Wednesday, December 21, 2016

The number of the day is..... ONE!


I got the email this morning... the one from BabyCenter that's all,

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" 

Your toddler is ONE!

And "your toddler likes to stack and sort!"



I'm sorry, you must be mistaken.  SHE'S STILL MY BABY!!!!!!

But... she is one year old today....

  one year ago (give or take a few days) I was walking and shopping and eating hot wings (I HATE hot wings! I cried because my lips burned... lol) trying to get Ms. Mack interested in meeting the world...


 And on her own time table, out she came... (albeit a little rocky..)

And now this girl is enjoying birthday muffins at daycare today with her birthday twin (a "classmate" born on the same day!)

Button got to head to the baby room and wish his little sister a Happy Birthday....
(can't tell if he's eating her muffin or kissing her hand.... LOL)


HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET GIRL!!!


(12-month appointment tomorrow, stats to follow!!!)
ALSO - big birthday party post to come!

Monday, December 12, 2016

Marathon Catch-Up

This is like, the third passing of the baton in this marathon\relay race of a Catch-Up...

I think I left off with Halloween - owls, pirates and Superman, Oh My!

The next weekend, the girls (my MIL, E's aunt and cousin, and my 3 SIL's) went to Atlantic City for a much-needed girls' night... (plus, my MIL got a free comp'd room! jack pot!)
We got a great room (one king size bed, one L-shape couch, and then got an air mattress delivered. which promptly "popped" on the nightstand handle.... see dead - deflated mattress in hallway waiting for pick up! LOL!)
And then on the first sweep through the casinos, I put $10 or so into a slot machine and hit big! I pulled the lever a few more times, and then cashed out at $90, and put that voucher away!
I jumped at the chance for an outdoor-hottub soak (complete with drinks!) before we headed out for dinner and drinks.  (This is moment I discovered roulette... #newAddict... (not REALLY...) but seriously - started the entire trip with $150 to "play with" and came home the next morning with almost $190 - pretty successful trip!!)

Two days before Thanksgiving, Button came down with a stomach bug... (diarrhea. of course.) so E and I had to do half days at work (one of us worked the morning, then we tagged the other in to be able to work the afternoon).
 (I took this to try to show E a scratch/bruise Button had)
instead, I got a picture of the world's worst haircut, 
and a poor sick boy, complete with purple bags...

He was feeling better by Thanksgiving (and finally had his appetite back on the up-swing) so we had a great time my IL's.



The Saturday after Thanksgiving, we decided last minute to go to the annual local Fire Department Holiday parade...
(Past years,  E has been in the parade with his previous fire department - boozed up in either makeup, tights, or both...)

And then Black Friday I had work (yay healthcare...) and E had his annual NHL game with the guys, so he dropped Ms. Mack off with me at work around 4pm and she helped me clean up and file...


Let's bookmark it there (work is calling...) - at least we're almost into December!!!

Thursday, December 1, 2016

11/12ths of a year...

I simply cannot believe today is December.  The month that this little girl was born, a year ago...

(pretty sure this was at the Double-Ear-Infection doctor appointment...)



While party planning is ramping up (i.e. I've received daily Amazon deliveries for the past week of supplies and decorations...) we've been enjoying this little almost-walker!
((CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?!??!))

Little Ms. Mack has been taking independent steps the last few days!!!!
As in, she'll be standing at her table, and then turn and take off - only to face plant... -_-

Anyways - back to her 11-month stats!

Weight: 17lb6.5oz (last weight taken is as of 10/28 when we went in for her ear-check... of course, she was wearing (clean) diaper vs her usual butt-naked... but still! up like 12oz from 2 weeks prior! (yes. as much as I've gotten away from counting every ounce, once a counter - always a counter. lol)

Height:(last measured at 9m - 27.5")
((12m appt booked for Dec 22nd!!!))
Eating: The last few days she hasn't been very enthusiastic about solids (except bread. lol) - she'll still eat her purees or Stage 3's though... (they also still keep a back-up stash at daycare, but she's great at eating their food!)
Can use pretty much any of the sippy-cup styles we have now, and we don't need to use the little rubber spill-proof inserts! Girl already mastered how to tip the cup back down when she wants a break!!!
Still nursing morning and night... I thought the other day we'd start to wean in the morning (it was Monday - we totally overslept (by like 30 minutes!!!) and I was all set to make that day 1, except then she was a crank-face while we were getting ready, and while I was trying to get her shoes on, I just yanked down my shirt and let her have at it... -_- ) oh well.

Sleep: We head upstairs usually around 7:30 to get into PJ's and nurse... she then sleeps through until about 7:30-8am (depending on if Button wakes her up...)
She is definitely following in her brother's shoes when it comes to napping.... a typical day is one midday nap, usually about 1.5 hours... (of course, on the weekends we're too busy running around that it's usually 1-2 naps per day, about 30-45m each while in the car...)
ohmygosh she sleeps just like her brother... <3
(Button as an infant!)

Wearing: Size 3 diapers still... mostly 12M clothes... I'm in a vicious cycle of putting her in a certain size (like 9months) when she'd be more comfortable/not have cropped pants in a bigger size, but then when I moved her formally to the bigger size (i.e. I clean out her drawers) then she only truly fits in that size for like, a month.  So then I leave her in that size for longer than I should in order to wear all of her cute pieces, and - rinse/repeat... I need to suck it up and get her cleaned out of 9month clothes...
She's also wearing size 2/3 shoes! Yes, shoes every day - it helps keep her feet warm, too =)
And if I thought I'd have a problem with clothes for a girl, lord help me... she's already got like, 8-9 pairs of shoes in her current size...


LOVES: still loves baths, loves being tickled (her "tickle button" that never fails is her actual belly button! =P )

loves cruising on her walker, playing in baskets (and taking clothes out!) and hanging with "friends"






(this is her birthday-buddy at daycare! they were both born on December 21st!)

HATES : her new thing is she'll sometimes stiffen up if she doesn't want to be set down, or put in her highchair... like, she literally won't bend at the waist if I'm trying to sit her on the floor with toys while I get ready for work, so I end up laying her down in the midst of her "tantrum" (oh yes, I think they're starting with her this young... she knows what she wants!!)


Milestone: Ms. Mack's started to copy-cat a lot: sounds, faces, sticking out her tongue... : P
 ohmyGAWD ignore my FILTHY mirror.... (just finally cleaned it last night, BTW)
right before Button brushed his teeth - 
which, after watching, totally made sense why my mirror was this dirty...

Nicknames: Bug (? don't ask lol) , Mack, MadGirl, Maddo, Maddie, BabyGirl


This girl - you can see she's going to be a force to be reckoned with!  If Button takes a toy, boy does she let you know she's pissed!
She is learning to "talk" and will non-stop babble sometimes when E gets home from work (sometimes she yells!)
She's still my little cuddly-shadow-bug, but will happily squeal and squirm for Daddy when he walks in the door from work (I get home first, so am responsible for picking up kids, letting dogs out, feeding dogs, getting dinner going... etc. UGH)

I know I'm a week late on the 11-month update, so a lot of these happenings are around, on or right after she turned 11 months....
But we also got rid of the Jump-a-Roo... kind of like the car seat, this was one that both my kids played in!!! (after watching below, you can probably see that Ms. Mack was fine with ditching the jumper! poor gal, got all shook up!)
And also.....
we have a WALKER!!!

HA - no, no, no - not that kind of walker...
(although - speaking of TWD... given last week's episode, I'm kind of glad there's only 2 left in 2016...)

No, we have a WALKER!

It started as one or two "I'm falling/running but let's pretend I'm walking!" steps between E and I...

and then a few nights ago, she was standing there, looking at me - I could SEE her gears turnin' - and she deliberately toddled, one... two... three steps before falling on her butt!!

And now?

This girl is getting more and more confident - and not in a good way!!! LOL

She'll be standing at her table, or the coffeetable/ottoman or the couch, and then just turn around and take off - only to face plant 3-4 steps later...

I've gotta give it to the gutsy girl - she'll definitely be cruising everywhere by the time we head to Texas for Christmas time!

Oh boy... four highly mobile toddlers under the age of 4....


I CAN'T WAIT!!



(One last photo dump...)

Friday, November 25, 2016

Summer, Grandparents, Trucks & Costumes

Working today, on Black Friday...

And I am ok with it.

(First off - I avoid all those CRAZY-ASS SHOPPERS out there!!!)
 But also, and I know I've said this before, but I really believe my time away from my kids helps me be a better mother - more patient, especially!

I was recently reading an older blog post where the author from ByTheBrooke said about the same:


"I think I need a professional career to challenge me and make me happy and I am pretty sure it makes me a better wife and a better mom to NOT be a full-time homemaker/housekeeper/butt wiper."

That said, we had a great time yesterday (except Ms. Mack wails her head off if anyone is holding her besides mostly me... Daddy is sometimes an acceptable substitute... where I wished Button was a little less AllDaddyAllDayEerDay, Ms. Mack is total stage-four cling-on... be careful what you wish for, right?? lol)



And here's some more photo dumpage to slowly get us caught up:

We spent a weekend down the shore, enjoying the brisk-but-sunny days and the available laps to play in...

First time back-carrying Ms. Mack! She loved it!


My mom's parents drove up (FROM TEXAS! long story short, my grandfather - a former commercial airlines pilot - refuses to fly as a passenger...  lmao)
and thoroughly enjoyed time with their great-grandchildren

Button ran poor Grandad ragged - "Come see this!!    Come with me to my play room!!    Hey Grandad, check out this slide!!"



We went to a Touch-a-Truck event (very local, at my SIL's elementary school) and we got a little silly...

Yup... that would be a naked Button, with a bag over his head.....


Don't Ask...


I cleared out too-small clothes, and *gulp* pumping supplies...
(ok ok, I kept one single set, and my hand pump.... in case....)
seriously - we're still nursing 2x a day - morning and night, and I'm enjoying this stress-free phase! 
but - we did finish up the freezer stash for b.milk at daycare!

 And then it was time for magic to transform little babies into Owls and Pirates, and mommies and daddies into Daphne and Clark Kent!

We have a future NY Ranger (Daddy will have to attend the ass-crack-of-dawn practices!!)
We've also found a new yoga studio that has Mommy&Me classes, so both kiddos can come - and Button loves the aerial silks!



Next up (and not too late) is Ms. Mack's 11 month check-up!


And holy-birthday-planning!!!!

Friday, November 18, 2016

Number Two!

but not like, POOP "number two" - or maybe so - it is another "DUMPAGE" of photos!
😜
/\(just discovered blogger has an emoji button?!)

Anyways - where were we...

oh yea, the Great Latch-On, which was back on AUGUST 6th... -_-

I finally finished the sweater I began 16 or so MONTHS ago, and....
IT'S NOW TOO SMALL FOR MS. MACK! 
(so we sent it on to another very special little baby girl!! 💟)  

 We enjoyed my IL's pool (and my SIL's boobs.... LMAO)
 ((And by "we" enjoyed boobs, I meant just Ms. Mack... just to be clear...))

And some more pool time at our cousin's new house!

Dry land fun:


Really silly video of a silly Ms. Mack, egged on by a silly daddy, with Button's silly friend...
(and Button wanting nothing more than to eat his ice pop undisturbed... LOL)


Silliness:


* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
late August I dropped a pump session at work, and battled the ensuing issues: trying to keep up with a steady demand at daycare (hence the hand-pumping after bedtime each night) and a recurrent milk bleb (that yes, would sometimes bleed when I finally got it cleared out...)

We practiced standing - and look! we're looking at a picture of Button using the same walker 2.5 years before!

We went to a fun local fair, and then had to rest afterwards...






((Busy Friday at work, we'll stop here so I can wrap up before leaving the office for the weekend!))

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Dumpage of Photos-Part I

ok, holy behind...

I have kept a drafted "catch-up" post with events/photos to post about, and was going to scrap it because - yikes - some of them happened 4 months ago!! EEK!

But then, looking back through my Googledrive of photos, they're too cute not to share!

So we'll try this as a photo dump (knowing me I'll have to really fight and try to resist getting too wordy in captioning photos)


Went to a Coldplay concert - took E's adopted sisters (18 and 19) and it was their first concert....
Dude - what a concert... we all had light-up bracelets that glowed with the music... and MICHAEL J. FOX came out and played Johnnie Be Good with the band.. what?! WHAT?!??!
Poor girls are going to think every concert is like that... =P


Then we had a wedding (where I conveniently was able to borrow a pump and take care of business at the house where Button was being babysat!)


Same night of the wedding, we hauled ass home after rounding up kids from respective babysitters, because - my parents flew in for a week!!!
The bottom right pic, we are all heading down the shore!

Geez, I've only lived here (NJ) for almost 10 years, and this was the first time bringing my parents to the shore house!

(She loved the pool.... not...)




We came back up north after a great couple of days - had to put in some time at work, had breakfast with cousins, and then started a summer enterovirus...

We weren't feeling well, started to get some stomach-speckles (Coxsackie had hit our daycare 10 days prior - EEK!)
No coxsackie, just a good old summer enterovirus, which ran its course after another few days...

Feeling better!
 and then we went with Mom/Baby buddies to a Big Latch On location (where I won a book, and Mom buddy won a bike!!! (for Baby)
Those babies were all tuckered out!

PhotoDump Part II coming tomorrow...