14 Weeks Getting Organized

I'm starting to develop a pattern that seems to work for me with the girls. They usually are both asleep by 9pm. So I have been running with Oso (very nice "me time" to decompress & hear myself think) at 9ish after I get them down when Justin is at home. When I get back I get the basics done ie laundry/dishes/toy pick up and a quick shower. If we are feeling like we can squeeze it in Justin & I will watch an episode of Lost on Netflix, yes we are about 8 years late on this, but we are addicted and its a nice escape from reality for both of us. I'm usually asleep by 11 ish.  Mornings the girls are up around 7:30/8 sometimes Reese goes right back to sleep after I feed her which gives me some time to get breakfast in Rae and get organized for the day. I "usually" try to get up before Rae to get myself ready. I've found it is sooo much harder & takes much longer once the girls are up, I kick myself every time I don't get up when my alarm goes off at 6:15. I've been writing out our daily schedule weekly, whether its playgroup, errands, the park, stroller strides or something else, I always seem to be more efficient and on top of things if I know what I'm doing on a certain day before I actually wake up. Next up on the efficiency/organization situation is bath times & bedtimes. Right now Justin has been home in the evening to help me. July & on he will not be home early enough to help. I'm not as worried about bedtime, its just easier when he's home and the girls aren't rushed through the routine. Bathtime is a bit of an issue though. Rae likes to splash & poor water everywhere when I try to bath Reese, so I have to do it when she is asleep but that's also when Reese takes her long nap, so Reese has been getting lots of washcloth baths instead of in the actual tub. Rae's bathtime is hard  because she is all over the place splashing, jumping in the tub etc, so I need both hands for about 20 minutes to contain her. She also likes to streak around the house after her bath and yell "nudie" ...and is not potty trained yet so I need to keep a close eye on her. Its funny but makes things a little more difficult.

Reese is still doing great, she's been a bit fussier the last few days. Seems like she is teething, but it'd be very surprising to me if she actually got teeth this early. I think Raegan got her first 2 at 5 months.  Raegan is starting to enjoy having Reese as a little sister. She tries to hold her hand and interact with her now. She gets very impressed with herself when she can make her smile & laugh. She has thrown a few things at her too and swatted at her, but thats the phase we appear to be in right now.

I get this face a lot from Rae ha. 

Giving the stare down

Tummy Time, she's not rolling yet, but is definitely getting stronger.
She'll prop herself up in mini pushup position for several minutes and just look around. 

We pulled out the jumperoo. Reese seems to like it, hangs out and smiles at the animals.
Rae likes to add the element of surprise, she suddenly & vigorously shakes the jumper, which scares Reese and she cries. Gentle is not something Rae has figured out. 

One of Reese's favorite items to chew on.

She fell asleep this way, it was one of those days.

Sweet baby girl. She's got some lashes.

Reese & Evie from playgroup. Born 3 days apart.

Mat time. Rae really likes to play with her on this. Still shakes it from time to time.

Another new baby container/toy. Rae again "helps" Reese with her new chair and smacks the spinning toy
...again making her cry. I'm seeing a trend here.

Love the feet! 

After dinner we all go outside for some fresh air. Reese loves laying on my legs and staring at the trees.
Rae and Oso run laps around the yard.

12 weeks - Tired Happy Chaos

My brain is jumbled and I can't get a clear thought out of my mouth or in my head before something makes me forget what I was doing or saying, but we are doing pretty well all things considered. I have a little mommy guilt from time to time when I have to ignore one child while tending to the other, and not much more than the "need to get done" is happening around the house; though we are getting out daily and doing stuff which is great. We've been to the zoo a couple times, stroller strides weekly, moms group, birthday parties etc. I'm a little worried about the heat this summer, we went to an outdoor birthday party today (it was 98 degrees) and I was pretty much miserable & so was Reese, we were both sticky, sweaty and uncomfortable. I hope I can find some good, "its waaay to hot out to go outside" activities for us to do weekly or it's going to be a loong summer.

Reese has started to giggle and seems to be ticklish. Sometimes instead of a laugh I get a shocked/startled look from her, which is pretty hilarious to me. Overall she is a really happy baby, smiles & squeals a lot. She is still sleeping great 8 to 10 hrs and will take several quick naps & 1 long nap during the day SO THANKFUL. Her drooling has increased a bunch and she's always chomping on her hand. Soon we get to pull out the bebepod infant chair & the jumperoo....I think she'll be excited, the bouncer is starting to bore her.

Happy Kiddo

This pic makes me laugh, Reese thinks something is funny, Rae is completely oblivious 

Its official she has brown eyes!

Grabs, chomps & tosses the owl

My attempt at making big sis jealous enough to actually wear her bike helmet...didn't work

Ortho Resident kids playgroup, we all have 2 year olds & babies, work out great.

All dressed up for the birthday party, changed her into a onesie as soon as we got there, waay to hot out 

Rae telling Reese to "roll over", she gotten to her side, but that's it so far

10 weeks - Back from vacation

Ah it's been 3 weeks since the last entry, but in my defense we were on vacation for 9 days and I didn't bring my laptop. Reese is still sleeping incredibly, anywhere from 7 to 10 hours a night, YES!!!! She is happy most of the time and usually easily consoled when fussy. 9 Days in Cardiff were a nice break from Riverside, though I must say my back hurt by then end of it. We didn't bring much baby gear, so I was holding Reese more than usual. I think she liked being held all the time, but my back definitely was sore. We made it to the San Diego Zoo, Reese pretty much slept the whole time on me in the carrier while Raegan ran around the Zoo and tried to play with all the kiddos.

I started workouts again with Stroller Strides. It's so great that it's walkable from our house and all the moms and kids are super nice. Reese fussed a little bit when the stroller was stopped, but was a trooper for the most part....I bribed Rae with gummy bunnies to keep her protests to a minumum until it was play time after class.

Reese had her 10 week baby well check yesterday, she weighs in at a hearty 14lbs 12oz and 24.25 inches. Not really surprising considering how plump Rae got by 6 months. She is happy & healthy, that is all I can ask for. She's starting to giggle a bit and make happy shrieking noises amidst her smiles, we have conversations these days, she's quite the communicator. She really likes staring at the birdies hanging from her bouncer, the monkey muslin blanket and any mirror we put her in front of.

I think she may be a late roller/crawler/walker. She's just pretty content where ever you put her doesn't really try to move too much yet. We do tummy time in attempt to build up her arm/neck/core strength, but she just lays on her tummy and smiles or snoozes (as you'll see below).

Hanging out on Mom's lap

Mini workout/smiles session. I think she may have figured out that those are her arms & legs flying about

Their expressions pretty much sum it up

Reese with MacKenzie, Betsy's little girl born on the same day. Reese has just a few lbs on her ;)

Happy Girl

Mom IS hillarious

Starting to drool a lot more, always blowing bubbles..a lil spit bug :)

Tummy time, just laying there smiling. Such a sweetheart

7 Weeks - All Smiles

Another 2 weeks have flow by. Reese is smiling a bunch and has been starting to make new cooing sounds along with her smiles. She's happy most of the time, but when she's hungry she cries so hard she gets hoarse. Her neck is getting really strong, and so is her grasp. Raegan really likes it when Reese "holds" her finger. Whenever I'm driving she's trying to get Reese to hold her hand, very cute. Reese still nurses nonstop in the evening (she's getting very chubby), but only gets up once a night YAY. I am definitely not complaining, very lucky and happy to be getting sleep. Bedtime can be challenging when Justin is at work and both kids are up. Once Reese is a little older and her schedule is more predictable i.e. asleep before Raegan's bedtime it "should" get easier. 

We are headed down to the Cardiff beach house in a week for 10 days of vacation, very excited to get out of Riverside for a little bit. Not sure if it'll be relaxing, but it'll be fun!

Hello

Just hanging out wondering why mom's always holding that rectangular thing in front of my face.

Striking a pose

Gah again? How embarassing

Chubby smiles

Post bath, feeling good

Working on our coordination, leg kicks and arm swings. She occasionally hits herself in the face

Lounging at playgroup

Ortho Resident playgroup new additions

Hanging with Dad

5 Weeks

Reese is still sleeping great & continuing to plump up. I feel a bit guilty that my 5 week old will sleep up to 6/7 hours at night, but I will take it while I can, this will not last forever.

She's starting to lose her hair and has some baby acne and a few rashes from milk getting stuck in her neck rolls...still very cute and fun to snuggle. She squeaks/grunts a lot while sleeping and smiles, which I love.

I had forgotten about newborn poop blow-out up the back and out the legs, Reese has reminded me. She still has a fussy period in the evening where she nurses about every hour. I think she is tanking up for the night and her long stretch of sleep.

This is what she looks like at 3 am when I'm changing her diaper. Sometimes it takes a while to wake her up...

Sibling snuggles. Raegan is starting to warm up to her & watches over her in the car if she is crying.

Another action packed 3am diaper change

Raegan "me hold baby Reese"

Checking out her toes...

Big Yawn

Sleep Smiles

3 Weeks - Chubbin Up

The last 2 weeks I have been mostly on my own with the girls. Things seem to be going pretty well. Everyone did have a mild cough/cold for a few days, which actually made the girls sleep a bit more. Raegan keeps requesting that I put Reese back in the bouncer & cries when I pick her up, so we are working on it slowly. She seems to just want more snuggle time with me, which is what I thought would happen. I feel a bit bad about how much TV/cartoons gets watched right now, but Reese eats frequently and its one of the few ways I can get Raegan to stay put so I can keep track of her. Hopefully we will be more mobile very soon.

So far bedtime is a little tough if Reese is not asleep, largely due to Raegan. She's been screaming for me after I leave to room lately, heartbreaking, but I'm hoping she'll adjust in the next week or so. And I avoid most errands right now unless they are completely necessary. It's such a production to get both girls ready to go: fed, dressed, rested and in the car...not to mention in the shopping cart/carrier and then unloading everything/everyone when we get home. I'm sure it'll become second nature soon, but I'm tired right now...sigh.

Reese is doing incredibly well. She has a fussy period in the evenings, but not bad at all. Basically she just wants to eat for 3 hours. Only problem is when that collides with dinnertime/bedtime...we are working on it. She seems to be going through her 3 week growth spurt (wants to eat very often), but she actually sleeps really well at night, anywhere from 2 to 6 hours chunks, and goes right back to sleep after she eats. THANK YOU REESE :)

Reese's 3 week Baby Well Check Stats:
    * 10lbs 6oz (96%); 22.25 inches tall (97%),  14.5 inches head circ (68%)

She weighs almost 2 more pounds than Raegan did at this age, which is a little scary considering what a chubby baby Raegan was.

Happy Camper

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My attempt to get a quick sister photo...they weren't really cooperating.
Reese fell over a few times & Raegan never looked at the camera, just Reese.

Getting her beauty sleep

On our way to her first playdate

Plumping up

Josh & Deb brought Easter fun up to us this year. Reese slept the whole time, Raegan was more than happy to open Reese's easter basket, find all the eggs & take all the candy.
 Such a helpful big sister!