An Overdue Update

How is March just around the corner? That's crazy.

Life has been a sea of emotions and insanity. I've had some extreme ups and downs. My kids are my ups, that's for sure. I love them both so much and just want to squish them all the time.

We are still debating on where to live, so until we can figure that out, we're here with my parents. We're still digging through hospital bills from a nearly 3 week stay (I am stunned at how expensive it can be and want to hug all of my friends who have battled keeping their babies with much longer stays! ugh!) and, of course, still adjusting to life with a baby. Sometimes it's hard to remember life without our little miracle and other times I suddenly realize that I have kidS - children - and that still weirds me out. There seem to be constant challenges around every corner, but we've decided to put our shoulder to the wheel and simply push along.

We are finally able to take advantage of one of the perks of Alan's job - air travel for cheap! On March 14th I get to sneak away to Washington, DC and visit my friends out there for a week! I'm pretty excited for lots of reasons. Soren, however, is very jealous! So I suppose that means another trip this summer so he can join in on the fun! I'm a little nervous about traveling with Caroline simply because I don't forsee her being a good traveler... she's so very moody and all got quite a little personality and I'm not sure others will appreciate it for 6+ hours on an airplane. However, we do what we must to go see old friends whom we love! Plus, I've got to get photos of Caroline with the two doctors that helped get her here!

Well I just realized it's crock pot night and, since it's nearly 3pm, if I don't get it in now, it won't be done in time for dinner. I just wanted to update that we are all alive and at functioning levels! Hooray!

The Future

What does the future hold if your kid screams because of hairbows and outfits?

She already hates the way I dress her.....?

Seriously - I am not joking. She screamed bloody murder when I thought I would DARE take her to my brothers house with a hairbow she'd had on all day. Apparently she didn't want her cousins to see her thusly dressed!

This morning she screamed and screamed and screamed and I could not figure out why. We tried food, pacifiers, a swaddle and a nap and nothing would stop the screaming. That is, until I took off part of her outfit and the cutest shoes on earth. Well, cute to ME anyway. Apparently SHE is not a fan. Now she's fine. Especially if I am holding her in view of the computer screen and allowing her to gnaw on my fingers.

Oh - the part of the outfit was just a little cotton jacket. And the shoes? They fit her fine - promise!

You can already tell she is going to speak her mind....

Such a princess!

Woah.... where's my schedule?

I woke up in a fog of confusion this morning.

You see, I looked at the clock and it was 6:45am. WAH?

Caroline slept from around 11pm until nearly 7:30am this morning! Do you hear the angels singing? I do! Now now, before you think - well duh, she's a formula baby now, of course she'll sleep through the night - her last bottle of the day is still breastmilk. In fact, about half of her feedings are still breastmilk. She just doesn't get it 'from the tap.' 'Cuz she's stubborn and has the world all figured out at only three months old!

Anyway...

Even if it was just one night, I'm ok with that. It was glorious!

Of course the rest of our day has been totally thrown off course. We'd finally gotten a little routine going, but now I'm all turned upside down.

The joys of babies!

Another joy is seeing that smiling face - golly gee whiz, that's freakin' awesome!

A Warm Post on a Cold Day

It's snowing. Again. What is UP with that? So I decided to make a post about the warm day we had at the park last week. Less than a week ago, really! And now it's snowing!

Anyway.

This is Caroline's first trip to the park. Soren wasn't too excited about having her come along, but I wanted to take my kidS to the park. So the kidS went with their mommy!! The weather said it was going to be nearly 60 degrees out! Yay! So here's a few pics of our little trip:

Caroline slept for the walk up to the park, but then she got hungry and had her afternoon snack in the sunshine!



While she ate, Soren found a friend to shoot hoops with:



I had a lovely chat with this boy's mom and then it was time to walk the rest of the way to the church so Soren could go to Scouts. On the way back I was able to take a picture of the park again, this time with a view of Mt. Hood:



I am glad to live close to a park, I just wish it wasn't uphill to get there. At least it is downhill on the way home, though! Hoorah!

It was kinda funny, though . . . when we got to the church, Caroline was making her tell-tell signs that she had mucked up her pants. Unfortunately, the church was locked because we were about 20min early for scouts. So we got to change her pants on the front lawn of the church! Haha! I hope she didn't get too cold. I mean, the sun was out and all but it is still February!

Yay for trips to the park!

Trip to the Beach

This past weekend was my parent's 40th wedding anniversary. My dad whisked my mom away on Wednesday to a beach house owned by some friends of ours from church. We were invited to join them for the weekend, so we packed ourselves up and off we went!

Can I just say that packing up a baby is way more work than I remember it being? Haha! Soren's packing involved me throwing a bag at him and saying - get clean underwear and some clothes. Caroline? Goodness. Diapers, wipes, 4,000 changes of clothes (she poops a lot... and everywhere), blankets, stroller, burp rags, breast pump, bottles, etc. etc. etc. And I want to travel across the country with her next month???? Yeah, I still do. Hee hee!



We flew kites:



This kite should look familiar to my friend, April. Hey April? Let Tom know that it flies beautifully - we love it!



We also finally got out a kite that Soren received as a present from Grandma and Grandpa years and years ago:



I was going to take photos of the food we ate, but it's hard to do that when you are trying to feed both yourself and a baby! Needless to say, it was yummy!

This was the first big trip we've taken together as a family and we had a great time! It was very relaxing and wonderful to spend time away from the house! Hooray for getting OUT!

The Latest On The Princess

So we all know that our little one has had some struggles with her growth, her eating, and everything in between! It seemed like she was starting to get the hang of things for a few days and then she turned the other direction and now she wants nothing to do with nursing. I'm pretty sad about that, but I've decided to take a big deep breath and just let it go. I'd rather enjoy her cute little smiles, coos, and snuggles than argue with her for an hour or more 6-8 times a day. So we are slowly transitioning to formula. I hate to do it, but my supply (especially because I'm pumping) isn't what it needs to be. So, there ya go. We've made it almost 3 months and it's been a fight the whole way. I figure we'll have enough fighting during her teenage years, so let's stop fighting for now. Like I said, I'm pretty sad about the whole thing, but I'm trying to think of the positives. I'd say I will miss our special time, but it's generally been a nightmare. Maybe next time - armed with the knowledge and experience I have now - things will go more smoothly!

That being said, Caroline has officially surpassed the 9lb mark. I haven't weighed her yet today (I rented a scale - I'm like a first time mom, I swear!), but at her last weight check she was 9lbs 5oz! She also continues to lengthen... she's gonna be tall - but that's not really a surprise. What I am really loving, though, is how alert she is getting and how many smiles we get to see on a daily basis (especially now that she is getting food!). I can't believe it's almost been 3 months since she joined us. I also can't believe how long it is taking me to get my life back together. I was told, however, that for each day in the hospital plan on a week of recovery. That explains a lot. But we're getting there.





That's our girl! She's a doll!

At least she's not as teenie as a doll anymore!

More Pictures

Finally getting around to updating again....

Here are some pics of my boy - isn't he handsome?







And here's our family all together!




I sure love my family. They all rock!