Elizabeth's first chocolate

My favorite moment of the day. 

Can we just check out how much chocolate was on that paper towel?!  Mom and I are still trying to figure out how it went down. I think maybe granny gave her one of the squares of chocolate from her trader joes pound plus chocolate bar. There was still a square sitting on the table too. If so, I'm just glad she didn't choke because they're huge. Maybe Elizabeth just sucked at it? Or gnawed at it with her little teeth? Who knows... It was covering it face and hands and her pjs too. ; )  I just kept thinking how nice it was for granny to share. She's seemed to take a special liking to Elizabeth this visit. They played for at least 30 minutes in my room this morning while mom was showering. And granny even cleaned up all of Abigail and Brady's toys into the Lincoln log container so that Elizabeth "could have a place to play" on the fireplace. Elizabeth doesn't move or play yet but it was such a nice gesture. 

We call them "Elizabeth squared."  They make a good pair. 

To the farm!

It's 2am, so naturally, I just needed to throw up a few pictures. We made it to the farm! And technically, today is granny's birthday!!!  I can't wait to celebrate. She told me tonight she didn't expect to live this long. Ha, I don't think many of us do! I hope she enjoys the day and the festivities. She deserves it. 

Today, we woke up, packed the car, came to the farm, hung out a bit, ran errands (mom and I), played outside (dad and the kids), and then got everyone to bed as they came. We've got a full house here tonight! 

Brady, constantly sports. 

Her most preferred sleeping position. 

The third row crew. Abigail worked on her journaling and school work. 

The front two rows. 

Granny's safe headrest. ; ) And Elizabeth's loving gaze. 

They love this bike. 

Abigail has been in heaven with all my old barbies. Also, she likes when we watch her play. And luckily, Elizabeth provides a happy audience. 

I walked out to this. It made my heart so happy. 

Honey spent the night at the Rockies game with his brothers. 

Mom and I got all the stuff on dad's list. We call him grandfather Christmas. My favorite quote from him this trip was about how he's the grandpa and his job is to say "YES! And would you like ice cream with that?!"  Haha. I love it. Mom and I were basically just his little elves. 

Meanwhile, at the North Pole... 

They love the cousin babes. 

It was adorable. 

These little twins were so excited to match. 

Those thighs. I texted this picture to honey. He told me I should just go ahead and take a bite. We call that crime. Honey loves taking a bite out of crime. I told him it was pretty tempting. I'm missing that guy tonight. 

I was so insanely exhausted this morning. Like my body was making up for how awake I was yesterday. So this morning I woke up feeling drugged. Crossing my fingers I won't feels that way tomorrow.  But seriously, this is her favorite sleep position. That left hand is always tucked under her back like that, head to the right. I love her so much. 

In Atlanta! And Elizabeth update...

We made it! I'm so excited to finally be here! 

And to have my first flyingwiththreekidsbymyself trip under my belt. Happily, all went super well and it was almost exactly like flying with two kids. Because Elizabeth... Still practically a pet rock. 

And it's 2am, my pretty standard atlanta bedtime, so I should be off to sleep. 

Oh, but I do need to mention... Elizabeth is going on 72 hours or so of no swaddle! We had to take a break because of teething avs I just didn't think it was the right time... But then I just felt like she was ready for it on Monday and she's done really well. I'm so proud of that little girl. 

And she went to sleep in the pack n play tonight with minimal fussing!  Woohoo! Now if we can just get her roseola rash to go away and get that other top tooth to finish coming in, we'll be good as gold! 

Elizabeth and roseola

Elizabeth had this out of the blue fever this weekend. I realized this morning that I never even checked it with a thermometer so I don't know how high it was, but she was HOT. And fussy. We didn't go to church on Sunday (it was cancelled except for sacrament meeting because of the snow) and, with time, she's become less sensitive and more her usual self. Still a lot more fussy than usual, but not crying like she was Saturday night. 

Last night I was trying clothes on her to decide what to pack (because it's gonna be 90* in Georgia and we haven't gotten out summer clothes here yet) and noticed a rash on her belly. I checked the inside of we clothes and concluded that it must be from the inside stitching on this purple floral top so I decided not to pack that and eventually put her pjs on her. 

This morning, I hadn't even undressed we to change her diaper... I just knew. Her rash was visible on her neck and even her face looked lacy and splotchy. Awesome. 

I thought it was maybe roeola and a quick google search confirmed it. 

What would we do without google?! Bad news, this girl is super fussy and I'm supposed to fly to atlanta today with all three kids by myself for the first time. Good news, she's not contagious. 

Anyway, wish me luck. It's always an adventure! 

Privilege

I don't know what it is, but Elizabeth has a fever and you can tell she's just really struggling. She is completely not herself at all. I went to Susan's annual chocolate social tonight and Christopher was texting me Elizabeth updates. It was killing me to hear that she was having a hard time and it made me want to just drop everything and run home to her. With a difficult baby, I would have felt lucky to have been away on a difficult night, but with Elizabeth, I just wanted to be with her. 

I finally did make it to her, around 11. After staying late at the party, driving super slow on the snowy roads, and then having to shovel my car out (multiple times... I think it took twenty minutes) on my driveway because it kept getting stuck. But I found her, cuddled up and sleeping in Christopher's arms in our bed. It was adorable. I wanted to take a picture but didn't want to startle her awake with the flash so I just picked her up as gently as I could. 

I took her upstairs. Her legs were crazy hot. I undid all of her and let her stretch and cool off before getting her swaddles and everything again. She was calm and sucking on her binky. No smiles or coos. It was almost eerie. I nursed her in he glider and she ate okay for a bit and it just felt so right. Holding her and comforting her. Her poor feverishly burning hot cheek against my chest. But then she started biting me. Like just clenching her teeth down. The first several times I was able to just gently ease my pinky in her mouth to loosen her grip. By the fifth or sixth time, she was getting upset by it and crying. Like actual crying. Which is very unusual for her unless she's hurt. Eventually I gave up on that side and offered her the other. It was like she only wanted to suck ever so slightly so that she didn't have to actually eat. And then she did the biting thing several more times. I put her binky in her hand and she immediately put it in her mouth and closed her eyes. I watched as she semi dozed off and then put her up on my shoulder so she could burp and I think she was still asleep. And then over and over in my head, the thought kept coming to me... "This is such a privledge.  This is such a privledge to take care of her." 

My whole time with her was maybe half an hour, but it was perfect. I know she feels horrible and you can tell she's really struggling and feeling awful, but for me, as her mother, it was one of those amazing and incredible experiences that you just want to bottle up and relive over and over again. 

She is perfection. I love her so much I can't even handle it. She is so slow to ever raise a fuss and her spirit is just so sweet and tender. I always feel so blessed to be her mother and to experience a baby like this, but tonight. Tonight was just extra. To be able to take care of her and hold her and offer comfort to her listless little self. 

It was such a privledge. I am so blessed. 

Thursday

I got Abigail to school on time! Woohoo! 

Brady fell asleep when I was putting Elizabeth down for nap so I got two hours of silent time to just read and think. I like that I can't really be too productive during that time so I feel less guilty about just sitting. 

After we got Abigail from school, we ran home for a few minutes to get snacks and change clothes and then head to the park with friends from Abigail's class. We played til two and the weather was great. 

The kids played outside for a bit and then Presley came over at 2:30 and the kids played inside while I out Elizabeth down at 3. But the kids were playing so great that I just stayed upstairs and sat some more. I love that quiet time in the guest room. If it had its own bathroom I'd be tempted to make it the new master. It's such a great room. 

The kids watched some magic school bus while I put away laundry and didn't make dinner and then they all cleaned up and went outside to play when honey got home and I got Elizabeth up and we joined them. It's a little bit windy, but this little moment we're enjoying in our camp chair is totally worth it. 

Going all day

As usual, honey was gone before any of the rest of us even woke up. 

Becky came over and picked up a shop vac. Because we have two... both free... Never been used by us. So now I only have one more shop vac to give away. ; ) 

I already had both kids buckled in the car when she got here so we left as soon as she was gone. I picked up a few things at Walmart. Mainly diapers (ibotta had &5 off Luvs), milk (we had less than two gallons left), and produce (we were almost all out). We were in and out pretty quick by my standards and had plenty of time to drop off the groceries and be early to get Abigail. 

I made the kids a picnic lunch that they ate in the front yard... pbj, grapes, and Pringles... and they rode their bikes and played. Emma came over to play. She's the neighbor in Abigail's class at school. I have mixed feelings about that friendship and as always, feel uneasy about Abigail spending so much time with a friend. They played for several hours. Outside, inside our house, inside Emma's house, rinse and repeat. Brady loves riding on the john deer gator we inherited from Chris's parents. Poor Elizabeth didn't get a morning nap because we were at Walmart and then she got woken up at 3 from all the loud playing inside. So between 8:30am and 8:30pm, she only got a short two hour nap. And her other top tooth is finally breaking skin (yesterday and today) and I know she's in pain from it. She's such a trooper. 

I vacuumed the whole house (minus the far reaches of the dining room, office, and guest room... If our vacuum cord was just a few feet longer...) and did all the dishes, cleaned all the kitchen counters and table, swept and mopped the kitchen, finally put away the remaining laundry on the guest room bed, and picked up the whole house. And remember, I went grocery shopping too. and even got dressed and did my hair and makeup and read while I sat outside and watched the kids play. When I type it up, I can see that I really was going nonstop and I don't feel so bad that I'm so exhausted right now. 

Kids are so much work. 

I'm an unrelated note (except that it's constantly on my mind)... The kids and I are going to atlanta a week from tomorrow!!!!!  I am soooo excited. This weekend I can start working on my list of stuff I have to do before I leave town and probably lay out clothes and stuff for the kids. Also, I need to make a concentrated effort to get a lot of sleep this week since that's always a struggle anytime I'm in Georgia. Twelve glorious days... It's gonna be amazing. Just gotta keep myself productive until then. 

Also, the weather today was so wonderful. Super hot, then cloudy and cool, then hot, then raining, then cloudy again and raining again. Spring has arrived. ; ) 

Weaning Elizabeth from the swaddle

4.1.15

There comes a time in every babe's life that they need to be weaned from their swaddle. For Elizabeth, that time came earlier this week. I searched the internets and my own blog for tips. I was surprised at how little I could find on my old posts. I remember the process of weaning Abigail from the swaddle but not how long it took or how it affected her sleep. I was really disappointed not to be able to reference that. My 2010 self didn't help my 2016 self like I'd hoped. So, here's my 2016 self hoping to help out my hopefully 2018 and 2020 self. 

Elizabeth sleeps really well swaddled. She just turned ten months earlier this week and I couldn't believe how time flew and also how she barely rolled over while swaddled. She would occasionally roll over swaddled after a nap, but it wasn't a bit deal. Then in a matter of days, she started doing a lot of rolling over in her swaddle while she was trying to fall asleep. 

So Wednesday afternoon, honey had come home early from work and I decided to try Elizabeth napping with one arm out. Honey and the kids went to the basement to play and hang out so I could focus on Elizabeth and watch the monitor and listen for her. 

I spent over an hour periodically going into help her (she didn't cry or scream but would either roll over and get stuck, break out of the swaddle, or just start to yell and fuss). I mainly tried leaving her right arm out and trying to just loosely swaddle both arms in.  Eventually, it was getting late enough that I was worried it would push back her nighttime sleep, so I swaddled both of her arms snugly as usual, gave her a binky (to help her fall asleep super fast and because she was overtired at this point) and watched her on the monitor to make sure she fell asleep on her back. 

When I put her down for bed that night, I did the one arm out again, but left out her left arm (because she is already very right hand dominant) and hoped that would make a difference. I sat in the glider in her room (because I enjoy listening to her fall asleep)... She never fussed, and it took less than ten or twenty minutes for her to fall asleep. So then I peeked at her before I left the room. Umm, she'd falled asleep on her belly. Dangit. I was never worried about Abigail suffocating because she had the unswaddle skills of a tiny Houdini and I never worried about Brady because he was freaking loud so I knew I would hear him. But Elizabeth is quiet and gentle and still hard to hear. Also, she will struggle for a long time before ever making a fuss. And she's physically at about the level of a five month old. So I didn't have a lot of trust that she could keep herself safely away from her crib bumpers and suffocating her face in the mattress. 

So I quickly and quietly and gently turned her into her back and snuck out. I watched on the monitor when I got downstairs and she seemed to be sleeping but then awake for a couple of minutes and then back asleep. Success. She slept all night (I think. My short term memory is horrible) and was fine in the morning. 

Thursday, she didn't get a morning nap because I had to get milk at Walmart , but she napped for a few hours in the early afternoon and did fine with her left arm out. I was nervous about leaving her with a sitter that night but gave him pretty good instructions. He said she only slept for less than an hour (definitely shorter than usual). I didn't ask for details of if he gave her time to settle back down or if he just got her up or if she'd rolled over or anything. 

She was still awake when we got home at 11. I put her to bed around 11:30, left arm out, and she did great and slept all night. Morning nap on Friday was great. She fell asleep quickly and easily, on her back, and slept for over 3 hours.  The best part is that during her awake time before and after sleep, she's staying on her back and not trying to be very mobile. Ideally, I would give this a few more days so she could get really used to the one arm out before we moved to two arms out, but I think I'm gonna be trying two arms out tonight so that I'll have the whole weekend with honey home that I can have the time and focus to work with and monitor Elizabeth. Hopefully by Monday, Elizabeth will be a champion swaddle less sleeper. Thankfully, so far, her sleep hasn't been affected (except for that short nap Thursday night with Parker, but that could have just been a result of her nap schedule being off that day) for naps or nighttime and hopefully that will continue. Also happy that her crib awake time hasn't been affected either. She's still happy to hang out forever until I come get her. 

Crossing my fingers that this weekend goes well... And hopefully I'll remember  to update things as I go. 

Saturday, Elizabeth did well with two arms out. I altered her nap times to fit out conference schedule better. I had her awake from 10-12 while we watched and then put her down after the first session ended. She fell asleep pretty quickly and slept for a good amount of time. Her later nap took a lot longer and involved fussing and a toy and a binky but eventually she fell asleep... At 5:30. I thought I'd wake her up in a bit to eat and whatever before going down for the night... But I got lazy so I didn't. She ended up sleeping until 1am (that's kinda what I was hoping/expecting her to do when Parker babysat on Thursday night)... I fed her, and even though she was super awake and playful, she put herself back to sleep quickly and easily (no binky) and didn't wake up til 6:30 or so. Expected because it had been 13 hours of sleep for her, but I don't get up with my kids before 7, so I fed her and our her to sleep again. She did great... Back to sleep quickly and easily. I was feeling pretty confident about things, but when I put her down for her nap at 12:30 after the first session of conference, she wasn't having it. I don't know if it was because she was overtired  from being awake so long or if she knew what was coming and decided to go ahead and fuss instead of waiting patiently and then falling asleep, but she was noisy and flipping on her belly and just not happy about it. Eventually I gave her a binky and eventually she fell asleep (on her belly). She let out one cry at the 45 minute mark and immediately fell back asleep (not sure that she was actually even awake). But she woke up again a little while later while I was in the shower. Honey gave her a binky and she fell back asleep but then woke up again 20 minutes or so later again so I just got her up. 

Putting her down for her nap after second session wasn't good at all. She wasn't as tired and she was fussing immediately when I left the room. She even quickly worked herself into a hard cry (which she really only does if she's hurt) so I went back and comforted her. I sat in the glider, wondering if it would help her to have me in the room. She alternated between fussing, giggling, and just looking at me (on her belly, looking over the crib bumper). There was a lot of fussing though. Eventually I gave her a binky and then eventually again (riiiiight when I was about to get her out because it was getting so late), she fell asleep (on her belly). It was 5:45 by that point. I let her sleep a little while and then got her up. I fed her for a while in the kitchen and took her upstairs for bed, but because of how the two naps went, I felt like maybe I should back off a bit so I just swaddled one arm and left her left arm out. There was no fussing or crying, lots of giggling, no binky necessary, and she fell asleep within ten minutes... On her belly. So, we'll see how tonight goes. With both arms out, she did well yesterday and pretty bad today. We're not on a deadline so we'll play it slow this week and see how things go. She's always been so easy going that I try to be accommodating of things that are hard for her because it's not like she complains about much. Also, she likes her crib and she likes sleep and it's really important to me that she has good connotations concerning those things. 

So, there's the latest. Hopefully I'll be back soon for more updates. 

The newsies

Thursday morning was taking Abigail to school, taking Brady and Elizabeth with me to Walmart for groceries (I remember now why I don't go grocery shopping with kids... I have no where to put any groceries!), putting Elizabeth down for a nap and having Brady fall asleep at the same time. Luckily LaResa was able to bring Abigail home from school for me. She's so wonderful. Bonus, Abigail and I got some quiet one on one time together. 

Brady ended up sleeping for over three hours. That's definitely his longest nap since he quit his crib last June. He woke up fine instead of super grumpy so that was nice. 

The afternoon was those kids playing while I kept Elizabeth awake and tried to get everything ready for the babysitter. It is a full day process getting everything ready for a babysitter. Annoying but necessary. Parker came over at 5:50 and I still looked the exact same as I did at 9 am. Ugh, so much for getting ready for our date. I threw on a sweater and did minimal makeup in the car on the way to picking up our friends. 

The night was so much fun. So so sooo much fun. We went to see the newsies downtown at the buell and it was really good. I didn't know the story line or most of the songs so it was extra fun to experience it for the first time. I love seeing things at our Parker theater but the buell is just a little more professional. ; ) it was fantastic. Also, our friends were so much fun to hang out with. That couple where all four of us get along great and conversation is never lacking. We've wanted to get together with them for the longest time so this was just great. 

Also, we got home and our babysitter said the kids did great. Elizabeth was awake almost the whole time and Brady had a hard time falling asleep (because of his nap), but all was well. And I laughed out loud that Parker obliged the kids on their request for Christmas music. ; ) 

It was great.