Thursday, May 28, 2009

What a Day!

Before I get into the day that was yesterday; Tuesday night, we were both home to hear Casey's first out loud laugh. It was so cute! We can't wait for them to become more frequent and when they do I will definitely get a video of it!

Ok, so yesterday, ugh! We had just woke up. I come out of the bathroom just in time to see Ryan walking swiftly out of the room. I ask, "What's the matter?" He says, "Didn't you hear that?" Well, I was in the bathroom, so no I didn't hear "that." Now he's standing in the dining room staring in the direction of our desk with this shocked and puzzled look on his face. He said it sounded like someone pouring out a container of sprinkles. I come out to see that the short portion of our glass desk had shattered. The computer monitor is on the floor, but being held up from complete destruction by the power cord. The speakers, mouse and CDs that were sitting on top are also on the floor. And the multiple CD case is on the keyboard which is still on the keyboard tray underneath. There's glass everywhere. Ryan said there was no crash or bang before the shattering. Nothing fell onto it and there was no one around to touch it. For more than a year that desk has sat in that same spot and has had the same things on it, nothing too heavy, and we rarely even use that portion of the desk. The only time we ever touch that side is to get or put back the scissors or a pen. So needless to say we have no idea how this happened. But I thought a disaster such as this warranted a picture.















Now for the important stuff. Yesterday was also Casey's 4 month check up. Well, unfortunately I was right, he is not gaining enough weight. He's now 9lb 9oz... that's less than a pound in the past 2 months. It's only 2 pounds since birth! He is longer as I had said, now 23in. But obviously that's not enough weight. So we're back to feedings every 3 hours even through the night. No breastfeeding, so that we know exactly how much he's getting. I can still pump and give him breastmilk in a bottle though. No more rice cereal for now and no starting other solids until his weight is up. The dr. thinks that it just stems back to the same issues he had before, with his poor suck, poor feeding cues etc. He has until Wednesday to gain a decent amount of weight (approx 8oz). If he doesn't gain the weight he'll be admitted to the hospital for extensive testing to find out what's wrong. He's still right on track developmentally; he's doing everything that a 4 month old should be doing. So everyone please keep you fingers crossed for him and I'll update after his appointment next week.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Science Center and 4 Months Old

Yesterday Ryan had the day off, so we decided to take Piper to the Orlando Science Center. Piper wasn't really interested in a lot of the exhibits, but we discovered later that it was because she (still) wasn't feeling well. She did enjoy the Kidstown section and the NatureWorks section. And then we headed to the Cinedome (an IMax-like theater) to see Wild Ocean. She really liked that and then it was time for lunch. Piper hadn't even had a bite or sip of anything yet, when she got sick. We cleaned her up and gave her some crackers and juice to sip, we thought she was going to be fine since it was out of her system, so we started to head up to the last floor of exhibits and she got sick again. So at that point we decided to just leave. We missed the exhibit that we were most looking forward to, but hopefully we can visit again another time. Piper seems to be feeling much better now and hasn't gotten sick (knock on wood) since then.

Getting ready to head inside
Temporary exhibit; Grossology, all about the gross things our bodies do
Pilot Piper
Playing with the water table
Piper liked this alot
Sending her boat down the waterfall
Crawling through the roots of a tree
Picking Oranges!
Sending the oranges off to the store
Feeding the fish, turtles and gators

















Yesterday was also Casey's 4 month birthday! He's holding his head up on his own consistently now. He's really starting to like his rice cereal and even gets a little mad when he finishes it all. He's still taking naps in his crib and they're progressively getting longer and longer! We're almost ready to give it a try overnight, we're just nervous cause he will be sharing Piper's room, and we don't want him to wake her. He loves his Bumbo and play gym and toys. All of his toys go straight into his mouth, which is of course, to be expected. He tries so hard to scoot forward when he's on his belly, he'll be crawling in no time. He still loves cuddling. He smiles all the time, it's so easy to get him smiling and they are infectious! He loves his big sister and is always craning his neck to see what she's doing. His "talking" is getting more frequent too. Tomorrow is his check up, so I will update again after that. We still don't feel like he's gaining enough weight, but he's definitely gotten longer. He's outgrown several outfits because he's too long. So we're hoping that maybe we're just not noticing weight gain because he's growing up, not out. But we'll see tomorrow!

4 Months Old!
Hey there!
Chewing on his links in his Bumbo
He LOVES this elephant
The ears, which make a crinkly noise are his favorite part

Friday, May 22, 2009

Saving Money and Monsoon Season

Ok, so first let me say that I get a little frustrated with Jen's "I saved 84% on my grocery bill." And the reason why is that I would also like to save that much, but it's VERY difficult, because they don't double coupons here in FL. Also, when I do regular grocery shopping, I buy a lot of fresh fruit and veggies, which they never have coupons for. I can usually save 40-50% between the sale prices and additional coupons. So anyway, we didn't need anything major this week, so I just picked up a couple of sale items today. Pop-Tarts buy one get one with $1 coupon... comes out to $.70 a box. Milk... had a coupon for a free gallon! Yogurt 20 for $10... had a coupon for $.60 on 6 and a few of the containers had $.15 instant coupons so I got 9 of them... comes out to $.38 each. Total savings of about 65%... I'd say that's pretty close to my record, but of course if had been doing real grocery shopping, I would not have done quite as well!

Apparently it's monsoon season here in FL. It's been raining on and off since Monday night. And when I say raining, I mean torrential downpour, the kind where it's so loud when it hits the roof that you can't hear yourself think. There was even one confirmed tornado touchdown, it was an F0, but still, it happened. Now, my neighborhood is not an area that's prone to flooding, but there are areas that have feet of water on the ground. This picture is of the lake behind our house. Let me first explain that we live in Osceola county, but the lake is in Orange county. The county line is the ridge just above the water line. Normally, Orange county comes out to mow that portion. Obviously they won't be doing that for a few weeks. About 3-4 feet into the water you can see the weeds sticking out a bit... the water line is usually just above those weeds! CRAZY! And I guess the rain isn't done yet either!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Rice Cereal, Playtime and Dress-up

Saturday night we gave Casey his first taste of rice cereal. We decided not to wait until his Dr appt in the hopes that it would help him sleep through the night again. He was sleeping through the night, but has recently started waking and wanting to eat one extra time. Sunday when I got home from work Ryan made dinner (yes, you heard me right) while I relaxed and watched the kids play on the floor. Piper has been wanting to play with Casey more and more. And she was cracking me up on Sunday so I just had to take some pictures... every time Casey would roll onto his side, she'd put her hands on his belly roll him back onto his back and say, "Casey I'm trying to play with you." The last group of pictures are from today. It's apparently monsoon season here in FL, so I was unable to take the kids outside to play like I wanted to. Piper has been fine with that though. She got some dress up clothes for her birthday from Grandma and Grandpa Stevie and picked out even more when we were spending her birthday money and gift cards at Toys R Us. She plays with the clothes non-stop and dances around in them. The funniest part is seeing her walk with these shoes!

Very first taste
What is this Mommy?
I don't think I like this
I guess it's not so bad
Here's your giraffe Casey!
Hugs and Kisses... all the time!
Fairy Princess
Casting a spell or showing off her wand?
Waving her wand at Mommy!

Thursday, May 07, 2009

Video Clips from Yesterday!



Piper's Fun-Filled 3rd Birthday

Yesterday morning when it was time to get up, Piper got to open one present before we left the house. Piper didn't know where we were going when we got in the car and she couldn't stop guessing. We got to Hollywood Studios and of course, she knew where we were and that this was the place that her favorite show was at. This was Casey's first visit to the Hollywood Studios. We headed up towards the hat first to look for some characters and were able to see Chip and Dale. Mommy was so excited that they were Casey's first characters. Then it was off to Piper's first big surprise; breakfast at Play n Dine at Hollywood and Vine. Some of Piper's favorite characters are at this breakfast and they also have a celebration every 15 minutes or so where the kids and get up and dance. After breakfast, we headed to Piper's favorite show; Playhouse Disney Live! She of course loved that. Then we walked around for a short time and saw a few more characters. We were all getting so hot and sweaty, so we decided it was time for Piper's second big surprise. We headed over to Typhoon Lagoon, one of Disney's water parks. This was a first visit for Casey, Piper AND Mommy. We found a nice shady spot in the kids area, Catchakiddie Falls, to park the stroller and claimed a few chairs. Daddy and Piper headed right over to the fountains and slides while Mommy fed Casey. When Casey was done eating, Mommy and Casey joined in the fun. This was Casey's first water experience outside of a bath. He was not happy about it in the beginning. The second his toes his the water he screamed and freaked out. So we kept him dry for most of the day. Piper decided to try out the tube ride, and LOVED it. She rode it 10-15 times and giggled and squeaked the whole way every time. We all headed over to the wave pool for a little bit. There's 2 more kids' slides over there that Piper wanted to try. The first time Daddy caught her at the bottom and she was a bit startled, cause she went under for a second at the end. But she said she wanted to do it again. So this time Mommy caught her and she tried the other slide. We didn't realize that this slide was a bit faster and this time afterwards, she decided she was done with those slides. We headed a bit farther into the wave pool. Piper loved jumping up as the waves came towards her. I wanted to get a video of the waves, but I waited too long and the waves were done by the time we got back over that way later. After the wave pool we headed back to our spot to have some lunch. And then it was time for more playing. Daddy went to ride Humunga Kowabunga one time (the biggest adult slide in the park). When he got back we played a little longer in the kids' area and Piper went on the tube ride a few more times before the park closed. After getting changed, Piper got back in the stroller and was asleep before we even got to the parking lot. She didn't open her eyes when we moved her into the car and then slept for another 45 minutes or so when we got home. We woke her up though, because she still had a few more presents to open. After opening them, she read books for maybe a 1/2 hour before she told us she was still sleepy and wanted to go back to bed. We all had such a fun, but long and tiring day!
Opening a present before we left
A baton to conduct with, just like Leo's
Family Photo at the Studios
Birthday Girl!
Visiting Chip and Dale
Goliath came to visit
Dancing the day away!
Leo stopped by to visit too
A kiss for June
More love for Goliath
Doing The Bear Cha Cha Cha with JoJo
Casey meets Mommy's favorite
Birthday cupcake!
Casey and Mommy are ready for some water fun!
Piper's favorite tube ride!
Lounging Lizard
Casey's not so happy water experience!
Piper posing in front of the wave pool and stranded ship before we headed out
POOPED!

Sunday, May 03, 2009

Piper's 3rd Birthday Party

Today was Piper's birthday party at CiCi's Pizza. Piper had a great time and we hope that all her guests did too.

Oh Toodles! Piper's awesome toodles cake... I made it myself and am so happy with how it came out.
Another view of the cake... Piper picked out Strawberry cake for the ears and the head was yellow cake.
Pretty little birthday girl!
Piper and her cake!
Casey enjoyed the celebration too!
Uncle Jeff, Aunt Susan and Haley
Piper's best friend, Rian and her Mommy, Kelly
Hey there!
This is the best of the 3 family shots we took.
Daddy and Piper chat with some party guests!
I just blew out my candles!
Cutting the cake with Mommy!
Opening presents!
Rian chatting with Jadyn and her Mommy, Jen
Piper asked Rian and Haley to help test out her new toys!

More photos coming Wednesday night after Piper's fun-filled birthday day out!