Time to CELEBRATE!!!!!!!

Celebrate!!!!!!Celebrate!!!!!!Celebrate!!!!!!!Celebrate!!!!!!! At least for me...I am FINALLY done pumping!

This pump has been a permanent fixture right next to my couch for almost 11 months. Avery will be 1 on April 10 and I have enough breast milk stashed in my freezer to last until she is almost one. There was a time when our designated freezer in our garage was completely full of milk. We bought it a few months before I had Avery with intentions of using it for food storage but as a result of her long stay in the NICU a change of plans was in order. I guess you could say it was still used for food storage...for her...however I like to call it liquid gold(makes me feel better about the whole situation.) At one point I had nearly 2000 ounces stored away. One day we were having a family dinner at my house and my dad went to put a roast in my freezer(thinking there would be plenty room) and gasped as he opened the freezer and said "HOLY COW that is a lot of milk" which I heard him say from the garage-he wasn't kidding(I've kind of felt like a cow now for about 11 months.) Needless to say we had to do a little rearranging to make room for the roast.

This is our freezer in our garage. As you can see it is pretty empty except the bottom shelf which is what breast milk I have left. All the shelves used to be completely full of breast milk.

For those of you that might be a little confused...Avery got so used to being bottle fed in the NICU that she refused to breastfeed when she came home. After numerous attempts I just gave up hope and kept on pumping. I was also concerned about her weight gain(came home at 4 1/2 pounds) so this way I could at least see how much she was eating. I really wanted to feed her breast milk until she was 1 because I did for Maddy and she needed it even more due to being almost 3 1/2 months premature. I averaged pumping 5 times a day for 15 minutes each time. If you do the math that is 1 hour and 15 min. a day-plus all the cleaning, storing, etc. Then after all that I still had to feed it to her which takes a long time as well. So I'm complaining and venting a little because I feel I deserve it. So my breast pump got it's pink slip today and will hopefully have a nice looooong rest(knock on wood.) This is also the first time I haven't been pregnant or breastfeeding or both for three years. So now I have to find a way to celebrate...any ideas?

Jumpin around...

Maddy loves to jump and this was his first time on a trampoline...

Maddy and Wil just hanging out...I must say those are some cute kids!

Today I took Maddy to the kiddie book club class. Afterwards it was such a nice day he wanted to stay and play outside. He had a great time jumping on the trampoline with Wil and shoveling the dirt. He was having so much fun he didn't want to leave and had to be bribed with chocolate milk.

Got Muscle Milk?

So Steve quite often makes "Muscle Milk" shakes if he needs a little extra protein for the day. As you can see by Maddy's "mustache" he enjoys it as well.

Jace David...

So my sister Stacy finally had her baby(got induced a week past her due date.) He is such a cutie! Here is what she had to say.

"Our little one is finally here. Jace David Burrup was born a week late on Monday, February 18th at 4:34 pm. He weighed 6 lbs 14 oz and 19 inches long. He has dark brown hair and is just perfect. He is a really good sleeper and we are optimistic that it lasts longer than 2 weeks. Much to his surprise, daddy loves helping out with Jace, especially changing his diapers which happen frequently. He told me the other day that he has never been happier (Jace sure is a blessing.) We hope everyone is doing good, we love life, especially being parents." Stacy and Justin

One kiss...

So my favorite part of the day is probably Maddy's bedtime. He is so cute and gentle at bedtime. His bedtime routine goes like this. We change his diaper, put on jammies(that's what he calls them), he brushes his teeth and takes his vitamin. He then gets friends(baby stuffed tiger and bigger(mama) stuffed tiger) and his burpee's(burp clothes that are like his security blankets) and sippie with water in it. He then runs excitedly into our office and gets into the rocking chair. We then have to play "La La" which is Fergie's music video for "Big Girls Don't Cry." He calls it "La La" because of the la la sound she makes at the beginning. We have been watching this video every night for months and he never gets tired of it. Steve has even considering sending Fergie an email to tell her his 2 year old son has a huge crush on her(jk). As soon as the video is over he tells us to fold our arms so we can say prayer. Depending on how tired he is sometimes we help him say it or one of us says it. He gets really excited at the end to say amen. He takes a couple more sips of water and then we take him into his room and turn on his white noise machine. We give him lots of hugs and kisses and then lay him down in his crib. No matter how many hugs and kisses we give him as soon as we lay him down he says "one kiss." He has to give me one more kiss and it has to be on my neck and he giggles the whole time. He is so sweet and innocent-if only they could stay that way.

Problems with my Blog...Now fixed...

So I was having problems with my blog but thanks to Carly they are fixed. Thank you so much Carly! I was a little stressed out thinking I was going to have to redo my blog and it took me so long to get to this point because I had a lot of catch up to do. Thanks again!

Riverdance...

So I told Steve that for Valentines this year I wanted to go to Riverdance. We went to the performance at Kingsbury Hall on 2/9/08. We had a great time and enjoyed a night out without the kids. The cast is extremely talented and the show was very entertaining...

Riverdance: The famous 7 minute number that kickstarted the Riverdance phenomenon!

Thunderstorm: Thunderstorm is a thrilling dance by the male troupe.

All of the men's numbers we awesome!

Oscail An Doras: A colourful and rhythmic number performed to celtic 'Mouth Music'.
Very beautiful number.

Trading Taps: The American Tappers face off with Irish dancers in a explosive contest of skill.

This was our favorite number...totally hilarious!

Slow Air/Tunes: The fiddle and the bodhran players entrance the audience with their music.

The band was awesome!

Heartland: The final number of the show pulsates with confidence and excitement.
A great performance!

Funnies: "Mommy go night night."

I snuck into the bedroom one Sunday to try and take a nap. As soon as I laid down Maddy came into the room and I said "Maddy, mommy is tired". Rubbing my cheek Maddy said, "mommy go night night." Maddy ran out of the room and closed the door. Immediately he ran right back into the room and says right in my face, "mommy what do'in?" I tell him again that I'm tired and he rubbed my cheek and told me to go night night. He runs out of the room and closes the door. Immediately he comes right back in and says right in my face, "Mommy what do'in? This process repeated about 5 times before I gave up on my nap. 1/27/08

Funnies: "Hun, I want some milk."

Maddy said to me, "hun, I want some milk." He must have picked up on Steve calling me "hun." 1/19/08

Funnies: "Chew, chew, chew!"

Maddy said to me, "here mama, you eat it(apple)-chew, chew, chew it good." I'm always telling him to chew his food good. 1/18/08

Fun at home...

It seems like winter is just dragging on. I'm so ready for some better weather so we can play outside more. Here are some of the things we've been doing around the house this winter.

Maddy found some stickers and decided to put them all over himself...

Avery is trying to figure out how to crawl. So far she just scoots backwards.

She wore herself out practicing...

Steve's already got Maddy and Avery playing with dirt bikes...

Such cute kids!

Avery still trying to figure out how to go forward...she always gets herself stuck under the couch.

Love that double chin...never thought she would have one.

Just cute!

Maddy was really bored...

So this hasn't happened since Maddy was a baby...he has to put himself to sleep. He had been sick and was soooo tired and just couldn't stay awake any longer...Steve was just taking in the moment while he could.
Avery loving her first bath in a big tub...prior to this I always bathed her in the sink because she was so small.
Avery all wrapped up after her bath...

Maddy still loves his baths.

Maddy loves to give his sister kisses.

Maddy and Avery just hanging out...

Maddy trying to measure his train...he is such a smart boy!

Such a cutie!

Avery playing with her doll...

Maddy uses his push car as a ladder...

Maddy goes around and turns on every light and fan in our house...I go through the house and turn them all off and he is right behind me turning them back on...

Maddy just couldn't stay in the house any longer so I let him go out and help Steve shovel snow.

Funnies: Shush...

When I tell Maddy he needs to be quiet instead of putting his finger on his mouth and making the shush noise he puts his finger on his nose and makes the shush noise.

Funnies: "Daddy fix it!"

No matter how many times I tell Maddy something is broken he insists that "daddy fix it."

Christmas 2007

We had a very fun Christmas this year. My parents, brother and niece Carlee spent the night on Christmas Eve. So Christmas morning was really fun and Santa brought lots of fun toys for the kids.

Avery in her Christmas suit that her aunt Stacy gave her.

Maddy loving his new desk...his favorite thing to do is color.

Avery and Steve relaxing after opening presents.

Maddy playing with his new cars.

Nana and Avery

My neice Carlee-isn't she just adorable!

Recap of Maddy's second year...

Maddy's second year flew by so fast! He grew quickly and became a little boy. He is talking like crazy and exploring the world around him. He is running, skipping, jumping, climbing, walking up and downstairs, and feeding himself. He has gotten into and emptied about every drawer/cupboard that he can reach in our house. He is sleeping about 11 hours at night and taking a 2 hour nap. At 15 months he became a big brother to Avery. However he wasn't able to meet her until he was almost 19 months. It took about a week for him to adjust to not having all the attention but he quickly grew to love and be very protective over her. Here are some dates and milestones that I want to remember about Maddy's second year.
Weight/Length
12 mo.=20 lbs. 3 oz., 29 1/4 in.
15 mo.=22 lbs. 7 oz., 31 1/4 in.
18 mo.=23 lbs. 6 oz., 32 1/2 in.
24 mo.=26 lbs. 6 oz., 34 in.
Milestones
13 mo.=walking
13 mo.=went from 2 naps to 1 long nap.
14 mo.=pictures
22 1/2 mo.=Pirate for Hallloween
22 3/4 mo.=pictures

Maddy turns two...

On December 16, 2007 Maddy turned two. We had a little party for him. As you can see his cousin Dallin was just as excited about opening presents as he was. I think Maddy was a little overwhelmed by all the attention. When we started singing Happy Birthday to him he started crying.

Maddy checking out the Lego's he got from his cousins...they are now one of his favorite things to play with...no fun for me...they end up all over the house.

Steve helping Maddy blow out his candle...

Family Pictures 2007...

Maddox-2 years old.

Avery-8 months old.

Pictures taken 12/7/07.