Night Terrors

Let me preface this by saying that Amelia has always been a horrible sleeper. Things have gotten much better (and I say better because she's only getting up once a night as opposed to several times a night) the older she's gotten. But, the last couple of nights have been miserable. I don't know what the issue was, but she'd wake up screaming for what seemed like all night. Inconsolable, whimpering, sobbing, hyperventilating. I didn't know what to do or how to help. So at her 2 year check up, I mentioned the past couple of nights and our peds (freaking love her) knew exactly what was going on. Night terrors.

She said that when children get overstimulated and crash into a deep sleep, they skip a sleep stage and head straight into a type of REM mode. Definitely true because we had been staying up way too late. But hey, it's summertime! To fix this, she suggested waking Amelia about an hour after she's fallen asleep. Not fully awake, but enough to make her readjust, toss/turn, and this will make her start her sleep cycle over. So we did this last night, and voila! She slept through the whole night. Can I get a 'hell yeah!' ??

Happy hump day! Only a couple more days until the weekend! We've got another busy weekend ahead of us. I'll leave with some pictures I coincidentally took of Eric and Amelia sleeping over the last 2 years. I'll have to remember to do this every year!

Newborn

One year old

Two years old. (Check out all the hair in this picture!)

Weekend Recap: A Picnic at the Park

As if the festivities just wouldn't stop, we celebrated Amelia's 2nd Birthday with our family at the park. I wanted to do something super simple and low key. We invited everyone to meet us at Suwanee Town Center park for some finger foods and fun in the sun. It's really nice to have a change in seasons for birthdays to really be able to mix up our party options.

We lounged around under the shade of a tree. The guys threw around the football and soccer ball. We were close enough to have the kids go to and from the fountain freely. The sun was shining and it was hotter than hell. Definitely the perfect day.

Our birthday girl got spoiled with the cutest outfits and toys. She had a blast as always and both kids were KO'd by the time we got home.

We had such a great weekend. It was an awesome start to our summer! Now the countdown begins for our beach vacation in 2 weeks!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Amelia

"The days are long, but the years are short." The perfect quote that sums up parenthood. I can't believe another year has rolled by.

The past year has been filled with so many memories and milestones. She started walking, talking and putting sentences together and we've begun potty training. Everyday she surprises us with something new and in turn we learn a little bit more about her. One of my favorite parts of the day, is when she randomly says "hi mommy" just to do a quick check-in to assess the current situation of wanting to know what I'm doing and letting it be known that she's here. 

Amelia is very strong-willed, curious and fearless. She's still as sassy as ever and gives us a run for our money, that's for sure! Music is her thing. I can instantly calm any situation with cuddles and a song (she's tone deaf for now). Loves to watch her big brother play and enjoys getting dirty with the boys but does so with the girliest flare. She's a stuffed animal hoarding, high heel wearing, tutu twirling, make-up stealing ball of sunshine. We are so lucky she's all ours. 

We had family over on her birthday for pizza and cupcakes. She was really unsure of everyone singing to her. Despite practicing blowing out her candles, she got shy but big bro Benson came to the rescue! 

I took the day off and took Amelia to her 2-year old check up. We found out she is in the 75 percentile in both height and weight. (27 lbs, 34 in) The doctor knew that she wasn't a picky eater and definitely didn't skip any meals by looking at her numbers. My girl loves her food! After her appointment we met up with some friends for lunch. I love seeing Amelia play with other kids her age!

This weekend we'll be celebrating her party with a "Picnic at the Park" theme. Pictures to come!

Weekend Recap

The best weekends are the ones with no plans! That's exactly what happened this weekend, and as always, ended up having lots of fun.

Friday, we picked Benson up from my in-laws after a week stay. He loves going over there. We call it a farm house because they've got tons of animals! Chickens, ducks, puppies and their newest members were the sweetest baby bunnies! Amelia just dies over these fluffy babies. 

That night we met a couple friends at the park for Food Truck Friday (the first Saturday of every month). We didn't realize it was the first food truck event of the season so it was packed! There was live music and lots of things for kids to do. The lines were super long but well worth the wait! 

The rest of the weekend we spent poolside, soaking up the glorious sun! It always takes Benson a couple visits to get real comfortable with swimming again but he's really made some progress in the two days we went. I admire his willingness to make a goal and accomplish it. Amelia is such a fearless girl that she had no qualms about jumping right in. We are reusing Benson's  wrap- around floaties vest and blue never looked so good on a baby girl. She's so comfortable in the water. She walked down the steps and started floating away. Looked right at me as if to say "no big deal mom. I've got this!" We've got to keep an eye on this one for sure! 

Hope everyone enjoyed the beautiful weekend as much as we did! Cheers to a fast week to get us to the weekend for more fun in the sun! 

Summer Vacay 2014 - Boston, MA

It's been almost three years since we visited Eric's family in Massachusetts so this year it was a definite plan for us to take some time off to go see everyone. Eric spent most of his life in MA and it wasn't until he was 18 that he moved down to Georgia. And the last time any of his northern family had seen both Benson and Amelia, they were both tiny babes! 

We knew we had no choice but to drive the 16-18 hr trip. Plan tickets are expensive no matter when you buy them (times that by 3 and we're talking broke city). I had so much anxiety traveling with Amelia. We went to Destin, FL last year but that 5 hrs was looking like a cat nap compared to this trip we were trying to conquer. Amelia can be hard to please and is very dramatic when it comes to getting her way. But I'm happy to share that both kids did amazing on both trips there and back. Eric drove straight through the night and made it in record time!

We didn't have much planned and really focused on spending time with his family. We don't get an opportunity to see his family often so it was important to make our time count. 

The weather wasn't ideal to say the least (cold and rainy in late May. I'm talking highs in the low 60s!) so we stuck with inside hangouts. We did get a chance to hit up Southwick Zoo in Mendon, MA on a nice day and I was impressed. It was Amelia's first time and Benson hadn't been to one in many years so both they both had a blast - Especially at the deer feeding forest! Eric and I are big germ conscious people so it took all we had in us to let the kids feed and pet the deer but I'm glad we did because it was definitely an experience they'll remember.

Overall, our trip was super fun filled with lots of laughs and memories to remember. I can't wait for our other vacations we have lined up this summer!

Tips for traveling with children:

1. Traveling at night was ideal for our family, especially for how long this trip was. As soon as we got off work, we ate dinner, packed the car and hit the road. Both kids were out within the next hour or two and slept almost the whole way. We stopped twice for stretches and bathroom breaks while they were awake.

2. Snacks, juices and entertainment. We loaded up our iPad with some of their favorite movies and shows and some interactive apps that kept them busy. We packed puzzles and books and lots of stuffed animals.

3. We made it a really interactive trip. Playing games like "what do you prefer" or "what's your favorite..". We got to see beautiful scenery, cool signs and passed through nearly 8 states that we were able to have conversations about with Benson and took advantage of all our "teaching moments" which made it fun for all of us!