Alyssa Marie: 8 months

Magically time seems to have slowed down a bit.  Whether it's the nice long break in between shots and check-ups or the fact that I have "stopped to smell the roses" more often these last few weeks I don't know nor do I care.  I am just happy that life has slowed down a bit and that I am getting all this time to literally breathe in this girl of mine.  She is (and her brother is also) my world.  I live for them and I cannot believe sometimes that A). I have two children B). She is here and fits into our life so seamlessly and C). that they are mine for the life.  She makes me so happy I could just explode.  I love hauling around 2 kids, showing 2 kids my attention, spending time with 2 kids, what did we ever do before these 2 were given graciously to us!?

I have been writing down "stories"in her "Tell me one more story Mommy" book and it's been therapeutic and wonderful reliving my pregnancy with her and remembering what life was like when she was shiny and new.  I just feel so lucky and so overwhelmed by my need for these 2 that sometimes it just knocks the air right out of me.  I will never forget the feeling I had when the midwife and Dr took me by the hand at 14 weeks and told me to call my husband after not being able to find a heartbeat.  We ran up to admitting, paced around at Radiology and finally took a breathe again when we saw that precious baby slowly moving around.  So like I said it's been therapeutic to put that to rest and finally put to bed all the struggles we had in just getting to being pregnant with her.  It's been a long road and we have loved her for a long time, long before she was just a baby bean on the screen.

Our Lyssi Lu peek at 8 months looks a bit like this:
*She is a belly sleeper now.  Totally freaks us out and we flip her before we go to bed and then usually I flip her again when I get up for work.  She can't roll onto her back yet so it just causes us some anxiety that with a lovey and the sniffles, sleeping on her tummy will make it hard for her to breathe.
*She eats 4 bottles a day with 6 ozs of formula in each.
*She eats solids 2-3 times a day and girlfriend will now eat anything including peas and green beans with brown rice!
*She gets so jealous when we eat in front of her.  She reaches out for our food and yells her desires for some to us.
*She has started trying to eat puffs but she is not fond of the texture yet so she dramatically coughs after putting one in her mouth and then she takes it out and stares at while yelling some more.
*She is taking a morning nap from 10-12 and then an afternoon nap usually from 1:30-3:30 or so.
*She is wearing 6 month old clothes and I have started busting out the 9 month old stuff slowly.
*She is showing zero interest in crawling and prefers to wiggle her booty around to move a few inches her or there.  We are a-okay with the immobility!
*She loves bathtime!  I get her nakey just outside the bathroom and she squeals and giggles with delight while I fill the tub.  Riley makes her laugh the whole time and she is thankfully not sensitive to continuous splashes in the face!
*She loves her johnny jumper!  We put it in a new spot now and she sprints around in that thing happily for a really long time.
*No new teeth have come in though she is still teething and drooling like never before.
*She is in bed by 7:15-7:30 at the latest and she is sleeping all night through till 7:00 a.m.
*She now calls us by Mama and Dada and it's the sweetest sounds ever!
*She is still very observant and loves to just watch people.  She takes everything in and is happy to just be around nearly anyone, anyone except men.  She really isn't comfortable with men beyond her Papa Hutch and Uncle Kyle and we would be okay with that lasting until she is at least 21 ; ).
*She loves to dance, kick her legs, wave her arms and shake her head back and forth.  Girlfriend finds the beat and jams.
*Her eyes are still crystal clear blue and her hair is still very blonde : ) She looks so much like her brother now minus the eyes and hair!

I always assumed I would be a boys mom but secretly wanted our 2nd to be a girl and now to have her here is amazing.  I am still fiercely protective of her and I feel a very special connection with her that I see grow a bit more everyday.  I love my boy and cherish our special relationship but there is something different, something delicate about the connection I have with her.  She is the only one that can break Riley out of his mood after he gets in trouble and even though Daddy is exhausted she can still get him to put her in pj's and rock her with her sweet "dada's".

We love you sweet Lulu!  Happy 8 months!

Fall Favorite: September Fave Challenge

Big girls don't cry...

or do they?  She did not appreciate being set down in leaves, with strangers looking at her (especially strange men) and she was ready for naps.  I finally got a pic of that sweet face all contorted in a fierce cry.  

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All by myself

Little bit of a misleading title.  I mean I wasn't really all by myself not even for a minute this last weekend but this is Riley's new favorite phrase so it seems fitting.  Nana is working on his enunciation of the letter "S" and when he discovers that he just put his own shoes on, or just went potty with no help he proudly exclaims, "wook Mommy, I did it all by mine-self."  Next she should work on the sound of the letter "L" or not because seriously wook is too cute!

In the parenting world I was by myself as Daddy embarked on a guys only weekend in place of his annual pheasant hunting trip.  He had been counting down the days to relax, fish and just be a guy whereas I was gearing up for my weekend of non-stop mommyhood.

I like a challenge and was actually really looking forward to the weekend.  "I think I can" was the mantra and I repeated it over and over again until Sunday evening struck and once again we were man to man instead of zone defense/offense and wow, zone is exhausting.  It was a splendid weekend but WOWZA, exhausting.  I still find it hard to believe that teenagers think it's cool to get pregnant on purpose thinking that it is all fresh baby scent in the air and sleepy babes wrapped up happy in swaddles.  And don't get me started on the single parents...you are my idols and I am oh so weak in comparison!

Riley slept with me Friday night and he woke up twice asking "where am I Mommy?"  I was so disoriented that I wondered the same thing but it was fun waking up next to that skinny boy and just lounging in bed watching toons while Lyssi Lu ate and babbled all things baby.  I was feeling rather accomplished when 9:30 a.m. rolled around and the dishes were already washed and I was showered and dressed.  We were able to grab some Sunday School supplies at Joann's (yay for sequins and googly eyes!) and then we came home to lay the babe down for a quickie nap before we headed out again to watch some volleyball.  My co-worker was in town (from Rogers : )  for her daughters games and it was packed at the CR H.S. with the tourney, a debate and marching practice going on.  We walked up only to find out admission was $7 for adults and $5 for children.  Say whaaaa?  So we walked all the way around to the other side right through the "waiting" room for the debaters (sorry!) and found a free way in.  So I saved $13 but paid for it dearly as both kids were being held by the end of the trek to the courts!  We hurried home after a match for naps and then headed out again to Big Lake.  Big Lake, land of our little friend Leah and mommy extraordinaire Rach.  The weather was perfect, the toys all new to my kids were begging to be played with, the food baked with love and attention to detail (hello, snickers cupcakes filled with snickers and topped with creamy frosting and more crushed up snickers!) and the friendship was comfortable, easy.  Everyone needs a Rach in their life.  She makes everything so special and I was lucky on that Saturday that she allowed us to invade, eat, play and take-over her usually quiet domain.  Little Leah is about the sweetest thing eva.  She happily stacked toys around Lyssi Lu and watched in awe and confusion as Riley played on, talking loudly (he has told me that he doesn't have an inside voice, I agree with his assessment) and finally dropping trou because of the baby potty of Leah's that he just had to pee in.  He begged to pee in that thing and then he begged me to get his baby potty out when we got home so he could pee in that one too.  I am so glad he long forgot about it because I don't want to clean that thing out again.  We walked to the park and like the well camera trained son he was he asked to stop and have pictures taken numerous times stating "this would be a pretty nice picture Mommy."  My little photog!  Finally we could ignore Lyssa's tired eyes no more and we packed up with goodies to go for the drive home.  Five minutes in, if that, I turned around to find both kids sleeping!  Lucky for me they both pj'd easily and went to bed promptly when we did get home.  Once again Riley slept with me, this time no interruptions and we slept like rocks.  Sunday we got up and bathed everyone before church, taught SS, attended church and came home.

Sounds easy enough right?

Well if I had bothered to bore you with the even more so mundane details mention how many diapers I changed (baby girl has a really upset tummy), how many times I had to help my son drop trou, how many milk and water cups I filled, how many bottles I prepared, how many times I bent down and picked up, how many times I strapped in and unstrapped, lifted and hauled, so on and so forth by myself you would see that not a minute of the whole weekend was left unaccounted for.  I didn't even realize how much we need Daddy, actually I did but this just re-enforced it so much more for us.  When you split the duties it is huge.  When you take turns and get a breathing break to take a bath, a nap, pick up a book etc, it is huge.

My point in this post is that there was no one there to sit on the floor with the kids so I could clean up a bit, do dishes, watch TV, relax.  I was 100% responsible for 2 little lives and I soaked it all in entirely.  I ignored the toys strewn about, the laundry piled up, the TV rarely turned on, the books I chose had pictures on every page and the lesson I learned is that these things can wait.  My kids are only going to remember that Mommy played with them all weekend and took them to do fun things.  They will remember that they didn't have hardly anytime to miss Daddy because I had them in my arms and held them tight enough for both Daddy and I.  It wasn't easy but it wasn't hard either, exhausting yes, Monday and Tuesday I hardly could hold my head up, but we survived, actually we thrived.  If I had to chose I would have kept Daddy in the picture but it's important to me that I know that I can do it.  Diarrhea up the back times 12 or more and all.

My house still shows signs of my weekend with my kids and it makes me uncomfortable but it is teaching me that "babies don't keep."  There is only one chance we get while they are young and I chose to sit on the floor and spend as much time as is possible being engaged with them.  I missed them something fierce on Monday and even Sunday night Lyssa was rather upset that Daddy was feeding her the last bottle before bed.  I was their number 1 for a short weekend and I would do it all over again.

I love you my little ones.  Thank you for teaching your Mommy what is really important and for being such good little ones.

We have one smile.

Now Leah's thinking "that doesn't work on me Mommy" Lyssa is thinking "what is that lady doing" and Riley just wants a cupcake...see that reflection in the mirror? : )

Leah is wondering who invited that kid!?

Peeky boo, sweet Lyssi Lu

Yes, I would take her home with me in a heartbeat!

Paper Mama: Friends

All you need is friends, even if they are of the furrier variety!

http://thepapermama.blogspot.com/2011/09/paper-mama-photo-challenge-friends.html