Paigey Poo

Sweet Paige.  Such a happy baby.  She has these times of the day when she is just all smiles and coos and happiness.  It's the absolute best.  She is so good on days when we are out and about.  It can't be easy to be in and out of your carseat when all you want to do is sleep.  But she is a champ most times.  This was after the library egg hunt and she was in the best mood.  I love that her smile lights up her whole face.  And of course, at the end, she was just done.  Even though I spent months trying to pick a name that didn't have a nickname, it has happened.  Paige gets called everything under the sun, especially if it's cheesy.  Paigey, Paigey Poo, Paigey Paige, Pager, etc.  It's hard not to when you have a three year old who just calls her whatever comes out of her mouth in the moment.  Plus it's cute when a three year old says it, so you can't be mad.  So Paige, if any of these nicknames stick (and hopefully they won't), I'm sorry!

Library Egg Hunt

After dance class each week, we head over to the library for story time.  It's us, Kelly and Tessa, and Lorna, Reagan, and Presley.  They have a great time hanging out together and they are all so sweet.  The Tuesday before Easter, they were doing their egg hunt, so we raced over and got there just in time.  Each girl got to hunt some eggs and then just sit around and chat together.  This year in library has been great, it's a new program with Ms. Rhonda and we love it.  We'll miss Tessa next year when she's in school!

Egged!

We got egged again this year by Julianne and Tessa.  Harper loves this.  It's her favorite egg hunt - she can just play around and grab eggs without worrying about other people around her.  When they were on their way over, I closed the window blinds and they were so cute out their hiding the eggs.  So when they left, we told her she had a surprise outside.  She didn't want it until she saw the egg on the door and got excited.  So off she ran to get the eggs and her candy.  Cody helped her find the well hidden ones and she had a blast.  We got a chance to egg the Spiegels back on the Sunday of Easter.  I think they were excited because they usually do it for others but hadn't gotten egged before.  So it was fun to keep the tradition alive.

March Madness

March seemed to be going by slow, but I'm glad it's over.  Thankfully, we had a fabulous spring break and it definitely helped get us through the month.  I seriously cannot wait until it's summer and Cody is home for 2 whole months.  The beginning of March was super cold, the middle was still pretty cold and the end has been mild weather but tons of rain.  Spring is definitely coming and I am so over the winter.  It's way too hard to get any energy to do anything when I have both girls and it's 30 degrees outside.  Plus, I hate winter and love summer, so things can only get better.  Harper has gotten to play outside a few times, a lot over spring break, and she is ready for nice weather too.  We didn't do much over spring break.  We cleaned out the house a bit and Cody worked outside.  It was just nice to have both of us home to take care of the girls and help each other out.  On March 1st, it would have been my grandma's 91st birthday.  We were randomly making chocolate chip cookies when I realized it, and it made me smile.  I miss her every day but I'm so thankful for the influence she has on my life, even though she is gone.  

Paige is good, growing and being a baby.  This grey and white onesie is one of my favorites, and I think she looks so cute in it.  I should put her in normal clothes or put a bow in her hair more often, but I can't gather enough energy to care about it.  It's funny to see her fighting sleep sometimes and then being so tired later that I literally could do anything to her and she still wouldn't wake up.  Sometimes she will only open one eye, and I am guessing she's cursing me in baby language for trying to wake her from her much wanted nap.  

Cody is a great dad.  And even though he pretends to be scared of tiny babies, he is so great with her. Sometimes, even better than me.  In the evening, when she is having her witching hour melt down, he can usually calm her more than me.  We have a pretty good routine going.  I get pj's for both girls after dinner and Harper and I wash Paige in the bath.  Paige hated the bath at first but now that we keep a constant flow of warm water over her, she likes it.  This girl does not like to be cold.  After Paige is washed, Cody takes her and plays with her while I wash Harper.  Then I put Harper to bed and we switch so he can say goodnight too.  We give her a bath every night to wake her up and get her good and tired before bedtime.  It seems to be working.  Then, we get everything ready for that night - diapers out, blankets ready, all bottles made.  It makes everything so much easier at 2am when I don't have the intelligence to do it.  

I did go to girls night even though I wasn't sure it was going to work.  I had to feed her in the restaurant but it was ok.  She needed to stay up afterwards but none of the girls could get her to wake up long enough to even open an eye.  That night she was up crying that night till midnight and I was kicking myself for it later.  But it was still worth it because I had a solid 2 hours of laughing, talking, and being normal.  It was wonderful and very needed.  Towards the end of the night, she seemed to be throwing gang signs at Stephney so we had to play around with her.  

Harper is the best big sister.  I've already said it, but I just keep thinking it.  She has done so good and she helps me so much.  She grabs diapers, she brings the paci, she finds toys.  She is always playing with Paige, making her happy and keeping her entertained.  She sometimes gets bored and frustrated when I can't play with her because I am feeding or rocking Paige.  Or she sometimes gets annoyed that I'm constantly asking her to be quiet, whisper, don't go back there, go to the playroom, etc.  Which is a lot of Paige's fault because she is such a high maintenance baby.  But in general, Harper loves Paige and would do most anything for her.  

March was a bit rough but it's over and I'm hopeful that April will be much better!  Paige is getting big and the sun is coming out and life is looking up.  No one likes winter anyways.  I am thankful for friends and family who have helped this month.  Visitors that came by.  And my amazing sister who came and stayed for three days and gave me back a piece of my sanity.  Carleigh spent half her spring break helping me with the girls.  She cleaned, held babies, entertained Harper, kept me from being lonely, and made me laugh everyday.  I am so thankful for her!

I found this old gem on Cody's phone.  I did so good eating healthy and working out during my pregnancy and felt pretty good towards the end.  This was the week before she came and I finally caved and just let myself have ice cream.  Of course he took a picture of me eating out of the carton, but there wasn't much left!

Paige is 2 months old!

Paige is 2 months old!  She is getting so big!  She was 10 pounds 15 ounces and 21 3/4 inches long at her check up.  She is doing so good.  Eating and sleeping pretty decent for 2 months.  She is on a lactose free formula since we think she may be lactose intolerant.  It seems to have helped her fussiness at night.  She drinks 8 bottles a day, about every 3 hours, give or take.  Usually about 3 ounces, but can drink less than 2 if she's too tired or more than 4 if she's really hungry.  She burps pretty well and it's usually a loud one.  She eats and plays for about an hour, and then sleeps for an hour or two.  Then repeats.  She takes an early morning nap and a long afternoon nap and then she is usually extremely happy after both.  It's her happiest time.  She is finally sleeping at night, waking after 3-4 hours and going right back to sleep.  It's nice because I'm not super tired anymore and I can usually count on 7ish hours of sleep.  She really is a sweet, good baby.

She is a pretty happy baby most of the time.  She laughs and coos and smiles a ton.  Especially after a good nap and bottle.  She loves to watch Harper dance and talk to her.  She never fusses when Harper is entertaining her.  She likes people but if she is tired she wants her mama mostly.  During her awake hour, she plays in her lamb chair (it's a first!) and her playmate.  She likes to look at the animals and loves to stare into the mirror.  She has started to like her paci when she is upset or tired.  But she doesn't really need it to sleep and she still can't hold it in for long.  She can hold her head up almost steady and loves to be up looking around.  She hates the dogs because she isn't used to their bark and it scares her every time.  She doesn't even really like to be outside.  It's been windy this spring and I don't think she likes it.  Plus, she really dislikes light in her eyes, so if the sun is shining, she would rather be inside.  She is getting used to her car seat and will sleep in it sometimes.  I have even gotten her to transfer asleep a few times.  She sleeps in her crib most of the time.  Every now and then, she sleeps on me if she is fussy.  She does take a cat nap on the couch at night between her feedings, because it's usually only 30 minutes to an hour.  She does love to be held and rocked though, it's a sure thing when she is fussy.  Overall, she is an easier baby at this point than Harper, so I'm thankful for that.  

Paige is well loved.  Everywhere we go, every thinks she is beautiful.  All of our friends love holding her, which is so sweet.  And of course, Harper would hold her any day of the week.  Everyone at BSF has been kind and always wants to see her.  And I'm thankful they don't mind when she makes noise during lecture.  She always seems to have hiccups during class.  I am getting used to 2 kids, but it's still way easier to stay home and relax and let Paige nap.  She just doesn't like to be moved a lot or woken up during her nap.  So going from place to place while she sleeps makes her cranky.  And theres only so long that you can listen to her scream in the car before you just stop.  It has taken me awhile to just be ok with the days that she needs me to hold her and I get nothing done.  Or to understand that Harper's bad moods coincide with Paige's neediness.  2 is definitely a learning curve. It feels like we have been "just surviving" for so long, but it's only been 2 months and we are already started to progress.  And for that, I'm thankful.  

Don't ask why Harper is naked.  It's so common around here these days, that I honestly can't remember.  But she had to get in at least one picture with sister.