Sunday, December 25, 2011
Oh something funny to mention, Brandon says HoHoHo, but it's kinds in a creepy really soft voice and it's hehehe. His favorite holiday movie is The Polar Express. He loves to watch the train and say CHOO CHOO and Santa!
Peter was baby Jesus at the Good Shepherd Christmas Pageant, see video below, he was such a great Jesus. He didn't cry, need the pacifier, or a bottle. Recently Peter doesn't like to sleep downstairs anymore, I'm pretty sure it's his noisy brother that keeps him awake.
I've been baking lots of cookies for friends, neighbors, and Santa between going to yoga and practicing for auditions, my next-door neighbor is an accompanist/piano teacher and he is going to play through some of my music to help me prepare for January and February auditions. Paul has the next 4 days off from work, he's been helping around the house and going for jogs around the neighborhood. Paul and I are still on our journey to get back into shape. I'm still doing bikram yoga 2 times a week, it is really the best yoga I've ever done. I think I'm a yoga addict!
Merry Christmas everyone.
Sent from my iPad
Monday, December 19, 2011
Monday, December 12, 2011
no more SVT for Peter, HOORAY!
Peter had to go on a medicine 3 times a day for this because the doctors didn't want his heart beating too fast right after his surgery, they didn't want him to work to hard after such a big surgery, and I can't blame them. Well on Thanksgiving Peter had to wear a 24 heart monitor for just 1 day and that following Monday I returned it to the doctors and we have been waiting and waiting for results. I'm so happy that my assumption that no news is good news because his cardiologist called me today saying he didn't have any episodes of tachycardia so his was most likely just a post-operative case, and by one year old he can go off the medicine he's on, but for now he will stay at the same dosage he's been at since he came home.
Peter's decided he is done nursing
In other news, I surprised my mom last week with a trip to NJ, the 6 hour drive was surprisingly easy with the 2 babies. We stopped for lunch at Brandon's normal lunch time. We all had a bathroom break and got in the car and didn't stop until we got to grandma's work. Sleeping arrangements were tough the first night. Brandon was scared of the dark so he slept in bed with me, but Peter was just being fussy and ended up sleeping in his bouncy chair at the foot of my bed. Night 2 at Grandma and Grandpa's house was different though, I got Peter to sleep in the crib at night and Brandon to take naps in it during the day. We had a lot of fun visiting with family for a couple days, the boys even got to see their Great Nana, for Peter it was his first time meeting Nana.
Now we are in the final days before Christmas, and have lots of parties to attend. Saturday Paul and I went to his company party in DC, and we stayed the night at the hotel, it was awesome getting a full 8 hours, just a couple more months and hopefully Peter will start sleeping those long stretches. We were very lucky to have my sister come back with us to VA to babysit them. From what she told me they were great, Brandon slept from 8:30PM-9AM and Peter woke up every 3 hours to eat. I thought Brandon would be a monster for her, but he was happy to be back home and sleep in his bed, plus I think he was a bit tired from the past week's excitement at the grandparents.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
But it turns out that Paul's job has turned into one with a lot of long business trips, at least one per month. Which leaves me home with the munchkins all day and all night for days. We survive, and honestly I enjoy the change of pace every once in a while.
These are my rules I live by daily.
Prioritize.
This is a two-step process: figure out the things that are really, really hard to do with just one pair of grown-up hands, and then do everything possible to make those tasks go smoothly. Things that fall in this category include: bathing the boys, bathing oneself, and putting the babies to bed. Getting a bath myself is the hardest task for me, but I've learned that if I time everything carefully, I have a few minutes in the morning before B wakes up I can get a long extra hot shower. But if things don't go as planned Brandon will jump in the shower with me, but that means my shower becomes a job of wrangling a wet wiggly toddler in warm water (I like my showers super super hot, but with B in with me it's not happening)
Take full advantage of help.
Remember the priorities you just thought of whenever another pair of helpful hands walks in the front door. What can you do in one-tenth of the time if someone else is there to entertain the boys? DO THAT. Or, if you're going absolutely nuts by yourself for the week with no adults to talk to, then throw the todo list away and just talk.
Stagger bedtimes.
This is pretty much essential even if there are two adults at home. Stagger bedtimes. Also, I make it a habit to not let B get up in the middle of the night. With just one adult home to fetch and soothe him in the middle of the night, I prefer Brandon to sleep all night, that way I only have to wake up 2-3 times a night for Peter.
Go out.
It'll entertain everyone, use up a lot of time, not create any mess at home, and if it turns out to be too much work, then you just go back home. Be chill, have no expectations, and enjoy the ride. I plan lots of play dates, group activities, and lunch dates.
Schedule.
I'm not normally a very scheduled person, but when I'm the only grown-up around, everything turns into a hyper routine. Our life becomes a series of blocks of time: first we go get some milk for Brandon and watch Disney Jr.,then we go bring Peter downstairs when he wakes up, then we get dressed, then we will go downstairs for some cereal for breakfast, then we will clean up and do morning chores…so on and so on. With no deadline of "Daddy's coming home!" there is no rush for me to get things done properly, and also no major obvious breaks in the day. Scheduling keeps things sane and also helps us move through the day more pleasantly and smoothly.
Minimize weaknesses.
I am not a coffee drinker so when the mid afternoon lull comes around I need to take a break, but on days when Brandon refuses to take his afternoon nap and Peter is just crying...oh maybe both of them are crying at the same time. I just have to remember that the boys can not stay awake forever or cry forever.
Cook.
I don't care very much what food I eat, and would happily eat pizza for dinner every night. Toddlers are very much the same—they don't distinguish much between macaroni and cheese or beef bourguignon. So, when Paul is not home, our dinners focus more on being basically nutritious and less on being culinarily impressive. I use the chance to try new made-up meals that might flop, and I also do a lot of baking instead of cooking. Sometimes it's hard to do both, on these weeks the extra cookies and cakes go to my neighbors.
Do everything with the kids.
When you're alone with the kids, the most precious commodity is time alone without the kids. Don't waste it by using it for chores! Whether it's laundry or mopping the floors, try to do it when they're awake and demanding, and save the naptimes and nighttimes for the things you really need to be child-free for–or just to breathe. Or sleep....or in my case blog.
Expect some tears.
You're pretty much guaranteed to have a few moments where you just can't make both of them happy fast enough, and there will be much more screaming than there would be if another adult was around. But it's okay. Just attack their grievances one at a time, luckily Peter's only cries when he is hungry, gassy, or tired. The worst of those 3 is gassy because there is nothing I can do about that after he's had his gas drops, it just has to run it's course which once took 3 hours, me ears felt numb by the end.
Find zones.
Find, or create, childproofed areas to put your kids for a few minutes. Know where your children can play happily and safely. It's a peace of mind to k ow you can use the bathroom or change a load of laundry. Just get as many gates or childproof door locks as you need to make it happen! When you're alone around the clock, the tasks you usually save until there's another adult around still need to get done.
Pray.
I don't mean pray to make it through the week, although at times that might be necessary! But I find that the house, and my mind, are much quieter when Paul is not here. I love to meditate before bed. Normally when Paul is home I'll get 90 minutes of hatha yoga in 2-3 times a week, this time is 100% me time, I never take it for granted. But being alone I can't get 90 minutes to do yoga, so my me time is once both boys are asleep. I love the quietness of my house.
Sent from my iPad
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
update
Last weekend we had Paul's parents visit us for Thanksgiving, it was such a treat to have them at our new home for our 1st Thanksgiving here. I've made the feast about 3 times for a group of 3 or 4 people in The Netherlands, but this year it felt so much easier. My oven and Fridge are enormous compared to my Dutch one, and even with the 2 kids to take care of I still managed to make some dishes and desserts 2 days before Turkey day. I like Thanksgiving day to be the day I only have to make the turkey and some low maintenance dishes. But I think it also helped that we had Paul home Wednesday to help manage the kiddos away from me, he was a HUGE help!
After Thanksgiving dinner I was crazy enough to venture to Walmart to get Peter some baby bottles, he has hated taking bottles and if he does take them he'll cry and be gassy for 3+ hours. Since I know he can take a bottle, Paul kept saying he couldn't, but when he handed the bottle back 2 oz would be gone, we talked about trying a different kind of bottle than the ones we had for Brandon. POOF! We tried the new bottles Friday morning and they work, no more gassy colicky baby. But back to me at Walmart on the eve of Black Friday. I went for the baby bottles, but ended up staying an extra 45 minutes for the toys to go on sale at 10PM. The boys didn't need anything, but Brandon and Peter's friend Sara is turning 2 in December and they had some awesome deals, she is going to be one happy little girl in December!
With the grandparents visiting Paul and I took advantage and went on a date to see Tower Heist with Ben Stiller. Not much is out that both of us want to see, I would have been fine seeing the Twilight movie, but Paul can't stand them, I'll have a girls night out to see that one. The movie was funny and it was sooo nice to get out. Our next outing won't be until the Holiday party in December.
Paul's last day off we picked up our Christmas tree from church and since Sunday it's been sitting in a bucket of water outside. First it was in the backyard, but Monday night we moved it to under the carport because rain was predicted and man did it rain. We are so happy the tree is dry so we can bring it in the house tonight! I made sure to bring down all the decorations yesterday so we can pick out the none breakable ones to hang. Brandon scares me terribly around Christmas trees. We have to figure out a way to tie it down so no one gets hurt.
Can you believe tomorrow is December! This year we are starting an Advent Chain with Brandon. The Chain is 24 pieces long and everyday he can open 1 piece of the chain. We put little cars, coloring books, play dough, and books in his. Next year I'll make one for Peter too, it's just to hard to think of 24 useful things for him, although I could have wrapped up 24 diapers, they would have gotten good use. But next year will be fun for him!
Im trying my best to get on the blog more to write rather than just post pictures and videos, but some days all I want to do during the babies nap time is just NAP!
Monday, November 21, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
Lack of posts this past week, will be made up tonight
Monday, November 7, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
Ever wonder what an EKG looks like, Peter at his 6 week post op apt.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Peter at 2 months old
He started tummy time, his big brother loves to coach him while he's down on the ground by screaming gibberish at him
He's getting better at tummy time, but doesn't like it much
Peter can hold his head up when being held upright
His baby well apt isn't until next week, but we think he weighs about 9 1/2 lbs
Mommy has officially put away all newborn clothes and diapers
When Peter cries and is fussy Brandon is one person that can calm him down just by coming over to him and talking. Peter loves his big brother.
He loves to coo and grunt when awake
His brother has forced Peter to stay awake some afternoons because he is so loud. But this means Peter sleeps 6 hours straight at night
Peter takes shower baths and loves them 1000 times more than his sponge bath
He loves his pacifier
He slept 6 hours in a row for 2 nights in a row.
Swaddling prevents his arms from waving around uncontrollably which keeps him awake.
Sometimes me just wants to be put down in the crib or bouncy so he can sleep, rather than sleeping in our arms.
He's learning how to take a bottle of breast milk without choking on it....I think he has bad memories of the enfaport formula.
Sent from my iPad
Monday, October 24, 2011
Brandon will be 18 months soon
It's gone by so fast. He's such a big boy now, it was really put into perspective once Peter came home.
Brandon loves to upset mommy by climbing chairs and tables while she is feeding or changing Peter OR when he is ready for a nap he'll do it for attention
He loves to squirrel watch in the backyard
Whenever he hears a helicopter or airplane fly over our house he shakes with excitement.
He runs to the front door when he hears the recycling or garbage truck screaming "gar gar"
We color everyday at the kitchen table after nap time.
Brandon isn't very good at noise control when his brother is sleeping
He will not go into a nursery or daycare room if his life depended on it, clinging to a parent and lots of crying occurs
He loves to watch and imitate his older friends playing.
We've had to childproof our stove and accordion closets because Brandon learned how to turn the gas on (he did it in front of me once and that was enough to go out and buy the knob covers) and he kept going in the hall closet taking out all our shoes because he wanted us to take him outside to play
While on the topic of child proofing, we had to take down the gate at the top of the stairs because Brandon would shake it so much it would fall down, so it was more of a danger than a safety item
Brandon loves to clean and help around the house. He sweeps and vacuums around his high chair after every meal and even when he is done he puts the broom and vacuum back where they belong
Loves to scream at the top of the stairs to hear his echo
While bathing Peter he stands under his tub to catch all the water in the shower (Peter can only take showers until he is cleared by his cardiologist next month)
we must watch the movie Cars everyday, sometimes 2 times a day. If I don't put the movie in, I have a crying toddler screaming CARS at my feet trying to push me away from what I'm doing. If I put the wrong movie in he'll go over to the blu-ray player and take the DVD out and say CAR.
Learned the word NO and loves to use it
For the past 3 nights Brandon has to say goodnight to Peter before going to bed by giving him a kiss on the forehead. It's the sweetest thing he's ever done, we didn't even ask him to do it
Sent from my iPad
A few goodies from this weekend
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| Holding his head up all on his own now! |
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| sleeping beauties |
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| I pick things up |
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| And I put them down |
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| Tractor time! |
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| He didn't want blue bear in the baby bjorn... |
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| removing pumpkin guts |
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| I love this face, he didn't like the texture of pumpkin guts |
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| He loves to do everything we do |
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| We finally got it right and he loved carrying around Baby doll |
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| We tried to get a nice family picture for the scrapbook, but Brandon was a crank |
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| Sooo big! |
