Big accomplishments

Luke has found his toes! Just in the past week he's gone from hardly noticing they exist to grabbing them at every chance he gets. I love this stage!


Yesterday, Luke also rolled over from back to tummy for the first time! He had been so close before, but he finally did it one time yesterday. I tried to get him to do it again for the camera, but he got angry and so that was the end of rolling over. He didn't do it today, but I'm sure he will soon, and next time I'll get it on camera!

Wednesday night, he was almost there!

Thursday morning, right after the big accomplishment!

Pretty day

Today the weather turned dreary, but Monday and Tuesday the weather was superb! Beth has enjoyed lots of playtime in the backyard. I prop the door open (apparently I was raised in a barn) and let the fresh air in! Beth and Finley can move in and out freely, and I can get a bit of the beautiful day inside. This all works very well now, while there are no mosquitoes and while Luke isn't yet crawling! So we're enjoying it while we can!

Screeching sounds

Bath time!

pretty day outside- taking ariel for a stroll

Two kids in a bath! The first time we put them in together was last Thursday or Friday, and it didn't go so well. There was lots of crying on Luke's part, and all Beth wanted to do was pour water on his head. We've done it three times now, and tonight was rather cute! Beth still wants to pour water on him, but at least he sat in there for awhile and made some cute cooing noises. We're going to try to start Luke on a rough bedtime routine- his routine now consists of lots of crying and us having to pace around the house. We're not going to do a full routine with him yet, just put him in the bath (most) nights and hopefully he'll start to understand that bath = sleep. That's our goal...eventually!

Goodness, I have had such a busy weekend. Wednesday I had a work interview, Thursday I had a work interview, Friday I had two work interviews and a haircut (it's really cute!) and Sunday we hosted a baby shower for Ryan's brother and sister-in-law. Phew! At the hairstylist, I talked to her about Beth's fine hair, and she suggested I give it a little snip to make it look fuller. So I did. Don't worry, you can barely tell I cut it, but we'll go ahead and consider this her first real haircut!


We also worked on Luke's room last week. I scored major on Freecycle and got a matching bedroom set- bumper, sheets, crib skirt, valence, blanket, mobile and wall decor. All free! It's sort of gender-neutral for my preferences (safari-themed) but it's cute and it matches! I bought some shelves at Garden Ridge to top it all off, so now his room is almost complete- I just need a lamp and a nightlight!

What's going on with the kids

Beth's speech has grown by leaps and bounds in the past two weeks or so. If I've ever said her speech was improving before, well triple that! She repeats everything and even says stuff that I don't ever remember saying around her. Today when Ryan was leaving for work, she was in her high chair eating some cheerios. He kissed both of us goodbye and as he was walking out the door, Beth yelled, "Be careful Daddy!" She also can sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star absolutely perfectly! Every time I hang up the phone, she says, "Who dat? Miss Katie? Or Daddy?" It cracks me up, she always wants to know who I'm talking to! She'll also accidentally fall down (or make her doll fall down) and go, "Oh no, Beth fall down!" She is a constant chatterbox, if she's not talking to me she's talking to Eric or Ariel, singing, or just in her own little world reciting her ABCs or counting to 10. Despite all the words she's learning, "No" still seems to be her favorite! If I had a dollar for everytime she told me no throughout the day... I'm frequently try to avoid yes or no questions, and instead give her choices. Sometimes if I'm at one side of the house and she's in another room, if I yell, "Hey Beth!" all I'll hear is "NO!" Haha... It's easy to laugh about it when she's asleep, lol. But all of this has lead me on a quest for the perfect form of discipline, and since we don't spank I am challenged to find creative ways to teach her right from wrong and correct her actions. So far I'm testing out the idea of a "naughty chair" (for her to sit in until she's ready to correct her action, not really for a set amount of time). I've read several disipline books and I honestly thought I'd be pretty good at coming up with creative ideas to discipline. But as it turns out, I'm no good in this area yet! Temper tantrums ensue!

Luke. Our boy is nearly 4.5 months old, and looking back at my blog I realize that he's a little behind where Beth was at this point. Now, I've never been comfortable comparing my kids to other kids, and I know I shouldn't compare my kids to each other, but it's made me feel bad. I feel like I put Luke down so much more during the day than I did with Beth, but on the other hand I feel like I still hold him all day long! He doesn't really enjoy sitting in the swing for very long, but he'll tolerate it for about 10-20 minutes if he starts in a good mood. Sleep is awful right now, he just totally fights sleep. He naps usually 3 times a day (sometime 4 if one of them was really short) and he wants to go to bed around 6-7 and wake up at 6:00. Uhhhhhh.... Our usual routine of putting him to sleep involves him crying a lot (because he's overly-tired) and finally getting him to pass out. It's very wearing on both of us, but I feel bad because I feel like I don't have the time (or energy) to give him what I gave to Beth. I know that's the name of the game, and I'll probably feel this way or worse with every subsequent child. But I can't help but wonder if I haven't interacted with him enough, or in the right ways, and that's why he's not quite where Beth was at this age. But, as I looked through my old blog posts, I saw that on Beth's 6- month doctor visit she was 14 lbs 4 oz- and that was exactly Luke's weight at his 4-month visit! So he does have height and weight on her, heh. But overall he is still just a mild-tempered, mellow baby. Two days ago I got my first real cackle from him and I loved it! He's been laughing for a few weeks now, when we act like fools, but this was the first time I really heard him howl with laughter- and it was at Beth kicking a soccer ball outside! I'm not sure if he was laughing at Beth or the ball, but Beth is usually pretty good at making him laugh. I still remember Beth's first "real" laugh like that, it was at Vegas our dog. I LOVE those baby sweet baby sounds!

These pictures are from last week, the first two on Thursday and the second two on Friday. Two consecutive days, my mornings consisted of Luke falling asleep on his on in my bed, and Beth playing quietly in the other room. How wonderful!

The kids

Enjoying the bumbo

Miss Bunny

Luke

Bethany

My babies

(yes, I can still wear Beth in a sling. she insists. luke was sleeping and i had to cook dinner somehow.)

Reading alone

Here is Beth, enjoying some big girl time. I love walking around a quiet house, looking for her (expecting something awful) and finding her sitting in her chair,with the lamp on, reading library books. Ahhh, these are the moments that make me just want to eat her up!


Earlier that day (this was last week sometime) we received a special package in the mail for Luke and Beth, from Ryan's uncle and aunt in Missouri. Beth received some lacing boards (similar to this) as a gift, which is really awesome considering literally earlier that day I was wanting to go out and buy her some! Lacing boards are great in helping develop fine motor skills. Beth was intrigued with them and actually was a lot better at it than I expected! We're also working on a very basic form of narration, which I've read about from Charlotte Mason. Since Beth is so young, we basically read the book (multiple times, usually) and then I ask Beth to "read" the book to me. She flips the pages, tells me what she sees and what she understands about each page. Eventually, she should recount the story to me in her own words. That's the goal, at least. :-) We've been going to the library once every two weeks and we get books for her each time, usually Franklin books. She loves Franklin- I let her watch a few episodes on tv and now we read the books. What's fun for me is that I remember my little brother watching this show so it's sort of nostalgic in a way, lol. On our computer, I've downloaded a bunch of music from The Wiggles, and most mornings she jams to those songs while I'm getting ready for the day. I let her watch a couple of short clips on YouTube and BOY does she really get into that! I would love to get my hands on some DVDs but our library doesn't have any! She's not really into painting and coloring as much as I thought she would be, but water play is a huge deal right now. Basically, I've discovered that playing is not about a goal, it's about the process. So, having clean hands doesn't matter- washing them, making bubbles, splashing around does. Finishing her lacing board doesn't matter- getting the laces to go through the holes is the exciting part. She does want to cheer whenever she finishes a task though; "Beth all done!" is frequently heard around here! Or, "Yay Beth!" Watching her grow up is so much fun!

24 hour bug

It seemed Beth had a little 24-hour bug. Yesterday she woke up totally lethargic and spitting up bile (gross). She threw up once or twice throughout the day, took two naps, and was just generally miserable- no fever though! Today she is perfect. I thought it was odd she had no fever (since she's the queen of high fevers!) so I guess it was a little upset tummy or something! I'm glad she's better!

Gumbo Cookoff

Last Saturday night our church had its yearly gumbo cookoff and we went this year! We had so much fun! There was a live band, lots of gumbo, and desserts. We went with our friends and let the girls dance till 8:30 pm. Katie insists my gumbo is better than all the kinds we tried that night, so maybe I'll have to get in on the action next year. ;-)


(Happy birthday Jenny! Have fun celebrating #20 on fat Tuesday!)

Luke's 4-month stats

Luke had his 4-month well-baby appointment today. He is 14 lbs 4 oz (50%), 26.25 in (75-90%) and has an average head! We got a script for an antacid for him to treat reflux. Because of his nursing issues and some other symptoms, things seem to point toward reflux. We'll give it a shot and see if the medicine helps! Other than that, the boy is perfect!

Beth is 26 lbs 2 oz. She's lost some weight since her illness on New Years but it's nothing we're concerned about. Just means she'll be rear-facing in her car seat that much longer!

This is a wool "soaker" that keeps him dry in his cloth diapers!

Happy "birthday" Finley!

Today we've had Mr. Finley Wayne with us for one year! We love him so much and are so glad he's part of our family now. I bought him a little treat at Wal-Mart to celebrate. I never buy that sort of stuff for him so I was sitting in the dog food aisle going, "Huh?" at the millions of choices of dog treats. Finally I settled with something that said "for big dogs," Finley seemed to like it!

Valentine's Day

At our house, Valentine's day isn't really a big deal. If anything, it's an excuse to dress up and go to a nice dinner (and get cheesecake to take home)! I was in charge of gifts this year- I got us two travel mugs from Starbucks because we were sick of the cheap-o ones always leaking. Romantic, huh? We visited PF Changs, our traditional Valentine's day restaurant of choice- on Friday, Feb. 13. Hehe. Having two kids means you do things the easy way!

Here are some pics!

Rolling over

Luke is rolling over! He's managed to go from belly to back a few times! We don't put him on his belly too much, he really hates tummy time but this day he was pretty happy and enjoying it quite a bit!

Beth riding her trike

Nursing problems

Please pray for Luke and me right now. We are going through something together that has been incredibly difficult for me, and I imagine frustrating for him too. He hasn't been latching on to nurse, despite his obvious desire to want to nurse. I have been pumping as much as I can to try to have milk for him to drink out of a bottle, but pumps just don't work well for me so that doesn't provide much for him. I talked to a lactation consultant on Thursday and she made some suggestions, but they aren't working for us. I am going to try to go visit her at the hospital tomorrow because I don't know what else to do. I never had any nursing issues with Beth so this is all foreign to me- but I don't get how she went 16 or 17 months nursing perfectly and this little boy has all of the sudden, totally out of the blue, started struggling. I've checked for teeth- nothing yet (though he drools a lot!). I never knew this could be so frustrating, but I understand now why so many moms give up on nursing. :-(

The Hokey Pokey

She's a girly girl!

pink toes

pig tails

little miss chef

Trike

We spent time on Friday afternoon teaching Beth how to ride her tricycle. She finally got it! It was so cute watching her go- pretty slowly still but she was still having fun. Everyone got to spend some time in the glorious weather we've been having!

Catch up

Our computer is up and running again, thank you Tam! (There you go, your second shout-out, ha!)

A lot has been going on but unfortunately I don't have time to write details, so I will fill in with pics later!

1. We painted Beth's toe nails for the first time yesterday, they are so stinking cute!
2. Bedtime is going well, nap time is a little better but I've figured out something today that will hopefully work. We've also weaned her off her pacifier, she hasn't asked for it in a couple of days (she previously was using it only at night and during mass.)
3. Luke is totally laughing. I have to get a video for y'all to see.
4. Luke slept in his own bed last night from 10-2 am! Wohoo!
5. Beth wore pig tails for part of the day today, she actually kept them in. She looks like such a big girl these days.
6. If I'm ever going to run that 10k in March, I really need to get my booty in gear. Please hold me accountable!
7. My hair has started falling out again. It's no fun at all.

That's all I have time for right now, sorry! This blog is used not only to inform you (family, friends, total strangers?) but it's my record of our life. Better to write down a little than nothing at all!

Computer Crash!

Our computer has crashed!!! It still works, for now, and we are so darn lucky that we were able to recover some very imporant files. All of my photos and other important stuff were on an external hard drive, so that was safe too. The problem now is, every time I turn off the computer and turn it back on again, it starts over again like it's a new computer (and it totally isn't). We've lost all personalization to our computer- which means downloaded programs (Rhapsody, no more music!) and my bookmarks are gone. So I can't remember most of the blogs I follow because I don't know the actual http address. ;-) So if you know I follow your blog, can you please let me know? (Kyla, I need yours!) Via email or leave a comment, either way is fine.

I don't know what the future holds- when we'll get a new computer. It's not a matter of "if" at this point, it's when...

Challenge

Ryan and I have been challenged in ways we've never been challenged before over the past few days. The transition of Beth from her crib to her "big girl bed" has been incredibly difficult for us and it's been good, bad, ugly, and reassuring all at the same time. It's good in that it's caused Ryan and me to communicate and manage our expectations. Not lower our expectations- but instead, we've re-realized that we're raising a child to be an adult. We keep our goal in mind- a responsible, mature lady who trusts and obeys the Lord- but realize that we're currently dealing with a 2-yr-old whose favorite word is "no." It's bad in that as a mom, I feel stretched in ways I emotionally cannot be stretched. I've doubted my vocation, my calling, as a mother. However, with the help of my supportive husband I've realized that this is also a chance for me, as a woman, to mature. I've been reminded that in everything God works, he constantly draws us nearer to him. It's ugly in that I've done things that as a mother I haven't wanted to do, including raised my voice at a little girl that is just going through something that's quite a change and shock for her. But most of all, Ryan and I have been reassured that God created us to be the parents of this child- this beautiful girl who presses our every last nerve but is simply acting as God created her to be. Just being the person who she was made to be. And I hope that one day, her stubborness will be her help her to say yes when someone tries to make her say no, her persistance will help her perserve in faith though she feels abandoned, and her strong voice will allow her to sing at the top of her lungs in praise to God.

New rooms

Saturday we went to Arbor Day at a local park for an hour or so but didn't get any trees this year- it was waaay busier than last year, plus we're out of room in our yard for new plants, haha. Beth decided she'd rather not play on any of the inflatable toys, so we spent the majority of our time checking out a fire truck!

And the big news... After Arbor Day on Saturday we decided to take action. We moved the guest bed to Beth's room (sans head- and foot-board), moved the crib and Beth's dresser to Luke's room, moved the glider out of our room to Luke's room, and moved the computer desk to our room. That night Ryan drove to Fry's and Ikea to get a wireless modem and a new dresser for Beth. By Sunday night we had most everything set up! I need to do some finishing touches, like move around/take down/add pictures and shelves on their walls but that will all come with time. Moving furniture around was easy- the hard part has been getting Beth to actually sleep in her bed.

It's not going so well. Our girl, who has been sleeping perfectly for one year now, is not transitioning so easily. Big girl bed = freedom, so she's not ready to go to bed when we're ready to put her to bed. It's been really frustrating for both Ryan and me, but we've been told to hang in there and she'll eventually get it. Hopefully sooner than later.

Luke, on the other hand, is doing awesome. He goes to sleep around 7:00-8:00 at night, so we lay him down in the crib and he's there for a few hours. When he wakes up after we've gone to bed, he comes into bed with us for the rest of the night, so it's sort of a modified co-sleeping deal. It works really well for us- this is the way we did it with Beth too.

Beth's room

Luke's room

first nap in his crib

this was before she realized she actually has to sleep in the bed, haha

Potty training is going very well.

Ariel is potty training just about as well as Beth is. Fewer accidents, though.