Friday, July 31, 2009

Gadgets!




One of the fun things about being pregnant and always having a baby around for the last decade has been to watch the evolution of baby gadgetry. It seems with every baby there's been some new product guaranteed to make your baby the happiest/smartest/quietest infant on the block. With Colin slings and babywearing had become big trends and I ended up buying three different kinds. With Cecily I finally broke down and got a Bumbo seat. She's not too fond of it yet, but I think that's because she's still pretty slumpy. Maybe she'll like it when she gets bigger and stronger. But between the Bumbo, the bouncy seat, and the swing I can sometimes get upwards of 30 minutes every day where I'm not holding her, so I'll take it LOL. All I can say is thank goodness there are lots of (usually) willing hands around the house because this baby girl is S-P-O-I-L-E-D when it comes to wanting to be held. :-)


Tuesday, July 28, 2009

The Month of July Has Been A Killer

I don't know if it's the mid-summer craziness that is getting to the kids or what, but whew, the month of July has sometimes felt like one semi-catastrophic event after another LOL. The latest involves the most common culprit - Colin. Most everyone knows that I was very attached to Colin's long blonde hair; so much so that he had never had more than a trim since he was born. I wouldn't let him get a haircut just because I thought he looked so cute and "California cool". Apparently Colin disagreed. He got into Hero's scissors (not cool Hero) and gave himself a doozy of a haircut. He extracted two huge hunks of hair right from the front, so there was no saving it. James buzzed him (and Ian) on Sunday. I've always said that buzz cuts make little boys look mean LOL and I stand by that. I can't wait for my baby boy's hair to grow back in :-( On a positive note, Cecily had a weight check today at the pediatrician's and she's up to 9lbs 4oz, which is an ounce a day gained.

Pre-Haircut

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Post-Haircut

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Monday, July 27, 2009

Sewing Class **By Hero**







Sewing class was really fun this year. I took two classes beginners and beginners plus. The first class we made a very cute pillow case with covered buttons and a cellphone bag. In class we also had to do a lot of ironing. I only had an hour between each class and every time we went to this really awesome bread place called Great Harvest which gives out these huge samples every time you go. So for the second class we made this backpack (very cute). It also had one covered button. For the covered buttons I was the only one who knew how to sew the covered button in in my class (and thread the needle) other than the teachers. So everybody was waiting at the teacher and I to sew their buttons on. Ya I pricked my fingers many times while sewing the covered buttons on but everything was fun! The only problem was that when I went to Wahooz I had my cellphone bag to hold my cellphone and while I was playing Laser Tron the little string that was sewed on fell off and I almost lost my cellphone and all of my tokens YIKES!!!!!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Amateur Photographers












This morning I plugged my camera into the computer to unload some eBay pictures and I discovered that Hero, Allegra, and Colin had "borrowed" the camera to take some pictures of their own while they were playing with Cecily in Allegra and Cecily's room. The fact that they didn't ask for permission was mitigated by how darn cute the pictures were LOL. They are certainly better than my picture of Cecily that I snapped before we headed off to the doctor for her 2 month appointment. She's in the 50th percentile for height (22 1/4 inches) and the 10th percentile for weight (8lbs 14oz), so we are going to work on her weight gain really hard this week with supplementary bottles of pumped milk and recheck her next week. She was very brave for her two immunizations (braver than her Daddy, who got his DTAP shot at his annual physical a few weeks ago and was miserable for several days) and other than her weight she's doing awesome.

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Tuesday, July 21, 2009

2 Months






















Cecily's 2 months old! I always say that 4 months is the *magic* point at which your life kind of recovers from having a brand new baby and you feel like you will settle into a routine again and there will be such a thing as a full night's sleep - well, we are halfway there and I'm hanging onto that as hard as I can. It's been a tough month sleep-wise, really her sleeping pattern hasn't changed appreciably since she's been born (still up twice a night) except that she sleeps less during the day now. But she's so cute that it's impossible not to adore her, especially when she busts out one of her many smiles. Here are some pictures of the family from Sunday, as well as picture from yesterday, her actual birthday.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

A Decade
















Wow, Hero Alissandre is 10 years old! How did this happen??!! I can remember so vividly the circumstances of her birth. She made a dramatic entry into this world via unplanned c-section after a long and torturous labor at 10:23pm on July 13th, 1999. Logically I knew that she would be growing up, but it's hard to fathom how quickly the time would pass. It's kind of like imagining Cecily at 10 years old right now - it just sounds crazy. Yet here she is - on the verge of becoming a young woman, and offically a pre-teen. We tried to do a Roaring Springs waterpark birthday party on Sunday, but it was only partially successful as storms started in the afternoon and the park was closed down. Luckily the birthday part had already happened, so at least she didn't miss that. Cecily was an trooper - she slept for pretty much the entire time. Colin liked floating the Endless River with Daddy best, and Ian was game for just about every ride (he's apparently grown up a lot since last year). For her birthday she requested to start skating lessons again, so we enrolled her in Beginning Jumps, Spins and Moves. I actually enjoy watching her, and it's amazing that she can already do the things she can do. It's hard to believe that in another 10 years she'll be 20, yikes! Happy birthday Hero, we love you.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Congratulations Baby Brother!


My littlest brother is engaged. He proposed to his girlfriend on the Fourth of July and, shock of shocks, she said yes (I wouldn't be doing my big sisterly duty if I didn't tease him a little bit). Congratulations Ryan and Liz! We can't wait for your wedding and PLEASE come out and visit us.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

4th of July Picture Bonanza











The first year is so fun because every holiday is another milestone. Independence Day was Cecily's first "big" holiday and of course we had the "Baby's First Fourth" outfit. We also decided that it would be her first visit to the pool. The big kids were super excited for her. We got her decked out in her swimsuit (which was Hero and Allegra's first swimsuit too) and sun hat, but the pool was way too cold for her (it was shivery for us too) so we decided to try the hot tub, but it had been turned off so it was pretty cool too. James stuck her feet in and she immediately let out a blood-curdling yell, so that was the end of that LOL. We'll have to try again soon. Other than that it was a relaxed Fourth of July. The kids swam most of the day (James and I eventually got brave enough to join them for a while) and we ate and we did fireworks. We got back home around midnight and are so tired - I'm hoping today includes naptime for everyone.
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Thursday, July 2, 2009

Dental Disaster




Wasn't Cecily cute this morning? Okay, so this has nothing to do with the actual dentist himself, but the dentist's office was the scene of the crime, so to speak LOL. Hero, Allegra, and Ian had dental appointments scheduled today and since my 6 week checkup with my OB is also scheduled today I assured James that I could take all 5 kids by myself. As soon as Hero and Ian get called back Cecily has one of her legendary blow-outs. It's leaked through her diaper, onesie, and pants onto her carseat, so I pick her up. That was the critical mistake - she wasn't done yet. She literally shoots poo out of the side of her diaper directly down her leg, out the cuff, and all over my dress. I'm covered in baby poo, as is she! Allegra helps me clean her as best we can manage and I wrap her up in her semi-clean blanket and kind of artfully drape it over me so it covers the worst of the orange poop stain (on a blue and white striped dress). So, I got to spend the rest of their appointments, which was about an hour, covered in poo, holding a naked baby. Fun times...

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Dress Up


What's the fun of having another baby girl if you can't indulge in a little dress up action? Hopefully the huge flower can distract from the baby acne. Just when it gets a bit better she breaks out again. Other than that I promise she's a cute baby LOL. Cecily's been a slow gainer, but as of Tuesday she weighed in at 8lbs 5.5oz, which isn't too bad. I experimented for a week with a dairy-free diet per the pediatrician's recommendation (to see if Cecily had an allergy) - boy that was tough. Luckily I'm getting to reintroduce it slowly as it didn't seem to improve her rate of weight gain. I can do substitutes for milk and butter, but there is nothing that can replace cheese, I've found. At any rate, the pediatrician feels like she's doing okay and she won't have to be seen again until her two month appointment. She gets to have her first big holiday this weekend, although I'm sure she won't be particularily impressed by fireworks. If it's a nice day maybe we'll take her for a short dip in the pool.