speechless

just for fun

I am somewhat crafty. Not so much in creating things of my own design, but I'm pretty good at copying someone else's. I'm also somewhat cheap thrifty. And, I like distressed/old looking things. Combine all that together and it somewhat creates a hobby of repurposing furniture. Over the years we've painted several pieces of furniture - our bed and the guest room furniture, plus the desk in our study.

When putting Zoe's nursery together I wanted to avoid spending $500+ on a new dresser so we started shopping the classifieds. We lucked out and came across an awesome garage sale find that is working perfectly as a dresser, and doubles as a changing table. I love love love this dresser and think it turned out great, if I do say so myself! Especially considering we spent less than $100 on the dresser and materials.

Most recently, we've discovered our small round breakfast nook table just wasn't cutting it anymore. I've been shopping for weeks trying to find a table that meets our needs, but again not wanting to spend several hundred dollars on a new one I shopped used, and found one similar to this.

Just finished our $40 Craigslist find last night. After a lot of (Cody) sanding and a little left over stain it came out looking like this. I love it this piece too and much prefer the price tag compared to the new ones I was looking at.

crib replacement

We've decided to replace Rhys's crib with a regular bed. After getting up to untangle Rhys from an awkward position no less than four times last night it occurred to me (finally after dealing with this for quite some time) that his crib is too small. Rhys rolls all over the place and gets himself into strange positions, then wakes himself up when he can't get out said position. The crib does convert to a toddler bed, but that would leave him the same amount of real estate. Not to mention I am constantly hearing squeaking on the monitor as he flops about, so I think a larger bed would be nicer for him. Yes other 2-year-olds sleep in toddler beds just fine, but Rhys doesn't have the same set of motor skills and his rolling/movements aren't quite as refined. So, we're going to convert his crib into a full-sized adult bed and add bed rails to the sides to enclose it. It's going to be trial and error (hopefully not error that lands Rhys on the floor!), but we have to make it work because the poor kid can't get uninterrupted sleep. I'm sort of excited to do this for Rhys because I sadly never finished his room the way I had intended. He's had all the pieces, but not everything has had a home.

Zoe on the other hand is having no problem sleeping through the night. Finally! I hope I didn't just jinx myself. Not that I believe in that, but you know just in case. She's been in her own room less than a week and already she's sleeping until at least 8 a.m. Wasn't I just saying she was waking too early? I'm crossing my fingers the late mornings continue.

Cody is finally back from working on the other side of the globe. After having two kids by myself for four weeks I have a new respect for single mothers. And God bless working single mothers. I'd lose my mind if I had to handle an eight to five job on top of the kids. Since it is easier to be out and about with two sets of hands I have put off a lot of things that need to get done. My goal this week is to find Rhys a decent, but not outrageously expensive, mattress set and new bedding. We also need to make appointments for all the doctor's visits I've been putting off, including getting flu shots for all of us. And Rhys needs a haircut - even though I love his hair he is looking a little shaggy lately. Lots to do!

Zoe got the boot

Zoe's been sleeping in our room since she was born. Initially for us to learn her quirks and become accustomed to a new baby, but then a few weeks turned into six months. What can I say, it is ever so much easier to move three steps instead of clear across the house when you're half asleep. And until recently she was showing no desire to eat less than three times a night. Even easier - Cody was away a lot the last few months and Zoe slept in his spot on the bed! Who wouldn't want to sleep next to this?

Last night was Zoe's first night ever in her crib. She's taken naps in her room, but never slept overnight. She went to bed just as easily as she always does. She even slept until her normal time of 5 a.m. Well, I'm assuming. My eyes popped open at that time even though Zoe wasn't crying or making any noise. Sure enough she was wide awake and staring at the light on her camera monitor. I almost got up to feed her, because that is what I'd normally do, but I stopped myself. She didn't look unhappy and she is well past of point of being able to sleep through the entire night without eating. So I stared at her for a while, as I am want to, thinking it's a good thing she is so stinking cute else I might be cranky about being awake at 5 a.m.

I was about to roll over to go back to sleep when I heard Rhys screaming. Ugh. Zoe's room is right next to Rhys's and I could see she heard him. She wouldn't be going back to sleep with all the noise so I checked in on Rhys then went ahead and put her in bed with me to feed her ('cause it is just easier that way). I really needed Zoe to eat anyway, if you know what I mean. By the time she was done eating Rhys was back to sleep, then Zoe and I fell back asleep.

Now if only I could get her to sleep until at least 6 a.m. (but mom would prefer 7 or later if you're listening Zoe) and Rhys to cease his obscenely early morning screaming fits...

equipment purchase process is in the works

After "thinking" about it for many weeks, we're finally getting the ball rolling on Rhys's orthotics and equipment. The PT has been waiting for Rhys to start breaking out of his tone pattern (i.e. move his legs independently and with purpose) before she moved forward with the process of requesting and ordering everything. She thinks he'll only need ankle supports, called AFOs I believe, for walking. This would be to help Rhys's feet stay in the proper position and help him use his muscles in the proper way instead of using the muscles in the tone pattern. Long term she doesn't believe he will need the braces, but that is something only time will tell us. CP isn't progressive, however the effects of not being able to move do ultimately affect the body and cause it to change. Rhys's case seems to be moderate, and he's making great progress, so we're hoping all this hard work pays off for him.

We've decided to get him a gait trainer instead of a stander. Since Rhys does very well bouncing in his jumperoo the PT feels this will be more beneficial for him than a stander because he'll get the benefit of mobility and the weight bearing. His gait trainer will look something like this.

The straps, handles, etc. that you see are removable and Rhys will not require all the attachments. The idea is to get everything Rhys might require and remove it as needed. I'm super excited to get this for Rhys. It is going to take a bit of learning for him (initially I think he will be more interested in the straps than the ability to walk), but I think he's going to love it once he figures it out. He doesn't get in the baby walker often because it isn't designed for toddlers, but when he does his face lights up when he starts moving around. The PT doesn't think he will need this long term, but again we don't know that for certain.

Rhys started his level 2 swim classes this week. Not much different than level 1 classes, just more under water work for the kids. He is getting good at grabbing onto the side of the pool (they teach and encourage "monkey crawling" for safety), but he doesn't yet understand the concept of moving around the edge. He tried to steal a little girl's toy while we were sitting on the step waiting our turn and I had the most inappropriate response of "way to go, Rhys!". He's never tried to take a toy from anyone other than Zoe and she doesn't really count because she can't take it back! He's becoming much more aware of his legs, literally, and grabs onto his pants/shorts a lot. He is also using his upper body to hang on to things and hold himself up. And the boy has mastered the art of rolling and can get pretty much get anywhere in the living room that interests him.

little Z

Zoe is growing so fast. She is the same age right now as Rhys was when he came home from the NICU. Wrap your mind about that one! She is nearly 16 pounds and still loves to eat. Rhys, on the other hand, was about 8.5 pounds at this age. And it amazes me still that despite all our feeding challenges we've been able to get him to the 25%tile on the charts for actual age. But I digress, this is a Zoe post. This is from a couple weeks ago when she had her first cereal.

She picked it up extremely quickly and now consumes a huge bowl full of cereal and apples two times a day. I haven't given her anything else just yet, but I'm sure she'll devour that too! More and more she is acting as though just the milk doesn't satisfy her. It is extremely strange having a child who eats normally. That you can take her out and about and not worry about feeding times and whether you're near a microwave is a novel thing for this household.

I finally have a decent sleeper! For the longest she was eating on demand, every 3-4 hours. Even through the night. She now sleeps anywhere from 7-9 hours a night, consistently. Hallelujah! The only problem is that she goes to bed around 8 and I can never get in bed before midnight, so I still don't get uninterrupted sleep, but this is still much nicer. She also is starting a regular nap pattern, with a small cat nap in morning and afternoon and a longer nap around noon. She is great as far as getting to sleep too, hardly ever fights it unless we're out in public, but eventually she will fall asleep. Hopefully the transition from our room to her crib will go smoothly. I'm about to do it! I really am! I have been putting her to nap in her crib quite often and she does fine, so I'm crossing my fingers she gets the nights down quickly as well!

She's been rolling for a while. Her first roll was from back to tummy, and that is almost an automatic as soon as you put her on the floor or in bed. She sometimes rolls from tummy to back, but not often. She is constantly pumping those chubby little legs and starting to pull one at a time up under her. She absolutely loves the jumperoo, about to the same degree as Rhys.

She isn't quite interested in sitting by herself, but if you have her in your lap she will try to pull away so she isn't resting against you. Rhys and Rollie had better watch out because she stares them down as though she's ready to pounce! Rhys loves his little sister and Zoe is becoming very interested in him as well. I'm going to pretend that is the way it will always be because I don't want to think about separating them from fighting when they get older. :)