Easter

Marley, Courtney, Isabell, Lily, Cash, and Chase

My mom with her kids and all grandkids!

On Easter Sunday the girls and I went to my moms in Avoca.  We had a very nice lunch.  After eating we cleaned up and went outside to see what the Easter Bunny had left for the kids.  Lily did a great job hunting eggs considering this was only the second time she had done it.  She just wasn't very quick though...

Isabell, Courtney, Lily, Chase, and Cash  

Momma and Marley in the new Ergo... she fell asleep!

After hunting eggs the Lily, Cash, and Chase went for a tractor ride with Grandpa Mike.  This was Lilys first ride in a tractor.  Seems like she enjoyed it!  While Lily was on the tractor ride we emptied the candy out of her eggs and put it in a ziploc bag.  She seemed rather upset that the eggs were all empty.  I kind of felt bad that she didn't get to do it...

this couldn't have been very comfortable...

The Easter bunny waited until Brian got off work to deliver baskets.  Since Lily was bummed about the candy in her eggs the Easter bunny had another hunt for her at home.  She had so much fun!!! 

She just LOVES to scream at the top of her lungs!

Aunt Teresa, Papa Mike and Taylor visited later in the evening...

Happy Easter

Here is the Easter card I sent out to family and friends.  I had the card designed on my favorite site Etsy.  I purchased the digital file then uploaded them to Shutterfly to have them printed.  So easy and not too pricey!

Gwenmariedesigns.etsy.com

Hope everyone has a Happy Easter!!!

Lately...

Oh dear Marley is still quite needy.  The other day I swear she cried for an hour and a half.  The poor girl was hoarse.  I would pick her up and get her settled back down then as soon as I'd get up she would scream.  I could see that her gums were swollen and I could feel a corner of one tooth.  I ended up giving her a dose of Tylenol and some more Oragel.  That calmed her down for a bit. 

Lily trying to calm her sister down while I got dinner ready...

finally a tv show calmed her down for a bit...

ahh... a much needed snooze!

Lily reading a story with daddy

Brian didn't want me to take a picture of him with the Baby Bjorn because he said I would put it on Facebook.  Well he didn't say I couldn't put it on the blog so here goes!  I got the Baby Bjorn a week ago in an attempt to help us get some things done around the house.  Marley did ok in the carrier but I think it is uncomfortable.  It doesn't offer a lot of support for your back.  I think this will be Brians carrier and I got myself and Ergo yesterday.  I have yet to take a picture because I've been home by myself with the kiddos.  Hope to get one soon!

This was another tearful afternoon.  Poor girls teeth need to come in so she can have some relief.  Lily tried so hard to help calm her down. 

aah... a much brighter couple of days.  Marley seems to be a lot happier!  She is rolling very well back and forth.  You put her down on the floor and she is over and back before you know it.  There is no stopping her now!



Silly Lily!

Today Aunt Teresa and Taylor stopped by to give the girls their Easter gifts.  Lily got a cute Tinkerbell nightgown with slippers and a headband.  And of course some candy!  Marley got a cute summer outfit that was much needed.  Thank you Aunt TT, Taylor and Kurt!

Homemade Baby Food

Since I wasn't able to continue breastfeeding with Marley I really wanted to give the home made baby food a try.  It really has been fun so far!  And not that hard either.  First round we fed Marley avocados.  These were very easy as all you have to do is mash them up and go.  I froze the rest of the avocado in slices in press and seal then in a Ziploc bag.  We can take them out of the freezer in the morning and they are good to go by dinner time. 

Next I baked sweet potatoes.  2 large sweet potatoes on a baking sheet for a little over and hour.  I let them cool on the counter then transferred them to the food processor.  I only had to a little bit of water for them to be at the right consistency and voila... I kept out enough in the fridge for a couple of days then froze the rest in these cute Beaba food trays from Williams Sonoma.  Once frozen you pop them out and put in a Ziploc bag back in the freezer!

mmm sweet taters!!!

After about 4 days we moved on to bananas.  Another easy fix.  Mash them up and go.  So easy!!!

This morning while carrying Marley in our new Ergo I decided to make her peas.  I was worried these would be much harder to make but they ended up not being too bad.  I bought frozen organic peas, steamed them for about 6 minutes, rinsed them in cold water and then transferred them to the food processor.  I pureed these bit longer to make sure they were nice and smooth.  Something tells me she won't like these as well tonight but we will see!

...and the peas were a HIT!!!

Lilys allergic reaction!

Yesterday, Brian called me and work and said Lily woke up with red bumps all over.  I said, "what do you mean, red bumps?"  He sent me a few pictures and I called the doctors office right away.  Lily started Amoxicillin a week ago for her cold that wouldn't get better.  This is the first time she has ever taken an antibiotic.  The doctors office called me back and said that a small percentage of children develop an Amoxicillin rash.  She said there is nothing harmful with it as long as it isn't hives or as long as she isn't itching.  OK?  Seriously?  Anyway she seemed ok lastnight other than the itching on her feet. 

When she woke up this morning it was much much worse.  The red bumps had turned into much larger red welts.  I took more pictures and sent them to Brian at work and called the doctors office back.  Lily was itching her legs and her belly quite a bit.  Poor girl looks horrible!

The doctors office called moments later and definitely said she was having an allergic reaction and to stop the antibiotics.  Maybe I'm just a worried mother but don't you think they would have wanted to look at it yesterday?  Whatever...  So now she is to take Benadryl for a couple of days until the hives clear up and can never take Amoxicillin again...

Here are the welts on my poor baby...

 Ouch

Right Leg

Left Leg

 We hope this clears up very very soon!  Get better baby!

Day 2 of baby food

Day 2 of avocado went perfect.  Marley at the entire bowl!  I really hope she is our good eater! 

Big sister Lily even helped!!!



Oh and I almost forgot... A couple of days ago we began to transition Marley from sleeping swaddled.  She has been sleeping in velcro swaddle wraps since she was a few weeks old.  We have also had her crib elevated and her legs over a boppy pillow so she wouldn't slide down the crib.  I don't want to put my foot in my mouth but Marley sleeps so good.  She hasn't woke up in the middle of the night since she was a month and a half old.  She goes to bed about 9:30 and gets up anywhere between 8 and 9 in the morning.  She does still sleep with a white noise machine. 

So a couple of days ago we wrapped her up in a new sleep sack I had bought that has the ability to have the arms in or out.  We began taking one arm out of the swaddle at first.  It took her a little longer to go to sleep and she woke up once about 2:30 and was back asleep in about 20 minutes.  She just sucked on her hand and eventually got tired. 

Then lastnight I took the boppy pillow out and made the crib level.  She went to sleep immediately.  Maybe she enjoyed being stretched out! 

Then today I for her nap I switched the arm in which I left out of the swaddle.  She napped for 3 hours!!!  So far so good!

This morning the girls and I went to JCPenney.  We had a Christmas gift card to use up and Miss Marley needed clothes for warmer weather.  Lily saw a Disney princess suitcase right away and continued to play with that while I picked out a few things.  Since Lily sort of behaved for the trip I let her pick out a nightgown.  She picked an Ariel mermaid nightgown that came with ballet slippers. 

As I've mentioned before Lily calls ballet items "betta days".  She oohed and aahed over them.  Lily wanted to put the nightgown on when we got home but I told her I would have to wash it first.  While the girls were napping I did a few loads of laundry and washed it.  When Lily woke up from her nap she put on the slippers...  Then when Brian got home I was folding the clothes and she saw the nightgown.  She asked to put on her "murry" nightgown.  Thats code for mermaid.  So she is wearing it now eating her snack and watching her cartoon...  Silly girl!

Marleys 1st taste of homemade baby food...

Marley had her first taste of baby food yesterday as well.  We were given the go ahead from our pediatrician to start baby food when we felt Marley was ready.  She mastered eating her cereal a couple of weeks ago so we figured we would give it a try.  When Lily was a baby we talked about making our own baby food but ended up not doing it.  This time around when we failed to continue breastfeeding I figured we could at least give Marley the added benefits of homemade baby food. 

I have been doing a little research over the last couple of months and started to prepare myself for the task.  The first food we chose was avocado.  Very simple to prepare considering it does not need to be pureed.  I just mashed up the avocado and mixed in a little cereal and formula.  We really weren't sure how Marley was going to like it.  To our surpise she LOVED it.  Who doesn't love avocado?  There weren't really any funny faces and in fact she acted like she wanted more!  So overall it was a hit!