What’s next?

Hmmm. Where to begin. This has been a crazy week, eh? I mean loads of celebrity deaths and heat waves abound. I don’t know if I can handle much more! Things are just crazy! Good news is that the only death over here is that of some bugs, we’ve had loads of bugs and I’ve murdered them all. Good bye bugs you did not sell over 1 million records labeled “Thriller” so you hold no value. . . .

Thursday Tracy and Kelton spent the night at our house so we could price and organize more stuff for the garage sale to start early Friday morning. Kelsey came over to watch both babies while we were in the garage on Friday. She also watched them Thursday afternoon while we ran some errands. I bet that wore her out! Which brings me to the latest . . . Kelsey, our new nanny. I have had her for about 3 weeks now (maybe more) and we really like her! She’s great. First of all she lives literally 2 minutes from me, if that. She does dishes, laundry and vacuuming as well as babysit! She knows a whole lot of sign language and she uses it all the time with Sophie! She’s great and I’m glad we found her!

I got Sophie a bathing suit and a little baby pool that is just darling–looks like a hippo and even has a shade over it, but she hates it. She cries when I put her in it and now even cries if we go near it, literally. So we’ll try swimming later for her. But her bathing suit is the cutest thing ever. I did get some pics of her in that.

The garage sale went alright. We sold lots of stuff. It was hot and tiring, I will admit. We still have lots of stuff left over so we are going to try to craigslist some of it and then we will donate the other stuff leftover. I’m ready to get my garage back. It’s been filled with stuff for months now!

David and I tried to get some video of Sophie as she rocks back and forth like a little speed demon and it appears that she’s going to just launch off of her blanket! She’s a scootin’ and I know she’ll be crawling soon. I’m not too worried or too encouraging as I like her still immobile! I just know everything will change once she’s gettin’ around–yikes!

This next week is our birthday. That’s Thursday, the 2nd. I’ve taken the week off, even though I technically didn’t have any clients anyway. But I’ll be mommy all week, just me and Sophie until daddy gets home in the evenings!

I ♥ Daddy.

Ok. Yesterday was Father’s Day and we celebrated at Grandma and Grandpa Greer’s house. We got lots of pictures, just some random shots of the cutie pie and a few of David and I too. I don’t think we have one single picture of the three of us except for in the delivery room! Wow, that’s kind of sad! I haven’t made a slideshow in a while so here is one from Daddy’s Day.

Cousins.

Friday Tracy and Kelton spent most of the day with us in Arlington! They came over around 10am and we put the kiddos in their jogger strollers and went for a hot but good walk/run. After that I took a nice shower and the kids napped for a bit. Then we put in the “Baby Signing Time” DVD to let them watch for a bit. Yes, no TV but I let Sophie see this a couple times a month. Kelton has never seen our DVD so he was interested in it.

David got home around noon-ish and mowed the yard. Kelton watched Uncle David the whole time as he plowed over the grasses in our lovely backyard. He was quite intrigued by the mower.

Later that evening we met up with a very good friend of the family (started with David’s family) Karen Campbell and her son, Richard. We met at UNO’s in Sundance Square in Fort Worth. It was a nice dinner and Grandma and Grandpa Greer took Sophie home with them afterwards and she stayed the night. Little girl has been taking a long time to get to sleep lately. No fussiness but just lies in her bed for up to 2 hours talking, kicking and playing. We didn’t leave Ft Worth until 8:45, which is waaaay past her bedtime anyway but apparently the report was that she slept on the way home but then talked in her bed until almost 11pm! Whoa–that’s just nuts! She hasn’t been to bed that late since she was only weeks old! Anyway . . . she had a good time over there and was a little sweet pea, as usual.

Tomorrow is Father’s Day and we are going to David’s parents’ for lunch and some of his Grandpa’s yummy broccoli cheese soup! I can’t wait! We’ll be back tomorrow with a fully report! Happy Father’s Day to all you dads out there!

Psuedo-mom.

Well we had a fast-paced, fun-filled last four days! David’s company had a camping trip (guys only) and he left Thursday evening after work. Sophie and I were all by ourselves that night. I discovered how much I hate going across our house in the dark, alone. I kept waking up one of the dogs to force them to go with me to Sophie’s room. Funny they were all snoozin and I’d say, “Noah, come on . . .” he’d look at me and lay his head back down. “Noah! Come on, get up!” He’d finally get up and then I had to hold his collar and make him go half-way with me. Finally he came with me and we looked in on little girl. She was sleeping peacefully.

Friday morning my mom came into town and we went to pick her up from the airport around 10am. Then I went to get my haircut with my mother-in-law and Tracy while mom watched Kelton and Sophie at our house. I decided to go completely new do. I’m no longer a homely girl. Ok. So I still wear my t-shirts and jeans daily but at least it takes me more than 10 minutes to get dressed now! I had so much thick, wavy hair that it took her 2.5 hours to cut and style it!

Kelton stayed at my house on Friday night along with mom and David (stepdad). It was so funny because Kelton literally thought I was Tracy unless Tracy was there. With my haircut he was sure I was Tracy. How do you know he thought that, you ask? Well he’s going thru his separation anxiety stage right now and if Tracy puts him down or walks out of the room he cries and instantly is fine when she comes back and picks him up. He also hugs her and wraps his arms around her neck while she’s holding him. He doesn’t really do this to others unless you pick him up after a nap. Anyway, Tracy wasn’t there when I got home from my haircut and as soon as I walked in he ran to me and hugged my leg, then tapped his chest–his little baby signs saying “help” which he does when he wants to be picked up. So I picked him up and he gave me a hug. I tried to put him down and he started crying just like he does with Tracy. He wouldn’t even go to mom he’d just cry and want me to hold him again. It was funny. I kept calling myself psuedo-mom. It was cute and funny! Ah, the joy of twins!

Saturday my mom and stepdad left to go back to Austin around 3pm. So Sophie and I were alone again Saturday night. Sophie had a little bit of a rough night that night. Over the past few days she’s been eating like a little piglet, so I’m thinking she’s going through a growth spurt. She’s taking 6-8 ounces of formula 5 times a day plus baby food 2-3 times a day! Anyway, Saturday evening we met the in-laws, Tracy, Andy and Kelton at Cheddar’s for dinner. Sophie had some peas (baby food) and I think she got sick from it. She didn’t go to sleep until 9pm (she usually is asleep between 6:30-7pm) and then woke at 10pm screaming and then she threw all of her formula and peas up. Then she woke again at midnight and cried more. That time I fed her and she then slept until 7:30am on Sunday morning. She seems totally fine today so she could have just been having a bad night. Maybe she missed her Daddy . . .

David got home around 1pm today. He was a little sunned and sweaty. He hadn’t showered in 3 days. Camping, eh? But he said he kept catching the biggest fish! They had a fishing guide and I think he had a good time with the fishing and all. Good thing he can sleep anywhere. I was worried he didn’t get eough sleep but apparently he crashed well each night.

Well to all you single mothers out there–I have a profound respect for you! Just with about 30 hours of single-motherhood myself I sure did miss David and his wonderful help! I’m a blessed person with the wonderful husband and family that I have!

Adventuremart.

Well I had my first real adventure as a mommy, but I’m positive it won’t be my last or the most exciting . . . I needed to go to Walmart and get some things. After lunch Sophie passed out in the car so I was going to take her home and put her down to nap longer. Well she ended up in her bed talking to herself for an hour. I finally went in and got her and decided to go ahead and go to Walmart. I decided I’d put her in her stroller since it’s easier to tote her around that way instead of in her infant seat.

I pulled up, parked and went around to the back and popped open her stroller. I was just going to sit her in it so I then went around to get her out of her seat. I started to sit her down in her stroller and thought–that’s weird my hand feels wet. I looked at my hand and it was covered in poop. Ah yes. I immediately thought–great her car seat is probably covered in it! I looked in the car and got my handy-dandy anti-bacterial baby wipes out of her diaper bag and wiped myself down and the seat out. Then I realized that she now has it in the stroller. Great. I took her out and laid her on the floor in the back of the car and changed her diaper. Lovely. Thank goodness I keep extra onsies in her bag! So we changed clothes and a diaper. I decided to use my shopping cart cover and see if she could sit up enough (she’s not sitting up good unassisted) to sit in the cart.

I cleaned out the stroller and folded it back up and off we headed to the front door. I was carrying her with her facing out. Man, she’s heavy. My arm started to hurt just from carrying her from the car to the front door. I sat there and fiddled with that darn shopping cart cover for 10 minutes all while holding a baby in one hand. I finally got it on and plopped her in there. She wasn’t so steady. I held her arm and pushed the cart with one hand. This was going to be an interesting shopping experience.

I had to get some notebooks so I got those first and decided to prop them behind her back. That kept her from being so far back in the seat, halfway falling over. Then I got a box of something and put in on her right side and another box and put it on her left. She was then snug in the seat and could sit up! She chewed her little teether ring and talked to herself. She seemed to have a jolly ole time. I got all my shopping done and then decided to [stupidly] use the self-checkout. Halfway through the cart she starts to get unsettled and cries. Then she’s crying and wont’ stop. I’m scanning items and waiting for the stupid computer to say, “Please place item in the bag. . . .Wait for assistance . . .” I go over and get her out, hold her with one arm and then scan the other items. I have to carry her and push the full cart to the car. My arm was about to fall off by the time I got to the car–big little girl!

Anyway . . . so I got home and told David, “Now I can tell you a very good reason why I never go to the store unless the nanny is here or you can watch her . . . ” A while back he asked, “So why can’t you just go in the daytime and take her with you? . . .” Man, that is a true adventure! It was funny and she was a trooper. She hadn’t had a nap afterall and she was creeping up on her bedtime by the time it was all over! She slept from 6pm-8:30am the next day!

Life.

Well had a good week last week! I was pretty busy with work, baby and dogs! On Tuesday we had dinner with David’s old pals, David Lippe and his wife Rachel, and Taylor Hampton. We met at Babe’s Chicken. Man I love that place–yum! We called in Kelsey that night for the first time and then I loved her so and she’s going to be our nanny during the week (Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday). On Wednesday I picked up a little 4.5-lb Maltese named “Pearl” and have been doggie-sitting her. She’s tiny and all the dogs like her.

Thursday morning I went to tour one of the Montessori schools I’ve found that I would like to send Sophie to once she’s 18 months. This was The Montessori Academy of Arlington. Wow. I really love their teaching philosophies and what they do with the kids! They are really big on teaching independence, how to treat others, conflict resolution among other great things! Little 2-year olds were able to pour themselves a glass of OJ and wash their little dishes and put them on the shelf when they were finished! It was so neat to watch. They were so proud of themselves and the teachers do a lot of “good job!” and other praises–just what I’m wanting for our little princess! They also have a 30-acre lot with trails and gardens and all kinds of great stuff that they let the kiddos do and learn. Anyway, I go tour another school this week and I’ll probably look at a few others just to see which is best for us in many areas.

This week David’s company (that’s him and 3 guys) are going on a camping trip to Lake Texoma from Thursday thru Sunday. I’ll have little Sophie all to myself. Of course my mom is going to be here for Tracy’s big Mary Kay debut party this weekend so I suppose I won’t be too alone!

I haven’t put a pic of our canine crew on here in a while. Poor fellas. I was afraid that would happen after Sophie entered the picture! Anyway I really didn’t pose the dogs for this picture. I walked into the bedroom the other night to get ready for bed and this is what they all looked like. The funny thing is they are lined up in the order that we got them: Amos, Trevor, Jake then Noah!

Giggle Box.

My dad was here for the weekend and then I’ve been trying to get stuff done around the house and with work . . . so I fell behind on blogging . . . but the weekend was filled with fun since Dad stayed with us for the first time! I know he had to sleep on our crummy futon but we liked having him on this side of town!

Sophie has been a bit off of the usual that we’ve known. She’s woken up a few times in the night just crying her head off. Poor baby she almost sounds like she’s had a bad dream or something. I just go in and give her snuggles, she likes snuggles and hugs. I know she’s teething but I think she has a little bit of a cold or something. She’s been pretty congested and speaking of . . . she had her 6-month check up last Friday (May 29th) and the doctor said she was congested and we could give her kid’s Benedryl. But the good parts are her stats! She weighs 15-lbs, 12-oz and is 26″ long. That’s more than 1.5 pounds in a month! She was 14-lbs, 6-oz at 5 months when we went for her shots!

We’ve always had Sophie sleep in her own crib since she was brought home from the hospital and so she’s never been able to sleep in bed with us. By that I mean we even brought her to bed a couple of times in the mornings and she would be restless and not sleep. So, we’ve never really tried it but those couple of times. Anyway Monday night it was thundering pretty good over here, loud claps and such. Amos was a basket case. Well at about 5am the rain started along with the thunder and then Sophie woke up crying pretty hard. I don’t know why but she did. So I went in there and was going to feed her and then thought–I don’t think she’s hungry, let’s see if she just wants some snuggles–and I took her to our room and put her in bed with David and I. David grabbed her up and snuggled her right next to him and she went straight to sleep until 7am when David had to get up for work. She was so darn cute. We were all happy that we got to snuggle with her in bed. Although I was not asleep from the minute I put her in bed with us because I was worried I’d roll over on her or something so I never really went back to sleep fully after that. Regardless, I liked being able to snuggle up with her close.

On another note about our little princess . . . the nanny search is over! I’ve found a nanny! I interviewed 4 great candidates and narrowed it down to this one. She has a great, witty and fun personality that is very easy to warm up to and get to know. She loves dogs. She has lots of experience with babies and kids. She is very punctual, like 10 minutes early (that Hiebert blood in me doesn’t do tardy). . . . and she lives about 2 minutes away from us, an added bonus! Anyway we were supposed to go eat dinner last night with David’s good buddies, Taylor and David Lippe (and his wife) and we weren’t able to meet them until 8pm. Well I was not going to go because I didn’t want Sophie out past her bedtime because she’s not been in bed early enough for the past several days due to our crazy schedules. Then I said, “Well I can call Kelsey and see if she can babysit.” So I called her last-minute and she was so great! She said she’d do it. Sophie was asleep at 7pm and so she was already asleep when she got here but she got to hang with the furkids and watch TV. Well we got home around 9:30pm and she said Sophie never got up. She played ball with the dogs (eh-hem, Trevor), folded all of Sophie’s laundry and put away all the dishes that were cleaned and still in the dishwasher! Whoa–so she’s hired! She is actually going to do a “trial” day next week just in the case that for some reason I don’t feel that it’s a match but I’m feeling good about her so I think we’ve found our gal! So looks like Miss Kelsey will be our nanny! Hooray!

Now to end this on a note that will keep you smiling. Last evening after David got home he was doing his usual playing with Sophie and I was in the kitchen. I suddenly heard Sophie absolutely cracking up from the other room. We’ve made her laugh and giggle but I’ve never heard her laugh so hard and genuine. I went into the office and David had her in the port-a-crib on her tummy. He was just making a “boo!” sound and she thought it was the funniest thing ever. I got it on video. Way too cute. You can hear David and I cracking up too . . .