Five on Friday

1. Dan went to Chipotle. I asked for "chicken tacos with pico, guac and hot salsa." He came home with 3 tacos: one chicken and pico, one chicken and guac, one chicken and hot salsa. His justification? "Who eats 3 salsas?" Someone who can't have anything else on the menu!

Then, Dan goes to Starbucks, while I run into another store in that shopping center. I've been getting the 'pink drink' - Strawberry refresher with coconut milk. I asked for a venti because caffeine was necessary that day. I walked in and he had a venti refresher (no coconut milk) which was fine! I said "I'll drink this!" and he said "no, I always get your order wrong, and you always make fun of me on the blog, so I'm re-ordering this!" After a small wait, the barista hands him yet another venti refresher (no coconut milk). Before I could even look at him, he goes "yep, screwed that up twice, don't want to talk about it." Needless to say, I had a LOT of caffeine to drink that morning.

2. Olivia asked for more pasta, and I brought it to her. What do you say? "Thank you ... pasta, for making me full!"

3. I always call Olivia 'my big girl' - "Thank you big girl!" the moment Olivia looked at me and said "I love you, big girl!" I realized it just doesn't have the same positive effect when you're older. 

4. Dan was telling Olivia that she had to buckle, and if she didn't we could get in a wreck and have to go to the hospital. Olivia goes "oh! daddy! the hospital! we would go and get another baby! gaga and papa could take me to meet the baby!" At least the girl has fond memories from the hospital.

5. We forgot to bring Emma a change of clothes for daycare, so when she ruined her outfit all she had was her cropped sweater. Second kid. Not putting her in her sweater would have made her look less ridiculous. 

Swaddle Designs Sleepsack Review and Giveaway

Y'all remember when Swaddle Designs sent their muslin blankets and they were the best blankets we ever had?

We'll they've topped themselves. 

We loved the velcro baby straight jacket for both girls. But once they can roll over, we want them to have their arms out.

Since I don't breed great sleepers, we invest in soft PJs and crib sheets. Maybe they sleep better when they are super comfortable? Emma wore this for a week straight and it was the only week her life where she woke only once per night. We had to wash it, and she woke up twice the first night without it. I'm not saying this is magic, I just think we're on to something.

The cotton knit sleep sack is light weight enough for summer and hands down the softest. If they made adult ones, I'd be all about this. I wonder why that hasn't caught on?

They are incredibly well made and have a two way zipper. This means easy diaper changes and no fumbling over a jacket style zipper while you JUST got your baby to fall asleep - waking them up - and having to start the bed time routine again from the top. 

They are giving a reader a cotton knit sleep sack in the size and design of your choice. Just head to the SwaddleDesigns website pick your favorite design and comment here. Or head to Instagram for additional entries. Winner will be chosen Friday. US residents only.

Emma vs. Olivia - Five Months

Looking more and more like their own person.

Emma - 5 Months

Time is flying so much faster with the second. Didn't I just have Emma? When you have your first baby, they have your entire heart. So much so that you wonder if you'll love the next one nearly as much. Let me tell you, your heart just doubles in size. Emma baby, we  (and especially your big sister) couldn't love you more!

Height: 25 inches
Weight: 12 pounds 8 ounces

Sleep: Emma still wakes up at 1 and 430. And her naps are horrible. 20 minutes usually. But she's a happy baby. And we've started giving her an ice cold bottle at 1 am to hopefully discourage waking up. She CHUGS it. I guess she is hungry in the middle of the night.

Eating:  She eats 4-6 ounces in each bottle and eats 7 times a day.

Best Moment of the Month: I asked Olivia if she remembered what life was like before Emma was born, when it was just her. She said "Yes mama, I do. Gaga and Papa got me from school and took me to the hospital to meet Emma!" I can't get an earlier memory out of her. I just love that she really doesn't remember life before Emma. She's been such a wonderful addition to our family, we all feel that way. 

Parent of the Month: This goes to Dan. He gave her a bath and handed her to me with this big bump on her head. I asked what happened and he said, "she rolled right into the side of the tub." Seems more like a parenting fail then Emma choosing to slam her head into the tub. 

Milestones: She pushes herself up like she's ready to crawl. Scoots a little and rolls around to get to her toys. She's stronger than Olivia, but not quite ready to crawl or sit up. Taking a bottle is a big milestone - haha. She likes to stand (while we hold her for balance). And she's been loving her exersaucer. 

Clothes / Diapers: Moving into size 3 diapers and 9 month clothes. For a 'peanut' she sure is in bigger sizes. Now that she's in 9 month, I have been able to use all of Olivia's spring / summer stuff, which is so much fun.

Favorites: Definitely her exersaucer. She still loves playing with her toys on her playmat. She loves sneaking a peek of Olivia's shows on the TV in my car. Anything that crinkles. And she has been lunging for our food. We'll wait another month before feeding her food, but you can tell she wants some! 

We got a little stroller fan for the car and that has been a dream! She would get so hot and just cry the whole car ride, which made her even hotter. Now she sits calmly in the car. 

Still can't believe you are 5 months already, but seems like you've been a part of this family for forever. Can't wait to see you grow and see your personality - but, also, please never get any older.

4th of July matching

When I noticed that they both happened to own matching nautical outfits, we had to take a picture. A few minutes later Emma spit up all over hers. Then, I went to change her diaper and she peed on it. I swear Emma loves matching her big sister.

We didn't do much for the 4th. I had to work but snuck out a little early. Olivia and put popsicles in our cocktails (champagne and apple juice, I'll let you decide who had which). Poor girl was distraught when she saw that she only had a stick left in her drink. "Where'd the popsicort go?" It melted. I felt so bad I had to buy her a new popsicle. 

Fireworks didn't wake the girls up, but I, of course, spent the night worried that they would wake up, OR the dog (who refused to go out) would pee on the floor.

I no like your face, mama

I'm two weeks in to being back at work: simultaneously loving it and missing my sweet girls and sleeping in past 5. Emma started taking the bottle - so we are super pumped about that. The doctors are no longer worried about her weight. Says she is just "a peanut" in the 4th percent - but she's staying there and not dropping further. So crazy that at almost 5 months, she weighs what Olivia weighed at 2 months.

Found a post I wrote about Olivia when she was a baby, and all these little things that I had forgotten came back. I say it all the time, but I want to post the mundane because I know I will love reading these memories again.  (All pictures courtesy of my mama).

So a few small stories from awhile ago:

• Olivia found a generic hospital blanket and she goes "Emma, that's from the day you were born!" My heart melted. I can't believe she remembers that.
• Olivia told me she wanted to go to Target. I asked what she wanted to get. "More baby dolls" (shocking..) "and new ceiling fans." You don't like our ceiling fans? "No."
• I got her up from her nap and she said "Mama, I shouldn't break the window." That's true. "And I shouldn't put pacis in my diaper." Also true.
• When Olivia hurt her arm and we had to to go urgent care - after all she went through I said "you can have anything you want!" and she looked up at me with bright excited eyes and said, "I want to go to Target!"
• She was crazy hyper one day and I said "Olivia, you are driving me nuts!" and she said "ohhh yummy, I want nuts mommy."

And more recently: 

• Olivia said "I want to watch one of your shows mommy." We never have any of 'our shows' or anything on the TV when she's around. So I turned on the Bachelorette. She watched for a few minutes "Oh mommy, I like this one. This is now MY show!" ABC hooks them young.
• We have a dog who sheds, so we would tell Olivia, "don't eat that, it has doggie hair on it!" Koda was chewing on an itch and Olivia goes "oh no Koda! Don't eat your doggie hairs!" Clearly confused by the term, later she told me "mommy, your brush has your doggie hairs in it!"
• Olivia came up to me and said "I wove you my whole life!"
• We tell Olivia she can have something if she behaves. She looks back at us "I 'havin'!" I can't get her to say 'havin' on camera, but it makes us laugh.
• She had just eaten a cake pop about an hour earlier when her stomach growled. She goes "Oh mama, my stomach made a noise. It just said 'where'd that cake pop go?'" Where does she come up with this stuff?

• When we were on our way back from the beach and Olivia was sad about leaving I kept saying "we can go back to Charlotte where your friends are." When we got home she started running around the house like it was a surprise party: "my friends here? where my friends hiding?" They take everything literally.
• We have a whole host of power cords by this one table in our family room. I told Olivia we couldn't do something because we needed to charge it. She said "set it on that table right there mama and it'll charge." Wireless charging will probably be a thing of her generation.
• She actually took a nap the other day. Napped so hard when she woke up she asked for breakfast. She had eggs and sausage for dinner because she insisted it was breakfast time. 
• Olivia used to kick the window in her room and we'd talk over the monitor telling her to stop. We were in Emma's room and she looked up at the monitor and said "mama, you use that camera to make sure Emma doesn't kick the window, don't you?" Caught us.
• Olivia, how old is daddy? "Wendelborn" 

• My friend sells Mary Kay and we had a Mary Kay party at my house. Olivia was being so sweet I let her stay up late. At one point I said "Olivia do we look pretty?" She replied "no." Didn't leave it there, then said "I no like your face." 
• I had a headache the other day and told Olivia. She looked at me really concerned and held her popsicle against my head and said "here mommy, does that cold make it feel better?"
• Olivia, why is your nose running? "Because I had a bless you."
• "I got blonde hairs. They came from daddy."
• Dan and his friend were staying the night at a casino for his birthday, Olivia goes "Daddy can't stay the night! There are no beds out there!" pointing outside. True.
• Lastly a few sweet things: "I missed you so much!" after my first week at work. "Thank you for my flamingos mommy" when I got a new shower curtain for her bathroom. And the other night, "Good night Emma. I'll see you in the morning. I can't wait until morning. I'll play with you then Emma. Bye Emma."

Our Schedule

Maternity leave was fun, but we're now back to the real world. Thought I would share our schedule these days since people are always asking about school, working from home, etc.

Insert irrelevant picture here. My mom took this!

4:30am - Emma is up to eat. I secretly like it. I get to snuggle her before work.
5:00am - My alarm goes off, but I'm usually already up. I brush my teeth while having fantasies of sleeping in in a dark hotel room. 
6:00am - In the car headed to work. I eat my breakfast and drink my coffee in the car. Usually listen to a book on tape.
7:00am - At work. Super boring IT things.
8:00am - Dan gets both girls up and fed. And gets himself ready for work. I can only imagine what kind of disaster this is.
9:00am - Girls are dropped off at school and Dan heads to work.
12:00pm - I leave to pick up the girls. 99% of the time I forget a lunch and think about how starving I am. Sometimes I eat Olivia's fruit snacks.
1:00pm - Pick up the girls, ask Olivia 'what are you wearing?,' negotiate with terrorists, feed the dictator a snackbubblewatermilkgoldfishpretzelsgummiesrightnowrightnowrightnow, put a TV show on so we can all calm down, feed Emma and put both the girls down for their naps.
2:00pm - Start working again. Super boring IT things again.
5:00pm - If one of them didn't wake up 8 minutes into their nap, I wake them up at 5. They are pretty good at trading off who sleeps when. Heaven forbid they both nap. Then, I usually try to maintain sanity for all parties while getting dinner ready. 
6:00pm - Daddy is home and dinner is served. We eat and then usually play outside until bed.
6:45pm - Baths
7:30pm - We hoped to have everyone down, but it ends up being 8/830. More negotiations with terrorists.
8:30pm - Clean up the tornado that went through our house, empty dishes, clean the kitchen, fold and do any laundry that is in the laundry room, make lunches and bottles and backpacks for school the next day. Finish work that I couldn't if the girls didn't nap well.
10:00pm - TV! We are currently watching prison break which is addicting. I'm usually falling asleep during the episodes, and Dan's getting annoyed because I don't remember something that happened 8 minutes ago. 
11:30pm - Head to bed. 
1:00am - Emma is up (optional - happening too often lately though)
4:30am - Repeat

I definitely miss sleep. But I really like the fact that I get to see the girls more, and I don't have to spend hours in the evening driving home. Some things that make this schedule work:

• We prep everything the night before. Breakfasts, lunches, Emma's bottles, the coffee maker, work bags, etc.
• I meal plan on Sundays, order my groceries for pick up on Mondays, and actually do most of the cooking after the girls go to bed. Then I just reheat or cook vegetables right before dinner. 
• Dry shampoo.
• Committing to the cleaning and prep time before ever sitting down. 

What's something that you do to make your life easier? I'm all about making things more efficient these days.