Whew...

Oh y'all. I feel like I'm running on fumes. Ever since Caroline was born I feel like I just can't get caught up.

I have all these projects I want to do, and the chances of them getting finished any time soon are pretty slim. It's all I can do to keep up with the day-to-day house stuff, feed my people half-way healthy meals and have clean clothes for them.

I'm also still working semi-part-time so when I do have a few minutes of quiet child-free time I feel like I need to get as much work done as I possibly can.



And then I finally fall into bed at night and the baby wakes up. I think if we were all sleeping better things wouldn't seem quite so overwhelming.

I've heard that the first year with two kids is the hardest, and miraculously we've almost made it to the half-way mark. Maybe I will figure out how to be productive again sometime soon.

On another note - Caroline is pushing up on to all fours and trying really hard to crawl. Why? Why do my babies have this great need to be mobile at such an early age? I'm happy that she's so strong and healthy, but oh my word! Andrew crawled at six months and it was so hard! I was hoping for a long sitting up, but non-mobile phase with Caroline.



Also, I feel the need to explain why I have so few pictures of Andrew these days. He's in a MOOD! When I get my camera out he turns and runs. Or he hides his face. Or he tries to take my camera. I think I'm going to have to start posting pictures of his toes.

Happy Monday y'all.

Self Portrait

So the theme for this week's Project 52 was Self Portrait.

I could have gotten creative and tried something new and fun with my tripod, but I ran out of time. So, you get me, all ready for the day, in my bathroom.

One smiley, one serious, both kind of embarrassing.



Next week - shadows!

Good News, Good Week

We had great news from Caroline's test on Monday!



She has very little to no scarring on her kidneys! And the doctor said that she most likely won't have any in the future even if she gets another infection. I am so happy she won't have to worry about any kidney problems going forward.

It's been a big week for our little girl.

She's started sitting up on her own.



And she thinks it's funny. :)



And since she's sitting up and has two teeth I decided it was time to let her eat. She's been sitting at the table with us during meals for months so she was pretty excited to get to join us.



I'm planning to follow a modified version of baby led weaning with her so I've been letting her try all kinds of foods.

This week she's had broccoli, avocado, puffs, baby mum-mum crackers, romaine lettuce(lol!) and bananas. And she's having so much fun with it!



Today I was eating crackers and she started crying and reaching for them so I offered her a handful of puffs. She ate all I'd given her and then she whined for more. So I think she's going to be a good eater!

It's been a big week. A good week.

Tests

Brian took today off of work and together we took Caroline in for a nuclear medicine DMSA test to scan her little kidneys. Our pediatric urologist wanted to make sure that there was no permanent damage after her UTI in October.

I'm so happy to say that I'm not a worrier. It's just not my personality. In fact, some days I think I'm too far to the non-worrying side of the worried mama spectrum.

I hadn't even Googled what to expect with this test. I just knew what our doctor, whom I really trust and like, had told us.

He doesn't expect that we'll find any damage to her kidneys, but since she does have a really bad case of kidney reflux he wanted to do this test to be on the safe side.

He had told us that they may have to sedate her to get her to be still enough to get good pictures and, yes, I was worried about that. I really didn't want to have to go through that.

But, y'all, all they had to do was tape her down to the table and that was it! The worst part was, by far, having to find a vein to start an IV to insert the contrast dye. She was really not happy about that and struggled with us and screamed and I thought the actual scan would be really horrible.

Because she's kind of an opinionated baby.

I fed her right before I laid her down so she had a full tummy and was super sleepy and she just hung out for the full 20 minute scan. She blew raspberries and made faces at Brian and me and never cried a bit.

It was such an answer to prayer!

She took a two hour nap when we got home and woke up just as happy as could be. We'll get the results back when we see our doctor on Wednesday, and I'm fully expecting a very good outcome.

I'm just so, so thankful that the test today was as smooth and painless as could be.

I Dreamed a Dream

Oh, if only I could sleep long enough to dream a dream.



I think I'd dream of warm sunshine and a cool breeze, lying on a lounge chair and reading a good book with the ocean waves crashing on the beach.

Yes, please.

What would you like to dream about this weekend?

Baby Sleep

So I've been trying to write this post about baby sleep for days, and well, I keep getting busy helping the baby to sleep.



I'd planned to have Caroline sleep in the bassinet in our room for the first three months or so. This is what we did with Andrew and it worked out really well. I exclusively breastfeed so I take care of all the nighttime duties, and it's just easier to have the baby right there in the room.

But, Caroline didn't like the bassinet.

So the first two months or so she mostly slept in her bouncy seat in our room or in my arms in bed. Then I started putting her down in the bassinet for the first part of the night, but I'd move her in to our bed after she woke to nurse.



I'd end up falling asleep with her in my arms and we'd both wake up hours later.

She loved it and I didn't mind that much because I was sleeping, but now, well, she's five months old and weighs 16 pounds, and I really don't want her to sleep in our bed forever.

So I talked to my sister and she reminded me that I'd used The Baby Whisperer's book with Andrew and that she'd used it with Reid, too. How did I forget this? Andrew was a good sleeper, but I did work to get him on a good, predictable routine and TBW helped a lot.

So last Friday I decided to give it a shot with Caroline.



The general idea is to help your baby learn to sleep and self-soothe without leaving her to cry alone. I like this because I just don't think I could leave her to cry on her own for long at all. I know I'd cave in and then it wouldn't do either of us any good.

I've also been trying to get her on a more regular Eat, Play, Sleep schedule during the day. She seems to be really liking her routine, but it's hard to follow every day because we're working around Andrew's MDO and all his other activities.

But so far she's sleeping better. The best part is that she's going to sleep all on her own at bedtime. I've been feeding her a little before bed then swaddling her up and laying her down in her crib.

And she goes to sleep!

I was trying to rock/nurse her to sleep before and it was taking 30-45 minutes. So this is a great improvement. A few minutes of patting her back and she's ready for sleep.

I'm using the same swaddle/ssshhh pat to get her to sleep for naps. She goes down pretty easily in the morning but it's a little bit iffier in the afternoon. Maybe she gets too tired?

Either way, it's a huge improvement over rocking/nursing for 30 minutes. I just don't have that kind of time when I'm home alone with the two of them. And she's been taking two 1 & 1/2 hour naps if I'm home and can get her in bed at the right time!



Now, the night wakings are still an issue. I can get her calmed down and back to sleep in her bed, but she'd still rather nurse and snuggle after she wakes up in the night. So I'm trying to only feed her twice and cut out the other two wake-ups. I think hopefully those will get better in the next week or so.

Y'all are probably laughing that this all sounds like such a novel idea, but I never had to do this with Andrew. He loved it when I rocked him or nursed him to sleep and so I just did it. And he didn't wake up much at night so I didn't ever change what I was doing.



He's a good sleeper now, but our bedtime routine takes an hour. We read books (which are getting longer!) and he still asks us to pat on him before he falls asleep. He obviously puts himself to sleep, but not without lots of pleading on our part.

So I'm hoping that we're going to instill good sleep habits in Caroline early on that will last for a long, long time.

Made with Love

Andrew made these darling mittens at MDO last week.



They'll keep your hands very warm in this cold, cold Dallas winter.

Or not. It's going to be 72 degree here today. Ha!

Guest Blogging - Books!

I've shared a little about Andrew's favorite books over at Courtney's place today. She too has a darling little boy, and I love seeing all her pictures of him. They live in Alaska(!) so their scenery is a little different than ours. :)

Anyway, head on over and check out Andrew's favorite books these days!

And please let me know what you're reading! I'm always looking for something new!



Thanks for having us today, Courtney! Andrew is pretty excited about it! Ha!

Andrew Lately

It's after 10PM and I feel like I'm sitting down for the first time since I got out of bed.

Today was a full-on mothering day, but it was good!



Andrew is at such an awesome stage. He loves to love on his sister, he loves to love on his daddy and me. He even loves on Fenway, lucky dog.

He seems so, so grown up to me now - like a little boy, not much of a toddler anymore. I know I'll look back at this time and think he really was still such a baby, but for now, he's practically grown.

He gets his own ice water out of the refrigerator door, puts the peanut butter on his waffle, potties on the potty! (More about that in a later post.) This morning he even turned Mickey on on the TV with very little help from me.

We went to dinner on Friday night at a very grown-up restaurant to celebrate my birthday. I got a sitter for Caroline and chose to take Andrew with us. I really like him! And he's fun.

He stayed up until 11PM that night and hadn't had a nap. I thought for sure he'd crash, but he never did. Finally he looked at us and said, "I think I'll go upstairs and get my blankie now." Ha!

So today we were together from 8AM till he finally went to bed at 9PM. He didn't even have quiet time in his room. He starts back at MDO tomorrow after a three week break. I'm looking forward to the short break, but I will miss him, just a little bit.

Perspective

Caroline is sick...again.



Poor, poor baby has been to see the doctor more times in her short four months than Andrew has in his almost three years.

This week, it's a terrible cough, stuffy nose and her first ear infection.

The ear infection showed up about a week after she got sick with the cold. She woke up crying and wailing a few hours after bed Friday night and then kept it up all night long.

One of the things I like the best about nursing is that it's almost always a fool-proof way to soothe a sad baby. But not a baby with an ear infection. Poor girl wouldn't nurse, couldn't sleep. She was just the saddest thing.

So Caroline's currently on an antibiotic for the ear infection, an antibiotic to help prevent another UTI because she has kidney reflux, tylenol to help with the ear infection pain, an abuterol inhaler to help with her horrendous, conjested cough and Hylands teething tablets because she cut two teeth this week.

I've been feeling so sad for her, but also so thankful. I know that all these things will clear up. The ear infection will be gone within the week and the cold should run its course in another ten days or so. She'll most likely even outgrow the kidney reflux.



Dealing with all this sickness has really given me some perspective. We are so very, very blessed to have these relatively healthy and happy children.

So many families deal with really sick kids who won't get better soon. Many children don't even have access to medicine to make them feel better and recover quickly.

So this week, rather than feel sorry for my baby and Brian and myself that we have to deal with all this medicine and breathing treatments and the snot, I'm choosing to be thankful. Thankful that my baby is so happy most of the time. Thankful that she'll be better soon. Thankful that I have the ability to make her more comfortable even when she is sick.

We really are so, so blessed.

Clean Slate

Week 1: Resolution

Out with the Christmas decorations and in with the fresh start, the clean slate.

The new year is always an exciting time. It's a chance to reevaluate where you've been and where you're headed.

I'm not so good at making resolutions. I've never been very good at actually following through, but I do have a few goals I want to work towards in 2012.

I have got to get myself organized. I keep losing things and forgetting about things and running out of important things like toilet paper. So I'm going to try to tackle one organization project a month. I could start with the way in which I put away my Christmas decorations or file my bills and papers in the office, but I think I'll just clean out my pantry and do some meal planning.

And make a list the rest of my projects.

Do something fun with the kids once a week. Even if it's just going to a birthday party or the mall, I want to do something special and memorable once a week. Again, I need to make a list of fun activities for us.

Clean out my house. We've been here for five years now, and I feel like we've never gotten rid of a single thing we've brought in. I know that's a bit of an exaggeration, but oh my word, this place is full. Again, I think I need to start with one room at a time, making a plan of attack.

Return emails daily. I am the WORST at returning email. I'll read one on my phone and think I should reply to that on my computer and then forget and before I know it, it's three days later and I feel bad that it's so late so I just don't reply. Bad, bad, bad. So I'd like to try to reply immediately.

And y'all, that's it. I can do these things this year, right?

I also have some ideas and goals for the blog. I'm seriously considering a Project 365. I know I didn't even finish my one photo a week last year, but I think I can really do this, especiallly if I can count cell phone pictures.

I'm pretty sure I actually finished taking one picture a week last year, I just didn't follow through with posting them on my tumbler blog. So I need to reconsider the way in which I keep up with my photos. Maybe I'll do a weekly post here, or just save them and have a book printed.

I for sure want to participate in Darcy's Project 52 Photo Challenge. I like the prompts and having something specific to find and shoot.

This week's prompt: Resolution.

Seems like a great place to start!

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Thirty-two

Twice now I've been 32 weeks pregnant, but today is the first time I've been 32 years old. It seems very, ahem, mature.



Today was my first full day alone with the kids since before Christmas. We were all sad to see Brian go back to work.

So I've spent my birthday doing laundry, nursing the baby, and building lego houses while enjoying all my facebook birthday messages. My friends are so great!



Also, this little girl's first tooth popped through today; her bottom right. She's a drooling, snotty mess, poor thing.

Andrew found the peanut butter cups and ate about 10 of them. Oops.

My family is taking me out for a birthday celebration Friday night. Yay!

Memories Dreams and Reflections 2011

Happy New Year! It's 2012, y'all!

I'm joining Ashley's Memories Dreams and Reflections challenge this week. I had a great time looking back through my photos from the year to find these.

Enjoy!

1. Me!



Since I was pregnant for most of 2011 I thought it was only appropriate to highlight the belly. This thing was big by the end. Caroline arrived one day shy of 41 weeks.

2. I love you



Daddy, big brother, new little sister. My heart.

3. Still laughing



Seriously...this guy cracks me up everyday. I laugh every time I see this. He was so excited about boating that he needed to wear his life jacket in our living room.

4. Winter wonderland



We had a record snowfall in February. It stayed super cold for a week and we were stuck inside much longer than we were used to. But Andrew loved playing in the snow!

5. Birthday



My sweet nephew turned one in October. I love the look on his face!

6. Friends



These are most of the kids from my moms' group. I love these kiddo and their mamas! This is the third Halloween costume group photo!

7. I was inspired



I caught Caroline's first open mouth smile with my camera phone and I was so excited about it! It may not be a perfect photo, but I always have my phone with me, ready to capture these cool moments. I joined Instagram this year and it's inspired me to snap, snap snap away with my phone.

8. Spring fever



Spring showers bring May flowers.

9. Travel or vacation



We spent five nights in the Bahamas in March. It was our first trip without Andrew. We missed him like crazy, but it was also a nice little break.

10. Summer days



Andrew had the best summer. Sprinklers, swimming and lots of sun.

11. A day in my life



These two...all day, every day. It's hard work having two kids, but it's so amazingly rewarding. I love being a mom.

12. All smiles



13. Autumn Harvest



We went to Owen's Farm in October to pick out pumpkins and take a hay ride.

14. Family



A goal for 2012 is more family photos! I grabbed my remote and tripod for this shot and the whole thing took 15 minutes. We can so do this more often.

15. Celebrate!



Our Mavs won the championship! We went to the victory celebration at the AAC later that week. It was so cool!

16. Let's do it again...



Summers at my parents are so fun. I'm looking forward to splashing in the pool with Caroline this summer and watching Andrew swim, swim swim. And, oh, those sunsets.

17. I miss you



We lost Nana this year. She left a big, big hole. I miss her so much.

18. Beautiful



I know I'm biased because I'm her mom, but she's so pretty. And I love this picture.

19. Dress up



Andrew was a green dinosaur for Halloween this year. Sweet Caroline slept through most of Halloween, but she did have a cute pumpkin shirt and a black tutu. :)

20. Macro



I was so excited about this shot. Macros certainly aren't my specialty, but I love this one.

21. Holidays



This shot pretty much sums up our Christmas. Super hero costumes, Legos and stripey pajamas.

22. My favorite



I love everything about this shot. The black and white, the light shining in through the fence. The look on his face.

23. Don't ever change



This man...he's my everything. He works hard and he loves us so.

24. Just because...



I have this shot hanging on my little gallery wall outside Andrew's room. I love the overalls and that little hand on the tree - from last winter. He looks so little still.

25. Hopes and dreams



For 2012 I want to focus on life. I want to be a better mom and a better wife. I want to be more patient with everyone. And I want to be more organized.

Twenty-eleven was a pretty good year. I don't know if I'll be able to top it, but we're going to try!

Cheers!