Margie is 5 Months Old!!

Okay, I am a little late here. Margie was actually 5 months old about two weeks ago, making her now 5 and 1/2 months old. But getting time to blog is hard these days! And I am glad I waited, because a week after her five month birthday she turned into a rolling machine. I don't have any stats on her because we {thankfully} haven't been to the doctor recently. I am guessing she is about 18 pounds. Who knows though?! I do know she wears 6-9 month or 9 month clothes. A couple 6 month outfits still fit her. We have been having some unseasonably warm weather so some summer outfits I have from Lily that I never thought Margie would fit into are actually getting some use.


Margie continues to be a good but all business eater. I guess I am thankful for that because I don't have as much time to spend just nursing as I did when I only had one child. My dreams of a good sleeper seem to be unfulfilled this time around as well. Margie actually sleeps pretty well at night, only rousing to eat once or twice and then going back to sleep. The caveat, she is still in our bed. I am curious to see how she would do in her crib but reluctant to move her. Most of the time I don't mind, although it would be nice to flop around all I want while I sleep :). She is not really a great napper. She pretty much hates her crib and it is a real battle to get her to take a nap in it. And even if I do get her to fall asleep, if she wakes up she screams and won't go back down, meaning she either only gets an hour at most nap or she sleeps on me on the couch. It is nice to spend the afternoon on the couch, but I get nothing done and poor Lily is left to fend for herself...We are working on it, but I just can't let my babies scream. She has started falling asleep around the same time and waking up about the same time, so my style of letting the baby set the sleep schedule (or my lazy parenting!) seems to have worked.


Margie is super smiley and loves to babble. We got her exersaucer down and she loves to jump in it. She also loves to chew on everything and anything. She doesn't have any teeth yet, but I think soon. She has recently found her toes, which of course go straight into her mouth. As I said, she recently mastered rolling and she rolls all over - when she wants. Mostly she just wants to be held all.the.time!! She loves to watch her big sister and she is starting to sit up if I prop her up.



Margie is just such a great baby. She is so different from Lily as a baby in so many ways, yet at the same time she is very similar. Lily is an awesome big sister and she really is a great help most of the time. I am such a lucky mommy to have two such amazing girls!

50 Pounds of Baby Love

I am a big fan of baby wearing, at least this time around. With Lily I had a borrowed Bjorn, which was horribly uncomfortable for both of us. I have since learned that those are considered "crotch danglers" and are not only bad for the wearers back, they are not good for a developing baby's spine and hips. I also had a peanut shell sling, which worked decently enough, but Lily was the independent,not so big on being close sort as a baby. Truth be told, she isn't really a big snuggler now. That is, unless I have Margie in the Beco Butterfly II. Then she crys that she wanted to be in the carrier. And while this carrier could easily accomodate her, Margie has clearly claimed it as hers, what with the spitting up on it and chewing on it. And the way her eyes light up and she gets the biggest smile ever when she sees me putting it on. So I decided to strap Lily in with my Maya Wrap. She was happy and secure and while I didn't get tons done, she was no longer exhibiting the jealousy towards Margie.

Margie loves loves loves to be worn. She will sleep, she will chew on the straps, she will coo. She is such a cuddly baby and sometimes it is the only way to attend to an almost 4 year old (sob!) as well as a must be held all the time baby. With Margie my go to carrier is my Beco. Best money spent. I haven't had her in the Maya for any length of time, but when she was littler (like newborn up to about 12 weeks) I loved my Moby. I still love my Moby and do occasionally use it as well. I think all three of my carriers will be interchangable in the months and years to come! And oh yeah, the only way I was even able to type this is with Miss Margie snuggled and asleep in the Beco.

Sometimes Lily likes to wear her baby (in a Moby type wrap I fashioned out of a scarf):

And sometimes she likes to be worn:

Fussy Pants

Margie has many nicknames: Apple Dumpling, Baby Cakes, Cheeks McGee, but her newest moniker is Fussy Pants. She has been the so fussy the past 24 hours. Last night she came straight into bed with me and nursed all night. Today she didn't nap while Lily was at school, denying me a shower. I couldn't put her down so I couldn't even make myself breakfast. I put her in the Beco and was able to vacuum and do laundry, which both needed to be done, but those little luxuries like food and hygeine were not to be had. After we picked Lily up from school my sister came over. She is moving to North Carolina in a couple days and it was nice to visit with her before she leaves. I am going to miss her! In the past couple years my sisters have really become my best friends. Luckily Jackie was obliging and held Fussy Pants a bit so I was able to make us lunch and change around loads of laundry. Lily, Jackie and I spent a relaxing afternoon sitting on the couch just visiting. Margie would occasionally nap briefly and was right back to wanting to be held. Jackie left and we had dinner and I went my deep water conditioning class. I decided last week to do something for myself and signed up for a class at the park district. Today was my second class and I love it. The nice thing about working out in water is no one can see what a boob you look like if you are super uncoordinated, like yours truly. When I got home last week I went straight to Facebook raving about the class and one of my friends actually signed up. I need to get a new bathing suit though. I am currently rocking my maternity tankini. The bottoms are too big and the top floats up so I wear a belly band underneath it which I pin to the bottoms and then I knot the top like people did with t-shirts in the 80s. I really need to get a new suit, but the idea of bathing suit shopping is scary enough, let alone with a fussy infant and rambunctious preschooler. I got home from class to find Matt holding a recently settled Fussy Pants. Apparently Margie screamed the entire time I was gone. Poor baby just wants her mommy.

And thanks to Fussy Pants, it took me about an hour to type this silly little post. I hope the fussiness passes soon! Lily was such a chill baby I feel like a first time mom again...

Margie is 3 Months Old!!

Last week Margie turned 3 months old. I say it every month, but I just don't know where the time has gone! Due to illness, we were at the doctor so I know for a fact that she weighed 14 pounds 5 ounces the day before her 3 month birthday. Margie is a great sleeper still, getting up to nurse at night but going right back to sleep. She still doesn't have real nap schedule, but basically sleeps when she wants, anywhere, any time. She prefers her bouncy seat or the Beco, and sometimes her swing. If I put her down in her crib or our bed she sleeps well but wakes up screaming, like why the heck am I alone?

Margie is a pretty good eater, and much like her sister, she is a puker. After every feeding she spits up all over herself and me. We go through a lot of burb clothes. It doesn't bother her though, so I guess I have another happy spitter.
Margie wears pretty much all 6 month clothes and wears cloth diapers full time, as she has for the past two months. I am so happy to cloth diaper my babies. Weird, maybe, but I enjoy it.
Margie is generally a very happy baby. She is super smiley all the time and loves to laugh and babble. She loves to chew on her hands and has found her thumb. I think she may ditch the paci soon in favor of her thumb, just as soon as she can find it more regularly! She is very cuddly and loves to hang out in her Beco. She is very squirmy when you hold her - we call her squirmy wormy - but in her carrier she is just so chilled out. We took a walk the other day and she rode and napped the whole way, just happy as could be! She loves to watch Lily playing and I know she just can't wait to get up and follow her around.




Just before Christmas Lily brought home a little cold from school. We all ended up sick, three of us over Christmas, and Margie was the worst. She had RSV and bronchiolitis, which caused her to wheeze a lot. We treated her with a nebulizer, but it didn't do much, so we were back to the doctor's a week later and left with a prescription for Prednisone. I have love-hate feelings about Prednisone! First of all, it was very hard to give it to her. She cried and spit a lot of it out. At least it seemed she did. She is also a drooling monster lately! It give her flushed cheeks. It made her irritable. I am pretty sure it upset her tummy. The poor baby didn't know she was sick until we gave the medicine to make her better. However, it did clear up the wheezing, so I guess it was good afterall.


Margie is just the sweetest baby and we are so blessed to have her as part of our family! My two girls are the greatest!

Margie is 2 Months Old!!

Margie is two months old! Time has really flown by. We had her two month check up today. Stats as follows:
Weight: 13 pounds, 90th percentile
Height: 22 3/4 inches, 75th percentile
Head: 15 1/2, 70th percentile

Size wise she is just a wee bit smaller than Lily was at the same age. Like 3 ounces and half an inch smaller. Head wise she is actually half a centimeter, or whatever unit they use, bigger than Lily which blows my mind because I always thought Lily had such a big head and don't think that about Margie. Margie wears 3 month or 3-6 month clothes and is in cloth diapers full time. She eats when she is hungry, which is every two to three hours during the day and she is up twice at night to eat. She is an awesome sleeper - I never knew it could be like this with a newborn (ahem, Lily!). Her most awake time is from about 6 pm until 11 pm, but sometimes she is a little crabby then. She is super strong and can hold her head up with no problems. She is even trying to roll, though I think we have some time. She is a little sad today because she got three shots :(. I actually got a little teary as she was getting poked.

I was afraid having a baby in October would mean we were destined to be cooped up until spring, but Mother Nature has been kind to us with mild temperatures (though I think it is changing as we speak!) Margie has been to the zoo twice and regularly hangs out in the Moby while I take Lily out to run around and kick the soccer ball around.


Lily is an awesome big sister and just loves Margie to death. She is a great helper and I am so relieved with how well she adjusted. If she ever shows any signs of jealousy, her discontent is directed at me, not the baby. Lily loves to help pick out Margie's diaper and likes to help me with her laundry by stacking up the clean wipes. Any time Margie cries, she tells me she thinks her baby needs some milk. She will run and get a paci or burp cloth when I ask and patiently waits if she needs something while I am nursing. I so hope my two girls will be the best of friends when they are older, like I am with my sisters. I know Lily is anxious for Margie to be able to play with her, and Margie is already starting to stare at Lily with fascination. It melts my heart! Where ever Margie is, Lily isn't far.


I just love my two girls so much! Margie is such a perfect addition to our family!

Today

I am really going to try to do a better job of blogging. I want to record as much of Margie as possible, especially in the beginning, when she changes daily. I started blogging when Lily was a couple months old and think I did a pretty good job of documenting her first year at least, though I certainly haven't been good about keeping record of all the big things in her life lately.

Anyway, we had a pretty good day today. Margie slept decently last night and I got some sleep. Matt had a really early conference call so he dealt with Lily when she got up so I could nurse Margie and get a couple more minutes of sleep. I dragged myself out of bed and got Lily ready for school. It was a little later than I intended to get up, so thankfully Matt had already fed her breakfast. Matt took her to school while I fed Margie again. While I was feeding Margie the phone rang. My aunt called to say she was going to be out this way and wanted to know if she could stop by and meet Margie and see Lily. Oh yeah, and she wanted to bring lunch and dinner for us. Um, yes please! My sister Jackie, who is back from Arizona for the week, was coming to help out today, so it was a great opportunity for my aunt to see her as well. I jumped in the shower while Margie napped and Matt did some work. When Jackie got here she took over Margie duty and actually got to see her with her eyes open. I finished getting ready and then it was time for us to go pick Lily up from school. When we got home from school Lily was so excited to show us the book she got from the library. Mr. Happy, in case you are wondering. She "read" it to a sleeping Margie on the drive home because it is Margie's favorite book, according to Lily. We hung out for a bit and then the UPS man came, bringing gifts for Lily and Margie from Aunt Laurie. Lily opened her new books and then Aunt Lulu arrived, bringing lunch and more gifts for Lily and Margie. I think Lily is liking this big sister thing, especially since she has received so many big sister gifts! We ate and visited (and Margie slept!) and Jackie and Lily made Halloween cupcakes until it was time to head to ballet. Jackie drove us and it was nice to have some time to talk to my sister without Miss Lil demanding all her attention. When we got home from ballet, Jackie and Lily decorated the cupcakes while I sat down with my snuggly baby and just relaxed for a couple minutes. Unfortunately Jackie had to head home and Lily watched some cartoons while I fed Margie. Matt got home from work and we had some dinner and then gave Margie her first bath while Lily enjoyed one of her cupcakes. I know, I know, she is eight days old and we are only now giving her her first bath. I figured she would scream her head off and was dreading doing it, but she actually was pretty calm and didn't cry the whole time like I expected. I put Lily to bed while Matt finished up a little work he had and Margie hung out in her bouncy seat by him, which brings us to now. Lily is in bed, Margie is sleeping next to me in her bouncy seat, and Matt and I are catching up on our DVR.

I should also mention that today is Matt and my eighth wedding anniversary. Obviously we aren't doing anything exciting. We will do something later, when Margie is a little older and life settles down. But I can honestly say that eight years ago I married my best friend and I couldn't be happier with our little family and our life. Things aren't always perfect, but then they never will be. We get each other and each bring our strengths to our marriage. It is so wonderful having such a great partner in this crazy world!

And now some pictures!


My Little Ballerina



Decorating Cupcakes


She liked to eat the sprinkles


Look at that sweet (and sticky!) face!


First Bath! How adorable is she??!?!?!?






I know I look pretty rough here, but I have had about 20 hours of sleep total in the past 8 days!!



My sweet sleeping baby!

She's Here! She's Here!!

Marjorie "Margie" Addison Groves arrived last Tuesday, October 4, 2011 at 10:21 am. She was 8 lbs 7 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. She is perfect in every way! She looks a lot like her big sister. I can't believe how in love I am with my new baby girl!!

We are all doing well and everyone seems to be adjusting nicely. I am recovering well from my c-section, but my incision is a little sore. It is annoying not to be able to drive and it just makes me so sad that I can't pick up my big girl for a couple more weeks. It is hard because I know she needs my attention and cuddles too, but she isn't very good at being gentle with me, so I have to limit our snuggles, especially when she starts getting silly! Lily has had a few moments, including one where she was very near tears over Margie not being named Apple Dumpling. We have come to a few compromises and she now accepts that the baby's name is Margie (I'm not even going to try to explain to her that her name is in fact Marjorie but we call her Margie) though she can call her Apple Dumpling if she wants. She mostly just refers to her as baby, though she has even called her Margie a couple times.

Margie is just the sweetest little baby. She is only a half pound smaller than Lily, and still an 8 and a half pound baby, but she just seems so tiny compared to what Lily was. She has skinny legs and her hair is darker than Lily's was, though she doesn't have a lot. I was so convinced I was going to have a nine pound plus baby with lots of dark hair that looked nothing like Lily, but I guess I was wrong! So far she is a pretty decent nurser and pretty good sleeper. She developed a little jaundice, which can make babies sleepier, so I have had to wake her up to feed her about half the time which is a bit frustrating. When she is awake though, she nurses like a champ! She is also starting to act like a typical newborn now, keeping me awake in the middle of the night. She is super snuggly and LOVES to sleep on my chest. I hope she is always a snuggly baby!

We came home from the hospital and had an eventful weekend. On Saturday I needed to have my staples from my c-section removed, then Margie needed some blood drawn to check her bilirubin level (broke my heart to watch her have her heel pricked!). It was so nice we decided to stop by a park. Then Lily had to go potty and since there was no bathroom at the park, we headed over to my inlaws for a surprise visit and to pick up the dogs. Sunday we had to take Margie to get more blood drawn and we hit up another park and played for a bit and then took a walk. We just have to take advantage of this beautiful Indian summer! Yesterday Matt headed back to work and my sisters came out to take us to Margie's newborn check up. We went to the doctor and then went to Portillo's for lunch. We then headed to the park, again, and then went to Target. Today was the first day I didn't leave the house. In fact, I never even got out of my pajamas!


Getting ready to head to the hospital


Baby Margie's first picture


The Proud Big Sister


Sisters!!


Sweet Sweet Margie


My sweet girl


My precious sleeping baby


Sleeping Sweetie


Touchdown Baby


Going home


Eyes Open


Mommy and Margie at the Park


Lily look alike


Lily as a newborn. Don't they look so much alike?!?!?