Summer time

CJ has begun spelling her name, however, it is with her own understanding of letters. On a good day, she will spell her name C-H-L-O-P, however, most of the time it comes out C-H-La-Lo-Mn-O-P. Same with counting= 1-2-3-4-5-6-La-Lo-Mn-O-P-Q-R etc. You get the idea. She loves to sing the alphabet song so she is incorporating it into everything she can. I have confidence that she will figure it out, and we'll keep working on it.

On a sad note, Eric had the mandatory military 101 safe days of summer briefing on Friday. Sad because they gave the scoop on the beaches and scared Eric enough that he doesn't want to go back! Not good news since CJ talks about it from the moment she wakes to the fight at bedtime. They talked about the sharks, aligators, jellyfish and to stay away from the life guard towers as that is where the snakes take refuge. WHAT??? SNAKES??? Along with the other fantastic staying safe on the beach tips, Eric said it was enough to scare him. Might have to give him a couple of days. Although I do my best to keep us safe, sometimes it is better to not know and to just have some fun.


Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

sheer joy

Last night we put the girls to bed. CJ had a nap yesterday so she thought she didn't have to go to bed at bedtime, but we explained otherwise. Shortly after leaving the girls we hear laughing... good ol' belly laughing. I peek into the room to see CJ with the paci and playing some sort of game with Laurelei through the bars of the crib. It looked like teasing but they both were laughing and having a good time. A short time later I hear CJ over the monitor reading a book to her...I went back and told her it would best read from her own bed. This morning CJ got up at her favorite time 6:15...and Laurelei was still sleeping at 7:30. Well over the monitor I hear giggling, cooing, and those belly laughs again. I walk into the room to find CJ in the crib playing a peek-a-boo type game with her baby sister and both of them just as happy as they could be. It really is fun to watch them interact with each other. Their happiness fills me with more happiness.

Also this morning CJ pulled out this picture that Gma L sent us and informed me that she wanted to go to THIS pool. She didn't handle it well when I told her that THIS pool is at a hotel in West Des Moines IA --too far to go just for a swim. I offered up her backyard pool, but she found that unacceptable. Oh the trials of being two.

Monday

Today CJ had an upset stomach. She wasn't cranky or acting any different, so that was nice. It was not so nice scrubbing floors all morning. She did take a 2hr nap today! And she seems back to normal eating and running around. Pretty sure she drank some milk last night that had gone sour. Since I had my Woolite p.o.d. out I finally took it into the toy room to try it on the sharpie writing on the carpet...I didn't have high hopes...but it worked! Okay, not perfect, but it is a light gray and I will try scrubbing it again. I LOVE this product!!!

Here are a couple of fun pictures from when Grandma Ryan was here. Typical CJ, she loves to help!

New life...

New life into something old. We had this table and chair set when we were kids. It was a dark ugly walnut color. There are some very beautiful walnut pieces of furniture out there...this was not one of them. Well I got them painted, sweet potato, and they now have new life into them. CJ loves to bring the chairs out to the living room or where ever she currently needs a chair, and she loves to have snack at her table. I remember coloring, playing games, and even climbing on the table myself. Now I get to do that again...only this time telling CJ to get off the table, stop climbing on the chairs and so forth. I don't get to sit in the chair as the teddy bears get priority, and that is ok -I no longer fit.

choices

So easily we get into a new routine that when you have to change it up it becomes work. Monday I was ill, dehydrated and exhausted. I ended up spending about 5hrs at the er where I received 2 and a half bags of fluid and probably could have still used another one. The doctors where concerned and did all sorts of tests, blood tests, an ultra sound and even a ct scan. Each time someone new came in, I informed them that I was nursing...please make sure anything you are giving me or doing to me is compatible with nursing. I was assured each time that it was. At 11pm I was sent home with a pile of papers, 4 prescriptions, told not to drive and NOT TO NURSE! for a day. What??? Half asleep I went home and figured I would sort it all out in the morning. Well Tuesday I felt immensely better and thought I would do a little research before filling the RX. It turns out that 2 of the four are not recommended while nursing. Hmmm.. and when you have a ct scan you do need to wait 24hrs before resuming nursing. I wish I had been a bit more with it at the er and had learned that before having it done.
Tuesday was spent pumping and dumping. However, Laurelei is such a good baby, she not only took a bottle from me she also accepted some sample formula I had on hand. We used up the stored breast milk, which was easy to unthaw and have ready for a bottle within a couple of minutes...but the formula bottles kinda threw me for a loop.
Now CJ was a formula fed baby. I had times where I got somewhere and didn't have water or formula with and ran somewhere quick to get what I needed however, I never thought it was hard, and although at times it was a hassle I had blamed that more on myself for not being better organized. This is where I am out of habit. I would try and pump before she was hungry since when she eats from a bottle she takes FOREVER! 4oz took at least an hour for her to drink...when nursing often we're done in less than 20mins now. Back to making a bottle of formula. I didn't have water at room temperature for her...so by the time I was making the bottle, she was screaming and I timed it...it took over 10mins to get the formula ready. I did finally put the water in the microwave for 10secs to help the process... I know that is a no no but with a screaming baby in the background you gotta get it done.
My new habit is so easy (well the first 10 days were not, but now we have the hang of it). When Laurelei is ready to eat, it is ready. I can take a couple of minutes to get big sister on a project of sorts and still be ready to feed quickly. I don't have to search for a clean bottle -and I do remember doing that with CJ too. And I don't have to test and retest and retest (oh shoot now it's too hot) the bottle. I didn't realize it until yesterday, but I have fully converted and love nursing.
I love the cuddle time. The ease. I LOVE the 600cals a day that it burns and the bundles of $$ I am saving. The health benefits for me and baby are overwhelming, and after a day of making bottles, I'm glad I don't always have that many extra dishes. Having two babies, one formula fed and one nursed, I completely understand why people choose what they do. I was skeptical of nursing, but I'm personally really glad that I stuck with it, for us this time it worked out.

WAY to go United SS!

These kids stepped up to the challenge. Last year they raised money for Heifer International...if you are not familiar with this organization, they work all around the world to help families improve their situations by providing them with an animal. Check out all the various countries and animals that they work with at www.heiferinternational.org
So this school year we challenged them to raise $1000 through their weekly Sunday School offering and they did! With our matching gift, the kids decided to build their own mini ark consisting one of each animal (or animal groups) with an extra honey bee package, the gift of trees and the knitting basket -which is four wool producing animals. They have just put in motion a ripple effect --to improve over a dozen different families lives now, who will pass the gift on when their animals produce an offspring. Paying it forward. This project has enabled the kids to see a bigger picture and how they impact the world. We want to thank the kids for their generosity and interest in making a change in the world.

What a LONG day!

Today has been one of those days, that by 8am you wish you could go back to bed and try tomorrow instead. CJ decided that 5:15 was time to get up for the day and by 5:30 had eaten breakfast. Our bathroom was invaded by ants over night so by 6:30 this morning I had bleached and spackled the bathroom. By 8:00 CJ had covered her arms, feet and carpet with butt cream. Warning, product endorsement: Love the new Woolite p.o.d. --gets butt cream out of carpet! Yes I got pictures, but you'll have to wait, I still use real film, and just started a new roll today (but I have probably taken half the roll already).
So shortly after 9 we finally made it out the door and headed to the park before the equipment got too hot to play on. Lunch at the park at 10 --remember breakfast was at 5:30. Ran to the commissary and on the way home, Miss no naps for me, fell asleep! Yes, she took a nap, for almost all of an hour. During that time I got the cold stuff put away and Laurelei fed. So then we played in the pool, where CJ managed to drop a pail of water onto her big toe and cut it in 2 places. Not bad, but it bled, we had tears and we were done with the pool. Great it is 1:30, only six and a half hours until bedtime, with the chance of thunderstorms rolling in. By this time Laurelei needed her nap but it was hot and sticky in our house--(why? Because the AC doesn't work and we are on southern time around here...I'm hoping for it to be fixed sometime before July. ) It will work for about 30mins...so I turned it on and got her down, then turned my attentions back to CJ. We have cleaned up buttons, eyelets, spilt water on the floor, on the chair, on her clothes. She is in her fourth or fifth outfit --I've lost count--and it is not yet 6pm. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for an early bedtime. However, I am really hoping that she might sleep all the way until 7 tomorrow morning.
Tomorrow Laurelei is officially 3 months old! I think she has had another growth spurt this week. She is not a little baby any more! She loves to play with CJ and perks up when someone new walks into the room.
Well, the storms have missed us once again, and I have been informed that it is pool time again. Here's looking to tomorrow.

Hot Stones...ahhhh

I got an early Mother's day gift... a hot stone massage, and well let me just say ahhhh. It was nice. Thank you DH. It will be my pick for future massages too. She also did a great job on my hands, I love my hands being massaged! Off to drink more water and chill for the rest of the night.

4 generations

Here is another 4 generation picture. This was taken at The Machine Shed in Des Moines IA. If you are hungry and looking for a great place to eat...this is it.

To the big sister

After spending several nights in hotel rooms on our vacation, CJ proved she could sleep through Laurelei crying, and Laurelei decided to go back to getting up only once at night, we put the crib up. CJ was so excited to share her room with her baby sister! Friday was the test and Laurelei fell asleep right away when she was put in it for a nap and CJ was a big helper in making sure we had Laurelei's blanket and anything she would need in the night. Here's to being the best big sister Laurelei could ask for! Thanks CJ!

We're back

We're back in FL. Eric was able to take some leave last minute, so we headed north. Tennessee and Kentucky are really pretty to drive through. The girls did wonderfully! It is about a 19hr drive, without a toddler and baby...we took about 3 days. We surprised our moms, and that was fun, got to see lots of family and friends, had Laurelei baptized and enjoyed just hanging out with everyone.
We would like to thank Eric's parents for letting us stay with them, along with Derik and Jamie. Thanks to Jo and Kit for the great room in IA City, and for everyone who made an effort to meet up with us. The girls and I will be back mid summer for a couple of weeks, so hopefully we can see everyone again and meet up with those we couldn't this time.
The girls got to see each set of grandparents & great grandparents --they have 6 total! Everyone is still with the love of their life and in decent health. Great G'pa P turned 77, Great G'ma P turned 80, and Great G'ma R turned 86, all while we were there. Happy Birthday to everyone, and may this year be filled with blessings for all.
I have several rolls of film that still need to be developed, so I will post more pictures soon. Tomorrow --if the weather holds out we're heading to the beach --CJ has been asking for it since Montgomery >on the way north. Laurelei is doing great and growing more each day. Rolling over wasn't a fluke, but she has been held so much the past couple of weeks she didn't do it much while on vacation.
That's all for now.