Thankful Thursday - 150

My 150th Thankful Thursday post!! That's a lot of gratefulness! 

It's been a good week (except today and yesterday due to the later-mentioned 4 month sleep regression). I've had energy for once; I think largely due to the sunny weather. It's amazing what an effect the weather has on me. Even though I know I'm just sluggish and unmotivated because it's gloomy outside, it doesn't mean I'm able to snap myself out of it. Thankful for the cooler, sunny Fall weather!

1. Shutterfly Books. I received my 2016 and 2017 books I finally caught up on! I love having these little books to look back on. Every year I wait until they have the "free 8x8 photobook" sale. I may or may not have a couple accounts I use to maximize my deal. Ethical? ...Grey area :)

2. Cabinets!!! I'm way too excited about these. If you've been to my house, you have more than likely noticed our junk corner. I am not proud of it. It is cluttered, very visible, and just became where everything gets tossed. We have a solution!!! My Aunty Sonya & Uncle Anthony moved and this cabinet sadly didn't have a spot in the new house so she offered it up for sale and I swooped in so quickly to claim it. I've always wanted something like this.

We went from this...

I have always been horribly embarrassed by this spot. I even considered hanging a curtain just to hide the mess.

NOT ANYMORE!

Seriously... check out this storage!

3. Generous neighbours. Our neighbours in our complex have two kids, aged 8 and 10. They were given a very very cool firehouse toy years ago. It's like a "boy" version of a dollhouse. Their kids have outgrown it, so they gifted it to us! Dominic is super excited about it. I think we will pack it away and bring it out closer to his 2nd birthday. It takes up a lot of space when set up, but it all comes apart easily and lays flat! It is so awesome. I would have killed for something like this as a kid!

4. The minivan. We were able to pack all the parts for the cabinet into our van! I removed the middle row of seats and folded down the back ones, and there was ample room! Hooray for a spacious, practical vehicle!

5. Some peace of mind. I posted a while ago about Emilia's lack of weight gain from 2-4 months. Since she turned 4 months I've been running my body into the ground with pumping and feeding and supplementing and stressing. My mental health took a major dive. I have decided this weak to relax a bit. I'll do what I can, and whatever makes us all happy. Fed is best. She is a mix of breastfed and formula fed. I am now at peace with that. I am just not ready for our breastfeeding journey to be done. 

That being said, I weighed her again today and she's gained a pound in two and a half weeks! That is sort of average for this age, but great considering she didn't gain for two months before. 

Happy happy! Now if only she would go back to sleeping right through the night and taking 2 hour naps... 4 month sleep regression has hit the Kimber household (Zzzzzz...).

Cuteness - Picture Unload

I have so many pictures of the littles on my phone. Time to unload!

I had a little happy time with Emilia yesterday and snapped some photos. She's so funny. Seriously. How do I pick a favorite?!

 

Her eyes are so big, blue and round

And then there's the two amigos. Clearly siblings. Laying on the floor sucking their fingers. 

Ashleigh took Dom for a walk to the park and tested out her new phone camera on him.

Why is he such an old man?! Haha!

He often walks around like this. It kills me

VROOM VROOM! Riding on the motorcycle

Apparently he spent 10 minutes standing like an old man staring at the fountain in their garden

This video was from a little while ago. I didn't know he even knew what dandelions were and then he stopped to blow on this one on our walk. Such cuteness.

 

The doctor suggested we try starting Em on oatmeal if she's interested. Well... I think we'll try again in a week or two haha! Not impressed!

Thankful Thursday - 149

This week I am thankful for...


1. Quiet mornings. David is going to basketball at Frank Hurt again some mornings which means he's up and out of the house before any of us are awake. This morning Em was up early, so I was up with her for an hour before Dom woke up. I was able to eat my breakfast without anyone bothering me. While I was prepping my breakfast, Sherlock jumped up for some baby cuddles too. He really loves babies this stage (not moving).

2. Potty success! I did not expect this at all, and I presume it is just a phase, but Dom has decided to poop on the potty this week; 3 times straight so far! Totally out of the blue. We put him on the potty sometimes before bath-time, but this time he actually asked to go on the potty and pooped! Unbelievable. He did have one half-accident (if you can even call it that) yesterday, but finished up on the toilet.

Kid loves to read on the toilet. Must take after his father.

3. We have a home. We are still in shock that we were able to buy a house, and that we got into the market at the perfect time. We bought 3 years ago for $370,000 and our neighbors have just listed their place for $250,000 MORE... We are so blessed. 
Side note... do you want to be my neighbour?
Link for listing  If you watch the video, at 2:28 Dom makes a mini video-bomb at our fence!

4. Emilia's doctor appointment. We had an appointment today for Emilia's 4 month shots and check up. I've been concerned about her weight, but she's gone up 7oz since last week which is good. 
Weight: 12lb 6.5oz
Length: 64cm
Head Circumference: 41cm

The doctor checked her out, and she's meeting all her milestones and is early with some (rolling over all over the place for example). Everything is on track except for her weight, and the doctor said maybe she's not gaining as much partially because she's so active. That wouldn't surprise me... She recommended trying to give her some oatmeal if she's interested. If not, just keep doing what we're doing; supplementing with formula when needed. We will check in again in a month, but she assured me I'm doing a great job with her. 

5. GIGGLES! Ah... I remember this all too well with Dominic; the first few giggles <3

Emilia enjoying being bounced around :)

Dom laughing at Sherlock's tricks at the same age.

Lately

I have been very absent from the blog, but that doesn't mean life isn't still happening; I just haven't made the time to document and write. I just don't feel like there's been much blog-worthy.

I've been wearing myself out with breastfeeding and pumping and supplementing and increasing my supply. I think it's working though, so I've started to relax a bit. We have Emilia's Dr. appointment in a couple days and that should confirm, but I have noticed a little roll starting on her thighs and upper arms!

Instead of blogging or social media-ing during naptimes, I've taken up crocheting like a regular old granny. I sit for a bit (if the kids allow) and crochet while watching Outlander. Since I just started crocheting, I'm working on a big granny-square. It'll probably be a blanket for Emilia, but maybe if I get quick and keep enjoying it I'll start doing it more often and try more difficult patterns at some point. 

Life has been pretty business as usual around here. I'm home with the kids, David's working lots, we've been really busy in the evenings so are trying to take it easier this week. 

OH!!! Dom has decided he no longer wants to poop in diapers! The other day after his nap he pointed to his diaper and made a fart sound, and then said "Poppy" which apparently means potty. He has often thought it was fun to sit on the potty and read books, so I obliged. Well! It turns out he actually had to poop! I couldn't believe it! He was so casual about it. Like he's been doing it for years. When he was done, he signed "all done" got some TP and put it in the toilet, pointed to the sink to wash his hands. I was very excited, but figured it was a fluke. Then the next day he did the same thing! We are not actively potty training, but if he initiates it I'll definitely keep encouraging it!

Proud boy on the potty. When did he become such a boy?!

Playing Rumoli with Gramma. Dom now has names for Gramma and Grandpa! Mama and Bapa respectively :)

She's so petite <3

My happy walking buddies

Lots of fun in the jolly jumper

He is obsessed with the salt grinder lately.

I guess his love carries over into being a good little Dutch boy. Enjoying some dropjes with Mom

Nom nom nom

Thankful Thursday - 148

This week has been one of the tougher ones I've had in a while. I discovered on Monday that Emilia hasn't gained weight in 2 months (literally 1.5 oz in two months... babies are supposed to gain 1-2 POUNDS per month at this age). She's really really happy and developing as expected, but this was kind of disconcerting. I'm not too worried about it, and we have a Dr appointment next week to check on things, but it has made feeding her much more time consuming. I now have to feed her for 5-10 minutes on each side (or however long until she gives up because she's frustrated with my low supply), and then pump for 5-10 minutes on each side and then give her a bottle of formula to supplement. All while a toddler is terrorizing the house or driving cars on our head or screaming for attention (or occasionally playing nicely... or watching TV; let's be realistic here). 
Here's hoping I can get my supply up and Emilia can gain lots of weight and that we can continue to breastfeed without supplementing with formula. 

Anywho, that is why I haven't posted in a week; been a little preoccupied. 

This is what I'm thankful for today. 

1. Sibling Love. Dominic is all of a sudden very into Emilia and entertaining her. She is the first thing he asks for when he gets up in the morning. He tries to play with her and plays peekaboo which is pretty adorable. Can't decide if I'm excited for or dreading when they start playing together and sharing and fighting and conspiring against me haha. 

Trying to take a picture of Emilia's outfit and Dom had to get in there too. His shirt is actually David's from when he was a kid!

2. Drying Rack! I try not to put a lot of Em and Dom's clothes in the dryer; especially Dom's because they shrink and I refuse to move him up out of 3T into 4T clothing. I used to just hang their clothes over the side of a laundry basket, over the door, or over my drawers in the dresser. It looked really messy. Finally we ordered an over-the-door drying rack so it can fold flat out of the way when we're not using it. Hooray!

I love that it doesn't take up floor real estate!

3. Gifts in the mail. We got (another) gift from our realtors, Greg & Liz Holmes, for referring Elissa & Michael to them! A gorgeous gift box with all sorts of local(ish) made goodies! 

4. Gender neutral outfits. I don't have many outfits from Dom that are gender neutral because we knew we were having a boy. Em definitely wears some of his boy clothes, but I remembered this adorable outfit that was sent from Holland for Dom. Here is Em at 4 months and Dom at 2.5 months wearing it. Yes, he is SO much bigger than her haha. 

5. Moma & Popa. My parents elected to be called Oma & Opa, but Dom has other ideas. I introduce to you Moooooh-ma & Poh-pa.

6. Seeing life through the eyes of a toddler.  

Stopping to admire the dandelions

Holding hands with Daddy as we go to Spirit Halloween. He was a little unsure of the big moving creatures, but overall did very well!

And of course, trying to snuggle the fur-baby

And succeeding