Holiday list part 2

We have continued to stay busy with holiday events since my first post.

CP found a non-religious advent calendar and Izzy has enjoyed opening the drawers every day. We also do Elf on the Shelf and have so far only forgotten to move "Sprinkles" once (CP ran downstairs just in time to do it).

Of course we had to go see Santa. When he asked Izzy what she wanted for Christmas she said, "May I please have a Elsa present?" (We had been prepping her that she had to say please and what she wanted to say to Santa beforehand.) He then asked, "Anything else?" and Izzy didn't have an answer for that because she had only thought of "Elsa present." LOL.

Santa- I know him!

While there you could write a letter to Santa so CP made some dotted letters so that Izzy could trace them for her letter. As you can see he was lazy in how many dotted letters he wanted to make... :-)

Tracing over CP's dotted letters

It says "Dear Santa, Elsa. (Heart) Izzy. LOL. The semi-straight lines halfway down the page are Izzy's "letters" if she isn't tracing real letters. :-)

There was also a booth where kids could get an Elsa or Anna braid in their hair. Izzy was patient but very excited. We are still finding glitter in her hair and it is almost two weeks later....

Finally, we made a gingerbread house with my mom. I was lazy and bought a kit at Michael's but it ended up being perfect because all Izzy needed to do was to decorate the house. I also bought Skittles and gummy bears to add to the supplies for the house (couldn't find any gumdrops).

I think that the only thing that we have missed this year is to go see lots of Christmas lights but we still have a few days left!

Five months!

Five months

Height- will find out next month

Weight- 19 pounds??

Rocking tummy time

Nicknames- Chunk, Baby Wes, Monkey

Diapers- Size 3

Viking hat twins!

Milestones- This month has also been all about blowing bubbles and bringing lots of toys, blankets, etc. to his mouth. He has at least rolled onto his side, but still not much interest in rolling over. Wes continues to be a big talker. This month we started to put him in the high chair with some toys so that he could be at the table with us during meals but not in our arms.

Happy in the high chair. No solid food yet, but Buster has parked himself underneath
Wes because he knows what is coming. :-)

Sleep- Once Wes got over his sickness he was sleeping through the night again (yay!). He is generally in his crib by 8:30 and sleeps until 7 on weekends...generally I have to wake him up at 6 during the week.

Clothes- Still in 6-9 mo clothes but some are getting tight!

Eating: Wes eats 3 5oz bottles every day at daycare. I do think that he drinks enough at daycare so that he isn't starving, but fairly soon after we get home he is hungry (even if he just ate a bottle at daycare 1.5 hours before) and wanting to nurse a lot. I don't mind it too much because it helps with my supply but it gets hard when he is crying because he wants to nurse while I am finishing bedtime with Izzy. He is very busy while he is nursing; constantly petting or moving his free hand over my chest. I did let him gnaw a little bit on my banana this month and he seemed to like it.

Teeth- Wes' bottom front gum is protruding a bit so we may see his first tooth/teeth soon. Crossing my fingers he doesn't bite my nipple too much.

Likes: snuggling in our arms, nursing, walks in the stroller, activity bar, vibrating chair, kicking your legs in the bath, cooing at us, hearing us talk to him, blowing bubbles, peek-a-boo, putting things in his mouth, looking at lights, grabbing CP's beard, watching Izzy do anything

Grumpy old man

Other firsts: I stayed away from the Nose Frieda with Izzy because I didn't realize that there was a filter so that you didn't suck up the snot. This thing is amazing! Wes is not a huge fan but it really does the job on stuffy noses.

This month was the first time Wes met Santa and was nonplussed about the visit.

Wes continues to be such a happy baby. It's easy to get him to smile and laugh (we agree he does it both more than Izzy).

The last thing that I want to document for this month- Wes' hair is HILARIOUS. The bald spot in the back, the somewhat darker hair on the bottom, the short hair on top (because it is new), and the tuft of long hair at the top which has been growing since birth. For reference here is what Izzy's hair looked like at 5 months:

Such a difference!

Boston trip

Today I flew to Boston for a quick work trip to give a presentation tomorrow. It was so nice to be the one traveling instead of CP. I dropped the kids off and ran to the airport...realizing only when I got in the security line that my drivers license expired on my birthday- whoops! The security guard either didn't notice (scary) or TSA allows an ID to be expired for a few days. Fingers crossed I won't have a problem getting home tomorrow!!

I got into my hotel and had a relaxing afternoon watching tv, doing some work, and pumping. In a few minutes I get to meet up with a friend from college. Is it wrong of me to hope that CP doesn't have the easiest time with the kids tonight and tomorrow so that he finds out how difficult it is when he travels (he will be gone again next week and possibly over New Years)?

Microblog Mondays: A sign?

I think that I am giving out a vibe of either being totally rundown or needing to relax a bit as for my birthday I received a massage/spa gift card from my husband, my MIL, my best friend, and my parents. I laughed every time I received another one, but am a little worried that I look like I don't have my sh*t together these days. 

Now I just have to find the time to get away and actually use them....


Want to read more Microblog Mondays? Go here.

Annual Pretty Princess Day

Tomorrow is my annual pretty princess day* but I don't really feel like celebrating. I have been sick for a few weeks now, finally heading into the doctor last Friday. I had a horrible cough that would be so forceful that I would turn red, couldn't stop coughing, and would be close to throwing up. The cough hasn't really gone away, I have tons of pressure in my head, my ears are plugged up, and I can't taste or smell anything. I have bronchitis and a sinus infection.

I don't have any sick time or much vacation time because I had to use it for maternity leave so I don't have the luxury of taking time off work to try to get better...not to mention that my boss and his boss are out of the office this week on a work trip so I am the only supervisor for our division. I did take one day off last week to try to rest but with CP traveling to Puerto Rico last week and then North Carolina this week I can't get enough sleep to kick what I have. The antibiotics that I finally started on Monday are so far not helping and I'm assuming it will be a waste of time taking them. In addition, I have to add a probiotic to one of Wes' daycare bottles each day because the antibiotic can pass to him through my breastmilk and can cause diarrhea and/or a rash. So far he seems okay other than a cough and possibly starting to teethe (he "threw up" his bottle at daycare yesterday but I wonder if it was really throw up or simply spit up as he seemed fine last night). Meanwhile, Izzy is totally stuffed up and has an ear infection.

I did have a girls night planned with friends last Friday that I didn't end up attending because I felt so terrible and tomorrow night we have a neighbor's party where I probably will go but won't be much fun because I am so rundown. After getting in sort of a groove with running (as much as you can get in one when you only have time to run twice a week), I haven't gone on a run since the day before Thanksgiving. I hate feeling this way, but I'm not sure what I can do about it. I just have to push through like usual. I know that this is a first world problem as I will end up getting better but I just hope that it is soon. I'm not totally with it at work, my milk production is down (I assume from trying to fight the virus and from the small amount of Halls I have eaten?), I am so so tired, and I'm just not myself.

I've already told CP that I don't want to eat out, have him cook anything special, or get a cake until I can freaking taste my food again so hopefully we can celebrate next weekend? Friends are having a big party and I would like to drink at it- especially because last year I was secretly pregnant for the party and couldn't join in the fun!

So what's on tap for tomorrow? Taking Izzy to soccer practice, probably doing some holiday errands, then our neighbor's party. What I wouldn't give for a nice, long nap....

It's on to age 38 tomorrow. What is in store for me this coming year?

*Curious as to why I call my birthday my annual pretty princess day? Basically it is because CP hates it and now years later, it has stuck. LOL.

Microblog Mondays: Holiday list

We still have a while to go before Christmas, but I can already tell that it is going to be a special year with Izzy. This weekend we knocked some fun holiday things off our list.

We made and decorated Christmas cookies at a friend's house:

We took the easy route and had CP buy a tree at a nearby tree lot (in future years we hope to make it more of a production but I am sick and it would be hard with a stroller). Izzy was excited to help decorate and after we got all of the ornaments on the tree, Izzy started jumping up and down. I think that she may be a teensy bit excited about Christmas?

We went to a holiday train exhibit at the Botanic Gardens with friends (third year in a row). Sadly I didn't see any of it because Wes got hungry as soon as we got there so fed him the whole time!

No pictures of trains, but we did get a picture of a blue W for the Cubs World Series win!

We had a snowball fight with the kids:

Wes wasn't too sure about his first real snow, despite being warm enough:

Izzy made her first snowman:

Finally, Izzy enjoyed a sled ride around the backyard while Buster ran around like a crazy man in the snow (it's his favorite):

All of this excitement and no nap for Izzy made for an epic meltdown at the end of a dinner she refused to eat and then when trying to put her to bed, but it was a great weekend nonetheless!

What are some must-dos on your holiday list?

Want to read some more Microblog Mondays? Go here.

Izzy at THREE

Izzy at school on Tuesday

Height: unofficial 38"

Weight: unofficial 36 lbs

Language: She is getting really good at her letters. She has known for a while that her name starts with an "I" and can point it out but also gets most other letters correct when we ask. She does get a few confused- like uppercase g and c and lowercase h and n. But still....I am super impressed that she knows her letters as it is! More recently she has started to recognize numbers as well- she is good up until the number 8.

Personality: She loves to bark out directions (especially at me and CP). I think that she is mimicking her teachers a bit. Izzy was super excited to move up to the big kid room (i.e. Preschool) earlier this month but she misses her last teacher. She is still shy when she meets new people.

She is hilarious and super sweet. One day last month I was telling Chris that I was terrible (at fantasy football). Izzy looked at me and said "Mommy you are not terrible" and gave me a huge hug. She also has been pretending that her small penguin is her "baby" and that she has to nurse it (on her belly button). LOL.

She is quite the negotiator as well. For a little bit after Wes was born she was pooping in her pullup during nap at school so we brought back giving her an M&M if she pooped on the potty. She would look down and count the number of poops in the toilet and then try to negotiate for the same number of M&Ms. Nice try kiddo.

Twins!

For Thanksgiving this year her teachers asked all of the kids what they were thankful for- Izzy's response was "my mom, my dad, my baby and food." LOL. Girlfriend does like to eat!

My fearless girl riding her balance bike down the hill in front of our house

Teeth: All in. Now we just wait for them to fall out in a few years!

Favorite Toy: Recently she has been excited to play matching games and it turns out that she is pretty good at the game! She is still obsessed with stickers- especially handing them out to people.

Cheeky girl

She doesn't have a specific stuffed animal that she has to have with her so her favorites change all of the time. She loves that I have painted her nails a few times and requests that I put an "Elsa" or "Anna" braid in her hair, then walking around and telling me "i'm Elsa mommy."

Favorite Book: If we could read her 10 books before bed she would be a happy camper. Her tastes range from Sesame Street to Thomas to baby board books to books like Dragon Love Tacos. She is often sad when we turn out the light at night because she wants to continue "reading" after we turn the light off.

Other Favorites: Stamps. Practicing writing her letters (every letter is just a line- LOL). Dance parties. Daniel Tiger. Frozen.

Sleeping Habits: These days she goes to bed around 8-8:30 and wakes up around 6:30-7. She sometimes takes a nap these days and hates to wake up in the morning (taking after her mother).

Go Cubbies!

Eating: Izzy loves fruits and vegetables and has even started asking for salad. That being said, she is a total kid and loves things like mac n cheese, grilled cheese, cheeseburgers, etc. She recently decided that she suddenly likes chicken again which makes our life easier. Izzy also loves to eat a lot of CP's soups.


Potty: We hit a snag with nap times recently. At school she will go potty during nap time but at home she won't let us know that she needs to go to the bathroom. I was tired of washing the sheets every weekend nap so she went back into a pullup. Nighttime is a different ballgame and I suspect she will have pullups on for a while at night.

Clothes: 4T clothing and size 10 shoes.

We might need to bring a dryer sheet to the park....

Media: Izzy watches an hour or two of tv after waking up in the morning on the weekends but no tv during the week. On Sunday if the Eagles or the Pats are on the tv is on football, but Izzy doesn't pay much attention.

Overall: Izzy is a sweet, amazing, beautiful, smart girl and I'm so lucky that I get to be her parent (I'm not biased at all). She is a rule follower unless she is testing the waters. She easily made the transition to big sister and has done a great job helping with Wes. Izzy continues to amaze me with her fearlessness and athleticism.

Love you my pumpkin!