Broken

Well, today was the day that we have been dreading...Daddy left for Iraq earlier today. It was a lot harder then I expected. I thought I had prepared myself mentally for it, but I was not prepared for the emotions that flooded me when I saw my husband say goodbye to our children. It was especially hard when Hannah was crying:(

We thought that she was prepared because she was so excited about going to Ohio, unfortunately I think that she was just focusing on that to "help" adjust. When Tony got dressed today and said he was getting ready for work, it was an instant meltdown. She did not want Daddy to leave. I think this made it even harder for Daddy.

Here are my two men, looking so identical:) Of course Alexander did not understand what was going on, so he was Mr. Personality. Smiling away at Daddy, which made me so sad. He loves playing with Daddy and all the sudden this person is going to go "missing" from his life. In seven months when Daddy returns, Alex won't even remember him.
I wish her hair wasn't blowing in her face for this picture, it is such a sweet shot.
Daddy with his two kids, notice the tears in the girls eyes! They are going to be so big when he returns...well Alex will be so much bigger, Hannah will just be older.

The highlight of the day was when Daddy took her over to the "big truck." It was the first smile of the day and it got better from there! Here she is driving!
She has already talked about him a couple times today; wanting to call him or show him a picture she drew. As you can tell it has been an emotional day. I do not remember it being this hard the last time!!! Thankfully, we will be going to Ohio soon and that will keep us busy for the deployment. If you haven't noticed there is a countdown at the bottom of the page. It is tentative because I don't know the exact date or time that he will be returning so I just have it set for October 15th at 5pm. Please keep us in your prayers as Daddy travels and we adjust!

Tub Time!

Changing

The boy is now five months, geesh he is getting so big. He has been discovering so much lately. About a week ago, he found his feet and now he loves grabbing them. He has also figured out how to really get his jumper to bounce. I think that is one of his favorite places to be, sitting in his jumper just a bouncing along. He has now rolled over I think three times without any assistance, but that is few and far between. Last night we gave him cereal for the first time. I was planning on waiting until he was six months, but I wanted Hubby to see it before left. Hubs laughed when I told him we were going to do it and said he didn't think he was ready. Well, boy was he wrong. Alexander opened his mouth right up and would practically eat the spoon he liked it so much. I guess he was ready!

I go to hio Mommy?!

I haven't posted about Badoo lately so here are a couple of little stories about what the girl has been up to:
Two Fridays ago I took her to get her hair cut. She was such a good girl, she sat there with no problem and admired her puppy dog cape. The problem came when she was all done. She. did. not. want. to. take. off. that. cape. She was so mad at the hairdresser. She would not even look at her.... Later that day we were talking and she said "Hannah, get a hair cut," and used her fingers as scissors across her bangs. It was so cute. Then she said "I wear puppies..." with a sad expression!
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We have been talking to her lately about Daddy leaving for Iraq soon. Trying to explain that he won't see her for a long time but he won't forget her etc. We also add that she will be moving to Ohio and will get to see her grandparents, aunts and uncles and play with all her cousins. I think she zones in on that point and forgets about Daddy leaving. The first thing she said to me this morning when I woke her up was "I go to hio Mommy?"
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We gave brother some cereal the other night, Hannah of course thought this was such a fun thing to do. She sat next to me as I fed him and watched. I asked her if she wanted to taste it and she exclaimed "NO! I TOO BIG!"

It's not polite to play with your food!

Alexander has learned a new trick....drum roll please. When he is nursing and is almost full he pulls off and makes a raspberry with his mouth....with the milk that is still in there. He thinks that it is so funny and does this over and over again all the while I am getting sprayed in the face with milk. I guess it is never too early to start teaching them manners. I can just see it now, he is sitting in the high school lunch room spraying all the cute girls with milk. The teacher on duty will walk up and say "Didn't your mother ever teach you not to play with your food boy?" Yeah, we better get on that one! Also, I think that we might have picked the wrong name out for him. He has been growing like a weed lately and already fits into 12 month clothes. So I'm thinking something along the lines of Jolly Green would fit or maybe Andre.

I was reading some old posts the other day and came across one where I was saying what a difficult baby he was. I guess I should update that because he is now the world's happiest baby. I mainly think that it was reflux because at his two month check-up he was put on Zan*tac and that made a world of difference. He is so happy the kid hardly ever cries, seriously it would be easy to forget he was around if it weren't for the squeals and laughter he shares with us. Of course as I'm typing this the voice inside my head is telling me that now I jinxed myself. Oh well, if that happens it will make for some interesting posts.

Apples and Oranges

Lately I have been noticing a couple differences in the personalities of how Hannah was as a baby and how Alexander is. For instance, Hannah loved the paci and used it all the time. In fact we just got her off it a few weeks ago. Alexander on the other hand, rarely uses one because he would rather suck on his fingers. Unfortunately, he hasn't quite figured out how far he can stick them in before gagging himself. Alex laughs so easily, a complete stranger can get a smile from him. Hannah was always a little harder to get laughing, and she would only "belly" laugh for her Daddy. Another difference, loud noises never seemed to bother Hannah, but Alex gets startled easily and then wails. He also shows a little stranger anxiety, but Hannah was always very social. When it came to bedtime, Hannah used to go to sleep easily and would wake up early (as a baby) and Mr. Alex prefers for me to put him to sleep and will sleep most of the morning. Nursing the two has been pretty similar in the fact that they ate supper fuss. The difference, Hannah would fuss a little to cue me in that she was getting hungry. Alex, the barracuda, can get really upset and when I pick him up he starts attacking me to try to get to the food! I'm sure that as they continue to grow there are going to be so many more differences. It is amazing how they are the same, yet different.

Dead Dog Walking

Last night as I was preparing for bed, I glanced over and saw a wet spot on the sheets. What? A wet spot on the sheets....the girl can't get on our bed without assistance so I was at a loss to what the spot was. I called to the hubby and asked him to do the sniff test. Urine he said. Well if it wasn't the girl, me or the hubs, that leaves the dog. Mind you our dog is not aloud on any of the furniture, let alone our bed but what else could it be. The dog peed on our bed. He jumped up there and peed on the bed....thankfully on hubby's side and towards the foot, but still. I was so mad, of course it was like 1:30 when I found it. So we had to clean the spot as best as we could, then we put a towel over it then sheets. At that moment, I no longer wanted a dog. He is just lucky that the hubs was in his corner or he would not be here today. However, if he ever does it again I'm putting my foot down and he is either an outside dog or an adopted dog!

Happy Valentines Day

Two very cute kids wishing all our friends and family a Happy Valentines Day!!

Time flies

Just a little note: I was sitting here thinking about the date and realized that one year ago today the faint pink line popped up on the EPT! I can't believe that it has been a year since then and the little Bubby has been here for four months already!

It's like finding a needle in a haystack

If you walked into my house right now you would see chaos, sheer chaos. I do not know what it is, but since I had the second child I cannot stay on top of the house work. I would be so embarrassed if somebody stopped by right now because that is how messy it is. I must clarify; messy, not dirty because I do manage to keep it clean, you know dusting, sweeping, mopping etc. It's just that I can't keep the "stuff" picked up. I just can't seem to find that balance of playing with the kids and cleaning during the day. Not to mention that I will pick up a room and five minutes later it will be messy again. Mostly from Tater, but also from hubs. OK and a little from me. Regardless, it never fails that when we need something it is nowhere to be found, until we don't need it anymore. Right now hubs is missing his beloved video game and apparently I am the keeper of all things in this house. I should know where this game is because the last time he saw it was in the computer room. Obviously if he would put it back where it belonged it wouldn't be missing, but that is neither here nor there. We tore the entire office/spare bedroom apart last night looking for this stupid game. Do you think we found the game? Nope, and I am tired of hearing him whine about it. So if it is not found by Valentine's Day guess what hubs is getting....the newer version of said game. That takes care of that problem, now if somebody could just send the maid over I would appreciate it.

Four month stats

Today was the dreaded four month check-up. He actually did pretty good with the shots. It was a little cute, in a sad way. He got four shots right in a row, I'm not kidding the nurse who always does our shots is awesome. It's boom, boom, boom, boom done before he really has a chance to realize what is going on. Anyway, back to his cuteness; he gets the first shot and kind of puckers up a little as I am talking to him. He acts as if he is going to smile when the second one goes in. It is then that he takes a huge breath in and just wails. As if to say, I'm ok with one...fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. After the fourth I picked him up and he was fine right away. Of course all day he has been a mamas boy and a little fussy, but not bad. The only problem was that I had a paper due tonight, so it was like pulling teeth to get it done. That is an entire different post, so here are his stats:

Weight: 15 lbs 13 1/4 oz
Height : 26 1/2 inches

He was about 55% for weight and 90% for height. I was a bit surprised because I thought he would be a little bit heavier, I knew he was pretty long because we had to break out some of the 6-9 month clothes. I can't believe that it has been four months already my sweet precious boy!

Changing

Here is Mr. Man at four months, getting bigger every day! He is so alert and loves to interact with Hannah. He is cooing all the time and laughs quite a bit. All it takes is a smile and he smiles right back. He is so ticklish that when I change his clothes he cracks up laughing, especially when I take his shirt off! He is also very grabby, when he plays on his floor mat he loves to reach up and grab the toys. We go for his four month check-up on Monday....uugghh shots, but I can't wait to see how big he has gotten. I'll be sure to post his stats when we get home Monday!

Lil' Miss Priss

Lately Tater has turned into quite the independent girly-girl. Not only does she have to pick out her own clothes, but usually she picks out a dress and her favorite color has become pink. If there is no pink available then purple will do. Along with this new girlness is fingernail polish. Her nails have to have polish on them at all times and can you guess what color? That's right pink. She also loves to have her hair in "pretties" as she calls them. Which if funny because a couple of weeks ago she would not even let me brush her hair! It is pretty cute when she dresses herself, especially her pajamas. She got a bunch of really cute pajamas for Christmas from her Dramma and Drampa Allison. The thing is Hannah does not think that whoever made them knew how to match, so she matches them herself. Pink stripe pants with a purple flowered top or snow signs on the top with pink flowers on the bottom. Like I said it is pretty cute.
On the potty front she is doing really good....except she has not had another successful poopy since the last post. For the most part she has stopped having wet accidents, unless she's busy and either doesn't want to stop what she's doing or just forgets. We have not ventured out with big girl pants on yet. Mainly because there are times right now when she has to potty every five minutes. (I guess she takes after her cousin Anna.) Maybe soon I will build up enough courage to do it. For those of you who have recently went through this (like Aunt Julie) we would appreciate advice on how you managed to leave the house for the first couple of times.


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The four month changing picture will be posted after the boy wakes up from his nap; along with an update about him.

My little barracuda

I was recently flipping through the American Academy of Pediatrics, The Complete and Authoritative Guide Caring For Your Baby and Young Child Birth to Age 5. I know, I know, I'm a dork, but it has some really good information in it. Plus, I feel guilty reading a real book, when I should be reading my class materials, so this makes for a good bathroom read. Moving on, there was a piece in there about getting to know your baby's feeding patterns and it was comical. Anyone who has ever breastfed should enjoy this and should be able to "label" their child. Apparently it is from Yale University researchers who "playfully" attached names to the eating styles. The book also gave advice on how to deal with each style, but I'm only including the actual style.

"Barracudas get right down to business. As soon as they're put to the breast, they grasp the areola and suck energetically for ten to twenty minutes. They usually become less eager as time goes on.
Excited Ineffectives become frantic at the sight of the breast. In a frenzied cycle they grasp it, lose it and start screaming in frustration. They must be calmed down several times during each feeding.
Procrastinators can't be bothered with nursing until the milk comes in. These babies shouldn't be given bottles of water or formula. Continue to put them to the breast regularly.....
Gourmets or Mouthers insist on playing with the nipple, tasting the milk first and smacking their lips before digging in. If hurried or prodded, they become furious and scream in protest. The best solution is tolerance. After a few minutes of playing, they do settle down and nurse well. Just be sure the lips and gums are on the areaola and not on the nipple.
Resters prefer to nurse for a few minutes, rest a few minutes, and resume nursing. Some fall asleep on the breast, nap for half an hour or so, and then awake ready for dessert. This pattern can be confusing, but these babies cannot be hurried."

So, which type is/was your baby?

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.