February '09 Mamas ~ Childhood Chat :) - Page 30

[AKislandgirl]

Nilla- Sounds like the right thing was done with having your mom move out. I'm sure its still hard though. 

Erin- Sounds like a busy season for sure. So great that your garden produced so much this year! Nice work! And woo hoo! You got the manuscript off. 

Mal_ Crossing fingers for you! That is so awesome. I can't wait to see pics! :)

AFU- First frost today. DH finally replaced the bedroom windows on our house yesterday. The windows have only been in our garage for a year! So glad to have that done! The kids are both sick. Maeve is a week in and the cough and snot will not let up. Fiona just started coughing. We have not been sleeping well and I'm wondering if by some miracle we might all be able to nap today. 

2 weeks in a row of getting out by myself without the kids. It feels really good. Next weekend we are going to bite the bullet and leave both kids with a sitter for a couple of hours. A little nervous about leaving Maeve since she has only ever been with DH or my sister (once during vacation). DH and I really need time together though so we are going to go out to breakfast and a long walk somewhere. I know Maeve will be fine and our relationship really needs this. 

[Vegan Princess]

Starling: Are you out there? Can you remind me what your early, prodromal labor was like with H? I know it dragged on forever. I am getting tons of braxton hicks these days and now each night (like after I am trying to sleep) I get painful contractions. I didn't have any of this with M. I know it's more normal for 2nd time moms. But it's sucking. I'm not quite ready for her to come (I'll be 37 weeks tomorrow). And the painful contractions are kinda freaking me out by reminding me of whats to come in true labor. Just feeling like I wanna hear your birth story. :-)

Nothing exciting here other than what I listed above. I don't quite feel ready for her to come yet so hoping I'll stay pregnant for another week or 2, despite feeling like crap most of the day now. Makenna is loving preschool and keeps saying she wants to go every day. Sorry kid, mama is definitely not ready to give up that much time with you!!!

Cindy

[starling&diesel]

Hi Cindy!  That is exciting!  

My prodromal labour went on and off for about two weeks, and then stayed pretty regular for about a week, with contractions between 10-30 mins, with a steady but not increasing pain.  And on the Wednesday before his birth I was in labour earnestly enough that they were talking about labour cocktails and breaking my waters, but had other mom's in the throws of labour so they didn't want to potentially induce me when they were so busy.   They came daily until Saturday and did nothing until I was in pre-labour, when they approved the cocktail and then about twelve hours later broke my waters.  About twelve more hours of labouring at home, and then our hospital transfer.  That's what I remember, anyway!

I hope she stays put for another week ... but she will come when she's ready! 

Mal ... Exciting news about a potential house!  Keep us posted!

Erin ... We want to move onto your compound and eat from your garden too!  We can bring our own yurt!  

Nilla ... It sounds like asking your mom to leave was a very wise decision.  Plans for a tenant or live-in nanny?

Sue ... So glad to hear that you and DH are reconnecting!  Have a wonderful date!

[AKislandgirl]

ooh Cindy! Exciting! Keep us posted! I hope she stays in for another week! :) Lots of heathy labor vibes coming your way lady! 

[Vegan Princess]

Thanks for sharing Starling! I remembered it went on for a long time - 3 weeks? Wow! There is no regularity, even to the painful ones, right now. The painful ones have started happening during the day as of today, but mostly it's still just tons and tons of not painful ones during the day - and painful ones at night when I get up to pee. I'm sort of glad to know this can go on for weeks. LOL. I'd love for her to bake aother couple weeks. I don't care how I feel - I just want a healthy baby! And one who is awake to nurse. Makenna was so sleepy at first.

Loved the blog post today Starling!

Cindy

[Mal85]

Cindy, you are definitely gearing up, how exciting! Fingers crossed she stays in just a little bit longer!

Sue, so happy to hear you have had some "you" time. It really does help! And yay for a date with the hubby! DH and I should do the same, it's been a while for us too...

Well, we didn't get the house. They received three offers on the house, one of which was a cash offer. We just can't compete with a cash offer. I was a little annoyed with the process though. The family counter offered... they were willing to sell us the house for less money, but didn't want to wait for our house to sell. So, we accepted their offer contingent on us getting financing. Less than 24 hours later, they pulled their offer and took the cash instead. I just don't know why they even tried to negotiate with us if they weren't going to give us a chance. So, oh well, it wasn't meant to be. Our house is officially up for sale now. I'm crossing my fingers that it sells pretty quickly. It would be nice to have it sold while we are looking, and maybe it'll give us a chance to save some more money.

Owyn is walking in our local youth parade this afternoon with her preschool. The theme is nursery rhymes and fairy tales, and her class chose The Shoemaker and the Elves so she is dressing up as an elf for it. Their fundraiser 5k is also coming up and she got a special prize at school yesterday for registering the most people for the run! Of course, she has no clue why she got the prize, but I'm proud! I got to peek at her dance class last night and oh my goodness! A 3/4 year old dance class has got to be the most adorable thing I've ever seen. And she seemed to be having a great time!

[Vegan Princess]

Mal: Sory about the house! Such a bummer! We put offers of 8 different houses before we ended up in one! Some we walked from but others with got out bid or something. It's so frustrating! But in the end, looking back, we ended up in the perfect house for us. So perhaps that house isn't the one for you! You did say it was a little smaller than you wanted. I know the perfect house will find you. Very cute about the parade. M's preschool marched in a parade this weekend too, but we skipped out bc I didn't feel like doing the long walk.

Cindy

[Thursday Girl]

I think I posted recent;y but not sure.

Mal- sorry about the house.

Cindy, thinking of you and my friend Judy bean all the time. Of course I want your little girl to cook (her's is past due now) but I just love seeing new babies.

sue a date, how nice!

My ten year anniversary is coming up, I really wanted a party, I have been planning on having one for about 6 years now but it isn't possible. It's cars running on gas fumes and payment arrangements for bills. Fun times.

After Kate shared about the school district doing speech evals I called ours and they had an evaluation coming up in a week and I go tin, it was today. Her speech articulation was understood 10% and it should be 60%, she says she needs to get into therapy asap and I will be called in 4-6 weeks. Her language (the understanding of it) was fabulous and her overall development was ahead of her age. I imagine she should be able to go to speech therapy at the school I can see from my front door, which would be ideal.

baby crying TTYL

[AKislandgirl]

So glad you got the eval Courtney! 

I've been cooped up with sick kids for 2 weeks. I'm going batty! They are finally on the mend though. We are heading to a babywearing meeting this morning. I am very much look forward to it. I can't wait to see and talk to other adults! LOL!

[AKislandgirl]

Hi Mamas. I finally found out the original occupational therapist I called for Fiona had some major health issue and can't practice for a while. So we found someone else here in town. She is awesome! Fiona had her evaluation yesterday. The lady knows her stuff and has an incredible therapy room. Fiona loved it! She indeed has sensory issues. I'm feeling really relieved to have some help with this. We will start going to therapy one time a week. I'm really hoping this is something that will help her be a little more at peace in her own body. And if it helped her sleep?  Well then I might just have to have a party! :) The woman is just really gentle and calm and Fiona took to her right away. DH was able to come to the appointment too which I was grateful for. He can't come every week but it is good for him to know what Fiona will be doing each week. Feeling really really good about this!

[Vegan Princess]

Sue: I'm so glad that you found someone and that you like her. It's great your DH came along so he understands as well - I know you have some frustration with how he deals with her. I'm curious what types of things they will be doing in the therapy sessions - keep us posted as it goes! Did you have your date night yet?

Courtney: Wow, so glad you pushed for the eval. I hope she can indeed do therapy so close to home! Must be so frustrating for her to want to articulate her thoughts and not be understood!!

AFM: Home all day with a coughing child. Still pregnant. Not feeling like she is going to come all that soon anymore. LOL. If I went into labor tonight it would be exactly the same timing as with Makenna. My midwife has some huge surprise dinner/party for her husband on Sunday - so watch that be when I have her.

Cindy

[Mal85]

Sue: So glad you finally got in with someone. I know it's been heavy on your mind. Also, so great that your DH was able to come. Hopefully this will help him with his approach as well. 

Cindy: Fingers crossed you get to meet that baby girl soon! 

Nothing much happening here lately, just more of the same. We did officially get our house for sale, so we've been busy trying to keep it up in case someone wants to see it. I'm hoping it sells before the end of the year. DH is back on the building bandwagon. He works with someone building a house right now and has been getting lots of info from him. He has it in his head we could afford it, even though his work buddy is spending about 30k more on his house than we had planned for right now, so I'm not sure how he thinks that will work. I'm just keeping an eye on what's coming up for sale and hoping our house sells!

This weekend is the 5k for Owyn's school. I signed up to walk and got my mom to sign up too, now she has hurt her foot and doesn't think she'll be able to walk. I'm kind of dreading doing it on my own, so I'm hoping I can just help out at one of the tables instead. Next weekend, we have friends coming in from out of town, so we're going to celebrate DH's birthday while they are here. My ILs have offered to keep both girls overnight! Woo hoo! We probably won't get another overnight until the holidays and we will probably try to do one more weekend away before our trip to Jamaica. Owyn does great with the ILs, but I want to make sure Greta is comfortable staying at their house before we go. 

Hope everyone is doing well!

[justKate]

Cindy, I'm so anxious for your little one to arrive!  Of course she will come at just the right time. Is M excited?  I feel like Aubrey has already forgotten what life was like before Mallory was born.  She remembers that my belly was big, and that she brought me breakfast in bed, but it seems like the other stuff is lost.  Maybe for the better.

Mal, that sucks about the house.  I would be pretty unhappy about them withdrawing their counteroffer.  Seems kind of crappy.  Who cares if its cash or financing?  Grr.

Erin, very jealous of your lifestyle, as always.  Need to think about what I can do to move us in a more free/sustainable/self sufficient life direction.  I guess it will be after Paul retires though; no way to manage until that time comes.  10 years should be enough time to plan!

Starling, how did I miss out on the blog?  I'm going to PM you my name b/c I don't think we're FB friends for some reason.  I'm sure your blog is inspiring. You're one of my muses, you know!

Sue, WHAT A RELIEF about OT. I was really impressed with the space when Aubrey went for her eval--looks like fun!  She's doing her pushing thing again, so I'm tempted to try to get her a developmental evaluation, but its such a process with our insurance...the last time I looked into it they couldn't see her until December, and it seemed like such a PITA.  I'm interested to hear what works for her.

Nilla, I'm sorry that your mom had to go.  Sounds like it was for the best.  Hopefully the kiddos aren't taking it too hard. 

Ever, how are you mama?  Back in the swing of it with school?

Courtney I meant to ask you, what did you figure out with Cora arching her back out of the wrap?  I'm having the same problem with Mallory.  If she gets her arms out--or even one arm up, she will arch her back and try to flip out (front cross carry, front wrap cross carry). She really could get out, if I didn't catch her.  And she only does it when she's tired, which is when she needs to be worn....  But of course I'm afraid to put her on my back like that.  Anxious to hear what they do at speech therapy for Junes.  Aubs is going only once/week for 25 minutes.  So far the therapist just says we need to "desensitize" the back of her tongue so that she'll use it more.  I think K and G are the two sounds they're most concerned about?  They want me to brush the back sides of her tongue when we brush her teeth.  Not sure that its going to help, but I'm doing it.

Being at the elementary school for speech is sort of overwhelming.  There are kids everywhere, and it makes me sad to think of my baby being one of these big kids.  And Mallory doesn't want to be a baby at all...already mooching my food and wanting to crawl. Of course this is how life goes, but I'm letting myself be a little sad today. Growing up really is bittersweet.

[Everrgreen]

Hey!  This will be quick, I'm trying to keep up with everyone's updates but it's hard to find time to post something myself!  I'm feeling overwhelmed and stressed with school but I know I'll get through it.  We actually have a reading week after Thanksgiving so that's in only 2 weeks.  And then after that is all the midterms and assignments :/  I also have a distance ed class which is a lot of work, lots of discussions and more of a sociology-type class which is so not my thing.  I'm more of a math and science person :P  

R is doing well.  I've moved his bedtime up to 7:30 because he doesn't nap anymore.  We start getting ready at 7, and all is done and I leave the room by 7:30.  I just started this week but it's going really well.  I'm thinking about giving him his first hair cut.. My mom thinks I should leave it, because he does have very nice curls.  But, his hair is so fine and prone to frizziness that I think it needs to be done before the winter when he'll have a toque on all the time messing it up.  

In other exciting news 3 of my closest friends are all pregnant and due in May!  I'm so excited for them!  Unfortunately they are all spread across Ontario so they won't really get to enjoy things together too much.  But it's still very cool :)  I'll be going to the birth of one of them, the others are a bit too far away.  And I passed on all my books and maternity clothes.. I have a bunch of baby stuff too that can go to whoever is having a boy.  The one is already starting to show and there are twins in her family (her dad is a twin) so I'm anxious to see about that!  She has her midwife appt in a couple weeks :)

My love life is sort of boring-ish.  I still have bus guy in my life, but we aren't dating anymore, just sort of friends with benefits.. :P  And I'm meeting another guy on Saturday that has some potential so we'll see...  I think I might finally be ready for a real relationship.  Maybe.  Sometimes I feel like I just need to embrace the single life :/

Hope all is well with everyone!!  Cindy, I keep checking up on you to see if the baby has come :D  So exciting!!

[mckittre]

Cindy - add me to your stalkers. Though I try hard to be a no-pressure stalker, having experienced far too many "Have you had the baby yet?" with a 15 days late kid.

Everr - You'll get through even sociology, I'm sure.  :)  I was so happy when K dropped his nap for an earlier bedtime (over a year ago now), and moved to the "tuck-in-read-book" style of falling asleep (half a year ago or so).  Of course, I do often forget to get him to bed early enough. I biked home early from a party tonight, and still didn't get the kids to sleep until 9. Doesn't help that most of K's friends do still nap, so they're at parties later and I forget that I need to get my two home.

Kate - But there's so much fun about them getting big! I guess I just look at my two and see K running off to hunt mushrooms with his aunt, climbing trees higher than I can reach, figuring out how to open packages with scissors, searching for "pig boots" on google images...  And then I see L clinging to my leg whenever anyone comes near and spending good portions of the day yelling "Nurse! Nurse always! Nurse on nipple!"...  And I think getting big isn't so bad after all.

Mal - Too bad about the house. And I hope yours sells soon - I'd find it impossible to keep mine looking nice all the time.

Sue - That's awesome about the therapy. I hope it helps her!

Courtney - Hope the speech therapy can be close, that sounds easy. And can't you have a cheap potluck party at least? Those are the best anyway (in my opinion).

AFM - The film crew (all 5 of them) headed back to England last night. It was an interesting experience having my life filmed like that! Nothing at all like a newspaper interview type thing (which I've done before).  Much more of the "pause that thought while we move the camera angle" "could you pick up that carrot again" "now walk over there like you're just about to set up the tent"... Filming things we really were doing, but making the doing of them much slower and more complicated.  Interesting, but kind of overwhelming at times.  And then we overwhelmed them in return by taking them on a 3 day glacier hike/packraft in a storm.  :)  My own kids were completely unfazed by the hike or the storm, and Katmai in particular had a total blast backpacking. I'm so glad he loves it. I hope that lasts.

[Thursday Girl]

OMG, I TOTALLY WANT TO SEE WHAT THEY PUT TOGETHER eRIN!!

sorry, caps

party- hubs doesn't want to do a potluck, i think he thinks it makes us look cheap or something, he doesn't like to do things unless he has money. Even if you can totally do it for free or cheap.

Edited by Thursday Girl - 9/24/12 at 10:15am

[Mal85]

Erin: Do you have any idea when they will have the video done? I'd be very interested in seeing it!

Courtney: I think a pot luck would be lots of fun! That's how we always do parties around here though. Birthdays, anniversaries... any occasion for a party is always a pot luck. We will usually provide the meat or entree and ask friends/family to bring sides or desserts. I don't think it makes you look cheap at all... at least I hope not since we do it so often!

Owyn's 5k was last weekend and it went so well! It was inspiring to see how much support they had. It was their biggest fundraiser to date and they were able to donate a huge portion to a good cause. It got me thinking about my own classroom and what my plans are for my career. I just love Owyn's school so much and have always dreamed of working there if they ever expand. But I went to a Parent Teacher League meeting last night at work and it dawned on me... I already have my own classroom, I have this wonderful supportive community with the parents and the church congregation. They have always been open to my ideas and support the direction I want to take the class. So, last night at the meeting, I brought up the idea of throwing my own fundraiser with the help of the PTL to restock my classroom. When they formed my class, I essentially had to take the materials that were already in the kindergarten room. They are hand-me-down toys that really show their age and serve no purpose other than to play. Play is great and it's important, but I would like to be able to choose the materials they are playing with. I'd like everything in the classroom to be serving a purpose, supporting specific areas of development, teaching them to interact with the world around them. I know what things I need, I just don't have the funds to get them. The PTL was excited about it! They were all over the idea of throwing a preschool 3 fundraiser and allowing me to use the profits to stock my classroom, and even threw out the idea of doing that every year, choosing a different classroom each year. I am so excited! The president mentioned doing some kind of church dinner, which does go over well with their congregation. But I caught up with her after the meeting and suggested doing something bigger and branching out of just the congregation and getting out into the community as a whole. Also something we could get the kids involved with so they can see that their work has helped make our classroom even better. She loved the idea! Now, I just need to think of something awesome to do... The more I think about it, the more I'm like "Hey, I don't need to go work at one of the much-desired programs in town... I need to make my program one of the much-desired programs in town!" 

Oh and they are also letting me choose my own conference to attend this year. I've already had my eye on one for a while and got the okay to go! I'm getting very excited about what my future holds at the school!

[Thursday Girl]

Mal, that's awesome, i love that you are taking the bull by the horns and making it happen. It's totally people like you who make those sought after programs what they are!

potluck- all the parties we go to are potluck parties, so I don't know what's up with him. Maybe he thinks it's different because it's an anniversary, maybe because we'd still have to get plates, napkins, cutlery, drinks etc. I don't know. I'll bring it up again.

[AKislandgirl]

Mal: that is awesome! Sounds fabulous! We need more people like you in our school!!

Courtney: My parents 50th wedding anniversary was a huge party and a huge success. It was a potluck!

OT for Fiona today. She is stoked!

[mckittre]

Mal - that's awesome. I love your idea of putting the vision and energy in to make your own program one of the most sought-after! That's how all of them started, I'm sure. We all slept in and forgot to send K in to preschool today. Scheduling is the thing I like least about it!

AFM - Very methodical, logical, and stubborn child + English phonetics = pain for everyone.

Katmai likes to type messages to people (especially while Skyping grandparents).  So he types "book".  We read it as "book".  He insists that it should be pronounced with an oo sound like "pool"  I say, "Oh yes, it looks like that, but in some words oo makes the sound in book or good."  He yells in indignation that it's not true, and insists that one should type book as "buk".  I say OK, sure, you could also pronounce that as "book", even if we usually spell it differently. No problem.  He spends the next 1/2 hour insisting that he's right, and trying to create more phonetic spellings for other words. 

I could care less if he spells things right, or if he reads or spells anything at all at this age.  But he insists on spending time spelling or decoding words, loves to do things like Google Image search, which is somewhat spelling-dependent, and REFUSES to accept any tips from me about words that are pronounced or spelled differently than he thinks. English is just not logical enough for him.