Packages!

Over the last month we've received a few packages!

Up first: I'm a member of a group on Facebook that's made up of a bunch of mommies. Around Christmastime they had wanted to mail me a package since I live overseas, and try as I did to tell them not to since Shannon was going to the States, they still wanted to send something. It really was so sweet of them to send me something, even though I've never met most of them!

Marshmallows, ponytail holders, markers, coloring books and art supplies, gum, candy, a mini-muffin tin, silicone measuring cup, and spatula.

Lane loves that Minnie Mouse coloring book and markers. It is by FAR her favorite "art" thing these days. Thanks, Healthy Mamas! It's so much fun to get fun packages from America!

Then we received a package from Shannon's mom and stepdad. Sharon said that she was out shopping and found a bunch of stuff on clearance and just couldn't resist, so the girls got some cute new clothes.

Onesies, pants, Hello Kitty shirts, dresses, and jammies. Thanks, Sharon and Milton, for the fun new clothes!

And then we received a package from some friends of our who live in China. She had wanted to give cloth diapering a try when she had her third baby, but a couple months in decided she just had too much going on to keep up with doing diapers too. I had mentioned to her that if she didn't want her diapers that I would love to have them because I thought I'd have two in diapers for longer than I did. Anyhow, they mailed us all their cloth diapers (I'm SO excited to have ones with snaps instead of velcro!) and some other goodies for Noel.

A nursing cover, Econobum cloth diapers and a couple BumGenius 4.0's (not all diapers are pictured...they were in the wash), a bracelet and necklace for Lane, baby pants, socks, and onesies, and a cute top with matching headband. Thanks, David and Christy! I am SO grateful to have more diapers, and the other things were such a fun, unexpected surprise!

And there you have it. I know we've received other packages over the past couple months that I've forgotten to post about, and if they were from you...I'm very sorry that I forgot to brag on you!

5 Months Old

Dear Noel,

A few days ago (ok, ok, a week ago) you turned five months old. This month hasn't really been a major milestone-achieving month for you, but it's certainly been a fun one! You did learn how to roll from your back to your belly, and you spent the better part of three or four days doing nothing but rolling; even when you were tired of holding your head up you would roll right back onto your belly and start crying for me to roll you back over so you could do it again. Now you've strengthened up your neck muscles and enjoy being on your tummy for 10-15 minutes before you're ready to be flipped over. You're also starting to be able to push yourself around a bit, and I wouldn't be surprised if you start creeping within another month or so.

Sporting your first headband, courtesy of our friends David and Christy.

This month you only gained 240 grams, or about half a pound, putting you up to 13 pounds, 4 ounces, and you grew 3 more centimeters, putting you up to 25 inches long. You're still pretty short and on the lower end of the weight spectrum, but you've got some rolls on your legs so we think you're doing just fine, although the doctor wants us to give you solids this month. We may try some avocado or rice cereal.

You're still such a little peanut, snoozing on the big bed!

You've started to actually like your pacifier, and I think that once you can move around to find it, you'll prefer it over your thumb. Noel, you are such a happy and smiley baby. You just love to be paid attention to, cooed at, and tickled. You're at that stage than another friend dubbed something like, "that happy, smiling, rolling-all-over-the-place stage." It's so much fun to watch you observe everything around you, work on your hand-eye coordination by trying to get things in your mouth, and interact with Lane, whom you love. Every month with you just gets better and better!

Love,

Mommy

Going Insane

I often think that I do a pretty good job of managing life as a SAHM. I like cooking and being with my kids. I don't love cleaning so much, but I've just decided that while my kids are little my house will never be as clean as I want it to be as often as I want it to be that clean. And I'm ok with that; as long as toilets are clean and nobody's eating dead bugs off the floor, we'll all survive. I manage to keep the laundry and diapers washed and folded and meals cooked, and most days Lane doesn't watch more than an hour of television, we get to go to the park, and sometimes I'm even brave and bust out the art supplies.

But then life happens, or Shannon leaves town, and I can barely keep my head above water. Shannon left on business this past Sunday and will return tomorrow. This entire week I've been falling into bed at 11 p.m. or later due to laundry, emails that have to be written, mistakes (not mine) that need to be made right (more on those later), food that needs to be cooked/frozen/prepared, needing to take a shower (which has become an evening ritual while daddy's gone), needing to pump, Skype calls, and so on.

Noel has been waking up at 3 a.m. for the past three nights, completely soaked through her diaper, awake, and not wanting to go back to sleep without nursing. And she learned how to roll from her back to her belly, so for the first three days this week I did almost nothing except roll her back to her back, because of course she wanted to practice rolling, but her muscles weren't strong enough to support her head for very long and she'd start crying the instant she got to her belly. I got nothing done until yesterday when she started to be able to go for 10-15 minutes at a time on her belly.

Lane's been getting a new molar (she only gets them when Shannon's gone, apparently) and cranky. And disobedient. One day this week was so rough that I forgot to put a diaper on her before bedtime. The first words out of her mouth the next morning were, "Mama, wet." to which I responded by looking for her diaper which I'd assumed she took off in the middle of the night, only to find that I never put one on her.

Lane has reached that stage of toddlerhood that just makes you want to pull your hair out because she just talks all. the. time. And I could handle her talking all the time, it's just that she repeats the same things over and over and over and over again. "Look at dis, mama. Look at dis, mama. Look at dis, mama." Over and over and over until I want to scream at her, "I SEE IT!!!!" I love her to death but can't wait until she's capable of thinking about something besides the same exact topic we've been discussing for the past, oh, week!

Who knew that these two cuties could make a mama want to pull her hair out as often as I have this past week!

This week has about done me in. I've been trying to put out a million fires and keep up with all the other normal stuff, like laundry and emails, and just haven't been very successful at it all. I feel like a major failure as a parent this week, even though I've tried to not be a stick-in-the-mud and we have done some fun stuff. I just feel horrible every time I lose my temper or raise my voice because I've told Lane for the thousandth time not to climb the rack in the kitchen (or the couches, or the cabinets, or the washing machine, or the radiators) and she keeps doing it anyways and then I have to spank her. And I'm just frustrated with why doesn't she obey me when she knows what the consequences are going to be?!?!

Anyways, I guess all of this is just a cry of frustration. I'm just tired and tired of the boring, monotonous repetition that is my life these days, some just normal (laundry, cook dinner, go to the park), and some drive-me-insane ("Sit down, Lane!" "Don't climb [insert-anything-here], Lane!" "Don't hit mama, Lane." "Don't throw toys, Lane!"). Someone out there please tell me that toddlers do eventually learn how to behave without their bottoms being spanked a gazillion times...I'm getting desperate over here!

27 Months Old

4 Months Old

Cutie-pie.

Dear Noel,

Yesterday you turned four months old! You're getting so big already...it's amazing how much you've changed in the last four months!

Three weeks ago you started sleeping through the night, which has been marvelous. You'll go 11 hours between feedings at night, usually eating at around 7 p.m., going to bed around 8 p.m., and waking up at 6 a.m. I cannot tell you how excited I am that you're sleeping all night! While I'm still tired almost every single day, it is certainly so nice to get to sleep all night! We're still working out your nap schedule, but you usually still take four naps and nurse five times during the day. You seem to be gaining weight appropriately, don't seem to be "needing" extra calories, and since we don't have a bouncy seat or anything like that anyways (you know, so you could sit fairly upright on your own), we'll probably wait at least another month to give you solid food.

Putting toys in your mouth is a new favorite activity.

This month you found your thumb. I think that finding it and deciding you like to suck on it contributed to you sleeping all night, and try as I did to prevent you from sucking it, you're still managing to start bad habits early. Sigh. You do like the paci, too, but you can't hold it in yet, so your thumb usually ends up in your mouth at bed and nap time after you've spit the paci out. I'm hoping to be able to break you of the thumb-sucking before you're too old, but I'll wait until you're able to put the paci back in on your own.

I took you to the doctor yesterday and you'd gained about a pound, putting you at 12 pounds, 12 ounces. You also grew three centimeters, so now you're right at 24 inches long, and your head circumference is 15.75 inches. You can hold your head really steady and enjoy tummy time if it's right after you've woken up and eaten. Otherwise you usually prefer to lie on your back.

Tummy time with toys! (and a burp cloth to catch all the drool...)

This month you've started smiling a lot, and you've started pulling things to put them in your mouth. You especially like putting toys and your hands in your mouth. You're trying really hard to roll from your back to your belly, but you haven't managed it yet. You've laughed a couple of times, but we haven't figured out yet what will just make you crack up. You are such a content baby; you love to be held and smiled and cooed at, but you're perfectly content to play on your play mat as well. If you're crying something really must be wrong, or you must be hungry, because otherwise you're a happy camper. You absolutely love Lane. She can get more coos and smiles out of you than anyone else, and most of the time she's not even trying! I'm so excited for the two of you to have each other to play with as you get older.

Noel, I love the rolls on your thighs and how your cheeks just bunch up into themselves when you smile. I love knowing that I'm your favorite person in the whole world, with Daddy and Lane following close behind. I love snuggling you and holding you and rocking you to sleep when your schedule's been off and you're extra tired. I just love you, and I thank God every day for the blessing that you are to us!

Love,

Mommy

Someone Loves Me

A couple of weeks ago Shannon came home and brought me a pin. He said that another friend gave it to him to give to me because it would mean something to me.

The apostrophe should be over the "S"..."Ktoś Mnie Kocha."

So, he handed the pin over and I looked at it and thought, "'Someone loves me.' Ok...well, it's Turkish and since Shannon doesn't speak Turkish, I guess that's why she gave it to him to give to me."

Shannon then asked me if it meant anything to me and I repeated my above thought. He replied, "Oh. She said it was Polish."

Then I looked at the pin again and realized that indeed, it was written in Polish. Is it sad when you have so many languages in your brain that you can look at or hear something that's not in your native language and know that you understand it, but you're not sure which language it is? My poor brain...

Sure enough. Polish indeed.

Happy Easter!

Yesterday we took Lane to her first Easter egg hunt. She had a blast.

Daddy's leading her on the hunt.

Found one!

Chomping on some candy while hunting eggs.

Then this morning I hid eggs in our living room while Lane searched for them for about two hours. I still can't believe she was entertained for that long!

On tippy toes to get some eggs!

She made this face for every. single. egg that she found.

This afternoon I took Lane to the bazaar and to the park while Noel napped and Shannon worked on some things from home (I know, sad to work on Easter, huh? But we had most of our Easter festivities yesterday). I let her walk a lot, climb on things, jump, and so on, and she had an absolute blast. It was a gorgeous day and we spent almost two hours out and about.

My favorite photo from Easter Sunday...she loved that gate.

And Noel...well, she pretty much slept all day.

Snoozin' away!

I'm really looking forward to next Easter when Lane will be old enough to understand more about why we celebrate Easter. For now, she claps and says "yay!" when we tell her that Jesus is alive, but anything beyond that is still lost on her. So next Easter...next Easter should be fun.