BathTime!

Giving Tradd a bath and of course Evangeline wants to help. Its a daily fight with her. But I love it

Complete overhaul

Drew and I decided that for the next 6 months we were going to have Tradd sleep in our bedroom instead of trying to get both of the kids to sleep in the same room. This is a good idea for two reasons...
#1- Vang wont wake Tradd up when she has her night terrors/nightmares/sleepwalking/sleep talking episodes.
#2- Tradd wont wake Vangie up when he gets up at 5am to eat.

I'd rather have him wake ME up than his sister. Plus, we are going to be moving in May, so really its not too much further away, and I like having him in our room... he's a good sleeper!

Anyway, today was the overhaul day. We moved Tradds crib into our room, took out the dog crate and bassinet to make room. Dog crate is now in the basement. Bassinet is in the box. Tradds crib is by the window and the changing table... he has his own little area. Evangeline's room is now her OWN room. I moved around the furniture and she has so much more room. She hasn't come out of her room since she realized its ALL hers. I kind of like this idea. Kitchen is spotless. No clutter. The basement is now organized and clean. Whew. And its only 11:30 :)

Pics to come!

THANK YOU DREW!

I just want to thank my amazing husband for really stepping up the past few days and helping take care of the kids. If you read my previous post you would know that Ive been a little under the weather recently, and even though I'm sick, I still have to do my motherly duties. The kids wait for NOONE :). Drew's been on vacation this week and he has gotten up EVERY morning with Tradd... he has done all of the morning feedings, and 1/2 of the time Tradd will go back down and sleep a few more hours, but then there are mornings like today where he's up and happy at 5am. So, Thank You Drew for letting me sleep in and get my rest so I can go back to being super mom and super amazing wife (haha.. ok just super mom I guess).

For his efforts, I promised Drew that I would get up both Saturday and Sunday morning. Better go to bed early I guess!

New Blog Layout

I'm sick of my blog. The owls were cute for a whole 2 min. and now Im done with them. Does anyone have any good sites for blogger templates? Let me know! I NEED a change!

Sick

I started feeling yucky this past Saturday which of course was the night I decided to go to bed early (Tylenol Warming made me sleeeeeeeeeepy) and of course that was the night Drew got called in for work. Anyway, Ive had a nagging cough, which turns into a headache because I cough so much, which in turn makes me lose my voice. Right now its Thursday morning at 4:14 am and I am awake because #1, I am nauseous and have the chills, and #2, I have a baby who refuses to sleep well recently. My boss will be getting a call this morning letting him know the only place I'm going today is back to sleep.

Quotes on Parenthood

I never thought that I could love another human being as much as I love my children. Being a parent changes your perspective on absolutely everything. From the way you watch TV (yes, it IS OK to cry for you to cry at those commercials!), to the news you read daily (she did WHAT to her child?), to the "10 min you wish you had to yourself" and when you finally get it all you do is think about your kids... absolutely everything changes. Being a mom is the most rewarding AND the most frustrating thing I have ever done.

I know one day I'll look back and think:



"If I had my child to raise over again, I'd build self-esteem first and the house later.

I'd finger paint more and point the finger less.

I would do less correcting and more connecting.

I'd take my eyes off my watch and watch with my eyes.

I would care to know less and know to care more.

I'd take more hikes and fly more kites.

I'd stop playing serious and seriously play.

I would run through more fields and gaze at more stars.

I'd do more hugging and less tugging.

I'd see the oak tree in the acorn more often.

I would be firm less often and affirm much more.

I'd model less about the love of power And more about the power of love.

--Diane Loomans

I want to enjoy the little moments now, while my kids still want to me around me!

Tradd's first injury

November 2, 2009 marked the day of Tradd's first injury. It's inevitable that something will happen along the way... bumps, bruises, skinned knees... they are all a part of childhood. With Vang, her first real accident was rolling off the bed. It scared the living daylights out of me and still to this day I get the chills thinking about it. You learn from your past mistakes though. Tradd is never left alone on furniture, especially now that he's rolling all over the place. His first accident was different.

Drew is on vacation this week so he was nice enough to get up with Tradd at 6am while I got to sleep in a bit longer. I took my time taking a shower, and dilly-dallyed around on the computer while Drew took on daddy duty. I went upstairs to get dressed for work and noticed that the trash hadn't been taken out, and remembered immediately that it was trash day! So I yell down to Drew and we both gather up the trash and he goes to take it outside. Tradd was laying on his blanket on the floor doing tummy time/back time/rolling around... exercising all of those tiny muscles! Well, the dogs saw Drew go outside and they got frenzied and ran into the living room to see what was going on. Well, I guess they didn't notice the little happy bundle of joy on the ground because ONE of the dogs stepped on my little man! And to make matters worse... it was in the face, in the eye. A 60+ lb dog! my little man Screamed bloody murder as I ran downstairs and scooped him up and that's when I noticed the blood tricking from under his eye! It was already puffy and turning black and blue. "I'm the worst mom on earth" I thought and went straight into panic mode. I grabbed my phone, called the pediatricians, only to get the "on call nurse"... and she says to ME in a condescending voice "You'll have to call back at 8:30 to schedule an appointment"... Didn't she know who I was! My baby was hurt and I needed to help him! So I said a few choice words to her and hung up.

By this point Tradd was settling down but his eye was still bleeding... a million things went through my head... "did the dogs scratch his eye? Is his cheekbone broken? Does he have a concussion?" I made Drew get a flashlight and check his pupils to make sure he was dilating... he was. No concussion. Whew.

8:30 seemed to take FOREVER. I had to go to work so I sat by the phone until it was time to call... the pedi had an open appointment at 9:20 so I booked it. Only 50 min until I know my little guy is OK.

So Drew takes Tradd to his appointment, and to my delight, he came out with a clean bill of health. Well, almost. He still had the bloody cut, and was bruising up and alitle puffy, but there were no broken bones, his eye was fine, and mom can finally relax :)

And look, its even less puffy 12 hours later, which means its ALREADY healing!

4 month check-up

Friday marked Tradds 4 month check up (almost a week late, too)! His stats are below:

Weight: 15pounds 5ounces (60%)

Height: 25 inches already (55%)

Head: 16 3/4 inches (55%)

We also talked to the doctor more about Tradd's problem with spitting up. The past month or so, his spitting up has gotten a little out of control. It seems he spits up almost an oz to 2oz out of each bottle, and unlike before, he is not a "happy spitter" any longer. He has been clicking his tongue inside his mouth and when I mentioned it to his pediatrician, he said some babies will do that because the reflux is bothering them, so they are constantly trying to swallow... hence the "clicking" of the tongue. The Dr. prescribed Prevacid which is an acid reducer. We are still waiting for the insurance company to decide whether they would like to pay for it or not. If they don't pay for it, its $92.... BS! However, November 15th prevacid is going over the counter for $8, so we might just have to wait a few weeks if the insurance company denies it. Its always something or another!

Halloweenies!

Jen, myself, Danny, Nate, and Principal Glen!

12Fm gals!

Crazy shot

Vote for Prom king and Queen!

We had an 80's Halloween party at work on Friday also... I couldnt find a thing to wear so I improvised! I cut an old pair of pantyhose that I NEVER wore before, and used them to make my "gloves" and "leg warmers" and then I just used an off the shouldr shirt, some spandex pants, and some bright pink pumps... accesorized with goddy jewelry and there ya go! 80's prom! It was a blast!

Tradd wore a pumpkin outfit that Drew wore when HE was a baby (he wasnt very happy about wearing it)! And Evangeline was of course, a Princess! It was very cold out, so we had to bundle up the kids... you still get the idea though! Drew even took Evangeline grocery shopping in her costume... how sweet!

My beauty Queen!

We're in trouble with those eye lashes!

Not so happy pumpkin lol

All bundled up in his stroller!

Exersaucer and some cupcakes!

Tradd in his exersaucer and my "dirt and worm cupcakes" I made for the kid's daycare!