4 years and 8 months....

The title refers to the amount of time that I nursed my 2 kids. Wow, seems crazy! There was a break in between them when I didn't nurse about 6 months while I was preggers with Emma. I'm so glad that I got to experience this with both of my kids, its such a wonderful thing, not for everyone I know, but for me it was the best. Aidan decided to stop nursing on his own when I was a few months pregnant, not sure if it was because the milk started tasting different which some say happens or if he was just ready to stop.

Emma is a whole nother story....I thought she would do the same as her brother and just stop on her own. I did the same things I did with Aidan, stopped pumping at a year and introducing whole milk and only nurse some in the mornings and night and for comfort when needed since I work full time I couldn't nurse during the day. The first year and a half of Emma's life goes by still nursing, I was fine with that, even though by the time she turned 2 I got a lot of questions from others, when are you going to stop nursing her, etc. The typical stuff others say when it is starting to make them uncomfortable. The one thing I can say that made me feel the most comfort through nursing Emma for so long was my sister. She is still nursing Carter and has always had the best outlook when it comes to breastfeeding and I love her for that. One of her best come backs from someone asking her the "how long are you going to nurse him?" was "maybe about another 30 minutes or so." Love that!

I have been going back and forth about stopping for the past few months. I found myself getting agitated when nursing was taking longer than normal and I realized I was ready to stop even if she wasn't. I was hoping she was going to make that decision, not me. The only time Emma was nursing was mainly when I got home from work we had our snuggle time and occasionally in the mornings but if we were at home on the weekends it was on and off all day. I had someone ask me if they thought I was still producing milk since I didn't nurse that often and I discovered later that I most definitely was as she stopped one evening and had milk on her lip. Yup, still got milk. ha!

I thought weaning her would be easy, but it hasn't been. I have even been away from her for a few days to come back and that is the first thing she wanted to do when she saw me. I had been emotionally done several months ago, but was struggling b/c Emma didn't want to stop and would have the worst tantrums if I said no. So, I made a decision a week ago to use one of the ideas another nursing mom had used...I put bandaids on my boobs and told Emma I had boo boos and there was no more milk. It was very sad to see her get upset, but I didn't see an end in sight and was ready to stop. The funny thing was she didn't have her usual tantrum, but instead comforted me and kissed my boo boos and we snuggled and I held her for the longest time. Of course the next day she asked me about my boo boos and wanted to see them and after I showed them to her again she started pouting and wanted me to hold her and then she was fine. It has been 9 days since I have nursed her and she still asks me everyday if I still have boo boos, but she doesn't cry about it, but pouts for a bit and as long as I comfort her and hold her for a while she is okay. I'm glad to still have our snuggle time as I was afraid that would end as well.

The one thing that has changed as well this week is that she is sleeping so much better, ahhh! I am finally getting some much needed sleep too! I never thought this would be such a hard stage to end, probably because we don't plan on having any more kids, so she is my baby, my baby that will turn 3 years old in 3 1/2 months....

My growing children...

I can't believe how much the kids have grown recently. I decided to measure and weigh them the other day since they don't really go to the dtr as much as they use to. Emma has really grown as she is 38" tall and 35lbs and Aidan is getting so tall at 46" (almost 4 feet!) and 45lbs. I can't believe Aidan is that tall at 4yrs old. When I myself am only 5 ft 4 inches tall. He is going to be way taller than me if he keeps going at this rate! ha!

Lucy

On top of everything else going on with us lately we decided to adopt a puppy from Red Dog Farms. She is a chocolate lab mix and is super sweet. Chris was really the one who started talking about it and I still was not really sure at first b/c of how turned upside down our house seems all the time, but of course once I started looking at the photos really wanted to go see them. All of the puppies, some chocolate some black were all at a foster families house and I met Chris and the kids over there one night and I just happened to get there first, yea. So, I got to see all of the puppies by myself, so cute. We had kind of already picked out Lucy and she was one of the quiet ones, which I'm hoping is a good thing. She still is very cuddly and sweet and loves to be held. We are trying to crate train her and she is doing pretty well, but still having accidents in the kitchen. Here are a few pics of her, I need to take some new ones she is already grown so much, hopefully I can get some of Macy and Lucy together if Macy can handle it. Lucy is right around 12 weeks old.

Fall is Here, Halloween

Wow, I have been such a slack blogger, haven't posted since August, geez! I plan to try to be better at blogging more often, we'll see. Things have been super crazy for us lately, still trying to sell our house, one of these days I hope to post we have. I have been dealing with several medical things since August, one being a lump I discovered under my arm pit that turned into an infection and 4 different lumps and eventually Merca b/c I was getting the wrong treatment, ugh! It was was one of the most painful things I been through recently mainly b/c it lasted so long, 2 months of dealing with that and not being able to fully use my arm, then I go and stab my wrist trying to carve a pumpkin! Geez! It happened so fast and I really didn't know what to do at first except put pressure on the cut and try to get the knife out of reach of the kids who were running around me asking Mommy what's wrong. I probably should have gone to get stitches, and that is exactly what the nurse I work with told me the next morning, but at that point it was a little too late, she helped me clean and butterfly the cut and how to properly keep it clean and bandaged. It has been almost 2 weeks and it does look better, but is going to take a while to completely heal and part of my wrist is still a little numb. I'm not sure why I am so accident prone, I just hope it doesn't rub off on the kids! I think it has a little with Emma as she cut her forehead the day before Halloween when we were at our neighborhood festival and tripped on the harness holding down the bouncy slide and we were only there for like 5 minutes! Luckily there was a nurse on site and cleaned and bandaged it for us. It has amazingly healed up to where you can hardly see it.

Emma and her cousin Carter

Emma and Grandpa

Emma trying on Aunt Jenn's purple wig, not too sure about it.


This was pre-head injury!

My little princess!

My Cheeseball

Trying to be crafty with the kids. Making Candy Corn Garland

Aidan did enjoy helping out.

My Butterfly Princess and Dinasaur

Aidan and Emma dancing around like ballerinas!

EmmaJustDance.AVI

EmmaJustDance3.AVI

EmmaJustDance2.AVI

Aidan's Birthday Party

Even though he's not officially 4 until May 8th, we had his birthday party today with all his classmates at a bounce house and he had so much fun! I can't believe he is 4 already, I really don't know where the time has gone, he's such a big boy now, but he still has times that he wants his mommy which I love of course! I will download some pictures of his party soon, but I wanted to post a video of him playing his new drums that Aunt Jenn bought him which he loves and I wanted her to see him play.

2 Years Old, letter to Emma

My sweet Emma,

It's hard to believe it has been 2 years already. You will have your 2nd birthday on March 27th. It seems like a flash, I don't know if its because you are my 2nd child or if its because I work full time or a combination of both, but its gone by way too fast. You have really turned into a such a little girl already with such a big personality. From the beginning I knew you were going to be very independent and always speak your mind even before you said your first word, which if I'm not mistaken was "No!". You make me laugh and I love your goofy side, you can always cheer me up if I'm feeling down. I love our one-on-one times even if its in the middle of the night. At times I still see my little baby when I hold you and other times I can imagine the little girl you are starting to become. You are beautiful inside and out and I'm so proud to be your mommy and can't wait to watch you grow up, even though I'm definitely not ready for you to. I love that you are so adventurous and fearless, that scares me at times too, but I'm glad you are going to be outgoing and I hope you never change that confidence you already have and willingness to try new things. I have had fun taking you to your "Little Gym" classes and to watch you try out your gymnastics moves and you seem to have so much fun as long as no one is using the equipment you want to be on...patience is not one of your strong suits! You get that from your Daddy! :) I can't wait to see how you like other activities like dance or sports and to see what you will excel in the most. Hopefully you got some athletic ability from your Daddy as well, but from the looks of your bruised up legs I'm starting to think you have Mommy's gracefullness! I know there will be many birthdays to celebrate in the future, but this one seems big to me because I feel like I'm saying goodbye to my baby and hello to my little girl. My heart fills up every day when I pick you up and I hear you say "Mommy, Up" and you hug me tight and give me a big kiss.

I love you more than words can ever say!

Mommy

Here are some pics from the day you were born and the present:

Snuggling with you in the hospital, my chunky 10 pounder!

The first time I saw you
Here you are today!

So beautiful!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Aidan and Emma had a fun day on St. Patrick's Day at their preschool. They had their annual parade at school and the kids made hats and some parents made floats out of their strollers and wagons. I didn't get to go b/c it was during the day, but my in-laws went and took some cute pictures, it looks like they had a lot of fun! Here are the pics...

Lining up for the parade...you can see Aidan on the far right with his head down.

Here is Aidan on the far right smiling for the camera
Walking in parade, they go around the school parking lot and down to the Life Center, its not far, but it is a good walk for the tots!

Emma with her Teacher in the top hot, Emma's got a white shirt and a lei around her neck.

Close up of Emma and her teacher and one of her classmates.

Aidan is here holding hands with one of his buddies and a teacher.

Cute float one of the parents made! That's News 2 in the background. Emma was briefing on the news but Aidan didn't get on and boy was he upset about it!

Emma with her classmates.

Emma wearing her cute St. Patty's hat they made in class.

Aidan and his teacher Mrs. Bridget, can you tell he likes his teacher! :)

Aidan and Emma after the parade! Don't they look cute!

Getting ready for his yummy cookie!

Enjoying their St. Patty's treat!

Cheeeeeese!

You can see in this pic that Emma's hair is actually starting to grow! Even though its mainly the back, I guess she will have a mullet for a while until it all start growing in together! ha!

Stomach Virus, Siblings, Turning 2

Well, to recap what I have been dealing with this month so far...

1. Woke up to get Emma one morning to find out she had thrown up all over her bed and didn't seem to care so went back to sleep nastiness. Then, proceeded to have about 8 or so lost count after a while blow outs from the time she woke up until I attempted to leave the house for the day, all in about an hour if you are wondering. She seemed to get over it by the next day didn't really think about it until I started feeling sick, then it was Aidan's turn, then Daddy, good times!
2. Had some cute brother/sister moments lately and some not so cute. We went to a Bounce House recently and Emma is such the daredevil she will climb a ladder to a 2 story bouncy house to go down the big slide, loves it! So, she was climbing, slowly up the ladder and there are always big kids at these places barrelling through, ugh. But, one was trying to push his way past Emma and Aidan yelled at him and said, "Don't you hurt my sister!" awww, big brother! Then, I was told something similar happened at school on the playground. They usually separate the age groups but this day they didn't have too many kids so they let them all play together, well Emma gets knocked down by one of the boys in Aidan's class and he said the same thing to him, "Don't hurt my sister!", when I asked him about it later he also told me he tried to pull his hair, which I tried to tell him that he should definitely not pull hair but he can tell the other kids to be careful around his sister. Too cute! But, then on the other hand they have really started fighting a lot, I guess its ok for him to hurt his sister! I'm constantly pulling them apart or trying to get in the middle to separate them.
3. My baby girl is turning 2 in a week and a half, I just can't believe it! She is such a funny little thing. I'm so amazed at how different Aidan and Emma have been when they were babies. I do feel like I have missed so much with Emma b/c she's my 2nd and I just don't have the time I did when it was just Aidan. I've tried to enjoy every moment I could with the both of them, they are growing up so fast. Lately, I love the little moments Emma and I have alone when she's in my lap being silly and making funny faces. She loves to get super close to my eyes with hers and laugh. She's really starting to say more words, but I still can't imagine her as a full blown talker yet, that is going to be so cute when she does start talking more. Mostly she is singing songs that she has learned and some that I think she has made up herself!

Hopefully I can post some updated pictures soon!

Potty Time

It has been so long since I have blogged last, I don't even know if I have any followers other than my sister, Mom and cousin. Aidan has made a huge leap in potty training lately. He has been sooo stubborn about using the potty this past year. He is sucessfully peeing in the potty with a few accidents here and there, but he seriously does not want to poo on the potty. I'm hoping this will come in time and that he is just too busy to worry about making it in time. I do have to blame myself and hubby on this issue as we have been a bit lazy when it comes to being consistant with potty training, esp. during the week, we are both so tired at the end of the day and that is seriously the last thing we think about, remembering to put him on the potty every 30-45 minutes. Hopefully we can both get on board and be consisitant and help him along with his training. I'm ready for warmer weather so we can practice a bit more with wearing underwear and less clothes and less mess. During this process Emma has gotten interested in the potty and has sucessfully peed several times. It looks like I may be potty training them at the same time! ha!

I can't believe Emma is getting ready to turn 2 in March and Aidan will be 4 in May, time really flies by like the saying goes. Emma is really turning into a toddler these days, saying more and more each day and really loves to sing and dance. I need to get her involved in some gymnastics or something like that b/c I know she would love and benefit from it. Last night she was cracking me, well to back up a bit she has always loved to stand on her tippy toes, which is her nickname her Papa Rick gave her. But, she was trying to stand on the tip of her toes, not just at point, she kept trying to do it over and over. It makes me wonder at this age what goes through their minds when they try these new things?

Update on Aidan's trip to the Dentist

We have been going back and forth about what to do about Aidan and the cavities and getting them filled. The last thing we want to do is traumatize him so young and I don't want to put any drugs in his system either. The only route I thought we would be able to go to not frighten him would be sedation, but thats scary in itself, esp. when the dentist told me there can always be complications with sedation, esp. when he has never had anything like that in his body, who knows how he will react. Like my mom said under an emergency situation that is different, sedation is necessary, but when he is not showing any signs of discomfort and I really had a hard time seeing the spots or shadowing on his x-rays I am starting to have a really hard time with why we should put him through this so young. We definitely are going to brush his teeth more throughly and include flossing which he doesn't seem to mind too much, esp. with those cute little flosser they have now. I just have a hard time justifying how much money this would cost on teeth that he wont have forever. If it gets to the point where he is in pain then we will take action and if we have to pull the tooth early they have spacer they can put in place of the tooth until the permanent tooth comes in. Below is the link to the article my sister sent me.

** 'No proof' for filling baby teeth **Filling rotten baby teeth may be an unnecessary trial for children to endure, experts say.< http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/health/8112603.stm >

Aidan's trip to the Dentist

Today, I took Aidan to the dentist, this was his second trip, well really his third. The first time he went with me when I had a cleaning just to observe and did really well he was very curious of all of the instruments and sat in my lap for part of the time. The second visit was right after he turned 3 and we went back to my dentist and he got his teeth cleaned and did really well and was surprisingly cooperative. I recently decided to try to take him to a pediatric dentist mainly b/c they are trained specifically on children's teeth and the office setting I knew would be more inviting. He did well again and was very cooperative, they commented on how well he was doing esp. at his age, they have a lot at this age that do not do very well. He did so well they decided to do xrays of his teeth, he did not complain but I was watching him the whole time and could tell he was starting not to like it. The last xray they did he gagged a little and I could see his eyes getting watery but he didn't complain, such a big boy. Now the bad news, he has cavities, four tiny spots on his back molars, 2 I could barely see on the xray, but the other 2 I could see the dark spot that had gone through the enamel. On both sides his back molars which they said he will have until around the age of 10 are very close together and both have divits in them which makes him very susceptable to cavities b/c of the build of of bacteria if not cleaned properly. Which means we have to start flossing teeth, ugh! Now we have to decide whether or not we will make 2 separate appts. using nitrous oxide since they have to work on both sides they don't want to have his whole mouth numb and be awake at the same time b/c he will be more likely to bite the inside of his cheeks or his lips. The other option is to make one visit where they sedate him and take care of everything at once and he will come out not remembering anything. The last one seems like the better option to me even though its more expensive, but then there are concerns sedating him to, even though the dentist said he was a good candiate for that as well as nitrous oxide. My fear if we go with the laughing gas option is that we take him in for his first appt. and then he feels the pain or doesn't like the numbness feeling and then by the time he has to come back for the second one he wont be willing to cooperate. I just don't want to start the fear of the dentist at this early of an age, poor thing. So, today I'm feeling a little sad, like I have failed at my job as a parent, mainly b/c I know we could do so much better at brushing his teeth 2x a day and have not been perfect by any means, we get them brushed but there are times when he falls asleep before we get the chance to do so or I'm rushing out the door in the mornings and just forget to get both of their teeth brushed. This cold, rainy day isn't helping either! I also wasn't prepared for the cost of cavities, even though my insurance pays 80%, that other 20% can add up. and why don't insurance companies pay for nitrous oxide or sedation?! Esp. for children don't they think they need to not experience any pain? The dental hygentist told me most insurance companies don't deam it necessary. I think it is necessary in a 3 year old! The last thing I want him to experience is this kind of pain, which makes me want to cry b/c I feel like b/t Chris and myself its our fault this happened, even though the dental hygentist told me that some children even with great brushing are going to get cavities. I was one of those myself, I can't even tell you how many fillings I have, where Chris has hardly any cavities or he might not have any. So, from now on even if he screams and cries and we have to hold him down he is getting those teeth of his cleaned and flossed 2 x a day, ditto with Emma. She likes to play with the tooth brush and lets me brush them for a bit, but now she is going to get the same type of brushing that he gets morning and night.

Photo Shoot

Over the Holidays my sister and I went back to the Vanderveens to have another photo shoot with all 3 kids since we did the same thing last year. Boy, this was the hardest time ever getting everyone to cooperate, they did not want to sit near each other or have their pictures taken, it was a very stressful morning for us, but somehow Bert and Becky always come through with some amazing shots, you would have never known all of the crying and whining that was going on that morning! Here are some of the shots they got:

Emma being silly with Nana!

My cute girl, I have her hair in pigtails and with the light background and her light hair you can't even tell!

Emma giving her "look" through the fence!

Emma loved sitting in this chair!

and posing on it! ha!

My sweetie pie!

Touchdown, ready to cheer on her team!

She loves sitting like this, super flexible!

Cousins in back of a random pickup!

They only sat in this chair together for about 30 seconds and somehow they got some cute shots out of!

This one turned out cute too, I don't have too many of them sitting close together!

My little Man! He could sell some RL shirts! ha!

Cute Boy!

I'm so glad they got some with his "blankie" it wasn't even planned but I'm glad we have it so he can always have a picture of himself with his favorite blankie!He was obviously pouting in the picture,

but the lighting it so good. My shy boy...