Still Grace, silly Caleb, zoo, baldy, waterbottles, and sitting up

As many of you know, last week Ben was gone at General assembly in Tennessee which left me at home with the three kiddos.  It went surprisingly well, so thank you to all of you who prayed-- I felt it and needed it.  

One of the days Gracie came down with a fever.  I knew she wasn't well when I put a movie in and she not only watched it but layed on the couch perfectly still.  Um... Grace? Yeah, she never sits still.  (Well, unless of course she's straped in her high chair, in her pack n play or in her gate all of which I use frequently.)  We did a lot of snuggling that morning, which was very sweet. I even rocked her to sleep.  I enjoyed it... well except when I was rocking her, and I could hear Anna needing me downstairs.    

Ben sent some goofy pictures of himself to us one day, and Caleb wanted to participate.  This is Caleb laughing his head off at the funny faces he was making.  I laugh just looking at this picture.  

A couple days after Ben got home, I was overwhelmed by the sweetness around our dinner table and snapped a picture.  Anna isn't always at the dinner table with us since she still takes that little catnap in the evening, but I do love it on the days she is.  It's so fun to have everyone together.

On Tuesday, which was the only nice day in the last 100 days (or so...), I made an impulsive decision to go to the zoo with the kids.  My mom went with me, and my dad came a little bit later.  This is Caleb's favorite animal-- maybe because it's the tallest animal, and his dad is the tallest?? 

And here's me and my daddio.  Oh, and my three kids.  See Anna?  I'm wearing her, and she was pretty stinkin cozy let me tell you.  

Then we asked my dad to take a picture....  HAHAHHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHHA.  Caleb? Grace? ;) 

My parents took the kids in the barn part of the zoo to pet the goats.  Gracie was not interested in petting the animals. 

 Grammy is the best, and it's so sweet how much Gracie loves her. "a hold? a hold". She says that to her all.the.time.

The other day I asked Ben and Caleb if they'd pick me up a few things from Jewel.  Right before they left, Caleb shouted, "DAD! WE SHOULD GET MOM FLOWERS! And this time I won't ruin the surprise" bhaha.  One time they picked up flowers for me, and when they called to tell me they were on the way home, Caleb blurted out that they bought me flowers and daddy told him he ruined the surprise.  I'm so glad he's being careful now....

Caleb had a friend over to play today, and in the picture above they are playing some playdoh.  My favorite was when he asked me if Anna got a haircut. 

HAHA!!  I know. She has no hair.  What can I say besides... "I hope it grows" ?? 

Even though she's hairless, I still think she's the cutest.  PLUS, headbands go really nicely on her head, and I remember having issues putting them on Grace with all her hair in the way. (I'm REALLY good at looking on the bright side ;)) 

Grace has been loving my water bottle a little TOO much lately.  Yesterday she dropped it on the ground on our walk and now it shows signs of wear (I just got it).  I decided I couldn't risk it anymore, and sometimes I'm a little grossed out by her drinking out of it, so I went ahead and bought the kids their own water bottles.  Pretty cute aren't they? I got her a pink one and Caleb's is blue. I got them at Walmart for under 5 bucks, so I'm pleased. 

 

Miss Anna is ALMOST sitting up. I could trick you and say she IS sitting up and then show you this picture, but, she's really not totally stable yet.  We're getting there.  Thankfully she's my 3rd child, so I'm not panicking nearly as much as I did with Caleb when he wasn't sitting up until 7 months.  I think she's a bit lazy, and I think he was too.  (see how beautifully the headband sits?? ;))

Caleb saw Anna was playing with a toy and went up to her and said "Anna, can I play with that??"  Really, Caleb? Oh, and he decided Anna responded with a "yes" of course, so he took it from her. 

 The above picture reminds me of this one.  That's Grace below.  And actually, she doesn't have as much hair as I remember.  Caleb looks so little.. awww, they grow SO FAST!

Back to Anna and Caleb.  Then Caleb saw a bag laying on the foor, so naturally, he put it in her face.  

What a ding dong. 

Melanie

Questions for Caleb

So, I've had a few friends on facebook post these questions.  The instructions are: WITHOUT ANY prompting, ask your child these questions and write down EXACTLY what they say. It is a great way to find out what they really think. 

I thought, hey, why not?  I was going to post it on facebook as my status, but then I thought it was more likely I'd find it again if I posted it to my blog.  I like to save this kind of thing-- it's so fun to look back on.  

This morning I sat down and asked Caleb (4) these questions. 

1. What is something mom always says to you? 

Are you done cleaning up? 

2. What makes mom happy?
Help her

3. What makes mom sad?
Not helping her

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
I don't know. Jesus Monkey. hahahhahaha

5. What was your mom like as a child?
Um I don't really know. Maybe smallness?

6. How old is your mom?
May 12, oh, I mean 28

7. How tall is your mom?
I don't know, how tall are you?

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Be with Caleb

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
I dont' know. I think you cry

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Me.

11. What is your mom really good at?
cooking

12. What is your mom not very good at?
Um, I don't really know

13. What does your mom do for a job?
Tell Caleb what to do

14.What is your mom's favorite food?
Oatmeal

15.What makes you proud of your mom?
Going on the potty

16. If your mom were a character, who would she be?
Big Bird

17. What do you and your mom do together?
Play toys

18. How are you and your mom the same?
Have blue eyes. And white teeth. And we both have red lips. And we both have a big nose. And lots of cheeks. Eyelids, lots of eyelids! 

19. How are you and your mom different?
We don't have big ears. We don't have glasses

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Because God made me and takes care of me and mom takes care of me too.  Mom, you're the best.

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
Giving him kisses

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Your parent's house

23. How old was your Mom when you were born?
I don't know, 25?26?27?28?29?

My two favorites are #1 & #13. I was cracking up. 

Also, I had Caleb when I was 23, so that was appropriate for the question ;)

And, I think I'd make a pretty good Big Bird too-- that's definitely who I'd want to be.

Melanie

  

Measuring, park, and a drumset

 The other day I found Caleb "measuring Anna" in the living room.  He was speaking to her in his high pitched baby voice (no clue where he gets THAT idea from....) and he said, "Ohhhh wooooow Nannoooos, you're six inches tall! six inches tall! biiiiig giiiiirrrrl!!" (can you hear that in baby voice?) She was pretty interested in what he was doing. Oh, and she's more than 6 inches tall if you're wondering.

Annnd, not sure what he was measuring in the picture below.  He loves the tape measure, and Anna loves to watch him.

We've been going to the park like mad.  My children are in love with the swings.  That's really all we need.  Oh, and I've been packing a lunch lately, which is brilliant because then you can get crumbs all over the park ground and not your kitchen floor!!!! No clean up! AND, the kids love it! 

Nannos

 Beaners

Caleb pupper

 Her hair is getting sooo long! And, she's holding a Christmas monkey.  Grace is my "I need to cling to something and bring something with whereever I go" child.  Sometimes I let her.  Sometimes I don't. I'm currently trying to break her of her blanket addiction. 

The other day I took the kids garage saleing, saling, sailing, sale-ing. .. that word is STRESSING ME OUT. How do you spell it?!  Anyway, I'm glad I did because Anna needed some summer clothes, and I was able to find a bunch that looked like they were brand new. My FAVORITE.  

Anyway, I left the kids in the car the whole time because there is way too much getting in and out when you're out and about, and, me getting them out every time would be absolutely insane (I would spend more time buckling than shopping).  I brought some fun little snacks and candy along so they could have a nice time in the car.  They did great.  Anna fell asleep and Caleb and Grace stayed content.  Phew. (and don't worry, I parked in places where I could ALWAYS see my van)  Even though they had a fabulous time in the car ;), I still sort of had a "I'm a bad mom" complex during.  

Towards the end, Caleb was asking if I could get him a toy because he could see all the fun stuff from the car.  I'm usually a professional at saying "no" to his questions about getting things, but I was starting to feel bad about leaving him in the car the whole time.  There was one garage sale where he saw a drum set.  And, if you know Caleb, you know he LOVES drums-- loves banging on actual drums and loves making drums and drum sticks out of anything in the house (which can be highly annoying let me tell you).   

So, as I got out of the car he said "MOM!! CAN YOU GET THAT DRUMSET?!?!!" And I said... "No."  And then I went, and left, and there were no issues.  A few minutes later I went back to that garage sale to pick up a small table and chairs my mom wanted for her house, and he said again... "MOM, CAN YOU BUY THAT DRUMSET!?!??!??!?!?!?" 

Something crazy came over me. Suddenly I desperately wanted to buy it for him even though I had just spent my last dollar.  So, I sat in my car looking through all the little places where change might be and also in my purse, and scrounged up enough money to buy the drumset.  I gave the money to the previous owner in pennies and other change in a little plastic bag that had been housing the apple I was eating.  

I've never had an impluse buy quite like that before.  

And here it is.  Like that it's pink and purple?  Trust me, Caleb could care less.  He spent the ENTIRE afternoon playing it.  In the basement of course.  I thought I'd regret it, but so far, I'm totally fine with it because it keeps him so occupied, and when I gave it to him he was the happiest little boy in the world.  Oh, and like his seat? The laundry basket works pretty well.

-Melanie 

Sandbox, big stuff, chipped tooth, and a super sweet blog

So a few weeks ago our hero, Tanner came over and built us a sandbox!!  It's HUGE. I'm so excited.  We still need to get sand, but I'm hoping to get some soon.  Hopefully it entertains the kids for hours and hours.  That's my plan anyway.  I also hope it doesn't result in sand fights.... totally possible.

Here's a picture of it being built.  This picture makes me laugh out loud because just seconds earlier Ben was standing there watching Tanner, and before I snapped the picture I yelled, "BEN! I'm taking a picture, look like you're doing something!" And, he did. And, it looks real.  hahahhaha! 

Tanner is coming today to cut the closet doors for the kid's rooms (AMAZING!!!) since the doors aren't QUITE the right size, so hopefully I can post pictures of that soon. I can't wait to have closet doors.  It's going to be awesome. 

And here's little Beaners.  She thinks she's SERIOUSLY big stuff when she's sitting in that chair.  She was pretty excited to be having a "nack!" (snack) and to be "a car a paper?" (coloring). She talks like she looooves coloring.  Like, repeating "a car a paper" 6,000 times.  But, when she actually gets the crayons and coloring book, they usually end up on the ground within 30 seconds.  Unfortunately for her that means she sits doing nothing for a while... natural consequence.  Boom. 

Caleb and Nannos (killer nickname isn't it?) have been bonding lately.  It's SO cute how Anna loves Caleb and Grace.  The good news for me is that they supply her with constant entertainment that keeps her content.. always. Ok, she'd probably be content anyway.  Anna wins the best baby award, although she's SIX months already and not really a baby baby anymore.  Oh, except she can't even sit up.  Someone who is her age is not just sitting but CRAWLING, and I'm trying not to have a complex about it.  The good news is that Caleb took forever to be able to sit up, and he's pretty normal physically.... well, except if you watch him play soccer, or baseball, or basketball, or run... OK, let's just stop.  But, I mean he WAS able to crawl and walk and there isn't anything wrong with him.  Just need to work on some sport skills... 

Caleb asked me to take a picture of the two of them.  See her look at him? Precious.

The other day I was getting the kids back inside after playing in our little pools outside, and when Gracie entered the house, she slipped and fell.  She cried pretty hard, and I saw her lip was bleeding.  But, she got over it fairly quickly and we all went about our business.  THEN at lunch, she was laughing (I'm sure because I'm hilarious ;)) AND I noticed a CHIP on her tooth.  NOOOOOOOOO.  See it? And... like her dirty mouth?  She's a pretty sloppy eater, I must say.  Oh, and I agree, she does still look cute, however, you don't lose your front tooth till you're REALLY old; so we have a long time to look at that chip. Wah. 

Today Grace chucked her water cup across the table at breakfast.  It hit Caleb's milk glass and shot milk everywhere.  Caleb cried out, "GRACE, YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO DO THAT! IT'S YOUR FAULT!" and then started crying because he took it personally. (As if she really meant to knock his milk down and spray it everywhere so he couldn't drink it).   That's a pretty accurate glimpse into their personalities.

Now I'm going to tell you about something that has made me so happy and will most likely make you happy.  It's a blog I stumbled upon in a "I'm not enjoying cooking and/or recipes lately, I need help" mood and I have been LOVING it.  It got me out of my funk.  It's called Mel's kitchen cafe.   You're welcome for telling you about it.  I felt like it was too good to be true.... but then I tried this, and this, and this, and they were ALL delicious so far. I meant to try this and had it marinating and even ON the grill itself.  BUT, then the grill fell apart and flames were bursting and Ben thought he might die from the gas exploding... so not sure how that one is since now I'll have to bake it in the oven or crock pot, but I'd BET it's good.  I found myself trusting her immediately.  Probably because her name is Melanie (I think? and obviously Melanie's are very trustworthy people) and probably because she has 5 kids.  That means she's most likely not going to be posting some craaaazy meals that my husband and children won't eat.  So enjoy because I am. 

That's all for now.  Coffee time!

-Melanie

Posts

Not sure if anyone noticed, but yesterday I spent some time transferring over my blogs from Double dutch over to this one.  So, don't mind me messing around with this for a bit =).  For my own benefit, I'm writing the dates on each one, so when I look back I know when I posted it.  It's so fun to look back on the last year!

A little catch up

5/5/15

I just looked, and I haven't posted since FEBRUARY!! Shame on me! I've been busy, that's my only excuse.  And, there's always something to do around here that seems more important than blogging.  But, I've missed it, so I thought I'd check back in... even though I currently have wash in the washer and a huuuuge pile of clothes that need to be sorted.  (Don't you love changing seasons?! I always thought I did... but with three kids plus me and Ben I'm not loving it as much)

So, what's new since Feburary? Um, a million things.  I'm going to have to skip most of them  otherwise this blogpost will never end.  Plus, I probably can't remember most of what's happened anyway.

A while ago we went to bellaboos.  It was really fun! I asked my mom to come along, because I wasn't sure I could keep up with everyone while we were there, and looking back it's REALLY good she came along. (especially when I needed to nurse Anna.)

The kids had SO much fun playing with the water.  Especially Grace.  I'm pretty sure she could have spent the entire time there.  She was soaking wet by the end-- those aprons don't do much.  I also watched a kid try to steal a toy from her, and boy did she hold her own.  One look and he backed off.  I was amazed... and kind of horrified that she has that ability before the age of two.

Caleb's favorite was playing in the ball pit, but he also liked the face paint.  Doesn't he look fantastic!??! So creative.  "I'll paint my ENTIRE face black!"  Once he started, he just couldn't stop.  He was even drawing on his face with BOTH hands.  Cool Caleb.  Super cool.And this was Caleb's face when it was time to remove the face paint.  I mean REALLY!??! I let him keep it on most of the day.

It was a highly entertaining trip, and I'd go again for sure ...as long as my mom or Ben can come with that is. We could have stayed longer, but it was definitely nap time for everyone.  All three fell asleep on the way home.

Then let's skip ahead a bit to Caleb's birthday.  He's FOUR!  We had a birthday bash at our house a few days after his birthday.  Normally I have a plan of what a birthday party is going to look like or what theme I want.  We've done Pirates, puppies, Sesame street... but this year a week or so before Caleb's birthday I thought. "Oh yeah, I should probably have a birthday party."  Then the day before the party I remembered I needed a cake. I know, it was really bad ??  I decided to just make an easy chocolate cake (hershey's recipe-- it's so good and normally not hard)

Here's how it turned out.  HAHHAHAHHAHAHHA.  I ran out of cocoa, so I knew it was too late to make another.  Not sure what in the world happened!?!  

And yes, below is the finished product.  I actually brought this cake into the room with candles to sing Happy Birthday to Caleb.  The good news?  My guests (My parents, my grandparents, and my great Aunt) were very forgiving.  I'm pretty sure the birthday boy didn't notice.  He was just excited to eat cake.  So, if anyone feels bad about their birthday cake failures-- just look at mine, and I'm sure you'll feel better.

We got Caleb this Busytown game for his birthday.  He loves it- and I really enjoy playing it with him.  Win win!!  It's especially fun because he knows the busytown characters from a book someone gave us a while back.  We have to play it when Gracie is sleeping or in her gate though because otherwise she tries to play, and that doesn't go well.

Gracie has been talking up a storm lately.  She is really into books and is constantly saying.. "a wead wead wead wead a booka?" (repeat 321 times).  She puts "a" (pronounced uh) on everything she says. "I kissa da cow".  In the car the other day I heard her saying "ATCH mama, atch" I turned around and she did some wacky trick with her legs.  Then guess what she said?  "ATCH mama ATCH!!" so I turned around and she did it again....and again and again.  We've already entered the "LOOK MOM!" phase.  Caleb is still on it, so I'm thinking this early start isn't necessarily a good thing ;)

Lately Caleb has been greeting Gracie in the morning when she wakes up and often jumps in the crib with her.  Usually he brings books in and they read together.  I like it (usually unless someone starts screaming) because it keeps them occupied for a few more minutes before I have to start taking care of them.  Oh, and they both need me to get out.  So really, we have a good thing going. HAHAHA.  Actually the other day Caleb was playing on Grace's floor, and I think she wanted to be by him so badly she fell out of the crib.  Oops.  It was fairly traumatic, so we've had no problems since. YES! I LOVE natural consequences!

And some days I'll put Anna in there.  They reeeeaaaallly like that.  I must say, they LOVE their baby sister.

There's not much else going on around here.  Hopefully I can be blogging a bit more often this summer, but we'll see.

Thanks for listening,

Melanie

Before and after Grace's room

2/2/14

I've been meaning to do a before and after of Grace's room for.... months.  Oops.  I've been putting it off because I was hoping to get new closet doors since it currently has an empty opening.  The bummer is that the standard size closet doors don't seem like they fit.  DOGS.  I need to call someone who knows what they're doing to come look at what I'm dealing with. But, I have issues making a phone call.  I thought I'd post it anyway since who knows WHEN I'll get around to that.

Grace's room started off as the office when we moved in and quickly turned into "the horrible room".  It was the room where I threw all the stuff I didn't know what to do with.  I don't have pictures of all that was in it before because I didn't think about a before and after until after I had already removed everything. (BLAST! Pretty sure I've done that before.... =( )  But, just picture a bookcase, a junky desk, a lazy boy, a filing cabinet, and then a bunch of STUFF.

 

The first thing I did was paint the woodwork white.  It was all full of paint and scratches. It looked gross, trust me.

Then, this summer friends of ours from Bailevyille dropped by.  Dean is an excellent painter, and he painted the trim for me.  I was afraid to paint along the woodwork after I had just painted it fearing I would splatter paint all over the fresh white! Oh, and along the ceiling-- that's HARD, and who feels like taping all of it?? It was a HUGE HELP.  Go Deano go!

After he did the hard work, I rolled on some gray.  I LOVE the color!! Thanks to all those on facebook who helped me decide on a neutral gray.  It was a great decision.  And... TA DA!!

I bought the crib bedding from a buy/swap/sell site and the pictures at a garage sale this summer. I got those wall decals at Target, aren't they cute?!

In the corner on the right, you can see the doors I was hoping would be closet doors...  Oh and her blinds I moved to her room from the nursery (the blinds the previous owners had).  They're bent and kind of stinky, but since she's rather destructive, I thought it best to have bad blinds in her room for now.  That way if they get folded and messed up, I won't be upset.  I know, brilliant.One day, shortly after I finished the room, I had Grace in her gate (one of those playyard things).  The little stinker, instead of playing with the AMAZING toys I had in the gate, decided to reach out her little fingers and RIP APART the beautiful decals.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! Do you also see the bite marks on the crib?!  The girl I bought it from had it in PERFECT condition for FOUR years.  We have it one month, and look!

THIS IS WHY WE CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS.

And, there's what's left of it.... Booooo.

What a ding-dong.

Anyway, the room still looks muuuuuch better even with the mangled decals and blemished crib =)

Thanks for listening.  Maybe one day the closet will be able to shut.  But, until then, Grace is not allowed unsupervised in her room.

-Melanie

Babywise

1/26/15

 We're talking about Babywise today, so I thought I show you a picture of Anna.  Isn't that SO SWEET?!? I can't stop smiling as I look at it.  Is this a picture of a malnourished, neglected baby? No honking way. Let's begin. A couple of you asked me to post about how we do Babywise in our house.  I thought I might as well since I love it and maybe someone will find it helpful. Since Babywise catches a lot of flack (mostly from people who have not read the book), I think we should clear the air on a few things.

1. Babywise does not = leaving hungry babies screaming in their cribs.
2. Babywise does not = starving your baby for the sake of the schedule
3. Babywise does not = never cuddling your baby
4. Babywise does not = being a slave to a schedule.
5. Babywise does not = letting your babies cry for hours on end with all their needs being unmet.

Got it?  There's another one. Now that we’ve got THAT out of the way, I’ll give you a basic overview of how I implement it in our house.  This will be good especially if I die suddenly and Ben is left to try and figure out what’s going on with Anna.  (He’s not really in the loop as far as our schedule goes)  I’m going to focus specifically on little babies and schedules etc. although they give TONS of other advice.  (maybe I’ll do another blog post of my FAVORITE book Babywise II) OK now we can really begin. Actually wait, one more thing. I’m not an expert, I’m just taking what I’ve learned from friends and the book and what’s worked for us.  I’m sure there are tons of better Babywise people to ask than me.

 NOW I’m ready. When do you start Babywise?  I try to start it as soon as we get home from the hospital.  In the hospital, I usually just get used to nursing and wait for my milk to come in.  I don’t worry about any sort of feeding times during the hospital stay.  Plus, the baby is so honking sleepy anyway, you hardly even feed them. (unless they want to cluster feed all night like Grace did and almost kill you. That was horrible.) A lactation consultant will come in and instruct you to keep your child at the breast every moment until they’re 3 (ok, slight exaggeration).   Feel free to ignore their advice on WHEN to feed; however, they are extremely helpful on HOW to feed. When I had Caleb my lactation consultant freaked out that I had a Babywise book on the bedside-- I think she thought it should be illegal to own.  She was, however, really helpful in getting Caleb to latch. You also may have a young male intern come in with your discharge papers telling you to put cabbage leaves in your bra because they’re soothing....  (It was VERY hard to be mature in that situation. I mean, really..)

Ok, let’s pretend you just got home from the hospital.  The next few days you’re going to be working HARD.  You are going to be trying to get that baby to eat FULL feedings each time you nurse.  And that’s really hard because they are sooo sleepy.  You want to avoid having a baby who snacks all day long.  And, you want to avoid feeding them every hour, or every time they cry. I have a secret.  Babies sometimes cry when they’re NOT hungry. (even if everyone is telling you your baby is hungry.) If you have an overly sleepy baby, you’ll be waking them every 3 hours to eat.  I’m not sure Anna would have ever woken up to eat the first few weeks.... (just kidding) but I did have to be constantly waking her up to feed during the day.  “Never wake a sleeping baby!” you say.  I say nay.  That’s an unhelpful word of advice. I’ll give you a new one. “Always wake a sleeping baby if it’s time to wake up.”  Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? So, let’s say you have a super hungry baby who wakes up every 1.5 hours to eat.  You want to really work hard to get full feedings so that they can make it to 2.5-3 hours. Occasionally 2 hours in a row doesn’t hurt (like later in the afternoon when your supply could be lower).  A Babywise lesson is ALWAYS feed a hungry baby.  If your baby is hungry at 1.5 hours, FEED THEM.  The point is to get them to NOT be hungry after 1.5 hours.  Get it?  Snackers only get the fore milk and not the rich, juicy hind milk, so work it!! Now, let me also mention that you do NOT wake your baby during the night.  So, let’s say you feed Johnny boy at 7am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm, 7pm, and 10pm-- after the 10pm feeding you would just let them go (unless they’re super little and sleeping forever, and you’re worried about them and/or your milk supply--usually not a problemo).

 Another big Babywise concept is the Eat/Wake/Sleep cycle. You feed your baby, have awake time, which could be time under a mobile, in a pack n play, bouncy seat, you reading them a book, taking a bath, a walk... whatever.  And, you put them asleep when they are still awake-- or drowsy.  You want them to be able to fall asleep on their own so you're not bound by nursing them, rocking them, putting them in the crib, having them immediately wake up, nurse them again, rock them 4 times, bounce your leg 6 times, pat their back, sing Rock a bye baby 3 times through, lay them in bed, and start all over again until you're both completely exhausted and your baby is FINALLY asleep.... only to wake up a half hour later where you repeat the same cycle up to 5 times (or so).  OR, having your baby having to sleep on/with you.  That's great sometimes (I have enjoyed my snuggles with Anna)-- but it's not very practical if you have other little ones you have to keep up with. Or a house to clean. Or if you have to go to the bathroom. Or make dinner.

 Here’s a day in the life of a young baby in my house.  We’ll say under 9 weeks old.  Okie dokie? 7am- eat 7-8- eat and wake time 8am- nap 10- eat 10-11 eat and wake time 11- nap 1- eat 1-2 eat and wake time 2- nap 4- eat 4-5 eat and wake time 5- nap 7- eat and possible wake time depends on how tired 7:30- sleep 10ish- sort of wake up to feed... or dream feed if they’ll do that and then put them straight back to bed. And then usually they’ll be up once or so at night. (unless they’re really new, then maybe a couple of times).  When I feed them at night, I put them right back to bed for sleep. Babywise says your baby should sleep through the night between 8-12 weeks.  When I say sleep through the night I mean 8+ hours consistently (I'm not sure what they mean.)  Caleb was 12 weeks, Grace 5 weeks, and Anna is 10 weeks and just started sleeping 8-10 hours a night. Babywise tells you to have a daily wake time and make it the same EVERY day.  They also encourage you to feed at the SAME time every day.  While I think that is probably helpful, I don’t really do that.  We have generally the same schedule every day, but it’s more that I keep the amount of times between feedings more consistent (2.5-3 hrs)-- and I keep the pattern Eat/wake/sleep.

It is MAJORLY important that your child gets naps during the day.  If you look at the above schedule and say, “WOW, that baby sleeps ALL THE TIME” you’re right!  Babies DO sleep all the time.  When your baby has been up for hours during the day, you might have people say to you, “Great! Now they’ll hopefully sleep all night because they’re all tired out.”  Usually if my child’s been up for an unreasonable amount of time I’m freaking out that they’ll have a HORRIBLE night’s sleep because now they’re overtired and wired. Sleep breeds more sleep.  Repeat that. This was a huge lesson for me to learn. Babies who are overtired do not settle to sleep well, nap well, or sleep through the night well. Ok, there are always exceptions-- it might happen once, but it can’t continually happen. Remember when I said sometimes babies cry when they’re not hungry?  This is what I’m referring to-- sometimes babies cry when they’re TIRED.  A little baby should only be up for 45 min to an hour before it’s nap time again.  If your baby has a hard time getting to sleep after being up for an hour (including feeding time), then you should try putting them to bed EARLIER rather than later. In our house putting them to bed when they’re really little (like I still do this with Anna and she’s 10 weeks) is hold them tight for a few minutes to kind of warn them it’s nap time, and then put them to bed awake.  I am not against CIO (cry it out)-- I triple dog dare you to google that or post about it on Babycenter. HAHAHA.  But seriously, I think there’s a time for CIO.  I feel comfortable letting them cry when I know their basic needs are met-- I know they’re changed and not hungry.  The only thing they are is tired.  I promise that in my house sleep is usually nice and everyone isn’t always screaming.  It’s actually quite pleasant.  Like right now all three are sleeping and none of them cried before bed.  Ok, I lied, Grace whined at me for about 20 seconds.  Fussing a little before sleep is normal-- sometimes they just need to settle in! Naps are amazing for everyone.

 Babywise is flexible-- not so flexible that the baby has no clue what's going on ever, but the kind of flexible that making it to church and other events is possible because you're not married to your schedule.  Sundays I'm usually rearranging everything so that I can have a full and sleepy baby with me during the service.  I don't want to miss church every week! Plus, what would I do with Caleb?! Mondays are a day to get back on track.  Also being flexible means it's not a huge deal if your baby is a hungry a little early, or going through a growth spurt etc. you just work around it! To end I’ll say this.  I think that implementing Babywise is a lot of work right away, but you reap such amazing benefits that it’s totally worth it.  Plus, it’s nice not to be guessing what your baby needs when.  There also is A LOT of problem solving/trouble shooting involved-- why is my baby waking up after 45 minutes EVERY nap? Why is she screaming in the late afternoon etc...  This is why I e-mailed a friend of mine nearly every day after I had Caleb.  =) I think that’s a pretty decent summary of what we do.  The book is EXTREMELY helpful to answer lots of questions, so I highly recommend reading it.  And, if you want to get started and are having trouble, you can ask me, join a Babywise facebook group, or google chronicles of a babywise mom to get extra help!

Oh, and I know that some people have babies who sleep through the night early and they don't do any scheduling etc. That's GREAT! I however, don't want to risk getting lucky.  Plus, it's harder once you have an 8 month old who is still not sleeping through the night to start doing any sort of sleep training, so I'd rather get them used to it right away.  And, if babywise isn't for you, that's ok too. Hope this was helpful in some way for those interested.  Feel free to ask questions or comment if you have something to say!
-Melanie

Life with three

1/20/14

Hello!!

So much has happened since I've posted last... I mean (other than the birth story), that was waaaaaay back in November!  That was prebaby, and that seems like forever ago!

So, how is life with three, three and under?  Thanks for asking!  It's fine... except when all of them are crying and Ben's not home.  But, I'll echo everyone else I've heard and say, its WAY easier than going from 0-1 or 1-2.  Oh, and I'm thrilled because I hear from now on having more is a BREEZE ;).  I'm surviving mostly because Anna is a nice little baby.  I mean, when she's fed, napped, and changed, she has nothing to cry about.  She loves her bouncy seat and her mobile, so we use those often when she's awake!  I'm SO thankful she's not sitting there crying when she's not being held.... like a different baby I know.  (not to name names or anything, but the child's name starts with a G and ends in a race...)  This is how we remember Grace.

hahahhahahhahha.  How hilarious is that picture? Caleb's face makes me laugh out loud. He was such a confused little boy.

Of course, she didn't stay that way.  Now she's our spunky little stinker, who is usually QUITE a happy girl. And BONUS, she loves Anna.  Sometimes the "love" is a bit... um, dangerous?  For example, her kisses have twice turned into some biting action.  Anna doesn't like that.

She gets a little carried away sometimes. But, Anna doesn't mind normal kisses, even when her face is sopping wet after!  I'm not sure how long that will continue, but for now, we're all happy.  Caleb also loves Anna.  He, however, would rather keep playing than pay too much attention to her. Oh unless of course we're praising Grace for loving her sister, and then suddenly he becomes VERY interested in loving her too.

Sometimes I forget that Caleb doesn't know anything.  As in, he hasn't lived long enough to know anything.  Like when he tries to kiss Anna when he has a hacking cough and just rubbed snot all over his hand (bad idea, DUH!!).  Or, like today when we had Wendy's for lunch and the drive thru lady had tatoos all over her arm and Caleb asked me "what's all over her arm mom!?!"  and I had to explain tattoos to him.  He told me he loved them, so I told him they can never ever ever ever go away.  Then he asked why there was a couch by the side of the road (good question, they belong in the living room!), so I explained how people put them out when they don't want them anymore and ANYBODY who wants it can come get it.  I was even thinking that was cool.  Although 3 is seriously the worst age ever (so far), there are some things I like about it.  I like how I can start explaining things to him, and he can understand them.  I like how he's my helper with the little girls. I like that he can do things on his own without constant supervision. And, I like that he's old enough to have fun with dad outside but young enough not to realize that wearing mom's pink/purple 10 year old scarf isn't cool ;) HAHHAHA!

And, since Anna is almost 9 weeks, I want to give another shout out to babywise.  My little peanut gave me a beautiful 10 hour stretch last night, and I owe it to following that book.  It has worked with all three of my kids now, and I'm SO THANKFUL for a friend who told me about it before I had Caleb.  Having kids who are predictable and nap/sleep well, is a HUGE relief for a mother!!! I highly recommend reading it.  I don't recommend asking people on babycenter about it.  They're crazy.

Well, I suppose that's all for now. I need to go do some laundry before the kids wake up!

Thanks for listening,

Melanie

Anna's Birth Story

12/31/14

This birth story, although not neeeaarrlly as exciting as Grace’s, is my favorite thus far.  So, even though it might not be as enjoyable for YOU all to read, I’m so glad I can write it this way this time =)

I wasn’t anxious about this pregnancy until my braxton hicks contractions started at about 30 weeks.  That’s about 7 weeks earlier than last time.  I was so afraid I wasn’t going to know when to go to the hospital and that I wasn’t going to make it.... again.  I had a scare at about 32 weeks, when I was having contractions every 3-4 minutes for a couple of hours, but that turned out to be nothing, and if you remember, I blogged about that.  The constant comments of, "Are you going to go to the hospital this time?" "Think you'll make it" "Ben's really good at it, why go to the hospital?" also caused me to think about it CONSTANTLY.

The day I turned 37 weeks pregnant, I woke up to a contraction at about 12 am, was having dull lower back pain, had the shakes, and was having stronger contractions that my normal braxton hicks.  I wasn’t sure if this was labor, but I had told myself I wasn’t going to take ANY chances this time.  I woke Ben (and my parents) up and we headed to the hospital where I was monitored for most the rest of the night.  It stunk to get no sleep... and NOT be in labor.  It was pretty embarrassing to wake everyone up for a false alarm.  I then became anxious about having more false alarms...  HA!

I continued to have frequent braxton hicks for the next couple weeks, and kept praying I’d know the difference when it was time.  There was A LOT of praying going on over here, and I know my family (and others) was praying for me often too (thanks!).

THEN it happened.  Ben and I went to bed about 11 o’clock Nov 17, and I was having some more braxton hicks (or so I thought) before bed.  I went to sleep and woke up at about 12:30 or so with a stronger contraction.  I was kind of disgusted with it thinking, “OW.  This is so unfair.... how will I ever know if I’m in labor and WHY must I suffer with these braxton hicks?!?!” I kept laying there wondering if I was in labor and praying I would know.  I started shaking really bad because I was so nervous about it!! I decided to take a shower to “kill” the shakes.  I did, and it worked... but then I had another stronger contraction during my shower.  It was nothing terrible-- it was just slightly different than usual.  After my shower, I went and sat on the bed and debated going to sleep.  I was about to lay down, when I said to myself, “Melanie.... remember last time you went to sleep after a bigger contraction?”  That little pep talk encouraged me to wake Ben up and tell him I thought I was in labor.  I called my parents  at 1:20 and asked them to come over and apologized in case it was a false alarm.  They were very understanding ;)

I packed up a few things, and Ben and I headed to the car.  We left the kids home alone for a few minutes this time.... they’re pretty good sleepers, so the chances of them waking up in the 10-15 minute home alone time was pretty slim.  Maybe it was risky? Whatever. Aint nobody got time fo dat!! Amen? We headed to the hospital, and I didn’t even want to call my midwife in case it was a false alarm.  I’m such a moron.  I waited till we were closer and I had had a few more contractions in the car to call my midwife (well, really the answering service).  We got to the emergency room, and they were able to bring me upstairs pretty quickly.  That’s another thing I was worried about-- when I was there at 32 weeks having contractions 3-4 minutes apart, it took at LEAST a half hour to get me upstairs.  It was seriously unimpressive and gave me another thing to be anxious about.  And, can I clarify?  I’m NOT an anxious person.... so this was horrible and new for me.  I also gained a new apprecation for anxious people-- it's terrible.

Ben was trying to do some small talk with me on the way to the hospital, and I wasn’t very nice to him.  He usually ended up asking me a question RIGHT when I was having a contraction.  I was kind of freaking out in the car (am I in labor? am I going to have a baby in the next 15 minutes? will they just send me home? was that contraction stronger than normal?? I hope we don't have to pull over.. etc.), and so having him asking me questions and talking to me about unrelated topics was not helpful.  But, he had no idea what was going through my mind because, as we’ve learned previously, I’m not very verbal when I’m in labor....

We got to the hospital, and I immediately felt RELIEVED.  I was so happy to be there. Ben commented later that after being short with him the car, I was a QUITE peppy to the nurses. But, in my defense, being at the hospital improved my mood by a gazillion.  Once you know you're not going to have a baby on the side of the road or in your bathroom-- your mood can change really fast. Ben came in the emergnecy room with my suitcase, and I actually had him bring it back to the car because I was afraid I wasn’t in labor and would look like an idiot for thinking I was.  How stupid is that? And poor Ben again.  (he’s amazing)

When I got upstairs around 2 am, I was checked and told I was 5 or 6 cm!  I threw my hands up in the air and felt VICTORIOUS!! I DID IT! I’M REALLY IN LABOR... AND I’M AT THE HOSPITAL!!! (I was 1 cm at my appointment earlier that morning). They hooked me up to the monitors and had me sit there for a little while to see how far apart my contractions were and to hear the baby.  I was at St. Anthony’s in Crown Point, and I asked them to fill their amazing tub for me to labor in.  After sitting on the bed for a few minutes, I couldn’t wait to get in the tub! My cousin’s wife gave me some lavender essential oil samples to use, so I put a couple drops in the tub.  It was SOOOOO relaxing in there and smelled amazing.  When we got into our room, Ben immediately laid down on the couch.  I told him to go ahead and sleep.  You never know how long labor will last.  With Caleb it seemed like an eternity. I got in the tub, and my contractions were very manageable.  The water really eased my discomfort-- it was amazing really.  I got my ipad, and started playing some soothing music.  The nurse and my midwife would check on me every so often, but I really found that I prefer to just labor alone.  It makes me feel weird having people staring at me while I endure a contraction.  Oh and I told my nurse and midwife that I told Ben to sleep and he would get up if I asked him to.  I felt like he looked like a bum, and I wanted to clarify he wasn’t. HAHAHA.

Around 3:20 or so?? Things were really picking up.  My contractions were REALLY REALLY intense and soon I was feeling the urge to push. I pulled the little cord thing in the bathroom to alert someone to get in there.  My midwife suggested I go lay on the bed and have her check me since I told her I felt I needed to push.  The idea was horrifying to me, so I said... “I don’t want to do that.”.... when you are in excruciating pain, the last thing you want to do is go lay on a bed and have someone perform a VERY uncomfortable procedure on you....  I feel like that’s torture.  It should probably be illegal. (ok, that might be a LITTLE extreme).  Anyway, I’m amazed that most people give birth laying down on a bed.  Talk about going against gravity.  Ok, I’m done... sorry, I get worked up.

Anyway, my contractions although SUPER intense were not completely on top of each other like they were with my other two kids.  With Grace and Caleb towards the end I did NOT have breaks in between them.  I remember always reading about how you can make it to the end because you have these pauses between contractions where you can catch your breath.  I didn’t have that with Caleb or Grace.  This time, I actually had a small break between those horribly intense contractions... and WOW, that makes a HUGE difference!  I could give myself a “I CAN DO THIS!” pep talk in between!  Pretty soon, I knew it was almost time for the baby to come, so I told the nurse she’d better wake up Ben.  She did and he said he thought, “Whoa! Ready to push? I missed most of it!” He thinks he was there for 10 minutes or so.... lucky guy isn’t he? I hadn’t decided if I was going to actually deliver in the tub until it was time to have the baby, and my midwife told me to either get in the tub or get on the bed.  I pushed in the tub, and out she came at 3:46am, caught beautifully by my midwife, (who was sitting outside the tub waiting to catch the baby in case you’re wondering how she was positioned ;)). Anna was handed to me immediately, and then I was told to keep her little body in the warm water while I snuggled her.  I felt GREAT after. Water is SOOO soothing!  She waited until the cord stopped pulsing, and then Ben cut it.  After the cord was cut, I walked to the bed to deliver the placenta etc...... I know, it makes me feel weird too. (I’m including that because I know people are sometimes confused by water births)

They took her weight, made sure she was ok, wiped her off, and handed her back to me really quickly.  I was able to hold/nurse her for about 2 hours before they took her away for a bath etc.  She latched right away, which was a huge relief!

Although I think birth is always a little traumatic (I mean, we’re talking some INTENSE pain) this was the ‘easiest’ one I’ve had as far as pain during and how I’ve felt afterwards.

I was immediately in love with my sweet Anna, and I was so thankful for a safe/quick/regular ole (well kind of) birth.

And, I’d do it that way again in a heartbeat.  I highly recommend trying a water birth if you’re wanting to have a natural birth!  I used to think it sounded ridiculous, but I've officially changed my mind. So you can call me weird, a hippie, or whatever you want.  A water birth is definitely the way to go!! ;)