September 2007 - MARCHing into spring! - Page 3

[mrsb422]

Katie How sweet I love when my guys cuddle and I know it just makes DH so happy. That is very nice.

Wendi Sorry your house has the sickies : to you all! I would be super-psyched if someone would expose Marty to the chicken pox that way we wouldn’t have to fight when it comes time to go to school about the dumb mandatory vax : : to Dahlia on her potty learning – yay!! Don’t you dare feel responsible for us all over spending in co-ops – we do it regardless. It is more of a self control & shopping makes me feel better problem

Katie I’m so sorry. I hope that something changes again and the commander changes Andrew’s plan. He should be there for the birth no matter if it is your 2nd baby or your 22nd baby. : for a change of heart. We’re here for you!

Nicole Cian is gorgeous!! What a handsome little fella with his dapper new do! :

Faliciagayle : I’m so sorry about Chaya and I hope she feels better soon : You hanging in there ok? You must not be getting much rest with caring for her and worrying about everything on your plate.

Katie Glad to hear about the house getting rented. Having to pay all that extra money every month is ridiculous.

Jeanine I’m so sorry about your butterfly. That is sad. DS says butterfly in the most adorable way, but I’m not even sure I’d know how to type it. It is good you have many butterflies so hopefully the mourning won’t last that long.

Mommajb I’d love some cake!! Count me in

Faliciagayle We’re still nursing though it seems to slow down more and more every day which makes me so sad. I mean, on one hand I feel (more frequently than not) that I’m ready to be done, and on the other, it is the absolute favorite moment of my whole day when I spend that 5-10 minutes with him when we get home from work/school and he nurses. Nothing else goes on, just him looking up with me and making that blessed little suck/swallow noise. Right now, Marty only nurses first thing in the morning (or very close to it – 3 am-ish) and when we get home at the end of the day. I am only lactating on the left side which makes me considerably lop-sided, but I’ve learned to live with it. Curious to see what I’ll be left with when he completely weans - not much left on the right compared to what I had pre-PG.

Ishy I don’t know how you do it. If Marty was still nursing that much I am pretty sure I’d lose it. How nice for you two though that you still have that relationship – there are definitely days I miss it.

Mommajb on the “won’t nurse” when you need him to…I totally hear ya there. They never want it when it works to our benefit! I wore a tankini last year and it did a great job of covering what I needed it to without still being clothes. I hate swimsuits so I would have been fine with sweats at the beach : but DH insisted that was strange. I did still just pull my straps down though. You aren’t hiding much in a bathing suit anyway so…that was my logic. :

Katie Good question. Marty is too big too. The water scares the you-know-what out of me though.

Michelle on the “engorged & in pain”. Marty sometimes skips his morning/middle of the night nursing and it is excruciating.

Wendi Yay for no allergies : but you’re right, that is strange. Any chicken pox yet?

Sorry for all the duplicate posts…I just don’t have the energy to consolidate my posts – how lazy is that . Marty has been in underwear all week now and only had 1 accident Monday at school and none yesterday. Does that make him trained?? He’s only had 2 accidents in 5 days. Whatever it means, I’m so excited for him – he’s just the best!!

Got the school pics today so I’ll have to upload them tonight. He’s so funny. If I could put a text bubble on the pic, it’d say “Are you for real weird-guy-with-a-camera?” He just has this kind of half smile that just radiates his little man ‘tude. He’s a piece of work!

Here are a couple pics I uploaded over the weekend…
Marty’s First Day in the Toddler Class
Cheese!
Hammin’ it up with my sister
Closeup!
Me & My Guy Givin’ Dad the Raspberries because he wouldn’t let him wear his shoes in the truck
My Little Heartbreaker :

[SweetTexasgal]

Jess-those pics of Marty are too much. He is such a handsome little fella. I love the sparkle in his eye...like he is always thinkin' about what he is gonna do next.

So Lucy has been a climbing fool lately....so I equate this to age and the fact that she loves her "My Little Gym" class. Yesterday we were in her class and I just let her go and explore and try not to act like the crazed, overprotective mother that I can be around climbing. So I look over and she has climbed onto a balance beam about 2 feet off the ground and then proceeds to pull herself up to standing, turn around and run across the beam. I was : but guess I should just back off....obviously she can handle it. She was pretty much obsessed with the beam for the rest of the class....until she fell off and I wasn't "right" there to catch her...OOPS... So we are both trying to learn our boundaries right now.

[mommajb]

"You are at a fast food restaurant and can order a cheeseburger and fries or a broiled chicken breast and green salad. You want to eat healthy so what should you do?"

This is an actual question from dd1's health test today.

As a vegetarian I think she should put walk home and eat with Mom.

She didn't want to wear a coat the other morning but it was 40F. If she wears it to school she has to wear it at recess but it was projected to be 70F at noon. I told her to hide it in her backpack when she took it off. What kind of mother am I?

I admit I x-posted this but it is what is going on in my life.

[~Katie~]

Originally Posted by mommajb

"You are at a fast food restaurant and can order a cheeseburger and fries or a broiled chicken breast and green salad. You want to eat healthy so what should you do?"

This is an actual question from dd1's health test today.

As a vegetarian I think she should put walk home and eat with Mom.

She didn't want to wear a coat the other morning but it was 40F. If she wears it to school she has to wear it at recess but it was projected to be 70F at noon. I told her to hide it in her backpack when she took it off. What kind of mother am I?

I admit I x-posted this but it is what is going on in my life.

The school makes her wear it at recess? Do they consider sweatshirts coats? The arbitrary rules are one of my biggest hangups with public schools.

[ishyfishie]

Well, Lucy is 34" tall and 23 lbs 4 oz--still a stringbean! We saw a new ped who was just as great about vax as the other but more personable, very sweet, and made the association between allergies and breastfeeding to say, "Oh wow, so you cut all that out of your diet too? That's great, very tough though!" I was suitably impressed, since other local peds and allergists have let nursing moms go YEARS without adjusting their own diet for allergic nurslings.

[mommajb]

Katie, they do include sweatshirts. It is the arbitrary rules that so bother me. Some of them she just accepts and others she mentions at home and they drive me crazy. They were finally allowed to speak at lunch today after how long has it been since the food fight involving pretzel salt? She is happy, she is happy. This is what I keep telling myself. I ask her often directly and indirectly.

Michelle, Lola is like that - she knows no fear. I am trying to remember serious injury... but she seems to have come through unscathed SO FAR. It makes you heart race doesn't it?

Jess, Marty is always adorable and now he is in clean underwear to boot! :

[mommajb]

Originally Posted by ishyfishie

Well, Lucy is 34" tall and 23 lbs 4 oz--still a stringbean! We saw a new ped who was just as great about vax as the other but more personable, very sweet, and made the association between allergies and breastfeeding to say, "Oh wow, so you cut all that out of your diet too? That's great, very tough though!" I was suitably impressed, since other local peds and allergists have let nursing moms go YEARS without adjusting their own diet for allergic nurslings.

You make me want to do a well-check so I can get numbers on my little guy. I know I could never get reasonably accurate ones at home. It is impressive how much you have had to cut out of your diet. The consistency is what would be hard for me. We can all do anything in the short-term but this is hard for you I am sure.

Katie - do you think public school is any more arbitrary than the military?

[ishyfishie]

Originally Posted by mommajb

You make me want to do a well-check so I can get numbers on my little guy. I know I could never get reasonably accurate ones at home. It is impressive how much you have had to cut out of your diet. The consistency is what would be hard for me. We can all do anything in the short-term but this is hard for you I am sure.

LOL, that's really kind of why we go! Of course, since she won't sit/lay still on the scale, I have no idea how accurate it really is. I hope they'll be able to do her weight/height standing up sooner rather than later. I have a postal scale that goes up to 36 lbs so I'm actually hoping I can get her to stand up on that at home eventually. I'd love to dispense with well-visits completely but I'm too paranoid, and with the allergies, I feel like we need to have a decent relationship with the ped as well as the allergist.

[~Katie~]

Originally Posted by mommajb

Katie - do you think public school is any more arbitrary than the military?

They're fairly similar, but a lot of the rules that the military has aren't followed and no one is expected to follow them because they're outdated and ridiculous. Some I can kind of understand, like not walking on grass and staying on sidewalks while in uniform. That's a rule pretty much everybody follows regardless of who they are because once one person does it everybody does and then the grass gets ruined. Not drinking or smoking in uniform is another one that doesn't bother me, though I have seen quite a few people doing that one anyway It varies a lot from post to post as I have found.

If we're comparing public schools vs. those for military kids, Andrew said the DoD schools he went to were a lot more relaxed than the public schools I went to. He said they didn't have to have hall passes to go to the bathroom, could chew gum, etc. Some of them do uniforms, but even then the only requirement be that its a polo shirt. They don't make them wear certain colors or anything and the bottoms are pretty much up to them. The one complaint he has about schooling in the military is the fact that he had to change curriculum so often when moving and it really hurt him academically, so that's one of the biggest reasons we plan to home school.

[~Katie~]

I think I have more than 5 minutes to actually get a post finished now

We are now on a cholesterol lowering diet, modified for Liam and I of course. Andrew got his numbers back and they are much, much worse than we anticipated. Basically to the point where his doctor warned him if he didn't change his eating habits he's going to end up in the hospital within the next 5 years. He also has to go on a statin drug. It doesn't surprise me too much because high cholesterol runs in his family, his dad had quad bypass surgery 2 years ago. I WAS pretty much following the diet anyway aside from eating red meat every once in a while, but Andrew likes to sneak junk food behind my back. He works out often and is a healthy weight, so I think if he can cut out the junk food it will help a great deal.

I'm finally going to get around to making a ped appointment for Liam tomorrow. I've heard good things about a ped that's about an hour from us, she is also an MDC member I had a really nice visit with my midwife yesterday and all is looking good with the babe, we are predicting another long and skinny baby like Liam was. She said she has a laptop with a webcam so if Andrew has access while deployed we can broadcast the birth to him that way. I also got my birth pool from her and list of supplies for that. I'm still really sad about the situation, but I've decided to not let that get in the way of all the happiness and joy a new baby brings. I don't want this to cloud my birth experience, and I told my mw that I really want it to be a happy and enjoyable labor and birth.

Well, dinner is calling me from the oven!

[SweetTexasgal]

???'s to those of you who are CSA members. I just recently found one that makes deliveries/drops near me and now I am trying to decide between a full share or a medium share. The full is a 3/4-1 bushel and the medium is a 1/2 bushel. I will be sharing with my parents and Lucy and that is about it. Mom is a vegetarian and I am pretty much once Spring and Summer are here. What do you think? Full or medium...how much is a bushel?

I am so sick of the :::

[mommajb]

For us the full share was for 4 people so I would go for it. We did 1 full share for 2 adults and 5 kiddos (including the babe) and we did supplement the produce. Each CSA is different is the only caveat. Hmmm, I haven't heard from mine yet this year. It must be time to make a few phone calls.

[mrsb422]

Michelle It is hard to let them do that stuff when you know how much the boo boo will hurt if they fall! If I stand too close to Marty on the beam, he grabs me for support, so I try to back off except for the beginning/end. The support bars underneath scare me. They’re padded, but still. Yes, he certainly has a twinkle in his eye and is definitely ALWAYS thinking about what comes next…scheming might be a more appropriate word

Mommajb You sound like a practical mother. 40 degrees is definitely too cold for no coat and 70 is too hot. It is a tough time of year for that. I’m having the same struggle with the fleece hat that Marty wears in the morning. Poor little guy was all sweaty underneath when I went to pick him up and he was playing outside in the afternoon. Between running around, the sun, and the higher afternoon temperature (not that it was anywhere near 70) he was a giant sweaty mess. As for the health test – that’s a very valid point that the teacher probably didn’t even consider.

Ishyfishie How wonderful! Your new ped sounds really great and I’m glad s/he recognized the sacrifice you have made for your babe! You deserve a lot of credit for that one – I can only imagine the amount of willpower you have (that I don’t!)

Katie If you can even feel the excitement for your new baby radiating from this group, maybe it will help with your “happy and enjoyable” experience. I am so excited for you and can’t wait to hear your birth story/see pics of your new little one. I’m so sorry this is happening when you’re so near to the end.

Well things are pretty much status quo here…Marty is doing awesome with the potty I am prouder of him than I can express! Yesterday he had 2 poopy accidents, but he had the runs, so that’s why. I felt bad because he was really upset about it and didn’t want me to clean him up because he was embarrassed. I don’t know how he rationalizes that or ever got to the conclusion that having an accident = embarrassment, but I tried to be very comforting and gentle with him while I cleaned him up because I don’t want him to go around hiding stuff like that. Makes me wonder what they say to him at school when he has an accident but I don’t want to project or assume anything bad. I’m going to keep an eye on that though. I mean, he’s not even 2 yet so accidents are going to happen and should be expected.

Today was Marty’s first show and tell at school and it is “green week” in honor of St. Patrick’s Day so Marty brought his green mini-Tonka garbage truck. We learned to say “green garbage truck” on the way to school in the car to the point he was chanting it down the hallway as we made our way to his classroom. It was really cute and funny…like he was trying to memorize it so he wouldn’t forget what it was. I got there though and all 5 boys brought cars/trucks. How unoriginal am I? Next time we’ll up the creativity because that’s just really disappointing to me. He hardly had any green toys though so I was kind of at a loss.

Anywho…I’m only working a half day today : and then grabbing my babe and going home. Trying to work some extra time to make up for all the darn snow days! Have a wonderful day mamas (and weekend if I don’t get on here again till Monday)

[~Katie~]

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

It was rainy here but I did get motivated (nesting) and inspired by Jeanine and painted the living room, dining room, and entryway. I have an accent wall in the living room to finish. The rest of the rooms are the same color since the whole area is open, but I really like the way it turned out. It really makes the house feel more personalized and lived in, which is kind of nice when the 100 other houses around mine are identical. My legs are soooo sore from climbing up and down the ladder though. Good thing I have a chiro appointment this afternoon.

Liam is pushing back his bedtime wayyy late, he's been going to sleep around 9:30 or 10 every night. The good thing is that he falls asleep all by himself while I sit there with him, and then usually only has one night waking where he looks for his pacifier. Now if only I could sleep better we'd be in business

[ishyfishie]

For once, it's BEAUTIFUL here in Buffalo! It was gorgeous yesterday too, and tomorrow is supposed to be even better. I think we may go to the zoo with friends tomorrow afternoon.

We had a bit of a whirlwind at the end of last week. I'm going to start teaching dance classes in May and the whole opportunity really kind of arose and was confirmed within a couple weeks, so I had just started getting really excited about opening my own dance school this summer. Then dh got a job offer (within his company)...in Boston! It was totally out of the blue and we were going back and forth about it, but finally decided against it and then found out the salary they were offering is what he can make here one step up from his current job. With the cost of living so low here and so high there, it just wouldn't be worth it. Dh's "dream" is to have his own business and work from home and that really clinched it for him, since moving out there would be good for his "career" with current company, but would probably mean we could never afford to live off what he could make at home (or what I might make eventually from my dance school). We both have family in New England and his parents have been planning to move back out that way eventually, but between his business plans, my dance school, and wanting to have some land and build a house...those things are just very unlikely out there for us!

[*jeanine*]

Katie - what color? what color will the accent wall be?

Ishy - yay on the dance classes! how exciting!

well - we ordered chickens, aye yi yi.

[~Katie~]

Ishy - Congrats on starting your own dance school!

Jeanine - The main wall color is a neutral, its a light hazelnut color. The accent wall is darker, the actual name of the color is "gaucho". Its similar to this color only slightly darker. I'm going to do a red in the kitchen I think, maybe something like saffron but with bluish undertones so its not so bright. Maybe something like this.

[~Katie~]

Where is everybody?

[mommajb]

My my we are quiet aren't we?

I am struggling with Linus's sleep and trying to develop a plan of attack so we can change it. we are colseeping and have anissue with constant latch or a cry for "urse, urse". He is also not sleeping very long at anyone stretch. I am taking ideas and suugestions...

Katie, your wall colors are pretty and I like that color tool you used.

Ishy - your own dance school? How exciting.

jeanine, enjoy those chicks. Are they for eggs or dinner? or both?

I am trying to do a bit of spring organizing but due to constant nursing calls I am not making the progress I had projected at the beginning of the week.

[*jeanine*]

Finally - warm weather here! (Well, if you call 60 warm.) We've been spending a lot of time outside. It's nice! But, it's supposed to snow again Friday night

No advice on night-weaning or sleep-stretching. If you find an easy way, though, I'm all ears.

They will be egg layers. Although there's a good chance we'll wind up with one or two males - don't know what we'll do with them. I ordered them, but they haven't told me a ship date yet. They say they'll let you know within ten days and it's only been three. I'm trying sooo hard to be patient, but I want to call them and say "WHEN ARE MY NEW BABIES COMING!!!!"

I've been looking in here - but there's not a lot going on here besides the usual hs'ing and cooking/cleaning and now reading up on chicks/chicken care, coop designs, etc.

We still have four butterflies :
I need to order ants for the ant farm. I should go do that while I'm thinking of it.