No alarm needed

Thayer had her one month appointment yesterday and I was given very good news - not only is she healthy but she is big enough that I can let her sleep at night! Which means no more alarms in the middle of the night reminding me to wake her up.

For the first two weeks I fed her every 2.5 - 3 hours. At her two week appointment the doctor said that I could let her go a little longer at night but that she shouldn't sleep more than 5 hours. So I set my alarm for 4.5 hours. And now she is allowed to sleep as much as she wants at night. That is not to say that she sleep through the night but she slept about 5 hours and then 4 hours which meant only one wake up for me in the middle of the night which was so nice!

I feel like it was about 3 months before the doctor said to let Murdoch go but I am sure it was about the same time period but it just seemed like a really long time. This first month with her has flown by. She has been such a good baby and I am really enjoying my leave. If I don't get anything done one day then that is fine - it was hard to accept that with Murdoch but now it feels pretty normal.

Happy Birthday Emily!

We wanted to wish Emily/Aunt Emily a Happy Birthday!

We hope you are able to get in some relax time just like Thayer:



We hope are able to get out and enjoy the weather as much as Deucey enjoys swimming and chasing the ducks:


And we hope you have a good meal on your special day and enjoy it as much as Murdoch enjoys his spreadable cheese:

We miss you and love you lots! Happy Birthday!

I'm back baby!

It is a little depressing to think that my kids won't get that title as a Seinfeld reference. But there will be a lot of things that they don't get that will just make me feel older and older.

After a nice weekend in Maine something nice happened last night. I put Murdoch to bed, sang him a couple of songs, and then left him while he was still awake. I left the door open and he came right out. I put him back to bed and told him good night again and closed the door. He got right up and opened the door but I was standing there so he closed it, he tried that again and then put himself back to bed without any crying. I know this sound stupid and small but it made me feel great. Not only did he listen to me, which is always a nice feeling, but he went to bed by himself without needing one of us to sit there which is a big step after he moved to his toddler bed. I know there will be nights when we have to stay there longer but at least we are making progress. It is just another light at the end of the tunnel that I can now see, and that I really need now especially with a newborn.

Today Thayer is 1 month old. I feel like maybe her first month has gone by a lot faster than Murdoch's. Everyone says that happens with the second. Probably because you have done it before and you don't have as much time to watch everything that happens with the baby. Maybe I should celebrate with a glass of wine!

Mommy's out gettin' drunk tonight!

Ellen, Andy, the kids, and I went up the street for a drink on Tuesday night around 7. It is a small restaurant/bar that has good drinks so I thought it would be a nice outing on the last night Ellen was hear. It was crowded but not that bad so we took the seats away from the bar where no one was sitting and ordered our drinks. I have to say that both kids were really good. Then we started to notice that the hostess was basically throwing daggers at us the whole time we were there. We had a double stroller but we had it well out of the way. Then these two girls came in and kept staring at us again looking a little annoyed. We continued with our drink and Andy took the kids home so that Ellen and I could stay and talk. Right before Andy left he said that those two girls had left and as they left they said 'Looks like Mommy's out gettin' drunk tonight!' That plus the hostesses behavior really pissed me off. We went out for one drink at 7 PM on a Tuesday night. We have always taken our kids everywhere and we have never been treated like that. We also try to go off hours, not on a Friday or Saturday night, and not to a really nice place. We have taken Murdoch to this bar before with no negative reaction. Maybe it was the double stroller - I don't know. I just found it annoying that someone couldn't tolerate a child for about 40 minutes who wasn't screaming, running around or misbehaving in any way. And the fact that I have one drink doesn't make me drunk. Am I supposed to sit at home until my kids are grown? And we don't have any family for babysitting so it isn't like we can just drop them off somewhere if we decide to do a quick outing on a nice summer evening. At the end of the night it gave us something to talk about I guess.

Ellen - you should be happy you left yesterday morning, Wednesday night Murdoch started vomiting everywhere - Mommy wasn't out at a bar getting drunk last night! :) I hope you had a sage flight.

Ellen arrives today!

And I can't wait!

Doorknobs

The dictator has learned how to open doorknobs. Which is a big deal. Now when he wakes up in the morning we no longer get that 5-10 minutes to adjust to the day while he calls for us in his room. I wake up to a little face saying 'Hi Mama' or I just feel something tickling my hands which is him or just his hair as he stands there. Unfortunately he can also let himself out if he just doesn't want to go to sleep which has been a little annoying. So we took the locking side of the door and that is now facing the hallway and I know it sounds mean but I have locked him in there when he gets a little sassy about going to bed. Usually after 30 seconds or so he settles down and I can go in and put him to bed.

Andy is away for a bachelor party this weekend (next weekend as well) so Bob & Talli came to help out today. And they brought Liam with them - I don't know that I have experiences 3 kids at one time like this - I guess it is good that we have three adults so we are doing pretty well. It is the first time in a long time that I am actually writing down nap times, eating time, diaper time, etc. because it is the only way I can keep up with this many schedules. I got a few cute pictures and I will post those later. I hope you enjoy your weekend.

Some days I feel like a failure

Two days ago Murdoch, Deucey, and I went for a walk to have a little Murdoch alone time - I don't want him to feel like I am always with the baby - and it was also for me - the weather was gorgeous and I could use the exercise to start to tone this body up. Near the end of the walk we were on a steep hill, Murdoch stood up in the stroller, and as he did this I jerked the stroller which them caused him to literally do a somersault from the standing position off the stroller and he landed on his back on the concrete. There were a lot of tears and some scrapes but it wasn't too bad. Of course there was an older woman on her porch enjoying the evening and she screamed 'Oh my God!'. Well as if I didn't feel badly enough about causing him pain then I have this lady screaming and I feel like the worst mother in the world.

And today and many other days this week Murdoch has really been testing his boundaries. I am sure it is the age, the new baby, and whatever else goes on in his head but there are times when this is happening that I feel like a failure. He doesn't mind me, and what makes it worse is the fact that he does mind Andy so much more than me. He used to go to bed no issue with me, now it is a battle. Today I finally just left his bedroom and told Andy to put up a gate outside of his room because he just learned how to open doorknobs. I was trying to get him down for a nap and he just kept giggling and playing with me - which is what he does when he knows he is doing something wrong. I didn't have the patience. I am sure it is the lack of sleep that isn't helping but I left that room feeling like a totally loser that had lost control and basically had no respect in my own house.

I know it will change but right now I am tired and my patience level is short which then annoys me that I can't deal with him at times. I am looking forward to a nice day with him tomorrow. We had an awesome morning together on a walk and at the park but the nap time killed me. Oh well. Tomorrow is another day.

Thayer - The First Week

Finally I downloaded some pictures and I have a little time to do a quick post. We welcomed Thayer Stevens at 1:20 PM on July 24th. She arrived at 7 pounds 15 ounces and 20 1/4 inches. Here is a little summary of her first week:

-I am happy to no longer be pregnant and know I won't be doing it again. Though the memory of the pregnancy has already started to fade.
-The labor and delivery was much easier than Murdoch. The start was a little slow and initially it looked like I might have a C-section but she was a strong little girl that 'loved' the contractions so with a little help from some drugs she popped right out after about 3 pushes. And Andy was happy that there were less 'colors' this time. :) You can ask him about that.
-Thayer is much easier than Murdoch - at least so far. I thought Murdoch was really good but she is even better which still scares me to say that. She is a really good eater, good sleeper, and loves to just look around. I am thinking of asking the doctor if anything is wrong - I am sure he will laugh at me and say enjoy it while you can! :)
-I love the way she looks when she stretches after being swaddled - she looks exactly the same as Murdoch.
-In general she looks exactly the same as Murdoch - it is scary.
-She loves your pinkie finger just like Murdoch - and I love in-between sucking she does this a little thing where she kind of gnaws on your finger about 4 or 5 times quickly and softly - again something Murdoch did but I forgot about.
-She has the dark grayish eyes just like Murdoch so she might end up with brown eyes like her brother.
-Murdoch has been a very good big brother without any major issues. Though when we got home Thayer needed to be changed she we took her up to Murdoch's room and changed her on Murdoch's changing pad. Well let me tell you he lost it! I guess I should have thought about it but the kid hates getting his diapers changed and hates being on the changing pad in general - always has. So what did her want after her diaper was changed - he wanted to lay on the pad. Toddlers are a funny breed.

I am sure that I have already forgotten a lot of other things in just the first week but it is something. Here are some pictures from the hospital and her first week at home including some of Murdoch.