Welcome Back

I know it has been almost two months since I last blogged and I do apologize but we have made a few changes for our family while we were gone. Things are going really well now for us and only look up from here on out. So changes.... we 1.) got rid of a vehicle, 2.) moved to a new house in the school district we wanted Riley to be in, 3.) Riley started back to school, 4.) had several doctor appointments, and 5.) made some personal choices of my own that I am not quite ready to share yet. So yeah we moved. We were in a good school district in our old place when Riley would have been in high school but that was it. Now we live in the best school district in our area. We are not going anywhere. We have been watching this area for a few years now waiting on the perfect time and this was it. We love our house. Our yard is sticker free also! One day I will share pictures. Riley has been back in school a little over a month now. He loves his new teacher and classmates. So far it seems to be going great. Today they were actually out for Columbus day. Avery had her two month appointment since I blogged last and she was 11 lb 11 oz and 24 inches. Everything looked great and she tolerated her shots well. We also had her ears pierced. Let me just tell you that was no fun. But it is done and over with! They are healing up great. Riley, Chris, and I all got flu shots. Although for Chris it came a little to late because he already had the flu. But the swine flu is going around here like crazy so since Avery can't receive any flu shot yet because she is too young we wanted to make sure we took any precaution we could to avoid her getting sick. The swine flu doesn't worry any more than the normal flu. They are all the same symptoms and treated the exact same way. But with Avery being so little even if she got the normal flu she would have to be hospitalized. So like I said precautions. Riley had his four year check up and he was 44 inches and 43 lbs. He received three shots. He was more dramatic than Avery with her two month shots. But he is now done till he is 12 years old! Avery has her four month check up in a couple of weeks. So I think that about covers it. I will update again when I have something worth sharing. :)

You didn't think I was going to leave you without pictures did you?!

Please use carseats properly!

One of my biggest pet peeves is children, car seats, and parents who are more interested in convenience than safety of their child. I see so many people who put their kids in a five point harness which is great! If they were doing so properly. If the straps are falling off your child's shoulder then what is going to keep them from being ejected from the car seat if your car should hit something or be hit? Also if the straps are under their arms same thing. The chest clip should be at armpit level and I tighten my kids to where I can fit my pointer finger only under the strap. It takes two seconds to do this. And yes my almost four year old still rides in a five point harness. And he still has 22 pounds before he outgrows it. He weighs 43 pounds and the five point harness on his car seat goes to 65 pounds. No height restriction. I know some parents say they can't afford to purchase the car seats that go up to 65 or 80 pounds even. Britax car seats do run around $300 and sometimes you can catch a pretty decent sell on some of them. They have tons of cute patterns too. However like many people I didn't have $300 laying around to buy my son one of them. But after doing my research I found the Graco Nautilus 3 in 1. GREAT CAR SEAT! It has excellent ratings, allows use of the five point harness to 65 pounds and then converts to a high back booster to 100 pounds or you can remove the back and just use the bottom portion of the booster to 100 pounds as well. I bought this car seat for only $130 when it first came out. You can now buy it for around $170 which still is nothing compared to the safety of your child. As I got on the freeway the other day a lady passed me with her baby who looked to be about five maybe six months old sitting in the front seat in her lap in a Ford Explorer. The thought of what would happen to that baby if they had an accident made me sick to my stomach. And also when it comes to your child rear facing I hear the excuse "well their legs are so long they look scrunched up". Well for one if your child has always been rear facing then they know no different so the fact that they have to bend their legs a little most likely isn't phasing them at all. Trust me I know for my son has NEVER been on the charts for height. He has always been taller then kids his age but he never complained about being rear facing. He has never fought us on being in his car seat either but he has never known any other way when it comes to riding in the car. Our children's lives are precious and I know I would do anything for mine. So please use common sense when it comes to your babies! I hate hearing about children being injured in accidents just because of the parents lack of effort or caring. Okay stepping off my soapbox now! :)

I am grateful

After reading my last post man I sound whiny! I guess I just needed to get that out though. But I wanted to come back and add to what I already posted. Riley is excited to go back to school and I am looking forward to it as well. Not because he will be gone but because it will be nice to be back on our schedule and for him to have some time with other kids. He loves playing with other kids. I swear I have never seen a child more excited about school either. So it will be good for him. He still will only be attending three days a week from 8:30 till 12:30. Avery is sleeping through the night finally! I am so happy about this. She has been getting up at about 6 AM but that is only because Chris seems to always wake her up when he is getting ready for work. Otherwise I think she would sleep a little later. Because she usually falls back asleep before she even gets done eating her morning bottle. Last night I didn't get her in the bath till about 9 which is when she is usually already in bed and she was not happy about it at all. After I got her dressed I laid her down and she didn't make a sound and went straight to sleep. Did I mention she puts herself to sleep also? You can lay her down wide eyed as can be and she will fall asleep on her own. Riley did this too but not till about five months. I have to say six weeks ago I didn't think I was ever going to get any sleep. I am thankful for where we are now. I am feeling a little better this afternoon. Although I still can't keep anything down. But at least I don't have that horrible crampy feeling now. Did I ever mention I got the Implanon about three weeks ago? I really like it so far too! I recommend it to anyone who is looking for hassle-free birth control. The procedure to insert it is painless. The worst part is when they numb the area. As I type both kids are napping although I think Avery is about to wake up from hers. I have managed to get some laundry done, wash dishes, and eat a little something. So needless to say my day is going much better. Here are my kids as of about 10 minutes ago. I love them! :)

Blah....

Things have been busy in our house lately. Chris has been working nonstop, Riley starts back to school September 8th, Avery is two months old, and Riley just woke her up from her nap. Great. Can a girl catch a break around here? Apparently not. I only have gastroenteritis so why on earth would I want to rest? Be back to finish this later or never. Okay where was I? Oh Chris worked from 6 AM till 12:15 AM the other night. That was a fun day. Fortunately Avery didn't feel it necessary to be attached to me all day and Riley found ways to entertain himself without talking my ear off all day. Riley starts school September 8th and it seriously can't. get. here. soon. enough. We have all his school supplies and are shopping for school clothes this weekend. Early bedtime has been back in order for about two weeks now with no problems. Even Avery is on a sleeping schedule. She now goes down at about 9 PM and gets up around 6 AM. She goes for her two month check up Monday. At seven weeks she was 10.10 lbs and 21.5 inches. As I type this she is brewing me up a nice diaper surprise. I swear I am not going to get through this blog post without at least 5 interruptions. I have been sicker than a dog with gastroenteritis. I dealt with this in Riley once when he was about a year and a half old. Man I feel horrible for him now. Not only do you feel nauseated and can't keep ANY food in your system but you also get horrible stomach cramps. I swear they feel like contractions. Today is day four and so far I feel better. So please excuse my moodiness but I feel like crap and have been trying to take care of two kids in between it all. With no reliable family (which is a whole 'nother story) to help out nearby it just hasn't been fun. I think Avery is done because she is now falling asleep again. So I will be back...again. Alrighty at this point I have no idea what else I needed to say so enjoy some pictures instead. Hasn't our dog gotten huge?

I love them :)

Where does the time go?

Anyone seen Riley?

Implanon

She was having a ball one morning just smiling away.

Life as usual is pretty much back now. We are starting to get a routine going. It is much less chaotic than it was. Avery is awake so much more now and just smiles away. She has cooed also but most times she tries to get the sound out and it ends up being just a tiny little sound. I love it! Riley is doing great. We are taking him to a water park next weekend. I am pretty excited about that and so is he. He also has been talking about how he can't wait to go back to school. I am kind of looking forward to that also. Not that I don't enjoy his company but he has way more energy than I can keep up with on the amount of sleep I am getting. So school will be good because he will be able to get out of the house and see his old buddies. Avery is sleeping so much better but I am not. She goes down by 9 pm every night and sleeps till about 4 am now. I am up pretty late still though because the house needs picked up and so forth. It seems like I can't keep up with how fast this place gets messy. Between toys, dog toys, and baby stuff it can become a disaster quick. I went to the dr this week and I am back to "normal". If there is a normal after you have a baby. LOL I am going to enroll back in school this semester I think. I thought about taking it off since we will have so much going on but I am just so ready to be finished and I am looking at a 2011 graduation right now if I start this semester. And that is only as an LVN. I figure I would wait till I hire on somewhere to go back to become an RN because most employers will pay for it. So that is the plan. I am not ready to leave Avery but I am ready to contribute some income to our household. I also got the Implanon today and so far it is fine. I like that it is hassle-free. It didn't hurt at all going in but my arm is a bit sore tonight. I showed Chris and he pointed out it was bruised. I hadn't even noticed. Haha! Anyways enjoy the pictures I am going to go do dishes and head to bed. We have company coming to stay for the weekend tomorrow.