Fooled.

This week has been rough. We are slammed with our second cold in a month, and I mean slammed. Last night the baby was up for 2 hours in the middle of the night, mostly with a big grin on her face wanting to play (after she calmed down from waking up from her nose). This morning Avery was crying and crying and whining when it was time to get ready for school, saying she was too tired and sick to go. Granted, she was the first to get sick and still has a runny nose, but she has the most energy of all of us. I gave into her tears and snot, deciding it was best not to expose other kids (and lacking the motivation to get my sick self and a sleeping sick baby out of the house to take her).

She's been happily prancing around the house ever since:( I tried to make her take a nap early this morning but of course that didn't work. I was fooled, and loss my precious bi-weekly quiet(er) time. ugh!

When I finally got them to both nap (early) together, I rewarded myself with a late-morning leftover piece of birthday cake. Now my stomach hurts. Just can't win!

On a happier note, Avery's poops in the potty have continued, and that is a huge victory. That child! She WILL be going to school on Monday:)

Way too busy.

I think it's fair to say the past three months have been some of the busiest and tiring of all-time. Thus blogging is at the bottom bottom bottom of my list. But I still feel more complete sharing our adventures as much as possible with anyone interested in seeing/hearing about them!

In summary, our summer started becoming more of a summer once Lexi got a little older, and we took several trips to the mountains and just returned from Santa Fe for Nathanael Daggett's fundraiser against Lyme Disease. I admit I'm kind of adventured-out with trying to put in 20 hours of work each week (still not quite there) and balance preschool for Avery, her birthday planning, and the behaviors that come with new transitions. [Good news is Avery decided on her third birthday, after a week of us pushing it, she was finally big enough to poop on the potty on her own again. Hope it sticks! Well, you know].

I tried taking some comparison shots of Alexis around the same age as Avery, but actually there is a month difference (Avery 3 mo, Alexis 4). All in all, these confirm to me these are altogether different girls!

Mountains!

We finally went for a much-needed escape to the mountains this weekend. Everything went well...except we forgot to get gas before we headed up the mountain, so we didn't actually MAKE it to the top of Mount Evans for fear of not making it back down to the gas station. We found a nice turnaround spot with a little trail, and hit the lake on the way back down too. Topped off with Beau Jo's pizza for lunch - I feel much more refreshed and sane! Now, just repeat every weekend (with a full tank)...

almost to Mount Evans summit!

 that duck is coming for her starbucks bread that she's been gripping for hours...

Echo Lake

We'll be back for the true summit (let us know if you want to join!)...

We scream.

There have been a lot of screams around here the past 7 weeks (well, 2.75 years actually!). I have been wanting to make this onesie for Alexis that says "I Scream" with a cone in the middle (poor baby, I do love you!). I've been indulging in my own 'scream daily - usually the Boulder Creamery kind (Mexican chocolate, hello!). Today, I decided we needed to do some more 'screaming and pull the ice cream maker off the top shelf. A few raspberries, Greek yogurt, coconut milk, vanilla, sugar and chocolate chips later...heavenly!

We did have a corresponding "meltdown" with Avery - since we made it at 10 a.m. for LATER, not immediate consumption - through tears, even after tastes, "you're making me UPSET, mom!"

Guess I can't have one scream with out the other!

Baby Blues

Luckily, the only baby blues I've had lately are these sweet eyes gazing up at me:

 And...(drumroll)...we got a smile!

Alexis has been doing better with feeding and even gave me a 6 hour stretch between feedings this week (awake for the first part, but I got 4.5 hours of sleep for the first time! woot!). Time with her feels more like time with a real human being. But she's a good squawker - acquiring the nicknames, "Squirt" and "Chicken Wing" so far. We'll see what week 8 brings...

Medley from our little Diva...

Avery has always been a great singer, but I haven't captured many of her songs until recently. She was on center stage this morning.

Check out our Youtube Channel for 4 song clips:  You Are My Sunshine, As the Deer, Come With Me (Wonka), and Skiddamarinkydinkydink (or whatever).

Oh Poop.

We are in the midst of a possible not-so-favorite time/week. 6 weeks is definitely a fussier period, and I didn't expect the toddler to join in! She's been all plugged up (And good thing she's not old enough to read yet).

This week we instituted a no-diapers policy for Avery, since she knows how to poop in the potty but has decided her nighttime diaper is the preferred place, since May. I am tired of it, so we just put her in undies at night. We had to wake her to pee in the middle of the night, but she can stay dry otherwise - and hey, we're up anyway!

The Great Experiment/Operation Undies has failed. At the end of day 2 she was miserably screaming and dancing around the house, crying "my tummy hurts! Mommy, I have gas!" and really crying real tears. All day. We sat and sat on the potty but she just wouldn't go. Out of misery for us all we put her in a diaper the third night, and she pooped as soon as she fell asleep. STINKER!

So we will try again, another time. Any advice is appreciated!

I'm hoping the baby isn't truly in too much pain, though she's been acting like it too. I still don't always know if it's gas, or hunger, or overfull, or other other pain. I even filled her acid reflux medicine hoping for improvement. I think there has been some, but not completely. She'll have one perfectly normal happy feeding, and scream through the next.

But I am trying to have a better focused attitude about our days. I may feel trapped and tired and pooped (ha!), but I also have two beautiful girls by my side hugging and singing and (almost) smiling at me, and this is my most important job. It will all change soon enough and I will miss it, they say!

We had a great visit from the grandparents last week, and Avery loved seeing them. Mimi made Alexis a super cool quilt:

Here are a couple videos from us hanging out today in Avery's room today:
Alexis
Avery

Action!

Here's a quick video of Alexis sort of happy:)

One Month

We've nearly reached 5 weeks with Alexis, and I sort of forgot what a challenge it is with a newborn! At least to function well without consistent sleep, and to deal with crying for unknown reasons and feel like you don't quite know your own daughter, is tough. But we have lots of support and day by day are improving, I think. 

Alexis hasn't been the best eater in terms of loving nursing; she gags and feels overwhelmed quite easily, so screaming is common when I feed her. Poor baby. It's gotten better but she still sometimes loses it, which comes painfully at 2, 4 and 6:30 am! I am eagerly awaiting a sleep stretch longer than 4 hours...I've found that it really does work every single time to hold or wear her during the day when she's upset; as much as I don't want that to become her habit, I can't really resist (and my arms thank me!). 

Avery's funny talk continues. She's been into Romeo and Juliet (kids book from family):

"I'm Juliet, and you are Romeo. What's YOUR name? Here are your dolls Romeo for you to play with!"

"Look mom, I found a picture of Baby Jesus, Mary, and Romeo!"

She loves having picnics under the table ("apple tree"), and she occupies herself with make believe when I'm with the baby. She also plays a lot of doctor with her new doctor's kit. 

We've had some sweet moments too, and Avery continues to be an awesome, patient helper. She covers her ears when Alexis cries and asks me to stop it, but she also will chime in with a song or shusshing sound and it has often worked!

I've also had some fun trying out some newborn poses, ha.

And, we found daddy's silly wig as well - !

 You can see complete pics here.

Big Sis

Avery has been doing awesome taking care of her little sister. I can tell she is going to be protective. One of our favorite happenings so far, is when we're in the car and Alexis is screaming, and Avery is covering her ears yelling "I don't like that sound! It's too loud for me!", she has learned to start singing. A couple times her "lullaby, and good night" song has genuinely calmed Alexis. Avery is pretty proud of herself.

She's also just plain pretty! I took some pics of her wearing my hat the other day.

She also had a special treat spending the day with family at Yoyo and PopPop's house, and they have a new horse tire swing. She wouldn't try it until yesterday, and we couldn't get her off! Pretending to be "Princess Isabella" from one of her favorite books, who rides a pony named Penny on an adventure. Go, Penny!