Holland is 4 months old!

Another month down at the speed of light.





Holland had her 4 month doctor visit a few days after her month day and she came in weighing 13 lbs, 8 oz which is 39th%. She is very average but man, does she look like a little chunkier with her cheeks. She is still rockin the thigh rolls, too! We will be moving to mostly 6 month size stuff here very soon and have for some things already. Of course, most of those size stuff that I've already purchased are for fall items so I need to get more summer stuff. Oh darn! I figure we will get another 2 months out of those sizes and it will be good for when we go to Florida in October, as well. She is in size 2 diapers but I don't think they will last much longer.



Sleep this month has made a slight change in that she is going smaller stretches at night. That darn 4 month wakeful! It's not awful and usually about every 3-4 hours. She was easily going 6 and then stretches of 3 but that doesn't happen near as often anymore. We cannot manage to get her to move her bedtime earlier so she usually goes down between 8-9pm. No matter what, we treat it as still nighttime for the next 12 hours. So if we get lucky and she goes down at 7:30, she stays in her bed for the next 12 hours. If she goes to bed at 9pm, then she doesn't wake up until 9am. She takes 3 or 4 naps during the day. The morning nap is about 1 hour, early afternoon nap is about 2 hours and then late afternoon nap is another hour. Depending on how long she slept throughout the day will determine if she takes another nap in the evening. This nap lasts maybe 30 minutes but no matter what we do, she will not stay asleep for the night.



Her night time wake ups are only about 12-15 minutes long. Just enough for her to eat on one side, diaper change and eat on the other. She will either fall asleep while eating or I can put her to bed awake and she will drift off on her own. A complete change from her brother is that she is still not in my bed. She's only done that about 5 times ever. She needs her own room, bed and very loud white noise and she is good to go on her own.



Eating is absolutely no change. She eats on both sides every 3 hours. Occasionally, she pushes closer to 4 hours and certainly has no problem doing that when we are out of the house or she has activity keeping her entertained. Bottles are still a struggle. We got the go-ahead to start solids but I don't plan to do that for a little while longer. We started Barrett at 5 1/2 months and will probably stick close to that. She is very interested in watching us eat so I think it will go okay. It's just one less thing I need to worry about yet.



Holland is getting more of her voice this month. She squeals and coos and talks to you when you are talking to her. She is very laid-back with her emotions though. We have a hard time finding her tickle spot. She is just so chill. Big laughs are hard to come by but they are so awesome when she does give them to us.



I don't think she is teething yet but she has her hands and fingers in her mouth 24/7. She is a slobber machine too. Sister kicks butt at tummy time lately. She is very happy to hang out on her stomach and kick and push up some. She loves her playmat both for laying on her back and tummy. She is a big fan of the tv and anything with lots of colors. We've busted out the bumbo and she tolerates it much more than her brother ever did. She will play with a few teether toys and can transfer them from one hand to the other. Her A&A blankets are a very favorite. We never leave home without one. She loves to chew on them and she hugs it tightly while she sleeps. I need to order a few more to add to our collection so I don't have to worry about keeping up with laundry so much.



We take her outside as much as possible during the day and she is so content to chill out on a blanket in the yard under a shady tree and watch her brother and I play around. Wind in her face is the best! She had a slight reaction to her 4 month shots which made her cranky at first but then gave us 2 solid days of wonderful sleep. Fighting off disease can be hard work!



She really is just the most content little lady! We can't get enough of her!

Day in the life: July 2015

I was in the mood to do another one of these so YOLO? It's not like I have a 4 month post to write or anything.

1:45am- Holland is up to eat. She falls asleep on the first side and instead of changing her diaper and feeding her the other side, I put her back in bed. (For the record, she woke up at 11:30pm too. Yawn!)

2:20am- She's up again. I knew it. Change diaper because girl cannot stand to have a full diaper and although she probably would have went back down, I tank her up so she hopefully makes it till morning time.

6:00am- Hear Barrett fighting with Joe about getting up for the day. He's been asleep almost 12 hours because he didn't nap the day before and went to sleep at 6:45pm. No way is he staying in bed any longer. I go in Barrett's room and tell Joe he is losing the battle. Sis is babbling in her bed so I get her and take her into my room to feed her while the boys head to the living room. Take her back to her bed but she's still awake so not sure if she will last. I go back to sleep.

8:30am- I wake up to Barrett coming into my room to tell me the "Sun is awake, the sun is awake!" Whoops! Didn't mean to sleep this long. B has a problem with waking in the middle of the night fairly regularly and we've had to explain to him that he cannot get out of bed when it's dark out still because the sun is sleeping so now he says the sun is awake whenever it's time to wake up. It backfires on us occasionally when we need bedtime to begin and the sun is still out.

8:35am- Get out bed, pick up around the house, put away clean dishes from the sink, start a load of my bedsheets and bring up a load from yesterday that was still in the dryer. I make waffles for breakfast for Barrett and I and we sit to eat it. I check in to Periscope a bit. I mostly follow Disney people and this morning, I followed along to the opening show at Magic Kingdom and all the happenings along Main St that morning. I do not care that I sound lame.




9:00am- I'm done eating so I clean up the kitchen and empty and reload the dishwasher while Barrett does puzzles in the living room. This mostly means making a mess of them.



9:15am- Barrett asks me to "play baseball" with one of his bowling pins and bowling balls. It's a made up game I do where we hit/roll the ball back and forth by hitting it with the bowling pin. I can hear Holland start giggling in bed.



9:25am- Go get Holland/Happy girl from bed. I change her diaper while Barrett gets into toys in her room. He must follow me everywhere. It's rare that I go places alone. Before getting her dressed for the day, I want to give her a bath so she is fresh for the pediatrician later this afternoon. I do it in the kitchen sink these days because I hate bending over in the tub. She is so chill in water.





9:40am- She's all clean and we head in to get her dressed. I realize I haven't actually fed her yet this morning. I sit down in the living room and take notes and check Facebook for the day while Holland nurses. Barrett is using his bowling pins as bats and hitting some of his matchbox cars. This stuff is never-ending.

9:47am- Sis is full and now is the time of day that she is very chill and will do her own thing. I take advantage and start the shower. Barrett joins me (like usual) and Holland hangs out under her playmat in my bedroom. Don't hear a peep out of her. I get out while B stays in to play in the water. Get dressed and adequately ready for both Barrett and I.



10:15am- All set to head to the park. Change Sister's diaper, shoes on, bag and water bottle packed, load up the car but not before Barrett says hi to Tinkerbell. Any light shadow that hits certain parts of walls or ceilings is Tinkerbell, of course!



10:30am- We drive over to Wildlife Sanctuary park today as Joe took B there a few weeks ago and Barrett has been asking to go back like daily. We have to drive around the lake and in a big wooded area and as we get deep inside, Barrett gets excited and says "We're in the jungle with all the monkeys!" Sure, we are!



It's the saddest park ever but always empty and in a great cool, shady spot right on the lake. We pull in and there are 4 teenagers sitting on buckets, in a circle, drumming on other buckets. Cool! A little concert while we play!





The equipment is so old and rickety and probably has lead paint and a whole bunch of gross stuff but it's a good time. We go down the slide a bunch, ride the teeter totter which is me pushing down on my side while Barrett goes up and down. We played in the sand forever (which makes me cringe sooo much….ewwww!) and rode the carousel thing. We usually see deer out there but none today.



11:30am- We head home. Sister is definitely due for a nap. Barrett comes freely when I promise him fries for lunch. He's so messy and sandy which is something he does not like so when I offer to let him take his shoes off in the car, he gladly runs over to pack up. Of course, Holland falls asleep in the car ride home which is totally screwing me for her next nap. I carefully take her inside and into her room. Leave her in her seat and crank up the sound machine to hopefully get at least a decent amount.



11:45am- Grilled cheese and fries for Barrett, taco salad for me. I've started making big batches of meat and separating all my ingredients so it takes like 3 minutes for me to make my lunch every day. I eat them probably 4 days a week. Joe hears that we are home so he comes upstairs from working. (Did I mention it was a work from home day?) He joins us for lunch and makes himself a ham sandwich. Barrett gets his iPad and picks to watch Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas in Greek (I'm serious.) while he eats.



12:00pm- H is awake. I give her a diaper change which is probably the reason for the wake up. Joe gets Barrett his fries that are finished and then jumps in the shower. I hold Holland while we finish up eating.

12:15pm- Mr Slow Eater is still taking his sweet time so I decide to feed Sis in the hopes that I can get her to go back to sleep some. Even if she doesn't sleep, it's good that I get her fed so she is compliant while I try to get her brother to nap. I check Instagram for the day. Joe takes laundry down for me and rotates before starting back to work.

12:30pm- Sister is done eating and I try to get her into bed and she is having none of that. I put her in her swing and turn on the Tv so she has something to look at. I cut up some lettuce I need for dinner while Barrett is rounding out his meal. (Yep, 45 minutes to eat. It's ridiculous.)



12:40pm- Take Barrett in to nap while Holland squaks happily in the swing.

12:50pm- B is asleep and Holland is still squealing like a bird. Successful Barrett naps only happen because he has a wonderful little sister who knows how important it is for him to sleep. Sometimes it's takes 30+ minutes for him to give in to sleep and timing is crucial. But today only took 10 minutes! Thank you for cooperating too, Sis! I quickly head outside to fill up Barrett's pool so we can get in it later. It's going to be nice and warm and sunny.

1:00pm- Back inside and H is not so happy anymore and wants the attention now. I change her diaper to find she has pooped and that explains the happy squaking! She gets just a little on her romper so I change clothes. She gets some tummy time while I empty the dishwasher (2nd time today) and clean up the rest of the kitchen and our lunch stuff.



1:15pm- Sis is starting to get fussy probably because she didn't sleep much so I head to her room to get her to sleep. She fights me a bunch so I try to feed her for a minute. She does not want to nurse to sleep except in the middle of the night so I don't know why I try anymore. Not happening. Although, she does happily take her paci and lets me rock her.

1:30pm- She's out. I feel like rocking her for a bit especially since it's quiet with brother napping. I check more Instagram that I didn't get to when I checked it earlier. (I follow too many people.)

1:40pm- Take H to her room to sleep. I try really hard not to let her sleep on me. It's just not something that can fit in our schedule if I want to give Barrett attention. If she were my only, then I can see it happening much more but I have way too much other stuff to do. I still try to get my cuddles in, just not for extended periods of time. I take this time to clean up a bit more. Puzzle pieces are still everywhere. I should make B do this but I have to tidy the house before I can let myself sit on the couch so I do it. There are a whole bunch of other random toys hanging about so it all gets puts back in it's place. I fold the load of laundry from yesterday. Put away what I can which is not much because the kids are napping. Rotate another load of laundry.



2:00pm- All finished and lay on the couch with my phone and surf the internet.

2:05pm- Holland starts fussing. Run in really quick for a paci pop in. Seems to work.

2:15pm- Sis is up again and not happy. She's definitely not going back down but that's not too bad because we need to leave for the doctor in 20 minutes. Still not at all happy so I feed her and her brother comes out from his nap just a few minutes later.



2:25pm- She's all done eating and Barrett has requested Wild Kratts. He wants the Wild Turkey episode, of course. I go to straighten my hair and freshen up a bit before leaving to take Holland to her 4 month well visit.

2:40pm- Joe comes upstairs to chill with Barrett so I can take Sister solo. YES! The best part of work from home days. I usually pick the later afternoon appointments because even if Joe is traveling, he is usually home by 2-ish.

3:00pm- Check in at the doctor, update our insurance stuff because we changed providers in July. We get called back quickly and answer all the usual questions. Holland puts on a show. She's the best. Weighs in at 13 pounds, 8 ounces now which is 39%. My only slight concern for this appointment was her head flatness and although Dr Murray said it is flat-ish, it's not looking to be a big issue right now. We'll keep an eye on it and luckily, she should start sitting up soon and be on her back less. She said it could be much worse! That's pretty much what I was thinking but wanted her to check, just in case. We have another round of shots this appointment and Sis screams bloody murder for about 10 seconds but recovers when I pick her up. She whines a bit while getting dressed and put back in her car seat.



3:40pm- Call Joe back as I'm heading out the door. He answers and Barrett gets on the phone right away requesting "Milk and Yucky Popcorn" from the store. Um, okay? We deduce that yucky popcorn is white cheddar popcorn. Why it's yucky, I'm not sure?

4:00pm- Pull into the grocery store. "Rude" by Magic comes on so we sit and jam a bit.

4:15pm- Back out with the few things I needed to get us through the week. See that Joe has texted me that we needed toilet paper so I'll be making another trip tomorrow probably.

4:20pm- Pull in to the garage and "Cheerleader" by OMI comes on. Another jam session! Go inside and Joe gets Holland. I put away the groceries and put away the laundry I folded earlier. Eat a lemon bar that I just bought at the grocery store (okay, I eat two.)

4:45pm- I head outside with Barrett to play while Joe changes Sister's diaper and starts to rock her in the hopes that she'll nap a bit. I only have to threaten Barrett with going inside twice for throwing rocks.



5:20pm- We go inside so I can feed Holland. She never napped for Joe. The boys go in Barrett's room to play his fishing game and goodnight goodnight construction site board game. Holland falls asleep eating so I rock her for a while.



5:40pm- H wakes up so I get to play with her while the boys are playing. She wants to stand and sit all the time like a big girl.

6:00pm- I start to make dinner. Grilling chicken and having salads. I'm fairly certain this was the same thing we ate for my last DITL which may have been the last time we even ate it. We are usually eating crap. Barrett and I sit out on the deck and play cars while the chicken is cooking.



6:30pm- We all sit down to have dinner. H is usually good about hanging out with us in her bouncer for most of dinner. She sits on Joe's lap for a bit when she wants to get up.



6:45pm- Joe cleans up dinner because Holland starts to get really cranky all the sudden. I try to feed her and that is a big no. I go to change her diaper because she pooped and think that should perk her up. A diaper change is always good for her. But nope, she gets even more cranky and is really crying. Hmmm? Epic meltdown.

7:15pm- She finally falls asleep on my chest in the rocking chair. Lots of whimpers and the hiccup cry. She is so sad. We end up being mostly couch potatoes because I am not about to put Holland down with her being this cranky.



7:30pm- Joe heads outside to pick up the toys and water plants and flowers. Barrett is in and out a few times and Holland wakes up from the commotion. She just lays on my chest and whimpers some more while I rock her back to sleep.



7:45pm- I post a few pictures to Instagram and surf Facebook.

8:00pm- Joe takes Barrett in to start bedtime. It is our least favorite thing to do but oddly our favorite time of the day.

8:15pm- Holland is in and out of sleep so I continue to rock and start to organize and edit pictures for today's post.

8:45pm- I'm all finished and Joe is still in with Barrett. I'm wondering if he fell asleep. The thoughts of Lemon bar #3 make me contemplate putting Sis to bed so I get up to transfer her to her room.

8:54pm- Joe emerges. The beast is asleep.

9:00pm- I think about going down to get laundry in dryer but I sit on the couch instead. I lounge and surf my phone. We had no problems getting rid of cable because most nights Joe and I would rather play games on our phones or veg rather than turning the tv on.

9:10pm- I decide to get out my computer to start transferring my pictures from today. Love that wi-fi automatically does that for me, it just takes a little bit because our router is slow with my computer for some reason. I start writing this post.

10:20pm- H starts fussing a bit in bed so I do a paci pop in. She's sleeping but restless. I realize I need to go to bed so I save the post for now. My pictures have all been loaded to Flickr so I shouldn't have much more to finish.

11:40pm- Sis is up for her first wake up. I am exhausted but I can't be mad because she hasn't ate since around 5:30. That's a good stretch.

She wakes again at 2am and 5:30. Average night.