3 weeks

Emmy is 3 weeks old today.  I feel like it's been longer than that!  I'm really enjoying being home with both kids everyday and we've gotten into a good routine.  Emmy really is a pretty easy baby.  She gets fussy when she's really tired and when she is ready to eat.  She is fairly easy to calm and she is getting better about being happy when she is awake! 

Sleep: She is still sleeping for a majority of the day, but is awake for longer stretches at a time.  We've been working on a new bedtime routine.  She has been ready to eat about the time Bryce goes to bed so I feed her and put her down in her bed for the night.  We have done this the past few nights and I feel like it has brought some normalcy back to my life because we can watch tv or I can get some things done around the house.  I have gotten a 4 and 5 hour stretch of sleep recently and it was SO nice.  Occasionally at night it takes a little coaxing to get her to go back to sleep after a middle of the night feeding.  Jason usually helps with this!

Eating: I wish I could get her to flip flop her schedule.  During the day, she could sleep through the day and eat very little, but I'm still waking her to eat, while at night she lets me know she wants to eat every 3 hours.  The doctor said to feed her more often during the day and fill her up and she might sleep longer at night.  I thought it might condition her to want to eat just as often at night.  Who knows.  I just know I'm already ready for her to sleep more at night, but I know this too shall pass!

Other info: She has outgrown her newborn sleepers, but can still wear newborn clothes.  0-3 month sleepers fit her much better, but most of the 0-3 month clothes are super big on her.  It won't be long before she is in them though.  We went to the doctor last week because she wasn't pooping very often and she had already gained 10 ounces since her 1 week visit.  Bryce did not gain weight this quickly.  She has developed some baby acne this week and it has taken all I've got to not pop those white heads.  I'm weird, I know!  We have gottten a few smiles and few coos this week! 

Bryce is 3

Happy Birthday Bryce!

February 25, 2009

 1st birthday

2nd birthday  

Happy 3rd birthday!

What are you up to these days?

• You are 98% potty trained.  You wear a pull-up to nap and bed because I'm too worried you will have an accident, but you never have at our house (sorry Kelly).  You have an accident once every other week or so (you get too carried away playing), but you are getting so much better and we are so proud of you!.
• You threw away your paci last week (on your own) and we have not turned back since
• You seem to get smarter every day.  You recognize the majority of your letters, but you still confuse E, F, I and U.  I love that you always ask the meaning of new words you have never heard.  You also explain the meaning of words to us that you don't think we know!
• You have adjusted really well to being a big brother.  You have had a couple of days where you acted out, but for the most part, you are a huge help and are very interested in being with Emmy all the time!  You have definitely come out of your shell and you seek attention from guests now rather than shying away!
• You still wear 2T pants because you are a shorty, but you are wearing 3T shirts!
• You say the craziest things.  You make us laugh and amaze us all the time.

We are so thankful we get to be your parents and watch you grow and mature over the years.  Don't grow up too fast.  You are perfect the way you are now!  We love you!

gymnastics birthday party

Bryce's birthday fell on a Saturday this year so we were able to have his party on his actual birthday!  Bryce loves sports, but he loves to roll around on the ground and he is built like a gymnast so we decided to have his party at a gym this year.  He absolutely loved it and responded so well to the teachers!  I am so thrilled with how it turned out!  He is excited to start classes at the same gym next Friday!

Warming up!

Walking the balance beam.

Sitting in the parachute while we sang Happy Birthday.

Most of the party guests.  Hannah, Chase, Sara, Aiden, Bryce and Taylor.

We tried to get Charlie and Jacob to join in for the picture!

This boy was built to be a gymnast!

My sweet birthday boy!  The gym had the buttons made for the kids and I ordered the shirt on Etsy.

I love the cupcake toppers I ordered from Etsy.

Bryce loved the cupcakes he made for the party!

I think Bryce got 5 new monster trucks for his birthday!  This is the monster truck mayhem that is our kitchen!

Emmy girl was dressed in her party outift!  She slept during most of the party, but did wake up long enough to drink her first bottle.  She did great with it!

We got Bryce a trampoline for his birthday to go along with the gymnastics theme.  Here he is running out to it this morning.  Funny story: Bryce never gets out of bed on his own in the mornings or after his nap.  This morning when he called us, I talked through his monitor and told him to go ahead and get up and come to our room.  Well we saw him get up in the monitor, but he never came to our room.  We eventually heard footsteps downstairs so Jason went and checked on him.  He had gone downstairs to see his birthday presents (like Santa had come and it was Christmas).  It was too cute!

Too bad his birthday wasn't on Friday when it was 80 degrees.  Instead, it was today and it was freezing and very window today.  However, it didn't slow him down!

a first of many

Last night was the first of many nights where Jason and I divide and conquer.  I had a girls night with Emmy and he had a boys night with Bryce!  I had some girls from my small group over so we could have a girls/mama/baby night!  We ate Chinese food, watched "Say Yes to the Dress", and talked without 2 (or should I say 3) year old interruptions!  Maggie is on the left.  She was born in August and started the baby boom in our small group.  She's going to be a big sister in October!  Keagan is in the middle and he was born in December.  He didn't mind being the only boy!  Little Emmy girl is on the right.  We missed baby Avery (born in October) and her mama.

 

Jason and Bryce went to Monster Jam as part of his birthday celebration.  Bryce's cousin Chase and his friend Kaleb came with their dads.  Jason's friend Ryan and PaPa also came along!

Bryce's monster truck obsession all started with the Grave Digger truck.  Chase and Kaleb both had one and Bryce finally got his own,  We even went to see Grave Digger on our way to Nags Head this summer!  Ryan framed the picture below that he took at the show for Bryce's birthday present and it's already hanging in his room.

What's a trip to a show without cotton candy?!  It was even green for Grave Digger.

Bryce was so excited when he got home and he filled me in on every last detail.  

bryce's birthday week

It is very important to me to make birthdays extra special.  We try really hard to make Christmas about Jesus and not about us and the presents, so I like to spoil Bryce on his birthday because it's his special day!  We started the fun today with a treat from Barnes and Noble!  We are members of the kids club and there are a few perks throughout the year.  Bryce got a coupon for a free cupcake or cookie from the store's cafe (which happens to serve treats from The Cheesecake Factory).  Of course he chose a chocolate cupcake.  He even shared with me!

A trip to Barnes and Noble isn't complete without a trip to the train table.  Even though we have one at home, it's just as fun at the store.  We happened to be there for their story time so we went.  I've said this before, but it doesn't even compare to story time at our local library.  Bryce loves my Berenstain Bear books from when I was a kid.  He chose two more to add to the collection.  I'd say birthday week is off to a great start! I just can't believe he's going to be 3 in four short days.

2 weeks and snow

Emmy is 2 weeks old today!

Sleep: Emmy fell into a good sleep routine last Sunday and it has stayed consistent for the past week!  I feed her at 10 and put her to bed and then I get right in bed!  She sleeps until 1ish and then eats again.  I put her back down and then she eats again at 4ish and goes back down.  I go back to sleep until Jason's alarm goes off at 6 and I get up and get ready for the day.  Bryce comes and gets in the bed with Jason at some point and watches cartoons and then I'm ready for the day by the time Jason leaves for work at 6:45 and then Emmy gets up around 7 to eat again.  Hopefully her 3 hour eating stretches will get longer at night, but I can't complain right now, especially since she usually goes right back to sleep after eating.  If she does wake up between feedings, Jason takes that shift.

Awake: Emmy has started to be awake more times during the day and for longer periods.  She is usually fairly happy when she is awake unless she gets tired and then she gets mad.  It's pretty easy to calm her and to get her to sleep!

Eating: Emmy could go a long time during the day without eating, but I'm still waking her to make sure she eats every 3 hours.  She doesn't have a problem remembering to wake up every 3 hours at night!  Part of me wants me to let her set the eating schedule during the day, but I want to make sure she is getting plenty to eat so she doesn't want to eat even more often at night!  Emmy hasn't really taken to a paci (Bryce just threw his away last week).  Some days she will take it for a short time, but doesn't keep it.  It looks as though she may be a thumb sucker!

We got our first snow of the year yesterday!  Bryce spent the night at MeMa and PaPa's so he could play in the snow since I wouldn't be able to easily take him out to play at our house.  He wasn't interested in having his picture taken when I got there! 

Bryce enjoyed trying to sled.  Jason took him out in the yard to sled some more when he got home from work and he loved it!

He really would have been happy to throw snowballs all day.  He did lots of that outside with Jason, too.  Jason had to drag Bryce in because he was worried his hands were getting too cold, even with his gloves on!

Cheering with excitement over the snowman!  It was fun to get some snow, but I'm looking forward to the 70 degree temperatures they're forecasting for Thursday!

DIY photography

When it comes to Christmas cards, birthday invitations, and birth announcements, nothing stresses me out more than the picture!  I always want the perfect picture.  We bought an SLR before Bryce was born so we could take "good" pictures.  Little did we know, you still had to be a "good" photographer!  I almost broke down and bought the outrageously priced cd of pictures from the hospital so I would have the perfect picture, but I didn't!  So, since Jason was off today, we set up shop at home and attempted our own photo shoot.  I don't know how photographers get those adorable shots of sleeping babies holding up their head in their hands.  We did the best we could and here is what we came up with!  I ordered the birth announcements today!

happy valentine's day

Jason doesn't celebrate Valentine's Day (typical male), but I do.  I just love an excuse to do fun festive things.  Bryce even enjoyed making and delivering his Valentine's!  I think Valentine's Day is fun with kids because you get to show them you love them in a different way than you show them on a typical day!  This year was a Cars the movie themed V-day.  Bryce has a ton of the cars, a game, and a pillow pet, but we never know what to call them because we have never seen the movie.  We decided to get him the Cars DVD.  We also got him a Cars card, stickers, and box of candy.    He loved it!

My littlest Valentine!  She was really not interested in having her picture taken.

I enjoyed spending the day with my two Valentine's!  We went to Chuck E Cheese with Chase and Taylor and had lunch at Chick Fil A.  I think it was a special day for Bryce.  I'm hoping to go to Sweet Frog tonight for some red velvet cake frozen yogurt....Happy Valentine's Day to me!  Hope you had a special day!

1 week

Emmy is 1 week old today!  My picture doesn't do her justice.  Her cheeks really aren't as big as they look, but those eyes are!  She and Bryce definitely have the deer in the head lights look.  I'm wondering if she will have big wide eyes like her brother.

 

Sleep:  Emmy has been sleeping the majority of each day.  Her first few nights at home were difficult for me.  I had forgotten what sleepless nights were like.  I tried my hardest to wake her some during the day, but she just slept on.  I tried putting her in the bassinet in our room the first night and she didn't sleep a wink.  We moved her to her crib the next night and she still slept very little.  Not only did she want to be awake at night, she only wanted to be eating if she was awake.  We turned a corner last night and she slept 2 long stretches between each feeding and I feel like a new woman today!  I sure hope this continues.

Eating:  Emmy caught onto nursing very quickly.  I was glad to be able to nurse her so soon after delivery since I didn't get to do that with Bryce.  I am still waking her during the day to eat, but she does a pretty good job of letting me know when she needs to eat at night.  Bryce was like clockwork and wanted to eat every 3 hours. 

Bryce has been a big brother for a week now.  He needed his picture taken too!

Bryce and Jason and the boys are going to Monster Jam on Friday night before Bryce's birthday.  He is super excited about it and now prepared thanks to Chase for buying him hearing protection.  He has been wearing them around all day.  He keeps asking me if I can hear him, ha!

We made some Valentine cookies this morning.  I obviously had to rearrange the cookies when he was done!  We have had a wonderful day today and we even made it out for some errands.  I think I already have this mom of two thing down.....for now!

playing catch up

I'm still trying to blog all the pictures I took off my camera from the hospital and our first few days home.  The hospital pictures sure have improved since Bryce was a baby.  The picture they took of him was just your standard  hospital picture.  It wasn't bad, but the outfit we put him in made him look like a jail bird so we didn't buy any of the pictures.  Now, a professional photographer comes and takes the pictures.  I hadn't planned on buying any, but after seeing their edited versions scroll through a slide show with a sappy baby song, I was hooked.  We tried to snap a few pictures for us after she left, but it just wasn't as good.  You can go to www.bellababyphotography.com and click on "view photos" and use the password rkru0206whitlock until February 21 to view the adorable pictures.  We ended up purchasing the picture of her holding our hands to hang in her room and then another one of her to send to family. 

Bryce just looks so proud to be a big brother!

Emmy didn't enjoy her first bath at home.  I don't blame her.  Who would want to take a sponge bath without the water being able to cover you and warm you.  It took me a little longer than I planned so that didn't help!  The rest of her umbilical cord fell off today, so we should be taking real baths soon.

All wrapped up after her bath.

Look what greeted us when we got home!

I love that the company leaves the information sign as a gift when they take the stork down.  We have one from when Bryce was born, too.  Thanks Kelly!