Aloha

We had a great time on vacation. The girls did pretty amazing on the long flight to Kauai, especially Lana. I got her one of those hand-held Leapster game thingys and between that, coloring and a million snacks, she was good to go. Lacey didn't really fuss or cry much on the flight, although she didn't really sleep either (big shocker there). She would only catnap for like 30-45 minutes and that was it. Our resort was just beautiful and we just planned on hanging out at the pool and beach, rather than sightseeing, like we used to do before kids. The mission was to unwind, relax, swim, eat and drink. And we did!

So here is the trip in photos:
I am feeling brave to post this photo in my bathing suit, but Lana's face says it all--do you think she looks happy or what?This is the day Lacey cut her very first tooth! I tried to get her to open up, but no deal.
Each afternoon, we brought the girls back to the room at 2pm for a nap. Lana has not napped since last summer, but with the time difference, it was essential. The miraculous thing about it is that both girls slept at the same time and Bill and I enjoyed a beer and a book out on the lanai. AND we managed to do this every single day! Both girls asleep at the same time for 5 days in a row is no small wonder! It was wonderful! Here are my sleeping beauties:

I love this pic of Lana with the plumeria--she was looking at this woman standing behind me.
Because it was not hot (mid 70s with wind and some rain too), we could really be outside without getting overheated. None of us got sunburned thanks to some serious SPF and Lacey could nap outside when she got fussy--we just wrapped her up in a towel and rocked her to sleep. I even nursed outside (covered up, of course)!
And finally, some sisterly love....
It was a great trip. We had a few behavior meltdowns and only one sour morning out of Lana. The biggest challenge was Lacey's sleep--no surprise there, but she is easygoing enough that even sleep-deprived, she was in a decent mood. Bill and I caught up on sleep too since we went to bed at the same time as the girls each night. It was nice. Overall, a great family vacation. I can't tell you the number of times we told Lana how lucky she is to be able to go on great trips like this. Gratitude and perspective is something we really struggle with teaching her. We all felt lucky to be able to have such a nice getaway.

Weekend Recap

I promise to get to our vacation, complete with photos and videos, but I only have a few minutes, so I will recap our weekend.

We are desperately trying to re-acclimate to our time zone, as jet lag has screwed us all up. Lana is pretty much back to normal, except she is eating meals at strange times, but I can live with that. Lacey is all over the place. She slept "normally" the first 2 nights home (every 2-3h wakeups), but over the weekend she woke up 4 times before midnight and then at 3am we let her cry, which lasted till about 6am. Yes, that is 3h. Not 3h of continuous crying though--she cries for 10 min, falls asleep for about 5-10min and then cries again, stops, sleeps a few minutes, repeat for 3 h. Finally at 6am, I went in, nursed, rocked, pleaded and she slept for a whopping 2h. It sucked the life out of Bill and I. Luckily, Lana slept through the whole thing. I just can't figure out this baby. I mean the whole point of CIO is the out part. She never got there. Last night, we co-slept b/c I couldn't do another night like that. Tonight we are starting a new strategy, but sadly I am not hopeful at this point. I feel like she is the world's worst sleeper--every little thing wakes her up.

Aside from not sleeping, Bill and I managed to get some things accomplished. We went to the lumber store to choose a wood floor for the new kitchen, we researched and looked at new appliances, and we measured and measured and contemplated about which cabinets to add and where. We are keeping our countertops and existing cabinets, but when we change out the appliances, we will lose some cabinet space, so we hope to add a few to make up for the lost space.

Lana spent a lot of time with my mom and they had a blast. I think Lana was just so grateful to get out of the house with boring old mom who does nothing except coax the baby to sleep. I love the relationship that Lana has with my mom. Its so fulfilling to watch develop. Lana was uber sweet this weekend too, which doesn't hurt. I mean REALLY great. Like, "Lana, would you please do XYZ?" "Sure mom!" Whoa. Its good stuff. Bill had a work meeting/dinner on Saturday night, so mom came over and we made pizza (with rice milk cheese for me--not bad, really) and rented Alvin and the Chipmunks. Lana loved the movie, which was really surprising since her attention span for feature films is kind of low.

I spent Sunday morning making baby food for the first time. It was pretty easy, although I need more ice cube trays. Lacey ate the home made sweet potatoes happily. Yay to that and thanks to Desi for the inspiration.

So that was the weekend in a nutshell. This week is looking pretty busy, but on the top of my list is those photos from vacation.

Catching up and a mystery solved

We just returned from an awesome, relaxing, fun-filled vacation and I want to post all about our trip, but I am catching up with 18 loads of laundry, unpacking and two very tired and jet-lagged children. Have I mentioned we are remodeling? Well, the wall came down while we were away and there is a layer of dust/dirt on every surface on the first floor. The first thing I did was mop when we got home. Fun! Its going to be great when we are done, but for now its a mess and its loud during the day, which incidentally is not helping our baby's sleep situation. But that is another post for another day.

Three weeks ago when I took Lacey for her allergy testing and she tested positive for milk protein allergy, it was recommended that I eliminate all dairy from my diet since I am still breastfeeding. I told the doctor I am already doing that--I don't eat cheese, ice cream, milk, etc. She handed me a detailed list of all of the dairy sources I should be more strict about eliminating--things like whey, casein, butter, chocolate (boo hoo) and dairy ingredients in processed foods, crackers, cereals, cookies. So after I had a little pity party about the chocolate, I switched over to soy butter and I changed my non-dairy creamer, which has casein, to a soy based creamer and I read labels on everything.

I can't say Lacey's eczema, reflux or sleep issues have improved any, but I have noticed a marked improvement in my own health! Ever since I had Lana, I have been suffering with IBS. Its lovely. And embarrassing. I pretty much always feel some sort of tummy trouble. Every day its something and sometimes it makes me anxious about leaving the house or traveling b/c who wants tummy trouble on an airplane or in the car? I have received very little help from gastroenterologists--they just tell you to take fiber and don't eat foods that bother you. I did acupuncture. No help there. Chinese herbs helped the most, but then I got pregnant with Lacey and had to stop. Well, since I cut out dairy strictly--meaning all that whey and casein, my tummy has felt almost...normal. I initially thought that it was just a lull in my symptoms, but its been a full 3 weeks now and I still feel good--even with traveling! I literally haven't felt this good in almost 4 years. Its totally worth the sacrifices of chocolate and ice cream. Totally. I have Lacey's milk allergy to thank. I cannot express how happy this makes me. I hope Lacey grows out of her milk allergy, but I will likely permanently be dairy free. Its such a simple solution.

Just try not to smile

This is my first try with video, so this is a bit of an experiment.

Here is my happy, HAPPY baby. Ooh, I could just eat her up!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Jinxed

Oh yeah, I saw it coming, I jinxed the hell out of myself with my last post when I spoke so highly of Lana's wonderful behavior. Man oh man, what a friggen week we had. It was spring break, aka "drive your mother nuts" week. I contracted one hell of a cold, the kind where you cough and cough and cough till a little pee comes out. My asthma is acting up which is also causing some laryngitis. So Lana figured out that I can't really yell and that I prefer to not use my voice at all because it just leads to the coughing spells. Yeah right, try to parent Miss Talking Nonstop without actually talking. Plus, she is bored because there is no school, its been raining and we are stuck in the house giving Lacey her naps on schedule, hoping against hope that one of these days her night sleep will improve.

So it was a tough week. Lana was a royal pain in the ass on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It was so very challenging, mostly because it has been a LONG time since I have seen this type of behavior. There was stubborn defiance, crying, a whole lotta "NOs!" and just general misery and bad behavior. I felt like crap, so I didn't have any reserves for this business. There was yelling, even though it was more like croaking and about 3 octaves lower than my normal voice. By the time Bill came home on Friday, I just wanted to walk out the door and take a few cleansing breaths.

But today, she is back. Sweet Lana, dear lovely Lana. Whew! She was even content to spend the whole day at home, just playing with whoever would give her attention. Sometimes I think that Lana doesn't have a lot of toys, especially age appropriate toys, especially compared to her friends, but the truth is, she doesn't want more toys--she wants our attention. I am her favorite toy! She is not good at independent play. I have been told that some children can play with toys in their rooms for hours. What? Kids can DO that? Not mine! She wants to imagine. We play beach party, dance party, princess ball party. She builds pillow forts called her "house" and brings in her "babies" and "snacks". She cooks me pretend meals and even today she set up a very elaborate garage sale complete with snacks and a lemonade stand.

I am so happy spring break is over and we can get back to our regular routine. I am hoping this heinous cold goes away soon and that we can stay healthy for a couple more weeks as we get ready for our vacation. Vacation!!