Ivie Family: April 2011

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Miss Emma's Three Month Stats!

Weight: I would guess 14 pounds. We will find out at 4 month check up.
Length: LONG! I don't need the doctor to confirm this one!
Hair: What hair!? There is still a dark patch in back, but that is it! Her eyebrows are starting to look strawberry blonde in the sunlight. Interesting......
Eyes: Blue, and they light up when she smiles!
Skin tone: Translucent! Pale punkin!
Eating: She eats every 3.5 hours and is eating about 4 oz each feeding. I dropped her 10 p.m. feeding last week so she only has 5 feedings a day. She can now make it 11 whole hours overnight in between feedings! I am so proud of that! It has made going back to work so easy because I am getting such great sleep. She has no problem taking a bottle on the days I am at work and both our freezers are jam packed full of milk. We are adding cereal to her diet this week.
Sleeping: We put Emma to bed at 8. We lay her down with her paci and her beloved lovey lamb across her face and she puts herself to sleep. She hasn't been swaddled since two months and she usually kicks all of her covers off. No matter what I do her little hands are always frozen in the morning. Emma sleeps in until 9 or 10 a.m. and usually naps from 11-1, 3-4:30 and sometimes 6-7. She lets me know when she is ready for a rest and I lay her down in her crib. The pack in play in our living room is only used for diaper changes these days.
Size: 3-6 month clothes, size 1 diapers
Likes: watching Ryan, ME! (we are crazy about each other- she is a total momma's girl), lamb lovey, snoozin' in her car seat, her rocker chair, sucking on her hands, loves kisses on her chubby cheeks (I love to give them)
Newest Accomplishment: trying out her voice, she is so close to laughing, can roll from her belly to her back when she is propped up on her elbows, can sit in the Bumbo, can face outward in the Baby Bjourn

Emma always watches Ryan

Ryan admiring Emma's toys

Share girl

My favorite picture of the month!

She likes to get real rigid.

Strong, long legs standing up!

This girl is awesome at tummy time

"Mom, get that flash out of my eyes!"

"Are you still taking my picture? I'm trying to work out."

"Hooray! She put the camera down and now I can see her!"

Love the dimples!

After a bath

A lazy Wednesday morning watching cartoons with my girls.

Love, love, love part time work!

Emma doesn't look 18 months younger in these pics!

Ryan is really starting to look out for her sister.

She pats her, helps burp her, alerts me when Emma cries

If Emma is watching Ryan this is what she looks like

More tummy time!

Emma got a beautiful quilt in the mail from the Kleinerts!

We rolled around and played on it one whole afternoon

We love you Emma girl!

Temper Tantrum

Before I tell the story of what a toot little Ryan can sometimes be, I had to put a few cute pictures of my girl. She is so smart for her age and has such a strong will. Although I am happy that she is so advanced and that she knows what she wants, I also know that Ry and I will be bumping heads a lot!

Who me? I am always sweet!

Jumpin' on her bed in my favorite pajamas of hers.
She is too cute!

Now, back to the story.

Ryan got her first public "spanking". (It was really just a hand swat.) She has gotten a few at home, but this was the first in public. I know it sounds sad, but it had to happen. Here is how it all went down.

I was home with the girls last Thursday while Chris was at work. I knew we needed to get out and run a few errands, but I decided to wait until after naps. I did chores and worked out while the girls slept, and finally when Ryan awoke from her 3 hour nap, we loaded up and headed out. Ryan was in a great mood. She was excited that we were going shopping for her cousin Eliana's birthday present. I only had one other stop for us to make. I wanted to swing by Old Navy (which is next door to Michaels where we were shopping for Eli) and buy myself a pair of shorts and Ryan a pair of shoes. Two quick stops. No big deal. As long as I had my FOUR wheeled double stroller there would be no problem. The Michaels stop was a piece of cake. Emma slept and Ryan stayed strapped in the stroller and helped me pick out a gift. One stop down, one to go. Since Old Navy was next door I didn't even have to unload and reload the kids, we could just walk over.

At Old Navy my luck started to run out. Ryan started fussing and squirming in the stroller. She was ready for a break. Emma was still fast asleep. So, I hurried and grabbed a few different items and rushed to the dressing room. Unfortunately the giant double stroller would not fit in the dressing room. So, I went to the back room and tried on clothes with the door open so I could see the girls. Ryan really started to become impatient so I made the fatal mistake and took her out of the stroller. The stroller is so big that I was able to contain her in the back by blocking the hallway with the stroller. She started having fun playing with hangers and trying to open and close the doors. I relaxed and finished trying on the clothes. I found a few things I liked and was ready to go find a few tank tops and flip flops for Ryan. I needed to get Ry back in the stroller so I could get us all out of the dressing room. There was no way that I could push the stroller and chase her. She had to get back in the stroller. She did not like this one bit. She lost it. As I tried to pick her up and strap her in she launched into a full fledged tantrum. Screaming, kicking, hitting, back arching, tears and snot flinging tantrum. Getting her strapped in was not easy, and it only made her more mad. So mad that she actually threw bunny! And paci! I realized at that point that I was not going to get to look at tank tops and that Ryan was not getting flip flops. It was time to go. I had found a few things I wanted to buy so I decided to attempt to check out. I kept thinking that she would calm down. Nope. She was a sweaty, snotty, screaming mess waiting in line to check out. People were looking at me like I was crazy as I stood there and watched her lose it. There was nothing I could do to make her stop. I was just waiting for the stroller restraints to break. She is strong and she was mad! One lady in line in front of me actually said "poor baby, she looks so tired." I suddenly felt like people thought I was dragging this poor baby all over town shopping for myself instead of letting her nap. Little did they know she had just gotten up from a solid 3 hour nap. She wasn't tired. She was mad. Extremely mad. And I NEVER go shopping for myself! We checked out and made it to the car. I was also a sweaty mess at this point. I was dreading the next part. I was going to have to unleash the beast only to try to strap her down again in the car seat. I got a glance at poor Emma as I got her situated in the car first. Even though it was time for her to eat she sat quietly in her car seat. Thank goodness for that!

I took a deep breath and started unstrapping my other screaming child. She began squirming and flailing her arms around. That is when my glasses got knocked off and when Ryan got her hand slapped. I know it didn't hurt her, it just shocked her. And made her more mad. By the time we got home all three of us were in tears. Ryan mad, Emma hungry and me totally defeated.
Like I said earlier, it's a good thing she is so cute. We were snuggled up watching Mickey Mouse 10 minutes later. I sure do love that hard headed little girl. Two is only three months away. Let the head bumping begin!

The Dual Nap!

Emma taking her morning nap

Today was day number three, so I don't think it is a fluke! I have finally mastered the dual nap. It only took 12 weeks, considering almost 3 of those weeks were in Parkland Hospital, I am proud. I love the awake time I get with my girls, don't get me wrong, but I sure can get a lot done in the 2 hours that they are snoozing! It is wonderful.

We recently have started transitioning Ryan to one really long nap (3 hours), instead of two long naps (2 hours each). She still has no problem taking two naps, but since she has started sleeping in until 9 and sometimes 10 a.m. we can't really put her down for a morning nap. So, we have started giving her lunch and then putting her down. So far so good.

Little Emma also sleeps in until 9:30ish ( I know- we are VERY lucky!). She eats at 10, and plays until 11 and then she is ready for a solid 2-2.5 hour nap. So, the past 3 days I have gotten them both down I have maximized this time.

Since I am back working part time, I have to be productive around the house so things don't pile up. This is one of the great things about working part time. I remember when I went back to work full time after having Ryan I felt like I never had enough time in the evenings. I was busy getting everything ready for Ryan the next day that I never felt like I had time to do chores or work out. I also felt guilty if I wasn't spending quality time with Ryan when I was cleaning or preparing for the next day. So, sometimes I would wait until after I put her down to get ready for the next day. It was exhausting and a lot of the time all the housework had to be done on the weekends. YUCK!

Working part time allows me not to stress about getting ready for the next day. I know that I will have a day off mid week, sometimes two in a row! I was off Wednesday and Thursday this week. It was heavenly! (It's like having a Friday on Tuesday and then another one on the true Friday.) So, that is why I don't have to stress after a work day. I can do it the next day and I won't fall behind.

That is also why the dual nap is an added bonus. I love the hour or so I get alone with Ryan when Emma is sleeping and I also love the hour or so I get alone with Emma before Ryan wakes up. But the 1.5-2 hours that they are both asleep I check some boxes on my "To Do" list. Today I was able to knock out some laundry, unload the dishwasher, spend an hour on the treadmill, set out dinner, clean my breast pump and organize the freezers full of breast milk. I felt very productive. It feels great to get the chores done so when the girls are awake all we have to do is play!

B.G.P.

AKA: Big Girl Panties

Ryan has started to show a tiny bit of interest in wearing big girl panties. She has yet to show a tiny bit of interst in sitting on the big girl potty. So, until that changes we will let her try them on and even wear them a little bit. She wore these for about 30 minutes and then was ready for her diaper back. We got our work cut out for us in the potty training department. She is still 3 months shy of two, so I am just gonna sit back and relax and laugh at her cute little bottom.

Ryan modeling her B.G.P.

Chris said her hiney was hungry :-)

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Easter Photo Shoot

We had to put the girls in their Easter dresses for a photo shoot. It wouldn't be Easter without a little torture! Ryan is really not fond of dresses. She looks darling in them! Especially since her hair is getting so long. The funny thing is that usually once you get her in the dress she doesn't want to take it off. That is what happened on Sunday.

Emma got to wear the beautiful dress that Nina, my parents neighbor, made for her. She didn't mind at all :)