Questions I ask Myself

1. How did my morning workout before Shayne's dance class turn into a Coke at McDonald's playland at 9:30 am in my gym clothes? Here's how: time consuming outfit blowout (not mine) + sleep deprivation induced semi-coma like state (this one's mine).

2. Is it mean to make your child stand in the garage alone while eating a cup of ice (her choice-which could get very messy) without a coat on (also her choice) during the middle of winter?

3. How do my children know to start crying at the exact moment I sit down to relax or begin a project? It's really quite impressive.

4. 'Didn't I just do this?' For 'this' you can insert: mop, sweep, pick this up, clean this up, load this, unload that, change your diaper, feed you, give you a bath, tell you not to touch that, put you in time out 5 times in a row, etc. Motherhood is really a perpetual groundhog day.

5. Why does my 2 year old have a screaming melt down when she sees steam in the shower? Honestly, I have never let her watch Psycho. Honestly.

Things to ponder.

Sisters!

Shayne loves her sister. She loves to hear her 'talking,' she loves to take a bath with her, she loves reading books together, she loves to hug her. Hopefully, she'll feel the same way in 10 years.

Guns, Germs, & Steel, minus the guns and steel

Both of the girls have been sick the past few days so it has been a week of staying home and wiping noses. Shayne has been really whiny while she's been sick. This sounds calloused but one day I just started saying to her "Shayne, stop crying. Stop crying." I know she felt bad but with two of them crying my frustrations were building.

Then today I took her to her 2 year appointment and found out she has double ear infections! Please hand me the award for Mother of the Year. I should have seen the signs- waking up at night, miserable, high fever, congestion. I just chalked it up to being sick. She's never really had ear infections before either.

Anyway, parenting guilt aside, Shayne's feeling better and Brooklyn hopefully will be soon. Then we can get back to having some fun!

2 Years & 2 Months

Shayne turned 2!! This year we took her to the dollar store where she got to pick out some toys to spend her birthday money on and then we went to an ice cream parlor where she got her own hot fudge sundae. She loved her "nummy" as she called it. It was a little bigger than I had anticipated so when she kept eating and eating it long after Danny & I had called it quits on ours, we finally stopped her before we thought she had hit the sick-to-my-stomach-throw-up mark. Here are some things that she is doing:

*She is a serious chatterbox-- everything is either "big daddy" or "little baby" sized, she calls Brooklyn 'deedee,' if you set her up somewhere high she always says 'whoa whoa me fall,' she doesn't like it when Danny holds Brooklyn 'no deedee daddy, deedeee momma,' 'my nummy' when she wants something to eat, 'my yuck' usually 'my big daddy yuck,' first thing in the morning 'me see deedee' or 'see deedee yuck'

* She can name and identify some colors and shapes. She loves to color pictures, play with playdough, go to dance and tumbling classes, play with Brooklyn on the ground, play with other kids, help me cook ('stir egg' is her favorite), sing songs ['oh night' (silent night), 'happy you' (happy birthday to you)], and rough house with Danny.

Brooklyn also hit the 2 month mark. She is in the 91% for weight! My pediatrician just started clapping for me at the start of her 2 month appointment and said, "Well I don't need to ask how feeding is going." I guess that means she's eating enough. She's getting cuter and cuter, especially since her baby acne is subsiding. She smiles quite a bit now and is the best napping buddy. I was hoping her new hair growth would lighten up and I would get a blonde baby (I was blonde until I was about 5) but she's looking like she might stay dark haired. Although her eyes are still pretty light blue, so we'll see what color they turn out.

I am just grateful for two healthy and happy girls. Danny is doing great at work and feeling good about it. I am trying to get enough sleep, take care of the kiddos, and talk to another adult at least once a day : )

Blessed

We blessed Brooklyn a couple of weeks ago. We were lucky to be able to get my parents and my in-laws in the same place for the blessing before Brooklyn is 5 months old (which is how long we waited to do Shayne's!). Even though we don't have our parents living here, they really make effort to be able to be here when we need them. Danny did a great job with the blessing and Brooklyn was great during it. She is such a great baby, just like Shayne was. Both of them have really predictable routines during the day and are pretty easily comforted. She is a great addition to our family.

More Pictures

1 Month!

So it's been a month since Brooklyn was born. I had help from family for almost 3 weeks which was wonderful! This last week was the first on my own and I have to admit we stuck around home most of the time and I usually gave Danny a lunchtime phone call asking when he would be home. I have figured out that if I keep my expectations low for each day, then I don't get as frustrated with how little I accomplish. Here's how my goals for the day usually go: 1) get everyone fed 2) get everyone dressed 3) do my OCD picking up/cleaning/making beds routine 4) get Shayne out of the house somewhere 5) everyone take a nap 6) pull something out of the freezer to eat for dinner. Ta-da! That's about it right now. I keep telling myself I just need to enjoy this stage that I'm in because it will change soon enough. So I am.