Rants

I haven't blogged in a while, but I blog in my head all the time. Cute things they do, obnoxious things, downright hilarious things. But getting the time I'd like to write it all down in a fashion that's satisfactory to me is another idea. I'm currently taking the time to do it now because I feel like it. Yes, I'm ignoring the fact that I'm in my pajamas, hair unbrushed, my daughter is in her bedroom doing puzzles with only a t-shirt on (literally, only a shirt), a load of laundry is washing in the laundry room for the 3rd day straight (the exact same load. I keep forgetting to put it in the dryer, so in the morning it smells weird, so I wash it again), there are some eggs on the stove that need to be eaten or put away, not to mention the eggs on Monkey's plate that she didn't eat, but will remain there until she does because she will eventually want to watch tv and she can't until she's finished her breakfast, and a multitude of other things that need to be done but will have to wait. So here's some random and unconnected rants and thoughts of me.

When Monkey first starting singing Jingle Bells, she'd repeat the phrase "Jingle Bells" over and over again because those were the only words she knew.

When my 2 oldest kids sing "You are my Sunshine" they sing "You make me happy, when skies are great."

Monkey peed her pants for the first time in a long time while I was putting Munchkin down for a nap. It took longer than usual since Munchkin is crabby. So she kneeled there in the bathroom (where it happened) playing with the heating vent (running her fingers down it over and over again, making noise), and essentially soaked up her entire pee puddle. Gross, right?

Munchkin is getting 2 more teeth. She's got her bottom middle, now she's getting 2 more bottom ones. She's been crabby. She needs to start crawling so she can follow whoever it is she wants to be near since she hates being left alone. She is also getting tired of baby food. Monkey did the same thing. So I'll be googling later today good finger foods for Miss Munchkin so we can start giving her more hands on chewy type foods.

Thanks to the lack of sunshine where I live our plants are struggling. Grr. We've tried so hard to keep the darn things alive. We might have to invest in a plant light for our living room. (The only room with decent natural sunlight. It's still awful. So they all reside in the same room.)

I don't teach my kid to believe in Santa. I'm evil, I know. I can't lie about it. It just feels weird. I don't remember ever believing in Santa and I think I turned out pretty great. (That is based on the opinion of me and my mom, so we might be biased.) Apparently it's a super controversial topic that gets people really heated up. Me, not so much. It is what it is. I just refuse to label a gift as coming from Santa. We worked dang hard to buy those gifts and I refuse to give the credit to some fictional holiday character. Not gonna happen. Darn right those gifts came from me and the hubs.

I wish I was a super mom. I have these strong desires to sew all my kid's clothes, make quilts (never done that one before), make homemade bread (really wanting to do that), and actually have a clean house (yeah, I really stink at that one). I'm not having guilt trips about it. I'm a good mom. I do a lot. I know that. But I spend a lot of time doing other stuff. I have a decent amount of doing-what-I-want-time, even at the expense of ignoring a child or two. I keep up on a few shows online (we don't have tv channels). I read books in splurges (I've got 3 great ones waiting on my dresser right now.).  I have tons of time I could spend doing domestic types of things. Heck, I could probably be dressed before 2 every single day if I really applied myself. I do get dressed before that time some days. Just not every day. Once we get home from taking Moose to school I'm putting Munch down for a nap, which is in my room. So unless I get showered and dressed before her first nap, showering doesn't happen and dressing waits until much later. When she wakes up from her nap, it's usually about lunchtime for. Then pretty shortly after that it's naptime for them both. So sometimes getting dressed waits until she wakes up from her second nap and we go directly to picking up Moose from school and the melee starts from there. Then it's putting gear away, unpacking backpacks (a lot of this he does himself, but it takes occasional nagging from me to see through to completion.), piano practice, homework (he doesn't actually get any, but we practice skills at home. He says he really likes it.), making dinner, cleaning the house before the hubs gets home is an optional thing, often not happening and then when he does get home it's time for dinner, clean-up, quickly having quality time for him and them, then corraling them all for bed. Oh, and Munch goes to bed during all that. She hits the hay about an hour earlier than they do. So that was unintended, but that's my day. Wow, talk about ranting. I really laid it out didn't I?

Now, I feel like I should add, I love my life. I love my kids. I wouldn't have it any other way. (Unless that way involved a spacious home and a second car. I might have it that way.) Although my days have struggles and I fight to do things I want to and things I should, or need to, etc. I love my life. I love being a mom. My husband is awesome. We all love each other.

Sometimes I worry I'm a mean mom. My stern voice is never far away. But the hubs told me recently as he was talking to a father who's youngest of 8 is about 19, he was asking about parenting and things. Theiroldest song told him once that when he was little he was scared of his mom and dad. (I suppose there might have been some joking going on, but still.) But all of their kids are amazingly well-rounded and great kids. They're starting their own families, making a good life for themselves. They're a close and loving family. But apparently their parents were strict too. So I suppose there's hope for us.

Okay, I think I'm done now. I'm going to make my 2 year old put some clothes on and go do something productive that's been on my mind all morning. :)

Clap! Yay!

Munchkin (who is hardly a munchkin, I tell ya. The girl is getting huge!) is becoming quite the clapper. Here's the scene at dinner tonight.

We're sitting around the dinner table. I'm feeding munchkin some banana orange medley, while the rest of us eat Thanksgiving/day after Thanksgiving leftovers. (The hubs actually made a different dinner the day after. It was pizza and it was amazing!) Munchkin randomly claps a few times, not always making contact with both hands, but trying enthusiastically. So I clap and say yay. Enter Moose, Monkey and the hubs all clapping excitedly and making happy sounds. Munchkin gets so psyched! She keeps clapping and smiling. Not to mention kicking her pudgy feet and occasionally screaming. It was awesome. At one point though, I had to stop and think. Here we are thinking we're training her to clap. But I bet in her mind, she's thinking, "Everytime I put my hands together like this, I can get them to do it too. I can make them do what I want. Haha!" So, as for who's training who, I'd say it's debatable.

Sick Guy + GI Joe

This morning, Moose wasn't feeling very well. So he ended up staying home from church with the hubs and Munchkin. Monkey and I still went. I had a choir performance to play for and a primary lesson to teach. Anyway, while I was gone, Moose threw up twice. He napped a bit and was pretty lethargic overall. This is a big deal for him. Generally when he's sick, he will always be his chipper happy self. It takes something pretty serious to make him act sick. But he's definitely sick, which means he's staying home tomorrow.

This is the first time we've had anyone throw up since he was about 2 1/2. We all got the stomach flu in succession. He was first, then me, then the hubs. I'll never forget it. Whenever he threw up he would cry and cry. It was the saddest thing you'd ever heard. After we were all better, I would sometimes lay in bed at night and remember when he'd start crying from a vomit attack. It would give me small anxiety attacks, I hated that cry so much. It just broke my heart every time. He's a bit more of a trooper about it. The hubs said the first time he threw up he was pretty shaken. The second (and third, which was this evening) time he was a real trooper about it. He's had nothing but a cracker and some sips of water. I really hope he's feeling better tomorrow. This will be his first genuine sick day staying home from school.

In random-make-you-smile news: Moose watched some episodes of GI Joe this afternoon. I was standing next to the dinner table where the kiddos were. I randomly sang, "GI Joe is there." and they sang in unison, completely unprompted, "GI JOE!" It was too cute.

Snow Pants

Enter the whining mother of a child in public school in the lovely snowy NorthWest US. Ugh. So it snowed a bit last night which meant that Moose had to wear his snow gear to school today. Apparently unless it's like 0 degrees outside, they still play outside for recess. Joy. This lovely addition adds like 15 minutes to our getting out the door to get him to school. For those of you not familiar with winter gear, please, let me enlighten you.

Starting with Moose. Normal clothes: check. Snow boots. Snow coat. Hat. Gloves. Tennis shoes. Snow Pants. (Obviously these are not the order in which he puts things on.) Although we do add backpack to that list. Apparently it's a lot harder to get on with all that gear on. And to add to that list (We didn't have one this morning, but will be getting one.) a bag to carry home his wet gear every day. (This isn't like a plastic bag. This is like a big Mom-sized beach tote. You know, those big beasty ones.) Okay. One child done.

Next is Monkey. She's requires a touch less gear, although she likes to think that whatever her brother has she needs to have also. It hasn't caused too many problems, although it caused one today. Will elaborate further. She wears her normal clothes. Add snow coat, boots and a hat. Moose is required to dress himself in all his gear to spare his teachers from dressing 26 kids each recess. So he can zip his coat. By some miraculous feat of luck, Monkey also zipped her own coat this morning. (Apparently on Sunday she spent most of the first hour standing in an aisle zipping and unzipping her coat, so the hubs tells me. I was elsewhere at the time.) However, when it was time to pick Moose up from school, the little miss assumes she can now zip her own coat. Sorry to break it to you darling, that totally won't happen again for a few years. So it took an extra 5 minutes for me to get her to let me zip her coat. And yes, I managed it by threatening to leave without her. Which no, I wouldn't do. But she didn't know that.

Last is Munchkin. She's the easiest. We have a dandy snow suit that you zip her into. It's like a big pink, fuzzy, feety jammies with a hood and mittens. I like to call her pinky when she wears it.

So, that's our get out the door routine thanks to Mother Nature. Probably will last til, I don't know, April. If not May. Never know how bad the winter will be.

Oh, and to add to all that fun (remember, today was the first day Moose wore all this stuff) Moose came home with someone else's snow pants. His are blue, with his name on them. These ones are black, with someone else's name on them. Sigh. Oh, and I just got his lunchbox back from a 2 day vacation in the 4th grade classroom lunch bag tub. Another story, I suppose. Tomorrow we go on the look-out for his snow pants. Oh, the joys of school.

Crumbs

Monkey has been sick the last 2 days and one of her symptoms today was a runny nose. After her nap, she was sitting at the computer playing a game. I see her picking at her nose and she turns around and says to me, "Mama, my nose has crumbs." :)

The Lost Sock!

The kids are in bed, we're sitting around talking and our two year old starts crying. So I go into her room and she's just bawling. I'm trying to think what's bothering her. I ask her if she's got boogers. No response. Finally she says, "It's lost. My sock. My foot is cold." (Imagine slight dramatic pauses between each sentence. Perhaps a deep inhale or sniffle too. It was so cute.) It was the saddest, most pitiful thing you've ever heard. It was so cute! So I helped Monkey find her sock and put it back on. She's now happily tucked back into bed. :)

Ponderings of a Public School Parent

Sometimes when I'm making Moose's lunch for the next school day my brain gets a-wandering. These are some of the ponderings I had while making his lunch tonight.

I can't help but wonder what other kids are eating for lunch. Not the lunch they get at school, but the sack lunches they're bringing from home. I'm pretty particular about what I pack in his lunch. Bless his heart, the hubs can't replicate what I do without a written, detailed list. Here's a lay-out of his daily lunch.

Snack Container:
granola bar or a few crackers
fruit: half an apple, handful of grapes, half a peach, etc.
veggie: 3 carrot sticks, one stick of celery with peanut butter and raisins (I'll get him up to 2 celery sticks soon. they're still kinda new)

Main lunch Container:
PB&J, Ham and cheese, or chicken nuggets

Second lunch container:
equivalent fruit and veggies from snack container
2 vitamins
cheese stick or yogurt
small treat: 1 cookie or 2-3 small pieces of candy from around the house

That's about it. More or less. If he gets ham and cheese, I usually don't give him a cheese stick. I usually give him yogurt with chicken nuggets. The kid's only been in school a few months, and it's already a fine-tuned rotation. He already knows Wednesday is chicken nugget day. For a while I rotated his main dish. M and Th were PB&J, W was chicken nuggets, T and F were ham and cheese. He went through a ham and cheese boycott, so I'm slowly working it back in. I really need a few more things in my rotation, but he really doesn't mind. He always eats it all. And he told me a while ago he sometimes shares his candy with his buddy, because he asks. And sometimes his buddy shares things with him.

Okay, so those are my slightly OCD lunch-making habits for my kindergartener. And every so often as I'm making his lunch I can't help but wonder what the other kids are eating. Are they eating healthier stuff. Junk food? Shnazzy lunchables? Just curious, I guess. I know I'm doing right by him and teaching him good habits. Even though he still hates peas and whines everytime we tell him there are onions or peppers in dinner. He's healthy and one day he'll thank us. :)

But what are those other kids eating? *shrug* Who knows. I'm sure many of you are thinking I need better things to think about. I know. It's true. :)

Hurts me more...

There's that old saying "This will hurt me more than it hurts you". So true. Sometimes parenting is a real drag. I've learned multiple times that sometimes what you have to deal with is not worth the lesson you're trying to teach. Or it is worth it, but you still wish you didn't have to do it anyway. Case in point:

This evening I was getting Moose ready for bed. He was in the bathroom and was supposed to be putting toothpaste on his toothbrush so I could brush his teeth. I got a phone call and was talking on the phone, while still gesturing to him to do what I asked him to. He fooled around and all-around ignored me, not putting his toothpaste on. I get my stern face on (while still on the phone) and pointed to his toothbrush. He got totally sassy and was completely ignoring me, laughing, etc. This happened for a minute or two. I was so very frustrated. Finally, I grabbed him and sent him to time-out while I finished my phone call. Okay, reading it like this, his infraction doesn't sound very bad. But I have a hard time articulating sassiness. The boy was ignoring me (not okay in our house) and just being obnoxious. It got me so mad. So I brushed his teeth, denied him his last small drink of water (I know, I'm so mean, right?), made him swish his flouride and sent him to his room to be put to bed by his Papa. When he got in his room, the hubs took away his book. This sent him to tears. Serious tears. The hubs explained that we do not treat Mama that way and so he would not get his book that night. It was awful hearing him cry and whatnot. I really questioned whether or not it was worth it. But in the end, he was being really rude to me and disrespectful, which the hubs does not tolerate when he's home. (It's harder to enforce not being disrespectful or rude to the parent when you're the only one there. I find it's easier for him to discpline for the kids being rude to me and I discipline when they're rude to him. Don't know why, but it works better.) Anyway, long story short, I think it was totally harder for me in that moment to listen to his totally pathetic crying over losing his book than it was for him to lose his book. I think that's also true because I'll remember it much more potently than he will.

Disciplining your children is not for the faint of heart. You give them an inch and they'll take a mile. And yes, they can smell fear.

Sigh

I couldn't think of a better post title than that. It was a crazy afternoon. I have a kindergartener. More and more I'm realizing that I am learning more having him in kindergarten than I think he is. Today's lesson learned: Teach your boy how to pee in a urinal before he goes to public school. Let's just say this has led to un-necessary stress in my life on more than one occasion. 'Nuff said.

I was actually working out this afternoon during the girl's naps. For the first time, I was actually bothered by an interruption. (Which generally I welcome to get me out of the sweat-fest) The work-out mojo was gone, and the children were awake before the interrruption was taken care of.

Monkey, who is generally potty-trained decided to have another accident today. It was icing on the cake of undesirable occurences today.

I'm off to sing Monkey's "one more song". Then it's parental relax time with popcorn and a movie. Yay for Friday nights.

Flying Solo

So I flew solo for most of the day today. After work, the hubs had parent teacher conferences, which meant he didn't get home til 9 this evening. In anticipation of days like this, I generally plan on doing nothing. Although I did end up having a very active afternoon before I had to pick Moose up from school at 1:30. (Can I just say I hate early release days? Throws off everything. Naps, lunch, ugh.) Once the girls were asleep for their naps, my day consisted of finding a cheesy fantasy teeny bop tv show in netflix instant watch and attempting to watch it while tending my kids, making dinner, and putting my kids to bed. My philosophy on days like this is that I want to avoid stress, since I won't have the hubs to step in for me if I get stressed out. Although I realized that if I were a single parent I would either get nothing done or be stressed out daily. I blame my desire for laziness on still recovering from my trip home for Grandma's funeral. I had about 3 nights of really awful sleep. Things have been nice since I've been back, but I haven't had any extra sleep. So I figure I'm still behind, right? I'm really looking forward to the weekend. That's when the hubs offers to take the kids in the morning so I can get extra sleep. Lately I've just been trying to get up when they do so we can get more done. But this weekend, I'm totally sleeping in. I'm tired. Blog done. Bed time.

Still here

So I've decided to keep on blogging about my crazy kids. Sometimes the things they do are just so fun you have to share. Or so annoying I need to vent. And just about anything inbetween. Here's a child update on my kiddos.

Moose: He's almost 5 1/2. He started kindergarten in September. Kinda crazy! But it's been such a good thing. He's learning and making friends. He had his first play date with a school friend yesterday, at their house. He was so excited. The only downer is now he's going to ask to go just about every day. But fortunately it seemed like his friend was just as excited and spazzy as my kid. So mine isn't the only one. :)

Monkey: She is 2 1/2. A bean pole. She's potty-trained. Although I've learned that's a really loose term. Sure, she's wearing undies. (Can I just say I hate the word panties. Don't know why.) But that doesn't mean she's in control all the time. We still have accidents. A few a week. But in general she does great and her accidents are generally only wet ones, nothing smelly. She can officially operate the blu-ray to stream netflix all by herself. She also navigates the computer on her own too. She has her own favorites folder with her approved games in it.

Munchkin: My baby is no longer a tiny baby. She's 7 months old today. She's cutting her 2nd tooth. She's learning to sit. I just came back from a trip back home for my Grandma's funeral. Now that I'm back she's a bit clingy. And although she's waking up later than she did for the hubs (5 am for him, poor guy), she's still waking up too early and it makes her cranky. Speaking of the little beasty, I hear her making sounds over the monitor. 45 minutes is not an acceptable nap. She had better go back to sleep!

So, look forward to more antics from me and my kiddos. :)

Support...

So lately Miss Munchkin has been a real back-breaker. She doesn't nap for more than 45 minutes at a time, but only eats every 3-4 hours. This makes for one whacked out schedule during the day. And if we do this for the entire morning, by noon or so she's a mess and is so overtired she won't even eat. So yesterday I went and vented on facebook. Bless my family and friend's hearts for commiserating with me, offering advice, ideas, or just empathizing. Sometimes when we do this, we don't always hear anything new or anything that will help. And sometimes they bring you a fresh perspective and help you see things a different way. Either way, it's just nice. Friends offer support, they tell you that their kids did it too and that it will pass. I woke up this morning feeling just a tiny bit better. I still don't know if Munchkin will sleep longer than 45 minutes without serious intervention. But I know that I'm not the only Mom out there who's dealing or struggling with raising kids.

Like they always say, before you know it they'll be off to college. So I'll enjoy what parts of this stage I can, and just wait for the rest to pass.

Growth Spurt...

The last few days things with Munchkin have beena bit unusual. She's been a bit grouchy, waking up more often at night, and not eating as usual during the day. After doing some researching this evening and talking with the hubs, we decided she might just be going through a growth spurt. She had one between 6-8 weeks. That's normal. One place I checked said that after that kids generally have one once a month or every 8 weeks. It said that it only lasts for a day or two. We're on day two with this little gal, so I'm hoping that it won't last much longer. Last night I was up with her every 3 hours. It was exhausting. I really hope she goes back to her fabulous nights of only waking once. I hope tonight's the night.

Outside of this fun few days, things have been going alright. The hubs is on summer break, with the occasional work at a side job. It's been a bit of a change having him around. For me, it's been an awesome change. It's been a bit harder for the kids. They're so used to me doing things. Having him step in and do things has been a bit harder. But we're trying to live up the summer as much as we can. We've already had one family reunion. We've got another one next week. We're had some fun camping, and hope to do more. Swim lessons, trips to the library. Who knows?  I just hope it stays fun. And that I start getting more sleep at night. ;)

Family Reunion...

We have just finished a week-long family reunion. (Including driving days, and some family returning with us.) I fear it's going to take twice that long to get our kiddos back to where they were. They've been going to bed at 10 pm all week long with no naps. Fortunately, Monkey knows how to let herself sleep in. The same can't be said for Moose. Tonight is the first night of trying to get them back to normal. They've now been in bed for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Although this process is being made all the more difficult by Monkey's teething, congestion, and diaper issues. (Diaper issues are another blog, completely. Oy.) Munchkin seems to be doing well. Despite being the worst traveler in our family. Let's just say that being rocked to sleep in the car does nothing for her. Which makes an 8 hour day in the car very unpleasant.

But despite all the unpleasantness, we are so glad to be home. The kiddos will figure it out. Things will readjust. And it was so awesome to visit with family. I suppose the memories will be worth the pains of readjusting to normal life. :)

2 months...

I can hardly believe Munchkin is 2 months old. It goes so fast. She weighed in at 12 lbs. 15 oz. and she's 24 inches long. She's in the 95th percentile for both. Another big baby for us! I love it! She's starting to sleep a bit better. She even napped in her crib a bit today instead of the swing. (The batteries died, so it happened by chance. But she did well, so we'll have to keep this up!) She's still doing well at night, and becoming more alert and interactive during the day. The big kiddos still adore her, so I couldn't be happier! (Well, I'll be happier when I sleep straight through the night, but I'm not complaining or anything.) Overall, she's healthy so I couldn't be happier. :)

Accidents...

Sunday was a day of accidents for our big kiddos. Thankfully, none of them have any permanent damage. But it was just one of those days.

Moose was taking looking for his church clothes in the dryer. Afterwards, he told me he had an owie on his hand. There's a metal grate inside the tumbler. Apparently he put his hand flat on it. So he now has a waffle-like pattern on his hand. The burn wasn't too bad, thankfully. But he has a few blisters. In the end, I don't know if we could've prevented it. I don't know if I ever paid enough attention to the inside of our dryer, so as to tell him not to touch that metal grate. I'm just glad he's going to be alright.

Monkey had a harder time. We were out at a campsite with some family. They had a small pool with paddle boats for kids. It wasn't very deep. The hubs had walked around to the far end to get the paddle boats and push them back to the dock where you can get in them. My sis-in-law was on the dock with the kids. Monkey was there, waiting to get in a boat with someone else. Apparently she wanted to walk over to where the hubs was and (despite the urgings of the hubs, who was a distance away, but saw it coming and tried to get her to stop) she walked right off the dock. She went, more or less, head first into the water.  The hubs and sis-in-law grabbed her immediately and pulled her out. She was soaked from head to toe and pretty shaken up, but overall unharmed. It sure did scare us though. She calmed down pretty quickly and later on told her me, in her own way, about falling into the water.

Sometimes it seems like no matter how careful you are (and we consider ourselves to be pretty cautious parents) accidents can, and will, still happen. I'm just glad my kiddos are fine. Even the smallest scrapes and bruises can make you remember how precious your children are and how fragile too.

On a happier note, I spend most of today running errands on my own! The hubs had work off and so I was able to be out and about if the baby had nursed. I spent the morning running some errands with just Moose. It was very reminiscent of running Saturday errands with my Mom growing up. I got to go to the fabric store and spend some time getting supplies for a project. I also got to go for a run. What a day! Feeling so lucky to have such an amazing (and safe) family!

Pacifier...

Monkey is officially weaning off her pacifier. Yesterday was the first day where I told her she was a big girl who didn't need a pacifier anymore. We were going to go to the store to get her another "baby" for bedtime. But she wouldn't finish her lunch, so we didn't end up getting one. But I told her she was still a big girl and wouldn't get a paci for naptime. It took her a while to go to sleep, but she did. She had a harder time with bedtime. The hubs had the brilliant idea to give her a choice. He put the paci in one hand and a caramel hershey's kiss in the other. It was so hard not to laugh as she studied out her two choices. It was a serious deal for her. Too cute! She finally chose the chocolate and went to bed without her pacifier. However, at about 10:45 she woke up crying and we gave it to her. Today has gone well though. She fell asleep much faster at naptime. She also went down at bedtime without any issues. We'll see if she wakes up needing it or not. Either way, I think it's awesome progress. Yay! So glad Monkey's doing so well and becoming such a big girl! :)

Alone Time...

This morning started out a little rough for me, since Munchkin has decided she still doesn't know how to nap during the day. (Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful her nights are still great. But still...) Fortunately, things started to level out, but I still wanted some time tonight. I already had plans to attend a bridal shower this evening (which was so wonderful!) but I was planning on taking Munchkin with me. By the time the hubs came home from work after 5, I had dinner cooked (nothing fancy. 4 small pot pies from the freezer.) and I was dressed in my running clothes. As soon as dinner was done, I went on a short run (which felt SO good!) came home, pumped some milk (the hubs really wanted me to be able to go to the shower alone. So I did!) and left for the bridal shower. It was so awesome to have so much time to myself. I desperately needed it. I'm so grateful for a hubs who's thinking about my well being. Alone time is so rejuvenating. (And by alone time, in this context, I mean time without kids!)

Phases...

With little ones, they grow so fast and change so quickly, it's hard to keep up. Once you think you have things figured out they change. This doesn't really get much better as they grow up, but with they're small, the phases tend to be shorter.  Munchkin just had a growth spurt. I think, anyway. They say newborns have a growth spurt between 6 and 8 weeks. She's 7 weeks today. This whole week her sleeping and eating habits have been pretty different. She hasn't been sleeping well during the day. (Thankfully her nights have stayed good.) She was also nursing a bit more frequently. But I was prepared for that and tried to nurse her more often to help increase my milk supply. But as of yesterday and today, it feels like she's going back to normal. Today she had 2 amazing naps at home where she slept solidly for 2 hours. She probably would have for her other naps too, but we were going to and fro a little bit. It seems like she's a different baby just a bit. I'm so glad! I hope this sticks and she doesn't go back to the way it was this week. As I'm so excited for her to be out of her growth spurt and sleeping more soundly, being a bit easier to handle, I have to anticipate that soon enough she'll hit another developmental something that will disrupt her days or, forbid, her nights. Nonetheless, I'll enjoy her in this calm place while I can. With children, the only certainty is change. So you just have to enjoy the good stretches while they last. :)

Transitions...

It seems like the transition from 2 kids to 3 has gone pretty smoothly. Sleep isn't too hard to come by, thankfully. Munchkin is pretty great at nights. She had a rough week, but it seems like it might've been a growth spurt, which I was anticipating at this point. It seems like she might be coming out of it, and her naps are getting better and she's still doing great at night. Monkey hasn't woken up at night for a while, thank goodness. That was hard. Moose has been my biggest problem lately. He's been whiney, and it seems like nothing is ever enough for him. He always wants more computer time, more time to play, more, more, etc. But as me and the hubs have been talking about it, we've realized he's gone through so much. Although he handles change like a real champ, it's still a big change. Just today I was doing some things with him and was interrupted multiple times by a fussing baby who was supposed to be napping. He handled it well, but I could tell he was frustrated and felt pushed aside. After really taking notice, I realized that his behavioral issues could very well be his way of dealing with everything that's going on. So I've made a mental decision to give him a bit more slack. I'm not going to let him get away with things, mind you. It's beyond me to do that. But I think I'm going to ease up on my knee-jerk disciplinary reactions to him. (I'm totally guilty of knee-jerk reactions. Just ask the hubs.) Hopefully my recognition of this will help me to be a bit easier on him, which might hopefully ease up his intense whininess/spoiled brat attitude. Here's hoping. :)

Mommy Back...

I went to the chiropractor for the first time today. It wasn't until I was there that I finally realized why I was having the pain I was. It wasn't really bad. Just a discomfort every now and then if I bent the wrong way. I had a small pain at the base of my neck and my lower/middle back. But after the chiropractor said I had "mommy back" it got me thinking about it. That's when I realized exactly where I got the pains from. Just picture it in your mind. Constantly looking down at my beautiful baby, whether in nursing or putting her to sleep. And bending down to put her down or pick her up from the swing. (She's been sleeping there ever since she got congested. We're working on transitioning her to the crib.) So I quite literally had "mommy back". Hazard of the job I guess. :)

Oh Monkey...

It seems like she is ready to lose her pacifier and be potty-trained at the same time. Although I have to admit that I want to lose the paci first, because I can't imagine my potty-trained kid still having a pacifier. Granted, it's only supposed to be for bed. (She occasionally will wander around with it after waking up.) I think it'll work out that way anyhow, only because I can't tackle potty-training while the hubs is still working. But losing the paci is something I think I can do. Lately she's been sleeping without the paci in her mouth non-stop. So I know she doesn't need it to sleep. It's just a comfort for falling asleep. She also likes to remove her own diapers, and even try to wipe herself. She can take her own pants on or off. I think that's one of the big signs they're ready for potty-training.

Today when she had a poopy diaper, she brought me some of Moose's undies. We have some potty-training girly ones (very thick) plus some plastic undie covers, so I showed her the girly undies and we put them on. After we changed her, I put her potty-seat on the toilet so she could sit on it whenever she needed to without my help. She sat on it right away, caught up in the excitement of it all. She didn't do anything. However, within five minutes or so, she peed. She let me know by bringing me another pair of undies and telling me she was wet, and they were dry. So I changed her, talked to her about using the potty and let her wear another pair. Fortunately, her bladder was pretty empty that time since she had just had a diaper change. A while later, she had another accident with a bit more in her bladder, so I had to do some spot cleaning on the carpet. After that one, we put the diaper back on.

I'm sure we'll get there eventually. I'm pretty sure that it will be over the summer while the hubs is home (maybe) and we can put more attention into it. Otherwise it'll just have to wait until the Munchkin doesn't suck up as much of my time and attention so I can devote more to making sure she's not peeing on my carpet. :)

On The Road Again...

I went running shoe shopping tonight. I haven't bought them yet. But hopefully tomorrow. It's been insanely warm and sunny the last two days. It makes me so excited! I can't wait to go running! I have my doctor's appointment tomorrow morning which will give me the official "ok" to exercise. Can't wait! I hope the weather keeps up. Yay for being back on the trail again! :D

Getting By...

We survived the hub's second week back at work. Although this week I was extremely ready for the weekend. I couldn't wait to sleep in.

I think I'm getting a cold. It completely knocked me out today. My energy levels were running low all day long. The hubs, bless his heart, came home asap for me to help out.

Moose was super sweet to me all day, understanding that I was having a really hard day. But when it came time for the hubs to get him ready for bed he was a real snot. He's currently got his face in a corner. He's been there for over 5 minutes. Makes me sad. I understand so much better the sentiment "This'll hurt me more than it hurts you" since I've become a parent.

Monkey is still screaming whenever she's displeased. We're working on it. It's going to be a long battle, I think.

Munchkin is doing well at nights. Last night she had a dream feed at 10:30, a full feed at 2:15, and a half feed at 4:30. We got up at 7:30.

I'm getting my 6 week check-up Thursday. The hubs is getting me some new running shoes for Mother's Day. He wants to take me to pick them out, so I didn't have them for Mother's Day. I'm really excited. I also want to play volleyball again. I haven't played in a year. I quit going to my Thursday night group last April when I started running every night.

The hub's last day of school is officially on our calendar. It's in about 5 weeks. I'm so excited!

Moose is still in the corner. He's lost computer and tv privileges tomorrow. It's going to be a long day.

Healthy Girl...

Monkey had her 2 year old check up today. Our big girl is 28 lbs. and 35 3/4 in. tall. She's a healthy girl. :)

Will I Never Learn...

At a 2 am diaper change last night, I made a crucial mistake. I did not have a diaper under Munchkin. I had removed the dirty diaper and was giving her one last wipe, but didn't put the clean one down. Of course, she proceeded to poop. A lot. It got all over her swaddle. Then as I was trying frantically to figure out what to do with that mess, she peed. A lot. Goodness gracious. I woke up the hubs for help. The other swaddle was in the dryer. Amazingly, her jammies didn't get soiled in any way. That was seriously a miracle. But we had to clean her up, get a clean swaddle, and clean up the mess. We sent a small bundle into the washer immediately. I'm on my third kid. You'd think I had learned this lesson already. Sadly, I'm sure I did already learn this lesson. Probably with each kid. I don't know why I can't remember it. Maybe pregnancy wipes my memories. I know it does wacky things to my brain.

At least I'm done learning that one again.

Week 1...

So we survived our first week of the hubs being back at work. I would say that it was a really good week, considering. He didn't get nearly as much time to do lesson planning as he normally would, but he's surviving. We actually had quite a few activities that took up his time at night too, which was unusual. So I actually had a few days where I did dinner solo, and one night when I put the kids to bed alone. But we survived!

Munchkin is doing well. She's still slighlty congested and her darn diaper rash is still lingering. Though it does look better. She's also still gassy on occasion. But I'm hoping that by the time she's 6-8 weeks more of her digestive issues will pass. *pun* As long as nothing strange happens, she goes for 3-4 hour stretches at night. At least her first stretch. And when she nurses the second time, sometimes we can tell she's not waking out of hunger, but something else, because she doesn't act hungry. Or she falls asleep right away and I can't get her to take a full feed no matter what. (Diaper changes included.) But in general she's doing well.

Moose and Monkey continue to be themselves. Monkey's biggest issue right now is screaming to express herself. We're working on that. We've got her "being positive" and saying "yes mama. yes papa" more often. She no longer runs into our bedroom whenever the baby cries. I cured that by offering her a piece of candy whenever she stayed out. I've also been able to pick up Moose from his preschool group without taking both girls into the house by giving her candy. (This is a friend's driveway, not a parking lot situation.) It's so much easier. Whenever I took her into the house to get him, she'd start playing with the other kids and it'd take ages to get them back to the car. I'm totally not above bribery. Especially when it works. Anyway, I prefer to call it a "rewards system".

:)

Survival...

Not only did we survive today, we did pretty great. Thanks to a wonderful night's sleep last night. (2 good chunks from Munchkin. 3 1/2 hours and then 4.) The older 2 didn't nap, which I could've avoided if I had been more careful. But it worked out since we had some good friends stopping by on their way to visit family and had they napped, they might've missed some of the visit.

Thanks to all who have been sending me encouraging thoughts. I've been reciting them to myself constantly today, and it helped a ton!

My favorite moment today was when I was coming out of my room after having put Munchkin to sleep. I heard the older 2 fighting. I walked into the living room and stopped all fights with a quick, "Hey!" But I didn't want things to escalate or turn into a crying match. So I sat on the couch and had both kiddos come sit with me for some cuddle time. We talked nicely (in nice tones) about what happened and both kids apologized. Then they went back to their activities. It was awesome. It was one of those moments that made me feel like a really good parent for handling a situation the way I did.

Tomorrow will be my first day with all 3 in the car. Just to drive Moose to preschool and pick him up. Nonetheless. Wish us luck. :)

Vacation Over...

It's officially over. The hubs goes back to work tomorrow. Send me happy thoughts tomorrow. Better yet, send Monkey "don't wake up at 5:30" thoughts. :)

Test Run: FAIL...

Today we were going to have a test run of what it will be like when the hubs goes back to work. Let's just say it didn't go well. Munchkin has had some congestion lately and it disturbs her nighttime sleeping. I fed her (a "dream feed", she was asleep the whole time) at 10 and then we went to bed. She nursed at 12:15, 1:45, 2:15, 4:15 and 6:30. Some of those earlier times only included nursing on one side, which is probably why she was up again so soon afterwards. But either way, she was congested and we could tell it bothered her a bit. She slept a small bit with the hubs too. Oh, then the kiddos came into our room at 5:55. Yeah. Moose went back to bed, but Monkey is still just too young to grasp that idea. So she laid in bed with us for 30 minutes.

So what was supposed to happen was this. The hubs was going to get up early and leave the house between 6 and 6:30. Then I was going to try the morning out on my own. I ended up "sleeping in" with Munchkin til 8-ish and then the hubs napped from like 10-12 or so. (He still has a small cold too.) Looking past what an undesirable night it was, the day went well.

Munchkin's sad bum rash is almost healed. Hooray!

The hubs goes back to work on Monday. Boo!

I'm sure we'll manage. I wish Monkey would sleep in til at least 6:30, if not 6:45. That would be awesome. But I know I can handle all 3 on my own. I just know I would be freaked out to try and go anywhere with them on my own. But I'll have to end up trying if I want to take Moose to preschool on Tuesday. It'll be such a short drive to and from though, I'm sure we'll all survive.

Tomorrow's Saturday. Easter egg hunt with Grandma and one more relaxing day with the hubs and kiddos before life returns to "work-mode".

Emotions...

This evening, Moose and Monkey were watching movies. Moose was watching the second half of Ice Age 2 on the computer. He watched the first half yesterday. I tried cajoling Monkey into watching the first Ice Age. (She's so not into traditional movies.) She was only occasionally interested in it because of the baby, which is why I picked it. Moose's finished first, since he was only watching a portion. So he came and sat with us to watch the end of Ice Age. Right at the end, he started to get sad and teary eyed. I asked him why he was sad and he started to cry. (Fortunately the hubs was on the ball and had sat down with him for some comforting.) He said that Diego was still dead and that made him really sad. I told him it would be okay because Diego wasn't dead. It still didn't make him feel better until he saw Diego on the screen. What a sweet, sensitive boy! He's seen that movie a dozen times, although it has been a while. I almost find it funnier that he didn't grasp the concept that Diego was in the second movie (which he had just watched) so he must be okay in the first one. Guess that logic's a bit too advanced.

P.S. I hate baby congestion, hiccups and gas.

The Big 365!

I've officially made it through a year's worth of blogging! Yay for me! Although it ultimately took me longer than a year, I'm still proud of myself. It really is hard to believe I've been writing this blog so long. But for those of you who get a kick out of my parental rants and stories, fear not. I'm not going to stop writing. I may not write every night, but I do think I'm going to continue sharing my stories of Moose, Monkey, and Munchkin.

Today Munchkin had her 2 week appointment. She weighed 9 lbs. 2 oz. and was somewhere between 22-22 1/4 in. long. (I find most of their measurements for infants very unreliable, no matter what method they use.) She's wonderful and healthy and just amazing. :) We did get a better diaper rash remedy. The poor thing has had a diaper rash for a while (She's only 2 weeks old. I can't believe she already got a diaper rash. We change her like every 2-3 hours!) and it was getting pretty nasty the last 2 days. So now we're putting neosporin and triple paste on her. We're hoping it will work quickly (like the doc said it would) and get our cutie's patootie feeling better soon.

We got the kiddos down somewhat earlier today (since Monkey wakes the house up at 6:30 no matter what time they go to bed) in the hopes that they'll fall asleep earlier and give us more "us" time. (Even if "us" includes Munchkin.) We'll see if it works!

Happy Birthday Monkey!

Today is Monkey's 2nd birthday. It's hard to believe it's gone so fast. We had a little party this evening with the in-laws. Dinner, cake, ice cream and presents. She has her very first tricycle and helmet. (Even a bell) She's very excited about it. Moose got her a present too. A battery powered bubble gun. That one is a big hit! She also ended up with fridge magnets that are letters and you put them on the base and it'll tell you what letter it is, and sing the alphabet song. Also a hit. I think it was just right for a little 2 year old. We wanted to do something outdoors yesterday, a little park playdate. She loves parks. But, needless to say, the weather was awful. Apparently Spring doesn't want to exist here. So it's just not happening. I'm beyond frustrated with it at the moment. But I appease myself by saying that perhaps it'll be nice in 4 weeks when I'm allowed to exercise. Perhaps.

Well, I'm gonna go help the hubs clean up from the party. Oh, and I'm starting Munchkin on a new daily routine. It includes doing "cluster feeds" in the evening (doing her last few feedings at night closer together) in the hopes that she'll have a longer stretch at night. We'll see!

Happy Birthday Monkey! We love you! (Despite my last post about how absolutely frustrating you are.)
:)

Grrr...

Tonight was frustrating. Monkey is totally wearing me out. "No" to everything, and no longer letting us shut the door at bedtime. Me and the hubs had a long talk and we're going to do our best to stay focused on what's important and not let the little things drag us down. With so many changes going on, it's hard to find solid ground. and with Monkey being 2 and changing so much, that only adds to the chaos. But we'll manage. The hubs has a cold (boo!) so we're headed to bed early in the hopes that he can get better asap. Tomorrow will be semi-relaxing since the hubs will be taking the kiddos to church and me and Munchkin will be at home for a few quiet hours alone. Hopefully that will be enough for me to feel rejuvenated.

I would've posted something about yesterday but it would take too much mental energy right now to remember any of it. I do remember we (finally) gave Munchkin her first bath at home. Took long enough, I know. Now her hair smells like Aveeno. Delicious.

Pooped On and Other Parenting Lessons...

Yup. This morning I was pooped on. I can't say for certain it was the first time. I don't doubt it's happened before. It's not something you remember unless it was extremely memorable. (The hubs has one of those stories. In the end he was in the shower half-dressed, at 4 am, to rinse off what Moose did to him.) But as I was changing Munchkin on the couch, I totally got pooped on. The things about newborns and their pooping is, it almost always comes out in bursts of gas. So not only is she pooping, but it's coming out with big toots, which will literally propel the stuff around. So it got on the couch, my lap, down my leg, and on the floor. Thankfully I was able to spot clean the couch's slipcover instead of having to wash it. Again. (She peed on it sometime last week.) Oh, and after the pooping, she went on to pee. Fortunately, by that time I had so many wipes thrown all over, it didn't get on anything crucial.

The highlight of my day today was when all 3 kids and the hubs were napping. And took really long naps at that. I sat on the couch with a sleeping Munchkin next to me and read my book. (I started it right after she was born and have been reading it while she nurses.

So the other parenting lesson I've been learning is that it's just better to do it right the first time. When Munchkin woke up last night at 11:30, it was earlier than I thought it would be and I wasn't thrilled. So I nursed her on one side. She was totally asleep, as usual, but I didn't want to change her diaper to wake her for more nursing. So I just put her back to bed. But when she only nurses on one side, she won't sleep as long, so she was up within 2 hours. So I nursed her on the other side. But again, didn't want to go through the hassle of a diaper change to rouse her enough to nurse more. So I perpetuated a bad thing. I ended up being up around 4 times before I got a solid feed in her. We ended up having to change her at 4:30 because she had leaked out of her diaper, which gave me the chance to nurse her on both sides. She then proceeded to sleep til 7:45. Then I fed her again, gave her to the hubs and I slept til 10:45.

Monkey is turning 2 on Sunday. And yes, her "terrible twos" have begun. Like saying "no" to everything, multiple times. We're going to try helping her say "yes mama/papa". Half the time she's saying "no", but she doesn't even mean it. The hubs said to me tonight that sometimes it feels like we're dealing with a force of nature. I couldn't agree more. She's very different from Moose. He's a rational kid. I was able to talk to him out of fits and reason with him. Not Monkey. We're just going to have to find other methods that suit her better. I'm sure we will. With time.

So Monday will be my 365th post, if I don't miss any days before then. I've had a few friends tell me how much they enjoy my parenting blogs. I think I will possibly keep them up. But perhaps in a less regular fashion. I still really want a new project to sink my bones into. Parenting is a day to day thing no matter what, but I'm looking for something to do that's for me. We'll see if the new blog is ready to debut soon. Should be interesting. :)

Ultimatums...

The last two days, Monkey has been having some serious issues going down to sleep. Nap or bedtime. It's been so annoying! She just starts freaking out when it comes time to close the door. Last night, after the hubs came home and calmed her down, she ended up falling asleep with the door open. So fast forward to tonight. I'm singing them songs (the hubs is taking care of Munchkin.) and start closing the door. She starts doing her freak-out thing. At this point, I had had it. So I go and tell her that if she insists on screaming and crying, I am going to take her paci away. We let her keep it this long because it keeps her happy. If she's not going to be happy with it, it's going in the trash. We recently got a book from the library called "Pacifiers are not forever" and it talks about putting them in the trash. (To which she'd always say "no".) So Monkey understood exactly what I was talking about. After a short discussion, I was able to close the door without the screaming and other antics. Yay for that! I'm so glad she's getting old enough to understand certain things. I'll be glad when things around here calm down (as far as transitions with Munchkin are concerned), hopefully her molars will make their debut soon, and the paci can be gone permanently. Soon.

I'm getting my new blog project ready. I know I'm going to be working on health and nutrition (getting back in shape since Munchkin was born), so that will most definitely be a part of what I blog about. But that's more a lifestyle change than anything else. I'm making a list of potential projects I want to work on, and am going to be putting it to a vote. I want to know what projects people would be interested in reading about. I don't know which one I want to do, so I'm opening the decision making to what few readers I have. :) I'm almost to my 365th blog entry, so prepare yourselves to help me start my next writing endeavor!

Good, Until...

For the most part, today was a great day. Munchkin has been taking great naps in her bassinet. So I was able to do odds and ends around the house all morning and afternoon, leaving me feeling very productive. It was great. I also went for a walk (and ran into my mother-in-law walking too!) and that felt good. The hubs went to a school board meeting this evening, so I was hesitant how things would go. I think that was my first time alone with all 3. (While they were awake anyway.) Everything went really smoothly until it was time to close the door to the kid's room. For some reason, Monkey threw an absolute fit. She's currently screaming at high volumes at the hubs who just walked in. (Fortunately, she's also calming down for him. Versus requesting me.) If it wasn't one thing it was another. I actually had her quiet for around 10 minutes, but then it started all over again. Not horrible for my first time alone with all 3. Perhaps next time won't involve any prolonged periods of screaming. :)  Oh, and I'm pretty sure Moose fell asleep with her screaming inside their room, door closed. He didn't get a nap today (thanks to Monkey) so I guess he was pretty darn tired. He's like me. I slept through earthquakes when I was a kid. He sleeps through screaming fits from his sister. :)

I'm prepping my next blog project. For the moment it looks like it might be a conglomeration project, containing whatever goals, projects, etc. I might be working on. I haven't had a ton of feedback (but from my mom, who of course wants to hear about the kids) about what anyone would be interested in reading about, so anyone who chooses to read will just be stuck with what I put out. We'll see. I'm sure it'll change as time goes on. But it's fun thinking about something new.

Finding Balance...

Last night was a semi-rough night for me, which probably started my day off on a different foot. I was lost in my mind a bit throughout most of the day. I'm starting to feel more able to do things, to help out. But I'm trying to find the balance. I know I can't do everything. Especially after a night like last night. (I still slept in as long as possible, which was 8:30. With her wake-ups and nursing all along the way, of course.) I just know that I don't want to push myself too fast. It's hardly been over a week. Although my mind feels ready, and I know my body is healing really quickly, I would hate to over-do it and end up stressed out or exhausted or crabby or anything else in that ball park. The hubs has been pulling so much weight around the house, I have a hard time not feeling like I should do more. (He never asks me to, or pressures me. He's been absolutely fabulous.) This is the first time he's taken work off when we've had a baby, so I'm sure it's just a bit of an adjustment having him around this much and pitching in so much. But I've still got a little less than 2 weeks to continue adjusting, finding that balance. Physically, mentally, and emotionally. Munchkin is, for the most part, a really easy baby. That has helped a ton too. She's not super demanding. She has really great awake periods where we can put her in a baby chair, or lay her somewhere and she'll just chill out. She doesn't always have to be held when she's asleep either. I'm starting to plop her in my sling more often for awake or sleep times when she wants to be held. That will be a way for me to keep taking care of her but be available to help out. I know I'll get there. The kiddos are still doing pretty good. They adore their baby sister and that's enough for me.

As me and the hubs were studying the New Testament tonight, and said a prayer together, I remembered a scripture which has brought me so much peace through different times in my life. If I think of this more often, I think it'll help me find the balance I'm looking for. It's in 2 Timothy 1:7:

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."

On a lighter note, tonight as the hubs was reading a book to Moose (The Magic Tree House #8) he wasn't sure if Moose was listening or not. In the book, there was a loud "crack" sound. When he read that part, he slammed the book shut. Instead of responding with, "Why'd you close the book Papa?", which is what the hubs thought he would say, Moose started crying. He had been completely scared. It was so sad. Fortunately, he calmed down quickly. But the hubs learned his lesson! Never assume that Moose isn't listening. (Although I'm sure he would've been startled and cried even if he wasn't listening!)

Who Needs Pajamas...

This has happened a few nights now, but I kept forgetting to mention anything. Every night, we try to check on the kiddos before we go to bed. Just to make sure no one's fallen out of bed, the temperature is comfy, that sort of thing. So far Moose has been the one to surprise us, with bloody noses and that sort of thing. But the last 3 nights, Monkey has had her own surprises. When I've gone in to check on the kids, I've found her with her pajamas unzipped (she's wearing big one piecers with a zipper down the front.) and any combination of her limbs sticking out. Last night was the most undressing she'd done, with her jammies unzipped and both legs hanging out. How she managed to do that with her arms still in, I don't know. It's pretty hard to do. I also managed to put both of her legs back in and zip her back up without her waking up. Who knows what we'll find when we check on her tonight. :)

Munchkin is doing fine. Another great night for her. Despite Monkey's waking up at 6 am this morning. I went on my first walk this afternoon. If it hadn't been insanely windy, it would've been pretty nice. But since it was crazy windy, I didn't stay out and walk as long as I had planned. Ultimately, it was good the weather turned me around early because my body did get a bit tired. I was only walking, but as I told the hubs, my "birthing parts" got a tad tired. But hopefully I'll be able to do this more regularly (especially with the hubs on vacation) and get my parts feeling a bit stronger.

One Week...

Munchkin is officially one week old. It's amazing how much has happened in that one week. We're already feeling more settled back into our normal routines. Monkey seems to be doing much better. She hasn't had night terrors since before Munchkin was born, thank goodness. Moose is doing better too, now that the hubs has picked up the slack with his daily activities since I'm not able to be as much of an active participant. We're taking things one step at a time, keeping on top of what's most important. Which for us is keeping the kids feeling safe and loved, and eating decent meals.

I'm amazed at how much faster my body is rebounding with this pregnancy. It seems to be happening much faster than it did last time. The only thing I can think of to account for that is that I was in much better shape when I got pregnant, and presumably did a pretty decent job of maintaining that during the pregnancy. Granted, I wasn't working out during the pregnancy, but didn't let myself "let go" either. I'm very excited for my 6 weeks to be up so I can begin a more vigorous exercise routine. For now I'm going to try and steal time to go walking during the day. I would've started today, but the hubs needed some time to go in to work and plan his lesson plans for his classes next week. (To give to the sub. He's still on "vacation".)

So nothing startling to reveal. I've still managed to get a lot of reading done. Mostly because I spend a lot of time sitting and nursing the Munchkin. It's kinda nice. Well, I'm off to enjoy an evening with the hubs. :)

Day One...

Today was our first day of handling the kiddos on our own. It went surprisingly well. The hubs got up with the kiddos and me and Munchkin slept in a little longer. Her night went alright. She's still not feeling the sleep-in-a-bassinet vibe. But she'll get there. The hubs and I talked about what the kiddos daily routines are like so we can try and have things feel as normal as possible. That seemed to help Moose a ton. Monkey is still a bit out of sorts. She's snacking more (our fault) and not eating lunch. But we nipped snacks in the bud after her non-lunch and consequently she ate dinner like a champ. (She still ate her cold lunch after she woke up from her nap, but still kept begging for snacks. We didn't cave and she ended up eating a great dinner of white chicken chili and cornbread, courtesy of the hubs.)

It's hard to believe that one week of the hub's vacation is about gone. 2 more to go. As long as things continue (on average, anyway) to move as smoothly and progress the way they have been I think I'll be able to handle things alright by the time he goes back to work. Munchkin isn't taking as long to nurse as she had been. It's still uncomfortable, but getting significantly better. I'll just be glad when my milk supply regulates and I don't have to deal with the sensation of my milk letting down randomly throughout the day. The kiddos are still handling Munchkin's presence really well. Monkey's been a tad bit clingy with the hubs. I heard her say a few times today, "Carry me." to the hubs. I've never heard her say that before. (Our kiddos tend to be such a good size, we quite carrying them as soon as they can walk.) But all in all, I'd say our one week transition from 2 kiddos to 3 has been pretty amazing. I know we'll still have rough days, but in general I hope that we continue an upward track to re-establishing our family structure with our new little one.

I've almost reached my year mark for this blog. Because I missed days, I'm going to blog a complete 365 entries, even though I've technically reached my year mark already. (A while ago, I think. Hard to believe.) About 9 more or so. I'm considering starting something else, but on a different topic. My ideas vary a lot and I don't have any set topic yet. Any suggestions on something you'd enjoy reading about?

Best Diet Ever...

I had a one week check-up today with my doctor. I was most excited about stepping on the scale to see what kind of damage I had done delivering the baby and whatnot. The exciting number was 15. I lost half the weight I gained during my pregnancy. No complaints there! I'm sure the second half won't fall off nearly as quickly as the first did, but I'm prepared to work harder for it. I can't do any major exercising yet, but I'm going to start walking regularly (hopefully) and keeping an eye on my food intake. Near the end of the pregnancy, I wasn't too fond of some vegetables and when I'm pregnant I never feel the need to force myself to eat anything. But now that I'm not, veggies are back on the menu.

My mom flew out today. We were all super sad to see her go. It was such a great time having her around, and it was amazing how quickly the time went. Fortunately, we can look forward to June when my side of the family has a reunion and we'll see her again for a short while.

So now me and the hubs are on our own. We're trying to prep ourselves to handle everything, but are prepared to be flexible. We want to try and plan ahead as much as we can, where it will make a difference. Like meal planning and whatnot. We're going to try and keep the kiddo's days as normal as possible, even though the hubs is home and not working. That way, when he does go back to work, hopefully the transition won't be as difficult. But in the end, you can only prepare so much. You just have to jump in and see what happens. We'll go with the flow as best we can. Munchkin is doing really well. Now that my milk is in, she's eating well and it seems like she is sleeping deeper too. There's nothing better than a milk-drunk baby. :) I'm hoping her nights stay as reasonable as they have been, and that way we won't be too tired, and I'll only require a small nap, or extra chunk of sleep after the hubs gets up.

Stage 2 is about to begin. Me and the hubs vs. 3 kiddos. Wish us luck!

Things You Hear...

There are many a new phrase being heard in our house. Here are the most repeated:

Everytime the baby cries Monkey says, "Baby sad!" or "Help baby!"

Whenever Monkey comes home or wakes up she says, "Hello baby!"

Moose said he "just can't believe his eyes." (Regarding Munchkin being here.) He said it first at the hospital, then again tonight at dinner.

For a day or so there was rejoicing sounds everytime Munchkin made pooping sounds.

We've realized that Monkey has no volume control and does not know how to whisper on demand.

"Mama can't. She's feeding the baby." is becoming a popular one.

I'm sure we'll have other ones that get more popular too. It's just fun to hear the change in vocab around the house. Munchkin had a pretty good night last night, only waking up to eat twice and having a much anticipated poopy diaper. It was also nice because her night started at 11, so it felt close to normal. I think my skin is toughening a bit and the breastfeeding isn't hurting quite as bad. Sometimes I still have to let out a very unattractive grunting/mumbling sound just because. But I don't want the kids to think it hurts or they might be weirded out by the breastfeeding, or not like that it hurts me. Monkey has warmed up to Munchkin significantly and loves to "see baby" and now gives her kisses and asks to hold her. (We asked her to kiss her at the hospital and that wasn't going to happen.)

My mom leaves tomorrow evening. :(  We are really going to miss having her around. But she has another delivery to prep for back home. (My sis is having hers April 21st or so.) Monkey has really gotten attached to her, so I think she'll be sad when she leaves. Moose will be sad for sure. But we're going to be having a family reunion in June, so we'll see her again soon enough.

At least I still have the hubs for 2 more weeks after my mom leaves. I'm certainly not ready to fly solo around the house just yet.

No Pain No Gain...

My milk came in today, and I might be more sensitive than others, I don't know, but I am hurting pretty bad. I remember this phase after I had Monkey too, but oh man that doesn't make it feel any better. I don't recall how long it took before it started feeling better, but I know it took time. I'm just really hoping to get established and for my skin to grow an extra (tougher) layer. But with every time I feed her, I know we're getting closer and gaining something. So I persist. I tell myself it won't last forever, which it won't. I just hope that it resolves sooner rather than later.

So I thought I'd put an abbreviated version of Munchkin's birth story on here. Again, with the pain came the gain. If you've been reading, you know most of it since I posted that night. Anyhow, after I posted and the kiddos were in bed, the contractions continued to get stronger, and I was doing controlled breathing during each one, letting the hubs or my mom rub my back kneeling on the floor leaning on something. Around 9:20 I decided we needed to gear up to go and if they sent me home, so be it. It was 10 before we left and my contractions were 4-5 minutes apart and pretty intense. I was so freaked out that I was going to have contractions in the car and knew it would hurt being in that sitting position. But as fortune would have it, I didn't have a single one. I had one right before I got in, and right as the hubs parked the car another one started. I was able to get out and endure it standing. At the end of that contraction, my water broke. Just a trickle, but nonetheless. We got in and a nurse checked me. She said I was dilated to 8. I was so excited!! Never thought I'd hear that! I asked for my intrathecal and they moved me into a delivery room asap. (None were available when we first walked in.) So they got me set up asap and I got my intrathecal. After that, my doc came in and checked me. She decided I was more of a 6-7. That was a slight bummer, but I honestly didn't care since I was medicated. My mom and mother-in-law came and we hung out for a while. After about an hour and a half my back pain started to come back. Just not as strong. (This would be about 12:30 am.) They checked me and I was about a 9. So I rolled over and kept breathing through the contractions with the hubs rubbing my back. They came in at 1:00 and I was ready to start pushing. I pushed once and her head slid all the way down. (It was such a weird feeling.) Then I waited and relaxed until the next contraction. Once it hit, I started pushing and it was the most intense and painful experience I've ever had. We're pretty sure my intrathecal wore off, so I was doing it natural at this point. (At least mostly worn off. No way to know for sure.) I was not prepared for that sensation, since my intrathecal with Monkey was completely in effect when I was pushing for her delivery. There was no way I was going to stop pushing. The doctor told me to do whatever was natural, and stopping was not natural. So I basically kept pushing non-stop until she came out. I also ended up screaming (which I had not done during labor before), getting a pretty nice dry, scratchy throat. Munchkin was born at 1:08. So from the first push, long pause, to the second long push was only 8 minutes. Her head was pretty darn round since she came out so fast. I remember when she came out completely having this immense feeling of relief, literally feeling a weight being lifted from me. (Which I suppose happened, quite literally.) The doctor asked me if I wanted to push to get the placenta and whatnot out faster, and I couldn't even do it. I was so spent. It was such a crazy and unexpectedly painful experience, but it was still remarkable and I'm happy with how it turned out. She wasn't born on April Fool's day and I didn't have to have a c-section.

Munchkin is doing awesome. The kiddos adore her. Everytime Monkey sees her, she says, "Hello baby!" as though she's surprised she's here each time. It's so cute. I'm hoping she sleeps better tonight now that my milk is in. She's certainly been napping well and falling asleep really easily and peacefully all afternoon. So glad Munchkin joined our family. It's only been a few days, but what a joy she is!

Poop Nazi...

The hubs called me that this evening. (Jokingly.) It was so funny I had to use it as my post title tonight. Otherwise, it would've been something about time marching on. Our lives have not slowed down one bit since we had Munchkin. If anything, they're speeding up a bit. But we've been trying our best to give the kiddos a lot of love, attention and patience to help them deal with all of the many transitions they're dealing with. But they've still been pretty needy and whiny at times. Not all the time, but they have their moments. Tonight was filled with a few of those. Some of it is just bad timing. The terrible twos wait for no man. So we're dealing with Monkey's "No!" issue, as well as a few other things. Moose is being a bit whiny, but we're jumping back into preschool group tomorrow, and hoping that will bring some familiarity and normality back into his daily schedules.

Munchkin is having some issues with poop. She's not handled her business since Sunday morning. If she doesn't by tomorrow we're supposed to take her into the hospital's clinic. But we've been there twice already since leaving. Sunday morning, and today. I really don't want to go back in. So I've been nursing her more frequently to help her pipes get moving, but so far no luck. But let me tell you, the girl has been tooting a storm. And what a smelly storm that is. Eww.

We did have a good night with her last night though. Two big chunks of sleep, from 1:30 to 7:30, with a short pause around 5 o'clock. It was great. I didn't even nap today because I didn't think I needed it, and knew I would be able to fall asleep faster tonight if I didn't.

Munchkin has the hiccups. I've had way too many discussions today involving bowel movements and other bodily fluids. Moose said Munchkin looks like Grandpa because she doesn't have a lot of hair. Everytime I nurse, Monkey says something about "no biting". I feel like I'm about to start counting down til my mom leaves, and it makes me sad. But I still have the hubs for 3 weeks after that, so I know we'll survive.

Here's hoping we have a good night. With a poopy diaper. (Oh, the pathetic desires of parents.)

We're Here...

With our brand-new baby, no less. :) Our sweet Munchkin was born April 2, at 1:08 am. She was 8 lb 1 oz and 21.75 in. She has infamous big lips, long feet and fingers. We came home asap to be with our other kiddos and begin adjusting. She's an absolute joy and the kiddos are enjoying her very much. My mom has been hugely instrumental to this working out. The hubs has been working overtime helping the big kids adjust and manage. We're so glad to be home and beginning the next phase of our family.

Stay tuned soon for the birth story details. There were quite a few firsts for me, but it was amazing and I'm grateful it went the way it did. I'm recovering super well and am enjoying the newest addition to our family. :)

Still Here...

Today has been slightly different. I'm still having regular contractions, but now they have back labor included too. So not fun. They've been irregular all day. They started around 5 this morning. They've been anywhere from 15 minutes apart to 6 minutes apart. Occasionally I'll have a cluster that's closer together, but they're never as strong, nor do they last as long. I think (gross alert!) I might've lost some of the mucus plug. I don't think that's happened to me before. So that's progress. I've also (gross alert again!) had to deal with bowel movements all day long. It has been highly unusual. But we figure it's all the pressure that's being put down south. I'm sure it's one of those natural things that happens. Just hasn't happened to me before. Although I've never deal with contractions for 5 days straight either. We also think that she dropped a bit. I didn't notice it right off, but my mom mentioned it. So I looked at my profile a bit closer and she does look like she's a little less perky. But I still don't have that "dropped" feeling. It's been a tiny bit frustrating, not knowing what on earth is going on, or how long it will go on. My biggest concern has been whether or not I'll be able to sleep tonight if I didn't go into the hospital by then. (Which I doubt will happen.) As long as I can rest at night, I don't mind the constant contractions and whatnot I've been dealing with. I just want to have energy for when delivery comes. But I'm still feeling patient about waiting til the time is right. *pause for contraction* The hubs is such an amazing labor partner for me. He knows just how to keep me calm. I feel completely ready for the process of labor and delivery. Whenever it decides to really get rolling.

I'm really done talking about this all though. It's all we talk about most of the day, for obvious reasons. But I'm going to go veg out infront of some good shows on tv and eat ice cream now, while having my back massaged. Monkey is doing fantastic now. She did have a night terror last night, but kinda snapped out of it at one point and sat on the couch with us. It was kinda different and odd. But it's happened 3 nights straight. I'm hoping tonight is a no-night terror night. We'll see. Otherwise though, she seems to be back to her normal, very sweet self. It's wonderful. :)

So perhaps tomorrow will be the lucky day? We'll have to wait and see.

Productive Day...

Not productive as in I had a baby, but productive. This morning we all went out. First of all, I slept awesome last night! No back or rib pain. It was amazing. I was awake an hour earlier than I had been all week. So once we were all ready, we hit the stores. Me and my mom got some kitchen gadgets I was missing and got a few small baby items at Target while the hubs walked the kids through the pet store and book store. Then we had lunch, came home and it was naptime. The hubs went to read and nap, and I was pretty bored. So me and my mom went to the fabric store and thought about projects and a few things we had in mind to make. After we got back, we had a dinner of leftovers and then the hubs played with the kids until bedtime. It was nice. It felt good to be that busy. It took my mind off of other things. I've still been having contractions on and off all day. I haven't bothered tracking them much. I figure that when they get close enough and consistent enough to be important, I'll easily take notice. Although my new theory is that my water is going to break spontaneously and that'll be the beginning of it. I just hope I can sleep as well as I did last night. that would be fantastic.

Moose was very emphatic that he wanted the baby to be born today. At around naptime, he said very sadly that he didn't think the baby would be born today. It was so sad. He's so eager and excited for her to come.

In another note, Monkey has had (what we think are) 2 night terrors. It happened two nights ago, and then again last night. She wakes up screaming, says "no" to everything and eventually just goes right back to sleep. Neither of then have lasted very long. They're pretty horrible to see as a parent. there's nothing you can do about them. Just wait until they're over, basically. But I'm hoping it's a random occurrence and doesn't become anything regular. We'll see.

Tomorrow's the due date. Here's hoping she'll come soon!

Since I'm Blogging...

I must not be in the hospital right? No. Not in the hospital. Although today was a good day. The hubs needed to go to work and get his lesson plans ready for his sub, so me and my mom spent the day at home with the kiddos. She also painted my toe nails. :) I decided not to do any walking today, since I've been doing but it's not really, really helping. Sure, it gets my contractions going. Just enough so that I can't sleep at night and then once my body cools down I'm back to square one. I figure if my body's ready to go into labor, the contractions will come and stay. I'm still 2 days from my due date so I've decided to stop stressing so much. I wish I'd never thought she was coming early in the first place. Silly notion. I'll never make that mistake again. They were coming every 6 minutes for about an hour. The most consistent they've been. But they've started slowing a tiny bit. I had the notion that perhaps I might stay up tonight and keep tracking, but if they slow and don't stay consistent I'm not going to get my hopes up.

Tonight as Moose said his prayer he prayed that the baby would be born tomorrow. Such a sweet boy. I love him! :) Now let's see if his sweet prayer will be answered. :)

Still Pregnant...

Today was a good day, despite the fact that I'm still pregnant. I saw my doctor. I, most unfortunately, had made no progress to speak of. Boo! She offered to strip my membranes. I didn't know what that meant, but I was prepared for the possibility and told her to go ahead. She said she wasn't able to do a very thorough job. Either due to her small hands, or maybe because of the baby's position. But she tried anyway. She said my cervix needs to soften. Anyway, it was a bit disappointing.

Me and the hubs spent a few hours walking outside during naptime, while Grandma stayed at home with the kiddos. For the last 4 hours, my contractions have been between 6-9 minutes and getting stronger. But if things don't pick up, or if my water doesn't just break, it might be a long night. I don't really want them to stop so I can sleep. But if they keep up this way I certainly won't get a good night's sleep tonight. So we'll see. We talked about going walking again this evening. But the weather is just so yucky outside. (It was drizzling while we walked this afternoon.) And I just don't particularly want to talk around Home Depot or Lowe's for a few hours. So there's no telling what's going to happen next. But I'm not due til Friday, so I'm not late, and therefore am not going to allow myself to get discouraged.

It has been absolutely wonderful having my mom here and having the hubs home all day. She made us an amazing dinner of buttermilk fried chicken, baking powder biscuits, corn, and some jell-o with cool whip and pears blended in. (Super yummy if you've never had it.) It was delish.

So send me happy thoughts and let's hope this picks up so we can get on with having this baby! Oh, Monkey's doing tons better. Yay!!

Let's Get This Show On The Road...

Seriously. My contractions last night were between 15-20 minutes for a few hours til we went to bed. We had to get up a few times with Monkey's cough last night. Fortunately she seems to be doing way better today. We are so happy about that! Today the contractions have been in the realm of under 15 minutes. Anywhere from 15-6 minutes apart. But nothing consistent. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow at noon. I'm really hoping that I will have progress to show for all these contractions. If I haven't dilated more, I'll be feeling pretty bummed out. Last time I was dilated 1 1/2 and effaced 75%. I've got to be doing better now! But I'm feeling pretty at peace with waiting. I know that my body's prepping up and this is not Braxton-Hicks speaking. I'm confident I'll go into labor sometime this week. It's only a matter of time. But I'm soo ready. Really.

Think baby-having thoughts for me. I'm totally ready to get this show on the road!

The Girls...

Today has been all about the girls. Me, Monkey, and the baby. Poor Monkey has had her worst day yet. Her cough has been really bad, keeping her from sleeping well. She's one of those kids that just looks so sad when they're sick that you just want to hold them all the time. She's currently sleeping and hasn't coughed yet. We're hoping she's just too tired to cough. I really hope she gets better soon. Everything that happens is so much more dramatic to her when she's sick. The smallest owie or offense will send her to tears and it'll take a lot more effort to calm her down than is usual for her. So we're crossing our fingers that she gets a real good night's sleep tonight so she'll be feeling better tomorrow.

So, me and the baby. We've been having a good day. Nothing really spectacular. I have been timing my contractions this evening. During dinner I noticed I was having them semi-regularly, so after that continued for about an hour, I figured I'd start timing and keeping track. I've been at it for almost 2 hours, and they've been anywhere from 8-20 minutes apart. For me that's a pretty big leap to one an hour or so. I know it doesn't necessarily mean I'll be having her tomorrow or anything. But it certainly means my body is gearing up, which excites me. My mom has been massaging some pressure points in my hands and feet in the hopes that we'll help things along. At this point I'm all about it! If things are still doing this tomorrow, we're going to go on a nice long walk!

So send me nice, baby-having thoughts. Perhaps I'll be right and she'll be born tomorrow! Wouldn't that be awesome?! Here's hoping. :)

Thanks For Having A Baby...

We had a baby shower today. It was great to sit around for 2 hours doing nothing but chat with friends and talk about babies and whatnot. I always love when showers are over, because people will thank you, and I always think, "Yup. Thank me for having a baby so we could have a reason to get together and have a shower." I've been known to thank people for having birthdays so we could get together, or for having babies for the same reason. It still makes me smile, though, when people say "thank you" to the one who's pregnant.

Today ended up being a really beautiful day. 51 degrees at one point! (I know for some of you that's dreadfully cold, but for us it was glorious!) It actually felt like spring for the first time. Now I just hope it stays that way. Poor Monkey has a cough that is driving her nuts whenever she goes to bed. She doesn't hardly cough otherwise, but laying down just does a number on her. She's covered in Vicks, has a humidifier, and a Vicks vaporizer thingy so their room is a vicks sauna. I hope she gets feeling better soon. Her cough is so sad. And it ruins her naps more often than not so she's a real grouch in the evening.

Mostly, our days are filled with thoughts of "When's this baby gonna be born?" I really, really hope she doesn't wait until Friday. I've been so set on her coming just a little bit early (which I shoulda known better than to do) because Monkey was 5 days early. Oh well. I know she'll come when she comes. As long as she's not past my due date, I think I'll be fine. I don't even wanna risk having to have a c-section because she's late. Not happening. But I'd really, really love for her to come this week. Oh well. What I want doesn't really matter in this case, I'm afraid.

She's Here...

Not the baby. My mom. Just as exciting. Well, okay, super close to. We picked her up at the airport today, waiting anxiously until it was time to leave. It even rained as she came in, just for her. :) That's really the most noteworthy thing about today.

The hubs is officially on Spring Break. Yahoo! Things are coming together. I could now go into labor at any time and the kiddos will be covered. But I've got a baby shower tomorrow, and Moose is giving a little talk in church on Sunday. But my Mom is prepped to give me all sorts of pressure point massages after church Sunday so we can get me in labor asap. :)

I've actually slept pretty decently the last few days, so I haven't been as disgruntled. But the rib pain continues throughout the day too, so that's no fun. Moose is extremely excited for the baby to be born and will mention that to me at least once a day. And we have a bassinet (our last missing thing) in our room now, so should we bring her home in a day or two, she can sleep right next to me. :)

So excited for this little lady to come. I've been counting down for a while now. (Who wouldn't be, right?) But now the countdown has really begun. Can't wait to see when she decides to come!

Guess What...

Did anyone think I went into labor? I didn't. Wish I had. Although my mom arrives tomorrow. But I'm pretty sure I'll still be pregnant when she arrives. So we're in good shape. I had an exhausting day today for no other reason than being pregnant and not having restful sleep. Then me and the hubs spent the evening talking about work issues (darn those awful budgets for education) and our night was taken up quickly. So there was no blogging for me last night.

This morning I thought the baby might've dropped. I slept so great last night, meaning I had hardly any rib pain at all. But I was wrong. She's still right up in my ribs, making up for the lack of pain last night by giving it to me all afternoon/evening. But I prefer that (slightly) over not being able to sleep. I gave my last piano lesson for a while, not to mention the last meal I'll cook for a while. (Certainly something to celebrate over!) We're picking my mom up at our airport tomorrow shortly after 4:30. Wahoo! The kids are so excited! (Mostly Moose. But I'm sure Monkey will pick up on it tomorrow. I'll be lucky if I can get them to nap tomorrow.)

I had a small moment today, as I was blogging and catching up on message in my inbox before the baby comes and I get behind again. I was thinking about the baby being born and had this overwhelming feeling of love for this new, distinct person. I've wondered at times what it'll be like. It was easy enough to imagine it being different with the first 2, since they're boy and girl, and you expect differences. But since this is our second girl, I've wondered how I will feel about her that is different from how I felt about Monkey when she was born. But I had this moment, a moment of clarity perhaps, where I just felt a very different, and distinct love for this little one and who she will be. It was pretty amazing.

My mom arrives tomorrow! (It's about time, right?) I'm due in 8 days. Any bets as to when she'll actually show up? Any day from tomorrow til April 8th. (My deadline.) My current guess is March 28th. Ooh, or how big you think she'll be. I'm thinking around 7 lbs. 10 oz. (Monkey was 7'7, Moose was 9'0.) Moose was 22 in. and Monkey was 21, so I'm betting 21 in. long. Can't wait to find out!

Baby Update...

Alrighty. I had my doctor's appointment this morning. I'm still effaced 75% and am now dilated a whole 1 1/2 centimeters. So not much difference. But I think I'm glad that I'm not moving along too quickly, because I think if I were I would be even more impatient about going into labor. So today has actually put me in a good mood about still being pregnant and dealing with the rest of my week. I have small things to do almost every day this week, so I'm okay with being pregnant til next week. Although I think Monday would be a great day to have a baby. ;)

I know I've thought about small, cute things the kids have done lately tha tI hsould mention, but I tend to forget a lot lately. My mom pointed out that I swapped the kiddos names in my blog last night, although I've already fixed it. I think my brain is just as done being pregnant as the rest of me. I've already lost too many brain cells. But I'm feeling good, and not too grouchy about still being pregnant. I'm sure I'll be able to make it til whenever she decides to be born. In the meantime, I can look forward to my mom coming.

3 days til my mom arrives. 10 til the due date! :)

I Think I Can...

I feel like I'm definitely in the final leg of this pregnancy marathon. I stayed up later than I should've reading a book last night, and consequently spent as much time in bed as I could this morning. This kiddos accomodated me, but were probably slightly restless the rest of the day because of it. Then when the hubs gets home, they flip a switch and become slightly insane. I feel awful when they're suddenly fighting over everything or running around being noisy. But they just get so excited when he comes home, there's not much I can do to stop it from happening. I think it'll be something that dies down as they get older. They're now sleeping. I'm exhausted. Feeling very pregnant. I have an appointment tomorrow. I sure hope my body has progress to show for this last week. I need a pick me up to keep me going.

4 more days til Mom gets here. I talked with her today. We're both so excited. Moose asked me twice today how many more days were left til she would come. He's definitely excited. 11 more days til the due date. And I'm certainly hoping it ends up being less than that. We'll see. I might have a better picture come tomorrow. I always said I'd wait til my mom shows up, then it would be any day. Now my new deadline is Sunday, since Moose is giving his first little talk in his Primary class. So excited! So I have to be there for that. But come next Monday, it's on! I'm so ready to deliver this baby. No joke. Please send me positive thoughts to get me through the end of this week. I'll need it! :)

Good Day...

Today was just a good day. The kids didn't sleep in, even though they went down at 9:30. No surprise there. We went to church, got them down for a late nap at 3. Me and the hubs prepped some dinner for some friends who were coming over with their 1 1/2 year old. It ended up being great. The guys ended up going together and helping tear down equipment from the concert last night. The ladies stayed home chatting and making sure the kids didn't break anything. They all played really well, which was great. The hubs is putting the kiddos down right now. I slept pretty awful last night. Major rib pain. It's coming back currently. Argh. But I'm looking forward to a foot massage from the hubs since I was on my feet cooking for quite a while. My contractions are staying stronger, and occasionally I'll get more than one in an hour. Sometimes closer together. So that's good. Things are slowly progressing. I'm pretty eager for my appointment Tuesday to see if I'm progressing. This week should be relaxing enough. Not a ton to do.

5 days til my mom comes! Holy cow! Only 12 til the baby is due! Yahoo! It's all winding down and I couldn't be more excited!

The Tour...

We were finally able to go walk around Labor & Delivery today. Our hospital rocks. Each labor and delivery room has it's own full sized tub with jets. Sweet! The rooms are totally spacious, and some of the recovery rooms have double beds. We got what paperwork we could do finished, so we're ready to go. Let's get on with this!!

We were also able to attend an amazing album release party for my bro-in-law's band Marshall Catch. It was so much fun! Moose and Monkey ended up dancing on the dance floor, right infront of the band. It was basically a kiddo free for all. Luckily they had ear plugs, so we don't think they damaged anything. They got to bed around 9:30 and we know they have to be completely wiped out. Goodness knows I am!

My ribs are aching. Contractions continue to be a bit stronger than before. And for an hour or two or three after our hospital tour I was feeling all sorts of tightening and discomforts in my lower back and abdomen. Guess my body was just getting excited about the idea of delivery too! I'm gonna go sit on the couch with a newly opened container of ice cream and finish watching "Breakfast at Tiffany's" with the hubs. Good night!

Weekend...

I'm so glad it's the weekend. This week still wasn't as busy as I thought it would be, although the hubs did go and help out with more set-up stuff for his bro and got home kinda late. I spent the day attempting to entertain my kids while reading books. I think I'm getting a little tired of being pregnant. Just a little. Low on comfort, energy, motivation, etc. So I guess I'm mostly glad for the weekend so the hubs will be around to pick up my slack. I get the necessities done, but I can tell the kiddos are feeling a lack in the activity department.

My mom officially comes in one week. Woohoo! And we don't have much going on this week, so I'm hoping it will be pretty darn relaxing. Who knows, in the end, but that's my hope. That means only 2 weeks left for me! I'm also hoping it will be slightly less than that. Again, you never know with this sorta thing. But I'm hopeful. I've been able to tell that some of my contractions are slightly stronger. Not painful or taking my breath away. But now I notice it before I get the urge to pee. Before, I would think to myself, "I need to pee. Oh, it's just a contraction." I'm hoping I'll be dilated to at least a 2 by Tuesday at my appointment.

We're hoping to visit the hospital tomorrow. Perhaps their rooms won't be filled with other ladies who have already delivered so I can check one out. I need to register too. Darn all the paperwork and whatnot that's involved with this!

So, so excited for this pregnancy to be winding down, and for our new little one to be joining the fam. I know the kiddos are super excited. I'll be glad to have most of my body back, even if it means I'll be trading for breastfeeding. The physical discomfort that can come from that is so much less than pregnancy, it's really a win-win for me.

Perhaps we'll start taking bets on things. Like when she'll come? I'll have to take a day and make my guess. But I'm thinking on the early side. Monkey was 5 days early. 4 days early sounds about right... Can't wait to find out!

Not So Busy...

We were fully anticipating this week to be our super crazy week. Granted, yesterday was probably our busiest day since the hubs took off in the evening to help his brother. But in general it hasn't been half bad. Half of the things we had planned took less time or were cancelled, or just weren't as stressful as they could've been. But it's still helped the week to go faster. Yay.

I hosted my last day of preschool today. At least til I'm back on my feet post-baby anyway. Then we all napped together. Miss Monkey woke up shortly after 4 crying and when the hubs went in, she ran away from him screaming "MAMA!" She's done that to me. It makes you feel awesome. (sarcasm much?) So I went in and got her calmed down. Then she was whimpering at 5:30 when the hubs got up for work. So I went in again. She was sitting up but basically asleep. So I got her back down and went back to bed. But for every wake up I have with them, it takes me double that time to get back to sleep. So nap for me was necessary. That was really the extent of our busyness today, however. The hubs is staying home tonight, to give us some family time. Last normal night we had was Monday. (That's quite the long time for us home-bodies.)

Tomorrow we actually have nothing going on. So me and the kiddos are gonna do a quick shopping trip, and then spend the day at home. I'm looking forward to it. (Not the grocery store part, but the staying at home part.) I'm still ready to have this baby. Last night I was had a few contractions within the span of an hour that were slightly more noticeable than normal. It was kind of exciting. But I know my body's just gearing up. As hard as it feels sometimes to wait 2 more weeks, I know that it's plenty of time and I'm in no rush. I think I'll spend the next while getting psyched up for delivery. So I don't wuss out and ask for meds right away. Not that anyone who does that is wussy. It just works with our current philosophy of how my body works and does labor/delivery. I want to wait as long as possible before getting my intrathecal-so it doesn't wear off before I deliver. Anywho...

8 days til my mom comes. Holy cow! 15 til the baby is due. Woohoo!