Baby's First Picnic!

Nothing thrills Mo like a good picnic! On our way home from Baltimore, we stopped at Rocky Gap for a picnic with...

...our dear friends Katie and "Yeff."

Lucy's Jeff-obsession is gets a bit worse every time we mention his name. She thinks he's just the bee's knees!

Katie and Lucy decorated a cake for my birthday! Lucy thought the little streamers Katie brought were just great.

Playing with Daddy!

Our very silly girl!

Our sweet girls in the sunshine.

It was a perfect day for pictures!

So maybe Lucy's not the only one who thinks Jeff is really something!

Sister kisses!

Massive Change of Plans

Well, someone (me) did not read her wedding invitation closely enough. And Friday weddings aren't the norm, to be fair. Usually, when you have a wedding to attend, you mark off the weekend and make plans for Saturday night.
I'm spending this morning hastily packing, running the dog to the kennel, cancelling our yard sale, rearranging child care plans and driving to Baltimore. Yipes. I also have to figure out how to hang our wedding clothes in my car with a spitty infant and a sticky toddler, since we won't have time to pretty them up later. I'm already tired.

Also, Molly is now 3 MONTHS OLD!! She's such a big girl, and so fun to have around. She's just a sweet, giggly, squishy, fun baby.

Also, we're not moving to Utah.

Also, tomorrow is my birthday.

Also, it's Josiah's birthday today!

Also, I love Andrew.

Wednesday nights....

Laura has reclaimed her Wednesday nights (and BOY has she earned them!!!!). What she doesn't know is that this allows me PRICELESS time with the girls. They're really something!

Lucy has a special talent with magic markers! Give a girl credit, she's courageous to get that close to my stinky hairy feet!!!


Ahh... I'm going to LOVE these Wednesday nights!!!!!!!! :-)

Wednesday Morning

Well, I'm off to do the 30 Day Shred, and then the girls and I are going to head to the library for Toddler Time. We have a quiet afternoon ahead of us, and then SuperDad is keeping the girls while I go out! I'm so excited. Spending the entirety of your week with the same two small people can wear on a person. And I do mean 24 hours a day. I was able to get to the library last night after the girls went to bed, but I have a hard time totally giving up my evenings because the "work" is done and that's my time. I'm really looking forward to going out when SuperDad gets home just because I feel like I truly get a few hours "off." Tonight I have to find something to wear to Ben and Jenna's wedding. I have a gorgeous dress hanging in my closet, but Molly will be accompanying us to the wedding and I can't breastfeed in said gorgeous dress. So, it's off to the mall.

Cooke's Anatomy

I'm lying in bed with Molly and she's nursing. Lucy climbs up on the bed and pops up over my shoulder. Molly sees Lucy over my shoulder and smiles, saying something unintelligible in baby talk.

Lucy says, "Look! She likes it!" I reply, "Yep, Molly loves the boobie!" Lucy says to me, "Mom, I feed Molly." I say to her, "Sorry Luce, but you don't have boobies." Lucy points to her arm and says, "Lucy elboobie!"

I reply, "Honey, milk doesn't come from there. That's your elbow."

Tuesday, y'all!

Renee and Ben are going to be here in a little bit to distract us from the rain, but I thought I'd do a little blogging in the meantime. I really have nothing to get done today, and for that I'm very thankful.
The weekend was great. Andrew and Brian went camping on Friday and Saturday nights and Andrew made it home before church. We went to Mass and then napped for most of the day and woke up in time to head to Ruby's for a big, yummy Sunday dinner! Yesterday we didn't do a whole lot. We worked outside a bit and went to Lowe's to price grills. We ordered a pizza for dinner and basically just had a fabu time together. If I remember correctly, we also put in some heavy nap time yesterday, too.
Molly is doing great. Two days until she's 3 months old! She's such a little charmer. Always smiling and laughing. I just can't imagine an easier baby. On Sunday in church, she really needed to go down for her nap and was looking tired. Instead of letting out even the tiniest cry, she just sort of snuffled around, trying to get comfortable without disturbing anyone. With a very small little grunt, she made it clear that she'd rather be in Mama's arms. Once Andrew handed her over, she settled in and just passed right out. That's Molly, 24 hours a day. I still cannot say we've had even a moment of adjustment. For all you second-timers to be, it really is possible to transition to two without tears! We're just loving being the parents of two and still haven't had a sleepless night.
Mo is still breastfeeding very well. It's just such a welcome change after nursing Lucy. There's just nothing better than snuggling up under the blankets with Molly. She just wiggles all over, grunting and chirping, thrilled to be close to me and eating. I adore it. Being a stay-at-home Mom can be trying and monotonous. I love doing it, but it gets old cleaning the house and watching it fall apart over and over. Breastfeeding makes up for that. When you clean the house every day, people start to forget to tell you how much they appreciate you. Andrew does a great job, but he's only one man. Lucy is now saying "I love you" and is the most polite kid. I love hearing her talk. She's (almost) always a very amiable and charming kid. But Molly still needs me, and it's so nice to settle in with her and see her relax and sigh and nurse happily.
I think our gluten-free/dairy-free plan is a "go." I'm anxious to know what I'll feel like without all of these majorly processed foods in me. I also can't wait to see how Lucy starts to feel. She loves to "dip" so I have a feeling we're going to be doing a lot of hummus, salsa and guacamole. My biggest goal will be to nail down snacks for us to munch on, since us gals mostly snack through the day. Dinners won't be too hard, since we mostly eat "free" as it is. Andrew is very upbeat and willing to try whatever I suggest, so hopefully our little trial will go well! I'll keep you updated! Our anticipated start date is June 1st, so that we can clear out the kitchen without wasting food.
Well, I abandoned this post earlier, so I'm going to post it and hit the couch for a nap with the girls!

Toying with better health?

I've always had a hunch that cow's milk might not be right for people to drink. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE milk. But it always felt a little strange to me that people drank milk from cows.
Andrew and I started talked today about the idea for going dairy-free for the girls. The more I research, the more Lucy fits the bill of a kid with major dairy and gluten sensitivity. We've known it's a possibility because it runs in the family. She has a big belly, circles under her eyes, was a fussy baby, spit up a lot, had trouble gaining, etc.
So I started Googling around and have come up with the choice of doing a gluten and dairy-free trial, or always wondering. I think I'd like to try it, but it seems so daunting. Molly's spitting up almost stopped completely when I stopped drinking milk. I've been less than diligent lately, and she's spitting up like crazy. Coincidence? Maybe. She also seems to be stuffy and phlegmy when I drink milk. I don't know. The idea of going gluten and dairy-free has been niggling at me for some time. More to come.

Reasons to hit the bottle before 5pm.

I would have to say that my life is exactly the reason that the World Health Organization suggests breastfeeding to the age of two. Some women just aren't bottle feeders.

I've decided to claim Wednesday night as my own. That's right, y'all. I'll be leaving the house at 5:30pm and staying out until sanity starts to seep back into my body. (Approximately 5 hours.) So I decided that in case the pacifier can't hold her, maybe Molly should try a bottle. I mean, what else was I going to busy myself with on a Saturday afternoon? So Lucy and I decided to thaw a couple of ounces of breastmilk. Here's how the whole episode started. Toddler hair elastic frozen inside the milk. How on earth does that happen?! Maybe by "overproduction" they mean things like accessories. (This would make me even more impressive that you originally suspected.)

Here is a glimpse of an unassuming infant learning how to use a bottle. She didn't attack it with nearly the same ferocity she goes after the real thing, which pleased me to no end. She just kind of rolled it around and stared at me. She seemed to be happy that other objects in the room were dispensing the magic elixir.

HERE is an infant with a look of abject terror on her face as she realizes her big sister wants a shot at the learning process.

I'd tell you that this blurry picture is one of Molly smiling, but as an eyewitness to the ordeal, I'd be lying.

A key part of teaching a breastfed baby how to use a bottle is holding their forehead firmly, regardless of how many limbs may be flailing about. I can't believe you don't know that.

Most of the milk made it in, but Molly may end up accompanying me on my first couple "nights off." I'm not sure Super Dad is ready for the chaos of giving Molly a bottle.

Saturday Morning Fun

Today kind of blew too, but in a fun and happy way.

Utah Update

As of last night, Utah was off the table. As of 20 minutes ago, it's still a possibility. I'm just going to erase the U word from my vocabulary. As of today, we're not moving. There's about a 5% chance it'll happen, so sit tight and we'll let you know in a few weeks if it's a go. In the meantime, I need to shave my legs and survive (un)Happy hour.

No Middle Ground in Toddlerville

Con: There is nothing as aggravating as a two-year-old who's been wronged. Face down on the floor, howling for the parent who's not doing the disciplining...it's ugly.

Pro: There is nothing as charming as a two-year-old. Today in the car, we stopped to see a giant snake in the road. I said, "Look, a snake!" Lucy's reply? "A snake! Ssssssss! Snake! Snakey snakey snake! Naked. Naked....snake. Naked snake! Snakey nakey! Naked snake!" ::gigglegigglegigglegiggle::

Stuck.

Lucy walking around with playing cards stuck to her feet.

Stuck behind the couch with chocolate stuck to her face.

Stuck upstairs, forced to sleep. Ends the battle with her legs stuck under the baby gate, attempted escape an utter failure. Asleep, face down. Wakes up to bits of things stuck to her forehead, a pained and disappointed expression stuck on her tired face.

Mommy sticks embarrassing photos on blog so that you'll be stuck with the image all night.

Panini Nirvana.

Today totally blew, for lack of a better word. On days like today, I can use words like that. More details later.

On the other hand, I made the world's best panini and my potato salad was aaaaammmmmaaayyyziiiing. I'm still eating. And I'm in love. Recipes later, y'all.

Rocky Gap Retreat!

The girls and I headed to Rocky Gap late yesterday afternoon for some fun with Daddy, who was on a business trip there for the week.

Molly spent a decent amount of time licking a towel. Tastes like disposable income!

I had a cheeseburger. I was so hungry I actually ate that whole disgusting thing.

Lucy had mac n cheese.

Molly had a fine time watching us eating, maxin' and relaxin' in her carrier, toes enjoying the breeze.

She also enjoyed a little nap in the big hotel bed.

Yesterday was Molly's first pool swim!

Lucy gave it a thumbs-down. Who wants to share Daddy at the pool??

Molly decided that while the water was "ok,"

she'd rather work on her tan.

Lucy, my linen queen, thoroughly enjoyed having a limitless supply of "tows" to play with.

Swimming with Daddy!