Day 31 - Big Boy Time!

The big day had arrived! It was time to move Max into his big boy bed! I've been dreading this day as bed time has always been a struggle and now it will be so much easier to get out. Despite my fears, he has done surprisingly well with the adjustment. He loves the new bed and loves that Mommy, Daddy and Lucy can all snuggle in bed with him. I'm knocking on some major wood here, but he's also done a great job staying in his bed until we get him out in the morning/after naps.

Showing off his new construction bedding.

Lu joined him for some snuggles. They look so tiny!

Day 30 - Sick Baby and Almost a Big Boy Bed

We had plans today to get Max's big boy bed all ready for him today, but the snow and Lu derailed them. Driving a big Uhaul when huge fat flakes are falling doesn't sound like a good plan to me. Lucy also had a really bad night and had digestive issues all week so I decided to put a call into the pediatrician. Our wonderful nurse Liz encouraged us to bring her in for another check up. I was dreading it after last week's appointment turned up nothing and I imagined it would be the same. Well, it turns out our poor peanut had an ear infection! She may have been working on it the week before, but it just wasn't presenting enough for the doctor to see it. I am happy to report her medicine appears to be working and has been sleeping much better since.

Here we are, back at the doctor's office.

We went ahead and took the rail off Max's bed and it was the coolest thing ever!

Day 29 - Nothing to Report

Lu still was sleeping crappy and I was worn out from staying out too late so we decided to skip her swimming lessons. Tannie came over to play and brought us coffee too!

Birds, birds, birds.

Proof that we protect Lu from eating the deadly birds toys. 

Day 28 - Just an Average Day at the D House

It was VERY cold out! I hated bringing the kids out in the cold, but we signed up for Gym and Swim, so we're going! Since Lu has had a cold I sent her to Tannie's house while Max and I went to class. After the kids went to bed I had a wonderful night out with some old friends!

Birds, birds and more star birds.

All bundled up.

First time the three of us have been out together since before I was pregnant with Max!

Day 27 - Thanksgiving Visitors

Mom and I decided to make a Thanksgiving dinner this week since it is one of our favorite meals. There is no reason why we can't enjoy it on days other then Thanksgiving! I decided to take on the turkey, stuffing and green bean casserole while Mom brought over the potatoes and dessert. I tried out Ina Garten's Herb Roasted Turkey Breast with a few substitutions- dried herbs instead of fresh and melted butter instead of oil. I prepped it a few hours before it needed to go in the over so it would marinade a bit in the herbs then popped it in the oven. It took a few extra hours then what was recommended, but the end result was amazing!

My beautiful bird.

The kids played patiently together while I spent the day cooking.

It is always a fun day when Tannie and Pop come over.

Birds with Pop!

Day 26- Poop on the Potty and Time to Fix the Bed

Today was a VERY exciting day! We've been slowly working on potty training Max since before Thanksgiving, but he has refused to poop on the potty no matter how hard we try. Today he finally did it! The proud mama in me was tempted to take a picture of it, but I resisted... sort of.

The poop is in the potty that this very proud boy is standing on!

Someone is starting to pull up on things!

Day 25 - My Kids Have Great Hair

Ok so I'm really bad at this blogging every day thing and once again I'm playing catch-up. Today's feature is after bath time hair!

Max's blue steel.

Baby faux hawk!

Day 24- My Little Babywearer and Lu's First Noodle

If you know me, you know I'm kinda of addicted to baby carriers. I have several and lust after many many more. My mom picked up a Bitty Baby carrier for Lucy's doll(that she has yet to receive since I think she's still too little) and we decided to let Max try it out. He loved it and was so proud to be wearing it! I've seen that Ergo offers mini carriers as well, but have yet to see one that isn't pink or has flowers on it. Perhaps in the future we'll be able to find something a bit more gender neutral for him.

Lu had Noodles' Wisconsin Mac and Cheese for the first time today!

I let the kids play for a bit in Lu's bed to get her used to it tonight.

Day 23 - Daddy Off Work!

Max has become more aware of Bill having to go to work/not being home in the evenings. He regularly asks "Daddy off work night?" It breaks my heart and Bill's to hear this, but unfortunately that is the nature of his job. If he had a normal 9-5, he'd be gone all day and miss even more time with the kids. It is always a good day when I can answer the question with "Yes, Daddy is off work tonight!" This is usually received with a big "Hooray!" from Max.
We had a pretty relaxing day. I ran in the morning and we went to check on my parents' cat. We put together an Angry Birds puzzle and had lunch at Panera. After a glorious nap in which Lu slept two whole hours in her own bed we had some yummy chili and bacon cornbread for dinner. We finished off the night with snuggle movie time where we watched "The Aristocats." Max really liked it and had a quite entertaining dance party during "Everybody Wants to be a Cat," complete with booty dancing!

Lu wasn't really a fan of cornbread.

Yep, that is the best I could get.

Day 22 - Brrrrr!

It was COLD today! When I got in the car to take the kids to swimming lessons the temperature read -1!! I debated even bringing the kids out, but figured they were bundled up and would only be outside for less then a minute. Thankfully I wasn't the only crazy parent who dragged their kids out in the cold as there were several children in childcare and everyone in Lu's class was there. We tried to stay in as much as possible the rest of the day, but an evening run to Target was necessary for TP and grilled cheese ingredients.

She looks so cute all bundled up!

We've reached the stage of awkward smiles...

Lu's first grilled cheese!

Day 21 - Flu Shots and a Visit With Grandma Karen and Grandpa Pete

As I've mentioned, Lu has been acting a bit off the past few weeks-fussier then usual, clingy, and not sleeping well. I decided that since we were going to the pediatrician's office for her second flu shot anyways, she might as well get checked out to make sure nothing medical is going on. The results? She's perfectly fine. Ears look perfect and he doesn't even think she's teething. Just great. It isn't that I want her to be sick, but if it was an ear infection we could give her an antibiotic and she'd be feeling better/hopefully sleeping better. Oh well, it looks like we'll have to get more serious about some sort of sleep training.
After the doctor's appointment we picked up the boys and headed out to my inlaws' house for a delicious turkey dinner. Lu surprised us and ate a bunch of turkey! Max had fun playing with the toy assortment out there and especially enjoyed an antique Weebles race track from 1978!

Best part of the doctor's office is the paper!

Antique Weeble racer!

Day 20 - Someone got in trouble...

We went to the Y this morning to get my run in since tomorrow is Martin Luther King Jr. Day and childcare will be flooded with kids home from school. Lu is just getting over a little cold and I want her exposed to as few germs as possible. I ran my 3.08 miles, cleaned up and went to pick the kids up. I was surprised to find Max sitting quietly in a chair off to the side. It turns out he was in timeout for throwing toys and dumping things all over the floor. I guess I'm not surprised. We've been having a bit of trouble with him showing his two year old-ness these past several weeks. He doesn't differentiate between it being ok to throw balls at gym class or soccer, but it not being ok to throw trains or other toys. We've tried gently explaining it to him which did not work, so we've moved on to timeout as soon as he throws something whether or not he's throwing for fun or a temper tantrum. I'm really hoping we'll make some progress with this. I know it isn't a big deal in the grand scheme of toddler misbehavior, but it still doesn't feel great as a parent to know your child is getting timeout at childcare.
Lu has been a bit moody the past couple days. I really hope it is her teeth finally coming through because she's fussing when she's nursing, doesn't want to be laid down, and has been having a hard time going down for her naps on her own. We go in tomorrow for her flu shot booster and I might just ask to have her seen just in case there is more to the story.

Snuggling with Daddy.

Surprise, surprise, someone didn't want to go to bed tonight.

Day 19 - Max's First Soccer Practice

Today was an exciting day for Max and Bill. Max had his first soccer practice! One of the local soccer clubs has started a program for toddlers. They meet once a week for 50 minutes and do age appropriate ball drills and games to get the kids interested in the sport. Since Bill was quite the soccer player in high school and college, we wanted to give it a try.
It was a lot of fun to watch all the chaos! Max did OK, he had some trouble sitting still and listening to directions, but what 2 year old doesn't? One activity that Max enjoyed was building towers out of cones and then kicking a ball at them to knock them down. Pretty much identical to his favorite Angry Bird game! Lu also made a little baby friend. One of the girls in Max's group has a baby sister that is 10 days older then Lu. It was fun to chat with her grandma and watch the girls interact.

His first soccer uniform!

Practicing ball control.

Lu's new favorite toy is the remote.

Day 18 - Happy Seven Months Lucy!

I can't believe Lu is already seven months old! Seven months means that she's no longer my little baby, we're approaching crawling, walking and talking. She's finally eating some solid food and still nursing around the clock. Still no teeth, but I'm hopeful they're about to make their appearance. Her sleep schedule has been improving, sleeping a whole five hour stretch each night and then up every hour or so after that. She's still on reflux meds and while we hoped to be weaning her off of them, I'm thinking we'll probably need to increase her dose. We've been dealing with separation anxiety-something we never really experienced with Max. She wants to be held whenever possible and if she's sitting next to me, she'll dive towards me in hopes of getting picked up.
She's super sweet and smiley. As I mentioned before she's saying "Mama" and has also started saying "Baba," and something like "Boom." She loves Max so much and he can make her giggle better then anyone else.

I can't believe how big she's gotten!

She was sleeping like a lady with her feet crossed.

This is probably an hour after he was put to bed and still happily playing.

Day 17- Playing Hookie

We skipped story time this morning in favor of getting caught up around the house. I haven't quite figured out how to keep up with the housework along with all the other things we're trying to do, so I needed a morning home to get things done. I was finally able to get my Christmas thank you notes out along with Lucy's six month pictures. Just in time to get her seven month pictures taken tomorrow!

We brought dinner over to Tannie since she'll be busy traveling for next several days and were also able to get some quality play time with Pop!

Mama wasn't invited to this party!

Playing Oreos with Pop and Tannie.

Day 16: Pooptastrophe 2013 and Max's first dirty joke

Remember how I posted last night that Max was trying out undies at bedtime? Well I ran to get him out of bed the first time I heard him at 7 am thinking I'd dodge a bullet and get him right to the potty. What I found can only be described as a pooptastrophe. He was soaked, his bed was soaked and poop stained. When I took his jammies off, they were full of poop as were his undies. He then flung his undies across the bathroom spraying slimey poop everywhere. There was no good way to clean him up so I just threw him in the shower and sprayed him off. It took a lot of paper towels, clorox and febreeze to get that mess cleared up.
After that we headed to the Y so I could get a workout in. Upon removing Lu from her bucket I discovered that she too had created a poopsplosion in her bucket. I ran out to the car to get a change of clothes(thank goodness I actually had a backup in the car) and took her down to the chilly locker room to get cleaned up. I was surprised to discover that all of my wipes were gone. So I had to clean up a massive poop mess-poop up to her armpits and in her hair with cheapo locker room paper towels. Poor baby was so cold and crying through the whole thing.After mess #2 I was able to get my workout in even though I was a bit rusty on the elliptical.
Fast forward through 2 more poops, bath time for both kids and a trip to the mall. We decided to have dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Max mainly eats rolls when we're there, but it is actually cheaper to order a kids meal then to just get him a drink and a side. So we order him a hot dog figuring he won't eat most of it. Three rolls, several croutons and his applesauce later he wasn't interested in his hot dog. He took it out of the bun and was playing with it and then the light bulb went off. He put the hot dog down by his crotch and excitedly proclaimed "It like a penis!!" Bill and I burst out laughing which unfortunately encouraged him to do this over and over until we took the hot dog away. Needless to say we will not be eating hot dogs in our house anytime soon.

"Hey guys, did you forget about me?"

Before the hot dog incident, plotting his next birds move.

Lu is starting to get a bit too big for Max to hold!

Day 15: Peek a boo!

It has been a good day. Started the morning off with Lucy's swimming lessons. I have to say her lessons are much more advanced then Max's are. I know it has a lot to do with the instructor, but Lucy's teacher has them practicing pushing off the side and towing while Max gets to practice getting in the "safe way."
We had a glorious nap and spent the rest of the evening playing at home. Leftovers for dinner since I've actually been cooking again(I pretty much took the month of December off) and the kids went to bed fairly easily.
I had mentioned we were getting rid of the binks last week and I am proud to report that Max has been bink free for a whole week! Tonight Max asked to wear his Angry Bird Star Wars undies to bed, so against my better judgement he is currently sleeping in big boy undies! Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Where's Max?

Peek a boo!

Day 14: Cold Day!

Monday morning means Gym and Swim time for Max. Bill had mentioned last week that he would like to go with us, so he surprised me by being up and ready to go! I was able to run on the treadmill while Max and Bill did gym class and then Bill exercised while Max and I went to swimming lessons. Bill met us in the pool when he was all done. It worked out pretty well and Lu survived the time in childcare. Max was especially whiney as documented below.

Afterwards we were all starving so we headed to the Waffle House for breakfast. Despite having large entrees, Bill and I were both hungry afterwards. One thing I've noticed with this no carb diet is I never really get that feeling of fullness. I'm a bottomless pit! Thankfully the diet has been a lot easier this time around. I've only had a few bites of toast and one cookie in 2 weeks! It appears to be working as I'm down 6 pounds since the first.

"Mama hold you, Mama pick up me!"

This is Lucy's response to all the whining.

Day 13: Finally a day at home

I was quite tired today since I got to go out to a friend's birthday party last night. Thankfully the kids were pretty agreeable and I was able to do a bit of laying around. I think they were happy to just be home today.

Mommy's little sous chef

Yep, another crappy picture of him playing with his birds and pigs. I need some inspiration.

Day 12: This kid amazes me sometimes

Like I said earlier, we've been super busy with all the activities we started this week. I wanted to just stay home and take it easy on Saturday, but of course it was grocery day so we had more running around to do. I'm hoping we'll find a balance with this crazy schedule soon!

This music table has been a big hit with both kiddos even though we had to take the legs off for Lu to enjoy it.

Max constructed this beauty while I was putting Lu to bed. He's been making some pretty impressive structures for his birds and pigs. It is a shame he promptly knocks them down after building them.

Day 11: Friday Family Fitness Fun Day!

We ventured out to the Y as a family today. Bill and I put the kids in childcare while we worked out and then picked them up for a family swim. It is a lot of work getting the kids undressed, dressed, showered, and dressed again! We had a lot of fun and everybody needed a nap when all was said and done. I hope to make this part of our weekly routine, but maybe starting just a little earlier in the day!

Daddy's alternative to sitting Lucy on the locker room floor.

Tiny block towers for tiny Darth Vader Pig.