The Bailey-Gardner Family

Hang in there

2011-10-21T08:04:00.000-07:00

I know it has been over two months since my last post. Our computer has experienced yet another issue and has left us unable to upload pictures to the blog. I do have a few new shots I can share from my work computer, but that will have to do for the time being. So much has been going on over here. Let's start with the highlights:

We celebrated Savvy's birthday with a camping party, complete with tents, bobbing for apples, fishing and a nature hunt. A good time was had by all.

We took the kids to Disneyland and did Mickey's Halloween Party. Both kids did better than we expected. Miles LOVED the monorail and Jungle Cruise and Savvy rode all the big girl rides she was too tiny for last time around. We again learned that going on weekdays is the way to go. Just say no to weekends at Disneyland.

Miles' adoption is finalized. In what has to be the fastest foster adoption EVER, Miles got a court date 6 months and 13 days from the day he came home, allowing him to become part of our forever family on our third wedding anniversary. What a gift! He continues to get cuter and cuter by the hour and is also now walking! Sort of. He can walk about 6-9 steps on his own, but has decided crawling is still way easier, so he sandbags us a lot on that front. He is obsessed with all things car related and now makes little vroom-zoom noises when he plays with them. He is all boy. He is also talking a lot more now. He says mama, mommy, Nona, grandpa, car (of course), truck, dog, more (his second favorite word) and a few others. He eats more than our four year old, Savvy, and yet manages to gain very little weight. I SO WISH I had that problem. He is also attending Savvy's preschool three days a week and spending one night a week at his Nona's house so she can watch him the other two days we're at work. He LOVES Nona and would prefer, I think, to live there full time. He is doing much better with drop offs at his new school and genuinely likes being there now, which makes drop offs much less stressful for me.

Savvy is getting bigger and bigger every day. Literally. She fit into a bunch of 4T jeans I bought her a few months ago and they are now all high waters on her, which makes shopping for her somewhat difficult. Long legs, a big butt and a tiny waist are not great fits for most of what's out there. But I would take that combo any day. She is still in her dress mode, where she wants to wear a dress every day. How we ended up with such a girly girl and a boy's boy is beyond me. She's also in a stage where she wants to know how things work all the time. She wants to know where rain comes from and where fog comes from and, most recently, where she came from.

We've told her her adoption story since she was a baby. How her birth mother couldn't take care of her, but her social worker put her with her foster mother Elsa to take good care of until she could find Savvy a forever family. And how special we are that she picked us to take care of this little, beautiful baby. She's heard it a million times, but the other morning she asked us "Where did I come from?" I answered "Your birth mother gave birth to you." Then she thought for a minute and said "But why didn't she like me?" And then my heart broke into a million pieces. I told her "She loved you- how could she not? You're perfect. But she had trouble taking care of herself and she couldn't take care of you and give you a safe home, so your social worker placed you with Elsa and then found us to take care of you forever." And then she thought awhile longer and was fine with the answer and moved on to singing a little song. It hit me in that moment that the loss associated with adoption was not going to magically skip over our family because we adopted a child who was only two months old when we brought her home. On some level Savvy understands that she came from another family/person and that family/person is not here, in our every day lives, and she's already internalizing what that must mean. I wish there was a magic eraser I could use to erase any feelings of sadness or grief or self doubt that must be there inside her somewhere, but I can't. The reality of adoption is that for us to be lucky enough to get to be our children's parents, someone else was unlucky enough to lose these precious babies and the chance to get to watch them take their first steps, say their first word, to hear them make their first full belly laugh. I hope where ever their birth mothers are that they know their children are safe and happy and loved and that someday life circumstances may allow us to bring them into the fold of our large blended family, in whatever form that may take. They've given the world such a gift by bringing Savannah and Miles into it. And I'm forever grateful for it.

(Side note: I apologize for the jumble of pictures-- when they got uploaded to my work computer they scattered and now maintain no logical order). :)

I Heart Faces Contest- Beautiful Eyes

2011-08-15T11:01:00.000-07:00

Change

2011-08-13T09:49:00.000-07:00

Lots has been going on over here. Our renters skipped out on their rent, we found out our awesome deal daycare is ending in October and our downtown parking spot is going, too. So we're evaluating our options with the other house, figuring out how we'll handle child care going forward, and entering the state's parking lottery in the meantime in hopes that we might score a cheap spot. D also found out that her office is moving to Elk Grove next year, which is actually a bit of good news for us. She'll be three miles from our front door, so occasionally biking is now an option. We're also helping Nona and Grandpa move into their new place, which is only 30 minutes from our place. It's been great to be able to stop in on random weeknights and not have to pack up our whole car to be able to do it.

The kids are getting bigger and bigger. Savvy is like mini-teenager, giving us attitude left and right and getting more picky about what she does or doesn't want to wear each day (she only wants to wear a dress and fancy shoes everyday- such a girly girl). Miles is finally putting on some weight and eating like a bear. He LOVES to eat-- it's his favorite pastime. He is crawling fast now and is cruising around on furniture. I imagine walking can't be far behind. Still no new updates on the adoption front. We haven't had any hiccups, visits, or anything to speak of. Though we did make contact with his half sister's adoptive parents recently. They are open to maintaining contact for the kids going forward and hopefully we'll be able to meet them in person soon.

Here are a bunch of back logged pictures of the fam and of Miles' first birthday party. It was a lot of fun and he had a great time smashing cake in his face. Now it's on to Savvy's camping party in a couple of weeks, with a slew of preschoolers running around. Wish us luck. :)

Family and Party Prep

2011-07-24T21:19:00.000-07:00

We had the greatest weekend just lounging around the house and paying someone else to clean it. :) We've found that with two kids it is nearly impossible to get anything done, so we broke down and decided there are some things that are worth outsourcing. We had some cleaners come in on Saturday and give the place a once-over and they did a FANTASTIC job. While they were attending to the house stuff it freed me up to spend four hours of quality-non-chore time with the kids, which I feel is much needed these days, since we're always so busy.

Today we got to spend the afternoon with the kids' Auntie Cindy, who drove in from Santa Rosa for the day. We feasted on veggie sandwiches, potato salad and ice cream and just laid around together. It was great. She brought the kids their birthday gifts early, since she won't be able to make their parties and her gifts were a big hit. She got each of them a Twilight Turtle which projects different color stars on the ceiling and Savvy is obsessed with hers. I think it was the easiest time we've ever had getting her to go down for the night. Thank you Auntie Cindy!

Other than lounging and visiting we've been finishing up some little crafty projects for Miles' birthday party on Saturday. I've been making goodie bags, baseball garlands, and making D sew some streamers for decor. I think it will be a fun gathering to celebrate our special little guy. Speaking of the little man, I think he's definitely turned a corner. He went from weeks and weeks of clingy, unhappy, angry, sick baby to perenially happy and hungry baby overnight. The last week he's been delightful to be around and he's moving around and playing a lot more with us and his big sister. Whereas before D and I had a moments of "what have we gotten ourselves into" now it's gratitude that we stayed the course and discovered what a cool little kid our Miles really is. We're looking forward to sharing his first birthday, and Thanksgiving and Christmas and rest of his life with him. Just as it happened with Savvy, the closer we get to finalization the more you start to think about the future and what could be.

I was watching a video of Savvy as a baby earlier and it hit me just how quickly she went from being Miles' size to being a gangly little preschooler with a mind of her own. It's made it easier to breathe, relax and appreciate the place we're at in this moment, since life just moves on by whether you're enjoying the ride or not. This week our plan is to enjoy it. :)

Sick and Scary

2011-07-07T10:45:00.000-07:00

So a lot has happened since my last post. Miles got sick and now Savvy is sick. We've had playdates with Ben, Kai and Layla and took a quick trip down to Nana and Grandpa Salt's house this past weekend. We also had a near disaster on the Bay Bridge.

First things first. Miles got sent home from school with a low grade fever and quickly bounced back. Yesterday Savvy came down with a fever (very rare for her-- she gets a fever maybe once a year or less) and is spending the day at home on the couch watching PBS Kids and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I've been pushing fluids and she's finally in better spirits, so I'm hopeful she'll pull out of this soon.

We spent last Friday night at Cindy and Doreen's and let the kids run wild in their backyard. Miles loved their swing and Kai figured out how to turn on the hose and spray the kids down, so Savvy and Ben ended up running around in their undies together.

This weekend we had planned to spend five days in South City with Nana and Salt but Miles had plans of his own. The first day there he didn't eat much and woke up about two or three times that night. The next night he was up for about two or three hours solid, which meant D and I were wide awake at 3:00 in the morning. Needless to say we weren't keen to spend our entire vacation getting no sleep, so we decided to pack everything back up and head home so our inflexible little guy could get back on his routine. It is frustrating to feel trapped by a baby's schedule, especially when our first child was ridiculously flexible- sleeping in bowling alleys and restaurants. We're coming to terms with the reality of having two children, and having one child who will likely need to adhere to a much stricter schedule than we were prepared to enforce. We cancelled our plans for Hawaii this fall and instead decided to go back to Disney since our kids should be more easily entertained there and we'll be staying at the Disneyland Hotel to make it easier to deal with naps if need be. We tried to go to Baker Beach on Sunday, but apparently the entire state of California had the same idea and we couldn't find parking anywhere near. Savvy had fun getting sprayed by silly string in the field near Nana and Salt's house, so all was not lost.

Anyway, we had to forego the Picasso exhibit we'd been looking forward to and drove home around 9:00 Monday morning. I decided we should stop at Treasure Island since the traffic on the bridge was so light so we pulled off and got some great pics of the city. Just as we were merging back onto the bridge from the island I hit something in the road (we still don't know what it was, but it felt like a large metal bar or something) and our passenger rear tire immediately deflated, leaving me on the Bay Bridge with a flat that felt undriveable and trying to keep calm while driving a few miles an hour in the slow lane. It felt like we'd blown several tires and since I've never dealt with that situation before I didn't know what to do. There's obviously nowhere to pull over on the bridge, but D was telling me if I kept driving we'd break the car and ruin the rim. I kept inching forward while she called AAA, who transferred us to Caltrans, where we waited on hold and helplessly watched cars speeding toward us at fifty miles an hour and narrowly avoiding slamming into us. I was freaking out until I saw two huge tow trucks pull up behind us. The driver right behind us got out and told us we couldn't stop, we'd need to drive all the way off the bridge. Now the car started feeling like I'd done some serious damage and I wasn't sure we'd even be able to drive it off. I managed to go a few miles an hour and get safely off to the bus lanes on the Oakland side. The Caltrans driver was awesome. He changed our tire for us and vented with us about being a state worker and put up with my continued hysterical thanking him and hugging him and telling him he'd saved our lives. We drove home on our spare and yesterday got two new tires, this time opting to pay for the lifetime replacement policy. Let's hope we never need it.

Our fourth of July celebration was really low key after our morning drama. We bought a few fireworks and had my dad act as our fire marshall while we set them off for Savvy. She was much more interested in them this year, and I imagine that trend will continue as time goes on.

Now we're all back home, safe and sound, and trying to get back into the groove of working after a prolonged break. Hopefully Savvy will be better tomorrow and I'll be back at the office working on another round of reporting. Hope everyone is healthy and safe in your neck of the woods. :)

The heat is on

2011-06-21T20:26:00.000-07:00

Summer has officially arrived in Sacramento- today was our first hundred degree day. To cool off D filled up our pool and the kids and I splashed around for awhile after work. Savvy dumped her basket of plastic bracelets and mardi gras beads into the pool and they both had fun playing "mermaid jewelry" and scooping them out. Miles started out unhappy with the water temperature but quickly got accustomed and even started trying to put his face in the water. I think he'll be a natural swimmer just like his big sister.

This past weekend we had Matt, John, Cindy, Doreen and the kids over for dinner and a play date. The kids all played well together and ran between the backyard and the playroom until they crashed in front of a movie after dinner. It was great catching up and it makes me happy that Savvy and Miles have a group of buddies/cousins they'll grow up with over the years.

Tomorrow Puppet goes in for yet another mass removal surgery and ultrasound. This time around we should know whether she'll ultimately need chemo or if she'll be okay on her own. I feel bad putting her through another procedure when she's just started to heal from her last one. At some point enough is enough.

Anyway, here are the latest pictures of the fam. Hope the weather's a little cooler wherever you are tonight.

Miles and Grandpa

2011-06-16T20:09:00.000-07:00

Tonight my dad got home in time to see Miles crawl around for a bit before the little guy's bedtime. Miles was delighted to have some testosterone in the house. :) Savvy stayed home with her Nona today and apparently showed my mom that she has her moments of being a pill. Prior to today I don't think she believed that her princess was capable of being anything less than perfect. My mom had tacos ready for dinner when we got home-- it is so nice not to have to worry about dinner first thing when we walk in the door. Miles was busy crawling around this evening and trying to pull up on furniture. I have a feeling walking won't be far behind. Savvy's busy playing on her Nona's iphone now. She is obsessed with this Christmas app that lets you put people's faces onto dancing elf videos. Gotta run and spend some time with the fam before bed. Good night!

Crawling fool

2011-06-15T19:51:00.000-07:00

After almost three months of Miles lazing around the house and forcing us to carry him around like a tiny prince he did it. He crawled. He was in the playroom with Savvy and Nona and at the sight of Savvy jumping on her trampoline he couldn't take anymore. He just took off for her and hasn't stopped crawling ever since. It's amazing what a change in personality it's been for him. He went from being extremely fussy to being constantly happy almost immediately. I think he just wanted some freedom. He's also started to eat non-baby food almost exclusively. We still throw some "baby chow" into his meals every now and then, but he has become a total chow hound. We took him to Old Spaghetti Factory before Second Saturday last weekend and he ate an entire loaf of bread (excluding crust), a scoop of ice cream and half an applesauce. The kid is going to eat us out of house and home. And he's only ten months now-- god help us when he hits the teenage years.

My parents are in town for the week while my dad finishes up his AT&T ridealong training. My mom's had Savvy all to herself every other day. Monday I tagged along for a bit to the zoo, today my mom took her to the splash park while D and I were at work. This evening my new favorite thing in the world came in the mail- my new Canon Rebel XS. A digital SLR at last. I'm amazed by the shutter speed and picture quality and can't wait to really learn how to shoot in manual and get the light effects I want in my shots. The only other exciting bit of news is that we're going to Hawaii in September! We got a crazy good mileage credit card offer that basically paid for round trip tickets for D and I so we're taking advantage and going to Maui-- and bringing my mom along, too. I can't wait. Here are the latest pics of our day to day goings on... hope you're staying cool in your neck of the woods.

The perils of having an older sister

2011-06-01T09:51:00.000-07:00

Last night Miles, Savvy and I had a big play session in their newly cleaned and organized playroom. Savvy wanted to play ballerinas and since Miles isn't old enough to protest he got to be Savvy's dress up doll. He actually loved wearing all her jewelry and doing tiny pirouettes with his big sister. Savvy kept asking if boys could do ballet and I explained that there were lots of talented male ballet stars-- though admittedly they do not wear pink tutus. :) She also came up with the quote of the day, asking us over dinner "Does poop have bones?" She wanted Denise to find an app on our ipad that shows bones in the body and we're trying to support her budding medical curiosity. Let's just hope she doesn't ask to dissect poop any time soon...

Lazy May Days

2011-05-30T12:51:00.000-07:00

We've been chugging along here at the Bailey-Gardner house. Savvy finished her swim classes and we have a break before she begins basketball (which she's really excited about), we did our annual Walk N Rock for Kids 5k walk yesterday downtown and got to visit with Marie while she was in town this weekend. D's been off for six weeks and finally returns to work tomorrow to a new position. She's been nervous about going back and we half-jokingly considered just adopting a bunch more kids and having her be a stay at home mom. She's keeping the option in her back pocket, but we have about nine months to decide since our agency prefers that you take six months after finalizing with your current adoptive placement before going back into match- and Miles is about three months away from being able to finalize. Whether or not we go the route of adopting a whole baseball team's worth of children I think we definitely will adopt at least one more-- and possibly two. I'd love to have another girl, and if we get another girl we might as well get another boy, too, and round out the numbers. But we'll see... we have time to think it over. In the baby milestone department Miles can now clap his hands, wave hi, say "Dada", make the sign for milk/bottle and is THIS CLOSE to crawling.

This year has been bizarre, weather-wise. It's June tomorrow and we still haven't had a day over 90 degrees all year. It's fantastic, but it also doesn't really feel like a Sacramento summer without the blazing heat that makes you crave a swimming pool. :) We're busy planning details of the kids' birthday parties and crafting favors and invitations. We're going with a baseball themed party for Miles and- by request- a camping themed party for Savvy. This is the first year we're going to attempt to do the parties at home, so we'll see how that goes. Now that Miles has joined the family we have all our birthdays virtually back to back. Miles is the beginning of August, Savvy's is around a month later in September, then D's at the beginning of October and mine a month later in November. It's going to be a festive season around here. Maybe I should just keep the party decor up until Thanksgiving. :)

Gotta run and clean the playroom. We're going through and getting rid of a bunch of stuff since the kids have WAY too many toys. Hope the tail-end of your weekend is a relaxing one.

Birthdays, Butterflies and Beginnings

2011-05-09T20:22:00.000-07:00

A lot has been going on since my last post. Savvy started swim lessons again and is halfway through her first class for the summer. We're having her repeat the seahorse level back to back this time around so that the skills have time to sink in (no pun intended). She's learning to do the backstroke, float in the water and how to move her arms for a freestyle stroke. It's amazing to remember that just last year she was terrified of the water or of anyone going underneath it while she was around. Now she looks forward to the end of class when she can jump off the wall into the water before her instructor pulls her to the surface. She's quite the little fish.

We also celebrated Kai and Layla's third birthdays last weekend at Funderland. The kids got to ride a bunch of rides together and even do a pony ride. It's hard to believe that the twins are already three- or that Savvy is almost four. We're already noticing that with Miles time is flying by. He's already over nine months old and on his way to turning one. It's crazy.

Yesterday we finally released Savvy's butterflies. She'd received a butterfly garden kit from my cousin Chris and we'd sent away for the caterpillars which would grow to become butterflies in her new mesh garden. Savvy was fascinated with watching the caterpillars grow and then spin a cocoon before finally emerging as beautiful butterflies. She liked feeding them (sugar water on freshly cut flowers in case you were interested) and finally decided it was time to set them free in our backyard. She helped them out of the mesh enclosure one by one and set them free. Today she seemed to have forgotten about this since she ran right into the house and then said "Where did my butterflies go?!"

Today was also my first day back to work. I've been telling myself for a long time that I couldn't wait to get back and get a break from the rigors of babydom. Anyone who asked was reassured that I was HAPPY to get back and get a break. But then I got back into my office this morning and put up all my new pictures of the kids and a funny thing happened. I missed them like crazy-- especially baby Miles, who I was convinced I wouldn't miss at all. I ended up staring at their pictures for most of the day and was delighted when D reported that his first transition day of daycare went well and that he hadn't fussed once and had napped well. Sometimes a little distance really does make the heart grow fonder. This evening I held him a lot and we walked to the park so Savvy could get out some energy. After we got back in he sucked down half a bottle then put his head on my chest and fell instantly asleep. I love that little guy. It's funny how love just creeps up on you. You think you're stressed and having trouble bonding and then all of a sudden you're hit with a wave of love like a mack truck. From the time Miles came home we claimed him as ours and were committed to seeing the process out however it was meant to go, but that loving connection took awhile longer than either of us anticipated. I started to wonder at one point if it would ever come. And then, out of nowhere, you look at this tiny face and can't imagine how your family was ever complete without it, and know that come hell or highwater he's family now and you'll do whatever you have to do to protect him. As they say, better late than never. :)

Yosemite Day Trip

2011-05-03T07:53:00.000-07:00

Sunday we decided to drive into Yosemite for the day-- crazy, I know. The drive actually wasn't bad. About three hours each way. We were up just before six and on the road just before 7:15. We got into the park (after two stops on the way) around 10:30 and spent the day exploring. We did the Bridalveil Falls trail and experienced more water there than we'd ever seen. It was literally running down the paved path up to the falls like a river. Within a minute all our shoes were soaked through. Maybe Keens would have been a better choice. :) After getting soaked by the waterfall mist we drove to Sentinel Beach for a picnic lunch. Savvy immediately stripped down to her dress for some sandy beach fun. She had a great time making sand "soup" in her bucket and throwing things into the water for her mama to fetch. Miles just liked taking in the scenery. We also brought Puppet along for our daytrip. She napped on the beach and had to be convinced not to hop into the water to swim.

After lunch we drove into the valley a little further and meandered through Yosemite Village. I got the kids each a new book and Puppet got petted by about a hundred people. Our last outdoor foray of the day was the Yosemite Falls trail. It was spectacular. There was a TON of water coming off the falls and blowing onto the trail and the wind coming off of it was enough to blow hats off your head. I highly recommend visiting the park this time of year. After our falls experience we walked over to the Lodge at the Falls for dinner. Miles ate a bunch of D's polenta and Savvy munched on a combo of our broccoli, pork chop and spaghetti. Puppet even had a little pork chop, then we were back on the road for the drive home (after a quick swing through Tunnel View). The only eventful moments of our trip home were having a bat hit our windshield during the windy climb up through the Lake Don Pedro switchbacks and having a gas station attendant in Oakdale excitedly tell us about Bin Laden's death. All in all it was a great day with the family and reminded us why we're so happy to call Northern California home. Enjoy the pics...

Monterey Mini Vacation

2011-04-28T12:22:00.000-07:00

We just spent a few days in Salinas and Monterey with the kids' Nona and Grandpa. We decided to finally bite the bullet and pay for a visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I was worried that the kids would be too young to enjoy it, but both of the kids were enthralled. Miles was in awe of all the tanks and the fish inside them. He stared at everything and tried to pet things through the glass. Savvy liked seeing the creatures-- especially the sea otters and seahorses-- but her favorite was the splash zone and toddler oriented exhibits. They had a big water play area for kids, which she loved. She also liked getting to touch the starfish, kelp and sea slugs in the touch pools (which was my favorite as a kid). All in all it was well worth the expense of entry and we're glad we went when at least one of the kids was still free. :) Yesterday we took the kids and their grandpa to Del Monte Beach where Miles decided to eat fistfuls of sand and Savvy sprinted through the waves with Mama. Puppet even joined us for the trip. Now we're back home and trying to get the kids back into their routine. Their sleep has been fantastic the last few days. Miles slept through the night the last two nights and Savvy slept from 9:30 last night until about 9:00 this morning (after crawling into bed with her mommies around 7:30). Now Miles is down for a nap, Savvy's in school and D's out getting the car serviced while I hang out at home and mull staying up tonight to watch the royal wedding. :) Here's some new pics of the fam...

Miwok Park

2011-04-19T18:48:00.000-07:00

This afternoon we decided to get out of the house and took the kids to one of our favorite local parks: Miwok Park. It's got a great wooden play structure and a huge shady lawn area. Savvy loved being chased through the wooden castle and climbing on everything. Miles was content to sit and lay on the blanket and watch all the kids run by. Savvy attracted her usual share of little boyfriends, one of which she played with for a good thirty minutes. Toward the end of our stay another boy came over to try and play with her and her first "boyfriend" wasn't having it. :) She's three years old and she's already having boys fight over her...

Miles was a total chow hound today. He tried his first bananas and cream yogurt, his first ribs tonight with dinner and his first chocolate mousse for dessert. He appears to be just as adventurous an eater as his big sister. Here are some pics of the kids at the park and some of them dressed up as little bunnies earlier. :)

Finding a groove

2011-04-19T11:28:00.001-07:00

Today is infinitely better than yesterday. Yesterday had us wondering what we were thinking in adding to the family. Today reminded us why. Yesterday Miles was whiny and inconsolable for much of the day, but today he's doing much better. Part of it I have to attribute to sleep. He went down just before 7:00pm last night, woke up once at 12:30 for a diaper change and then slept until 5:00am. I rocked him for about 15 minutes and then he was back out at 5:15 until about 6:30. Then this morning he napped from 8:30-9:45. He's been a sleeping fool. I'm about to give him another bottle and see if he'll sleep some more. Just wanted to share some pics of the little guy...

Different

2011-04-17T21:22:00.000-07:00

This whole experience of being a parent to two kids is teaching me just how different every child really is, and how your parenting style needs to constantly adapt in order to meet each child's needs. With Savvy, for the longest time, we had our game down. She was pretty easy and didn't fuss at all. She was content to be left to play independently in an exersaucer or on the floor with some toys. And she just seemed effortless. With Miles it's been different. He came to us older than Savvy did. She was just shy of three months old when she came home, he was just shy of eight months. In my mind I thought it wouldn't be that different since he's still so young, but I think I may have underestimated just how big a difference four months can make. Miles was held a LOT at his foster home, which was evidenced by the fact that he used to scream if you tried to put him down- anywhere- ever. We've worked him up to being able to hang out in the high chair with some snacks while we cook dinner or do dishes and he can now sit and play for ten minutes in his exersaucer (if you're sitting right next to him). But he's still a much needier baby than we were used to from the first time around. It's been challenging keeping patience when you have a child that cries and fusses when they're not hungry or wet or tired. I'm trying to remind myself it's probably teething, but there are moments it just feels overwhelming to try and console someone who is not drawing any comfort from you.

That said, it's not all bad. We had a great early afternoon. We stopped by the consignment sale in Roseville and picked up some stuff for the kids, then headed over to Incredible John's Pizza for lunch. Savvy had a BLAST playing games and riding the roller coaster and frog jumper. For the first time she was also able to ride the twister ride. Naturally I let D go with her. After we got home we took the kids out for a bike ride. Miles loved riding in the bike trailer with his sister and getting to see the neighborhood. We loved that we could get out without having to get a baby sitter or use a stroller. I have a feeling we'll be doing a lot more biking in the future. Let's hope the future will also involve some happier babies. :)

Today

2011-04-12T19:24:00.000-07:00

Today I hung out at home with Miles after dropping D and Savvy off for work/school. We had some errands to run this afternoon (taxes to mail, easter basket goods to buy, movies to return). Our home is allergy ridden right now, all of us sneezing and coughing and hacking things up. I love Spring, but I hate allergies. I'm off to bake some cupcakes with Savvy, just thought I'd share some pics from this evening.