good news!

It feels as if we have been celebrating Coranelle's birthday for a whole week! It has been tons of fun and she has really gotten into opening presents and eating treats.

Here's the new water table. It is a great toy for our backyard. Ryan and I got her an easel- it has a white board, a roll of paper and a chalk board. It keeps her entertained while I nurse.

On Thursday, Ryan took the day off and the whole family went to the zoo. Coranelle got to feed the Lorikeets and ride the carousel- twice! She had great fun!


She's talking to us about how the plants are growing up big, just like she and Sheldon are.


We ended our day with some Chinese food with Uncle Josh and Auntie Claire. Coranelle scarfed down her fried rice and meat.

We celebrated again on Sunday with my family down in Longmont. Coranelle had a blast playing with everyone and opening more and more gifts! She got all sorts of fun outdoor toys, puzzles, and an awesome, portable DVD player. She was so excited about her own "compooter". She even got to watch part of a movie on the way home. She was thrilled! I think that doing parties with just the family was perfect this year. It was the perfect amount of people and attention for her.
Opening a new book from Stefan and Rachael. She got to spend time with her Auntie Amanda while she was home from Florida.
New cars from daddy!
She was entertained by sorting glass beads for a long time.
Enjoying the gorgeous evening with Rachael
Helping Grandmadele put candles on her cupcakes. She scarfed one down, which surprised us all! My mom decorated the cupcakes to look like teddy bears using gummy bears and jelly beans- Coranelle's favorites. They were really cute!

So, here's great news number 1:
A week or so ago, Coranelle and I were reading a potty book from the library. I mentioned to Coranelle that when she was a big girl, she'd get to pick out underpants with me. I told her that another thing that would happen when she was a big girl was that she would need to find a baby to give her pacifiers to. (For those of you who don't know Coranelle, she still uses her pacifiers at bed and nap time. She LOVES them. She runs to her room at nap and bed time to grab her 2 green and one pink pacifier. They really help calm down the child who never stops. At 18 months, I attempted taking them away and she started sucking her thumb. I decided I preferred pacifiers to the thumb, as you cannot take the thumb away.) Anyhow, that was the only mention of the pacifiers. On Thursday morning (the morning of her birthday), Ryan and I went in to her room together and sang her "Happy birthday". We told her she was 2 now and a big girl. She gathered up all of her pacifiers and handed them to us. She told us they were for baby Sheldon. We were shocked and kind of taken aback. We just looked at each other, like... do we run with this? Where did this come from? So, I told her that I was going to put them in Sheldon's room. She was a bit hesitant passing them over, but we praised her and told her how proud of her we were. Ryan and I were both worried about how nap time would go without her sleep aid. But, she has been pacifier free for 5 days and there's no going back. She's asked for them once or twice, but we just remind her that she gave them to Sheldon and she is a big girl. So, she has chosen two stuffed animals that she gets at bed time and nap time and cuddles with to settle down. Wow! We are just floored. She LOVED those things. And, nothing, seriously- NOTHING, has been that easy with Coranelle. We are so pleased! Yay for my little girl!

Good news number 2:
Last night, Sheldon went 8 hours without eating!!!! Ryan fed him at 9pm and he fell asleep around 10. At 4am, I woke up and looked at the clock and realized he hadn't eaten for 7 hours. I had to go into his room and put my hand on his chest to make sure he was still breathing. He promptly kicked his legs and went back to sleeping. He didn't wake up to eat until 5am! Wow! Then, I fed him and he went back to sleep until 7:30, so we all got to sleep in! It felt so great. Usually when Sheldon wakes up around 5am, he's up for good. That gets tiring! So, after all that great sleep, I got to go out for a run this morning. I cranked up my tunes and enjoyed the quiet morning and the luxury of a run.

I'm not counting on Sheldon going that long every night from here on out, but it's great that he is able to go longer and longer. He's grown out of all of his newborn clothes and is just growing like a weed! He's enjoying tummy time and generally pretty happy. He hates the carseat and is a bit of a mess when he's overtired. But, we are enjoying him so much and getting to know him better and better.

He is such a cutie!
Look at his adorable dimple!

Ryan took Thursday and Friday off and we got to spend 5 whole days with him. It was a great little vacation for us all! We even purchased and assembled a new headboard and night stand for our room and a new comforter. We rearranged our room a bit and I love it. It feels like we are real grown ups now!

What a great week we have all had!

adjustments

She's singing into the recorder here. She didn't quite grasp the concept of blowing.
Sharing birthday treats with her uncle Josh.
Excited about the new green chair from Josh and Claire.

Opening her Nemo fruit snacks and movie.

The "new" castle toy in the Rent's backyard!
Sharing a snack with daddy when he arrived after work.
Loving her castle!
She played on this thing from 2:30-7pm. That night she woke up crying because her legs were hurting her. I didn't wonder why for a second! This girl never stops!


So, Sheldon is already 6 weeks old. On Thursday, Coranelle turns 2! Wow! Sheldon is smiling more and holding his head up. He's working on tummy time and growing and eating a ton. Coranelle can count from 1-13. She knows most of her shapes, all of her colors and has almost mastered the alphabet song. She loves singing Twinkle Twinkle, Happy Birthday, It's Raining It's pouring, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, and the Head- Shoulders song. It's amazing how quickly she catches on and can sing the song on her own. I cannot believe how grown up she is and how quickly she learns things. Before long, she'll be potty training, using a toddler bed, going to pre-school, learning how to tie her shoes, and then going off to college. I mean... Kindergarten. I got ahead of myself, but it seems like time is flying by. (Unless it is 4:30am and I am awake nursing Sheldon!) :-)

I went to my 6 week postpartum appointment on Friday. It appears that all things are healed up and I am cleared to get back to normal. I can exercise now!

So, in celebration of that, I went to a step class at the Rec center on Saturday. It was really fun and I really enjoyed being able to do it again. But there was something different. Nobody laugh at me... my bum felt different. It was bouncing around as I was. Hmmm, this is different. I've got some "junk in my trunk!". I've never had that before, or never noticed it. I don't think I gained weight back there with Coranelle. Apparently I did with Sheldon. I guess it's something I've got to work on. Ryan keeps telling me to go easy on myself. After all, it's only been 6 weeks. I cannot expect my body to be back to normal. But, I am horribly impatient. I hate this stage where my maternity clothes are too big and my normal clothes are too snug. My boobs are huge because of the nursing, so I am self conscious of them... and my belly. It's amazing what a woman's body goes through to have a baby. Now, I'm not writing this for pity or compliments. I am just writing to say that I am honestly having a hard time accepting my current body. And more importantly, I would like to just acknowledge and thank every mom out there that has sacrificed their cute body for her children. I never realized how selfless moms were! Oh course, Sheldon is worth the "junk in the trunk". More than worth it.

On a less personal note, we had a great time celebrating Coranelle's birthday this past weekend with Ryan's family. She enjoyed having time to run around in the backyard and play. She contentedly picked out all of the M&M's from her Mater shaped rice krispie treat, leaving behind the cereal and marshmallow treat. What a funny girl! She got all sorts of great gifts that she wanted to open immediately and enjoy.

Ryan had to work some on both Saturday and Sunday. He is so busy at work right now and has lots of responsibility. He put in 16 extra hours in the last 9 days. Needless to say, we all miss him a lot! Hopefully, he can take off Coranelle's birthday so we can celebrate at the zoo! We'll have another party with my family this weekend to celebrate Coranelle and my mom's birthdays.

That's all for now. I'm going to attempt to assemble one of Coranelle's new birthday presents so Ryan doesn't have to do it when he gets home!

10 pounds

Enjoying the sunshine with Heido during our backyard, Mothers Day celebration.
Showing off the new dress Ryan got me for Mother's Day.
I love this girl!
A little tummy time
Coranelle kissing her brother.

Coranelle holding her little brother. He wasn't thrilled, but she loves holding him!
My handsome little man with his dimples.
Grandpa Steve and Coranelle playing with bubbles on Mother's day.
Coranelle hanging out with her Uncle Josh!
MY adorable chunky monkey!

So, I don't take pictures of Sheldon. I'm a terrible mom. Really, I am. I just feel like my hands are never free. It's not that he isn't adorable, I just never find the camera and capture the picture before someone needs a diaper change or needs to eat. Oh well, it's good that he has grandparents that love to take pictures.

This past week, Sheldon broke 10 pounds. I was so amazed! It took Coranelle more than 3 months to reach 10 pounds. Needless to say, he's doing well. Ryan weighed him at my friend, Milena's house the other day. Milena was convinced that Sheldon weighed more than her son, who is just 2 days younger than Sheldon. So, we weighed the babies. Turns out, her son weighed more, but I was astounded to find that he is chunking up so quickly! He gave me his first smiles on Saturday, and let me tell you, he has a very handsome smile! Ryan ended up having to work on Saturday, plus lots of extra hours during the week. I was bummed and a bit grumpy Saturday morning at the long and busy day ahead of me that I would be spending alone with my kids. But, I walked into Coranelle's room to get her up and she said, "Good Morning, mommy. I love you!". What a way to start the day! And then Sheldon flashed me two, lovely, adorable, toothless grins. I decided we were going to have a good day! And we did.

We proceeded to have 4 birthday parties this past weekend- which ended up being a lot for a newborn. But, we had fun and I, unfortunately, have no pictures to show for our outings. Sorry! 3 of the parties were for Coranelle's friends which were turning 2. Coranelle turns 2 on the 26th of May. I can hardly believe it. People have been asking us about her party, and... I'm not having one. Coranelle doesn't do well with tons of people, especially when she is the center of attention. So, we are going to do two, casual celebrations with each of our families and call it good. I cannot bring myself to host 30 + people and clean my house and take care of food and an infant. So, I'm not going to. I'm planning to make a big batch of rice krispie treats with mini M&M's (Which Coranelle loves). We got her an awesome easel with a white board, butcher paper roll and chalk board. She has been doing a lot of coloring while I nurse, so this seems to be a great gift.

What else is new? Sheldon is still doing great nursing and taking a bottle once a day from Ryan. Last night he went 5 1/2 hours between feedings, so we are finally getting a bit more sleep! I feel like a whole new woman! Life is really busy and I hardly sit down (except to nurse), but we are happy. I really really love my kids! I think they're awesome and I am so lucky! Being at home with them is hard, but it is the best job I could ever have. Who else gets to take walks to parks and watch Disney movies and play with bubbles and hold a cuddly newborn. It's really pretty great and it feels wonderful to really be able to enjoy it this go around!

sleep deprivation

Sleep deprivation-
That is pretty much how I would describe our feelings as we head into Sheldon's 4th week of life. Seriously, this kid can eat. And for some reason, at night, he has been deciding to wake up every 1-2 hours to eat. Sometimes, he is really hungry and sometimes there seems to be other issues. He needs to burp, or his nose is stuffy, or he has pooped. Regardless of what it is, Ryan and I both lack much understanding and patience at 3am when we have already been up 3 times. That sounds terrible, considering the fact that Sheldon is an innocent newborn. But, I'm being honest. I'm glad that Sheldon is eating well. He'll take 4 or more ounces when he gets his bottle from Ryan in the evenings- which is awesome. But, by this time in Coranelle's life, she was eating in a 5 hour chunk and 3 hour chunk at night. It was much easier to get up to feed her when I had slept a 4 hour or 2 hour stretch. But, when I have only been asleep for 1 hour, it's really rough to get up. So, I have been functioning on 3 1/2 -5 hours of sleep each night and it is taking its toll. I'm getting really awful headaches! Plus, Ryan has been getting up sometimes too to take Sheldon for a while and hold him off while I sleep a little extra. That makes me feel bad because then Ryan has to go to work tired. Whew! I cannot wait until we get some longer chunks of time between feedings. Any suggestions on what to do? We're worn out!

Despite the fact that we're worn down, things are going pretty well. We did a photo shoot with Sheldon yesterday and PopPops got some awesome pictures of all of us and Sheldon cooperated wonderfully. It has also been so freeing for me that Sheldon takes a bottle so well. We have left him with Ryan's parents a few times to go to church or even for a walk and it is nice that I don't have to rearrange my whole day to make sure he is fed right before I walk out the door. I can just leave a bottle and I know that his caretakers can feed him if he's hungry. It's such a nice feeling that I didn't even take my phone into church with me yesterday when we left him with Bruce and Heidi! That says a lot, considering how often I would text and worry when we left Coranelle.

I am feeling much happier as a mom this go around. I think a huge part of that is that Sheldon seems more calm and happy than Coranelle. But, even more importantly, I have a great network of amazing moms surrounding me this time. I have people to vent to, bounce ideas off of, and compare stories with. My MOPS group has started an evening bible study and I even made it to our book study last Tuesday. It was awesome to leave Ryan with two sleeping kids and get to spend some quality time with other women.

Last week was my first week alone with both kids (although my mom came two mornings and that was wonderful). We did pretty well. We made it to the rec center (I walk with Sheldon and Coranelle gets to play in child sitting). We took the double stroller and went for walks and met people at parks. We even did some grocery shopping (that is quite the adventure!). Today, we are headed out to meet another mom and her kids at a gymnastics center. We'll see how I do chasing Coranelle and helping her out while carrying Sheldon around. So far, I am managing, although it is so busy. I feel like I don't have time to go to the bathroom, let alone check my e-mail or return phone calls. My hands are always occupied with one kid or the other, or cleaning up after them both! It's kind of a whirlwind!

Coranelle continues to do absolutely fabulously with her little brother. She kisses him and says, "I love you Sheldon" all the time. She has been playing independently so well while I nurse and tend to him. I am so proud of her and it is so exciting to see the girl she is becoming.

We really do have two wonderful kids and we are so blessed and happy.... and tired! Happy May to you all!

tank

So, both kids are sleeping and I want to rest too, but I'll take a quick minute to post an update. Sheldon is doing really well. He seems like he is calmer than Coranelle was at this point in her life, and we are really happy about that. When I took him in to the lactation consultant after my last post, he had gained 10 ounces! So, he turned things around and is doing awesome.
I took him in for his 2 week check-up today and he weighed 7 pounds 7 ounces. They are just supposed to re-gain their birth weight, so he is really chugging along. His uncle Josh is hoping he'll be a tank and really chunk up. I feel like all I do is feed him. He doesn't go as long between feedings at night as Coranelle did, so it's been much harder to force myself to get up. But, I am glad that my milk is helping him pack on the ounces.
He is successfully taking a bottle, which is awesome. I love having the freedom to be able to have someone else feed him, especially if visitors are over or it is time for a meal. It's lovely to not have to leave the room and nurse for half an hour. The pump is working great and I really enjoy being able to have a bottle on hand and monitor how much he's getting.
Coranelle continues to adjust remarkably well. She had a fever earlier this week and was a bit clingy, but has been nothing but sweet and helpful about Sheldon. She is always concerned when we go somewhere that Sheldon is coming along too. We are very proud of her.
My mom has come every morning this week and it has been awesome to spend time with her and have her help out. She's been tending my garden, folding clothes, helping to clean, and doing lots of entertaining of Coranelle while Sheldon eats. Coranelle loves it and it has been so nice for me to have company and an extra hand.
Ryan is back at work, but comes home anxious to hold his son and play with his daughter. He is such an awesome daddy and I wouldn't be able to do this without him. He is helping wake me at night and settle Sheldon back down when he isn't ready to sleep at 4am.
So, that's a quick update on things around here. We're really enjoying the new addition to our family!