Groundhog Day

Ahhhh- the classic early 90's movie where the day keeps repeating itself again and again until he gets it right... Yep- that's us right now. Wake up by 7am, blindly make a cup of coffee, eventually Chase and Kaely wake up- feed both of them, Chase plays for a short time, then takes a morning nap. Meanwhile Kaely is playing and trying to drive me batty...Clean house- sweeping the tile because I still haven't brought down a vacuum cleaner, run a load of dishes, laundry, etc... Chase wakes up screaming like someone is torturing him, I feed him again, Kaely gets ready, does something like gouges all the nail polish off her toes that I spent 20 minutes doing, then we prepare to leave the house. Slather on sunblock, change diapers, and take the trash with us out the door. Walk the 1/2 mile to the park where Kaely can hopefully find some kids to play with so I'm not totally ruining her summer. Push the stroller a bit until Chase falls back to sleep. Let her play until it's clearly time for lunch and more diaper changes... sigh... Head to the convenience store or grocery store for whatever item may complete dinner later, then go back to the apartment. Feed the screaming Chase, a hungry Kae, then eventually myself. Naptime and quiet-time until I'm convinced to go to the pool, outside, or play on the Wii... Chase will wake up again screaming, so I put him back down to keep sleeping- having to comfort him until he passes back out. I start on dinner and any other chores that need doing. We eat, get showered/bathed, and hope Dave gets home at a decent time... then it's a bit of tv, bedtime story, and everyone else is passed out around me...

Sigh.

More or less the same exact day for the past 5 days. Lots of good, but lots of frustration in between. Not knowing why Chase has been screaming bloody murder is driving me insane. I stopped solids for a few days, and even then have only been giving him tastings. Tried Tylenol in case it's teething- no real difference with that either... I'm kinda stumped, but it's a horrible sound- not just a fussing baby, but one screaming from his gut. At least at the house no one else really hears it, here we've got neighbors to the right, left, up, down, etc... Poor baby.

Oh well, here are a few pics from the past couple days

Our 3rd Place Environment

This is such a geeky Starbucks term that I used to live by back in the corporate days... but considering the apartment down south doesn't have internet- it brings us out of the house to snag some free Wi-Fi at the Starbucks around the corner. Complete with Kaely stuffing her face with her vanilla bean scones... It's been a bit challenging to adjust to having all 4 of us in a place that is about 1/3 of what we're used to, but not too bad. Chase has been having a difficult time with teething or whatever it is that is causing him pain. So much so we feel trapped inside because I fear walking through the indoor hallway of the apartment- his screams echoing throughout. We're back to walking everywhere, which is kind of nice in its own way. We tackled the drawbridge yesterday- which Kae thought was "cool and creepy"- rewarded with a dollar store- staples of summer survival. She's already bored and thinks there's "nothing to do"- because she wants to live in the pool. Oh well- we live in our alternate universe here, where she gets to play at the beach at 7:00pm instead of getting ready for bed...

Oh well- we adapt and thrive the best we can :)

The Simple Things

Today was one of those days where we did nothing. The excitement of the day highlighted returning books to the library and then a solo trip to Publix. Sad that I find the grocery store to be a playground now, exploring free samples, running into other moms from school, and brainstorming the next great recipe. OMG- have I really reached this point of my life??? It seems our days revolve around meals and Chase. Not that I'm complaining- I really enjoy cooking, and love Chase beyond belief. Fortunately we are able to enjoy the things like the rain... the boys made me stop what I was doing and realize I needed to be out with them, sitting and embracing those times rather than racing to see what's next.

 But, geez! He's been so cranky lately- it has to be teeth- if it's not then, well, I'm SOL. Oh well- since I'm sitting here on a Saturday night glued to the couch because our guy isn't feeling well, and it's easier to just make sure he's comfortable and sleeping well rather than try to do anything adult or fun. But as I keep kissing his head and listening to his little snores, I realize there isn't anywhere else I'd rather be :)

Taking It Back!

I retract my previous post complaining about the cranky baby. Enter new perspective. Nothing is worse than someone else's cranky baby. Two days straight of baby sitting my nephew, from about 6:30am-5:00pm, and even if he was an angel I know that would exhaust me. But he is going through his own growth spurt or teething or something- and refuses to eat. Now, this is a completely foreign concept- considering Chase will eat anytime/anywhere. I wasted so much milk yesterday because he absolutely refused. I got him to take 2 oz, then later was proud because he'd eaten about 3 oz (after lots of fighting), as soon as I sat him up, projectile vomit out his mouth and nose- all over me, the couch, the floor, etc. I'm not a fan of being puked on in general, but at least when it's your own kid, it's a bit easier. So for a 10-11 hour period the kid only ate about 2 oz. Then didn't want to play or be up much. It's the most frustrating feeling in the world- to not be able to feed and comfort a baby.

So today is a repeat of yesterday- only I've gotten him to eat maybe 1 oz before he gave me crap. I even tried rocking him for a good 30 minutes (while Chase snoozed on the other side)- but after being screamed at for the whole time, I gave up and put him in the swing. Sigh... he's been asleep since. Making me realize how easy-going Chase is (for me!) in comparison. But I think that's it- the "mommy factor." Even when he's cranky I know I can feed him and let him pass out and all is good. Oh well- cheering myself up today with Pandora (online radio) with the Disney channel I created. All sorts of fun tracks from old movies- so I've been singing to the boys & dogs all day (maybe that's the problem?).

Oh- and my sister said Nathan weighed in at 15 lbs the other day at the doctor- which puts Chase probably close to 16 lbs or so. I know, I know, bad competitive streak! At least the boys are cute- makes the cranky days fade away...

Curse of the Growth Spurt- or Teeth?

Sigh... Past couple of days have been the following routine:

Wake up- smile-2 min
Fuss... eat... sleep
Wake up- smile 2 min
Fuss... eat... sleep
Wake up-smile 2 min
Fuss...eat...sleep

...You get the picture... no desire to play- especially on the ground... any solid food I get in him, which hasn't been much, ends up being beautifully colored spit up shortly after. The whole day consists of him sleeping, eating & fussing, with a few moments of happy-baby in between. So frustrating! I guess I had been getting spoiled since these types of days were becoming so much more infrequent lately- and we were having so much fun playing all weekend, that I didn't see this coming. Blah... oh well- he's a growing boy and sleep is needed. When he is awake, he drools everywhere and gnaws on his fingers and burp cloth or monkey- whatever he can get. If it is teeth, I'm sure we have another month or two at least before they break through, so yippee... hopefully he'll be back to himself by tomorrow- at least today being overcast and storms rolling in I can appreciate the napping :)

Just another part of babyhood!

Our New Playroom

Inspired by a relative's "playroom" - I started tossing around ideas last week about turning our "dining/living" room into a playroom. Honestly, we never use it, unless we have a party or something and need the extra space- or during Christmas since we usually put the tree in there. I remembered I had some mats in the garage- my aunt has her invention/creation Academics Through Music- which teaches children things like math, conversions, etc through songs. How easy is it for children to remember lyrics to songs? So she has songs that include math tables and such. Anyhow- we have the "math mat" - so I thought, hey, it's just sitting around- that would be great for Chase & Nathan to play on. Not too hard, but also not the lovely carpet that the dogs share with him.

Next thing I know, I'm moving everything around this morning. Even invading Kaely's room, and giving her some more space by taking out her chairs and moving the children's books into the playroom as well. So now she has a little reading nook, which we can use with Chase as well. I'm kind of excited about it all to be honest- nothing like a bit of change to feel refreshed. The family room looks so bare now without all the toys and gear in it :) I'm also inclined to like this idea so the babies are away from the tv- since it's not the best thing in the world for them to be around, but I like to watch the news (not sure why to be honest) and some other shows here and there. I say it's nice to actually "live in" parts of the house so often a wasted space :)

The family room yesterday- lol

Now the living room- converted:

Homemade Baby Food- Is It Worth It?

Alrighty. Buying baby food when you're first starting out is no biggie, since you're really only experimenting and don't "need" it yet. So usually we get Gerber at Target for:
Stage 1 is 2- 2.5 oz container (5oz total) for $0.99
Stage 2 is 2- 3.5 oz container (7oz total) for $0.99

I often find coupons and all, so it's not too bad... but now Chase is really starting to eat- a total of at least one container a day-and starting to lean towards 2 now. So about $1/day. I've been thinking about doing homemade baby food anyway, but after our day yesterday, thought I'd give it a try. Fortunately, I already have an immersion blender which helps. Add in the time to peel, chop, steam/bake and puree the food (about 1 1/2 hours total)... well... So the cost came out to this:

2 packages of 8- 4oz containers $4.58 (total)
0.46 lb peaches (2 small ones)      $0.73 - made 4 oz
0.44 lb pear (1 lg one)                  $0.51 - made 4 oz
0.25 lb apple (1 small one)           $0.30 - made 2 oz
0.30 lb banana (1 med one)          $0.16 - made 4 oz
0.74 lb sweet potato (1 lg one)     $0.66 - made 8 oz
0.25 lb green beans (fresh)           $0.50 - made 3 oz
0.25 lb carrots (about 4)              $0.25 - made 3 oz

I also have a new found appreciation for how much these kids are actually getting in the food. Honestly- if he eats a full 2.5 oz container of peaches like he did this afternoon- that's about 1 full peach. Or 2.5 oz container of carrots must be around 2 1/2 carrots. Crazy!

I'm not sure how much I'll be doing this- considering the cost & time/money/value is about the same. But soon enough he'll be eating off our plates anyway :)