happy halloween!

we had a wonderful Halloween! For the past few weeks Sadie has changed her mind every day(literally) trying to decide what she wanted to dress up as for Halloween. She wanted to be a ladybug, superman(not woman...don't ask), a ghost, witch, her lalaloopsy doll, a dog, caterpillar, pirate, a mermaid...and the list goes on. She finally decided on a witch. we went with a simple costume, black and green theme of course:) She had green fish net tights with a black tutu that my mom made. i bought a black leotard and some sparkly green tulle to use as a belt. I also found a cute black and green hat at walmart that matched perfectly. She insisted on getting the long black wig that went all the way down to her butt but that came off before we even left the house to go trick or treating:) she wanted to take the hat off too but i told her no one would know what she was if she didn't have it so she said "ok, i'll just wear the hat, no wig though":). She had SO much fun:) This was really the first year that she was really into it, and knew exactly what was going on. She came home for a potty break and then went back out for round two. she came home with lots of loot and now i have to deal with figuring out how the heck to make it disappear without her eating it all. I didn't get a costume for Van this year(i know, horribly mother), but i knew he would be down for the night before we even went so i didn't bother. oh well. he spent the night at home with mimi and nana and helped pass out candy. then i came home at the break and got him back to sleep while everyone went back out. All in all, it was a wonderful Halloween!

Van is doing pretty good. He still has this yucky cold and i'm hoping he kicks it soon. He is such an awesome boy. He is just over 5 months now. I am making my own baby food for him and so far he has tried:sweet potatoes, prunes, bananas, and peas. He has loved everything so far and does fantastic eating it. I am amazed how much less expensive it is to make your own baby food. I got a new food processor for Christmas last year for this exact reason and it has come in really handy. Now i just need a giant freezer to store everything:)

first ear infection:(

Sadie got her first ear infection at 3 months old. It was Thanksgiving. Then she got one at Christmas. 9 months and 8 more ear infections later we decided to put tubes in her ears and she hasn't had one since. I hated that she was on antibiotics so much during her first year of life and i hope that Van doesn't have to go through that. I found out today that Van had double ear infections:( The first thing that popped into my mind was i don't want to have to do tubes again. I guess my kids are just more prone to ear infections. I think i had a lot as a baby maybe thats why? After about 3 nights of waking up every 2-3 hours i decided to take him in to get checked out. He has been a trooper but today was just pitiful. Hopefully the antibiotics kick in soon so we (meaning him and me) can start sleeping again!

Say what??

Some of the things that come out of Sadie's mouth are just priceless. I still see that itty bitty baby that she used to be and can't believe she can just have a a regular ol conversation with us these days. It's really hard for me to look at Van and imagine him talking to us just like Sadie is:) I watched a video the other day from about a year ago of Sadie talking. It is amazing how much she has changed in just one year. She was talking to the dogs and was saying "mas"(miles) and "pooper" cooper. It was the cutest thing ever. If i can ever figure out how to upload videos I'll put some on here..we have some cute ones:) The other day she was at my tennis match and i was letting her play a game on my phone (a matching memory game). We get home and she says "Daddy, can i play a game on your phone"? "I don't have games on my phone, only mommy does". then she says "Maybe you can download one". Brent and i looked at each other and have no clue where in the world she got that one. I guess my point is, is that i was just watching a home video and she couldn't even say Miles and now she is asking to download a game?! I'm not sure I am ready for all of this! She is just SO much fun these days:) Love you my sweet Sadie pie:)

sleep training...again:)

We decided to revisit sleep training now that Van will be 5 months in just a little over a week...i can't even believe that. Poor lil guy...and mama...was waking up all the time at night, even just 20 minutes after he was down for the night. He just wanted to be held and to nurse...a lot. It wasn't so much about eating, just being close etc. As much as i would love to be up all night with him, i was turning into quite a zombie during the day and it wasn't really fair to Sadie. I went to the library and checked out The Sleepeasy Solution and just tried to stick with it. The first two nights were just plain awful..awful. he cried...a lot:( it broke my heart. But, eventually he fell asleep. It took about an hour both nights. He slept pretty good both nights, putting himself back to sleep pretty good but still woke up to eat. The third night there was no crying at all. A little cooing and then nothing. I honestly couldn't believe it. I went and checked on him and he was on his side, sucking his fingers. The fourth night, he cried a little bit off and on for a few minutes and then went to sleep. Both kids have been in bed by 7 for the past two nights in a row and suddenly i feel like i can breath! Fingers crossed that he doesn't get sick, etc. and throws everything off..which it will. But for now, i can have a few hours of peace at night:) Once he is 5 months and 15 lbs(i think he is pretty close to that) we can begin the process of night weaning:/

little thum sucker:)

This past weekend Van has really figured out how to suck his thumb. He has been doing it for a while now but had to work really hard to find the thumb. Now it goes straight in when he is tired....along with the other hand twirling the hair. I could just eat him up:) I'm sure it won't be so cute when he is 4 and sucking his thumb(please don't let him suck his thumb at 4), but it sure is cute now. I'm hoping that since he is getting so good at this we will have better nights. Last night he woke up just once to eat(which in our house is GREAT). i deal with waking up once. Let's hope for 2 good nights in a row though..something i don't think we have had yet!:/

4 month stats

Here are Van's 4 month stats. Growing boy!

14 lbs (up 3 lbs 2 oz, up to 50th percentile from 25-50 from last time)
25 inches long (up almost 3 inches from last time, up to 50th percentile from 25th)
Head circ 41.5 cm (25th percentile)

My sweet Van continues to be such a happy boy:) He may not be the best sleeper but he sure makes up for it with his sweetness all day long:) Love him!

teething already??

It appears that Van is getting in his two bottom teeth already! Sadie got her first tooth(well 4 at a time) at nine months old, then got 4 more by her 1st birthday. I have gotten bitten quite a few times while feeding Van(not good:)) and he has been extra fussy lately and not sleeping very well so i decided to peek in his mouth. To my surprise i found two white spots on his teeth where his bottom teeth will be coming in. He is getting pretty annoyed with me always looking in his mouth:) They are moving so slow! I'm hoping they cut very soon bc the poor guy just bites on his hands and screams half the time. Even with his teething troubles he is just the happiest baby! I remember when Sadie was this age she was very serious...you had to really work to get her to smile..this little boy just needs you to talk to him and he will give you all kinds of smiles and giggles. They are already so different!

Sadie started school this week at her new school and she hasn't skipped a beat. Thankfully, she loves school and learning. She immedietley came home and played "school" with all her people..telling them to go get their lunches and to raise their hands if they needed something. I can't brag enough about how smart she is(i'm her mother i'm allowed to)! Ever since she was just over 2 she has known every single letter of the alphabet and what sound it makes. she can tell you what ANY word starts with and she can do basic reading(cat, dog, etc.)

I'll post some pics soon..if i don't post this now it will never get posted!

sleep training

We are on night number 2 of sleep training. i decided to give it a try since we have been rocking Van to sleep for sometimes an hour plus and then he wakes up after 10 minutes and we have to start all over again. Last night was the first night(if you want to call it that). I let him cry for 5 minutes and couldn't take it any longer and went in and got him. Then Brent rocked with him until he was OUT. Tonight, after rocking him for over an hour i was exhausted and had stuff to do so i decided to give it another try. i put him down and he cried for 5 minutes, then stopped and cried for about 3 more minutes and then went to sleep. That was the first time he went to sleep on his own since he was a newborn. Now, i know more than anyone that once you start bragging on your baby's sleep they throw a change up the next night and all hell breaks lose. SO...we will see what the rest of the week brings:) I can deal with less than 10 minutes of crying if he goes to sleep on his own. After i hit post on this, he will probably wake up:)

11 weeks old!

Well, clearly i am not the best blogger:) Some people ask me "what do you do all day long, i could never stay home?" Let me tell you, i am always doing something! There is always someone to play with, a load of laundry to do(literally almost every day), cleaning, dishes, dinner etc. And if i'm lucky i can get in a quick shower and maybe get to dry my hair and put on some makeup. Now i know things will calm down, especially once Sadie gets back to school, but for now there is not much sitting down. I usually get to catch up on some shows while i'm nursing Van(until Sadie comes in and requests to watch Peppa Pig over and over and over again). So, from here on out my goal is to update the blog once a week(hopefully:))

Here are Van's 2 month stats. 10 lbs 14 oz, 22 1/4 inches long. i forgot head circ but everything was 25th percentile. He is just growing like crazy. I love him so very much:) He is such a happy baby too. He usually eats, has some awake time and play time and during this time he just smiles and coos and giggles...it is so sweet. then he takes a nap and wakes up and does it all over again. He sleeps through tantrums, dogs barking, etc. He doesn't love the car. Somehow we have never had that baby who you can just bring in a restaurant and they just go to sleep. Van will not fall asleep in his car seat. If you put him in there asleep he will sleep but will never fall asleep in there. Guess no restaurants for us for a while:)

Sadie went through a pretty rough patch for a while there but i'm VERY happy to say that we have our sweet girl back. What i thought was a very severe case of the terrible threes(yes threes, two is not so bad afterall) was a bad case of sleep deprivation. We thought for a while there that she was ready to drop her nap and go to bed early so we did that for a while. bad idea. after about a week she was a nightmare. everything was a meltdown. So, i got all my old sleep books out and read up. turns out she was just way tired..needed an afternoon nap AND an early bedtime. So now she takes an afternoon nap around 1 for about and hour and a half and goes to bed around 8. I like early bedtimes:)
She is also on her way to being fully potty trained. I don't think it's a coincidence that after she started catching up on sleep that she started having less accidents. She also is mommys favorite helper:) she wants to help me with everything. From changing Van's diaper to cooking dinner, to washing my face..i mean everything. Sometimes things take much longer to do, but i don't think i'll ever get tired of hearing "can i help mommy?"

I guess i'll leave on that note..save some stuff for next weeks blog:)

short post

Just a quick post to say that i am back from my break of taking pictures! I have started scheduling some sessions so if you know of anyone in the market for some pictures send them my way!!

quiet time

It has been quiet in the Winzeler household this afternoon. Both kids have been asleep for a while now and instead of taking a nap myself i decided to catch up (WAY up) on getting the house in order. I have to admit i feel much better getting everything done than when i do when i wake up from a nap and nothing is done. I'm still trying to get the hang of keeping the house in one piece and making sure both kids are eating/sleeping etc. I think yesterday i forgot to make Sadie lunch! Van is starting on reflux medicine today..poor little guy has been refluxing for some time now and he is so uncomfortable. Hopefully the first meds we try will help and we won't have to put him on the medicine Sadie was on bc it's super expensive. Other than that we are all doing great!!

2 weeks old

Hard to believe Van is already 2 weeks old..well just about anyways. Today we went in for his 2 week check up..we went in a couple days earlier than our original appt bc i had a couple questions i needed answered and didn't want to wait until the end of the week and definitely didn't want to go twice. So 1 day shy of 2 weeks he is 6 lbs 11.5 oz(yes he gained almost 12 oz in 8 days!), he is 20 inches long(grew 1 inch in 8 days also) so he is growing like a little weed! They say right now he is long and lean, 25 percentile for weight and head and 50 for height. He is still a great baby(knock on wood) and so far no signs of the extremely fussy baby we had with adorable almost 3 year old. He is pretty content when he is awake, just likes to look around. He really only fusses when he is getting changed or is ready to eat. Night times are still hard...he wakes up a lot to eat and grunts and makes a LOT of noises in his sleep. I can honestly say i forgot how hard the first few weeks(probably months) are. Sadie is still doing great with him and is really happy now that she isn't sick anymore and can give him lots of love:) She is going to be the best big sister:)

Welcome to the world, Van Thomas Winzeler!

Our little guy is finally here! After a very easy labor, Van Winzeler was born on May 19, 2011 at 1:14 pm. He weighed 6 lbs 5 oz and was 21 inches long(although he did have a conehead so he was actually only 19 inches long:)). He is so perfect and such a great baby. He was alert from the get go. And apparentley he takes after his daddy:) Sadie has not skipped a beat. It's like she was born to be a big sister. She wants to help with everything..from putting him down for a nap to helping to change his diaper. She adores him. I can't tell you how many times a day she says "look at him...he's so cute" in her sweet little voice. I have to say i miss her a lot. Exclusively breastfeeding (and Van has been eating a LOT) takes lots of time away from her. I can't wait for things to get just a little easier and i can spend more time with her again. My mom went back to work today so it was me all alone with Sadie and Van. Sadie is also sick:( My mom is going to come back tomorrow and friday to help out a little with her bc she just doesn't feel well and needs a little more attention that i can give her right now. We are adjusting great and are really looking forward to watching Van grow!

And props to Brent for capturing this sweet picture at the hospital(with a little guidance:))

homestretch!

I have 9 days to go(give or take) and i have never been more ready! Don't get me wrong, the thought of 2 babies makes me a little nervous but i'm ready for the challenge:) So crazy to think that it's almost time for him to be here. I am extremely nervous this time around because with Sadie i was induced because of PIH (pregnancy induced hypertension) so everything was kind of scheduled. As of now, my blood pressure seems to be normal, which is great, but i am a little nervous about "going into labor". I have heard so many stories of how much faster the second one is etc. and i am very anxious right now about everything! My labor with Sadie was really fast already so how much faster can it get? I guess i'm scared that i won't get to the hospital in time:) I think we are about 90% sure of the name, so at least i don't have to be anxious about that anymore:)

As far as Sadie goes, she has been a little challenging lately..i know, great timing right? She is changing SO much at such a fast pace, she is having a hard time keeping up. First off, her imagination is out of this world. It is constantly racing. It's great and all and i know it's part of her age but it is affecting everything. She has a hard time going to sleep bc of it. She is also getting very manipulating. She completely understands what we are telling her yet she will cry/ have a tantrum etc. just to see if we will give in. The trick here is to NOT give in:) A lot of times this is easier said than done! For the most part we stick to it and hopefully this manipulating stage won't last that long(yea right:)). We are starting to wonder if she may be ready to drop her afternoon nap. The ONLY night this week that she went to bed without a huge meltdown was the day i decided not to let her nap. That day was very difficult. She slept 11 hours that night and was in be at 7:30 which was awesome. These days she doesn't fall asleep until 9:30/10 or sometimes later. The only problem was she woke up at 6:30 that morning and there was just no way she could make it until bedtime. Sooo, we went back to naps, just taking them much earlier and no longer than 2 hours. So far, it has not worked. I guess tomorrow we will try no nap again, and maybe bedtime at 7pm rather than 7:30. and just hope that eventually she will adjust and get at least 12 hours of sleep. Wish us luck these next couple weeks...we will surely need it!!

still truckin along

Well, I'm officially a stay at home mommy! However, somehow i have become much more tired than i was when i was working?! Must be where i am at in my pregnancy but i am so beyond exhausted. I don't know what i would do if i was still working. I'm 34 weeks and not so much loving being pregnant anymore:/ I'm unbelievable uncomfortable, not sleeping hardley at all at night, and having those darn braxton hicks contractions all the time. I'm really enjoying my time with Sadie right now. She is so much fun these days. She will walk around singing songs that she made up and then say "you like that song"? It really is hilarious..she definitely has her daddy's musical talent. This past weekend my sister and mom threw a shower for me and baby brother on the way. It was so much fun to see everyone and i got tons of goodies for baby boy. I am so very thankful for everyones generosity! I can't believe he will be here very soon! We are so anxious to see what he will be like and what he will look like. I'm expecting him to look a lot like Sadie but who knows?! Now that i am home full time i promise to blog more:) I seem to be on facebook more but i know there are some people on here who aren't on facebook for all the updates (ahem, Ali). The baby's nursery is coming along nicely and almost finished. Besides our desk and guitar studio that also is in there right now:) I will try and post some pictures soon of the progress that it is making:)

We're back!

Well, we survived our first family vacation to Disney World! We all had so much fun and made some wonderful Winzeler family memories. Usually vacations for us are about relaxing, but this trip was all about Miss Sadie. With this being the first trip to Disney for all three of us, we were kind of at a disadvantage. Yes, people gave us tips, told us to bring our wallets, etc. but it's so much to take in you just have to experience it first and learn on your own what to do/not do next time. Next time??? Yes, we will go back but not until ALL of our kids can experience all of Disney and we will only go one more time. I'm still not sure how we will afford to take all of our kids bc it will be expensive! Guess we should start saving now:) All in all it was a fantastic trip and i hope Sadie remembers at least some of it. I didn't take as many pictures as i would have liked, but i really wanted to enjoy the memories myself and not be behind the camera the whole time. If you ask Sadie what her favorite part of Disney World was she will tell you "race cars( but i'm not big enough to drive yet), teacups, dinosaurs, boats, train, and riding the school bus". and by school bus i mean the bus that took us from our resort to the parks. She also told us on the first day there that she wanted her wand to "boop" her and make her big so she could ride all the big rides. I can't believe she is already wishing to be bigger:( Here are a few pics from our trip.

blogger of the year

So, i realize i'm not the best blogger. There is a lot to update on here(considering it's been about 6 months since my last update). Baby #2 is on the way and it's a BOY! We are thrilled and can't wait to be a family of 4. In 3 weeks we are taking our very first trip to Disney World. One last hoorah before baby #2 comes. Sadie is so excited she asks everyday to go to Disney World:) Another big change is that I will no longer be a nanny to Scottie and Josh. This is obviously very bitter-sweet for me as i have been their nanny for 6 and a half years!! Even though i will be really sad to leave them, i am really excited about staying home with my babies. I can't wait to not have to wake up Sadie in the morning and to not spend the 2-3 hours in the car each day that we currently do. Sadie is really going to miss playing with the boys though..we will definitely need to plan routine play dates for them. As far as Sadie goes, she is just divine! She talks non-stop about just about everything. She is almost fully potty-trained too which is great. She absolutely loves school and next year will start going 3 days. My goodness how fast she is growing. She has turned into the worlds biggest daddy's girl which melts my heart but also makes me a little sad when "no daddy do it" comes out of her mouth so often. I love my little family so much:) That's all for now!