1st week back at work & Arden's 2 month checkup

Friday, Nov. 16th

Whew! We made it through my first week back at work! It actually wasn't too bad. Arden decided to start sleeping through the night! That makes all the difference! We are getting into a better routine and I think it's really helping us all! She gets a bath and a bottle around 9pm and we try to put her down between 10-11pm and she has been sleeping till around 6 am. I will be glad when she starts sleeping for 10 hrs straight but I will take 7-8 hours over 3-4 any day!!

Friday morning, Arden got her first vaccinations and we went ahead and took Stratton to get a flu shot. Stratton had a meltdown, to say the least! The nurses and doctor assured us that it was completley normal for his age. They said that three and four year old are the worst! Bynthe time they were done Jarrod and Stratton were both dripping with sweat! And they had to call another nurse in to help hold him down! It's amazing how strong he is!

Before the insanity. . .

She is 10 lbs 7 oz and 22 inches. Still a little on the small side! I looked back and Stratton weighed 14 lbs when he was 2 months old! She's going to be petite like me I'm afraid.

Arden didn't like her shots either but her crying was short lived. She did run a fever and acted like she felt bad Friday night and Saturday.

Random pics from the week. . .

See what was sent to my office on Monday morning?I have one sweet husband! It made my day!

Look-a-likes?

Most of the time, I feel like our kids really don’t look that much alike. Especially, since I see their facial expressions and for the most part I don’t think that they favor all that much. But when I pulled out some pictures of both of them around the same ages, they do have more similarities than I remembered. Of course like most siblings sometimes (like in these pictures) they do look alike, but then other times they don’t even remotely resemble! And one thing is FOR SURE. . .their personalities are night and day! I told someone last night that Arden is proving everything we knew to be true about babies to be wrong, and everything that Stratton did when he was a baby she is sure to do the EXACT opposite!

 

One Day Old

One Month Old

 

Two Months Old

Arden is 2 months old!

Wow 2 months?! Where is the time going? I don't have any new stats. Her doctor's appointment is Friday. She will get her first round of vacinations, too. She still has that awful thrush. I had to call the doc today and get them to send the pharmacy another refill for the medicine. I am still boiling pacifiers and bottles once a day too. I will be so glad when this stuff clears up! She has also started drooling more, and I think I can see the first white spot on her gums! I am not ready for her to start teething so early! Let's figure out sleeping through the night first! I thought Stratton was an early teether at 4 months! She can hold her head up really well, now and Jarrod taught her how to nod. . . Really funny. She is just growing so fast!

I went back to work yesterday. It really wasn't as bad as I anticipated. I was so busy at work that the day really did go by fast. I dropped Arden off at daycare since we had so much stuff to take, I thought it would be easier to take the kids seperately. Plus, I wanted to have a chat with her teacher and the director. It wasn't too hard leaving her, she was asleep in her carseat carrier. I did think about her a lot during the day and couldn't wait to see how her day went! They said she was great. She didn't cry or even fuss very much at all. She only took 3 short naps totaling about 2 1/2 hours! I guess there was too much going on for her to be napping! Her teachers are all really sweet so for the moment I am feeling much more comfortable with her being at daycare.

I know one thing I learned. . . Picking up 2 kids sure does take longer! They are in different buildings, so by the time you get all their stuff together and visit with the teacher about their day and walk to the othr building. . . it took me about 20 minutes! I guess we will get more efficient with time. I picked Stratton up first yesterday, but today I'm going to try picking Arden up first and see if that goes faster!

We had a good night. She actually slept all night for the third time in four days! I hope we are finally getting her sleep on track! I put her down a little after 10 pm and she woke up right at 5am. That's early, but when it takes her on average about an hour to eat, it really kinda works ok. Then I have plenty time to get her ready for school and help Jarrod with Stratton before they leave. He took them both this morning.

Our two hams!

Stratton fell out of/off of a window at school Friday. Now, that's his story. . . Who knows what really happened. . .anyway he took a good lick and his head was pretty bruised and he did have a very small "booboo" that was bleeding for a bit Friday afternoon. But even though it was nothing more than a tiny scab he had to wear a bandaid all weekend! We tried to convince him it was better last night but no, he still needs a bandaid on it. I am pretty sure he has some molars coming in, he is constantly chewing on his fingers! Ewww. I know where his little hands go. . . All over every germy surface he comes in contact with! I'm sure he'll be sick with something now.

Vicious Lion!

Stratton's imagination is very active! I love to hear him playing by himself these days, he comes up with the funniest stuff. He is also a big story teller. I honestly don't know where he comes up with some of his far-fetched stories!

Arden is 7 weeks

October 31st

This girl is growing! We are finally wearing some 0-3 months size clothes! It was a little sad putting some of the sweet newborn gowns away. . .bittersweet as she has a closet FULL of cute clothes she needs to wear before long! She got new playclothes when we were in Branson for daycare, l am gradually coming terms that I will be going back to work soon. Boo.

She has also graduated to size 1diapers. She is eating 3-4 oz every three hours except at night and then she'll go 4-5 hours between feedings, sometimes. Obviously, still not sleeping through the night. . .not even close. I don't know what to do with her and her sleeping! She will sleep soundly as long as she is being held but the second you lay her down shes wide awake! And we've tried repeatedly to let her cry it out, but she either wakes up Stratton or works her self into such a frenzy that she is more awake than ever. . . I have recently heard this might be a girl thing. Great.

Arden is smiling a lot and on the verge of a laugh. She seems to be very vocal, more so than I remember Stratton being! Speaking of Stratton we had another pretty good week. He still gets a little jealous sometimes, but overall he has been much better behaved. He is A very good big brother, he is constantly wanted to hug and kiss on her. And he loves to "read" to her, which is hilarious. He gets a book and makes up a story as he turns the pages. . . I am going to try and get it on video this week. Arden just grins and coos along. It's pretty sweet!

It's hard to believe that she's almost 2 months old! Time is flying by already!

Halloween 2012

October 31st

Stratton was a cowboy . . . Again (sigh) and Arden was Minnie Mouse. . .sort of. I tried to make her nose black but she just rubbed it all over her face, so that was a no go!

We went to the church's trunk-or-treat and made a quick stop by Uncle Dillon and Aunt Brandye's house. The church had all kinds of fun things for the kiddos. It's one of the largest community outreach activities we do all year. This year we had over 800 kids! They had the trunk or treat, hayride, and games and bouncey houses inside along with food! All free for anyone in the community! Stratton had a blast and didn't want to leave! But there were a few people in scary masks, and he was scared to death of them! And he really didn't care of the trunk or treat part. . .he likes the candy, but not having to ask for it!

At church with Sawyer. . .

I think he likes her!

Stratton with Easton and Livy. . .this picture cracks me up. Livy is so sweet and Stratton could care less! You can tell both boys have mouths full of candy, too.

Peebles farm and pumpkin patch

Tuesday October 30th

I had promised Stratton back months ago that we would take him to the pumpkin patch this year. Well. . .things have been busier than I anticipated and suddenly I realized that if I was going to keep my promise I was going to have to take him TODAY! So, we dropped Arden off at our favorite babysitter's . . . My grandparents. . . Then we headed to McCrory. The weather was perfect and by the time we got there it was 2pm and we had the place pretty much to ourselves! Stratton had a blast just running around playing and chasing the chickens. He loved the animals the best, of course. We had a fun time, its the first time we've had just "Stratton-Mommy time" since Arden was born. After we left the pumpkin patch I dropped Stratton off with my dad who was driving the grain cart, and went to pick up Arden. I swung back by the field and picked Stratton up on our way home. Surprisingly, he didn't throw a fit or argue at all! He was soo good all day!

The goats were his favorites, he fed one some corn on the cob. . .

This boy! Here he is "looking at their beans" . . . He already looks like a farmer, or crop consultant!