Day 244 - August 31

Today, without shame, I resulted to full-on bribery to have a pleasant shopping experience with both children.

I needed to get to Babies R Us to pick up a few essentials for the new kid, but I had to take both her and the old kid (ha!) with me. Michaela was less than cooperative before we even left the house, so I told her if she could behave, we'd stop at Gigi's Cupcakes on the way home and pick up a treat.

She was an angel at the store (for the most part). And when she wasn't an angel, all it took was a gentle reminder of the cupcakes. It worked like a charm, but I'm going to have to come up with cheaper bribery options. Gigi's cupcakes are good, but they're PRICEY!!!

The fun part of Gigi's, though, was the reaction from Michaela when we first walked in and she saw pink princess cupcakes. How she knew they were princess cupcakes without being able to read (literally, it was called a Miss Princess), I have no idea, but she HAD to have one. That was the least amount of decision-making we've had in a cupcake shop in ages.

We brought the cupcakes home and they waited until after nap time.... as SOON as I opened her door after nap, her first question was "Can I have my cupcake now?" I can't fault her. Who doesn't love a cupcake??

By the way, in her blue dress, Michaela was Cinderella today, so it was only fitting to have a Princess cupcake.

Day 243 - August 30

Today's picture falls into the category of "things that make me happy I'm not pregnant anymore."

Honestly, with the exception of the horrific back issues I had this time, I sort of miss being pregnant and I'm sad that I won't be ever again.

But then I enjoy a nice sparkly wine drink with my dinner, and I'm happy again!

Oh, and World Market is awesome for their constant supply of single-serving sparkling wine.

Day 242 - August 29

Cate is 6 weeks old today!!

Over the past six weeks, we've asked Michaela many times if she wanted to hold Cate. We tried at the hospital. We tried shortly after we got home. We tried while Grandma and Grandpa Jeff and Aunt Heather were here. We tried while Mimi and Papa were here. A few times she told us that she was ready to hold the baby, but when it came down to it, she squirmed away every time.

Well, apparently 6 weeks is the magic number.

Today, completely out of the blue, she said, "Mommy, I'm ready to hold Cate now," and then she flopped down in the middle of the floor. So I grabbed the closest camera and tried to get her set up on the floor. The floor is NOT the place for a 3-yr-old to try to hold a newborn, though, so I moved her to the couch.

(Thankfully, I did get the baby into her lap for a few seconds on the floor so she didn't get gun-shy by having to move.)

So we moved to the couch, got a pillow under Michaela's arm for a little extra support, spread out a blanket in case there was spit-up (good grief, there's ALWAYS spit-up!), and plopped a baby in her lap. And she didn't flip out, she appeared to enjoy it, and she didn't want me to pick Cate up when she started to get a little fussy.

It was adorable and it just made my heart so full! (And I'll have to remember that feeling if we don't get out of the house yet again tomorrow because mostly I wanted to strangle both of them by the end of the day today after WAY too much time inside over the last few days!!!!)

Day 241 - August 28

Sometimes I forget that Michaela just turned 3. She doesn't generally act like your average just-turned-3-year-old (I'm not biased... others have told me that), but acts quite a bit older. She's so articulate, and inquisitive, and just plain smart.

And then she tells Jason she's going to hide, and hides like this.

Then I remember she just turned 3.

Day 240 - August 27

Oh my. I have created a type-A monster.

Maybe it's just that she's a toddler/pre-schooler and they tend to do this kind of thing?

Or maybe she's type-A like me.

Those are some neat rows, though, huh?

Day 239 - August 26

Yesterday was hurricane preparation day here at the Dorval house. As of yesterday morning, Isaac was still forecasted to make a direct hit on Mobile, so we were getting the house and yard ready to withstand the worst of the storm.

At this point, it's supposed to make landfall further west and we might not see weather as bad as we were expecting, but we're ready anyway.

Besides tying down yard toys and furniture, one of our biggest preps was to get the windows ready for our hurricane shutters. We're grateful that we have nice metal shutters, but they take some work.. namely removing a gazillion "decorative" plastic screws from the brick and screwing in a gazillion metal screws used to actually hang the shutters.

It was super fun.

And there were a lot of screws (that's a gallon-size ziploc).

Day 238 - August 25

Full disclosure - I did not take this picture. I probably would've taken this picture, but I was feeding a baby at the time it was taken, so Jason had to do the work.

So apparently Baby Cate (that's her Little Sister doll that Aunt Erin and Uncle Josh sent her... the Big Sister is Michaela) had a check up, and then it was bed time. And bed time apparently now consists of sleeping right next to your newborn because that's what Mommy does (Cate - the real one - is in a pack n play next to our bed for now). Of course, Mommy doesn't sleep on a pillow pet or with Bear the security blanket, but you get the idea.

Ah, my little mini-me....

Day 237 - August 24

Michaela has a new obsession with the Disney Junior show Doc McStuffins. It's about a little girl who fixes up all her toys when they're broken.

To feed this obsession, I nicely pointed out the awesome Fisher Price doctor kit when we were toy shopping with Michaela's birthday money a couple weeks ago. I had one as a kid (though it used to come in a plastic briefcase kind of box and now comes in a green cloth bag) and just couldn't help but steer her in that direction when I saw it!

In the beginning, she wanted to do check ups on any person that came into the house. Now she seems content to give check ups to all her toys and dolls. Yesterday it was Seahorse's turn. As she listened to his "heart," she turned to me and said, "I'm going to listen to his heart now with this thing called a stethoscope." All that just a few days after her 3-yr-old well-child visit where the doctor asked if she was speaking in 3-5 word sentences. Um, yeah.

The best part of her check-ups, though, is that she HAS to sing the song from Doc McStuffins. So we hear, "I'm gonna check your ears, check your eyes, find how how much you've grown! Time for your check-up, time for your check-up!" Cracks me up every time!!

Day 236 - August 23

Cate was trying today. She kept acting like she wanted to fall asleep all afternoon, but wouldn't succumb to any of my normal tricks to get her to sleep. Or, she would fall asleep, but then not stay that way (until I just held her, which is what I was trying to avoid because I REALLY needed to do laundry... I did 3 loads eventually and still have 4 to do tomorrow).

So in the midst of trying to get the laundry done, I turned on the hair dryer sound on my white noise app and left her laying on the Boppy for a few minutes. I came back out to the living room to see this. The black thing on the floor on the left side of the picture is my iPhone. I love that her pacifier was out, but still touching her lips.

For more entertainment... the light blue thing next to the Boppy is the onesie I planned to put on her after she spit up all over her other outfit. But I changed my mind and left her in just a diaper since she just kept spitting up. But she was chilly, so I added the blanket. But she doesn't like her arms covered, so then I tucked a burp cloth up onto her chest. *sigh* She's fun.

And, for the record, I turned down the sound shortly after I took this picture (I was trying to not go crazy by having to listen to it), and she woke up. That's why I gave up on laundry and just sat on the couch with her. And that is why only 3 loads of laundry got done.

Day 235 - August 22

Yesterday (the 22nd) was one of my most favorite days of the year - opening day of the Wee Exchange!!

I LOVE bargain-hunting at the huge consignment sale, and trying to find the best stuff I can for the cheapest prices! I think I did pretty well this season (they do one this time of year for fall/winter and one in the spring for spring/summer). I spent $167, including tax, and got:

For Michaela:
6 dresses, 3 of them super fancy Gymboree ones in nearly new condition (the ones hanging in the picture)
7 long sleeve shirts (one with tags still on it for only $2)
1 short sleeve hoodie
1 long sleeve hoodie (for $1!!)
1 short sleeve sweater
1 pair of jeans
3 pairs of shoes

For Cate:
1 fancy dress that looks like it was never worn
2 sleepers
1 Le Top outfit (so cute!)
1 shirt (Gymboree and looks brand-new!)
1 sleep sack
1 one with attached tutu - Michaela said it's her Kiki (from Fresh Beat Band) dress
2 pairs of Robeez, neither of which looks like it was ever worn

This wasn't as good a haul as I've had in the past, but I'm pretty happy with it anyway. And Cate didn't get short-changed... I just figured if she's going to wear used stuff, she might as well just wear Michaela's.

Yay for cheap, gently-used stuff!

Day 234 - August 21

I should've taken a picture of us at playgroup today... just so I could mark the fact that I took both kids out of the house, to an activity, by myself, for the first time. And I survived and Michaela even had some fun. Oh, and Cate finally got some Vitamin D, via the sun. She hasn't had much of that in her short life.

Instead, I have a picture from this afternoon, when I totally wanted to be napping, and Cate totally wanted to be awake. She's lucky she's cute.

Day 233 - August 20

Mimi and Papa were here to visit over the weekend. Keeping with the theme of the second child getting shafted, I completely forgot to get ANY pictures of the grandparents with the latest addition to the family. I'm terrible.

At least I got a few with the first model and Mimi (though only part of Mimi is in this one), doing a little crafting together. Mimi brought a goodie bag full of "projects" to do with Michaela, along with her own crafting apron. All we heard all weekend was, "Let's do a project, Mimi!"

I almost had a heart attack watching her use a glue stick on my kitchen table with just a medium-sized piece of cardboard between the glue and the wood, but at least she had fun!

Day 232 - August 19

If you're offended by being flipped off, do NOT scroll down to see the picture!!!

We might have the humor of high school boys around here, so we've always found it absolutely HILARIOUS (since Michaela was a baby) when a baby accidentally flips us off.

We had no less than a dozen pictures of Michaela giving the middle finger when she was an infant, and we decided to carry on the tradition with Cate.

Today I captured #4.....

Day 231 - August 18

Cate is one month old today!!!

I can't believe a month has gone by already since she joined our family. It's been a very short and long month, all at the same time. It seems like yesterday that she was born, but then this has been a very loooong month of pretty much no sleep!

Happy One Month, Cate!

Day 230 - August 17

My child makes me laugh. A lot. I think I may have mentioned that before.

Yesterday morning, I was in my bedroom, having just woken up from a lovely morning of sleeping in (which actually consists of getting 2.5 hrs of sleep after a 6am feeding), when Jason told me I had to come out and see my daughter. When I walked out to the living room, I saw Cate in the swing, but no sign of the big kid.

All I saw was the empty box that all the new bedding came in.

At least, I thought it was empty.

But it wasn't... Sleeping Beauty was in it, sleeping away, and waiting for Prince Charming to come and wake her up.

Now I wonder why we buy toys.

Day 229 - August 16

Today was new bedding day for Michaela (and Cate, but she doesn't care)!

When we moved Michaela into her big girl bed, we just put white sheets on it (just the fitted sheet actually) because we wanted to do either matching or coordinating bedding for the baby and Michaela, so we had to wait to find out what we had.

Now that things have calmed down a little bit (and right before my 15% off coupon at Pottery Barn Kids expired), I finally got around to ordering the bedding and it got here yesterday. So between yesterday and today, we washed everything up and got everything put together.

This picture does not show it, but Michaela was VERY happy to sleep under her new sheets and quilt tonight!

Day 228 - August 15

Monday, August 13th started the new school year around here. But, since Grandma and Grandpa Jeff, and Aunt Heather were still here in the morning, so Michaela got to skip the first day of Mom's Day Out.

When yesterday (have I mentioned I'm totally behind on these pics?) rolled around, we were excited to get started back up again and get her back into her routine. She even seemed a little happy to go!

Here she is on her first day of Mom's Day Out, 3-yr-old year!

(And, oh my gosh.... look how much she's changed since last year!!!!)

Day 227 - August 14

I failed on Tuesday. I didn't take a picture. Let's just say I didn't have the best night on Monday night, so Tuesday was just a lost cause.

So, instead of a new picture, I'm reviving one from years ago in Kodiak as a way of advertising for our LoJa (Lower Japonica... as in the road our church is on) Art Walk on Saturday night. If you're looking for something to do in Mobile on Saturday night from 6-8:30, come on over to St. Luke's Church (St. Luke's Hall to be exact) and check out all kinds of art work on display. Some of the art will be up for sale (cash and checks only), and there will be a silent auction of a few pieces (like the one I showed off back on July 24).

In preparation for the walk, I went through TONS of old pictures, re-edited, and then had a bunch printed and mounted on single-weight matte board. They all came in this week, and now I just need to decide which to frame, which to leave as they are, and then how much to charge for the ones I want to sell. I need to do all of this by Saturday afternoon.

So this is one I'm offering up in a 5x7.... Ducks on a Log.

Day 226 - August 13

I'm not sure there's anything sweeter than a daddy with his girls.

Day 225 - August 12

With the first kid, the camera is never not out. You try to capture every.single.important.moment of the new child's life. Among those moments is the first time the grandparents meet the new baby.

We have pictures of Michaela and her grandparents in the first few minutes that all of them held her.

Then the second child comes around.

On the last day of my sister and parents visiting, I finally got around to taking some pictures of them with Cate. Poor second child.

Day 224 - August 11

If I'm being honest, there are some things that suck about having a newborn around the house again.

Sleep comes in 2 to 4 hour increments if we're lucky. My life revolves around waiting for the next time the baby will need to nurse and whether or not I'll be in a convenient place to do that. The toddler and the newborn will inevitably need something at the exact same time. The toddler has been full of drama as she wraps her head around no longer being the center of attention. You get the idea.

But tonight's picture shows one of the things that doesn't suck.

Day 223 - August 10

This one doesn't get an explanation.

But, it DOES need a caption.

Go.

Day 222 - August 9

This morning, Jason decided to pull out a bin that had a baby play mat thing and the Bumbo seat in it. Cate's starting to have some more awake time during the day, so he thought she might like to check out the activity mat.

I'm not sure she ever got around to that, but Michaela enjoyed playing with the mat (for her dolls), and the Bumbo (for herself).

Who says a Bumbo can't be for a big kid?

For the record, she ate a snack sitting in this thing a little later in the morning. She's a nut.

Day 221 - August 8

Grandma, Grandpa Jeff, and Aunt Heather got into town this afternoon. I, of course, planned nothing for dinner, so we ended up going out to Texas Roadhouse. Our choice was completely based on coming up with a place that would keep Michaela happy.

If she can eat peanuts, she's happy.

She was even happier to sit between Grandma and Grandpa Jeff. And even happier still to throw peanut shells on the floor.

Even better than that? Pulling the shells out of the shell bucket and then throwing them on the floor. And why was this ok? Because Grandpa said so.

Day 220 - August 7

Pretty much every time the baby eats, which is roughly exactly every three hours if you're keeping track, I fight with her to keep her hands out of the way. We're pretty bad about waiting just a smidge too long to get to her and change her diaper before she wants to eat, so she's usually frantically sucking on her own hands. This, of course, makes it tough to get her to actually hit the target, so to speak, so I have to pull her hands out of the way.

Tonight, it was like she finally got it. I looked down and she was nicely clasping her hands out of the way of the food source, and then she fell asleep and stayed that way. Too cute for words!

Day 219 - August 6

Daddy is not the only one who can be a head warmer.

I swear, we do not put her in our necks like this. She wiggles her way up on her own when she's getting settled to sleep. No wonder we have such a hard time getting her to sleep in the bassinet at night... she just wants to be warmed by someone else!

Day 218 - August 5

My baby's head smells like men's aftershave.

It's her fault. She can't help but crawl her way up her daddy's chest in order to tuck her head into the warmth of his neck. Every time he holds her like this. Every time.

Day 217 - August 4

When doing online shopping, specifically for baby clothes, I have one very big piece of advice: check to see what material the clothes are made out of.

Why do I say that?

Because if you don't, you get to spend some quality time on a Saturday night ironing 0-3 month clothing.

Craziness, I tell you. Craziness.

Day 216 - August 3

Know what's a way better snack than the cheese and crackers your mom was just about to get for you?

A Madagascar ice cream pop from the ice cream truck.

Day 215 - August 2

Last night, Cate didn't sleep much.

So Daddy didn't sleep much either. (Mommy didn't either, but I took the early shift and Daddy got stuck with the middle of the night one.)

Cate and Daddy tried to make up for lost sleep in the chair this afternoon.

Day 214 - August 1

Yesterday, Cate turned two weeks old! I don't know exactly where the last two weeks have gone. They're somehow this big cloudy blur of sitting on the couch, feeding a baby, trying to nap, feeding a baby, eating meals provided by awesome friends, feeding a baby, venturing out for very short trips out of the house, feeding a baby, and sleeping in short spurts at night. And feeding a baby.

I'm looking forward to our 2-week appointment with the doctor, which is probably going to happen closer to 3.5 weeks, so we can see how much she's grown. She's definitely spending more time awake every day (if we're lucky it's during the day and not in the middle of the night), likes sitting up to look around, and has apparently gotten the spit-up-all-the-time trait that her big sister had.

Poor girl... I took some cute sleeping pictures yesterday, but, instead, I'm sharing this one for posterity. Hee hee.

Happy two-week birthday, Cate!

Day 213 - July 31

This picture from Tuesday is definitely appropriate for the eve of the start of World Breastfeeding Week.

Somehow, instead of cute pictures of my toddler trying to nurse her baby dolls, I end up with this.... my toddler feeding her baby a "bottle" - which is actually a balloon pump.

*sigh*

Where have I gone wrong? I mean, I nursed that kid for almost 22 months. Now I'm nursing her sister. But somehow this is how she thinks we feed a baby?

(Lest anyone get offended, there's no judgement on how anyone feeds their babies from me. I'm only commenting on how I think it's funny that MY child doesn't think of breastfeeding before bottle feeding.)