Day with my girls

Phew! This first week of work was tough and it was only 3 days. This new busy schedule is going to take some getting used to. I've never wanted to see Friday more in life. Today was great though and I love having the opportunity to have this extra time with them! The girls and I stayed home and played around the house. We were outside most of the morning since it was beautiful out. But then the rains came in the afternoon. Madeline wanted to color but didn't want to give up her Mickey Mouse.

Eventually she decided it was easier to have Mickey watch her.

Sophia was having a great time in her gym and I got some great pictures of her smile. Usually I just get smirks out of her, but today she was all smiles. She must have been happy to have the day with Mommy too. :)

First Day Back to Work

Well, today was my first day back at work. Dropping off Sophia went well and there weren't too many tears. I think it helped that I know the daycare center really well as well as her new teacher. She did great for her first day and so did I. Although, I could tell that she missed me. I visited her for lunch and as soon as I picked her up she fell right to sleep on me. And then when I got to the center at the end of the day she was crying, but once I picked her up she was smiling at me.

I can't say that I missed being at work. I have been really enjoying my days with both girls. Fortunately I'm only working 3 days a week though. Now I REALLY can't wait until Friday!

Here were the pictures the center sent of Sophia today.

My little bean is growing

We went to the doctor today and Sophia is 11 pounds 15.5 oz (75th percentile) and 22" long (50th percentile). At this age, Madeline was almost a whole pound heavier and an inch longer.

Easter Weekend, Part 2

After our fun on Friday, we spent the rest of the weekend with family. It started with another egg hunt, of course! This time she was a pro. Here she was asking "Where are the eggs?"

After finding all her eggs, she sat on a rock to survey her bounty.

The next morning she opened her easter baskets from Andy's family.

And used one of the boxes as a hat.

Then we got washed up to head to my family Easter gathering. But first, we needed a family picture.

And.....we got there just in time for another egg hunt.

I think the egg hunts were losing their appeal because finding rocks was WAY more exciting.

We can't forget Sophia. She was inside hanging with Great Grandma.

Easter Weekend, Part 1

We had a fabulous Easter weekend! It started on Friday when Andy took the day off work and we took the girls to the zoo. And boy was it a zoo! I guess everyone else had the same idea, but we still had a great time.

We borrowed a double-stroller from a friend and it worked out wonderfully. It was so cute having them sit next to each other. Although, Madeline used her sister as a cup holder at one point.

Madeline was too busy eating to smile for the camera.

After the zoo and naptime, we had an egg hunt in the backyard. This was so much fun and Madeline loved it!

As you can see, we didn't hide the eggs very hard.

I helped her open them to find the goodies inside. Most were filled with normal snacktime fare...goldfish and raisins. But two jackpot eggs were filled with chocolate.

Then she got out her sunglasses and started acting goofy.

I love this girl.

Sad

Sophia has been sleeping like a champ through the night so we thought it was time to move her into her crib. She's been sleeping in a bassinet in our room since we brought her home. I love having her in our room, but at the same time, she makes a lot of noise and wakes me up. Monday night was her first night and I was surprised at how sad I felt. I really missed her even though distance wise, she probably wasn't any further away from me. I felt better about it the second night and it was neat having both girls sleeping together.

She slept great the first night. However, last night she woke up at 4am and needed a bottle before she would go back to sleep. I really don't think she woke up because she was hungry though. I think it was something else like being hot/cold/uncomfortable. Something. So we'll see how tonight goes.

Fun trip to COSI

We decided to a get a family membership to COSI this year and the kids and I took advantage last week. Since it was just me, we only went to the enclosed, kiddie fun area. But this space is so large, Madeline had no trouble finding things to do. In fact, it was almost too much. Her attention span was about 10 seconds before she would move on to the next activity. After awhile though, she finally settled down and played at a station for longer. We had a great time!

Oh and these pictures don't show how many kids were there. This first picture was when we first got there, but then OMG, it got so crowded people were double-parking their strollers. It was ridiculous! I'm hoping it was because of spring break and next time it won't be so bad. Otherwise I might not try this again without some help.



Andy will love this station! He loves to play with legos with Madeline.

Anything that involves a screen, Madeline is all over it. This was electronic finger painting.

See, another screen. She was learning about the eye.

She spent alot of time here reading books first. Then she got into playing "kitchen." She didn't like when it was time to leave.

2 months!

Little Sophia is 2 months old today. Look how big she is getting! There isn't too much to say about her. She sleeps all.the.time. Within the last week or so, she has started to sleep through the night fairly consistently. The only times she does wake up is early in the morning when she can't quite make it all the way through. She is such a great baby that I feel spoiled. We did have a brief rough patch when I tried switching formulas (per the doctor). She turned into a baby I didn't know...fussing constantly. Since I switched back to her soy-based formula, she's back to her old self. Yay for both of us!

The second month was when Madeline really started to wake up and interact with me, so I'm really looking forward to Sophia doing that this month. Also coming up this month is me going back to work. I'm obviously really not looking forward to that. I go back in a little over two weeks. But I suppose a small consolation is that I'll only be working 3 days per week.

These are the only pictures I got of her this month. What do you know? She is sleeping.

Although, that isn't the only reason for the lack of pictures. We have been crazy busy around here getting our house ready to sell. It finally went on the market about 10 days ago. So poor Sophia got neglected a bit. Her birth announcements have been on my To-Do list forever but I just couldn't ever find time. BUT I am finally mailing them today. Unfortunately I couldn't mail them to everyone that I would have liked because my printer started acting up. But I got them to as many family members as I could. Sorry friends, you were cut. I'll post her announcement later so you all can see.

Sleeping through the night

Two nights in a row now that Sophia has slept through the night!! And I'm talking like 9+ hours. She has always been a good sleeper, but she obviously still needed to wake for her feedings when she was little. But I had a feeling once she got some meat on her bones, she'd be sleeping through the night. I hope I'm not jinxing myself here though. And speaking of meat on her bones, her little thighs have the beginnings of rolls. I love it!!

My baby girl is catching up

Sophia had her 1 month checkup this morning and all is well. She started out a small little pea but once she got going, she really made up for lost time. She is now 9 pounds 5 oz. and 20.5 inches long. (I think the hospital measured her wrong because she definitely has grown in length since she was born.) Her weight is the 50th percentile and her length is the 25th percentile. I had to pack her newborn clothes away yesterday. Even though her length is on the small side, she was getting too long for her outfits. It's better though because I have way more 3 month size clothing for her than the newborn size.

Phew!

One day down, many more to go. Madeline started part-time at daycare this week so today was my first day home alone with both kiddos. I'm feeling pretty well now so I felt ready for the challenge. I knew if we stayed home all day long though, Madeline would get bored. So I decided to take on the extra challenge of taking them both to the mall play area. Don't get me wrong, I was nervous as hell. But there is a first time for everything right? And I needed to get it under my belt. When we got there, I put Sophia in the carrier so I was free to tend to Madeline when needed, but it wasn't really necessary. Madeline played well and was very well behaved. She didn't even give me a hard time when it was time to go! Usually she is having so much fun that she throws a fit. I think she knew Mommy needed a break today. When we left, she said, "bye, bye, friends" and I walked out with new Mommy confidence. :) There was one small snafu but it went okay and I learned from it. No need to go into those dirty details.

We got home and watched some "shows" as she calls them while I made some lunch. Yes, I used TV as a babysitter. Frankly, I don't know how the Moms of yester-year did it without television. It is Madeline's addiction. Every kid has something right? Specifically, it's the Backyardigans. They are this gang of friends who sing and dance there way through imaginative story lines. This is the only music I get to listen to any more and I catch myself singing their songs long after the television is off. Gosh I miss WEBN. Even in my car we have to listen to Dora. It's either that or a tantrum so which would you choose? :::sigh::: But I digress.

The rest of the day went fairly well. There were several moments that were difficult to navigate when they both needed me at the same time, but they were patient and we made it through the day. Now I'm exhausted but it was fun being with my two girls all day. This will definitely take some getting used to before I'm good at it. I wasn't able to get anything else done besides dinner.