Best Buds

"Hi Aaweeeahnnah"


"Knock, knock, 'body home?" (no idea where he learned this...)


(luckily she thought it was a riot!)


"Knock, knock, 'body home?"


'Big Brother you're SOOOO funny!'


'Hey, come back here!'

Introducing Arianna Lillian!

I am over the moon happy to announce that Miss Arianna has *finally* hit that magical milestone that everyone told me would someday come. She no longer cries for no reason. Last Sunday was the breaking point. She went the whole day without crying and I am happy to say she has continued. Even with an ear infection, RSV, and a horrible diaper rash she has not once cried for no reason. Our baby girl is, dare I say, happy?!? She is smiling all the time and she LOVES to blow raspberries. I never thought this day would come, I really didn't. It has been a very long and hard 4 1/2 months. I can honestly say dealing with colic is one of the hardest things I've experienced. It is something you truly cannot comprehend until you go through it yourself. I finally feel like I can enjoy her and get us all back on track. I feel as though the black cloud that has been hovering over my head has finally left.
Then (19 days):

Now:
I had a doctor's appointment today so I weighed myself. I am one pound under my pre-pregnancy weight (with Arianna)! 19 pounds to go to get back to my pre-Cameron weight. It's going to be tough!

"It will get worse before it gets better"

That is what the NP said to me today about Arianna's RSV. She started coughing Wednesday night but her fever hasn't been too bad. Last night was a rough night. It seemed like she was up every hour.

Her ear didn't seem to be infected but did have some fluid in it. We'll continue the antibiotic. Her chest is now a little junky. We've gone from 'clear' on Wednesday to 'junky' today. Not too surprising since she's been coughing. We have to give her Nebulizer treatments every 4-6 hours for the next 5 days. We did one in the office and it did help her. She was great too. The NP could not believe that just a few short weeks ago Arianna was a crazy colicky baby. "She seems so happy and content." I have to admit she has cried less being sick than she did when she was perfectly healthy!

We have to watch her and bring her right in if she has trouble breathing, doesn't seem to want to eat, doesn't wet her diapers, starts wheezing or if we can see her ribs when she inhales. I don't think that will happen but I have been wrong 2 times this week. Hopefully she will get better and not worse.

The NP said she probably caught it from Cam or she will give it to Cam. We think she got it from him. We have to keep an eye on him too. I asked about his ears and how we would know if he had an infection now that he has tubes. She said we would see fluid draining from his ears or pus draining. She said it would be very obvious. We have not seen anything like that so we're hopeful he just has a cold. She said him putting his fingers in his ears and messing with his ears is most likely a developmental thing and not an infection. I was telling her about his fear of the doctor. She said we should get him a doctor's kit so he can "examine" himself and also us. She said it may help with is fear. I will be on the look out for a kit!

Also, Cameron and Arianna have a new friend! Keri had a healthy baby boy, Ashton, Wednesday night. He was a few weeks early and weighed 7lbs 15oz, 19 3/4". Landon is going to be an amazing big brother. Congrats to the new Grothe family of 4! We cannot wait to see pictures! It really is hard to believe our little group of friends has grown from 5 to 10 in just 2 1/2 years!! We all have 2 babies. Who will be the first to get pregnant with number 3...Dianna? Tanya? CARLA????? It sure as hell won't be me!

Here we go again

Today I took Arianna to the doctor's for her horrible diaper rash. Well, we left with not only the diaper rash but also an ear infection and RSV. Just when we think things are finally turning around with her this happens.

She started getting a stuffy nose and a little bit of a fever on Monday. Which is kind of ironic considering I didn't take her to the playdate because all of the kids were sick. I figured she had just caught Cam's cold. Her fever has been lingering for the past 3 days along with her runny nose. She hasn't been coughing or wheezing. I didn't take her to the doctors because I figured they'd tell me it was a cold and it would run its course.

She, for some reason, gets chronic diaper rashes. This one is a nasty yeast infection. We tried using Lotrimin cream and it wasn't helping much so I took her in. The NP took one look at her and said "yep its yeast." "So how long has she had the fever?" I told her a few days. "I'm just going to take a listen to her chest and look in her ears." Ok...I really wanted to talk about the rash and why she keeps getting them! Well, of course her left ear is infected. I pray we do not go down the same path we did with Cam. He didn't get his first ear infection until he was well over 1 1/2. She's only 4 1/2 months! The NP checked her lungs, clear. But she wanted to do a swab for RSV "just in case." She did the swab, sent it to the lab and came back 10 min. later. "It's positive." I couldn't believe it! Since her lungs are clear we're going to keep an eye on her. I will take her in on Friday morning for another check. The virus lasts about a week so hopefully we'll get through it without any problems.

Overall she's in a fairly good mood. Her little bum is on fire and she can hardly breathe but she hasn't been fussing too much. The poor thing. As for now she has a prescription for Amoxicillin for her ear and Nystatin for her rash. We'll see what Friday brings!

Knock on Wood!!

Today has been a great day with Arianna. She has not cried *once* for no reason. Dare I say maybe "that day" has come? The only time she has fussed was when she was hungry. OK, I know it's only 7:30pm and I'm probably going to regret saying this but it has been a great day with her. YAY!!! Cam on the other hand...he is headed straight for the moon. If he says "No Way Mommy" or "go away Mommy" one more time...A month ago I said that 2 1/2 was my favorite age. Now, not so much.

Stuck in the house...AGAIN!

I hate winter. I really do. There is nothing fun about being stuck in the house with a sick toddler and an infant who cries all the time. We were hoping to have a playdate with Elijah but Samuel is still sick. Cam was up at 5am asking to play with Elijah. All day long he asked to play with Elijah. It was a very long day.

At 9am I busted out the paints. My stepsister had given my mother some brushes, cups and sponges. It kept him entertained for about 30min.He did have fun and didn't make too much of a mess. The little cups were great because they had covers on them.
Thanks Auntie Dawn!

The rest of the day was spent counting down the minutes until nap time. Well nap time came and Cam only slept for about an hour. Then Arianna's screaming woke him up. I just can't win. Will the ever nap at the same time? Daddy knew I was having a rough day and sent flowers! Thanks Steve!

At some point I tripped over Cam's bike. This is what the little pack rat had squirreled away in the back of it.




In there he has a ton of outlet protectors, double sided tape, a lock, batteries, my MAC lip balm, a pen, paper clips, binder clips and what ever else he found in the drawer.

Is it Spring yet?

All Mom's have those days

That test your patience as a Mom. Well, last Friday was one of those days for me. It just seemed like it was one thing after another: Cam not listening, Cam causing a huge scene, Cam hurting Arianna...it goes on and on. I was in tears when Steve came home and the day ended with me in bed at 9:30. I just needed the day to be over.


I vowed to myself that I wasn't going to let today be a repeat. So I took both kids outside. I don't know if you all know how much I HATE the cold and the snow. So this was a huge deal for me. Cam had fun and it actually wasn't that cold out, though he only lasted 45 minutes... After that he ate lunch (kinda) and napped (if you call 90 minutes a nap). It's now 5:15pm and he's only been in time out 3 times today! I guess we're making some progress.

If anyone has the magic answer as to how to get your child to listen I'd love to hear it!

He cracks me up!

Cam's speech has come a long way. I never thought he would be talking in complete sentences or being able to verbalize what he wanted or needed. It truly melts my heart when I hear him talking more and more each day.

There have been a few comments he's made that have made me laugh. Last week we were all driving home and it was dark out. He loves looking for the moon, though he's usually only seen it when it's a full moon (not sure why that is...). On this night it was a perfect half moon sitting low in the sky. He asked me to help him find it and luckily it was on his side of the car. "Cam there's the moon, over there." "Mommy, I see it!" "Mommy, the moon is broken!"

My new internet addiction is Facebook. I've been able to get in touch with some old friends who I haven't seen in such a long time. Cam's favorite teacher "Mimi" (aka Miss Jaime) is also on there. I showed Cam one of her pictures and said "Cam, who's that?" "Mimi!!" He looked a the picture a little bit more than said, "Mommy, why it so dark?" The background of the picture was a little bit dark but I honestly didn't even realize it. "I don't know Cam, it's just the picture." He puts his face up to the monitor, "Mimi, turn on a light!" I busted out laughing!

Arianna's 4mth Appointment

It's hard to believe she's already 4 months old. It really does seem like she's been in our life forever! I must admit, I do miss the nights where Steve and I could actually have a conversation after Cam went to bed or when I could read a book before going to bed myself. Someday...

Arianna is still a little peanut. She weighs 11lbs 3oz (10th percentile). Her curve fell a little but she is gaining weight (a little less than 2lbs in 2months). She is 23 1/2" long (23rd percentile). She grew 2"! Her head falls in the 42 percentile but she has consistently had a big head so they aren't worried about it! Dr. Doug isn't concerned about her flat spot at all. He said it isn't really flat. I was glad to hear that. We decided we're going to hold off on any solids until she's 6 months old. Or if I feel she needs them, I'll start sooner. I just don't think she's ready, nor does she need them right now.

Since she's not a huge fan of the binky he said that getting rid of it around 12mths is a great idea. I was thinking before then! She really doesn't like it half as much as Cam does so I don't think getting rid of it will be an issue.

We talked about her sleeping, or lack there of. Right now we put her in the swing to fall asleep then try and transfer her to her crib. It usually works but this week it hasn't. She's been waking up. I think she's getting some teeth but Dr. Doug couldn't feel anything. We'll see. I hope it's her teeth because I cannot handle her not sleeping at night with no excuse! He said we should bypass the swing while she isn't totally used to it and just put her in her crib and let her cry. It's hard because Cam is in the next room and has to listen to her. If only there was an easy way. Or if she would just sleep!

Our goal with her is to try and get her on some sort of schedule. Right now her sleeping is all over the place and so isn't her feedings. She's on the very low end with daily ounce intake so we're going to try and bump that up.

Overall, we are VERY lucky to have a healthy and happy (most of the time) baby. I wish Cam had an appointment before May to see how much he has grown. I cannot wait for that. Our goals with Cam are to get him out of the crib, get rid of the binky completely, and to start potty training. We have lots to work on!