Goodbyes

Last week I had to say goodbye to a very dear friend who moved 5 hours away. I met Andi 4 months after moving here at a home bible study. Saben was 9 months old and Audrey was just a tiny 3 month old. I didn't have a single mom friend in Bellingham and we walked into this warm bright house and met the most wonderful people - many of whom had kids close to Saben's age.

I will never forget that night, even though over half the people we met there have moved away. It was the friendliest, most interesting and warm group I have EVER met, and after months of worrying if I would ever find anyone I felt connected with in Bellingham, God brought all these amazing people into my life.

Andi was one of my first real "Mom friends", the kind I always dreamed of meeting once I became a stay at home mom. One who had kids the same age who would help ease the lonliness of being home alone all day.


Andi was all that and more, not only was she lots of fun to hang out with, she brought a wonderful perspective on motherhood. It was so inspiring to see the joy and passion she had for being a mom. I really admire her love of small beauties, her creativity around the home, her complete devotion to Audrey and the way she treasures and makes every moment of motherhood special.





After working in an office for years, getting used to being a full time mom was often hard for me but in some small way Andi helped me ease through it and learn to appreciate it more.

Of course being pregnant together was the most fun of all, we were practically pregnancy twins because both of us had c-sections and big babies the first time around. We also had the same doctor, had to decide on a VBAC vs. C-section this time and once we even got bitten by a bug on the exact same place behind our left ears.


Once we both had new infants, it was not quite as fun since we were both "trapped" in our homes, but we've managed to keep up via email, blog and infrequent visits.




It would have been hilarious to see Audrey & Saben grow up together because they are often nemeses. I think Saben is the only person Audrey has ever bitten and lately she was starting to physically push him around when she got mad. However, Saben is no innocent, last week Audrey pushed him and got in trouble and so he marched right up in her face, obviously trying to get her to push him again so she'd get in trouble. But they also had a lot of fun together and loved playing at eachothers houses.



Some of my favorite memories are of blueberry picking, going to the Everett Children's museum together, babysitting co-op, the valentine's day "party" Andi hosted for us, Andi hosting my 30th birthday while 6 months preganant and watching Audrey chase saben around the house trying get his ball and him screaming the entire time, even though he is much bigger than her. (that last one was at the Bates going away party) And of course the day Saben observed that Audrey has a tunnel instead of a pee pee.

So goodbye to our friends, we will always treasure your memory and can not wait to see you again.

sleep no sleep

Ok, I started this post DAYS ago, and every day it seems to change so I update it and then don't quite get around to posting it. Plus I read it and it is very boring so I try to make it more interesting...but who am I kidding, no one is going to find Annika's sleep problems/patterns interesting except me.

But when you are in the thick of infant sleep troubles, nothing is more important than how & when they sleep. You are obsessed.

So, I am going to go ahead and post it because it is funny and a good reminder of how crazy it is to have a newborn. And I will try really really hard to not go over every single detail of her sleep schedule every time I talk to you, but....no promises. : )

The good news: Annika slept 6-7 hours in a row the last 3 nights.
The bad news: I often can not get her to nap during the day for more than 45 minutes

Yesterday I put her down for "naps" about 12 times and she always woke up 10 minutes later until about 5pm when she finally slept for 4 hours.

Still, I know we have it pretty good since she doesn't fuss much as long as she is being held. There's always a way to calm her down as long as I don't mind her nursing 4 hours in a row or holding her constantly. Mostly she's just unpredictable, napping 3 hours one day and then not at all the next day. Generally she falls asleep for about 10 minutes and then wakes up again and she will do this 10 times in a row before I actually get her to sleep for any length of time.

I don't know how people with "colicky" babies do it, I am grumpy and exhausted from only getting 6 hours of sleep, I can't imagine less than that.

In other news, I managed to get mastitis Monday and it is very very awful. Luckily I got antibiotics and felt a lot better the next day.

Roxxy

My dog. Sigh.

She is so clever that she can tell when tomatoes are ripe. And then she picks them and eats them. Only knocking off 2-3 green tomatoes in the process. But she doesn't eat the green ones, just leaves them as evidence of her shenanigans.

Did I mention she also DUG UP all my carrotts, ate them and then puked them up in our yard?

She is adorable.

Good days & bad days

Its amazing how Wednesday can be completely awesome and I think to myself "I think I'm getting the hang of this two kid thing". We completed our first grocery shopping trip with all three of us, I got a ton done and made an awesome supper, Saben played happily all day, I had the energy to give him the attention he needed and Annika took a couple nice long naps.

Then this morning fell apart aproximately 3 minutes after I got out of bed. Saben whined & cried all day, the house was a mess when Kyle got home, I had a headache and was an emotional basket case, Roxxy made a mess of the yard (more on that later) and I didn't even have to make dinner but still got nothing done.

We seem to be on an every other day schedule, so hopefully tomorrow will be awesome!!!

Four weeks old

halfway through taking all these pics, a giant slug crawled out from under the blanket by Annika's feet. YUCK

Travel

Saben & Annika w/ Great Grandma

So last Wednesday, three weeks from Annika's birth, I packed up my two kids and we headed to Colorado with my family while Kyle took a business trip to Salt Lake City. My Dad's entire family (5 siblings and their families - 16 people) got together for the first time in a long while to celebrate my grandmother's birthday.

Originally, back in November, the trip was planned the weekend of Annika's due date. I made up some crazy story as to why I couldn't go and then called my parents and lied my head off so that we could wait till Christmas to tell them we were pregnant. As soon as I hung up I felt so awful, so I called back & let them know what was really going on. They managed to get the trip postponed 3 weeks so they would get to go and not miss Annika's birth.

I decided to go with Annika about a week before the trip when I found out Kyle would be gone that weekend. Saben was already going with my parents so the choice was a quiet weekend at home w/ just two of us or getting to go see family that I hadn't seen in years. Feeling adventurous, I chose the latter.

I can't say I would recommend travelling with a 3 week old unless it is very very important. We did have fun & I don't regret getting to see everybody, but there were some things (like lots of stairs at the condos, people/things to do far apart from each other, 2 hour drive from the airport to Breckenridge, heavy diaper bags, high altitude, moving in a large group, having to nurse so many hours out of the day) that made the trip pretty exhausting.

Luckily the family was extremely helpful - My parents, brother & sister-in-law completely took care of/spoiled Saben. Betsy & my mom seemed to read my mind most of the time and were always there to carry something for me, throw out a diaper or hold Annika when I needed it most. And of course all my Aunts & Uncles helped hold Annika which was a huge relief because she is going through a "Must be held at all times" stage.

Amazingly, the plane ride & car rides went off pretty smoothly. No puke and Annika slept through the majority of it. I might have more pics later, I stopped taking them after the first night because I had my hands full and the family was already taking plenty.

Highlights:

BBQ competition - lots of really yummy food

Getting to see my uncle Rich & cousin Jenny for the first time in over 10 years

Stopping to see old steam trains with Saben on the way home

Saben learning everyone's names & finally warming up to them - on the last night.

Shopping, pizza & Saben in the bouncy castle in Breckenridge

Saben getting to see his first lightening

Breakfast at a restaurant w/ both kids at another table

Week 2

Big brother with his new hobby - watching videos of trains on YouTube. No, not Thomas, just trains going down the tracks. As much as he loves it, you can't help but wonder - who films this stuff? And then thinks "oh, I should put that exhilerating 6 minute train footage up on YouTube!"