Lu’s Party!

This weekend was Lu’s party!

We did a strawberry/Strawberry Shortcake theme, and it turned out great!

We did a family only party, and I’m so glad we did, because she was having some major stranger anxiety issues (I think it partly due to the fact she is teething/maybe a little sick this weekend). She had some fussy moments, but all in all I think she had fun.

We ate,

We visited with babies (aren’t they cute?!),

and then we had some good photo ops.

And, got down to business, cake and presents! Miss Lu was less than interested in her cake (probably because Nunna was giving her trifle, watermelon and any other food she could get her hands on!).

She got lots of great presents, including her PB chair and Bitty Baby from us, clothes, books, and beach accessories from Nana and Tata and Aunt Talia and Uncle John and some clothes from T and Ola. She really seemed interested in her books and I think it was love at first sight for her and her dollie!

Z made a few cameo appearances, but spent most of his time playing with cousin J. He had a blast!

I am not strangling or threatening to strangle Z to make him smile in this picture, it’s just a case of awkward hand placement

I am beyond thankful for this sweet baby, and I was so happy to celebrate her first birthday! Love you sweet Lu!

Lu's 1!

Today my baby turns one!

A year ago today, she gently nudged me at 4 a.m. as if to say, “World here I come!” (but I’ll give you a few hours so you can straighten your hair and clip your toenails).

A year ago today we became a family of four and have been blessed endlessly through the sleep deprivation, laughter, and (very few) tears (thankfully).

A year ago today our lives changed immeasurably and we thank God every day for our blessings!

Miss Lu adores her brother and everything he does. She’s very quick to give him a love tap when he’s up in her face, then laugh hysterically while he yells “ouch!”

Just a few days out from her last nursing session and bottle, and she wants nothing to do with it. I tried to warm up some whole milk in a bottle last night, and she acted like she’d never seen it before, too grown up for such things I suppose.

She is itching to stand up and walk around. She wants to play with the big kids.

She knows what she wants and KNOWS what she doesn’t want, especially when it comes to food, but she is still rapid fire when it comes to green beans, peas, lima beans, chicken, her morning waffle, cheese (oh how she loves cheese).

Her party is tomorrow, and I am so excited! I think she is going to have a blast with her cousins Emma and Addison. I also think she’s going to like being bigger than them, because she’s used to being the little one around here.

Mother’s Day Weekend 2013

We had another really great weekend. I spent much of my free time working on decorations for Lu’s party and teacher gifts (neither of which are particularly impressive, they just take time for me and my somewhat limited crafting abilities).

We didn’t even leave the house on Friday. It was awesome, I love seeing Lu’s new skills. (Don’t know how she balances on her tiny size 1 feet, though).

And Mister Z, well he loves nothing more than a good peanut butter sandwich and an episode of Max & Ruby. It really is the simple things.

I like to call it Pajama Friday.

Z had soccer on Saturday. After soccer we went Tellini’s and Target. It was a lot of fun even though Miss Thing was being rather feisty at the restaurant.

Nick said I really don’t want to go to Target and spend a bunch of money tonight, and I reassured him, we won’t, let’s just go get a few things, because Z really had fun picking out his food last time we went. Wellll, a modem, router, 7 gift cards (for teachers and coaches), an angry bird star wars blanket, and some wedges later, suffice it to say we had spent some money!

We really had fun though, which is bizarre, considering it was a trip to Target, but other moms probably understand.

Sunday was great and low-key. We had brunch at my mom and dad’s house, and I opened Z’s presents since we missed the official school celebration on Friday. I was so surprised to see that they had asked him some questions about me and written his answers out, what a sweet way to commemorate this day and his age!

The boy loves some red pasta. I guess it’s true what they say, the key to a man’s heart is through his stomach.

I also got a handprint tile coaster decorative art piece from both of them and Z learned three amazing Mother’s Day songs he sang to me every night on Mother’s Day.

I LOVE my babies, and I am SO THANKFUL to be their mommy. It is the BEST JOB EVER!

Growing Up

The big 0-1 is just around the corner for Lu, and it is hitting me how much a baby changes when he/she turns one!

This weekend our basement got a little fuller as we put away the following things (that I was scrambling to get out just around 1 year ago):

The swing (that is getting donated, because neither of my kids liked it nor will a potential child of the future if that happens (if it does it will be a surprise, because we ain’t planning)).

Her infant bathtub (which we did a couple months ago)

The infant car seat (and 2 bases), which we swapped out for this baby

Love it!

The bouncy seat and exersaucer (both got a lot more love from Z than Lu)

BOTTLES! I am really happy about this, no  more spending hours washing, except now I spend hours cleaning a highchair and the floor, but what ya gonna do?

Breast pump! Need I say more?

And now I need to start the baby proofing! Everything is pretty much baby proofed for Z, like the outlets and upstairs baby gates, and so far she’s not into too much, but I feel pretty confident she’s going to give us a run for our money soon enough.

Also, I feel like I was just buying/making her baby food, and now she wants little to do with it. The girl can throw down on some chicken and green beans, but pureed sweet potatoes, pass!

Maybe I have mentioned her “frenemy” at school before, but I think the competition is getting fierce because I witnessed it yesterday! Lu was crawling at a fast pace to get to me and her frenemy (let’s just call her Sallie, because that’s her name) was sitting there, she stopped cold, stared her down and kept on crawling towards me. If only I could read her mind. It’d probably be something like this, “yeah, that’s right, that’s my mama, go get your own!”

They also told me that Sallie was trying to get Lu’s bow out of her hair one day and after her third attempt, Lu swatted her with the toy she was holding. Not sure what I think about that one, but I guess I don’t have to worry about her defending herself!

Hand Foot and Hit Me in the Mouth

My little sweet, mild-mannered, quiet precious baby got what we think was hand foot and mouth disease last week.  I have deduced this based on my medical research and wait for it… an actual diagnosis from an actual doctor (I guess I am capable of change). Her symptoms were fever, followed by refusal to eat or be happy for more than about 2 minutes at a time. It’s been a blast.

It all started on Wednesday when she woke up and seemed warm, (but for the record did not register a high temperature before we sent her to school), and they called me around noon saying she was about 103. Ironically, I had a long lunch and was just trying to figure out what I should do with my time. I picked her up and she seemed okay. They said she was really sleepy and refusing to eat much. Since that did not seem to get better the next day, and since I was only working a half day, and because I felt maybe the doctor for once could have something enlightening to tell me, I decided to take her. SHE WAS THE FUSSIEST THING I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE while we were there, did you get that? Yeah it was bad. After she was manhandled and had blood drawn, it was decided that because of the sores on her tonsils and her blood count that she has a virus and likely the one that causes  HFMD. I thought that was a little crazy until that night when her teacher messaged me and said another child went home with it, and now almost every baby in her room and the next one over has had it.

Okay, I thought, how bad could it be? Bad… She refused most foods (thankfully, I am still nursing a little and I had some supply in the freezer both of which she took no problem) and she would just scream for no reason, a lot, and there was not much anyone could do to make it stop.

We are 5 days in and she is just now getting her appetite back but the fussiness is still going pretty strong. I am praying for it to go away for all of our sanity!

Now back to the weekend review, we had a really good weekend, despite the fact little bit was not feeling great. I got a lot of QT with both of them, and Z was quite a trooper. He didn’t seem bothered a bit by her fussing.

We have started a new tradition of walking to my parent’s house after nap on Fridays. My dad walks over and we push them in the stroller and walk back together . It is really nice, and a lot easier to go for a walk when you have a destination (at least for me).

Saturday, we got up early and did the March of Dimes. It was great, and they did really well, although Z was definitely overwhelmed by the sheer volume of people.

If you’re wondering, it was not cold, but Z always wants his blanket when he sees sister with hers, and sister’s (and probably his too) is for comfort not warmth…

We felt since we were up and in the area, why not hit up the mall. They did pretty well, although a bit cranky considering all the stroller time.

That night we went out to eat with the fam, and Lu was SO over it. We had to take turns taking her outside, but she was starting to eat a little better, so that was okay. Let’s just say, we’ve had more fun dining experiences.

Considering all that, we had a lazy Sunday, soccer was canceled (again), and we all went to bed early. Lu’s not quite back to herself, but she’s getting better every day, thank the Lord!