Happy Thanksgiving (22 months and 12 weeks)

This week my mom was really sick.  She developed pneumonia.  It sucked because she couldn't be around the kids.  Usually my mom comes over at least once a week to help with Austin and Sydney but she couldn't this week.  I appreciate all the help she gives me with them.

We also took the kids to Breakfast with Santa.  They had fun and we talked to some other parents that live near us and also go to the same daycare.  Austin mainly liked running around and sitting at the various tables coloring.  He wanted Sydney to sit next to him.  I think we might get him a kids table and chairs set for Christmas or his birthday since he liked it so much and he does like to color at home too.

Melissa and Jonathan came up for Thanksgiving.  It was so nice of them to come up.  With Melissa being pregnant I know it's hard to travel.  Plus it is a long drive.  They came over on Wednesday.  They brought toys for Austin and Sydney.  Austin got a helicopter which he loves.  He also got some Home Depot tools.  He loved his tools too.   In fact the next morning that was the first thing he got and had to fix his car with them.  Sydney got a plush doggie that she likes to chew on.  Austin gives it to her.  It's so cute to see that.   She also got a shopping cart for when she is a little older.  It was so nice of them to get them these thoughtful gifts.

 

I gave Melissa some baby stuff.  It is nice to start getting rid of things I will no longer need.  After Austin, I still needed to keep everything because I knew we wanted more children but now I am pretty sure we are done.  Our family feels complete and I could not be happier.  I am also so excited for Melissa and Jonathan! They are going to be great parents.  Being a parent is the best thing in the world (probably the hardest too but it's all worth it). They even got some swaddling practice in with Sydney while they were here.

Wednesday night we went to the park with the kids.  Jonathan and Brian chased Austin around the park while Melissa and I talked about baby Yogi.  It was fun.  Then we went to Bob Evans for dinner.  During dinner Melissa taught Austin how to break crayons.  Fortunately Austin does not break them at home.  I can't wait to see what Brian teaches baby Yogi.  Austin and Sydney were good during dinner.  It is hard to go out with both of them.  I bounced Sydney on my lap as I ate but that is fine.  I have learned to eat really fast and know that most likely I am going to have a child on my lap.  Many times if I have Sydney on my lap then Austin wants to be on Brian's lap.

On Thanksgiving, my mother in law and grandma came over.  It was nice because we had never done a turkey before and with the kids it's hard to cook and care for them.  I told Brian that I did not want to clean out the turkey.  He was playing with Austin outside when it was time to clean it out.  But he came in and started doing it for me.  After Brian cleaned out the turkey, my mother in law took over and basically did the rest of the Thanksgiving dinner.  It was very nice.

Before nap on Thanksgiving Austin wanted to use the potty.  He has been sitting on his potty sporadically for a few weeks now.  We have not forced the issue but if he wants to try we let him.  That means Brian or I sit on the bathroom floor and read him potty books.  We are in there for at least 20 minutes.  That is a little challenging when we are home alone but we are making it work.  I have to be honest I am not looking forward to potty training.  It is going to be messy and a lot of work but know it will be worth it in the end.  So on Thanksgiving, Austin went pee pee in the potty for the first time.  We were all so excited for him.  He gets chocolate when he goes.  He was happy about his chocolate.  It is a work in progress but we are at least starting.  We also ordered more potty books because we only had two and Brian and I were both really sick of them after reading only those books for 20 plus minutes 

Dinner turned out well.  It was sad because my mom couldn't be there because she was sick.  It was nice to have Brian's family in town.  My dad, grandpa, and his friend Karen all came up too.  We had a nice time.  This year Austin did not vomit at the dinner table.  That is always a bonus.  Sydney started to get hungry during dinner.  We tried to warm up a bottle but she did not want a bottle.  She was too upset by the time we got it ready.  So I fed Sydney in our room, while my mother in law and Melissa cleaned up my whole kitchen.  I felt horrible!  It was so nice of them.  It was a nice Thanksgiving.

On Friday, my mother in law, Mike, and grandma came over to see the kids for a short time.  They needed to get back home.  They played with them and then went home.  After nap, Melissa and Jonathan came over for the evening and played with them too.  It was fun hanging out with them.  Before they moved we would see each other at least once a month.  Now it's only a few times a year.  We miss hanging out with them as much but enjoy the time when we are together.  I really wish they lived closer now since Yogi is coming.  Austin and Sydney would have so much fun with Yogi.  But we are hoping maybe to go on vacations together.

Saturday morning we met Melissa and Jonathan at Wally Waffles for breakfast.  Again we had a nice time with them.  They were going home today.  It was nice because again Austin and Sydney were really good.  We got to enjoy our meal too.  After breakfast, Brian and I took the kids to see the Christmas tree festival in Akron.  I love going to see the trees.  Sydney was crying so Brian took her out of the stroller.  When Austin saw that she was out, he wanted out too.  It was a little bit of a mess but we figured it out and it worked out okay.

Then on Saturday night, we decided to take Austin to a play land inside Burger King.  When we arrived we realized it was under construction so we couldn't go there.  Sydney was getting hungry too.  We did not know what to do.  We ended up at Chick Filet.  Brian took Austin inside to play and I stayed in the car and fed Sydney.  I am getting really good at feeding Sydney in the car.  It is actually better than the bottles because she won't fight it.  It worked out because after she was done eating she was really happy and enjoyed watching her brother play on the playground.

A week earlier we went to Parasons for dinner with the kids.  We thought it would be fun.  It was, but we ended up spending most of the time trying to get Austin to stay in his chair and keep Sydney from crying.  It was about as much work as it would be just to stay at home eat dinner.  The playground at a fast food restaurant is a little more kid friendly and obviously has a much lower bar for expectations of behavior!

Brian and I had a great long weekend together.  It has been awhile since we had a long weekend.  Brian did not have to work too much this weekend so it was great.  We really enjoyed our family time.  I wish every weekend could be like this.

Austin goes to ER (21.5 months and 11 weeks)

Austin has had a rough time recently.  First he ended up getting a splinter while playing outside.  He was helping us pick up sticks.  We think he may have gotten the splinter from that.  We noticed when he got inside and it was bothering him.  It was in pretty deep and had broken off, so Brian had to dig to get it out.  It also kept breaking so he had to take it out in 3-4 pieces.  Fortunately we bought a pain reliever spray and put it on his hand to numb it and that worked.  This combined with having him play with his electronic computer, watch bus videos on the kindle, and play the bus episode of Mega Machines on the TV, kept him distracted enough to let Brian work.  Fortunately he got it out, but it was a bit of an ordeal nonetheless. 

On Tuesday, I went to work like usual.  I received a call from daycare that a kid bit Austin.  This is not the first time this has occurred.  The daycare is working with the child and parents to hopefully stop this behavior.  I came home Tuesday and cooked dinner really fast and went to pick up the kids.  I really like having the daycare so close to home.  On work days, I usually come home for 15 minutes and get dinner and lunches ready then go pick up Austin and Sydney.  This way when we get home everything is done and I can spend time with the kids.  Everyone is happier this way.

When I picked up Austin the teacher told me that Austin fell asleep during morning snack.  Austin never falls asleep during the middle of activities.  He sleeps well at night and during naps but that is it.  I can't get him to relax on the couch for anything.  He is always on the go.  Falling asleep during lunch is way out of the norm for him.  Also right before I picked him up he had vomited.  Austin looked like he had been crying too. Yet somehow none of this was mentioned and they only called to tell me about the bite.  His change in behavior is obviously much more concerning.  I loaded them up in the car and we came home.

Once I carried everything in the house, Austin and I were in the kitchen.  Austin went over by the refrigerator leaning on it and was having a hard time breathing.  He was wheezing and just did not look right.  I called Brian but he did not answer.  I called my parents and asked them to come up to watch Sydney.  I waited another minute or two and realized something was definitely wrong with Austin so we were going to urgent care.  I packed everyone back up and off the urgent care we went.  I sent Brian a text message letting him know.

On the way to urgent care, Brian called me and I told him what was going on.  He drove straight there to meet us.  I called my parents and also told them to meet me there.  I was not waiting at home for anyone to arrive.  Luckily Sydney was sleeping so she is very easy to transport when she is sleeping.  Once we got to urgent care I checked in and they brought us back quickly.  As soon as we went back Brian got there.  They checked Austin out and decided he needed to go the the E.R. side.

They tested him for flu virus and RSV.  Those are fun tests since they have to stick a cotton swab up his nose.  As you can imagine  he was not very happy.  Then they gave him a respiratory treatment.  He really hated that.  Brian held him down while I held the mask to his face.  He screamed for the 10 minutes   He improved a little bit but he ended up getting another treatment.  Again it was painful for everyone to watch.  My parents were there and took care of Sydney for us.  It was very nice!

The doctor was going to discharge him home however Austin was breathing rapidly and with his stomach quite a bit.  Therefore he said he had to admit him to the hospital.  My heart broke.  What was I going to do?  I needed to be with Austin but I also needed to be with Sydney.  What a mess!  The ER called the hospital and were working on getting him admitted.  We were trying to figure out what to do.  Brian and my mom went home with Sydney.  Brian was packing some things to bring and my mom was going to stay home with Sydney.  He was hoping to make it back before the ambulance ride to Rainbow Babies.  My dad stayed with Austin and I.  There was a lot of confusion about whether or not we could drive Austin to the hospital ourselves or if we had to take an ambulance.  We wanted to but there were some risks so the ER people were talking to the hospital people and finally decided that we were allowed to.

Brian got back and then I decided to run home really quick so I could pump.  Then since we were allowed to take Austin to the hospital ourselves they would drive by and pick me up.  Once I got home, I got a call from Brian that they are now allowing Austin to come home.  The ER got a hold of his pediatrician and he said to get an inhaler for the night and make an appointment in the morning.  That was a relief!  Brian brought Austin home and then he went to get Austin's prescriptions filled.  It was around 10 pm. Austin had been at the hospital for about 4 hours.  He was quite frustrated with his little room and wanted to go "out", "out", "out" as he said.  I couldn't imagine spending the entire night in the hospital with him.  He wouldn't want to sleep at all with all the activity.

Finally poor Austin got to eat some dinner.  Once Brian got home we gave Austin his medications and put him to bed.  Brian stayed up until 2 am checking on Austin.  I then checked on him the rest of the night.  Brian and I got very little sleep but at least Austin was home and doing okay.

We took Austin the the doctor in the morning.  In the office they again gave him more respiratory treatments.  That helped him.  It was decided we could go home, but we needed to give him breathing treatments at home every 4 hours.  Brian went to work and I took the kids home.  By this time Sydney was hungry so I had to go home to feed here.  Then we all had to go back out to get these new prescriptions filled.  I was exhausted!

While at the drug store there was a issue with getting the Prednisone again since Brian just had it filled last night.  However the dosage had changed so we needed it.  The pharmacist called and got approval but that took about 20 minutes   While waiting Sydney had a melt down first but finally she went to sleep. Then Austin had a melt down.  I tried to let him pick out things to play with but he was not having it.  He wanted to go home.  Finally we all went home.

Luckily Austin did very well taking his respiratory treatments at home.  I let him get the medication and put it in the machine with help.  He got to push the on button of the machine.  Austin loves to push buttons.  Then he watched You Tube videos on his Kindle. He loved that.  He took his breathing treatment without any crying. I was so happy.  He would even hold the mask to his face himself.  After a couple of days, he would ask for his medicine (so he could watch his videos).

We had to adjust our work schedules for the rest of the week so Austin could get his medicine.  Brian stayed home a little later and I got off a little earlier.  It was a little stressful since I am just going back to work but it all turned out okay.  The best part was Austin was getting better!  By Sunday, he no longer needed any breathing treatments and his cough was even better.  Austin has had a terrible cough for months now.  It periodically gets a little better but never really seems to go away.

Now we are hoping everyone can stay healthy for a little while!

Back to Work (21.5 months and 10 weeks)

Last Saturday I went and got my hair highlighted and cut.  I got 5 inches cut off my hair.  My hair has not been this short in a very long time.  Usually I am nervous when I get my hair cut.  Not this time.  I wanted my hair cut so badly.  I don't have time to care of my long hair.  So having shorter hair is wonderful right now.  I really like it.

Saturday night was trick or treat in our neighborhood.  Our neighbors came over and brought dinner.  They have 4 kids.  They are a little older than Austin but Austin still likes to play with them.  After dinner, the dads took the kids trick or treating while Sheri and I stayed home with Sydney.  Austin had a great time.  Austin loves riding on Brian's shoulders but he would always walk up to the houses.  I guess a few times Austin even tried to go inside people's houses.  The neighbor kids always helped Austin and made sure he did not go in their house.  It was sweet.

I went back to work on Tuesday.  I left for work at 7am.  I fed Sydney at 6am.  When I put her in her swing after eating, I knew that was the last time I was holding her until after work.  It was a little sad but I did not cry.  I was really happy to be going back to work.  Austin was not up yet when I left. That was a little sad too because I always get him up in the morning.  I love my morning time with Austin.

Brian got them both ready for school and took them to daycare.  I had everything packed for them.  Austin is a little slow moving in the mornings (at bedtime too) but luckily Austin did not move too slowly so Brian could get to work.  Brian said the drop off went well.

Work was extremely busy for me.  I had so much to catch up on.  Plus I pumped twice during the day.  I really am not a big fan of pumping at work.  But I got to do what I got to do.  Plus my pump was acting funny so I knew I needed to call Medela once I got home to get that figured out.  I was getting milk in the tubing and my left breast was not pumping well even though it was full of milk.  It was annoying!  Then I ended up working a little later than I wanted to.  So I rushed home from work.  Got dinner started and ran to pick up the kids.  When I got there, they had just started feeding a bottle to Sydney.  I missed it by 5 minutes.  Because that meant I would have to pump again when I got home.  With my pump not working, this did not make me too happy.  Then when I went and got Sydney's car seat by her crib there was a pacifier in her crib that was not hers!  Great, now she is going to be really sick.  They felt really bad and I understand it happens but this was not going well. (It turns out that we later determined this was actually one of Austin's old pacifiers they found in the bottom of the baby bag we were reusing - Austin never really used his which is why it didn't even occur to us that he had one to find and use).

I went and got Austin then we went back to pick up Sydney.  Austin really enjoyed that because he got to put her in the car seat and carry her out to the car.  Austin loves to help take care of his little sister.  Then we went home.  Austin wanted attention.  I needed to pump and make dinner.  Sydney was crying for some reason.  Oh how I hate this time of the day.  Finally I decided to nurse Sydney because that would stop her from crying.  Then I sat on the couch with Austin and watched bus videos.  However it was too late for Austin he was already having a melt down.  Poor Austin.  I was so happy to see Brian get home very soon after.  We ate dinner and ran to Target to get new pumping supplies.  Austin loves his trips out so it worked out.

On Wednesday, Sydney had her 2 month old check up.  Brian met me at the doctor's office but they were running behind so he did not get to stay long.  They said that she is growing well and everything looks good.  She is in the 40th percentile for weight and 98th percentile for height.  Sydney weighed 11 pounds 8 ounces and she is 24 1/2 inches long.  She is going to be a tall girl.  It looks like I am going to be the short one in the family.

Wednesday night and early Thursday morning Sydney had a fever.  We did not know if it was because of her shots or because she started daycare.  It got as high as 100.4.  For children under 3 months, you have to call the doctor when that occurs.  Early Thursday morning, Sydney was also vomiting up her milk.  I tried to give her Tylenol but she kept vomiting.  I called the physician on call and she said for me to bring her into the office the morning.  That meant I had to call off work.  Brian was willing to stay home with her but since she was sick we did not know how well she would take the bottle.  She is not a huge fan of the bottle.  So I stayed home and took her to the doctor.

The doctor was not that concerned.  He said to keep giving her Tylenol and keep her hydrated.  He thought it was mostly likely due to the vaccines   Even though I was suppose to be back to work, it was like I was still on maternity leave since Austin was in daycare and I was home with Sydney.  I talked with my boss and she let me come in Friday afternoon.   Brian went to work in the morning and my mom came over and watched the kids until Brian got home after lunch. I was so glad I got to go to work since I was so far beyond on all my work stuff.

 

We are starting to develop our new routine and all and all everything is going well.

Happy Halloween (21 months and 9 weeks)

On Saturday, we went to my parents house so Austin could go trick or tricking.  Austin was a duck this time.  I ended up with two costumes that fit him so he has been wearing both of them.  My parents stayed at home with Sydney and Brian and I took Austin around the block.  It did not take him along to figure out how this works.  Many people would let Austin pick a treat.  Austin really liked that.  Austin walked with us the entire time.  Towards the end of the night, Austin ended up on Brian's shoulders (he loves that) but we still had him walk up to each house.  It was a lot of fun and Austin really enjoyed it.  I even let him have some of the candy he got.

Tuesday night Brian and I went to the home homer of the Cavs game.  We love the Cavs and before kids we would watch every game.  We use to have season tickets but after Austin was born we realized we would not be able to go that often.  My parents came up and watched the kids.  This was the first time we left without either kid.  It was kind of weird.  Evenings are the busiest time of the day so I really hate leaving them.  In the evenings, Brian usually takes care of Austin and I take care of Sydney.  It really takes two adults to keep everyone happy.  Brian and I had a great time together.  The Cavs even won which made it even better.

On Wednesday, I took Austin to school for his Halloween party.  There was a parade around the school.  Austin would not let go of my hand the entire time.  He must have been scared by all the people.  Basically every child had a parent there.  This was good to learn in the future.  After the parade the kids had a little party.  There were muffins, donuts, pancakes, and fruit.  Austin kept getting up and helping himself to the donuts.  He would shove them in his mouth and ask for more.  People must have thought I have never fed him before.  I was so happy I was able to attend the party with him.  My mom was nice and stayed with Sydney since she hasn't started day care yet.

Because of Hurricane Sandy, Trick or Treat in our neighborhood has been postponed until Saturday.  There were high winds and lots of rain on Halloween so most communities postponed Trick or Treat until the weekend.  That is good because hopefully it won't be raining then.  We had very high winds because of the hurricane.  Luckily we were not affected too much.  Only some small branches came down.  I was nervous about the storm though.  Before kids, it did not really matter too much to me because it was just Brian and I but now we have them to take care of.  Obviously I want them to be safe and well taken care of.

This weekend, I am going to get my hair done.  It has been a while since I have had it highlighted or cut.  My hair is really long.  I love my long hair but it's not practical with two little kids.  I always have it tied back so you can barely see any of my hair.  Sydney's little fingers get caught in it and that's dangerous since it could cut off her circulation (she gets my hair wrapped pretty tightly around her fingers).  So I am planning on cutting it.  Hopefully I will like it.

This is my last week of maternity leave.  I go back to work on Tuesday.  I have enjoyed my time off with Sydney so much!  With Austin, I was so clueless that it was hard to enjoy it.  But with Sydney I embraced every moment with her especially since I know this will likely be our last child.  I am looking forward to going back to work though.  I enjoy my job and adult interaction.  It will be crazy because I will either be at work or at home with both kids.  I will have to figure out a new routine but I have confidence we will figure it out okay.  We learned a lot from Austin so hopefully it won't be too bad.

It's funny because before Austin we thought we were busy.  We had no clue what busy was.  Then when we had Austin we thought we were really busy.  Again we did not have a clue, because now with Sydney and Austin we are extremely busy.  I can't imagine having more than two kids.   We realized we don't want to be out numbered by kids.

I am going to enjoy my last day home alone with my precious little girl.