Are we ready for this??? Our sweet little babies are growing up!
And I just have to say that I think it is so awesome that we have been chatting for well over 3 years now! I am so thankful to have all you awesome mamas in my life :)
So let's keep chatting!
Ok, I'm trying to respond to things from the last thread!
Mal - I hope Owyn had an awesome birthday party!!! I'm glad she's happy with her earrings. I had mine pierced when I was 6, my aunt had them done for me as a 'surprise' for my mom.. I'm not sure my mom was thrilled.. But I was happy with them :P Although I stopped wearing earrings in high school and never wear them anymore.
Kate - I'm glad your OB appointment went well! I'm keeping you in my thoughts. I hope your VBAC goes smoothly and no induction is needed :) It won't be long now! That's awesome that Aubs stays in bed til the sun comes up! Wow! R gets cranky if I leave the bed to get ready before he wakes up :/
Sue - That would be so exciting if you can move up your moving plans! The only place in the US I've lived is NC (north of Charlotte). I actually really liked it there, nice climate, nice people, we were about 4 hours from the ocean (Charleston SC - I love that area!) and about 2 hours from the mountains (Asheville). Other than that I think Canada is pretty awesome ;)
Cindy - Let me know how M likes the movie! I've wondered about taking R, he likes the book. I just don't like the cost of a trip to the movies.... That is soo cute that she says she only sleeps in her bed on Mondays lol!
Just quick. Mostly just adding my subscription. Thanks for starting the thread Everr! I cannot believe we are here!!! Seems like we just moved to toddlers yesterday!
We're not doing the movie this weekend. We got freakishly beautiful weather (mid 70s!) so we are spending as much time outside as possible this weekend. :-) I think it'll be crappier next weekend - and DH is really against taking her on opening weekend. So I'll let you know next week. :-)
Cindy
Wow it's amazing that we have been chatting this long. It's been so nice to be able to follow your journey's. The fact that my baby is 3 makes me think it's time for another baby sigh... Thanks for starting the thread Ever
I wish I was well enough to take the kids to the movies. I'm still exhausted and slightly congested. I ended up having to take dh to the emergency room Friday because he passed out at the doctor's office (he had passed out in the morning as well). I was at work and had to leave abruptly. I've never had to do that it felt awful but I was so worried about dh that I didn't really care at that point. Thankfully my bf was working in emerge that day and she moved his chart to the front of the pile so we didn't have to stay for the entire day. He had an x-ray and bloodwork and tried to pass out again but thankfully I could see it on his face and warned the lab tech and we lied him down fast enough. Doctor thinks he has strep on top of an influenza. His fever was incredibly high even with advil and tylenol. His face was bright red all the way to his chest and he was barely able to stay awake or move. He's now on antibiotics and I had to give him both fever reducers every four hours until his temperature stayed below 38. His fever finally broke this morning and he sort of looks human again. My mom thankfully was an incredible help during all the illness and hospital visit.
I'm so behind on everything I just want to crawl under the blankets and cry.
The kids are whiney and fighting.....
Cindy I'm so jealous of your weather we have snow right now.
Nilla ... That sounds awful! I hope his fever comes down and he starts to feel better soon. Strep A?
I can't believe we've been chatting for over three years! That's wild!
We've still got this dang cold that just won't quit. RSV and viral bronchitis are going around ... I wonder if we've got some variation of one of those? Whatever. We're getting on with life, living it with awful coughs and congestion. But the heck with it, we went swimming this morning.
H loves swimming! Yay for water baby number TWO!
I'll be back later ... must eat something. Swimming makes me hungry!
Thanks for starting the thread, Ever!
Movies ... We took E to the Winnie the Pooh movie in the summer. She loved it!
We're here! Wow, can't believe we've been together this long! I was just thinking today that it might be fun to get the kids involved with our little group. Maybe a penpal type thing? Owyn always sees the pictures up here and asks about your little ones. I find it so strange that she doesn't know them when I feel like I know all of you so well!
We made it to see The Lorax today. Thanks for the idea, Cindy! Owyn LOVED it. She sat very still the whole time. So much that I had to remind her to go potty when I saw her squirming a little. She just didn't want to miss it. And I really liked it too, such a great story. She came home and asked to watch Cinderella but passed out on the couch before I could even say no. She's had quite a big weekend!
Mal - Happy Birthday to Owyn! Sounds like she had a good and busy time.
Nilla - Ugh, that sounds awful. I really hope everyone is better soon.
I also can't believe how long this chat has been going - and how big they've all gotten. I turn around, and suddenly I have no babies at all anymore - just one big kid and a toddler who wishes she was a big kid too.
Speaking of big kids, K has become absolutely obsessed with letters and phonics lately. Philosophically, I want nothing to do with pushing academics. But I'm not sure it's up to me. All he wants to do is draw letters and type letters, and try to make the sounds. He was doing text chat with his aunt on Skype the other day, and managed to sound out and read "cat", "dad", and a few other things all by himself. Slow down! Where did my baby go?
Holy Cow! Childhood years? This is amazing! Love you Mamas!
Nilla: Oh dear! I hope he starts feeling better soon.
Sick: I think that although she is over the flu, Fiona is now getting a cold. And my throat hurts. We are with you Starling in the never ending sickness this winter. I'm ready to be healthy!!
I took M to a baby shower today. She hated it! So many people. She slept for a while in the wrap and then fussed and cried the rest of the time so we left early. I feel like she gets overstimulated so easily and I don't know if I can do anything about it other then let her nervous system catch up with her and continue to keep things mellow. She nursed a ton when we got home and fell fast asleep of course!
Erin: Way cool about K reading! Sounds like you don't have a say in it! Pretty awesome. I'm going to purchase of make some sandpaper letters ala Montessori and start to work with F a bit with them because she is also suddenly showing a big interest. Maeve was cooing at her the other day and Fiona got so excited, "She said ggg, she's learning her letters Mama! I'll go get ggg- " then she ran of to get her magnet letters and came back with a b. Pretty close!
crikey I was 30 posts behind on the other page and now we are somewhere different. so if my responses are a bit out of order or not full of the latest details please excuse.
Kate- glad for a good OB appt and a bit jealous of Aubs staying in her own bed all night. June still needs to fall asleep with me and then occasioanlly wake sup and comes BACK into our bed. But once she falls asleep I make Chris take her back because I need room to move now.
alright I am gogin to have to finish catching up later as June wants to do stuff. I DID get through all 30 posts in the toddler area and will transfer over my post from there and then come back and catch up at some point with the new childhood (OMG) forum posts.
Catching up is overwhelming, I'm about 30 posts behind, but I am going to try.
Starling- Coraline is doing well, I had my mother blessing yesterday and they henna'd my belly and she just loved all the attention, she was rolling and kicking and just in general making the henna process a bit herder for those decorating my belly. LOL
as for old computers, do they ever die gracefully? I simply love seeing th pics you post of E and H. And Happy Birthday to you, sounds like a nice day.
Erin- i read my husband the debate of bike over walking in the snow and he once again reiterated why he likes Florida so much. As for school, I struggle with this question often. Florida has some of the worst public schools in the nation. There are a few decent options you can possibly get into via lottery but none of them are even close to as good as the private school we have them in. It does make it tough because we trade work for their schooling and Hubs often doesn't make it home for dinner with us because of that. Every once in a while we tour a public school and we are reminded why it is worth it. The kids are so far beyond what they are doing in public school and we don't think they would properly accomadate them, their private school has different teachers for each class, their is a lot of outside time and they teach them to learn not to take some test. It's like homeschooling in a very small school environment. Your public school sounds pretty nice though and if we lived somehwere else I might be more willing to consider public school.
Cindy- so happy for a nice healthy babe and for laying chickens!! Your movie theater sounds awesome. I have hear dpeopel say the Lorax is good but I have hated the other dr.suess books made into full length movies, although I almost want to go anyway because of the repubs saying it's a brainwashing movie put out by liberals. Haha, alas we can not afford to go to the movies.
Everr- yeah for midterms finished!!
Kate- My kids vax schedules are all crazy too.
as for baby timing-
Jewel-40 w 2 days
Josie-41 w 3 days
Junie-40 w 1 day
(okay now to respond to the next page of stuff.)
oh and here's a linkto the photo shoot my friend did, password Pink
http://sweetplumphotography.zenfolio.com/p469442320/h38f27624#h1fc85644
be back soon.
Nilla- how scary to have your Hubs so sick.
my oldest daughter turns 9 today, or did already (she was born at 11:54 am) at this point they ( the hospital)had her and it would take us 3 hours to finally get her back, big reason we didn't go with a hospital birth ever again. Can't believe she is so big now. (and now I must go make her birthday cake)
Courtney that's a gorgeous belly! Happy Birthday to your big 9 year old!
Mal I can't believe she went through with the earrings. I know Dee wouldn't ever. Owyn's a determined little girl.
Erin Wow that's so early for the reading and phonics. I think when it comes to what they have an aptitude for you just provide them with the materials and they will self direct. My oldest has an aptitude for math, spatial relations and physics. I just provide him with games and activities and toys that enhance that he self-directs his learning. He has no interest in phonics or letters other than he wants to read so he can accomplish some of the math books and he wants to read his own books when he wants. I've provided him with learning activities for reading and phonics and he's just not ready for them. He can't self-direct there so I left it.
Sue - That's awesome that you know what she's allergic to. Garlic is not something I would really think of eliminating short of in an elimination diet.
I think Dee is getting sick now sigh... she seemed to escape most of it but now her and my mom are sick. She's sleeping now thankfully. If I can't go to work tomorrow I have no idea how I will pay my bills this month. Dh went to work this morning. I told him he must come home when his body tells him it's time to lie down. We have the teacher strike going on here this week so ds is at daycare so I can get some homework accomplished. He's been just awful lately yelling and fighting with dd. Like screaming at her until she bursts into tears. I'm at a loss with him right now so I sent him away to daycare (I know that sounds awful 
). It's so hard to know if the kids feel the same way we do with battling this last illness and if they are just out of sorts because it's still impacting them or if it's something else. I guess the strike and disruption in school could be getting to him as well. I know there is a lot of tension there.
Dee has been really funny lately in the way she's acting. She's just dancing around all the time and singing and saying things in different voices. It's so neat to watch her experimenting and then making herself laugh. She's also been really into music and dancing lately. I'm going to have to find ways to incorporate that into her day.
Easter: Thinking about baskets for the girls. I'd like to get a new CD of "kids" music. I'll probably stick it in M's basket since I can't think of anything else to give a baby! Any favorites Mama's? I think F will get a magnifying glass and some kids chop sticks. Maybe some stickers or clips or some other little things like that to put inside some plastic eggs. We usually get new books at the holidays too. I'll give her a few jelly beans too for her treat. Have you guys though about this yet?
Courtney: love the henna belly! So cool! And happy late birthday to Jewel. 9 years old! Wow!
Nilla: Sorry to hear that Dee is getting the bug too. I hate it when they are sick! I'm sorry things are so rough with your son right now too. I hope things can settle down soon. Do you have a Spring break coming up? Will the teacher strike affect that? I hope you can all rest easy and healthy soon!
I'm not sure what kind of changes I expected for Fiona in having her garlic free. It has only been one week but nothing has changed for her yet. Still itchy, complaining of her bottom and stomach hurts, mostly constipated. I know it takes dairy a couple of weeks to get out of the system so we'll see in another week if she's feeling any better. Maybe we just haven't had enough time. I still have this sense that we are missing something though. We still have the celiac test to do and the Dr. said he may want to do a patch test as well (which would reveal intolerances rather then true allergies if I have that right). Last night is the first time in weeks that she slept through the night though. She has been waking frequently and has been quite upset and taking a while to resettle. I was relieved to only have one baby to deal with in the night! (how do people with twins do it?!)
Sue, I responded to your question about CDs on Facebook, but we like Elizabeth Mitchell, Frances England, the Barenaked Ladies Snacktime CD and Keller Williams Kid. We're doing beach stuff in their Easter baskets this year for our trip this summer. I'll get them each a swimsuit and a few beach toys. I think I'll get Owyn more beach stuff so I can get Greta an Amber necklace. Owyn got hers on her first Easter too.
Owyn has been in such a bad mood this week. And I was just talking about how pleasant she's been lately. She does have a cold and it's making her more tired than normal, so I really think that does have a lot to do with it, but these huge screaming fits are about to drive me nuts! Last night, it took both DH and I to hold her down to get her pajamas on for bedtime. As soon as we finally got them on her, she immediately passed out in DH's arms. Right now, she's sitting on the floor with her Tegu blocks throwing a fit about the magnets not sticking together. I showed her how to turn them over to make the stick together, but she just doesn't have the patience for it right now.
Re: easter. I just saw something about dinosaur eggs - they hatch and there is a little dinosaur inside. I thought that sounded really cute. I found one on amazon for $5. I'll do a few jelly beans and maybe a cadbury egg bc I always got them. Maybe some stickers. And I think I'll order some face paint crayons. Makenna loves to draw on her face, wipe it off and re do it a million times at the childrens museum. That's about all, I think. I really want to get her this set of stampers of discount school supply, but I think I'll wait on that.
I gave up dessert for lent. I was eating way too much! I feel way better. But I am looking forward to eating some junk on easter! :-) Mostly I've been coveting these cookies from the farmer's market on Thursdays.
M has played by herself sooo nicely today. For hours. It's really unheard of for her to play for SOO long. She took out blocks, trains, bean bin, and played dentist on her babies. I got so much done around the house. I really hope this is the big blossoming of her imaginitive play! She already does a lot of imaginitive play, but she never plays for hours on end without stopping.
Mal: Sorry for the rough week. My bet is it's from not feeling well too. No fun!
Sue: Sorry the garlic removal hasn't helped yet. I hope it will in the next few weeks. You are still nursing F, right? So no garlic for you? I would be so bummed! You can send the garlic greens my way - I love green garlic!!
Nilla: I hope Dee feels better! Wow, a teacher strike! That's kind of crazy!
Erin: That's awesome that K is so into letters and phonics! I say run with it. I definitely don't agree with pushing it on a child that's not ready, but it sounds like he is and has the ability to learn to read pretty early on. I know there is debate as to whether reading early is beneficial - but I can't see how it can hurt a kid if they are into it.
Cindy
Starling: I forgot to ask how your supply is holding up without using the lactaid? :-)
easter-some candy. One of those singing things that looks sort of like a rabbit , maybe a book, and some bubbles or something.
Erin- very cool about the reading, my first was like that, when they are ready they are ready.
Mal- my friend and I are going through a lot of the same thing with our girls, a lot of it is the age, the new or soon to be new siblings don't help the situation. Like every day when I say I am making dinner she throws a fit b/c she wants me to make lunch not dinner.
Easter - I'm not even thinking about that yet! Hmm, I have no idea what he'll get. I have some new shoes from a while ago I could give to him, he's about ready for them. I don't know... Probably some chocolate eggs too. I think he'd enjoy a little easter egg hunt!
Cindy - I'm jealous of M playing be herself like that! Awesome!
Mal - Oh that doesn't fun! R is a challenge most days. He argues with me about EVERYTHING, even things that are just plain facts and not arguable. It is frustrating. He also never listens to a thing I say. Sometimes I feel like a total parenting failure.
Sue - R has a few putumayo cds and I love all of them. I want to get him another one (hmm, that's probably a good easter idea..) I'm sorry Fiona is still having some problems, I hope the changes kick in quick! Poor girl!
Nilla - You have so much going on. I hope your family gets healthy soon. *hugs*
Courtney - Love the belly paint!! I'm glad you had a nice mother blessing :) I'm excited to see some new baby pics in a few weeks :D
Erin - Wow - that's awesome that he's starting to READ! R is soo not into phonics at all lol!
AFM - like I mentioned above R is driving me nuts. He doesn't listen to anything I say, argues with me about everything, and is constantly doing stuff purposely because he knows it bugs me. I hate to say this but he is such a brat :/ He is also very bossy with both me and when we have my cousin's little boy over. I have to bribe him to get him to do anything. He makes everything into such a struggle and it's exhausting! I feel like I've gone wrong somewhere and I'm not sure how to fix it. Ugh :(
Ever: We definitely have days like that too. Sometimes it seems like more days like that than good days, we're definitely going through it this week! At home is pretty much the only way she acts like that though and knowing that does make me feel better. She does know how to behave, she just chooses not to when she's with me!
Today, we spent the afternoon making sticker charts. Two different ones. One big argument we've been having is over tv time. She wants to watch tv all. day. long. I don't know where it came from. Tv is not something she's ever been allowed to do all the time. I have a feeling she watches a lot of tv when I'm working. I know my niece has a tv in her room and that's where she goes a lot of the time when I'm working. And my MIL gets a little overwhelmed by both girls, so she depends on movies to help occupy Owyn when Greta needs her. So, we made a chart that has the days of the week and four different slots for each day. From now on, when she asks for a show or movie we'll put a sticker in one of the boxes. When her boxes for that day are full, then no more tv. She's going to hate it at first, but I'm hoping it helps eventually. The other one is for small household chores and good behavior. Her categories are "Pick up toys", "Throw your trash away", "Use kind words", "Follow Instructions", "Eat at the table", "Put on PJs", "Dry Pull-Up When we Wake", and "Good day at church". I've been paying attention this week to what our biggest arguments are about and writing it down when it comes up. Some of those things are things she could potentially get multiple stickers for each day. So, the rewards for those things are smaller, like Play-doh time or painting time. Things like a clean pull-up or good day at church that will take her longer to collect will have bigger rewards, like a mani/pedi from Mommy or picking out some new hair stuff or something. Tonight went pretty well. I have to remind her of the sticker chart right now, but I'm hoping eventually she'll remember and then the behaviors and responsibilities will become habit. That's that goal anyway, we'll see how she responds to it.
Mal: Please keep us updated on the chart! I think I'll need to steal the tv one. It's good for them to have something concrete to see that their slots are all getting filled up for the day. M asks way too much too. I'm curious how the good behavior chart will work out. It sounds a bit complicated but a great idea!
Everr: I complained about the same thing the other day - M never listens. I was at my friend's house yesterday and she gave me a discipline book to borrow called "Magic 1-2-3". (My friend has a daughter the same age). I can tell someone else lloaned/gave it to her. Anyway, the premise is really simple. If they are doing something you don't like and want them to stop, you calmly count. 1. wait five seconds, 2, wait 5 seconds, 3. And if they don't stop you say "ok, 3 minutes in time out" or you can take away a privelage "no game time or no dessert tonight". The idea is that once they understand how it works, they will stop before you get to 3. No talking in between counting, no getting emotional. Supposedly all the arguing or negotiating or explaining we do in between negates the effectiveness. Anyway, I tried it twice today. It works. So I'm curious to see how it goes once she knows the drill. I haven't finished the book - just read that main part. There is a more involved section on getting kids motivated to do things you want them to do, like clean up or eat dinner. Obviously just counting doesn't work for something that takes 15-20 minutes to complete. Anyway, I'm testing this out and i like it bc it's simple and it keeps you from yelling and getting emotionally overcharged. Bc I've found myself really yelling lately when M won't listen - and I don't want to be that kind of mom. Don't feel like you've gone wrong - I think it's just part of the "i do it myself" stage they're in. Learning what situations they can control and how they can control us - and learning to exert their will and independence. I know this rationally, but it still drives me insane when I ask M 15 times not to get on the table or to come with me when we're in a store, etc.
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