Where did all my time go????

I still have not finished my Christmas shopping, and I fear that I never will! I hate to just buy gifts to buy them. I really only have Brian left. I just need a couple small things. I am always in the midst of trying to bake something. I do have some cookies done, but I really have a couple more kinds that I want to make. I did manage to clean our entire house this week. I just finished this morning. Except for the bathrooms... I don't do the bath tubs so Brian will have to finish that. I have to work Christmas Eve until noon, which isn't too big of a deal. We are very busy with our cancer patients that day. We are losing Tuesday which is the busiest day of the week for us. So that morning will fly by!

We are hosting the Steward's this year. Brian's parents arrive on Saturday and his sister Christina and her husband Tim are coming next week. Payton is really getting into it this year. Addison is just fun anyway so we are going to have a blast for sure. As long as everyone stays healthy. If we have a repeat of Thanksgiving I am going to get in the car and just drive away!!!!

9 months old

Okay, so I am a little behind. The last couple of weeks have been a blur, but our Addison did turn 9 months old during the chaos. She is such a happy baby! Since she was born Brian and I just marvel at how different the girls are. Addie has been much more content in general. She loves to just sit and play with her toys and anything Payton does is just hilarious to her. We will have to try to get a video of her big belly laughs when Payton is being silly. Of course Payton loves to ham it up when her baby sister is laughing at her! She has gotten mobile, not crawling, but anywhere she can scoot on her bottom. She of course starting making her way around the living room when Brian was out of town for work. Payton took her first steps while Brian was out of town for work. Earlier this week I heard a weird rustling noise... she had scooted right under the Christmas tree and was in the process of gumming the tree skirt. YUCK! She was NOT happy when I saved the tree skirt and pulled her out of there. Since her tummy has started to feel better we have been trying more solids. Her favorites are cheerios (of course), crackers, pancakes, and her newest is toast. It is tough for her to pick up the "wet" foods... bananas she liked, but peaches didn't go too well! Still no teeth yet... drooling like crazy though.

Payton is afraid of Santa, and the snow. As soon as we put the Christmas tree up she will get up in the morning (lately it has been between 5:30 and 6am... still trying to figure that one out) and say "Santa isn't comning yet!" She doesn't like the thought of Santa coming into our house while she is sleeping. They have their Christmas program at school tonight, and Santa is going to be there. We will have to see how that goes. She has been singing Christmas carols for a couple of weeks. Last year the 3 year old pre-school room was the group that really got into it and sang the loudest. Hopefully Payton won't be too shy tonight! As for the snow, we had some freezing rain last weekend and it formed a hard layer over the snow. When she got out with Brian she was too light to break through that layer of ice and she slipped and fell. She didn't hurt herself, but it scared her and she hasn't wanted to go out since... They do go outside at school though... peer pressure can be a good thing!

What a week....

Lets start at the beginning...

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving it was about midnight when Brian and I woke up to a strange burping noise. Into Addie's room we went and she was covered (literally) in vomit. She was just kicking and smiling... After we changed her bed and clothes, and gave her a little sponge bath I was up with her until about 4am while she continued to be sick. She wasn't too bothered by it all, but she didn't sleep much. She seemed fine on Wednesday, although she wasn't drinking too much. My parents arrived that night. Thanksgiving was good, we had a good day. Addison still wasn't eating great, but we have really started to push some solids and gerber's #3 jars, so we assumed that was why. Ohhhhhh were we wrong. The "fun" was just about to begin. Thanksgiving night around 12:30 Brian woke up and said he felt like he was going to throw up... he was sick for the next 24 hours. I can honestly say that I have never seen him look worse, he was SO sick. At one point he said, "It has already had it's way with me, why can't this be over already!". Friday everyone else was doing well, other than some major blow outs from Addison. Friday evening Payton started vomiting. I slept for part of that night in her bedroom to help her when she was sick. That is until I got sick myself. Mom following on Saturday morning. My dad was the last to fall on Sunday. Thank God that Brian was feeling better on Saturday! It was the most miserable weekend I think we have all had. Brian and Payton had it the worst though. I have decontaminated all the bathrooms, doorknobs, light switches, faucets, bedding, towels.... multiple times now...

Monday morning Brian left for Chicago for the week. Monday night I emergency paged our pediatrician because Addison was having such diarrhea that it was soaking through her clothes instantly. She still wasn't drinking well, and I realized that she wasn't drooling much at all, she is usually soaked! I was worried she was getting dehydrated. So after a long talk with the doctor I ran out to get pedialyte for her. She actually likes it. We pushed bananas and the pedialyte and she turned the corner by Tuesday night and finally is back on track. Mom and dad stayed until Wednesday morning, they needed to recover themselves, and since then it has been me and my girls. Brian comes home tonight, and we can't wait! Payton really misses him when he is gone for work, but this time she seems even more sad. Last night after we got home from daycare she cried when I put the garage door down because she said that Daddy wouldn't be able to get in when he got home. This morning she woke at 5:30am and cried for 15 minutes... "Daddy, I want Daddy....." So basically she is sick of this momma time and will probably be attached to Brian as soon as she sees him!

Thank god the last 10 days are over!!!

Voting

I voted recently in our local election, but not for any candidates. I voted for a couple of proposals for school funding. Unfortunately they were all voted down. One was for all day kindergarten which we would like to see especially since Payton will be going to school soon. Voting got me thinking a bit more about the upcoming presidential election. I really don't like politics. Polititians say a lot without actually saying anything...kinda like CEOs. They have a real knack for talking around questions. I found a website that can help people who don't have a lot of time to research all the candidates. This is the Vote Match Quiz. You answer a few questions about your views and they match you up with each candidate. Its broken up into social and economic sections. I found that the composite score can be a bit misleading because you could have very similar views on one sections but be very different in the other. Also, there may be some issues that can be "deal breakers" if you disagree. I try to find one that is a good balance. There's lots of information available so you can get as much or as little info ont he candidates as you like.

Elevator Etiquette

We were at the MOA (Mall of America) on Sunday. There are certain rules of etiquette which should be followed when around other people...such as at the elevator. The main offender was this guy in a yellow sweatshirt who we will call Big Bird (dodo bird of course). Addison was in her stoller and payton had just hopped off of her's when we got to our floor. I was leading Payton by the hand and puller her stroller while trying to exit the elevator. Big Bird practically had one foot on the elevator before the door fully opened. I move forward in hopes he would back off, but no. I lean ever so slightly into him, again hoping he'd back off and say "excuse me". Nothing. I lean a little more and another "excuse me" as I push on through. Tina was a little nicer and got off after me but she said she heard him muttering something. I turn back as the door is about to close and give Big Bird the "stink eye". Most people over the age of 15 know how to handle getting on and off of an elevator. Apparently this guy, in his 40's, is A: rude, and B: too lazy to walk...up an escalator!!!


On a happy note, Payton woke Tina up the other night and asked to go potty. That is big news. She's been mildly complaining that her diaper is uncomfortable on her butt. So, last night she wanted to wear her big-girl-underwear. So she did and was dry all night. She didn't get up at all and went on the potty shortly after getting up for the day!

Long week...

Well, Addison's eye cleared up nicely and she has started to sleep better and night. We did go to her 9 month well baby today (a little early to make it the same time as Payton's 3 year) and she still has an ear infection. Switch to Augmentin now...

Anyway... Last weekend was Payton's 3rd birthday. I can't believe she is 3 already! We had a big party and all her friends came and she had a lot of fun. My parents and sister Nicole and family spent the weekend. On Monday Payton was sad that it was just us again. She loves all those people! We played games, had a pinata and ate cake. Not to bad with a bunch of 3 year olds! She got a lot of games (chutes and ladders, candyland, hi ho cheerio, honey bee tree...) and she is really into playing with them. If is fun for us too.

Thursday I got a call from daycare to pick up Payton this time. She was vomiting. By the time I got there she seemed to be back to normal, but she has to stay home for 24hours before she can go back. Fortunately I am off today so we can all be home. This morning I braved a doctor's appointment for both girls all by my lonesome. Man that is tough! I felt like I was a octopus in that room holding this one while the doctor looked at that one..... Then they both got a flu shot, big fun there, and then we were off to the lab for bloodwork for our anemic Payton. She didn't cooperate this time, I think she remembered the phlebotomist, and she screamed from the moment I pulled her on to my lap until the moment we walked out of there. Can't say that I blame her. She said to me "Daddy isn't happy that they hurt me." I kept trying to tell her that they had to hurt you to make sure you don't get sick. Yeah right mumma! Well, I did get a call from the office and Paytons hemoglobin is the best it has ever been at 10.6, and her iron is normal!!! 10.6 is still low, but for her it is good. So we can stay on the flinstone's with iron still. THANK GOD! She does so good taking them I dread to think if we had to switch. Then we were off to the pharmacy to get Addie's augmentin for her ears. A lovely trip to Target. I wanted to pull all my hair out by the time we got home, but then it was past lunch time, so no time to wallow:)

Here are their stats, they are quite different as you can see:)!
Payton: 28 pounds and 36 1/3 inches tall putting her at 25th percentile for height AND weight.
Addison: 22 pounds 11 ounces and 29 1/4 inches tall putting her at 90th percentile for height 95th percentile for weight.
They both are in the "healthy" range of height vs. weight. Payton is on the very bottom and Addie is close to the top!

Happy Halloween???

One of the Steward girls had a great Halloween, the other, not so good. I was at work yesterday when daycare called to come and pick up Addison, they thought she may have pink eye. She has had cold and cough for several days and she always gets a runny eye with it. So I left work to go and get her and her left eye was draining a ton and it was swollen and red. Wow did that come on fast! I took her to the doctor and she, of course, has an infection in that eye and she also has an ear infection. So we are doing the eye drops every hour for the first 24 hours, while she is awake, then she will get them twice a day for 4 days. And amoxicillin for 10 days for her ear. Lovely... So needless to say I am not at work today. She had a rough night with the coughing. We really feel helpless. But her eye does look a little better today. My parents are coming tonight so she will be getting a lot of attention!

Payton had a great halloween. She had a parade and party at school, she wore her witch costume all day, she didn't want to take it off last night and this morning she wanted to wear it at school again! She was so cute. Brian took her around the neighborhood and she got all shy when they got the doors. She screams "trick or treat" before they left home, but not anywhere else. Addison was a pumpkin, although she didn't even get to wear her costume last night. She did wear it to a halloween party we went to on Saturday though. And since Payton INSISTED that Daddy go as a pumpkin too, he had a pumpkin shirt on.

8 months old... and almost 3!

Addison is officially 8 months now. I don't think she has changed all that much in the past month. She still is not crawling, but when she is on her belly she can now raise her bottom up off the floor. She has not a single tooth. She of course is a drool monster, we go through about 10 bibs a day I swear, and her gums don't look like anything is even close to pushing through. So we will enjoy that adorable gummy grin for a little while still. She LOVES to stand. As long as you are right next to her she will stand up next to her learning table or the furniture and play. And of course anything and everything goes into her mouth. This is becoming a trial with Payton and some of her toys. I wouldn't want drool all over my stuff either! We are really trying to play with Payton's stuff more in her room now. It will make it safer for Addie once she is mobile. Addison is getting good with her pincher grasp. She can get those little puffs/cheerios right into her mouth, then she doesn't realize that she has to let them go... hence a big gooey mess! We did try some small banana pieces. Still a work in progress.

Payton is turning 3 next weekend. Where did that go?! We are having a party for her with the family and several of her little friends from the neighborhood and school. We are going to have 8 little girls and 2 boys. Payton told me exactly who to invite. She is so funny. Last weekend Payton and I went to the mall with her friend Ava and her mom. We had so much fun shopping with the girls. It was nice to tag team so we could actually get some shopping done, all in the kids stores of course. Payton is officially/completely potty trained. She tells us when she has to go, and will go all by herself when we are in the middle of something. She still wears a pull up at night, but she is almost always dry in the morning. It is SO nice. Last Friday Payton went to an elk farm/pumpkin patch with her class. She came home with her own little pumpkin, which she carries around the house. We had a parent/teacher conference last week with her pre-school teacher and she was telling us that Payton is really into imaginative play right now. Apparently she is ALWAYS the mommy during play. Wonder where she gets that? She is doing great with her new classroom, she moved up in September, and we sent a pillow for Payton to sleep on during nap for the first time a couple of weeks ago... she is very protective of it. She gets mad they told us when anyone even touches it. She loves her pillow. Don't know why I didn't send one sooner.

Well, that is all for now. My parents and my sister Nicole and her family are all coming for Payton's birthday next weekend. I am sure I will have an even longer post after that!

Yeah for us!

Monday night was the first night in a LONG time (16 months or so) that I have not had to physically get out of bed at some point at night. To use the bathroom when I was pregnant or to attend to Addison. We both had to work on Tuesday so it was Brian's turn to get up with her, and she only woke up once for about 10 minutes or so. We have stopped the night feeding cold turkey, and Addison could care less! Last night was even better. She slept from 7:30pm until 6:45am!!!! Yippee for Addie, and for us:)

7 Months...

Here are the girls latest photos... not a smile from Addison, but they did get some great shots regardless... Aren't our girls cute!? Sometimes I just have to pinch myself!

Addie is 7 months old! She is such a happy baby. The only time she gets cranky is if she is tired or hungry. She is on a great schedule right now, although not as predictable as Payton was. She has made through a couple of nights without a little snack of formula. That doesn't mean that she hasn't woke up, but if she wakes up and one of us goes in the check it out you can pretty much tell if she just wants her pacifier or if she is up for a bit. If she looks mad, then it is time for a diaper change and about 3-4 ounces to drink, then she is right back down.
And EVERY morning between 6-7am she wakes up with a big poop. Great way to start our day!

She is napping good here and at daycare now. She still needs that evening snooze though. We try to push her to around 7:30-8pm for bedtime, and that will NOT happen if she doesn't get a little catnap in the evening. She LOVES to play, especially if Payton is on the floor with her. Which is a lot of the time. Every morning I am home we sit in Payton's room and play. Addie loves it, I am picturing the trouble once she is crawling! Payton is not going to be happy sharing with nosey Addison.

Addison had her first "snacks" this month. She seems to enjoy the biter biscuits. She is not sure about the fruit puffs though. She loves water out of a sippy too. We haven't found any vegi or fruit that she doesn't like yet. And she loves her cereal too. She isn't great with drinking all her formula at breakfast and lunch, but her late afternoon bottle and bedtime make up for it!

Rolling is non-existent... She is content to sit and stretch as far as her little arms will until she flops over to get a toy! She is probably going straight to crawling at this rate! She is starting to tolerate tummy time a little more, and her exersaucer provides great entertainment for her. For Payton too, she likes to "help" Addison figure it all out!

Because I promised!

I did manage to remember this year to take photos of our festive house. We may just have to carve a pumpkin this year!

Oh, check out the new storm door Brian installed recently. We love it:)

I couldn't believe it...

Yesterday I picked up Payton at daycare and she was still wearing the same jeans that we put on that morning! And even better was that she was still wearing the same undies too!!!!! She had NO accidents at all yesterday! And this morning I couldn't find her for a second, which is a sure sign that she is peeing somewhere in the house, so I called out "where are you Payton? Do you need to go potty?" and then I heard her yell "I already did Mumma!" She had gone into the bathroom by herself and went potty. This is a HUGE thing! I am thrilled!

Saturday was Payton's first friend birthday party. It went well, until the last 15 minutes or so... Mental note, don't throw a party with 10 3 year olds at 2-4pm. Payton's nap time... I think you can all get the picture. Unfortunatly for us, we had a party for Brian's work that night... She did okay after a little cat nap, but for a second there on the ride home from the birthday party I wished for earplugs!

I put in my order for our "pumpkin lady" today. I don't know if you remember me saying last year. This family from a local farm does fall decorations for outside. She drops off whatever you want (corn shucks, pumpkins, hay bales, gourds, indian corn...) and then after thanksgiving she picks it all back up. I love it, and she is super reasonable. We will be busy decorating tomorrow night! Maybe this year I will actually take a photo!

Last Friday our neighbor (also my co-worker) Lesa stopped by to chat after work. I mentioned how good Payton did at school that day going potty. She only had a minor accident, just didn't get to the potty in time. Later that night we were getting the girls out of the bathtub and the door bell rang. Lesa and her husband Rod were here to give Payton a gift for being such a big girl that day. A HUGE coloring book (it is seriously a couple of feet wide) and some markers (washable of course, they know me too well) for her to play with. Isn't that sweet?

Nose dive...

Payton apparently can't walk and talk at the same time! Tuesday at school she did a "superman" dive right on her face while taking a walk with her class. The poor thing looked just terrible when I picked her up! I asked her "what happened to your face!?" And she proceeded to rub her cheeks and forehead and say "my face, something happen to my face?" Her nose and lip were all scraped up and swollen. She looks like she got in a fight. It would be fine if her lip wasn't scraped too. She just won't leave it alone! Good thing I don't have photos lined up for the weekend. I almost made an appointment last week. We will have to wait until she is all healed.

Potty training is starting to really come together for her too. She wears her "big girl underwear" every day at school, and at home she wants the pull-ups, but we are still going to potty consistently. Thank goodness for that. She has started to tell us she has to go, usually when she is on the verge of going.... we have had many "hurry Payton, hurry!" to the bathroom. Then high 5's all around when she goes. Bedtime is still a major pain in the @#$. We average aobut 30 minutes a night... that is to do the bedtime routine that could take only 5-10 minutes... All our strategies seem to work for a couple nights, then we are back to square one again. SO frustrating! She is usually up around 6:30am regardless of the time we finally get her down. Fortunately Addison's bedtime routine is great, so Brian and I can tag team Payton.

Tomorrow Payton has her first friend birthday party. A house full of 3 year olds... should be interesting!

Finally Finished!

It has only taken about 6 weeks, but I am finally done with Harry Potter! I decided to re-read book 6 (glad I did, I must have read it too fast the first time... there was a lot that wasn't too familiar) before I read my book 7. 6 weeks later I have finished them both! I just don't have time to sit and read like I used too, obviously! Anyway I LOVED the final installment of Harry Potter and I would recommend the entire series to anyone. I must say that book 7 was the best of the entire series, followed by book 6 then book 3:)

Well, I talked to Payton's teacher this week and she said that she thinks that Payton is ready for "big girl" underwear. Brian calls it BGU. Anyway as a lot of you know we have repeatedly tried at home and BGU has not gone over well. She soaks through constantly and then fights us to even take them off. So when her teacher told me that I was shocked. She is dry all day at school, so off she went yesterday in her BGU with a bag full of extra undies and capri's/shorts. At lunch her teacher told me that she had been dry all day and didn't want to put a pull up on at nap time, they insisted she did of course. I was thrilled. She didn't make it through the day however. She had one accident, which was less than I expected actually.

Last night Payton was up crying several times that her feet hurt. This isn't unusual for her to tell us to rub her legs or feet. She has been having growing pains we think. But last night she was just hysterical about her feet. I was up with her twice before midnight. Then around 1:30 she came into our room crying that her feet hurt. I rubbed some lotion on them and while I tended to Addison, Brian rubbed Payton's little tootsies until she fell asleep. This morning Brian mentioned how long Payton was in the tub last night, and he thought that she was so upset because her feet probably felt dry. This has always bothered Brian himself is he takes a shower at night! If that is the case I say that he should be up with his little clone:) It was just ridiculous last night! She didn't get up after the lotion though...

Addison is 6 months!

Wow... the past year really, has just flown by! Now our Addie is 6 months old! I can't beleive it. We went to the doctor on Friday... she is 18 pounds 14 ounces (90%) and she is 50% for height (I can't remember the exact height... and she is napping so I can't go to look right now...). She has really changed in the last month. She can now sit up on her own and LOVEs to play with all her fun toys. Payton just loves to sit next to her and show her all the fun things they do. They are so cute. She would stand forever holding on to your hands if we would let her. She is basically done laying on her back under her gym. She wants to sit up! The swing is now with friends who just had a new baby. The time she liked it was very short lived so hopefully they will get more use out of it than Addie did.

We had been giving her cereal at dinner for a couple of weeks now, and now she is getting cereal at breakfast, and we added a vegi to her dinner. So far she has had sweet potatoes and squash. The first couple of days she really hated it (you would have thought we were feeding her poison with the face she made!), but she seems to have gotten used to it and has done better the last couple of times. She is officially weaned now, so diaper changes are getting interesting... She doesn't seem to mind, but Payton has to see if she realizes we are changing her sister.

She has been napping great, 1 1/2 hours in the morning and about the same in the afternoon. She still likes a little catnap in the evening. Especially if she was in daycare that day. She doesn't nap as well there. Bed at 8pm and she gets up sometime between 7-8am, just getting up around 2-3 am when we give her a small bottle. It is so nice. Brian and usually take turns with her now in the night with that bottle, but of course even when Brian gets up I have to get up as well to help out... I know he doesn't need me, but I am a mother... Over the next month or so we are hoping that she will stretch her sleeping time longer and longer and that bottle will get smaller and smaller. Two nights ago she slept until 4:30! What a treat!

She is such a laid back happy baby. She loves her big sister, even when Payton is crawling all over her. They are going to be great friends someday!

What a difference...

2 years can make! Two years ago we went on our annual vacation to Petticoat lake in MI with David and Sarah. We just had Payton then and she was about 7 months old or so. Last week we were there again with David and Sarah, their 13 month old son Ian, and of course our Payton and Addison. Quite a different vacation than before! It was SO nice to spend time with them again (we hadn't seen them in almost a year), and we had a lot of fun on the lake, just hanging out, and we also took a day trip to Michigan Tech. Payton refused to get in the boat again. She just SCREAMS! Ian didn't seem to mind it though! My Dad was out on the dock fishing and Payton saw him and yells "I am all done coloring, I need to go fish!". Too funny. So she got her very own Barbie fishing pole and tested it out with her Daddy and Papa. Too cute.

Addison slept great in her pack and play. Payton had her usually room this year and slept in the twin bed instead of a pack and play like last year. The weather was good, but could have been a bit warmer. My sister Nicole and her family came out for the day and we had a lot of fun tubing and Jason did some water skiing. Her kids love the water. Elizabeth was thrown off the tube and she didn't wait long before trying it again! My friend Tania from high school came by to visit. Her son is almost 2 (I can't believe it) and she has number 2 on the way. It is amazing how things change... the great thing about our vacation was that even though it was different it was just like old times. We left thinking ahead to when we can all meet there again:)

ARGHHH....

As a lot of you know we have been struggling with Payton at bedtime since the birth of Addison. It seems that we are making ground, and then back again to the crying and tantrums. Now that she can open doors she thinks that she should be able to come out of there anytime she wants and get exactly what she wants. The fact that she never gets what she wants when she is in the mist of a tantrum doesn't seem to click with her. It has taken well of an hour (for weeks!) to get her down for the night. It is continuous screaming and crying from her for ANYTHING but bedtime and total exhaustion and frustration from Brian and I. Fortunately Addison is asleep by then and she sleeps right through it. She has been SO good at school and during the day lately. We have been so proud of her... then it is bedtime! We dread it every day.

Well, Addison is officially weaned from the swaddle. Not too much difficulty there. Brian decided that he would stay up all night soothing her if he had to. Wouldn't you know it, she slept a 7 hour stretch that night! I told him he has to decide to get up with her every night. Then maybe we can all get some sleep:) Although I was up checking on her after 3 hours or so... We have started formula at bedtime and rice cereal at dinnertime. She still is getting up every 4 hours or so at night to eat, but she is a lot happier. She is getting SO close to sitting up on her own. I think she just wishes she could go right to standing on her own. She LOVES to stand (with you support of course). She is such an easy baby. She really only cries when she is tired or hungry. And if we catch the cues early it is even better. She has graduated to the convertible car seat. She looked so big in the infant seat, but so tiny in the convertible. Payton has new boosters and she looks so small! She is a peanut and will most like be in the 5 point harness forever it seems:)

Five Months Old!

I can't believe that our little Addie is 5 months old already! Where does the time go!? She is at a fun age. She still hasn't mastered her roll unless she is under her activity gym, when she uses it as leverage! She hates tummy time, what kid doesn't? She has finally taken to her swing, she just loves it. And I fear that she will outgrow it soon. She is on a pretty good nap schedule of a couple of hours in the morning and a couple of hours in the afternoon. She goes to bed around 7-7:30 and wakes up every 4-5 hours or so to eat. Can't seem to break her of that one... I am hoping that once the move to formula happens she will sleep longer (my goal with nursing her was 6 months, so we are almost there). I haven't slept through the night without getting up in over a year, so big deal right!? I am looking forward to that! We aren't starting solids until 6 months so we will deal with the night-time feedings for now.
Payton just LOVES her little "squirt". I tend to call Addison "baby girl" so Payton has taken to calling her "baby goo". Too cute. Yesterday morning Addison was waking up and of course Payton ran into her room (yes she is opening doors now) and streched her little arm into the crib. She smashes the bumper down to get to the baby. Anyway, she was yelling "Mumma come here! Mumma come and look at this kid!" Addison was just laughing and smiling away. The other day at daycare Addison was having a hard day and was crying a lot (she has a little cold). They brought Payton in to see her... she gave her a kiss, stuck her pacifier in her mouth and Addison just laughed and smiled away. Tell me that that isn't one of the sweetest things you have ever heard!? I wish I had been there to see it! She is a great big sister. Although at times she thinks that she knows what Addison needs more than I do! "NO mumma, she doesn't want that bouncy seat. She wants her swing!"

Busy week

Well, to update on the potty training... apparently Payton could care less if she is walking around in soaking wet underwear. After 2 episodes last weekend of her fighting us to change into dry underwear we seem to have regressed (yet again) with the potty. We seemed SO close... We'll get there, hopefully sooner rather than later!

Last weekend we were able to meet up with our friend Allison for a couple of hours before she headed back to New England. She is 24 weeks pregnant and SO cute! It was so nice to see her. She brought Addison the cutest little giraffe. It looks perfect in her room Allison. Thanks! We had time to browse around Babies R Us. Hints for Allison and her registry, and we are in search of a car seat for Payton so that we can move Addison into Payton's convertible seats. We think we have the decision made, we just have to go and pick them up.

Addison rolled over from her back to her belly this week! She has done it several times now, but we never catch her actually doing it. We just find her on her belly yelling to be flipped over! She has discovered her toes too. She is really into a fun age right now. Something new every day it seems.

The girl's daycare has an annual Fourth of July parade. I worked that day (the 2nd) and I went because I didn't want Payton to wonder where we were. A lot of parents come. Well, she screamed and cried when I had to leave. And to think I went so she wouldn't cry! It was cute and they were dressed up in red white and blue. Our fourth was beautiful. We were outside most of the day. Payton just loves sliding into her little pool. And that night we had a nice view of the fireworks from our deck!

Cross your fingers...

that today is the beginning of the end of Payton wearing diapers! Last week Payton saw her little free-standing potty chair (we had been using the little seat on top of the normal toilet) and decided that she wanted it back out. Now, months ago she decided that she wanted to sit on the "big" potty (hence the purchase of the little seat that fits over the toilet) and at times would refuse the little seat and try the balancing act. Didn't work out too good for her! We have been slowly trying to potty train her for a while. When she turned 18 months and moved up with the toddlers at daycare they started to get her on the potty, so we decided to do it at home as well. She was totally inconsistent. But last week after the "little green potty" came out of the linen closet she has been telling us that she needs to use it. And does. Her pull-ups were still getting wet, but she wakes up dry from naps as well as overnight. Yesterday she went 6 times on her potty. One of those times she just walked in there and pulled her pull up and shorts down herself!

So last night I was at our neighbors with some of the ladies from our neighborhood and I got the push to just put her in "big girl underwear" and see what happens. I did buy her some a while back so this morning we brought them out. She is doing so much better that we thought. One accident so far. She is napping now and it was a struggle to get her to put a pull up on. I really didn't want to have to change her bedding! For those of you that don't know me too well, this is a HUGE deal for me. The fact that there is only a thin piece of cotton between her and a disaster is driving me crazy! But hopefully it will be worth it!

Payton update...

Well, our sweetie is FINALLY off the iron supplements!!! I talked with the pediatrician's office today and her iron is normal. If you remember in January her iron was so low that we had to go see a hematologist. We have used her tips and really been serious with her supplements (Payton has been a real champ over the last couple of months). I guess it helped! Although her hemoglobin is still on the low side her doctor feels that we can now switch to an multivitamin with iron and not come back until she is 3! 6 months without a visit to the lab!!! I bought some Flinstones vitamins today (she gets half of one a day) and she chewed it right up. She then asked for more!! It looks like the struggle is over. Lets hope and pray that this is all she needs!

The ONLY thing that stinks is that I just refilled her prescription. So now I have 2 bottles of iron that we don't need. They don't expire for a couple of years... hopefully we won't need them! I truly didn't think that we would be off the iron yet!

My week..

So Brian left on Tuesday for Chicago and got back on Friday. I was SO exhausted by the time he got back. Payton's teachers at daycare were telling me that she was emotional at times crying for Addison and Daddy. She has been like glue to him since he got back. He has been gone for a lot longer than this before, but this is the first time that she seemed so sad about it.

Wednesday night we had a lot of severe thunderstorms in our area. Of course the first warning came just after Payton went to bed and she was up crying "the storm scare me!" So we spent some time in the family room downstairs because you can't hear the storms as much down there. She ended up sleeping with me because she just wouldn't calm down. The storms were pretty much non-stop, so I can't blame her. It was super loud. Some towns reported baseball size hail. So at around 5:45 am on Thursday I heard a pinging noise... so as I rounded the corner into the living room the hail really came down. Payton was screaming, woke up Addison... the sound of the hail was so loud I thought the windows were going break! It was maybe nickel size, but good god it was loud! So our day began early. I was up every couple of hours calming down Payton and checking the weather reports. What a night... I did manage to get the girls to daycare and to work on time though!

Thursday night the girls and I went to our neighbors for dinner. That was great because I was pooped! Addison loved the attention (our neighbor Rod didn't put her down all evening) and Payton didn't want to leave she was having too much fun!

Friday we went to the pediatrician for Addison's 4 month appointment and a recheck for Payton's anemia. Payton had some lab work and she cried this time. The usually phlebotomist wasn't there and Payton usually does so great with her. And the fact that Addison was screaming in her carseat didn't help matters. The gals said as we were leaving and both girls were whimpering "Looks like your mommy has her hands full today!" No joke! I was counting the minutes for Brian to get home!

On to fun stuff. Addison weighed in at 14 pounds 14 ounces!!! And she is just under 26 inches long. That is a pound heavier and 2 inches taller then Payton at this point. Guess mumma's milk is doing the trick:) It is funny because she isn't a chubby baby, she is long though! She is really into sucking on anything right now. She discovered that her fingers are really fun to chew. She will grab at her gym and toys and can pull herself up on her side. No rolling yet though. She hates tummy time, but we are trying to be good to get her on her belly every day. She is rubbing a bald spot on the back of her head. Her doctor told me that they actually love that because it tells her that we are putting her to sleep on her back. Which we are. Although the little stinker STILL loves to be swaddled. She still fits into our recieving blankets so that is nice. I hate to swaddle her when it has been so hot, but the AC makes up for it I guess.

Last night we had a party for one of my friends at work that just moved on to a new job. They actually are looking to move out of town, but haven't even put their house on the market yet. They are thinking it will be 6 months to a year for their house to sell, which is realistic in our town. There is a lot of real estate here in their price range. So we are secretly happy about that. Our house/ yard was a zoo last night! We had 13 adults and 12 children running around. The house behind us just sold and our new neighbors literally moved in yesterday. They were probably hoping that this isn't a common thing for us! We did have a nice evening though. It was a good reason to have a party!

Chicago

I had to go to Chicago for work this week. 2 1/2 days of a workshop on converting legacy NextNet part numbers and order system to the Motorola system. My role is very small in all of this and I tried to get out of it, but I still ended up coming. Instead of flying, I drove down with two other guys. It only took about 5 1/2 hours which isn't too bad. Flying takes about 4 1/2 hours (total including getting to the airport and waiting for the flight) when everything goes right....which it rarely does. One of the guys I drove down with has a connection to the White Sox front office. He was able to get us tickets to a game for no cost. Originally he thought they would be behind home plate and pretty good, but he later found out they were much better. Follow this link to the Jim Beam Club where we were sitting. Once in a lifetime type seats! The Bears' number one draft pick, tight end Greg Olsen was in the same section. He's a BIG guy! The tickets made this trip worth while. Otherwise, pretty much a waste of time.

Yikes...

Okay, so as I have said before the biggest change with the weather moving from MA to MN has been the wind. In the winter is just gets so cold and with that strong wind around here it can be unbearable. In the summer the thunder storms are just incredible.

Last week we had a wind advisory (we had sustained 40 mph winds) and we were out to dinner with friends right after work. We were talking during dinner, our friends had a huge branch break off a tree in their yard, about how we hoped that the grill cover stayed on our grill that day. We have started to really secure it down because it always was blowing off. When we got home Brian said that when he didn't notice the grill cover as we came into our neighborhood. "I didn't see the grill either". Well low and behold our grill actually blew off our deck! One of our neighbors noticed it before we got home and just uprighted it and made sure we didn't have a gas leak. As many of you know we have a pretty nice grill and the thing is huge. We had to order a couple of spare parts, and fortunetly only the lid was really damaged! Unbelievable! We should have taken a photo of the carnage!

Then last night Brian was outside chatting with the neighbors and they mentioned that they had just heard we were under a tornado warning. WHAT?!! There was a funnel cloud seen about 15 miles from us. Next thing you know the sirens are sounding. Which basically means that a tornado is imminent and that you need to seek shelter. Brian and I have this plan that I will grab the little girl and he will grab the big girl if we need to get them fast. So down the basement we went to wait it out. Of course they were both in bed at the time, and they actually did very well. Payton didn't even wake up. She just slept in our guest bedroom until the storm passed. No damage, just a couple of things blew into the yard and it actually didn't even get too windy. The rain was incredible. Our rain gauge said that we got over 2 inches, and the storm blew through within a half an hour. As most of my closest friends/family know I HATE storms, but I think we did pretty well with our first experience with the warning and sirens. I am sure we will get plenty of practice!

My 7

1. On occasion I will have very vivid dreams...usually about looking for something. I might grab a flashlight and start looking through drawers or something. I've even moved the nightstand a time or two. I'll eventually get my wits about me and stand there for a second or two and realize I should be sleeping and go back to bed. Thanks, dad!


2. My button-down-the-front shirts have to be hung with the back of the shirt to the right and the top button buttoned...the collar gets all screwy if it isn't!


3. I have a bird made out of construction paper I made in 2nd grade still hanging in my bedroom at my parent's house. It's been hanging there in the same spot for almost 25 years with the same piece of tape!


4. I have 4 computers in the house (one isn't hooked up). When I bring my laptop home from work that makes 5 (geek).


5. I don't mind emptying the dishwasher or vacuuming.


6. I had back surgery at the ripe old age of 26. It was a laminotomy of one of the lower vertebrae...that's where part of the bone and disk are removed to relieve a herniated disk. The relief was immediate! Anyway, the surgery was a week before we were to fly to Negaunee for Christmas. While on the plane, I had to stand up for awhile to stretch my back a bit. There was a little old lady, must have been in her late 70s, that was also standing for awhile. We chatted a bit and I found out she had recently had very similar surgery. Not a good sign that you have to have surgery in your 20s that old people in their 70s need. The good news is that I have had no problems since!
7. Minnesota is a dangerous State for my bones. I lived 357 months in other states and never broken a bone. I have lived in Minnesota for a total of 29 months and have broken two bones (my collar bone in 1996 while doing a co-op in Rochester and my pinkie toe this past November).

7 things about me...

Okay, I have been tagged by Sonja AND Lisa to tell 7 random things about me...

1. I am a total neat freak. Everyone told me that would change when I had kids, but sorry to say it is just as clean as ever around here. Certain friends of ours used to move things in our house/apartments just to see how long it took me to move them back!

2. I am obsessed with reality TV. I haven't missed a season of Survivor since half way through season one! My favorites to date are Survivor, Amazing race, Deadliest Catch and Dancing With the Stars (this one is new!).

3. I love my life. I am always telling Brian "Have I told you lately that I love..." work, our home, our town, our kids, our marriage.... I am a pretty happy lady!

4. My middle name is Marie (of course). When we were trying to come up with a middle name for Payton I wanted Marie until we realized then her initials would be PMS. We picked Lindsey instead.

5. I love my job. I give chemo at a local clinic. I actually enjoy going to work. Oncology patients are the more grateful and humble patients I have ever come across. It can be extremely disheartening when we lose a patient, but everything else totally makes up for those sad times we have.

6. I have been a bridesmaid 8 times... 3 times the old maid:)

7. I hate feet. Brian can vouch for this one... unless it is my girls cute little feet, keep them the H*&$ away from me!

I am tagging Sarah, Allison, and Kelly!

Fun, fun, fun

Here are a couple of photos from Addison's baptism. My sister Val and her husband Nick are her godparents.

Over the weekend Payton had a playdate with her little friend Ava from daycare. The two of them were literally tearing through the house just screaming at the top of their lungs. They are so cute. It was such a classic little girl moment! Payton cried when they left. We are meeting again on Thursday for dinner then to a free concert in our "Central Park". Payton is going to be thrilled! Payton also went to the dentist for the first time a couple of weeks ago. She did so great! Our dentist was even impressed. She sat on my lap and watched "finding nemo" (the dentist as a screen you can pull down right in front of you and we could pick whatever for her to watch) and she had her teeth counted, and she even let the dentist polish them. I was so proud!!! We are still working on trying to get her to spit though!! She just doesn't get that yet!

Addison is doing great. She is smiling all the time, and she is such a great little sleeper. I think that the bottle feeding at daycare is getting her frustrated with me on my days off. But we are working through it! I am committed to lasting 6 months as least! She still prefers to be swaddled to sleep, but she breaks loose and wakes up with her blanket around her head. NOT a good thing. Sorry little girl, you are getting to big to swaddle!

I hit up our neighbor (who I happen to work with) to babysit for us next week. Today is actually our anniversary (8 years), but we will celebrate next week. I got going too late on that one! Better late than never right?!

Busy Busy Busy

Addison was baptized this weekend. She slept through the entire service. Once I get photos off of everyone's camera I will post some! We had a house full, and Payton LOVED it! It was great to see everyone. Brian (with the help of our dad's and Jason) got most of the swing set up. Well, the part that Payton likes best, the swings. She is BEGGING all the time to go out on the swings. As we are pulling into the driveway she yells " I can't see it yet!" followed by "there's the baby swing!". I know what we are going to be doing for a while. We need to get the slide on, and the clubhouse done. Then we can move out her sandbox and playground Steward is open for business! I am hoping that once it is totally done she won't need to swing the day away anymore:)
But we are glad that she likes it!

Back to work...

Yesterday was my first day back at work. Addison also turned 11 weeks yesterday. Her first day at daycare went pretty well. I went to nurse her during my lunch break, and I didn't want to leave! Unfortunatly I had a Board meeting after work (I am on board of directors at their daycare) and Brian had to pick them up as well as drop them off yesterday. Payton's teacher brought her over to the infant room to see Addison, which she loved! Addison fell asleep in her bouncy seat around 7pm or so. She woke up at 9pm and I fed her. Then she fell right back to sleep in her crib. This is more than she usually sleeps in the evening, but she had a long day! Then she sleeps until 5AM!!!! That right, a 7 1/2 hour stretch or so! We went to bed around 10:30 so I slept over 6 hours STRAIGHT!!! I haven't done that since early in my pregnancy!!! Poor baby was SO tired! So much stimulation at daycare I guess!

I have been asking Payton for MONTHS every time I paint my nails if she wants me to paint her toes. She always says no. Then I brought out the blue nail polish. As you can see, she wanted "blue toes" then! I love little girls:)

Strange Coincidence

I saw that there were some brush fires near Los Angeles that are threatening the Griffith Observatory.
It's a rather unique structure and I thought it looked familiar. Then I vaguely remembered a sceen from "The Rocketeer" that was shot at the observatory. I haven't thought about that movie probably since it came out. So the strange coincidence part involves a show I was watching last night on the Travel Channel about the most luxurious RV destinations. They showed this actor buying an Airstream trailer to use on movie sets. It turns out this was the guy who played the Rocketeer in the movie (Bill Campbell)! That's a strange coincidence!!

Michigan Trip

We are back from our week of travel. We started out journey driving on Thursday to downstate MI with a stop overnight in Escanaba. Payton and Addison both did awesome in the car. We didn't even break out the DVD player that day, and we were in the car for over 6 hours I think... Grandma Betty drove down for breakfast at our hotel the next morning then we were off to Brian's sister Christina in Auburn, MI. We did stop to feed Addison at Amy and Mark's in Gaylord because the timing worked out great and Payton was able to play for a little bit. We then got to Christina and Tim's and stayed one night with them. The highlight for Payton, other that watching the dogs, was collecting all the milk carton rings that the cat plays with. She started that one on her own and had a ball!

Saturday evening we were back in Gaylord for our Godson Jonah's baptism. The baptism itself was Sunday morning followed by a baptism/birthday party. That Jonah was SO cute in his little satin outfit, although he was slippery! I started to lose my grip during the baptism itself! ha ha... I was able to hold on and it all went over well, he didn't make a peep. Once we sat down Amy kept asking if I wanted her to take him back, but we were having too good of a time chewing on the bulletin. At one point during the service Brian had Addison and I had Jonah and Payton was trying to get her crayons out to color... Brian looked at me and whispered, "this is why we can't have 3 kids!" Too true:)

That was also Brian's 32nd birthday. Happy Birthday Brian! Payton wore herself out that day! We stayed in Gaylord until Monday night and drove up to Mackinac City at the girls bedtime to cut down some driving for the next day. Payton is still talking aboaut going to Olivia's to play with Olivia and Jonah. It was just wonderful to be able to spend a good amount of time the Amy and Mark. We miss you guys!! Payton just had so much fun! She has been just pooped since we got back. We got her to bed late every night and of course she didn't get regular naps either. But she did great considering.

Tuesday night we stayed with my sister Nicole in Appleton, WI. We got there in the afternoon so that was nice. Payton had a cot that was Brian's parents that she had been sleeping on the entire trip. She LOVES that thing. She sleeps so good on it, although we did bring her bedding from home. Anyway, Nicole asked her if she wanted to sleep in Elizabeth's room with her. Payton didn't answer at first, but a little while later she whispered to me that she wanted to "sleep with Elizabeth in her room". So we set up her cot, she was asleep in minutes, and she had her first little "sleep over". When she got up the next morning she kept saying "I slept in Elizabeth's room last night!". I really thought it would have been too much fun for her and she wouldn't go down. I guess all that travel and playing just wore her right out! Payton and Elizabeth are really starting to play well together. It is so nice to see:)

Wednesday we were back at home. Now we all have a cold/coughs. Too much time together in the car I guess:) Hopefully this weekend we can all get well!

While we were gone we were keeping up to date with our friends. Congrats to Dave and Lisa and their newest baby girl Layla. She was born April 26th. Too cute!!!

2 months...

Addison had her 2 month appointment yesterday. Brian and I have really noticed that she seems to be filling out! I was looking forward to seeing her stats. She weighs 11 pounds 9 ounces and is 23 inches long! I couldn't believe it! She is growing equally on both charts at 75th percentile for both! At Payton's 2 month appointment she weighed 10 pounds 11 ounces, but remember she weighed 8 pounds 7 ounces at birth. She was only in the 47th percentile and her pediatrician wanted us to feed her more! Not that problem with Addison. We supplemented Payton with formula when she was only a couple of days old. Addison hasn't had a drop of formula, I can't imagine how big she would be then:) Our littlest sweetie is getting so big! Brian said that it is no wonder our backs are always sore!

Her left eye was stilling looking yucky so we now are giving her eye drops as well. Our pedi thought that it may have been just a blocked duck, but being Payton has pink eye and it has been ongoing with Addison she didn't want to risk anything "festering" in there.

I had my blood drawn to see about my being a cystic fibrosis carrier... it will take a while to get those results back. It will be interesting to see!

"Payton come here... Is your eye red?"

When we got up on Friday this is the first thing I said to Payton once she was in the bright daylight... "NO it's pink" is what she said to me! She is too much! So pinkeye is back at our house. We still have drops from last month so we started them again. This time around she is really fighting them though... Addison's eyes have been "goopy" for a week or so, but she still is fighting the stuffy nose so I think that is why her eye is goopy sometimes. It isn't red at all. We go in tomorrow for her 2 month visit, and I really want to get the doctor's take on her having a cold/stuffy nose for about a month...

Payton's bedtime routine is FINALLY back to normal. Take her iron supplement, brush teeth, kiss everyone, ready 4 books, rock for about 3 minutes then to bed. She goes without a fight as long as we leave the lamp in her room on. Brian just hates that, but we shut if off when we go to bed and she doesn't even notice. She does get up at around 6:30 am though. But I would rather that then the fight at bedtime.

Addison is doing very well in her own room. And I will say that even if she has a tough night I really don't mind running in and our of our bedroom. I find myself feeling less tired when I am up with her because I do have to hop out of bed to get her. She loves her new aquarium on her crib and we do have a little light/music thing from her pack and play that fits on her crib rail so that we can turn on the little nightlight for her. It shuts off after several minutes, usually she is already asleep. I only have 3 more weeks of leave left, and I must say I am looking forward to getting back to work. I miss my co-workers and my patients...

So our Netflix this weekend was "Casino Royale". We were a little disappointed. I did like Daniel Craig as 007 though! We are off to MI this week to see Brian's sister and visit with Amy and Mark and celebrate there son's baptism. We will actually be gone a week with drive time. We haven't spent more than a couple of hours with Amy and Mark in a couple of years, so it is going to be SO nice!

Good Girls!

Last night we decided that Payton could stay up a little later (9pm) to watch a movie with us. We have had "Cars" from Netflix for a LONG time and none of us has seen it. So we got Payton in her PJs and headed downstairs to the family room to watch it. Payton did well, she actually watched most of it I think, inbetween Play Doh! It was fun to all sit down together and actually watch the same thing. Cute movie by the way!

Last night was also Addison's first night in her crib. She has been doing so well in the bassinet and napping in her crib during the day we decided to give it a shot. Being a weekend night, Brian could get up with her too if she wouldn't settle. Well, she did awesome. Just as well as in the bassinet. Once she is asleep (usually this process takes a half hour or so anyway) she is asleep until she needs to eat again. Good girl! Today Payton and I went out and bought Addison her very own Fisher Price aquarium to hang on her crib. Payton's is on her toddler bed and she still plays it every night. Several times during the night actually!

This morning Payton had an appointment at my salon to get her hair cut. Last time she refused to wear the cape and had to sit on my lap. This time, with some help from my stylist moving the chair up and down, Payton sat on the booster herself and wore the cape. I was proud of her! She got her hair trimmed and blown dry. She has been saying "Owwww" after her bath because all those curls get tangled. Hopefully this cut will make that better. Her hair was getting pretty long!

Updates on us all...

Addison is almost 7 weeks old now and eating and pooping like a champ! Not much else goes on in her life. Other than the million kisses a day that big sister, Momma, and Daddy give her!

Brian is super busy at work, playing tennis every Wednesday night (great for him, but not as fun for me... bedtime isn't the easiest yet with both girls...), and planning all the jobs he is going to do once it gets warmer. He is planning a swing set for the girls, a little more landscaping, painting and all the other odd jobs he can find! We had a fireplace put in our family room downstairs a couple of weeks ago and he has been doing the finish on our mantel this weekend. When it is completely done we will post photos.

Payton has been singing and counting like crazy lately. Her favorite songs (that she can sing herself) are Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, ABCs, and Row Row Row your boat. It is fun for us to see the motions she does to them that she learned at school. I had a conference with her teacher and she told me that Payton is doing just awesome with her colors, she has a great easy going attitude and the potty training is going well. She has started to wake up from naps dry and both here and at daycare she is going on the potty daily. She is wearing pull-ups now that she will only put on if she picks it out herself... we have to keep them in a tub in her closet so she can dig through them. Mind you the only difference is that there are 2 different pictures... She will use up all of one of the pictures before we can put the other one on her... What that is about is anyone's guess...

As for me, I had my 6 week post partum visit last week. I am feeling super, so my days of playing the recovering part are over! I have lost the 3 pounds I gained with Addison plus 21 more. That is wierd! My doctor and I talked about the CF scare we had with Addison and he convinced me to have the blood test to see if I am the carrier. So when I bring Addison for her 2 month checkup (her pedi as well as my OB are 30 minutes away) I will have it done. I was so grateful that he gave me his take on it. I really value and trust his opinion. So if I am negative that means it is Brian's side, if I am positive (meaning that I am a CF carrier) then Brian will be tested too. If we are both carriers we are most definetly done having kids. The info will be helpful for my sister Val too, she hasn't started having kids yet. I have stopped in at work to see everyone a couple of times and 2 of my co=workers have quit. One is going to be working for a couple of months longer (she is moving and has to sell her house) and I am SO sad about that. She is a great friend to me and she is my sanity at work. We are the same type of nurse and that makes it super easy to work with her. I knew she and her husband were thinking of moving so it wasn't a huge surprise to me. The other nurse was actually on a "probation", meaning she was on a workplan to improve her performance and she was not doing well. And she has been calling in sick a lot lately. Our boss met with her to suspend her when she quit, effective immediately. This isn't a bad thing because she was wasn't pulling her own weight at work... But when there are only 4 of you doing your job and you lose 2 that is HUGE. And I am out until the middle of May... It will be interesting when I get back!

Easter Weekend

We have had a busy and fun Easter weekend. Friday we dyed Easter eggs with Payton for the first time. We weren't sure how she would do, but she really loved it. Brian helped her with each one, and other than a few spills she did great. Saturday morning we had an Easter egg hunt at church. We have been having a cold spell and it was below freezing that morning so it was inside. After the initial couple she seemed to get into and had fun. More fun eating the candy that was inside the eggs while we listened to the first Easter story. Saturday night we went to church (we have been lazy in the am so this was a good compromise!) and it was going good. There was a baptism that night and our church is a big stone building and voices can carry... during the baptism there was a pause and then our Payton "What the baby doing Daddy?". We tried not to laugh out loud as Brian told her and she just repeated "but what the baby doing?" Classic! Sunday morning the easter bunny left more eggs to find and she had a great time searching the house. She dug into her easter basket saying "how cute" to just about everything. She got a new hat which she wore around for a long time. We then went for brunch and totally pigged out. Way better than cooking for ourselves!

So it was a busy, but really fun and festive weekend. We are pooped!

6 weeks!

I can NOT believe that Addison is already 6 weeks old! My does time fly! We are officially done with visitors until her baptism in May. We loved it though. My sister Nicole and her family were here last weekend and Payton just loves playing with her cousins. She was so pooped every day she actually asked for a nap! She kept asking me "Where auntie go?" for the first day or so! She is so cute!

Well, Addison had a little too much love over the last month or so from our family! She tends to be fussy if she isn't being held, mostly in the evening. We are working on that. I am on a mission to get her in her crib. She seems to have a little stuffy nose so once that clears up (I like to be close to her because she tends to cough and gag a little when she is sleeping lately) we are working hard core on the move. She is doing pretty well in her bassinet, only waking to eat. We are trying to do naps in the crib. It is tough because she could nap for 2 hours in her bassinet, but once in the crib it is only about 30 minutes. We are getting there though. With Payton at this age she was sleeping in our bed so we are doing well! We transitioned Payton to her crib by 12 weeks when I went back to work. I am thinking that Addison will be a little easier. Hopefully...

Well, I have to go "play dollhouse". Too bad Daddy isn't here... Payton will ALWAYS ask him to play with her dollhouse before she asks me. I keep telling him that he is just too good at it:) ha ha...

Custom Walleye Jigs

New link added: Custom Walley Jigs, where you can find the walleye jigs that you can't find in stores! Tell all of your fishing buddies!
This is run by my brother-in-law-in-law (David knows what I mean).

Update on our girls

We can't believe that Addison has been with us for 5 weeks already! Time sure does fly with two little sweeties in the house! Addison has been doing so well. Her nights have been going pretty well still and she is consistent about the times she needs to eat which is nice. I have gotten into the habit of rocking her for about 5 minutes after she eats and she goes right back down. The frustrating thing right now is that she is a spitter. EVERY time she burps during/after she eats she spits. And I mean projectile! It isn't a lot of volume, it just goes a long way! Last night I had just finished feeding her and had her up on my shoulder to burp her and I had to yell for Brian to come and help. It was not only on both of us, but on the couch cushion and it actually had pooled under the cushion as well. I am not sure what to do to help her out with this. We aren't worried about it, it is just frustrating... a couple of nights ago I had to change her swaddle blanket 4 times. She isn't too concerned thankfully. She is a pretty happy baby. She will just look around and kick for a long time during the day, and if she is in your lap looking up at you it is just too sweet!

Payton is just hilarious lately! Some of the things that she says are just too funny! Brian's mom was here last week (I have to share this story Betty:)) and every time we went anywhere one of us had to squeeze into the backseat inbetween Addison and Payton's car seats. There is plenty of room once you are in there, it is the climbing over the seats that is tricky. We were all getting into the car, Betty in the back this time, and Payton says "Grammy fits Momma!" We all had a really good laugh over that one! Bedtime is getting a little easier, but not as easy as before we had Addison. When it is time for bed she will say "But I'm awake!" And as you can see from the photo, Payton has taken to wanting to wear her bib again at dinner time. Funny girl!

Our Mayo appointments

Well, Addison was negative for CF. What we were expecting, but still a HUGE relief to us! We met with a genetics counselor and pedi pulmonologist to get the skinny on her being a carrier. She will just have to be aware of this when she has kids of her own someday, her partner will have to be tested. So she is all good, although I think that she has got pink eye from her sister.... not sure what we are going to do about that! Payton is on drops...

Payton saw the hematologist and we are going to stay on the iron supplements and try to keep her on a good diet. She does pretty well. And we are going to have her blood drawn every 3 months to see what her trends are. That is all for now unless she starts to display any symptoms of her anemia. I am not sure if MA did a CF screen for Payton when she was born. I believe it is optional in MA and we don't remember being asked if we wanted it. So we will have to find that out or Payton will probably want to be tested to see if she is a CF carrier before she decides to have kids. So much to think about... hopefully we will remember all the juicy details for her when she starts to ask us questions!

So all in all it was a lot of good news for us this week. We are so thankful!

Links reorganization

I've updated the links to the right to be in order of those who update their blogs the most! Where do you rate?
Note: Amy's and Sonja's websites put to the bottom simply to keep the blog sites together.

Friends...

Since we had Addison we have had so many nice things given/done for us. Thanks everyone! Several friends have stopped by and offered to make us dinner, babysit.... On Saturday some friends came by and brought us a huge spaghetti dinner, salad, bread, and cheesecake! YUM. They also brought a gift for Addison and a 'big sister gift' for Payton. They have 2 boys, and Payton just had a ball with them. It was so sweet of them to do that for us!

Every time I go to daycare to pick up Payton everyone wants me to leave Addison there! All the toddlers just swarm us. It is too cute. Who doesn't love a baby!?

First day...

Alone with the two girls went fairly well. Today Payton is back at "school" so it is just Addison and I. Yesterday I was feeling a bit anxious about having them both all to myself, but Payton is such a little helper it really did help me out. She has to be the one to put Addison's dirty diapers in the diaper champ or she gets very upset. She did have a little meltdown when I wouldn't let her put her own dirty diapers in there though! Brian bought her some pull-ups with disney princesses on them. She really does seem to like her "pink diapers". We are really trying to get her going more on the potty. She always tells us she needs to go about 10 seconds too late! We'll get there. Bedtime is going a little better. Brian went to play tennis in town on Wednesday night and Payton and I gave Addison her first bath in her infant tub (her cord finally came off), and then I got Payton down to sleep without much difficulty. Last night it took a bit longer though. She is constantly trying to entertain Addison and she loves to give her her pacifier if she is crying. She is such a little mother hen;)

Addison is doing SO good. I am pumping in the evening and Brian is giving her a bottle between 9-10 pm and she goes right down to sleep in her bassinet. She sleeps until 1-2am then she gets a diaper change and I feed her then right back to sleep. She sleeps then until 5-6am and we do the same thing again. She then is down for a couple of more hours. Payton REFUSED to sleep anywhere except with Brian and I so this is a great thing for us! Addison is nursing so well too. We are so lucky that our colicky baby came first! I am keeping my fingers crossed that Addison keeps on the same track:)

I got a call from the pediatrician yesterday and all of our appointments are made. Because of the whole cystic fibrosis thing we have to meet with a pediatric pulmonologist after Addison's sweat test. Then we have to meet with genetics. They were able to get Payton's hematology appointment for the same day so we will have a jam packed day, but the nice thing is that Brian's mom with be here then so she can occupy Payton while we are in Addison's appointments. The unfortunate thing is that we have to wait until Addison is 4 weeks old. Newborns don't produce enough sweat until around then. So we will head out on March 23. Our genetics appointment will be the next week. So we wait... 2 weeks...

"I wish I had better news for you today..."

were the first words our Pediatrician said to us when we took the girls in on Tuesday. Immediately my heart just sank. I knew we needed to make some decisions about Payton and her iron defiency, and I had a bad feeling about Addison's newborn screen when the doctor wanted to see us to go over the results. Why would they need us to come in if the results were normal?

Lets start with Payton... She has been on iron supplements since the beginning of November and her hemoglobin and iron levels really haven't gotten any better. Granted, she is not great at taking it, but she does take the full dose once a day just great (she should be taking it twice, but you try and tell her that!). So it shouldn't be getting worse. In January her hemoglobin was 10.1 (they want it to be over 11.5) and her iron was 18 (it should be between 35 and 100). Last week she had her blood drawn again and her hemoglobin was 10.0 and her iron was 12. So she is losing iron somewhere. Our pediatrian doesn't know why or where... she has checked everything that is obvious. So now we are going to go to the Mayo clinic to a pediatric hematologist. Hopefully we can figure out what is going on with her.

Addison's scenario is much more worrisome to me. Thank goodness for Brian being so level headed or I would have had a nervous breakdown in the office! So her newborn screen (which screens for multiple genetic disorders) done at the hospital was positive for TWO things. First of all she was positive of Bartts Hemoglobin. This is not too big of a deal... it means that she is a carrier for Thalessemia (this is a type of anemia in which your red blood cells are smaller and paler than normal, the type Addison carries is not the severe form). My sister Nicole had Thalessemia so this is not a big shocker. Addison does not have this, but she will need the think about it if she marries someone who is also a carrier. Her kids then may get Thalessemia. The other thing she was positive for is Cystic Fibrosis. She screened for only one gene mutation, and you need 2 mutations to have the disease. The newborn screen tests for the more common mutations, so there is still a chance that Addison may have a unusual mutation that wasn't screened for. For those of you who don't know much about Cystic Fibrosis it cause thick and sticky mucous production that causes lung and digestive problems. The median age for someone with CF is mid 30s. Our pedi did tell us that the majority of kids who screen positive for one mutation just end up being carriers, NOT having the disease. So Addison at the very least will be a carrier (1 in 30 people in the US are carriers and don't even know it). Obviously either Brian or I are a carrier... So now we go to Mayo to have the diagnostic test done. They will test Addison's sweat for high chloride content. So it is not invasive. Our pedi also told us that the majority of kids with CF will have shown some symptoms by now (breathing or stooling difficulties) which Addison has not shown at all.

So that is the details for now. That was a just horrible morning. I am SO happy that Brian was with me. It is too early to really worry, but I am a hormonal post-partum woman! Although I would be worrying even if I wasn't... We will keep you posted.

Regressing?

Payton actually slept through the entire night last night for the first time since we got home from the hospital. She was waking up when Addison cried and then she says "Baby crying, kiss baby". We then have to bring Addison to her or vice versa and let her give her a kiss and then she goes right back down. She is so worried about her little sister. Too sweet.

Payton is however totally going backward at bedtime. She has started to fight the entire process and last night it took Brian and I over an hour to get her down... So frustrating. Especially when she has to be at daycare the next day, like today. She is going to be pooped! Bedtime usually is the one time that Payton has always done great. It isn't helping that Addison is usually up and her Grandma and Grandpa are here... Hopefully she will get back on track soon.

What the .....!

Well, we went for our one week visit for Addison on Monday and Payton was due for a fluoride treatment and labs...

Addison weighed in at 7 pounds 3 ounces (up 3 ounces since being discharged from the hospital) so she is about 15th percentile for both height and weight. She didn't really get too jaundiced, so that was good. No lab draws for her. We are going back next week for another weight check and to go over her newborn screen (PKU results for those of you who remember this) with her Pedi. She is doing really well. She is waking up 2-3 times a night to eat and usually goes right back down. The last couple of nights I have only been up around 35 minutes each time with her which is really nice. She does tend to wake up if her arms "escape" her swaddle, but she usually goes right back down. Brian is so much better at the swaddle than I am! I will have to wake him up more to help me out with that one! And she seems to love that pacifer. If only she could control her arms... she keeps batting it out of her mouth! She doesn't seem to concerned with Payton being all over her either. We figure she will be one tough cookie!

Payton had her flouride and did awesome. I always think she is going to fight it, but she just opens that little mouth and lets the nurse paint that flouride right on. We did have her blood drawn, and she did pretty good. Just a little whining and wiggling when I held her in my lap. That is typical for her. The doctor's office called on Monday to say that her hemoglobin is still low at 10.1. We are still waiting for her iron counts to come back. We have been doing the iron supplement drops since the beginning of November. They are totally not doing much. So we will all be making the trip to the doctor's next week and discuss options with the pediatrician. It will probably depend on what her iron levels are, but I am pretty much done with the iron. It isn't helping... and she isn't symptomatic so hopefully she will recommend something easier. This is getting so old... My parents are still here and my mom actually remembers going through the exact same scenario with me and my sister Nicole. I am no worse for wear, although I still have to be on my iron supplements. My hemoglobin was 9.8 when we were discharged. The apple doesn't fall far does it?!

Finally...

Okay, so I have been a blogger slacker... I know a lot of you were waiting for a post from us. Sorry it came so late! The hospital Addison was born is half hour away from our house so Brian didn't make it back at all to take care of that sort of thing! So here is the labor and delivery story for those of you that are interested:)

We were up bright and early on Tuesday the 20th and on Labor and Delivery by 6am. We actually had a pretty decent sleep that night. Which surprised me. I was still only 2 cm dilated and about 50% effaced when we got there. So at around 6:30am I had some prostaglandin gel and then we waited. I was already doing some contracting on my own at that point, but nothing substantial. My doctor came in at 8 am and I was 3 cm and about 80% effaced so he broke my water. After that we were going every 7 minutes or so for a few hours and by noon we were 4-5 minutes apart and the contractions were going strong, but I was still able to talk through them. My doctor came in just before noon and I was on 4 cm. This was progressing slower than with Payton, but we didn't have Pitocin going. My doctor gave me the option of starting Pitocin to get things moving faster, but I was making progress that he was happy with so he left the decision to us. I wanted to wait it out and see how things progressed over the next couple of hours. By 2pm or so the contractions were very intense and I felt like I needed something to help take the edge off. One of my nurses was impressed at how "controlled" I was at this point, but let me tell you I was kicking and screaming on the inside:) My nurse checked me and I was at 6cm and about 100% effaced. Now was the time for the epidural if I chose to get it, or I could do a Nubain injection into my IV. I was pretty indecisive at this point because I was able to deliver Payton without an epidural, but I was worried about having to do Pitocin again without one. Things seemed to us to be going so much slower! My nurse pretty much suggested I go for the epidural so that I could relax and that I would probably go faster if I did. So bring it on! I had the epidural at 2:30 pm and around 3pm I was fully dilated. My nurse called the doctor and he said I could start to push, but she told him to hurry because she didn't think it would take long at this point. So I pushed through one contraction and they told me to stop pushing. Thank god for the epidural at that point. Like I could have stopped pushing without it! She was coming fast... my doctor came in a few minutes later and I did "five second pushes" and out she came. Brian and I could not believe that she came so fast. We were thinking it would be quicker than with Payton, but come on! So anyway, the second delivery experience we knew had to be better than the torture of Payton's, and it was better than either of us had hoped for. I was up and out of bed within a few hours and I am feeling pretty good.

My first impression of Addison was that she seemed so much smaller than Payton was. Brian thought she looked pretty big, but she actually weighed 1 pound less than Payton did at birth. She has a head full of thick brown hair and dark eyes. Not sure if she looks like Payton yet or not though:) She looks like herself.

So we are all at home now and doing well. My parents are here until next weekend which is a huge help to us. Payton sure is going to miss them! We will too. They are such a help. Yesterday my mom cleaned all our floors and both upstairs bathrooms. Bless her heart! Brian said they can stay as long as they want:)

Here she is....

Addison Hailey!!

She was 7lbs 7oz, 20 inches long and arrived at 15:31 on 2/20.

Everyone is doing very well. She had a good first night at home and has had much attention from big sister Payton. Payton gets very concerned every time Addison cries. She'll soon learn that babies cry a lot and we'll take good care of her.