I survived this week with Joey being gone. I couldn’t have done it without my parents and Joey’s parents helping me and I’m pretty sure a few people were praying too.
Here are this week’s updates:
Monday E, Baby A and I had a lazy day around the house. Eli had a sleepover at Grandma O’s house.
Tuesday I went to work and Grandma O fed us dinner.
Wednesday I went to work and Grandma Day fed us dinner.
Thursday I went to work and Grandma O fed us dinner. Joey came home by 7:30 that night.
Friday, Joey and I took Baby A to have an Upper GI done to determine why she is such a noisy breather. See this video and this video for examples. The doctor did not see anything anatomically wrong and did not see any reflux. He referred us back to our pediatrician who referred us to an ENT. We will see the ENT in June.
Saturday I caught up with things around the house while Joey played with E and held Baby A.
Glad to have Joey home. I don’t know how single parents do it!
Tuesday morning Abby took a nap on my bed while I got ready for work. I cried as I looked at her sleeping and became very emotional. I was able to pull it together before I walked in the door of my work and I was greeted by my coworkers who hugged me and welcomed me back. I am so grateful to have a job with people I can call my friends.
Wednesday on the way home, E asked to go to Harmon’s. He told me he wanted to drive the car-shopping cart. We haven’t done that for months. How does he remember? (We were able to go there on Saturday for quick shopping trip and he had fun)
Thursday after work I was able to take a nap with Baby A and my mom fed us dinner. I was exhausted. It was a huge blessing.
Thursday night Joey had Bible study and after he’d only been there an hour, I texted him “I don’t think I can do this!”. He called me and heard both kids crying. He was nice and came home. I felt bad he had to leave but I was exhausted (physically and emotionally).
Friday Joey took E to Little Gym and he was so impressed by E’s jumping skills. While they were at Little Gym, I took Baby A to her two month checkup.
Here are her stats: Height: 21″(7th Percentile); Weight: 9 lbs 12 ozs (23rd Percentile); Head: 37.8cm (26th Percentile)
We also talked about her noisy breathing. I was able to show Dr. Pete this video and this video. I told him that she is a noisy eater and almost everyone who holds her will comment on her breathing. He thinks it’s probably just tracheomalacia but wants her to have an Upper GI to rule out any other problems. I am glad he recommended this. I hope to schedule this soon. I need to find a day Joey can go with me and make sure we have childcare for E.
Friday afternoon we went to lunch and then the Zoo. Joey got his workout pushing a heavy double stroller up all the hills at the Zoo. It was nice weather and Baby A slept the whole time.
Saturday morning Joey packed and left for Las Vegas to go to a conference for the next 6 days. Baby A, E and myself were all crying (for different reasons) when he left.
Today I will celebrate Mother’s Day with my mom and the two reasons I can celebrate today. I love you E and Baby A!
Baby A is getting pretty good at holding her head up lately. Here are some pictures of her and a video
E is getting pretty good at petting Coco. She is the hardest cat to pet because of how much she moves and how easily she gets scared. She can also be very annoying when she does want to be pet so it’s kind of nice that E can do it now too (and being distracted by the TV probably helps him do such a good job)
While playing with cars this week, E asked me to fly the police car so naturally I just put it up in the air. He then got mad at me and had to open it’s doors to make it fly. Duh! I should have know that.
Thursday I went grocery shopping and on my way home I got this video from Joey:
Friday E and I went to Little Gym. During circle time they were counting all the “beautiful girls” and “handsome boys”. E got upset when the teacher didn’t count me in the “beautiful girls”. He looked at me and sobbed “Teacher Lyla didn’t touch your head. I want her to touch your head”. It was really cute.
Friday afternoon E played on a dirt pile and got very dirty! He had to take a bath before his nap. Here is a video of all his fun:
Saturday Joey made shadow puppets during dinner (that we ate late enough to have the sun shining through the window at just the right spot)
Here are a few pictures of Baby A and E before church
E sang the Butterfly Song during the service today. It was fun to see him up there with the other kids
Monday morning I heard a loud noise and looked out my front window and saw an excavator almost in my front yard. I rushed E outside to see it and he wanted to go back inside. I think it was too loud for him
Tuesday I had two different doctor appointments so E and Baby A stayed with Grandma O. It was a nice trial run for Grandma O. I called her at 2:30 and she still hadn’t fed E lunch and was busy taking care of Baby A. She commented that the day just got away from her. Welcome to my world!
Tuesday night we went to dinner with some friends from out of town. It was nice to get together and I think the kids became friends after dinner. Here’s a picture of the two boys – what a silly kid I have
Wednesday I saw a sports and exercise doctor so Grandma Day got to have a trial run with E and Baby A. While I was pregnant I experienced occasional (excruciating) knee pain while going up and down stairs or squatting to pick E up. It didn’t go away after I had Baby A so I decided to have it looked at before I started exercising again. After x-rays and an examination, the doctor diagnosed me with Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome. He gave me a list of exercises to do to strengthen the muscles around my knee and told me to come back if it gets worse. Now I just need to find time to do these exercises 1x/day.
Thursday we went to the dinosaur museum with our friends from out of town. It was a lot of fun. Baby A hung out in the Moby Wrap while we walked around.
Thursday afternoon I took this video of E imitating the sounds in his Cars book. He cracks me up!
Friday we had a play date with friends and enjoyed the warm weather outside.
Friday I also got a pedicure with some friends for my birthday. Baby A hung out in the Moby Wrap again (that wrap is becoming very handy).
Saturday our church family threw Baby A and me a baby shower. We were blessed with outfits, diapers, wipes and a gently used double stroller. E had a fun time going through all the things when I brought them in the house.
And finally, some cute pictures of my kids from today
I have one more week before I go back to work. I hope I can make time to keep doing this Project52. Wish me luck!
Monday I got a haircut while Joey stayed home with Baby A and E. I had enough time after my haircut to pick up one of these nasal aspirators to use on Baby A. It works great (as long as I don’t pass out trying to suck the snot out of her nose)
Tuesday, E went to his toddler class and spent the afternoon with Grandma O. I renewed my driver’s license and got to cuddle with Baby A. Here is a picture I took of her that day – look at her big belly!
Tuesday night I went to dinner with a coworker/friend and then went to a viewing for one of the kiddos we worked with that passed away suddenly last week. It was really sad. Baby A went to Grandma O’s too and took a bottle just fine.
Wednesday Baby A and E spent the morning with Grandma Day so I could go to the funeral. The funeral was at 11:00 and I was exhausted by the time I got to the church. It’s a lot of work to get a baby and toddler ready AND myself ready AND make sure we have all eaten breakfast! I have no idea how I am going to get out the door on time for work.
Thursday Grandma O came over and I was able to go to Costco by myself. Yay!
Thursday Baby A was laying on the changing table and I looked at her and said “hi” and I swear she smiled at me. Grandma O was standing there and said “It looks like she just smiled at you”. I am glad I had a witness and I wasn’t just thinking it.
Friday we had dinner at Grandma Day’s with all the cousins. I always enjoy watching E play with his cousins. It makes me smile. I wish they lived closer so he could play with them more often.
Saturday was my birthday and I got a manicure in the morning, went to lunch with my mom and Baby A and then Joey took me out to a very fancy dinner to Franck’s. It was nice to go on a date and actually be able to talk and finish a sentence without being interrupted. I hope we can go on a date at least once a month – I needed that! Here is a picture of the food I ate. Delicious!
Appetizer: Crispy Brussel Sprouts; Soup: Beet soup with honey, coconut and cream cheese; Entree: Duck breast; Dessert: Carrot Cake
Today while I was feeding Baby A, E and Joey made me chili and fruit with pickles. Yum!
What a good daddy to play with E and teach him how to make chili.
Don’t worry we went to Grandma O’s house tonight for dinner and birthday cake.
Monday it was a rainy day so E and I stayed in and kept ourselves busy with a few shows and playing cars
Tuesday Baby A turned a month old and I took a picture of her with the same bear I did when E was a baby
Thursday E had his first real play date here and he shared his toys nicely. I was very proud of him. We only had a few “I don’t want to share” moments. I took this picture and sent it to Joey and told him we need a bigger house (this picture doesn’t even do the disaster justice)
Friday E had a fun day with Grandma Day – Little Gym, lunch, playing cars and even a sleepover at Grandma Day’s house
Saturday Joey and I went to lunch before picking up E and Baby A slept the whole time. Saturday night Baby A started sounding like she had a stuffy nose.
Today Baby A was still congested and felt warm. I took her temperature after church and it was 100.3° (rectally) and after a call to the pediatrician we learned that if it reached 100.4° we should take her to the ER. It has since gone down. Praise God! I am praying that it stays below 100°. Here is a picture of her in the Moby Wrap during church.
Today during church I gave E a fruit leather and he sat quietly and ate it during the prayer. After the prayer, the congregation always sings the Doxology. Today just before we started to sing the doxology, E stuffed a large bite of the fruit leather in his mouth so he was not able to sing with us. He swallowed it right after we finished the song and he made a face. I looked at him and asked him if he was okay (I was worried he was choking) and he started SCREAMING (not crying) “I want to sing that song!”. I panicked and didn’t know what to do so I quickly grabbed him and started to take him out of the church. He did not stop screaming. I have no idea what I looked liked with a baby strapped to my body while carrying a screaming child out of the church. Oye. Joey followed us out and was able to help me calm E down. They sang the Doxology together and we all walked back into the service. I told Joey this is why we need to sit in the back of the church and not on the second row.
Monday was my “Happy Due Date” Day and Joey went back to work. E did really well but I could tell he missed Joey being home.
Every morning this week, E would ask “Where’s Daddy?” and when I told him he was at work, he would look at me like “again?”
Tuesday E and I went grocery shopping. He wanted to put everything in his little basket. He’s getting pretty good at helping me shop.
Wednesday I took E to Little Gym while Aunt Christene sat with Baby A. E can do front rolls now pretty well. Here’s a video of him doing one (ignore my screaming or turn down your volume – it was loud)
Thursday I tried to take a nap during the day since Abby didn’t sleep well the night before. I wasn’t able to take a shower but I was able to hold Baby A lots. I love to watch her when she’s waking up or falling asleep. Here are pictures of her funny faces and a video with her “smiling” (at 1:01)
Friday night I was able to put E to bed while Baby A slept in the Moby Wrap. I think I could get used to using this wrap
Saturday was a lazy day. E played games on the iPad with Joey and I ran an errand alone. Yay for simple things.
Things I am looking forward to: more sleep, being able to think more clearly and answer questions without feeling like I am in a fog, being able to have a conversation with Joey without talking over two kids, time to catchup on my to-do list, cooking not feeling so time consuming, Baby A smiling on purpose,
Things I need to remind myself: Baby A will start sleeping more, it’s okay if I take a nap instead of doing housework (not easy for me!) and I need to just worry about one day at a time
Things I don’t want to forget or miss out on: cuddling with a sweet baby, watching Baby A grow and change every week, watching E be a sweet big brother
Years ago Joey introduced me to RSS and Google Reader as a way for me to follow my friends and family blogs. I then discovered food blogs, mommy blogs, speech-therapy related blogs and many more. Thank goodness I had my Google Reader to keep me updated when new blog posts were published or it would have been a full-time job for me to keep track of new blog posts. Just kidding. Sort of. I learned to tag things in Google Reader and was able to be more organized and find things when I needed them (recipes, articles, etc.). I had a good system and it was working for me.
Then I discovered Pinterest. Oh Pinterest. You have changed my life in both good and bad ways.
The good – I found recipes galore and had a way to organize them! I found resources/articles for parenting, my job, my marriage, cleaning and organizing my house and MORE! I even found new blogs to add to my Google Reader.
The bad – once on Pinterest I had a hard time getting off the computer. I started comparing myself to some of the things I saw on Pinterest and feeling less than or a bad parent. I had to check it every day! It was addicting.
I have since found some balance with using Pinterest. I like to pin recipes I find in my Google Reader onto my Pinterest boards and spend time browsing what other people pin when I have time. I don’t have to check it every day. I remind myself that I am still a good parent if I don’t do the craft I pinned but know where to find the information when I am ready to do that craft.
Google Reader has announced that they will no longer be around after July 1, 2013. (I think that’s the date). What are they thinking? How could they do this? Seriously?
I am not as upset now that I have found Feedly.com as my new RSS feed reader. It’s different but I think I can get used to it. I found this article “Tips for Google Reader users migrating to feedly” and it has been very helpful. I have also found this link that has a list of all the RSS feed readers available.
Although I am sad to see Google Reader go, I am happy that there are other options available so I can continue my addiction.
PS If you are a current RSS follower of my blog, I want to apologize for the random comments that show up in your feed reader. I have asked Joey to look at this and see why it is happening. He tried to figure it out but apparently has not found a fix yet. Sorry!
Monday Baby A had her 2-week check up. She has grown an inch (she is 18.5″) and was 1 ounce shy of her birth weight (she is 5lbs 4ozs). She is not on the growth charts yet.
Tuesday we attempted Baby A’s newborn pictures. It was a long 3 hours with only a few pictures taken. We need to reschedule and try again. I am not looking forward to it. It was too stressful for me!
Wednesday E went to Grandma’s house and I spent the day with Baby A. I held her lots. We took a nap together. It was just what I needed. I even got to go grocery shopping that night. It was nice to get out of the house.
Thursday we started E’s cleanse. He had 3 servings of miralax and after dinner he told us he needed to poop. 5 minutes later he said he was done. He did not have to strain or push hard. What a difference.
Friday we finished the cleanse and gave E 3 more servings of miralax. Quite a few more poopy diapers but it was working and cleaning him out. He was still eating okay and didn’t seem to be too bothered by all the poop.
This week Joey played some games with Eli – memory, Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders. He helped E play by the rules and I was surprised how patient E was and he seemed to be learning the idea of the games. He had a short attention span but overall I was impressed.
Saturday we went on a little Easter egg hunt with a friend at a nearby park. We then went to Grandma Day’s house for dinner and a Easter egg hunt with the cousins. E really enjoyed the Easter egg hunt and wanted to find them again.
This is a picture of Baby A with her cousin that is 3 months older than her. What a difference!
Sunday we made it to church as a family of 4 and we were only a few minutes late. Here is a picture Joey took before we left the house. I really wish we could have gotten a picture of all of us but I’m glad we got this one
After church we went to Grandma Olschewski’s for lunch and another Easter egg hunt.
After lunch E sang Happy Birthday to his cousin Greyson who turned one today. Here’s a quick video of him singing:
To end this week’s updates, here is a cute video of E talking to Baby A
We had someone bring us a meal every night again this week. What a blessing!
Monday morning I heard a loud sound and I thought it was the construction work going on next to our house but decided to check on E just in case. I was glad I did because he fell out of bed and landed on his head. He was crying and when he saw me he said “Eli’s okay”.
Tuesday E went to Grandma O’s house and Joey and I ran a couple of errands. I still can’t get over how small Baby A looks in the car seat
Wednesday E and I had some much needed time together outside. It was good for both of us.
E wants to be held more and acts like a baby sometimes so daddy put him in Baby A’s rocker seat
Thursday Joey and E played with a new Lego set – Creative Cars. I can’t tell who enjoyed it more. Joey or E?
Friday Joey was brave and stayed with both kids while I went out for 3 hours. Everyone survived.
Saturday Baby A turned 2 weeks old!
Sunday Joey went out for a couple of hours so I was alone with both kids for the first time. E asked to hold Baby A so I let him. We may or may not have had a little fight over who was going to feed her.
Here’s a cute video of him holding her (he’s a little distracted by the slideshow of pictures happening on the TV):
Sunday I realized that I needed to start cooking again. Which makes me excited because I enjoy cooking but nervous at the same time because I don’t know how much time or energy I will have to cook. I was able to clean out the fridge but ran out of time to plan meals or make a grocery shopping list. This next week should be an interesting adjustment. Good thing Joey will be around for one more week!
May 19th, 2013 by 
Janene
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