Mommy of two survival gear

The Baby Trend double stroller, or Behemoth, as I call it. But I wouldn't go into CVS with two kids without it. The cool thing about it is that it converts to a Sit and Stand. So when we go to the zoo or museums or somewhere where Dylan wants to get in and out, we take the back seat off and just use the stand.

The KangarooKorner pouch. I didn't think I would like this type of carrier at first. It seemed like it restricted your one arm too much. But then I went to a "Baby Wearers" Club meeting (at the suggestion of someone from the breast feeding support group) and try a bunch of different types of carriers on. The pouch was the easiest for me to get the child in correctly and there wasn't as much adjusting you had to do with this one as compared to some others. The Baby Wearers, who included women with jackets that have a hold in the back so they can put their jacket on over top of both them and their child - yeah, real hard core, weren't that fond of the pouch but I really liked it. And apparently, so say the instructions that came with the pouch, it can be used up to 18 months - the child just basically sits on your hip with just his or her bottom in the pouch. The pouch has worked great for me when I have needed free hands to do a few things around the house when Lydia will only stop crying when I hold her. She normally falls asleep in the pouch, as shown below.

Day of firsts

On Sunday the 22nd, Lydia wore tights for the first time. This little casual long sleeve dress was perfect for the first day of spring. Her Mary Janes are still too big or else she would be wearing those too, but I'm sure she'll have many opportunities to wear them. Can you tell I'm having fun dressing up my little baby doll?

Lydia also rolled over (tummy to back) for the first time that day. It's going so fast already!

Aunt Carrie's visit

Carrie was in town for a conference for work two weeks ago and so we got to visit with her one night. This was the first time she met Lydia.

Dylan had fun with Aunt Carrie too although he did ask where Steven was.

Okay, so these are almost as cool...

...and they were in NY and LA. Check out the LA one first.

Why doesn't anything cool like this ever happen in the US

Sound of music in central station.

Being tourists in Philly

We decided to stay overnight one night in Philly (complements of Martin's folks - thanks!) to spend some more time with family and to see a little bit of the city. So the day after the memorial service we went downtown and took a tower tour of City Hall. It was only $10 for the four of us to go up to the top of City Hall. We also walked around and had lunch at Reading Terminal Market before heading home/napping in the car.

Great Grandma's Memorial

We planned Lydia's baptism and Great Grandma's memorial service in Havertown, PA (near Philly) on back to back days so that the Florida folks only had to make one trip the cold north in March. Her funeral was held in Florida in January (Martin's folks were making the arrangements when we called to tell them that their granddaughter had been born) but since she spent such a great deal of her life in Havertown, the family wanted her to have a memorial service there too. During the service, Grandma's ashes were displayed up in front of the church in a biodegradable container that is meant to be put in the ocean and then the container will dissolve and the ashes will go into the ocean, which Martin's parents will make happen later. Martin's cousin Chris, who is a Lutheran pastor in PA, preached at the service, as he had done for Granddad and had promised Granddad that he would do for Grandma. After the service we journeyed to Chris's house for dinner and fellowship as you can see in the pictures below.

Cousins Nancy and Chris and Martin's dad

Chris's wife Jane and Martin's brother Matt

Martin and his mom and the kids

Lydia wore a bow for the special occasion

The kids and their uncles Matt and Mark

Lydia in her (and my) baptism dress

Lydia's Baptism

Lydia was baptized on March 8th. She slept through the whole thing. And Dylan did great up front and was quiet. I was so afraid he was going to talk through the whole thing..."church, water, sing" or worse "cars, firetruck, monster truck."

The four grandparents picture. What a blessing.

We had a little party after church for the family members that were in town. Here's Lydia's cake:

In addition to her grandparents, her uncle Mark and Martin's Aunt Katrina and Uncle Bob and Uncle Dave also came from FL and PA to the baptism. Here's Lydia with Great Aunt Katrina - (it is Katrina's mom who was named Mabel).


Martin took Katrina and Bob and his parents on a driving tour of DC. Katrina hadn't seen DC since she was a little girl. We all had some great meals together. We had 7 people one night and then 9 the next. I used some recipes from the potluck cookbook that Marna got me for Christmas. Everyone helped and it worked out well. I was a lot less stressed out about the meals that I thought I would be. Giant catered the post-baptism luncheon and we did go out to eat once too so that helped.

Lydia and her bears

Lydia has been sleeping in a Pack'N'Play in our room. The PNP has a mobile with 3 little bears hanging from it. Lydia LOVES looking at these bears. She gets so happy and excited to just stare up at them as you can see in these pictures and video.

Welcome Back Amy!

My former roommate Amy has moved back to DC! (I've lived here long enough now that friends are actually moving back!) Can you tell I'm a little excited about this? The photo was taken a few weeks ago when Amy came to visit and meet Lydia while she was in town house hunting. She will be a homeowner soon. In exchange for financial and home buying advice, Amy has helped me speed up my computer and has almost convinced me that I need a new cell phone (my current phone is pushing 5 years old). She is my technology advisor and gives me common sense when I so often lack it. Welcome home Amy!

Our good little sleeper

In loving memory

On December 31, 2008, two days before Lydia was born, Martin's grandmother was called into etnernal life. She was 91 years old and lived a very full life. She often said she was ready to go home. We will miss her wit and charm and loving service to her family. We are thankful for those things and for the God of Grace blessing our family with new life as we mourned her death.

Last Monday we went to her memorial service in Havertown, PA where she served with her husband at Trinity Lutheran Church. Below is a picture of Martin's oldest brother Matt spreading Grandma's ashes at the church where we spread Grandad's ashes 5 years ago.

Below are the most recent pictures we took with (Great) Grandma last summer.

We love you (Great) Grandma!

More pics from Grandma and Grandpa's visit

STTN?

Lydia has slept through the night (10:30pm-6:30am, so the real thing not the technical definition of 12-5) the last three nights. I thought Tuesday was just a fluke since we had been away but apparently not. Wow. I'm just wowed. What a blessing. That would be really cool if this continues, especially when I go back to work in 3 weeks but I'm trying not to get too used to it in case it doesn't stick. Lydia is such an easy baby. The other day I put her in her crib so I could go to the bathroom or something quick and I go back to get her and she fell asleep ON HER OWN!!! Amazing. I remember with Dylan it was this 3rd month of life that was the hardest for him (and us). I imagine Lydia will have her own struggles but she is doing soo well these days. Praise the Lord oh my soul.

Lydia and Mommy Update

Lydia had her 2 month check up yesterday. She weighed 10 lbs 9 oz (25%) and was 22 1/4 inches (55%) tall. She's bigger than Dylan was at this age but by less than I thought she would be. The doctor said she was strong and had good head control and good focus. Everything was normal. She received 3 shots (they've combined two since Dylan had his) and the rotavirus vaccine drink. I asked the doctor if he had any suggestions on how to minimize spitting up since Lydia seems to be doing a lot of that. He just said to burp her a lot including before feeding her and to hold her upright after feeding her.

At my post-partum appointment a couple weeks ago, I was down to 8lbs more than my starting weight which is about where I was at that point with Dylan. However, this time in contrast to last time, my jeans and khakis are not fitting. I can get into my dress pants which have a little more "give" but not my tigher fitting clothes. So the weight must be less favorably distributed this time around. I guess that means I need to do sit ups. I actually did exercise a little yesterday for the first time (aside from some walking I've been doing randomly). I did two 20 minute exercise videos - Dylan did them with me! One was called "Yoga Walk" and Dylan kept asking later to "watch, yogurt." The other was a post-partum video. Both were very un-challenging but I guess I needed to start slow. I've feeling very inflexible right now also so I think I need to prioritize and work on abs and flexibility. But I'm feeling great. Ask me again on April 3rd.

Pictures from Lydia's seventh week

I was able to take some great pictures of Lydia smiling! Here they are...

Six weeks was a big milestone for Lydia. She started sleeping about 5 hours at night instead of just 3-4, she grew out of her newborn clothes, and she started going longer stretches between feedings. It's been such a blessing. I don't remember Dylan been like this until much later on. It's so manageable now. It was just that first 6 weeks that was really hard. But I guess we're not totally out of the woods yet. I've been told that 3 months is really the peak of fussiness and then of course I still have to go back to work. But right now I'm going to enjoy life and my little girl's wonderful smile!