4 Months

Ok, no laughing at the fact that "months" in the picture is spelled wrong... That's what I get for trying to spell, take a picture, make a baby smile and keep Mallory out of the frame. (Anyone what to give me a hard time about it and you can come take the dang picture!) Any I'm just too tired to tray to set the whole thing up again with the correct spelling. :) It'll make for a good memory, right?
Mr. Wesley is now 4 months old. Time is flying by. Today he had is 4 month dr appointment and Mallory had her 2 year appointment. The check up went very smoothly and the kids were deemed healthy... the shots were another story. 2 kids getting poked virtually at the same time is quite an ear full (to put it mildly). So here are their stats. Mallory at 23 months is in the 98% for height (36 1/2 inches), 88% for weight (29 pounds 15.6 oz) and 43% for head circumference (47.1 cm). Wesley is weighing in at 13 pounds 15.3 oz (30%), 24 3/4 inches long (44%) and has a pea size head 40.2 cm (8%).
Wesley is really thinking about rolling over. He gets over on his side and giggles and laughs about it, but gets held up by his other arm. He loves sitting up (with help) and watching his big sister play. He is not on any solids yet... since he hasn't really shown interest in watching food/spoons... but even flash a boob in his direction and he focuses in like radar! He still loves his night sleeping (9-10 hours straight) but is not a very good day napper. He loves to put everything in his mouth and he sings, coos, giggles and talk (with the occasional cry every now and then). All in all he is perfect!!!!!

Hello Mr. Blue Eyes

Could he get any cuter? I mean really!!!! Those eyes!!!! They just kill me!!! It is inevitable, every time we go out, someone stops to comment on how beautiful his eyes are or how stunning his alabaster skin is (which is just a really polite way of saying 'wow, your baby is so pail').  :)  Which he is and I am loving it. Wesley is such a wonderful little man and he has the sweetest personality. All you have to do is look at him, or talk to him and he will give you the best smile. When he's really excited about what you're doing, he'll not only smile, but he'll get his legs pumping and fists waving! It's such a HUGE difference from Mallory; who, if you remember, would just mad-dog any and everyone no matter how happy she really was. And have I mentioned how he talks, coos and giggles??? Oh it just turns me into a puddle each time. (can you tell I'm enjoying this little man?)

Now We're Cookin'

After MONTHS of not having an oven, we finally got a repair guy out... he proceeded to (kindly) tell us that it would cost us just about the same price for him to fix the old one as it would to buy a new one! So that's what we did. It's basically the exact same oven, just 10 years newer (and cleaner). But honestly be best part about having a new oven (aside from fresh baked cookies) is that it came in a HUGE box... and as any good parents would, we turned it into a house for the Little Miss. She loved it (for a day). It was still really fun to watch her play in it, however short lived the novelty may have been. We are now finally getting around to eating the frozen meals that people so kindly brought us when Wesley was born. So thank you all, they are wonderful.

4th In The Nation

Matthew just got home today from the Rugby National Championships in Denver. No, he wasn't there watching, the Santa Rosa Men's Team actually was playing in it! They came in 4th in the NATION! Pretty impressive, huh? I know Matthew wishes that they ranked even higher, but I am mighty impressed by 4th! I have to be honest though, this season has been a tough one.... on me (and I wasn't even the one getting hit/tackled/kicked/scraped). The season has lasted 7 1/2 month, the first of it I was WAY preggers, the middle I was pushing out a kid and the last I was trying to figure out how to be a single parent (while Matthew had practice 2 nights a week and games Saturdays... or tournaments that last Friday to Monday). Despite the pride that I have for him in this moment, I wasn't always supper supportive. And more then once I wished he was home helping me deal with crying/whining/dirty/hungry/sleepy kids (which now I feel slightly bad for) instead of at practice/a game. But I AM very proud of him, he is a great rugby player and an amazing team player and when he commits to something, he is committed ALL THE WAY... which is honorable and one of the many qualities I love about him.
Great job Santa Rosa Rugby! And thank you to my Colorado family for going and supporting my husband and the team.

Workin' At The Car Wash

Isn't it great when kids think chores are fun?????

Safety First... Or Not.

Yesterday Wesley fell asleep on the changing table. I stood there looking at him and had an internal debate running through my head. This is kind of how it went...
'They say, never wake a sleeping baby. But this is not the safest place to sleep. But they do say, never wake a sleeping baby. Mallory's napping now too and I could get so much done. But he is really not sleeping in a safe place. But he's quiet and sleeping and they say, never wake a sleeping baby. What if he rolls off? Well he's not really rolling over yet and they say, never wake a sleeping baby. It's not safe. But there are small rails, a buckle and a baby monitor... plus THEY say, never wake a sleeping baby.'
So that's what I did :)

I may not be getting the mom-safety-award-of-the-year, but I did get lots done while both kids napped and who am I to argue with the "theys" of the world???

Love

Mallory followed me out to the garage today and wanted to help write the blog. When I asked her what she wanted to write about she said "love." I then asked her "what do you love?" To this she replied "I love all the people." So there you have it...

Happy Mothers Day

A Little Visit

A couple weeks ago Lindsay brought sweet Connor down for a little visit! We were all so excited to see him (and her too). The boys were much more responsive with each other (though when you realize that what we were starting with was just laying there and sleeping... so it wasn't hard to get to 'more responsive). I cant wait to see these boys together in a year, with Mallory still pulling and bossing them around I'm sure. Mom and dad couldn't have been more excited to have all three of their grand babies in the same place. Thanks for the visit Lindsay!!!!!

3 Months

Our little Wesley Robert is already 3 months old! Time is flying by. With Mallory I was always excited for her to move on to the next stage... always looking to the future. Wondering when will she do this, and I can't wait for her to do that. It's so different with Wesley (probably because I know know how short baby-hood truly is and how quickly they really grow up)...with him, I don't want him to get bigger...I get sad when he out grows an outfit. I want him to stay this perfect tiny little size. Sigh.
But he is growing up and hitting small milestones. His head control is great, and when he's doing tummy time he spends most of it pushed up in a supper man position. He is a coo'er and a smiler now (though he'll still stare you down first... pretty sure he learned that from his sister). He has been sleeping 8-10 hours a night stright for the past 2 weeks and I am loving it. He is still a snuggler and I hope that never changes and his blue eyes are here to stay! They are beautiful (though I have to admit, it's strange to look at MY child with blue eyes... it's like it doesn't quite fit... since, Matthew, Mallory, Sonny, Krush and I all have brown eyes, that's what I have been used to seeing). Now I have these indigo baby blues staring at me, it keeps taking my breath away. Yes, I am in love.

Our 'Little' Yard Project

As much as I would really like to say that the jogging is what has taken up the majority of my ‘free’ time… the real reason has been the ‘little’ yard project. Since living here, the city has upped the cost of water 4 times in 3 years!!!!! We just finally had enough and decided to rip out some lawn (especially since we had three lawn sections)! We only ever used the back lawn, so the side and front were just wasted space and we were pouring money into them to keep them green. Plus, the city is offering $0.50/square foot of lawn removed… so we thought, hey we could get a little money back too! So slowly over the past 60 days we have been removing lawn, dirt and plants and replacing it with flagstone, drought tolerant plants, mulch and drip lines (thanks in part to Mom, dad, Robert, Carle and Thomas).  We JUST finished it all yesterday! I am loving it!!!! I feel like not only are we being environmentally conscious (in terms of conserving water) but we have just gained a HUGE section of usable space. Our flagstone patio is going to be perfect for BBQ’s, playing with toys/bikes and roasting marshmallows on those summer nights. And I love walking up our beautiful flagstone pathway and looking at all the happy plants (the majority I transplanted from moms yard). Thank you again for all those who help!

Double Duty

I would like to say that THIS is the reason that I haven’t been able to get my tushy to the computer to write… but sadly it’s only a small fraction of that excuse. Anyway, here is my new toy! It is actually an early mother’s day gift! And I love it! (Which is good because I wasn’t too sure about it when we bought it over the internet). Not the double stroller part, but the brand. It’s a Schwinn. Sure, they make good bikes, but can they make a good stroller???? Apparently they can!  When I started looking for my new toy I was really leaning towards getting a ‘Bob’… which are the cream of the crop when it comes to jogging strollers… but I was blown away at the price of them.  And as much as I enjoy a nice name-brand item every now and again, we just couldn’t make it work financially. So I kept looking and found this little beauty. Its reviews were actually (just about) on the same level as the Bob and WAY WAY WAY less in price. So we ordered it with the knowledge that I very well may just send it right on back. But I love it! Its light, has great shocks, easy to push, is comfy for the kids and even has a spot for music to be plugged in (if I has an i-pod).  Mallory like it too and in this picture was actually crying because we were done with the run (ok, jog). So now, each time you check the blog and I haven’t updated it… just think of me out there jogging and getting back into shape! :)

Note Worthy

I have neither the time or the energy to fill you all in right now on ALL the things we have been doing. But here are just a few note worthy things...
Last night Mallory informed Matthew that she had to go potty (not an uncommon thing.... she likes to sit and sit and sit on the potty.... and nothing ever happens). But last night she actually peed IN THE POTTY!!!!!! I was so excited and proud of her (you would have thought that she just cured cancer... which she probably will do within the fext few years). :)
And today I started work at my new job. It went great! It felt great! I loved the feeling of practicing medicine again. But I was shocked at how very sad I was to leave the little kiddos. I had to walk away quickly before I started to cry! I know that it'll get easier (which is kind of a sad thought on its own). But any way, the day went great and even after 10 hours of working I was still happy, smiling and excited to be there.
Ok, I have to get more snuggles in with the little ones before they go to bed. Hope to write more soon.

Oregon Trip

 

At the beginning of this month Mom, Matthew, Mallory, Wesley and I all hopped on a plan and flew up to Portland to visit Jeff and Lindsay and meet Connor William Reitz!  It was such a wonderful trip. It was just a 4 day trip, but it was perfect! It was amazing to meet Connor, and great to see my brother and sister-in-law as parents. They are doing such a great job with him. He is happy, handsome and as snuggly as can be! Connor is adorable; he looks like a little boy trapped in a 23 inch long body! I kept thinking that he was going to get up and start kicking the soccer ball around. When you got the two little boys next to each other it looked like Wesley could have eaten him and that Connor stole all Wesley’s hair! They couldn’t look more different. Connor is long and thin, with long black hair and dark soulful eyes and the sweetest smile. Wesley is a chunky happy man with blue eyes, red/blond hair and has the body of rugby player. With only being 13 days apart we are all hoping that they will be good friends (and not get into all the trouble that Mallory will inevitably try and get them into). It was a great trip and only made better by the fact that we got to see Joel, Melissa and Brayden Boothe (with whom Mallory is shamelessly in love with). We miss both families so much, but were reminded why we don’t move to Oregon when on just ONE day it rained, snowed, hailed and was sunny… talk about bipolar weather!

Thanks for housing us Jeff and Lindsay. Thanks for driving us everywhere Joel and Melissa. Love and miss you all!!!!!!

New Job (again)

Ok, here’s the new job story. I had all intentions of returning to my current (I guess former) job… it wasn’t perfect, but it was nice, I loved the people I worked with and I did get to learn cool things about exotic animals… but I knew I wasn’t going to stay there forever. Then, about 3 ½ weeks into my maternity leave I got a call out of the blue from Windsor Animal Hospital (this amazing, new, state of the art, 5 doctor practice) that I had given my resume to prior to even starting at the Santa Rosa job. I was really interested in this practice, and was kind of bummed when they didn’t need a vet back when I needed a job. (But Gods got His perfect timing when it comes to life… and it just wasn’t meant to be… then).
Any way, they called me saying that there was going to be an opening for a new vet at the beginning of May (which just so happened to be when I was thinking of going back to work, post baby). They were looking for someone to work 2-3 days a week… which would be great. But the bummer was that it was every sat/sun with a random weekday here or there. Then I started thinking about how perfect that schedule might be… it would mean that I could be home with the kids all week! No daycare needed (talk about a money saver). Then Matthew would have them on the weekends, and both Matthew and I would have Mondays off to be our family day. Plus the weekend schedule would only be temporary (so they think). I was really working on not being too excited, since they said that there were 8 other vets that were interested in the position. Plus I had a job.
They called me back a few days later saying that they really liked my personality and it is now down to 6 people. So they had me come in for an interview. It went well. I was just myself and really relaxed (since I felt like I DO have a job and this would just be nice if it worked out… but it wasn’t a necessity).  Post interview they kept talking about how much they really like me, my personality, my humor and how I handle myself… but were a little worried about my lack of copious years of emergency work (since that’s pretty much what the weekend shifts are all about). Regardless of their slight worry they asked me back for a working interview. Now it was down to me and one other person (who apparently had more experience). So a few days later I left the kids with mom and went in for the working interview. It was fun. I just hung out, helped out, chatted to everyone about all sorts of thing, open drawers and cupboards and scrubbed in on surgeries.  Once again I was pretty laid back about it all… I kept telling myself, I have a job and if God wants this to happen, it will. At the end of my time there, they told me that they would get back to me within 4-5 days.
The very next morning they called! Apparently when I left the entire staff pow-wowed and told the owners that they wanted to work with me! And the owners agreed. They loved my personality, skill and bedside manner and felt that even though I didn’t have as much experience as others, it will come with time… but you can’t teach personality (their words, not mine). So I had the job!!!!!!!!! J I was stoked. The best past is, that even if I only work 2 days a week they are offering my just about what I was making working 4 ½ days a week in Santa Rosa!!!!
God defiantly had his hand in this every step of the way. I start on May 1^st… I’m a little nervous, but really excited about all that I am about to do and the adventure I’m about to embark on!!!!

Chop-chop

I’m not sure what it is about having a baby that makes women want to cut their hair off… but just about every lady I know goes for a new/drastic cut soon after having a baby. Maybe it’s the need to reinvent yourself (again), maybe it’s the need to feel different, pretty, sexy, non-I sit at home and breast feed all day-like, maybe it’s that it takes too much time to worry about/style long hair, maybe it’s great excuse to get out of the house for a few hours without your kids… maybe it’s all the above. Whatever the reason, I got the itch and yesterday I had my hair CHOPPED, highlighted (for the first time ever), had an hour long facial (once again my first) and a foot soak with reflexology and pedicure! It was an afternoon of self pampering (while my dad and brother dealt with the kids). For a few hours my life felt quiet, normal, sane… until too many hours had past and my breasts started getting too full and I almost leaked all over the stylist.  ANY WAY, I love my new hair. It’s easy to do, sassy and fun yet professional… perfect for starting my new job…. Which I have yet to write about.

2 Months

Our little Buck-a-roo turned 2 months today! Once again I am reminded how time flies and drags on all at the same time. He is cooing (some) and giving the ever coveted smiles on his own time, which is almost never and just about only ever to his momma (I don’t mind that).

He had his 2 month doctor appointment today, which meant he got his first round of shots. Remember when Mallory would get shots… she wouldn’t even cry (granted she had more thigh on her then most thanksgiving turkeys)… Little Wesley was the complete opposite. He turned beat red and wailed! I mean, he really was not happy about it! And now, 7 hours later, he can’t be put down, he has a little fever, and if he wiggles his legs (or God forbid you touch them) he screams bloody murder. So much for our laid back little man. On the bright side he did sleep almost 8 hours straight last night!!!!!
On to his stats: He is 11 pounds 3.2 ounces (39%), 22 ¾ inches long (45%) and his head in a whopping 37.3 cm (6%). He is growing great and the Dr was supper happy about our little mans progress (and quite impressed with his weight gain when he found out it was all on MY milk… pretty sure it’s more like cream, or Brie cheese based on his weight).

My Child Has WHAT????

Yesterday Mallory work up and crumbled to the floor as she tried to stand. It was as if her left leg just stopped working. It was heartbreaking. I had no idea what was wrong with her. She hadn’t had any falls, crashes or injuries… just a little runny nose and cough. So there my little girl was on the floor arms raised telling me “Up mamma. Carry you.” (By ‘you’ she actually means herself). She ended up having a very low grade fever so I called the doctor who said to give her some Motrin and if it isn’t better in 2 hours (or gets worse) to bring her in. Sadly after 2 hours Mallory still could not bear any weight on it and would fall if she tried to walk (thankfully she was still happy and didn’t seem to be in any pain, or even seem to mind the fact that she literally couldn’t walk). I of coarse am thinking of every terrible cause for lameness and fever that I see in my profession and am really starting to freak myself out, so I called my mom, who set the prayer chain into motion and off to the doctor’s office we went. Turns out she has Toxic Synovitis!!!!! Sounds scary I know… but it’s just a fancy way of saying a viral induced arthritis… yeah that still sounds a little frightening.  Basicly what happened is that the cold virus that she has also set up camp in her left hip joint (not causing a septic joint though), just pain. It occurs in about 3% of children and usually seen in boys ages 4-6… so it’s a little strange that Mallory Rose, my 20 month old girl has it. But after spending the day resting and taking Motrin ever 6 hours she WALKED herself bed by the end of the day and today is running around like nothing ever happened (all that remains is a very slight limp). Praise God that is was nothing more serious and that she is such a trooper!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! We had a blast… especially Mallory, who pretty much ran around for two days with her mouth wide open, screeching for joy when she found an egg. The Easter bunny came THREE times (apparently he’s stocking her).Saturday we had a nice dinner at Roberts’s house, complete with an egg hunt. Then Sunday we had a low key morning and did a little egg hunt here then went over to my parent’s house (along with Joyce, John, Russell and Rachel) and Mallory found even more eggs. Can you say sugar high???? Pretty sure she has never had that much sugar….Ever! But it was really nice. The Easter bunny even gave me a gift. It was the gift of sleeping children (despite ALL the sugar). Last night Mallory slept like a rock (not unusually for her), but after Wesley had been asleep 6 hours I woke up in a small panic and very full milk-bags (he has never slept that long). But he was fine, just all tuckered out and snoozing away. So I pumped for a few seconds to relieve the pressure and went back to bed. Of course he work up 20 minutes later… sigh. But it's progress!

 

Cat in the Hat

Last week The Cat in the Hat came to the mall! Mallory was sooooo excited that we were going to see him. She wanted to dress up and put her hair in piggies so she could show him. When Mr. In The Hat came walking up to the HUGE group of kids Mallory raised her arms over her head and showed "Yeeeeeeaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh......" (as she was screaming with joy she turned to face the group of kids [arms still raised, and with an ear to ear smile on her face]. She looked around at all the kids with a look on her face as if she was asking 'Who's with me....?' All she got in response was blank and slightly frightened stares back at her. Not to be detoured by the less than enthusiastic group, she kept her arms up and took one more look around this time asking 'Anyone? Anyone?') I think she finally realized that she was more excited than anyone else there and decided to take advantage of it, so she turned back towards the Cat and did her patented 'Full
Body Mallory Run' right into his legs (head right into the crotch.... I'm hoping it was a girl in the suit because if it was a guy, that would have hurt). We had to practically pry her off his legs when it was time to go. Needless to say it made her day... actually she's still talking about it so it made her week!