3 Years and 3 Weeks

The week of 3s in our house!  Penelope the 3 week old chunk is sleep approximately 3 hours at a time and Adelaide the 3 year old pip squeak is saying, "my birthday" approximately 3 times a minute.

A's birthday fell on a Friday this year and her party wasn't scheduled until the next day so when I asked her where she wanted to go out to lunch she said chicken nuggets - off to Chick-fil-A we went.  Taking an already cute kid into a public place always brings comments from the crowd, but when you put a birthday tiara on her head you get great service, free ice cream and a TON of attention whether you want it or not.  Grr was able to get off from work just in time to meet us too.  Weird fact - Russ had never been to a Chick-fil-A before, unimaginable in my world.

A birthday wouldn't be complete without two meals out, so when GG came to town we also had to go to Adelaide's favorite "out to lunch" spot - Panera.  Daddy and Pap were at the Jags game so we made it a girls night out.

Two meals out was enough for one day - on to the actual birthday.  We started our day out with a few Panera bagels to fuel up for A's first dance class.

Tried to get her to practice before we left, but she kept slipping around on the floors and wouldn't move.

On our way to class she was so excited in her new dance gear and then we got there and ALL of the other kids towered over her and she was expecting to go into the gym with Mommy and Daddy which became a problem.  This was the part that I was anxious about, what happened when the classroom doors closed and Mommy and Daddy weren't with her anymore.  You guessed it - screaming, crying and the most pitiful face you have ever seen.
I tried staying on the other side of the glass door and then I walked away hoping out of sight out of mind.  Nope, neither worked.  No worries though, Daddy stepped in to save the day and help her for the rest of the class.

A's name is in there somewhere.

Thinking of investing in some new tap shoes for G, the sandals weren't doing the job.

We made it through the dance class though it was painful, now it is party time!  If you are sitting there thinking, man this is the first year I didn't get an invite, it is because they didn't go out.  We wanted extremely low key, family only and uneventful considering the 3 week bundle of joy we had with us.  So to keep the new dance class theme going, YaYa and Grr hosted a ballerina party for A.
The party was small this year, but we had some special out of town guests:  The Mesicks, Gasbarros and Longs came in town for cake, pool time and Grr's yummy food.

All that she wanted for her birthday was a yellow cake.

An outfit change and she was ready to party!

Yes, I'm sitting on the table and I'm thinking about eating that cake before lunch.

A family of girls - pink rules in this family.

An attempt at a family photo.

Yay, we officially made it through 3 years with minimal scratches and bruises.

Mommy made a little wish too.

Saturday was exhausting, but we made it through another birthday party.  Before everyone left on Sunday we did have everyone over to our house for breakfast and a little more play time for the birthday girl.

Yep, going on facebook.

Aunt Net helping to distribute potty prizes.

Look at me I'm jumping on my new birthday present.  

A wasn't the only one playing with the balloons.

Another year has come and gone and A has made some tremendous progress catching up with her milestones.  Verbal skills have been expanded, especially after spending a few weeks at home with Mommy.  Physically A can now run, walk on her tip toes, kick a ball, blow bubbles instead of try to eat them and we are working on the jumping.  This coming year should be interesting to see not only the progress that A makes, but all of things that she will teach P.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the party and to those who weren't able to make it but sent gifts, cards and called A with birthday wishes and songs.  We cherish each moment with our big girl and know that each of you make our lives that much more enjoyable.

Operation Button

So the race is on for Operation Button.  Don't know what I am talking about...my sister is getting married in Greece which means I have until May 1st when I board a plane to Venice to be able to not only button my pants, but they had better be a much smaller size.

This is one of the last photos taken of me just days before Penelope's arrival.  So my inspiration is to go from the above to the below in a healthy safe way while keeping up with breastfeeding Penelope for at least 6 months unless I go and do something crazy like get a job which will throw a monkey wrench into things.

In the Bahamas and about 15 pounds heavier than my goal weight.

So how am I going to do it?  In the past I have used Weight Watchers, but that was before I had Adelaide and then again after I had her and getting around with no babies and then just one was much easier.  So this time I am going to try and save my $12 a week and go at this a little differently.
1. Tracking - I am on day 2 of this and I have terrified myself at the realization already in to how much high calorie food I love and want to eat.  I am using the app loseit on my ipad to keep up with my intake.  Of course I have to add about 500 extra calories a day so that I can keep up with P.
2. Accountability - Yep, if you notice to the right of my blog post there is a ticker now for weight loss.  No way will I put out there my starting weight and end goal, but I am publishing how many pounds I am down and hopefully not up.
3.  Exercise - Once the weather cools off my hope is to be able to start walking places with the girls.  The great thing about our neighborhood is that we pay a premium for great amenities.  We have parks, pools, wide sidewalks, golf, nature trails, shopping, schools, restaurants etc.  Also, there is a group called Stroller Striders that I want to join probable next month.
So there will be no ground breaking diet, earth shattering secret to success or anything note worthy here. Just a little peer pressure, a scale, sneakers and a promise of giant diamond earrings if and when I hit my goal.
The plan is to update the weight ticker on Fridays so stay posted.

A few weeks old and a few hours of sleep.

I can't say that the family is bright eyed these days, but we are hanging in there.  In fact my eyes seem to have more red than brown when I took the two seconds to look in the mirror recently.  I remember wasting my day away when Adelaide was born by just staring at her.  At one point Grant did inform me that I would need to leave the bedroom eventually.  I had everything I needed in there between the tv, snacks, diapers, etc. there was no reason to venture to any other part of the house.  Not so much the case this time.  In fact I feel as though my bed is missing me and is calling my name often, unfortunately I am unable to answer. 

The days are speeding by between chasing Adelaide, soothing Penelope and her sensitive belly, feeding the growing monster as often as I physically can and trying to keep up with normal life.  Grant can be found either on the way to, at or on the way home from work at least 11 or 12 hours out of the day.  I won't go into any details of his current work circumstances other than to say that the timing is horrible to be this busy.

Adelaide is keeping me on my toes, this turning into a three year old is exhausting for me.  Oh and if anyone has an fool proof potty training tips I would love to hear them.  She was doing well before I took her and out school and then showed up with this little screamer called Penelope.  I'm trying to get her into the school districts therapy program, but that isn't going smoothly.  As of Friday she will have officially aged out of the current state programs that we have her in which leaves the question of what do I do now.  I'm also looking into preschool for her which would be 2 half days a week.  This hasn't been as easy as I anticipated especially when I am calling around and child centers are asking for $145 a week for 8 hours of care!  At that rate I might as well hire a babysitter by the hour just to help with her energy level.  

We are all anxiously awaiting the weather to cool off.  Last night we went for a short walk to the park, because it was the first evening it's been under 90 after dinner.  After the weather starts to turn in a few weeks and we aren't sequestered to the house, I think it will help all of our cabin fever.

Penelope update - growing like a weed!  She is out of the newborn diapers, almost completely out of her newborn clothes and has turned into a complete chow hound.  I swear every time I try to get something accomplished around the house she is screaming to eat, it may be a long six months of breastfeeding for me.

 Our first week out of the hospital we had visitors from all over the place, including the Dutchies from Topton and Alburtis.  This was a great distraction for Adelaide as her cousin Gunnar gave her every bit of attention she could have wanted.  It was also nice to have people around to talk to.  Grant was getting home anywhere between 9 and 10:30 at night, which pretty much meant we said good night and hoped to see each other the next day.

Not a fan of her first bath at home, but she now loves it!

Adelaide, my little helper,  puts lotion on P every night after bath.

Testing out the girls new car.  We only went about 5 houses away before we were covered in sweat and my stitches hurt, but at least we made an effort.

11 days old and posing for the camera - check out her cheeks!  

Our new routine now includes a weekly visit to the library, one of the only places I can think of that isn't shopping, but has plenty of air conditioning.

A in the library castle.

I may not get much sleep, but some people do.

I understand this feeling - more sleep please.

My little girls toes, thanks for the matching blankets Bray Family!

Ok, so I promise not every photo of them will include matching clothing, but you have to admit it is cute and won't be long before they won't let it happen.  I can remember my mom doing this to my sisters and I, Jeannette hated it!  Oh and my Mom did buy these shirts, ha!

Be still my heart!

Look closely and you can see some of her old man wrinkles on her forehead.

The First Few Days

We made it through our first few days at home with two kids, sleep was sparse but we did make it.  Thankfully we had help from everybody especially when Adelaide needed some entertainment.  So many differences from when we came home with Adelaide almost three years ago.  Three years ago we had a quiet empty house, introductions to be made with Buddy and A and panic over what in the world we were going to do with this 7 pound baby now.  Of course those weren't the only differences, this time we also were coming home to a tropical storm either.

Physically for me the differences were also pretty dramatic.  With A I immediately started dropping the pounds, I had no swelling, pain was minimal, etc.  Now imagine everything being opposite with P.  

These are what Grant classifies as foot folds.  My feet looked like this from awhile at the end of the pregnancy and then another week or so after P got here.

 There wasn't much sleep the first night at home for anyone.  Penelope needed to be held or fed just about every hour and Adelaide refused to sleep.  Adelaide started having sleep problems a few days before I went into the hospital and it was extremely stressful for Grant and I.  She went from being the best sleep with at least 11 hours of sleep each night and no fuss when she laid down.  About a week after I had been home from work she started fighting at bed time, waking up in the middle of the night and flat out screaming.  The night that we brought P home things didn't change for A and her sleep stress.  Grant called it her chant, she screamed Mommy, Mommy, Mommy over and over and over again.  The only funny part of this was that when Penelope would cry she would stop her chant long enough to yell, "stop  crying Penelope" as serious as a 2 year old can be.  It was really hard not to laugh.  Needless to say she woke up just about every time P did.

Don't let this photo fool you, P had just stopped crying and A was taking a break from being a terror.

 I don't want to paint A in a completely horrible light, because she does still love to be a big helper.  A really loves her little sister and I can't wait to see the bond that grows between the two over the years.

Helping with P's first bath at home.

No, she is not that tall, A has to use a stool to reach most things.

Don't mess with me big sister, I am going to be bigger than you one day.

The excitement on A's face reminds me of how careful I need to be with leaving the two of them unsupervised.

tiny toes