life is always getting my blogging way.

And really, not much has been going on. Just everyday life. It's pretty amazing though :)

I love watching the girls grow and learn everyday. It's such a gift that I get to be home with them to see that. I'm not trying to knock daycare or nannies - I did both, and honestly, this was my favorite part of those jobs too. I LOVE seeing the look of wonder on a kids face when they learn something new. Or watching something just "click".

Norah's been getting rice cereal for a couple weeks now. I started prunes with her the other day b/c she's (as ALWAYS) backed up (and, let's be completely honest here - I'd already given her 2 suppositories within a few days before I started the prunes, and I hate giving them to her b/c I don't want her to need to rely on them). So we started prunes. The first day she was like a fish out of water. It was like she forgot how to eat from a spoon. I'm not saying she was a pro to begin with, but she was getting pretty good at it and suddenly, she was worse than she'd ever been. Then, day 2 of prunes, halfway through her feeding, it clicked. She started eating just like it was only rice and you could just see her put it together. She could eat the prunes just like rice, and she was so proud of herself.

Jordan is remembering her books more and more. She loves to read and being read to and now she's telling the stories. It's so cool to ask her to sing Snuggle Puppy and she does, or to start singing it for her when she asks and then she finishes it.

She got to give Norah a bite of her banana the other day and it made her week. She was so sad telling her, "no Norah, you baby, no food" and then she'd just look at me with these sad puppy-dog eyes and i said ok. I knew she wouldn't get much, and she didn't, the banana barely grazed her gums (and that was b/c Norah wanted it and kept trying to get more) and Jordan was so, so happy to feed her sister real, big girl food. *that's also the day we started prunes. I'm completely paranoid about starting more than 1 food at a time, so my head was spinning for 2 days that I really let my toddler give my baby an extra food. hmmm... maybe I'm getting a little more laxed in my parenting with Norah. HA! That'll be the day!

that's about that. Oh, and Norah, is just under 12 pounds as of the 29th. She was 11 lbs 15oz. WOOHOO!!!

catch up time, yet again

where to begin!
We made a trip out to the Children's museum and Belle had a blast. It was so cute to see her explore the bones and especially the water. She LOVED the water. I'm so glad we saved it for last, since I had to buy her a new shirt before we could leave - if they sold pants, I'd have bought a pair of them too. She was that soaked.

Then.... she caught this nasty cold. Complete with wheezing and shortness of breath and a possible ear infection. Her first.
So she's 27 months old, and got her first ear infection. She was formula fed from day 1. I have nothing against bf'ing, it's just not for me, but I'm really tired of hearing how my children will always be sick b/c I fed them formula. Jordan has been sick, really sick, not just a cold, 3 times in her life. First, she was 5w old and spiked a major fever, but that only lasted about a day (we did go to the hospital and she was admitted b/c we went. It was a bad experience for no reason at all, and I'll never make the mistake of speaking to an on call pedi again). Then she had "something" that presented JUST LIKE H1N1, complete with testing negative for it, when she was around 10 months old. And now an ear infection at over 2. Yep. My child is so sickly. Again, I'm not trying to knock bf'ing, but if someone chooses to ff, it's their choice and other people, mothers especially, in this world need to respect that. As long as the child is healthy, just let them eat. umm, /rant. sorry about that. It's a touchy subject with me :/

Buglet had a kidney u/s yesterday that was a GIANT fail. GIANT. She screamed so much I was asked if I was positive she had a heart condition, b/c she should have been passed out. Not the best way to measure her hypertension :/

otherwise things are good around here. I'll try to be a better blogger. promise.

and today...

went relatively well.

Belle did fuss when I left her, but she had a good time playing with her cousin while I was gone.

No ultrasound for Bug today, but she will need one (on the 18th) to check out the blood flow and if her hydronephrosis has resolved yet.
Buglet also had 2 good blood pressure readings. Like, perfect good - 78/46 and 75/35. So we're going to keep watching it with the cardiologist and follow up with nephrology if she continues to have wonky blood pressure or if her u/s shows a reason to.

Today, Norah Grace weighed: 11lbs 5oz. I nearly started crying I was so happy. Not gonna lie, we did a little happy dance in the exam room. THAT'S how excited we were.

Today was a good day.



I should mention the parking since I made a big deal out of it yesterday. I did valet b/c we were cutting it close. We were out of the car very quickly, with the stroller frame and that was surprisingly pleasant. We waited 25 minutes for the CR-V to be brought over from the garage though :/ We made it about 3/4 of the way home before she went into meltdown mode.

oh my, oh my, oh DINOSAURS

Jordan is in love with dinosaurs, again. At first, it was just the Oh My, Oh My, Oh Dinosaurs book and it was a favorite for a long time. Slowly it faded into just another book and she couldn't care less about dinosaurs. Then. Then, she heard We Are the Dinosaurs by the Laurie Berkner Band. It's all about dinosaurs now. It's all very cute, too.

Norah is holding the course. We go to the nephrologist tomorrow and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. I have no idea what the appointment is going to be like. I asked today, and no one seemed to know either. What I do know is she won't be having an ultrasound tomorrow b/c it hasn't been scheduled and all the techs are booked.
Of course, I fear this means she'll have one, be squeezed in between appointments and I will be in Worcester for a million hours.

I don't mind taking her to the doctor appointments.
I don't even mind that it takes an hour to get there and another hour to get back.
I just hate that it takes all day for an appointment.
I hate that it takes no less than 10 minutes to check in. EVERY TIME. They have her information, I should be able to hand them her blue card, my co-pay and have a seat, but nope, 10 minutes at least with the receptionist. Oh yes, that's with the receptionist and not including time spent waiting in line. There is almost always a line and receptionists complaining about the line... hmmm, maybe b/c it takes 10 minutes to check in!
I hate parking. Parking in the garage, if you can find a spot, has taken us up to 40 minutes in the past. Yeah. 40 minutes of driving around a parking garage hoping for a spot. You have to find a spot once you get in b/c the only way to get out is with a paid or validated ticket. The only way to get that is to go to the cashier or the pay machines in the lobby of the parking garage. That means parking your car, or hoping the roaming cop doesn't ticket you if you run it and leave your car running. There's always valet, which is a viable option, except it takes at least 20 minutes for your car to be brought back to you. Not such a huge deal, and it is only $5, but those 20 minutes can be (and have been) the difference between getting Norah home calmly or her having a meltdown b/c she's tired of being in her carseat or hungry, or wet, or over being all by herself in the backseat.

The snow is finally almost gone in the yard, thanks to the recent rain. I cannot wait for it to be dry enough to play outside. I'm sure the girls will love it.

That's all for now, I guess. I'm sure I'll be updating with what happens at the nephrologist within the next few days. Hopefully that's an extremely short post :)

reflux is the devil

true story.

We had another flux-y morning, only instead of it starting around 5, it started before 2...and lasted until after 7.

Oh, and the big one is really sensitive to the little ones crying so she was up about 10 times from 2-7 as well.

Bug's reflux really hadn't been bothering her, but this past week, every morning, she'd have a flare up. She started on zantac last night, so hopefully in a few days we'll have some relief.
Zantac is weight based.
Do you know where I'm going with this? I thought you might.
10 pounds 13 ounces.
That's less than 12th %tile. She was up to the 20th on February 1st. I can't even cry about this anymore. I'm so upset that she can't keep weight on. She NEEDS to put weight on. She's hitting all of her other milestones and doing well otherwise, but she needs to put some weight on.

I'm really hoping zantac is a miracle drug and she feels good so she wants to eat more.

here's to hoping.