Todd at 4 Months

Hayley and I took Todd to the pediatrician today for his four month checkup. My big boy weighed in at 14 pounds, 8 ounces and 26 inches long which puts him at about 50% for weight and 75% for length. He seems SO big to me that I was surprised that he didn't weigh more. Of course after having Hayley who has been such a skinny little peanut, any baby with a roll or two seems huge to me. Todd got a clean bill of health and we were on our way.

Hayley and Todd, each at 4 months


On Saturday we attended a third birthday party for our good friend Luke. Hayley had a ball. She LOVES to play at Luke's house because Luke has cars and trucks and all sorts of things that little girls dream about... well, at least OUR little girl.

Coloring Lightning McQueen

Another party animal

The toy of the day... the race track!

Going Bald and Eating Crow

I haven't posted in awhile because I've been busy pulling my hair out. Literally. Suprisingly (and somewhat debatable), Hayley is not the cause of my hair loss as I get to chalk this lovely symptom up once again to pregnancy hormones. I'm not sure if it is because this was my second pregnancy, or because I had a boy, but every pregnancy symptom was magnified in comparison to my pregnancy with Hayley. So of course, this lovely post-partum shedding is twice as bad as after I had Hayley. It looks like two blond gorillas had a cage fight in my shower every morning and at this rate I figure I'll look like Mr. Clean's long lost twin (minus the shiny floors) by the end of the month. Don't get me wrong... I love, love, LOVE Todd and Hayley. However, I'm really just not at all a fan of the whole process of getting them here.

I've spent the past week wracking my brain about appropriate discipline methods to use with Hayley. Perhaps I should have thought about this BEFORE I had children, but back then I was too smart to ever believe that "my" child would ever need to be disciplined beyond a timeout. You know, "my" child will NEVER throw a screaming fit in public. "My" child will never run around out of control. "My" child will never tell me "NO" in a bratty voice. But now? Now my life pretty much consists of eating crow (when I'm not pulling my hair out). That child you hear throwing an absolute tantrum on aisle 2 and whose mother must have absolutely no control? That would be me. Two is such a lovely age and I'm sure in twenty years I'll see some poor soul who once knew everything too but now has a screaming toddler and I'll snicker, knowing that I did my time. But right now, my wounds are fresh and that doesn't comfort me much and it certainly doesn't solve my two year old's discipline problems. Right now I'm relying on Amazon.com for that. Instead of sitting back and getting the chance to read something that "I" would like to read before bed each night, I will now begin reading "1-2-3 Magic: Effective Discipline for Children" and "Setting Limits with Your Strong-Willed Child." My book report will be forthcoming.

Cautiously Optimistic

I think the earth must have fallen off it's axis. BOTH of my children are currently napping and my non-napping almost fourth month old took a TWO hour nap this morning. Now I won't go so far as to say that my sanity is returning, because even if my little angels took perfect naps everyday I would not consider myself sane, but I sure am a much happier mommy with two napping children. And to what do I owe these sudden naps? With Todd, it's just plain good fortune and perhaps getting out of whatever crazy baby stage he was going through. But Hayley? That's taken more than a little snake charming on my part. After constantly catching Hayley out of bed with two or three shirts around her neck and swimming in a pile of books, I've accepted that it is necessary to hide every possible thing Hayley could find interesting during naptime. Don't get me wrong. I'm thrilled over her love of books, but the 3pm grouch is going to be the death of me if I don't get this child back in a napping habit.

Speaking of books... I'd like to publicly thank my good friend Alisson for sending Hayley the book "Puppy Love" for Hayley's birthday. It has definitely contributed to Hayley's obsession with dogs and has quickly become one of Hayley's favorite reads as she talks about "Puppy Wuv" constantly. Especially when we are out in public and she sees a dog. She yells, "Wook Mommy, a puppy. Awww... puppy wuv!" Nevermind the quizzical look I get from the dogs' owners, I think Chloe must have sent out a doggy S.O.S. because the dogs get the look on their face like, "no way am I going near that child."

Nothing wrong with a little child labor to wear her out!

Forces Aligned

Todd has been on this earth for almost 15 weeks and already he and Hayley are conspiring against me. They both have decided to go on nap strike. I'm quite certain that this turn of events is going to cause me to lose my ever-lovin' mind.

Hayley has always been an early adapter of the whole "less naps are more" philosophy. She went down to one nap a day long before her other playmates had eliminated their morning naps and I was okay with that because her afternoon naps were consistently two plus hours long. She's always been a good sleeper, had a six to seven o'clock bedtime, and I can count on one hand the number of times she's woken up in the middle of the night since the age of 6 months. Granted, the amount of energy that Hurricane expends certainly explains her (and my) need for sleep. Shortly after Todd was born Hayley decided that afternoon naps weren't near as much fun as playing in her room during her supposed naptime. And now, she apparently has told Todd what fun life can be with NO naps during the day.

I'm a BIG fan of Dr. Weissbluth's "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" book. Until this point, all of Hayley's sleep habits have been spot on with Dr. Weissbluth's guidelines. But I'm feeling incredibly misled. Dr. Weissbluth led me to believe that I would be Hurricane free for 2 hours every afternoon until Hurricane reached the ripe old age of at least three. This is not so. And I am so sad that I could cry. When exactly am I supposed to feed my Internet addiction now?

Todd's napping habits are a whole other issue entirely. He absolutely refuses to nap for any period in excess of 20 minutes. I've tried EVERYTHING and have resigned myself to grasping at the hope that he'll grow out of this and into the nap pattern that I expect him to have. I will say that Todd's strong resistance to the idea of napping has definitely opened my eyes to the fact that he may not be quite as laid back as I think. It appears that this little fella may have a temper on him. Hayley just may have met her match.

I'm Gonna Brag

Kudos to my incredibly conscience and overachieving husband who was recently named 2007's Outstanding Financial Management Officer for the United States Special Operations Command. You can rest assured that your tax dollars are being managed wisely at SOCOM. Brian's brother and sister tell a funny story about how they once visited Brian at Fort Hood during a sweltering Texas summer. Upon entering Brian's apartment they couldn't help but comment on the lack of air conditioning, to which Brian responded, "I try to save money. Usually I just lay real still." Is it any wonder I fell madly in love with him? He's obviously my soulmate!

I'm still trying to decipher the authenticity of this picture. Brian likes to tell me that really, he's part of "The Unit." You know, he just masquerades as an Army bean counter to cover his true identity of top secretive operative for Delta Force. I'm pretty sure he's making it up. If his hair starts getting long and he doesn't shave for days, then I'll start to worry.

Beginning to "Sprout"

Today we visited Hayley's "soon-to-be" preschool for a morning playdate. We had the opportunity to meet the children, parents, and teachers for her class. Judging by the size of the tantrum Hayley threw when it was time to leave, I think she's going to like preschool. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this, but my daughter? My daughter is NOT what you would call a wallflower. I truly believe that God blessed me with Hayley in an effort to challenge my comfort zone, because me? I am a wallflower and I prefer to go about my business unnoticed for the most part. Yep, I'm perfectly happy to just blend in with society. But blending? That's just not going to happen with Hayley in tow. Well, at least all the preschool moms know exactly who I am. I'm Hurricane's mommy... God bless me.

I'm excited to see how Hayley will develop over the upcoming school year. I am operating under the assumption that she doesn't get kicked out of preschool, and yes, I know what happens when one "assumes." There are nine children in Hayley's class. Six boys and three girls which is the perfect class for my non-prissy daughter. As Hayley's two female classmates played house this morning, Hayley was over with the boys trying to steal their trucks. I was in the corner P-R-A-Y-I-N-G that Hayley didn't tell those little boys what it was she wanted. (Sprouts is a Christian preschool and I'm pretty certain that Hayley's terminology for truck would be immediate grounds for expulsion... have I mentioned that she's now fascinated with Dump TRucks, which Hayley pronounces as Dumb ***** and Fire TRucks? It ain't pretty.) Needless to say, we will be having daily pronounciation lessons from now until school starts.

And behold, a miracle has occurred. In a stroke of pure luck, I was able to get a picture of Hayley and Todd TOGETHER. Yes, I mean both in the same picture. Todd is performing "The Superman" pose. We do this same position in my pilates class. Todd is well aware of the value of a strong core. Lock up your daughters... this beefcake comes with a six pack.

Todd at 3 Months

Today Todd celebrated his three month birthday! He's come a long ways in three months and we've been enjoying every second with him. For the most part he has mastered sleeping through the night and for the first time last Wednesday morning he woke up just talking (rather than crying) at 6:45am. He's close to rolling over and absolutely loves to grab anything within his reach. He really is just the sweetest little thing and loves to have long conversations with his Mama. He's absolutely fascinated by Hayley and Chloe... yes, he seems to have great affection for the females in his life! Daddy makes it home in time to give him a bath each evening and I think it is the part of the day that Todd most looks forward to. He still absolutely loves his baths and getting his silky mane washed.

Here's Hayley and Todd at 3 months. Todd wants you to know that he is secure enough in his manhood that he doesn't mind sitting in his big sister's pink chair.

Happy Independence Day Weekend!

Hope everyone is enjoying a relaxing weekend! We spent the 4th of July at the home of some good friends. All of the kids (big and little) got to spend the day in the pool and enjoy some some great barbeque. We got home at about 6pm, bathed both Todd and Hayley, and had two passed out kiddos by 6:30pm. I'm not sure I've ever seen Hayley that exhausted! Maybe next year we'll be able to try keeping them awake for a fireworks show!

Unfortunately, Hayley was in no mood for pictures. What's new?! It's hard enough to get a picture of her alone that is decent. It's absolutely impossible to get a picure of both her and Todd together that is decent.


Our littlest firecracker! (Big drool comes in small packages!)

The best we could get of Hayley in her 4th of July dress


Playing with buddy Satchley


Did I hear my name?

Baby Fat

And I'm not referring to the cute little rolls that Todd has or those that were nonexistent on skinny minny Hayley as that is called "Baby Phat." Baby Fat is what Mommy is left with after giving birth to two little kiddos. Make no mistake about it, Baby Fat is NOT cute. And so my journey to eliminate Baby Fat begins and I've once again enrolled in boot camp. Meet my instructors:



I know, they don't look that threatening, but trust me, they are. (Don't worry, there is room for Chloe on top!) I did participate in boot camp after Hayley was born. But this time, she has a partner and the workouts are even more grueling then ever. See apparently Hayley is aware of the fact that she will be heading off to preschool in the fall, leaving Todd to be my primary instructor on the mornings that she is gone. She should be pleased with his training so far because in her likeness, Todd screams at me if I break my jog for a walk. Hayley tells me that Todd just likes to feel the wind blow through his hair, a pleasure that Hayley has just recently been able to experience. And apparently the natural west coast Florida breeze is insufficient and therefore I must RUN in order to create enough wind to ruffle my little boy's locks. Which I find ironic because I'm not sure how any wind could be left after all that I suck during these "runs" pushing their "bus." Yep, that Mercedes of jogging strollers that I'm ever so proud of? Consider the 40 pounds of kid plus the weight of the stroller and I feel like I'm literally pushing a Mercedes... a Mercedes SUV... actually, does Mercedes make a semi truck? To add to my misery, I'm good and sore at the beginning of every run thanks to the postpartum pilates class I've been taking. Trust me, this class makes childbirth feel like a cake walk because unfortunately, there is no epidural involved in pilates. I'd be willing to bet that if they made incarcerated criminals participate in daily pilates classes there would be a significant decrease in the rate of repeat offenders.

But the torture is all part of the sacrifice of being a good mom. It's important that I have the energy to keep up with my little ones and endurance is an essential part of keeping my children safe. After all, we live in Florida and I never know when I'll have to grab my children and run from a snake, gator, or sniper (right Mimi)??!!

Ugh!

I've been sick with a cold for the past four days. Sore throat, runny nose, the works. It's the middle of summer. I live in Florida. How on earth is it possible that I'm SICK right now??!! I blame my back. Yep, that's right, my back. While cleaning the bathrooms last Wednesday I hurt my back... badly. According to my incredibly gifted massage therapist I've got a strained sacral ligament. I've done this before with my initial injury occuring back in 2002 while I was doing squats at the gym. Apparently pregnancy can just exacerbate the problem which I was made well aware of last week. I spent three days in excruciating pain which completely exhausted my body, thus making me vulnerable to even the weakest germ. By Thursday afternoon my throat was on fire, I cried every time I had to pick up one of my babies, and I was beginning to feel that I was going to be debilitated for life. Thankfully my massage therapist was able to see me on Saturday morning and by noon I felt like maybe I wasn't quite at death's doorstep. While not completely back to normal, my cold is breaking up and my back isn't causing me near as much pain. I'm hoping to get back to my usual workout by tomorrow albeit a little lower key. The two important lessons that I learned from all of this? Number one, I can never move away from my massage therapist and number two, Brian is the one that will need to clean our bathrooms from now on! Ha!

On Saturday evening, Brian and I had our first evening out since Todd was born. We went to the Toby Keith concert in Tampa with some friends. It was nice to be out of the house and not have children attached to my every limb. Heck, I think this is the first time I've actually been anywhere since Todd was born that I didn't wear spitup at some point in the evening! Nevertheless, I can't remember the last time I felt so old and uncool. Brian didn't help make me feel any cooler since every time a young girl walked by he'd go into cardiac arrest with the "Hayley better never wear an outfit like that" or "Hayley won't ever be able to come to a concert like this without her Daddy" and so on. Funny how children can so drastically change your perspective on EVERYTHING!

Caution... topless video below!

Some of you may have heard the on the news about the condo development in Tampa that will allow nudity at the swimming pool. I'm not sure why this has made the news because Hayley has had this rule in effect at our pool for the past two years here. Anyhow, we've been spending lots of time in the pool and Hayley is getting much more daring as well as more capable when it comes to floating. We're still working on getting those toes "up" and teaching her not to kick while she's floating but at least she's thoroughly enjoying her time in the water. Notice Brian tell Hayley, "Good job, pumpkin." Shortly after we turned the camera off Hayley began telling Brian "good job punkin!" We're not sure what the cheek smacking is about, but I think we're seeing the beginnings of a swan dive.

Geography Bee

Now that Hayley seems to know the alphabet, can count to ten, and has a decent grasp of colors and shapes, we figured the next logical step would be geography of course! So far Hayley has determined that she is allergic to Kansas and that Daddy is a bullrider in Texas. We have a wooden USA puzzle that we've been playing with and it has wildflowers on the state of Kansas. Hayley always picks up the state of Kansas, puts it to her nose and says "ACHOOOOOO!" She also points at the man riding the bull over the state of Texas and says "Daddy." Yes, Daddy can do anything in Hayley's eyes, including ride bulls. Hopefully Hayley will learn all of the states in time for me to bring out the red and blue map for election season. After all, political indoctrination can never begin to early!

Todd at 2 Months

Todd is celebrating his two month birthday today! To celebrate, Todd decided to sleep through the night last night from 10pm to 7am. Okay, technically he went to bed at 8pm and then we feed him again at 10pm, but he doesn't really wake up. Another technicality, I probably can't exactly say that he "slept" through the night because he did wake up at 4am and whimper a bit before falling back asleep, but I'll take it since usually he wakes at about 4am with a full fledged "come feed me cry." He is such a good little boy... nothing but smiles when he is awake and aside from being hungry and tired (oh and car rides) I haven't found much that seems to make him mad. Which is a good thing because I've got my hands full with his big sister.

But back to Todd. We went to the doctor today and saw that our little man continues to be a healthy little guy. He was 11.8 pounds, 23 inches long, and had a 15.2 cm head. Basically he's in the 50% for height and weight and the 20% for head. Apparently small noggins are a genetic trait because Hayley's head has always measured in the 20% as well. I was surprised at Todd's weight because I'd been putting him on our scale at home and was thinking he was more like 13 pounds of beefcake. See! I knew our scale at home made everyone that stepped on it "heavier!"

Here's another comparison picture of Hayley at 2 months and Todd at 2 months:

Shhhhhhh!

Don't tell Daddy, but I think Hayley has a boyfriend. Now before you go thinking that Hayley holds hands with the first boy she meets, let me tell you that Grant and Hayley go way back. They were in Little Nippers together. Grant has big plans for his future as well... he's going to be an educated man as he will be in Hayley's preschool class with her this fall! Don't worry. I don't think it's anything too serious. I'm pretty sure that nothing can tie Hayley down for long...literally.

Postpartum Something

Almost 8 weeks postpartum and I'm still suffering from what I consider to be the absolute most dreadful aspect of pregnancy. No, it's not postpartum depression (although if this continues it could turn into that). Last night I attempted my first post pregnancy run. I strapped on my tennies and headed out the door with my Ipod in hand. I was feeling good and eagerly anticipating 30 minutes of painful bliss in the warm evening air. I stretched my legs out, set my stopwatch, and turned on my Ipod. As the music started to thump in my ear, a sick feeling washed over me (and no, I wasn't listening to country music). I tried to ignore it, but that nauseous feeling persisted until midway through my run when I was so out of breath and my legs were so heavy that the pain in my quads distracted from the overwhelming urge to "toss my cookies." The past few days, the daily temperature has crept up along with the humidity. It feels about like it did last fall when I was "newly" pregnant and sick as a dog... brutal. The heat combined with the activities that I took part in while feeling so nauseous last fall seem to be causing some deja vu. The past few days of swim lesson have also illicited that sick feeling. I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever feel normal again? The mere sight of Maalox and Tums make me sick right now and I don't think I'll ever be able to eat a darn thing that has even a pinch of ginger in it. (Side note: ginger root capsules don't go well with severe indigestion.) Good thing little Todd is worth it all!
Speaking of persistent and swimming... Hayley is definitely persistent, persistent at being strong willed. We have been in swim lesson since March 3rd. Yes, the daily swim lesson where I drive all the way to the instructor's home, put Hayley in the pool for a 10 minute lesson, get her dressed, and drive all the way back home. This was only supposed to be a 2 week refresher course, but Hurricane? Apparently Hurricane felt she needed more time in the pool. The crux of this extended lesson? Hayley's adamant refusal (not inability, but REFUSAL) to float. Hayley is smart as a whip (if I do say so myself). She can count to 10, knows her entire alphabet as well as the sound each letter makes, and can determine a sucker from a mile away. However, it has taken 14 weeks to convince Hayley that floating really isn't all that bad. See Hayley just wanted to swim, which is fine and dandy until she gets tired and seeing how we are trying to teach her SURVIVAL swimming, floating becomes a necessary part of her survival in the water. Apparently what neither I, not the instructor (who has the patience of a saint) were aware of is that Hayley wanted to teach us something about herself. That is that you don't convince Hayley of anything... she makes up her own mind when she's darn good and ready. And apparently she is FINALLY ready. Just last Friday she finally began floating around the pool. And guess what? It must not be that bad. Because now? Now Hayley refuses to swim... she just wants to FLOAT!!! The good news is that Hayley is a record holder. Miss Amy has been teaching ISR lessons for over 10 years and has never encountered a student with the iron will of Miss Hurricane. Miss Amy says that Hayley is going to be famous someday and we'll read about her in the news. Call me crazy, but somehow I don't think that Hayley will be famous for taking a gold medal for swimming at the 2020 olympic games. I think it is quite possible that both Hayley and poor innocent little Todd will be blacklisted from any toddler activities in the southwest Florida region.
So, I'm really beginning to worry about potty training...

Happy 2nd Birthday Hayley!

Our little angel is TWO today! Mimi and Grandpa came to town to help us celebrate and we had a wonderful birthday party at Nana and Papa's!

Ironically, Pooh was the theme of Hayley's party and just yesterday Pooh "magically" reappeared! Hayley came walking out of Todd's room with Pooh like he'd never been gone! I had searched all over Todd's room and I still have no idea where Pooh actually was. Hayley knew the whole time though... whenever I would ask her about Pooh she would just tell me "Pooh seeping." I'd like to know where Pooh was sleeping because if he got that much uninterrupted sleep then it sounds like a location that I would GREATLY enjoy right now!

Welcome to the party!


The guest of honor


Enjoying the conversation


Getting ready to make a wish


Trying to figure out this wrapping paper thing


Little brother enjoyed the party festivities

Amber Alert

Sound the alarms. Pooh has gone AWOL. And I'm pretty sure he had an accomplice. I have searched high and low in this house and cannot find Hayley's partner in crime ANYWHERE! She was playing with him yesterday morning and then he was nowhere to be found for her afternoon nap. I've asked her several times what she did with Pooh and she'll just say "Pooh!" and laugh. See what I mean, accomplice to AWOL... and I think Chloe is jealous. I'm pretty sure that if she could open the front door by herself, she'd run away.

For those of you that know Chloe, you know that Chloe likes the finer things in life. She enjoys being pampered and it is important to her to look good. After all, God did not give her impeccable eyelashes for nothing. For the most part, Chloe has led a spoiled and pampered life that consisted of frequent shopping trips with Mommy, regularly jetsetting through the airport to Denver, apple-cranberry crumble (her favorite dessert), and lounging on a raft in Nana and Papa's pool. However, life changed for Chloe with the birth of her little sister, Hayley. The shopping trips stopped, the apple-cranberry crumble dried up, and the last time she flew she had to ride... GASP... cargo! Once Hayley began eating dropping Cheerios, bananas and other assorted goodies, Chloe started to see that this "sister" thing wouldn't be the end of the world. But then we brought home another screamer and well, Chloe is NOT happy. She's been coping, but she isn't happy. I'm afraid that what happened yesterday may be the straw that broke the camels back though. Seeing as how I have my hands full right now, it's been near impossible for me to keep up with the demands of keeping my little pooch groomed properly. Summer is coming and I know that Chloe has such a heavy coat of fur so I broke down and took Chloe to De La Pooch Salon for a... puppy cut. While the spa treatment was a good time for her to unwind, because after all a day hiding under the bed from the two year old that is obsessed with her can stress a gal out, I'm not sure Chloe is exactly thrilled with her new cut. Yes Chloe, I think we can all relate to that bad haircut feeling at sometime or another. I've been trying to convince Chloe that she didn't get a bad haircut, but when you go from luxurious locks like this:


to this:


it can take a little getting used to. Of course Chloe should be thrilled with her new cut. Ever since we picked her up from the salon Hayley has been calling her "Puppy." I've been trying to explain to Hayley that "Puppy" is actually Chloe with a new hairstyle, but she refuses to believe me. I may book an appointment for myself at De La Pooch because I could stand to look like a "pup" again. Little Hurricane is making me old before my time.

In other news, Todd is now an official "citizen" with the number that makes him vulnerable to identity theft to prove it! He looks excited. I don't think he understands how taxes work just yet.

Oh brother!

I had quite the interesting week with Hayley last week. She's starting to say a lot more things (and yes, we're still having the problem pronouncing truck) and I can only wonder where she comes up with the things she does. On Thursday she decided it was appropriate to start calling me by my first name. I would ask her to do something and she would respond with "okay Selweey." WHAT??? You'd think she could at least refer to me as Ms. Selweey.

She's also becoming more bold with Todd which means I have to watch her like a hawk. Poor little brother has had the pacifier rammed in his mouth more times then I'm sure he'd like. Each morning before swim lesson I pack up all the towels and items we need and take them out to the car before I load the kids up. Hayley always follows me out to the car, except last week she would run out and babble something that ended with brother. I'm pretty sure she was telling me not to forget him. Or she could have been saying "hurry up let's go before brother knows we're gone!" Either way, it is sweet for her to think of him!

So Friday we spent the morning filling and playing with her water table. After getting scolded for trying to climb into the water table, apparently Hayley decided she could get the same effect by just dunking her head in the water. She did this repeatedly. Once again, if only I could figure out what was going through her head.

Saturday morning we went and signed Hayley up for an indoor soccer program. She'll attend classes every Saturday morning and participate with Daddy. I'm sure this will be VERY entertaining.

A growing boy

Todd got a passing grade at his one month checkup. He's gained plenty of weight and is the healthy, growing boy that we prayed for. He came in at 21.5 inches long and 9pounds and 7 ounces... a whole two pounds above his birth weight. By the looks of him, I had a feeling he'd gained quite a bit of weight as he seems huge to me now. He's still only in the 35% though for weight and about 50% for length. Hayley was such a slow gainer and is still our little light weight. (Dynamite comes in small packages.)

Here's a picture of both Hayley and Todd at one month for comparison:

We've survived a month!

Today Todd is one month old! Brian and I were talking this weekend about how much faster Todd's first month has gone by in comparison to Hayley's first month. Hayley did nothing but scream at us for her first month of life so having a slightly more laid back baby has been a treat. I say slightly more laid back because we've discovered that like Hayley, Todd certainly has his hot buttons. His major issue is car rides. I'm not quite sure how I ended up with two babies that absolutely hate car rides, but it makes getting out and about miserable. Even Hayley (the Queen of Scream) is disturbed by Todd's distaste for the car. Last week we were headed to Nana and Papa's house when we saw Papa out at the mailbox. I rolled the window down so Papa could hear how healthy his grandson's lungs are and Hayley yelled, "Papa, help! Help!" Yeah, no kidding?!!

Todd is also having "sleep" issues. He sleeps just fine as long as he is in his swing, on his stomach, or cuddled up next to me. Yes, he's a cuddler, which I love. Because in order to get any cuddles out of his sister I first have to catch her and then I have to hog tie her and quite frankly with the small amount of sleep I get each night I just don't have the energy to do that. So I enjoy that Todd is maybe a little bit of a Mommy's boy, but it is making that (much) sought after sleep even more elusive. We're working on sleep this week though and I've officially decided that having a baby that will accept a pacifier isn't really all it's cracked up to be. At this point I think pacifiers are just a cruel trick on a poor, sleep deprived parent who thinks that they're going to get to sleep when really they'll get to lay their head on the pillow only to be awakened five minutes later by a scream because that "wonderful" pacifier has gone by the wayside. I think we're going to be done with the pacifier.

Todd has filled out a lot since the day he was born and I'm anxious to see how much weight he's gained at his one month Dr. appointment on Wednesday. He seems to be getting bigger much faster than Hayley did. We are enjoying playing with his hair. Each night after his bath we give him a new "do."

We took Hayley over to the community pool on Sunday. It's heated, but not very much. She would only go in up to her knees before running back the the "shore" saying "Brrrrrr, cold!" She has continued to go to swim lessons everyday and the Today Show will actually be featuring a segment on the ISR lessons she is going to on Wednesday morning. I'm hoping they'll put the segment on UTube and if so I'll post the link here on the blog.



Getting ready to throw a "hail Mary" pass!

Table for Four Please

Spring has sprung! Looks like we weren't the only ones ahem, "growing our family" over the winter. The sandhill cranes have returned to making their daily trek through our yard. We have a lot in common with Mr. and Mrs. Sandhill... I wonder if they're getting anymore sleep then we are though.


The weather here has been beautiful and we've been spending a lot of time in the great outdoors. Hayley definitely takes after me when it comes to developing cabin fever after just one day at home. With Todd's arrival, it has been too difficult to keep up our pre-Todd errand running and activity schedule so we've spent much more time around the house. If I don't get Hayley out every morning to burn off her ya-yas then I can pretty much expect a napless, whine-filled day. I'll be thrilled when the pool warms up enough that she can spend the mornings in there, but for now we've made frequent visits to the park. Hayley recently discovered bugs. On one of our latest visits, she caught a bug in her fingers, said "bug," and proceeded to smoosh the bug while saying with a gleeful tone, "Ewwwww!" My thoughts exactly. Obviously I saw the need to change my child's attitude about catching bugs because I seem to be raising the type of little girl that will catch and bring home every slimy, multi-legged, antennae wielding and winged critter she can find. I enjoy the great outdoors, but I definitely have my limits. So this morning while playing with some PlayDoh, I began reprogramming my little bug catcher. So far, so good.

Sleepless in Sarasota

We're coming up on the three week mark as a family of four. I've come to the conclusion that little Todd isn't fully human. In fact, I'm beginning think he is part dinosaur. Pterodactyl to be exact because I've seen Jurassic Park and Todd sounds just like the pterodactyls. Those are the winged dinosaurs that fly around and squawk. I'll be able to confirm that he is indeed part pterodactyl once I do the research and determine if pterodactyls are nocturnal because Todd, Todd grunts and squeals like nobody's business between the hours of 2am to 6am. He doesn't necessarily cry, but with the racket that he makes he might as well. So other than having his days and nights extremely mixed up and the fact that I haven't slept longer than a 2 hour increment in almost three weeks we are doing well. Brian started back to work on Monday and so far I have made it through two days at home alone with two kids and somehow we've even still managed to make it to Hayley's daily swim lesson. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not very pleasant however. I don't do well with little sleep so fair warning to all who cross my path for the next few weeks. When I was pregnant, I had eliminated caffeine from my diet, a habit I had hoped to continue postpartum. Of course reality has set in and with a toddler named Hurricane and my nocturnal dinosaur I'm now in the process of petitioning Starbucks to open a location closer to my home. So much for good intentions!

We've had several comments that Todd looks like his Daddy. Sigh. Yes, he does. I'm hoping to get some of Brian's baby pics scanned to compare to Todd. So to recap, currently Hayley is the spitting image of her Dad when he was about three and Todd looks just like Brian did as a newborn. I'm 0 for 2. I am pretty sure they are mine, but I am starting to wonder!

While Brian was at home last week we managed to finish up a project we had started before Todd was born. Brian's Dad found a used Power Wheels jeep in someone's trash. He got a new battery and Brian and I renovated the jeep for Hayley's upcoming second birthday. Yep, we "pimped her ride!"

Week 1

We successfully made it through our first week with TWO children. Truthfully, a day with Hayley can be like parenting two children (sometimes named Jekyll and Hyde) so in a way we are parents of three! Lucky for us though, Todd seems to be quite different then his big sister. He rarely fusses and so far appears to be very laid back. Our only complaint is that he seems to have his days and nights mixed up... boy do we miss sleeping!

Hayley has done better than we expected adjusting to life with a sibling. She's been VERY attached to Daddy though so it will be interesting to see how things go next week when Brian returns to work. For now we're just trying to enjoy each day together as a family. We've spent several days at the park trying to burn off Hayley's excess energy. Todd enjoys the outdoors and it's keeping us from getting cabin fever.

Below are some pictures of Todd and Hayley from his first week of life.

We'd like you to meet...

...Todd Michael Roberts who entered the world at 3:53pm on Friday, April 11th, 2008. Todd weighed 7 pounds, 7 ounces and was 20.25 inches long.

On Friday morning, I went to my scheduled 39 week Dr. visit to find out my blood pressure was elevated. I was sent to the hospital for another blood pressure check and some labs. Upon arriving at the hospital I was told they were going to induce me, which I adamantly did not want. Upon hooking me up to all the monitors though we realized that I was actually almost 4 cm dilated and having fairly regular contractions which I just wasn't feeling. Aware of my previously fast labor and my elevated blood pressure, the Dr. decided to keep me at the hospital, break my water, and get labor really going. Obviously the good Lord was taking care of us because I ended up going from 5 cm dilated to fully dilated in a time span of 30 minutes. I could have been in real trouble had I not had an appointment with the Dr. that day and thankfully Brian was there in plenty of time after driving back from Tampa.

We are "almost" all home from the hospital as Hayley will return from her stay with Nana and Papa later this afternoon. She did visit us in the hospital and say "baby" while pointing at Todd, but then went back to running around like a wild woman so it will be interesting to see her reaction to our new, permanent family member. Obviously we are proud parents and in complete adoration of our new little boy. So far he has been the complete opposite of Hayley as a newborn. He sleeps, rarely fusses, and is content being held. We aren't quite holding our breaths, but do have some hope that he may be "laid back." Oh, and he has hair! A reward for all that indigestion I had to put up with!

Obviously more updates and pictures will be forthcoming!

Expanding vocabulary or potty mouth?

I'm still pregnant. And as much as I'm physically ready to not be pregnant, I think emotionally I'm actually kind of glad to still be pregnant. It's not that I'm not excited to meet our new family member, but rather that the significant life change that is about to occur is just beginning to hit me. For almost two years Brian and I have showered just about every ounce of our attention on our precious little girl and the thought that we'll soon be dividing our attention is somewhat heartbreaking for me. I know that providing Hayley with a sibling will be a wonderful thing, but in the emotional haze that these remaining weeks of pregnancy have left me in, I'm still trying to convince myself that I'm not betraying our little girl.

I've been told that toddlers are much more perceptive and understand much more than we think. If that's the case, then I'm certain that Hayley knows life is about to change in a big way for her. In the past week she has given me a very strong introduction to why they're called the "terrible twos." Tantrums have been a daily occurrence in our household and I consider it a good day if we make it through with just one meltdown. Thank goodness she's cute.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure that just being cute is going to help either of us out with Hayley's most recent quandry. My daughter is fascinated with all things transportation oriented. Trains, planes, boats, cars, motorcycles, tractors, trucks (particularly trucks). (You didn't expect her to be interested in dolls and princesses did you?) Hayley knows what each of these modes of transportation are and she'll tell you when she sees one along with make the sound that each one makes. Yep, I should be proud of my little scholar. The problem is with her pronounciation. Hayley has problems getting that "tr" sound out and instead makes an "f" sound so train becomes "fain" and truck becomes... well, you get my drift. We can't take a car ride without my not quite two year old yelling a series of what most people would consider to be expletives in the backseat. Although the weather is nice I don't dare roll down my windows and let the fresh air in. I live in fear... never knowing when Hayley is going to see a "truck."

Dear Tenant,

This letter serves as a formal reminder that your tenancy of the herein described premises will end on April 17th, 2008. You have been allowed to reside rent free for the past ten months and during this time the Landlord has graciously expanded the "building" for you. However, the Landlord is quite certain that any additional expansions will cause significant damage to the structure. It is clear that your needs have outgrown your existing quarters and the Landlord is adamant that it is time for you to "move on out," so to speak.

Despite the backaches, permanent aversion to certain foods, stretch marks, indigestion, and other assorted "damages" incurred by your tenancy, the Landlord has happily prepared new living quarters for you. However, the Landlord has stated that it will be unacceptable for you to kick the walls of your new residence as you seem to be accustomed to doing.

Should you fail or refuse to vacate said premises by the agreed upon date of lease termination, the Landlord WILL take actions not limited to the use of pineapple, walking, and red raspberry leaf tea to evict you from the premises.

Now, start packing!

Love,
The Landlord

Sign of the Gemini

For two people who have just about every aspect of their lives planned out on a spreadsheet, it's apparent that we never consulted the stars upon deciding when to bear our "fruits." The other day I got one of those forwarded emails going around describing zodiac signs. Usually I laugh these things off, but Hayley's description was pretty accurate.

GEMINI - The Chatterbox (May 21 - June 20) Smart and witty. Outgoing, very chatty. Lively, energetic. Adaptable But needs to express themselves. Argumentative and outspoken. Like change. Versatile. Busy, sometimes nervous and tense. Gossips. May seem superficial or inconsistent. Beautiful physically and mentally.

Which led me to peek at what we expect Frog Prince's zodiac sign to be.

ARIES - The Daredevil (Mar 21 - April 19)
Energetic. Adventurous and spontaneous. Confident and enthusiastic. Fun. Loves a challenge. EXTREMELY impatient. Sometimes selfish. Short fuse. (Easily angered.) Lively, passionate, and sharp wit. Outgoing. Lose interest quickly - easily bored. Egotistical. Courageous and assertive.

I.Am.In.TROUBLE!!!!

We finished up another round of Hayley's swim lessons on Friday. We did figure out that part of Hayley's protests in the water have a lot to do with the temperature. This is one little girl who DOES NOT like to be cold. The pool temperature for lessons is kept at 88 degrees, but we've had several rather cool mornings here that have been in the sixties. We went to a few noon time lessons to see if temperatures close to 80 degrees made a difference in Hayley's attitude and she was a completely different student. Who can blame her distaste for the cold weather though? It's not like she has ANY meat on her little bones and neither Brian nor I passed on any genetic adaptation to cold weather. We're planning on continuing with just a weekly swim lesson for the rest of the summer. Hopefully we'll be able to keep Hayley in the pool quite a bit this summer and she'll get this whole swim/float thing mastered.

Happy Easter!

Hayley has had a busy Easter weekend We had a family dinner on Saturday evening and Hayley certainly enjoyed having so many people to entertain. We attended church service Sunday morning and Hayley got to show off her Easter dress. Apparently it was well received which was a problem for Hayley. She looked so cute in her dress that one little boy in the church nursery decided to hug her a little bit harder than she liked. She was in tears when we picked her up but Daddy reassured Hayley that getting upset because a boy hugged her is exactly what she is supposed to do! We returned home for an Easter egg hunt. Hayley surprised us an was actually really interested in hunting for the eggs. She'd find one, and then look up at us and ask "more?" She did a VERY good job of finding all the "hidden" eggs!

Pictures of our day:

Easter_2008

Here's some video of Hayley playing with the puzzle the bunny man brought her!

I'm getting a little nervous

Paranoid may be the better term to use. As I prepare for my second go round, I'm more nervous about labor and delivery then I ever was while pregnant with Hayley. With Hayley, I didn't know what to expect and in a way that was a good thing. With Frog Prince, I have an idea of what to expect and that is where the problem lies.

My labor with Hayley was really fairly "easy" (as easy as labor and delivery can be, right girls?) On the day of Hayley's birth, I woke up at 4:30am with some mild stomach pains that I really didn't think could be labor. I'd never had Braxton Hicks contractions so I thought that perhaps maybe that was what was going on. However, I was exactly 40 weeks pregnant and ready to reclaim my body and so I did all those things that I heard were supposed to get labor going. I walked Chloe, I pulled weeds, I cleaned up around the house. Still, no pattern to my contractions. By 11am I had 1 or 2 fairly painful contractions and I told Brian that perhaps we should just go down to the hospital to be on the safe side. When we got to the hospital at 11:30am I was 4 cm dilated. By 1:40pm I was fully dilated and we were waiting for my epidural to take effect so I could start pushing. Hayley was born at 2:01pm.

Obviously, I had a quick labor. Which was wonderful. But, that is also the source of my current concern. I keep hearing that second labors are usually much shorter than first labors and quite frankly I'm not the least bit interested in redeeming my 15 minutes of fame by having a newspaper article written about the woman who birthed her baby at home with the help of her toddler and trusty Shih Tzu. I'm into the au natural thing and even considered a natural birth (for about a day) but really, I want NEED my epidural!

On the flip side, I could be one of those anomalies where my second labor is longer and more drawn out then my first. Oh wait, that doesn't sound appealing either!!! Add that to the anxiety that is wreaking havoc on my Type A personality over the fact that I don't know exactly when this baby will come and I'm a paranoid ball of nerves. You can see I'm in quite the conundrum. If I don't blog for awhile, it's because I've gotten all too stressed out about this and have decided to setup a tent to live in the hospital parking lot.

Change of Heart

So after a miraculous and speedy recovery from the flu, Hayley returned to swim lessons on Monday. I'm thinking she must have really felt badly over the weekend because there is no other explanation for the sudden change in her attitude towards swim lessons. For the past two weeks, Hayley has been fit to be tied during each lesson. She's not uncomfortable and it's not that she's scared of the water. It's that SHE isn't getting to do what SHE wants to do... and so she screams. But on Monday, Hayley squealed with delight the entire time she was in the water.
Yes, I am talking about Hayley Roberts. Her excitement over swimming has continued throughout the week and she is now dragging me out of the house in the morning. So maybe it's an appreciation for the little things in life like feeling well enough to go to a simple swim lesson. Or, perhaps she just came to the realization that she looks so darn good in a swimsuit that she'd better learn to swim so she can wear a swimsuit more often. Either way I'll take it.

DEFCON 1

Alert Homeland Security. Our perimeter has been breached. Hayley has become the not so proud recipient of influenza. We had a normal day on Thursday with the routine afternoon nap. But when she woke up at her usual time she was burning up with a 103 degree fever. After a bit of Tylenol and a cool bath, her temp came back down and we had a relatively normal dinner. I thought perhaps she's just battling a virus and off to bed she went like usual. Until about 9pm when we heard her coughing and ran to her room to find her and her bed covered in... why didn't anybody tell me that kids throw up??!!! (Oh goodie, looks like I've earned the coveted vomit badge to add to my Mommy Vest.) Brian assumed the role of combat medic and I took over as combat surgeon. We made the decision to MEDEVAC Hayley to the tub. Hayley refused to let go of Pooh who was severely injured in the blast. Froggy was in bad shape as well, but apparently Hayley doesn't follow that "no man left behind" motto. Once we cleaned up Hayley's battle wounds we were better able to assess her condition and see the full extent of her injuries. Once again, her fever was back up to 104 and we were seriously considering MEDEVACing Hayley to the ER. I have to admit, we've known there would be war, but we probably haven't trained properly and certainly had never experienced this type of warfare before. Dare I say we were a bit unprepared and may have PANICKED??!! We opted for our next line of defense, the on-call Pediatrician who gave us some advice on getting Hayley's fever down and telling us when an ER visit would truly be appropriate. It took about 2 hours, but we finally lowered her temp to the point that she was comfortable and able to get some rest. She battled the fever all night as we monitored our patient with frequent temperature checks and Tylenol doses. Friday morning I packed Hayley up and we headed down to the Dr. for a nasal swab that confirmed that Hayley had indeed contracted the flu.

We know a few people who have battled this strain of flu this year and from what the Dr. told us to expect, we really were expecting a very unpleasant week. So far though, Hayley has shocked us as her fever has been absent since last night, she shows no other symptoms besides maybe the hint of a runny nose, and has been running around the house all day long like nothing ever happened. I've been spending the past two days armed with Lysol trying to decontaminate the house and praying that Brian's and my immune system can fight off the threat. I've even contemplated bathing in Emergen-C, because quite frankly, being 34 weeks pregnant with the flu is not something that I have any desire to experience. So I'm going to call this battle a draw. Obviously I lost the battle because somehow Hayley ended up with the flu. But, because of her strong immune system, which I'm choosing to believe that good nutrition and sleep played a part in, she successfully fought off the foreign invader.

And yes, I keep score of these battles. I HATE being sick and therefore I HATE germs. It's a personal mission of mine to keep my family and myself healthy so a germ invasion resulting in illness is like a personal failure to me. Now that we have one walking petri dish and another on the way, I'm going to have to step up my germ warfare readiness even further. I thereby declare that this household will remain at DEFCON 3 for the foreseeable future.

Oh, and because I know you're probably concerned, thanks to my "expert" surgical/laundromat skills, both Pooh and Froggy were awarded a Purple Heart for their brave sacrifice. They have made a full recovery and have returned to Sergeant Hayley's platoon.

Weekend Recovery

After a busy weekend we are slowly recovering and getting back into the swing (or swim) of things. Hayley spent Friday night at Nana and Papa's so Mommy and Daddy could participate in the community garage sale and unload the several boxes of "treasures" that we have been carting around since our college days. Brian and I had made a pact that whatever didn't sell would be donated and so we priced accordingly. We had a successful day and I'm greatly relieved to have rid ourselves of this excess baggage. Now we have room in the garage for all the new "rides" we seem to be quickly accumulating. Between the wagon, multiple strollers, and miscellaneous kid gear I'm beginning to think we should have built a four car garage.

On Sunday we decided to take a family trip out to Lido Key and let Hayley have some beach time. We live just minutes from the Gulf and don't take advantage of the beach nearly as often as we should as this is the first time Hayley has been to the beach since she could walk. It took us awhile to get across the bridge as the Sarasota Marathon was underway. I thought about the irony... last year at this time I had made it my goal to train for this year's half marathon. Looks like now I'll have an additional training partner to get my buns in gear for next year.

Unbeknownst to us, Hayley knew it was race day. I'm not quite sure why Brian and I thought that Hayley would be happy to just sit and play in the sand. Why on earth would ANYBODY (particularly Hayley) sit and relax on the beach when there are seagulls to chase, people to talk to, and lots of places to explore. Hayley ran for forty five minutes straight and only stopped because we couldn't take anymore beach bootcamp so we packed up and called it a morning. Due to the fact that Hayley can now outrun my waddle, I got to be on camera duty and Brian was the lucky recipient of Hayley's intense cardio workout.

Yesterday we resumed the ISR swim lessons that Hayley began last summer. She has retained a lot of the skills she learned last summer which is great, but let's just say that we've still got some challenges ahead of us. More on this to come.