Parenting & Family Updates

Spring Updates 2018

Since I’m no longer sharing updates once a month, I figured I still owed everyone some spring updates to share what’s been going on around here lately!

snow in shade on grass

I used to share life updates each month, but since switching to a once a week posting schedule – I’ve let them go. I figured I did owe everyone a sort of quarterly update on what’s been going on around here lately, so that’s what this is!  Besides, it felt like a good time to do some spring updates anyways since it’s finally starting to warm up around here!

You may be aware that we just had a little baby girl, so I’ve obviously been busy with that! Heck, I barely know when I’ll be able to schedule some blogging time in, but hopefully, I can stay on track for the next little while.

Élise Updates

I mentioned before that the first night she was home she was up every hour to feed. The second night was a bit better at every 2 hours, but then for some reason on the third night, she just decided to sleep! Because she’s so little, I still need to feed her often and so I have gotten into the habit of setting my alarm and waking her up. I’ve been told that she shouldn’t get more than one 4-hour block between feedings (per day) for the first couple of weeks. When she is awake, she likes to eat every 2 hours, so at night I’ve been waking her up every 3 to feed. Sometimes I give myself that nice 4-hour block so I can get rest (since night feedings sometimes take close to an hour and I like to sleep!), but I’m looking forward to the next few days when I can try and stretch the night feedings out a bit more. But I tell ya, from one kid to the next – it’s completely different! (Zachary was an every 2 hours type of baby, and would randomly throw in a bigger stretch). I don’t think I ever had to wake him up for a feeding (until about 6 weeks, but that’s a whole other story!).

Other than that, she will stay awake during a few day feedings and she likes to lie around and stare/listen to the things around her. We try and do tummy time, and she seems to like it (which is also different than Zachary!). She’s actually had a super stuffy nose (she sounds like a big cat purring sometimes) so I think being in different positions helps her nose drain better…

Zachary Updates

Speaking of the first born, he’s going to be turning 2 next month! I’ll share a toddler gift guide next week, and I’m still not sure how we’ll celebrate the big day. I’m thinking we might get someone to watch Élise, then do a fun day out with Momma and Poppa, maybe get his haircut or something too? I want to create kind of a “birthday tradition” where we do something similar each year just with that child. Obviously when he’s older he’ll have more say in what he wants to do (and will understand the birthday concept a bit better) – but for now, does anyone have any suggestions on birthday traditions that we can start?

He’s intrigued by Élise, “bébé, bébé” he likes to say, but I think the biggest thing he’s had to get used to is that Momma is not paying attention to him as much. Even though I didn’t have a C-section, the nurses at the hospital still cautioned against lifting things heavier than the baby for the first 6 weeks to give my body time to heal. I’ve been really limiting the times when I do have to pick him up (for example, changing him on the ground, letting him climb into his own high chair, etc.). To get him into the crib, I make sure he climbs a little step stool then I grab him from there (so I don’t really have to go up and down too much), so hopefully that’s okay. Let’s say that he’s been a lot moodier lately, and it’s hard to tell if it’s because of the new baby, or because he’s approaching the “terrible twos”.

Renovation Recap

Since the start of the New Year, we took away the guest bedroom and transformed it into a new nursery for the little one. My parents have still come to visit, but they make sure to bring an air mattress and set it up downstairs. We’ve also finished a couple of smaller projects around the house, mostly touch-ups of past projects that never got finished. (ie: basement light install, caulking, etc.).

coffee station before and after

I went on a mini cleaning spree the other day and wanted to get the kitchen in tip-top shape. Our coffee zone was getting out of hand (the before photo on the left is actually after the Husband cleaned the majority of his mess). I finally moved the Keurig out of the way (we haven’t used it in a while) and hopefully this area will stay a lot neater!  Notice how our phone jack is still not properly installed after our kitchen renovation?  I think it’s the last item on the to-do list, and it’s been a few years :)

snow on back deck

Snow in our backyard less than 2 weeks ago

Upcoming Plans

This year, it seemed like we had snow forever! I told the Husband that there was a chance that we would have to drive to the hospital in a blizzard, but thankfully the bad snow and freezing rain was on Sunday/Monday and I was able to clear out the driveway enough by Tuesday evening. (Yes, I still had to shovel snow while pregnant, and no, I did not try to lift super heavy loads – I just made sure to push it aside as best as I could).

snow in shade on grass

Snow in our yard as of yesterday

Anyways, because we had an overabundance of snow, our yard has been covered up extra-long this year. It actually just started warming up last week – so not only could I start to see the grass, almost all the snow has been cleared away from our yard! We still have that huge list of outdoor projects we want to tackle, but we’ll see what happens this summer (you know, baby duties and what not).

backyard in the spring

The snow was pretty high back here – it usually completely hides the DIY firepit

Last summer we were worried our big tree was starting to die off.  We’ll have to wait a month or so to see if leaves come up, but we may have to get it chopped down.  There are a few trees growing behind our shed – so I’d kind of like those to get moved at the same time.  It would be nice to just move them, but I don’t know how easy that would be since they are a bit large…

Oh, and we actually did something else pretty substantial – but I’ll share that soon, so stay tuned!

2018 spring updates graphic

I hope you’ve enjoyed catching up on our spring updates today!  I’ll hopefully (slowly) be getting back into doing DIY projects and sharing some more renovations, so definitely come back and check for those :)

Nicole Q-Schmitz name signoff

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