[LizD]

Up til 4. Where's the bleary-eyed emoticon? Happy New Year!

 

[prmom]

Happy New Year Everyone! We all went to bed shortly after 12. No hard partying for us this year

Oh well! We had fun with our children. They were spent from all of the holiday gatherings. Well, I better go back and catch up on the December conversations.

Happy New Year!

 

[Mummoth]

I usually wake up at midnight on New Years, to hoots & hollers, or at least a car honking its horn down the street, then I shove Kevin & mumble "Happy New Year" to him. Then he usually mumbles "uh-huh" back at me, and sometimes he wakes up enough to give me a kiss. Last night though... no recollection whatsoever....

We had our movie date. Kevin brought home Finding Nemo for Roland, which we watched before dinner, then he got his teeth brushed (no puter plan worked

) and fell asleep during the news. Caitlin boobed & napped while we watched Spiderman 2. It was good.

 

[3girlsmommy]

Happy New Year everyone! Dh & I stayed up to watch the ball drop and then went to bed.

Our oldest woke up this morning and started throwing up. I was already concerned about her because she has a cough that just won't go away! SHe's had it for 2 weeks now(I know bad mommy!) so I think that we are taking a trip to ugent care. I spoke w/ our doctor this afternoon and he is worried about pnemonia(sp?). She doesn't cough that much during the day but she will cough ALL night long and really hasn't been sleeping well for three or 4 nights. This morning her cough sounds different too. Dh is also not feeling well. His stomach hurts and he's currently in bed. It looks like I'll be at least taking Lauren and Lily to Urgent care. I hate having to drag Lily w/ me but I don't know how long I'll be gone and I don't haave anything pumped for dh to give her. I just hope everyone gets better SOON!!! It's been a long couple of weeks.

 

[eilonwy]

We had a fairly quiet NYE; BeanBean and ChibiChibi stayed up to watch the ball drop and the fireworks on tv, and both of them really enjoyed it, though I found myself wishing that Chibi had taken my advice and taken a nap yesterday.

About toddler brushing-- we don't have a problem with it at all.

Of course, I've got weird TCS issues surrounding it all. I figure that it won't hurt him if he doesn't brush every now and then, and more importantly I know that he's willing to let me or Mike do it as long as we let him hold the toothbrush first. So it's all good for us. Of course, BeanBean doesn't have any dental issues and as a family our teeth are fairly healthy (read: not extra-prone to carries) so it's much less of an issue for us than for some.

I think Miss BooBah is growing-- she looks taller and feels heavier. She's also throwing up a lot less since she started solids!

The more I think about it, the more I think that her nephrologist transposed two numbers and that's why he thought she wasn't growing well. I'm feeling good about her growth today.

Oh, and the best news of all! Mike said I could take $25 off of our charge payment this month and get myself some jeans. Well, I was able to get a whole outfit for that!! Including (

drumroll

) A BRA!!!!!

:

: You may think I've gone too far with the smilies this time, but this is a *HUGE* deal-- it was only $6.77, and hanging on the rack. I saw it and thought "wow, that bra is enormous, I've never seen one that big in a store before..." I got closer and saw that it was a nursing bra, and picked it up. It was almost too good to be true-- it's labled a 42 G, but I think it's actually more like a 40 I (which would explain why it was returned). I tried it on and it fits me like a dream; my boobs are perkier than they've been since before BeanBean was born! I'm so happy and so excited and I'm wearing it right now and you wouldn't believe the difference it makes in how I feel, just wearing a bra that fits so well and is flattering on me. HOORAY!!

The jeans are cute too- they were $7.82, and they're roomy in the thighs and seat but not in the waist (because I don't have a waist anymore

: ) and they're very flattering and cute. I got an adorable sweater top with the remaining money and I'm just so pleased with the world! I knew it was depressing, but I couldn't have told you how demoralizing it is to wear clothing that doesn't fit until I finally got some that does. Life is decent today, for sure. And there's Miss BooBah, who's just put herself to sleep for the second time today. Sweet!

:cool

 

[Queen of Cups]

DH, my sister, and I stayed up late eating party food, watching tv, and playing board games until a little after midnight. Killy conked out at the usual time (10pm), but we all ran upstairs to kiss him at midnight.

Killy woke up at 4:30 crying his eyes out and completely congested, took almost an hour of propped up nursing till he fell asleep able to breathe. His nose is a bit runny today, but he's better. He was super fussy yesterday, but it was my fault because I've drunk milk the last two days. Our pediatrician said it would probably be okay to add milk back to my diet after Killy was 6 months, but it still seems to bother him. Ah, well... at least I love Very Vanilla Silk. (skim milk is just so much cheaper!)

To chime in on the recovery-from-birth issue... Everything is back to normal, mostly. I had lost all the weight at 4 months postpartum, but have since gained 8-9 pounds! Eek! So now I'm going to have to make myself buckle down and exercise every day. I'm also working on cutting out refined sugar and flour from my diet. My new year's resolution is to loose 20 pounds and then get pregnant!

To be honest, though, DH and I are not doing anything to prevent pregnancy now. We both can't wait to have another baby! I don't think I'm fertile yet, though. No AF so far, Killy is still nursing at night and eating very little solids, BUT I've started having some cervical mucous and (sorry if this is TMI) natural lubrication during sex - so I guess my hormones are starting to get back to normal. Anyone know if this means I should start taking a hpt once a month to check?

 

[Greaseball]

:

 

[Mummoth]

We've had times when toothbrushing is a problem & times when it isn't. I'm with you Rynna... if it were only up to me we'd say "Okay, time to brsuh teeth" and if he declines one of us doing it, I'd just give it to him & let him do his best. Kevin can *remember* when his dad brushed (& flossed) his teeth for him. He wasn't allowed to do it for himself. And no matter how much of a battle it was, their teeth got brushed. I've got ONE filling, the first of my life, that was so minor, the dentist didn't even need to freeze me to do it. Kevin has had several fillings, but nothing really insane. His parents didn't get any dental care when they were kids, so taking care of them as best as they could was their only shot (they've both got crowns & bridges & all sorts of dental work) When I was a kid, our toothbrushes were bath toys until we were old enough to do it ourselves. My mom never supervised or anything... Anyway, I think we both inherited out attitudes about brushing, and health of teeth is mostly genetic.

Kevins brother just stopped by to get the trailer & dropped off a present for DH & Roland's birthdays. A digital camera... I guess this is a hint to take more pictures!! Theres going to be a link to a picture of Caitlin as soon as she wakes up from her nap!! She's only a teensy bit rashy this week. I don't have any picturesof her on the web yet without rashes. Squee! This is exciting!

 

[Smithie]

We had a "sedate, family friendly" NYE gathering at out place. Everybody left after the ball dropped except the sole guest who has no wife or baby (poor guy), and james finally consented to sleep once the house was almost empty, so we played Italian card games and lsted to "The Music of the Mafia" for a couple more hours.

James is on his second day of being clingier and fussier than usual and fighting sleep harder. I think perhaps more teeth are imminent.

ETA: Rynna, I bounced up and down with glee when I heard about your new clothes. Congratulations!

 

[dharmama]

Here's what's new with me (copied from a thread I started because I'm the laziest person in the world.

)

i just bumped into my neighbor at the store and I asked her if she thought her 12 yo dd would be interested in coming over 1-2 afternoons a week to help me. She said she *knows* her dd would be THRILLED to do it. I told her I'd stop by this week and we could work out the details.

First of all

I am so excited about this. I have been feeling like I need some support during the week (DH works LOOOOOONG hours) for a while now. I think this could really help me to get some housework/cooking done. Yay!!

And now a question...

Any one else have a helper? What's the going rate these days? Around here babysitters get $10 per hour but I'm thinking a helper might get a litlle less because I'll be there and she won't have to do as much (dinner, baths, bed etc). But I also don't want to be too cheap?

I was thinking maybe $6 or a$7/hr...does that sound reasonable?

Thanks!

~Erin

 

[Queen of Cups]

For a 12-year-old, honestly I wouldn't pay over minimum wage. I babysat for years and was paid very well for it and was highly requested, but I didn't start making decent money at it until I was college-age (and though it was a few years ago, decent money for the area was $8-9/hour plus a nice tip). How nice that you'll get some help! My sister lives with DH and I, and I asked her one day, "How do women without a sister or working-at-home-husband do this?" and her answer was, "They get post-partum-depression because its impossible to do it all." I think she's right!

 

[Mummoth]

Wow! I used to get $3 an hour for babysitting my cousins!! (I don't know if that makes me old or naive...) I'd think that a helper could be less than $10 hour, though... because it'd be regular & because you'd be there, too. $6 or $7 sounds very reasonable to me... but I'd probably also make a minimum per day amount... so, even if she's only there for 1/2 hour one day, she still gets paid $15 (for example) because it might not be worth it for her to come by for a short period of time otherwise, but it could make a world of difference to you, kwim?

I'd *love* a helper, but Kevins hours are a little odd. Our day starts at 5 -5:30am, but he's home from school by 4pm, so an afterschool helper wouldn't do me much good. Now, if there was a homeschooled kid around here, maybe he/she would be available during the day... ? Now you've gone & gotten me thinking!

Anyway... heres some pics from our new camera (I'm going to be driving you all nuts with this, be warned)

Mr.Mischeif: http://www3.telus.net/u2slow/kids/ja...ture%20003.jpg
Pudge: http://www3.telus.net/u2slow/kids/ja...ture%20005.jpg
Perplexed about the flash:
http://www3.telus.net/u2slow/kids/ja...ture%20008.jpg
He's a ham! http://www3.telus.net/u2slow/kids/ja...ture%20006.jpg
The Tooth: http://www3.telus.net/u2slow/kids/ja...tlin_tooth.jpg

I'm done now.
Bye.

 

[Balancin1]

Hi! We were in bed at 10pm last night, but we celebrated New Year's in Paris earlier in the evening.

I'm intrigued by the mother's helper idea, I've been thinking of one myself for months. I'll be interested to hear how it works out.

Uh oh, awake baby..

 

[dharmama]

HH ~ Great pictures!!

I love Mr. Mischief! :LOL

 

[dharmama]

Oh and QoC ~ I'm starting to have some more fertile like CM too. We're using a diaphragm right now but in the coming months I imagine we'll be less careful about using it.

We're thinking of waiting until Lil turns one to TTC so I don't have to stress about my milk supply during pregnancy and...plus I'd really prefer not to have a winter baby (I'm so spoiled now after having a June-bug) but if it happened ahead of schedule, we'd be thrilled...especially after it took us 9 mos to conceive Lil.

 

[Queen of Cups]

Well, we'd been planning on waiting on ttc till 1 year, but we just had a heart-to-heart last week and it basically came down to us deciding not to worry about birth control until DH has a vasectomy after we've had our 5 kids. I think at this point that I'll just trust my body to decide when its ready to support another baby. That's basically why most women have a certain amount of time before AF returns - because since they're supporting one child with breastmilk their body realizes that its not ready to support another child also. (Of course, I can say that after using the diaphragm religiously the first six month after Killy was born because I was worried about milk supply! I know that not everybody's body sticks to that...)

 

[freegirl23cat]

rynna~WHOA...congrats on the BRA!!! being a DDD myself, I know what a score you just made!!! i'd love to find one of those...i was just thinking that all my nursing bras are starting to fall apart and i'm going to get a new one w/ a target gc, but target's only go up to DD...

HBH: great pics! What a great gift...a digital camera!

Hmmm...a mother's helper..wow! and $10/hour...that seems like a monumentous wage for a pre-teen!..but maybe i'm responding emotionally b/c i can't imagine the luxury of having a "helper", let alone paying $10/hour...and although it may seem that not having a dh/dp and a 'helper' might lead some to be prone to postpartum depression, I can only speak for myself in saying that frankly it's often empowering knowing that you are making it all happen and its all you...sure it's exhausting to feed your dc every few hours all night and to be the only one changing all the diapers, doing all the diaper and other laundry, cooking all the meals, and nurturing your child. I'd say it does leave me pretty clear on why most single/unsupported mommas would not choose to breastfeed...but when your child is your priority, you don't have the "luxury" of self-indulged depression...

oh, and kava kava is not terribly expensive...try a tincture version and you will get the most direct impact...Herb Pharm makes a good one...after this post, i'm thinking i'd better go take some myself...

 

[Queen of Cups]

Quote:

Originally Posted by freegirl23cat ...and although it may seem that not having a dh/dp and a 'helper' might lead some to be prone to postpartum depression, I can only speak for myself in saying that frankly it's often empowering knowing that you are making it all happen and its all you...sure it's exhausting to feed your dc every few hours all night and to be the only one changing all the diapers, doing all the diaper and other laundry, cooking all the meals, and nurturing your child. I'd say it does leave me pretty clear on why most single/unsupported mommas would not choose to breastfeed...but when your child is your priority, you don't have the "luxury" of self-indulged depression...

I think I made a bad choice in mentioning PPD in a way that might seem like it is a "choice" - that is not my intention or belief. I don't think that describing PPD as a luxury or as a self-indulgence is appropriate (and women who are struck with PPD would tell you that their child is their priority, too, I'm sure). I believe that PPD is a hormonally and/or chemically caused condition that can strike anyone - regardless of their support system. I do think that if a new mother has a very strong support system it is easier to overcome or possibly even avoid PPD, and that's the message I was trying to get across in my previous post.

 

[freegirl23cat]

I certainly would not imply that PPD is self-indulgent...I would maintain that to the degree that one's lack of a partner/husband/or helper would predict one's predisposal to PPD is faulty and presumptious...and offensive...i'm sure you didn't mean it like that but you might think how it would sound to someone without a dh/dp/sister at home... I agree that PPD is definately NOT a choice as you say...and i don't want to make conflict over semantics..but sometimes it's necessary to remind others that the two-parent nuclear family isn't the only model...it's just so ingrained and taken-for-granted...anyway, like i said, maybe some kava kava is in order

 

[mattjule]

just subscribing...