Amelia's First Playdate

One of my nearest and dearest friends from way back in high school, Dana, had a baby about 2 weeks after I had Amelia. He's a little cutie! It was a fun day of visiting, chatting, and catching up!

Weeble Wobble

Amelia is loving her new view! And, I am loving a new spot to put her when I am doing things around the house. Isn't she silly?!

Could It Be?

Sassy Britches has left the premises for the moment, and our sweet Madeline is BACK! This Mama couldn't be more overjoyed. In fact, I received several, "You are my most favorite Mommy ever!" comments this week! I'm sure it's because I have not had "Game Face Mommy" on, and life has seemed to returned to normal. Ahhhh, the terrible twos have gone into hiding for the time being.

My Little Leprechauns

Amelia is Three Months Old

Amelia, "the wee one", is growing so fast. She's smiling, cooing, starting to let out little laughs, and eating like it's her job! She's adjusted very well to our on-the-go lifestyle, and she's proven to be quite a laid back little lady. Her schedule is pretty predictable right now, and my only complaint is that we can't seem to get her past that 4:30-5 AM wake up call. She is satisfied with not eating until 6 or 6:30 AM, but she still wakes us up at that early hour & goes back to sleep with a little paci action. However, I shouldn't complain because this little bundle of sweetness goes down without so much as a peep! Poor Madeline had to cry it out for what seemed like forever, and Amelia just lays in her crib (with or without paci depending on what strikes her fancy that night), listens to her mobile, and dozes off. It's a beautiful thing, so I really can't complain about her early morning rousing. She's settled into a nice routine --- very much the poster child for the whole "Babywise eat, wake, sleep rule" because that's what she does.

She's eating like crazy these days, and I worry about my supply keeping up with her growth. So far we are doing okay, but I'm certainly not making much extra for the freezer unfortunately. Amelia eats pretty much every three hours during the day with the exception of the middle of the afternoon feeding. Many days, she will nap right through that 3 PM feeding, and I don't have the heart to wake her up to eat. If she's hungry, she wakes up promptly at 2:30 or 3 eager to eat. Her best nap is her afternoon nap since she's out and about with us all morning, so I hate to disrupt that sleep time. She goes down for the night between 6:30 and 7 PM, and like I said wakes sometime between 4-5 AM, but she doesn't eat until 6 or 6:30 AM. Her gassy issues seem to be getting better, and now that she's bigger, she burps really well which helps a lot.

Mid-Coo

Amelia's little smile and coo just get me everytime! I was enamoured with Madeline's smiles and coos, but I think I was too worried about "the schedule" & doing everything just right to actually enjoy some of those moments. With Amelia, I know she's settling into a solid routine, and she'll continue to slide into a good groove, so I am able to relax and enjoy our moments together when she's all smiles and coos. I do enjoy our morning feeding together because it is just us, and I can really focus on her without other interruptions & distractions. It's a sweet time that we share, and I'm doing my best to soak it up.

Amelia is just our little laid back, happy, chubby, and sweet little girl. She loves Madeline, her bouncy seat, her playmat, her mobile, and the swing. She loves to interact, and she just goes with the flow with all of Madeline's antics.

Bathtime

In our house bathtime consists of letter play, suds, and fishy play. Sounds pretty normal, BUT, then there is the Tinkerbell scrubbie thing our neighbor, Miss Jenny gave to her in one of those "You have been Boo-ed!" Halloween buckets. Most people lather up with these little mesh things, but in our house, it's a TUB BRACELET! Yes, it's a bracelet in our house only for the tub, AND she gets immediately put on the arm at the start of the bath, AND hung on the nozzle after each bath, "So she doesn't mold!" Those are Madeline's words after her neurotic Mama spotted pink mold on her wing and insisted that she run thru the dishwasher much to Madeline's dismay! Now Madeline understands that if Tinkerbell doesn't dry out, she doesn't get to play during bathtime --- hence being hung on the nozzle religiously. Really, this kid makes me crazy AND cracks me up all in the same day. I guess that's why I love my job so much! :)

"Cheese!" Notice Tinkerbell to your right...
Then, Mama said, "Hold up Tinkerbell bracelet!"

This is "CHEESE!" & Tinkerbell bracelet.

Love my sweet Sassafrass otherwise known as Madeline!

More Madeline Cuteness

Over dinner on Sunday evening, Eric and I were discussing some finances & his upcoming bonus check*. We were discussing various goals for our home and summer travel & expenses that come with those goals. He mentioned that perhaps Mama should have a little extra in the budget for some spring/summer clothes shopping. :) Meanwhile, Madeline is obviously listening and interjecting random commentary.

Then our conversation moved onto when the bonus check would actually get dropped into the bank. He was going back and forth on some days when he finally mentioned a specific date. At that point, Madeline exclaimed, "And THEN Daddy can have a brewsky!" Perfect timing.

Obviously in a recent conversation that phrase was used because it was not used in this particular conversation, but YES, Daddy deserves a celebratory brewsky for his hard work to earn a bonus check! Haha!

*Disclaimer --- I only mention finances and bonus checks to set up the funniness of Madeline's perfectly timed commentary.

Madeline Cuteness

We were arriving home from our morning out, and I was scurrying into the house with all of our stuff from the car probably taking longer than necessary. Amelia was still in her bucket seat on the kitchen floor. It was lunch time, and Amelia was screaming, I mean full out, "Feed ME NOW!" screaming. Mama Madeline kicked in, and she first tried to console her by rubbing her kicking legs & practically choking her with the paci. When that didn't work, Madeline says, in possibly the most hilarious, sweetest, "baby talk" voice, "Amelia, baby, we didn't forget about you! We know it's your lunchtime." I love how she used the collective pronoun, "we."

Thankful...


Last week was a rough one, and this one is shaping up to be a tad challenging as well. However, while both of my little ladies are napping, I need to set my mind straight and remember my blessings.


So, in this moment, I am extremely thankful for:

• my hard working husband who is home from his business trip for this week & has no current plans for business trips next week
• my two girls even if schedules and attitudes are wanky
• my workout at the gym this morning
• having the opportunity to be a stay at home mom
• a few minutes to myself to do this post and gather myself
• upcoming weekends of "Anne & Eric" time
• a "big sister" package in the mail for Madeline from my Aunt Maureen --- more books! yay!

AHHHH!

This cutie
slept from her dinner feeding until 4:45 this morning! So, that's a bunch of hours of sleeping and NO eating! Could we be turning the corner?

I mean, I love feeding this bundle of cuteness one more time after her dinner feeding at nine or ten or midnight, but I'd much rather get a good night's rest and see her sweet self at 5 AM when I am feeling refreshed from an EIGHT hour sleep.

I guess we shall see over the next few nights if this was just a fluke or if my sweet Amelia is looking to sleep for a solid 12 hours!