The Easter Bunny came to our house!

The Easter Bunny came!  The Easter Bunny came!  But can mommy eat the delicious treats he brought?  NO!  Mommy has been dairy free lately to try and see if we can clear up Grant's eczema.  It seems to be working ... a little bit.  The crazy bad eczema on his face is gone, but now it is really bad on his arms, near his elbows (but on the top part of his arm).  I'm going to give it another week, and see if the arms clear up.  We also bought the California Baby eczema cream and that seems to work wonders on his face.  I think it might not be working on his arms because I put it on his arms, and then put his arms into long sleeved shirts.  Now that it's a little warmer, perhaps it will clear up.

Anyway!  On to Easter...

We did give Natalie some candy for Easter, because after all... it's Easter!  But we didn't want her tons of candy, so we gave her little gifts instead.  Of course, you KNOW that Santa and the Easter Bunny talk, right?  The Easter Bunny taps into Santa's naughty or nice database to make sure he can deliver goodies to the kids on Easter.  Natalie must have been pretty good between Christmas and Easter, because she got a basket full of fun things.  I think the Easter Bunny was very pleased with her potty training.

After church and the finding and opening of the Easter basket, we went to Wilmington.  Natalie had about 4 pieces of chocolate while she was playing with those little capsules that, when you put them in water, they grow to little sponge-like animals.  In the car on the way there, she had a bit of a sugar crash.  This kid NEVER sleeps in the car, and I mean NEVER.  So this was funny enough to take a picture of!

When we got to Wilmington, we took some Easter pictures outside before Natalie's nap.  Here is the Bailey gang under the Birch tree at Todd's sister Helen's house.

Next up, we took a picture of the kids.  In the back, we have Lauren, Gordon, and Madison, holding little Buddy G.  In the front, we have Natalie, Deven (Gordie's sister Janelle's daughter), and Seth.  I thought Natalie looked cute in this picture.

After pictures, little man Grant was hanging out with Daddy.  He looked so cute in this picture I couldn't resist.  Poor little guy seems tired, but so content to hang out with Daddy.  He'd better get some good Daddy-holding time in now, before Todd has his shoulder surgery later this week!

We had quite the tasty meal this Easter, made up of ham, potatoes, rolls, cesar salad, green bean casserole, maple carrots, and other fine goodies.  After dinner, we finally woke Natalie up (seriously, she could sleep forever if we let her) and went outside to do the annual Easter Egg hunt.  This year's eggs were full of money or Skittles.  Natalie has decided that she likes skittles.  Here is a picture of Natalie and Seth, inspecting Seth's loot.

Lastly, we can't forget that my BIG nephew/Godson Seth turned 7 (yes, I said 7!) on the 5th!  So at Helen's, we enjoyed some cake, cookies, and brownies to celebrate his birthday.  Candy AND cake on Easter????  This girl was over the moon!!!  Notice the various colors of chocolate cake and skittles across her face.   NICE!  Happy Easter everyone!

Fun at Endicott Park in Danvers

This weekend was just too beautiful not to be outside.  It was in the mid-upper 70s all weekend.  Just perfect.  So we met up with the Morris family at Endicott Park in Danvers and the girls- Annabel and Natalie - played on the playground. 

They were so cute!  The boys (Mike and Todd) hung out in the play clubhouse for a while, enjoying the shade with Grant and Evan.  Evan is about 2.5 months older than Grant.  Afterward, we went to check out the horses, but on the way, we ran into some birds that looked like pheasants, but might have been just young turkeys (Todd called them teenagers, ha ha). 

After our animal sightings, we went to have a picnic on the grassy area in the sun.  The weather was so nice, but it was actually WARM, and even I was sweating!  The Bailey's enjoyed hummus and pita, cheese and crackers, a fruit cup, salsa and garlic chips.  After lunch, Annabel shared one of her blue raspberry Dum Dum lollipops with Natalie, who was over the moon about it.  By the time she finished it in the car ride home, her entire mouth was blue, including lips, teeth and tongue.  She had it on her cheeks, hands, and even in her hair.  Awesome!  On a good note, Natalie went potty at the park and didn't have any accidents all morning!  She hasn't had any accidents in weeks, but I just wanted to point out that she spent all morning at the park and didn't have to go!

A weekend with Aunt Betty

I still can't believe I didn't take a picture of the lobsters, scallop cakes (like crab cakes, but with scallops), macaroni salad, Chilean red wine, and strawberry rhubarb pie with ice cream that we ate at Aunt Betty's this weekend.  Seriously.  Many other fun things went on this weekend at Aunt Betty's, but this was truly amazing!  And somehow, I forgot to take a picture.  Grrr....

ANYWAY... This weekend, we went down to Great Island to visit Aunt Betty (Todd's parents also live there -- but they are in Florida).  We had to pick up a few things at Todd's parents house (from their basement, where we store things!), so we spent Saturday and Saturday night at Aunt Betty's.  Natalie just had a blast.  We went to the BRAND NEW indoor heated pool.  It is AWESOME.  Great Island is a 55+ community, but from 2-4 each day, it's "family swim."  Kids who are still in diapers are not allowed in the pool, but of course, Natalie is potty trained now, so she was able to go in the pool. It was kind of a chilly day outside - I don't even think it hit 40 degrees, but it was balmy at the new pool.  We forgot to bring the diaper bag to the pool, which is where Natalie's ear coverings are, so we put this lovely shower cap on Natalie to block any rogue splashes from getting into her ears. 

Todd and Aunt Betty held her above water, and they had her floating on a noodle, which also helped.

Grant couldn't go in the pool because he still wears diapers, but he had fun hanging out with mommy anyway.  We played with some of his toys and watched Natalie swim.

Natalie is a little fish. She just loves being in a pool, and cries when she has to get out. But have no fear! Aunt Betty always has fun things to do at her house. When we got back, Aunt Betty and Natalie played in the basement, drawing with sidewalk chalk on the concrete floor, banging on drums, bouncing balls, and doing puzzles.  Aunt Betty also always showers Natalie with such fun gifts.  Natalie LOVES the books that Aunt Betty gives her -- we got 4, count 'em FOUR books!!!  Meanwhile, Grant got the OK from Dr. Meisheid to go in the Jumperoo and the exersaucer.  Here is the little man in the Jumperoo.

He wasn't all that enthused... but he didn't hate it.  He stayed in there for probably 20 minutes.  He couldn't quite get the idea of jumping, even though it came with a "reward."  The jumperoo plays a song and lights up when you bounce.  But he didn't seem to care about that.  Oh well, maybe in a few more weeks!

Potty Trained!

Well, it's official.  Natalie is potty trained!  This has been a major work in progress.  We started potty training right around her second birthday.  (For those who are counting, yes, it has been a 9 month process!)  We started by introducing her to the potty, having her sit on it, play with it, etc.  Then we moved to pullups, where we majorly stalled for many months.  Pullups for her, were kind of a crutch.  If we mentioned going to the potty we got one of two reactions.  Either she would agree and go happily with you where she would do her pee pee in the potty without incident, or we would get a screaming fit.  Mostly it was the latter.  Grrr.  In November, we picked a weekend where we tried to do big girl underwear ONLY.  We had a 100% failure rate.  What was frustrating was that she knew the feeling, but she would ignore it until she was all wet.  We knew she didn't like the feeling of being wet in her big girl underwear, but it didn't seem to make a big enough impact for her to correct the behavior.

For whatever reason, last weekend, she decided she wanted to be a "big girl" and start doing more pee pee in the potty.  I don't know if she finally feels settled (new house, new baby brother in the last few months), or if she feels challenged that her BFF Gaby is in big girl underwear and using the potty.  Whatever the reason was, we jumped at the opportunity.  She had one accident Sunday afternoon (while watching Dora... I think she wasn't paying attention).  She went Monday and Tuesday at daycare without any accidents.  Wednesday, because Daddy had a 2 hour doctor's appointment, I picked the kids up from daycare and took them to Friendly's for dinner. I asked Natalie no fewer than 4 times if she had to go potty, but she said no each time.  As we were packing up to go home, I noticed she was walking funny -- a sure sign she had an accident.  I changed her pants in the parking lot (LOL!!!) and she hasn't had another accident SINCE!  I'm so proud of her!   We even went out Saturday for about 2.5 hours.  We went to Wellesley College to walk around the campus and then into Wellesley Square for lunch.  She waited until we go to the restaurant and went potty there.  She didn't have any accidents.  We are so happy!!!!  I can't believe my baby girl is becoming such a BIG GIRL!!!!!

Next up this weekend... sleeping in a big girl bed!

My little leprechauns

Natalie decided she wanted to wear shamrock stickers on her face yesterday.  And Grant is, once again, looking like a deer in the headlights.  As my mother-in-law pointed out... it kind of looks like they're up to no good!  ("What?  Who me? I didn't do it!")  Happy St. Patrick's Day!

My mom wanted me to point out that Grant is giving everyone the bird in the picture below.  HA HA HA! 

22*

At dinner tonight, Natalie and I had a conversation that went like this:

Me:  When you get older, you can put your dish in the sink.  Right now, you're too little.

Natalie:  Right.  When I get older like you.

Me:  Yep.  Natalie... how old do you think I am?

Natalie: (without hesitation) 22!

Me:  Have I ever told you that you're my favorite child???

Rainy Days and Monday's always get me down

It's raining... and it's been raining for days...

But at LEAST Grant slept until after my alarm went off this morning!!!!  This is a HUGE accomplishment.  My alarm goes off every morning at 5 am.  Yes, it takes me 3 hours to get ready, get the kids ready (with Todd's help of course), get to the train station, and get to work every morning.  For the past several weeks, Grant has woken up EVERY morning at 4:30 to eat. It's like clockwork.  By the time I'm done feeding him, it's around 5, so I can't go back to sleep.  So I've been living off of 5-6 hours of sleep every night for the past few weeks, except for the weekends, when I can manage to get 8 or so. 

Friday night, we decided to do a little CIO.  For those of you not down with the baby acronyms... this means Cry-It-Out.  Naturally, he woke up at 4:30, so Todd went in, gave him his pacifier, swaddled him up, and left.  He started crying, but I gave it 5 minutes before I went in.  I put the pacifier back in, and rub his forehead, and go back to bed.  He was quiet for a few minutes, then he would cry. I waited another 5 minutes... and so on... for about 30-40 minutes.  Finally at about 5:10 am, he stopped crying and fell back asleep until about 6:30.  Then I got up and fed him, and put him back to bed.

Saturday night, he woke up in the 5 am hour (I think... these sleepless nights run together!) and Todd gave him his pacifier, reswaddled him, and he fell right back to sleep!  Hooray!  Then he didn't wake up until about 7.  I fed him, and went back to bed.  I can't remember when Todd got up, but he got both of the kids up and let me sleep in.  I slept until 9:30!!! I really could have slept longer, but I was a bit guilt ridden.  :-)

This morning... my alarm went off at 5 am, and only a few minutes later he woke up to eat.  Which is FINE with me... because it's NOT 4:30!!!!  Amazing how much better I feel with just an extra half hour of solid sleep.  I hope this trend continues!

As for his ear infection, he is taking his antibiotics like a good boy and he seems to be feeling much better.  He's still coughing a bit, but it's not as bad as it was last week.  I'm thankful.  I'm ready for temps in the 60s later this week (with SUN!).  Maybe we can finally get rid of all of these illnesses we've had in our house!

Poor Little Buddy

My poor little buddy has his first ear infection!  For the last week, he's had a cold, and of course, in our family, that usually leads to an ear infection if you are under the age of 3.  Todd took Grant to the doctor this afternoon since his temperature has consistently been around 99.5 every evening for the last few evenings (and even last Wednesday was over 102!). 

Since Natalie got her tubes in September, she has not had ONE ear infection, hallelujah!  Grant however, is too young for the tubes, so he will be getting his first dose of amoxicillan this evening. The ear infection is only in one ear, thankfully.  And hopefully amoxicillan will work for him.  It did nothing for Natalie. 

I hate to run to antibiotics every time their ears hurt, because they say about 80% of ear infections will clear up on their own.  This is most definitely not one of them, considering it's been over a week and he's still feeling bad and has a temperature!  (Although it's not a REAL fever according to the doctor's definition... he's definitely warm). 

Get well soon my little man!!!!

Fun with Daddy and Grant

I snapped some REALLY cute pictures of Grant playing with Daddy on the couch this weekend while Natalie was napping.  It's fun to have one-on-one time with both of the kids, separately.  Grant looks so big in these pictures.  It makes me sad to think soon, he'll be toddling around and he won't be a baby anymore.  Sniff sniff.

Weekend fun

Well, every night we get a few things done around the house that gets us closer to being totally moved in.  Of course, we have to take some time out for fun too! 

This past weekend, we went to Natalie's BFF Gaby's 3rd birthday party at Build-A-Bear in the Natick Collection mall.  The kids were so cute.  They all got to pick out a bear, and have him stuffed.  Then they put hearts inside the bear before it gets sewn up.  Instead of a heart, Natalie picked a shamrock, appropriate for her Irish roots.  Then they have the bear sewn up tight before going to "wash" the bears.  After, they get to pick out an outfit and dress the bears, complete with bows for their ears.  Here is a picture of Natalie with her completed project.

I thought it was funny that each of the kids picked an outfit that really represented their personalities.  Gaby is more of a princess, and she got a very frilly outfit for her bear.  Natalie is a t-shirt and shorts kind of girl... and that is what she picked.  (Something she would have picked to wear at home, no doubt).

Next we snapped a few shots of Natalie- one with Gaby, and one with the whole group.  Notice how much TALLER Gaby is than Natalie.  She's only about 3.5 months older than Natalie, but is way taller.  We just bought Natalie a pair of size 7 shoes, while Gaby wears an 11. 

Aaron is on the left (he is Gaby's big brother).  Then Natalie, Nicole, Matthew, and a kid who's name we couldn't remember, so Todd named him Rourke, which made me hysterically laugh.  I think his name was Ian, or Eli, or something like that.  Of course, birthday girl Gaby is on the floor in front.  Matthew, Gaby, and Natalie all go to Miss Maureen's daycare.  Aaron and Nicole are graduates.  :-)

After we stuffed the bears, we went down to the food court for some cake and juice.  I think I might have one of the only kids in the world who doesn't care for juice.  For those of you who's kids are addicted to juice, we attribute this to not giving her juice for the first time until she was about 18 months old.  The kid LOVES milk.  She won't drink anything else, except water.  In this picture, notice Gaby is posing nicely for the camera, while Natalie has only one thing in mind:  CAKE!

A good time was had by all!  Now we have to start thinking about Natalie's birthday party this summer!  This will be her first party where we actually invite other people.  :-)  Actually, last year, we went to the Stone Zoo with the Morris family, but we didn't have a party per se.  If anyone has any good ideas for a fun party, please let me know! 

Baby in a Bumbo

Check out the comparison photos of Grant and Natalie in the purple bumbo.    

Natalie is in the first picture, and Grant is in the second, with the hat on.  They are both approximately the same age in it.  Natalie was a week shy of 4 months, and Grant was about 4 months and a week old.

How funny are these kids?????

Eventually

Todd and I alternate putting Natalie and Grant to bed each night.  I put Natalie to bed two nights ago, while he gave Grant his bottle and put him to bed.  I love this time with Natalie because she is just so funny.  She tries out her delay tactics on me, but doesn't really fuss when I shut off the light and leave the room.  Two nights ago, after we said our prayers, she asked me, "Why did we move to this house?"  And I said, "Because it was bigger, and we liked the yard and the swingset for you and Grant."  And she said, "I fell off the swing."  Which she almost did.  Over the weekend, Todd was pushing Natalie in the big girl swing (she only rides in the big girl swing now... when did she get so big????).  She leaned backwards and of course, started falling out of the swing.  Todd managed to catch her before she hit the ground, but it scared her nonetheless, so she cried.  So after she told me she fell off the swing, she added, "And I cried."  I said, "You did, because it scared your belly."  And she said, "Yeah, I cried.  Eventually." 

Where does a 2-year-old pick up a word like eventually???  She didn't use it in the right context, but it was almost convincing because she says it so perfectly.  Boy, she is ONE smart cookie.  Love that little girl!!!!!

PS:  I didn't get to the pictures last night because I had to go to the grocery store.  I asked Todd to do it, but he got sidetracked and had to clean some things up on our computer.  I will definitely get to them tonight.  And I apologize for not having a ton of Natalie.  She's going through a camera shy phase right now.  :-)

How are things coming along?

Oh, not very well!  I think the stomach bug has left the house... knock on wood... but Natalie and I are both just now getting our appetites back.  I finally took a ton of pictures and video last night... but of course, haven't had time to get them off the camera. I promise, I will this weekend.  Be prepared for an influx of pics! I may even throw a video on here.

Last night we put Grant in the bumbo.  Boy that kid sure is cute.  He didn't even mind it.  He just hung out there, chomping on his hand. I even gave him a toy to play with, which he did.  He only got frustrated when he didn't know how to move his arm/hand to reach for it after he moved it across the bumbo tray.  I got that on video.  So cute, and so fun to watch them learn, and the frustrations of being a baby.  We take our most basic movements for granted!

G had his 4 month appointment on Monday.  He was 14 lbs, which is in the 30th percentile still.  He's 25 and 3/4 inches long, which is in the 80th percentile. I can't remember what his head circumference was, but it was in the 55th percentile.  A little string bean (still).

Natalie is so funny... she is so smart and is the apple of her brother's eye.  The other day, she was working on something with Todd and she said, "No daddy, that's not correct."  I mean, what 2 year old uses the word correct???  Properly!  Then yesterday, as I was getting off the train, I hear a little voice above me in the bank parking lot (with daddy) yelling, "MOMMY!  MOMMY!  Were you on the train???"  I have to remind you... the kid is obsessed with trains.  She continued: "Was it fun?  Was it fast?  Did you sit near the window? Did you look outside?"  These are all questions I expect a 6-year-old to ask, not a 2-year-old.  I had to explain that it was fun, it is pretty fast, I always sit near the window, and only sometimes look outside because I'm busy reading my book! 

Last night, I put up some curtains in our living room.  I hemmed them myself!  Before you get too excited about that... they are from IKEA and come with a self adhesive glue tape thingy that you iron on to make the hem.  I did have to measure and cut the fabric, but then I just ironed it on!  Then I ironed both of the curtains and voila!  Curtains!  Of course... on one of them, I put the darn hem on the front (wrong) side of the curtain.  Grrr.  Well, Martha Stewart, I am not.  That curtain went behind the couch anyway (at least the hemmed part did) so no one will even see it.  They look pretty darn good.  Todd put together our new fabulous TV stand that he went and picked up yesterday.  It took all evening, but luckily Parks and Rec and the Office were on, so that kept us entertained.  That is ALL we got done yesterday though.  I'm ready to tackle some rooms this weekend, despite the fact that the weather will be AWESOME up here (around 50 and sunny both days).  I'm not doing anything until I get this darn house in order!  It might be the death of me...

The big move!

UGH... what a weekend! Thursday night, before our move on Friday... little miss Natalie threw up in her bed. This was the beginning of a stomach bug that has hit our house. She did it again Friday night, and then had a big poop in her bed on Saturday. Poor little thing didn't feel good at all and hardly ate all weekend. Of course... it was moving weekend. Friday, we sent her to daycare because we didn't know she had a stomach bug. She only threw up once (I thought with stomach bugs you do that a lot more often?) and seemed in a good mood Friday morning. Whoops. The movers took ALL DAY to move our stuff. They literally left at 4:45 pm.

KK, Madison, and Seth came on Saturday around lunchtime to help out with the unpacking and watching of Natalie and Grant. It was really helpful... I think we could have used about 8 more people though! Our house is in total disarray. It breaks my heart when my kids are sick, so I was pretty much worthless on Saturday. I can't focus on anything, except the sick kid! Plus, one of the shelves in my china cabinet FELL as I was putting stemware on it. It crashed down and broke one of the glasses. I wasn't too upset about that (except that I had to clean it up!). I was more upset that it chipped the glass wine chiller I got as a wedding gift from Tiffany's!!!!! (From Mike and Betty Smith). I absolutely LOVE that piece. Somehow, all of my china was spared. I guess Lenox makes really sturdy stuff! (I have Lenox's Federal Platinum set)

I had originally taken Monday off to stay at home and continue unpacking. Of course, Natalie still wasn't feeling 100%, so we couldn't send her to daycare. Todd was off work (but took Grant to daycare) and went over to clean the old house and turn in the keys and the garage door openers. Natalie and I stayed home, but I started not to feel well. Uh oh! I had to go and take Grant to his 4 month appointment and by the time I got back, I had to just go to bed. The stomach bug takes another victim! Even Grant's pediatrician said she had gotten it. She said she took a sick day for the first time since she had been pregnant (her kids are in elementary school, I think). It is really going around up here. Grant was grumpy too... he had just gotten shots! Poor little guy. Poor entire family... Mommy's sick, Natalie is sick, Grant isn't feeling well from shots, and daddy has to deal with it all!

So now, of course, I have to stay home on Tuesday. I'm finally back at work today, but not 100%. Just kind of tired, like I had the flu or something. My stomach is fine though!

Hopefully the week will be better... I have to make a bottle run to Babies R Us tonight, and continue unpacking. The weekend is supposed to be really nice- sunshine and mid to upper 40s. This is a heatwave in these parts! Maybe we can all get outside, if everyone is feeling okay! Natalie has already spent some time on the swing set that is at our new place. She is in heaven with that thing. Todd got up on it and tested the swings and slides himself... so if it didn't break under the weight of Todd, we think it will be fine for the kids!

In the meantime, enjoy this sweet picture of Grant that my mom took when she was here.  He is the sweetest baby of all time!  Hey, everything else can only get better, right???

Moving week

Nana is still hanging around our house, cooking us dinner, packing up boxes, and has even gone to the new place to do some cleaning and replacing of the contact paper in the bathroom!  Can you believe it?  We really put her to work!  She is leaving on Thursday and we are going to be SOOO sad when she goes.  She saves Todd and I at least 30 minutes to an hour in the evenings by cooking dinner and cleaning up afterwards.  Meanwhile, Todd and I get the kids ready for bed.  Last night, we had them down and asleep by 7:30!  We were patting ourselves on the back... until I realized that we probably owed that to my mom!

Boxes are still being packed and we had an insanely busy weekend.  Todd bought us a washer and dryer off of craigslist from a poor guy who lost his house.  Todd didn't know this when he offered him less than the asking price of the washer and dryer, but felt really bad, especially when he said, "I think I'll miss the washer and dryer more than anything."  It was so sad, because he had two kids living in the house!  When Todd got there, the guy was still using the dryer (hey, at least we know it works!).  If we didn't buy it, someone else would have.  I just felt so bad for the guy. 

Meanwhile, I was spending money at IKEA.  I bought a LOT of new curtains, a lamp and a rug for Grant's room, a large rug (5 x 8 for only $40!) for the playroom, and a chalkboard/dry erase easel for the playroom.  I spent two hours there and really could have spent all day.  And all of my money!

Sorry I haven't posted any pictures.  We haven't taken very many since we've been so busy trying to pack up.  I'm a crazy fast typer so blogging doesn't take much time, but taking the pictures, getting the pictures off the camera, editing the pictures, and uploading them does take a lot of time!  PLUS... our computer is in our room, which is where Grant sleeps.  He's been going to bed in the 7 pm hour lately, which means we can't really go in there and make a lot of noise.  In the new house, our computer will be in the living room and Grant will be in his OWN room. 

Grant is getting so big and is doing some sort of noise that might be a laugh... I dunno.  He is SO smiley and cute, I can hardly stand it.  He likes to grab at things now (knowingly or not) and can really move all around when he's kicking his legs.  We're working on rolling over, but I think he'll be like his sister and be lazy.  Hopefully he'll be rolling over by 6 months, LOL!  He has his 4 month appointment (plus shots) on Monday, so we'll see how it goes.  I weighed him the other day and he was 13 pounds.  Whew!

Natalie is doing well too... one of her daycare friends is having a birthday this week so they are having cake (or cupcakes or cookies, or whatever they are having).  So she's been talking about that a lot.  I have to go out and buy her some new shoes, because she is finally needing a pair of size 7's!  She has the smallest feet!

Hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures later this weekend, after we've moved in to the new place! (Which happens Friday when the kids are at daycare).

A funny from Nana

I'm posting this blog on behalf of Nana.  Yesterday as the kids were in the car pulling out of the garage to go to daycare (Nana was driving, and I wasn't there because I was walking to the train station), Nana said, "And we're off!"  and Natalie added, "Like a herd of turtles!"  Nana thought she might pee her pants laughing! 

This is a saying from one of Mommy's friends (Megan Meadows).  I say it all the time, and Natalie has picked up on it.  Daddy even started saying it, and she always says, "No daddy, like the horses!"  I think she remembers this from last year's Kentucky Derby/Preakness/Belmont Stakes.  Funny how much longer she is remembering things these days!

Better swaddle

I swaddled him much better last night and he slept from about 9-3:30.  Then he ate, and slept from about 4-6:30.  I only got up once - and that was right around 5 am because he was grunting and it woke me up.  He never woke up, but he's just loud when he does it, and it wakes me up. 

By the end of the week, I might be a master of swaddling! 

Nap time funny

She didn't mean for this to be funny, but yesterday when I put Natalie down for a nap, I was rubbing her back (as daddy does, since he usually puts her down for her nap but he wasn't at home).  She sighs wistfully and says, "Mommy, your fingers are GREAT!" 

A week without Daddy...

Daddy has been gone less than 24 hours and WE MISS HIM!!!  He went down to DC for a conference this week.  At least it's only a 4 day work week and he'll be back on Friday.  Whew.  Good thing Nana came to help out!  She is the best... I really don't know what we'd do without her.  Even though I can manage on my own, it is so helpful to have a second person there to watch the kids when say, I need to go to the bathroom, or when I need to put the laundry in the dryer. 

Add on top of this the fact that we are moving next Friday!  Ugh.  Nana is sending the kids to daycare this week and packing boxes while I'm at work.  I mean really, we don't pay her enough!  Okay, we don't pay her at all, but maybe we should!  All of the things she does for us, and Grant repays her by letting some seriously stinky toots (worse than Pop Pop, according to her!), and Natalie throws a fit this morning because Nana has to drive her to daycare, and not Mommy (out of our routine).  She may never come back after this week!!!!!

Meanwhile, I also have a new appreciation for my husband's nightly duties.  Grant still sleeps in our room because he still wakes up once at night to feed.  Because his bedroom is on the second floor, and ours is on the third floor, we don't feel like making the trek up and down the stairs in the middle of the night, so he's still in the pack-n-play in our room.  Last night, Grant kept wiggling out of his swaddle (I just swaddled him in a waffle blanket) and grunts and snorts as he's doing so.  He's a strong little dude.  He went to bed at around 8, and I went to bed at around 11:30.  He wiggled out of the swaddle at 12:30, 1:30, 2:30 and then was stirring again at about 4:00.  I don't know if he does this every night, because I usually sleep with ear plugs in due to Todd's (and lately Grant's too) snoring.  I think I need to take some swaddle lessons, because I certainly don't do it very well. Todd is the master of the swaddle, and of giving Grant a pacifier without actually waking himself up while doing it.  Anyway, I'm hoping he sleeps a little better tonight because I did not sleep very well last night! 

Good news from Nana... she packed THREE boxes today!  Hooray!

Some pictures, some scallops, and other ramblings

Sorry that I haven't posted any pictures.  Todd put some new photo editing software in our new computer and I don't really like it.  For some reason, it won't rotate my photos.  It rotates them when the software program is open, but it won't save the rotated pictures to my hard drive.  It saves all of the edits I make - like eliminating red eye, fixing the contrast and brightness, etc.  But it won't save the rotation!  So if you go and look at the pictures on smugmug (link to the right), I apologize for the unrotated pictures.  I'll have to figure out how to fix that later...

ANYWAY... the kids seem to be getting over their colds.  We had a really fun weekend.  Natalie was really behaved Saturday.  I point this out, because she's two and a half.  Not a day goes by where we don't have some kind of tantrum or spaz out.  We went to the Natick winter farmer's market in the morning.  We picked up some lemon honey cheese (sounds weird, but is delicious!), some homemade black bean salsa, and some fresh scallops.  First... Todd and I differ on the way we pronounce the word scallops.  My parents and whole family is/are from the midwest.  So I pronounce them "SKAL-UPS."  Todd is a New Englander, and he pronounces them "SCOLL-UPS."  So everytime I say skal-ups, he corrects me and says, "You mean scoll-ups?"  Same with coupon- KOO-PON is the way I pronounce it.  He pronounces it wrong, like, "Cue-pon."  SO WRONG.  But I digress...

The skal-ups were DELISH!  Oh my... my husband can cook.  Whew!  He sauteed them with butter, olive oil, and a boat load of garlic.  He also added some red pepper flakes and parsley.  He put them on a bed of spaghetti and linguini.  It was amazing.  Unbelievable.  One of my new favorite meals! 

Then... the kids slept until 7:45 (Natalie) and 8:15 (Grant) this morning!  Natalie is just really content to hang out in her crib and sing and talk to herself.  It's really cute.  And really great because we can catch a few extra minutes of shut eye.  Then I went out for a brunch with some new friends.  I met Tiffany through my friend Heather Yori Ingold (I've mentioned this before) and about 8 of us had brunch in Somerville.  Funny story... I ordered biscuits and gravy.  But I was leery of ordering them because they are a very southern food and here I am ordering them in the north.... so these biscuits and gravy could go horribly, horribly wrong.  So I discussed this with the waiter, who told me, "Oh they're totally authentic southern food.  Our head chef is from the south."  To which I perk up... they can't be bad if the chef is from the south!  "Yeah, he's from West Virginia!"  Um... not really buddy, but okay, I'll try them anyway!  (They were good, if a bit heavy on the sausage, and not enough pepper.  I added my own). 

It was a good time hanging out and talking girl stuff- shopping, babies, husbands.  SO FUN.  Apparently these girls get together once a month, so I'm excited about seeing them again in March! 

I've also gotten some packing done this weekend.  Not a lot, but some. 

Here are some semi-recent pics of Grant.  To be honest, I haven't taken ANY of the kids lately.  We keep forgetting the camera when we go out.

Weekend update

Natalie and I are still recovering from our colds, and now Grant has come down with it.  Poor guy.  It makes me so sad to see him sick.  He had a fever this weekend as high as 101.1.  Last night, it was "down" to 100.5, but he seemed warm this morning again.  He's also really congested and has a terrible cough. On a good note, he took his bottle at 10 last night and although he was fussing around 2 am, Todd gave him his pacifier and he fell back asleep and didn't wake up until my alarm went off at 5:15!  I took him to the doctor on Sunday and his ears and chest sounded fine, so that is good news too.  Hopefully he won't get any worse. I just keep waiting for this fever to break!

Meanwhile, Natalie is still coughing, but her runny nose seems to be getting better.  I am off and on... some moments I feel great, then an hour later, I feel crummy again.  I hate winter!

On Saturday, we took the kids for lunch at Rise-n-Shine in downtown Natick.  It's our "cheat" day from our diets, so I enjoyed the chicken fingers and onion rings.  I mean, if you're going to cheat, go big, right???? It was good, and reminded me of college, except without the hangover.

After lunch, we swung by the new house.  We went inside to check out the rooms again, to see where we can fit our furniture, and what to use the rooms on the first floor for (we've decided adult living room, playroom, and guest room!).  We also wanted to check the layout of the bedrooms, to see which room would fit our furniture.  I think we have it all figured out.  But Natalie was SO excited to be at the new house.  I've never seen her so excited over something.  She was running around, spinning in circles, hopping and doing little jumps... it was really funny.  Although now that I think about it... maybe she inherited the gypsy gene from Todd and me?  Uh oh!  Later when we were back at home, she was still talking about it.  She even said, "We will take all of our toys to the new house!"  The good news is, we will have ROOM for all of our toys! 

More good news... I just heard from Todd and Grant's temperature is back to 98.6!  Hooray!

PS:  The computer is almost totally set up.  We have a *NEW* photo and video editing software, so pictures are forthcoming!

New Computer

Sorry I've been out of commission.  Our old computer was on it's last leg (really?  Do computers have legs?) so we bought a new one.  Now we are going through the process (read: hassle) of transferring files and software from the old computer to the new one.  This includes my photo editing software and video conversion to MP4 software.  So whenever we get those moved over, I will be back in business!

In other news, Natalie and I have both been sick.  We are both recovering though, so that is good.  Nana came for a visit last weekend when we went out to look for new rental homes.  We found one, but it had a half fee (which came out to almost $900 which we would never get back).  We weren't too thrilled with that, but it was 1800 square feet located on Speen Street, not including a full, unfinished basement.  Plus it had two bathrooms (always nice when there are 4 people in the house).  It didn't have the 4th bedroom we wanted, but it did have a big "dining room" with a fireplace.  I think we will put a pull out sofa in there (a nice one) and consider it a guest room/office.  In the end, Todd worked his wicked negotiation skillz and got them to waive the half fee.  We signed a 14 month lease (at their request which was okay with us), and they gave us the last weekend in February for free to move in.  So now we have to pack up the current place (insert expletives here) and move in about a month.  With two babies.  YIKES. 

Next weekend, I am going to a brunch with some local mommies in Sommerville.  I met a nice girl named Tiffany through my friend Heather Yori Ingold (who I've been friends with since middle school!!!).  Tiffany is her friend, and she oddly enough, lives in Natick!  She has twin babies (a boy and a girl) and there is a group of girls that get together about once a month or so.  So that sounds like fun! 

Then the next weekend, we will be going to dear baby Jonathan's first birthday party.  It's hard to believe he's already one year old!  Jonathan and Natalie/Grant are second cousins.  It's a swimming party (don't panic, it's indoors).  Of course, Natalie got tubes in September, so we have to figure out what to do with that!  I'm on the hunt for a bathing cap and some cotton! 

So we have a couple of busy weekends ahead and we have to find time to pack.

Sorry there are no new pics.  Hopefully I can get some posted this weekend once the editing software gets installed!

Sally's visit to Massachusetts

Sally Russell, my maid of honor, came up from Atlanta to visit us this past weekend. Grant loved her because she would pat his bum while holding him and he would fall asleep in her arms every time. Natalie loved her because hey, let's face it... she's a fun gal. In fact, twice now she said to me, "We are sad because Sally left." Yes Natalie, we are.

We had so much fun. Saturday, the five of us went to the New England Aquarium. Natalie said her favorite part was the penguins. They were SO cute. It was feeding time when we were there, so that was really fun to watch. I really like the big tank in the middle of the aquarium with various sea life swimming around. Big sharks, giant sea turtles, rays, big fish, small fish, and we even got to see a few humans floating around in there, strategically placing lettuce here and there for the fish to nibble on. There was also a great little tidepool touch tank for kids to touch sea stars, hermit crabs, snails, and horseshoe crabs, among other things. And, in typical 2 and a half year old fashion, she also liked to run up and down the ramp that surrounds the exhibits. She just wanted to run. She wasn't running to see anything. Just wanted to run. ("Ready, set, GO!")

Saturday evening, Sally and I went out to the Chateau at Dudley Pond. This place is hysterical. It's kind of a dump, but this bar serves the most AWESOME burgers and other pub fare. It was an old speakeasy long ago, and is set at the edge of Dudley Pond, right in the middle of a neighborhood. It's very random. I don't know who's in charge of zoning for the Town of Natick, but it definitely seems weird to have a bar/restaurant in the middle of a neighborhood! Every time Todd and I have been there, we have pretty much been the only people in there. Well, it gets packed with townies on a Saturday night! So after we ate and had a drink, we went to Cheesecake Factory for some dessert (red velvet for me, and PB Fudge for Sal!) and another drink before heading home around 10:30. We are SO old.

Actually, we came home because I'm nursing Grant and needed to "pump and dump." My left boob was really hurting, and I thought I would get some relief after I pumped. But it still really hurt afterwards. I was shivering when I crawled into bed... but an hour later, under a down comforter, I was still shivering! Something wasn't right... my left boob was warm to the touch and it felt rock hard. Because of the shivering, I knew I must have a fever or something. I also wound up throwing up in the middle of the night! So it turns out I had a nice little case of mastitis. I've got my antibiotics now, and I'm doing much better! Very strange. I felt better by Sunday afternoon and I took Sally to Friendly's. If you're in New England, you have to eat at Friendly's at least once. It's pretty similar to Frish's Big Boy (if you're from the midwest, you'll know what this is). They also have kick butt ice cream, which we also enjoyed! Todd stayed at home with the kids... and he did NOT enjoy the Pat's loss to Baltimore!

Sunday evening, Sally and I went out to see The Blind Side. Sally went to Alabama, who just won the National Championship in football... boo... War Eagle! We really liked this movie. I think 90% of New Englanders just wouldn't understand some parts of this movie... like how Sandra Bullock's character HATED Tennessee. It was fun to see cameo's (and some more than cameo's!) from Tommy Tuberville (wearing Auburn gear of course... not Texas Tech), as well as Nick Saban. Even though Nick was wearing LSU gear... Sally still had to cheer because he's Bama's coach now. It was a GREAT movie. Highly recommended.

On Monday, Sally and I went to Cambridge to eat at Bartley's Burgers across from Harvard Yard. DEELISH! (And they score mega points with me for having yummy Diet Coke!) Here is a pic of Sally and Grant in Harvard Yard after lunch. Sally and I kept joking that we felt very dumb compared to all of the smart Harvard kids! We didn't spend much time outside because it was REALLY cold out (highs only in the 20s) so we went back to Natick and went to the mall. I picked up a few pieces of yellow jewelry (a nice bracelet and some earrings) for Cory and Brianna's wedding. (I'm a bridesmaid!). Sally got a nice new sweater and some earrings herself!

Sadly, Sally went home on Tuesday. We are hoping to win the lottery so she can move into our house and become our nanny. Although I think she might have to fight Todd's sister Kathleen for the position, ha ha ha!!!

Something funny about my kids

I have noticed over the last week that Grant gets really upset whenever we are driving and the car stops (like at a red light or in traffic). It's funny because Natalie was the EXACT same way as a baby. She eventually grew out of it, but I think it's just funny that both of them need to be moving at all times in the car to be happy! I wonder if it has anything to do with being in a canopied car seat, facing backwards, or if it's just because they like the hum/vibration of the engine. It definitely lulls Grant to sleep if we are in the car long enough (and Natalie was the same way... she hasn't slept in the car in months though!) Isn't that funny??? I wonder if all babies are like this, or just mine?

Grant and Natalie on the playmat

The kids were playing on the playmat the other day so I snapped some cute pictures of them. Natalie is so cute and SO protective of her little brother. At daycare, when we drop her off or pick her up, she practically yells at the other kids, "That's MY brother!" Then she shuts the cover on his car seat so none of the other kids can see him. Maureen always says, "Yes, Grant is YOUR brother, but he's Gabby's (or Mia's, or Matthew's) friend!" She's also very possessive of us too ("That's MY mommy!"). Very funny, but very strange! Grant is holding his head up so well these days. Since I'm nursing him, he is still waking up every 3-4 hours in the middle of the night. WE NEED MORE SLEEP! So Todd and I decided to give him a bottle of formula before bed and it really does help him sleep more. He usually gives us at least 5 or 6 hours. Which is NICE!!! Now... if we could only get him to sleep 10-12 hours a night! And preferably in his own crib!

Sledding and snowman making

Since we had a ton of snow right before Christmas, the hills were ripe for sledding when we got to Plymouth. Aunt Betty and Shirley have a great hill close to their house that Todd, Natalie, Seth, Bean, and KK went to for some great sledding. Even Bean took a turn down the big hill! Not bad for a guy in his... well, I'm sure he wouldn't want me to tell you his age. Natalie didn't want to go sledding on the big hill, but she certainly enjoyed being pulled around! They also made this great looking snowman over by Shirley's house, complete with one of Aunt Betty's famous red hats! THEN, when they got back to Grami and Bean's, Natalie partook in some sledding on the small hill in their front yard. While she wasn't afraid this time, she didn't care to do it again! They also made ANOTHER snowman at the house. Natalie named them both Tinkerbell. She has decided that all snowmen must be named Tinkerbell. I hope that's not too damaging to their manhood!

More holiday fun in Plymouth

Every year, Todd's brother and his family come up from Maryland to spend the week after Christmas with the family. Now that we live in Massachusetts, we only get to see them twice a year.

 So we spent 4 days in Plymouth at Todd's parents house among the chaos of the large Bailey family. There were 19 for dinner!!! Not to mention 3 dogs (thank goodness Koal didn't come!) It's always chaotic and so much fun.

And each year, the kids, because there are so darn many of them, do a gift exchange. Lauren got Natalie this year, and she got a super cool singing and dancing Foofa doll (from the kids show Yo Gabba Gabba). She also got the littlest Pet Shop. Lauren had this toy at her house, and Natalie always plays with it when we visit. Natalie and Grant, because they are still little, got showered with too many presents to even mention on this blog. I couldn't believe it. They really spoil her rotten!

And as usual, there was lots to eat and drink. Whew... was there ever!!! You know Todd loves to take pictures of his food...

Everyone got a little Grantie snuggle time in.

Lastly, this is the first year Grant got to be in the Bailey cousins annual photo. This is it... the family is complete, although Carole would love for me to give her an even number "10"! Here is the annual picture!

Christmas fun

Sorry, I just realized I never blogged about Christmas!

Because Grant is too little to travel (with cold and flu season upon us), we decided to stay home for the holidays this year. This actually is probably something we will do in the future as well. I think we will stay home for Christmas, and maybe travel to my parents house after the holidays (maybe for New Years... who doesn't love January in Florida???)

Christmas Eve, we went to church, went to Uno's for dinner (it was about the only thing that was open). Typically, we would eat Chinese food, but we had just eaten Chinese food a few days earlier and even still had leftovers in the fridge. Then we came home and Todd read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. Next, we put "reindeer food" out on the lawn. This is a birdseed/glitter concoction that Maureen gave Natalie. Then we put out a plate of Cinnabon cookies, carrots, and egg nog for Santa and his reindeer and THEN it was time for bed!

In the morning, Natalie discovered Santa had been at our house! He brought her a wooden train set and train table. Really, she could not have cared less about the other presents she got. She would open them, and then go right back to the train set! It was comical. She got lots of other fun gifts, including magnetic dolls from GiGi, a portable DVD player and digital camera (kids version) from Nana and Pop Pop, and a beautiful dress (that mommy wishes came in her size) and a foam doll set for the bathtub (you can put clothes on her that stick when wet... kind of like paper dolls, and kind of like the magnetic dolls!) from CoCo and Brie. In the days following Christmas, she started to get more interested in her other presents, like the doll pack and play and other baby carrier items Santa brought her, as well as the Curious George puzzle.

Grant got a few baby toys from Santa and a stuffed dog from GiGi. I love the face he is making in this picture!

Overall, it was a GREAT Christmas! Only the second time in my adult life that I've gotten to spend it in my own bed! Whoo hoo!

Happy 2010!

Wow, I never thought I'd make it to 2010. I'm not sure why... I just thought I'd be old and gray by now. Oh wait... I AM old and gray! But seriously folks... I never could have imagined how happy I would be being married to a super cool guy with two beautiful and healthy children. If you had told me I would be living in Massachusetts... I would have laughed at you! But here we are... in the year 2010. I am not completely sorry to say that I am glad to see 2009 go... it was a good year in that my beautiful son Grant was born. But it was a stressful year. To sum it up: We put our house on the market in January, sold it 3 weeks later, and then moved to Massachusetts. We lived at my in-laws in Plymouth for a month which was really exhausting. Then we finally moved to Natick, the same weekend I found out I was pregnant with Grant! Then I spent most of the year pregnant, which we all know I don't like! But then baby G arrived and things began to get better :-)

Now here we are embarking on a new year... and we just found out we have to move again!!! Our landlord is putting our place up for sale. The price is right, but we don't like the layout of the home. The master doesn't have a closet or a bathroom (which technically means it's a loft and not a bedroom), and the two kids rooms are on a different floor, and both of the bathrooms are located IN the bedrooms... so in order to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, you have to either go down two flights of stairs to the first floor half bath, or tip toe into one of the kids rooms and quietly go to the bathroom! Kind of annoying. It's unfortunate because the location is awesome (I can walk to the train station but there isn't any train noise here). We also like that we have a 2 car garage... something we probably won't have in the next place. It has come in handy during the past couple of snowstorms. Our least isn't technically up until February 28, so we have some time... but with two little kids in the house, what usually takes a few weeks to do now takes a few months! We are hoping to enlist the multitude of family members in the area to do a little babysitting so we can pack and move.

A lot of people have been asking me, "Why don't you just buy a place?" Well, we certainly don't have enough money to put down for a house in a decent school district that has all of the amenties we want. We took a loss on selling our house in Virginia last year. While we actually broke even, that meant that we had 0 dollars to use toward our next house. So we had to start from scratch with the savings. We make too much money to qualify for the good loans (go figure), and we don't qualify for any of Obama's nice tax breaks. First... we are not first time home buyers. Second, if you owned a place recently you can get the $8K from the government, but only if you owned your last place for 5 or more years. No kidding... we owned our place for 4.5 years. Saving is also difficult when you have two kids in daycare!!! Daycare is pricey!!!

So... our goal for the year 2010 is to SAVE, SAVE, SAVE!!! Our goal in 2011 is to BUY, BUY, BUY! Oh, and donations WILL be accepted! :-)