Miss Sydney

As you all know, Sydney is now rolling over! It cracks me up because she loves to do it over and over and over. Every time I leave her for a few seconds I come back and she is on her tummy again. She hasn't quite figured out how to go from her tummy to her back yet, so we have to help her out a little bit, but I'm sure it won't be long before she figures that out too.

Sydney slept in her room all by her self for the very first time last night. I know, I know, she's almost 4 months old...it's about time. I never intended to have her sleep in our room for that long, but it just kind of happened that way. She did great. Didn't wake up once the whole night!

This is Sydney's new favorite position—hands behind her head. It totally cracks me up.

We had a follow up appointment with Sydney's surgeon today. He said everything is looking really good and she is healing up nicely. Yay! We'll have to go in and see him again in 4 to 6 weeks so he can check her out again and make sure everything is continuing to progress well. This was a picture we took of her today at the appointment. She looks like such a big girl!

Potty Training Fail

Today marked day 4 of potty training....and we're using the 3 Day Potty Training method. So I think that tells you how successful we've been. Day 3 was more of the same from days 1 and 2. We had accident after accident after accident. At one point last night she yelled potty and ran into the bathroom and sat on the potty for a second. I was hopeful, thinking maybe we had reached a turning point. But it never happened again.

This morning, I was getting super frustrated. I held up a diaper and a pair of panties and asked her which ones she wanted to wear. She pointed to the panties. That had to be a good sign right? No. A few minutes later I asked her where she was going to go to the potty when she had to go again and she pointed to the floor. Clearly she knows what's going on and is making the choice not to go in the potty.

So, we're done. At least for now. I'll wait a few months and try again, hopefully with more success. It would have been awesome if it worked. But it didn't, so that's that. Part of me is mad about the whole thing, but then I look at this sweet face and I can't stay mad for very long.

One good thing about throwing in the towel, I got to leave the house for the first time in three and a half days. I've never been so excited to go to church in my whole life.

Messy Kitchen, Happy Kids

I started a new blog—Messy Kitchen, Happy Kids. It's not going to replace this blog. Rocky Mountain Volks is still how I'm going to update everyone on our family happenings. It's going to be a place where I can talk about mommy things, post recipies, share DIY craft ideas, etc. etc.

Definitly go check it out:
messykitchensandhappykids.blogspot.com

If you want to start following the blog, just click on the "Join this site" link in the lower part of the left column.

Potty Training

So we started potty training yesterday. All I have to say is Cameron is definitely not one of those kids who trains themselves in a day. To be honest, it's been a pretty tough couple of days.

When Nick and Annie potty trained Cole, they used the 3 Day Potty Training method. Basically you go all out for 3 days, throw away the diapers and go for it with panties. It worked pretty well for them, so I read the literature and decided to give it a try.

By a lot of standards, Cameron is still pretty young to be potty training. But according to the lady who wrote the 3 Day method, any time after 22 months a child is fully capable of being potty trained. She actually even said that 22 months is the ideal time to do it because they will be less resistant. Cameron's 23 months and she's seemed to be a little ahead of the curve with a lot of things so far, so I figured I might as well give it a try. It would be awesome if we could get her out of diapers by the time we go to Hawaii in March.

Yesterday morning we "threw away" all of Cameron's diapers, put on some Elmo panties (which are super cute on her) and I proceeded to tell her every 10 minutes, "Remember, if you have to go potty, tell Mommy." By noon we had gone through about 8 pairs of panties and she only "went in the potty" once. I put "went in the potty" in quotes because the only reason the poo poo ended up in the potty was because she was still going when I set her down. (Yeah, being a Mommy has its "perks" HA!)

Even though it was only a semi success, I still made a HUGE deal out of it. We put a star on her potty chart, did the potty dance, gave her a gummy bear, etc. I was hoping that would help the whole concept to click. It didn't. By the end of the day I had stopped counting how many panties we had gone through. It was at least 30.

This morning I was feeling pretty defeated and even contemplated giving up on the whole thing. But then I decided that I better stick it out for at least 3 days. After all it's the 3 Day method. I have to give it at least that long.

Today I tried to lighten things up a bit, because it was starting to get a little tense. I gave Cameron some sparkling cider to drink in the bathtub. I figure she needs to enjoy the process to be successful, and since the whole potty part wasn't going very well I figured that this might might help. And it did. She LOVED drinking "bubble juice" in the tub. But then she pooed. In the tub. Awesome.

So I'm just praying that things click for her soon. And if you want to shoot up a quick prayer for us too, that would be much appreciated.

Sydney has been a good sport throughout the whole thing and has spent her extra time on the floor mastering her rolling over technique.

Sydney Rolled Over!

Our little munchkin learned to roll over! She did it for the first time yesterday. I put her down on the floor, walked into the other room for a second and when I came back she was on her tummy. Then this morning she did the same thing again. And ever since she's been a rolling fool!

A rundown on the last few days

Friday: Two sweet little girls playing on the floor.

DADDY!

Saturday: We went to Mikaela's birthday party at BOUNCE!

Cameron was in heaven when she saw this bounce castle.

She got a little nervous at the top of the big slide.

But with Daddy there anything is possible.

My little reader found some books to read.

And the cake was yummy!

Like father, like daughter!

Sunday: For our East Coast fam we had a pregame pep rally.

Monday: my little peanut woke up with a tummy ache (she threw up all over, poor baby), so we watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in bed.



Glad to be home

We got to come home from the hospital late Saturday night. I was super relieved we didn't have to stay until Sunday or Monday like the doctor indicated right after he finished the surgery. As you can tell, we are all glad to be home.

Sydney is doing great! We're taking special care of her incision but other than that we're getting back to our normal routine. She's been a little more fussy than usual and she wants to be held a lot, but that's understandable considering everything she went through. She also doesn't hesitate to let me know when she's hungry now. She is NOT going to let us allow her to be hungry again! Ha

Cameron has been really into coloring lately. She sits at her little table with her crayons or markers and a piece of paper or coloring book and works very diligently on her pictures. I think she gets that from her daddy. :) (Now if only we could get rid of that stupid pacifier!!! I'm aiming for when she turns two.)

This is a little picture she drew for us yesterday. Didn't she do a good job?

Cameron has also been really into Chitty Chitty Bang Bang lately. We bought a copy on iTunes after Christmas so she's been asking to watch it on repeat. (I'm starting to get a little sick of it, but that's not the point). I'm not really surprised that she likes it so much because my nephew has been a big fan for awhile. Anyway, she's been walking around singing "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang we love you" just like how they sing it in the movie. It's super cute. I was able to get her on video today.

Well I've got to go pick up my house. I cleaned yesterday, but you'd never know it by looking around! Oh the joys of being a mommy! 

Surgery's Over!

Sydney's surgery is over and she's doing great. Thank goodness. I feel so relieved that it is finally behind us.

We got to the hospital a little after 5:00 am Thursday morning. Once they got us checked in we were escorted to the pre-op area where we answered and asked a billion questions and got Sydney changed into a mini hospital gown. Around 7:30 am the doc came in to talk with us about the procedure and let us ask him our remaining questions. After that, we prayed for Miss Sydney and the nurse carried her off for surgery....and I cried.

I, of course, cried on and off though out the entire morning. It was hard having them carry my little girl away. :( But according to most everyone we talked to, our surgeon is a really wonderful guy, one lady even said the reason he was really great was because he was a husband and dad first, and then a surgeon—he gets it.

My mom and Ryan's work chaplain stayed with us while Sydney was in the surgery, which was a nice distraction. Before we knew it 3 hours had passed and the doc was walking though the doors to give us a report on the surgery. She did great, everything went smoothly and the doc was very pleased with the outcome.

After that we were able to go and see her in recovery. She was super groggy and out of it and a little puffy from the anesthesia, but it felt so good to hold her in my arms. The recovery nurse said she'd gotten VIP service, someone carried her into the operating room, someone carried her out and handed her to the recovery nurse who then just passed her into my arms. Normally kids are wheeled in and out in beds or cribs, but not our sweet Sydney. :)

When a room opened up, we were moved to the floor for the rest of our stay at the hospital. The orders were to give her pain meds and antibiotics around the clock and not to feed her anything for 48 hours. I had no idea that this would be the hard part.

The rest of Thursday went alright, Sydney mostly slept as the effects of the anesthesia were wearing off. But by Thursday night she was getting pretty uncomfortable and hungry. Ryan and I had to switch off holding her through out the night because she didn't want to be put down. Friday was even worse. She would only sleep for 45 minutes or an hour at a time before she woke up crying because she was so hungry. Ryan and I pretty much spent Friday cuddling her and trying to keep her distracted from her hungry belly. Poor baby. :(

By late Friday night I think that Sydney had sort of adjusted to being hungry. She ended up sleeping fairly well, and was much more relaxed. Same with Saturday morning.

At 11:00 am this morning (Saturday) we got the word that we could start feeding her! I've never been so excited to feed my baby. I pumped a 3 ounce bottle and she went to town on it. At one point I pulled the bottle away to burp her and she was NOT happy. She wanted more! After that we waited an hour to make sure she was keeping everything down alright (which she did) and then I was told I could feed her normally. YAY!

Now we're just waiting for that milk to make its way through her system. They said that they'd like to see her have a normal bowel movement before we go home. So now we wait. Hopefully it's sometime this evening so we can go home today. If not it should be tomorrow.

Cameron has had a great time hanging out with Mimi and Granne the last few days. We miss her like crazy but are so grateful that our family is here to help us out. FaceTime has been awesome because we've been able to see her and talk to her every night.

So that's the run down. Thank you Jesus for keeping our little girl safe! I'm so grateful that the surgery is behind us now and that everything seems to have gone well. Now we're just praying that everything heals up well. Thanks to those of you who have been praying for us. The prayers are greatly appreciated.

Sydney's Surgery Update

Here's the update on Miss Sydney's surgery:

The surgery is scheduled for 7:30am tomorrow morning. She will be under for about 3 hours while the doctors work on her, and then she'll be in the hospital for a couple days while they monitor her initial recovery. She hasn't been able to breastfeed since 7:30am this morning, I guess because they want to clear out her system before the surgery. She is, however, able to have Pedialyte. Surprisingly, she seems to be a fan of it so far. She's taken two bottles of it today without a problem, which has been a total relief.

Please keep us all in your prayers the next few days. I know she will be in good hands—God's and a very talented medical team—but she is so little and I can't help but be nervous and emotional thinking about it all.

We will try to keep everyone updated with blog posts or emails. Thanks in advance for your prayers.

Three Months Old!

Sydney is Three Months Old!

January 11, 2012

Weight: 13 pounds

Length: 23.75 inches

Head: 41 centimeters

I just love being a mommy! Watching your kiddos grow up is such a treat. Some stages are more challenging than others, true, but every single stage is fun in it's own way. I'm sad that my little newborn Sydney is growing up, but at the same time, she has gotten super smiley and interactive and you can't help but love that! I fall more and more in love with this little girl every day.

I don't have three month growth stats yet, but I hope to get them in the next couple days, so check back.

So Sydney, what are you up to at three months old?

• You are a great eater eating 6, sometimes 7, times each day.
• You are super smiley, which we absolutely love.
• You love to talk! You just coo up a storm and it is very cute.
• You are growing wonderfully. You wear 3 month clothes and size 1 diapers, but you are getting close to moving onto the next size in both.
• You are a fantastic night time sleeper, sleeping between 8 and 9 hours, but during the day you're a total cat napper.
• You celebrated your first Christmas and New Years. Apparently you were a pretty good girl because Santa brought you lots of nice presents.
• You started wiggling your arms out of your miracle swaddle blanket, so we had to change to the kind that Velcros.
• You still sleep in your pack-n-play in our room, but we'll be moving you to your own room after your surgery.
• You are fascinated with the lights and colors on the TV.
• You're getting close to rolling over. You can get onto your side and are starting to try and leverage your head to give you the power to flip.
• You are super sweet and I just can't help but squeeze you because you're so darn cute. Your daddy and I are so lucky to have you as our little girl.

12

Annie did this on her blog and I loved it, so I'm copying her...

The Big 12 Countdown for 2012

12

Random things I'm thinking 

I'm really not looking forward to Sydney's surgery this week

I'm finding it very difficult to fit working out into my daily schedule 

I love that Cameron is starting to sing along to songs, it's so sweet

I'm definitely a summer girl, I want the weather to warm up

Getting out of the house takes forever these days

I really want to plant some veggies and herbs in our backyard this year

I want Ryan and I to start a business, we just need a good idea

Laundry is seriously a never ending task when you have kids

Some of the shows they make for kids are really strange/creepy

For the most part I really like what I'm doing for work right now

I would really love to have someone clean my house on a regular basis

I just finished reading The Hunger Games and it was awesome

11

Things I do every single day

Read Yes Yes, No No (Cameron's favorite book right now)

Check email, Facebook and blogs

Wipe little bottoms clean

Sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Search for missing pacifiers

Pick up toys, crayons, books, etc.

Check my calendar

Hold my sweet Sydney while she sleeps

Talk to Ryan

Go on walks/runs (at least I try)

Watch Disney Junior on TV

10

Things I can reach from where I'm sitting

Sydney's baby book

My wallet

A Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVD

Our 2011 health insurance records

A House of Blues event proposal (for work)

My favorite Christmas cards (the ones I want to keep)

Our Christmas memory book

A pair of Cameron's tights

Baby nail clippers

Checks waiting to be deposited into the girl's college funds

9

Things currently in my family room

Dirty clothes waiting to be washed

Changing pad and baby wipes

Coorslight cooler (classy right!)

Cameron's red mittens

A purple basketball we found in our front yard

A copy of Competitor Magazine

Sydney's car seat

Ryan's running vest from his run this morning

A princess camping chair

8

Books on my reading list

Catching Fire

Mockingjay

Water for Elephants

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoos

The Glass Castle

Bitter is the New Black

Cutting for Stone

One Day

7

Things I love to eat

Chocolate

Royal Red Robin burgers

Spinach salads

Soup - veggie, lentil, sweet potato, chicken noodle

Pasta salad

Clementines

Homemade cookies (store bought aren't worth it)

6

Things likely to be on the TV at our house

Diners, Drive-ins and Dives

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

ESPN

Fox News

The Big Bang Theory

Mary Poppins

5

Future vacation destinations

Hawaii - in March

Lake Tahoe - this summer

Disney World

Alaska

Europe

4

Things we'd like to purchase/are saving for

New bike for Ryan

Repainting the outside of our house

A 7-foot trampoline for our basement

A cruise for two for me and my honey-poo 

3

Things I'd like to accomplish this year

Run a few organized races

Fix up our yard

Organize my life :)

2

Things I couldn't live without

Family - my wonderful husband and sweet girls

My iPhone (not sure how I feel about that)

1

Picture that I love

A friend of mine called this sort of thing "Mommy Porn" :)

.

Happy New Year!

We rung in the New Year at 8:00 pm with Cameron. It was great! The celebration was complete with a countdown, pot and pan banging, blowers, poppers, and sparkling cider. Cameron thought the whole thing was pretty cool, especially the "special juice".

Ryan and I stayed up late enough to celebrate the New Year on east coast and central time, but we fizzled out before we made it to mountain time. Oh well, I guess we're just getting old!

Here's our first picture of 2012! Cameron still looks a little tired. I guess she partied a little too hard last night! haha

Here are a few other pictures from this week.

Santa left this grocery cart in Superpop and Granne's basement and forgot to tell them, so this showed up at our house a couple days after Christmas.

Santa brought Cameron this mini coffee mug for Christmas. She LOVES it. She'll sit in front of the sink forever just filling it up and drinking out of it.

Cameron was wearing her cowgirl hat, just like Jessie! And she had her new Jessie jammies on.