Sunday, May 27, 2012

How Macy Feels

Sometimes, after the amount of bodily fluid that ends up on me in any given day, it is nice for Macy to let me know how she really feels about me. Thank you to the baby shirt makers out there.



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Moving Day

We had a great time this morning helping our friends move to a new town home. With all the help we moved the Kaddatz family in under three hours. I even got to bring the kids over to play with Cayle and Lindy. It was a fun morning.

Macy and Lindy are getting bigger already!!!

One week/two weeks


7 weeks/6 weeks


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Saturday, May 26, 2012

Happy Baby

Could she get any cuter???




We had a great night out with friends tonight and left BOTH kids at home with a sitter. Macy took her first two bottles yesterday and tonight...life is good!

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Thursday, May 24, 2012

Bikes and Rocket Ships

Just the life of your average 2 year old boy - bikes and rocket ships! 

Last Saturday we had the honor of attending Cayle's 2nd birthday party! It was such a fun idea and Cayle's parents did a great job with it. It was a bike theme...since Cayle is a mini pro on his Strider. They made all of the kids name plates for their bikes, we had wheel-shaped mac 'n cheese, got to decorate the kids bikes for a bike parade, and even took home a bike iron-on to make our own bike t-shirt! What a blast! I told Cayle's dad that he should have been recording for a Strider Bike commercial. The yucky weather didn't hold the kids back a bit. Thanks for letting us be a part of it! 




Today we finally made our second "cardboard creation" out of our stroller box. It had been sitting on the porch just waiting for a rainy day to cut that thing into pieces! The day came today and it became a rocket ship! The NASA Shuttle Truman (after the tiger on Mack's hoddie) was quite a success I think! We practiced our crafty skills and then watched some videos of real space shuttles taking off. We will have to think of new places the shuttle can take us tomorrow! I love saving old boxes! 



Newborn Clothes

Newborn clothes are on their way out! Check this out! Macy used to be swimming in these, now they are maxed out in the length. She looked big today compared to our 3.5 week old friend Aliyah.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Down Time

I am grateful for a quiet house at the moment. Mack is down napping, Macy is being sweet as pie and I get to spend some time reading my Bible study! Praise God for that!



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Mack Says His Name!


Monday, May 21, 2012

Weekly Happenings

Here are some pictures from the past week.



Playing at the park with the Brummers. It was a double Chariot party that ended early due to tired boys.



We had dinner with the Smileys and got to spend time with Josiah. Macklin was practicing his rule of "you may give things to babies but we must be able to see their face." Josiah is in the bouncer seat-promise!



New buddies!



MOPS park date - first of many for the summer. We are meeting at the Gypsum Town Park every Friday (not this Friday though because it is our last MOPS) from 10:30-11:30ish. Any moms and dads are welcome to join!



Macy hanging out at the state track meet. I made her watch the two mile race so she could start learning for her moment in 14 years!



We were trying on different headbands. Not sure if we will go out of the house in this one but Macy makes it look good!

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Saturday, May 19, 2012

Swing Set!!!

We have a swing set!!! Thanks Nicole Dewell!


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Friday, May 18, 2012

Macy Elizabeth - 1 month (updated)



A few things you should know about Macy as she hit the one month mark...which was 10 days ago...a bit late on this one...

Weight: 8.5 pounds (born at 6lb 4oz)

Length: 21 inches

Head Circumference: we will measure at the 2 month appt. 

Sleeping/Routine:
Macy is a champ! I feel as though it was taken "less work" to sleep train Macy than it did for Macklin. I think that is just because I know what I am trying to do. The three nights were very rough in life with Macy. But, after my milk came in, she began sleeping much better at night. Since then, she has been quite the angel! By the second week, she was already skipping one feeding in a 3 hour rotation (feeding every 3 hours through the whole day). I thought it was just a fluke but then the time between feedings got longer. At about 5 weeks, she began skipping almost two feedings. Now, at nearly 6 weeks, she is sleeping from 10:30-6am! She has gone about four nights in a row now with a few random nights of good sleep before then. With the 3 hour rotation, she normally eats at 6am, 9am, noon, 3pm, 6pm, and 9pm. Now, I am not crazy about it. We start when she wakes up and shoot for  a 3 hour cycle, those times aren't set in stone. After the 9pm feeding, it normally takes her a while to settle to go to bed for the night, hence the 10:30ish bed time. And, if that proposed schedule is pushed back and 10pm becomes the feed time, then Macy doesn't want to lay down til like 11:30 or so. I normally get to go to bed about a half hour after she does (after picking up, washing up myself and regrouping for the next day). I am very happy with Macy's schedule so far. She seems to have settled in a week or so faster than Macklin did. (I have to keep telling myself this when I am feeling tired!)

Naps:
Macy does some sort of sleeping between each feeding. After the first feeding in the morning, she normally could go back to bed until the next feeding (a cherished time of sleep when I just had Macklin, now it is time to play with Macklin...darn it!). She is more awake from 9-noon. She is starting to take more of a nap between noon-3. The late afternoon normally she settles down again. Between 6-9pm is for sure her fussy time. She is just hard to calm them and of course everyone else is starting to get tired (including her big bro). I have had a couple of days when Macy sleeps soundly when Mackling is napping (1-4pm ish). I long for the days when that is the norm! 

Eating:
Macy is eating well when she nurses. We are blessed to have had no nursing problems so far. She seems to nurse for far less time than Macklin did. Her total feeding time is about 20-30 minutes. She also seems way less concerned with eating. She could skip a feeding during the day and not be totally mad sometimes. It's weird. I just started pumping this week to try to start a stock-pile for coaching related needs. I hope pumping goes better this time around than it did with Mack. 

Playing:
Macy is tracking a lot better. She started smiling at 4 weeks old and it is super fun to make her smile. She is noticing things around her more and more every day! She enjoys her play mat, laying on her tummy (sometimes falls asleep during tummy time!), watching her animals in her bouncer seat, being held in a wrap/Bjorn, and just being rocked.


Appearance:
This is a funny category, but one I felt was needed for our families far away! Macy was born with a full head of hair but not she is more like an old man with a bald top! Not sure where that hair went, but it is gone now :) We think she is getting cuter every day. She is clearly filling out more. Her head is more round. Her eyes now seem to have some purpose in them and her smile is to die for! She is still rocking the cute button nose. She has almost "shedded" her baby flaky skin. Her toes and above her eyes get kinda flaky still. The rest of her skin is pretty flawless (except I think she got hot at the track meet the other day and kinda broke out). Her eyes are still an undetermined baby gray color. And she is almost too long for her newborn clothes. 


Relationship with Mack:
Macy is beginning to notice Macklin more. She would kick when she was in my tummy when she heard Macklin laugh, and she still does this! So fun! Macklin for sure knows where Macy is! He would like to wrestle with her every hour, but we try to get that to brief hugs. We are trying to teach Macklin boundaries (you may give her toys and blankets, but we must be able to see her face...Macklin, can you see Macy's face?) but that has been a bit harder than we thought! Macklin is very helpful most of the time though. I have learned how to play and nurse at the same time. Macklin does seem to want to be carried sometimes but there really has not been much jealousy seem yet. I think he is just a normal 2 year old boy! 


Learning:
Not too much in this category yet!

Attitude:
Macy is a very happy girl. She doesn't like to have a dirty/wet diaper. She gets upset when she is tired and we haven't swaddled her up yet. And then that sweet time of night where we are not sure what is wrong....but other than those, she is pretty darn content! 

Favorite Things:
At this point....a clean diaper and milk!
Mommy's favorite things - Boppy pillow and nursing tanks...oh and sleep!

Mommy Update:
I have my 6 week check up next week. I am feeling good. I feel like my belly is much flabby-er than the first go around. I waited to run until 6 weeks after Mack, but tried to go for a couple of runs already - very painful and out of shape feeling! I can fit into my old jeans (at 3.5 weeks post baby) but still squeezing in. Gotta remind myself that getting my old body back takes a while. I for sure feel extra tired at the end of the day after chasing around two kiddos, but I am super grateful for the sleep I am getting. 

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Awesome..

...weather
...sandwich
...chairs to sit in

What more could you need?


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Little Buddies

Yesterday I put the kids in the chair together and thought they looked so cute that I should take their picture!

Best Buddies



"Dont worry, Macy, I got your back."



"Look Mom, we are holding hands!"



And my personal favorite...(no babies were harmed in production of this picture)
"Hugs for Macy!"


Let's just say Macy is going to grow up to be a tough girl!

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Happy Mothers Day to Me

I had a wonderful Mother's Day morning! Justin (and Macy) let me sleep in a bit. Then Justin brought me breakfast in bed and a card from the kids. And the best part??? Then he took both kids on a 75 minute bike ride to Eagle and back! A quiet house all to myself. I almost didn't know what to do! It was a blessing to be able to read my Bible without being distracted. Justin also got me new hanging baskets and had them hanging out front for me!

What a great morning all before church! Thank you Jesus for the blessing it is to be a mom - hard at times and always busy - but a blessing nonetheless!

This is the only pic we took on Sunday I meant to take one all dressed up and looking cute, but that didn't happen ;)


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Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Professional Newborn Pics

I am excited to share a link to our professional pictures of Macy from Cara Leonard Photography. I love the preview and should be able to share the whole gallery soon. Great job Cara! We are so grateful and appreciate your abilities! 

Monday, May 14, 2012

MOPS Tea

"As moms, we have little people literally hanging on us all day. We sleep with kids, nurse kids, strap kids to our chests in kangaroo-like carriers. We cannot leave the house, the care, the restroom without them. We are never physically alone and yet our souls starve for connection." - Tracy Bianchi, MOPS Connection Emails




The quote above is so true. I was thinking about this on Mother's Day. I was thinking that there are probably a ton of moms out there that don't feel connected to other women, especially other moms. I have been blessed to find MOPS (Mothers Of PreSchoolers...or any kid younger than kindergarden). MOPS is something that I desperately needed as a new mom. I needed to find other moms that understood what I was feeling. I needed to know that I wasn't alone in this stay-at-home mom journey. God wants us to be in fellowship and have community in our lives. MOPS has helped me do just this. 

The pictures above are from our recent Tea and Testimony. MOPS is a ministry in disguise. The primary focus is to provide support to moms and help women become better moms and wives. But, while we don't share the gospel each week, it is hosted by a church (Calvary Chapel Vail Valley) and Jesus is our rock and foundation. The Tea is a fantastic opportunity for the group leaders (me) to share our life story and how we came to have a relationship in Jesus. We really do have a tea party (the ladies did a great job with the place settings and food) and share with our groups. It was a great day and a wonderful celebration of the connections that we have made as a table group this school year. 

Thank you Jesus for other mommies to share life with! 

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Mother's Day & 1st Anniversary!

Happy Mother's Day to the best momma in the whole world! 
I just wrote an extensive blog post about how much I appreciate my momma, so I think we will leave it at that. I hope you have a great day with everyone at the winery, mom. We send our love from Colorado! 


Happy Mother's Day to all of those important moms in our lives! We are so blessed to have so many women that love us in our lives! 

One side note...my friend posted this Mother's Day Challenge on her blog...I thought it was awesome! Check it out! Hopefully we will have time to do that today! 

Finally, I want to wish my brother and sister-in-law a happy 1st anniversary! I can't believe your wedding was only a year ago as we are so fortunate to have Jackie and Olivia in our family for many more years than just one! Can't wait to hang out in July!!! Glad you all had a good celebration earlier this weekend. 

iPhone Video Updates

I finally figured out some things on my iPhone (not that it took that long, just that I finally got around to it). I am now uploading my videos straight to YouTube from my iPhone, which doesn't take very long at all. I cleaned up my YouTube account (now called ColoradoBrandts) and now I am ready to roll. Then I can put them right into my blog with no additional uploading time. Also, I downloaded the BlogPress app so that I can update this blog right from my phone. It doesn't come out looking exactly how I want it (more spacing than I would like and such), but it is definitely a start! I can always go back and edit them later. I think this will help me update family on the little things about the kids, which is what I want to do anyways! 

Here are a couple of playful videos of Mack on a lazy Saturday.  


Since I got my iPhone, I have not updated any videos because it was taking forever. I have now gone back and put in some fun videos where I wanted to months ago. Readers can click through below or you could go right to our YouTube account and look at them all in one place. Mostly just everyday videos of Macklin doing fun things. 





Eagle Expo


Today we went to the Eagle GetOutExpo in Eagle Ranch. It was a fun little festival with vendors and such. We had a picnic and walked around with the Brummers. At the top of the street we saw this sweet oval track set up by some people that sell Strider Bikes. It was so fun to watch the boys go round! They each got a ribbon for their skills :)


On the way home, Macklin hit up his first "mountain bike ride." I think we could call it that! Thank you Cayle for making Mack push the limits on his Strider! 



Friday, May 11, 2012

Stump Life

Here is the huge stump. It conquered the boys last week so we had to call in reinforcements!!


Now it is gone!



It was a big one! Glad we hired this project out. Now to fill in the hole and start planting grass!


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Macy Smiles

Her first recorded smiles!






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Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Macy = 1 Month

Macy is a month old today! I tried to get her picture....this is what I got. We will have to try again tomorrow. Full update to come. But I must sleep as that is what she is finally doing :)

Cookies for Construction Workers

Mack is definitely my son.....the picture says it all. 

But Macy...I don't think we look alike yet :)

Macklin and I made cookies for the construction workers yesterday. Macklin has loved all the construction outside of our house this past month (they are redoing Hwy 6 and the whole intersection). When we were walking home from the pool yesterday (yes, I made it back in the pool and things went great!), I saw the water truck spraying down the dust in the road. I had a slight moment of panic when I noticed the truck soaking the sidewalk too as I was approaching with my two kiddos. I thought it would be easy for the driver to be watching the road and not the terrified lady on the sidewalk. But, I was wrong. The driver made eye-contact with me, moved over in the lane and turned the sprayers off as he passed. I thought that it was a very considerate thing for him to do and felt it warranted a thank you. They have also been spraying down the empty lot that is outside our fence (and that the trucks use to turn around in) and I feel like that is slightly unnecessary for them but very nice for us to limit the amount of dust in our neighborhood. Thank you to the construction workers. We hope you liked our cookies (I know Mack liked delivering them!). 


Sunday, May 6, 2012

Cookies, Outfits, and New Friends

"Don't even think about taking this cookie from me!"
Gotta try out all of the outfits! Miss Macy is almost grown out of some newborn clothes already! 

I forgot to introduce little Aliyah Sanchez, my friend Kendra's new baby.
Macy is on the left and her new buddy is on the right.
(Kendra is the one I had the shower for last month.)

Normal Ol' Saturday

We had a normal ol' Saturday.

We scouted out the yard to begin some work this week. I think we are going to section off the yard into two areas and start planting grass. We are going to take down a couple of aspens in the main part of the yard as well. Hopefully the side yard will get gutted and cleaned up and we will make a nice rocky area under the pine trees. Justin also wants to built a "lean-to" type shed in the side yard this summer. Let the yard fun begin! 
 
Macklin had to take a break from the yard action. 

Miss Macy just keeps on growing! 

A little potty time! Our goal is that Macklin is potty trained by our trip to Hawaii at the end of July. He is starting to tell us when he is going potty or after he is already done. We are starting the conversation and have gotten him to sit on the potty a couple of times (such a cutie!) but to no success yet. We don't really have a game plan though, just talking about it with him. He did sit on the potty the other day - no business completed though. Then ran down the hall naked to me and just pooped on the floor...does that count as close? It sure was funny and shocking though. Gotta keep a diaper on that boy! 

After all of that fun, mommy was itching to get out of the house, so we went for a little family hike up Valley Rd. We ran into a fallen tree over our trail so we had to adventure around it! Macklin loves to be outside!

Can you believe we live here?