What's Happening this week....

Miss Julia has her first tooth coming through. We noticed it yesterday morning!  It explains some fussiness on her part. She didn't sleep so well last night either. Poor thing. Matthew has always struggled when getting teeth and it appears that our Little Sis is the same way.
Just after typing this I noticed how many nicknames we have for Julia. So far she's called: Jewels, J, Peanut, Princess, Little Sis, Ju Ju (Matthew calls her this), Baby Sis and Little Miss. I'm probably forgetting some too. I don't think Matthew has even half that many nicknames. But just for the record, Matthew's nicknames are: M, Chew, Big Brother and Little Dude. [Notice for all those who love my kids: Matt & Matty are not on the list. While those are great nicknames...I've decided he will have to ask for them if he wants them used for himself. Oh and by the way, I realize giving my son a name that could be nicknamed was an obvious target for such nicknames, but I can still object.]

I made popcorn balls last night for a command fundraiser. They weren't as simple as I'd hoped just in terms of the messiness factor. I don't really like messes. This little idiosyncrasy began when I was very young and would demand my Mom "clean me" when I would eat. If you want to know how bad it is...I visibly cringe when mixing & shaping meat loaf. I've literally had to train myself to deal with it. My husband laughs and I admit it's sort of funny.  But anyway...the popcorn balls turned out well and tasted good. Hope the sailors and civilians like them.

 As you may recall, I had a cold over the weekend. It's taking frigin' forever (okay...forever to my impatient self) to go away. Though the fact that Rite Aid can't seem to refill my one allergy med is not helping said situation. I've had to take out my contacts for the day and not wear make-up less I rip my eyeball out. Ugh!

I'm listening to Matthew say "hi" to Siri on my iphone right now. She's apparently confused by him. Hehehe!!

We're looking forward to Halloween tomorrow. Our friends who just PCS'd here are coming over and I think it'll be a good evening. The chance of rain is anywhere from 20-40% but it's WA so who knows. To me you trick or treat no matter the weather (it's my good old Midwestern roots coming through!)

Whelp....getting ready to head to a meeting.  Toodles!

Just thinking

Did anyone read this article recently? I don't know how or where I found it, but I read it and immediately cried my eyes out and emailed my husband at work (which if you know me...you know I don't do this generally.) If you hadn't read it or didn't read the link now. It's about a 15 year old boy in the foster care system asking for someone to adopt him.  Here's part of why it spoke to me: when we started down the infertility road I stumbled upon a number of blogs about adoption so I read a lot of people's personal stories on the subject. Due to reading these blogs I have learned a lot about the state of adoptions in this country.  Basically....it can be very difficult to adopt in the United States.  So the next time you admonish people for adopting outside the USA, think about that.  Also, most people don't want older kids. For obvious reasons. Older kids come with more challenges. So when I read this article for some reason I felt compelled to ask my husband if we could adopt this boy. Now I know it sounds crazy & off the wall. And before those who know me in real life start panicking...no we are not adopting this boy or any child any time soon.  But it does plant the seed in my head.
I asked recently how people knew they were done having children and felt at peace with the decision. This is a question I'm going to struggle with for awhile I think. It's definitely on my prayer list. Anyway...maybe this is my answer. Maybe I am done doing pregnancies (which let's face it, pregnancy and I do not get along very well) and instead need to do something else.

Anyway....just thinking....

Sunday Social: Halloween Edition

Link up here!

1. What was your favorite Halloween costume as a kid? Hmm...tough one. My Mom made most of my costumes when I was growing up (she's a super skilled seamstress), so maybe my Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Or there was this white princess dress she made that was gorgeous too.

2. If you could go back to your childhood and dress up as something, what would it be? Scare crow. Not sure why I say that...it just popped into my head.

3. What was your favorite Halloween costume as an adult? A farmer...I did that as a sorority thing one year in college. It turned out pretty fun.

4. What is your favorite Halloween candy? Tootsie pops and Reese's peanut butter pumpkins.

5. What is your favorite Halloween memory? Trick or treating with my friends and then coming home where we dumped all our candy into a big pile and each took turns picking until we'd gone through it all. I still smile thinking of that.

6. What is your favorite scary movie? I hate scary movies. Seriously I have to prep myself to get through them. I usually have to get into a real sarcastic attitude and laugh my way through. In high school I laughed myself through the entire movie "The Ring" otherwise that movie probably would've had me screaming. On a side note: this drives my husband crazy!

Last Halloween....Little Dude was the cutest tiger! I can't wait for this year!

5 Months Old! Already?!?

5 Months old

For some reason, I can't find the 5 month pictures. I know I took them. Perhaps they didn't make it on the computer like I thought they did. Anyway...Oct. 21st, Julia turned 5 months old. I remember thinking when Matthew turned this age that he seemed so "old" and with Julia I don't feel that way at all. Maybe it's her small size, but she just seems younger. Literally nothing has changed from her 4 month stats...except maybe her weight (I'm sure it's increased, but we don't see the doctor for anything official until next month.) She's still wearing the same size clothes, diapers, shoes etc!
We've started transitioning her to her crib. Some nights are better then others.  Her sleep has been better...though I do miss the days of her sleeping from 10pm-5am. Oh well. We'll keep working on it.
She'd mastered rolling over months ago, but now does both back to tummy and tummy to back. As seen in the above picture, she loves to grab onto anything she can and hold it.
She loves to be held and snuggle, which is so nice since her brother is too independent for snuggles.

I'm still back and forth with feeling at peace with 2 kids. I wish I knew how you got to that point. It's reasonable for our family to be complete and when I was pregnant with Julia I felt that peace & certainty. Now it's a struggle...not sure why.

I've got some ideas for the blog and am hoping to implement them as soon as I get over this annoying cold I've got. I hate being sick. Anything that causes me to be down & out for the count just irks me. I like being on the go and illness doesn't allow that.

Toodles...hope to see you soon.

4 Months Old (Better late then never!)

So...I was doing so well with blogging and then something I believe is called the 4 month sleep regression hit us! Now don't get me wrong, Little Miss doesn't sleep horridly...she just has decided to wake up 2 times a night and then proceeds to comfort nurse for an hour each time! Thankfully I kind of doze while she does this, but still it has thrown me off the amazing schedule I had going for awhile there. Not to mention the pain it causes! Anyway...back to the update...

Julia turned 4 months old Sept. 21st and a few days later had her 4 month well baby appointment. Here are her stats:
Weight: 10.8 pounds (she's on the small side obviously)
Length: 24 inches long!
Head Circumference: 15.5 inches around
Diapers: Size 1
Clothes: NB dresses, 0-3 & 3 month onesies (much of it she still drowns in, but we like variety for outfits.)
While most definitely a peanut, she is for the most part, a very happy & healthy baby.
Julia loves her play mat and sitting in the bumbo while I do chores around the house. Her brother has figured out how to make her laugh and I love watching them both laugh. Little Dude is still a bit rough with her, but we're working on it. She loves to kick her legs! She smiles and laughs when we look at her or give her kisses. In short, she's the most beautiful little princess and I love her to pieces!

2 weeks ago, she came down with a high fever and visited the ER. She had a kidney infection. That earned her a 10 day course of antibiotics! The amoxicillin was that nasty pink liquid we all remember from our childhoods. She actually didn't mind it, but just looking at it made my stomach churn a bit. Haha!! Anyway...this requires her to have a kidney ultrasound and maybe a trip to the kidney doctor in Tacoma. Her brother (if you recall) had the same issue as a baby, so we're very familiar with the protocol.

I'll try to do better with the blogging...toddles!