Today

Today is a lay around the house day. I guess most days are like that since we don't have a car while Jason is at work. However, this particular day I decided we were going to do baths and play instead of doing chores and making dinner. I am just too exhausted for much else. Last night Addy decided she was going to wake up after only 2 hours... usually she gives me 3-4. And Brooklyn was up 45 minutes earlier than usual. So anyway, I'm ready for a nap! I just thought I'd post a few pictures I took of the girls before we all go to sleep.

Check out that girth! =)

Brooklyn decided she wanted to take some pictures of Addy too. She got this little pink camera from Nana and Papi for Christmas. She LOVES it.

This is how Brooklyn came out of her room. I think she looks like a crazy bag lady with all of her belongings on a little cart. Behind her is Addy's new crib. It's a portable one. Brooklyn's crib (which we bought used) is totally trashed and inappropriate for an infant because we have taken it apart and put it back together so many times in our moves. This crib we bought new and it folds up really quickly to be able to slide under a bed. We got the crib, the mattress, and the bedding for $120 which is way cheaper than a regular crib and we will be able to move it around with us wherever we go! It's also on wheels and can fit through doorways so you can move baby around while she's sleeping if needs be. The only bad thing is it is smaller so she probably won't use it as long.

This picture was taken at Brooklyn's request. "Cheese!"

Here is Addy ready for her nap. She's a very particular sleeper. She prefers her car seat to her bassinet, she must have a binky in her mouth, and she has to be swaddled or her arms are just too distracting. Set her up like this and as long as she's tired she'll be asleep in minutes. After doing her little piggy grunts, that is.

Good night!

Doctor

So yesterday Jason got a ride to work so that I could have the car. Addy and I both had doctor appointments to go to. It was my first time venturing out with both girls by myself! I have to admit it wasn't as hard as I thought.

Our first stop was to see Dr. Wise, the pediatrician. It had been a while since we saw him last. They had recently been scheduling us with his assistant, Melanie. It was nice to get his take on things. Adalyn is doing great! She weighs 11 pounds 6 ounces and is 23 inches long. That's the 73rd percentile for weight and 75th for height. She weighs 12 ounces more and is half an inch shorter than her sister was at this age. I love it. She is so chubby and snugly and adorable. Interestingly, they both have/had small heads. Exactly the same at 38cm (26th percentile). Poor baby had to get three shots. Brooklyn was watching and was very upset by the whole thing. Of course, not as upset as Addy who screamed her head off. She pretty much slept the whole day after that and she had a low-grade fever in the night. This morning she is bright and alert, so it looks like she's over the hump.

Gosh, I can't tell you how much I love this little girl!! I get so happy just talking about her! It's funny to me that when I was pregnant with her I wondered how I could ever love another baby like I love Brooklyn. It hasn't been a problem. I love her chunky little body. I love the way she arches her back when I pick her up. I love her smiles and coos. I love her curls. I love the way her binky goes in and out as she sucks on it (Brooklyn never took one). I love the way she grunts like a little piggy as she falls asleep. She's just so STINKIN' ADORABLE!!!

Okay, so back to the doctor's visit. When the doctor first picked Addy up and looked at her, he said, "She looks like a 4-month-old!" Then he checked her stats and said, "Yup, she's a good-sized baby!" I asked what percentile she was in and he told me as if I should be impressed. I replied, "Well, her sister is off the charts!" He looked at Brooklyn and said, "Small?" I said, "No, tall." He looked confused so I said, "She's only two." He incredulously pulled out Brooklyn's chart, studied it, and said, "She's almost the height of an average 4-year-old. And these measurements were taken a few months ago!" I just laughed as he looked at her again and said, "Wow. And she's just barely two!" Then he turned into a doctor again and said, "Well, one problem that you'll see with having big kids is that people expect them to be able to do more just because they are tall. At Brooklyn's age, we only expect them to be able to speak in 2-word sentences. As long as she is doing that, she is right on track." That made me feel good to hear because people often treat her like she is older and then look at me like "what's wrong with her?" when she doesn't respond the way they thought she could. It also made me think Brooklyn must be a genius or something because she uses 6-7 word sentences all the time. =) I also asked the doctor about Brooklyn's hives. She gets blotchy red hives all over her body quite regularly. They never seem to bother her, but it's really upsetting not knowing the cause. The first time she got them she was about 10 months old. I took her in to see Dr. Wise's assistant at that point but she said it's almost impossible to determine what causes hives without extensive allergy testing. So, I just kind of ignored them ever since then, although I still find it really upsetting to see her like that. I never understood why they came and lasted so long and didn't seem to respond to anti-histamines. When I asked Dr. Wise about it yesterday, he told me that the vast majority of hives are caused by a viral infection. That made so much sense! She almost always has a runny nose or a cough when she breaks out. So I guess that's just the way Brooklyn's body responds to a cold. He said she should grow out of it slowly. I hope so! Can you imagine looking like a dinosaur every time you get get a runny nose?

Dr. Wise also told me a little bit more about Addy's hemangioma. He said it is a venous malformation. For some reason, the body just keeps sending more and more veins to that area and they pile up on top of each other to form the tumor. He confirmed that it will continue to grow for a while, then plateau, and then start to go away. However, he said, "If it bothers her when she's like 15 or 16, we can laser it." I said, "15 or 16?!! I thought they went away!" He said, "Well, mostly." I said, "Well I had one and-" He interrupted, "And what does it look like now?" That's when I realized that you can still see mine. It's not super noticeable, but it just looks like a little cluster of capillaries on my calf. It's not raised at all. So, it probably won't go COMPLETELY away, but I'm telling you right now she's not getting it lasered. If she's embarrassed of a splotch on her belly, then she can keep her belly covered up! More incentive to be modest!! =)

So overall it was a great visit (except for the shots) and I learned a lot. So grateful for healthy girls!!

Silly Girl

Brooklyn had her fuzzy red hat on tonight. I just caught her wiggling around in front of the mirror singing, "Dancing Queeeen... wearin' a HAT!"

Gross

Our computer has a screen saver that flips through all of the pictures on our computer randomly. Brooklyn and I like to watch it together and identify all of the people. Grandma, Mommy, Aunt Lashelle, etc... Jason has a few pictures on there that he took of his parents' cat a few years ago. I was nervous about what Brooklyn would say when she saw this:

She simply said, "He's eating lunch."

I guess she understands the circle of life.

Addy Girl

Well, hello! It's been a while. We've got lots to blog about the Maner's Epic Journey. We drove from Lehi, Utah to Bakersfield, CA, to Santa Monica, CA, back to Bakersfield, CA, then to Taylor, AZ, to Washington, UT, and then back home all within about 2.5 weeks. With a newborn and a toddler. So you can imagine there is a lot to tell. However, since Jason started his new job on Monday, I have been home alone with the girls. And we're all three sick. So there has been much exhaustion, laundry, tantrums, baby puke, unpacking, etc. to deal with and I just don't have the energy to tackle that post right now.

Despite all that, I simply couldn't go any longer without sharing some pictures of my Addy girl. She is growing up on us! Here she is at exactly 6 weeks and 2 days old:

And yes, that is the camera strap in the upper right hand corner... shoot!

And just for kicks, here is Brooklyn at precisely the same age. (I know because it was her blessing day.)

Adalyn has a current habit of drenching herself in regurgitated milk. She has a cough like the rest of us and if she has a cough attack too soon after eating, everything in her path gets soaked. Thus, I do a lot of laundry and she gets a lot of baths:

For those who are wondering, that ugly thing on her left side is called a hemangioma. Basically, it's a benign tumor not uncommon in newborns. The bad news is that it's ugly and it will keep getting bigger for about the first year of her life. The good news is that it is easily covered, it doesn't hurt her, and it will eventually go completely away. It's unclear if hemangiomas are hereditary, but Addy's cousin on her dad's side has one and I had one when I was small... so Jason and I can both take the blame.

We sure love our beautiful little chunker girl!