May '04 Mamas: Welcome to September! - Page 6

[orangecanoe]

g'morning Lisa!! Yes you! :

quickie U/S this morning and the final verdict is that baby's kidneys look A-OK! Though the stinker is now transverse across the top of the belly and that is sooooo not comfy. Head down. Head down. Head down. Head down....

also met w/ my doula this morning---yay!! I'm guessing/hoping 5ish weeks til baby?? We shall see!

[jstar]

do you know the gender of this wee babe, hf?? or have any intuition about it? i am (as usual) TERRIBLE at intuiting this but a boy would be so sweet and 3 girls would be very virgin suicides. and i only mean that in a 'that's what 3 girls makes me think of' i forgot to say also that i think cankles and flip flops go well together. i've been lucky both my 9th months have been in warm weather because i wouldn't have been able to wear any of my other shoes if it had been cold. it was all flip flops all the time for both my late pregnancies.

it is time to take isaac to school but babe is sleeping soundly. i hate waking a sleeping babe!


i think it is going to be another hot one today. it actually wasn't too hot upstairs last night. or maybe i'm just used to it now. that was the other thing i wanted in a new house. AC!

i thought i might have some boredom transition time getting used to being at home so much. but i LOVE IT! love it so much. i really feel relaxed. and i have a babysitter tomorrow and thrs from 9-2 so i'm working just enough to give me a little diversion but not so much that i feel overwhelmed by trying to do everything else. i am shocked actually how much time it takes me every day to clean and do dishes and laundry and i'm wonderng how did i ever do this before? but maybe that's the difference between 1 and 2 kids.

time to wrangle some clothes on the big one. we slept in today *yawn* i'm going to be so terrible when we really do have a school schedule.

[Mama Faery]

What a glorious rainy LAZY day!! Usually these sorts of days drive me stir-crazy, but last night I saw Blaqk Audio in Boston with DH (BETTER than the NYC show!!! The show was fantastic and Davey made eye contact with me and Jade grabbed my hand at the end! I know, no one cares but me but Eee!!! ) and Rowan slept until 9am today and he's happily watching March of the Penguins and I had time to make him pasta and broccoli for lunch so he's actually eating something better than his usual "cheese (stick) and bar"

And do I just melt the cheddar onto the pie? I want to try it like this! Mmmm!

Danile, congrats on the car! And yeah, I remember the first extended amount of time I spent away from DH, I was gone for a week to CA in 2003 while he stayed here, : It was great to see my friends but I missed him terribly. I am going away for another week in November to help friends with their new baby, so it'll be the longest time in 5 years that we've been apart. I feel ya.
I also feel ya on the defensive silly drama-queen DH bit. Hasn't happened too much lately...oh wait, nevermind, last week! : Ugh, yeah. Hahaha.

Heather, wow, 5 weeks?!??! time flies like whoah.

Alrighty mamas, this is getting cut off before Rowan does something like crayon the whole couch (he did it with his friend L. last week when I left them for 2 minutes to get their lunches! Luckily my friend was very understanding (it was HER couch!

Have a great day! Soooooo rainy, wow.

Oh! DEFINITELY Share the M.Chat LOVE!!! Please! We want EVERYONE to read it.

[orangecanoe]

Nope, no clue on gender. I'm leaning boy, but would love a third girl. Though remind me of this in the teen years in a house w/ one bathroom! 5 weeks would be for a 38/39weeks babe. My luck, this kid will show up in November!

Renae--way cool on the show!! For my bday coming up, I told DH I wanted to go to a play (heh, more my speed than a concert ) in the city since it's been forever since we've done that.

Jstar--glad the home transition thing is going well!! I'm such a slow starter in the mornings. Getting out the door for 830 to take C to school is still too early for me!


Rainy day here too! We got back from story hour just before it started raining cats and puppies. Hope our luck holds when we go back out again later!

[Miss Juice]

Heath, when I was pg the third time (having two byooteeful girls already) I kind of thought maybe I wanted a boy, but then the girls are so great, and how much fun three girls would be... plus everybody kept saying annoying things like, "Well, maybe this time you'll get your boy" which made me want to smack 'em. So I was pretty sure I wanted another girl, and then Ethan was born and wow I still can't believe how perfect he is and how glad I am to have a son. Yet I know I would have been equally ecstatic to have another girl.

So I guess that's the really long way of saying, "You just can't go wrong."


renae, I don't know how I missed m. chat before, but : I love him!

[KKmama]

Originally Posted by Miss Juice

So I guess that's the really long way of saying, "You just can't go wrong."

I totally agree with Juice re gender (and BTDT). And on the kidney, too. (Healthy kidney way more important than the other stuff.)

Wave to BFM!

I renewed my subscription and changed my sr. title, but I'm not pink yet!

Today is not going my way. First, the washer broke, with a load of dipes in it. : I have a repair person coming on Thurs, but I imagine one of us is going to be schlepping a load of soggy dipes to a laundromat tonight (I feel thankful that I am the Queen of Laundry, and we all have adequate clean socks, undies, etc. to last several days). I have a feeling we're going to have to replace the washer... $$$$ but please send "fixable" vibes my way.

And second, I just about had a heart attack when our neighbor hopped the fence, came charging through our yard, opened the door, and started yelling at me while I was trying to feed the kids lunch. He's pissed off about something about the fence, and I have to admit that dh did a terrible job of communicating (*my* dh? not communicate well? nah... ). I tried to calm him down, told him that yeah, we were in the wrong, we didn't consult with them about something, we'd make amends, that it was not me making the decisions and that my dh would talk to him when he got home from work. Ack. I think dh just spaced it out and/or they were out of town. (NB: I was nice, and didn't point out that this state has a make my day law and that he isn't making any friends just charging into our house...).

Let's hope for a better afternoon.

[orangecanoe]

Eek....KK...maybe you need a 12ft fence on that side! Hope that fence stuff is settled before too long. Poor stranded, soggy dipes...not fun!

*yawn*

where be my mmf?

[Sarah'sMama]

I'm here, Heather!

Today was Katie's first day of preschool. She had fun, and is excited to go back Thursday. Strangely, I wasn't all that emotional about it. I know she's going to have a great year and have alot of fun. I really like her teacher. She has four kids of her own, so when my kids' teachers are mothers, that is pretty reassuring to me. She just seems so loving and fun, so I'm excited for the year!

Sorry 'bout the neighbor woes, KK. :

[Sarah'sMama]

I'm baaaack!

Let's talk nighttime, Mamas. My two used to sleep together, but now Sarah's decided she would like to sleep on her own, that Katie keeps her too awake. This has devastated Katie. I'm trying to honor Sarah's need to be alone, but it's tough since Katie isn't sleeping worth beans anymore. She does not want to go to bed at night. Once I can coax her to sleep, she'll sleep in her bed for a few hours, but then comes to my bed later on. this wouldn't be a huge problem except she takes up the whole darn bed, and neither dh nor I are getting any rest. She says she scared and there are monsters in her room. So last night I sprayed Monster Spray in her room, and told her monsters don't like that smell, it makes them sneeze, so they'll stay away. That didn't work. Dh bought her a little lamp to keep on in her room while she sleeps. That's not working either. She still says she is scared. Tonight I got frustrated and told her I was getting angry with her. So she says in a really sad tone, "I'll go sleep in my bed now" : I've felt so bad ever since she went to bed. I'm at aloss for what to do. I don't think she is so much scared as she is lonely, but she's too much for me to sleep with. Help!

[TurboClaudia]

sherri: can you do a mattress or a sleeping bag on the floor of your room for those nights/partial nights she won't sleep in her own bed? that would say that you acknowledge her need to be near you, but also set that boundary of "this is mommy and daddy's bed, and we can snuggle you and give you hugs, but we also need to sleep peacefully and well so we can be rested for the next day, so then you can choose to sleep here in your sleeping bag or in your bed." that's all i've got, though. maybe kk will have some genius idea...

i've been kind of feeling weird the whole day, like i've been waiting for some giant news to happen. definitely 9/11 kind of sad. i don't know why, but this 9/11 being on a tuesday like it was in 2001 has made this anniversary hit me harder this year. it seems like such a long time ago but yet such a short time ago. i don't know what i think. maybe i will blog about it instead...

thinking of els, meg, and kk particularly, and love to all my mmf...

~claudia

[Mama Faery]

TC, your sig line made me Heeheehee!
When iced coffee calls me, it calls me its b*tch! Yup!

I made my coffee too weak this morning. Oops..oh well, guess that just means I need to drink more!

We have a LLL meeting this morning, but then my friend M and her DS are coming here to hang out with Rowan for our swap, and I have no idea what I'm going to do with my time. Haha. We have no money, but I have enough cash on me to go get a coffee and like, sit in a cafe with my journal or something. I may do that.

This is short, but I wanted to say hi before Rowan demanded that I go get him (he just woke up).
Sorry I don't have any nighttime advice or thoughts! Good luck!

[KKmama]

Originally Posted by Sarah'sMama

I'm baaaack!

Let's talk nighttime, Mamas. My two used to sleep together, but now Sarah's decided she would like to sleep on her own, that Katie keeps her too awake.

snippage

I'm at aloss for what to do. I don't think she is so much scared as she is lonely, but she's too much for me to sleep with. Help!

Hmm. Light on? (I mean overhead light or a lamp, not a nightlight.) Door wide open? Bed stuffed with stuffed animals so child is not alone? Can you compromise by laying down with her for ~15 minutes and leaving while she's still awake? Let her go to sleep with a CD playing? We do all of these things (except for the overhead light/lamp... but we have 3 nightlights).

Originally Posted by TurboClaudia

maybe kk will have some genius idea...

Not likely! T and Z share a room, but T zonks out *instantly*, and Z is more squirrelly. I don't think having a passed out bro in the room (or not) makes any difference to him... it's a *parent* he wants. (And lately, T has been making noises about wanting to build a wall down the middle of the room... that's because they're like the Odd Couple, and--you guessed it--T is the neat freak.)

This might sound harsh, but if you don't want her sleeping with you, I wouldn't do something like a futon in your room, a mattress on the floor in your room, etc. We finally sold the toddler bed in our room. Why go for 2nd best when the big warm bed with *parents* is 2 feet away?

Ooh... here's an evil idea... what about twin beds for the girls in the same room? Or a futon or mattress in *Sarah's* room instead of yours? (They were sharing a bed previously, no?) Would that give Sarah enough separation and Katie enough closeness?

[Miss Juice]

Originally Posted by KKmama

Ooh... here's an evil idea... what about twin beds for the girls in the same room? Or a futon or mattress in *Sarah's* room instead of yours? (They were sharing a bed previously, no?) Would that give Sarah enough separation and Katie enough closeness?

This is what we do. Sherri, I don't know how old your girls are : but Caitlyn is 5 and Allison is 3 (obviously ) We couldn't sleep with Allison anymore because the nighttime acrobatics were just too much. When we moved them into the same room together, we got twin beds and we actually moved BOTH of them - Caitlyn out of her room and Allison out of ours - into a whole new bedroom for the two of them. You may not have space for that, but we did it so Allison wouldn't feel like we were moving her into *her sister's* space. We have three bedrooms, and we moved them into the smallest one for sleeping, and turned the bigger one into a playroom for both of them.

[BundleFishMama]

Originally Posted by Mama Faery

When iced coffee calls me, it calls me its b*tch! Yup!

ROFLMAO! Only have a sec, kids are screaming, but I found that hilarious - and I agree! I am a coffee slave too. I am so grateful that none of my nurslings has ever been sensitive to caffeine, because I seriously don't know what I'd do without it!!

[KKmama]

Originally Posted by BundleFishMama

ROFLMAO! Only have a sec, kids are screaming, but I found that hilarious - and I agree! I am a coffee slave too. I am so grateful that none of my nurslings has ever been sensitive to caffeine, because I seriously don't know what I'd do without it!!

Um, yeah. I agree with all of that (and with what Renae said!) . Though I'm trying to cut down (I've been really super reliant since school started again) and/or switch back to tea (a gentler buzz for me).

[Sarah'sMama]

Thanks for the input on the sleeping, mamas. If you have any more advice, keep it comin'! I hope I didn't sound too harsh last night in my post or not very understanding, just one of those occasions where I was at the end of my rope and not articulating very well. To answer a few questions, Katie got a new lamp for her room, it has like a seven watt bulb in it or something like that. So not terribly bright, but it does provide some illumintion.

Juice, my girls are five and three too! And I did think of putting Katie on Sarah's floor, but then Sarah complains that Katie keeps ehr awake, so I nixed that idea. I do like the idea of her sleeping in a sleeping bag on the floor beside my bed if she wakes at night. That way she know's I'm there for her, but she needs to sleep in her own space, as do I. Both girls have their own beds in their own rooms, and they are full size, so unfortunately probably wouldn't fit together in a room. That would be a good solution I think. OTOH, I like that they each have their own space if they need it. I don't know, just thinking out loud here I suppose. Although, this morning Katie didn't come to my room until she woke at 630, and announced to me that she liked sleeping in her bed, so we'll see what happens tonight.

[Sarah'sMama]

Another thought I just had was this: Sarah decided she wanted to sleep alone right at the very beginning of the school year. When Sarah's home, she and Katie are practically inseperable, so I wonder if Katie is mourning the loss of so much of Sarah in her own way. Before school, they were literally together morning, noon, and night. Now, they are apart for way more than they're together, so I think there is a transition happening, and it's tough on Katie.

I really wish I liked coffee, gals. I loooove the smell of it, just don't dig the taste, unless it's that gas-station french vanilla cappuchino. Now THAT I like.

[mcsarahb]

Hi ya'll-

I've been feeling kid of distracted and bleh the past couple of days. Too much going on around here. Today I'm on call but didn't have to go in for rounds this morning; still feels like I can't start anything 'cause I might not be able to finish it, you know? Also have a suturing workshop this afternoon. Exciting!

KK, I would have FREAKED OUT if my neighbor had charged into my house. Seriously, like freaked. Called 911, probably. OMG. I hope you get the issue resolved soon.

Sherri - I really have no ideas for you. I like the 2 twin beds idea, if Sarah will go for it.

Heather - so happy for healthy news! Can't wait to virtually meet the newbie.

Speaking of, how is emmalola?? Still in babymoon bliss?

I started Spanish lessons last week and am trying to practice, but I just haven't found much time. Must do that today if I can. I feel like I'll never get over this barrier. I've been wanting to gain skill in Spanish for oh, like, 10 years. :

Have a great day everyone.

Sarah

[A&L+1]

[

Originally Posted by mcsarahb

I started Spanish lessons last week and am trying to practice, but I just haven't found much time. Must do that today if I can. I feel like I'll never get over this barrier. I've been wanting to gain skill in Spanish for oh, like, 10 years. :

Sarah – The Spanish class I signed up for was cancelled for lack of interest. It was going to be my one-night-out-alone activity. I have mixed feelings about it though because I took Spanish in college and it made not one whit of difference in my ability to speak Spanish. Wanna take a trip together in a year or two for an intensive Spanish for midwives course?

Originally Posted by Sarah'sMama

I wonder if Katie is mourning the loss of so much of Sarah in her own way.

This makes a lot of sense (also from Sarah’s perspective of needing more independence as she goes to school like a big BIG girl). Maybe some discussions with them about this will help them both make the transition. I hope last night was a step forward for Katie (and for you for her sad going to bed comment).

I have been so angry at the girls bedtime recently because we’re trying to go to bed as soon as possible ourselves and the longer it takes them to settle the more frustrated and disappointed I get. I am realigning my expectations to reality as much as I can. Annie is still a dream sleeper, but Ellie has been waking her by crying out randomly for one of us (and then refusing to speak to us when we come to her : ). They share a room, with Ellie in a twin and Annie in a crib.

Originally Posted by TurboClaudia

i've been kind of feeling weird the whole day, like i've been waiting for some giant news to happen. definitely 9/11 kind of sad.

I had a unrelentingly crapity day yesterday too. When I got home Alison said that the 9/11 stuff was upsetting her more than in past years too. It was also my mom’s birthday so I tried to focus on that and I am in a much better frame of mind today. I hope you are too.

I have a HUGE pile of work to do and a miniscule pile of motivation. Sounds like time to make tea.

[mcsarahb]

Originally Posted by A&L+1

Sarah – The Spanish class I signed up for was cancelled for lack of interest. It was going to be my one-night-out-alone activity. I have mixed feelings about it though because I took Spanish in college and it made not one whit of difference in my ability to speak Spanish. Wanna take a trip together in a year or two for an intensive Spanish for midwives course?

Yessity yes yes, yes!!

Originally Posted by A&L+1

I have a HUGE pile of work to do and a miniscule pile of motivation. Sounds like time to make tea.

Same-same. (When I study Spanish, my ASL comes out of the recesses of my brain and takes over).

S.