Things so far...

...have been interesting. It is nice staying and at but also hard. Especially having a newborn.

Nora has been super fussy this past week, and I have had a cold. She wants to be on me, held by me, near me and constantly eating pretty much all the time. I am fine with this but it makes it hard when I need to show Graydon attention and she will not stop crying. Today has been good so far. I am trying to cut out my dairy. We do not drink milk, but it is still in my creamer, and I tend to eat cheese in almost every meal somehow in some form or another. I also loooove chocolate and ice cream, so just trying to not snack on those things.  Also used some gas drops last night and she slept for FIVE house. Booyah...going to try that again tonight!!  Otherwise she is a beautiful, lovely, silly face making, squishly little monkey baby. I love her chubby cheeks and her long toes. She totally has my feet. :)  I also think that she looks A LOT like me when I was a baby. She has a much smaller, more petite little nose than what Gray had when we was born, but they also look very similar, especially when she was first born. When she came out we were like "she's a girl version of Graydon when he was born!" It has been a lot of fun noticing their differences and similarities.  Currently she is nursing about every 1-2 hours. I just nurse her on demand whenever she is rooting and things are going good so far. I really want to be able to nurse a lot longer this time especially since I am home. Nora sleeps next to our bed in an Arms Reach Cosleeper that my sister borrowed me for the time being and it has been really helpful. She starts out in that most nights and then always seems to end up sleeping next to me at some point after like 3-4 AM. We get a lot more sleep that way and it works out well. Newborn size is still fitting her the best but I can tell that she will soon be fitting into the 0-3 month size better. It is still a little big on her but that is OK.  At her first peds appointment at 4 days old, she has gained 2 oz. back so the doctor was happy with that. At her 2 week appt. she weighed 8 lbs. 12 oz. and was 21 inches long, along with 14 inche head circumference so she is growing great! We will do her first Hep B shot at her 2 month appointment.

Graydon on the other hand has been SUCH a handful. I am sure that part of it is jealousy, and the other part of it is him just being a stubborn, independent, little stinker of a two and half year old. He ignores us a lot, refuses to listen sometimes, says NO, says I CAN'T, wants to do things by himself which is great unless we are sort of in a hurry, which seems to be always these days.  If we tell him not to do something or to stop he tests us in every way. He is so sweet one second and being frustrating the next. Needless to say we are trying to be consistent and he has seen a lot of timeouts these days. We want to give him love but he also needs consistence and needs to know that our threats are not hollow. Fortunately he is great with Nora for the most part. He hasn't tried to hurt her (although I don't leave him alone in a room with her just in case) and is very sweet with her. He is still getting used to the fact that she has her own things, and that they are not also his in some cases. He is quick to notice if she isn't in the room and wants to know where she is. He also is very aware of what she is doing or if she is eating etc. Right now he thinks that she eats from my belly (he doesn't know they are called boobs or breasts, which is fine with us for now. I don't really want him running around saying that Nora eats from Mommy's breasts etc.)  He also knows that she drinks "baby's milk". It is really cute and sweet.  He usually demands about once a day: "I want to hold my baby sister!" or "I want to hold Nora now!"  I will usually let him unless I am in the middle of a feeding or she is sleeping.  He is doing really well too, and the doctor also checked him over when we went to Nora's 2 week appt.  It was sort of his very 6 month belated 2 year well baby check up. He is currently 30 lbs. 2 oz. and 3 ft. 2 inches tall. He is vocab is amazing and he speaks in full sentences so the doctor thought that was great.

I am doing my best to balance my time, and try to keep up on stuff around the house without getting too down on myself if something doesn't get done. I figured that out quickly last week that I'm not going to get everything done every single day, especially with Nora being so fussy.  I know as she gets older things will get easier and we will fall into more of a routine. I am also hoping that Graydon starts listening a little better so that will helps things flow better throughout the day as well. I need to also start doing some things to help him stay more preoccupied. He cannot just keep watching TV all day long, but for right now I'm letting it happen because I'm feeding Nora almost constantly. I know the last couple of days I have gotten frustrated quite a bit with all of Nora's crying and Graydon's constant whining and disobeying, but I am trying to have a good attitude and be more patient. I keep reminding myself that Graydon is only 2 and Nora will only be a newborn for so long, and I want to enjoy that! Graydon has also been throwing up on and off the past couple of days so that has made things challenging as well.

Well I think that is all for now. I definitely miss my coworkers, getting out every day and having the adult interaction. Honestly I am thankful for the internet, for texting and for FACEBOOK, lol. Also for my friends who have visited etc.

I should also note that I am thankful for my husband Chris, who is one of the hardest workers I know and I am very blessed to be able to stay at home and raise our children. I pray that God gives me the strength, patience and knowledge to raise them in the best way possible. I just want to try and do the best that I possibly can!