February 09 mamas - they're not babies anymore! - Page 147

[Thursday Girl]

Kate- it could be useful. I'd love a copy of it. My supplies for birth are very limited for a variety of reasons. Just not sure if I will be following the doula path soon. I love working with pregnant women but I think we aren't really in a great position for me to be heading out for unannounced long periods of time. There will be the baby and then their is Hubs schedule that isn't really a schedule and every time I left we'd have to split up the kids among friends. 

-You are due the 6th right? My original DD was the 1st but they changed it at the ultrasound to the 4th.  That picture was taking at 33 weeks and a half. as for the barbie, get rid of it. they will have so many toys in and out of their life that honestly this one barbie will never matter. no need to compromise on what you think. we dabbled in barbie occasionally and I always hated them, finally I just tossed them all (and by toss I mean donate) but one generic fairy barbie that Josie wanted and Hubs bought her because she really wanted it. She never plays with it, I have no idea where in the house it actually is, but when i tried to get rid of that one Hubs was not okay since she had specifically wanted it.

computer/TV- so i didn't let my kids on the computer or watch tv at all yesterday...it was awesome. they got so creative. I will be limiting them a lot more regarding  screen time. I used to  limit a lot more before I got pregnant and then I just got lazy or as my friend says, it's not that I was lazy it was that I am pregnant , tired and usually on my own. Still, I had a choice and i chose to be lazy and let my kids in front of screens too much b/c it was easier. BUT really once they get used to not being in front of the screen they get creative, they do other things and they don't get all whiny and moaning when I say it's time to turn it off.  I mean they have full scale breakdowns sometimes when i turn off the tv or computer. So which IS easier??

Mal that's cute about the birthday party, Junes was talking about hers constantly too.  Can't wait to see pictures from it.  Are you feeling better yet?  As for hubs, it's probably best to just throw them in the deep end. LOL. 

Starling- I would make them play with it on the table or put them in their room with the door closed so the baby couldn't get in their. Part of it isn't even the chockables thing, just that the baby would destroy what they are doing and that frustrated them.

AFM- my throat has been burning the past 2 mornings I woke up. We got new chicks yesterday for the girls birthday present (of course they each got a present on their actual birthday too...well jewel will in March) 2 bantams and a barred rock.  Ella, Misery and E. (E is what Junes calls her best friend Erin). We wanted an auracauna but they didn't have any. we might get one later.

[Mal85]

Owyn recently started asking for a Barbie. I wasn't sure how to handle it. On the one hand, I had Barbies growing up and I loved them. I have fond memories of playing with Barbies. Most of which include stuffing clothes inside their clothes to make them "pregnant" and then having them give birth and have babies. I guess I started practicing young! On the other hand, there just seems to be a stigma surrounding Barbies and I wasn't sure if I wanted to start that here. She does play with them, though. All her cousins have Barbies and she loves them. So, we decided to get her one for Valentine's Day. I spent an obscene amount of time looking through the Barbie aisle at the store trying to find one that wasn't sexualized. I finally settled on a Barbie and Stacie pair that came with a puppy. Their hair wasn't done up much, their outfits were tasteful, and they were both wearing hiking boots instead of heels. It was a little sad how long it took me to find one I was okay with buying though. The look on Owyn's face to be receiving her very own Barbie was worth it though. She just lit up and said "Oh thank you, Mommy!" and I received the biggest hug I've gotten from her in a loooong time. She's been playing with it pretty much non-stop since she got it.

Is anyone else noticing how much our big babies are not babies anymore?? I've always heard that half years are the hardest. 1.5 was a hard age, 2.5 was hard. Now, she is finally growing into a strict 3 year old and not 2.5 year old anymore. I feel the need to knock on some wood because she has actually been a joy the last couple of weeks! She expressing her wants and needs. She is becoming able to bounce back when she doesn't get her way. If I can catch her before she gets too upset, get her to look me in the eye while I explain to her why I'm telling her no, then she will usually move on very quickly. It's really great to be able to communicate with her so well right now. 

Oh and another thing she started asking for... earrings. Her best friend came over for a playdate and she had gotten her ears pierced for her birthday so Owyn has latched on to that idea this week. She even told me she needed to "go to the store and have the person push the earrings in my ear". I have no idea where she would have seen someone getting their ears pierced so I'm curious where she got such an accurate description of the process...

[AKislandgirl]

Hi guys- been having a hard time finding time to sit and write. Feeling a little stressed around here...

Maeve is teething and is super crabby and often doesn't want to be set down. I forgot how hard teething can be on little ones.

My niece is doing pretty well. She had her bone marrow transplant on Friday and did not have an allergic reaction to it which is the first hurdle. We will know in a couple of weeks if her body has accepted or rejected it. We are thinking about her constantly.

This pales in comparison but I think our dog is dying. She has had ongoing issues for some time but usually has lots of time in between her flare ups of being sick where she seems happy and healthy. Those "happy and healthy" times are fewer and fewer. We are weeks into her last sick period and she still isn't 100% and has lost so much weight. DH is bringing her to the vet to find out how we can just get her comfortable until it's obvious that the end is here. Breaks my heart really.

We are bringing F to Anchorage for her allergy testing next week. I'm so anxious to know how that is going to turn out. The fun news is that some really close friends from Sitka are there now and are even staying at the same place that we are. We haven't seen them since our wedding 6.5 years ago. They are there so she can have a VBAC.

Even though we still have tons of snow on the ground I saw some signs of spring the other day. Flowers coming up in front of the library! Hooray!

Kate: I'd totally sell the Barbie! I'm not a fan of hers.

Everr: I'd be upset about gun talk too. Yikes! Fiona knows guns are for hunting but has never "played gun."

Courtney: love the party pics! I had the same reaction as Erin- sundresses!

Little pieces: Not tons of stuff like that around here but we have been practicing with F with the few things she does have to keep them up and clean up as soon as we are done playing with them.

[AKislandgirl]

Fiona spotted Diego underwear at the store the other day. She was thrilled! So now she's rockin' some sweet little boy briefs! :)

[Thursday Girl]

wow Sue that is a lot going on. I am still praying for your niece, I am so glad there was no allergic reaction and I am sorry your dog isn't doing well.  How is Maeve big enough to be teething already? (she is super cute! I love the wool overalls, and super cute Fiona with her diego underoos. My oldest would wear underrooos, but the other 2 don't like them so much, especially Juniper I had to talk her into wearing a pair that was yo gabba gabba and she's obsessed with yo gabba gabba! (she had soiled her panties and we were at a boys house.

[Everrgreen]

AK - I'm sorry you have so much going.  I've been thinking of your niece and I have a letter ready to send to her :)  I want to get Royce to do a picture or something too.  I'm glad to hear she's made it through the first hurdle!  

Mal - Every once in a while R does something and I'm just left speechless..  Who is this KID??  Where did my BABY go??  And then other times he has baby moments (especially when he's sleeping..) and it's sweet.  I think a new baby probably makes them seem even more grown up!  

Courtney - I have the same problem with TV (well, laptop with shows) with R.  I like to use it as a break.. But it causes huge tantrums when I have to turn it off.  Or huge tantrums if I don't want him to watch it.  If it wasn't an option at all then he would be forced to just go and play.  But sometimes it is so nice to have!  

[Everrgreen]

Kate - Ugh, that's annoying.. I would get rid of it.  If someone got R a gift I didn't want him to have (toy gun, for example), I would pass it on for sure!  I'm glad everything is going well with your doula!!

AFM - I spoke with R's teacher this morning and she had not heard any of the kids talking about real guns and shooting people.  She said they are definitely against gun play and do not allow it at all.  I made sure she knew that I was really upset about this and she seemed concerned about it.  R hasn't said it again so at least that's good.  I know there's nothing really she can do about it other than keep an ear out for that kind of talking.  

[mckittre]

Sue - I'm thinking of your niece.  I hope the transplant takes.  And I hope you get some answers for F from the allergy tests.  Sorry things are hard right now.  L is a late teether (just got her top 2 teeth) and has gone through several periods lately of "I will whine and cry the moment you set me down"  And of course it's worst right when I'm cooking dinner, and K is starving, etc... 

Mal - They are indeed so big.  My little boy just went cheerily off to school again today!  And of course there are some tantrums, but I do feel this is a good age - for the most part K is really pleasant to be around, and it's more fun to play with him now as his pla gets more and more creative.

Kate - if the Barbie were something my kid adored, I'd keep it.  It sounds like Aubs doesn't care though, so you might as well ditch it. 

Everr - the whole "gun" thing is one of my main concerns about K going to head start.  He doesn't care about guns in the slightest now, has never even tried to play that way.  But I know some of the older boys at Head Start do (though it's not allowed there either).

Screen Time:  Well, I have been using a 15 min timer for Starfall with pretty good success (he'll go nuts if you try to stop him in the middle of making a word, but is OK doing it once its over).  On the other hand, I sort of inadvertently taught him how to use Google Image Search the other day (we were answering a question about the number of wheels on a jet).  Now all he wants to do is type words into the computer (like jet, dog, cat, etc...  with help) and search for the pictures!

[AKislandgirl]

Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers for my niece. I have total faith that she is going to get through this!

Erin: F loves google images. She likes to crawl on our lap and tell us certain animals to search. Cougar was interesting... :)

[Nillarilla]

Sue - Sending successful transplant vibes to your niece. A suggestion for the allergy testing bring something like a stuffed animal that she can curl herself around and hold on your lap. They wanted my son to keep his arms out of the way and kind of bend forward and he was on dh's lap. I think it would have been easier if he could have sat cross legged hugging a stuffy. I never thought to bring his bear. I told him it was going to hurt and that it was ok to cry but not ok to move. He was annoyed about it all and had a bit of a difficult time but I think it was the atmosphere the nurse was abrupt and rough and so was the doctor. Also sometimes the itching is incredible after so maybe have some benadryl on hand if it gets out of control and calendula cream and calamine really helped. 

Baby proofing - I actually used the playpen for the older one to get out of reach of the younger one . DS would climb in it with his little toys and dd couldn't get at him or the stuff. He could leave it set up in there which was nice. By the time dd crawled though he was 3.5 and tall enough to climb in and out without danger. 

Mouse skills - Dee has a difficult time with the mouse and with iPod and the laptop trackpad. It's a little strange to me because her brother was so adept at it at a young age. Different kids different skills I guess.

Guns - Yeah we don't allow that play around here. I have read that it's good for them to be able to 'kill' the bad guys but I just say that he has to vanquish them and make them go away. He's more into magic and martial arts beatings anyways. But for a while they did have trouble with it at his preschool. 

Kate - I would consign the barbie and then get her an appropriate one if she asks for it at a later stage. Dee always gravitates to those Brat dolls. I find those offensive and steer her away. She got some plasticky barbie play dress up this year that sort of bothered me (has those stupid plastic high heels) but she wanted it so I opened it and will migrate it out when she forgets about it. 

TV- Yeah we have the tantrums too. I actually switched the time they watch to the two nights I have class right before dinner at 5pm because it seems easier to shut it off when they go to the table for dinner. They are hungry so there is no argument and there has never been tv allowed on during dinner. 

Cindy- I'm glad you have morning sickness. I hope you are otherwise feeling good and able to relax a little. 

Sickness- Yeah we all had a bout of it. I got it the longest. I thought I had mono or strep but it finally went away. I think a lot of it was stress. I had 2 major assignments and a lot of group work, plus I was supposed to work, and then the birthday. Just too much. I'm still not 100% but I'm feeling better. Now I just want to sleep because I pushed through it all. It was so frustrating to not be able to focus when I was writing. 

[AKislandgirl]

Nilla: Thank you for the suggestions for the allergy testing. This Dr's specialty is pediatrics so I really hope he and the nurse have good bed side manners and work well with her. But I'm totally going to use your suggestions! I'll buy some benadryl cream to bring with us as well. I keep thinking what if we go through all of this and find out nothing. Then I feel bad for "wanting" her to have an allergic reaction. Ugh. It's not that I really want that it is just that I really want to know what is going on...

So personal revelation (I think). I started reading The Primal Blueprint and following the diet guidelines. Not 100% but pretty close- no grains or sugar. I was doing pretty well with it and feeling really good. No crashy feelings mid day and having more energy. Then in the last 2 days I sort of blew it off and ate grains and sugar (damm you girl scout cookies). Right away I got the floaty feelings back. Had trouble focusing and just felt icky. Also like I needed to eat again only an hour later type of thing. Then this morning woke up with a migraine. I've never known what my triggers have been but this is enough to kick me back on the primal train. I've decided for the rest of lent I'll do my best to eat primal as much as possible and track if I get any headaches or generally feel off. I know that what we eats obviously affect how we feel but I've never really made drastic changes to my diet (aside from going gluten free while Fiona was nursing a lot- I still ate other grains and definitely ate sugar!). It's really interesting to see how drastically the different eating style has made me feel.

Cindy: I agree that morning sickness is a great sign! :) Reed's gingerbrew was my friend at that stage!

[Vegan Princess]

The sickness isn't that bad. Noticeable, but not that bad. :-) I feel like I look 5 mos pregnant already! But maybe that is all the junk I've been eating - see below.

Sue - I gave up desserts for lent! I had a nice girl scout cookie binge on fat tuesday, now I'm done. I was eating way too much junk! I ate lots of fruit yesterday instead - how I should be eating right now!

Makenna had her 3 yr check up yesterday. New doc. I loved the doc! So that is a huge relief. And she is flexible on vaccines. M is 36.5 inches and 30.6 lbs. 28.5 percentile for height and something like 40th for weight (I forgot already). 60th percentile for BMI. Makenna still only ever walks on her toes. She gave me some stretches to do bc she said her achilles tendon is tight. And she emailed the pediatric orthopedic surgeon to ask if he is concerned that it's tight. I toe walked too when I was little so I haven't been too concerned. But she did tell the doc it hurt to do some of the stretches that shouldn't hurt. Makenna did really well at the doc. She had to get 2 vaccines that we were behind on and she was not happy about that, but everything else went well. I thought she'd be more brave about the shot after seeing me get so many shots (DH is still giving me a shot in the butt every day). But not so. Can't blame her. Who ever really gets used to needles? I still try not to look at the needle before my shot. 

Cindy

[mckittre]

Shots!  One of the things we were faced with in enrolling K in Head Start is all the vaccine requirements.  Of course, I could have claimed a religious exemption.  But that's not true, and my husband wasn't on board with the lie, and K had had some shots already, just not all of them.  (We basically only gave him things we thought he might actually have some remote chance of catching in the US as a baby, and decided to wait until later to decide on everything else).  And I kind of thought I'd have more time to figure it all out.  But I didn't, and the public health nurse was in town yesterday, and I ended up letting her give K something like 6 shots, so he'd be eligible for Head Start.  I felt terrible holding him down while he screamed about it, and now it's a day later and he's still complaining about how stiff he is.  I guess I'm glad he's really enjoying school, but I feel like a bad mom. 

[Everrgreen]

I still haven't given any vaccines to R..  For daycare I just had to sign a form saying I objected and it could have been for religious/medical/conscientious reasons.  But I think I've decided (finally) about which to give.  I'm going to start towards the end of March when winter is over.  First he will get DTaP-IPV, he gets 3 of those spaced every 2 months, followed by 1 after he turns 4.  Then, also after he turns 4 (but spaced a month from the DTaP-IPV), he will get one shot of MMRV (the MMR with chicken pox).  So that's 5 needles total.  Once he's around 12 I will do Hep B (2 shots) and Men C (1 shot).  I'm happy with this plan.  Hopefully it goes ok.  I still have moments where I'm not sure.  This has been such a tough thing for me, I have really gone back and forth!

Cindy - That's interesting about the toe-walking, hopefully the stretches are all that's needed!  I find some genetic traits to be so random, it makes me wonder why that would be passed on in the genes?  R is obsessed with my ears, he always plays with them for comfort, if I pick him up to carry him (even in public) he automatically holds my ear.  My nephew on my ex's side also did this with his mom (ex's sister) and I remember my ex-mil saying that my ex was like that with her when he was younger.  Such a strange thing to be passed through genes!

AK - I am really interested in the primal diet!  I don't follow it at all.  I sometimes make attempts at it but it's hard.  I could easily cut out sugar, I don't have a sweet tooth.  Although the yogurt I buy has sugar..  Grains would be hard, I love my toast at breakfast!  But I definitely have limited grains/sugar a lot from how I used to eat.

Nilla - I hope you're feeling better!  It sound like you have so much going on, make sure you take care of yourself!

[Mal85]

Erin: You are so far from being a bad mom!! I'm sorry K had to get so many shots at once, that had to be hard to go through. Owyn will be getting a shot at her 3 year check up. The first time she's getting one in a year. She keeps asking for earrings and I think after she gets her shot I'll explain to her that getting her ears pierced is similar to getting a shot and see what she thinks then. Can you tell I really don't want to pierce her ears right now? Maybe I'll get her some stick on earrings for her birthday... do they still make those?

Everr: I think that sounds like a great plan for his vaccinations. It feels good to make that decision doesn't it. We were just discussing vaccinations over in my DDC with Greta. I really think it's been my most difficult parenting decision to date.

Cindy: I had a niece that did the toe-walking too. Where does that come from? I know you said you did it, but why is that a common thing for kids to do? Anyway, her tendons were really tight too but they were able to correct it with the stretches and constant reminders to walk on her feet and not her toes. She's 13 now and I still catch her walking on her toes sometimes...

Sue: I've been praying for you niece. What a difficult thing to go through at any age, let alone such a young age. Kids always amaze me though with their strength in the face of something like that. I hope she is handling it well. It seems like she has a great support system and that really helps! And kudos to her brother. How old is he? What a fantastic gift to be able to give his sister.

AFU: We officially have Owyn enrolled in school for next year! We did a visit at the local Montessori school on Thursday. Normally it's an informative meeting for parents, but the director knows my background in Montessori so she had me bring Owyn in to see the school. Owyn was a little apprehensive about going. All day she kept going back and forth about whether or not she wanted to go see her school. She absolutely loved it though and didn't want to leave. She wouldn't talk to anyone while we were there, but she was quick to take to the materials on the shelves in the classroom. The director was so patient with her too when she was into something and not ready to move on. She said she could tell by watching Owyn that she is very ready for school and thinks she'll do very well in a Montessori classroom. She kept commenting on how focused she was on everything she was doing. I really can't wait for her to start in the fall, it will be such a great experience for her! When we got there, the director told me they only had 2 more openings for next year so I'm so glad we got in when we did. It really is the only local school I would want to send her to. Now, the only problem is that if I send her there for preschool I know I'm going to fall in love with the place and want to send her there for elementary and middle school. It's so expensive though... I'm already trying to figure out how to make it work...

DH and I have been making some big decisions this week about our living situation. We've been talking about moving out of this house the last couple of months. We're going to spend the spring and summer refinishing the floors, giving the bathrooms a facelift and finishing our kitchen to get the house ready to put on the market. Where we go from here is the big question. DH is extremely picky about our next house. He would really like to build. We have basically no savings right now though. We have just started saving since he got his promotion. And building a house is expensive. So, we've been talking to my parents. They are stuck in a house that's too big for them and they can't get anyone to buy it. So, we're talking about moving in with them once we sell this house. We can help them out with their living expenses and save for our house more than twice as fast. We would actually have tons more room there with them than we do here. They have a 5 bedroom, 4000 s/f house. Plenty of room for all of us. The girls could each have their own room. DH and I would have a room plenty big enough for all our furniture and our computer. My parents are actually really excited about it and DH is looking forward to all the work he could do on their house for them that would hopefully make them able to sell the house after we move out. So, DH has been making lots of phone calls this week getting estimates on building a house to see how much we would need to save and how long we would need to live there. A lot to think about!

[Vegan Princess]

Mal: Yay for getting school all settled! And that is really exciting about moving in with your parents. Would they help with the kids too? A nice added bonus!! I wouldn't be ready to let M get earings yet, I don't think. Though I do recall getting my ears pierced before after 5. I wanted then pierced. Then I let them close up and got them redone a couple yrs later. Those holes won't EVER close up. LOL. But if she really wants it, it's not the end of the world as long as it's her choice. My friend posted on facebook about should she get her 6 week old's ears pierced? All friends were saying yes! But she is mexican - it's part of their culture. I can't imagine doing that to a newborn!!! At least Owyn can tell you if they are bothering her and uncomfortabe when she sleeps.

Erin: That's a lot of shots! I hope he didn't feel too bad after. We did most of the shots, just spread out. We were behind on a polio and we did one of the Hep As (hadn't done any of those). The doc really thinks we should get chickenpox done before I have the baby bc she is more concerned about M getting it and passing it to a little baby. So we'll probably do that before preschool starts.

AFM: Makenna did end up getting into the preschool that was my 1st choice! I found out Thursday. So now I am going to tour it next Friday. I'm really torn. But I think we will go with the other choice we had decided on bc it doesn't require me to be in the classroom - which would be hard with a new baby. They both have pros and cons but I do love both schools. And I found out she did get into the 2nd choice one. So I'm happy to have a choice between 2 I love. 

I have another ultrasound on Monday. Please think good thoughts for us again! :-) This is about the time my last baby stopped growing. 

Cindy

[Everrgreen]

RE School:  Some moms on my single moms board have been discussing charter school lotteries.  We don't have charter schools here, they sound great but the whole lottery thing sounds so stressful!  Do any of you have to deal with that?  I know which school I'll be registering R at assuming I get a job in this city when I graduate (which hopefully I will!)  That's just for jk though, so not til September 2013, he'll stay where he is until then :)

Cindy - That's great that you have your choice of preschools! 

Mal - Oh exciting to have her enrolled!  I am tempted by the local montessori school here but I can't afford it, it might have been possible with 2 incomes, but not with just one.  He'll be in a public school but it's french immersion which I really want for him and the montessori doesn't do french immersion.

And how AWESOME to have the opportunity to live with your parents!  I so wish I could have lived with my mom, both for support and to save money.

Erin - I still feel guilty sometimes about R being in daycare.  Mostly when he's crying that he doesn't want to go and wants to stay with me.. That's really hard.  But overall I think he gets a lot out of it and enjoys it.  

We had a really good day today.  We went sledding, skating, to the mall, and out for ice cream.  Busy but fun!  The mall was having soccer registration but it turns out they don't start until age 5 here :/  There is a small town about 25 minutes away that has an under 4 division so I think I'm going to register there, I think it will be worth the drive.  He'll also be starting swim lessons in April so it will be a fun spring/summer! 

[Nillarilla]

Ever- your day sounds fun. 

Cindy - Yay for having a choice of preschools. I'm sure whichever will give her a good experience. 

Erin - That's great that K is loving headstart.

Mal - Saving to build your dream house sounds fabulous. I live with my mom and although we don't save much money it does allow me a break now and then that I ordinarily wouldn't get. Plus I've got free childcare for Dee for the 6-8 days a month I work. 

School: Dee will go to French Immersion where ds goes. There have been a few irritating things about it but overall it's been a good experience. 

Vaxes: Dee hasn't gotten any yet. Ds got two full rounds as a baby but then we stopped at 4 months because I started reading. He just recently got DtapIPV and MeningC. We have to go back for a booster on the DtapIPV and then I think we will also do the MMR. Booking separate appointments for all the shots is difficult. My doctor doesn't do it and we don't really go for well checkups. I don't think Dee has ever seen her. She saw a doc in emerge once when she had pneumonia. I really should take her in for a checkup. I'm sure there are things that could be wrong that I may not notice. Dh finally has a doc (hasn't had one in 10 years) and he likes him so we might switch Dee to him. 

AFU: We have had another round of illness here. Fevers and coughs. I'm thinking of setting off a disinfectant bomb in the house. I'm seriously done with the illness. We've been taking probiotics, and Vit D and sleeping a lot. Any other suggestions ladies?

[justKate]

Following along but no time to post today.

Cindy, thinking of you. 

Starling, have you seen this Group? http://www.mothering.com/community/groups/show/25/unplanned-c-section-after-long-labor-support-group  A spin off of the same thread in the Ceasarean thread.  Not sure how you're feeling about it but i know my section was pretty hard on me.

Will be back for more when I have time!

[Vegan Princess]

Just wanted to let you know my ultrasound went well today! Baby measured a day ahead and heart rate was 174. Got to see the spine and arm and leg buds and placenta. I get to stop the progesterone shots in 3 days! I calculated and I think that will be 70something shots for this baby! Well worth it though. I graduated from the RE. I have my first OB visit a week from friday and another ultrasound then. I'm sure I'll be a nervous wreck before that one too. 

So the doc called this morning. The pediatrician had sent an email to the pediatric orthopedic surgeon asking if he wants to see M about her toe walking or not. They called today and scheduled an appt for her to see him in a couple weeks. I'm really glad my pediatrician is proactive about referring us. But I hope he just gives us some stretches/suggestions and sends us on our way.

Cindy