One Month Down

Joanna came to see us all the way from Ohio! Her husband is Ross's best friend Adam from medical school and oh did the two of us have lots of residency talk to catch up on :) We would have loved Adam to join her, but of course he was at the hospital working. Amelia was pretty tickled to see Joanna as well.
Elise was very happy as well..she got to be held anytime she made a peep. And, even when she didn't. (she is obviously unaware that Joanna left because she has been quite the diva since then)It was a short visit, but really fun. Mom came up on Friday so that Joanna and I could take Amelia to storytime and then we brought her back and went to lunch for a kid-free hour. Thanks Mom for your continual thoughtfulness :)

This little lady celebrated her one month birthday while Joanna was here. Amelia sang Happy Birthday to Elise and said "Love you Leese"-- we all melted. About two minutes later she almost clobbered her. She's keeping me on my toes.

Elise is getting up three times a night and doing fairly well in her bed, although she prefers the Fisher Price Sleep N Play (slept a four hour stretch in it last night). She is awake more during the day and was awake over three hours yesterday. And, while it is nice to see her sweet face, it is hard to know what to do with her. She is only content laying and "playing" for a short amount of time and just wants to be held, which is normal, just harder with two that are little. I have a very busy toddler wanting to jump around, dance, and play a million games. And actually, I have done pretty well keeping the guilt at bay and remind myself that Amelia won't remember these days of me holding Elise almost constantly.

Amelia has been great at playing by herself/adjusting to my attention being divided and my love and pride for her have grown immeasurably. She got a reward for this sweet behavior--cozy jammies. She asks each night to wear her cozy jammies-the ones with feet- and she just has one pair. So, I bought her a new pair and she literally jumped for joy. By the way, she is an incredible jumper. As in, two feet fully off the ground.I realize this post is just random paragraphs, but onward I will trudge. Apparently it is impossible to get two tiny tots to sleep at the same time. I have had virtually no luck. Luckily Elise laid still and quiet in her swing while I rocked Amelia (who was up at 6:20 and exhausted). Amelia went to sleep quickly, but I rocked Elise an entire hour before she dozed off and Amelia came running out proclaiming her nap was over (after a blasted sixty minutes) and woke Elise up. Oh how I knew these trials were coming. And, my new mantra is, "This is only a season." I am in a season of no sleep, but a blessed season of babies. Give and take.

Mom, Dad, Steph, Derek, and Ing all came up Saturday and I was pumped. As much as I love going to Harrison, it makes me giddy when they come up here. Steph, Derek, and I went to the mall a while and that was the best. I love malls. All malls. All shopping. Love. We had fun and my family is the creme de la creme. Ross was on home call and wasn't called in all day and got to hang out with us---only to be called in five minutes after Mom and Dad left and he had to stay at the hospital all night. Typical. Mom and Dad offered to come back and spend the night, but I put on my big girl panties. Don't applaud me--all the others were dirty.

Oh, forgot to mention our playdate with Lynna last week. Casiee brought me Starbucks --a frap and coffee cake--and I was in heaven. So thoughtful and just a great time to visit and let the girls play without me having to get Elise out amongst the germs. They probably won't be coming over this week though because we have six inches of snow right now and counting.

Snow day (s) post next. And, unless I have calmed down, an I Cannot Stand Ross's Residency Program post. Stay warm!

Out Like a Light

Elise was sound asleep. So peaceful. In her precious white outfit trimmed with black and pink. From Gammy. Then, her sister screamed, "TIME TO GET UP EESE." And she wanted a picture taken of the two of them. And, since she had already ruined her sister's nap, I obliged.


I think this is Amelia's victory pose...
More later on our fun playdate and overnight visitor...

Today

Amelia pooped and informed me of such. "Mom, me pooped."

I changed it.

Elise pooped and informed me of such. "Wahhhhhhhhh."

I changed it.

Amelia peed and informed me of such. "Pee off pease."

I changed it.

Elise pooped again and informed me of such. "Wahhhhhh."

I changed it.

This all happened today in ten minutes. Don't be jealous.

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Ross didn't get home until seven last night. He broke me in good on my first day at home with two. Sheesh. Fourteen hours and I didn't even shed a tear. Yahoo. In fact, there was quite a bit of smiling and laughing. You know, amid diaper changing and nursing. Amelia informed me she was "pumping milk out of me boob," and walked around with the pump for quite some time making whoosing noises. Lol. It was hilarious.

Elise loves her Moby Wrap. A few times today she was quite unsettled and only calmed down once I put her in there. Once when she was crying Amelia said, "Put Eese in Mody Wap."

Today Elise smiled at me. Pretty darn sure it was a real smile. Eye contact and all. Maybe?
Today Amelia wanted bright pink toenails and light pink fingernails, and I delivered. Today I did not cry when both kids were crying. I followed Keri's advice of dealing with the loudest person first. It worked. I'm rambling. Here are some pics. Please note the milk all over piglet's face in the second photo.

Sweethearts

I took all last week to re-group and that meant no blogging. Annddd, today has gone well so far. My first fully solo day with two tiny tots. Amelia has been wonderful. Truly. I am surprised, and I know that every morning won't be this great, but she has done well. I have noticed her mood swings happen when I am nursing, and although they have come and gone quickly today, I am on a mad dash to plan some fun things for her to do alone while I am feeding Elise. We made it to naptime though and that is great. Elise is thinking about waking up and I am realizing they won't both be asleep at the same time very often... Thanks for your "Go get 'em" text this morning Amy---that's been my mantra today.

After Elise and I went back to Harrison, the girls spent one whole morning and afternoon together and it was fun. Sometimes I can't believe Steph and I have kids :) Mom got the girls matching outfits and I am a sucker. I now want them matching at all times, lol. We managed to snap a few shots.


We even got all three girls to sleep at the same time and had some "big girl" time talking and eating lunch. Fuuuuuun. It snowed while we were at Mom and Dad's and Amelia got to go sledding again three more times. Needless to say she loved it each time and was pulled screaming into the house by her snowsuit when it was time to come in.

On Saturday Asher had his 4th birthday party at Wacky World and it was a ton of fun. The pictures are on Ross's phone, so I will post those later. It was a lot of fun and Mom and Dad stayed with Elise while we were at the party. I just love Amelia's little friends. She was unsure at first of the huge bounce houses and all the kids, but in true Amelia fashion, she warmed up and didn't even want to come eat cake because she was having so much fun. (don't be alarmed, she still consumed a huge piece of cake).

We left there and headed straight to another party--Jared's 12th Birthday Celebration. It was a great day with all our family and Jared had a wonderful party. And, yes, Amelia had more cake.


Sidenote: I have no clothes that fit.

Guilt

* Steph, you might just want to scroll to the pictures at the end. This is loong.

The emotional roar that was Sunday.

I didn't get to go to church because Elise wouldn't nurse before I left. This meant she would be hungry while I was gone and we have not introduced a bottle yet. No big deal. But, it became one. I wanted to go to church. I needed to go to church. I wanted our whole family to go to church. The doctor has advised not getting Elise out and about until her two month shots due to this being a very "sickly" winter. Sigh. I understand, I do. But then the guilt began to flood in.

I felt guilty for just thinking of myself and what a long six weeks it will be just being at home with the girls.

I felt guilty for messing up Amelia's fun schedule of playdates and gym and storytime, etc. She will just have to be at home and not getting to do all the things she loves.

I felt guilty for even worrying about such a thing when there are people who would love to have two healthy and precious girls at home.

I felt guilty for leaving Amelia with Mom and Dad and guilty for not giving Elise the undivided attention Amelia had when she was born.

Yes, I realize how ridiculous this is as I type it out. Maybe that is why I type it all out...to look at it in black and white and know that it is okay to admit what I am feeling. To know that it is not okay to just wallow in the guilt. To know that I need to pray to clear my mind and focus on my blessings.

I don't give my husband enough credit. Yes, he tells dumb jokes that no one gets and yes his schedule annoys the fire out of me. But, he listens to me. He is sensitive. He lets me wail about missing church when I already had my dress on and makeup done and he acts like he truly understands why I am so upset. He looked at me as I sobbed that our schedule was so different now with a newborn and he quietly said, "In a few months, this different won't be different." And he's right of course. He told me what a good job I was doing and how Elise would soon see how lucky she was to have me for a mom. It would be hard to say that convincingly and lovingly to a woman with mascara running down her cheek and snot not far behind. But he did.

So, I have been here at home with our newest Little Bug and it has been fun. I have doted on her and held her too much and wondered what her personality will be like. I have missed her sister and told her how much fun the two of them will have together. It has been a great two days and time to myself well spent. I left the guilt and just lounged.

The funny thing is that my mom and Meme (the two smartest women in the world) both told me that it would be good for me to leave Amelia for a few days after Elise was born and just bond with Elise and rest when she rests. I told them, "NO WAY. I will NOT need or want to do that." Heh.

Trippin

We made the trip to Harrison--all four of us--for the weekend and it went well. Amelia got a new "tv for the car" (dvd player) from G and Pa and she watched it the whole way without a peep. Praise the Lord :) Elise slept the whole way. Double praise. It felt neat to all four go somewhere together. Amelia finally got to turn her carseat around to frontwards facing and she was so tickled. She kept saying she was driving, lol.



Brandy and Nathan drove up from Conway to see us at my parents' house. Bran is due in a month and she sure doesn't look it. I envy a tall, slender pregnant gal. Amelia made heart cookies for us to eat and she was quite proud of herself. Nate snuck downstairs to play ping pong with the boys most of the visit, so he escaped the camera. It was a great visit and I am so glad they took the time to come up. Brandy brought a huge valentine bag of goodies--totally spoiling my girls and I. Sweet :) Next time I see her Lily will be here!

The weekend was fun and I had missed being at home. Amelia and Ingrid were hilarious to watch. Amelia is thinking that Ingrid is so big now, compared to Elise, and she kept dancing around and trying to make her laugh. My favorite is when she pretends to be an adult and bend down and talk baby talk to Ingrid.

She has had moments of jealousy over Ingrid and Elise and has been hit with a double whammy of not being the only grandchild and great-grandchild all in one big swoop. I have to say that she is doing pretty well with it and I appreciate everyone's efforts to still make her feel like the stuff, all the while trying to quietly drip love and sugar over Elise. Meme did get punished with no hug from Amelia because she was holding Elise, but she said it was worth it.
Then, Sunday came and along with it, my post pregnancy breakdown of the century. I didn't get to go to church--which started the landslide. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get it together-- long after church was over, and so, it ended up with me coming home with Elise and Ross and Amelia staying with Mom and Dad. I will go Wednesday and rejoin the normal people of the world. For now, I am napping and napping and watching T.V. and reading to Elise and holding her, and napping, and you know...just re-grouping. I will fill you in on said breakdown in next post. You know, because I just can't hold back.

Snow Bunny

G and Pa came up for snow day #1 because Ross had to work and I refuse to be alone yet. Hey, don't judge. It's hard :) And, they are close together in age :) And, I am scared for it to be just me :) Anyway, Amelia donned her snowsuit and her and Pa put up a birdfeeder because Amelia has been wanting one forever. Yes, Pa went and bought her one during her nap and surprised her with it. She was thrilled. Here is her sweet snowsuit.

Then it snowed some more and Ross was home for snow day #2. He blew up her new sled from G and Pa (with a tiny, unfortunate hand pump that literally took him 45 minutes) and they were all set to go. I had several heart palpitations while watching him pull her at high rates of speed and after one faceplant in the snow by Buzz I wanted to call it quits. However, she laughed and smiled and said, "MORE."If you will notice in the second sledding picture, she has a professional lean going. As they approached a turn, she would grip the handles and lean the opposite way to keep from wiping out again. Genius.

She had so much fun with barely any snow. I love her excitement :) Elise didn't care that she missed out. Just give her milk every hour on the hour and she's good. WHEW. I am worn out from last night and this morning. She was a nursing machine. At her appt yesterday, she had gained up to 7 lbs 1 oz and the doctor was very impressed. Apparently that gave her a little nudge and she is out to gain even more. Overachiever.... Hopefully she sleeps better tonight.

Oh, I ate a whole pan of brownies. FYI.

My appt was today and I am cleared to hold Amelia and the car seat and drive. Yahoodle de doodle.

Ross Story:

We leave the hospital and Ross says he is going to go ahead of us so that the car is ready and waiting. I thought, "What a gentleman." As we got in the elevator (me in wheelchair, holding Elise on my lap, wheelchair pusher behind me) I looked at the other couple being discharged and thought, "Poor things, he didn't think to go ahead and get the car. Amateurs."

We get to the front door and Ross isn't there. I tell the girl that he is a slow poke and is probably checking the carseat base a million times. We laugh. A few more minutes tick by and the guy has gone and got the car and is already back to get his wife. I'm thinking, "Who's laughing now?"

I am getting antsy and angry--not a good combo. After five more minutes the girl asks me to call him. Don't have my cell phone and she doesn't have hers. I am almost in tears as the lady with the baby that no one is taking home. After TEN MINUTES, she asks if he is at the other door. Umm...other entrance??

We go back up the elevator to the upper parking lot and she is wheeling me at the speed of light and I almost puke all over Elise. NO ROSS. We repeat our earlier conversation about where he could be and then go BACK to the other entrance and find him sitting there with a confused look.

I had seen a million couples go home while I was wheeled all over with my baby on my lap. Thirty minutes later and we leave. I will stop the story now, as what was said once I got in the van isn't important :)

Good Intentions

Amelia has on new pants from Steph and a new shirt from Jen and she is holding her new camera from Gampy. Big sisters get lots of new stuff, lol. She is also showing off her new "trick" here. Standing on one foot and smiling.
There has been a whole lotta sisterly love around here. It is one sided at this point, but I know that soon Elise will be enamored with her lively Buzzy Bee. Amelia wants beside her at all times which constantly keeps me on my toes. I don't want to discourage the affection, but whew it will prove to be exhausting I think.


Amelia spent a good thirty minutes showing Elise how to do tummy time on this mat. "Look Eeeese, look, tummy time." :)

We haven't lived here long---six months-ish and we have made some wonderful friends already. Emily brought us the most amazing spread of food, including sausage balls for breakfast and Ross turned into one I think. Then he kept hinting that we needed that recipe, lol. Her chicken spaghetti was amazing and there was fruit and salad (she remembered the specific kind I like) and then an ENTIRE other meal that we froze. Casiee delivered in the same fashion. Cinnamon rolls for breakfast and chicken casserole, salad, and NO BAKE COOKIES (I hoarded them away).

--let me interrupt and say that I forgot how famished you get breastfeeding. all i have done is eat and eat and eat. i might even be gaining weight. hope these maternity clothes don't get too snug post-baby; wouldn't that be a sight?--

Back to bragging on my friends. There have been many times that I intend to do something nice for someone and don't follow through. So here is to following through and making meals for someone and dragging your kids over to drop it off and driving right back home. Several other people that work with Ross have brought meals over too and we are so grateful. Everyone brought enough for Mom too and we still had leftovers.

And even though Amy lives all the way in LR, she sent me these delish chocolate covered strawberries and when they arrived with her little note, I cried and clapped. Yum.


All that to say that when I get my groove back and am used to being a mom of two (you know, in like a few years, lol) I want to make sure I am purposeful in following through with my good intentions and nice ideas because the impact they make is so profound.

Snow pictures soon of a precious little snow bunny in a pink snowsuit. You will just die--so cute.

We Did It!!

We made it through night one without Mom. You may not realize what a big deal that is. There was a good chance I was going to have to call her and ask her to come back in the middle of the night. The thing that makes the nights so tricky is that Amelia wakes up often, as you know. And Little Bug gets up to feed inevitably about the time Amelia needs to be patted back to sleep. So, a huge feat for this family. Bedtime was hard because Elise needed to nurse right when Amelia needed to be rocked to sleep. Neither girl went down until 10:30 (a good two hours past regular bedtime), but Ross got Amelia to sleep and I was super proud of him. I was also proud of myself for not freaking out that our schedule was off. Man, I am a schedule slave. While we are at it, I am proud of Bee for not melting down that Daddy was doing bedtime and proud of Elise for rolling with the flow and SLEEPING IN HER CRIB. That's right. We are trying hard to create healthy sleep habits with this one :)

Book time with Daddo before bed

Dad, Steph, DD, and Ing came up on Saturday to see us all and it was exciting to have some visitors. Amy Jo and Bryan stopped by with gifts and stayed to chat and that was SO fun. Also, we had a wonderful surprise and Emily, Adam, and Graham came to see us on their way back to Oklahoma. I hadn't seen Emily since her wedding, over three years ago. What a fun Saturday!

Ross and Amelia are at gym right now. It is her first time to go without me and I am sad. Wah. But, she just said "Bye Mom" and gave me a kiss, lol. I know she will have fun with her Dad and I am thankful he is off most of this week. The days he has to work, G is coming up to stay with me. Yes, I am spoiled rotten. Rotten I tell ya.

Out and About

I love to be out and about. Or at least know that I can go out and about if I want to. Once Mom leaves, I will be a prisoner. So, I am trying to take advantage of having someone here to watch Elise and having Ross go with me to lift Amelia. Time is a dwindling with The Miracle Woman. WAH.

Today we went to story time at Barnes and Noble and then to Target. Amelia wanted to dress up, and chose this outfit. Presh.



Elise nursed before we left and stayed asleep the whole time we were gone, and awoke to nurse when we got back. Such a good girl. She had another wonderful night last night. I almost can't even type it. She only woke up once after midnight to eat!!! My word--love this face.

Amelia keeps wanting to hug and kiss Elise and tell her where we are going if we leave and "check" on her if she cries. Not going to lie, it is heart-melting sweet. She also has had a few breakdowns because I can't pick her up or rock her. Not going to lie, it is heart-breaking sad. She then dries up her tears and sadly reminds us all, "Mommy has bad boo-boos, no hold me." Hopefully the doctor will clear me to pick her up on Wednesday. Fingers crossed.


I love this pretty yellow outfit on Elise. Glenda and Danny Boy brought it up when they visited.
What a wonderful day :) Hope yours was as well.