Eating and feeding

For some time now my life has completely consisted of food.

Food, food, food, food, food, food, food.

So much so that I'm sick of eating. Every two hours I'm literally stuffing my face with the most caloric thing I can find in the fridge so that way I will produce enough, and it's getting mighty old around these parts.

So here's the deal: breast feeding this little lady is just nuts!

It's totally different from Carter {with whom I effortlessly fed and pumped sometimes two bottles a day!}, and after talking to a few different second-time mamas, I think that's just the MO. Take the other day for example. I was standing in line at Starbucks chatting with a lady friend, and she started telling me about how she didn't think her milk was satisfying her little guy who is now 7 months old, which was funny because I had just been talking to Chad about that same conundrum. Just a few hours later while at Target, I ran into another mommy friend who told me her little bambino eats every other second and is always hungry in between feedings, much like how Kota is! What the heck?

Okay, so here is what's been going on {she says guiltily}: 

My mom watches the babes for a few hours on Mondays when I head off to work, and as of a few weeks ago, she started telling me that she thinks Kota is not satisfied. At first I thought thoughts like, "What the heck, mother? She is more than satisfied after eating a combined 10 oz.'s over a 4 hour span! She's just fussy." But then Chad started asking me if it was about that time to start formula, to which I defensively answered, "Heavens de-betsies, NO! I'm going to go until 6 months and then I'll think about doing that... I'll think about it." 

But here's the thing, I feed her ALL THE TIME. Anytime she's tired of lying on her back? Let's eat. Sick of being bounced on my knee? Let's eat. Over walking around? Let's eat. All because if I don't feed her there's no chilling out, and now that we have the two of them, that's just not an option if we want to get through the day unscathed.  So the problem is not the amount of production, it's the quality of the milk, I think. Maybe I'm just burning more calories because I'm chasing after Carts? I don't know!

Anyway, the thought that I may be acting based upon selfish feelings has occurred to me. I mean, it's not like the world is going to end if I start formula, but I'm just not READY! 

I'm being the operative word there.

We shall see.

But just for fun, let me tell you what I ate yesterday, and yes, this is for real.

7:30 am: humongous bowl of oatmeal and banana

10:30 am: McDonald's coffee, toast with a generous amount of jam, two scrambled eggs

12:00 pm: two leftover enchiladas

2:00 pm: full glass of milk with a slice of french silk pie

3:30 pm: string cheese

4:30 pm: dark chocolate Ensure protein drink

7:00 pm: Chick-Fil-A spicy chicken sandwich {crispy, mind you}

9:30 pm: small glass of milk, Half Baked bowl of ice cream

I'm literally tired of eating sweets and other rich foods. Man oh man. At least it's all going to the breast feeding cause, because if this was effecting the ole' waist band, there would be problems up in here.

Sheesh kapeesh.

Happy Mothers Day

Well, here it goes! My name is Chad and I am Nicole's husband.

First I would like to tell everyone a little about my wonderful wife from an outsiders point of few. She is the best mom in the world. Between running the kids to the pool, her mom's house (babysitting), and working herself she still seems to be the most beautiful wife a guy could ask for!

This Mother's day I thought instead of getting her a card, I should write a blog post on her blog! This way instead of her just reading the card to herself, I can share my love for her to the world.

Carter says "I love my mom" :)

Miss Dakota Lee is happy eyed and loving every inch of Nicole. 

Ok, so what I want to say is simple:

  

Nicole, I love you. 

You are my best friend. 

Everyday I find someway to fall in love with you more and more. 

You give me motivation, love, and your heart. 

I have stolen you from the world and I apologize.

3 years down and a lifetime waiting.

There is no one else I would rather spend my life with.

Happy Mothers Day.

P.S. This laptop I am writing all of this on is yours.

Walking

Back in the ole' first-pregnancy days, I walked like a fiend. Every single day I hit the pavement and developed some damn fine muscle tone-age in those legs of mine, if I do say so myself. But guess what? Since I would have rather set myself on fire than take a lovely stroll when I was pregnant with Kota, that tone-age has gone a-hidin', forcing me to drag Chad along with me on these walks and let me tell you, I quite enjoy it. 

Random, eh?

Well I just thought about it because he's so hilarious when it comes to these here walks. I'll say,

"ALRIGHT babe! Ready for our walk?!"

{Much like the most annoyingly perky person you know},

to which he'll give me this look.

The look. 

The look that says,

Come on babe...Nooooo....Noooo don't make me!

To which I always respond,
"Come on! You love these things! We are going! Here are your shoes! Let's GO!"

And then we'll get out in the sunshine and WITHOUT FAIL, he will look at me and say,

"You know, I really like these walks. They're always so nice."

Yes, I know babe. They're always so nice because you get my motivational chatter along the way which always  returns to the same three questions:

1. So, where do you want to go on our next major vacation?

2. So, are you still loving work, and what's the newest?

and, 

3. When Kota starts dating, are we going to ask Carter to give us an entire background check on each potential suitor?

All of which I know the answers to, but hey! It's just how we do. Every single time :)

Us right now

Sheesh kapeesh...Can we say "hiatus?"

Man, oh man. It's been quite a wild ride around here as of late, and I'm even typing this as Chad is wrestling Carter into a late afternoon nap and Kota is stirring in her car seat, bound to wake up from the sounds of me typing. 

Anyway, here's the deal with us C's:

- We just left our precious, beautiful, fabulous, wonderful little penthouse {2nd floor, hey hey!} apartment in Irvine for bigger and better things: crashing at the in-laws until we find a little piece of real estate we can actually own. So yes, living with a set of the parentals isn't exactly the sexiest thing on earth, but we're glad for the option {...and the fact that we don't have to pay the now OUTRAGEOUSLY high Orange County rent since jumping into another lease would make no sense. Hello, overrated apartment complexes built in none other than the roaring 20's with leaky roofs and popcorn ceilings! No thank you.}

- Chad has a blessed 3 weeks left until the semester is OVER! {Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! - Sound of Music style.} This fact is always much welcomed, and lets just keep our fingers and toes crossed that all goes swimmingly during these last few classes.

- I realized that I rely on our families quite a lot. Not that this thought was ever lost on me before, but adding Kota into the mix has really shown me that it's actually quite a fabulous thing to have family members close by.

- Moving is such a damn hassle. Seriously, outrageous. Next time we move {well, the move after leaving these here rooms in the Cisneros home}, we are just going to straight up hire some professionals. Maybe I'll box a few things up on my own...Maybe...But one things for darn sure: there will be NO loading any sort of vehicle with our belongings from THIS lady. Nuh-uh. Never again.

- I'm considering going to work and utilizing the skills I actually went to school for. Now that I've had the two bambinos and I know that if I leave them for a bit the world won't fall apart, I'm quite curious. Chad and I have been talking about it, and thanks to those wonderful family members, it actually might be something that may happen. We shall see. Anyway, wouldn't that be awesome in the ole' pocketbook arena? Can we say "European vacations?" {Twice a year?...Okay, that's just me being crazy, but that would be amaze. Who wants to convince Chad with me?}

Anyway, I need to unpack the boxes taking up floor space in our wing of the house and continue to repeat to myself these words exactly:

Just until we make the purchase, just until we make the purchase, just until we make the purchase...

Talk to you soon!

Stubborn

This is the face of "stubborn."

All sweetness and innocence, you say?

Well, yes, but girlfriend's personality is emerging more and more by the hour.

She is not easily placated like her brother was, and the phrase "American Idol lungs" has a whole new meaning around these parts. I think we are raising a little sass-a-frass and you know what? I can't wait to see where this stubborn little missy takes us! It's so precious, even in those moments of pure frustration.

I swear!

Do you believe me?

Just look at that sweetness! 

I die. She is my doll.

More information on life to come and I can say that it may or may not include the words "pre-approved" and "home buying....!"

Random thoughts from an exhausted person

{Isn't that sweet?}

Okay, I'm exhausted from taking care of two sick bambinos. It's tough stuff, man! Who would have thought that hanging out on the couch and feeding these kids' their medicine could take so much out of you! Sheesh kapeesh. Anyway, despite said sleepiness, I'm the only one awake right now so I don't really know what to do with myself. Here is what's runnin' through the ole' noggin:

{1}

The man fell asleep at 8:37 tonight. 8:37! The only reason I know the exact time is because I literally looked over at him while he closed his eyes, waited for a few seconds to see if he was going to open them back up, then looked at the clock to note his premature slumber. What the heck, husband?! You know I get bored when you fall asleep before me! We are night owls! People-o-the-night! Television-marathoners-once-the-kids-are-asleep-ers! Me no likey. I guess I only prefer my alone time when he has class. Oh, well...

{2}

I really really really want to do one of those read-the-Bible-in-one-year things. Do you realize that the first time I ever read the "Jonah and the whale" story was when I read it to Carter the other day??! Ridiculous! How can this be after attending church for the past 24 years? One thing's for sure: I need to hunker down and get my biblical knowledge on...

{3}

Speaking of biblical knowledge, I totally love that show GCB! It's the best, and definitely up there with Once Upon a Time! Can I please be a combination of all those women, especially Carlene {and Cricket?}...{okay, and Sharon!}??! Hilarious!

{4}

My memory blows. I don't know what's wrong with me, but it's just terrible. The only time I have great retention is when I'm about to take some sort of written test, but since esquela is over now, that's no good to me anymore. Sigh. What shall I do about this? I've already thought about getting my masters just to put that skill to good use, but then I remembered that that just might not be the best idea with two kids under the age of 3...Hmmm...

Okay, that's it for randomness. I think I'll go take a shower? Maybe eat some string cheese?? 

Oh, I don't know!

Wish me luck before bed time!

a whole new terrain: TWO sick babies

Oh my gosh.

Since sometime last week, us four C's have been flipped upside down big time, my friend. Right now I'm sitting here with my sleeping little girl while the boys strategically have left the nest... Something to do with SOMEONE telling SOMEONE ELSE that if she doesn't get some "lie down" time, she might blow a gasket. 

So off they went, like proper gentleman, to give me some peace, and man, oh man, do I ever need some peace!

Last Friday night the kiddos were a little cranky, a little thrashy, and just a teensy bit more clingy than usual, so I made the decision to make the 20 minute drive to the good ole' doctor's office to get them checked out.

Once we were in the actual office and I had both bambinos crying up a storm {literally both babies screaming at the top of their lungs for at least 40 minutes}, we were informed that Kota had a minor cold and Carter had a major cold with a double ear infection.

Okay, not so bad! Nothing I hadn't handled before!

We'll just swing through the pharmacy, grab those antibiotics and carry on!

So, after grabbing those blessed ear drops and the "juice" he was going to have to drink through a syringe, both babies were wonderfully sleepy and relaxed. 

Well, Carter was, anyway.

On came Easter Sunday, and even though my baby baby baby baby girl looked DARLING in her first Easter outfit, girlfriend just looked strung out.

Her poor little eyes were super glassy all day long, and she just didn't seem to know what to do with herself. Finally, that night Chad told he thought it would be a good idea to bring her back in. In hindsight, I feel sort of bad because my reaction to his concern was, "Oh, babe...I think she's fine. They will probably just tell me to weather the storm." But he insisted, and thank goodness!

So now it was Monday morning and Kota just sounded awful. Wheezing, coughing, crying, everything. Carter wasn't doing too hot himself, and was permanently stuck to my leg, once I...you know...pinned him down and tried to force feed him his antibiotics {I assure you, I was not successful}. 

After taking a quick note of our current state, I called up my madre and asked her {told her} that I needed some serious help getting to and from the doctors. Thank goodness she got straight in the car and drove on down to my place, where we bundled ourselves up and made the 20 minute drive AGAIN to the pediatrician.

Now, I totally thought we were going to go in there and they were just going to reinforce their original diagnosis of a bad cold, but MAN was I WRONG.

While Carter rolled around in the waiting room, my mom watched over him for a straight HOUR.

An hour!

We were back there getting oxygen tests and breathing treatments galore!

When I figured out that she does, in fact, have bronchiolitis and there was a possibility that if her oxygen level got too low we were going to have to go to the hospital, I immediately went into HOLY MOLY mode. Out came the cell phone so I could call Chad and simultaneously let my boss know that I would indeed NOT be in to teach my classes that night. Finally, the doctor told me that I needed to drive up the street to Walgreens and get myself a nifty nebulizer along with this super expensive medicine. 

So off we went on that little adventure. 

Picture this: me, frazzled and starving, Carter, fussy because his ears were hurting and really starving, Kota, crying and congested beyond belief, and my mom trying to keep us all from driving off a cliff! It was madness! At last, I paid my left arm for this unexpected nebulizer thing and the medicine, the kids fell asleep and we made the trek home, but not without a quick drive through for some fast food. 

About an hour after settling in, it was time for her first breathing treatment, which THANK GOODNESS, Chad was able to come home for on his lunch break.

Later that day, though, I noticed that her chest was showing some labored breathing so back in the car we went to check on the whole situation, only this time it wasn't a 20 minute drive, it was a 30 minute drive to the sister office because it was after hours! Ay yi yi...I could have driven to Mexico and back and not have been as exhausted as those two trips made me. Luckily, all was well, and her oxygen levels were still low, but better than earlier.

Anyway, the only reason I can even say we were frazzled was because I'm sitting here now all nice and calm, looking back on the horrendousness that was Monday. While it was all happening though, I was actually quite calm {save for the car ride from the doctor's office to Walgreens}.

So now all is well with us C's, with two RECOVERING children!

Alleluia!

Now I'm going to go sit on my bed and watch The Little Couple because I deserve some darn rest!

Ta-ta!