Sunday Picnic

Our good friend Carolyn set up a wonderful Picnic for a get together at the Botanical Gardens this past Sunday. We really enjoyed ourselves and Emmy had a blast running around in the green grass for a second weekend in a row!

Here's the group of girls!
Back Row: Lee with baby Angus, Claire with Chardonnaee, Bianca with Alexa, Carolyn with Lilah, Me with Emmy
Front row: Louise, Leah with baby bump, Tamika on top, Emily on bottom next to her mom Heather.

Emmy doing what she does best now..... running away. You can also see a peek of Leah's growing baby bump!

Carolyn with a sacked out Lilah.


Chardonnee and Emmy squinting in the sun light as I spied on what they were doing. Emmy had made off with a whole bag of potato chips and went into the tint to hide and eat them! lol

After the picnic Kim told me that he saw Chardonnaee pinching Emmy's face and that she didn't know what to do. She's never had to stick up for herself before and Kim wanted her to learn. He said it was the hardest thing to watch without going over and intervening, but would if it got out of hand. This just breaks my heart! I don't think I could have been such a tough parent. There is too much lioness in me for that, but that is what makes a good parenting team; where one is different or lacking the other will pick up the slack. In the end she was grabbing her hands to stop her from getting to her face. The good thing was there were no tears except my own when I heard the story.

Can you tell this girl had been eating junk food?

Enjoying Daddy time!

Hey... I think there's a baby in there!! Peekaboo

Can't wait to do it again girls! Thanks Carolyn!

Girls Girls Girls

HAHNDORF FARM BARN

To kick off our Easter weekend we took the girls to Hahndorf Farm Barn to see some cute and furry animals!

Emmy & Dad

I think they were having a moment, lol!

She wanted to pet all the animals...even the deer!

Her first Kangaroo!

This is how Lilah spent her time at the farm...snoozing away!

Awww their feeding a baby lamb!

I think she thought this was funny!

You can tell 3 things from this picture. 1) Men don't know how to hold furry little animals. 2) This bunny must be super tame to put up with that type of handling. 3) Emmy is an animal lover!

Cheeep! Cheep!

This Gala really got her excited.

He could talk too!

one day at a time

Wearing her winter vest Grandma Betsy got her!

Making her Daddy proud! Thanks Grandpa Pete for the cool Colts outfit!

She fell asleep playing with her bowl of lids in the kitchen while I was doing the dishes.... precious! You can tell her father changed her diaper last. (her pants never seem to make it back on but don't worry....... it had warmed up by then)

AGAIN! fallen asleep while eating....... strange little girl!

We talk to Grandma Betsy lots via gmail video chat and the webcam loves to freeze up on us.... I had to snap a picture of this hahahhaha You look great mom! (If you look in the little box you can see Emmy sitting in the computer chair talking and watching)

It was a hot day... don't you like my little dress?

Awww please don't cry baby!

Feeding in her sling.

uummm yummy

I bet you couldn't tell I'm having lunch!

Our daily routine is starting to come together.....FINALLY! Little things like preparing Emmy's breakfast and lunch the night before makes meal times quicker for a hungry tummy. I haven't figured out a feeding routine for Lilah yet. I allow her to feed on demand but she doesn't seem to have a pattern that I have caught onto yet.

Doing the bulk of the laundry over the weekend makes the washing through out the week lighter. Mainly just the diaper washing plus one dark & light load.

The cloth diapers are going great! She does need a booster to make them more absorbent so I got a package of 12 cotton standard diapers and cut them into 10x10 squares. I fold them over once and use this and it's working pretty good. Once I get my new overlocker that is on order I'll surge the edges and may enclose a hidden layer of super absorbent cleaning rag material. She's not overly happy with the new bulky diaper that requires more changes but that is exactly what I'm after! ha ha She has no sign of diaper rash and shes in disposable over night. I do this not because she's a big wetter at night because she's not... it just makes mornings easier on me... its not the first thing that I need to do and allows me to change Lilah and get Emmy's breakfast served up and then I can sit down and feed Lilah first. It's nice to know that we are saving money and the environment at the same time while aiding in our potty trianing.

Emmy is 99% well and Lilah's cough is turning back into a dry cough and her nose is still runny but it's not as bad. I look forward to everyone being happy and healthy for as long as we can maintain it! haha Emmy is adjusting better to Lilah being around and understands what I mean when I say " let me lay the baby down and it will be your turn" She is big on wondering off to her bedroom and playing by herself. Any chance I get to go back there and play with her I do and of course she totally loves it!

She's starting to get into little power struggles with Kim and I to test her limits. I usually maintain my stance and be consistant with the rules but try to use humor to redirect her attention or get my point across so it doens't end in tears, but sometimes this is not possible and she acts like I've broken her heart.

I'm starving..................and while they are both sleeping I'm gonna go grab a bit to eat!
xo

a whole 30 days!

The month has gone by so fast! Much faster than it did with Emmy. Lilah's gained 1 lbs 5 oz since she was born and grown 3 cm. (compared to Emmy who gained 4 lbs 10 oz in the same 30 days... I think THAT says alot for breast milk!!) Yesterday I got my first REAL smile from her. I was talking sweetly to her and her eyes gave a little sparkle then a big smile came across her face for about 10 sec. So pretty!

They're wearing the cute outfits Amy got them :)Here's her birth chart...

Ascendant

Gemini

22°16'37

Sun	Pisces	7°43'49	in house 9
Moon	Pisces	21°07'00	in house 9
Mercury	Aquarius	14°13'53	in house 8
Venus	Aries	14°03'22	in house 10
Mars	Aquarius	16°45'14	in house 8
Jupiter	Aquarius	12°03'02	in house 8
Saturn	Virgo	19°13'07	in house 3
Uranus	Pisces	21°45'44	in house 9
Neptune	Aquarius	24°27'13	in house 8
Pluto	Capricorn	2°55'39	in house 7

she got me!

This week has been interesting to say the least. Kim went back to work on Monday so it's been just me and the girls. Emmy and I are still sick and as of yesterday Lilah has a noticeable running nose, dry cough, sneezes, and I assume a sore throat. I took her yesterday to have her last oral vitamin K and had her checked out by the midwife and weighed. She's gaining weight and is up to 8 lbs 14 oz and will most likely not get much sicker since she's on breast milk, but if she does we'll be to the doctors asap.

So yesterday I worked like mad to catch up on laundry and I also stripped all the bedding and opened all the windows in the bedroom trying to make sure we keep the illness aired out. Wouldn't you know the day I put all clean mattress pads, sheets, and double pillow cases on our bed will be the night that I get projectile poop strayed at me like water out of a fire hydrant! It was everywhere! All over Lilah, me, the bed, all the clothes..... needless to say a 1:30 am bed change was needed along with full mommy and baby change!

I was glad to see that she had made a big poo though. She hadn't gone much since Monday. I made a vegan chili for dinner that had tons of beans in it. I hadn't given it much thought but that night and all the next day she acted like she had one terrible belly ache. I was trying to figure out what was wrong or if she was getting sick and then it hit me like a ton of bricks that it must have been my chili bean milk that is making her gassy. I'll have to do some experimenting to find out which beans bother her and then try to avoid them. Does anyone know if something in my milk bothers her at this age will it still bother her at 4 months? 6 months? 8 months? Can there tolerances change? I rely on beans for a large portion of my protein and would like to eat my normal portions as soon as it's not upsetting her.

I think once we all get well again and work out a routine things are going to be super fun around the house for the girls. I am just now getting to start doing crafty things with Emmy and it's exciting to think she's only going to be able to do more and more. I can't wait until we can do coloring and it doesn't end in the crayon being ate lol! Easter is around the corner and I think we'll do some egg coloring in the next week or two. I'm really looking forward to the Easter egg hunt and Easter basket! ooooo what fun!

a few photos

awww kissing the baby!

a little unsure why this "thing" is making so much noise!

Emmy looking completely unamused and Lilah getting ready to cry.... or just a normal day haha

UPDATES

Just a few min's to post some quick updates.

We are all doing great, but I feel like we are running around with our heads cut off.

Emmy:

• Thinks her sister is pretty cool and is gentle with her about 99% of the time. The other 1% she forgets that Lilah is a baby and will squash her in trying to get to me.
• She walks 80% of the time now but still crawls the other 20%.
• Signs like crazy when she wants to, but will almost never do it on command and makes a liar out of me every time haha.
• Will be having her birthday party this coming Sunday and we are so excited for her! She got new shoes today to go with her pretty Fairy Dress. Cross your fingers for perfect weather!
  

Lilah:

• Has put herself on a pretty good schedule since we left the hospital. She usually feeds every 4 hours but in the past few days has been wanting to feed a little more often and in the evening she'll want to feed for several hours straight. I think it's natures was of upping my milk supply.
• She really loves to be cuddled (what baby doesn't?!) and really enjoys being worn in the baby wrap and mei tai.
• Diaper changes are never ending with a breast baby! I still haven't had a "poo incident" with Emmy. It always stayed where it was suppose to be - IN THE DIAPER! Not with this girl. She can get it all the way up to her shoulders.
• We have no signs of Lactose problems still! YAY!!! Emmy clearly was in distress at this age so I feel it's safe to say that Lilah will not be having any issues with my milk!
  

Kim & I:

• We get a good amount of sleep at night. He takes care of Emmy and she's adjusted to that now and I take care of Lilah. Most nights we sleep around 4-5 hours before Lilah wakes us for a feed, although that was not the case last night. She wanted to eat ALL NIGHT LONG, but like I said before I think she's upping my supply since she will be eating more from now on. On Emmy's formula tin it says newborn to 2 weeks old will eat bottles that are 60mls and 2 weeks- 2 months of age will eat 120 mls per feed. and she's 2 1/2 weeks old so she's wanting more milk I suppose.
• I'm still trying to figure out how to get some down time. It seems like once I get one of them happy, fed, changed, or bathed then the other one needs fed, changed, or bathed haha. I'm not asking for lengthy hours to craft.... I'm just looking for 5 min's to take a shit in peace. I guess that will come with time. lol
• I'm so grateful that Kim got me a dryer for Christmas because I have had it along with the washing machine going almost non stop! The girls have tons of clothes that I don't need to do washing every other day, but I feel better if it's done and put away rather than sitting in the dirty clothes bin.
• I cooked dinner for the first time yesterday since I've had Lilah and feel like some sort of normalcy is coming back into our lives. Once Kim goes back to work (next monday) the girls and I will work out a routine that works for us and things will go more smoothly.

Lilah's crying....... must be time for a change and a feed! xoxo

some pictures

I'm not sure what photo's I have posted where or sent to who so if these are a double for you then I apologize.

Here's Lilah getting her first bath at home!

Emmy was very interested in what was going on and eagerly awaiting her turn for a bath!

She was very awake for this picture :) It was also taken in the dark with a flash... we're mean parents. She wasn't too happy after that.
Emmy's enjoying her first TIM TAM! I figured a bib would make no difference in the end and let her have at it without one. It was straight to the bathtub after this chocolate treat!

snug as a bug in a rug

Today was the first day Emmy & I were alone and on our own and it went very well! I managed to get the daily chores done and work on a few projects. My husband has installed Skype on his PC at work and has a blue tooth ear piece he wears. It's way awesome because now he can be a cyber daddy if I need him to be! Today I had the web cam pointed at her co-sleeper and was able to get a quick shower since he could see and hear her from work. We set it up that if she wakes up from her nap that he'll ring the home phone and I can get out and to her quickly. Worked great this morning and will come in real handy when I gotta hang clothes out on the line. Even better is we have a speaker outside so when the home phone rings it also rings outside so I can be any where in the backyard and hear it.


Emmy loves to be held (what baby doesn't!!) and I've always been fascinated with the idea of baby wearing.

Why Wear Your Baby?

1. Baby cries less, learns more, grows better
2. Easier to get work done
3. Eliminates the need to choose between holding the baby and "having a life"
4. Reduces postpartum depression and child abuse
5. Easier to nurse with sling than without
6. Mom has two free hands to play with older children, so less sibling rivalry
7. Gives Dad bonding opportunities
8. Keeps baby safe and out of harm's way
9. Wear your baby.com
   

1. 
   

So I purchased the New Native Baby Sling, but have had difficulty making her comfortable in it since she's so small and can't sit up yet.

My sister in law lent me a sling wrap a friend made for her and this thing is awesome!! I looked up how to wrap it and found great instructions on this site here. I really recommend using them for babies that wanna just be cuddled all the time! As soon as I put Emmy in it she passes out and I can't wait to use it when I go shopping!!

Here's how to make one for yourself!!

Make a No-Sew Wrap

Use either medium-weight fleece or cotton knit with edges that curl up when stretched.

Start with a strip of fabric that is 60 inches wide and 5 yards (15 feet) long.

Cut into strips that are 20 inches wide and 5 yards long.

Give away two wraps. Keep one for yourself!

ALL cotton JERSEY is cotton knit.
Some cotton knit is also cotton jersey.
And both jersey and non-jersey work just fine.

Sew a Wrap

Sewing a wrap is a simple matter. The complicated part is choosing just ONE cloth to buy at the fabric store. If you figure that one out, let me know. Fabric choices for sewn wraps are the same as for no-sew wraps with one exception. Since you will be sewing (or surging) the edges, you can choose woven cloth that has unfinished selvages, fleeces that don't necessarily curl when cut, and cotton knits that don't necessarily curl when cut.

Okay, after you have chosen your cloth, you cut it to the right dimensions. Typically 20 to 35 inches wide and 4 to 5 yards long. *

Now you serge all the way around the four sides. If you don't have a serge, you can hem all the way around the four sides. Some moms have had success going to a sewing machine store and borrowing the serger for 5 minutes, maybe for free, maybe for $2- $5.

I strongly recommend against buying 2.5 yards, cutting it in half and stitching it together to make 5 yards. This is not only a pain in the toukas, it also gives you a seam to worry about -- a weight-bearing seam, no less. If you MUST do this, then be sure to use a French Seam.