Sammy's 4th birthday party photos

I think Sammy was very pleased with his birthday party. He asked for his friends to come over, and do puzzles with him, and play hide-and-seek. I'm not sure we played hide-and-seek, but we sure did play with toys and have a good time. It was a lot of fun to visit and play with everyone who came. Here are some pictures of the event. (Sorry for the bad lighting. It was my first time attempting photos in the finished basement. I need some practice.)



Sammy picked out the shape and flavor and candle he wanted, helped his daddy bake, and then frosted and decorated this cake himself.

Uncle Scott lighting the candle

Zachary & Mr. Mike singing "Happy Birthday"


Okay, blow out the candle!

Mrs. Kerry & Haley

Ms. Erin & Camryn (and my big piles of mess that never got picked up. One day when I am not pregnant, I expect to have energy and actually do this!)

Mmmmmm!

Hey, how come I don't get any cake?!?!?

Zachary enjoying his cake

Ooooh! Presents!!!!

An Aquadoodle and a book from Ms. Erin & Camryn

More guests arrive! Ms. Amanda, Jacob, & Anna (& Jeremy, not pictured here)

They brought a Diego puzzle

Mr. John, Mrs. Julie, & Morgan brought a Thomas book and a Spongebob puzzle.

The babies had a fun time playing together. (Or at least watching each other play)

Mrs. Julie reading the Thomas book

Mr. John & Morgan doing the Spongebob puzzle

Rave: worry-free #3

(Okay, not completely worry-free, but...)

I am *loving* this third baby pregnancy! I do not have any of the

• Will I be a good parent?
• Will I break him?
• What if I do something wrong and really screw him up for life?

fears that go along with the first baby. I do not have any of the

• How can I possibly love this baby as much as I love the first one?
• How will I possibly take care of the first kid when there's a new baby who will need all my attention?
• Is the first baby going to be so jealous that I'm screwing him up for life?

fears that go along with the second baby. I know that

• I will be the best parent I can be. I am far from perfect, but I try, and most days I do OK. (Then there are the days where my kids get bananas and cold pepperoni for breakfast, and it goes downhill from there. But, hey, I'm pregnant and exhausted, and that is not the norm!)
• I probably, probably won't break him
• Chances are good that I will not screw him up for life. At least not any more than any other average parent
• There is enough room in my heart for however many babies I am blessed with, and I will love each one just as fervently as the first AND the last (and any inbetween there!)
• When included in "ownership" of the new baby/given responsibilities for helping care for the new family member, and when given adequate attention so they don't feel neglected, even an older sibling who is still a baby can be a huge help, and won't harbor jealousy
• The older kids have each other to entertain themselves when baby-care is an urgent matter (unlike the first who only had me to entertain him)
• We will all figure out together how to make sure everyone gets taken care of. We are all vocal and honest enough with each other (at least at these ages!) that nobody could possibly be forgotten.

In the absence of all the fears that accompanied the last two, I am just giddy with anticipation for this blessed addition to our family. And have been for most of the pregnancy. At least when I wasn't too tired to notice. :)

(On a related note... I have heard some people say that #3 is the hardest addition of all, because then Mom & Dad are outnumbered... All I have to say to that is - these people must expect misbehavior in children to be the norm. And if they do, I pity them. Because all children live up to what's expected of them.)

More fun with Picasa 3 collages

...From our trip to LA this past summer...

Swimming at cousin Cole's house


Katie fell completely in love with her great-aunt Donna's flowers!

2 Birth Plans

I found and did this interactive birth plan online...

and then...

awesome, rockin' Erin read my last post and sent me my original birth plan (which I'm glad to have for the scrapbooks, but is way too long this time). Neither of us can remember why she had a copy of it, but it was way cool that she did! Thanks Erin!!!

37 weeks

Today I have reached the point where they will not stop labor if it happens. Which is great. I had a labor stopped, once, and the medicine made me so doggone jittery, and cranky... I'd hate to see myself trying to parent 2 preschoolers on it.

I really wondered if it was going to happen last night... We spent a large portion of the day picking up the chaos all around the house for the birthday party. I was really exhausted by midafternoon, but too busy to notice. Last night I was having Braxton Hicks (non-labor contractions) every 3 minutes. I didn't even bother to try and stop them at first, knowing I was only hours away from being considered full term. Plus they were just tight - didn't hurt at all - so I was only half convinced that they might mean anything. Drinking a bunch of liquids didn't make them go away. Sitting down didn't make them go away. Lying down made them less frequent. But they were still there. I got up and took care of a couple of things (packed camera & video camera, mostly finished packing hospital bag, etc.) that I would regret not having done if I did go into full labor. Eventually got back to bed and immediately fell asleep, but then kept waking up all night long, sometimes from contractions, sometimes from bladder, sometimes from dreaming of pushing out a baby. By the morning, they were gone, though.

At least until my feet hit the floor. :)

Have been having them on and off all day. Pretty much every time I stand up. And other random times, too. Some of the ones today I have even felt (1 or 2 on the pain scale, rather than just a noticeable tightness). So for all I thought the baby wasn't coming this week... I may have been wrong about that. Of course, I have been saying all along, I think he's coming before the end of the year, until 2 weeks ago when I got checked and found out all those contractions had done nothing... We'll just have to wait and see. I know his MawMaw will be very sad if he doesn't wait until after she gets here on the 7th. It will also make things a little difficult for US if he comes before she gets here. Especially if he comes in the middle of the night. Last night the plan was, if I had to go in, to have my brother drive me in for triage, and then if I stayed call the Daddy and have him bring the sleeping kids in. (We did not think they would react well to waking up to no mom or dad.) Not the best plan, but it would have worked...

Oh, and it was sooooo sweet last night! I asked Sammy, if we had to not have his party because we had to go to the hospital to have our baby instead, would that make him sad. He said, "No, mom! I'd be excited!!!" :)

Okay, I really need to go find and plagarize a good natural birth plan online, because I can't find the one I did for Sammy anywhere... (And didn't get to use it for Katie because I was induced.)

(Speaking of induction, Pitocin sucks!!!!!!!!!! Just thought you ought to know how I really felt about it!)

Happy Birthday Sammy!!!

This morning when I told you it was your birthday, and that you were four, you didn't believe me. You said, "But Mama, I'm three and a half!" I had to show you the calendar on the computer that said December 26 before you believed me.

You are getting to be such a big boy! You are very, very tall like your Daddy. You can already read and write some! You are still scared to go potty (I think this is why you didn't want to believe it was your birthday, because you have been saying for over a year that you will use the potty when you are 4), but I am sure that will happen soon. You can do more and more things by yourself every day. I bet it won't be long before you are mixing your own chocolate milk and getting yourself dressed without Mama's help at all. You are such a sweet helper to your sister Katie. Yesterday you went all the way up to the bedroom to get her Blue's Clues sleeping bag from the bed and bring it to her in the basement so she could watch movies with you. Then last night at bedtime you went all the way down to the basement and brought it all the way back up to the bedroom so she could cuddle in it at bedtime. You are really good at sharing your toys (usually) and getting better and better about picking up toys when you are finished with them. I am sure you are going to be a great helper when our baby gets here, and be a great big brother to him, just like you are to Katie.

Mama and Daddy love you very much, and are so proud of you! Happy Birthday, our dear sweet boy!

Rave: Picasa 3

I really, really like their new collage maker!

(now if only they would make it possible to upload more than 4 pictures to a blog at once!)

Merry Christmas pictures, part II

We let the kids open 1 present on Christmas Eve - their new Christmas PJs. Sammy refused to wear his. Katie was happy to wake up in hers.

Sammy's favorite present of the day turned out to be the first one he chose to open - a Curious George video.

They were very good at helping each other unwrap presents! (Their own and everyone else's!)

After all the gifts were opened,we found some Santa goodies in the stockings. Here they are excited as can be over a Diego electric toothbrush, and a toy giraffe...

And Pez dispensers...

And "new" books from MawMaw and PawPaw. (We already had 2/3 of them in the small board book versions. But these are new and big so still very exciting!)

Uncle Scott quickly got drafted to read a story.

And now they are downstairs in the new basement watching Curious George, while Mama takes a few minutes for a needed rest.

Merry Christmas pictures!

Baby update and another grumpy rant

36w3d. Had a checkup yesterday. My belly measures right on target. All those contractions I had the last month or so (which mysteriously stopped this week) have done almost nothing to my cervix. It's still high and "maybe a fingertip." Baby boy's head is still "high" so it would not seem he is ready to come out this week.

Swelling lately has been only slight, if at all. Energy too, for that matter. I have the energy to accomplish about 1.5 things per day, and lately those have been errands. So my house looks like a tornado hit it. Make that two tornadoes. Preschooler tornadoes. I keep wishing some other adult in this house would take responsibility for helping pick up around here. Especially things I have already asked for help with a dozen+ times. Like carry the too-heavy-for-me-to-carry clean laundry baskets up the stairs. (Up stairs are not my friend right now, when I DON'T have to carry anything!) Or even just to put their own dirty dishes INTO the dishwasher. But that it obviously just a pipe dream. Somehow every time I get caught up, either I get sick, or someone else does and I have to nurse & cudlle them all day, and it gets right back to where it was. Or worse. I can't even keep up with the "dailies" much less get to the organizing. I had hoped to eat on my dining room table some time this calendar year, but obviously that is not going to happen. I wonder if I will ever see the top of it again? I had hoped to have giant pile of boxes that got moved from the garage to the new playroom out of the way before Sammy's birthday party on Sunday. Pretty sure that's not going to happen.

Sammy wants to play Azada now, so I must depart from the computer. Which is fine since I need to unload the dishwasher, reload the dishwasher, run the dishwasher, hand wash the wood stuff & knives, get the clean diapers out of the dryer & stuff them, rewash the clean clothes that have probably soured by now, then dry them, then wash another load, then do a load of diapers, lug all the clean stuff up the stairs, by which point I will be too pooped to do anything else for the rest of the day. Meanwhile the kids will just add to the mess that I don't have the energy or waistline to bend over and pick up.

Wish I had some Christmas spirit/peace. Maybe Santa will clean my house for Christmas. That would be freakin' awesome!

Pretty Christmas Lights

We were driving around the east side of town last night and saw a few amazing Christmas displays. Here are some directions in case you find yourself in that area at night this season:

1) From Peterson @ N. Carefree, head south and take the first left onto Pony Tracks (by Sand Creek HS). Take the first right onto Heather Glen. There is a house lighting up the whole neighborhood a little way down this street. Follow the street to the roundabout, turn left, and then turn right on Bexley. There is a well-lit house on Bexley, plus lots of other houses with lights on that street.

2) Follow Bexley until it dead-ends. Turn left, then turn right onto Pony Tracks at the next dead-end. Follow this road around the park & elementary school, through the stop sign and to the light at Peterson. Turn left (south) onto Peterson. Follow it until Bismark, the last road before the light at Constitution. Turn right onto Bismark and immediately right onto Roxane Ct. There is a house on the corner with several dozen Christmas-dressed cartoon characters all over their yard. This road has a cul-de-sac at the end so it's easy to turn around.

3) Go back out to Peterson road and keep heading south. A little ways after the light at Palmer Park, turn left (east) onto Chippewa. There is another house covered in lights there.

Also, if you have small kids and have not been, the light display at the Nazarene church near the intersection of Academy & Fountain (northeast corner, off of Academy Park Loop) is worth driving through. Especially if you can go on a night where it is warm enough to keep the windows down - they will write the kids' names on a sheet of paper and magnet it to your door, and everyone you pass will greet the kids by name! This one is free, too (although they do have donation collectors at the end).

If you have seen any other good displays in town, please let us know. My kids are having so much fun seeing all the lights. This is the second time I've set them up with "hot chocolate" (warm chocolate rice milk) in their cups and blankets over their laps to go looking at lights. (And actually the purpose of the trip is usually to bring Uncle Scott to one of his poker games; we just take advantage of the fact that we're already out to look at the pretty lights.)

I might be nesting. Just a little.

(Or maybe I'm just being practical.)

Bassinet covers & sheets all washed. Car seat all washed. (Thought the carrier car seat expired this month but it turned out to be Dec 09!) Newborn and 0-3m clothes all washed. Nursing pads, baby blankets all washed, in the dryer now. Lambskin soaking in Eucalan in the washer...

Still need to pull up the newborn diapers from the basement. They are washed ready and in a Space Bag. Need to surge postpartum pads and more newborn diaper inserts/pocket stuffers. Need to pack a hospital bag. Hoping I can get all this done before tomorrow evening. Except the packing; hope to get that done tonight.

5 weeks to go...

Rant: A lot of things! I'm grumpy!

The other day someone commented to me that the baby had dropped. I had been thinking so, but dismissed it. I thought it was way too soon for him to drop. I have been mildly stressing about it ever since. But I just noticed, on my blog baby ticker, that some babies do drop now. So I am feeling a little better about that. (As of 5 minutes ago.)

Some days I have big problems with swelling, and some days I have none. It is a little baffling. I *think* I have been doing really well with my protein intake since that 3-day swelling episode right before Thanksgiving. But some days, I still get swollen. I don't know if it's too much salt, too little water, or just something random.

Today I'm not swollen at all, but every time I stand up, I start contracting. Of course sitting down is the logical answer, but do you know how frustrating it is when every time you sit down, you've got a double-team of messers pulling every thing out of every container they can find... Pulling every pillow and sheet and throw and blanket off of every couch and bed they come across... Playing with a new toy every 5 minutes and never putting anything away? They are getting really good about picking up things if they are reminded. But if I'm not right there noticing exactly what they are doing, they don't get reminded. Ugh.

I'm sure it is just all supposed to be a big reminder to do what I can, and focus on what's important. But I am a slow learner sometimes...

The kids are in the bathtub. I am probably going to regret that here in another hour when they eat and get all messy. BUT, they asked, and I figured it would give me a good at least 45 minutes of them NOT throwing everything they could find on the floor. And maybe give me a chance to pick up a few things, rest, pick up a few things, rest, etc. Plus they both had poopy diapers and the clean diapers are still downstairs. So I figured, hey, if they're going to be naked anyway, might as well throw them in the tub.

Oh, and did I mention I'm tired of illnesses? I hate to be picky, because they've all been viral and recoverable (eventually!). But ugh! I pray we're at least healthy whenever the birth time is, so everyone can be there. And I can labor without worrying about coughing, not being able to breathe, etc.

Just ignore me. I'm grumpy. (Not that I appear to have that many readers to ignore me anyway... So maybe you already are...)

I can MOVE!!!

I am so glad I checked out the Spinning Babies website and got the idea to use my Boppy pillow as a nest so I could sleep face down. I am pretty sure that is what allowed little boy to turn the way he was supposed to. And now that there's not a head in the middle of my abdomen, amazingly, I can move. It doesn't hurt to get in and out of bed, or change positions. It doesn't hurt to squat down and pick things up. It doesn't hurt to snuggle my big kids on the couch. Wow! I don't think I realized how miserable I was. (Yeah, I probably did!)

Homemade Ornament Ideas Contest

I want to make homemade photo Christmas tree ornaments of the kids, to give to family members. The best idea I could come up with so far is:

Cutting photo into smallish circle, laminate in a pouch with some glitter, and cutting another 1/2" around the circle (with glitter showing) for a clear border. Simple hole punch and some ribbon to make it hangable. Or maybe some eyelets if I can figure out how to set them. Easy/fast enough, but pretty messy. Probably messier than I am willing/have energy to clean up after. Plus I'd have to go somewhere to acquire the glitter.

Anyway... I know some of my friends out there are pretty crafty, so I decided to have a contest. Post your best easy-but-cute homemade photo ornament idea here in my blog comments, or leave a link to your own blog in my comments. I will pick a winner in about a week (once I take/print photos of the kids). Winner gets a sample of the finished product for their own Christmas tree. Ideas that I can make from supplies that I already have on hand, and that don't generate too much mess, will get extra points in the final judging.

Happy competing!

Kids are funny!

There have been so many laughing moments around here. I wish I remembered them all to write them down and share. (Unfortunately I am not remembering much these days, between being sick and donating my brain cells to the next generation!)

Here are a couple of things that made me laugh today:

Me (hugging S after he asked me to be his friend): I'm a happy mom. I love my kids!
S: I'm a happy Sammy. I love my grown-ups!

K, right after bath: Mom, where's the water going?
Me: Down the drain.
K: Mom, where do boo-ters going?
Me: Did you say "booger?"
K: Yah.
Me: They go in the trash, in a tissue.
K, a little distressed: But... the boo-ters going down da dwain!!!
Me: You put a booger in the bathtub water?
K: Yah.
Me: Then it's definitely going down the drain.
K, obviously feeling better about the whole situation: Oh. O-tay! (gives a big smile)

Stinky diapers no more!

After 2+ years of cloth diapering 2 kids, I considered myself somewhat well-versed in the realm of diaper laundry. But for the last 5 months or so I have been stupefied at the awful smells the diapers were generating as soon as they got wet. One (not even poopy) diaper was stinkier than the whole dirty diaper pail used to be.

I tried almost everything. Extra pre-washes. Extra rinses. Extra soap. Less soap. Turning the hot water heater way up. Tea tree oil. The only things I did NOT try were boiling, and washing them in the dishwasher. (The only reason I didn't try the dishwasher trick is my new dishwasher does not give you the option of skipping the rinse-aid.) Some loads were better, some were worse, but they all had SOME kind of smell about them...

Finally, my former-chemistry-tutor genius husband decides to tell me "anything that smells like THAT has a bacteria problem." He was thinking it was actually in the kids' system and not in the diapers. But because certain things I did in the wash made the problem a little better, and other things made it worse, I felt pretty sure that the problem was with the diapers, not with the kids.

I really try not to put anything chemical in/on/around my diapers, but I was soooo desperate. I am happy to report that just one wash with ~4 oz of Pursue Disinfectant Cleaner (plus an extra 2 rinses to make sure there was none of it left to irritate sensitive bottoms) and the problem was gone. G-O-N-E. The diapers coming out of the wash smelled like nothing. It was awesome. I'd forgotten how smell-less clean diapers were supposed to be. I really am past ready for these kids to potty-train (and Katie is in the process, slowly, and Sammy says he will use the potty when he is 4. Which is in just a few weeks!) but I do really love cloth diapering! I am glad I get the opportunity to do it all over again here in a few more weeks!

Snowman Art

When my parents were here a few weeks ago, there was a light snow-flurry morning. Sammy wanted desperately to make a snowman. The snow wasn't even sticking, so this was the best I could come up with. But he was happy with it.

Katie cannot be around a camera without wanting her picture taken. I have NO IDEA where she get's that from! ()

Story time

Uncle "Stott" is reading an "I Spy" book to the kids.

Just flip!

Had an OB check today. The baby is head-down now. Thanks for all your prayers!

Attaching a pic from a few weeks ago - my dad & the kids.

Flip-Flop

Baby boy turned around last night. I kind of though he had, and a few minutes later when Dr. Katie told me it was time to check the baby's heartbeat (we have a doppler), sure enough, his heartbeat was down above pubic bone and not up above my belly button.

Then, 5 minutes later, we watched my belly roll as he flipped back to the way he had been.

(At least I know he CAN turn the right way if he wants to!)

Happy Birthday Daddy! Your son is amazing!

Look what he made for you this morning (with very little help from me):

Front of card:

Inside card:


(2 weeks ago Sammy surprised me by writing short words for my mom & dad on his MagnaDoodle. I had no idea he could write letters! Now he can apparently write any word you spell for him!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone has a very happy Thanksgiving Day tomorrow, and lots of things to be thankful for. I know I sure do!

Language acquisition

It's so much fun to watch. What was once "Nammy" and has been "Dammy" for months is now "Stammy." It was especially enjoyable yesterday morning when she said "Stammy's sto stilly!!!"

Baby update

31 weeks 3 days. We had a growth scan & checkup today. The baby is growing fantastically. 35th percentile. 3 lbs, 9 oz. His face is more round like his sister's than long like his brother's. But he most definitely, definitely has his Daddy's nose. The placenta's in a good place, but the cord is in an iffy one (running along the length of the placenta or something). However, he is bottoms-down instead of head down. So hopefully he will flip some time in the next few weeks, and when he does, the cord will move to a better place.

I have to go in for checkups every 2 weeks now. We should schedule a hospital tour some time soon, too, since we will be delivering at the new hospital and not the one we're used to.

I am still here

If I could dictate my thoughts out loud and have my computer hear them and automatically post them, I'd probably be a prolific bloggist. Meanwhile, here in the real world, I can barely keep up with the bare minima, like getting 2-3 meals/day on the table and keeping up with the dirty dishes. I don't remember the other 2 pregnancies being this... draining. Of course, I wasn't chasing any hyper-mobile toddlers/preschoolers those times, either...

My parents came and went and it was nice to have them here. They were so super-helpful! I wish they could have stayed longer. They will be back in Jan, though, and it will probably be even more helpful to have them then than it was this time.

My brother and I came to terms and the basement is nearly done. I'm talking it needs 6' of baseboards, a transition from the laminate to tile, and a couple of very minor repairs, and it will be ALL DONE.

My kids are big and imaginiative and a joy to watch, and very helpful with picking up things off the floor and handing them to me since I can't bend over and getting up from squatting takes 100x more effort than just stepping over whatever it is. I wish I had the energy to play something other than board games with them.

I keep having nightmares/scary thoughts about bedrest and hospitalization. No reason for them, except my own fear of how ultra-chaotic things would be while I was not available, and the mess I'd have to deal with when I got back...

I still get severe reflux whenever I think of the Pres-Elect's ideas on how to run this country. I should have remained my usual political ostritch self. It was hard, though, with such an historic race. Despite my misgivings about his agenda, I have to say I am thrilled to see a black family headed for the White House. I also feel really stupid that, for a few minutes until I realized what was really going on, I was excited to see Louisiana vote so overwhelmingly Republican that I actually thought about moving back there. (All the racial prejudice is THE #1 thing I do not miss about living there. So much so that anything else I don't miss about living there is not even worth mentioning.)

I have been totally vegetating this week. My friend Amanda says, "No, you're GESTATING." I like that. At least it sounds like I'm doing SOMETHING...

Update on scrapbook stuff

I would still love to hear your input, but I think I have decided to put my scrapbook stuff in the basement bedroom. Although it will be a mild pain to go back and forth between work room and supply room, it occurred to me that for crops I can set up folding tables on the adult side of the big room, and we can keep an eye on the kiddos at play while we work. That thought alone makes the dining room idea seem ridiculous. (Except for the nice big table. But I may have to take the leaves out of it anyway because I plan to put the piano & drums & music toys in there.) So, no more delimma of overcrowding the dining room (at least not with scrapbook stuff!), I'll have a door nearby my work station to hang my shoe-rack-turned-scissor-rack, I'll have a wall to hang a peg board or some shelves for keeping all my supplies close together and in arm's reach, and if I can get it organized will have a great personal space to work on stuff. And let's face it, I do get a lot more done when I'm working alone. (Even though it is a lot more FUN to work in a group!)

More thoughts on "Weaned"

More thoughts sparked by Mommy's comment on my Weaned post. (For a little background, you can read my 09/07 Why is Sammy still nursing post.)

I only intended to nurse Sammy up to 12m in the beginning, and not one day past that, but obviously changed my mind along the way. Due to my own food intolerances and all the things I had to cut out of my diet for a year and a half to even get pregnant, I was adamant not to give him (or any other baby of mine) any formula. It was as much a gut feeling as anything else, but it turned out to be the right decision for him, as he is allergic to both milk and now soy, too. (The hospital did give him some formula after birth for low blood sugar. This caused him to not want to nurse at all for the first 24+ hours, and projectile vomit the contents of his stomach about 12 hours later. That only reconfirmed my decision never to let him have formula.)

I have struggled with forcing him to wean from the time I was pg with Katie. The older he got, the more I struggled with it. It had nothing to do with the pressure and negative comments I got from both people close to me and people who should have kept their opinions to themselves. It was really all about my own unenjoyment of nursing at that point. I have a friend who says her favorite age to nurse a kid is 2-3. I can not relate to that at all. I loved nursing my babies. I never loved nursing my toddlers, except for the instant meltdown-calming effects. It did not physically bother me to nurse 1 year old Katie as much as it did 1 year old Sammy. (I think because her back teeth do not have as many enamel problems as his.) But by the time Katie turned 2, I was near ready for her to wean, too.

I did try to force Sammy to wean at some point in the last year. It must have been in the late April and May timeframe. He was only nursing at bedtime, nursing him has never been comfortable since he got molars (and he got them early!), and it just seemed like a good idea for my own sanity. (I later found out I was pregnant, and must have been having a natural aversion reaction to nursing.) It actually turned out to be a terrible idea. We had some semi-serious behavior issues pop up, related to what must have been him feeling rejected. I had to re-read Mothering Your Nursing Toddler, give him lots of extra love and attention in other ways, and just endure what little nursing he was doing for the sake of his healthy emotional development. Luckily, I didn't have to endure it for too long. Unlike the other time I nursed him while pregnant, this time he was old enough to understand that his nursing was hurting me, and big enough to realize that he didn't really need to nurse but a minute or two (or sometimes 10 seconds!) to get whatever emotional connection/comfort he was looking for. Then it was less than 3.5 months to the time he nursed for the very last time. I'm not even entirely sure when that was... (That was a loooong 3.5 months, though! Nursing while pregnant is not exactly fun.)

Sometimes I think I "stuck to my beliefs" out of sheer laziness. It was much easier to let them nurse to sleep than try to change our bedtime habits. Or let them nurse to calm down instead of trying to substitute some other, unfamiliar comfort. Other times it really was that IN THEORY I totally agreed with the child-led weaning philosophy. And even though the in practice part of it was very hard on me, I still persevered. And just waited for them to be finished. (Both with that session, and with nursing altogether.)

So, yes, it is definitely okay to feel "waivery." I felt it nearly every day for the past 1.5-2 years. I think as long as you are basing your decisions on what is logically the best choice for you and your nursling and the rest of your family - not your emotions of the moment - then that is the best you can do. For everyone involved.

Weaned

I waited so long for this to happen, and then never even wrote about it. The last time (I think) Sammy nursed was shortly after we returned from our TX/LA trip in July. Katie did not nurse at all while we were in TX this last time, ~3 weeks prior to that only nursed while she was sick, has only nursed once since we got back. Really I should say attempted to nurse. She seemed to have forgotten how and thought I was a straw. It hurt and I made her quit. (It's not like I have had any milk to speak of for the last 3-4 months, anyway...) She did ask to nurse tonight at bedtime, but then Sammy asked for a glass of chocolate (rice) milk, and she decided that sounded better.

So the year of wishing they would hurry up already, rethinking my AP-style/let them figure out when they are ready to do it weaning strategy... I endured it! And it worked! (Just not on MY timeline...) AND, my prediction that they would wean about the same time, was pretty close to accurate.

Now if only they would start using the potty. Not that I want to rush them into growing up. I just am being selfish and totally not looking forward to 3 in diapers. Although the way Katie is going, it may only be 2 in diapers by Jan. Or maybe I'll do EC with this baby, just so it's not 3. (Doubt it, though. I am too lazy and too schedule-challenged!)

Rave: A Mother's Rule of Life

I love this website. There is always some nugget on there that speaks to my exact situation. Like this one:

If you can focus on doing only ONE thing in your life - and that ONE thing is to do the Will of God for you - then everything else becomes simple. You are not to do 100 things to day - you are to do ONE thing - God's requests to you - which manifest themselves at each moment.

(P.S. MamaE, was that you posting about keeping house with no electricity?)

Rant: Insomnia

I am usually one of those people who can sleep more hours in a day than be awake. But not this pregnancy. The slightest little noise, pressure on my bladder, lately coughing spasm (we brought back something from TX, I guess) wakes me up for good. I try to go back to sleep. I hear the ultra high pitched squeal of the TV being on, and the low noise of it's volume. (Thanks a lot, brother!) I hear the heater kick on. Or a car pass. Or a kid changing breathing patterns. Or my hubby grinding his teeth. I hear everything! After about an hour of not returning to sleep, I give up. I go to the bathroom (again!). I get a drink and refill my water cup. I do some neck rolls and mild stretches. I try to relax. It doesn't work. I'm really awake now. I get up to check email & Facebook for "just five minutes". (Yeah, right!) My stomach tries to convince me it hasn't seen food in a week. I get something lightish to eat. I have to stay up for a while to digest it so I don't wake up with flamethrower throat. I am more awake than ever. I decide if I'm going to be stuck up, I might as well get something done while I am not being interrupted every 32 seconds. I do some laundry. Or empty the dishwasher. Or try to put some things away. My mind starts racing around all the things that I want to get done, but don't have energy, or time, or physical condition (i.e. non-gestational) to accomplish. I look around at the big mess that is my house, and know it needs cleand up, but am too overwhelmed to know where to start. Plus I can't exactly bend over to pick anything up. So I give up, sit down, and blog. Or check email. (Strangely, nobody has emailed me in the last 2 hours since I woke up.) Or check Facebook. (Strangely, almost nobody's status has changed in the last 2 hours...) Or play a mindless game...
Eventually I start feel tired, realize the sun's about to come up, or that it already is coming up, and go back to bed. I get maybe an hour of sleep before the little early bird cheerfully wakes me up.

OTOH, maybe it's a good thing that I'm up, because otherwise I might not know that not only does this baby pass his kick counts, but at 3 a.m. he does it in 3 minutes or less!

Knock Knock

Sammy's current favorite joke:
Knock Knock
Who's There?
House.
House who?
House it goin'?

Katie's current favorite joke:
Knock Knock
Who's There?
Boo
Boo who?
Don' cry. 'S'only a knock knock joke!

My current favorite joke that I learned from Sammy:
Knock Knock
Who's There?
Chooch.
Chooch who?
Choo choo? Are you a train?

Scrapbook stuff: upstairs or downstairs???

I've been reading some of the scrapbook magazines that I took home with me from my MIL's stash. It has inspired me to get more organized with my scrapbooking setup. The last time I had a dedicated place for stuff was when I lived in Cheyenne. That was before the first digit of the year was a 2.

I am waffling between the bedroom in the new basement, and the big dining room on the main floor. The main floor would be better for hosting crops, and working in spurts while I'm working on other things like cooking dinner. But it would be bad because there's not enough storage space for everything in the sideboard, and one of my goals for that room is to have it pretty sparsely decorated like it used to be (before all the stuff from the basement got moved into it). And I run the risk of yet another thing that won't get picked up from my dining room table. If I set up downstairs, I can get pegboards and other wall storage. But then my stuff will get dusty. But I will be closer to where the kids are likely to be playing. But if I host crops (which I want to do, and already have at least 2 people wanting to come), I will have to carry everything upstairs to the big table.

I just can't decide. Any thoughts?

Halloween 2008 Photos

Katie took this photo of Sam. I cropped it (to hide the mess in my house) but I just love it. It is so rare that he is actually looking at the camera in a photo!


Katie had said she wanted to be a "dancing princess with wings" for Halloween, so I was excited when I found this angel costume at Costco. There was also this neat fireman costume, so I got that for Sammy. They will make great additions to our dress-up chest now that Halloween is over.

(If you are wondering about the bunny ears, that was her Daddy's way of making the too-big halo headband stay on her head.)

In the past I haven't taken the kids trick-or-treating because of all of Sammy's allergies. Instead we stay home and hand out candy. I think it is more fun seeing all the different costumes anyway. This year Sammy asked to go trick-or-treating, but at the last minute decided he would rather stay home and hand out all the candy. He did a great job of it, too. He wasn't even scared of the scary costumes. (Last year he was terrified!)

Katie was scared by just about every costume that had a mask. But not to the point of terror like Sammy was last year. She just stood behind me, peeking around my head (I was sitting ont he floor in the doorway) until they started walking away. Then she yelled the same litany to them that she did to everyone else who came last night. "You're welcome!!! (pause) Happy Halloween!!! (pause) Bye!!! (pause) Thank youuuu!!!"

About halfway through the night, Katie decided "Mama, I don' want dis dwess!" So I took off her costume. She quickly got cold in just a diaper, and decided she wanted to be a bat. This was the closest thing her Daddy could come up with on short notice. She was thrilled with it, and ran around chasing us all, arms outstretched, whispering "Ryyyyyyyyye!" (roar) the rest of the evening.