Helping baby

I think I spoke way too soon to say Tyler sleeps so well.... Last night was the hardest night I've had since coming home from the hospital. We got zero sleep. Tyler literally woke up every ten to fifteen minutes crying. By 8am I was so tired, so frustrated & angry (not at the babies)... I called the pediatrician and said I'm done trying this or that. Nothing's working and it's only getting worse, I want him on the medication. This afternoon we picked up some Zantac & got him started on that. I wasn't sure if I could see any difference today until I could tell it wore off and it was time for his next dose. It's not a huge difference but it's a start. They said it could take 2 weeks for any noticeable changes.

I am thankful for so much today.

My teeny tiny 2lb turkey (yes, it's that small!) just finished cooking. At least I hope. The oven in our rental is a horrendous hunk of junk. Another story for another day. I almost feel a little guilty for eating what I can only assume is a baby turkey. But then, I don't feel that guilty after all... Because I'm hungry and love turkey. I have water set to boil for stuffing & potatoes. Crescent rolls to make & gravy to heat. Then, Apple pie to cook! Everything came pre-seasoned, or from a box/can. Why? My husband went back to North Dakota & I'm not going to spend my whole day slaving in the kitchen for a fabulously huge meal when it's likely I'll be the only one eating. My two year old is super picky. She might eat that whole turkey, though. But it's not promising that she'll eat anything at all. And my two and a half month old gets rice cereal - closest thing to food for him. 

What am I thankful for?

1. That we have food to eat today. And that we have food to eat every day, and a place to sleep in, and play, and be a family. 

2. As I feed my son I am so VERY thankful that all things considered he is a healthy baby. And, after all he's been through he is a happy baby. He has had a rough start. I think we've been able to find a solution to all his health issues and are on the right path now. As sick as he was, he's still so happy & smiled a lot from one month on, and now he laughs and every so often I get a giggle! 

3. I am incredibly thankful for my baby girl - Ava is such a smart little girl. So sassy and independent she amazes me every single day with how intelligent she is. She's a tiny little chameleon. I watch her mimic me in so many ways like these are things she's done for years and nothing new. I love her to death. My stubborn strong willed peanut.

4. I'm thankful I have the gift of being able to carry and deliver to healthy babies. So many people I know are not able to. I've been given a truly amazing gift.

5. Even though my husband is 5th in line it doesn't mean he's any less important. He's the reason I am where I am today. He restored my faith and trust in people. He's been there for me through so much. When we met I never expected us to end up where we are today but he is the best thing to happen to me. Together we made our perfect little family.

6. I am thankful for my family. That list gets shorter & shorter but the few that are left mean so much to me. I'm not sure where I would be today without some of them. I'm thankful for the few that have enough respect for us to actually respect us. We don't ask for much but we just want the best for our babies.

7. My family of friends and my BFFF. There are a handful of people who truly know me, and will always be a part of my life. No matter how many miles between us. 

That's it.. Oh, and I'm thankful for sleep. I'm lucky enough that my son only wakes up once over night rather than the 4-5 times we were averaging in the beginning. I'm still exhausted on a regular basis. But at least I get some sleep. 

All in all, we had a good day. Ava & I ate dinner while watching a replay of the Macy's thanksgiving day parade. 

"I eat crayon"

Yep. That happened.  I'm not a perfect mother. Not even close. It's actually quite irritating to see other moms try to act like they are all knowing perfect experienced moms. I love my kids & I'm doing the best I can. I guess that makes me as close to perfect as I can be.

My son cries. A lot. I was told it's allergic colitis and it would get better over a few weeks time. It hasn't. (He has another appointment next week for more questions & immunizations) it's probably the hardest part of my day. Keeping my sanity. It's usually as bad as it gets in the early afternoon. He actually sleeps 5-6 hours at night (thankfully!) so when he first wakes up he is HUNGRY!! And stays hungry until about 3-4PM. I try to stay ahead of him & have his bottles ready to warm up...

So we've hit the next two hour bottle time & I just sit down in the rocker with Tyler. I let Ava pick out a snack while getting a bottle ready. She hands me her cheese stick & says "I eat crayon!" I tell her to say "ahhhh" and sure enough her mouth is black.. Ugh. What am I gonna do? There's not much I can do... She's had rainbow poop before so I open her cheese stick and go about feeding Tyler... 

One for the books

After today, I know I can get through anything on my own here.

I went to bed not feeling well and when I woke up I felt even worse. Both babies were up at 6am this morning and an hour later Tyler vomited all over his rocker sleeper.  I tried to make it through the day. But I finally had to cave and get something for my stomach. My daughter seemed to be more high strung than usual. Very defiant, a lot of hitting me, and telling me "No" and simply ignoring me. It's so hard for me to deal with her like this. 
I packed up two crying babies into the truck and went a block to the gas station. A block a way felt like ten miles with how bad my stomach hurt. I grabbed the cheapest bottle of pepto knock off I could find. I hate that gas station mark ups are almost 50% higher than your grocery stores. It took about a half of bottle before I finally started to feel slightly better. Right about then Ava threw up on my throw rug in the living room. Tyler was screaming because this happened during his feeding. I had to put him and his bottle down for a few minutes to help Ava. 

After all that happened I knew I had to suck it up and really go to the store. I finished feeding Tyler, got Ava dressed and headed out the door. I made a list this time. Today we had nothing for our tummy's, nothing to clean the floor with. I ran out of dish soap the night before, used the last garbage bag, and didn't have enough formula to get us through the night without tapping in to my diaper bag cans.

my son is on liquid alimentum for his allergic colitis. To make travelling out of the house easier I use the 8oz cans instead of trying to warm a cold bottle, and trying to keep that bottle cold before he needs it. Just open a can, dump it in the bottle and done. 

I had already used one can this morning because I was too sick to wait for the bottle warmer, and holding my 14lb baby was too much weight on my tummy. I fell asleep too before putting the left overs in the fridge and wasted 2oz of formula. Which is not a lot, I know. But at the price we pay for the ready feed stuff, it actually is a lot. So rather than tapping into the last 4 cans I had left I knew I had to go get formula anyway. Also used the last size 1 diaper Tyler had left as we were getting ready to leave. It was necessary to leave.

It went better than expected. Tyler saved his crying until we were almost out of the store. Ava spotted a mini baby doll, and after 30 seconds of playing with it (I usually sneak the toy back out of the cart before check out) it was naked, and we owned it. Luckily it was only a $3 baby.

We now are stocked up on stomach and indidgestion aids & Carpet cleaner

What's worse than seeing your babies sick?

Being so sick yourself that you're getting sick every few minutes and trying to keep your house in order enough to make sure they get fed. Today I have a 2 month old little boy that is HUNGRY and my 2 year old that is into everything. And me, I've only been this sick a handful of times that I can remember. It's ok, sorta as long as I stay curled up in one spot. As soon as I have to get up to feed Tyler or chase Ava out of something she's not supposed to be getting into I'm sick all over again. I'm going to be brave and try to get myself to the store to get stuff for my tummy... Oh yeah - we are out of EVERYTHING to help remedy this situation.... So, as soon as I feel I can move I'll get the big kid ready before tackling the little one and the car seat. Hopefully the big one keeps her pants & shoes on long enough for me to get out the door with everyone.

Talk about growing up too fast....

Baby boy is already learning to hold his own bottle! While it will make things smoother at home it means he's growing so fast!!

Growing up TOO FAST!!

My little girl that's been using bottles or sippy cups for over 2 years ... Has graduated to big girl cups. It's only at dinner for now & only at the table when she's strapped down in her booster seat.

I also managed to cook lunch/dinner. I did it at 2:00 for left overs. Sat Tyler in a bouncer on our bar while I cooked and I was able to feed him at the same time. 

Tonight we attempt to head out into the world on our own for baby formula. Tyler uses the ready to feed liquid Alimentum and I can only buy them two at a time with discount checks I get from similac. It cuts his formula cost almost in half to do it that way. Right now we're at the peak of eating. So he's at roughly 30 ounces. That will eventually go down over time as his bottle size goes up and number of feedings goes down. But for now we feel like we are making double car payments in formula... And diapers.

Once I get us on a routine & Tyler continues to sleep through the night we're gonna start potty training. She doesn't go when we're out of the house, or over night.  I know she's ready it's just going to take time & more effort on my part.

Introduction: Parke, Family of Four

I decided to ditch Facebook but set up this blog to let family keep up to date with our babies. Explanations later.

Our Backstory

That's us. Andrew on the left. That little guy is Tyler & my princess, Ava, is in red. That's me, Jen, holding my babies. Those little peanuts are my entire world. And, the reason I'm posting this.

Andy & I met in 2009 through mutual friends at a super bowl party. After hanging out in a lot of group gatherings we went out to dinner one night, and we've been inseparable ever since. We spent every day together from February through November when he took a job in virginia and left Michigan. We spent 8 months in a long distance relationship. It was tough because neither of us wanted to admit that this was starting mean a lot to the other & we were pretty serious about each other. The year before we met we both came out of long relationships that ended very badly. His worse than mine, but nonetheless both bad... 

That following summer we moved in together & admitted to loving each other. In august I went off my birth control because I felt like they were making me crazy. My hormones were all over the map. When I didn't go back on a different pill we decided that a baby wasn't such a bad idea & just kinda went with "if it happens, it happens and that's great." By October, still no baby. We actively started trying. By that I mean, charting temps & ovulation kits and all that fun stuff. By Christmas , still no baby... So, Andy took a job in Oklahoma and left January 19th. January 24th at 5am I got a positive test back. We were expecting baby #1! Our first peanut was due October 8, 2011. 

May 16, 2011 - IT'S A GIRL! 

That baby girl measured 3 weeks ahead during my entire pregnancy. By September the doctor estimated her to be 8lbs 6oz at birth. They decided to induce labor to deliver her before she got any bigger. Had I gone to my due date I would have had an 11lb baby. 

September 28, 2011

Ava James Parke is born at 7:47pm via Caesarian birth. She weighed 9lbs 3oz & measured 22.5 inches. I gave birth to a toddler! My newborn was already more than 1/3 my height at almost 2 feet long! 

After Ava was born Andy left Oklahoma to take a job in North Dakota that doubled his income. This was so I could stay at home with her and quit my job. I hated my job. Well, I hated the company I worked for. My actual job wasn't bad. The quotas, rules and upper management got to be ridiculous and out of hand. There were many nights I left work in tears because the environment was so unhealthy. But I stayed for the money and insurance (to have a baby!). Overtime was overkill there... But it's not good with a baby & family. Rather than put Ava in daycare Andy found a job that covered both our salaries, and then some.

In march 2012 I had to move to North Dakota. I couldn't be alone in Michigan anymore. Andy came back to move us out there. 

March 15, 2012 - we got married!

I was leaving Michigan and lost my health insurance when I quit my job. I was able to get state insurance for being a single mom without a job. But I never used it. Insurance is not WHY we got married. It's why we got married in the courthouse though. Before we left Michigan we wanted everything to be legal. March 15, 2009 was our first date :) we planned to have a wedding and reception May 18, 2013 but some things happened during the planning that crippled our finances. 

That summer I decided If I wasn't having a wedding I wanted another baby. And, again, in august we started trying. I wanted a spring baby. but, it wasn't until January that I got pregnant with baby #2. Due date: October 10, 2013. Poor kids will always share a birthday party :(

May 15, 2013 - It's a BOY!!

We left North Dakota June 26, California bound. I hate North Dakota. I met some nice people and have some good friends still. However, being snowed in from October through May was more than I could handle. My aunt offered to rent us her extra house & we jumped at the opportunity. I should also point out that the cost of living in North Dakota is astronomically high. For a 3BR house after all the dust settles with utilities it's $2000-$2500 a month. Our heat & electric was easily $300-$500 a month 3/4 of the year. The windchill drops temps down to -50• most nights in December, January & February. That's pricey.

After spending exactly one month in California we left for Wisconsin. Got stranded in Wyoming for a week. But finally made it to Wisconsin. Traveling across the country, then back at 7 & 8 months pregnant was horrible. The U-Haul was the worst. My feet swelled to 4 times their size. I had elephant feet for a week.

Once we got to WI we got settled in and found a house. I'm still not unpacked. Andy had to go back to ND before moving in and getting our stuff delivered. Not much made it out of the boxes. Pretty much just my kitchen was fully unpacked.

The next six weeks felt like the longest of my life. 9 months pregnant & moving into a new place on your own with a toddler... Not easy! 

September 24, 2013

Tyler Jason Parke is born at 11:20am weighing 8lb 13oz. there's still some debate on this as he was 7lb 15oz in the OR but 8lb 13oz four hours later... Hmmm not sure which is accurate but the hospital has him at 8lb 13oz. And he was 21.5 inches long. Another tall baby! 

Both my babies are named after my family. James is my dad. He passed away in 1992, when I was nine, from a heart attack. Jason is my little brother. He passed away in 2012, at 28 years old. Also, heart attack. They live on through my babies though. I see so much of my dad in both of them it amazes me. And I do see Jason in Tyler.  I'm afraid Tyler got the ears. ;)

Two days ago my husband went back to work. Here I am trying to keep it together with a 6 week old & 2 year old... Two days in a row they've defeated me. 

I've cried a lot. Yes I miss my husband. But I've cried because this is hard. Very hard. Two babies 24/7, completely alone. But if crying gets it all out and a few minutes later I can get everything together, then I cry. Sleep time is the worst. Naps & bedtimes... Oye.