Happiness is....

So, I'm stealing the idea from one of the blogs that I LOVE to read, because I definitely need to start focusing more on the positive.

Also, I may be slightly obsessed with Peanuts cartoons and this is a theme that Charles Shultz used often (and maybe I save them every time they come up on my daily calendar at school). I mean, happiness really is a warm puppy!

So for this week for me, happiness is my kindle. And I don't even have a fancy new one.

That may sound a little materialistic, but I don't mean it that way. Being back to work leaves me tired, stressed, and over stimulated. I do enjoy not being homeless and having groceries so it is an unfortunate necessity for our family right now.

A usual day consists of chasing an Eggo-crumb-dropping Ezra in the morning while I try to dry my hair, dealing with boogers and poop usually 22 seconds before I NEED to get out the door, and planning lessons, writing reports, and teaching someone else's children, all while I miss my own children. Then coming home and kind of thinking about dinner and house chores, trying not to strangle the endlessly barking dogs, getting Ezra down for a nap so he doesn't turn into a crazy person, and making sure to get Violet down for tummy time!

I look forward to the half an hour that I can curl up and read a little bit, and I'm loving how many books I can get for free or cheap on my kindle. Either by borrowing them, buying them with amazon credits I earned from a trade or taking a survey, or downloading free ones. It's awesome. Way cheaper and more relaxing than TV.

Some recent favorite reads are the Baxter family series from Karen Kingsbury, Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich, and the Hunger Games series. I just downloaded Twilight, because I do love me some teen angst and will have a little more downtime to read next week when school is off.

What are some of your favorite reads?



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Violet: 1 Month

Violet: 1 Month

So this month has completely flown by.  If you told me that I got home from the hospital with her yesterday, I would believe you. And I apologize for the blog break, but life is a little nutty right now...

Weight: 9 lbs 1oz
Height: 19 3/4"

Eats: She's breast feeding right now.  Every three hours.  Pretty consistent.

She is in fact the exact opposite of her brother in terms of eating. She is a "lazy eater" as my mother calls it.  She falls asleep halfway through, she only eats on one side and then can't be bothered to finish (only she's hungry again in an hour and my whole vague time schedule goes down the crapper).  She's also a spitter.  A gooey spitter.  And she gets the hiccups every.single.time. she eats.  I feel bad for her.  I'm hoping she'll grow out of the hiccups and decide that food is more important than sleep so that we can keep things going on a schedule - well somewhat of a schedule.

Sleeps: Sleeping is going very well.  She's a great napper and sleeper.  She is such a good baby.  I'm completely blessed - because if she were a cranky baby I might be institutionalized.  She naps here and there and sleeps, except when eating, at night.  Which is amazing.  A few 2 /12 - 3 hour stretches at night is pretty good!

She is a grunter though.  Super loud grunter.  All the time.  Like she's trying to work something out.  Swaddling has helped and she is also a fan of the vibration setting on the bassinet.  She seems to have taken to the pacifier, too.  I'm hoping she'll be as easy as Ezra and just decide one day she's too cool for it. 

Likes: 
This is hard because she's still not smiling or anything so I'm just going to go with my gut.

She likes to look at black things, like the edge of the couch or the mirror.  And she is starting to follow me around the room and turn towards me when I talk.  It melts my heart!

She also likes her floor mat.  We do need some new hanging toys though because Ezra's are destroyed.  She'll look at herself and hit the toys with her hands (not intentionally of course but she watches them when they move).

She likes her pacifier.  And screams when it falls out.  It's the only time I really hear her cry loudly.  I can't wait for Santa to bring her a Wubbanub!  Hopefully he follows my blog...

Dislikes:
She doesn't like to be poked, grabbed, or sat on by her brother.  We're working on this.  She gets a shocked, wide-eyed face like "Mommy please help me!" anytime he tries to "play" with her.  It is somewhat difficult because he is so interested in what she is doing and seems to want her to do more but doesn't understand the whole eat-sleep-poop thing.

She hates getting her diaper changed.  I think she would be content to just sit in a dirty diaper so that she didn't have to endure the changing process.  She kicks her little feet out in protest every time and cries.  She also pees pretty much every time I change her and tends to poop everytime I wipe her.  I think she works herself up so much she can't help it. 

Milestones: 

She is awake much more now.  Maybe about an hour at a time all throughout the day.  She watches everything that's moving or lit up with her eyes.  It's fun to see her explore her world a little bit.

Things I want to remember about this age:
That arched back, scrunched up legs and arms stretch that you do every time I pick you up.  I love it.

How little you are.  It's amazing.

How good you are.  And really, you're a good baby.  Not fussy at all.  I'm sure I'll remind you (and your brother) of that all throughout your life!

Here are some 1 month photos for your viewing pleasure:

First bath... she does kind of have an outie - I'm hoping this deters belly shirts and teeny bikinis

Ezra showing her how to do tummy time - although she's not looking

At 4 weeks she's already lifting that head quite a bit!

Hanging out with her brother

Isn't she the cutest Christmas Elf ever??

What a year...

It's 9 minutes long, so I'm not offended if you don't want to watch the whole thing...

It makes me cry every time!

We're off to Ezra's First Birthday Celebration.  Can't wait to update you all on how much fun we had :)