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Thursday, November 10, 2011

What's Been Going On?

Things are kind of busy and crazy around here and time is limited. Here is a rundown of what has been going on (I promise to get the camera out this weekend!).

Last weekend we headed to LP. I had a bridal shower to go to and we had Zukowski family pics scheduled. Let’s just say, I have no idea how they are going to turn out. I am sure there are some good ones, but getting 11 people (which includes two little ones) to all smile and look and keep their eyes open at the same time can prove to be difficult. Not to mention, when we arrived at Starved Rock (our photo location) and I took Paige out of her carseat, she was missing a shoe – Wally! Moms – you know how stressful coordinating outfits can be and to be missing a shoe was very irritating to me! And our attempt at a picture of Paige and Luke in their adorable Christmas outfits did not quite turnout – both are crying!

Monday we were back to the grind, but we also had Paige’s 4-month doctor’s appointment. I was SHOCKED to learn that she is only 14 lbs. 12 oz. I mean, that is a great weight and she is doing fantastic, but have you seen her lately??? She looks like she weighs much more than that – ha! I also couldn’t believe that when I looked back at Luke’s stats he was 16 lbs. 8 oz. at his 4-month check up – whoa Bubba! She was 25 inches long and really just doing fabulously. She proved to be a bit tougher this time around with the shots too.

Since we had painting done last week, our house has been in disarray. Everything needed/needs to be put back on the walls and furniture re-organized. And since the painters were there, we have been having a terrible smell coming from our dryer, oven, and even the toaster when it was plugged in. We had no idea what was going on until I Googled (thank goodness for Google – Papa Jeff knows a lot, but even he couldn’t figure this one out after we did everything he had suggested and found no issues). It turns out that fumes can settle in these appliances (or something like that). We had our entire basement finished and partially stained so we think that is where the problem lied. We really got the fans going in the basement and the smell has finally started to go away! We also changed the layout of the furniture down there, and I am loving it! It feels so much more open and gives us more space for Toyland USA. We still have some reorganizing and decorating to do, but it is turning out to be a great family/play room.

Paige sleep update: Well, we had one good night this week. Paige could not keep her eyes open so we put her down at 7, she woke at 10:15, I fed her and laid her back down, she slept until 5:45 – woo hoo! And then the next night she was up 3 times…sigh! We got the go ahead at her doctor’s appointment to start cereal. I really wasn’t ready to start it with her yet (we waited until Luke was about 5 months), but now I am thinking it is worth a try if it might help her sleep (although I don’t feel that hunger is the reason she wakes up…). I know cereal at this point isn’t really for nutritious reasons, it is just about learning to eat, but it’s worth a try right? If she doesn’t seem into it, we will stop and try again in a few weeks. If she does like it, but it doesn’t help her sleep, well, we will just keep hoping that more than 2 hours of uninterrupted sleep is in our near future on a regular basis!

The rest of the week was pretty typical. Typical now equals busy. Busy playing, feeding, cooking, cleaning, washing bottles and pump parts, laundering, organizing, cuddling, reading, singing, dancing, bathing, sleeping, or lacking sleep, rocking, and so on.

Life in the Zukowski house – crazy at times, but I wouldn’t change it for the world! (I continuously remind myself that one day my house will be empty and I will be wishing there was an almost-3-year old talking my ear off and a baby fussing because she wants to be held by her mama!)

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Nothing Better

They make my heart smile!
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I mean, seriously...how cute is this picture?!?! :)
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This one cracks me up because Paige had just spit up a little and I think Luke got nervous it was going to get on him!
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Friday, November 4, 2011

4 Months Old

Somehow it is November already, which means that somehow you, Miss Paige, are 4 months old!

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Even though life has changed quite a bit for all of us in these last few weeks, you are still a wonderful baby!

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Your smile can light up a room.

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The sounds you make are the best. Sometimes I think you can hold a note longer than an opera singer!

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We have heard you giggle a few times over the last month, but behind that smile is laughter - I just know it! (Daddy thinks maybe you aren't a "laugh out loud" kind of girl and more of a silent laugher like me.)

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As I've said before, you aren't much of a fan of tummy time, but I'm hoping if I put you on your tummy for long enough, you will roll yourself over to end your misery. Sometimes I think you are so close!

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You are now waking up at least twice a night - a big change for us from just a few weeks ago when you were sleeping through the night. The first time you wake up, we nurse, the second time if it is within 2-3 hours of the last wake up, I just rock you back to sleep, the third time, we nurse again. The good news is that at least you fall back asleep easily whether you eat or not. We are dealing with the interrupted sleep - it can't last forever, right? RIGHT?!?!

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You watch your big brother like a hawk. You are just taking in everything he does - the good and the bad!

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You have also really started to notice Nala. Unfortunately, she is a barker. You always turn and give the strangest look when she barks - like you are trying to figure out what this little, loud, moving creature is.

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You grab and hold lots of toys and just this past weekend we put you in the jumperoo. You can't reach the ground yet and don't seem to enjoy it all that much (your brother really never seemed to like it much either). However, you do enjoy the walker. We started putting you in it for just a few minutes at a time last weekend and you have already scooted yourself across the house. Luke likes to push you in it, but we are always right there with him so he doesn't give you a big old push into the wall. He knows he needs to go slow! The walker was always a huge hit with Luke and it seems that it might be the same for you!

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You are a mama's girl! In fact, while Daddy was holding you and I was in the room the other day, you were fine, but I when I walked away, you started crying - really crying. When I came back in, you stopped and gave me the biggest smile! This has happened a few times and Daddy is convinced it is because I left.

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One of my favorite things we do together is rock. You weren't much of a rocker for awhile, but lately you have let me hold you and rock away. Your favorite position is the cradle hold and with me squeezing you very close to me. I love this position too because we can look at each other, and I can watch you drift off to sleep.

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You are very much loved baby girl and we can't believe how quickly time is passing.

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Love you Pooh Pooh Bear!

Monday, October 31, 2011

Party & Trick-or-Treat

I was lucky enough to get away from work for a couple of hours to go to the Halloween party at Punky's today. The kids went on a little walk around the neighborhood to visit some of the retired people and then it was time for some fun and games back at the house.

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These are almost all of the kids - yep, all boys! There is just one 3-year old girl missing (at morning pre-school) and Miss Vicky's 18-month old daughter and of course Baby Paige and Punky's Baby Nicholas.
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Mummy wrapping Jett!
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Luke's turn to be mummy-wrapped!
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Buddies! (Jack, Luke, and Jett)
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And a little musical chairs!
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And one quick story - Luke's friend AJ kept saying "Hey Mom" to me and then telling me something. Finally when they were eating lunch, AJ said "hey mom" again and Luke looked at him and said "that's not your mommy". It was too funny and cute!

My little kitty who just minutes later had a blowout and that was the end of that costume for the day!
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I was also lucky enough to leave work a little early today so we could get home and get ready for trick-or-treat! Our town's hours were from 4-8. Wally and Luke headed out around 4:45 for about an hour. Wally said Luke got tired of it and wanted to come home - ha!

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Heading out!
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Paige did a little bit of this while I handed out candy!
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My favorite trick-or-treater of the night!
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And just for the record, because a lot of people (ahem, Wally) think that I don't like Halloween, I do like Halloween. I enjoy dressing my kids up and seeing all of the kids come by the house, but I don't see the point in spending a lot of money on a costume that is worn once or twice. I think you can have fun cheaply. I also am not a huge fan of dressing up myself, but I will ALWAYS make sure my kids enjoy Halloween. So this year, just to show that I am not a Halloween dud, I picked up a little something from Wally World. Wally was quite surprised when I came downstairs in my "I'm the good witch" t-shirt and Halloween socks. He was very impressed he said. Now Wally says that he loves Halloween and always says he is going to dress up (at school and when he takes Luke out trick-or-treating), but he never does - so who is the Halloween dud now?!?! LOL Here are some pics to prove that I can and do dress up!

Luckily Paige had one more Halloween outfit hanging in her closet. I had kept thinking it was going to be too small so I never put it on her, but it fit perfectly! I guess she wanted to wear this outfit hence the blowout earlier in the day!
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Happy Halloween!

Big brother Luke of course wouldn't pose for a picture (becoming the norm lately) so today you just get to enjoy baby girl!

Have a wonderful Halloween!

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Sunday, October 30, 2011

P is for Paige

and Pink! And a pink room was necessary (the walls are light pink in case you can't tell from the pics)!

Here it is all finished - I think! Well, I guess I need to put pictures of Paige or at least someone we know in the picture frames!.

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I found the decorative hardware and cross at Hobby Lobby. I don't want to hang headbands on the other one (since they won't all fit), but I'm not sure what to put on there yet.
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Also Hobby Lobby!
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And one of the little Miss in her room because she was sitting so nicely against her Daddy :)
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Halloween Weekend

We kicked off Halloween weekend with some mummy dogs and Frankenstein treats on Friday night followed by a Winnie the Pooh Halloween movie!

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Saturday it was costume time! We headed to Crete to trick-or-treat on their bike trail. Little did we know how many people there would be. We waited for 2 hours to get to the bike trail and to start collecting treats. I think Luke was at the perfect age to wait though. He was just happy to be outside, playing in the leaves, and looking at all of the other costumes that he didn't complain like some of the older kids behind us. And thankfully, Paige took her long nap over these 3 hours otherwise we probably would have had to leave since it was too chilly for her to be out of her comfy, cozy carseat. Once we got to the trail, it was a lot of fun and Luke got a lot of candy!

Some pics before we left the house - introducing my handsome cowboy and little kitty!
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Patiently waiting to get his treats!
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Sleepy kitty!
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Sunday was a pretty low-key day at home. We are having some painting done this week so we had to move some stuff around and Aunt Stacey came by for a little visit!

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I can't wait to take a picture like this with my little niece or nephew in April!

What's that??? Yep, I am going to be an Aunt! We are so excited for Stacey and Michael, and I am so excited for my kids to have a cousin! Yeah!