May 09 Mamas - Ringin' in the New Year!

[OceansEve]

Hey ladies new month new thread! Anyone have any new year resolutions where their little ones are concerned? Or just wanna swap resolutions in general?

[lil_miss_understood]

no time atm
sub

[Kelly1101]

Subbing.

[lotus.blossom]

Happy 2010! I have so much excitement about this year! Last year was exciting of course because our little ones were born, but this year will be so much fun with little toddlers I haven't made any resolutions for this year other than the usual- up my fitness and cut down my bad eating. I'd like to be back to my pre-preg weight and fitness level by summertime. I wanna get in my bikini this year! (about 7 lbs left to go and I want muscle tone back!)

The new and exciting thing for me in 2010 is chickens. We're planning to make an order for chicks. I'm thinking about 8 of them. I'm just doing a lot of research and hoping my dad will make good on helping me build a coop.

[Peppermint Poppies]

Subbing.

I haven't made many goals for this year yet, other than to try to survive with 2 toddlers in a tiny inner-city apartment (thank goodness for so many parks and playgrounds nearby!!). However, one of my friends on Facebook posted a link the other day entitled "10 Questions to Encourage Engaged Parenting in 2010" on the Simple Mom blog. It's got some really thoughtful questions that I think I'm going to work my way through in order to continue growing and developing my parenting skills over the next 12 months. I don't think I can post the link here, but PM me if you want it.

[Punchy Kaby]

I think 'grow as a parent' is one of my goals.

All I can think of right now is SLEEP and how I need more of it! DD is constantly teething, 2 popped through this week and today more intense drool and she was chomping on her fingers.

DS (4 yrs) constantly pushed my buttons and I want to enjoy my time with him more.

[OceansEve]

lotus.blossom - chickens are a lot of fun and actually REALLY easy once you get beyond the chick phase. One thing I would recommend tho is buy MORE than you want to end up with. If 8 is your goal buy 12+ . Our first go around we bought 6 and only one made it to a year old However our second time around we only lost two - one by cat and one by drowning. This is what I learned from that experience: Do not raise them on wire floors! Without exposure to the bacteria in their feces by the time they move outside they will get toxic shock!

Peppermint Poppies - thanks for the link!

Punchy Kaby - that's basically the same resolution I'm making. I have had absolutely no patience this last month and I'm ashamed of how I've been treating my girls. I spend most of my time yelling and not enjoying being with them which sucks for them and me. I want to be a calmer person in general.

[lotus.blossom]

Ooh, Good advice Oceans! My DH thinks 12 is too many but I assured him that we'll probably lose a couple along the way. I'm building the coop to house at least 12 because I know it can be addicting and I'll probably want to add to the flock. And thanks for the wire floor rec. I had seen that you can start them in hampster cages but thats probably a bad idea.....I am reading like a maniac at backyardchickens right now.

I feel like I am on my way to being a better mama, and I have high hopes for 2010. I have been FORCING myself to play more. My mother never played with me (my dad worked a lot but he always took time to play) and my DH is very playful. I want my kids to grow up with an interactive mama. So I am puttin all my chores aside and playing for a couple hours. I find the more I do it the easier it gets. And its quite fun. Its hard to be annoyed with someone that you're laughing and goofing with. And it helps that Griffin like to join in on the fun. I'm happy to be past the immobile baby phase.

[OceansEve]

Another thing to keep in mind is if more than you want live you can always sell or swap them. BYC is a great place for it!

[Auraji]

Happy New Year Everyone! I hope the 2010 brings good things for all of us

My resolutions for this year is to be more organized, start taking better care of myself both physically and mentally. I need to go back to eating how I used to and I need to go back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I also want to grow as a parent, Peppermint I'd like that link

[Ldavis24]

I love chickens! When DH and i make our big move (and della too!) to maine we will be getting some. Our big new years thing (we aren't really into resolutions I guess), is that we are working on just generally being healthier. Eating healthier, moving more even if it isn't strictly a work out and just being more active. So far so good. DH actually went running yesterday morning!

Della is amazing and will be 7 months in less than a week. Yesterday she started pulling herself up onto all the furniture the coffee table, couch, everything! So now I am stressing to DD how important it is to be hyper vigilant because she could fall much more easily. She is also progressing from the army crawl to hands and knees and starting to do that more and more!

I swear last night DH was trying to get her to say Dada and she really did repeat it after him! I don't think she knows what it means really but she definitely repeated it. So what age do they start really parroting what you say?

I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year! It is snowy and beautiful on the cape at the moment and Della is playing with Daddy's wallet. It's amazing at this time last year I didn't even look all that pregnant and now Della is more than 1/2 a year old!

[ScootchsMom]

Happy New Year!

Things are finally kind of settling in with both kids now, I think my PP hormones have finally regulated (I went back on birth control patch) and my patience level has increased dramatically the past few weeks. DS is crawling, cut two teeth and has finally settled into a more predictable pattern with naps. Its helped with us being home (no school for DD) for over a week.

My resolutions are pretty simple -

have more patience with the kids and try not to get so stressed when things get hectic.
Lose weight. I weigh only 5 pounds less than when I had DS, which means I gained weight after my initial weight loss I got out all of my weight watchers stuff and I bought the Wii Fitness Plus yesterday so I can track my weight accurately and get some exercise.

Originally Posted by lotus.blossom

The new and exciting thing for me in 2010 is chickens. We're planning to make an order for chicks. I'm thinking about 8 of them. I'm just doing a lot of research and hoping my dad will make good on helping me build a coop.

We're planning on chickens too! I have to apply for a variance from the township first because of our zoning, and it takes a couple of months to get it approved, and its going to cost us 250 dollars But, I want them so badly! and DD is excited to raise the chicks, I think it will be a great learning experience for her, plus fresh eggs She also wants a bunny and DP said ok. I have to start planning a coop, it has to withstand really cold winters (Its -20 with the windchill here today!) but I can't wait for it to thaw out here already so I can get started. I still have 3-4 months to go of winter.

I love the BYC site, so much info and advice.

Liz

[LisaG]

Subbing.

Resolutions for this year - to stop being so pissy with dh about things. Like talking in full voice right in front of our napping dd who's eyes popped right open

Lack of quality sleep does not bring out the best in me

Natalie got 2 teeth this week Congestion has been our nemesis. By early morning - anytime between 5-7 I have to get up and sit with her because she's too stuffy to lie down, even with a pillow under her head. She'll breath through her mouth sometimes if she's really tired, sometimes she can breathe through her nose fine, she nurses a lot on bad nights - I think it helps clear things up temporarily. This has been going on for over a month with a few good nights thrown in. She had a head cold at 6 months, just when we were really hitting our sleep strides of course.

I'd like to think she's over her cold, but she has a bit of a rattling cough when she first wakes up and is increasingly congested as the night progresses. In the morning she's usually got a big booger in each nostril, poor thing. I don't eat gluten or dairy, tried no chocolate but it didn't seem to make a difference. At this point, I'm at a loss. I was even wondering if it might be something in our house but 3 nights at my brothers over xmas didn't make any difference (no live tree there or here). We've also tried a vaporizer and it didn't seem to help at all, just make things cold and damp. Who knows.

Glad to see I'm not the only one wanting more patience and play as a parent this year.

[Kelly1101]

Resolutions:

-Start being more careful and aware of the finances (balance checkbooks, track expenses, see what areas we can cut back on)
-Yoga three times a week
-Detail-clean one room a day
-Plan meals more, so that I don't grab unhealthy snacks
-Keep up on the frickin baby book, rotfl

Those five are about enough to keep me going for a while.

[GreenGranolaMama]

Subbing

[kdtmom2be]

Originally Posted by ScootchsMom

Happy New Year!

Things are finally kind of settling in with both kids now, I think my PP hormones have finally regulated (I went back on birth control patch) and my patience level has increased dramatically the past few weeks.

I can't recall how things turned out but I do recall that you were having BF issues.... if you are still BFing, can you please tell me if the patch has affected your milk supply? I have been contemplating going back on it as well to regulate my moods but am worried that it will affect my supply.

[kdtmom2be]

Originally Posted by Kelly1101

Resolutions:

-Start being more careful and aware of the finances (balance checkbooks, track expenses, see what areas we can cut back on)
-Yoga three times a week
-Detail-clean one room a day
-Plan meals more, so that I don't grab unhealthy snacks
-Keep up on the frickin baby book, rotfl

Those five are about enough to keep me going for a while.

Trade the yoga out for the Wii Fit (which has yoga anyways I guess) and the detail-clean is laughable around here, what's the point!? I've given up on a clean house I think... other than that, a big to all those!

[lil_miss_understood]

Originally Posted by kdtmom2be

Trade the yoga out for the Wii Fit (which has yoga anyways I guess) and the detail-clean is laughable around here, what's the point!? I've given up on a clean house I think... other than that, a big to all those!

Tell me about it.
I'd settle for half-decent rather than hurricaned.

[lotus.blossom]

Whats the point is right! I still do it though. Much to my frustration when the same messes keep cropping up. I have a new rule, that we pick up toys before bedtime and my DH was like, why? They just get dumped the next day. Well I need some order in the evening before I go to bed and face it all over again.

ScootchsMom- That kind of stinks about the zoning. Seems laughable when you figure out how much its going to cost to house and feed chickens, all for "free" eggs. I'm starting to feel discouraged about it all. Mainly because of the cold winters here. I'm not sure that we can get power out to the coop this year so I may have to put it off.......

Well I have to go make cocoa for my boys!
Anyone else planning to introduce milk products at a year for their babes? I nursed DS1 for nearly 2 years but I have a strong feeling that Griffin isn't going to need to nurse much beyond a year. And I am surprisingly fine with that.

[kdtmom2be]

No milk for us here... DS has a strange rash under his nose and I've cut him back to just oatmeal and pears for a bit until I figure out what's causing it. I suspect that it's dairy (he ate some mac n cheese with the family a few time and I THINK that it's showing up after that). DD had a dairy allergy that she outgrew sometime around the age of 2 so we may have a recurrance of that scenario. If he IS allergic then I hope he outgrows it too!