March 29, 2011

Today is Hailey's true birthday.  At 9:47am one year ago today Brian and I welcomed her into our life.  She makes us so happy. Here she is at exactly 9:47 am this morning.  Stark difference from what she was doing one year ago today.  (The jammies were a birthday gift from Auntie.)  It's amazing what humans do and learn in a year. 



It was a joint effort to make her cake.  My aunt baked it while I was with Paige this morning and I frosted and decorated it this afternoon.  Butterflies were her birthday theme.  This was my attempt at drawing butterflies. 

Here we are singing Happy Birthday.

 Isn't she cute?!

 Blowing out the candle.  Love both of their smiles here. 

Hailey also unwrapped the presents we got her with Paige's help tonight.  It was a nice little family celebration.  I'm so lucky to have all three (the 3rd being my husband, the photographer) of these people in my life. 

Cats & Bears for Birthday

To celebrate Hailey's birthday, my aunt and I took the girls to the Build A Bear Workshop.  I thought it would be a fun outing and something that both girls would like.  (Plus we had a coupon.)  I helped them pick out their bears.  Paige had her bear stuffed first and then she helped Hailey get hers stuffed.  This is Paige holding her bear and watching Hailey's start to get stuffed.  We also put voice boxes in them, Paige's bear giggles and Hailey's cat plays Brahms Lullaby. 

Hailey's cat getting stuffed with Paige holding down the peddle.

Hailey watching.

Auntie and Hailey holding Hailey's new cat. 

The bear and the cat getting a "bath."  It's really cute, it's air that comes out which makes it look like they are getting a shower.



They get birth certificates (born 3/29/11) and my aunt helped to name them.  Paige's bear is "Flower" and Hailey's cat is "Pansy."  By the time we were done, it was nap time so we headed home.  Fun little outing and both girls got a little gift on Hailey's birthday.  Happy Birthday my Hailey girl!

1st Haircut

Because my aunt is here I had an opportunity to take Paige to get her 1st haircut without Hailey.  My aunt stayed home to care for her while Paige and I went to this adorable kids hair cut shop called Snip Its.  We got there a little after they opened at 10am, so we only had about a 15 minute wait.  (By the time we left, the wait was 25 minutes!).  Paige had fun playing in the waiting area and getting to know all the characters that they have  for the "experience."  The scissor's name is "Snips." 









She did great getting into the chair, but still took the lollipop that was offered.  Miss Chelsea was so nice and helped me to understand how Paige's hair is growing in that the sides of girls hair tends to grow slower than the back.  She only trimmed up the ends a bit since Paige had so much length, doing this will help to the sides catch up with back.  I decided not to give Paige bangs, I'd really like for it to be all one length eventually.  But we'll see how long we can do that.  I can see how bangs would be much easier. 
The shop had a TV with a Snip It's animated cartoon for her to watch while she cut her hair.  That really helped! 





At the end, they have a little machine where Paige could put in card and receive a toy.  She got a plastic ring.  Also with the 1st Haircut package we got a picture taken with a frame, a certificate and a lock of hair saved.  This was well worth the extra cost to have a successful first cut. 

Auntie

I think that I have mentioned that my aunt retired a couple months ago  Since then she's been over here from CA twice to visit for a couple weeks each.  IT'S WONDERFUL!  She's super good with the girls and the love her a ton (or "as big as the sky" as my aunt likes to say) so I don't feel anxious leaving them with her.  Her last visit I was able to get a ton of school stuff done and this time I got to go get my hair cut and highlighted.  (That is a three hour process because my hair is so long right now).  Then she stayed and I was able to go grocery shopping during the day without the girls.  I usually go after 9pm when I'm totally tired and every thing in the store is picked over so that I don't have to take them.  It's really nice having my aunt here. 

Magic Bags?

We have used sleep bags for both girls since we're crazy freaks about putting blankets or anything potentially hazardous in their cribs. I love the sleep bags. They act like a blanket & keep them warm without the risk of suffocation. I had always just bought the less expensive Carter's bags. Well, KidsWoot had the Halo Sleep Sacks so I bought a couple. I think they are magic bags. Hailey sleeps all night when she wears them and then if I put it back on her for morning nap, it seems to be an extra long nap those days.  Neither girl did this in the other brand bags.  Again, I say, magic bags. 

Hailey's Alternate Birthday Party

The girls had a rough night last night, but both woke up feeling better. (Of course!  Just because we canceled the party.)  My mom and aunt came over in the morning, brought breakfast and played with the girls. 

Then I took them in the wagon to deliver all the party favors to the neighbors since they didn't get to come to the party.

I hung Hailey's birthday banner.

We got our picture taken in front of it. 

This is me with Paige under her banner on Paige's 1st birthday

(Hailey is actually in the pic too, I was about 3 weeks pregnant with her.)

My mom and aunt came back over for dinner, which they actually made and Brain BBQd halibut and steak.  Very good.  Paige even ate some halibut...I was thrilled! 

Here's Hailey's cake.  White cake with buttercream frosting.  It even had little sparkles in the frosting.  It was delicious!

Hailey blowing out her candle.  (I made a wish for her and got it blown out in one blow.)  

This is Paige with her first birthday cake. 

Hailey eating her cake.  Do you notice her plate is empty!  She is such a good eater. 

Our next door neighbors, the White's, came over with their son who is only two days younger then Paige for cake and cocktails.  Jackson and Paige have such fun together.

In all, it turned out to be a GREAT day!  On a personal note (as though this blog is not personal!) I saw the ending to an episode of one of my favorite TV shows tonight, Little House on the Prairie.  The episode was called, "Be My Friend."  The ending narration of Laura reflecting on caring for a child touched me,"...for I knew what it was like to love a babe."  Only a mother can know what is it like to love a baby.  I love mine so much it aches sometimes.  They are so valuable and precious to me.  For them, I am grateful.   

Party Canceled :(

I had mentioned that Paige wasn't eating earlier this week.  There was a reason...she's sick with some sort of cold.  However subsequently, Hailey is now sick with it too.  I took both to the pediatrician today just to rule out anything more serious.  Nope, just a cold and low grade fevers for both. 

BUT, the total disappointing, total bummer deal of the whole sickness is that we had to cancel Hailey's 1st Birthday Party that was planned for tomorrow.  We had fancy invitations sent, a bounce house rented, food, cake, party hats, party favors, a huge banner...THE WORKS!...all organized.  With all the the neighbors, close friends and family attending.  My aunt even made a special trip from the CA coast.  It was going to be a great event.  But in consideration of all those kiddos coming over, we decided to not share our germs (since we find it completely inconsiderate when other people do that to us) and cancel the party.  All those invited were really bummed too.  It was a butterfly themed party for out little 1 year old Chick-A-Dee. 

Despite having a fever today, she still managed to eat fairly well (she nursed a whole bunch today and I'm exhausted) and wear a smile with a silly hat tonight at dinner. 



I will still go get her fancy cake tomorrow and we will have that and dinner with just family.  But darn it!  I really wanted her first birthday to have a party.  My Hailey girl...I did plan it for you...but those darn germies won again.  So sorry my baby!

Food

Food has always been a difficult thing with Paige.  She's just not a good eater...born that way.  She has not been eating these past few days (just bites here and there) and is cranky, tired and says she has a stomach ache.  We tell her she needs to eat and she'll feel better, but I just don't think she's at a point yet to make the correlation.  She did spike a little fever tonight, so she may really be ill, but I tend to think all of this is because she has not eaten.

Hailey on the other hand, cannot get enough to eat.  She eats ALL day.  Today we went to the mall and I bought one of those soft pretzels for the girls to snack on while I ran some errands in the mall and Hailey ate at least half of it.  Paige, barely a bite.  Hailey is loving solid foods and will put anything that I place on her tray in her mouth.  I love it!  She eats, plays happily and then wants to sleep.  Normal things of a human! 

If you have any suggestions on what a 2 1/2 year old will eat, please share.  I'll try a smoothie tomorrow.  But, I'm desperate.  Paige really is miserable and therefore, so are Brian and I.

The Leprechauns Came!

Paige seemed excited to hunt for the mischief that the Leprechauns created this morning.  She really enjoyed painting with the water colors on the patio this morning while Hailey napped.  She did great in the potty training area too.  And of course, LOVED the cnady.  We walked up to the grocery store this afternoon to get ingredients for pesto pasta.  After dinner we went to McDonald's to get Shamrock Shakes only to be disappointed that they we all out and had been for two weeks!  Sheesh!  But because it was so empty in there, I got to play with Paige in the play area and we went down two BIG slides.  Very fun.  It was a really nice day. 

Here's the girls dressed in their St. Pats tshirts...they say, "Mommy's Lucky Charm"

These are pics of the girls in McDonald's tonight.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick's Day

The Leprechauns come tonight!  We've been working so hard on potty training these past 3 weeks with Paige.  She has peeing aced.  She goes by herself.  But not pooping.  Darn.  She'll get it. 

Tonight she did a craft project of making shamrocks with leprechaun stickers.  After bed I put together the mischief that the leprechauns created which included:

• Turing the milk green
• Turning the apple juice green
• Switching the couch cushions
• Playing on the big horse stuffed animal
• Playing with the walker Lion
• Going potty on The Duck
• Leaving "gold" jelly beans, green Peeps, Lucky Charms cereal, plastic panties (for going out in),  watercolors and the Tinkerbell movie

 

 

 

 

 I posted the shamrocks in all the spots where mischief occurred.  Then put a note on Paige's door from the leprechauns telling Paige and Hailey to find all the shamrocks in the house to see where they did their mischief.  It will be a fun treasure "mischief" hunt tomorrow morning.  And NO DIAPERS! 

Words?

Hailey is just so darn cute!  As her first birhday approaches (I cannot belive a YEAR has passed) she is doing some fun stuff:

• Points to things she wants to hold (she particulary likes to hold the baby monitor)
• Points to Woolly and says what sounds like "Dog" and then "Woolly"
• Says what sounds like "Duck" when she sees a duck (the bathroom has a TON of ducks in it).  This, by the way, was Paige's first word.  It's a tie between "Duck" and "Dog" for Hailey
• Walking behind her lion toy and holding either mine or Brian's hands as we walk with her
• She has 7 (and a half) teeth righ now.  4 on top and 3.5 on the bottom. 
• She wants to eat solids so much more then purees.  So I load up her tray but it doesn't all get in her mouth and go down, so I sneak in puree and cereal between mouth fulls. 
• Smiling at EVERYTHING! 

We are amazed at all she does and will do.  Brian and I are so proud to be her parents and honored to watch her grow and guide her. 

Future advice for my girls

This post is just for reference for the girls if they ever read this blog when they are getting ready to be mothers themselves.  These are the books that I read and used when I was pregnant with both and use just as a guide (no book has the answers) to ease my worries or give me ideas on what to do in certain situations.  They also help to guide me in their progress of what milestones they should be reaching at certain times of their lives.  For the sleep schedule I read  "The Sleep Easy Solution:  The Exhausted Parent's Guide to Getting Your Child to Sleep from Birth to Age 5" by J. Waidburger and J. Spivack. 

Other books that I read that did not work for me include Baby Wise, which is the theory of Eat, Play, Sleep.  Excellent theory, but it is so much easier to get a baby to sleep if you feed or nurse them.  So, it did not work for me.

I'm sure when they are having children things will be very different and we will know more about they psyche of raising children better.  I plan to be open minded enough to embrace their wishes for their children and simply provide love.  My advice to the girls when they become mothers: Read the books and seek advice, but go with your instincts...you're the mom and you just KNOW. 

Mastering the Spoon

Hailey is at the perfect age to learn to master use of the spoon.  She is doing very well at it.  Tonight she was practicing.  You will note what she is using for her bowl.  Paige is currently in the middle of potty training.  I'm so happy that I am so particular about cleaning the bowl after it's used.  One day Hailey will be very upset with me for posting these pics, however, she will be relieved to know that my iPhone app would not cooperate and post the video that I took of the whole practice session.  Whew!  I'm so proud of her. 

Dirt

Today was a normal Saturday in the T House, but the change was the weather...it was super nice out!  About 84 degrees today.  Brian did a bunch of yard work and drained the spa (we don't need the spa in the summer here in the desert) so the girls and I were outside with him.  Here's the girls, playing the the garden dirt...




...as a result of that, here is Paige in the sprinkler to wash off all the dirt. 




She again got in the dirt before dinner and at bath time it was so difficult to get all the dirt out of her hair.  As that was happening, it was suggested to Paige, that pouring dirt on her head, might not be the best thing.  Let's see if she can heed that advice.

I should note that while we enjoyed our day, a terrible earthquake (8.9) hit Japan last night and a tsunami followed.  There is mass devastation in the area and a nuclear reactor is thought to have leaked.  It is a very tragic situation. 

Separate?

I waited to take a shower today because I was working with Paige on pooping on the potty while Hailey was napping. It just seems easier for her to focus without the distraction. So when Hailey woke up I decided to take a shower, but knew havoc would occur with both unattended and out together. So I set up the pac n play in the bathroom to put Hailey in while I showered. I heard Paige come in...and...when I got out of the shower this is what I found...





...Paige in the pac n play with Hailey. So much for trying to keep havoc away and them separate. Truly sisters.

Dress Up

Before Brian got home from work tonight, I had the girls upstairs playing. Paige got into the dress up bin and little Hailey played right along, putting on sunglasses, hats & beads. Two sweet things to play together. They are so lucky!

Bathtime for Hailey

Hailey was quite excited to get into the bath tonight.  Here she is lifting herself up and playing in the water with her hand. 


She had a great bath because her sister was not in it with her tonight to splash, take up all the space and scream.  She had a ton of fun sorting through all the toys in the basket.  And she got nice and clean and relaxed.  Sleep well Hailey. 

Potty Training status

I havn't talked about this because I don't want to jinx it.  Whatever that means, but really, I don't want to give any bad Karma, again, whatever that means, by talking about our success so far in the potty training area with Paige.  But, I'll go ahead and say it...she's doing FABULOUS! 

She will go potty (pee) when asked to sit on the potty and she will go and do it by herself without being asked.  There are so many times I go in after tending to Hailey and the potty is full.  We call the potty "The Duck" since it looks like a duck (the girl's bathroom is duck themed, so I went with it) and it has a sensor that plays music when it she goes.  It's really cute.  She is in panties all day and only in a diaper at nap and bedtime. 

However, she still hasn't done poop on The Duck yet.  We have accidents in the "pretty panties" with the poop.   But we clean it up and move on. 

We have been talking about St. Patrick's day and the fact that leprechauns come and create mischeif in the house.  But we added a twist...they also come and take the diapers.  So if you ask Paige what the leprechauns do, she will say, "They come and take the diapers."  I'm serious about this too...they WILL come and take the diapers.  No safety nets during wake times...panties only.  We have 10 days to practice.  Personally, I'm scared about going places, but advice from a friend who has trained two of her own, was that she just took The Duck with them when they went places.  They went potty before leaving, then in the back of the car before going in whereever they were going and then again as soon as they came out.  I hope it works!  If not, we'll just clean it up and move on. 

Paige also desperately wants to have a "big bed" so tonight when I put her to bed I told her that the crib tent and the rail would come off when she starts going potty and poop in the toilet regularly.  She seemed very excited about that prospect, so maybe, just maybe, tomorrow we will have success.  So many bribes! 

Yay for Paige doing so well with the potty.  I think she has the potty (pee) part down, it's just the poop part that needs practice. 

Kindergarten Readiness

Yesterday I was reading about what the Chandler School District requires for kindergartners to know before entering kindergarten in a local paper.  It appears they need to know the following:

1. Count to 20
2. Write their own name
3. Recognize colors, shapes, numbers and letters
4. Show basic math and literary skills
5. Hold a pencil and cut with scissors

So far Paige knows her colors and shapes and can count a bit, but gets the numbers mixed up.  She can also hold and write with a pencil.  It appears that these next two and half years will accomplish lots for her, especially when she gets into pre-school.  It will be very exciting to watch her grow.

Weed Pile

Paige & I walked to the neighbor's houses today to deliver Hailey's birthday invitations and noticed a bunch a weeds sprouting up in the grass. I started pulling them and Paige was so helpful by putting them all in a pile. She's growing up so fast and doing so many mature things. So proud if her.

Parade

Today we went to the Ostrich Festival Parade in downtown Chandler.  It didn't start til 10am so we had time to get up and get the girls out the door.  I had a little anxiety about getting out the door in time, but Brian helped out and we did it!  We were even able to stop at the donut shop to get donuts and coffee.  We sat along the route in front of Chandler High School and saw the parade from beginning to end.  It's just a little local community event, but one that is free and that families can enjoy.  Paige really liked the horses of the Wells Fargo Wagon and the old fire trucks, which ironically were from Baldwin, NY.  I liked a colorguard group on motorcycles.  They did fancy configurations with eight motorcycles.  Hailey did really well either crawling on the lawn, sitting in the stroller eating yogurt melts or being held.  The parade lasted for about an hour and a half.  We got home and both girls crashed for a nap.  It was a really nice morning and one that the girls enjoyed. 

 

La La Lu

Paige still LOVES Lady & the Tramp.  We turn in on most days.  We also have the book and she asks to read it most days.  Because I have seen the movie so many times now I can add in some of the lines from the movie as I read as well and "try" to sing some of the songs that are in it too.  The "La La Lu" song is so pretty, but I couldn't remember the lyrics so I looked them up.  It really is a sweet lullaby and now she really likes for me to sing it when I read her the book. 

La la lu, La la lu
Oh, my little star sweeper
I'll sweep the stardust for you

La la lu, La la lu
Little soft fluffy sleeper
Here comes a pink cloud for you

La la lu, La la lu
Little wandering angel
Fold up your wings close your eyes

La la lu, La la lu
And may love be your keeper
La la lu, La la lu, La la lu

Motherhood and Chaos

This pic was taken at about 5:30 pm at our house tonight.  I thought that Brian would be home about this time to help (it's amazing how you think and plan and then it doesn't work out) but he ended up working late.  Of course, at this same time, Hailey started getting hungry but I was in the middle of making dinner.  So I made some rice cereal and heated some puree squash for Hailey to eat.  (She's been really fussy these last couple days with icky diarrhea and low appetite.)  Well, Paige decided that she needed to "help" me feed Hailey.  Yeah, right, with Hailey in the mood she was in, um, sure.  So instead Paige began to eat the puree squash herself as Hailey is crying in her high chair and, I think, you can see Woolly begging in the middle for whatever Hailey batted out of my hand or threw on the floor.  The next pic is of him with yogurt on his nose, I did manage to finally get some yogurt in Hailey. 

But even in this chaos, I stopped to breathe and think how much fun it really is.  I love caring for the girls and trying to figure out their every need.  Brian says it's a mother's drive or motivation.  I don't think anyone else can relate until they are a mom.  I HAVE to make it better.  I can't stand for them to be unhappy or uncomfortable.  If I can make it better, I will.  Anyway, the pic looks like a horrible scenario to be in, but there is no other place I want to be...and one day I will miss it. 

Organize & Sort

Paige is really into sorting & lining items up. Yesterday after a trip to the grocery store, she got all the fresh fruit & began sorting & organizing it.



Today at lunch she did it with her chicken. Of course some "animals" had to dine with her as well.


She's showing signs of being a pharmacist. Perhaps my "plan" will come to fruition?