Thanksgiving 2010

We had a pretty laid back Thanksgiving this year at my parents, and the best part of it was no traveling!  The same should go for Christmas this year, so that makes me so happy.  I can't stand spending hours sitting on I-5, yuck what a boring drive.  All of my siblings, and their families were there as well.  Hadley enjoyed her first Thanksgiving by rolling and doing her army crawl all over the living room floor.  

  

Besides not driving, the best part of the holiday was Just Dance 2 on the Wii.  If you don’t have this game, run, don’t walk to get it (actually just order it on Amazon today (12/01) for a good deal). 

Not a great photo, but you can see some family rocking out.  

We had a blast playing it, and at one point everyone 3 and older, with the exception of my brother-in-law who was recording us, bogged down to Rasputin.  It was so funny, and a good work out, my sister needed a “sweat towel” on more than one occasion.  I can’t wait for Christmas and more dancing fun.   

    

Cali 2010

I owe an update on about a hundred other things, but I thought I would quickly post something about our recent trip to California while India naps and Hadley snacks on some Mum-Mums.  For the third year in a row, we went to Palm Springs for a week of family vacation.  Typically it is my parents and our family, but this year was a little different as my dad was away in Wisconsin hunting and my sister and her family as well as my brother came on the trip. We were a little cramped for space, but I think it all turned out okay.

We went a little earlier in the year than normal, and lucked out with very hot weather, I think it was in the high 90’s for the first couple of days.  We just lounged about the pool for the most part, and relaxed.  We would normally get in a couple of hikes, but it was just too hot and our family has been so busy lately we were happy to just do nothing but soak in the pool and drink mojitos. 

We did go to the main hotel for drinks and sushi one night and my brother-in-law spotted Kevin from The Office and his entourage.  We also did the little boat ride around the lake with the kiddos and my niece even got to steer it and India honked the horn. 

We flew in and out of Long Beach, and after leaving Palm Springs we visited the aquarium there.  We had gone through it two years ago, but figured that India would enjoy it a lot more this time.  She really had fun, although it took a little bit to relax as there was a movie playing when we first got there and the noise was too much for her.  She touched a few sharks in the shark pool (not the Jaws kind) and thought that was pretty cool.  This is a big step for a kid that not that long ago was afraid of dogs.

Before we flew out we had an hour to burn so we walked around the Long Beach marina.  It was a nice ending to a very relaxing vacation.  

Feeling the love

Here is an e-mail I got from Jeff this week.  

Hey Baby.  Happy Monday.

India and I were going around the room at breakfast asking if we liked things.

Do you like oatmeal

Do you like books

Etc.

I asked India if she liked Mommy and Daddy, she said "No, I love Mommy and Daddy!"

That just melts my heart, which is probably hard to do as my own mother said I am cold-hearted the other day!  She said that in the nicest possible fashion though, and it's border line true...

Hadley three-month update

Now that Hadley is a week away from her four-month birthday, I thought I would do her three-month update!  I am not sure when this happened, but Hadley is just huge now.  That is probably not a nice thing to say about your super sweet daughter, but since she can’t read and doesn’t know how to use the internet (at this point), I will say it again, she is huge!  I don’t remember when we moved India into 3-6 month clothes, but Hadley seems ready to move on to 6-9 month any day now.   She has her four-month check up in a couple of weeks, so it will be fun to see where she is on the charts.  The other option would be to get on the scale with her, but that would require me also weighing myself, so no thanks.    

  

Besides being a roly-poly baby, Hadley is very good natured and a genuinely happy baby.  She will give you the most awesome smile you ever saw, and as a friend said the other day; she has nothing to gain by giving it to you.  I frequently hear people say what a happy baby she is, so it’s not just her overly proud mother speaking.  She is also very good about just putting herself to sleep by sucking her thumb.  It is really cute, but a habit I hope she drops without any fuss.    

Hadley did fine in our first road trip to Oregon as a foursome; in fact you would hardly know she was there.  I tend to judge everything she does against India, and when it comes to being in the car they are as different as day and night.  I remember driving to Jeff’s grandma’s house and having India cry almost the entire hour plus drive when India was this age.  India doesn’t seem to mind the car now, instead it is me that wants to scream and cry after a few hours.  A person can only discuss India’s trip to get her haircut so many times. 

Speaking of India, she continues to be a good big sister.  It is not uncommon for her to look at Hadley and make a sweet I love my sister kind of noise.  She is doing well with potty training, and I hope that we will only have one kid in diapers in the near future.  She is pretty funny about the whole thing, she makes you stand around and cheer for her after she has used the toilet.  Whatever works I say.  She is a pretty funny kid in general, I don’t know where she comes up with half the stuff she says or does, but is keeps us amused.  Like last night when I asked her if she knew how to do a jumping jack, and then she proceeded to show me that she did, only her version involved putting one leg in the air and kind of spinning around.   

Well summer is finally here in Seattle, and just in time for me to go back to work in a week or so.  I can’t say that I am really looking forward to it.  It’s not so much the job, it’s that I am really enjoying the time with the girls and mommy things I have been doing.  Besides trying to do Stroller Strides in the mornings, we have a recurring play date with friends and other activities which fill the day.  I guess I can’t really complain since I only work three days a week, but if I didn’t complain I won’t be me! 

Jeff and I are each training for a first right now.  Jeff is training to climb Mt. Rainier in a few weeks with some members of his family, and I am training to run a 10k (6.2 miles) in September.  I am not a runner by any stretch of the imagination, but will be happy if I can finish the race in less than an hour and a half.  Jeff did a pre-climb climb on Saturday, and feels pretty good about the actual summit.     

Before I was a mom...

Before I was a mom…my life was a lot simpler. I could leave the house whenever I wanted; I could do happy hour after work without a second thought; I wouldn’t need to worry if I remembered to bring water, snacks and diapers for every little errand. There are still times that I find myself about to say to Jeff that “we should go run some errand after India is asleep”, but then realize that I can’t just up and leave, I need to be there for my child. 

Before I was a mom…I was more patient. Or was it that I never had to ask someone to stop yelling at me that they need milk? If the car in front of me was a little slow making that turn, I didn’t care, but now throw in two crying children into the mix and I am doing everything I can not to start yelling profanity at them.  I keep reminding India that you only need to ask for something once, not 50 times. 

Before I was a mom…I used to sleep. Now it’s more like I take naps since I am lucky to get 5 hours of sleep in a row before someone needs to be feed or needs “night night” socks. For most of my adult life the only reason I would be sleeping on the floor would be due to a night of drinking more then I should have, but now its par for the course with a toddler that loves to hold your hand while she falls asleep. 

Before I was a mom…I never had mom’s night out.  I have met the most wonderful group of mommy friends, and I am so grateful for them.  It’s nice to have people understand the ups and downs of having little ones. 

Before I was a mom…Jeff wasn’t a dad.  Jeff is such a great dad, the girls are so lucky to have him.  He is never to tired to play with India when he walks in the door.  And he spends countless hours bouncing Hadley on a yoga ball.  He might be outnumbered but he loves “his girls” so it all works out. 

Before I was a mom…India was just a country.  Now India means my sweet little toddler who I love to pieces.  I love everything about her, and every day she gets more and more fun to be around.  She says the craziest things, and Jeff and I just look at each other and laugh.  She love to ask me if “we can talk”, which is typically going over every minute of our day. 

Before I was a mom….I had never met anyone named Hadley before.  Now she is the first thing I see when I wake up, and who brightens my day with her big gummy smile.  She is just a good little baby, and I can’t wait to watch her grow.  I am waiting for the day that she says “mama”, I have a while but it will be worth the wait.

 

Before I was a mom I was just me, but now I am mommy.

Mini Fashion Friday

A few blogs I read from time to time, such as le musings of moi and northwest noshings, there is Fashion Friday entry. Here is my version, with what the girls are wearing today.  India is at the point that she likes to pick out her own outfits, such as the choice today.

Glasses-MiraFlex

Necklace-craft gift from a friend

Shirt-Carter's

Pants-Kohl's

Shirt-OshKosh  B'gosh

Pants-Carter's

Hadley two-month update

Yikes, how did my little baby get to be two-months old already?  And how am I now half way through my maternity leave, sad.  Enough about me and my lounging about while other people are slaving away at work, and back to what is important, Hadley!  She continues to be an easy going baby, and has made having two kids under three-years old easier I think.  Easy is not the word I use though when trying to get both of them ready and out the door on time; I won’t use any of the words that typically go through my head when trying to get them ready as I am trying to keep this blog rated PG. 

There is not a whole lot to report on a two-month old, her day pretty much consists of sleeping, eating and getting her diaper changed.  Throw in a lot of smiles and some tears, and that sums it all up.  She did start smiling earlier then India did, and now I am just waiting for when she starts to laugh which should be any time in the next couple of months.  Luckily India says funny things that keep us laughing while we wait.  Her term of endearment towards her sister is “sweetie pie” only when India pronounces it, it comes out “sweaty pie” which makes me laugh every time.

Hadley had her checkup last week, and everything looks good.  She came in weighing 11 pounds 14 ounces, and was 23 inches long.  Still up from where India was at this age.  She is starting to outgrow her 0-3 month’s clothes already which is kind of sad, but at the same time I can’t wait to get it out all out of the house.  You can only have baby clothes hanging around your house for so long. 

Hadley will be making her first trip to Oregon soon, and I am crossing my fingers that it is a painless trip.  For the most part she is pretty easy going in the car, and the only person that puts up a fuss is India if she doesn’t get to hear her music.  We have had to go to taking turns with songs so that Jeff and I can get a break from kid’s music for a couple of minutes.  

The haircut

Not liking to rush into anything, India got her first haircut this weekend.  She went into the idea pretty excited, calling the salon “the haircut store” but once she got on the chair her attitude changed.  She was very upset and started crying quite hard.

It took a lollipop and watching the Elmo DVD she had selected to calm her down.  

Once the whole thing was done she was very proud though of her haircut, and we have had to reenact the experience many times for fun.  

Hadley one-month update

Instead of e-mailing friends and family about Hadley monthly, I am going to try to use this blog to keep people informed.  I haven’t done a great job historically on the blog, so wish me luck. 

Hadley had her one month birthday earlier this week, and we celebrated by having strawberry shortcake (with India we had carrot cake).  So far, Hadley has been a pretty easy baby, knock on wood.  She is a little cranky at night, but nothing compared to India.  The last few nights we have been able to have her completely calm and ready for bed by 11ish.  She wakes up about every three hours to eat, too bad India has been waking up as well most nights and they don’t have their wakeup times coordinated.  This makes for rather tired parents. 

We had Hadley’s one-month checkup yesterday, and she now weighs 9 pounds 14 ounces, and is 21 inches long.  For comparison, India was 8 pounds 11 ounces, and 22 inches long at this point.  It will be interesting to see how different the girls are in size from month to month; India was born three weeks early vs. Hadley being two weeks early, so I imagine that Hadley will continue to outweigh India for a while.    

We have had a pretty busy month, with me trying to entertain a toddler along with care for an infant.  India had a rough go the first couple of weeks with Hadley but now is doing really well, and always wants to check on Hadley.  I did my first outing with both girls on my own when Hadley wasn’t quite three weeks old, and it went just fine.  I was expecting India to run off, but she actually stayed by me when I had to feed Hadley, it might have helped that it was spring break and the children’s museum we were at was packed.  I think the most challenging part of having two is trying to get out the door in prompt fashion. 

Quite a few visitors have come to meet Hadley.  My youngest sister will be coming through the area next month, and will hopefully stop by.  My brother was trying to make it up as well, but hurt his knee snowboarding, so that will probably set him back in travels.  Below is a list of who has stopped by:

• Jeff’s mom and stepdad
• Jeff’s sister and her sons
• Jeff’s dad and stepmom
• Jeff’s stepsister and her husband
• Erin’s sister and her family
• Erin’s mom and dad
• Jeff’s grandpa
• Various friends

My name is India, and I am a ham

In November I entered a contest to win a photo session with La Luz Photography, and I ended up winning.  We did maternity/family photos this weekend.  India normally takes a while to warm up to people she has never met or hasn't seen in a while.  It appears the exception to this is if the person has a camera. We first saw this during our family photo session in November, but it was even worse this time.  She totally poses in front of the camera, grabbing props and looking for different places to have her picture taken.  

Check out the little ham yourself  http://laluzphotography.com/blog/?p=872

I don't know, why?

It started before Christmas, the dreaded “why?” response to everything you say to India. I try to embrace that she is just wants to know more, but it is now out of control.
Conversation from last week at 5:30 a.m.
Me: Mommy needs to sleep now.
India: Why?
Me: Because I am tired.
India: Why?
Me: Because I worked all day yesterday, and you decided to get up an hour early.
India: Why?
Me: I have no idea; you should go back to bed.
India: Why?
And on, and on it goes.

Her other response to most questions is “I don’t know” which is then typically followed by the real answer 5 seconds later.
Me: What did you do today?
India: I don’t know…go to daycare.
Me: Did you play outside?
India: I don’t know…no raining.
Me: Did you have fun?
India: Why?
The cycle starts again.