Just a year ago

I've been in a major reminicent mood the past few days. Rereading my blog posts from last year has left me totally missing our east coast friends, missing the fun/crazy thunderstorms we'd have in the summer months, remembering how much fun we had living back east, and in complete shock at how much has happened to our family in just one year! In less than a years time we accepted a job offer, got pregnant, moved out of our townhouse, drove across the country, moved in with the parents, then moved out, got settled in a new area, found a preschool, new doctors, had lots of doctors appointments, learned where all the cool parks are, had a baby, dropped 20 pounds (the remaining 15 are killing me!!), made several new friends, and feel completely settled. Crazy to think that last year at this time NONE of this was even on the radar!

Memorial Day 2012

Memorial day was fabulous for many reasons: Spencer being home, a 5 mile morning run, perfect weather (but really every day is gorgeous here), the beach with friends, BBQ ribs at Boppi and Grandpa Al's, and ending the evening with Madi stepping on a bee and getting the stinger stuck in her foot (Spencer says this was a good experience for her)!

Silly girls!

Madi and her BFF Brooklyn

It really couldn't have been a more perfect beach day!

Delicious dinner in the gazebo: ribs, corn on the cob, watermelon, and broccoli salad with freshly squeezed lemonade! 

Potty TRAINED!!

I totally wasn't planning on doing it. I figured I'd start closer to her 3rd birthday (once Calvin was sleeping better and more predictable during the day), but one day Elle was ready. She was in her car seat whining about her diaper bugging her so I just took it off. When we got home I told her to go put panties on (she'd gotten some for Christmas) and not to pee in them. About an hour later she went pee in the potty. I made a big deal about it (because before now she'd always decline my "use the potty" offers), made her a potty chart, let her put her first sticker on it, and then rewarded her with an m&m.

I still wasn't sold on the idea of dealing with potty training, so the next day I let her wear a pull-up. She peed in two of them that afternoon- I quickly learned pull-ups weren't the solution. So we went ahead and put panties on. Later that afternoon she used the potty! I'd put a diaper on each night before bed, fully expecting her to revert back. But when she woke up with a dry diaper on day 4 I knew Elle meant business! By day 6, Elle was using the potty completely on her own. She even went in by herself and did poops!! Awesome! We celebrated and she earned a sucker!

Elle's "poop face"!! Love the double chin and curled toes!

This past Friday (5/25) was one week since she first used the potty and there's no going back now! She'd had several nights of waking up dry, so Saturday night we agreed to let her sleep in panties. I honestly thought there was no way Elle would be as easy to potty train as Madi was, but it actually felt easier (probably cause I made such a big deal about it with Madi). So glad I waited till she was good and ready (only 2 months away from turning 3)!

Yesterday Elle was super excited about going to church. For some reason she figured that being potty trained meant she got to go to primary with Madi instead of nursery. She was bummed when she learned otherwise. But she did have fun telling her teacher about the"tangled panties" she was wearing! Something about being potty trained makes my baby girl seem like such a big girl! Way to go Elle!  

Two months

I've decided that month 2 (weeks 4-8) is my least favorite of a baby's first year. They're out of the sleepy newborn phase but not yet on a schedule, not predictable, super fussy, and a LOT of work! That's pretty much how the entire past month has been with Cal. The easiest week of the month was definitely when the girls were at my parents. I was able to watch his signs more closely, swaddle and rock him when he got tired, and stay home when he was napping. But on a regular day, he cries himself to sleep in his car seat, gets his morning nap at the park, library, or errand running, and rarely seems to be happy while awake. I feel like he is constantly tired, but doesn't want to fall asleep. He fights it like crazy. It's so hard to get him into deep sleep stage - he loves to "sleep"with his eyes just a tiny bit open - just to make sure I'm still there. We've tried laying him down drowsy but awake, but as soon as he's layed down he becomes fully awake and starts screaming. Then we've tried rocking him completely to sleep, but we can usually count on him waking up 15-20 minutes later. Crying it out is a much better option for us. He screams FOREVER, but at least it gets him nice and tried out, and he usually ends up falling asleep on his own.

Our favorite time of the day is (the very short window) when he's awake, happy, and wanting to play. We all gather around to watch his smiles (seriously heart melting), hear his laughs (he laughed for the first time on the 24th at home, alone with me- it was adorable!) and coos (love watching his mouth trying to form different sounds), and enjoy his sweet personality.
Calvin definitely seems to very strong-willed, but we do remember Elle at this stage- she was exactly the same way and ended up totally mellowing out. I think we'll see more of his personality this coming month, once he gets into a good schedule.

Cal in his blessing suit at 6 weeks

A few things about Calvin this past month:

* He seems to be a mama's boy- I'm usually the only one that can make it all better.

* He's a big eater (and has been from day one), A few things about Calvin this past month:
* He seems to be a mama's boy- I'm usually the only one that can make it all better.
* He's a big eater (and has been from day one), he eats super fast (like one side in 3-5 minutes) and every 2 to 3 hours.
* He may be a fast eater, but the burping takes forever! And I can't lay him down until he's burped or he'll just wake back up.
* He loves his gym time- has great concentration focusing on the black and white strips.
* Surprisingly doesn't cry for tummy time (both our girls hated it)! Sometimes after I've fed him and he starts acting really fussy and uncomfortable, I'll lay Cal on his tummy and he calms right down.
* Cal loves to be held and snuggled. I love this, but I also can't handle always having a baby in my arms. I refuse to carry him around around 24/7. He's usually in his swing or gym when awake at home or the car seat when we're out. But truthfully a great deal of the day is spent trying to get him to sleep. So we're constantly bouncing, rocking, and swinging him.

* He's got some very serious faces, but if you tell him he's handsome or smile real big in his face, he'll reward you with the biggest smile ever! 

* His hair keeps getting lighter and lighter. Earlier in the month it looked like he might be loosing hair, but then we noticed how many of those dark pieces are just turning super blonde.
* Just weighed him today and according to our home scale, he's 13 pounds!

As for Calvin's current sleep schedule- it's all over the place right now, especially since Im trying to move his bedtime up. For the first 6 weeks of life, 8:30pm was his last feeding. Then Spencer would burp, swaddle, and lay him down. He'd be asleep by 9pm then up to eat at 1:30 or 2am, back down by 3am, then up at 5 or 6am to eat. It actually worked pretty nicely, except for the fact that I wasn't getting any "me" time at night. I'd try to get to bed once Calvin was layed down so that his longest stretch of sleep was my longest stretch of sleep too. 

At 6 weeks we moved Calvin out of our bedroom and started doing more of a bedtime routine - dark room to nurse before bed, quiet when rocking, no tv, no stimulating lights, etc. He hasn't taken well to the earlier bedtime. He'll be in bed by 6pm but not finally in a deep sleep until 8 or 9pm! And he hasn't been doing that 5 hour stretch anymore. Sometimes it's 11pm, sometimes 1am- I never really know what I'm gonna get. But last night was our best night yet. I fed him at 6:30, rocked/bounced him, got him nice and sleepy, layed him down, and walked out. Of course he started screaming. At 8pm (after an hour and a half of off and on screaming) I went in, picked him up, got a huge burp, followed by spitting up. Then I unwrapped him, changed his diaper, put on new jammies (everything was wet), reswaddled him (he screamed through all this), and then bounced him. In a matter of seconds he was completely relaxed and then sound asleep. I layed him down, walked out, and shut his door- telling Spencer that Cal was out for the night. Sure enough, he slept till 2:50am (that's 8 hrs. since I has last fed him)! I nursed on both sides, attempting a burp in between. I snuggled him for awhile (working on getting a burp), layed him back down at 4am, and he slept till 7:30am! I'm hoping this is a sign of good things to come this next month!

TIthing

While in Brentwood Madi did some jobs for Papa and earned $10. When he sat down to pay her, he carefully asked, "Now what do we do with our money?" Madi said, "I know. Nine for me and one for the Lord." 

All week long Madi has been asking how many more days til she gets to pay her tithing.  Her prayer this morning was adorable: ".... And bless me that I get to pay my tithing." When we got to church, she carefully filled out a tithing slip (which of course I'll be saving in her scrapbook), put the dollar inside, licked the envelope, and then held onto it all the way through the meeting. Ironically enough one of speakers today spoke about tithing and the blessings that come from being obedient to this law. It was a fabulous talk with lots of great stories and a powerful testimony shared. Right after sacrament meeting was over we walked up to the Bishop (who was taking to the speakers) and Madi handed her tithing over. I of course made a big deal about it- telling the Bishop and the speaker how much Madi loved the talk today because today was her first time paying tithing! It was an awesome parent moment! What a treat it's been to watch Madi's testimony grow and develop.

Mother's Day Weekend

I couldn't think of a better way to spend Mother's Day weekend than at home with my own mom! Originally Spencer and I were gonna drive up Friday after work and then come back Sunday afternoon. But due to a crazy work week for Spencer, he stayed home and worked instead of coming up to Brentwood with me. Of course I was bummed - it's always nice to be spoiled by your husband on Mother's Day, but Spencer promised to make it up to me this Sunday (and I'm holding him to it)! 

Cal and I left early Saturday morning - I wanted to make sure I had the afternoon to spend with the girls before bedtime (not to mention, I was missing them like crazy!!). It was so great to see them and hear all about their fun week with Gram and Papa. And it was fun for me to spend the weekend with my parents- especially to be with my mama on Mother's Day.

Unfortunately the weekend wasn't as perfect as I was hoping. My allergies were totally acting up (we used to laugh how Spencer was allergic to Brentwood, but now I'm pretty sure I am too!) and I felt miserable - itchy eyes and nose, sneezing incessantly, etc. Plus it was a lot warmer than our mild Camarillo weather, and I was dying having to swaddle Calvin, hold him close, and bounce him. He was a lot of work and I felt bad handing over a screaming baby to my mom or dad (I've got no problem making sure Spencer gets his fair share of it though:)! Of course my mom and dad were tons of help though. They seriously would bend over backwards to make sure I was comfortable and having a good time (made me feel terrible for all the complaining I was doing about my allergies and such).

Church meetings were fabulous though! Elle was especially excited to go to nursery with Sister Tucker. Heather always has the best take home projects for holidays. Check out the cute little tin Elle made for me filled with chocolate covered strawberries and all sorts of other gummy fruit treats! YUM!!!

And I loved the little gifts Madi had made for me:

This one she made at school- her teacher was sweet and let her make it a week early.

And this one was made in primary on Sunday.

Back in Camarillo, Spencer was able to be with his mom on Mother's Day as well. He scored big points by going over after our ward, but while his parents were still in church, and surprising his mom by making dinner. He also got her some flowers and had bought a pie for dessert. What a good son!

I was bummed that I felt so miserable on Sunday. I wish I could have done something more special for my mom. I got her the book, "Llama Llama, Home with Mama" which couldn't have been a more perfect story, telling about the week mom spent taking care of my little llamas - fevers, sore throats, stuffy heads, etc. etc. Such a cute book! My mom honestly is always taking care of someone else. Tisha and I talk about it all the time - wondering what we'll be like as grandma's. My mom is so selfless, always giving of her time and energy. One month she came to visit me, but then Tisha's kids were super sick so mom immediately flew out to NC to help out. Then Jen got in a car accident and mom went directly from NC to Idaho Falls to be with Jen and help out with the kids and housework. Then from there mom went to Utah to visit our aunt (her sister-in-law) who was super sick with cancer. And while she was there, mom helped Aunt Annie with painting/remodeling a bathroom! I think she was gone a total of 6 weeks! Exhausts me just to think about it! But that's the kind of stuff my mom does - travels from state to state helping people. She really is a saint! 

I feel so blessed to have such an amazing mom- someone I know will always be there for me. And I'm so grateful for all the other amazing woman/mother figures in my life- my wonderful mother-in-law, my sweet grandma, my incredible sisters (and sister-in-laws), and my dear friends who have stood by my side to help me in this journey of motherhood. 

Recharged!

I'm a new woman! Seriously! After 6 full days without the girls (longest time we've ever been apart) I can honestly say I got the break I needed. I now feel more patient, more loving, more understanding, more rested, and all around just a better mom. Did I miss the girls? Like crazy. But did I enjoy my week alone with Calvin and Spencer? Most definitely! I cleaned the house, went to the dentist (no cavities- yay!), worked on projects, took naps, went shopping, went on walks, went out to breakfast with a friend, dinner out with Spencer, had Cal's 6 week check-up, and tried hard to relax. Spencer had to remind me to do the last one. After spending Monday and Tuesday cleaning and organizing the house, Spencer asked me if I'd taken a nap. Sheepishly I admitted that there hadn't been any time. Spencer then proceeded to give me a little lecture on how the whole purpose of this week was for me to relax and get caught up on sleep. He told me he wanted me taking a nap everyday- reminding me that if I spent my week cleaning, all I would have at the end is a clean house that would be destroyed within minutes of the girls getting home. For some reason his little lecture hit home for me and I made sure the rest of the week was spent doing things I can't do with more than one kid. Like a morning speed walk with a friend, followed by running errands with 4 stops (I had to nurse in the fitting room at Target, but it sure beat my normal errand running of one, maybe two stops- max! Anything over that=complete melt downs )!! Some days I'd just go out in the morning (Cal always gives me a long morning nap in his car seat if we go somewhere) and then stay home the whole afternoon. It was just nice being able to do whatever whenever I wanted to! We had dinner at Spencer's parents on Wednesday (Wilkinson's were in town) and even though Cal was super fussy, it was nice not to have to worry about packing jammies, bringing toothbrushes, and then having to deal with the repercussions of late bedtime. It really was a wonderful week.

The girls had an eventful week as well. Dad was out of town on business for half the week, so my mom was on full-time parenting duty. And boy did she have a busy week! Thankfully my mom and I are two peas in a pod and she does almost everything just how I would do it. She kept a very detailed daily record of all their activities- including everything from wake up time, to errands ran, what they played, what they fought over, what they ate, and what time they fell asleep!! LOVE my mom for doing this! Unfortunately on day one Elle had a super high fever. Mom started meds that night, but the fever didn't break and Tuesday afternoon my mom ended up taking Elle to Urgent Care with possible strep throat (thankfully results ended up coming back negative). Poor little Elle- it broke my heart not to be with her when she was feeling so yucky! And my poor mom! Not only was she doing eye drops 3x's a day for pink eye, but she was also giving amoxicillin, and then rotating Advil and Tylenol to get rid of the fever. And of course Elle wasn't sleeping good at night, so mom was up with her several times at night and finally just resulted to sleeping in a bed next to Elle. Thankfully the fevers were gone by Wednesday and they were able to some fun! I have no pictures to post of the week- just the ones my mom would text to my phone, but some of the highlights included: splash park, playing with friends (Madi was super excited to see her friend Olivia, and Elle totally had a blast with her buddy Zachary), hot tubbin, picnics at the park, shopping, health fair (the girls got so many cool things, including ID cards with their picture and fingerprints), 1st "real" haircuts by cousin Emma (I think Madi got tired of me telling her how much I love her new haircut), and 1st manicure experience!! They were definitely spoiled with gobs and gobs of attention from my parents.

BIG thank you to my parents for being so willing to keep the girls and build these wonderful memories with them. I'm so grateful for the quiet one-on-one time I was able to spend with Calvin. It wasn't the easiest week- as he was right at the 6 week mark (peak of fussiness), but it was nice to be able to watch his patterns and work on getting him on a schedule. I also enjoyed just having time to rock and hold him, give quiet baths, and not feel rushed to do anything. My battery definitely feels recharged! Thanks mom and dad!

Last Week

Rewind back one week ago- I was a total basket case! Exhausted, sleep deprived, tired of fighting girls, and tired of the demands of everyday life. But the afternoon of Wednesday May 2nd was one I'd been looking froward to for several weeks. When things got hard I'd remind myself I just had to survive until May 2nd. That afternoon the kids and I picked my mom up at the Burbank airport and as soon as we got home I immediately felt a sense of relief. My mom always comes full of surprises and knows just how to keep my girls happy and entertained. While I fed Calvin, my mom took out her "grandma bag", filled with new books she had recently ordered, and read story after story to the girls.

Anytime the girls would start to argue, my mom immediately had an idea up her sleeve. They went on nature walks, made art projects, played doll house, had picnics, and read lots of books. It was so wonderful to have my mom's help for 4 days. 

Please ignore Elle's saggy knee highs and 3 sizes too big shoes. She dresses herself these days!

The girls had fun getting ready with Gram in the mornings. 

Picnic with Elle while Madi was at school.

New toys from cousin Ava were a HUGE hit!!

But not only did my mom come to help, my dad also surprised us by getting here a day early. Thursday night Spencer was away on business in Fresno, and my dad showed up at 6:30pm just after we'd gotten the girls to bed. Madi was still awake, so we let her get up and have some time with Papa, but Elle had to wait till the morning for the surprise!! You'd think it was Christmas morning with how excited the girls were to see their Papa!

It was so wonderful to have my parents here. I had about 5 different jobs lined up for my dad to do, and they were all done in just one day! And not only were they helpful with the girls, my mom had the magic touch with Calvin. Just as he'd start to get fussy, she'd whisk him out of my arms, do her amazing swaddle, and he'd be asleep within minutes. It really was amazing to watch! Cal sure loves his Gram!

Cal loved Gram's sink baths!

On Saturday we wanted to take my parents to do something fun. Since it was a gorgeous day we decided to give the beach a try. And I'm so glad we did!! It was a perfect beach day! Then, being Cinco de Mayo, we hit up Cafe Rio afterwards!

Beach babes- laying out with Gram!

Cal took a great nap in the tent

And out of the tent!

In just the few days my parents were here, I felt like a new woman- rested, relaxed, and rejuvenated! But in case that wasn't enough of a break, Sunday afternoon, mom and dad headed back to Brentwood, taking the girls with them! Stay tuned for my next post of life with just a baby!

A little fuzzy, but the only pic I have of my parents together with all three kids.

Blessing Day

Calvin wore the blessing suit his Great Grandma Rudd made for his Uncle Clark 29 years ago. It fit Cal like a glove!

Calvin was blessed this past Sunday in our ward. Spencer gave a beautiful blessing- one which caused me to get teary-eyed. He said Cal started to cry in the blessing, but I never heard a thing. The spirit was really strong. My dad recorded the blessing, but I guess a sister in the ward (haven't figured out who yet) also wrote down as much as she could and gave it to my mom after church. It was sweet to read those blessings that were given to Cal. I look forward to getting the whole thing written out. I was glad that we chose to bless him at church and on fast Sunday- my heart was very full and it was nice to be able to share my testimony afterwards (something I rarely, if ever, do). I shared of the love our Heavenly Father has for us, His desire for us to come to Him in prayer, and drawing closer to Him with our daily scripture study. It'd been an emotional few weeks for me- feeling exhausted and overwhelmed with all the demands of motherhood, but I'd had several experiences during the previous week that had strengthened my testimony of our Heavenly Father's love for all of us.

After sacrament meeting I headed home with Elle and Cal. Elle had woken up Saturday morning with what I thought might be the start of pink eye. I was able to get ahold of the on call doctor that evening and got her started on medicine, but I didn't think it'd be a good idea for her to go to nursery. After everyone else got back to the house, I of course requested a photo shoot. After living across the country, we realize what a blessing it is to have both sets of grandparents at special events like this! 

Boppi and Grandpa Al

Gram and Papa

What beautiful Grandmas Cal has!

Three generations

Cal was such a little man in his blessing suit! 

I was completely shocked that we actually got a semi-decent family photo!

All three of my children were done taking pictures by this point!!

After the photo shoot we enjoyed a delicious meal of tri-tip, homemade rolls, watermelon, green beans, pretzel jello salad, and topped off with strawberry shortcake for dessert. Everything was heavenly- a perfect meal for the occasion. 

Then at 3pm my mom and dad loaded up the car, and our girls, and headed home to Brentwood! More coming on that later!