SWW

So What Wednesday...linking up with Shannon at Life After I "Dew".

So What:

• If today is Halloween.  Joey got to go the Pediatrician for his 4 month well-check.  Which ended in vaccines for him and a flu shot for his big sister too.  Can you say Mean Mommy?  (In all reality, dragging two screaming babies out to the car is definitely more traumatizing for Mama then it is the kiddos!)
• If it's crappy weather out for Halloween.  I'm still gonna stuff my little monsters in the costumes I bought them and drag them over to my Hub's Aunt's house for some socialization and some chili.  Because it will make ME feel better, ha!
• If we didn't make it to the Pumpkin Patch this year.  They won't remember it anyway and the weather just didn't cooperate.  It was gorgeous outside a few weekends ago, but that's when the Hubs was on-call and lets just say -- any time I try to take these 2 anywhere alone, that isn't completely necessary (like the Dr. or an emergency state of needing food from the grocery store) I end up regretting it.  Big time.
• We didn't carve pumpkins either.  I'm pretty sure my kids will be OK and never even remember.  Or they'll be scarred for life and turn into serial killers because Mommy was lame on Halloween.  Whatevs.
• If all my Mums on my cute porch were dead before Halloween got here.
• If my Hubs hasn't seen the kids in almost 3 days.  I need to remember to be thankful he has a good job every time I get worked up about this, or feel overwhelmed from being on my own so much.
• If I made a pan of Apple Crisp (my Mom's recipe is truly out of this world!) and ate the whole thing pretty much by myself.  In a matter of 18 hours.  Apparently when I'm alone a lot, I eat.
• If the house is in a continuous state of disaster.  I can never seem to get to a point where everything is done all at once.  Let it be known:  I enjoy a completely clean house.  Floors sparkling, stainless steel free of tiny chubby hand prints, carpet fluffed with fresh vaccuum lines...ahhh Glorious!  I would feel guilty about spending time on my blog, but why face the mess when I can blog about it instead??
• If I started out LAST WEEK by eating clean and working out.  I was on effing fire, man!  I prepped all my food in advance - grilled chicken breasts and veggies galore!  And then...well...lets just say it all went downhill fast.  I just wanted an excuse to go nuts with the Halloween candy ; )
• If I'm getting itchy to revamp my blog yet again!

What are you saying "SO WHAT?" to this week??

Family Time

My Dad & Sister both came to town for my Grandma's funeral last week.  I wish it had been under better circumstances, but it's always nice to have them visit.  We also got the chance to catch up with some of our extended family who we hadn't seen in years!

I was brave (or so I thought) and took the kids with me to the funeral.  (The Hubs couldn't get out of work, something about being the only kidney transplant doc left in the city as the others were off that day.)  Luckily my sister had gotten into town the night before and was able to help me with the kiddos.  Morgan & Joey did pretty well and were even well-behaved in the church.  I was asked to get up and speak about my favorite memories of my Grandma since I am the oldest granddaughter.  When I got up to walk to the front of the church, Morgan threw a fit and started screaming, so I just brought her up there with me.  I figured people could focus on the cute little toddler and less on the nervous Mom, lol!

Over the weekend, we went to a Halloween party/Fundraiser that the Northern Kentucky Children's Advocacy Center puts on every year.  It was fun to get out and have a little fun after a somber few days.

Just hanging out with Grandpa, telling him who's boss around here.

She can't smile when taking a picture with Mom!  My hair is finally growing back out, BTW, haha...

A wig and a diaper is all you need for a little Halloween fun!

And I wish these were a little clearer; my sister snapped them with her phone and sent them to me when Joe & I ran out to his mom's house for a little bit.  I died laughing!!

 Connie (my sis) said Morgan though she was so neat in this getup; she kept looking at herself in the mirror, ha!!

Joey got in on the dress-up fun too with his Bats onesie and Halloween sockies.

Flo and the Little Witch.  (My wig wasn't quite right but the costume was still fun)

Connie & Jacob (My sis & Nephew)

So fun to have fam in town.  I should add this post was made possible by the Fisher-Price Jumparoo.  Morgan is in school and Joey is a happy little camper jumping around in that thing.  LIFESAVER ; )  When Morgan is home, I am NOT allowed on the computer at all.  She wants to be on it, pounding on the keyboard and throws a fit if I don't let her.  So I don't even attempt to sneak on it anymore....she's getting too smart!

Joey 4 Months

It's funny to me that my little man always seems to match up perfectly with the weekly updates I get that inform me about his development.

Hello, Tammy! 

By now your baby has gone from being a passive observer of the world to being – or at least wanting to be – an active participant. Some babies this age even like trying to "stand." If your baby seems to want to stand up while being held securely on your lap, it means those little leg muscles are probably sturdy enough to explore this new sensation.

This one couldn't be more true.  He. Must. Be. Included.  In everything we do.  Boyfriend is NOT content to just sit and be ignored any longer.  It is so much fun watching him start to really interact and react to us.  He is also trying to stand when we hold him, in addition to run in place??!!  This makes it tough to hold the little bear.  If he is awake?  He is MOVING.

 At 4 months old he is already pretty much wearing all 6 month sizes now.  Sad face.

 I feel like he is changing daily!  I look at him sometimes and think he looks SO different than the previous day...it's bizarre.  I saw a picture of him over the weekend from when he was 8 weeks old and he didn't even look like the same baby!

 This month he has perfected bringing his hands to his mouth and is always sucking on them.

FIRSTS:
We tried out the jumparoo for the first time....he was a BIG fan!  Loved it!  We just need to get his head and neck a little more stable.

He got to meet his Grandpa Don (my Dad) when he came into town for my Grandma's funeral.  He went to the funeral with us and got to meet a lot of our extended family as well.  Everyone says the same thing: "He looks like his Daddy!"

I've noticed this month his hair seems to be coming in really BLONDE.  And his little ears are growing and sticking out a bit more ; )

He LOOOOVES bath time.  No matter how fussy he is, it always makes him happy.

He is still sleeping through the night, usually waking somewhere around 5 or 6am to nurse, then back to sleep for a couple of hours.  I noticed he is continuing the trend of every couple of days he will sleep MOST of the day and then the other days, not so much.  I haven't pushed anything nap-wise just yet because I'm just happy he's sleeping at night ; )

His diet still consists of breast milk.  I have been supplementing him with one bottle of formula per day because he is such a hungry boy!  It's usually at the end of the day and I'm pretty empty anyways.  I will talk to his Ped about starting solid foods although I'm really in no rush.  I want to make all his baby food, like I did for Morgan.  But then again, I had a lot more free time back then!

He moved up to size 2 diapers this month.  (I was a little behind on that one!)

Not sure of his monthly stats yet - he has his Ped appt. on Wednesday this week.  I am guessing he weighs almost 16 pounds already!

I'm more excited than I should be about his first Halloween ;-)

Overall he's a very happy boy and still loves to be held.   He really only likes being held upright, against your chest or shoulder, so he can see out what's going on.  He doesn't like his swing and will only tolerate the bouncy seat for so long (not to mention he's outgrowing it FAST!)  He's also not a big fan of his car seat, but is growing more tolerant of it.

I've noticed he is very sensitive: mostly to loud noises (like big sister screaming for fun, lol!)  He will smile at pretty much anyone right now, but he definitely recognizes his mama!  It's so fun starting to see his little personality come out!  We love him so very much!!

Keeping Up

I feel like I am in the middle of a tornado lately.  Where did October go?

The kidlets keep me SO busy -- every second of every day.  These days I am constantly running back & forth between the 2 of them from 5am (when Joey wakes up to nurse) until about 9:30pm with little to no downtime in between.  Sure, one might go down for a nap, but the other one is not having it!

The Hubs is nearing the end of another LOOONNNGG 12 day stretch of work and that on-call business.  Thank God.  This time almost did me in.  Morgan had a cold and an ear infection and Joey got her cold.  My babysitter was out of town and so was my MIL, so I couldn't even call for backup.   (I can't believe I survived.)  With both kids sick, there were nights I was getting a total of 2-3 hours of sleep and they weren't consecutive hours either.  I need sleep or I become a total psycho.  Just ask my Hubs.

In addition to the craziness here at home, my Grandma passed away this week.  The funeral is this Friday.  I am looking forward to getting to see some of my family as they will be coming in from MN (and extended family from all over that I rarely get to see anymore).  My Grandma was such a sweet lady.  I was the oldest granddaughter and always felt a special connection with her.  I was honored to be asked to give a little eulogy at her funeral.  My Dad was already coming this week to visit, knowing she wasn't doing well.  She passed 48 hours before he was scheduled to arrive; I guess she couldn't hang on any longer :(

It's going to be a busy weekend, and then it will be Halloween and we'll be into November!  I just wanted to post what we are currently up to so I don't forget.  The days can seem so long but when I look at the calendar, life is whizzing by a warp speed.  I want to soak in every second of their babyhood; Morgan's new words that she is learning every day (today it was "Eyebrows", and "Messhy Messhy Mama" because I am always cleaning up saying "Messy Messy" lol!)... the way Joey looks at and smiles at Morgan whenever she is in his sight.  How he will stop nursing to look up at me and smile and giggle.  So precious.


Cuddlebuds in their Jams.  He weighs 6 pounds less than her.  My lil Porkchop!

Had to go visit Daddy at work for lunch on the weekend.

All piled in the elevator. Joey's first time to visit Daddy at work!

Picking flowers and wandering around outside.

Me and my girl.

Mama and Porkchop.  He is ALWAYS hanging onto me, it's so cute!

Seriously....this lil face?!  I could just eat it right up!

As for me, I started a new workout/clean eating program.  All was going well until today.  Stupid Halloween candy...

What's Up

Thursday Randomness...

I whined on Facebook already that I gave up my playoff ticket for the Reds game today.  You see, my new dining room table and sideboard were getting delivered today!  Annnnd I didn't exactly have childcare lined up.  And I feel like I might be getting mastitis again (boo!).  And the Hubs couldn't cancel his clinic on such short notice.  Besides, who plays a 1:00 game???

Anyway, the delivery driver for my furniture called in sick this morning.  I gave my ticket up last night.

This little lady got her first professional hair cut, courtesy of Aunt Ni-Ni.  I was amazed at how well she sat through it....but then again we bribed her with potato chips.

 We are officially on Pumpkin Overdose at our house.  I really got in the mood this year and went nuts.  A few of my indulgences:

Was abnormally excited to find these at Target!  They were pretty tasty.

Made Weight Watcher's Pumpkin Spice muffins with Cool Whip.  OMG.

This got me pretty excited too, but it's NOT the same as a PSL.  You make it with milk and it's a nice little treat.

I've also been eating Vanilla Greek Yogurt + 2 Tablespoons of Pumpkin Puree (straight out of the can).  Mix together and it's like Pumpkin Cheesecake.  Almost ; )  Even Morgan liked it.  But I have to say...I'm getting a little burnt out on Pumpkin now.

In other news....my phone has broken now for the THIRD time in 3 weeks.  I've gotten it fixed the last 2 times and they wipe everything out - contacts, texts, etc.  It's still functional for now and I've been waiting for my iPhone 5 to come in for FOR-EV-ERRRR so I'm just trying to wait it out.  Yes, I am the last person on the planet to get the iPhone.

And Joey bear....bless his heart.  He's not a happy guy these days.  We cannot put him down or he just screams and cries.  The evenings have been rough around here.  He just wants to be held 24/7....and fed non-stop.  Gotta go, he's letting me know my 15 minutes of free time for the day are up!  I really had my hopes up for a shower....but maybe tomorrow? *sigh*....motherhood!

9 Days and Egg Shells

9 Days:  That would be the length of time that my sweet baby boy DID NOT poop.  There were a couple of  smears in there (sorry for the TMI!) but no real "results".  I've had one grumpy baby lately.

I kept putting off calling the Pediatrician because I kept thinking "Surely he'll go today".

Nope.

I finally called today and we were told it's pretty common in breastfed babies, especially during times of a growth spurt.  (As a side note, when ISN'T this kid in a growth spurt?  More on that in another post.)

So....per the Ped's recommendation....

You wanna do WHAT to me??!!??

A little vaseline and a rectal thermometer later... and we've finally had some success.  Poor little guy :(  He has had real tears streaming down his sweet little face, uggh.

Of course, I had to be the bad guy and do the deed.  The Hubs was home and was all "You're the nurse, you're good at this stuff."

WHAT?!   Yeah, because that's what nurses do most, stick stuff in people's rectums, making us uber-qualified.

I was all "You're the doctor, your medical expertise far outweighs any practical application I might have once had."  Needless to say, I lost that round.

And as for the Egg Shells... I feel like that's what the Hubs and I are always walking on in our house.  Whenever one or both babies are asleep we have to be NINJA silent.  They both seem to be light sleepers that startle easily.

You might think "no big deal"...but let me paint a picture:

We can never run the blender, the mixer or a hair dryer.  And the blender is apparently a major offender, even when they're awake.  Learned that the hard way today when I fixed myself a smoothie.
The doorbell cannot ring.
We cannot open or close our garage door, meaning once they are asleep?  Nobody leaves the compound.
We cannot use the 2 of our 3 bathrooms/flush the toilet/turn on the fan.
No clanking dishes in the kitchen.
No watching the big TV upstairs.

Let's also discuss the new list of things the toddler becomes afraid of - for no apparent reason - on a daily basis:

The bath mat in her tub.  She once LOVED baths, but the Hubs made the GAME OVER mistake of pulling it up to allow it to air dry - the loudness of the suction cups releasing sent her over the edge and you can forget about getting her near the tub now.

Any large rubber balls.  I still don't know what that's about.

Steps outside.  Inside steps are OK.  Outside steps are not.


When did life become so complicated?

But then again, when did it become so full of love and so complete?

 

Saturday Fun

Today was a gorgeous fall day.  It was sunny and cool...perfect for picking up a few pumpkins and more Mums for the front entrance of our home.

We also spent the day washing our cars.  I'm sure the neighbors did a double-take when they saw us -- we've lived here for 3+ years now and NEVER would you spot us out in the driveway with a bucket of suds, haha!   I guess now that we both drive something from this century, we feel like we should take care of them? It was nice because the kids got to be outside and get some fresh air too.  Although Morgan is getting a little too brave for my comfort level.  She likes to take off running.  How did we get here already??

Me & MoJo on our way to pick out some pumpkins & mums!  I am still dying over Joey's lil loafers, gah!

Morgan trying the driver's seat of Daddy's new ride

I think she loves it!  Hope she doesn't expect this when she's 16.

 Friday the Hubs was off work.  We had a funeral to go to, so we took Morgan to school together and then picked her up after the funeral.  She was so thrilled to have Dada at her school!  She had another great day at school again (despite tears at dropoff).  I am feeling better now.  Only took a month, lol.

This just melts my heart...

And of course before we picked her up, we had to drop the top and take the new car to run a few errands...

This is one VERY. HAPPY. MAN.

Windblown and loving it.  Must remember to bring a hair tie next time...or keep a stash in the glove compartment.  Let's just say when we picked Morgan up from school I looked a hot mess, like I'd been up to something suspish.

I asked the Hubs if we were turning into those people you see trying too hard to look & act young, lol!  He's not the type to care what others really think (aren't all men that way?)  I didn't care either, the wind blowing in your face was exhilerating and relaxing.  Too bad we bought the car in the FALL...it might be a while before we get to go out again with the top down.

Have I mentioned before I LOVE the weekends he's off??

Tomorrow I have big plans for us to clean the garage.  We like to keep life exciting around here ; )