More pictures

Yes I was in a picture-taking sort of mood this weekend!
And there are even more at Flickr- just click on one of the pictures and it'll take you there to see more.
You know what I love about digital cameras? You can take naked pictures and don't have to worry about the perverted photo lab guy keeping them or refusing to give them back to you. Oh yeah, and you can take lots and lots of pictures, ditch the ones you don't want without having to worry about wasting an entire roll of film.

Here's our house...


The Saturday morning coffee...


The newly refinished deck


The almost-two-year-old who can be SO cute and sweet, yet can turn right around and be a big pain-in-the-butt!

Self Portraits Friday!

Here we go:

Stuff that makes you wonder "What Was I Thinking?"

Bad, bad, bad! I'm not sure what I was thinking... they taste sooooo good with beer!
I quit when I got pregnant with Sophie (one of the hardest things ever to do). But they are still so tempting and now that I'm not pregnant it's nice to indulge every once in awhile.

Stuff you're obligated to keep/display

I feel obligated to keep this wonderful eliptical trainer that I have. It's great for when I actually exercise. But for some reason I just haven't found the time to get on in the last year or so. (hmmm, maybe I'm spending too much time on the computer) But "I SWEAR I'm gonna use it." Someday.

Something you think no one else owns

I KNOW no one else has a dress quite like this one. Isn't it fabulous?
An original made by my mother back in the 60's. I used to wear it as a child for dress-ups. And now... well I do have a wedding to go to next weekend...

I'm going CRAZY!

Somebody please tell me these "terrible twos" don't last an entire year! And I certainly don't want to hear it's longer!
It has gotten absolutely ridiculous around here! Where did my cute, sweet Sophie go??
She has entered some invisible doorway that said "Welcome to the terrible twos!" We did not see this door (and she's not even two yet), but you DEFINITELY know she's gone through!
She is driving me CRAZY!!! The whining and crying and screaming that goes on ALL day long! Sometimes I want to strangle her, or tape her mouth shut at least. She is frustrating the living bejeesus out of me. I try to be patient, but everything has to be "just so" for Sophie. And dare you get it WRONG!!
What really gets me is that after 20 minutes of trying to get Holden to sleep, and he's finally resting peacefully... "WAAHHHHHHHHH!" Sophie starts wailing because I didn't get something exactly right. On the first try.

"No not that cup Mommy"
"Ok, this cup Sophie?"
"NO,not THAT cup. THAT cup!"
"This one?"
"NOT THAT ONE!! NOT THAT ONE!! WAHHHHHH!!" stomping her feet and crying now
"Ok, go get the cup you want."
"NO CUP!! NO GET CUP!! NOT THAT ONE!!"
"Fine, you get this cup and if you don't want it, don't drink it."

I answer Dwayne's phone the other day...
"That's not your phone. THAT'S NOT YOUR PHONE!! THAT'S DADDY"S PHONE! THAT'S NOT YOUR PHONE!!" stomping feet and crying again

"I'm hungry Sophie."
"I'm hungry Mommy."
"Me too."
"No, you're not hungry."
"I am hungry. Let's get some food."
"NO!! You're NOT hungry Mommy!"
Ok
"YOU'RE NOT HUNGRY!! YOU'RE NOT HUNGRY! IT'S NOT YOUR TURN HUNGRY!!"

Geesh! This goes on with every. little. thing.
When will it end??!!!??

Unbelievable

Dwayne and I got a babysitter on Sunday so we could enjoy some time together out on the boat. Went to Lake Austin, met up with some friends, had a few beers, some great music...fun times. As we're cruising down the lake, we see another boat go by (well lots went by), but a few seconds after this boat went past we see it vear off and then there's a huge wall of spray coming from the bank.
We look at each other, we're like "Was that just a boat? No, had to be a jet-ski. A boat did not just crash into the shore."
Either way, we knew we had to get over there to help somebody out. We get to the bank and after all the spray from the propellers stops, we see it IS a boat!


(the picture is after the guy's taken away and the boat's all cleaned up)

Un-freaking-believable! We watched this guy run his boat, full speed into the bank. He get's up and we're shouting "Are you OK? Is there anybody else with you?", cause we only see one guy.
He stands up, wobbling, waves his hand "I'm ok" and kind of waves us off as if there was nothing wrong. Meanwhile there's blood rivering down the boat from him. He is obviously NOT ok! We head over to help him along with our friends in their boat, call 911, and try and help the guy. It took FOREVER to finally get the EMS and police there to help. Um, thank goodness it was not a life-or-death situation because he would've been dead. And speaking of dead, this guy was LUCKY. Had he been a few feet to the right or left he would've smashed into a tree and really been messed up if not dead.
We ask the guy what happened. "Um, the boat's got some tricky steering"
Yeah, well you do have to keep your hands on the steering wheel.
"Have you been drinking?"
"Just a few beers. Maybe 4."
Probably 4 in the last half an hour. The guy was drunk!
He had just dropped off his friends so he was by himself. Luckily he realized he was going to crash and got in the middle of his boat, which wrecked his leg (that's where the blood was coming from). If he has stayed in the driver's seat it would have been his head- ouch!
After all the chaos and an hour of our babysitting money gone to helping this idiot, we're just glad he crashed into the bank and not our boat. People like this should not be driving a boat.

Stuff Portraits Friday

So this is what all the cool bloggers do on Fridays. And since I'm cool, I'll be doing it now too! Enjoy the pictures.
Each week will be something new according to Kristine.

Something I have that I want more of

Something I have that I want more of
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

jewelry of course. I love earrings and necklaces. *hint, hint Dwayne*
Diamonds would be nice.

Something I have that I want less of

Something I have that I want less of
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

Ugh! This baby fat could go away! Seriously I wouldn't miss it at all.
Hopefully a couple more months and I'll be back down to my pre-pregnancy size.

Something I have that I am completely satisfied with as is

Something I have that I am completely satisfied with as is
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

My adorable children!! Just the right number. I love them to pieces!!
So go ahead and make a comment and tell me how cute they are.

3 month old Holden

3 month old Holden
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

This is Sophie's attempt at dressing him. She got the hat on and was trying for more socks.

It would have made a really funny movie

Oh the chaos of today! Would have loved to have captured it on film so I could watch it and laugh my ass off later over a cold beer.
Here's how it went down:
We set up a little pool in the yard, so I thought we'd invite a few of Sophie's little friends over to play. They could swim in the pool, play in the sandbox, we could order some lunch, and us moms could chit chat. No big deal. Sounds like a nice little morning.
WRONG! If only my daughter were a little more easy going and didn't have such a humangous problem with sharing her toys...
the pool was fun for everyone, the sandbox and swingset was good too. But come 11:30ish, it all went downhill. Hungry and tired kids (a great mix for some serious crying). We went inside to feed some of the little kids and dry off, change clothes. But poor Sophie had to be on the lookout if ANYONE were to touch and play with her toys. With 3 other kids that was a lot of work for her to keep up with! So dare anyone get one of her toys- "WAHHHHHH!...Mine, mine mine!...It's not yours, it's Sophie's!..." ok.
Then no one could sit in the chairs. The chairs were either Sophie's, Mommy's, or Daddy's. Certainly not our friends that came over to play and eat. And Ina's sandals. Don't know what the deal was with that, but Sophie wanted to carry them around and if Ina wanted them back- NOOO! WAHHHHH!!. And she wanted Mommy to hold her and make it all better. Except Holden would cry if I set him down, so I couldn't hold the two of them very well.
About this time, my cleaning ladies showed up. I had to drag the dogs downstairs into the garage. While I was doing this the doorbell rang and our food had arrived. I was getting the money out to pay him and then my phone started ringing, meanwhile the background noise is crying children, and one screaming child (mine). Then Holden started rooting around and crying because he was hungry too. I'm not kidding all of this happened at once! It was too funny.
So now I'm nursing Holden, standing up eating my food, trying to calm Sophie down, getting drinks for everyone and thinking how a morning that seemed so simple in planning turned out to be a lot more than that!
We laughed about it of course and said we should definitely do this again.
Oh yeah and then our inside cat, Archie, escaped and ran into the woods as they were leaving. We tried to capture him. No luck.

This day will go down in history

This was the day I got out of Target for less than $50! This has never happened before. Ever.
In fact my bill was $20. "How can this be?" I asked myself and the cashier. For a second I thought I might need to turn around and go back in to buy more. But I didn't. I wanted this to be a record breaking day! And it is. Mark this day down in history.
I mean even when I just run in to return something, somehow I find more things I need. And then my trip to return items and save money turns into a trip of buying more and suddenly at the checkout counter the lady says something unbelievable like $85 or $125 or sometimes even worse! And if I try to stay away from the store it's much worse. Because then when I finally do go I just end up spending that much more in the amount of what all my weekly bills would have all added up to.

Today I got to peruse the aisles of Target and Central Market ALL BY MYSELF. My weekly babysitter came to give me a break for awhile. Awesome! Had lunch by myself. So nice.

Next week Sophie starts back at school. She'll be going 3 days a week for three weeks. I think she's going to be happy. She'll get to see her friends, play, paint, color, sing songs, and do all kinds of other kid-fun activities!

new shoes

new shoes
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

These are Sophie's stylish new shoes.
She wants to wear them ALL the time now!

Absolutely Fabulous!

absolutely fabulous!
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

As soon as I woke up I wanted to wear my cool new shoes and sunglasses!
Don't I look fabby darling?

fun in the pool

fun in the pool
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

Here's Sophie in her pool (still in her pajamas) as we were filling it up. She just couldn't resist hopping in and splashing around! She had a blast!!
This is the girl who hates to get her hair wet in the tub you know.

more fun

more fun
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

I'm a total Obsessive Compulsive Freak!

And if you know anything about my family, you'll know where this comes from.
My lastest obsession is BO BICE! I've even taught Sophie to say "Bo Bice rocks!" (which actually comes out "Bo Bice has rocks!")
I'm so upset he lost American Idol, but it's ok because he'll be famous and awesome anyway!!!
So I've been online all day finding Bo Bice songs to download. Yes, I've gotten every song he sang for American Idol, and also found ones from his band, Sugar Money.
So if you too are obsessed with Bo like me you can find songs here and here.
I will also be ordereing his cd from Sugar Money.
This latest obsession stems directly from my other lastest obsession of downloading music. Dw bought me an ipod for Mother's Day and now I feel like I must have EVERY SINGLE SONG I'VE EVER LISTENED TO AND LIKED on it.
You can list these newest obsessions under my general "computer addiction" which also includes my compulsion to read blogs of complete strangers. I know I'm not the only out there with this problem!

bottle time

bottle time
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

Big sister likes to help feed Holden his bottle.

Lauren & Soph

Lauren & Soph
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

Here's Sophie and her "Aunt" Lauren at the Hawaiin Luau!

sleep tight

sleep tight
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

big boy

big boy
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

I just love the adult looking clothes they make for babies. Doesn't he look so grown up?

PISSES ME OFF

I'll tell you what really pisses me off.
It's these morons in their humango Suburbans, Yukons, Escalades, Pickups,...that can't park them! Anytime I go somewhere I'm bound to see at least one or two of these idiots in the parking lot that can't seem to get their ginormous frikin vehicle IN BETWEEN THE LINES!! I mean if you're going to drive one of these things (which I have nothing against) then learn how to park it!!

Yes, today I took the kids out to this little park and when we got back to the car- there it was.
Stupid idiot in an Escalade, parked over the line, so I could barely even open my door to get in.
I had to sqeeeeeze myself in and then try and maneuver Sophie into her carseat with like 6 inches of room.
Oh I was PISSSSED!!
Not only did my car door jam into their car, there was no other way around that, I felt obliged to write a little note to them. With no paper around I decided to leave a message on their rear windshield, writing into the dirt with my finger "JERK!" I had plenty of other names I wanted to use, but couldn't be totally obscene seeing there were lots of children in the area.
I'm going to start carrying little post-it notes around so when this happens again I can really give them a piece of my mind!

Things

Sweet things...
Sophie wanted Holden to sit on her lap today. She held him on her lap (with some help from Mom) and read him a story. She showed him the pictures in the book and told him what was on the pages. Holden stared up at her and gave her his big toothless grins!

Fun things...
Mom went out with the girls downtown for a night of fun! We started at Cubre Libre and had some nibbles and drinks. Then we headed to Cedar Street for some live music, drinks, cool people, and lots of dancing! Definitely need to do that more often!!

Hot things...
Two days in a row we've had record breaking heat. Already over 100 degrees. They say it's going to be a very hot and dry summer.

Sad things...
Sophie's last day of school was Thursday. Sad for her because she enjoys going to school and playing with her friends and teachers. Sad for Mom because I enjoyed the time off. I am looking at getting a babysitter to come one morning a week for the summer. This will give me a little break and time to run errands without having to lug two kids around with me.

Things to look forward to...
We'll be taking a trip to Canada this July. Should be a nice reprieve from the Texas heat! We'll visit with Dwayne's family and also celebrate Sophie's second birthday there.

What to do?

So here's the story.
We had really wanted to eliminate Sophie's pacifier by Christmas, and then it was gonna be by the time Holden was born, but for some reason or another it just didn't happen. She relies on the paci to help her sleep. (And we definitely wanted her to sleep!) She's only allowed to have it for naps and bedtime. But it needs to be a goner by the time she turns two (in July)!
I have tried putting her to sleep without it before, but she asks for it and cries until I give it to her. I have been talking it up a lot lately "Oh, Sophie big girls don't need paci's. Paci's are for babies, like Holden. Pretty soon paci's going to be gone."
So my question is should we:
A) just lose it one day. Tell her it's gone, we lost it, or threw it away, etc. and let her cry it out ??
B) make her a part of the losing of the paci. Talk it up for a day or so and then we throw it away together. Do the whole "you're a big girl" bit and "big girls don't need paci's" ??

Please send me your advice and comments!!

Party Weekend!

Yes it was a party weekend. However "partying" has a much different meaning now than a few years ago.
Before children, a party weekend meant an entire day out on the lake, lots of beer, smoking, and other fun activities that adults like to do. (ya know whatta I mean)*wink wink* Or a night downtown, live music, dancing, bar-hopping, meeting up with other friends,... you get the picture. Acting crazy if you wanted because you didn't have a daughter who watches everything you do and wants to do exactly the same. (no more flashing boobies down on 6th street- just kidding)

But nowadays, a party weekend consists of daytime affairs that are scheduled around naptimes. The partying involves bouncy moonwalks, balloons, birthday cake, kid toys, water guns, and crying because little kids don't know how to share.

The parties this weekend were indeed fun. Sophie had a blast playing at both of them! One was a Hawaiian luau and the other a birthday party for our one year old friend.

It's just a different kind of fun now.

May 11, 2002

May 11, 2002
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

Happy Anniversary!
3 years, 2 kids, and LOTS of great memories so far!

my siblings

I forgot to mention my sister and SIL/brother have both started their own blogs now too!
Check them out if you'd like.
Sister
SisterInLaw

Happy 2 month bday

Yesterday Holden turned 2 months old. Hard to believe it. I swear it was only 2 weeks ago!
At 2 months old he likes to...
smile at his Mom and Dad (and big sissy too)
talk to us, he tells us stories that sound like "ahh", "coo", and "goo"
hold his head up when he's on his tummy
cry when he rides in the car (why??)
And his favorite is to be in Mom's arms!

heads up

heads up
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

I'm a big 2 months old now!

Ima Cutie

Ima Cutie
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

All spiffed up ready to go to the mall.

More pictures

If you click on one of the pictures below it will take you to Flickr, where there are MORE pictures to look at!

And no, the ink stains never did fully come out of Sophie's Roots shirt. We tried Mama Duck's advice of rubbing alcohol, which made it a little bit lighter. And then a few soakings in OxyClean helped more of it come out. And then I bought some special stain remover specifically for ink and crayon stains- that worked the best. But after too many soakings the pink in the shirt started coming off too. I finally decided to give up and decided the shirt will be resigned to "play clothes" now.

smiles

smiles
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

My mom is the funniest lady in the world!

mom and Holden

mom and Holden
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

sunhat2

sunhat2
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

This strap tickles my chin.

Ponytail

Ponytail
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

Mommy was trying to put a ponytail in my hair. Haha, I'm too quick for her!

few more tidbits

a couple more things to tell...
Sophie had another poop on the potty Tuesday. Yea! But then in her diaper today. Oh well, at least we're on the right path...

And Holden had his first boner yesterday! I didn't realize they started this early. Oh Daddy was so proud!
I was changing his diaper and there it was- sticking straight up! At first I thought he was getting ready to squirt on me, so I covered it back up. But after repeating this many times, I realized he wasn't getting ready to pee, he had a boner! I touched it, and yep, it was hard. So I announced out loud, "Oh, Holden has a boner!" which my parrot, Sophie, proceeded to repeat "Holden has a boner. Holden has a boner."

I'm cheaper than you

I have some friends who will only buy their childrens' clothes at Gymboree or Gap. I secretly call them the "kiddie clothes snobs."
Gap, Gymboree...HA! I will never pay their prices!
"But the quality is so much better. They'll last forever and they don't fade."
Great, but how long is your kid gonna actually gonna wear them?? Probably 6 months or so before they outgrow them.
"Oh, Gap's having a really good sale right now. You get 2 for $20. You can mix and match the shirts and shorts."
Ummm, $20 is the sale??!! For a kid's outfit? That they will spill spaghetti sauce on, tear a hole in, color on, or simply outgrow in a few months? Don't think so. That's not much of a sale in my book.
Now a real deal can be found down at your local Target store (my FAVORITE store). 2 for $10 or sometimes even cheaper. There is nothing wrong with Target clothes. They're cute, afforable, and I've never had a problem with the quality.
The snobs say that Target clothes don't hold up like the other clothes. True. But if the shirt gets wrecked, who cares? you only paid a few bucks for it anyway. Old Navy ain't so bad either.
Now I'll say occasionally I do splurge and buy something full price for a special occasion- Christmas dress, an especially extra cute outfit Sophie has to have, etc. But I'd have to say my max price is still only about $15-20 for the whole outfit.
And I DO buy Gymboree or Gap... from the resale shop or TJMax. Shhhh. don't tell. Of course the snobs would know that Sophie's Gymboree shirt was so last season!

The big poop

Today was the day Sophie went poo poo on the potty for the first time!! She came and told me she had to go potty so I put her on. She said she was going poo poo (but she says that every time and only goes pee). I went to get a new diaper and when I came back... Surprise!... there was a load in her little potty! I was so excited I wanted to take a picture of it, but then decided that might be a little gross. I think only a mommy can get this excited over poop!
I went back out to get wipes, knowing darn well that if I left Sophie in there with it she was gonna stick her hand in it. Sure enough, I came back and she held out her hands with brown guck on them.
We watched the poop get flushed down the toilet and waved bye-bye to it.
I told Sophie I was soooo proud of her and gave her some stickers to celebrate.

A Fabulous Date!

Yes, a fabulous date we had Thursday night! Imagine this... a dinner without anyone screaming or crying, no mess to clean up, no cutting up food into bite size pieces, no nursing or holding a baby... just a relaxing dinner with good conversation, wine (yea for wine!), and some awesome sushi!
We tried the stylish, hip and swanky sushi bar, Kenichi downtown. (And did I mention pricey too?!)
It was worth it! Yummy yummy sushi! And wine. Can you tell I was excited to drink a little bit? Two glasses was all for me. I was already tipsy after that. Ok, I haven't drank in like 10 months- so yes, I'm a light-weight now!

And we also didn't have to pay for a babysitter. Our nice friends Lauren and Natalie came over to watch the kiddos. Lauren brought her weiner dog, Oscar, that Sophie LOVED!! She had so much fun with him. The next day she woke up and told daddy she wanted to see Oscar downstairs. "No sweetie, Oscar went home." "No daddy, Oscar downstairs. Lauren and Nabalee downstairs too." "Sorry Sophie, they had to go home." She didn't believe him till she came downstairs and saw for herself.
Hopefully Lauren, "Nabalee", and Oscar will come back to babysit soon!

hanging out

hanging out
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

This is my nonchalant pose.

smiles

smiles
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

And here I am playing sweet and cute.

the swing is fun!

the swing is fun!
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

Yea, my sister's sleeping and I can swing in peace!

I'm a swingin fool

I'm a swingin fool
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

Wee, this is fun!

bad Sophie, bad Mommy

bad Sophie, bad Mommy
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

Mommy wasn't paying attention very well while Sophie was coloring with the pen. oops! Look what happens when you leave your toddler alone for just a minute! Mom has been trying all sorts of concoctions to get the ink stains out of the cute Canadian Roots shirt. (Grandpa and Lori- if you ever come across another one of these I promise we'll take better care of it!!)

Walks and Swings

I have been trying to exercise almost everyday by walking my neighborhood. It's no easy stroll as our street is full of hills, but it makes for a very good workout! So now I've tried both ways: pushing the kids in the new double stroller (it's actually a new used stroller), and the other way of strapping Holden in the Baby Bjorn and pushing Sophie in the stroller. The results: they're both equally tiring! If I push them both I don't have to worry about sweating all over Holden. But if I carry Holden, he'll sleep. Maybe I'll switch back and forth depending on my mood.

And in other news, we got out the baby swing yesterday. Holden seemed to like it and actually stayed in it for longer than 10 minutes (that's about his max time in the bouncy seat or laying down by himself). It was looking very promising...until the swing crapped out and stopped working! Ugh!
Well I went out later to get a new swing. God Bless the inventors of the baby swing!!
He stayed in the swing 2 different times today and actually gave me a break from holding him all day!
It works out pretty well except that Sophie wants to push him in the swing-"Weeee!" she says as he flys up to the sky.
And she wants to push all the buttons on the swing too. Oy! I keep telling her to stop and try to distract her with something else, but it's apparently really fun for her to do this and irritate her mom.
Why doesn't she understand that Holden's actually happy, he's not crying, and he doesn't want whiplash from his big sister pushing him!
Oh we'll continue to work on this one...

Eating my words

Once upon a time... Dw, Sophie, and I would be shopping at the mall. I would see parents pushing their kids in double strollers and I would LAUGH! Hahaha! "Dwayne I NEVER want to have to push a double stroller! Let's space our kids apart so we don't ever have to have one of those!"
ha ha- the joke's on me. I am now one of those parents who pushes a double stroller. I broke down and bought one today. But it seems to be a whole lot easier then strapping Holden onto me and pushing Sophie. We'll take our first test drive today...

pretty pink toes

pretty pink toes
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

Look at our pretty pink toes!
Sophie got a pedicure from Grammy when she was here. Mommy went out and got a real one last week.
Sophie looks at her toes and says "Grammy painted Sophie's toes pink!"
She looked at Mommy's toes and said "Grammy painted Mama's toes too!"

Maple Leafs fan

Maple Leafs fan
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

A Leafs fan, just like his Daddy.

kids in jammies

kids in jammies
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

Happy Saturday morning!

A little bragging

My daughter ceases to amaze us everyday! Sometimes it's amazingly brilliant things she says or does, other times it's something cute and funny, and sometimes it's naughty little things she's discovered how to do or say.

Here are some of the brilliant things she can do right now:
she can count to ten,
she knows most of her colors
she talks up a storm,
she reads lots of books,
and she goes pee pee on the potty!

A few funnies & naughties:
She likes to announce when someone has "farted" or "tooted."
Mostly it's Sophie, Holden, or Daddy tooting, NEVER Mommy (*snicker, snicker*).
The other night Mommy did let one slip and Sophie says "I hear thunder!" Nooooo, that was just Mommy tooting!

Sophie is digging through her little purse that is filled with toys and stuff. She looks at Daddy and says "Too much crap in here!" Hmmmm, I don't know where she got that from?

Now that's what I'm talkin about

Woo hoo!! I got my new car!! Got to drive it home last night with no kids and the stereo blasting!
I got the Volvo XC90 SUV. Take a look if you want.
Mine is charcoal gray with the graphite (a fancier name for charcoal gray) leather interior. We got the V8 version that came fully loaded with every package option except the navigation system. Fancy shmancy! And who needs a navigation system anyway? I figure if I get lost I can call Dwayne and watch movies in the back on my DVD player till we're found!
What I'm really excited about it that the cars seats will be separated in the back! No more worrying about Sophie poking her brother or taking his pacifier or blankie. It's so much easier to put the carseats in and we have the optional 3rd row seating too. The other awesome part was that we got a $5K discount due to hail damage. We had a hail storm a couple weeks back and they discounted all the cars. The cars were fixed and you can't even tell there was any damage. Score for us!

Now that's what I'm talkin about!

We're home!!

Holden was released from the hospital today after all his tests came back negative and he was able to get off the oxygen. Yea!!! We are so happy to be home now. We'll take him back to the dr tomorrow for a check up. It will be a week or two before he's over this, but he's on the right track now.
Thanks for all the well wishes and kind words!

Hospital

I'm on a quick break from the hospital so I'm filling in what's been going on.

*Thursday afternoon I took Holden back to the dr because he was having labored breathing. His pulse/ox was low and the dr was concerned about his breathing. He received some nebulizer breathing treatments and we waited, but he wasn't getting any better. Dr said we'd have to take him to the hospital. Mom started crying then. I had called Dw and he met us at the dr's office. We all went to the hospital Thursday evening.

*Most of the days and times are a blur after that... Holden received more breathing treatments which didn't help a lot. He was really having a hard time breathing. They did a viral scan on him. That came back positive for RSV. RSV is a respiratory virus very common in babies and young children. It presents itself like a cold but with a lingering cough (exactly what Sophie had). It is more seroius for babies beause they're so little and their little lungs can't handle it well when they get congested. It's supposed to last about 2 weeks and it peaks somewhere between 3-6 days.

*Sometime friday Holden spiked a fever. The dr's had said if he spikes a fever they'd have to run a whole battery of tests to rule out meningitis or other infections. This was an AWFUL day!! Poor guy had to have a spinal tap, a cathader to get a urine (which didn't work the first time so he had that done twice), blood drawn- (they had to try about 4 differnt veins before they could get blood and then another one to get enough blood, and an IV for medicine. They got an IV on the 4th or 5th try but then later it didn't work or came loose so we had to do that all over again. This was so hard for Holden!- he cried nonstop for the hour and a half that it took to do all this. It was really hard for Mom to watch all of this! Of course I was crying too.
Holden was also put on oxygen to help him breathe.

*So Friday seemed to be Holden's worst day. He was still working hard at having to breathe and the drs were concerned. He continued to get breathing treatments and oxygen along with antibiotics in case the bacterial infections came back positive. You have to wait 48 hours to watch and see if bacteria grows on the cultures, so we knew we'd be at the hospital for another two days atleast.

*I haven't left Holden since we've been there. They gave me a bed in his room and they bring meals for me since I'm nursing him. He has been in my arms or his dad's the whole time. It is SO HARD to watch your little baby in so much distress and hooked up to all kinds of machines!!!

*Grammy flew down Friday evening to help out this weekend. That has been a great relief for us! It's good for Sophie too, to be on a somewhat normal routine and not get carted back and forth to the hospital all day with Dad.

*The good news is that he's getting better! He's still not great but he's on the right track. His heartrate's down, they've lowered his oxygen level, he's eating well, and his cultures have all come back negative so far. Hopefully we'll get to come home Monday or Tuesday!

*I pumped a bottle for Holden and he's at the hospital with dad for a little while. I came home to refresh myself and get out of that tiny hospital room for a few hours.

So that's the news. Thanks to everyone for your calls of wanting to help and your well wishes. I'll post again when we get back.

more sick kids

Sophie seems to be getting better from her cold. Lovely she passed it on to me. As if I didn't already feel tired and lousy. But the worst is that Holden has caught it too! It is absolutely horrible to listen to your newborn coughing so hard he turns red and pukes. And the poor guy can't breathe at night either. It's just awful!! Then he started getting this gooey yellow stuff in his eye. At one point in the night his eye was sealed close from all the goo drying. Took him to the dr yesterday and it turns out it's a blocked tear duct that had now become infected. He got some eye drops and it's already looking better. The dr also showed us how to massage his tear duct glands to prevent this again.
Hallelujah Daddy has been home most of this week to help out. I guess if the kids and I are gonna get sick, this was the best week to do it.

pretty girl

pretty girl
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

Notice the similarities between Sophie and the pic of her grandpa.

Grandpa Lum

Grandpa Lum
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

It's a little blurry, but here's the famous "granpalum" picture Sophie likes.

Grandpa and kids

Grandpa and kids
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

Grandpa and his sweet grandkids
(couldn't get Sophie to smile)

sick kid, no sleep

Our Sophie has a nasty cold right now. Lots of coughing, whining, very clingy and sleepy- but doesn't want to sleep by herself, only on mom or dad. This is SO much fun right now! As if we aren't missing enough sleep!! Now we have to deal with a cranky sick toddler. I actually feel really bad for her, she's also cutting a tooth right now. She just wants to be held. It's just hard when you've got another baby to take care of too.
Thank goodness Grandpa is here to help! Sophie has had fun playing with him (when she's doped up on Motrin and not whining). Although it's probably not the best of a visit for him. Sophie's usually a lot more fun! Hopefully she'll be better soon. Please!

And off on a tangent here...
How do other moms of 2 (or even 3) do it!!??!! Some of them make it look so damn easy too! And how about the ones that are actually well dressed, have their hair fixed and make-up on AND have babies & toddlers, that are also put together well?!? Those people piss me off, really only because I'm jealous. I have to tell myself they MUST have nannies at home. Right? Yes, that's it.
I mean I have to schedule my two showers for the week. And my teeth are not always brushed. Forget the hair being fixed. I usually mange to get some makeup on- but it might only be some smeared mascara that I only got on one eye and some lipstick. Oh one day I'll have time to look pretty again...

I'm an Aunt Again!

My sister popped and had her baby girl on March 31! A little thing of only 6 lbs, 12 oz. Poor thing got to the hospital too late and couldn't get her epidural. But I'm so excited for her!!

Grandpa Lum

We have this picture of Grandpa Lum as a baby and Sophie looks a whole lot like him. She loves to take his picture around, kiss him, sometimes she bites it too. She calls him Granpalum -one word- and it comes out something like "pampalum."
Grandpa Lum is coming tomorrow to visit us! We haven't seen him in over a year. We're excited!
I wonder if Sophie thinks Grandpa Lum is actually a baby. She will be surprised to find he's grown up now.

He's home!

YEAH!! That putty tat Archie finally came home last night. He must have been reading the blogs and knew I was worried. He came in, said his hellos to us, then headed straight for his food bowl.

Hormones!

Ahhh these crazy hormones of mine! I've only cried twice this morning so far. But then I've also been dancing around the house with the music blasting. I have the house to myself! At least for part of the day. Sophie's at school and Holden's sleeping.
How can you feel so helpless and overwhelmed one minute and then happy and confident 5 minutes later?!? I have to blame it on the hormones!!
Yesterday my mom left to go home and so it was my first real taste of what life is going to be like for me with two children. Sophie was pretty darn frustrating. I know she really just wanted my attention. She was getting into EVERYTHING and doing all kinds of things to make me mad. Everytime I had to change or feed Holden, Sophie was into something she wasn't supposed to, biting me, or pulling something down. I was in tears by the time Dw came home and we sat down for dinner. I know I must sound like a big wuss, but again I'm blaming the crazy raging hormones! I know it's them because while I was crying at dinner I'd look at Dwayne and bust out laughing. Laughing and crying at the same time!!! Has to be the hormones.

Where's Archie?

Archie, our fun loving family cat of 6 or so years has run away. He's an inside cat and has no front claws so we don't let him out. But he's an escape artist and waits at the door for just the right moment to dash out! He had his moment last Friday and escaped out the back door! Later that evening there was a big storm and even hail! I thought for sure he'd come running back home. He always comes home within a few days.
But it's been 5 days now! We've looked for him outside many times and now I'm really starting to worry. I'll start to cry if I think about it too much.
Where are you Archie?? Come home!!

Holden

Holden is a sweetie. He loves to cuddle and sleep on Mom. He sleeps peacefully a lot during the day, but seems to be more fussy and restless at night. So far at night he's only slept in his bassinet about three times. He just loves to sleep cuddled up on Mom. When I try to lay him down he always starts to fuss, and I just can't fall asleep to that. I'm hoping he'll learn to like his bassinet soon though, I just can't sleep soundly with him in bed with me.

He's definitely a different baby than Sophie. I guess since we only have one baby to base our baby experience on, you kinda expect a lot of things to be the same. But he's different and we're just starting to figure out how he works- what he likes, his favorite way to be held or soothed, what he doesn't like. etc. But sometimes I'm thinking "what the heck do we do now?" He's a lot more gassy than Sophie was and I've figured out he doesn't like garlic too much.

Sophie continues to be a good big sister, of course she definitely has her moments! She is obsessed with Holden and his paci. When he has it in his mouth she likes to tell us "Holden paci," when it falls out she makes sure to tell us "Holden's paci fell out" and when he cries she thinks he needs it "Holden need paci." When she finds his paci on the table she tells likes to smile and then stick in her mouth, that is after she makes sure to get my attention because she knows she's not supposed to have it and she likes to test her limits with Mom!
Sophie imitates a lot of the things we do with Holden with her baby. She rocks her baby, burps them, changes them, and now she lifts up her shirt to nurse them! She tells us she's feeding her baby milk. Since she's seen Mom nursing a lot she also likes to talk about boobies now. She likes to find them down your shirt too! She's discovered Mommy, Daddy, Oma, Grammy and even Sophie have boobies!

Busy

Well it's been awhile since I've been on here.
It's quite busy being a mom of two! Lots of diapers and crying going on. And not enough sleep. Plus we've had grandmas' staying here to help. And visitors over. And then Easter.
Oma (Dw's mom) had been here the last few weeks and just left Thursday morning. Sophie stayed very busy with Oma here and got to go to many fun places! What a blessing to have the extra help here also!
Then Wednesday Grammy (my mom) came. My mom has been very afraid of flying and has only done it twice before. But about a month ago she came to the conclusion that she would have a lot more time to visit if she didn't take 2 days to get here (either driving or taking the train). So she talked herself into the idea of getting on a plane to fly here. She did great!! Wasn't scared at all. She's also going to fly out to help my sister after she has her baby, which should be sometime very soon! I'm sad that she'll be leaving here tomorrow. I love my mom and there's just nothing else like spending time with her!!

We've had great help from the grandmas here so it will be quite a shock when I'm left to do it all by myself! That's coming up very soon...ahhhh!!

Panato

What's a panato?
Well according to Sophie it's either a potato or it can be a tomato.

Easter

Easter
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

Happy Easter to Holden

Happy Easter

Happy Easter
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

Look what the Easter Bunny brought me!

Eskimo kisses

Eskimo kisses
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

Sophie loves her Grammy!

cute kids

cute kids
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

Sohie likes to hold her baby brother

Getting out

Yes I finally got out of the house this past weekend. It was glorious! Some well needed family time and fresh air!
The Lum Fam (Mom, Dad, and the two kids) headed out about 11:00. We decided at about 9:30 to get ready so we could go out for the day. It took us well over an hour to get ready and out the door! Over an hour you say? Yes because if one child wasn't crying the other one was. They both wanted to be held, Holden needed to be fed, then his diaper needed changing. Sophie didn't like him getting more attention, so she would start whining. Then Holden pooped all over- time for another diaper and clothes change. He just didn't want to lay down by himself either. Still had to get Sophie dressed and changed. Not to mention Mom and Dad had to get showered and dressed. Mom took a little longer because she had to dry hair, do makeup, and find some freaking clothes that fit her! ARGH!- that's a whole other sad story- trying to find clothes that fit!! Maternity clothes too big and ugly, regular clothes don't fit, results=stretchy yoga pants and Dwayne's t-shirt.

Anyway, we did eventually make it out and decided to go look at some new cars for Mommy. Mom is desperate to get a new car that will be easier to get the kiddos in & out. Right now I drive a Land Rover Discovery, which I loved, till I had kids to tote around! The back door doesn't open wide enough for a person with a child or carseat to get through. And you can only fit the infant carrier in the middle seat, so right now Holden is right next to Sophie (I'm sure you can imagine what kind of things a toddler finds fun to do with her sleeping baby brother next to her) . Sophie is good with him for the most part, but she likes to pull his blanket off, take out his paci, among other things, and sometimes she puts the blankie back on- but it ends up over his face. So.. it would be a whole lot better if they were separated!

We ended up looking and test driving two different mid-size SUV's, the BMW X5 and the Volvo XC90. Both very nice cars. I had a blast test driving the Volvo! The lady was cool and we really put the car to the test. She was telling me what to do: Step on the accelerator and get that baby up to 70...take this corner at 60 mph...slam on the brakes...quick switch lanes at 50 mph...make a sharp u-turn, etc. The car was great in all the situations, I especially like that you can't roll it over!
We decided at the end that the Volvo would be a better choice for us for a number of different reasons.
So now we just gotta figure out how to pay for it and the car is mine! We really wouldn't mind getting a pre-owned one, except the model we need (the one with the V8 engine to tow the boat) just came out so there aren't any pre-owned ones.
Ahh, we'll see what happens.

One week old

One week old
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

Happy birthday to me!

Happy Birthday Holden!

Today Holden's one week old. We've survived the first week!
Thank goodness Dwayne's mom has been here to help. She's been taking Sophie out to play, putting her down for naps, and even cooking dinner for all of us. What will I do when I'm on my own!!??
I've been recovering the last week and trying to sneak in naps when Sophie's sleeping. Dwayne just went back to work today. Both trying to survive on little sleep.
Holden's doing well. His day goes mostly like this: Eat, poop, sleep, poop, eat, spit up, poop, sleep, and so on...
His only problem is staying awake long enough to nurse. We've had to really wake him up by changing him (he doesn't like that) before he eats. Then I have to stimulate him the whole time so he'll stay awake long enough to get in a good meal. This is fine during the day, but I'm so tired in the middle of the night I have to keep myself awake too!
Sophie has been adjusting pretty well. She likes to give Holden kisses and help burp him. She talks about him and pets his head when he's sleeping. She has really only gotten upset a few times when Daddy is holding the baby.
So far it's been bearable. When my help leaves I'm sure I'll have a different tune...

BTW, if you click on the pictures it will take you to another site (Flickr) where there are more pictures to see!

first bath

first bath
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

Mommy and Daddy gave me my first sponge bath. I didn't like it too much.

The Labor Story

So Thursday evening I was having contractions, but didn't think a lot about them since I had been having them every night. I was really uncomfortable though and decided to take a warm bath and the contractions went away. This was all just irritating since I wasn't going into labor.
But then I started having more contractions and Dwayne and I decided to start timing them (this was about 8pm). They were all over the place- 4 minutes apart, 40 seconds long, 3 mins and 45 secs long, 4 1/2 mins and 30 secs- I was just thinking what the heck does this mean??!!
So they kept coming and getting painful, Dwayne said we should call the Dr and I said no, let's just wait and see what happens (I kept waiting for them to go away like last time). Anyway they didn't go away, they got stronger. We called the dr, but after about 10 mins I couldn't wait for her to call back. I said "we gotta go to the hospital now!"
We got there about 10:30, I was 8 cm dilated already. Yikes! I immediately told them I wanted my epidural (my worst fear was that it was too late). At this point the contractions were excrutiating and the anesthesiologist was taking FOREVER to get there!! He finally got there and I got my epi, but about 3 contractions later I started pushing because that baby was coming out! It was absolutely the most painful experience ever!!!! I do not recommend having a baby without an epidural! I know I was screaming all kinds of things, I remember hearing myself yell "Get him out! Pull him out!" And he did come out after a few more pushes. Holden was born at 11:37 and my epi started working about 5 minutes after that.
He was so beautiful and I felt a WHOLE lot better after pushing him out!

It's Saturday now and we are all happy to be home. Baby Holden is doing very well. Daddy is tired. Mom is tired and sore. Sophie is learning about having a baby at home and having to share Mommy and Daddy's attention. (more about that later...)

I'm posting some pictures and then heading to bed for hopefully a few hours of sleep.

HE"S HERE!!!

Holden Michael Lum was born on Thursday, March 10 at 11:37pm.
He weighed in at 8 lbs 9 oz and was 21 inches long.
He's soooo cute!! I can't believe how big he is!

Going home

Going home
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

You'd think it was cold out the way my mom bundled me up.

Big Sister

Big Sister
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

Daddy and his kids

Daddy and his kids
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

Mom, Sophie, Holden

Mom, Sophie, Holden
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

Sophie likes holding her new brother.

Just born

Just born
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

Holden Michael Lum

Here's the news

First, there's no baby yet. Ugh! We had the usual weekly appt and really nothing exciting to tell. Still dilated, the baby will come soon, blah, blah, blah... I'm just so damn impatient though- I want the baby to come NOW!

Sophie's been having a great time with her Oma here. (Oma is Dutch for Grandma) We went and played outside yesterday and had lunch at Waterloo Icehouse. The restaurant has outside seating and a nice playscape for the kiddos to play on. Just wished I coulda had a nice cold beer! The weather's been absolutely gorgeous here- mid/upper 70s and completely clear skies!

Sophie's new thing with her baby is this: baby has to go wherever she does, but now you also have to bring the baby's hat, her blanket, and her bottle, and her other bottle. Sophie demands all of these come along with her.
Sophie also really likes to get into things she's not supposed to. Her favorite is splashing in the dog's water bowl! She does this at least 3 times a day and often says "no, no, no" or "bad" while she's doing it. I've tried different things to get her to stop, but so far none of my tactics have worked. Sometimes she stands there and specifically waits for one of us to look at her before she starts going to town. What a toot!

Sophie & Oma

Sophie & Oma
Originally uploaded by lucky lum.

Here I am with my Oma. I love to play with her!

False Alarm!

Friday Night...
We went out to eat at Macaroni Grill. Yummy! During dinner I start having contractions (the REAL ones) and they keep coming about every 5 minutes. So we're thinking "is this it?" We finished dinner and even ordered desert (a huge piece of delicious strawberry cheesecakefor me). We get home and the contractions are still coming on. We wait another hour and they're still regular at 5 mins, now we're thinking "this IS it!" We decide to call our "on call" people, Cousin Karen and Aaron, to come over so they can watch Sophie when we have to go to the hospital.
A few hours later...contractions still going at 5 mins, but not very painful yet. I thought we should try and get some sleep while we could before the hard labor began. We went to bed and I kept waking up every so often with the back pains from the contractions, then at some point I think they just stopped. I woke up around 5:30am and they were gone! GONE!!! What happened??!!! I was oh so disappointed! I was really ready for this baby to come!
We never experienced any false labor with the last pregnancy, so I thought that when then the contractions came on and were regular for so many hours -that meant we were in labor. Guess not!

Dwayne's mom flew in last night from Canada. We called her Fri, thinking we were having a baby and she got a ticket for the next day. She is happy to be here though and didn't mind that it was only a false alarm. Now we have built in babysitter for Sophie when the REAL day comes! And I sure hope that day is going to be soon!!!

Keep sending those 'labor' thoughts my way!

Friday Update

Here's the update from my OBGYN appt today.
I'm dilated 3 cm now and about 90% effaced. The baby is pushing it's head through to the other side. (Ok she did not say that, but I swear I can feel it!) And I lost another pound. Woo hoo- more brownines & ice cream for me to eat!
Last night I got a little concerned because the baby was going absolutely bonkers inside of me for over an hour! I mean non-stop moving-kick, punch, roll over, poke at the bladder, kick, punch, kick, etc.- anyway it just didn't feel right to me! I thought the baby was out of control and in distress. Of course Dwayne was not home last night and I had only my oh-so-rational pregnant mind to think this over with. I ended up calling the dr's after hours number and the dr who called back didn't seem too worried about it, said this sounded normal for a baby. Normal??!! It definitely wasn't normal for what I've been feeling everyday.
So anyway, today just to be safe my dr hooked me up to the monitor for awhile to check the baby's heartrate and fetal movements. Everything was ok! She said it was better to check and be safe than to have something go wrong. I love my dr! She didn't make me feel stupid at all about the whole thing.
It ended up the whole dr appt took over an hour! Dwayne and Sophie came with me and they were both very good!

Hopefully we won't have to return in a week for my next appt because I'll have had a baby by then!!
Cross your fingers and think "LABOR" thoughts for me!!

Just a few more things

+ I went to see "Million Dollar Baby" last Friday and it was great!! No surprise there I guess, since it won all those Oscars. I didn't read anything about the movie beforehand and wow! I was surprised. It was a much heavier movie than I had expected.
Go see it!

+Just finished a great book that I'll recommend also. The Da Vinci Code- if you haven't read it yet, you should.

+Sophie finally seems to be feeling better thank goodness! She's sleeping at night again which makes Dwayne and I much happier people!
Of course yesterday after I picked her up from school, her teachers told me how the kids in the M-W class are all sick with a stomach virus. Lots of vomiting and diarrhea- oh boy! that really sounds like something we want to get. Keep your fingers crossed that Sophie didn't pick up any of THOSE germs!

+It's funny how your personality and mannerisms really come out in your child. You hear it come out of their little mouths and then ask yourself "do I really say that that much?" It seems everyday Sophie spurts out something that her mommy says to her and it cracks me up.
Today it was "baby, carry you ALL day!" as she's carrying her baby around. The only thing Sophie left out was the word "can't"... "Mommy can't carry you all day!" I've also heard her tell her baby she's "too heavy." Hmmm.... can you guess is what she hears me say quite frequently?

+More updates to come Friday after my OB appt...

The Waiting Game

Waiting, waiting, waiting... is this baby ever going to come??
He is pushing down SO low now. I just keep waiting for his little head to poke through and look up at me! Needless to say, I am pretty uncomfortable. Lots of pressure down there, I can hardly walk (it is a definite waddle), and getting comfortable to sit or sleep is a big joke.
So... anytime now would be great!!