8 Months

Dear Colin,
   You are 8 months old today! I can't believe how fast you have grown! It seems like just two weeks ago I was ready for you to be born. You weigh about 22 lbs and I'm not sure how long you are but you are definitively getting longer.
  Just this past week you have learned to crawl. It took you about a week to learn but in the last two days you are all over. You crawl all over the floor. Today you learned how to open the cabinets on the built ins and get toys out. You thought you had died and gone to heaven!  When I took you away from getting all the toys out you cried and cried.
   You also know how to put yourself into a sitting position and now find a toy you want to play with and sit up.(This is something you just learned yesterday). So this weekend we will be lowering your crib so that when you learn to pull yourself up you don't fall over the side of the crib.
  You sleep through the night most nights. That means you go to bed at about 7:45 and sleep until sometime between 6 and 7 the next morning. Every now and then you will wake up once for a small bottle and then go back to sleep. Mommy is loving that you are sleeping through the night and it makes her a much happier mommy in the mornings. You take one nap a day that lasts between 2 and 3 hours and then two half hour naps a day.
  You love to eat. You eat all baby food now and we usually mix it with a little rice cereal to give it more texture. We are also letting you try other foods, you have had crackers, (you love animal crackers), french fries, toast, mac and cheese, and tonight you tried a cucumber. I'm still waiting for a tooth or two to come in to help you chew because you still choke frequently on the bigger pieces you break off.
   You are a very happy little boy and loves your sister more than anything. In the morning when you wake up she runs into your room, stands on a little step stool beside the bed and talks to you. Every time she does it, it brings a smile to my face. You also love watching her play and if she starts to laugh so will you. Listening to the two of you talk and smile at each other melts my heart.
    You are also a talker and love to make all kinds of noises and sounds. Your favorite time to talk is during nap time at the day care. If you are still awake when the big kids go down you get so noisy that I usually have to take you up stairs.

    You still have some breathing issues. Most mornings you wake up coughing and your nose gets stuffy often, but it doesn't seem to bother you too much. Some days you are more crabby and it seems to frustrate you, but most of the time no one would know that you still can't breath normally.

   Colin we are so lucky to be your parents. I love you little boy and I can't wait to see you continue to grow and check out the world around you!!

Love,
Mommy

Stuffy Noses

Colin, Alyssa and I all have very stuffy runny noses. I have never been this sick in the summer ever. I don't know why we are all so sick and can't get better. I'm hoping the weather cools off soon so we can get back outside.
  Tomorrow we will only have 5 kids and so I'm going to blow up Alyssa's small pool and let the bigger kids play in it tomorrow that way we can get outside for just a little bit. Then I'm hoping to take Alyssa to a water park on Friday. So it should be a good week.

Don't wake the sleeping baby(or husband)

Last night we knew Colin was going to be up a lot. He has been getting up a lot for the last week so we knew last night would be no different. After the 3rd time of Colin waking in about 30 minutes I told Chris to go downstairs and get a bottle for Colin while I rocked him.
   Chris got up said ok, and went downstairs. Well I was able to soothe Colin quickly so I went back to bed, but 2 minutes later Chris still wasn't upstairs and Colin was crying again. So I went back into Colin's room. 2 minutes later Chris has still not brought me a bottle, so I walk out of Colin's room holding Colin and see that the lights are back off downstairs. I walk into our bedroom and see Chris is already snoring in bed again. So I say "Chris! Chris!" He sits up and looks at me. This is how the conversation goes:
Me: Where is the bottle for Colin?
Him: You need a bottle?
Me: You just went downstairs what did you do?
Him: I filed the spread sheet you needed and filled out the other documents
Me: You did WHAT? (still holding Colin)
Him: I filed the spread sheets
Me: I need a bottle
Him: What do you need a bottle for?
Me: Colin needs a bottle
Him: (by this time he has walked around the bed and is standing two feet from me) I'm so confused right now why do you need a bottle?
Me: Colin is hungry and he needs a bottle can you please go fix one?
Him: I still don't know why you need a bottle, *mutters something I can't understand*
Me: Just go downstairs and fix a bottle for your baby son. (Holding Colin up so Chris can see him)
Him: walks downstairs and gets bottle.
So this morning I asked him if he found his paperwork okay. I'm not sure what he did down here the first time, but now I remember why I just let the baby cry while I get the bottle.

Yep that is my amazing wonderful husband! :-)

Bed Sharing

At the beginning of our marriage Chris and I said that we would never get a king size bed. That they were too big and we enjoyed being close to each other at night. Then before we had Alyssa we talked about how we did not want to have her in bed with us. We wanted her to be able to sleep in her own bed and that was that.

  Well Alyssa was born and she was a bad sleeper. So at about 6 weeks in she started to sleep with us once she woke up at night. It made it easier for me to nurse and I could sleep at the same time. She slept with us off and on in spurts until about 8 months. From 8 months on she slept only in her bed.

     Colin has been a better sleeper but for about 2 months would sleep in bed with us after he woke up for the first time at night. Since about 6 months old he has slept only in his crib and since about 7 months he sleeps through the night.

 THEN we moved Alyssa to a toddler bed. Since moving her to a toddler bed she has slept anywhere but in her bed. She has slept on the floor in her room, the floor of the loft, the couch in the loft, the floor of our bedroom, the futon in our bedroom and her most beloved place our bed. When she comes into our room now she stands at my side of the bed staring at me until I wake up, put my arms out, throw her over me and into the middle between Chris and I. I then go back to sleep. I wake up to parts of her body thrown over mine, feet in my back and hands over my face. I'm not sure how something so small can take up so much room. We try to move her back to her bed, only for her to be back in our room 10 minutes to an hour later. It is frustrating but I do know that it is just a phase and soon enough she won't want to sleep with us. I am grateful that she starts out the night in her own bed and hope at some point she will wake constantly in her own bed, however for the time being that isn't happening.

    So for Christmas Chris and I are going to buy a king size bed. That way we have room for us, the dog and the kid. Hopefully Alyssa will be done sleeping with us by the time Colin wants to!

crawling

Colin is so so so close to crawling it isn't even funny. He can go from the sitting position to the laying down position and then get into crawling position. He will rock back and forth, and sometimes hop with his legs but he still isn't sure about his arms. So sometimes when he moves his legs he face plants because his body goes over his arms. He does move himself around the floor by pulling himself on his belly and can go in circles like a pro.

Tonight he was sitting on the floor in his room and I was sitting in the chair. He wanted something that was on the ottoman and pulled himself up!!! I screamed for Chris but before Chris could come up he had fallen and wouldn't do it again.
I'm excited for him to crawl, but I'm not ready for him to be pulling himself up yet.

He also needs to perfect his rolling. He forgets to put his one arm up so he starts to roll and gets stuck on that arm, then gets mad because he can't get over.

Bath Time

I don't get to help with baths Mon-Thursday due to the hours I work with the day care so I take full advantage of bath on the days I do.

(obviously an old picture but we don't have any new bath pictures)

  Tonight both kids were in a good mood when we put them in the bath tub. Colin is now sitting up in a bath ring and Alyssa just sits behind him in the tub. Colin was splashing away and for the first time Alyssa figured out how to use the squirt toys in the bath (now mind you these toys have been in the bathtub for close to a year now).
  Chris was downstairs getting things organized and a bottle made for Colin. So I taught Alyssa how to use the squirt toy.  When Chris came back in I told her to show him her new trick. So she squirted the toy. I told her to get Daddy. She tired once and the water barely came out. I helped her fill the toy more and told her to try again. She did and this time almost got Chris which made him do a pretend scream. Alyssa thought this was hilarious. She then asked over and over to get daddy. I told her yes every time. She also got Colin, the side of the tub, her other toys and the wall. Each time with a belly aching laugh. The laugh made Colin take notice and start to laugh as well. With the two kids laughing, Chris and I were laughing too.
  By the time bath time was over I was soaked from the squirt toys and Colin's splashing but everyone had smiles on their face and went down for bed easily.
   I love nights where we have that special family time. It is so amazing and wonderful when an every day chore is made so fun.

Alyssa's Ears

Alyssa's ear has been draining yellow stuff since Monday the 4th. Last Friday I took her to the doctor because the drops alone weren't working. They did a culture on her ear and gave her an oral antibiotic. On Tuesday it was still draining so I called the doctor again and they changed her meds. On Thursday it was still draining so I called the doctor to find out what the culture on her ear said. They told me in a very causal voice that she has a staph infection in her ear and that to stay on the medicine she was already on. I told them that her ear was still draining and they told me to give it another day. Today is Friday, it is still draining but I think I'm going to wait until Monday. It doesn't seem to bother her too badly and so I'm going to wait. If on Monday it is still draining I will call the doctor again and see what they have to say.
   I am very grateful that we have an appointment with an ENT on Aug 9. During that appointment I'm going to talk about adenoid removal something I have felt will help Alyssa tremendously all along.

Day 1 of the Diet

Today was not as bad as I thought it would be. I stayed within my calories for the day. I did have one coke with dinner and it tasted good. I think I'm going to reward myself with one on days that I have enough calories left over.
I was also very productive around the house so there are some things that I have wanted to do for about a year but have never done that I got done today it felt good.
  I was not starving either. I am a little hungry now but I will just keep drinking my water and go to bed soon so that I can't eat anything before bed. I'm hoping my work pays off on the scale by the end of the week. If not my house will at least look nice!

Diet

Tomorrow starts my new diet. I am now done breastfeeding and my body has shown that I can't keep eating like I was while I was nursing.
The lowest I got after Colin was born was 162. I am now 167. My goal is 155. If I lose one pound a week I can get to my goal weight by October 3. That would be really nice!
Now lets see if I can do it.
I am also setting a new goal of one project around the house a week. We need to get this house organized and looking better.
Off to make my to do list!

Happy 4th of July

A day late but Happy 4th of July. We had a great weekend. My mom and step dad came into town. So on Saturday they came to see the kids swim in the morning and then hung out around the house for the rest of the day.
  That night we went to see fireworks. Both kids did not like them. Colin was looking around but could care less about the colors in the sky. Alyssa buried her head in the shoulder of who ever was holding her and kept saying they were too loud.  The display was pretty and Chris and I enjoyed it even if it was super hot!
  On Sunday we went to church and then came and hung out around the house. It was so hot this weekend it was hard to get out of the house. We then went swimming at the hotel my mom and step dad were staying at.
   On Monday they came over for a b-b-que and then my mom had to take my step dad to the airport. After she took him she came back and we went to Kohl's where she spoiled Alyssa rotten and then out for ice cream.
    It was a great way to spend the three day weekend. Mom left this morning for Grandma's but will be back on Thursday. It will be fun to spend another weekend with her, we have a lot of fun stuff planned for this coming weekend.

Ear Infections

Saturday Colin was pulling at his ear all day. Sunday it was worse. By Sunday night I knew he had an ear infection. I called the after hours number to see if I could get him some medicine since I knew the doctor's weren't open on Monday. They refused to give me medicine so I had to wait until today. By this morning Colin was miserable. He didn't sleep much last night and was cranky and tired this morning. I was able to get him into the doctor first thing this morning and they confirmed an ear infection in his right ear ( I have not been wrong on an ear infection in a year and a half now). So he is on meds. Hopefully by tomorrow he will feel better.
   The doctor said well he hasn't had an ear infection since January so that is good. I agreed and told him that amoxocillin is what he was on before. The doctor did not believe me and had to look it up for himself.  

  On Monday afternoon my mom pointed out that Alyssa had something on her ear. I looked at it and realized that she too had an ear infection in her right ear. I remembered that when Colin had his last ear infection they gave us drops to help clean all the goo out of his ear. So I started those drops with her last night. When we went to the doctor today he said that we do the drops for 72 hours. If she still has drainage then we have to do oral antibiotics  He said that the drops clear the infection up 60% of the time. Lets see what percent Alyssa falls into.

Dry All night

This morning Alyssa got up and came into the bathroom where I was getting ready. She told me she had to go potty. So I told her to go. She left the bathroom and went to the other bathroom and came back totally naked and told me she peed on the floor.

  So I went and cleaned up the pee. After that was all over she was already dressed and her PJ's were missing. I asked her were she put them and she had thrown them in the washer. So I checked to make sure her diaper wasn't in there( it wasn't) and moved on with my morning.

   I just found her diaper in the trash can in her room ( there was still no bag in the trash can so the lid was off). It was totally clean. I told Chris and he said that her diaper yesterday morning was almost completely dry as well. 

  Maybe we are moving towards no diapers at night!  She doesn't wear one at nap anymore and 9 times out of ten she does not have an accident, so maybe now we can start working on nights!

June Challenge over

Well my goal was to write a blog everyday for the month of June. I had 18 post and there were 30 days. I didn't start until day 6 or 7 though. I did not get a post written every day but I on more than half the days. That is a good accomplishment.
  This past week I took my blog and took out all the blogs about and to Alyssa and made it into a book. The book is almost 100 pages long. I will do this every year or two for each kid so that they also have a paper copy of all the things I wrote about them.
   I kind of think of this blog as an extension to their baby book. It has letters to them and posts about milestones that they have met.
   I hope someday they enjoy reading it as much as I have had writing it. It is fun to look back and see how I was feeling and what was going on in the last two years. So I'm going to try to keep the blog from going dormant again by writing at least one blog a week.