Happy Fall/Halloween!

We FINALLY got some 60 degree weather!!  Even 50 degree as well!  I don't think it's here to last, so I'm not motivated to drag out winter clothes yet.

Aunt Claire has been in town and we kept her busy with a zoo trip, dinner out, 2 gelateria stops, our church fall festival, our neighborhood Halloween carnival, and a visit to the fire station.

Matching cuties - thanks Grammy!

Wait, matching cuties again!  Jack's "puhjammies" - a gift last year; Cora's pjs - zulily purchase!  Jack was SO excited for them to "match".  (No she's not sitting up alone.)

Fireman and Firebaby.  Aunt Claire was an honorary firewoman for the day

I'm always an honorary fireman.  (Missing from pic: honorary fireman Daddy)

The "Jacks" having fun at the neighborhood Halloween carnival

So Much

This week I feel like there is just SO MUCH.  So much going on, so much on my mind, so much to say.  This is not a bad thing; I actually like how full life is right now.  So what's going on?

1. Don't brag on your baby.  She will make you eat your words.

Perfect sleeper decided to mix things up and for 5 nights woke us 4-5 times.  That coupled with daily alarm clocks for work or exercise led to...

2. The remembrance/realization/reestablishment that I NEED sleep.

In our Sunday School class' recent study The Good and Beautiful God, one of the first challenges we were given was to ensure we were getting 7 hours of sleep at least (I need 8).  It was easy to make jokes about doing this, but the first few months of being a mom of 2 and this last week reminded me of why this is so critical.  One may have lofty goals and aims, be they spiritual, personal, professional, what have you, but you derail yourself if you are tired.  You eat poorly, act meanly, and just can't enjoy life the way you can when you are rested and have given yourself some margins.  So...

3. We made a change.  Cora got moved down the hall into her crib.  

Turns out baby girl (at 18 lbs and 25+ inches) just wasn't loving her little cradle anymore.  She immediately returned to her once nightly waking and last night (for the first time, let me hear a Hallelujah!) slept through the night!  9pm-6am (when I woke her bc I was so worried about her).  On the topic of sleeping...

4. Right before we realized Cora was going to trip us up on sleep, we decided to do a BOP BAN at nighttime.

What's a bop?  That's Jack's self-created word for his pacifier which he still passionately uses at sleep times.  Jacob says he's addicted and he's being serious.  I'm more moderate on the issue (is it really doing that much harm to have it at nap/night time?)  So we compromised and decided to say NO BOPS at night time but YES BOPS at nap time.  (No messing with nap time allowed!  My rule!)  While this might seem like it could be confusing, I think it's actually kinder.  As the child sobbed and sobbed, at least we could repeat that we weren't taking the bops away, just trying to teach ourself how to sleep without them at night time.  For the record, he does not care that firemen, Mommy, Daddy, or his friends don't use bops.  We are several nights in and it's getting better.  At least he's had awesome daytimes, because...

5. We live in and love New Orleans.

In the past week, we have had park play dates, a zoo playdate, listened to a youth orchestra while picnicking on the lawn of our mansion turned local library, gone to the farmer's market, gone to the Children's Museum, and gone to the Parenting Center (aka toddler heaven).  It's easy to have low-cost fun in this city, especially when...

6. We have such awesome NOLA friends.

I love how we run into friends every time we are out walking in our neighborhood.  I love that our circles of friends are interconnected.  I love that many of our couple friends are starting to join us in the parenting stage of life.  I love that Jack has so many friends from such loving, caring families. 

7. But mostly, I love these little ones.

...despite their idiosyncrasies this past week!  Note: I'm attributing my effusive mood right now to the bedtime book I just read Jack, Just In Case You Ever Wonder by Max Lucado, just picked up for $1 at our library's Saturday book sale.

4 month update

Baby Cora: I'm not trying to brag on my baby, but I can't quit saying what an awesome baby Cora is.  At least by writing it down repeatedly, nothing she can do in the future will erase the fact that she was just a chubby bundle of precious sweetness right now.  I really love having a baby.  This may sound silly, but whenever I'm reminded that that's "my baby" over there, I just have this tremendous happiness.  I'm sure it doesn't hurt that she's so easy, but babies are just wonderful.  I highly recommend them ;)

What a look!

Cora's a smiler and a laugher, but not a mover or a shaker yet :)  And I don't mind at all!  I love that I can put her anywhere and know she isn't going anywhere.  She's also a firegirl in training.

On her 4 month birthday, Cora was 17 lbs, 11 oz and 25.5 inches.  Which means that in 4 months to the day, she put on 10 pounds to the ounce!  Impressive!  Apparently I'm producing pure cream.

She needs at least 5 hours of nap time during the day, which comes in 3-4 naps.  She has started sleeping in a little later than us, even to 7:20 one morning this week.  She is ready for "bed" by 8 at the latest and usually doesn't wake up much when I feed her before I go to bed.  Still waking once to eat and going right back to sleep.




Big Boy Jack: The fire truck obsession continues.  We're all a little tired of playing, but are continually amused by Jack's additions to the game.  Now there is a telephone involved to signal a fire.  He's alternatively manic, running to get his gear and hurry to the fire, and, at other times, the fire rages for half an hour it seems before he gets around to fighting it.   The other day I was told to "be patient" and many times the fire truck has left something at the station and has to leave the fire to go back and get it.

Favorite quote of the week, Jack to Cora: "Are you admiring my fire gear?!"

Our local hero is Captain Ross at the Arabella Station.  We met him several months ago and he achieved  mythical status in Jack's play world.  We've returned to the station many times, but just this past week ran back into Captain Ross.  Jack had a great talk with him and walked away with many more factoids and stories (luckily he didn't understand all of Captain Ross's stories - he's a colorful guy!) 

Jack and buddy Thatcher

We are loving the Waldorf School and Jack loves going.  He also seems to love his new babysitter Miss Rachel and luckily she doesn't seem to mind playing fireman.

"Laundress" needs to be added to my business card.

Mommy Landry: I'm proud to say I completed my first month of Pure Barre classes, going 12 times in 30 days.  Thanks to my husband's pace, I also met my goal of running a sub-8 minute mile and actually did 7:20.  We've been toying with the idea of running the New Orleans Half Marathon in February.  Registration goes up this month but ???  It will take a big commitment to fit in longer runs (and probably mean hiring a babysitter once a week bc more than 45 minutes in a stroller is a lot to ask of two children.)  I've finished 4 weeks of work and things are going well.  More thoughts to come after I reach my official 6 weeks so-now-I-can-assess-this-situation-fairly mark.

This guy definitely loves having a baby too!

Daddy Landry: Jacob is now more than halfway through his Executive MBA at Tulane.  I know I, for one, will be on the moon when he isn't taken away from us 7:30-5:30 every other weekend!  His program ends with an international trip next June and the tentative plan is that I will join him (probably with just Cora) after his week of classes for an international vacation.  We don't know yet where he's going, but it's exciting to think about. 

Snippets

Off to church

A busy week, but all went well with work and the new babysitter.

Jack: Capturing a moment (or more like a snapshot of the last year) on the New Orleans Moms Blog, where I'm a contributor.

Cora: Such an absolute joy of a baby!  This week she's been napping about 5 hours total each day, still only waking once at night, and is just all smiles and love when she's awake.  She and I were a team at the New Orleans Baby & Child Fest this weekend exhibiting for the La Leche League of  New Orleans.  She was with me from 9-4 and was an absolute champ!

First day of cool weather this week, so we got to break out long sleeves

Pictures

The words will be few this week:

Work: much better
Grammy: wonderful visit and invaluable help, but sadly has left us!
3 months 21 days: Cora is now the age, Jack was when he had his surgery - so thankful for this healthy baby girl!

Jack & Cora in pictures:

Grammy and Jack "going on a bear hunt"

BIG and beautiful baby (I'm guessing 17+ lbs at 3.5 months)

New helmet!

 

The best kind of study partner

Happy Baby!

Jack and his masterpiece LEGO fire station

Brotherly love

Work:
I said I wasn't judging the situation for 6 weeks, but I will say what a yo-yo emotions week!  I had many moments of enjoying being back at work and feeling like I can totally do this and many other moments of being like "absolutely not - I cannot do this!"  Huge thanks to my mom who was here to smooth out all the potential rough edges of this past week.  Luckily, I get her help for next week too!  (And Cora, did you really have to play around with a nursing strike THIS week?  Not a real nursing strike, but the easiest baby did throw me a couple curve balls.)

Brotherly love:
I want to write this moment down because it was just so perfect and I don't want to forget it. 

If you wake Jack up, he almost always is grumpy.  Well, I woke him up the other morning and even my promises to take him by the fire station on our run were being met with "I don't LIKE fire stations" along with a loud whine.  Well then Jacob comes in carrying Cora and he lays Cora down next to Jack, face to face.  Jack had his eyes stubbornly closed but then opened one eye and saw Cora.  He reached his arm around her and pulled her toward him and gave her a kiss.  So precious.  Jacob made the comment that it was such a mature response, like something a 7 year old might do, rather than a 2 year old.  (Haha, not that we have any clue what 7 year-olds do.)

I love how he loves her.  He seems to see her in the same light we do - as a precious little baby here in our lives to make them sweeter.  He's not once seemed annoyed by her presence and always lights up when she is around.  There was a week or two early on when he was rough with her, but I think he saw it as a way to get attention.  That was the only adjustment period he seemed to have to her birth thus far.

I'm excited to see their relationship grow as she gets older.  I've always wanted a large (or okay maybe just semi-large) family after growing up with 3 siblings.  It is crazy to think about what life will be like when Cora is Jack's age and is running around with her own unique personality.

It is SO NICE to have surmounted the initial learning curve of having two children, to feel more on top of taking care of them, and thus, to be enjoying them more!

Jack and brand new Cora - June, 2012

September, 2012 - Look at that double chin!!!

On the precipice...

The last two weeks since the hurricane have seemed pretty sustainable, like I'm getting the hang of having two children.  Naturally, right when I've gotten to that point, it's time to go back to work.  I start on Monday and will be working part time (20 hours.)  On the one hand, the schedule (Mon, Tues, and Thurs till the early afternoon) seems quite manageable.  On the other hand, I know it's going to make it a lot harder to feel on top of things.

My mom is coming for the first two weeks to help out which is priceless!  It's not that I don't want to go back to work so much that I don't want to leave my little baby!   So having her here delays that part somewhat, since it's not hard to leave Cora with Grammy. 

So in a vacuum, sure I'd like to work, it just gets complicated when you add in my children meaning that I get to spend less time with them because of work.  There is the time taken by work but then it also feels like the remaining time gets crunched because all the rest of life has to happen in those hours.  And I'm not good at ignoring the "to-do's." 

Ahh, the leisurely activities of unstructured days

BUT, BUT, BUT, I realize I have a big luxury to be able to work part time.  I also know that I won't know whether I can do this well unless I give it a genuine effort, so I'm not even going to judge the situation until at least 6 weeks have gone by.  Hope I can stick to that!

It's a quick post today because I'm enjoying the slow pace of life right now even if I do think there is a precipice waiting for me on Monday!

We love our new swing set!

Cora says tummy time is for the birds.

3 Month Update

Cora will be 3 months tomorrow!  (I'll avoid the cliche...)  Here are our updates:

Cora: Adorable, the height of preciousness!  This is an easy, lovable little girl.  She's sleeping great.  Her official bedtime is 9:30/10, but she definitely sleeps away some of the evening prior to this.  She usually just wakes once around 3am or so to eat.  Then she falls right back to sleep and then wakes for good between 6 & 7.  She sleeps on and off through the day, but this last week, she's fallen into the pattern of taking a long (like 3-4 hr) nap in the afternoon if I lay her down in her crib.  This is when Jack is napping, so quite the nice schedule!

Cora at 12.5 weeks

She continues to be the easiest nurser, eating about every 3 hours.  She lights up whenever she sees Jacob and me, and now she smiles at Jack too.  Her smiles are awesome - she catches us in her sight and then just dissolves into a grin convulsion that spreads down her whole body.  She also laughed a few times this month.  Priceless!

Jack: He's napping again!!!  Poor kid has had a couple of stomach bugs this month.  Nothing more pitiful than seeing a 2 year old retching over the toilet :(  On a more positive note, the boy has had a month of adventures: trip to SC to see Grammy & Big Papa, hurricane Isaac, a new swingset, and the first day at the Waldorf School.

He did not want to take a first day of school picture.  He woke up saying his tummy hurt, but we thought he was just nervous.  Turns out his tummy did hurt.  Believe me, I felt bad!!

He looked so big with his new shoes on!

Third time is the charm.  He did have a good first day, despite the sore tummy.

Jack continues to be ENTHRALLED by fire trucks.  He definitely wants to be one when he grows up (according to him) but now he also wants to marry a fire fighter.  His latest game involves the following:

• lay down like he's sleeping (in the fire station of course)
• fire bell rings - DING, DING, DING
• he jumps up and grabs his gear (hat, helmet, boots)
• he jumps on his fire truck (could be the swingset, could be his bed, just depends)
• he "zooms to the fire"
• he jumps off, grabbing his hose (a string), gas mask (pair of underwear), and air tank (fire truck sleeping bag) and puts the fire out.
• jump back on fire truck
• repeat (and repeat and repeat...)

Jack in his "gas mask."  They are clean, I promise!!

We have a check-up at the ENT next week and I'm eager to have his hearing tested.  He's either got massive fluid build up in his ears or just a really annoying new habit of saying "whAT?" about 100x/day.

Me: I'm down to pre-pregnancy weight, but not pre-pregnancy body, so I've gotten very motivated this month around getting back in shape.  I'm signed up for a one month pass to Pure Barre (this deserves its own post as it is kicking my butt) and we just renewed our gym membership.   My goal is to go to at least 10 Pure Barre classes this month and work toward running an 8 minute mile every gym visit (yesterday was 8:50.) 

On a less positive note, why doesn't anyone tell you that you have massive hair loss about 2-3 months after you have a baby!?!

I have one more week of maternity leave, so we will be living it up next week!  I'm definitely nervous/apprehensive about the addition of responsibilities that going back to work brings!

Jacob:  We got to majorly rebond with our Daddy last week when he was off work all week (and after we'd been gone for 10 days to SC.)  I realized how much more I enjoy Jack and Cora when it's 2:2 vs 1:2 parent to child ratio!  All our fruit trees survived the storm and now there is an oak and satsuma tree planted out front as well.

Hurricane Isaac and other things

And I thought a few weeks back was crazy!  Here's a look at this past week:

Sunday: Cora was baptized and we hosted 35 or so friends and family for lunch.  I love our porch!  And I love that we can so easily fill it with great friends.  I love this city...

Monday: It's evident that this city I love is likely in the path of Hurricane Isaac.  Jacob and I spent the day debating whether we should stay or leave.  Schools were closed for the week so he was off work.  Between a hurricane brunch/swim date at one friend's house and a hurricane potluck dinner at another's, we decided to stay.  Jacob boards up the windows.  Then we watched some of the round the clock local news coverage and saw that Isaac is looking to be a Category 2 storm.  We didn't know what the right decision was so we decided to reevaluate in the morning.

Windows boarded.  Can't say I helped much.

Tuesday: We were still debating in the morning, but I really didn't want to leave as I just got back to New Orleans.  We both felt like we would need to stay at some point to know whether it's better to stay or go during a storm (as it's likely we'll be in this situation again).  Since Isaac was now back to a Category 1 storm, this seemed like a safer time to test our hurricane durability.  We spent most of the day waiting for something to happen.  We let Jack out on the porch to burn off some energy.  Power goes out at 7:00 p.m.

Jack helps us clear out our fridge by drinking a PB-banana smoothie

Wednesday:  We went to bed Tuesday night in our downstairs living room.  It seemed like the best choice because 1) it was on the ground floor 2) all the windows were boarded up 3) the half bathroom was there and that's our only room without windows 4) it would fit us all to sleep.  Jacob and I were up from 1:30-5:00 because of the winds. Jack and Cora weren't bothered by the storm.  I'll admit it was a little unnerving when the big wind gusts were rattling the house, but I never was too scared.  The storm moved slowly and we were kept inside all of Wednesday.  Luckily the storm kept it cool outside.  We were able to open windows Wednesday night and the gusts kept us comfortable sans AC.  Jack keeps things interesting by throwing up repeatedly, keeping us up from 1:30-3:00.

When you are stuck inside all day, you do things like draw your neighborhood. Black and red fires added by Jack.

Thursday: The storm is past and we were able to get out and clean up.  We walked around the neighborhood and happened upon bags of ice at Whole Foods (we were in the stroller so we did a brisk walk home).  We knew we would lose what was in our freezer so Jacob cooked a big gumbo and we had friends over for dinner on the porch.  Jack has been having a blast having both Mommy and Daddy around to play. He's also loved all the friends (big and little) that we've hung out with.  He put out several hundred fires around the house. (The best was the one in the backyard during our gumbo dinner when his pants fell down.)

Now everyone is sleeping in our room.

Friday: There was no more breeze so we were really feeling the heat!  We got out of the house very quickly and drove around looking for a place that was open for breakfast.  The business district had power (lines there are buried), so we ate breakfast at the WWII Museum Soda Shop, spent some time in the WWII lobby looking at tanks and airplanes, then headed to the Audubon Aquarium.  Luckily our friends Michael and Morgan got their power back and said we could stay in their house since they are out of town.  It was like a cool oasis in a desert (literally since they are one of the few blocks in all of uptown New Orleans that have power.)  This allowed us a cool place to play and sleep. 

No AC attire.  Won't show you what Jacob and I were wearing!

Saturday: Ahh!  Still no power.  We aren't the only ones crashing at our friend's house so we tried to quietly remove our loud children so everyone else could sleep.  We went on a run, to the market, and to the park.  We showered and then went to the Children's Museum.  Now we wait.

And yet truly I have nothing to complain about and so very much to be thankful for!

Grammy and Big Papa

There could be multiple  names for this post.  "Why I love Grammy and Big Papa," "Grammy and Big Papa Camp," "Suggestions for dealing with Grammy & Big Papa Withdrawal?"...

Big Papa

Grammy

We have been having a great visit in South Carolina.  Jacob (though starting to get a little lonely now) has had some rest/quiet/freedom /time to do projects. 
I've had MAJOR help and the gift of time. Time to exercise, read, get things done, play on the computer, and see friends.  

And time to snuggle this one...

Cora has probably had the roughest week since she caught Jack's cold and hasn't been able to nap as well because of all the excitement and adventures Florence, SC has to offer.  She has had extra snuggles and got lots of new outfits (thanks Grammy and friend Kate/daughter Ava).  I probably care more about that than she does though.

Jack has been living large.  He now has a new best friend in his Big Papa (name courtesy of Jack).

He continues to adore his Grammy and Aunt Kristen.  He has been able to play involved games of fireman/fire station (complete with fire dogs, a "life net," helmet, boots, a hose, and pretend fire truck).  His Big Papa arranged a tour of the fire station down the street where Jack got to climb in the engine and see where the firemen sleep. 

He's played golf, read books, gone to the beach, eaten contraband foods, and stayed up late. 

He's met his furry cousin Donaghy and seen Aunt Kristen sing onstage at play practice.

Tomorrow we fly home - all 5 of us.  The only downside to this week is that we miss Jacob.  He has been working on some surprises around the house, so I'm excited to see the changes.  Up next: Cora's baptism on Sunday and a cook out afterward.  Jack starts school on Monday, so hopefully he'll transition well from constant adult playmates to playing well with new friends!

An adventurous week!

Lots going on this past week!

Sweaty nap in car better than in hot house

!

Our AC went out last Friday.  By Sunday it was up to 90 degrees (inside that is) and we spent a creative Sunday out and about around town to escape the heat.  On Monday, Jacob went out of town and the temperature went up to 92 degrees.  I didn't think I had the sanity stores to make it through the night alone in the heat, so we Pricelined a hotel and spent a quiet night at the Courtyard by Marriott.  I thought I was game to come home the next day but after a day spent in every free air-conditioned place I could think of, the 94 degree inside heat had us back at the hotel.  As you can imagine, we are NOT happy with our installer but have our hands tied while we wait for the system (a complicated geothermal system) to be fixed.  The installer finally put a window unit in our bedroom on Wednesday, so with Jacob back in town, we all camped out there Wednesday night.  As of today, we are still waiting for it to be fixed!

On Thursday, I flew with Jack and Cora to South Carolina.  They did great on the flight (a direct flight to Charlotte) and we were happy to be reunited with Grammy.  In the past few days we have visited both great grandparents, gone to the beach with Aunt Kristen and Uncle William, gone to church, and had a "meet Cora/happy birthday Big Papa" lunch with extended family.

A pumper engine made out of sand

Pretty girl all dressed up for church