A Big Huge Catch Up Post

I am so so behind on this blog!

Actually...I am behind on a lot of things, because a certain little girl doesn't sleep.  

After only a few hours of sleep before Karson's 5am wake up call of "Mommy I awake!" both are napping.

Napping in their beds.

Napping in their beds...at the same time!

Woohoo!

So a big huge catch up post...

:: July 2012 ::

Little girl loves the exersaucer.

She hates being on her back.

She loves sitting up.

{this was in July...now she loves to jump in her jumperoo and sit in her walker}

And a huge improvement in big brother's attitude towards his little sister makes this Mama's heart happy!!

:: July Wisconsin Visit ::

 Alternately Titled: The Time I Almost Listed My 2 Year Old On Craig's List

In July my kiddos and I traveled to Wisconsin to visit family with my Mom & Dad.

Sometimes, my kids are angels.

Sometimes, they are not.

Sometimes, they are really, really, really not! 

Wisconsin visits are important to me.

It is important to me that my kids know their Wisconsin family.

And that our Wisconsin family knows my kids.

Usually we go every month from March to October.

After some major, never before seen, 2 year old tantrums from an unnamed 2 year old...

...and hours upon hours of screaming in the car from an unnamed 4 month old.

I very nicely told my Wisconsin family that I would see them in November.

Ellary and her GiGi.

Ellary shares her GiGi's name.

My sweet girl on GiGi's couch.

Wearing one of my old dresses from when I was her age.

A post about that will be coming...hopefully by the time she is 2.

Kidding...kind of.

I was a little overwhelmed at my 2 year old's behavior while we were there.  

So while he was sleeping, I took a Mommy reprieve and snuggled my girl on the couch for a few hours.

 I should say it was not entirely his fault.

He was incredibly sleep deprived, and everything was a "no touch."

Something he isn't used to.

{I am a firm believer in the fact that this is his house too.  

He understands there are things he is not supposed to play with.  

But for the most part, if he isn't supposed to have it, he can't get to it.}

 His behavior drastically improved when we went to my Aunt's house for the afternoon.

A huge back yard to run around in.

A dog to play with.

A pool to splash in.

A much more appropriate environment for a 2 year old boy!

Miss Ellary was just happy to be outside, and out of that dreaded car seat.

Some 1 on 1 Bumpa play time is a fabulous cure for the crabbies.

His swim suit was wet from swimming at the pool the night before, so we convinced him his shorts were ok to get wet.

When they got too went and looked uncomfortable, we let him run around in his "choo choos."

He thought he was so cool!

:: Daddy Time ::

:: Beach Days ::

We have only had a few beach days this summer.

It is hard to take them both to the beach by myself.

But we make the best of it when we do go.

 

He will not to any where near the water if it is even remotely cold!

 

Sweet girl napping on the beach.

I convinced him his wagon was his "special bed."

Yea...it actually worked and he took a nap.

I was shocked too!

:: Beach Day #2 ::

Most.Stressful.Beach.Day.Ever

Take my word for it: Going to the beach after a very rough weekend (Wisconsin Weekend listed above), is a bad bad bad idea.

Ella melted down and then finally fell asleep.

Karson melted down, & kicked his sleeping little sister in the eye.

Sand in Ella's eye = screaming baby.

Stressed out Mama = yelling at the 2 year old.

Melting down two year old getting yelled at = a major melt down.

All of that equals a lot of crying, and yelling, and all around chaos. 

{please.please.please: if you see a young Mama struggling in this situation do not give her dirty looks & comment on her ability to control her kids.  It is incredibly not helpful & makes said young Mama feel even worse.  Yes, lady that sat next to us giving me the stink eye the entire time, I am talking to you.}

Before all of the screaming & yelling took place, there were 2 kids happily enjoying the beach. 

And with that Ellary is awake...I got halfway through July. :)

So Far Behind...

I am so far behind on this blog...

...and with that Ella is awake from her nap. 

InstaFriday

Happy Friday.

Last week we were at my favorite place.

The Mackinac Bridge.

We camped in the U.P.

It was fabulous.

The weather was beautiful.

I was happiest Mama ever getting my 2 babies to The Bridge this summer.

 Karson loved the bridge too.  Probably because his Mama was jumping up and down about it.  

He called it the "Mac-Ti Bridge."

Love.

Little girl LOVES to be outside.

Absolutely loves it!

We took a boat over to an island at Tequanimum Falls.

You would think she would be screaming because of the life jacket.

Nope...she was outside...happy as could be.

Her first pair of Minnetonka Moccasins.

Purchased on Mackinac Island.

I stopped in my tacks when I saw them in the window.

Dying of cutiness.

He is almost 2 1/2.

29 Months to be exact.

These shorts are size 6-12 months.

Notice they are rolled, so he can keep them up?

Kid has no butt.

We had a cold front come in yesterday.

It is 58 degrees here today.

Last night Ella and I snuggled under a blanket and listened to the rain while she nursed for hours on end.

 I know she is getting enough food...she is a chunk...you can count her rolls.

However...she literally nurses for AT LEAST 2 hours, if not 3, in the evenings.

Constant.

I think she is done and lay her down, then 2 seconds later she is wanting more.

If it weren't for the rolls, I would be worried she was starving.

I think she just likes Mommy time in the evenings.

I finally got her to sleep at 12:15 the other night...she was full...and she was out cold!!

My dog and I are having war today.

She is winning.

Oh, how she drives me absolutely crazy.

To avoid locking her out in the rain, or listing her on CL, Mama needed coffee.

I love Nutella.

Nutella has dairy in it.

Bummer.

 Homemade, dairy free Nutella takes a close second to the real thing.

Linking up with Jeannett from Life.Rearranged for InstaFriday.

 

Ellary's Car Seat

Karson is the best little traveler there is.

He always has been.

I thought that is just how kids travel.

He watches a movie, then he falls asleep.

Six hours in the car-no big deal!

 He falls asleep in the car at nap time-I just bring him in the house and put him in his bed.

He keeps sleeping.

Then Ellary came along.

 She was a little more difficult in the car.

She would fuss quite a bit.

After she was about a month old, she screamed.

Every.single.time.

 Not just a little fussing.

Crying so hard she would choke, cough, and throw up.

Every.single.time.

We took a trip to Wisconsin a few weeks ago.

She screamed 90% of the way there and 90% of the way home

Three hours of constant screaming.

With Karson yelling: "Mama feed Baby Ella."

We stopped a million times to get her out.

She immediately would stop crying.

And she would immediately start screaming the second she was back in the car seat.

I sat in the back with her, trying everything short of taking her out of the car seat, to try to calm her down.

Nothing worked.

I wanted to cry right along with her.

Babies shouldn't be screaming for hours upon hours in the car.

I figured we would just stay home-and not take her anywhere.

It just wasn't fair to her to scream.

That worked...except we had a trip to the U.P. planned.

A six hour car ride again.

I couldn't stand the thought of her screaming that hard for six hours.

So, instead of canceling our vacation, we bought her a new car seat.

Instead of a new infant seat, we bought her the same convertible seat Karson has.

As it turned out diapers.com was running a sale on the newest version, and DJ got a bonus that week.

The seat is bigger than she is.

She looks tiny in it.

However...this is how she now rides in the car:

She went from screaming in her infant seat, to sleeping in her convertible seat.

Cue sounds of Angels singing.

I volley between being ecstatic she is now comfortable to feeling horrible about her infant seat.

Obviously, it was hurting her in some way.

And she spent hours screaming in that seat on the way to and from Wisconsin.

On the way to and from the U.P. last week she slept & smiled.

Happy. Happy. Happy.

Moral of the story:

Listen to your babies...they don't cry just to cry.

{I did call the company that made her infant seat & explained everything to them.  They agreed-babies don't go from screaming 100% of the time they are in their car seat to being completely content for no reason.  They are refunding us the price of our infant seat!}

The "Mac-Ti Bridge"

We are home. 

From what Karson called The "Mac-Ti Bridge."

Also known as the Mackinac Bridge.

Oh, how I love that Bridge.

InstaFriday

 1. Crabby kids? Stick 1 in the Ergo and 1 in the sling.  Good to go.

2. Clean. Clean. Clean.  Too bad it never stays that way.

3. Mommy Necklaces are awesome.

4. Feeding ducks.

 1. Sleeping Ellary.  This does not happen often.

2. Karson loves to dump all of his toys out. Not my favorite activity, but he learns by playing.  Right?

3. Fabulous at traveling.  He is awesome in the car.  His sister is another story.

4. Oh how I love her.  Her thumb sucking included.

1. Karson put a sticker on her.  Brotherly love.

2. Napping at a friend's baby shower.

3. Snuggling Mama...and refusing to sleep.

4. Choo-choo!!

1.  Karson does.not.eat. So when he asked for his "nu-nus" while in time out, we gave them to him.  He then proceeded to eat them like a dog.  We let him.  He ate 2 plate fulls. Mother of the year.
2. Good morning sweet babies.
3. Hi Mama...this will not work...I will not fall asleep.
4. Mommy wins.  Ellary sleeps & Mama gets two hands to get stuff done.  If you do not have one, buy an Ergo!

 1. Ellary HATES the car.  She screams that awful, ear piercing baby cry every time she is in the car.  We got her a convertible car seat to see if it would help.  Notice how she isn't screaming?

2.  She is sleeping.  In the car.  HUGE improvement.  She still cries at times, but she also sleeps at times which she didn't used to do in her infant seat.  Any other ideas on helping itty bitty ones in the car?

Linking up with Jeannett with Life.Rearranged for InstaFriday.

Bye-Bye Second Cup of Morning Coffee

This little girl is the most inconsistent sleeper.

Ever.

She has been sleeping well at night.

She usually only gets up once to nurse, and goes right back to sleep.

She has slept through the night 4 times.

She seems to have nights figured out.

But naps.

Three month olds should nap, right?

Right.

Ellary didn't nap.

At all.

No sleeping during the day.

At all.

She.would.not.nap.

This made for a very cranky baby come 7:00.

An over tired Ellary can't fall asleep.

She screams and screams, and fights nursing, and screams some more.

Again, three month olds should nap.

Then 1 day, she napped.  

Twice.  

Two, 2 hour naps.  

Unheard of.

So I went over what I did differently that day.

I only had 1 cup of coffee.

The next day, I enjoyed my 2nd cup of coffee.

Again, no napping.

All day long.

Darn.  

There goes my 2nd cup of coffee.

Apparently I was caffeinating the poor thing.

 

Now, let me tell you.  

I love coffee.

Not just the caffeine in the morning.

I love the taste of coffee.

Strong, black coffee-Heaven!

When I am cold, I crave a strong, hot, cup of coffee.

I used to have a half of a pot in the mornings, before I was pregnant.

I also always had a 2:00 pm half a pot cup of coffee.

Decaf coffee doesn't do it.

It just tastes bad.

Yes, I can tell the difference.

So, the list of foods I have given up grows.

No dairy. 

Very little soy.

{Read: No more Starbucks 'Ellary Proof Decaf-Iced-Soy-Mocha.'  Too much soy...sick Ella.}

No onions.

{She can handle a very little amount, which I reserve for salsa}

No broccoli.

No second cup of coffee in the mornings.

It is ok though.

She is worth it.

Anyone know of a really good decaf coffee?