Brynn is 6 months old!!!

I can't believe she's already been here for 6 months....time flies faster with the 2nd one!

6 month appointment stats:

 Height: 27.25 "  92%

Weight: 17lbs 14.5 oz    82%

Head Circ: 17.52"   93%

She is fully sitting up on her own, can roll over in both directions and is still trying to army crawl.

She now absolutely refuses to drink formula which is posing a challenge for us at school when she runs out of breastmilk.  I only have time to pump twice at work which doesn't get her through a full day with the way she eats.  We are slowly trying to mix formula into her bottles to get her to take it.  There were a couple of days at school where she refused to eat anything at all.  That scared me to death.  Each day gets a little better for her.  She's napping in her crib at school and cries less each day.  They say that she likes to be held a lot or she gets fussy.  She really likes Miss Rosa and smiles really big in the morning when she sees her.  Her naps at school are not very good which worries me.  At home she sleeps about 2 hours twice a day.  At school she takes 4 30 minute naps which means she's not getting good naps in. They say it's because they have to keep all the lights on as part of SIDS prevention, and they aren't used to all of the noise of the other babies.  At home they nap in dark quiet rooms.  Ava's teacher actually took Ava's class by Brynn's classroom so that Ava could show off her baby sister.  Ava was so proud! 

One plus of having her in school instead of at home with a nanny is that when she is napping in her crib the teachers are literally right there and can keep a close eye on her in case anything happens.  That is such a comfort for me!

The good news is she's easier to get down at night!  I've been able to lay her down in her bed and let her fuss a little.  She'll roll over on her tummy and I just pat her a little and she's asleep.  So proud of her! 

I'm 6 months old already!

Look at my two new teeth everybody

If this isn't a reason for living, I don't know what is!

I love these pajamas!  Ruff Night :)





Where's the equality ladies?

Life of a working mom:

• Wake up tired as hell and wondering what 8 hours of sleep feels like
• Change a diaper
• dress the baby
• put baby on the floor with some toys while you get dressed
• Pick up baby who just toppled over and comfort her until she's done crying
• sit baby back down and straighten/curl your hair
• Do make up
• Give eldest child who just woke up lots of praise, love and kisses and so happy to see you hugs
• put baby in walker in the kitchen and start breakfast
• get coffee pot going
• pack final lunch essentials
• double check bottles and milk for the baby
• make sure all lunch boxes and breast pump bottle storage are fully equipped with ice packs
• double check breast pump for all the pieces
• feed eldest child and nurse the baby
• dress eldest child and fix her hair (pig tails or pony tails what shall it be?)
• Throw on shoes while eldest child puts her shoes on
• simmer down eldest child who is now melting down because she has her shoes on the wrong feet
• calm down baby who is now crying because sister is crying
• put dog #1 outside to potty
• get dog #2 (AKA tazmanian devil) and put her outside to potty
• nurse chewed up fingers from stupid dog who needs to find a new home
• Go get dogs to put them back inside
• chase disobedient dog down the street (AGAIN) yelling, cussing and threatening to murder him, or drop him off at the pound if a car doesn't hit him first
• put baby in her infant seat and get all 27 bags, lunchboxes, backpacks, laptop and breastpump and get out the door
• get both girls loaded in the car and set house alarm
• drive girls to school and drop them off, chat with the teachers
• drive like a bat outta hell to get to work on time
• work, work, work, nibble on some lunch, work, work
• Drive like a bat outta hell to get to the daycare on time to get the girls
• chat with teachers and director of daycare
• Drive girls home and chat about the day
• Get home, feed the baby and get dinner started
• Let the dogs out again
• Throw in a load of laundry
• Put last load away
• eat dinner while feeding the baby and begging eldest child to eat a bite of food
• clear dishes
• bathe baby and eldest child
• dress baby for bed and soothe her down while hubs get eldest child ready for bed
• put baby to bed
• do dishes
• Wash bottles and pack baby's bag for school the next day
• pack eldest child's lunch and put it in the fridge
• Get pump ready to go for the next morning and pack storage bottles
• Pick up toys in the living room
• squeeze in a shower somewhere in here
• get clothes ready for work the next day
• Log on and work for 1-2 hours
• Baby is awake, feed her and put her back down
• stay up late to watch a few of my TV shows that are tivo'd or hang out with hubs
• Go to sleep with baby in the bed with me, wake up everytime her breathing pattern changes :)
• sprinkle in a few diaper changes, and nursing/pumping sessions throughout the day as well

Dad's day:

• Wake up
• get self dressed
• go to work
• go to the gym
• get home
• eat dinner and leave it on the table
• play with eldest child
• take out the trash (or leave it for spouse to cuss about in the morning when the trash is overflowing, we get a good laugh out of this)
• turn on the sprinklers
• Get eldest child dressed and ready for bed (leave lots of messes along the way)
• feed/play with the dogs
• Have some "me" time to unwind from such a long and stressful day
• go to bed and get a good solid 8 hours of sleep

WTF?????

Surely this is not at all one sided :)  I MUST include that sweet hubs does let me sleep in every weekend.  Get's up with the girls, makes breakfas and coffee and gets them fed, dressed and ready to go.  No complaints there! 

24-25 weeks- tooth #2 has arrived

Amazing how Brynn got her two bottom teeth at the EXACT same time that Ava did. She didn't even act like a teething baby for either one. Such a big girl. Tomorrow I start back to work after a blissful 6 months off with my babies. I'm glad I started the girls a few days early at school so that we would all have a much smoother first day back. Ava keeps telling us that she doesn't wanna get bigger, she wants to stay little so she can stay home with her mommy and her baby sister.

Here are a few pics of our last week at home together, my 6 months went by fast!

Look how good I'm sitting up!

Coloring time with mom

Making Halloween cupcakes!

Lunch time at the Hendrickson House

I'm so excited about my gorgeous shoes!

My little Michelin baby and her sissy at bath time

Morning cuddles

The girls first day at preschool

I've always wanted the girls to go to a christian preschool and they started on Wednesday! Ava did great but Brynn had a very rough day and cried all day. Yesterday she had a much better day and today at drop off she was all smiles.  Ava has told me several times that she'd rather be at her home with her mommy and sister.

Brynn's teachers are very impressive and know their stuff! Ava's teacher reminds me of my sister Brenda so naturally I think she's fabulous.

23 weeks- ladies and gentlemen we have a tooth!

Brynny boo has her first tooth! She took it like a champ and didn't fuss or anything. In fact we saw no changes in her and suddenly the tooth appeared. She's also sitting up very well!

This week she and Ava start their new school. I'm very nervous about her first day. Ava is very excited. Next week I return to work. 6 months zoomed by! The good news is I work for the best company in the world and they are allowing me to return to work at reduced hours. I feel so blessed.

My sweet girl doodlebug

Ava Update

I am proud to say that we have done a pretty good job of getting Ava's total meltdown's under control.  She still has her moments but it's been a few weeks since we've had a complete meltdown.  Now if we can just get her to stop talking over us and to ALWAYS behave in public...yeah right.  :)

She loves her behavior chart and getting stickers for good deeds.  When her chart is full she gets a special treat.  It gets her to focus on her good behaviors and what she should be doing instead of us always focusing on the bad ones.  Got the idea from a mommy friend and was pleasantly surprised to see it work!  When we ask her why she got a sticker she says "for hayvin"

She spends most of her day following me around saying "mommy will you play with me, mommy let's play, mommy play with Ava"  and I mean she follows me EVERYWHERE even to the bathroom.  Each morning when Brynn goes down we have play or project time and she loves that!  When we do playtime she spends most of it bossing me around and reprimanding me for not playing right.  Boy would I like to be a fly on the wall when she starts preschool next week! 

Funny things Ava says or does:

She likes to work on things around the house like a handy man and says "look mommy we the handy mannys!"

She was disobeying Steve the other day and I told her that daddy was the boss and she needed to do what he said.  She said "but I don't want daddy to be da boss mommy, I want you to stay da boss"  After holding in a roaring laugh, I said "Why don't you want daddy to be the boss" and she said "cuz Ava wants daddy to stay happy"  insert wah wah music here.  I guess mommy isn't happy.  LOL

Last week I asked her to come downstairs so I could get her dressed and she yelled down to me "mommy you drivin me nuts, just ask Ava nicely...say Ava come downstairs please"  that was almost a direct quote of what we tell her when she whines.  I swear she's a little tape recorder!  For the record I WAS asking her nicely. 

Courtney and I went to lunch and the waitress asked Ava if she was a good big sister and if she helped mommy feed the baby and Ava looked at her chest and said "no I can't, I don't have any milk in my booves"

Steve never gets Ava's pajamas matched correctly and this drives me nuts.  I even fold them and arrange them in order so that it makes it easy for him to just pick the matching PJ's and put them on her.   Ava has picked up on that too because he finally got it right last week and she said "mommy, daddy should get a sticker for matching my pj's right!  Good job daddy" 

Meet baby Cole

All of her babies are named Cole or Brynn.  The smallest ones are Cole and the bigger ones are Brynn.  She also has a new imaginary sister named Annie.  At first Annie was invisible but she's now given her smurfette doll the role of Annie.  hmmmm wonder where she go that name from.  Memaw is watching over her I'm sure :)

Well I must run...I'm being summoned to play again.

Stuff on my Dad