Loving Her

 Maybe it's because I no longer have to change her diaper, but I am totally loving this little girl lately! She is at a really fun (and hard) age. She is constantly saying new things and making all of us laugh. She is so sweet but yet can be such a tease. Eleanor had a play date today and Jude took two really good naps, so it was just she and I most of the day. While she was eating lunch I had to run and grab the camera. I wanted to remember our little afternoon together. It wasn't anything special (obviously. the poor child has no underwear on, her hair is a wild mess and she's filthy) but it was a memory I want to remember. I seriously love this little girl to pieces! She constantly keeps me on my toes! This morning she decided the sidewalk chalk would work just as well on the kitchen floor, cabinets, carpet, her little toes and the bathroom floor. She also thought the carpet needed a nice coat of mac-n-cheese and milk.

Changes

I'm not sure if I was smart or really dumb, but on Monday I decided to start potty training Amelia and wean Jude.  By 5:30 pm I really thought I had made the dumbest mistake of my life and I was on the verge of tears or insanity! Amelia had already had 10 accidents and not one success. Finally around 6:00 pm she went pee in the toilet and it was like a little light bulb clicked in her head. She was so excited for her success and that was all it took. It's been four days since and she's had two little accidents since 9 (both being totally my fault). This girl LOVES being potty trained! She does not like or want any help from me. She insists on being alone in the bathroom with the door closed. She doesn't even tell me when she needs to go to the bathroom, she just goes and does her business all by herself. It's been great!! She is a little obsessed with whipping her little bum and has gone through about four rolls of toilet paper already but I'd rather have it that way then still be changing her diapers!

Today we had to take a bag of her diapers to baby Aspen. She's been so excited about this all week. She loves saying she's a big girl and doesn't need to wear her diaper any more.

The little photo shoot was totally her idea and I love the second photo.

Now about weaning Jude. I honestly wish he would nurse and do a bottle but he wont and so that's why I had to wean him. This little boy defiantly has a stubborn side to him. I nursed him for the last time on Monday around 4:00 pm and he didn't take a real bottle (over 2 ounces at a time) until Wednesday evening. I finally figured out that he likes his bottles on the warmer side. If it's not quite warm enough he will fight the bottle and will NOT take it. Warm it up and it's like magic! It's kind of funny having a baby on formula. This is my first time with it and it's kind of like having a newborn again. I'm still trying to figure out if he's hungry and getting a schedule figured out. So far I've noticed a great improvement with his sleep. He's now taking two naps each being two hours long and he's sleeping great at night. I honestly think the poor kid wasn't getting all he needed from me. Not to give too much info, but this time around my boobs weren't half has sore or engorged as past weaning experiences.


I am a little sad that I'm not nursing any more but I'm also very excited about my new freedom! Oh and I had to copy both Sara and Amy with this fun bottle drier.  It seriously makes washing bottles a little more fun.

 I still don't have a photo of Jude taking his bottle because I've been the one feeding him so I had to include these photos of him. I know I've posted photos just like this before but I can't get over how cute this is. I love it!

More St. Patrick's Day

 I'm sorry, but these two are just too cute! Cecilia couldn't keep her hands out of her mouth and Jude couldn't keep his hands off of Cecilia.

St. Patrick's Day

Last year we were not successful in catching a leprechaun, so Eleanor was determined to make a very "smart" trap this go around. John was out at a bachelor party for Russ so I was the lucky assistant. Eleanor really did have elaborate plans but unfortunately we had to scale back a little due to lack of supplies and time. As you can see, we tied some string to our lucky clover, the door handle and then made a loop on the ground with one of the sugar cookies we made earlier that day.

Eleanor checked her trap first thing in the morning and was in tears when she didn't see a little leprechaun on our porch (I have her reaction on video and it's classic). The leprechaun ate the cookie and left  the kids a shirt and a little gold box filled a surprise. The girls got squinkies, Cecilia got a green binki and Jude got a green matchbox car (thanks to Henry leaving his car behind the day before).

I think next year we might need to improve our trap or explain to Eleanor that its really really difficult to catch a leprechaun!

Cousins

 We were spoiled with lots of family in town over the weekend. Mimi, Grandpa, Jeff, Amy and Cecilia all came in town for Russ and Kimmy's wedding. My kids were in heaven with all our visitors! Poor Cece was clobbered by my kids. Amelia wanted to hold her at all times and Jude loved pulling her hair and playing with her toes. It's always so much fun when cousins can get together. I just wish we all lived closer!
 
I was pretty lazy with the camera and I'm kicking myself for not getting any photos of Mimi, Grandpa, Amy or Jeff. Both Amelia and Eleanor adore Jeff! Eleanor was excited to have Uncle Jeff come with her to swim lessons and I honestly lost count of how many times Amelia would randomly say, "I love Jeff". Oh and Eleanor was really excited to share her "bed" with Jeff (aka the couch).

My kids are really lucky to have such great grandparents! I love that they are close with both Mimi and Grandpa and its fun watching all of them together.

I had to put this photo in simply because of the sock on Henry's hand. This cracks me up and he does it all the time!

 
And I love the these three together. It's been a lot of fun having Jude almost exactly a year after Henry, it helps me have an idea of what Jude will be like in a year. I'd be one lucky mama if he follows in Henry's footsteps!!

Ear Tubes

 Our poor little Jude has had a total of seven ear infections in the past six months. Our pediatricians referred us to an E.N.T a few weeks ago and it was determined that our little guy had to get tubes. After looking at his ears, Dr. Heras said she would guess that Jude has had the same ear infection his entire life (so so sad). His eustachian tubes are too small, causing all his infections.

I know his little surgery wasn't that big of a deal, but it still broke my heart thinking about him going in there without me and having to be put out. Luckily, it was only a 20-30 minute procedure and everything went great. To be honest, the worst part was not being able to feed him after 12:00 am the night before. True to nature, Jude was so pleasant and sweet. All the nurses were holding him and playing with him while I filled out all the paper work and while we waited for the surgery.

Sara was so nice and took both girls the night before. It was so nice being able to come home and spend the entire day taking care of and holding Jude. He didn't seem to be in too much pain other then when he would burp. I guess the tubes and the ear drum move in different directions when burping and it causes a lot of pain. We spent all day cuddling on the couch or in my bed. Jude loves being doted on which I adore.  He really is as close to perfect as they come!

Wednesdays

Wednesdays are crazy for us! Eleanor has preschool, I take Amelia & Jude to the library for story time, Eleanor has dance and then swimming. It may not sound like a lot to most people, but for us it gets pretty hectic. I'm finding that when I get up early and get the house cleaned, everyone showered and dressed and plan ahead for dinner, I actually end up really enjoying Wednesdays. Days like this make me feel like a 'real mom' especially with three kids in tow!

Today Amelia didn't take her nap and ended up falling asleep during the last few minutes of dance. Luckily my friend was there and held Jude and helped Eleanor for me while I took Amelia out to the car. I was kind of glad Amelia fell asleep for swim lessons. On Monday she fussed the entire 35 minutes about getting in the water. So, on Tuesday I was smart and left Jude with my neighbor and was able to take Amelia swimming during Eleanor's lessons. I knew that today she would be upset about not getting in the water, so I guess sitting in the car with her for 35 minutes was worth it!

Eleanor is going great with her lessons. She is so cautious but is doing everything her teachers ask of her. Today she asked me when she can stop taking lessons. I told her once she learns how to swim all by herself. She then asked if she has to know how to swim if we go to Hawaii. I told her yes because she'll want to get into the ocean. Her response was, "Mom, I'm just not that kind of person. You know, an ocean swimmer".

Jude is still not quite sure what to think about real food. I made him some homemade peas today and he maybe got 1/3 of it and the other 2/3 was all over him, me and the floor. I'm not going to lie, I will be quite happy when Jude can feed himself!

Well it's 8:20 pm and all three kids are asleep. I guess that's one plus to Wednesdays. I better wrap this up so John and I can get in a few episodes of Weeds before we call it a night!

Snow Day

This morning we woke up to a lot of snow. We've been out of town for the only two other snow storms this winter, so it was pretty exciting for us. John tried getting out at 5:30 but he got his car stuck and couldn't get mine out either. He tried waiting for the plows to come but they weren't here by 9 and so he decided to give it another try. While he was leaving Lori came to pick Eleanor up (she has 4 wheel drive) and together they both tried for a good 20 minutes to get out of our neighborhood. Finally, John was able to get up the hill but Lori was still getting stuck. I told her to just bring Eleanor home and decided we were going to have a snow day. Eleanor thought it was hilarious that they were stuck and was pretty excited to skip school.

 I'm not going to lie. I love any excuse to be lazy and just hang around the house in our pjs. The kids played and I finished Eleanor's year six book and nearly finished Amelia's year three. Their little books are a lot of work but I love doing them and hope they love them just as much when they get older. It was a lot of fun looking back at photos from 2011.  Eleanor has grown quite a bit but I was shocked to see how much Amelia has changed. She was just a baby during most of 2011.While working on their books I realized I need to start taking more photos, so I grabbed my camera and did just that.

Amelia loves playing with her pet shops and is really into lining them up.

 It's not very often she'll ask me to take her photo...so when she asked, I jumped all over it! She was putting a lot of thought and effort into her cute posing.

 The three of them played together for most the afternoon. I love when all three are in their little zones and there is NO fighting or crying.

 Eleanor built this awesome castle for her petshops. It kept falling over so I taped it together and then to the wall and this made Eleanor think I was the smartest person on earth. She kept telling me she didn't know I was so smart. I'm going to miss all of Eleanor's little creations when she gets older. She is constantly building forts, desk, houses and lots of other fun little things.

 Poor Jude wasn't feel too hot today. He did a lot more crying then usual, and to be honest it was hardly any at all. He'd be crying and then stop for a little smile break. Poor kid is fighting another ear infection. Hopefully this will all end soon when he gets his tubes in on the 15th!

Of course Amelia was right there to comfort Jude. She is seriously so sweet. She hates to see anyone sad or crying.  Her hugs and kisses helped calm him down but her dancing just didn't do the trick!

I love these photos of Amelia. She is one crazy little girl when she gets on her donkey!