Abby Update

Well, we went to the hospital yesterday to get Abby's test done. She had an upper GI test. She had to drink barium and get x-rayed to see what is causing her to throw up all the time. We went in to the hospital at 10:00 in the morning and didn't leave until 5:00 in the afternoon. It was supposed to only take a couple of hours. Yeah...right. The poor little one. She didn't want to drink the barium. I've had this test done before and I can't blame her. The stuff tastes like melted chalk. Poor baby...screamed bloody murder. They then put a big xray machine over her and tried to hold her down while she squirmed to get away. After a couple of minutes of that, they decided to put the barium in her stomach via tube. The tube went down her nose. I, of course, was crying too. I had to see Alex get a tube stuck down his nose before and it is devastating to watch. I didn't even want to get this done to her. It just wasn't fair. So after this ordeal, they took an xray of her stomach every hour to see it go through her system straight through to her colon. It took 7 hours. She did good after the initial barium because she never had to drink that stuff again. It was mama's milk from that moment on. All this torture and x-ray exposure for what? N-O-T-H-I-N-G! They found nothing wrong with her. Don't get me wrong. I'm glad that she has nothing wrong. But her pediatrician was sure it was something not good and so told me I had to get this done to find out because it would get worse if nothing was done to correct it. Great...yet another test. But the problem now, is that we still have no idea why she is throwing up so much. I am just worried that all that x-ray exposure is bad for her and that it might have some horrible side-effect down the road. Great...like I need another worry on my mind. Anyhow, she's a happy baby and a chubby one too so unless she is hurting, I guess we will just plan on doing a lot of laundry. They called me today and said to start her on cereal to try and thicken up her stomach contents in hopes of making it harder to throw up. So tomorrow we start rice cereal. Here's hoping...

Monkey See Monkey Do

I say that I have two little monkeys. And they do so live up to their titles. Alex is of course the bigger monkey. Abby is still a bit small to be as crazy of a monkey as her big brother but it is only a matter of time. Now that Alex is understanding more and getting into more, he has really learned to mimic the many things I do. From sweeping and cleaning to words and gestures. No...not foul gestures as you may have initially thought. I try to keep my foul gestures down to one a month. ha ha ha. Anyhow, his newest monkey-see-monkey-do moment has got to be the oddest thing to date. He has of course taken an interest in babies. Baby dolls are very interesting to him. I actually have one that is as old as I am. It was mine when I was a girl. Much to my amusement, he carries it around with him and has grown quite fond of it. Well, of course this would be natural for him seeing as how he sees me toting Abby everywhere. He is just doing as mommy does. Cute, right? Yeah, it was. Until he jumped on her head and her head popped off. So I proceeded to go out and bought him a glow worm. Remember those? Hello 1980's! They make a new version of them and he saw one at my friends house and loved it instantly. So I decided to replace my ancient baby doll with a new 'baby doll'. It worked and he loves it. He carries it around, hugs it, kisses it, diapers it (which is hard to do as it has no legs), and sleeps with it. Cute again, right? hmmm...so I thought until the other day when it went to the most abnormal level and went from cute to uh-oh-is-that-normal-cute. He proceeded to sit on the couch and lift up his little shirt and...*sigh*...proceeded to pretend to breastfeed his glow worm. Yes...monkey see, monkey do. Needless to say, I got a picture. I'm sure this picture will embarrass him one day in the future, but until then, I'm watchin' what I do.

Cute...in a wierd sort of way.

Long Time No Blog

If you are a reader of this blog, you are probably wondering why I haven't been adding posts in a week. Well, the life of a mom can be pretty crazy as you may well know. It's funny how I had plenty of moments to Blog when Josh was gone, but lately time was not a luxury I had. And to be honest, I have NO idea where my time went. I'd blink, and it was time for bed. So let's catch up shall we?

Abby is happily looking at Penny.

Abby had her four month check-up today. I have been concerned about her excessive spit up. To top it all off, the last three days, she has been spitting up with bile mixed in the large pools of milk I find on the ground. I mentioned that to the doctor as a side note. Well...my side note turned into a massive part of the appointment. He said that bile was never a good thing in spit-up land so he ordered an upper GI test that will require her to go the the hospital for a day. Ugh. I was really hoping to avoid hospitals with her. We have had enough of that with Alex. Guess I won't get that wish. There are a couple of things it could be, one of them requiring a surgery. So anyone willing to pray for her, please do so. We don't want surgery on our baby girl. she is just so little still. Anyhow, other than that major bit of news, she is all well. True to form, she is weighing in at the 90th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for height. Where these large babies come from is beyond me. I'm not big, and neither is Josh. Alex is also in the 90-95th percentile for weight and height. Wierd.

Alex is trying out his new kitchen here.

Alex has been busy with a new toy. Well..i say 'new' but it is really used. If I haven't mentioned it yet, I LOVE Craig's List. It's a website where you can buy and sell just about anything. I have gotten a ton of stuff from there for the kids. And this weekend I went to pick up a play kitchen. Alex has been really getting into the pretend play phase and he LOVES the kitchen. He spends a couple of hours a day playing with it. I really just wanted to buy it to keep him busy until his birthday in hopes of getting more new toys for him to learn on. Turns out that he thinks it's the best thing in the house right now. It was a whopping $10. Awesome! I also proceeded in getting him a power wheel for his birthday from craig's list. I'm getting eager though. I want to give it to him now, but I must wait two months until his birthday. He's gonna love it.

Otherwise, not much exciting has been happening. I'm still eagerly awaiting a day out and have yet to find a perfect time to have it. I really was just saving my day for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince movie. It was supposed to come out in November. But the stupid movie makers decided they wanted to make more money so they pushed the release back to next July of next year. *grumble, grumble* SO not fair. My Potter-head friend and I are very disappointed. I guess mommy's day out will just have to wait.

The Amazing Minds of Children

Children amaze me. Every day it seems like something that Alex or Abby does, just amazes and inspires me. It seems like every day is something new with them both. This week has been a busy week for them. They have been showing me all their new tricks. It's wonderful to witness each thing they do. And the other day, my friend asked me if it is just as exciting the second time around. I said that it is. When Alex first rolled over (he was an early roller), I was amazed and so proud. When Abby rolled over (also an early roller), I was just as proud and amazed. So here we have the new discoveries we have made this week.

First up, Abby is laughin'! She has laughed before, but only small giggles of a laugh. Almost nothing really close to being an all out laugh. But last night we had our first belly laughs. And who other than Alex was the one to make her crack up. It was so hilarious. I was laughing too. I was giving Alex his bath and Abby was sitting on my lap watching him. He started splashing around and she starting laughing. And it went on for about five minutes. I think they could have done this all night. She was entertained by Alex and Alex was laughing at her reaction. The water was getting cold so I had to stop the fun and games. But it was the perfect ending to a long day. I think I was smiling all night afterwards.

Next up we have a couple of fun Alex moments. He is learning SO fast. It's mind boggling how fast he picks things up now and just how observant he is. I was worried for a bit about his speech. He really didn't say too many words and it made me wonder if he was having some problems. But in the last week, he has picked up on the average of 10 words a day. He is so excited to learn new words. He used to never even try, but now he will point to something and say, "This?" he wants to know what it is called and as soon as I tell him, he tries his hardest to repeat it. It's so cool. He has taught himself just about every 'learning toy' we have now. He has mastered all the shape sorters, puzzles, stackers, buttons, and whatever else we have. So for his birthday we are hoping to get some new teaching toys for him. But what REALLY knocked me over happened a couple of days ago when we were playing with his wodden blocks. You know the kind with letters and numbers on them? Anyhow, he was picking them up and as he starting showing me them, he starting spouting off the letters that he was picking up. He picked up a 'K' and said K. I thought it was a fluke, so we looked at all the letters of the alphabet and sure enough...that kid can recognize about 10 or 12 letters. He will see letters on books, toys, and anything he sees and tell me what they are. I had no idea that kids his age could regognize letters and actually get them right. Amazing. The funny thing about that is that I really haven't been teaching him letters. I sing the alphabet song a lot, but no visual aids are present. He also regognizes some of his numbers too, colors, and some shapes. This is why I love to be a stay at home mom. It's the best job in the world.

Crabby Cats

Precious Poopsie and the object of her affection

Josh is once again gone on a work trip and we are once again in the 'missing daddy zone'. And really, it's not the kids that miss him the most. Believe it or not, it's the cats. When he is gone, even at work for the day, the cats seem to miss him dearly. Now, of course this makes me jealous in a way because it was I who raised them...changed the litter...fed them...and nurtured three of them back from their deathbeds. So naturally they would mish Josh the most. (please note sarcasm) Anyhow, there is really just one of them that is completely lost and devastated at Josh's absense. Leia. The precious princess just can't seem to live a full life without him. She won't go to anyone but Josh unless she is beyond desperate. At which point she will come to me for affection. I call her Josh's precious poopsie. At one point we thought we might have to get rid of our kitty family because of a diagnosed cat allergy with Alex, but turns out that he doesn't react to them much if at all. (if you are wondering how that is possible, it is because he has been with them since birth and has developed a tolerance to thier specific dander. We aren't sure about other cats as of yet.) But as you can see by the picture, Leia needs her daddy. We think that if she were to be without Josh for too long, she'd eventually die from not eating. The whole lot of the cats don't want to eat as much when daddy is gone. Wierdo cats. I am never away from them for more than a day. I can't imagine they would care though. How annoying. Until he comes home, I guess they will just have to settle for me and the kids. Wierd cats.

Poopin' Monkeys

Poopin' Monkey #1

Poopin' Monkey #2

Warning...the following entry is about poop. If poop in any way disgusts you, gives you the eebie-jeebies, or in any way offends you, I recommend you skipping today's blog entry.

Okay. So, is poop one of those things that is taboo in the world? Should I not talk about it? I don't know. But what I DO know, is that until I had kids, I never knew that poop would be so important. Yes. That's right. I said important. You can tell a lot about poop when it comes to babies and kids. Shoot, there is actually a chart in the "What to Expect the First Year" book that gives you a color/consistency chart when it comes to the gross little biohazards. Apparently, it is such an important subject that it requires it's own section in books. Three years ago, I wouldn't have expected to be happy to see the transition of poop from tarry black to pasty yellow. So on to my poopin' monkeys. As you probably know, babies do three things initially. Sleep, eat, and poop. And believe me...that is the honest truth. At first, it's every time you change a diaper. And if you breastfeed, which I am naturally doing, they get to a wierd place in diaper land where they just stop going. At first you think, "Is she constipated?" No...she's not constipated. It's natural to only go once every 3 to 7 days if they are breastfed. But in between those poops, it starts getting crazy. You know that they gotta go and that the plumbing is getting backed up in there. I mean, the intestines can only hold so much, ya know? So here I am at this point in the life of an infant. Abby is four months old and as of yesterday she had not had a poopy diaper in 5 days. I found myself eagerly changing her morning diaper in hopes of finding the minor explosion that was bound to happen. I fully expected to be woken up by the thunderous rocket blast coming from the crib. But after day five, I'd almost given up hope of finding the little...um...surprise in the diaper. So last night, I went to bed and was woken up at 4:40 in the morning to the sound of the crib bumping into the wall. I peeked into the crib to find my little girl who was so full of energy and so incredibly wide awake that she was lying on her back literally running. Her legs were super-speed and eyes were WIDE awake and a smile on her face to boot! She was rip-roarin' ready to go. I looked down at those bright eyes and knew she was ready to eat which of course only meant one thing. The poop fairy had visited us at last! The diaper was brim-top full and to be honest, i'm quite surprised that the sheer force of that explosion didn't blow a hole straight through her onsie! 15 wet wipes later, she ate...and ate...and ate...and finally decided to burp her gratitude. She was still wide awake of course and I gazed into her bright eyes and said, "Heck no! You are goin' back to sleep." She disagreed and so I kissed her, placed her in the crib and said, "Mama's goin' back to bed. Wake me when you get angry." I went back to sleep so I figure she must have too, because at 8:00 she was starting to wake back up. What a little monkey. But now that the big poop is over, I suppose we will start the countdown for the next explosion. Bring it on!

Of course Abby is at that beautiful age when she WANTS to have a clean butt. Believe it or not, they do eventually grow out of that. Or at least, mine did. Alex...poopin' monkey number 2...has a completely opposite response to the poop fairy. When he goes, he he will take off running at warp speed across the house. He hides under whatever object he can so as to avoid the dreaded diaper change. I can't imagine why though. The odor that follows him around is like sticky glue. It attatches itself to the walls. I'm not kidding either. You walk into a room where he is an hour after he's been changed and the smell is still in the walls. But still, I'm happy that he goes. Better out than in!

Welcome Home Jeremy!

WELCOME HOME UNCLE JEREMY!!

My brother is back from Iraq and we are all happy to hear from him! It's great to know he is back just in time for his baby boy to be born. How exciting! I can't wait to see the little kiddo when he gets here. So welcome home, bro! I'm so proud of you!

This is Feist on Sesame Street.

So Josh is gone again for work and we are already missing him. It gets pretty crazy around here sometimes, but we seem to do pretty well all things considered. I get dinner invites from my mom and my friend Mandy. It's nice of them to accomodate us. But the week is bound to be even grander now that Sesame Street is new. That's right...you heard me. I base my week on the joy of Sesame Street. Since Alex has been interested in Elmo and Sesame Street, we have seen nothing but constant reruns. And today was the joyous day when they started thier new season. Big deal, right? Well, it sure was to Alex. Abby of course couldn't care less. But up until now, we get our viewing entertainment from YouTube and last week, they posted the new musical number from Sesame Street on there. It is Feist singing a kid-friendly version of her song "1-2-3-4" If you dont' know who she is, you might remember it from a cell phone commercial. Otherwise, you can go to YouTube and search for it. It was the first song he ever loved and now that she was a guest on sesame street, that made his day. The look on his face when he saw it come on this morning was priceless. He is used to seeing it very tiny on YouTube and this morning it was on the big TV screen. Woo-hoo! As you can see, he was beyond thrilled. This is him dancing along.

This is the happy-happy-joy-joy Sesame Street dance.

Abby has a new found joy of scootin along the floor on her belly as best as she can. She is still awful small to be getting mobile, but bless her heart. She sure tries her hardest to get moving. She just turned four months old today. So as I reflect on the last four months, I can't believe how much she is changing and how I feel that she is growing so fast. She has almost hit her 6 month fun zone. That's the month that I truely believe that babies become 'fun'. Not that they aren't fun before, but they get thier big jump into personality land at six months. That's the magic month for Josh. The kiddos dont' seem too happy with him until that age. I think it's boobie thing. Mommy is the best for a long time until the magic age and then Daddy is dandy-fine with them.

Time for a Breather

Before Abby came along, I remember going every week to do my normal grocery shopping with just one kiddo. I remember thinking it was just crazy. I couldn't even fathom going out with multiple children. Well, Abby naturally came along and at first it was almost more than I could believe. But seeing as how I go do my shopping once a week (diapers, diapers, diapers), well...it has sort of become second nature having two kiddos with me. Heck, I've even dragged my friend Mandy and here kiddo Wesley with us a couple of times. It may be hectic, but it's all in a stay-at-home mom's day. So today, I decided Alex might enjoy a playdate with Wesley. I packed him a lunch, a bag, and dropped him off with his Aunt Mandy to play for a couple of hours while I went to do the shopping. For the first time in...well...I don't know how long, it was just me and Abby. One kid. And WOW! What a difference that was! It was like a breath of fresh air. I didn't have to divide my focus in two places this time so I think the trip was actually faster and smoother than it has been in months. Don't get me wrong, I love takin' the little guy with me. He is a hoot when we go out. But I usually end up forgetting something I meant to buy or paying for something extra, that I didn't realize he pulled into the cart. Like last week, when a bag of oreos mysteriously ended up in the cart. I didn't even realize we bought them until we got home. I was so focused on attending to Abby that I put them on the conveyor belt without even realizing it. Not a problem seeing as how they are milk free and oh so tasty! So a big thanks to Mandy for watching my little tornado while I went out today. I gotta do this more often! If you'd like to see pictures of Alex's playdate with Wesley, check it out at Mandy's blog. http://misterwesley.blogspot.com/

Pee Pee in the Potty!

Hooray! We have our first pee pee in the potty! We are doing the reward program for mister Alex when it comes to potty training. We aren't in full force with the training at the moment. He is ready for it and all, but not willing. He has great bladder control and can do all the basic things it takes to train, but he thinks it is more of a game than anything else. So we are taking it slow. Tonight though, he decided he wanted to sit on the potty and sure enough...he did a number one in the potty. It is so cute to see how excited he gets about these new things. He got a smartie candy for going and BOY was he happy about that. I'm thrilled at the idea of getting him out of diapers one day. But for now I'm just happy that he is showing interest in the whole potty world. I think I'm going to go buy the Elmo Potty Time DVD when I can. He saw a preview for it and got pretty excited about it. It's entertaining to watch really. I'm gonna try to put it up on the blog here so you can see it if you want. Nothin' like watchin' muppets sing about poopin' on the potty!

Next up we will talk about Abby. Talk about the polar opposite of Alex. She is the best little sleeper and waker-upper. I keep telling my hubby about how it is amazing what God blesses mothers with. I don't think Abby has ever woke up to eat in a fit of rage. She almost never cries when she wakes up. So God has blessed me with the ability to hear her slightest movement. I know when she is up to eat because I wake up to hear her snorting around and kicking her legs joyfully. I go over to peek in the crib, and there she is smiling up at me with those big, cow eyes and ready to have a new diaper and a meal. What a perfect little girl. On a side note, she is trying so hard to move forward on the floor. She gets herself up on those hands and fights to get her knees moving as she does so. I keep trying to explain to her that she is much too young for mobility, but I get the feeling she doesnt' want to listen. I'm perfectly happy with a stationary baby for the moment, but I think she is already itchin' to follow her big brother around. Too cute!

Look how great she holds herself now.

To Eat or Not to Eat

To eat or not to eat, that is the question. Will he eat it or won't he? I am talking about Alex of course. I feel helpless at times when it comes to feeding my son. Why you ask? Well, he is a picky eater. This wouldn't be a problem under normal circumstances. But in our case, his milk allergy has posed it to be a bigger burden than it is meant to be. And to top off the allergy, everything under the sun has milk in it these days...from fishsticks to soup. Now I totally understand that kids won't always eat what you give them. But he goes one step further and won't eat almost ANYTHING I give him. There is but one small exception to this rule. Fruit. He LOVES fruit. He could eat his weight in fruit if given the opportunity. But alas...too much fruit will cause raging diarrhea. And seeing as how we already battle bouts of this from time to time for unknown reasons, we would rather keep him from eating all the fruit he wants. So you probably are wondering what he eats. Cereal and a banana for breakfast. I've tried waffles, pancakes, eggs, french toast, oatmeal, toast, sausage, and bacon. He gives me the dirty look and throws it on the floor or pushes it away and cries. For lunch, soynutbutter and jelly sandwich and fruit. He can't have nuts until he is 2 in hopes of preventing a peanut allergy. I've tried grilled soycheese sandwich, all lunch meat from bologna to fresh cut turkey, hot and cold. Nope. I've tried tortillas too. nope...still no luck. And guess what? Lately he wont' even eat his soynutbutter. So he starves himself. For dinner it's tyson chicken fingers and green beans and lately those are not ringing his bell either. Have I tried everything under the sun? yes...I believe so. Ham, turkey, chicken, beef, pork....fried, boiled, baked, grilled, seasoned, unseasoned, ground, shaped, smothered in ketchup, in happy face shapes, and even with gravy...peas, carrots, potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, corn....beans of all shapes and sizes....pasta of all shapes and sizes from plain to salted and spaghetti sauce. The kid even hates spaghetti! What normal child hates spaghetti!?! My child. So if anyone out there has any suggestions on how to feed a kid who just won't eat and who has limited options, i'd be glad to know. *sigh* Until then, I guess it's fruit or bust. Pass the wet wipes please...this is gonna be a messy ride.

Fleas, Mosquitoes, and Bees...Oh My!

Ugh...bugs, bugs, and more bugs! I know that summer comes with a rise in the insect population, but sometimes they do more than just bug me. Pun intended. The spring blossomed here nicely. Unfortunately, so did our flea infestation. We had a flea infestation last summer and I thought we remedied that. Apparently, they lie dormant over the months and pop up when the weather is right. Not a problem though because we have it back under control through the insane process of vaccuming over and over and over again. Then of course we developed the dreaded ant infestation. Those little buggers could smell a drop of koolaid on the counter a block away! No idea how they do it. But they eventually disappeared. And let's not even mention the nasty spiders that rear thier ugly little heads. Lucky for us, we have five spider killers residing in the house. Our cats nearly never let us down. Every morning there is either a twitching or dead spider carcass on the kitchen floor or leftover legs from one being eaten. Good kitties!

But this is not the end of our bothersome bug issues. If your home is anything like ours, mosquitoes are as thick as they can be. Poor little kiddos can't seem to go outside without being bit. I get bit too, but I also have the ability to control my itching. Alex itches himself raw and it often wakes him up at night. Drives me batty. So I have resorted to spraying him down everytime we go outside. And as if this weren't enough of a bug problem, the honey bees are thicker than I remember them ever being. We have a lot of clover and they are attracted to the flower on it. Not too big of a problem, but we have now officially gotten our first bee sting. Alex was minding his own business in his tiny pool and a bee bombarded him. I thought I rescued him in time, but later at dinner I noticed a strange looking bite on him. A closer look and sure enough, there was a tiny black stinger pumping it's poison into his hand. I have no idea how the kid didn't scream bloody murder when he was stung, but he wasn't phased by it at all. One good pluck and some baking soda later, and the spot was gone. Phew...crisis averted! Summer is great but I sure could do without the bugs. Oh, and here are a couple of photos of my monkeys!

Mmm...tasty toes!

Nothin' like dancin' on a laundry basket!

Nap Wars Episode VI: Return of the Beddy-Bye

This is my favorite photo of the monkey-duo.

Transitions are fun. And by fun, I mean fun like getting-kicked-in-the-head fun. This battle of the crib is a joyous occasion. Alex went from crib to bed and back again for awhile, but now I think we have a winner. He loves to sleep in his bed. The only problem with it, is that he now realizes that he can jump out and play at any given moment. Overall, he does fairly well. He will stay in it and lie down for the majority of the time he is 'trying' to sleep. I don't mind him getting up. He just wants to stay awake. He has always been like that though. Avoiding sleep like the plague. But we are still hoping that the crib days are over. I think it may have a couple of comeback nights, but all in all I believe we are done. So ends the Nap Wars trilogy. I know it's not nearly as exciting as the Star Wars trilogy (though it's not really a trilogy any more, now is it?). Next up, Harry Potty and the Ivory Throne (that's a play on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for all you non-Potter heads). Now here are some exciting new pictures of the monkey duo.

Yo Ho Ho, and a bottle of...um...Orange Juice? Alex is sporting our new garage sale find. And what cute a little pirate he makes in that pirate hat!

"Good Morning! What's that Mom? You don't want to be awake at 5:45 in the morning. Now that's just silly!"
That is probably what she was thinking. See those arms? They are blurry because she was moving them at warp speed. That is how awake she was. And for all you out there who don't know, I'm NOT a morning person. Ugh.

Cheese! What can I say about this...such a cheese-ball!