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.