September 2005 Mommies - Crawling & Talking Our Way to ONE!!!

[Sandie78]

Such cute invitations! We're having a party, but I'm going to do verbal invites only since it's a family only party.

Zach's getting a molar! :eek: And he's sort of walking. So cute. I can't believe he's growing up so fast.

[jo&sean]

Brink - I didn't see your post about Aimee crawling!! How exciting is that!?! It's funny that she decided to start when you were packing - babies :)

Kay - Glad you had a nice trip. Addy played that same game as Kaito - until she threw herself back on the hardwoods a couple of times and that cured her. I would cringe when I heard that sound! It is awful. The strange thing is that she would never cry when she did it...

Kim - Poor Ashley - I take it she is on meds? I hope she starts feeling better soon. Try not to worry about your MIL too much - just remember she takes great joy in causing havoc in others lives so don't give her that satisfaction.

Cr8nme - Your invites turned out great. Love the colors and the wording :)

Sandie - A MOLAR?! Ouch! Yeah for the walking!!

Addison has been one busy little bee today. I am wiped out! Thankfully she is taking a little snooze right now. I pulled out a couple of my small purses and gave them to Addison this morning. She has been having so much fun with them! She has filled both of them with little toys and even tried packing them around on her shoulder like a big girl. To cute :)

[solongtogo]

cr8 Some people just can't get a break!! :(

[randysmandy]

Jo and Cr8nme Love love the job you guys did. I am working on mine right now. i'm obsessing over the title LOL. We have decided to have it at my BIL's house-Hunter's GF. He has a big yard and it's down the street from us. We just haev NO yard and guess how many people are on the invite list-96! yes-just family and close friends-YIKES!
A walking baby sure does take alot of you doesn't it? 2 months and I'm still not used to it!
Kim Sux about you MIL-I understand-[HUGS]
Sandie a MOLAR-poor baby!

Hunter is starting S.A. and he is doing his crunchy face big time. I had to work late tonight and when I came home he was kissing me and crunchying me all over-so cute! he is sleeping well-through the night most nights and eats everything under the sun-he LOVES food. He had pizza Friday night and shares everything we eat-but I have to give him some other meat besides chicken and the occasional ham/hamburg, but I'm afraid to try steak.
Well I need to get my eyes off the computer (12 hours on this thing today)
NIGHT!

[AlisonCO]

Jo and Cr8nme - Those invitations are beautiful!

Jo and pixie - Great pictures - your girls are so cute!

cr8zy - Poor A and poor you - I hope that she is feeling better today and that you got some sleep. Is your nephew home?

mandy - 96! Geez - that is like almost as many people as were at my wedding:)

We are doing well. My parents took the kids out to dinner Sat so that DH and I could have an early dinner alone. They went to IHOP and I sent all of Caitlins dinner. I did tell my mom that she could have a bit of egg and pancake, but that's it. Well both kids were up all night - no puking or anything they just couldn't settle down. Then around 6am I went in because C was making noise and she had pooped and it was everywhere. We finally gave her a quick bath and her bum was so red. Yesterday my mom said that she just had 1/2 of a plain pancake and Aidan also had pancakes so I wonder if it was the grease or something. Anyway she was fine yesterday and slept all last night but her bum is so red still - it is almost like the poop burned her!

Now at mealtime Caitlin likes to use a fork to feed herself. She particularily likes when I stab something and hand her the loaded fork. She is actually getting pretty good about stabbing things herself. I am thinking that I might give her a bowl of yogurt and a spoon and let her try that out soon.

I hope that you all are doing well!

[cr8zyforaf]

Alison - could it be yeast - that is exactly how Ashley's bum got - almost like her poop burned her...

randysmandy - I am also nervous about trying steak, but feel like I need to introduce some other meat - right now it is just chicken, turkey, and hamburger. I am scared to do pork.

sandy - a molar!! Wow!

jo - cute story about the purses!!

cr8nme - those invitations are amazing. Between those and the others that have been posted - I don't want to show mine...they are not nearly as nice and creative.

so, Ashley is taking eye drops and Alimentum (sp) and she is 100% better today - she is home with my mom because she can't go back to daycare until she is on the meds for 24 hours. She got in the shower with DH yesterday and today so that he could uncrust her eyes and she loved it. She has also taken a step or two on her own but I wouldn't consider it walking.

Happy Tuesday to you all...sorry if I missed anyone - I have been reading along.

QOTD - the NP told me yesterday that Ashley has a slight heart murmur...and then the doctor came in and said it was a functioning heart murmer and that I shouldn't worry - has anyone else heard of this?

[dbers]

I actually was told that I had a heart murmur when I was a baby - but not to worry about it... and I've had no problems! I think it's more common than you would think.

[cr8zyforaf]

Oh, and sorry - I forgot to add - my nephew came home this morning. All is well with him and my sister..thank you all for your support and kind words. They mean the world to us!

[wildcat]

I need your help!!

I need help or insight into a decision! I am a CPA (auditor). Right out of school, I worked in public accounting as an auditor for 4 years. Yes, that entailed lots of overtime and travel, but I really liked the job and it worked out well for awhile. Then about the time we were thinking of starting a family, an opportunity came along to go to a large investment manager (mutual funds) at a highly regarded company (on the top 100 companies to work for list) as an internal auditor. They promoted a really good work/life balance. I left for about the same pay, but much better benefits. That was 2 years ago. The first 9 months or so was normal 40hour weeks, but since then, no such thing as 40 hour weeks. My typical day is 8-5 straight through (9 hours, no lunch) and then after I get Lauren to bed I work another 1-3 hours from home. It's also very stressful and my manager is quite awful sometimes and wonderful at other times. I feel a little like it was a bait and switch bc I don't think 10+ hour days is a good work/life balance. Honestly, I'd love to go part-time but I have to convince my husband and it's just not a possibility at my current company.

However, last Friday, one of my old partners ("Bob") contacted me and is needing someone at the new firm he's at. It's a very small local firm. I met him for lunch yesterday just to listen and I had an offer an hour later for my current salary plus 14% (which is what I get here with my bonus). I could flex my time and work whatever I wanted (e.g., 9 hour days and 1/2 day friday, etc) as long as the client is ok with it. Also, I can go part-time if/whenever I want. Or, if I stay full-time, I will take over as manager of the department in a few years when the managing partner retires and Bob takes over his role. Downsides are no maternity leave (but I could save for it as we're not having another for a few years and we're only having one more), 3 weeks of vacation instead of 5 (but they pay overtime) and my current company gives me 15% into my 401k/profit sharing and the match at the local firm sucks. Benefits are no stress, way closer to home (15 min drive instead of 35), workign for a manager that I really l like and admire and that has a good philosophy on home/life balance, really flexible schedule, ability to go part-time as soon as I can convince my husband or move up if not, and very little overtime (5% or less) at the new job and if I do work it, I get paid for it.

The biggest thing to me is the flexbility and ability to do part-time if/when I want which means more time with Lauren and her future sibling. I have to give them an answer by Thursday, what do you girls think??

[Kay2003]

wildcat - whew, that's a tough decision, but it sounds like you've given more reasons to take the new job than keep the old one. good luck with your decision!

cr8zy - your MIL is a piece of work. AAARGH glad to hear your nephew is home. Sorry, I don't have any input on heart murmurs...

cr8nme - your invites are beautiful!

Sorry I can't respond to everyone right now. It's almost 9 pm and I still have groceries to get from t he car....

[pixiecat]

wildcat - If it were me, I would take it. I think that the ability to flex your time would make up for the negatives. You are doing it all right now, but how long can you keep this up? Which way are you leaning right now?

cr8nme - holy wow those are gorgeous invites! great job! Don't worry cr8zy, I'm not even making invitations! *Maybe* I'll send out an evite, but I'm hoping to keep it a small family affair :)

Sandie - a molar? seriously? ouch poor zach!!

alison - too cute about the fork! Lily likes to take the spoon, but mostly just flings the food everywhere :rolleyes: When L had a yeast infection, it looked like red bumps that would *not* go away. We used a yeast cream & *poof* it was gone. Now, when she has a rash, I usually put the yeast cream on first & then I put on the diaper cream.

randysmandy - sounds like you have a good eater too! L has occasional bouts of SA, seems kind of random at this point.

Lily is standing up w/o holding on to anything! She moves to a squat and then just pushes up! Lately she has been wanted to stand all of the time. She looks so proud of herself, it cracks me up!

Hope everyone has a good day!

[jo&sean]

Wildcat - What an exciting opportunity! No matter what you decide to do, it has to feel pretty darn good to be wanted :) The new opportunity seems to offer more flexibility, opportunity for advancement and more pleasant people to work with then your current position. The only drawback that you mentioned was the 401k matching. While that is a negative, there are other alternatives & vehicles to help make that up. Good luck with your decision.

[randysmandy]

Wildcat It seems as though the offer will give you more time to spend with Lauren and give you more time to yourself. I can't IMAGINE working as much as you do and it's not fair that you have to work that much. It is a hard decision, but go with your gut. When I got pregnant I fell into the job I have now. We have no insurance and no 401K, however, DH covers the insurance with his company and he has 401 K. I would rather spend 3 days at home with DS then have a few extra bucks. Although we make good money and we still struggle, my time with Hunter is worth more. Good luck and keep us posted!

Pixiecat Go LILY! ANd look out mamma.

cr8zy So glad to hear about your nephew's homecoming. MIL's-don't you just want to kill them sometimes?!

cr8zyforaf Yes, heart murmors are very common. Hunter had one when he was born, but it went away.

Question Hunter HAD been sleeping through the night great. However, the last 2 nights he woke up screaming. Both nights DH went in to get him. Usually we give him his bottle, change his diaper and he goes to sleep. Well he wouldn't stop screaming until I came and took him. He instantly stopped crying. Poor DH was about to cry-he was seriously concerned. ANy ideas? The only thing I could think of was that DH shaved his head, but he did that like 2 weeks ago. Do you think Hunter has been dreaming? Is this SA?
HELP!

[AlisonCO]

wildcat - I agree with the others! That sounds like a wonderful opportunity. I can't believe how much you work right now, I would be afraid that your current company is going to suck you dry! It sounds like one big negative for you is the fact that the new company would not match your 401k at the 15% that you are currently getting. One thing to consider here is rolling your 401 into some mutual funds or something like that - you likely won't get 15% but you might get a good return. My DH is an advisor/investment rep with a big company and he does this ALL the time - plus, in case you have never been to an IR, the first visit is free and at least with my husbands company, very low pressure. He basically sits down with you and gives you several options and then follows up later in the week. He actually does this with his own 401 because he can oftne get a better return overall with mutual funds than with the company's match program. Anyway, good luck with your decision!

mandy - Sounds maybe like night terrors and SA - when Caitlin was going thru the month of SA, she would wake at night crying - not a hungry/pain cry, but a sad cry.

cr8zy and pixie - thanks for the yeast info - I actually had my dermitologist neighbor look at her bottom yesterday:) It isn't yeast, just a bad rash. Thankfully with the help of triple paste, it is almost gone today!

Caitlin is spending more and more time lately standing without holding on - she also is obsessed with climbing the stairs. Yesterday I swear she did it 15 times - at least I get some exercise going up with her, right?:) Have a great day!

[Brink]

Well ladies, we have officially moved! We moved all day Sunday and finally got to bed around 1am. Then I had to be to work the next day. I have been up past midnight each night and getting up at 5:30 to make a 2 1/2 drive to work. Put all that on top of being pregnant and I'm just exhausted!!!! I'm going to try and take 1/2 day Thursday and Friday off and get caught up a little. I have only unpacked a couple of the essential boxes and nothing else. But, our property is beautiful and I love it up there.

Aimee started her new daycare yesterday. It isn't as nice as her last one, doesn't feel as warm/friendly. I think the building is an old army building and it just isn't very inviting. But, the staff seems really nice so I think it will be ok.

Sandie - I didn't know they could get molars at this age. I wouldn't even think to look in the back of the mouth!

Cr8zy - Aimee has had a heart murmur since birth. She had to have an EKG and the doctor explained the whole good vs. bad murmur. I don't recall the exact difference, but it sounded logical at the time. They said that they can develop them at anytime (many of them around age 2) and that they can just go away on their own. We have to have a follow up visit when she turns 1 - that actually reminds me that I need to make her appointment.

Wildcat - If it were me, I would take the job. Has the new company stretched as far as they can financially? Maybe they can up your pay a little to make up for the lack of 401k contrib? Will they allow you to take time off without pay so you can still have the 5 weeks vacation?

Well, I better get to work.

[wildcat]

Thanks for all the advice girls! I took the job!! I accepted this morning and just got off the phone (1.5 hour conversation!) with my manager. I really like him and feel bad bc he knows there's problems with the "mean" manager, but has very little control to change her or the hours she expects. She has yet to find out, I'm kind of dreading that, but the worst part is over! What would I do without you girls? ;)

[cr8zyforaf]

wildcat - congrats. I was just coming in to repeat what the others have said. I am so happy for you!

Brink - congrats on the move - no idea how you did it - with a young on and pregnant. Wow.

Alison - Ashley is also climbing the steps..but still no walking..poo. Gald to hear it isn't yeast.

randysmandy - sounds like nightmares...and if Ashley wakes at night - she does the same thing - won't go to DH..only me. They want their mommies which is great, but exhausting at the same time.

So this morning I got a speeding ticket - or rather negligent driving - which is bad...really bad. I don't know what I am going to do. I think he did it because he told me I made an unsafe lane change and was speeding - I admitted to the speeding but my lane change was not unsafe - I saw the cop...I used my turn signal. So when I questioned what made it unsafe he got nasty with me. So now, I think i will need to hire a lawyer - the fine is almost $300 and I can imagine the points that go along with it will probably get me dumped from my insurance company.

I showed DH the montage that I am working on of A's first year last night - he cried...and told me that watching it made him fall in love with me all over again. I am still not done with it.

[BeachBum]

Hi Everyone. :)

Wildcat-FWIW I think you made the right choice. Unless I was seriously broke I would always pick quality of work conditions over $.

Brink- Whew! Glad you guys are moved and good luck getting settled.

Alison-Gosh I hope Caitlin's bottom feels better! Any new food to share? (you always have such good ideas :)) Henry loves to climb the stairs too, and he gets so mad when the gate is closed.

Pixie- Henry gets quite pleased with himself these days too. I agree that it is adorable! Love the pics of her eating the biter biscuit. Cutie.

Mandy-No ideas on the night wakings. 96 people-holy cow! I doubt we have that many people that like us! ;)

Kim-Hope Ashley is feeling better. Double ear infection and pink eye is aweful. Henry thinks the shower is fun too-we do it when we get back from the beach.

Sandie- A molar? wow. I didn't know they would be getting them soon either. Do they get them around 1 year and 2 yrs?

Jo& Cr8nme- Cute invites. Great work!

Jo-thanks for sharing the ideas and pics of Addy painting. I'm too nervous to give it a try with Henry. He would grab the brush and crawl right over to the sofa I'm sure. When it cools off a little I may try it on the screen porch.


Not much new here. H is standing up on his own quite a bit, and taking a step or two. He is getting pretty good at getting into the standing position as well.
We've been working on 4 new teeth so nights have been rough here. ;)

He had spaghetti for the first time last night. It was a hoot. He loved it but it was soooooooo messy. Coming up with Henry friendly meals is a challenge. Probably because we've been eating so much take out lately and I don't' want to feed him that crap. HA.

DS starting painting the spare bedroom last night b/c we are going to make it a playroom. I don't know how much we will use it now, but it will feel good to have a place to put things away. I'm trying to decide on storage--any good ideas?

What are you guys getting your kiddos for their first birthdays? I'm using it as an excuse to get some more age appropriate toys. He has really outgrown a lot of the stuff we have. I am going to follow Alison's lead and get the laugh and learn home for sure. I think I may also get some Melissa and Doug instruments, puzzles, and some "little people" sets. I'm hoping that you guys will also have some ideas I can copy. :) Plus, anything that is too advanced I can just re-gift at christmas!

[hmbay]

first birthday--well since we really do NOT need anymore toys I'm not sure what I'm getting Alex other than I saw these in the fall Robeez line and MUST have them so I'm passing them off as a b-day gift so DH doesn't flip out:

http://www.robeez.com/i/682T_2.jpg

[BeachBum]

Oh, those are cute Heather!

[randysmandy]

Night terrorLast night I tried something new...when Hunter woke up I got him out of his crib and took him to get his bottle.He was FINE. I don't know why he's waking up, but he didn't scream. I think he is insulted when we walk by his room and not go in until we get his bottle.

B-Day gifts As you could see we are going to have a huge party w/ lots of presents. Basically we aren't getting Hunter a gift til after his party. his birthday is on a Thur and I am taking the day off to be with him-isn'tthat a present in itself? J/K!

It's DH's b-day today....I have to get a cake and sign Hunter's card. We are going to try out the bike seat tonight w/ Hunter since we are going biking this weekend. I know-we are supposed to wait til 1 year, but he is 11 months and big for his age. I thinl he will be fine. Plus we are only going on paved rail trails. We are also going to the beach for the 1st time....I can't wait!

Brink Congrats on the move!
cr8zyforaf That stinks about the ticket-DH got one a month ago and that was $150 down the drain and his insurance went up-this was all AFTER he faught it!

[philnikki]

I posted this in the Accountants thread, but CONGRATS Wildcat! I am seriously jealous! I want out of audit STAT :)! You know what's strange is that they usually don't expect those kind of hours out of Internal Auditors that I have met from other companies. I have busy times of the year, where I keep hours like that for a few weeks, but never on a consistent basis. So excited for you!!!

Birthday We are getting Ava the Leap Frog Learning Table. She is standign so much now, I think she will get a big kick out of this! I hope she gets some new clothes and some toys for her birthday. We need new clothes desparately, and we have been really good about not getting her new toys all the time, but she really is growing out of the toys she has now. I am so excited about her party, I can't wait! :D

[solongtogo]

Sorry I haven't done shout outs, but I'm following along.

Presents-we got her a radio flyer wagon, a push along buggy she can ride in, some books, some clothes, some wooden puzzles, and a little fisher price phone.

It smells like brussel sprouts in here today, **vomit**.

I am feeling quite sluggish and poor lately. I'm not sick, but I just don't feel myself. I think I need some excercise, but I hate it :)

[AlisonCO]

solong - I was feeling like that for awhile too. As much as I don't enjoy exercise either, it has really helped my mood. I hope that the brussel sprout smell goes away:)

wildcat - Congrats!

Brink - Yeah for being moved - I hope that you get settled quickly!

cr8zy - Ugg, that ticket is terrible. I wonder if you could get the points reduced if you go to court? That was really cute what your DH said:)

Beachbum - You're funny - the only thing that I have made lately is homemade pizza. I was going to give C the tomato sauce but with her red bum I didn't want to introduce any acidic foods so I made a white sauce for her part. She loved it!

b-day presents - Like BB said, C is getting the Laugh and Learn House. She is also getting 2 pairs of soft sole shoes and a personalized piggy bank. I can't believe that it is in 5 weeks!

[cr8zyforaf]

Last night I got to daycare and there was a letter waiting for me...her full time teacher, that A and I are EXTREMELY attached to, is leaving next Friday. She got accepted into Cosmetology school. As soon as I read the letter, I burst into tears (they must think I am nuts there) and I cried on and off all night..and I am crying now just typing this. She wrote me a letter because she couldn't bear to tell me in person...and she wasn't there when I dropped A off this morning.

I want to get her something really special that she can use in her career as a hair dresser...any suggestions? Do they need to buy supplies to take to school with them, or is all that stuff provided?

bday gifts - I know I want to get her a jewlery box with an inscription (which I need to order ASAP)...other than that - probably nothing. I know we want to get her a swing set but can't swing (no pun intended) it financially now. I have almost 80 people invited to the party - so she will be over loaded with gifts.

Question - is anyone hiring entertainment - I wanted to do a clown or a face painter/balloon maker but when I looked into it - I was shocked to see how expensive - 250-300 bucks for 1.5 hours...I told DH he is closing his business and going to clown school. Also, what is everyone doing for food? I think I want to have it catered...I don't have the desire to make foof for 80 people.

[randysmandy]

Kim Sorry to hear about A's daycare provider. As far as a gift goes, my hairdresser has all her own things. When I think about what a hairdresser needs-well what about an apron? My hairdresser uses one everyday!

QOTD
Entertainment:I was thinking of having someone dress as Bear in the Big Blue House, but there aren't enouh little kids going, but Hunter LOVES Bear-what do you think? We are having sprinklers and kiddy pools if it is hot. I am also bringing a stereo to have some background music. Between our familes, Labor Day weekend and the alcohol-I think we will be set for entertainment in the evening :rolleyes: We are having a bonfire at the end of the day-when it gets dark. H should be sleeping by then and the big kids can make smores.
Food: I will be serving various cold salads, chili, hamburgers/hot dogs,deep fried turkey, fruit salad, veggie dip, chips and dip, spinach dip, and cupcakes. H will have his smash cake, but I am not doing a cake for everyone.

[randysmandy]

Kim I said apron, but I meant SMOCK. Or what about a nice pair of scissors?

[Cr8nme]

Noelle is doing well! I have taken her off of Nuby sippys(1 month ago) and now she just uses the PBK straw sippy which she LOVES... Noelle doesn't say mama anymore just daddy or dada :(

Present: I too want to get her a jewelry box that can be engraved...I am going out today since its tax free weekend!!!



Kim~ I am soo sorry about A's teacher... hmmm as far as food my BIL is in cilinary school and is making all of the food!! Which saves me a lot of $$$$... entertainment~ we are hiring one and we are paying about $225 :eek:

[Kay2003]

cr8zy - sorry about the day care provider leaving. That's so sad and so sweet of you to think of getting her something. I don't have any good ideas for presents. Maybe a gift certificate?

cr8nme - so lucky about the catering. I can't imagine cooking for that many people. I'd just do take out

randy - bonfire sounds so much fun. And smores sound so so delicious!

presents - I recently got Kaito a tunnel at IKEA and he loves it. It is so cute how he crawls through it. It was only $18 and I think it's good entertainment! Kaito's birthday isn't until the end of September so I haven't thought too much about what to get him.... Is it too early to get him one of those tricycles with a push handle? I think they are called Kettler tricycles?
I also seriously need to get one of those Ergo carriers. He is getting too heavy for the Bjorn. My shoulders are killing me.

QOTD: presents for other people's 1 year olds - So Kaito and I are going to two 1-year old birthday parties on Saturday with two more in the next two weekends. So what's the "appropriate" price range for people who are not close friends but are in your playgroup? $10?

QOTD#2 Mine! Mine! What to do? - Kaito's interacted with lots of little kids in the past, but he's never been too interested in other kids until today. This morning i took him to a friend's house and Kaito would snatch toys out of a 1 year old's hands! The 1 year old would cry, take it back and then Kaito would cry. Do kids this age "get it" when you say "no you have to share" or "you can't take a toy out of another person's hands? How do you deal with this?

Have a good weekend, everyone!

[sabrespa]

Just thought I'd check in:
1st Birthday: We're driving up NC to celebrate with my family. We aren't planning anything big, really all I want to do is sing happy birthday and watch him smash cake. That's the best part. :)

Anthony is doing well. At the end of June/first of July, he had an awful stomach virus that lasted 9 days. He lost 2.5 lbs and it made him look so skinny. Then for the last three weeks, he's been drinking 50oz of formula per day. I really think he must of been playing catchup on the weight he lost and a growth spurt because I would almost swear he grew 2 inches overnight.

Let's see, what else...He cut four top teeth in one week. I kinda like it that way, just get it all over with at once.

Favorite Toys: I guess it would be his little basketball. He will throw it, walk over pick it up, throw it, walk to it pick it up, lather, rinse, repeat. He also likes to play the thank you game. He will hand me a toy and I will say "Thank You" and then I will hand it back to him and he will say, "du-du." He can do that for hours.

[solongtogo]

We're not hiring entertainment, and the only food we're doing is a few apetizers like a veggie tray, and cake and ice cream. We're having a cookout after the party and people are bringing dishes to share.

I'm not quite sure what we'll do at the party besides watch her video, open presents and eat cake and ice cream. I thought about doing some games for the kids there, but I don't know if we will or not.

[hmbay]

I'm not even going to try to catch up. Alex has 2 teeth now with two more breaking through along with his first ear infection. :( And colin has a cold. :( Anyone know HOW you get a 11 month old to take 8 ml (1 1/2 tsp) of fruit flavored amoxycillian when he HATES fruit and hates being forced to eat/drink anything? I seriously have to hold him down and hold both hands down and shove his head off to the side and force it in his mouth. Please tell me there is an easier way or ten days of this is going to be PURE HELL.

[dbers]

Heather - That sucks! I hope Colin feels better soon!

So, Alex went from not even pulling up, to standing and walking with her walker in one weekend! I am amazed...!

http://www.dropshots.com/day.php?userid=115678&cdate=20060806&ctime=193653

[Cr8nme]

Dbers~ That is sooo cute!!

[cr8zyforaf]

dbers - too freaking cute. I love how you have to shovel all the toys out of the way - that is the way things are at our house.

Hmbay - so sorry. Ashley also has an ear infection - I usually give her the medicine when she is hungry - I put her in the highchair and start out giving her the meds in the dropper - she sucks it like she would a bottle. It is much easier for me. I am having the same problem with eye drops - she now closes her eyes tight when she sees the bottle of drops - I can't even pry the lids open.

I am tired...between me being sick, Ash being sick, running around trying to get most of the party stuff done before we go on vacation...I am just wiped out. I helped my sister yesterday and realized - I am not ready for another...it was just exhausting...

MIL is he11 bent on getting Ashley something stupid for her birthday - she found this antique carousel in a antique store this weekend and thought it would be perfect – first, it was huge and expensive (over $150) and second – what the he11 is a one year old going to do with it – I would be too scared to have her play with it and it is too big to put on a shelf.

[solongtogo]

MIL is he11 bent on getting Ashley something stupid for her birthday - she found this antique carousel in a antique store this weekend and thought it would be perfect – first, it was huge and expensive (over $150) and second – what the he11 is a one year old going to do with it – I would be too scared to have her play with it and it is too big to put on a shelf.

You're not alone, my mil gets courtney really stupid ugly things. I have more pink frilly dresses than I can count and she dosen't wear dresses. This is one of those times when you stick it in a box and before she comes over, take if back out.

[Cr8nme]

My MIL get Noelle these dresses I call pageant dresses...I sell them :eek: on ebay and to other people. I like my daughter to look simple! They either are buying her these really over the top dresses or something really cheap...its wierd

[Brink]

Hi everyone - we are still in moving he11. I unpacked boxes all weekend and still have a ton more to do. I don't have internet at the new house yet, so no CC time after hours. This is also creating a problem since I'm supposed to work from home 2 days per week and can't without the internet. I didn't realize our place was so far out of town. The person across the street has it, but I guess we are just out of range.......

Anyway - Aimee went to the ER on Thursday night. Turns out she had croup, but she has had that before and this sounded different. She didn't have the barking, just couldn't breathe so I thought maybe it was an asthma attack. A shot of steroids later and a breathing treatment and we were on our way.

So, I have been home late at night and not seeing her in the morning because of my commute. Last week she only wanted daddy and would turn away when I went to take her. It is just breaking my heart. We spent tons of time together this weekend, but I'm sure by Friday she will have forgotten me again.....

Hmbay - have you tried one of those pacifiers that you put medicine in? You can give it to them and they just suck it out and don't even realize what they have done. I haven't personally tried it yet, but it looked really cool.

[cr8zyforaf]

Brink - so sorry about Aimee being sick...the croup is also going around our daycare..it seems that more illnesses are happening during the summer - weird. Sorry about Aimee only wanting Daddy - I am sure it is just a phase...I know how hard it is to spend limited time during the work with our babies..it is something I struggle with every day.

I think I am getting sick again...unbelievable...I was the type of person to NEVER get sick...I can't remember the last time I had a cold or the flu pre Ashley...and now, I feel like I've been sick since I put her in daycare.

I am meeting my mom and sister on Thursday - the county fair is this week and I am taking Ash..can't wait.

Question - I've gotten five calls already asking what Ash needs for her birthday - in reality, she needs nothing...what kinds of things are you guys asking for? I want some new toys but I have no good ideas.

I think I am hiring a magician...I found one for $170 (insane, isn't it??) - that includes a 30 minute show and balloon animals for up to 25 kids..I want the more expensive one because it includes a bunny and 45 minutes of show - but it is $260...I can't see paying an extra 90 bucks for a bunny. I've also narrowed down the catering options and will pick one this week - I can't believe how much it is going to cost to cater food for 60 but it sure beats cooking. This party is going to cost me a fortune.

[solongtogo]

Boy it seems that they all get sick at the same time...

Courtney has a wicked little cough going on...I'm getting close to taking her to the doc.

I'm sick with a cold as well.

Yeehaw.

[Cr8nme]

Sorry for being MIA...I am going through a little funk right now...

Party~ Noelle's birthday is also costing me a fortune. I am hiring a clown/face painter $200... I bought the perfect dress, custom made the invites and and now contemplating custom M&M's :eek:

[charmcitygirl]

been reading along but too busy to post much.

zoe had a high fever last night (104.3) but the nurse's line said it was ok until it hit 105. that seems really high to me though. her whole body was on fire... not warm but hot to the touch. i felt so bad for her. the nurse said there's a lot of viruses going around right now and that's probably what she has. so i expect jake will get it in the next day or 2. which sucks because their birthday is on monday.

the party is on sunday and we're just having family. still not sure what i'm going to serve yet. i'll figure it out.

as far as bday gifts go, i'm getting them a wooden push toy/walker-thingie (long story but there was a whole breakdown w/ mil over this last night. and this morning. ugh.) and a couple of charms for zoe and i think a train car for jake. i was struggling to find a "collection" to start for jake and i think a train set is going to be it. suggestions to family have been: piggy banks, savings bonds, single stocks (http://www.oneshare.com/), fall clothes. nothing "fun" but i figure they don't know the difference yet. they have plenty of toys and they are really just as happy playing with stuff around the house (bowls, spoons, etc.).

i've been really stressed the past two weeks or so. i guess it's because of the impending 1st birthday. i feel like i'm walking a fine line most of the time. last night, dh and i got in a huge fight. it was awful. then i was up all night with zoe. add to that, mil drama. and you've got one tired and cranky and stressed mama.

oh, and we painted our dining room last week on a whim. that went smoothly until dh decided to put up tons of trim and asked me to wait until it was done before telling him i hated it. i hated it and he had to take some of it down. it was a compromise because taking it all down would have meant another week of no dining room and i just couldn't take it. so i'm pretty happy with it in the end, but it still added to my stress.

gotta run... i hear fighting babies....

[randysmandy]

Party I just got off the phone with my Stepmom and she is getting tables and chairs for Hunter's party. Yes-we have to actually get them from a church! We have 2 tents and we have to get a porta potty for the guys since my BIL's septic can't handle the flushes. SHEESH! But I know it will be a good time. My mom, SM, MIL, and Aunt will make some food, but I will be doing the rest, which will mainly be cold food and grill stuff. I am debaiting corn on the cob--I want it to be a traditional New England BBQ. The colors I am using are Green and Blue and i might pop in some red here and there even though all the plates are Baby Einstein I never really wanted a "theme" but they were free.
charmcitygirl
Sorry about Zoe and her fever-hope she gets better soon. Tell Jake to leave her alone while she is sick LOL

[Sandie78]

Wow you all are having huge parties! We're just having a low-key family only affair. I hope my entire budget stays under $100.

Sorry to hear about the sick babies. Zach's doing well. He has a little runny nose, but not bad. He's still working on getting his molar in and he's trying to chew on everything. He's walking better and better everyday and is almost choosing it over crawling now.

[hmbay]

Sandie78--you aren't the only one having a low-key party. I'm actually having Alex's b-day party along with his two cousins--Ariel will be 3 on the 9th, MacKenzie will be 1 on the 8th and Alex will be 1 on the 10th. I figured why in the world should me and my SIL's have 3 separate parties and clean 3 houses and buy food 3 times to feed the same people. No theme. No entertainment. No funky invites. Just family, some close friends, food and 3 birthday kiddos. :)

[Cr8nme]

I am a little jealous of those of you who are having small low key parties...It is unheard of on my husbands side of the family. they are from Africa and have very deeprooted traditions.

[jo&sean]

My goodness - so many sick babies (and mom's too!) :(

Brink - How is Aimee feeling today? Has she been able to go to her new daycare yet?

Cr8zy - How are you feeling? Hopefully it wont turn into a flow blown cold. Isn't it crazy all the crap that has been going around this summer?!

Solongtogo - Hope you guys are feeling ok/better too! Did you take Courtney to the doc?

Charm - Hope Zoe is feeling better. Maybe, just maybe it will pass by Jake. I can't believe your twins will be one on MONDAY!! I am sorry you are feeling stressed. DH and I have been arguing like crazy lately - mostly me complaining about something :rolleyes: (or so he likes to say...)

Sandie - I can't believe Zach is getting a molar! Wow!!

re: gifts - I don't know what to tell people either. Addy doesn't "need" anything. Neither of our families are really into giving gifts (MIL is the absolute worst about her gift choices...but it's not nice to complain about a gift...right?) so I don't expect her to get much from anyone as it is. I am getting Addy a personalized piggy bank but can't make up my mind for about any "big" toys...hoping to get that done this week.

Party - Addy's party will be small - we expect about 12 people total. We will cook or order pizza - haven't decided yet. We are doing a monkey theme and will have the patio all decked out with monkeys and jungle stuff.

Addy is walking everywhere now - she prefers to walk instead of crawl but is still very cautious about her steps. I really need to start working with her on the stairs because she has been eyeing them this past week. She has also learned to actually throw the ball for the dog and that makes the dog VERY happy. Addy will be inside and say "ball" over and over until you take her outside. Then she hunts one down and starts tossing it for the dog. The dog recognized her saying "ball" last night and got over the top excited and knocked the baby gate down trying to get outside. Dogs.

[AlisonCO]

Hi all - just wanted to pop in. I hope that you all are doing well and that all the sick kiddos and moms feel better soon!!

gifts: If someone asks me what they should get one of the kids, I usually ask for books. My son has about 100 books and he probably looks thru most of them every week. Also books can be passed on to future kids (Caitlin loves all of his old touch and feel books), cousins, friends etc or donated.

party - No, definetely no entertainment. Personally I am just not into big parties, too stressful, Also I would be afraid that one of the kids would be freaked by a balloon person or a clown or something. We will have my immediate family, my grandma and 2 close friends. I haven't decided about food yet - I probably won't cook so maybe pizza and salad.

We are doing well. Cailtin is standing alone more and more - today she stood for almost a minute. Have a great day!

[BeachBum]

Jo-that is so cute about throwing the ball for the dog! What fun!

Hope everyone is feeling better.


Things are good here. Henry is trying so hard to walk. He can get a few steps in (3-10) and has been doing that for about 10 days or so. I'm happy and excited for him, but also sad to know he will not be crawling much longer. I love hearing his little hands slapping down the hall...Bittersweet....

Well I'm feeling like an ass because I had purchased several outfits for Henry last winter and I don't think they are going to fit. His growth has slowed down so much. I thought he would be in 24 mo and he is just now moving solidly into 18 mo. We may get to use some things near the end of winter...We live in such a warm climate that it is only cold here Nov-Feb. Oct, and March require longsleeves most of the time.

I'm still going back and forth on party stuff. We are keeping it smallish with almost all adults, but I'm not sure how much effort I want to go to for decorating and food etc. It is just so hard to do things with him underfoot. (Like you guys don't know!)
Thanks for sharing your gift ideas. I'm still looking for a sentimental/ collectible item for Henry so if anyone has any thoughts I'm all ears!

We have changed our spare bedroom into a play room for Henry. Well, it's still a work in progress. I've decorated it in the same colors as his room so things are interchangeable. I'm pleased though. It keeps some of the clutter out of my family room! I'm hoping it will help me be really organized and bring only a bucket or two of toys down each morning (and take them up at night). That may be a bit optimistic!

[Brink]

Hi everyone,

So, I picked Aimee up at her new daycare last night and when I was walking to the car I noticed a scrape on her leg. I thought maybe she had just fallen or something. Well, as the night went on, it bruised up really bad and you can see teeth marks. It looks like some little rat bit her really hard. There was even skin scraped off (which is why I thought she had fallen). We asked them about it this morning and they didn't know anything about it. One of the teachers wasn't there and so we still need to ask her, but I can't imagine that she didn't scream very loudly when it happened.

Charmcity - so sorry to hear about Zoe's fever. I hope she is feeling better by her birthday.

Jo - thanks for asking about Aimee. She still isn't herself, but better than she was the other day. That is too cute about Addy with the ball. Aimee has been "throwing" the ball for the girls for a couple of weeks. My only fear is sometimes she takes to long to throw it and the dog tries to take it from her. I only let her throw it if I'm right there and can control the dog. Very fun though, she absolutely squeels (sp?) with joy when the dog comes into the room. Definitely something I'm pleased to see.

Well, better get working.

[jo&sean]

Brink - My Border/Aussie is the same way with the ball - if Addy takes to long to toss it, then she gets impatient and tries to move toward the ball. We only play "ball" with the dog unless one of us is right there too. I have been working with the dog to refresh her memory on all the hand cues she knows so I can motion her to go down really quickly without startling Addy while we are playing (my voice gets stern when I work with my dog because she doesn't listen if I speak normally :) ). That seems to be helping and now Addy will do the "down" cue too - she doesn't know what it is for but she thinks its funny when the dog does something. I LOVE how excited Addy gets when she sees her girls too. Our hound dog will roll around in the grass with Addy - so cute to see them all so happy.

Beachbum - That is a great idea to turn your spare room into a play room. I know what you mean about the walking being bittersweet. Now that Addy is walking more, I miss seeing her crawl....

We are off to the mall to find a baby gift for my Great Niece. Yes, I am a Great Aunt already. Doesn't seem real to me. It is really kind of sad, one of my sisters boys and his girlfriend had a baby. They are only 15. Yes, 15! I am still in shock from hearing that she was pregnant let alone having the baby. The positive thing (hopefully it remains this way) is that they both finished their freshman year of high school with 4.0's. They are both extremely book smart and excellent students and I can only hope and pray that they can continue down that path. My nephew is working a job in town and a job on a cattle ranch for the summer to help pay for all things baby. Isn't that sad? He should be saving to buy his first car not diapers for a whole year. Out of all my nieces and nephews (I have 14!), he was the one no one would ever expected for this to happen to. It goes to show you - you just never know.

[cr8zyforaf]

I love hearing his little hands slapping down the hall...Bittersweet....


Uggg..this made me cry. It is all so bittersweet.

[AndreaMMS]

Popping in for a Birthday Vent!UGH!!!! I ordered printed invites from a seller on Ebay. They quality was not good. I complained, and she is sending a sample of a different one. But the party is September 16! I'm running out of time! I am also not confident that they will be any better...So I formulated a back-up plan to order a rush job of a photo announcement from inababycarriage.com. To use the professional photos I have, I need a release, which JCPenny will not give me. So I tried to take new photos myself- Naomi kicked the camera out of my hand and it fell and broke! And our hard-drive crashed so the last two months of photos I had unloaded from the camera but not backed up yet are gone forever. CR*P- I really wanted to do something special!:mad:

[cr8zyforaf]

Andrea - I am so sorry. Could you make something without a photo? How many do you have to have? Can you scan a printed photo that you have and do something using shutterfly or one of the on-line photo stores?

[Cr8nme]

Ohh andrea I am soo sorry :( maybe you could scan the professional pic and then print it out at snapfish or any other store? I know for our professional pics I scan them and upload them to snapfish and then order prints

[Cr8nme]

Cr8zy~ I guess we were thinking the same thing,lol

[AndreaMMS]

Oh, thanks, guys! Good idea- way to skirt the system!:p

[Sandie78]

Oh no Andrea. That's terrible!

[cr8zyforaf]

I know this is wrong - but I scanned a bunch of professional pictures at Wal Mart and had them copied to disk (so that I could use them in my montage)...I spent almost $300 at the professional place..so I felt a little bad, but not really.

[jo&sean]

I am guilty of scanning our pro shots too :o Our photographer switched printing services and the prices are totally outrageous. They charge $10 for a 4x6! The old service she used was $5 and I didn't mind that as much but it still adds up. The last session we had, I tipped her to make up for my impending actions...:rolleyes:

Hope everyone had a good day. Addison did something really cute this morning. We were getting ready to leave the house to go to "school" and she had my keys. We went out the door and I turned around to lock the door and before I could even get my keys from her, she was "locking" the door. It was so cute! She was holding her little hand out with the keys in hand trying to put a key in the deadbolt. She looked up at me and was just smiling :)

[charmcitygirl]

gotta keep this short...

zoe was in the hospital yesterday. she had a fever of 104.9 when she woke up and had a rash so we went to the er. long story short: she got a spinal tap :eek: (everything came back normal, no menengitis) and was diagnosed with roseola. but her ped diagnosed her today with strep. so she's on antibiotics and hopefully jake won't get whatever she has. she's been very sleepy and clingy, but all in all, a very tough little trooper.

thinking of cancelling the bday party, just playing it by ear for now.

will try to catch up more tomorrow.

[AlisonCO]

charmcity - Poor Zoe!! I am so glad that it was nothing serious. I hope that you still get to have the party.

Andrea - Vent away. Just remember that whatever you do will be special!

I am glad that I am not the only one guilty of scanning pro photos. I did this with about 200 of our wedding proofs:D We are doing well. I have been working on the sign for drink with Caitlin and instead of signing, she makes the ahhh sound that you make after you have a drink when she wants a drink. So yesterday we went to the library and she kept making the sound - so I finally figured it out and gave her a sippy and 2 moms around me starting laughing. Silly kid!

Good night all:)

[randysmandy]

Andrea Sorry to hear about your camera!!!! What a commotion you have been through. Even if you send out regular invites no one will know the difference. Maybe you can make up for it with the thank you notes?

charmcity Poor ZOE! If their party if they feel better and they won't know you celebrated it late ;)

Scanning Yay I scan too-guilty as charged. My photographer is $15 for a 5x7!

Hunter is finally saying mamma and pulls on my leg. He also meows at the cats, hits balls with his golf club, which is basically attached to his hip! He is a natural athlete-throwing his balls. I wish I had a dog too!! He runs around the house, sometimes running into the doorway, desk, etc. He is a clutze like his mommy. He got a big bump yesterday, but he gets over it fairly quickly. Unfortunatly he has started to run towards the road. We are on Main Street so I REALLY have to stay in front of him while he is in the yard. I wish we had been able to get a new house by now :-(

[hmbay]

charmcitygirl--oh how scary! I"m glad she's doing better now.

[AndreaMMS]

Charmcity- Oh, I'm so sorry Zoe is sick!!!!! I hope she feels better soon!!! It must've been so hard for you to have her get that spinal tap:( :( :(

Thanks everyone for your support, and again to Kim and cre8nme- I ended up being subversive as you suggested ;) , scanned in the pro shot and rush-ordered through Kodak.com. I think they are going to be really cute- I'll show 'em when I get them!

It's so funny how shuch little stuff can seem so important. Reading about Zoe makes me feel rediculous for getting upset over stupid inviatations....

I'll be back to catch up for real when Naomi allows it...:rolleyes:

[Cr8nme]

I just wanted to post that if anyone wants a banner made for birthdays or whatever... I ordered through

Admart Printing (http://stores.ebay.com/Admart-Printing-Services)

Very fast printing and even worked with me to make the perfect banner I am very pleased!!!

Pricing~ I paid $20 for 2x5

[Cr8nme]

Charm~ I am soo sorry to hear about Zoe...I really hope she feels better! I also hope Jaze doesn't get sick :(

Cr8zy~ have you found a dress yet?

Jewelry boxes~ for those of us wanting to get those for our DD's what have you found?

[Cr8nme]

Okay here is what I am thinking about...

http://a248.e.akamai.net/f/248/12659/30d/s7diod-isorigin.scene7.com/is/image/ThingsRemembered/000553803?wid=200&op_sharpen=1

and this

http://a248.e.akamai.net/f/248/12659/30d/s7diod-isorigin.scene7.com/is/image/ThingsRemembered/000553748?wid=200&op_sharpen=1

[cr8zyforaf]

charm - poor Zoe..thinking of you guys. Hope that she is feeling better soon and that Jake manages to avoid getting sick.

Alison - cute story about the drinking. Where did you scan 200 photos? At home I hope..I have a cr*p scanner at home and took a bunch of pictures to Walmart to scan...it took way too long and I only scanned half...total pain.

randysmandy - scary about the road. Ashley is also a klutz...she always has at least one bruise on her head...and she never cries about it - so I have no idea where they come from.

Andrea - so glad about the invites. I used Kodak for my Christmas cards and was extremely happy. Can't wait to see them!

cr8nme - thanks..yes, I found a dress. My friend (whom I love) remembered that I was looking for a brown/pink flower dress and her MIL got her DD one in Florida while on vacation - she called the store to see if they had it in Ash's size and then had one shipped to my house. It seems silly that I am stressing over things like this when people, like Charm, have real things to be worried about. Here is the dress that I paid way too much for:

http://images1.snapfish.com/347854258%7Ffp358%3Enu%3D3238%3E577%3E3%3A8%3EWSNR CG%3D3233%3A457796%3A9nu0mrj

cr8nme - have you found centerpieces yet? I saw you were looking over in the birthday thread.

I took Ash to the fair last night - she really didn't enjoy it - she was tired and grumpy...I feel that she is still sick...her eyes are really watery and she just seems clingy and miserable. She goes back Thursday to have her ears checked again.

jewelry boxes - I am very interesting it what others have found as well..I've looked everywhere and am not real impressed with anything I've seen.

[cr8zyforaf]

cr8nme - I can't see your pictures...

[Brink]

You guys are all so organized and on top of things. Withing moving and everything else going on, poor Aimee is going to be lucky to have a party. We are going to have a BBQ at our new house, but if I can't get the invitations out soon, there won't be anyone there! I haven't planned one single thing for it yet, I'm a horrible mom.

Charmcity - so sorry to hear about Zoe. That must have been horrible to have the spinal tap done, I heard they are painful. Poor baby.

So, the other day we thought that Aimee had been bitten by one of the other kids in her daycare. Turns out she probably bit herself! We checked with her teacher the next day and she had spent the whole day in room with babies that don't have teeth. Then at the end of the day, they move all the kids out front and we thought that is when it happened. The teacher said it wasn't possible that she had held her the entire time until we arrived. So, looks like Aimee put her leg up to her mouth and bit down as hard as she could. I can't believe how bruised and ugly it is and that she actually did that to herself. Well, maybe now she knows how much biting hurts.

[Cr8nme]

I took Noelle to the aquarium today and it was great!! She had a blast and would cry/scream everytime we would move to the next exhibit! Soo so cute!


Cr8zy~ I have not but I think I am going to do pink and orange gerber daisies in a vase !

I hope you can see the pics now.

[Cr8nme]

Wanted to let us fellow moms know that if you want to see pics of Noelle and I we are on LJ... I am noegirl05 friend me or PM me so I can friend you!

[pixiecat]

Hi ladies - sorry long time no post! I have been reading along though & thinking of all of our moms/babies!

charm - omg, I'm so sorry about Zoe's test! That must have been tough to sit through, although I'm so happy that it wasn't more serious. Hope she is feeling better soon & that Zach stays healthy!

brink - I can't believe that Aimee bit herself! I'm sorry it is so terrible, but I think it is better than the alternative (some other kid biting her). Hope you guys are settling in okay at your new house.

cr8zy - dang that is a cute dress!! Sounds like Ash's party will be a blast! Can't wait to see a picture of her in her party dress.

Andrea - sorry about the invitation problems... sounds like everything worked out okay, but that kind of stress is never fun! Don't worry, when you are as sleep-deprived as we are, you are allowed to get upset about the "little things!"

cr8mne - I love the first b-day gifts you picked out! Very classic and will be useful/beautiful for N's whole life. Also, think that it is so cute that she loves the aquarium! We haven't taken L there yet, but really should.

randysmand - wow! sounds like you have your hands full! Hunter is such an active kid!

Lily had a rash all over her last week - she looked terrible! Like a spotted leopard! The doctor said that it was a non-specific virus & that it would clear up in 2-3 days. That "non-diagnosis" as it were, kind of pissed me off, but it turns out he was 100% right! It completely cleared up by day 3!

DH put up a swing for Lily outside and she LOVES it! Everytime we go outside she points at it. I'll have to post a picture of how happy she is in that thing!

I hope everyone has a great day!

[Kay2003]

sick mommies and babies - hope everyone feels better soon!

charmcitygirl - hope things are looking up for you this week. Isn't it awful when EVERYTHING seems to go wrong at once?? Kaito had rosela as well. It is so scary to feel how warm our babies' bodies become with such high fevers.

back from vacation - this is going to be a short post. we just got back from a vacation to Eureka, California. We hiked in Redwood National Park and Kaito saw his first deer. He learned to climb stairs at our hotel, I had a massage, and he also enjoyed pulling his mama's hair in his hiking carrier backpack. I'm sad to be back to the daily grind of things : (

[cr8zyforaf]

Ashley has another ear infection and is cutting more teeth - so she has a horrible cough and runny nose..and her eyes are gumming up again...I hope it isn't pink eye again...so we had a pretty bad weekend..back to no sleep for us since Thursday.

[charmcitygirl]

so today is the big (birth)day... i can't believe it's been a year already. it really went by too, too fast. i've been crying sporadically since last night. it's just so bitter sweet. this morning, i went into their room to get them up at the time they were born (7:23am and 7:24am). jake was up and i gave him hugs and kisses, then i went to get zoe and she opened her eyes at exactly 7:24! so freakin' cute. she got lots of hugs and kisses too.

today we are going to get pictures taken at the picture people, then we'll go to the playground (and maybe some ice cream). tonight, we will sing happy birthday, have cupcakes, and open one more present: a wood push toy (parent's magazine's around the block wagon).

12 month wbv is tomorrow.

we did have our party yesterday, and it was just family, about 20 people. i made the banner and flowers (they are tissue paper). we had hummus & spinach dip w/ pita and veggies, a green salad w/ candied pecans & goat cheese, grilled mozzerella, tomato & pesto sandwiches, fried chicken, tortellini salad, fruit salad, bday cake & ice cream, cookies. i am really happy how it all turned out, especially since i almost cancelled it.

http://static.flickr.com/91/215077980_712b6fcd13_m.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/66/215077983_a3eaad59af_m.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/63/215077984_0cae6bf7d8_m.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/82/215077985_196ddc1b81_m.jpg

** i will delete these in a few days...DELETED **

the whole cake thing was funny. jake really went at it shoving it all in and zoe delicately put pieces of cake in her mouth. so cute. at one point jake decided that using his hands was just too much and he planted his face right into the cake. we put them in their kiddie pool afterwards to hose them off. it was quite a scene.

they got some clothes, great toys, and some money for their savings accounts. zoe also got a charm bracelet with a stork carrying 2 babies charm as well as a peridot birthstone charm (i made it), and jake got a train set that included tracks, transformer, and engine from mommy & daddy. zoe will get a new charm every year, and jake will get a car to add to the collection.

i still can't believe that they are a year old today!

ETA: zoe is 100% back-to-normal and jake seems to have resisted any sickies. yay!

[Cr8nme]

Charm~ I was just about to come here and tell you I saw the party on the first birthday thread!! You did a wonderful job especially with all of the sickness and everything! I can't believe our FIRST babies are 1 :D

[cr8zyforaf]

charm - everything looks great. Your post made me cry - you are right - everything went by way too fast!

[philnikki]

cr8zy - Poor A :( Hope she gets better soon!!

cr8nme - You have been friended!

[AlisonCO]

charmcity - HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY JAKE AND ZOE!!!! I am so glad that you were able to have the party - it looks great!

cr8zy - Poor A - she just can't get a break, can she? Either can you for that matter!

Andrea - I saw yout thread about sleep - I have no advice, I hope that you can find something that works! It is so hard - DS didn't really start sleeping OK until about 14 months.


We had a good weekend, except it seems as if Caitlin is dropping her am nap. I am so bummed about this whole transition because we have such a nice routine now. When she naps in the am I get ready and Aidan watches 30 minutes of Sesame Street. Then we go out until lunch. Then they both nap in the afternoon so I get a break and can get some things done. Now if she only naps once, she will probably go down around 11:30/12 and then she will be getting up shorty after Aidan goes down. Plus if I remember correctly, this transition is long and very unpreditable.

In other news, DH took them to the train table yesterday and told me that he thinks that she took 2 steps! She is so happy to stand and do stuff now (like pul things out of the kitchen drawers:)). She is just growing up so so fast - I really cannot believe that she is almost 1! I can't believe how pregnant we all were 1 year ago.

Happy Monday!

[SD601]

Happy 1st Birthday, Jake and Zoe! The party looked great! Funny about the difference in cake eating.

Poor sick babies! I'm so sorry about fevers, rashes, teething, etc. :(

J turns one tomorrow. I can't believe it. He was due Sept. 20 but came early, although with a little warning. You would never know he was a preemie. He's walking now, just started a week ago. His WBV is later this week, but I think he's huge--into 18 month clothes, now. He's a great eater and still nurses a ton. Sleeping, well, Andrea, I feel for you. J is not the best sleeper.

QOTD
I know we've had this question before, but....

Sooooo...now that our babies are turning one, anyone thinking of TTC another soon? I know we have some RO in here, but any more thinking about it? I'm thinking of gettin my IUD out in a month or two...sounds so scary thinking about it!

[randysmandy]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZOE AND JAKE! The party decor looks fab!
Hunter has been waking up 2-3 times a night-no clue why, but I am exhausted today!! Tomorrow is DH and I's 2 year anniversary :-) I don't think we are doing anything til the weekend.
alison Go Caitlin! Hunter pulls everything out of drawers too! The darn child thinngs don't even fool him.
Happy Monday

[Cr8nme]

QOTD~ We will be trying for another one around Aug 2007...Noelle will be almost 2 then and then we are going to revisit the topic of having more or not..

[solongtogo]

Happy 1st Birthday Jake and Zoe!!!

[sabrespa]

Happy 1st Birthday Jake and Zoe! It looks like the party was alot of fun!

[hmbay]

Happy Birthday Zoe and Jake!

QOTD: Well we're still on the fence. DH really wants a 3rd and I think he's more or less convinced me but not 100% yet. If we do decide to TTC#3 we will start TTC in the next 1-6 months. since I'm 34 and really don't want to be pregnant much past 35. I have a few things I need to align for me to say yes for sure to #3 (financial, Alex's sleep schedule and a few other things) We are done though after #3 (if there is a #3) unless there is an oops.

[Kay2003]

sick mommies and babies - hope everyone feels better soon!

charmcitygirl - hope things are looking up for you this week. Isn't it awful when EVERYTHING seems to go wrong at once?? Kaito had rosela as well. It is so scary to feel how warm our babies' bodies become with such high fevers.

back from vacation - this is going to be a short post. we just got back from a vacation to Eureka, California. We hiked in Redwood National Park and Kaito saw his first deer. He learned to climb stairs at our hotel, I had a massage, and he also enjoyed pulling his mama's hair in his hiking carrier backpack. I'm sad to be back to the daily grind of things : (

[Kay2003]

Woops! Sorry for that repeat post. Yesterday night CC said the server was too busy so to try again. I guess the first post made it.

charm - That banner and the homemade cakes look wonderful. I'm so glad you were able to have the party.

[Brink]

Hi everyone. We are still having internet issues at home, so I can't check in until Mondays.

Pixiecat - I think Aimee had the same rash. It was horrible, little bumps over her entire body. I mean everywhere (bottoms of her feet, hands, ears) and same thing - they said it was some virus and would go away in a few days and it did. So glad Lily is feeling better.

Charmcity - Happy Birthday Jake & Zoe!!!!!!!!!! Your story was so precious about waking them at the time they were born. Sounds like the party was a hit.

QOTD - well, I guess I don't need to respond to this one!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nothing really new here. I think Aimee said "dog" the other day, but not really sure. Other than that, just still trying to get settled into our new house.

[PrincessCrappy]

I know I haven't checked in here in a long time but I had to stop by and say HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ZOE & JAKE!!

[AndreaMMS]

Happy, Happy birthday Jake and Zoe! The party looked wonderful!

[wildcat]

Happy Birthday Zoe & Jake!!

[pixiecat]

Can't believe our first babies are turning ONE!!! Happy Birthday Zoe & Jake!!! Big hugs to mom & dad too... It is all so bittersweet.

[BeachBum]

Glad to hear that Jake and Zoe had a great birthday! I'm happy to hear that you went ahead with the party, and it was the right choice! So cute about their differences in cake eating...it's fun to speculate if it is their personalities or boy/girl differences. :)


Well seeing Henry walking around is still a shock. I guess I forget that he can do it :) He is about 50/50 with walking and crawling now.

He is also working on 6 new teeth. His front two are coming in. I call them his "big boy teeth" because they make him look so old!

He is so freaking cute I can hardly stand it--and I know you mamas know exactly how I feel! He just has so much personality. One of his favorite things to do is what we call the "indian wa wa". You know where he makes a noise then puts his hand over his mouth making a wa-wa-wa sound. He will just bust out with it at the funniest times then laugh and laugh. He still doesn't wave or blow kisses though. I'm convinced it's his independent streak. ;)
I'm so sad to see him growing up, but at least it's replaced with something pretty wonderful.

[solongtogo]

Happy 1st birthday Josiah!

[Cr8nme]

Happy first birthday Josaih


Wow wow wow I am in disbelief that our little precious cargo,lol are 1 already :eek:

[cr8zyforaf]

Happy First Birthday Josaih

Wow - where did a year go?? I hope I am not the only one having a hard time with this...Ashley has been having a really hard time with the drop offs...I think it is because she is sick. Friday I went to get her and she had a bad afternoon and the teacher said "I think she misses miss. E" (her teacher that left whom A is very close to) and I burst into tears...they think I am nuts probably.

I ordered from photofetti - totally s*cks..I would not recommend anyone order anything from this company.

[AlisonCO]

Happy 1st Birthday Josiah!!!

Like Henry, Caitlin is working on her "big girl teeth" - all four of the top teeth poked thru yesterday. I do miss those gummy smiles:) She was a bit whiny but last night she was up a lot! I gave her some Motrin at 2am and she did OK until 7am. Of course I was out until 10:30pm at book club and then could not fall asleep until after midnight so I am pooped!

I picked up her personalized piggy bank yesterday and it is so cute. This Sat DH is going to get the Laugh and Learn home at TRU. Her plates etc should be getting here this week. I feel like things are coming together for the big b-day!

Have a great day:)

[hmbay]

Happy birthday Josiah!

[jo&sean]

Happy Birthday Josiah!!
Happy Birthyday (belated!)Zoe & Jake!!!

This year has just flown by!!! I have been in a bit of denial because I don't even want to finish the plans for Addy's party...it just isn't possible that she is almost 1!

Beachbum - It is so bittersweet! I love your description of Henry's Indian Wa-Wa :)

Cr8zy - How is Ashley feeling?

Brink - Glad things are going well in your new house. Did you get your highspeed internet figured out?


Addy has been having a lot of fun playing "dress up". I didn't think they would be interested in this so soon. All weekend long, she was busy with a variety of hats, shirts, anything really that she could "dress up in". It was cute to see her parading around in her various "hats" while carrying her purse. Now some of her hat selections are questionable...including a pair of mom's underwear she grabbed while "helping" me fold laundry. Where is the camera when you need one!!

[dbers]

Happy Birthday Babies!!!!

I, for one, am really excited about Alex turning one. I've fond that I enjoy her more and more as she gets older. Am I alone here?

[Sandie78]

Happy Birthday Babies!!!!

I, for one, am really excited about Alex turning one. I've fond that I enjoy her more and more as she gets older. Am I alone here?

You are not alone!

[Brink]

Happy Birthday Josiah!

Aimee went in our new pool for the first time last night. We had a bunch of people over for swimming and she was just watching them. So, I stripped her down and set her on the top step and she thought it was great playing in the water with the kids. I'll need to sign her up for swimming lessons at some point. Bummer is that mommy doesn't like to get in the water - how am I going to manage that!

Jo&sean - thanks for asking - no, we don't have it figured out yet. We "think" we might but won't know for a couple of days. Until then I am driving 2 hours each way almost everyday. I might spend the night down here one night, but then I don't get to see Aimee. Not sure which is worse. Very cute about Addy playing dress up. I can't imagine Aimee doing something like that at this point.

[randysmandy]

Happy Birthday Josiah!

Hunter has become a little man like Henry-he is into everything! He also gets mad when he can't have something or if he can't relay what he wants. I imagine it is frustrating, I just wish the signing had worked out. I have told MIL that she needs to be firm with him, she is firm, but then other times she babies him. He's IS a baby I know, but in a year I will be blaming her for giving him what he wants if he is spoiled. It's so hard when someone else is "raising" your child 8 hours/day. It makes me want to cry. I had this thought of Hunter playing with another baby today. He really needs that and the only way he can get it is if I bring him to the playground/have playdates, but I have no one to go one a "date" with :-( Does anyone live around me??

DbersI love him more and more everyday. And look forward to his developing personality and everything he learns each day.

PS: Happy 2nd Anniversary to DH and I! We are having Thai food over candlelight tonight after Hunter goes to bed.

[hmbay]

I, for one, am really excited about Alex turning one. I've fond that I enjoy her more and more as she gets older. Am I alone here?

Nope this is a great age--other than teething they sleep reasonably well (well mine doesn't but hey everyone else's does), they are mobile and inquisitive but not quite mobile enough to be too destructive yet. they're happy and interactive--but not quite exhausting toddlers yet. ;)

[cr8zyforaf]

they sleep reasonably well

Mine doesn't either...I am hoping it gets better as she gets older. And don't get me wrong - I am so happy and love the stages that we go through and think that she is SO MUCH fun right now. I am having a hard time with not having a little, cuddly baby anymore...but I love watching her grow into a little lady.

[PrincessCrappy]

Happy Birthday, Josiah!!

[pixiecat]

Happy BirthdayJosiah!!!

At one moment I think I'm happy about Lily's upcoming b-day... she is so dang dang cute and does funny stuff all of the time! But I also miss the teeny tiny baby she used to be. I think this will be a lifelong problem :rolleyes:

TTC - well, I'd love to, but we live in a one-bedroom house right now & won't ttc until we have at *least* one more bedroom! This s/b incentive for DH to get going! If it were up to him, we'd have another one already!

Question: Has AF returned for everyone yet? Still nothing here, (not that I'm complaining!).

[Cr8nme]

Aunt flow~ returned 6 months PP and I just stopped breastfeeding 3 weeks ago :(

[solongtogo]

I'm excited for C to turn one...it's just bittersweet.

AF: returned 4 or 5 months pp

[philnikki]

Happy Birthdays to all the babies here!!

Ava's first birthday party is on Saturday. It seems insane to me that she is going to be a year. WHERE has the time gone???? I am sad about the fact that she is not a tiny baby anymore, but even more excited about all of the new things she is going to be accomplishing as she gets older. I fear I will constantly be pulled in both directions for long time! :) It is a fun age though and she is so happy and expressive (she does have her moments of drama queen fits though *sigh*)

QOTD - You know, I think mine came back like 3 mos PP (I didn't BF though). I can't even remember!

[AlisonCO]

I, for one, am really excited about Alex turning one. I've fond that I enjoy her more and more as she gets older. Am I alone here?


No! The older the better IMO;) With DS I love love loved the 12-24 month ages. I am shocked that Caitlin is almost 1 but I really do not miss the teeny baby stage.

more kids - nope

AF - 6 months pp even while exclusively BFing (basically no bottles.)

randysmandy - Happy belated Anniversary! I wish that we all loved closer - a playgroup would be so much fun!

Happy Day!

[charmcitygirl]

happy (belated) bday JOSIAH
--------------------------------------

thanks, everybody, for your well wishes on j&z's bday. we had a nice day... went to get pics taken (didn't really like them though.. oh well), got ice cream, went to the playground, had a little dinner with bday cupcakes and opened the last present. it was very low-key and nice.

wbv stats: 12 months

jake: 20lbs, 29"
zoe: 18lbs, 28"


wbv went well... we got 2 shots: MMRV (includes chicken pox vax) and hib. we also had blood drawn for lead tests (not sure if this is standard. i think this was done b/c of dh's job as a general contractor). that was not fun and zoe saw it coming so she was especially unhappy after all of last week's poking & prodding. mommy wasn't especially happy either ;)

we did get confirmation that zoe had scarlet fever, and not roseola as i last reported. but she's all better now and has completed her course of antibiotics.

we have been given the go-ahead for milk and all food except nuts. that means i should probably get more serious about lunches. our eating schedule is pretty good for breakfast and dinner but lunches always seem to get screwed up.

new developments jake started clapping yesterday. so cute. zoe will dance for you if you sing to her... she will stop whatever she is doing and just bop her head. i just wanna eat her up sometimes! walking is going to happen very soon, methinks.

they love love love these chairs (http://a940.g.akamai.net/7/940/449/0002/www.estyle.com/images/product/16787_MID_r.jpg) my mom got them last year. we busted them out over the weekend and they just smile and laugh whenever they sit in them. it makes them so happy.

more babies? yes. maybe we'll start trying early next year.

[Sandie78]

QOTD1 We are seeing what happens. So it could be this month or it could be not for a while
QOTD2 Mine came back 3 months ago, but it still isn't regular

So a mommy came over today with her 13 month old son. Things were going ok until Zach tried to balance on her son and they both slammed into the coffee table face first. I felt sooo bad. The babies were ok, but they were both screaming. I hope we didn't scare her off.

[SD601]

Thanks for the birthday wishes! I haven't loaded any pics yet, but I will soon. Eating cake was hilarious--his first real sugar and he loved it. Unfortunately, I have a bad cold and I gave it to him, so we are both feeling pretty miserable.

AF--still nothing for me. I have an IUD though, so that probably contributes along with still BF. I don't mind right now, but I'd like to start TTC this winter. Hope she returns, although I'll guess I'll probably be weaning before. Hmmmm

So yesterday (on his birthday), we spent most of the day in bed resting, and I watched a couple "birth" type shows...sigh...I went back and reread my birth story, too. It's amazing that he's been here for one year. My life is so wonderful with my two men.

WBV stats:

23 pounds, 4 oz
29.5 inches
50% for both

so glad that Zoe is better now.

Another QOTD:

J only says Mama, and although he says it to me, I think he's mostly babbling. Do any of your kids have any words?

[hmbay]

QOTD--on and off spotting (BFing and mini-pill) since 6 months.

QOTD--words. Dada and Ni-ni. No mama or anything else I've been able to distinguish but he has an assortment of sounds he makes when he's happy.

[dbers]

Haven't gotten period yet - but I'm in the process of weaning, so we'll see. I figured out it's been almost two years since I've had a period! I am scared :eek:

Words - Alex says "hello" and "mama" (to me) - I think she is also trying to say "duck"...

[wildcat]

TTC - We are going to start trying February08, so not for a long time! I want DD to be about 3 when the next baby is born (and then #2 is it).

AF - Even though I was/am exclusively BF, I got AF back at 4 months:rolleyes:.

words - DD says 4 words on purpose (in this order), mama, dog (og), dada, yeah. We'v always told her good job and clapped and said yeah. A few months ago she started clapping when we'd say "good job" and then a few weeks ago she added the "yeaaahhhh" to it. So cute! There's been a few times we've heard "duck" and "byebye", but nothing consistent yet!

[AndreaMMS]

TTC-- Everytime this questions comes up on the boards, in real life conversation, in my head, I just siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh. I really don't know. But if we were to ttc, it probably wouldn't be for another 6 months to a year or more.

AF- I got it around 3 or four months post partum.

Words- Bye-Bye, hi, something that sounds like "jaaahyyy" which means light and my personal favorite, "WOW!!!" We get Dada and Ma sometimes, but I don't think they are really connected to us.

Edited to add: in the last 10 minutes my husband has taught her to say cat ("gat")!

[Cr8nme]

QOTD~ Words... Dada, daddy, No (shakes her head while saying it,lol) mama occasionally and yay(while clapping)!

[Kay2003]

AF - no AF, but I'm still breastfeeding almost exclusively. Will wean soon (sad for me) so that will probably change.

no words - no discernable words, though kaito loves to say DADADADADA...

[Kay2003]

bathing question - I think we talked about this before but when I searched the thread I couldn't find where we did....

What are you bathing your babies in at this point? I think Kaito is now too big for the infant tub/kitchen sink option. We started bathing him in the adult tub, but I (or my DH) get in with him because I'm afraid he'll slip and bathing him from the outside seems hard on the back. Any transitional tubs??

[Cr8nme]

bathing~ I have been putting Noelle in the big tub since she could sit up on her own...I just put a towel under her butt so she doesn't slip :)
I haven't had any back issues but I sit on a little stool beside the tub so I don't have to lean as much hope this helps

[BeachBum]

QOTD:
Period-10 mo still BF
Words-Ball, Duck, Vroom (when pushing his cars), Mama (as of yesterday). The words are a little funny, but my book said that any "word" they consistantly say to an object counts. These words all came about in the past few weeks.
BaithingWe have used the big tub since he could sit up. We just have lots of non skid stuff in the bottom, and a non skid mat thrown over the side of the tub too.

[solongtogo]

bathing as of yesterday we switched to the big tub with a non skid mat. She was fairly unsure and sat still, but it's only a matter of time before she's moving around in the tub.

words dada, mama, WOAH (her first word, she says it constantly when looking at lights), wow, she said bubble once but I've not heard it again

[jo&sean]

Hi Ladies!

QOTD re: AF - I don't remember - 8 weeks I think? (no bf'ng though...) Still not regular and they are horrible now with so much pain. Going from very light cramps to feeling like I have been ran over by a bulldozer is quite a change for me. I am going to talk to my dr about the drastic change.

QOTD re: words - Addy says cat, dog, ball, mama, dadda, yeah (as in "yes") when asked a question, duck, and signs more, all done and bottle. She just started saying "doy" when she sees our cat Doyle but it isn't consistent yet.

Bathing - We have been in the big person tub for quite a while now. We haven't used a bath mat yet but I have used a towel now and then. I usually sit on the edge of the tub with my feet in the water to wash her so I don't have to lean over the tub.

TTC - We are still up in the air. Like Andrea, we just don't know what we want to do.

Not much going on around our house. DH has been out of town the past few days but is coming home tonight. It wasn't too bad being alone with Addy but I am definitely tired. Between her and the pets, there is no time to rest! Someone always wants or needs something :) We are going to visit my mom this weekend so that should be fun.

Travel question: For those that have flown with DC, did you get them their own seat? We are undecided what we want to do. We are going to visit friends in Missouri this fall. We can't get a direct flight so we will have a connection and I don't know if I want to lug her car seat around with us. If it was a longer flight or if we were going to Europe (like we were supposed to do in September grrr...I am still bitter about having to move that trip out!), I would definitely get her a seat but for a short trip like this, is it worth it? TIA.

[Cr8nme]

Jo~ I have flown with DD about 15 times :eek: and each time I have had her on my lap. What I usually do since I usually fly lone with her is I check our baggage and gate check the stroller and carseat... Sometimes if the flight isn't full they will let you bring the carseat on and give her a seat which I love...the only thing that makes me want to buy a seat at this age is they are soooo active and they want to touch other poeple so unlike when Noelle was a little baby. Hope this helps

[jo&sean]

Cr8nme - Thanks - that does help! I forgot how much you have flown with Noelle! She is a seasoned traveler :)

[AlisonCO]

travel - I flew with Aidan several times when he was under 18 months and for short flights I had him on my lap. If the flight was over 3 hours I got him a seat. It is so nice having the extra room of the other seat to let them stand or put the diaper bag on etc, but he did fine on my lap. Most of the time I visited my family and it was just a 2 hour flight. Twice the flight was not full so I got an extra seat and one time we got bumped to first class. The hardest was when he was walking and he would not sit still - I haven't flown with him since;)

words - Cailtin says MaMa, Bubba (brother), dog, ball and very occasionally DaDa.

bath - She sits in the big bath with 2 non-slip mats. I only fill the bath up a few inches because she likes to crawl around. She also loves when I leave the water running just a little - she puts her face in it.

My neighbor just had a baby boy Monday and I got to hold him today - OMG he was so tiny. It is so hard to imagine my kids being that small (and Cailtin was almost 2 pounds smaller than him.) He was so sweet and his hair and skin were so light that you can't even see his eyelashes. It is so nice to have a baby fix:)

We are doing well - stil working on the 4 teeth. The side ones are coming in before the front 2. C was up 3 times last night making the saddest noises - thank goodness for Motrin - geez, what did they do before drugs? She is also taking more and more steps - today I think that she took 5 steps! I ordered her b-day Robeez last night and picked up her piggy bank - it turned out so cute!

Hope that everyone is doing well - we haven't had many pictures lately, anyone have new ones?

[pixiecat]

Hi everyone!

words - Lily isn't really saying anything purposefully yet, but she does "talk" a lot! She says DADADADA to everything! Also says DU to the dog, so that it pretty close, but we're not calling it yet!

travel - we haven't traveled with her yet... Cr8nme - I can't believe how much you guys have flown! Go mama!

bath - we don't have an adult tub (large 2-person shower), so I put her in her baby tub in the shower. She likes to crawl out of it & stand under the "rain" :rolleyes:

Here are a couple of pictures of Lily in her new swing... she loves it!

http://images1.snapfish.com/3478%3A%3A274%7Ffp354%3Enu%3D3235%3E248%3E85%3B%3E WSNRCG%3D3233%3A7%3A785%3A34nu0mrj

http://images1.snapfish.com/3478%3A%3A274%7Ffp356%3Enu%3D3235%3E248%3E85%3B%3E WSNRCG%3D3233%3A7%3A785%3A35nu0mrj

[AndreaMMS]

Hi, everyone!:D Very chipper Mama here- Ferber seems to be working with sleeptraining Naomi- for the past few nights she has slept through the night with NO crying and not getting up AT ALL!!! I hope I don't jinx it...;) Goooooood it feels good to be rested!!! Only took close to 11 months:rolleyes:

I wanted to update you with The Maddening Saga of The Birthday Invitations....

After utterly melting down about it last week, I scanned her pro pic and rush ordered from Kodak.com. They arrived in three days, and were really cute, I started putting them in envelopes and saw...that I had given the date as...September 16 2005!!!! AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!:mad:

I said many, many words that I don't want Naomi ever repeating. I called Kodak, and they told me to send them back for a refund (even though the mistake was totally my fault) and re-order. I did, and got them yesterday.

I really like them, thank goodness, after all the drama!

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c133/AndreaMMS/scan0002.jpg


Travel- we always buy Naomi her own seat. It's worked very well for us - she thus far has slept 2-3 hours of each of our 5 hour flights.

pixiecat- Lily is SO cute!!! She is smiling so hard, I can't help but smile right back at her!

[cr8zyforaf]

Andrea - the invites turned out so well!! I love how the colors on her shirt match the invitation perfectly...I thought of you last night - I am also doing a somewhat Ferber approach to sleeping - although it is going MUCH better than I hoped (it will all go to cr*p when we go on vacation on Saturday)...I leave her in the crib awake...will spend a few minutes telling her 'night night time' and then I leave..she cries for about 10-15 minutes and then I hear her talking and moving around for another 10-15 minutes and then she is out...for the night...NO WAKE UPS..this is our third night...I just can't believe it. I really can't. So, yeah for you and Naomi!!! And your thread prompted me to try....I thought if it was working for Naomi, I should at least try it. So, thanks!!

pixi - lily is so cute..and you are adorable also!! Is that the view from your backyard..wow!!!

AF - can't remember really - I think it came back shortly after my 6 week check up - I was not BFing...and then I went back on the pill.

words - Ashley is a chatter box...she says (and connect the words with the person or thing) ma ma, da da (and daddy), dog, tickle tickle tickle (and tickles herself), ba ba (bottle), bye bye, no (this is her favorite -and if I tell her no - she points her finger at me and says NO back).

bath - I've always put her in the big bath tub - I use a mat on the side (I think Beach gave me that idea) anda mat on the bottom..she likes to stand but I sit on a stool next to the tub. We did have an incident where I was going to the bathroom (right across from the tub) real quick and she leaned over and fell face first onto the tile...I felt awful..so I don't leave the tub side anymore.

Well, Ashley took three steps on Wednesday night..and she was so proud of herself. So, I think it won't be long. Hand, Foot, and Mouth is going around her daycare - I found this out because a teacher whispered it to me...they have known since Monday (there have been 5 cases in the three infant rooms) and the director hasn't sent anything out. I am calling corporate again...I love the teachers, but I hate the way the center is run.

We leave for the beach tomorrow. I can't wait to get out of dodge for awhile! Almost everything is done for her party - I ordered the cake yesterday and made a decision about a caterer...I was expecting a lot of people not to come - but so far - only two couples can't make it - so I am looking at about 60 adults and 20 kids - should be interesting. Still haven't decided on entertainment.

more kids - yes...but not soon. I want two more, DH says one more. I really love being a mom - it is one of the best things I have done yet. I know I can't wait much longer - I am almost 34 - but we are just not ready yet. Plus, I want Ashley to have 100% of my focus for a little bit longer....I worry about having another pregnancy like the first - sick all the time - and that will be hard.

[Cr8nme]

Andrea~ love the invites! I am glad you found a creative way to use the pic;)

I just wanted to say that I am glad that the babies are sleeping...I have to admit that I never give feedback about sleeping because I have never had a problem... Noelle slept in my bed until we moved to dallas and she was 9 months old at that time :eek: We immediately started putting her in her crib (she had never slept in before) and no problems...I have never been sleep deprived thank goodness! and for the past month or so she has consitently slept from about 9pm to 6am before that she would wake up at 3:30 for a breast feeding so she weaned herself from that... Now that she is on complete bottle I thinks she sleeps a lot harder for some reason... anyway thats my scoop!

[solongtogo]

pixie Look at that smile!! (and the view too-wow!)

Andrea love the invites...the colors are fabulous!

Kim Go Ash on walking!! Have fun at the beach!

This morning Court got up at 3-4:45ish...don't know what is going on with that, she may be getting ready to hit a developmental milestone or something, but not 5 minutes after I crawled back to bed, the alarm went off to get up for the morning.

*zzzzzzZZZZZZZzzzzZZZZ*

[randysmandy]

Andrea Ths invites look fab-I have to get my scanned and show them off as well. That's ok-I put the wrong address on mine!!!! I put #89___Road and not #86___Road -good thing #89 is a corn field LOL! We shall be using balloons and signs. Oh well. I wonder if anyone would have noticed the 2005???

bathing We don't have a plug in our tub so poor Hunter is still in his baby tub-he tries to stand up and splash the entire time. He does enjoy showers when we give him those on the weekends.

words He says mamma, dadda, kitty, he meows and waves to go out of his room and outside.

Sleeping Hunter has been getting up 2x/night-I have NO idea what's going on either, but it's tiring. This morning DH and I were both late for work cause our alarms didn't go off and we didn't wake up.

We are headed to Newport,RI for a day trip this weekend. Happy Friday!!

[cr8zyforaf]

Oh - my invites - I didn't put my phone number...duh..I put RSVP and no phone number.

[Brink]

Happy Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait to go home for the weekend. I have been working so hard this week and haven't been home a lot and Aimee definitely feels it. Last night she cried when DH left the room and didn't care when I did. So sad.......

Bathing - We still put her in the kitchen sink. It is just so much easier and uses so much less water. I don't know at what point I'll decide she is too big for it, but I'm going to take advantage while I can.

Sleeping - I used to have a wonderful sleeper. Ever since we moved, she has been up at least once per night. I think now she is getting used to having a nightime bottle and that is a problem. I also think she might be going through a growth spurt - do they have another one of those around this age?

Pixiecat - such cute pics of Lily. I want to get a swing for Aimee's bday. Hope I remember.

Andreamms - the invites turned out wonderful.

Cr8zy - have fun at the beach this weekend!

[hmbay]

sleeping--Alex is still up 1-3 times a night. He has slept longer than 5 hours probably under ten times in his entire life.....

[wildcat]

I love all the pics, we have such cute Sept babies, not that I'm biased!;) I'm going to upload tomorrow, so I'll post some new ones then!

I also try not to talk about sleep as we had to wake Lauren up to feed her for the first 4 weeks, then for 3 weeks she got up 1-2 times a night and then has STTN since 7 weeks old (10-12 hours and yes, I know we're VERY lucky). Every once in awhile we'll hear her cry for a minute or something and it's either in her sleep or she lost her paci and she'll find it and go right back to sleep. WEELLLL, last night at 3:30am, we heard her cry really loud, her "pain" cry. We kept calming her down but at 4am I gave up and brought her into bed with us, but she kept squirming and sitting up and crying. Finally, at 5am, DH took her back to her crib and she went right to sleep. I have no idea what caused it, but, she'd been a little off this week, not quite herself, so I thought it was either teething or an ear infection (she's had a cold on and off for the last 2.5 months since she started new daycare). Long story short, her ears and lungs were clear but they think she could have an infection (infected adnoids causing a sinus pressure headache last night) so she's on amoxicllyn. Hopefully she feels better and tonight goes better...it definitely makes me feel for you mamas who have had night wakings routinely for almost a year!

Ok - you girls are making me feel behind on bday stuff! We're having 2 parties, one where we live and one where all my family lives. I'm in a wedding the weekend before her bday (it's on a Wednesday, 9/27), so the parties will be on 9/30 and 10/7, so I hope I have some time! I'm wanting to do somethign really cute/creative on invitations and spent a lot of time at Archivers on Wednesday looking at stuff, I just need to decide on something and do it!

bath - We started putting Lauren in the big bath maybe around 9 months. We have a nonslip pad in the bottom and she LOVES crawling around!

[Kay2003]

tub - thanks, everyone, for your responses about the bath. I bought a non-slip pad at the hardware store and will try that tomorrow night. I also bought a snug tub deluxe (an inflatable bathtub) to place inside the bath. After reading how many of you just use nonslip pads, we may not need the snug tub deluxe. But we can't return it now because my brother blew up the little ring toys that go with it. Oh well.

flying - I've only flown with Kaito twice, just hour or two hour long flights, so I've just held him on my lap. I've heard that some airlines have discounts for child seats, so do look into that!

sleep - wildcat, well, there's something in the air because I could've written a similar post as far as crying the 'pain" cry and being up for a lot of the night. When Kaito would cry in the middle of the night, I'd just go and feed him and he'd immediately fall back asleep. But for the past two nights, Kaito would cry and I couldn't comfort him with b/f.... I ended up sleeping ont he futon in his room both nights. This morning he woke up with a really runny nose. I guess he's been sick. Hopefully tonight he will sleep better. As far as general sleep patterns, though, he'd get up 1 -2 X a night before the last two nights.

Andrea - cute invite!!

ergo carrier - Have you tried these things? I had a bjorn, but there was too much pressure for me on my shoulders. I feel like I could carry Kaito in the ergo carrier forever, because the weight is placed on the hips. They are expensive, but I'm going to go buy one of these tomorrow (I had borrowed one from a friend to try).

Happy weekend, everyone!

[crow]

pixie Lily looks sooo happy, and having a ball! Now I am seriously considering buying a swing too, though we have no where to hang it in our yard.

andrea totally agreeing with everyone else--you did great job with the invites, and Naomi is such a cutie.

Congratulations Ashley on your first steps! Have a good vacation with Mommy and Daddy!

Kudos to all the bday planning mamas! We haven't even set a date.

I Love reading all the QOTDs, all the daily stuff about our Sept babies.

Here is some stuff about our little guy...
tub: we use the infant tub, but we set it outside on the deck (there is a door from his room), so he just splashes around like crazy.

flying: we have flown 4-5 times, short 1.5 hr flights. When he was really little (10 wks) it was easy. Since then, he sometimes gets fussy, usually on the return flight b/c he gets tired from the entire trip (not sleeping well, etc). My DH has taken him by himself, too, for a "boys weekend."

sleep: Also last week, we had one day where BF cried when we put him in his crib. In the last several months, he has not cried at all when we put him down. Maybe teething? We kept picking him up, and he would quickly get drowsy, then as we set him down, he would WAIL hard. We did this for about 40 minutes, until we just decided to let him CIO, so he cried for about 8 minutes, then went to sleep. I think next time I may try tylenol earlier, b/c I feel so bad that he must have been hurting.

BF is pretty set in his schedule, 6pm-530 am. However, this morning he slept 7pm-630 am. We had a pool party, so we put him to bed later. We would love if he could sleep in. And then 6 pm does not give us a lot of time with him. We keep telling ourselves to go to bed really early so we can both be awake at 530, but it is hard when we have so much stuff to do.

more kids/AF: me not yet, even though my pumping output has dramatically decreased. In fact, I took a PG test yesterday to check if I was pg. I think we may start trying later this year.

Ergo: kay I have one, but we rarely use it, b/c BF gets bored and squirmy,maybe b/c he likes to see out. Also he and we get sweaty if we use it on a hot day. I've heard that lots of other babies LOVE the ergo, though. I do like how it takes pressure off my back and shoulders.

Have a great weekend!

[pixiecat]

Hi everyone!

swing - thanks for the compliments on the swing - it is so fun, although you can see that it is WAY up high! I have to stand on a stool to get her in there! It was a