Christmas 2010.....

Date night at the Movies and Dinner

A lot has happened since my last post! Christmas came and went. I wanted to say thank you so much to family and friends for their generous and wonderful presents for the kids!!!! They have loved everything! Noah often doesn't know what to play with since he has so many new choices but he loves them all.

It was the first year that Noah understood more about Santa. We left out cookies and milk for the first time. He seemed to not quite understand...but maybe he did. He had no problem opening presents this year. He loved it!

some of the funny things he is telling me:

Whenever I scold him and or the dog and even ask Grace to please sit up, he says "Don't say that mama." It is amusing. It is because if he tells me to "Get out" which he often does, I say "Don't say that to mama, Noah." Whenever he wants you to go away, he says "Get out." not loud or anything but he just says it. What a stinker.

Grace had her 6 month checkup yesterday. She did good! She has now tried pears, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, bananas, prunes, apples. She still likes everything but sweet peas and green beans! She was 17 lbs. 15 ozs. Big girl! She was 76th percentile in Weight, 67th percentile in height and 58th percentile for her head circumference. All good numbers! Above average! Her is her pic of us waiting in the exam room.

Well, today is NY Eve. We will just be staying home to ring in the New Year. Be safe and Happy New Year everyone! We had our date night last night thanks to my mom who stayed with us a couple days.

Sounds from the living room....

I was feeding Grace in the kitchen and Noah was playing on my phone....an app that has Christmas carols and he was singing Jingle Bells along with it. :) so cute. :)

I went in to get him this morning and I always want to smother him with kisses when I set him on the changing table. I said "Let me kiss you!" Then he said "noooo" but then he said "Fine." All morning when I want to go over and kiss him he says, "Fine."

Last night was day 5 of the "cry it out method" in getting Grace to sleep through the night. She didn't cry last night! woohoo! I am still on that internal clock I guess because I was wide awake at 3 AM unfortunately.

I might have to put this off

Okay I guess I picked the WORST time to start my diet. I think I will have to start again after the New Year. My good friend, Jessica, sent home a box of Christmas goodies including one of my favorites - peppermint bark! and our neighbors brought us a Christmas box of brownies, peanut butter cookies and my favorite, white chocolate macadamia. AHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Just tried to give Grace a bottle of formula again. She refused again, so not sure I'm going to be able to stop breastfeeding yet. I've been sneaking in a little formula in some of her breastmilk bottles but I guess just plain formula isn't going to cut it. We'll see, I'll keep trying.......

My new challenge.....

I have finally given in and started counting my daily pts again for Weight Watchers.....I have done the program in the past and when sticking to it, I have ALWAYS lost the weight. Post-baby, things are just so hectic that I was convinced I would lose all the weight simply by breastfeeding. Well, I have lost all my "Grace weight" but not my "Noah weight". When I got pregnant with Grace, I was still 12 lbs heavier than I wanted and was before any children. So I started last Wednesday......Remarkably I lost almost 4 lbs already. I am also doing the workout program/game "Get Fit with Mel B" at lunchtime when they are napping. Maybe one day I will have the time to get back to running which I really started to love. Wish me luck on this journey! In general, I want to feel good about myself again.

This week, Grace tried sweet peas and pears. She didn't love the sweet peas but gobbled up the pears! Now, she is back to some sweet potatoes, which she really likes. Noah's new favorite phrase is "I love it!" He tells me when he sees the inflatables in the neighborhood. Then he says "I love the reindeer! I love the snowman!" He's so cute. His vocabulary has really picked up. Pretty much, he is speaking in complete sentences and thankfully, has started speaking in the first person. Potty training still hasn't taken off. Read to leave it alone for a while so we have. Today, he told me he wanted to sit on the toilet, so he did but nothing. He just seems scared to actually go on it. We've started telling him that Santa is coming this week...not sure he really understands but it will be the first year we will put out cookies and milk. :) Santa is going to be good to him!

John's kid Christmas photo

Mine was in 1981. I think his is 1980ish.

John and I's Christmas photos

Beautiful day in December!

Well, it was a beautiful day here in SA, TX in December! mid-70's....Even though i would like it to be cooler, it was nice to take a walk with the kids. When it has been too cold in the mornings, I don't take them because I worry about not bundling them up enough. Anyhow, we started the day with introducing Grace to green beans....she did NOT like them! I can't say I blame her. They smell and taste pretty bland. All the books say to keep introducing it to her though. Then we had a quick trip to Ross for me to get a couple of workout pants. Ironically, on the way home, I stopped and got a McFlurry....My first real dairy dessert since Grace was diagnosed with her reflux. So far, she has been okay. Anyhow, I got the snack size one and Noah and I shared it. Then we went on a walk. I tried Grace in the baby carrier while I pushed the single stroller. It seemed to work okay actually. We have the jogging double stroller (which we borrowed from a friend) but the front wheel doesn't turn so it is hard to manuever. Not sure if I am doing something wrong? Then there is the traditional double stroller but it is a little cumbersome to manuever as well, so I just tried this today......

Then they napped and I got some stuff done. Noah only naps about 1.5 hours usually now while Grace naps a full 3. I tried the green beans with her again but she only took a couple bites. Then I gave her peaches and she seemed cool with that. The funniest part of the day was I decided to do my "Get Fit with Mel B" DVD for the first time with them awake. It was pure chaos. Grace was screaming and Noah didn't understand why Diego wasn't on the TV anymore. AHHH!!!!! So I just did my workout anyways, but once Noah realized it involved music, he was excited and started dancing. He was also very excited he could see me as well as himself on the TV. He danced with me/exercised for about half of it and then started doing something else. But it was very cute. He also kept pointing to Mel B and saying "mama". YEAH RIGHT! I WISH!!!!

A Grumpy Tuesday

Pardon me, but I am a bit grumpy today. I don't know why but i am having flashbacks of my third trimester of pregnancy with the way I can't sleep for about the past month. I guess I have a lot on my mind and if Grace hasn't woken me up yet, I anticipate she is about to, so I can't go back to sleep. Last night I woke up at 2 AM and then she woke up at 3 to eat, so after I fed her, the last time I looked at the clock it was 5 AM. Ugh. So I am tired today........I put the kids down for their nap at about 1:15 so then I was doing the bills, and about 2:30 I decided to try and nap. It took me a while to go to sleep, then I am awakened at 3:15 by Noah hitting my bedroom door since he always crawls out of the crib now. Anyways....but this morning, we were able to go see Brayden, baby Addi and Jen. Noah was sooooo excited he kept squealing on the way over there. Him and Brayden and such best buds. They were bouncing on balls and making each other crack up....such a beautiful sound to a mother's ears. Noah gets really red in the face when he is hot or active, so his cheeks were all red.

Well, Grace is up and crying so I better go get her. Nothing much to report today, except that Noah is telling me when he poops now (after the fact). At least he is telling me I guess. It is a step!

My life is a Seinfeld episode....

We have had an adventurous Monday. First of all, this morning when Noah was brushing his teeth, he told Abbey, "Get out....dumb dog." Wow, I guess I really need to watch what I say. I don't even realize I say that?!?!? He is such a parrot these days. I love our Abbey and you know that but she isn't the smartest Lab I've ever seen. She CONSTANTLY licks the back door and leaves a pool of drool that we slip in, so that must be when I say that.

Then we decided to meet John for lunch at Outdoor World so the kids could see Santa. Last year we went on Saturday and it was CRAZY busy. It was so NOT busy and we didn't have to wait more than 5 minutes today! The kids did great! Oh, I kept telling Noah on the way there that he has to tell Santa what he wants for Christmas, so I asked him what it is he wants (don't think he understands this concept yet) but he said "a reindeer." LOL!

The reason my life is a Seinfeld episode......Okay so for those of you don't know or remember how hard it is to get two kids down for a nap at the same time....Well, it is an artform. The kids were an hour late with their nap after the Santa visit, so I had FINALLY gotten them down and then the stupid doorbell rings. Not just rings, but got STUCK, so it was blaring and loud and woke up both kids. I ran down to open the front door and un-stick the doorbell and I am greeted by two Jehovah's witnesses. I was in no mood to hear about Jehovah. They could see I was flustered, and I just said my kids are napping, not really interested. Why does crap like that always happen?!?!

Picture w/Santa - Christmas 2010

Big brother Noah & baby Grace - He is so sweet w/her!!!

Some Recent pics - Grace's first solids, Noah w/ my new scarf & hat, etc

More of Noah rockin' it @ YGG

Noah dancing @ Yo Gabba Gabba

More Yo Gabba Gabba

Yo Gabba Gabba December 2010

Noah at 4 months - Doesn't he look so much like Grace here?

My first Post

Hi Family/Friends!
Today is Monday, December 13th and I am about the feed the kids and start our day. It is a chilly morning outside so we won't be able to take a walk for a couple hours. I hear Noah above me moving around in his room. Didn't know if you knew yet but he learned how to consistently get out of his crib. We have yet to take off the siderail but it doesn't seem dangerous. Thankfully (crossing my fingers) he hasn't been leaving his room yet. He just stays in there and destroys his room so I can clean it up. Grace is crying so she is hungry. Not sure how much longer I will be able to breastfeed. I have noticed a drop in my production so not sure what's going on. She started solids two weeks ago and she loves them! She chomps down her rice cereal and so far, sweet potatoes, carrots and bananas! She is definitely a good eater. We hope it stays that way. You know how picky Noah always has been. Two weeks til Christmas! I can't believe it is already mid-December. Time just flies! Since Grace was born, it seems to really have flown. I better go tend to the little ones! More later!