Desperate and Tired

Dear Friends and Experienced Mothers: 

Here is my current situation, I need your help---

The good news: Zoe actually broke a tooth!!! Yup-- for all of those who don't know- Zoe has been a toothless baby all up until two weeks ago.   This is a HUGE deal because I have been giving her baby Tylenol everytime I "think" she is teething which puts her back to about 4-5 months old. (The kid has serisously drunk --I dunno how many bottles of motrin and tylenol-- which I know can't be a good thing).  So for once it was nice to see that she actually needed the medicine.  

But here is my problem---the other tooth was suppose to come within a week of the first, right? Hmm...well still nothing and she's still GRUMPY!!!  

When, Zoe was little she had acid reflux until she was about 9 months old, thus I was up a lot with her until then and she finally started sleeping through the night when that let up. 

However, with all our travelling we have been doing she is (although adjusted to the time zone), still all out of wack with her sleeping.  She consistantly wakes up sometimes even twice a night. Here are my guesses as to why, tell me what you think?

1. She pees and wakes herself up (I know this from experience last night because it was everywhere)

2. She getting more teeth

3.  She's having nightmares

4. She wants a bottle and thinks it's mommy time at 4 am in the morning.  

Ok before you go jumping to conclusions... I have no problem letting her "cry it out"..except for that fact that we are not at MY HOUSE!  Thus she crys...she wakes everyone up--obviously not good a good thing.  How do I stop this new found habit again but still attend to her needs?

So which is it.... 1, 2, 3, or 4? (anyone have experience with Nightmares/terrors?- Do night-time diapers work better than normal?)

By the way Zoe's official record for "crying it out" is 3 HOURS ---yes that's right.... 3!!!   It probably would of gone on more, but I couldn't take it much longer so I gave in let her have a bottle.  This was months ago, but nonetheless, she does not give up easily.  (At that time she was probably 9 months old).

Does anyone have kids that teethed this late?  Am I  in for a long stretch of teething or -Will they all come in at once? When exactly are they done teething anyways? 

Another situation... I am trying to get enough sleep so that when baby #2 comes... I can have enough energy to deal with more sleepless nights.  Do I keep them in seperate rooms?  Do I put them in the same room?  I put Zoe in her room that first week she was born...... I can't sleep with her in the same room not even now, so I can assume that with this next one right?

I know all kids are different, but if any of you are still reading this amazingly long post...

remember Zoe will be 19 months old so it's not like I will be able to communicate very easily with her on this matter, but any advice or words of wisdom would be much appreicated.

Desperate for Sleep.... 

Amber

Drum Roll Please!!!!!

Ok, so many of you know this already, but I wanted to space out my posts since there has been so much going on in our lives lately... I thought I would stretch our good news.

I am 15 weeks tomorrow, but I got an ultra sound at 13 weeks----and although it is only 99% accurate... Zoe is going to have a little BROTHER!!!!! Yea!!!! we are soo excited and cant wait to meet this little guy. I was thinking that I was going to have a boy, but being as all the grandchildren are girls so far, we were gearing up for another little princess. However, I think that this will be the perfect addition to our little family. Zoe will adore her little brother (we hope) and if she doesn't, we will just teach her anyways. We will be getting my follow up ultra sound at 20 weeks when I am back in Philly in October to verify the ultrasound. However, I am pretty sure its a little boy because I saw his little --- and so did my mom and husband. That may explain why I have been soo sick. Well there you have it, there is the news-- and we can't wait.

As for Taylor... he just finished his internship at UCI on Saturday and he is gearing up to drive to Arizona on Thursday. Zoe and I will meet up with him in a week or so. We have had a great time in Cali so far and are so excited to move onto Az and Utah in the next few weeks. Good job Taylor for finishing UCI's butt kicking, and tireless program... you rocked.

A quick walk down memory lane--Tribute to Zoe's 1st year of Life!!!

Just a quick look back at this last year...and a few pictures of our most precious moments watching Zoe grow.

Zoe- we love you and couldn't imagine life without you. You have been such a blessing to us and we just love you to pieces. Thank you for coming to our family and teaching us about love, patience, kindness and happiness. You make us laugh all the time and we love watching you grow and learn new things everyday. Happy Birthday Zoe Brooke Pollei!!!!

Cake Time!!!

Zoe was so funny about her cake. She wasn't quite sure what to think at first, and then she just kept going for the red flowers. She loved the chocolate part too, but I think what was the most entertaining...was how dainty she was about the whole thing. At first she didn't know how to attack the thing. After a few tastes and no intervention from mom, I think she finally realized it was ok to get a little dirty and dig in. I still had to probe her a little to eat the actual cake part, but she eventually got the hang of things. Yay Zoe!!!!

Zoe's 1st Birthday!!!

So even though I didn't get this post up until now... we did manage to celebrate Zoe's Birthday ON her birthday... AUGUST 26TH!!! Being as I have been a frequent visitor to the bathroom more than I would like and my nausea is still very present, I opted for a very low-key and quaint birthday party for Zoe. I don't think I could of done much more and really it was just nice to spend this time with family--in person and not over the phone or on Skype acorss the country.

Although we sorely miss our Philly friends Zoe still managed to have a good birthday party. The theme was "Birthday Princess"!!! Hahaa... I know really original, but I couldn't resist the hat and wand. She had her very own birthday cake personally made by the baker himself..and a very lovely cake for the rest of us, courtesy of my mother. (I feel like a yucky mommy since I can't do much for her, but I promised Zoe and myself...they we would try harder next year....and--I can guarentee I won't be puking my guts up then If I have anything to say about it.)

Anyways... so she didn't particularly wear her crown for long but she did like carring it around and waving her wand for eveyone to see. She was a perfect angel all day and even though we kept her up way late to open her presents and eat her cake--(we had to wait for daddy to get home from the hospita) ---she was a champ her first birthday and tackled her cake and presnts like an old pro. She was so sweet and such a delight to watch open all of her presents, she's quite animated for a 1-year-old.








Zoe is so funny to watch... She got lots of books, clothes and little toys, but it was quite apparent what her favories were... her baby doll (mommy and daddy), barbie doll and laptop (nanna and grandpa) and her very own nail polish set (grandma and grandpa Pollei).






HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZOE ---WE LOVE YOU!!!!!-- Cake pictures are too come!!

I know..I know...

ok, ok so I am a tad bit lame and way over due for my posts. Here is the latest so that I can gain a little sympathy for my really bad and long streak of non-bloggging. (pictures are too come)!

August--Month of Change-

August 9th... TAYLOR'S BIRTHYDAY!!! Yes we are officially in our "late 20's"--- Taylor turned 28 this year. We went to breakfast in Lancaster with some long time friends and totally pigged out on pancakes, waffles...eggs benedict.....bacon and whatever else you can think of when you eat breakfast...if it was there I think we tried it. Then we went to P.F Changs for dinner had ourselves some good old lettuce wraps, kung-pao chicken, some other chicken (can't remember the name) and a huge slice of their famous chocolate cake... yum!!!! (Thanks to Amanda and Pete for babysitting).

August 14th... MOVING DAY! Yup that's right...for those of you who don't know, Taylor is doing 3 away rotations--- 4 weeks at UCI (Irvine, California), 4 weeks at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale AZ, and 4 weeks in SLC at the U of U. Zoe and I are with him and so we are not in Philly right now. Currently we are basking in the Sun in good ol' Cali, but because I am soo sick, we settle for the backyard pool rather then venturing to the beach (which we will be doing shortly). We are here until mid Sept and then we leave to AZ for a month and so on. I will be staying in California for the majority of my time here mainly because it's hard to travel and I need all the help I can get with Zoe. (Nanna is coming in real handy =) and so is Brenan surprisingly)!! We have sub-leased our house so we really can't go back until Janurary of next year. Taylor will be interviewing all the month of December for ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat) or aka Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery Residency positions. We won't know where we match until March (right when I am due).

August 26th....Zoe turns ONE!!!

So as you can see I have been busy packing my house up for a 6 month adventure on the West Coast, taking care of my "oh so independent little one" and trying to not be too sick. I promise I will be more on top of the blogging and for those of you awaiting your photoshoots... they are coming on will be shipped soon.

What??!!??!!?

Sooo.. Zoe has something to tell all of you!!








Ya.. you read it right!!! Are you freaking out yet???? Zoe's not but mom is! Hahaha!! So the rumor if you haven't heard by now is... True!! I am due March 10 (but Grandma Corbin's b-day is March 2nd so she might have to share her birthday!!! ) So this might explain the lack of blog entrys lately and the photoshoots that I have yet to post. I've been feeling really yucky so far, which is new for me, since my last pregnancy I was hardly sick. We are thrilled and can't wait to meet our new little arrival. Yes... it was planned and they will be 19 MONTHS A PART!! Yup... I know, I'm crazy. So there you go-- that's the latest!