Elle's heart

Today Elle had her appointment with the cardiologist at BC Children's Hospital about her heart murmur.

The appointment was at 12:30 and I didn't want to be late. With all the construction and stuff, and having to park and find where her appointment was, I wanted to give myself a lot of time, so we left at 9:30 (Conor stayed home with Finn).

We got there REALLY early, 11am! haha, so I went to the Oakridge Center and just looked around for a while and had some lunch and then headed to the hospital. I got there just after 11:30 and there over 20 entrances, so I just randomly parked and hoped I wouldn't have any problems finding the heart center. It was right there - I did good in parking where I did!

This meant I was 45 minutes early, but I figured I would probably have to feed Elle anyways, so I went and checked us in. They took her measurements (she has officially doubled her birth weight plus an ounce and a half!!) and then told us to take a seat.

The doctor came and got us only a couple minutes later, it was great. He listened to her heart and had us go back to our seat and they would call us to do the testing. This is where I started getting nervous. For some reason I just thought he would listen and then order the testing (which we would do another day), not that we would have the testing done right then... I was scared she would have to give blood! Luckily all she needed was the echocardiogram (ultrasound of the heart), that only took about 10 minutes, and she did pretty good, cried a couple times but was pretty relaxed otherwise.

After that we went BACK to the waiting room, watched the doctor finish eating his lunch! and then he called us back into his office.

So there is a heart murmur still, a small hole in the pump. But it's really small, and he said that blood isn't even passing through it every time, so he isn't concerned at all. He didn't even have anything, any symptoms, for us to watch out for. He said it will probably close up on it's own, but either way it wouldn't affect her at all!

The appointment was just over an hour, so we were leaving only 15 minutes after the appointment should have begun. I love it when doctors aren't running late!

The weekend

This weekend was pretty busy!

On Friday afternoon and Saturday morning Conor went to help his grandparents move. So on Saturday I took the kids to mom's house. Finn played and Elle slept and we had lunch and came back home. In the evening we had to go to Mass because Conor and his family were going to be running in a relay in the morning.

On Sunday morning the family were leaving at about 6:30am for the relay and it would be my second or third time at home all by myself with the kids! I was afraid that it would be a very early morning, because usually Finn fusses at about that time and then Conor goes in and sleeps in his bed until 730 or something. Well Finn did fuss so I started towards his room but didn't hear anything so I went back to bed and woke up at 730! He was singing to himself for awhile, and Elle was awake but just laying in my bed, so we didn't get up until 8.

We had breakfast, cleaned up the house a bit and just played. My mom was throwing a little party for Elle at 2pm, which meant that Conor wouldn't be home by the time I was meant to leave, so I had to take Finn with me to nap at Grandma's. I knew it would be bad to get to grandmas just at nap time though, Finn would want to play toys too much. So we went through the McDonalds drive through, ate it at moms, played and then I put him down for his nap.

Everyone, except my cousin, had already seen Elle, and some had already even given gifts... but they still all brough gifts anyways (even though I told them there was no need!) She got some really cute stuff!

Finn woke up at 2:30 quite grumpy, especially because there were people there that he didn't know. So he didn't want to come out of the spare room. Finally I got him into mom's room to watch TV, but he was still grumpy and wanted me or mom in there. When we started eating the goodies, I gave him a plate of grapes and he was happy... eventually mom convinced him to come into the living room with a plate of snacks and he was good after that!

When everyone left Conor came over and my brother and his girlfriend and we all went upstairs for BBQ steaks. It was a nice family dinner (minus one brother).

Tiring weekend, but fun!

Castle Fun Park

Groupon had this deal for Castle Fun Park. For $25 you get a $50 play card there. And I had a $10 credit, so it only cost me $15... that's less than playing mini-golf twice.

Conor kept telling me not to get it, that Finn probably wouldn't even like the place, but I didn't listen. I wasn't going to go there so soon after buying it, but it was a really really gross day, so I went ahead and took Finnian and Elle there. We went straight down to the mini-golf and Finn had so much fun.

He only actually put the ball in one hole. But he loved putting the ball on the tee and hitting it, and then hitting it a few more times wherever it lay, but didn't really understand that the goal was to get it in the hole. He especially liked the ones where you shoot it up the ramp and it comes out someplace else... he wanted to do those ones over and over again.

Elle slept in her carseat the whole time, so I just picked her up and moved her from hole to hole. I had the best game in my life! I got 2's on nearly every hole! I finally convinced Finn that we should go upstairs and play some games, so we got to the last hole and I told him that when he shot the ball up it would not come back.

I guess he didn't understand because he kept saying "where ball go mommy?". I tried putting him in one of those cars that "drives" when you put in money, he lasted about 30 seconds. He tried skeeball and managed to not get a single ball in, but multiple times had it go on one of the neighboring ramps. Finally I decided there were NO games there for his age, so we went home.

I had to bribe him with "timbees'' (timbits) to get him to the car, since I was carrying Elle. When I showed Conor the pictures of Finn playing golf he was really jealous.

I guess I made a good purchase :)

Normalcy at night

So it's officially been a week of Elle's night time routine. Every night (except last night) she's fallen asleep between 9 and 9:30. It's not as early as Finn when he was her age, but it's a start and it's AWESOME!!

I bring her down to my bed, feed her, and then lay her down and I lay down beside her. I usually have to give her the soother a few times, and it generally takes about an hour, but no rocking, most of the time no patting or anything. And then I have at least an hour before I'm ready to go to bed.

I feel like a normal person. One night we watched a movie, one night we played poker... Conor and I even watched the first episode of the new season of "The Office".

Now to try to make it earlier, maybe eventually move her into her crib (I don't think she likes the bassinet)... and also nap times, gotta do something about that (she only sleeps in her carseat, and sometimes not even there, just wants to be held and microsleep)

But I'll take what I can get!

Miss me?

I want to blog... but too tired right now.

I will blog about that previous blog I just did.

About some things Finn does and says.

About the weekend.

About Elle's bedtime.

Later, maybe tomorrow.

Guess

Can you guess where I took Finn today?

Time to sing

Since we are back at home, we have rejoined the Sweeney Singers. I won't be singing in every song, but in some, and I'm actually really enjoying having something else to think about, something else to do.

Along the same lines, I've picked up the guitar again! I haven't really played in years and years, so my fingers are pretty sore after a couple days of practicing! I had given/lent my guitar to Conor's cousin when we moved to Australia, and didn't think I would ever really want it back... but then Finn began this obessesion with "le guitar" (Don't ask why he always calls it that, because I don't know!) He always wants someone to play for him.

So after playing once or twice with my mother-in-laws I decided to ask Matt for my guitar back for a bit (since he has an electric and his gf's guitar), so I got it back the other day.

I'm not very good at it, I really need to practice... but I've printed out the chords/tabs for some songs that I really enjoy singing, and so I've been practicing with those.

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So far today has been a really good day! Elle went to sleep by 930 again last night, although I had started trying earlier, so it took a lot longer, but 930 is good for now. Finn has a few rough crying spells but he finally settled and Elle only woke up once to eat.

Then I fed her in the morning and she slept while we ate breakfast, while I did the dishes, while I vaccumed upstairs and even while I cleaned BOTH bathrooms! Then we went outside so Finn could play in the sandbox.

Conor had to hold her while I made lunch because she was pretty fussy, but she did well while we ate, and then both kids went down fairly well for nap time and I got a couple hours in as well!

After that, Elle was still sleeping so I practiced the choir songs with Finn watching, and then Conor took Finn outside. Elle was STILL sleeping so I played the guitar for awhile and read a bit and then she finally woke up to eat.

Right now she is somewhat snoozing again in her carseat! She is a pretty great baby!

I'll leave you with the lyrics to one of my all-time favorite songs that I've been enjoying playing again.

Lullaby - By Pedro the Lion

The sun shines

And leaves blow

And my hope like autumn is turning brown

I know it seems like I'm always falling down

Chorus:But it does not matter to me

Although it seems like it should

It's because I know I'm understood when I hear Him say

Rest in me little David

And dry all your tears

You can lay down your armor

And have no fear

Cause I'm always here

When you're tired of running

And I'm all the strength that you need

It's uphill both ways

Tomorrow I swear I won't act this way

And I know it seems like that is what I always say

You know I want to be like Jesus

But it seems so very far away

When will I learn to obey

Obey

Loved it!

I'm so glad I went to yoga last night. I really did love it! It was more challenging that I expected... probably because every time I've tried it at home I haven't actually held the poses for as long as I was supposed to, or did them properly.

The chanting was a little weird... and it's a little awkward hearing people "toot"... but otherwise it was great!

I think the thing I like best about it is how relaxing it is. Yes, it's hard work on your muscles, but all in all it's calming and relaxing.

What else did I love about last night? Elle was asleep in bed by herself by just after 9:30pm!!!!

I asked Conor to try his hardest not to let Elle sleep at all while I was gone. That way I could try feeding her in bed when I got home and putting her to sleep. I got home at about 845, brought her downstairs, fed her, laid her beside me and gave her the binky. It took her about 30 minutes of grunting and me giving her the soother a few (million!) times... but eventually she was out and I was able to go on the computer, watch a bit of tv, and relax before going to bed!!!

Mommy Time

Conor really likes sports of many kinds. Because of this, he gets out of the house on his own a lot. Some weeks more than others, but at least once every week he gets away for 2+ hours and I get a wee bit jealous.

Sometimes I'm jealous because I want to get out of the house without any kids, and sometimes it's just that I don't want HIM to get out of the house without the kids!!

Last week especially I was feeling grumpy about this so I went out a couple times in the morning just with Elle, leaving Finn at home with Conor (Finn is usually pretty good and Conor can still get work done with him around).

The other thing that is getting me grumpy is that Elle is just NOT as good at bedtime as Finn was at this age. Finn liked to nurse for long periods of time, and would fall asleep nursing... so it was perfect for bedtime. Some nights would require rocking, but generally he would nurse to sleep and I could put him in his basinette. Then if Conor and I wanted, we had a few hours where we could go out by ourselves or with friends and all his parents had to do was listen to the monitor and normally he wouldn't put up any fuss.

Elle on the other hand will NOT go to sleep without us, and she's an effective nurser. She eats quickly without any problems, but then doesn't fall asleep doing it... and we can't seem to transfer her to her basinette at all anymore, so she ends up in our bed. I totally don't mind her sleeping in our bed, but I would prefer that she is asleep before 9 and that we can then have at least an hour away from her.... I'm going to start working on it again this week, because I had given up after the last attempt.

ANYWAYS, Conor is more than happy to let me get out on my own for an evening, but the question was, what do I do?? Once a month I go to girls night, but the girls wanted to see Elle so I took her with me.

So starting tonight I'm going to go to yoga with Conor's sister! I'm afraid that I'm going to look like a fool and not be able to do half the moves, but I think I really will like it. I've always wanted to do yoga, but I'm not one of those people that can do it by myself at home. I really need to be in a setting where I get pushed to do it, and on a regular basis.

Here goes nothing!

Better than a new car!!

Yesterday we made a trek out to the big city (Vancouver!) to look into something that I have been wanting since the first time I laid eyes on it (and this was before I even had kids!)

You may remember my stroller dilemma last year when both front wheels fell off my Graco. I really really wanted to get a Phil & Ted's, but it just wasn't in the budget at the time. In the end we just bought new front wheels, and I am actually happy we did that, the big basket from the Graco was really a must for us in Italy.

A new little outfit - I love girls clothes!!

Now we have two kids, one that doesn't ALWAYS need to be in a stroller, but I can't really go to the mall without him in the stroller because he doesn't always want to listen to me (WHAT?! A toddler who is defiant?? haha) and I don't want to always have to wear the baby when we are out... so I started dreaming about a Phil & Ted's again. Also the back wheels in our Graco are on the verge of breaking.

The reason we need a double stroller!

Finn always wants to be held "like baby Elle"

Well I found one on craigslist for a good price, so we went to check it out... and we bought it!!!

We do have to get one or two little parts so that we can use it with both kids right now. With Elle so small we either need a car seat adaptor so that Finn would sit in the back seat and she would be in front with her car seat, or hinge things so that the double seat can go in the front, where Finn will sit, and the back reclines all the way down so Elle can lay down.

Me and my new wheels!!

Since we were already out in Vancouver we decided to hope over to Granville Island and just walk around a bit (and try out the 'new' stroller!)

This morning baby girl got her immunizations. She is now 11 pounds 1 ounce! I'm a pro during the shots now though, so I didn't shed a tear... really, I didn't...

Elle - Two Months Old & Baptism

Notice how snug this sleeper is now and how chubby her legs are compared to her One Month!

Today Elle is two months old! Update: For my own records, Elle is now 11 pounds 1 ounce!

She is changing considerably every day. She's definately a lot more alert now when she is awake, and she's really starting to look at things, and she will follow objects with her eyes (for a little bit at least). I don't do it enough, but she seems to enjoy tummy time (at least more than Finn ever did!)

Finn is still loving his little sister. Yesterday I had her just laying on the floor and he went and was watching her and laying beside her. When she was having tummy time he ran over and got on his stomach and started bobbing his head like she does when she tries to lift it! He also likes to, when she's moving her arms around, get close to her hand so that her hand will touch his face. He thinks it's so funny every time she touches him! I have to watch him though because if it's not working out, he tries to grab her arm and put her hand to his face, but he can be a bit rough sometimes.

As cute as she is at this age, and I know I shouldn't say this, but I can't wait until she's a bit older and can go in the jolly jumper or sit up on her own. It's just so difficult to handle a toddler when you have to hold a baby nearly all day long.

She has turned into a bit of a cranky pants who doesn't like to sleep as much. She will, thankfully, still usually take a longer nap between 12-3, so I can have a nap, but otherwise she catnaps most of the day. And will NOT go to bed for the night before 10:30. So frustrating! I might start trying again midweek to see if I can get her into bed earlier so we can have the evening free, but we'll see. Conor likes to say that some cranky baby ate his good-natured baby! haha. Although on Sunday she was a superstar!!

On Sunday we had Elle's baptism at St. James. She did so well. She was awake and alert and didn't cry at all. She fussed a tiny bit but would settle down as soon as we gave her her soother. Finn was also good. He came up to the front with us and was just a bit shy so we had to hold him the whole time, but he was quiet.

Nathan and Emma, the Godparents, us, and Father George

Emma holding Elle during the baptism

After the baptism we had a brunch at our house. With 22 people we were very happy that everyone helped out with the food! Grannie held Elle most of the time, and Elle slept very nicely for her. I eventually put her in her carseat where she continues sleeping for a while. When she woke up I went outside to watch people play croquette and Conor's dad took her and she fell back asleep again. It was awesome! She slept all through dinner and then we all played anothergame of croquette (with Conor's parents this time). Unfortunately about half way through she wanted to eat, so I didn't get to finish the game.

Our first family photo - other than the ones at the hospital when Elle was in the crib!

To the gates of hell

The long-weekend had it's ups and downs, but I think it was an alright "vacation"

On Friday after nap time we headed to my moms for out little mini-holiday. Conor dropped me and the kids off and went to grab some groceries. That night Elle was asleep before 8 and out for the rest of the night, so we had a really relaxing evening!

The next day we woke up, pretty early thanks to Finn, and had pancakes. Then the humming and hawwing began over what we were going to do for the day. I really wanted to do something different, but Conor really didn't want to spend a lot of money! Finally we thought we might drive up to Bridal Falls and do the little "hike" there... but I was wondering out loud of there was anything else out that way, since the hike wouldn't take us very long. Out of the blue Conor suggested Hell's Gate. Once we decided that's where we were going to go, we had to get cracking because if we wanted to be back to make Pizza for dinner.

Finn did relatively well on the drive. Our saving grace were the tunnels in the canyon, those were pretty exciting for him. Once we got there, Conor thought we could just walk across the suspension bridge (as opposed to taking the airtram), but when we got there and asked about the suspension bridge the lady said you get there by taking the airtram and the ticket cost includes the suspension bridge (in the end, we could have done the hike down and got into Hell's Gate for free!! instead we spend $40, blah!) So we hopped on the airtram and Finn was not very pleased, he just wanted to get off (until we started moving). Once we crossed we had some lunch and looked in the shops, bought some fudge, walked across the suspension bridge and then got ready to go back. Not a WHOLE lot to do there, but still interesting. This time Finn just marched on the airtram like he owned the place, no fear!

On the airtram going down

On the way there we had seen a sign for Alexandra Bridge, so we decided to stop on the way back and walk down to it to check it out. It was actually pretty cool - I'm glad we stopped.

After that we drove home, Finn and Elle slept the whole way, so it was nice a peaceful! (which is always nice on a 1.5 hour drive!) Conor took Finn shopping to get some pizza stuff and then he made the pizza and we ate it. After Finn went to bed is when things took a little downhill turn.

Elle was fussy all evening. I swear, every night that I haven't bathed her, she has not slept before 10pm, and last night was no exception. So it was NOT a relaxing evening. Then I woke up around 5pm needing to feed her and feeling very sore... long story short I had gotten a mild case of mastitis, and it is not pleasant.

By the time morning came I was feeling nauseous and sore. I decided to have a bath, so I started the bath, and then I also need to rinse out some of Elle's clothes from a blow out, so I started running the water in the sink and went to get ready for the bath. I got in the bath and let the water keep running for a bit and then when I turned it off I was confused because I still heard water running. I LEFT THE KITCHEN SINK TAP GOING! I yelled for Conor and the look on his face told me that it was overflowing! Elle is crying, Finn is trying to get into the bath with me, and Conor is mopping up water on the floor and the sink - NOT FUN!

We eventually just decided to head back home (we would have gone to 9am mass, gone back to moms for breakfast and then headed home). When we got home we ate some breakfast and I felt a lot better after that. We went to 11am mass and then did the usual Sunday events. Conor's mom had gotten a croquette set when they went up a couple weeks ago to clean out Grandmas house, so we had a game of that in the afternoon.

Finn was NOT impressed that I had pulled him up in the big chair!

Monday was the holiday, didn't do much in the morning but in the afternoon 6 of us had a game of croquette. I lost miserably... it was quite pathetic!

Thankfully the mastitis didn't get any worse, and is almost completely gone now.

Alexandra Bridge

On a lighter note.

Finn is somewhat obsessed with dirty diapers. He will grab blankets or rugs and roll them up saying "poopy diaper".

This morning Conor let Elle and me get away to the mall by ourselves. I needed to get some stuff, and I needed some "me" time. As I suspected she would, Elle slept the whole time we were there, so while I wasn't all by myself, I didn't really have to do anything for her but push the stroller :)

A little worn out

Today has been a long day.

Starting with Finn waking up around 7, coming into our room and proceeding to whine for a half hour until we finally convinced him to go upstairs and find Grandpa.

Actually it really started last night when Elle wouldn't sleep all evening until after 11:30pm. She is doing, what Conor has dubbed, "micro-sleeps". Where she will fall asleep in our arms for 5-10 minutes and you will think she is out, and then out of no where her eyes are open and she is wide awake! It is so frustrating.

Anyways, so Finn wakes up grumpy, therefore I'm already grumpy. We finish breakfast and I get Elle sleeping and get myself doing my morning housework. There's not a whole lot of ways that I can contribute to this household. I don't know farm stuff, so I can't just go out and pick vegetables or weed or anything, especially not with a baby and toddler to look after. I can't really help out at meal time because that involves getting veggies from the garden or something and usually Elle needs my attention then. Obviously I realize I would HAVE to do dinner stuff if we were living on our own, but for the time being lets just ignore that fact. So what do I do. I vacuum almost every weekday (unless I'm going out in the morning). There's a hair dog and three cats in the house, so it really does need to be vacuumed. I vacuum the hallway, the living room, the kitchen and dining room, and the stairs and landing area. I also tidy up all of those areas as well. I try to get to the dishes and clean the kitchen counters and stuff before my MIL gets to it, one less thing for her to do, but sometimes it just depends. No point doing it if there are still people having breakfast, and I can only do it if Elle is sleeping.

This morning, however, I got the vacuuming done (except for the kitchen/dining room) and Elle woke up. I managed to get her to keep sleeping in her carseat for 5 or 10 minutes at a time so that I could get the kitchen cleaned and vacuumed and then she wouldn't have it anymore. So I got Finn dressed and we went up to the field for him to run around, and Elle slept in her carseat.

Then we had lunch and nap time. I'm blessed to have a husband that is home so that I can sleep (that is, only if Elle is sleeping). Conor usually goes out for his run at noon while Finn and I have lunch. Then I put Finn down at 1:30 and usually Elle is already asleep in her carseat at that point and then I go downstairs to sleep. This way Conor listens for Finn on the monitor, and will handle him if he's being difficult, and if Elle gets restless or anything he will handle that so that I have uninterupted sleep. Generally it works out very well and Conor is able to work on his thesis that whole time. Sometimes Finn is more cranky, and if Elle actually wakes up, than I don't nap.

After nap time we went to my moms and had dinner. Elle was pretty cranky the whole time and had alot of micro-sleeps. Note that she had napped until 330ish but didn't really sleep at all after that. She cried A LOT the whole way home. Conor put Finn to bed while I nursed her and started what I hoped would be a successful and quick bedtime plan... haha!!! We got home just after 830 and she is now in her bassinet and has been for all of 10 minutes, and who knows if she'll stay asleep or not.

I have a headache. I need ME time... and I realize I shouldn't complain because I did have that nap, but it still doesn't leave me anytime to just sit. I need to get this sleep routine down so that I at least have the evenings.

Ugh, I have more that I wanted to say, but I need to remind myself right now to sleep while she sleeps, so off I go. Hopefully tomorrow is just even a little tad better than today.

Going away for the weekend - sort of

My mom, who lives all of ten minutes away, has gone up to Prince George for the weekend, leaving her place empty... so Conor and I are going to pack up the kids and go there for the weekend, a free "getaway"... even though it's not a very far getaway!!

Speaking of Prince George, my moms older sister lives up there, and mom was already planning on going up, but now it turned out to be doubly good that she's going because her sister has gotten sick. She is in the hospital and they think she has a staph infection. She has a really big sore on her leg, has a high fever, she was on oxygen and IV last I heard. So please keep her in your prayers, and all the doctors that look after her.

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After the weekend I'm going to start "Operation Routine".

I love love routine, and I know that it's good for kids. Luckily Finn love routine as well, but usually adjusts really well on days when the routine gets shot (like the days we were in hospital having Elle, he was a trooper at my moms, going to bed great for her and even napping for Auntie Erin!)

But with babies, you just have to wait. I've been wanting to get Elle into a sleep routine for a few weeks, but I could tell she wasn't ready yet. She didn't seem to be in ANY kind of sleep pattern. But it's definitely changing. The last few days she's been having a good afternoon nap, allowing me to nap as well! She's also staying up through dinner, having her bath and then naturally falling asleep between 730 and 9 (that seems like a bit time gap, but it's actually really good!) Two nights ago I even brought her downstairs to her bassinet at 9pm (she generally falls asleep upstairs and stays up here until I go down to bed), had to give her binky a couple of times, but then she feel asleep!

I would have done it again last night, but we were watching Harry Potter 6, and I didn't want to have to keep going downstairs if she got fussy or wanted to eat.

Also, Finn is back in his room!!!!!!!!!!! I'm very excited about this, if you can't tell!

I'll update you at the end of next week as to how the routine is working out.

Cows and Bugs

Yesterday we went to my brothers house to celebrate another brothers birthday. Elle slept most of the time but woke up right when we were going to go home, so I just put her in the carseat and we started driving home. She was NOT happy, she was hungry and was crying very loudly.

Then Finn said "hoy cow baby Elle". I didn't know what he was talking about. Then I remembered the other day she was crying really loudly (she doesn't usually get that worked up) and I had said "Holy Cow". When I realized what he was saying I started laughing and then he just kept saying it, louder "hoy cow! HOY COW!" Very cute... really must start watching what I say around him.

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So poor Finn must just attract bugs of all sorts to himself. The mosquitos are finally gone, thank goodness, but then last night he woke up in the night crying and crying, and he's in our room right now while his room was getting painted, so it was pretty annoying. Conor kept going to him and eventually at about 6 he just brought his pillow with him and stayed the rest of the night in Finn's bed.

I had no idea why he was so upset, but Conor said that he noticed a couple bites on Finn's neck when Finn walked away. So I checked later on and I saw a couple... then I pulled the back of his shirt down and saw no less than a dozen bites on his back! What the heck?! We figured maybe a spider, who knows, but seriously poor guy!

The bites.

The other day we got slushees and Finn really wanted some.

On Friday we went to Mill Lake with my mom for dinner picnic.

Elle doing some tummy time!

A new sleeper from some Aussie friends!