Fit

No no, the title does not refer to my perfectly sculpted body. It refers to what Joel just threw; a fit. The MOTHER of all fits. His first full-blown tantrum. And boy, did that suck. I could put it in nicer words, but then I would not be able to convey my emotions effectively about how it feels to survive a tantrum of a 17 month old. Not fun. It started with breakfast. For the past few weeks, I have been feeding Joel Cheerios while I eat Kix. No big deal. Today, oh today it WAS a big deal. He would not have it. He wanted Kix, NOT Cheerios. He screamed. Uncontrollably. I thought, "well, he is sick, maybe he has a temperature". He was running a fever. Then I thought, "well, he is teething, maybe his gums are hurting him". They were swollen beyond belief (quick side not: I was going to compare his swollen gums to something. I asked Robert, "His gums are as swollen as....". Robert's response? "Robert's muscles". Yeah. Right). After twenty minutes of screaming, I had had enough. I told Robert to take him outside for fresh air. Calmed down. Instantly. When Robert brought him back in, he was calm. Cool as a cucumber. Calm, that is, until he saw the bowl of Cheerios. He freaked. When Robert put him down, he threw himself on the floor. Kicked his legs. Thrash his arms. Shook his head. The. works. After about fifteen minutes of this, he would sit up and calm down. Then, after looking at either me or Robert, he would start over again. An hour. An hour of unrelenting screams and tears. Defiant looks. Evil eye. By the time he FINALLY calmed himself down (sort of... he still has bouts of complaints), total run-time for the tantrum was about two hours; we never gave in. I am exhausted. Robert is exhausted. And this is just the start of the terrible twos...

that's random

I am learning, day by day, that Joel has a very STRONG, unique personality. The kid can be crazy at times! He is independent, curious, and slightly OCD (my fault...). He likes to investigate EVERYTHING, to my dismay. I still love him. He makes me smile.The bowls. Oh the bowls. I was posting on my craft blog for FIVE minutes. I looked up when I had finished to see my table COVERED in bowls. Luckily I had my camera next to me.And yes, that is a bunny cookie on his forehead. Thanks for the "lick and stick", mom.
Lucas has been growing and discovering the world around him. His absolute favorite thing: my SmartWater water bottle. Don't know why. Just loves to stare at it. He covered himself with his blanket. It was entertaining.
Unfortunately, my little "Happy Face" is sick. What do we think the culprit is? H1N1. Why do we think that? Well, it started a couple days before Christmas. My mom got sick. Stayed sick. Seven weeks sick. A couple days after the New Year, I got sick. Stayed sick. So far five weeks sick. Still sick (ask me how I feel about that). And a couple days ago, Lucas got sick. Still sick. BAD sick (difficulty breathing at times and choking on mucas). After talking with a group of doctors at her hospital the other day, my mom was told that due to the length and symptoms of her illness, chances are she had H1N1. Pretty sure ER doctors know their stuff. Mom got sick, gave it to me. I got sick, gave it to Lucas. Ugh. Nothing too extreme, but no fun all the same. The funny part is, I specifically remember blogging about how I would sue if I got H1N1. Too bad I was already sick BEFORE getting the vaccine.
I have a new tutorial up on Lemon Crafts. If you've followed my blog, you will be happy to know I teach YOU how to make THIS: HERE: Oh, and one last thing; my third (and final) blog is up and running. It is a gluten-free blog that will feature weekly recipes and occasional tips. Check it out an pass it on to any Celiacs you may know!

craft blog

Hey! Hey all you who look at my blog! Hey all you who look at my blog AND love to do crafts (or at least peruse through them). Guess what?! My craft blog is up and running. I am not charging to make things for people. I am just sharing my crafts and some tutorials on the way. Bookmark it. Follow it. Grab a button on your way out.

outnumbered

5 on 4. This is what happens when you have two children and invite your friends with TRIPLETS over. Complete and utter madness! Not quite, but it was intense. Our friends, the Rogans, came over with their "thrabies" (three + babies): Tucker, Sean, and Audrey. My favorite moment: Joel crying at Audrey laughing... and Audrey laughing harder because Joel was crying... thus making Joel cry harder. Ah, children. Audrey, Tucker, & SeanLucas & JoelSee all of the BABY CRAZY here!Recently, we have found Joel in bed at night with his favorite toy: his Fisher Price retro farm house. The night we had Mike and Sarah over was no exception:He really likes his sheep....

v-day

Love. Ah, you fickle thing. We celebrated Valentine's Day on Friday and Saturday, not Valentine's Day itself (which turned out to be a bummer of a day for me - totally non-Valentine's Day related). Robert bought me my gift Friday, which he just HAD to give to me right away. I attribute that to him being too lazy to hide it until Valentine's Day. Oh, well. I like gifts. Once again, Robert has taken me by surprise with how romantic he can be on rare occasion. He got me a gift card to a posh spa; I can chose two treatments (facial, massage, or pedicure). Nice, huh?! He also bought me Gerbera daisies; I am NOT a rose fan. Too predictable and overdone. My gift: lame. I spent less than $10 to make a little scrapbook for him. Seriously, I purchased my stuff from Target's $1 Deal area... I didn't even make my card. Bought it. $1. Ugh. He SO outdid me.

kids meal

I decided to visit Robert at work on Friday (it didn't take much coaxing on his part to take me away from cleaning). While visiting, Robert decided we should go out to lunch. Wendy's. Being a Celiac, I am basically limited to a salad and some fries. Not TOO terrible, right? When debated about what to give Joel, a kid's meal was mentioned. Sure, why not. He LOVED it; especially that it was all his.The toy was cool, too.
On a completely unrelated note, how cute is this? Seriously, how could you not love it. Be jealous.I LOVE his little pouty lips. Precious.

got milk?

If you follow my blog, you know I am one to undertake many projects. My current project: milk (DISCLAIMER: if the words "breast milk" or "pumping" offend you, skip to the next post for today). Honestly, I am beginning to feel like a cow. At the start of the year, I got a hair-brained idea to pump enough milk for Lucas to have a bottle during each of his rice cereal feedings, which I intended to start on Feb. 1st, at 4 months old. I pumped 60 times in 30 days, 4oz per sitting. With a bit of H2O and some lactation pills, it was easy (and has greatly paid off during his rice cereal feedings)! Then, as I neared completion of this goal, I thought, "there must be some way to pump enough so that Lucas can still be exclusively on breast milk, yet no longer nursing from 9 - 12 months" (Joel got his first four teeth at 6 months... I don't want to be chewed upon, thank you). Crazy, right? After playing around with a tentative feeding schedule for the year (yes, I am THAT insane. OCD.), I calculated that I would need to pump 184 6oz and 184 4oz bottles; a grand total of pumping 368 times. Wow. THEN I thought to myself, "I don't want to go from zero bottles to four a day... I need to ease into it". Thus, we end up with my ideal pumping situation: pumping 20oz for the next 125 days, coming to the unbelievable total of 2,500oz of breast milk divided into 500 milk storage bags. If I want to finish said pumping by the time he hits 9 months, I only get 15 days worth of breaks... Think I can do it? Here is a preview of what my refrigerator looks like with 65+ bags of milk...

lucas

Yesterday, I looked over at Lucas to find this:His big brother Joel decided to give him every toy he could find, resulting in a pile up! It was one of those moments that just makes you stop and smile.
Today was Lucas' 4 month check up (a little late because they cancelled the appointment twice, grr). I have a healthy, big boy! Lucas weighs 16lbs 8oz and is 25in long. Close to what we were guessing. Despite being larger than average, he is smaller than what Joel was at 4mo: 18lbs and 26in. HUGE. When it came time for the shots, I threw the nurse off a little by grabbing my camera out of my purse. Before you say I'm heartless - I've been through this before; it is not as traumatizing with baby number 2 (besides, it is a little poke that hurts for a few seconds. Do I really need to get upset or cry?). The photos speak for themselves.Bugs bunny band-aids make it all better!