Hayes is 5 months, Evie-isms and more

Seriously, I can hardly believe Hayes is already 5 months, just one month shy of (gasp) half a year old. What?! It's like I blinked and my newborn skipped ahead 5 months.... unreal. I kind of wish he'd just stay a baby forever though.

Hayes is obviously growing up way faster than I can keep up. This past month he seemed to change a ton, becoming so much more aware of himself and his surroundings. He's reaching and grabbing at things, sitting up in the bumbo, pushing up when on his tummy, and overall just interacting and watching the rest of our every moves.

Sleep? Yeah, it doesn't happen much, or well (theme of my blog really.) Naps are pretty much non-existent these days. Night time is hit or miss, mostly a miss. I was at my wits end the other day after trying to get him to nap for more than 15 minutes at a time, so this past week I have been trying to help him self soothe (AKA not rush in to soothe him when he starts to cry and not nurse him to sleep), which let me tell you is basically like jabbing a knife into my heart. But honestly, I don't know what else to do for him most of the time. He needs to sleep. I do whatever it takes to get him to sleep, and then something wakes him up and he can't self-soothe back to sleep. And then I have to start all over. And my toddler is downstairs by herself watching Curious George for the 5th time that morning. Craziness. So yeah, bottom line: Hayes needs to learn how to sleep on his own.

We also had about three days of just straight fussing a couple of weeks back. Hayes is typically a pretty happy, easy going baby when he is awake and when he isn't, I can usually tell what he wants (i.e. hunger, sleep, comfort.) Well for a few days he just cried and cried. He wanted held non-stop. Wouldn't nap. Didn't eat a ton. Nothing calmed him down. It was rough. For all of us. It turns out he is about to get his two bottom teeth. I can almost see them poking through so I am guessing his unusual outbursts (and perhaps sleep issues) have been related to teething pain.

Other things...

• Constantly touching his hair with his hand
• Wearing 6 month clothes
• Sooo ticklish under his arms
• Sitting up supported and enjoys bearing weight on legs
• Still going to chiro every few weeks
• Started getting excema on his belly and back (luckily not as bad as Evie had at his age)
• More intentional with movements (able to grab toy or put paci back in mouth)
• Hasn't found his feet yet
• Hair is getting noticeably blonder (and starting to look more like big sis)
• Blows spit bubbles

I'm telling you, this boy has a twinkle in his eye. One sheepish grin my way and he has my heart melting into a puddle on the floor. 

And then there's Ev. Where do I begin. This kid has me on my toes. She is so sharp, it scares me sometimes. Ive really got to start watching what I say and do around her. And the questions....SO many questions these days. Here are some favorite Evie sayings this month....

• "Daddy not hear." (She says this a lot when she yells for daddy and he doesn't respond)
• Who bought it? Who bought it, mommy?" (She wants to know who bought EVERYTHING, from pants to toys to food. I've been telling her it doesn't matter. Then she says, "the mail man bought it" since he technically does deliver most of the things we buy.)
• "Well act-ewy (actually), how about...." (Basically tells me nice idea, but I'd actually rather do...) Like today in the car I turn on the radio and she says, "Well act-ewy, what about Wheels on the Bus?"
• "Can you save it for later?" (When she doesn't finish part of her meal she insists that I keep it for later.)
• "I share wif Hayes" (she says proudly as she holds up a toy she snatched from his hand)
• "Member (Remember) last night?" (She asks this out of no where all the time...it's so funny because I feel like something we are doing must trigger some memory of the day before)

Other things....

• Napping in big girl bed for a month now!
• No interest in potty training, although Nana bought her her first big girl panties. She was excited about them for a few days, but they've seemed to have lost their coolness.
• Sorting and understanding colors and shapes
• Still LOVES puzzles. They remain scattered all over the living room floor all week long. 
• Enjoys play-doh. She only ever "builds castles" with it. 
• Discovered sprinkles, so we now put them ice cream, yogurt and waffles. 
• Continues to play independently. She loves being around other kids and will even stay in the nursery now at church (high-five + happy dance), but often finds one activity to do and will do focus on it the entire time.

She is such a sweetheart and has always been extremely affectionate, but I think even more so lately. She will just come up to me during the day to say, "I wuv you mommy" while hugging my leg. It may or may not be because she wants something, but hey, I'll take it. I just love her to pieces.

And finally, pictures galore. I had my camera out a lot this past month.

Hayes is 4 months & Evie update

Oh, the joyous fourth month. The month in which your infant transitions from newborn to baby...and with these changes come some major obstacles.

Let's start with the 4 month sleep regression, shall we? This so called regression is real people, and Evie went through it too. Hayes was sleeping anywhere between 8-10 hour stretches at night during his third month and then as we crept up on about the 16th week, BAM, out of no where he is now sleeping maybe 5 hours the first stretch and then waking up at least every 2 hours for the rest of the night. Since he goes to bed so early (between 5-6), Ryan and I only catch the tail end of his long stretch, leaving us tired and cranky the rest of the night. It stinks, but it's really so much bearable the second time around. This too shall pass. I know that to be true.

Hayes is also such a cat napper. We rarely see even an hour nap out of him unless he is in the car. I really think it takes me longer to get him to go to sleep during the day than he actually stays asleep. Again, going to pass, right?! Right?

Apart from Hayes' recent sleep hiccups, he continues to charm me with his flirty grins and playful eyes every day. He "talks" and laughs and is just such a happy baby. He also:

• Rolls from belly to back and almost rolling back to belly
• Enjoys sitting up with assistance
• Loves to make eye contact and coo and chat with us
• Loves, loves, loves bath time
• Laughs and laughs when we tickle him
• Is now mostly in cloth diapers, except for night time
• Constantly chomps on fists and drools all over his shirts

Evie adores him <3

And so do I

Great grandma B finally meets Hayes!

Sweet little Evie isn't so little anymore either. My first baby seems to act more and more like a little girl every day. I made a sad face the other day and whimpered to her, "You aren't mommy's baby anymore." She patted my back and said, "Don't be silly mom."

She's into building blocks, doing puzzles (she's graduated to the 24 and 48 pieces!), drawing and coloring, stamps, crafts (or craps as she calls it), baby dolls, and pretending. The girl just loves to play. If you come over, you're sure to get a, "Will you pway with me?!"

She wants oatmeal almost every morning for breakfast and insists that kitty cat, penguin and baby doll join her at the table. She also enjoys helping mommy make smoothies and doing everything by herself.  She's super intuitive and catches on to everything so quickly.

She also says the funniest things all day, so I've started jotting them down so I don't forget. Here are a few recent favorites"

Evie: Who's on phone, mom?
Me: I had to call the gym.
Evie: (Pause) Oh. I don't know Jim. I don't know him, mom.

Bought her a chocolate milk at Starbucks, placed it in the cupholder and told her she could have it when we got home. "Don't you touch my chocolate milk, mom."

"I like Daniel Tiger. Don't you fink (think), mom?"

She also likes to pretend there is a lion or a bear in the house. She will point to a corner of a room or in her tee-pee and say, "Shhh it's a bear." She really has quite the imagination.

Before I put her down for a nap or bed, I will usually prepare her by saying something like, "You can

play with your puzzle for 10 minutes and then we are going upstairs." After 10 minutes is up, I tell her it is time for bed and she will come back with (while holding up her pointer finger), "I'm going to pway a wiiiiittle bit longer, OK?"

Lastly, I heard this song the other day while the kids were napping and I sat on the couch weeping. JJ Heller and her husband wrote a series of songs for their young daughters- the sweetest! I've been singing it during the day, and Evie sings along. If you're a cryer, grab some tissues. ;)

Hayes: 3 months

Happy 3 months sweet, sweet boy (So late on this post, as usual). You've been with us such a short time, yet you've so easily fit into our family, and I can't imagine life without you.

You are so happy. I love your smile, Hayes. You love looking at people and always want someone around to gaze at. And you just smile, and grin and make the sweetest sounds. I told daddy your eyes sparkle when you smile.  He laughed at me, but they really do.

Bath time. You love getting into the warm water. You give big smiles the entire time, and sometimes big sis likes to help!

You sleep. What a blessing this has been! For the first three months you would only nap on me during the day, which was a little frustrating at times. But night times have been so wonderful. For at least the last month you've been going to bed around 6:30/7 in your swing and sleeping really long stretches before you want to eat around 2/3 and end up in our bed. The stretch until wake up is hit or miss after that, but honestly I am just so grateful that we are all getting some sleep around here. Im starting to see a little more predictability in naps also and have been trying to lay you down for those as well with some success!

Early teether? Your sis got her first two bottom teeth around 3 months, so I suspect you may as well. You've been drooling like crazy and a bit fussy lately, so I wouldn't be surprised if we see some teeth soon.

Stop growing. I wanted time to pass so quickly with your sister, always looking ahead to the next new stage. But now that we already know what to expect, I am perfectly fine with you taking your sweet time to grow.  If I could stop time and freeze your small, adorable baby features I think I would.

My handsome boy

I am the luckiest

Loves tummy time!

Big sis looking Christmasy for the Eve of the Eve service at church

Daddy and Ev finishing the Advent book

Hayesy snuggled up with Uncle Matt before he moved to florida

Hayes looking sharp in Mr. Potato Head's glasses, thanks to big sister

Smooshy face

No caption needed

Christmas cookies and crafts with my girl

We love glue

<3

Hayes' 2nd month and Evie turns 2

I feel like the leap from summer to winter came out of no where and we somehow totally skipped fall, which is super unfortunate because it's my favorite season. Nonetheless, here we are already less than a month away from Christmas, and I'm somehow the lucky mom to a spunky two year old and the sweetest, most handsome two month old baby boy.

Evie turned two on November 15, so we had a few friends over for brownies and ice cream. We started the day by filling her room and crib with a ton of balloons and then eating donuts. YUM! Evie only ate the sugary, icing part on top and left the rest on her plate, which she called "the bread." We had a bigger party for her the weekend before with family, and our little entertainer had a blast opening gifts, eating cupcakes and celebrating her special day with her grandparents, uncle and aunt.

I am continually amazed by the person Evie is becoming and feel so very blessed and proud to be her momma. She changed so much in just the past few months. Her vocabulary is fantastic. She's saying hundreds of words and stringing together sentences. She's really dramatic and loves to entertain. Some recent favorites include:

"That's so funny." (Everything is soooo funny.)
"I be right back." (She has to remind us just in case we forget about her or something I suppose.)
"I want....hmmm. How about..." (Contemplating what she wants to do or what she wants to eat.)
"Oh his feet so wittle." (Talking about Hayes' feet.)
"Wanna take a biteeee. It taste goooood." (Offering food to me.)

She adores her baby brother and always wants to know what he's doing. He's starting to notice her, too and will often flash her a big smile when she's talking to him or watch her as she plays. She loves "helping" mommy and daddy around the house. Puzzles, coloring and baby dolls are still some of her most enjoyed activities. She also loves hide and seek, but is the worst hider. It's fun (and sad) to think about how much she will learn and grow in the next year!

Hayesy-boy continues to grow at lightening speed. He's almost 12 pounds, 22 inches long and has been in 3 month clothes for the past few weeks. Even though he's only in the 25th percentile, he's a lot bigger than Evie was at this age. In fact, I went back and looked, and she didn't weigh this much until she was four months old!

This little boy totally melts my heart every time I look at him. He's starting to smile (and I don't mean the I just passed gas smile). We're talking oh hey mom Im looking at you and you make me happy smiles. He enjoys tummy time, diaper changes and belly rubs. He's also super snuggly and likes to nap on mommy and daddy during the day.

Sleep is hit or miss. But recently (knock on wood) has been pretty decent. He consistently is ready to go to sleep between 6 and 8 every night. We put him down in his swing and let him rock for a few hours before turning it off. This has been nice because Ryan and I are getting a few hours of down time in the evening with both kids in bed. He will snooze in there the first stretch of the night, anywhere between 4-7 hours. When he wakes up to nurse in the middle of the night I then move him to the rocker or our bed, in which case he usually wakes up once or twice more to nurse.

I've also been taking Hayes to a pediatric chiropractor and totally regret never doing this with Evie. Babies go through so much during the birth process, not to mention that they were totally scrunched up in the womb for 9 months.  The chiropractor has been gently working out any problem areas to help align Hayes' tiny body and correct any interferences to his nervous system. Since going Hayes has seemed a lot less fussy and way more content during the day! I'd totally recommend it to anyone with a newborn. 

Days are long. Weeks are short. Life is pretty crazy these days. But I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Snuggles for days 

Going to be tired of saying "Evie don't touch" after this Christmas

My loves...looks like Hayes is about to pound her in the head. 

My first little turned 2.... Please stay a baby forever. :(

becoming a family of 4 & Hayes is 1 month!

Hayes has been here 5 weeks now and we are slowly getting into a new rhythm as a family of 4. In many ways it has been an easier transition with the second baby than the first, probably largely due to the fact that we know what the heck we are doing this time.

The first few weeks were pretty tough, mainly because of Evie and all of the changes happening. She had a cast put on her broken tibia the Monday after Hayes was born. I wouldn't recommend having your toddler break a bone to anyone, and that is especially true when you also have a newborn. Lugging two kiddos around was not fun. Apart from the casted leg, she also was adjusting to sharing mommy time with new baby. I think we might have to work on this for a while, but she is getting better and more used to having Hayes around every day. Overall, I couldn't have been more proud of my girl those first few weeks. She handled her fractured leg like a trooper, gave baby brother more kisses than he could handle, and helped mommy with grabbing diapers, fetching my phone during nursing sessions and providing extra snuggles. I think the big sister role will suit her just fine.

Little Hayes is growing like a champ. At his one month appointment he weighed in at 9 pounds 10 oz, up 3 whole pounds from his three day check up and nearly 4 pounds from when we left the hospital. He's also 21 inches long, so overall about 25-30 percentile across the board. Not the smallest, not the biggest. Pretty typical of our kiddos.

Mommy has been calling him Hayesy-Poo or Hayesy-Boy and daddy isn't a fan. He likes to be snuggled. He picked up on nursing right away, and other than this painful case of mastitis that I am battling right now and a little overactive let down, breastfeeding has been going well.  He makes the cutest 'O' face when he is relaxed. He pees all over daddy during diaper changes and can reach pretty impressive distances (like the coffee table.) He does not like his carseat. He is our first baby to spit up pretty regularly, and him and I both typically smell like old milk. He has been rather fussy during certain parts of the day, but it seems to be related to gas and I've been tweaking my diet and working on milk flow in order to help. Overall, he is a very gentle, cuddly and chill baby when he's content.

Sleep at night is hit or miss. One night this week he went 5 straight hours, nursed, and then back down for another 3-- a pretty solid night of sleep for all of us! But other nights it is mainly 2 and 3 hour stretches with some lengthy wake up times in between. Ryan and I sleep with Hayes most nights in the playroom downstairs on our futon. Sounds crazy, but we honestly can't stand the idea of Evie waking up because its 100 times worse if she wakes up in the middle of the night than if Hayes does. We are hoping that once he is out of his newborn fussy phase we can get back to sleeping in our bed regularly. I think our necks and backs will thank us.

The best part about baby two is knowing everything is a phase. Even though everything is a little more difficult right now, it's reassuring to know that at the end of the day the crying, sleep depravation and insanity will pass (and lead to another new, challenging phase of course.)

On another note, Evie will be 2 in just a couple of weeks. She's such a fun girl these days and talks up a storm. Some favorite things she saying and doing include:

"Whatchu doin?
"I can do it."(Very independent)
"It's not dark outside" (Likes to make the correlation between bedtime and daytime.)
"Good nap" (A lot of the time this is the first thing she will say when I go into get her from a nap, or even first thing in the morning.)
"Mommy all done showering?" (Without fail, whenever I get out of the shower she yells this up the stairs, repeatedly.)
"What's dat?" (To everything)
"Daddy, take dat" (Telling Ryan to take Hayes from me when I hold him.)
Quoting anything and everything from Daniel Tiger. "Grrrific"
Singing ABCs, Daniel Tiger songs, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Jesus Loves me
Reading her children bible stories. She will go through every page asking, "Dat Jesus?"
"Thats so cute" when looking at Hayes' clothes or feet.
Hovering over Hayes and saying in a high pitched voice, "Awww, Hi baby. It's OK baby."
Loves: puzzles, reading Bible stories, Daniel Tiger, coloring and crafts, singing, helping with everything

Blue eyed boy, I love you so

Brave girl did great wearing her cast for 3 weeks!

Leg is better, time to play!

This face, I could stare all day. 

I think she's a lot like her daddy.

He's the sweetest

Welcoming Hayes: A Post by Ryan

Ryan is such a loving husband and father, but he is definitely not one to wear his emotions on his sleeves. Unless we have a baby, that is. If you've kept up with this blog at all then you remember this post from Ryan when Evie was born. Well apparently having babies inspires Ryan to write, and I was pleasantly surprised to find another reflection written by Ryan in my inbox a few days after Hayes was born. He definitely paints me to be a little too heroic than actuality, but I do appreciate is honest reflection of the day's events and the miracle that is childbirth. 

We welcomed our second child into the world yesterday. Hayes Ryan Ytterberg. He came two weeks early and caught us by surprise. I think I had just started mentally preparing for his arrival, luckily my wife had been preparing for months, as usual. She had all the bags backed, thought through all the details, though through what we were going to do with Evie, our two-year old and had narrowed down a list of potential names. I had been pretty unengaged up to this week. And then he came.

I am so thankful for my wife who though through all the details and had been planning for him. She’s a champ. I think we all have our strengths, and giving birth is definitely one of hers. Labor lasted all of 10 hours from the first contraction until birth. Active labor was only about 2 hours and she pushed for about 15 minutes. No drugs, just her and God’s grace. It’s incredible to watch a woman go through labor. The pain on her face, the physical toll, the mess, the muscle twitches, the determination. Why so hard?

Because that is how God ordained it. In Genesis 3:16 God told Eve that because of your sin, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children.” He wasn’t messing around. Kaitlyn told me after that at times during the contractions that she felt like she wanted to reason with God to just take her in that moment. The pain was too much to bear. But by God’s grace, she endured and out came one of the greatest blessings we can experience on earth, a child.

Kaitlyn couldn’t compare the euphoria that she experienced right after seeing the baby. The joy on her face, and mine, is incredible. And so worth all the pain (coming from Kaitlyn, not me of course). Immediately you fall in love and are blown away by his presence. How did this happen? How did this child form inside her belly and make its way out alive? How is he so perfect? And what is amazing too is how women are made for it and how God adapts them in this season to be the source of life for the baby. Coming out of labor, you would think the mother would be exhausted and unable to do a single thing more, but upon seeing the baby, the mother is filled with endorphins that give her the energy in that moment to then care for the newborn. More strength is found. And with the birth of the baby, she is now ready to produce milk to feed the baby. And the baby has the natural instinct to know how to nurse. And the process of nursing helps contract the uterus to aid in the healing process. It’s simply amazing how God has created women and orchestrated the process of childbirth.

Such a blessing. And no matter how hard the woman labors, how long it takes, how many complications there were, did she really work hard enough to warrant that blessing? Doesn’t the blessing far far out weigh the effort put in? Yes, there is the act of conception, the nine months of bodily and mental preparation and the agonizing process of birth, but could you really argue that all of that balances out the blessing that comes from childbirth?

And that’s the beauty of it. It’s not of our own selves or our own work that we earn the blessing of a child. It’s all God. He has orchestrated it all and given it to us as a blessing for us to enjoy. He ordained it to be painful as a reminder of our sin, a reminder of our rebellion against Him. Kaitlyn described it best when she said she wanted to plea with God to take her away. That’s what our sin brings about in us. The reality that we don’t deserve God’s blessing. We have rebelled against Him. We have chosen other gods before Him, often ourselves. We deserve the pains of childbirth constantly for how much we rebel. If only all of our sin had such pain accompanied to it, we might grasp the weight of it. In those moments when Kaitlyn wanted to give up, it reminds us of what our sin earns us. It earns us death.

And while those pains of childbirth remind us of our sin, it also gives us a glimpse of the pain Jesus experienced on the cross for our sin. He bore the penalty for all of our sin, not just physical pain, but separation from God. Separation from his father. He died. And he didn’t deserve it. But being God, he overcame death, paying the penalty for our sin. He died for our sin and then gives us his reward. We don’t deserve it. But in God’s grace, we can receive it.

Childbirth is a reminder of our sin and our failure to live up to the standards God sets out for us. And no matter how hard labor is, we don’t deserve the blessing that results from it. But in God’s grace we can receive it, love it and enjoy it.

A famous theologian Archibald Alexander said that "There is no more important event, which occurs in our world, than the new birth of an immortal soul.” And this can only occur when we receive, love and enjoy the reward that Jesus earned for us on the cross.

Introducing Hayes Ryan: His Birth Story

Sadly I'm introducing the newest member of our family an entire month after his birth. But let's be real, I haven't had much time to sit at my computer these days (or shower or eat or do anything other than change diapers and wipe spit up off my shirt...the same shirt I've been wearing for three days.)

Nonetheless, Ryan and I are SO excited to announce that we were blessed with the most unexpected surprise on Wednesday, September 24. Little Hayes Ryan decided to make his debut a few days shy of 38 weeks gestation- certainly not when we were expecting to meet him, but definitely the perfect day to make his swift entrance into the world.

I could ramble on all day about both of my births, and so that said, I compiled a rough story of Hayes' birth day.