4am

So what's with my gigantic pictures when I use blogger on my phone? Sorry if you didn't want to see Henry's face in actual size.

Just thought I'd give a little update. Poor Stephen. His kid (kidding) has been getting up in the 4am hour. We don't know what the deal is. We have read a little on the wonderful world wide web and apparently we aren't alone. I wouldn't say it is normal, but more people than you think are suffering from their almost two year old waking up loooong before the sun comes up.

Here's the thing. Henry has really helped us accept the fact that our daughter is an early riser- no changing that. And as my dad always says, there are a lot better things to do than sleep- though I would beg to differ- the ONLY thing to do at 4am is sleep...
But anyway we are ok with early wake up calls. Like 6am. We can even get over ourselves and accept one somewhere in the 5am hour. Especially considering she goes to bed at 7:30. Thats pretty early. And if we can get our butts in bed by 9:30, 5am isn't nearly as painful. (I'll be honest- I am not getting up with her at 4- Stephen is, bless his heart) But here's the deal. She isn't getting enough sleep. A 21 month old should not be taking a morning nap at 7am. That means she didn't sleep enough. But it is such a viscous cycle. We say she can't take a morning nap because it is only contributing to the problem. Well by the time you have spent 3 hours with her and it is only 7am and she is begging for a nap you sort-of lose your willpower. Not to mention you need that morning nap just as much as she does.

So that's what we are dealing with right now. We have a list of things to try out but one thing we read was that we are probably in a phase that will take more than a week for her to snap out of. Bummer.

Here are some pictures for your enjoyment- sorry if they are huge! Anyone know how to change that??

3months

Henry is 3 months old!

He is "talking" allll the time and starting to drool a lot. I don't expect any teeth anytime soon though since Blakely drooled until she was 11months old before we saw any teeth.

He is such a happy baby. Unless he is tired or hungry he is smiling and just hanging out. Occasionally he likes to be held in the evenings. But usually he is just content to hang out!

He started laughing about a week ago. Stephen was throwing Blakely onto the bed over and over and she was cracking up and out of nowhere he started giggling about it. We have only been able to get him to laugh a couple times since then. It is precious though.

He still looooves to watch his big sister. He does get a little overwhelmed by her from time to time when she gets out of control with her volume level. He especially hates it when I get loud. Whether its talking too loud or laughing or squealing with Blakely, if there is too much noise he really gets his feelings hurt.

He goes to bed between 7 and 8 and sleeps 6 hours before eating and then doesn't sleep great after that and eats at least one more time before we get up. I think he is having reflux issues. He usually ends up in bed with me at some point. He is soooo snuggly and I love it. He gets up around 7ish.

He has gone downhill in nursing this past two weeks. He fusses a ton when I try to feed him and all of a sudden goes at least 4 hours before he will eat. It has been very frustrating. I also have to get him to sleep most of the time to get him to nurse at all. I am not sure what the deal is with that.

He stays awake for around an hour to an hour and a half at a time and then goes to sleep. He sleeps in his swing most of the time. I have great aspirations to try and break that habit but Blakely makes it pretty hard. He does a pretty good job going to sleep on his own at night. I have to give him his binky a few times.

We got out the jumper today but he was only in it for a minute thanks to his sister.

He hates his carseat and still never sleeps in it.

He weighs 14lbs 5oz. Wears 6+months clothes and is in size 2 diapers.

We love our chubby boy!

A night away...

We are so blessed to have an AWESOME job, that really prioritizes marriage and gives us free money each year to get away as a couple. For this entire calendar year (God willing...) I will have either been pregnant or nursing, so we pretty much figured we wouldn't get to use it this year. However, we have a good friend who got a free night in a nice hotel in Kansas City that she wasn't going to use, and she was sweet enough to give it to us. We figured since Henry is still little, we'd give it a shot and just bring him with us! It was a lot of fun, but definitely did not go as we planned...

My aunt offered to come and stay with Blakely- which was awesome. We left after we put her down for a nap yesterday. As of late, Henry has been having a hard time with nursing- maybe on a nursing strike or something. I never know if he will go 3 or 4+ hours between eating, and if I try to feed him before he's ready he has a major flip out and the only thing that calms him down is if I can manage to get him to sleep. So we left for Kansas city, and had to stop halfway there to feed Henry- no big deal. We checked into our hotel which was wonderful. We were on the 18th floor- which felt pretty fancy. We knew since we had Henry that we needed to have low expectations for the weekend... But we figured, a nice hotel, money for nice food, BEAUTIFUL weather, it was going to be fun no matter what. We were within walking distance of the Plaza- but long enough that we wanted to have the car nearby just in case. Well, due to the nice weather- it was hopping, so we really didn't get to park close anyway. We loaded Henry up in the stroller, went to a few stores, and then decided to eat on the patio at M&S grill. Henry was a little angel until our food came, and then he got fussy. Our food wasn't nearly as good as we wanted it to be, but we had fun just hanging out. Since Henry was crying we had them box our dessert up and we just planned to eat it at the hotel. As soon as they brought it out, Henry was asleep...figures. We then decided to walk back to the hotel since it was so nice, and I'd feed Henry, then we'd go back to the Plaza for some more shopping. Well, as soon as we were on our way, it started to rain. It rained on us on our whole walk back. :) We were about to get on the elevator and I got some rumblies in my tummy...and since we were on the 18th floor I wasn't feeling too confident in making it to our room so I used the lobby restroom. Let's just say I ended up being in there a while. I had some pretty bad stomach issues and felt like I was going to throw up- luckily I never did. After feeding Henry I felt like I was doing much better so we loaded him back up to go to the Plaza and get our car. About halfway there the tummy troubles hit me again, and I knew I needed to find a bathroom quick. I spent some more time in the firehouse subs bathroom... I knew it wasn't over so I told Stephen we needed to get to the car and get back to the hotel ASAP. So we walked briskly to our car only to discover that the battery was dead and it wouldn't start. I was up a creek. Henry was fussy and only wanted to be held and we were a pretty good ways away from our hotel. Luckily I made it back to the hotel room.... Then Henry had a rough couple of hours and Stephen ended up being on the phone with AAA for an hour due to a mixup with our membership. By the time I got Henry asleep and Stephen was off the phone with AAA it was 10:30. We considered ordering a movie- only to discover that it was TWENTY DOLLARS. Um, hello! You can BUY the movie for that much! We decided we needed to just go to sleep.

Luckily Henry only had one little freak out in the middle of the night, and we ALL ended up sleeping until 8am- that hasn't happened in a LONG time. Stephen got our car jumped and actually got it working fine- starting up and sounding good so we decided to go get some breakfast. We went to a GREAT breakfast place on the Plaza- and of course, Henry was awesome until our food arrived. We were planning to head back home after breakfast, however, once again our car wouldn't start. So we waited again for AAA to get there. We got it jumped again, and obviously knew we needed to just get home before we were personally keeping AAA in business. I had to ride in the backseat to keep Henry happy the whole way home.

Although NOTHING went as we had planned, we really did have so much fun just being together. We both got to focus on Henry and hang out with him and we got to have lots of good conversation that we don't normally get to have. We got to sleep a little extra in a really comfortable bed, we got to walk around outside in the beautiful weather, and we got to eat some really good food. And it was FREE!!! We are really looking forward to a getaway WITHOUT kids though. :)

I did take a few pics of me and Stephen but they are all on his phone!

New place and my 20 month old

Well, our Memphis trip was a huge success. Our babies were little angels on the plane ride there- the only thing that would have been better is if I didn't have to change two poopy diapers on my lap. Also, what's with planes being INSANELY hot?! Holy moly...do we not have air conditioning in 2012!? I was sweating profusely, and I can't imagine Stephen with a squirmy toddler on his lap.

Memphis was so fun with BB and grandad. We got to play with Lucy and aunt Anna a ton. Grandad was the resident sandbox partner as well as photographer. Because we had Lucy while Anna worked we all took turns and shared the load with three babies. Thank goodness grandad was off work all week! Henry got to meet his great grandma- and that was super sweet. Blakely missed her daddy terribly, and the look on her face when he got home couldn't have been sweeter.

We got back in town, spent the evening with Stephens aunt and uncle and two kids who were passing through Lawrence, and then began the move the next day. We had done little to nothing to prepare to move across town, and being productive with two under two is next to impossible. Luckily my dad came up and several students helped move us- otherwise I'm sure we'd still be working on it.

We moved a few miles away to a duplex. We really love it. Maybe it's just cause we were sick of the responsibility of being homeowners... But we love that this place is smaller and simpler. Our garage could currently star in an episode of Hoarders so we are having a garage sale this weekend.

Blakely turned 20 months old yesterday. Stephen likes to tell me how many months we have with our kids till they go to college- I get mad when he does. I don't want to know how fast it's going to go by!

She welcomed our new house by getting strep. It was pretty sad. She had a high fever for several days. We took her to a walk in clinic and they didn't do anything. Then a day later she broke out all over her body so we took her in again and they said it was a symptom of strep- I had no idea. So she is on antibiotics right now.

She weighs about 22lbs. She is still a skinny little thing. She loves to be outside still. She loves to dance. She loves to play with her babies and imitate whatever I do. She has a new obsession with her binkies- I think cause Henry has one. She ALWAYS asks for it. We try to only let her have it in her bed, so se frequently asks to get in her bed...
She is talking SO much. She says words that I know I never taught her. She says 2 and 3 word sentences. She can count to 10- but only cause she has it memorized. I don't think she gets numbers yet.
She still loves Henry. She loves it when she hears him wake up and she runs in to make sure he doesn't go back to sleep. We are constantly working on our inside voices.
She and daddy have a pretty special relationship right now. He has been spending lots of one on one time with her and he has quickly become her best friend. She has a very hard time when he leaves to work-she throws a fit, as well as when he closes the door to go to the bathroom. :)

2 months!

Hank is 2 months old! He's such a cutie. And SUCH a good baby. He cries when he's hungry, overtired, and hot. For some reason he gets overheated really easily and he FLIPS out. If none of those things are happening, he's just chilling. He loves to talk and coo and smile a ton. I don't think I've ever seen a baby smile as much as him. He loves attention. Loves to look at his daddy and especially his big sister. He just STARES at her If she is in his sight. it's pretty funny.

He weighs 12lbs 7oz- 71st%
He is 23.5inches- 50something%

He wears size 2 diapers, 3-6month clothes.

He's an ok nurser- he fusses a lot but he's also quick. Never eats for 10 minutes. Still spits up almost every time.

He hasnt been going very long at night. A few times he has done 5-6 hrs but usually still just 3. I think he has reflux and it feels good on his throat to eat.

He only sleeps good during the day in his swing.

He loves baths- but if he is tired at all he has a pretty big freak out when we get him out.

He is pretty sensitive to noise- if the tv is too loud or Blakely is being super loud he gets overwhelmed and cries. We were sitting at the table for dinner yesterday and Blakely was just SCREAMING for no reason and the suddenly Henry burst into tears and was done once she stopped.

He likes to be swaddled at night.

He's not a fan of the car and rarely sleeps.

We are on our way to the airport right now to fly to Memphis. Stephen and I will both have a baby in our lap, an we don't get to sit together cause apparently there aren't enough oxygen masks... SO this will be interesting. But no matter what it will be better than a 10+ hour drive!!!

19 months

My baby is 19 months!  It is going to get harder and harder to do these monthly updates- mainly because I never know what day of the week it is, much less the actual date!  Luckily, I still get email updates from babycenter.com that remind me how old my babies are.  :)

too big!

She sure is a stinker these days.  We are full on in the throws of discipline.  It is much harder than I imagined.  Stephen and I laugh because when we hear the other one disciplining her for something- sending her to timeout, the other one always wants to rush in and save her.  She gets her feelings hurt SO easily, so she just cries her eyes out when she gets in trouble.  Right now we are doing timeouts, and a pinch on the back of the leg for serious offenses. :)  She doesn't get the serious punishment very often.  Sometimes she is being such a stinker that she will disobey, and then go put herself in timeout.  She has also been seen putting her babies in timeout- hilarious.  I am memorizing some verses on discipline, because man is it hard work!  Sometimes I just want to give her the benefit of the doubt, when deep down I know that she knows what she is doing.  Mainly we have to discipline delayed obedience.  We really want her to learn to obey when we tell her something the first time.  And that is hard for a 1 year old.  She also gets disciplined frequently for dumping water in our house.  It's a problem. You have to watch her like a hawk, cause if you turn around she will just dump it right out on the floor.  She went through a small hitting phase, but I am pretty sure she is over that. 

She is in a super whiney phase right now.  Drive.  Me.  Nuts.  If she hears Henry cry, she will immediately ask to be picked up- beating him to the punch.  She still cries a lot when I am feeding him and can't pick her up.  She loves to be sent on errands though, so my new tactic is I just ask for random things the whole time I am feeding him.  She loves to go fetch things for me.  If we even mention that we are giving Henry a bath, she runs with delight to the bathroom to get the soap.  She loves to bring me burp rags when Henry is spitting up, and she loves to hand me wipes when I am changing him.  She also is still constantly trying to shove his binky in his mouth.  Today I got to dry my hair in a little bit of peace because Henry was blowing spit bubbles.  So Blakely spent the entire time wiping his mouth over and over saying "spits! spits!" 

For some reason she is adding an "s" to everything lately.  "Ups, offs, eats, burps, poops..."  She is saying a lot of two word sentences.  She says "Bless you" whenever anyone sneezes.  She freaks out when she hears the front door open and runs to the gate to see who it is.  She tries to answer my phone before I do.  She still thinks she can pick Henry up when he's crying.  She has a newfound love with being naked.  She frequently asks us to take her clothes and diaper off.  She has a bit of a split personality when she is naked.  She goes into performance mode.  It's hilaroius.  She sortof struts and holds her head a little higher and just acts hilarious. 

Independence Day skinny dipping

She pooped in the toilet- but it was a bit of a fluke.  She was having some of her naked time and I caught her in the act and got her on their almost just in time.  Half on the floor, half in the toilet.  But we'll take it!  We are exploring potty training right now.  Which means we are talking a lot about it especially when naked, and sitting on the toilet a lot- just for experience. 

She has been getting up at 4:45am- poor Stephen (he gets up with her and lets me and Henry keep sleeping..) But she has been taking great naps.  Yesterday she took an hour and a half morning nap, and a 2 and a half hour afternoon nap.  She gets so tired that she asks to go to bed. 

She has recently started being shy around new(ish) people.  It takes her a while to warm up and act like herself. 

She has such a hilarious personality, and when she is in a good mood, she is so much fun.  We are really hoping she gets over her only child syndrome soon!

Baby updates

Henry smiles! Yay! It's probably more of a smirk than a smile, but he is making eye contact and definitely waking up to the world. He has now smiled at all three of us. Naturally, I was last. :)

He is still sleeping great at night- still grunting. He is sleeping in the living room which is working out great. It forces me and Stephen to go to bed early- which we are loving. We are in bed no later than 9, sometimes as early as 8. We read and talk and are asleep well before 10!

He loves baths- calms right down as soon as he touches the water. B hated hers at this age.

He is nursing pretty well but still seems to be having tummy issues. Lots of squirming and pulling off and grunting. We are taking him to a GI specialist in a couple weeks to see if everything is ok.

He is still not on a great schedule during the day. He will not stay asleep for more than 30 minutes at a time. I started putting him down on his tummy in the living room- where I can check on him every minute or so- and he sleeps AMAZINGLY. It freaks me out, but I love that he is rested and he's in such a good mood.

He's a talker. He coos and squeals and makes all kinds of noises that I don't remember Blakely making. Probably cause she was too busy screaming.

We are really enjoying our little Hank!