Daddy Handyman and Uncle Alex Handyman

Peter and Alex made the most of the rest of his visit with some fun and some work.

All the supplies for the media room step

My beauty

Max was ready to play some Top Golf!

Not so sure about his form but he had fun (while I stressed about the ledge a few feet away that he could fall off...)

Uncle Alex helping Maxwell

We took Alex to a tex mex restaurant.  At one point, Maxwell wasn't behaving so I put him on timeout in an empty section of the restaurant.  It looks a little further away than it was.  Discipline ...it's not just for in the home!

Before...just a light fixture

After...

The boys worked on the step in the media room while Brittany and I went to Oklahoma for Julianne and Derek's show.  They also watched both the kids.  (More on that in another post...) I was impressed they got it all done in one long evening.

Finished product!  I love that it's temporary so I can move it to the garage if we want to use the room for something else for a few days or so.  They even went the extra mile and it's got cutouts so it fits around the pillars.

Emmalyn focused on her uncle

He finally got over his fear of my tiny baby

We love you Uncle Alex!  

It was fantastic having him visit.  Maxwell absolutely LOVED having him here.  He adored his Uncle Alex and wanted to be around him and play with him.

Now, an update on the kids.

• Emmalyn has an amazing ability to know when I am in the shower.  She can be happily sleeping so I'll go to quickly jump in the shower and I swear that the second I get in the shower, she starts screaming.  ARGH!!!  Every time!
• We are getting smiles but there's no real trick that always works to get them.  
• She sleeps much better when she's a little elevated but I don't want to have her sleep like that since it's recommended babies only sleep on their back.  I think it's tied to her being gassy.  She will cry out in pain when she's sleeping and it causes her to wait up.
• Emmalyn struggles to get into deep sleep during the day which means I am constantly attending to her until it's time to nurse again. (Again - possibly tied to the gassy issue.)
• She spits up a ton.  
• (You would think these past few things would point to her having Reflux however I don't think that's the case with her.  We had that with Max and it's not the same with her.)
• It's sad but we are so busy and I'm so tired that Emmalyn is only getting a bath once a week.  I look up and realize it's been that long and then I'm shocked with myself. UGH
• Max was painting last night and he painted a house for her and also wanted pink paint "for Emmalyn".
• Max seems to be doing good with her but still gets upset when she cries.  He has wanted to cuddle with her and touch her when it's time for nap or bedtime.  
• He's aware that she can't talk so I will say something like "she loves your kisses" and he'll remind me that she can't talk.  
• Then he'll talk about something he wants to do with her like blow bubbles and then talk about how she can't do that now because she's little and he'll teach her once she gets older. :)
• Max is listening to his parents better than he was, which is MUCH appreciated.
• He is doing pretend play more and more which is fun to watch.
• Maxwell has been struggling with napping. He just lays there for up to hr and a half without falling asleep. 
• He is just so very independent!  I am trying to remember to continue to let him do more.
• Max's language and verbal skill amaze me.  It feels like he is using more complicated words and sentence structure than a 2 year old should be able to.  For example, he correctly used the word "while" in a sentence. 
• My tailbone getting better but is not all the way healed from my time in the hospital.  I can't believe it's been 6 weeks and still hurts.

End of May 2014 - I love surprises!

I can't believe May is over!

I had my final doctor visit - my 6 week post baby check up.  I sure love my doctor and will miss seeing her.  I starting crying when I was sharing with her how saddened I was that her name wasn't on Emmalyn's birth certificate because another doctor delivered her... She was sad that she missed it too.  It's weird that she was my partner through this long journey and then just because she misses the very end, it's like she gets none of the official credit.  I am forever grateful that I found her when I moved to Texas!!!  We also talked about whether I might have some postpartum depression.  I had a friend suggest that I might have it because I am so emotional and haven't completely fallen in love with Emmalyn.  Sure...I like her..she's cute...I love her... but I'm not connected to her like I am to Max.  I feel like that's okay and it's normal - she's still just a blob without a personality.  After talking, my doc didn't feel like I had depression going on but just normal hormonal changes after pregnancy and that I needed to give myself a break and not set such high expectations on myself.  I promised that I would call her if things got worse.

I got my stats so I could compare to last time...

Here is the format - #1 - date of doctors visit, #2 - how many weeks along based on an estimated date of conception of 12/7/10 and due date of 8/30/11, #3 - lbs up or down from weight at date of conception, #4 - blood pressure

10/16/13, 12th week, down 1 lbs, 110/60
11/14/13, 16th week, up 3 lbs, 110/60
12/12/13, 20th week, up 7 lbs, 100/60
1/8/14, 24th week, up 8 lbs, 110/70
2/4/14, 28th week, up 13 lbs, 110/60
2/20/14, 30th week, up 16 lbs, 120/70
3/5/14, 32nd week, up 17 lbs, 110/70
3/19/14, 34th week, up 21 lbs, 110/70
3/27/14, 35th week, up 25 lbs, 120/70
4/1/24, 36th week, up 24 lbs, 110/70
4/9/14, 37th week, up 26 lbs, 110/70

Peter and I are still trying to figure out how to be on the same page and get along.  We are both stressed and at our limits and exhausted.  We try to talk and communicate.  Some times it works...   I am frustrated that I don't get more done.  I want to feel more capable than I do.  I am not getting anything done.

Video - We have smiles!!! 

Emmalyn is so tiny that the bottoms to her dresses just swim on her.  This is from a 0-3 month outfit - not that the waist just hangs...

Her cousins can't get enough of her.  They love giving her attention.

Big open smiles

Watching her brother

Video - Max cracks me up.  He opened his notebook one day and jumped back saying "I can't deweeve (believe) it!"... he did it long enough that I was able to get out my camera after awhile and still capture him doing it.

My Sister-in-Law wanted to surprise her husband, Peter's brother with a trip out to see us and see the baby.  She knew that he wanted to be here but that he wasn't going to come because he wouldn't go without her.  He knew she wanted to be here too and they couldn't both come right now.  So, knowing that he wouldn't go without her, she got the idea that the only way to get him here would be to buy the ticket for him and surprise him.  I gladly became her accomplice because I knew Peter would love that surprise too!  We were able to keep it a surprise from Alex until the night before (he had an EARLY flight and there was no way she would have gotten him to the airport at 4 am without him knowing what was going on).

Alex's flight got in right during nap time so I had prepped Max and told him that we were going to go pick up Uncle Alex at the airport but that he needed to take a nap on the way there.  He wanted to bring Emmalyn's blanket that he has sort of taken over.  He did awesome and totally fell asleep quickly.  

Emmalyn does good in the car unless she's hungry.  She is going about 3 to 3 1/2 hours in between eating.  The night before, I got 3 hours and 9 minutes of sleep (thanks to my new Fitbit for tracking my LACK of sleep) which leads to things like breaking down crying to my friend, Andrea.  Today I got 6 1/2 and it has made such a big difference!

I told Peter we were close to his job and wondered if he wanted to go to lunch?  (We've never gone to lunch since he started working there...)  He said yes, not knowing that we had a special visitor in the car with us!  It was great because Peter had no clue about Alex until we drove up and he saw him in the car.

Video - Alex surprises Peter

It was an awesome surprise.  :)  We all went to lunch and then Peter went back to work to finish his day.

Emmalyn and Uncle Joe

Emmalyn and Uncle Alex

He was nervous to hold her because she was so little.

The boys had a great time hanging out.  The first night was spent playing video games.

Emmalyn has some cradle cap going on but it's not super bad.  Her baby acne is much better and is only little bits now.  She will lay on the play mat or in the boppy for longer time spans - like 5 to 10 minutes which gives me little mini-breaks.

We typically get up and start getting ready for the day at 8:30 and aren't fully ready until 2 hours later.  I am pumping after I nurse in the morning to start building my freezer supply.  I'm getting about 4 oz, so that is good for now.  I am NOT looking forward to going back to work even though things are crazy hard right now at home.  

Max will tell Emmalyn that he loves her and gives her kisses.  He gets frustrated when she cries and I can't get to her immediately, like when I'm using the restroom.  I am still bickering with Peter but it seems like that might be getting better, a little. 

I am doing things more on my own without as much help from Brittany which makes me feel more capable but also means I am getting even less done.  I am keeping things sort of running but not getting to do lots.

Video - Max's recognition of sight words is picking up.  He's going really fast now.

She was so exasperated that she had to nurse under the cover that she covered her face.  :)

Video - We are getting smiles and coos for real now - all the time!

Uncle Alex playing chalk with all the boys

We took Alex out for some BBQ

He wanted to know if holding the baby carrier counted as holding the baby...  NOPE!

Holding onto her daddy's hand while he held in her binkie.

Miss Mary Ann next door gave Max a cupcake.  He thought it was "Delicious".  

The boys worked on a couple "manly" projects while Alex was here.  Peter installed the new fan timer switch in the bathroom, they bought and installed a fan outside on the patio, and they built a removable platform/riser in the back of the media media room.  That was a major project.

Alex carry the carpet for the riser

The supplies were so big, they had to rent a truck.  At that point I was worried if they might be over their heads.  (Shout out to our neighbor Chris who let them borrow some tools and supplies.)

Tida and Jason came over to meet Emmalyn.  We all had a GREAT time hanging out (including the impromptu visit from my neighbor Erika).

Emmalyn's Birth Announcement

Stationery Card

View the entire collection of cards.

The Rest of Memorial Day Weekend

Man, I sure love when my house is full of family or friends!  Plus it is really nice right now to have other people around who want to hold and take care of the baby.  :)

Thanks to all the fun we had yesterday, Emmalyn was outside more than she'd ever been.  I think it wiped her out because she nursed at 9:30 that night and then slept until 5:30 in the morning!!!!  Amazing! (Of course I didn't sleep that whole time because I kept getting up and checking on her.)

A little tummy time with her legs in the air (she has such scrawny ankles!)

Group harmonic playing

Peter and Richard took all the kids, except, the baby on a walk.  Us moms enjoyed having some quiet time to just visit!  Then we got some pictures via text:

The kids with their feet in the pool

Interesting...so the dads ended up taking the kids to the neighborhood pool, huh?  How did they get in though, the key is still here at home?... We guessed (correctly) that Makenna probably climbed over the fence to let everyone in.  

We were probably concerned for half a second and then figured it was fine...the dads could take care of it.  The kids looked like they were having fun.

Then a few minutes later we get this video via text:

video - impromptu swimming party

So much for just putting their feet in!  (We later learned that Max was the first to jump in and get all wet and then the others followed suit.  The boys took off their shirts and Makenna swam in her clothes.

Shortly after that, we got another text requesting Natalie's swimming suit because she wouldn't get in because she was wearing a pretty dress that she didn't want to ruin.  MOMS to the rescue!  We packed up snacks, drinks, swimming suits, towels, etc and walked over to the pool.  

The police were in the parking lot when we got there.  We joked that some neighbor had called the cops because of the hooligans that had hopped the fence and were swimming in their clothes.  (The cop wasn't there for us and left us alone.)

Enjoying the snacks the moms brought.  Thank goodness for thoughtful moms!

Enjoying being kid-less

mmmm pudding

Cutest smile ever

Emmalyn slept in this uncomfortable position the whole time

Max conned Aunt Kimi into carrying him home

It's funny to see the difference between moms and dads...  Dads go on a walk and one kid hops a fence and the kids end up swimming in their clothes because it wasn't fully planned.  Moms show up, fully supplied and organized with everything possibly needed.  Both are good, both are enjoyed by the kids, both have an important place.  I need to make sure though that I let those crazy dad moments happen in my kid's lives.  Life doesn't always have to be planned/structured/organized - a little spontaneity and craziness is good.

See how the view into our back yard has changed?  We now have a lovely view of heavy machinery.  They are starting to prep the ground and roads for the next phase of building.  Our peace and quiet, especially in the mornings has been disturbed.  Soon we will look in our backyard and have neighbors back there.  Too soon!

Everyone except Peter, the baby, and I went to get snow cones.  They ended up getting their snow cones in a torrential rain.  They all came back looking like wet dogs. 

Everyone helping make a yummy dinner of kebabs, watermelon, and pasta salad.  

(I had a mini meltdown earlier because I was feeling the stress of trying to do everything I thought I should be able to do yet in reality couldn't do because I was still recovering.  It stinks when my expectations of myself are too high and then I end up grump-ing on innocent bystanders who get caught in the crossfire.  Grateful that these people love med, forgave me, and supported me.)

Birthday cake time!  Max helped me blow out the candles (he was sooooo excited about the candles)

Brittany and Kimberly made me some yummy moist cocoa cake the night before when we were at the baseball game.  It was a lovely surprise.

That night, all the parents went out on a date to see a movie while Kimberly stayed at home with all 6 kids!  It was fun to go out even though we watched from the second row of the theater.  (Seriously, those are awful seats.  Why do they even put them there?!)

She survived!  All 6 kids were sleeping when we got home.  Very impressive Kimberly!!!!!

Morning conversations with Aunt Kimi

Maxwell loves his aunt

Sisters 

(I look like the oldest for sure - look at my face!  More aged and wrinkled.  Dang!)

Max LOVED playing with Uncle Richard.  They were good buds on this trip.

One last bit of fun together.  Kimberly's flight was delayed so we picked her back up from the airport to take her to lunch with all of us.

After this, everyone was gone and my house was back to normal.  :(  I wish I could have visitors every weekend, it's so much fun.  It was seriously fantastic having Michelle and her family here.

Sleeping baby who had to get used to not being held all the time again.

Proof that she's chunking up a little bit - little fat rolls on her legs

Emmalyn's getting older, she's now having more periods of being awake which is nice.  Plus, her skin is starting to look so much better - thank goodness!!!  Her cries aren't all the same anymore and I think I'm starting to get the hang of knowing which cry means what.  AND...I think we are really close to her smiling!!!  I can't wait.