Monday, October 30, 2006
Method to my Madness
You may have noticed that my posts are getting fewer and fewer. There is a reason for that. I'm packin' up and heading out. Of course I'll let you know where I am going, I just have to figure that out first. Stay tuned for some Halloween pictures.
Monday, October 23, 2006
You're Invited...
Everyone likes to Potty, right? Well it is Pottytime at our house. Thats right, this weekend was the start of Potty Bootcamp. On Friday after two disgusting adult-like-huge- poops-mashed-all-over-leg diapers, I had had enough. We had been talking about it for a few months already, but never followed through. This time we are. We are doing it in a nice way, just cold turkey. Saturday morning Mason woke up, I asked him if he wanted to pee on the potty, he did, he got 3 Skittles and we put big boy undies on.
The rest of the day he peed on the potty. We were expecting a few accidents but We've only had two, one Saturday night and one Sunday morning. Maybe it is the ultra-cool skull and crossbone undies, who knows but we are on a roll.
To give credit where credit is due, Mason has not minded going pee for months now. It has been the poop factor. Apparently it is very scary. So we did the noble thing and bribed him. We told him, the minute he'd go poop we'd get into the car and go to the store where he could pick out ANYTHING he wanted.
Saturday no poop. This is so not normal for Mason. Sunday throughout the day he asked for a diaper obviously when he had the urge to poop. This was when we started to wonder if what we were doing was cruel and unusual punishment. We kept reminding him that as soon as he would go, we'd go to the store. Much of the day for Mike and I was spent sitting on the tub reading books as our little potty warrior sat on the potty holding in his overdue poop with all his might. So, we up'ed the anty. We decided we were going to buy a cake too and have a "Poop Party". Finally at 7:30 last night, without warning or any assistance from us, Mason came out of the bathroom clapping saying he "did it, yay!" Off to the store we went and came home with this and cake too.
Of all the thing he could have had, John Deere got his vote. We had a potty party complete with singing, "happy poop day to you..." (to the tune of Happy Birthday of course).
So now we are at day 3, still only the 2 pee accidents and still only the one poop. He has been asking for a diaper all day but at this point, I feel like that would only give mixed messages. I just hope he is not going to give himself a horrible tummy ache!
The rest of the day he peed on the potty. We were expecting a few accidents but We've only had two, one Saturday night and one Sunday morning. Maybe it is the ultra-cool skull and crossbone undies, who knows but we are on a roll.
To give credit where credit is due, Mason has not minded going pee for months now. It has been the poop factor. Apparently it is very scary. So we did the noble thing and bribed him. We told him, the minute he'd go poop we'd get into the car and go to the store where he could pick out ANYTHING he wanted.
Saturday no poop. This is so not normal for Mason. Sunday throughout the day he asked for a diaper obviously when he had the urge to poop. This was when we started to wonder if what we were doing was cruel and unusual punishment. We kept reminding him that as soon as he would go, we'd go to the store. Much of the day for Mike and I was spent sitting on the tub reading books as our little potty warrior sat on the potty holding in his overdue poop with all his might. So, we up'ed the anty. We decided we were going to buy a cake too and have a "Poop Party". Finally at 7:30 last night, without warning or any assistance from us, Mason came out of the bathroom clapping saying he "did it, yay!" Off to the store we went and came home with this and cake too.
Of all the thing he could have had, John Deere got his vote. We had a potty party complete with singing, "happy poop day to you..." (to the tune of Happy Birthday of course).
So now we are at day 3, still only the 2 pee accidents and still only the one poop. He has been asking for a diaper all day but at this point, I feel like that would only give mixed messages. I just hope he is not going to give himself a horrible tummy ache!
Monday, October 16, 2006
You want to hear more about my boobs?...with pleasure.
Really, some people have wondered what is happening with my heavily lactating boobage, so here goes!
Harper started out as a horrible nurser. Really. Bad. The things I had to do to get her "on" were pretty extreme and made my LLL leader sort of cringe. I actually had to stretch my nipple out with my fingers then point it up toward the roof of her mouth to pick sure it would hit the spot that would make her suck. Sometimes the whole process would last over an hour until she got a good latch. The whole thing was just not very smooth. (Waves goodbye to all the non-nursers who are now bored to death!)
I needed constant reminders that she was a newborn baby, not a 2 and a half year old "professional". She has gotten better, way better. Thank God!
Mason on the other hand is finally starting to get used to seeing my naked boob and not demanding milk every time. I've stuck to my (mean) guns and still only let him nurse at naptime. That is what we were down to while I was pregnant, so I saw no reason for him to regress. Plus, my sanity! Need I say more? Nursing him once a day has been going just fine, for me. I don't at all mind it. There are many days that I feel I have done nothing but yell and tell him what he is doing wrong, (which is a whole lot)so I feel like the 5 minutes we spend nursing in a quiet room just with each other is absolutely needed by both of us. He still askes for it throughout the day when Harper is nursing, but I just can't go back to nursing both, All. The. Time.
I was quickly brought back to Porn Star boob status day 3 post-partum and I had forgot about the pain. My god the pain! I whined to my clearly boobless husband about them to which he replied, "They look nice!"
Why yes they do, but they feel like bowling balls. Thank God for Mason. I broke my rule twice that day.
Harper started out as a horrible nurser. Really. Bad. The things I had to do to get her "on" were pretty extreme and made my LLL leader sort of cringe. I actually had to stretch my nipple out with my fingers then point it up toward the roof of her mouth to pick sure it would hit the spot that would make her suck. Sometimes the whole process would last over an hour until she got a good latch. The whole thing was just not very smooth. (Waves goodbye to all the non-nursers who are now bored to death!)
I needed constant reminders that she was a newborn baby, not a 2 and a half year old "professional". She has gotten better, way better. Thank God!
Mason on the other hand is finally starting to get used to seeing my naked boob and not demanding milk every time. I've stuck to my (mean) guns and still only let him nurse at naptime. That is what we were down to while I was pregnant, so I saw no reason for him to regress. Plus, my sanity! Need I say more? Nursing him once a day has been going just fine, for me. I don't at all mind it. There are many days that I feel I have done nothing but yell and tell him what he is doing wrong, (which is a whole lot)so I feel like the 5 minutes we spend nursing in a quiet room just with each other is absolutely needed by both of us. He still askes for it throughout the day when Harper is nursing, but I just can't go back to nursing both, All. The. Time.
I was quickly brought back to Porn Star boob status day 3 post-partum and I had forgot about the pain. My god the pain! I whined to my clearly boobless husband about them to which he replied, "They look nice!"
Why yes they do, but they feel like bowling balls. Thank God for Mason. I broke my rule twice that day.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
To stall walking him to the curb.
Ahhh. Sometimes I need a reminder of how darn cute my little "long hair" can be. And lately, I need them often. For the love!!!
Mason and fellow "long hair".
Thankfully when we have really rough days, there is always something ultra sweet that he has done that lingers longer than the naughtyness. Just Mason and I were in the car the other day to run an errand. I was belting out a favorite song when Mason blurts out, "Good singing Mama!" Can I tell you how much I love to have a personal little cheerleader.
Mason and fellow "long hair".
Thankfully when we have really rough days, there is always something ultra sweet that he has done that lingers longer than the naughtyness. Just Mason and I were in the car the other day to run an errand. I was belting out a favorite song when Mason blurts out, "Good singing Mama!" Can I tell you how much I love to have a personal little cheerleader.
Friday, October 06, 2006
The Ass Kicking X2
Having two kids is lots of work both Physically and Emotionally. First of all, it is a juggling act trying to help one while the other is crying without freaking out. Next, there is the constant nagging in the back of your mind wondering if you are giving the other enough attention. I can't imagine what it'd be like if I had a "hard" baby, because shhh(while crossing fingers)...this baby is a pretty easy baby. She sleeps really well, up only once a night to nurse. She was an awful nurser at the beginning, but after a week is totally getting the hang of it. And now she eats like a little piggy, filling herself up until she literally bubbles over. And the chub, it is filling out those soft cheeks by the day. I love watching that happen, all because of my milk.
Yesterday, I decided to venture out to a La Leche League Meeting close to my house. I started to get all of us ready 2 hours early and still was 15 minutes late. It was in a small room with lots of boy around 3yrs. None of them still being nursed except my little guy. They were just there because they were siblings to others. Anyway, There was this little boy, Joey who you could just tell was a brat. He spent the meeting going around to all the other kids taking away whatever they were playing with. Fine. Whatever, kids will be kids. Then, I noticed him carrying another boy who was 15 months around by HIS HEAD! I couldn't resist and alerted his clueless Mom. Thank God the boy he was manhandling was his brother. She blew it off by saying,"He likes to bring his brother to me." Ah, yeah and stretching his neck out a few extra inches. Don't get me wrong, Mason has done a few things to Harper already, and I am sure there will be many more, but by the time the "baby" is 15 months shouldn't some of the aggression die out? Maybe I am just clueless.
So on with the meeting. Everything was fine until I see this Joey-brat smacking Mason, my Mason, in the face over and over. I was pinned behind the table with Harper so I couldn't get there in time. Finally another woman took this kid away from Mason, not even the boys mom. She was pulling this boy away and Mason finally went and hit him on the top of the head. The Mama Bear in me was raging! I refrained from telling my son to go hit this bratty boy again, but I wanted too. Mason came over to me for comfort with huge tears welled in his eyes and looked like he had been in a street brawl. He had red marks all over his face and under his eye looked like it was going to be black. The LLL leader looked at him and said "Oh my Gosh!" Don't get me wrong, Mason does his fair share of hitting and pushing, but never has smacked someone in the face. It was like this kid was out for blood, it was just weird. The mom never did a thing or said anything to me. My poor boy got his ass whooped.
**Now Sunday, my poor little boy has a cold from those other nasty boys that come to LLL always sick...people! I think this time I may have learned my lesson. 8 out of 10 times he gets sick with something when we go there. It is too much to handle for me right now.
** I wrote this post on Friday but didn't post it.
Yesterday, I decided to venture out to a La Leche League Meeting close to my house. I started to get all of us ready 2 hours early and still was 15 minutes late. It was in a small room with lots of boy around 3yrs. None of them still being nursed except my little guy. They were just there because they were siblings to others. Anyway, There was this little boy, Joey who you could just tell was a brat. He spent the meeting going around to all the other kids taking away whatever they were playing with. Fine. Whatever, kids will be kids. Then, I noticed him carrying another boy who was 15 months around by HIS HEAD! I couldn't resist and alerted his clueless Mom. Thank God the boy he was manhandling was his brother. She blew it off by saying,"He likes to bring his brother to me." Ah, yeah and stretching his neck out a few extra inches. Don't get me wrong, Mason has done a few things to Harper already, and I am sure there will be many more, but by the time the "baby" is 15 months shouldn't some of the aggression die out? Maybe I am just clueless.
So on with the meeting. Everything was fine until I see this Joey-brat smacking Mason, my Mason, in the face over and over. I was pinned behind the table with Harper so I couldn't get there in time. Finally another woman took this kid away from Mason, not even the boys mom. She was pulling this boy away and Mason finally went and hit him on the top of the head. The Mama Bear in me was raging! I refrained from telling my son to go hit this bratty boy again, but I wanted too. Mason came over to me for comfort with huge tears welled in his eyes and looked like he had been in a street brawl. He had red marks all over his face and under his eye looked like it was going to be black. The LLL leader looked at him and said "Oh my Gosh!" Don't get me wrong, Mason does his fair share of hitting and pushing, but never has smacked someone in the face. It was like this kid was out for blood, it was just weird. The mom never did a thing or said anything to me. My poor boy got his ass whooped.
**Now Sunday, my poor little boy has a cold from those other nasty boys that come to LLL always sick...people! I think this time I may have learned my lesson. 8 out of 10 times he gets sick with something when we go there. It is too much to handle for me right now.
** I wrote this post on Friday but didn't post it.
Monday, October 02, 2006
My Short and Sweet Birth Story
Preface: Mike just jotted down notes whenever he could. Once the contractions got really bad, he couldn't anymore because I am bossy that way. The ironic thing is that the night before all this went down, I was still unsure I was going to go thru with the whole induction. Although I am not religious I wanted some sort of sign that I was making the right decision and not forcing something that was not ready to happen. I am now certain that I made the right decision. Oh, and the smiles, they are all fake except for the last one. I was hurting like a mofo and Mike kept taking my picture. Enjoy!
·Got to the hospital late for a 7:00am appt, checked in around 7:30am.
Ended up with a nurse that has been friends with Jeanne (Ann’s Mom) for years
·8:30am Lynn(midwife) came in and gave Annie her dos of Cytotec – the drug that will induce labor Lynn is expecting labor to begin in the next 1/2hr-4hrs
·Annie feels good, and is calling home right now to talk to Jeanne and Mason. Mason was upset when we left the house at 7:15 but quickly got over it. He had a huge smile as he waved out the bay window to us as Jeanne held him.
·I’m pretty nervous, I felt much more confidant prior to deciding to induce and not knowing when the baby would be born. Being able to plan the birth builds much more anticipation
·Annie 8:40am Nervous (extremely) – how long the labor will take is foremost on her mind
·9:10am – Lynn came back in to check on Ann – not much movement. Ann is having some small contractions but nothing significant. Her blood pressure is higher than it usually is, they don’t seem too concerned. 148/102 blood pressure
·9:42am – Sandy (nurse) stopped in to check on Ann and have her finish some paperwork.
·9:54am – Sandy came back in to draw blood – blood pressure related
·10:13am dilated to 3cm – Cytotec didn’t dissolve and was removed. Ann asked to have her water broken instead of another pill. I walked out of the room following the midwife and nurse – both of which felt Ann would be done by 2pm (they didn’t realize I was behind them. Lynn is booked with apts right up until 2pm.
·10:45am photos of Ann and I taken (by self)
·11:12am – Ann is having some stronger contractions, realized that walking around and swaying her hips feels better than laying down
·I’m starting to feel better, Ann is much more in control with this baby than she was with the last. I think almost all of my concern is for her, I don’t want her to have a long and painful delivery. It’s hard to concentrate on anything right now, Ann is watching TV but I’m too restless to sit.
·11:45am – Photos of Ann on the birthing ball – no exam in the last hour to determine dilation
·12:16pm – Contractions getting very strong, and happening every 2-4 minutes,Ann still positive and looking forward to being done.
·12:37pm – Another visit from Lynn and Sandy – lunch came and Annie’s contractions are very close and painful
·1:15pm Annie called the nurse and gets in the shower after being checked she is at 5cm
·2:12pm out of the shower
·2:18pm Lynn checks Ann who is at 8cm, she touches something that immediately makes Ann have to start pushing.
·2:34pm Baby Harper Born totally drug free after 16 minutes of pushing!
Harper Ann
9/21/06 2:34pm
7lbs. 10oz.
20 inches
·Got to the hospital late for a 7:00am appt, checked in around 7:30am.
Ended up with a nurse that has been friends with Jeanne (Ann’s Mom) for years
·8:30am Lynn(midwife) came in and gave Annie her dos of Cytotec – the drug that will induce labor Lynn is expecting labor to begin in the next 1/2hr-4hrs
·Annie feels good, and is calling home right now to talk to Jeanne and Mason. Mason was upset when we left the house at 7:15 but quickly got over it. He had a huge smile as he waved out the bay window to us as Jeanne held him.
·I’m pretty nervous, I felt much more confidant prior to deciding to induce and not knowing when the baby would be born. Being able to plan the birth builds much more anticipation
·Annie 8:40am Nervous (extremely) – how long the labor will take is foremost on her mind
·9:10am – Lynn came back in to check on Ann – not much movement. Ann is having some small contractions but nothing significant. Her blood pressure is higher than it usually is, they don’t seem too concerned. 148/102 blood pressure
·9:42am – Sandy (nurse) stopped in to check on Ann and have her finish some paperwork.
·9:54am – Sandy came back in to draw blood – blood pressure related
·10:13am dilated to 3cm – Cytotec didn’t dissolve and was removed. Ann asked to have her water broken instead of another pill. I walked out of the room following the midwife and nurse – both of which felt Ann would be done by 2pm (they didn’t realize I was behind them. Lynn is booked with apts right up until 2pm.
·10:45am photos of Ann and I taken (by self)
·11:12am – Ann is having some stronger contractions, realized that walking around and swaying her hips feels better than laying down
·I’m starting to feel better, Ann is much more in control with this baby than she was with the last. I think almost all of my concern is for her, I don’t want her to have a long and painful delivery. It’s hard to concentrate on anything right now, Ann is watching TV but I’m too restless to sit.
·11:45am – Photos of Ann on the birthing ball – no exam in the last hour to determine dilation
·12:16pm – Contractions getting very strong, and happening every 2-4 minutes,Ann still positive and looking forward to being done.
·12:37pm – Another visit from Lynn and Sandy – lunch came and Annie’s contractions are very close and painful
·1:15pm Annie called the nurse and gets in the shower after being checked she is at 5cm
·2:12pm out of the shower
·2:18pm Lynn checks Ann who is at 8cm, she touches something that immediately makes Ann have to start pushing.
·2:34pm Baby Harper Born totally drug free after 16 minutes of pushing!
Harper Ann
9/21/06 2:34pm
7lbs. 10oz.
20 inches
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