2 Months old in Record Heat

Heat. It's what we have a lot of this week in Seattle. If your reading from another part of the country, than you might be surprised to know they are forecasting a high temperature in the Puget Sound tomorrow of 101 Degrees!!! Yep, triple digits. A potential new record. In Seattle....rainy, dismal, grey Seattle. Needless to say most of us are not handling this heat-wave very well.

The Potter family is spending much time at the InLaws who have AC! Let's give a big shout out to the Inlaws for making a very wise decision to install AC a couple years ago. We are sooo appreciative of them letting us cool off for the days in their comfy home. Madelyn plays, Makena has many multiple people to nap on, and I rest nicely on their couch. Its a good thing.

Another good thing is my bundle of sweetness who is now 2 months old. Two months today. I swear the time flew by. The first couple months with Madelyn seemed to last so much longer - probably being a new parent and stressed out all the time. But with Makena, its just flashed by in a blip. I guess we are too busy handling two kids and trying to keep the chaos to a minimum.

I have no pics today as I'm camped out in the bedroom, which has a portable AC unit - an don't have a way to upload them. But, when I can brave the heat in the rest of the house..I'll post some pictures. So check back. I'm also checking the weather reports like a mad-woman hoping all the "weather models" have messed up and the temps miraculously fall to the mid-70's overnight. It could happen.....

Popsicles

One of the top enjoyments in life has to be being a kid on a hot summer day with a Popsicle melting all over yourself. And now I know that watching your kid make a mess of herself is even more fun. Maddy had her 1st Popsicle earlier this summer and she is definitely onto them now. I found her one day, as we were playing outside, in the garage by the freezer...slapping it and yelling "POP".."POP"!! Yep, she knows what they are, where they are..and that she definitely needs to have more of these things.


Yesterday after dinner we seemed to mention that Daddy and her could go outside on the patio and have a Popsicle. The eyes light up and two feet go in a flat toddler run for the door. Soon, these classic images were captured. It reminded me of how much fun it is to be a kid sometimes.

First Taste

Oh...So Cold

But so worth it!!

And not to be outdone, here is a couple pics of the other bit of sweetness in our lives. Makena is 7 weeks old and become quite a good sleeper. We are thrilled to be getting up just once a night and back to getting some more normal sleep. Her fussy evening hours are still going, but were onto some tricks to making things a lot easier. And she's becoming more alert and throwing us coo's and smiles all over the place. I can't get enough of this sweet little sly smile.

You know you love me....and just you wait and see the trouble I'm gonna cause!

Pure Sweetness

Another Hip Baby

I really thought with my second baby I'd have a "Get out of Jail Free" card with regards to Hip Dysplasia. You may or may not remember, but Madelyn was diagnosed with Hip Dysplasia at 8 weeks. It was a mild case but we chose to put her in a soft brace and treat it. I had this as a newborn and it can be passed down.

But I was so sure, that we'd done our time and this baby would not have it. Not so true. Makena was also diagnosed with it on Monday. She also has a mild case. And now she has her own brace which she is learning to love...or maybe tolerate is a better word. I had a harder time with it this time..knowing what my baby and I are in for, not to mention handling it while dealing with a crazy toddler running around.

So she is in this lovely thing for 6 weeks, 23 hours a day. And then with some luck and good ultrasound pics, we'll move to 12 hours a day for another 6 weeks. All this pales in comparison to what happens if its not treated. The older the child gets the harsher the treatment is - from hard braces to multiple surgeries. I'll take the soft brace, no matter how much I detest the thing.

Makena is not looking too upset...at least at this moment!



Maddy checking it all out!

2nd B -Day Party

Wow what a difference a year makes, Madelyn apparently loves cupcakes this time around and could not get enough of them. She ended up licking the frosting off of 3 of these things. Compare that with the picture taken with Mom from last years party when she came unglued over cake.

We had a great party, Mom&Dad decided not to cook and had it catered instead (B-bque). All the kids had great fun and tore up the place, from dumping all the toys out of our toy bin to splashing everything in sight at the water table.

Winnie the Pooh was all over the place, from the Balloons & Decorations to the cake and wrapping paper. Pooh was it. Yes the bakery was in a hurry and spelled Maddy's name wrong...

Checking out the presents with the Leaty boys

Wow, handmade Quilt from Meme

Six Weeks!

Well in the chaos that comes with having two kids, and one being a newborn.... we didn't get a post up marking Makena's one month birthday. She is now 6 weeks old! Time flies. I swear we just brought her home and I was a walking zombie. But now at six weeks things are looking a little bit better.

Makena is quite the calm, mellow baby which is such a contrast to what I remember of Madelyn at this time. However, like any normal little one - she has fussy hours in the evening which we struggle with every night. She was diagnosed with Reflux a couple weeks ago and have started medication which seems to help. But every night about 7:30pm the fussy's start up...and the dance begins to see if we can calm her down...which usually takes us till 10:30pm or so, when she passes out and then we fall right behind her. So goes our life right now. I can't complain too much as this girl seems to be a good sleeper and is currently only waking us up once a night. We'll see if this lasts, but for now I'm just grateful for each night I get some decent sleep.

Her sweet little face has filled out and my little newborn is gone....and is turning into a well-fed chubby cheek little baby.

Six Week Stats: Weight - 11lbs 12 oz Height - 23 inches

Two

Today is Maddy's 2nd birthday. I had to post a couple pics and reflect on the fact my baby is now two and no longer a baby but a little girl. Its hard to believe how fast the time flew by. My little sweet squishy thing that was born two years ago, is now carrying her own book bag, insisting on certain clothes to wear, and picking out snacks of the pantry, and has new words everyday to shout at us with. I found her this morning sharing books with her little sister, which just melts mom's heart. I suppose soon she'll be trying to throw books at sister...but we'll worry about that issue another day.

4th of July

For the last few years we've spent 4th of July just hanging out in our neighborhood. Every year our crazy neighbors do it up big and have quite the display of fireworks in a friend's backyard. Its literally right out our backdoor, so what could be a better set-up? Madelyn had a great time playing on the inflatables, (set up for watching fireworks) and running back to the food table to forage for chips and watermelon. But for as wild as she got, that little girl went down to bed and didn't make a peep all night, while her the whole neighborhood was blowing it up!

We even manage to get a family shot out of the evening. Yes, Makena was sleeping and I wasn't about to turn her around, as it was her fussy hours. So let sleeping babies lie! :)

Wow, look at all the Fireworks (the pic doesn't even show 1/2 of it)

And more important...The Danger Sign!!

2 Happy, 1 Sleeping, 1 Sick of Pictures

Can you say bedhead? Can't resist showing this off

Newborn Pictures

Love them feet

Makena is growing like a weed, we've had a few issues with reflux so we have not been able to make too many posts recently.

Sandi Heinrich delivered another CD chock full of great pictures of Makena, Madelyn and a few of Mom and Dad thrown in for good measure. We love her work. All photo's from this post are from her last photo shoot.

"Hop on Pop"

Still Sleeping

Hanging out with Pepe

This last month has gone by fast, waking up 2-3 times a night tends to make all the days blur together. Makena is literally growing up before our eyes and it's been fun to of had this past month off to watch her grow. I would take several more months off if I could and envy the Swedes who get 80% pay for a year, they seem to have their priorities right.

Meme's shoulder

Karin's Peps group has a 2nd wave of sisters, 4 new babies so far with one more on the way.

Fooling around one morning, elephant impression.

I was so shocked to see Madelyn sharing her food with Brooks that I just had to take a few pictures. If any other kid tried this, their hand would have been stomped on by now and somebody would be crying. I also had time this week to go to Madelyn's "Kids in Motion" class with the City of Kirkland. It's basically organized chaos for 2-3 year olds for 45 minutes, they get to tumble on mats, go down slides, and jump around. Basically all the things you try not to get them to do inside your house.

The Girls

Just a simple shameless self-promotion on how ding-dang cute my girls are! I am feeling too lucky to have two cute girls. Oh..and that hubby of mine is pretty good too!

Love the evidence of strawberries for lunch...all over her face

Yep, I love cupcakes!

Oh Mom, not more pics

One cute fleeing smile....wait is she sticking her tongue out at me?

And the pic that melts mom's heart....

Goodbye Emily and Angelica

We said goodbye to Emily and Angelica yesterday, Madelyn has fallen for cousin "EM" in a big way and will be sad to not see her at Meme's house the next time we go up there.

The picture about the picture are always as fun for me as the final product, people are missing in some shots, a few nose picks and looking the wrong way, it's exhausting trying to get Madelyn to sit for a picture, but what can you expect from a 2 year old anyway. Click on the picture for a larger size.

Blowing some cool bubbles.

Zoo

Mom hung out at home and I took the cousins to the Zoo for the morning. They got to feed the Giraffes, and the birds at Wallaby Station, take a ride on the carousel and see the new penguin exhibit. Makena is still doing well, eating, sleeping and acting like a cute newborn baby.

Our dear Emily