6 Weeks

I just realized I never posted this.  Hudson is 8 weeks now:

Hudson is 6 weeks old today.  Time has gone by so fast having two kids, that I can't believe I totally forgot to take monthly pictures like I did with Ryter.  Here is Hudson's first picture with his Monkey.  If he's anything like Ryter he'll be bigger than this Monkey before we know it!

Things have been going well for the most part.  If I could take each child and report on how they're doing as an individual I'd say Hudson is a baby so he doesn't do much but sleep.  I get up once at 12 and once at 4 to feed him.  I try to stay awake until 12 or at least crash while watching tv so that my 12:00 waking feels more like I'm still awake and not waking in the middle of the night.  He's a great baby.

Ryter is dealing with it all in his own way.  He's good in his new bed and rarely falls out, but without a side on the bed he's inclined to get out at the first eye opening so night time sleeping ends at 6 a.m. and naps are much shorter at somewhere between 45 min and 1.5 hours.  He's started hitting quite a bit on kids at the playground, kids we know, and Hudson too.  I guess we just wait this out and continue to repeat that hands are not for hitting.  I've been told it's normal and he'll grow out of it so I'm just waiting for the day we all wake up (at 8 a.m.) and hitting is a thing of the past.

Having two kids is crazier than I ever imagined.  The house is always a disaster, dishes are always piled on the dirty side of the sink, and half the time we have pizza for dinner.  Ryter eats by himself a lot while I try to figure out a schedule for feeding Hudson that doesn't involve feeding him while I'm cooking dinner or sitting down at the dinner table.  I seriously think it's impossible.  My heart breaks when I look at the back of that little blonde head sitting all by himself at our gigantic 8 person dining table.  He seems to eat when he's not bothered by anyone else around, so I guess I can look at it as letting him eat alone is better for his health.  Makes me feel a little better.

*having trouble with YouTube here so click on "Spaghetti" below.

Spaghetti

Rodan + Fields

So, I recently picked up a job.  Yeah, not something I really thought about doing right after having a new baby, but it seemed like the right time.  About a year ago my my aunt's husband's sister, otherwise known as my uncle's sister (lets just call her my aunt) brought up Rodan+Fields to me.  She wanted me to know about the power of selling these products and I brushed her off.  I wasn't interested at the time.  We had just moved into our house, I was pregnant, sick, tired, and drowning in boxes and unpainted surfaces.

My first thought was, ugh tupperware-like parties, don't people hate those?  I didn't want to do it, I didn't want to sell the product, I didn't want to talk about selling the product, I didn't want to humor anyone while they talked to me about buying or selling the product.  I just didn't want anything to do with it.  It was all based off the idea that people roll their eyes when a direct sales party is mentioned.  Well, along about three months ago my mom started using the product and it turns out it freakin' really works...like really works to smooth away lines and wrinkles.  Right then and there my eyes stopped rolling.

Sooooeeeewwwww, I decided to open my mind.  Not necessarily about the product because who doesn't want to get rid of whatever wrinkle they've got whether it be a lot or not so much, but to the idea of selling it.  I've got one kid at 2+ years old and he's having a super tough time in the terrible twos/new baby brother area and he needs an outlet as much as I do.  Well, when I decided he needed that and the only way I could give it to him was to get my butt in gear and either sell some lame crafty thing at the next street fair or climb on board this Rodan+Fields train, I decided to climb on board.

My big blue box arrived yesterday full of all of the skin care regimens I need to make this business grow!

I don't know a whole lot about it yet, but I have my own kit to use on my skin and I'm really excited to start before and progress photos!  I'll be posting them here.

My website is lnaslenas.myrandf.com.  If anyone is interested in purchasing any of the products, wants to hear about the products, have a one-on-one, or an event let me know.  You can also become an independent consultant yourself!

Here are a couple of photos of my peanuts!

A Big Bed for a Big Brother

We've graduated to Stage 2 with the crib.  The side is now off of Ryter's bed and we're working day and night to get him to stay in his bed.  He started climbing out of his crib last week in the morning and it just went from there.  Pretty soon it was nap time that he was climbing out and also at night when it was time for bed.  We decided to take the side off when he bumped his head on the wall or dresser or bed or something.  He came down stairs with pink eyebrow and forehead so we went for it.  I've been dreading this moment because I knew that everything would change and I couldn't imagine it would be for the better.

The first night we spent 2 hours putting him back to bed before he finally crashed around 10 p.m.  The next night he was down by 9:30 and last night by 8:30.  Vain discovered that leaving the room and hoping that he would stay in his bed wasn't working so he stayed in the room in the chair until Ryter fell asleep.  That worked, so we've been doing that every night.  It takes a bit for him to fall asleep, but he doesn't get out of bed so he actually has wind down time that he wasn't getting by constantly getting up and running down the hall.

Mornings are a different story.  He got up at 5:30 yesterday which was so not cool!  Lets just hope as the evenings get better, so do the mornings.

Hudson

Well, life is crazy to say the least.  With Ryter I was writing a blog post in the hospital and this time it took me two weeks to get to it.

We welcomed Hudson Naslenas on August 20, 2013 at 4:59 a.m.  He was 7 lbs, 2 oz and 20 inches long. A little heavier than Ryter, although not by much, and the same height.  

This labor was truly a miracle compared to my first experience, although I never realized how tough the first one was until I had the second one.  I spent Monday the 19th mostly in my bathroom caulking and installing tile on the wall because I knew the baby was coming soon...as in that day or the next.  (Needless to say, a blog post on bathroom week part 2 is not going to be coming for quite a while.) I woke up feeling the same way I did when I went into labor with Ryter.  I packed my bag when Vain got home from work that night and was awoken at 12:45 a.m. with a very painful contraction.  6 minutes later the next one came and they continued to get closer over the next hour.  I called my mom at 1:30 to come stay with Ryter.  We left for the hospital at 3 a.m., I got my epidural at 4 a.m. and we had a beautiful baby boy less than an hour later.

My recovery was really insane!  I went to a party at my parents house the day I got home from the hospital, was driving right away, and went to a wedding on Saturday.  I don't at all feel like I had a baby except for the jiggly belly left behind.

Hudson is a great baby.  He sleeps like a dream.  I only get up once in the middle of the night to feed him and he eats about every 3 hours during the day.  If he's not eating, he's sleeping.  He's also really cool with being put down so I can spend time with Ryter.  Time I really was worried about not being able to have right away.

Vain has been home for two weeks and goes back to work tomorrow.  We will miss him very much around here.  He has been a great help, for Ryter especially.  Our poor little guy has been really emotional over the past couple of weeks.  The first few days were really rough, but he's coming around to Hudson now and gives lots of kisses and tells him how much he loves him.

I can't believe it's been two weeks already and pretty soon I'll be saying that I can't believe it's been 2 years!

New Bathroom Week-Part 1

Ryter was gone for two weeks so my plan was to redo the bathroom.  It ended up being a bigger job than I expected, but it's mostly done.  So far, we've replaced the swinging door with a sliding door to make a little more room in the bathroom.  All of the wood trim associated with the swinging door was removed and filled with wood filler.  Sanding is coming, but that doesn't affect the function of the bathroom so it's last on the list.

trim on the silver track is still to come

Vain took a look at moving the plumbing for the cold water so the vanity can contain all of the pipes behind the cabinet. He wasn't sure about the job, so I hired a plumber to come and take care of it.  It was quick and painless for him, although I'm not sure I could say the same if Vain and I would have been involved :)

As part of the destruction that is happening in the bathroom, the weird closet/mirror/shutter door is now gone, as are the silly shelves that don't all go to the back of the closet.  I checked for insulation in the walls inside the closet and it does not exist.  Behind the closet wall is the siding.  This is not good.  It explains why our bathroom is so cold in the winter. We're basically bathing outside. As of right now, the plan is to insulate and install pre-made cabinets from Target.

The electrician came and moved the outlet away from the faucet and also added another outlet down low inside the vanity for Vain's shaver to charge so that doesn't have to sit out on the counter all of the time.  I think in the end, that will end up being my most favorite part of the bathroom!  As you can see, a new light fixture has been added and the bathroom has also been painted a very pale pink instead of the gross green we've been reflecting onto our skin for the past 9 months.

This project is taking a lot longer than expected and Ryter comes home today. The goal is just to get a working sink back in here by the end of the weekend.  Part 2 of my post will include tiling, the worst project in the history of man!  Lets just say, it's a little like child birth and I won't be doing it again until I only remember the experience as delightful!

The Last Week

Today marks the first day of the last week of my pregnancy. Unless this baby is late like Ryter, I should have some result by next Friday.  I have one day left before Ryter gets home from Iowa and my only hope was that I'd keep this baby in until then.  I want Ryter to be here and come to the hospital to see us and be here when we get home.  Happily, that will happen.

I'm not nearly as large this time at this stage as I was last time, but baby is measuring right on schedule so it must just be hiding a little bit more.  I'm having some irregular contractions at night and really have been for the last month. I think it's just because I move around all day and by night when I relax I start to notice them more.

Vain and I had dinner on Tuesday for my birthday and the waitress very matter-of-fact asked me "you're having a girl?".  She asked it like she knew what she was talking about.  I told her we actually didn't know what we were having and she just said "it's a girl", smiled, and walked away.  Well, when I was pregnant with Ryter we had a lady in the Phoenix airport do the same thing except she said boy and she was right.  We shall see this time.

new baby 2013

Ryter 2011

35 Weeks

Wow!  I can't believe it's been 10 weeks since the last time I made an entry.  It doesn't seem like it's been that long, but things are just happening so fast around here. It's summer and the days go by so quickly trying to find enough time to play outside and in the pool.  I'm 35 weeks pregnant which means this baby is coming in 5-6 weeks whether we're ready or not.  For the most part, we're ready.  We've done this before so any day would be a great day for a baby.  Ryter has officially been moved into his new room and the baby has a room of his/her own so I guess that means we're ready.

Ryter turned 2 on July 14 and we had a little family party for him. He's getting so big and turning into a real live boy.  He's expressing his opinions on pretty much everything and speaking in full sentences for many things.  Every time he uses more than one word at a time I can't believe I'm actually having a conversation with this little guy and then he surprises me with more words and sometimes words I didn't intentionally teach him like "damn it".  Opps :)  Apparently he is hearing everything I'm saying, he just doesn't always choose to listen to what I'm telling him.

I had a little scare last week when he decided to climb out of his crib during nap time, come down the stairs, and out the front door.  He hasn't tried to climb out since, but I did find him in his crib one day when I left him out of it playing on the floor while I went to the bathroom.  That was interesting as well.  It looks like taking the side off of the crib is in our near future.  That's ok because lifting a 32 lb child out of a crib when you're 8 1/2 months pregnant is really difficult and I don't even want to talk about changing the sheets on a crib mattress!  Why does that process have to be more difficult than child birth?

As far as house progress goes, we've torn out our basement bathroom walls and floor to get rid of mold and asbestos we found when we had a minor toilet leak.  Turns out somebody knew about a leak and never fixed it a long time ago.  Mold?  Yuck!  Now we have a working toilet in a storage room.  It's very chic, very college housing.  Eventually it'll be a laundry and bathroom combo with actual walls, but for now we take a seat next to Christmas decorations.

 
Our upstairs bathroom got a new sliding door and the bathroom feels so much bigger now that the door doesn't swing into it! I ordered a new vanity that is much bigger and will give us counter top to use finally.  Being the only full bathroom in the house, we really need a more functional space.  There are so many criteria to having a new vanity in this bathroom and this little beauty is for sure, without a doubt in my mind, the ONLY thing out there that can be used so we can avoid custom cabinetry and a counter.  I'm so excited!

My back porch got new screens and some furniture, thanks to mom and dad, so it's liveable now too.

The front entry got a face lift by adding some cabinets and a shoe bench.  It feels so much bigger now!

As can be seen in many of the photos, things are about 7/8 finished in each and every project.  I've been so desperate for function in most of the projects around here that once they're almost complete I move on to something else that's driving me crazy.  So, Ryter is taking a big leap and going to spend 2 whole weeks with Baba and Dukas in Iowa.  It's huge for us and huge for him, but we've already started talking about it and he's very excited.  I will be able to finish up all of those loose ends while he's gone which will be a gigantic help!  When baby arrives, the house will be finished except for the big projects (bathroom and kitchen).

25 Weeks

 I'm 25 weeks now and getting bigger every day.  The baby is moving so much day and night.  It's a busy little one for sure.  Another wild and crazy boy???  We shall see.
A couple of weeks ago we went to Miami for a week.  We had a great time with Vain's family just hanging out by the pool, stopping by the beach, and sitting on the patio.  Ryter got into the sand for the first time other than the sand box and he was less than thrilled.  In fact, when we watch the video of him trying the sand out for the first time all he says to me is "crying?".  Yeah, he was crying.  The video is at the bottom of this post and it's long, but seriously so cute.  I was so shocked that a kid his age wouldn't just love it.  We did finally get him to walk through the sand, but he wasn't happy about it.  As the days went on he was on high alert for sand everywhere.  Cracks in the sidewalk "sand?", grass "sand?", his sandals "sand?".

As a side note, we were cooking dinner last week and he got salt all over himself and he just froze.  Wet fingers + salt = SAND!  It was really funny to watch, but he was truly not amused by the feeling of the salt stuck all over his hands and down onto his feet.

So, Miami was fun although the flights were not.  My advice to anyone that has a child who does not like to sit still and play with anything should buy their own seat.  There is not enough room in two seats for that kind of mobility!  Ryter was on the floor, on our laps, back on the floor, on our laps-for 3 hours.  The lady next to us had the option to move back a few rows for more room, but she chose not to because she wanted to sit across the aisle from her husband. She didn't speak to him one time I might add.  And then she turned to me and said "Are you ok?"  What was I supposed to say?  "Um, no lady I'm pregnant and I've got a 2 year old on my lap.  A little more room would be nice!"  It's a relief that the next time we fly he'll be too old to be a lap infant because then I won't feel guilty about buying a third seat.  Yeah, it will cost more, but totally worth it!

Terrible Twos are Truly Terrible

I'm not sure who these tantrums are worse for, myself or the little guy that can't express his desires, anger, and frustration.  Yesterday was the worst I've seen.  Ryter has been having tantrums for a while every once in a while.  Typically when he's tired or hungry.  Usually I can put him down for a nap or feed him and he's fine.  Yesterday was a whole different animal!  Throwing himself around on the floor all day pretty much.  He wanted a banana, then I gave him a banana, then he cried because he didn't want the banana.  Same goes for the walk in the stroller, painting with water, playing with toys, watching Finding Nemo, eating animal crackers, milk, juice, water and dinner.  He was even so mad at me for offering him what he asked for that he ran full speed at the oven and whacked his forehead on the door handle.

He finally napped for 3 1/2 hours which was a fantastic break for both of us. He woke up just as evil as he went to bed though.  I kept thinking if I can just get him to nap he'll be back to normal.  NOPE!  I had to put him in the high chair in the kitchen while I made dinner and just let him be mad because it seemed the only safe place to keep him from running into things or hitting them and hurting himself.  Total insanity.

Vain arrived home about 6pm from work and calmed Ryter for about 15 minutes...then it all started again and Vain says...and I quote..."I'm about to lose it babe".  UM? I just used the take-a-deep-breath technique that I preach to Ryter all the time when he gets frustrated (which of course did not work for him at all yesterday) and continued on through the screaming while Vain found himself a quite place to take his deep breath.

Since I don't have any tantrum photos to give anyone a good laugh and be grateful that they weren't me yesterday, this is how I prefer to picture my child:

Scarlet Fever

Ryter came down with his very first sickness in his entire life this week.  So, for his first illness why go with something simple like a cold...too common...how 'bout some Scarlet Fever to make it interesting?  He started with a rash last Monday that continued until Wednesday when I took him to the doctor.  She didn't seem concerned, but of course Vain and I were a little nervous.  It's apparently no biggie these days even though people in the 1950's were quarantined for weeks because of it.

We found a new pediatrician out of the deal too.  She's right up the street within walking distance which is pretty cool.  We really like her.  Our other pediatrician who I really like (because he's a D.O. and being hot doesn't hurt)  is just too far for these kind of last minute appointments.  He's in Germantown and it takes about an hour to get there.  It's just silly.

So, poor sicky has been watching a lot of Finding Nemo, Toy Story, and Thomas.  He had a fever for the first couple of days after he started his medicine, but that seems to have gone away now.  He's just a little low at times and doesn't have a great appetite, but otherwise is his crazy busy self.  Hopefully this will all be in the past by next Friday!

21 Weeks

Well, I'm half way there.  The baby is kicking around, but still only I can feel it.  Ryter is starting to get impatient about this new baby.  I don't think he believes us!  The other day he lifted my shirt up and said "New baby. Open it?"  I don't know if he can make it another 21 weeks.

Ryter-22 weeks

Baby No. 2-21 weeks

Rydoo and McGillicuddy

It's been a while since I've talked about Ryter, Vain, or this new baby growing inside me.  Well, I'm 17 weeks tomorrow and my belly is definitely bigger with this one than with Ryter.

Ryter-16 Weeks

New Baby-17 Weeks

I'm also feeling a lot more stiffness this time, and I think this baby is really low for now because I remember being able to bend over a lot easier at this stage last time than I can now.  It just feels painful like I'm squishing the little Thumper.  Speaking of Thumper, I can already feel this one moving.  It's probably because I already know what it feels like so I can recognize it better.  I'll get my ultrasound in 2 weeks, but we're waiting again to find out what flavor this one will be until the very end.  I've been thinking about that and wondering why I don't have the urge to know the sex, but I just don't.  I really love surprises, and I don't peek at presents so maybe that's why I can be so patient.  I like to get the gift when it's meant to be given and never before.  That goes for birthday presents too.  Don't even try to give me something before the actual day!

So, the subject of this post is a little off I know.  Earlier this week Ryter decided to call himself Rydoo.  He's very serious about it sometimes.  If I ask him who "that" is in videos or pictures, he says Rydoo.  When I ask him "is your name Rydoo" he looks and me and says "yeah....noooooo".  It's very very funny!  I really have no clue where he got Rydoo.  I've always called him Rytee which he does call himself sometimes.  Whatever it is, I'm sure he'll have a new name for himself next week.  As for McGillicuddy...Vain asked me if I would call him that from now on.  I live in a very very weird house!

Ryter has been growing up so much!  He's trying the potty, although quite unsuccessfully.  A couple of times he actually went, but for now he just wants the chocolate treat he gets after he goes potty.  I can't give in :).  He's counting to 10, knows most of his colors (likes red the most and yellow is the hardest to learn), knows most of his shapes (circle is his favorite), and a few letters (O is the most popular).  He started singing the ABCs but it's mostly a combination of A D D I W and X.

I'm trying to teach him about the baby in my belly, he mostly just says New Baby when he points to unpacked boxes because I told him he can't open them because they're for the new baby.

 

Living and Dining Update

The living and dining rooms are still not complete, but they are painted and the curtains are up.  It's kind of hard to take pictures in these two rooms because there are so many windows that the colors get a little bit distorted, but it's what I've got so far.

This was the living room color before:

Now, it looks like this:

I'm working on furniture for the far side of the room where those two dining room chairs currently sit. I guess I don't have a photo of the curtains in the living room right now, but they are the same as the gray ones in the dining room.

Here are our new pets. Strangely, it feels more alive in here now.

...and our new vents.  This made the room feel so much more clean!

old

new

The dining room has been painted.  It went from a dark cranberry color to really really light lavender.  It feels so much bigger now! 

before

after

 The colored dining room chairs have moved to either side of the buffet in the dining room and are getting slip covers in this fabric:

The chairs were recovered in gray, and will be painted white this spring.

I'm still waiting for a sale at Home Depot for this rug under the table:

We got a new, brighter, up to electrical code chandelier with a new light switch to control it.  The old chandelier was actually rigged and tied into an extension cord that went across the ceiling, down the wall, and plugged in at the floor...not safe and not code!  My mom thought of the ceiling medallion which is actually just a very light weight silver and gold piece of metal work from Pier 1.  Not just for walls anymore.

We're movin' and groovin'.  Next BIG project are kitchen counters and cabinets.  I'm dying to start on that, but for now...caulk, caulk, and more caulk!  I've found that it really hides a lot of things I can't otherwise fix!

Sneak peek on the counters-I found this on Pinterest and have already bought half of the butcher block I need.  SO EXCITED!