Videos

Here are a few videos of the boys. Probably interesting enough to bore you to tears...but I know there are a few people out there that can't get enough of them! :)

Here is a video of Miles. Although he is only 2 months old...he is such a sweet baby and he cracks me up because he gets such a look of amusement when I talk to him. It's hard to capture on camera...but I tried.



And here's a video of Max in the tub. He's such a little rascal. This video is rather long (about 3 1/2 minutes)...but it just shows his little personality. :)



Enjoy!

Sleep begets sleep...

Miles in the Bumbo seat!

Miles' room (Before)

Miles' room (after!)

It's kind of hard to see the actual colors from pictures...but we kept the denim blue that was Mike's room in a thin stripe and a thicker stripe and then used a baby blue on the top and a grayish blue in the middle and a chocolate brown below.

I recently pulled out my baby sleep books and was reminded how important it is to get your baby to sleep before they are overtired and how important getting them on a schedule is.

Tonight is night 3 of a bedtime routine for Miles and so far it's going well. We'll see how long his first stretch goes...hopefully it'll be the 6-7 hours it has been the first few nights.

And my update on Max's binkie abolishment...

For nap today he only cried for 10 minutes and it was a weak cry. Although it's killing me that he can talk because he would cry and say, "Go go...bye bye (remember he calls his binkie/blankey his "go go"s)...peeease peeeaase (please)...oooh kaaayyyy". So basically...Binkie went bye bye...please come back, okay?!". Talk about sticking a knife in my heart and twisting it around!

For bedtime he cried for about 1/2 the time he did last night and only cried for about 25 minutes. But, he SCREAMED bloody murder from the minute Brad put him in his crib and it almost made me cry to watch him from his monitor because he paced his crib like you see Lions at the Zoo do. He looked so upset and confused. Oh...it really was hard not to run in there and give him every binkie I could find to comfort him. But, I just have to keep telling myself that this is a good move and that it is what's best for his teeth. His dentist told me to get rid of it 6 months ago and showed me horrible pictures of childrens teeth that had been affected from their binkies. I know that Max was not in that jeapardy as he only had his binkie for naps and bedtime (and bedtime I took it away after he fell asleep)...but it always made me worry after that.

I do have to say that I'm so proud of him for making it through yet another tough transition. When he woke up this morning I was just beaming with pride and so happy for him that he's doing this. I know he has no choice...but I'm still so proud of him. He, by the way, slept until 8:30 this morning! We had an icky snow storm today (is it REALLY Spring???!) and so it was cloudy this morning, which I'm sure helped him to stay asleep longer.

More updates to come...I expect that he'll have some protest crying for the remainder of the week and maybe into next week...but it seems that some headway is taking place! :)

Bye Bye Binkie - Take #2

Well, I attempted to get rid of Max's binkie a few months ago and didn't make it through him crying through a nap before I gave up.

This time I've got to stick to my guns. He can be such a little terror when he wants that blasted thing during the day, and he's woken up a few times this week crying for it (I go in and take it out after he's fallen asleep at night)...so I've decided that now is the time to do away with it.

Nows the time to do it since Miles isn't sleeping through the night yet. I don't want to go through it and mess up Miles' sleep once he's figured it out.

I'm also trying to get Miles into more of a bedtime routine at the same time each night. Last night was night 1 and he went from 6:15pm to 1:15am withought eating, which is a good start. He didn't fall asleep until 7:30, but that still is a decent stretch of sleep for him.

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Max didn't get his nap this afternoon so I brought him upstairs at 6pm tonight and read him "Goodnight Moon" three times before I put him in his crib. He was upset as soon as I stood up from the glider and wanted to continue sitting in "his chair" or go downstairs...but I went ahead and put him in his crib w/ his blankie (and even gave him his backup blankie...he has 2 so that I can wash one and still have another). He screamed for about 40 minutes and then crashed. It wasn't actually too terrible as I kept busy and bathed Miles and fed him during this time...so by the time Max settled down and fell asleep, Miles was ready for me to try to get him down for the night.

Right now they are both sound asleep....aahhhhh...I'd love to get a bowl of ice cream and veg on the couch...but I'm exhausted and my beds calling to me.

Hopefully we don't have too many screaming nights for Max before the binkie is a thing of the past!

Miles' 2 month Well baby appt

Miles had his 2 month well baby check yesterday and everything went perfectly!

Here are his stats:

Weight: 12lbs 10oz (89th percentile)
Height: 24" (94th percentile!)
Head Circ: 15.2" (35th percentile...another little peanut head!)

Dr. H said he's doing great! The poor little guy had FIVE shots though...Ugh, I hate those. He was actually falling asleep when the nurse came in to administer them. He winced at the first one and then started to drift back to sleep but then the 2nd one came and so forth and he was in a fit by the time she was done with the 5th. I wanted to cry right along with him. He settled down pretty quickly and fell asleep in the car.

He napped really well, but when he woke up he screamed in pain whenever you touched his little thighs. I've never seen him so upset for as long as he was. It only lasted about 1/2 hour...but I was alone with him (Brad took Max out to Home Depot) and I was so worried about him. Thankfully Tylenol kicked in and he was better that evening...we were just really careful not to touch his thighs too much. Today he didn't seem bothered at all.

Here is a cute little video from tonight. I guess Brad thought this would be easier than bathing him. I went ahead and bathed him anyways (see the after pic above in his cute robe and slippers from IJ Julie!)...he wasn't digging the photo opp tonight. But he sure looked cute! :)

Chip

Ok...one last Max story for today...

We were eating lunch last week and had some Old Dutch Garlic and Parmesean chips (YUM!) and Max had this 1 chip that he took a liking to and he'd put it to the side and eat all of his other chips and then hold this 1 chip. Well, after lunch...Brad took him to the park down the road.

This silly boy came home w/ the chip STILL in tact and in hand. It was hilarious. He had that chip for about 45 minutes before he fell and it broke in half...then and only then he ate it. Brad said at the park he'd put it to his mouth and lick it a little and go, "Mmmmm!" and then keep holding it. What a ham...or should I say...what a hom. :)

(if you didn't notice...the picture above is of him and his special chip)

And since today has been focused on Max's crazy/silly antics...here is a perfect video of him hamming it up tonight at dinner. Don't mind the oreo cookie mouth! (he got mini oreos from the Easter bunny!)

Oh My!

Oh my...Max is full of comedy lately. The more he talks...the more I have to write about. If only I had the time!

Here's a cute one though...

The other day he was playing w/ his choo choo train and it had some snacks in it and he pushed it off the step down in our kitchen and his snacks fell onto the floor. He runs over to me and is hollaring, "Oh no! Oh no!" and pointing to his mess. Well, when dealing with a toddler...you tend to be dramatic and youthful with your conversations with them...and not even realizing what I was doing, I said, "Oh my!" and put my hands to my face. He then mimicked me and kept doing it..."Oh my! Oh my!"...see pictures above. He's so funny!

Another quick funny story...

As I've mentioned over and over...his vocabulary expands daily. Sometimes hourly. But, he doesn't always say the word correctly. Like, fishies comes out more like, "see she's". Anyways, he LOVES cars and has been yelling, "Cars! Cars" for months now...well, he just started saying truck. Um, except it doesn't come out truck. He's got the "uck" part down. And, it's not the typical way most kids say it starting out with the "f" in front...but his version is equally embarassing and somewhat amusing. His truck starts with a "c". No need to go on, but big trucks are a little humorous to us these days. :)

The Big moves...

Miles LOVES to check out his brother whenever he is around. He will turn his head as far as he can to look at Max...it's really sweet!

Big brother, Max, has seen me burping Miles so much that now he goes over to the baby and gently pats him...already they are getting to be best of buds!

I have so few pictures of me and Max when he was little...so I've been trying to remember to have Papa take more pictures of me and Miles. This is one of the few days that I don't look too terribly like a tired old mama. :)

It was just Easter?? Looks like Christmas outside! Here's Max getting ready to go help shovel outside!

Well, we are getting things ready to move Mike down to our lower level spare bedroom...so that we can move Miles into his room when he turns 3 months old (which is the same time we moved Max). I've been searching the web for good deals on cribs and we are thinking about paint colors. I've already got a good idea of what I want to do in his nursery. Since we are going to be painting his room...Brad's got the itch to paint Max's room again. Something more geared for a toddler. I've got to start looking for bedding for him so that it matches before we paint. And...since we are painting those 2 rooms, he said what the heck...let's finally paint our bedroom. YIPES! We've got our work cut out for us!

Sooo...we are moving Mike down to his new room this weekend and then hopefully we can start on Miles' room this weekend as well. I had planned on moving our glider (which is currently in Max's room) into Miles' room...although Max has recently taken to me sitting with him in the glider and we talk and sing, so I'm not sure how well he'll take to it disappearing and going into the baby's room. Guess we'll see.

Oh yeah, before I go...funny story. Mike walked through some puddles when the snow had melted week before last and so his shoes smelled musty. So, my wonderful husband shows Mike how to soak his shoes to wash them in the laundry room sink. Well, they forget to turn off the water and we are all in Mike's room going through his room and ditching all his clutter and cleaning out the closets, etc...low and behold...Mike goes downstairs to get another trash bag and finds the laundry room floor flooded about 1/4 of an inch of water. Aaaahh! Hey, at least my laundry room floor is spotless now. If only I can figure out a way they can "clean" the rest of the house without flooding it! ;)

Happy Easter!

Hom

This is an email that Brad sent some friends of ours...I thought it was funny and Werthy of today's blog...

A light hearted note amidst the snow storm.

Max is getting to the point where every day he seems to pick up a new word. As a father, you sort of feel like it’s a new beginning in the evolution of man. Max seems to realize it too, as he will repeat it all day, out of context of course.

A day or so ago he figured out that not only did he like ham, but he could say it too. Only it usually comes out like “hom”, sounds like “mom” with an “h”. “Hom, hom, hom, hooooommmm” for the rest of the day. In fact I just came in from shoveling 6” of fresh snow off of the driveway. Max did his best to help. The effort ended promptly with a chorus of “hom, hom, HOM!”. Guess what’s for lunch…yup.

A small thing in the scope of life, but it makes me remember that some of the most important things are the small ones that give us pleasure and make our day; like ham.

Miles - 2mo Old!

It's so hard to believe our little Miles is already 2 months old! Time has really flown by...so much so that I JUST weighed him at home yesterday and found out he is already 14 pounds! Looking back at Max's info...he weighed just over 14pds as well. It still blows my mind. I had noticed that his size 1/2 diapers were fitting a little tight and now I know why. They only go up to 15lbs! Guess I'd better buy some #2's really soon.

Miles has his 2mo well baby check a week from today, so I'll have more updates then. Other than that...the poor little guy hasn't pooped in over 4 days! I called the nurse at my ped's office and she told me not to worry but that 2oz of prune juice might help clean him out. She said as long as he's still having wet diapers...he is probably going through a growth spurt and is just using all of the breast milk and doesn't have waste. We started him on some prune juice this morning, so we'll see what happens.

In the past week Miles has been starting to smile when I'm talking to him. I only get 1 or 2 smiles out of him a day...but they are precious. And he seems so interested in what I've got to say...he stares so intently at my face. It's so funny. He is also starting to coo a little bit. It's so adorable to hear those starting baby noises again. I'm going to miss the newborn stages...although I'll welcome the return of sleep! :)

Sleep

Hi, Papa! I can see you!

Miles playing w/ his new toy

Max on his papa's call call

Mama and Miles

What a week we had. Complete whirlwind and I can't remember it all! :)

Anyway...the lack of sleep is starting to wear me down. I don't think just the lack of sleep, but the FULL days of keeping up w/ the 2 little ones and then inturrupted sleep each night. Brad suggested giving me a night or two a week of sleep and he'll do the feedings, diaper changes, burping, etc. I guess we'd switch and I'd sleep down the basement and he'd be upstairs...I just need to pump enough feedings for the night. I think it would do me a world of good, but it's hard to even imagine not getting up w/ the little stinker.

Speaking of sleep...it's 8:30 and I should be getting ready for bed.

More crazy Max stories to come...

I should have kept my big mouth shut!

Miles after his bath...call me spike!

Well, I should have known better than to go bragging about sleep! Kids don't let you get away with that!! Oh dear. I guess I'll have plenty of sleep when I die. :)

My little cookie enjoys my company too much I guess!

Anyways, I've got some cute videos of the boys that I need to upload and post soon...stay tuned!

Na NighT

Max holding his little brother for the 1st time. Neither one of them was too sure if they were enjoying this. :)

Miles giving Max a kissie!

The "T" is capitalized in "Na NighT" because Max stresses the "T" at the end. :)

Today Maxwell basically put himself down for his nap. Which is funny because Grandma Donna has told me that Brad used to do this when he was little

Anyways, Max and I spent a full morning playing and about 10:15 (which is 45 minutes earlier than his usual nap time) he was looking upstairs and I asked him if he wanted to go up there and he put his arms out for me and said, "Na NighT". and I said, "Do you want to go Night Night?" and he said, "Ah humm". I'm thinking...no way...he's faking me out for sure!

Well, we go upstairs and his blankey and binkie are in his crib so I just set him in his crib (usually I pick them up for him and hold him for a little bit, but I'm still not believing that he really wants to go to sleep) and he picks up his binkie...puts it in his mouth and then picks up his blankey and I'm waiting for him to put his arms out for me...and then he leans toward me and says, "Mmmmmmua" (which means I'm supposed to kiss him), so I lean down and give him a kiss and he says, "Bye!"!! I'm cracking up in my head and already can't wait to tell Brad about this!

I tell him I love him and shut the door and run to the baby video monitor because I'm still in disbelief. He threw out his 3 stuffed monkeys (as he always does...for some reason he doesn't like anything in his crib when he goes to sleep anymore) and then laid down and fell right to sleep. It was the most adorable thing!

I guess like father...like son. They both like their naps. Heck...Brad STILL LOVES his naps! :)

Do you hate Charter Communications??!

Ok...let me just tell you that if you have Charter Communications cable...you probably HATE it because their 888 # customer service absolutely SUCKS! Pardon my language...but they really do! And after dealing with them and 4 (YES, FOUR!) idiot "customer service" people...I'm putting it mildly.

I won't even take the time to explain what happened as it will just get my blood boiling all over again...but if you EVER have a problem w/ Charter...

Go straight to the people who WILL fix it.

Brad found the President's (Neil Smit) phone number and I called it and as we expected...his phone calls are filtered through a "corporate escalations" team. However, these people take your call seriously and don't tell you that "they don't have notes of the conversation of the promotion you were supposed to be put into", so you are out of luck and have to pay the extra $60 a month...that is unless you want to add their phone service. UM...yeah...I have problems w/ the services I have now...WHY???! would I add another one only to get horrible "customer service" for yet another product. I'm not that stupid!

Anyway...the woman I talked to took my call seriously and apologized (wow, imagine that!! You mean it's NOT MY FAULT??! because your people didn't take notes...even though I did and have the womans name, date, and proof from my Vonage phone service of the 15 minute phone call with Charter on the caller ID??!) and put me into the plan I was supposed to be in. AND on top of all that she apologized of my experience w/ the idiots I spoke w/ earlier that day and said she was glad I reported it as they take it seriously.

Sooooo... the corporate office number is: 314.965.9745

Go through the prompts and key in Neil Smits name and you will get the corporate escallations team and they will help you! :) I'll never deal w/ the boobs at their 888 number again!

Knockin' on wood

(Here are some pics of Max from yesterday afternoon...unrelated to today's blog)

Max in another time out...hmm...think he's a little stinker lately??

Sportin' an IJ cap

Being a little ham!

I dare say anything and jinx myself...but I think there is something to the "magical" 6 week mark for newborns and sleep. This week my little cookie has started a pattern of his nightly schedule. He usually naps on and off all day long w/ some periods of alertness. Then starting between 4 & 5pm he wakes and nurses and then pretty much wants to be part of the scene and either held or right near the action until I put him down for the night. Miles nurses again between 6 & 6:30pm, most nights I give him a bath, & then he's been fighting sleep until about 8pm when he crashes.

From there he's been sleeping a good 4-5 hour stretch, nurses, then sleeps another 3-4 hour stretch and after that he usually wakes to eat around 5am, again around 6:30am and then sleeps until about 9am. Hopefully we are on a good trend to sleeping better.

I've also noticed that his digestive system has changed as he's not quite as gassy at night and doesn't poo poo much during the night. When he is gassy...it's because he needs to be burped more, rather than tootie. (like all this adult poo poo and tootie talk?!)

Well, somehow I got both the boys to nap at the same time today...so I should probably take advantage of this and take a nap myself. Typically Max goes down for his nap and then Miles wakes and is ready to be fed and entertained and by the time he goes back down for a nap...Max is waking up. I swear the 2 of these little guys are tag teaming on me! :) But, I'm thankful they are here to do this!

When Miles smiles...

The baby books say that babies start to social smile at around 6 weeks. I'm not sure if that is 6 weeks after their due date or 6 weeks after birth. Since Miles was born exactly 2 weeks early...that would make a big difference.

Anyways, I haven't seen any social smiles from Miles yet...however if he starts to nod off when I'm talking or coo'ing at him (humph...do you think I bore him already??!) he has started to smile quite a bit lately. Hopefully he'll start smiling while fully alert soon.

I feel badly because with Max I would spend nearly the entire day devoted to him and when he was awake...I would talk or play with him, but poor Miles has to fight with a demanding toddler for attention. I think I'm managing as well as can be to split my time and to meet the needs (maybe not as quickly as they'd like) of both of them though.

I grabbed my camera because I had just finished burping Miles after feeding him and he just laid out like this with his arms out to both sides and it looked so funny to me.

And low and behold...I lucked out and caught a smile on camera finally!!! I was telling him how funny he was and he started to drift off and smiled! What a little nut! Already he has a good sense of humor! He'll need it to survive in this family! :)

Our morning

Sometimes you have to get a little creative w/ "toys" for a toddler who is SICK of being in the house. Penne noodles are a great source of entertainment apparently! Max kept yelling, "NOODLES!"

Max rocking in his rocking chair

Holding hands...awwwww!

What a great big bro...already sharing. We'll see how long this will last!

This winter seems to be lasting forever! In fact, we started the week in the 30's and now we are in a coldfront and back in the low teens and brrrrr cold. Doesn't bode well for a toddler who is already so ready for spring and some outdoor time!

We've put in our paperwork to get our fence in the backyard put up as soon as the ground thaws. We only have to finish off one side and close off the other side as many of our neighbors have already put fences up. It will be nice when I can let Max outside and not have to worry about him running up front or chasing him around all day long. Now all we have to do is find some constructive outdoor toys for him to keep him happy. I'd really like to get a playset, but Brad thinks he may be too young. I think he's ready...so we'll see. If you see pictures of Max on one this summer...you'll know I won! :)

Anyways, the boys and I are making the best of being stuck inside! Miles is becoming more and more alert each day...so we are trying to incorporate him into our daily play. I can't wait for the day when these two little rascals are able to play together. I'm sure I'll become a referee...but it will be fun!

Max's video montage

I just found a link to the video montage I made to give to the Grands for Xmas when he was 6 months old.

Not sure if I've shared this with all of my friends...but feel free to check it out! Even though I made it...it still makes me cry. We really are so blessed to have these boys in our lives!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Someone new in my bed

As previously mentioned, I've sent Brad down to the spare bedroom to sleep so that he can get a decent nights sleep. He's still down there. Hopefully Miles will start sleeping longer stretches really soon as I'm getting worn down and I'd really like to have my husband back! :)

But, on a positive note...I've got a new guy to wake up to! This is the view I had when I woke up this morning! :)

For all of you anti-co-sleepers that are about to spank me...don't fret. Miles sleeps in his bassinet all night long, but after his 5 or 6am feeding I usually just put him next to me in the spot Brad usually is, as Miles is usually gassy and needs more attention and I'm wiped out by then. We've got a huge king bed and I'm always VERY aware of where he is!

Miles' 1st sitter experience

Maxwell showing his little brother the "mote" (remote)...although it looks like he's showing him how to count!

Going in for a kissy

Max peaking in on Mama in her office

Brad and I were invited out to a MN Wild Hockey game with one of our store vendors and his wife last night. We really had a fantastic time and I found that I had a lot in common w/ the wife and we hit it off so well that we were spilling our guts out to each other in the backseat on the way to the game! It was a nice time for Brad and I to get out with each other (without kids) as well.

Anyways, my parents came over to watch the boys from about 4:30pm until about 9:30pm. I was a little worried about it as Miles is still so little and I'm not used to leaving my kids at all. In fact...it is very rare that I'm without them. Well, I made sure to pump enough so that Miles would be well fed while I was gone and got jammies and everything put together for them. Before we left I pumped and had my mom start to feed Miles and he was just fussy and didn't seem too happy (which is really unusual for this little guy), but I figured he just needed to be burped and showed her all the ways he burps best and how he likes to be held, etc. And then we snuck out before Maxwell saw us.

Grandpa John after a long night w/ Miles John

Well, I called home quite a few times (being that worry wart that I am) and poor little Miles was giving his grandparents a run for their money! Apparently he cried or fussed (with small 15-20 minutes of sleep in between) the entire time we were gone. OH NO! When we got home Grandpa John was asleep in a chair w/ Miles on his chest and Miles had just a diaper and a blanket around him. (See the picture above)...it was a sweet sight. Apparently they wore each other out. :) My dad figured out that Miles was just really hot and that's why he couldn't get comfortable and sleep long and then he just got overtired. It's so hard to trouble shoot infants over the phone, but the little guy hates to be too hot, too cold, and to have the hiccups. Other than that...he really doesn't cry much unless he's hungry or sometimes too gassy. I felt badly that they had such a rough time with him...he's otherwise so enjoyable and cuddly.

But, with that said...since it had been quite some time since I had fed him...I pumped immediately when we got home and then fed him and put him to bed. He was so tired that he slept from about 10:15pm to almost 3am!! And then he slept until 6:30am...it was the most sleep I have gotten since before we went to the hospital to have him! Go figure that I was still tired today...but it was great! He must have been making some noises before he woke at 3am because I woke up and when I saw the time I almost panicked until I made sure he was ok. He's never given me such a long stretch between feedings at night before.

In other news...I had my 6 week post partum appointment today and everything is great. I weighed in at 107 lbs...so I only have 5 pounds remaining to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I was surprised to see that. Also, my hemoglobin is back up to 12.1 which is right around where I should be. All the nurses ooh'd and ahhh'd over Miles and we ran into Dr A, who I've seen several times in the past when Dr J was out. Dr A actually performed one of my D&C's after one of our losses and he was always very sweet to us about our losses...so it was nice for him to meet Max and Miles after everything.

A little inspiration...

These are the words that were on a card that I bought for my friend in Eau Claire who lost her little Myles. I also bought her the Willow Tree HOPE Angel and gave her my take on what hope means to me. I have met many remarkable women through our baby journey and I know some are still in the midst of their own journeys...may they find a little HOPE from this...


Each new day is like an ocean wave returning to the shore...

you have no idea what it will bring, just as you have no idea what surprises the surf will lay at your feet.

On calm days, ordinary shells are left at the water's edge, but after stormy weather,

all kinds of treasures are churned up from the deep...rare finds for those with the patience to uncover them.

The phases of life itself are as unpredictable as the moods of the ocean...sometimes smooth, sometimes turbulent.

But beyond this mystery lies one certainty...

While you can never know what gifts life will bring, you can trust that every sunrise offers
possibilities.

Every day holds beautiful moments and new dreams waiting for you to come and find them.

- Renee Duvall