My Favorite Thing To Do Is....

...play with the water in the sink. He takes all his bath toys out fills them up with the sink water and presto, he is occupied for a long time. We now set the timer and when it goes off he's done. He then proceeds to scream because he doesn't want to be done. Thankfully the timer has really helped decrease the number of times he screams though. Can't wait for summer when he'll spend hours helping Ben water the yard and doing while being naked so we can potty train him!

He weighs 36 pounds now and is 38.5 inches tall!
My tentative plans:
May-say goodbye to the pacifier
June-move out of highchair so Emme can use it
July-start to potty train
September-start preschool
Whenever he is ready-crib to big boy bed

I'll have to hit up all my fellow mommies for the tricks on potty training!

Emeline at 5 weeks

My Dad just left after helping me with the kiddos for a week! He had an incredible calming effect over Emme. She would just sleep with him for hours. It was great. And every morning from around 9-11 he would take Zackary down to the beach and they would explore which is his favorite thing to do. Today they walked back and forth to the waters edge and collected shells and then sorted them out on the wall by the parking lot. He loved his time with Jedo (Grandpa). Thanks for your help Dad.

Emeline is a very easy going baby. Between 7-9 PM she gets a little fussy but usually it's gas related and once it's out she is so much happier. She eats around every 2.5-3 hours now. She's a good eater and I can tell is gaining weight not to mention her belly is big! She loves her bouncer chair (sleeps there at night) and her swing we have in Zackary's room. My Dad also figured out that she loves sleeping on the couch on her back, and obviously her Dad's chest! And she has such a strong suck reflex that the pacifier has become her best friend when she's not nursing. She takes a lot of naps during the day and at night has one last feeding between 8-9 and then sleeps until anywhere between 1-4am...then she nurses again around 6am. So we are getting some decent sleep at night which is sweet!!! She has the baby acne on her face-she's trying to be like her mom in her teenage years! We are having so much fun spending time with her. Her disposition is so sweet and funny...she smiles a lot at us, tracks us and loves her brother. She grunts a lot and talks while sleeping and eating! We love you little"apricot" as Zackary calls you!

The Evil Kiwi

About a week after we brought our new little daughter home, as we were all eating quesadillas and guacamole for dinner, Zackary started to develop hives on his face, right were some avocado was. Within minutes they had traveled all over his body in clusters of 20-30. After Benadryl and a bath they were better but it took about 2 weeks for the last hive to go away. At that point I was not convinced that it was a try avocado allergy. I thought that the rough adjustment he was having to Emeline was the cause-anxiety. But one week ago as he was eating a Kiwi he started itching his ears and eyes...and sure enough his lip was swelling. Of course I freaked, ran got the Benadryl, which in that amount of time he had hives all over his face, and called the doctor. After a bath again, and a nap he was fine. No troubles breathing at all. Yesterday was the trip to the pediatric allergist which I didn't care for much and probably will look for a second opinion...but he prescribed a epi-pen. Great...I never thought I would have to use an epi-pen...and hope I don't ever have to. Needless to say I'm freaked about it and hope that some allergy testing helps determine in that food group if he's allergic to mango, papaya, avocado and hazelnut. That is all the allergist will test him for...which is confusing to me. Update to come...

I Can Jump

Priceless: Watching your son realize that he just learned how to jump...and jump...and jump!

Emme's Two Week Stat's!

Today was Emeline's two week appointment. She has actually gained almost a pound...weighing in at 9.4 pounds...born at 8.6 pounds. She's at the 80% for weight, 93% for height at 21.5 inches...born at 20 inches and 38% for head. Doctor said she's doing great and looks really healthy. Emme's been sleeping well at night, giving me a total of around 7-8 hours a night...broken of course. She breastfeeds about every 3-4 hours at night and 2-3 during the day. She hiccups a lot...and likes to stare at us and track us already. Just started the soothie pacifier today and for some reason I was apprehensive about it, but she likes it. She's a big time soother by sucking. We are having so much fun watching her grow each day.

Zackary is still struggling a bit with Emeline's arrival but he loves her and just hates to see her cry. He's developed a rash that comes and goes all over his body from one bump to several. We are trying to figure it out...allergy or anxiety. It's fun to watch him explore Emme's toes, fingers, face, hair. I can't wait for the point where she will be able to interact with him more. That will help!

Constantly Changing

How you doing? He has learned thumbs up along with much more slang terms and it's so funny. He is changing and growing up so fast and so much. Just in the last week of me being busy with the baby stuff he has started talking so much more, developed a whole new burst of energy and grown I swear another couple inches.

Dad and Zackary have been spending a lot of time together. "Beach" or "Park" are two of his favorites. They have so much fun playing in the sand or looking for dandelions.

His personality is bursting with joy, comedy and more of a two year old frustration on occasion. He screams, whines, runs all around and just has endless energy.

We have to look for pine cones (this is only a quarter of his collection that he lines up!), snails, worms, dandelions, flowers or any bug for that matter. I love his nature side...nurturing that side of him is important to me as my stepfather taught me about animals and nature to a point of it being a huge part of who I am. Wonder what his next fixation will be...trucks probably!!!

It's a GIRL

January 28, 2011...5:30am exactly...8pound 6 ounce baby girl, Emeline Carolena is born. She is such a gem. The labor and delivery went beautifully. My recovery is going well. She eats, poops, sleeps, burps and cries! All as a baby should do. Zackary is such a sweetheart with her. He gets very upset when she cries not understanding what is wrong with her. I feel bad for him but he is getting a lot of attention and loving sister Emme. He says Emme all the time, it's too cute! I had been practicing her name with him though before the birth and Emerson if it was a boy. So he had the names down! We are so excited we have a girl and feel like our family is complete!

Car ride home from the hospital. 5 minutes flat and she was asleep! We had to go buy some girl clothes because we didn't have any...and I have a feeling that having a girl is going to be dangerous for my wallet!