grrrrrrr.....

having carpets cleaned...$130
having house deep cleaned...$250
having your toddler draw all over the carpet with lipstick...priceless

what a toddler can eat...

we made our first call to poison control this morning...as i was checking blogs & FB & news, addy was apparently investigating my purse. she had EVERYTHING out, then decided to come & sit by amelia on the couch (millie was sleeping) & just sat there putting chapstick all over her face for who knows how long before i noticed what she had. so i sort of laughed & asked "did you put it on your lips?" & she nodded yes & then i asked "did you eat it?" & she nodded yes, then she proceeded to take a bite off the top! yuck. so then i told her that's pretty gross & we needed to put it away & THEN i noticed that all the contents of my purse lay on the floor. then i noticed the TUMS all over the floor. so i asked her if she ate the tums & showed them to her & she nodded very enthusiastically, yes (they are the berry flavor!).

so i made a quick call to wes to look up toddlers eatings tums on the internet & he came away with calling poison control. so we called. turns out she's going to live! they were a bit more concerned with how much of the chapstick she ate instead of the tums. (apparently, she wouldn've had to eat many more than 2 or 3, which is all that was in the package, plus the 6 she left on the floor). she needs to drink lots of water & then we can try to "burp" it out of her...that should be interesting! i already feel like i'm getting carpal tunnel from burping amelia, there needs to be a burping machine made & sold at target.

anyway, poison control is even sending us a fridge magnet for future incidents! how sweet. i guess i slowed down over the weekend just having a baby to look after (addy was with wes' parents since friday). here's to burping a toddler today!

a few odd & ends

so here are pics of addy's bedroom (cleaned! they even made her bed & arranged her stuffed animals)

addy in her new superwoman outfit...as my mom mentioned, she never remembers superwoman (okay, wonder woman) having such a belly, though. gotta love it. she wore this outside to play on thursday.

amelia just 3 days ago. adorable. she was allowing us to put her down for about 3 minutes that day...she is a snuggle bum.

amelia before a bath last weekend. again, adorable. she looks so much like addy.

now getting the bath...she seems to enjoy them most of the time, so we've made it a nightly routine. bath. scream when getting clothes on. calm millie down. give bottle. burp endlessly. put in crib, hopefully awake. (which reminds me: so millie has reflux & our ped told us to keep her mostly vertical for up to 20-30 minutes after her feedings. so how in the heckle are we supposed to do that AND put her in the crib awake, teaching her how to soothe herself to sleep? man oh man, this stuff gets tricky).

anyway, this is also her "i have a question" look. she's just so cute. i can just imagine her thinking: "excuse me, mama, exactly why do you use that soap? i would really like to have the lavender soap that addy has. it just smells better than that newborn soap. & could this water be a bit more warm..." on & on the thoughts go...

here is a picture of my dad & amelia (about 3 days old). he's really had a terrible month. he's been in severe pain with diverticulitis for about 3 weeks now & has now been admitted into the cleveland clinic for 5 days. long story short, the small town hospital that he originally went to really screwed him over & didn't catch everything & if he wasn't lucky enough, he could have died. that may sound dire & it is. i really wish i could go see him, but we can't make that 3 hour drive right now to cleveland & it's a big bummer. the good thing is that he is FINALLY in good hands with a surgeon & hospital who know what is what & say they won't let him leave until he is pain free, which will be amazing. they also told him he will have to have surgery on his colon in 2 months, another bummer. please keep him in your prayers. he needs some healing. he's really probably the best dad out there, wes aside, & an even better grandpa (he goes by 'pop pop' or 'bob-bob' if you are chloe or zoe). love you, dad!

a clean house

some of you bloggers may not think this is such a big deal...but to me, it is. it's amazing. mood changing. uplifting. burdens gone. i could go on & on...what am i talking about? we have a clean house. not just so-so clean, but really super duper clean. why? how? you may be asking b/c as you know, we have a toddler & a newborn. WELL, the gerbicks hired it out! WHOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!

since about month 2 of the pregnancy, i was pretty much out of commision in the cleaning department. although wes cleaned, it wasn't the extent i usually go to; ya know? but i am so thankful that he did clean, let that be known. so our house has been building up filth for quite some time (10 months to be exact) & towards the end of the pregnancy, i just kept telling myself that i would get the 'nesting instinct' at the end of the 3rd trimester & then i would clean. ms amelia had other plans & arrived early, so the house was never cleaned (except the nursery...little squirt! she knew her room was clean, so out she came! in fact, the day my water really broke was the day my mom was here & cleaned the nursery, which was 5 days before her birth). and for the past 5 weeks, i have been so dis-heartened that our house is so gross...our bathroom had mold & ring around the everything; dust build up; little toddler finger prints & crayon markings everywhere; just general grime. this week was my breaking point & i believe wes' also. we just couldn't take it anymore & neither of us had the energy to do it. so we called & the first person fell through. i was DISTRAUGHT, thinking my house will never be clean again & i will have to start cleaning during their naps, etc.

*insert chariots of fire music here*

then...

wes told me someone was coming to clean the carpets friday morning. okay, wonderful! clean carpets that will no longer have toddler pee (see a previous post for explanation) & apple juice & crayon drawings & dog vomit & pee, etc etc etc stained into them. super! they came & it was beautiful (although a bit stressful b/c they arrived friday morning before all of us were mostly dressed, egads!).

then...

wes again informed me that he had found another cleaning service & the owner was coming over to give a cost estimate later that night. when i met her, i fell in love. she was so sweet & understanding & even had the kindness to lie & say "your house really isn't that bad" but i saw the look on her face when she checked out our shower...oh yes, indeed; nasty! she asked if we wanted a deep clean, i said YES! then before she left she said very gently "you look so tired, heidi; you really need this help." i couldn't agree more, my dear Mrs. Paulino!

so this morning, a married couple who barely spoke english (god bless the immigrants! i say tear down that damn border, but i won't get into politics right now) arrived about 8:45 a.m. & didn't leave until a bit after 3 p.m. she spent an entire hour in addy's bathroom. AN HOUR! it's gleaming in our house.

i just really feel like a burden has been lifted. it's the best few hundred bucks i've spent in a long time. (okay, my $100 hair appointment on friday & new post-baby gap jeans come pretty close). so we are here to share pictures. i highly recommend doing this to all new parents out there. HECK! you don't even have to be new parents!

can you see the shine on the fridge? on the floor? i didn't know it could shine...

now THIS in shiny!

they even made little flowers on all of the toilet papers & bows on the tissue boxes! SERIOUSLY.

what ya'all don't know is how gross this shower was before. imagine pink & some back-ish mold around about EVERYWHERE. i can't wait to take a shower... now if i could just find the energy to do that, even.

did i mention that the house just sort of sparkles? well, it does.

ya-OUCH

hello to fellow bloggers & blog-checkers:

it has been decided after many hours of contemplation & many more tears shed & some lessons learned in letting go of 'mama guilt'...i am now ceasing breastfeeding ms. amelia. really, this is a very tough, heart-wrenching decision. i never realized how much it meant to me, not just giving my babies the best milk out there, but also the bonding that the skin to skin contact brought...i will stop explaining before i make myself cry again.

so, instead of a cow (producing milk, hahaha) i am now a vegetarian: i wear cabbage leaves on my breasts (sorry, dad, i know you are blushing right now) & frozen peas over my shirt with an ace wrap around my chest...i look CLASSIC. however, i am NOT letting wes take a picture of this set up, even for the purpose of good blogger laugh. wes is getting a good laugh out of all of it. he keeps saying if i dare go outside, the squirrels will congregate & take me down to eat the food off of me... again, hilarious. supposedly, the pain will stop after 3 days, which is tomorrow afternoon (which is when my mom leaves for home...i called her on friday seriously sobbing, saying 'i can't do this anymore, etc etc etc' which made her promptly leave my dad at home to come help us out for a few days. for those who don't know, my dad was in the hospital a few weeks ago for tiverticulitis [spelling is wrong!] & has been in much pain since then & off work...not a good recovery but at least he doesn't have to wear cabbage leaves...). i really hope the pain is gone; this hurts like nothing else (coming from a non-epidural mama, that is fairly significant in my opinion).

if you think about it, send a prayer up for me (& for my dad!)...this is very painful both physically & emotionally for me, but i'll get over both of it soon. i think it will help once i start holding her again for feedings (i can't hold her a lot right now b/c it just makes my milk 'let down' which makes it all even more painful).

adeline is TWO years old

it seems like yesterday she was our little baby...& now we have a new one, plus our little girl. crazy how it goes by so fast, but at the time, it seems endless (okay, not always, but...). she shook our world pretty hard, but we are better for it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ADDY!

addy, day 1.
a serious face to greet the world.

day 2.
a yawn or a cry? hhm, knowing addy, probably a cry.

1st birthday
adorable, those front teeth & the hat (which she hated)

another from her 1st birthday party, a big bash! she was a (fake) ballerina. we should've dressed her as a gymnast instead...that's what she's turning into.
i just love this face; she is so eager to have fun & enjoy things...laughing & playing hard, that's our adeline (oh, & crying & throwing fits, that's addy age 18 months -2).

and this morning, the birthday girl. we woke her up & gave her a 'big birthday girl crown'. we made her blueberry pancakes (one IS in the shape of a star, go mama) & scrambled eggs w/ cheese (yes, there's ketchup on that plate). she seemed confused at first, but caught on quickly that this is her special day.
8 a.m.

10:30 a.m.
we finally made it to the park! it's a beautiful day, not too different from the day she was born. she had a great time at the park, as you can see from the pictures...she's a monkey. seriously.

happy birthday, my crazy monkey!

now for the explanation of how to get to the park by 10:30 with a 1 month old & a 2 year old... pack the diaper bag 3 times (b/c toddler WILL unpack it twice); find 2 pacifiers for baby (b/c toddler WILL hide the first one); get 2 sippy cups ready for toddler (b/c toddler WILL NOT like the first one you get for her); get water bottle ready for mama, then explain to toddler that it's not hers; get snack for toddler ready then explain to toddler that it is for the walk to the park; calm screaming baby down 3 times (b/c toddler WILL wake baby up once she is calmed again & again); find baby bjorn (b/c baby WILL scream at park if she wants to be held); find baby's car seat (b/c toddler has taken it somewhere...SERIOUSLY!); put toddler's shoes on twice (b/c toddler takes them off constantly); email hubby, while both daughters are screaming, saying this mother of two thing is not working out & thinking we should hire a nanny; try not to cry, but be happy & stoic b/c it's toddler's birthday; sing "happy birthday" song to toddler while walking to the park about 10 times (b/c that's the only thing that will make her not whine). get to park & realize it's time for lunch. call hubby & discuss lunch delivery (pizza for addy's sake & it's so easy!); breastfeed baby & embarress other kid's grandpa at park b/c i'm breastfeeding...wait for hubby & then eat eat eat, then convince toddler with more food to get in the stroller to walk home.

2:30 toddler is finally asleep after playing with legos in her room for 1 1/2 hours instead of taking nap. baby is asleep, but will wake up in a bout 15 minutes to nurse. ugh. i guess i should remember how quickly it all went by with addy & enjoy these little moments even more. but still, i'm exhausted already!

a few bad, a few good

i think i jinxed us with our last post, saying things were getting better. ugh, what a weekend & past few days! amelia has cried most of the nights since friday. last night was the only relief: she slept beautifully & soundly, hardly a cry to be heard. i'm not sure if she is just getting used to the reflux medicine or the formula (we are giving her one bottle at night) or if she's just in a lot of pain & reacting to that (well, if anyone's ever had a reflux type problem, you know it hurts). we really hate to see her in that much pain, as all parents do (well, MOST parents, i've worked with quite a few dysfunctional families to know that one).

so we've basically been going about our days in a haze of exhaustion. we've called the pediatrician to make sure this is okay or semi normal for reflux & she said it is & we were told to just wait it out until friday & that she (the ped) expects it to be better then. hopefully, last night was the turning point. i can take getting up to feed or rock, but the constant screaming is totally another thing!

another point of discussion: amelia has her first official diaper rash! i guess she also inherited my rashy skin. we need to start buying stock in Desitin. or i also think we could write to Desitin folks & see if we could do a commercial or something & then get free desitin for a year. i'd sell out our kids' butts for that! addy also has a pretty intense rash the past week & continuous diarrhea. (when does it all end?). so yesterday, addy had 'diaper off time' which is always exciting for her (she likes to be naked) & we practiced going 'pee pee & poo' on the potty, which she didn't come through with...not 1 minute after she stood up off the potty, she comes running towards me crying, pee running down her legs. so yes, she was running down the upstairs hall, peeing the entire way (there was also a puddle where she had started, i guess). clean up disaster! the funny thing is that she wanted to clean it up! so i let her. just don't walk barefoot in our upstairs hallway ;o)

on a happy note, it is addy's birthday tomorrow! she will be 2; i can't believe it! the past year has gone by so fast & she's such a great 'big' kid. she's a little crazy & has more energy than almost anyone i know, but we love being her parents, she continually shocks us & sends us laughing & scratching our heads. we are going to get her dress-up clothes for her gifts (hoping that they will make her stop taking all of her regular clothes out of her dresser & trying them on at naps & bedtime...talk about a big mess twice a day to clean up).

on another happy note: for the past few weeks, folks from our church have been bringing us meals. most of the people we know, some we don't (which i think is truly amazing for people to be so kind to others they don't even know!)...some people didn't have power at their house from the huge Ike windstorm, but they still brought us a dinner. it was truly a blessing. monday night, a couple we didn't know brought over a HUGE meal. the hubby brought it on his way from work & it came just at dinner time b/c the wifely wanted it to be hot for us so we didn't even have to worry about turning our oven on...seriously sweet. the hubby said this is just something they do to bless others & you have to check out these pictures; it's amazing (he also said that she's a farm girl & can't do anything in a small portion). we were FLABBERGASTED. she made lemon-rosemary roasted chicken on a bed of red onion, basmati rice, yellow & green beans, biscuits w/ amish butter, a salad bar (check out the fixings....they filled 3 gallon size bags), & for dessert, a red rasberry, piquot (i've never even heard of that) & i think peach fruit crisp & neapolitan ice cream. seriously. so we just have to blog about this & show pictures as proof. thank you thank you thank you karl & bethany! and of course, everyone else who brought meals, all are amazing & all have been very tasty.

salad bar...if you look closely, she even LABELED the mini baggies; my heart skipped a few beats with joy.

lemon rosemary roasted chicken

the hot stuff altogether

& look how excited & hungry addy is! you can tell she knows a good meal is coming! she loves all these people coming over every other day to drop off a meal...our little socialite.