Christmas!!!

Dear Teagan & Vivian:
The last week or 2 have been quite the adventure!
First Nana went into the hospital Tuesday, December 17 because she was having chest pains and couldn't breathe. The found fluid in her lungs and around her heart. Then the next day was Uncle Greg's birthday so we went to their house and had pizza and wings and called Nana and all you kids sang "Grandma Got Ran Over by a Reindeer." It was so cute and she just loved it. Then Thursday I took off because no one would be around for Wyette to get off the bus and because Hannah at daycare had the flu and I didn't want to risk you guys getting sick for Christmas.
Then Friday night the ice storm began. It was complete craziness trying to drive home in the dark with you two talking my ear off and my wipers weren't working so I was ducked down trying my hardest to see out the very bottom of my window.
Right when I got home Poppy came over and told us that they found out that Nana has cancer somewhere in her stomach cells. Daddy was really upset, naturally. It was a tough night.
Saturday rolled around and all was well...it was doing a lot of freezing rain but it wasn't too too bad....but that changed quickly. We were supposed to go to my Grandma O'Connell's and then you guys were going to have a sleepover with Grandma & Grandpa while Daddy and I went to Jenn's ugly sweater party and then we were going to go to Uncle Greg's birthday party. But none of that happened. Daddy didn't want to leave the house because it was already super slippery & icy out and it was only going to get worst. Then suddenly 3 came and silence....the power went out. It was all fun & games until it started getting dark. We had so many candles going and the burners on our stove. It actually kept our house nice and warm. But you guys were bored. I gave you glow bracelets and you sat in the kitchen and played with them and pretended to be camping and the glow sticks were your fire in my collander. It was so cute. Considering the circumstances you guys were pretty well behaved. We went over to see Poppy for a bit since he has a generator...but it broke. So back home we went. We put you kids to bed in my room and daddy and I cooked some venison sandwiches. They turned out pretty good for being made in the dark!!  We all slept in my bed to keep warm since we couldn't have the stove or candles going. The power came on aroound 10:45 and was only on for about a half hour.
On Sunday we got up and went to Aunt Erin's house. I was supposed to work but couldn't get to work because of the weather and couldn't shower or anything else to get ready. At Aunt Erin's I made some spinach squares and she was making cookie dough when we got there so we made frosting and baked the cookies. Teagan, you loved it! Such a good helper you were cutting out the cookies and putting the sprinkles on them. We ended up staying the night since we still didn't have power at our house. Daddy called Home Depot at 7pm Sunday night and asked if they had generators in and they said they were just unloading them. So stayed up until they updated their website to reflect that they had some and paid for it online so he could go get it the next morning. Which he did. He got right up and headed to Watertown. I showered and got all ready at Aunt Erin's and headed home to finish getting ready for work. Daddy and Uncle Greg got the generator up and running and off to work I went.
I left work early to go see Nana at the hospital. They told her she would be in the hospital for Christmas. She was so sad about missing everything. Greg's birthday, Wyette's Christmas concert at school and now Christmas.
After I left the hospital I picked up some wine and Chinese food and headed home. You guys were already at home with Daddy and Uncle Greg and Kim and the kids were here. They didn't have a generator or anything so they wanted to get showers and get out if their house for a bit. 

I started up until like 1am drinking my wine and wrapping presents to the sound of the generator.

Christmas Eve rolled around and I had the day off and we still didn't have real power and Nana was still at the hospital. Poppy stopped over to let me know he was running to town for more gas then to the hospital to be with Nana, and that if I saw the National Grid truck on our road to call him right away so he could unhook his generator. While he was gone Nana called me. She said they were kicking her out of the hospital and she was ready to leave and couldn't get ahold of poppy. I had Teagan call daddy at work and tell him. He said "Nana's coming home today daddy!" At first he didn't believe it but then he did. He ended up leaving work early because he was so emotional about it. Before daddy got home poppy called to say that he saw National Grid up the road and that they thought he all had power already! So they were going to fix ours now that they knew (which they should have since I reported an outage like fifty million times a day) Since Poppy needed to be home when they power came on he sent Daddy to go pick up Nana. He was so excited! What a awesome Christmas present.

A while back we had talked about doing Christmas Eve at Nana's since last year by the time we all got there at dinner time all the kids were so tired. Kim made meatballs and got a cheese and cracker tray and we went over to see her around dinner time after she had a chance to rest a bit. We didn't celebrate Christmas with gifts that night though. We were just all together. After we left daddy fell asleep at like 9-9:30ish and I was left to get ready for Santa. 

Christmas morning we got up and opened presents, got ready and headed to Nana's to celebrate Christmas over there. I made a nice breakfast casserole and popped it in the oven when we got there so it could bake while we opened presents. Nana looked 100 times better than she did the night before. She was in such a great mood and was so excited for everyone's presents!

By about 1pm she was tired and we headed on to Grandma's for more gifts and dinner. It was such a great day with family. You kids loved all your presents....and got a ton!! Viv was at cranky by the time we got to grandmas and Teagan you opened all your presents there in such a hurry that you were finished before anyone else and mad you didn't have any more to open.

I had the rest of the week off so I could stay home and play with all your new stuff with you guys. Our house was a straight up disaster after not having power for 4 days and then Christmas. Holy moly. Grandma and grandma came over the day after Christmas to see what all you guys got and that helped keep you distracted while I tried to get a few things cleaned up. 

Now we need a bigger house to put it all in!!

I love you babies. I hope you had a great Christmas!

Love, 

Mommy

Taking Steps!

Dear Vivian:
You've started taking a few steps here and there. I think you will be walking in no time now!
Thanksgiving was good. We went to Grandma & Grandpa's for dinner and then went over to Nana & Poppy's when we were done. You were just so stinking cute in your little orange dress. I had bought that dress on clearance last year for you thinking you would wear it over the summer since it was sleeveless, but nope, you're such a peanut you were just fitting in to it!
We had family pictures done last Sunday. My friend Erin Fulton took them. We went out to Payne Lake and it was beautiful in the snow. I’m so excited for them. I took you guys to get pictures of just you and Teagan on Wednesday. I hope those turned out good. You were a little fussy because it was at 5:30 and you always get a little cranky when you first get around me. So you were a little clingy, but Jenn got you and Teagan all dressed and brought you to Watertown with the girls when they had dance and I picked you up and brought you to Bova Photography. Jenn packed some puffs for you so that made it nice. We hid them in the white fluffy carpet for you to eat while looking cute. It was actually a free session since I got a front page story about him and his business in the paper, he said he’d do a session for free, so that was nice.


Now I just need to get all the pictures back so I can use some for Christmas cards!

I still don’t have all my shopping done yet. I need a day to get out everything and see who has what and then figure out what else I need to buy everyone.



Keep on trying to walk…you’ll be even cuter when you do!! 

Standing!!

Dear Vivian:
You've been pulling up to things for quite a while now and cruising the furniture, but yesterday you were going from sitting to standing all by yourself! It won't be long now for you be on the move! You will only stand up when you're sitting in your boppy nursing pillow. It's so cute and you love it and are so proud of yourself. We've been holding out our arms for you to try to walk to us, but you just sit down and crawl. You'll get the walking thing down in no time I'm sure. I'm thinking most likely before Christmas. Which will make Christmas that much more fun with you toddling around!!
You're such a show off. Nana has this zebra that you climb right on and bounce away. And you stop and will laugh to make some silly noise to get everyone in the rooms attention. It's so cute.

I'm going to do the whole Black Friday thing this year I think. I've been looking at all the flyers that will be in Wednesday's paper for all the deals and man, I think I need to get out and get them!

Okie doke, back to work for me!
I love you tons and tons and to the moon and back baby!
Love,
Mommy

Mr. Attitude

Dear Teagan:
You have quite the attitude lately dude. You never want to eat anything except junk food and throw a fit at just about every meal. Last week we got into it over ziti. It was delicious and you wouldn't even try it. Finally after me screaming at you for 15 minutes over it you took a bite and sat with it there hanging out of your mouth refusing to chew. I was sooo angry with you.

You just get in these crabby moods and won't snap out of it and it just drives me bonkers. All last week all I heard about was how you didn't want Brylee to come to Vivian's party and that you weren't going to share with her and blah blah blah. Lucky for you (& probably me & Brylee), she couldn't make it.

I'm not sure why what exactly to do about your attitude problem. You just don't listen and your flat out refuse to do what we tell you to and it needs to stop. Like right now or I'll lose it. I'm not sure if it's a phase you're going through to test our limits or if you're just turning into a brat.

But then there are so many other times when you're my Mr Snuggle Bug and will randomly just say "I wuv you mommy" and then I forget all about the attitude. You are so snuggly and always want me to hold you at night. I love it. But then again you think our bed is yours and you sleep in it more than your own. That should probably stop, but then again, we both love to snuggle you during the night.

Well, I'm working today while you're at grandma's playing so I better get back to work.
I love you to the moon and back buddy.

Love,
Mommy

You Are ONE!!

Dear Vivian:
I can't believe it's been a year already! You have brought so much joy to our lives. When you came into our life I was so totally oblivious to how our world would change. In the beginning it was so hectic and stressful and frustrating at times trying to balance a 2 year old along with you- this itty bitty baby that we didn't know.
But now, we know all about you and love every bit of you!
Today was your party. Everything went perfectly. I made all of your decorations...with the help of your aunts! It took me all week to make you birthday plaque and your high chair tutu. Daddy made your banner and aunt Erin and aunt Linny helped me with the paper flowers and streamer backdrop.
Today went so smoothly with your nap schedule. You're such a good napper. Teagan was and still is awful at nap time. You like your sleep though.
I think you were a little overwhelmed by all the people and stuff going on but you managed.
You really didn't like the ripping of the wrapping paper though. You cried every time. I'm not so sure it was was paper though. I think it had to do with all the other kids in your face trying to help. You got a new cell phone type toy and you were good with just that!

I love you to the moon and back. At this time last year I was just about ready to push and I never would have imagined that in just one year this is where we'd be.
We love you so much!!!

Love always,
Mommy

Your Hair

Dear Teagan:
Your hair is so long it's getting out of control. Last week nana put a bobby pin in it to hold it back. Daddy said if you let her do that again then you definitely were getting it cut. A few weeks ago we went to Great Grandma & Grandpa Cole's and grandpa said he was going to get the clipper after you....I was a bit nervous that he actually was going to!
Anytime I ask you about getting your hair cut your response is "But everyone likes my hair!" I posted that on facebook and so many people told me not to cut it. You did agree to a little trim, which is fine with me. I know Grandpa isn't a fan of it and either is nana. She said that it's in your eyes and you can't see and are starting to run in to thing because of it...which isn't true. Well I mean it is in your eyes, but you aren't running in to anything because of it!

Wyette & Willow moved up the road like 2 weeks ago. You really like that because before we used to never go to their house and in the past 2 weeks we've been there 3 times! You and Willow play so great together, you guys are just so funny! Their birthday party is this weekend. Willow wanted princesses and babies and you wanted to get her a Barbie. We went shopping yesterday and found a princess baby...and I'm going to see if I can find a Barbie too.
Wyette I'm not exactly sure what we'll get. You didn't seem to really know what you wanted to get him either.

So for Halloween you decided you want to be a vampire and we bought your costume yesterday. First you wanted to be a bear and when we looked online on Amazon you found this tie dye grateful dead looking bear you wanted to be but the only size it came in was 12-24 months. So I ordered it anyway because you are a little guy, but it ended up being way too short- you were really upset about that. Then nana was saying how she was going to be a witch so you said you wanted to be a boy witch...which there is no such thing that I could find anywhere. Then you got an attitude about Halloween and said you didn't want to be anything. After I told you if you weren't anything then you couldn't go trick or treating and that would mean you wouldn't get anything either. Then we went to Paige's birthday party on Saturday and in the treat bags from the pinata there were vampire teeth that you thought were so cool...so we found you a vampire costume and bought that yesterday. We have yet to try it on you. The size was 3T-4T...hopefully it won't be too big. You will be trick or treating with daycare a few days before Halloween and then I'm not sure what we'll do Halloween night as far as trick or treating then on Nov. 2nd daddy's cousins Natalie and her son Gage invited you to a costume party so we might go there. I think it would be fun, but I also think you'll be really shy about it since you won't know any kids there unless Wyette & Willow go.

Okay, well time to go pick you up from Jenns and get home for a yummy homemade manicotti dinner!! :-)
I love you to the moon and back buddy!
Love,
Mommy

No More Amoxicillin!!

Dear Vivian:
No more amoxicillin for you! This morning I got you out of bed and you had a couple red dots on your face, I changed you, gave you your medicine and off we went to daycare. When we got there you were all sorts of broke out everywhere, all over your chest and face and back. Jenn said she had children's Benedryl but we weren't sure how much to give you so I said I'd call the dr at 8 and see the dosing for you. But once I explained to them what was going on they said they needed to see you to confirm it was an allergic reaction and nothing.
Off we went to the pediatrician at 1:00. Grandma took my car and went and picked you up and brought you to me at the drs office to save me some time then after I took you back to Jenn's and came back to work.
They prescribed you children't Benedryl but the prescription wasn't ready when we went to pick it up so I just gave you some of Jenn's when we got there and I'll get yours when I get out of work in a little bit.
I hope this gets you feeling better. You've just been miserable. Poor little baby. It's so heartbreaking to see you so upset all the time. Although I love you being super snuggly, I want my happy baby back!! Hopefully by tomorrow morning you'll be good to go again.

In other news, I'm in the early stages of planning your birthday party!
My original plan was that we'd have our garage finished by your birthday and we'd have your party in there upstairs.
But now we're holding off on the garage until spring I guess so now we're not so sure where we'll have your party.
We're having Aunt Erin's baby shower at this lodge on Ft. Drum so I'm thinking I'm going to call there and see how much it is to book it for the day so maybe we can have your party there too!
Hopefully it doesn't cost too much!

Well time to leave to pick you up!!

I love you tons and tons baby girl!
Love,
Mommy

Poor, Pitiful, Sick Baby

Dear Vivian:
You have your first ear infection. It's horrible. I've never seen a more pitiful little baby. It started out this past week with goopy eyes and then you weren't eating as much from your bottles and didn't seem to be that into nursing either. Then you started with a gunky/runny nose. Then Thursday daycare text me and said you had a 101 fever. So I called and made an appointment for you.
I already had plans to leave early and pick you guys up from daycare and take Teagan shopping for his friend's birthday party and to get ice cream. So I picked you guys up and took you to the drs. They said ear infection and put you on amoxicillan. Then off to the store we went. You looked horrible. Poufy watery eyes and just so sad. I felt bad carting you around town, but we had to get the present for Teagan's friend and I had promised him he could pick it out.
So while we were at the store, you were in your carseat down in the cart and you got fussy. I looked down and your diaper cover has poop on it! You had had an explosive poop...in your carseat! In the store! Ahhh. So I started freaking out. Finally your brother chose his gift and off we went to the car to get you cleaned up. Well when you drive a car with 2 carseats and 1/2 your life on the front seat, that leaves one spot to change a baby...the driver's seat.
I took your dress off carefully pulling it over your head...but apparently not carefully enough. You had poop on your forehear, up your back, on your legs, arms, stomach. Basically everywhere. I set the dress on top of the car. Then I took your diaper cover off and your diaper and just set them at my feet in the parking lot. Then on to the baby wipes. I tried my best to wipe you all up. We had poop everywhere! And people were watching and I felt like an idiot. But any mom out there would totally understand...I think?
I decided not to put clothes on you since you 1- had a fever, 2- only had another dress in your bag and 3- there was poop in your carseat (I did my best to clean that out with wipes). So by now I am just ready to get home. No ice cream date for Teagan, :-( Off we go. Poor Teagan I had made him get in his carseat while I dealt with you and I forgot to buckle him up. He said "Why did you not buckle me mommy?" Good thing he knows the deal!
We headed to the pharmacy to get your prescription and there was there new liquor store next to it I decided to stop at. Yeah, we probably looked like welfare. Mom taking kids into a liquor store...with one kid in just a diaper. But I didn't care. I got my wine and we headed to the pharmacy.
Once home you weren't too bad, but not your normal happy baby self.
You went to bed earlier than normal (in my bed) and then you were up from like midnight until two. You must had had some type of second wind and were a little crazy and I just wanted to sleep. But we hung out on the couch for a little bit.
Then you slept until 9am!! You were okay yesterday morning. Playing for a little bit with Teagan, but you weren't into eating and you got tried super quick then just wanted to lay on me and sleep.
Thankfully Aunt Erin came over to help out. We pretty much took turns holding you all day while you slept. You looked horrible. Runny nose and eyes, red circles around them, so tired. It was heartbreaking. Your fever was anywhere from 101 all the way up to 104.3. It was scary! Your little heart was just a racing all day. Tylenol wasn't bringing it down at all! We got a dose of Motrin in you and that helped a little, but still couldn't get it below 101.
I tried feeding you a Pedialyte popsicle, well Aunt Erin did. You had about half of it.
I called Stephanie and she said to alternate Tylenol & Motrin every 3 hours to keep you comfortable. That made me feel better that she didn't seem to think your 104 temp was as bad as I thought it was. You went to bed and was only up twice. We didn't even end up giving you anything during the night like she had suggested because both times I was up with you you didn't have a fever and you just wanted to nurse and go back to sleep. Then you slept until about 8:30 this morning.
I had to go to work today and Grandma was taking Teagan to his friend's party so you're home with daddy and he said you were playing and crawling around a little bit. So I think you're feeling a little better slowly but surely. Your temp this morning was 99.5, but that's not bad at all compared to what it was! So hopefully we're on the road to recovery! Poor little boo boo girl!

In other news, I've done quite a bit of shopping for you since the weather is cooling down and you didn't have any long sleeves or pants or pjs even!! You're one styling little girl! I just need to get you some shoes. Your feet are just so tiny though! Well, you're tiny all together! You weighed 16lbs 6oz at your appointment on Thursday.

I love you to the moon and back baby girl!
Love always,
Mommy

Wild Woman!

My Dearest Vivian:
You girlfriend, are a wild one. And it's wonderful. You are probably going to be my little trouble maker. You are crawling all over the place and trying to pull up to anything....me especially when I'm trying to cook!!
You're so funny. Your new thing is spitting. It's like you're try to blow raspberries, but you stick your tongue out a little, blow with all your might and just spit all over the place. Poppy hadn't seen this yet and last night he was holding you and daddy did it to you (without the spitting) and you looked right at Poppy and spit all over his face. It was the funniest thing...to me and daddy anyway!

You have 5 teeth now!! You cut your top front, right tooth at the begining of August. Then while I was on vacation I was showing it to Callie at the zoo because it's a huge tooth and she noticed you had the one on the other side of it coming through!! Which by the way, is totally overlapping the front tooth. I think you're going to have some crooked teeth lady. :-/ Then the Sunday after Teagan's party we were leaving Grandma's after a big family cookout with all of Grandma's extended family (including our family from Ohio!) and Grandma said you felt warm. I thought it was just from being passed around so much, but lo and behold, you had a fever of 101.8 by the time we got home. No other symptoms, just a fever. And it stayed between 101.5 and 102 for like 3 days. Even Tylenol wouldn't take it down. Then all of a sudden, your other top tooth (left one) popped through!!
So now you have 5 chompers...and boy do you like to use them! You love food still! I think you eat more than your brother!

We've decided that corn makes you constipated. You've been constipated 3 times so far. The first time we fed you baby food prunes and you had an explosive poop and that was that. And then just Labor Day weekend you were constipated again and we tried prunes and they didn't work. But I asked Diane's daughter Stephanie who is a pediatrician and she said I could give you a little Miralax in your bottle to help you out. It worked, but then a few days later you were back being constipated again. And I feel so bad for you when you are because it's like your poop is just too hard to get out and your struggle to get it and only end up going a smear and then we change you everytime of course but then your little buns get raw from it and they were even bleeding at one point! It's so sad.

You babble up a storm, but still no "mama" out of you yet. So far the only real word we know of is "dada." Although we swear you say "get." Probably because we tell the dog to "get" away from you all the time. You like to crawl all over him and he allows it, but only for so long. He does this whining while you do it or if you get too close to his face and I think it's only a matter of time before he could possibly snap. We had a tempermental dog before, we don't want to take any chances with your prettyy little face. He's never been a mean dog at all, but at 9 years old, he's getting a bit more aggitated and probably just doesn't want you crawling on his face, which is reasonable.

So I'm going to the chiropractor in a little while to get my back adjusted. I haven't had to go in about 6 months, but now my back and hips are really starting to hurt me and I don't want it to get too bad. So off I go!!
See ya in a little while baby girl!!

I love you to the moon and back baby!
Love,
Mommy

My Big THREE Year Old

Dear Teagan:
Three. That's the number of years old you are. It's bitter sweet, it really is.
On one hand, I don't want you to grow up. But on the other hand, I just love watching you grow and learn and become the little boy that you are.
You come up with the most awesome things to say. Some are a bit embarassing and others are just down right funny.
Last week you were in a bit of a foul mood one morning and you told me "I don't every want to see Vivian again!" I'm not sure what made you so mad at her, but you were mad!
Then one night you told me "I am sick and tired of you mommy!"
You were a bit of a brat after being on vacation with me all week then having to go back to Jenn's.
But our vacation week was wonderful.
The week before vacation started you went to Grandma & Grandpa's and they took you go karting which you thought was the most fun ever and you talked them into taking you twice in one day.
Then lets see, Monday while on vacation we went to have lunch with Gma and Aunt Net. Oh man they're a hoot.
Tuesday was a lazy rainy day and daddy got out of work early and mommy got to go out with her friends for the afternoon/evening.
Wednesday my friends Kaitlin, Erin & Liz came over. Liz is Paxton's mommy. Kaitlin brought him over to play and his mom came about an hour later to hang out. You had fun with him. I think you really enjoyed the company of another boy rather than all those little girls you always play with!
Thursday we went to the Syracuse zoo with Callie, Isla & Eve. We all got to ride together in Callie's car and ended up getting there around noon or so. We had a great day. You just love hanging out with Isla, and you really loved seening all the animals. We had lunch there and dippin dots ice cream and then got some goodies in the gift shop and headed home. Then Friday I ran around and got all the last minute things for your party and you went to Aunt Erin's for a bit.
Come Saturday it was party day!! It was a great turn out! Sunny & warm and oh so much fun was had by all! Grandma brought chicken wing dip and chips and we put that out along with a fruit salad and dip and I made lemonade and sangria for the adults. I put all the food outside this year because this time opf year is "fly season" and I wasn't dealing with people running in and out leaving the door open and a million and one flies coming in (although that's inevitable I decided). So anyway, Aunt Linny & Uncle Tim picked up the pizza and cupcakes at Price Chopper when they came because they had something else to do before your party. The pizza was good and I had made a big toss salad to go with it. Everything was great. After food we did presents and then dessert. I did a whole ice cream bar complete with 12 different toppings plus hot fudge and whipped cream in a waffle cone bowl. I think all you kids had more fun putting all the toppings on your ice cream than eating it. But that was the point!

You got sooo many cool gifts!! It's nice to have new toys to play with!! :-)

Then Monday was your real birthday and you had the extra cupcakes at daycare and a little celebration there. And at your request, we had Velveeta shells and cheese for dinner.

I love you to the moon and back baby.
Love,
Mommy

Crawling!!

Dear Vivs:
You started crawling last weekend! Last Thursday I went to get my hair done and daddy said you would start crawling that night while I was off getting my hair done. He sent me a video of you trying to go, but you didn't quite make it. You would try but then fall on your face.
Saturday we went to daddy's TEN year reunion (I know, we're old) and you stayed with nana and poppy and they thought for sure you'd go, but you didn't. Once we got back though, you went like one little crawl. On Sunday you were wearing a dress and tried going but your knees would get caught in your dress, but you made it! And you didn't fall, you just went! You were soo proud of yourself for getting from one place to the next! 

Then at daycare you were pulling up to a standing position. At home we don't really have anything for your to pull up to a standing, but you get up on your knees and try to pull up to toy bins and what not. I just can't believe how big you're getting. 

I love you baby! 

Love,

Mommy

"That Mom"

Dear Teagan & Vivian:
So I think about this all the time...being "that mom." The one that never forgets to pack something, the one that has it all in the bag, thinks of everything all the time, has plenty of time to do all sorts of nifty things with her kids, has an immaculate house, etc. etc.
But do such moms really exist?
On Pinterest they do, that's for sure.

My mom was and still is awesome. She was pretty much "that mom." When I look back on my life, this is what I remember about my mom and my home like growing up....
Mom never forgot anything....ever. Whether it was something she had to lay out for dinner or the birthday party 2 months from now. She had it together.
We always did fun things.
She was ALWAYS and I mean ALWAYS one step ahead of your aunts and I...well at least me anyway. She always knew what I was up to and could stop me before I fully thought out my plan.
She knew when purple shirt day was and made sure my purple shirt was clean, always had our sports uniforms cleaned and ready to go whenever we needed them, she always had food in the house to feed all of our friends if they came over spur of the moment.

I can never remember my mom going out on weekends and doing one big grocery shopping trip. She must have gotten it all done during the week on her lunch breaks.

Our house was always super clean. Cleaner than you guys will probably ever see it. Grandma used to be so crazy about how the house looked. I remember one time being in the twirly chair in the front living room and the walls were white...always white or an offwhite for the walls there, and I put my feet on the wall to push off of and she yelled at me and told me not to put my feet on the wall because they'd get it dirty. She was that nuts about cleanliness.
Something about all of her cleaning though...I don't remember her playing with us a lot. I mean maybe she did when we were really little and I just don't remember, and then when I got older I didn't need or want her to play with us.

I just always feel like my housework can wait. Everything will still be there...everything except your youth. I want all of my free time to be spend playing with you guys...taking it all in....treasuring every single moment of you being this age...after all, tomorrow you'll be one day older! Yes you might drive me crazy and I wish you could or would just give me an hour to clean real quick, but it's because if I just had an hour to do things without interruptions that would leave the entire rest of the day to do the fun stuff!

Okay, well now that I got that out of the way, I should get back to work so I can be "that mom" that can bring home the "bacon!" Ha!

I love you to the moon and back babies.
Love,
Mommy

8 Months Old

Dear Vivian:
You are 8 months old now!! We went for your 8 month check up last week and you weighed 15 lbs, 15oz and were 26.75" long! You're still pretty small, but perfect! We couldn't see Dr Hogan like usual so we saw my favorite, Mr. Kilcer instead. You didn't have to get any shots. He did ask if you were saying mama or dada or anything and it made me worry a little since you aren't talking at all. He also asked if you were pulling up, crawling or creeping...again, you are not. They checked your iron and it was great. He asked if you were eating cereal, fruits and veggies and I said "cereal as in Cheerios, yes." He didn't seem too impressed with that and went on to say you need baby cereal for iron since it usually drops off around 6 months. So ha, my Cheerios must have enough. He also said no meat til 10 months, no strawberries, peanut butter or eggs until 15 months. Whoops...I give you meat and strawberries all the time. I think he's just kind of old school. I left a little concerned, but not really. All babies develop at different rates. You do a lot of yelling, laughing and screeching, and you're so close to crawling. YOu can get on all fours and back to your butt. You also rock pretty good and you try to go but end up falling on your face most of the time.
Whenever you're just sitting on the floor and a song comes on you start bopping around. You love to dance! It's sooo cute.
You're eating all sorts of stuff now. Pretty much anything I can break into smaller pieces for you. You just love food!
We've gone camping twice now and it's been great! You love sitting in the water just splashing and letting the waves hit you. The only thing is, you want to eat the sand and pebbles. And when you sit on the grass you want to eat the grass. You're a crazy girl.
You're back to not sleeping good again. Well actually once you're asleep you sleep fine, it's just getting you to sleep. It's sooo hard. You fight it so bad and just scream and cry and there is no stopping you. It's almost like you need to do it to get it all about before you can fall asleep and it just drives me crazy and makes me sad to leave you to scream and cry and carry on like that. :-(
Hopefully you'll get better at falling asleep and some day will be able to self soothe.

Today is daddy's birthday!! He's 28!! We're getting old! We aren't doing anything special today, I just made some pulled pork for sandwiches at his request and we'll go over and have cake at nana's. He didn't want anything big, he just wanted the evening to relax. Which is a-ok with me, as I like relaxing too! :-)

Well, time to wrap it up and get out of here!
I love you to the moon and back baby girl.
Love,
Mommy

Camping

Dear Teagan:
We went camping over Fourth of July for 4 nights at Long Point. We went down Wednesday night and stay until Sunday morning. You had a blast. We borrowed Nana's little pop up camper and you slept at one end, mommy & daddy at the other and we removed the table part of it and put Vivian's pack n play where the table goes and we were good to go. It was so nice not having to deal with a tent and everyone slept great.
You love being able to walk from campsite to campsite. Aunt Erin & Uncle Todd were right next to us and Grandma & Grandpa were kind of diaganol one way and then the Dupees & Diane & Pat were the other way. You loved playing with Reegan and his trains. I'd let you go play at Diane's or the Dupee campsite and have grandpa "keep and eye on you" and then wonder where you went because grandpa would forget he was watching you. But you were just in the Dupee camper playing with Reegan. He brought all this trains and you were obsessed.
Daddy and Uncle Todd had to get up early on Friday to go to work and Uncle Todd was working in Potsdam so he stopped at our house on the way home and got your bin of trains to bring down. You said you didn't want to bring them but once you saw Reegan's you wanted yours.
You loved playing in the sand too. You had all your monster trucks over there and dug a hole and filled it with water to drive them through.
There was also a parade for all the kids and we did that. Sammy pulled you and Vivian in the wagon.
Sammy brought his jet ski down and you loved that. You went out with him on it any chance you could.
I also brought you on the tube with me behind grandpa's boat. I love tubing and couldn't go last year since I was pregnant.
That was tons of fun! You wanted to stop so you got in the boat and I stayed in tubing and you screamed the whole time because you wanted to go with me.
The first night we were there you stayed up until like midnight. You didn't want to sleep without us. But after being so busy and not napping while we were there, you were telling us between 9 and 10 that you were tired and wanted to go to the camper.
Since I'm still pumping, I'd go in with you and we'd chat while I pumped and when I was done I'd leave to go dump and clean my stuff and come back to you sound asleep.

Today grandma met me at Jenn's after Vivian's drs appt today and you she took you to Wellesley Island with her. You're staying the night there with grandma & grandpa and my aunts & uncles and mommy, daddy & Vivian will be down tomorrow night for the weekend.

Last week Jenn closed her daycare, so you kind of went all over the place. Monday to Nana's, Tuesday & Friday to Aunt Erins, Wednesday Aunt Linny had off and then Thursday to grandpas. You were cranky and just not right last week. I think you were still tired out from camping and just totally off schedule from not going to Jenns. You were not sleeping at night, you wanted to be up all night and just wanted to argue about everything. Wednesday morning you wanted an Oreo at like 7am while I was getting ready and I was irritated with you and kept telling you no and finally took it from you and told you not to talk about it anymore and you just kept on carrying on about it so I threw it in the trash which lead to a huge meltdown. But you learned that no meant no and I wasn't going to take your whining and persistance anymore.
And then Thursday morning you woke up at like 3am and wanted a drink and daddy got it for you but then you decided you wanted juice and he wouldn't get it so you threw a fit in the kitchen and daddy came back to bed. I finally got up and brought you back to your bed and then you threw a fit because you wanted to sleep in my bed with us and I said no. You were crying so loud and I didn't want you to wake Vivian up so I was mad and tired out. I just went to bed and told you to stay quiet if you didn't want to sleep. Well you finally crawled up on the couch and passed out until it was time to leave for the day. Then you were mad that it was time to leave and you didn't have time to bring all your trains. I had to basically drag you out the door and you stood on the porch throwing a fit while I put Vivian in the car. I told you to walk to the car and stand by your door and you wouldn't, so I did what any good mom would do...got in the car and started driving out of the driveway with you screaming on the porch. Well that shaped you right up. Ever since, I haven't had one bit of a problem getting you out the door when I say it's time to go. I told you you need to start sleeping all night so you're not too tired in the morning to get your stuff together and get out the door so I don't leave you. You've been doing much better with the sleeping. You still get up a few times when we first put you in your room, but not as many as you were.

I'm starting to plan your birthday party. Of course you want it Thomas themed and I've found a lot of great ideas. I can't wait!

Okay, back to work for mommy.
I love you to the moon and back buddy.
Love Always,
Mommy

Teefers!!

Dear Vivian:
Two weeks ago (June 17) we felt the first tooth poking through!! Right at 7 months old. When I picked you up Jenn asked if I felt them and I stuck my finger and sure enough, I felt it. Then when we got home I had daddy feel and he felt the start of another one poking through. Ever since those 2 little bottom front teeth popped through you've been sleeping all night, no problem. It sure is heavenly. It worried me the first week, but now I'm so used to it I'm worried if you do happen to wake up and cry!
Every day you seem to get closer and closer to crawling. You sit on your butt and try to scoot and rock on your bottom, it's so cute. You'll get the crawling thing eventually!!
Last Friday you were with Aunt Erin and she called to say you were really sleepy and you projectile vomited all over the place and wouldn't stop. I didn't have any Tylenol or ibuprofen in your bag and she said you were burning up. By the time I got done work and got you home your temp was 101.8. I gave you some Ibuprofen because I couldn't find the Tylenol. That got you good to go and you were in a much better mood. Your temp never got high again...only to like 99.8. But without the ibuprofen you were miserable. Screaming, crying, didn't want to be put down, you weren't nursing very well. It was horrible. So yesterday I made you an appointment with the pediatrician. I thought maybe you had an ear infection. Turns out you just had a virus and maybe getting more teeth or those teeth you did get are just really coming on through good. Last night you seemed to be back to my happy baby! It seems as though you have another bottom tooth trying to come through as well that could be making you a bit upset.
Tomorrow we leave for camping and I'm so so excited!!
It'll be your first camping trip! Aunt Erin and Grandma tie dyed you a onesie and I bought you a cute 4th of July outfit. I can't wait to see you in it!
I'm really looking forward to all the extra hands we'll have while we're camping and the fact that I won't have to do anything really. No worrying about cleaning the house or figuring out meals or anything for 4 days! Woohoo!
Well , I got to get back to work so I can get all this stuff done here before tomorrow if I want to have Friday off!
I love you to the moon and back baby girl.
Love,
Mommy

Sweet Summertime Has Arrived

Dear Teagan:
Finally Summertime!! We got a trampoline in May. You love it. You call it your jumping machine. It has the netting all around it so you won't fall off. You like to have water balloon fights in it. We run in it and jump on it. It's a lot of fun. Too bad it makes me feel like I'm going to pee my pants when I jump on it though!! :-(

We have been so busy lately! Our weekends have just been crazy packed with birthday parties and other fun gatherings and events. In May we had Poppy's birthday, mother's day, Eve's birthday party, Memorial weekend we were going to go camping but it was so cold and rainy we just went down for the day (and froze), and grandpa's birthday. Memorial weekend we went to Cedar Point on Saturday to visit grandma and grandpa and everyone camping and you had fun. It was cold and windy, but we didnt let that get us down! There was a bird's nest up in someones 5th wheel hitch that you kids found and were trying to cut up fishing worms to feed them. Then Sunday we had Paul & Dee and the girls come over and eat dinner with us and play and that was fun. You just love playing with KK and Paige. We played outside and ate and then went over to Nana & Poppy's and roasted marshmellows and had s'mores. Then Monday night we went to grandma and grandpa's for grandpa's birthday. It was busy weekend, that's for sure. Then in June we had Brylee's birthday party (you went with Aunt Erin bc daddy and I went fourwheeling), Father's day weekend we had Kennedy Cousin night at Aunt Erin's on Saturday and then Sunday we went to have dinner with grandpa while daddy golfed. Then last weekend we had Isabella's birthday party at 1:30 then right from there we went to Wyette & Willow's house for a cookout and Quaker Days. You had a blast playing with your cousins and their friends. At Quaker Days you got to ride the rides and you loved that! You were going on them all by yourself and weren't even scared. Not that they were dangerous or scary, but some went up pretty high. I even got to go on a ride with you and Jayla Buckley. It was the Scrambler and you were too short to ride alone so I went along. That was fun. Then I went on another ride with some of my friends. Oh and the fireworks! You loved them!! Vivian on the other hand was a little frightened by them at first but even she enjoyed the show!
This weekend we have Haylee & Hannah's birthday party at noon and then after we were invited out to my cousin Neil's house for a big cookout party. We will go as long as it doesn't rain. I don't want to drive all the way out to Copenhagen to play in the rain.
Next weekend is camping at Long Point!! I'm so excited!! We are supposed to be taking Nana's camper, so we'll see. I really just hope it doesn't rain. We're going down Wednesday after work and staying through until Sunday. Then Jenn's closed all the next week so you're doing to spend 2 days with Aunt Erin, 1 with Grandpa, 1 with Nana and I think I'll call in 1 day and hopefully we can go to the beach or the Syracuse zoo or something cool.

Last night Aunt Linny picked you up from Jenn's and you went strawberry picking with her, Tim, grandpa & grandma. You had a good time. You brought home a bucket of strawberries and I asked you what you wanted me to make with them and your response was "cool whip." Daddy wants angel food cake, so I'll pick one up at the store on the way home and some cool whip and we'll have that for dessert after dinner.

Lately you haven't been sleeping good. You're not wanting to go to sleep at night. You get out of bed and have every reason under the sun to stall going to sleep. You have to pee, you need a drink, you need a different pillow, a different blanket, different movie, you want to sleep in my bed, etc. So by the time you come out of your room a million times you don't get to sleep until probably 10pm. Then you'll get up in the middle of the night and come to my bed. You take over my whole bed though and I don't sleep as good, so I'm trying to just walk you back to your bed unless it's like after 5am. Hopefully we can get you on a different schedule and get you sleeping better. Daddy thinks its because I rearranged your room a few weeks ago and now your bed is against the same wall as the washer, dryer and hot water heater, so you probably hear those things all night and you're closer to your window to hear the stuff outside. He said he would rearrange it again tonight to however you wanted it. Lets hope that makes a difference!

Well, it's about that time to get packed up to head home to you.
I love you to the moon and back buddy.

Love,
Mommy

Big Girl!

Dear Vivian:
You're getting so big! It's just crazy. You can fit into 6-9 month clothes and then 12 month stuff comes next. Ahhh I'm not ready. I love that you're getting bigger and can do more though. It's exciting. You sit up with no problem now and you're even going from sitting to belly...trying so hard to get to those toys that are just a bit out of reach.
You've been trying new foods. So far you've had canteloupe, cinnamon raisin toast, honeydew, sweet potato fries, cucumber, yogurt, apple cinnamon oatmeal, applesauce, pickles and even pork!! You love food! You're going to be a foodie, whereas your brother was a booby baby...and to this day he still rather just drink more than he eats.
We're doing the babylead weaning again and it's really helping your fine motor skills. You went from hardly being able to pick it up to now picking up smaller pieces and getting them in your mouth with no problem.

My biggest complaint is your lack of sleep. I swear, sometimes you must believe that sleep will be the death of you. You're a crazy lady. You never want to sleep. God forbid you miss something at daycare so you don't sleep there, then at night you're up every 3-4 hours to eat. So last week I tried my best to cut out the middle of the night feeding. One night you literally cried every 20-35 minutes until 1am. I was losing it. I didn't know what to do. Finally you fell asleep. Then last Thursday night you slept all night long. I went in around 11 I think to give you your binky and I woke up in a straight panic at 5:15am the next day. I thought for sure something was wrong. I quietly made my way into your room to see your feet and head against the side boards and you fuzzy blanket completely piled up on your face. I ran over to you and whipped it off so fast I startled you. I thought that was going to be the begining of you sleeping through the night. Nope. It was just a fluke thing.

So Saturday daddy and I were going with some friends on a poker run and then I had a party in the evening, so you and Teagan were going to stay over at Grandma's. So the plan was Grandma come over in the morning and hang out with you guys and then take you to Aunt Erin's so she could take you to Brylee's birthday party then she'd bring you to Grandma's house to stay. I bought the cutest little dress for you to wear to the party and I was so excited about it. I tried it on you the night before so I had a chance to see your cuteness in it and I laid it all out with the tights and shoes so grandma could get you dressed in it. Well she dressed you then went to load up the car and what not and of course, you had an explosive poop. She tried to hand wash it and take it to Aunt Erin's to dry, but it was still poopy. I was so upset when I heard you never even got to wear your dress. :-(

Between Father's Day this weekend, Isabella's party next weekend and Haylee & Hannah's party the weekend after, you'll get to wear all your fancy party dresses hopefully.

Well off to get something for lunch!

I love you to the moon and back baby girl.

Love,
Mommy

Ears Are Pierced!

Dear Vivian:
You are soooo pretty! We got your ears pierced on Sunday and you couldn't look anymore cute!! Grandma went with me so she could take pictures. Teagan did not want your ears to be pierced. He was adamant that you shouldn't get them done and he didn't want you to be pretty. So we left him with grandpa while Grandma and I went to the mall. It was so sad. They put a mirror in front of us and I could see your little lip come out and all of a sudden you burst into tears. :-( But by the time we got out of the mall you were fine and they haven't bothered you since. I've been cleaning them and rotating them and you haven't made any bit of a fuss.

We tried our first solids experience with you last week. I gave you some over ripe banana. Daddy was so nervous you'd stick the whole thing in your mouth and choke on it. He wanted it cut up super small....which is impossible for you to pick up that way.
You are mus different than your brother with this type of thing. Teagan never put stuff in his mouth. Not toys, not his hands, nothing except for his binky. So feeding him was less stressful because I knew he wouldn't just shove it in his mouth. He took his time figuring out what exactly to do with it. Whereas you just want the entire thing in your mouth. So it's a little bit of a challenge and I feel less at ease about giving you foods. I let you try a bit of pears and also some watermelon. You seem to really enjoy the flavors and the eating process.
I bought some of those mesh feeder bags, but I don't think I like them. I stuffed some fresh pear chunks in there last night and handed it to you and you didn't seem to impressed either. But I'll probably send them to daycare so they can feed you without having to watch you like a hawk.

The weather is finally nice enough to be outside all the time and for you to wear cutesy dresses and rompers. You love being outside. I wanted to make sure you wouldn't be weird about the grass when you start crawling, so I've been setting you down in the grass and letting you touch it and all that.

I'm trying my best to cut out one feeding a night. I think it's more of a habitual thing than a need at this point. You go to bed around 9ish and then you're always up between 12:30 & 1:30 and then again at 4:30 and then at 5:30 and at that point I put you in bed with us to nurse you then I get up for the day and you snooze. I need to get some black out curtains for your room so we can stop the getting up at 5:30 maddess. The other night you had a 6 ounce bottle before bed and when you woke the first time I put your binky in and turned your seahorse on and you fell back asleep until 4ish. But last night you were up around 11:15 and I tried the binky and seahorse but when the seahorse turned off you were up again around 11:30. So then you were up again around 1 I think and I fed you then. Maybe it's lazy parenting? Or overtired mama syndrome? All I know, is it's easier to just feed you and snuggle you for 10 minutes rather than to get up every 10-15 minutes to give you a binky.

Which speaking of binkies....You have a total of 5 binkies. I have no idea where 3 are right now and it's super annoying. I can only find 2. What the heck? Where do they go?

Alright. I need to get back to work if I want any money this summer.
Being a grown up sucks. Don't grow up too fast....it's way overrated.

I love you to the moon and back baby girl.
Love,
Mommy

It's Getting Nice....

Dear Teagan:
It's finally getting nice out!! Yayy! The Easter bunny brought you a big Ford Raptor truck. At first on Easter morning you came out of your room and followed the trail of eggs into the living room. You were so excited to find the eggs. And you saw your baskets sitting in front of the truck and looked at yours and looked at the truck then turned around, grabbed an egg and said "Found another one!" Then Daddy asked if you saw your truck and you got in it and drove it a little and we put Vivian in it with you. You weren't as excited as we were about it.
Then Poppy called and said a calf was born. So you drove your truck over to the barn so we could see it. You weren't very good at driving. You wouldn't put your foot on the peddle and actually hold it down and it was cold and windy out. Overall it was a good Easter. I think you were a bit disappointed that the Easter Bunny didn't bring you a new train like you had really wanted, but Aunt Erin & Uncle Todd did.
The following weekend we had a late Easter dinner at Great Grandma & Grandpa Coles house. You & Vivian were the only kids there and I think you really liked the attention. That afternoon was the second time you got to try driving your truck again and I had daddy take out the screw that kept it in slow. The slow speed is 2 mph and the faster speed is 5 mph. It really makes quite a difference. But you still wouldn't hold your foot down and it was really a jerky ride, so you got irritated and wanted to get out and walk. You finally got the hang of it when I made you ride it back to the shed. I stood in front of it and told you not to run me over. You thought that was pretty funny. And then you drove it all around the house!!
Then last week I think it was, we were playing outside while daddy painted Vivian's room and I made you stay slow because you wanted Vivian to ride with you. It was cute. I buckled her in, which the buckle is only a Velco strap, and I held her hand. I think you both liked it. But then you saw Wyette over at Poppy's barn with Poppy & Uncle Greg so you wanted to drive it over there and show him and go fast. So I took Viv out and you picked up Wyette then you let him drive and Willow got in the back. You guys had a great time cruising around. I think having Wyette like it so much and drive it good really helped you. Now you want to drive it around every night.
We've been taking walks the past 3 nights, just me and you. Sunday we went for a long walk up to Brandy's, but you were really tired. You fell asleep in the stroller when we were almost home. Then the past 2 nights after work we've just walked to the end of the road and back and you threw rocks in the water by our house.
Monday night you were in a great mood! After our walk we played on the swingset and I chased you around the yard. We had a blast. Then after dinner when I was tending to Vivian you and daddy played inside and it was just an overall great night.
I just wish we had more time at night. I hate getting home at 6 and only having 2-3 hours to play, make dinner, eat dinner, get ready for bed, relax and go to bed. It's just so much to do in so little time. I did ask about summer hours....getting done an hour earlier for the summer. That'd be great. I'd feel way more relaxed.

The stuff you say lately just blows my mind. You're so funny. Last week you told Nana that you were a princess. You also always say weird things about me pumping. We were reading a farm book and there was a picture of a dairy cow being milked by a machine and I explained it to you as the cow was pumping so you could have some milk. Now when you see me pump you ask about cows pumping too....as if I didn't already feel like a dairy cow as it was! haha.
You're just too cute and fun. It's become our Friday night ritual now for you to sleep in our bed if you're good all week. You love it. You and I go in and watch a movie and daddy puts Vivian to bed and comes to bed after we're asleep. I love my extra snuggle time with you.

Okay must do some work and go pump. ;-)
Love you to the moon and back baby boy.
Love,
Mommy

Hippity Hop

Dear Teagan:
The Easter bunny comes in 2 days!! Yay! I don't think you quite understand about him though. You still are saying things like "I want ho ho to bring me James" etc. I just tell you that maybe the Easter bunny will bring it. I made some fun jello for your Easter party at daycare this week. I always like to make a little snack whenever there is a party. It makes me feel like a better mom for some reason.
You've been really good this week. We went to gmas last week for an early Easter dinner and you had so much fun looking for the eggs she hid for you. She put Hershey kisses in some and money in the other ones. You didn't really care that anything was in them, you just wanted to find them. Then Sam was putting $1 bills in them for you to find. You just love "Sammy." He's going to come over tomorrow when we color eggs.
Tomorrow morning we're going to drop Vivian off at grandma's and we're going to an Easter Eggstraviganza at the historical society. Callie & Isla are coming and Jenn is bringing Haylee & Hannah as well. So it should be fun! Then grandma and your aunts will come over, and Sammy too, and we'll color the eggs!
Tonight I promised you that you could nuggle in my bed and we'd watch a movie. I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty excited. Not long ago you seemed to be sleeping with us every night and I wanted you out of my bed, but now I look forward to the nights that you come to bed with me. It won't happen forever, so I want to get all the cuddles in I can get from you!
You are such a lover. You love giving hugs and kisses.
Yesterday when we were leaving Jenn's, Ryan was also there picking up Brylee and Brynn and we were all outside getting the little ones buckled in and you and Brylee were running around playing. Then you wanted to give her a hug and a kiss. Then another hug. It's so cute.
You're an awesome big brother. So attentive to Vivian. You always want to share your toys and give her stuff. Last week I looked back in the car and you were holding her hand while you watched your movie on your "little computer."
Then the other night you were playing trains in your room and you wanted Vivian in there with you to play. So I brought her podster pillow in there for her to sit in and I just left her in there with you while you played. I could hear you talking to her about the trains and giving her the ones she could play with.
I love it. I hope your relationship remains this close forever.
Well time to get doing some actual work so I can get a paycheck next week!
I love you to the moon and back baby.
Love,
Mommy

More Doctor's Appointments

Dear Vivian:
So after being at the doctors Friday the first for Teagan having RSV then the following Wednesday for his ear infection, Friday the 8th I ended back up there with you.
When I was changing you that morning I found bruises up your lower spine, like right on the spine. It really worried me because this was he second time I saw bruising there. The first time was a few weeks before this and it was just one. I just brushed it off and watched it and it went away. So I dropped you and Teagan off to aunt Erin like normal and figured your appointment was in 2 weeks I'd just take a picture and show your dr then. But then I talked to grandma about it and she was really concerned and thought maybe I should call in and see what a nurse said. So I did and they wanted you to come in. Luckily grandpa doesn't work on Fridays so he picked you up and brought you to my work and I took you in. They sent us for blood work. They were testing for anemia, leukemia and other platelet disorders. The dr wanted us to stay in town until the bloodwork came back in case you needed to be admitted to the hospital. I was a wreck. Daddy met us at the hospital and took you home anyway. I figured in the event that we did need to go to the hospital I'd still need to go home and pack a bag. Finally after about 2 of the longest hours of my life, they finally called. Everything was normal. Phew thank God.
Then...this past Wednesday we ended up back at the stupid doctors because you had a nasty cough all weekend and were super rattly sounding and it was stressing me out because I know rsv can cause bronchitis. So I took you in and they just said you had a viral cold. Good news.
It's just been nutso around here.
It did get warm for like a day or 2 a couple weeks ago. I took a walk with your brother and it was wonderful. Leslie is supposed to be giving me her double jogging stroller. Which I'm really excited about because then I can take you both for walks. But we just got a bunch more snow last week so we won't be walking anytime soon. It's so annoying.
If I was pregnant right now, it would be 80 already. I swear the spring/summers are only nice when I'm pregnant it seems.
You are a jumping queen. You just want to jump jump jump all the time. We borrowed nana's jumpy thing because Callie borrowed ours for Eve and I haven't gone to get it back yet. You love it though. You fell asleep at daycare the other day in it.
Well, we've been at gma's all afternoon for an early Easter celebration so I haven't gotten anything done for the week. So I'm off to pack you and your brother's bags up.
I love you to the moon and back baby girl.
Love,
Mommy

Our House Is Craziness...As Usual

Dear Kids:
Talk about a rough couple of weeks.
First, your dad had an abcessed tooth and his face swelled up for a few days and he was in so much pain he couldn't sleep.
Vivian, you were up every couple of hours going through that dreadful 3 month growth spurt. Also, I think my caffiene intake has had some to do with your sleep patterns. So I've given up on soda for you, and me, and my teeth, and my waistline....
So then daddy's mouth/tooth/etc. gets all fixed up and then Teagan, you start coughing and running a little fever. The cough started last Tuesday night and the fever started Wednesday evening. Then it didn't go away. Wednesday morning I was blow drying my hair and had my head flipped over and suddenly my back spazzed out and I couldn't stand up straight. I was in so much pain I couldn't walk. Then Teagan, you were yelling for me to get you out of bed. You wanted me to carry you to the living room like like I always do, but I couldn't. I just wanted to lay on the floor...but even that hurt. Poor Vivian you were stuck in the bouncy seat in the bathroom all morning. Finally I knew I just had to pull it together and get you kids in the car even though it hurt like hell to move.
Of course, the chiropractor is closed on Wednesdays. So there I was, walking completely crooked. My hips and shoulders were crooked, leaning to the left.
So Thursday morning I was debating taking you (Teagan) in to the drs, but Jenn said everyone at daycare had the same thing and that Colton had just gone in for a fever and cough and they were told he just had a cold, so I passed.
I ended up getting into the chiropractor and she literally made me cry just trying to get me to lay down. She said it would take a day or 2 to start feeling better....which I didn't have a day or 2 to get better, I had you kids that needed me RIGHT NOW!
So Friday rolled around and your dad insisted you go to the drs. So I took you both to Aunt Erin's and she met me in town for your appointment. You tested positive for RSV...awesome...just what we need. I was so scared that this meant Vivian was doomed to get it.
So then from there we went to lunch at Moe's with Aunt Erin and then you guys went with her back to her house while I went to Urgent Care. They put me on naproxen and some muscle relaxers. They said my back had a lot of spasms going on and it wouldn't get better until I could relax the muscles.
So this meant no more breastfeeding Vivian for a while. Thank goodness we have a ton of milk frozen! I was so sad you would forget how to nurse and then I'd have to only bottle feed forever.
So since you were on only bottles for a while I figured daddy could help out during the night...hahahah what a joke. He really sucks when it comes to waking up during the night. I'd wake him up and he'd microwave some water and then while he was waiting for the bottle in it, he'd fall asleep on the couch because he was cold and needed to wrap up in a blanket! So I learned it was pointless to ask him for help. But I also learned that sticking a binky in your mouth buys me about another hour if not more.
So Teagan, you were put on a nebulizer breathing treatment every 4 hours. At first you did okay, but then you started resisting it. On Monday you went to nana's house because I wanted you to get your rest and didn't think you should be around the other kids yet. I noticed the Albuterol you were on made you crazy, restless and then mean. You were downright miserable on Monday night. Kicking, screaming, saying you didnt like anyone. I had to carry you to your bedroom TWICE and make you stay there because you were that awful.
By the way, my back started feeling better on Monday as well. But after fighting with you (wrapping my legs around you to hold you down to give the nebulizer & fighting to get your pjs on) it was hurting again Monday night....but not as bad.
So I decided, no more nebulizer. You were breathing fine and that was causing you to be a maniac. I read online that it does cause behavior issues in some kids...you are obviously one of them.
So Tuesday you went to daycare...after putting up a HUGE fight at the door (again, I believe the Albuterol in your system was to blame) and I got a call around lunch time from Jenn saying you were saying your ear hurt and you weren't acting normal.
So I called the dr and they moved up your recheck to today at 8:30am. Ear infection. Great, nasty augmentin crap they had you on last fall. Yuck. You took it just fine when I dropped you off at Jenn's, but I think that was because you didn't know what it was so you just drank it. We'll see how tonight goes...
I love you to the moon and back babies!!!!
Love, Mommy

Who Gives Nicknames?

Dear Vivian,
You finally laughed for me! Yay! It was the cutest little laugh. So far you've laughed only 3 times but you're getting happier by the day!
So you got your name because I always loved Liv & Livi and had Teagan been a girl he may have been Alivia so he could be Ally or Liv/Livi. And then Alivia became way too popular so I kept looking and fell in love with Viv & Vivi and that's how we got Vivian. I just don't know about calling you Viv or Vivi. It seems weird now. So who exactly starts nicknames and when do they start? Does it start with parents or family members or does it start in school with friends? And what grade if it starts in school? I'm just confused on this.
I guess that's all for now.
Love you to the moon and back baby girl.
Love,
Mommy

So Much Personality!

Dear Teagan:
Boy oh boy you have so much personality for a little guy! I love how much you use your imagination. If you are playing in your room and hear the wind blow you'll come out and tell me you heard a lion in your room or an artic fox or something. It's so cute. Then we have to go look at it and run from it into my bedroom. You love making a "big big tunnel" in my bed, which is just hiding under the covers.
You're getting really good at doing puzzles. You oplay with my iPad a lot and do puzzles and color on there, and then we started doing your real puzzles. You're starting to understand the difference between corner pieces and outside pieces versus the inside pieces.
You still love your baby sister. You're quite helpful in the morning to keep her entertained. It's so funny to listen to you talk to her like you hear everyone else talk to her. When she starts making noises you'll say stuff like "Whatcha talkin bout baby?" Or if she starts fussing you're all "It's okay baby. Don't cry baby girl." I just love it. I think between you being your sweet self and also going to daycare with mostly girls that you're going to be an awesome big brother. I mean of course you already are, but I think as you get older you'll be more likely to want to protect her than fight with her....I hope anyway.

So you've been sleeping in your undies for bed, but you probably pee the bed 2-3 times a week. I so badly want to just stick you in a pull up at night, but at the same time I feel like you won't learn that way, so I'm torn. I'm sick of having to do laundry and make your bed every night though.
Last week you had diarrhea either in the morning or sometime at night and you didn't know you had pooped your bed. It was very yucky and your room smelled horrible as soon as I opened the door to get you up. That morning all together was awful. You didn't want to go to daycare and you wouldn't get off the couch and put your boots on when I asked and then you were trying to put your boots on standing up and you fell over and cried about it. All the while Vivian was screaming her head off in her carseat.
Daddy felt bad for me and sent me a basket of flowers to work.
It was for a combination of my bad morning and my overall stress level. I'm stressing about everything lately. Having two kids is much more expensive and stressful than just having one. You really have to learn how to prioritize your time and balance out life....which I've never been one to be organized or have good time management skills.

Next weekend you're going to have a sleepover at Grandma & Grandpa's so me and daddy can have a night to ourselves. We have nothing planned, maybe just dinner & drinks. Maybe we'll stop over to our friend's house, maybe we'll just stay home and enjoy a movie and sleeping in. Who knows. But I think it's good for us to just do things as us. Although I do feel guilty that I work all week and I feel like I should be spending all of my free time with you and Vivian.

Well, time to get going.
I love you to the moon and back baby boy.
Love,
Mommy

Belly Laughs

Dear Vivian:
Last night I was in Teagan's room getting his pajamas on him and you were getting yours on with Daddy and I heard you laugh out loud for the first time. It was the cutest little laugh. I'm sad that I didn't get to see it because I was busy and by the time I got in there you had stopped. I tried the rest of the night and this morning to get you to laugh for me and daddy kept trying to get you to laugh again and you weren't. Oh well, I know you will again eventually.

So last week Daddy was laid off. But he found another job at a different company and started back at work on Monday. But while he has his week off you stayed home with him Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday and I took Teagan to daycare and then on Thursday you went to daycare and Teagan got to have his day home with Daddy. Then Friday daddy got a day home to himself and you both when to hang out at Grandma's with Grandpa and Aunt Linny.

Like I may have said before, I was concerned about how much you'd get held and how much interaction you'd get at daycare because of all the other kids, but I think you're doing great there! Yesterday Jenn said you did tummy time and practiced sitting up. Daddy put you in the Bumbo seat that my friend Brianna gave us from her girls and you sat up okay in it, but your head just isn't quite strong enough to stay up for any length of time. So you pretty much slouched over in it.

Things are still crazy when we get home at night. Last week was great with daddy laid off because he had time to get things done and start or make dinner. He's still really helpful when it comes to me asking him to do things though. I feel bad asking him to do all this stuff, but he has like 2 more hours to do things at night than I do....and I don't get time to rest so why should he?! I get up an hour or more earlier than him and sometimes am up for up to an hour during the night if you decide you need a snack or Teagan has to pee or needs some milk or the dog needs out or whatever.

Time to head out of here and come pick you guys up!!
I love you to the moon and back baby girl!!

Love,
Mommy

Life's Crazy

Dear Teagan:
I came back to work on Tuesday. I was supposed to start on Monday, but I came down with a stomach bug. I was so worried about you and Vivian going to daycare since 4 of the kids from daycare had it over the weekend and 2 of their parents had it. But then it was me who got it. So far, you guys are still in good health!!
Things are crazy at home, just as I expected. You're not used to going to daycare everyday and being rushed every morning, so it's a hassle to get you out the door. And your sister, well she's just hard to predict when she'll be hungry and as you know, hates her carseat.
Night time is even worst. You are my stick-tight. It's so hard to get anything done because you're all about mommy. I don't know how to make you see/understand it's not all about you anymore. On one hand I feel like Vivian doesn't know any better so instead of hurting your feelings and routine, I do everything the same with you and daddy is on Vivian duty, but then on the other hand, I feel really bad that I don't get to spend any time with her...like at all. Unless I'm nursing her. Because mornings are crazy and then evenings and night time are even crazier. So she's lucky if she gets more than like an hour of intereaction with me throughout an entire day! It's just heart breaking. I wish you could hang out with daddy more. It's not that you don't like him, it's just you want mommy at night. I guess that's what happens when I've held you every single night before bed for your whole life. Old habits die hard. Although you did go through a daddy phase after I stopped nursing you. I wonder how we can get some type of routine down where on the Vivian's bath nights, you sit and read or watch TV with daddy.
The bad behavior you were presenting the first few weeks after Vivian came home are now subsiding. I think you've learned that it's not getting you anywhere, so that's good.

Although the company that daddy works for has no work, he's still working, for now. It's a guessing game whether or not he'll get laid off. Well, more like an if and when. There's talk of work up in Plattsburg, which will mean he'd be out of town from Sunday night to either Thursday night or Friday night, depending if they worked 4 ten hour days or not. I can not do it all alone. Absolutely not. It's way too hard with him home and me getting home at 6. I have a total of 3 hours to get 2 kids fed, bathed, myself fed, dinner cooked, milk pumped, bottles and pump parts washed, lunch ready for the next day, dinner dishes done, etc. Since daddy's working close to home, he gets home around 4 and usually washes the dinner dishes from the night before and tidies up the house and does a load or 2 of laundry. Which is very helpful! I just can't do it without him.

I'm looking for a new job. Either a little closer to home or an 8 to 4 or even 8 to 4:30 schedule. Any extra time at home at night would make a world of a difference.

Well, off to run a bazillion errands on lunch! I love you to the moon and back baby.

Love,
Mommy