Libby Lu here we come...NOT!

Raegan is not one to get into things when I'm not looking but this morning she was awfully quiet and I found her on the floor of my bathroom carefully scraping eyeshadow out of the container with a lip pencil and applying it to her nose. (?) Not quite sure where she picked up that application tip as I can't remember every applying makeup to that part of my face...

Anyways, I couldn't help but laugh at her, especially since she was so seriously applying it. I watched her grinning at herself in the compact mirror. I told her it looked beautiful and then we wiped up her face and that was that. Good thing it was a free sample she had found! (Although it was my favorite lip pencil, oh well)

Holiday Weekend Checklist...

2 trips to Costco
2 trips to the grocery store
1 (okay, 2) trip(s) to Target
3 tubs of stuff
4 bags of clothes
1 pack & play
1 double stroller
1 air mattress
1 blow-up pool
2 beach chairs
4 life jackets
1 cooler
2 kids
2 adults
1 car
1 boat
= a 2 night stay at my Aunt & Uncle's cottage this coming weekend!!

Here's what you get...

...when you "run" for your camera to get a cute side-by-side photo.

Love/Hate

This was a "love" moment...they kept clinking their sippee cups and saying "cheers!" So cute!

Raegan has two friends with whom she has a love/hate relationship. Emma Hondorp being one, Zachary Leys the other. It is so funny how kids can be playing and laughing one minute and screaming and grabbing the next. This weekend Sara and I had our hands full on Saturday as our boys did their Fantasy Football draft and were gone most of the day. It was a LONG day but I'm so glad she came to keep me company and so our kids could occupy each other...even if there was a lot of "MINE!" and "NO!". We found that it was best to keep them in "neutral" territories like the park and the mall play area and then they played extremely well together. Thanks again, Leys' for making the drive to Michigan!

And Finally...the Wiggles Weekend!

Zach & Raegan waiting patiently in their seats
Wiggles Live, Whoo hoo!

Zach goofing around with Cameron & Sydney

Good buddies....most of the time. =)

This will be a black mail picture someday. =)

I wish I would have been able to post about this earlier but it's been a busy week! Now the weekend is almost here again and it's our turn to host the Leys'. Mark & Brad have their big Fantasy Football Draft this Saturday so Sara, Zach, & Cameron are coming along for the ride so that Sara & I can be FF widows together.

I don't think we'll be able to top the fun of last weekend though...the Wiggles show was a HUGE hit with Raegan and Zach and all I have heard about all week is what the Wiggles did on stage and what songs they sung. Brad splurged and bought her an overpriced concert souvenier & book but I would say it was money well spent as she has carried both items around the house all week.

Brad teases me when I say that you "can't put a price on memories & fun" (which is atypical for my usual dutch-self) but even he said that although this was a pricey memory, it was well worth it!

Persistance & Prayer (and a fancy bottle) pays off!!

The Hunger Strike ended after 15 1/2 grueling hours. Sydney was not happy about it, and begrudgingly gulped down 7 ounces, but then promptly went to sleep late Monday night.
Tuesday morning...crying, screaming, and refusal of the bottle at 6 a.m. More crying (on both our parts) and a moment on my knees brought on a miracle... She suddenly sucked down 6 ounces like it was nothing, and was happy as a clam.
Nana came over in the afternoon and got her to take two bottles and then Daddy did two bottles last night. WHOO HOO!
Today I "rewarded" her with nursing in the early a.m. and then she took her bottle with not so much as a peep at 11:00 a.m.
I give thanks to the good Lord above, and to the First Steps BreastFlow bottle. =)
I'm now a free woman.
p.s. Thanks so much to all of you for your prayers and words of encouragement! I love having a blogger support group! =)

Hunger Strike

I meant to make my post today about our Wiggles Weekend but as I am currently sitting here listening to my 4 month old scream her bloody head off (for the 50th time today) while Brad gives another attempt at the bottle I feel the need to vent (or I might start crying again).
Enough is enough. Sydney took a bottle at 2 weeks and once a day after that until 2 1/2 months, and then suddenly, with no warning decided she was done with that! Well, as laziness (or busyness) would have it I just backed off on forcing it since everytime we attempted she would scream and breastmilk would be wasted and it was just easier to quick nurse her and be done with it.
But now I am tired of being the only one to feed her. I am tired of being the only one that she likes to be with. I am tired tired tired. And I think this weekend was the last straw since I was up 3 times on Saturday night after she refused a bottle before we went out and left her with a sitter.
So, today since the weather was rainy I decided to stay home, suck it up, and only give her the bottle option. Well, it's 7:18 p.m. and exactly 12 hours since she has had a thing to eat.
Thank the Lord that Brad came home early due to the weather and was here to support me and help most of the day. I honestly think I would have lost my mind hours ago.
So...if you call me tomorrow and I'm crabby or crying you know that I was up half the night "force" feeding Sydney a bottle, and she may still be on strike.
Lord, help me.

Only 1 more snooze until...

THE WIGGLES SHOW!!!

We are VERY excited around here for The Wiggles Live Concert in Chicago tomorrow. Raegan has been incessantly talking about nothing else all week. Every day it's: "We go to the Wiggles, Mom, with Zachary and hear the Mashed Potato song....and dance and scream...with Daddy!" (Mark & Brad are taking the kids, Sara and I will be lounging around reading magazines while the babies sleep!)

So I was trying to explain to her how long until we see The Wiggles and so I tried to take a tip from a friend who helps her kids grasp the concept of time with "sleeps" (i.e. two "sleeps" until the Wiggles). Well around here we call them "snoozes" so I tried to tell her yesterday that in "two snoozes" she would see Zachary and The Wiggles. Of course I forgot to include nap times so she was very confused when we woke up this morning and I told her we still had two more snoozes until The Wiggles (oops).

Luckily she was sufficed by watching the Wiggles video (for the 50th time this week) and dancing in the living room with me with the promise that "tomorrow" we would see the Wiggles. Thank goodness for a two-year-old's lack of concept of time!

Night #1

Well, my first night of "toughing it out" wasn't so bad...

Sydney did a 9:00-5:30 stretch.

However, I have a sneaking suspicion that the ibuprofen I doped her up with might have done part of the trick. Today she didn't nap well and has been running a fever since mid-morning. Tonight she was all out of sorts and very sad. Lots of tears and screaming no matter how much I tried to comfort her.

I HATE the after effects of shots!

Tough Love

13.5#, 2 feet tall, and perfectly capable of sleeping through the night.
Although Brad has been saying it for the past week, I had to hear it from the doctor this morning that it is "OK" to let Sydney cry it out.
She must know that this time is coming because she has been waking up and crying much more then the usual once a night that she's done for several weeks now. The funny thing is, that as much as I want to get a full night's rest, there is something sad to me about dropping the night feeding(!?). Crazy I know. And as much as I like to talk "big" and say that I am ready for her to sleep through, I HATE the thought of lying in bed and listening to her scream it out until she soothes herself. I never had to do that with Raegan.
So...in the next few days, think of me at 4:00 a.m. (ha ha) when I am lying in bed with a pillow over my head (and probably crying too) as I teach my baby to "tough it out" and sleep through the night with out her mama. =(

You can diaper just about anything...

This is what I found this morning when I went up to get Raegan from bed. Each picture taken out of a book in her room and carefully laid in the "buns" section of a diaper.

I couldn't help laughing out loud.

pterodactyl

This is our new nickname for Syd. If you have not had the "pleasure" of being within a 5 mile radius of her when she is angry you cannot even comprehend the decibels that she can hit with her screaming. She acquired this nickname after two separate people made the reference after hearing her scream.

We now have a new phrase in our home when Syd is mad that she is "going Pterodactyl on us". It is loud and high pitched and can be brought on for any number of reasons at a rate of 0-60 in 2.4 seconds...

(She is pterodactyling in the background as I write this, I guess that means she is ready to be up from her nap)

Introducing...Mr & Mrs Heemstra!

Beautiful Day, Beautiful Wedding, Beautiful Couple!!

Congratulations Andy and Krista; yesterday was PERFECT!

Mon Chi Chi?

Take us out to the ball game

Last night we used our "connections" to attend another Whitecaps game with my whole family. This time we were on the special Metro Health Deck and had front row seats to all the action. I can honestly say, however, that I barely payed attention to the game and instead ate, drank,and socialized while other people watched my kids. Good times. =)

It was H-O-T though...whew! Good thing there were lots of cold drinks and ice cream to keep us cool. Thanks Standard Lumber (dad) for a night of family fun!

Cooling off with ice cream bought by Uncle Chris
Don't we look cute in our baseball hats?