To my favorite little girl, on her 3rd birthday

My Shae,

You are the most beautiful little girl.  You are sweet and sympathetic, and so polite (most of the time), you almost always say please and thank you.  You don't like to see others kids cry, and you point them out to tell me they are sad.  You try to comfort your friends at school when they get hurt. The teachers tell me you ask if they are ok, give them hugs, and try to make them feel better. 

There has been a lot of change this year.  You moved into a toddler bed right after your 2nd birthday, then into a big bed about a month later, although you started sleeping in our bed as soon as you realized you could get out as you pleased.  We lost any semblance of a schedule for a few months, and bedtimes were sporadic.  You moved classes at daycare.  Your little brother arrived and you love him so much, despite the fact that you hate sharing our attention.

You are a great big sister and it's so clear you were never meant to be an only child.  Owen loves you more than anything else in the world, even though you take away his toys.  No one can make him laugh like you do.  When you wake up in the morning, you like to climb in his crib and play with him for a while.  When you get hurt, you like to give him a hug because you say it will make it feel better.

You hate loud noises.
You started gymnastics and love to hang, climb, jump, and tumble.  

You like vegetables! You eat asparagus, mushrooms, broccoli, corn, peas, and snap peas.
You like to eat your waffles, fake bacon, corn, and peas while they are still frozen.  

You will dip anything in ketchup or ranch dressing, including watermelon.
You learned your alphabet, and can even tell me what sound each letter makes.

You can count to 20, sometimes saying eleven-teen.
You love to draw faces, especially Owen, although you always draw him sideways.
You love to take pictures.
You want to know everyone's name, and you will point out total strangers and ask 'what's her/his name?', as if you think I know absolutely everyone.  If I say I don't know, you tell me to ask.
You are learning about Santa and Christmas, and only asked for one thing... a blue toy car (and you said Owen wants the green one).

You are an amazing little girl who brings so much joy and laughter into our lives.  I love you so much.

 

 

 

Mom Stays in the Picture

I recently read an article about a mom who avoids taking pictures with her kids because she doesn't like the way she looks. Yikes, that is me.

I feel kinda frumpy most days, still haven't lost the weight from when I was pregnant with Owen, and never really have time to do my hair or make up. I always think the last thing I want is evidence of how crappy I look. But really, who cares? I love my kids, and I want them to remember how happy they make me. I want them to have pictures of me smiling with them. I want them to be able to look back and remember me when I was younger. So, I've started taking pictures with them as often as I can, and try my best to not think about how I look.

I am their mama and, to them, I am beautiful no matter what.

 

Tick tock, tick tock

Holy &#!*, where is the time going?  It feels like this year is speeding by... glad the holidays are here and I will have some time off.  Blog posts coming soon...

Owen thinks months are for slowpokes

Owen has been on the weekly growth plan since moving into 6 month clothes at 6 weeks... 9 month at 9 weeks, 12 month...etc...it was odd how the timing worked out perfectly.  Now, he's 6 months old and his 18 month stuff is getting a little tight in the crotch.  I have so many things he never wore.  He is not going to be a child I can buy things for in advance.

I never thought I would have a blond haired, blue eyed baby, but here he is.  At first, I remember thinking he looked nothing like I imagined, since I was expecting dark hair like Shae.  Now I wonder how I could think of him looking any other way.  He's happy, and healthy, and perfect.

A 'Dot' of his very own

My last post couldn't have been more timely... the following week, my Aunt Donna sent a lovey blanket and some other handmade goodies for Owen.  No one was more excited than Shae, yelling "Owen, you have your own Dot!".  I don't think he'll ever get a chance to name it something else, but that's ok, because his has polka dots too.  It is just beautiful, and my aunt is so talented.

Aunt Donna, he loves it already. Thank you SO much, I have a feeling his will be just as special to him.

Dot to the rescue

'Dot' is Shae's little lovey blanket.  My Aunt Donna made it for her when she was born, and she has loved it since the first time she held it.  It has cute little polka dots, hence then name Dot.

Over the past two years, Dot has seen a lot of action.  Some of the ribbons have been rubbed of their patterns and are now blank.  No matter, those are the favorite ribbons and she seeks them out to rub some more. When Shae goes to sleep, she holds Dot.  When she gets hurt or upset, she asks for Dot.  When Owen cries, she shares her Dot with him.

We now have a rule that Dot does not leave the house.  If she were ever to get lost, we would be in big trouble.  I had to make another, which did not come out nearly as nice, so she could take one to school (she calls it her 'school Dot').

The other day I noticed her holding Dot on her foot and asked her what she was doing.  She said Dot was fixing her boo boo.  She really believes Dot is magic, and with all of the comfort it brings my child, so do I.

Sleeping with Dot when she was about 6 months old.

Dot with Shae on her first flight.

Sharing Dot with Owen.

Dear Owen,

my sweet little boy.   I didn't even know you were possible a year ago, so it's amazing you are here and such a big part of our lives.  The last three months have been a tough adjustment on all of us since you've spent much of it crying, but I love you.  I really do.  I try my best not to get frustrated, because I know it's not your fault you feel crummy.  I sing to you.  I walk with you until you stop crying and fall asleep.  I've changed my diet to eat what you can tolerate.  I've given up coffee, bread, ice cream, cheese, and chocolate.  That's how much I love you.  You are starting to feel better, and are turning into a happy baby.  I promise to try and never take the little things for granted.  I cherish every smile, every coo.

I wonder what you will choose to do with your life, where you will go. No matter what it is, I hope you are happy.  I look at your chubby little hands and I think one day they will throw a ball.  One day they will build something. One day they will hold the hand of the person you will marry.  One day those hands will hold your own child.  Only then, will you truly understand how much I love you.

Crying.

Owen cries.  A lot.  He is colicky, and has food 'sensitivities' from what I eat, which cause him some digestive issues.  Poor little guy didn't even smile until he was 7 weeks, and that was after I was on an elimination diet for a week.  We can tell he is so uncomfortable.  We have an appointment with a pediatric GI to see if they have any suggestions.  I am actually terrified they are going to tell me I can't nurse him anymore and have to switch to formula.  It's very hard to explain why, but I feel like that is the best thing I can do to nurture my baby.  Oddly enough, he's still gaining weight steadily, and is up to 15 lbs at 8 weeks old.


Shae has been great and loves her brother.  She wants to help do everything for him.  The crying doesn't seem to bother her much, just that I have to hold him all the time.  When he cries during the night, she puts her head under the pillow and goes back to sleep (yes, she's in our 'family' bed).  She is always kissing him, laying next to him, and tells him "it's ok buddy" when he cries.  She has gone from telling him "Mommy is coming" to now saying "I'm coming", because she is good at calming him down.  It's really very sweet.


The downside?  She wants to be babied.  She asks me to hold her and rock her.  She has stopped using the potty.  She never, not once, used a pacifier as a baby, but is now stealing his.  She doesn't even like it, just wants it because he has it.

Two kids and an Easter egg hunt

We've all had a hard time adjusting to having Owen at home, mostly because he cries so much.  I know Shae is a little jealous lately, so I spent a lot of time with her and tried to make Easter a special day.  We learned she does not know moderation.  She opened every egg and ate the candy as soon as she found it.

Eating jelly beans for the first time.  She LOVED them.

This was the face she gave me when I suggested she save some for later.

Shae helped make the bunny cake this year.  She really enjoyed the mixing and measuring, but her favorite part was the arranging and icing.  

I wonder why we needed twice as much icing this year. :) 

Sprinkling on the coconut 'fur'

She was so proud of the finished product!

Welcome Owen Matthew

Our little boy arrived on February 22, 2012, at 12:58pm.  He was 8lbs 9oz, 21.5 inches.

It's no wonder I craved beer my whole pregnancy, I had a little red-headed Irishman in my belly.  We were surprised by the red hair and by how small he seems even though he was a pound heavier than Shae.  My great-grandfather had red hair, and Matt thinks he has someone in his family too.  He does look a lot like Shae did as a baby though, just different coloring.  I am so in love with him already.

I hated every minute of the c-section, it felt so unnatural to have a baby that way.  I think I cried through the entire thing.  Even though Shae's delivery was tough, it was a very natural process.  But somehow, once they gave him to me, none of it mattered anymore.  So far, he is perfect and gaining weight like a champ.  We had his 2-week check-up and he is up to 9lbs 11.5oz.

Shae is amazingly maternal, helps to diaper him, burp him, and wants to hold, hug, and kiss him constantly.  The first time she held him, she kissed his head and said "it's ok baby, Shae's here".  That made me so happy.  We are making an effort to spend a lot of alone time with her too, so have not had many jealous moments.  She's really good about asking me to put him down if she wants me to do something with her.  She'll either say, 'put Owen in swing', or 'Daddy take Owen'.  She's a great little communicator.

Welcome to this crazy world little guy.  We are so happy to have you as a part of our family, and are looking forward to sharing our lives with you.

Matt ready for surgery.

Shae helping to feed her baby brother.

He looks so peaceful.