Beach Cake!

Nora is 2 months old!

Time is flying! I only have 2-3 more weeks of maternity leave left (depending on what gets approved, I should know tomorrow!) This have been VERY different with this recovery, most notably how sore I have been.

After having a c-section with Lacey, I was much more sore initially, but I felt great after just a month. It didn't take me long to get back into working out and resuming normal activities. I was ready to go back to work at 9 weeks.

This time it is so much different. I am still having episodes about once a week where 1-3 days I will be really sore and even swollen. I am not working out, cleaning (much) or doing anything I am not suppose to be doing. It's been very frustrating.

Anyways, back to Nora!

At 2 months...

• She is exclusively breastfed, with a nice freezer stash going on. I am currently pumping anywhere from 5-10 ounces extra each day in the morning.
• We are cloth diapering part time. This has been a big struggle - a lot of this has to do with the fact that I can't carry laundry... which makes it hard to keep up with the clothing alone, much less diapers. It's likely we will stick to part time (just at home) with both the girls when I go back to work. It will be very difficult to wash diapers every day and keep up with the clothes while working.
• We are finally getting some smiles!!! It's funny how each of the girls are so different. Lacey was smiling and cooing like it was no big deal at 4 weeks. With Nora, we really have to work hard to get her to crack! It's super cute when she does, however. She has a similar dimple to Lacey and I love it! Hopefully one will be caught on camera soon!
• Nora's feedings are very scheduled. Three hours apart - 7am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm, 6pm-9pm is cluster feeding then 1:30am, 4:30am. I don't remember Lacey being so scheduled no matter how hard I tried to be consistent.
• Nora is very laid back. She could care less about toys (Lacey loved, loved toys at this age already). She'd prefer to just hang out in her chair and nap or watch the room. It seems like whenever I put toys in front of her, she just turns her head the other way!
• I've moved out all the newborn clothes and moved in the 3-6 months!

We got to the Dr. later this week and I'll post her stats then :-)

Happy 21 Months, Lacey!

Here we go! (I really wish I kept up this blog with her monthly changes... oh well. I am beginning again and that is what is important!)

Lacey amazes me everyday. I can't believe what a wonderful, loving, little person she is turning into! Sometimes I just can't stop kissing and hugging her because she is so freaking cute!

So, in the last month...

I have been told that Lacey is "fearless." So in addition to being monkey-girl, she also likes to jump and fall from things. She now will stack pillows up and jump from the ottoman onto them. She also pushes furniture around and climbs/jumps from one thing to the next. OK - we probably shouldn't encourage this... but it's kinda funny.

We have finally mastered the world "help." FINALLY!!! As soon as she starts to whine, we say "what do you want" and she either tells us or says "elp."

Also in the last month - she is naming "pee pee" and "poop." I've also noticed that she holds herself when she pees and immediately wants to be changed. She is familiar with the potty and we regularly sit on it. We are just going to keep moving forward slowly until she is ready.

Her favorite book is Dr. Suess's ABCs. I think we are reading it about 3-4 times a day right now. First thing in the morning I hear "ABCS ook" (book). We usually read it more than once in a row!

The last two weeks she has been an AMAZING sleeper. We bumped her bedtime down 15 minutes and it seems to have helped. I'm actually considering bumping it down again and having her wake-up time closer to 6:30. It might be helpful to have an hour and 1/2 to get ready in the AM when I go back to work (and also nice to have more time in the evening to ourselves).

Her favorite current foods are "MEATBALLS" (she always yells it and is very excited about them) and of course, "COOKIES!"

Top 10 favorite things about this holiday

OK one more holiday post - I want to remember some of my favorite things about this holiday (despite being sick). Drum roll....

1. Lacey in the spirt of giving - supplying Nora with offerings of chicken nuggets, binkys and misc. toys. Its. The. Cutest.


2. Nora in her little fleece outfit.

3. Lacey's obsession with Rudolph - the doll, the movie and all blow-up Rudolphs on people's lawns. I am going to feel back packing him up, but seriously, it is the most obnoxious singing voice of all our toys!

4. Lacey saying snowman aka "a ba ba" (no idea how this translates).

5. Brian's gifts to me - a purse, jewelry, two sweaters and boots! He really did a great job :-)

6. Gavin's love for his new little cousin. He will be a great big brother someday!

7. The day the tree came into our house. Lacey was horrified and hysterical. Eventually they became friends.

8. Christmas "ooookieesss"! Lacey loved them (understatement)!

9. Christmas PJs.

10. My loves!

Merry Christmas 2010!

I am a little bit late, but I just wanted to wish whoever reads this a Merry Christmas!

Our holiday was eventful, but not in the way we had wished. Christmas Eve was spent at both our parents houses (dinner at mine, dessert at Brian's). When we came home, I was not feeling well and went straight to bed. Well, Brian came to bed a few hours later and said he was not feeling well... shortly after he was in the bathroom... a few hours after him, I was in the bathroom. Needless to say he had the downstairs claimed for the night while I had the upstairs!

We are very lucky to have family so close to us! My mom was able to come pick up Lacey as soon as she woke up (we literally could barely move). Nora stayed home with me for a few hours then she was also taken to my parents. The good news is that I had some frozen milk already and she took her first bottle like a champ! It's nice to know that she isn't going to have a problem with them and that we can now enlist in babysitters for both girls!

Christmas Day was spent in bed (me) and on the couch (Brian). It's a good thing Lacey didn't know what day it was because she didn't actually get her presents until nearly 7pm!

We were suppose to be hosting a family brunch on Christmas, but we obviously couldn't. We instead cooked up the ham and eggs this morning and just had our immediate family over to do gifts in a very low-key fashion (you can't waste a good ham and eggs!) The rest of today was spent just the four of us hanging out. Brian and I are feeling much better but still pretty whipped out.

More great news - Lacey has slept through the night (8p-7a) for the last FOUR nights! Nora has also done 5 hours (10p-3a) two of the last four nights! Whooo hooo!

Happy 1 Month Nora!

Wow - it's been a month already!!! Happy one month to our little Nory Bear! At one month:

• We are starting to get some quick smiles and one sided grins... nothing on camera yet!
• Has one 4 hour first leg at night, all other times of the day eats every 2.5/3 hours
• Exclusively breastfed (still no bottles)
• Is in cloth & disposable diapers (it's been hard to keep up with laundry with the c-section)
• Is TOTALLY different in personality than Lacey at this age - she is way more laid back!

Nora has gained the nickname "Nory Bear" because of all the noises she is constantly making, especially at night. We actually moved her to her room (about 10 steps away from me getting out of bed) because she was so noisy and waking us up while she was sleeping! Her little noises sound like little bear growls.

Lacey @ 20 Months

I can't believe my baby is a little girl now! It is amazing seeing her grown up (and so fast!)

• Lacey is a monkey-girl. She climbs on EVERYTHING. If you think she can't climb it, she can! We start mom and me gymnastics in January!
• Her vocabulary amazes me. We can now tell her a word and ask her to repeat it and she does. It might not be totally understandable, but she gets the concept.
• We are still working on asking for "help" or "please" when she wants something. She tends to whine rather than ask. Some things she does ask for are milk, upstairs/downstairs, poop (diaper change!), food.
• Favorite word/phrase "it's ok!"
• We have started potty training - very slowly. We aren't pushing anything or enforcing anything but we are introducing it. She has shown us many signs of readiness including saying "all done" after pooping, saying poop, and holding herself while she pees. If we didn't have a newborn, we would seriously start training now!
• As for sleeping? What's that? Lacey still (and at this point I think "never will) does not consistently sleep through the night. It is very normal for her to wake up 1-2x per night. When this happens we go into her room, say "go back to bed" and she usually says "ok" and we are done. It is rare that it takes more than that.
• She is currently 24.5 pounds and approaching growing out of 18 months clothes.
• We have had to start using disposable diapers most of the time because she pees out of the cloth. When this girl pees, she pees ALOT now (another potty training sign!)