Trying to get caught up

Warning- lots of pics because I'm trying my best to get caught up in the blogging world since my crazy Photostream has now decided to work again. :) 

Life with two- well, most days it goes pretty well. We do have our moments, though. 

Lucy has been so sweet with Annie- loves to come up to her and say in this high-pitched sweet voice, "Hi, sister, how are youuuu?" She also either can't say correctly or is choosing not to say Annie's name correctly and still calls her Amy. For this reason, I too, occasionally call her Amy. 

But we're working on it. 

There's been more movies, Veggie Tales and PBS Kids shows watched than I'd like, but some days, it's survival mode, and Mommy needs her shower to feel like a human. 

I find myself praying more and more for patience, wisdom and a "happy heart" as the days can be hard and long. We all look forward to Daddy coming home in the evenings- Lucy gets a break, gets to play outside, go on walks, etc- things that are hard to do with a new born. And Mommy gets a break as well. :)

I find that as long as I can get all of us out once a day to run an errand or go on a play date or something, things run smoother. This can be challenging, to get everyone out the door, but I am finding it's completely worth it. 

Over all, though, I think we've transitioned well from one to two kiddos. I go to bed bone-tired, but if everyone is still alive, has clothes on, has been fed and bathed, and most importantly, loved....it's been a successful day in my book. :)

Lucy holding "Amy"

Finally getting a pic with GG!

Some days, I feel like this too. 

Little concert pianist in-the-making

Getting kisses from big sister

blowing bubbles outside while Annie was napping

sometimes licking the peanut butter off the cracker is just
the best way to eat PB and crackers

sistahs!

watching the rain in her new rain jacket
(and also playing in said rain)

Mommy needs this quite a bit more these days

How can you not love this sweet face?!

DATE NIGHT!!! First date night post-baby, thanks to Liz and Billy for babysitting for us!!

playing with her new ride that Oma and PapPap got her! So fun!

Mother's Day 2013

I love that one of my names is "Mommy."

This Mother's Day I was so thankful to have both girls to celebrate with!

Lucy's school had Muffins with Mommy the Friday before Mother's Day. You would have thought Lucy had won the lottery with the smile she had on her face while I sat next to her at her little table and ate breakfast. It was so, so sweet! She made me a precious hand-print heart and her teachers made these paper flowers made from her traced-hand cut-outs.

During Mother's Day weekend, both Mike and I got bitten by the GI bug, in one form or fashion (thanks to Lucy, who had a mild form of it earlier in the week), so I spent most of Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning feeling ill (which is not fun when you are nursing, much less, when your infant is going through her  6 week growth spurt, and you're feeding her every 1-2 hours. Just saying). 

Thank goodness for some extra Zofran I had left over from the first trimester. :) 

By Sunday afternoon, I was feeling well enough to go to my parents' house, where we had dinner together and celebrated Mother's Day as well as Liz's birthday.

Here's the best pic I could get of me and my girls on Mother's Day. 

Love, love my sweet girls!!

One month old!

Little Miss Annie is one month old! (Well, she was on May 2nd- I'm a little behind on posting because a) I haven't had time and b) I've had major issues with not getting my phone pics to upload on Photostream). 

Anyway, Annie has been SO much easier than her older sister so far (at least on most days). I don't know if it's because she's the second, so I kind of know what's going on/what to expect, or because she's just an easier baby.

At her one month appointment (which she was actually almost 6 weeks when we went), she was 10 pounds, 8 ounces (67th percentile) and 21 inches long (50th percentile), and head circumference was 50th percentile. 

That's a whole two pounds and two inches of growth from when she was born! 

As Dr. Randles said, those percentiles are numbers big sister Lucy has never seen!

Maybe that's why Annie is a better sleeper. :) 

For the most part, Annie will wake up about once a night (usually going 4-6 hours between feeds). She's down for the night around 9:30 pm, wakes about 2:30-3:00 am, then up again for the day around 7:00 am.

We're on the eat- play- sleep cycle, where she usually goes down for a nap 1.5 hours after eating, sleeping for about 1-2 hours. 

She likes her paci when she's upset or tired and sleeps in her bassinet (thanks, Treadaways!). We've tried the crib a couple of times, but she didn't like it that much. She will sleep in the pack and play, usually. 

We started having "bewitching hours" around 3-4 weeks, where she'd be fussy, but consolable, in the evenings. Then the crying episodes started to happen after feeds during the day as well, and she also started to have this dry cough after feeds, as well as becoming rigid and screaming sometimes. I chalked the cough up to a lingering cold she got at 2 weeks old (the joys of having a 2 year old sister!). When we saw the pediatrician for her well-check, she thought it might actually be silent reflux, but told me to watch it for a couple more days before starting treatment.

So, I watched her over the weekend, and after watching her, agreed that it might be reflux (I honestly felt really dumb for not realizing it on my own! but it's a different story when it's not your patient, but your child). So, we started Zantac earlier this week. Haven't seen a whole lot of improvement yet (wanted to start on Prevacid, but insurance won't cover it until we tried Zantac- boo!). We might be switching meds next week, we'll see...

Not happy with reflux

When she's not fussy from reflux, she's usually pretty content. She's holding her head up when held, does pretty well with tummy time and is on the verge of smiling. She has BLUE eyes!! And I think they're here to stay! She loves bath time (and Mommy has mastered giving both girls a bath at the same time!). Lucy thinks it's so fun to have her sister in the bathtub at the same time. 

She's done a great job of taking a bottle (even from me!)- this means date nights can now happen! 

I've mastered the art of going grocery shopping with both girls- Lucy sits in the cart seat and Annie gets strapped to me in the Beco carrier (my favorite carrier!). Not going to lie, shopping takes a bit of effort, but I've really tried to continue life like normal as much as possible. I can usually do Target and Sprouts but then we've got to go home. I've also figured out the best way to put up the groceries is to keep both girls strapped in the car and give Lucy a snack to keep her occupied while I unload the car. Tricks of the trade, I tell ya. 

I'm enjoying my time at home with my girls. Lucy is still going to school twice a week and I really am thankful to be able to have two days a week to have just Annie, to be able to have some sweet, undivided time with her, to catch up on housework, nap, run errands, etc. Major blessing.