the simple things

bring the most joy.

 

Nora (and Emmy) 9 month collage

...monthly update to follow (maybe delayed until after xmas)...

#ParentingFail, #EncourageOneAnother, #SandyHookChangedMyOutlook

Sweating, I hastily make my way through the store grabbing the two items that were on my list.  My mother, who fears that someone will call the police because it appears as though she is kidnapping Emmy, drags my child out of the store while she kicks and screams and yells out "Mommy mommy mommy" at the top of her lungs.

It was my fault.  Three years, four months and 9 days into parenting and I still haven't learned that you don't take your child shopping during nap time.

I was THAT parent.  The one that you look at when you yourself aren't a parent, and you sigh.  Yeah, that lady.  The one who is letting her child flail on the floor of the store.  You know, the one who returns a glare for a glare received by judgmental bystanders.  I was doing all those things that would have made me roll my eyes pre-parenthood.

A few lessons learned that day (by me)
1.  Don't take your child shopping during nap time....no matter how happy her mood may be. And certainly do not let her walk instead of riding in the cart
2.  A week ago, I would have been frustrated and wishing this situation on anyone else but myself.  But this week, it is different because of the two words that have echoed through my head and on the news, "Sandy Hook".  This week it still frustrated me, but I found myself thankful that the good Lord let me have another day with my girls.  I realized that there were 20 sets of parents who would, on Saturday at 215pm in Michael's, give anything to be in the midst of disciplining their child because of an outburst and meltdown.

A lesson learned by my mom
1.  It is completely different being a parent now than it was in the 70s/80s.  She told me that in her generation, mothers would have just given one another a pat on the back in the store and said "It's OK honey.  It's something that she will grow out of.  You are doing a great job".  Excuse me, what?  The only thing I heard coming from someone's mouth during my incident was "OH, Good lord....." (to which I made a very un-Christian like reply).  Can you even imagine hearing that in a store in the 2010s??? Those words of affirmation have been replaced by glares, sneers and hurtful words whispered quietly under breath.

There's so much more to be learned from this one little situation but the two that I wanted to remember are that 1) Elementary massacre or not, I need to do the best with every day granted to me and show those around me that I love and care for them. 2) I need to encourage other mothers and fathers and not even say words that could be taken any other way than being positive.

Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear.-Ephesians 4:29 

But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. -Hebrews 3:13 

iPhone Friday 12/14/2012

I just noticed that every single picture is of the girls in jammies.  What can I say?  We like to do some serious relaxing at our house.....HAH.  Did you catch any of that sarcasm???  Who am I kidding.  We are all up at 630am on EVERY day of the week.  The girls seriously need to learn the art of sleeping in on Saturday  morning ;).

Happy Friday

iPhone friday 12/07/2012

L to R, Top to Bottom
1.  Visiting uncle Greggy in Rogers
2. "Turning head sideways"…Nora's newest infatuation
3.  Story time
4. We have started giving Emmy 5 minutes each night to read books before it's lights out.
5.  Yes, that is a piece of dairy free brownie on her face.  She and I both deserve treats like this every once in awhile for having our dietary restriction
6.  Ummmm, who knows.
7.  And yes, we have joined in on the big lie, meet our elf Sally.

iPhone friday 11/30/12

(top to bottom and L to R)
1.  Just hanging out on tummy time, still not very interested in this whole rolling business
2. Emmy reading books w/ cousin Boyd and Papa
3. Target dollar bin finds!
4. Sweet sister
5. Emmy has figured out how to use the front camera on the iPhone!

8 Months {Nora}

I'm only a day late posting this.....wahoo!!

Here is what we have been up to this past month:

Eat: A typical day would include:  630am bottle, 715 oatmeal/fruit, 10am bottle, 1145 fruit/veggie, 2pm bottle, 430 bottle occasionally, 530 veggie/finger foods, 645 nurse/bottle.  My guess is a typical day would be 20-25 ounces of milk.

Sleep: (you can see previous blog post for more on this one) A typical day for Nora starts anywhere between 430 and 6am.  The earliest we go to retrieve her from her crib is at 6.  

Naps: During the week she'll take a 1-1.5hr morning nap (starting at 8 to 830) a 1.5-2hr afternoon nap (generally 3 hours after waking from morning nap), we are trying to get an afternoon catnap out of her but most days she doesn't buy into it.  During the weekend, at home, she doesn't sleep near as long as at daycare.  This seems completely opposite to me, but I'm just glad she sleeps well at school.  Emmy never did until she went down to one nap a day.

Health: Another ear infection scare on 11/11 but all clear...teeth? She is still acting like something is wrong, but maybe it's just teeth.  I wish we had a dr in the family.

Shoes: What are shoes?  This girl rarely even wears socks.  Amazing the things you forget to do the 2nd time around.  I do think her feet are a size 2 though.
Clothes: 9-12
Diapers: Size 3, but they are getting a little tight.  We will move up to size 4 as soon as we use up all the size 3 diapers.
Trips: None!  Trying to get her sleep scheduled more consistent really gets in the way of things.  In fact, we have had to divide an conquer quite a bit this past month for birthday parties and church.  It will be very interesting to see what happens this weekend up at my parents house for Thanksgiving.
Likes: jumping in the jumperoo, LeapFrog music table, eating her toes, food, staring at her video monitor camera when she wakes up (it's like she knows that we are watching her!!!!), yelling when she sees "Emmy the beast" approaching, falling asleep during the bedtime nursing/bottle, splashing in the tub, pooping during nap and nighttime, sippy cups
Dislikes: sleeping in (old news), the booger sucker (aka nose syringe....she doesn't just dislike it....she HATES it)
Milestones: going from sitting to belly by means of falling, spinning on belly when she wants, sporadically scooting backwards when on tummy time, FINALLY rolling belly to back and can get 1/2 way around from back to belly, saying: mamamamama (which sounds more like muh-muh) with some baaa, gaaaa, and daaa's in there, she also screeches a lot- this is usually in response to Emmy screeching in her ear

Other: Nora is becoming very easy to excite.  When we pick her up from daycare, she will just start bouncing with happiness(whether that be while sitting on the floor, or in someone's arms).  She has no separation anxiety when we leave her in the morning and will occasionally give me "kisses" when I drop her off.  She's still not a big fan of holding her bottle, and she still wants her bottles VERY warm.  Emmy still loves Nora very much, but does not like for her to touch her big girl toys. She will tell her "No, baby.  No touch".  It's funny b/c I think Emmy calls her "baby" more than "Nora.

Oh, and how could I forget about Halloween happening this past month.  Nora wore a ladybug costume at her daycare party and a flower on Halloween.  Emmy was Minnie Mouse again (her request!)

So you made it this far????  You deserve some pictures.

Nora's (lack of ) Sleep

It's 11:22pm.  I should be in bed.

It happens every time.

I could write a mathematical proof.

Late bedtime for mommy (or daddy) = early rising for Nora or Emmy.






Let me start by saying this, I know that every child is different.  But I cannot help but compare sleep schedules between Emmy and Nora.  At this age (just shy of 8 months), Emmy was sleeping 12 hours a night but only 1.5-2 hours at school. Nora on the other hand is sleeping around 10 hours (max) at night and 3-3.4 hours at school.  So both equalled about 13.5 hours, just in different ways.

Here's what is just killing me about Nora...the anywhere from 430-530 wake ups (and many times it is b/c she has pooped her pants....and really, I can't blame her for not wanting to go back to sleep with a pile of poo in her diapo).  It's rare that the girl sleeps past 6am.  She really lives by the motto "early to bed, early to rise, makes a baby healthy, wealthy and wise".

We have a standing rule in our house that if she is awake before 6am...well then tough "you know whats" for her, she just has to stay in bed until the official wake up time.

Did I mention that it's rare for her to sleep in past that wake up time?

So I know what you are probably thinking.  "Oh Jordan, just keep her up later".

I know, that probably would cure it.

But I'm telling you what....short of dangling the girl by one foot, whilst hanging upside down, I cannot wake that girl up after her bedtime feeding.  Some nights it's actually a problem b/c I cannot get a burp out of her!

This is just the tip of the iceberg in how different the girls are in their sleep patterns.
I would be oh so thrilled if you would share any experiences that you have with "curing" an early riser!

Thank you and sweet dreams =)

iPhone Friday 11/16/2012

This week has completely flown by...but what's new. In fact, Chris and I were talking about how the last 8 months have flown by.  Can it really be that in 4 months our tiniest princess turns 1 year old?  I'm going to have to start planning a birthday party soon.  How could this have happened already?

This week was full of so much fun.  We had Nora's dedication, met new friends, had some sisterly couch time, played beauty shop with daddy, made funny faces, sat naked on the toilet holding a leaf, and practiced using a sippy cup.

7 months + 27 days

It's been too long since I've done this...but here is a side by side of the girls are the same age (Nora at 7m27days and Emmy and 7m28days)

iPhone Friday 11/09/2012

Baby Products Review: Feeding

Hi, my name is Jordan and I am a gadget person.  There, I admitted it.  I love new thingamabobs.  I always "need" the newest version of something...although I am sitting here with my iPhone 4s so I guess I don't ALWAYS require the newest, fastest gadget.  Just most of the time.

Combine that with having 2 kids now and I feel like we've tried many different baby things.  Some worked for us and some didn't.

I thought it'd be fun to do a little baby product review series for any of my preggers friends...or for anyone who just loves to read about baby products!  I think it's amazing the new things that came out between Emmy and Nora.  We did get a few new baby items when Nora came along that weren't available in Emmy's day and age ;).

So without further adieu, here's my list of our top "feeding" items that we used and my take on them (please keep in mind that these words are my own and are just from our own personal experiences).  Also please note that they are in no particular order because I am too tired to rearrange.

MEDELA FREESTYLE

Yes you will look like a cow when using the "hands-free" option and yes you will feel like one too.  But, you can also fold laundry, walk around the house, pick up toys and mow the yard all at the same time (hah.  Never tried it, but I bet you could).  This pump has been my best friend.  It is a little louder in comparison to the Pump In Styles, but it's completely portable and fits in your hand.  The battery is rechargeable and lasts a few days before needing to be charged again. I recommend you check out www.awaybabyessentials.com if you plan to buy any pump.  Much cheaper on this site than in store (even when using coupons).

BRAVADO NURSING BRAS

They run about $40 each I think?  A tad bit on the expensive side, but if you buy the Freestyle (which becomes hands free when you attach it to your nursing bra) then you might just be wearing your nursing bra all day.  I have 3 bras and could probably use a few more.  The only problem I've found is that I was a Medium right after delivery (also wore these when I was pregnant) but could probably use a smaller size now.

BEABA BABYCOOK

A dear friend bought this for me when we were pregnant with #2 (first miscarriage).  It had been sitting up in the attic until recently.  I have now made a few batches of food for Nora with it.  It is a nice all in one machine.  True, you could steam your food on the stove and then get your food processor out and do the same thing  But, I enjoy the convenience of this one!

BEABA BABYPOTE

So you know those squeeze pouches of food that sell for $1+ in the stores?  They are so convenient!  Well, Beaba came out with this little silicone beauty that you can put purees/yogurt/applesauce/etc in and use OVER and OVER and OVER again.  Genius, I tell you.  One drawback is that the food does flow out of them a bit easier than the pouches so they need to be used with parental assistance until those toddler fine motor skills can work the pouch without it going all over their face.

PLAYTEX DROP INS (NURSERS)

These are the only bottles we have used with Emmy and Nora.  I have heard horror stories about how babies can be finicky with their bottle preference?!?!?!  Luckily we didn't have any of those issues.  This bottle may not be the most economical or environmentally friendly (Do the math on the liners and you will spend much more in a year than if you just buy a traditional bottle...and maybe the liners are recyclable, I need to check), but I LOVE this bottle.  I love that when immersed in hot water, they heat up pretty fast since the heat only has to transfer through the liner, not a plastic bottle.  I love that you only have to wash the nipple and the lid, the bottle itself can just be rinsed.  I also love that the bottle does not allow air to come inside when baby is drinking from the bottle.  It is supposed to be a great bottle if you have a colicky baby.

PLAYTEX BREAST MILK STORAGE KIT

I haven't used this item as much as I thought I would.  It's a system of lids and adapters and such for the Drop Ins bottle.  It has a pump adapter so you can pump right into the liners, and then seal them with a flat lid and then freeze.  When I have used this, I used it mainly for the pump adapter function.  I find that using breastmilk storage bags (I use Lansinoh) store in the freezer better because you can lay them flat to freeze and then pack them up in a gallon sized Ziploc bag.

PLAYTEX FRIDGE TO GO

This little black bag is one of my best "baby" friends.  The cooling element is built into the bag so you just pop it in the freezer and it will theoretically keep things cold for up to 12 hours.  I'm a little skeptical on the 12 hour , so I would say the 8-9 hour mark is more realistic (which has suited all of our needs).  It can hold 2 tall bottles.  Or one tall bottle and some baby food jars, or it can hold quite a few Lansinoh bags.  I have even used it a few times when I pack my lunch!  Oh, I also used this when I was severely engorged after Nora's birth.  I placed my NUK relief packs in there and would put them on the "girls" after feeding Nora in the middle of the night (in efforts to tell my body to STOP MAKING ENOUGH MILK FOR OCTUPLETS!)

MUNCHKIN COOL WRAP

This is very similar to the Playtex cooler, but this one has gel inserts that you put inside of the fridge (as opposed to placing the whole bag in the freezer).  Our Target didn't have the Playtex item in store, so we got this one instead b/c we figured with 2x the girls we needed 2x the freezer bags.  I was wrong.  We haven't needed 2 bags at the same time yet, but it is nice to have lots of little bags around so that one of them is ready to use at any given point in time.

A PLASTIC CUP

From WalMart, Target or wherever.....it's the perfect device for warming up a bottle :)

4 CUP PYREX MEASURING CUP

This item has a permanent spot right by our sink.  (If we had more room in our sink, I'd just place it there....but, we use our left side sink to dry dishes and the right side is always full of sippy cups. HAH).  I fill it up about 1/2 way with soapy water.  It's the soaking dish.

INSINKERATOR INSTANT HOT WATER DISPENSER

This thing will change your life!  Not only is it great for having instantly hot water for warming up bottles, but it also reduces water boiling time for making pasta!!!! We had bought one of these to be used while Emmy was a babe, but this and that..and yadda yadda yadda....it didn't get installed until Nora.  But that's OK, it was totally worth the wait!  Just make sure you tell your guests what it is when they come over so that they don't try to wash their hands under 160*F water!

BABY LED WEANING (BLW)

This isn't necessarily the weaning that we think about (weaning from bottle, formula or breast)...but it's more about the introduction and movement towards solid foods.  In BLW, you skip the mushy food and purees.  I made it about 1/2 way through this book and decided I knew enough to give it a try.  I had great intentions of sticking to it, but we have now ended up doing 1/2 mushy foods and 1/2 solid foods.  Some solids (in solid form) that Nora has tried so far: Avocado, apples, pears, toast & hummus, pasta, pot roast, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peaches, squash (too stringy) and cooked egg yolk.  I love the theory, and I agree with the authors and mama's who have used this that it makes meal time less stressful and more fun.  Baby gets to explore with food and decide what SHE wants to eat.

MY BREST FRIEND (MBF)

This nursing pillow was a lifesaver!  I had some issues with Emmy and her latch b/c of her tongue tie and the boppy just wasn't cutting it.  Don't get me wrong, we love the boppy and use it for many other things, but it just wasn't good for us for nursing.  The MBF pillow is much more firm and really helps you put baby in an optimal position for nursing.  In the early days it can be used for a cradle type hold or the football hold.

What do you think?  Did I leave anything out that was essential for your first year with baby?  I'd love to hear your thoughts throughout this series.

iphone friday 11/02/2012

The Emmy Collection:

The Nora Collection:

iphone friday 10/26/2012

iphone friday time!  This past week has flown by, both a good thing and a bad thing.  Fall has finally hit and it is going to get below freezing this weekend.  My cousin and her hubby are on their way to visit us from KS and tomorrow we meet with a sleep coach about Nora's sleep.  She sleeps at least 9 hours in one stretch at night, but when she falls asleep at 7am...that can mean a 4am wakeup...not cool! Some mornings she wakes at 5, some mornings at 630. We are hoping to come out of this consultation with a way to make her sleep more consistent.

So onto our past week:

1.  I caught Nora sucking her thumb one morning.  Man, wouldn't that be nice if she took to her thumb so we didn't have to go do 430am paci reinsertions.

2.  She loves chewing on hats (and paper, and bottle nipples, and spoons and.....)

3.  My little helper

4. Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, let me personally welcome you to downtown.

5.  Emmy and Jackson playing either a) beauty shop or b) doctor

6.  Took Emmy with me to the post office to mail a gift, decided to weigh her there.  35#3oz

7.  Nora rockin my new earwarmer/headband

8. Cousin fun at the "thunder up" game last Friday.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

7 months {nora}

Happy 7 months to the cutest little girl named Nora that I know! I say it every month, but goshdarnit, time is flying by TOO fast. 

Here are a few(or alot) of highlights from the past month.

Eat: Milk and solids nowadays.  We are halfway implementing the "Baby Led Weaning" theory (we introduced finger foods a little after 6 months) and we are also doing purees.  The shortlist of foods that she has tried: banana, avocado, strawberries, pineapple, oatmeal, apple slices, egg yolk, green beans and mum mums.  As far as milk is concerned, my guess is that she's nursing/taking by bottle about 24-28oz per day.
Sleep: Asleep by 7pm and usually awake by ???am.  She was waking at 515ish for a few days and then would go back to sleep in the mornings.  Just this morning (10/22/12, so this should technically go in next months post) she slept from 715 to 615!  Sweet Jesus Hallelujah!  Seriously, the first thing I did was thank Jesus for her one night of *potentially* amazing sleep.  Of course, the one night Nora slept thru was the one night Emmy had to wake to pee.  Oh well. On a normal night for Nora, I still usually end up in the guest room to be on paci patrol.

Naps: Naps are still sporadic, but we (daycare & me) are really trying to get her on a schedule.  Last week she did a great job of having a 45 minute morning nap and 2+ hour afternoon nap.  I know this is still nowhere close to the sleep that she should be getting, but we are still grateful for it.

Food: Whoops, I forgot about this section and put it all above.  I will add here that Nora's hand-eye-mouth coordination is pretty good.  I think I'll go ahead and contribute it to introducing finger foods earlier than we did with Emmy.
Health: Thought she had an ear infection at her 6 month appt (which was actually at 6m3w), but all was clear.  She was messing with her ear again tonight, so I wonder if her teeth are trying to move up.

Shoes: What are shoes?
Clothes: 6-9 months.
Diapers: Size 3.
Trips: Up to Kansas a few weekends ago for Halle's bday party.  I think that's it.
Likes: grabbing noses and chins, eating the bill of Chris' hats, nursing, playing with her feet and trying to chew her big toes, feeding herself, listening to books, pat-a-cake, petting Sally, pooping right when going to sleep and pooping in the bath, keeping her feet constantly moving and ankles rolling, shaking her head "no" with a big fat grin on her face.
Dislikes: not getting things the exact moment that she wants them, regular schedules, finishing a full bottle, new faces
Milestones: Sitting upright and pretty steady. Talking more, still alot of "hey", "ha" and "huh" sounds.  The other night, at 4am, I swear she was saying "mamamamamam" (of course, not saying MOM on purpose), or maybe it was just my lack of sleep that imagined this up.  Can put paci in mouth proficiently.  Reaches for and grabs objects, takes them from hand to hand.
Other: Nora's little personality is really starting to shine through.  If the girl wants a bottle, you better get it to her STAT!  If she wants to stop taking it just to look around, you better take it out of her mouth STAT or else she is going to let you know about it!  Little miss thing is entering a stranger anxiety, something that Emmy didn't start going through until recently.  This is all new territory for us, so it should make her baby dedication next month interesting.  I just hope she doesn't cry.  Nora is so funny in that she doesn't roll over consistently.  She seems pretty content on tummy time and only fusses after being there for 10-15 minutes.  I'm pretty certain she knows how to roll (since she's done it quite a few times in the past)...but maybe she just has a short term memory :).  Also, Nora's not a big fan of naps.  We spent alot of time fighting her this past weekend to go down.  Coupled with Emmy being in the "treacherous three's", this weekend really wore Chris and me out.   I had to remind myself many times how fortunate we are to have our girls, and that did help ease frustrations.

Well, if you made it through all of this nonsensical rambling- you deserve some pictures.

iphone friday 10/19/2012

I'm actually writing this early, it's Thursday night and I just realized that my baby girl is going to be 7 months old tomorrow!

She still doesn't roll, pretty much sits up straight, is making new sounds and looks scared whenever Emmy charges towards her.

Emmy's new trick this week is starting every response with, "but, but, but....."

L-R
1. She's covering herself up while "pumping"
2. She had to do what sister did
3. Playing dress up at school
4. "Skip to my Lou" at gymnastics

L-R
1. I only got 3 toes in before I threw in the towel.  Toes were too squirmy
2. She absolutely loved the sink bath
3. Getting in the Halloween spirit
4. Witchy Nora ;)

Happy friday friends!

the post in which i confess

So a quick poll...who out there in blog land knows that I'm no longer in school?

Yeah.

That lasted about 4 days.

The master plan went something like this:  I would take 9 hours (a full graduate load) and use the rest of my time to study during the hours of 8 to 5.  The girls would attend school during those same hours so that I could be distraction free.  I would take 3 semester and be done December 2013.

Sounded like a good plan.

I prayed about it many times.

Seemed like it was going to work.

Right.

The problem?

I had not been in school for 3 1/2 years and I was jumping right back into it, right where I left off.  I keep thinking that maybe had I only been out of it for a year or so then I would have been OK.  But who knows if even that would have worked.

It became very apparent, very quickly that it was not going to work.  I was so drained by the end of the day, mentally checked out.  Chris can handle me being in my own la-la land...but the girls?  No.  They deserve better.  See, no matter whether I am a student, work at home, work outside the home, or do a bit of both- my number one job is to be MOM.  It was physically and emotionally impossible for me to be MOM during my first week of school.  So did what any financially smart person would do. WITHDRAW AS FAST AS YOU CAN FROM A PRIVATE SCHOOL SO YOU CAN GET 90% OF YOUR MONEY BACK!!!

So what was next?  Well, a monumental ankle sprain on my first training run for the Tulsa Run...which still hurts by the way.  Universe:1, me:0....oh, how I digress.

Next up was...working on my resume, buying a suit and start distributing my resume.  The oil and gas industry is a small one, both a good thing and a bad thing.  In my case, for this instance, it was a very good thing.  I ended up interviewing fairly quickly with 2 companies and received a quick offer from the first one that I interviewed with.  I accepted and started work on September 28.

I am now at Laredo Petroleum (downtown in the Bank of America building) and have been there for 3 weeks.  I have an office!  It's an interior one but I seriously do not care, I am just so grateful to have an office.  It's been especially nice b/c I can just close and lock the doors and MOOOOOO away.

So, that's my life update.  Hopefully I remembered everything, leave me a comment if there's something I've left out!

iphone Friday 10/05/2012

I dedicate this post to my cousin Gina, who called me out on my lack of posting.

First up, the Nora collage:

I am still not able to capture a whole lot of smiles from our babe, but she is getting to be so much fun. Apparently she rolls (only at daycare, not at home), she is sitting up taller, really tries to communicate, tried a chunk of honeydew melon this week and still refuses to sleep through the night. Which reminds me to take the following note to self: never again brag about your 5 week old daughter who sleeps through the night, she will use it against you at 8 weeks old and continue to do so well after her 6th month:


Annnd moving on to our eldest:

she is trying to learn how to kick a soccer ball- but when one sometimes still falls while running, then one also has a hard time doing more advanced skills, she attended a parade in Tahlequah today courtesy of Aaron and Alex (what would we do without you all, you ring out the absolute sweetest side of our girl), she is using her imagination and creating her own balance beams, and she continues to just be really cute. She comes by it very naturally. She is learning Spanish at school, yoga and sign language. I am amazed by her progress and potential.

Tonight daddy is taking "Nora duty" and I am sleeping upstairs. I know what's going to happen: some spinoff amended version of Murphy's law: Nora is going to sleep all through the night. But in the event that she doesn't, he has a thermos full of hot water and a bottle in an ice pack right next to his bed. The monitor is turned up much louder than normal and all doors are cracked for extra passage of sound waves. Goodnight blog land. I'm off to enjoy 6+ hours of consecutive sleep. (Really hope I don't wake up as a result of habit)

6 months {nora}

I absolutely cannot believe that 1/2 of a year has flown by.  I only thought that time passed by quickly with Emmy, it's is FLYING by this time around.  Before I know it, it will be time to plan a birthday party.  Wait, hold on, I'm not even going to think about that right now....on to the update.

Eat: Usually just shy of 6am and then every 3 hours.  Feedings are closer together in the evening, but I see this changing as we plan to start solids soon.  So today looked something like this (note: our schedule is a bit off as Nora is fighting an ear infection) 515am, 645am, 9am (took very little bottle), noon, 3pm, 530pm (nursed) and 650pm (bottle, usually between 4-6 ounces)
Sleep: Asleep by 7pm and usually awake by 6am.  We still have one or two times during the night that we have to go in and insert paci.  

Naps: Naps are sporadic.  Usually a short morning nap (30 minutes) a longer noon nap (1-2 hours) and a short afternoon nap (another 30 minutes).  She definitely isn't getting in the recommended 14 hours of sleep per day...we are trying to get there.

Food: none yet, starting soon.
Health: Double ear infection 09/12/12

Shoes: I put some size 2 shoes on her tonight, they had a little bit of room in them.  So she's probably still a 1.  I figure it doesn't matter much though since we RARELY put shoes on her.
Clothes: 6-9 months.
Diapers: Size 3.
Trips: Alabama VS Arkansas football game in Fayetteville on Sep 15.  Nora didn't do the best.  She didn't want a bottle, didn't want to nurse, didn't want to nap....I will choose to blame it on the ear infection and not the probable fact that she just doesn't like to travel.
Likes: still loves for her big sister to be all up in her space, waving her arms like a mad woman when nursing or taking bottle, for people to look at her- it makes her face light up, bath time, peek a boo, her feet- to touch things with said feet and for people to play with said feet
Dislikes: taking full bottles, when we leave her sight in a moment of need, sleeping ALL the way through the night, taking medicine (taste or control issue?  Maybe a little bit of both)
Milestones: She rolled over from belly to back twice for my mom on Sept 18.  She did it once for me as well.  This was the first time she did this since 3 1/2 months.  Chris still hasn't seen it and Nora hasn't repeated it since the 18th.  She is also so close to sitting up.  I think Emmy will have so much more fun with her once this happens.  And then tonight she found her toes!  Oh, the great toys that never go away.  Making lots of sounds with an "h" sound (like hah, huh, and heh).  She also has a raspy little voice, which reminds me that I need to get the camcorder out more often.
Other: Nora is turning into such a happy girl.  It is much easier to get smiley pictures of her nowadays.  She was never really unhappy, but now her face lights up with delight at the smallest things.  She absolutely loves Emmy and misses her when she's away.  She has started watching us as we eat so we are going to start food soon.  I actually fed her a few little bites of mandarin oranges tonight and she did pretty well with them.  Of the 4 pieces, only one got spit back out with the tongue thrust reflex.

Seesters @ 1/2 year old

Looking alike enough to be related?  YES
Looking alike enough to confuse them in pictures? No, not to me
Looking cute enough to pinch and kiss chubby cheeks?  ABSOLUTELY!

Love my healthy girls.

I am working on a 6 month post.  Looking at pictures from Nora's past month of life makes me so sad because it has completely flown by.  I can't believe that at 1046am tomorrow, our little one is 1/2 a year old!  Please father time, slow down a little bit for this mama?

iPhone Friday 09/14/2012

This has been a good week.  I need to do a "life update"...but there's so much to write that my mind shuts down just thinking about it!  So instead of words, here are some pictures.  We've had a good week: nice seasonal weather, new Five Guys in Tulsa, making lots of puppy chow, and enjoying time as a family.

This little lovey

Has her first double ear infection.



-jordan

iphone friday 09/07/2012

1. My, we have come a long way since last summer in regards to the diving board
2. Emmy and her cousin Avery had SO much fun playing together.
3. Seesters
4. Good morning God, nice to see you
5. Bed hog
6. Emmy receiving raspberries from Nora!!!

iPhone Friday 08/31/12

LtoR, Top to to Btm
1. Bubble bath fans, Nora may or may not have ingested some
2. xray's at the dentist to make sure her very last molar was on its way
3. dr's appt the same day, all went well.
4. Emmy built and took a picture of mrs. tater head
5. happy girl

1. Another pic of tater head, oops.  I guess I'm just proud of my budding photographer
2. Emmy's stats
3. Morning snuggles with my girls
4. Getting checked out by dr wan
5. on monday I tripped on a dang sweet gum tree ball and rolled my ankle while running.

iPhone Friday 08/24/2012

Just following trend and posting this a day late!  I can't get enough of these girls, they are my light.

Best Buds

Meet Elle.

Elle's mommy and I are in the same Sunday School class.  The girls are a just a few weeks apart, so we had the pleasure of going through pregnancies together.

Unfortunately, at different times in life, we have both gone through infant loss.  It was so nice to have someone to talk to after going through my losses.   I wouldn't wish this type of loss even on my worse enemy.

We are so grateful for these little miracle girls.  From the looks of it, I think these two little ladies are going to be the best of buds!

5 months {nora}

5 months old???  I cannot believe how fast time has flown by, such a cliche statement I know.  We have had a busy past month (4th of July, vacation to Colorado and Emmy's 3rd birthday).  With all those food eating holidays and celebrations, I'm happy to say I still managed to lose 2 lbs leaving that last pesky pound to go!

Eat: Somewhere between 530 and 6.  So today's schedule looked something like this 530am, 830am, 1200pm, 230pm, 530pm, 8pm.  During the day Nora takes 5oz bottles and her 8pm feeding is also a bottle, generally 6oz.
Sleep: Usually asleep by 800pm and as previous item said, now waking a little early to eat.  Not sleeping quietly through night as she is still waking somewhere between 4-5am. She is in her own room now (we disassembled the crib and put it in "mimi and papa's room", guest room. I usually go in there around 4 am and sleep on the bed until she completely wakes to eat.  Sleep has been a little bit better since moving her into a big crib in her own space.  Also, Nora caught a cold after Emmy's bday party so nap times and night time haven't been so hot lately due to nasal congestion.

Naps: The late morning/noon nap is usually the best nap at 2+ hours.  The morning nap and afternoon nap are more along the lines of 1 hour.  We try to get her to nap in the evening but that doesn't always work.  I can foresee her dropping that evening nap and hopefully going to bed earlier.

Shoes: I think she's a size 1, but we rarely put socks or shoes on her.
Clothes: mostly 6 months.
Diapers: Size 3.
Trips: Colorado in July (Nora did NOT like vacation. Altitude? Too many strange faces? Getting a cold? Teething?  We may never know...)
Likes: LOVES Emmy, her face just lights up when big sister enters her view, exersaucer, floor gym, drooling, exploring with her hands, pinching things with toes, blowing bubbles into bottle, sleeping with arms out (yay! we dropped the swaddle), pat-a-cake, being held and carried in baby bjorn (facing out)
Dislikes: having to wait on a bottle, when Emmy steam rolls her, loud noises, too many strange faces approaching her all at once.
Milestones: Bearing weight on legs and standing with support, starting to hold bottle, plays with hands and very grabby, putting paci in mouth and ripping it out, occasionally turning when we call her name, sits with support, very strong on tummy time but still won't roll over...oh well.
Other: Nora is still doing very well at self soothing to sleep (sometimes needing a little help with paci-reinsertion).  I was hesitant about breaking her of the swaddle but she started to get to the point of breaking out of it.  She still has crazy arms, so I put loveys around her arms so they serve as a little barrier between her hands and her face/paci. Nora took her first swing ride at a park in Grand Lake, Colorado.  She finally went swimming this past month and loved it, as soon as I put her in the water she started kicking her legs like she wanted to swim.  Nora is still the sweetest and I love watching her little body shake with delight when she gets excited.

the past month

colorado 2012

Sidenote:  When she's not being a typical eye rolling, tantrum throwing, mad/stomping, independent yet still needs help doing everything 3 year old....Emmy is the sweetest thing.  Her favorite song right now is "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from the Lion King soundtrack.  She sings it SO sweet.  She started school recently at B'Nai and is having the best time.  She has changed and developed in her first week of school, it's amazing!

Our lives are completely blessed with our two little miracles, I cannot imagine life any differently.

iPhone Friday 08/17/2012

1.  tricksters.  Without cousin Jackson, Emmy wouldn't know how to climb like a monkey.
2. Most nights we eat at the table, but sometimes it's nice to change it up.
3.  Nice parking job
4. Cool temps in August?  Yes please
5. Hoping she figures out how to hold her bottle reliably soon!
6. Sad Nora
7. Squeaky clean sisters
8. Nora had a trial day at her new daycare today, all the kids LOVED her!
9.  This is the best I could get, it's so hard to get a good shot with both girls looking and smiling!