Enough already!

Sorry. This isn't meant to be anything exciting. I need to write down Ellie's schedule so I can reference it in the future. :)

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A few weeks old to current (4.5 mo.):

7am: wake and eat
8-10am: nap
10am: wake and eat
11-1pm: nap
1pm: wake and eat
2-4pm: nap
4pm: wake and eat
5-6:15ish: nap
6:15ish: wake
6:45pm: eat
7:15-7:30pm: bed

* waketime just extended to an hour around 4 months
* eating about 5.5-6oz. each feeding
* STTN at 10 weeks (DF at 10pm)
* totally STTN (no DF) at 4.5 months (12 hours)

Ugh. I hate chaotic mornings. They just set the mood for the day and I do not like it.

Ellie woke a little early today. While Josh fed her I jumped in the shower. When I was done I ran to the kitchen to wrap up Em's cookies for her party at school today, got Emme up- took her to the bathroom, got her dressed, did her hair, put shoes on, then I had to throw my clothes on. All this time Ellie is screaming bloody murder in her bouncer. Yeesh! It was 7:55 and Nana was going to be here at 8:15 to pick Emme up for breakfast and take her to school. (They've started doing this every so often on Thursday's.) I get my clothes on, ask Josh to make another ounce for El, run to the kitchen to make Josh and Emme's lunch. Done. Whew! Grab Ellie and put her down for a nap so Josh can leave, grab a Mountain Dew and then Nana is here. Send Emme out the door and collapse on the nice, comfy computer chair with my glorious Mountain Dew to enjoy the peace and quiet. That is way too much to be done by 8:15am. I'm already in need of a nap!

In other good news, Josh ordered the Roku box from Netflix. I know he's really excited to get this, and I'll admit I am too. It sounds really neat. It has like 12,000 shows and movies on there that you can instantly watch. Plus you can stream in movies that are on your queue and watch them right then. I'm sure that sounds a little confusing but I think it's really going to be fun to have.

We've got a busy weekend ahead. It's full of fun stuff though so I can't complain. Tonight LeAnn is going to come over and watch the girls so Josh and I can go to a movie (I think we're going to see Pride and Glory). Tomorrow we're getting insulation blown into the attic, going to have lunch with Josh, taking Em Trick or Treating at her school, then taking the girls to Mimi's and we're going to go see some old friends that are having a Halloween Party. (Our friend Jace is back from getting his Master's at MIT and we'll be going to his office space/loft downtown. It'll be sooooo good to him again!) Saturday we have hometeam event at Tim and Carrie's. Sunday I have to work in the nursery both services (yuck!), do Halsey's hair, and then we're going to Jeff and Tracy's for a BBQ. Hopefully Monday will work out and I'll be going to meet some good friends at The Melting Pot for their amazing cheese and chocolate Happy Hour. Mmmmm! Like I said, busy but fun.

Well, I better run. I know you all are so bummed I can't share more boring details of our life right now. :) But I have some laundry to fold, a kitchen to clean and some never-ending organizing to do.

I finally got a real meal! Yessss! It's the little things in life that make me happy. :) Josh and I figured out that if he sucked up the numbing mouthwash in a syringe and pushed my tongue down with the formula scoop that he could shoot the meds right on my ulcer. As soon as I got it swished around and spit out, I'd run to the table and eat as much as I could as fast as I could before the meds wore off. Then we'd repeat. I was able to eat some peas and 2 pigs in a blanket. Mmmmmm. It sure beats the 3 mini donuts and 1 scoop of melted ice cream I had yesterday. I thought I was going to die if I didn't eat a real meal sometime soon- the last meal I had was last Wednesday (vegetable lo mein).

Emme was in rare form today. She was just being so mean! I think she knew I wasn't feeling well and thought she could get away with more. Grrrrr...

Ellie is doing great. She only refused 1 bottle today and took great naps. She is a tttaaalllkkkeeerrrr. She babbles nonstop. It's really, really sweet. Josh and I just love listening to her- especially because we thought she'd never make it past the screaming to get to the talking. But she has and it is a sweet sound to our ears. She's full of smiles, too.

Well, I better run. Josh's allergies are going crazy. I think he might need some ice cream to make them go away. :)

Another exciting weekend at the Swank household. Yesterday Josh took care of the house and girls so I could get some much needed rest. The doc prescribed Vicodin to help with the pain (yes, it's that bad) so that knocked me out anytime I took it. I only ate biscuit top and a few bits of plain oatmeal yesterday and then threw that up. This morning when I had been up and around for a little bit, the pain became unbearable. So back to Urgent Care we go. I'm barely able to talk to the doctor without wanting to burst in tears. He said my ear canals were red (ear infection?) and that I have ulcers (about 20) in my mouth. Ha! I could've told him that! He gives me a z-pak, some kind of steroid and a medicated mouthwash that is beyond disgusting, but works. (Imagine swishing rubbing alcohol flavored glue around in your mouth. It's made me gag every time.) I was able to get to the store late in the afternoon but only because there was nothing (literally) to eat in the fridge or cabinets. Sooo...not like I had a huge choice there. Josh has been my saving grace when it comes to the house and such. He's done such a great job and it's going to be so nice to get up tomorrow morning to a clean house. Thanks, Babe! You're the best!

Papa Gary came over tonight to eat pizza. He went in to get another piece and came to sit back down on the couch. Emme said, "More pizza? BIIIGGGG tummy!".

Last Friday when we were at Home Depot this really large man was checking us out. (When I say large man, I don't mean fat but extremely tall and big boned.) She kept looking up and down at him. She finally said, "BIIIIGGGGG man, Mommy!".

I'm not kidding when I say we can't catch a break. Ellie has her first ear infection (one of the many I'm sure she'll have with reflux) and I have Strep. Hehehe. I'm just thankful that God has provided us with great insurance! We've sure been using it this year!

Emme can now sing ABC's by herself and recite "No more monkies...". Too cute!

Mom, remember my picture like this? She did this all on her own! :)

El had a great check up. For once she has gained a great amount of weight. She's now 14 lbs.! She has tripled her dose of Erythromycin (this is why we had the bottle refusal- needing higher dose), got a new script for another reflux med (Zantac) for flareups and then got her last script for MiraLax (it's OTC, but it's sooo much cheaper through a script). Go back next month! Yay! Oh, and to top off the good visit, Ellie had her first real belly laugh and it lasted 10 minutes!!! She was laughing at the exaggerated handmovements to The Wheels on the Bus.

What a weekend.

Where do I even begin? Friday was nice. We (Josh, me and Emme) ran to Home Depot to get a few things for the house. (We're starting to winterize.) Then we ran to DQ to get some ice cream to eat while we carved our pumpkins. Emme was up super late but I think she had a good time. I'll try and post some pictures of pumpkin carving later today.

Saturday the girls went to LeAnn's so Josh and I could get some stuff done around the house. We changed the hardware in the kitchen, insulated the front picture window, dusted everything, blah blah blah. I also had a highlight and haircut to do so it was nice the girls were gone for that and I could just get it done without being interrupted. While the girls were at LeAnn's, she called and said that Emme was running a fever. She's an aggressive fever runner and it usually doesn't go right away with Tylenol every 4 hours (and I didn't have any Motrin). So when she got home I just snuggled her and we rocked. I'll admit that I secretly love when they get sick- I can put everything on hold and just cuddle my babies! Around 6 Matt and Amber came over and we just enjoyed some pizza and catching up. There was a Boston game on so we were watching that in the background. (Josh is obsessed with the Red Sox if you didn't know.) It's always nice to have a relaxing day at home, especially after the chaos that comes with trying to do stuff around the house. Why does it never go as planned?

When Emme woke up Sunday she still had a fever. I had tried to take her Saturday evening to the Walgreen's clinic that they have but they were closed. So the girls and I stayed home from church and I decided I'd take her as soon as they opened on Sunday (1oam). (Forgot to mention this whole time we thought she had a UTI because she was having to push to go pee, unexplained fever, saying her tummy and potty hurt for a few weeks, etc.) Right before we head up there to the clinic, I had her try and go to the bathroom. She somehow managed to trip in the bathroom and fell flat on her face this time busting her top lip and nose so good I thought her nose was broken. Poor thing! Of course she was gushing blood and Ellie was screaming because she wanted to finally eat (our newest battle is bottle refusal) and Daddy was at church on call for their IT dept. I called him and told him I needed his help and he came right home. As soon as he got home and I got Emme semi-calmed down, we headed up to the clinic. We get there and she tells me that they can't treat a UTI in a child her age. Ugh. So off to Children's Mercy Urgent Care we go. We get there and they get us right back (which is you've ever been you know it's a rarity). They give me a cup for her to try and pee in. Ok great. She just chugged a juice box on the way there so I thought it would be a breeze...Not so much. She had a total of 4 juice boxes and 1 cup of water, hadn't peed in over 4 hours and still couldn't go. We tried 3 different times, 20 minutes each time, and she couldn't go. We tried a bowl that she could pee in (looked like a toddler potty), me holding the cup, turning on water. Nothing. The doctor came in to talk and finally said they were going to have to use a cathedar to get a urine sample and then send her for a tummy x-ray. I, of course, had to leave the room. I couldn't watch my baby go through that pain! I was standing in the hallway and she was screaming, "Mommy! Help me! Mommy! Mommy!". Talk about gut wrenching. They get the sample, I come in and save the day and calm her down, and we head off for the x-ray. It just takes a quick minute and we're back in our room. Then she says she has to pee! Ok, great! We run to the bathroom (since she hasn't gone in 5 hours at this point) and she gets a drop out and starts screaming bloody murder. That was the end of that! The doctor comes back to the room after a bit and says that the problem is she's so constipated that she had nowhere else for her poo to go. He showed me the x-ray and was giggling when he was talking to me. Her whole colon was filled and she had gigantic gas bubbles. It was amazing. I couldn't believe the picture! Anyways, the reason we thought she had a UTI (which she didn't) was becuase she was so constipated and it had nowhere else to go but push on her bladder. I didn't really understand what he was saying when it came to why she was having pain while going pee but it's something about the colon and her tummy being so filled that it was causing pain when she had to go...I dunno...? He wanted to do an enema right then but I just asked if it was totally necessary at this point as she had already had a cath. He said it wasn't right this minute, I could try and give her MiraLax for 3 days and if that didn't/doesn't help, we'll go back. She had a full cap yesterday, a cup of pear nectar today, and she'll get another dose in a minute- still nothing though. When we got home (4:00) we both collapsed and then I went to dinner with some girlfriends. I was a muccchhh needed dinner!

Ellie goes back to GI today. We'll see what she weighs and possibly adjust meds accordingly. She's really been refusing the bottle (about 4 of the 6) and so we'll talk about that. Probably get a feeding specialist to come to the house or something. I'll keep you updated!

So that was our crazy busy weekend. It's kinda refreshing to be back in the swing of the week now! Maybe we'll get some rest. Haha

Josh wanted me to clarify from my post on Monday that he is not "running around with crap in his pants" which I guess I made it sound like. :)

Is that ok, babe?

No, I'm not weird. Emme has been making me take pictures of everything lately. Bottles, her toy barn, her lip, my bloody sweatshirt...You get the idea.

At the pumpkin patch.

The naked chef.

Wish I had more to report but this week has been pretty dull. Busy but dull.

I went to a friends house last night for a cooking lesson (she went to culinary school) and learned how to make some really great lettuce wraps. Mmmmm! Whats even better is she put the meat in a Food Saver bag so all I have to do for dinner tonight is heat it up and make some rice! My kind of meal!

It's cold and rainy today. I'm so glad that I got all the housework done so I can be extra lazy today. I'm already ready for a lonnnnggg nap. Tonight is going to be fun because Ellie is spending the night with Mimi for the first time (by herself) and Mommy and Daddy and Emme are going to carve pumpkins. Emme is super excited!

Today while making breakfast (french toast), Emme somehow slipped and fell off the chair she was standing on. She busted her lip really good. The only thing that made her happy was knowing we were going to make cookies today and to call Daddy. I know that sure made him feel good! ;)

It's definitely Monday...

I'm convinced that my sole purpose of existence is to clean up poop. Seriously. Emme decided to poop her pants today. As to why, I'm still not sure. Then we ran to the store (because I literally have like 5 minutes a day to devote to laundry and Daddy needed some new and clean underwear) where El proceeded to have a massive poop explosion in her brand new, white onesie that Mimi got her. So we had to rush home to take care of that. Wow...

Now the trashy neighbor is out there revving his truck (like he does every single day for about 15 minutes), Emme is crying (she cries about everything these days) and there is a stupid cop at the end of the street trying to wave people down to give them tickets. The kitchen is a disaster, there are about 5 more loads of laundry to do, it's Monday and I'm trying to have a good attitude. :)

"Somebody's got a case of the Monday's..."

Wow. What a day!

LeAnn took Emme to get breakfast and then to school for me today. Ellie and I had chiropractic appointments at 9:45 in Overland Park so we did that, then fed her in the waiting room. Then we took Daddy a cake. Then it was time for Ellie's 4 month checkup. She weighs 12.9 and is 24" long. A little on the small size but as long as she keeps gaining they'll be ok with it. She got 4 shots and did fairly well with those. She's finally getting a good nap in, which I know she's thankful for.

Emme had fun at school, as always. She painted a cute picture and got to play outside. She decided to pee all over the kitchen floor when we got home, even though I asked her when we got home if she needed to go. Oh well...

Sorry this isn't overly exciting. I'm in desperate need of a nap!

Nothing much to report this way. I made some super yummy chicken and wild rice soup with beer bread last night. It was the perfect meal for a chilly, gloomy day. Nothing is better (in my book) than fresh beer bread slathered with butter. Mmmmm!

Parents as Teachers are coming today. I'm sure they'll just tell me how cute and smart my girls are. Duh!

I'm not sure what has gotten into Emme the past two days- she's been so nice! Normally when I pick her up from preschool she's a total monster and just plain mean sometimes! (I know you'd never guess it. ;) ) But when I got her yesterday she was so sweet! She kept saying "Love you, Mommy! Miss you!". Then today we were cooking breakfast together she told me that I cooked like Rachel Ray and that the house was nice. Hahaha! I swear, she really did! She must want something...(Can they already know to manipulate like that at 2?)

Well, I better go. I've got a list the size of Mt. Everest to get done before naptime today.

Here ya go, Carrie.

Thanks to Aunt Halsey for taking these awesome pictures! Please excuse my blog incompetance and the multiple posts...I'm guessing it has something to do with the size of the pictures...?

Grocery shopping can be so depressing! Ugh. Seriously- how do they expect people to survive and stay semi-healthy with prices like these!? I just got back from the store and wanted to throw up. And I only got the things that we needed. Ridiculous. I'll have to go back to work to simply keep up with these insane prices.

Because Emme has the chicken pox, we aren't able to go to Apple Fest in Weston today. So we had a special time last night and roasted hotdogs and marshmallows outside! Emme even had her ice cream before her hotdog and got to stay up until 8:30 (which is super late for us- 7:15ish is the norm). It was a lot of fun!

I'm convinced that we just can't catch a break! It seems that Emme has chicken pox now. I guess that explains the fever she had earlier this week and the insane irritability! Oh well. At least I have a good excuse to put the chores on hold and just cuddle and play. I had better run, though. Emme decided it would be a great idea to color all over herself with a pen. (Ever since potty training she has become a nudist.)

It has been quite a day! Ellie seems to think she doesn't have to take a nap. The effects of that are an overly tired baby who then cries even more because she's so tired. Thank the Lord for headphones and loud music otherwise I might be more insane than I already am. :) She may have finally given up though...go figure; she eats in an hour. I had to post a picture to remind myself of how cute she can actually be. :) I know all you moms understand.

Emme was back to preschool today and was just thrilled because they got to learn about firetrucks. She had a lot of fun the past two nights watching baseball with Daddy during her "cuddle time". She's really catching on and actually understands the premise of the game. Such a smart girl! She is convinced that every game that is on is Nunu's "balldame" and when they (the Red Sox) hit the ball she screams, "YAY, NUNU!". Too funny. I'm sure Uncle Daniel doesn't mind being mistaken for a Red Sox player.

Hals- You've gotta download "Come All Ye Weary" by Thrice. I love it.

Well, I've gotta go collapse on the couch for a bit.

Two sweet sisters.

Here is Ellie holding "Daughter" (that's her name) along with some dryer sheets, socks, a few onesies and a blanket. Emme was convinced she needed all these things.

Emme seems to be feeling better so far. The fever was still looming yesterday but not nearly as high as it had been. Thanks Aunt Pam for finding out about dosing those two meds together!

Ellie has been talking and cooing a lot lately. She was flirting soooo much with Daddy last night- and I could tell he was eating it up. She'd just smile and smile at him and kick her legs so happy. She loves her Daddy! She even holds his hands while he feeds her. One of the side effects of the Erythromycin for the DGE is loss of appetite so it's been kind of frustrating trying to feed her sometimes. I'm going to call today to see if there is something to counteract that. She's small as is so it's not like we can just let her be done when she wants.

I got the girls' closets cleaned out yesterday. You can't imagine the enormous pile of 0-3 month clothes that Ellie has. It's just insane! I feel so accomplished getting that done. Emme needs some more fall/winter clothes but we'll get those little by little.

Well, I need to go and make Emme some breakfast. I'm going to try and take them on Friday to get their pictures done...finally...Cross your fingers that no one is sick. (That's why we haven't done it before now- someone always gets sick!)