Saturday, September 20, 2014

Things I'm Liking Right Now

This is mostly an update dump of sorts, of things that I have been rolling around in my brain lately (with what little power there is left in there - sleep deprivation is real, y'all).

Things I'm liking right now:




  • My Babies

This one is a given.  Sweet Quinn is 4 weeks old as of yesterday - which is astounding.  I felt like the first two weeks stretched out forever (not in a bad way - in a good way actually - I felt so good and kept thinking to myself - I just had a baby two weeks ago!) but now it's almost been a month and I can't believe how the time is already flying.  It's hard for me to believe sometimes that I have two children - two daughters!  I don't feel old enough or capable enough or grown enough - but oh they are such a blessing.




Harper continues to be a great big sister!  Not once have I seen her act anything but sweet to Quinn.  Yes, I watch her like a hawk and often have to pick Quinn up to avoid her getting kicked or love squashed ala Lennie's mouse in Of Mice and Men.  Harper calls her Quinnie, which comes out a gutteral "kwunnie" and loves to help me wake her up or change her diaper or any other thing.  She gets upset when she cries and shouts "kwunnie cwying!" and says "Is ok is ok" over and over.  She loves to pat her back and help me by bringing diapers or toys or to "share" food with her sister.  I love that she loves this baby so fully, so quickly.  I know they will fight but I really hope this is the start of a best friendship.


  • Big Girls


Harper is really showing us how grown up she is lately.  Undoubtedly, it's the comparison factor, but she astonishes me daily by how much she is growing and learning.  Each day she will randomly say a word that I haven't explicitly taught her or identify some object or string words together in phrases and I squeal in my proud mom voice "that's right!!!"  Then she smiles a very proud smile and runs away, a temper tantrum likely right around the corner as she is at that oh-so-fun mercurial age.  


She loves school and gets so excited running through her litany of school related words when I tell her we are going - school! friends! church! (she uses that word for school interchangeably) backpack! share! fun! slide! paint!  When I drop her off, she runs right up to others to play (she is very social) and doesn't want to leave when I get there (although she is quick to sprint to me to say hi).  


She is imaginative and creative and is still absolutely in love with reading.  I created a little nook in her closet where she can read, and when I notice things have gotten suspiciously quiet, I usually can find her in there, intently staring at a book (or playing in the trash, one of the two...).  Harper is up and down, for sure, but the ups are starting to win out and she's such a sweet, funny, happy little thing.  

  • Sleep Schedules

I'm going to try to write up monthly updates for Quinn like I did with Harper, so I'll save my details about her for that.  But this week I'm very much appreciating sleep schedules and the sanity it gives me.  I understand that this is a hot topic and everyone has an opinion and a preferred way of raising their babies - we all do what works for us, right?  We did Babywise with Harper and loved it and she responded so well - she's an excellent sleeper and is mildly well-adjusted now ;) It took work at the beginning and some sacrifices so she could be home for most naps in her own bed, but we think it certainly paid off very quickly.  She nursed great for nearly a year and was happy and active and thrived on a schedule. Win win win.  

So we started things off pretty quickly with Quinn as well and I love the peace that scheduled feedings and naps bring - to both us and baby.  It's also helped me coordinate the two kids so I get a little quiet time during the day!  Quinn's doing so well on a loose 2.5-3 hr schedule and is waking up once during the night at about 4 am (ha but that means feeding her at 11pm and then again to wake up at 6:30am so...).  I am pretty exhausted but I think it's just the past 4 weeks catching up to me.  Otherwise, I can't really complain about getting a good 4 hour chunk of sleep each night!

We are so very lucky too that she (so far!) has been a very easy baby.  She cries if she gets hungry, but that's about it!  We are so grateful! 


  • Baby Smiles
(ha! she looks like a gopher here)

Call me crazy, but Quinn is social smiling.  I put this on Instagram and a few others said their babies did as well this early, even tho the internet says it won't happen for a while.  These aren't gas or poop smiles - these are real-deal smiles when she's alert and focused on my face.  She even smiled at Harper's Minnie Mouse doll.  It's maybe the best thing ever.  I wouldn't believe it were possible myself if it hadn't happened so many times now.  Of course, I can't catch it on camera since she is distracted immediately once I pull the phone out! 






  • Modern Medicine
It's official.  My body hates being pregnant.  While I have been blessed with not having any serious pregnancy complications either time, I have been blessed with numerous little pregnancy annoyances that have ranged from 20+ week morning sickness, gallbladder issues, gestational diabetes, kidney stones, and other things that I don't care to mention on the internet.  

Well, I can now add to the list - ridiculously itchy and all-consuming full body rash.  I had this one itchy spot on my chest the last few weeks of pregnancy, and about a week postpartum, it bloomed into a full out rash that is literally everywhere on my body with the exception of my face.  Seriously, it's terrible.  It's insanely itchy, leaving little hives everywhere.  I'm covered in bruises from scratching too hard.  The dermatologist thinks it's hormone related.  My consultation with Dr. Google leads me to believe it's something called prurigo of pregnancy.  They gave me a cream, which is helping... slowly but surely.  It's drying it out, which is making my skin feel burned.  I've had to wear fully-covering clothes, since the cream can't touch the kids' skin (and I look scary!!) which is awesome in 90 degree heat! It's been miserable and I'm ready for it to be gone.

AND THEN I came down with a high fever and body aches, only to discover I have a pretty significant kidney infection!  Yay! At first, the doctor told me the only antibiotic they would be able to give me was not compatible with breastfeeding.  I definitely was upset about that - it would mean a week plus of pumping and dumping, not to mention how it could affect our nursing relationship for the long run... I was pretty bummed - but the alternative was possible sepsis.. so... ok.  But luckily they figured out a penicillin/pill combo that seems to be working and is ok for nursing.  THANK goodness.  Yay medicine.

Baby 3 is gonna be a hard sell.

  • eBook Rentals
Our library has had eBook rentals for a while, but I only checked it out (get it?) recently.  I have nursing time on my hands lately, and I was sick to death of refreshing facebook over and over again.  I've already read three books on my phone in less than two weeks, which is so exciting since I hadn't read anything at all lately and missed reading.  There aren't a lot of great choices yet, but it's better than nothing.


  • Phones

Speaking of phones, Tony and I lucked out in that our phone contracts always line up with the release of the new iPhones, which was how I got my new 5 two years ago right when all of the cool kids were getting it.  (I am so not one of those people who has to have the newest greatest thing - when I first got a smart phone I purposely got an Android so I wouldn't just be following the trend... and then I realized it wasn't that great... but you get the idea.)  This year was no different, and we were able to get a good deal on a new contract and technically get the new phones for free since we are sending in old ones.  I was having major battery issues with mine, so I am so glad to not have it die on me at 11am.  We preordered them and they showed up at 10am at our door the day they came out, so my question is why do people stand in line any more??  Also, Tony is excited to have his first smart phone ever (I don't count our short stint with Blackberries... because... they weren't that smart).  He's used his work flip phone this whole time (and gets teased for it often) and now he finally has a personal phone (and emojis!  the world is a better place).  I'm just glad we can fit it in the budget for him. We've always understood that phones like this are a luxury - a want, not a need - and would cut them if we had to pare down our budget if things got tight.  But I'm glad he finally gets to be spoiled a little.

  • Food!
All I've done is eat since having this baby.  I'm constantly starving/possibly bored.  Despite eating all of the things, I'm actually down 5 pounds under where I started prepreg.  Again, gestational diabetes, you were the worst... but thanks!  


  • Actually Cooking Said Food
I've been so domestic lately!  I meal planned last week, trying a few new Pinterest recipes.  I even prepped/cooked most of the meals!!  If you know me, you know that's something.  Tony does the cooking around here.  I am the worst at it.  But mostly I crockpotted, so that was helpful.  :)  It was kind of fun to plan out meals and try some new things and actually feel like I wasn't dumping so much obligation on Tony when he got home from work.

FYI, here are some things that were good!
-Potato Soup (not healthy, but good!)
-Greek Chicken Gyros (really good!!  and super easy!  we bought a dill/cucumber dressing instead of making the tzatziki sauce, but still)
-Lemon Chicken Skewers (great marinade recipe - and will be Whole30 when we do that again)

and not meals but
-Berry sauce (easy, and great on waffles or in oatmeal or yogurt)
Pumpkin yogurt cake (mine came out more wet than cakey since I made some minor substitutions, but it was great)

Hooray for actually doing something with some things I pinned.  This will probably get its own post, but I'm really proud (?) of myself post-baby this go-round.  Last time, I really struggled to adjust, especially since I was newly SAHM and didn't really know how to move into that role... and did next to nothing helpful at home.  This time I'm cooking and cleaning and getting things done - woo!  

  • FALL!
Yes, me and the rest of the world.  I'm a sucker.  And today it actually felt like fall, which was incredible.  The sky is clear, it's a balmy 82*, and I've got the pumpkin candle burning nonstop.  And of course, I've had a few PSLs.  (and duh people, who really thought it had pumpkin in it before that viral article about it spread all around?)  I even got out my fall decor today - which is saying a lot, considering I've totally slacked in the decorating department over the past few years.  I've got high hopes for this season - it better not let me down!


Anyway, just a taste of what's in my head these days.  Enjoy your week!

2 comments:

  1. Your girls are so adorable! I'm sorry about the skin issues. I've had some similar skin issues all my life and I can totally understand the discomfort. While using the cream you've been given always make sure to moisturize very heavily before bed (for me, my hands are the worst and when I use one of the strong creams, I always use pure vaseline as a hand cream before bed and then wear gloves for the night). Oh well - its temporary right? Enjoy those little ladies at home :-)

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  2. I mean... seriously, how are you accomplishing all that with a teeny tiny (COMPLETELY ADORABLE - how awesome is it that she SMILES???!) new baby and a 2 year old?? You're amazing!!
    I'm so sorry you're itchy. Nothing is worse than itchy. I hope it's short lived!!!! Lots of soothing skin prayers coming your way!!

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