Poor Livy :(

Livy's been going through a rough phase.  She's been teething for over a month now.  She has gotten half her molars, but I just noticed that her eye teeth (incisors, the super sharp ones) have cut through the gum.  Poor baby girl.  Hopefully this means she'll have a nice long break before her 2-year molars pop through!  Baylee was never fussy about her teeth, but Livy seems to be a much more sensitive little soul.

Another big difference between B & Livy at this age is that Livy LOVES to eat whatever we're having.  I think her favorite cuisine so far is Mexican.  She loves it when I make chicken & black bean enchiladas & last night she surprised me by eating my beef & three bean chili!  I accidentally made it more spicy than usual, but she devoured mouthful after mouthful.  Today, she had some Japanese udon noodles with me.  What's funny is that she doesn't seem to like bread.  It's very exciting to have her try everything.  Nice change of pace compared to super picky B!

Livy got her second hair cut this morning.  She was looking a bit shaggy, so we just cleaned her up.  She now has a nice even bob.  She wasn't too happy about getting her hair cut.  She thrashed & cried through the entire ordeal.  I had to keep feeding her Annie's pretzel bunnies to keep her from moving her head too much!

Baylee had a good day at preschool today.  It's been super cold in MN the past week, but today it was in the teens, so the kids were able to play outside for a little while.  They were all excited about that!  This month they are learning about community helpers.  Last week, they talked about firefighters & this week, it's postmen.  Baylee is getting MUCH better about using "please" & "thank you," & has even thrown in "you're welcome" on occasion.  It's really cute.

Mike has been working long hours.  The integration with the parent company is very time consuming.  He's also preparing for his business trip to Switzerland next week.  Mike will leave Saturday & come back the following week.  He'll be home for a few days & then have to go to the Boston area for another business trip.  Hopefully I don't go crazy that week!  The week isn't bad, but the weekends are a bit painful.

I've been keeping busy crafting.  I just found some tutorials on how to make crib sheets, so I may try my hand at that.  Baylee LOVES to draw/color, so I found another tutorial for a crayon/marker roll.  It will be nice to have a container that keeps her drawing utensils in one spot & something I can throw into my purse.

The girls are growing up too fast

It's been a quick & busy January for us.  We've had lots of children's birthday parties & baby showers to attend.  I'm glad January has flown by because it means we're that much closer to spring.  It has been bitterly cold here & the snow keeps piling up.

Baylee is back in the swing of preschool.  Miss Rosie is always on her "friend" list when we sing the "Choo choo" song, but for some reason, Baylee always protests going in to Miss Rosie's house.  As soon as we go downstairs, she stops fussing & demands a hug & a kiss & sends me on my way.  Every day I discover something new that Baylee knows.  She recognizes all the letters in her name!  She can't sing the alphabet song, or doesn't want to, but she can tell me all the letters.  Also, I think she can count to 20.  For sure, up to 14 & she knows 17.  :P  At night when we read, she will recite her books to me.  Tonight, she did "Goodnight Moon."  She's been doing "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" & "Where's My Cat" for a while.  I'm sure she'll be doing "Llama Llama Red Pajama" soon.  It's her current fave!  It's so amazing to see them grow up & absorb everything.

Livy has been absolutely miserable the past few weeks.  She has been teething & all she wants to do is nurse.  She's been drooling a ton, which also means she has a runny nose.  Her molars on the left side of her mouth finally popped through, but her right ones are still dormant.  It looks like she might be getting her eye teeth (the incisors) too.  She's also becoming incredibly independent.  She insists on feeding herself & wants to walk around.  In fact, this past weekend, Baylee had a meltdown at the kid play area in the mall & wanted to be carried out, so Livy took my finger & marched along right next to me.  I fear her being more strongwilled than Baylee, which is frightening.

Mike has been busy with work.  He went back to Iowa this past weekend & got caught up in an freezing rain so he didn't get home until Tuesday.  With his long hours at work, the girls have barely seen him, & boy do they miss him!  They get so tired of being with just mom.  I'm boring!  :P

I've been busy crafting, mostly making baby shower presents.  I just finished up some burp cloths, bows, & a flag banner with the baby's name on it.  Super cute!  I'm definitely going to make one for Baylee & Livy's rooms.  My next sewing project is going to be making Livy her first blanket.  I got some super soft minky material from JoAnn's.  A blanket made from this material typically costs $60+!  I bought the fabric on sale for $6!  Baylee LOVES her soft pastel animal blanket & still sleeps with it, so I figured I should make Livy something super soft.  Her giraffe lovey is made from the same material, so I know she'll love the blanket.  Last note, I also got my first sales on Etsy with my bows.  It was a custom order to make some flowers for flower girls.  Right after that sale, one of my flower bows got picked to be featured in a St. Patrick's Day Treasury, "Luck O' the Irish."

Long December

It's been a while since I've posted anything.  Sorry about that!  We've had a crazy December with the girls' birthdays, Christmas, & Mike's birthday.  Baylee had a two week break from preschool & we're getting her readjusted to going back to school.

We spent Christmas Day with the Satorius family.  The girls had a lot of fun playing with their cousin N.  Baylee & N are now at the point where they can play together instead of just parallel play.  Livy was entertained watching everyone.  We'll have to get together with them again when they come back in January.

Mike had a quiet birthday.  We had saved some crappie & I made him pan friend crappie with a spicy Asian sauce.  He got a new inflatable pontoon so he can go fishing.  We've figured out that having an actual boat isn't ideal for us right now.  Mike can't maneuver the boat on his own & it's hard finding people to go fishing with.

Our January is shaping up to be pretty busy.  We have back-to-back kids' birthday parties this weekend & then I have a baby shower the following weekend.  Poor Livy has a cold & might be teething (I think it's her 1-year molars), so she had to miss out on the fun.  Mike is planning a weekend trip back to Iowa soon, & he may have to travel to the Boston area in the coming weeks.

I'm working on new bow designs.  My latest creation, a vintage flower headband complete with marabou & French netting, is generating a lot of buzz, which is good!  I'm hoping when people look at that particular bow they will check out my other stuff.

Okay...I'll resolve to blog more frequently this year!

Snow, snow, & more snow

We are getting pounded with snow this weekend.  The weather has been calling for 10-15 inches today with 20-25 mph winds.  It's crazy!  Mike snowplowed this morning, but the driveway is covered again.  I was supposed to go to a craft fair, but thankfully, it shut down because of the crazy weather.  Glad we did the girls' birthday last weekend.

The Girls' Birthday Party

The girls celebrated their birthday this past weekend with their friends & Mike's aunt L & uncle J.  Mike's parents were supposed to come up Saturday, but their plans got derailed by the crazy snow storm we got the day before.  To make matters worse, they got freezing rain the morning of the party.  Despite the bad luck with weather, the girls did get to see their grandparents on Sunday.

All of the girls' friends were able to come to their party, so that was nice for them.  We rented a Tumble Fun Bus to come right up to the house to entertain the kids.  It's this really cool school bus that has been completely gutted, padded, & equipped with some gymnastic equipment.  There's a zipline, ball pit, rings, bars, climbing mountain, & so forth.  The kids LOVED it!  It's such a great idea, especially for winter birthdays.

Tumble Fun Bus on our driveway!

After the Tumble Bus Fun, we had pizza for dinner, did Baylee's princess castle pinata, did the girls' birthday cakes, & open presents.  We got Grandma & Grandpa on Skype so they could watch the girls' blow out their candles.  The girls' made out with some really great presents!  Some of our friends chipped in & got us a family membership to the Children's Museum.  We'll look forward to using it, especially since it looks like a really long cold winter!

The two cakes--Baylee's princess cake & Livy's free 1 year cake from Lunds!

Daddy helping B blow out her candles.  It took them a little while...

Livy sampling her first piece of cake.

Baylee with her best girl friend from preschool, M.  M is just 8 days younger than B!

Baylee's princess wand

We did Christmas with Mike's family while they were up here.  Given that we've already had 20" of snow dumped on us & the girls' behavior in the car, it's highly unlikely we'd make it anywhere for the holidays.  I hope the girls don't think the entire month of December is a present fest!

Happy Birthday Baylee!

Baylee is 3 today!  I can't believe it--it seems like yesterday when we were rushing off to the hospital because my water broke.  Miss Birthday Girl spent the morning at preschool with her friends & shared cupcakes with her classmates.  She had a great day at school, playing with her bff M, & got to pick 2 books out as a present.  We're looking forward to having our family & friends over this weekend for a birthday blowout for the girls.

I just realized I haven't updated in a while.  We've been down on our luck in the health department.  The girls got a stomach bug, which they gladly shared with us.  Mike had pneumonia & the bug.  Livy gave me a cold & the doctor just gave me some antibiotics because the cold became a sinus infection.  We're just a sickly bunch this year.  Here's hoping the new year brings us good health!

Other than that, I throughly enjoyed my spa weekend over Thanksgiving weekend.  I went up to Grand View Lodge in Nisswa, MN.  It's about 2 1/2 hours from the Twin Cities.  The resort is right on Gull Lake,  & would be beautiful during the fall.  I just enjoyed sleeping in & relaxing.  The girls were pretty good for Mike, so I'll have to do another getaway in the spring.  :)

Our December calendar is quickly filling up.  The girls have lots of friends with birthdays coming up, so our weekends will be busy!  Good thing is that it makes the winter months pass by quickly.

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.