Random summer happenings

We were in Utah for almost a month so here are some random pictures from our trip.


I thought this picture was pretty funny. I won't miss the saggy diaper bum plus her pjs are a little big.


Olivia and Grandma at Lagoon. I think the picture captures how excited Olivia is.


The face Olivia is making reminds me of a face I make. Kanika will know what I am talking about.





Olivia and Ashton waiting for the fireworks to start.

Nothing slows this girl down

Even with a broken leg Olivia didn't let it slow her down. She got her long cast off and wore this boot for the next couple of weeks. She still jumped on the tramp and played in the bouncy house.

Cousins

Last Thanksgiving Mike's parents came from Utah and picked us up in Boise and we headed to Portland to see Mike's brother and his family. It was a very long and snowy drive. Knowing myself I probably didn't post any pictures so here is a bit of catch up. Ava is about 3 weeks older than Olivia. Olivia loves the crib. It has been a long time since she has been in one and she uses it more as a jungle gym and trampoline. Even though Ava is a few inches taller than Olivia she wasn't able to climb in or out of the crib. It probably helps that Olivia is super flexible and uses her toes as hands.

My two girls

This picture is from the first week we were home from the hospital. Olivia loves being a big sister and she is really good with the baby.

Olivia and her broken leg

We have a pipe that runs under our driveway for the canal water. Olivia was running on the driveway and looking back and she was probably expecting the hillside but ran off where the pipe was and landed on her leg wrong. It was atleast a foot drop off but probably more and when your three that is quite a ways to fall.

Anyway she took it like a trooper and her leg has healed up very well. This picture is the week we brought the baby home from the hospital. We have come a long way since then. We got rid of her binky, got her cast taken off and finally potty trained her.

On a side note Olivia stopped taking naps and I only let her have her binky if she is napping or sleeping so it was just the right time to take it away. I let her cut her binky and she had done this a few weeks before with MIke to another binky so she was aware of how permanent it was. She was pretty sad for the first few days. She took the binky with her to bed and held it in her mouth but she got over it. I have caught her a few times trying to suck on Hazel's binky but overall it hasn't been bad at all.

Returning back to work

Going back to work hasn't been nearly as hard as it was with Olivia. I will admit that I was actually a little excited to start work. It has been nice to actually accomplish something without being interrupted. I love love my family and I would be a SAHM in a heartbeat but being at home with both kids and Mike was challenging to say the least. I am a schedule and task oriented person and Mike is a lot more laid back so I can get frustrated very easily.

It's tough being a working mom but I have to keep to my baby steps or I would go crazy. It was one thing to keep a house when Olivia was a baby because she was at the sitter's and Mike was at school all day then we would all come home. I could clean at night and come home to a clean house. Now Mike, Olivia and Hazel are at home all day and I rarely come home to a clean house. I wish my house could be clean but I have come to settle to having the kitchen clean every night. Not necessarily up to my standards but as long as I can get the dishwasher loaded and the counters and stovetop wiped down, I call it good. The family room is another story....

Olivia versus Hazel

I remember when we had Olivia and every check up we went too the doctor would ask how she was doing and I would say " Really good. She never cries." And he would say "Things will change and it will start to pick up.". It never did. Olivia rarely cried. I can count on two hands the number of times she cried before the age of 1. When we told other people, they said oh we got really lucky because that isn't normal. Every book I read and tried the technique work beautifully. Only took a few days to implement. Olivia is easy going, adapts to change very well, is a good eater and good sleeper and a pretty good listener (for her age at least).

Then along came Hazel. The pregnancy and postpartum recovery were totally different. Hazel cries. A lot more than Olivia. When she is hungry she is hungry right now. She can't stand a poopy diaper. When she was a newborn she wanted to be held always. It was a big adjustments and I now realize how easy of a baby Olivia was. Hazel isn't terrible by any means. I am told she is quite normal and actually a very good baby.

I kind of feel like a new mom again because I have had to try new techniques and reread some books I wasn't planning on rereading. I knew having two kids would be a big adjustment but wow it is hard work. Sometimes I feel bad because Olivia use to get all our attention and now she has to share. And then Hazel will never get as much attention as Olivia ever did. Then if we have another baby Hazel will definitely get the short stick when it comes to attention. I guess that is where middle child syndrome starts to form. J/k.

All in all everything is going well. I forgot how exhausting the first couple of months were but Hazel is finally starting to sleep a little bit longer. I will take waking up at 4:30 over 2. Hazel was a little high maintenance the first few weeks but she has become much easier. We finally have Olivia potty trained and it was a lot easier than I suspected. It is hard work but worth it. I am glad that Olivia will have a playmate. Will we have more kids? We would love to but Mike says we should take a little break. I totally agree. I am looking forward to forgetting the hard parts of pregnancy, labor, and the first few months.