Valentine's Day

I always love the month of February, not necessarily for Valentine's Day (though it is cute now to do them with Harper, though he isn't really understanding the idea of giving them away, as he wants to keep them for himself).  I love it because we have 2 Mondays off in a row!  Man, do I really enjoy three day weekends, it feels like 2 days is never enough to recover from the whirlwind of the week. 

We started Bryn on some solids, her first were carrots, like Harper tried as his first food.  She did pretty well though does not have quite the gusto that Harper did for food!, at least not yet.  She is getting the hang of it and has thus far tried sweet potatoes and peas as well.  No allergic reactions, thank goodness.  We are making out own baby food again this time around, though  even more importantly since we don't want any dairy or soy in it:)

Trying some carrots

Although the weather has been amazingly nice, it is crazy how much we need rain for our drought and also to clear the bad air here in the valley.  We finally had a few days of it thankfully!  Here is a pic of Harper in his Batman rain boots and rain jacket.  He loves playing outside in them.  The other day at the park he and his buddy Luke slid down the slide before Andrea or I could get over to them and of course drenched themselves in the leftover puddles at the bottom of the slides, they of course though it was hilarious!

This past weekend we (Brendan) finally got around to building Harper's big boy bed.  For several months or more Harper has been able to climb in and out of his crib.  We bought a bed from IKEA in Dec (that can be used as a bunk bed later), but hadn't had a chance to build it.  For the last week or so Harper would awake in the morning at normal time and then open his door and wait for us to come get him, so we knew it was time.  He was soooo excited.  As Brendan was putting it together, we decided to just flip it up, so that there is a play space under and the bed is on top, since Harper is almost 3 and can climb the ladder just fine, plus the room is so small it allows for more floor space, he know can have a super hero lair under his bed.  The whole day he kept asking if it was ready and finally when it was he was sooooo excited.  We had to go over some rules about jumping on it, opening the blinds and throwing things into the fan.  His Spider-man sheets arrived Wed:)  The first night was a success and he slept through the night no problem and took his 3 hour nap just fine as well.  So glad he is still a good sleeper, as his little sister is NOT!  Obviously we have to move BABY on the wall as he is a BIG BOY now and hang over where Bryn will sleep in Harper's old crib.  We will be moving things around and putting some different pics on the wall as well as we transition the room for both of them to share (which has not happened yet, see below...)

He was ready for her to sleep in the crib that night, but alas, she is still in our room as she still wakes up once or twice or three times a night. I sure miss when she would sleep through the night when she was a few months old. I tried to transition her a few times to the pack and play in my room, but she wasn't having it. She is getting too big for the rock and play, so something has to give soon. This a video of her after she woke up in the middle of the night, fed, fell back asleep and I placed in her in the pack and play. You can't see her, but you can hear her, she loves her voice! She isn't upset, but she is definitely not sleeping, no fun for momma at 2 in the morning!

Valentine's Day was celebrated on Wed at Tia Gracie's house with all of the other kids from daycare because that is the only day all of them attend.  She put on a great little party with the table decorated and they were going to have pizza and decorate cupcakes and have treats, I wanted to stay instead of going to work!  Harper picked out his valentines, of course they were Spider man.

Austin and Harper

They LOVE each other!

My parents are in Puerto Rico, they sent a pic of flying first class, man they know how to live life!  It is too bad they were gone this weekend as my 2 aunts, Pat and Casey, came to visit.  They had yet to meet Bryn, so it was fun to hang out and catch up.  They got to cuddle with her and Harper.  It was also nice to have extra hands around.  On Sat we went and had mani/pedis-so relaxing.  Brendan spent Sat night with his friends at the soccer expo game of LA Galaxy and SJ Quakes.  After my aunts left Harper woke up Mon morning and came into my room and asked: "Where are my Aunties?"  I said they had gone home and he responded "I'm going upstairs to check." LOL!

Harperisms:

-Harper was watching a new episode of paw patrol and said "this is not a Christmas episode, Christmas is over, boo!"

 

-Brendan was feeding Bryn carrots for the 1st time and said "I know it's sweet, I don't know why she's making a face." Then Harper said "let me see her carrot face"

 

-Harper got his new bed and said-OMG-it is soooo cute!

 

-I was watching tv and Harper said when I ask you to pause it pause, I asked him why and he said because it hurts my ears.

Bryn updates:
-has tried carrots, peas, sweet potatoes, butternut squash...maybe we will try some fruit this week
-transitioned to the pack and play
-still not sleeping through the night
-smiling and laughing a lot
-sitting up on her own (falls over after a period of time)
-naps 2 times a
-loves sticking her feet in her mouth
-2 bottom teeth

Two teefers



 

 

Little Miss Cal Poly

 

 

Back in the Groove

I still can't believe the Holidays are over!  I am now back to work, so that also means my time at home has come to an end until next summer:(  I was so fortunate to have 5 months home with Bryn and 7 with Harper.  I do wish this country had more maternity leave, a year would be amazing!!!  I was really anxious about returning to work for a few reasons: #1 I am a control freak and dislike having a sub anytime, but to have one who is going to be starting out the school year and continuing all semester is a nightmare for me.  I also knew that the sub was not that great and had heard through the grapevine she was awkward and didn't have a nice personality and that she really struggled with my Spanish 1 Per 7 class.  #2 I didn't want to leave Bryn since she has had her struggles with allergies and she isn't the "easiest" baby in the world.  #3 We had to find new daycare, since Linda could only take Harper and not Bryn until later in the year.  Well we took a look at some daycares from references, but they just didn't seem to be a good fit.  Then we had one for a daycare right near my work.  We took the kids to check it out and we knew before we even left that it was THE place!:) 

"Tia Gracie" has been doing this for 20+ years and is only open TWTh (the days we need).  Her own kids went to the same primary and high school as I did.  She has a great, big yard where the kids play and plant food in the garden.  She then has them help her cook from the things that grow.  She cooks all her own food and baby food.  They go on long walks around the neighborhood in the mornings.  She speaks Spanish!  Harper went last week for the first time and had a blast picking oranges and making juice.  He couldn't wait to go back.  Some days Harper is the only kid there so he gets lots of one on one time:)  

My mom stayed with Bryn all last week as I transitioned back to work.  Bryn was fighting a little cold and could be teething.  She proved to be difficult as she did not want to take a bottle, but finally gave in as she was hungry.  Her napping was hit and miss and the swing was pulled back out!  She def is happier when she gets a good nap in:)  We just wish she would take 2 a day, at this age Harper took 3!!  We do almost everything the same with Bryn as we did with Harper, yet she is sooooo different.  Just chalk it up to diff babies and diff personalities:)  A big shout out to my mom who not only came everyday and watched Bryn, but prepped dinner for us each night and even did some cleaning and laundry!!  Thanks also to Grandma Donna and Grampsy Pat for extra hands during the week and to Grandpa Dave, who now comes with Nana on Mondays to help with both kids.

Well all in all it has been a pretty smooth transition back to work.  All my fears about the students being hard to manage, not being well trained, not knowing anything did not pan out, thank goodness.  In fact I have really great students and no problems with any of them, even the "notorious" Per 7 kids are great and do their work.  I think many of them were just anxious to have me back, so word to the wise (teachers): "Get and bad substitute teacher and your students will be begging for you to return!"

Harper loves his new "Tia Gracie" and looks forward to going everyday.  He gets to take his superman backpack, he looks so cute pretending to fly to the front door, I need to take a picture of it.  They have lots of fun there, especially playing in the backyard.  Bryn started yesterday and I was really nervous, but she did well.  She drank her bottles fine and took a long 2+ hr nap.  I did bring over an extra rock and play that Kaila let us borrow.  We will work on transitioning her to a pack and play as time goes on.

Bryn:
-still swaddled for sleep
-does not like to sleep in pack and play
-will sleep in rock and play and my bed
-takes one big nap in the day, usually over 2 hours, but fights any naps later in
  the day, which is too bad since she gets pretty fussy in the evenings
-loves her bouncer
-can sit up pretty well on your lap, has total head control
-can roll from tummy to back, but not back to tummy yet
-appears to be teeting, lots of drool and shoving her fingers in her mouth (it
  almost appears one of her bottom canines is coming in first, but who knows
-still has bloody stool from time to time, (her doctor says it is okay since she is
   thriving) there is not really a rhyme or reason,
   but I am always skeptical if I eat out, since I cannot 100% control the
   ingredients (therefore I don't eat out often)

Bath-time yoga

Bundled up for s'mores

Close up

Harper:
-a bundle of energy
-Spiderman is still his favorite toy
-now asks what certain words mean
-everytime he hears bad words like stupid or shutup on tv or radio, says "we
  don't say that"
-loves going to the park with his buddy Luke
-happy to help Bryn, likes to give her toys or binky if she is getting "fussy"
-One night I was trying to finish dinner and she was getting fussy, before 
   I could move Harper said "Don't worry Mom, I got this" and went over to calm
   Bryn down

S'mores night with our neighbors Cole and Baron

Flying like Superman while watching the movie with Dad (notice the Spiderman pjs)
 

End of the Holidays, Starting Back to Work

The holidays are officially over and that is always a little sad in our house because we really enjoy all of the decorations, family and spirit and now that we have kids it is even better!  We spent Christmas Eve here with my parents and Erin's family for our annual paella dinner, luckily it is dairy and soy free!  Christmas morning was spent at Erin's for crepes, which are my favorite meal of the year, but alas this year I had to pass but that will make next year's soooo much better!  Christmas night was spent at my parents with my brother and his family.  We spent the night so we didn't have to worry about getting the kids back home early.  It was a very yummy dinner and nice to see everyone since they live in Monterey now.  The morning after Christmas things turned rough.  Harper threw up his milk right after drinking it:(  Then all day he complained about his tummy, he was checked by the doctor while Bryn was at her checkup and he was negative for the flu.  Later that afternoon, he ended up getting diarrea and that went on for about 2 days, lots of baths to help his sensitive behind.  That Fri we had dinner with Gramsy Pat and Grandma Donna since they had been in Virginia over Christmas.  That evening Brendan said he didn't feel well:(  By midnight he was violently ill to his stomach and of course it hit me about 4 hours later:(  It was like a repeat of the norovirus that we got last year at the EXACT same time!  Luckily this time we were home and it didn't spread to anyone else, not even Bryn-thank god! 

Superman photobomb!

Santa was a success!

All snuggled up for the Christmas Lights Parade

Pretty Bryn in Uncle Chris' arms while Auntie Stacie takes the pic

Hanging out in the Bumbo while I prep for Christmas Eve dinner

I start back at work on Jan 13th for the second semester.  I'm quite nervous and anxious as I will miss the kids terribly and Bryn will only be 5 months so that will be soooo hard.  We had to find a new place for them to go on TWTh since Linda already had an infant and cannot take more than 1 at a time.  We had some referrals and checked them out, but the last woman we met with was AMAZING!  Seriously couldn't think of anyone better.  She only takes kids TWTh, the days we need and only has 4-5 kids and has a huge yard, takes the kids on walks everyday around the golf course, has a garden that the kids help plant and then she has them cook with her the things from the garden!  She only makes all the food she serves.  Her kids went to Sacred Heart and San Joaquin, just like me:)  Her house is literally about 2 min from my work as well, so I will be super close and it won't be a long commute, like it usually is, since child care has always been pretty far from home and work for me:)  I will take Harper the first week by himself to get him adjusted and then start taking Bryn the second week.

I know that the first few weeks back will be a rough transition as my most of my students have never met me (some of my Spanish 3 kids have had me in Spanish 1 though) and have had a not so great sub for the first semester.  I will spend lots of time training them and getting them into my routine.  This is much like the beginning of any shcool year except they now all know each other and I don't know them.  Hopefully it is pretty smooth.  Several of my co-workers say my students are anxiously waiting my return, so that make me feel good:)

Bryn: 4 months
-15.3 lbs
-24.75 inches
-napping once in the morning and a big long nap at the same time as Harper's in the afternoon
-going to bed around 9, waking once for a feeding, wakes up around 8/830
-sleeping in her rock and play, haven't transitioned her to the pack and play yet
-swaddled for naps and sleep
-much happier and easier to deal with in the evenings
-doing better in her carseat on rides
-rolls from stomach to back
-really good head control
-sits up in bath seat
-loves the piano
-loves Harper, he always make her smile
-isn't fazed by the screaming Harper does
-giggles and laughs
-no spitting up
-lots of drooling

Harper: 32 months
-34 lbs
-naps from 1-4, sleeps from 9-8/830
-loves all superheros
-had a blast over Christmas
-learned Rudolph the Red Nosed reindeer
-plays with his friend Luke really well now
-loves the park
-loves his sister and helps get her things, calms her, puts her paci in
-talks from sun up to sun down
-will pee on the big boy toilet

Harpenese:
-Harper saw a pic of a dog with the grinch hat on and said "oh he's being the grunch"

-Bryn hit her face on mine and started to cry...to calm her I started to nurse her and Harper asked:
"Did she settle down? Is she going to cry again?"

-Harper said he's going to teach Bryn how to talk and she's not going to wear onesies anymore because she's going to be a big girl.

-I gave Harper a plate of pizza and after a minute he said "actually I need some ranch!"
-I was picking Harper up out of the crib and must have groaned because of his weight, he said "I'm heavy because I am growing"

-The other night Bryn started to get fussy in the piano and he told me "Mom, I got this" and went over and started to play with her to calm her down.

Valley Children's visit and Bryn's Allergies

On day 9 Bryn woke up with a swollen pink eye with goop coming out, also she was inconsolable without wanting to eat or nurse.  We thought it was a blogged tear duct as we had heard of that being quite common.  We called the doctor just to be safe and they told us to bring her in since their was some green and it seemed to getting worse.  She had a fever of 100.3 and after examining her the doctor said it was cellulitus of the eye and she needed to go to Valley Children's Hospital immediately.  She warned us they would be doing a full work up with blood cultures and a spinal tap:(  Sure enough they immediately checked us in and began the exams and it was so sad to see her hooked up to everything and getting pricked and the spinal tap was the worst.  It was deja-vu, as we had to take Harper there on day 5 of his life:(  She was given lots of antibiotics because they don't mess around with infections in infants.  The worst was that we would have to stay there for at lest 48 hrs until the blood cultures came back. I had already been going stir crazy when I had delivered Bryn at Clovis Community and now we were checking back in to a hospital:(  Trying to nurse her was soooo hard because she was hooked up to the IV plus 2 other monitors.  The monitors were soooo loud and kept going off for no reason, so def hard for her to sleep as well.  They have pull-out couches for the parents, so we stayed with her and my parents stayed at home with Harper.  Thank you Mom and Dad for helping out!  The nurses and doctors were very nice, but they constantly come in and check baby and unwrap her and so it was def not easy to sleep for anyone.  Brendan would go home from time to time to see Harper.  On day 3 the tests all came back negative for other bacterial infections and menangitis.  We were released to go home-yay!  Glad to have such a great children's hospital nearby, but hoping to not see it ever again!

So as many of you know Bryn was definitely a cranky baby from the get go, she would scream and cry for hours on end, it felt like in the evenings and nothing but nursing seemed to calm her, but even that didn't always work.  It was quite overwhelming and hard since it would be about when Brendan would come home until bedtime around 10.  That is the busiest part of the day and we couldn't even just sit down and relax, get Harper fed and bathed, or eat ourselves and she wouldn't take a bottle.    It was such a struggle hearing her cry and also not having gone through it with Harper.  Around week 5 or 6 I noticed that her poop (TMI) was starting to look strange, very different than what I was used to.  I know they say that breastfed babies can have all colors, but Bryn's started turning green and filled with mucous-ewww!  I spoked with the lactation consultant and the nurse from the ped office and they said to try a few things, but not a huge concern without blood.  After a week I just knew something was not right and took her in with some dirty diapers.  Dr. Evans tested it and came back and said "well I know what is bothering her, she is allergic to cow's milk protein.  Don't stop breastfeeding, because the formula for this is expensive and really gross tasting.  You are going to have to get rid of dairy from your diet though"...I looked at her and said "my favorite food is cheese!"...then I though about alllllll the milk I had already pumped and frozen for when I returned to work:(  She said I could donate it or give it to anyone I knew with a baby, but when I told my niece Kaila about it, she suggested I start mixing it with Harper's reg milk since it will help during cold and flu season:)  Oh man was I in for an education, milk and its by products are in everything!, from bread to salami to protein bars, to chocolate!  Not only milk, but whey, casein, etc.  After starting my research I also learned many infants with this allergy are also allergic to soy, which is in even more things!  Soy is a highly subsidized crop by the government so it is a cheap filler for lots of things, plus it is usually a GMO:(  Although it can take weeks for dairy to come out of my system, the dr suggested I take soy out as well since she wasn't really get a lot better.  We had her tested for some bacterial infections since she had been in the hospital with an IV for antibiotics but that came back clear.  She has what is called proctocolitis and MSPI, basically she is allergic to dairy and soy protein and it gives her colitis:(  After weeks of being dilligent I even say soy is an ingredient in the vitamins I was taking-REALLY???!!!  I have been free of it for over 2 months now and she is doing much better.  I am still not convinced this is truly the fix, but since allergy tests are not accurate until 1 year old, this is the route we will be going:)  It is definitely a hard route, but I have found a lot of great resources (thanks to some of my friends and family for leading me to recipes and websites) and have learned a ton of new recipes.  Eating out is the hardest since it is difficult to trust restaurants and waitstaff since dairy and soy are in EVERYTHING practically and lots of people always answer, oh yes it's gluten-free, well that's not the same;)  I have learned to be a label-hound and we cook even more at home and lots of fresh ingredients, so I feel like this is at least making us eat healthier:)  Of course I don't limit Brendan and Harper to all of this, but we don't make separate meals at home normally. 

I am curious to see what it will be like when we start introducing Bryn to solids and what the doctor says as far as trying to re-introduce soy and dairy around the 9-12 month mark.  We keep our fingers crossed she outgrows it:)

Harpenese

Harpernese:

-After we finish reading a book before bed he says: "I read it myself" and then takes it from our hands.

-The other day after a soccer game Brendan said he needed to change his shirt because it stank and Harper said "Why, did you go poop?"  We both laughed hysterically and then that made Harper laugh since he knew we thought it was funny, so he started to repeat it:)

-This morning when Harper was getting dressed we were talking about the day and he was talking about his friends at daycare.  Then he said "and baby sister", and I asked "Where is baby sister?" and he replied "vacation"...interesting concept for pregnancy;)

-Harper got in trouble with his dad the other night and afterwards he said "I want Grampsy"

-Harper was having problems with his monkey puzzle and drug me over to help and I told him where it went and he said its hard, it's not my job!

-After honking at a man trying to take my parking spot Harper asked if I wanted him to beat the guy up

-Harper says Gracy has an owie on her ear, I think she's hurting, I think she's going to die

-Harper said Bryn was his favorite girl in his life

-He told Brendan-you work so you have money so you can buy me toys

-He told me-mommy you're not going with us because only the cool boys are going

-The cat was meowing to get through the gate and Harper said settle down kitty

-Harper said he was proud of me. I asked why and he said because I gave him a hug and kiss:)

-Brendan was leaving for work and Harper said I love you daddy and then once Brendan left and closed the door he told me I love him:)
-He likes to tell us when we say a bad word, "we don't say that", like stupid, shut up, etc.

She's here-Bryn Charlotte Rhames

Bryn was due on Sug 14th, her cousin Eirann's bday, but she decided to cook a little longer in the overn.  Harper was also born after his due date, but he was induced.  This time I wanted to stay away from an induction if possible, mainly because I didn't want pitocin.  I was also pretty nervous about the whole pushing part, since it took over 2 hours to push Harper out and he was only 7.1 lbs.  2 days before my due date at my dr appt, I was checked and 4 cm dilated and 90% effaced so the baby could have potentially come anytime, though women can walk around like that for weeks.  My aunt Casey came down that weekend hoping I would go into labor so she could be here for the birth, but sadly baby didn't make an appearance:(  She had to get back to Reno since as a judge she can't miss very much work. 

Mon, Aug 19th I had another doctor appointment in the morning.  As we headed out the door I did a last min set up for Harper's things and my hospital bag just in case we didn't come back.  When the dr checked, he said well you are 100% effaced and dilated to a 5 and your bag of water is bulging (TMI warning-meaning it is hanging down and out and that it could rupture at any moment).  He said "Cathleen, walk over to the hospital (behind the office), I'm going to call ahead and they will be waiting.  I'll break you water and we are going to have this baby before 5 (it was after around 1030 at this point). Brendan, go take your son home and come back and I will break her water."  So, I headed over to the hospital and checked-in, they kept asking if I wanted a wheelchair because they couldn't believe I was dilated to a 5 and walking around.  I didn't even wait in triage since my doctor had already had me assigned to a room in the new delivery wing!  The room was super nice.  My nurse Lindsey came in and started everything going with an iv and heart monitors.  Dr.  came in at 1130 and broke my water, my contractions were then about 5 min apart.  I got my epidural at 1245 (thank goodness, the pain was too much-props to those who go natural), I was dilated to a 6 at 1:15 and then I dilated to a 10 by 220 and we had to wait a little for doctor to get there to start pushing.  Bryn was born at 3:17 pm, much faster than Harper and she weighed over a pound more!  I almost had a retained placenta again but finally it came out, so glad because my recovery went so much smoother this time around.

On a side note, since no one caught Harper's tongue-tie until 5 days after he was born(and he ended up having to go to Valley Children's Hospital due to dehydration), I was super paranoid and asked the ped who checked her, all the nurses and the lactation consultants and even stayed an extra night so I would have peace of mind that she was healthy and could breasfeed properly.  Everyone said she was fine, no sign of tongue-tie, but I wasn't convinced until I could see our pediatrician, but that wouldn't be until the following Mon, per the checking out pediatrician's orders.  Long story short she was tongue-tied, but in the posterior position, so it just made her not efficient at bf, unlike Harper who couldn't at all before they cut his frenulum.  She had the procedure done as well and it went quickly.  Tongue-tie is a hereditary condition usually and the second sibling is 25% likely to have it as well.  I am tongue-tied as well, but back then they just diagnosed me with failure to thrive and made my mom supplement with formula (tongue-tied babies can take bottles fine).

Harpernese:
"I don't want to hold the baby, she's fragile."
"The baby doesn't talk, I will teach her."

Grandpa

First pink outfit

Big brother Harper, not so sure of this "fragile baby"

Dr. Lopez



Car ride home

Nana

First smile

Harper on left, Bryn on right

Baby Girl Rhames

My good friends Andrea, Nicole and Julie threw an intimate baby shower for Baby Girl Rhames in June.  Some of my immediate family and closest friends here in town attended.  It was at Max's Restaurant and it turned out perfectly:)  The decor, food and company were wonderful and it was a blessing to have this new baby already showered in love.  Lots of cute, girly clothes and colors on hand.

Julie, Me, Nicole and Andrea

Cousins!

Harper and mommy

Mom and Me

Nicole, Me and Michelle

One of the customized monthly onesies made by Artsy Fartsy aka Ari

The ladies

Andrea and me (friends since the 1st grade!)