ah, how things have changed......

so back in the "olden days" (pre-kids), on a sunny warm day i'd grab a crossword and my sunglasses, sit outside and work on my irish tan........that's it.......it'd take me less than 2 minutes from the decision to sit out and the actual sitting out........

the reality of how far i've come from those days really hit me yesterday.......in an unseasonably hot and sunny early april day, i managed to put both girls down for their naps within 20 minutes of each other, and realized i could go sit out........decision made......well then i noticed all the toys and books scattered about that i really should tidy up before heading out.......toys away, 5 minutes gone.......then i realized the sink was pretty full of dirty bottles and sippy cup parts........wash everything in the sink, 10 more minutes gone.......ok, grab crossword and sunglasses.......oh wait, i need to pump.......crap, that's a 20 minute task........realize aha the pump has a battery pack i could use and pump outside!.......eureka right?........pull out the screwdriver, load in the batteries, drag everything outside, sit down, and realize yikes, there's about 8 people who can see me sitting on my deck - the 4 guys working on the roof of the house behind ours, the home depot guy delivering wood next door, the weird old man in the house behind ours, and the little girl next door on her swingset.......hmm, well it is a one off hot day and so i decide i really don't care who sees me pumping, grab a blanket to cover up as best i can, sit down and start the pump......well guess that battery pack doesn't work because the pump's not pumping.......suck!......ok, i can make this work, i can make this work......hunt for an extension cord in the basement - of course the only one i can find is one of those heavy duty orange suckers, but it'll do........plug it into the kitchen outlet and run it outside.........ah, finally, pump works and i'm sunning........and only 35 minutes after i made the decision.......i figured molly would wake up the second i was finished pumping, but amazingly the kids slept for a solid hour after that so i did get to enjoy the sun!......

ah, how things have changed!!......

our little weed.......

i remember when we had casey, people would say all the time "they get so big so fast".......i never felt that with casey........sure i look back and think wow, it seems crazy how in just 2 years casey's grown so incredibly much, but it's felt like 2 years i guess.......it hasn't exactly "flown" by.......

now oddly enough, i really feel that statement with molly.......molly's been growing like mad, and she's already just about 5 months old........i almost literally can't believe she's already almost 1/2 way to her first birthday........it really does seem like just yesterday she was born.......maybe it's because my focus isn't solely on her - it's split with casey so maybe i don't notice the time going by as much?......i don't know what it is, but it's totally weirdly true.......

let the blanket forts begin!......

i've been counting the days until casey was old enough to make a blanket fort......i still think she's a bit too young to really get it, but we tried tonight to make one.......it was a pretty un-elaborate version, but figured for the first time we didn't need to get all fancy.......just hung a couple blankets between a chair and molly's jumparoo, threw some pillows underneath, got cozy, and read some bedtime stories........casey really seemed to love it.......and i did too of course!........there really are moments when i love her so much it actually hurts.......

easter fun......

easter was super fun this year.......we continued a tradition that steve's parents did for steve when he was a kid - putting the kids' easter basket on their bed so when they wake up they think the easter bunny put it there while they were sleeping.......well we did that for casey this year, not molly since she didn't really get the whole easter thing yet.......casey was beyond psyched to get so much candy and a couple little toys.......i don't think she ate anything at all on easter that didn't contain large amounts of sugar........that said, she still napped fine and fell asleep ok.......i'm sure molly will be just as into candy when she's a bit older, but for this year the easter bunny just brought her some small stuffed animals and baby toys......it also made the day great that it was so warm and sunny out all weekend.......casey got to run around my parents' yard on saturday night at dinner, and in steve's parents' yard on sunday afternoon.......she's quite the outside freak lately.......luckily it's been pretty nice out (when it hasn't been raining that is) lately........

happy birthday dad.......

steve's birthday was last week........unfortunately the day began with water in the basement (again!!) and him vacuuming up the water before work........this storm fortunately wasn't quite as intense as the one earlier in march, but still enough to keep us sucking water every few hours for the next 2 days.......really this rain has got to stop!!........it's not just normal rain - we wouldn't get flooding in a normal rainstorm - these have been torrential rain for a couple days kind of storms - 8"+ of rain per storm!.......the kind of storm where the groundwater rises so high that water seeps in through cracks in our basement floor........and people are evacuated from their houses.......

anyway, enough about the rain!!......aside from the rain, steve's birthday went off pretty well......he got some good gifts (if i do say so myself!) - tickets to take casey to see sesame street live in mid-april, cinema pub gift certificate for he and i to have a "date night", some tools, a compost bin, and some clothes.......we were able to take a break from the vacumming to go to fire & ice for dinner - a cool restaurant where you pick out all your food and sauce, then bring it to a big round grill in the middle where they cook it for you while you watch.......the kids were great at dinner - although casey didn't really eat well - just had pickles and pineapple for dinner.......hey, what can you do right?.......

anyway, happy 42nd birthday to steve!.......

4 month check up......

so molly went for her 4 month peditrician appointment yesterday.......her vitals are: 13lb-14oz, 24.5" tall, 41cm head circumference.......i guess babies this age are supposed to have grown 2lb, 2", and 2cm respectively from their 2 month appointment......molly was perfectly on that track which is fantastic......

she got 2 vaccines, which at the time i thought they went fine, but a couple hours later she was a monster......and that monster-ness lasted a full 24 hours before she turned back into regular chill molly.......the leg they put the shots in was clearly bothering her a lot.......she usually always kicks her legs, and only the leg that didn't get the shots was moving.......she freaked out screaming when we even went near the shots leg - unfortunately you kind of need to do that to pick her up, feed her, change her, etc, etc, so it was a looooong day.......oddly enough she slept straight through until 4am (not uncommon for her) but woke up every 30 min thereafter screaming (very uncommon for her)......needless to say both steve and i were pretty exhausted today.......i was thrilled when she seemed to snap out of it around noontime......

we gave her tylenol every 4 hours during the monster-ness which helped somewhat, but i was hoping i could get a few other helpful hints so i called the peditrician this morning.......the nurse suggested ice and also said a few times to just "give her extra love"......um, ok, does that mean you don't think i love my kid enough when she's healthy??......i'm not sure i could love her more than i do.......and even if i could conjure up this extra love, i don't need a doctor's degree to know that really isn't gonna make that leg feel any better.......that comment just served to aggravate me more than make me feel empowered.......

anyway, pediatrician rant aside, molly seems totally over it now......she was super smiley tonight......poor little girl though.......i hate seeing her in so much pain when i can't explain to her why or just kiss it better like i can with casey.......hopefully her 6 month visit will go a little better......

head to toe

how is it possible for a baby to be literally covered head to toe after one poop session??......might as well have forgone the diaper for all the good it did containing the mess!!.......yikes!......always a good excuse for a baby bubble bath though......