Strolling

I want to take this moment to state publicly how much I love...

our new stroller.

It is so cool. Harper can lay down and look up at the sky, while Skylar sits above Harper and points out every bird, dog and pile of horse manure we pass. I can push it with one hand if I feel so inclined, which I often do.

After Mike gets home tonight, I will love it even more because he stopped by Toys "R" Us to pick up this baby! Until now we have been using an ingenious system of ribbons I've rigged to hold Sky's sippy and treat cup. I'm brilliant, but I really don't need to show it off all the time. People's feelings get hurt, ribbons get cut, I lay the smack-down and all hell breaks loose.

No, the stroller was not cheap. Not even close. Maybe I should buy it some L'Oreal?

Because it's worth it.

Smiley

Yep. Today has been a MUCH happier day at this house!

Sisters. Sisters, and Best Friends.

(Whitney and McKay, this post title is dedicated to you!)

Yesterday I was cleaning up the kitchen and looked over to see this:

Sky just stood next to the ottoman and held Harper's hand for about 5 minutes while talking to her, saying, "Hi Harpo! Aww, you're so cute, Harpo. I love you! I want to give you a big hug and kiss because you are just so tiny and cute! Mommy, her is just so tiny and cute! Her likes me, Mommy! Harpo's happy, she's talking at me!"

(By the way, you don't talk to people in this house; you talk at them. Who knew?)

Sky is seriously the best big sister a baby could hope for! For the past 6 weeks, Harper has been crying constantly and Sky has never once complained other than to say, "I can't hear the TV!" or "I'm done now!" if Harper starts to cry while Sky is playing with her. She never gets mad at her.

Instead of being mad and annoyed, Sky brings toys and does tricks. She even shares her favorite bracelets:

She's also into cleaning right now. Most of the time she ends up making a bigger, more widely-spread mess, but if she wants to clean I'm gonna let her clean! Training for the future, right?

I really need to get some pictures of her being Super Hero Sky. It's hilarious.

As an update to this post, the dairy-free diet made no impact on Harper. I think the only thing it did was drive me crazy and confirm to me that I have no lactose intolerance whatsoever, so that's off. Now we are trying some reflux medication. Today is Day 3, and I think it's actually helping. Harper's taking her second nap of the day and was smiling and happy for most of the morning. Hallelujah! Please work, baby Zantac...

A Big Sister

I was getting ready in my room and heard Sky talking. Harper hadn't cried in at least 10 minutes, which is a big deal these days...
(Sky to Harper) "Aww! You're not crying Harpo!

I walked into the family room and Sky was sitting on the ottoman next to Harper. Harper was surrounded with blocks and had a bracelet on her arm.

Sky: "Harpo was talking at me, Mom!"
Me: "She was?! What did she say?"
Sky: "She said she wants to play with my blocks."
Me: "And you got them for her?"
Sky: "Mmm hmm! That's pretty nice!"
Me: "That is pretty nice, Sky."
Sky: "And I told her that's very good, Harpo."

Love it. Such a great big sister :)

2-Months and The New, [Downgraded] Dairy-Free Me

Harper had her 2-month checkup yesterday. Here are her latest stats:

Head: 36.8cm
Length: 20.5"
Weight: 8lb, 10oz

She is in the 10% for her weight and head circumference, and the 3% for length.

To quote her pediatrician, "So...she's now the size of a large newborn!"

Where did this tiny kid come from?!

Since she was about 5 weeks old, Harper went from never crying to ALWAYS crying. She is all kinds of gassy and is never comfortable. She's definitely the happiest when she's being held, but I can't hold her constantly so there's a lot of crying throughout the day. So much so, in fact, that Sky likes to announce, "Hey Mommy! She's not crying now!" any time Harper is quiet. Poor girl. :(

I discussed the possible reasons for this with her pediatrician yesterday. I told her I didn't think it was colic, because she does calm down when she's held and is obviously upset because of indigestion. I also told her I didn't think it was reflux for several reasons, and she agreed that reflux most likely isn't the problem.

And so begins the thing I've dreaded: I am now on a dairy-free diet.

You might think, "That's not so bad." But I'm that girl who can finish off a gallon of milk in a few days. Almost everything I eat involves milk or cheese. Or at least a little butter. In other words, I may starve.

A few awesome friends have sent me info on rice milk, almond milk, coconut milk, soy milk (which I'm not trying yet since soy is another common irritant for infants), butter substitutes, etc. Cheese is basically out altogether. There are some fakies out there, but from what I've read they are either nasty or WAY to expensive to consider.

If dairy is the problem, Harper should be a new kid in about 10 days. That's what we are praying for! I would LOVE for her to be a happy baby without having to be held constantly! I feel so bad that she's always uncomfortable.

Plus, maybe I'll lose some weight just by saying adios to my beloved cheese?

Today is Day 1. I had a close call with some string cheese, and very nearly fell victim to a glass of milk, but I've somehow made it through.

Breakfast was oatmeal (made with water, not milk...blah), lunch was a peanut butter and honey sandwich, I ate a handful of veggie straws and a few Cheez-Its. Dinner will be french toast, with a little rice milk. We'll see how it goes.

Tsunami Video

It hurt my heart to watch this video. It is absolutely unbelievable that so much could be destroyed in less than 7 minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TkBjLbabfU

The Japanese have suffered so much from Friday's earthquake and tsunami, and now the threat of radiation is spreading by the day. I am so sad for what is happening.

It makes me very grateful to live where I do. My babies and my husband are safe, our heater is working and keeping us warm while the wind is blowing tumbleweeds across my backyard. We have food and water. We're comfortable, healthy, safe and alive, and today I am incredibly grateful.

Too Many

Mike just got home from his TV debut. He wanted to watch his spot to see how he did, so we were watching and laughing.

Sky looked at the TV, looked at Mike, then looked at me and said, "I don't want too many Daddies!"

Guess I can't get any brother-husbands.

I'm going to go ahead and assume she doesn't want too many mommies either, so...sorry, Mike. No sister-wives.

A TV Star!

Mikey is about to be famous! He's going to be on TV in just over half an hour talking about the iPhone app he has made for the SPCA of Northern Nevada.

The app is currently awaiting the app store approval process and will hopefully be available this week for download. It is a free app, so you can all download it once it's up! I'll definitely keep you updated!

Woohoo, go Mikey!


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2 Months Old!

Tiny little Harper is 2 months old today! I'm not even making it up. It feels like I'm making it up...nope. I'm not. And she's not as tiny as she used to be..

Time for some seahorse shots!

She looks so chubby in this one, which is funny because she's such a skinny little thing!

I'm pretty sure she saw some aliens on the ceiling fan...

And now she's crying, so it looks like this post is done. Adios, muchachos.

Ellen

I don't remember the last time I watched TV during the day. Or the last time I watched something without it being recorded first.

The kids are sleeping, so I did an hour long workout. Well, I finished that and the girls are still sleeping...so I turned on Ellen! I love Ellen. I almost bust a lung trying not to laugh too loudly at the poor girl trying to play Ellen's SORRY game. She was doing great for about 6 seconds, then she just slowly ended up doing nothing at all. They had to stop the clock on the game and tell her that her time was up before she passed out. It was hilarious!

Maybe I'll do this more often.

Because it's been a while

I haven't blogged for almost a week. Who knew it would be impossible to use the computer while constantly holding a crying baby or helping a 2-year-old pee? Or changing sheets 4 days in a row? Or trying to keep the house from looking like a disaster zone? (I am completely failing in that area, by the way.)

Here. How about a few photos?

Sweet little girlies! Harper is almost 2 months old and Sky is obsessed. I love it.

2 Things

1) We ordered a stroller this morning. Amazon just emailed me to tell me it has already shipped! I want to marry Amazon, but I'm already married to Mike...

2) I got a hair cut. First one in an embarrassingly long time. Mike wants to go on a date now, so we need a babysitter for the night. Preferably one with the right working equipment. Takers?

Double Your Fun

I have been researching double strollers and found the one I want. The problem is, it is about twice as much as I want to spend!

Behold, the Phil & Ted's Explorer.

It is compact and in-line instead of side-by-side, so it will fit in the back of the car. It's also all-terrain and can be steered with one hand. Right now there are a ton of websites offering it with a free doubles kit. Maybe if we get a great tax refund?

Meet Tiny

I took Sky to her friend Carson's 3rd birthday party this past Saturday. 

And we came back with Tiny.

Pretenders

Things around this house seem to be doing quite a lot of pretending these days.

For instance, Skylar's snowman isn't melting, he's pretending to be an alligator:

See the resemblance?

This particular wall outlet in the kitchen, and only this outlet...

...is pretending to be Wubbzy.

I don't have a picture of my foot, which was pretending to be a house earlier today. For Sky's foot, which was pretending to be a puppy.

And I don't have a picture of my Scentsy party testers pretending to be a rainbow. Or a tower. Or a train.

Nor do I have a picture of Sky pretending to be a balloon, which she says she wants to be. A Wow Wow Wubbzy balloon, to be exact.

Socks

I just threw out two pairs of socks. And they weren't Mike's.

I can't remember the last time I threw out a pair of socks. Not because I am attached to them like some crazy sock-lover; because I don't wear socks. Hate 'em. They make my feet hot and I prefer to feel the wind between my toes, thank you very much.

But since I started walking and hiking with some friends last spring, I managed to wear holes in two pairs of socks. Who knew?

I can hear your brain working overtime. Yes, this is blog-worthy.