This is my sad week

On Monday I said good-bye to my husband. He went off to his first day of school for his Masters degree. I know that by saying this I am going to sound spoiled, needy, etc., because he will only be gone two nights a week. But I am really going to miss him! These past few years in AZ we have been able to spend so much time together. Life has been all about our little family. Marty comes home from work, and the three (well, now four of us) of us have this beautiful quality time together. I was wondering what I was going to do with myself all day on Mondays and Wednesdays, so I decided I would make a huge list of projects I would accomplish while Marty was gone. Unfortunately, I haven't even been able to start on the list of projects. I guess this is what I will be doing instead:

I have a very sad little guy. He started out nice and quiet. Then he got a little fussy. That's fine, I thought. Some babies are just fussy, right? Then he started to cry ALL the time. Then lately he started to scream ALL the time, and I knew something was wrong. So I took him to the doctor on Monday and my poor, sweet baby has acid reflux. Yesterday we started him on his prescription (Zantac), and he will be on it at least until his four month check up, and then after that we will see how he is doing.

It's a horrible feeling to know that your child is in pain. And I am a huge wimp. HUGE. When I took Brynn to get her two-month shots I cried harder than she did. The nurse had to try to calm me down...that's probably one of my most embarrassing moments. Ever since then Marty has had to take her to get her shots. We've been extremely lucky that our kids have avoided any real serious illnesses or injuries. I'd like to cross my fingers and hope that they will never have to go through anything, but I know that's unrealistic. I dread that day that one of my kids comes home in tears because they were picked on, and I dread our first emergency room visit. But I guess for right now, I am just grateful for a doctor who was willing to listen and work with me to get to the bottom of all this crying. I guess Bryce's screaming that could be heard throughout the whole office the entire time we were there was enough to convince him that something was wrong. :)

So, cross your fingers (or pray!) that either this medicine will kick in, or that I will be able to endure holding a screaming baby for days on end by myself!

One last thing. Because I now feel bad for raining on Marty's parade...

Good luck in school, Marty!

I love you and I am so proud of you!

life and the zoo

Recently we finally made it out to the Sonora Desert Living Museum in Tuscon. It was really cool! Bryce was great and slept the entire time, and Brynn loved the animals (especially the otter). Oh, and we got to try out the new double stroller - I can't believe I have two kids!

(Prairie Dogs)

This is old news, but I am becoming quite used to being behind on everything. In early May, we had an early heat wave. 14 strait days over 100 degrees. In May. Ugh. Soon after we had a couple of cooler, overcast days, so of course we spent LOTS of time at the park. I do NOT take cool, or even COLD weather for granted. Here in Arizona, NO day is too cold for me!!! I love them all, they make me feel less homesick. I can't say the same for Utah's cold days....

See the clouds? Hooray for clouds! Sometimes I get sick of the sun.

I guess Bryce didn't care about the cool weather. Sleeping as usual. During the DAY. And NOT at night, grrr.

As you can see, we are ALL suffering from lack of sleep. It's usually been extremely rare for Brynn to fall asleep anywhere other than her bed, but not anymore!

On another unrelated note, Marty and I had a fun date tonight! We saw the movie "Night at the Museum 2" and really liked it! I love movies like that, and Marty (the history major) especially does. It's not like we expect a comedy to be historically accurate or deep, but it's just fun to see how they depict the characters. And then I have fun picking Marty's brain later about some of the different people and hearing about what they really did, or were really like. We discussed it over awesome burgers at Johnny Rockets! It's a fun 1950's-looking diner. I told Marty that this is our big date of the month and that I was going for it - I was getting a root beer AND a strawberry shake and no one was going to stop me! But then I saw that shakes were 5 bucks and I stopped myself. Of course my SWEET and WONDERFUL and THOUGHTFUL husband picked one up for me later on his way home from grocery shopping. Even though he hasn't been eating sweets and ice cream is his favorite thing in the world. Sigh. I love my husband.

Well, that is my random post. :)

New smile!

Over the past couple of days Bryce has been finding his smile. Here is what the process looks like:

I think seeing your kid smile for the first time is one of the best mommy experiences ever!

Close call

On Sunday, Marty was asking Brynn about nursery.

Marty: Brynn, did you have fun in nursery today?
Brynn: Ya!
Marty: What did you do in nursery?
Brynn: I played with poo!
Us: Uh..........
Me: Brynn, did you go poo-poo in you panties?
Brynn: (silence)
Marty: Brynn, did you go-
Brynn: Winnie-the-pooh!
Us: OOOOH! That's great!

Alaskans

My brothers and sister-in-law flew in from Alaska last weekend and spent a couple days with us before heading up to Utah (my freaky-genius brother had a physics convention and he brought Corey and Helen with him). We had so much fun! We played games, and ate TONS of ice cream...I mean we REALLY pigged out on it.

Apples to Apples (fun game)

Alaska is so far - I am SO glad my brothers have been able to see both my newborns

I like these guys :)

They were here for Mother's day, and it was SO great! I think I need to have three awesome men around every Mother's day. Marty made a fabulous breakfast (as usual), and the boys and Helen made the BEST BBQ salmon dinner that night. All I had to worry about that day was the baby, and it was wonderful.

Then they surprised me with the start of a garden. I keep saying I am going to start one, and since they are really into gardening (they are building their own greenhouse in AK!) they really helped me out. I love the pics of Brynn helping. I wish I could have been there to see it, but then that would have spoiled the surprise. :)

I wanted them to try out the popcorn game they gave us, and Justin became the first person ever to make a basket.

They entertained Brynn with some partner juggling...

she cracked up every time they dropped a ball
and then she tried it, too.


They gave Brynn these really cool window markers, which I think will come in very handy when I am trying to get anything done in the kitchen (which just has NOT been happening lately).

I get the feeling they like their niece and nephew. Which is a really fun feeling to get.

More random Mother's day pics

Also random, Daddy and Brynn had a really fun time washing the cars together.

Something to show for it

Well, at Bryce's two week check-up, he was already 9 pounds - an entire pound more than he was at birth!





Check out the rolls on this kid! I love the feeling that I have something to show for all that feeding, since I am pretty sure that's all I EVER do, day OR night.

Double chin!

Leg rolls!

My sleepy guy can't even stay awake for a bath!

Marty and I fight over who gets to part his hair after a bath!

My first day outnumbered

Since my parents left Sunday, yesterday was my first day alone with the kids. I wanted to keep a detailed journal of what my first day alone with two kids was like so that I could always remember it. Although, maybe I'd rather forget it. No, actually it wasn't too bad, we survived. Here it is.

Sunday night: Good, the baby slept well between feedings, but was ready to greet the day bright and early at 4:30.

5:15: Still wide awake, so I decide to take a shower, since I can't figure out how to take one without Brynn torturing Bryce. Marty interrupts to tell me that Brynn is crying for Grandma and Grandpa and offers to go get her. I hustle out and get dressed so that Marty isn't late for work.

Brynn is good for quite a while and Bryce and I take it easy.

7:00 we go downstairs to get breakfast. But Bryce wants to eat first, so it's puzzle time for Brynn while we both start to get pretty hungry. While I'm feeding Bryce, Brynn climbs up on the coffee table and gets time-out...then realizes Mommy can't put her in time-out while nursing and continues to climb up while I give out empty threats.

During breakfast I find out Bryce likes his swing. It's the first time I've been able to put him in since Brynn is contained in the high chair and can't "help" push him.

The rest of the morning goes pretty smoothly, with Brynnie and I pretty close to our old routine (except scratch the housework - my poor body is still recovering).

By 9:30 I start to feel pretty ambitious, so I get everyone and everything ready to go down the block and to the park. But by the time all that work is done, I'm all tuckered out, so we settle for running through the sprinklers in the back yard instead.

More smooth time. But I can't ever for the life of me remember to drink water until I'm all settled and nursing and can't go get it.


Ahhh, Bryce is asleep. In a desperate attempt to keep Brynn stationary and out of trouble for just a few minutes, I offer a bath with her special new Cinderella soap from Grandma and Grandpa. She falls for it (Mwa ha ha)! I get my pillow and thow it down in the hallway where I can watch her. The hard floor has never been so inviting! Arg, baby screaming. Hmmm...how do I wash Brynn's hair one-handed...there are remnants of her last four meals in her hair, I really should wash it....I'm going to call Rachel and have her remind me of the baby store that sells baby slings.

Lunch-time: corn dogs and yogurt, anyone? Here is where I start counting down the minutes until Brynn's naptime (and mine). So far I have managed to not clock-watch, but now that I have given in, I think Brynn's nap will never come!

1:00 Ahh...we're all ready for a nap. Bryce is asleep in the cradle, Brynn is in her crib, my bed is so soft. Brynn plays/cries in her crib for an HOUR and a HALF and I find out that a toddler who is up at 5:00 and doesn't nap is almost as cranky as a post-partum mommy who was up all night and misses a nap. But Brynn, being too smart for her own good, showers me with kisses and all is forgiven.

4:30 The last few hours of juggling nursing Bryce and playing with Brynn have again gone well, but now I am counting down the minutes until 5:00 when Marty gets home. My body is screaming at me now, so...another movie, Brynn?

5:00 I love Relief Society!!! Dinner comes to my door from my sweet visiting teacher, and not a minute too soon.

The rest of the night is kind of a blur as my mind stops functioning and I stop journaling. My hero, Marty came home and to the rescue taking care of diapers, dishes, tantrums, and Brynn's nasty poopy panties. Although later that night a miracle happened and she went into the bathroom and pooped on the potty all on her own! Let's see, I also remember Marty doing FHE and...more and more nursing....ya, my brain really did turn off. And if you can't tell, it is now shutting off again. This is the last time I try to put down coherent thoughts after 8:00 p.m. That is until Bryce is a little older.

And that's my first day being outnumbered by kids! We survived!

Today went even smoother. The question I am left with tonight is, WHEN do you EVER get anything done between entertaining kids? Hopefully I'll keep growing into this mommy thing and figure it out.

On another note, I took Bryce to the doctor for his weight check today and he was 7lb 15 oz! So we no longer have to worry so much about his weight. It feels so good to know that all of my hard work nursing is paying off!