These were all taken at 24 weeks. Let me know if I need to specify who is who.....although I think it's pretty obvious!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
two girls. 24 weeks
I haven't done this in quite a while, but I thought I'd post some comparison pictures. I think that in a lot of ways Maddie and Charlotte look alike, and I notice it most in their eyes, (although C's are smaller) facial expressions and body language. At the same time though, I think they look really different from each other. Their face shapes are totally different as well as their heads and C has a widdows peak (that comes from Dan's genes) which Maddie does not. I must say that Dan's features are very prominent......much more than mine. I see him all over the girls and I don't really see myself at all.....I guess small things resemble me, like their lips and chins....maybe, and definitely their chub lol. But they are mighty beautiful and I guess I will begrudginly take credit for that. Haha.
Far and Away: Part 2
Today is a blog-tastic kind of day although I feel like I am losing some steam. The girls have been pretty good today which has given me some extra time on the computer.
Anyway. I want to get the rest of our trip to the mountains posted. We woke up on our second day pretty early because noise travels well in the cabin. Dan made breakfast which is his specialty. We had pumpkin pancakes, eggs and sausage......yummy. We putzed around and eventually got stir crazy so we got dressed and went outside. It was really cold out but we played for a little while until our hands were freezing and then we went inside. We had lunch (sandwiches) and took naps. Later in the afternoon we were a bit bored so we went back outside. This time while we were outside it started snowing a little bit which was fun for Maddie to be able to see. I walked over to another cabin in the area that was for sale and peeked inside all the windows. It was brand new but too much money. If anyone wants to go in on a cabin in the mountains with us, email me and I'll give you the details! lol Maddie played in some sand and got so dirty and cold that we had to strip her before we went inside and had to wash her off with cool water as to not cause a burning sensation. Her poor little hands were bright red!
That night we ate dinner and put the girls to bed which went well since neither had taken good naps, and while Dan and I were reading it started snowing heavily outside. We peeked out the windows and it was so beautiful. Dan decided that we needed to go in the hot tub while it was snowing which I thought was insane, but agreed to. The water felt nice and hot, but the snow was really coming down and plastering on our hair and face which made us cold. Neither of us stayed out there too long.
The next morning I got to sleep in....ahhh. Everything outside was covered with a blanket of snow and although we had to get packed up and outta there by 11:00 I wanted to take Maddie outside to play in the snow. We got bundled up and headed out. The snow was still coming down but not as hard, and at first Maddie really liked it, but she took her mitten off (we had to improvise with a sock since we forgot her mittens) and was playing with the snow and then apparently was too cold and thus unhappy and crying. It was still fun and she still talks about the snow even now. We got everything in the car and headed home after cleaning the cabin a bit. The ride home was a little hairier than the ride up to the cabin and the girls barely napped. When we were about 4 minutes from home we drove through some really dark clouds and amazingly it snowed on us. I thought it was a really weird fluke, but when we got to the house and were getting the girls out of the car it started snowing some more. Crazy.
So that was our trip. Sorry the blogs were so boring. I think I was even a little bored typing it. But I like the pictures and the experience was fantastic.
P.S. I have some other great shots, but I think I'm gonna use them for our Christmas cards this year, so I won't post them so everyone can be surprised.
Its so weird to see her with a paci, she normally only gets it in bed.
snuggle bugs
first sink bath
She was very bundled up!
Dan in the hot tub in the snow.
Watching it snow outside
Snow
Nearby creek
Rockin'
Anyway. I want to get the rest of our trip to the mountains posted. We woke up on our second day pretty early because noise travels well in the cabin. Dan made breakfast which is his specialty. We had pumpkin pancakes, eggs and sausage......yummy. We putzed around and eventually got stir crazy so we got dressed and went outside. It was really cold out but we played for a little while until our hands were freezing and then we went inside. We had lunch (sandwiches) and took naps. Later in the afternoon we were a bit bored so we went back outside. This time while we were outside it started snowing a little bit which was fun for Maddie to be able to see. I walked over to another cabin in the area that was for sale and peeked inside all the windows. It was brand new but too much money. If anyone wants to go in on a cabin in the mountains with us, email me and I'll give you the details! lol Maddie played in some sand and got so dirty and cold that we had to strip her before we went inside and had to wash her off with cool water as to not cause a burning sensation. Her poor little hands were bright red!
That night we ate dinner and put the girls to bed which went well since neither had taken good naps, and while Dan and I were reading it started snowing heavily outside. We peeked out the windows and it was so beautiful. Dan decided that we needed to go in the hot tub while it was snowing which I thought was insane, but agreed to. The water felt nice and hot, but the snow was really coming down and plastering on our hair and face which made us cold. Neither of us stayed out there too long.
The next morning I got to sleep in....ahhh. Everything outside was covered with a blanket of snow and although we had to get packed up and outta there by 11:00 I wanted to take Maddie outside to play in the snow. We got bundled up and headed out. The snow was still coming down but not as hard, and at first Maddie really liked it, but she took her mitten off (we had to improvise with a sock since we forgot her mittens) and was playing with the snow and then apparently was too cold and thus unhappy and crying. It was still fun and she still talks about the snow even now. We got everything in the car and headed home after cleaning the cabin a bit. The ride home was a little hairier than the ride up to the cabin and the girls barely napped. When we were about 4 minutes from home we drove through some really dark clouds and amazingly it snowed on us. I thought it was a really weird fluke, but when we got to the house and were getting the girls out of the car it started snowing some more. Crazy.
So that was our trip. Sorry the blogs were so boring. I think I was even a little bored typing it. But I like the pictures and the experience was fantastic.
P.S. I have some other great shots, but I think I'm gonna use them for our Christmas cards this year, so I won't post them so everyone can be surprised.
Sweet baby face
Its so weird to see her with a paci, she normally only gets it in bed.
snuggle bugs
first sink bath
She was very bundled up!
Dan in the hot tub in the snow.
Watching it snow outside
Snow
Nearby creek
Rockin'
tricks and changes
Charlotte is growing up so quickly. I don't read those books that tell you what your child should be doing at what age because they are so relative. I kinda gauge where Charlotte is off of what Maddie was doing at certain ages just because I remember these things, but mostly I just watch and see what happens and look for anything that appears to be off which might indicate a delay. So far everything seems a-ok. She is sitting up all on her own and these last couple of weeks she has learned how to put her paci in her mouth and move things from one hand to another.....which seem like big deals....at least to me. It's pretty cool to see her in her exersaucer without her paci and to look over a minute later and see that she has found one and its in her mouth. I think that it is helping her at night too because she has been sleeping through the night without waking us up at all a lot more often now. I think that since she can put her own paci back in her mouth she doesn't need to holler to us to do it for her. And the ability to move items from one hand to another doesn't really mean anything right now, but it is a big step in her coordination and fine motor skills.On an amazing note, we haven't been to the doctor in over a month! It feels weird not having my calendar all marked up with appointment times. Charlotte is still fussy, but I think that is just her personality.....God help us when she's a teenager! But, she seems to be doing so much better in the digestive area. Which makes me happy for her, but sad because we are starting the process of weaning. I don't know what was the cause of all the gas pains and not pooping and screaming for months and months, but since we started her on one bottle of formula a day, about a month ago, things started to get a little bit better, and then last week we started giving her one more bottle a day before her afternoon nap and things have gotten a little bit better still. Combat that with the solids that she is getting once every other day, and she is pooping every other day like a normal baby. She hasn't had painful and horribly stinky gas that makes her scream in I can't tell you how long.....probably about a month! lol I don't know why formula makes things easier for her, but it does......so we're going with it. I'm still going to continue nursing her in the night if she happens to wake up, and in the mornings when she first gets up, and throughout the day if she wants to for comfort or what not, (it doesn't really sound like we're weaing when I say all that lol) but the rest of the time she will get bottles. And already she seems to not want to nurse during the day, she gets frusterated because it isn't instantanious and then she just cries. It could have to do with my supply, but I'm pretty sure its because she is getting lazy because bottles are easier. I'm actually feeling quite good about this decision. We have lived with the digestive issues since the day she was born and it almost drove me over the edge at times, and I'm ready to be done with it all. That may sound selfish and maybe it is, but I don't want our lives to revolve around doctors appointments, or how many days its been since Charlotte pooped, or supositories, or mylanta.....I don't want her to be uncomfortable or in pain anymore and this seems to be the answer. So Im'm being selfish. And only 5% of me worries about what it will mean for her immune system and intelligence if we stop nursing, but I can almost guarentee that my 15 year old bio-mom didn't nurse me, and I'm damn smart!!! lol
Anyway. Thats it for now. Hopefully we are making the right decision. It feels like the right decision, but only time will tell.
zippers
Maddie figured out how to work zippers a while ago. Mostly she would unzip her jammies and sometimes even take them off. Not such a big deal. Well last week Dan got her dressed and took her to school wearing a hoodie with a zipper in the front and nothing underneath (he tries hard....lol) When she came home she was wearing a different shirt.....the one that she has at school in case she gets wet, or too dirty etc. I asked Dan what happened because normally if they change her shirt they also have need to change her pants, but she was wearing the same pants. He said that for the first half of the day Maddie kept unzipping her shirt and taking it off and walking around shirtless. LOL. Silly silly girl. I can totally picture her at school doing that. Her teacher finally got tired of repeatedly dressing her so she just changed her shirt. She has now also figured out how to get off normal shirts and is typically topless for the second half of the day unless we need to go somewhere. She hasn't tried to undress while we are out in public yet, and hopefully she won't! lol Sometimes I wish that I could be a fly on the wall in her classroom at school. I'm sure she behaves differently for her teacher than she does for be read:*better* It's fun raising a daughter who is such a character!!
One of her unzipping episodes. She got the jammies mostly off!
Not such a great start
What does it mean for the rest of the day when the first minutes after waking are filled with bad-ness? Granted the girls slept until 7:45 which meant that I got to sleep until then as well which would normally be a great start to the day but......
Both of the girls woke up at the same time. I went in and got Charlotte because she is closer to my room, and then as I am walking down the hall to get Maddie I notice that the runner rug we have going down our hallway has a HUGE wet spot on it. I steer around it and get Maddie out of her room and try to steer her around it as she walks into the living room which didn't work and she walked right through it in her socks. I am still in a sleepy daze (those who know me know I wake up slowly lol) and put Charlotte on the couhch so that I can investigate Huge wet spot on the carpet.
It's dog urine.
What the heck?? I called Dan at work and asked him if he let the dogs out when he got up this morning. Sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn't but it usually doesn't make a difference.....they can hold it for a VERY long time. Dan tells me that no he did not let them out, but thinking back, he probably should have because Henry was out of his bed which he normally doesn't do in the mornings.....he likes to sleep in like me! Sometimes Henry will stay in his bed until close to noon before he wants to go outside, even when I call him and whistle at the door etc. While I had Dan on the phone I went to check on the dogs and there is Henry cowering under our dining room table looking guilty. Tyson was sleeping in his bed. It was obvious to me that Henry was the culprit.....plus Tyson went out before bed last night, Henry did not (which is also normal), and when Henry does go, he's like a camel and has like a gallon of pee. I know, this is pretty gross!!
So I go over to the rug again and inspect it to see how bad the situation really is and when I roll up the runner and lift it up there is a pool of urine on the floor, kinda seeping in between our hard wood planks. Gross!! I get a towel and mop it up and finish rolling the rug up to take it outside. There was no way that I was going to be able to clean a soaking wet rug....honestly I still don't know how we are going to be able to clean it because its way too big to fit in any washer, but there is no way that I am going to allow that thing back in the house unless it is THOROUGHLY cleaned. We just may have to dump it. Can you imagine babies crawling down the hallway on that rug. ick. Anyway, I got the rug outside and I'm hoping the dogs stay away from it.....mainly Tyson because he is big on marking his territory and I don't want any more urine on the rug.
That was how my day started and all of this was before I even had a sip of coffee. I am hoping that the rest of the day is better, but it's been so cold outside that we haven't really been outside much and Maddie is bouncing around like a crazy woman, she is getting on my last nerve and not listening and has already been in timeout once, and its been a LONG time since she has had to go in timeout.....we'll need to go to the park or something this afternoon. I don't know what the deal is with Henry and peeing in the house, but it can't happen again. We're going to be dealing with urine when we start actively potty training Maddie, we can't have the dogs peeing around the house too.
Oh well. Here's hoping my day gets better. Happy Sunday.
Both of the girls woke up at the same time. I went in and got Charlotte because she is closer to my room, and then as I am walking down the hall to get Maddie I notice that the runner rug we have going down our hallway has a HUGE wet spot on it. I steer around it and get Maddie out of her room and try to steer her around it as she walks into the living room which didn't work and she walked right through it in her socks. I am still in a sleepy daze (those who know me know I wake up slowly lol) and put Charlotte on the couhch so that I can investigate Huge wet spot on the carpet.
It's dog urine.
What the heck?? I called Dan at work and asked him if he let the dogs out when he got up this morning. Sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn't but it usually doesn't make a difference.....they can hold it for a VERY long time. Dan tells me that no he did not let them out, but thinking back, he probably should have because Henry was out of his bed which he normally doesn't do in the mornings.....he likes to sleep in like me! Sometimes Henry will stay in his bed until close to noon before he wants to go outside, even when I call him and whistle at the door etc. While I had Dan on the phone I went to check on the dogs and there is Henry cowering under our dining room table looking guilty. Tyson was sleeping in his bed. It was obvious to me that Henry was the culprit.....plus Tyson went out before bed last night, Henry did not (which is also normal), and when Henry does go, he's like a camel and has like a gallon of pee. I know, this is pretty gross!!
So I go over to the rug again and inspect it to see how bad the situation really is and when I roll up the runner and lift it up there is a pool of urine on the floor, kinda seeping in between our hard wood planks. Gross!! I get a towel and mop it up and finish rolling the rug up to take it outside. There was no way that I was going to be able to clean a soaking wet rug....honestly I still don't know how we are going to be able to clean it because its way too big to fit in any washer, but there is no way that I am going to allow that thing back in the house unless it is THOROUGHLY cleaned. We just may have to dump it. Can you imagine babies crawling down the hallway on that rug. ick. Anyway, I got the rug outside and I'm hoping the dogs stay away from it.....mainly Tyson because he is big on marking his territory and I don't want any more urine on the rug.
That was how my day started and all of this was before I even had a sip of coffee. I am hoping that the rest of the day is better, but it's been so cold outside that we haven't really been outside much and Maddie is bouncing around like a crazy woman, she is getting on my last nerve and not listening and has already been in timeout once, and its been a LONG time since she has had to go in timeout.....we'll need to go to the park or something this afternoon. I don't know what the deal is with Henry and peeing in the house, but it can't happen again. We're going to be dealing with urine when we start actively potty training Maddie, we can't have the dogs peeing around the house too.
Oh well. Here's hoping my day gets better. Happy Sunday.
Friday, November 21, 2008
snow
I am so tired right now I can feel the weariness in my teeth. I couldn't fall asleep last night for some reason, and then I finally did and then it was morning. So here we are. I'm exhausted and feel like I could hibernate through winter and my girls who got loads of sleep are rearing to go. They are currently watching Lady and the Tramp while I wait for my coffee to kick in. I may have to brew another pot.
I've been complaining since we left the mountains how I wish it would snow. How I wish we lived in a climate where it snowed more and the snow actually stuck. Right now outside my window it is snowing. It probably won't stick because the temps haven't been cold enough to freeze the ground, but it is SNOWING, and it is a whole week before Thanksgiving which never happens. Maybe this means we will have a really cold winter with lots more snow. Here's hoping. I'm gonna take my coffee and my tired butt and sit by the window so I can watch the snow fall. It's the fat and fluffy kind of snow which is my favorite.
Maddie keeps saying "It's snowing, it's snowing." and "oh boy, snows." and for some reason "snowing Christmas," I don't know how she put those two together, but its cute.....even in my fog!
3 Cheers for snow!
I've been complaining since we left the mountains how I wish it would snow. How I wish we lived in a climate where it snowed more and the snow actually stuck. Right now outside my window it is snowing. It probably won't stick because the temps haven't been cold enough to freeze the ground, but it is SNOWING, and it is a whole week before Thanksgiving which never happens. Maybe this means we will have a really cold winter with lots more snow. Here's hoping. I'm gonna take my coffee and my tired butt and sit by the window so I can watch the snow fall. It's the fat and fluffy kind of snow which is my favorite.
Maddie keeps saying "It's snowing, it's snowing." and "oh boy, snows." and for some reason "snowing Christmas," I don't know how she put those two together, but its cute.....even in my fog!
3 Cheers for snow!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Far and Away: Part 1
I have to split up this post mainly because I have too many pictures. I'll try and keep the words to a minimum, because I do tend to blather on and on and on.....
We left for the mountains on Sunday around noon so that we could time both Maddie and Charlotte's naps. It mostly worked with Maddie taking about a 40 minute nap and Charlotte getting two hour long naps, but broken up......so good planning on our part if I do say so myself. And I do. Both girls were really really good the whole way there which was such a blessing!! We get to the end of our journey, its around 4:30 and there is one last road that we have to take to get up to the cabin and it is a very steep and narrow, rocky and muddy road. To the right the road falls off about 30 or so feet to a creek. We get about 3/4 of the way up and our van won't climb anymore. The tires are just spinning in the mud and whenever Dan lets off the gas we slide backwards. Freaky!!! We end up getting stuck in the muddy ditch directly on our left that hugs the side of the hill which we didn't know was there because it was filled with leaves and the undercarrage of our van is stuck on rocks. Dan guns it and we get unstuck but the result of all of this tire spinning is that our tires are now bald. (we needed new tires soon anyway) We back the rest of the way down the steep hill and head to the nearest place that will sell us tires.....granted it is now after 5:00 on a Sunday in a small mountain town. Yeah. The local market dude tells us Wal-Mart is our best bet and their service station closes at 6:00.
One hour and 4 new tires later (and a run in with the Cuddle and Coo baby doll) we are headed back up the mountain to our home away from home ready to tackle the dreaded hill with new tires. I don't know if it was because it was now dark out and our headlights caught the reflection of the street sign so that we could see it where before it was invisible to us, but we realized that we were supposed to turn left 500 feet before we even got to that steep hill!!! So we didn't need to drive up it in the first place.....getting stuck, slipping backwards, driving to Wal-Mart.....totally unneccessary! So we turned left and wound our way up the side of the mountain on a much smoother and easier to navigate gravel road.
We got to the cabin right in time to feed the girls, put charlotte to bed and eat dinner ourselves. Not exactly what we had expected, but we were very grateful to be there safe and warm. The cabin was really small. Enough space for what we needed, but very cozy indeed. The main living area, kitchen and dining area were all in one room and about the size of our living room at home. There was a bedroom and bathroom off the livingroom and stairs that went up to a loft with a full size bed. Thats all folks. It was a bit tricky to figure out who was going to sleep where because the bed in the bedroom was the nicest one (Dan and I should have), but the bedroom was the only room that had a door (the girls should have), and the bathroom was inside the bedroom (Dan and I should have) and sound traveled everywhere so no where was really quiet for sleeping babies. So needless to say there was a lot of whispering on our part while the girls were sleeping.
We spent a lot of time indoors becuase it was really cold outside. The warmest it got the whole time we were there was 40 degrees and I don't think that thermostat was acurate because we went outside while it was so "warm" and it snowed on us. We watched Dumbo many times and colored and played with poker chips (kids are easily entertained) and went outside for little bits of time. The property had chickens which were fun to visit and of course sticks and rocks are always a good time for Maddie. Day one was pretty relaxing although nap time was hairy and neither of my girls really got enough sleep the whole time we were at the cabin. Neither did I though......I think its just being in a new place, and a different bed.
Stay tuned for part 2.
View from the cabin deck
At times the sky looked like this
Nearby pond
We left for the mountains on Sunday around noon so that we could time both Maddie and Charlotte's naps. It mostly worked with Maddie taking about a 40 minute nap and Charlotte getting two hour long naps, but broken up......so good planning on our part if I do say so myself. And I do. Both girls were really really good the whole way there which was such a blessing!! We get to the end of our journey, its around 4:30 and there is one last road that we have to take to get up to the cabin and it is a very steep and narrow, rocky and muddy road. To the right the road falls off about 30 or so feet to a creek. We get about 3/4 of the way up and our van won't climb anymore. The tires are just spinning in the mud and whenever Dan lets off the gas we slide backwards. Freaky!!! We end up getting stuck in the muddy ditch directly on our left that hugs the side of the hill which we didn't know was there because it was filled with leaves and the undercarrage of our van is stuck on rocks. Dan guns it and we get unstuck but the result of all of this tire spinning is that our tires are now bald. (we needed new tires soon anyway) We back the rest of the way down the steep hill and head to the nearest place that will sell us tires.....granted it is now after 5:00 on a Sunday in a small mountain town. Yeah. The local market dude tells us Wal-Mart is our best bet and their service station closes at 6:00.
One hour and 4 new tires later (and a run in with the Cuddle and Coo baby doll) we are headed back up the mountain to our home away from home ready to tackle the dreaded hill with new tires. I don't know if it was because it was now dark out and our headlights caught the reflection of the street sign so that we could see it where before it was invisible to us, but we realized that we were supposed to turn left 500 feet before we even got to that steep hill!!! So we didn't need to drive up it in the first place.....getting stuck, slipping backwards, driving to Wal-Mart.....totally unneccessary! So we turned left and wound our way up the side of the mountain on a much smoother and easier to navigate gravel road.
We got to the cabin right in time to feed the girls, put charlotte to bed and eat dinner ourselves. Not exactly what we had expected, but we were very grateful to be there safe and warm. The cabin was really small. Enough space for what we needed, but very cozy indeed. The main living area, kitchen and dining area were all in one room and about the size of our living room at home. There was a bedroom and bathroom off the livingroom and stairs that went up to a loft with a full size bed. Thats all folks. It was a bit tricky to figure out who was going to sleep where because the bed in the bedroom was the nicest one (Dan and I should have), but the bedroom was the only room that had a door (the girls should have), and the bathroom was inside the bedroom (Dan and I should have) and sound traveled everywhere so no where was really quiet for sleeping babies. So needless to say there was a lot of whispering on our part while the girls were sleeping.
We spent a lot of time indoors becuase it was really cold outside. The warmest it got the whole time we were there was 40 degrees and I don't think that thermostat was acurate because we went outside while it was so "warm" and it snowed on us. We watched Dumbo many times and colored and played with poker chips (kids are easily entertained) and went outside for little bits of time. The property had chickens which were fun to visit and of course sticks and rocks are always a good time for Maddie. Day one was pretty relaxing although nap time was hairy and neither of my girls really got enough sleep the whole time we were at the cabin. Neither did I though......I think its just being in a new place, and a different bed.
Stay tuned for part 2.
A one lane bridge we had to cross at the base of the mountain.
Part of the steep rocky hill. See how the ditch to the left is disguised by leaves? Tricky.
Part of the steep rocky hill. See how the ditch to the left is disguised by leaves? Tricky.
View from the cabin deck
At times the sky looked like this
Nearby pond
Playing outside
The chicken coop
Its too too cold out
She plopped right down in the leaves
Bundled up
Playing Inside
This photo is called: The lighting is perfect & I wish there wasn't an a/c unit in the background
Not so happy
Poker chips, Yea!
The chicken coop
Its too too cold out
She plopped right down in the leaves
Bundled up
Playing Inside
This photo is called: The lighting is perfect & I wish there wasn't an a/c unit in the background
Not so happy
Poker chips, Yea!
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