The Days of our Lives: 6/1/10

Sorry its been so long since my last post, I am having a hard time finding the time to devote to the blog like I used to. When I do have the time its usually "one handed", meaning I'm ususally doing something related to Buttercup's milk and only have one hand to use the computer which makes for slow typing :)
We took our first road trip with the kids over Father's Day weekend. Off to Bay City! The trip went very smooth and it was nice to see Nana and Papa in their glory with the kids. I can only imagine how excited they will be when ALL the kids and grandkids are together in a few weeks. To steal a quote from my Aunt Catherine (who was refering to herself after finishing 2nd in her age group at her 7th marathon on Saturday BTW), you'll have to "peel them off the ceiling" they'll be so excited!! Friday night Buttercup slept the whole night which was nice. Saturday found us relaxing around the house, playing with Kole and just visiting. Carey and I took Kole for a walk and later the two older boys went fishing after Mary Rose and I visited the local Goodwill (so cheap for tee-shirts that Kole will ruin with drool and milk) and the fabric store. Sunday was our Father's Day get together with Gramps, the Jay family, Nana, Marilyn, and Aunt Becky (who was in MI on an unplanned visit). Aunt Jackie and Uncle Henry were supposed to be there but they had some travel snags so we didn't get to see them. Sydney made her debut to the family in her new dress I made for her (I bought lots of fabric to make more dresses and even found a pair of big girl shorts in a pattern that matches one of the dresses so i'm going to cut those up and make her a diaper cover!!!!) and was a hit of course. We left in the early afternoon to head home and had an uneventful drive back to GR. Wow, what great travelers we have on our hands (knock on wood).
Seth's week was short this past week due to his trip to Chicago for Winner's Circle for GFS. I was supposed to go but changed my mind due to nursing Sydney so Seth took Mary Rose instead. Carey came over to GR with her and stayed with us for the duration of their trip. Kole and Sydney love their Papa; they had fun with him and I had a chance to get some things done while he kept an eye on Kole for me. We had a nice weekend and Seth and Mary Rose came back this afternoon. After telling Seth NOT to bring back anything from Chicago for us he didn't listen and bought me something anyway. Like I really need anything to add to our "stuff". However, I will NOT be returning this gift and WILL find a place for it amongst our "stuff". He picked out and bought me a pretty pink Coach handbag! It's large enough to pack a few diapers and wipes for the kids and so pretty!!! Oh, and it's totally REAL :) What a guy :)
The kids are doing great. Buttercup continues to eat, sleep and poop like a champ. Kole is your typical almost-two-year-old boy. One day he likes to eat fruit and the next it's his worst nightmare. He new "thing" over the weekend is to sprinkle cinnamon on his food in order for him to eat it. Well, at least its not maple syrup or sugar... I have to pick my battles with Kole :) He's been spending a good amount of time in the corner for climbing on the subwoofer next to the entertainment center and then shaking our 50 and some odd inch TV on the wall and also for climbing in the window sill and messing with the blinds. *sigh* Typical toddler boy (or so I hear...).
Enjoy some pics and vids below, hopefully I'll get some more posted sooner than later :)

Kole enjoying Nana's flower garden

Aunt Ann goofing off with Kole

Great Nana and Kole sharing a snack

Aunt Becky and Sydney

Great Grandpa Jay and Sydney

The Jay girls (Laura, Jayne, Ann) and Buttercup

Buttercup having enough for the day

Nana and Sydney

Matching smiles. Sydney and her Papa

Father's Day shirt

Buttercup modeling her new dress made by mommy :)

Awake but SO relaxed

Playing on the floor

Grandparents and the kids---notice Kole pulling Nana's hair

Gramps, Kole, and Seth

Proud Dad and his kids :)

Brotherly LOVE

Happy Father's Day Dad---here's a smooch for ya!

Mom and her two lovies

Family photo

Awww....

Wax on, wax off...

Breakfast time!

Kole thinks Sydney's "new" toys are cool... this is how Kole used to play when he was as old as Buttercup. He LOVED that toy!

Cool dude on a walk.

Playing play dough

Hollywood.

Having lunch

One of Kole's new "tricks". I was making dinner one night, turned around to put something int the dishwasher and found Kole sitting in his highchair looking proud of himself. *sigh*

Kole playing in the basement. His cousin Emma also has a set like this and has been playing tee-ball too.

It's been forever since I've posted anything---so sorry! I can't believe how time flies when you are taking care of more than one child!!!
Things are going well on the homefront with both kids. I am feeling better each day and am looking forward to when i'm at 100% again so the three of us can get the heck out of the house and go for walks (I tried with Sydney last week but was too much yet)!!!
Kole likes his sister so far :) When he wakes up in the morning the first thing he does is go and look for Sydney. He usually finds her in her pack n play in our room and says, "Be-Be!" I've found that if I keep Sydney in her carseat in the dining room while Kole eats breakfast I can keep my eye on both of them very easily without running from room to room tending to each one (by the way, Jersey could care less. I trust her around the baby WAY more than I do Kole at this point!). Kole keeps an eye on her and when her paci falls out of her mouth, he looks at me and says, "Uh-oh!" After breakfast he runs over to her in her carseat and smiles and points and sometimes (not too much lately though) tries to grab her paci for himself. He likes to touch her feet and her toes. Today, I let Kole hold his baby sister on the couch (with help from mom of course) and he was SO PROUD to hold her!! He was smiling and looking at her sweetly and even kissed her hand and tried to cuddle "head to head" with her!! I keep reminding him to be "easy" with her and he seems to be pretty gentle when he touches her so far. I just hope he keeps it up! He does get a little jealous when I'm holding her in the chair. He will come over to me and try to sit in my lap also. It's a little cramped but I make it work. Cuddling with my two lovies is worth it! On the flip side of things, Kole has been acting out like crazy the past couple of weeks! He screams when he doesn't get his way and has been in his crib for time-outs a dozen times I bet for shaking either of the lamps, tearing off the register in our living room, climbing on things he's not supposed to, throwing toys, etc... I give him a couple/few chances to remind him (he's only one and a half, it's probably hard to remember!) but after repeating "no-no" three or four times in a row and to have him laugh at you....well, that's just asking for a time out. Now, the time out in his crib worked good for a while, THEN he decided to jump out of his crib and fall onto the floor. So....we had to move the time-outs to the corner in the dining area. Which means mom has to "keep" him there so it doesn't really work out for me as well as it used to (I could at least grab a snack or use the bathroom when he was in his crib for a time-out). *sigh* That has been interesting.... Needless to say, we changed his crib into a toddler bed after he jumped out of the crib again at bedtime. He has not yet slept in the bed since we have another pack n play for him to sleep in for the time being and he does not (YET) get out of that. Kole spent a week up north at sleep-away-camp at the the cabin and was a good boy (except for the full on tantrum that was thrown at Ace Hardware) for my dad and Deb. It took about two full days to transition back to things at home. I think mom says "no-no" WAY more than the grandparents do :)
Sydney is doing great! We had her two week check this week and she is back to her birth weight plus 3 ounces! She grew a quarter of an inch as well. She is still super tiny and most of her newborn size clothes still don't fit her yet. We did however get a chance to play dress-up last week with a couple of outfits :) She is eating really well and has slept through the night 3 or 4 times now! I was a little worried since she's missing a feeding at night but the doctor told me to not worry about it if she's eating well and gaining weight. She sleeps a ton though!!! I don't remember Kole sleeping this much at all!! When she is awake she's pretty wiggly and squirmy. She loves to lay under the jungle gym (that used to be Kole's) and watch her reflection in the little mirror that's attached. She watches herself and makes cooing noises. What a typical girl! She can lift her head off the ground pretty good when she's on her belly and can even turn her head in both directions when on her belly!!!!
Seth has been a great help even though he's back to work and doesn't get home until after 6pm most nights. He was sick with a cold the first week Sydney was home so he had to buy a blow up mattress to sleep on in the living room since our extra bed is now wrapped up and stored in the garage. He's feeling better now and able to be more hands on with Sydney since he's not full of germs anymore. He finally got a chance to get out of the house and go fishing last night with a friend and had fun!! My mom came over to visit and play with Kole and stayed the whole evening and put Kole to bed. What a help that was!!! I wonder if she felt like she had to because when she walked in the door, I was holding Sydney in one arm while she was crying and was holding Kole's arm with the other free hand while using my leg to keep him in the corner during a time out---oh, and he was screaming bloody murder of course. Either way, it helped and kept Kole out of trouble!!
Last weekend I got a chance to get out of the house for a couple of hours (between feedings) and spent some time at Babies R Us and Target. Holy Moly, I cannot believe HOW CUTE GIRLS CLOTHES ARE!!!! I went a little wild and that was just at Target!! I finally picked out and purchased a bedding set for my Buttercup as well! It was exactly what I was looking for before she was born but I never saw it online or anywhere else. It happened to be on Clearance so it must be something out of season or something. It's a very sweet pattern and I can already see some crafts I'll be taking on to accent her room. I think some valances are in order and I'll hunt for some cute coordinating fabric to make those and I'll also Mod-Podge some wooden letters with some cute paper as well!! Oh, bring on the girl sewing projects and crafts!!!!!!
Whew! That was a super long post, but there was so much to talk about :) Enjoy all the pics and all the videos too! Hopefully it won't be too long until my next post!!

A little blurry but I HAD to post these pics!! What a PROUD big brother! (and a proud mama taking the pic with the camera on my phone!)

Coloring at his "new" table. You can't see it but there IS paper on the table, it just curls over the edge.

Typical Kole---can't stand to have "stuff" on his hands so he wipes it off on his shirt.

So, Kole is petting the tree and singing "doggie, doggie" to the tree. He did this to the dog the other day and then to Grammy last night. Wierd.

I tried finger painting with pudding. He hates stuff on his hands, what was I thinking???

Buttercup snoozing in her carseat with a new outfit and hair bow. No, she doesn't always sleep in her carseat like Kole did, she sleeps well in her bassinet too.

Sweet Buttercup...

This might sound crazy but I had to include this "tip" for everyone, especially my "moms". I use these "grippers" for everything around the house!! They keep Kole's bowls and plates from moving around his highchair tray and he can actually spoon his meal without the bowl or plate escaping him, I keep a large one in his diaper bag to put on the seat of highchairs at restaurants so he doesn't "slip" down, I have one on the floor of Kole's room to keep a basket of books from sliding around on the floor, I have one under my sewing machine to keep from sliding, and will be putting one under Sydney's changing pad to keep from sliding as well. I use the small ones to open jars too. You can also use them under rugs on tiled or hardwood floors to keep from slipping. I bought a pack of 4 at the dollar store for a buck and the larger ones (technically placemats) at a thrift store for .25 each.