Does it get any better than this?!?

It doesn't matter how busy or stressful the day is. Coming home to these 2 little angels makes it all worth it! (Make sure to remind me of that when I have one of those days when I want to hide or run away.)

Addie's Baptism

On Sunday, September 23rd, Addison Margaret was baptized. She looked so beautiful in her little, white dress and did so well. She pretty much slept through the entire Mass which was the exact opposite of Olivia's baptism. Olivia pretty much screamed through most of her baptism. But what do you expect? She was 4 months old and decided she was hungry. That's fine but someone (I won't mention his name) forgot the diaper bag, with bottles inside, at home. She was so upset that Father Michael stopped the baptism part of the Mass so we could calm her down. Fortunately, I carry extra everything in my car...including an extra can of formula with an empty bottle. We fed her and she did better. This time, I carried the diaper bag to the car and into the church. We weren't going to go through that again!!

Addison was perfect! She looked so sweet and beautiful and just slept. She flinched a little when Father poured the water on her head but didn't even open her eyes.

Addie's God-parents are my sister and brother-in-law Meredith and Michael. I think by the time we were taking pictures after Mass, Addie was done posing for pictures. I think she was hoping I'd take that uncomfortable dress off of her. Sorry, not yet!

Olivia did a great job too. We don't usually take her to church because it's asking a lot of a 2 year old to sit quietly for an hour. We took her the week before to show her what church was and try to prepare her for the next Sunday......and to try and prepare us for the next Sunday. Except for when she was laying on the floor at the front of the church in her dress with her legs up in the air before Mass started, she was pretty well behaved. Grandma helped keep her quiet and entertained. We were glad to see she didn't decide to sing her ABCs, count loudly, or call for her Daddy like she did the week before.

Potty time

Olivia has started showing some interest in potty training. She sees a lot of the other Bears potty training at daycare and will sometimes go on the potty too. We made up sticker charts for each bathroom and she gets a sticker for trying and 2 for actually going. It's what they started at daycare so we are trying to be consistent.

Last Friday, she used the potty 4 times - 3 times at daycare and once at home!! Now that's exciting!! It's funny to hear her say, "I pee-peed on the potty" with so much pride. It's even funnier to see how excited Bill and I can be when she does it.

What is it with her nose???

So today I took Liv back to the doctor to check for another foreign object in her nose. One would think she would have learn from the rotting raisin up her nose that it's not a good idea to put things up there. But no! A week or 2 ago I stopped her from putting a kernel of corn up her nose. Last night, Bill saw something pink sort of sticking out of her nose. She wouldn't let him look up her nose but again she let me. Yep, there was something pink in there. I ran to get tweezers and it was gone by the time I got back. Did it fall out? Did it go up higher?? Once again we pulled out the little flashlight and looked up her nose but this time did not see anything. I'm really pissed at this point. Now what? Do we take her to the doctor or assume it fell out? I looked but didn't find any little pieces of pink crayon on her booster seat or on the floor. Bill and I disagreed on what to do so I called my Mom for her opinion. She agreed with Bill and we decided we'd wait and see if it bothers her.

Well, this morning at the breakfast table, her little index finger kept making it's way up her little nose. I kept telling her to take the finger out of her nose but she said her color (aka: crayon) is in there. So, that turned into another trip to the doctor's office today. The doctor looked up Liv's nose as high as she could and didn't find any crayon or anything else. She said it either fell out or is higher than she can see. She's guessing it fell out because she feels she can see higher than Liv could probably push something but told us to watch and see if her nose gets blocked or if there is any bleeding or drainage. If there is, they will refer us to ENT doc to get it looked at. At least a crayon shouldn't rot and make her breath smell bad. What can she put up there next??? At this point, only her finger would be nice!

Addie update

Our baby is growing so quickly. She will be 8 weeks old on Monday and will be starting daycare on Wednesday. I thought it would be easier to take her to daycare for the first time but it's not going to be. When I took Olivia for the first time, I started to cry as soon as I walked into the daycare. This time, I'm sure I'll at least make it out to the car before the tears start! There are great women working in the baby room so she'll be in good hands but it will still be hard to hand her over. It's tough only having a few hours in the evening each day to spend with the girls. Especially because the evening will be filled with dinner, baths, making bottles, and preparing for the next day. Not too much time for fun!

Addison is holding her head up very well. She doesn't have complete control over those neck muscles but is getting there. She had her first little cold and definitely did not like the saline nose drops or the "boogie sucker". We had some nights of not sleeping very well but she's back to getting up only once or twice each night -- usually around 2 or 3 and then again around 5 or 6. Not too bad but I'm ready for her to sleep through the night. I'm sure Bill will be too once I go back to work and he has to share duties of getting up with Addie during the night.

Addie starts to roll onto her side when laying in her crib and tries to sit up if you have her laying on your lap. She's already going to have abs of steel!! Bill and I have noticed that the size 1 diapers and some of her 0-3 clothes are getting too small. I swear this morning she felt bigger and heavier than she did when we put her to bed last night. I got on the scale with and without her to try and get an idea of what she weighs and it looks like she weighs about 13 lbs!!! I can't imagine what she will weigh when she goes for her well baby visit on Oct. 8th. Her hair seems to be growing a little and none has fallen out yet. She's still a little redhead.

Addison has the most beautiful little smile. Some days she smiles and smiles at us and at her toys. Of course she didn't want to smile at all on Monday when we took her to have her picture taken but had smiled quite a bit every day since then. We took Liv to the photographers to hopefully get a nice picture of the 2 of them together but Liv didn't really want to cooperate either. Oh well, Fran works magic so we'll see how the proofs come out.

Almost famous.....

Bill and I heard a radio commercial for a talent discovery company (National Discovery Network) that was having open calls for kids ages 6 months to 18 years. It said if you or your child thinks he or she can be in publications or movies, come to the open call. We decided to take Olivia. We know she's beautiful and she loves to get her picture taken. She'd be a natural!! So, we went. You fill out a little form giving info on the age, gender, clothing size, etc. of the child and then wait in a room with a bunch of other parents & children. A man came in and talked to us for a few minutes. He said each child would be called up one by one and he'd ask a few questions and then either say thanks and give you a paper with info on their company or he'd give you a sheet with info on the next meeting date/time.

Bill sat with Addie while Liv and I got in line. When it was her turn, we went up to the table. The man asked Liv her name, her age, and what snack she was munching on (goldfish). She stood there looking cute and answered each question in her sweet, little voice. He said thanks and gave us the sheet with the info on the next meeting date/time. She got a call back!!!!! We knew she was beautiful!!

OK, so I'm hoping she gets picked for a Boscov's, Bon Ton, or Kohl's sales flier or something. I really don't want to be one of those crazy stage moms that drag their kids around and force them to model or audition for movies, shows, or commercials.

The next meeting was just for the parents. Bill stayed home with the girls and I went to the meeting......which was also my first time away from Addison since she was born.....we all survived. At the meeting a lady told us all about the company and the wonderful successes many of their clients have had. We saw a little moving that showed more success stories and then she passed out an information flier. She said the next step is to attend their annual convention in November in Myrtle Beach, SC. At the convention, the different talent scouts get to see your child and hopefully your child will get some call backs. So I'm thinking, do I really want to drag Liv and Addie to SC for a weekend to have Liv walk across a stage and maybe get the chance to be in a magazine, catalog, or commercial. Maybe we could do it. Then I flipped the flier over and saw that the cost to register for the convention......which does not include the hotel room......is $595.00!!!! That made my mind up quickly!!! I was disappointed because it would have been fun to see Liv in a magazine or catalog but I'm not crazy enough to write that check. I wonder how many parents did.

The lady did say that they saw over 400 kids in the 2 days they were in the Harrisburg area. They had one call back meeting and there were only about 20-25 families there. Oh well, fame and fortune will have to wait!

A quiet week.

It has been a quiet week at home although I did see Olivia begin to put a kernel of corn from her corn on the cob up her nose. I stopped that one pretty quick. What is it with her having the desire to put things up the nose??? Both girls have colds. Olivia's nose runs and runs but it doesn't slow her down. Addie had had a little trouble sleeping with her stuffy nose. She definitely does not like saline nose drops or when I use the bulb syringe (aka: the boogie sucker). I had my 6 week follow-up appointment and I was given the ok to go back to work when my 8 weeks are up. I thought it would be easier to leave Addison at daycare but I can already tell it will be just as hard as it was to leave Olivia there when she was a little baby. September 19th is approaching quickly and I'm not ready to leave Addison. I think I'm going to have more separation issues than she will.