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http://quest2819.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/finding-beauty-in-holland/

No cheese!

You know you have the camera out too much when this is your child's reaction to seeing it in your hands...



We were trying to get her to sing her part of the no more monkeys song. It's the cutest thing. Whenever she climbs on the bed she starts singing "no more monkeys jumping on the bed!". And if we sing the first part with her, she will finish up on her own.



But as you can tell she's camera shy, and this is about all I could get from her. Still cute!

It's amazing to me to watch her now. I love it, yes she has her two year old tantrum moments, but for the most part she is the cutest thing ever.

Just the other day, she gave me her opinion of the bills. Took the one I was paying away from me, promptly said "this goes in the trash!" and yup, you guessed it. Threw it away. Times like that you can't help but crack up.

She's come a long way in her attitude towards Aidan as well. She will bring him a paci on our request if he's fussing. Or points out the obvious "broders crying!" but follows up with a pat on the head and "it's ok broder! Mommy's here, daddy's here."

I love two. When she's not whining or throwing a tantrum, I really do love it.

Aidan?

This is one of the few pictures I've gotten of him talking, cooing and smiling. Instead of screaming. Aidan seems to have colic/reflux or whatever you want to call it. If he's not sleeping he's eating. If he's not eating, he's screaming head splitting screams that are only relieved by eating some more.

We've put him on some reflux meds, since he will eat until he spits up and then try to eat some more. The meds seemed to have helped with that as he isn't doing that with near the frequency he was.

He still, however, will not let me put him down. He will be passed out cold and I place him in his bed. 5 min later we are screaming bloody murder and he will not go back to sleep until after his next feed. The only time I am able to put him down is when we go to bed, and then only because I caved and moved him into our room. A friend let us borrow her co-sleeper and he goes in that sometimes, but mostly his bouncy seat.

Somehow he does more than smell me right now. As all of the leaving my scent tricks in his room didn't work. He knew immediately that I was gone and calmed the second i was back.

Really, buddy?

On the upside though, he is usually only waking once a night somewhere between 1:30-3:30 and then going back down until 6-7. A few times we've lucked out with a 4-5 wake up and then not up until after 8.

Hopefully that will become the norm soon...

Second child syndrome

The second child syndrome. The one where there are hardly any pictures and the poor kid is left to cry for much longer than the first born was ever allowed.

Aidan was exactly one month old on Sunday, and in an effort to avoid as much of the second child syndrome as I could, I took some pictures of him yesterday. Just one day late!

He's still spending most of his time sleeping, but we are starting to get more and more awake times with him. I'm having a really hard time "comparing" him with Elisa and where she was developmentally at this point. I'm trying really hard to stop because there simply is NO comparison. It's funny how Elisa seems so "advanced" because by the time she was this size she was doing so much more.

Life is slowly forming some sort of "pattern" and "normalcy." Elisa accepts Aidan a bit more each day. Yesterday she actually shared her lobster beanie baby with him (a takeaway from the NICU) and the day before she gave him several kisses. Completely unprompted.

For whatever reason, she doesn't call him Aidan, but calls him "brother." It's the cutest thing.

Aidan looks so much like Elisa at this size that it's uncanny.

Elisa or Aidan?

They may look similar physically but I don't yet know if their personalities will be as similar. Elisa was very laid back as an infant, taking what came her way with hardly a hiccup. Might be able to thank her prematurity for that. Nothing seemed to really get her blood boiling.

Aidan, so far, is the opposite. Demanding, clingy and his way or the highway. Let's hope that lessens a bit as he grows or we are going to have a very interesting 18 years in this household.

The follow up to my confessions

Let's just say, mommy wins. Again. Glad I listened to my own instincts and didn't change a thing i was doing in regards to feeding Aidan.

I mean just look at that round face. You wouldn't believe the rolls. They are nothing compared to some babies but compared to his sister? And he's HEAVY. My arms are starting to have fatigue holding him.

The verdict? 8lb 6oz. 11 oz gain in the two weeks since he was last seen. They want at least 0.5 oz a day. He almost got a whole oz a day. And that was without supplementing at ALL.

See? He just had a slow start. I sure hope I don't hear anything else on his weight. He's a chunker to me. Especially when his sister has never managed to get out f single digits on the percentages. I wouldn't be surprised if Aidan weighs more than her by his first birthday.

Speaking of Elisa. Yeah. Anything that's brothers is hers. Including his bed. She got a big surprise when both Andrew and I jumped and yelled when she tried to take Aidan's blanket out from under him. She's still not sure what to make of him. Mostly she ignores him unless he's taking our attention from her. I sure hope she settles down with this territorial stuff soon. Having one child stuck to me like glue is enough. Not sure how to juggle two, both wanting to be held all.the.time.

She's not always opposed to him, though. Like here, when she showed him how the toy worked. And basically played it for him.

I know this too shall pass. Right now I'm just hoping for a two year old to stop fighting bed time and a one month old who will let me put him down in his crib at night. This mommy and daddy need some sleep.

Happy birthday Daddy!

Today was daddy's birthday and boy did we have fun.

First, we made daddy a very special birthday card!

I had a lot of fun coloring my card for daddy. He was very surprised! I even let Aidan sign his name to my card, because I'm such a good big sister!

Then, it was time to make daddy's birthday cake. Grandma and grandpa made me a learning tower for Christmas and mommy finally let me use it!

I had just gotten up from my nap so I wasn't very happy yet. I wake up slowly, like my mommy and daddy.

I got to help mommy pour:

And mix:

Brother Aidan got in the action and watched from his special play mat.

Of course mommy and daddy had to teach me all the bad cook habits and we licked the beaters and bowl clean. Yummmmmmy!

And then, we cleaned!

Now it's time for daddy's birthday dinner and then, we eat CAKE!

8 years later

8 years ago today, we were preparing to start a new journey.

We didn't know where it would take us. We didn't know what was in store for us, we just knew we wanted to meet it all together.

We are a product of internet dating. Yup, you probably didn't know that did you? We agreed to meet for a first date at Lent services at my church (see...smart...public place, we both were to drive separately, etc.) But the day before that first "date" I came down with what turned out to be a serious muscle spasm in my back. My dad insisted on taking me to the ER after a friend found me curled up in a ball in a room at church bawling my eyes out my back was hurting so badly. I was determined to make it on my date the next day though, so I didn't take the pain medication prescribed to me and ventured into work that morning. Bad idea. My boss called my parents when I was doubled over my desk in so much pain and home I went. And decided first impressions are never good when you are drugged on pain medications and muscle relaxers. So I called Andrew to reschedule, but told him he could still go to church and the dinner if he wanted. Told him who to ask for as my parents would be there and gave my parents instructions to watch out for him. To my surprise, he actually showed. And then began the next stage in my life.

(side note on the ER visit. Andrew, to this day, teases me that I just wanted to get out of the date because I was scared to meet him lol. There really was an ER visit...I have the bills to prove it.)

Married that same year, we forged ahead with making our new life together. It hasn't been without it's up and downs. Graduate school, infertility and pregnancy loss, job loss, job changes, death of family members, the unexpected, out of town and premature delivery of our first.

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2011

2011

How life has changed over the last years. We've doubled the size of our family and seen many things through out the journey. We look forward to many more years.

There is something about December

I'm not sure what it is, but there just is something about December for me. If it's the wonder of Christmas, and all that it entails. The celebration of the birth of Christ, the wonderful family memories that are always built around this time. The gathering of families, kids running around and playing. Celebration. A chill in the air. If I'm lucky, snow. I can just hear in my head "Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful!"

Everything seems to happen in December for me. My wedding, my daughter being released from the hospital and both of us finally returning home after 10 long weeks. The birth of my son (which it's cliche but does really add meaning to this season) and my husbands birthday.

I love December. I always have. The close of one year and the anticipation of the new.

This year was rather laid back, however. And it was nice to just take things easy. Elisa and Aidan both were spoiled. So was I for that matter. Spoiled with carbs. :)

Next year, I want to make a bigger deal out of things. Elisa will be three and should really understand the excitement.