A Sweet Easter

"Can I have a sweet today???"

I get this question from Collins every single day now. My girl is on a permanent sugar high, and Easter did not help this situation! Two frosted bunny cakes, Starbursts hidden inside eggs, chocolate bunny treats, and Peeps in her Easter basket- the possibilities literally had her head spinning. Her negotiations for sweet treats begin bright and early each day, and she works me all day long. It's exhausting...therefore requiring my own late-night sweet treat. :)

Needless to say- she loved Easter this year!

 



And talk about sweet...

 

 

Addie at 3 Months

Addie turns four months old tomorrow so I am bit behind on this one! But better late than never. :)

She is growing so fast! Addie is already wearing some 6 month old clothing and is now taking in five ounces of milk at each feeding. She has developed chunky leg rolls which totally make me smile. Other ways she has made us smile in month three: exercising those vocal chords with lots of cooing, snuggling with me on the beach, becoming a regular restaurant go-er without lots of screaming, and kicking her legs wildly when she gets excited.

The time is flying by with our little one! We'll be hitting solids before you know it. Until then, we will enjoy our snuggles and smiles and keep hoping for a full night of sleep!

Still Adjusting

It's been almost four months since sweet little Addie joined our family, and I'm realizing that we're all still adjusting.

Once I think I have finally hit my stride juggling two, something happens to take me down a notch. We were at the bookstore the other day when Collins's foot started hurting from a blister. She started wailing (loudly) and people started staring. Then that upset Addie, and she started screaming. I started moving us towards the exit- quickly- and then Collins demanded to be carried. I must have looked a mess attempting to carry a large child, Addie in her car seat, and our books because some random woman took pity on me and offered to help me carry things to the car. But the good news is that I have finally figured out how to run errands with them both- most importantly the grocery store . The baby carrier has been a life saver!

Collins had been doing really well adjusting to her new sibling, but the last few weeks she has struggled. All of a sudden it's, "Mommy, my legs don't work- carry me" and "I want to sit in your lap NOT Addie". There have been many meltdowns, and I have struggled at how to handle them. I want her to realize this is our new reality, but I also want to be sympathetic that this is a huge adjustment for a three-year-old.

Brian is still adjusting to the lack of sleep. Addie had been stretching out her night feedings, but started regressing for some reason. He is disciplined enough to still get up for his 5:30 a.m. workouts, but keeps asking- "when  is Addie going to finallly sleep through the night???"

And finally, little Addie is adjusting too- to her new room. Last night was the first night she has slept in her own room and crib. It was time to move her out of our bedroom, and she did pretty well in her new digs!

We are all adjusting slowly, but surely. Once we hit the half-year mark with our baby surely we will have it all figured out, right? Or maybe by then, crazy will be the new normal. :)

Campus Tour

On Saturday the girls made a campus tour of Davidson- the other school on their short list of potential colleges (Chapel Hill made a strong impression back in the Fall- especially for Addie who was in utero).

Collins really liked the tree swing and the red cheerleaders. Addie was impressed by the big trees that provided good shade for napping. Only time will tell whether the girls become Tar Heels or Wildcats.

 

 

 

Going Really Fast

Collins spent the entire first semester of school scared of Mr. Vatel, the music teacher. According to her, he was scary because he has long, gray, curly hair (reminiscent of Santa Claus) and wears a firemen's hat when he's singing about firetrucks. Each morning when she got up for school, she would ask if it was Tuesday because that's the day she has music class. Over time, she has worked through this issue and her anxiety is gone.

In fact, she now speaks up during music class, eager to talk with Mr. Vatel. Recently, she told him that her favorite food was hot dogs but that we didn't have any buns at our house. Mr. Vatel agreed that hot dogs are awesome and understood the importance of always having buns.

Then the other day they were singing a song about "going really fast" when Collins launched into an elaborate tale about how her Mommy was going really fast at Wrightsville Beach when a police officer pulled her over and there were blue lights and we were going to get ice cream and on and on and on....Then the other kids started telling their own stories about their parents "going really fast". The teachers were in hysterics!

I'm so glad Collins is no longer scared of Mr. Vatel- I just wish my shortcomings weren't the reason for the bonding. :)

Spring Break (via Instagram)

I am way late to the Instagram party, but am so glad I finally took five minutes to figure it out. What a fun tool that transforms your pictures! I played around with it this past week at Wrightsville Beach where we spent a really fun Spring Break. Here's what our trip looked like thanks to Instagram...

 

 

 

Moments not even Instagram can glamorize...the hour-long trauma of removing a splinter from Collins' hand, an unfortunate meeting between Addie and a beer bottle (don't ask), and Collins getting sick and being out of comission for a day. A few blips on an otherwise wonderful week at the beach!

Follow me at brookefork, and let me know if I can follow you too. Baby steps into the social media world... :)