Kate's First Trip to the Dentist

On Tuesday, Kate enjoyed her first trip to the dentist. We took her in to have her teeth cleaned and also to get her chipped tooth x-rayed. I was so proud of how well she did. The set up inside this pediatric dentist office is unreal - I want to go have my teeth cleaned there. When you walk in there are rolls of stickers right by the door so Kate picked out a princess sticker, then she walked around where all the chairs were and laid down. Above her head was a flat screen TV showing the movie "Aladdin". Kate kicked off her flip flops, hopped in the chair and let Ms. Karen clean her teeth with Kate's brand new Ariel tooth brush. She was in heaven!

My first day flying solo with two kids

On Monday, I started my full time venture as a mom with two children. I was a little nervous because both children have started a trend of needing something at the same time and I was spoiled over the last couple of weeks being able to help one and hand off the other to my husband or to my mom. The honeymoon is definitely over.



Day one actually went pretty well, I realized that in order to save time I need to make all of my bottles a head of time and keep the bag packed so I don't have to fool with it before we go anywhere.



We enjoyed a nice morning at the park, came home for lunch and nap time - everyone slept. Then I became too comfortable and too confident too soon ---I took both Kate and Brendyn to Target to get some groceries and toiletries and they were both well behaved. We came home and I took both kids upstairs and told Kate to watch Brendyn while I ran down to the car to bring up the 5 bags.



Here's where it all fell to pieces...


Sometime when I went downstairs, Kate locked both deadbolts on the front door of our apartment. I was gone not even two minutes and when I came back up and turned the handle I realized the door was locked. Thankfully I had my car keys so I put my house key in the door and unlocked it and went to push it open and and couldn't get in --I freaked. It was after 6 pm, Joey was on the way home and I had no idea how I was going to get inside to get to my two children. Brendyn was inside still strappped into his carseat and Kate was roaming freely inside the apartment. I stood outside the door screaming her name trying to get her to come to the door. Finally, I hear her on the other side of the door and I repeatedly asked her to open the door and she kept saying "Just a second". After seven minutes, she finally opened the door. She got her Tinkerbell chair and moved it to the door and unlocked the interior deadbolt.

Lesson learned: Don' t underestimate the intelligence of a three-year-old. Just when you think they can't you learn they can!

Brendyn's Work Out

Here are some pictures of our little guy working out on his floor gym. Right now, he enjoys looking at the black and white face with the mirror on the flip side and takes his right hand and bats at it spinning it around and around.

A Chipped Tooth

On Saturday, Kate attends dance class at the East Roswell Recreation Center. Yesterday, Joey's mom and sister (aka "JoJo and Sheesha") came with us to watch Kate's dance class. Joey and Alicia were busy in the gym shooting baskets while JoJo and I watched class and after her class was over we went in the gym to find them. Kate got busy on the court dribbiling the basketball, and while she was running around in her flip flops she fell and chipped the inside left corner of her top right tooth.

I was holding Brendyn and watching her and at the time I didn't think it was any big deal until Joey started shouting my name; I took off running and when I got over to them he told me that she had bit her lip and chipped her tooth. We were not able to retrieve the piece that fell off. Joey is pretty sure she may have swallowed it. Of course panic set in as Kate was set to leave Sunday to go to Mississippi for the week and I was trying so hard to find a dentist in Atlanta that was open on Saturday to fix the tooth. It didn't happen.

And there is NOTHING worse than the "I'm a total failure as a parent" feeling of not being able to get help for your child when something like this happens. It was killing me yesterday as I dialed dental office after dental office and I tried my best to shake it off realizing there is nothing I can do until someone calls me back on Monday.

We are fortunate that Kate is not in any terrible pain.

I should share that I had a similar incident when I was Kate's age, I chipped my tooth on the coffee table in the living room while wrestling with my little brother. Yesterday, my mom reminded me that I used to refer to it as "my dirty tooth" and how I wouldn't smile in pictures because the tooth discolored. I have to say yesterday's tooth incident brought back a lot of insecurities that I tried hard not to project onto Kate. So since the incident, I have put away her Ariel flip flops and slapped her tennis shoes on her feet. :)

Brendyn Honored at Church Today

We attended service this morning at Dunwoody United Methodist, and we were pleasantly surprised during this morning's announcements that the rosebud placed on the altar today was in honor of Brendyn's birth on July 3, 2009.

Brendyn is One-Week-Old Today

Brendyn is one-week-old today. In his first week, he's reached the following milestones:
* On Tuesday, he had his one-week follow up appointment with our pediatrician and he weighed in at 7 lbs 12.5 ounces.
* He is eating great - he's finishing a 2 ounce bottle of formula and taking in the same amount when I nurse him.
* He enjoyed a nice stroller ride at Roswell Area Park yesterday while big sister Kate enjoyed the playground. Weather was 75 degrees yesterday and it felt great to be outside.
* We saw our pediatrician yesterday for another weight re-check and since it would be another month until we go again, and I'm proud to say that Brendyn gained 4 ounces in two days! He's a hungry little guy. :)
* The best way to describe Brendyn is he's a mellow fellow. He is such a calm baby, he only cries or whimpers when he is hungry or needs a diaper change and the rest of the time he is sleeping peacefully. He loves to be held and cuddled. He likes to curl up in the fetal position and fall asleep on your chest. Its so cute.

Kate & Brendyn - Afternoon Playtime

Guess Who?

So it's been said that Kate and Brendyn look a lot alike when they were first born, and I tend to agree. So I'm throwing this one out to all our friends and family to take a guess to see if you can tell who is who.

Who am I? _________

Who am I? _________

Post your guesses in the comments field and I'll let you know if your right! :)

Brendyn is here!

On Friday, July 3, 2009, Joey, Kate and I welcomed Brendyn Paul Dufour to our family. Brendyn was born at 3:04 pm at Northside Hospital. He weighed 8lbs 2 ounces and was 20.5" long.

Thursday night, Joey and I checked into Northside Hospital so I could be induced at 5 am Friday morning. When I got there they checked me and I had gone from 2 to 3 cm dialated. We woke up at 3:30 am on Friday to start showering and get ready for the busy day ahead. My OB had prepared us for a "lunch time" delivery and by noon I was still only 4 cm dialted and I wasn't getting anywhere fast.

By 2 pm, I reached 6 cm however I was so numb from my epidural, my legs felt like they were frozen and weighed 100 lbs each - there was no way I could hold them to push, so my nurse had to turn my epidural down so I could get some feeling back in my legs. At 2:45 I was 10 cm and ready to roll... after 6 pushes Brendyn was born.