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.

Zoo

Last Saturday we finally took a family trip to the zoo.  We joined Emma's little friend Gabbie, along with her family and a few other friends (for some reason, we hardly have any pictures of the rest of the people).

To say Emma enjoyed the trip to the zoo would be a tremendous UNDERSTATEMENT!  She was in awe and fascination the entire time!  It was a joy for us to share this excitement with her.  She seems to have a natural love for animals -- fish, bugs, monkeys, bunnies, you name it...

Some friends lent us their awesome stroller for our trip.  A double stroller where we could strap Emma in front, and place LB in his car seat in the back.

Ready for the fun!

Emma and the kangaroos.

Emma loved the gorilla.  This was the animal she was the most fascinated with.  She kept talking about the "lee-la" well after we had arrived home. 

 Little Byron also had a great time at the zoo.  He mostly just sat in his seat most of the time.  He also flirted a little with his dashing, toothless, cute-as-can-be smile.

We got to feed the giraffes.

Emma loved meeting a moo-cow in person.

This little girl still loves the bunnies, even if they are fake.

We got to take her on her first choo-choo train ride.

With the lions!  One of my favorite pictures -- with my two little ones.

At the party enjoying lunch.

No surprise here -- the fish aquarium area was a hit!

A tired little girl at the end of a fun, memorable day!

Comfortable?

Every since LB was born, I have been showing some cartoons to Emma on most days to get some down time.  We try to limit her TV time to 30 min - 1 hr per day, though many days is none at all.  This is not something I am necessarily proud of, but most of the TV she watches is GPS kids (educational) or in Spanish, which makes me feel not so guilty about it.

Anyway, all that to say, the other day while letting her watch some TV, I pulled her rocking chair out for her to sit on while she watched some tu-tu-turas (her way of saying "caricaturas" -- cartoons in Spanish).  Next thing I know, she had pulled out her toy-drawers and got herself comfy inside of one while she watched her toons.

Potty training update -- Emma has continued to do great with her potty training.  She has done a few successful BMs in the toilet, but most of them continue to take place in her undies.  Having said that, she HATES to have her no. 2 in her underwear, so she immediately tells us after she has done it.

She has also been waking from naps and night time practically dry.  This morning she was calling out from her crib to get out so she could use the potty even though she had a diaper on. 

Good friends

I know I've already posted a similar picture to this one, but I cannot help but continue to capture precious moments of my little ones.  I know Emma is anxious for him to grow up a little and become her play companion.  She loves to spend time with him!

Enjoying LB's crib mobile together.

Our big Little Girl

There is a big Little Girl under our roof!  

Emma is now officially out of her diapers and into her big girl undies.  I cannot believe she is now potty trained.  Part of me grieves this, since I quickly realize how fast she is growing and how time really does fly by.

The proud girl going potty.

I will make a disclaimer in saying that she is still using diapers at nap time and bed time (and don't plan on changing that for a while still).  Also, she has not done #2 in the toilet successfully yet.  Also, she has not had an accident-free day yet.  Some may argue and say she is not potty trained yet, but in my book she is!

So how did all of this begin?

Back in June Emma became enamored with her new toilet her friend J had passed down to her.  I was 7 months pregnant and did not want to go through the trouble of potty training her only to have her regress when LB was born.  But she was ready!  And excited... and would continually ask to be placed on her potty multiple times.

She also seemed very aware of both wet and dirty diapers, and would continually ask to be changed.  

And finally, the straw that broke the camel's back -- Emma has always suffered with really BAD diaper rashes.  I mean -- us alone kept the makers of Desitin in business over the past 2 years :)

So LB was born, and I knew the time was quickly approaching.  I had read a few things and talked to a few friends, and more or less decided on a method -- I was going to put her in her undies all day, with the exception of nap time and bed time, and have her learn "from her mistakes."  

I was really unmotivated and did not want to do it (I was already washing diapers for LB, so extra diapers from Emma did not add much to my to-do list), but I figured this was the best time to do it.  Because of LB's young age, we are still pretty homebound, and people are still bringing us meals.  Plus, the weather is still pretty mild, so she can easily walk around half naked all day and not freeze.

I approached potty training with the mindset that if it did not work, I was going to forget about it and not try again until Spring.

I put on her undies last Monday and she had ONE accident.  After that, every single accident we have had since after, she has caught herself half through and stopped herself, then finished in her toilet.  She gets really excited with herself when she goes potty, and claps and celebrates with us.  We would give her two m&ms after each successful potty, and that really encouraged her.  

Yesterday we went on our first outing with no diaper on, and she did really well.  Today we even went to Chick-fil-a and had her play in the play area with other children with no diaper on.  I was a little nervous, but she did very well.  At one point she did ask to go potty, but I was so proud of her for holding herself and waiting for me to take her to the bathroom.

Story time

Every night since as long as I can remember in Emma's life, we always read two books to her before bed time.  It is fun when Little Byron can join us (aka -- not sleeping or nursing at the time of the event).

Love my family :)

 It is no surprise to anyone that Emma is such a mama.  Yesterday she insisted on having little brother sit on her lap while she "read" to him one of her favorite books about bugs (Emma's second most favorite thing, after fish, are bugs, btw).

Sibling love.

One month

Little Byron turned 1 month last week, so it's time to bust out Johnny Bear once again (Emma's JB 1 month picture).

A few recent things about him:

-  He has started to loose his hair.

-  He has started sleeping 7 hour sleep stretches at night... yeah!

-  He has started smiling and cooing.

LB's mobile

A little girl mesmerized by little brother's new crib mobile.

Bath time

Emma and Little Byron enjoyed their first bath time together this weekend.  Byron and I enjoyed this family time.  Brother and sister were squirting at each other -- Emma with her plastic fish and LB with his... well, you can figure that one out :)

Her baby

I placed Little Byron on the floor this morning while I was getting ready.  I found myself smiling at myself when I saw my little girl trying to swaddle her little brother with the blanket. 

I feel I need to make a post about what life is like these days in our household.  

It is pretty good for the most part.  LB will be four weeks old this Monday and he still has his days and nights mixed up.  He is up for hours during the night, and if he is not awake, he is grunting and GRUNTING in his sleep, which keeps mommy and daddy from sleeping at all.  After three sleepless weeks, Byron and I have come up with a plan which seems to be working ok.  We hope we will no longer need to do this once he is better about sleeping at night.

What's the plan?

I go to bed after his 9ish pm feeding, and Byron takes over all duties until 3 am.  I go to bed and leave a pumped bottle for daddy to feed LB with when he wakes again at midnight.  If he goes back to bed ok, then Byron is off the hook and I take over again after 3 am.  This is very much temporary, and hope to no longer need to leave a bottle once LB is sleeping better at night.  But desperate times call for desperate measures, and if I want to be somewhat sane during the day, I need some sleep.

Much to my relief, the kids seem to overlap their afternoon naps to some extent.  Most days it's for only about one hour, but hey -- that's better than nothing.  Sadly, I normally spend that time catching up with things that cannot be easily done with kids awake (like our family blog!) instead of resting or taking a nap.

Crayons

Emma loves to color!  She loves it even more when I color for her.  I am also beginning to wonder if she will be the first Morris grandchild who is left handed.  Her Poppa, Uncle Caleb and Daddy are all left handed.  I asked her doctor yesterday at her two-year appointment if there was a time when this became evident, and he said that as early as now we can begin telling which is her hand of choice.  Of course, this is still up in the air, but she does seem to use her left hand as her hand of choice.

I took this picture above because I think it showed a little about her perfectionist nature.  While I was busy elsewhere around the house, this child proceeded to break all her crayons in half and then line them up.

And on to her two-year doctor appointment:

Weight:  28 lbs 10 oz (75%)

Length:  35 inches (75%)

Head:  19 inches (75%)

I of course have to brag on my little girl.  Both the nurse and the doctor were very impressed with how well she behaved:

Nurse:  "Now mama, I want you to know this is not normal behavior for a 2-year old at the doctor."

Doctor:  "If all my patients were this good, my job would be much easier"

Yes, she is a sweet, sweet girl, even if I must say so myself :)

It did help that I had packed two cookies in her diaper bag and she knew she would get them after her appointment.

Family Picnic

Sunday night -- we decided to have a picnic at the park.  I grilled some cheese sandwiches, packed some bananas, hummus and carrots, and off we went.  I look forward to more family moments like this, especially as the Fall sets in and the weather becomes nicer outside.  

Alison is visiting for the weekend (which has been great help with Emma -- she will even wake up early and take over the two kiddos while mommy and daddy sleep in).

Emma liked hanging from the bars.

Little Byron slept the entire time.

And some more hanging.