The Little Mandingo and his Big Sister

Josh came up with "Mandingus" but I didn't like the "dingus" part and so I modified it to "Mandingo." Well, the Little Mandingo is doing pretty good. He is such a sweet and smiley boy. If he's not hungry, tired, or has a burp that's trapped he is so happy. I know babies change all the time and this might not be his permanent temperament and I know boys are more prone to ear infections (which can wreck things a little) but I'm enjoying it and I'm hoping he stays this way. Because he is making being his mommy so much fun. At this point he is talking (aka cooing) and laughing. He is also starting to bat at things and put toys in his mouth. We also recently discovered that he is ticklish. It's nice to get an easy laugh out of him. His sleeping patterns are still a little erratic at night but usually his pacifier and making sure he's on his side (I know I'm breaking the rules and not putting him on his back but if that's the only way he'll sleep I'm not going to argue with him) will get him right back to sleep. We just got Christmas pictures taken of him and Emily. They both did great. Color me relieved. As far as how big sister is doing, she is still her crazy little self. She is usually so upbeat and sometimes a little too upbeat. The girl has two volume levels : silent and loud. But she's a sweet child to her core and she says some of the most funny and endearing things. Now if only she could learn how to lower her normal speaking voice so I wouldn't have to constantly tell her to keep it down when her brother is trying to sleep (he does that a lot). She is still fighting us on pooping in the potty. We're now resorting to major bribing and it's not really working. We're also taking away her shows (she LOVES her shows) and that's not really working either. What's the most random of it all is that some weeks she will poop in the potty 2-3 days in a row but go right back to pooping in her pants or underwear. Gross topic I know but it's what's on our minds around here. Aside from Santa of course. This year she is so excited and so that makes me excited. She finally gets it to the point that she can truly get excited about it. She also still doesn't care about getting specific things so she hasn't asked for anything (well except for a big candy cane). But if you give her something she likes she gets so excited about it. So I've been able to pick out things I'm pretty sure she'll like without the pressure of getting a particular toy. I know it'll change but I'm living it up this year. I always have to post some pictures so here they are. They're from the past couple of months so it's got some from the State Fair and Halloween.

Bath Time

I think the expressions on his face say it all. He LOVES bath time.

Baby Brother

We are adjusting to having 2 young ones. Some days are quite a bit harder than others but we're learning. Joshua or as Emily calls him "baby brother" is doing well. He is growing so fast and has started smiling. Nothing is more precious than a baby smiling. Okay, maybe a baby laughing is more precious. But the smiles are pretty cool too. He is still waking up a couple of times a night to be fed most nights. The other nights he is restless and wants his pacifier put back in constantly. This happens about once a week so it's not so bad. But those restless nights are killer. Coffee works wonders on days after those nights. Emily seems to have gotten used to him but doesn't like it when he cries. She shows some concern and sometimes tries to put his pacifier in his mouth to see if it makes him feel better. She doesn't seem to be overly jealous and lives in her own world of curiosity. I think she finds him pretty boring. I'm not going tell her how much he's going to rock her world once he becomes mobile. Anyway, here are some pics from recent days.

Emily's 3rd Birthday in Pictures

We celebrated at my parents' house the day before her birthday and just the four of us the next day on her actual birthday. She had a good time on both days and enjoyed her presents. Though I think her favorite part was when we sang "Happy Birthday" to her and she got to blow out her candles.

Cake from mommy and daddy



Playing with her new easel and finger paints
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Blue's Clues cake made by her uncle Scott






How old are you now?

I just love her

I love how Emily calls her toots "burps." I also love it when she does a little dance for her brother while he is sound asleep or when she wants me to sing "Happy Birthday" to pretty much anything in sight. I also love how she calls "Blue's Clues" "Clue's Clues." I love that she mispronounces simple words like yellow and thunder but can say gargantuan perfectly. When she points at me and cocks her head to the side to get her point across I have to giggle. Her made up songs are giggle worthy too. I also love watching her really get into something so random. Such as buckling and unbuckling something over and over again. I love it when she rubs my arm gently when we cuddle and how concerned she gets for others when they are upset. I love her outgoing and sweet nature. I just love her. I just need to remember this when she's making me want to pull my hair out.

Joshua pics

Our Little Man is Here

Well, he's finally here. The waiting was getting a little annoying and I was paranoid that he would be late. But the little guy decided to come a little early. So happy about that because I was ready to get the labor over with. And boy was it a tough labor. I thought Emily's was tough but this one proved it could get a whole lot worse. Though it was shorter, it was much more difficult. You see, my children like to enter the world in a position that I was told by my OB doctor is referred to as "sunny side up." This means they like to be face up in the birth canal rather than face down. Sounds like no big deal right? Well, apparently when a child presents in this position, a c-section is usually in order. But my kids were able to exit naturally. I guess it wouldn't have been that big of a deal if my epidurals worked the whole time. Oh and did I mention this position also increases the intensity of contractions? What fun. With Emily, the epidural wore off significantly within a few hrs and the medical staff was never able to get it back to its full strength. Though at the time of Emily's exit it worked a little bit and took some of the edge off of it. This time the epidural wore off again but this time it 100% wore off. The pain was almost unbearable. So eventually (after a lot of writhing and screaming) the nurse (who I wasn't too fond of) asked the anesthesiologist to give me another epidural. The second kind of worked a little. It took my pain level from a 15 to an 8. But then they started pumping pitocin into me and the contractions intensified. There was no break in between. I thought I would puke and/or pass out. It was awesome. Luckily it didn't take very long before I was ready to deliver once the pitocin was administered. So, after paying quite a bit for 4 epidurals (including 2 for Emily's birth) I gave birth to both my children naturally. That too is awesome. So, in conclusion, my body doesn't respond to epidurals like a lot of people's do (some people are like that I guess because they didn't work very well on one of my sister's either) and my children like to come out face up. So if I'm going to have a 3rd child I'm going to discuss scheduling a c-section. This might sound crazy to some because c-sections are more dangerous and the recovery time is longer. But going through the kind of labor I did is something I don't think I can even consider doing again. The pain is something I thought I would pass out from and something I never want to experience again. Just ask Josh, I'm not exaggerating. Anyway, enough complaining. Back to the joyful part of it. Joshua Jr. is here and he is healthy. Though he does have a cephalohematoma from knocking his head against me on his way out. What the heck is a cephalohematoma? It is when blood collects between the scalp and one of the skull bones. It causes some swelling and so he has a bump on his head. It could take up to 3 months for it to completely disappear. It's no big deal but I feel bad that he got hurt. Poor little guy. So far, Joshua is a good baby. He usually just cries when he's hungry. I know this could change at any time so I'm enjoying his good nature. We're so in love with him. Well, I can only speak for Josh and I. Emily is starting to show some love for him. My mom kept her entertained for the first week so she wasn't all that interested in him. Now that it's just us, she's starting to "help" me with him. She helps me burp him. But I don't know if this is just an excuse for her to hit him. :) And she also held his bottle for mommy. It's so cute. She also shows some concern when he cries. Right now I'm adjusting to having a toddler and a newborn. So far it's been a little exhausting but I'm hoping it will get a little easier as I adjust to it all. Now it's time for some coffee.

My almost 3 year old

Last night I was thinking about some of the funny and neat things that Emily does and how I needed to remember to write them down. Along with what she's been up to and what she's like at this stage in her life. This blog serves more as a journal for me because I find it easier to type than write. So, if there is anyone who actually reads this blog, that is why my posts aren't all that exciting. :) One thing that makes me smile is that she has to smell pretty much everything. She loves lotions and perfumes and so this is what has started her interest in smelling almost anything she comes across. If I pick up deodorant or shampoo at the store, she wants me to pause in the aisle so she can smell them. Often times when her daddy pours a soda into a glass, she wants to smell it. I think she also likes the feeling of the bubbles hitting her nose. Another thing she likes to do is hold small objects in her hands. She doesn't do it all the time but she does it often. I'm wondering if it's comforting to her or just something for her to do. Emily is also very observant. She misses absolutely nothing. Her hearing and eyesight is amazing. I think it's great that she has great hearing and can see well but sometimes I just want to sneak things past her. I also think this observant nature leads her to try to open and take apart everything she can get her little hands on. Even if something can't be opened she wants to make sure first by trying to. If something can be opened (aside from childproof items) she will figure out how to open it. If something can be taken apart she will find a way to do it. It's frustrating to say the least. She's fearless when it comes to exploring her world. As long as it's within reach. She's still not much of a daredevil and is just now starting to enjoy sliding and climbing. So it's funny how fearless and scared she can be at the same time. If you want to see how cautious she can be just watch her try to jump down from a height of only one foot. Sometimes it's even less of a height. I find myself wary of jumping (not from such low heights) and so I wonder if that's something she's gotten from me. She's also very in tune with emotions. If someone is sad she shows a lot of concern and will try to comfort whoever it is. She is still quite outgoing and friendly. She also still loves music and singing. Curious is also a good way to describe her. She asks "what's this?" hundreds of times a day. Often times she'll ask what something is over and over even though she knows exactly what it is. I think she just likes hearing someone else say what it is. I usually have to ask her what it is so she can tell me and stop asking me. Emily can pronounce most things pretty well. Usually if I tell her a word she can repeat it (as long as it's not overly complex). But there are a few words she just can't seem to get right. Which I find quite cute. One word is yellow. She pronounces it "lellow." Yogurt is "logurt." Thunder is "funder." Yes is sometimes "yeth." I know there are more but these are the few sticking out in my mind right now. Other than all of this, she's busy being an almost 3 year old. She wants to do everything herself and she is working hard on potty training. She is trained as far as peeing but pooping is still a struggle. A few of her older cousins went through the same thing. So I'm not too worried but I am looking forward to her pooping in the potty every time she needs to go instead of every once in a while. Ok, guess that's it for now. And yes, I just ended my post on the subject of poop.