4 Month Well-Baby Check-Up

This morning, we left the house a little after 10 to go to Odette's 4-month appointment.  They had the TV in the waiting room tuned to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, so Alegria was content...and Odette was in a good mood, too. 

While we were waiting, Cameron called and I was able to talk to him for about 10 minutes before we hung up in case we were called in to see the doctor.  He also spoke to Alegria, who kept telling him, "Baby doctor," which translated means that we were there for the baby to see the doctor.  :)  After we hung up, we still hadn't been called...

...but luckily we didn't have to wait too much longer.

We finally went in and Odette got weighed...14.5 pounds...half a pound heavier than last time, although last time, it was our first time there and everything happened so fast that I hadn't had time to get her out of her wet diaper before the nurse weighed her, so I don't think the weight was accurate, whereas this time, I knew her diaper was wet and took it off while they weighed her and then quickly put a dry one on her after they got her weight.

Then we went into an examining room, where the nurse took Odette's length...24.75 inches.  :)  And head circumference, 16...last time it was 14.5!  Her head's growing, too!  Haha!  Then the nurse left and we waited for the doctor to come in:

Alegria to Odette: "You're gonna get sho-ots!"

Odette to me: "What's she talking about, Mommy?"

Alegria was really good as we waited.  She kept herself entertained, reading the informative posters on the wall...

Staying quietly seated... 

Coloring... 

Finally Dr. Khadim showed up and gave Odette her check-up.  She checked her ears, nose, mouth, breathing, joints, everything.  And she said everything looked good.  We also discussed starting Odette on solids.  That'll be fun!  :)

Once the doctor was gone, I put Odette's onesie back on and we waited for the nurse to come back:

The first thing the nurse gave her was an oral vaccination for Rotavirus.  She said that for the next two days I can't kiss my baby!!!  :(  She said that we shouldn't touch Odette's drool and if we did, to wash our hands with warm water and soap or else WE can get nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea!  Oh man!

Next, the nurse gave her a shot in each leg.  For the first shot, Odette did ok, but when she got the second shot, boy, did she cry!  :( 

At last it was time to leave.  I had given Odette Tylenol prior to her appointment, so by the time we were heading home, the medicine had taken effect, dulled her pain, and put her to sleep all the way home.

Once home, Odette woke up and was her usual, happy self...even after having just gotten shots!

Odette: "Mommy...are you trying to get a picture of my shots?  I don't want you to!  They're not very flattering!"

  

Odette: "I said, no!"

Then we put Alegria down for a nap.

Next, I changed Odette's diaper and decided to change her sheets at that time, so while I did, I put Odette in the rocking chair.  She's getting so big, but in comparison, she's still so small!

She went down for a nap quite easily.

At that time, I came into the office and worked on a few things until Odette woke up again.  Then both she and I went to get Alegria up from her nap.  Alegria did NOT want to wake up!

Once Alegria had gotten out of her groggy state, she was her usual self, inflicting harmless big-sisterly love on Odette:

Since Alegria was apparently wanting to sit in Odette's rocker, I brought out a cute playmat that Grandma and Grandpa Marlow sent Odette for Christmas so that Odette could have some tummy time on that.  Of COURSE, Alegria immediately became interested in Odette's new toy!

Odette was not in the mood to play on the mat, so I picked her up and held her (Poor baby just got shots!  Of course she just wants to be held!!!) and let Alegria have free reign of Odette's water mat:

Using the water mat as a pillow:

Getting comfy:

Not long after this, Abilehi showed up.  After our wedding makeup practice session the other day, Abilehi decided she needed some makeup, so we were all going to go to Walmart to help her pick some out and at the same time get food items for the bridal shower while she was with us to help me with the girls...

...but first, we took down all of the Christmas decorations...

Alegria was very sad:

She's going to miss the Christmas tree!

But she was a good sport and helped us put it away:

Once all of the decorations were put away, we went to Walmart, where we got some makeup for Abilehi and then got quite a few other things.  It turns out that the fondant and frosting and gum paste is cheaper at Walmart than at Hobby Lobby, so I'll be returning all of the Hobby Lobby stuff and bought the Walmart ones!  We also got groceries.

Finally, we came home.  Abilehi helped me unload the groceries from the car and then she left. 

Then I put Odette down for the night, and shortly after, Alegria.  Both girls were extremely tired!  So am I, but I still had stuff to do...

I fed the dog and fish and then I put away the plethora of cake stuff as well as the groceries.

Now it's finally time for bed!

Good night all!

Littlest Tea Party

This morning we all woke up at about 7.  We hung out for a little while in the bedroom and then came out to the living room.  I got us all fed and then I brought my Gazelle out so that I could do my daily run.  Alegria was content watching a cartoon and Odette was content watching me from the comfort of her rocker:

At about 9, Odette started to get sleepy again, so I went to nurse her and put her down for her rmorning nap.  She was down at 9:30. 

When I came out of the bedroom, Alegria was still taking her turn on the Gazelle (notice Baby Elphy is still in her hands!):

I let Alegria know that it was my turn again and she graciously let me finish my run.  Once done, I got Alegria ready and then brought her with me to the master bathroom to play quietly (so as not to wake Odette) while I showered and got ready.  As I was getting ready, Alegria decided to re-lace my Shape-Ups!

Luckily, I caught her before she undid all of the laces! 

Odette woke up at 10:30 and I got her ready.

Then Cameron called!!!  I LOVE the mornings because that's usually when Cameron calls!  Woo-hoo!  :)

At about 11, we left the house and went to Hobby Lobby, where Andrea and Little Josh met up with us a little later.  I had been there last week, but hadn't found certain items that I needed to make Abilehi's wedding cake with!  Today I called when they opened up and they had gotten in stock one of the things I needed!  YAY!  One element I was looking for, though, I couldn't find...and because I couldn't decide on two other options that I had found instead of my first choice, I bought everything that I saw so that I could come home and decide...and then return the items I wouldn't be using at a later date!  It makes for an expensive shopping trip that way, but with two little girls in tow, it was easier to just buy everything right then and there and then be able to think quietly and more clearly on what to do while they're both asleep, and then return the items later!

We finally came home and I put Alegria straight to bed.  Odette had fallen asleep in the car, so I kept her up with me while we waited for Melissa to drop off Sariah, which wasn't too long after we got home.

Odette was doing fine until I set her down to put away our sweaters...I guess she started leaning forward (she still doesn't sit on her own) and I imagine it was uncomfortable for her:

Sariah is such a sweet little girl and she followed me ever so quietly as I went to put Odette down for her nap!

Then Sariah and I watched "Alvin and the Chipmunks."  It was so cute to see how she'd smile when the chipmunks would sing!  Those are my favorite parts of the movie, too!  I love the Chipmunks' music!  Call me a nerd, but I do!  Haha!

Anyway.  Since Sariah was content watching the movie, I went and had mysef something to eat.  As soon as I was in the kitchen, though, Sariah followed me in there.  While we were in the kitchen, she all of a sudden started singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star!"  It was cute!  So we were there, in the kitchen, just singing that song while ate, then washed the dishes. 

At 3:30, I went to go wake Alegria up and told her that Sariah was there.  I picked her up and brought her to the living room with me and as soon as she saw Sariah, her face lit up!

Once Alegria was a little more awake, we all went into Alegria's room to play...and the girls played tea party together!  It was so adorable! 

At one point, Alegria set out a third plate at the corner of the table, put a cupcake on it, and said in her sweet little voice, "Here you go, Mommy!"  I just love how she says "Mommy!"  For the longest time, she could say "Daddy" so well, but when it came to me, she would just kind of say, "Mum!"  Recently she's started actually saying "Mommy" and adding it to her sentences so well!  I just love it!!!

Melissa showed up while they were still having their tea party, so I went to get the door and told her how cute the two were being, playing tea party, serving each other their "drink" and just playing so nicely!  So we went to Alegria's room and watched them play and just chatted for a while.

Alegria and Sariah then moved on to coloring:

Finally, it was time to go.  When we said goodbye at the door, Alegria said, "Bye-bye Sariah!"  It was so cute!!!  It's so awesome how Alegria is talking more and more each day!  I love it!!!  :)

By then it was after 5.  Alegria and I hung out just her and me for a while and then at 5:35, I went to get Odette.  She was still sound asleep, but she needed to wake up or else she'd never go to bed at a decent hour!

Even just woken up, though, she's still such a happy baby!

Time for a picture with Mommy, Odette!

Finally, it was time for dinner.  While I got dinner ready, as is her usual thing, Alegria played with Odette, repeating over and over how "sweet!" Odette is!  :)

They're BOTH so sweet!!!  :) 

After dinner, I gave Odette a bath.  Then we had Family Home Evening, after which I put Odette to bed.

Once Odette was in bed, it was time for Alegria to have a bath.

And then after watching her "Daddy Movie," Alegria also went to bed.

Since then, I played with Isis and fed her, fed Doralee, washed dishes, took out the trash, tried two different techniques for columns for Abilehi's cake and sent her pictures, uploaded pictures, and blogged.  It's been a full day!!!  :)

Now I'm off to write an email to Cameron and then it's off to bed!!!

Good night everyone!!!

It CAN Be Done!!!

I had it all planned out...last night I had set the diaper bag out and Alegria's clothes and shoes and hairbows and tights out...I didn't get Odette's or my clothes ready because both girls were asleep in our bedroom and I didn't want to risk waking them.  But I figured that as long as I woke up at 6 and showered at that time, before the girls were up, I would just pick out my and Odette's outfits easily enough!

Well...

This morning, Odette decided to wake up to nurse at 5:57 am...and then NOT go back to sleep!!!  At first, when she woke up so close to 6, I thought, no big deal...I'll just go shower at 6:30.  Odette never went back to sleep, though!  I was kind of annoyed because she was starting to make a lot of noise and I really didn't want Alegria awake so early so that she wouldn't be cranky at church...but by 7, I really needed to start getting ready!

So I placed Odette in her crib and hoped for the best!

While I was in the shower, Alegria woke up.  I still needed some more time and knew that Alegria would be fine once she saw me and I reassured her I was just getting ready, so I went into the bedroom, wished her a good morning, talked to her a short while, and turned the TV on to "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse..."  I just wasn't sure how Odette would hold up...

Sometimes the TV is a mother's best friend...it worked like a charm to keep both girls occupied and gave me the extra time I needed to get my hair done!

I managed to get us out the door by 8:47!  We got to church with a few minutes to spare and I was so proud of myself!  Now I know that it CAN be done!!!  :)  Woo-hoo!!!

Odette was so exhausted that she slept for about 40 minutes during the first hour block.  Then she woke up and was a happy baby, smiling and cooing at the Simpson children who were sitting behind us.  During the rest of church, I had to go and nurse Odette a couple of times in the Mother's Room, but for the most part, she let me stay put during the meetings and was her usual happy self.  She even went really nicely with Sister Morris so that I could play the piano for the opening song in Relief Society.  :)

Odette fell asleep again towards the end of church.  We went to pick Alegria up from nursery and then headed home. 

Once home, I left Odette in her car seat (she was still sleeping) and got Alegria and myself some lunch.  Unfortunately, Odette woke up at that time, but luckily she was in a good mood, so I was able to put her in her swing and still have lunch. 

While we were having lunch, Cameron called!  YAY!!!  He and I talked for about 15 minutes.  He's doing well.  :) 

After he talked to Alegria and we hung up, Alegria and I finished lunch and then she went down for a nap.  I was so tired, but I was afraid Odette wouldn't nap anymore.  I went into our bedroom anyway to attempt the feat...and thank goodness, she went back to sleep!  So at about 2, I put her down in her crib and then I got into bed and drifted off to sleep as well...

I usually wake Alegria up from her naps between 3 and 3:30 so that she won't have trouble going to bed at her 8:30 bedtime, but I was so tired I decided not to set an alarm...I thought she'd wake up on her own at that time anyway.  I was wrong!  It wasn't until 4:15 that I heard her wake up!  Boy, was it nice to sleep, though!

I got Odette up at about 4:40 so that she would go down easily at 7:30.

Abilehi came over and we all had some dinner.  Abilehi and I had left-over Salvadoran tamales that my mom had left us from Christmas...YUM!!!  Too bad I don't have any left now, though...  :(

After dinner, while I changed Odette's diaper, Abilehi and Alegria had a pillow-fight on our bed:

Then, while I was in the office for a minute, Abilehi put her big hoop earrings on Alegria!  With that latin blood in her, Alegria can definitely pull these off!!!  :)

Next, we took a few pictures of Odette with her Daddy Pillow (with and without her little sweater shrug):

 And then we took her 18-week picture!

Finally, we got to doing the task at hand of practicing Abilehi's wedding makeup and hairdo!  It was fun pretending to be Carmindy and Nick from "What Not To Wear!"  Here's the final product:

With added highlights to the eyes:

Hahaha!  Yeah...I won't be showing what her makeup or hair looked like...we want Ryan to be surprised on the wedding day!  I must say, though...even though she's already beautiful to begin with, the makeup highlighted her already beautiful features...she's going to be a GORGEOUS bride on Friday!!!  :)

After getting Abilehi's hair and makeup done, I put Odette to bed while Abilehi fed Alegria a bedtime snack.  Then Abilehi left.

Once Abilehi left, I began tidying up while Alegria played a little more:

And when she asked for her chapstick, I decided to just let her have it.  She got a set of four chapsticks for Christmas with Daddy before he deployed and I'd tried so hard to only let her have one to apply and then have her return it right away.  Well...as soon as you're not paying attention for even a small second, Alegria does the inevitable and eats her chapstick...I don't blame her!  These Disney Princesses chapsticks taste so good!  Up until today, she'd already gone through three of them and so I figured that if I just let her do whatever she wants (eat!) her last chapstick, then that just means I don't have to worry about them anymore and when she asks for them again, I can remind her that she doesn't have anymore!  Sure enough, when I gave it to her, she ate it.  And when I asked her what she was doing, she said, "Eat food!"  It made me laugh!  :)  I'll make sure to write Santa to not bring Alegria anymore chapsticks for at least another two years!

Then, because she was in such a jolly mood after eating her chapstick, I asked her to please pose with her Daddy Pillow so that I could send the pictures of our two girls with their pillows to the people who made them for us to show them our appreciation.  I think I got a few really cute shots, don't you think?  :)

Then I got Alegria into her pajamas and into my bed.  Thankfully, Abilehi had already fed Isis, so all I had left to do was feed Doralee and clean up in the kitchen, which was in minimal disarray...it usually is now that I only pretty much heat up really simple meals for Alegria and myself...there's no point in making hearty meals like I used to for Cameron since Alegria won't eat them and I'm content with just a simple omelet or egg taco!

Finally I was able to come to the office to call my mom for her birthday. 

Feliz Cumpleaños, Mami!  La amo!!!

And now I'm ending my day with my daily blog post.

Have a great night everyone!  Sleep well!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011!!!!!

Hello 2011!!!

With the new year, I'm starting to blog once again...but let me tell you, getting used to the new blogger editor is making me rethink that!  Arg!  Maybe I'll just keep posting updates to Facebook...but then that would make one person in particular unhappy...you know who you are, Kerri!  ;)  Haha!  I promised my new year's resolution would be to start blogging once again!  :)

So many things happened in 2010 and I missed blogging about a lot of them because, well, I was pregnant for most of 2010 and with running around after Alegria, I must admit I was way too tired to do anything more than just sit on the couch when she would let me, doze, and then when she finally took a nap, take one myself.  It was the year of sleep!  Well, not really but some of you may understand and get the picture!

Our year in short, though, went like this: Alegria and I began attending a weekly playgroup with some other Army wives and have made some really great and close friends there, Cameron went to NTC in California and while he was there, Alegria and I spent almost a whole month in Montana, Cameron and I celebrated 5 years of marriage on June 1st, Alegria turned 2 on August 19th, and Odette Marie joined our family on August 29th! 

Now Cameron is deployed to Iraq and the girls and I are slowly getting the hang of being just the three of us at  home!  I'm glad we live in this time where technology is so advanced because since Cameron's been gone, he's called us pretty much every day, we got to Skype with him (video-chat) on Christmas Day, and we've been able to email daily and Facebook chat as well!  It's great!

Anyway.  Now that my quick run-down of 2010 is over, here's how 2011 has begun...!

**********

It was a peaceful and quiet day today in the Marlow household, with nothing much to tell.
 

The girls and I got up at about 7:15 and spent the morning in each other's company...playing, laughing, tickling, cuddling...

Odette took a nap at about 10 and since Alegria was still happily watching the movie I had popped in the DVD player prior to going into our bedroom to nurse Odette, I decided to steal away into the office to work on a few items for Abilehi's upcoming wedding...

Once Alegria noticed that I was no longer watching the movie with her, she came into the office and began making mischief...as usual. I kept an eye on her and was able to keep her mischief to a minimum while I worked.

As I was on the computer, I had my Facebook chat turned on...and lucky me, Cameron messaged me!  As we chatted, Odette woke up, so I went to get her and brought her back into the office with Alegria and me, where I sat her in her rocker.  Odette is really mellow and does not complain about being in her rocker like Alegria did when she was her age, so it's awesome and Cameron and I were able to chat for a good, long while!

Finally, though, it was time for Cameron to head to bed and for me to get the girls fed and down for their naps.  We said our goodbyes and then with a smile that will last til tomorrow when I hear from him again, I went about getting stuff done.

After lunch, I put Alegria down for a nap and then took Odette into our bedroom to change her diaper...and though I had noticed the stickers that Alegria had put on her face earlier...

...it wasn't until I took Odette's pants off that I noticed that Alegria had also placed stickers on her legs!  Silly girl!  :)

Tired as I was, I ended up falling asleep in the rocking chair with Odette while I was nursing her...and when I woke up again at 2:30, I tried putting Odette down in her crib, but she wouldn't have it.  So...she was up for the rest of the day!  Oh well!

In the evening, we again just hung around the house.  Next week is going to be crazy and busy, so I'm spending the weekend relaxing as much as I can!

Alegria found ways to amuse herself...using her imagination to create a leash with her "Daddy Necklace" for her beanie baby elephant, which she's named "Baby Elphy."

Turning on all of the lamps in the house...

Just being cute!

And I amused myself tickling Odette!  :) 

I had started getting the girls to bed a little later than I wanted to by the end of this week, so today I decided that I needed to start our evening routine earlier so that they'd be in bed at the right time!  So a little after 6, I began by bathing Odette.  She had a grand time, as always!  I just love how cozy and cute she looks in her towel!

Once she was dressed and I was taking her dirty clothes to the laundry room, Alegria decided that she wanted to undress Odette!  Luckily I caught her before she did and put a stop to it!

That didn't stop Alegria from kissing her, though!  Odette loves her big sister's kisses!  She was just giggling the whole time Alegria was kissing her! 

Thank goodness, starting the routine earlier got us done earlier and with enough time to have some fun tummy time before bed!

Poor Odette was so tired by then, though...

...Alegria was the one enjoying her little penguin toy more than Odette was!

By the end of tummy time, Odette hardly smiled at Alegria's antics...which she usually always smiles so big at and giggles, too!

One last effort to pick her head up...!

And of course, Alegria couldn't help herself and placed Baby Elphy on Odette's head!

Odette went to sleep pretty fast.  She was in her crib by 7:20.

Then it was Alegria and Mommy time!  We played a little, then cleaned up, and then it was time for Alegria's bath.  I'm so glad Alegria likes taking a bath!  It's a sort of down-time for me to just wash her up and then sit there and watch her play.  It's a relaxing way to end the day...and she gets clean at the same time, so it's a win-win situation!

As I was getting her ready for bed, Alegria insisted on putting her pajama top on all by herself.  She's getting so good at dressing herself!

Then we went to the living room, where we watched her "Daddy Movie" (a video that Cameron sent her and Odette from Iraq where he reads them "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?").  After watching the video three times, Alegria and I headed to Cameron's and my bedroom, where Alegria has officially claimed our bed her bed as well!  It'll be quite the ordeal getting her back into her own bed when it's time for Cameron to come back home, I'm sure!  Anyway.  She was in bed by 8:50...not 8:30, but not bad!  :)

My night wasn't over yet, though.  I still had to feed the fish, feed and play with the dog, load the dishwasher...and being that tomorrow we start church at 9, I decided to get as much done tonight as I could as far as morning preparations go!  I got the diaper bag ready, snacks and juice in the fridge ready to just stick in the diaper bag prior to leaving, Alegria's clothes for tomorrow ready, along with tights, shoes, and bows for her hair...and that's about all I could think of that I needed to do.

Finally I came back into the office to upload pictures and to blog...finally, to blog!!!

Well, that's it for me here.  Now I'm going to email Cameron and then head off to bed.

Good night everyone!  I hope your first day of 2011 was great!  Mine sure was! 

I LOVE OUR LITTLE FAMILY!!!!!  :)