All I want for Christmas is ...

Maggie has determined that Christmas is the right time to get a tooth.  Or at least I hope that is what is going on with her.  Monday and Tuesday she woke up at 2:00am and eventually went back to sleep around 3 or 3:30.  Last night she went to bed at 8:30 and was in her crib by 9:00.  I know better than to be thankful that both children are in bed by 9.  That almost always means something will happen. For example, the first time this happened, Maggie came down with her 1st cold and was up most of the night.  The next time it happened (this past Monday night) Izzy threw up all over herself and needed a bath at 4 AM.  This time, Maggie slept from 8:30 PM to 11:30 PM and that was it.  DONE!  We went to bed at 11:30, discussed plans for Christmas Eve and just as we closed our eyes, Maggie called.  And it wasn't to say "I love you."  I got up, for certain that she would go back to sleep fairly quickly.  The next 1.5 hours go like this... rock to sleep, lay down in crib, cry, pick up, repeat.  Finally at 1:00 AM, I warmed her up a bottle.  She took most of it, I rocked her to sleep, laid her down, she cried.  Rinse and repeat the rock, lay, cry, dance.  At 2:00 AM I finally went down stairs.  I didn't want to risk waking Izzy and had some General Hospital I could catch up on.  Then I started to worry because she had drank the last bottle and there was none thawed out and what would happen if she didn't fall asleep soon and need some more to eat. 

I got 4 bags of milk out of the freezer, put them in the sink, and started to run cold water.  I went back to the living room, walking with her, trying to convince her to shut her eyes.  The dishwasher was running and it sounded like it was leaking.  So, I went to the kitchen to see what the noise was.  Notice earlier, I started the water.  But, I didn't turn it off.  I was trying to make a swimming pool in our kitchen.  OMG!  Water everywhere.  All over the counter, running down the cabinet, on to the floor, almost to the fridge.  There was NO WAY I was going to be able to clean this up and hold Maggie at the same time.  And, since she was crying every time I put her down, I now needed an extra set of hands.  I had to wake Luke up.  By this point it is 2:30 AM.  I got the mess cleaned up, but by this time, I was also a mess and had to take care of some business that I have been trying to shut down since Monday. 

At 3:00ish AM I went to bed.  I did not fall asleep.  I could still hear Maggie crying.  At 4:00 AM I got back out of bed.  I gave her some pain reliever and she finally fell asleep around 5:15, or so.  I drifted off with her and got back up around 5:45 to shower since I had to come into work.  Yes, that is 30 minutes of sleep.  After I showered I looked in her mouth and I do believe there is finally a tooth on the top.  I gave her some ora-gel and she slept in her pack-n-play until it was time to leave around 7:15.

We are all beyond tired now.  Except Izzy.  She got some solid sleep, somehow.

This is not how I wanted to start our Christmas celebration, but I am still thankful for my beautiful children and my husband and all the other stuff that just happens to come along with them.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Ho Ho Holidays

The annual lodge Christmas Party was on Friday. Izzy had been anticipating her visit with Santa, but told us she did not want to sit on his lap and she would just stand on the stairs. She was the second kid on his lap. She ran to him and, as you can see from the picture, she sat on his lap! She told him she wanted her Cinderella Glass slippers and he told her that may be dangerous if they were to break. She then broke the news to Santa that they weren’t real glass slippers, they were just pretend.

We sat Maggie with Santa as well and she tried to figure him out, but her “stranger danger” is starting to set in and she started crying.

We tried later to get a family picture with Santa, but he reached up to touch her hand and she started crying again. Family Picture with Santa = Fail!

Luke and I enlisted some quality time from Grammy and Grand Davey on Saturday and dropped the girls off so we could START our Christmas shopping. Nothing like waiting until the last minute. We did pretty well, but we still have to finish up. That means this Saturday will be spent trying to find gifts along with the rest of the last minute shoppers out there.

Sunday we finally put up our Christmas tree. Maggie likes to stare at it and if you get too close she will try to touch it. Izzy helped put up the ornaments, but I had to move most of them because they were either all on the same branch or too low. We can only decorate the top 2/3 of the tree so the dogs won’t be tempted to eat it. Here’s hoping the tree and the dogs survive until Christmas.

Maggie turned 7 months old on Saturday. As a reward, we introduced her to the world of teething biscuits. She knew immediately what to do with it. Unfortunately, she drops them on the floor before she gets too far into them. We also bought her some banana flavored rice puffs but she didn’t like that they stuck to her tongue and would just spit them out. She has been protesting solid food for a few weeks. It’s a miracle if you can get her to take 3 bites of something. At first I thought maybe she was getting a tooth, but there are no teeth in there. Perhaps it’s just a phase? Maybe she’s tired of hearing people talk about how chubby she is?

Before we get to Christmas, and before I end this update, I must point out that Jim’s birthday is Friday. I won't tell you exactly how old he will be, but it’s more than 34 and less than 36. Happy Birthday Uncle Jimmy!

P.S.  Here's a picture of all of us at the Christmas party, too bad I'm blocking Maggie.

 

Pictures

Here is the link to the pictures that we had taken on Sunday....
Izzy age 3
Maggie age (6 days shy of) 7 months

http://mjstudio.zenfolio.com/p162829723

Giving Thanks

So, I'm a little behind on posting about Thanksgiving....

Thanksgiving has come and gone.  We watched the parade at home and then headed to my mom and dad's for lunch.  While it was hard not to be at their house for actual Thanksgiving dinner, having lunch there worked out well.  We ate pretty much the same amount of food for lunch that we did for dinner!!  Out of my 31 years of life, I have only missed one Thanksgiving at home.  So even though we didn't eat dinner there, we still got to be there and visit and eat, most important!  The best part about having both sets of our parents close by is that we get to see them alot.  That also means our holidays are very busy and sometimes we have to compromise.

We headed up to Luke's mom and dad's for dinner.  There was no shortage of food, every thing was excellent, but I would say my favorite was Nikki's sweet potatoes.  Could it be because they were made with Marshmellow Fluff?  I'll never tell!  The oldest of the grandchildren (Henry, Izzy, and Laney) had an official kids table.  We told Henry he was in charge and for the most part they did very well.

On November 28, Luke was installed as the Worshipful Master of his Masonic Lodge.  He has worked very had on their new Lodge building and it looked wonderful.  I took that opportunity to dress the girls in matching outfits.  Sadly, I don't have a picture of them together.  We were all dressed up and just as we were getting ready to have a family picture taken, it was discovered that about 8 people had their cars towed.  Fun times!  So, as Luke ironed that out, we headed home.  We made up for the family photo and had some taken yesterday!  Watch the blog for the link to view those pictures later this week. 

We celebrated Davey's birthday on December 2nd with a family dinner at Bob Evans.  All 13 of us.  It is amazing to see how quickly the Hunter family of 5 has grown to 13!

And, since this is about giving Thanks....

A giant thank you to my parents.  When I was pregnant with Izzy, my biggest fear was finding daycare for her.  I couldn't imagine leaving my (then) 6 week old child with strangers.  I couldn't imagine the financial impact that was going to have on us.  For the past 3 years my parents have watched Izzy and also now Maggie.  I'm sure when they retired they didn't think the would be thrown back into a full time job, with no pay, again!  Even with a 2 working parent household, day care was pretty much not going to be an option.  It probably would have been cheaper for me to quit my job, give up a car, go without cable, and possibly electricity to afford it! 

Also, a giant thank you to my in-laws.  For the first year (or so, I don't remember!) they also helped out with watching Izzy.  They would take her on Wednesday's which gave my parents a break during the week.  When Davey went back to work and the on-line business began picking up, it was hard for them to watch her.  But, they have really been a great help when we needed a back-up plan.  When my mom had all of her eye surgeries earlier this year and my dad had all of his doctor appointments these past few months, they have stepped up to take the girls and it was very much appreciated!

Lastly, please keep my sister-in-law, Sam, in your thoughts.  She is back in Afghanistan and will be there anywhere from 60 days to 6 months.  I hate that she had to leave at this time of year and miss the holidays.  She and my brother had planned to spend Christmas in Wisconsin with her family, which I know they have not done in a while, possibly ever.  Instead she will be in Afghanistan and hopefully my brother will be here with us.  I am very thankful that she has safely made it to and from Iraq twice and Afghanistan once.  Let's bring her home safely again, please and thank you, in advance!

6 months

Maggie is officially 6 months old.  We have made it 6 months.  We have made it through sleepless nights, endless crying, an eye infection, thrush, a 4 day stretch of no poop, and her first cold.  She is rolling over, can sit on her own, and is eating rice cereal, fruits, and veggies.  She sleeps through the night, and on the rare occassion that she does wake up, all she wants is her diaper changed.  On the other side of that, she doesn't nap very well.  She doesn't take a pacifier which makes it difficult when she has a hard time falling asleep.  She loves Izzy and is very curious about the dogs. 


Maggie was 7lbs 4oz and 19 inches long on May 12, 2009.  On November 12, 2009 she was 20lbs 11oz and 28 inches long.  I packed away the 3-6 month clothes pretty much before she wore them and I have a feeling I will be packing away the 6-9 month clothes pretty soon.  She is already in 9-12 month sleepers but most everything else in the 6-9 month range will fit.  Socks are a different story.  Her chubby legs and feet are not made for socks.  The socks either cut into her legs or fall off.  I have no doubt that the chubby will melt away once she figures out how to crawl.  She will be following Izzy everywhere, and Izzy doesn't walk!

She has her moments where she cries and cries and screams and cries.  And in those moments we walk, and bounce, and sway, and walk.  It is also in those moments that I realize how quickly she is growing up and how much she has changed in the past 6 months.  The next 6 months will give way to teeth, crawling, walking, and finger foods.  These first 6 months have gone by so fast, I'm just glad I have a camera to capture the moments.

The Trouble with Three

Let's focus on Izzy for a moment. Izzy is three. This means we have been through the age of two. Anyone who says "terrible two's" must not have been paying attention when their child reached the age of three. If 2 is terrible then 3 is a NIGHTMARE! Oh my goodness....

This week has been rough on me. I'm exhausted, physically, emotionally, mentally. Izzy is wearing me out. As my mom said this morning, we have taught her to walk, to talk, to eat; now it is time to instill discipline.

She is very smart (of course all mother's would say that about their children,) very loving, very independent. She wants to do everything by herself. "I'll do it," is her favorite thing right now. And for the most part I'll let her try unless it is something that is going to hurt her. This entire week she has pretty much refused to eat dinner. We are constantly telling her to eat... "eat, Izzy," "take a bite, Izzy," "pay attention and eat, Izzy," etc. I have probably spent an extra 20 minutes each night this week at the table with her trying my best to get her to eat something. On some days she has a late lunch and I'm prepared for her refusal of food. However, on the days where I know that she had an early lunch or didn't eat much lunch at all I'm not as willing to let her off the hook easily. Everything I've read says not to force your kids to clean their plates or force them to eat. They eat to survive at this age. They will eat when they are hungry. I'm ok with that logic, but she seems to be taking it to the extreme! Maybe I will start making her broccoli and cheese every night for dinner since I know she likes that.

Since we really only get a few hours with the girls in the evenings, if dinner doesn't go well it tends to carry on through the rest of the night. Wednesday night she decided to fling her food across the table so I got her down and made her sit on the stairs while I cleaned up the kitchen. When I let her get up I told her to get a quiet toy or book and sit on the couch. For the next thirty minutes she took her sweet time looking through her toy box "trying" to find something. When I finally took her up to bed she refused to brush her teeth and then decided to run away from me when we were changing her clothes. At that point I left the room and made her get dressed by her self. She put her pants on backward and couldn't button her shirt. So I helped her fix it and then we read a Bearenstein Bear's, Bedtime Battle. Too true!

Last night, after another bad dinner performance, I took her upstairs for a bath. She started things off on the wrong foot when she decided to play with the floor length mirror, which she *knows* not to play with. She came in the bathroom, where I already had the water running in the tub, and wouldn't cooperate with getting undressed. So after 3 attempts, I cancelled the bath, put her jammies on and made her go back downstairs. Luke eventually took her back up to bed where another battle ensued over brushing her teeth and going potty. She did not get a story.

Other things that happened this week... she threw a stuffed animal into the blinds in her bedroom, she continues to take toys from Maggie, she has become very very bossy.

I know she is 3. I know she is testing the limits. I hope this is just a phase. I try to be patient with her, I try to turn each "bad" thing into a learning lesson and explain to her why it is bad. I hate making her cry. I hate being "mean" to her. I hate that I feel like I don't know what I'm doing. I would rather talk to her and work things out than to yell at her and threaten to take things away or send her to bed. I want her to be able to know right from wrong and that the things she does or doesn't do have consequences. Is 3 too early to try and make her understand that stuff? Is this a sign of underlying things to come? Maybe I've spoiled her too much. Maybe I'm not there enough for her and she doesn't know how to express that? Maybe this is a delayed reaction to Maggie being thrown in the mix. What ever it is, I hope we all make it through with our sanity.

Boo

Trick-or-treat night is usually stressful for me.  The past few years I have had to rush home, pick up Izzy, get her home and dressed for beggar's night and maybe shove some food in her before heading out.  I remember last year I wanted to put some make up on her and simply ran out of time.  She didn't know any different, so no harm done.  This year was a treat for me.  I stayed home with the girls, got to drop off and pick up Izzy for school, and had plenty of time to get them both ready for trick-or-treat.

Izzy got to wear her costume to school on Thursday.  When she came downstairs to eat breakfast her costume was sitting there on the couch. She didn't want to eat her pancake, but had a little anyway and then wanted down so she could dress up.  She couldn't wait to spin, just like a princess.  We went to mom & dad's first so they could see Izzy in her costume and watch Maggie while I dropped Izzy off for school.  There are only 8 kids in her class, 6 are boys.  The other girl was also Snow White; she had a totally different get-up, floor length, paler colors, much more poofy sleeves.  I thought Izzy would be upset that she wasn't the only Snow White in town, but she didn't seem to care too much.  When I went back to pick her up she started crying because she wanted this other little girl's crown and I think possible her purse too.  I had to explain that those were a part of her costume and Izzy wouldn't like it if someone tried to take her crown. The teachers had made goodie bags to take home, so that took Izzy's mind off of this other girl's accessories.

We had a relaxing day at home for the rest of the day.  Luke took off 1/2 of the day to attend a funeral and then came home, so we had a spur of the moment "free" day with the kids.  Maggie did her usual of not wanting to nap.  She finally took a bottle and fell asleep around 5:30... trick-or-treat started at 6.  I tried to sneak her costume on her while she slept, but instead scared the crap out of her as she woke up and all she saw was the green of her costume.

Here they are... Snow White and her Pea Pod.  First, Izzy explains the finer points of trick-or-treat to Maggie, then they both look up after agreeing on a plan of action...

Luke took Izzy and Maggie to a few houses and then came back to drop Maggie off.  She is a bit much to carry around for long distances!  Izzy went to a few more house, via her wagon, and then came home with a bag full of goodies.  We ended the night like we do every year, with a trip to Jersey to see their cousins.  Henry was tired from being at school all day and tirck-or-treating all night, so we didn't see too much of him.  Laney was on a sugar high for sure and Luke was feeding off of that!  Will was down for the count, sleeping with daddy.  Unfortunately we didn't get to see any of them in their costumes, but it was already late and probably bed time for all of them!

In other news...  Maggie is rolling over now.  Mostly back to belly in both directions (left and right.)  She will roll from her belly to her back, but I think that is sometimes from the momentum of rolling over in the first place.  She has successfully had green beans, peas, and squash.  Izzy continues to eat like a bird and I think if it were up to her she would skip dinner completely and just have a bed time snack.  She has started to become a little more possessive with "her" toys and I'm always reminding her that she has to share with her sister, forever, for the rest of her life she has to share!

Now that November is here, I can look forward to Thanksgiving Day.  I don't know why, but that day is one of my favorites!  I can't wait for the Macy's parade, food, family and fun.  I WILL NOT be shopping the day after.  I tried that last year, and no thanks!  I am not pushy enough to do that ever again.

And last, let us not forget that Terry's birthday is Friday!  He will be starting his last year in his 20s. 

Visitors

Terry and Sam were home to visit this past weekend and Terry ran in the Columbus half marathon.  You can see his results here.  I didn't take the girls down to see him because it was really early and cold.  For a few seconds I debated on going myself, but then came to my senses and determined that if he could get out of bed and run 13 miles, I could get out of bed and watch.  So I did.  Here we are after the race.

Terry hadn't seen Maggie since she was born and this is the first time Sam has seen her.  She's changed a bit since then.  Izzy loves her Uncle Terry and talks about him all the time.  So when she actually gets to see him, she is all over him.  When he isn't around, she is always "talking" to Uncle Terry on her various phones.  She will still talk about the trip we made almost a year ago when we went to visit him in Maryland.  She has a brain like a steel trap!  Unfortunately, I didn't get to spend a whole lot of time with Terry and Sam, but I'm glad they got to see the girls and we all had a few meals and laughs together.

Nothing much "new" is happening.  Maggie is finding her voice and will scream with the best of them.  The best is when Izzy is using her "out" voice and Maggie mimics it.  I'll have to try and get that one on video.  Maggie is doing pretty well with rice cereal so this weekend we are going to test her out on peas or green beans.  Nothing too sweet to start with, but this girl needs some food!  As evidenced by this picture, she doesn't get enough to eat ;) She is still sleeping well during the night but only taking 45 minute naps during the day. That makes it really really hard to get anything done around the house.  Currently the landing at the top of our stairs looks like something exploded.  There are bags and baskets of clothes that need to be put away.  Cycle out the summer and put away the fall/winter things.  For Maggie, this means putting away ALL 3-6 month clothes and replacing with 6-9.  She is growing so fast she may not be able to wear all of Izzy and Laney's old stuff.  Here's hoping she slows down a bit soon!

Just for fun, here is Izzy wearing the same Brown's outfit that Maggie has on.  Izzy is probably around 4 months old here.  Even though Izzy is about a month younger than Maggie in this picture, this outfit probably would have fit on her for another 2 or 3 months.  The differences between these 2 girls, from my perspective, are many.  From their hair to their personalities, these are 2 very different girls.  Maybe that will work to our advantage when they are teenagers!

Treak or Treat is a week from today.  Staying true to our traditions, we have yet to get Izzy (and now Maggie) a costume.  Izzy says she wants to be a fairy which is what she was last year.  I think we'll hit up JoAnn's this weekend.  They are sure to have their halloween things on sale.

Rumor has it tht Uncle Sam is taking Aunt Sam on another trip next month.  Please pray for her as she defends our freedoms that some people take for granted.  Also pray for my brother that he can stay sane (and fed) while she is gone.

p.s. - please ignore any type-o's.  this thing won't let me do spell check!

5 months old

Maggie is 5 months old today.  It feels like she has been here all along, but then again it feels like just yesterday we brought her home.  We are getting pretty good at the 2 child household, but it is still a challenge.  Like right now, with Luke out of town, the kids are taken care of, but if you were to come to my house you would find it a mess.  Miss Maggie can't stand to be put down or left alone for too long, so that rules out doing a load of laundry.  I would never willingly want to be a single parent, that's for sure!

This past weekend we traveled to Cleveland for my Aunt Betty's 80th birthday.  Izzy was very excited because a long car ride means she gets to watch movies.  She watched Aladdin, Tinkerbell, and the road trip staple of Alice in Wonderland.  Maggie is fairly good in the car on the way to the destination, but the trip home is usually a screaming/crying fest.  This time was much better.  She slept most of the way home and when she was awake, she too was watching Alice in Wonderland.

The party was great.  We got to catch up with some of my younger cousins that I haven't seen for a while and celebrate my Aunt's birthday.  She was totally surprised and truely happy to see us there.  She turned 80, but was telling everyone she was 65.  She looked great and I'm so glad we were there.

Both of the girls were good at the party.  It was outside and a bit cold, but Izzy didn't seem to mind.  The place we were at had a play ground so she was usually pretty successful at suckering somone in to taking her over there to play.  Maggie had a bit of a tough time.  She can only stand to be held for so long and then she just wants some "me" time.  She lit up the shelter house with her smiles and everyone wanted to get their chance of holding her but she wasn't having it.  She seemed most happy when I would truck her back to the car to change her diaper.  She was away from the craziness of all the people and got to lay down for a few minutes.

Yesterday, Luke left for a 3 day conference in DC.  It didn't take Izzy very long to state "I miss my Daddy," but when he called later in the evening, she didn't want to talk to him because Aunt Carin was there.  Nothing much got done at the house yesterday, but we had a good day and we all can't wait for Daddy to get home.  Chester decided to take a quick jog outside when Mandy came to visit.  I opened the door and he took off.  No collar.  Just a brown blur out the front door.  I got in the car to track him down, but I had no idea how I would get him in the car if I was even able to find him.  I wasn't gone for long before Carin called to tell me the Chester came home on his own and was actually scratching at the front door to be let back in.  I guess my plan of letting them out the front door when I've had enough of them won't work now, since they can both remember where they live.  DARN IT!

Finally

I'm finally going to get serious about this and start posting updates for everyone who cares.  Because as I see it, if you don't care, you wouldn't be here... right? Right.  Ok, moving on.

Izzy has started preschool and loves it, at least we think she does.  There are 8 children in her class, 2 girls, 6 boys.  It's hard to get her to talk about school, like what they did or what she learned.  Mostly she will say "We played and played."  I haven't noticed a big change in her since she started.  I did notice yesterday that she brought a toy (and all the accessories) up from the play room and when she was done with it, actually took it back downstairs.  I don't know if she put it away once she got it down there, but at least she took it down there.  Izzy loves having a little sister.  She sings to her and talks to her and shares her toys.  I'm very surprised there haven't been any major melt downs over Maggie having one of her toys or Maggie taking over the high chair.  We have moved Izzy to a booster seat at the "big" table and she does wonderful with that.  Now to just get her to eat.  She eats about as much as a baby bird some days.

Maggie is getting over her first official cold.  She had some trouble sleeping this past Friday night and then we started to really notice it Saturday night.  I stayed home with her and Izzy on Monday, and by that point we all had it.  The past few nights she has been back to sleeping through the night in her crib, so that's good... for all of us!  Maggie is a bit high maintenance, so we spend a lot of our time holding her or walking the floor with her to keep her happy.  Since this cold hit her, she is even more high maintenance and our arms and backs are sore from the walking and bouncing and sitting and standing we have to do with her to make her happy.  She gets easily frustrated with her toys and will start to cry when she can't get it in her mouth just the way she wants!  I wonder where she gets that from.....  She is babbling and sitting up straighter and straighter every day, with some support from us, of course.  She rolls 3/4 of the way over and then gets mad at the bottom arm and cries and goes back to her back.  She'll figure it out soon though. 

Nothing new to report other than the growing kids!  Since we are officially in October it's time to start thinking about the holidays coming up.  We will kick off the Holiday season with Luke's birthday on the 13th.