We got a trampoline last month and it is so fun! Rowan and Kev have the best time out there together. Can you believe growing up they sold those things without the nets? So bad. I remember jumping on ours without the padding even on it -with dish soap and a sprinkler no less. Here are my weekly ups and downs…
UPS:
1. Seeing the two of these sweet girls play together makes my heart want to burst. Finley is so in love with Rowan. It never seems to fail that just as I am about to tell Rowan to be gentle or to give Finley some space, Finley will burst out laughing. She can not get enough of Rowan. I love that she can sit on her own now and interact a bit more with Rowan.
2. Speaking of sitting up on her own… Don’t you just love that age? The age where they are a bit independent but not mobile yet. You can sit them on the ground with some toys and know they will be entertained but won’t be getting into trouble somewhere? I love it. Finley has been all smiles lately (well, as long as I am near her. see below). Her 2 little teeth are about the cutest thing ever. Always peeking out as she smiles.
3. Rowan is like the best little buddy. She is so entertaining lately. A real little lady. The things that she comes up with crack me up. Always making jokes and saying ridiculous stuff. This age is hilarious!
DOWNS:
1. Holy Cow! We’ve had 2 major melt downs this week. I honestly have never dealt with them to that magnitude before. It was embarrassing because of course they happened both times in a store. I think Rowan has been a little over tired lately and it all sort of came out these past two days. We ended up having to leave the stores and head home so that Rowan could have a time out/nap. She would wake up in a better mood, ready to carry on the day, but yikes!
2. I have been so anxious about our trip to Austin this weekend. My mom is coming to our house to stay with the girls which is good. I like the idea that they get to stay in their house, with their things but oh man! it is hard to leave. Finley doesn’t take a bottle great and I wasn’t able to pump enough milk for the entire time gone. I’ve been trying to introduce a little bit of formula just to supplement until I get back. It is slow going but I know she will be ok. My friend is letting me borrow her hospital grade pump and I made a batch of “Milk Cookies” so hopefully I will be able to keep my milk up. I’ve gotten a bunch of helpful tips and tricks that we are going to try. I will be glad to share them all when we get back in a blog post. I know I could just take her. I have literally flip flopped on the idea like a billion times but I think reconnecting with Kev and having sometime away together trumps all else at the moment. Some may disagree but that is the decision I think we are leaning towards. I still have 5 hours until we leave though. Which leaves me 5 hours to flip flop a 100 more times.
3. Rowan has always been very independent. She never had separation anxiety or got upset when we have left her. She always ran ahead of us never looking back to see if we were there. Finley on the other hand… What a little mama’s girl. I need to be holding her or with in 3 feet of her at all times. As long as one of those 2 things is happening she is the happiest little baby around but if not- watch out! We have been trying to work on it a little. We bring her to the gym with us and put her in the kids corner area. She last about 20 mins before we get the page to come back and get her. She does love her Daddy and her grandparents though too. It’s funny how different she is than Rowan.
Rowan’s adorable jewelry was a gift from Juniorbeads (she is obsessed!)
and Finley is chewing on pretty jewelry that Moms can wear and toys from Chewbeads.
Go. Have a great time. It sounds like you have a great family that will take care of your most precious assets so enjoy the time for yourself. I am about to leave my daughter who is just a wee bit younger than Rowan for 2 weeks so I am talking to myself as much as I am to you. I don’t comment often but I do love to read your blog so thank you for sharing your life with us.
Hey Jen! I love your blog and your style. 🙂 I wanted to share some info I’ve learned over the past two years of breastfeeding my little one. If you’re planning to be away and decide against taking Finley, be aware that you may notice a dip in your supply. This happens even when you’re pumping, indulging in milk cookies (they’re awesome) and staying well hydrated. The reason being that your body released hormones that cause your milk to drop differently when you’re physically nursing your baby than when you’re separated from your baby. It’s a wonderful God-thing, really, but can be troublesome when moms take time away from their babies, especially extended time away. A couple more tips: take fenugreek too, it’s great at keeping your supply up in addition to those cookies, pumping, and water. Also make sure to pump as often as Finley nurses at home, if you don’t, your supply will dip even more because not only are you away but you’re not telling your body to keep up by pumping often. The good news is: even if your supply dips, you can get it back it, but the rate at which that happens varies from woman to woman. Just don’t lose heart IF that happens. 🙂 Personally, I would take my kiddo along because it’s easier than the alternative of losing your great supply and sometimes children even wean sooner when they’ve experienced long absences from their momma. I also wanted to mention something about formula. If you can get your hands on some precious donor milk – DO IT! It’s far superior to any amount of money that formula can buy. Formula, depending on brand, can be filled with soy (GMO and a terribly unhealthy hormone booster in the worst way) and arsenic. If you choose to leave Finley, get donor milk or make your own formula using Dr. Weston A Price’s recipe, it can be found easily by way of google and the ingredients can be found at your local health food store. It’s more work, but babies are worth it. 🙂 I know it’s tempting to take time away with your husband, but that time will exist when Finley is older, you know? And you could be risking her weaning early or losing your abundant supply. There is a healthy reason why a woman’s healthy and appropriately balanced hormones feel the conflict of leaving their nursling, you know? Don’t be afraid to take Finley along, it will work out if you do! 🙂 Congratulations on the speaking engagement too! 🙂
your girls are the cutest! sweet post!
your girls are so sweet.
I am a new reader.. what a great series! I am looking forward to more of these posts.
My 8 month old has taught me a lot already and I’m sure it’ll get even more interesting!
Off topic.. sort of.. what baby carrier do you use? We have an ergo and I don’t like it for infant use.. even with the insert. and the hip carry is so awkward. What have you used and liked or used and not liked so much??
thanks!
Haha! My little girl looked at these photos and thought it was her!
So sweet.
In sure your girls will have a great time with their grandparents and you with kev! It’s nice to have little breaks to restore your sanity. 😉
I love this series!! It helps me see into another mommy’s adventures with her children. I just had my second baby and he has already shown us how different he is than his sister. And boy does he love to watch her and even looks for her voice when she is in the room!
I am sure everything will turn out just fine! Babies are resilient and can adapt quickly! Have fun with the hubby 🙂
Always let them be ashamed as they are if they are good and eat well you’re more relaxed. But I think it’s good for the couple do occasionally these breaks are necessary because children lose a lot of talking, etc … Kisses and happy Friday.
Love these posts…I relate so well. Except Levi is times 10. (on the tantrum part. 🙂 I’m not proud.)
My boys love our trampoline, and levi’s favorite thing is flinging his body into the net and flying back in. Yes–Thank God for the net!!
Hope your weekend is great.
Aloha
Your girls are adorable! Love their jewelry.
Hope you are able to fully enjoy your time away.
Your kids are very cute and adorable! The photos are awesome too! I hope you’ll enjoy your break! Have loads of fun! It’s not everyday that you get time for yourself.. 🙂
Most of my friends’ second children are more attached than their first children. I do not have any kids and my nieces are triplets, so I don’t have any personal experience, but I am the oldest in my family and my brother (3.5 years younger than me) and I were VERY different when it came to the attachment stuff. I was like Rowan and he was more like Finley! But he got over it. 🙂
Your girls are the sweetest!
I do not have any kids but I do know that time away with your significant over can do wonders for the relationship. Besides, a stronger relationship will make the two of you better parents.
Have fun in Austin!
Firstly, Finley’s arms are just too scrumptious! Secondly, my daughter had a pretty bad case of separation anxiety and something I did to help is to make a game out of walking away from her. If I had to leave the room I’d take a few steps and then turn around with a surprised face and then smile and do it all the way out the door. I’d also sing to her from outside the room. In fact, this is still my MO when I leave for work in the morning. She and her aunt stand at the door and they watch me walk to my car and I turn around and wave every few yards. My neighbors must think I am nuts. 🙂
LOVE the photo where Rowan is feeding Finley – how adorable!
Also, re: formula. Please understand, I have no kids, I have no opinions and I’m asking only because I’m curious, so this is NOT (I repeat: NOT!!) me shaming you or anything terrible like that. I promise it’s a legitimate question. Have you ever heard of giving children goat’s milk instead of formula? I read about that briefly in an article on one of those absurd celebrity gossip sites (Kristin Cavalleri//I’m a former Hills fan//can’t believe I admitted that) and was intrigued. I mean, to be honest it seems odd to childless me but people were defending it, saying that’s what was used in the years leading up to formula development.
I hate that I had to preface so vehemently but really didn’t want you or your readers to be offended at all. I’m really just curious to see if that’s something parents do, and since you’re the only blogger I read with a child at the age where it’s relevant, I thought I’d ask 🙂
Good luck in Austin this week!!!
They are too precious!! It can be frustrating if you walk away from baby for like two seconds and they freak out, but isn’t it also the best feeling when all they want is mommy? 🙂
We’ve been trying to do the gym thing too. I started bring my older daughter Aubrey when she was 14 months and I had to wean her into it by 15 minutes chunks until she was okay. Now that she is nearly 3 1/2, she loves it and I could leave her in there the max of 2 hours if I really wanted too. I started to bring both girls when my youngest Finley was 8 months. The first two weeks she was awesome, I was only doing a half hour at a time but then bumped it up to an hour because she was doing so great. Then we had to take a little over a week off because everyone was sick. It’s been about 6 weeks now since we’ve been back after the sickness and she is just not having it anymore. Seriously the other day they came and got me after less than 5 minutes…. uggghhh. I haven’t been since the beginning of last week but I think I’m going to give it a go again this afternoon.
Precious!
Do you think the attachment thing has anything to do with breastfeeding??? I ask because I exclusively breastfed my firstborn…he never even took a bottle…and to this day (he’s two years old and weaned at 14 months) he is super attached to me. I mean, he won’t even let his dad change his diaper! Only me! My daughter is formula-fed and she’s more easy-going and will stay with anyone (she’s almost five months though so maybe we just haven’t hit that separation anxiety stage yet).
They are so adorable! Its is great you are enjoying this stage when they are just so funny and honest. They grow up so fast.
Hi there,
LOVE your blog and how you share you life online. I have two girls that will be the same age as yours next summer and want to buy a trampoline. Do you find yours without the netting around it works for you guys? Any regrets about that?
Thanks so much!