Marisa's turn

Here is a picture of Marisa this afternoon right before nap time. She didn't want to look at the camera so this is the best picture I could get from her.

Sleepy

This is a picture of Rebecca catching up on some sleep this afternoon.

Weekend Trip

We are all excited to go and visit Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Mandi tomorrow. Travis took half of the day off and all of Friday for a long weekend visit. Right now Rebecca is taking a nap while Marisa is playing. It is the perfect time for me to get laundry done and to get packing again. We are leaving at about 1pm tomorrow. Hopefully the drive does not take as long as it did last time. Let’s see if I can remember to take pictures this time. All girls are healthy so we shouldn’t have any fussy, sick girls for the trip. We should also hope that nothing happens with the van this trip around.

I should venture off and start packing. I will try to get a few pictures of the girls posted today.

Picture

I would like to thank my mom and dad for this picture. It is of Elaine and Chris walking out of the church. The church was beautiful. It reminded me a lot of the church that Travis and I got married in.

Our First Family Vacation

Congratulations to Elaine and Chris!!! Your wedding was beautiful!! We wish that we all could have stayed longer to see you both and to see the rest of the family.

It was great to see everyone that was there (I wish I could have seen everyone). I miss everyone so much. We really didn’t want to trip to be so short. I was so happy to introduce all of you to my two little girls. Ok, Rebecca is not so little anymore.

The girls traveled surprisingly well. We tried to get Marisa to nap at the Omaha airport but she wouldn’t. She actually wanted to get into the stroller and be pushed around (vroom, vroom to her). So I did laps while Travis played with Becca. I stopped counting after 10 laps but I know I at least tripled that count. Marisa thought it was pretty neat to be flying. Both girls fell asleep quickly after we were in the air. Though the flight attendant woke both of them up when he gave us our snacks and drinks (it was an interesting flight attendant, hard to explain his humor but Travis does a good impression). We barely made our connecting flight in Atlanta, GA. The entire plane was already boarded as we approached the terminal. Rebecca fell asleep before Marisa the first night.

Sunday seemed busy. We did get out of the hotel and walk down to the harbor. It was really nice, interesting, and very hot. We were not able to spend as much time there as we would have liked. Travis took Marisa to the pool. He said she had fun; I was upstairs with Becca trying to get ready for the wedding. (If you want Travis to post here you need to talk to him about that. He is able to but has chosen not to so far) The church was beautiful. The bridesmaid dresses were elegant. I loved the flowers too. I took Rebecca with me. She started to fuss so we stood in the back corner of the church. Of course after mass started Rebecca needed to nurse so we sat outside and I fed her. During the feeding she decided to have a blowout poopy diaper. Sad part was I left the diaper bag in the pew next to my mother. So took off my shoes and quietly walked up the side of the church to get it. My mom helped me change her. Rebecca then slept in my arms for the remainder of the ceremony (that is over 18lbs I got to hold for 1.5 hours, which included waiting 20min for an elevator until after mass). All this happened before the gospel reading. While I was at the church Marisa and Travis took a nap (I am not sure what else they did, good time for Travis to write). We woke up Marisa from her nap for supper.

We finally got Rebecca down at 10pm (Eastern Time) so I could head back to the reception. It was a beautiful reception. I had a great time talking to everyone. I wished I could have gone to the after party with everyone. If our plane did not leave so early in the morning I would have gone. It was bad enough that the hotel did not give us a wake up call like we asked them to. We rushed out (thankfully my parents were helping us) and hoped we didn’t leave anything behind. Overall the trip home wasn’t horrible. We were all tired and wanted to be home. We made a few extra stops along the way including supper in Lincoln. We were all happy to sleep in our own beds last night.

Ok, a picture is missing because we kept forgetting to take our camera out of the room to take pictures. Juggling two girls and everything else we would finally remember the camera when we were too far to turn back. Maybe I could get a picture or two from my parents?

Well I am off to unpack. As I remember stories I shall post them up here. If you want any stories for Travis just post and ask him (he is at work right now but reads this on his breaks), I am sure if he receives enough requests he would post at least once. We hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Late night

Well, it is getting pretty late and we are just finishing packing. The girls are all asleep unaware of what tomorrow will bring. I on the other hand am very excited. I cannot wait to introduce the girls to my extended family. I can't wait to see my father hold Rebecca for the first time. Marisa and Travis will have a lot of time to bond while I am at the wedding (I think they could use some relaxing time together). It is storming in the distant right now. We are just getting some high winds now and again. If I am able to find a computer this weekend I will post how it is going. If, not I will post late Monday early Tuesday. We leave Omaha tomorrow at 3pm and return on Monday at 2:35pm. We hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Happy Birthday Garret!!!

I am sorry that I am posting this a day late. We did not forget about your birthday. We hope you had a great day! Hope we can see you and Anna soon.

Crazy day

We took Rebecca to the doctor yesterday for a rash on her face. Everything is fine, just a yeast infection and some acne. Her weight is now 17lbs 15.5oz. She is growing fast. I will try to post more during the next few days but we are busy. We will be gone this weekend for my cousin's wedding. That means the family will be flying to Baltimore, Maryland. We are excited. We can't wait to see family! I'll post next week about our short weekend.

Question

This is a question for all the mothers and grandmothers out there. Marisa is getting interested in using the potty. For some reason we can’t get her to stay sitting on the potty. She points to her diaper and says “stinky” and runs to the bathroom. We take off her diaper and sit on the toilet. She sits for about 20 seconds stands up and says “all done” then wants her diaper back on. I put her diaper back on and she cries that she wants it off. So I take it off and I help her back on the potty she cries and we put the diaper back on. We then go back to doing whatever she was doing. Two minutes later she wants/needs a diaper change.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to help her use the potty?

A long weekend

I know I have not posted in awhile but things have been interesting here. Marisa has been getting jealous of Rebecca lately, so when I finally get Rebecca out of my arms for a few minutes Marisa has been climbing into them. We have also been trying to get outside in the mornings before it gets too hot. I tried to post this weekend but ran out of time. Travis went to a bachelor party for Curt Saturday night in Omaha (sounds like he had a lot of fun) and my brother and one of his friends came to visit that night. They were a big help but it still took some time for Marisa to get used to Leo. Marisa really had fun with her Uncle Tim this weekend. She had to sit next to him, and he had to wash her up after her meals (I was not good enough at the time). He was trying to entertain Becca so I could feed her and Marisa was yelling at him to sit next to her while she ate breakfast. Marisa took off Tim’s hat and put it back on him, leaned back to take a good look and said “pretty”.

Marisa likes to stir Rebecca’s oatmeal and help me feed her. Marisa feels it is her job to buckle Rebecca into her highchair (or any other place that has buckles). She can be a big help at times. Marisa loves to play peek-a-boo with Rebecca. Rebecca laughs and giggles whenever Marisa plays with her.

On the move

This morning I was playing with Becca at tummy time. She is doing very well on her tummy. Marisa had a wet diaper so I changed her. Just as I finished with her diaper my bagel popped up out of the toaster. I buttered my bagel and glanced down at Becca she had turned 180° on her tummy. She also backed herself off of her playmat. Things are going to start getting interesting here.

Our Mother's Day

I was woken up by Travis and Rebecca’s big smiles. Ok, Rebecca was fussing a little for food but I did get a big smile first. We got two dirty diapers from Rebecca while she was nursing right before Marisa woke up. Now she didn’t wake up in such a good mood that Rebecca did. We finally got her settled in for breakfast. I fed Rebecca while Marisa ate and Travis cooked. As I was pick up Rebecca to clean her she decided to spit up all over me. After I got changed (she managed to soak me with spit up) I enjoyed a warm meal and received two cards (they are wonderful!). Rebecca is down for a nap (not usual for her but it is Mother’s Day so I will enjoy it) and after some tears (only mom could help with getting her sandals on) and coaxing Marisa is outside with Travis playing. (I don’t know what is going on with Marisa. She seems to be crying at everything.) I hope she gets over these tears soon.

Marisa decided she wanted to play inside the van instead of running around the yard, so Travis cleaned out the van while she played. Rebecca took a nice nap of an hour this morning so I went out and started on the garden. I placed the rest of the bricks and started to transplant some of Travis’ precious grass to bare spots in the lawn. Travis cooked hamburgers for lunch. Lunch was really nice. I tried to sneak in a little nap when I thought that Rebecca went down for another nap at about 12:15. Marisa wanted to join me so I thought that would be nice. She rested her little head down next to me for a total of 45 seconds. She pretended to snore then started to play peek-a-boo with the sheets, which turned into jumping on mom and tickling mom. It was so cute she would crawl up kiss me then tickle under my neck. Travis thought he got her to follow him out of the room to color but she did not like it when he closed the door. After the crying and banging on the door I heard Rebecca get up. I thanked Travis very much for the time he did let me sleep.

We got Marissa down for a nap and Travis went back out to take care of the garden. I thought I had Becca down a few times for a nap but that didn’t work out. Marisa got up at about 4pm and joined her dad back outside to play. I have been doing a few small things for Travis so that his day will go smoother (I know how hard it is to juggle the girls and he is giving a little time to myself so a got some minor things done in appreciation to all the help).

The girls made me feel needed and loved today. Travis gave me time to relax (by playing with the girls rather than worrying about meals and dishes). Overall it was the perfect day at this home so far.

Happy Mother's Day

We wanted to wish our mothers and grandmothers a happy Mother's Day. I hope that your special day is wonderful.

(I will post my day a little later. I'll just say it is truly a day of "mom" so far this morning.)

Saturday

Sorry I have not been posting as much. It has gotten a little crazy around here. Rebecca has decided to completely avoid all naps but get fussy. When I do finally get Rebecca content enough out of my arms, Marisa wants to be there. She has been extra cuddly lately.

I finally got Rebecca down for a morning nap (of course it is when Travis is home, now he will never believe me that she never sleeps). Travis and Marisa are out shopping at Menards. The two of them enjoy shopping there. They have a little play area for kids, hopefully that will get Marisa out of her little crying mood this morning. Travis went out and got Marisa sandals the other day. Now she freaks out if any dirt gets between her toes. It is so funny. She rolls around in the mud until she can get her shoes off. She still won't walk around barefoot outside. She did try it the other day. She was on her tipp toes the whole time saying "ouch".

Quick funny story. At night Marisa like to massage Travis' feet (I know he gets spoiled in this house). She also like to check in between his toes for lint. Then if she sees any (or if she thinks it's there) she reaches in with her little fingers. Of course at this time Travis is laughing and pulling his feet away (he is very ticklish between his toes) and Marisa is giggling.

Becca is up already. 20min nap only. I'll post a picture later (once I find where the camera went to after unpacking).

Thursday

Rebecca had a busy day Thursday. She tried rolling over. It seems easier for her to go from her tummy to her back and a lot harder to go from her back to her tummy. I tried laying her down for some tummy time and she instantly rolled to her back. She made it to her tummy once but quickly rolled to her back. She had lots of fun trying out her new trick. I only wished all the exercise would help her fall asleep.

Rebecca's 4 month check-up

Rebecca sure has grown. She weighs 16lbs and 10oz. Becca is 24.5 inches long and her head circumference is 16.25 inches. She is above normal according to the charts. The doctor said she is doing well and is very healthy. She did not like getting her shots at all. At least this time it was only 4 instead of 5. She must have known what was going on today because she only napped for 45min this morning. She is very tired but will not stay asleep out of my arms. Well, I better get back to her. Travis and Marisa went out shoe shopping. Marisa grew out of her sneakers. She is growing fast too. She is just over 27lbs.

Tuesday

Today Travis forgot his sandwich at home so he came home for lunch. Marisa thought this was great. She got to eat lunch all over again. She sat on her dad’s lap and ate his lunch with him. They share nicely (as long as Travis remembers to share his yogurt with her). Travis told Marisa he had to go back to work. So she cuddled into his arms and said “no work”, “I love you”, “miss you” and a few other things I cannot recall. She clung to her dad and would not let go. I am sure Travis had a hard time going back to work.

After supper tonight Marisa went out with Travis to help him work on the lawn. It looked like the two of them had lots of fun. After that they came in for bath time. After Marisa’s bath she went potty in her own potty. I discovered the news from all the cheering in the bathroom. Marisa was very proud of herself. I hope it goes that well during the days.

Well, Rebecca is getting up again. There goes the idea of an early night. Tomorrow afternoon is her 4 month check up. Her appointment is not until 4pm. We won’t be getting home until about 5:30 or later. I will post as soon as I can after that.

Monday

I did not get a chance to write yesterday due to unpacking and a morning trip to the doctor. The spots on Marisa’s leg have not gone away. The doctor thought that they were just infected hair follicles but it turns out that it may be a mild outbreak of Chicken Pox (I left the doctor’s office with things to look out for and no real answers). We went to see the doctor last Wednesday for this reason. We did not want to bring anything contagious with us on the trip. We really hope no one gets sick.

Travis was able to get Rebecca to eat her oatmeal so she went to bed at about 9pm. Tonight she was in bed at about 8:30pm. We are enjoying the early nights. The girls are doing well. Marisa is slowly getting over the side effects of the medicine she was taking. Rebecca is getting stronger every day. She enjoys her tummy time a lot. Rebecca mainly enjoys watching Marisa bounce all over the house.

The Weekend

After much trouble with the website I was finally able to post.

We really enjoyed our visit to Grandma and Grandpa’s house! We only wish that the weekend did not go so fast and it was longer. Although the drive up could have gone a little better than it did. “I hope the rest of the trip is as good as the first three minutes” is what Travis first said as we passed under the Archway. Rebecca was asleep and Marisa was as happy as could be. Not too long after that Marisa fell asleep and we thought things were going great. Rebecca decided to get up a little grumpy just before Central City. So we decided to put gas in the car, change and feed Rebecca in one stop. With Rebecca fed we were ready to continue the trip (we were not at the half way point yet). So I go to start the car and it won’t start. Now is about the point that you could have seen panic on both Travis and my face. Our family cars have always breakdown on long trips. We figure it must be an electrical problem from what the car was doing. We get a jump from a nice gentleman. In the process Marisa is woken up. The car starts and off we go.

About 8 miles out of Central City, maybe a little further but not much, we stop to change Marisa’s diaper and let her walk around. Off we go again. Marisa starts to cry. We try games, food, milk, books, everything we could think of but nothing helped. So we stop again just North of Hwy 30 towards Monroe. We find out Marisa is sick due to a side effect from a medication she was taking. I change and feed Rebecca also and then off we go again. We make it to about few miles North of Columbus and we stop again. Change diapers and feed all. Finally we get back on the road. Rebecca falls asleep through Norfolk. Marisa has us make one more stop about 30min from Grandma and Grandpa’s house. About 20 minutes from Grandma and Grandpa’s house both girls were up and wanting to get out of their car seats. We entertained the best we could the rest of the trip. The trip started at 12:45pm and ended at about 6pm.

Marisa had a wonderful time exploring the outside and inside of Grandma and Grandpa’s home. She found a cat. They seemed to bond over the two days. It took a few hours of adjusting for Marisa but by Saturday morning she was settled in. Rebecca loved it there. She had lots of smile for all. We all enjoyed seeing everyone. Thanks to Kristen we were able to cure Marisa’s diaper rash that got out of hand. Marisa defiantly felt better by supper time. We only wish we could see everyone more often. There are so many stories but not enough time right now to type them out.

The trip home was great. We made it home with only two stops. The first was in Aurora for gas. Both girls were still sleeping but we were running out of gas. The second was at Gibbon. Dirty diapers from the girls and a feeding for Rebecca. We were home by 4pm.

(Picture courtesy of Grandma and Grandpa Dendinger)

Packing Day

The family is very excited for their first trip to Grandma and Grandpa's house since October. This picture is of Rebecca waking up from her nap this morning. She was very happy to see me. Marisa is a little confused as to why I am starting a pile of diapers and other stuff in the living room. According to her they don't go there so she keeps putting things away behind me. I decided to give up and just wait for Travis to get home. I may not have time to post over the weekend. We will be heading out tomorrow at about 1:00 and returning Sunday afternoon. I will try to post tomorrow morning and Sunday night with pictures. I hope everyone has a great weekend, I know we are looking forward to ours!

Early Mother's Day gift

Ok, I am going to try to post yet again today. Earlier the website decided not to respond and froze on me. Travis and Marisa planted the tree they gave me for an early Mother's Day gift yesterday. I was very excited when they brought it home. Travis and Marisa started the prep work at about 6:15 last night. After all the interruptions and bedtime routine I was able to water my tree at 10:40. It looks great! Travis did a wonderful job! I will try to get out and take a picture of it today.

Funny story:
I was already in bed when Travis went to check on the girls. "Are you asleep?" was the next thing I hear. I hear him tell me that I need to come look at something, there seemed to be a little concern in his voice so I jumped out of bed. I guessing it had something to do with Marisa but I checked out Rebecca real quick since her crib is right next to the door. She was fine. I scroll around the floor of the room looking for Marisa. We have found her everywhere from on a vent to behind the door. I noticed she was in her bed. I moved around closer to the bed and noticed something interesting. Marisa was naked in bed. Her pajamas were laying out behind her and her diaper laying out perfectly next to her pajamas. "I am glad I checked on the girls" Travis said with a chuckle. We dressed her and spent the next five minutes laughing. She decided to get undress sometime after I put Rebecca down for bed at about 10.

Busy Morning

This morning was a little crazy. I took Marisa to the doctor to check out a rash. It has been on her leg for about 2 weeks and not going away. Since we were walk-ins at the clinic we waited over an hour to see the doctor. Marisa did well. She had some trouble sharing the toddler chairs by the fish tank, then again the other child was worse by sitting in every chair Marisa touched. Marisa was trying to "kiss" the fish. It was so cute. I finally got in by asking the receptionist for a empty room to nurse (I explained that I could nurse in the waiting room if they didn't mind, it always gets me in). Doctor said the rash is a insect bite that got infected. As she scratches it spread to other areas of the leg. There is no way she can infect anyone else. The doctor also put her on antibiotics to clear up the problem.

Rebecca is doing well. She decided to fill her diaper with poop in the waitingr oom. It was everywhere. Marisa tried to help me. It just made it worse. I was really thinking of Travis at this time. She was great the rest of the time. She even played with another little girl (Marisa got jealous). Doctor said both girls are growing fast and look healthy.

My Lilly is blooming today. We had a really bad storm yesterday. It rained pretty hard and there was hail. The lilies seem fine. I put a picture of the Lilly up because I was so busy I didn't get a picture of the girls yet today. Well, since both girls are napping I am going to try to get some lunch and a nap in.

Late night

Last night was a late night for all of us. I was up with Becca until around 11pm. Travis was up working on the garden "a little longer than that" (according to him). Looks like the girl's new wake up time is between 7 and 7:30. I wish Becca would just go down an hour earlier. Marisa is the picture of the morning. She is cuddled up with her teddy bear, baby doll and blankie. I was even invited to join her. Nothing new to report this morning. Just the normal feedings, playing, and dirty diapers. Oh, a lilly is starting to open in the garden. It's from the one that was not looking well. It is actually looking a lot better.

The yard

Here is a picture of the front of our home. It is coming along nicely. The family went out tonight to work on the gardens. Basically that means Travis did all the work, Marisa tried to help but got in the way of everything, Rebecca fussed in the stroller and I bounced around trying to help everyone. It was a nice warm evening to be out. My one lilly is not doing very well at all. Travis still thinks it will be ok. Becca is calling for me. Marisa is trying to fall asleep. Hope to update again tonight.

What a tease!

Rebecca was really fussy last night so I was prepared for a long night up with her. Marisa went to bed with minimal fussing (just the normal I will do anything to interact with mom and dad so I don't have to go to bed). Travis ventured out to work more on the flower garden and I began rocking, feeding, burping, and trying to get Rebecca down for bed. At 9pm she just fell asleep on my shoulder. I was shocked. I put her in her crib and quietly left the room. This is normally the time she begins to cry. I waited there for a few minutes and there was complete silence. So I went out to help Travis. We were so happy and excited that she finally went to bed early. Well, at 10:05pm she decided that it was time to get up again. We tried to let her fuss back down to sleep but she was not liking that. So after a burp and a toot she fell back to sleep at 10:30. What a tease!

This morning is going as well as it can be. It seems that the girls new wakeup time is 7am. Most woke up in good moods. Becca sat in her Leapfrog while Marisa played with all the buttons on the outside. That worked well until Becca spit up on Marisa's hand. Marisa didn't like that at all. Though she wouldn't stand still so I could wash it off of her. She rather rub it off on her own, on the carpet and wall. I am going back to folding clothes with Marisa, I will post a picture later.