The one where all I talk about is poopy

The most amazing thing happened last night. While I was doing my homework, the hubs was in charge of the kids. Amazing right? Just kidding, the amazing thing happened while he was watching them. I heard Hannah exclaiming that she had to go poopy. Unfortunately everything is poopy to her. Anyway, they went running into the bathroom and he put her on the pot gave her some books and walked away. About that time I had finished my homework and went to check on her. As I walked in the bathroom, I noticed she had her game face on so I quietly left. A minute or two passed and I walked back in, she looked up and told me to leave. Apparently she needs her privacy. Anyway, she sat there for probably 10-15 minutes before I was allowed to enter. I looked in the pot and broke into a poopy dance, because there really was poopy in there. She was really excited to flush that one because she got to say bye to the poopy. We then placed two stickers on the potty chart. Two because pooping is definitely worth more then potty. We danced and sang, we called grandma; it was a big old party. Then right before bed she wanted to go again, this time it was just potty but at least she is initiating the bathroom trips now. I say that, except today she did not want to wear big girl underwear, nor did she want to go on the big girl potty. At least we're getting somewhere though.

The Epic Tales of Potty Training

We have been working on potty training with the girl lately, and by we I mean me. She is doing pretty good with the potty. Most of the time when I sit her on it she goes and we have no accidents. However, sometimes she doesn't want to sit on the potty. Usually a little bit later she comes running, "Uh-oh, I potty, I potty!" Meaning that she started to go, felt the wet and stopped herself. Which, is a good step because then she will finish on the potty. It's the stinky that we have problems with. She has yet to go poopy on the potty. Since she usually goes in the evening I thought I would watch her and when she runs off to do her business I would throw her on the potty. So, last night I caught her in the act and we went running to the potty. We made faces to "push out the poopy" and nothing happened. So, I decided we would try reading books. Seriously she sat for like 20 minutes reading and nothing happened. By then it was bedtime and I told her we would try again later. She made a serious face and pushed and I really thought she was going to go. She did go potty, just no poopy:( It was so cute though, when she got up she had the red rings on her booty from sitting there so long!
Uncle Matt would be proud, these are the books she read while trying to go!

So Sweet

Thanks Uncey Matt

Hannah absolutely loves her new Dora couch and big Dora doll. Although Uncle Matt wasn't with us for Christmas, he still got the nieces and nephew typical Uncle Matt gifts. We call them Uncle Matt gifts because they are usually not a typical birthday or Christmas gift. For instance for Hannah's first birthday he got her a wooden picnic table. For her second birthday it was a Dora Big Wheels. Very nice gifts, just Uncle Mattish. Anyway, Hannah likes to lay on her couch and watch her movies in her new Dora T.V. that Mommy and Daddy got her for xmas. Her latest thing is that she has to be covered up with a blanket while watching. It is so cute that we had to capture it on film!

Holidays

We are happily home from our extended trip to Ohio and things are finally settling down around here. We had a wonderful trip and enjoyed spedning time with all of our friends and family...however my children are quite spoiled now! The trip home was, hmmm how should I put it, AWFUL!!! The normal 12.5 hour trip took 16.5 hours!! Which would not have been so bad if it weren't that we were driving two seperate vehicles and I had the children with me for the first 12 hours. See, we decided to buy me a Mom car when we were in Ohio. That's right I now drive a minivan, WOO-HOO! Anyway, the deal was we would keep both children in the minivan and the dog in the car then switch drivers each time we stopped. Unfortunately, that didn't happen and we stopped plenty of times. Alexander still eats every two hours, so by the time I would feed, burp and change him we would have approximately an hour and a half of driving time. Not to mention the times when we would stop for an extended ammount of time then have an even shorter driving window. Then there was the fact that Alex HATES his carseat. So, I got to listen to my fair share of him screaming because he was unhappy. For the most part Hannah did really good, but often when Alex was screaming she would get upset and then start whinning because he was crying. I would call Hubby on the cell just so he could hear what I was going through. The worst part was, when Alex was hungry I would call him to let him know we needed to stop and he would say, as soon as he found someplace....or in the next 20 minutes. Funny thing was when I finally forced him to take over the van, the second Alex started crying he would pull off. Then he was saying how miserable he was because he had to drive them. Oh, poor baby had to ride four hours with crying kids....welcome to my world for the past TWELVE!!!! Oh, I don't want to forget the fact that we drove through some pretty heavy fog in the mountains. So heavy that you could barely see the car in front of you. I already get a little anxious when driving through the mountains, add a little fog and I was a basket case! Did I mention that we were driving on New Years Eve? How's that for smart travel planning? Add all of those ingredients together and that is why it took us an extraordinarily long time to get home. So, even though we left at eight that morning, we were still driving when the ball dropped. In fact we were on a strip of road in the middle of nowhere surrounded by the National Forrest. Happy New Year! I hope that you had a much more peaceful one then I did!

Changing

I can't believe that it has already been three months! He is cooing and laughing so much these days and he loves to play on the floor with his big sister. This little guy is getting sooo big already; just look how much his face is filling out. I just transitioned him into his 3-6 mos clothes the last few weeks of December and I think I should have done it a little earlier. This was the first time he wore the above outfit and he is so long that I don't think he'll be wearing it much longer.

GO BUCKS!!!

Things were a little tense Saturday as we watched the big game! Alex was visibly upset as the Wolverines started making a come back.
In the end, the better team won and all was well with the Little Man.

Firsts...

Last week was an exciting week for us as we got to experience one of Alex's firsts. It happened last Tuesday morning. Alex and I were lounging in bed "talking" after finishing up one of his many morning meals. (That boy can really eat) As I talked to him he smiled at me. Immediately I started questioning if it was a "real" smile or one of those fluke gas moments. It was the most adorable thing though. His mouth was wide open and his eyes were little slits, it had to be real. Right? When the hubs came home from work that night I was so excited to tell him the big news.
Me: Guess what happened today.

Him: What did Hannah get into today?

Me: This isn't about her, although I'm sure I'll find something she got into when I pick up the
mess she made today.

Him: Well, what happened?

Me: Alex smiled!!!!

Him: Are you sure that he really smiled?

Me: Yes, of course.

Him: Sure.

So, I made it my mission to either catch it on camera or get him to see it. Thankfully the next night he got to see the smile. All I had to say was "See, I'm not crazy." We have caught a couple good ones on camera. Here is one of the best:

Don't you think that is one of the cutest smiles you have ever seen?

The difference between people with kids and without

On Monday the Golden Corral chain was honoring the veterans and active duty members by offering a free meal to them. Side note: Thank you to those of you who have served and are serving our country!!! The hubby and I decided to venture out into the madness because hey, it was a free meal. We understood that we live in a military town and that it would likely be packed but we decided to give it a try anyway. Well, we pulled into the parking lot to notice that the line was all the way out into the parking lot. Um, yeah two kids....not going to happen. If we didn't have kids we would have been right there waiting with the rest of the crowd, who incidentally for the most part did not have children. So, we turned around and drove back to our town and picked up chinese. As we walked into the house we heard a strange sound. After looking around for about five seconds we realized the fish tank was leaking all over the carpet. At that point I was thankful that we didn't stay at the feeding frenzy because we had lost about 1/3 of the water while we were gone and it would have really been a mess if we didn't arrive home when we did. However, the food was hot and Hannah was cranky so we ate are chinese before messing with the darn fish (I did however throw some towels under the tank to absorb up some of the water). Since we had just driven from our neighboring town that has actually has stores where you can buy fish tanks, we decided to wait and just put the fish in a Rubbermaid tub for the night. Which Hannah thought was the funniest thing!
Coincidentally, I also had my 6 week check-up on Monday. Unfortunately, even though Tony told me to schedule it for that day because he would be able to watch the kiddos, he couldn't get off. So, I dropped Hannah off at a friends and to Mr. Man with me. He did fine until I got into the exam room. So the nurse rocked his seat while I got examined...which I hate at this office. Instead of changing into a gown they give you this paper sheet to cover up with and you leave your shirt on. The problem with the paper sheet is that it is not very big. I don't consider myself to be a big person and I can barely fit it around my butt. So as you're sitting on the table waiting for the doctor you feel like your crack is hanging out for all to see. Regardless, after the doctor leaves I throw on my clothes and meet him in his office. When I walk in he kind of chuckles and says "This is how you can tell the difference between women who have kids and those that don't. The ones with kids get dressed in under 30 seconds because they know that is about all the time they have." That right there is the story of my life!

Loveable

Although he is quite the cutie, he is also quite a handful. Just today I was telling the hubs that Alex is the type of baby that makes you wonder if you're really cut out to be a parent. But really he's not that bad I've just been spoiled. You see I had the easiest/happiest baby in the world when I had Hannah. Either that or I had some mad parenting skills....go ahead laugh. I'm sure that's what God was doing when he heard me think that! Sure she was jaundice and I had to feed her with a medicine dropper because she wouldn't latch on, but she was easy. At least I remember her as being easy. She was sleeping in her crib (after she got out from under that "light") and would go right back to sleep after eating. At least I remember her going right back to sleep, but honestly I'm picturing us in our house on Loblolly, so she was already two months old. She didn't cry whenever you put her down and she did not spit up that much! Maybe it's just the added stress of having a two year old, but this one is the exact opposite. I am having the hardest time with breastfeeding this one. It seems like he eats non-stop and he's not that good at it. He has a hard time latching on correctly. He roots and roots rubbing the oobie, which in turn gets the milk flowing and he's still not latched on! Then we have milk spraying out, a mad baby and a toddler jumping on my lap wanting to watch monkey movie right now. Only hello, mommy has her hands full right now could you please be patient? "Yeah, Hannah patient" is her response, only five seconds later she is demanding to watch the movie again. Not to mention once he's finally latched on he has to burp like five seconds later and starts arching his back and we all know how wonderful that feels! Then there's the whole wailing whenever put down thing. Seriously, if he's not sound asleep do not even think about putting him down for longer then two minutes. Tack that on top of not getting any sleep and not getting out much and it's enough to make me wonder how much it would cost to ship him to grandma's house...at least until he's sleeping through the night. Of course when calculating the price I also have to add in the cost of overnighting milk so he can be fed. Hmmm, I wonder what I would have to pack it in? Of course then I look his adorable little face and kiss his little feet and realize that this won't last much longer. In fact all too soon he will be the two year old demanding my attention and not wanting to be held or snuggled. I have to beg Hannah for a kiss or hug. Occasionally she'll give me one on her own and she doesn't sit still long enough to snuggle. So all together it is worth the lack of sleep and zombie like state because I realize how precious these first few months are....even if my oobies are really sore from the poor latch on techniques!

When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling bad....

Here are a few of our favorite things:

Alex absolutely loves his sling! He is as content as can be when I put him in there. Usually it's because he's cranky and I need to get something done around the house. Since I'm able to hold him and be hands free it makes me love it.
Another favorite is his swing. We finally broke out the batteries so he could use it and he seems to enjoy it quite a bit as you can tell from the content look on his face:)

As you can tell from the outfit she picked out Dora is a favorite for Tater. She has on a Dora shirt, pajama bottoms and to complete the look her Dora bathing suit. She found it when I was sorting through her drawers the other day and since has wanted to wear it every time she sees it!!!

I don't have a picture of my favorite thing, which is sleep. If only I could get more of it. With Alex spitting up so much he does not sleep good at night. We have him sleeping in his Baby Papasan, (inside of the Pack'n Play) but after he eats he just doesn't fall back to sleep right away. He's usually agitated and a little gassy until he finally gets out a good burp which may or may not soak me in spit up. Anyway, it's not as easy to get the extra sleep when you have to stay conscious to look after the two year old who is wreaking havoc on the house.

Changing

I can't believe that Alexander is already one month old!! He has done quite a bit of growing in the past month. Here are his one month stats:

Weight: 10 lbs 11 3/4 oz

Height: 22 inches

Rubber Ducky....You're the one

You make bathtime so much fun!! Alex took his first real bath on Saturday. Surprisingly he did really well, no fussing or crying at all. He just looked around with those big blue eyes of his like he was trying to figure out what was going on. Such a cutie!!!

Big sister on the other hand took two baths. The first being her normal bath and the second to remove the Vaseline from her body. That is right, Hannah found the Vaseline this weekend. She has been doing really good about playing in her room lately. We put her CD player on the floor and she listens to music and dances. Normally I make sure that all of the baby supplies are out of her grasp, however I didn't think about it on Saturday evening. I was nursing Alex and hubs was watching a movie when Hannah walked out looking like this:

While he attempted to clean her off I went to survey the damage. When I first walked into her room I didn't see anything but a small glob on the carpet and a little on the bottom of the changing table. Not bad, but when I turned to leave this is what I saw:

We would like to thank her grandparents for sending her Curious George. You see, in the movie George gets into some paints and puts hand prints on the walls. No doubt that was what the tots was doing don't you think? Now if somebody could please tell me how to get Vaseline off my wall I would greatly appreciate it!

It's a.......BOY!!!

In my previous post about Alexander's birth into the world, I forgot to mention a bit about the doctor. It seems that he forgot that we did not know the sex of our baby. So after finally yanking the baby out we hear a small cry and everybody continues to go about their business. The nurse up by my head says something along the lines of "Sex?" but doesn't get a response. Finally the doctor says "A big guy just like daddy." Hubby and I both respond "GUY?!" To which we receive an "Oh, you didn't know the sex? It's a boy!"

Such a sweet picture! 

Big Sister

So far the transition from only child to Big Sister Hannah has not been too bad. She seems to like Alex well enough and only requests that we put him in his seat (the Baby Papasan) a couple of times a day. Yes, she shows signs of jealousy and yes she throws more tantrums, but it is not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. In fact during the day she is really good. It is not until Daddy gets home that things start to get ugly. I'm hoping that this just means that she's clinging to Daddy since Mommy has to take care of the baby.

(This picture was taken during Alexander's first trip to the beach last week. Hannah had such a good time running around playing in the water and digging in the sand all the while Alex just slept.) Anyway, while the grandparents were here she got spoiled to the core. She received so many presents, treats and extra attention that we were afraid how she would respond after they left. The truth is, she actually got better. Not as many fits were thrown and she was back to her semi-normal self. I guess she knows who is wrapped around her little finger!

Chillin' 

Painting with Daddy 

Changing

Here is Alexander, 16 days old next to Teddy. I'm going to copy Stephanie and take a picture of him by it every month to see how much he has grown and changed! Unfortunately, the bear is in better focus than Alex is, I'll have to work on that for next time.

Patience must not be a virtue

At least not in my family. As most of you already know, Alexander Jay made his appearance on October 2 at 12:43 am. He was 7lbs 14oz and 21.5 inches long. He wasn't scheduled to arrive until Wednesday of this week, but he had his own schedule. On Saturday of last week I started having contractions. Throughout the day they got progressively worse so we drove to the hospital. After three hours of being monitored they sent us home because nothing was happening. Well, the contractions never stopped. Sunday we went about our normal activities all the while the pain was getting worse. Finally at 9 that night I begged hubby to take me to the hospital. He really didn't think anything was going to happen, but agreed to take me.

Well we got there and I was about 4 cm dilated and 100 percent effaced. So, they said they would call surgery and get us there as soon as possible. They finally wheeled me down to surgery around midnight so who knows how dilated I was by then! Mr. Alex had worked his way down the canal by then and they had a really hard time getting him out. His little head was stuck so they pushed and pushed on me to try to get him out before finally using the vacuum on him. Unfortunately that bruised up his little face, but he was fine.
I think that you'll agree with me when I say that I see a lot of my husband in him. Hubby was a little more filled out, but their faces look alike! Anyway, since my c-section was scheduled for Wednesday, I took one more class that just finished tonight. I have been so stressed out worrying about finishing that class, praise God it is over!!
Here are a few pictures of Alex and Daddy for comparison. My next post will feature Big Sister Hannah and how she is adjusting to the life with a new baby! All I have to say is thank God for grandparents! They have truly been a lifesaver.