Emery is 4 and Ellis is 7 weeks

This past week we went to the Dr with both kids for their checkups and dreaded shots! Emery turned 4 the week before and is a total chatterbox. She talks from the moment she wakes up till she finally passes out. Her sassy attitude can drive even the most patient person insane. She stomps her foot and makes huffing noises when she is mad. She talks back and can be downright mean on occasion when she doesn't get her way. Time outs happen often and even spankings! On the other hand she is loving and so smart! She can write her name and copy drawings, she draws people and makes up elaborate stories all the time. She loves creative projects and to cuddle. She is now 38 inches tall and 29lbs. Still small on the growth chart but at least she's growing. Still really picky with food. Em would rather a salad than a hamburger! Emerys birthday party was at main event this weekend. 30 kids showed up and it was a crazy fun event. 

Ellis is 7 weeks going on 8 weeks. He is 10lbs 8oz and 21 1/4 inches long. He eats about 4 oz every 3-4 hours during the day and is going about 5hours at night. He started smiling last week not all the time but often enough. Tummy time is still not his favorite past time. He will lay in his back and watch the fan or hit some toys for a bit. His favorite thing is to be held sitting up. He does coo and screech. He still hasn't found his hands yet, but we are sure it will come soon! 

He got his ear wells off but within two days they started to regress, so he now has the inside piece on with lots of tape on top of them. I cannot wait for it all to be off for good. He is so cute I just want to kiss him all the time. 

Ellis 5 weeks

Ellis is eating up a storm. He is already downing 4 oz bottles about every three hours. I can't believe how much he eats.

His silent reflux is maybe getting better. I moved him to Zantac three times a day and started changing over his formula to the one with the rice starches in it to help keep it down.

Now if we could just get a bunch of sleep that would be great. Mostly he is still on a three hour schedule. I am trying dream feeds with him this week to see if we can get longer sleep.

It is icing again today brrrr it's been so cold here! His ear wells were suppose to be changed tomorrow but the roads will be bad so I am guessing that will be moved. We should only have two more weeks of the ear molds and then they come off.

I am guessing we will shave Ellis's head. With the loss of hair on top and the shaved sides he will look even more like an old man. 

Ellis's first month

Well it's been a month of lots of strife but we are getting through. Ellis sleeps more during the day than at night for the most part. He has silent reflux and is on Zantac for now but will be moving to Prilosec soon as it's made by the compound pharmacy. We are hoping something helps him soon. He wakes up about an hour after falling asleep screaming. 

The past few days have brought some changes. We are getting some coos and more awake time. Ellis has started batting at his toys on his mat and looking at people and faces. 

Ellis's favorite things:

Eating, he's up to 3.5 oz every 2-3 hours

Peeing in the air! 

He adores the ceiling fan. Esp when it's off.

Laying cheek to cheek with Mommy.

Long car rides.

Hearing his sisters voice.

Laying on Daddy's chest.

His dislikes:

Zantac medicine, taste gross

Not getting a bottle fast enough it being cold.

Gas pains

Tummy time

3 weeks and 3 days

Quick update.

So I stopped breastfeeding and pumping. Ellis was taking a lot out of me and needed more than I could give him. So now he's on formula and the last of the pumped milk.

We found out today he has reflux. So he was put on Zantac today. Praying it helps because last night he screamed for three hours. I am exhausted! But he does weigh 8lbs 8oz!!

Emery is sassy and lying and creating stories all the time. We are working on her behavior issues. However tonight she ate great! She is now 29 lbs. 

we are praying for sleep tonight on all ends.

Emery and the Mr have a daddy daughter dance tomorrow. And she is excited about her date with Daddy! 

3 weeks mr Ellis

Ellis is still having trouble getting in good sleep, which means Mommy is also not having good deaux deaux either. He is working on about 2.5 - 3 hour turn times from waking, eating, sleeping, waking again. 

We startered formula because as horrible as it sounds, breastfeeding sucks. It hurts and I am tired of being a human pacifier. Now I'm trying to get rid of my aching chest and get him use to the formula..currently mixed with breastmilk.

I find he does sleep better with just the formula. Oh and he snores after he eats.

Today at tummy time he turned his head from side to side. He coos a bit, it is a very high sound like an owl almost. 

He has great head control already and can life it and hold it for himself.

He doesn't really stay awake for long times where he is content. Mostly he cries if he's awake. Oh and he moans and cries I his sleep. 

Emery is super sassy and still won't eat. We basically have to say take a bite every bite of every meal. It wears on you. She also has started talking back, thinking she is always right and lying/making pinafores. I hope this stage will pass soon. Not sure how much more I can take. 

Almost three weeks and no sleep

Ellis was doing great sleeping three hours at a time for about a week and then bam out of no where we are down to 45 mins to an hour. I'm exhausted, he's exhausted, The Mr. Is exhausted. Emery is bored and wants our attention. I don't know how people get through this without going crazy. Someone please tell me this will get better soon.

He is eating all the time, maybe a growth spurt again? Does he not Like or agree with the formula and breast milk? Ahhh. I will call his Dr in the am to check and maybe have him looked at for reflux or milk sensitivity!

We had another miracle

We found out we were surprise pregnant in June of 2014. Just as we were at ease about having one child and planning a huge trip for the three of us to France. The Mr's words when I told him "I think I'm going to throw up". Lol! It took a long time for us to tell people we were expecting this time, we were scared of another loss or if something wasn't right. But it all was ok and on jan. 27, 2015 we welcomed our son, Ellis Paul into the world...screaming just like his sister.

My pregnancy was not easy. I was sick often and very tired all the time. Towards the end I got a cold and the coughing for 8 weeks became so bad I dislocated a rib. Then a week later the little dude kicked another rib in the other side out of place. Everything went back to normal after he was brought into the world. No more cough and ribs moved back.

He was bigger than Emme, 6.075 lbs and 18 inches long. By his one wek apthe had gone to 6.08 lbs and 19 1/4 inches. He eats all the time. He is very demanding and likes to scream often. He has no schedule yet but he sleeps for at least three hours at a time. For the most part. I am breastfeeding and pumping buy supplementing too. 

He is adorable. I still can't believe we have a baby. One we were told wouldn't happen on our own. It's kind of crazy.

Ellis also has to have his ears corrected. His ears have a little lidding but are constructed to the backside of his ears. We are having that done now with Dr. Ha again. He said its going to be hard to fix them but he will do his best.

Tomorrow Ellis will be two weeks old. I hope his schedule levels out soon. 

1st Day of PREK 2

After months of talking about school, crying that she couldn't go to school and basically begging every time we drove by school...it happened, SCHOOL STARTED! Emery woke up happy and so ready to go. She couldn't wait to get her "pack-pack" and put it in the car. She could barely stay still and ate three bites of breakfast before we left the house. When we arrived she ran straight to the door and was rushing over kids to get inside the classroom. Not a kiss goodbye, not a hug, not even a small whine...nothing. I took dozens of pictures and tried my best to wave goodbye without a sad look on my face. Emery just smiled and turned to play. This was so unlike last year when she cried because they had to take her away from her Mommy! After a day of Mommy fun, lunch out with girls and getting my eyebrows waxed (man there was some major hair ripping today! It's been too long) I drove over to pick Miss Priss up. She was not ready to leave, she wanted to stay with her friends and her teachers. She had way too much fun today. In the car on the way home she sang songs, told me all about the Letter A (it's for apple in case you didn't know) and how she played on the playground. I guess to say she enjoyed it, is saying too little. She LOVES it...I know I know, for NOW. Since we got home she hasn't stopped talking. I am so happy for her. Did I mention she went Tee-tee on the potty 3 times today???!!! Whooo Hoooo!!

Getting close to PK 2 start day

I cannot believe I haven't updated in like FOR-EVE-RRRR! So sorry to our adoring fans, which there are not that many but hey gotta get out to the family public. Emery is growing like a weed, up and long but skinny still. Her eating habits don't change much from day to day or month to month. She eats little to nothing most days and doesn't gain weight often. But we have learned to let go of making her eat and tried more to focus on what she is eating. Over the past year or so we are slowly transitioning to whole foods, less processed crap, more organic and real foods and more fruits and veggies! Emery is much better at this than I am. She enjoys vegetables and fruits...I on the other hand am slowly learning to like a few here and there. I know this makes my husband so much happier. However as you know they don't have too many calories to them so not real good for fating up the bebe! She will say things like, oh I want an avocado, I lub dem! But then won't eat it. Smack to the head, she is so head strong! (I cannot imagine where she gets this from, we are such nice easy going parents...heehee) Anyway there are still days we all need some MCD french fries in our belly, so we aren't diving in to a Real Whole Food diet completely but we are slowly getting there. As for Miss Priss's advancements, she can recite her ABCs and count to 13 skip to 17 and then back again to 1. She has silly stories she makes up and tells you over and over and over again. She wakes up talking and doesn't stop until she is asleep (and some nights she talks in her sleep). She knows most colors and some shapes. And she thinks its funny to laugh over and over again in her little fake laugh. She pretends to read and makes you read books to her over and over again! (I think I said over and over too many times in this paragraph) She does say Banana just like the Despicable Me Minions now though, and it is quite funny. Bah-Nan-na-nahhh! I am not correcting it because it cracks me up. Hubs and I are trying to plan our next move in baby making world. Is it all up in the air as to wether or not we go for IVF again, some different verison of IUI or straight for the big guns of Adoption. This Mommy needs to have some blood work done and we need to get some finances in order before we make a final decision. Some days I am more than blessed with just having Emery and I am ok with just having her. However most days I feel like our family is just not complete yet...like something is missing, or someone. We've always wanted to have 2 children and 3 would be ok if it happened. IUI not so expensive but still full of risk and needles. IVF a bit more money and needles and could end up with nothing. Adoption REALLY expensive, lots of red tape but one day you will have a baby. So that's our update. Keep your head up peeps!

She's 2 and she's Sassy!

It's been so long since I've had a moment to sit down and update Emery's Blog. Boy I am horrible at this! Emery turned 2 on March 14. She had 4 birthday parties. You read that right, 4 parties. 2 in New Orleans and 2 in Texas. Yep, she's special. Could by how she became Miss Sassy Pants in the past few months. Miss Priss has learned how to talk in sentences recently and is now learning to run and jump. Her imagination has flourished. She now tells stories and makes up scenes that are not really happening. For example, she told us just yesterday that she saw her friends playing in the clouds. She named them and said their they are, let's get them. Another example, Emery has plastic golf clubs, she turns them over and tells us they are swords because she is a Pirate and she is fighting Captain Hook. It's a wonderful time to watch her grow and explore. But it as hard time as a parent to watch her and listen to her be such a Sassy pants while trying to assert her independence. There have been lots of time outs recently. She now understands what time out means and what to do while in time out. She no longer fights to get up and run away, but rather sits and cries until her buzzer goes off. And then stands to listen to why she is still there and tell us she is sorry. We always end with a hug. Because while she was wrong or "bad", she is not unloved. More so, she is in time out because she is loved and because she needs to be taught boundaries and how to have manners. Ahhh, the wonders of manners. We have tried over and over to instill Please and Thank You into our child. But we still have to tell her to say it. I am positive in the future it will just come out from being taught over and over what to say and how to say it, right now though we are constantly frustrated as to why she cannot figure out to put them together! And we have started with teaching her to say Ma'am and Sir. These are manners we grew up with and feel they are needed to show respect to others. I am hoping she will "get it" soon and will start to use her manners more and more frequently. We are beyond just the word No, we are now in the terriority of "No, I will not do that or No, I do NOT want that." Wow, it's like she went from being my little sweetheart to a teenager with an attitude! There are days when I just don't know how to react to the things she says or how she says them. Geeze, kids! LOL! All in all Emery is growing and advancing. Gymnastics has really helped with her listening to directions and using her muscles more. And now we've gone back to swimming lessons...which summer is coming up soon and we LOVE the water! Emery has started to express more fear in new things. This can be super frustrating when she is trying something new for the first time and we know she can do it. She will cry or scream or cling on for dear life. But then after doing something a few times she is super happy and loves it again. People are always saying how good she is and how pretty she is, and to her...ugh! Little do they know I have this little wiggle worm on me all the time. But yes...she is pretty good and she is very pretty! Honey is coming to visit in a week or so and we can't wait to spend time with her. Emery is going to love being with her Grandma and I am going to love having some little breaks to get away and do some me time! Then we are thinking of going to Louisiana for a few weeks for the summer. See family and friends and do all the visitors stuff we never get to do. And maybe even take a trip to the beach! Lastly, Em was released from the GI. She is growing on schedule and shows no signs of any medical feeding or eating issues. She is just a small picky toddler. We are so blessed to have no major issues with her and are so happy she is released!