February 28, 2012

Teagan’s head is going to explode when she sees this!  LaLa & PopPop have gotten both girls a swing set for their birthday.  Such a wonderful gift.  We have an infant swing hanging from a cherry tree in the front yard, and both girls love swinging.  Teagan is a bit too big for the seat now, so this will be a very welcome present.

Now, the trouble is getting it to the house, the store manager told my mom that it wouldn’t fit in the car.  And then we have to figure out how to get it up.  I have no idea how to safely install this…  Hopefully, there’ll be some instructions about how to anchor it down securely.

It’s going to be a fun summer!!

February 27, 2012

cough pocket

I am so tired of this damn cough. It won’t go away. I can’t take much to help it either. Honey cough drops are just about it. Anything else will impact supply, and that seems to be an issue. I can’t take the chance of anything diminishing it at all. Ashlin’s not ready to give up nursing yet. I’m not ready for her to give up nursing yet.

I am ready to stop coughing though.

I am also ready for Teagan and Stu to be over coughing.  Her cough has been hanging around almost a month now.  Every now and then she’ll get some honeyed homeopathic cough medicine, at night, when her cough gets bad and wakes  her up.  She is very good at using her cough pocket, though sometimes she forgets.

Stu’s cough has been around a while too. And, well, I know how annoying a lingering cough is.  And also, sometimes he wakes me up.

Ashlin has a little bit of a cough, but nothing like the rest of us.  Thankfully.  She’s had enough crap to deal with in the past month.

But back to me.  It’s not fair to have a twice over mom have a cough like this. For this long.  My bladder has had enough abuse and torture. Sigh.

Cough, cough, go away!

February 26, 2012

Sister Giggles

The girls this morning were so sweet.  Ashlin was laughing at Teagan, who was just being her silly self.  You can see how much they love each other.  Ashlin watches Teagan with pure love, it just oozes from her.  Adoration.  Teagan is so happy when she can make Ashlin laugh.  She gets such a lift from it.

They are such good sisters.    I love watching them.

I love them.

February 25, 2012 ~ Here, Do The Turtle Again!

Today, Stu was playing with Ashlin in the play room with her push-n-go turtle.  He’d push it, it would roll, Ashlin would giggle and watch.  He’d get the turtle and do it again.  Repeat.  After a few times, Ashlin decided she wanted to play along.  She reached out and pushed the turtle back to Stu, so he could start it again.  I think this is a 13 month skill, not one for a not-quite 11 month old.

She has imitated before, anticipated even.  She loves the “on your head” game.  We put something, a rattle, a stuffed animal, a cup, on her head.  It falls off, and she laughs.  We put it back on her head.  If we stop, she will try to put it back on her head, herself.

She also loves to do jazz hands.  She is such a happy baby.

February 25, 2012

Ashlin had a busy day.  With cute ears on.

She totally looked like a giraffe, or a spotted teddy bear.  I think more baby clothes should have ears.

She took a scarecrow to the car wash.

She wrestled and beat her dada.

She went through a tunnel.

She read a book.

She listened to music and danced.

She worked hard trying to get shapes through the hole.

She ate her first crayon… Much to her sisters chagrin.

She imitated her sister, doing art.

She played in a box.

She left Teagan waiting for her, in a box.

It was a good day, with naps for two kids, with the last of the Christmas decorations getting put away, (Finally! including laminating a glitter tree by Teagan for next year), with macaroni and cheese and ice cream. And no accidents, even during two naps.

It would be nice to have more days like today, but with a little bit less yelling and more listening by short people.  Short people who made taller people yell, too.

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February 24, 2012

We’re six episodes into Lost Girl on Sci-Fi.  I’m enjoying it.  Sort of campy, not serious, little bit of sex.  It’s fun.

Tonight’s episode has cannibalism and hemorrhagic fever.  You know it’s going to be a fun time when there’s foot soup and bleeding eyeballs.  And a basilisk.  And bonus references to Narnia.

Previous episodes had Luck Eaters, a college sorority (the horror!), a love triangle, a Will ‘o the Wisp and an Oracle.  Kenzi, the human sidekick, is a walking animé character with a wry sense of humor.

The writing could be a bit tighter, and maybe a bit less cliché, but it’s better than a lot of shows on broadcast TV.  Grimm, for example, is a show I’m still watching, but I’m not quite sure why.  Maybe I’m too lazy to delete the program from the DVR…  Maybe I do enjoy the werewolf character – Monroe – just a little bit.  Maybe I’m hoping it gets better.

Anyway, I’m glad I found Lost Girl, and found room on the DVR for it.  I hope to enjoy the rest of the season as much as I have the first half.

Now for Stu and I to get caught up on The Walking Dead…

Braiiiiiinnnnnssssss

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February 23, 2012

Lookie!  I have new shoes!  I got them over the weekend, went out shopping with my mom.  She loves shopping.  Me?  Not so much.  Which is why my shoes were about to fall apart.  They had split on three sides where the sole and upper meet, one of the seams had stitching that was about to split or come undone.  You almost couldn’t tell they were black any more.

They were much loved.

I knew I had to come back from the shopping trip with a new pair of shoes.  It was a miracle that my old shoes hadn’t fallen right off my feet.

I found a pair of shoes.  They are super comfy!  I walked all day at the aquarium with them.  The first time I wore them.  All day.

Stu says that they make me look “more wee than usual.”  Well, I am short, and they don’t have much of a heel.

Do they look like mom shoes?  I didn’t think so, but then they are a bit more “relaxed” than I wanted.  But the slip on factor is awesome for day care pick ups and drop offs.  No laces to tie and untie while the baby is crying to be picked up, or with one already in your arms.

Crap.  They are mom shoes.

I still sort of like them.

February 22, 2012

I totally jinxed myself yesterday.  It’s almost as if Ashlin heard me, read the entry about how well she’s been sleeping this week, and decided to totally throw it to all hell.  She was up every. two. and. a. half. hours.  It was like she was a newborn again.  <sigh>

Yesterday I was so tired, (even with the extra sleep), that my eyes felt like they were burning.  Today, they’re past that.  Dry and scratchy.  Blurry.  Heavy.

The girls were good when we got  home.  Mostly.  Ashlin did seem super tired, cranky.  As she should be, having been awake half the night.  We got them fed and I took Ashlin up while Teagan stayed downstairs with Stu and watched Cat in the Hat.  I almost fell asleep trying to rock Ashlin down for bed.  She just wanted to play with pull my hair.  Eventually I got her down, and tucked her in, started her glowworm and snuck out.

Just finishing up a bit of wwilfing and maybe some ice cream before going to an early bed.  Maybe not.  After almost 11 months of little sleep, in buckets of no more than four hours at a time, there are very little reserves.  I need to be able to function tomorrow.

I’m so tired.

I do know it will get better.  I just need want it to be better soon.

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February 21, 2012

So, Ashlin slept pretty well last night, once she actually got down.  Surprisingly, it took a bit of coaxing to get her to sleep more than 20 minutes at a go, but she did get there.  Eventually.  Maybe it was because she sat in the stroller most of the day, watching, and not moving much.  She didn’t get to burn off any energy, so she had extra at bedtime last night.  Whatever, it was nice to get her down.

Then she stayed down, for about five hours or so.  From 11pm to 5am.  Lovely.  This is the second night or third night she’s slept for more than 4 hours without waking.  It’s awesome.

Though I’m not sure why I was dragging so badly today.  I think I feel better with the three hour intervals instead of a night or two of long 5-6 hour stretches and alternating with a bunch of three hour days.  Getting some sleep seems to hit me harder than getting no rest.

Hopefully, Ashlin is just working on lengthening her sleep patterns, and will soon be snoozing for a minimum of five hours a go every night!  I can dream can’t I?

I may be dreaming now.

February 20, 2012

We're going where?

Teagan loves Mystic Aquarium.  They have penguins!  It  had been a while since we got out that way, so we went today.  Day care was closed.  It was fun surprising her.

We bundled up the girls and grabbed the double stroller and headed out.  We had planned to meet up with a friend for lunch, but she ended up staying home sick.  I wish we had been able to see each other, it’s been way too long since we’ve seen her.  I had also hoped to have lunch at the Five Guys, but the place was mobbed.  Off to McDonald’s instead.

Why they do that?

The girls were very well behaved at McDonald’s… enough that we may be lulled into trying to go out to dinner with them, again.  Soon.  We’ll probably try Friendly’s and go up from there.

Teagan loved seeing the whales.  She squealed and jumped up and down.  The sea lions didn’t impress her too much this time.  But there were only two swimming slow circles underwater.  Not really much to see if you’re about three feet tall.

No more pictures

Stu and Teagan walked to the penguins while I pushed Ashlin in the stroller.  Ashlin was mostly chill the whole day.  She did follow the penguins and the rays, but other than that, really couldn’t be bothered.

Watching the penguins from outside didn’t really excite Teagan.  They weren’t walking around much, or doing much for that matter.  Once we went inside, it was different.  Teagan loved them! One pooped right in front of her, and from that point on, it was all about the penguin butt.  She saw their butt!  Penguin poop!  Everybody poops.  The people around us snickered.  Or, I’m sure they did, I didn’t take the time to check, I was laughing and having fun.

Dat not a bird!

As we all needed to warm up a bit, and the penguins were getting crowded, we went inside.  Teagan loved seeing the clown fish, the lobsters, the jellyfish!  Sharks!  We promised that they wouldn’t eat her.  Rays!  Ha ha!

We went back to the penguins after going through the few tanks that pulled at Teagan’s interest.  But before we did, Stu and I split up for a little bit.  I found an out of the way corner to nurse Ashlin, who did not cooperate and nap afterwards.

The second visit to the penguins was better, though the birds weren’t swimming in the large groups of five or six. They did swim in groups of two or three, which worked well enough.  There were no where near as many people in there, so we got up close to the window and were able to stay there a while.

Both girls fell asleep almost as soon as we got in the car to head home.  They were so tired, they didn’t wake up when we stopped for pizza from our favorite pizza place.  Even though it was cold by the time we got home, it was worth it!

Oh, and Teagan used the bathroom in both McDonald’s and at the Aquarium.  Yay for her!  No accidents!  She got marshmallows when we got home.

Yay for a good day!