soggy soggy girl.

anyone know the cure for a baby that spits up a lot all the time?

harper is constantly soggy with spit up. she goes through several outfits, bibs, blankets and burp cloths a day. i don't hold her as often as i would like to because she will inevitably spit up all over me. even 2 hours after she eats, she'll spit up.

help, pleeeeease.

christmas book advent.

i wanted to do a christmas book advent last year with serena, but we only had a very few christmas picture books. i've decided to start collecting now, so we'll have 24 to read before this christmas {seriously, i'm already planning christmas 2011! what!?}. here's what we have so far:

christmas in the manger
who is coming to our house?
the night before christmas {illustrated by douglas gorsline}
stopping by woods on a snowy evening {illustrated by susan jeffers}
christmas is here
how murray saved christmas
snow
snowmen at night
wake up, santa claus!
how the grinch stole christmas
i'll be home for christmas {toot & puddle}
a wish to be a christmas tree
the twelve days of christmas {jan brett}
the wild christmas reindeer
silent night, holy night

we still need 10 more. {we read how murray saved christmas AND the night before christmas on christmas eve.} any suggestions?

you know you love someone when.

you'll catch their vomit in your bare hands.

and you aren't upset when they throw up all over the carpet.
and all of their bedding.
and your neck & shoulder.
and the 3rd outfit you've changed them into.
and every towel in the house.
and the 3rd outfit you've changed yourself into.

{the joys of being a parent.}

some moments that make it all worth it:

looking back at her in the car to find her hugging and kissing her kitty very passionately.

how she mimicks my phone when it goes off. "droid."

the way she sings along to "all the single ladies". just the "oh oh oh, oh oh oh, oh oh oh, oh oh oh" part :)

the porcelain god.

yesterday serena sacrificed my cell phone to the porcelain god. i was not happy. {don't try to text/call me until tomorrow... i hope to have a new phone by then.}

and

last night i was up until 4:30 a.m. praying to the very same porcelain god, thanks to a mean case of food poisoning. it's really a shame to throw up a $30.00 meal from rodizio.

that's been my last 24 hours.

thoughts and feelings about baby no. 2.

1. we are both ecstatic! i called sean at work to tell him the second after the test came back positive. we were both so giddy! we didn't expect it to happen so quickly, but we're thrilled that they will be so close in age {and still 2 years apart in school}. we think it would be fun to have another girl so they can be best sister friends, but we would be equally happy with a boy {if we could just agree on some boy names...}.

2. i'm terrified. i'm just getting used to being mother to ONE. i can't even imagine how any cleaning, cooking, showering or breathing will fit into the day with a toddler and a newborn. and what will i do with sleeping arrangements?? i figure the baby will sleep in the bassinet for a couple of months, but then we have to kick serena out of the crib. and we're not doing a toddler bed. she has to go straight to a twin. this makes me nervous. AND serena isn't even going to know what hit her! all of the sudden she won't be the center of attention anymore. poor girl! lots of things to worry about, but i try to just remember how excited we are and how fun it will be for serena to have a sibling.

if you have had 2 under 2, i would love any advice or encouragement {please keep all horror stories to yourself!}. i would especially love to hear what you did about sleeping arrangements.

morning nap =

mad dash to:

clean up breakfast.
clean up toys downstairs.
round up diapers.
empty garbages throughout house.
wash bottles.
clean up chess pieces serena played with while i organized my bookshelf.
clean up toys in hall.
clean up toys in bedroom.
make bed.
throw clothes on the window seat.
dust bedroom {with the back of my sleeve because i just noticed how dusty it was in there}.
do makeup.
do hair {ponytail, of course}.
take off dusty + oatmeal covered pajamas.
attempt to find a cute outfit.
say to self "oh well" when i look in the mirror and realize it looks like a maternity outfit.
{who will i see today anyway besides serena?}
dust coffee table {this time with a rag}.
change laundry.
catch my breath.
check my email.
blog for a minute.

afternoon naptime tends to be slightly less stressful, thank goodness!!! i'm already looking forward to it.

growth spurt?

my daughter has wanted to do nothing but sleep for the past few days. her 2 naps per day have turned into 3 and she has slept for 12 hours straight the last couple of nights!

let's hope it's a growth spurt and not an on-coming cold :(

it's a blah kind of day.

serena is sick again {and so am i}. which means she's been whiny all day. and she won't eat. and she's having some tummy troubles. no fun for her or me.

i drove to riverdale to bring a headband order to my sister and didn't realize i had made the wrong thing until i got there and showed her.

tj max is stupid and i don't like it. i found an adorable scarf and decided i needed it and i assumed it would be inexpensive since it's at tj max. . . and then i saw the price tag! what the? calvin klein scarf at tj max for 80 bucks?? no thanks! i get absolutely no satisfaction out of buying some name brand something or other for half its original price when i could buy something similar for full price and still pay less than tj max's dumb price. {sorry if you like it. i don't think you're lame. they do have cute stuff.}

i had half of a giant symphony bar for lunch.

and i feel slightly hideous in my random thrown-on-during-the-one-second-that-serena-was-not-whining outfit.

can't wait for dad to come home and take over :)

a bad mother moment.

serena is rocking her very first goose egg, my friends.

i feel too badly about it to share the details, but we both cried a lot.

being a first-time mommy, i was sure that i had caused permanent brain damage and that she would hate me forever. i made sean call the doctor's office {i was too much of a sobbing mess to call them myself},

and the nurse said, "i'm sure she's fine".

reassuring.

but it didn't make me feel like a better parent.

i'm sure this will be the first of many goose eggs to come {learning to walk... ugh!}, but WOW it was traumatic for me!

good thing my sweet girl was over it in 10 minutes.

things i learned today.

1. sick babies are really really really no fun and super cranky.
2. i ♥ charlie and lola. i put serena down for a nap and instead of working on the millions of things i needed to do {or watching tv made for adults}, i watched charlie and lola. it's adorable. the illustrations are so fun.
3. sometimes you really do have to sleep when your baby does. and that's why i went to bed at 8pm last night. i haven't done that since i was pregnant!
4. nasal aspirators really gross me out... but they get the job done.
5. cooking dinner every night is hard. and that's why i ended the cook's challenge with takeout. sorry to disappoint, fellow chefs.
6. you actually do get used to pushing a shopping cart around the store with a giant carseat totally obstructing your view. and then it feels weird when the carseat isn't there.
♥
this sums up the general mood around our house today:

i'll admit. i was counting down the seconds until bedtime. now we can finally start preparing for our family vacation which begins tomorrow! we're crossing all fingers that serena will be over her cold very soon.

on getting used to being busy.

for a few weeks there i kept thinking, "man i can't wait until everything slows down!".

i have come to a conclusion.

it's not going to slow down.

life is busy. for everyone. and it will only get more busy with more kids and different church callings and hobbies and work and play and holidays and choir etc etc etc etc.

i have been thinking about my friend. {some of you will know who i'm talking about!} stay at home mommy with 2 kids. runs. scrapbooks. plays sports. excels in her church calling {basically wrote an amazing primary program from scratch}. makes dinner every night, and has them planned like a month in advance. very involved in neighborhood watch. does her visiting teaching every month. decorates her house beautifully {and on a dime, i might add}. keeps said house clean. reads. goes to a book club. sings in a choir. always looks gorgeous and put together. i could go on and on.

and sometimes i think HOW DOES SHE DO IT?? how can she make herself get up and run in the morning? who has the time/energy to cook dinner every night? how can she possibly keep her house clean with everything she has going on??

i'm sure you all know someone like this... or maybe this sounds like you! well, it's inspiring! if she can do it, maybe i can do it, too! i know it's possible to be a mother and keep it all together, because i've seen others do it.

on days when my daughter is cranky, my house is a disaster, i haven't showered, my inbox is full, my eyes are sleepy, and i just want to go into my room, close the door and take a nice long nap..... on days like this, it's nice to know that lots and lots of mommies out there have been {and ARE in} my shoes. and if they can do it all, so can i!

knocking on wood.

serena is the best sleeper!

for the last few weeks, she has gone to bed between 8:00 and 9:00 and slept until 6:00 or 7:00. it has been heaven. she's a lot hungrier in the day, but we can deal with that :)

this past week she has been napping in her crib, too. i haven't really tried this until recently. i would let her nap on the couch, floor, bed, carseat, or wherever she happened to fall asleep. now i put her in her crib, usually wide awake {but grumpy}, and she goes right to sleep!

i am one happy {and well rested} mama.

mommy brain.

i walked around with my underwear inside out all day.

i double book myself all the time. i planned to drive my mom & sister to the airport at the same time i was supposed to have lunch with my other sister. i agreed to cover for heather at work... only to realize later that it was serena's doctor's appointment that day... only to realize LATER {after other arrangements had been made} that the doctor's appointment really was the following week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! seriously i can't keep my days straight.

i walked around with two different earrings all day. completely different. one dangly, one not.

i started turning left at a red light {there were no cars coming and i thought it was my turn to go for some reason...}.

i woke up in the middle of the night and told sean to burp the baby. huh? she had been fed and burped an hour earlier.

i forgot to put DIAPERS in the DIAPER bag before i dropped serena off at her grandmas. ironic, right?

sometimes i feel a little bit like i'm losing my mind :)

the mommies club.

today i realized i'm a member of a secret mommies club that i never knew about.

let me tell you about it.

members of the mommies club smile at each other when passing by in the grocery store with a baby in their arms/stroller/car seat/shopping cart. they stop you to ask you where you got your baby's car seat cover, headband, outfit, or diaper bag... even if you are total strangers. if a member has a baby older than yours, they offer lots of advice {some good and very helpful, some unwanted}. members of the club know what an ordeal childbirth is, and offer lots of sympathy... along with lots and lots of details about their own experiences. members of the mommies club want to know all about your baby... birthday, birth weight & length, and most importantly, if your baby is sleeping through the night. all members want this information. they need to know. even if you'll never see them again in your life. members stop to let you cross the crosswalk with your baby. they smile knowingly as you struggle to get your carseat in & out of the car, or when your baby decides to cry the whole time you're in the library. they get it. they've been there.

sound familiar? and to think, all these years i was walking around completely unaware of the secret mommies club. it's a pretty sweet club minus the unwanted advice. i'm so glad i'm a member!

a new and clueless mom's request for advice.

dear friends,

you may remember that i swore my baby would sleep in the nursery from day 1. no bassinets for us. well i was out of my mind and i don't know how i would have survived without one. that being said, i am curious about how long you kept your baby in a bassinet in your room. i am already feeling like i should get her used to sleeping in her crib {which she NEVER does... not even for naps in the day}. but the thought of having her in the other room makes me panic. not because i'm worried about her. i'm worried about me and the prospect of getting even less sleep if i'm back & forth between rooms all night. also, she's gotten into the bad habit of refusing to go back to sleep after her middle of the night feeding unless i'm holding her or she's on the bed next to me. she flips when i put her back in the bassinet and is totally fine the second i pick her up. even if i let her fall asleep in my arms, the second i put her in the bassinet, she's wide awake and mad at her mama. if she was in the nursery i maybe would just let her cry, but when she's in our room i hate to have her waking sean up. anyway, i'm sure this is nothing new to you moms, but your thoughts would be appreciated!

thanks in advance.

xo

mommy blogging.

i just need to let everyone in on our celebration today. after 4 rough days of no pooping... she finally did it! hooooooray! who knew one day i would be jumping for joy over a messy diaper? serena is much happier now, which means mom & dad are much happier now. i wish i had put her in her lucky pooping outfit sooner! {literally every time she has had a blowout she's been wearing this outfit.}