sweet girl continues to bless our lives and make our family even richer.  She's responding with more and more coos now, smiles in the morning or after nap times when we go into get her, loves her bath time, enjoys being changed, and continues to sleep well!  Each day is an adventure as a mommy of two little ones, but all the smiles, coos, and cuddles are so rewarding!  We celebrated her two month birthday with a trip to the pediatrician.  Poor thing! 

Bright and early on my way to the doctor!

She was great for Dr. Scott.  She checked out quite well and everything appears to be right on track.  Funny how a couple months ago we were worried about her being able to gain weight and now she's topping the charts at the 95th percentile.  Here's my little chunk of love's 2 month stats:

Weight:  13 lbs. 4 oz  95th percentile

Height:  23.75 in.  95th percentile

Head:  40cm  75th percentile

Quite a healthy baby!  Just means there's more for me to snuggle and kiss on.  :)  She seems to be meeting all her milestones.  Our only one concern was if she was possibly sleeping too much at night.  I know, crazy right?!  A month ago I was begging for sleep, but it was like she quickly turned a corner and went from waking a few times a night to only once after 8-10 hours of sleep.  The doctor encouraged us to just enjoy it though, so that's exactly what we're doing.  Before we know it there will be a blip in the road..growth spurt, teething, etc. and I'm sure the waking more frequently will pick back up-so for now, we're all enjoying the extra sleep.  Other than that, we had no concerns or questions for the doc.  I was dreading the shots for Charlee.  Mat has been so lucky to be able to go to all our pediatrician appointments for well baby check ups, so he's always been there to be the one who holds the kiddos for the shots (can you tell I reallllly hate that part for them??), and he was with me this time too, but had to sneak out a few minutes early for his own doctor appointment.  This left mama for her first time on shot duty.  Poor baby screamed her little head off after the first poke and then had to endure two more, but it was all over nice and quick.  She then nursed like a champ for comfort and quieted right back down.  She ran a low grade fever for the next 48 hours and slept a lot too, but other than that no side effects or fussiness at all. 



That same night, one of my best friends, Mindy, and her husband Derek arrived.  Mindy was able to meet Charlotte for the first time.  So special to think that Mindy and I were already spending time together as little babies at Charlotte's age.  The circle of life continues, and I'm so lucky to now introduce my own daughter to Mindy.  Who knows, maybe one day she'll have a little one that will play with Charlotte and MJ, too.  :) 



It's hard to believe my baby is already two months old.  I'm really enjoying this baby stage once again.  Her cuddled up against my chest in our wrap is a pretty perfect place to be!  I love you, Charlotte. 

A Day In the Life of...

MJ-February 11, 2012

MJ:  He is just a few weeks shy of turning 3 years old!  I can not believe it!  3 just sounds so much bigger than 2 for some reason, and MJ is certainly growing more and more into a little boy.  He continues to be an amazing big brother to his new little sister.  He's so enamored with her, loves to help mommy change her, and worries about her anytime she cries.  He regularly says "Pooooor baby," when her fussing starts.  He loves to pull the rocking chair over next to her changing table while I'm dressing and changing her.  He gets up close to her and uses a high pitched sweet little voice to talk to her.  It's so cute to watch!  MJ is making good progress with potty training.  He's wearing underwear now except for when he's sleeping.  He likes to sit on his little potty and read books or watch cartoons while he does his business.  Pretty cute!  He'll go on the big potty every once and a while at home, but he's scared of them out in public, so we're struggling with that one a bit right now.  He does good holding it, but if we're gone for more than a few hours, we'd better have a back up outfit on hand.  He's talking more and more of course, and says the funniest things!  Daily, I just crack up at least once at something that comes out of his mouth.  I started a little notebook where I try to jot them down from time to time.  I know one day I'll forget them and will love to look back on his cute little innocent sayings.  Right now, he's constantly saying "I need..."  It's "I need Dora," "I need chocolate milk," "I need cookie", etc.  Little does he realize that he doesn't need any of this.  :)  We're working on rephrasing these statements with him!  He's definitely become more social and loves to have play time with other kiddos.  He enjoys going to the mall playground and making friends with just about anyone.  He's also made some friends at his school, and we've gotten together for a few playdates outside of school with those friends.  He generally plays pretty well with other kiddos from what I can tell.  I think MJ is such a sweet soul.  Of course I'm a bit biased I'm sure, and this is not to say anything negative at all about other children, but seeing him interact with others as well as us, and in comparison to other little boys, he just seems quite sensitive and intuitive.  He certainly has his full on toddler moments of defiance, don't get me wrong, but generally speaking I think he's on the laid back, calm, and passive side.  He's pretty willing to go with the flow.  He constantly asks how others are doing, comforts little ones when they're sad, and picks up easily on our emotions.  I think he's going to make a great friend to others as he grows up.  He continues to be a good sleeper.  He sleeps from 7:30PM-7:30AM most days, and takes about a 2 hour nap the majority of the time.  He's a skinny little guy still, but he's had a growth spurt recently and has gained some inches in height.  He was in 24 month pants in the early fall, and then quickly shot through 2T pants, and is beginning to wear some 3T.  Thank goodness for adjustable waists because he could probably still wear 12 months sized clothes if it was just for the waist size!  He's a finicky eater.  Waffles are a definite fave and requested nearly every morning.  He also likes crackers, fruit snacks, yogurt, pudding, fries, apples, sausage, peanut butter and jelly, grilled cheese, some soups, and pretty much any dessert he tries.  Veggies, a few fruits, and most meats continue to to be pushed aside, although we continue to put them on his plate in hopes that he'll one day cave in and suddenly like them!  MJ is a typical toddler.  Some days he wakes up with a huge smile and ready to start the day, and other days he wakes up fussing and in one of those moods.  It's often challenging meeting the needs of his sister, while also giving him enough attention, but we're managing and taking it one day at a time.  He continues to fill my heart with love and happiness.  He just has no idea how much I love him!

Charlee Noelle-February 14, 2012

Charlotte:  She is just a couple days shy of being 2 months old.  Time moves too fast!!!  Yet, as sweet as those first couple weeks are of those precious newborn moments, I'm enjoying this stage much more.  Now that we're doing much better with breastfeeding, starting to see her little personality develop, and getting into a bit of a routine (verrrry loosely), it makes it more enjoyable.  Charlotte has become one AMAZING sleeper.  I hate to even document it because I'm afraid I'll jinx it, but she's currently sleeping an 8-9 hour stretch at night, waking to eat, and then sleeping another 3 hours.  It's incredible how much better I feel and am more equipped to handle the days when I get good rest at night.  I know that it's very likely that this won't last, so I'm enjoying it while it does.  She's sleeping in her own room, but she's in her swing, which probably isn't the greatest, but we'll work on getting her in the crib before long.  With her tummy issues, we're supposed to try to keep her upright for 30 minutes after she eats, so the swing seemed like the easiest way to do that, not to mention that she of course is soothed to sleep in it much easier, and we just kind of went with it. MJ was a swing sleeper too for the first several months.  It must be our weakness! During the day, I think she makes up for lost time by nursing every 2 hours quite often, sometimes 3.  She takes short cat naps throughout the day, and occasionally one long nap in the afternoon.  She enjoys lying in her crib and looking and listening to her mobile.  She also likes to lay on her activity mat and swat at her toys.  We often do tummy time on her changing table.  I'll pull the rocker over and sit and chat with her in order to get her attention.  She seems to like this much better than being laid down on the floor.  She's smiling more and more and making little cooing sounds to "talk back" when spoken to.  She loves watching faces!  I think MJ gets the most reaction out of her than any of us.  She just loves the way he talks to her and she'll smile so big and reach for him.  I love watching them interact!  We started Charlotte in cloth diapers a couple weeks ago, and it's been even easier than I'd expected.  I'm loving the switch and wish I would've done it with MJ.  She's currently wearing mostly 3 month sized clothes, but many are starting to become a little snug, and I don't think it will be long before she's moving into 6 month sizes.  I love my baby girl so much and am in awe of how much my heart just aches for her.  It's kind of funny because I look forward to her sleeping times so that I can finally have a moment to myself and try to get something done, but yet I miss her so much when she's away from me in another room.  She's made such a wonderful addition to our family and find it funny that I ever wondered how I'd be able to love another child as much as I love MJ.  My heart is so full! 

The days with two little ones are challenging!  There's always tears...it's just a matter of are they MJ's, Charlotte's, or mine! Ha!  Sometimes all three!  There are some really rough times when I feel like I'm checking the clock every five minutes wondering if it's getting close to nap time or time for Mat to come home from work.  Charlee is definitely a mama's girl right now, and never getting a break from her is tough at times.  I struggle to keep up with my teaching online, I find it luxurious to get a quiet shower, I miss snuggling with my husband, and I wonder if I'll ever have an ounce of me time, again.  BUT, I find the good in each day.  I know this time will pass too quickly, so I reallllly try my hardest to treasure it.  We were out to dinner this weekend and Mat just kind of looked at me and laughed.  I was holding Charlotte, bouncing her to try to keep her quiet, had the Hooter Hider hanging around my neck as I'd just finished trying to nurse her, had the diaper bag sitting in my lap, was eating with one hand, and apparently had a smile on my face.  He just kind of made a simple comment about how in the world was I still smiling...he was stressed/mad just looking at me!  It brought a good laugh and made me think about it....I really just do feel more at ease and relaxed at this second go-round with motherhood.  Not to say I don't have my moments of being TOTALLY stressed out, but I'd much rather try to eat my dinner one handed while multitask with nursing, cramped into a booth with the big diaper bag, and just try to enjoy it rather than wish those moments away.  I truly feel that God has blessed me and after much struggle and loss, given me this amazing opportunity to parent these two beautiful babies.  It won't always be easy, but it will always be a privilege to be their mother. 

My Loves

I won't ramble on this year about how much I love Valentine's Day because I think I've probably stated it enough in the past, but of course I was looking forward to the love filled day!  I was more tired than normal though, of course, so I didn't go quite as elaborate as I otherwise might have.  There was still plenty of love to go around though. :)

Mat and I spent some time together a couple days early, on February 12th.  We began dating on Feb. 12th 15 years ago, so it was a special day to us!  He got a sitter and we went out to eat for a nice, quiet lunch together at Tony Roma's (after our attempt to go to Caroline's failed since it was closed...oops).  Then, we got really romatnically crazy and went to Shopko!  :)  Ha, we're getting old!! 

For Valentine's Day, my honey got some homemade blondies, a new picture of him and Charlotte to display in his office, and a body pillow.  It was a little joke that he kept stealing my big pink body pillow while I was preggo, so I thought he needed his own slightly more masculine looking one. 



Mat's treats "made with love"!

On Valentine morning, MJ and Charlotte awoke to their Valentine goodies.  Of course Charlotte could have cared a less, but MJ was excited to investiate!

Yay for treats!

Happy to just hang out!

That morning, Mat made us all some heart shaped pancakes.  Then, MJ and I made some Valentine treats (gotta love easy ideas on Pinterest) together.  Unfortunately, I ate just two thinking it wouldn't be enough dairy to effect Charlotte, but I was wrong.  :(  About four hours later, our day took a turn for the worse, and Charlotte became very fussy.  I felt awfully guilty for giving her lots of tummy pain for Valentine's Day, but it was a good reassurance that she definitely has an adverse reaction to dairy products and it's worth it to continue to eliminate it from my idea.  It made for a challenging day for the rest of the day, but the kiddos and I did venture out to pick up a heart shaped pizza for dinner and a movie for Mat and I. 

A couple days earlier, I dressed the kiddos in their Valentine gear for church.  They were too cute not to capture:

I love my little Valentines!

Choo-Choo!

This past weekend, we ventured over to Plateville for a toy-train exhibit/show at a local museum.  Plateville's a small town in Wisconsin, about 25 minutes away from us.  I know it probably sounds like small-town boredom, but for a toddler who loves his "choo-choos", it was just about perfect! 

It was fairly small scale, but basically one large room full of nothing but electric trains.  I had a few moments to talk to the man that sets it all up, and he owned the majority of the trains.  He said it took 1-3 weeks just to set up each display, and there were at least 8 displays, along with a play area of toy trains.  Unfortunately, MJ wasn't feeling too well that day, but he was happy to sit and cuddle and just watch the trains. 

He also enjoyed plopping down and playing some trains with daddy.

MJ's train infatuation started this past fall.  I think it all began with a Thomas the Train DVD that he watched with PopPop several times.  He got a couple train sets at Christmas time along with two Thomas the train movies.  I don't quite think they've replaced his beloved cars, but they're definitely high on the list of his favorite few toy items.  Above all, he loves to see real trains!  Where we live, we can hear the trains daily and often see them when we're out and about. One of our easiest outings with him is to drive over the bridge into East Dubuqe, IL, about five minutes away, simply park in a parking lot right by the train tracks and watch for a train to go buy.  He's such a cheap date!  :) 

1 Month

Well, I'm a bit late with this, but better late than never...

Charlotte Noelle turned one month old on January 23rd. 

I mean, seriously...what's cuter than a little baby tushie and chubby legs?  :)

I feel like we kind of lost out on that first month with MJ.  Of course we were with him, but it was just different.  In the hospital, we were rather restricted, especially in the beginning, with how much we were able to hold and cuddle him.  Feedings were out of our control, and we felt rather helpless overall.  We were really fortunate to be able to bring Charlotte home right away and experience all those newborn things from the start.  It made us feel like new parents all over again though, because although we really longed to be with MJ from day 1, we never really had to experience those first couple weeks of constant feedings, up around the clock, etc.  It was like learning something new this time, and in all honesty it was tough. 

Because Charlotte lost a pretty decent amount of her birth weight, we were having to be sure that she was eating every 2-3 hours around the clock.  Also, even though we started off really well with nursing straight after birth, I began to have issues before leaving the hospital and they only got worse and worse over the first week or two.  It was hard, and there were quite a few moments I wanted to throw in the towel, but luckily some perseverance and great support from the lactation consultants, and we finally crossed that hurdle.  Then, just as I was feeling more comfortable with it all, it was becoming apparent to us that Charlotte was really in a lot of pain after eating most times.  It seemed like more than normal baby gas and spit up.  She would scream in pain, arch her back, straighten her legs, spit up through her nose, and just generally seem very uncomfortable.  Again, feeling very desperate, the lactation consultants were helpful and supportive, and between their advice and my research, we did some tweaking to my diet by eliminating all dairy products.  I've been dairy free a little over two weeks now, and it seems to have made a huge difference!!  This means that Charlotte most likely has a milk protein allergy.  The good news is that it's something she should outgrow. 

Charlotte is gaining weight well (11.6 pounds at 6 weeks) and thriving, and she generally seems much more comfortable now.  She still sleeps a lot, and when she's not sleeping she prefers to be held.  She's not a huge fan of just being parked in her bouncy seat or swing.  She enjoys being in the wrap snuggled up next to mommy.  She's definitely a mommy's girl for now.  That's another difference we've noticed with her and MJ.  With MJ, once we were allowed to begin feeding him, it was with a syringe or bottle, so we took turns.  We also got to begin holding him at the same time, etc.  With her, I began breastfeeding from day 1, so she was automatically with me a lot more, and I think it began the bonding process much more quickly for her and I, than it did with her and Mat.  Also, during those first few weeks, I tended to be in charge of Charlotte's needs while Mat was in charge mostly of MJ's needs. It's only to be expected I guess, but now we're realizing we need to have more time for Mat to snuggle with her and hopefully begin to bottle feed her a bit soon as well. 

Charlotte has begun giving us purposeful smiles.  She'll respond to our voice and often has big smiles after waking up in the morning.  I caught her first smile as she was lying in her crib watching and listening to her mobile.  I think she saves the biggest smiles for her big brother!  It's really cute to watch how they interact already and how she responds to him.  When she fusses, MJ will sing her songs or get down and pat her and say "you, okay baby".  He has quite the calming effect on her.  It's just amazing to me how incredibly sweet he is with her.  Not once have I seen him get frustrated or even jealous of her.  Counting these blessings while they last! 

I've been so impressed with Charlotte's sleep schedule lately!  I imagine it's due to her growth as well as her tummy feeling better, but she's now going for a 7-8 hour stretch at night in between feedings.  She'll eat, then sleep for a long stretch, wake up to eat, sleep about a 3 hour stretch, eat again (between 6 and 7AM usually), and then doze off and on in the early morning hours.  No complaints here at all!!!  The challenging part has been getting her to sleep at night.  If I could get her to sleep easily after she eats, then I could get to bed early and capitalize on that long stretch of hers, but often it's taking me 2+ hours to get her to sleep.  Just in the last few days we've been trying some new approaches, and they seem to be working, so hopefully we're on the right track. 

Overall, I am just so incredibly happy to be this little girl's mommy.  How in the world did I get so lucky?  It has it's rough moments, of course, but I truly am enjoying this time SO much.  Remember how I was so worried that I wouldn't have enough love to go around...how could I ever love another child the way I love MJ?  Well, it's miraculous the way the heart grows and expands I suppose, because I am absolutely in love.  Charlee and MJ were made for me, and I was made to be their mommy. 

Week 1 Wrap Up

Mat went back to work this past Monday.  How many dads get to spend the whole first month at home with the new baby?  Huge help to me as I adjusted to becoming a mama of 2!  At first I think he was enjoying it, but soon realized he was ready to get back to some adult interaction.  I was kind of looking forward to some time on my own with them and mostly just beginning to get into a routine of what our day to day life would be like.  Well, week 1 has come and gone now, and we survived!  Of course, he and I are both sick now so maybe that says something?!?  Ha! 

I'm pretty fortunate.  Even with Mat back at work now, he's able to be home the first few hours of each morning, so that's a huge help.  I'm able to get up and get in the shower after Charlotte's last feeding (usually around 7AM), and he takes care of getting up with MJ, getting him dressed, and fed, etc.  He also has time for some play time with him before heading off to work.  It gives me just enough time to get myself together and get a little school work/grading done or a couple things picked up around the house.  Wonderful feeling to start the day off right!  Then, he's home a little after 5:30.  Getting dinner ready with a toddler at my feet and a fussy baby usually strapped to me is a bit challenging, but I'm sure I'll get better with time. 

Week 1 had its highs and lows, but for the most part I'd give it two thumbs up.  The highs included:  MJ deciding on Monday morning that he wanted to begin wearing underwear and going potty on his potty (not sure this is technically a high, but I'm trying to stay optimistic), getting out and about on my own with both kiddos-including play time at the mall, eating lunch, and running errands, picking up MJ from preschool for the first time since having Charlotte, a little alone time with Charlotte while MJ was at preschool, some alone time practicing MJ's letters and numbers while Charlotte was sleeping, keeping up with my grading, getting an hour and a half nap myself on day 1 (this never happened again), the couple times MJ and Charlotte were asleep at the same time, ringing in one of my favorite months (the month of LOVE), watching MJ's pride when he went on the potty, some wonderful first smiles from Charlotte, and just overall being with my kiddos.

The lows would be the two days that MJ didn't nap, the time MJ puked all over himself in the backseat of the car, trying to get him to go potty out in public, and in general just the times that I felt outnumbered and overwhelmed.

Like I said, all in all, not bad! Let the pictures and videos speak for themselves...

Say what?  You're leaving us both all alone with mom?! 

HEHE, have I got something good in store for you, mommy!

Started out as great fun!  Desperate to get out of the house, we went and got a special lunch and went to one of our favorite spots to watch trains.  MJ got to get out of his carseat and sit up front with me to eat while waiting for trains.  The bad part is, a single train never came, I put MJ back in his car seat and about 10 minutes later he puked all over...not once but twice.  A first I must say, and not so lovely.  Poor little guy! 

Seriously, mom.  I know you looooove Valentine's Day and all, but are you going to dress me in hearts every single day this month?  And, why is this bow on the side of my head? 

Yup, more hearts!



MJ practicing his numbers with me!


It's so wonderful to see these smiles!


Already such love for each other.  Gotta enjoy the innocence while I can!

Here's hoping for a great Week 2 as well (minus the yaking and with more napping)!  :)