It's Been...Interesting

I feel like I've been sort of MIA in the blogging world lately. Jessica is a bit of a needier baby than Jillian was. And I am having a heck of a time adjusting to it. The past few weeks have made it even tougher. John got sick, then Jillian, then Jessica, then me (to a lesser extent thank goodness). Along with being sick, Jessica cut two front teeth and has a third that will probably be in within a week. What does that mean for me? It means that I have a baby that doesn't want to be put down. EVER. Not even to sleep in her crib. Fortunately(?) her high pitched, make your ears ring scream is dulled somewhat by her congestion, but even still, stuff needs to get done around here and the constant low whining/crying that she does when left to her own devices is irritating. And from the baby that used to sleep well at night, getting up every hour and a half and not wanting to go back to sleep unless attached to mommy is getting OLD. Smothering really. Add to that a toddler that demands attention and doesn't listen especially well, well, you get the picture. Most nights I'm frustrated and pulling my hair out. And just want the kids to go to bed and leave me alone for a couple hours. Anyway. It does seem like Jessica is finally getting on good terms with nap(s) and when I can put her down in the morning IN HER CRIB, Jillian gets some one-on-one mommy time. That helps a little. But really, I'm pretty over being SO needed. Being needed a little = self esteem boost. Being needed constantly = wanting to run away from home.

Anyway, enough venting already. If you've wondered why I haven't been blogging as much, though, there you have it. I'm mostly brain dead and exhausted and when I get a little time to myself, I sit down with a glass of wine, and not the computer. And I work on this. I'm finally making myself a scarf and hopefully it will be done before the warm weather arrives for good.

Speaking of warm weather, last week when we had our heat wave, I took the girls to the park to walk. I must admit that it felt darn good to get some walking in.

Jillian didn't much feel like smiling for the camera, or for me, but she did crack a little smile when we saw this (look hard through the trees). Patapsco is about the only park where we walk most of the time because of the choo-choo factor.



Jessica is just about big enough to wear in the Ergo.

The Daytona 500 was this past weekend. We didn't follow NASCAR much last year, but with the new HD tv, I must say that we will be watching considerably more this year. What a HUGE difference. We even got Jillian in on it this year by setting up a track for her to play with during the race.

Jillian got to spend the night at her cousin's house last night. Before she left yesterday, we did some playing in her room while Jessica napped and I folded laundry. When I was a kid, I had some prisms that hung in my bedroom and cast rainbows all around the room when it was sunny. I found two of them the other day and hung them in Jilly's room. She thinks the rainbows are really neat! You can see some of them on her Toy Story picture that daddy painted. She also loves Toy Story. I no longer do. In fact, it's possible that I can't STAND Toy Story at this point.



Though a funny story did come out of this play time. Jillian likes to narrate the action for me when I'm around while she plays. Overheard yesterday, "Bullseye peepee in Jessie's hat, and Jessie doesn't like it". Really???

And They're In

Say bye-bye to that gummy smile!

And hello teeth!

Yoplait Kids Giveaway: Updated

WINNER: Commenter #2, Katrina! Congratulations!!

I have struggled to find decent snack food for my toddler that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Jillian isn't just a picky eater. She's a fickle eater. One day she likes something I give her, the next she won't have a thing to do with it. Very frustrating! So when I had a chance to try out Yoplait Kids (courtesy of Yoplait through MyBlogSpark), I jumped on it.

Jillian is weird about yogurt. She doesn't like the texture and consistency of the Greek style yogurts that I like, and she loves the flavors of the not-so-great-for-her other yogurts out there. And I don't love giving her foods with aspartame in as a sweetener. Yuck.

Yoplait Kids has an excellent source of both calcium and vitamin D, a good source of protein and the delicious taste kids demand. It also contains 25% less sugar than the leading kids’ yogurt, and has no high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors, flavors or sweeteners. Yoplait Kids yogurt is a snack you can feel confident about serving to your kids!

With tasty flavor options, as well as calcium, vitamin D and protein to help build strong bones, Yoplait Kids yogurt is sure to be popular with parents and kids alike. A great value at just $2.00 for a pack of four, this yogurt comes in three delicious flavors, including Strawberry, Strawberry Banana and Vanilla. Kids will love finding their favorite friends, like Dora the Explorer, Lightning McQueen from the hit movie “Cars” and the Disney Princesses, on every cup.

Want to win the prize pack? You will receive a coupon for any variety of the Yoplait Kids yogurt products, along with a Yoplait Kids prize pack. Perfect for accompanying this fun everyday snack, the Yoplait Kids prize pack includes a coupon for Yoplait Kids yogurt, a foldable travel cooler (to take your yogurt on-the-go), a cool four-piece spoon set, a power magnet picture frame, trendy alphabet-shaped “Kiddie Bands”, a great big bounce ball, and a “My First Scavenger Hunt” card game for some after-snack fun.

All you have to do to enter is leave me a comment telling me what your favorite (or your little one's favorite) snack food is! A random integer generator will be used to choose the contest winner Monday night (2/21) at 8pm (Eastern time), so get your comments in!

*Disclosure: the coupon, prize pack, information and giveaway were all provided by Yoplait through MyBlogSpark.*

*This coupon offer for a free four pack of Yoplait Kids yogurt is not valid in some states, including California, Idaho, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota and Tennessee.

Teeth!

Jessica just cut her two bottom teeth! In the same night! And I wondered why she kept waking up last night.... Add that to the cold we've been passing around here, and it's been quite a week. John got sick last Tuesday, Jilly started feeling bad Wednesday/Thursday-ish, Jessica followed a day or so later. Now I'm trying keep it from totally knocking me out of commission. Our once full week got cleared quickly and we've been laying low and trying to kick the cruddies.

No teeth pictures yet, but here is what we've been up to. Besides being sick.

Jillian was playing and Jessica was watching from her horsie the other morning. Jessica just LOVES watching Jilly play. Which is awesome for me! I was in the kitchen and looked out to see this...apparently Jilly is getting Princess Jessie started early with dress up.

This is a pretty Jessica-centric post, since despite being sick, Jillian spent a couple nights at my mom's house over the weekend. So Jessie and I got some mommy/baby time in. Which included lots of playing and smiles.

Gummy smiles - not for long though!

I bought Jessica a new rattle. It's been tons of fun. I love the concentration!

Looking through the rattle. At a cute baby and an explosion of baby toys/gear in the background. *sigh*

Jessie loves the jumper and especially this frog and mirror. Captivating.

Jillian started feeling better Sunday evening, and we had a couple things to pick up yesterday. We slipped into CVS and they had some fun stuff on their sale table. Including a bag of party blowers (is that what they're called?) for $0.18. She has truly enjoyed them.



Up next...erupting teeth pictures and a giveaway!

Hookies

That's what Jillian calls horsies, "hookies". And she loves them. We got her a bouncy, rocking horsie for her first birthday. She has played with it ever since. And today we picked up a stick horse. She put it down for a nap when we got home. Complete with nightie, a 'pillow', and a teacup of 'water'.

I reattached the seat to the rocking horsie for Jessica. And she had a BLAST!

And Jillian didn't feel like posing with her hookie, since it was napping, of course.

Girly Fun

Jillian had her second ballet class today! It was so cute to watch, but I had a tough time getting any pictures of her (at least with her facing the camera!). Here she is all excited before class started, though.

Then we came home and this afternoon Jillian discovered my jewelry box. She was very cute trying on necklaces, bracelets, and rings.



Jessie was getting cranky on the bed while Jilly modeled jewelry and I folded laundry, so the sweet big sister came and cheered her up.



Not a bad Monday!!!

In Need of New Post Titles

Seriously. What it really means, is that I've been lame and not been posting regularly. Because titles like "catching up" and "randomness", I've already used. Hello, inconsistent blogging.

Oh well.

This is the month of birthday parties. Since all of our moms group babies were born around the same time, it means that there are birthday parties a-plenty.

Jocelyn had a pool party - and I took both girls. This was Jessica's first exposure to the water (other than baths and showers, of course). And she really loved it!! Thanks for the pictures, Denise!





Cloth diapers are addictive. Really. I picked up two consigned Happy Heinys diapers at Greenberries the other day. One was cow print and one was monkey print. How is this not adorable???

To completely jump around, Brenna had the coolest thing at Amedeo's birthday party today. It was a balloon hanging from the ceiling, and a paper plate paddle with which to hit said balloon. Jilly loved it and I totally had to make her share with other kids several times during the party. And we got one to take home as a favor!!! Here's Jilly playing with her new balloon toy after nap time!




Thanks for the balloon game idea, Brenna!!!

Jillian started ballet last Monday. I left during her first class to get a couple things done without her - yep, sign me up for the mom-of-the-year award now. Anyhow, I hope to have some pics of her in ballet soon. I do plan on sticking around for her class tomorrow!