Easter Baskets

I got the kiddos new Easter baskets b/c I could not find Jillian's basket from last year. Jillian spent 30 minutes last night playing with them. Who knew baskets could be so much fun?? We have our first Easter Egg hunt at church on Sunday. Then she has another E.E.H. on Thursday at MDO. Then of course, gotta have an E.E.H. on Easter, right? This sounds like a lot of work for Mommy and Daddy.

Going to the store...


Finally, her "playing" went to far as she was trying to sit inside the baskets. Of course, which one did she insist upon sitting in....Rocco's. I am glad she didn't break it.

Finally, last night Jillian wanted to sing to Rocco. She did a very nice job however you can see what I am talking about when I say she likes to sing right in his face. I love when she falls off the couch. Cracks me up!

The Strong Willed Child

My sweet, gentle Jillian has recently been showing signs that she will not always be sweet and gentle. What is the cause? Who knows....the entrance of Rocco, the fact that she is now 2, maybe because I am back at work, somedays she does not get a good nap??? The fact is somedays she is HARD to deal with. The girl knows what she wants and has no problems telling you. I wanna watch a bideo, I want to go to the park right now, I want cheez-its, I want choco, etc., etc. This I could deal with OK but it is also in combination with aggression towards poor Rocco. On most days, the girl just can't seem to be gentle with him.

Somedays she will surprise me. For example, last night she was pretty darn sweet to Rocco (in Jillian standards). She asked to hold him, gave him lots of hugs and kisses. But she always yells/screams in his face. She refuses to whisper. And yes, she knows how to whisper b/c we practice.

I asked my mom for advice. Where does she get this behavior? My mom looked right at me and answered with, "Ashley, when you were little I bought the Strong Willed Child by Dr. James Dobson." Oh, I guess she gets it from me. Great!
So here it is, I got the book but have not read it yet. Hopefully, it is just a stage. Hopefully she will grow out of it. Hopefully, my sweet, loving, gentle girl will return shortly. If not, then maybe Dr. Dobson can help.

8:00

I hate to say it (in fear of a jinx) but I think I might have hit a groove! Here is our routine: when I get home with the kids, I get both kids ready for the bath. Jillian is usually not happy about it but once I get her in, she is very happy to play in there. Clean both of them, wrap in towels that Jillian gets to pick out. She usually chooses the duck and gives Rocco the alligator. Then I get them dressed in pjs that again, Jillian gets to pick out. Then we climb in my bed and I nurse Rocco to sleep while Jillian either watches "The Beast" or I read her some stories. Once Rocco is down then I take Jillian for some cuddle time in her room and she is off to bed too. (If I can't get Rocco down first then he comes with us to Jillian's room). The point is....that both kids are asleep by 8:00 - 8:15 a.m!!!! I have a little me time for about 2 hours!!!

Also dare I say it, Rocco is pretty much sleeping through the night. Jillian did not sleep through the night until she was a year old. Hello?? What a difference!!! Now, he is not sleeping in his own bed yet, but we will get there!!!

Finally, my little silly Jilly has shown definite signs of jealousy so I basically have given her full use of Rocco's things to try and quelch the jealousy. So here she is fully enjoying Rocco's bassinet. I just hope she doesn't break it!

Welcome to my World

I got to my parents house after school on Thursday and this is what I found.

MDO called again about the splotches I mentioned in the last post. Jillian is sick. Dad took her to Dr. Ear infections AGAIN. Rash is likely allergic reaction to Zyrtec.

I think the apocolypse is near.

Frustration

The verdict is in - Rocco has pink eye. Another Dr. visit. Another trip to the pharmacy. The Dr. said everything else looked fine however I am going to agree to disagree with the Dr. as this morning he was coughing up flem. Grrr!!!!!!

Jillian is still suffering from allergies. She is full of snot. She has a prescription for Allegra however it gives her diaper rash. So I decided to try children's Zyrtec. Well, now poor little bookie has a splotchy rash all over her body. I stopped all medication. She is allergic to the penicillan family so I wonder if Zyrtec has something in it from that family??? I don't know what to do.

I feel like I need to take my family far away to a detox center and get rid of all of the germies that are DRIVING ME CRAZY!!!!

Otherwise, last night returned to Monday status and the kiddos went to sleep quickly and easily. God bless 'em.

One final note, my chunky monkey weighed 14 lbs 14 ozs yesterday.

Cryin'

Can you hear it? Roy Orbison singing his famous song. Well, last night, my head was ringing with the chorus...."Cryyyyin' over you."

This week is my first full week back to work. This is a difficult adjustment by itself. Add this factor in - Bryan has to work nights all week. That equals - one Mommy alone with two kids every single night.

Monday night went perfectly. I got both children bathed, pjed, and asleep (without much fuss) by 8:00 p.m. Nothing that perfect can last.

Last night, Jillian was beyond tired. When she goes to MDO, she does not get her full nap plus she is still all crudded up with allergies so she does not feel 100%. She screamed and cried b/c she did not want to bathe. She screamed and cried b/c her new Pinnochio pjs were dirty. She screamed and cried b/c she did NOT want to go to bed. All this time, Rocco was crying b/c.....well, I don't know. He was just crying.

So I forced her to bathe, coerced her into her polka dot pjs and caved and let her have her ba (bottle). The three of us cuddled on the rocking recliner in her room and my two little ones were out within 3 minutes. The problem..... how to get Jillian into her crib?? I ended up just putting Rocco on the floor (he woke up). I picked up Jillian and put her to bed (she woke up). Thankfully, she went right back down asleep and Rocco followed suit shortly thereafter.

Three more nights to go......

Stuff Going on since Saturday

On Saturday night, Bryan and I had a date to the Elton John/Billy Joel concert. It was fantastic!!!!

Actually we double-dated with Sum-Sum and Bill-Bill.

Grammie and Poppy watched Jillian, Rocco and Gavin.

On Monday, I went back to work full time. Geez, it was kind of rough for everybody. I was not prepared for 20 kindergarteners. My fault b/c I did not want to prepare anything over Spring Break. Winging it with 20 k.g.s is very difficult. Things went OK for my Dad. I think everybody cried a lot which is hard. Rocco only had one bottle all day at 3:00 p.m. Dad couldn't get him to take another. I think this will get better with time although today he only had one bottle again. This brings me to today. Rocco has goop coming out of his eyes. GEEZ!!! So back to the Dr. tomorrow. I am really starting to hate the Dr.'s office.

Finally, when I got to G and P's house to pick up the kids, this is what I found.

I guess she is ready for Spring????? She was helping Poppy water the plants and got wet so she took off all of her clothes. Sounds logical to a 2 year old, right??

Finally, Dad reports Rocco rolled over today. Is that possible at 9 weeks, 5 days??? He swears he put him on his stomach and came back and he was on his back. I swear, my kids are genius!!!!!