Father's Day

This year Father's Day was definitely a day to remember!  It started out with a wonderful breakfast of eggs, steak, tomatoes and french toast with lots and lots of syrup.  I was very proud of myself!  After my husbands wonderful breakfast we had decided to go to the fair.  Neither of us had been to a fair and it was so great!  We ate mountains of fried food, fried zucchini, fried pigs in a blanket, bacon wrapped in chocolate and a few other things I can't even remember.  Since Daniel is small we were unable to ride anything, but he had fun just staring at all the people and fun.  The only bad part of the day was how exhausting it was for Daniel, he cried the whole ride home, blah!  Eventually we all got our afternoon naps and were ready for delicious dinner.  Steak, pork, potatoes and a salad (had to have something healthy for the day).  Daddy's gift this year was tickets to his favorite baseball team, it really was such a great day! :)

Where does the time go??

It has been four months!  I don't even know why I stopped writing here, but I realized lately I need to continue to do so.  Mostly, for myself.  I know selfish, selfish but it will also be nice if Daniel ever wonders what his life was like when he was younger.  To update what has happened in the last four months Daniel began to walk officially (which according to the dr. "official" means three continuous steps).  And, unjoyously, to me, he has begun to start rejecting naptime.  Which adds a lot of work for mommy. Lately, we have also been going to great park, swimming and many other fun things.  Maybe that's why he doesn't want to sleep?  It is great for him to be older and want to be out of the house more!  Currently, we are on a summer break from work.  This is good and bad, good because he and I get a lot more time with just the two of us.  Bad, because I hadn't planned too far ahead with our money and things are really tight while I am not working.  Of course I babysit here and there but its definitely not the same.  Its sorta strange but I become jealous of my husband when he goes to work.  Its weird but even going to someone elses home makes me feel much more accomplished.  I understand that staying at home as a parent is also rewarding, but I also like to contribute monetarily.  Luckily, we will be seeing Emma and Eve next week!  They are currently on vacation and Eve began to walk as well!  The week before school was out.  She is so cute when she walks, she sticks her arms out for balance.  I am so proud of the babies!  They are really growing up so quickly.  We also missed two very important events Daniel and Eve's first birthdays!!!  They were both a blast, we had a small dino themed party here for Daniel and Eve and Emma had a joint birthday (Emma turned 3 as well!)  Anyway, enough rambling for one day Daniel needs help getting to sleep!

"I need to purchase stock in Kleenex"

This week turned out to be far more hectic than I ever could have possibly imagined.  I did have my final exams for school this week, which I was expecting.  I was not prepared, however, for three sick kids!  Oh my, snot, snot, snot and than this afternoon Emma developed a very strange rash with fever.  I am starting to feel sick myself so this will probably be brief, all I can say to sum up the week is hectic.  It wasn't bad, I enjoyed spending time with everyone just very busy.  Some awesome highlights for this week
Passed my courses (pretty certain)
Daniel and Eve have started to learn to share
Eve gave Daniel and I kisses
Emma had Joe over today to play, yay!

So, as I stated Eve gave Daniel and I kisses and the reason this is significant is because she NEVER has before.  She is only nine months old, so they aren't exactly kisses that she gives, but rather an open mouth slobber.  But, you can definitely tell her itentions.  I had seen her many times when Sam got home from work lean in and smooch her on the cheek.  And, the other day we were snuggling and I guess she decided I was worthy of an Eve kiss, made me feel so special!  Then today she and Daniel were "sharing" pacifiers and decided he needed a little smooch on the top of his head, she was surprising gentle and I watched in awe, such a precious moment!  So, I think Daniel learned something from Eve.  Later, when she was napping he found Emma's doll an kissed it over and over and over.  I didn't even know he could give kisses!

Baby Steps!

Great day!  Daniel tried to take his first step alone today!  I was very excited, but it was a little unexpected.  When he started to go I freaked out just a little and I think it scared him.  Hopefully that doesn't make for a set back in future walking.  Daddy has switched his day off to Tuesday, so Daniel was with us girlies today.  Here's what we did today (no particular order).
Painting
Played outside
Danced
Colored
Just to name a few...it was all a blast!

Daniel has also had a total of three bottles today already, which is great since getting him to drink one was such a chore.  I learned a lot from his food diary and just thought I would share what I learned.  So, if you are having a hard time with feeding baby here are a few suggestions.
1.  If your child wants to eat and roam, let them.  I understand learning to eat at the table and in high chair is important.  But, for Daniel he always wants to move, move, move.  So I learned if I let him come to me for the food he will actually eat.  When I put him in his highchair he often refuses to eat.
2.  Offer them your spoon.  I also discovered if I used my spoon to feed Daniel when we were at the table, he would eat.  It was still his baby food, but for some reason he liked the bigger spoon.
3.  To offer maximum nutrition at each meal I mixed together fruit and vegetable baby foods.  Not exactly sure it was the tastiest, but Daniel seemed to like it.
4.  Let your child eat with a friend.  When Eve and Daniel are sitting next to each other and eating he never misses a bite. 
5.  Make sure you are feeding nutritionally rich foods.  I know it sounds obvious, but if you want to give your child a snack it is so much easier to give them baby puffs than a fruit or veggie.  This week when I went grocery shopping I made sure to get a bunch of both and gave those only for snacks along with whole wheat or grain.
6.  Share your food.  When I am eating a banana if I let Daniel take bites for himself, he will eat a bunch.  If I try to feed him, not so much.  Just make sure they don't bite off too much.  Remember to always monitor babies when they are eating or drinking their bottles!
Just a reminder, these are just suggestions from me a nanny and mom.  I am not a doctor and if your child has had an extreme diet change remember to contact your doctor.  Also, none of this is medical advice. :)

Today was a relaxed day, and you all know I love days like this.  We had so much fun playing time just flew by.  When I am able to get all three kiddos to sleep one nap at the same time, things are even better!  Eve's teeth are still bothering her quite a bit.  We had a little trouble with the afternoon nap, but nothing terrible.  All in all just a great day!

Lazy Saturday

That's right, just returned from vaca, only worked one day this week and still having a lazy Saturday.  I guess I just don't really want to get back to reality, not yet.  A few great things for today.  Since Daniel has been eating so sparsely I decided to start a food journal and make sure ALL meals (and snacks) are full of nutrition and Sam was kind enough to give me some vitamin drops.  I will keep you updated on how this all helps.  This morning I talked to my Dad about what was going on with Daniel and he was very very helpful.  He is the type of guy who doesn't really stress too much so every time I am able to call him (we live in diff. states) it really helps me relax as well.  He made a good point that Daniel won't starve himself and not to pressure him too much because it will probably have the opposite effect I would like.  So, I just relaxed today and Daniel had his afternoon bottle.  Yay, yay, yay!  Thank you, Dad.

Lately, I have been a shop-a-holic.  My husband told me I am not allowed to do anymore shopping for this year.  I keep telling him I have to update my wardrobe from being pregnant, and fat after the pregnancy.  This all got me to thinking about the huge weight gain and loss that comes from having children.  I am a little ashamed to admit this, but I gained 65 pounds when I was pregnant with Daniel.  I was terrible, I figured that since I was already the biggest I had ever been in my life it didn't matter what I ate.  Wow, was I wrong!  I did not really understand the extent of my mistake until after Daniel was born.  I tried to put on my old clothes, they did not fit at all!!  I had to shop for all new clothes to have anything that actually fit.  I refused to wear a bathing suit during the summer, and very rarely wore shorts.  It was very depressing for me.  Finally, I realized I needed to work on losing all the weight I gained and have been successful!  I did this by working out, and decreasing my meal portions to normal sizes.  But, even with all the weight loss things are just not the same with my body.  I don't really know how to explain it except things are just different.  Does anyone else feel this way after having children?  So, I am trying to discover the clothes that will work for my new body.  Mostly, I feel like I want to keep everything covered.  Despite the fact I have lost my weight there are still stretch marks EVERYWHERE and I mean everywhere...tummy, tooshie, back and even behind my knees.  I didn't even know that was possible.  Ultimately, I have found that the best style for me are some skinny jeans with long tees, and perhaps a belt to accentuate my waist.  What styles have you found best for the post-baby body?  And, what work outs or meal plans did you use to lose the weight?

To the left what I would wear before Daniel
To the right what I wear now

Teething Troubles

Sigh, I think the title says it all.  Things have been a little frustrating today.  Daniel is getting a new tooth on the bottom that is really irritating him.  He was finally drinking his bottles again and now today he refuses.  It always makes me worry that he will become dehydrated or isn't getting enough to eat.  He's always been a little baby, so I always worry when we have issues with food.

But, I did get to hang out with Emma and Eve again today! :)  We were all very excited to see each other.  I brought the girls some teddy bears for a late Valentine's Day gift and apparently they didn't smell well.  Emma told me she loved it, but didn't like it because of the smell.  I smelled it and it just smelled like a store...go figure.  Still, very funny!  Kids are always so honest, sometimes a little brutally honest.  Eve developed two teeth while we were gone!  They grew in so quickly I was a little shocked.  I knew she was teething before we left because she was a little fussy.  I had no idea her teeth would be in so quickly though. 

Today was pretty rainy, Emma asked if she could do some painting and of course I said yes!  She was very excited it had been a little while.  We usually do finger painting, and for some reason she always tries to paint herself instead of the paper.  I have to remind her to keep the paint on the paper and her fingers, but not on her arms, belly..wherever else she may think to paint.  Its always very fun to finger paint.  While we were painting Eve was awake and she was sitting in her highchair, its one that has a toy tray on the top.  And, she is so hilarious with the toys she just bangs them against the side making tons of noise while we paint.  All in all today was a pretty great day.  Sorry, not too much to talk about it was a short day at work. :)

Don't HATE Comments

We arrived home from our vacation yesterday, boo!  I did not want to go home we had such a great time.  My husband even wants to move to where we vacationed.  Silly man! Haha.  So as you can tell we had a great trip.  There were a few hiccups with the room we first booked, but we were able to upgrade rooms and things were much better!  But, as with any vacation with children I think the hiccups are expected.  Daniel has been teething for awhile now and we had a few fussy evenings, but we made it through and I am very happy for the vacation we were able to take.  We even ventured to a fancy schmancy restaurant with Daniel in tow.  I don't think they were so excited to see a baby in their restaurant.  But, it was Valentine's Day and we weren't going to sacrifice the nice dinner just because we have a baby.  Turns out, Daniel can be a baby saint at dinner.  We received multiple comments on how well he behaved, I was just as surprised!  The night before we had to leave the restaurant we were eating in because he was mis-behaving so badly.  Let me just say I was very thankful for the good behavior in the fancy restaurant.  Has anyone ever had to leave a restaurant before because of their child?  It was a tad embarrassing.

While on vacation we spent a lot of time being lazy and during this time I was able to read some online articles I would normally look over.  Most of them were about parenting and I was a little amazed, most of the reading I find easily do come from social networks.  On these social networks parents can leave their thoughts and comments.  Which I think is great!  But, I think there were a lot of comments that were not necessary.  Parents bashing other parents saying they are bad, and just let me say, wow!  I couldn't believe the things being said.  So, here's my two cents on the topic.  Parents are not perfect, nanny is not perfect.  We are all human beings who make mistakes.  And, as parents we all have different ways of raising our children.  I don't think its our place to tell other parents how to raise their children.  You can't protect your children from everything in this world.  Of course we will all try, but even when you are two feet from them they will probably fall down and get hurt.  These things just happen.  I think what matters is we try the best we can.  But, don't tell others they are terrible when they are doing their best as well.   My goodness!!  OK, I am done, getting off my soap box now.  Tomorrow I get to see Emma and Eve again, yay!  I will let you all know how the day goes. :)