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This is just a taste of what goes on while I attempt to get dinner on the table. So sweet to capture these precious moments.

I've been Tagged

My fellow blogger Erin tagged me.

So here are the rules to play along:
1) Go to your photo files, select the 8Th photo folder.
2) Select the 8Th photo in that folder.
3) Post that photo along with the story behind it
4) Then challenge 8 blogging friends to do the same!

This picture was taken last year in May at a work shower for my friend Shandi. She was due in July I believe and of course I was due in October. We both had boys and they have yet to have a play date but we have plans for the summer. Shandi is actually the first person to know that I was pregnant because I did a test at my office. The picture is actually a bit blurry but I just could not delete it, aren't our little bellies cute?

Here are my 8 fellow bloggers I have tagged:

1. Reinventing Dorsey

2. Hauch House

3. There's No Place that Far

4. Mowat Madness

5. Feldman Family

6. Small Things with Great Love

7. Firefly Photo Jewelry

8. Wiggy 5 Fam

I look forward to seeing your pictures.

This time last year...

It was about this time last year when my sister and her family came to visit. We had a blast. The weather was perfect so we spent a lot of time outside. Amanda and I went for a few walks and talked like only sisters can. We took the kids to the Lazy 5 Ranch. I love this picture of the three of them lined up feeding the goats.

The kids sat on this wooden swing and acted plenty silly. They are all so big and grown up now compared to this picture.

Derek and Bill played golf while Amanda and I took the kids to visit one of her friends from school. When we got back Michael hitched a ride with the boys and loved it.

I enjoyed the time with my sister and was sure to get a picture because who knows when we may get together again.

The kids enjoyed eating on the sun porch at their own table. I am not sure why but Ava had her shirt off.

Ava and Sydney did a few crafts.

And the kids all rode bikes!

I love this picture of Michael.

We had a great time together and look forward to more visits. Next time there will be two more kids, our Griffin Sawyer and my sister is expecting again.

Challenges

Every job has its challenges. Whether you are a stay at home mom or dad, a factory worker, salesman or saleswoman, a social worker, an attorney, a clerk at a grocery or the teller at a bank. Well being a Physician Assistant also has its challenges. I want to begin by saying I love my job. There are several reasons why I wanted to be a PA and I would name them for you but that is not what this post is about, or is it?

Some parts of my job are easy, looking in ears and listening to hearts, finding the source of a high fever and making kids feel better. I love when kids are excited to see me and are not scared. Sometimes when they are scared and I am able to take my time and "win" them over and they allow me to examine them without a single tear I feel so good. Or when a parent comes in very concerned about an issue with their child and I am able to reassure them and they leave feeling comforted. You do know that half my job is dealing with parents even though I work in pediatrics. Often the parents are in worse shape than the kids. These are the things that are easy. I love getting to know my patients and their families. Watching someone elses child grow is second only to watching your own children grow. I smile every time a child calls me "Doctor Meghan" even though I am a PA they still call me Doctor.

The things that are challenging and just plain hard are confronting a parent on something they are doing wrong or poorly. Telling a parent that their child is overweight or obese, when the parent is often in the same shape. Diagnosing a child with a chronic illness or telling a parent their child is not developing properly. Talking with parents about not smoking in the car or house with their children. Suspecting abuse and deciding how to bring up the topic and get the child in a safe situation. Talking to teenagers about drug use. Seeing children that are being neglected and ignored because their parents are too consumed with their own lives. Hearing a parent say that they cannot afford new shoes for their child. These are some of the things that are tough. I am a person who likes to "fix". This is one of the reasons I became a PA, I want to make people feel better, I want to leave them feeling comforted and cared for. It breaks my heart when I cannot "fix" a child. As hard as my job is some days, I took an oath, an oath to serve and protect and prevent. Even though there are some hard days and challenges I will continue to do my job to the best of my ability. I pray that I make a difference in the lives of my patients.

What is challenging or rewarding about your job?

Cooking

Sydney loves to cook. She absolutely loves helping me in the kitchen. Bill and I bought her a little kitchen when she was 1.5 year old. She is still playing with the kitchen. Sunday Griffin was down for a nap, Bill was in the yard and I was wanting to get a few things accomplished. Only one problem....Sydney was attached to my hip. I kept telling her to get something to play with and she just wanted to be with me. So I decided to come up with something new. I have been saving various containers, oatmeal containers, tin pans, Griffin's cereal container, egg cartons and more. I save things because one I recycle and two you never know when you may need something for a craft. Please do not worry I am not a hoarder, I do not save everything. So anyway I got a few containers, various types of dried beans, some elbow macaroni and oatmeal, some utensils and set up a station outside on the patio. Here is Sydney busy as a bee creating concoctions and having a blast. Thankfully the activity allowed a few moments for me to get something done and Sydney was very entertained.

Anything wrong with the picture below? Leave a comment if you know what it is.

Avacado

Another video, watch out now that I have the hang of this video thing. I love capturing these little moments especially to share with friends and family that live far away.

My little guy is just so cute, just seeing his face makes me smile. I cannot imagine loving a child more, it really is true that your love just multiples the more children you have.

It Happens

Do you know this song by Sugarland?

Missed my alarm clock ringing
Woke up, telephone screaming
Boss man singing his same old song
Rolled in late about an hour
No cup of coffee, no shower
Walk of shame with two different shoes on

Now it's poor me, why me, oh me, boring
The same old worn out, blah, blah story
There's no good explanation for it at all

CHORUS:
Ain't no rhyme or reason
No complicated meaning
Ain't no need to over think it
Let go, laughing
Life don't go quite like you planned it
We try so hard to understand it
The irrefutable, indisputable fact is
It happens

There is more to the song but you get it.

Well here is my version:

Up half the night feeding baby
woke up at ten to 5 with toddler
giving baby a bath, washing sheets and scrubbing bumper pad before 6
two outfit changes before leaving at 7 due to spit up
stuck behind bus
dealing with three year old tantrum in daycare lobby
while juggling all the bags, extra clothes, bottles ect

All I can say is it happens and we need to learn to roll with life. Honestly I have never been an hour late to work and I usually do not skip coffee because my husband makes it for me every morning and brings it upstairs for me to enjoy while I get ready. I would not trade my life for anyone's but some mornings are a real challenge.

Giving up

This is very hard but I am just about done nursing. Just to type the sentence almost makes me cry. I love nursing. If you have nursed you know what I mean. If you haven't nursed it is truly one of the sweetest things in the world. I love just watching Griffin nurse and it was the same with Sydney. My children are so at peace when nursing. Nursing is more than just feeding a baby. There is a bond and a closeness that occurs that does not happen with a bottle. But nursing is a lot of work and very time consuming. If I was a stay at home mom I think I would continue to nurse but going back to work makes it very difficult. I have two pump slots in my schedule. I am so thankful that my employer is supportive and allows me to block patient slots to pump, plus I go feed Griffin at lunch, or I should say I did. The week Sydney had her surgery Griffin stopped sleeping through the night. At first I thought well maybe he is going through a growth spurt and needs more milk, some nights he was up four times, always wanting to eat. I checked his ears because I started to think that something was bothering him at night but they were clear. Anyway after one or two weeks I started giving him a bottle in the middle of the night and then he would sleep better but still up at least once. So I was thinking all this through and I wondered how much milk I was making and what he was getting before bed. So a few nights I tried feeding him a bottle before bed and then pumping after he went to sleep. Usually when I pumped I would get 2-3 ounces, well obviously he wanted more. I have been struggling to make more milk since the beginning. When I was home on leave it was not a big deal because I would just nurse on demand. But I knew (because the same thing happened with Sydney) that when Griffin went to day care I would have trouble producing enough milk to keep up with him. I have tried everything, pumping as much as possible, taking Fenugreek, drinking mothers milk tea, drinking 60-90 ounces of water a day and I still do not have enough milk. So I give. The last week or so I have been pumping twice daily and I may get 4 ounces total. It is just not worth it. I am tired of the struggle. I am going to have to be happy that we made it to 6 months. I have this guilt and disappointment though. If my body made enough milk I would keep it up but I have a hard time justifying all the time and effort for so little milk. I am ready to make my life easier. No more carrying around a pump and all the supplies, no more nursing pads, no more pump slots in my schedule, no more planning around feedings, no more nursing while sitting on the bathroom floor watching Syd play in the tubby. I really do not mean to sound like it is all that difficult but being a working mom of two and breastfeeding is a challenge. I wanted to nurse longer since we thought Griffin would be our last baby but now I am not sure about that. He has grown so much already and I just love babies so we will see. Anyway I just thought I would share the struggle. I also want to say that if you did not nurse please do not think that I think its bad on your part- I tell moms everyday that nursing is great if its your choice and they do make great formula these days, you have to do what works for you.

So funny

I recorded this video on my camera two night ago- so funny. Sorry for the lighting, I was leaning over Griffin and I only had a lamp on in the living room.

Picnics

I love picnics. Two weekends ago Sydney and I wanted to have a picnic and we were thinking about going to the park. Well of course around lunch Griffin was napping so I decided we would have our picnic in the backyard and I plugged the monitor in outside so we could hear Griffin if he woke up. Sydney and I spread out a blanket and she helped pack the little cooler.

We had a great time. We talked about the things we loved outside and ate lunch. Griffin did wake up and he got to be a part of the picnic too.

We decided to have another yard picnic this past weekend with daddy home. So relaxing and not a big hassle packing up the car and going somewhere. I try to make even the littlest things fun. Today during our picnic Bill decided to show off and throw grapes up in the air and catch them in his mouth. He is actually very good at this. I on the other hand am not. I missed several times, and hit myself in the forehead with more than one grape. Hilarious. We were all laughing so hard.

Together Again

My friend Val and her son Vinny stopped by on Saturday for a visit. I recorded the cutest video of the boys but cannot upload it because I guess it is too big? Bummer. I will keep trying this video thing. Anyway we had a great visit.

Vinny, so happy

Vinny is about 1.5 inches taller and 3 pounds heavier than Griffin.


These guys were together before they were even born and a few times since they have been born. They were born 6 days apart!

Look...

what we found.

Bill found this robin's nest in a bush while working on pine needles around our house. Bill showing Sydney and explaining why we cannot touch the nest or the eggs.

The nest is right outside this living room window. I keep walking by the window and from the inside I can see the nest and eggs. It will be so fun to see the eggs hatch and watch the momma robin care for her babies.

God's Creation

Six Months

Okay I realize this is late, 1 week late, but life is busy here. Plus I really wanted to be able to tell you Griffin's weight and height and we had to change his well baby check up to this Friday due to scheduling issues. So anyway here it is 6 months!

I had to include this picture to show you how happy this kid is. He is sitting up very well now but I think it was still early and he seemed to be having trouble.

So big! Bill calls these his "John Daley" pants. John Daley is a golfer with his own clothes line, a rather wild design. Anyway Griffin in golfer pants.

Sitting in his high chair! Already.




Sitting up all by himself playing toys. He is still such a content and happy guy. He had about a month stretch where he was waking multiple times, due to breast milk issue but that is another post. The last 3 nights he has gone back to sleeping all night. Can you hear the Hallelujah chorus? He is making all kinds of sounds, shrieks and growls. He loves being outside and enjoys car rides, rarely does he fuss in the car which is a huge blessing because I cannot handle crying when I cannot stop and hold him. He is transferring objects from one hand to another. He grabs anything he can reach especially momma's hair. A;though he gums everything he still has no teeth. Sydney did not get her first tooth until 10 months so who knows when his will poke through. Griffin has been eating foods, mostly homemade but a few jar foods as well. So far he has tried and loves...bananas, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, peaches, apricots, applesauce, carrots, peas, green beans and prunes. He has had rice cereal and also oatmeal. Griffin is an absolute joy and we are so blessed.




Weight: 17 lbs 6 oz (50th Percentile)

Height: 26.5 inches (50th Percentile)

Before and After

We recently had a few odds and ends done around the house. Bill hired someone to power wash our driveway and brick. Can you see the line on the driveway?

I cannot believe the difference.

Notice the black in between the brick.

We have a lot of brick, this is just the walkway to the front porch. We also had all the railings scrapped and repainted white. So nice and fresh.

Snake

Sydney found this dried up dead snake on the driveway last weekend and she had to carry it around for a good hour or so. She would put it down and then pick it back up and move it. Thank God she wore gloves, yuck!

She looks too precious to be carrying around a dead snake.

Not Me Monday

Okay, you know how this works. It is Not Me Monday Again.

I most certainly did Not feel grit on the bottom of the tub and go ahead and run bath water and put my child in for tubbie thinking oh well there is going to be more grit in a few minutes anyway. I did go back a few days later and scrub and rinse out tub. But honestly I cannot keep up with the grit in our house. Sydney brings home 1/4 cup of sand in her shoes daily and I have her take them off on the back porch but some how we still end up with grit on the kitchen floor, in the tub ectera. I also did Not skip dusting my bedroom thinking to myself no one goes in my bedroom except Bill and I anyway. Again after a few days I decided to dust my bedroom but it only gets dusted every few weeks because I just do not have the time or energy and when I see the dust it is usually early am or bed time when I am in my room and that is not a good time for dusting.

Tostada

This was dinner Monday night! So delicious.

Avocado Tostada

Warm skillet and put in 2 tsp canola oil, heat til warm, lightly brown flour tortilla in skillet and then put it on a baking sheet. Layer black beans and cheese (I used cheddar and mont jack combo), put in oven at 350 until cheese is melted and beans are warm, about 5 mins. Then top with chopped lettuce, sliced avocado ( I used 1 per tortilla), some sour cream and salsa. You can use canned blacks beans (drain and rinse) but I buy my beans dried and I cook a big batch in crock pot and then I freeze them in 1 cup portions. I seasoned the beans just before putting them on the tortilla with a little salt, cumin and chili powder. Dried beans are so much cheaper than canned but obviously they take a long time to cook so I just do it in advance and keep them in freezer in zip lock bags and thaw as needed.

Yoga

Sydney performing her bedtime yoga.

I found this yoga for kids on our TV on demand channel. It is only 5-6 minutes and we sometimes do this just before bedtime.

I think Sydney will really enjoy dance classes but honestly life is just too busy right now and I will probably wait til this fall. She loves to dance, stretch, do yoga. I do hope she does not have my coordination.

Adventure

While I was home with Syd (recovery from her surgery, hence the puffy face in this photo) we needed to get out and decided on an adventure- a pine cone hunt! The weather was cool at the time but it was so nice and sunny so I loaded her up in the stroller with a blanket and off we went.

We have a lot of pine trees in our neighborhood, this photo was taken at the entrance of our country club. Normally there are tons of pine cones but the golf course crew picks them up regularly to keep things neat.
Sydney managed to find a few.

She fell asleep on the ride home, so sweet.

My intention was to collect pine cones to make bird feeders- smear on peanut butter and roll in bird seed and hang outside but we still have our pine cones in a bag in the sun room.
I really enjoyed a few days home with my girl. Griffin went to day care each day, which allowed me to focus on Sydney. I love being a momma to two children but at times only having one is so refreshing!

New Life

I took this photograph a few weeks ago when Sydney and I were out for a walk. Isn't it amazing?

Easter

Easter egg hunt

We have bales of pine needles all over the yard right now

Easter basket time, coloring book, bouncy balloons, notepads, stickers, new plate and cup and just a bit of candy.

Egg dyeing

Syd had a blast

Bird on our Easter tree

Easter tree Sydney and I made while we were home recovering from her surgery

Easter tree Sydney made with Grammie La la