Last Day

Today is the last day of national blogging month.  I've posted 31 times in 30 days so I met/exceeded my goal!  It was tough to find time to blog every day and also to keep a running tally in my head about what to blog about.  I'm looking forward to going back to once or twice a week.  I'm sure we will all go through withdrawals.

I finished half of my Christmas shopping today!  I went really early this morning and the stores were empty!  I also did some of it by sitting on my butt and ordering things online.  I found some really great deals, so that was exciting.

Cooper has started crawling a little more.  He'll go 3-4 'crawls' (is that even a word...how do you say what I mean??) before he reverts back to army crawling.  He also has fallen in love with the dog bowls and looks around to see if we are watching before he takes off speed style to beeline it to the bowls.  I swear all we do all day long is pick up babies and move them back to the living room.

We are cutting out bottles for Charlotte and started her on whole milk.  She now takes her morning milk, and milk before nap times in a sippy cup.  The only one we have left is the night time bottle.  Honestly, I think we are more engrained to the routine of a bottle than she is.  At least we found a sippy cup that she seems to love.  We've bought about 5 different ones before finally settling on this one.

I've uploaded all the pictures for November to the Shutterfly sites.  Enjoy!

Cabin fever

I started getting cabin fever today.  I get too annoyed with the crowds, so I avoid all shopping this weekend.  Instead I go during the week around 8 pm because the crowds are pretty thin by then.  To get out I took both babies to the grocery store to buy a few things.  They LOVE going out and about and are so quiet just soaking everything in.  Both went down for their naps when we got home.

During their nap I put the Christmas tree up!  We had to get it out of storage, and by we, I mean Chris.  Cooper loves playing with it, but Charlotte is terrified and starts crying.  This about the same reaction my sister Savannah had when she was a baby.  We got it on film so I'll have to post it later.

Since Cooper is teething again, he is biting me during nursing again.  It hurts!  Luckily he responds very quickly to me flinching.  I can't wait for his new teeth to come in so he can stop biting.

We got more paperwork in the mail about the adoption.  The newest paperwork says everything won't be finalized until July.  This makes us frustrated and sad because we never get the same story twice.  Why does it have to take so long??  And why can't we get that question answered??

And the fun begins...

Cooper follows Charlotte around all day long.  Anywhere she goes, he is right behind.  He is also in the stage of stealing toys from, well, anyone who has anything, but mostly from Charlotte.  Charlotte is in a stage of, no it's mine, you can't have it and if you take it I will yell, kick, and cry giant alligator tears.  She also FREAKS out any time Cooper touches her.  And you know, he has that whole, let me eat you thing going on (now with sound effects included). The yelling starts and she always manages to give Cooper a good swat on the head for touching her.

Bath time is fun with trying to teach them to share toys and not sit too close together.  Most of the day we just let them do their thing and work it out, but the incessant tantrums because of touching and toy stealing can really wear on our nerves.  So we try to teach sharing and being nice.  Um, yeah, they're 8 months old and 12 months old...it's not working.

And Cooper just got his fifth tooth...his other four are barely in.  I also see his gums are swollen for the 6th, 7th and 8th teeth.  Charlotte's gums are swollen for her first molars.  The teething makes them more cranky and us more tired.

Ahh, the joys of parenting, right?

Happy Thanksgiving!

We started out the day with pumpkin pancakes.  I just used Krusteaux Pumpkin Bread mix and added an extra 1/3 cup of water.  They were delicious!!!

Dinner was amazing...we ate really early around 1.  The turkey turned out great and I love the stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and fresh fruit salad.  Yum!!  The kids also enjoyed thanksgiving:

We had them in matching 'little turkey' onesies until the cranberry sauce attacked them.  They really enjoyed the turkey legs...although I did it more for the picture and had to battle them to get it back.

What a fun, relaxing day!  Off to enjoy some pumpkin pie!

Midnight crawler

It rained last night and on and off today!  It was such a nice change in weather.  We even had lightning and thunder--which never happens!

We are so sleep deprived.  It has been about 2 weeks now of Cooper waking up every hour and whimpering.  Last night was the worst because he woke up and stayed up for 2 hours thinking it was play time.  He is trying to master crawling so he wakes up in the middle of the night practicing.  Maybe his personality is a little like mine...determination and an overachiever.  If he wasn't so cute I would be a lot more frustrated.  But he gets this big grin in the middle of the night, like, look what I can do mom!  I seriously want to tell him, just learn to crawl already!!!!  I. need. sleep.

It's Thanksgiving tomorrow!  I am excited to make turkey dinner.  We are making a small dinner for the four of us.  I can't wait to let the kids try all the food!  (Of course they've had everything before...but it just seems different that we're having all the food together on Thanksgiving!)  I can't wait to stay in my jammies and make pumpkin pancakes for breakfast.  Sounds like the best weekend--super relaxing.

I don't think I wrote on Thanksgiving day last year, but we spent it with Jason (which we have done for many years).  He comes to visit, I make dinner and we enjoy the weekend together.  Last year I was pregnant and too tired to do much of anything.  I could barely make it through dinner.  Chris had to help cook because I couldn't lift the turkey.  I was also still in school getting my MBA so I had a lot of homework to do before graduation. 

This year Jason is spending the holiday with his girlfriend.  I'm tired, but because I have two babies to look after...who are getting more mobile by the day.  Chris will be helping again, but that's also because we have two babies and need to be able to trade off.  (I don't mean to make it sound like he never cooks...he actually cooks dinner all week for us.  He has really learned his way around the kitchen.  I just mean to say that I really LOVE cooking, especially for Thanksgiving.)  My how our lives have changed in one short year.

I got my dress in the mail today and I love it!!  It fits perfect, is exactly what I was looking for, and doesn't look like a bridesmaid dress at all.  I can't wait to figure out what shoes and accessories I will pair with it.

Okay...I'm off to start Thanksgiving dinner preparations.  So fun!

Serious Cuteness

I'm just going to overload you with cuteness in this post.  (Honestly...our house looks like a disaster in every photo.  We clean every day and they just pull everything back out.  So please ignore the fact they we are fully living our life and spending time with our children rather than being worried if our house is spotless.)

Dog bones - not just for dogs anymore (Scout lets them hold it for her while she chews on it):

 

Who me?

 

Saturday morning reading time:

What are the books doing on the shelf again?!!?  Hurry you get the bottom shelf and I'll get the top shelf.

Elmo time!  (Charlotte has figured out that besides her mouth her fingers can also go in her ears and her nose.)

Make a Smilebox slideshow

 

Scouty Rides!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Holidays and Parties

I need to get working on planning Charlotte's first birthday party.  I can't believe she is already 1!!  Since it's around the holidays I think we are going to keep it pretty small and just invite a few friends.  I'm tossing around a few theme ideas, just not sure I which one I want to do.  I thought about doing a Nemo or Under the Sea/Ariel party since we live by the beach (and it's still in the 70's year round here).  I also really love her bedding--Cute as a Daisy which is just a garden theme with daisies, ladybugs, dragonflies and butterflies.  This seems simple and more like something I would do.  I also thought about doing a princess theme, but I might wait for this theme until she is 3 or 4 and understands what it all means.  Of course I could go without a theme and just pick a certain color, or polka dots, or stripes or something.  Take the poll and tell me what you think!

We made the kids a Christmas list on Amazon since we keep thinking about what to buy them for Christmas.  The drawers are packed full of clothes and they don't need any winter stuff this year.  We have limited space so we have to control the toys.  At the same time we want them to enjoy their first Christmas (really Charlotte's second Christmas...but first with us).  I think I want to get them one big item and then a couple of keepsake items...like a special bear, blanket, or book.  I don't even know what we're going to do for decorating...all my Christmas stuff is in storage and not accessible. :(

We also need to find time to take family pictures and first birthday pictures, as well as find time to see Santa.  The holidays take on a whole new level with kids!!

Congrats to Heather and Jason Hilgers!!!  Their baby girl, Ryan Michelle arrived yesterday on the 23rd (she was due on the 30th).  She weighed 6 lb, 11 oz and was 19.5 inches long.  I'm not sure of any of the other details, but here's a pic!

Allergies

Today has been a lazy day.  Cooper was up most of the night for some unknown reason which meant I didn't get much sleep.  We took long naps together today...it's been great!  I managed to dress the kids, but I'm still in my PJ's.  I can't believe Cooper is now wearing 18 month clothing!  (Charlotte still fits in some 6 month clothing, but fits best in 9 month clothing.)  A friend of a friend also has a very tall son who is a year old and wears 3T.  She passes down all her boy clothes to Cooper since he basically gets to wear things once or twice before he grows out of it.  Crazy!

This is the time of year in California when I have hay fever.  In Colorado it's the spring time because of the pollen.  I think it's the molds here that I'm allergic to.  I think Charlotte is also bothered by allergies since she is rubbing her eyes and nose a lot more.  Cooper also has itchy eyes and a constant frog in his throat.  The fresh air helps a little bit but I wish there was something we could give them.  I know orange and lemon scents also help so I'll try that since I don't think there are any baby allergy medicines.

It's sort of a pain to remember what we can and can't give the kids.  Since Charlotte is older she can have dairy while Cooper can have it in limited amounts.  Neither are supposed to have high allergy foods like citrus, peanuts (including peanut butter) or chocolate.  They also can't have honey because it can cause botulism (we also assume honey graham crackers are out).  They also can't have egg whites or berries like strawberries or raspberries.  Anything else I'm forgetting??  It will be great for them to both be a year old and we won't have to worry about it anymore!

Scout has had terrible allergies the last week or so.  She itches all over and Benedryl only provides a small amount of relief, while the couch seems to provide some more immediate relief.  The kids find her hysterical.  (Chris says this is only the end of the giggle-fest and that Cooper was really laughing for awhile before he started recording.  In the background you can hear Charlotte yell.)

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Domestic Day

Chris and Jason had a lot of fun at the basketball game.  It took them 4 hours to drive up there and only 2 to drive back...traffic was terrible on a Friday afternoon.  They noticed how young all the college kids looked and felt a little out of place because of it.  They said the mascot was strange (guy dressed up with a basketball warm up outfit with swimming goggles and black gloves on), but he did a great job getting the crowd excited.  Of course the boys enjoyed the cheerleaders, dancers, and kick line a lot more than the mascot!

Today was a domestic day.  I got the kitchen cleaned, laundry done, and went to the grocery store.  We decided to make a small turkey dinner at home next week instead of venturing out to a friend's house.  We didn't want to have to worry about planning around nap schedules...and we both love my turkey dinner, which I have to say is as good as my mom's (finally after almost 10 years of making it!).  I think I got everything I needed except the rolls...I'll send Chris out tomorrow to get those.

I went to pilates this morning.  My friend Caren and I are usually the only attendees.  The instructor, Molly, is really cool and fun so we usually have a great class.  Caren couldn't go today, but a new gal, Michelle, showed up.  All I can say is, wow, what a spaz!  She is older than I am by 15-20 years, but she acted more like a 16 year old!!  She was so talkative and disruptive.  She also didn't pay attention to what Molly was saying because she was all over the place with the moves.  I doubt she actually got a work out in, especially since Pilates actually requires some focus and control...which she clearly lacked.  I was relieved when the class was over!

This picture was taken a week or so ago, but it about sums up what today has felt like:

Double Trouble

Chris and Jason left around 2 today to head up to Santa Barbara for the basketball game.  This is the normal nap time for the kids so Chris put Charlotte down before he left while I put Cooper down.  Then the fun began 2 hours late when they both woke up and I was on my own...

This is the first time I've done the evening routine by myself.  In fact neither one of us has done an entire evening alone.  I fed them dinner, somehow managed to eat something myself, walked the dog, checked the mail, and then gave them both a bath!  I couldn't believe it all went so smooth.  Well until the end of the bath when Charlotte had a melt down because she bit on a toy wrong and hurt her tooth/gums.

She started crying really hard and my plan of first extracting Cooper while Charlotte kept herself busy in the bath didn't go so well.  I figured Cooper would be easier to pluck out because he less steady than Charlotte in the water.  Instead I had to take Charlotte out wrap her in a towel and quickly take Cooper out and dry him off, lotion him up and get him dressed.  This meant I also had to sing a song to keep Charlotte calm since she was naked, cold and upset.  Not fun, but I managed to get them both dressed.

Then it was fun trying to get them both out of the bathroom and the door shut.  Just as I put Charlotte in the hallway and turn to pick up Cooper, Charlotte crawls back in the bathroom.  It took about 4 tries to get them both out and the door shut.

Then while I was feeding Charlotte her bottle, Cooper kept wandering off and would start whining.  I would have to put Charlotte down, who would then cry, gather up Cooper and return him to a spot I could see him.  After 3-4 times, I put him in the Einstein jumper since he can't actually jump much, while I finished with Charlotte.  I put her to bed and when I came back to the living room Cooper was upset and definitely ready for bed.

Once I got Cooper to bed, I took a big sigh of relief, then cleaned up the bathroom, the kitchen and sorted the laundry so I can just throw it in tomorrow.  All in all I was very proud of myself and enjoyed some tv watching and a bowl of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream...yum!

Oh, yeah, did I mention Cooper is pulling up to standing now?  We've had to take away the Einstein walker toy because they keep falling off of it.  Cooper loses his balance and Charlotte flips over the top of it.

Movie Making

As I was driving into work I noticed a lot of people dressed in business suits, carrying brief cases, just standing on the sidewalk.  It's unusual to see that many people dressed up so nice in that area of town.  They all looked rather creepy and a little like they were frozen and then out of nowhere they would just start walking and interacting with each other. 

I was so confused.  Then I went to get a cup of coffee (I've found I can have coffee on the last day of the week if I do it early enough in the day...all my milk gets frozen for Charlotte that day and the caffeine is out of my system by the time I get home...crazy planning that I have to do to enjoy a cup of coffee).  Right outside Starbucks they were filming a movie/tv show!  Now it all made sense.  Someone at work said they think it was filming for Gossip Girl, but that's New York based, so I'm not sure about that (have you ever seen palm trees in New York??).  I don't think I'll ever get used to seeing filming going on right outside of work.

I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend.  Jason is coming up from San Diego to visit.  He and Chris are going to see the Tarheels play in Santa Barbara, while I get to stay home with the kiddos.  Other than that I don't plan to do anything...well other than some laundry and grocery shopping.

Charlotte started barking!  We couldn't figure out what she was doing until we realized she only does it when she hears a dog bark.  Except her bark isn't so much a bark as it is a growl.  We'll try to get it on camera.

Totally Looks Like

I found a dress for the holiday party!  I shopped online, which I hardly ever do for clothing and I think I found something perfect!!  I love Ann Taylor but the dresses in the store were only so-so.  Plus I'm always shopping the sales rack because I think some of their clothes are a little over priced.  All of the dresses I've ever bought from there have been less than $50 (a steal when the dresses run $100-$200 dollars) because I wait for the deals.  I got this dress, including shipping and tax, for $60!!  I hope it looks as good on me as it does on the model in the picture!  I also hope it doesn't look too much like a bridesmaid dress when I actually see it in person...otherwise I might have to go shopping last minute because the dress won't arrive until Dec 1 and the party is Dec 12.

We have the social worker coming tomorrow.  This is our third visit since Charlotte has come home.  All the visits are very short and casual.  This time it's not our normal social worker because she's on vacation.  We have also been assigned an adoption worker in Colorado, but so far we haven't heard anything regarding our application or requirements for the home study.  Doing everything across state lines makes it a little more complicated and slows everything down.  Not to mention the added confusion of the holidays.  It's frustrating for us.

My dad sent us a video of himself for the kids awhile back.  We show it to the kids quite often and they LOVE it.  Cooper gets this big smile and does his crazy dancing arms and legs.  Charlotte sort of looks around, like who's saying my name, and then slowly smiles when she sees the computer screen.  It's adorable!

My cousin Monica (our mothers are sisters) sent me this funny comparison of a card she found and Cooper's 'eat you' face (sorry, her blog is set to private...I know some of you used to read her blog...Gunner is a cutey and her family is doing well).  I thought it was hysterical and did a Totally Looks Like Lolz on him:

New Perspective

Today I sat through the performance review roundtable.  It gives me a whole new perspective about how a company runs and how employees are viewed.  I have to say that in my company the process is very rigorous and very quantitative.  It was exhausting but very interesting.

I am so tired today.  I feel like I can't see straight.  Normally if I was this tired I would come home and take a nap.  I don't really have that option anymore, so instead I think I'm going to go to bed with Cooper at 7 pm.  I just feel like I can't function.

With that, I'm going to end today's entry.  Maybe tomorrow I'll have more to write about.

Fierce independence

Tonight is going to be a short entry...I have to finish performance reviews for work.  This the first and hopefully the last time I ever bring work home with me.

Cooper has always been fiercely independent.  When he was first born he refused to let me direct his head in order to get him to latch.  Unfortunately this was a bit of an issue since he didn't have any head control.  He would sort of let me help as long as I let him believe he did it all on his own.

After a few months and he had head control he refused he even the slightest bit of help from me.  Now I can't even get him to stay eating if wants to do something else.  With his razor sharp teeth I don't even bother trying to force him to do something he doesn't want to do.

When we tried to give him cereal, he had to hold the spoon.  When he decided he didn't like the spoon, we had to try to feed him bits of food.  Now he doesn't want us to actually feed him, but he gets upset because he hasn't mastered putting the food in his mouth.  At least now he will let us use the spoon, as long as he can help. His latest thing is to fling his head back if he wants out of our arms.  It's a little scary because it makes for a very strong, wiggly baby!

Cooper is also starting to hold his own with Charlotte.  When she hits him, he pulls her hair.  When she steals a toy, he knocks her over and takes it back.  When she bites his toes, he kicks her in the face.  Yeah, they are getting a little mean. 

He follows her everywhere and is getting close to keeping up.  Today both of them wormed their way over to greet me when I came home.  Now that she is pulling up...Cooper is right behind her:

I think our lives are about to become crazier than they already are!

Bounce House

It was a wonderful weekend!  Christopher and I had a really great time on our date last night.  We walked Christina through the bedtime routine.  The kids warmed up to her really quick.  Cooper kept laughing at her and Charlotte even sat on her lap!  Once we got them to sleep we went to dinner at Islands.  It was great to be able to focus on the conversation with each other and not worry about two little ones.  I love talking with my husband...politics, religion, life, goals, jobs, just everything!

After dinner we went to Barnes and Noble.  I haven't been to the bookstore in awhile, partly because I don't have much time lately, but mostly because I have a tall stack of books to read already.  Of course we couldn't resist buying books.  I bought a couple more Philippa Gregory books because they are quick reads and I like the historical fiction genre.  We also bought this funny book that has 500 how to things in it...like how to rip a phone book in half, how to diaper a baby, how to hug a hedgehog. 

We also bought the kids some books.  We bought three Dr. Seuss books...I want to eventually own them all.  We also bought Bear Wants More.  I LOVE reading Bear Snores On to them, so I was so excited to find this book too.  It's a lot fun to be able to share our love for reading with our children, especially since Charlotte is starting to show more interest in books.

After our date night we've decided to make date night a monthly thing.  We promised each other to find a babysitter at least once a month and go spend some uninterrupted time together.  I'm really looking forward to our date nights!

Today I had a great time at Brandy's baby shower.  It is amazing how many different philosophies on birthing, breastfeeding and parenting there are!  Sometimes I feel a little judged and sometimes I feel a little judgmental.  I am especially surprised at how afraid so many women are of the birthing process.  Most of the women at the party were all about getting epidurals and absolutely would never consider a birthing center or home birth.  I guess to each their own!

Now I'm off to watch some TV with my husband...and I need to prepare for work tomorrow!  It's going to be a busy week at work, but at least next weekend is my 3 day weekend!

Here's the latest fun with Cooper!

 

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Firey Hot Day!

I just got back from shopping and no luck on finding a dress!  There's not a lot of good stuff out there...maybe the credit crunch is reducing retailers from being able to buy inventory on credit?  Not sure, but I hope I can find something for the holiday party.  I'm not sure any of my dresses will fit quite right on me right now.

It's super hot today!!  Like 96° hot and we live close to the beach!!!  That's about 20° hotter than normal and especially for this time of year when it does tend to cool down just a little bit.

I'm sad for all the people losing their homes in the wild fires here in California.  It seems like the whole state is on fire practically year round.  The sky is more hazy than usual and toward the fires is just black.  You can smell the smoke in the air.  By this evening the smoke blocked the sun out!

Look what Charlotte started doing today!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Such a l...o...n....g week!

Oh. my. gosh.  This was such a long week!!  I am so exhausted from the sick, teething babies!!  I just wish their teeth would pop through already!  Cooper has a rash all over his forehead, neck, back and it becomes a diaper rash too.  We're not sure if it's a heat rash from all the sweating during the fever or if the Hyland's teething strips caused it.  We cut out the teething strips and we're monitoring him.  Hopefully it gets better soon!

On top of teething he is also trying new things.  He is now starting the initial pull up on things.  He is so strong so I imagine it will only be a matter of a week or two before he does it successfully.  Especially since he already climbs over things.

Charlotte is adorable...she will give hugs and kisses (open mouth tongue out) if you ask.  I am really enjoying her these days!  She is such a different baby now that she feels safe and has adjusted to being home with us.  I'm really glad she is blossoming.

I am so tired and I need to get the house cleaned.  Guess I'll save that for tomorrow morning and go to bed early tonight.  I'm excited for the weekend.  I'm going shopping to buy a dress for the holiday party, then a date with Christopher, and then on Sunday I have Brandy's baby shower!  What a full weekend.  Sounds perfect.

I am very busy at work these days.  It's end of the year crunch so I have to prepare the performance reviews for my direct reports and make sure all of the post-project analysis gets done.  I'm really enjoying it all, but it's tough to not be able to work any extra hours.  I easily could work an extra 10 hours a week with all the work I have to do.  It stresses me out, but I try to relax and accept that I just can't do it all right now.

I finally stopped shedding my hair from all the crazy postpartum stuff.  Now I have new hair growth and it's ridiculous!  I have about 1/2" hairs growing all over my head.  My hair is crazy right now and my bangs are out of control.  I hate it!  Grow, hair, grow!

Okay, so this post is a little all over the place...must be the exhaustion.  I leave you with some pics of the kids.

Charlotte preventing Scout from coming inside:

The kids sharing the Einstein Jumper (yes we have two...the fisher price rainforest one and this one...we like the fisher price one better and for the most part, so do the kids) and then looking right at the camera for a photo op.

The kids fitting into a corner and making a mess of the magazines.

And because I'm taking more pics of Scout and she thinks she's one of the kids:

Video Entry

Yay!!  I think we found a babysitter for the Holiday Party.  One of my closest friends, Christina, is going to babysit.  She is so much fun and I miss her a lot since we haven't hung out much with both of us having first the MBA program, then her finishing her school up and me having kids.  We are finally starting to hang out again...which I love!  The best part about her babysitting for the holiday party--she is going to also babysit this Saturday so we can go on a much needed date night!! 

Here are some cute videos of the babies since everyone really enjoyed the last round.  I've put it all in one smilebox because it was easier that way.  Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Pokin' Through

Last night was rough and a little scary.  The teething strips seemed to help Cooper sleep a little more soundly, but he woke up again around 2 am really fussy, and really HOT.  I immediately new we needed to check his temperature.  It was 103.5°!!! 

We called the doctor to see if we needed to go to the ER, but they said to give him more Tylenol and see if it goes down.  We were nervous with that answer, but did as we were told.  Well, sort of...we gave him medicine, took off his sleep sack to let his body cool down a bit, gave him some milk and we all zonked back out.  So much for monitoring him!  I got up at 5:30 for work and he was still a little warm, but much better than at 2 am.

Chris took his temperature this morning and it was still at 101.5° after giving him medicine.  He called the doctor and she said to give him Motrin every 6 hours and Tylenol every 4 hours, make sure he continues to eat, and let him sleep as much as much as he wants.  Thankfully the fever broke!  He now has two teeth on the bottom and one poking through on the top, plus his other top one is almost through.  It will be so great to get passed this and be able to sleep a full night!

We've had to start brushing Charlotte's hair after bath time.  We used to just leave it be or sort of finger style it, but if we don't this is how she looks the next day:

And guess who figured how to get ALL the way through the doggy door, plus bring her toys and the remote control with her?

Cooper is learning how to use the sippy cup...

Full on attack...he thinks it's a boob...

And this is the face he makes when he actually gets some juice!

A fascination with bowls...

Medicine strips

Happy Birthday to my brother Larry!!  He turns 19 today.  I honestly can't believe this is his last year as a teenager!  Time flies...it feels like yesterday he was only 8 and I was moving out of the house.  We miss you and love you!  Hope you had a fun birthday and stayed out of trouble.

Wow, wow, wow, am I tired.  Cooper was up again for a few hours last night.  He is running a fever but it's low enough and he isn't crying in pain, so the doctor says to keep monitoring him.  I bought Hyland's teething tablets and gripe water based on Che's suggestion.   I gave him both before bed so hopefully we all get some sleep tonight.

Actually I didn't get the teething tablets, I got the dissolvable strips.  Genious!  Cooper won't let us go near him with a medicine dropper.  He clamps his lips shut, pushes it away and shakes his head back and forth.  I don't know how many times I've squirted his eyeball or gotten it all over his clothes.  (Unlike Charlotte who says mmm, mmm any time she even sees the medicine bottle.)  These little strips are perfect because he thinks it's food.  I need to see if Tylenol comes this way.

We've decided to attend my work holiday party.  Now we need to work on finding a babysitter and feeling comfortable leaving the kids.  Why is this so hard?  I wish we had family here to do it for us...it would make me feel so much better.  I am really excited to get a new dress, though!  Dinner and dancing at the Queen Mary with my sexy husbands sounds pretty fantastic!!

(err...that should have been husband, as in singular! haha...thanks Che!)

Sweaty Sidewalks

We live in beautiful sunny California (well really it's been a little rainy, cloudy and windy, but you get the idea).  Our apartment complex has been doing a lot of upgrades.  You would think this is a really great thing because it makes everything look nice.  But, that's all it does...it's so superficial!  We have beautiful new tile in our lobby, brand new sidewalks all over, beautiful landscaping, a gym that is open 24 hours a day, and on and on and on.

Except:  It took 2 months to finish the tile so we couldn't use the lobby or the elevator, there aren't any ramps to the sidewalks so using our stroller is a PITA (not to mention they sealed the sidewalks with something funky that makes them look all sweaty...I don't like it), the entire outdoor area has smelled like a farm full of cow manure and my allergies have flared up, and the treadmill at the gym has been broken for about a month.  Last time I checked we haven't missed a rent payment.  Not sure why the treadmill is still broken!  And I want new sliding glass doors...not these old, loud, ugly 1970's ones.  Sorry for complaining...I just want to own a house already.

We went out to dinner last night to one of our favorite restaurants, Fish House.  Yummm...sushi and seafood!  You probably remember my crazy pregnancy craving (well one of them)...I still can't get enough of that stuff, but we still have 11.5 bottles left!  It just doesn't seem as good at home.  The kids were fantastic at the restaurant.  They each sat in a high chair and played to their hearts' content while Chris and I enjoyed dinner and conversation.  We got home just in time for baths  and bedtime.  It was really wonderful.

Until...Cooper woke up at 1 am and whined and fussed until 4 am keeping both of us awake.  Oh, man, that was awful.  He's still trying to cut his teeth, so he's not a very happy camper these days.

I've been reading Heather Armstrong's blog, dooce.  Both her and her husband quit their jobs because she makes enough from her blog to support their family.  Quite amazing if you ask me.  Anyhow she is pretty entertaining, but my favorite stuff is about her dog, Chuck.  She has a 'daily Chuck' picture and they are usually quite funny...including her commentary.  Her latest post is about the Chuck calendar she is selling to give all proceeds to the Humane Society.   The pictures are hilarious!  Our dog would never be so patient.

She has inspired me to take more pictures of Scout.  We used to do that before we had kids...but we sort of have other uses for our camera these days.  In honor of our nearly forgotten dog, Scout, I give you this recent photo (obviously she lost something under the couch and is too big to actually get under the couch):

Growing out of Babies R Us

I don't know what the heck is up with blogger...I'm having problems posting the videos.  Since today's post might not work for everyone...I'm posting a second post for today.

Cooper and I went to Babies R Us (BRU) today to buy some baby gifts for my friend Brandy who is due on December 18.  She is having a little girl who she is naming Charlotte.  Even funnier is her husband's name is Chris!  Anyhow I bought a couple things off her registry and a few things I think are really useful.  Some people think it's bad not to shop of a registry, but I figure as long as I give her a gift receipt, then it's okay.

As I was walking around I realized there isn't much I can actually buy for Cooper and Charlotte there.  The toys seem to young, the big items they've already outgrown, and many of the clothes don't fit that well, especially for Cooper.  Chris went there yesterday to buy some bath toys and he thought the same thing...everything is so young!  I can't help but think that we've outgrown BRU.

Speaking of toys...we need to get some more learning types of toys for the babies.  The old rattles and stuff just aren't that interesting for them.  It would be nice to push it to Christmas and Charlotte's birthday.  I think it's completely doable since they seem to be more interested in old cereal boxes, canisters, and juice containers than their actual toys.

Hello, raspberries!

Here is Cooper blowing raspberries. He makes a really funny face when he does it. We think it tickles his nose because he always covers his nose with his hand when he does it.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Here is Charlotte playing telephone. She puts just about everything to her ear and says 'hello'. It is oh, so cute.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I just added a second part to Charlotte's movie. Enjoy.
(Screw it...I used Smilebox...which I like better anyhow! It's free and you can create fun movies.)

Trip Down Memory Lane

I've been doing a few fun things with the blog lately.  Blogger has added some new widgets and with the ever so helpful Google I've found some other cool widgets on my own.  The date on my recent post looks like a calendar day now.  Cute, but not sure if I love it just yet.  There are some other fun displays that I'm considering doing instead.  The other fun item that I LOVE is the Label Cloud (and you may need the better color chart here).

The cloud displays the labels in alphabetical order, but changes the color and font based on the number of posts with that label.  These labels allow me to organize my posts and make them easy to find.  For example, all video posts have been labeled with 'video'.  I didn't do this from the beginning, so I had to go back through over a year of posts and label everything.  It was  a huge chore, but it was a ton of fun to see how my life has changed in just a short year.  From now on, I add labels to all my posts. 

Here are some of my favorite posts...I had to limit even this list!   (not sure why all spacing is all screwed up in the old posts now):

Finding out we were pregnant

Sending the email to friends and family announcing the pregnancy

Crazy Dream

Feeling the baby move

Birth Story

Chris' Video (I watch this at least once a week and I still cry!)

First Mother's Day

Road Trip to Denver

Cooper's Fashion Show

Welcome Home Charlotte

Hardest Year

I did the Alzheimer's Memory Walk today.  I raised $240, so thank you to everyone who donated!  The group I walked with (Sigma Kappa Alumnae) raised $1,070.00.  Sigma Kappa's across the country raised over $87K.  I can't find how much the OC walk raised...I'll keep looking and have to post it later. 

It was supposed to be a 2 mile walk, but my iPod/Nike pedometer told me it was only 1.42 miles.  At least Lance Armstrong still told me that I beat my personal best for the mile!  I walked and had to maneuver around a LOT of people, so I guess that's pretty good. 

There were tons of dogs there, and it made me sad that I didn't take Scout with me.  The best shirt I saw said, "I walk to remember those who can't."  I also saw a 10 year old girl wearing fish net stockings and Hooter's short shorts...so inappropriate.  Charlotte (or any other child of mine) will NEVER wear fish net stockings at 10 years old!

Yesterday I took Charlotte to the grocery store to spend some one on one time with her.  I get plenty of one on one time with Cooper since I nurse, but I always feel like I'm sharing my time with Charlotte.  We had fun and she really enjoyed being out and about.  Everyone stops and fawns all over her.  She seems less afraid of strangers now and flashes them her super cute smile. 

At least I had a great experience compared to Chris' recent experience.  He had a lady at the grocery store tell him that we are supposed to be sending 'them' home not bringing 'them' into the country.  She told him there's already enough illegal Mexicans in the country.  He was quick to respond and put her in her place.  I honestly can't believe how rude people are!!

Chris and I felt like bad parents yesterday.  We each dropped a kid!  Chris was getting Charlotte out of the high chair and he turned around for a second, she kicked the high chair top off and down she went.  Then when I was getting ready to put Cooper to bed, I put him on the bed for a second to move the blanket and he fell off the bed!  Luckily neither one of them got hurt, but it scared all of us.  Amazing how when we don't do our normal routine (take Charlotte out first, put Cooper on the floor instead of the bed) to take a shortcut, then in just a second something like this happens.

Let's go to the movies

We've taken several videos of the babies. It has been quite entertaining in our household lately. I thought about doing one video a day, but I think that's sort of cheating on this whole 30 posts in 30 days challenge. So instead I've decided to overload you with the videos. Enjoy!



Mmmm, bananas! Here are the kids eating bananas. They both love them.

!

Teething ring chow down. This teething ring vibrates and Cooper loves it. This is growling that he does. Sometimes Charlotte will mimic back to him and growl herself. This time she just wanted to lay on him.



Silly dog. Here is Scout running around like crazy again. Both of them think she is hilarious.



Stroller Envy. Every time we go on a walk we bring the stroller out from their room. They both get so excited and Charlotte makes her way over to the stroller. Cooper is starting to do the same, but at a much slower pace. Her initial gleeful sound is about as close as it comes to what I mean when I say I love to 'hear' her smile.

Dual purpose doggy door

Charlotte figured out that the doggy door actually goes outside.  

She thinks its fun to go through, until she gets stuck half in and half out.

Of course we grab the camera before the baby. 

I don't think Scout knows what to think with a baby stuck in her door.

And Cooper...he's becoming such a big boy!  He is starting to army crawl, but is much slower than Charlotte.  I think he'll probably get on all fours soon since he already does some rocking.  He doesn't like rolling around all that much.  He easily goes from sitting to tummy time.  He can also hold his own bottle, although Chris still fights with him because Chris wants to feed him instead of letting him feed himself.

He is also pulling himself up in the crib, so we need to lower the mattress.  He is getting his top two teeth and the other one on the bottom so everything goes in his mouth.  This is also the first picture I've seen that really captures his eye color.  His eyes are this really amazing gray-brown color, but they always show up as dark brown in pictures.  This one comes close to showing the color we see every day.

This is a favorite picture of mine.  Can he get any cuter??

And Scout...well, she just watches the action from sidelines.