Santa came mommy and daddy!

Well, this year is the first year where Kayla REALLY understood Christmas and Santa. 7am in the morning and Kayla comes running into our room shouting, "Santa came! He left a present under my tree!" You see, Corinne gave Kayla a small pink tree that she decorated and placed on her table in her room. Then a few days before Christmas the tag off Kayla's bear tore off. We gave it to Corinne to repair and she brought it back on Christmas Eve in a bag. We placed it under her tree and she was so excited when she woke up. She opened up the bag and exclaimed, "Santa fixed bear!"

The family was busy getting up while Kayla was marveling at the presents Santa left, the cookies he ate, and the carrots the reindeer ate. Then she proceeded to open ALL of her presents shouting, "Look Mommy, he remembered," after each present she opened.

The joy in her face made me smile for hours.

We're on day 3 of Xmas and Mike and I have lost the thrill of Kayla and Riley opening presents. Riley has enough new toys that I could get rid of every single toy he had before Xmas and he would still have more. I think some will be making their way to Grandma Mitchem's house on Tuesday.

I don't want this winter break to end. I'm having too much fun.

What's Protein For?

Kayla is definitely smarter than her age.

Yesterday, I gave her the option of chicken strips and carrots for lunch and she said, "Yeah, carrots!"

I told her no she has to have protein with the carrots and she replied, "Ok, chicken strips and carrots."

Later that night, about 5 hours later we were driving home from dinner and she blurts out of nowhere:

"What's protein for?"

Mike had no idea where that came from and I could only sit there and laugh.

Mike: "Its for building muscles."

Kayla: "Oh."

Riley - 5 months old, Kayla - 4 years old

Well, Riley has reached 5 months tomorrow and is chugging along. He is starting to eat rice cereal and chewing like crazy on anything he can get his hands on. He's sleeping 10 hours every night. He loves to sit in his activity chair and bumbo. I wonder where this bumbo was when Kayla was little. He loves to sit in the bumbo and play with any toy he can grab and keep in his hands. He doesn't enjoy tummy time, but when he is on his tummy he can lift up his head and smile. He can roll from his stomach to his back. He grabs his bottle and pushes it away when he's done. (So, unlike Kayla who would eat until she puked. Can babies be bulimic?) He loves to smile and giggle especially at his big sister. She can always make him laugh in the back seat of the Lexus.

I'm working really hard to make my own baby food. I am really enjoying it. We've started Riley on brown rice cereal. Brown rice is really tricky to get to the right consistency. I've been working hard to nail down a good recipe. He loves it though. I can't wait to start introducing other veggies and fruits soon. I'm definitely taking it slow this time with Riley. I want to be sure his stomach can handle the food. I'm also looking for a good recipe book so if you have any suggestions, please let me know.

Kayla on the other hand is a sponge. She is learning things left and right. She can write her name, and it actually looks like her name. She can spell the word of the month, TWO. She is loving her dance class, but nothing beats spending time at Grandma's house. She loves to play outside with the basketball hoop Uncle E gave her for her birthday. She still loves to play baseball with daddy. She's definitely a girl through and through, not sure where she gets that. Must be from Mike. She loves to play with the many dolls she got for her birthday. But, she's also got a little of her mom in her, her teachers tell me she's a tomboy and loves to run around with the boys. She's a little athlete. She can hit a moving ball with a bat, and can even shoot one handed on a 5 foot tall basket. Mike and I are starting to teach her responsibility and the value of a dollar. She is given "chores" to do around the house and earns a little money every week. She got used to "buying something" every time we went to the store that we knew we had to teach her about money. She is smart that one. She remembers everything and she will even reason with you. I guess its payback for how I was with my mom.

All in all, life is really good right now. Work is stressful, but everyday I can't wait to pick up the two kids and head home to play, cuddle, and give them tons of kisses.

Riley - 19 weeks old, Kayla - 4 years old

At Riley's 4 month check up he was, again, perfectly average. The nurse weighed him at 15 lbs. 10 oz., 25 inches long, with a head circumference of 17 inches. After she looked it up he is in the 50th percentile in all three categories. We were also told his head is a little flat in the back and were advised to keep him off his back as much as possible. So, I've got to make my way to Babies R Us and buy a Bumbo so he can sit up and play. He doesn't like tummy time too much so that's probably not an option to use

Riley has been taking a big interest in the food that we are eating, so I got the ok from the doctor to start giving him some rice cereal. I'm determined to make my own baby food this time, so I cooked up some brown rice and blended it really fine, added some formula and he loved it. He was totally eating it up to the point where he was opening his mouth when the spoon came near his face. He would even push away his bottle. He's growing so fast.

Kayla is doing great. She's moved into the Pre-K classroom and is starting to learn more than recognizing letters and numbers. Her class is learning the number two, what it looks like and how to spell it. I can't believe she can spell the word two. Lately, Kayla has been against going to school so we have talked to her more to find out why she doesn't want to go to school. We found out that no one at school wants to be her "best friend." I decided I needed to figure out why this is happening. I've had lots of conversations with her and discovered she more Munesato than we all thought. Although she seems very outgoing at home and around family and friends, she's really an introvert at heart. She's a lot more like me than I realized.

This time last year she told me, "Logan is not my friend anymore because he doesn't do what I say." I thought "Oh man, she's bossy." But there was more to it than that. Some days I would pick her up and ask her who she was playing with and she would say, "No one, by myself." Then I had huge insight yesterday, when we went to the mall. There is a little playground. She had a lot of fun, but was playing by herself the whole time. After I asked her "why didn't you play with the other kids?" She said, "I like playing by myself mommy." Ugh. How do I get my introverted child to socialize? I'm going to have to try a bunch of different things, I hope I can get her to break out of her shell.

Riley - 14 weeks old, Kayla - 3 years and 11 months old

Riley has been growing leaps and bounds. He is starting to grow out of his 3 month old clothes and has made the leap to size 2 diapers. He is smiling up a storm and gave us his first giggle Monday August 3rd. We're convinced his first tooth is trying to break through because he's pretty fussy and chewing on his hands and our fingers like there is no tomorrow. He sleeps through the night, most nights, and if he doesn't will only wake up once for a diaper change and a bottle. He's a laid back little boy who is perfectly content sitting in his bjorn watching people walk by.

Kayla is turing into a little girl. She has a mind of her own and is enjoying life. Two years ago we took her to Sea World and she was afraid and uninterested. We took her to Sea World on Monday and she was excited to see everything. She fed the sea lions, touched the starfish, and walked through every aquarium. She absolutely loved it! And, Sea World has a new thing where you buy a wristband for $30 and an adult can eat for free all day. It was definitely worth it.

She's starting to get pretty sassy too. You have to watch everything you say around her. Her favorite sayings are:

"That's nasty!"
"I want that for my birthday!"
"You only have two hands, right mommy!"
"Can I watch my show?"
"I want hot chocolate milk. HOT!"

Its great to see the contrast of the two. I can't wait to see what kind of personality Riley has when he is Kayla's age.

Sleeping Through the Night

Well, I think it is safe to say that Riley is sleeping through the night. I put him down around 9pm and he doesn't wake up till 5am. I am so thankful although part of this miracle is due to Riley finding his hand. I walk into his room in the morning to him sucking on his hand. Not quite his thumb, but his hand. Well, it was inevitable. Mike and I both sucked our thumbs and Kayla does. I just hope he only sucks on his hand when he is sleepy. I'm still trying to figure out when to work on Kayla's thumb-sucking. I guess its better than a pacifier.

4th of July

After the busy weekends we have been having, we thought a nice quiet 4th of July weekend was in order. So, Mike marinated his steaks and we ate steaks with broccoli for dinner. The past couple years, Kayla wanted nothing to do with fireworks so we decided we would try next year. But, Mike took Kayla outside and watched all the illegal fireworks. She loved it and asked why we weren't doing fireworks ourselves. So, next year fireworks.

You be the judge

We always ask people, "Who do you think she/he looks like?"

We get a variety of responses.

"She looks just like Mike."
"He looks like Mike."
"I'm not sure who he looks like."
"I think he looks like both of you."

Mike and I both have the same opinion that Kayla and Riley don't really look like either one of us. But, we both do agree that Kayla and Riley look exactly like each other. Above is a picture of both Riley and Kayla at about the same age. They could be the same child. We sent these pictures to Mike's parents and they thought we were emailing two pictures of Riley.

Mike: "I guess the two of us equal this..."

What do you think?

You only have two hands right

Kayla has a way to crack me up when she says the funniest things. Yesterday, Riley started crying while I was making a bottle.

I responded with "Ok, ok, baby Riley I'll be right there."

Kayla responded, "You only have two hands, right mommy."

I asked, "Who says that?"

Kayla replied, "All my teachers at school."

She's a smart one.

She is definitely Japanese.

Since Kayla was 1.5 years old Mike and I have tried to get her to eat sushi. 2 years later and she absolutely loves it. Every time we go to a Japanese restaurant, we have to order about 8 orders (16 pieces) of Salmon sushi to cover both Mike and Kayla. She takes off the fish and eats the fish first and then the rice.

One day we saw this little girl, who was 2 years old, using training chopsticks. We asked the mother how old the little girl was and where did she get those chopsticks. She told us the girl was 2 and she got the chopsticks at Marukai. So off we were to Marukai to get these training chopsticks. For about a year, we carry these chopsticks around and break them out anytime we go for asian food.

The other day, we went to go for happy hour sushi at Kabuki (great deals during happy hour). Kayla shocked us both by using the chopsticks without any help. Not only that, but she's picking up edamame. She's definitely Japanese!

Butterflies

As a teacher I want my kids to be inquisitive about how the world works. I want them to see, learn, and experience everything. So, I was excited when my cousins gave her a butterfly nesting discovery thing. We ordered the caterpillars and watched as they grew. We discovered their cocoons and then transferred them to the netting. After a week or so, butterflies emerged and Kayla was excited to feed them fresh oranges. According to the literature, the butterflies life span is only 2-4 weeks so we knew we had to explain to Kayla that we needed to set them free. So, as a family we went out to our garden and let all the butterflies out. At first, only one flew away and the others remained in the netting. So Mike took each one out and set them on the plants in the garden. He even put one on Kayla's finger. She was afraid at first, but eventually warmed up to it. We left them there and eventually they all flew away.

Two days ago, Mike was cleaning the backyard and he and Kayla discovered one of the butterflies had returned to the garden. Unfortunately, that butterfly was "sleeping" or that's what we told Kayla. We'll talk about life and death another time.

Our Garden

When we had our backyard done, they put in a small raised garden next to Kayla's bedroom. Originally, Kayla and I planted Cilantro, Basil, Spinach, Tomato, and Bell Peppers. They all grew really well except the Bell Peppers. Unfortunately, I had no energy to keep the garden going (I was pregnant at the time). So, we let the garden grow crazy. And, we didn't really use what we were growing. It grew out of control. Finally, we decided to pull everything out and start again. This time we decided to use some seeds and some seedlings. So Kayla, Daddy, and I worked a couple hours to till the garden and plant everything. Here is a picture of Kayla with the finished product. Check back later to see our garden grow.

My Little Ham

It took us a little while, but since Kayla doesn't really understand the concept of time we knew we could color eggs after Easter. Kayla had a great time even though she couldn't do much. She loved it so much, she wanted to keep the eggs for a little while. Finally I had to put my foot down and tell her we were going to throw them away. We took a couple pictures and then threw them away in the trash.

The second picture is Kayla's newest thing. She loves to pose. Whenever I ask for the camera she says, "Take a picture of me." Then she'll go through a couple different poses. When we tell her we're done she asks for more. She's such a ham. I wonder if Riley will be the same way? Or is it a girl thing?

Breastfeeding - Warning Boys may want to skip this entry

Breastfeeding is hard work! Don't be fooled, breastfeeding does not come easy to most. Many women don't produce enough milk. Many babies don't latch on correctly. Many women experience extreme nipple pain. Many women don't have the energy to keep up with their baby's needs.

With Kayla she did not latch on correctly. It was painful. I tried to pump, but I wasn't producing enough milk. So, after a couple weeks, i had to quit and give her formula. With Riley i thought it was going to be different. Riley wasn't latching on correctly, but I was able to put him on and then adjust him so the breastfeeding was working for about a week. Then, the pain started. It was similar to the pain I was feeling with Kayla. It was a burning that occurred whenever he sucked. I gave myself a two day break and went to see a lactation consultant. Of course, just as with Kayla he latched on fine with the lactation consultant. So, I went home and he was doing well. I just can't seem to get him to latch correctly on my left side. It is sooo frustrating! I want this to work so badly, but I may have to concede to breastfeeding a few days a week until my milk supply runs out.

Any suggestions?

Riley - 1.5 weeks old, Kayla - 3.5 years old

I've decided we waited just the right amount of time between kids. Kayla is so helpful and independent, it makes my life a whole lot easier. Of course, she has her bad days, and there are times where she doesn't want to help at all. But all-in-all, she has been a great big sister. She has such a good heart that even when she is doing something with Riley that we don't really approve of, her heart is in the right place. For example, she decided her baby was cold so she put her Cinderella baby in the swing with Riley. Although that is not the best place for him to be, she was very thoughtful. She always wants to give him kisses, cover him up, or help feed him. She doesn't seem to crave more attention than normal, she just craves someone to play with her. If we give her alone time with each of us, then she's happy later when we ask her to play by herself while we feed Riley. I would say the only downfall is Riley likes to held and there are times where that can be a problem depending on what Kayla wants to do at that particular time. On this Mother's Day, I am extremely thankful for the family that I have. I am a proud mama!

He's here!

Similarly to Kayla, I began the week prior dilated 2 cms. Dr. Wan suggested that if I was still preggers the next week he would induce me. So, a week goes by and I am still preggers. I had been having a ton of contractions, but nothing that resulted in real labor. So, I go into my appointment on Tuesday April 28th expecting to be induced. He checks me again and now I'm 3 cms dliated. He suggests inducing me on Wednesday. I agree, although I'm being induced at 6am! Yikes!

Mike, Kayla, and I have dinner at Macaroni Grill for our last dinner as a family of three. Mike and I drop Kayla at my mom's house and we head home. My bags are already packed, so I decide to check the bags and make sure I have everything. Then, I decide to relax and watch some TV. I knew I wouldn't get too much sleep from the anticipation of the day to come. Plus, I really wanted to eat something at midnight because I knew I wouldn't be able to eat anything for a while the next day. I stay up until about 12am and eat my leftovers from Mac Grill. Then I go to sleep and toss and turn until I finally fall asleep.

My alarm goes off around 4am. I take a shower then wake up Mike so he can get ready. We collect the bags and make our way to the hospital. At least being induced means Mike won't miss it, and I avoid the embarrassment of my water breaking in public. We arrive at the hospital at exactly 6am. They show us to the room and I get undressed for the event to begin. They hook me up to a bunch of machines and we wait for the doctor to stop by.

The doctor arrives around 7am and checks everything. He gives the ok to start the Petocyn (spelling?) and around 8am the nurse starts the meds. The contractions begin weak but often. The nurse comes in every 30 minutes and ups the petocyn until the contractions are coming every 2-3 minutes and they are pretty strong. At about 11am I decide I might as well get the epidural because I don't want to wait until the pain is unbearable before I ask for the drugs. After my epidural everything is peachy! I'm feeling gooood. My epidural with Kayla was not good and it wore off after only an hour. This epidural was fantastic. Except for the fact that I couldn't feel or move my legs. I also found that I couldn't get comfortable. In fact, I was really uncomfortable and couldn't find a position that made me happy.

After a couple of hours, the nurse checks me to find I'm about 5 cms dilated but his head is still pretty high. I still had plenty of time to wait. Around 3pm my doctor arrives and breaks my water. At that point i'm about 6 cms dilated. We wait for another hour and half before Mike and Gary decide to grab something to eat. By this time I am starving. It was a good thing I ate at midnight or else I would have been really hungry. While Mike and Gary are down at the cafeteria, I tell the nurse I'm feeling a lot of pressure and the need to push. She checks me and tells me that the head is right there. She better check to make sure Dr. Wan is on his way because it is time to push. Mike and Gary come back pretty quick because the type of food they wanted wasn't ready until 6pm. The nurse informs them its time to push and they both are glad the food wasn't ready. The nurses prep while we wait for Dr. Wan. My nurse asks if it is ok if some nursing students watch (I guess because one was male). I tell her this is child number two, I don't care of 5 male nurses want to watch how else are they going to learn?

And so the pushing begins. With Kayla I pushed for a good 30 minutes. With Riley, 4 pushes and he was out! It was the quickest delivery! Fantastic. A couple stitches due to tearing and it was all over. Riley was born at 5:41pm on Wednesday April 29, 2009.

Due Date Tomorrow

Well, our due date is tomorrow and there is no sign of baby Riley. I am super uncomfortable, having contractions every day, and I threw out my back last Monday and it still hurts. I am ready for Riley to make his appearance and not be pregnant any more. Everytime I start having contractions I time them and hope they will result in labor. But, they eventually go away and I'm left wondering when it will happen.

Well, I at least know that it will happen the lastest Tuesday. My doctor said he would induce me on Tuesday and that may be the best for everyone. Especially since Mike has to commute from Marina del Rey to Fountain Valley to the hospital. If we know exactly when labor will start, then Mike definitely won't miss it.

Even though I'm ready for it to be over, I also can't believe that its almost over. In less than two days I'm going to be a mom again. I don't remember anything. I'm sure it will all come back. I'm excited, anxious, and nervous. I'm excited to see what he looks like, how Kayla reacts, and how Mike reacts. I'm anxious for the delivery, breastfeeding, and the aftermath of birth. I'm nervous to be taking care of two kids, to be home all summer, and to be mother to a newborn again.

Hope to see you soon Baby Riley.

6 ear infections in one year...too much?

They told us Kayla would get sick often when she entered into Preschool. But 6 ear infections in one year! Geesh!

Ear infections were commonplace with Kayla when she started day care. We had a feeling they were a little too frequent. The last time I took Kayla in she had an ear infection and the doctor mentioned the next ear infection may warrant tubes. This was a week ago Thursday. The doctor placed Kayla on antibiotics and she finished those on Monday. I made an appointment for a follow up today. On Saturday she got a little sniffle, then yesterday she had no appetite. Today my mom took her to her appointment to find out her right hear was engorged/infected while her left ear was starting a little infection itself. The doctor decided to take serious action and gave Kayla two shots full of antibiotics while prescribing her Omnicef as well. She also let my mom know she would be calling with a referral for an ear, nose, and throat doctor. So, now we have to take Kayla in for a consultation for the possibility of tubes.

I guess this is happening at a pretty good time. My mom is home and I'll be home in a month or so. The doctor said we could wait until Riley is here before taking any action. But, when it rains it pours. I blame Mike for this because he had tubes twice when he was a kid. I'm at the point where if tubes will help so Kayla won't get sick as often then I am all for it!

Wish us luck!

Pink Friday

This Friday is Pink Friday where all educators are wearing pink as a silent protest against budget cuts and layoffs. If you know anyone who is an educator wear pink to support them.

Luckily for me, I'm safe (I think) we'll know by Friday. But I have some good friends and excellent teachers who will be losing their job. These cuts frustrate me, especially when we have more people in government position who don't do much and we cater to inmates in prisons. How is it that prisoners get three free meals a day (often covering all the major food groups) and our kids get a choice of fried chicken sandwiches, nachos, fries, and chicken nuggets? Its no wonder we have an obesity problem in the US. I watch as kids get Baked Hot Cheetos and cover them in nacho cheese sauce. This is their lunch. Why do we spend more money on people who have done something illegal than the future of our children.

Why do we spend millions of dollars on a program that covers what teachers learn in their credential program? Isn't there a more efficient way to spend our money? Why is there no penalty for parents who's kids are absent at least once a week? Why do we lose the good teachers just because they are new? So many unanswered questions.

Pregnancy - Week 28

Well, I'm seven months with only 2 more months to go. It can't come sooner. I'm back to being exhausted, uncomfortable and swollen. This pregnancy is definitely different from Kayla. I come home to wanting nothing but sleep. Unfortunately that is not an option since Kayla is a ball of energy. This time my legs and feet are swollen by the time I get home, to point where I don't want to stand. I can't get comfortable to save my life. The only position that I find comfortable is laying in bed with a pillow between my knees. I'm trying my best not to use the body pillow since the last time it took over the entire bed. I get mean acid reflux at all times of the day. It doesn't even have to be right after a meal. I have to carry around tums or gum at all times. It's almost like being nauseous again.

On the other hand, this pregnancy is just like Kayla. I have a lot of difficulty breathing, he feels like he is up in my ribs, and I have stopped having a lot of back pain.

I've been feeling the Braxton Hicks Contractions on a daily basis. They are not comfortable, but luckily they only come one or two at a time.

I am worried about going into labor this time. Last time I was induced so I'm not even sure what it really feels like. Plus, Mike works out in Marina del Rey and the last thing I want is for him to miss it due to traffic. I'm on my feet more often than the last time so I hope I won't go into labor really early, like during class.

We're down to the home stretch. Let the countdown begin. 9 weeks to go.

Tomboy just like her mother.

Its apparent that Mike and I have definitely influenced Kayla's interests.

Kayla likes the Dodgers (although I would rather she like the Angels), the Lakers, and the Kings (although I would rather she like the Ducks). She loves to watch baseball and hockey. She's warming up to basketball. AND she can hit a moving baseball. She is a toddler true to form though because although she loves going to watch the games, we can always count on her to want to leave sometime around the end of the first period or fifth inning. "Mommy I wanna go!" We can usually convince her to stay a little longer, but we'll here those four words every couple minutes. I guess we can just be thankful that she enjoys going to the games or else we would have to find a sitter every time we want to go to a game.

We decided to go to the Kings game on Valentine's Day and she had a great time. Its nice that she is starting to understand the games and what everything means. Although at the same time, not so nice since the game broke out in three fights on Saturday. At least we were able to explain the fights and she knows fights are only ok during hockey. I just hope she really understands.

Happy New Year!

You know you are getting old when your daughter and the family fall asleep at the same time before midnight.

We decided to start a family tradition. We each picked out a movie, bought some popcorn and red vines and settled down for a movie marathon. We began by watching the movie Kayla picked "Mary Poppins." We watched that movie and ate some popcorn and red vines in the den. After that we gave Kayla a bath and moved into our bedroom to watch movie number 2 that Kayla picked the old cartoon "Horton Hears a Who." By this time it is about 9pm. We decided to let Kayla stay up as long as she could. The next thing I remember is Mike taking Kayla into her bedroom at about 10:30pm. We had all fallen asleep. I fell back asleep to wake up again at 1:30am and realize we had slept through the new year, all of us.

Next year we are going to have to work harder to stay awake to ring in the new year.

Happy new year to everyone.

New Year's Resolutions:

1. Stay ahead in planning.
2. Eat healthy and exercise.
3. Have a happy, healthy baby.
4. Spend more time with the family.