6 weeks!

Wow...time sure does fly.

Reese had a checkup last week, just to see how things were going with her since it's otherwise such a long gap between the typical 1 week and 2 month appointments. We were surprised to find out she gained almost 2 pounds and added 1 inch! She now tips the scales at 8 lbs, 9 oz and is 22 inches long. She should be on track to be about 10 pounds at her 2 month appointment - it will be interesting to see how close she is to Ava's stats at that time (10 lbs, 8 oz; 23 inches).

She still has been a pretty easy baby up to this point (knock on wood!). We're fortunate to usually get 4-6 hour stretches of sleep at a time during the night. Most nights she's still in the bathroom with the exhaust fan on, but again, we're not going to mess with a good thing right now ;-) I am actually getting ready to order a 12 hour mp3 file of electric fan noise from this website. Add this to the entrepenuerial list of "Why didn't I think of that?" Well, anyway, it is genius and I'm hoping it works as well as the real thing. Seriously, they have cds of the following noises: hairdryer, vaccuum cleaner, electric fan, running water, and more. I will let you all know how it works out. Thanks to Crissy from my Nov 05 Babies Message Board for the great tip!

While Reese isn't really yet on a "schedule", she definitely has a routine. Eat. Play. Poop. Swaddle. Sleep. And repeat. Pretty much follows this to the letter. When Scot is around, insert "suck on Scot's finger" somewhere between Poop and Sleep. Right now, though, the Sleep stage during the day isn't lasting as long as I would like (though I suppose I really probably can't have my cake and eat it too since the night sleeping is going so well). She seems to be in the middle of her 6 week growth spurt as she has been eating about every 2 hours...making for a very exhausted Mom. I'm hopeful that we're nearing the end of this one, though.

Here are some recent pictures...as you can see, we're getting lots of smiles out of her now!




For comparison, here is Ava at about 6 weeks:




Yeah, so there's some resemblance there.

What else? We went to Wausau last weekend for 4 days as Scot had some exra time off for President's Day. Grandma Ola treated us to a Friday night out by babysitting the girlies - Scot and I went out to Iozzo's, an Italian restaurant. We had a great time! We had a nice family dinner on Saturday and played a lot of Wii. Nephew Gus put us all to shame in bowling - he is really good! Then on Sunday, we took Ava and her cousins Gus and Brad to the indoor water park. It was a really fun weekend!

Reese in her happy place

Ava and The Boys


Cute Cousins

New Look

Now that Reese is over 5 weeks old, I figured it was about time for a new look and a new name for the blog.

So...I'm calling it The Princess Diaries (which naturally includes Ava, Reese, and myself).

Scot doesn't count since he doesn't read my blog anyway. ;-) Several months ago when I asked him if he had read the blog lately, his response was "I live the blog, I don't need to read it." Ok then. The Princess Diaries it is.

I know, I know...

I really need to update the blog with new pictures...I was in Wisconsin for the past 4 days, so I'm catching up on things around the house. Oh yeah, and taking care of two very needy girls (good thing they're so cute). And playing my new favorite thing, the Wii Fit. And working on a new blog title/header to match my latest background.

Hmm...how about this video montage to wet your appetite until I can post some new pics? Better late than never on this one. It's from our trip to Florida last February - I made the montage for Scot's mom for Christmas.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Oh, and you can also check out my sister's blog to see some pics from the weekend and the CUTE hat she knit for Reese! Thanks Jo!

YUM!

I'm never going to lose the baby weight if I keep eating like I have been...but I figure I may as well share some good recipes with my faithful readers.

My friends Kelly and Jess came over with their short people for a playdate last week and Kelly made Monkey Bread. It is SO good. She uses pecans instead of walnuts and the reviews suggest using a bundt pan. Mom - I will make this over the weekend!

My mom has been making this delicious pretzel seasoning for the last few years. I normally don't even really like pretzels, but I love these! And everyone else who tries them becomes quickly addicted. I think she got the recipe from one of her friends (not sure if it was from bowling, Curves, or quilt group - it's hard to keep track).
Ingredients:
3 bags of bow tie pretzels
12 oz. bottle of Orville Redenbacher oil - located by the popcorn
1 package of dry Hidden Valley Ranch dressing - located by the salad dressings
2 tsp. garlic powder
5 tsp dill weed
Microwave oil and seasonings about 20 seconds & pour over pretzels in a large container with a cover. Keep turning container to coat all pretzels. Turn upside down every half hour and shake gently from side to side - keep turing for a few hours total so the oil doesn't settle to the bottom.

Enjoy!

Diaper #278

Or thereabouts. I haven't been keeping track, but I would venture to say that it's pretty close to that number. We're at 3 weeks, 3 days in the Land of the Wilcox Four. And things are going really well!

Reese has kept up with the good sleeping habits that I mentioned before and we are SO grateful. Last night she slept from 11:30 to 5:30. Ahhh...of course, I didn't sleep six straight hours since I was regularly waking up somewhat panicked, wondering if she was in fact still breathing. But I still woke up feeling rested, a glorious thing. And she has even given us the six hour stretch a few other times. Otherwise, she usually sleeps 4 hours at a time at night, which I can't complain about either! Of course, at this point, her sleeping arrangements aren't quite what you'd say conventional. We have yet to use the very cute bassinet that my friend Jess lent us. Instead, Reese is sometimes in bed with us and the rest of the time she's in a bouncy chair in the bathroom with the exhaust fan on. I dread our next electrical bill, but you really can't put a price tag on sleep, can you? In her 24 days, we've only had 2 or 3 bad nights (definition: being up every 1-2 hours with inconsolable crying). Knock on wood! This is truly a new world for us...as the first 3 weeks with Ava were what I would call nightmarish. Yay Reese!

Ava couldn't be more excited about being a big sister. I am SO proud of how she has handled the transition so far. She LOVES Reese and while she can get a little aggressive at times, her intentions are so, so good. She wants to help in any way that she can and most of the time she truly is helpful. It is so fun to watch them together now, I can only imagine what it will be like in a year.

I did a photo shoot with Reese this morning so I could finally make up a birth announcment - it's all finished and the prints have been ordered so I will post it here next week after I've mailed them out. I even got a smiley picture - I just love it.

I'm more and more amazed by how much Ava and Reese look alike as babies...in a future post, I will show you what I mean...