Weekend review

We sort of had an awesome weekend, friends. 

This has been happening on a regular basis:

Little Tux napping in his crib.

I literally jump up and down at nap time on Fridays.

That means Daddy will be home soon!

And these beauties make every weekend lovely.

Some dear friends from Charlotte made the drive for brunch and a nice visit. Penelope, watch out. Tucker will be all about those cheeks in about 15 years.

Here we are with two month old babies!
Here we are both eight months pregnant.

One proud papa: Joey and baby Penelope.

Mad mommy love

Sometimes joy comes from the most simple things.

Tucker nursed at 7:30pm, 2:10am, and 6:15am. Hurray! That's practically sleeping through the night in my book.

Coffee and shopping with a girlfriend.

A visit with my awesome sister in law.

Bryan surprised me by bringing home lunch today from my favorite spot - which is not his favorite. True love when you're willing to sacrifice a meal for your spouse.

Sophie told Cooper (the boxer) "That's enough, Coopy!" when he was doing his crying/howling thing today. She also started looking under the table for barking spiders. Do you know my husband? Seriously. I die.

I have two babies napping upstairs in their own cribs.

And... I have spit-up in my hair. Who cares? I have make up on and hair did. And I am off to take a big fat nap.

Mad mommy love.

4-1-1 on infant colds

In Tucker's fourth and fifth week of life, he got the worst cold I have ever ever witnessed in an infant (which awesomely coincided with Christmas, parties, late nights - as if the nights weren't late enough with a newborn already). I jokingly said that Tucker's Christmas present was gifted in co-pays to the Pediatrician because if we went once, we went five times for this cold.

We had both him and Sophie tested for RSV. Which, to parents of infants, is a horrifying virus (in severe cases, think potential spinal taps, IV's etc). Thank God both of them came back negative. The nights are long with infants to begin with. Add in a child that coughs so hard he can't catch his breath and then tell me how many times you pack up for the children's ER in the middle of the night. For me, it was three almost trips to the ER, usually around 3am.

The most we could do for the poor fellow was keep him comfortable. For our house, keeping sick babies comfortable means the following:

Saline nose spray

Warm mist humidifier with Vick's vapor

Keep their heads elevated (Tuck's bassinet is already at an angle)

Vick's baby vapor rub on the bottom of the feet

Warm baths

Vitamin D

And... this fantastic contraption called Baby Comfy Nose. I think the product exists under different names, but this is the one I found in a pinch.

Germaphobes, get ready, because you literally suck the mucus out of baby's nose with this. I thought it sounded horrendous, but it works 10x better than the bulb syringe from the hospital and there is no risk of potentially shoving an instrument too far up their itty bitty noses. This one sits right at the opening of the nostril and a tissue in the big bulb catches the boogies when you suck air through the other end of the tube. Unless you have major user error and forget the tissue, there is no way you can get snot in your mouth. Are you still grossed out?! It's amazing. Seriously. You know you want to see this sucker (pun) in action. Go get one. Now. Before baby gets first cold.

TGIFF

Thank Goodness It's Freaking Friday

This Friday the 13th has been peachy, thus far. (Yes, Mom, I'm about to start bragging again. May the force be with me for the rest of the day!)

Sophie is actually eating food - she's even asking for it.

Tucker is napping in his crib.

That's a win-win, folks.

We've had a mess of food battles lately. In fact, a serious toddler meltdown that ended with throw-up actually occurred on Tuesday. Yes, she pitched a fit over orange slices, cucumber and an almond butter and jelly sandwich. WTF? I can't help but take some of the blame looking back on the situation. 20/20, right? I gave her too many choices and offered to make Sophie her own meal - different from what I was going to eat. Tisk, tisk mommy.

At her two year appointment, the doctor said she wants to check her weight again in a few months since she hasn't gained anything since the fall. So now I'm obsessing over her food again since we kind of let things slide over the holidays.

We have some new winning recipes!

Spinach cake muffins (yes, cake, they are very dense). I didn't have sugar-free applesauce, so I made my own by steaming an apple and pureeing in the blender. Easy peasy.

Granola bars. My version included ground flax seed, dried organic black mission figs and chocolate chips.

Sophie's Favorite Chicken Nuggets
1 organic chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
1 egg, whisked
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 tablespoon garlic salt

Dip chicken bites into the egg, then dredge through the panko and garlic salt mixture. Pan fry in oil (or bake, if you must, but this kid needs the extra fat right now). Sophie LOVES them. Like, she knows when I'm making them by the smell and runs around screaming "Chicken Nuggets!" For the nugget connoisseur, these are even better than Chic Fil A (which, for the record, she has never had).

Hope you have a lovely weekend ahead!

Touch of grey

Daddy love.

Reasons Tucker rocks

At seven weeks (where does the time go?), all the reasons Tucker James rocks my world:

Aced his first test with a 9 on his APGAR
Eats like a champ
Eats SO good in fact that mama is back in her pre-preggo pants already!
Smiling more and more
Almost never cries
Takes all the love and kisses his sister doles out
Eyes are starting to look blue
Approaching 11lbs
Mama can eat dairy and he doesn't protest

PS: Oh, and let's not forget to add that he only nursed twice last night, which probably has something to do with my chipper mood this morning.

PSS: And the fact that we are supposed to see the sun ALL day and see a temperature in the 60's.

PSSS: Or we can chalk up this mood to the girl's wine night with my awesome Sister in Law!

The photo I took for Tucker's birth announcement.

Hello, world!