Oxymoron

Again to those of you who received my email about the password thingee I have changed my blog name to "protect" my family's identity.

When I went to log on to post a new blog I realized how silly my blog title was now. What an oxymoron...a working mom. Any mom knows how silly this is. The very title mom implies work. All moms "work" whether you work outside of the home or not. I work outside of the home from 4 or 5 until 1 and then come home to start my "real" work with my kids. This is the part of the day that I enjoy though. I LOVE being a mom.

When I leave my office, I'm done with "work" for the day. Once I get home though my "work" is never finished. I'm sure all of you stay-at-home moms feel the same way.

We are constantly thinking of ways to enrich our children's lives or make our family better or run more smoothly. I don't think my family brain ever turns off. Our work doesn't stop because we are sick or tired or stressed...we are still "on duty". Here is to all of the "working" moms out there who love their jobs :-)

Happy Valentine's Day

I just got back from Zach's little Valentine's Day Party at school. He was having a blast. He had a great time giving all of his teachers his homemade candies. I put a picture of him making the candies on the bag and he had to show everyone "Zachary making the candies"...it was super cute!

I hope everyone has a nice day.

I got the cutest pictures of Leah and Erin and Halle in the mail yesterday. Those pictures were all SO cute!

Pre Valentines Day Fun

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I just have to tell you all about a GREAT craft project for all of your little ones. Zach is having a Valentine's Day party at school on Thursday and we were in charge of bringing in 2 things for the goodie bags. I headed up to Micheals and bought some candy molds, paint brushes and those little meltable candies.

I melted some of each color in little bowls and let Zach "paint" all of the molds before I poured the rest of the chocolate in them. He had a blast and he loved that he could eat the "paint". I'm a little worried that he might try this with real paint but I made it pretty clear this was "special" paint. The chocolate was just barely melted so it wasn't very hot. I of course had to try rubbing it on myself just in case :-)

The candies that Zach painted came out amazing. An adult never would have mixed all of the colors together the way a child would. I'll post some pics on the gallery tonight when I get home.


I also took the kids to Sadies to get some Valentine's Day pics that I'll post later.

Pics

I've finally uploaded all of the zoo pics and some pics I took of Zach and Kaitlyn tonight. See pics at our gallery


We officially started our tax season hours this week so I'll probably drop off the blog face of the earth for awhile. I'm going to try and keep posting so I'll be able to remember what it was like to have two little ones later but we'll see how that goes.

As far as the healthy lifesyle goes, I'm still doing well with the dieting aspect but I'm still finding it hard to follow through with the exercise. Each week I'll just try to do the best I can. I'm down 12lbs. :-)

I took the kids to the mall tonight to get pictures for Valentine's Day and Kaitlyn's 4 month pictures. What an adventure that was. Zach lasted about 5 minutes and then he wanted to play. The backdrop was a little kitchen to make cookies for Valentine's Day. It was adorable but Zach really wanted to cook. He didn't understand that the idea was to take pics not cook. Kaitlyn was adorable. She laughed and cooed the whole time. We got some really great pics. I'll post them later this week when I get the disk. Zach tried to help me get Kaitlyn to laugh but he kept getting in the pics...he was trying to be helpful but...it was hillarious. I love my children :-)

When you leave the house with both kids you know you are in for an adventure. After my second photo shoot alone with both kids I think I've decided a need a helper for this job. I've mastered Target (my home), Publix, the Dr.'s office and the mall but pictures...I need a helper!

Scenes from the life of a 3 year old

Act 1
Setting :Publix (Publix has the grocery carts that look like cars with steering wheels with horns)

Situation: Stocker blocking entire aisle unnecessarily

Stocker (to Zach): Hi there are you going to honk your horn at me?
Zach: No that is rude. Excuse me sir.
Stocker and me: uncontrollable laughter

Act 2
Setting : Bathroom

Situation: Zach just dunked his finger into the toilet and then put it in his mouth (luckily, I think??? there was nothing in there)

Me: Zach don't ever do that. That is disgusting. Toilets are very dirty...blah blah blah
Zach: But mom I was seeing if the water was too cold to go swimming
Stocker and me: uncontrollable laughter

Keri was right kids make you laugh

Progress...

So I've been doing really well with my eating so far but the exercising...not so much. I'm sure everyone feels like this but I need a few extra hours each day.

I weighed myself today and I'm down 5lbs. Yippee!!!

This past week I focused on being more active but I never watched my exercise tapes or took any power walks. We went to the zoo last Saturday and walked through the entire zoo (at a very slow pace with 2 kids) but at least we were outside being active. I also took the kids to the park twice after work and ran and jumped around with Zach.

My goals for this week are to do at least two exercise videos and take at least one walk. Hopefully if I have a plan it will be easier for me to stick to than if I just arbitrarily say I'm going to exercise...I'll let you know if this strategy works :-)

As far as eating goes, I'm not following a formal plan. Arie (thanks Arie) sent me a great website and I signed up for it and it gave me a daily calorie range for my weight and height. It gave you a meal plan and many other useful tools, but I don't really have the time to keep up with it though. I've been trying to stick within that amount of calories. I don't have a calculator out and I'm not writing everything down but I divided the total into 3 meals and 2 snacks and try to eat about that many calories at each meal. It has been fairly easy for me so far.

I know one of the hardest things for me is coming up with quick things to cook for dinner. A couple of weeks ago I was searching for dinner menu ideas and I came across this free website
Menus4moms. It has been really helpful with dinner planning. I don't follow the recipes usually but I love the ideas. I've stocked my freezer with the things the site suggests (I used 5lbs of extra lean ground turkey instead of the beef) and it has been so helpful with getting dinner on the table quickly and easily. This past week I made a 2lb pork roast like it suggested and then used half for dinner the first night and saved the rest for pork lo mein later in the week. I used real lo mein noodles instead of the ramen because of all the sodium in the ramen and I used veggies Joe and Zach will eat. It truly took only 10 minutes to cook this (not including the time to boil the water to cook the noodles) I just bought a bag of shredded carrots and then I chopped up some celery and green onions and threw it in the pan. Amazingly easy!!

Since we are paying for 2 children's childcare now we are also on a much tighter budget. It is much cheaper than take out or one of those places where you make a bunch of dinners ahead of time and take them home and freeze them. I got the ground turkey at Sam's for really cheap! My family goes through so much milk (2-3 gallons a week) and I also discovered that milk at Sam's is over $1 cheaper/ gallon than at our grocery store. We are really lucky Sam's is actually closer than our grocery store.

I know I rarely post and then when I do it is usually extremely long so if you are still reading this...thank you :-)

PS- I'm going to load the pics from the zoo tonight and I'll post about that later.

Jumping on the bandwagon

I know it is New Year's and everyone is on the diet/exercising bandwagon but I am serious. I'm going to lose this weight and get healthy again. Hopefully blogging about it will keep me accountable. My goal is to lose 50 lbs.

I don't know why it is so hard to make myself exercise. I always feel SO much better after I work out. I feel like such a sloth right now. I'm obviously running around after Zach when I get home from work but it isn't the same as truly getting a good cardio workout. My goal is to do at least 45 minutes of cardio 4x's per week and yoga or a strength training video 2x's a week. Hopefully I'll be able to increase it but I think I'll start with that for now.

My sister who for the most part has a perfect body told me today she was also on a diet. Ughh...as if this isn't even more motivation. She said she wants to lose 10lbs. If she thinks she needs to lose weight...what does that say for me. LOSE WEIGHT NOW!!!! I know everyone has body issues but come on give me a break here :-)

Wish me luck!

Happy Mama

Zach had a successful week at school and I couldn't be happier. He has gotten a good report every day from school. His teachers take the time to really let me know what is going on during his day. YEAH!!!!

Milestones

Kaitlyn rolled over from her belly to her back for the first time on Friday. She now is a rolling fool. My parents watched the kids for us on Saturday and I forgot to tell her. Whoops!!! Kaitlyn almost rolled off her couch. BAD MOMMY!!!

Joe and I also had a milestone of our own...our first night without the kids since Kaitlyn was born. Both of the children slept over my parents house. We had such a nice night. I know this sounds like a weird date but we had a blast. I've been wanting to go to IKEA since it opened so we started out there. We spent a few hours walking around and just enjoying each others company. I had never been to an IKEA before. It was fantastic and I got a bunch of ideas for organizing things for the kids rooms. Then we went to a sports bar and ate chicken wings and I even had a couple of beers. Thank goodness for pump and dump :-) I think it was the first alcoholic beverage I've had in over a year and a half. I'm not much of a drinker anyway but I was feeling very good. We then just went home and chilled on the couch. Aghh...I forgot what it felt like to truly relax :-)

Funny Stuff

We were getting ready to leave tonight and Zach says, "Let's go team". ???

Then Zach and I walked out of the restaurant before Joe and Kaitlyn. Zach starts to pull me over to the curb and says, "Let's sit awhile."

I don't know where he gets this stuff from but he cracks me up!

Updates

Zachary and Kaitlyn had their Dr. visits this week. Both are doing great and growing well.

Zach is 39" tall (75-90 Percentile) and 34lbs (75th Percentile)

Kaitlyn is 23" tall and 11 lbs 14oz. She's itty bitty and in the 25% for height and weight.

It was an adventure taking them both to the Dr. at the same time. We were there over 2 hours. UGHHH!!!! Zach was surprisingly well behaved except for when he was getting examined. He didn't want the Dr. touching him at all. It was horrible but then as soon as he was done with the exam he was fine again. Oh well hopefully year 4 will be better :-)

Kaitlyn slept most of the same and was the perfect little angel. She only cried for about 30 seconds after she got her shots.

To eat or not to eat

It is so weird some days Zach won't barely eat a thing and others I think he is going to eat everything in the house.

Tonight was an "eat everything in sight night". I seriously didn't think he was going to stop eating.

Do your kids do this?

Sigh of relief

Today was Zach's first day at his new school. I was so excited when I dropped him off this morning. I sat in the classroom with Zach for about 15 minutes because he didn't want me to leave. I could tell that this wasn't going to help so I told him I was going to leave when they started circle time. He was pretty upset when I left but the teacher told me not to worry, she has been kicked, bitten, spit on and yelled at during this process and Zach would be fine. I was so happy to hear this from a teacher. The director at Zach's other school acted like she had never seen a kid spit or hit before. It made me feel better to know this was normal (well at least not extremely unusual) preschool behavior.

I called about 15 min. after I left and they said he was perfectly happy and eating snack with the rest of the kids.

He had a great first day. I already love this place. They sent this picture home with him today. They also send home a progress report every day which tells what he ate, what he got rid of and how (diaper or potty), how long he slept and what kind of day he had. I love it!! I'm so relieved. I don't know why it took me so long to make the change. I guess you just get comfortable and change is hard.

I live at Target???

Joe and Zach's conversation at bedtime tonight.

Zach: Daddy, I have a baseball at my house.
Joe: Really, where do you live?
Zach: I live at Daddy's house.
Joe: Oh does Mommy live there too?
Zach: No Mommy lives at Target.

Unfortunately this isn't entirely untrue :-)

Me and Zach's conversation at dinner
Me: Zachary eat your pork please
Zach: No thanks mom, I'm fine.

This is his new expression whenever he doesn't want to do something.

Zachary's 3 year update

Zachary is the most loving sweet little boy. He loves to give kisses and hugs. He does have a temper especially when he is tired but he truly experiences life with such enthusiasm. It is amazing to see how excited he gets over things.

He loves any sports. Thanks to his daddy he is very coordinated. He can hit the t-ball over 20 feet. He also loves to play "golf ball". He puts on his gardening gloves and hits his golf balls every day. He also can dribble a soccer ball and throw a football. He doesn't catch so well yet but I'm sure it will come.

He loves cars. My mom (Nana) got him a little tykes police car for Christmas last year (2006) that he has ridden on every day since then. He loves that thing. He even plays with the box that it came in. It was definitely a staple of year 2.

Zachary is all little boy. He loves tools. He carries his tool box around and "fixes" everything. He has a light on his firetruck toddler bed that constantly needs batteries. He loves to help his daddy take off the screws and put new batteries in it. Whenever anything doesn't work, he asks if it needs batteries.

He also loves to help with anything that you are doing. He cooks, cleans, does yard work, changes the babies diapers and brings in the groceries. He doesn't want to miss a thing.

He loves to sing and dance. He almost always takes a bath before bed but sometimes in the mornings he likes to take a shower with one of us. He loves to stand in our shower because he can see himself in the glass door and sing and dance. He jumps up and down singing very loudly and staring at himself the whole time. It is hilarious!

Zach was a late talker but he sure is making up for it now. The things he says crack me up on a daily basis. If you stop quickly in the car, he says, "Please be careful." and he holds up his hand.
He also uses good manners most of the time, saying please, thank you and excuse me. He knows that the good manners work as a manipulation tool also. He will look at me and bat his cute little eyes and say "please, mommy" with this little puppy dog look. It is extremely hard to resist.

He has an amazing sense of direction. When I'm driving in the car he knows where we are. If I drive past the street to our house, he asks why we aren't going home. He also knows where the library, salon, playground, my office, Nana & Papa T's house and the grocery store are. It amazes me that he actually pays attention to this.

Each day is an adventure. I can't wait to see what year four brings us.

Favorites:
Food: Pasta, Popsicles, Grapes, Clementines, Turkey & French Fries
Drinks: Milk & Juice
Movie: Shrek (I know he burps, farts and screams...but we have his Aunt Melissa to thank for this one :-))
TV Show: Handy Manny, Curious George, Bob the Builder, Mickey Mouse Club House
Song: Down by the Station
Books: Barnyard Dance, anything by Sandra Boynton, and Winnie the Pooh Picture Poems
Activity: Going to the playground

Kaitlyn's 3 month update - Easy Baby

I remember reading Keri's Blog on her easy baby and agreeing with many things. I don't remember Zach being a tough baby but Kaitlyn is amazingly easy. She is so happy and easy going almost all of the time.

I was afraid to put this in writing but she even has been sleeping through the night for a little over a week now. I feed her after I put Zach down for bed around 8:30 and she doesn't wake up until after 5:00. Since I've been off of work for this week. it has been wonderful. Zach woke up every two hours until he was 6 months old. I'm sure part of that was my fault though.

Kaitlyn also is so strong. She already can sit unassisted (propped against something) and she holds her head up perfectly. She practically is already crawling. She scoots up on all fours and can make it all the way across the bed. Zach was a slow mover and I think because his head was so big compared to his body it took him forever to hold that little melon up.

She loves to be sang too. She will giggle and coo if you bounce her up and down on your lap or look her right in the eyes. She loves to hold on to your shirt and she is constantly putting her fists in her mouth. She usually only has her binky if she is going to sleep. This morning when I picked her up to feed her she was sucking her thumb...I've been desperately trying to stop this which is why we NEED the binky! She still has a ton of dark hair that needs to be brushed often because she has a cowlick.

The only time she is unhappy is when she is in the car. It is the weirdest thing. She hates the car. She can be perfectly happy but as soon as I put her in the car she starts screaming. I've tried moving the seat up and down but nothing seems to work. If I rub her forehead while I'm driving I can sometimes get her to calm down but not always. She is the polar opposite of Zach. Still to this day Zach loves the car. He would fall asleep in the car until he was almost 2 years old. He doesn't usually sleep in the car now but he doesn't mind it all. If anyone has any suggestions on this let me know.

She is more beautiful than I ever could imagine. I feel like I'm the luckiest mom to have 2 such wonderful children.

Binky Hiding and Slobberbowl 07

Per a request, here is an update on Zachary's reaction to his new little sister.

Zachary wasn't sure about Kaitlyn the first month she was. He would give her kisses and talk about the "baby" but I'm not sure he realized she was here to stay.

As month 2 rolled around, Zachary realized the "baby" was here to stay. I'm not sure he was happy about his realization. He would kiss her but it was more of an attack than a kiss. He would leave marks he would kiss so hard and she would be covered in drool. I think it was just an interesting way of really beating the crap out of her. I didn't want to discourage him from kissing her but I had to be careful obviously with his "love" for her.

His new favorite game became grab the binky out of Kaitlyn's mouth and run and hide it. The grabbing could be quite forceful and Kaitlyn wasn't too fond of this game. Joe and I were getting really tired of this new little game also. We tried chasing him down and making him apologize, blah blah blah...this approach wasn't working. Kaitlyn would be screaming and I would be chasing my little crazy man. I started off with 6 binkies but some how we were down to only 2. The last straw came when Kaitlyn had a particularly rough morning and I just had gotten her to sleep and Zach came and pulled the binky right out of her mouth. She immediately started screaming again. I know you all know the frustration level at this point. I couldn't find our "backup binky". I'm looking every where begging Zach to tell me where he put the binky. Reasoning with a 2 year old isn't always effective. He told me he put it in our Christmas tree but I didn't see it. Then after a desperate search, I returned to the tree (where in my panic I had obviously overlooked it. ) Zach had chucked the binky and evidently it landed smack dab in the middle of the tree and stayed there. I had ordered the binkies from a place Keri recommended so I called and ordered 10 more. I was going to try a new approach.

Zach was obviously trying to get attention (which I assure you he was getting plenty of). Now that I had ten, if he grabbed the binky I would just ignore him and go and get a new one. I think it took 3 or 4 more times and it was over. YEAH!!!! Why did I make such a big deal out it? Oh well hindsight is 20/20, my 2 year old had out smarted me.

I think Kaitlyn has finally won over Zachary though. The binky-stealing and mob kisses have been replaced by sweet caresses and loving words. When Kaitlyn starts crying now, Zach tells her, "its ok baby girl" and will gently rub her cheek and lightly kiss her forehead.

Ahh...peace in the household.

Long Overdue Blog

Well...I'm sorry I've been such a blogger slacker. I love reading all of your blogs and I know I need to make time to update mine. Here is an update since my last blog.

I took off six weeks from work after Kaitlyn was born and then the craziness began. My daily schedule

3:30 am - get up and dress
4:00 am - feed Kaitlyn
4:30-7:30 am - work at office (pump once while at work)
7:30 - Joe drops off kids at my office
7:30-9:00 take kids to playground on Tues and Thurs (Zach was only going to school on M,W&F so I needed to let him expend some energy)
9:00-11:30 shower, feed children, try to pick up a little
11:30-12:00 drive back to office to change cars with my mom so she could watch the kids
12:00-5:00 work again (and pump)
5:30- rush home from work so I could feed Kaitlyn before she needed another bottle
6:30 make dinner (or take out)
7:30 bath and bed time
8:00 feed Kaitlyn
11:00 Feed Kaitlyn & go to bed :-)

So as you can see this schedule was insane and was positively NOT working for me. I was exhausted. My mom was having a hard time leaving work also because she works full time as well so 12:00 was turning into 1 or 2:00 and I was having a hard time getting my hours in. I am very fortunate though that my office is very flexible with me. They don't care when I get my hours in so long as I get them in.

I knew we needed a change but I wasn't sure how I was going to accomplish this. My dream of staying home hasn't really played out so I knew I needed to make the best of what I had to work with.

Zach's daycare was not working for me either. I've posted about this on several occasions. I went and visited about 10 different daycares and found one that I really like. I'm so excited about him starting there on January 8th. He'll be going 5 days a week from 7:30-1:15.

I knew I made the right choice but again it was confirmed on Friday by the phone call I received from his current school. All of you potty-training moms should appreciate this. The owner of his school hasn't been there lately because she is opening a new school down the street so I haven't gotten a chance to tell her Zach won't be returning. She only requires a weeks notice anyway. So anyway she called me on Friday to say that beginning January 7th Zach's class will be going to the new school and he will need to be potty trained by then. She didn't read the rules of this new group that was going to run the school until then and she just saw that all of the kids had to be potty trained. She tells me it will be no big deal. I need to take him into the bathroom remove his diaper make him throw it in the garbage and tell him, "diapers are for babies...you wear big boy underwear now." She said you have two weekends before then and it should be no problem. Wow!! I was amazed. I've been trying to get them to help me with the potty training for over six months and I get this wonderful bit of advice from her and it will only take a week! We just went to my in-laws for the first weekend and I didn't really think it would be fair to let Zach have a bunch of accidents on her furniture. Zach was doing well until Kaitlyn was born and then he totally reverted. He's slowly getting back in the swing of things but it is slow going. I might try her technique but I was just amazed at her thinking he could be fully potty-trained in a week. Have any of you potty training moms had any luck with this technique??? Anyway I'm so glad he won't be going back to that school...she drove me NUTS!!

Now that we had Zach taken care of, I needed to find a solution for Kaitlyn. My mom's housekeeper recommended a really fantastic nanny. I called her before Thanksgiving and interviewed her twice. She started two weeks ago two days a week. I stayed at home with her the first week and worked from home so I could make sure she had the routine down. Then the second week I would just go and run quick errands while she stayed with Kaitlyn. She is fantastic. She even cleans the house while Kaitlyn is sleeping. She is truly amazing. She is great with Kaitlyn and I just love her.

So the new and improved schedule:
I work from 4:00am-12:00pm.
Joe drops Zach off at daycare everyday and my mom watches Kaitlyn M&T from 8-12 and the nanny watches her on W&Thurs from 8-12. Friday I'll work from home. This is so much better than before. Hopefully this will work out much better for all of us.

I'll post about Christmas later today...Kaitlyn is hungry :-)

I'm glad you all had a nice Christmas. I love all of your family Christmas cards!

Happy Halloween

We had a great night trick-or-treating. Zach had so much fun. We walked around my parents neighborhood with a little boy Zach's age. He was a little hesitant at first. He would walk up to the door and say trick-or-treat and thank you in almost a whisper. By the end of the night he was running from house to house. He didn't want to stop but it started raining. Then he came home and wanted to share his candy with Joe and I. Kaitlyn slept through her first trick-or-treating experience but everyone thought she was adorable.

You can see pics on our gallery.

Gator Poop

So we've been trying to get Zach to tell us when he has to go potty for months now. Since I've been home I've really been working with him. He had yet to go poo on the potty or tell me that he had to pee. If I asked him and took him into the bathroom he would go on the potty but he was still going in his diaper otherwise.

So during the really excellent Gator game Saturday...YUCK!!! Zach tells me mom I have to poop! What...really, lets go hurry! So we run into the bathroom and success. He went on the potty. My theory is that this was caused by the crappy play of the gators because he hasn't told me since.

I went to a school supply store and bought a potty chart and stickers for his successes. He has been doing well but only if I remind him. He hasn't told me again. I'm hoping he'll be trained before I go back to work but I'm not sure it will happen. I've read all the articles and books on potty training but it isn't working so well. I guess they all learn when they are ready. If any of you have some brilliant advice for me I'd appreciate it.

UPDATE: Tonight I saw that Zach was trying to go in his pants so I ask him if he had to go but it was to late. I changed his diaper and we did the ceremonial flushing of the mess down the toilet to show him where it goes. I remind him that he needs to tell me before he goes in his pants. Yes mommy...I'll tell you next time. About a half an hour later I smell something gross. Zach did you go in your pants again? Yup and it smells, he tells me. Aghh....at least I can laugh about it.

Zachey

My mom and sister came over today for lunch and we were all sitting around the table. Kaitlyn decided she wanted to eat too. I took her in the living room to feed her and Zach says, "Mom are you going to eat the baby? " We couldn't stop laughing. Then he started laughing too. I'm not sure even after I corrected him that he understood why we were laughing but it was hilarious!

Zach's new favorite thing to do besides kiss Kaitlyn is to blow raspberries on her belly. She doesn't seem to mind and it is pretty funny to watch.

I'm worried that all of our Halloween plans are going to be washed out. Hopefully Tropical Storm Noel will stay away and let us have a nice Halloween. Everyone cross their fingers for us.

Good Weekend

We had a nice weekend nothing too eventful. Saturday morning Erica, Liz and Ella came over for Kaitlyn's first official photo shoot. Huge thanks to Erica! Erica was amazing with Kaitlyn. I'm sure she got some great shots. Kaitlyn spit up and peed on the backdrop before Erica got any shots but everything went smoothly after that.

Zachary on the other hand, didn't want to cooperate at all. She might have gotten one shot but I doubt it. Zach missed his nap and was in quite the mood. It is amazing two year olds are the most adorable sweetest things 95% of the time but that other 5% they are TOUGH!!!

After our morning photos we went to my parents house for the Gator game. Whoo!!! Go Gators! Zach played t-ball with the little boy next door for awhile. He loves his T-ball set now. He is getting quite good at hitting it off the tee.

He had a zachey on Saturday too. My father was making fun of my mom saying she was acting like a little girl. Zach looked at him and said, "I'm not a girl. I'm a big boy!" I don't know where he gets this stuff but he constantly keeps me laughing. He said a few other hilarious things this weekend but of course now that I'm trying to remember them I can't remember them of course! I swear I need a Dictaphone on all of the time to capture these crazy comments.

Today we didn't do much of anything. We set out for the playground but Zach fell asleep on the way...so we just came home. I interviewed a nanny today. I've never "interviewed" anyone before. She barely spoke English so she brought along my mom's housekeeper as a translator. She seemed really nice and she is going to send me some references. She spoke Portuguese so I didn't have any idea what she was saying. If she spoke Spanish I could have probably had a conversation with her but Portuguese no such luck. It will be funny if both of my kids are bilingual in different languages.

I'm not sure we are going to use her but we'll see. I know my mom said she will help out so we don't have to put Kaitlyn in daycare for the first year but it is going to be really tough. I thought if a nanny wasn't too expensive I could hire her a couple of days a week so I could work from home. I'm so weird when it comes to leaving someone in the house alone with my baby. I don't know why it freaks me out so much. Daycare might not be the greatest thing but at least there is always someone watching everyone else. With a nanny there is no one there to watch her. Kaitlyn obviously can't tell me if she likes her or not. I never thought I was such a control freak about it but I guess I am. I mean it is my baby!!! I know people leave there kids with nannies all of the time. I guess you just have to feel comfortable enough with someone. Maybe I'll relax after I see them interact for awhile.

Zachary and Halle

Zachary still loves him some Halle. On Sunday Jason, Nikki and Halle came to visit and meet Kaitlyn. Zach was so cute with Halle. He shared all of his favorite toys. I was shocked how good he was with her.

Today my friend Tara came over with her two kids. Zach shared pretty well with Trevor but not near as good as with Halle. He has always done really well with her. I think it is because she is so easy going. Zach doesn't feel he has to "protect" his toys from her.

We had a nice visit with them. Kaitlyn slept pretty much the entire time so I got to sit and talk with everyone. She is very cooperative like that :-)

pics

Costume Shopping

Saturday my mom and I took Zach and Kaitlyn to buy their costumes. Kaitlyn was stuck with some pumpkin pj's because she is too little for pretty much anything else. Zachary picked out a Spiderman costume. He saw the spiderman candy bucket in the front of the store and he couldn't think of anything else. I showed him a bunch of different costumes but he was set on Spiderman.

I didn't think he would like anything with a mask but he loved the masks. He wanted to try on every mask in the store. I have a couple of great pics of him and my mom trying on the masks in the store. He also loved this big snake that wrapped around his neck. I was so surprised he knew exactly what to do with it.

Saturday night we went to Movies in the Park to see Surf's Up with Zach and Kaitlyn. Zach had a really good time. It was a little cool and windy so I kept covering Kaitlyn's car seat with a blanket and the canopy. Zach didn't like that he couldn't see her though and he kept trying to uncover her. It was very cute. We had a good time on our first two children outing.

Pictures

I've updated the pictures on our photo gallery. I'm trying to be good but...we'll see how long it lasts.
pics

Comparison

Kaitlyn

Zachary

Mommy Heaven

So I've been in mommy heaven these past ten days. I love being home with my kids. I mean sure I haven't got more than an hour or two of sleep at a time but other than that everything is perfect! Zach is fantastic with Kaitlyn. He constantly is giving her kisses and patting her. He wants her in his room while I read to him at naptime and bedtime. It is funny because I was so worried about keeping her out of his room so he felt that was "our time" and he wants me to bring her in there. Who knew!

Our first day home, I was so worried. Zach was swinging his golf club around Kaitlyn's car seat and I told him to be careful around her. He looked at me with this horrified look and ran into his room. I went into his room and I just started crying. How was my little man ever going to be ok with this. He looked at me and patted my face and said don't cry mommy. That was the end of that. He's been fine ever since.

Kaitlyn is doing really well. She had her first Dr.'s appt. last Friday. She weighed 7lbs when we left the hospital and she weighed 7lbs then. I'm not sure about her length because oddly the nurse said they don't stretch the babies legs to get the length so she was actually 1 1/2 inches shorter than in the hospital. Kinda weird but whatever???? She has another appt. tomorrow.

She is doing really well eating. I could almost set a clock by her feeding schedule. She eats every two hours exactly. She is extremely strong. She can already lift her head. Zach had a big noggin' so it took him awhile to do this. Lucky for Zach he grew into his head though.

We've taken a walk to the playground with Zach and Kaitlyn the past two nights. She seems to like the bounce of the ride and she sleeps really well. Zach loves any chance to get outside and run around. The weather has been really nice. There has been a nice breeze. Is it finally Fall???

We are taking our first family outing with both kids Saturday. They are showing Surf Up's at the park on Saturday night so we're going to go and have a picnic. Hopefully it will be successful. I'll have to start getting ready 3 hrs in advance. I haven't gotten the hang of leaving the house yet. After reading all of my friends blogs it seems this isn't really something you can get better at though especially with a 2 hour feeding schedule.

I did have a successful mommy moment today. Zach, Kaitlyn and I all took a nap together today in Zach's room. I actually managed to get them both to nap at the same time.

Zach meets Kailtyn

It is now day three of being a mommy of two. It is amazing! Yesterday went really well. All of the nurses at the hospital have been very nice. They have left Kaitlyn in the room with me the entire time. It is like being home. The nurses only come in and check her vitals but other than that you are on your own unless you ask for help. I like that this forces you to do everything but you know you have a backup just in case. I definitely feel more like a "mommy" this time. The diaper changes obviously weren't a problem. It only took a couple of hours to switch right back into infant mode. Nursing is going really well this time also. She is like a pro. I guess all of us 2nd timers have had an easier go with that this time.

My in-laws brought Zach up to the hospital yesterday morning. He was freaked out with me here I think. He wouldn't even look at Kaitlyn. He just wanted to lay on the bed with me. They left for lunch and brought him back around dinner time and he was much better. He wanted to give her a kiss but she was a little fussy at the time. We'll have to work on that :-) He still wasn't so sure about her but I think it will be better once we get home and he has me at home. He was upset that I wasn't going with them yesterday.

We are getting ready to leave the hospital. I've already been discharged but we have to wait for Kaitlyn's pediatrician to come and discharge her. He'll be here around lunch time. I can't wait to bring our new little girl home. It is amazing...I know have children!

I can't wait for you all to meet her. She is beautiful and perfect in every way. I can't believe how blessed I am. Check the gallery for more pics.

Hurray she is finally here

So I was admitted today at around 3:00. I promtly went to labor and delivery where the nurse told me that I was not having very hard contractions. She checked me and I was 3-4 cm still. The nurses didn't think I was having contractions because evidently the monitor wasn't working. I kept telling them that I was having contractions but I don't think they believed me. Then around 7:00 the new nurse (shift change) came in. I told her...I NEED DRUGS!!! Ok well just give me a minute while I do a few things, she says. At this point I was in mucho pain. Finally she checks me and she says no epidural for you...you are having this baby NOW! I hadn't seen the Dr. at this point so they have to call him. The nurse literally had to hold the baby in for 10 mintues while we waited for the Dr. Um...OUCH!

Thank goodness my mom and Joe were there because I really didn't think I was going to be able to hold her in. She was ready to get out of there. The Dr. did get there and Kaitlyn came into the world at 7:43 pm October 1. No stiches necessary. YEAH!!

She is perfect. She got a 9 on her Apgar because her hands were a little pink but other than that everything looks good. She has quite a set of lungs too.

She is absolutely beautiful! I can't believe she is finally here. She was 7lbs 3oz and 19 3/4 inches long. Exactly the same as Zach except he was 2oz lighter. She has a headful of dark hair and really long toes. I'll post more pics tomorrow.

She already is nursing great. I can't believe how easy it was this time. My family just left and Kaitlyn is sleeping. Joe's parents are going to bring Zachary here in the morning to meet his little sister. I'll post with more pics and an update.

I'm not sure if any of this was coherent...it's been a long day.

Thanks for all of the good wishes. Click here for pictures

Yeah!!!

I had my OB appointment this morning at 10:00 and my dr. scheduled me for an induction at 6 am tomorrow Oct 2nd. I was very excited about that but I think I'm going into labor now. Joe and I are on our way to the hospital. I'll keep you all posted!

The Waiting Game

I'm doing everything I can to hurry Kaitlyn up. It is funny because in my mind the absolute latest she would be here was tomorrow. I can't possibly go past my due date can, I??????

I've been vigilantly doing my prenatal yoga everyday this week. I usually only do it twice a week so I was hoping this would make her uncomfortable enough to want to get out of there. She seems perfectly happy in there though. I, on the other hand, am NOT comfortable. I don't know what she is doing in there so happily but it is putting a major damper on my circulation. I can't imagine having restless leg syndrome on a regular basis. I feel for those people. I, at least, have an end in sight (although it seems to be getting further as we speak).

Everyone keeps telling me all the "tricks". My mom just told me that it is a full moon so that triggers labor....ummm ok, am I having a baby or a werewolf????? I'll keep posting with the progress...or lack of progress.

My OB said they won't let me go more than a week past my due date so I guess I do know she'll be here in at least 8 days!!!! Whoo!!!

And the countdown continues...

So my official "due date" is Friday whatever that means. I went to my OB's office this morning before work even though my appt wasn't until 1:15 hoping that he would see me early and tell me nope you can't go to work you are going to the hospital. He did see me early but unfortunately he didn't tell me to go to the hospital. Once again he said, see you Monday.

I'm unhappily at work. HURRY UP Kaitlyn. I'm ready to meet you!!!!!!

Final blog blabber of the day

I know...I know I never blog and then when I do I go on a rampage.

I read the book the Family Tree that Angelle recommended. I really liked it but I decided it wasn't a good book to read while you are pregnant. For the past few months I have been having absolutely crazy nightmares/dreams. In one dream, I dreamt my sister had become a chain smoker. It was so vivid and real. I honestly had to ask her if we had discussed this or if it was a dream. It seemed so real. Anyway now that you all think I'm crazy let me prove it to you :-)

In the book two white parents have a black child. The past week now I've dreamt all kinds of crazy things about Kaitlyn. She has been black, asian, a boy...which considering the large amount of pink things in her closet wouldn't be such a good thing. All I really want is a healthy baby but these dreams have really been disturbing me. In one dream she came out with a cartooney like south park head. What does this mean???? Is Joe going to think I had an affair with Cartman???? I can't wait for the hormones to go back to normal and for the crazy dreams to stop. It is almost impossible to sleep as it is.

2 minutes

Zach has really gotten better in his negotiating skills. His new trick is "two minutes." I've always given him a little warning of when an activity is going to end. Zach we are going to go to bed in two minutes, we are leaving the beach/pool in two minutes, dinner two minutes...you get the idea. Well Zach now has decided he would like to use this technique as well. The first time he said it I almost fell off my chair laughing and of course I was more than happy to accommodate this request. He now wants to use it for everything. It is hilarious though. Mom I'll brush my teeth in two minutes. Mom we'll change my diaper in two minutes, etc.

I've also been telling him that he has to be gentle around my stomach. I guess I must use the word easy as well. Well yesterday as I was putting him in his car seat he tells me, "Mom please be easy with your tummy. Be careful, I'm heavy." Where does this kid come up with this stuff??? I love it.

My final Zachey came when he was playing ball with our dog Jade. He tells Jade, "Go Deep Jade, Go Deep". He couldn't understand why she wouldn't do it. He kept trying to run and show her how to do it but she just kept following him with the ball. It was very cute.

AMAZING!!!

I would desperately love to stay home full time with Zach and soon Kaitlyn. Joe and I are doing everything we can which right now isn't much to make this a reality. Since the housing market tanked and we pretty much bought our house at the peak we are stuck...at least for now. Well I've decided that if I have to work having a maid is the way to go. This also isn't really a financial reality right now (especially since I want to work less) but it was nice to see how the other half live.

This week I hired my mother's maid to come help clean the house before Kaitlyn gets here. When I left for work on Tuesday my house was terrible. When I came home from work Tuesday I almost cried. My house was sparkling!! I of course picked up before the maid got there so there weren't Lego's and trucks all over but she did a wonderful job. I know everyone has done the shove everything in a laundry hamper in the closet so the house "looks" clean when people cover over trick. Well I had done this and put a note on my closet door saying "DO NOT CLEAN". Evidently the maid doesn't read/speak English so she cleaned my closet anyway. She organized all of my shoes, swept, mopped and basically made my closet sparkle. It looks amazing. She also cleaned out my refrigerator. Once a week before I go to work I "clean" out the fridge. This basically involves throwing out rotten fruit or things I've forgotten about. I keep saying how I need to wipe it out, organize, blah blah blah. Well the maid did this. Everything was organized and it looked amazing. It is amazing how all of these little things can make you feel overwhelmed. I had the greatest day Tuesday! I have never felt so relaxed and relieved.

My nesting instinct has been a little overwhelmed lately by my wow it is really hard to bend over with this belly and inability to breathe instinct. By the time I get home from work and cook dinner and play with Zach and read him stories and put him to bed I have very little energy to do anything else. I really needed the extra help. I feel like I'm definitely ready for Kaitlyn now. I have a doctor's appointment Monday so I'll let you know how it goes.

Waiting...

I had my 38 week appointment yesterday. Kaitlyn is still pretty happy in there. The doctor said it wouldn't be before my next appointment so I have at least another week :-(

I'm so ready for her to be here all ready!

I've definitely been preparing for the lack of sleep. Zach has pretty much slept through the night since he was six months old with few exceptions but the past two weeks he's been waking up often. Sometimes he just lays in there and talks but I think he might be having bad dreams because other times he'll scream like a mad man. It is so weird. Hopefully it will stop before Kaitlyn gets here but from all of your posts it doesn't seem like that is the case.

In addition to Zach, it is so hard to get comfortable with a baby in your belly :-) Wah Wah poor me...sorry for the complaining. I'm at work and I'm feeling yucky so the complaining is easy!

On a good note, the nursery is finally finished and I'm so happy with the way it turned out. I'll post pictures this weekend.

Final post of the day

I had my 37 week Dr's appointment yesterday. He said everything looked good. I'm 1 1/2 centimeters so I guess it could be any day now! Hopefully it will be soon. I'm so ready!!!

Joe has asked that I wait until after the Tennessee game on Saturday. I told him I would try but I wasn't making any promises! Geez us Gator's have to plan everything around Gator football.

Blogging rampage

I just had to share some more Zach stories this morning. He has totally been cracking me up lately. Sunday morning I hear him screaming from his room, "Ma". He does this several times before I can waddle myself in there. It takes me a few (well maybe like 10) minutes to roll myself out of bed these days. Joe actually went in there because I was getting ready to go to the shower. I hear him say over the monitor, "Ma, Come here please I need to talk to you." Umm...ok. Where does he get this stuff. He didn't have anything particular to say though.

He also told me the other night after I told him no more books, "Ok mom, I promise we'll read this one tomorrow." Ok thanks Zach, I was worried! I love how he is really expressing himself now.

He also is really thinking before he speaks. He'll say umm....and then come up with funniest things. I love this age!

His potty training isn't going great but we do have progress. Yesterday when I picked him up from school he wanted to go potty. He didn't want to use the urinal though so he decided to pee standing up in the toilet. The only problem is his part doesn't quiet reach the toilet so instead it went all down the front of the toilet and his leg. At least his is trying!! It is so hard not to laugh at these events. I told him next time we'll have to try the urinal instead and he told me I don't want pee on my leg mommy!

Thanks again

When I put the new banner up for my blog it wasn't quite ready for prime time. Nikki took one look at it and knew she had to perfect it! I thought it looked great the way it was but Nikki made it look even better. Thanks again Nikki and thanks to Erica for taking a great picture to begin with at Hive. While I'm on a role thanks to Min for making Zach have a great having fun smile in the picture!

Fantastic Shower

Thank you so much to Melissa and Nicole for throwing me a fantastic shower!! The food was terrific and the fauxmosas were great! I know everyone else liked the real mimosas! It was so much fun seeing everyone. I got so many cute clothes for Kaitlyn. I'm really excited for her to hurry up and get here now. A special thanks to Erica for being the official shower photographer. She has some great pictures posted on her gallery.

It was nice to have a girl day. Joe watched Zach so I could relax and enjoy myself. I can't believe that the next time I see everyone I will be a mother of two! Wow that is crazy!!!!

Thanks Nikki

I just had to post a big thank you to Nikki for making my blog look nice and pretty. She did such a great job with Zach's picture. Thank goodness I'm a good accountant because I wasn't blessed with the creative gene!

Zachies

I love reading all the blogs about the funny things that all of the kids say and do. We too have a name for Zach's little sayings. We call them Zachies. I'm not sure why they are so funny but it cracks me up to here the things he says. I'm going to try and be better about blogging about them when he says them because I want to be able to look back and remember them.

Yesterday when I went to put on his shorts they wouldn't button. I'm not sure the last time he wore them but it hadn't been that long. It is amazing how they seem to grow overnight. I've decided that the best way to make him grow is to buy him shoes. Inevitably every time I buy him new shoes his feet grow an inch that week. Anyway, Zach looks at me and says, "Mom my shorts are too small. I'm going to give them to the baby 'cause I'm a big boy now!" He takes them off and walks them into Kaitlyn's room and puts them in her closet. What???? Sometimes I think he is blissfully unaware of her and then this. Hopefully he'll be this good with sharing once she gets here.

Labor Day Fun

I know it is Thursday and I'm just posting about Labor Day but I'm a slacker what can I say. Zach has been going through this golfing phase. He watched some golf with his Papa T this weekend and he loves it now. I walked in the room and he told me he was watching golf balls. Ever since he's been using anything long as a golf club. When we were watching the Gator Game Saturday he was using the Gator flag as a golf club. It was very cute! He also doesn't play golf he plays golf balls which is equally cute!

So anyway Monday we decided we would take him to play mini golf at Boomers. Of course as soon as we get in the car it starts raining. We decided to go anyway but no luck! The golf was closed the entire time we were there but he had a blast anyway. The had a miniature bowling alley there. He absolutely loved that. The balls were small and the lanes were small too. He kept wanting to run down the lane after the ball. We had to keep grabbing him and telling him just the ball. I know Joe will appreciate the fact that I have included a picture of his tush for the world to see. Oh well men don't really care about that do they? He also loved the basketball game.

Yeah it's Kaitlyn's turn!!!

Congratulations to Keith and Keri on their newest addition Corgan Alexander!

Two healthy babies down and two to go. I'm so ready now that both Angelle and Keri have their little ones on the outside! Hurry up Kaitlyn!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow...it's been five years

Joe and I celebrated our five year anniversary on Friday. It is so strange how sometimes it feels like we've been together forever and other times I can't believe we've been married five years. Well after reading Keri's post about the Melting Pot I was super excited about going to the Melting Pot. Joe suggested that we not splurge because money is so tight right now...so after being a little disappointed I agreed that he was right. We shouldn't be indulging ourselves right now...we should save for the baby. He suggested PF Changs much less expensive.

Well he told me he made reservations for 6:45. He suprised me though and ended up taking me to the Melting Pot anyway. He had done some side work for somebody and used the money he made for me. Awwww!!! I love my hubbie! When we got there he even had gotten me balloons and a roses. I wish I had my camera but by now you all know that of course I didn't.

We had a really nice time. When we first got there our waitress spilled Joe's coke all over him but they definitely made up for it. It was such a nice night.

My parents actually watched Zach the whole weekend. It was our little version of a "babymoon". We didn't really do anything but relax. We went to see Superbad on Saturday. It was very funny!

So thanks to Mom and Dad and thanks to Joe for a fantastic weekend. I love my family! It is very weird though, being away from Zach. I missed him like crazy and I was only away from him for 48 hours. I'm such a dork!

On a separate note, Zach is doing so great at daycare! I'm so glad that he is with the older children. Joe usually drops him off at school though, but today I did because I had my 34 week checkup at 11:00 so I kept him at home with me for some really great snuggle time. On the way to school he fell asleep. He was still sleepy when I took him in. When I went to set him down on the playground with the other kids he looks right at me and says in the most pathetic and gutwrenching voices, "please stay mommy, please, I love you." What do you say to that??? I of course had to leave and spent the entire carride to the Dr. crying! Again, I'm a dork!

I called to check on him after my appointment and she said he stopped crying like five minutes after I left. Whew!! I know this but it is still hard!

Finally, as to the Dr. appointment, everything looks good. I'm ready though!!

Congrats to Mike, Angelle, and Leah on baby Erin. They are an inspiration to the rest of us!!

Progress!

So Zach has been in the three year old class room at daycare for two weeks. He is doing wonderful! He has not had one problem since he has been in that class. They actually discipline the kids in that class. If they misbehave they get sad faces drawn on the board and when they do what they are supposed to they get smiley faces. If they get three frown faces they start to lose privilidges. So far, Zach only has smiley faces!!

This is such a relif for me. I had been dreading taking him to school for weeks. I'm so glad that everything is finally working out. I knew he wasn't a little demon (well most of the time anyway). He's two, all of you mom's know what a two year old can be like. I love going to pick him up now. He is always happy and playing contently whenever I go to pick him up. He always makes me come in his class and play a little while before we leave. He never did that in the other class. He was always ready to get the heck out of there.

On a different note, I think Zach really understands about the baby now. I love reading all of the blogs about the crazy things that our kids are saying. Yesterday when I went to pick him up from daycare a woman was there with her newborn. She asked Zach if he was ready to have our baby and he said, "My sista will be here soon". I almost died laughing. We should definitely have a tape recorder to catch all of these little quotes.

Is my child really a bully?

So last week Zach was having a rough week at daycare again. They told me he was hitting/kicking and basically having screaming fits all day long. So I had to see for myself. Zach does have occasional meltdowns at home but they are usually short. So I went to the daycare and spent about 4 hours. I know that Zach wasn't acting the same because I was there but I got to watch how the teachers interacted with the children. Zach's class has 22 kids in it from ages 1-2.99. This is a huge age difference. Zach is probably the oldest child (at least he acted like it). My first observation was that the teachers didn't have any authority at all. There were 3 teachers in the room. Two of the teachers mostly just held the kids and played with individual kids while the other teacher did the activities. The first activity was exercising. All of the kids started getting toys out of the bins while she was trying to get them to dance. She said twice "no toys" but all of the kids got toys out anyway and she didn't make them put them away. I guess she figured it was a losing battle. Isn't this bad? I think you have to be consistent if you want the kids to listen. You actually have to enforce what you say.

Moving on to lunch...she told the kids to stay in their chairs several times...again they got up and nothing happened. So I'm thinking Zach doesn't listen to them because nothing happens if he doesn't. He also is extremely bored. I think the age difference is too great. Most of the kids are still babies compared to Zach. None of the kids talked at least they didn't while I was there. In the four hours that I was there the only "activities" they did were a 15 minute art project and about 10 minutes of dancing. The rest of the time was spent hand washing, diapering, feeding, etc. There was so much time where Zach was just sitting there.

So I had made up my mind that I was going to take him somewhere else. I found a great place on Friday. I was going to start him there next week. When Joe went to drop Zach off at daycare yesterday they had moved Zach up to the 3 year old class though. I had suggested that he might be bored in the other class on several occasions but they never agreed. They actually asked if we watched a lot of violent television at home. Are you kidding me? Of course we sit at home all day and watch Die Hard and Rambo?????? I actually am extremely careful about what we watch. If it isn't dancing or PBS Zach doesn't watch it. Anyway I digress...so when we went to pick him up yesterday he had an excellent day. He played nicely all day. I told them we'll give him two weeks in that class. If he isn't doing great he is starting the new school. I'll let you know how it goes.

My little reader...

So I know that Zach isn't really reading but I like to pretend that he is. I've been reading Barnyard Dance by Sandra Boynton to Zach for a few months now. He always finishes the words for me or "reads" along with me. Last night though he told me he wanted to read to me. He "read" every single word as I turned the pages. It was so amazing. He doesn't pronounce all of the works exactly right but he says something that sounds like the word for every single word.

I of course had to call Joe into the room so he could read to Joe also. Why didn't I think to get the video camera out for this event. I really need to be better with the video camera. All of my friends capture all of these great every day moments on video. I never remember though unless it is for a holiday or something.

I had my 30 week Dr.'s appt. yesterday. Everything is looking good. I'm very glad he asked me what hospital I was going to deliver at. I had taken a virtual tour of the hospital right by my house. It seems very nice and I was going to take an actual tour next week. I asked him which hospital he recommended (he delivers at 2 hospitals because they are so close). I had never even considered the other hospital. Well it turns out both of them are basically the same in all aspects EXCEPT at the hospital I was planning on delivering at they only offer private rooms on a first come first serve basis. He said there is no preference given and the likelihood of having a private room is not very good. When I had Zach we had to pay an extra $100 for a private room but it was definitely worth it. Coral Springs doesn't do that because they say it is discriminatory to people on Medicaid.

Again...WHAT???? Discriminatory! Ok I guess I'm being selfish but I really can't imagine sharing a room. I remember the first night in the hospital with Zach I cried myself. We were having a really hard time with breastfeeding. He was in the room with me the whole night and we both were awake the entire night. I can't imagine if another mom was in there "trying" to sleep.

So needless to say unless Northwest is awful which I highly doubt that is where Kaitlynn will be born. I need a private room.

My feet and my hands are supposed to be where?

The hospital where I'm having Kaitlynn offers a prenatal yoga class twice a week. I was very nervous about going but I loved it. Most of the women in the class had been before so they knew all of the poses. I felt a little awkward at first but by the end of the class I felt much more comfortable. I actually wish they offered it more than twice a week. It is amazing how good it feels when I'm finished. On the nights that I don't have Yoga I feel lethargic and unmotivated.

Not only am I loving the way it makes my body feel but it also fills me with energy. It is funny because the nights that I don't have Yoga I get nothing done. All I want to do is plop down on the couch once I'm done with dinner. On the nights that I'm out of the house for a couple of hours I actually am much more productive once I come home. I get the laundry done and the cleaning.

One of the other preggo's in the class with me last week was 38 weeks pregnant and she was still there. She was huffing and puffing but she said it still made her feel better. I'm hoping I can keep it up until the end.

I'm also hoping that starting this little exercise routine will get me in the habit so after Kaitlynn is born I will keep it up and lose some weight.

HIVE reunion

A few weeks ago we had our annual reunion with our friends from high school and college. It was really great to be able to spend time with everyone. One of our friends took some really great pictures of all of the kids.

It is funny because I never thought that Zach would go in a pool without me taking him in. We have a baby gate around our pool but I truly believed that Zach wouldn't go in without us. Well when we were loading up the car to leave North Carolina Zach took a belly flop right into the pool out front. I'm actually not sure if he jumped in or fell in but either way...lucky for us we were out there. I guess you never know what kids are going to do. Erica got some really cute pictures of him playing in the pool though.



I'm very thankful that it seems Zach has his daddy's athletic ability. He had such a great time playing soccer with the kids and the big kids. He really seems to love soccer. He's been playing in the yard for the past couple of weeks and he is actually really good at dribbling the ball. I can't wait to get him in little league.

It's a girl

We just had our sonogram today and the doctor said he is pretty certain it's a girl. He said that it was still a little early for him to guarantee it but he felt pretty certain.

He said he wants me to have another sonogram because he couldn't get a picture of all 4 chambers of the babies heart. He said not to worry because it looked fine but all of the doctors wanted to see all four chambers just to make sure now.

We are very excited to be having a healthy baby. Her name is going to be Kaitlynn Marie.

I had already started looking at nursery stuff and this particular girl's bedding set has been my favorite since the first time I saw it. It was the first one I liked. I'm going to keep looking for awhile but I don't think I'm going to find anything I like better. Joe isn't that fond of it. He said it is overflowing of "girlness" but I think that is what I like about it. The whole house is either little boy or gender neutral. There is something about an ultra feminine room for a little girl that really appeals to me. Let me know what you guys think.

Gender Identification Date

I had my 16 week appointment yesterday and I scheduled my sonogram for May 2Nd. Joe and I are hoping we have better luck than our friends. It seems that these second babies are being stubborn.

I really don't know what I'm having. When I first found out I was pregnant I thought the baby has to be a girl but now I just have no idea. I can't wait to find out to start planning. How did people go through this back when our mom's were having us. I can't imagine not being able to find out. Evidently my mother's intuition isn't very strong these days.

"Real Mom Tag"

I know this went around awhile ago but here is my attempt to describe a "real mom".

A real mom knows what it is like to get 8 hours of sleep in a week instead of a night.

A real mom knows that there is nothing better than when your little one says I love you.

A real mom learns that your house will never be quite as clean as it used to be and you don't care.

A real mom can talk on the phone, fold laundry, soothe a crying child and cook dinner at the same time.

A real mom looks forward to everything so she can see it through the eyes of her child. Holidays, vacations, and every day events are more fun now.

A real mom doesn't care that the shoulder of every shirt she owns has been covered in boogies.

A real mom has read a favorite bedtime story so many times that she doesn't need to look at the book anymore.

and Finally A real mom has had to say things they'd never thought would come out of their month...no don't eat the dog food, we can't drink the water from the toilet, and we can't go for a walk naked and the best is you can't saw the dog (he loves his Bob the Builder tool set).

Better late than never

I was going to post this earlier but if you read the prior post you can probably figure out why it took me a month to post this.

Zach had such a good time on Easter. We got up with Joe's parents on Easter and went to church. Zach was so good. I was really impressed. I figured he would get fidgety at a long Catholic mass but he was so quiet. He loves music so I think there was just enough singing that it kept him entertained.

He also LOVED hunting for eggs. He wasn't really into it last year but this year he couldn't get enough. I hid little matchbox cars and jelly beans in his eggs and he had a blast.

On Saturday we colored eggs. He also had such a good time with this. He got a little carried away with the crayon towards the end but it was hysterical. He was having a good time.

Priorities

Well tax season is finally over. Thank goodness. I don't think I could have taken another day. I have been struggling with life balance issues since Zachary was born but this tax season completely put all of my priorities in order.

Before I had Zach I had aspirations of being partner at our firm. I didn't care how hard I had to work or how many hours I had to work. It was worth it. It was all I knew. Then along comes Zach...complete 180. I don't care if I make partner all I really want to do is stay home and be a mom. Why is it that having a child makes your entire life change? You just have no idea how much you or your life will change until your little angel is here. I never dreamed that I would have aspirations of being just like my mom. I don't want to miss anything. I want to stay home and bake cookies for Easter and volunteer in his classroom and coach his little league team.

Well South Florida is a pretty expensive place to live so we've decided to put the house on the market. Who cares if you have a nice house with a yard for your child to play in if you are never home to play with him in it. I'm not sure what we are going to do or where we are going to go. I'm having a hard time with that right now. If we move we will be leaving more than our home we will be leaving my family. I LOVE that Zachary is so close to my parents. He sees them on a weekly basis. I grew up near my grandparents and I'm so close with them. The downside of staying is that we will be in a cramped apartment. If we moved to a less expensive city we could afford a nice house.

I know some mom's can do it all but I can't. I can't give everything I want to Zachary and baby #2 and continue to work the way I am. So once we sell the house I'm going to be able to hopefully cut back to part time. I would love to not be able to work at all but that just isn't possible right now. We are going to do everything we can to make that happen. Hopefully soon I'll be able to work entirely from home and then it won't matter if I have to work.

I'm sorry for the ranting but...I was feeling a little overwhelmed through tax season and working 70 hours per week that it had been building up for a little while.

Was that an organ?

(Not for the queasy)

We have been pretty luck in the Stewart house lately. Zachary hasn't brought home any nasty little bugs from daycare in awhile. Saturday night, however, he thought it had been long enough. We were out to dinner when he decided to throw up all over me. Oranges and cottage cheese (well it started out as milk...but we know what it turns into)! Why is it that children always throw up milk. Zach has on occasion thrown up just because he swallowed something wrong so I thought that was what had probably happened. I went out to the car and changed his clothes. He seemed fine so I went back into the restaurant since we were out with my parents and grandfather.

Five minutes later, again all over me. Luckily he stopped long enough to get home and fortunately didn't have another spell until the next morning. He actually was completely better by Sunday night. Thank goodness it didn't last long, for Zach anyway.

Monday I was sitting at my desk and all of a sudden I felt really bad. I thought it was just pregnancy nausea so I sat there a little longer hoping it would go away. It didn't. I left work on Monday and barely made it home. I got the same thing as Zach but I guess because I am pregnant it made it SO much worse. Stomach bug and pregnancy nausea is a bad bad thing. It only lasted a couple of days but let me tell you I thought one of my organs was going to come up a couple of times.

We are all doing well and everything is back to normal now. Luckily I had my 12 week appointment yesterday so the doctor could check and make sure that everything was OK. We heard the babies heartbeat this time so I was very happy.

Joe and I can't decide on our boy's name so it would be much easier if the baby was a girl. We both like Alexander Joseph for a boy but I want to call him Xander. Joe HATES that so we're stuck. We both agree on Kaitlynn Marie for a girl though. We wanted a family name but we didn't really like any of our family names so Kaitlynn Marie is a combination of the first letters of both of our parents, grandparents and sisters first initials.

What is that?

Zach has officially entered the age of questions?

His favorite question is "what is that?". Every where we go "mommy, what is that?" Driving in the car, grocery shopping, cleaning house. Mommy What is that? I love it but I feel like he is no longer a baby. I've been trying to avoid that thought for the past few months but it is getting harder and harder to avoid. He has turned the "big boy" corner and he is not looking back.

I was reading to him last night and I realized that I am always pointing to things in his books and asking, "Zach, what is that?". It is amazing how they pick up on things you do without you even realizing it.

Zach's Day at the Pool

The clubhouse at my parents new house has a water-playground for kids. It is so cute! I think Zach would have played out there for two whole days if we let him. Melissa keeps telling me that he needs a bathing suit but it is SO much easier to dress him in this than to keep putting lotion all over his body every hour. I love this picture.

Aghh!!!!!!!!!

So after reading Kerri's blog the other day I couldn't have imagined how scary that must have been. Well...two weeks later I'm in the same position.

I called my doctor because I had a little bit of spotting (which I had during my first pregnancy) so I thought he was going to say no big deal. He told me to come in the next day just to check and make sure everything was OK. Well he examined me and said everything seemed allright but he wanted to check the heartbeat. No heartbeat! He tells me to go to the hospital to have an ultrsound done right away. I was completely freaked out. I had to sit in the waiting room of the hospital for over an hour (bladder way too full to wait over an hour!). Of course I was freaking out the entire time. When they finally called my name I was a wreck. Joe had offered to come with me but I told him no. I was afraid that by having him come it meant something was wrong...scewed logic but whatever. So everything is OK...the baby was too small to hear the heartbeat. The ultrasound tech said there was no way he could have heard the heartbeat. I got to see his/her heart beating in his/her little chest though. AMAZING!

Before the ultrasound I was completly terrified of having Baby #2. The ultrasound and scare definitely put things in perspective.

On a happier note, Zach has also moved to his new big boy bed. He LOVES it! I was so terrified that moving him out of his crib would mess up his excellent sleep habits. I brought it home with the thought that we would just leave it next to his crib until he was ready to sleep in it. He loved it though. He had gone to a couple of stores to help us pick it out and he kept climbing in them all to test them out. The first night he helped us assemble it with his tools and then as soon as we put the mattress in he crawled in and said sleepy time. He has slept in it ever since. No problems!

The crib is now ready for the baby! Goal one of two down! We are still working on potty training. Zach isn't really into it though. He will say he has to go but he never makes it to the potty. I think he just wants to get my attention. By the time we get his pants off he just wants to run around the house naked. This isn't usually a problem but I've discovered naked toothbrushing isn't the best idea (at least for little boys) :-) I'm not pushing him yet...hopefully he'll catch on to the potty thing on his own.

Zach goes to the dentist

So...have any of you taken the kiddies to the dentist yet? Oh my gosh. I knew taking Zach to the dentist wasn't going to be fun but never in my dreams was I prepared for what was to come. Zach fell and chipped one of his teeth so I wanted to take him to the dentist. I know that you are supposed to take them once they turn one but well Zach doesn't like for me to brush his teeth. I knew the dentist was going to be a nightmare so I put it off as long as I could.

He is so independent now. He loves to brush his own teeth but he doesn't want me or Joe to do it.

So we walk into the dentist and there are a bunch of toys. He was having a great time. I'm thinking great...this isn't going to be so bad. Well then they call us back. I keep telling him how much fun it is to go to the dentist and what a big boy he is now. Again fine...well then they decide to take an x-ray of the chipped tooth. This involves me holding him down while they put the x-ray vest on me and him and then try to get him to bite down on that little thingee. Yeah, this didn't work. The hygienist kept telling me to wrap my legs around his, hold his hands with one hand and his head with my chin and tilt his head with my other hand. (Yes, I did feel like a contortionist). If any of you have tried to hold down a kicking and screaming baby you know how well this worked. The hygienist then decides she is going to have another tech hold him while she takes the xray. They asked me to stand behind his chair so he couldn't see me. He kept screaming "mommy, mommy". Needless to say I'm crying at this point. I'm such a wimp. I knew they weren't hurting him but still it is awful to hear them like that. Finally the dentist says it is ok to skip the xray, which I was about to walk out of the office with Zach at that point so it couldn't have come soon enough.

The rest of the visit was bad but not as bad. I had to hold him on my lap with his legs around me for the cleaning and examination. More crying but nothing like the xray. I know that no permanent damage was done because as soon as they were done he was blowing all of them kisses goodbye and giving them High Fives. The hygienist told me that in her seven years she has never seen a stronger kid. Joe was very excited about this compliment but I'm not sure that is a good thing.

I'm not sure what I could have done to make this a better visit. I talked about the appointment for two weeks before hand and explained what was going to happen. I would love to hear any suggestions for the next time.

Joys of motherhood

It is amazing how all of the little things are the things you enjoy the most. If you would have told me two years ago that the highlight of my day would be just sitting and watching a toddler I couldn't have imagined it. Zach is turning into a little person.

I can't believe he is going to be two next month. It is so cliche but seriously time goes by so fast. He is doing so much now it is amazing. He is such a sponge. You don't realize how much they pick up on.

Zach is singing now. Since he could throw a ball I've always counted one,two, three, well about three weeks ago he counted to three when he was going to throw the ball to me. It is so funny how it seems like over night they figure something out. He can now count to 10 and sing the ABC's. He doesn't always get all of the letters or numbers but he loves to sing them. Just don't ask him to do it. He wants to do it when he wants to do it.

My mom always told me that before she had my younger sister she was so worried that she wouldn't be able to love a second child as much as she loved the first. I always thought she was insane. Why would she think something like that? I totally understand how she felt now. I love Zach so much. I know once baby #2 comes along I'll love them just as much but it just doesn't seem possible.

Every day is an adventure and every day he is doing something new. I love waking up wondering what is in store for today. He is such a lovable little guy now too. He is always hugging me and kissing me and saying luv you.

Ok, I think I'm done bragging now. I know all of you other mother's can appreciate what I'm saying though.

Bilingual Baby and Baseball

Last week when I was in Target trying on some new workout clothes Zach picked up my shoe and handed it to me and said "zapato". He said it as clear as day. It completely caught me off guard. Could Zach have just talked to me in Spanish? It was amazing. All of the woman at Zach's school speak Spanish. I know most of them speak English too but his favorite speaks hardly any English.

I took three years of Spanish in high school so needless to say my Spanish is not that good. Since then I've noticed Zach saying other Spanish words. A couple of days ago when he wanted more grapes he said "mas mas". Usually I can understand what Zach is trying to tell me, but sometimes I'll think he's just babbling but he looks like he knows exactly what he is saying. Could it be he is talking in Spanish and I just don't know what he is saying?

Last night we took Zach to his first baseball game. He absolutely loved the atmosphere. I'm not sure he watched 2 seconds of the game though. He loved walking up the ramp to our seats and all of the steps down to our seats. He is such a people watcher so of course all of the people around us kept him amazed for most of the game. The Marlins hit quite a few homeruns and he loved the fireworks after each one. I promise I'll post pictures.

During the game his shoe fell off and he again busted out with his Spanish. Mommy zapato...zapato. Well the people in front of us (Spanish speaking) heard this and thought it was hysterical. Then the woman started talking to him in Spanish. "Donde esta el zapato?" He bends down and hands her his shoe. How amazing! My little Zach is going to be bilingual. I guess I'm going to have to start working on my Spanish.