I Survived

Well, I survived my first day back at work and so did the kids. While I did cry last night in the middle of the night when I nursed Hailey, I managed not to cry this morning. There were definitely tears in my eyes halfway to work, but they never fell. Miles was a bit bummed out-he thought Hailey was going to be in his room and didn't understand that she would have her own room with her own teacher. He said "But Miss Ada has to hold her!". It was pretty cute and sad at the same time. He wanted to be with his baby sister!

I had a warm welcome at work. They brought bagels and had balloons in my office and gave me flowers. Very sweet! I brought them Grandma Cookies. We were all happy! I only called once to check on Hailey and that was mainly to see if she'd eaten at all. The teacher was at lunch, but the report I got was that she managed to get a few ounces in Hailey. That was good.

When I picked up Hailey, it turns out she did really well! They said she was happy and smiling all day, only crying once. She took the bottle well! She took 4 ounces in the morning, then another 3 ounces and then 3 1/2 ounces. They used an extra small nipple, probably a premie nipple, and she did well with it. They said it took about 1/2 an hour to feed her, but she did take it. Now, sleeping on the other hand didn't go well. She napped twice-once for 45 minutes and once for just under 2 hours. The teacher said that she had several new babies and two of them cried all day and were pretty loud, so that's why Hailey didn't sleep. However, she said that Hailey was going to be "her girl" because she was so good and another teacher said she walked her in the halls and Hailey just smiled away. That's my girl!

Once we left daycare, she was asleep before we got out of the parking lot and she slept until we were home and settled. Then Ahmad held her and then I, when she wanted to nurse. She's been asleep ever since. I hope she wakes up soon! Or I might just have to hold her while she sleeps. I'm sure she'll settle into her routine and will hopefully sleep better at daycare once she's used to it.

Back to work tomorrow.

Back to Work

This last week was my last week of maternity leave and I really tried to make the most of it and savor every moment! I did get to a point where I didn't cry every time I thought about going back, so that much is good. It's not the work I mind, I actually like my job, I just hate the thought of leaving Miles and especially now Hailey at daycare all day every day. She's so little and doesn't understand that I'll be back at the end of the day. I haven't been away from her for more than an hour for 12 weeks. Now I'll be gone all day and I don't want her to think I've left her. It makes me so sad to think of her not knowing where I am or if I'm coming back to get her. I've enjoyed being a "stay at home mom" more than I even thought I would. I got to do so many fun things with Miles, even just the little things like discovering the library and new books, finding a new park to play in, and seeing his new discoveries and thought processes coming together. He seems to have grown so much since Hailey was born. Not just physically, but mentally and emotionally too. It's been so awesome to see this transformation and help mold this transformation. And bonding with Hailey has been amazing. I have loved being home with her everyday and seeing the little changes in her, learning her cries, and seeing her smiles. They both melt my heart. I know going back to work isn't the end of being their mom. I know I will still get to see all these wonderful things in my children. I know daycare is wonderful for them to build relationships with other adults and make friends of their own. I know they learn and grow there in ways I couldn't provide. I know it gets easier as the days pass. It's just hard right now. It just sucks.

Turkey Lips

This last week was good! We got word last weekend that Ahmad's Aunt Cheryl (and mine now too!) would be in Bloomington receiving an award on Tuesday and she invited us down. We couldn't attend the banquet, but were able to come into town for the day. We stopped off at Andre and Emily's first and got to spend a short time with them and their daughter, Evelyn. Then we went off to lunch at Cheeseburger in Paradise, which Ahmad had never been to. Then we tried to get onto the court at Assembly Hall, but all the doors were locked. So we just walked the halls and looked at all the trophies and history there. It was neat. We finally were able to meet with Cheryl and had a great little visit. We also got to hear some amazing music from some students there and Miles had a blast.



We also went to the library this week and Friday I took Miles to Chick-Fil-A for lunch and playing since it was raining outside and it was officially our last day of being home together during my leave. He didn't know it was a celebration of sorts, but it was for me. I also spent my two days alone with Hailey while Miles was at daycare snuggling her and loving on her all day long. We were able to take a nice long nap together on Thursday and that was wonderful!


I've been trying to prepare Miles for going to school more often. I haven't talked about it a ton, but have mentioned it a few times. I think he will do just fine and won't really notice too much. However, he does tell me he doesn't want to go to school more and will stay home alone. :)

It was funny on the way home from Chick-Fil-A, Miles kept telling me that Hailey was telling him she wanted to go to the park. I told him it was raining and we couldn't. Then he would tell Hailey that he was sorry, but it was raining and we couldn't go and to not be sad, we'd go when it stopped. It was really cute. He's also into her eating/not eating these days. The other day, he told her "Baby Hailey, you can't eat my broccoli, you don't have any teeth! When you get big, then you can eat my broccoli." It was pretty funny!

Hailey has a lot to say these days!

Hailey is talking a ton these days and getting close to rolling over, I think. She gets on her side often and is even sleeping that way a lot now. She does great on her tummy time, but isn't trying to roll as much when she's on her tummy, more when she's on her back, but that roll is harder, so we'll see. Her colds also seem to finally be clearing, so I'm glad about that. She's had some eye gook the last few days, but her runny nose and cough seem better. We'll keep an eye on it. She's also more focused on her toys and making efforts to grab them. She doesn't exactly grab the toys yet, but can get them up to her mouth to check them out! She is finally starting to take a bottle a bit better as well. We've been trying pretty much one a day for the last 6-7 weeks and she never took to it. This past week, she did take an ounce on two different days and probably would've taken more if there'd been more in the bottle (I didn't want to waste my milk, so we never had much in there). We're hoping she'll do ok at daycare next week! It's also neat to see her appearance changing. She's filling out more and her eyes light up when she sees us! Her hair is starting to curl a bit as well. Not everyday, but some days the ends are turning up and when it's wet, it's definitely curly. Today it was pretty curly all day. Maybe it was the rain!

We were honored this week when I got a call from my cousin Carrie. She asked me to do a reading at her and Chuck's wedding next May and also asked for Miles to be the ring-bearer. We are thrilled and honored to be a part of their special day!

Dad is still in the hospital this weekend. He went in about a week and a half ago with pneumonia, for the 4th time this year. It seems like it's starting to clear and hopefully he will be home sometime this coming week. We continue to pray for him and also for mom that they both will have strength and peace during this time of illness.

It's been pretty nice while I was off work-I got to spend a lot of extra time at my parent's home visiting with them and my brother. It was really nice and I'm going to miss seeing them so often. We only were able to make it to South Bend once while I was off because of Ahmad working (I went to my parent's house twice without him). I hope to be able to see everyone again soon!

Do We Eat....?

Miles cracks me up as he figures out this great big world. He's always asking questions and you never know what he will ask this time. He just asked me if we eat ponies. I said no. He asked if we ate marshmallows. I said yes. :) He does this all the time...We bite? We hit? We lock doors? We say shut up? He just reviews things and makes sure he has them right....if I tell him no, he'll often say well, a lion can eat ponies, or a lion can bite, or a lion can say shut up. Anything he's not supposed to do, a lion can do!

Three Year Old Thoughts

Miles was cracking me up tonight before bed when we were bug-bugging. He didn't want to play "wiggles" because he had scraped his elbow earlier today and it was too sore. He gave me various instructions on how to kiss it better and demonstrated each kiss that I should give him.

Then somehow, I began pretending that my hand was stuck in a fist. He spent about 5 minutes explaining and demonstrating to me how to unclench my fist and offered different ways of doing it (all at once in big spirit finger hands, or one by one counting 1-5). Then he told me if I did it, I would get a trophy, but I'd have to do it quickly and get my trophy before the lion came and ate it.

Lastly, he put his finger in his mouth and discovered "train tracks" on the bottom of his teeth!

He's too funny these days!!!

Batter Up!

Miles is really into baseball this spring and has been playing outside every chance he has. Ahmad caught him on video this morning and I had him running "bases" this evening. He loved it! You know, this tree to that tree to the mailbox and then into home plate. I think we'll have to catch an Indian's game or two this year!



Miles is also into firemen lately. I think it started when cousin Gavin was in town, who loves firemen, and has been propelled by a book we got from the library the other week. He now says he wants to be a fireman when he grows up and tonight was talking about eating a dragon so he could breathe fire! (the fireman book we have has a dragon in it...).

We went to the zoo this past week again and I couldn't believe Miles actually pet the sharks!

Hailey is doing so awesome these days! She really seems to have grown and filled out all the sudden. She "talks" all the time, loves to smile, and is getting a bit mobile. I'm not sure how she does it, but if I leave her on the floor for a minute, when I come back, she's in a new spot! She also has a bit of a cold again. She's coughing and has a runny nose. No fun!


Yesterday, we went over to Garfield Park to check out the Orchid show and have some fun in the sunken gardens. It was a nice day, but a bit chilly. It was still fun to see everything and give Miles an area to run around.


Now I'm planning on enjoying my last week of maternity leave! I can't believe it's already time to go back. I'm really sad to think of leaving the kids again....

A New Me

A new haircut
New Makeup
Down 12.2 pounds and counting!

Falling in Love

This past week has been pretty good...it's almost hard to remember right now! Miles' behavior chart is working pretty good, I've been impressed! Now, he still has his moments of insanity, but I do think it has helped, especially last week. We went to gymnastics last week and he didn't get the color spot he wanted at he start of class, so he decided not to participate. We stayed and watched even though he kept saying he wanted to go home. Hopefully he'll be into it again tomorrow. But then the next day, he was supposed to go to school. That night he woke up a few times saying his stomach hurt and then in the morning, he was complaining of his head hurting. We thought he might really be sick, but decided to send him anyway since those are common "complaints". Well, I was pulling into the daycare parking lot with every intention of going to the store afterwards and having a quiet day with Hailey, when he said his stomach hurt again and he needed to rest. I look back at him and he's throwing up. Ug! So, back home we went. He was actually better after that, still complaining here and there, but overall, better. We stayed home for the day and he recovered. The hardest part was trying to keep him from getting in Hailey's face! Ahmad's brother, Jamal, and his family came into town for a long weekend and we saw them Thursday evening for a bit as well.

When we were at Babies R Us, Miles spotted Garfield, which was pretty funny because we've rented a Garfield video of old episodes from the library and he's been watching them, so he knew who he was...but he wouldn't let me turn the car on for a short ride!

Saturday was beautiful and we spent the afternoon at the zoo with the Kleins and Amber's sister, Monica. We had a good time, but it seemed way too short! I promised Miles we could go on the train and of course, the one we got on, wouldn't start. We sat there for a good 15 minutes at least before going. Oh well. Afterwards, we headed to the Kleins for dinner and hanging out. We are excited-they agreed to be Hailey's Godparents! :)


Sunday was beautiful again and we all took a walk early in the morning and then played outside for a good part of the day. Our wonderful neighbors down the street even gave us a bunch of clothes for Hailey! Miles loves having a boy to play with this summer, even if he is a bit older.

Yesterday, I had to head to Babies R Us for some things and then decided to take Miles to a different park than we typically go to. He had a blast! They have a ton of play equipment and a huge play structure that is for older kids (5 and up), but he loved it. He was a bit nervous on it, but did pretty well. I'd say the highest slide on it was about 20-25 feet up (he was too nervous to go on it). He enjoyed it so much that he wanted to go back today. We played for a bit, but then he was run out by some big kids. So we hiked/walked in the woods. It was gorgeous and wonderful to be in the woods and nature. We went down the river and got pretty muddy before heading back. I took some pictures of Miles on this wooden walkway that I'm excited to compare to some that I took of him there about a year and a half ago. I think it will be neat to get them side by side!

11/1/2008

4/13/2010

Hailey has been great! She's getting so big already, I can't believe it. She sucks on her hands all the time and is starting to roll onto one side already. She's awake more and more and is watching everything! She coos and ahhs and her smiles bring tears to my eyes. She's amazing!


She's been fighting a cold for a while now, probably a good 2-3 weeks and yesterday she was down and out. Not herself at all and running a slight fever. After a dose of Tylenol and a good nap, she was feeling better though and was back to her old self. It's amazing though, she is always so happy and smiley. Even during a coughing fit, she would look up at me and just grin away. When she was sick yesterday, you could definitely tell.

I can't remember if I had written about Miles' nighttime games or not, but was meaning to do so. We have various games we play when we're bug bugging, and I wanted to take note. His favorite is "wiggles". When I get up to put back the books we read and turn on his moon, he lays on "my" pillow ( the one I use when laying with him) and pretends to sleep. I then lay on him as my pillow and ask who's sleeping on my pillow. Then he wiggles around and I say I can't sleep on this pillow because it's all wiggly. I proceed to tickle him to get the wiggles out so I can sleep on him again. It's an endless game and one that we play almost every night. The other game we often play is "animals". He has animal stickers on his walls and I ask him all kinds of questions about the animals, like which animals have wings, which animal is fast, which animal likes in a nest, which animal has antennas, etc. He loves it and it's always a challenge to try to come up with new questions.

When Ahmad and I were in marriage preparation classes, I remember the lead couple talking about falling in love with each other over and over again throughout the years, in different ways. I feel that happening often and love it when it does. I've also found that happening with Miles and Hailey. I don't know any other way to describe it than that, falling in love with them again and again. I am truly blessed.

New Mario

So Ahmad got a new Wii game the other week, Mario, and Miles absolutely loves playing it. He's getting pretty good too and really surprises me with how he plays. I'm not sure that I like that he plays video games like that he really sits down and plays them, but I'm not sure it can be avoided in this day either. So, we do limit it and I think that helps. Also, it's giving us some leverage-if he isn't cooperative with something or throws a tantrum, we can take it away. He's never really had something that he loves doing other than playing outside and reading books at night that affect his behavior. We've had to take it away a few times and it really seems to sink in, so that part is good.

I also developed a (crude) behavior chart last night and taped it to his door. There are 5 things on it-brushing his teeth, going potty, getting dressed, taking a bath, and putting on his jammies. If he does these things when we ask him to do them without a fuss, he gets a sticker. He is really receptive to stickers, so I'm hoping this will help. We need more positive reinforcement I think. I know there a ton of other things that could go on that chart, but I think this is a good start and I don't want to overwhelm him. These are the main issues he's been "asserting his independence" in lately, so I figured we start there. He's done well with it since last night and is excited to look at his stickers whenever he passes his door. Fingers crossed....!

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

Our playdough family-Miles, Hailey, me, Daddy

Hailey turns 2 months old!

It's been a bit since I've had time to write, so I'm going to try to get everything into this entry. Somehow my mind has turned to mush and I have a hard time remembering what has happened at when. I'm not sure if it's due to being off work or to having a new baby and subsequently 2 kids to care for, but I hope it starts working again soon!

Hailey's first trip to the zoo

Let's start with a few funny Miles thoughts. One day before his nap, he told me he wanted to go to work. I asked him what he was going to do at work and he said get some coins. And then he said he would drive my car. At the end of Mass, our church claps after the last hymn and then everyone gets ready to leave. After Palm Sunday celebration and the clapping ended, Miles proclaimed (in a not so quiet voice) "Yea! I can talk now!". When at my parents house visiting, Miles told me that when he gets bigger, he wants to use a walker like Grampie. Miles and Ahmad went to the high school state finals in basketball and Ahmad said that when they were walking in the corridor, a group of 4 young teenage girls passed them and Miles stopped and turned around and watched them. Miles had his first experience of peeing outside...we were at the park and the restrooms were locked, so I took him over to a wooded area and he said "mommy, where am I going to pee?" and I told him right there on the grass. I helped him and he laughed the whole time he was peeing and stated "I'm peeing on the grass, I'm peeing on the grass!". Later, he asked "mommy, where am I going to poop?" Uhhh, we have to go home if you have to poop. What do you know, he didn't have to anymore. Lol!

Miles at gymnastics

Snuggles with Grampie

Miles has begun the "Why?" phase and enjoys asking me all the time a series of why's until he feels he satisfied. It's pretty funny and I find it interesting what he finally accepts as the final answer. I realized the other day that I was halfway back home from dropping Miles off at school and I was jamming out to his Imagination Movers CD...is that a bad thing?

Miles is definitely asserting his independence these days. If you say up, he says down, if you say left, he says right. Now, don't get me wrong, he still has very sweet times and can listen well, if he chooses to do so. However, his new independence has led to a few tantrums and battles between us and him. It always amazes me that not long after an incident, he will be perfectly fine and act as if nothing has happened, loving on us and wanting to sit with us, etc. He's just so forgiving. Wouldn't it be awesome if we were all like that?

The past two weeks have been filled with playdough fun, a trip to New Albany to visit my parents, Miles' gymnastics class, Hailey's first trip to the zoo, visiting the park, Hailey turning 2 months old, visiting the Easter bunny, Easter, and playing outside. We're hoping for another exciting week! One side note about Easter...my family has a tradition of playing an egg cracking game-you each hold an egg and have to tap it against someone else's. Whoever's cracks first loses. The winner goes on to 'fight' someone else and so one until there's an ultimate winner. Miles beat me and I beat Ahmad! It was fun to try this out on Miles this year.

Hailey visits the Easter Bunny

Miles wouldn't sit on the Easter Bunny's lap, but enjoyed the ears!

Easter morning

Ready to play outside

Playing outside