Colton's 2 Month Check-up

I seriously can't believe Colton is 2 months old already! On Tuesday, Dennis and I took Colton in for his check-up and his first shots! He's growing very quickly and already measures 23 inches long and weighs 14lbs 7oz! Caitlin weighed only 10lbs 13oz at her 2 month check! We were unsure if Colton would be as good at getting his shots as Caitlin is. Turns out, he handles it pretty well. He definitely cried, but he was fine by the time we got him into his carseat. Thankfully, he never got a fever, but was a bit fussy and just wanted to be held. I ended up giving him Tylenol a few hours later which made him feel better. The next morning, he was his usual smiling self again.



Colton also has been sleeping well lately (except last night of course). He sleeps for about 5 hours the first run and then 2-3 the next stretch. The other night he slept for 7 hours straight! And then night before last, he only got up once!....at 4:30am!!! Last night was a different story and I don't know what was up with him. He slept fine until 1:30am and then he would scream and scream anytime I tried to put him back into his bassinet. As soon as I would pick him back up he'd stop and go right back to sleep. He just wanted to be held all night long.....great for him, but exhausting for me.

Dennis didn't have the greatest luck with Caitlin either. She was up quite a bit...either crying or playing in her room. Dennis has taken to falling asleep in her room if she gets up in the middle of the night. She got so used to him being there while we were in the hotel room in Gresham, it's been hard to break that habit. But last night he had taken Nyquil for his cold and woke up to find her Woody doll on a changing mat beside him and her stretched across his legs with her head facing his feet! Crazy girl!

Since today is Halloween, we will be heading to the mall to go trick or treating. There are several Halloween events going on around the area, but since Caitlin is suffering from a cough and runny nose and Dennis is recovering from a cold, I thought it best to keep everyone out of the cold and choose one inside event. I'm really exciting to watch Caitlin trick or treat....and to see her reaction to all the other kids!

I will post pictures as soon as I can. Oh, I also ended up making Colton's Toadstool costume! And now I will leave you with pumpkin carving pictures.

Very excited to help daddy.

Kinda slimy!

Mmmm...raw pumpkin! And she kept on eating it throughout the night!

The aftermath! She had a blast "cleaning" up the mess!

Pumpkin Patch

On Friday we took Caitlin and Colton to the pumpkin patch. We went to a different patch than last year and we're so happy we did. Last time Caitlin wasn't quite a year old so we had to carry her everywhere. This time we were chasing HER everywhere. She had an absolute blast of a time! It was hilarious to watch her trying to choose a pumpkin. Throwing the ones that were smaller like a ball and trying super hard to pick up the others. I was very thankful that it wasn't raining. The rain was heading our way, but held off long enough to get our pumpkins safely home.

A running start!

Helping daddy pull the cart.

Searching for the best pumpkin.

If I can just get my fingers underneath it!

This is hard work!

A nice man working on the farm gave Caitlin a sunflower.

It's like "Where's Waldo" but with Caitlin.

Our pumpkin score.

Colton's pumpkin.

Zombie Caitlin

Say cheese!

Grateful Neighbors

The other day I opened the door and found a gift bag lying on the porch. Puzzled, I opened the card inside and discovered it was a thank you card/gift from one of our neighbors. Inside it read "Thank you for the wonderful seasonal decorations. Your Grateful Neighbors" And inside the bag were several handmade candles. How sweet was that! The only problem is that I don't know which neighbor gave it to us so I can't thank them for the thank you. Regardless, it was a very sweet thing to do.

Dentist

While waiting for her turn in the dentist's chair, Caitlin saw the need to read a good book in the waiting room. And of course she had to go for the super awesome desk! So proud!!!

When Dennis was finished with his cleaning, we took Caitlin back to introduce her to the idea of a dentist and have her teeth looked at briefly. And they are perfect! Super white and no spots and she got kudos on letting Dennis brush her teeth every night. So our next dentist appointment won't be until she's 3 and then she'll get to go to the special pediatric dentist that caters to kiddos like her. Woo hoo!!!

Work in Progress

This is my first attempt at making a dress! I make quilts and quilts only, so when Dennis suggested Caitlin be Princess Peach for Halloween, I got this brilliant idea to make her dress myself....without a pattern!!! It turned out pretty well and actually fits! I still have some details to finish like the blue gem that goes on the bodice and pink hip thingys. This is what I've been working on instead of blogging these past few days.....not to mention catching up on all my DVR'd shows!

Keep reading, plenty of posts below to update you all!

Stew

Tonight I'm making beef stew for the first time! As you can see, I'm making it in my crockpot and I certainly hope it turns out! It certainly smells good. And really, how can something that slowly cooks for 10 hours be bad?

Locked Out

My darling daughter thought it would be funny to lock me out of the house yesterday morning and refuse to unlock to the door when asked!!! To give her some credit, she may not have remembered how to unlock the door, but she clearly didn't want to as she sat in front of the sliding glass door telling me "no." Not quite panicking, but certainly in a hurry since Colton was crying, I remembered our bedroom window was unlocked and proceeded to get the ladder from the garage. I then discovered that the handles to remove the screen were on the inside of the house. Back into the garage I went to find anything to pry it off. Armed with a tiny saw and a pair of keys, I was determined to get the blasted screen off! After some wedging and an prying, I was able to pop the screen off and climb into the house and onto our bed. Good thing our bed is by the window because it would have been a long way to the floor, had I fallen!

Caitlin had no clue that I had made it back into the house and was shocked to see me walking down the hallway. The look on her face was priceless! She knew she was in a pickle when she saw me and had to ponder over things in time out while I put the ladder, saw, and pair of keys away in the garage.

Moral of the story: Take her with me next time! Or remember where the hide-a-key is hidden!

Mastitis

About 2 weeks ago I came down with a wonderful infection called Mastitis that affects lactating women. At first you feel like you have the flu with fever and body aches and if not treated right away, it can lead on an abscess requiring surgery! It was awful! I had a fever for 3 days before the antibiotics kicked in and a fever that reached 104.5. I felt so miserable, not to mention how painful my right ta-ta was! Thankfully, by Sunday I was feeling back to normal. I'm almost finished with my antibiotics now. I had to take them 4 times a day for 14 days!!!! I thought I would never see the bottom of the pill bottle!!!

Colton 1 Month

Since I've been neglecting my poor blog these days, I didn't post Colton's 1 month picture.....so here it is. Now he's almost 2 months and I just can't believe how time is just flying by!!! He's getting so big and Caitlin just adores him! His next check up is on the 26th which means that he will be getting his first round of shots!!!! Poor guy!

Here's Dennis giving Colton his first bottle of breastmilk. It's going better than it did with Caitlin, but he still doesn't take it very well.

Berry Voluntary

My new favorite Ben and Jerry's flavor!!!! Too bad it's only sold at Target....and our Target hasn't gotten it yet. Dennis and I have been searching for the two new Target only flavors for the last 2 months....at least! So finally when we were in Gresham I found them both!!! The other flavor is Oooey Gooey Brownie. But this flavor is amazing! I didn't think I would actually like it as much as I did. I liked it so much in fact that I ate the WHOLE thing in ONE day!!! I think I'm still working off those calories!

Birthday Flowers

My wonderful mommy sent me these beautiful flower for my birthday! A cupcake was delivered with it, but I ate it before I took this picture. It was chocolate and it just looked (and tasted) too good! Surprisingly, they have still lasted until now....but I think this will be their last weekend in the land of the living.

Thank you mommy!!!!

Oh, and BTW, my mom has FINALLY moved back home to Y-town!!!! Woo hoo! I've been waiting for this day since she first moved to Nevada!!!! I'm so glad to have you back home Mom!!!!

Gresham

Caitlin sporting her "Big Sister" shirt from grandpa and grandma.

Napping on daddy.

I know I've been lacking a bit on my blogging, but I do have an excuse for the last week. We all went to Gresham, OR (near Portland) with Dennis on a business trip. The trip up takes a normal person 7 1/2 hours to drive. But since we are not normal (traveling with two kids), we chose to split the trip into two days. We left on Saturday afternoon and stayed the night in Grants Pass. Sunday we drove the rest of the way, stopping twice with a total travel time of 6 1/2 hours. This wouldn't have been that bad since the kids were traveling VERY well, but Dennis was coming down with a cold....and it was getting worse every hour. We finally arrived at our hotel and I went out to stock our fridge and get dinner....soup for Dennis and a sandwich for me. Monday was my birthday and we (except Caitlin) were all under the weather. Dennis was the worst and didn't go into work until just before noon. I decided not to venture out since I wasn't feeling good and Colton was pretty stuffy. No matter how I was feeling, I was determined to get something good for dinner. I chose Red Robin which I love and haven't had for a very long time....and it was so worth it! The best thing about it was that I found a Cold Stone Creamery on my way and I picked up some ice cream cupcakes!!! On Tuesday, Colton and I were feeling a bit better so we checked out a shopping center. In Old Navy, I put Colton in the backpack and planned on putting Caitlin in a shopping cart....which I couldn't find. When I did find the ONE person who had just started shopping with one, I asked her where she got it and she told me she just waited for a lady to finish checking out. And that was all she said. So here I am obviously in need of a shopping cart way more than her and she doesn't even offer it to me!!!!! Normally this wouldn't bug me at all, but I really needed to get a few things from there and Caitlin was trying to get into everything, so this was one of the few times I desperately needed a cart! Completely annoyed, I quickly picked up what I came for and left the store. Then I promptly headed to the car to put Caitlin in the stroller. Now I know better. The rest of the outing went very well and I enjoyed browsing all the shops I never see.

That night for dinner we decided to be brave and go to Red Lobster for dinner. It was fabulous! Not just the food, but they got us in and out in less than 30 minutes!!!! Who thought that getting in and out of a restaurant as fast as possible would be so awesome? I guess that's what happens when you have two kids in tow! :)

Wednesday we checked out Target and had dinner at Joy Teriyaki The food there was SOOOO good. I had chicken teriyaki and tempura veggies. Dennis had sweet and sour chicken and kimchi. I really wish we had this place in our town! Oh so yummy!!!

Thursday was Dennis last work day and we left around 4pm. We stopped and had dinner at IHOP. I don't know if I was super hungry or the food was just that good. We devoured practically everything and Caitlin couldn't get enough bacon. Since it was getting so late, we stayed again in Grants Pass. We finally got home around 11am on Friday. Dennis had to go back into work for the rest of the day, and I stayed home with the kids in a fog of sleepyness. Somehow, we both manages to stay up long enough to watch Date Night after the kids went to sleep.....a very funny movie by the way.

Now, sleepy and suffering from hot flashes, I blog. I also am longing to finish the latest book I started.... "Living Dead in Dallas," book 2 of the Sookie Stackhouse novels. My parents gave me some money for my birthday so I ordered an 8 book set of those novels and "The Red Queen" by Philipa Gregory. They will arrive on Wednesday. I am also eagerly awaiting the arrival of the new birthday necklace Dennis got me. I have one with Caitlin's birthday and so he got me another for Colton's. I'll try and remember to take a pic when it arrives.

Alright, I'm about to fall asleep at the keyboard. Best wishes for a happy Monday!

My Apologies

My apologies to grandpa and grandma. In my last post (a gazillion years ago), mommy brain took over and I neglected to write about my parents coming over for Colton's birth. It was so nice to have them over for several days just to hang out. When Caitlin was born, they just made it as I began pushing, but this time (since my labor was so quick) they arrived a few hours after Colton was born. Caitlin certainly had a fabulous time playing with grandpa and grandma....especially outside. She showed them the garden and how she LOVES to eat the strawberries (no matter their color). It was very nice having them and my sister watch Caitlin and Colton while Dennis and I napped during the first days of bringing Colton home. They were definitely missed when they left and I feel awful that I didn't write about this the first time. But I'm sure this will not be the last time mommy brain takes over and kidnaps my memory!

Going Well

Colton is 12 days old today and we're all doing well. We survived our first stomach flu without the whole family getting it. Caitlin was the unlucky one, but with a high temp of 104 and a yucky stomach, she handled it remarkably well.

Caitlin really likes her little brother and is very motherly towards him. In fact, after we let her hold him, she tried to take him from me and was not happy that I didn't return him to her. If she was only a few years older, I could totally get her to change his diaper!!!

We had a great labor day weekend with a visit from J, K, B, and M. They had brought kites to fly at the beach, but oddly enough, it was one of the few days there was NO wind! And then the day they left, it was SUPER windy! What's that about? Anyway, it was great to get the cousins together and at times it seemed like there were quite a few more than 3 children running around the house!


And yes, I'm trying to nap when I can. Although, Dennis went back to work today so no more sleeping in for me or napping whenever Colton naps. Caitlin's nap is my only opportunity now....so why am I blogging instead of snoozing? I'm crazy!

Colton Price

Our little man entered the world after 4 short hours of labor on Thursday, August 26th at 11:49am. He weighed 8lbs 7oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. As my last post indicated, I was induced Wednesday night and expected to have him sometime in the late afternoon, early evening....similar to Caitlin. Well, there is something to be said about the second time around and the body's ability to remember how things go! Around 5am I was having contractions that were 3-4 minutes apart. They were intense, but I could definitely talk through them. That pattern didn't last long and pretty soon my contractions died down to practically nothing. Around 8:30-9am they hooked me up to Pitocin and I began walking the halls around 10am. I was 2cm around 10:30ish so my doctor broke my water to speed things up. Before this, my contractions were totally no problem, but once my water broke, I entered a whole new world! My plan was to get up and walk again, but my contractions became much stronger and closer together than I had anticipated.....so I decided staying in bed was my best option. Around 11:15am I was 3-4cm and requested my epidural because my contractions were becoming REALLY painful REALLY quickly so I didn't want to miss my window of opportunity. Well, turns out my body had other plans! Laying on my back was no longer a comfortable, so I changed positions and then my contractions and pain exploded into something I had never felt with Caitlin and was not prepared for. Then I had a contraction that didn't go away and soon discovered I was a screamer. That was something I desperately wanted to control, but my body (or vocal chords rather) would not let me. Things were changing and it was all very weird....which is what I kept repeated because it was such a weird/strange feeling. After laying back down the nurse checked me and then got the doctor. The doctor checked me and said it was time to push. Quietly, "Oh, sh**" was my reaction because I realized I was going to have to do this WITHOUT an epidural!!! A bit of panic set in wondering if I could actually deliver naturally. That was quickly wiped away by reality! They moved me into position while my doctor QUICKLY dressed and the nurses stood ready to catch Colton if I delivered him before the doctor was ready. And TWO pushes later, he was out! Yes, in just 35 short minutes, I went from 3-4cm to delivery!.....without any meds!

As crazy quick as my labor and delivery was, my recovery has been even quicker and much less painful than with Caitlin. We got home around noon on Friday and it was been so nice. My wonderful sister had been staying with us and helping out in so many ways! Thank you Brenda!!!!!! After an awesome night of sleep for everyone, we enjoyed spending time together today as a perfect family. Caitlin has taken to Colton quite well and is all too willing to give him kisses. She definitely wants to help out and be with us in any way possible.

I'm so thankful to have such a wonderful family. It's so fulfilling and I feel so complete as a person. Thank you to everyone who has called, stopped by, or sent well wishes. We really appreciate your kindness and generosity.

First ride home.

So handsome!

Big sister and little brother.

It's Time!!!!

The induction is TONIGHT!!!!! I have to be there at 7pm! Wish us luck!

Not my day.

Seriously, I coulda swore it was Monday! All the following occurred before 11am:

1. Caitlin woke up an hour early and didn't go back to sleep.
2. The itching in my hands and feet came back this morning with vengeance!
3. I shattered a glass on the kitchen floor.
4. After sweeping up the shards, I realized I desperately needed to wash the rugs....so I did.
5. Then realized that the whole kitchen needed to be swept.
6. THEN was horrified at what was left on the floor and decided to mop.
7. Ate a bagel w/ cream cheese to ward off a sugar low.
8. Discovered that the caffeine free orange soda I've been drinking contains CAFFEINE!! Poor Tater!
9. Dropped an unopened can of soda on the floor that EXPLODED EVERYWHERE on my newly mopped floor!
10.. Cleaned up soda spray in practically every square inch of my kitchen!
11. Suffered a sugar low...apparently I ate the bagel a bit too late....drat!

After all of this and a phone call to a friend, I decided that Caitlin and I needed to get out of the house ASAP! So we headed down to Ferndale to hang out with some friends. And I'm so glad we did! I desperately needed to get out of the house after my morning and it was really nice to socialize with some great girlfriends. Unfortunately, Caitlin's nap suffered and she only slept for 20 minutes on the way home and was WIDE awake by the time I shut her bedroom door. Thus, she was a bit sensitive this evening and FINALLY went to sleep around 9:15! I'm hoping she'll sleep through the night and not get up at a crazy hour again!

Thank goodness there are only 118 minutes left until tomorrow!

3 Days to Go!

37 Weeks with Caitlin

37 Weeks with Tater

Only 3 more days until my induction!!!!! Having a scheduled induction is very odd. My anxiety level is way up there compared to not knowing when and where I'll go into labor. It's all very exciting. And this being my second labor, I keep wondering what it's going to be like. Last time I psyched myself out thinking it was going to be very long and painful.....but it was the complete opposite. I'm trying to do the same this time, but I keep on thinking about my first labor and hope it goes very similar.....which means that it'll probably be the exact opposite of what I hope! LOL! I had my last NST today and it was nothing new. The baby is doing great and I'm having contractions.....not enough to put me into full blown labor or for them to keep me since I'm not dilating or anything. My last doctor appointment is on Wednesday and then Thursday after dinner, we head to the hospital!!!!

Caitlin seems to be handling this all very well so far.....actually, I don't really think she has a clue on what's going on. I'm hoping she'll be helpful and mothering like I've see her at daycare and with all her stuffed animals....we'll see! And as you can tell from the picture above, she's very much into the potty right now. This is the second roll of toilet paper she has destroyed. The first one barely counts since there was only about 5 squares left on it. Thankfully, she wants to sit on the potty as much as possible and 30% of the time (or more) she actually goes pee! Very exciting! But we're taking it really slow and won't really step things up until we all get settled in with the baby.

Oh, and it was HOT today! Okay, maybe not for everyone, but tonight around 6pm it was 72 degrees.....that's a scorcher for us! So Dennis got out the water balloons and let Caitlin play in the sprinkler. I can't wait until next summer so we can take her to a water park with her cousins!

No more stitches!

This afternoon Caitlin got her stitches out! She didn't really like the process, but was happy to be in daddy's arms during it. As soon as it was over, all crying ceased immediately. Now she'll have a scar to show off to all her friends! The doctor said it will stay on the red side for a few years before it turns white. We can use vitamin E, aloe, or Mederma to help reduce the scarring. Her hair covers most of it, so I really don't see it as an issue anyway.

OOooooo, and a BIG congratulations to my friend Nancy who just got a new 4th/5th grade teaching job!!!!!!! She found out last night and school starts on MONDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She only has 4 days to plan before the first day! But because she's so awesome, I know she'll rock it! Go Nancy!!!