Really?

Here's my weird family waiting for a thunderstorm to start. Ummm, it is getting pretty black out their guys...

Mike and I went to bed about 10:30 last night. I know it was a late night :) Anyway, within minutes Aubrey started crying and yelling for me. It is so endearing to hear her say mommy that I had to go check on her. She was pretty worked up and wanted me to stay in their with her. I asked her if she wanted to come lay with me for a few minutes before she went back to bed. She got in bed with us and stayed there for about twenty minutes. She was rubbing her eyes a lot and kicking her feet so I took her back to bed (after getting her milk and a graham cracker). She still didn't want me to leave. I told her it was late and we all needed to go to sleep.

Well, she didn't like that and was crying really hard. Mike and I were laying there perplexed when she got very quiet. Then she got louder. Then I heard metal? Then she got really loud. Did she? I walked into the hall, and YEP, she was standing there crying. When she saw me she ran into my arms. So my little girl can get out of her crib now! I've known this for a while now, because she climbed out when the slats were down one time, but she was so worked up at the time she didn't even realize it. She also climbed out of the pack and play at Christmas time during a timeout. Now what? I'm very sad to say goodbye to the crib, I was hoping to say goodbye to diapers at the same time, but considering Aubrey runs out of the bathroom yelling no, whenever I bring that up, it'll be a while. So pray for us Heldts, our life is about to change again!

What goes around, comes around.

About fifteen minutes ago, Aubrey slapped Ainsley in the face, laughed when I spanked her, and only showed remorse while I was crying soothing Ainsley. She did give us each a kiss, so I think she understood. About ten minutes ago, Aubrey fell down the stairs, HEAD first. I was right behind her and saw her loose her footing, but couldn't get there. She really banged the back of her head and rolled down the last few stairs. Thankfully we have a landing in the middle so she didn't fall down all 16 stairs, but 6 or so is still a bad fall. So was it instant Karma or a coincidence? I'm just glad that both my munchies are happy again, just a little banged up!

A little angry for a Friday

Don't you wish you could tell people what you really felt without all the anger and hostility flowing out? Wouldn't it be great if you could communicate those feelings with love? Yesterday I got my hair cut. I go to a cheap place, but have a great stylist that always makes me feel like I'm at an expensive salon. She has limited hours right now because she is enjoying summertime with her 7 kids. So I had to decide if I was going to wait until she was in and Mike was home... or use whoever was available. I decided to use whoever was available because I really needed my hair cut and rarely have time away from the kids to do that sort of thing. That was a HUGE mistake. This girl cut my hair in seven minutes. She was ready to shove me out the door when I reminded her that I had bangs. Mistake number two. She took her scissors and brushed them across and said "how's that?" Too late now, isn't it? was what I was thinking, but instead I said "Good!" and left. I was so mad! I just spent fifteen minutes fixing my bangs after my shower. The left side was a solid inch longer and the right side, where the majority of my bangs are, was hopeless. I wish I could have communicated how unimportant she made me feel, and how, because I was at a cheaper hair place, I must not care about my appearance at all. But all I said was good and gave her a tip. She looked really great, I am sure she put more time into her hair that morning than she did into mine. I know in a week it won't really matter because I will learn how to style this awful haircut. But right now I'm just frustrated. When I was teaching lower income kids, I didn't give them less of an education because their parents couldn't afford to live in the good part of town. I wish more people would use their job as a way to bless others, afterall that is where the majority of our awake hours are spent!

So strong!

Hey, look who found their thumb. I couldn't get the right angle, but it is definitely her thumb in there. Now she doesn't seem to care so much about the pacifier. Oh well!

Question of the week: Should I continue to trim Aubrey's bangs or grow them out?

Aubrey has proven herself Shera strong lately. In the last week she started opening and closing the sliding glass door... and unlocking it! Yesterday we went to the park, while I was getting Ainsley into the stroller, Aubrey opened Mike's car door. Today she started opening and closing the windows too. She is ultra strong. I don't know if this is stronger than most two year olds, I only know that she continues to surprise me everyday. She is also talking a lot more. She now refers to herself as Bobrey and added chalk, glasses, bubbles, and boppy to her vocabulary in the last few days! So far the two's are pretty terrific!

too little poo

A week ago Ainsley had one of the biggest blow outs I had ever seen. That was pretty much the last time she did a deuce. So I took my sweet little munchy to the doctor today. She is pretty backed up so the doctor told me how to give her a suppository to bring on the poo. Unfortunately Mike had a work thing tonight so I had to do it! I think I was a little too timid and didn't get it up far enough, so I (Mikey) may have to do it again tomorrow. She hated it and was mildly fussy for about an hour afterwards, but still no poo! Where did it all go? I came back to edit instead of posting again, it's tomorrow. Mike gave her the thingy today and did much better than me. We had poo within the half hour and then Ainsley drifted off to sleep while laying on a blanket on the floor. Luckily I had already changed her diaper. I'm glad that is done with. Hopefully her appetite will pick up again too.

They also did a weight check and she only gained a pound in the last month, putting her at 11 pounds 2 ounces. The doctor wasn't concerned and reassured me that she is simply petite and not gaining like the parenting books say. Since I am going back in a month we can address her eating habits then. She hasn't been eating great lately, but the doctor felt that her loss of appetite is being caused by constipation. I hope she's right.

And yes, I did finish my book over the weekend and reread lots of it on Monday to make sure I didn't miss anything. I then spent some time reading about the series on Wikipedia and reading all the arguments about Harry Potter, the Christian opposition, and comparisons to Tolkien and C.S. Lewis fantasy novels that some people make. It was pretty interesting, but no where near as good as the books! As a parent, it all lead to the same conclusion. Be involved in your kids life and walk life with them. If you are sketchy on a movie they want to see or a book they want to read, check it out first. Just because something is written in a way that a fourth grader can understand or has a PG rating, doesn't mean they are ready for it. I'm 29, I'll read what I want but I wouldn't leave that decision solely to a ten year old. I'm off my soap box and headed for the shower!

Spit up, weather, and Ainsley

Little Ainsley has the corner on the market on spitting up. She empties her stomach on me about twice a day. I now take off my shirt when I nurse and burp her, assuming we don't have company. I now have to wear my hair in a ponytail too because she has drenched my hair a few times in the last week. Aubrey used to yell "no, no, no" or "uh oh" and rush to get me another burp cloth. Not anymore, now she starts spitting and letting droll pour out of her own mouth, grabs the burp cloth and cleans herself up. What a strange little girl I am raising.

We also have had extreme weather this year. The winter was insane with feet of snow falling each weekend for two months. Now we have been having weather in the high 90's almost every week. You can usually expect thunderstorms several times a week in summer around here, but it has been very dry this last month. The two times it has rained, it dumped buckets of water in a matter of minutes. Last night was no exception. Aubrey and I were outside using sidewalk chalk and I heard some rumbling thunder nearby so we headed in. Within seconds it was pouring rain and hailing. I ran around closing windows and then headed to the front windows to watch the storm with Aubrey. Our trash day was yesterday and the trash can was still outside. It started floating down the street. Hmmm.... I ran outside in the dumping rain/bigger than a pea size hail and grabbed the trashcan and pulled it up to the house. I was soaked. Aubrey was cracking up, and Ainsley was clueless laying on her back, looking up at her bears. What a crazy place we live in!

Ainsley is three months old today and as sweet as can be. She hasn't pooped in two days so I'm kinda scared that we are going to have a repeat of Tuesday. Oh well, what can a mommy do. We also had a traumatic feeding this morning. She woke up at 3am, which is two hours earlier than usual, and I could not get her to latch on. She was freaking out and screaming her head off, probably because she needed to poop! After about fifteen minutes I woke up Mike and asked him to hold her while I pumped so I could give her a bottle instead. Apparently fifteen minutes of crying hurt my let down reflex so I couldn't pump either. Mike worked his magic and got her calm enough that she finally latched on. Yikes, what a hard experience. I am so used to her being, well, perfect, that when things like that happen I really freak out and think the worse. Oh well, all's well that ends well.

Enjoy your weekend! The last Harry Potter book is being released tomorrow so that's how I will be spending my kid free time the next few days!

mid-year resolutions

A friend of ours had decided to live a healthier life on New Year's Eve. Six months later he had gained 4 pounds. Meanwhile his buddy had dropped 60! Our friend is now determined to get back in shape and lost 9 pounds and a belt loop in one week. Mike's dad is also determined to shed the winter weight. He has lost 8 pounds in 11 days! So Mike got into this whole mid-year resolution thing too. It's horrible, he's drinking tons of water and rarely eats ice cream with me anymore. Mike decided he was going to stop eating so much junk and see if he felt better, since healthy people always swear they feel crappy when they eat poorly. Mike obviously has no weight to lose, but he could be healthier. So what does this have to do with me?


Well, I have lost 100 percent of my pregnancy weight from Ainsley!!! The next goal is to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight from Aubrey. So my next baby step is three more pounds. The last time I lost it, I was pregnant and throwing up all the time. This time I plan to do it without all the vomit. Mike and I dusted off the Bowflex on Monday night and did a short workout. It felt good to be exercising again. Hopefully we can stick to it and work out this way at least three days a week. I've also switched to light ice cream. Remember, baby steps! We also opted for a tossed salad the last two nights instead of hamburgers and pasta. We even had salmon one night last week too and I don't like fish. After I lose three pounds I'll let you know my next goal. I don't want to have too big of a goal too soon because I know I'll be discouraged and give up. I also don't want to jeopordize breast feeding by limiting my calories. I just want to make my calories count and limit the empty calories I seem to love so much! So don't expect an update until mid-August, but do expect one!!!

Question of the week What is your mid-year resolution? I bet you thought the question of the week was What was the worst poop experience you have had? Nope, but I loved all the poop stories. It's nice to know I am not at it alone!

too much poo

Mike and I were just talking about how Ainsley is now the age Aubrey was when we moved to Colorado. We were remembering sitting in the sales center, waiting for hard hats, and Aubrey started pooping while I was holding her. It literally climbed up her onsie and she was covered in poop. Tara noticed it first, and then it was a mad dash to the car to try to fix our problem. We actually put Aubrey in the trunk while we grabbed the wipes and then it took three of us to get her clothes off and get her cleaned up. We were just talking about this Sunday.

Then yesterday, not to be outdone by her older sister, Ainsley repeated the performance. I was eating breakfast on the couch and Ainsley was laying next to me. I heard her poop (ewww... I know) and I set my cereal bowl down so I could go change her diaper. BUT... it was already ozzing out her diaper and puddling on the couch. I scooped her up and ran upstairs, woke up Mike, and begged for assistance. This was a two person job! So there you have it. Apparently at 3 months old, babies have one amazing blowout that surpasses all others. Hopefully this is the last one too. I don't think I can stomach another. If this post grossed you out, be thankful you didn't have to live through it :)

My BIG girl

In the past week Aubrey has learned to drink from a cup. She still spills sometimes so we are limiting her to water, but this is a HUGE step. Technically she has been doing this for sometime with the cereal milk and the water in the tub, but not as a source of nourishment! Way to go Aubrey!

She also decided yesterday that she was done with her eating chair. She ate all her meals yesterday at the table sitting on a big chair. The only issue is that she can barely see over the table. So today I convinced her to let me put her in a big chair with a booster seat. She has been climbing in and out of her seat all morning.

She has also recently decided that she wants to step into her shorts instead of laying down and letting us put them on. Who knows, maybe she'll be dressing herself by Christmas.

Yesterday was her first day in the preschool at church instead of the nursery too. She didn't cry, but I guess she was wondering around a little confused from time to time. The next big steps will be turning her crib into toddler bed and potty training. Hopefully I still have a few months before I need to completely let go of my baby girl.

I love my girls!

Enough with the scary demon eyes Ainsley! I'm really trying to do tummy time a few times a day. She's good for about two minutes, but then she is OVER IT. Two minutes is plenty long enough to take pictures like this!
Aubrey just seems so big now that we have a baby again. She is sporting a ponytail in this picture. What a big girl. We've been trying to teach her to blow lately. No such luck, but so cute to see her suck in each time. I love my girls!

Peas in a Pod

Ainsley, Breckin, and Laina having some floor time together at their play group!!! They are on Aubrey's Backyardigans blanket. Shhh... don't tell Aubrey, she was taking a nap!
Ainsley and Laina holding hands. Before we know it they will be getting up from the table to go to the bathroom together. Let's hope they get along this well as they get older!

The Amazing Ainsley

I don't want to brag too much... yeah I do! Ainsley is a rock star. I started to consistently let her cry it out a few weeks ago and the results are amazing. Up until this point I would let her cry it out when I was tired or up to my ears in other things. Unfortunately, it usually resulted with a forty minute fight to get her to sleep and I would still end up rocking her to sleep in the end. Well, early last week I decided to consistently put her in her crib for her second nap of the day and let her cry. (She naps a lot in the swing, car seat, bouncy seat, boppy,... so this was a big deal). By the third day she was crying herself to sleep within five minutes!!! Aubrey cried for about 10-15 minutes for months. Now she cries as soon as you get into her bed and is asleep within a few minutes. I seriously cannot even make it down the stairs sometimes. The only bummer is that her crib naps are significantly shorter than a nap in a swaying swing or vibrating chair, but I am sure the duration will improve with time. My rock star kid is such a blessing, especially as a second child. I pray that this is her lifelong temperament and not just a fantastic phase!

Great Grandma Keyes

My Aunt Kelly gave me a great gift, she brought my grandma Bette out for a visit. My grandma is 82 years old, but the same woman she has been for my 29 years of life. Her hair may be a little more gray, but her energy and sparkle are unchanged. It was so great seeing her interact with the next generation. Aubrey was her usual self, kicking and whining when she saw visitors, but when she saw my grandma she shouted "ma" and was a happy little girl their whole visit. What a treasure! Ainsley is always happy to get attention too, and there was plenty to go around. It was a great visit and was over as quickly as it started. I hope my girls will grow up loving their great grandma as much as I love my grandma. Who is great by the way!!!

For about $100

Aubrey has received many gifts for outdoors this year. As we played outside last night I started computing what everything cost. For about 100 bucks Aubrey scored a basketball hoop, sandbox loaded with sand and toys, several balls, a water table, a bubble machine, and a sprinkler. Now that is a summer full of fun in the making! Sadly, the same $100 will only cover half of our water bill this month! We have a huge yard, which is great, but pricey!

I was thinking about this too because Ainsley received a lot of those plush rattles. We must have ten to fifteen of the things when you throw in the ones we already had. We probably have $70 worth of rattles! I know Aubrey will get, and already has got, $100 of fun out of the backyard. But I doubt Ainsley will get the same joy or worth out of the rattles. I just feel guilty sometimes that we have so much stuff that doesn't get the use that it should. And why are we holding onto it if we aren't using it?

So... the question of the week is...What is something that you are super happy to have and getting use out of and what is something that is collecting dust? Post a comment and let me know! Thanks Rachael for this fun idea!!!