I Can't Believe It's Almost Thanksgiving

We finally got our first snow fall in MN.  Last year, we got snow in October, but it quickly melted & was a pleasant November.  This year, it looks like winter is upon us already.

Things have been pretty routine for us here.  Mike had pneumonia for a while.  Thank goodness, pneumonia is very hard to catch, but the rest of us managed to stay healthy.  Mike's finally on the up & up thanks to some antibiotics & codeine laced cough medicine.

Baylee is doing FABULOUS in preschool these days.  No tears, transitions well between activities, & she's been playing with her new BFF Makayla at preschool.  Makayla happens to be 8 days younger than B.  Ironically, Makayla's younger sister Kelsey is 8 days younger than Livy!  It's very cute.  On the bright side, I've been getting Baylee to nap almost every other day.  They aren't short naps either; they're good 3 hour naps.  Baylee knows better than to mess with mom about sleep!

I've been teaching Livy a few "tricks" since my last post.  Livy can now do a "high five," blow a kiss, & give kisses.  Today she took 10 really quick steps.  Mike might be right & she may be walking before her 1st birthday!  I think she will be an earlier talker too.  In the past week, it seems like she's a little bit more independent, or at least doesn't need me to hold her 24/7.  Now, if only I could get her to sleep like her big sister.

I've been planning the girls' birthday, preparing for a craft show, & plotting a break for myself.  The OB diagnosed me with postpartum depression.  I'm not depressed by the traditional definition.  PPD for me is mostly an exhaustion & guilt issue.  I'm tired because Baylee is a demanding 2 year old & Livy is a needy baby.  On most days, I'm a high functioning depressed person.  I definitely did not anticipate how hard having 2 kids 2 years apart would be.  Mike thinks my expectations as a wife & mother are too high.  Right now, I'm taking Zoloft & seeing a therapist.  The medication is to get me out of the rut & to help me focus on the big picture vs. freaking out over the little things.  The therapist is to help me figure out how to ask for help when I need it.  Hopefully things get better soon.  I did just book my Thanksgiving getaway to the spa, so I will have 2 blissful nights of sleeping in & enjoying a cup of coffee in the morning.  I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that Mike can handle both girls on his own for those 2 days.  :P

Livy Taking Baby Steps & Princess Baylee

Livy took 2 steps today while we were at Baylee's parent-teacher conference!  She took a small step the day before, but I don't think she realized it.  Livy also said "bye bye" & waved (hand to her face of course) to bye bye to Miss Rosie when we left.  Big milestones.  I think Livy may talk earlier than Baylee.  Or at least she's figured out that she needs to be pretty vocal to overcome big sister's personality!

Baylee's preschool evaluation went well.  She has excellent gross motor skills, but we need to help her with fine motor skills like using scissors.  I think B knows more than she's letting Miss Rosie in on.  She did shapes & colors with flying colors, but I didn't get a good evaluation on numbers & letters.  Baylee does know the letter B, but we need to work on other letters & numbers.  She's counted to 14 for me, but wouldn't even count to 3 for Miss Rosie.  She did do good tracing shapes, but I think she got bored or distracted after doing 3.  Socially, she's doing MUCH better than when she started.  Not perfect, but infinitely better.

On the bright side, both girls are napping this afternoon.  :)  I just got an order for 6 necktie applique tee shirts, so I should take advantage of the downtime.

Baylee modeling her princess shoes

Halloween Fun 2010

This year for Halloween we went over to Baylee & Livy's friends R & G's house.  They have a good neighborhood for little kids to trick-or-treat in & lots of cul de sacs.  Last year, B didn't really get trick-or-treating, but this year was she in to it!  After the first house, she was chanting "trick-or-treat" in between houses.  She would ring the doorbell & if the person didn't come to the door fast enough, she would start pounding on the door.  If that didn't work, then she would try to open the front door!  All for a piece of candy.  Livy calmly followed her older sister around in the carrier.

Here are some pictures from that night:

Can you see the glee in her eyes?

Playing ball with S.  S has taken an interest in Livy.  He likes to pet Livy's hair.

Sharing the drum with her bff, J.

Livy looking chubby.

The girls climbing up on daddy.  Baylee thought the bucket would make a nice hat.

Mid-October Update

Sorry I haven't posted in a while.  Mike had a good trip to Paris & the girls had a good visit with Po-po & Ye-ye.  We've been keeping busy with our usual playdates & school.  My craft show went well & I made money.  I thought I only broke even, but I forgot that I pulled a lot of change.

The weather here has been really weird.  We had the lowest barometric pressure in MN History earlier this week.  Mike & I didn't know what that meant, but we found out later that day.  CRAZY winds!  We lost all power from 6:00pm-8:45pm & then from midnight until 8:30pm the next day.  Of course, it was during the girls' bath time too.  All things considered, the girls did pretty good without power.  We found enough flashlights for Baylee to appease her fear of the dark.  Unfortunately, the winds even uprooted our beautiful evergreen tree in the front yard.  I remember hearing a weird snap around 2pm that afternoon, but didn't look out the window.  If I had, I would have seen our tree falling I'm sure.

Baylee is doing better every week at preschool.  Today, Mike went in for part of their Halloween Party.  Baylee still makes a small fuss during the first circle time, but participates in everything else.  I'm just glad she's getting better.  Given B's personality, Miss Rosie's is probably the best preschool I could have picked for her.  It is very structured & routine & that's what B needs.  She would do horribly in a Montessori setting.

Livy is almost 11 months now!  I can't believe it.  She's saying more words "Ma ma ma ma MA" & "Da."  I swear she's also saying "bye" or at least she does a hand wave & says something that sounds like bye.  She's still eating everything & crawling up a storm.  Mike still thinks she'll walk before she turns one, but I think she's going to hold out because she gets around so well crawling.

Columbus Day Weekend 2010

We've had a very busy fall.  It seems like we have something going every weekend, which is good.  Keeps us all on our toes!  This past weekend, we went to L & J's cabin in Wisconsin for our Grove family weekend.  Our time up there was very short, but we had fun & ate some yummy food.  We had a painful drive up & back with the girls.  Livy has a 30-minute shelf life in the car & refuses to nap in her carseat, so we had to deal with her scream fest for a good chunk of the drive.  Baylee was mostly good; she gets a bit more demanding when dad is in the car too, but for the most part, her demands are pretty easily met.  It was beautiful up north & we lucked out by having some beautiful sunny weather.  I'm sure that will all change in a heartbeat.  Baylee & Livy got spoiled with attention from grandma & Aunt K.  It was nice not to have to hold Livy 24/7.  I'm not sure what Livy's deal is.  At home with just me, she cries unconsolably if I'm not holding her (actual arms around her & not in the baby carrier).  When we're with other people or if I leave her with someone, she's fine.  It's very frustrating & makes it hard to get anything done.  Both girls are still going through withdrawal & hate going back to sharing mom.

Mike has been super busy at work this week & has been putting in some long hours.  He has to prep for his Paris work trip this weekend.  Thank goodness, Po-po & Ye-ye are able to come up for some reinforcements.  I'm already needing some time away from the girls.

Baylee has been doing better in preschool!  This past Tues., I had to drop her off & go because I had no one to watch Livy for me.  I stayed for 5 minutes to get her adjusted, but then did my spiel, handed her Ellie & we left.  She fussed for a little while, but then played with the toys.  She didn't do so well with the first circle time--threwdown & then stood outside the door, but she did her art project, participated in the second circle time, lined up & washed her hands before lunch, climbed up to her seat, & drank her milk.  Still not eating lunch, but I'm not surprised since she won't eat for me either.  The fact that she sits at preschool is a huge step.

Livy is starting to wave, but hasn't quite grasped waving "hi."  She still eats like a champ.  The other day she stole a piece of bread that was en route to my mouth & shoved it into her mouth.  She's getting up onto her feet really quickly these days, so I'm sure she could walk if she really put her mind to it.  I think she's going to crawl for a while though.  She's comfortable doing it & it gets her from point A to point B.  Her other trick is stairs.  If she spies a staircase, she's on it like white on rice.  Loves climbing up our stairs!

I'm prepping for my first craft show this Saturday.  I'm hoping it goes well, but it could go horribly too.  My goal is to break even with the entry fee.  I'm bringing my supplies so I can make bows there.  I'm going bring a decent supply stash, but I don't have time to make a ton of bows either.  Keeping my fingers crossed!

Preschool Success!

This week we begin scaling back on how long I spend at preschool with Baylee.  I stayed for 45 minutes today.  I was a little bit nervous, but Baylee waved "hi" to Miss Rosie this morning when we came in & had no problems going downstairs to play.  We "played" next to Makayla & Ved, two fellow classmates that are about the same age as B.  They were all sharing the Duplo blocks.  When we moved to the first circle/story time, B started being clingy.  She wanted to sit in my lap, but she followed along with the songs & story.  After story time, B had the choice of either playing some more or doing the art project.  It was at this time I decided to leave.  B did NOT want me to go, but I gave her Ellie & told her that mommy loves you & I always come back.  I handed her off to Miss Rosie & scrambled out.


I thought I would surely get called to retrieve B when I left because I could hear some very loud protesting, but she was really good!  She cried for 5-10 minutes, then stood there for a little while taking it all in & then she went off to play.  She didn't want to wear the paint smock to do the art project, but she didn't throw down either.  Miss Rosie said she really wanted to paint, but just didn't want to wear the shirt.  Ahhh...our little strongwilled child.  She joined in happily for the second circle time & then lined up to wash her hands, climbed up to her chair for lunch.  Didn't want to eat her pb&j sandwich, but also didn't cry or throw food.  YAY!!!  Success!


Livy stayed with my friend Catherine & her little boy, Colton.  On a side note, her hubby now works at ev3 with Mike too.  Livy had good & bad moments.  She got really upset when I left, but was very happy when the music was playing & they did a dance off.  She also happily munched on a banana.  The child LOVES to eat.  She's very vocal & loud, but I think that's her way of letting us all know that she's there.


Hopefully, Baylee does well on Thurs.  I'm looking to use that time to pack for our cabin weekend!


p.s.-Miss Rosie also mentioned that Baylee is staying dry for long periods of time, so she's probably ready to be potty trained.  I just have to see if she's willing to sit on the toilet for me.  :P  I have to use Pull-Ups for school, but at home I would probably just use underwear.

Baylee & Livy's Latest Antics

We have had a very busy last few weeks!  Baylee is having some problems transitioning to preschool.  Part of it may be because she's not emotionally ready, but the 4-hours may be too long of a time for her to "focus."  Last Tuesday, I "visited" her class & she was better.  I stayed through playtime, circle time, & the art project & then told B I had to go get Livy.  Baylee didn't melt down for the rest of preschool, participated in the second circle time, but had a mini fit during snack & lunchtime.  Baby steps...

Livy has been teething like crazy.  She is MISERABLE.  She has 6 teeth in (3 upper & 3 lower) & the other top & bottom teeth are coming in.  She's moving on to our table food too.  Anything we're eating, she wants to try out.  Last week, I gave her some of the Moroccan tagine chicken stew (it had some exotic spices in it) & she liked it!  Today, she ate some pizza so at least I have one good eater.

On the days B doesn't have preschool, we've been keeping busy with playdates.  We're trying to take advantage of the nice fall weather while we can because it will be a L-O-N-G winter.  This past weekend, we had our family photos taken.  Here's a sneak peek:

Baylee sitting on the log

Family pic on the log...hey we're all looking at the camera!

Action shot

Looking at the ducks

Another family shot

Livy on the move

Mommy & her baby girl

Baylee's First Day at Preschool & new Baylee-isms.

Baylee had her first day of preschool yesterday.  Good news is that she walked through the front door & down the stairs to her classroom without me having to carry her kicking & screaming.  Bad news is that she was very upset for 30 minutes afterwards & Miss Rosie said she had a difficult time transitioning between activities.  She also did not eat lunch (sandwiches, carrots, strawberries, & bananas).  Miss Rosie almost called me to come back to reassure B, but thankfully she didn't because I'm pretty sure that would have just made matters worse.  I am allowed to send a lovie for Baylee, so Ellie may tag along.  Baylee hasn't used Ellie as a lovie in a while, but she did bring Ellie with her to ECFE & Block Time, so I'm hoping it gives her the same connotation.

Livy & I ran errands our first day without B.  It is so much easier to get things done with just one!  Hopefully, I'm not spending all my preschool days running errands.  Maybe Livy & I can do something fun too, like story time.  Poor Livy gets free story times while Baylee got Music Together classes.  :P

Last night at dinner, Baylee took her fork & began brushing it through her hair.  Why you might ask?  Because her latest favorite movie is "Little Mermaid" & Ariel does it at dinner with Prince Eric.  Too funny!  Now if they would only make a princess movie on manners...

Preschool Open House

Today, we went to Miss Rosie's Preschool Open House.  Baylee will be attending on Tuesdays & Thursdays from 9:15am to 1:00pm.  There will be 8 kids total in Baylee's class.  Baylee will be one of the younger ones, but I think that will be good for her.  Baylee knows half the kids in her class already.  3 are in our mom's group & another was in our ECFE class.  Having her go to preschool will be a nice break for me & I'm sure Livy will enjoy some one on one time with mom.

When we arrived today, Baylee didn't want to go in to Miss Rosie's house.  I'm a little worried about how next Tuesday will go.  I plan on doing a drop like I did at Block Time.  I'm hoping that it will go okay once we get into a routine, but we'll see.  Baylee didn't have a tantrum, but who knows what will happen next week.  We decorated book bags today & Baylee is all over coloring these days, so I think that helped.  I'm sure Miss Rosie will be able to handle Baylee, but I'm hoping she's not a complete nightmare either!

Gale Woods Trip

The Wednesday after Labor Day, we went to Gale Woods Farm with our mom's group.  Gale Woods Farm is a real working farm & they gave our kids a tour of how the farm works.  The kids got to pick fresh raspberries off the bush & sample them, learn about vegetables, & see lots of farm animals (turkeys, chickens, sheep, cows, dogs, & cats).  Because we were touring a real farm, they advised us to wear close-toed shoes & clothing we didn't care about.  Here's Baylee's outfit of choice:

I don't know if you can tell, but this is one of her frilly princess dresses & brand new pink sneakers. :P  At least she didn't insist on wearing Crocs & she managed to avoid the cow patties.  Of course, our friends laughed as soon as we walked up, but clothing choice is a battle I'm choosing not to fight with Baylee these days.

Baylee sampling some fresh farm cantaloupe.

Livy sampling the cantaloupe too.  Not sure if her eyes are closed because she really enjoyed the cantaloupe or if the sun was just in her eyes.  :P

 Baylee & her friend R petting a cow.  Baylee LOVED petting all the animals!  She wasn't afraid of any of them--the turkeys or the chicken.  She even petted a large white dog, & usually dogs scare her.

Baylee being a BIG girl helper!

Here is Baylee being a big girl helper by helping feed her baby sister.  :P

Baylee getting ready to feed Livy

Here you go baby sister

Livy Feeding Herself

Here are some pics of Livy feeding herself a Mum-mum rice cracker.

Love the chubby cheeks!

Got the cracker into my mouth

Labor Day Weekend 2010

My family--Po-po, Ye-ye, Aunt Stephy, Uncle David, & their dog Cori--came to visit us this Labor Day weekend.  Bless Aunt Stephy & Uncle David!  They drove 8 hours from Memphis to Cincinnati & then drove 12 hours from Cincy to Minne the next day.  I suppose they are young so they can handle it.  :P  If I had to make that drive with the girls, I would probably kill myself!  Some days I can't get out of the driveway without one of them melting down.

Anyway, they were here from Friday afternoon to Sunday early evening.  Baylee was so excited to see them!  Another weekend of undivided attention.  It didn't hurt that Po-po won B over with a new singing Cinderella.  :P  How quickly the "old" Cinderella was cast aside.  Po-po spent lots of time coloring with Baylee while Stephy & David assembled paper crafts (princess crowns) for Baylee.  Ye-ye held Livy a lot since baby girl HATES to be set down.  Livy either wants to be held or she wants to be on the move.

On Saturday morning, we went out to Apple Jack Orchards in Delano.  This was our favorite orchard from last year.  Baylee wasn't so much into it last year, but this year she had a blast picking apples, eating raspberries off the bush, walking in the orchard, getting pulled in the wagon by Uncle David, & checking out the petting zoo.  Livy was content being held by Ye-ye.  :P  Aunt Stephy & Uncle David made a delicious apple tart from the apples we picked.  Yum!

Baylee & Livy peeking out of the apple cutout

Baylee testing an apple for quality assurance

One of the reasons Po-po & Ye-ye came down was so Mike & I could go out to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary Saturday evening.  Love free babysitting!  We went to El Meson, a Spanish/Caribbean restaurant in Uptown.  The chef/owner has another restaurant, Cafe Ena, that's a similar concept, but more pricey & in an okay part of town.  Our meal was pretty tasty & didn't break the bank.  We got 2 of everything--appetizers, entrees, glasses of wine, desserts, & coffees.  The paella looked really good, but we opted not to get it.  We've been spoiled by some good paella in Chicago & hate to get disappointed.  We would definitely go back there again some time.

On Sunday, we took the girls to a dim sum buffet.  Baylee is pretty good at a restaurant these days if you remember to bring enough things that she will eat (easy at a buffet) & bring coloring stuff.  Livy is a little eating machine, so she's happy to eat solids while we're eating our meal.  Livy devoured 2 jars of food while we were out!  She's also figured out how to feed herself.  I gave her a Mum-mum (rice cracker) & she can maneuver the cracker to her mouth.  As soon as she masters the pincer grip, we'll start on puffs.  On top of feeding herself, Livy can balance for a good 20 seconds most days, & is already saying "mama" (mostly in times of distress).  I can't believe how quickly she's growing up!

Visiting Niki & Family

The girls went to visit their babysitter, Niki, & her family last Tuesday.  I was a little bit nervous because both girls took really short naps & Baylee always takes a little while to warm up to new environments, but she did pretty good!  Unfortunately, Livy was in a crabby mood.  Poor girl seems to be really bothered by teething.  Livy is constantly munching on her fingers or any object really that comes within a chomping distance of her mouth!

Baylee's current obsession is hearts, so she pointed out all the numerous hearts at Niki's house.  I swear B has eyes like a hawk for hearts & princesses.  Not sure if this is a sign that she'll be extremely detail-oriented later on, or if she just focuses on things she likes.  Niki had to take off early, so B played with Niki's younger sister.  B found a stiletto-shaped telephone holder & tried to put it on her foot!  I wonder where she learned that from because I certainly NEVER wear heels!

We will have to figure out a time to visit Niki & family again soon.  Baylee just LOVES the attention!

Weekend Fun with the Grandparents!

Grandma Sue & Grandpa Dan came up this past weekend for a quick visit.  They came up a little past 2 on Saturday & then had to leave mid-Sunday morning.  I had been showing her a family picture & prepping her for 3 days that Grandma & Grandpa were visiting.  Boy was Baylee so excited to see them!

We went to Latuff's for an early dinner & the girls were very good.  Baylee is pretty easy to entertain now at a restaurant since she is all into coloring, or rather mommy & daddy drawing her hearts, music notes, princess castles, princess crowns, etc.  While we were there, Baylee ate pizza!  She didn't want any of the extra toppings (hamburger & onion or sausage & mushrooms), but she ate almost 2 slices of the crust, tomato sauce, & cheese.  Livy, of course, was content sitting in the high chair scoping out the other patrons all the while getting baby food shoved in her mouth.  The child LOVES to eat.  Livy gets super impatient when you don't get the food in to her mouth fast enough.  She starts grabbing at the jar & spoon while flailing her little limbs & crying.  I hope Livy is an adventurous eater.

After dinner, Mike & I went out to Jake's for some dessert.  Grandma took over entertaining the little monkey.  Grandma brought B some Play-doh.  It was B's first time playing with Play-doh & she had a blast!  The child has quite the imagination pretending her creations were food, jewelry, & so forth.  There was one tool that squeezed out Play-doh ropes, which freaked Baylee out a little.  I think she must have thought they were worms, & Baylee HATES bugs.

Sunday, we had a leisurely breakfast.  Their visit was much too short, but we'll see them again in a month.  All of us plus Aunt Katie & Uncle Justin (Mike's sister & her hubby), & Great-aunt Linda & Great-uncle John will be going to WI for a cabin weekend.  That should be lots of fun & hopefully the leaves will have changed colors by then.