First weekend of summer

Summer is finally here!

Pools are open, the sun is shining and it's time for cute summer dresses!

This weekend we got to celebrate the start of summer with a Memorial Day BBQ on Sunday. Madison was excited to get her first swim of the summer in!

We also were able to spend the weekend with our niece Isabella and nephew Jake. They are staying at Chris' parents house for the weekend to give their parents one last weekend of rest before the new baby comes (which hopefully is any day now!!!)

We kept Beth out of the pool as it was still a little chilly and I wasn't going in! Thankfully my in laws took the 2 girls in!

Jake was such a big help with the girls!

Monday we went to the Ardsley Memorial Day parade. This was Madison's 3 years riding in Pop's truck in the parade and the first year for Bella and Jake! The girls looked adorable in their matching dresses! 

Madison and Bella were supposed to march with Uncle Pj and the fire dept but they got a little scared.. Maybe next year!

I hope you all had a great weekend!!

Xo's 

Busy as bees

Wow!! This month has been crazy! 

We've been back and forth with Beth's doctors about her feeding issues and weight gain and we are so happy that our little lady has put on weight ... 2 ounces but it counts!! 

She is still tiny and just makes the 5th percentile but she's healthy! She eats a lot!!

My brother Ryan and his girlfriend Emily came to visit over Mother's Day weekend. It was the first time they had met Elizabeth and seen the new house! They have both been busy with hockey and Emily finishing school so they had to wait to come visit! It was an awesome weekend we really did nothing... We watched movies, hockey games and just visited.  It was also nice that they were here for my first 5k!!

I was so happy to complete the race! My goal was under 40min and I finished with an official time of 38:17! I am already signed up for my second race June 1st!

My goal is 36min or less... I would love to shave 2+ min off my time!

 After Mother's Day the girls and I headed to Canada for a few days for my grandparents 50th anniversary! Chris had to work so he stayed home.

We have a great time. We got to meet Ashley (my brother Brett's girlfriend) and see all of my family and friends. We actually left the girls there for a few days while Chris and I took a little parents weekend away to Baltimore to celebrate Chris' 30th birthday!

While in Baltimore we actually saw a boat fire in the harbor! 

Thankfully no one was hurt!

We had parents night at Madison's school... So crazy to think she has 2.5 weeks left of her first week of preschool. 

Madison showed off her art and sang some songs!! It's amazing to see how much she has changed since starting there! 

Over the next few weeks we've got a lot happening! 

Stay tuned!!

Xo

Feeding Struggles

Yesterday I briefly mentioned the problems we have had the past 4 weeks with Elizabeth and eating, so I figured today I would write about it a little more!

At Beth's one month appointment our pediatrician prescribed Zantac to help with her reflux, it helped a lot she was still spitting up but didn't seem like she was in as much pain as before. 2 weeks later we went back in because Elizabeth was spitting up forcefully and out of her nose and mouth and choking.. all the scary things! At that appointment we were told to stop breastfeeding and switch to formula.

My heart broke.. I struggled with the fact that I could not breast feed Madison and switching to formula then was really hard for me, as I have spent 9 months determined to breast feed her. The fact that I was able to feed Elizabeth for 6.5 weeks meant the world to me. I was so happy that I was able to give her something no one else could. She was benefitting from something so special.  For a few minutes I was a little down because it was going so well and now to just stop was going to be tough.. emotionally and physically for me.

It took me about 5 min to realize this isn't about it... it is about what is best for Beth!  Although they always say "breast is best" that is NOT always the case.

We originally thought Beth just needed something heavier in her stomach so she couldn't reflux as easily as she had been, but after a week we realized it wasn't working and she was still spitting up violently and really wasn't keeping much of anything down. With that it was back to the doctors.. where we learnt that she really wasn't getting much food into her because she had lost 4oz in the week. A few different things were thrown around mainly "pyloric stenosis" which I mentioned yesterday and Beth DOESN'T have it! Our pediatrician was ready to put Beth on Prevacid or another medication similar to that when she came back into the room with a new formula Nutramigen, it is babies with a milk protein allergy or intolerance.

Within 24 hours we noticed a HUGE change, Beth was happy when she finished eating, she wasn't spitting up and she wasn't in pain, or uncomfortable! So far we have been using this formula for a little over a week and we couldn't be happier.

As sad as I was about having to stop breastfeeding, I know that it would have been extremely difficult to treat her milk protein intolerance had we continued breastfeeding.. I would have had to give up all diary products and those that know me well know that I love cheese :)

So for now.. we are taking it day by day and hopefully we don't have anymore issues!

2 months

Well Miss Elizabeth is officially 2 months old (as of yesterday!) We have had a bit of a tough month with her and that took away from any blog time I had set aside! I've also included a little Madison update and a Mommy update. As for Daddy well, he is still working lots and playing softball and hockey in his spare time  :)

Our new "questionnaire" is actually taken from my friend, new mom and newlywed - Ainslie over at For The Love Of Ivy, check out her blog, her daughter Ivy is super cute!

HERE WE GO!

Elizabeth

Weight: 7lbs 15oz

Length: Beth has her 2 month check up on monday so I will update this part then!

 Sleep: We are so lucky .. Beth sleeps 7 hours a night! She has the odd night that she wakes up and wants to eat but its very rare. I know that our time is coming when she will be up more.

Eating: This has been a struggle the past month. At her 1 month appointment they put her on Zantac to help with her acid reflux.. since then we have been back to the docs 4 times and also a 5hr visit to the ER at the Children's hospital (last night). A lot of different things have been thrown around. First we stopped breastfeeding at 6.5 weeks because we thought she may need something heavier in her stomach to help with the spitting up. at 7.5 weeks we found out she was losing weight because she wasn't keeping the Gentlease formula down, we then switched to Nurtramigen (for milk protein allergy/intolerance) and she was been doing AMAZINGLY with it! And then yesterday (her 2 months birthday) she started spitting up violently, and not peeing so we visiting the doc and they told us to head to ER, where they gave her an ultrasound looking for pyloric stenosis which came back negative! SO it looks like our feeding issues are all due to this milk protein allergy/ intolerance and she just has a little stomach virus at the moment!

Diapers: Finishing off with our Newborn sizes and moving to 1's. She could probably wear newborn for a little longer but I'd rather have the 1's on her now since she is growing and then I wont have an overload of newborns laying around!

Clothing: Still newborn! I have started putting her in 3 month clothing but they are HUGE on her and she looks so tiny in them (even tinier then she already is). We have so many adorable 3 month spring clothes that I cant keep holding off until she is looking like a sausage in her newborn outfits because that might take awhile!

Mood: Because of our feeding issues her mood has been a little funny.. she has days that she is super happy (since switching formula) and days that she is really fussy and inconsolable (days her reflux acts up!) 

Loves:

• Her big sister singing to her.
• Sucking on her thumb.
• Cuddling with her daddy.
• Surprisingly BATH TIME!
• Being outside.. she loves when we go for walks at the park!

Hates:

• When daddy is not home.. she is much more of a daddy's girl then Madison. She seems to always be fussy when Chris is working!
• Being hungry
• When we take her thumb out of her mouth!
• Being wet .. she cries over the tinniest amount of pee in her diaper.

Big sister Madison

Madison is doing great! She is really liking her new title "Big sister" and will tell anyone who will listen! We are finally having nice weather so we have been at the park walking more and playing with chalk in the back yard and the big thing for this year RIDING HER BIG GIRL BIKE! It has taken her a few weeks but she has finally gotten the pedaling part down.. now only if she could steer we would be good!

Madison has 4 weeks of school left until her first official year of preschool is FINISHED! Over the next few weeks we get to visit the school, see her artwork, see a mini concert from her class and the other 2's class and we get to join her on her last day for a special snack with all her friends! Madison has grown so much figuratively and literally since starting school in September. She has gained about 2lbs and grew a few inches. She has become a little girl not a baby! Her speech is incredible! Sometimes I am shocked at how well she speaks! She is so loving and caring and very aware of other peoples feelings as well as her own!

The big news about Madison is... SHE IS POTTY TRAINED!!!!!!! She had regressed when Elizabeth was born but I am happy to say that since last Thursday (almost a week) she has been diaper free, with the exception of night time! Night time training will come soon!

Mommy

Photo from a wedding (7 weeks post partum)

Weight loss: 21lbs down - 5lbs to go! This will be gone soon I hope.. Chris and I are planning a cleanse ( 9 and 30 day options) beginning May 19th. Chris is doing 9 days but I am so happy and lucky that he is doing this with me and supporting me!

Exercise: Been out walking alot more and started running again.. my first 5k is mothers day! I am doing the Bikini Body Mommy Challange and on day 3 and so far so good! I can get a good workout in at home, this helps especially on days that Chris is working and I can't take both girls to the day care at the gym yet! 

Breast or bottle: bottle.. had to do what is best for Elizabeth (check her update at the top for more)

Sleeping: Yes!. Beth sleeps about 7hrs at night so I sleep when she sleeps!

Baby schedule: getting a little loser to having a schedule..usually the day for Beth starts between 7 and 8 she wakes up to eat, gets dressed and has a nap... Since switching to formula is on a 2 every 2 schedule .. 2oz every 2 hours to help with her reflux. We will be gradually increasing the length and amount since we know why she was spitting up so much! Her day usually ends around 1030 when she gets her last bottle and closes her eyes for the night :)

Mood: Great! I am back at work and couldn't be happier to have our life back to normal. I missed working for those 8 weeks ( 2 weeks before baby and 6 after). I really do love my job at the preschool and I think that helps with my mood. I am happy to be there, sad to leave Beth and Madison but I come home happy to see them! It's win-win. I am getting a few hours out and they get bonding time with mima or daddy!