Frustrated

Every 2 steps forward we take with Joshua I feel we take 1 back. We were making good progress on starting solids for a few days but now he cries as soon as he goes in the highchair. We had gotten him sleeping 6 hours in a row without a feeding and now he is at 3-4 maximum.

I am taking a deep breath here and pausing. I need to remember that eventually he will take solids. He won't still be on the boob when he goes off to college. I also need to remember that eventually this sleeping through the night thing will sink in.

I heard this morning that Toy-R-Us is doing a trade-in thing. Bring in used highchairs, cribs, and other big baby items and they will give you 20% off any new item. I think maybe we will take over our old stuff and see if we can get a new highchair for a fresh start. We shall see.

Big Crawler

Well, after weeks of this commando scoot, Joshua is officially crawling. He got up on his knees today & took off after Daddy & David. Of course an hour later he was trying to stand. I am so not ready for two on the loose!

I am enjoying watching the two of them navigate this whole "brother" thing. They love to play peek-a-boo and now Joshua loves to chase David. David likes to share....but I have to watch his "gifts" because they range from a stuffed animal, to a hard measuring cup, to a hunk of meat. Aaahhh, brotherly love is grand!

Two weeks.....

My "baby" turns 2 in two weeks. I still vivdly remember being preggo with him. I remember bringing him home & then everyone left to return to "real life" and I realized I was the mommy. I have grown a lot since those days but only enough to realize that I know so little & still have loads to learn.

Now to plan a little party. He is really into "boy" things right now. Dinosaurs, trucks, trains..... so we are thinking a cake made into a train engine. With money so tight we aren't hosting a big shindig but I want him to have fun. I think some colorful streamers, balloons, a yummy cake, and some fun presents will be fine. Would love to keep it just to a few people but if you invite some.... you must invite others. *sigh* Hopefully people will leave their personal drama at the door.

Just like the olden days

My mother & sister came & picked up David today for a play-date. They went to the pet store & then back to mom's house. He got to be the center of attention all day & even crashed over there for a 2+ hour nap.

I got to experience life with just one kiddo again for a day. Joshua and I played chase on the rug. He is getting so good at scooting around now. He kept trying to pull to standing, too. We had long conversations & I made him giggle until he was red-faced.

The problem? I had no idea what to do with myself when he would nap. My cleaning was done early. I couldn't relax enough to nap myself. I ended up playing on FB all day. Not a bad problem to have...... just funny. We are planning on David going back for an over-night soon. Hopefully I will handle that one better.

Night time is the right time

Last night we had our first "success"..... if you can call it that. Joshua fell asleep at 8 and woke up again at 10:30 for a feeding. He fell asleep again in his crib and made it until 3:15. When he woke up crying David also woke up so I went in to get Joshua out of the nursery and put him in the pack-n-play out in the living room. I patted him tummy until he was calm & then went to calm David back down & tuck him in again.

Joshua cried for about 30 minutes in several bursts with good silent stretches and then...... silence! Blessed, lovely, golden silence until 6:30am. I actually woke up first and got dressed thinking I must have missed hearing him. I tip-toed out to check on him & he was sound asleep! I was able to brew my coffee, pour David's milk, and get David out of bed all before Joshua made a peep. Then when he did wake up the two boys played until 7:30 breakfast.

Here is to future success!

My one true friend

I have had a slow cooker since my college days and it is my favorite kitchen appliance. I have learned to cook so many different things in it and will never be without one. My current one has been with me since before Tony & I were married almost 3 years ago and it just now getting a crack in it. We will save the insert as a planter.... but I will love getting a new model!

Today, for instance, I am making pot roast. I thawed out my meat last night & cut up my veggies this morning. I added my soup & water and walked away. Now I am free to play with the kids, clean other parts of the house, bake a peach pie, and put my feet up for a bit..... all the while knowing dinner is cooking away & will be ready in plenty of time.

My slow cooker ventures have included breakfasts, soups, roasts, stews, BBQ, chickens, and desserts. I make apple butter and applesauce in it every year. My butt was saved by it last week when we had an unexpected hospital trip. We got home that night tired & grumpy.... but there was dinner waiting for us.

I love my slow cooker.

The joys of "Flex Menus"

So in an effort to save money with me staying at home with the boys for now, we have gotten into meal planning. I know, "Ugh! How hard is that?" I used to look at people who had pre-planned their whole month of menus & think I could never be like that.

Truth is, I'm not!

Tony & I sit down once every week & look at the sales circulars for our 3 local markets. Then we take stock of what is in the freezer, fridge, and pantry. (This part is made easier by keeping a post-it pad on the fridge to jot down things as they run out) We plan "menus" based on what we have on hand & what is on sale, then go do our shopping. We stack coupons on top of sales and will even stop at all 3 markets, if the deals are right. We usually do 2 big trips per month and 2 small trips per month. The small trips are to stock up on perishables between big trips.

Our menus are "flex menus" because I have most of my ingredients on hand for 2 weeks of meals so I can pick what I feel like instead of being dictated to by some list I made one day when I was hungry. I usually try to stay at least one day ahead of myself for prep. This way I am not stuck at 5pm going, "I forgot to thaw anything out!"

Not a perfect plan.... but it works for us!

Tomorrow: My love affair with my slow cooker!

Manic Mondays???

Not anymore! I used to love Mondays when I was in school. (I was one of those goofy types who actually loved back-to-school time, too) Mondays were always a fresh start. It didn't matter how awful last week was, Monday was a chance to start over. Clean slate.

When I left school, Mondays became my worst enemy. They marked the start of a long work week and the end of a fun weekend. Work was never as enjoyable as school for me. I never woke up on time on Mondays. Never had a weekly plan. Never could focus on anything but how far away Friday afternoon was.

Then I became a Mommy. Now Mondays are my clean slate-day again. I start the week by getting my house in order & planning my week. I use the early morning hours to plan what we need to accomplish as a family. Mondays allow me to put whatever failed last week behind me & start fresh.

The only thing missing now is my back-to-school plaid jumper & a new backpack!

Living in my 15 minutes

I am a follower of the
FLYlady program and have been on-again-off-again about my routines since having Joshua. This past week I have really hunkered down & made an effort to stick by my routines. I have been getting my house under control in 15 minute bursts and am pleasantly surprised by my results.

I no longer feel in a panic if someone just drops by to see the kids. A sudden change in Tony's schedule no longer throws me off track. I am not perfect.... but I am learning that is okay, too. I am loving the freedom this builds into my day. I have more time for the kids and they are responding really well to the calm that is entering our home.

If you haven't checked it out I highly recommend it!

Froggy baby

Joshua has a bit of a frog in his throat since yesterday. No fever.... but he sounds so pitiful. I just hope it stays simple. I don't want both boys to get sick right at the end of summer!

He had a rash that was diagnosed as yeast/heat combo and I am lovin' the nurse practitioner who gave us a DIY recipe for the mega expesive cream she was prescribing. One day of this stuff and we are already seeing improvement.

Both boys are actually napping right now and all I can think about is having a glass of wine & reading a good book. *sigh* Someday I will get my drink on!

Making progress

Now that Joshua is taking solids we have gotten serious about sleep training. We have tried to train him before, to various degrees of success, but have always allowed him to backslide b/c he wasn't yet eating solids & I was worried about calorie intake.

Well. Night #1 he screamed & cried in 3 big shifts but slept 6 hours in a row after all the fuss. Last night (night #2) we heard about 30 minutes of crying and then nothing for 6.5 hours. I have faith that this is for his benefit & will get easier over time.

For now it is tough b/c of geography. The boys room-share but letting Joshua CIO (cry it out) for long periods of time wakes David up & then they keep each other going. So, we have the pack & play in the living room & let Joshua sleep out there for the CIO sessions. It is my hope that once we get him to the point where the initial crying lasts less than 5-10 minutes that he will be able to stay in his crib & David will sleep through it. We always let Joshua CIO in the room first....but get him after 10 minutes if it doesn't sound like he will go down. David has adjusted to this arrangement by sleeping with his shark blanket over his face.

We will make it!!!!

My love affair....

... with thrift stores has been going strong since I was a teenager. In high school thrift stores were a place to find funky clothes like bellbottoms or team logo shirts. In college our theater director turned me on to vintage thrift stores where treasures from the 30's & 40's were a steal.

Now I love to thrift store hunt for many things. I have outfitted my hubby with several Hawaiian shirts for work. He figures they make him wear collared shirts.....why not have fun with it??? I go to consignment sales 3x a year for my kids. This is like elite thrift store hunting! Only kids' items and all washed, properly labeled, and at FANTASTIC prices. For me.... I still go for vintage. I never go with any one item in mind but rather enjoy the exploration and eventual discovery of some artifact that will give my closet a boost. Recent discoveries include a cardigan for around the house, a cozy turtleneck for the holidays, and a vintage wool skirt.

I love me some thrift store hunting!!!!

Singing the praises......

....of oatmeal. I took the suggestion of a mommy friend & tried to mix oatmeal cereal with Joshua's food. 2 of her 4 kids were texture snobs & both would only eat the oatmeal over the rice. So we got a small box of oatmeal & cracked open a new container of squash than sat back with bated breath to watch the drama unfold.

Result? A happy 7 month old who ate a full tablespoon of food without coaxing & banged the highchair tray for more. I sat there in amazement waiting for him to say, "Just kidding!" and vomit it all back up but he kept it down & kept looking for more. At the end of that small serving I decided not to press my luck. He was looking around at other stuff & starting to wiggle more.

Miss Crystal...... you rock my socks. Thanks for the advice.

Joshua...... my reason for coffee

This little man is getting the best of me. Still not STTN (sleeping through the night) by any stretch of the imagination. 4 hours in a row seems to be a maximum. Still not taking solids for the most part. He will let me put them in his mouth but just rolls them around and eventually pushes them out with his tongue. I think he swallows very little. I love him.......but how I wish I could read his little brain!!

Game plan:
1. Try oatmeal cereal mixed with fruit and rice cereal mixed with veggies to entice our texture snob to eat.

2. Try to encourage self-soothing at bedtime in his crib rather than wait until he is asleep to move him there.

3. Pray David doesn't shoot me when Joshua cries at night & I have to let the tears flow for a bit.

4. Get an IV hook-up for coffee.

5. Get an IV drip of margaritas instead.

6. Scrap all my plans & just follow Joshua's lead.

We'll see how it goes!

Off my chest

I have to get this off my chest. I am still angry at my last boss who laid me off when I was 7 months preggo with David and my husband was laid up in the hospital. I know as a small organization they did not have to abide by FMLA so I had no guarantee of a job when I left to give birth..... but he laid me off over the phone when I left for a 4 day vacation so we could move into our new apartment. I used to put in 12+ hour days for that man and did way more than my job description entailed. I stayed there when they hemorrhaged staff each fall as students returned to school. I wrote 3 training manuals for them & fully updated their ordering system so that all inventory properly tracked in their computer system.

His lame excuse for letting me go??? Too much staff & not enough hours.... and "health" reasons. I know if I had been in a frame of mind to fight him the fact that he listed "health" reasons could have been to my advantage as my only "medical" condition was pregnancy. I was just hurt that after all I did for those people he had the nerve to lay me off that way.

*deep breath* I know I am better off. I was able to collect unemployment while in my last weeks of pregnancy & the weeks after David was born. I didn't have to commute 45+ minutes each way in August while 9 months preggo. Best of all........ I could stop playing babysitter to a man who would rather be anywhere than at his business.

Funny. Just typing that makes me feel better.

WWYD?

I am "friends" with my ex-boyfriend's kids on facebook. We were close while I was dating their father and it is nice to see them growing into young adults. I don't have any contact with my ex..... he called me once after David was born & sounded really upset to find out I was married & had a baby. Can't say I am hurt by that..... I never have been a big believer that exes can be friends.

I have noticed something on his daughter's profile that has me concerned. There are lots of posts hinting at partying & adult behavior. She is only 16. Now she has posted pics of her with cigarettes & beer. I know kids sometimes post things to make them seem like someone they are not.... but the images kinda make me wonder if her parents are aware of what she is posting.

Now I sit here wondering if I am stepping over a line to be worried & if I should try to contact her dad about it. *sigh* I sometimes hate being a grown-up.

Give peas a chance

We have had three "real" meals of peas!!! I end up scooping up about 50% of what I try to put into Joshua's mouth from his bib... but he swallowing the rest! We found two points with him that have helped.

1. Joshua loves texture. If it is pureed to the point of goo he won't open up. If it is paste or thicker, he is happy to try it.

2. Joshua loves to be in control. I hold the end of the spoon to help guide the contents to his mouth. He holds the part of the handle closest to his mouth & looks very proud of himself after each bite.

We are still learning.... but I am happy with our progress.
Next venture: pears!

The crazy life.

I remember when Tony & I would stay up until all hours of the night. We would order take-out or delivery. We would go out to restaurants. We would cook at home......but on a whim & whatever we felt like eating regardless of price. We bought movies & nice clothes. We would sleep until noon on our days off.

Fast forward to now. Up before 6am most days. Cook 90% of our meals at home after shopping the sales & clipping coupons. We buy at thrift stores & consignment sales. We don't know what a day off is.

Would I trade it? Not on your life. It is a crazy life. It is the most demanding job I have ever had. It is a total change of lifestyle.

It is the best thing that could have happened to us.

Starting slow.....

With solids, that is. We have decided to give solids another shot. We are aiming to start with just one meal per day but to have him at the table in his highchair as often as we sit down to eat. This way we get him trying to eat but also used to idea of sitting in the chair without being forced to do anything. Fingers are crossed!!!!

Had another great trip to the consignment sale. Spent $87 and got tons of early fall clothes for David, "new" toys, a double stroller, and some extra clothes for Joshua. At the rate that little monster is growing he will be able to fit all of David's old winter clothes (all 18 & 24 month sizes) in no time!! Looking forward to the next sale in October.