Too Funny....

 Yesterday I picked up the kids from the sitter’s and was informed that Evie will not let anyone near Mitch.  Whenever another kid comes near him, she runs around and screams “NO!  That’s my baby Mitchell!  That’s my brother”.  Apparently she is very protective.  I was also informed that Titi’s neighbors have a chicken and it got lose in Titi’s backyard.  The kids were chasing it around and even got close enough to touch it.  Titi said Evie was having a lot of fun and Evie thought that it was hilarious.  I’m not crazy about her touching a chicken, but hopefully she washed her hands before she ate anything! 

So I pick them up and we go home.  I pull into the driveway and Evie burst into tears.  I had no idea what was wrong. I asked her and, in between sobs, she told me that she wanted to go home.  I told her that we were home and she just kept crying and saying no.  I got her out of her seat and she bolted out of the garage and into the front yard.  She pointed at our house and said to me, in a very accusing voice, ‘This is not our house!  Our door not blue.  It’s green”.  Somehow she just noticed that we had our house painted.  I assured her that this was indeed our house and when we went inside, she looked so relieved.  I said “See?  We’re home”.  She turned around and gave me a hug and said “Thank you so much Mama”.  Then she ran into the family room and picked up one of her stuffed animals, hugged it and said “I missed  you so much!”  What a silly girl!

Later, I was changing Mitch’s diaper and I heard Evie getting into something.  When I went back into the family room, she was nowhere to be seen.  I found her sitting in a corner behind a chair eating a bag of carrots that she had gotten out of my lunchbox.  She grinned at me and looked guilty since she didn’t ask first.  I told her she had to ask next time, but to eat as many as she wanted.  I’m not taking a vegetable away from her!

She makes us laugh every day!

Kiki's Birthday and Brunch

This weekend, we had a lot of fun with my parents.  Evie always loves when Kiki and Pops come to see her and play.  They are so great about paying attention to both of our kids.  I worried a little bit that Evie was really going to have a hard time sharing her grandparent’s attention when Mitchell was born, but it really hasn’t been too much of any issue with either my parents or Pat’s.  They are all wonderful about showering our children with equal amounts of love and affection and we couldn’t be more grateful!  It was a very low key Saturday which suited us all just fine.  Pat prepared a delicious dinner for us in honor of my mom’s birthday (Aug. 12)  - grilled pork chops, asparagus and a crab cake followed up by homemade peach cobbler….YUM!!!  Evie loved getting to sing happy birthday to Kiki and help blow out the candles.  She had been looking forward to it all week.  We all ended up going to bed early after that huge meal and both kids slept well (halleluiah!!).

Happy Birthday Kiki!

Evie and Kiki watching a movie in her tent

The next day we were treated to brunch with Tim and Katherine, as well as Katharine’s children and grandchildren, at J. Liu’s in Worthington.  Brunch was really good, although a little different from what I’m used to having.  I don’t think I’ve ever had an omelet with a side fried rice and an egg roll before!  Everyone ate well – especially Evie!  She devoured everything on her plate and then shared dessert with Pops.  Mitch was an angel and slept almost the whole time.  This, coupled with the fact that Evie sat between my parents instead of next to me, allowed me actually be able to carry on a conversation with people.  Definitely something I don’t take for granted these days when interruptions come every 5 seconds!  We all enjoyed the brunch and the company and my parents enjoyed getting to know Katharine’s family.   

Katharine and Mitchell

 We ended the weekend with a milestone in Evie’s life – her first night along in her big girl bed in her big girl room.  Her room isn’t done yet, but we decided to start the transition to her new room now that Mitch is a few months old.  We won’t start putting him in his crib for a while yet, but we want to make sure that Evie is comfortable in her new room before we start putting Mitchell in there.  Evie’s life has going through a lot of changes lately so we’re trying to make these transitions as easy as possible for her.  She did fantastic in her new room!  She got up a few times initial, but then settled down and slept the whole night through!  Evie is not the greatest sleeper so this is a big deal for us.  We are hoping (but not holding our breath ) that this is the beginning of a better night’s sleeper her (and us).  It’s bittersweet though – our baby girl is growing up so fast!!

Bathtime

First night in her big girl bed!

Mitchell-Man is 2 Months Old!

This post is a little late, but our boy Mitch turned two months old on 8/10! It's hard to believe that so much time has passed already.  It it literally flying by!

We took Mitchell to the doctor last week.  He weighs 15lbs and is 23 inches long.  Big Boy!  I wasn't shocked by this, but it is still kind of amazing that he is so big.  He's outgrowing all of his 3 month clothes and even some of the 3-6 stuff.  We had already returned some stuff for bigger sizes and now it looks like we'll have to exchange them again.  Crazy!  I asked the doctor if everything was okay with him since he's growing so darn fast and I was assured that Mitchell was 'just right".  The pediatrician said that some babies just go through their growth spurts early and then even out when they get a little bit older.  That definitely seems to be the way that Mitchell is growing.  He said the that they don't really worry about babies gaining too much at this stage.  The number that they are most concerned with is his head circumference because that indicated brain development.  While I cannot remember the exact number, I do know that Mitchell is above average in that too.   Guess our guy is an overachiever!  Mitchell checked out perfect.  He's right on track developmentally.  He got four vaccines - three shots and a oral vaccine.  He did great - only cried for a second (which broke my heart).  Evie was not happy with the doctor when he 'hurt' Mitchell and gave him a glare. 

Mitchell is smiling these days and cooing more and more.  He loves to watch the ceiling fan and can be very content laying on the floor on his play mat.  He's making more eye contact these days.  He seems fascinated by faces and will stare at Pat and I when we hold him. I love making faces at him and watching his expression change.  He's obviously a good eater, but so far, we haven't had to supplement him at all.  He's strictly taking breast-milk.  I'm hoping I can nurse him for a year like I did Evie.  He takes a pacifier, although he's not the paci-lover that his sister is.  He'll spit it out after awhile most of the time.  He loves taking walks in the stroller and being outside.  Mitchell is such a sweet, cuddly little guy who just loves to be held.  He wants to be in our arms and part of the action.  Can't wait to see what the next month brings!

Evie had to get in on the action :)

I don't think that they look alike at all (at least not much)

Festival Fun!

A few weeks ago when we are were in KY, we went to the St. Pius Festival.  While we were disappointed the Evie wasn't tall enough to go on the rides, we still had a lot of fun!

 We also went to the St. Mary's Festival in German Village this year.  Evie had a blast playing the games and watching kids get wet in the dunking booth. She came home exhausted and I came home with a pocket full of toddler treasures.

The Many Faces of Mitchell

Our little man is starting to smile a little!  We can't get enough of it (and his sweet, smooshy, kissable cheeks!)

Handsome little boy!

Typical day at our house :)

Back to Work :(

I haven’t been very good about my blog posts lately.  I was too busy soaking up all the precious time off that I had with my kiddos.  8 weeks have never flown by so quickly for me before.  I started back to work on Wednesday (I cried all the way there and the first couple time anyone asked about the baby).  Day 2 and 3 were a little bit better.  I have a lot of guilt about going back to work because I had four less weeks at home with Mitchell than I did with Evie.  Not only does Mitchell not get my full attention like Evie did, but he got shipped off to the baby sitter sooner too.  It’s not something that I’m happy about and I hope to someday make a change that allows me to be at home more.  I’m exploring my options, whether it’s working part-time or late at night while the kids are sleeping.  They are only babies for so long and I hate missing everything!

Maternity leave this time around was busy.  Once I recovered from having a baby, I really tried to make the most of my time off.  Evie still went to the sitter a few times a week in order to keep her on a schedule and give me time with Mitchell.  Mitchell and I spent a lot of time snuggling on those days.  When Evie was home, we had zoo trips and park adventures.  We went for walks, dug for worms, visited puppies at the pet store and enjoyed story time at the library.  We went to a festival and went to the mall to play, shop and share an Auntie Anne's pretzel and lemonade.  I took the kids to KY for a visit and Evie got to play in the fountains at The Banks and Sawyer Point while we were there.  She visited Pops and Kiki at work too.  This thrilled Evie to no end!  Who knew there were so many interesting things at T&W Printing and the airport!  We also got to visit with family and friends that we don’t see often.  I enjoyed this time with my family so much and I was very sad to see it end.

I'm so grateful for the time that I had with my babies and I wish it hadn't ended so soon.  Here are some pictures from our adventures.

Digging for worms

Having lunch with Kiki and watching the airplanes take off

Having fun at T&W Printing

Breakfast with Julie

It's Skyline time!

Enjoying some Jeni's Ice Cream

Ear Tubes

Evie has had quite a few ear infections in her short life.  She made it through her first year without getting any, but since then she has had eight double ear infections, five of which have been since February of this year.  We would get the infections cleared up only to have them return a few weeks later.  It has been frustrating for us as parents and painful for Evie.  A few weeks ago we had an appointment with an ENT.  He looked in Evie's ears and did a hearing test.  At the time of her appointment, she didn't have an infection, but she did have fluid in her ears that was affecting her hearing.  The doctor explained that antibiotics will clear up infections, but will not get rid of fluid.  He recommended tubes and after talking with him, we agreed.

We took Evie to have her tubes put in today.  The Ohio Surgery Center is only about ten minutes from our house which was nice.  Evie's surgery was scheduled for 7:30am, but we had to be there by 6:30.   She was excited because she got to wear her pajamas to the doctor.  She couldn't eat or drink before the procedure.  She asked for a drink and snack once and we distracted her and it was never an issue.  She got checked in and they gave her some medicine to relax her before they took her back.  I was a little nervous because I initially thought she'd have to have an IV, but we were informed that she'd only need gas to put her to sleep since she'd only be under for 15 minutes max.  That made me feel a lot better, only because I know my daughter and know she would have freaked out to have a IV and I really wanted to avoid that if at all possible.  Her nurse was awesome!  She showed Evie the gas mask and told her that she could pick the scent of the gas - Evie chose bubble gum.  Then she brought the gas mask back and let Evie smell it.  I'm not sure what they use to scent it, but Evie loved getting to play with the mask and smell the bubble gum.

When it came time from them to take her back, Evie started to get a little upset when Pat and I had to leave, but again, our nurse was awesome.  She scooped Evie up and said she'd carry her back (rather than having her rolled back on the bed) and even let her push the handicap button for the door.  Evie really liked that and didn't cry at all.  Can't say the same for me - I teared up when they took my baby back.  Even though it was only a simple procedure, it's still a little overwhelming to have your child taken from you and put under anesthesia.  We were told that they would bring us to her in recovery as soon as she woke up.  About 10 minutes later, the doctor came out and spoke with us and said that Evie did great!  15 minutes later, a nurse came to get us and said Evie was awake - and upset.  She was wailing when we got to her.  I held her, but she still cried.  The nurse said that was completely normal.  Anesthesia can make her feel loopy, dizzy and even have her seeing double.  It just takes a little while to wear off.  We sat and watched a cartoon and she drank some juice, but she still cried for the better part of an hour.  Once they saw that she was awake and keeping food and drink down, we were released.  Evie fell asleep as soon as we came home and has been napping since.  We are so happy that she did well and we hope this means no more ear infections!!