My New Addiction

A big thank you to my sister who has gotten me totally hooked on a website. The website is pinterest.com. I've read it's becoming really popular but I had never heard of it. It is a very exclusive site: you have to be invited to join.

Pinterest is like a virtual cork board. People post all kinds of things to the site and then you repost (or repin) articles, recipes, pictures, etc. you like to your own boards that you create.  I think the reason it is so addicting is because people are constantly pinning and repinning things, so the website is constantly updating.
Pinterest has everything. Need a dinner idea?  Go to pinterest. Need a new workout?  Pinterest. Need a new activity to do with your kids? Pinterest.  need a new fruit salad recipe to take to your mother-in-law's. Pinterest. Do it yourself projects?  Pinterest is full of them.

Kirk asked me what there was for him, (I was telling him how there was something for everyone) and I realized there isn't much for men. In time, I'm sure, there will be!

So far I have made lemon flavored puppy chow, biscuit donuts, and a meditation jar all from pinterest. I really want to make a bird feeder with Lincoln soon. I have also gotten some ideas for Christmas card photos.
Anyway, if you want an invite, let me know and I will send you one. I will warn you: it is addicting!

Visit

We had visitors this week!  Sarah brought her girls, Nina and Vivi over for a few hours. We haven't gotten the kids together in a long time so it was fun to see them together again. Last time they were here, Viv and Lincoln were in Bumbo seats! 

They all played so well together.  It did take a little warming up, but by the time we went downstairs, the kids were old friends.

Sare finally got to meet Isadora. So darn sweet.

I love Nina and Vivi. They are the sweetest girls (which is no surprise if you've ever met Sarah and Andy) and I'd be happy to have either as my daughter-in-law. Is it too early to start planning a wedding?

We tried to take a group photo, but it was an epic fail.  Next time.  :)

Airplanes

I've said it before, but I will say it again: Lincoln loves airplanes.  A lot.

We decided to take him to Detroit Metro Airport today to see planes come in and fly out.  Lincoln was in his own little heaven. He loved it.  We went to the top of one of the parking structures so that we could have the best views.  It goes without saying, it was loud.
.

We saw a ton of airplanes coming in and taking off.  Which, I suppose, makes sense seeing as it's sort of a busy airport.  

We are looking forward to taking him back again soon!

Our 2 Little Schultzes

I took a picture of Isadora today in a bunting suit Lincoln used to wear. I thought it'd be fun to put the pictures side by side to see if they looked at all alike at this age.

Lincoln is 5 or 6 weeks in this picture and Isadora is 7. What do you think?

(For the record: I adjusted Isadora's car seat after this picture was taken!)

Happy Birthday, Papa!

Last Sunday, I brought the kids to my parent's to celebrate my dad's birthday. Jason and the triplets hadn't yet met Isadora so it was fun to see the kids with her, especially Gianna!  She is such a little mother hen.

Easton paused for a second to give Isa a little love, but not long.

And Ellery, well, she had better things to do than meet the baby. Someone had to be Lincoln's audience.

Quin (if the sunglasses don't give her away as Joelee's daughter, nothing will!) loved on Isadora. She's so good with her! 

I love these pictures of Jason and the kids. So sweet. (Notice Gianna...)

We took advantage of the beautiful weather and headed outside to play in the leaves. There is something about kids and leaves that is so fun!  It totally reminded me of when we used to make a "leaf maze" in the backyard with all the downed leaves.

Another fave pic of mine are these with the kids and Grandpa. Adorable.

Always fun to get together! 

Happy Birthday, Poppy!

Keeping Busy

I've decided my day job is easier than staying home with a newborn and a toddler. It is truly exhausting being a stay at home mom. Props to all of you moms out there who stay home with your kids!

Lincoln does go to day care two days a week and because Kirk sort of makes his own schedule, I am lucky to get a few breaks here and there. The days Lincoln, Isadora and I are home, I try and find something fun to do.

We have had a few play dates with Dawn and her son Daniel. We went to gymnastics one day and had so much fun!  I wish I had brought the camera. I am hoping we can schedule more fun play dates before I go back to work.

I like to cook. I'm no Julia Childs or Betty Crocker, but I love trying new recipes and making old favorites. One of my favorite things to do is cook with Lincoln. Today we made Baked Pumpkin Donuts. They were so good and so easy. 

Recently, we took a trip to the petting zoo at Kensington. Lincoln loved it. I loved the girl working there who went out of her way to let Lincoln pet some of the animals.

By the end of our day at the petting farm, I think he was a little bored.  He opted for puddles instead of the animals.

Lincoln has a love of trains.  There's a bridge not far from our house that goes over tracks.  I took him there to see if we could catch a train coming by.  There was no train, but he looked so cute waiting for one!

6 more weeks!  I hope we will find many more things to do and keep us busy before the holidays sneak up on us.

Halloween

It's hard to believe this was Lincoln's third Halloween!

Last year we had the fun Elvis costume. This year, Halloween snuck up on us and although I had the best intentions of getting creative with his costume, I just went out and bought him a puppy costume. We just put Isadora in a cat bunting suit.

A big thank you to my brother who stayed at our house and passed out candy while we took the kids out. It took a couple houses for Lincoln to get the hang of the whole trick or treating thing. By the third house, he was climbing the stairs on his own and asking for candy. He kept saying "Dis one! Dis one!" as we went up to a new house.

We let Lincoln have a couple pieces of candy but didn't want to go overboard. Thankfully, he has already forgotten about the candy and hasn't asked for any since.

Halloween is a lot more fun now that we have kids, I have to admit. I love seeing all the little kids in their costumes (my personal fave was the little boy up the street who was dressed as the Dick Van Dye character from Mary Poppins. It was THE cutest costume!)  I am looking forward to next year when Lincoln will be much more excited. The downfall?  He probably won't forget about the bucket of candy we have hidden from
him.

We are doing it up big next year!

Issues

Oh, what a difference a baby makes!

I can say now what I didn't know then:  Lincoln was an easy baby. He slept 5 hours his first night home from the hospital. He was always right on track with his milestones. I can even admit I never knew what the big deal was with babies. He was that easy.

It's been a trying 5 weeks: not gonna lie!  Part of that is just Kirk and I forgetting what it's like to have a newborn and part of it is the three of us adjusting to life with a new baby. And part of it is Isadora. Poor little thing!

Poor Isa has acid reflux like something fierce. She's on Zantac to help with the reflux but it hasn't completely stopped her spitting up. It's much less, but it's not uncommon for us to have to change clothes after burping her or have to change her clothes. Sleeping at night was difficult for her pre-Zantac. I spent the nights the first 3-4 weeks in a recliner with her on my chest because she wouldn't lay down. We got a bed/rocking thing for her called a "Rock n Play" that seems to be helping.  She's sleeping really well at night now. Thank goodness!

Her biggest issue is pooping. The poor thing can't poop. She pushes so hard, her face is as red as a tomato and the only thing that comes out is a toot. The girl can clear a room. I took her to the doctor after a full week of no pooping. To be sure she didn't have any serious issues, our pediatrician ordered a barium enema.  Thankfully, she does not need surgery and is just constipated. We've had to give her suppositories to help move things through. Kirk and I have found ourselves celebrating her poops. Yes...this is our life!

And as if these issues weren't enough, because she was breech for so long, we have to take her to get a hip ultrasound next week. The pediatrician wants to be sure she doesn't have hip dysplasia.

Since she has had a few issues in her short life, I'm convinced she has my eye problems. She does occasionally have cross eyes, but that's still normal at this age.  My mom said my eyes were crossed almost all the time and hers aren't that much. Also, my eye doctor said because there is no true family history (besides my grandma's cousin), our kids are much less likely to inherit my eye issues.

Despite these few minor issues (let's be honest: they really are minor in the grand scheme of life!), Isadora is a really sweet baby.  Just today, she smiled at us and we are pretty sure it wasn't gas!  All things are temporary and before we know it, she'll be crawling and walking and talking.

We now know how fast it really does go!  

One Little Weed

Totally published this without her measurements!  SORRY!

I cannot believe how quickly Isadora is growing!

We had her 1 month appointment yesterday. She's growing like crazy!  I wasn't entirely surprised by this seeing as I am the one she is attached to day in and day out, but it is another reminder of how quickly time goes by with our little ones.

Her measurements were:
Weight: 9 pounds 10 ounces (45th percentile)
Height:  21.5 inches (48th percentile)
Head:  37.3 cm (40th percentile)

Isadora's measurements aren't that far off from Lincoln's, honestly.  She just seems so much bigger!

She's starting to develop somewhat of a routine now so I think her weight will level off a bit and we won't jump percentiles at our next visit. Then again, I could be wrong.
:)