Fun-filled Fall Weekend (and Abigail has a tooth!)

I am so happy that October is flying by (usually it drags for me.) I am LOVING my class this year. They are a really great bunch of kids and even though it's a big group, I think they rock! We've had tons of things going on each weekend and we are just exhausted! Christopher started a new job this past week. Very exciting! This weekend we have the Fall Festival at my school and then I'm hoping for some low-key weekends in November.

On Friday we dressed up and stayed at Grandma's house because she was hosting a Bunko party. Abigail's rash had faded so we were very happy about that. Audrey and Isabella ran around and played all night.






On Saturday after dance class and grocery shopping we took the girls to Belvedere. Audrey enjoyed it so much more this year. She still did not want to ride on the pony, though.









Giving her the lollipop at the beginning was a bad idea. It was all she wanted!


Too bad you can't see Abigail :( The sun was all up in her face.

Her first tooth is breaking through! Bottom front left. WOOO HOOO!!


I wish I could've snapped a picture of her face...major cheesing going on!



Tractor ride!


Audrey surprised us so much! From having her face painted to riding the tractor and then the moon bounce! OMG, she's always hated moon bounces. It took a lot of persuading but once she really tried it, she loved it!

Adorable!



I think Chris has been looking forward to getting an apple pie all year. Not even joking.

"I love you, pumpkin."

It was a great weekend. I took a nap with Abigail today and drank coffee at 6:30 pm. I am just so tired! Every night Abigail wakes up multiple times for a paci. Some nights Audrey wakes wanting milk. Here it is 9:00 on Sunday night and there are 4 baskets that need to be folded and I haven't opened my school bag yet. Oh and the house didn't get cleaned. But I'm not stressing because what would be the point? I do wish time would slow down a bit. It's making me sad just how fast Abigail is growing :( And Audrey is such an amazing little girl! I can hardly remember her as a baby (thank goodness for this blog!) There are many times where I just sit and look at them and take it all in. I stop to enjoy how little and sweet and fun they are. This is probably a big reason I have loads of laundry and messy countertops...but oh well :)

Post summary: Fall is in full-swing. My house is a wreck. I am in super love with my family.

Poor Abigail!

This morning I noticed she had a rash under her chin. I thought it was from her chin rubbing against her fleece sleep sack. I checked her over when we got to Grandma's and I noticed a few red bumps on her upper thighs. I put some hydrocortisone on the red spots before I left for school.

When I came to pick her up, Grandma told me she most likely had Roseola. She explained all the symptoms and it sounded exactly right. From what I could see the rash was still there and had even spread a bit.

When we got home and I was changing her, I freaked out! Little red spots all over her legs and arms.









I was not prepared for that! So of course I turn to Dr. Internet. Since I had both girls by myself tonight I couldn't sit back in the office and search the web so I posted on FB and got TONS of great advice from people I actually know and trust.

A few days ago (Sunday-Monday) Abigail's cheeks were flushed. I didn't even think to take her temperature. She hasn't been overly fussy and she's been eating and sleeping well.

I got a lot of mixed answers on FB (hives, hand, foot & mouth disease, fifths.) I guess we'll see how she does overnight and call the dr in the morning. It looks very similar to what Audrey had back in December. That cleared up the very next day if I remember correctly.

Ugh. I hate when things like this pop up. Makes things interesting I suppose! Please let me know if your babies have had this! I'm anxious about tomorrow...

Operation Deswaddle

Operation Deswaddle has been very successful! We went cold turkey on Friday night. Abigail slept beautifully until 3 am when I walked in to find her wide awake and laughing. Into the co-sleeper she went, where she stayed awake until 5 am (even after many cycles of the sea horse!)...slept on and off until 6 am when Chris said to just bring her into the bed. She finally fell into a good, solid sleep until 8:00. Thankfully Chris got up with Audrey so I got to sleep in, too!

On Saturday night she slept better; only a couple of short-lived wakings that called for a paci. I think I brought her into the co-sleeper around 6 and luckily she fell back to sleep. Slept til about 8:00. Sunday night I think I only had to go in once or twice to give her the paci and she woke up at about 6 am which was perfect! Last night she slept straight through. I didn't have to go in at all!

Overall I feel like deswaddling has been an easy transition! It's more difficult to get her back to sleep when she wakes so early, but I'm hoping that will phase out shortly :)

Things I Don't Want to Forget

Jotting these down quickly before I get the babes up!

*Chris and I are now supermodels. As in, models of behavior. Last night we met at Panera for a quick dinner, then he took Abigail to Walmart and I took Audrey to Kohl's and Target. He called as we were on the way to Target and I did not have my seat belt on (the 2 stores are basically in the same shopping center.) As we're talking Audrey shouts from the back seat, "Put your seat belt on, MOM!!" And over the weekend during the God-awful Tech game she repeated everything Chris yelled at the TV. Yup, we're going to have to be very careful!

*Audrey has 2 new favorite songs. She likes 'Moves Like Jagger' and sings the chorus (um, hilarious!) and she tries to sing Pumped Up Kicks. She completely has the correct tune but absolutely none of the correct words. Again, hilarious!

*Grandma put Audrey's 24 month t-shirt on Abigail yesterday by accident. I didn't realize it until I was unpacking the diaper bag and noticed her original shirt still in there. Yeah.

Abigail is 5 months old!

Our sweet girl is already 5 months and can I just say....SLOW DOWN!!! Seriously. I'm finding that I really miss the cuddly newborn phase. Every night I swaddle Abigail and give her a bottle. Then I just hold her and cuddle her. I love this time...she's so warm and cozy and sweet.

There have been a few big changes this month. First, she's super interested in food. She watches us as we eat and you can tell she wants to eat so badly! We've actually given her tiny bits of food (bread, mashed potatoes.) She loved it and would open her mouth as we came closer. I cannot wait to start giving her food in a few weeks!

Abigail started rolling over from back to belly last Sunday. I watched her do it ALL DAY and by that afternoon she was rolling with little effort and super fast! She stays on her tummy for a short period before getting fussy (why she doesn't roll back over? I don't know!) She is SO close to sitting up by herself. I'm hoping this is the month she reaches that milestone :)

She's grabbing for everything. Especially her bottle! I love seeing her reaction to it...eyes get wide, she starts snorting and her hands get all grabby. She reaches for toys, faces, her feet, pretty much everything! She's really enjoying her exersaucer and has been spending more time in it.

She's been bearing weight on her legs. We pull her up and she stands for a few seconds (and she loves it!!!) I think we may get the doorway jumper out soon.

We went through a wakeful period a few weeks ago. I was up several times with her at night, but mostly it was to replace her paci. Luckily we didn't take down the co-sleeper! I hate walking across the house so many times so often I'll bring her, the paci, and the seahorse in and that helps. She looks absolutely huge in the co-sleeper now, lol. She still gets swaddled but more and more often I find that she gets her little hand up near her mouth. I am so, so scared to stop swaddling. But we're nearing the 6 month mark when it will be time to sleep train. I think we should break the swaddle first, see how she does, and then Ferberize if needed. Maybe we'll give it a couple more weeks!

She's still eating 6 oz, every 3-4 hours and she's now taking all formula. She's doing well, aside from spitting up more which I think is common in formula-fed babies. She has her morning bottle at 6:00 am, 2 at Grandma's (10 & 2), one as soon as we get home (5:45) and then her bedtime bottle around 8:00.

I pulled out Audrey's 6-9 month clothes. They are mostly fall and winter because Audrey was wearing them when she was 9-12 months old. Not Abigail! She's wearing 6-9 month shirts and onesies (3-6 month dresses fit her fine but it's getting chilly here!) Get this...she's still wearing 0-3 months in pants. 3-6 month pants are a bit long, but generally fit just fine. I'm pretty happy we won't have to buy a ton of clothes! Again, though, I wish she'd slow down! I would like these clothes to last until Spring!

Teeth must be coming soon. She loves to chew on her hands and they are absolutely covered in drool within minutes. She likes to chew on ours, too. She doesn't really hold and chew her teething toys, hopefully that will change soon. We've been giving her teething tablets and they seem to work well. I feel every day for a bud and I look, but don't see anything.

She smiles and laughs and is such an easy going baby.









Bottle break!





This month went by FAST! I can't wait to see what this month brings :)

Busy, Busy!

It's been soooo long since I've been able to blog. Part of it is being super busy (by the end of the day I'm ready to lie in bed and zone out!) When I do have time to blog I just don't feel like it! Now I'm super behind...

The past 2 weeks have been crazy. I wasn't totally over my allergies/cold until last Tuesday. It's been a pretty normal couple of weeks aside from staying late for BTS Night last Thursday. It was pretty sucky not being able to see the girls until Friday afternoon when I picked them up. Grandma got sick this week and so I'm home today with the girls.



All dresses up for Hokie Game Day! Christopher's favorite time of year :)





Abigail now loves to swat at her toys with her feet :)


Enjoying a lazy Sunday!


Getting teeth soon?

Audrey just loves talking to her Abigail!


Abigail loves to grab her feet!

This past Saturday we went to see Dare to Dream at the Richmond Coliseum (Disney princesses on ice.) We went with Aunt Sarah and cousin Bella, and cousins Tina and Skylar. All the girls dressed up like princesses...it was so fun! They all loved the show (Audrey barely said a word...she was mesmerized!) I bought her a Cinderella doll afterwards and then we all went to dinner at Cracker Barrel. Of course everyone fawned all over them! It was such a great day with my sweet Audrey Cate. Dad stayed home with Abigail and he loved it! He sent several pictures throughout the day (her holding her bottle, watching the Hokie game.)












It's pretty incredible how over the past 2-3 weeks Audrey has taken such an interest in Abigail. One of her favorite things to do is lay on the floor next to Abby.



LOL!

Abigail loves to practice sitting up.


Ha! Love this expression.



It's the funniest thing! For a few weeks now Abigail has been rolling from her back to her side. On Sunday (9/25) she finally made it all the way over to her belly! She kept practicing and practicing...and it would take quite a few tries for her to get over. But by that evening she was turning over in no time flat! You couldn't keep her on her back. I'm pretty happy that I got to spend the day with her as she achieved this new milestone :)


Audrey has been using Halloween stamps and she likes to hang her masterpieces on the fridge.

And play hopscotch on them (?)

I just love these! Audrey thinks it's so funny when Abigail touches her..."Abby's tickling me!"












These girls are wonderful and I'm loving every minute we get to spend together. Abigail turned FIVE MONTHS yesterday...that post will be next!