March Madness

I am so glad March is over! 3 of the 4 of us have been so sick! Fortunately, Chet has remained healthy. How, I do not know. I had what I think was pneumonia. Elsa had a fever of 103-104 for 6 days and a trip to the ER. Aaron also had a fever/chills/hacking cough. Pfew! Fortunately, every one appears to be on the mend. But, despite sickness, life still had to go on. It is really miserable trying to parent and keep kiddos entertained when you feel like crud!

At the peak of me being sick, I took Elsa to Disney on Ice with our neighbor Kristin and her daughter, Kate. The girls had so much fun! Will definitely do it next year!

Elsa really wanted this toy that spun around and had streamers that flung around...visions of her poking her or her brother's eyes out made me recommend this toy. BIG mistake. I think we are all going to suffer from seizures from the flashing lights Elsa likes to point in our eyes.

Then, Elsa went to a birthday party at Sir Bounce A Lot. We have one adventurous toddler on our hands! She didn't want to do the slide/castles intended for her age/height. She loved the fast slides and the castles designed for kids twice her age. She wore me out! But, bless her heart, she had so much fun! When all the other kids were eating pizza and cake, she had to be on the go. I think this photo represents the only two minutes she sat down. And, now that I think about it, she got sick about three days later...all those darn germs all over the place!

I can't remember when Aaron took this picture (I love seeing pictures he takes of the kids when I am at work), but I love how Elsa covered up her doll!

Easter 2012

So, unlike Christmas, I was much better with taking photos this holiday!

Can someone explain to me why Easter involves a cute furry animal that doesn't lay eggs, but yet eggs are apart of Easter? I will need to find a way to explain that one in a few years!

On Saturday, Elsa colored and decorated 18 eggs. She had so much fun!

We kept asking "who's coming tomorrow?" She came up with the following answers: Santa, Gramma, Jackson, Papa.... Finally, she mentioned the Easter Bunny and Jesus.

On Sunday, she woke up and was so excited to see her basket loaded with puzzles, flash cards, a swim suit, an apron, candy, etc. Once she looked through her basket, we did an Easter egg hunt inside our house. She had so much fun, but was sidetracked with each egg. She kept wanting to eat the M&Ms and gold fish in the Eggs. I also put some money in some eggs and she was excited to put it in her piggy bank.

Then, we took the kids to mass and they did so well! I have to say I was quite disappointed in how people dressed for Easter. The most important event in Christianity and people were wearing jeans!

We went out for brunch at a nearby golf course and ate WAY too much.

Then, prior to changing into play clothes, it was self portrait time.

I was excited to get some pics of the kids. Elsa loves her brother.

And, Chet is super close to being able to roll over!

Chet 3 Months Old

Chet turned 3 months old on April 3rd! After I took this picture, I gently rocked him in the chair and he was laughing hysterically! I love to hear him giggle!

Here is a picture of Elsa at three months. I think they look so much alike!

He is a completely different baby than last month! He is so much more content and enjoys play time on the floor. It seemed like he never wanted to be left alone last month, now he enjoys looking at himself in the mirror on the Einstein floor mat and listening to himself coo and laugh.

Nighttime is still rather inconsistent. He has gone from 8:30pm -6am a few times on his own, but will occasionally wake up and need a feeding. Often, he will go back to sleep until 8am. It is funny, because he sleeps great in his crib at night and will often fall to sleep on his own with no issues. Naptime is different story. He will scream in his crib, but put him in the car seat or bouncy seat and he instantly falls asleep. I am not quite ready to start sleep training with him...maybe next month.

Nicknames: Chetman, Bug, Tyke

Diapers: Size 2

Clothes: 6 months

Loves watching his sister! I can't wait until these two can start playing together!

He likes watching TV. Even if we have him facing the other way, he will find a way to wiggle around to watch it.

I love this photo of them. I explained Elsa's obsession with picking sock lint from between her toes. Now she helps Chet with his hygiene.

He is smiling much more regularly now and has started to laugh. The other day, Elsa was waving her metallic pink pom-pom around and Chet was laughing so hard. I wish I would have videotaped it because it was hilarious!

Snowmen and Scooters

In seven days, we went from seven inches of snow to nearly 70 degree temperatures! CRAZY!

After our winter storm, Aaron helped Elsa build her first snow man!

Unfortunately, in two days it was completely melted.

Today, Elsa rode her scooter with dad to the park.

It is supposed to be in the 60s/70s all week! Hopefully I can kick what I think is pneumonia and get out and enjoy the nice weather!

Elsa and the Packers

I blame her love of the Packers on her school--Aaron is definitely not teaching her to say "Go Packers". The kid asks to wear her jersey almost every day. Most of the time we just keep it in the laundry basket and tell her its dirty even when it is not. She gets SO excited for laundry and when she gets to wear her jersey.

Her facial expressions crack me up. Aaron took this series of photos on the way home from school the other day.

Chet 2 months

Happy 2 month birthday Chet!

Chet has gotten to be such a better baby over the past two weeks! He is almost a completely different baby! His pediatrician feels that he may have been allergic to my breast milk! As I stated in the previous post, I had given up all dairy and was on the most bland diet and he was still so fussy/gassy. It seems like everything I ate didn't agree with him. When we introduced formula at night, he started sleeping longer and we noticed he wasn't as gassy. Once I returned to work and wasn't able to pump consistently, my supply dramatically decreased and I eventually stopped breastfeeding all together. We noticed over the three week transition the dramatic improvement in his temperment. His pediatrician felt that even though it is uncommon, that it was most likely due to my milk. He stated most colickiness doesn't improve that quickly. I initially was sad when I thought of him being allergic to "me", but at least now I don't feel so guilty about giving up breast feeding.

I am going to do the same pictures each month that I did with Elsa.

He now weighs 15 lbs 1 oz (97th percentile)

Height: 25" (97th percentile)

Head: 43 cm (97th percentile)

Nicknames: Chet-man. Elsa likes to call him "bug" which I think she thinks we say when we say "bud".

Diapers: size 2

Clothes: 3-6 months

He loves to stare at the celing fan, windows, and TV. He also LOVES looking at his sister. She is still very affectionate with him and doesn't show any signs of jealousy. We are very grateful for this! I can't wait to see their relationship develop!

She loves to read and tries to include him in her reading.

He is much more content just laying on his mat.

He is smiling so much more now! Here is one Aaron took of him after feeding him.

Tummy time is getting better

He LOVES bath time. Elsa likes to help give him a bath. We will pull up a chair so she can help wash his hair and wash him off. Now that he has found his hands, he can't seem to keep them out of his mouth!

For the first two months, he would wake up from his naps and sleep just screaming! It was like he would go from zero to 60 in 2 seconds. Now, he will wake up and usually babble or stir for a while before we have to go in there.

He still prefers to be walking around when being held, which is rather frustrating. You can literally keep him in the same position, but he will cry if you sit down!

I have been back to work now for three weeks and we are developing a very good routine around here. Chet usually sleeps until 4:30am (sometimes even up to 6am!!!). Aaron will usually wake up to give him a bottle and then both of the boys will go back to sleep. I wake up at 5:30 (unless Elsa decides earlier) to get us ready and out the door by 7:15. I take her to school most mornings before work and then Aaron gets her at noon. He usually gives her a small snack and then she takes anywhere from 1 1/2-2 hour nap. I am home most days around 4:30 so I have some time to hang out with the kids before getting dinner ready. Two things that have really helped with efficiency around here is menu planning and packing lunches the night before. I usually plan out an entire week of dinners and make a shopping list. Aaron will do a majority of the grocery shopping (he likes the challenge of couponing and finding the best deals!) for the entire week. Menu planning eliminates so much wasted time trying to decide what to make for dinner and I believe it is a huge money saver! The dinners for the week are written on the dry erase board on the refrigerator. I am going to try to stick to a theme each day to make it even easier to plan menus.

Monday: Soup/Salad or Brinner (breakfast at dinner)

Tuesday: Crockpot

Wednesday: Vegetarian

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Pizza

Saturday: Ethnic

Sunday: Comfort food

I find most of my recipes from myrecipes.com and save them to my online recipe file. It makes it so easy!

1st 6 weeks with Chet (and with two kids)

Wow! In some ways the last 6 weeks have cruised by and are a blur; in other ways it seems like an eternity! I must say that the recovery from child birth has been much easier this time than with Elsa! With Elsa, I felt I needed the full 6 weeks the military gave me for my body to recover. With Chet, I felt great the next day (minus a sore elbow and bump on my head), but HOLY COW the exhaustion is unbelievable with two! He was still waking every two hours until 5 weeks and Elsa was waking up at 5:30 each morning. Each feeding took about an hour due to problems with spitting up and keeping him upright afterwards...which meant I only got an hour of sleep (if that) between feedings. At 5 weeks, I introduced formula at night. He now sleeps about 4-5 hours at a stretch! Huge blessing since there was no way I would have been able to go to work that tired! And, Aaron has been wonderful with helping out with feedings now that we have worked in formula!

Chet is pretty much the polar opposite of Elsa. He is quite fussy unless being held. I had this huge to-do list of things I wanted to accomplish during my maternity leave and have pretty much tossed it out the window! But the house can wait. She slept 5 hours+ after three weeks (was only breastfed) and, as I previously said, he was waking every two hours--he has quite the appetite. And, the poor kid has terrible gas. Not only burps, but he sounds like a motor boat due to excessive "fluffs!" You could just tell how uncomfortable he was. The pediatrician recommended I cut out ALL dairy products due to concern of a milk protein allergy. I don't think it has really helped, but I continue to eliminate dairy and am now contemplating a vegan lifestyle.

But, I think he is slowly turning a corner. I am slightly concerned he has some reflux, so in two weeks I am going to ask the pediatrician when we go in for his next appointment. He is starting to smile which I LOVE! Until the smiles, I was beginning to think he didn't like us :) Here is one I took of him today.

I can not even describe the feeling of love I have when I get to cuddle with both of my kids on my lap! I am so blessed. I enjoy watching Elsa interact with him. She has been such a great big sister and has not demonstrated any jealousy! She loves to help me by grabbing diapers, getting blankets, talking to Chet while I get dinner ready...when he cries, she quickly tells me "Chet is crying" and will go over to him and say "Don't cry sweetheart".

Here are some more pics of our first 6 weeks at home!

First bath home from the hospital. He was not a big fan!This floor mat was a gift from my office manager and is amazing! It is so soft! Elsa will often lay on it if she watches TV.
We are a family of four!
With my parents and sister before they headed back to MN

Elsa loves to be where ever Chet is. She crawled down on the mat and started to read to him. So precious!
Peggy with Elsa and Chet
First real bath!!! He loved it!
He looks a little spooked here, but Aaron really wanted one with him and the blanket.
Here are the two kiddos on daddy's lap.
Elsa always asks to hold Chet
His three weeks statistics: 12 lbs 2 oz (98th percentile)

23 1/2" (98th percentile)

Head: 40.5 (97th percentile)

We went to MN for 10 days during my maternity leave! It may have been a little ambitious of us in hindsight, but it was great to spend time with family! The first weekend, we were in Mankato and were able to have Chet's baptism. Elsa had fun hanging out with her cousins! Although with 5 kids 5 and under it was CHAOS and noisy! Lindsay and Toby are Chet's Godparents. So, since Lindsay is addicted to cake, we decided to have cake to celebrate the occasion.

Elsa kept wanting to go swimming. Well, since MN winters and outdoor pools don't go together, swimming in "pappa's" hottub was the next best thing. She wasn't quite sure of what to think about the jets.
My parents have this cute kid table they brought into the kitchen. Elsa insisted grandma and dad eat breakfast with her at the table.
Feb 5th was Chet's Baptism. Our family friend, Father Don, presided over the Sacrament.





Yes, we had MORE cake.

Tomorrow I am gone all day for a CE course our office is putting on and then Monday (the 20th) I start seeing patients. I have mixed emotions about returning to work. As a mom who works outside of the home, I can never have enough time at home with the kids! But, I am excited to get a routine/schedule established.