A Special Sense of Style

Buying Hailey’s clothes is probably my #1 favorite activity and I spend a lot of time doing it. I take it very seriously – especially since her clothes get handed down to my niece Rowan, then back for Aubrey, and I have a feeling that my sisters new baby is going to be a girl who will get to wear some of them too. (I don’t think she will wear all, because being 4th in line, she just may need to get some new stuff. Toddler girls can be tough on clothes too.)

However, Hailey could care less about her clothes. She only wants to wear dresses, her gymnastics/dance clothes, or nothing at all. Most mornings are a war over what she is going to wear, and she is in complete disarray by the time I pick her up. Last week I picked her up from Mrs. Jen’s to go to gymnastics and she had on her pastel pink velvet leotard, bright pink yoga pants, red socks, black and white polka dot shoes, and he blue Cinderella fleece jacket. Not to mention she took her ponytail out, so her hair was everywhere and looked as if it hadn’t been combed in a week. To make matters worse, I had to take her to Target dressed like that because we needed to get formula.

This weekend one of our neighbors gave Hailey a bunch of Hawaiian print muu-muu’s to wear. She wants to wear them everywhere. She put this get up together while we were cleaning the house.

Notice the Hawaiian dress on backwards under all the bag lady gear. Shortly after I took this picture she got her shopping cart out and loaded it up with some stuffed animals to take for a walk. Later that night she insisted on wearing one of the baby’s blanket sleepers (size 3 months) to bed. She managed to get her arms and feet in but couldn’t move. She wanted Jon to carry her up to her bed like that so she could go to sleep. We took a picture but it is borderline –not – appropriate- for the internet, but good blackmail for the teenage years.

Every once in awhile I win the fight. Here are my girls looking cute and happy and Hailey’s hair is even under control! I got her to wear jeans (she HATES jeans) by telling her she could wear her tap shoes to school. They aren't tap shoes, but she doesn't need to know that.

grass

Why?

That is all that kept going through my head…why why why why why?

When we bought our house 2 ½ years ago we knew that the trim on the outside needed to be painted. We even bought the paint to do it, but it has never been done. For some reason that is beyond my comprehension, Jon decided that the PERFECT time for this project was the weekend before I started back to work. (Beacause I wasn't stressed at all that weekend)

He convinced me that renting this machine was going to save him a bunch of time. This way he wouldn’t have to climb up and down the ladder and move it all the time. I even justified the $200 rental fee - It seemed to make sense, until it took him 2 hours to pick it up from the rental place and an additional 2 hours to get ready to use it. He was so excited to use it – which is great because he spent all weekend outside and still didn’t even manage to get the whole project finished.

We are now paying some friend of our neighbor’s to finish painting our house.

But, the house painting project wasn’t enough torture for one week. Jon had a bunch of Use-or –Lose Leave to use in September, so he was off the first two days of the week I went back to work. It was nice to have him home just in case one of the girls didn’t adjust to going to Mrs. Jen’s, or if we needed him for some other unforeseen emergency.

He decided to use his time off to work on his never ending lawn project. I think he is obsessed with the grass, and I have a list of issues directly related to his obsession with grass. I think if he could get away with it, he would sit outside and watch it grow. Because he can’t do that, he decided to plant some in this play-doh container and watch that instead. He was taking a picture of it everyday, but I threatened him, so he stopped. Now he just reads about growing grass, waters the grass, measures how much he is watering the grass, observes how all our neighbors are growing their grass, and talks to me about grass constantly. Oh, and moves his Play-doh container from window to window in our house trying to keep it from Hailey inqusitive little fingers.

We have one particular neighbor who has beautiful grass and he desperately wants to know what this guy does. As we were driving into our subdivision last night we drove by their house and he said, “I KNOW what it is now! He has a WOMAN who is helping him!” The wife was outside watering. I told him that maybe he should go try and find himself a woman to help him.


His projects and his obsession with his projects makes me crazy, but then there are moments like this that remind me how great he is. Not just any daddy knows the names of all the Disney Princesses and all of Strawberry Shortcake’s friends.

Back To Work

Monday was my first day back at work- and I dreaded it. All who know me know that working is an essential part of me – I haven’t ever not worked, with the exception of the seven months during our move from Idaho to Florida to Virginia. I enjoy working, I like my job and like being good at my job. I also truly believe that I am a better mother when I spend some time away from Hailey. When I had Hailey I was ready to go back to work around 10 weeks, and didn’t think twice about the decision.

That has not been the case this time, and I struggled with the decision to return. Jon and I are definitely in a position financially that would make it possible for me to stay home and for the first time that thought appeals to me. However, I have an excellent job and am not sure that I am ready to give it up. We don’t know when we will move again or where we will move to; therefore I don’t know if it will be possible for me to work when we move. Not knowing what the future holds makes me think twice about giving up the really great position I have right now. On the other hand, I really enjoy being home with our girls, and don’t want to miss any moment of this time. I will never get it back, and there will most likely be other jobs.

I know myself well enough that I know I needed to go back to work and experience our new reality before making a decision. Our babysitter, Mrs Jen is fabulous and loves Hailey and Aubrey. I know they are well cared for and happy, and that has made this transition bearable. My wonderfully understanding boss has agreed to letting me work a 36 hour work week which enables me to be done working at 4PM on Monday thru Thursday and still work my half day on Friday. That extra hour with the girls gives me time to spend playing with them, rather than rushing home with just enough time to feed them, bathe them, and get them in bed. This is only the third day, and yesterday was really tough, so I don’t think I can say how I feel about it yet.

Yes, Your Baby's Head is Shaped Funny

At Aubrey's 2 month check up, the doctor pointed out that she favors one side of her head and told us to start encouraging her to look to the other side. So we did, and she is getting much better about turning both ways. As I spent more and more time worrying about if my baby was turning her head both ways, I noticed that her head was kind of lopsided, but didn't really think too much about it.

Then I took this picture, which is quite alarming.

For a couple days I told myself that it was just the way she was laying. Then I mentioned it to Jon and he agreed that from certain angles her head is shaped kind of funny. Of course, I researched it on the internet - which I know can be dangerous - but after some reading I decided I wanted to go back to the doctor to get their opinion.

So today I was that crazy mom who takes her baby to the doctor for random reasons. It was, of course, a different pediatrician than the one we saw at her 2 month check -up. Fortunately the doctor didn't look at me like I was crazy and automatically disregard my concerns. I really liked her and she spent a lot of time with the baby and talking to me. Basically what she said is exactly what I titled this entry - Yes, your baby's head is shaped funny. She did say that her neck movement is good, but that the side she favors is the side that is not as flat - and it should be that the side she favors is the flatter side. If the flat side was the side she tends to lay on it would explain it, but its the exact opposite. She checked all the points in her head where the skull fuses together and she said that they all appear to be open ( this is good they should still be open). She wants to wait and see what happens between now and her 4 month check-up, which is in about 5-6 weeks. Her head will grow between now and then and it will either be more noticeable or start to correct itself. Depending on what happens, she will decide from there.

If there is a problem it will be fixable, but it will be a lengthy process. The first steps will be xrays and cat scans of Aubrey's head to check the points in her skull. Obviously we don't want to put her through that, so lets all hope it turns out to be nothing!

Updates and Pictures

For once, I really don't have any major events to write about, so here are some cute pictures and updates.

Aubrey and Hailey trying out the crib

After my dad and Judy left I decided that Haileys days of sleeping wherever she wanted to were over. We bought this weird lock that makes it so she can't open her door but it isn't closed all the way either. My sleep book said that it is what we would need because we can't physically keep her in her room. The book also said that children who were previously sleep trained and just going through a rough patch would generally only need one night with the lock and then they would stay in their beds so that the lock wouldn't need to be used. I sincerely doubted it would only be one night - Hailey is a very persistent child.

But, once again I was wrong and that book was right. She screamed her head off for about 10 minutes and then I calmed her down and she went to sleep. She got up one more time and yelled again, but I calmed her down and she went to sleep. Since then she has gone to bed every night and stayed there for the most part - we found her in the chair in the loft several times and just last night I found her on the couch, but she doesn't remember it in the morning and goes back to bed without a fight. She is getting more creative though - last night she got up when Jon got home from work ( it was late ) and told him there was a fly in her room and he needed to get it. For some reason she is terrified of flies, but thinks bees, snakes, ghosts, monsters etc are all fascinating.

The same night that we locked Hailey in her room was Aubrey's first night in her crib. She does pretty well in her crib - she generally goes to sleep between 7 -9 every night and will get up around 2 and then at 5 am. The 5 am wake-up is annoying because she isn't hungry - she is just done sleeping on her own and wants someone to hold her. It won't be so bad next week when I go back to work because I have to get up at that time anyway :(

This is a Flamingo Stand - she learned this at gymnastics

Hailey loves football. She will sit and watch a whole game and actually asks to watch "Penn Stake" when we ask her what show she wants to watch. Grandpa got her the jammies she is wearing in the pictures above and she wants to wear them every night now.

Aubrey doing tummy time

Aubrey is not a fan of tummy time, but the doctor said we have to do it to help her start turning her head the way that she doesn't like to. We have another doctor appointment tomorrow about that - so more on that later.

Aubrey is having a fit and trying to smother herself and Hailey is pretending that her feelings are hurt because I took a picture of Aubrey without her in it. Her face is so cute though, I had to share it!

Grandpa and Grandma Judy's visit

Yay! My dad came to visit us!

My dad is not a traveller - he visited us once the first time we lived in Panama City, and now five years or so later, her is visiting again. Needless to say, we were very excited for the visit, and we had a busy 5 days. Here is what we did:

- Went to the fountain and Five Guys: Hailey showed them all her antics in the fountain, and my dad loved Five Guys as much as Hailey does. It was Saturday, so their was a band at the fountain, a face painter and some random guy juggling. They got the whole experience - including Hailey trying to stop the water with her little butt.

-Buckroe Beach: Judy's oldest son drove down from Washington DC with his wife Nikki. They wanted to go to Virginia Beach, but the Rockn Roll Half Marathon was that weekend. 20,000 people run that race, so we didn't attempt to deal with that and took them to Buckroe Beach in Hampton. It was perfect weather and I think everyone had a nice time.

- Busch Gardens - andsaw Herman's Hermits in concert: I had no idea who Herman's Hermits were, but Dad and Judy were super excited and it we all had a lot of fun. Hailey loves music and dancing, so she thought it was great, and Aubrey slept.

Jon, Hailey and Aubrey enjoying Herman's Hermits

-The next day they went to see Avatar and then babysat the girls so we could go see Inception: Jon and I haven't been to a movie together (unless you count Toy Story 3) since before we had Hailey. He really wanted to see this movie, and I only freaked out for about an hour. The movie was fantastic and my girls were extremely well cared for and spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa.

-Tuesday was Haileys first day of school: It was great that they got to share this big day with us! They were able to go in her school and meet her teacher. I love when we get to share momentous occasions with our family

One fake first day of school smile:)

After she got done with school we went to Williamsburg and visited the Harley store, the outlets, and the gigantic Yankee Candle Store.

- Wednesday brought a visit to Virginia Beach and another Harley Store where my dad got a Harley T - shirt that has fighter jets on it! ( they are F14s, but still jets, so its cool. He almost didn't buy it because he felt he was betraying Jon, but I assured him it was fine) That evening after we picked Jon up from work we went to another Harley store - the biggest one in our area and then to dinner.

- On Thursday they left, but not before we took them to "the biggest McDonalds ever". Its not really, but Hailey thinks it is. We were all very sad to see them go :(

If you haven't figured it out yet, my dad is a Harley guy. He had a Harley when we were little, but he sold it along the way. He recently purchased another one and he loves it. Jon and I try to get a Harley T-shirt for him on all of our travels, and he truly cherishes them.

My dad is quite the character, too. He loves his grandchildren ( Hailey is #4 and Aubrey is #6 of 6, although #7 is currently baking) and he taught Hailey all kinds of fun things during their stay. Her favorite new game is The potato chip bag game - she puts her hand in the bag to get a chip and he clasps the bag around her arm. She laughed hysterically every time, not to mention she got to eat a pretty much unlimited amount of chips.

The potato chip bag game combined with "where is the clip?!"

She was also a big fan of eating cookies for breakfast - which is my dad's breakfast of choice. My dad, who HATES playing board games, played numerous games of Princess memory and Preschool lotto, not to mention pushed Hailey on her swing just about every time she asked. Grandma Judy was also playing all these games and taking her turns at pushing on the swing, on top of snuggling the baby and helping with Hailey on all of our adventures.

My Not-So-Big Daughters

On September 1st Aubrey was 8 weeks old and we had her 2-month check up. Hailey needed a physical for school and I was extremely lucky and able to get TWO appointments in Pediatrics back to back.

Aubrey's appointment went great. She smiled and cooed at the doctor and showed him her happy personality. She weighed 8lbs 15 oz and was 21 inches long. We talked about her spitting up through her nose and how much she hates that, and he suggested trying the formula that has the rice starch in it - because it is thicker and helps with spitting up. He said that there isn't any real reason to have her on soy - which I was really happy about because soy formula really smells and the spit up is even worse. He noticed that Aubrey favors turning her head to the right and instructed us to start encouraging her to work on turning the other way. She can turn her head the other way and I knew that she preferred looking right but it did not occur to me that it could become a problem, so I was happy he pointed it out and now we are aware of it and she is doing better.

Aubrey is still eating every 3 hours and up several times during the night. At 8 weeks she is the size of some newborns, so I think it might be because she just isn't that big. I looked to see how much Hailey weighed at 8 weeks and she was 10lbs 8 oz - which is a significant difference. In the week since her appointment Aubrey has been eating more at each feeding - so maybe someday she might sleep more than 3 hours at a time.

Hailey wanted nothing to do with the doctor. We told her she had to go to the doctor to make sure she is big enough to go to school. She really wants to go to school, so she agreed but then was not cooperative when we got her there. Thankfully, the pediatrician was great and coerced her into doing what she needed to do. She weighs 28lbs and is exactly 3 ft tall - which puts her in the 9th percentile for height and 13th for weight...Jon asked if I think she might have a growth spurt ever. I was always a very small child so I am not surprised at her size - my sister claims that everyone thought I was a midget. I never had a huge growth spurt but I am 5'3" now, and that is a normal height. Besides, Hailey is going to be an Olympic gymnast, so she doesn't need to be tall!