MW - I think I am just tired of the noise. I don't mind any other cartoons, but Spongebob drives me batty AND I was always told to turn it off when I was a child and I still have that voice in the back of my head.
I think that I need to just chill out. Lol I don't want to be nagging him all the time. If he forgets, he is human just like me, I forget things all the time too.
I don't think I will put a time limit on tv watching. Its almost impossible to do that here anyways. Everyone loves tv.
MW - I think I am just tired of the noise. I don't mind any other cartoons, but Spongebob drives me batty AND I was always told to turn it off when I was a child and I still have that voice in the back of my head.
I think that I need to just chill out. Lol I don't want to be nagging him all the time. If he forgets, he is human just like me, I forget things all the time too.
I don't think I will put a time limit on tv watching. Its almost impossible to do that here anyways. Everyone loves tv.
We are a huge TV family too. It's always on. I went to a friends house and her son asked to watch TV. She said he had to clean up all his toys first and he could pick one show. It sounds so lovely, but it's so not practical for how we live!!! I personally love my shows too much. If DH said I had to do dishes first and then I could pick one show, I'd be upset. I don't know. I think it's ok to self regulate some things, but if you as a parents see damage being done, to gently intervene. For example if the child refuses to do anything but watch tv, won't play outside, is lethargic, gaining weight, withdrawing from friends - maybe it's time to step in. You know?
My pie smells SO GOOD. OMG.
TV: it's always on in our house, tuned to a kids channel until they are in bed, or if they are both napping, I'll change it to grown up stuff for a bit. It's not that they never watch grown up tv (they do when we are up with my parents, or at ILs), but I feel better that if it's goingto be on all the time, it should be kid centered.
TV in kids' rooms, I'm against it. I don't like tv in bedrooms, bedrooms are for sleeping and TV is just not good for sleep (sorry Carrie!) BUT sometimes I kind of wish we had one in the bedroom so it could be on as background noise while we are doing other things . . ahem . . .or so we could kill two birds wth one stone, so to speak, in the comfort of the bedroom vs the living room.
I had a TV in my room in high school . . I only used it for watching music videos, LOL, while doing homework. TV was always a family activity growing up, and I like that.
As for too much tv . . . Gabe has learned alot from it, numbers, games, colors, and shapes. Norah likes the music and dancing. They rarely just sit and stare at it - only when tired and winding down for the day or for nap.
I am excited about meeting people! IRL! woohoo!
Carrie: I hope your pie is as delicious as it smells!
MW: funny how different kids are.
TV: Oooh that's a big issue for me. My big kids, mostly because of other stuff in their world that I am unable to affect, are almost incapable of self-regulating. On anything. So they will sit and watch TV to the point that everyone is stabby and they are snapping at each other and sometimes physically hitting or kicking each other but they can't figure out that the TV is putting them in a bad mood so they should go do something else. So I have to intervene and ask that the TV be turned off and they find other activities. I don't like having the TV on in the background all the time because it gives me a headache. When Ava was in the hospital all those weeks, I had DH bring my little radio/ipod dock so I could listen to NPR during the day. I hate hate hate having the TV on just to have it on. If no one is watching it, I want it turned off. I usually turn the TV on in the morning for Ava to watch while I pump and then maybe again later on in the day if she asks for it. Otherwise, we we listen to music or NPR. When the big kids are home, they usually reach their limit after about 2 hrs and I make them turn it off and go do something else. There have been days where the TV doesn't get turned on until 5 PM or later because we don't start with it on and no one thinks to turn it on because they are doing other stuff.
My goal was to go to the grocery store this morning but Ava was super crabby so we never made it out of the house. She's teething so bad again! I have no clue what teeth are coming in now but she's drooling and she's bit her hand so hard in a couple of spots that she broke the skin! She has a runny nose too. She's just a mess.
Did I tell you guys about how she's been saying this word that kind of sounds like "damn" but I couldn't figure out what she was saying? Well I think I figured it out. Today, while we were driving to my mom's house, she was playing with her water cup and she pointed to it and said "agua". I confirmed that yes, she had agua in her cup and she smiled. So I emailed my goddaughter's mom to tell her that she said something in spanish and then it occurred to me that maybe that other word was something in spanish too. So I asked M if there was a word in spanish that sounded like "daum" or "daumme". And she wrote back and said yes, Ava was asking me to give her something. Good grief! She's been saying it for two weeks and I had no clue what she wanted. Dame = give me. 
Did I tell you guys about how she's been saying this word that kind of sounds like "damn" but I couldn't figure out what she was saying? Well I think I figured it out. Today, while we were driving to my mom's house, she was playing with her water cup and she pointed to it and said "agua". I confirmed that yes, she had agua in her cup and she smiled. So I emailed my goddaughter's mom to tell her that she said something in spanish and then it occurred to me that maybe that other word was something in spanish too. So I asked M if there was a word in spanish that sounded like "daum" or "daumme". And she wrote back and said yes, Ava was asking me to give her something. Good grief! She's been saying it for two weeks and I had no clue what she wanted. Dame = give me.
This made me LOL! She is TOO SMART!! Oh she's precious. Just absolutely precious!!
Happy Thanksgiving, all!
I need some coffee!! Then to get started on some more cooking and cleaning and packing up to go to my ILs for dinner. So looking fwd to good food and good WINE!!! 
but I'm thinking about trying something heavier duty. A girl in my ap group is selling a pump in style, so I'm looking up info about that, but I figured of anyone I know you have the most pump knowledge!!
I wouldn't pay more than $50 USD for it. Make sure you change the valves and if you don't buy new tubing, then I would trim about 1/4 inch off the ends so they fit snug on the machine again.
Wish me luck on the pumping. I have to pump today for tomorrow. I have a mother/son date with my oldest son to go to the movies.
I think I only need a few ounces. We're only going to be gone for about 4 hours.
I have a First Years pump and it works ok. I don't pump enough to want a heavy duty one. I would only pay $50.00 too.
I wouldn't pay more than $50 USD for it. Make sure you change the valves and if you don't buy new tubing, then I would trim about 1/4 inch off the ends so they fit snug on the machine again.
Wish me luck on the pumping. I have to pump today for tomorrow. I have a mother/son date with my oldest son to go to the movies.
I think I only need a few ounces. We're only going to be gone for about 4 hours.
I have a First Years pump and it works ok. I don't pump enough to want a heavy duty one. I would only pay $50.00 too.
Thanks ladies. Where do I buy the replacement tubing and stuff? I looked on the medela website, but I don't see anywhere that lists them.
Why $50? Just because of how much it's been used? The average for ones on kijiji here seem to be around $150 for ones that are used. Or about $275 for new or almost new. I was thinking around $100, which is what she said she'd be comfortable with. But obviously I don't want to overpay for something either!
EM-- how did the pumping, and the night out go?? Exciting!
JJ I found some on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Replacement-Tubing-Medela-Advanced-Breast/dp/B0033B9CZ2
membranes and such are easier to find. I think $100 is fine, but I might lowball $75 at first and see if she'll bite. Replacement parts aren't cheap either and you're what, the 3rd owner? The motors DO go on those things. I wouldn't want to spend what I could for new and then have it die. Especially since you'll be pumping what, at least 2 times a day while at work?
You seriously rock for pumping now though. With a 1 year old I probably wouldn't. 
I stopped pumping at work when N was 13 months old. I was SO DONE WITH IT!!
AFUs - we hired a sitter for the first time ever today. I'm slightly nervous! Trust her, trust the kids, but yeah, totally a little nervous. We are going out for Thai food and then going to do some christmas shopping. Should only be gone a few hours, but am SO looking fwd to some time with just Chris! We haven't been out by ourselves since last March.
Thanks ladies. Where do I buy the replacement tubing and stuff? I looked on the medela website, but I don't see anywhere that lists them.
Why $50? Just because of how much it's been used? The average for ones on kijiji here seem to be around $150 for ones that are used. Or about $275 for new or almost new. I was thinking around $100, which is what she said she'd be comfortable with. But obviously I don't want to overpay for something either!
I agree w/Baby_Cakes. You'll be the third owner and the motors don't last forever. I've killed two already. This last one I bought, I only paid $50 for it and it had only been used about 25 times. You can buy replacement membranes at Target or BRU here in the US but not sure about Canada. It's harder to buy replacement tubing from Medela because they don't want people sharing pumps but whatevs.
It's akin to dealing with someone that has addiction issues or an addictive personality. They have very little ability to self-regulate. 1 of my older 4 is actually pretty good about self-regulating and not inflicting self-harm. She eats when she's hungry, not when she's bored, tired, angry, sad, etc. She goes to bed when she's tired. She goes to her room when she needs quiet time. She's pretty in tune with her body. My other ones, not so much. One child is obese. Yet continues to make poor food choices. Two are chronically tired to the point of severe bruises under their eyes but will insist, even as they are having trouble stringing sentences together or their eyes are half closed, that they are not tired and do not need to go to bed. People with addictive personalities engage in behavior even if it makes them feel bad while they are doing it or directly after doing it. It's very difficult for them to break the addiction cycle. Those are the types of things that I refer to when I say that some of my kids have trouble self-regulating.
Your kids have always been taught to listen to their bodies and they work from a place of abundance rather than scarcity so they have a very good handle on self-regulating. Probably even better than a lot of adults.
That sounds SOOOO amazing! I hope you guys had fun!
Ya'll, if Ava doesn't get these teeth soon that she's working on, I'm going to go broke buying the cheap wine from Whole Foods! They are driving her bonkers, she doesn't want to eat, just drink milk. And I can't even tell what teeth she's getting! I'm guessing the sharp pointy ones? At least she's sleeping ok at night but during the day, OMG. The whining, the whining!
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