Bedtime

Of all the things Luke challenges us on luckily bedtime isn't one of them.  However, he has certain things that must be in place in order for him to put himself to sleep.  Nightlight on.  Monitor on.  Fan on....loud! (as he tells me...which means on high).  Sippy cup with milk (even though he rarely ever drinks it after I leave).  And toys.  Most nights he grabs one train, or a car, or a book and is satisfied.  Tonight however, we carried up Finn McMissile (car), his stuffed monkey, a truck from his train table, and two race cars....he HAD to have the green AND purple one.  Already in his bed are two pillows, three blankets, his puppy, his kitty cat, his Thomas pillow, and his Douglas the dog stuffed animal/blankie.  Pretty soon there is going to be no room for him!  But hey, whatever gets him to sleep.

Tomorrow is no diaper day in our house, wish me luck on Day 1 of serious potty training. 

Smile

We took some 2 month shots of Lauren this weekend.  Our little cutie!

My dress when I was a baby!

My favorites!

2 Months

Lauren is 2 months old already!  It is flying by this time and its a little sad since we're not planning on any more babies.  She has changed so much in the last month.  She is very alert, smiles all the time, started cooing and making adorable little baby noises (my favorite!), watches her brother like a hawk, and is a pretty content baby.  Although we still don't have a set schedule, she eats every 2-3 hours during the day and then does a 6-7 hour stretch and then a 3-4 hour stretch at night.  She started taking a pacifier but just enough to calm her and she spits it back out.  She loves to lay on her back and stretch, look around, and make noises but she hates tummy time.  Her head control is getting much better and shes losing some of her adorable newborn hair.  Her stomach is very sensitive and I've figured out that anything with tomato or cinnamon is out - she is straight up miserable if I eat either.  That rules out a lot of foods, looks like she wanted me on a specific diet in and out of the womb.  She is doing really well breastfeeding and its so much easier this time around since I still have almost 2 months left before I have to go back to work.  She is still in a bassinet next to our bed and I don't see that changing any time soon.  Luke was out of our room by this point but I'm not ready to move her yet.  We don't go for her two month check up until next week but unofficially she is about 12.2 pounds now and she is just looking really big to me lately.  Again, part of me gets sad but the first few weeks are also some of the most difficult so I'm also a little happy to be past that. She's doing great and is so stinkin' cute! We have been crazy busy at night this week so real pictures are on the way, for now heres a few from my phone.

Yay, I'm 2 months old!

my little sleeping beauty

Date Day

Luke and I went on a little date this past weekend.  We spent lots of time at the park and then went out for pizza pie!  We even got to see two police cars at lunch!  What more could a little boy want.  All throughout lunch he kept asking me where the police cars were going and I told him I didn't know.  Then repeatedly he would say they were going to our house.  My kiddo talks really loud most of the time so everyone could hear and I could only imagine what those police men thought goes on around our house that the cops come all the time!  I kept telling him, no no buddy, not to our house.  :)

Week 7

So I've been home with both kids now for 7 weeks.  Well actually last week Luke started summer camp and goes to daycare two days a week.  I thought these two days would be magical and I would get all those things that I can't seem to stay on top of accomplished...ya know the important stuff like cleaning, bills, reality tv, sleep.  I apparently forgot how little I got accomplished when Luke was an infant.  I get more accomplished when Luke is home and is able to help me, craziness. 

So after 7 weeks I'm craving a schedule.  I feel as though it is way too early to attempt to get Lauren on one, Luke didn't really have a loose schedule until he was almost 6 months old but with two even I need routine and structure.  Luke has been on a schedule the whole time - didn't even budge during week 1 - he needs it even more than me.  So now I want something for Lauren, even if its not in line with Lukes it would just help me plan, get through the day a bit easier, and maybe actually get the heck out of this house more often.  I know, I'm probably asking for a lot here but maybe its worth a try.

In other news, its been 2.5 weeks since I got the okay from my doctor to start exercising again.  I really needed that.  Since I couldn't eat sweets the last 2.5 months of the pregnancy I overloaded on them right after Lauren was born.  So I didn't lose weight as quickly this time around at the start.   I've been walking with the kids as much as possible and even got Zach to drag the elliptical into the house from the garage.  Each week I've worked out at least 3-4 times.  I'm down almost 4 pounds in those 2.5 weeks, booyah!  I was worried about dieting and exercising while breastfeeding, but so far so good.  And by dieting I mean just not eating as much crap but I still eat plenty throughout the day and pretty much what I want, I just watch how much of it.  Eventually I may need to try a more structured diet but for now this is working.  I am 11 pounds away from my pre-Lauren weight and 16 away from my pre-Luke weight.  (yeah, I gave up on the last 5 pounds last time...)  So now I'm motivated to get back to my pre-children weight and summer frankly makes you want to get there FAST! 

We're headed to the shore later this summer and I am nowhere near swimsuit ready but my goal is to drop another 5 pounds before then to at least make me feel a little better in one.  Really, if I can do a pound a week I'll be happy.  So wish me luck all you blog readers, I'm ready to be me again.

Kiddos

The last two weeks in photos.

Parenthood

Lauren loves to be held and for the past week or so she is only content when she is being held and will only sleep if she is being held.  That's a difficult task with a toddler in tow as well.  Anyway, I found myself describing and demonstrating the perfect hiccup ceasing hold and rock to Zach earlier.

Cradle hold with head on your left elbow.  Right arm down in between the legs with your hand on the tush.  Paci in the mouth, head tucked against your body.  Right hand slowly patting the tush while standing and rocking back and forth on your own two feet.  And no matter how much it hurts or how uncomfortable you are you do it over and over and over again.  And don't dare sit down.

It works, believe me. 

And the whole world falls apart when said toddler "whispers" to his sister.  Or when your cat jumps up on the bed and meows at the top of her lungs.  Or said baby sneezes and ruins all the hard work you just accomplished.  Or you really have to pee and must put down the baby and the last 15 minutes of soothing work flushes down the drain.

All of this soothing hold/rocking/patting lead us to a conversation about the perfect amount of time to hold the baby before attempting to put her down.  It's a delicate balance - too early and she pops those eyes open like "heeeey!" and too long and she just fusses and wakes back up within 3 minutes.  So we had a serious conversion about what that window of opportunity would be.

Just another Wednesday night.