Summer Days - Sept '07 Mamas

[*jeanine*]

Hello from Montana!

How was everyone's Fourth of July?

[~Katie~]

It had the potential to be good but shooting off cannon fire every 5 seconds during the actual fireworks was a bit overkill and basically ruined the chance of any enjoyment from it. The fireworks themselves weren't even loud, so apparently they were going for something more dramatic that just came off as obnoxious. Liam refused to even watch them, Laine cried for a while and then watched them as we were walking back to the car. We ended up leaving a couple of minutes after they started.

[Plaid Leopard]

Thanks for the new thread.

I mentioned to my kids that it was the 4th of July. We didn't do anything special to celebrate.

I am trying not to stress about house-hunting. Three beautiful houses - right size/right locations/rightish price came up for rent and were taken by the time I called. I know that means that they weren't for us and something better will come along but I don't like not knowing where we are going to live or when we can move. (note to self: you cannot be in control of everything. Everything always works out for the best when you just let go and trust.)

DH started his new job last week - working from home most days until we move - and he is so much happier. I can just tell by his attitude. He is being playful and affectionate and just more pleasant to be around.

Y's vocab is really growing by leaps and bounds, although there is some work to do in the pronunciation department. He makes me laugh when he says "in f*ck, I pwefer a fwackuh" (in fact, I prefer a cracker).

[HeatherB]

The 4th was pretty mellow here. We went to church (as usual), went to lunch (as usual, but our regular place was closed so we ended up going to a Vietnamese place which is a hike but sooo good), took naps, had leftovers ('cause I was *starving*), and then went down to our neighborhood park/lake to see the fireworks. They're shot off from the bigger park about a quarter mile away, so it's a pretty good angle. The only problem is the ones that make designs aren't facing us. But, it was cool. The boys all had fun, though Judah started out rather impatient. He was calling out, "Fiiii-uh-wooorts!" quite loudly, as though he wanted them to come out and play. Afterwards, he kept seeing the radio towers or whatever they are at that have warning lights at the top (for aircraft), and was telling us there were more fireworks.

Plaid, I hope you find just the perfect home! And for your DH being happier! That is awesome!! Mine told me the other day that he's not happy with his job, which he has been for a long time.. he's definitely stressed, and I can only imagine what a relief it would be to have him happy and enjoying it again!

20+ weeks now. Hard to believe! Judah will make me lay on my back so he can poke at the baby. They can't feel baby moving yet, but can feel the "lump" that is the baby, and it's quite sweet. He'll talk to the baby and kiss my belly, too.

Trying to keep plowing through the necessary things to get this house sold. Our realtors came over on Saturday and we had a good talk. Very realistic, but encouraging nonetheless as they think we can sell "as-is" for a price that will net us what we need. We just need to do MORE decluttering to get that to happen.

My MIL comes in on Saturday to stay for 10 days. DH's birthday is next week and this is the first time she's come in for it. Thankfully, the house is in really good shape overall, so that's not a big stress. But, we do need to get more work done before she gets here, clean out and rearrange carseats in the car, etc. The upside is she's taking us to Fogo de Chao for DH's birthday and we're all going to drive into the Hill Country to investigate an area she may want to move to. (Which is a bit scary, but, we'll cope.) We should have fun with an overnight trip.

So Judah has seemed to be totally potty trained, though we've left him in a diaper at night because he's not always dry when he wakes. But, then he's had several accidents this last week. Not sure what's up - regression? Normal bumps in the road? Too busy? Not enough reminders? Who knows... Anyway, still better than being in diapers, but I'm hoping we continue forward progress!

I was going to say that he's fully weaned, but he has asked to nurse a few mornings in the last week, too. He does say that there's nothing left, and that's certainly my feeling. But he's quite happy to tell me that when baby comes, there will be more milk. I am wondering if he'll try to tandem nurse, but it's still quite a few months away. So we'll see.

[~Katie~]

You will find a great house, Plaid! Hurray for your DH being in better spirits!

Heather - Can't believe you're already half-way there. I hope the visit with your MIL goes smoothly. I have said that Liam was fully weaned as well but he asked to nurse last week when Andrew went back to work and has nursed a few times since. He still seems to remember how despite not having done it in a while.

As far as PLing we started back at it today and he did well peeing outside and then coming inside and going a few times in the potty with underwear on. I'm really ready for him to be done with diapers at least during the day. He woke up from a nap and completely flooded his pull-up and his shorts were covered in pee so they're just not cutting it anymore, plus he's in the biggest size pull-up so we're at the end of the line.

Lindsay - How are you feeling, mama?

[*jeanine*]

Postcards are purchased

[leanbh]

omg, is this baby gonna come out yet? 38 weeks today, and my hips are killing me. my pubic bone is on the mason-dixon line of doom. BUT, we press on. it's going to be almost a hundred degree here today, and dare i say, we have NO air conditioning. well, we have it in the bedroom, but there is nothing to do in the bedroom. i've been getting contractions (super intense BH through which i can feel my cervix doin' its job) for the last 3 days. i know it doesn't mean anything, but i really want it to mean something. :P i'm tired and large.

and how is it that my daughter can go naps in her non-AC room in the middle of the day and ASK FOR A BLANKET. she's an effin' nutcase.

on top of this, there's this whole drama with DH's family. they're coming out to visit. they were going to come for ro's birthday, but now it's for DH's uncle's wedding, which is totally cool with us. but then i was like, well DC2 will only be like 6-8 weeks old. driving 5 hours each way to new york and attending a wedding, etc., MAY not be doable for me and the little ones. and my MIL freaked, talking about how we don't really make the effort and traveling with the baby should be no big deal. and i'm like, i'm sorry, i'm just not making a commitment right now before this baby is even born, before invitations have even gone out, before we know, if we have 500 dollars to spend on a weekend in new york. it's been very frustrating. i won't even get into the guilt trips his sister has been laying on all of us.

[Sabo]

Originally Posted by leanbh

omg, is this baby gonna come out yet? 38 weeks today, and my hips are killing me. my pubic bone is on the mason-dixon line of doom. BUT, we press on. it's going to be almost a hundred degree here today, and dare i say, we have NO air conditioning. well, we have it in the bedroom, but there is nothing to do in the bedroom. i've been getting contractions (super intense BH through which i can feel my cervix doin' its job) for the last 3 days. i know it doesn't mean anything, but i really want it to mean something. :P i'm tired and large.

and how is it that my daughter can go naps in her non-AC room in the middle of the day and ASK FOR A BLANKET. she's an effin' nutcase.

on top of this, there's this whole drama with DH's family. they're coming out to visit. they were going to come for ro's birthday, but now it's for DH's uncle's wedding, which is totally cool with us. but then i was like, well DC2 will only be like 6-8 weeks old. driving 5 hours each way to new york and attending a wedding, etc., MAY not be doable for me and the little ones. and my MIL freaked, talking about how we don't really make the effort and traveling with the baby should be no big deal. and i'm like, i'm sorry, i'm just not making a commitment right now before this baby is even born, before invitations have even gone out, before we know, if we have 500 dollars to spend on a weekend in new york. it's been very frustrating. i won't even get into the guilt trips his sister has been laying on all of us.

Ugh, I think I blocked out all the discomfort connected with summertime pregnancy. You have my sympathy.

Aili likes to pull up blankets to go to sleep, but kicks them off during the hot night. She gets it from me. I need to at least have a sheet covering at least my foot in order to fall asleep in bed and that's a big improvement from when I used to need to cover my entire body to fall asleep.

Oh, sorry about the grief from the IL's. We traveled 7 hours for my grandma's funeral when Aili was 9 months old and that was not a lot of fun, but doable. However, in your case, you don't even know your new baby's temperament yet and the babe will still be VERY young at the time of the wedding. It's too bad the family isn't being more understanding.


4th of July is just too much excitement and too long a day for my little girl. She was screaming angry the whole 30-45 minute drive back from her great-grandma's house. "I'M CRANKY!! . . . I"M SO MAD!!!! . . .I'M ANGRY!"

I tried to ask her if she liked being angry and she said no and then asked her if she wanted to stop being angry and she shouted, "NO!" So yeah, not fun.

[~Katie~]

Lindsay. I'm sorry family isn't being more understanding. I think they reach a point where they forget just how difficult it is to travel with a small child, especially when you have to stop frequently to nurse, change, etc. Those contractions definitely mean something. I'm so excited for you

[*jeanine*]

Our 4th was spent at my uncle's house. It's not even dusk there at 10 pm (we were like 40 miles from Canada). They got fireworks. We had to stay up for them, which was ok. A smidgy too late, but not too bad - we just never really adapted to the other time zone. But it's at night that close to Canada. Apparently they got two different kinds of fireworks - the "safe and sane" ones which caused a small fire under a tractor, and the illegal ones they had to go to the indian reservation to get. I would have been happy with glow sticks

We're almost home, thank goodness.

Almost time for Lindsay's baby

[HeatherB]

I keep reading and not replying... but now I need advice.

So, Judah potty trained quite readily. Took off his diaper, gave him a potty, and he took himself from Day 1. We spent about a week bare-bottomed and he was very consistent. Then I introduced underwear and we worked on going in public places. He got to the point where he'd just pull his underwear around his feet (instead of taking them off altogether), and he also would, on his own, put the potty ring seat on the big potty and climb up onto that to go. He was staying dry a lot of nights, but still in a diaper just in case. He'd wake up, take off his diaper, and go potty in his little potty.

One night, he woke up in the middle of the night crying that he needed to go potty. It was a night where I was only getting about 4-5 hours of sleep anyway, after a very long workday, and I told him, "You've got a diaper on; it's okay." Eventually, he went back to sleep.

That's around the time when he's started "regressing" in his pottying. Where he had basically not wet his underwear at all, he's started doing it a lot: twice today, even! He's had BMs in his underwear, too, which is NO fun to clean up. And, he won't tell us when he's had an accident. One time, I only found out because he came to show me his finger. Having seen that happen before when he'd poke in his diaper, I asked right away what was on it. "Ickies!" he proclaimed. Ugh. He was wearing boxers so it wasn't even contained in them. This afternoon, he had diarrhea (which may or may not have been possible to get to the potty with) and since he was naked (in hopes he'd go potty) he made a really nasty mess *on the bed* where he'd been sleeping - and where I *was* sleeping. Of course, he didn't say, "Mom, there are ickies." He eventually showed me his hand, as I groggily looked around for the source of the smell.

My other boys both potty learned at 2 (earlier than Judah) and I *never* had regressions with them. I am just not sure what is going on with him. His behavior is getting really crazy, too, like being very disobedient, wild, etc. I don't know if this is likely an overall issue, or just a pottying issue, or something else?

Worse, my MIL comes in tomorrow (Saturday) for TEN days. Staying WITH us. I know we can't handle dealing with several messes a day while she's here. My DH will already be on edge, and the messes send him over the top. NOT what I want to have happen. But I also don't want to discourage his pottying, so I am very hesitant to put him back in diapers. I do have a limited number of somewhat absorbent "trainers," but they won't really keep messes in entirely, either. We did put him in diapers earlier because of the diarrhea (a good thing, too, because he told us he needed to go but had lightly soiled the diaper by the time he could get it off - totally normal for that instance, but easier to deal with in a diaper). He was content to keep the diaper on and use it for quite a while, though when his big brothers were going potty, he stripped it off, put his potty seat on, and climbed up to go potty all by himself.

So I guess I'm just confused and not sure what to do, especially for the next ten days. I know that having a few messes isn't unusual in potty training. But, it's very unusual for Judah, which is the frustrating part. If we were just starting out or he were at a point where he'd had 5 accidents in a day and we were down to 2, I'd think it was fine. But going from NO accidents (even when we were out for 4-5 hours AND he napped during that time AND he didn't want to use a big potty) to seemingly ignoring his need to go potty has got me really wondering what's going on.

[leanbh]

oh, heather, i feel ya. we had about two weeks of potty learning regression here, and being so pregnant, and DH being away on business... i just about lost the rag with every stitch of underwear in the house. it's not enough that i have to change my underwear three times a day, but ro's as well?!?!

anyway, as soon as things returned slightly to normal (ie, trev came back and our meals become more routine, etc), she's been very good. she's gone a week without an accident.

i think it's a phase, and it's probably a definite reaction to something going on in his world. they are naturally curious which is HORRIBLE when poop is involved.

i tried to tell her nicely when she had an accident that if she was not going to go on the potty, we would need to find her a diaper. i know that's kind of a no-no to give that kind of ultimatum, but it was the only thing that worked. i was patient and understanding and didn't scold, but i was also fed up and told her that. "this is hard for me. i don't like cleaning up messes. i have a hard time cleaning this mess because i have a baby in my belly." nice and simple while i cleaned up the mess. she always helped me, too, but i needed her to understand that i was not happy about this.
bam, as soon as trev got back, she hasn't had an accident in a week.

we do keep her in diapers at nighttime, but we use disposables at night. i HATE them, but it really helps her tell the difference between underwear and a diaper. and i figure i'm not doing to bad to use one diaper a day. "i am in my jammies, i wear a diaper. it sounds like this.." and she'll move her hips.

so, i know it's not helpful, but rest assured it's probably a phase and he'll get over it with a little patience. i also read something about skill regression where at this age, if they're trying to learn or do something new, they leave other skills, like pottying, behind for a few days because they figure that they've mastered it and that want to focus.

AFM, i am SOOOO happy trev is back. holy crud, that was a hard week. katie, i have no idea how you did it all that time! i was about ready to put ro on craigslist.

i'm still bakin' this bun too. luckily, it's been a little cooler here than the 100 degree temps of earlier this week. we're going in for maternity pictures this morning. i'm glad i made it this long. i'm a photographer, and my dad is kind of handing down the 'historian' gene to me. he and i will moon over pictures for hours. so while everyone in my family has been like, oh, you never take pictures of the second one, i'm like... you know what... i take pictures of EVERYONE and my kids the most! i make a big effort, even did before i was married with kids, to get pictures of nieces and nephews.

anyway, i'm still tired and hot! i'll let y'all know when that changes.

[~Katie~]

Ugh, pottying. This to me is one of the most challenging things about parenthood. For the last week Liam has been in underwear during the day but still has 2 or 3 accidents a day. He won't go unless he's brought to the toilet, instead he'll just pee in his underwear and bring them to me and ask for a new pair. He even asks to wear diapers instead and will put them on himself if I refuse. He was doing so well and going on his own and was enthusiastic about it. At this point i'm adamant that we are not going back to diapers no matter what and we're just going to push through until he gets the hang of it again.

Heather - I hope this visit with your MIL goes smoothly and is over quickly.

Lindsay - Hope the photos go well, can't wait to see them!

[leanbh]

maternity photos posted to facebook... the ones we chose anyway.

[~Katie~]

You are gorgeous, Lindsay! Love the family photo of Ro upside down!

[HeatherB]

Love all the pics, Lindsay!

Judah has been doing well today with pottying. MIL is here and the stress of trying to clean on my own didn't *quite* kill me. Almost. The car still needs to be vacuumed out and one seat still needs to be moved over. But, it'll probably be okay at least for now - until we all need to ride together. At least in the morning, DH will go to church on his own so we don't need the extra seat. Whew.

[Faliciagayle]

hey ladies

Pottying is not happening. Chaya's in diapers 100% of the time. I try to be cool but it gets the better of me more often than not. She resists diaper changes to the point of fighting them (banana back, kicking, etc). When she chooses to wear a trainer she insists she "can't" go on the potty, despite clear signals that she needs to go. Then she'll pee on the floor or poop in her trainer. I don't know what to do.

On top of that, along with being a splendid human most of the time, she is going through this phase where she is hitting, pinching, biting, kicking. We do the whole "hands are not for hitting" etc, gentle touches, etc, that hurts mommy, etc. I am at a loss. Her newest thing is to cry unconsolably when she gets her way, changes her mind, gets that, then cries to go back to plan a (e.g. she asks for PB&J, we make it together, she crumples on the floor screaming and crying, she chooses something else, we start it, she crumples on the floor screaming I WANT PB&j. I am about to lose my mind. The hitting and pinching make me angry. Telling her I'm angry doesn't seem to make a difference.


Lindsay - beautiful pics! You are strong!

Heather - GL with the MIL

[mommajb]

jeanine, I beed to ask you to pm me when you start a new thread unless you gals are trying to lose me? for post card.

Katie, it sounds like your ifreworks were more of a bust with all that booming.

Plaid, I hope the perfect home presents itself to you soon.

Heather, it seems like your pregancy is moving at lightening speed, at least from here,

leanbh for the heat at 38 weeks and the family pressure. Weddings can be so much fun and a giant reunion or they can be a money pit and giant headache. Rarely are they simply boring.

Linus has the occasiobnal accident, almost always poop and with dh. The other day we were out running errands and he told me he had to poop. I asked if he wanted his bblp in the van or to go home as he won't poop on the big toilet without his seat. He chose to go home and made it just fine. I don't know why dh can't get him to the pot on time.
As far as Judah troubles, perhaps his stomach has been upset and when the runs clear up he will do better? Perhaps the house and baby and what all else is on his mind? Perhaps he is making a leap somewhere else right how?

FG, :grouph for you and Chaya. I wonder what is going on in her head right now?

The other day Linus threw a giant fit because I got him the wrong peach and he could not be reasoned with. Surprising at almost 3 yo, isn't it? After trying for a bit to convince me to cut a second peach he sent me away and fell asleep at the kitchen table still telling me off. It is so hard for him to get enough sleep given all the daylight yet summer is very fatiguing. Today alone was house cleaning, a book signing, a trip to the pool, the 4H fair and a bike ride for ice cream. He is out for a calming yet bug filled walk before bed. We'll see how that works. Last night he was attacked by a lightening bug so he came home all hyped up on adrenaline.

[HeatherB]

So sorry so many of us are dealing with potty issues! Judah did pretty well today, but ended up with one or two accidents. Not what I wanted to deal with after this exhausting day, but, oh well. Thankfully, most of his accidents have been pee - and the poo accidents (excepting the one in the bed ) were all solid enough. I'm wondering if he's just getting distracted, or so accustomed to going potty that he's pushing it further, or maybe he's confused by being half in diapers and half not. Sigh. I dunno.

Alicia, . I hope things settle for you and Chaya!

It is crazy the moods and ruts these little ones can get in. I am going to guess it's just the age and autonomy, etc., causing all of this craziness with them. I hope they settle in to themselves soon!

I wish I could remember all the cute things Judah says and does... I remember he said *something* but now I have no idea what. Poor third child. My brain is gone already.

[~Katie~]

We are still pushing on with the pottying. Liam had three accidents in a row yesterday but did pretty well today. I'm determined to not buy anymore diapers for him except for night-time and when we need them for outings. He seems to have good days and not so good days. I found him some boxer briefs and he seems to really like those because they look like daddy's

Onto cycle #3 for us. 12DPO and another stark white negative, despite excellent timing I really didn't have high hopes at all. It's starting to get a little depressing.