Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Look what I can do!!

Time flies, as we all know, which is why it usually seems like our kids grow 2 inches overnight, start with a full conversation of vocabulary within days...But I have to say Paxton truly does things practically overnight. One day he can't hold his bottle and then the very next day he just grabbed on and ta da!! Its not like he started showing signs of being ready, started holding here and there. No, he just grabbed it one day and said "I'm ready Mom, let go!"
(and yes those crazy 'Where's Waldo' pants are his PJs, not his clothes) :)

The same goes for sitting. He didn't go from putting him on the floor in a sitting position and occassionally toppling over. No, he decided to do it himself....he went from rolling over, to army crawling (which also happened overnight), to sitting up by himself.


 YAY!! I can sit!

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Melt my heart

Moments like these just make me smile...

Ready for a walk...
This was the compromise - they both wanted to push Paxton but Piper quickly took to the idea of pushing her baby stroller! She loves her babies. 

Bike riding with the "babies"

I never get her to smile for pictures...

 Parker posing for the camera...

She insists on the hat being backwards!

Her Strawberry Shortcake bike

9 months and 25 pounds

The 9 month old weighs as much as the 2 year old!!! At Paxton's last checkup he weighed in at 25 pounds (weighing as much as Piper does) but is doing well. He is still on his reflux meds and is probably going to have his tongue tie cut soon. We are in the process of figuring all that out with the doctors and the insurance company. It is a full on tongue tie that is causing trouble with swallowing (often results in throwing up) and will most likely result in speech problems.


I just want to eat him up!! :)

Time... where does it go???

I wish I had time to post everyday, there is so much I would like to share with you all - but the best I can offer is catch up days with piles of posts!
I thought I didn't have any more race day photos, but here are some of the kids and their face paint as well as one of me running taken just before the finish line.



 Piper isn't much for having her picture taken these days...
 I'm in the pink shirt, behind the woman in the blue shirt and hat.

A day at the park

As of late we have been spending just about every day at the park. Its nice because 3 of the 4 can do so much by themselves and can have the freedom to run around and play. Pax loves to sit in the stroller and take it all in or go for a ride in the swing.








Monday, May 9, 2011

I soooo need to run!!!

Jeff went to Chicago for work this past week - he left the day after my race so it was a whirlwind of a weekend with a lot of time spent in the car back and forth to Philly and then he left the next day. So we were already starting the week off on a bad note with the kids just bouncing off the walls and exhausted all at the same time!
I decided not to ask anyone for help the first night, figuring I could handle it. I wasn't completely stressed and figured, how bad can it really be?? Well, grabbing them dinner, going to Target to pick up formula for Pax, going to the park, and then coming home for bed, turned into one of the most stressful nights I have had in such a long time. Between a diaper leakage, Parker having an "accident" at the the park which resulted in my throwing the underwear away and not having a spare outfit (yes, I was THAT mom at the park with her kid who had wet pants and was still playing!!), Piper climbing out of her crib for the first time (and not the last time!), and another "accident" on top of the normal routine of taking care of them, I ended my very first night of 4 by myself in tears!!

If only it ended there.... it was just nonstop craziness for the next 4 days. As mentioned before, Paxton has a tongue tie which often results in him throwing up his babyfood because he can't control the food going down as well. The reflux also doesn't help this issue either. It just makes him more prone to throwing up at the slightest gag. So as you can see, this was a good one. I kept Jeff up to date with many photos throughout the week. :) This being one of them.... This was also just as I was about to walk out the door for an appt for Parker (will go into detail about that later). Thankfully Denise (Jeff's mom) was able to come over that night and help me!


Our poor little 3 year old with the worst allergies!!!! He is on Allegra twice a day, Nasonex once a day, perscription eye drops, and then Visine throughout the day as needed to wash away allergens he has been exposed to in high doses. Its never ending and exhausting for him and for me!! This resulted from playing at the park, getting allergens on his hands, and then rubbing them into his eyes. They said this will keep happening and there is nothing that can be done about it - we just have to do our best to keep him from rubbing his eyes. Sure, you tell a 3 yr old not to blow dandelion seeds all over the place, rub flowers on his face, roll in the grass and dirt, keep his brother from blowing them all over him, and then as soon as his eyes start to itch - keep him from itching them!!! Yeah right!!!! It means a lot of hand washing the second we walk in the door, shoes off immediately, clothes changed before napping and then again when he goes out again, faced washed constantly... Its heartbreaking to see him like this and to hear him ask for eye drops so that his eyes aren't itchy!!


All of this happened by Tuesday. If only I could say the week got better.  Piper climbed out of her crib three times in one night until she finally hit her head on the floor - I say finally because now she's too scared to do it again! At least that's what I'm counting on.

Thanks to Denise and my parent's for all their help!

Thankfully Jeff is home and despite him having to work on Mother's Day, it turned out to be a pretty good day which ended with a glass of MUCH needed wine and some time to relax with him.

Very anxious to get back to running to relieve some stress. Be careful Jeff, I might not come back!! :)

Finished!

10 mile race - check. Haven't run in a week - check. Eating everything in sight and not running a single thing off - check!!

Well, I did it! I may not have been the fastest, my butt may have been dragging across that finish line, but I can proudly say that I ran the whole thing and am anxiously considering a half marathon in Philadelphia in September!

As many of you mom's know, life usually revolves around the kids and nothing else, especially if you don't work outside of the home and doing this race was "my thing". My connection to the real world. Often, people would ask what are your hobbies? What do you do? Sadly, I didn't really have an answer... I worked myself through college, got married, and then worked 60 hr weeks right out of college and didn't really pour myself into anything. Then I found running after having Peyton. It has become my outlet, my stress reliever, my hobby.  I was so grateful to be able to do this, something for me. I am so thankful to Jeff for all the support and encouragement throughout the whole process. I'm so glad I got to share this victory with you!

Unfortunately, I don't really have any photos of the race, except one pre-race and one post-race taken on a cell phone.
My race buddies - Sandie and Faith                                          Awful picture - but post race in the car