Sweet kiddos!

 

Ok, so it's pretty obvious that Bradyn adores his little sister! He's a great helper when it comes to getting me burp rags, diapers, and washcloths, and he occasionally keeps Elizabeth entertained while I finish up the dishes, cooking, getting ready, etc. Things are going MUCH better with our sleep situation; we are finally in a routine and I'm feeling much better (alot more sane and not so sleep-deprived)! I bathe, nurse, and then put her down and she usually sleeps at least 3, if not 4 hours. She wakes up to nurse around 1 or 2am and then goes right back to sleep. She usually wakes every 1 1/2 - 2 hours after that, so I'm still getting up at least 2X a night (most nights 3X). That's fine though, it's so nice getting to bed at a decent time and being able to sleep 4 hours straight a few times per week.

Mr. Bradyn is doing well. We have exciting news!!! I think we are finally DONE with diapers AND pull-ups! Bradyn's been consistently peeing in the potty since before he was 2, but we've had the hardest time with him pooping in the potty. He (thankfully) would never go in his underwear, he'd just wait until we put a diaper or training pants on him at nighttime and go in those. He adamantly REFUSED to go in the toilet, with the exception of a handful of times. It's been so frustrating!!!!!! The last 2 weeks though, he's done a complete turnaround! This week, he slept in underwear and has stayed dry every night! That's the END of diapers and training pants for him! WOO-HOOOOO (I never thought this day would come!)!!!! I may be done for the most part buying Elizabeth disposable diapers also.... we are going to give cloth diapers a go. They've come a long way in recent years and have some really cute things out there! They are much better for baby's skin and obviously better for the Earth. I've had a tremendous guilt trip lately when changing diapers... every disposable diaper takes 500 years to decompose; I can't take it anymore! We are at home enough that I think cloth is a convenient option for us. I ordered a few prefolds and Bummis (pronounced Bum-ease) covers yesterday, so hopefully they'll hurry up and get here!

Keith is going to be in Vegas next week (all week), then has to go to California the next week for 3 days. I'm not looking forward to it. I do enjoy not having to cook :) but that's about it. It is hard juggling 2 cranky kids at the end of the day, when I'm tired and cranky also. I really miss Keith when he's gone; it gets lonely and overwhelming sometime. We are so blessed that Keith has his wonderful job though, so I won't complain too much.

I'm going to post a few more pictures--ENJOY!

Keith and Elizabeth, 7 weeks

Bradyn playing with Moon Sand

Bradyn and cousin Ephram playing puppet show

    

tummy time for Lizzie!

her first pair of jeans!

We LOVE our Moby wrap!

Mommy and kiddos!

SMILE!

found her thumb!

It won't be like this for long.....

 

I heard this song on the radio in the car the other day and started bawling!!! What sweet lyrics, and how true they are. When I'm up for hours on end in the middle of the night I think of this song and it helps put it all in perspective. 5 weeks has already flown by with Elizabeth, just like 3 1/2 years has flown with Bradyn.

Speaking of, at the ripe old age of 5 weeks, Elizabeth has already had (and still has) her first cold. I guess she got it from Bradyn, who probably got it at school. It's been pretty upsetting to me seeing her so stopped up and coughing. Her little voice is even hoarse when she cries. :-(  We went to the doctor 2X this week, once on Tuesday and again on Friday to make sure it hadn't moved into her chest. They were really impressed with her weight gain--she was 9lbs. 5 oz. on Tuesday and 9lbs. 7 oz. yesterday. What can I say???... she likes to eat (like mother, like daughter)!

Life with baby....

...has been so many things, but WONDERFUL and EXHAUSTING describe the last month the best. We are so blessed to have Elizabeth in our lives and in our family. I am in awe of God and His wonderful works and His impeccable timing. Keith and I love our babies so much!

Sorry I haven't kept up with the blog better...As you can imagine, sleep for Mommy is rare these days. Sometimes life seems overwhelming and I just want to cry. The laundry never ends, the housework never ends, my breasts are on call 24 hours a day, there are bills to pay, Bradyn wants me to play with him, I need to cook dinner, get groceries, Elizabeth's crying and I don't know why, Bradyn's screaming, I need to change another diaper, AHHHHHHHHHH! Some of this is hormonal, but most of it is pure exhaustion. I am much better (mentally and emotionally) when Elizabeth and I have a "good night" and I get decent sleep. Overall, baby care in general is soooo much easier the 2nd time around, but juggling 2 children and not being able to rest during the day after being up most of the night is difficult. Elizabeth slept good for about a week after we got home from the hospital. There were a couple of times she slept 3 or 4 hours at a time and I would have to wake her up to nurse. That quickly came to an end though as she stopped liking being swaddled in a receiving blanket. When I try to wrap her up, she gets upset and struggles to get out, but when I leave her unwrapped, her arms fly out and she startles herself. We got into a bad habit of putting her in our bed because she wouldn't sleep alone in her pack-n-play that is set up right by me. Keith slept on the couch for about a week just so I could get some sleep. Terrible, I know. Thus, we have already moved her into her own room and she is now sleeping (or not sleeping!) in her crib. She makes little baby noises all night long and jumps alot, but I am not nearly as aware of it hearing it on the baby monitor. Also, she cannot hear and is no longer disturbed by me getting back into bed, going to the restroom, or Keith occasionally snoring. In fact, we have a baby monitor that has a camera on it (thanks to my husband and his job at Supercircuits!!!) and I watch Elizabeth on it for a few minutes when I get into bed. I only get up when I hear her start to cry..... which is still about every 1 1/2 hours, give or take about 30 minutes.

We took Elizabeth downtown when she was a little over two weeks old to get her newborn portraits. Getting there was kinda crazy.... we got in the middle of a marathon they were having down by the Capitol, which detoured us because several streets were blocked off, and when we were about a mile away from our destination, we almost had a wreck! I suppose it was all worth it; we got some great pictures of Elizabeth.

Days and nights are tough right now, but I am trying to take it all in; these newborn moments go by so quickly. These are precious, precious days. :-)