Growing

I know I have had a few sappy posts about Addie growing up, but it seems that all she is doing these days. 
She still needs reminders to do things and she can be an awfully pokey puppy in the mornings, but she does a lot on her own these days. 
She makes her bed pretty much every day, more or less on her own.  Occasionally I have to help her get her pink comforter back up on the bed, but she does the sheets, the pillows and the decorations on her own. 
She dresses herself many days - to be fair I lay out her clothes on school days, but her own unique sense of style shines through on nonschool days.
She can brush her own hair and teeth and is perfectly capable of picking up her own messes.
For awhile now she has helped herself to drinks and snacks, but last week was a milestone - she made herself a peanut butter sandwich and cut it into fourths.
I know, amazing.

Next thing I know she'll be borrowing my shoes, snagging my car keys and demanding an allowance. 

I think holding bitty little Brenna in my arms makes Addie seem like an giant - that and her new Chuck Taylors.

Dear heavens, when did my baby's feet get so darn big?

Photos on Friday

 JOHNSON FAMILY CHRISTMAS

(Minus about 5 family members)

Brenna and Uncle Jeaf without his creepy face mask

Brenna doesn't seem so sure about Uncle Jeaf & Emmett

Hanging on Papa's lap

Meeting and loving cousin Emmett

Gram and Papa's visit

Thankful Thursday

This Thursday I remembering to thankful.

Addie is thankful for her stuffed Uni

I am so very thankful for my family.  I am thankful for their opinions, their oddities, their voices, their hugs, their health.  An old friend unexpectedly lost his amazing brother this past week- thinking of all he is going through makes me realize how lucky I am for family have.  Yes, at times we don't see eye-to-eye, and of course each of them can drive me batty in their own special way, but they are my family and I love them.

I am thankful for my husband.  He gets up every day and goes to a stressful job, yet he still manages to come home to our chaos with a smile.  He knows when I am at my breaking point, takes over the girls and orders me upstairs to the bathtub with a glass of wine.

I am thankful for friends who pick up the phone, shoot off funny texts, get on airplanes, and drive for hours for a visit. I feel so lucky to have friends near and far who let me rant, help me laugh and keep me sane.

I am very thankful for my daughters.  Both of them.  I love the one that coos and ahhs and shrieks and dirties diapers.  I love the one that has endless questions, demands attention and is generous with hugs and kisses.  I am thankful for who they are helping me become.


I am so very thankful.

Two Months....

In order to not completely fail as a mother, this time at Brenna's check up I took notes.  She's doing pretty well for a brand new person.  She's meeting all the milestones - tracking with her eyes, smiles, coos and aaahhs.  Her neck is strong - although the doctor is concerned that she might have a tight muscle on one side and now in addition to to tummy time I have to do daily neck "exercises" her, she is not thrilled at the idea.  Then again neither am I.  And neither of us were very excited about the two shots she got today!

Her two month report card is:
Height:  22.5 inches/55th percentile
Weight:  10 lbs 6 oz/36th percentile
Head:  16 inches/89th percentile

I keep saying that I think Miss Brenna takes after my body type and Addie takes after Andy's.  At two months old Addie was a full inch taller than Brenna, but weighed 9 ounces less - she really was quite the spider monkey.  The doctor wants to continue to supplement Brenna four ounces of formula a day and we'll head back next month for a weight check...but no more shots until March, thankfully.

This pictures were taken, of course,  before Brenna had her horrible, mean shots.  Mornings are her best time of days lately - she is full of smiles and coos.  That sweet face and sounds are even more adorable after she has slept for 7.5 hours straight like she did last night.  High Five Brenna Bear, High Five!

Wednesday Chat

Mama?  I cried at Nicholas' house today.
You did?  Why did you cry at Nicholas' house today, babe?
Just because I wanted you.
You wanted me?  Why, honey?  Did you and Nicholas have a fight?
No Mom.  Nicholas and I don't fight, we're best friends.  I just wanted you.
Why did you want me babe?
Just because I never get to see you anymore Mama and I miss you.

In case you were wondering how to break a mother's heart, this conversation is a perfect example.

Morning Snapshot

Every morning, while getting ready for school, they chat and chat.  Addie tells Brenna what she hopes she will do at school and about her dreams.   She reads her stories and sings her silly songs.  And Brenna dutifully listens.

Ringing in 2012

Last year's New Year Eve was chaos at our house - cases of champagne, bowls of punch, mad Minute to Win It competitions.  There was a  broken chair, red wine spilt on the family room floor, two dozen cream cheese based snacks.  There were many hangovers chased away by New Year's Day drinking

This year we only had two house guests. There was one bottle of champagne, talk of punch but no actual punch, a few rounds of Pretty as a Princess and CandyLand.  I am pretty sure there weren't even hangovers.

There was a lot of game playing, TV watching and snickerdoodle eating.  On New Year's Day there was also a dusting of snow...which may have been Addie's favorite thing of the year's start. 

While I loved the festivities that ushered in 2011, the quietness of ringing in 2012 was fabulous.  It was great to be with my girls, to be with wonderful friends and to not have to scrape champagne off the ceiling.
 
I didn't bother to make actual resolutions - I almost never follow through on them anyway.  Instead I have some suggestions to myself.

• I would like to remember that these days of tiny shoes, diapers and "play with me, mommy" are numbered.  They may be exhausting days, but they are fleeting and precious.
• I would like to remember that I do not have any house elves, but I do have a helpful husband and a four year old you can lend a hand, and when I need or want help I should ask.
• I would like to get off the couch and off the computer more often - whether it's heading to exercise, going for a walk or playing on the floor.  It's important to be an active participant in my life.
• I would like to do more to make my home my own, personalized and comfortable, lived in and warm, organized and functional.
• I would like to try more recipes and learn to cook something well other than chicken.
• I would like to be more present in my life and more patient with those around me.  This year instead of focusing on all the  little details I will, instead, worry about the broad strokes....at least until I get all caught up in the details.

Christmas...

Christmas still hasn't ended here at Chateaux Neyer - the Johnson family celebration is still a week away! We have, however, finally de-Christmasfied the house. I guess technically there is still one more tree to be disassembled, but our real tree was officially evicted last night, leaving 80 percent its needles strewn throughout my entry way. With everything boxed up the house seems a little less cozy and sparkly.Our main celebration went for four days - Christmas Eve through the 27th.
Gramma Kathy arrived in balmy Cincinnati on the 23rd, much to the delight of her girls (and her Andy, of course). Christmas Eve day we continued the Addie/Gramma cookie extravaganza tradition. Gramma and Addie whipped up pecan caramel cookies for the neighbors, which we later delivered. They also toiled over a batch of delicious snickerdoodles as requested by Santa himself.

We spend every Christmas Eve with Andy's Grandmother, GG, and his entire extended family. It is the only time in the year that GG gets to see her entire family and quite a bit of spoiling occurs. Family camps out in the basement, in chairs and around the bar, while Uncle Ed dutifully hands out gifts, one by one. We get a bit spoiled by GG and Secret Santas, but Addie, and now Brenna, really get regaled with gift after gift. Both girls got beautiful new clothes, books and toys. Addie really cleaned up with a baby doll care kit, four foot tall paper dolls, roller skates and her own make up kit - all of which have become fast favorites.
We made it home a little before midnight and Addie scrambled off to bed once she put out Santa's snickerdoodles. After a tired glass of wine in front of the tree we also headed to bed, preparing for an inevitably early morning.

Early morning? Ha! My little elves didn't tumble out of bed until 9 a.m. Talk about a fabulous Christmas gift! While we waited for Grandma Patty and Aunt Nikki to come over, Addie and Brenna opened their stockings and us grown ups enjoyed our coffee before the storm of gift opening began.

Unlike past Christmases, this year it was a long, yet somehow enjoyable, event. Addie wanted to play with each gift she opened instead of just plowing on to the next. She made sure to help pass out other gifts and loved seeing what Brenna received. Brenna handed out some coos and ahhs and smiles...but mostly she just slept
through her first Christmas hoopla.
We spent many hours lazing, eating and playing - just as Christmas should be. And, even though the girls had living room full of gifts, the next two days were spent celebrating with Andy's extended family and then with our immediate family.

To say that our house is now busting at the seams would be a colossal understatement.While we love the generous gifts that were lavished upon us, it was was being together that was the best gift.

Having our little family healthy and happy? I'll put that on my list to Santa every year, and be perfectly happy if that is all he brings down our chimney.

One Month

Somehow, over three weeks ago, Brenna turned one month old.  How is that possible?  Ever since Addison was born I have been told "don't blink, it all goes by so fast"...dear heavens, I think I understand that now. 
Most of the past seven weeks have been a blur of holidays and interrupted sleep, visitors and interrupted sleep, nursing, preschool and interrupted sleep.  The transition to two has been much less stressful than I anticipated - sure I am tired and at times feel completely overwhelmed, but compared to the first two months of figuring out motherhood with Addie, this is a dream.

I didn't start this little blog until Addie was already two months old - basically  because I was nonfunctional.  From what I remember of the first month or so, the first time around, there were lots of tears and frustration.  Every little thing Addie did sent me running for the phone to call my mom, or to my supply of parenting books to make sure I wasn't messing her up.  I worried about nursing and sleeping and television exposure and just about everything else.

This time around?  This time I seem to be able to remember to breathe.  For heavens sake Brenna went five days without a dirty diaper and I didn't even pick up the phone to consult with our pediatrician.  On the fifth day I was rewarded with quite a load of lovliness.

Brenna's first month is blur of nursing and not cooking.  We were spoiled rotten by neighbors and friends who cooked for us and we had no qualms calling for take out.  Brenna spent the first two weeks of life sleeping in our arms pretty much around the clock - she didn't like her bassinet, her crib or the magic swing.  She liked her Mom and Dad and she liked very much to be wide awake at four in the morning.

Our neighbor commented that she was a very zen baby - she seemed to be content with just being, and while she fussed it was not an epic amount of fussing.  From the get go, Brenna nursed like a champ.  She was  an instinctual nurser, unlike Addie who was totally blase about the whole process.  I am sure having a baby who nursed with ease also made this second stab at motherhood that much less stressful.

The downside of being the second born?  The strength of Mom's memory.  I can't recall what the doctor reported on Brenna's one month stats...I know that she lost weight, from 9 lbs 6 oz at her first official doctor's appointment, to 8 lbs 15 oz at the one month check up.  Of course this threw us through a bit of a loop - did she have a touch of the stomach flu?  Was she not getting enough from nursing?  Did she have a milk sensitivity?  Even now we don't have any of those questions answered - but we started supplementing her with four ounces of formula and at her last weight check she had chunked back up.

In nine more days Brenna will be two months old...and I will try to remember to write down all her numbers when we're at the pediatrician.  For now I will congratulate myself on just getting her fed and bathed, which is better than I am doing with her sister, but that's a story for another time.

Oh yeah, I have a blog.  There is, without a doubt, plenty to write about these days...but somehow there seems to be very little time to actually write.

I wrote those first two sentences a solid 36 hours ago - point well illustrated.

Right before Christmas Miss B turned one month old...one whole month! 

I am now typing this blog entry one-handed eight days after initially starting it....while looking longingly at a glass of red wine.

So here's what's coming down the pipeline when have the use of both hands:

**Brenna turning one month old
**Christmas craziness
**New Year quietness
**Being married to an older gentleman
**Figuring out how to stay sane