Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012

Another busy year has passed us by.  Hard to imagine all that has come to pass.  My dad and his mom are no longer with us.  He died at 68 and she went at 97.  We had Miss Amelia join our little family this year as well.  What a character!  She is what I will call an instigator.  She thinks it will be funny to have her brother or someone else do something and they do it to get her to laugh not realizing that they will soon be in trouble.  Poor Bear sometimes.  He is usually just trying to get his little sister to laugh.  They make a great pair.

Let's see... Tom is almost done with his Master's.  Yay!!  Getting your masters with two little kids at home and a wife that works full time cannot be easy.  He does well though.  Good grades and one more semester to go. 

My work seems to be getting better.  I seem to have found my niche for now.  I'm enjoying what I do and I am hoping to keep that up.  I'm still torn between working and being at home with my kids.  I don't think there is a mother that doesn't have that dilemma.  No matter which side of it your on it seems society pressures you toward the other.  Oh well.  At least everyone has a roof over their heads and we have food on our plates.  And above all we have each other.

I'm trying to think what else has gone on this year that is worth telling.  We've been busy but haven't seemed to really accomplish loads.  Oh, we did get the porch painted this year.  I still have lots of projects on the house.  We have window trim to paint, windows to replace, insulation to install, floors to refinish, an attic to finish, and doors to replace.  That's just the big stuff too.  Not all the little hum-drum day to day stuff.  I guess we'll see what happens with jobs after Tom graduates.  That will help dictate what we do with the house.

We both would love to get outside of town and be able to have more critters.  For now though we'll fix up our little house in town and enjoy the garden space and the development to the yard and fruit bearing bushes and trees we've added over the last couple of years.  I've gotten some nice currents the last couple years.  Now if I can just get my grapes established.

I have a feeling 2012 will be a year of change for us here.  Hopefully all for the better.  Not that we've had a bad year but I'm looking forward to attending a few weddings as opposed to funerals.  Here's to the past year and here's hoping for the new year.

Happy New Year!

December

Big ol' sigh. I have a baby girl who has something against sleep. Don't know why but she does not like to sleep in chunks bigger than 20 minutes.

For some odd reason this year seems to be moving at a lightning speed. I realize I've barely gotten a chance to update this blog this year. Somehow I missed the boat there. We've been making good forward progress but it doesn't feel like it should be December already. But that means Christmas!! I love Christmas. We might even get a white one. We started baking some cookies today. The recipe I used was a bit odd. More cake-like than I expected and not very sweet. Not too big of a deal but I'm going to have to make some yummy frosting. I haven't decided if I want to do peanut butter or a butter cream.

She still won't sleep...

I wonder when it is we changed from fighting the nap process to craving it. I'm thinking sometime in college?

It is looking like our plans will be to stay here for Christmas. Well, for the most part. I might have to go visit my momma for awhile. She doesn't need to be all by herself this year. It will be her first Christmas without my dad. They were married for 34 years. By that time I'm thinking they were a bit used to spending Christmas together. So, that means we'll be trying to make sure she isn't sitting by herself being sad.

We succeeded in taking care of her over Thanksgiving. We all got together with some pseudo-family that we hadn't seen in years. I think there were a couple there that it has been something close to 15 years since I'd seen them. It was a ton of fun. The people we spent it with are friends that all during my childhood we either did Thanksgiving at their house or mine. I don't think there were very many years that we weren't together.

Okay, it has gone from mild grumping to all out crying. Guess a second nap is not going to happen. Uncle.

I'd better do a quick update of kids...

Mia is 24 pounds and around 29 inches tall. In 18-24 month clothes in spite of not even being a year.

Bear is 42 pounds and about 42 inches tall. Tall and skinny.

Finally getting around to some pictures from the summer.

October

Not sure what it is this year about the passing of time. It seems to be speeding up. I'm not too worried about it. I'm kind of excited about Halloween and Christmas coming quickly. And then soon after that Tom will be done with school. Then hopefully our limbo status will change. Right now we are in limbo. We have no idea where we'll be in less than a year. We don't know what we'll be doing either. I'm not sure what I wish for there. I kind of want us to move (maybe even oversees) but I kinda want to stay in our little house too. Although I wouldn't mind finding a place really truly in the country. Bear tells us that he needs a new house. Not sure why, but maybe he knows something we don't. He says it should be a brown one on a farm. I'd be okay with that.

Here is a promise for photos soon too. I have some that need to come off the camera but I also need to take some more.

September

Wow I am behind with updates on the kiddos. Bear is in a booster seat now. Can't believe he is big enough... He could stay in his other seat but his little sister needed it. She has outgrown her infant seat. Mia is about to crawl. She is good at getting up onto her knees but hasn't figured out how to motate from there.

We've been crazy around here. Tom is back in school, Bear and Mia are now in the same daycare. I'm working my 40 hour weeks and could be pulling overtime if I wanted. Somehow I just haven't wanted to.

On top of all the normal stuff the garden is in the harvest season. That means I'm even busier than normal. To top it off we need to paint the porch and the window trim before winter. We really should re-do our wood floors too but I don't think either one of us have the time or energy for moving furniture, sanding, and then treating the floor. Ah well. Maybe next spring...

Busy Summer

Man I am behind! So many stories to tell. There is no way to get them all so I will just hit highlights. Let's see... it was Bear's birthday last time I was on here. My goodness. It just hit me how much time has really passed. Yikes.

Okay so to start with Tom had summer school almost the entire summer. Well, something like 6 weeks worth. It felt like the whole summer though. He is done. Got an A in the class and is now about to start school again for the fall semester.

Toward the end of July we went camping with Grammy to spread my dad's ashes in the mountains. Bear had a blast going camping, meeting new people, new dogs, being in the mountains, and he got to ride his uncle's horses.

Then at the beginning of August the Seattle aunt's and uncle came over for a visit to the lake. Bear had a blast in the paddle boat and we all enjoyed the relaxing on the lake.

Right after the weekend up at the lake I got a couple of ducklings. We didn't have good luck with them. They were only a week old and not big enough to run fast enough from Bear. We had a sad duck burial and the other duckling ran away or got nabbed by a predator. Since I still needed slug patrol I found more ducks. Now I have 4 ducklings that were about 3 weeks old when I got them so they are about a month old now. They are a blast to watch.

Hmmm... Basic kid updates:

We are changing daycares for Bear. This way he and Mia can be at the same place. His other one won't take her until she is over a year old.

Bear is now 40 inches tall and 40 pounds. His feet just keep growing. I swear we have to keep buying new shoes for the kid.

Mia is over 20 pounds now. She just got some 24 mo clothes and guess what? They fit. The pants are still a bit long but the shorts and shirt fit just fine. Crazy how quickly they grow.

Oh, and I just remembered (well Tom reminded me) that we went to the fair as well. Bear loved the rides and even got a pony ride. Mia is so layed back she just kinda hung out and didn't seem too affected by any of it.

Okay, I have some fall projects to do around the house and we are both home for once. I'd better get a move on since the kiddos are napping at the same time.

Birthday

A bit fuzzy since she was bouncing.

Not a great one since the batteries in the camera died right after this.

She loves carrots. Actually she loves most food but she really liked spilling the carrots and finger painting with them. She did a good job of getting me to wear a lot of them as well.

Bear's birthday was Thursday. I had to work, which was a bummer. Tom was wonderful and wrapped presents for us and put up some crepe paper streamers and balloons. Then he made Bear's favorite dinner, Basque Chicken, and a chocolate cake for after supper. I made the peanut butter frosting for the cake. Bear got some wonderful toys for his sandbox and garden. We almost couldn't get him to stay inside and eat cake. He wanted to go out and play so badly. Thanks to Auntie Kate, Matt, Aunt Tracy and Uncle Adam for the bike. Bear loves it. He's been out on it everyday for at least a few minutes since Friday when it came in the mail.

I can't believe the kid is 3 years old. I'm being paged my our little girl who thinks she is starving.

July 4th, Independence Day

I sure haven't been keeping up on this... Somehow 6 months has blasted by. Bear turns 3 this week and Amelia will be 6 months on the 10th. Crazy. I'm still not sure what happened to the last several months. It doesn't feel like they go that quickly and yet the next thing I know it is 3 months after I meant to do something.

Just like the fact that it has been 3 months since my dad died. I swear it just happened. Amelia just barely started eating food too, but yet she is eating about everything in sight. We've discovered that she loves ham. We got some baby food ham and oh my goodness. Miss Amelia gets very excited over ham. Squeals of delight. She is a better eater than Bear was. He was good too, but she hasn't hardly even made a face at new foods. She'll screw up her face on the first bite, but then she has at it. It is no wonder she has hit 20 pounds. And if she keeps biting she'll have to rely on the baby food because Mama will wean her quickly. No teeth but the kid bites hard!

Somehow we are managing to stay somewhat sane in spite of trying to keep up with the little ones, work, summer classes, and the garden. We'll never catch up, but maintaining is the goal.

I'm off to watch the fireworks... Happy 4th of July.

Coupla updates

Just a quick one since I have to go to work. Amelia is getting hair finally. Well, she had it to begin with then all of her darker hair fell out. Sure appears to be coming in strawberry blonde. She is also about to roll over. Finally. And lastly the girl seems to love carrots. I think Tom got some photos so I'll try to get them up this weekend.

Bear appears to be completly potty trained! Yay! Fewer diapers to change.

Summer has begun and our daughter has rolls.

Amelia's Doctor Appointment

Doctor appointment on Friday went well. Mia (what Bear calls her) got her 4 month shots and her basic check up. She hollered less than last time but had more of a reaction to the shots this time. I think just because she's still trying to get over the cold her and Tom have had. Her basic
stats now: Head: 17 inches Length: 25.5 inches Weight: 17 pounds 14 ounces (may as well call it 18 pounds or about 8 kg for those in the rest of the world). All looked good by the doctor. She still hasn't rolled over, but she does all the other motor skills she is supposed to. I wouldn't want to try to roll all those rolls either. She also almost sits by herself now.

Off to put kiddos to bed...

Some photos really do make it off the camera

Big smiles for Dad Like my dandelion?

Chillin' in the excersaucer

"Hi Mia." Bear loves to pet Amelia's hair.

The first sweet potatoes. She isn't sure about them.

Just a couple of notes: Amelia is now eating some solid foods once in awhile. Really likes apples and pears. Seems okay with green beans and just doesn't seem to know what to make of the sweet potatoes.

And Bear does call her Mia. I'm wondering if that is what she'll end up getting called by all of us. Who knows just yet.

Finally!

I finally have a little time. Kids are in bed and Tom is off at a graduation get together. We have had crazy schedules here lately. The same week Tom had finals I went back to work full time. Whew! Thank goodness that Tom is done. I am not really thrilled with being back to work full time, but I'm sure our bank account will be. Funny how that works.

Okay, some updates on the kids.

Bear: Still about 35 pounds, but I know he keeps getting taller. I haven't measured him lately but I sure don't have to reach very far down to get to the top of his head. We had to move him into size 9 shoes. I'm pretty sure toddler shoes only go up to size 11 then the kids shoes start over back at size 1. At least that's how I think it goes. Besides growing like a weed he is learning tons of other things and makes us laugh all the time. I discovered the other day that he apparently likes broccoli. He told me in the store that he wanted broccoli because he liked it. Well, broccoli isn't something we fix a lot so I don't know how he knows he likes it. But, I bought it and fixed it for him. Yep, he likes it. He ate loads. Especially if I add a little bit of balsamic vinegar. So far some of his favorite foods are broccoli, asparagus, tomatoes, peas, basque chicken, General Tso's chicken (Tom's recipe), hot dogs, and peanut butter and jam or honey sandwiches. Oh, and a good salami with a strong cheese. He loves to sit and eat Parmesan cheese. I like it but don't think I can sit and eat it plain.

Amelia: She weighs between 17 and 20 pounds. We should have a doctor appointment this next week to get her 4 month shots and get the well-baby check. Then we'll know for sure on weight and height. At 2 months she was over 24 inches long though and sure has grown since then. She is wearing clothes that are anything between 6-12 month sizes depending on the item. Most of her stuff is in the 9 month range right now. She is smiling, giggling, squealing, and cooing. She hasn't rolled completely over yet, but there is a lot of her to work on getting over. She kinda looks like the Michelin Man but cuter.

Bear and Amelia are adorable together. He is super protective of her and her stuff and she seems to adore him. She'll just lay and watch him while smiling the whole time. In fact they get along well enough (for now anyway) that we have her sleeping in their room now. For the first couple of months she was in with us in the cradle but Bear has started requesting that she sleep in his room in the crib. I won't argue since I wasn't sure how we were going to make that transition. Kinda nice that they made it for me.

I will end this with a promise to try to get some pictures up on here. I've been slacking big time. In fact I have several on the camera, but haven't gotten a chance to upload them to the computer. I still have lots I could catch up on but I'm trying to fall asleep here so I'd better head for bed instead of letting my head hit the keys.

Random thoughts

We've been talking: Tom graduates in a year and we aren't sure where that is going to take us. Hopefully he'll be finding a new job teaching and I can quit working full time and actually spend the time with the kids. I'm kinda hoping it means we can sell our house and move someplace. Although at the same time I don't want to move. It would be nice to be outside city limits. I would love to have a large garden, chickens, ducks, a small orchard, and enough room that the kids could eventually have a steer or sheep or pig. Besides, I like to think that I might actually enjoy a modern-day homesteading life. I feel like I need chores to keep me motivated. Not that I really like chores, but I do like having things that are satisfying to do.


I am looking forward to changes. We love the area but we are both feeling the itch to make a change. A place in the country would be wonderful. Ahhh dreams...

My dad

Two weeks ago this evening I got a phone call from my brother in the evening. He was calling to tell me my dad had fallen in the shop, hit his head, was in the hospital and they had decided to not really do anything for him. Neither of us really knew anything at this point. My next phone call was about a half an hour later from my mom who was at the hospital with dad. She told me he wasn't expected to make the night and I should probably come down. So, at about 8:30 p.m. we packed up our family and made a middle of the night drive (7-8 hours) down to my parent's house. Tom and I could only make it about half way before we had to stop and get a motel so we could crash for a couple of hours. We left again about 4 a.m. and made it to the hospital at 8 a.m. Dad was still there, but in body only. His last response to anything had been when Mom held the phone out to him and I told him I loved him and that this was a hell of a way to get us to plan a family trip. And that response was with his hand only. Apparently when he hit his head he vomitted and ingested a bunch into his lungs. We spent Wednesday with Dad. He got a cat scan that showed lots of bleeding on his brain. We all decided to make him comfortable with morphine and let his body relax and go when it was ready. He died Thursday morning about 11 a.m. I was in bed with a fever of about 103 degrees. In some ways I'm thankful for this because when I got the news there really wasn't much response I could give. A fever like that makes you kinda numb to the world. It sure is the pits to loose your parent, but at the same time I am very glad Dad went now while he was still able to do things. He was diagnosed with a form of Muscular Dystrophy a few years back and he was headed downhill in a hurry. The last couple of months he's been in the wheelchair almost 95% of the time. When I saw his legs in the hospital he had to have been standing and walking with sheer willpower because there were no muscles to support him. At least Dad should have good legs under him again and be enjoying the happy hunting gounds. Also, Mom is still in the cabin Dad built her, surrounded by their friends and neighbors. If you feel the need to do something Mom asked that something be planted in his memory or that a donation to the Muscular Dystrophy Association be made. www.mda.org

Spring snow

The boys are out playing in our spring snow storm. Bear saw it was snowing and made sure he got his pants and shoes (sans socks) on so he could go play in the snow. I imagine his daycare has a heck of a time with him when it rains or snows. He loves to play in the rain and snow. It is all I can do to keep him inside on those days. He has even convinced Tom to go out in the snow this morning. The conversation was: Bear: Dad, come play snow. Dad: It is cold out there. Bear: Dad, put coat on. Take slippers off, get shoes on. Put coat on, come play snow. Dad: Can I drink a cup of coffee first? Bear: Yes. I think Tom got a cup of coffee and then Bear was pestering him to go outside again. Amelia is doing well. She is cooing and smiling like crazy. We've gotten a couple of almost giggles from her. I forgot how quickly they grow and change at this point in their life. She is very quickly growing out of clothes. Some of the outfits she is wearing now are in the 6 month size. Amazing. Of course a lot of that has to do with the fact that she is usually in cloth diapers which make her bum much bigger than disposable diapers do. I think we are going to take the kids to an international festival at the university today. They are supposed to have all sorts of food and games from all sorts of countries. I really want to try the African food. I have no idea what to expect or what part of Africa it is from. I think it will be fun. Also, if I can get ahold of the gal I might have found the stroller we want to replace the one we had with Bear. Bear's is holding up okay, but it doesn't steer worth a hoot with his weight. The one I found is one of the insanely priced ones, but the gal is asking next to nothing compared to what they go for. I suppose I should try to get the laundry finished up before we head to town. I didn't do anything yesterday other than lay on the couch and feel terrible. Of course yesterday was beautiful and sunny too. I wanted to be outside working on the garden but couldn't since I kept coughing and ended up with a fever. So frustrating on a beautiful spring day. At least I seem better today so I get to play catch up. Oh well. Maybe I'll even bake some bread so we can have fresh bread and cinnamon rolls this week.

Relatively early morning.

First thought: It certainly is spring. There are some very noisy birds out the front windows.

I just got kicked out of bed by Amelia. We were all snuggled up and she started to fuss. I thought she might be hungry. No. So I figured she needed a diaper, but I needed to do something first so I got up and she quit fussing. I can't believe it. My own bed and she's only 2 months. Not fair.

Well, crazy man Bear is up. Oh, speaking of... We were asking him what things say including Mom and Dad. He told us that Mom says, "Talk, talk, talk" and Dad says, "Excuse me." The kid cracks me up.

Simply Musings

Bear working on learning to pedal.

Playing computer games.

The kids and me. They make me happy.

The pictures are of our last week or so. The coat Bear is wearing is one my mom found for Amelia at a consignment shop that is a wool one made in Austria. The price was such that she couldn't turn it down. It is in such good shape. Bear can wear it for now and them Amelia can wear it when she gets big enough.

A few more days and I'm back at work part time. I'm still not sure about it but I'll make the best of it since we can't afford for me not to work. I am hoping by working part time for now I'll still be able to get my garden in. I'm not doing well with seedlings. I have a hard time remembering that they are started and need water. I think I'll be doing a few more purchased plants this year. I do hope it is a better year for tomatoes than last year. We have missed the canned tomatoes this winter. And the tomatoes around our stores right now have insane prices because of some of the weather elsewhere. So we are making do with other things.

I'm discovering I kinda like the planning and organizing of running the house. I was folding diapers yesterday and realized I even enjoy that. Funny since I've always been the kind of girl that wasn't going to do any of this kind of stuff. At least if I was going to do it I wasn't going to like doing it. Life sure can change a person's perspective.

Poor Dad and Amelia

I had to go into town today and renew some of my credentials for work. Amelia did not take kindly to being left without her momma. Tom says she cried for 3 plus hours. Oh boy going back to work isn't going to be fun for any of us.

Yep, she's a weed.

Doctor appointment day. 11 pounds 10 ounces and 24.5 inches long. Those numbers put her around the 75-80th percentile on weight and off the charts for height. She did pretty well getting her first round of shots too. She screamed well by the 3rd shot but I can't really blame her. Shots aren't fun. It didn't help that our appointment was in the late afternoon so it was at the same time she usually gets grumpy.

Things are going better than expected with Amelia as far as sleeping too. At this point she really only gets up once at night. Sometimes twice but if you believe everything you read we really shouldn't be doing this well yet. Of course I probably just jinxed us by saying that she is doing well. Between shots and this now we'll probably loose sleep big time. Oh well. At any rate we are slowly getting her to sleep by herself instead of in my arms. I do enjoy the cuddle time though.

I think it is off to bed with me. I've been trying to catch something and I'd like to avoid that since I need to go back to work soon.

Out of control buggy.

That is what I feel like I'm riding. At least that is how fast time is going. I can't believe that in just barely over a week I will be returning to work. It is only part time, but I'm going back. Oh I wish our pocket books could withstand my staying home. It just isn't going to work though. Shoot, the way things may shake out I'll have to go back to full time whether I want to or not.

There are certainly days when both kids are screaming, the dishes are piled high, the laundry is in a heap, and the dog keeps tripping me because he wants fed that I would love to be at work with adults (as adult as my co-workers get anyway). Most days though, I would much prefer to play with my kids in the midst of the heaps, piles, and furry obstacles.

Basically what I'm discovering with the birth of our second child is that I am really enjoying being a stay at home mom for the time being. Someday I will get to do it on a full time basis. I like working with my hands and all, but I see lots of ways to do that without having to answer to a boss. I'll just keep my fingers crossed that one of these days (before I know it I'm sure) my dear husband will be graduated, have a job offer he can't refuse, and I'll get to stay at home and do kooky projects of my own. I think I'm a natural born tinker-er. I love just puttering around doing little projects in the garden, around the house, and in the garage. A homestead someday. In the mean time I will occupy myself with enjoying the time I can with the kids and some random small projects I can do on weekends.

Oh, on the kids... Bear is getting closer and closer to being potty trained. Only one time did he actually need the diaper today in town. The other times he told me in time to get to a bathroom and actually use it. Amelia is growing like a weed. We'll find out this upcoming week just what kind of weed she is. She has a doctor appointment for her first set of shots and a basic checkup. I will guess she has grown a couple of inches in length and is in the neighborhood of 11 pounds.

We met with Amelia's new babysitter today. A fellow grad student of Tom's. She seems like she'll be a good match. Handy too that she'll be right on campus with Tom. I don't like having to have a baby sitter and daycare, but somehow I don't think work will let the kids fix airplanes.

I'd better get at least one thing done while the whole family naps. I can't believe they are all asleep. Every last one. Even the dog...

Projects

With being at home and still feeling the need to use my hands I've been working on some random sewing projects that I've wanted to get to. I've made a few diaper liners, one diaper (I have more but haven't gotten to them yet), and I made my first attempt at a quilt. I've never done much sewing and I dislike using patterns. There is a reason for them though. I made a t-shirt quilt for Bear out Tom and I's old airplane t-shirts. I completely eye-balled the cuts and stitching so there are some funky lines and it isn't even close to square. Still... not bad for a first attempt.

Shoot I'm just happy to have figured out how to thread my sewing machine. It has been a fun project. Being t-shirts it went pretty quickly too once everything was cut out. Of course things like using measurements, having a layout table, and having a real sewing room all would have helped. One of my goals though with this was to do it with spending very little money. I did end up buying a set of pinking shears and the batting and I still need to get some sort of ribbon to edge the quilt. But all together I will have spent only about $50 bucks for the whole thing and about $20 of that was the pinking shears which I won't have to spend again.

Here's the quilt minus the edging since I haven't gotten that yet. Otherwise it is done. I would say it ended up being almost a twin size.

Cabin fever ramblings

I'm realizing how much reading I've been doing. I finished up my latest book this morning. I've been on a spy book kick. Dorothy Gilman has been my author of choice lately with her Mrs. Pollifax series. They are fun and easy reads. I think there are still around 4 books to the series. I just haven't gotten them yet. I'll have to sit down and see how cheap I can find them used. Always a good challenge.

Soon I'll be back at work part time. I'm not particularly looking forward to being away from my family again. Although I wouldn't mind a bit of time to myself I have been enjoying being a stay at home mom. I'm not very good at it, but I'm enjoying it. I would have liked to have my time off in the summer so I could work in the garden but at least I didn't feel too bad about it when I wasn't moving around very well.

Someday we'll figure out how to live on much less money so I don't have to work full time. We both have dreams of a chunk of property. Tom would love to teach full time too. Besides that we would both like to travel the world and show our kids there is more than our little town. All of it is someday...

Now I think I'm going to see about a nap. Both kids are down. What I'm doing still up I'm not sure. Either that or I need to call and make a doctor appointment for Amelia's 2 month checkup.

photos

Bear watching trains:

Amelia smilin' in the sunshine:

Dad, Amelia, and Buddy:

Just got a kick out of seeing this the other day:

Bear "helping" Aunt Tracy knit:

Developments

Let's see... We have some beautiful spring weather that is making it tougher with a little one. It is still too cold to be really comfortable for the little one to be out, but it is too nice to stay in. Good old catch 22.

We actually measured Bear the other day. As opposed to the estimating we had done. He is officially 38 inches tall.

Amelia is now a solid 10 pounds or more. She is quickly growing out of the newborn clothes. She left the newborn diapers behind about 2 weeks ago. Crazy how fast they grow. Before we know it she'll be where Bear is now. Amazing. At least with Amelia we shouldn't spend quite so much money on diapers. We are converting to mostly cloth with her. We are finding that cloth is maybe even easier than disposables. Sure you have to wash them, but right now that is no big deal what-so-ever. Newborns just don't have the really nasty diapers of a 2 year old. As she grows and transitions to solid food we may transition to disposable diapers.

I like the ability to be flexible with stuff like this. Some people get so caught up in the debate over things like which kind of diaper to use or which type of carrier to use. I like having all the options for sure, but I don't like sticking with only one thing because someone says I should.

Amelia is already different from Bear in the fact that she is a snuggler. I can tell she is going to be a bugger to get in a stroller. She is more of a sling or front pack kind of kid. Bear was always so independent that he preferred the stroller and wanted to walk almost as soon as he had the ability. Same way with sleeping arrangements. Bear never slept well unless he was in his crib. Amelia seldom sleeps by herself. She wants to be snuggled up all the time. Amazing how different two kids can be.

So back to basic developments: Amelia has graced us with a few real smiles already. She saves some of them for her brother. He gets a kick out of this. Mostly though she still just eats and sleeps with some crying thrown in just to keep us on our toes. We are all looking forward to Amelia becoming less of a baby.

Some pictures from the last week or so.

A few of our small family's adventures. We are starting to get things figured out as far as how to handle things with two kids. Everything is starting to fall into place. Slowly but surely.

Mild venting, even though it is probably all my fault.

Brrrr... Our January/February freeze has hit. It has warmed up to -3 degrees F this morning. My poor heaters are getting a work out. It has finally managed to make it about 65F in the house this morning, but all the heaters are ablazing to get there.

I like this weather, but it does make for some cabin fever. Especially for Bear. Being 2 he doesn't really understand the concept of frigid weather. Miss Amelia of course can't take being out there either so Mom is stuck with them both going bonkers indoors. It would be a lot better if I were better at being a house-wife etc. I've never been a good homemaker though. I'm learning ever so slowly. Of course once I start getting a routine that I can manage it will be time for me to go back to work.

I'm going to take a moment and vent about a little boy... He got up about an hour earlier than normal this morning, which that in of itself is not a big deal. But... because he was up early he is tired early, plus he has cabin fever, plus I've been letting him watch too much t.v. (which makes him turn into a pill), and when we went to watch a movie the stereo won't power up so he was cranky about that. So Bear got put down early for a nap. Then to put the icing on the cake while we were reading a story Bear decided to whack his sister with another book and then throw himself across her face. Argh!! To say the least he was in trouble. She was fine, but story time was ended and the books got taken away. Bear cried lots, Amelia cried enough to say she did, and I just have to chock it up to being tired and having cabin fever. Hopefully he wakes up in a more cooporative mood.

I've been planning to go to the big city and get Bear a haircut, but with this morning's antics I don't know if we'll make it.

Ooops. Miss Amelia is ready for some attention.

Quick updates

Today was Tom's first real day back at school so I got both kiddos by myself. An adjustment to say the least. For all parties involved. So far so good though. I even managed to pick up a package at the post office without melt downs on anyone's part (yes, this does include me).

Later this afternoon we get to make a trip to the big city and my doctor to get one last staple out. Somehow the nurse that pulled my umpteen-zillion staples missed one. Oh well. I don't even know how many were in there, but it was a lot. It took me about 10 days to realize that there was still one in there. Goofy.

Bear is doing really well with his little sister. I've even seen some hugs and heard some I love you's. He likes telling people that she is his sister when we go places. We went to a friend's for dinner the other night and Bear was a bit protective of his baby sister. All good things as far as I'm concerned. Bear is pretty funny about things like blankets though. He doesn't like Tom or I to grab a blanket of his and use for his sister, but it is just fine if she uses one that he put on her.

As far as Amelia herself goes... She has her nights and days a little mixed up. She likes sleeping during the day and has several hours in the middle of the night that she likes to be up. Kinda kicks her momma's hind end. Otherwise she is just doing her job of being a newborn; sleeping, eating, pooping (I forgot how much newborns do this), and gaining weight. The other thing we've discovered about this kid is how much of a cuddler she is. As much as Bear liked being by himself, Amelia likes being snuggled up. So long as she is in someone's arms she'll sleep soundly. The moment you lay her down she is working on waking up. I guess I did ask for a more cuddly kid. :)

I'd better get a few things done while the Bear is laying down and before we have to head into town. Before too long I'll pull some more pictures off the camera and get them posted. In all my free time.

A few pictures...

Great smiles from Bear
Amelia

Bear sharing his blanket with Amelia

Bear holding Amelia's hand

Proud big brother

Celebration cheese cake from the hospital that went with a whole special dinner they made for us.

Hospital bathtime

Dad's footprint "tattoo"

Doctor Appointments

Last Friday we ended up taking Bear to the doctor for a cough that has been going on for about 2 weeks. These usually end up as ear infections and antibiotics. It did this time too, but I think we caught it before it got too bad. Bear never complains about his ears hurting. All I see is the cough and runny nose. It has taken a couple times but I finally have it figured out that it is generally an ear infection.

During this doctor appointment we found out Bear weighs 35 pounds. We got curious when we got home and measured how tall he was. He has grown about 3 inches in 5 months which puts him around 39 inches tall. No wonder I feel like he keeps getting bigger. He really is growing like a weed.

Today was Amelia's first well-baby check. When we were discharged from the hospital they were a little worried about her weight. She had dropped a bit more than they like to see. One comforting thought (as strange as this might be) is that the lactation consultant was pretty sure the hospital's scales are off. They have a company coming in soon to calibrate the scales more often. What it amounts to is that the gal didn't think Amelia had lost too much weight since she didn't show any other signs of issues.

Today we were happy to see that our little one is gaining weight again. No more worries there. All the nurses got too ooh and ahh over the newbie and Bear got to tell everyone that Amelia is his sister. Plus Bear got suckers. He was pretty excited about that. Tom and I were just happy our girl got a clean bill of health. We'll go back in at two months for the first round of shots. What a difference from our experience with Bear. With Bear's jaundice and circumcision and weight loss we spent a lot of time at the doctor office the first couple of weeks.

With that experience we found we did not like the clinic in the big city. We much prefer our little clinic that is within walking distance. Everyone knows us there, we can get in to see a doctor usually within an hour of calling, we don't have to make our appointments until the week we want the apointment, and we have a much more pleasant experience at our little clinic.

Off for bath time, diaper changes, and bed time stories.

Amelia Rae

Well, we did it, had our baby girl and managed to get home. I had forgotten the sleep deprivation. Now that we are home it isn't so bad, but hospitals are awful for sleeping. Between lots of people, being checked on every two hours, and a new baby there wasn't much sleeping. Then you have goofy things going on like I did and end up with fire drills and plates being dropped outside the room. Amazing.

So I'm sure that my readers are wondering how the baby is...

She is good. 8 pounds 8 ounces and just under 21 inches long at birth. Dark hair and blue eyes. We'll see how much the hair and eyes change in the next couple months. "Millie" (what Bear has been calling her) is a very mellow kid. Everything seems to be by the book so far with this one. I didn't think Bear was difficult but this baby seems much easier. Maybe it is just because it is number two. I have experience now so everything isn't quite so terrifying and new.

Surgery went well too. I think not being in labor before the surgery made it easier to recover. I still move slowly and can't pick up heavy stuff but I feel pretty decent. Besides the actual incision pain the only thing that is really bothering me is where the i.v. was and the other hand where they tried to do my i.v. at first.

Now we are working on figuring out our new routine. The kids seem to be figuring out the routine pretty well. The adults still have some adjusting to do. Granted we've only had about 2 days to get it figured out. It will get easier. Especially as I heal up and everyone gets used to each other.

I hope this makes some sort of sense as I'm getting used to operating on very little sleep. Which since both kids are asleep I think I will try to get some sleep myself.

Soon to be in the depths again.

Well, as of Monday (if all goes as planned) we should have another kiddo. I'm ready to have baby out, but I am not ready to have a baby household again. I love each new stage that Bear goes through. The older he gets, the more fun he gets. Although I am excited to see each new first thing again. I can't believe it has been almost 3 years since we were at this point with Bear.

I don't know when I'll get back to this blog. It will be interesting to see what kind of a schedule we all come up with. I don't know if Bear will like his routines messed with. Although it doesn't take him long to adjust to a new schedule. He's a pretty flexible kid when it comes right down to it.

One thing I'm finding with this pregnancy is that all the pregnancy trackers and advice really have nothing concerning a baby in the winter. Of course all the advice is directed at preventing SIDS. This is fine and dandy and something that absolutely be prevented, but they recommend no blankets in a baby's crib. Then it becomes a choice. Frozen baby or the possibility of SIDS? I know, not very happy thoughts. I just have a drafty house and live in a northern climate that gets nice and cold. I am not looking forward to the propane bills that are coming up. Such as life.

Maybe I'll get ambitious and write an article for one of the parenting magazines. I can't imagine that I'm the only person looking for how to keep a newborn warm in a drafty old house. For now I'll just worry about getting the baby here. Then I'll worry about all the other stuff that goes with being a parent.

Until next time when I'm updating everyone on the newbie...