February '09 Mamas ~ Childhood Chat :) - Page 17

[AKislandgirl]

love the cat pool! LOL! 

Great to hear bedtimes are going pretty well for folks! I still have to lie down with F until she falls asleep- most nights its pretty quick though. Some nights she'll listen to her Winnie the Pooh audio cd with DH though and fall asleep with him which is glorious! :)

Mal and Everr: yeah for summer break! Hope the job hunt ends with the bakery gig E! That would be awesome!  Your me time sounds amazing!

DH came home last night a day early! I didn't tell F he was coming after I got the call. I asked her to check something on the porch when I heard his car pull up. She was so surprised and couldn't stop hugging and kissing DH! Super cute. Maeve was tired and ready for bed but was also full of smiles and gooey kisses for him. Melted my heart! He's home for 2 weeks now until heading out again.  He has to clean gear all day on the boat but is going to try to have tomorrow off which would be so great.

He was pretty shocked to hear about all of the allergies. First response- well, she's just going to have to eat some of it, we can't do this. NOPE- that's not how it works honey. I know he was just figuring it out and it does seem daunting. He'll be on board...

Hilarious conversation from the other day...

F: You know Papa and I have our own car?

M: Oh, you mean the volvo?

F: laughing- No! Papa doesn't have a vulva Mama! Vulva's are for girls! Papa has a peanut!

M: Trying not to wreck our car while driving and laughing- You mean a penis.

F: Yes, like a said, he has a penis.

Oh my sweet girl!

[Everrgreen]

I need to vent :(  So, I have another job interview next Thursday (yay!)  But, R's daycare subsidy ends on the Friday.  It's unlikely I'll get a job offer until the following week.  So I spoke to the subsidy people and they said my subsidy is just put on hold and I can use it as soon as I find a job.  So that's fine.  But then I talked to the daycare and as soon as R is done (ie. Friday) he loses his spot. They have a wait list and his spot will be gone immediately :(  So, my mom is going to pay for an extra week to give me time to find out about the job I have the interview for.  But after that, if I don't get this job, I have to take him out.  And I won't get him back in until September (he'll be put on a waitlist, but should get a spot.. Hopefully..).  So I can't continue job searching and I have no choice but to go on welfare for the summer.  I'm so depressed over this. Well, hopefully I'll get the job and it will work out (the subsidy will kick back in and R won't lose his spot).  I had hoped to just keep job searching until I found something because I need the money so badly.  The whole thing just really really sucks.  

[Thursday Girl]

that sucks that they can't hold the spot, that is super annoying. we had to deal with that when i lost my job when Jewel was little. We had to keep paying for daycare while i looked for work b.c the wait list was so long.

Sue, that's awesome that he came early.

urggg Corline doesn't like whren i type...reading though

[AKislandgirl]

NAK

Everr: that sounds so stressful! I hope everything works out for you.

Still muddling through meals around here. I have to read labels so carefully and have made a couple of mistakes. It's hard with so many foods of limits.

I went to a baby shower yesterday with just Maeve for 3 hours. It was so nice to have a break from Fiona. She's such an intense kid and having DH away is hard. I was happy to leave her with Dh and head out to recharge for a bit. It was a nice shower too. He heads out again in a couple of weeks so I'm trying to get away a bit while he's gone. School is almost out here too so I have a high schooler who will come watch Fiona (or rather take Fiona fun places) 1 x a week. Unfortunately she's on vacation with her family for half of the time DH is away on his next trip out to sea but I'll take what I can get.

Kind of a gray rainy day here. Time to make a cup of tea...

[Vegan Princess]

Sue: Check you out these days with the hired help! ;-) First a cleaner, now a mommy's helper. Good for you! I am going to look into hiring this neighborhood 11 yr old who works as a mother's helper after baby comes. She is homeschooled so she could be pretty flexible about when she came. I probably would have her very much, but might be nice to have her play with Makenna so I can nap or hold the baby so I can get some cleaning done. Has Fiona shown any improvement yet with the diet changes??

Starling: Are you back yet? Come tell us wonderful tales of your journey! And post some pics. :-)

Everr: What a lame pickle they've put you in!!! Good luck on Thursday - I'm so hoping you get the job!!

AFM: Things have been going well here. Makenna has slept in her fire engine bed next to our bed each of the 5 nights we've had it! And slept in it ALL night. We have a sticker chart going and she gets a toy after 2 more nights. She loves to talk about how proud of herself she is! :-) And we have stuck to doing quiet time every day too. We're up to 1/2 hour. She sits or lies quietly on the couch near me. But it's better than nothing and she is grasping that she does need to be quiet and not talk my ear off. 

Makenna and I met with a doula today. She is going to be in charge of M at the birth. Can take her in another room, etc if she is stressed out. But she is also a massage therapist and I really look forward to getting some massage during the birth! I didn't have a doula last time. And she says she can help coach DH so he can be more useful. LOL. M wants to see the baby come out, but she's not sure she wants to hang out for the labor part. She keeps asking if the doula can take her in her room and shut the door if I'm loud. 

Cindy

[Thursday Girl]

cindy, m is pretty funny. the doula sounds great.

sue- i totally get the intense kid thing. a break is nice. hooray that you are getting a cleaner and a 1x week take f fun places lady.

AFM i have been waiting to see the results of the faces of mothering contest and they changed it and now have a top ten which i made it into.  do wit it what you will ;) really hoping I win, since Juniper fell out of our bed a bunch even after I tried a side rail which in the end only made it so it took me LONGER to get to her. Josie fell out a few times too when she was in there...and once I fell out, i sort of was about to but le myself to see how scary it was for them to fall out...super scary by the way, even when i was expecting it. (yes, I'm pretty weird).  not sure if my mom is moving in at this point or not. if she does it will just be for a month.

[Vegan Princess]

Courtney: I voted for you just now. I hope you win! I think we're going to sidecar the crib this time. Perhaps baby will sleep in a bit and let me and DH have some closeness. But if nothing else, I think it will make nap time safer. LOL at you falling out. We had our mattress on the floor for a long time when M was younger. I didn't love that though. We started with a super high sleigh bed and have been thru a few platform beds until we found one we liked. I became an expert at selling bed frames on craigslist for a while there. LOL. 

[Thursday Girl]

that's pretty funny. our bed is kind of high too, but the mattress sits on a boxframe thing that has drawers in it and we NEED those drawers, so we couldn't lower it. We would have to give up one of the drawers for the co-sleeper, totally worth it though.

So my grandparents cam yesterday and I haven't seen them since June's first christmas or something crazy like that and for some reason it really made me realize how big Juniper is, maybe b/c I kept wanting to call the baby Juniper and Juniper Josie, since they were more those ages when I was with my grandparents. but it just really floored me that they are all so big. how did my kids get so big?

[AKislandgirl]

Courtney, smiling thinking bout you getting ready to "fall" off of your bed. Hope you win the contest! you were ahead by quite a bit when I voted for your fabulous picture!!

AFU: We are doing pretty well here. F's changes are subtle but the most exciting and unexpected benefit to getting her off of these foods is that she hasn't peed her pants in over a week. I know both Erin and Nilla mentioned allergies when I've talked about her frequent potty accidents but I'm amazed! She has control of her bladder and hasn't had an accident in over a week!!! She was having daily accidents before this. I just came to think of it as normal. Her bowel movements are a bit more regular too. Skin still itchy but I think it will take several weeks to see changes there.

This weekend is Crab Festival in Kodiak. Carnies come to town and lots of great food booths. There will be a parade on Saturday. I'm not sure how to handle the food thing yet... there is bound to be contamination even if we find something that is technically ok. We just hit up the mexican food booth for a corn tortilla with cheese and black beans and hope for the best as far as contamination goes. This event is only once a year and pretty much the biggest deal in Kodiak. Don't want to miss out or eat in front of her so we'll have to make a compromise...

The house cleaner was here this morning! So happy to have hired her for the summer. Makes me happy!!

I came home from an eye appointment earlier to find M asleep on DH with the ergo. He can't reach back and clip it because of a bad shoulder so F did it for him! 

[Nillarilla]

Sue so glad you are seeing results. I know I haven't pm'd you yet and I will. Food events are so hard. I can't take the risks because of the explosive and long lasting results with my kids so unfortunately they do miss out on some of those treats but I make sure to find a substitution they like equally as much. So that when we are eating something like pizza I have candies that Dee can have and a food she likes, usually fries are ok in a lot of places and she loves fries. Sometimes the indian booths are ok because they make their rice without broth's and use coconut milk instead of dairy and don't really use soy products. Maybe this is an option for you? Mexican I would be concerned about because the corn tortillas often contain gluten and/or soy and the beans can be thickened with flour or if they come out of a can they have soy in them. It's such a process learning and making mistakes and learning some more. I find if I have a couple of go to foods that I can find almost anywhere that I know they will eat then I feel 'safe'. I actually find family events the most stressful because I don't trust people even though I know they mean well and want to help they just don't have the same experience or knowledge. 

Courtney I voted. Nice pic! 

Cindy yay on the doula and the sleeping in her bed. I was going to have a doula last time but didn't use her because of the c-section. I felt better just knowing she was available. 

[AKislandgirl]

Nilla: what you said makes so much sense! Since we are just diving in and seeing a bit of progress I really don't want to undo our humble beginnings! We'll probably end up packing something... she can still do dairy so getting ice cream should help! :)

Gorgeous sunshine today. Heading to a playground with some friends later in the morning. I'm hoping the sun sticks around for the festival- especially parade day.

[Mal85]

Sue, good luck with the festival. That would be a really difficult event to take her to considering all her limitations are still new. I understand, too, not wanting to miss out. I like Nilla's suggestion for finding an equally special treat she can have. 

I'm officially done for the summer!! I went in this morning for our year-end meeting, got all my orders in and paperwork done for next year. I went in a couple of days ago and cleared out my classroom for summer cleaning. So, I am done, done, done until August 6, woo hoo! I made an appt for the girls to get portraits done this summer. I love, love this photographer we're using. I went to high school with her and she is AMAZING. I have wanted to get pics with her for ages, but she is super expensive. I decided to just bite the bullet this summer and get them done. So, I'm having a garage sale in a couple of weeks to help come up with the money and that is keeping us pretty busy. Owyn really loves going through everything with me and helps sort things into different piles for me. It's awesome that she is actually old enough to help with things around the house! She knows my morning routine is to de-clutter the house as soon as I get up in the morning, so she has started picking up the living room in the mornings, totally on her own. She'll put Greta's toys away, put clothes in the hamper, throw trash away, etc. It's awesome! 

[Everrgreen]

Just thought I'd check in here :)  So, I had my job interview today and it looks like the job is mine.  She's checking references tomorrow and then said she'd call Monday and needs me to start immediately.  Woohoo!  I have to pay out of pocket for next week's daycare which sucks.  If I get a couple shifts I might get some reimbursed though.  And it turns out I have to switch R to home daycare anyway.  The job is only part time and involves Saturdays so the daycare he's at won't do.  I'm going to keep him on the wait list there for September when I'm back in school but for the summer he'll have to go to a home daycare.  They've matched me up with one and I'm going to meet the woman there tomorrow.  So things are sort of coming together.  I wish I could have kept R at the daycare he's at.  I'm disappointed about that and I hate doing that to R when he has his friends and knows all the staff :(  But I really need the job..  Oh well :(

[Vegan Princess]

Mal: Woot woot!!! Enjoy your summer!! 

Sue: Glad you are getting some sun!

Everr: Yay for getting the job!!! What a bummer about having to switch the care - can't you do part time where he's at and maybe have you mom watch him on weekends? Just a thought - but I'm sure you probably would be doing that if it worked. 

AFM: We got photos done today at JC Penny. My dad sent M a super cute fancy dress and she recently got her hair cut to her shoulders - and Pennys is SO cheap - so I figured why not. They turned out really cute! I'm going to frame one for my dad for father's day. :-)

My chicken that went broody a couple months ago is going broody again already!! So soon??? Maybe my prego hormones are rubbing off on her. LOL.

Cindy

[Everrgreen]

The daycare he's at is full time only.  My subsidy will only pay for days I'm scheduled to work.  So, if I have 3 shifts during Monday to Friday, the subsidy will pay for 3, and I have to pay for 2 (even though I'm not working, but the daycare requires full time coverage).  I really really want him to stay there but I can't justify the extra cost.  I'm only going to be making minimum wage.  I emailed my mom asking if she'd consider paying for the extra days so maybe that will work.  But then she'd also have to agree to babysitting Saturday and I'm not sure how she'd feel about that.  I'm not sure what to do :/

[AKislandgirl]

Have to brag on baby Maeve.  We've been doing EC and in the last few days she's started signing potty to let me know she has to go. I'm blown away. 

Happy Summer Vacation Mal!

congrats on the job Everr! Hope that your child care situation comes together. Sounds tough.

Pictures: There is a woman here that I really want to do pictures with. I want family pictures but not sure I can talk DH into it. At the very least I may just say we are doing me and the girls and guilt him into it! Ha!

[Nillarilla]

Ooooh pictures that's a good idea. I know a couple photographers I should see if I get some done. 

Sue that's so cool about the EC. Good luck with the festival. The other thing I was going to add is that if I don't put a focus on the food and act nonchalant about it they usually have less of a reaction to it. As long as they have a substitute they like they are happy. This is harder with school for me since there is less control and advanced warning. 

Cindy that's so funny about the pre go hormones effecting the chicken. 

Ever I hope your childcare works itself out and congrats on the job.

Mal yay for being done for the summer. I'm jealous. 

[Everrgreen]

Well I think I'm going to keep R at the daycare he's at.  I talked to my mom about it last night and she said she'd help with the extra costs to keep him there.  Which is such a relief because I was feeling so guilty about switching him.  The poor kid always seems to get the short end of the stick :(  I went to visit a home daycare today just to see but I'm even more sure I want to keep him where he is.  The woman seemed very nice and she has a great schedule with lots of outdoor time.  But it was a small house and a bit messy and I just can't picture R being happy there at all.  I think he would be bored and it would be very very hard for him.  I'm hoping that once I start working there will be extra shifts available or maybe I can find a second job to help me get more of the daycare subsidized.  I'll still need help for Saturdays but my mom is mostly around and I have other family too.  I'll figure it out.  

Anyway!

Re photography - I want to get more done too!!  The only pro pics I have were in a studio and I'd love some outdoor ones.  Actually my new boyfriend (eek, can I call him that?? (formerly 'bus guy')) is an amazing photographer.  It's just a hobby but he is so talented.  I haven't introduced R yet but when I do I'll ask him to do a photo shoot for us :)

Sue - That is so awesome!!  I tried EC with R but got too lazy.  And it took him forever to start signing.  But, I still credit all my EC attempts to R's early potty training (well, that and the use of cloth diapers).  I'm glad to hear F is getting better :)

Cindy - Lol, poor chicken!  And I'd love to see a pic of M all dressed up :)

Mal - Woohoo!  Congrats!  What a relief to be done :)  Put your feet up and enjoy your summer break!

[justKate]

Cindy, hooray for a restful night! Fingers crossed that M continues to have luck in the fire truck bed.  How are YOU feeling?  Seems like the fall will be here so soon!  Too funny about your chicken.  

I love the name Rose.  DH wanted Aubs to be Audrey Rose, which ended up Aubrey Ruth.  I think Audrey Rose is also the name of some ship in a movie or something. So I've pumped twice now (trying to slowly build a little stash) and I thought of you.  I told you my augmented side has the better supply this time, right?  Its weird, because the un-augm. side gets soft when its empty, but the augmented side really doesn't get as soft.  Like the scar tissue is firmer or something.  Weird.  Still very grateful that it is better this time around.

Sue, fantastic about the lack of potty accidents. That's going to make Fiona feel more confident too... Your DH's reaction sounds like what I would expect of mine.  But things will adjust, of course.  I have to admit I'm curious about your DH's job...sounds like something mine would love.  Does he work for NOAA?  

Ever, did you say BOYFRIEND?   Is it official?  Are you boxing up the granny panties and shaving again and all that?  (IMO that's the worst part of dating!)  I hope that R can stay where he is.  If he does have to transition, maybe you can do it at the start of the school year, or the middle or something, when other kids are going back so that its not so weird for him.  I know what you mean about the poor kid thing though.  DH went to 10 different schools between Kindy and 12th grade, because his family was always moving--dad in jail, mom changing jobs, living with family members.  He isn't traumatized but it definitely impacted him (and the way he feels about the girls' schooling).  Have you gotten a definitive answer back about the job?

Seems like there's more I wanted to say...I'm having trouble keeping up these days.  Someone is always screaming...usually Aubs.  She's not coping well with Mallory all of a sudden.  Guess I should have expected that.  Aubs went to Grandma and Grandpa's house, then came back and has been miserable ever since.  Telling me she's sad all of the time, constantly trying to poke M's eyes, telling me she wants M to stay in my belly forever.  Not good.  DH is gone to Anaheim for a week (back next Friday night) so I'm on my own for now.  Which is actually kind of nice.  I'm going to try to get it together this week while he's gone.  The first task is to keep Aubs busier...I'm just going to try to keep her doing something constantly so that she can't think about Mallory or screaming at me.  Second task is to say "no" less often...because I'm finding myself saying it about stuff that doesn't really matter.  So I'm going to say "stop," "yes," or make a compromise.  At least that's my goal.

AFM, I feel like I'm still newly postpartum.  Mallory is six weeks old today, and I'm STILL sore along the top of the inverted-T.  Much worse than my classical incision.  Still feeling okay about my failed VBAC, but getting some support online through a private FB group and "Special Scars ~ Special Women."  Trying to stay positive.  I need to make my follow up appointment with the OB so that I can get more info--my understanding of what happened needs to get validated (or not) and I need to know if she agrees with the other OB who told me (not in these words) that getting pregnant again would be reckless.  I also need to make a 2 month appt. for Mallory.  Not sure why, since I'm not planning to vax yet.  I do think she has a plugged tear duct, but I guess that will either resolve itself or it won't.  Probably too early to worry about that much.

Next week I start studying for the bar exam, too.  Not sure how many hours/day I'm going to allot for it.  Thankfully M sleeps most mornings, and I can take Aubs to daycare any time for the next two months.  No time like the present to get all of this crap done, huh?  M was 13 lbs. at 4 weeks, so I need to consign a bunch of her stuff. Unless you need hand-me-downs, Courtney or Cindy?  Anything in particular? Mallory is wearing 3 and 3-6 mo. clothes already.  I know ya'll already have girls, but stuff does get worn out.  I had tons of NB and 0-3, then a gap, and a ton of 12 month size stuff. Weird.  I think Aubs was wearing that stuff at like 6-9 mos., when she started solids, so I got rid of the stained stuff.  Who knows.

Big girl waking up from her nap, gotta run....

[Vegan Princess]

Everr: So glad you can make the daycare thing work! And whoah - BOYFRIEND??? How exciting!! :-) LOL about Kate's comment about packing up the granny panties. Haha. 

Kate: I do recall you saying you had good supply on your augmented side. I forgot to respond. That is so great to hear! I can only hope I have half the luck! I dusted off my "making more milk" book and was reading about causes of low supply. I'm 99% sure mine is from my augmentation. Although, now I see there is a section in there about hormonal reasons and it lists low progesterone and luteal phase defect as a cause! I have no idea what my progesterone levels were when I was pregnant w/M. At least enough to not lose the preg. But it said one mom had a baby and had low supply, tried for #2 and found out she had luteal phase defect, took supplemental progesterone during preg and had a full supply the 2nd time. I guess low progesterone during pregnancy can inhibit proper breast growth in preparation for nursing.  So that is pretty much the same situation as me. Maybe the extra estrogen and progesterone I took for the 1st tri this time will help. But I'm not betting on it. Thanks for the hand me down offer. I think we're good. In fact, I plan on pulling ALL the bins out of the attic this weekend and organizing them and labeling them. Nesting has DEFINITELY set in!

Sue: That is so amazing that she can recognize the urge and sign it so early! I don't recall M using signs before 9-10mos old! I love the idea but I have no idea where to start. Maybe I'll read up on it. 

AFM: So as I said above, nesting has def kicking in. I've been busy sorting everything and giving things to goodwill, cleaning out closets, etc. It's pretty exhausting. LOL. Seems early but I guess I'd rather do it now than when I'm huge. I feel pretty good for the most part. Trying to be active. But yesterday I pushed M in the stroller up to the farmer's market. I was dying from some side cramp by the time we got there. And even though we hung out at the nearby park and with a friend at the market for 3 hours, it kicked in when it came time to walk home. I'd just talked to DH on the phone and he offered to pick us up. I wanted to walk the mile+ home but when I got up to leave it started up again - plus M started crabbing. So I had him pick us up. 

Fall still feels decently far off to me. LOL. But we have some trips planned down to San Diego to see my family next month and Indiana to visit DH's family over the 4th. So time is sure to fly by!

BTW Kate, I've been feeling like I want to try and find ways to say "yes" more - bc "no" is said alot. I'm sure it's part of the age!

Cindy