Our Memories for Today ~ A 2-month old, a melt-down and crying, crying, crying

Let me start off by saying that Harper Quinn turned 2 months old today ~ a fabulous memory to start off the day!  Riley was still snoozing (final wake-up time: 9:15am) and Sophie helped make funny faces at her as I took a zillion pictures.

That may have been the last memory for the day.  Oh ... except for the memory of Sophie having a day-long meltdown that began around 5:15am when she shot out of bed, angrily demanding mac and cheese that very instant.  Aside from a 30-minute glimpse of happiness from her one or two times throughout the day, it was a seriously slow motion cry fest for nearly the entire day.  Sophie cried and screamed a lot, too.  (In fact, she looked a lot like this, although this was over a year ago when she brought this moment upon herself, getting stuck in a baby doll high chair and instead of helping right away, I found my camera to capture the moment.  Today, I wasn't so quick to capture anything):

So now my great memory is bed time.  My hubby has been taking on the bulk of bedtime duties with the older two each night and I thought that maybe Sophie just needed some one-on-one mommy time.  We went upstairs, brushed teeth, went potty, put on jammies and picked out some special books and climbed in her glider together.  She laughed!  We were reading in funny voices, having fun and then something hit her ...

"Waaaaaait.  Mom put me in pajamas.  And my teeth are clean.  And crud, my curtains are closed and my bed sheets are pulled back and .... AUUUUGHH!  This is BED TIME!!!!".

Our serene book-reading came to a screeching halt, but then I found myself in a place I haven't been in quite a long time.  I was rocking my not-so-baby, singing lullabies, and running my fingers through her hair.  While I rocked her nearly every night throughout my pregnancy with Harper, I wasn't able to hold her on my stomach and really cuddle her ... and since Harper has been born, I haven't been as present with her bedtimes.  So there we were - rocking away.  And although she was crying and protesting, I just held her tight and continued to sing.  Soon, her little tired body gave in to what she most likely needed all day - sleep.
Off to bed I head, with high hopes of better memories to be made tomorrow ...

Our memories for today ~ September 29, 2013

I visit here often.  You wouldn't know it, seeing as how my last post was ages ago.  I come here to write, then feel ashamed for how long it has been and I back away.  Tonight as I was getting the girls all ready for bed, I was thinking back over our day and the memories that we made in just 12 hours of time together.  It hit me that I must start writing these down ... because I cannot remember some of our conversations just 24 hours later, so the vivid details of these memories will be fleeting and I know I want to preserve them.

Did you know I had a third baby?  Sure did.  Harper Quinn.  She will be 2 months old tomorrow.  She is perfection and deliciously yummy.

I would love to begin capturing one memory with each girl per day and preserving it here.  This way my posts can be short on the days - like today - when I am much too exhausted to write or even think much, but I can stay active with this blog once again.  So ... for today's memories ...

Riley Elayne ~ 4 years old

As I was putting Riley down to bed tonight, she proudly proclaimed, "Mommy, I have a plan for us.  Here is my plan.  One night last day (her way of saying this week), we are going to watch a movie at night - just me and you.  Oh, and popcorn, too.  Just us, mama".

This little girl can pull tears out of me faster than anyone I know.  I cannot wait for our movie date night.

Sophie Noelle ~ 2 years old

I went grocery shopping this afternoon on my own.  When I pulled into the driveway, there stood gorgeous Sophie at the front door, waving enthusiastically with the largest smile on her face.  She came out the front door and I handed her the bag of groceries that contained her newly found favorite treat: Disney Fairies fruit snacks.  They are the only fruit snacks she likes and she gets so excited over them.  She heaved the bag up onto her little shoulder and ran for the front door, yelling "Daddy!  I got fairy fruit snacks!".  However, she wasn't done.  She came back to the car for another bag of groceries and carried it to Daddy at the door.  She did this over and over until all the groceries were carried in.  She was such an enthusiastic little helper and I just stood and watched her smile and beam as she proudly helped us.

Harper Quinn ~ 8 weeks old:

Harper began cooing and smiling several weeks ago, but she doesn't just hand out smiles freely and I had yet to get a huge, gummy grin from her.  This afternoon, as Daddy watched Sunday afternoon football games with her on his chest, I came up behind them to see her.  There it was - her head rose up at the sound of my voice, we locked eyes, and that mouth opened so wide and creased into a huge smile and her eyes just lit up.  It was total mama recognition and melted my heart.

Our Day ... Thursday, August 2, 2012

I have been away from the blog again ... For much too long. I know this should be one of my top priorities as to preserve memories and milestones of my girls, but it has fallen to the wayside. However, each day I continue to take countless photos of my girls, doing things throughout our day. It occurred to me that I should simply begin posting these pictures on here at the end of each day and our stores, memories and milestones can be told through pictures! So here we go ...

Our day began with egg white breakfast sandwiches. Originally this was mommy's, but the girls fell in love with it and decided to share one.

After this, we took a trip to Sam's Club. This is always a gamble and I'm not sure if it ends successful or stressful, but it was a fabulous trip and the girls loved their bakery cookies.

I had used a trip to the neighborhood playground as a bit of bribery for good behavior at Sams, so I had to stay true to my word.

The girls ate a great lunch and it was soon nap time. Riley had been pleading for me to play dolls with her, so I made her a deal that she could trade her nap in for an early bedtime and we would use the time to play dolls. We shook on it. That made it official.

Riley drew me a picture while I tended to a fussy-and-no-napping-Sophie.

Soon we were outside playing while dinner finished up in the crock pot and we waited on Daddy to come home from work. Nothing more fun than some sidewalk chalk, a sprinkler and a water table!

My heart is so warm

My parents are in town this week, watching the girls while we are at work. I just spent a few minutes outside of Riley's bedroom door, eavesdropping on she and Grandma's bedtime chatter. Listening to my mom recite an updated version of The Three Bears (I believe it was just "The Three Bears and their Stinky Feet"), my heart grew so warm. I still remember crawling into my mom's lap when I was young for her to tell stories to me; hearing her do the same with Riley just warms my heart right up. No one's love compares to the love of a grandma and grandpa!! Love my parents.

Proudest Mommy-Moment to Date

It isn't often that you'd find me at my desk at work, crying (although believe me - I've been on the verge many, many times). It happened today. But today they were happy tears. Thankful tears. Tears that came from validation that hubby and I are doing something completely right with our babies ... Or even more, that God is working thru us and them.

My husband sent me an instant message at work (we are employed by the same company) that he had just talked with his mom, who watches our girls. His first message to me was "Amazing Riley". This is of no surprise to me, as she is always amazing. But then his words that followed ...

"Riley was playing with a Polly Pocket and a Spiderman figurine today. Poly was yelling "help! Save me!", trying to escape Spiderman. Mom told her that Spiderman is a good guy and he saves people, to which Riley replied:

"No. GOD saves people".

Thank you Jesus. Thank you for working thru our daughter and having such an effect on her life. I can't begin to imagine what the Lord has in store for her. God is good.

Potty Training Successes

Riley was easy to train when it came going pee-pee and we did this over a 3-day weekend back in August. However, the poo-poo portion of the equation has been a much longer experience. However, just like that - and on her OWN TERMS (as oodles of people told me it would be), just this past week Riley began using the potty for everything and making Pull Ups a thing of the past!

Of course, we celebrate like crazy each time and she does the ritual where everyone present at the time must parade into the bathroom to catch a look. My oh my, what we do for our children! The final part of her celebration is making a phone call to both sets of Grandparents to share the news, typically followed by a song that involves a ladybug or a black sheep climbing up a hill. :)

After this morning's phone call - her 5th call for such occasion this week - I told my mother-in-law that I feel she will be 9 years old and still making these daily calls at this rate! And if she wants to ... We will support it. The bathroom parade to catch a glimpse of the "prize"? Not so sure about that one...

Banana bread ... The snack that never fails!

Both of my girls definitely carry one very strong trait of mine: the love of banana bread. I think the three of us could survive in it alone for weeks. :)

Looking for a good recipe? I think I've tried dozens and this is always my favorite. I add about 1.5 tablespoons of ground cinnamon into the batter before pouring into the loaf pan, and then sprinkle more on top of it once it's in the loaf pan, so it can have a tad of cinnamon crusting on top. Mmmmmm.

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/banana_bread/

Christmas Magic

I can't stop recounting all the wonderful memories from this past Christmas weekend.

On Christmas Eve, by tradition we attended Christmas Eve mass with my husband's parents. Riley was amazingly good and so proud to point out Jesus from various places within the church. She whispered when she needed something and sat quietly when she didn't. She and Sophie looked beautiful in their matching dressed. I spent the majority of the service chasing Sophie around in a back area of the church, so sadly I missed most of the service. I knew this would most likely be the case and know it is a short-lived phase and next year will be easier. Prior to the service we were able to snap a few pictures. What you don't see are the pictures where an uncooperative, moody 3-year old was flinging her body across the floor in photo-protest. Ahhhh, the 3s.

Merry Christmas!

What a fabulous, magical, blessed day. I am excited to post pictures tomorrow and a recap of my favorite moments with my girls. Until then, though, Merry Christmas to all ... And to all a good night.

Playing Mrs. Claus

It's creeping towards midnight and the hubby and I just finished playing Mr and Mrs Claus for the girls as we dug the gifts out of their secret hiding places and thoughtfully arranged them around the living room. For Sophie, 1 yr and 4 days old, tomorrow morning won't really mean much. For Riley, however (3 yrs old), she is adorably enchanted by all things Christmas for the first time, really. As she fell asleep tonight she asked me if I heard Santa on our roof. She has it all down pat, how it will happen. Santa will come down the chimney, eat the cookies and drink the milk, and leave presents and fill their stockings. This she knows because, according to her, she and Sophie are on the Good List this year. (However she did tell me "when Sophie gets bigger she will be on the Bad List"). :)

I have so, so much to catch this blog up on and decided tonight was as food a night as any. So now I'll fall into bed, hearing Riley in my mind, singing "Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, jingle all the way to tooooown..." in my head, as she sang it a lot tonight. My two babes are deep in sleep, snuggled in their matching Christmas Eve jammies right now, and tomorrow will be so magical. And the best part? Riley knows its Baby Jesus' birthday. And that is the best present to me.

Half-a-Year and Two-and-a-Half

'Where has the time gone'?  I know all moms ask it, and I am no different.  Sophie is now 6-months old and Riley is 2-years and 6-months old.  I rock Sophie at night and swear at times that it is 2 years ago and it is Riley in my arms.  And then I burst into tears, but let's not go there right now, as I need to keep my composure right now and not focus on the fact that they are only little for such a short time.

I was very excited a few weeks ago when I made a purchase I had been saving for: a Nikon D5000 DSLR camera.  I love taking pictures of my girls and my point-and-shoot just wasn't cutting it any more.  I mean, I want to take pictures that are worthing of being hung on my wall.  By no means am I a photographer or even have any idea what I am doing, but that is why I needed a nice camera to help it look like I know what I am doing.  This past weekend I had some fun with the girls outdoors and captured some pretty great shots.  Enjoy.

Life with Two ...

... is the most amazing feeling in the world.
... has taught me that it is really true.  Your love does multiply, it doesn't divide.
... allows you little extra time to do anything such as keep up on your personal blog.

... makes me wonder why I was so tired the first time around.

Life with two takes my breath away multiple times a day.  Life with two is my life now.  And it's the only life I want to have.

To Riley, From Sophie With Love

Last night our doorstep was graced by the UPS man ... something that seems to be happening every night recently since I've increased my online buying for this Christmas season.  I was so excited to see what arrived (just ONE day after ordering it from Amazon!).

Riley's "I love you big sister" gifts from Sophie.  At the suggestion of a person I work with, we ordered Riley two gifts that will be given to her 'from Sophie'.  Not that a two-year-old will be able to grasp who a gift came from - or necessarily care - but I do want her to feel special during all of the baby hoopla that I assume will be taking place. 

She has recently really, really been into playing mommy to her Baby Stella doll that my brother bought for her last Christmas. 

Now that all of the baby items are out in Sophie's room, Riley loves to put Stella (or just "Baby", according to Riley) in the bouncy chair and sing 'Rock-a-bye baby' to her ... or lay her down for a nap in the bassinet.  Seeing as how I hope she'll want to mimic me and be mommy's helper rather than jealous of a new sibling, we ordered her two gifts.  This first one she'll receive from Sophie when she comes to visit us in the hospital; a diaper changing kit for her own baby!

The second she'll receive when we come home from the hospital; a baby carrier that also doubles as a diaper bag for all of her baby accessories!

Both are so adorable and I can't wait to give them to her!!

Someone is going to be TWO!

It's hard to believe that my week this week is consumed with last minute birthday party plans. For my soon-to-be 2-year-old. TWO YEAR OLD. Did you get that? When did two years pass me by? This cannot be possible!


This year we're hosting a Minnie Mouse-themed birthday for Riley ("Mimi", according to her) and I am very excited. She is understanding things so much more now and I am most excited to see the look on her face with all the decorations and guests and presents. And I can't leave out the birthday cake and ice cream ("birt cake and tweem", according to her).


With Sophie's arrival just under three weeks away, I am still not completely sure that Riley understands what is going to happen ... nor can we expect her to. She is definitely enjoying seeing all of the baby items out, though - and using them. Such as the Bumbo chair or the bouncy seat. We even found her hiding in the Pack and Play bassinet the other day - tight under the shade that comes up. I had NO idea she could climb into it on her own, but she found a way. Little stinker! She likes to kiss my belly and push on my protruding belly button and say "Ding dong!" and then laugh really hard!


What else has Riley been up to recently? We went to her first circus. She saw and recognized Santa Claus at the mall for the first time. She gets super excited over seeing the Christmas tree and all of the lights. She recognizes a lot of letters and can tell you the sound almost every single letter makes. She can count to three. She loves to sing and does a great job singing "Rock-a-bye baby". While we aren't actively potty training yet (as I have made the personal choice to wait until after Sophie is born and things have settled down a little), she loves to go pee-pee on her potty each night after her bath. We've done this for four nights in a row now and even went poo-poo on there two days ago before nap. She is SO proud of herself when she does this and, of course, Daddy and I make a huge deal over her and she gets to pick a prize from her "Potty Chest" that I made for her.


She's amazing. She's the light of our lives. She's my single constant thought and focus through the day. She's my everything.

All Better ... Just in Time for the Choo Choo!

Once the experience with croup passed, and Riley felt better, everyone felt better.  In fact, she got better just in time for us to continue with our plans for Kevin's birthday a couple weeks ago!  We always take off work each year on one another's birthdays, and this year was no exception.

Riley is a big fan of "choo choo's" ... and Kevin has talked here and there about taking a ride on a passenger train at some point.  So thanks to the suggestion of a coworker, I was able to snag some tickets for us to go on the Cuyahoga Scenic Railroad on his birthday.  It was so much fun boarding the big train and watching Riley look excitedly out the window while yelling, "Choo choo ride!  Choo choo ride!".  There was even a concession car and a souvenir shop.  We rode it down to Akron - about a 80 minute train ride that included 5 stops along the way.  Once in Akron we got off the train and got onto a bus waiting at the station and headed to the Akron Zoo.

We spent 2 1/2 hours at the zoo and Riley walked and/or ran the entire time.  I knew ahead of time that this day would mess with her nap schedule and was praying she'd sleep on the train ride back.  We basically had the zoo all to ourselves, so it was great getting to see her run and explore without the concern of losing her in a crowd or her getting knocked over.  We enjoyed a picnic lunch together that I had packed the night before, and it gave Kevin and I great laughs watching Riley chase birds around the picnic area with a chip stretched out to them, yelling "Ere burd - ere burd!"

By the end of the afternoon she was definitely getting tired and once the bus dropped us back off at the train station, it was just minutes before she was sound asleep in Kevin's arms.  Moments like this are rare now - where we get to hold our sleeping baby.  When I walked over to Kevin to see the two of them, I found him with tears just welling up in his eyes.  He said this was the best part of his birthday and that he knows he won't get to hold her like that forever.  It was such a raw, tender moment that I'll never forget, nor will he.

Riley only slept about 45 minutes, thanks to the man across the aisle from Kevin on the train, who yelled something loudly at us and woke her.  He felt badly, but still ... think!  He redeemed himself we we got to our destination and he chased us all the way off of the train and into the parking lot with Riley's blankie that I had left behind on our seat.  Thank God for him - it would not have been a fun evening without blankie!

And we finished the night off with a bang.  Although she was so tired, Riley was a little trooper, running on pure adrenaline ... and sugar ... through the party here at our house with Kevin's family.

What a fabulous, fabulous memory.

The Croup

When I picked Riley up at my in-law's after work this past Thursday, I was greeted by a red-faced, fevered baby ... not the normal running, jumping laughing little girl that I normally see after work.  Sure enough, when we got home I took her temperature and saw 101 degrees.  She definitely wasn't herself and just sat still in a little curled up ball on my lap that evening as we watched cartoons and ate popsicles.  She went to bed really well and slept nearly 13 hours that night.  The next morning the fever had dropped (99 degrees) but through the entire day she had good and bad spots - going from playing and running to hitting rock bottom.  This continued through the day on Saturday as well, but wasn't as drastic.

On Saturday night we kept hearing her cough over the monitor.  I'd watch her and she wasn't seeming to be too disturbed by the cough, but like all babies and children with coughs, it just sounds so pitiful and heartbreaking.  On Sunday she continued the high and low trend, as well as a cough and a hoarse, raspy voice.

Last night - around 11pm - was the worst part.  She had been coughing pretty consistently since she went down at 8pm, but at 11pm she was standing and crying very hard, and coughing - and we couldn't let her continue on.  Making it only the second time in our house, we pulled her in to bed with us.  She continued to cough and squirm, but seemed to be more comforted.  I decided through the night, though, that a trip to our pediatrician was absolutely a must in the morning.

This morning I was able to get a 9:30am appointment and in we went.  After hearing me describe the past four days and hearing Riley's little, scratchy voice, Dr. K immediately stated that he was sure she had Croup.  He said he has seen a lot of kids with it recently and she fit the bill.  I had always heard of croup, but didn't know anything about it.  I quickly learned that it is common and a viral infection where vocal chords swell, resulting in a restricted airway and a hoarse voice. 

I was so surprised when Dr. K suggested leaving her bedroom window open during naps and the night so that the cold air would come into her room and lungs.  That is exactly what I had been trying to avoid all weekend!  He said to also keep her elevated when asleep - either by raising one end of her mattress or by simply holding her in a recliner.  And if she is really having a tough time at night, to wrap a warm blanket around her and go for a walk outside.  If she is really gasping for air, of course, we'll simply head straight to the ER.

He said the second or third nights are normally the peak.  Last night was our second night so either it was the worst, or tonight will be - but at least it sounds like we're rounding the corner.  I hope so.  Poor little thing.

22 Months at a Glance

I feel like an awful Mommy award should be handed over to me right now.  My intention behind this blog was to create a digital baby book for Riley to look back on ... and I feel as though I've missed documenting so much over the past few months.  Thank the Good Lord I have everything in my memory ... but I need to do a much better job of stopping in here and jotting down some updates on her little life.

She is 22-months old now and - just as I have said every single month prior to this one - this is my favorite age.  I love that it clearly just continues to get better and better.

Animal sounds, the alphabet, colors, and counting are big right now.  Riley will be happy to tell you that the bird says "Chuurp", a lion, tiger and bear all say "Wooar", a cat says "ME-ow", and a dog says "woof woof" (but in a whisper).  She has been loving the LeapFrog Letter Factory DVD and I am amazed at how quickly she has begun reciting what sound certain letters say (her favorites are 'H' and 'F'), as well as recognizing certain letters.  She readily recognizes the colors pink and blue and just tonight asked Daddy to draw a "blue house" in the bathtub with her bathtub crayons.

We are trying our best to prepare her for the arrival of her baby sister, Sophie Noelle, who will be joining our family by December 20th at the latest.  Riley tends to think mommy's belly looks like it would be much more fun to bounce on than to, say, give it a gentle kiss and tell her sister she loves her.  We talk about the baby a lot to her, and show her where Sophie's room will be, etc ... but I assume she only 'gets it' as much as a 22-month old can.  It'll be interesting to see how she'll handle it once Sophie has arrived.  I must admit that there are days when I get very sad thinking that 100% of my love and attention will no longer go to just Riley.  That is how it has been for nearly two years and it is what I have grown accustomed to and what I love.  But I know - and trust - what others tell me and that your love is not divided ... that it multiplies. 

I am excited to get back to this blog.  I can't wait to add some pictures from our adventures we had this past summer.  Tomorrow we head out for our annual apple picking at a local orchard, followed by picking out pumpkins.  This is our 7th year doing this on the third weekend of October and I think it will be the first where Riley participates really well.  She proved this summer to be a stellar strawberry and blackberry picker, so I doubt she'll disappoint!!

It's Good to Be Back!

Now that all the chaos with selling a house, building a house, and temporarily living with my in-laws is over, I hope to get back to much more consistent posts on this blog.  It's good to be back!  My poor, sweet Riley deserves it!  I feel as though I've missed out on documenting so much that she has done over these past several months.

She is now 20 months old - it's absolutely unreal to me that in less than four months we'll be celebrating her second birthday.  I feel like in this past month she has changed faster than she has in any previous month.  Her vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds and she'll try to pronounce just about anything that you ask her to, including Albuquerque (which comes out "Que kee", all while making a very confused face). 

We've just lived in our new house for a little over a week and she already knows the lay of the land really well.  She has the biggest playroom that I've ever seen and loves going in there and having her own space.  While we temporarily lived with my in-laws, my parents kept our dog Wendell ("Nennel", in Riley-speak), and she is out of this world elated to have him back in her life.  Even when she wakes up in the morning and calls out to us ("Mama?  Dada?"), she'll call for him as well.  She loves for me to put the leash on him in the house so that she can take him on walks from room to room.

We've definitely landed in the "What's that?" stage, as she asks this for just about anything and everything and it is simply adorable. 

I've attached a few pictures, since it has been a while since I've shared her beautiful face!

Riley at 19 Months

Riley is now 19 months (and 10 days) old.  It's incredible where the time has gone and I am certain that it will never slow down moving forward.  Here is a peek into what Riley is like at 19 months:

- Most Popular Question:  "Where go?"
- Most Popular Statement:  "Eyes" (while either nearly poking out your eye or her own)
- Most commonly spoken words through a day:  "Mama, Dada, Papa, Mamaw, Papaw, Car, Beep Beep, Where Go?, Night night, baba (sippy cup), wa-wa (water), Two, Three, Eye, Ear, Hands, Hair, Nose, Mouth, Ball, Baby, Wow
- Favorite Cartoon:  Wubbzy is slowly being edged out by Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
- Favorite Pasttimes:  Playing in water, sandbox, and taking walks
- Body Parts She Can Identify:  Eyes, Ears, Nose, Mouth, Teeth, Hair, Hands, Head

 

Summer Time Fun

I feel like I've been so caught up in having a blast with Riley this summer that I haven't taken the time to blog about it.  So here is a sneak peek of some of the enjoyment we've had in pictures ...