No more pom!

I should have posted something about this a few weeks ago, but haven't had the chance to.  We reached a major milestone three weeks ago -- Emma said bye-bye to her pom!

About 2 months ago, soon after LB was born, she proudly bit a hole into her pom.  In panic, I had Byron run to the store to get her a pacifier.  He got a packet of two, and then told her that this would be her ultimo pom (last pacifier).  Of course, at the time she had not idea what ultimo pom meant, so we proceeded to use the next couple of days/weeks to teach her this -- ultimo grape, ultimo plate, ultimo cartoon, etc.  She got the point eventually.

Of course, the new pom lasted about 3 days, and then she really had the very last one from the packet.  By that point she had gotten the idea of what ultimo meant, so she took very good care of it.  But one day, in defiance and not wanting to give it back to me to put back into her crib, she bit a hole in it.  It couldn't have come at a worse time, because that night was a night that Byron was gone, so I was going to have to endure her first night pom-less all by myself.  

But Emma understood what had happened and accepted it well.  She did cry on and off for about 30 minutes, and then went back to sleep.  That was the last we heard of it.  She has done great without it!  It has cost me some extra down time, since now she wants to get out of her crib as soon as she wakes, where before she could stay in her crib happily for a while.  I would have been fine having her use her pom for another year or so, but because she was biting so many holes in them, we just couldn't keep up with it.  

Pom was a great companion, and a wonderful comfort to our little girl.  We are thankful for the two years he gave us :)

RIP Pom!

Costume Carnival 2013

As tradition would have it, our church hosted a costume carnival earlier today.  We had a baby giraffe costume that Emma wore when she was a baby, and a friend of ours had a 2T giraffe costume we borrowed for Emma.  LB slept for most of our time there, but he woke up just in time for lunch and pictures.

Down the slide with daddy.

As you can probably tell by the stern face in all of these pictures, Emma was in shock the entire time.  Her friend Cara was an owl, and they both just stared at each other for a while.  They wouldn't come close to each other.  

Some face painting.

Mommy with her two giraffes.

Enjoying her paleta.

Life in the Trenches

I thought I would record a little bit of the not-so-fun happenings in our home these days.  As I struggle to make it through each day, I am often reminded of the brave and difficult statements other mothers like me publish on facebook or on their blogs -- life is hard, and I never want this blog (or my facebook profile) to come across as if we had it all together.

Let me walk you through today --

1:00 am -- Little Byron is sick, so instead of waking up once during the night, he is now waking up twice.  First feeding.

4:00 am -- He wakes again to feed.

7:30 am - 2 pm -- Emma wakes up asking for mommy:  "moooommy, moooommy... pee-pee, pee-pee" (even though she has a diaper on).  Byron gets up to get her since LB is still asleep.  Emma is not satisfied with daddy, and gets a little upset that mommy did not come get her.  He finally convinces her that he can do the job of getting her to the bathroom.

LB wakes up shortly -- ooops! I have slept in a bad position and my neck is killing me (it is 3:30 pm now and still killing me).  But Emma is starting up a storm in the kitchen while B is trying to have his breakfast and have his quiet time.  So I take him to the kitchen and plop him on the swing.  I then proceed to prepare her breakfast.  I get her plate ready with fruit and bread -- the bread does not have jelly ("sorry honey, I'll put some jelly.  Oh, peanut butter also?  My bad!"), so put on the jelly and peanut butter.

Anyway, I then proceed to sit and nurse LB.  I then change him and put him in this cute halloween outfit.  Of course, he throws up on it as soon as he is ready... ugh!  Compared to the four times he threw up last Monday, this little bit was nothing.  Emma climbs into his crib, then needs help to get out.

Hustle, hustle, hustle... I finally get them dressed and ready to get out the door to get some honey and grains I ordered from Atlanta.  On my way, I get stopped by a policeman -- I was speeding :(  I may have looked like death, because he let me go with a warning.  Sigh!  I wanted to cry.

We then go to Costco to do some groceries.  We come home and Byron is asleep, so we put him in his room.  Emma discovered greek yogurt and honey at Costco, so she wants me to give her some.  Then some more again!  She soon realizes that the yogurt is much more fun to play with than eat, and thus proceeds to put all over her face, arms and shirt.  Then throws some more on the floor (which I had just mopped that morning, btw).  Then says, "oh oh... pee-pee".  I pick her up and she did potty all over her pants.  Take her to the toilet, finishes her pee-pee and then some more po-po.  I take her clothes off, but now she does not want to put clothes on again... she wants to be naked!  I finally convince her to at least put on her underwear, which she agrees to do.

We then spend some time in the kitchen.  She pulls a chair and stands facing the counter.  She wants chicken, then more chicken.  Then she wants to play with the salad spinner -- she put some grapes in it and begins to spin it. 

Finally!  It is 1:30 pm, and time for her nap.  But wait a minute, nap time is no longer the breeze it used to be -- it's a fight!  I carry her against her will to her room.  She refuses a diaper or any clothes, and is screaming all at the same time.  I shut the door and wait for her to calm down (LB is still sleeping through all of this).  Thirty minutes later, after a few unsuccessful tries, she finally agrees to put on her diaper and clothes.  It is after 2 pm and she drops dead asleep in her crib (the other day she was so angry, she climbed out and proceeded to nap on the floor for 3 hours).

2:00 pm -- where is my medal?  So I make myself some decaf coffee with lots of cream and sugar.  Twenty minutes of down time and LB wakes up (story of my life!)

So that's my first half of the day.  Thankfully LB is very chill and is now asleep in his swing after watching me type this entry.  I know that a hectic life is relative, and that one's craziness is another's walk in the park.

If you are not my mom and have read through this entire entry, congratulations! 

Pretty in Pink

Emma was never much of a swaddler, but our little man loves being wrapped in a taco (as my mother and grandmother like to refer to it).  We tuck his arms and wrap him as tight as we can.  He then proceeds to fall asleep... like a baby!

Much for his misfortune, one of his two swaddles is pink (used to be Emma's), so half the time when sleeping he looks like this:

Poor little man.  I am afraid this won't be the first time he is caught wearing something from his sister.

On a different note, Byron and Emma like to play legos together.  Byron assembled this little "creature" the other day, and thought it was worth recording/remembering.  Emma would refer to it as muneca (doll).

The creepy Muneca

Trip to Indiana

Our dear friends Jim and Julianna, who just recently visited us in Augusta a few months ago, lost their 3-year old daughter Gemma while peacefully sleeping.  We were extremely broken by the news, and longed to be with our friends during this time.  Though they now live in Colorado, the memorial service for sweet Gemma was going to take place in Indiana.  Memma offered to keep Emma for us, which allowed Little Byron and myself to accompany Byron on this 10+ hour drive (plus feeding stops).

The driving over there and back went smoothly.  We had the chance to spend some time with J&J before the service, then began heading home that evening after supper.  

We have no pictures with the Giesers.  However, the Kelleys drove over from Illinois to also come to the service and meet us for a few hours.  Saturday was also Byron's 35th birthday, so after the service ended, they took us out to dinner at Cracker Barrel.  

Here are a few pictures with them:

We each got to meet our new family additions.

Two months

Little Byron is two months old... and he is a little giant!

He has gone from wearing newborn/0-3 months clothes to 6 months old clothes overnight!  It's like he completely skipped size 3 months.  One day all his clothes fit him, then the next nothing. 

He will have his two month checkup this week, and we'll really see where he falls on the charts regarding size.  In the meantime, all we can do is speculate. 

Two-month picture with Johnny Bear.

Oh, how they love each other!

Compare to Emma's two month picture.

He is a sweet, sweet baby.  His hair is starting to grow back, and thus his cowlick at the top of his forehead is returning.  For almost 2 weeks now, he is only waking up once during the night, which is a huge improvement from Emma at this age.  

Emma never spit up (okay, I lie -- she maybe spit up a total of 20 times), but Little Byron spits up constantly.  I cannot keep up with burp clothes fast enough.  Today he threw up straight at me.  He got my hair, shirt and all over the floor (thankfully he missed the furniture). 

Birth Announcement

We joyfully announce the birth of our second child

Byron Millard Morris III

born Monday, August 12, 2013

 weighing 7 lbs 1 oz

and measuring 19.75 inches long

The Help

Emma has begun showing interest in "helping" around the house.  She loves to cook/bake with me (especially crack eggs!), and loves to help daddy outside in the yard on Saturdays.  My tendency is to want to shoo her away while in the kitchen, to keep her busy playing or doing something else instead, but I try to remind myself continually that though she may not necessarily be the ideal helper now, I am laying the foundation and teaching her basic principles for when she is really ready to help around the house.

Making homemade chocolate chip coffee ice cream.

Helping daddy plant some flowers outside.  Please note her "gloves" :)  She saw daddy had his pair, so she came up with a pair herself using my winter socks.