Rhys is growing, the dreaded return, and missing Gavin!

Summer and maternity leave are winding down. Next week will be my final week home and then I return to work as the mother of two beautiful boys. I wish we were independently wealthy! I don't want to go back...I would love to stay home, travel the world, volunteer, run a party planning business. Something else. Not that I don't enjoy my job, it is just so hard to return after the summer...especially this summer. Rhys still seems so tiny.

Speaking of...we had his two month appointment yesterday. He is growing like a weed and in fact isn't so "tiny" anymore. He weighed in at 13 lbs, 1 oz. (80th %ile), he is 24 3/4 in (95th %ile), and has a 16 in head (75th, I think). He is a big boy...just like his brother! He is tall like my family! At this rate it looks like both boys are going to top daddy in the height department. ;) Rhys is starting to sleep better! Thank goodness.

Gavin is on the world tour of grandparents this week! He has been such a terror lately that we were all looking forward to this trip. However, now that he has been gone I am missing him TERRIBLY! This may be just a mom thing but I keep having these panicky thoughts that something bad is going to happen to him and we wont be there. Not that I don't trust our parents (obviously they raised us). It's that "having no control" issue. I hope that this feeling goes away as he ages. I don't think it will...just think what a wreck I will be when he starts driving, ugh! In the meantime, I hope that the little stinker is enjoying his week of one-on-one attention. Cause it is back to business when he returns! We miss him and can't wait for him to return...the time out corner has been lonely without him, too!

I leave you with a couple of pics..






Stay tuned for big stories...the return to work, Rhys' adjustment to daycare, Gavin's big birthday, Uncle Michael and Beth's wedding and festivities, and the start of soccer season. It is never ending!

He made me a liar

Took some special play time with Gavin. We were playing soccer in the front yard. I kicked the ball and it rolled in the street. Gavin was attempting to stop it. He became very upset with me...he screamed "I hate you!" Can you believe that. At 3 years, 11 months he told me he hated me. Where did he get that? OH joy...I thought it would be the teenage years before that one! UGH! I guess we aren't making great strides, yet. WONDERFUL! ;)

Long over-due update!

Things have been quite a mad house around here for most of the summer! Rhys is now almost 8 weeks old. Gavin will be turning 4 on the first of September. Things have been rough. Rhys is a somewhat fussy baby. For a few weeks he would cry and cry for no reason. We finally figured out that it was reflux. After consulting with the ped. and trying some meds and messing with the dosages he seems to be doing much better. He still has a very hard time sleeping alone. He would fall asleep and sleep in the pack-n-play or crib for the first three hours of the night, but after the first mid-night feeding he would not let me put him back down. He would only sleep if he was propped on my chest. So for the last 5-6 weeks I have been sleeping with a baby on my chest for 4-6 hours. Talk about a paranoid and desperately tired mommy! I was always frightened that he was going to roll off or I would hurt him if I fell asleep. So not only did I have the normal "interrupted" new newborn sleep, but I was waking every 15 minutes during those 2-3 hour blocks. UGH! Well after reading the "Happiest Baby on the Block" we decided to give swaddling another go. Only problem...Rhys was too big for any of the blankets we had. He did really well, but would break free after 2 hours. Yesterday we went and purchased a Kiddopotamus...greatest thing ever. We used it for a late afternoon nap right away. Well he slept like a champ IN HIS CRIB!! It was a record sleep session for a nap! So we had high hopes for the night. He had his last feeding at 10:30 and fell right to sleep...went straight down...and didn't wake up till 3:30! 5 glorious hours! Had that feeding and went straight back down! No propped mom! He slept again for 3 more hours had another feeding around 7ish and went back down for 2 hours! It was simply amazing! Now I need like 5 of these kiddopotamus things. I need to find somewhere that sells the large as Rhys is pretty snug in this one.


In Gavin news...he has been defiant and all around pain in the pa-tooty. After every strategy known to man we may be coming around. Gavin has struggled with Rhys' arrival and I think he maybe getting used to his brother and the new routines of the house. Only four more weeks and back to the grind so I am sure he will be back to his old self after he is back in pre-school full time. What is working in the mean time is a reward chart where he is being reinforced every two hours. We will keep that up and hope that it doesn't lose its novelty.