Thursday, April 30, 2009

Finally all healthy... for now at least.

















This bib is for Aunt Jeanne, who despises peas!











I finally got my hair did.









Double fisting the deserts after a long,hot day.












Cheese!


















Lovin my new bouncy seat Patty let us borrow.






Chillin on the front porch







Sorry I've been a big blog slacker. Really, as of yesterday, I can FINALLY say that we are all healthy...for the moment at least! Grady got Moira's version of her bug after her, which was not nearly as bad, thank goodness. However a stuffy nose with a baby who only breaths through their nose is a BIG deal. He's still a TAD congested, but for the most part it's gone. He was a trooper through it all and had even been sleeping 8 or 9 hours at night. That's right, I said 8 or 9 hours! Not getting too excited though b/c last night he was up after 3 hours crying, put the paci back in and got another 2 out of him. He did wake me up at 5 am with the most ginormous poop you could ever imagine, so maybe that was part of the deal, hard to say. I used to blog in the middle of the night between feedings, but I've actually been SLEEPING somewhat if you can imagine that. He is a great baby! Lots of smiles, loves to chill out between naps. He gets a bit fussy as the day goes on but nothing we can't handle. The only thing is he takes very short naps. Like 1/2 an hour to 45 minutes. I am used to Moira going "awwww! no!" when he wakes up b/c we can't finish whatever game she wanted to play, I can never get a load of laundry folded at the same time, etc. etc. But I really can't complain with 8 hour stretches at night!
I was talking to one of my mom friends at music class the other day and she asked how it was going. I said okay,everybody is hanging in there and I mentioned I am starting to panic b/c I fell at 11 weeks here, I am worried people are going to start expecting me to be "normal". You know, I feel like we are doing pretty good as far as Grady is a good baby, I can take care of his needs, Moira is a good girl, I can care for her needs, but when am I supposed to 1. stop wearing sweatpants everyday 2. brush my hair on a regular basis 3. serve something other than hot dogs and applesauce for dinner 4. fit into my old jeans 5. have a normal conversation 6. not be a hormonal mess at least once a day 7. listen and absorb other people's problems 8. clean the house 9. Start spell checking (okay, I never did that before either) etc. We were talking about when is that magical transition in society from "Oh, your family just had a new baby, what can we do to help you?" to "Oh wow, you all are a big mess and can't get anything together at all!" I feel like that transition is coming soon, based on some things I've observed, and I am trying not to stress out about it. We are doing the best we can on any given day and the best we can is the best we can. My friend told me her second is 17 months old and she still feels like she is still struggling to get everything together. She said she got down the basic caring for the kids pretty quickly, it was just EVERYTHING else had to take a back seat. As they say, 2 kids isn't twice as hard, it's 10x as hard. I am not complaining at all, the kids make me soooo happy. I just wanted everyone to know we are nowhere near ready to being high functioning and 1. out of sweatpants 2. brushing our hair on a daily basis, etc. etc. so feel free to cut me a break ;) Moira has been having renewed separation anxiety at school and I was trying to figure out what was going on. It was just confusing me. Then I realized, this is really hard transition for her as well, so that is probably the issue there, and we have to expect she will need adjustment time just like the rest of us.
Moira has been saying "stupid" a lot lately. She picked this up from a hula dancing Homer Simpson doll. I really really really don't like that word. In my opinion, it's worse than a swear word, b/c it's just so mean, and can be very hurtful to other kids. Usually when you are cursing, it's jut at an object.... ;) Well, I probably made to big of a deal about her not saying it b/c she is on a mission to say something that sounds somewhat like it or dance around it all day long. I have tried to explain that it hurts kids feelings and means that you have no brains. She knew she wasn't supposed to say it and yesterday we were taking a walk and she started to say it. She went "stup...." and stopped and looked at me and said "Stup! stup! stup!" that the new sound of a dog barking. I thought that was pretty creative and at least we've made some progress.

Moira (and Daddy I think) are pretty excited for county fair season. She asks about county fairs all the time! She is also obcessed with when it is going to be her birthday. 2 of her good playgroup friends have had their 4th birthdays recently. She keeps saying "is it EVER going to be my birhtday?" It's going to be a long 5 1/2 months!

Well, off to do some laundry and wash my face. Whoo hoo!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

No pictures of Moira lately b/c she is 1. usually naked or 2. covered with snot.

Auntie Meredith stopped by for a visit yesterday. Grady flahed her his world class grin.



Moi is still coughing a ton, but fever never went about 99.5 yesterday. She has a very runny nose. We went to the Franklin Park Conservatory yesterday, just Moi, Grady and I b/c Chris had to work all day! It stinks when he has to work on the weekends, especially when Moi is sick and we can't go anywhere with kids. But, we managed as we usually do. We had fun at the conservatory. She was sweet, I couldn't go up any of the steps with the stroller, so when she wanted to go do certain things that she usually does there, like climb up the big tower, I felt so bad but I had to tell her no, she just went "Awww" but didn't fight me about it. On the way there I said "Do you smell that skunk?" she said "No, but I am the one who has the snot". She keeps saying "I don't want to be sick anymore". It's been a week now tomorrow!!! She hasn't seen any other kids and is starting to have conversations with her friends. It's so sad. She had a big elaborate conversation with her playgroup, who she pretending was outside with her. I forgot how she does this when she hasn't seen other kids for awhile.
Well, it's 2 am. Grady went to sleep finally around 9 after fussing for an hour. I had to get up to put the pacifier in and figured he'd be right up in a minute but 20 minutes later so I got up. To back to bed or not, that is the question? I hate getting woken up by the crying, so I 'll probably just stay up and wait. We put a bed in his nursery for me to sleep in (since his room is downstairs) but that hasn't worked out too well until this week. He has been the world's loudest sleeper letting out toots and groans no human being (besides him) could possibly sleep through. I have been sleeping on the couch in the living room for 2 months! It is not so comfy, especially since we have a 3 cushion couch, one of the cushions is right in my rib cage. But I am a little person, so it's not a huge deal. His gas has died down though, I've been able to sleep in the bed in his room. The only problem is that is creeks when I roll over so I need to be super careful or when I'm not thinking about it (like when I'm really asleep) sometimes I'll roll and then he wakes up and I have to put he paci back in. I am just saying this so you can "insert sympathy here". Chris took the kids out Saturday afternoon for a drive b/c I just needed a break. Last week was very stressful caring for a sick little girl and a baby, trying to keep her somewhat away from him, not being able to snuggle her like I wanted, not really being able to help him completely- I just needed a break. I should have been doing housework when they were gone but I went up and got snuggly in our oh so comfy bed and slept for 2 hours. So not like me to not be productive! Oh well, I'll get a decent night's sleep...eventually... Just trying to remember that one day I will miss being up in the middle of the night snuggling with a sweet baby!

Peace




Grady has done great the last few nights. He's gone down to bed at 8:30 and slept 7 hours and then right back to bed after eating. His naps are shorts, unless we are driving in the car.He usually only naps half hour to an hour. But I will take it for a good night. He usually naps 4 times a day. He's been just kind of getting tired and falling asleep in my arms or even in the bouncy seat and I put him down and he is quiet and goes right to sleep. How nice!!! I certainly hope he keeps this up. We are actually in the "eat, play, sleep" mode that all the books say to do, but I was never able to do with Moira. He doesn't nurse to sleep at all. He doesn't even really need a pacifier most of the time. He does like the pacifier though. He will suck on any kind, he doesn't care. I had him on the Mam brand in the beginning, but he was biting me, so I switched to the nuk. When Nana was here the other day, she put a Mam in him from the shelf, and he took it for a lot longer than the Nuk brand. I always wanted him to have the Mam more b/c it is symmetrically, so when he gets to the age he can put it back in himself, it will be easier. Plus, it doesn't have a hook at the end, it has a knob. He also takes the bottle fine, even though he only gets about 2 a week on the weekends. Chris was commenting yesterday that he was able to keep him occupied and happy for an hour while I rode the exercise bike, etc. A few weeks ago, that wouldn't have happened. Hopefully his days of being "Mr. Malcontent" are over, but I know how jinxes work... so I won't say that... Let's just say, we've had a good week, Gradywise.
Maybe Grady has been so good b/c he knows Moira has been soooo sick and we can only take so much. Poor girl. She now has a horrible cough and runny nose. All last week after the initial day where she didn't leave the house literally all day (minus the Dr. apt), she started out the morning much better than we ended the day. It figures b/c I was just thinking to myself how she hadn't been sick for a long time, since Christmas, which was pretty good considering this is her first year of preschool. Also I was thinking that the weather is nice so we should be past most of the yucky illness time. Wrong! I remembered later that last year it was around this time when she got sick b/c we had to miss Allie's birthday party (Allie's birthday is next week). She missed her good friend Davis's birthday party yesterday at Magic Mountain Fun Center, which I hear was a blast, so I am super sad about that. Fortunately Moira doesn't know she missed it or she would be very upset as well.
We found the magic substance to hide her cough medicine in- YOO-HOO, so that is good. She had been refusing to take it, but she does so much better when we get a dose in her.



Friday, April 17, 2009


Moira is still sick. She woke up at 11 am (thank you prescription cough medicine) and her fever was down, but she was coughing a lot as soon as she got up. She did eat most of a waffle and had a cup of juice. Her temp was back up to 100.3 before bedtime and she was coughing about every 2 seconds. I tried about 5 times to get this 1/4 tsp. of cough medicine in her and she just would not have it. When Chris got home we even held her down and tried to get it in her but she spit it all out. Usually I just hide it in sherbert or juice but she wasn't being fooled this time. Chris is out for a run and I am listening to both kids on the monitors and Moi was just horribly coughing so I went up and gave her some meds against her will. I am not entirely sure how much she got, it was dark. It doesn't seem to have worked yet. Sigh.
Grady has been an absolute delight all week. So happy and chill. His sleep has been good. We are still all hoping he doesn't get this nastiness. It's bad enough with a 3 year old, I can't even imagine a helpless little baby. Keep your fingers crossed.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Boo to Flu




Thanks to Missy for the catchy title ;)

So Moira has the flu. It's horrible. She woke up early Tuesday morning (5:30) crying and saying her tummy hurt. I figured she had too much Easter Candy, although she didn't really have that much. She was saying "I had too much water". About an hour later, she started freaking out saying her legs had "too much fur on them". She was running in place going "ow ow ow". Then she said her head hurt. I took her temp and it was 103! We went to the Dr. at 2. They did a strep culture and it was negative. I managed to get her to pee in a cup and the culture for a uti was negative as well. The Dr. said that left the flu. Apparently there is a strain of Influenza B going around. She literally didn't move from the couch at all on Tuesday. She barely ate or drank anything. I was panicking that we would need some reinforcements and Nana was kind enough to take a day off to come help us. Moira woke us yesterday doing much better. The fever was way down and she was dancing around in the playroom. By the evening, it seemed more like a bad cold. Thursday, the fever was still around 99, but as the day went on she started loosing momentum again and kept getting crabbier and crabbier. Her temperature was back up to 101.5 and she was in a nasty mood. I got her to take a bath at 5, and she actually fell asleep in bed around 6. She woke up around 6:30 coughing horribly- so hard she was chocking herself and just sobbing in between. I tried to get her to take some cough medicine but she wouldn't. I finally just tricked her into opening her mouth and squirted some down there. Oh, she was so mad! But it was the really good cough medicine I paid $50 for last year and it REALLY worked. Sigh. Poor girl. I am already dreading tomorrow, I have a feeling it's going to be a rough day! I am really hoping Grady doesn't get it. He's obviously been very exposed to it, so it will just be the luck of the draw. I really wish we could have kept them apart but it's just impossible.

Monday, April 13, 2009

More Pics











Grady with his Easter loot! He got a molie and robeez from mom & dad, diapers and toys from grandma & grandpa, and a Tony Stewart romper and a toy from Nana and Pop. Look at this smile, don't you love it!?!




Moi and Daniela at Connor's Easter Party.




In the backyard for Easter Egg hunt with Daniela.




Wow, a family pic!





Grady at the park after our walk.




My cutie.




Me & my cutie.




We had a good Easter Weekend. Grandma & Grandpa Russell came up Thursday and Friday for a visit. Moira was so excited. Thursday morning she woke up and said "I was talking in my sleep" I said "what were you talking about?" and she said "About Grandma and Grandpa coming". Friday we went ot Wendy and Connor's annual Easter Party. Wendy even arranged for a Fire Truck to stop by. No less than 5 fire fighters gave the kids a talk about the truck and then they could look through it. Then we came home and Grandma & Grandpa took Moi to Cosi and then the play area at McDonalds, which I think she liked just as much. Saturday I went to yoga and then Chris and Moi went to the kids museum in Dayton so Grady and I could rest. Chris stayed up giving Grady a bottle when he woke up Friday and Saturday night. He did well with his sleep, doing a 5 hour stretch both nights. I was able to sleep from 8pm until 4 am (just b/c I woke up) Saturday night. Sunday morning, I let Chris sleep in since he didn't go to bed until 4 am, so Moi and I hunted for her basket and some eggs around the house in the morning. The Easter bunny also got her a tepee maze set, b/c the clubhouse I wanted to get her was no longer available at Costco. So that monstrosity is currently in the playroom, but will move outside. She was so cute hunting eggs and kept saying "it's my lucky day!" Later Sunday, Moira's friend Daniela and her family came over for Easter lunch of ham, croc pot mac & cheese, broccoli salad and desert. The girls played in the playroom for awhile and then we told them the Easter bunny left eggs for them outside. It was so cute, they were on a mission and very good at finding the eggs. We rounded out the day out with a walk to the park down the street.
Grady just did a 6 hour stretch from 8 pm until 2 am! Speaking of sleep, when he had his bad week last week, my friend Cheryl offered to let us borrow this "cradle rocker" from Fisher Price that her little boy and all her nieces and nephews slept in. It's the same shape as the infant car seat. It keeps the babies all snuggled up tight and inclined. So far, so good, he really likes it! We'll worry about getting him out of it... later... I told the pediatrician today and he said he can sleep on a bed of nails if he wants, no worries.
Moi was up at 5:30 today saying she has a tummy ache. Gonna be a long day all around!










The other day I head Moira in the playroom, talking to herself and telling

Easter & Grady 2 month visit.

I have more pictures, but Blogger is being slow, so I will do them later. I also have a ton of Moira funny stories, but not enought energy. I need to make time to write them down or I am afraid I will forget them over time.




















This morning, Moi was rifeling through her Easter basket full of candy. She didn't touch the candy yesterday, go figure. She has been kind of anti-candy lately, other than ring suckers, which still serve to bribe her into anything. But she usually doesn't even finish those. I just state this to prove my point that my lacadazical attitude about giving her candy whenever has paid off, she doesn't care about it anymore! Ha! Really, I've been just too tired with being very pregnant and having a newborn to make a big fit about it. But seriously, I think not making it a big deal has made her not care. She got a big basket of eggs with candy in them from Nana and Pop, and she only ate 2 pieces (hmmm... I wonder where the other ones went....) When we went to Wendy and Connor's Easter party, they could pick from a table of toys and candy, and she picked all toys and only one pepermint patty, which she never even ate. Last year, she just sat there eating candy at the table like it was a candy buffet. HOWEVER, here is my funny story of what she said this morning:
Moi (while looking through her basket): I love you.
Me: I love you too!
Moi: No, I was talking to the candy.
She asked me to open the peeps. I wanted one so I said yes, but told her only one and she had only one. In other cool things news, I was putting Grady down for a nap this afternoon and she was doing her usual, follow me around from 1' away and being loud. I said "why don't you go clean your playroom". It was a wreck. I never in a million years figured she would. Well, it took me awhile to get him down. I came out and she had cleaned her whole playroom. She was so proud of herself. Here little tents had even been filled with toys and she put them all away. We called Grandma to brag on her.
Grady had his 2 month checkup today. Since last week when I took him in for being fussy, he has been very NOT fussy. Not sure what is up or why. They Dr. said gas/colic peaks between 6-8 weeks and then slowly gets better. That was 7 weeks, so makes sense. Grady checked out great. Everything looks good. He is 14 lbs even and 24" long. He is in the 75% for weight and the 85% for height. His head is in the 75%, but I don't know who really cares about that. He had his shots. He has been really off this afternoon, not taking a good nap and fussing in his crib. I don't know how the night will go... wish me luck! But last night was good, he slept 5 hours from 7:30-12:30 and from 1:30 or 2 until 5, and then from 6 until I woke him up at 8:45 for music class. The Dr. said in another 4-6 weeks he should be getting more decent stretches. He thought 5 hours was the most we could really hope for at this point, so I should be happy. He said one of the Jr. partners at the Dr.'s office just had a baby 2 months ago and is only getting 3 hours, and that is more normal, so go Grady! OH, and I am pretty sure he laughed yesterday! It was so cute.








Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Guess what Grady is doing in this picture....





Moi in the princess set she found. She did not want to pose!














My smiley guy






"I'm looking at you!"



























Moira has informed me that she is "too special" for me to take her picture anymore. She found a pricess dress set in the closet today. It was supposed to be for Christmas, but she already had so much, I decided to keep it for another time. Well, she found it. She is so smart- I told her that Santa left it there for her. She said "Did Mommy & Daddy get this and you are just saying it's from Santa?" The jig is already up! But it was good timing b/c she has been REALLY into dress up lately. REALLY REALLY REALLY into it. She and her playgroup friends just try on clothes the entire playgroup it seems. At home, she'll go upstairs and just get her dresses down from the closet and try them on. I need to just put them all in a laundry basket in the bottom of the closet, b/c she takes a stool and pulls them down and breaks the hangers.
Moira was the "spotlight girl" today at school. They just take turns each week. I filled out a little paper with her picture on it about the things she likes to do, and they talked about her in the "spotlight". She must have mentioned it 100 times since she got back from school. My girl likes attention.

Grady is such a sweetie. He sat in his bouncy seat smiling at me for 45 minutes while I folded laundry when Moi was at school Tuesday. Then when we went to pic her up he was looking around at all people and smiling at them. Tonight he was clearly tired at 7:30, so I put him to bed, presumably for the night. He wouldn't stay asleep in his crib (this is turning into a problem) so I got him up and he just layed on a pillow on my lap smiling. It's funny too b/c I say "hi! hi!" and smile at him and it looks like he is saying "hi" back. He mouths it. And he says "goo goo". I know all babies do this, but it just melts my heart. He really is a sweet little guy. Also, I've never seen a kid who likes a diaper change as much as this one. He just lays there, even if he'd been throwing a fit before, like "oh yeah, wipe my butt, it feels so good". He is happy as a clam. I think he likes looking around and getting the gas drops.