Charmed Life Chronicles

For 2 days, I felt like I was on the streets all day long running around. Today, I'm at home, not going anywhere, and getting some things done around the house.

Thursday afternoon, I went to my friend's house. A much needed trip, indeed. Kayliana and her son hung out and played together. Addison was by mommy's side the entire time practically. Sometimes she'll play really well with the two of them and other times she just wants to chill out with me and Heather and the babies. Tristan started to smile a LOT this day so Heather got lots of smiles from him that day. I FINALLY got a picture of it too (see day 5/365). It was so nice catching up with her. We used to fight ALL.THE.TIME. I can't tell you how many falling out's we've had. We started talking again June of 2009 and we've been friends ever since without any falling out's. We've both grown alot so now when we finally get to catch up with each other after a month or two, it's really nice.



Headed home and had Three Brothers (A restaurant I've never eaten at crossed off of my Day Zero Project list) for dinner.

Later that evening, I wanted to try to see if I could take all 3 kids out in public by myself. Now, I had Willie come with me just in case. I wanted to be able to call in reinforcements if there was a problem. I did everything by myself. I drove, got the kids out of the vehicle, dealt with a crying hungry Tristan and 2 fighting kids that were crawling in and out of the stroller, all while continuing to shop at Target. I think I handled it pretty well. I got a bit flustered and Willie just stood there watching.. LOL! Got them back in the truck by myself and even had to feed Tristan again before we headed back home. All in all, I could probably do it by myself but I certainly wouldn't prefer it. If I don't have to take all 3, I probably wouldn't. We bought Tristan a bouncer while we were there.



Friday, I met up with Heather at Walmart and did a bit of shopping. I took only Tristan with me and he was not in a very good mood. He does NOT like being in the carseat. Luckily I had a bottle made and was able to get him to calm down that way, along with his pacifier. I did have to take him out of the carseat twice though. He was just very tired and did not feel comfortable falling asleep that way. I think next time I take him somewhere and I'm alone, I'm going to put him in the sling but bring the carseat as well. I think he'd have slept in the sling if I had brought it with me that day. Later that evening, Willie and I went over to Heather where she so generously gave us a twin mattress and boxspring for Addison (Upgrade from toddler bed - upgraded a piece of furniture in my house - #58) and I bought (kinda) a glider off of her too. I had one with the other 2 kids but had to toss it out before Tristan came. I've already gotten him to fall asleep while rocking him in it 3 times since having it.

That pretty much sums up the end of my week. I also managed to get my computer organized the past few days (#75). Today has just been a day that I've gotten the girls room clean, organized and re-arranged and that is about it. Willie took the girls to his mothers house since he had some things to fix over at their house, and I got to stay here with Tristan. He's been sleeping so well since they left and the quietness has been nice.

Title speaks for itself. Everyone's child says funny things, because lets face it, kids really do say the darndest things. Kayliana has come up with some strange things from time to time. She can really make an entire room laugh sometimes.

Just a few.. "Kayliana-ism's" to share from recently.

Kayliana: "Mommy, why do we have Chloe's (My friend's daughter) swing?
Me: "We don't, that's our swing"
Kayliana: "Well, it's not very boy-ly"

Willie and I cracked up. I had to explain to her that it's 'boyish' and 'girly.' The reason for her thinking it's Chloe's is that it's pink... yep! My little boy is swinging in a pink swing. Guess that's where "real men can wear pink" comes in?? It used to be Addison's and since I didn't know what I was having, I wasn't about to buy a new swing when ours worked perfectly. Eh, it's not going on vacations with us and it stays in our room, so no big deal to us.


Kayliana: "I want to bring China Snow White"
Me: "China Snow White? What is that?"
Willie: "Why not Canada Snow White?"
Kayliana: "No, she's not a food"
As Willie and I are both giggling....
Willie: "What about Brazil Snow White?"
Kayliana: "No, she's not a drink either!!"

Where do kids come up with these things?


I had the hiccups like crazy yesterday. For some reason they would not go away. Kayliana asked me "Why do you keep hiccing up" as opposed to hiccuping. Crazy girl!

Serious sleep deprivation going on the past few days. Tristan was doing soooo well, and then I had to go open my big mouth and jinx myself. The past few days Tristan has been up in the middle of the night for a few hours. Just lastnight he got up at 2am to eat and did not go back to sleep til 5am, then was up at 6:45am and back up again at 8:30am. I have insomnia so I can't usually fall asleep til about 1am anyways at the ,earliest, and at that point, I just stay up knowing he'll feed at 2am like he always does. Lately, he just wants to be awake and hang out. Sometimes he's cranky and fighting sleep and other times he's a complete angel is is completely content with me holding and talking to him. Usually I am pretty good with little sleep but I think the past few days are catching up with me.

I've been trying to get a picture of Tristan's smile while awake but I have been failing. He stops smiling when the camera is in front of his face. He absolutely LOVES when I do patty-cake with him. I love his smiles.. I can't wait til he's smiling all the time. I also can't believe that he's going to be 6 weeks old in just a few days! My lil monster is getting big, and I'll make my first goal in exclusively breastfeeding.

Well, I promised a picture of my Disney World Dooney & Bourke purse so here it is!
Be jealous! LOL! It's only a wristlet but I don't carry much. I'm hooked already and I'm really really wanting their cruise line one but they are only available on their cruise ships so I either have to wait til it comes into their store or until I can go on a ship. Whichever comes first.

I felt like today went by really fast! Almost too fast! My entire day is just all a blur. LOL!

For starters, I have a few things I can mark off of my Day Zero list (101 in 1001). I signed up for NILMDTS (Now I lay me down to sleep #60). I may not get accepted, but I applied. I received a new lens today for my camera (#33) and a designer purse (#78). I used my new lens today for about 5 minutes and then we started getting eaten alive by mosquitoes so we came inside. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Dooney & Bourke purse! I will have pictures of my purse tomorrow. Any Disney lovers are gonna be JEALOUS! LOL!

Last night I met up with a friend. I let her borrow my swing cover for her daughter and I got it back lastnight so I could see if it would work for Tristan. He seems to like it thus far and is sleeping in it right now. It might just be my saving grace to get things done around the house. Who cares if it is pink LOL! However, if it works, I might have to buy a travel swing to take with us to places, especially Florida. My good friend also gave me some much needed clothes! It looks like I will have some stuff for the winter time already! I'm so thankful.

Outside of that, not much has been going on. Went to the grocery store today with the girls and both were pretty good outside of one little fit Addison had when we were leaving. It's been a long time since I've taken just the girls somewhere. I am not sure how I'll ever do 3 by myself!!! Anyways, some pictures of Kayliana before I sign out.

Today Tristan had his 1 month doctors appointment. He got one shot and was really good about it. He cried for a little bit but was pretty much done crying when I picked him up and cuddled him. We came home and he fell asleep and he's been asleep for 2 hrs, most of which I haven't had to hold him. Looks like the doctors appointment wore him out. I asked about reflux and since I'm breastfeeding there isn't much I can do and he didn't prescribe me any medicine for him. He told me to give him some rice cereal by spoon mixed with expressed breastmilk but he wants me to do it after every feeding and wanting me to mix it with atleast an ounce or two. Umm, I can hardly pump an oz a DAY let alone try to get enough for an entire days worth. I'm going to keep track of his weight though and if he's not gaining much then I may have to use some formula mixed with cereal to give him after he eats b/c there's no way that I'm going to be able to pump that much every single day along with exclusively breastfeeding every 2 to 3 hrs during the day. I don't know.. we'll see how it goes and I guess I will make the right decision for us in the end. Either way, I'm not giving up on breastfeeding.

The doctor also stated that he had a slight hernia on his belly button and that it wasn't bad and would go away on it's own. Looks normal to me so I dunno about that one. LOL! Everything else looks really good. He's getting so big! Here are the rundown of his stats....

Birth - 7lbs 1oz 19.5in
3 days old - 6lbs 7oz 19.25in (Dunno how he shrunk)
2 weeks old - 7lbs 14oz
5 weeks old - 9lbs 11oz 22in

Yep, he's 9lbs 11oz and 22in long today according the the doctors scale. He's gained over 3 pounds in 4 weeks. That's a really good progress. He said whatever I was doing to keep it up :D


I bought the girls new matching bedding today since they share a room. Kayliana originally had Dora and Addison had purple butterflies. So didn't go together, so I got both of them new stuff. It's not as pretty as I'd like it to have been but it was one of the few things I could find that was within budget that I could find in twin and toddler sizes. The girls love it though, and that is really all that matters. We will be painting sometime in August and have it all done with decor and decals by the time we leave for Disney World in September. This is one of their birthday gifts.. to have their room done in big girl material! When it is all finalized, we'll take a picture to show everyone.

I've finally gotten my 101 Goals in 1001 Days list together! Took me forever to come up with 101 things! I can't believe how hard it is to think of more than 30 things you want to achieve in life in less than 3 years. Some of these goals may not be able to be reached, but I'm ok with that. I will still keep trying!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW MY 101 in 1001 LIST

Today is the first day of a growth spurt for Tristan. He is 5 weeks old and he appears to be going through his 6 week growth spurt just a tad early. We have dealt with extreme fussiness, a baby who acts like he hasn't eaten in days, a super gassy baby, along with a baby that doesn't sleep longer than 10mins at a time. Day 1 of my 365 project represents one of the few times I was able to put him down and him stay calm and sleeping. He's cuddled with his blankie!

Recapping the weekend....

Friday night, Willie and I decided last minute that we'd drop the kids off at his moms house for a little while and we would go out to dinner. We were only gone for 3 hrs, but it is always nice to just get out of the house and do something with just Willie. We don't have any alone time right now since Tristan sleeps in our room. I don't even think we've hugged more than a handful of times since Tristan was born, so walking around the stores holding hands and talking to each other without a child interrupting our conversation is always a treat! We had Applebees for dinner and then we went to Ross, Blockbuster, Best Buy and Target. I got this amazing cute purple chair as a photography prop. I plan to take Kayliana and Addison out one day for a photoshoot with it. I also bought Tristan a cute blanket while we were at Ross. We looked around Blockbuster and Best Buy but that was about it. At Target, we used our gift cards that we had to buy Kayliana a new game for the Wii since she's been playing it so frequently lately. Ofcourse, you can't buy for one and not the other so we bought Addison a doctor barbie doll, a Sleeping Beauty toy thing, and a baby doll. Addison's 3 things were still cheaper than Kayliana's Dance Dance Revolution Wii game that we got her.

Saturday, we headed towards Virginia for my nephews birthday party. It was good to see a few people I haven't seen in awhile and Kayliana had a blast. Addison was a little loner though and tended to stick around Willie or I the entire day. The kids were playing on a slip and slide and she said that she didn't want to play on the slip and slide because she'd fall down and she didn't want to do that. LOL! What a cutie she is. Tristan slept really really good while we were there. I wish he'd sleep that good when he's at home.



Sunday was a day that I wanted to get quite a bit done around the house. Unfortunately, it appears as though Tristan is going through a growth spurt so I've been feeding him all day long and dealng with all the fussiness that comes along with a growth spurt.

Tristan has his 1 month doctors appointment tomorrow (Monday, 7/26). I'm anxious to see how much he is weighing in at now and how tall he is now too. Although, according to our Wii fit, he has only gained 2oz this past week, which is way less than what is normal. Hopefully it's not a bad sign. He's definitely getting bigger though, and today, I've officially taken all of his newborn stuff out of his drawers and put them away. He's now strictly in 0-3month clothes.

The other day, Addison was playing in her room, and she has a Snow White barbie doll and the 7 dwarfs. She had her Snow White barbie laying in a bed and had the dwarfs standing around the bed. She's totally role playing the movie! She was then later rocking her baby doll and singing it to sleep with a lullaby. For a 2 yr old, she sure can carry a tune. She'll be my little singer of the family. She says some of the cutest things too. Coming back from VA yesterday, Willie told her to close her eyes and go "night night" in the carseat and she said "No, I want to go night night in my bed". She makes me smile!

I'm sure many of you have heard of the 365 day project before in the past. It is something I have tried many many times before and have failed miserably at it. For those that are not familiar with it, you take a picture every  single day for an entire year. Some people choose to do personal ones of their selves, or for their children. I've tried both, and I've tried more than 2 times with my children. I'm going to be giving it another shot. Alot of people start on the 1st of January, but it's not required, and I'm going to start today (7/25/2010). Mine will not be of any one thing, but my life as a whole.. it could be random pictures, pictures of my kids, scenery, etc. Just something that will remind me of what happened on a particular day. I'm hoping having this blog will help encourage me to keep up with it, and in response will also get me to put my DSLR camera back into my hands on a daily basis since I've hardly picked it up outside of my photo sessions.

Here's to starting fresh for another 365 Project. Hopefully this time, it's successful!!!

Also, after reading a friend's blog about something called the 101 Goals in 1001 Days, I decided to look into it as it sounded pretty interesting. I've mentioned just this week to Willie on things I wanted to do over the next 2 years so I am also going to start a 101 Goals in 1001 Days Project. Today will be Day Zero. I will compile a list of my 101 things.

Later today, I will not only have my 101 Goals, I will have my Day 1/365 posted :) I'm excited to start both of these projects.

I've been doing some thinking lately. I've been pretty down on myself and disappointed in myself. I haven't really brought it up to anyone, not even my own husband. I'm not down about my life or anything. I love my life.. I just feel like some things are missing. My family is famous for their drama, and because of it, I miss out on my brothers life and my niece's life. My brother and his wife haven't liked me for some time now, so I've kind of grown used to it, but I am not very close to my little sister anymore either. At one point, I thought my little sister knew she could come to me about anything, and I hope that to this day, she still knows that. Just because we are about a thousand miles apart, I don't want her to think I wouldn't be there for her. Last year, I used to hang out with my sister quite a bit, but that has pretty much stopped as of last fall. I understand she got into a relationship and was stuck on that for awhile, but I felt like I was pushed aside, as I do with a lot of my family members. Maybe it's part of being the middle child (there's 4 of us, but I still consider myself to be in the middle). Maybe because there is so much drama that it's pulling me down because I don't want to be in the middle of it, and I just really want to get along with all of my family members, even if they don't get along with each other. I love my family, even those that don't particularly care for me. I feel like some want me to choose a side, and I just can't do that when I have no problems with anyone to begin with.

Then there's the friend thing... I don't really have any. Being part of a mommy board at one point, I thought I had good friends, and then drama was created there and I backed away from it all and lost all the friends I once had on it all together. Now, I'm all alone. I don't go and hang out with anyone, and I certainly don't feel wanted by anyone either. It's been bugging me for a few months now... wishing I had some friends to relate to, to talk to, or just to have support from. I have a friend or two but it's not really the same. Makes me think back and wonder what if I would have just been "Switzerland" like Bella considered herself in the Twilight series in the book "Eclipse". Would I have been able to keep those friends? Were they even true to begin with? Was it all my fault? It's times like these where I wish I could just move away and start all over again with the whole friendship process. I have tried finding other mommy groups so that my kids have interaction as well but they just aren't around, and the ones that are, have the people that I am no longer friends with as a part of their group as well. I just can't win.

Right now, I'm just thankful for my family here in my household. They always put a smile on my face even if they do sometimes stress me out.

I forgot to mention in my last post two cute milestones that Tristan had over the past week.

July 16th, 2010 Tristan giggled in his sleep for the first time! Too adorable! He also smiled a big smile at me while awake. I got to experience his first smile.

A few days later, he smiled at his Daddy too! Such cute smiles he has. Can't wait til he starts smiling more and capture those cute smiles on camera!

Monday, July 19th, marked the day of my little baby boy turning 1 month old. They truly do grow too fast. I love love love the baby stage. If I could handle pregnancy better, I might actually want another one! No, I'm just kidding. I love the baby stage but I have no desire to ever be pregnant again, and 3 children is plenty for me. I just can't believe my baby is growing so fast already. I feel like my pregnancy went by so slow but having Tristan here, it's just gone by so fast.

Monday I took the kids and dragged Willie down to a park to take some pictures of the kids. Was hoping to get one of all 3 of them together but that was a no go. I did manage to get atleast 1 picture of each child though. I haven't taken any pictures of the girls in quite awhile so I wanted atleast 1 new one for my frames.

Aren't my babies absolutely beautiful?!! I absolutely adore them.

This week is an uneventful week for the most part. I didn't plan anything at all and we've just been planning things day by day. Last minute stuff mainly. Today (July 21st) I made a last minute decision to take the kids to the pool. We went after dinner and got there around 6pm. It wasn't too hot and without having the sun shining down on us, it wasn't a problem taking Tristan. It was Tristan's first time at the pool and he slept the entire time. He didn't even get to experience the water. Heck, he didn't even experience the scenery LOL!

Tristan's been doing well with his night schedule. He's been about every 3 to 4 hrs from about 8pm to about 6am. After 6am he moves to an every 2hr schedule and stays that way throughout the day. Big improvement from the every hour to two hours all day and all night that I was getting from him.

This weekend is my nephews birthday party. He's turning 6, so we will be headed to Virginia on Saturday afternoon to celebrate his birthday. The girls will have fun!

Here's a few pics from the past few days that I'd like to share....

Wow! It's been over a week since I've posted on my blog. Last week and weekend was pretty busy though and I'm still getting used to caring for 3 during the day.

I spent most of last week on Wednesday and Thursday catching up on laundry and cleaning the house. I had a newborn session on Friday (July 9th). I am on maternity leave until August but I always make exceptions for newborns. I don't like to do newborn sessions after 3 weeks old so I wanted to get her in right away. Unless another newborn comes my way before August 1st, I really am done working til then.

The past weekend was family filled. We went to Willie's aunt's and uncle's house on Saturday. It's always nice to catch up with them, and we don't do it enough. We really should be going up there more often. The girls had a blast with Uncle Lee, and they also cling to their big cousin Erin too. It's good to see them opening up more when around people, especially family members. Erin fell in love with Tristan (who couldn't, right?). She had said she doesn't hold babies until they can hold their head up. LOL! We got her to hold Tristan though and then I don't think she wanted to share him with Aunt Kim. Aunt Kim made dinner for us, and it was really yummy! We haven't had too many home cooked meals lately. Willie usually does all the cooking and he's been bad about it the past few months. And me? I am not sure I'd find the time to cook! Heck, I can barely find time to eat without Tristan being hungry at the same time. Anyways, it was so yummy that even Kayliana ate the chicken she made. Anyone that knows how much of a picky eater my kid is knows what a big deal that is! My point and shoot camera had died before leaving the house so I didn't get any pictures. I know that Aunt Kim and Uncle Lee have some pictures from that day though, so I'm hoping to steal some from them sometime soon.

Sunday, my dad and Sam came by. It's actually the first time my dad has come to visit in a few years. Sam's never been here. They commented how large our new room was. The girls had a blast playing with their Paw-Paw. Here's a picture from their visit with Tristan. My dad makes some of the fakest cheese smiles sometimes. LOL. Tristan was also mid-yawn.


So far, this week has been pretty uneventful. Laundry is never-ending so I was doing some of that. I also made the decision to stop cloth diapering. Between all the laundry I already have with 5 family members and the breastfeeding, cleaning and my business, I just don't think I have the time to worry about washing the cloth diapers too. It sucks in a way because I LOVE the cloth diapers, but either the breastfeeding had to be stopped or the cloth diapers had to go. Obviously, the breastfeeding was more important than the cloth diapers. I got my hair done today (July 14th). It's a bit blonder now and it's cut shorter again. It'll be the last time I have it blonde though. We're darkening it back up a little in September before we leave for vacation. Willie is going to want me to grow it out though, so I guess I'll be starting that from here on out, but most likely, I will cut it off again next May. LOL! July 14th, 2010 also marks the day that Willie and I have been together for 12 years! <3

Tristan is weighing over 8lbs now. He's getting big so fast. I can't believe he will be a month old in 4 days. Maybe we'll take a family trip to the park on Sunday if the weather is decent and I can get some pictures of him for his 1 month and get some pictures of the girls too since it's been awhile. He's going longer in between feedings and even last night he was on a 3hr schedule. I'm starting to learn his cries and which is which. Willie is still struggling with that. He thinks he is always hungry when he cries when a lot of the time I just think it's him being tired and fighting sleep (an apparent trend with my kids I guess). Tristan sure does love to be held and be close to me though. A true momma's boy.

I'm happy to announce that I have TWO potty trained kids now. We still have accidents, but I think it's official. Addison IS potty trained. She's doing very well with it! She's such a big girl now. The other day I caught her breastfeeding her baby doll. I thought that was hilarious!

I'm so thankful for my children! I feel so lucky to have 3 beautiful healthy children. They are generally well behaved kids. The girls crack me up every single day with their little personalities and the things that they say. Tristan is such a cuddly lil man. He's such a sweet baby! I can't stop giving him lots of hugs and kisses throughout each day. I truly am blessed with a perfect family!

Today, I got a good glimpse of how proud I am of my family!

Today, I had Tristan's 2 week appointment. He had to get his PKU done and when they pricked his little heel he screamed bloody murder and turned purple. My poor little snuggle bug. They weighed him and he is 7lbs 14oz. I am so proud that he is nursing so well and gaining well. Here's a little glimmer of how he's done for weight.

Birth - 7lbs 1oz
3 days old - Lost nearly 10% of his birth weight and weighed 6lbs 7oz
2 weeks old - Not only got back up to his birth weight like doctors like them to be by 2 weeks, he gained even more! Weighed in at 7lbs 14oz

I think that is wonderful growth for him and for me! Makes me feel so much better about everything! The doctor said his weight gain was amazing, and that overall he is doing very good, super healthy and that he looks perfect!

Kayliana has been playing on the Wii for a few hours today. We don't generally let her play too many video games. It's probably been months since she's actually played, so I figured while it is 100 degrees outside, she could spend her day playing the video games. Willie put it on for her, and I'd normally say it's time to turn it off after a little while but she's been playing for about 4hrs now, maybe longer. She's getting a pretty good workout from it though. LOL! She's so smart, and knows how to get around it really well and does so well with all of the games.

I'm so proud of Addison today! She's been using the potty more frequently today. She's been in panties all day today and we've had a few accidents she is already showing a huge improvement from yesterday. I think she is finally starting to get the hang of it. She is excited about being a big girl! Maybe she really will be potty trained by 3yrs old. That would be wonderful! Might make our Disney trip a bit tricky if it takes her a couple more weeks to fully understand it though. Either way, I'm proud of her progress!

I sure don't have a lot of time to do a bunch of updates or much time online being a mom to a newborn. Luckily, the girls are pretty independent until they are ready for breakfast, lunch, and dinner with the occasional asking of a drink and snack. Kayliana and Addison play so well together (most of the time) that it gives me more time to take care of Tristan.

Speaking of Tristan, it seems as though he is very much a high needs baby. He likes to be held and will hardly sleep without being held. I actually had to take the shirt I was wearing today off and then stick it underneath of him so he'd stay asleep without me holding him. I needed to get some things taken care of around the house and I certainly can not do it while holding him. I could always put him in the sling but sometimes it's difficult to still do certain tasks while having him in the sling. He seems to be doing well with the breastfeeding, and it's hurting me a lot less now. He has gained more weight since last week, so he should be well above his birth weight by now. I'll have his stats tomorrow since he has his 2 week checkup at the doctors tomorrow afternoon. I will update tomorrow on how his appointment went. Hopefully the doctor wont make me feel like a horrible mother again!

We have begun potty training Addison... sort of. I know I said I wasn't going to, but the cloth diapers are starting to get WAY too small on her on the highest rise settings and I am not buying disposable diapers for her. We have pullups, and she does wear them at night time, but we've been putting her either in a pullup during the day or underwear. We've been doing this for a week now so she is strictly off of diapers. We've had a LOT of accidents. She'll go a little bit before she gets to the potty and then not go on the potty, change her panties and then go a little bit more. We did have a successful pee on the potty last week, but she never did it again until today. She had a successful pee on the potty today and she was extremely ecstatic about it. She was clapping and laughing and you could just tell that she was very proud of herself. It would be nice if she'd keep this up today and eventually completely potty trained, but I still have a feeling we'll be going through a few weeks of trying to potty train her before we are mostly successful.

We didn't go and see fireworks for the 4th of July. Tristan is just a bit too young for all of that. We did end up taking the girls to the Natural History Museum in Washington, DC on Saturday (July 3rd) though. They really liked the mammal exhibit. It was my first time breastfeeding in public (with a cover ofcourse) and it went pretty well. I haven't mastered feeding him in the sling though, so I actually had to go outside and sit in the shade and put on my nursing cover to feed him. All of the kids did pretty good considering the girls only got about 7 hours of sleep. Tristan was not happy in the carseat though. Reminds me of how Addison was when she was a baby. I didn't take many (well, practically none actually) pictures since both of the girls were in the stroller most of the time and Tristan was in the sling for most of the time as well.