Summer time

Riding the train with the Grandmas.The carousel with Grandpa Steve for father's day.
Running around while we listened to live music.
Loving being on his tummy.
Sucking down a bottle from PopPops.
Smelling the roses.
Playing playing playing!
Peek a boo!
What a cutie!
Having dinner outside.
Watching the clouds
Making my famous chocolate chip, oatmeal cookies.

Cuddling with daddy!
Thursday night dinner with Josh and Claire.
Hanging out at the fountains in Louisville with both grandmas.
Loving the Bay in Broomfield with Grams.
Filling her apron pockets with snap peas. I love my girl and my garden!
Meeting my good friend, Kirstin- who is moving out here soon.


I love summer! My kids both seem to totally be comfortable and in their element when they're outside. Our whole family comes alive outside. So, summer is great for us. I love stepping out into our backyard barefoot and grabbing snap peas off of my plants to munch. I love packing up the stroller and finding new parks. Coranelle has been enjoying picnics at the fountains and at various playgrounds. We've been visiting the outdoor water park and splashing in the hose and our water table. Coranelle loves to help me garden and Sheldon likes to sit outside and watch the world go by. We've been trying out local frozen yogurt shops and it is so fun to see Coranelle sitting up on a stool, eating her own chocolate ice cream, chatting away and as happy as can be. I am enjoying having friends over for dinner and relaxing in the backyard while our kids run around together. Summer is treating us well, and I hope you can say the same!

blessing inventory

Bruce and my chill little son watching Josh and Claire's softball game.
Mom and Sheldon hanging out at the fountains.
Coranelle loving the fountains.
My smiley boy hanging out with Steve while Ryan and I were out celebrating our anniversary.
Headed out to celebrate 4 years of marriage!
Sheldon after his first haircut

I am sitting outside in our backyard, while Coranelle is happily occupied with her water table and Sheldon sits in his papasan and watches the world go by. I know they both won't stay happy for long, but the sunshine and their smiles makes up for the last few rough nights.

Coranelle and Sheldon both went to the doctor yesterday- Sheldon for his 2 mo appt and Coranelle for her 2 year check-up. I cannot even describe how much of a nightmare that experience would have been without Heidi there to help me. Coranelle just HATES the doctor! She even watched her brother quietly and calmly get measured and weighed, but couldn't handle it when it was her turn. She was squirming and screaming and throwing a fit. The only thing that finally calmed her down a bit was the reward of a "Cars" sticker when she was done. How could two kids be any more different?! Heidi brilliantly took Coranelle for a few walks while I talked to the Dr. about Sheldon and Coranelle. Once his screaming sister was gone, Sheldon calmed down so that I could actually talk and ask my questions.

I don't have all the stats, but here are a few:
Sheldon weighed 11 pounds 11 ounces. That put him in the 46th percentile for weight- higher than Coranelle ever got! He has almost gained 5 pounds since he was born! He's doing great! He is almost 23 inches long, so only the 25th percentile. I think he takes after me a bit more! I am happy that nursing is going well and he's gaining weight!

Coranelle weighs 24 1/2 pounds. She has moved up to the 24th percentile in weight! I am so proud of her. She is still in the 75th percentile for height. I cannot remember how tall she was.

Poor Sheldon got two shots (with 2 or 3 vaccinations in each), plus an oral vaccine. Yikes, that is a lot of crazy things to put in a little body at once time. Anyhow, he was up every 2 hours last night and very hard to put back to sleep. So, that makes for a tired mommy today. Especially since Coranelle still takes about an hour and a half to fall asleep each night. I wish I could figure out how to solve that issue. What I wouldn't give for 7 hours of straight sleep right now! And, I keep trying to put them both down for a nap at the same time in the afternoon so that I can take a nap, and it doesn't work very often. Coranelle has been taking about an hour to fall asleep at nap time, and Sheldon keeps waking up every 45 minutes. So, by the time she has fallen asleep, he's awake. Wow! It sometimes makes for a long day!

Now that my venting is done, I will try to spin this into a positive note. I am reading a book for my Mops bible study called "The Power of a Positive Wife". One of the recent chapters pointed out how often in life we look around us and say, "If only...". In the book, this refers to how we think about our husbands. ("If only my husband would do more around the house, be more sensitive to my feelings, etc.") I know I am guilty of this "If only syndrome" in so many areas of my life. If only my kid would sleep through the night, eat without a battle, go to sleep faster, listen better, etc. So, I am going to work hard this summer on counting my blessings, instead of constantly being aware of all of the hard things, or all of the things I don't have. I want to be conscious of daily taking inventory of all of the blessings in my life. I am going to try to be more like my 2 year old and look at life through her eyes. When we say prayers at night, I ask her what she is thankful for, and she comes up with about 20 things. She's thankful for Jen and Becky, who take care of her when I work out. She's thankful for the movie she watched, for her stuffed bunny, for her snack, for going to the park, for her blanket, for her green shirt..... and on and on. If only we could look at life that way.
So, here's my blessing inventory for today. I am thankful for:
Our nice, big backyard and outdoor toys
Coranelle's green chair that she is sitting next to me in
a hard working husband who allows me to stay home with my kids
The vibrating papasan that helped Sheldon doze off
My garden and its snap peas that are reaching as tall as I am
The sunshine and nice weather
family that lives close by and is willing to help out and give us breaks
our awesome neighborhood and neighbors
good friends who call me on the phone to check up on me and see how things are going
two healthy, adorable kiddos.
An amazing, thoughtful wonderful husband who is so helpful and so involved and caring
The sparkling water that is waiting for me in the fridge
The smiles that I get from my son each morning
The conversations and songs I share with Coranelle each day

Okay, that's good for now, but I need to do this every day!

life with 2

Playing keep away from Coranelle at Boyd Lake. Ryan, Sheldon and I went to pick her up from her camping trip on Saturday and spent the day there.


Playing in the water.
Sheldon gazing out the window- missing his sister.

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Josh making Sheldon smile before heading to the live music out at Orchards Mall.
Coranelle is waiting for daddy to put sunscreen on so they can go swimming together.
Enjoying the pool and the summer day.
The awesome fruit platter that our friend put together for our pool party on Sunday.
Moving on to the next thing.

Mom and Steve took Coranelle camping this past weekend for two nights at Boyd Lake State Park in Loveland. She got to sleep in the motorhome, which she was really excited about. For days beforehand, she talked about how the motorhome had "a bed and a kitchen and you can DRIVE it.". She had a blast going to the park, playing in the water and the sand, going on walks and wearing out her grandparents. It was a treat for all of us.

On Friday, while my daughter was away, I had a day with Sheldon- all to myself. It was SO quiet without Coranelle and a pretty laid back little boy. It got me to thinking. I believe that part of the reason I haven't experienced the depression I had with Coranelle is because I have Coranelle. Ironic, but it's true. All day long, everyday, I have a running dialogue with my little chatter box. We discuss everything from the music on the radio, the animals outside, what we're cooking, Sheldon's poop, and how to behave politely. It makes being a stay at home mom, not lonely. Without her here for a few days, I was lonely. I LOVE Sheldon, but he's pretty quiet and he doesn't do much yet. So, as I was cuddling with Sheldon, I began reading my blog from when Coranelle was his age. (July and August of 2009). It was really hard to read about how difficult life was with Coranelle as a newborn. The hours on end of crying really took its toll on me and our ability to get out and do things. As I was reading, I realized two things.
1. I am really glad that Sheldon doesn't cry like Coranelle did. It is nice to be able to hang out with him and see him look around contentedly without screaming.
2. All of the things we went through with Coranelle made us EXTREMELY close to that little peanut. I think our bond with her is amazing because of how far we have come.

I feel so lucky to have such great kids. I cannot wait to see what Sheldon is like as he gets older. So far we've noticed a few things.
He really likes to move. When he's nursing, he kicks his feet the whole time and waves his hand around. He likes it if you walk when you're holding him, so don't try to sit down. If you're driving and you stop at a light, he'll wail until you get the green light.

He loves to look out the window and at the leaves on trees. He'll often sit in his papasan for long periods of time and just stare out the window.

His smile will melt your heart.

He likes taking a bottle of pumped milk at night from daddy. He drinks that around 9pm and has been going 7-9 hours at night without eating. That makes us all really happy!

He likes music- any kind.

He loves the sound of Ryan's voice.

He's strong! I'll put him on his tummy on the floor and he'll scoot across the carpet.

He really likes being carried in the ergo on walks and when grocery shopping.

He is a sweet little boy and Ryan and I are loving the chance to get to know him more and more each day. We feel blessed.

That's all for now. I hope everyone is enjoying the summer weather!

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!