Hanging With the Marsh Men

Think anyone will try to mess with her??  I don’t think so either!

1 Month Old!!

Maisy is one whole month old today!!  Here is what she is up to:

• Nursing every 2.5-3 hours during the day and every 3-4 hours at night.  She surprised Mommy big time by going 6 hours between feedings the other night! 
• She is sleeping in a bassinet next to my bed and has been a great sleeper for me, only waking up to eat.  I can hear her start moving around and making little noises with her mouth so I feed her then swaddle her back up and lay her back down and she goes back to sleep. 
• During the day she has started to be awake a lot more.  She likes to walk around with me and be a part of whatever I’m doing.  She likes her swing too and swaps between the swing, the vibrating chair, and the playpen.
• We are starting to see her try to smile, of course only for Daddy right now!
• She has outgrown most of her Newborn clothes and is wearing size 0-3 Months now.  She is in Size 1 diapers.
• She loves bath time, I’ve never seen a newborn baby not scream through their bath!  It makes her so relaxed, but then when it’s over she gets goosebumps and hates that part.
• Her head is so strong, she is constantly lifting it off my chest or shoulder to look around.
• I left her for the first time the other day when Mom came over so I could take Ryder to therapy.  Mom said she did great while I was gone.
• She has a fussy period in the evening between her 5:00 & 8:00 feeding.  But even when she’s fussy, she’s still as cute as can be!

Ryder is taking very good care of her.  He is always concerned about where she is at or what she’s doing.  And when he “visits” her, he can’t get close enough.  He keeps inching closer and closer as he talks or sings to her in his high pitch baby voice.  “What you doin’ Maisy??” or “Here comes Ryder Maisy!”  If he’s near her he has to be touching her, even in their carseats he is always leaned over rubbing her leg!

Of course this 1 Month photo shoot could not have been completed without the invasion of Big Brother!

Love these beautiful babies!

More Visitors!

Jess, Sydney & Kacy came by to visit with me and their newest baby cousin/niece.  And….they brought us Chicken Pot Pie & brownies, yumm!  This picture of my niece holding Maisy is so surreal to me.  I remember when SHE was the new baby girl that we all couldn’t wait to hold and love.  Now she’s way too grown up holding my baby girl.  Where does the time go?!

Oh, this handsome little guy came to visit!  Aiden came with his Mommy Kim and my BFF Kristen to visit.  They brought a gourmet bag of McDonalds food.  Leave it to Kristen to say “you want me to bring you food?!  Okay make it a drive thru!”  Hahaha, sorry Kris, I need to remember these moments.

 

Nick, Lindsay & Maddy also came to visit.  They brought us some delicious chicken noodle soup!  I’m seriously considering having another baby so that all our friends and family will keep showing up at our door with food!  (not really).  (seriously).

 

Love this girl, she just makes me smile!

 

I’m sure Maisy is loving all of the attention and spoiling she’s getting from our visitors.  And Ryder’s happy to have an audience for his big show he likes to put on!  Mommy & Daddy just feel blessed that so many people care enough about us to want to drive all the way out here and visit. 

Going on a Treasure Hunt

X Marks the Spot!  Let me give you a little background…Ryder has been all about reading maps and finding treasures lately.  This is thanks to his new favorite shows Jake & the Neverland Pirates, and Dora.  So we’ve been making little treasure hunts for him to go on where he has to read his map to find all the clues that lead him to his treasure.  Here is our special treasure hunt from yesterday:

 

God Knows

Just when I thought I had this whole “Mommy of Two” thing figured out and under control, a day like today comes along.  Eating every 3 hours turned into every 1.5 hours lastnight for Maisy, resulting in very little sleep for either of us.  Ryder wakes up crying, which is never a good thing.  All we needed to do was get fed, dressed, and out the door.  Simple enough, right?  Yesterday we had to leave to get Ryder to therapy (an hour each way), our first time out alone as Mommy with both kids and all was smooth sailing!  Today all we had to do was drive 2 minutes down the street, piece of cake…WRONG!  So wrong. 

Maisy didn’t know whether she was hungry, or tired, or both!  Ryder just plain didn’t know what he wanted.  He didn’t want to get dressed, he didn’t want his shoes on, his hair done, he DID however make it known through tears and screams that he wanted to go on a treasure hunt.  Treasure hunting was not in Mommy’s plans this morning, my only goals were to get fed, dressed, and out the door.  Since none of these things were happening, I got frustrated.  I just really wanted to join in the tears and cry with both of them.  Since I knew that wasn’t going to get me anywhere, I tried yelling…which led to more tears…not the result I was looking for.

We did eventually get out the door, I brought Ryder to Nana’s and me & Maisy headed to run the errands I needed to get done (not without more tears because she decided she didn’t like her carseat today!).

By the time I got home, it was 10am, and felt like it should have been 10pm.  I noticed a little gift sitting on the buffet by the front door and remembered that Cindy had sent it home with Alan lastnight for Me & Maisy.  It was from an elderly lady in the Church named Margie.  A bar of soap for Mommy, a baby photo album, and a card that read “Praise God for Children!” (far from what I had been doing this morning!).  But what really spoke to me and made me realize that God knows each and every time that I struggle was a page that had been ripped out of a devotional book and placed inside of her card to me. 

Nurture Your Children in the Lord

And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Ephesians 6:4

“Family relationships can frequently be frustrating, challenging, and even hurtful.  But, they can also bring us joy and blessing.  Paul had a special word for fathers (and mothers as well) in today’s verse.  If adults aren’t careful, they can place unreasonable expectations on children.  A child’s tender heart can be quickly wounded by harsh words.  Paul balanced his warning with encouragement to train children in God’s ways, disciplining them while loving them.  Parents are intentionally to cultivate their children’s interest and knowledge in spiritual truth, using biblical principles.  A spiritually and emotionally well-nurtured child is a joy to parents, as well as to God!”

Somehow Margie knew that I was going to need this encouragement.  Thank God for the elderly women of the Church who care enough about us young Mom’s to share their wisdom and truth with us.

Of course when I read that I realized how NOT nurturing I was to my children this morning.  Then I thanked God for his unconditional love and forgiveness and for being with me when I struggle.  I want to be patient, nurturing, loving, and kind to my children ALL the time…not just when I’ve had enough sleep and my morning cup of coffee!

Excuse me while I go snuggle my girl to sleep then set up the biggest baddest treasure hunt my boy has ever seen!

Cry Babies

My first experience of both children crying at once…caught on tape:

Kiss the boy.

Comfort the girl.

Pat the boy while keeping eye contact with the girl.

 

Plug the girl.

 

Rub the boy’s back…and…exhale!

 

Talk about Marsh Madness!  And yes, Alan’s best choice in this situation was to take pictures.  I mean, without him we wouldn’t have the play-by-play to look back on.  Thanks for all your help babe!

482

That’s how many pictures I have taken of Maisy since she was born…FOUR HUNDRED AND EIGHTY TWO!  In three weeks!  I thought I’d pick a few and share them.  And this also works as proof that she does wake up and open her eyes!

(This next one is for you Denise!)

Note to self: Do not comb baby girl’s hair backwards when wet…because when it dries…there are no words:

 

Even when she gets a camera break from Mommy, Big Brother is right there with his own camera picking up where Mommy left off!  This girl can’t catch a break from the flash.