July 2010 Archives

I can't believe that it's already July.  Where is this summer going?  Things are pretty good here at the Ark household though we've had a busy month.  Ben's mom visited for a week and then my brother and sister-in-law (and kids) came and stayed with us for a few days last weekend.  We had a great time with them!  Ron and Kathryn were in town from Texas to attend a chiropractic conference so while they were gone during the weekend days, I stayed at home with the 5 kids.  Luckily, my mom took off of work to help and Kathryn's mom Marlys came in from Wisconsin to help for a couple of days as well.  I'm so thankful because those five kids are a handful!  Luckily, Annabelle and Maia play well together and little 4 month old James is a very easy baby so all and all it was a successful trip.

One great thing to come of it was that Maia has once again resumed interest in using the potty (I think because she saw Annabelle doing it).  She had regressed for awhile and wanted only diapers and I'm not prepared to force her if she's not entirely ready.  Now she wants to wear underwear and has started to recognize when she has to go.  We still have to wear diapers when we go out because she refuses to sit on a regular toilet (she uses a kid potty seat) but we're making progress!  She also won't go #2 in the toilet either and gets around it by making sure she has a stinky diaper in the morning and right after nap.

Lily and Juliette are doing well.  Lily is teething like crazy!  Right now she has her 4 front top teeth, both top 1 year molars, 3 bottom front teeth, 1 bottom molar and the other bottom one is working it's way out.  Juliette on the other hand has neither bottom molar an no bottom lateral incisors.  Funny how their differences manifests themselves!  Lily still isn't walking but I'm not concerned since she's only 13.5 months adjusted.  I just keep reminding myself that Maia didn't walk until 15 months so I don't think there's anything to be worried about.  Juliette on the other hand, is running.  I have J in 12 month clothes now and it's so fun to be able to dress her in pretty dresses that she can wear because she can walk!  I remember we had dresses for Maia when she was in 12 month clothes but she never wore them because they were hard to crawl in.

Baby sleep is going all right.  They're doing longer stretches but still reliably getting up 2-3x/night to nurse.  Sometimes they'll go longer and I'm thankful that they've started sleeping a little later in the morning so there are positives!

On a different note, I started doing the Couch to 5k running program this week and so far I'm liking it a lot.  I think it's a great free way to exercise and build endurance and I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes.  So far in week one (there's 9 weeks) I'm able to keep up but my muscles sure are feeling it!

Here are some words that the girls have now...
Duck
Book
Ball
Bath
Mama
Dada
Maia

Maybe there are more but I just want to write them down as I remember them!  Their receptive language is good so I know the words will come.  It'll be weird to me when they're actually talking!

Time goes by so fast that it never feels like it has been more than a week since I blogged but I just realized that I haven't in about 3 weeks!  There's a lot going on and I guess time just got away from me.

First of all, the girls had their 15 month appointment last week.  Lily was 15 lbs, 3 oz and Juliette was 18 lbs, 5.5 oz.  They're both growing, so that is great but for weight they're still less than 3rd percentile for their actual age.  They are both 29.5" which shockingly enough is ON the chart for their actual age!  They are in the 10-25th percentile.  I'll take it!  We also got their iron levels checked again and this time Lily is in the normal range and Juliette is still low but not enough that we still need to do the drops.  Our doctor suggested just continuing to give her iron-rich foods and we should be good.

Because of their height, we had to finally graduate them out of their infant bucket seats.  That was a sad day for me because the buckets are so portable and easy but it was time.  Since we can't use our Double Snap-n-Go anymore we needed to get a different lightweight stroller (not our huge 3-seater Valco!) so we got a Combi Sport Twin.  So far so good - it's certainly not the best stroller out there but it serves it's purpose for things like quick shopping trips or doctor visits.  We got them the same "big girl carseats" as Maia - Britax Boulevard.

Lily is cutting 4 teeth right now and she's a bear.  She's getting two top molars, a bottom molar and a front bottom incisor.  Juliette is cutting 2 top molars.  I think it's funny that they don't get their teeth at the same time!  Anyway, sleeping had been going okay (both girls were getting up 1-3 times/night with Lily sometimes sleeping through) but now Lily is up a lot of the night with her teething.  This too shall pass, right?

Our new house is great.  We are still not unpacked but we're really enjoying the space we have and I adore the neighborhood.  We got invited to a neighborhood 4th of July party which was a lot of fun.  There are mostly older kids that live here so when we went there the older high school/collage girls flocked to Lily, Juliette and Maia.  It was pretty cute!  We got their swimsuits on and the girls went "swimming" in a neighbor's pool and it was just a really good day. Oh, and I think we might be able to get a babysitter or two out of the deal!

I've become obsessed with breadmaking.  I had an old breadmaker awhile ago which was okay but it never produced anything very consistent.  I lost the kneading paddle for it so I ended up just getting a new breadmaker and I love it.  I've baked a loaf practically every day now and I have to say that there's nothing quite like the smell of fresh bread.

Anyway, that's enough for now.  I'll update with some photos of the girls soon!