Happy Second Birthday, November '05 Babies!

[*Amy*]

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Happy birthday month, November '05 Mamas and babies!!!!!

Here is last month.

Here's the list of birthdays.

[*Amy*]

Happy Birthday Neela, and Happy Birthing Day, Mel!!

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[flapjack]

Drat, you beat me to it

Happy birth day, Mel and Neela!!!!!!!!!!!

[Queen of Cups]

Happy Birthday, November toddlers!

Just quickly subbing here, we're going out today and running errands. What's everyone else doing for their kiddo's birthday this month? We're (finally! after 6 months!) painting Ellie's room a light purple which will look soooo much better than the faux wood paneling in there now, adding butterfly stickers to the walls, making butterfly curtains, and I'm sewing her a butterfly quilt. She loves butterflies, obviously! Oh, and I'm getting her a trunk for her dress-up clothes since she loves to dress up! So, I suggested to grandparents that dress up clothes would be a good birthday present for her, which is so convenient since her birthday is a couple weeks after Halloween! Last year I was good and made pumpkin muffins for her birthday, but I think I'll do a chocolate cake this year because she adores chocolate.

[DreamsInDigital]

Thankfully I have another month to wait for Winter's birthday. I am so not ready for him to be 2.

I am so amazed we have all remained so close after all this time together.

Happy birthday Neela!

[kaspirant]

Happy Birthday Month!!!

I'm excited and sad all at the same time. Jacob's party is November 10th. I have gone all out once again. I love planning and preparing parties. His birthday is November 18th. I CAN"T believe my baby is turning 2. : I am shocked at how fast time is flying and how much he is growing and learning.

Here's the long update on us right now...

We are downsizing in a huge way in our apartment and our lives.

We are selling/getting rid of our TV, most of our furniture and a ton of stuff we just don't need or want anymore. We are doing this mainly because we are moving in June and don't want to lug a bunch of junk across the country *well across a few states* We have started a list of places for Adam to put in applications and what state(s) we are most interested in. We have it narrowed down to two pretty neat looking areas both in Colorado right now. But the Seattle area and Flagstaff aren't completely ruled out yet.

We are going down to one income in January which scares the crap out of me because 3 months later I go on maternity leave and we are going down to my income for about six months which is not a fun concept considering it's going to be cut by 1/3 while I am out. Adam starts his field work for teaching in January and we decided it would be better for him not to get a second job while he is doing that. The good news on that though, is that we will stay a one-income family after that with this my last year teaching in a public/paid setting.

We have decided I'll be homeschooling our kids *yay* I've always felt that was the reason I have a teaching credential to begin with but now with Adam working in the public school system he is starting to seriously agree with me. I will be able to do a better job teaching our kids than the school system...and I'll LOVE it!! We are talking about spacing the next child 5 years after Leah...but we will just have to see how it goes. It is so hard for me to be nursing Jacob and pregnant with Leah and for me weaning is not an option.


Jacob is doing amazingly. He's growing by leaps and bounds! His daycare lady loves the crap out of him and dotes on him so much. He's so polite it's uncanny. Always saying please, thank you and excuse me! His newest thing, which just melts my heart, is "Mama, doing???" He will run up to me and say "mama? Doing?!?!" and I will answer him "I'm ______" doing dishes, folding laundry, talking to dadi, making dinner.....whatever it is. He will then run away again, only to be back 30 seconds later to ask again. When I do answer him he gets the most mischievious grin on his face before he runs away. It's adorable!!!

His newest obsession, well besides ANYTHING outside, is Blue's Clues. He runs around yelling "a clue, a clue" and tells us EVERYTHING is "right there" while pointing to it.

He adores babies and always informs me when he hears someone crying. I can only imagine what the first few weeks will be like with him telling me every time Leah cries.

He's a mama's boy to the extreme!!! He has started pushing Adam away at night when he gets it in his mind that he only wants mama...and now...thank you very much. I can tell it hurts Adam...but we keep talking about how it's not something to take personally...he knows that Jacob loves him....it's just hard for him to see it right now.

I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas and a time to relax and be home as a famliy. We are travelling for Thanksgiving...but I'm hoping it will still be relaxing. Christmas we are staying home...just our family and I am so excited about it. I've started a Christmas Traditions book I'm writing for our family that I hope to pass down...I may have to make more than one copy that will have stories and pictures of our family traditions for the holiday season.

Besides all that I'm pregnant and hormonal. I am counting down the days till I hit 29 weeks. I turned 29 weeks exactly when my water broke with Jacob and I spent 5 weeks on hospitalized bedrest scared to death every day that I would lose him. I vividly remember the meltdowns I had at least once a week because I wasn't allowed to get out of bed for ANYTHING without a doctor's order. I had to have doctor's orders for a shower (once a week if I was lucky), to use the bathroom (and that not until the second week I was there), to go outside (twice in the 5 weeks for a total of about an hour) it was horrible. Jacob was then born at 34 weeks and spent a week in the NICU. I don't want to do that again. Praying that Leah develops fully inside and that my body functions correctly to keep her there....I want to be 40 weeks and miserably pregnant...I'd take that anyday over the anguish of being discharged from the hospital after being stuck there for 5 weeks and having to leave my son there. The pregnant and hormonal part is hard on Adam too...he is an amazing husband and has picked up the slack where I just can't do it anymore soooo well! I him.


AND...today I was violated in a way that I still can't shake...Ugh. I hate middle school kids sometimes...

I had a student come into class and refuse to sit down. He then undoes his belt and unzips his pants. I asked him to sit down. He responded rudely and defiantly "I'm fixing my pants." I repeated my request for him to sit down. He responded "Why you looking?!?! You like this or something?!" I then changed my request for him to leave the classroom. He looked at me and said "F*ck you!" and walked out.

I wrote the referral. We are required before we can actually send a referral to the office to contact the parents. So I called home. No answer. I called dad at work. The secretary answered. "Is this an emergency. We don't allow personal calls." I told her it was up to her whether she connected me through or not and that his son was doing/saying inappropriate things at school. She transferred me through. I spoke to the dad's supervisor who was unable to get the dad on the phone. I was hoping the office would accept that so I (thank goodness I had a teacher's aide this period) took the student up to the office....As we walked in the secretary said the dad was on the phone for me. I spoke to him. His answer...."What do you want me to do about it!??!" Seriously?!?

I am having a very difficult time seeing these urchins as people...I know they need a patient, understanding adult in their lives...but I sure as anything don't feel equipped to be that for them.

I feel gross and nasty...that a child would speak to me that way. Ewww. Ugh. I want to go home.

*hugs* to all the mama's out there and Happy Birthday Month to our gorgeous kiddos!!

[spughy]

Happy Birthday Neela!

Wow. 2 years old. Hard to believe... this morning I picked Rowan up and she felt so heavy! I had a sudden flashback to her at about 3 weeks, with me bouncing her up and down on my exercise ball to calm her, and how I would hold her under her arms and support her head at the same time, and I realized in a very physical way how much she's grown!

We're not doing anything superfancy for her birthday - I'll have a couple of her little friends over one morning (probably the day after her birthday) and I'm sure my MIL will have a little family party for her.

Alicia, that's horrible about that kid at school. . You kind of have to wonder what sort of home life that kid has, that he would even consider doing that. Although with the dad's response, you don't really have to *wonder*, it's pretty obvious. Sigh.

Gotta go flip my calendars over. Happy November everyone!

Oh, here are some of our Hallowe'en pics!

[flapjack]

Kaspirant. Steve had a pupil last week (same age as your lot) ask him in detail if he knew about "rumping" and getting as explicit as she could. She then hugged him goodbye at the end of class :barf Just- no. Don't go down the "blame the parents" route though huh? Mothers are the underdogs of the universe anyhow atm.

[MelW]

I have a two year old...

We opened some birthday gifts from family in bed this morning and she loved the paper tearing. We got her a xylophone and some maracas, and a beautiful coat made by a local woman from a recycled sweater. I'm supposed to be working tonight and we're doing post punk kitchen vegan cupcakes tomorrow with some neighbours. And on saturday we're going to a belated hallowe'en party with DH's classmates, and sunday I'm hosting a baby shower for a co-worker (which has Neela doubly excited- it's in the community room, which she adores, and it's for someone who "has a baby in her belly")

Hallowe'en went over better than expected. She decided that it was okay to be a baby bumblebee afterall (we had a meltdown about the lack of a baby elephant costume over the weekend), since her friends were going trick or treating and she happily got costumed and took off. I was working, but she and DH had a great time. The imaginary horse that lives in our bedroom dressed up as a peacock, according to Neela.

Neela has been making up funny nicknames for people recently. I'm bubby (a cross between buddy and baby, I think), and also mamba jamba.

Amy I went looking for the list of questions that I think you posted for our babies first birthdays, but I couldn't find it... I thought it would be cool to check in again about our kiddos if anyone knows where it is...

Kaspirant~ It sounds like you guys have made a lot of exciting decisions. Wishing you all the best with your move preparation (and hitting the ever exciting 29 weeks upright!!!).

[3for3hb]

Ewww about the middle school kids. I have serious issues with that age group. I can only hope I am doing the right things and my kids won't become little hellions like that. :

: I am excited and anxious at the same time about the whole 2nd birthday thing. I just don't feel like celebrating. It makes me sad. Gabriel has completely taken quite a turn around these past two weeks or so. He's sooooo in the *terrific* twos stage already (hear my sarcasm?). Throwing himself down on the floor tantrums (which are much easier to dissipate than Willem ever was), and having a destructive mind of his own top the list of things that make your exhausted pregnant mother even more exhausted. On top of everything, I spoke too soon last month when I said no one was getting sick here. Willem has been feverish with a raspy, mucousy cough all week. He got so exhausted after walking half the block last night But he was a man on a mission with candy as his goal He keeps asking for me to get his candy out and I keep explaining that it will only make him sick longer and then he agrees to wait unitl he's feeling better to have some. He forgets to spit after he coughs so he's been "throwing up" mucus. Gross. I actually had to wake dh up to look at it last night (check for blood or pus) because it turned my pg stomach. So I'm exhausted from staying up with him etc.

I have yet to figure out what to do for Gabriel's birthday. It'll probably just be us, celebrating as a family. I'm so not a party planner. It's been on my mind for, seriously, the past month and a half but I'm clueless. I am proud of myself for getting a list together of possible birthday gifts (if it doesn't get on a list these days I forget and it doesn't get done). I'm sending a copy to my mom tomorrow and having dh email one to his mom tomorrow.

OT but the boys were soooo cute last night. They got so many ooos and aahhh's as the Tinman and the Cowardly lion. One of our neighbors (whose kids are all grown up now) was almost in tears she thought they were so cute. Willem was so thankful that I made his costume for him, despite how
'out of it' he felt.

[Queen of Cups]

Halloween pictures!


Ellie the ladybug, who LOVED opening suckers to take one lick and then discarding them. (see the pile on the table?)

Officer Killy

We put this picture on a Halloween card and sent out to family. Aren't they just too cute?

[*Amy*]

Originally Posted by MelW

Amy I went looking for the list of questions that I think you posted for our babies first birthdays, but I couldn't find it... I thought it would be cool to check in again about our kiddos if anyone knows where it is...

Oh yeah, I remember that! Those questions may not be as appropriate now (I remember some were like, what is the hardest part of being a mom, etc.) so why don't you do the honors and make us a new list of questions!??

[Gunter]

happy labor days and birthdays!!!

thanks for starting this HAPPY BIRTHDAY thread, amy! it came upon me so quickly that ezra will be two in less than a week! we've been saying for a while, "she's almost two" when people ask how old she is but still, can you believe we are already here at another birthday? brynn is so fab in her girlasouras outfit!

since we just got back into the country and our house and it is TRASHED, we are having ezra's party at the science museum. we get a room for an hour and then the guests get into the museum for free all day. there is a butterfly house and lots of other fun outdoor stuff in addition to the regular museum exhibits. our local LLL had a 50th anniv celebration in the same room so that's where i got the idea. not too much clean up for us, lots of entertainment with nothing for me to plan and fun for lots of different ages. plus, yeah, not having to host which would be impossible with the state of our house and yard right now. not to mention the embarrassment of the broke down car up on cinder blocks in our driveway!!! :::

ezra's birthday is tuesday nov 6th and the party is on saturday, nov 10th so her older friends can come. we usually throw a huge halloween chili cook off with a keg but not this year. we usually dress up fully but not this year at all. ez sad she wanted to be puss in boots, dad to be shrek and me to be donkey. at first, i was to be princess fiona but then, depending on how you look at it, i was demoted or promoted to being a donkey. donkey is her fave character, perhaps b/c it's the only cartoon she has seen. we watched it in bali a couple of times and she loved it. guess there are worse cartoons to like.

QoC- those kids are so cute and so are their costumes!

we are also fixing up a room for ezra. she's getting a bed of her own! not sure how often she'll use it but she slept in the extra bed if we had two beds in our hotel room. and, she seems to be weaning. woo hoo! i am sure she'll start up, again when she sees her lil sibling.

alicia- i am so sorry about the kid doing that to you. i am glad that you get to leave that enviro soon. i hear you about wanting to be 40 weeks and miserable. my story doesn't compare to what you went through but with ez 3 weeks early and barely 5 pounds born at home, i was a nervous wreck that she would not get enough milk from me and it would be all my fault. i wanted to go to the hospital and get her an IV or whatever. dh was the voice of reason, along with my doula and midwife. thankfully we had lots of support to keep my mind straight as i was riddled with anxiety that first week. ugh. i want this one to stay in and be healthy. i will think of you, too whenever i get nervous about it and say prayers to keep our babes in. are you drinking Red Rasp Leaf tea?

sarah- love the pics, esp the chasing bunnies one!

mel-a xylophone would be a great gift! we bought one for christmas last year and it fell apart. they are everywhere in bali and the kids learn to really play them starting at age 5 or so. i bet ez would love one; she liked playing the huge ones there.

ez has this funny sense of humor recently where she likes body humor jokes. do you all know the "signing times" silly pizza song? they list different gross things on pizza like, "i like cereal on my pizza" or bread or ice cream. the other night, she was singing it and laughing hysterically barely got the words out, "i like boogies on my pizza." where did she learn this? once i figured out what she was saying, we spent the next five minutes laughing and repeating it and me saying, "gross" which would get her laughing all over, again!

monique- i hear you about already being the stereotypical two year old. ez says "no" ALL. THE. TIME. and, we have worked so hard to respond to her in different ways her whole life with words other than no. and she throws things. does not want to get dressed. or wear a diaper to bed; i have a gash on my thumb from struggling with that stupid snappi the other night. and, leaving places like a store or the park has become very challenging. she cries in her carseat once we finally get her into it. it's taking a lot of patience from both dh and i to not strong arm her into the carseat. we try to wait or give her a toy, book, chips, anything and i sit with her in the backseat when it's especially hard and just hug her as she cries in the carseat. thankfully, i have somehow had my supermom powers increased ten fold b/c i can manage the patience to do this without pulling my hair out recently. let's hope this doesn't last an entire year, esp with our new babes coming.

[MamaFern]

happy birthday mel and neela!!! and any other birthday babes and mommas.

its november! i can't believe it.. all of our babies will be 2 soon! i feel like im going to miss my baby, but i guess ill have another one sooner than later

and Its snowing!!! i love snow. its the first of the season and its pretty exciting. we arent ready. no snow tires..no proper boots for the kids.. i dont have a jacket that fits over my belly :
but its beautiful and our house is cozy and warm with the wood stove.

im totally into knitting these days after a looong time it seems.. my MIL and i did a craft sale across the street from our house a last weekend and i sold some of my knitting and baking. it was great fun.


and halloween in our small town was wonderful. we had a HUGE bonfire (like 14 feet tall) in the hall parking lot and everyone went trick-or-treating together (all 12 or so kids in town) elwynn was a cowboy (his choice, not mine ) and ngaio a ladybug (she was supposidly the cutest kid in town)
elwynn and i made halloween sugar cookies and cupcakes for the party and there was all sorts of other warm drinks and food. and even a fairly impressive fireworks display. i met a bunch of folks from town that i havn't seen before, so yeah...all in all it was pretty lovely.

im stressing a bit about this baby in my belly. i had this scare about baby being soo huge then had an ultrasound and now they are saying its way small.. i feel like since that appt with my midwife my BP has been high and ive just been worried. im not sleeping well and im really regreting all of it..i was so happy UPing and now im freaking out. i tend to have anxiety about medical stuff and so its really been hard. im trying to say a lot of possitive affirmations, drink lots of RRL tea, nettle and alfalfa and ive been taking some tinctures when my nerves really get out of control. im trying to rest more and boond with baby more too which is helping me because she sure moves, kicks and flips a lot in there. she sure doesn't feel tiny!
im not sure for another midwife appt for another 2 1/2 weeks which is kind of a good thing because i know she is going to want me to have another US, which i dont want to do.. ak. i cant believe after 2 so perfect pregnancies that im going through this. it really sucks. and the worst part is that at the beginning i really didnt know if i wanted another baby and i havn't been as caring for myself and baby as i probably should be (im trying to be better now to take my vitamins and get rest and not do so much) and now i feel like its my fault if something is wrong. :


wish i could be here more..

fern

[flapjack]

Fern. Did you see my baby belly cardigan? I want to go make you one to keep you warm and snug and cosy and feel like we're all hugging you, but by the time I've finished you'll probably have had the baby and be back to normal- so I won't. I wonder if the scan was meant to tell you something about your decision to UP- but then, your instincts were telling you to get help with this pregnancy We're here for you whenever you need us.

Oh- I will sort out swap partners, btw. Sorry it's taken so long.

Oh, and Halloween stinks. Walmart and Tescos have just completely trashed every UK Halloween tradition EVER and instead the shops are covered with this horrible plastic tat and pumpkins and other foreign muck. Yuck. Apparently it's about looking scary and getting sweets (direct quote from my adorable 7yo.) Well, not in MY house it's not. Just- yuck.
It's anarchist day (aka Guy Fawkes Day) next week though and we have firework displays to go see this weekend, so I'm happy. The builders start the extension on Monday as well, which will be- erm, bracing. To say the least.

[HoneyTree]

I'm pretty sensitive to middle-aged children being called "urchins" or "hellions," too. And I don't think that blaming parents is good for anyone, either.

A seasoned teacher and professor of mine once asked me to remember that parents send to school the best they've got. Our little two year olds will be there some day, and if they're not, if we are privileged enough educationally and economically to home school them, send them to private schools, or live in neighborhoods zoned for the "good" schools, then we would be wise to show them with our actions and tell them with our words that not everyone is born so lucky, and that with that luck comes the responsibility to treat every single person with empathy and respect and to give something back to the world.

I know that Alicia's experience was particularly disturbing, but I think of my middle schoolers, especially the troubled ones, and want so desperately for them to get a fair shot, to not get stereotyped or treated harshly for bad choices that have so much to do with their age and their being ill-equipped emotionally and socially for much of what this world presents them with. The system mostly sucks and adolescence mostly sucks, but I think it's all of our job to demonstrate what a society could look like to get the change moving in a positive direction.

[flapjack]

Nice post, Honeytree.

[3for3hb]

Originally Posted by HoneyTree

I'm pretty sensitive to middle-aged children being called "urchins" or "hellions," too. And I don't think that blaming parents is good for anyone, either.

A seasoned teacher and professor of mine once asked me to remember that parents send to school the best they've got. Our little two year olds will be there some day, and if they're not, if we are privileged enough educationally and economically to home school them, send them to private schools, or live in neighborhoods zoned for the "good" schools, then we would be wise to show them with our actions and tell them with our words that not everyone is born so lucky, and that with that luck comes the responsibility to treat every single person with empathy and respect and to give something back to the world.

I know that Alicia's experience was particularly disturbing, but I think of my middle schoolers, especially the troubled ones, and want so desperately for them to get a fair shot, to not get stereotyped or treated harshly for bad choices that have so much to do with their age and their being ill-equipped emotionally and socially for much of what this world presents them with. The system mostly sucks and adolescence mostly sucks, but I think it's all of our job to demonstrate what a society could look like to get the change moving in a positive direction.

You're absolutely right and I should be more careful with my words :

[flapjack]

Teenagers terrify me, you know? I look at my sweet and innocent (ha) boys and at the teenagers I know and they seem totally different species: and then I bear in mind the fact that to the mums of Skye's friends, my loud, boisterous hoydens are just- horrible. Unimaginably awful, and their children will never turn out like that.

Preggo mamas, does anyone else find it a bit surreal sitting here reading the nov05 birthday thread with another baby kicking in your belly? It's just- a bit weird. Y'know?

[3for3hb]

Originally Posted by flapjack

Teenagers terrify me, you know? I look at my sweet and innocent (ha) boys and at the teenagers I know and they seem totally different species: and then I bear in mind the fact that to the mums of Skye's friends, my loud, boisterous hoydens are just- horrible. Unimaginably awful, and their children will never turn out like that.

Hence the horrible issues I have with those age groups. I never was "allowed" to develop through those years normally and so I'm terrified of my kids getting to that age , kwim?

Originally Posted by flapjack

Preggo mamas, does anyone else find it a bit surreal sitting here reading the nov05 birthday thread with another baby kicking in your belly? It's just- a bit weird. Y'know?

yes!!!!!! it makes it feel like it was so long ago.


I haven't shared pics in a while... don't even know if I am doing it right (I haven't used photobucket in FOREVER).
Tinman & the Lion
Lion & Kitty mama
I got tandy!!!
Sick AND tired
Shocket tookies!!!
Pumpkin farm 1
Pumpkin farm 2