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Thursday, February 24, 2011

Attitude with a CAPITAL A

Meet Sassy Britches:


Perhaps I jinxed myself when I wrote about Madeline's manners & behavior because the switch just flipped, and Sassy Britches is out in full force! Seemingly overnight Madeline as we know her disappeared, & Sassy Britches entered our home in her place.

This one

is venturing into uncharted territory with her talking back and sass, and I must say it's bringing me back to my 5th grade teacher school days. I knew I taught 5th grade for ten years for a reason! I've decided I handle these situations MUCH better than the irrational temper tantrums ~ maybe it's my school teacher comfort zone or maybe it's just a change of pace in the discipline department to keep me on my Mommy toes. Whatever it is, I don't like the fact that my two and a half year old has decided that pouting, talking back, laughing when she is disciplined, trying to boss me around, & sticking her tongue out at me is an appropriate response to Mommy! And, of course, to keep it interesting, she'll throw in one of those awesome temper tantrums at the drop of a hat just to make sure my blood pressure completely skyrockets. Seriously, if there is a boundary, she's testing it. If there is a line, she's crossing it all the while keeping her eye on me and how I react. I'm taking LOTS of deep breaths. I keep reminding myself that Madeline is learning about the world around her and our expectations of her, so it's my job as her Mama (Daddy too when he's home) to teach her that these are not appropriate tools to navigate the world. I'm sure she sees & hears these things in addition to being two and a half and feels the need to test drive this territory for herself. As Dr. Phil would say, "How's that working out for you?"


This timeout chair is occupied more often than not these days, and that doesn't include the times I have had to issue a few spanks for larger infractions.

I know it's the age & only temporary (I hope ~ her teacher keeps telling me so!), but I'm ready for my fun loving, sweet, well mannered girl to come back. Until then, I may have to adjust the grocery list to include more wine or invite John Rosemond to come live with us. :) Just kidding...

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Works For Me Wednesday

I cannot take credit for this catchy title. I read a lovely blog everyday called A Work in Progress. I discovered her through my longtime friend & blogger extraordinaire, Nancy. I love blog land! Anyways, Courtney does a Works for Me Wednesday post each week in A Work in Progress. I had lots of things swirling around in my brain this evening, so I decided to "borrow" her idea for today.

What is working for me at this very quiet hour on Wednesday?
  • Amelia successfully sleeping in her crib for a post dinner cat nap & bedtime with little to no crying to boot!
  • Our cushiony glider in Amelia's nursery.
  • The fact that Target now carries dry fit work out clothes ~ much cheaper than Nike and similar quality.
  • The prospect of getting together with one of my supper club girlfriends, but we plan to include hubbies & kids for a simple grill out. Madeline is two months older than her little boy, & Amelia is two months younger than her little girl.
  • Me being a fuddy duddy and nixing the annual Columbia St. Patrick's Day 5 Points thingie. An all day drinking affair (whether you are drinking or not) just doesn't sound like that much fun to me anymore. Then add in the whole B-feeding thing. Pumping (and probably dumping because let's face it, I'd have a few bevs throughout the day.) the entire day every 3 hours really doesn't sound fun at all. Some people take their kids, but it's not an event for kids, at least my kids.
  • My house finally being spackle and dust free after the MASSIVE cleaning that has taken me three full days to accomplish. Each of our 3 floors got a day of intense blind cleaning (talk about tedious), window sill wiping, baseboard swiffering & vacuuming, and the regular cleaning stuff like dusting, vacuuming, and bathrooms.
  • This gorgeous spring-like weather.
  • Our new across the street neighbors being our age AND having two girls the same ages as our two girls AND they are super nice AND they accepted our invite over for dinner on Friday night AND Rachel is a stay at home mom who is a Gold's Gym rat like me! What are the chances?!
  • Blog friends (those that I really know & those that I have yet to meet in person) and their awesome blogs!

However, Madeline's recent behavior issues are NOT working for me, and that post will be up in the very near future!

Just Because

A few recent pictures of Amelia that I took on her two-month-day that I didn't include in her updates post.

What a cutie, and I love that she's really starting to smile & coo at us when we talk to her.





Sunday, February 20, 2011

Weekend Fun

We had a lovely weekend with the beautiful weather and some family time. Eric's travel will be quite busy over the next few weeks, so it was nice to be around the house and spend time together.

Madeline enjoyed her morning treat to the Krispy Kreme.
She also enjoyed playing with Daddy's new customized cornhole boards and beanbags.
Beautiful weather, happy children, quality time for Mommy and Daddy = Great Weekend

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Two Months Old


Miss Amelia is eight weeks old. What a doll baby she is, and we absolutely adore her. She is smiling a lot these days and trying to coo at us. I love that she's becoming more interactive and alert. Amelia loves her mobile, and she seems to like her activity mat. She LOVES Madeline, and Madeline continues to dote on her like crazy. She's a strong little thing. Amelia holds her head up really well when we hold her up, & she "props up" in the corner of a chair pretty well too. Of course, she's also a squirmy little thing, so she wiggles down into the nooks of a sofa pretty quickly. Amelia is the gassiest little lady! Madeline calls her tooty-tooterton because she passes quite a bit of gas & burps a lot. I know she'll just love the fact that I put that in writing, but it really is kind of funny. She sounds like a 90 year old man after her feedings.



Amelia continues to eat about every three hours during the day, and she's definitely going longer stretches at night. I feed her around 6 PM or 6:30 PM, and I let her sleep until she wakes up anytime from 10 PM-midnight when I feed her again. Amelia will then usually make it until about 6 AM. Right now that is working for us, so I'm happy with that schedule. However, I am looking forward to those 12 hour nights. Hopefully we will be seeing those within the next month. Amelia still sleeps in her car seat at night, and she sleeps her afternoon nap in the swing. Poor thing is having to spend time in the car, the gym, and her carseat in the mornings while we run errands, go to the gym, and cart Madeline to her activities. Over the course of the next month, she will start her naps and nighttime sleep in her crib. Unlike Madeline, Amelia doesn't seem to care for a paci nor have we had to let her cry it out very much when it's time for sleeping. We'll see if that changes when we start putting her into the crib.



Amelia had her two month well visit with shots. Of course, she was a happy, delightful baby until that nurse stabbed her with those needles. Dr. Kapp was happy with her "developmental milestones", and other than her raging case of dry scalp and skin, she received a clean bill of health. However, I took a soft brush to her scalp with a little Selsum Blue, and her head is clearing up nicely! :)

For the baby book, her stats are:

  • 10 lbs. 15 oz. (65 %)

  • 21.5 inches (46%)


  • 38 inches (63%)

    • Saturday, February 12, 2011

      Madeline at Two and a Half


      Our sweet girl is two and a half, and she's quite a riot these days.


      Some of my favorite recent Madeline-isms are:
      In a high pitched concerned voice, "Mommy! She's dripping!" = Amelia spitting up
      At the gym kids' care, if one of the ladies is not holding Amelia, they put her behind the counter to keep probing, curious fingers off of her, and Madeline seems to forget this fact. Poor Kathy, she must hear this no less than 50 times: "Miss Kaffy, where's my baby sister?" --- in the sweetest, most concerned voice ever
      I have the same little routine for Amelia each morning before we leave --- pump out, make the bottle extra warm in the warmer, and put it into a bottle huggie. It just so happens that Daddy also uses the very same bottle huggie for his beverage in the evenings. One morning, Madeline noticed that I was putting Amelia's bottle into this bottle huggie. She says, "Mommy! That is for Daddy's beer not Amelia's bottle!"
      "Mommy, I want to use some ocean too!" (ocean = lotion)
      Me hugging Madeline one morning: "You are such a doll baby (or another term of endearment)! I love you!" Madeline: "I am not a doll baby. I Madeline!"

      First and foremost, I absolutely love watching her interact with Amelia. The first time Amelia smiled at Madeline's antics, Madeline was busting at the seams with pride shouting, "Mama!!! She smile at MEEEE!" while clapping her hands over her chest. So cute. She even shares baby dolls and jewels with Amelia, and it's so cute to hear Madeline say, "Here Amelia, you can have a turn!" Madeline can be overly helpful and crowd Amelia's personal space, but overall Madeline takes her big sister role very seriously!
      Secondly, Madeline is continuing to learn what we expect of her, and she continues to live up to and beyond our expectations 90% of the time. I'm constantly amazed at her ability to not only understand our directions but also to carry them out on a regular basis. For example, Eric was tired of Madeline's desire to constantly snack at the dinner table (initially eat her dinner then get down, then come back for more, walk around, etc.), so he put his foot down one evening. He explained to her from now on she must asked to be excused from dinner. (This also gives us some definitive say to determine if she is really done with her meal.) Since then, at every meal, not just dinner, Madeline says, "Can I get up please?" while holding out her hands to be checked & wiped. Her manners blow me away. I'm so glad that she's such a polite child. I would say that is her biggest complement from strangers.
      Thirdly, Madeline is only two, and she has the potential to be a loose cannon. I constantly have to remind myself of this fact. I definitely have the tendency to hold my bar pretty high when it comes to behavior, and I've had dig deep for my patience when dealing with some of her behaviors. She's passionate and has a mind of her own, so when her anger flares, it's pretty intense. While her temper tantrums are few and far between, they still occur, and they are still pretty ridiculous! We are working on her bossiness, her overuse of the word, "NO!", her use of the phrase, "I don't want to ___!" whenever we tell her whatever it is that we are doing, and her interrupting conversation between adults.


      Finally, Madeline is a dear sweet child that loves to learn, read books, eat chocolate, laugh, and play with all things girly. She is the most wonderful big sister, and we are so proud to call her our daughter.

      Thursday, February 10, 2011

      Life with Two (and More)


      How has a month gone by, & I have not posted? I've got lots of things to share about the girls, and I'm not quite ready to hit publish yet for their posts ~ still missing pictures and a couple of stories on Madeline ~ those are coming soon.


      Life has resumed to normal. I am out of the no sleep "baby fog" & "baby high" stages of bringing home a newborn even though I still feel sleep deprived. Being tired all the time feels normal now. Eric's insane travel has commenced leaving me to hold down the fort. I've returned to my normal, non-pregnant-girl gym routine ~ woo hoo!!! Madeline is back at school regularly barring any future inclement weather conditions. Oh, and I've taken both girls to the grocery store & Target all by myself as if I'd been doing this Mommy thing my whole life. Like I said, life has resumed to normal. And, did I mention, life is great?!


      Life with our two girls has settled in rather nicely. We've had to get used to Eric's traveling again, and I'd say that's been the biggest adjustment as far as Madeline is concerned. She got very used to Eric's travel pre-Amelia, and then she got very used to Eric being home after Amelia was born. I think she forgot that "Daddy's working" = Daddy doesn't get to come home every night thus leaving Mommy in charge. Yes, there have been some hairy moments when one child was probably not having her needs met in the most timely manner, but we survived. I have since been able to iron out most of the kinks in order to prevent a tremendous amount of melting down at high demand times like lunch/dinner, baths, bedtime, etc. Madeline has had to re-acquaint herself with the phrase, "Daddy's working.", so that always brings her terrible two behavior out more often. I guess that's her way of expressing her displeasure regarding Daddy's need to work. However, our nightly prayers now include, "We thank God for Daddy's job, & Daddy's ability to take care of us, so Mommy can stay home." This simple sentence seems to make sense to Madeline, and it seems to remind her that her world is okay even when "Daddy's working."


      We are in the process of getting our one year warranty things fixed around the house, and it's a mess! There must've been a billion nail pops to fix, and it's going to be a cleaning nightmare for me. The Spackle and dust is EVERYWHERE. Not to mention, our builder doesn't do the touch up painting part, so we have to go back and do that part ourselves. YUCK! I foresee myself burning the midnight oil doing some serious cleaning in the next few weeks while Eric is traveling. I do my best work while he's traveling and late at night with no little girl interruptions. I'm just crazy like that, I guess. However, we are not looking forward to re-painting our ceilings, walls, trim, etc.


      I've returned to the OB for my postpartum check-up, and I was given a clean bill of health. I had a follow-up with my hematologist for my platelet count, and they were up in the 120,000 range, so once again, I was given a clean bill of health there too. I was "cleared" for exercise ~ haha! I cleared myself for that about two weeks after Amelia came home. :)


      Eric and I were able to go out on a "just us" date ~ my parents came over for a few hours, and we were able to go out to dinner without worries. Grandma is great like that! Eric and I had almost forgotten how nice it is to eat without cutting up someone else's food, burping someone else, or reading the cocktail menu like a book while we wait for our meal.


      Madeline attended her first birthday party at a Kindermusik type place for a friend from school, and it was fun. Chaotic but fun. I must say, I am new to this kid birthday party thing, so it was a little overwhelming for me to have all those 2 and 3 year olds running loose doing their thing. Most of the other moms were chilling talking to one another, and I seemed to be watching Madeline like a hawk making sure she was minding her manners, sharing, and behaving. Perhaps I need to relax a little bit and trust that she will do the right thing without me hovering. I will learn to chill out eventually.


      I've returned to my pre-baby workouts, and it feels awesome. My heart rate gets high, I sweat, I listen to music, and I have made my muscles work hard again. It's been so great to get back into my rhythm, and I have all the sore muscles to show for it. And, best of all, Amelia is already spoiled rotten in the kids' care by those wonderful ladies. They are smitten with her, and they love having a new baby to cuddle. It's a win-win for us all!


      Madeline got her first shiner last weekend. Eric was cleaning up his truck, and she ran smack-dab into the tailgate, not once but twice. Her little face took a beating, and in her Madeline post, the pictures reveal her nice shiner. Madeline also had her first time out at school. Apparently, she was standing in the baby doll bed in the house center, and the teachers had to ask her repeatedly to stop. By the third offense, she was put into time out. As a result, at home, she was not able to have TV the whole rest of that day (which really amounts to two Dora shows --- one before nap & one before bed), but you want to talk about kicking a girl while she is down, then take away her Dora TV shows. According to her teachers, no TV for time out at school made a very lasting impression on her because she not only obeyed immediately when corrected the following day at school, but she mentioned that time out at school = no Dora TV that day. Score for Team Mommy & Daddy!

      Finally, I had a girls night with my Supper Club girls, and it was so wonderful to chit chat with the ladies! I'm so blessed to call these girls my friends. It was such a refreshing evening out, and I'm so lucky to have a hubby that supports my girl time!