'Mommy, Why does Santa look so different every year?'

Santa went much better this year! Sylvie was very excited to see him, but when it was our turn she froze. He was a great Santa and got down on the floor to make her more comfortable. Now I have to work on getting them BOTH to smile.

Below is Santa and his Elf.....

This is Santa when he went to their daycare. I love this picture and the Santa is great, but I hate missing out on the whole experience of taking them to see Santa. I want to be there! Sylvie did not smile for the Daycare Santa, so I just got this one of Wade. I dressed him in his Elf onsie.

silhouette 2010

This year Sylvie looks nothing like herself. But I think Wade looks exactly like him. Ralph thinks this is a racket and the lady who hand cuts these cuts them the same for each person.

Worst Mommy of the Year Award

Well, it's official. I have won the worst mommy of the year award again. I won the award in 2009 for walking around Bloomingdale's with Sylvie falling out of her stroller-http://ralphkarenandthebaby.blogspot.com/2009/04/worst-mommy-award.html

This year I won the award for taking my kids out in the freezing cold to take their Christmas photos. I had to go to a certain park. It was 32 Degrees out. Of course they couldn't wear their coats and cover up their cute outfits- Sylvie's dress is shortsleeved. BUT- I got the picture I wanted! You will see it on our Christmas card.
Here is Wade freezing:

Fashion

My beautiful Girl has started picking out her clothes. I pick my battles, and this is not one I fight. And if you knew me, you know that I don't have the greatest fashion sense anyway.

This is Sylvie this morning. She acutally didn't want to wear pants at all- so I did pick out and force the jeggins on her. She also has on a pull -up AND elmo underwear, Red shoes, a blue shirt with pink embellsments, and Green frog socks.

....Love her....

The Second Child

The second child is notorious for being left out by not having tons of baby pictures, not having a baby book, etc. I am very conscientious of this- neither of my children have a baby book and I take tons of pictures! The problem? Wade is ALWAYS in the umbrella stroller. We never take him out of it, it would seem. Not only is the umbrella stroller not really the best place for him to be (he can't sit up on his own and is always slouched in it) but it is just not a good prop. Well, at least we have pictures. :)


Wade in the Fort Pulaski museum.

Wade at Fort Pulaski enjoying the sites


Wade camping 2011. Ok- he is in his car seat. A little better...


Wade at the pumpkin patch

Wade trick o treating with his sister

Halloween- Late

Can you count the six pumpkins in this picture?

above is my hands down fav pic of the Wade!

This was our first year Trick o' Treating for Halloween. I had visions of family custumes. I should know that with a 2 year old anythign can happen. I got Ralph and I Chewbacca hairy chest T shirts. And I got Sylvie and Wade Princess Leia and Yoda custumes. Sylvie REFUSED to put hers on, even though Princess Leia was a princess. I tested out the waters a couple of days in advance- Sylvie put the felt buns hairpeice on, but not the dress. In a frantic mommy moment I ran out to Walmart durign lunch on Friday and bought Fairy wings, a plastic necklace and fashioned up a nice fairy custume. She dug that and put it right on no problems!
Wade fell asleep half way through our trek. Sylvie picked up really quickly how to ring doorbells and ask for candy (sadly for her- she didn't get to eat much of it!) from neighboors (practically strangers). We met a nice new family that just moved in with a girl the same age as Sylvie- hopefully they will be BFF's. :)
All in all a good night!

More updates??

Things just are happening at lightning speed! Wade just got his first tooth and is working on two more. I thought his first tooth would be on his right side- his gums are bloody and he is always sucking his thumb there, but his first tooth was bottom in the middle. In typical Wade fashion he will now probably want steak for dinner. We are working on it….
He eats oatmeal, rice cereal and had banana for the first time last night and LOVED it. All organic and non dairy/ soy etc for his sensitive stomach. I tried to give him some of my frozen breast milk a couple of weeks ago and thought all was fine until about three days later when all heck broke loose. He is super fussy, poopy and looks extremely uncomfortable after he has dairy. I think my breast milk will all be expired soon so all my hopes of giving it to him are lost. He could really use it in the winter when all these sicky germs go around. Oh well I failed (haha).
Wade is also about to be sitting up. His teachers say he loves to sit up when all his buddies are- but only for about 3 sec. He is also the youngest and biggest baby in his room. Go figure. He laughs a lot and loves to be tickled under his ribs. He LOVES to watch his sister. The greatest thing in the world is watching them laugh at/ with each other. It makes it all worth while!
Sylvie is on her way to being a talkative girl. I heard it would never stop- and now I have lived it. Constant. Chatter. She has learned the word ‘not’. So she will eat oatmeal for breakfast ‘not cereal’. Her pants are clean ‘not dirty’. She thinks that heavy means hard, and doesn’t know the word hard- I am trying to teach her the difference. It is crazy how these little people grow up and their brains start functioning fully (I am always amazed!). When I was on maternity leave Sylvie, Wade and I hung out with my friend Katie and her daughters Emma and Sarah a lot. At that point Sylvie was talking and taking things in, but I had to remind her a lot of the time who people were. So last weekend Sylvie and I went to Emma’s 5th birthday party (where btw, Sylvie kept saying ‘my happy birhtday’). Sylvie was watching all the older girls play and Emma wasn’t around, But Sarah was. One little girl asked where Emma was, and Sylvie pointed to Sarah and said ‘There’s Emma!’ (Emma and Sarah look a little bit a like). I explained that Emma wasn’t here right now and Sylvie said ‘that’s Sarah!’. Not only did she remember our play dates from the Summer but she remembered the girls! I think about how amazed I am at these little people and wonder if when Sylvie is 30 I will still be amazed at her, or if at that point it will have sunk in that she is a functioning human being, and I made her ;)
Sylvie loves the merry go round, or as she calls it- the up and down. Every time we go to the mall I have to take her on the merry go round. She is so enthralled with it -and it makes me super sick (I’ll stick with the bouncy super high slides, thank you). I have to concentrate on one spot the whole time and can’t wait for it to be over. We went on a real horse last weekend at the birthday party. I think she is in love with horses! Daddy will have to get her a pony for her third birthday.

I am sure I will think of more and update soon…..the hits just keep on coming!

BFF

I have been waiting for this day for so long.....Sylvie has a BFF. Ralph picked her up yesterday from her classroom and as she was walking towards the door with him- she turned around and said 'bye Summer' almost as an after thought. Summer (who was playing on the other side of hte room from Sylvie when dada walked in) turned around and waved 'byebye Sylvie'

!!!

sleep overs here we come! ;)

this is a good sign though, becuase Sylvie came home from school last week saying 'be nice to Summer'. It made me think either Sylvie is being mean to Summer- and the teachers are saying this to her, or Sylvie has Summer's back and is watcing out for her girl. I am glad its the second choice.

Also, have I posted this story before? I cannot even remember my name any more and I feel like i have posted this story....oh well. Two times is much better than one! And yes, I am tool lazy to just look at the blog and find out.

VOTE!!!!!

On our recent trip to Tybee- we took many pictures (only two have made it to the blog so far...)
The rental agency we rented our house from is having a photo contest, and two of my pics made it. VOTE and I could win a free weekend in Tybee! I will take everyone with me ;)

http://www.tybeevacationrentals.com/photo-contest.htm?NCK=fb
click on the above link and follow the rules to vote. You can vote on the link above or on Facebook. I suggest you do both :)
If you use the link above to vote, my pics are #'s 44 and 46. You will recognize Sylvie.
The Pryor's Pics are #'s 46,65. Vote for them all!

the Facebook link is
http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=249669&id=61094788897&page=2
'like' the pics of Sylvie (16 and 17 on this album) and the Pryor's (23 and 27)

You have until NOV 12!!

5 mo.

I cannot believe my Wade is 5 mo old today! This has been the fastest 14 mo of my life. It feels like yesterday I was at the dr. office finding out about him. I can't help but think time only goes faster at this point.

*Wade at 5 mo.*
Rolls over
Sleeps on his tummy
sleeps from around 7pm to 7am
is about to crawl??!!
Still has blue eyes
east about 2 tbsp of oatmeal in the morning and about 5 tbsp at night
carrots are next
Sticks his bottom lip out when he is upset
might have a tooth soon
Wears 9 mo clothing
laughs when we tickle his tummy under his ribs
watches his sister constantly

*Sylvie at 2 yrs 2 mo*
Goes to sleep better when Wade is in the room
wears underpants sometimes- still doesn't have the potty down 100%
loves shoes. She wears her fancy white dress up shoes to school
Loves her brother but is sometimes too rough
loves her baby dolls, but is constantly too rough with them
watched a Disney movie for the first time recently, and ohhhh'ed and ahhhh'ed at the opening Princess castle
wants to watch the princess movie instead of Elmo most of the time
knows how to say what she wants.
likes to read, but not as much as she used to
loves stickers
likes to look at our photos of family on the wall
points to baby pictures of her, daddy and mommy and calls them all Wade
Except pictures of Peter- she knows they are Peter
knows how to count to 10 in espanol

*mama*
likes catching up on all the Disney movies she missed out on- Princess and the Frog is my fav right now
wishes Sylvie would use the potty all the time
snuggles with Wade whenever possible
tries not to eat so much chocolate

Kids at the beach- and more to come.....

Good Girl

I was interested to see if Sylvie knew the difference between girls and boys. I asked her if Wade was a boy. Silence. I said Wade is a boy. And what about Ethan at school, is he a boy? Silence again. I asked if Sylvie was a girl. More silence. So I said Dada is a boy, right? And What is Mama?
Mama BOY.
Actually Sylvie Mama is a girl.
She looked right at me and said
MAMA GOOD GIRL. Good Girl mama!

Beach vacation day Seven

-Sylvie understands counting, and does not just recite the numbers. She counted three of her stickers that she had put all over the coffee table!

-A step in the right direction- Sylvie took off her shoes on the beach, and even walked in loose sand

-my air brushed t shirts are the best

-P and W held hands. they liked it

- P and W do kind off look alike

-have to pack and then home tomorrow :(

Beach vacation day six

-Sylvie now counts the stairs as she goes up and down
-She also almost strangled Wade by his bib (and why didn't the Velcro release??)
-I bought my airbrushed t shirts today. One for each member of my family, but Ralph didn't want one. Does he know something i don't? Pictures will follow, of course
-Sylvie had her first pierce of corn on the cob. she loved it!
-i would def not mind eating here again:
http://www.travelchannel.com/Places_Trips/Destinations/North_America/United_States/Georgia/Savannah/Restaurants/North+Beach+Grill
-last day tomorrow. sad.

Beach vacation day five

-time really does fly when you are having fun
-wade found his voice (his real voice, not the gym rat, transsexual voice mama gave him). he 'talks' constantly
-Sylvie now will walk in the sand with her beach shoes off, and walk in loose sand!
-vacation with two children two and under (does not) = a 'vacation'
I now know the difference b/t vacation and family trip.
-Wade and Peter held hands and played on the same play mat. i think they like each other
-i would drive 5 hours just to eat here:
http://tybeeislandsocialclub.com/
AWESOME
-when i die i bet i will have 1 million pictures of the sunrise and sunset. i love it.
-i miss cable. (Jersey shore is ridiculous)
-i cannot sleep on a hard mattress. i am so sore
-bugs think i am sweet. my ankles are insanely bug bitten
-wade is so happy all of the time again! he is smiling and laughing constantly (in between talkings)

Beach vacation day four

-Wade is back to his old shenanigans. Teething maybe?
-Sylvie's fear of the sand is getting more intense.
-Sylvie likes to run out in the street
-Making gym rat voices for Peter and Wade will never get old. (Ralph say's my voice for W sounds like a transsexual).
-Wade has rice cereal! We tried to feed it to him, he doesn't know how to eat. So I put it in his bottle. I am a little upset it is so early, but he seems insatiable!
-Highly recommended restaurants still can be horrible
-After tonight I will never take my daughter out past 6pm for dinner while my son is teething. Dis.as.ter
-when my kids act up, It is a direct reflection on my parenting.

Beach vacation day three

-Sylvie is a true diva. She refused to wear Ralph's t shirt on the beach, for fear that it covered up her CUTE bathing suit.
-Wade sleeps. a lot.
-I don't know how Groupon works. i am pretty sure i just bought 4.
-Sylvie can say the whole alphabet with no mistakes. She can count to 10 on her own and 15 with help. she always omits the number two. when
- i ask her how many eyes she has- she has five. and four ears.
-Wade found his toes.
-I witnessed Sylvie using the potty for the first time ever. We had a party in the bathroom.
-I keep worrying that this vacation will go by too fast. that means it is going by too fast.
-i am still waiting on my air brushed t shirt.
- Sylvie wanted to go to bed for the first time ever. she said she was tired.
-the sun def. makes everyone sleepy.

Beach vacation day two

-While Sylvie likes to get up for sunrise, she does not like to watch it on the beach.
-As usual, things can change day to day- Sylvie did not like the sand this morning. but we didn't have her special beach shoes on, so that might have been the problem.
-Ralph makes a darn good grilled pizza.
-naps after lunch rock (for mama and babies)
-I really want an airbrushed t shirt. we will see how this progresses.

Beach vacation day one

What I have learned today:
-toddlers make friends with everyone. At the McDonald's play ground somewhere in GA, Sylvie and a three year old boy were playing like they had known each other for years. He tried to get her to go across the tunnel to the slide, but she wouldn't go. Maybe she is afraid of heights?
When he was leaving, he went in for the kiss. Sylvie looked SO worried (my parents are watching!). She quickly looked at us and then turned her cheek to intercept. Then she pat him on the back. GOOD GIRL.
-Sylvie likes the beach and sand, but in true Sylvie fashion- only with the right shoes. Thanks to Nina, Sylvie has a pair of beach shoes and she will not go in the sand with out them!
-Apparently, things have changed since the last time I went to the beach. NEVER leave your shoes unattended. My beautiful Haviana flip flops were stolen. :(
-Wade is probably the best baby I have known (even better than Sylvie was at this age)
-I will never take my daughter out past 7pm for dinner. Dis.as.ter.
-

Such a big girl!

Sylvie went peepee in the potty today at school! TWICE! We get a daily 'what I did at school today' paper and the teachers ever so diligently marks every time your child gets a diaper change or goes potty (I wonder at what age this stops?). When the child goes in the potty there is a smiley face by the time. And we had TWO smiley faces today! So of course when I get home from work I expect her to just peepee in the potty constantly. nope. none in the potty at home. and a couple of melt downs over diapers too. ugh.

************************

Mommy and Wade were sitting in the recliner snuggling. Sylvie comes up and climbs on me too. Looks my straight in the eye and say's:
'mommy. Imm Sylvie. I baby."
and lays down on me.

**************************

After Sylvie has put on her pj's after her bath, I tell her to go and say goodnight to daddy and wade while I get her room ready for bedtime (i.e. put up the baby gate so she can't get out at night).
Tonight she said goodnight to daddy and hugged him. Goodnight to wade and hugged and kissed him. and then ran up to her crate full of dollies and said:
"gddd. gdddoood. nite. dollies"
and hugged and kissed all of them.

A glimps into our nights

Wade is teething
Sylvie knows who Glen Burns is and screams out his name when he comes on
Sylvie tries to put things in Wade's hands. We have to tell her his hands don't work as well as hers do.
I talk louder to Sylvie when she does not listen to me
Sylvie now sits in a chair at the dinner table- not her high chair
Wade is still in his bassinet
I cried a little when I put the bassinet sheets away- when we thought we were moving him into the pack n play. because after Wade is out of the bassinet we have no need for it.
I savoy and store in a special place in my heart every new thing Wade does as a baby.I am not expecting any more babies to see them grow!
When Sylvie does new things, I get excited that I have one more baby to see grow!
Someone at work said that girls step on your feet when they are little and step on your heart when they are older. I will never get mad at Sylvie again for stepping on my feet.

whoops

I totally got the last past wrong. whoopsie! Here is how it REALLY happened......

Dada: Sylvie, which kind of Hamburger Helper do you want for dinner tonight?

Sylvie: Burger with cheese?

Dada: Oh no Sylvie, it's Hamburger Helper. Which kind do you like?

Sylvie: NO burger helper. No burger helper. Burger with cheese!

See. much funnier. maybe. who knows.

Burger

Disclaimer: We really do not eat out at fast food that much. I am not sure where she picked this up from.

AND why are all my posts about food?

Dada: Sylvie, do you want Hamburger Helper for dinner tonight?

Sylvie: Burger with cheese!

Dada: Oh no Sylvie, it's Hamburger Helper.

Sylvie: Burger with cheese? I want burger with cheese! Burger with cheese!

more words

I think Sylvie said 'prettyful' today instead of 'beautiful'. Interesting how she came up with that- She knows that pretty and beauty mean the same thing?

In other news, I think Wade is ready to roll over. But at night he is cocooned into his bassinet, so there is not room for him to roll over. Poor big guy. Tonight we will move him into the pack n play. I am still not ready to move him into the room with Sylvie and into his crib- I am worried he will disrupt Sylvie's sleep ( and I need her to sleep!).

Any suggestions?

Words

We had Mexican last night for dinner. On Mexican night Ralph and I hear a lot of 'more cheeze. more cheeze. more cheeze pleeze' from Sylvie.

Last night was no different. But we also heard

'oh....how did cheeze get in there?' as Sylvie looked into her big girl cup of water, where she had dropped cheese.

Sylvie also says 'apple. cado.' instead of advocado. love.

OCD

I have created a monster.

I put my shoed foot on our coffee table this mornign, while I was feeding Wade. Sylvie looked at me with disgust, pushed my foot off the table and grabed her paper towel from breakfast.

'Mama diiirrrty. Mama diirrty.' she repeated as she vigoursly scrubbed where my shoes had been.

The Little Man

Wade

11 weeks and three days old

He is smiling lots and laughing sometimes!

His eyelashes are growing longer

Lays in his bassinet quitely in the morning, awake

LOVES Sylvie

is 15lbs and 8.5 oz

26" long

is a new baby since he started eating formula

gets cranky around 8pm for about an hour

goes to bed around 9-10pm

still wakes up once a night for food

eats about 5 oz in his bottle at a time

looks amazingly different than Sylvie did at this age (I am not sure why this surprises me)

I am convinced he is older than he his- I feel like I have had him forever! (this is meant to be a good thing, not bad!)

has beautiful dark blue eyes right now, doc said they will mostly likely change

I have already noticed them changing a bit

reminds me of my grandfather- poppy

looks like my side of the family

has light light hair

has beautiful creamy pale skin, esp next to Sylvie's super summer tan skin

I love the way his eyes wrinkle when smiling. and the cute dimples in his cheeks.

sweet sweet boy

No used correctly

I am not adverse to bribing my child to make her behave better (don't judge). She loves this hair detangler and always plays with it (she can't get the cap off) while on her changing table. After her bath I tell her if she is good and doesn't whine and complain while getting ready for bed she can have the hair detanlger in her hair.
Sylvie had a rough day on Sunday. She had a fever on Saturday and was extremely tired. After her bath she was whining and complaining and just over tired.
She grabbed the detangler bottle and ordered me to put it in her hair! I said:
'Sylvie, you know only good girls get that in their hair, right? Have you been a good girl?'
With her eyes down she sadly responded:
'noooo'
:(
I let her have the detangler in her hair. I mean, she used 'no' and the correct form for once!

Sylvie's 2!

I met the most amazing person two years ago today. She changed my life, as any child would change anyone's life. I am constantly staring at her. She is amazing in every way. She is smart, extremely beautiful, polite and kind off a tomboy. She plays by herself but has so many (forced -hehe) friends already.
I cannot believe the look of happiness on her face when she see’s me! This little person thinks I am the world. Little does she know how much of the my world she is to me.

Some of my favorite things about you are:

The way you are so excited to see me when I come home after work- ‘hi mama’. The way you love baked beans and always ask for more. The way you use utensils so well. The way you cry over spilled water when drinking from a cup. The way you love elmo. The way you love your brother. The way you kiss and hug your brother, even when I don’t ask you to. The way you tell me you love me, when I don’t ask you to. You sweet little voice. Your Sylvanian language. The way you read books to us. The way you wave bye to your friends at school. The way you cry when I leave you at school, and seek comfort from Miss Olga. The way you get concerned about wade when you and I go out together, alone. The way you help mama pick up wade. The way you run everywhere. Your dancing. The way you look when Twinkle Twinkle Little star comes on the radio. The way Music makes you stop and listen. The way you love commercials with children in them. The way you say ‘r’ instead of ‘l’s in some words ‘ mama ray down!’. The way you say ‘durder’ instead of color. The way you only let me ‘durder’ with one color- of your choice. The way you only get to color in your sesame street coloring book- dada and I get the worn out Arthur coloring book. The way you love your dolly’s. The way you want dinner right at 5 o clock, and pull your hairchair out to sit in. The way you love fruit. The way you ask for apple juice all the time. The way you love your oatmeal every morning. your love of all things shoes. The way you love your family members (esp peter). The way you say ‘nena, opa’ and run to the front door. The way aunt chelle is annsell. And you ask for Sassan constantly. The way you are so happy after a day with grandma and grandpa. Every baby, except Wade, is peter. I love that you cannot say the ‘k’ sound for the word color- but Twinkle is ‘kinkle’ and tickle is ‘kickle’.

I always say this, but I just could not love a little girl more. She came into this world with a smile on her face and bossiness in her bones. She has sweetness in her heart and giggles in her stomach- and I love her for it all! Sylvie know what she wants, and she will achieve all her goals (as a two year old I am not sure she has any other goal than watching Elmo all day. and now that I think of it, she will NOT be achieving that goal J). Mama and dada believe in you!

First Day of 'School'

The first day back at school is almost over. We are all home- Sylvie babbling a mile a minute and SUPER hyper, Wade calm and exhausted, and mama with a nice glass of wine.
Wade was easy to drop off. He doesn't know where he is, nor do I think he cares. Leave him in a swing with some bottles and some one to feed them to him, and he will be fine.
Sylvie on the other hand- phew. I think she got used to spending all day everyday with her mama. We walked in the room and she grabbed my hand to go play with her. She was really upset when she learned I would be leaving her there alone. It broke my heart and I cried on the way to work. :(
Ralph picked up the babies after work and Wade was in the same swing that I left him in (hmm......) and Sylvie ran to him crying 'dada water! dada water!'. She actually doesn't know how to drink out of a real cup (I know..she is WAY to old to not know how) and she spilled her water (which is exactly why I have not taught her- she gets extremely upset when she spills).
The teachers say they were both great and fine.
And Sylvie's new word for the day is 'sfphill'. She 'sfphll water. spfill water'. This is all I am hearing right now. At a mile a minute.....

More Updates....

Wade loves to have his head rubbed- that is when he smiles most! Especially when Sylvie rubs his head.

Sylvie said a full, coherent and proper sentence yesterday. We walked out of Target (her favorite store, not mine) and she said- 'Mama, it's hot outside.'
Why yes Sylvie, it was hot outside!

Sylvie was such a happy baby- Wade is happy too, but not as silly maybe? I think he is an old soul. He can be silly, but he knows what this world is all about all ready. Also, he is probably figuring out math equations in his head.
Here is his Silly face:all Smiles:

Updates

*Sylvie*
Almost 2 years old
favorite food is baked beans by far
(followed closely be EVERYTHING else)
least favorite food- meat
about 27 lbs
knows tons of words and is a sponge!
gives kisses and hugs
loves her little brother. holds him and picks him up with mama's help
say's 'i love you mama and dada and wade'
loves elmo
is scared of thunder and static on the tv
goes to bed at 7- 7:30 pm
reads books- not as much as she used to though
loves to color (including the window and window sill)
eats oatmeal every morning

*Wade*
weighs about 14.5 lbs and is 24 in long
wears 0-3 mo clothes width wise and 3-6 mo clothes length wise
slightly smiles and laughs!
has the cutest pouty face i have ever seen
sleeps from about 9pm- 3ish am (this is new- hope I am not jinxing it!)
is not sleeping as much during the day
has a dairy/ soy allergy
loves his sister Sylvie and smiles mostly at her!
is the sweetest boy around!

*mama*
weight and age unknown :)
is reading a book and has almost finished it! for the first time in two years!
is going back to work on monday
has completely cut out dairy of her diet for Wade- working on cutting out the soy
looks forward to 3pm when Ralph comes home
Will miss being with her babies all day when she goes back to work
thinks Sylvie is so smart and Wade is the cutest!
Loves kisses from both of them!

*dada*
looks forward coming home from work to see his family!
has single handedly kept the Explorer running for the past two years
gives Sylvie her bath time and bed time
Sylvie looks forward to helping him take off his boots after work every day
gets an early morning Sylvie almost every day

Family Photo June 2010

All in a days work

I have been pooped on, peed on, thrown up on three times, yelled at, wiped snot on my shirt, and bossed around and it is only 8:30 am.

Growing Up

Our little lady is growing up. In the morning after she has her cereal, Sylvie will go to her room and pick out something to wear. She will come back out to see me with her pj's still on, dress over her head, one arm through the arm hole and the other arm sticking out of the neck hole. Sometimes she refuses to let me take her pj pants off. She sure does want to make a fashion statement! One day she tried to put her bloomies on over her pj pants, but she does not quite know how to pull up pants. So the bloomies stayed around her knees for half a day. She was walking like a penguin! I took pictures to show her when she is a teenager :)

Wade

Wade Ramsey Harrison

Wade Ramsey Harrison was born on May 25 at 7:09 am. He was 11 lbs and 8 oz (!), 22" long w/ a head circumference of 15 1/4". Big boy! Who has an 11lb baby????
I scheduled my c section on the Friday before that Tuesday. I was not talked into it, just came to my senses I guess :) The doctors and midwives kept telling me he was going to be huge, and I guess my woman's intuition just confirmed it. There was no way I was going to not have a c section. And by murphy's law, I went into labor at 2am on Tuesday morning. I was having contractions every 3 min that lasted anywhere from 40 secs to 1min. I woke up and walked around, took a shower, and we were ready to go to the hospital around 3:40. One whole hour before we had to get to the hospital for our appointment. We ended up leaving early and getting there a little early. I was offered the chance to vbac- but after some consideration and just wanting to get the baby out- I decided against it. I was very nervous about the scheduled c section. The first c section was a relief- I was ready after 22 hours or so of labor. This time was completely different. I got the epidural and it was a little more intense than the first time (although I was relived about no more contractions!). On a side note, I have only met 4 anesthesiologists in my life- two at the birth of Sylvie and two at the birth of Wade- and all of them are just the best people with the greatest personalities! I wonder if it is a requirement for that job....
Anyhoo- All was good and baby was born. Doc showed him to me over the curtain, baby dropped some baby goop on my forehead (the first of many things he will spit, poop and pee on me) and then he went to be cleaned and he didn't cry. There was no noise! I kept remembering Sylvie crying by now, and kept asking why he wasn't crying. Everyone, including Ralph was saying all was good- to not stress me out. If I freaked out- I am pretty sure they would have knocked me out on meds. Ralph kept standing up and looking over the curtain to see what they were doing, then sitting back down and telling me all was good. He took some pictures, but I still cannot bring myself to look at them fully, it was kind of disturbing. It seemed like forever, finally they brought him around the curtain and I still had not heard a peep out of him, the NICU nurse was holding him and said they were taking him to NICU. I saw him for about 5 secs. So I went to the recovery room by myself, no phone or any connection to Ralph. My nurse was great and kept calling up to NICU. I heard her say '11 lbs and 8oz' and could not believe it. JEEZ that was a big baby. They would not let me leave recovery until I could move my legs. This took a long time, I actually have no idea how long, but I remembered with Sylvie it took longer than most people as well. Ralph came down to see me and told me what was going on and left my phone with me.
Turns out Wade was stained with meconium when he was born. He had breathed this in in the womb and had MAS
http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/lungs/meconium.html
He had tubes in his belly and was put under an oxygen tent and hooked up all over. Poor little man! But look at the size of him.... JEEZ. I was finally taken to my room and was told that I would be taken to see my baby as soon as possible, but I had to recover a some first! How hard that was. Ralph brought me pictures. I didn't get to see him until about 7pm at night, and even then I could not hold him.
The NICU nurses were absolutely great. They kept us informed and were always very sweet. Wade had an iv for nutrition, but nothing was entering his stomach. I think he finally ate some formula on Thursday morning. He was starving- just gnawing at his fist! And....Still not making much noise, which was okay at this point- he is just not a crier!Wade spent 5 days in the NICU, had plenty of medicine, xrays, and an echo. We were both discharged on Saturday, Wade with a clean bill of health!
Since Wade was not in the hospital room with us at all, Saturday night was our first night with him. It was not so bad. He sleeps anywhere from 2 1/2 hrs to almost 5 hours at a time (not always at night). He eats 4 oz at a time (!). I find myself worried that since he had no food for two days, that he is just starving all the time! I asked his pediatrician about this, he assured me that is not possible :)

As far as Sylvie goes- she was great! She stayed at Opa and Gram's house and I think she grew up while she was there. She says sentences now, asks for food or water when she wants it and I think grew about two inches! She visited the hospital but could not go into the NICU- so she had no idea why Ralph and I were in this room and mommy was in bed. She met Wade on the Saturday we were discharged. She did not pay him too much attention. Now she will kiss him on the fore head and when we hold Wade she points at him and says his name. I am not sure she particularly cares for him though. She has been spending lots of time with daddy and now follows him around, not paying much attention to mommy who seems to be holding a baby a lot. :( I can only hope this goes away soon. I miss playing with my daughter!

I will post some non- tubed pictures of the sweet baby boy once we download them.

And thanks to everyone for your thoughts and well wished while we were in the hospital!

Who will Wade Look like?

10 lb baby??

We had another ultrasound yesterday. I said I would refuse the next ultrasound after the last one, because of the way I was treated by the tech. But wanting to see the baby again won. This ultrasound tech drives me crazy. She puts unneeded worry into my head about the size of my baby and suggests that the doctor is going to cut the baby right out of me in mere hours! She got me so worried yesterday that my blood pressure was 130/70 (up from my usual 100/60). Good thing the doctor is very reassuring and nothing is serious. The ultrasound said baby Wade is 41 weeks and 10lbs. I am still not a believer in it-only time will tell! The doc said everything is fine and I can schedule a c section as early as next Friday if I want, or just wait it out. I cannot make that decision right now. I am certainly tired and a c section is starting to sound okay- but I cannot give up now. To come all this way and just give up? Weak.
But baby Wade looks just perfect! His cheeks are getting bigger- where does the huge cheek gene come from?? He actually kind off looks like Sylvie in the ultrasound pics- but they are siblings after all! I cannot wait to meet him! and when I say I cannot wait- I literally mean it. ugh.
Sylvie is still doing great. She is such a big girl! She loves her big girl bed. The only problem we had recently was when she woke up early one morning and walked out into the living room expecting to see Ralph and I. Ralph was at work and I was still sleeping. I heard her crying and so sad! I went to get her from her room and noticed to door was opened, so I walked out into the living room. She was just standing there crying looking at the sofa and chair where Ralph and I usually sit. I think she thought we had abandoned her! Oh my heart broke!
Another thing I love about her right now is how she thinks all food, drinks, her bath water, and even sometimes books are too hot. She learned this from me making sure her food is the right temperature. I am always telling her to not eat yet if it is too hot. So now everything is too hot- even if it is not. The best thing about this, she says ‘who ha’ instead of ‘too hot’. For some reason this cracks me up. I should be correcting her, but I say ‘who ha’ just as much as she does now! There is nothing cuter than her looking up at me all serious and saying ‘mama, who ha. Who ha!’ to the bathwater.
Mother’s Day last weekend was just perfect! Ralph got me a massage that was wonderful! Then the whole family met up and had a wonderful lunch! It could not have been better. That day Sylvie learned to say her Uncle Sassan’s name, but still cannot say Peter (her cousin who she calls peepee ). She asks about these two all the time now.
Hopefully the next time I post will be with a new baby! 

The Terrible Twos

It seems we have a case of the Terrible Twos on our hands. This started about two weeks ago. Sylvie has her own agenda and if we don't follow, watch out! The tears and screaming start coming. Poor Girl. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that she wants to be a big girl. And in fact, she is a big girl! One tantrum was because she really wanted to sit on the potty and not wear her diaper anymore. Poor thing doesn't understand this is not a one day and you learn it kind off thing! She took her diaper off herself ( luckily this has not happened again) and refused to put it back on! There were no messes, but lots of tears.
So last weekend we decided to put her in her big girl bed. So far- so good. I think this goes along the lines of her wanting to grow up! This morning was the first morning that she got out of bed on her own and actually met me at the door to her room. Hm....I think a baby gate at the door is in her future. All other mornings she just sat in bed and called out for mama!
She is still our sweet girl even though she screams terror sometimes. She is so smart, still LOVES books and reads all day, and is learning so many words! She will ask us what something is, repeat it and remember it (i know this is what humans do but it amazes me)! She will also say sentences (small ones). It is amazing to watch her learn and grow. And when I get sad about her growing up, I remember that we have one more baby on the way to do it all over with again!

23 days to go and all heck has broken loose...

My feet are now swollen, I have pupps on my stomach, my legs have some sort of hormonal rash, and I have a slight case of GD. I am having contractions though (the real ones I think... have I done this before??)! Hurry up Wade, I am in no way ready for you but please hurry! :)

Getting closer to baby......

This is Baby Harrison #2 at 35 weeks! He was measuring about 8lbs and 39 weeks, we will see how accurate that is. I am not a fan of ultrasounds measuring accurately!
Ralph and I still have lots to do to get ready. I guess I should be doing that now......? Life has certainly gotten harder- taking care of an almost two year old at 9 mo pregnant is difficult to say the least. I cannot wait until I can pick Sylvie up and play with her on the floor like we used to. This pregnancy has been very different than the last. My most favorite difference is that my feet are barely swollen! When I was pregnant with Sylvie my feet were swollen for about 4 mo- so this is a nice change. I do not have to go out and buy new shoes to fit my about to pop feet.
We will be delivering Baby #2 at the new Northside in Forsyth- about 20 minutes from our house. Ralph and I took the tour today and I must say, this hospital is as nice as a spa! It is only about two years old and super nice. I cannot wait!
Sylvie is getting ready as well. She has met all sorts of new babies recently- her cousin Peter and best friend to be Liam. She loves to watch them and then get her dolls and pretend with her dolls. Very cute! I wonder what she will do when the baby doesn't go home after a few hours though. We will see!

The Easter Bunny 2010

Sylvie did much better seeing the Easter bunny than Santa Clause.

Easter Bunny 2pts, Santa Clause 1pt.

I think the Easter Bunny is much less scary. She was eyeing him and waving to him the whole time in line. When she sat on his lap, she was a little apprehensive. But once mommy starting jumping around to make her smile, she was fine!

Getting Ready for Baby

I think we are doing a good job at getting Sylvie ready for baby.....She cooks, cleans, Diapers her dolls and puts them to nightnight. At this rate, Ralph and I will have so much free time when baby comes- Sylvie will be a great help! :)

Learning to diaper.....
Cleaning....

A New Member of the Family!

My Brother and Sister-in-Law had a gorgeous baby boy on Saturday March 6 at 3:40pm.
Peter Nicholas Hoogerwerf.
:)

Pictures are back...I hope.....

Sylvie had a very exciting weekend a few weekends ago. On Friday night, it snowed about 4". Sylvie went out in the snow on Saturday morning for a little bit and was none too thrilled. I wouldn't be either if I fell in it and it was wet and cold, and the snow went up to my knees and I couldn't walk. Maybe when she is older she will appreciate it more.
On Saturday, Aunt Rochelle took Sylvie to the Big Apple Circus! What a great day! Sylvie came home exhausted and Rochelle had some great stories. Sylvie loves the circus already and could not take her eyes off the show! On Sunday it was Valentines Day, so her mommy and daddy got her some books and an Elmo movie. What an exciting weekend for our baby! While Sylvie was out all weekend, Ralph and I got to spend some time with Katherine and Brian and go shopping.
Here is Sylvie trying on Daddy's shoes.

18 months!

Sylvie had her 18 mo check up this week. She is perfectly healthy, but has stopped growing so fast! She is now in the 80% for height and head size, and 60% for weight. All of these used to be in the 90% just a few months ago.
And what would a post about Sylvie be without some bragging about my beautiful daughter? Her Dr. office just loves her. They all know her by name and she walks in like she owns the place. She waves to her nurse through the waiting room window every time the nurse walks by. The Dr. takes her around the office after he checks her out to show her off and she 'Miss America' waves to everyone. I think it is wonderful that she feels so comfortable there- it is a Dr.'s office after all!
Sylvie also is doing very well at 'school'. She shares very well with all her friends and enjoys going every morning.
Sylvie is also 'talking' constantly. It is the sweetest thing I have ever heard - baby babble. I need to record it so I can remember this sound forever. It instantly puts me in a good mood and makes me smile.
As for getting ready for the new baby- I think that Sylvie might have a small idea of what is going to happen. She gets excited when she sees babies on the tv or in books, and in real life. She carries around a small baby doll she has and covers her with a blanket. But she also throws this baby on the ground and leaves her there for hours so...... :)
The new baby, Wade (possible name??), is doing great! He is growing and kicking a lot now and we cannot wait for his arrival (me especially- no more pregnancy please). Ralph and I might have come to agreement on the name, but time will tell :). I think we might have to meet this baby first to confirm the name and make sure it fits his personality. It is really nice knowing that the baby is a boy. I feel one step closer to knowing him already.
As for docs, we might have find a new one. I am in the middle of juggling Dr.s to see which one might be the best fit and it is very confusing! I only have Thursdays to go to the doctor and I end up with two appt's at the same time at different offices. We have an appt. with a new Dr. next week (and the old Dr. for that matter)- he has a good recommendation and Ralph and I have a good feeling about this. We will keep you posted!

Time Out

We have started to introduce Sylvie to Time Out when she is bad (this is rare..ha). The time out corner is designated as the corner where the bathroom and hall meet- we close the bathroom door. Sylvie has gone to time out about 3 times in the week since we have started- all of them with Ralph or I sitting with her saying 'this is time out' ect.
Tonight, Sylvie was testing our limits and standing on the seat of her mini coupe car. This is NOT allowed. I told her to get out of her car and go to time out, then moved the car so she could not get in it. I said 'we are going to time out now' and before I could move she was running down the hall. Ralph and I just stared at each other- we thought she was running to our bedroom door to open it and go inside (yes...she can now open doors). To our UTMOST surprise, Sylvie ran to the time out corner and SAT DOWN facing the corner and was quiet!
Ralph and I could not hold it together. We laugh when we realize how smart our girl is. We were dying trying to be serious- telling her to stay in time out. When she realized we were laughing (at her smartness mind you) she quickly got up and ran to our bedroom door to get in more trouble.

Oh well....maybe next time we will be more successful in disciplining our child!

Updates

Sylvie McKenzie Harrison

17 months and 1 week old

-says 'hi' all the time

-calls me Nana, not Mama

-says Dada constantly!

-still gives great hugs

-now gives kisses! Mostly to her Dada

-loves to show off her tummy. Laughs when she see's Mama's tummy

-is very 'energy' conscious. She closes all doors. Turns off all lights that she can reach when we carry her. In the morning, she turns off her crib soother and lullaby seahorse to not waste the batteries when Ralph or I come and get her.

-loves her mini coupe that great grandfather gave her for Christmas. She will get in and out of her car all day long! Sometimes she has minor car accidents when she gets in and out, nothing serious but it does scare her. She crawls away from all accidents.

-will find our slippers and bring them to us and try to put them on. For this reason we sometimes call her 'sales lady'

-Still is the only girl in her class at 'school'. She says two of the boys names- Daniel and Nillo. Sometimes at dinner we ask where Daniel is. She will look around the room, and shake her head- no he's not here!

-uses a fork- def. not to the best of her ability

-has been waking up at night again for some reason. Cries for about 20 min at a time :(

-Still loves bathtime and bed time!

-loves books

-also loves to clean up (yes!)

-had her first serious illness over Christmas. At one point I has holding her and thought I burned my skin she was so hot with fever

- Mama couldn't love any little girl more!

-her teacher at daycare comments on how smart she is every day ;)

-and how bossy she is......when the babies need their diaper changed, the teacher just tells them that it is time and they walk over to the changing station. Some babies don't get this yet, so Sylvie pushes them along to the right place.

-she has a potty seat! So far- she likes to sit on it clothed

-has no idea that in 4 short months she will have a new cousin and a new brother!

It's a .......

Boy! We were very excited to find out on Thursday that the new baby is a boy! I have heard that hte ultrasounds can be wrong, but if a boy part was there- I am pretty sure it is not going anywhere! Ralph and I are just thrilled. Of course we would have loved a girl but knowing we will have one of each just clarify's it for us that we can be done!

And now for the hard part....coming up with a name. Coming up with Sylvie's name was very easy. This will be harder. We have a lot to think about....Ralph is an IV so we have to decide if we want to carry on the tradition of his name or change the tradition. We have a few other names we are thinking of- but Ralph is a top contender. On a side note, if it was a girl we have a name picked out. This boy this is already starting to be difficult! :)

I cannot decide what I like better...finding out at birth what sex the baby is or finding out at 20 weeks. I guess there is no way to compare- both ways are surprising and fun in their own right. I will say what I do like about finding out at 20 weeks- it is a fun and exciting thing to look forward to in the middle of your pregnancy. Otherwise it makes for a long pregnancy! Now I can start 'bonding' with my boy and know what to expect (somewhat) out of him! ha.

After this wonderful moment finding out that we are having a boy, I had a somewhat unnerving appointment with the doctor. I want to have a VBAC and think it is my right to have one (it is my body after all...) but apparently my doctor just does not care. He will let me have one, as long as the baby comes before 40 weeks. But if my water breaks and I am not in labor- he will schedule a c section. So I have to decide if I want to change docs, how important a VBAC and TOL are, or if I just want to chance it with him. I do think my best interests are in his mind (somewhat) becuase it is dangerous- but if I really want one why can he not understand this and just blow me off? So.... back to square one of finding a doc. BUT at the same time, the midwifes at the practice I go to are very understanding - but they still have to answer to the doctors. I just have to decide (and probably sooner rather than later) what is really important to me. With all of this said, I want to clarify that however the baby comes out, I will be extremely happy that the baby and me are healthy!