Boo at the Zoo (21 months and 8 weeks)

On our Anniversary night, Brian ended up getting home late.  He has been working a lot lately.  He always works a lot but even more than usual.  It seems like I am always thinking it will calm down but in reality it never will.  Brian will always be working a lot but he always has time for the kids which is all that matters.  Once Brian got home we went to Wendy's because I did not make dinner because I thought we were going out.  By the time we got there, Sydney was hungry.  She calmed down for a little bit so we decided just to eat there.  Austin sat in front of a window and was able to see all the trucks and buses on Route 82.  That made Austin really happy.  I ended up having to go to the car and feed Sydney.  While I was gone, Austin was throwing away trash (something he loves to do).  The workers at Wendy's liked Austin so much she even came to our table later after watching him and gave him a free Frosty.  It was Austin's lucky day.  We got each other Anniversary cards but they are still sitting on the table.  It has been so crazy that we have not opened them yet.  We will get there (as Brian is updating the blog with pictures, we've still not opened them as of Nov 23!).

Grandma and Grandpa B came up this weekend.  They spent Saturday with us and the kids.  Austin had fun playing with them.  It was nice to see them.  It is sad that we are unable to see them more since they live in South Carolina.  Sydney took a bottle well from Grandpa B so that was good.  Sydney is getting much better at taking the bottle.  It is still not her preference but she will take it without screaming too much now.  Thank goodness!

On Sunday, my parents came up.  They helped us do our leaves.  Austin really likes playing in the leaves.  It was a nice day.  Then we had dinner.  After dinner, Austin, Brian and I went to Boo at the Zoo.  Austin was a lion.  He was so cute!!!  We walked around the zoo for a few hours.  The weather was perfect too.  We all had a really good time.  It is nice to do things with just Austin right now.  Austin has done a fantastic job adjusting to having a sister.  So any little reward we can give him he deserves it.

Austin is starting to have a few more tantrums.  It is usually when he does not get his way.  During his tantrums, he has a complete meltdown.  We have found it's better just to ignore him for a little while.  Once he calms down we talk to him, hug him, and try to distract him with something else.  There are times it is difficult to remain calm during his tantrums.  For the most part I have done fairly well but I have raised my voice at times.  I don't like when I do so I am trying to do better with that.

This week it has been unseasonably warm.  It is great because we have been going for our nightly walks.  Then Austin and Brian get to play outside well past dark.  They are enjoying that.  Brian is putting up cameras outside so we will be able to see the kids play outside as they get older.  Austin is helping him at night with that project.

This coming weekend is Halloween weekend.  We will be trick or treating at Grandma's and Papa's.  Austin will have fun again this weekend!

Austin really liked boo at the zoo, but it kept him out past his bedtime.  By the time he got home, he was exhausted!

Fall Festival (20.5 months and 7 weeks)

Saturday was fall festival.  Austin's school invited all families to come to a local farm.  The farm had pumpkins, hay rides, mazes, and a corn filled play area.  We were excited about it.  The weather was perfect.  We got there and Brian found a really good pumpkin for the kids fall pictures so he bought that. Then we walked around and Austin played with some things.  There were farm animals that people could look at.  I was not a big fan of that because of its dirtiness.  In fact, Brian told me to wait outside the barn so Austin could have some fun without mommy screaming.  I gladly did that.  Once Austin came back out I sanitized his hands.  I don't want to know what Austin and Brian did inside the barn.  We went on a hayride.  Austin seemed to really like that.  He liked looking for pumpkins in the field.  Towards the end of the evening, Austin played in a box filled with corn.  It took him a while to get in but once he did he loved it.

While Austin was playing, Brian was socializing with other parents.  It's nice to meet other parents.  However I am not good at starting conversations so good thing Brian has no problem with that. We met a couple who's daughter started in the infant room about 2 months ago.  Sydney will be joining her soon.  We had a really good time with Austin.  It was nice for the three of us to get out.

While we were out, my parents had Sydney.  I realized late last week that Sydney hates the bottle.  Brian would feed Sydney in the evenings when I took a nap.  During that time she would cry a lot and spit up.  We thought that was Sydney's cranky time and did not think much else about it.  My mom fed her a bottle during the day last week and it was the same situation.  She fights the bottle and screams.  It's a very painful process for the person feeding her and Sydney.  Gratefully my parents were still willing to watch her for a few hours while we went to fall festival.

Obviously this is a major problem.  We never had this problem with Austin.  Austin was basically bottle fed with breast milk for the first 6 months.  Everyone knows the benefits of breast milk.  I was and still am very dedicated to giving my children the very best nutrition therefore they receive breast milk.  Breast feeding is extremely difficult!!!  With Austin, he would not latch on.  My nipples were cracked and sore.  Breast feeding him was so painful that I could not do it.  Therefore I chose to pump exclusively.  Early on with Austin I was pumping every 2 hours around the clock.  It was insane!  I had a freezer full of breast milk for a later date.  I was scared I could run out of breast milk so I kept pumping like a crazy women!  It was so time consuming.  I had to pump, clean all the parts and bottles, then fed him.  When he reached 6 months, I could not wait to stop pumping!!  By that time, I hated pumping so much.

With Sydney, I was determined that breast feeding was going to go better.  Luckily after the first night in the hospital she has latched on and we developed good breast feeding habits.  However my right nipple was cracked until she was 6 weeks old.  Therefore it was still painful when she nursed on that side.  Finally it healed.  Now breast feeding does not hurt at all.  And I thought I would never say this but breast feeding is actually easier than bottle feeding now.  There are no bottles or supplies to wash.  I always have milk for her.  There is no warming process of the milk.  And I can do it easily with 1 hand!  That is invaluable when I have Austin to care for.  Everything is suppose to be great but its not because she hates the bottle and I go back to work in 3 weeks!

I cannot believe I am in this situation!  We have switched to the Avent bottle because they are wider and slower flowing.  It seems to be a little better but definitely not perfect.  Sydney still hates it.  I have so many feelings right now about this I could scream.  I struggled so much with Austin making sure I provided him with breast milk the hard way.  This time breast feeding is finally going how it should go and now she hates the bottle.  So of course I feel guilty about working.  Maybe I should stay home with the kids.  Is Sydney telling me that she needs me and not to leave her?   I hate this feeling.

I don't want to be a stay at home mom.  Daycare has been so beneficial for Austin.  He gets to do things he would never do at home with me.  Plus the social interaction for him is so valuable.  Not to mention, I worked hard for my degree and career.  I like my job and the social interaction I get.  Working part time is the best of both worlds.  I get to be at home with the kids and keep my career.  Now I just need to get Sydney on board with this plan.

I pumped today and then fed her my milk.  It did not go well.  She screamed and screamed.  This was so hard for me.  Sydney usually does not cry much with me.  She usually gets to nurse and she is happy baby. Finally she did eat 2 ounces of milk for me.  It was a very painful process and took an hour.  If Austin was home, there is no way I could have done this.  What am I going to do?  Luckily my mom will help me when she can because I don't have much time to figure this out.  When Brian is home, Austin wants to be with him.  So Brian is not able to fed Sydney unless Austin is asleep.  However if I nurse Sydney before bed, she will sleep longer.  Plus in the evenings, everyone is tired and no one wants to listen to a screaming baby!

 My plan for the moment is to continue to try and give her at least one bottle a day.  On Austin's daycare days I plan to fed her two bottles during the day.  And slowly increase it to four bottles during the day by the time she goes to daycare.  All I need her to do is take a bottle during daycare days and occasionally when Brian and I go out for a few hours.  The rest of the time, I will gladly nurse her.  Only if Sydney could understand that.

On Sunday morning we took the kids to the park to get some fall pictures of them.  It was warm so Sydney could be outside. It is hard to get a newborn and toddler to pose for pictures.  We are learning on how to best do this.  Brian is learning how to use his new camera.  I am learning on how to entertain Austin so he looks and hopefully smiles for the pictures Brian is taking.  Once thing we both learned is we need a lot of patience.  Early on during the photo shoot, Sydney's blanket blew away and ended up in the lake.  Not a great way to start but we moved past it and got some good pictures.

Today is our 8th year wedding anniversary.  We were going to go out to dinner together but with Sydney's bottle issues and Austin always needing a lot of attention we decided we should be with them.  We may go out to dinner with the kids but it will be causal.

Happy Belated Birthday Brian (20.5 months and 6 weeks)

On Sunday we took pictures of Sydney while Austin was napping.  This was her first official photo shoot.  Here are some of the pictures.

Then we went down to my parents house for dinner.  They made a pie for Brian's birthday.  We never celebrated Brian's birthday this year.  The timing of his birthday was terrible.  First Sydney was only 3 weeks old and we were trying to figure her out.  Then Brian was really sick.  Plus he traveled to California on his birthday for work.  It was insanely crazy on his birthday.  I feel really bad that we did not celebrate it!  It was nice of my parents to celebrate it.

Sunday night Austin stayed at my parents house.  They love having him.  Austin really enjoys it too.  It was funny because when we left, Austin said bye-bye almost like please leave mom and dad so I can have fun!  It was weird only having Sydney at home.  It's funny because even though Austin is only 20 months old, it's hard to remember our lives before Austin.  And now it's doesn't seem right if we don't have both of them.

Austin continues to go to daycare on my scheduled days to work.  At first, I really needed that.  Now though I really miss when he's not here with me all day.  Austin has been great when we are home alone.  He understands that it is only me and that I must take care of him and Sydney.  Sometimes I feel bad for Sydney though when Austin is home because most of the time his needs are met first (he's the squeakier wheel so to speak).  Luckily she doesn't seem to mind.

Another fun development is that Austin got his own stool.  He used to brush his teeth while sitting with his feet in the sink in the bathroom.  Now that he's wearing pants because it is getting colder out, he gets them all wet.  So we bought a stool so Austin could stand by the sink.  Brian helps him brush his teeth each night.  The stool was only intended for the bathroom, but Austin loves it for all things.  He's basically grown 11 inches overnight!  Now he carries it everywhere and uses it for everything.  It's quite fun to watch!  He even uses it to do things that he's tall enough to do without it.

It's hard being a parent.  You are always worrying if what you are doing is right and best for them.  I was reading something recently and it said it's great having kids close together because the first few years are rough but then they will play with each other and won't need mommy or daddy to play with them.  That made me sad.  I really enjoy playing with Austin!  Austin loves playing with his daddy because its more fun.  Brian does fun stuff with Austin like picking him up and taking off outside on a moment's notice to see a helicopter if we hear one (Austin loves helicopters although buses are still his favorite).  Brian holds Austin upside down and carries him on his shoulders.  He also lets him do things I would not think of doing like filling the sink with bubbles and letting him play in it.  Austin adores his daddy.

That made me think I need to start doing some fun things with Austin.  So everyday I am going to try and doing something fun with him.  Yesterday we made banana bread together.  However instead of him just putting the ingredients in the bowl, I let him have his own bowl on the floor and he put his own ingredients.  He added flour, baking soda, salt, and then he wanted to add "juice".  So I decided to give him some lemon juice to add.  The poured it in and to his surprise it started bubbling over.  He was not expecting that.  After he got over the shock of it getting him really messy, he played in it and wanted more ingredients.   The kitchen floor was a complete mess and so was Austin.  But I did not care.  I was determined to let Austin have fun and worry about the mess later.  We spent about an hour doing this.  It worked out because Sydney was sleeping.  It allowed me to spend quality time with Austin.

After we were done, Austin decided he wanted to play downstairs.  It was great because Austin spent a few minutes playing by himself and I was able to clean up the kitchen.  Austin seemed to be in a better mood because he got so much of my undivided attention first thing in the morning.  We also listened to music and danced.  Pandora is great and they have children's radio stations that Austin loves.  We even did the hokey pokey.  Austin and I really enjoyed our day.

Sydney has been vomiting this week.  Sydney has always spit up much more than Austin ever did however twice this week she has really vomited her milk back up.  First was with Brian at night when I was sleeping.  Most nights I sleep from 9-11 pm and Brian takes care of Sydney.  Well during that time she vomited all over him and the couch.  Oh this is why we are glad we don't have too nice of things!  We got our couches probably about 7 years ago.  I really love them and think they are very comfortable.  But now our kids are going to ruin them!  Brian used carpet cleaner to clean it up but it still smelled in the morning.  I used baking soda and water mixture and that took the smell away.  Then Sydney vomited on the other couch the next day with me.

I am not sure why she does it but after a while she drinks more and is fine.  We try to keep her upright after feeding and make sure she gets her burps out.  It takes a while for her to burp many times.  Sydney's most fussy time is from 8-10 pm usually when Brian has her (a couple weeks later than this, we realized it was because she didn't like the bottle more so than the time of the day). I decided to try something different to try and stop that.  Once Austin goes to bed, Sydney gets a bath.  She loves water and likes to play in it.  So we let her get her energy out.  After bath time, I fed her and she goes to sleep.  Then she sleeps 5-6 hours.  I think its a win win situation.  Sydney is happy and not fuzzy.  Brian doesn't have to deal with the fuzziness all alone.  I get to sleep for 5 hours after she goes to bed.  That is an awesome feeling!

I'm so excited for this weekend.  We are taking Austin to fall festivals which is basically a pumpkin patch with hay rides.  My parents are going to watch Sydney so we can spend the whole evening with Austin.  I can't wait!

Sydney's One Month Check Up (5 weeks)

Monday was the first day that I had Austin and Sydney all day home with me without any help.  I have been so lucky to have the support of my parents, mother in law, sister in law, and brother Dean that has allowed me to go 5 weeks before having to take care of two kids all day long.  Also Austin has continued to go to daycare on my normal work days.  That has worked out great for me.   This has allowed me time with Sydney and to adjust to the post postpartum phase.  Plus Austin enjoys daycare and he learns so much there.   (I was a single mom for 3 days when Brian went to California so I have spent many hours alone with them but on the those days I had some help throughout the day).

Austin has been great for me when we are home alone with Sydney.  He really likes being a big brother and helping out.  He tells me where he wants Sydney and also tries to help carry her with me.  It is very cute.  I couldn't be happier with him.  When I am feeding Sydney, Austin and I will either read books together or I let him watch You Tube videos of "The Wheels on the Bus".  Austin is obsessed with buses right now.  He loves seeing them when we drive.  Bus is definitely his favorite word right now.

Last Friday, Austin said is first sentence.  We were asking him where are your shoes and he said "I don't know".  Brian and I looked at each other and said did he just say what we think he said.  Then we asked him other questions and he always used the sentence appropriately.  It was very exciting.  Austin is talking so much more now.  He says at least 20-25 words now.  It's so fun to listen to him.

On Tuesday, I took Sydney for her one month check up.  She now weights 9 lb 12 oz.  She is growing so fast.  It kind of makes me sad that she is growing so fast. Sydney is mostly likely our last child.  We are very happy with our family.  When I had Austin, I always knew I would probably have another baby.  But now, I know this is probably it for me.  I really cherish the time to hold her and spend time with her.  On my days with her, I can easily hold her for an hour.  Holding a baby, especially one that is as sweet as Sydney, is a wonderful thing.  I really love it!

The doctor said everything looks good with Sydney.  He is not concerned about anything.  We can now go 5 hours without waking her up to eat.  That is awesome since she will sleep 5 hours at night.  With a new baby you don't get much sleep, however Sydney loves to sleep.  Despite this, previously we have had to wake her up every 2-3 hours to eat.  But now we can go 5 hours.  Since she was born, I have not got more than 3 hours of sleep at a time.  That becomes difficult but now I can get 4-5 hours.  Oh I am so happy!  I really can't complain because she sleeps so much I am able to get sleep too even if it is in small segments.

Wednesday I took Austin and Sydney to the park so Austin could play on the playground.  There was no one else there which worked out nicely.  Austin played for about 30 minutes   It was nice because I played with Austin and Sydney just slept in her carrier.  When we went to leave, Austin ran away from me but quickly realized I meant business and walked back to the car with us.  It was great.  I was worried how I was going to get him in the car while having Sydney if he would not listen but luckily I did not have to experience that.  Austin has been really good!

I am so grateful for my children.  They are so amazing!  I look at Austin and can't believe everything he knows and does.  Time is going by so fast.  I can't believe he is 20 months already.  He has turned into a little boy so quickly.   And Sydney is a great baby.  She really is a sweet girl.  She doesn't cry much and loves to be held.  I couldn't be more blessed!