Saturday, October 31, 2009

Haven is 5 weeks!

I got her to laugh yesterday! She was smiling and smiling and smiling at me and let out a little tiny laugh one time! I love it!! I, of course, cried my eyes out, lol, I think I have some delayed postpartum hormone thing going on or something!

Her spitting up seems to be getting better. She was averaging about 10-12 times a day, yesterday it was about 6 times and today only about 3!!!!!! I am also making more of a conscious effort to keep her upright as much as possible after feedings.

Her rash, however, looks a lot worse, especially on her back! The on-call doctor yesterday wasn't concerned about it but I will definitely bring her in if it gets any worse or spreads any more! I've completely stopped using fabric softener, so maybe that will help...

She is also just BARELY fitting in her size 1 diapers now! I have about 400 "1-2" diapers that are a bit bigger and go up to 15 pounds, but I think she will outgrow them before she goes through them all! I also had to adjust her carseat straps up today. She is a big girl!
:)

Happy Halloween!!

We celebrated mostly last weekend! We went to BooFest at the museum, went trick-or-treating, got pumpkins, and carved them! Venily has been soooo excited about trick-or-treating, but ended up being really shy that day. She has been pretty scared of Halloween decorations, but is starting to get a lot better and now sometimes she'll see something scary and say "I LIKE that guy!!". LOL! She also absolutely loved carving pumpkins! She loved taking out the seeds and "gooky stuff" (as she called it) and colored hers and her sister's pumpkins. She also LOVES eating pumpkin seeds! I can't believe that this is her THIRD Halloween already! Haven didn't get to trick-or-treat in her costume this year because the day we went was BEAUTIFUL outside and her costume would have been too hot! She had fun anyway and enjoyed being outside! I so look forward to all of her other "first" holidays!!!



Don't know if we'll be doing anything today!













Friday, October 30, 2009

Would love some answers soon...

Day 3 of my zero dairy diet is going fine. I am Exhausted and have have had a headache for the last 3 days straight, but I am not thinking that the 2 things are related. It's probably just chocolate withdrawals, lol, I can't even remember the last time I went a day without any!

Haven doesn't appear to be doing any better. She still has green, mucousy poop, still spitting up 10-12 times a day, still has pretty bad eczema that is all over her face, shoulders, and the top of her chest and back, and is running a 100 degree fever today so I am waiting on a call back from her pediatrician's nurse to see if I can go in and see a doctor today! She is doing great though! She doesn't ACT sick at all. I just desperately want someone to look at her, tell me exactly what is the matter and how to fix it, and then have the problem disappear (which I never got with Venily, so I'm pretty pessimistic about that!)!!!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

This is going to suck!

After limiting my dairy for a couple of days, I started noticing a definite improvement in Haven's spitting up. Well, stupidly I ate cheese pizza last night without even thinking about it, and Haven spit up so much last night, it wasn't even funny!

I spent much of last night researching (thanks to Jacki who got me thinking about it!) and I am going to have to eliminate ALL dairy from my diet for several weeks! :( I am without a doubt, POSITIVE that Haven is sensitive to cow's milk proteins. It all adds up- the vomiting, the eczema, the constant stuffy nose, and the what I am guessing must be infant diarrhea AND having a sibling who had all of the exact same symptoms who ended up having a dairy sensitivity! Fortunately none of these things bother her very much at all and (as you can see) are in no way affecting her growth, but I will feel SOOOO much better if by doing this, all those other things clear up!!! I will probably have to eliminate soy from my diet as well but I will see if it clears up without eliminating soy first.

We are already vegetarians, so this is going to KILL me!! Possibly literally! Jacki, you are going to have to tell me everything I'm aloud to eat so I don't starve to death, lol!!! At least Jason will be happy if we have to eat spaghetti every single night! And some of my vegetarian "meat" stuff is vegan and soy-free as well, so that's good.

From what I've read I may not have to eliminate ALL sources of dairy if she is only a little sensitive to dairy proteins, but at first I'm definitely going to have to! :(

I have a good feeling about this, as much as it's going to suck! When I think about ALL the times I went to the doctor with Venily in her first 18 months for all of these problems and now it just seems soooo obvious to me that they were all related! Hmmm.... guess I will be grocery shopping today! Hoping I have the determination and ability to keep this up, it is NOT going to be easy!

Monday, October 26, 2009

Both of my girls at 1 month!

Haven is 1 month old!!

(Pics taken today)





Fastest month that has gone by EVER!!! Oh my gosh!!

Here are her 1 month stats:

Weight: about 13 pounds (weighing her myself is hard though!)
Length: 23.5 inches
(If these are correct, she's still above the 95th percentile for both! BIG GIRL!)

Clothes size: Still wearing 3-6m clothes (thank goodness!) but they are JUST fitting her! She will be in 6-9m before I know it!

Diaper size: 1


She is still sleeping A LOT! Eating a lot also! :) I pumped for the first time a couple of days ago and got 4oz out of one side. I haven't tried a bottle yet because there really is no need to, but I will try it soon! Haven eats about every 2 hours still (though sometimes every hour) and about every 3 hours at night. She doesn't give me any problems at night, thankfully!, and eats and goes right back to sleep! Venily spent the night at her grandma's last night and Haven let me sleep for 12 hours! She's such a sweetheart! If only I could get Venily to sleep in in the mornings, I would be set!

Haven is officially a spitter-upper!! Every single day and night, several times a day, just like her big sister!! Even with all of my efforts to make it better, nothing works! I'm really hoping we can start her on some medication for reflux at her 2 month well-check (Dec 3rd)! Especially since it still bothers her to be on her back! I'm really hoping to make things better this time!

Unlike her sister, however, Haven LOVES baths!!! I'm so excited! I bathe them both together, it's so fun! I really feel like a mom of 2 when I do it, lol!

Haven is still very laid back and hardly ever cries. When she does, as soon as you pick her up she is happy again, so I feel VERY lucky! She is usually pretty happy and smiles A LOT, every day, especially in the mornings and in the middle of the night! I love it when I am nursing her and I start smiling and talking to her and she smiles back at me. First her eyes get happy and then she has to stop drinking so she can smile, lol! Nothing could make me happier!! :)

This past week she has started sucking on her knuckles and fingers when she is hungry! It's really cute! She acts like she has found something REALLY exciting when she gets it in her mouth, haha!

She also likes to grab onto anything within her reach. If she gets a hold of my hair, she hangs on for dear life! :) Venily loves when Haven holds onto one of her fingers!

I think Haven's temperature runs hot like her Daddy! I can't dress her very warmly at all or she'll get hot and sweaty and start running a fever. I had a hat on her the other day in the van and when I took it off her head was just drenched it sweat! I can't put blankets on her at night either. It's hard because I'm the exact opposite so I always want to bundle her up because I'm always cold and I can't.

I decided that I WANT ANOTHER BABY!!! Like BADLY!!! I smell Haven's delicious little head and kiss her soft little cheeks and look at her tiny little dimples when she smiles and hold her warm little body and listen to her little content breathing and I can't imagine this being the last time I get to do that (p.s. I'm totally crying right now, lol). I remember waiting for the doctor to come so that I could push Haven out and thinking "wow, this is the first time I actually feel like 2 is enough children for me." However, about 5 minutes after she was out I starting think "well, that wasn't so bad... maybe one more, lol!". I just wish I could convince Jason. He still says ABSOLUTELY NOT! :( He's really excited for the next stage, when they are both really independent and we can get out and do a lot with them...

I am trying to enjoy every ounce of Haven that I can in case she is my last baby, but it is just going too darn fast!




At one month postpartum I fell FANTASTIC, completely back to normal! I can't wait for my 6 week check-up so I can get the all-clear to start working out again! I would love to start going back to yoga too if I could get Haven to like that idea! (I'm probably going to wait until my sister is home on winter break to attempt that though!) I weighed myself again this morning while weighing Haven and am down to 122lbs. I don't know how to stop losing weight, I eat so much crap it's not even funny!

Here are my 1 month postpartum pics! I look pretty much back to normal except for the stupid Linea Negra that only is visible AFTER I give birth. It took a couple of months to get rid of it with Venily though...

Saturday, October 24, 2009

4 weeks today!

I will have Haven's 1 month update on Monday when she is officially 1 MONTH OLD!!

I have Venily's 2 year update mostly done! Hoping to finish it up soon...

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Venily- 2 Year Update!!

I'm 2 Years Old!!!

How big am I?


Weight: 25 lbs
Height: 35 inches
Shirt size: 18m/24m
Pant size: 18m (waist)/ 24m or 2T (length)
Shoe size: 7 or 8
Underwear size: 2T

What can I do?

Sing the A,B,C's
Count to 15 (and most of the way to 20)
Spell my name
Spell my sister's name
Tell you my phone #
Sing the 7 days of the week
Identify about 7 shapes
Identify all of my colors
Draw a circle and a straight line
"Write" my name and my sister's name (in scribbles)
Put on my own shoes, Pull up my own underwear and pants, Put on my own jacket (though sometimes backwards), Sometimes put on my own shirt
Take off most of my own clothes (which I LOVE to do and do often!)
Sing hundreds of different nursery rhymes and songs
Finally get to sleep on my own the last 2 months (for nap and at night)
Identify all body parts
Know and remembers everyone's names and talk about people even if I haven't seen them in months
Know all the animals and what sounds they make
Say any word, speaks clearly and speak in sentences. (though my l's still sound like w's)
Forward rolls, gallop, jump...
And lots more!! :)

My favorites:

Foods: pasta, any kind of fruit, cheese, eggs, corn, chocolate
People: Daddy, Haven, Mommy, other people in my family
Song: LOTS! Kid songs- "Happy Birthday", "Little Bunny Foo-Foo", Other songs- "Use Somebody" and still anything by Lady Gaga
Color: Blue
Book: (changes all the time) She really likes this lunch time book she has though and any new book that she gets
TV Show: I just started letting her watch Seseme Street last week in the mornings after not letting her watch cartoons so I can lay in bed a little bit longer, lol. I felt bad that she started to ask if she could watch "Conan O'Brien" or "Jay Leno", haha.
Character: Edward Scissorhands
Activities: drawing, painting, going for walks, cooking with Mommy, taking baths with Haven, anything outside, reading books
Toys: Her little kitchen, books, babies


Things I do NOT like

*Scary Halloween decorations
*Closed spaces (I just figured out that she's quite claustrophobic! She hates having her door closed too.)
*Getting my face washed
*Time outs!!
*Being in unfamiliar settings with lots of people I don't know
*The fact that Daddy has to go to work

Silly Venily Sayings


*"More Again". She wants to do everything "more again." Like "Mommy, eat lunch more again?"
*"All day (night) long".
*"All the time." The other day she even told me... "Mommy, I love you all the time!" :)
*"Venily likes tacos... Mmmm, Mmmm tacos!" (from one of her library classes) The name and item changes all the time! :)
*She also likes to say "Mommy, I miss you!" as she comes up to me and gives me a hug and kiss... even if I've been with her ALL day long, lol! I LOVE being loved! :)

Sleep

*I usually wake up around 6:30/7:00am
*I take a nap at around 12:00pm that lasts 1-2 hours
*I go to bed at 8:00pm (but still wake up usually at least once a night to pee on the potty and try to convince my parents to sing me more songs!)

Monday, October 19, 2009

My Smiley Girl! :)

Haven was SOOOO smiley this morning so I tried to get a picture! I wish I would have taken a video instead, but you can still kind of see it! Sometimes tears literally pour out of my eyes when she smiles, it melts my heart so much!!! It's so nice to see my love for her reciprocated!! ♥


Awwww, I love it!! She looks so cute and chunky, haha!!! :) And here is some of the first smiles I got on camera of Venily...

Venily's 2nd Birthday Party!!



Venily's party went great!! She had SOOOOOO much fun!!! And she was CRAZY the whole time, despite not having a nap! I was nervous she might be shy around so many people, but NOPE, she was her loud, silly, crazy self! ♥

Her grandma came over and made her castle cake that she has been talking about for WEEKS, and it turned out very nice! Venily loved seeing all of her family and friends and Haven liked being passed around from person to person, lol! Venily was very, very excited about opening all her presents as well! She got so much cool stuff and has been playing with it all last night and all day today!

And the bonus part about having a party at our house is that our whole basement got finished up!! Drywall is done and painted and our new railing is up! It looks more like an actual living area now, not just a basement! We still have a ways to go, but it definitely looks a lot better!!


Venily's 1st Haircut!!

Before...



During...



After...



THANKS AGAIN JACKI!!! :)

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Haven is 3 weeks old!!!

And social smiling as of 2 days ago!!!! :) She looks just like her sister did with her first smiles, exactly like a little Japanimation cartoon! It melts my heart like nothing else!!!! I got quite a few smiles yesterday... so, soooo, sooooooo precious!! I can't wait until she starts laughing, she's going to have so much fun laughing at her goofy sister!! ♥

This past week she is also in 3-6 month clothes now! :( She'll still fit in her onesies, but all of her 0-3m sleepers' legs are WAY too short, lol! She's all scrunched up in them and can't stretch her legs out! It's too bad because I had to pack up so much, a lot she hasn't even worn yet!

Haven has also decided this past week that laying on your back is NO fun!! It really bothers her, so I'm almost certain she has reflux! She doesn't like to sleep on her back, doesn't even like to be propped up like in her bouncer for very long, but put her on her stomach or sit her all the way up and she's the happiest girl in the world!! (Venily HATED being on her stomach!)

The other day I took Haven grocery shopping and it was quite the ordeal, lol! First of all, I went in the evening (which was a huge mistake b/c Haven likes to be held in the evenings!). As soon as I got there I fed her in the van and then we went in. She did NOT want to be in her carseat b/c she has to lay back, so she was very fussy (and just like her sister she is so not interested in pacifiers whatsoever!). I took her to the bathroom and changed her. Then I started to try to go shopping, nope, still fussy! So I went BACK in the bathroom and fed her again and thought she'd be good to go! NOPE! As soon as I started going, she was fussy again! So I held her with one hand and pushed the cart with the other THROUGH THE WHOLE STORE, lol! People thought it was funny, oh well! :) I had to kick the cart with my feet to get it to turn because it was so heavy. But she was happy, so that's all that matters! From now on I HAVE to remember to bring my baby carrier with me (she LOVES it!)!! As soon as I got all the groceries loaded in my van, I fed her again and she fell asleep and we went home! I was lucky I didn't have Venily with me as well!

She is starting to get some eczema on her face. I am trying to lotion her up now before it gets as bad as Venily's did!

I think that's all for updates! :) She really is a very easy baby, even easier than Venily was!!! She eats and sleeps great and doesn't even mind diaper changes, clothes changes or her nasal aspirator! I really thought having 2 would be SOOO much harder, but it's really not too bad at all!



Still haven't gotten around to Venily's 2 year update!!! I've been really busy getting my house and everything ready for Venily's birthday party tomorrow! There is going to be a LOT of people in my small house, lol, I hope it turns out alright!! She's really excited though and asks every day if it's her birthday party yet!! :)

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

We have a new member of our family!

Welcome Edward!! (As in Edward Scissorhands, Venily's FAVORITE person in the world! Jason even wants to be Edward Scissorhands for Halloween, lol! She's obsessed with him! lol)
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Daddy had to work late yesterday, so we are going to celebrate Venily's birthday by going somewhere very fun a different day (hopefully a WARMER day!), but we were able to get her her first fish for her aquarium, and she was VERY excited about that! We had a whole bunch of cool fish picked out, including a shark, but then we realized that we knew NOTHING about fish, lol! I guess you need the tank set up at least 72 hours before you put fish in... and the fish we wanted needed a water heater... so there was a VERY strong possibility that if we had brought those fish home yesterday they would all have been dead by morning! So we went with a Betta since they are almost impossible to kill and live for so long! We plan on getting some more friends for Edward at a different time so he's not so lonely! Venily has checked on him already a million times today and loves watching him swim around!!!