Good Days & Bad Days

We all have them!  That's how I would describe the last couple weeks - some days good and some days, not-so-good.  It's mostly determined by Rachel's emotions/behavior, except for that couple day stretch where Andrew somehow randomly got his days mixed up with nights.  Let's be honest, I'm sleep deprived and forgot how dysfunctional I become - also forgetful, irresponsible, airhead-ish, and I even say dumb stuff - how awesome is that?!  Remember back when I only had one and could sleep whenever she slept ... wow, that seems so easy now looking back.

In some ways having two kids has been easier than I imagined - like getting out of the house isn't as difficult as I thought.  We still go to the park lots and I have even ventured into a few stores.  :)  I also have worried a lot less about Andrew than I did with Rachel (I was worrying about Rachel even when she slept it seemed).  And in some ways it has been harder - like dealing with Rachel (and trying to be patient with her) and staying awake in the middle of the night while nursing (so I'm getting creative and usually nurse in front of the computer watching shows on hulu or checking blogs).

Enough about me, here's some updates about the kiddos.

A small miracle occurred and Rachel is sleeping almost 11 hours a night (up from 10) - the thought occurred to me to turn off her nightlight and it has made a world of difference (I already had black out curtains to keep the sun from shining in but I didn't think a nightlight that had already been on all night would make a difference).  Something funny she says lately is "last-erday" which is anything that happened in the past.  She is a sponge and repeats everything and is learning so much, and her memory is incredible!  Lately, I often hear the question, "... does that sound like a good plan mom?"  Usually it's something like, "After I wake up from my nap, I can watch a movie ... does that sound like a good plan?" or it might have something to do with having a treat or popsicle.

Andrew is a little tank!  He's approximately 14 pounds at six weeks.  He has a double chin that makes me smile ... oh he is definitely getting enough to eat!  I think he looks like Brandon (so does his mom), but I think he has some similarities to Rachel at this age as well.  He really is a good baby so far!  But any idea when these kids start taking a binky?!  He has no interest, and it's fine now that he's so little, but I know I'll want him to have one in a few months.

We also had to have Andrew bilirubin checked again since he was still a pumpkin at one month, and sure enough it was back up to 17 (so confusing, all of this jaundice stuff) so the doctor told me to stop nursing for 3 days and then get it re-tested.  Andrew was a trooper with the formula and I'm giving myself a pat on the back for pumping - it was pretty miserable but I shouldn't complain because I know a lot of other moms do it a lot longer than I had to (shout out to my buddy, Kristen!).  Sure enough the level went down, which indicated that the jaundice was still in his system because of my milk - and that means it isn't harmful to the baby so I got back to nursing.  We're finally done with the jaundice drama.

The last couple weeks my mom has been in Australia and we (Rachel and I) have missed talking to her everyday!  Her sister's family lives there and they paid her way so that she could help them remodel and redecorate their house.  Lucky for us, she had a layover in Phoenix and so I packed up the kids and we made our way through security to go meet Nana at her gate.  Good thing I didn't tell Rachel about this adventure until that morning because she was ecstatic and talked about it ALL morning!  We were so excited to see Nana, even if it was only for 15 minutes or so.  Nana had a shirt, stuffed kangaroo and koala for Rachel and chocolates for me and Andrew.  She showed us her pictures and videos and cuddled with the kids for a minute and then she had to get on her next flight - it was totally worth it to see her.
(FYI - Southwest's policy is that they usually don't let people in past security to see Grandma, but I think it just happened to be the right time with the right worker and she let it slide - whew!)

Happy Halloween 2010

We had a fun holiday weekend!  Rachel got to wear her costume lots!  On Wednesday we went to Lore's Halloween party for all the kids and she did such a cute job entertaining them.  On Thursday, we went to the Library for storytime and the costume parade/trick-or-treating.  I told Rachel we were going to be in a parade and she kept thinking that we were going to see a parade, "Mom, where's the parade?"  "Rachel, we are the parade," I kept telling her as we were walking around the library in a big line.  Nope, she didn't ever get it and was disappointed since she loves parades.  And just to be sentimental for a second, I met Lore a year ago at the library just after the Halloween storytime!  I am so grateful that we met!!  Shortly after, she introduced me to Mandy and the three of us and our kids became great friends.  We do so much together and I think of them as my sisters - they're the best.  

On Saturday, we attended the ward party and Rachel loved the trunk-or-treat.  Afterwards, we went to Mandy's amazing Halloween party and let the kids stay up late and run around all crazy and sugared up.  On Sunday night, I got Rachel dressed up to trick-or-treat to some of our non-member neighbors since I knew they'd want to see her.  Our favorite neighbors are Jim & Pam across the street and Jim always gives Rachel little toys on holidays - he gave her a little stuffed orange witch and Rachel was thrilled and has been carrying it around all day.  (Surprised about the Sunday thing?  This is not Utah, folks! The only trick or treaters we got were on Sunday night.  We got three knocks with about 12 trick-or-treaters, then Brandon aka Scrooge decided we were done so he turned off all the lights and we watched a movie.)    

Happy Halloween from our family to yours!

Rachel as Dorothy

Love the skin tone difference of these two (since he's still fighting off that darn jaundice)  and what a cute Halloween onesie!  He's definitely our little orange pumpkin this year.

Preston Ward Trunk Or Treat Party

Does this make you a little nervous?  :)

Andrew had two costumes that were given to us, a peapod & a tiger

Roar!

Hale Grandparents with the Cousins in Utah - Mason, Brynn, Chase, Kennedy & Cannon

Rachel and her friend, Macie

Rachel with her friends Sami & Janie

Life with two kids - one month already!?

I think Brandon and I are doing pretty good adjusting to two kids.  I have tried really hard not to complain, but the hardest part for both of us is probably the lack of sleep.  Especially since Rachel wakes up early and keeps me busy all day (she currently only needs 10 hours of sleep each night with a nap in the afternoon - I wish she slept more!).  Andrew's eating every 3 hours during the day and every 4 or so at night.  He is the NOISIEST sleeper ever - he grunts and is so loud in his sleep - wow!  The only other hard part is staying at home more often (Rachel and I aren't really used to that).  We've ventured out to the park a lot and even gone to the zoo and some playdates, but very few errands since I'd just rather do them by myself when Brandon can watch the kids.  Or I don't even mind just taking Rachel, but taking both of them is way to unpredictable - anything could happen - no thanks!  

Rachel's adjustment is going ok.  Her behavior is getting a little better and she's not acting out so much, but she's still a little emotional and occasionally asks to be held (conveniently right when Andrew needs to be held/fed).  She loves to run to him when he's crying in his bed to see what's wrong, and she loves to hold him.  She also likes to throw things at him sometimes or will "burp" him a little harder than I'd like or jump on our bed when he's laying on it or push him "high" while he's in his swing.  YIKES - she's had her fair share of timeout this month, that's for sure.  It drives me crazy when she isn't as soft as I'd like with him or when she acts out, but then I try to remind myself that she's two years old and her world has been completely turned upside down.

I wanted to post some pictures of Andrew with his eyes open, but he's still got that concerned / scowl / bug-eyed look, so they might not be the best.

First Sunday - one month old (tie onsie was given to us by the Relief Society President) 

She looks so big to me!  And she's not even two and a half yet!!  (she picked out her outfit in this picture and I told Brandon not to go over the top and tell her she looked great or anything like that .. rude, right? .. I just didn't want him to encourage her to pick out her outfit everyday, I'm not ready for that.  Although I must admit she did a pretty good job!)

Pictures

Last week, I attempted to take some photos of my two kids (sounds nice) together. They're not professional by any means, but they'll have to do for now. Shooting two kids at the same time by myself is near impossible - even when I'm pulling out the big bribes for Rachel (like laffy taffy, gum, etc.).

I think they're pretty cute kids if I do say so myself! :)

We've also been taking some newborn pictures of Andrew to try to capture his cuteness, but we're saving those for a birth announcement, so you'll have to be patient!

Newborn "Honeymoon" Stage :)

I subscribe to a weekly email that updates me on helpful information for Andrew based on the number of weeks he is.  I wanted to share this portion of the email from a couple weeks ago because it was exactly how I felt (particularly the parts in red).

"Not only are you recovering from birth during these first two weeks, you are also becoming your baby’s mother, and that takes energy too. You will learn much of what you need to know simply by keeping your baby close, watching and loving him. During the first two weeks postpartum, your arms, breasts, voice, scent, and motion are your baby’s home, just as your womb was during pregnancy.
As your baby’s immature nervous system learns to regulate his heartbeat, breathing, appetite, and temperature, he needs your help eating, burping, staying warm, waking, and going to sleep. Even though your baby exists outside your body now, you are still not quite separate people. This feeling of oneness can be a powerful sort of bliss—or it can feel frighteningly limiting.Experienced mothers would tell you that babies grow up and become independent all too soon. They are newborns for just a few weeks, changing and maturing every day. Immersing yourself in his tiny world is okay. The outside world, and the rest of your life, will wait until you both are ready to meet it."


I seriously LOVE the newborn stage!  He's about 3 1/2 weeks now and getting cuter and cuter everyday.  But I fear that the newborn "honeymoon" is about over.  Especially considering the number of times he woke up last night!  AND the fact that we can't figure out which (if any) binky that he likes.  AND he is a super slow nurser still.  Good thing he's so dang cute.


Andrew's nicknames:  bud, buddy, pumpkin, brother, and last night's latest edition, punk :)   

Pumpkin Patch

With Grandma Nancy visiting for the weekend, we headed off to Schnepp Farms in Queen Creek, AZ for the annual pumpkin patch visit.  They even had a little rollercoaster, which she decided was a little too scary!  I was laughing so hard watching her curled up in a ball next to Brandon on the ride and Brandon was motioning to us that she didn't like it.  I don't blame her - it looked old and rickety!

Rachel also got to go to Chuck E. Cheese with Grandma Nancy and played with toys lots - especially "picnic".  Grandma also insisted that Brandon and I go on a date (first outing without the kids) and so we had a great time out to dinner (Red, White & Brew) and then to Target for treats (aka dessert).  Then on her last day Nancy asked me what I wanted to do and I told her that I wanted to clean the house, so that's just what we did.  It was so nice to be left with a clean house!  She's such a wonderful mother-in-law; I'm so lucky!

Kid's Rooms

The kid's bedrooms got re-vamped and here is the final product.

Rachel's room got painted light green (picking out paint colors stresses me out big time, which is why all my other walls are tan) and we found this cute vinyl/sticker that pulled the room together. Rachel's amazing daybed (made with love by Brandon) is actually up against her window to free up more space in the room. I put up a big panel of bright pink black out curtains (much longer than the actual window) that can be pulled to the side if needed.

Andrew's room is red & blue and just has a bunch of random boy-stuff in it. Brandon and I actually made the blocks that spell his name and loved how they turned out!

Brandon made this picture in photoshop that hangs in Drew's room: