Make a cow face

Laney and I had a girls day out not long ago.  We went to Sea World on a preschool field trip and then to Panera for lunch (Laney's favorite lunch spot).  While we were there she announced to me that she was making a face just like the cow on her milk.  I had to capture the moment!   Thank goodness for cell phone cameras :)

Long days

Today was one of those days where I felt like I ran a marathon inside my home.  Seriously, I think I might have met my 10,000 step goal without even hitting the gym.  Every time Liam fell asleep, Laney woke up and vice versa.  I never got more than 2 minutes to myself today.  Then Patrick had to work late so my day job turned into a double shift.  Somehow, I manged to make lunch and dinner for the three of us, and even bathed the children tonight.  These are the kind of days that no one tells you about when you mention you are thinking of having kids.  If you knew about these days and the overabundance of them, well, having kids may not seem as appealing.  Even still, I got a chance to have some one on one time with each of my kids and I know that made them both feel special!

I will now sit down with some knitting needles and my brand new iPod (thanks mom!) Nano for some R and R.  This thing is so small and it still blows my mind that ALL of my music fits on it.  

I still remember my college days of flipping through CD collections housed in giant black Case Logic notebooks, making mix tapes for long drives, and having to lug my collection back and forth from my car.  Now I can just clip that entire collection to my arm band and away I go.  Can't wait to try it out at the gym tomorrow.  That is, if my kids will actually allow me to leave the house...

Unbelievable delicious lunch

Never once in my whole life did I ever think that putting deli meat in a frying pan would be delicious.  Then I listened to the DSC on Jack 100.7 Friday and today my life was changed.  After feeding the kids I rummaged through the fridge and found tortillas, shredded cheese, and a scant amount of sliced turkey.  Recalling that Sam the Cooking Guy was on the radio Friday morning spouting about these late night grilled turkey sandwiches, I pulled out a skillet and started cooking.  2 tortilla/cheese/fried turkey sandwiches later, I am hooked.  I now have a new lunch favorite and I can even make it while holding a baby in one arm :)


Late Night Grilled Turkey Sandwiches
Ingredients

• Deli turkey, thinly sliced
• Muenster, provolone or whatever cheese you like, thinly sliced
• Bagel, toasted
• Mayo, mixed with honey mustard or horseradish or whatever you like
• Tomato slices

Steps

1. Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat
2. Take a big handful of turkey and put it in the pan
3. While this is grilling, toast bagel
4. Mix mayo with mustard or horseradish
5. When turkey is lightly browned place cheese on top and allow to melt - you might need to cover the pan for this
6. You want it gooey - so don't skimp on the cheese or the mayo mustard/horseradish stuff
7. Remove turkey, place on mayo'd bagel, top with tomato and away you go

Don't forget the KEY!

I tried to post this since Wednesday, but Blogger has been down at night since then.  So, finally on Saturday, here we go!

Today started with an early wake up call from the kids, and never seemed quite right from the beginning.  Do you ever have one of those days where you feel like you are out of sync with the universe?  That was me today.  I struggled through our morning routine only to find that if I did not have the car packed up and kids strapped into their car seats in the next 13 minutes, Laney would not be on time to dance class.

Fast forward to me rushing through the house with wet hair, no shoes, makeup bag in hand trying to gather all of the crap the kids would need during the day.  I dashed to the garage followed by a whining Laney to start the packing process and then I heard it:  the metallic click of the garage door locking behind me.  Somehow Laney managed to lock me in the garage as she was crying and pounding on the door.  No phone, no keys, no shoes. Kids locked inside.  Me stuck outside.  After several minutes of trying to talk Laney through unlocking the door I gave up and ran across the street to the neighbor's house to call in reinforcements.  15 minutes later my mom arrived with a key only to find me wearing rain boots (stored in the garage) and watering the pots on the front porch.  Once inside we found both kids crying hysterically, especially Liam who happened to be an innocent bystander in the whole mess.  I managed to finish the packing job, warily keeping 2 doors to the outside unlocked this time, just in case.  We arrived half way through dance class, but made it for the tap dance portion, which is Laney's favorite part anyway.

I try to make sure that I have everything I could possibly need in my car.  I have snacks, wipes, diapers, strollers, lip balms, DVDs, toys, crayons, hair ties, and more.  I over-pack every day, trying to foresee any situation that might come up so I can be prepared.  It seems that in my effort to follow the Girl Scout adage to "always be prepared," I had forgotten to always be prepared

What a weird feeling to be locked out of the house as your children are screaming for you inside.  Helpless and absurd, I almost felt like laughing at the whole situation.  Almost.  I also felt like diving straight to the bottom of a wine glass as I imagined all the things that could have happened while I waited outside.  Sometimes you just get lucky.

The moral of this story:  head to The Home Depot tomorrow and get a spare key made.  Hide it away somewhere good because you never know when a whiny toddler is going to get back at you.  Oh yeah, and always be prepared.

Mothers Day

I had such a wonderful day being honored by my family.  Somehow the hugs and kisses, giggles and smiles are just sweeter on Mother's Day.  Playing with your children seems a little more magical as the day progresses and you realize that God's plan for your life is just right.  Thanks to my mom and to all the mothers out there who have helped to make me the mother I am today.

Life's Little Moments

Today I found myself pulling out my camera to snap photos of my children at such a random time, but one that felt so perfect that I wanted to record its passing.  Liam was sitting in his high chair happily munching on Puffs and Cheerios while attempting to master a sippy cup of apple juice.  Laney had just fallen asleep on the couch and was dreamily slurping on her thumb while cuddling her lovey.  I really needed to capture the essence of the moment, the perfection that was a house in order, flowing through the afternoon as God intended.  Some days nothing makes me happier than the mundane orderliness of being a mom going about my business on a sunny afternoon, watching my kids grow up before my eyes.

Life with a newborn

Liam was such a sweet baby.  He was quite hungry all the time, and constantly needed a new diaper.  In fact, the first night we were home was quite interesting.  We put Laney to bed and watched a little tv.  I fed Liam and we were about to turn in for the evening.  I went to change his diaper and as soon as I took it off he pooped explosively.  As I cleaned that up he pooped again!  So as I begin to wipe up the poop, he begins to pee and it fountains all over the changing table.  I don't know what to do, so I end up shielding it with my hand it just floods all over him and fills up the table (the detachable table portion of the port-a-crib).  So, I now have to give Liam his first bath impromptu in the sink while Patrick cleans up the messy changing table.  No pictures to remember the event by, just a disastrous clean up!  After a day of leaking diapers, we finally realize that folding the band down for LIam's belly button is allowing pee to escape so we stop doing it.  He really only wears newborn diapers for a week before we switch him to size 1 in order to stop the pee from escaping.  His scrotum is still so swollen that his penis points up and he pees toward the waist band of hte diaper still, so a bigger diaper really fixes the problem. 

For the first month Liam is getting up every 2 to 3 hours to eat, and Patrick and I become zombies as we are up all night feeding him.  At least he goes back to sleep relatively easily.  After 1 week we have him start sleeping in his room so we can get some rest in between feedings.  At 3 weeks he stops wearing newborn clothing and is in 0-3 month clothes.  He is growing really fast and gaining weight at a fast pace.  When we give him bottles, he is drinking about 4 ounces a time already (at the most Laney only drank 4 ounces and that was when she was 10 months old).  Laney is learning to be a good big sister, helping me with changing diapers and sitting on the couch with me while I feed Liam.  She has been learning to be a little more independent as I need to spend more time with Liam.  I have her pick an activity to do while I feed him so that she is kept busy. 

At just shy of 4 weeks I realize that Liam has acid reflux.  He only really sleeps in the swing or his car seat and cries and cries when I lay him flat in his bed.  He officially was diagnosed with Silent Reflux since he never threw up and would do a reflux in his throat only.  Dr. Schmottlach started him on Zantac, but it didn't really help.  We switched him to acid reflux formula and that seemed to help some.  Then we got Liam on Prevacid.  That changed our life.  He became a happy baby who could sleep.  My mom brought home a Nap Nanny and the first time I put Liam in it he fell asleep 5 minutes later.  We moved it to his bed and sleeping became a welcome activity for him.  I also found that if I pumped milk and mixed it with formula then he was happier after a feeding than if I just breast fed him.  This was fine with me because I never really loved breast feeding and found it to be a nuisance to me.  I loved spending time with Liam but breast feeding left me feeling sticky and wet all the time, not to mention uncomfortable when I was engorged which often resulted in a blocked milk duct which is sooo painful. 

At 4 weeks Liam was able to bat at his toys on a playmat.  He smiled at me for the first time right around 6 weeks.  He has such a happy smiley face and it was just so stinking cute when he smiled at me!  Still, the sleepless nights were really getting to me and I was having a hard time taking care of my kids and funcitoning like an adult.  Liam was gaining about a pound a week and I was hoping that this meant he would sleep through the night soon!