Two things on my parenting mind..... sleep and potties.
We are currently potty training DJ and well it was rough going from the start, he's just such a different guy from his older siblings, so much more independent. Well about 2 weeks ago I had him peeing on command, which I always feel like is the first major hurdle in potty training, and now it's down the toilet! He's back to not peeing at all on the potty (or maybe once a day) and I'm just frustrated! I know he's still young, but he had been so interested in peeing on the potty that I didn't want to deny the opportunity. Oh well! He'll get the hang of it soon. I'm hoping that he will be somewhat trained by the time he starts his preschool in the next month- I can dream right?!
The other major parenting issue we are facing is sleep with B. She had been a pretty good sleeper up until the last month. Now she was never sleeping through the night (defined as 5 hours of continuous sleeping), but she did sleep a 2-3 hour chunk at a time. Well, lately it's been 90 minutes on average, which makes for a long night. The worst part has been that the first part of the evening, the time usually reserved for cleaning up dinner, working on school stuff and relaxing- she's been awake. Which can be pleasant because hubby and I can enjoy some quality one-on-one time with her, but most of the time we are just switching off who is working on putting her to sleep. I am praying with all my might, that most of the craziness has been due to building up to Al's 3rd birthday party, but I just don't know. I do know that these past two days I have been working really hard at making sure she is napping well (ie at least 1 hour) and she is settling easier at night. Hopefully we are finding a rhythm that works for her, because the lack of sleep is a major stress to hubby and I. We are also working at moving her out of our bed for some of the night, because, lets face it- babies are cuddly and warm and wonderful, but sometimes you just want to sleep and not cuddle.
On a tangent today is Al's third birthday. I can't believe he's 3! It seems like just yesterday he was a baby. We were sitting in the room he was born in (now his sister's) reminiscing a bit. He seems so grown-up now and I know in a few month DJ will be 2 and a few after that B will be 1. How the time does fly. It's so sad in many ways because we know these are the last of the baby/toddler/preschool years and they just fly. Hubby and I realized that we have to register S for kindergarten this fall, something I never thought I would have to do in the state of KY, but since we are still here it needs to be done, as well as applying for the lottery for the Spanish immersion program. My babies are growing up too quickly! WAAAH!
Well I clearly can't leave you all on such a sad note, so I'll say that I had a subject drop out of the study, but it was OK because I had another fill the space that evening!
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Birthdays, camping, the PhD and poison ivy
So I haven't posted in a while, it's been a crazy life (more than usual). I forgot how difficult it is to manage my family, write for the PhD and collect data for the PhD. My data collection process is seriously time intensive. I am at my client's home 3 times per week for 7-8 weeks for a minimum of 30 minutes, but usually an hour. Doesn't sound too bad at first, but make it 2-3 clients at different times of day (to make it the most conveient for the clients and not me) and different ends of the city and I feel a little nuts! I try not to complain, since this was obviously my choice, but it does make for an interesting week. I really enjoy my time with my clients, so if any of you are reading this don't feel guilty please!
In the midst of this we have had 2 birthdays and a camping trip. Hubby had his birthday on the 4th of July and we just had Al's 3rd birthday party although his actual birthday is next week. Hubby's birthday was fun- we finished up our camping trip on the 4th and had to pack up everything in the rain, and then the car wouldn't start. It's days like that that I am glad we camp with a group, two of the wonderful men in our group helped us take down the tent, pack the car and give us a jump. Thank the lord for them! Took the hubby out to dinner and had a rude server....... enough said. Poor guy- it wasn't the best birthday, but at least we were all together!
Al's party was a blast, we invited his friends from preschool and the neighbor kids. Gotta love that the preschoolers behaved better than the neighbor kids, who a) bossed around S and b) shoved and scratched S and Al, and maybe even DJ. I'm just thankful that he did not mess with the preschool guests. I have to say that my kids are better behaved than this going into 1st grade boy, who once told me "I don't have to say please and thank you to you- you're not my mom!" A special thank you to my parents, mother-in-law and aunt-in-law who all helped wrangle kids and clean my house for the party and supply it with food and drinks and balloons. I hope you had a wonderful time. I know we all did.
So I mentioned we had our second camping trip of the year, which I would generally say it was a success minus the car trouble, my poison ivy and the tragedy that struck our good friends. We spent most of the time at the pool or the kids swinging on a vine like Tarzan. We did learn that DJ does not like to be in the tent in a storm, he would prefer to be out in the pouring rain than be in a blowing tent. Poor little guy!
Did I mention poison ivy? I HATE poison ivy. We cleared out our back fence line a few weeks back and I didn't think anything about it. There was NO poison ivy visible. Then hubby came down with a spot on the back of his knee which swelled up and looked nasty. Doc said it was eczema and gave him steroid cream & pills. Well we now know hubby is allergic to oral steroids because a few days later he had strange marks (probably hives) all over his body. Which when we came to think of it, this is what happened last time he took oral steroids for poison ivy. A return trip to the original doc said oops! I was wrong it was poison ivy not eczema- duh! we could have told him that. Now while all that was going on I was fine, except for a very small irritation on my lower left calf, which spread across the front of my left ankle and foot. When I finally gave in to see the doctor they decided I had poison ivy as well and gave me topical cream, since I am breastfeeding and I don't like to take anything I don't have to take. Well, we'll just say that the cream did essentially nothing when it spread to my other leg, belly, arms and a breast. Gave in a started taking oral steroids, which thankfully I am NOT allergic to. I am still recovering from the poison ivy and unlike my husband my skin is scarring from it.
So my friends I hope you can forgive me for not posting for a while, as you see the crazy life of this mama has been a bit more crazy
In the midst of this we have had 2 birthdays and a camping trip. Hubby had his birthday on the 4th of July and we just had Al's 3rd birthday party although his actual birthday is next week. Hubby's birthday was fun- we finished up our camping trip on the 4th and had to pack up everything in the rain, and then the car wouldn't start. It's days like that that I am glad we camp with a group, two of the wonderful men in our group helped us take down the tent, pack the car and give us a jump. Thank the lord for them! Took the hubby out to dinner and had a rude server....... enough said. Poor guy- it wasn't the best birthday, but at least we were all together!
Al's party was a blast, we invited his friends from preschool and the neighbor kids. Gotta love that the preschoolers behaved better than the neighbor kids, who a) bossed around S and b) shoved and scratched S and Al, and maybe even DJ. I'm just thankful that he did not mess with the preschool guests. I have to say that my kids are better behaved than this going into 1st grade boy, who once told me "I don't have to say please and thank you to you- you're not my mom!" A special thank you to my parents, mother-in-law and aunt-in-law who all helped wrangle kids and clean my house for the party and supply it with food and drinks and balloons. I hope you had a wonderful time. I know we all did.
So I mentioned we had our second camping trip of the year, which I would generally say it was a success minus the car trouble, my poison ivy and the tragedy that struck our good friends. We spent most of the time at the pool or the kids swinging on a vine like Tarzan. We did learn that DJ does not like to be in the tent in a storm, he would prefer to be out in the pouring rain than be in a blowing tent. Poor little guy!
Did I mention poison ivy? I HATE poison ivy. We cleared out our back fence line a few weeks back and I didn't think anything about it. There was NO poison ivy visible. Then hubby came down with a spot on the back of his knee which swelled up and looked nasty. Doc said it was eczema and gave him steroid cream & pills. Well we now know hubby is allergic to oral steroids because a few days later he had strange marks (probably hives) all over his body. Which when we came to think of it, this is what happened last time he took oral steroids for poison ivy. A return trip to the original doc said oops! I was wrong it was poison ivy not eczema- duh! we could have told him that. Now while all that was going on I was fine, except for a very small irritation on my lower left calf, which spread across the front of my left ankle and foot. When I finally gave in to see the doctor they decided I had poison ivy as well and gave me topical cream, since I am breastfeeding and I don't like to take anything I don't have to take. Well, we'll just say that the cream did essentially nothing when it spread to my other leg, belly, arms and a breast. Gave in a started taking oral steroids, which thankfully I am NOT allergic to. I am still recovering from the poison ivy and unlike my husband my skin is scarring from it.
So my friends I hope you can forgive me for not posting for a while, as you see the crazy life of this mama has been a bit more crazy
Monday, June 27, 2011
Random facts about us
So you know about my kids, me and the hubby and the PhD (which I started collecting data on 2 subjects!). I thought I would fill you in on a few other things about our family and our choices. After reading this I am sure you will call me crazy.
So first of the random things. I use CLOTH DIAPERS! Yes I do! I love my cloth diapers and have used them since S was born, in fact baby B is wearing diapers that S wore. Now isn't that cool! I know it sounds like a lot of work, but it means about 2 extra loads on laundry a week, which since I have been doing it for 4 years it's just routine at this point. I have always had at least one in diapers and no more than 2. That means that S was potty trained before #3 (DJ) was born and that Al was before baby B was born. We are currently working on potty training DJ, which hasn't been going too well, but he so wants to use the potty that I refuse to put him in diapers. Anyways, back to the cloth diapers, we use basic prefolds, Bum Genius, Kissaluvs, and Tots Bots. I am currently loving the tots bots more than my bum genius which I have used for 3+ years, no sorting required, just stuffing! And in case you were wondering we use cloth wipes as well.
Another random thing and very important one at that: I am a breastfeeding mama. I support all forms of breastfeeding, whether it's the traditional mom & baby or the mom without enough milk getting milk from another mom, I really believe that breastmilk is the best thing for our babies. I have breastfed each of my children for as long as possible, which was usually until something with the next pregnancy made it too difficult. My worst moment was when I found out I was pregnant with baby B and had to stop nursing DJ because he was actually falling off the growth chart and literally starving. My milk was coming in, but it was not in sufficient enough calories to keep him healthy, so we had to switch him to formula. I felt like a failure, since I had been able to nurse Al longer and only supplement with goat's milk (yes, I said goat's milk) until after his 1st birthday, which was quite a feat seeing as that Al and DJ are 14 months apart. I have a wonderful friend who has chronicled her pregnancy & breastfeeding journey, if you are in need of some inspiration from someone who did not find it as easy as I have. Visit her blog here. If you want to know how I manage breastfeeding and school I use a pump when I don't have baby B with me, but for classes I have been blessed with understanding professors and have been able to bring all of my children at point when they were babies to class with me.
Last random fact: I had 1 hospital birth and 3 planned homebirths. S was born at the hospital and the rest at home with a midwife. I believe that women should have choices in birth, whether your choice is an epidural or birthing at home in a pool women need to be informed of all the choices and the consequences of their choices. Looking for an interesting read? Check out the book Pushed by Jennifer Block to find out more about the birthing and women's rights movement. Being a pediatric PT I was more than aware of what can happen to babies during and after a difficult birth and still made the choice to have my homebirths. While not everyone has supported hubby and I's choices to have homebirths I would not change things about them. How many of your husbands/fathers/partners have been able to "catch" their baby? Mine has!
If after reading this and previous posts you don't think I'm crazy, then YOU must be crazy!
So first of the random things. I use CLOTH DIAPERS! Yes I do! I love my cloth diapers and have used them since S was born, in fact baby B is wearing diapers that S wore. Now isn't that cool! I know it sounds like a lot of work, but it means about 2 extra loads on laundry a week, which since I have been doing it for 4 years it's just routine at this point. I have always had at least one in diapers and no more than 2. That means that S was potty trained before #3 (DJ) was born and that Al was before baby B was born. We are currently working on potty training DJ, which hasn't been going too well, but he so wants to use the potty that I refuse to put him in diapers. Anyways, back to the cloth diapers, we use basic prefolds, Bum Genius, Kissaluvs, and Tots Bots. I am currently loving the tots bots more than my bum genius which I have used for 3+ years, no sorting required, just stuffing! And in case you were wondering we use cloth wipes as well.
Another random thing and very important one at that: I am a breastfeeding mama. I support all forms of breastfeeding, whether it's the traditional mom & baby or the mom without enough milk getting milk from another mom, I really believe that breastmilk is the best thing for our babies. I have breastfed each of my children for as long as possible, which was usually until something with the next pregnancy made it too difficult. My worst moment was when I found out I was pregnant with baby B and had to stop nursing DJ because he was actually falling off the growth chart and literally starving. My milk was coming in, but it was not in sufficient enough calories to keep him healthy, so we had to switch him to formula. I felt like a failure, since I had been able to nurse Al longer and only supplement with goat's milk (yes, I said goat's milk) until after his 1st birthday, which was quite a feat seeing as that Al and DJ are 14 months apart. I have a wonderful friend who has chronicled her pregnancy & breastfeeding journey, if you are in need of some inspiration from someone who did not find it as easy as I have. Visit her blog here. If you want to know how I manage breastfeeding and school I use a pump when I don't have baby B with me, but for classes I have been blessed with understanding professors and have been able to bring all of my children at point when they were babies to class with me.
Last random fact: I had 1 hospital birth and 3 planned homebirths. S was born at the hospital and the rest at home with a midwife. I believe that women should have choices in birth, whether your choice is an epidural or birthing at home in a pool women need to be informed of all the choices and the consequences of their choices. Looking for an interesting read? Check out the book Pushed by Jennifer Block to find out more about the birthing and women's rights movement. Being a pediatric PT I was more than aware of what can happen to babies during and after a difficult birth and still made the choice to have my homebirths. While not everyone has supported hubby and I's choices to have homebirths I would not change things about them. How many of your husbands/fathers/partners have been able to "catch" their baby? Mine has!
If after reading this and previous posts you don't think I'm crazy, then YOU must be crazy!
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