Nickyyy is Seven Months!

Nickyyy is seven months old already!

I type his name like that because it is generally how it is said lately. 

As in "Nickyyyyy... get off the fireplace!". 

"Nickyyyy... get out of the bathroom."

"Nickyyyyy... what are you eating?"

"Nickyyyy... where did you go?"

Yes this list goes on. He is my little monster. Unlike his sister, he is all boy. Rough and tough and messy and always into something. I cannot keep up with him if I tried. I can't take my eyes off of him for two minutes without him getting into something else or hurting himself. He has the bumps and bruises to prove it!

He sure is a lover though. Kisses and hugs and snuggles all day long. He still likes to be rocked to sleep for the most part but as long as I have time, I don't mind it at all. He is a big, warm teddy bear. 

Now if he would just slow down!

He is crawling like a professional, has three teeth (with three not far behind), and sleeps aaaalmost through the night. We are still working on it. It has improved and he is in his crib, but we are not quite there yet. Big Nick and I are exhausted most days. 

All days.  

The good news is that we are officially down to 4 bottles a day with 3 big meals in between. I love making baby food and he loves eating it. We are even working on some self feeding with bananas, apples, and cereal puffs. He has been very content on the food front. This makes me a happy mommy!

Marlee's foot! Ha!

Next appointment is in October and I think we will revisit the idea of surgically having his blocked tear duct open but I am not going to worry about it till then. I just want his beautiful blue eyes to shine. It makes me sad to have to keep messing with it and I know he does not like it either. 

Nickyyyy is happy and healthy and a wonderful addition to this crazy family. Love to watch my children grow.

Happy Six Months Nicholas!

Holy crap where did the last six months go? Nicholas James is far from my cuddly little newborn of yesterday. He is weighing in at 20 lbs, 2 oz and is 27.75 inches long. He is quickly growing out of six month clothes and actually might just skip right to twelve month. He always looks like a sausage in some casing when I try to squeeze him into 6-9 month onsies. Sorry babe but I am not buying you anymore summer clothes!

While he is still not crawling properly, he has his army crawl down to an art. He starts off slow and before I know it, he is all over the living room. Usually terrorizing his sister every step of the way! As much as Marlee loves her brother, she wants to love on him on her own terms. Nicholas just wants to eat and drool over everything which upsets princess Marlee greatly. He cannot be stopped though and has even moved on to climbing on the side of the couch, into his seat, and on top of toys. He is pretty unsteady but manages to stand for at least a couple minutes.

He is eating lots and lots of oatmeal during the day - sometimes really surprising me how much he can eat! His bottles are down to around 5 a day - not quite hitting our four per day goal set by the pediatrician but when he is hungry, he is hungry. There is no amount of distracting, rocking, binky, or cuddling that can be done to change his mind. So I am slowly upping the solid food while attempting to cut back on the bottles. Not an east task for such a big boy!

The down side of six months old is some kind of sleep regression that we are going through. He is up several times a night and it is exhausting poor Nicholas and I. I have a plan of action in motion though so hopefully we can break this nasty habit. He is supposed to be sleeping 7+ hours a night but I would settle for 5! (Nicky, give mommy and daddy a break!)

Other than the lack of sleeping and constant puking (yes we are still having a regurgitation issue), baby boy is happy and healthy! Loves to jump and smile and laugh and play! He adores his dad and sister and is always ready to be held. He might not be little but he is still a great cuddlier - when he holds still!

We used Marlee's new chair for pictures this month and it is the perfect picture chair!

Happy half birthday Nicholas! Cannot wait to see what next month brings.

Marlee Turns Two

Pink Birthday Girl Pancakes!

Two years old!

Marlee Josephine.

My baby is now two years old.

A sweet, sassy, funny, beautiful two year old. 

The smile and willpower of my older sister, the sassiness and determination of my younger sister, and the silliness and joy of my baby sister. 

The beautiful hair of my mother and the laughter of my father. 

The love of life from my husband. 

The reason I wake up and smile every morning.

Stubborn and dramatic and emotional.

I love everything about you. 

I have watched you grow and learn. 

I know your likes; chocolate, chalk, babies, cartoons, binkie, milk, blocks, crayons, beans, pancakes, wrestling, peanut butter, dress up, tea parties, hide and seek, dancing, baths, music, and anything tiny. 

And I know your dislikes; ants, hair brushing, flies, dirty hands, vegetables, and loud noises.

You never cease to amaze me and some days I can't take my eyes off you. 

I don't want to miss a moment. 

I look forward to this next year of your life and continuing to watch you blossom into a little girl. You forever keep me on my toes and I would not have it any other way. 

Happy Birthday Marlee! 

Bring on the terrible twos. 

Party Sunday

Sunday we celebrated Nicholas getting Baptized and Marlee turning two! 

Even though she doesn't technically turn two until Thursday. 

We were blessed to have family and friends around us as Nick was blessed by Father Joe at church. It was a beautiful day and he looked so handsome in his baptism outfit. He did so good with the water and oil. Not a peep from him! He was restless as always but that is to be expected from my little squirmy boy. Marlee on the other hand was over church before it even began. She hung in there though with the help of family keeping her distracted. 

Ceremony

Distracting Marlee

Godparents, Father Joe, and Us

Family

After mass, we took the party back to our house and celebrated with cake and cookies. 

And coffee. Lots of coffee.

Marlee stole the show from here on out. We ate cake, opened gifts, and then played the night away. 

Oh and boy did we play.

We managed to open every single toy, one by one. And test them all out in one night. It was amazing. Marlee loved it and so did I. She was just tickled with joy. It was like Christmas in July.

We had a tea party.

And we played with her new easel which is actually a giant MagnaDoodle so no messes!

Genius invention.

We played with stickers. Lots of stickers. 

Then we moved on to dress up. She was flying like a fairy here.

And drinking some cold drinks.

Then doing some cooking.

While adding to our costumes. She is a doctor chef princess here. 

Then we did some more tea party fun. Nick got in on the fun. Nice princess headband hubby.

Pause for a little snack!

It tasted like plastic. 

Time for a break so we could feed the baby and be sassy. 

Then we moved on to the blocks. She loves to stack stuff and knock it down of course. 

Nicky was thrilled with all the toys too! Yay! More stuff to chew and drool on.

Today we woke up and started all over again. We started with painting on the Sophia easel, dressed as a princess. 

She decided Nicky needed an outfit too. He wanted to be a fairy.

Marlee thought this was hilarious. 

I thought he looked pretty darn cute. 

So far my house is a disaster and the kids are both down for a nap by noon. It was such a wonderful Sunday that I hate for it all to end. Luckily we have a ton to play with to keep us entertained for a long time!

Congrats Nicky on your big day. You are truly a blessing and we are blessed to be able to share you with God and family. 

Marlee Jo, I hope you had a great birthday. Your smile brightens my day and I have to say that you make me smile everyday. There is nothing greater in the world. 

Week One of 21 Day Fix Results!

Week one of the 21 Day Fix is officially in the books!

I am down a fantastic 3.6 lbs and Nicholas is down 5.6 lbs (or so we think... he cannot remember what he weighed on day one). Either way, we are both down in weight and feeling ecstatic about our results. I remember from last round that week one was the hardest and believe me, it has not changed!

Couple pointers for those starting or thinking about starting the program:

1. Plan Your Meals! - Sit down sometime during the week and plan your meals for the week. Make a list and go grocery shopping. Set yourself up for success! Make sure if you are supposed to be having a delicious salad with cauliflower and hot peppers - make sure you have cauliflower and hot peppers! I am not the type of person who can just look in my fridge and whip up a healthy lunch on the fly. Plan, plan, plan!

2. Prep Some Foods - I do not prep everything for the week but lots of things can be made in advance. Two big items for Nick and I were eggs and chicken. Hard boiled eggs can be made on day one and last all week. We actually ran out this first week so today I am headed to the store to get three dozen eggs and going to boil away! This allows us to get a quick serving of protein at our finger tips. Chicken is another item that can be made and portioned for the week. Bake six, eight, ten chicken breasts, let them cool, chop up, and place in sandwich bags. That way you can toss them with pasta, lettuce, wrap in a tortilla, or just grab and munch. And cut that fruit! A big bowl of watermelon is easy and delicious to eat on a daily basis! 

I let a cantaloupe sit on my counter too long and it went bad. Never again! Cut it up!

3. Use Those Containers! - Obviously you want to use the containers to measure all of your food but a little thing I noticed was how wonderful cheese is. You get one blue container each day. Use it! Unless you are a cheese hater, it is a delicious food. And it makes healthy food even better! Cheese on my salad, cheese on my pasta, cheese on my vegetable. It is not cheating but it sure does feel like it. Healthy food does not have to be sad food. Also make sure to try the seasoning mixes that Autumn recipes for in the start up book. They are 'all you can eat' and even have a little salt! We did a pot roast last week with the Mediterranean Seasoning and it was great. We demolished that dish. I plan to use the Smoke Southwestern Seasoning for Chili this week. 

One last thing I have to say is that I hate Shakeology. 

Gasp!

I know that we are supposed to drink one a day but I have to plug my nose and chug it just to get it down. Yuck. I rather just eat another protein in place of it. 

I decided to try a different routine with the Chocolate Shakeology and make some Peanut Butter Brownie Bites. They were ok. I would not say that they were good but adding peanut butter on top makes anything edible. 

Shakeology Peanut Butter Brownie Bites

2 Scoops Chocolate Shakeology

Water

1 Tsp Peanut Butter

Add 2 scoops of Shakeology to bowl. Add water till the texture of brownie mix (approximately 2 TBSP). Mix well. Drop small scoops onto foil, topping with small amount of peanut butter. Freeze for one to two hours (or more if needed). Eat!

I am going to test them out on Nicholas when he gets home. 

Ok now my meal plan for this week!

Little Nicholas is getting baptized on Sunday so there is a big opening there. Family and friends are coming over to celebrate so it is hard to say exactly what is going to be eaten and when. It might just be breakfast and dinner that day!

Ok, here is to week two! Good luck!