Up for auction! TODAY ONLY!

I have up for auction two beautiful children. Give yourself an instant family! (No returns, refunds or exchanges available)

The first is a young girl who just turned two (the terrible twos). She is a wonderful sleeper (with the exception of today where she woke up half way through her nap crying and refused to go back to sleep). Very opinionated (wants Elmo on TV all day long), vocal (screams when Elmo is refused), a great eater (if the item in question involves chocolate), comfortable with her appearance (refuses clothing at all cost), loves to explore (pull items off counter, shelves, etc and hide them around the house), loves to play (spread toys all over without hesitation), cuddly (wants to sit on the couch all day watching television or reading books cuddling without letting Mom up to get brother, or get anything done around the house), loves to cook (will not let you in the kitchen without being right there at all times "assisting") and sensitive (cries if your voice is raised in the slightest bit).

The second is a four month old bouncing baby boy! He is extremely active (does not sleep), ahead in his development (cutting teeth and refusing to eat), affectionate (will not be put down for more than 5 minutes), loves to change clothes (has several blow outs of poop a day), extremely vocal (screeches like an injured cat when he is unhappy), observant (refuses to be left alone in a room for a minute), loves water (produces enough saliva to drown an ant colony on a daily basis) and stunning blue eyes, a real attention grabber (has blocked tear ducts that require massaging and ointment several times a day along with producing a lovely snot like substance constantly).

You cannot pass up this opportunity! I am sure my happy children will return tomorrow!

Our little girl is 2!

I cannot believe it has been two years since Makaylee was born. On the other side of the fence, it seems like she has always been here. Her birthday party was yesterday, and it was a huge success. We had it at pump it up party http://www.pumpitupparty.com/ In case you want to check it out. When we first opened the door to the party room, Makaylee went running as fast as she could in the opposite direction screaming "NO!" But she warmed up real fast and had a blast! She did so great climbing on everything and going down the slides. The second bounce room she pretty much stayed in the bouncer that had basketball hoops and lots of balls to play with. Mike took Kaiden down a slide, though he was not to impressed. She even unwrapped some of her presents after Bailey showed her the ropes. Makaylee said "I excited!" when opening presents. She did try and blow out the candle, and did so with my help. We have been telling her for weeks that she was having an Abby Cadabby party with cupcakes, chocolate, and cake balls. So she was super excited when she got to have her cake ball and chocolate. After the party we went to Toys R Us to pick up the tricycle for her birthday. Mike tried to get it before the party, but the Toys R Us he went to didn't have it, so we stopped after the party. We got home and Mike opened the box and Makaylee was even more excited to see the bicycle than she was for anything all day. She kept climbing on it when Mike was putting it together, and tried to help him. We took her outside for her first ride on the trike and she LOVED it. Unfortunatly it started pouring, so we had to bring it in. She then spent the next half our or so sitting on the bike singing songs, and refusing to get off.

Mothers day and Makaylee's real birthday was today, and Mike let me sleep in. Although, sleeping in with Kaiden was only until 8:30 and Makaylee got up at 8, so it wasn't that great. Mike and Makaylee made me breakfast which was buckwheat pancakes and eggs. YUM. Makaylee is great at making pancakes. She even makes them in her play kitchen. Last night I was searching craigslist and found a swing set by little tikes that I have wanted to get Makaylee and have been watching craigslist for. They also had a playhouse. For $150 I got both and I am so excited. It needs to be cleaned, but the swing set is normally $450, and the house around $200. Mike is going to borrow a friends pressure washer and we are going to get it all cleaned up. For now both items will be set up on the deck out back because then Makaylee will be able to play with them even if it is raining. Once summer is here and the sunshine is more consistent then we will move it on to the grass. We also had to exchange Makaylee's trike. The front wheel (which came fully assembled) squeeked every time it turned, and Mike tried to fix it, but could not. So we took it back to Toys R Us. The bike we had was a pink princess Huffy trike with a parent push handle and canopy. We exchanged it for a primary color radio flyer trike with a similar push bar and canopy. We decided to go with the radio flyer instead of the Huffy because it just seemed like higher quality and we didn't want a repeat of the same problem.

Instead of posting all the pics on the blog, follow this link to see the pics:
http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y24/SSmiley908/Makaylee%20Ann/

My messy house

Anyone who has taken one step into my house knows that we have an overwhelming amount of toys. Toys that Makaylee has gotten, toys that Auntie Tabi has passed down from Bailey to Makaylee that are now hanging around for Kaiden to use, and the large baby toys, like swings, jumperoo's, etc.


Mike caught me taking pictures of the messy house. He cannot understand why I wanted to take pics of a messy house. I told him it was simple, some day it would not be messy. Someday I will walk in the door and I will not see a walker, because both my babies will be walking. There will be no play food spread from one end of the house to the other because the kids will be told to play pretend. One of these days elmo will not be everywhere you look in my house, and blocks will not over run the floor. Play doh will not be spread out on the table, jumperoo's won't be an eye soar in the living room, and an exercauser won't be in the middle of my kitchen. Some day my house will be neat and clean, boring and quiet. I love it now. I love turning on the radio and hearing the doodlebops or elmo singing at me. I love knowing every song that all the fisher price toys sing. I love making a fool out of myself trying to squeeze through toddler size tunnels, toddler size tents, dancing around to Elmo's world theme song, playing peek a boo in my walk in closet, or doing just about anything to see a smile or hear a laugh from my kids. It is a wonderful gift, and wonderful moments that I plan on enjoying.





My other problem is that Kaiden is not a very "self entertaining" baby. He likes to held, or have someone right in front of his face at all times when he is awake. Then, if he is sleeping, Makaylee wants her one on one time with Mama as well. She has been super cuddly lately. So her favorite thing to do is sit on the couch and read books or watch TV. She has not been very cuddly for the past couple of months, so Mike and I are eating up the cuddle time while she is offering it. Bailey also started coming over, and have an almost 3 year old and an almost 2 year old running around the house can destroy a clean room in 2.3 seconds flat!

So, are you ready for my house before we pick up when Bailey comes over? If you are a neat freak, do not read any further!

Makaylee's room:

Living room:


Basement:

He just cannot compare

That's right. My poor little Kaiden just cannot compare to his sisters head of hair. I mean, we all remember Makaylee's head of hair. This was her at 2 weeks:


Poor Kaiden had a head of hair. Nothing compared to Makaylee's, but enough none the less. Unfortunatley he has developed a pretty bad case of cradle cap. (Think baby dandruff for those not familiar). Anyway, I have been rubbing, scrubbing, and brushing often to rid him of this condition. Because of this, he is loosing the hair on the top of his head. He looks like a little old mans colmb over. He is also getting a nice bald spot on the back of his head from tossing and turning all night long.

Which brings me to the next thing that he does not compare well too. His sisters sleep habits. For the past week and a half or so Kaiden has not slept longer than a two hour stretch. Which also means that I have not slept longer than 2 hours. Can you say EXHAUSTED?? Though that is not a huge step backwards because before then he was only doing one 3 or 4 hour stretch, and then up every 1-2 hours after that. The night before last I finally gave in and let him sleep in the swing. He slept for 4.5 hours! Then restless after that, but I will take it! Of course last night I put him in the swing and the batteries died, so he only slept 3.5 hours, and restless after that. I have tried him sleeping on the wedge in the co-sleeper, flat on the co-sleeper, swaddled, un-swaddled, with me, in the bouncy seat on vibrate, and so far the swing is the only thing that has helped. He does copy Makaylee's 45 minute naps though. Unless he is breastfeeding while napping, that is the longest nap we usually get. Makaylee still takes her 1.5-2 hour nap every day, but most days they do not overlap. Tired Mom! My house is also a mess, but what else is new ;)

But, on the other side of the fence. He is so strong! He is always trying to sit up from any laying position. He has some serious abs. He wants to know what is going on at all times, and is not content just laying around. That can be a good thing or a bad thing sometimes. He wants to be sitting or standing at all times so I hope he is quick to learn how to sit up so he can! He can pull off camo print way better than Makaylee:

Looks super cute in a ton of necklaces (thanks to Makaylee):
This does happen to boys when they have a big sister :)

Also has some super cute blue eyes:

All in all, even with no sleep, I think we will keep him aroun ;) I mean, who can resist that smile??

Mother's Jod Description

POSITION:Mother, Mom, Mama, Mommy, Momma, Ma, Mummy

JOB DESCRIPTION:Long term, team players needed for challenging permanent work in an often chaotic environment. Candidates must possess excellent communication and organizational skills and be willing to work variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends and frequent 24 hour shifts on call. Some overnight travel required, including trips to primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in far away cities. Travel expenses not reimbursed. Extensive courier duties also required.

RESPONSIBILITIES:The rest of your life. Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily, until someone needs $5. Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly. Also, must possess the physical stamina of a pack mule and be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat in case, this time, the screams from the backyard are not someone just crying wolf. Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges, such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets, and stuck zippers! Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and coordinate production of multiple homework projects. Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings for clients of all ages and mental outlooks. Must be willing to be indispensable one minute, and embarrassed the next. Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a half million cheap, plastic toys, and battery operated devices. Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. Must assume final, complete accountability for the quality of the end product. Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and janitorial work throughout the facility.

POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT & PROMOTION:Virtually none. Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills, so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you.

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE:None required unfortunately. On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.

WAGES AND COMPENSATION:Get this! You pay them! Offering frequent raises and bonuses. A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because of the assumption that college will help them become financially independent. When you die, you give them whatever is left. The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.

BENEFITS:While no health or dental insurance, no pension, no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and no stock options are offered; this job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth and free hugs for life if you play your cards right.

Permission

I thought I would keep this around in the event that Mike ever lets Makaylee date. He keeps saying she cannot date until she is at least 25. I keep reminding him that I was dating him at 15, and had her at 25. That doesn't seem to bother him :)

APPLICATION FOR PERMISSION TO DATE MY DAUGHTER

NOTE: This application will be incomplete and rejected unless accompanied by a complete financial statement, job history, lineage, and current medical report from your doctor.
NAME_____________________________________DATE OF BIRTH_____________
HEIGHT___________ WEIGHT__________ IQ__________ GPA_____________
SOCIAL SECURITY #________________DRIVERS LICENSE #________________
BOY SCOUT RANK AND BADGES__________________________________________
HOME ADDRESS_______________________ CITY/STATE___________ ZIP______
Do you have parents? ___Yes ___No
Is one male and the other female? ___Yes ___No
If No, explain:___________________________________________________
Number of years they have been married ______________________________
If less than your age, explain:______________________________________________
ACCESSORIES SECTION:
A. Do you own or have access to a van? __Yes __No
B. A truck with oversized tires? __Yes __No
C. A waterbed? __Yes __No
D . A pickup with a mattress in the back? __Yes __No
E. A tattoo? __Yes __No
F. Do you have an earring, nose ring, pierced tongue, pierced cheek or a belly button ring?__Yes __No

(IF YOU ANSWERED 'YES' TO ANY OF THE ABOVE, DISCONTINUE APPLICATION AND LEAVE PREMISES IMMEDIATELY. I SUGGEST RUNNING.)

ESSAY SECTION:
In 50 words or less, what does 'LATE' mean to you?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In 50 words or less, what does 'DON'T TOUCH MY DAUGHTER' mean to you?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In 50 words or less, what does 'ABSTINENCE' mean to you?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REFERENCES SECTION:
Church you attend ___________________________________________________
How often you attend ________________________________________________
When would be the best time to interview your:
father? _____________
mother? _____________
pastor? _____________

SHORT-ANSWER SECTION:
Answer by filling in the blank. Please answer freely, all answers are confidential.

A: If I were shot, the last place I would want to be shot would be:_______________________________________
I were beaten, the last bone I would want broken is my:______________________________________________________________
C: A woman's place is in the:_______________________________________
D: The one thing I hope this application does not ask me about is:______________________________________________________________
E. What do you want to do IF you grow up?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
F. When I meet a girl, the thing I always notice about her first is:______________________________________________________________
F. What is the current going rate of a hotel room? __________________

I SWEAR THAT ALL INFORMATION SUPPLIED ABOVE IS TRUE AND CORRECT TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE UNDER PENALTY OF DEATH, DISMEMBERMENT, NATIVE AMERICAN ANT TORTURE, CRUCIFIXION, ELECTROCUTION, CHINESE WATER TORTURE, RED HOT POKERS, AND HILLARY CLINTON KISS TORTURE.
_________________________________________________________
Applicant's Signature (that means sign your name, moron!)
_______________________________ ________________________________
Mother's Signature Father's Signature
______________________________________________________________
Pastor/Priest/Rabbi State Representative/Congressman

Thank you for your interest, and it had better be genuine and non-sexual. Please allow four to six years for processing. You will be contacted in writing if you are approved. Please do not try to call or write (since you probably can't, and it would cause you injury). If your application is rejected, you will be notified by two gentleman wearing white ties carrying violin cases (you might want to watch your back).

To prepare yourself, start studying Daddy's Rules for Dating:

Daddy's Rules for Dating

Your dad's rules for your boyfriend (or for you if you're a guy) :

Rule One: If you pull into my driveway and honk you'd better be delivering a package, because you're sure not picking anything up.

Rule Two: You do not touch my daughter in front of me. You may glance at her, so long as you do not peer at anything below her neck. If you cannot keep your eyes or hands off of my daughter's body, I will remove them.

Rule Three: I am aware that it is considered fashionable for boys of your age to wear their trousers so loosely that they appear to be falling off their hips. Please don't take this as an insult, but you and all of your friends are complete idiots. Still, I want to be fair and open minded about this issue, so I propose this compromise: You may come to the door with your underwear showing and your pants ten sizes too big, and I will not object. However, in order to ensure that your clothes do not, in fact come off during the course of your date with my daughter, I will take my electric nail gun and fasten your trousers securely in place to your waist.

Rule Four: I'm sure you've been told that in today's world, sex without utilizing a 'Barrier method' of some kind can kill you. Let me elaborate, when it comes to sex, I am the barrier, and I will kill you.

Rule Five:It is usually understood that in order for us to get to know each other, we should talk about sports, politics, and other issues of the day. Please do not do this. The only information I require from you is an indication of when you expect to have my daughter safely back at my house, and the only word I need from you on this subject is: 'early.'

Rule Six: I have no doubt you are a popular fellow, with many opportunities to date other girls. This is fine with me as long as it is okay with my daughter. Otherwise, once you have gone out with my little girl, you will continue to date no one but her until she is finished with you. If you make her cry, I will make you cry.

Rule Seven: As you stand in my front hallway, waiting for my daughter to appear, and more than an hour goes by, do not sigh and fidget. If you want to be on time for the movie, you should not be dating. My daughter is putting on her makeup, a process than can take longer than painting the Golden Gate Bridge. Instead of just standing there, why don't you do something useful, like changing the oil in my car?

Rule Eight: The following places are not appropriate for a date with my daughter: Places where there are beds, sofas, or anything softer than a wooden stool. Places where there is darkness. Places where there is dancing, holding hands, or happiness. Places where the ambient temperature is warm enough to induce my daughter to wear shorts, tank tops, midriff T-shirts, or anything other than overalls, a sweater, and a goose down parka - zipped up to her throat. Movies with a strong romantic or sexual themes are to be avoided; movies which feature chain saws are okay. Hockey games are okay. Old folks’ homes are better.

Rule Nine: Do not lie to me. I may appear to be a potbellied, balding, middle-aged, dim-witted has-been. But on issues relating to my daughter, I am the all-knowing, merciless god of your universe. If I ask you where you are going and with whom, you have one chance to tell me the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I have a shotgun, a shovel, and five acres behind the house. Do not trifle with me.

Rule Ten: Be afraid. Be very afraid. It takes very little for me to mistake the sound of your car in the driveway for a chopper coming in over a rice paddy near Hanoi. When my Agent Orange starts acting up, the voices in my head frequently tell me to clean the guns as I wait for you to bring my daughter home. As soon as you pull into the driveway you should exit the car with both hands in plain sight. Speak the perimeter password, announce in a clear voice that you have brought my daughter home safely and early, then return to your car - there is no need for you to come inside. The camouflaged face at the window is mine.

She is growing up so fast

I already cannot believe it that my little baby girl is going to be two in less than two months, but does she have to continually rub my face in the fact that she is growing up to quickly right before my eyes??

Makaylee's vocabulary is exploding. Seriously, she will repeat anything you ask her to. She has started to use proper nouns, using me, you, and I all correctly. I have been trying to get her to count to 3, and all of a sudden she can count to 10! She knows all the sounds her letters make. If you ask her what an S says she will tell you ssssssssssssss. Yesterday while hunting Easter eggs Mike asked her where the eggs where and she held out her hands and said "I don't know!" Today was the killer though. I was bathing Makaylee and Kaiden and she was playing with the faucet and I told her no twice. When I said it forcefully after not listening the first time she turns to me and said "I sorry." It was to cute, and almost had me in tears. My baby just apologized to me for not listening. She builds with her mega blocks and can do it on her own, without our help now. She will tell me what she wants for each meal, and she is FINALLY eating real fruit as of yesterday. Not just freeze dried fruit. She ate fresh strawberries, raspberries, and is completely in love with fresh blueberries. Makaylee asks Mike how his day was (by saying "day?"), she will pick up the phone and tell me who she wants to call, Dada, Nana, or Grandma. If I say not right now, she will pretend to call them. She will come running and tell me when she needs a new diaper. This morning I actually found her trying to pull a diaper out of the box because she had pooped. She helps me pick up all the laundry and puts it in the basket. She will take things to the trash if I tell her, and helps bring me things when I ask. She is getting really good at putting Kaiden's paci in his mouth, even when he doesn't want it :) Kaiden has been wearing some of Makaylee's old gender neutral sleepers, and it just seems like so long ago, and at the same time, not that long ago that she was a tiny little helpless baby. Now she has an opinion about everything and is not afraid to share it. Go hug your babies, because they will be big before you know it!

E......L.......M........O

As a cheerleader in high school I think I had to listen to YMCA WAY to many times. I was a cheerleader all four years, and YMCA got played at almost every sporting even that we cheered at. You do that math. So if I never had to listen to YMCA ever again, that would be ok with me. Well, when you have a daughter who is obsessed with Elmo, you collect different elmo dolls. One of the elmo dolls we got somewhere along the way is the one that sings YMCA using E L M O. All of a sudden that doll has made it to the top of our toy basket and Makaylee loves to dance with him. Over and over and over and over again. Did I mention over again? So I thought I would share a video of her dancing with elmo:




I know, it is super cute! Makaylee has also become a little chatter box. She talks non stop all day long. But she is using real word now, not just toddler speach. She has an opinion on everything, and she will let you know it. She knows the sounds that all of her letters make. (ex S says ssssssss). We can go through the whole alphabet. She can count to 3, and almost 5, she just skips four sometimes. So we are working on that. She comes to get me as soon as she hears Kaiden crying, even if we are sitting in the same room. She tells me "Crying, check baby." Makaylee still loves Kaiden and wants to give him kisses all the time. Kaiden is starting to smile back at her and coo at her, so they do make a cute pair.

Kaiden is getting so big so quickly! He is starting to move into his 3-6 month clothes, though 0-3 clothes still fit. He has the opposite problem of Makaylee. She needs pants with a larger waist and short. He needs the skinny waist and long pants. What opposites! I actually think his eyes are going to stay blue. So Makaylee looks just like me with Mike's eyes, and Kaiden looks just like Mike with my eyes. How strange :) Kaiden's sleeping is still hit and miss. His gas is getting much better though. I now breastfeed all day and night. Except he gets one 4oz bottle of lactose free milk at night. This seems to make everyone happy, so it is a good system for us.

I have started doing a one stop shop for baths here to. Kaiden sits in his bouncy seat in the bathroom while I take a shower. Makaylee gets in with me, and I just fill up the tub while I am showering. Then when I am done I put Kaiden in the bath with Makaylee in his bath sling. Makaylee loves taking a shower with me and bath with the baby. Of course, she just loves the water, so she would stay in the tub for hours if I let her. Kaiden likes it because the bathroom gets all steamy and warm while I shower, so he doesn't get cold. Here they are in the tub:



Real men wear pink right? Kaiden is already in the large size swaddlers. I have two pink ones that are in perfect condition from Makaylee. So he gets to sleep in pink. shhhhhhhhhhh, don't tell him when he is a teenager ;)




Just cause it is a cute picture, here is what I will leave you with:

4 Shots :(

My poor little guys got 4 shots today! Poor thing. He did so good though. He cried for less than a minute. He is a chunky little thing at 12lbs 9oz! That means he is gaining two pounds a month. Chunky Monkey. Other than that he looks good and is growing well. He is starting to smile a lot more, though his favorite person to smile at is Makaylee. I hope they continue to love each other this much!

We went down to the park yesterday for my birthday. Mike came home early so we dedcided to go feed the ducks. Makaylee LOVED it. She was so upset when we had to leave. kaiden was unimpressed, but he slept through most of it.

Well, just a quick update on his Dr's appt!

Busy Sunday at our house!

What an exciting day! I got our first picture of Kaiden smiling (shown below) and Makaylee used the potty twice! All in all a good day!

Here is Makaylee on the potty, thee book is needed to keep her there:

Kaiden smiling:
This was actually taken a week or so ago, but I love it and have been meaning to share:

You can see more pictures of Kaiden here:

http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y24/SSmiley908/Kaiden/

More pictures of Makaylee, including some from here little gym graduation here:

http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y24/SSmiley908/Makaylee%20Ann/

So far, so good!

Kadien has been sleeping a 4 hour stretch, followed by a 3 hour stretch every night since we started the zantac. We even got the two kids to take a nap at the same time on Sunday. Almost two full hours of kid free time! What did we do? Nothing to begin with! Then we got up and cleaned the kitchen and dining room. Followed by making some gluten steak. Huh? Gluten steak, what is that? It is vegetarian steak. It is super good for you, and our first patch actually wasn't to bad, a little tough, but we can work on it. You use it in place of regular steak in recipes, or just eat it as is. I am trying some tonight in a stir fry, so I will let you know how it goes.

Makaylee has started to get a littl rough with Kaiden, so keep your eyes open at all times! She is not trying to hurt him, quite the opposite, she is trying to help. She likes to help burp him, and was doing great for awhile, except now she wants to burp him all the time, so if he is accessible, she just walks up and starts hitting him to burp him wherever is available. Feet, head, belly, it doesn't matter. We keep trying to explain this doesn't work, but she isn't quite getting it, or she is ignoring us, so we have to keep a close eye on her. She also likes to cover him with a blanket since Mom does this all the time. She just thinks he needs to be completely covered with the blanket, head including. So watch out Kaiden, you are getting hit, and your sister is trying to smother you under a blanket, but she has good intentions! She is also taking care of her baby, burping the doll, and feeding her, it is super cute. Though I wish Kaiden went to sleep like her baby doll does. She chucks her on the ground and says "night night" and walks away. Wouldn't that be nice?

We are working on Kaiden putting himself to sleep. For several reasons. It is such a luxory that Makaylee puts herself to sleep, but we use to rock her to sleep. Teaching her to put herself to sleep was very time consuming and difficult process. We hope to skip that. Also, Makaylee doesn't understand, leave mommy alone while I rock the baby to sleep. She already has to give up time with me while I am nursing him. Sometimes I can lay Kaiden in the co-sleeper and he goes to sleep with only a couple patting and shushing trips along with replacing the paci sometimes. Sometimes I put him in the swing and he falls asleep. So I let sleeping babies lie, and he takes a nap in the swing. At night he fights going to sleep a bit more, and it can take me anywhere from 20 min to an hour to get him to fall sleep in the co-sleeper.

We have started introducing the potty to Makaylee. We are reading potty books, and watching elmo potty time video, which she loves and is addicted to. We have a potty seat in the bathroom, and she usually sits on it about once a day. We are working on introducing the concept right now. I bought some pampers that have a "feel wet" liner, but she was not bothered by it at all. We have not had a successful potty trip yet, but I am in no rush at the moment. Although it would be nice to only have one in diapers, it is difficult to get her to the potty as often as I need to with Kaiden wanting to nurse. Maybe once we have all settled into a routine we can really start focusing on it.

That is about it for right now~

Who's baby is this?

So we started the zantac yesterday. I would like to know who stole the screaming baby? No, seriously. Kaiden slept for.........are you ready for this? Four whole hours straight last night, followed by 2.5 hours. Holy cow! What life luxury is this? Then he took a two hour nap this morning, followed by a three hour nap. What a great day right? Of course the kids refuse to nap at the same time. I did have a slight overlap and rushed to take a shower all on my own. Without Makaylee sitting in the tub trying to steal my shower water. It was a nice luxury followed by Makaylee waking up. So, you would think it would be a good day right? Well, no. Makaylee has decided to take over her brothers roll of complaining, crying, and just plain crankiness today. I guess you win some, you loose some right? I am not confessing zantac as the miracle drug quite yet, because it could just be an off day for him, so I will keep you updated on the progress. But I have high hopes that this does continue and we can resume some resemblence of a scheduled life.

There is hope for sleep!

Kaiden was diagnosed with silent reflux today. Basically it is acid reflux in infants except he is missing the main symptom which is throwing up. The reason he doesn't throw up is because he throws up, but swallows the puke before it comes out. This is worse than normal acid reflux because the acid burns on the way up and on the way down. Luckily, the DR perscribed baby Zantac. So we started that today, and I HOPE that this helps. Kaiden has not been a very happy baby when he is awake, and we thought it was gas, but I have cut out a bunch of things from my diet to try and reduce the gas, and that didn't work. I thought maybe he was sensitive to what I was eating because feeding times were becoming a battle to get him to eat. So I went to very bland food, and we were still having issues. This led us to the silent reflux diagnosis. It could take up to a week or so for the medication to make a difference. We are hoping for some better sleep, as right now Kaiden doesn't sleep for more than 2-3 hour stretches at night, and a 30-45 min stretch during the day if that. The Zantac unfortunatly does not stop the actual refluxing, but it reduces the acid in it so that it doesnt burn as much, if at all. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Profesional pics

Oh My Goodness!!!!!!!! Let me tell you how much fun it is NOT to try and get pictures taken with two kids :) Which we already suspected. We made an appointment for 11:15 this morning at kiddie kandids. We *suprisingly* all got dressed and ready to go and made it there early of all things. You would think we would know something would go wrong right? Well Kaiden took his two pictures alone just fine. Then when I went to change his outfit Makaylee tripped and fell head first on the babies r us floor. Oops. Mike calmed her down while I changed Kaiden. Then when we took her over and tried to get her on the platform to take a picture she completely flipped out and screamed at the top of her lungs. So we took a break and Mike walked around the store with her. Bought her a sucker (hey, not above bribery). Then headed back to the portrait studio. COMPLETE FREAK OUT. So we left. No one wants to pay for pics of a screaming kid right? So Mike went off to work, and I took the kids home for nap time. Makaylee took a super long nap, then back to the studio, and ready for another freak out when we tried to get her to take the pic. We worked through it though, and the photogropher was very patient. So we did end up getting some great pics. Though trying to get Makaylee to hold Kaiden for a pose proved to be impossible, so we said we would settle for one of the two of them in the same pic. Thank goodness Kaiden slept through both photo shoots. What are we going to do when we want them both to smile for a picture? We will cross that bridge when we get there. Here are the pics:

Kaiden might come home tomorrow!

Just a quick update. Kaiden's jaundice levels have dropped to an 8. So they took him off the lights and if his levels don't go up over the next 12 hours, then he *should* be able to come home tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!! We tried breastfeeding today, and he is a breastfeeding champ right from the start. We also took Makaylee down to see Kaiden today for the first time. She thinks he is really cool. She petted him, and gave him some kisses. She was completely okay with me holding him, but freaked out when we switched and Mike was holding Kaiden, and I was holding her. She is having some serious Daddy attachments right now. So all in all it was a GREAT day. I just hope tomorrow is even better because Kaiden is coming home!

Look what we did!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mike and I got to hold Kaiden! So, update for those who have not heard one in awhile. Kaiden had a miracle weekend and worked his way off the ventilator, skipping the CPAP, and going straight to oxygen tubes by Sunday. He was ready for feeding on Sunday, but at the first feeding at 1:00 he was to tired and tried to sleep through the feeding, so they had to put in a feeding tube. We went back to try again at his next feeding time at 5:00 and I got to feed him, but he had to stay in bed. Mike took his Mom and sister to the airport and then rushed back for the 8:00 feeding, and the night nurse brought a rocker over and let Mike hold Kaiden while he took his bottle. So Mike drove me to the hospital for the 11:00 feeding because we knew the night nurse would let me hold Kaiden for the feeding. We both fed him a bottle, and rocked him for about 30 minutes, Mike at 8 and me at 11. It was soooooooooooo wonderful to finally be able to hold him! I don't think I can describe how amazing it was to finally be able to hold Kaiden after watching him lay in bed for 5 days. We got to hold him again today! YAY! Other good news? Kaiden is off oxygen completely and breathing completely on his own! Oxygen tube was removed this morning and he was moved to a crib rather than the NICU bed. He is still in the NICU, but might actually be transfered to the intermediate care nursery tonight or tomorrow. He is still jaundice, so we have to get those levels down. He is currently at an 11.5 and needs to be at a 6. He only dropped a point all weekend, so slow progress there. Everyone is thinking that now that he is eating it should start dropping a lot quicker. I should be able to try and breastfeed him tomorrow. So here are pics of Mike and I holding Kaiden:

Here is my favorite picture of Kaiden so far:

Pictures of Kaiden

Our Bathroom remodel

So we are in the middle of a bathroom remodel. I know, great timing with the c-section on Monday. But, this is something we have wanted to do since we moved into the house. I am happy to say that the project is moving along nicely thanks to Mike working all weekend and every night on it. But the shower is almost done! Originally we had just a tub in this bathroom, but the previous owners had hooked up a shower head from the tub spout. Needless to say the drywall all had to be replaced inside the surround. Also the tub was cast iron so that was close to 300 pounds that mike had to remove. The new tub is in, and Mike undertook the process of putting up tile for the shower surround. Keeping in mind that he has never done tile alone before, this was quite the project, and it is done! It looks awsome. The only thing left to do is seal the grout and put the spout and shower head in. So, here are some pictures for those interested. Makaylee is so excited about the tub. She has been using a small inflatable tub on the bottom of our stand up shower, and she hates it. So she cannot wait to use the new tub. Tonight, Mike starts laying the tile on the bathroom floor! Our goal is to have the tub ready for use, and the toilet in by the time Kaiden comes. We shall see. The cabinets, sink and counter top may have to wait till after Kaiden arrives.