Christmas Festivities Begin

Christmas fun is in full swing. We had a very fun filled weekend. We also just started a new Christmas book tradition which I shared about on Houston Moms Blog.

Friday morning we went to a Christmas party for the kids. They decorated little trees, ate snacks, played, and had a book exchange. Cambry and Lainey wore their adorable Christmas outfits from Jill. I told Cambry to say cheese and this is how she posed.

Cambry discovered that green icing is very delicious.

These weren't all the kids but it was all we could round up for the picture. Lainey was crying and there is just no good way to pose a 6 week old so she did not make the group picture,

Saturday we went Christmas shopping. We ended up shopping at ToysRUs all morning. We were very indecisive and had a number of people to buy for and the next thing we knew it was lunch time. Cambry and Greg looked nice and festive.

That evening we went to Greg's company Christmas party at the Houstonion. They always put on such a nice party with wonderful food and dessert. My parents were so sweet to come over and watch the girls. Lainey took a bottle great! I'm so thankful for that! This was our first outing together away from the girls since Lainey was born.

Today our youth group had an all day event called Christmaspalooza. They went all over town doing fun things. Greg helped out during the event and the girls and I met up with them when they got back to the church. They brought in snow and had a fun slide. Cambry wanted to do it so bad so Greg took her down a couple of times. She loved it! It was quite cold outside but Lainey was bundled up snug as a bug in the stroller. She was awake for a while not making a peep then fell asleep the rest of the time.

And because I feel like Lainey got left out of a lot of the pictures above, here is our cutie pie.

Happy Thanksgiving

This year I am thankful for:

Jesus Christ who died for my sins so I could have eternal life

Greg - God gave me the very best husband and perfect match for me
A healthy pregnancy and smooth labor and delivery
My precious baby Lainey 

My adorable Cambry

My sweet family who are always there for me

Greg's sweet family that even though they do not live in town at least they are still in driving distance

That we are all healthy and have access to good medical care

Greg's job

Getting to be a SAHM

All the meals we have been blessed with since Lainey's birth

Our home and all our sweet neighbors

Our church and the chance to serve in youth ministry

So many sweet friends

This Thanksgiving we went to Waco to spend time with Greg's family and introduce his brother and sister to Lainey. It was Lainey's first road trip (5 weeks old). The trip there took 4 hrs. and 15 min. Normally it should take 3. But we had an extended stop at Chickfila and another stop to nurse. Lainey cried a lot, but hey, that is to be expected on a car ride with a newborn. The way home was wonderful though. Both girls were perfect!

Greg went hunting with his dad and brother one day while I hung out with his mom and sister and the kids. Cambry had so much fun playing with Hollyn. It was adorable to watch them dance, hold hands, and chase each other all around the house. Cambry would just laugh and laugh. She didn't pay much attention to Anderson but I think once he gets a little older and starts walking she will enjoy him a lot more.

The girls looked so cute on Thanksgiving but this was the best I could get of the two of them. Yep.

Four generations!

We went to the park one afternoon and discovered we can fit three car seats in my car!

We had a great time in Waco and it was such a nice break from the normal routine. Now Christmas season is here and I am so excited for all the fun things coming up this month!

Lainey 1 Month

Oh Lainey, 1 month old already! It seems like we have had you forever and yet at the same time it has gone by so fast.

Size: I'm not sure about weight/length since we don't go back to the doctor until your 2 month checkup. You are wearing newborn or 0-3 month clothes. Most 0-3 clothes are still too big but you are too long for your newborn sleepers. You wear size 1 diapers. We haven't started cloth diapers yet for you.

Likes: You like to be held, your paci, being swaddled (we leave 1 arm out usually), and sometimes your swing. You will lay on your play mat for a little bit, but not too long. You seem to like baths most of the time. We usually bathe you and Cambry at the same time - with you in the little tub.

Dislikes: You don't like it when we are holding you and we sit down. You prefer to make us work - walk and sway you all over the room. You get fussy in the evenings. Pretty much from the time Greg gets home from work until the time you go to bed (around 10ish), you are crying off and on and we have to hold you to calm you down.

Working on: We have been trying out bottles about every other or every third day. So far it has gone well. Although I am constantly scared you will suddenly reject them. It just seems so strange to have a baby that will actually take a bottle, ha! I was able to go to my doctor appointment all by myself yesterday and left a bottle with Gigi. You took it just fine. Craziness. I have just now started doing tummy time with you. You hate it but I only make you do it for a very short time.

Sleeping: You are doing really well at night. Lately your last feeding has been around 9 ish and then sometime around 10 or whenever we can get you to sleep we put you in the cradle in our room. You have been waking up around 2ish and late 5ish to eat. The first feeding is usually great - you go back to sleep very easily. It is the second one that is hard to get you back to sleep. And then it seems to always happen that just as you are going back to sleep Cambry is waking up. No going back to sleep for me :) Your daytime sleep is all over the place. Usually mid day is when you have long stretches of sleep. But poor 2nd child, you can never get any peace and quiet. As soon as you fall asleep Cambry decides to get out the loudest toy we own and play right next to wherever you are. Or she starts screaming and then blames it on Minnie Mouse and then puts her in time out. Sorry Lainey.

Eating: You eat about every 2 hours during the day. But you are such a fast eater is is unbelievable. Usually 5-10 minutes is all you will do. I don't see how you get enough during that time but you won't take any more when I try. When you take the bottle you take about 2 oz,  sometimes a little more.

We love you so much little one. You are precious and sweet and I love being your mommy!

Getting Out

One of the biggest adjustments for me now that I have 2 has been staying at home more. When it was just Cambry and I, we would be out and about all he time - play dates, library, Divine Design, music class, running errands, etc. Now that I have a newborn we have been staying home a lot more. Right now it is just hard to get everything ready and leave the house and take them both somewhere.

My first outing by myself with both girls was to Kroger 2 weeks ago. It was actually a very stress free trip... for the most part. I put Lainey in the Bjorn and Cambry rode in the cart. I couldn't find one of those car carts. As I lifted Cambry up to put her in the cart while wearing Lainey suddenly she did NOT want to go in the cart and would not cooperate by putting her legs in the seat. I was trying not to squish Lainey while wrestling my 30 lb toddler in the air. A stranger had to come to my rescue and put Cambry's legs through the holes. Goodness. But once we got past that everything was fine. Whew, first outing down.

Since then I have only taken them a couple other places on my own. One of them was Kroger again. On that trip I discovered the car carts actually have smaller baskets and a car seat cannot fit in them. So that was fun explaining to Cambry that we had to get out and go back to the car so I could wear Lainey so she could still go in the car cart. Lesson learned.

I went to Divine Design last week (kind of like MOPS). Cambry goes in childcare there and Lainey stayed with me. They have a couple "Mimi's" in the room to help take care of the little babies so the moms can participate. We made pie crusts that week. Yum.

I know that some people wonder what stay at home moms do all day. It doesn't offend me. I also wondered what they did all day before I became one. I knew they worked hard and weren't just sitting around all day, but I still couldn't really imagine what exactly their day would look like - just like I don't know what exactly Greg does all day at work and yet I know he works very hard.

Anyway, the other day I actually made this statement to Greg. "I didn't have time to go on a walk today because I went to Kroger". Yep. True story. Time spent getting ready to go to Kroger: ALL MORNING. By the time Cambry had breakfast, I nursed Lainey, held/rocked Lainey off and on most of the morning, repeatedly changed both girls' diapers, had breakfast myself, got dressed, got Cambry dressed, nursed Lainey again, cleaned up breakfast, more diapers, wrestled Cambry to brush her teeth, packed the diaper bag, and nursed Lainey again...it had been so long since breakfast that Cambry now needed a snack. And this is important because you never want to take a hungry toddler to the grocery store. So of course eating a snack takes about 25 minutes, which results in more diaper changes for both girls. So we finally made it to Kroger. But by the time we got home it was late so lunch time and nap time ended up later than usual. Then by the time Cambry woke up from her nap, had a snack, and Lainey was fed, Greg was about to be home from work because he was getting home a little bit earlier that day. So there you have it. What do I do all day as a SAHM? Go to Kroger.

Cambry 23 Months

(poor thing you have several mosquito bites on your face)

Skills:  You are speaking more often in phrases or short sentences these days. Your favorites are "no like it", "mommy clean it up", "see you later", "I love you", and "thanks mom" (This one kills me! You are not even 2. It is mommy, not mom!). You can definitely express what you want. You seem to have a very good memory too.

Likes: We have been using a lot of your busy bags this month and you really like them. You will ask for specific ones after playing with them. You ask to go to the park a lot so you can "swing high". You love watching a show in the afternoon - lately it has been Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. You talk about it a lot and know what happens next throughout the show. You still love singing the Wheels on the Bus song and watching videos of it on the phone/iPad. You suddenly love your Minnie Mouse this past month. You have been playing with your mouse and baby all day long - changing their diapers, feeding, burping, rocking them, and hugging and kissing them goodnight. You like to help with Lainey too - giving her the paci, helping with diaper changes, helping burp her, etc.

Struggles:  Sharing and whining. Pretty much just typical toddler stuff. Oh and just in the past week or so bed time has been a struggle. You have been using a variety of stalling techniques. One of them includes giving hugs and kisses - to everyone (Daddy, Mommy, Lainey) and everything (doll, Minnie Mouse, night light, chicken barn toy, etc), This one is the hardest to pass up when we hear you crying from your room "Daddy kisssss" or "Mommy huuuuuuuuug".

Schedule: You usually wake up between 6:30 and 7:00 am. Nap time is somewhere around 12 or 1pm and it lasts about 2 hours lately. Bedtime is 7:30pm as usual. So far you haven't woken up much from Lainey's crying. I was so worried about it since our house is small and you can hear everything from any room of the house. But Lainey doesn't hardly cry at night and when she is fussy after you go to bed we try to keep her in the play room since it is farthest from your room.

I can't believe next month you will be 2! Where did our little baby go? You definitely seem to have grown up so much now that we have Lainey in the family. But you are sweet as can be and your smile melts my heart. I love to hear you say "I love you", and love it when you give hugs and kisses. I love to hear you sing and talk to yourself or your baby doll. Love you so much!

Picture Perfect

Well Cambry and I were sick earlier this week. Thankfully it didn't last long but now poor Lainey is all congested. We are trying to get it better (nose suctioning, sleeping with vaporizer, sleeping more upright, etc), but it is still hanging around. Thankfully she doesn't have fever, just a stuffy nose. Other than that, things are going well.

This morning we tried to take a family picture for our Christmas card. That went well. It was pretty warm today yet we dressed like it was winter outside. It was just us and the tripod. Nothing fancy, we just needed something of the 4 of us.

Got it.

Ok lets try one with just the girls. Perfect.

Tired

For the most part I have been doing ok on sleep. Tired, but not utterly sleep deprived. But tonight I am very tired.

Cambry has woken up about 5 times since we have put her to bed tonight.

I am holding Lainey now trying to get her to sleep so I can go to sleep,

Today while Cambry sat on the couch next to me watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse I leaned my head back and dozed off a bit.

Poor Greg was up with Cambry last night then couldn't fall back asleep and ended up being awake for an hour and a half.

We are going through diapers at an alarming rate.

I am hungry all day long.

We have tried giving Lainey a bottle 3 times now. It has been fairly successful so far. Hoping it continues!

My mom treated us to Chickfila today, yum!

I am tired. The end.