Dat's Baby Jeejus!

Audrey is so enthralled with Christmas. Last year she was a little young to "get it" at only 16 mos. But this year she's able to ask about things and start understanding what's going on! We put up the tree, nativities and decorations Wednesday while Blaine was home and Wyatt was napping. :) We have a Little Peoples nativity set that we put on the entertainment center so the kids can play with it. It plays "Away In a Manger" when you push the angel on top...about 18,845 times a day. Audrey can already sing the words to the first verse, 2 days after getting it out. She totally understands the importance of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, that they're the center of the Christmas story. And she's SO enthralled with Jesus, and very possessive of him. Wyatt seems to know this and seems to hunt Jesus down specifically! As opposed to the rest of the crew, which he unselectively clears from the shelf to the floor, in ~3 seconds. Well, you can imagine how it goes from here: "JEEJUS! Momma, I need Jeejus! Wyuht can share him wis me. Tank you Wyuht. TANK YOU WYUHT! Momma, heeeeee'sssss wetttttttttttt! (slobber) Momma, you wanna wipe him??"

Sibling drama aside, Audrey makes a profound (and SO cute) statement about Jesus nearly nonstop. "Whewe's Baby Jeejus and his momma and his daddy? Dere's Jeejus! (holding him up) He's so booorrrrnnn!" (think: He's so cuuuute!) Every.time. "he's so booorrrrrnnnn!" This CRACKS me up, but it's also precious. She hit on the true awe and wonder of Christmas. He's JESUS, he's God Incarnate, and he's BORN! God stepped down, not only in human form, but as a lowly baby, in a lowly stable to be our Savior. Take a lesson from Audrey and remember this Christmas season that Jesus is "soooo boooorrrnn!"

2-yr-old Theology

It's been storming pretty hard all day, and Audrey is quite skittish about thunder. Makes for a fun time. Not. She's maturing about it some, but still kinda scared. Understandable...a big noise, that loud, that you can't even comprehend?? One of her all time fav books has been Dr. Seuss's "Mr. Brown Can Moo. Can You?" In it, Mr. Brown makes all kinds of noises, including thunder. "Boom. Boom. BOOM! Mr. Brown is a wonder! Boom Boom BOOM! Mr. Brown makes thunder!" Recently she has started saying that Mr. Brown is outside when she hears thunder. "Mista Bown says boom boom!" "Mista Bown is WondaPace." (We recently visited the Wonder Place...I laughed out loud when she said he was wonder place.)

Tonight at bedtime, we somehow transitioned from Mr. Brown to Jesus being with us. I told her Jesus was with her, so she wouldn't have to be scared of the thunder. This progressed to a 2-yr-old's view of Jesus: (which she was explaining to me by drawing out her words...imagine making a mental list...I need eggggggs, and millllllk, and breaaaaaad...) "Jeejus evywhewwww. He's outsiiiiiide. He's STONG! (complete with deep, grunting voice and tiny, flexing biceps.) He gonna huuuuuug me and looooove me. Jeejus carries me. He save me. He's in my tummmmmy! He's outsiiiiiide. I not be scay-yuhd. He STONG! (deep voice and tiny biceps again.) Jeejus looooove me." Round and round we went, with me affirming her statements and chuckling to myself.

I LOVE these bedtime chats we're starting to get in the habit of. I love that she can tell me her thoughts and that we can use these sweet moments to be purposeful about teaching her about the Lord. Tonight when she was telling me about Jesus carrying her and being in her tummy, I felt like the Grinch when his heart grew 3 sizes and broke the little x-ray box. My heart was overflowing with her preciousness. I want to freeze time and bottle her up, so that I can always remember what my sweet little 2-yr-old looked, sounded, and smelled like, including all her little mannerisms.

(Finally!) Family vacation!

Back when Blaine and I were just "Blaine and I" we took a little vacation about once a year. Then, along came children. We haven't done a real vacation (ie, something other than going to visit family...which we do love, btw!) since May '09 when we took a cruise when I was ~25 wks pregnant w/ Audrey. And since then, well, you've seen what our life has been. :)

So we decided to use at least one of Blaine's vacation weeks this year for an actual vacation. We chose Branson, MO as our desitination since it's 1) not too far. 2) Family-friendly. 3) Lots of fun from what we've heard! We also invited Blaine's parents along, since a vacation with kids isn't a vacation. It's just real life somewhere else. We figured if we had an extra set of hands, it would at least spread the work around a bit! Oh, and we like them...that part too. :)

We were packed and ready to go Tues morning, and when Nana and PopPop got to LR, we loaded up the carseats and all the STUFF you need for 3 days away from home in their Trail Blazer. The drive went pretty well overall. Once Wy woke up (and after Audrey never went to sleep...we traveled during naptime) she kept saying, "I'mma wake Momma! I'mma wake!" I guess she wanted me to see how chipper and non-sleepy she was so I'd quit trying to make her sleep!

In Clinton, AR Audrey required a pit stop, so we pulled over at Walmart. She had also been complaining of carsickness, and I left the Dramamine in our car, so we had to get more. We ended up buying more than that though...while in the bathroom, I stepped out of the stall to give her some privacy (this was our 3rd stop for her potty calls, yet she couldn't produce once we got to the potty, if you know what I mean). A moment later, I hear her whimpering so I step back in...her arms apparently got tired and she had lowered herself into the toilet!! UGH!! And she had already peed. AND her shirt got wet with potty water. UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nasty public bathrooms. I cleaned her up as best I could, then we headed to the kids dept to buy a new shirt. I was able to laugh about it later, esp. once we caught up with Blaine in the store, and she announced "I got wet, Daddy!" with a big ole' grin!

Here's the short version of our trip:
Eat. Eat. Eat. Eat some more. Eat. Eat. Eat. Eat. Eat dessert. Kidding!! (Kind of.) More like this:
Tuesday: Cram 3 hr drive into 4.5 hrs, check into Thousand Hills Condos, eat supper at cool outdoor mall with really cool musical/pyrotechnical water fountain thingy.
Wednesday: Eat breakfast at local place (yum!), back to condo for kids' nap, shopping during nap, then to see The Duttons (awesome family performers; think America's Got Talent a few yrs ago), then eat again!
Thursday: Quiet morning of breakfast, playing on playground at condo for A and morning nap for W, more shopping during afternoon nap, then to the Dixie Stampede Christmas! Audrey LOVED it! The horses, Baby Jesus, and even Santa!
Friday: Breakfast, then packed up and headed home already! Uneventful trip home, which included stopping for local-grown apples and a slight detour to Gilbert, AR (location of Blaine's ONE family vacation growing up)

We had so much fun venturing out with the kiddos, and a big thanks to B's parents for helping us! This story wouldn't be complete w/o some bragging on my kids though...I really was quite nervous that we might have to watch our shows from the lobby. Kinda risky taking 2 little kids to see 2-2 hr long shows (1 of which was at 2 pm, smack dab in the middle of naptime)! But they did GREAT!!!!!!!!! Both sat through both shows w/o a meltdown, and were actually quite entertained by it all. Good thing they both love music!

Oops! Or, Finally!

A few weeks ago I posted about Wyatt's un-fun teething routine. After we got through those rough few days, I realized in hindsight that likely the real reason for the disrupted sleeping was his new-found skill of standing up in his bed, and not being able to sit back down. He probably was also having some teeth issues, but it wasn't the main problem. Within a few days, he learned to sit himself down and all was well again.

The really embarrassing part of the teething proclamation...at Wy's 6-mo checkup I told the doc about the "tooth" that had popped through a few weeks prior. He checks it out and decides: not a tooth. ???? How did I mis-judge this one??? This isn't my first rodeo when it comes to the baby stuff. There was clearly a small white bump on his lower gumline. The drooling and chewing were through the roof. What other signs do you need in order to call it teething?? Well, I felt silly calling it a tooth when he just flat said "Nope." Said it was a clogged-pore thingy, sorta like a whitehead on the mucosa. Um, ok. I guess that's why the tooth hadn't continued to break through any further in a like a month. Shoulda clued me in, I suppose. :-/

Now, y'all notice I didn't come right out and admit my goof-up a few weeks ago when I was informed. I'm telling you, I felt really silly making the wrong call here!! But I bring it up now to say, he cut his first (real!) tooth today!! Haha, pretty darn sure about it this time! It's alot sharper than the "bump" on his gum (which is oddly, still there?). The past few days, everyone taking care of him (church nursery, MDO) kept saying he just wasn't himself and was quite cranky. Well now we know why!

Just another reminder that my "baby" is growing up toooo fast. Feel like I barely even got to hold him before he was off and running!

Latest installation of "toddlerese"

Audrey's current hilarious (in her mind) phraseology includes saying things in 3's, adding "-ie" to everything, and/or adding "-o" to everything. For example:

"Wy-uht fussy, fussy, fussy-o. He needs his paci paci-o!"
"Be quiet quiet quiiiiiiiiettt. Sssssss!"
"I'n dinking my milk-ie-o! It's yum yum yuuuuuuuummmmmmm!"
"Dat's my book-ie-o! I'mma read-ie dat."

Not sure why this is hilarious, or how long it'll last, but it sure is entertaining (in small doses ;))!

Job update

The short version is this: they un-laid me off. Praise the Lord for a continued job! It's been quite the strange series of events, mostly just confusing and mysterious, but either way, I get to keep my 8 hr caseload. :) Hopefully things will settle down and stabilize since I really do enjoy working here. Just praying for wisdom that I will be where the Lord wants me to be. Thanks for all your prayers!

"I taked a nap!"

This morning, when I told Audrey she was going to school (MDO) today, she got quite excited. She always does, and she starts telling me her plans for the day.

"I'mma eat sum gowd-fiiiiiish. See Caw-stun! See Annnnna! See Mrs. Eh-winnnnn! I'mma take uh nap, Momma."

"Oh really, you're going to take a nap?"

"Yes'sam. I'mma seep at shool."

To which I just chuckle and smile. She NEVER naps! Her teacher says she lays nice and quiet and never bothers anyone, she just never sleeps. Which is ok, because if she did sleep (like she has, um maybe 4 times??? since January) it would only be for an hour at the most. As it is, we come home and they both usually go in bed for 2-3 hrs.

The real kicker is when I pick her up I always ask her "How was your day? Did you sleep?" (just for giggles!!!!) To which she ALWAYS replies, "Yes'sam! I taked a nap!" "Really? You went to sleep!?" "Yes'sam!"

I love that 2-yr-olds exsist in reality and fantasy at the same time! What a fun age. :)

Job hunt

As of Thursday, I was informed that I'm essentially laid off from my job. The way it was worded was "The part-time PT's are 'on hold' for now." They also said it wouldn't last long, and they'd be calling us back soon, but promises don't pay the bills. There just aren't enough hours for the new full-time PT they hired, and any of us part-time girls too. Sooo, I'm putting feelers out for a new job. I loved working at Full Potential CDC, and the flexibility was PERFECT for my life w/ the kiddos. But I can't just wait around, hoping they'll need me back before my bills are due.

I've been doing a Bible study at church for about 6-7 weeks now, called "The Mind of Christ" by TW Hunt. It is so.good. So deep, and very intense, but so good. And if we take our faith seriously, shouldn't we seriously study and challenge ourselves? A couple weeks ago it was about Matt. 6:33: "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you." In a nutshell, focus on God's work above all, and He will take care of you. Ok. Sounds great in theory. This week is about the Beattitudes, focusing first on Matt. 5:3: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." When you realize He is almighty and I am unworthy, then your perspective about everything else in life will be right.

Interesting how the Lord prepares you for growth, then sends about a situation in which you must lean on Him to make it through, huh? I am seriously counting this situation joy, because it means God is working in my life! He is using this to develop my character to be more like Christ, which is the sole reason any of us are still here after salvation.

If you would join me in praying for God's will to be made clear to me, I would much appreciate it. The situation I had was so ideal, I couldn't have organized it better myself. Work when I want/when I have childcare, and with excellent pay that enabled me to only have to work 8 hrs a week. The kids have been going to MDO for ~10 hrs a week while I work. And if you remember back this time a year ago, I was in this exact same situation. Laid off and job hunting. And this job was literally placed in my lap! So I know the Lord will take care of us, beyond a doubt. It's just a matter of Him directing me to the right people and places, and me being sensitive enough to yield to His leading, rather than jumping at the first available opportunity.

My encouragement to you: trust the Lord in whatever struggle you're in today. Seek HIM above all else, and make your first desire to be like Him. Eveything else will fall into place, and won't seem nearly as important as you thought it was.

My New Robot

One of the fabulous finds I got at Duck Duck Goose (consignment sale) was a cute little robe for Audrey. I was telling one of my friends how when I'm doing bath time by myself (ie, Blaine working late) Audrey ends up having to run naked while I get Wyatt dressed. She suggested getting her a robe, and I was pumped to find one for CHEAP at DDG!

She was super excited about all her new clothes, and last night was the first night since I shopped that I did baths by myself. I put her robe on her and she said "Dat's my robot!"
"Yes, that's your ROBE."
"I yike my robot Momma!"

After I got Wy dressed, we went into her room to get her dressed. I explained that we had to take her ROBE off to get dressed, but we'd put it back on over her jammies to show Daddy. As we're getting dressed, she's shaking.

"I so 'cited muh robot Momma!"
"What??"
"I so 'CITED!" "My robot!"
"Oh, you're excited about your robe??"
"Yes'sam!"

Kitchen floor

Wyatt is HIGHLY mobile these days, although his crawling style isn't too pretty just yet. Picture the sumo wrestler, how they very emphatically stomp out each step...that's how Wyatt crawls. RIGHT hand. LEFT knee. LEFT hand. RIGHT knee. bellyflop. But considering he's only 5 mos old, I'm still just impressed he's crawling at all.

The only place he hasn't conquered yet is the kitchen. I haven't been setting him down in there yet, because until last week or so, he was still pretty kamikaze with his mobility skills. He'd dump over backwards or sideways from sitting, or crawl then faceplant just to see what would happen. On carpet, not such a biggie...ya know, padding. But on linoleum? Ouch. So anyway, he's kinda past that now, so I've been setting him down in the kitchen.

He.doesn't.move. It's kinda comical actually, seeing this baby wiggling and wrastling all over the living room, then take the same baby into the kitchen. Stone. You'd think he didn't know how to move! He doesn't freak out. He just doesn't do anything. Which is fine by me, since all too soon there won't be ANY place in the house he's still!

Teething Bites

About a week ago, I posted on FB that Wyatt cut his first tooth. I apparently used the word "cut" loosely. It was definitely visible but I didn't realize it hadn't actually pushed through the surface fully. I thought, "cool, I have another easy teether! The teeth just show up unannounced!" That's how Audrey was. I found out yesterday/last night that's NOT how Wyatt is.

Let me preface all this by saying that Wy is normally a GREAT sleeper! 9-10 hrs at night, 2- 2 hr naps, plus usually a little 45 min catnap at the end of the day. Well, not yesterday. He had a fitful afternoon, waking up screaming from his naps, and when I tried to lay him back down, he just fussed. He's been drooling EVEN more (if that's possible....seriously I plopped his bib down after taking it off and it splashed) and pulling desperately at his mouth. I thought "poor baby, had a rough day. At least he's so tired that he'll sleep great tonight!" Wrong.

Fed him the "dream feed" at 9:15, and we got in bed by 10. 11:15 he's screaming. CAN'T be hungry, he goes 4 hrs b/t meals. So I wait a minute to see if he'll settle back down. (Side note- since he's also crawling and pulling to stand all the time, he's been doing it in his sleep and waking himself up early. He ALSO has started a snotty nose, so that's contributing to the early waking too.) Nope, screaming continues and escalates. Since this is my first time with a middle-of-the-night-screaming-teether, I threw the book at him.
1. Clean jammies. Managed to pee out the front of his diaper. Never happens. Great timing, huh?
2. Sucked out his nose. Thank you, Nosefrida Snot Sucker. [Side note: Yes, I agree the Snot Sucker is gross. THEY even call it strange on the package, which makes me laugh! Disgusting in fact. I used to marvel at people that owned one. Then I bought one and love it! Before you judge me as fanatical and distance yourself from me since I suck snot, think about how frustrating the bulb syringe is. Poor suction, too easy to jab too far up their little nose, and impossible to clean out (talk about gross!). So before your kid gets his next snotty nose, do yourself a favor and buy the Nosefrida. You won't regret it.]
3. Baby Vapo-Rub on his chest. And on his feet. [Side note again: I also admit to judging those weirdos who put vicks on their kids' feet claiming it clears a stuffy nose. Then, along with Frida's appearance, got desperate to try anything and put it on his feet under socks. Worked. Weird and unexplainable, I know, but worked.]
4. Baby Orajel- Nighttime Formula on gums. [No side note here: just did it.]
5. Infant Tyelnol. [No side note here either. Dose properly according to weight. :)]

Following this (hopefully!) magic formula, I plugged him up with his paci, gave him his lovey and rocked him. All was right again, and we both went back to bed. I, with VERY poor timing, had a bit of insomnia and wasn't able to fall back asleep until...

12:40am. When I didn't actually fall back asleep, because Wy is up screaming again. Ugh! Now I'm starting to panic. I did everything I knew to do an hour ago. Too early to have more orajel or tyelnol. Too soon for another bottle, and he didn't seem hungry anyway. So I pulled out Frida again, more vapo rub, paci, lovey, and sat down to cross my fingers and rock. Which worked! He drifted right off to sleep, and so did I since now it's 1am and I'm essentially just getting to sleep for the night.

Enter 4:30am. Screaming again. At least he can have more meds now! Frida, Vick's, Orajel, Tyelnol. I think I'll call it the "teething cocktail". And a bottle. Hated bringing the bottle in cuz I don't wanna slip back into a habit of middle-of-the-night feedings, but I'm pretty sure he was hungry since he wasn't sleeping well. Back to bed to the sound of Blaine's alarm clock. Sheesh. It's morning?!? Not for this chick. All was finally settled and we all slept till 8am, when Audrey woke up, with Wyatt a few minutes behind her.

Today is going much better. Other than being way tired, and Wy being way off schedule. But he's eating and napping fine. Hopefully tonight won't be a repeat of last night! And hopefully we won't do this with every.single.tooth! Kids get like 16 in the first yr or so, right? Hats off to you mommas of tough teethers. Hopefully I'm NOT joining your ranks!

News Feed

Since I have (once again) done a horrible job of keeping up with the blog, I've decided to do a "news feed". Ya know, just the highlights! Some of this will be redundant if you've kept up with my FB posts, but I gotta jump back in somewhere, right?

- At the zoo recently, we were looking at the penguins with Audrey. I said, "Look they're swimming!" Audrey: "Whew's dere fwoaties? Dey simmin; whew's dere fwoaties??" She was very concerned about them!

- Wyatt has decided to not be a baby any more. In the past ~3 weeks, he started army crawling, then transitioning to sitting, then sitting independantly, then reciprocal crawling, and now pulling up to stand! Oh and he cut his first tooth. For those of you either not involved in developmental stages of kids, or rusty on your time frames, this is all incredibly fast. He covered about 6-9 mos milestones from 4 mo, 3 wks to 5 mo, 2 wks. Yikes. We decided to lower his crib mattress last week to the middle level. A week later, we had to move it all the way down since he was standing. :( Sad day for Momma! I know all babies grow up too fast, but sheesh, this kid is on the fast track!

- Audrey continues to be a little Momma. Sitting on my lap while working on this, she tells her baby, Candi, "Putcha legs down. I'mma spank ya hiney. (spanks) (Looks into her face) Cumere, fweet gihl. My fweet gihl. You obey. You unnastan? You unnastan?" Funny and interesting to see your parenting reflected back to you...!

- And finally (for now!), the sweetest, most heart warming thing happened last night. We're all in the car on the way home from eating out. Wyatt is glued to his big sis, as he is mich of the time these days. Audrey sneezes, and Wy starts giggling. She realizes he's laughing at her, so she fake sneezes, then starts giggling back at him. Now they're just laughing back and forth at each other! Ummm, wish I could bottle that feeling!! This was the first time they've really interacted back and forth, esp. sweetly. :) Loved seeing a glimpse of how close they'll grow up to be!

If you wanted details...

Audrey was uh, doing her business, last night on the potty, while we were in the kitchen. We heard a giant thud, followed by screaming and knew exactly what happened.

~Let me interject here: I'm a tiny bit tempted to feel like a bad parent here, since I left my child unattended on the potty, and she fell and broke her arm. It's not crazy of me to leave her on the potty is it?? I mean, we all need our privacy right? Not to mention, I have a few hotter irons in the fire than to sit and watch her poop.~

Blaine and I run in there and she's on her back on the floor, pants at her ankles, and Elmo potty seat on top of her. If I weren't so worried about the shrieking, it would've been a funny sight. Blaine said later we should have taken a pic b/f we scooped her up...KIDDING! Well, he did say it, but he didn't mean it of course.

Since this was a Tuesday, I had been at work most of the day, and referring to my previous post, Audrey of course didn't nap. So the evening was already overly-dramatic and weepy, now that she had fallen, she was pretty well melting down. We really didn't think too much of the intensity of the crying since she was so tired. I was able to calm her, and when she asked to go to bed a few mins later, we just decided to skip as much drama as we could (ie, bathtime, jammies, brushing teeth, all of it) and put her straight in bed. We planned to wake her up in a few hrs just to make sure she hadn't concussed, since we couldn't really tell if she had hit her head or not. She asked me to kiss her arm "Momma kiss it!", which did look a little red and swollen, but could've just been a contusion.

45 mins later, she's waking up screaming. :( Definitely not a concussion! Her arm is still red and swollen. She wouldn't grasp with that hand, and was slow and weak to supinate and actively extend her wrist. (Sorry for the jargon for you non-medical people. I know all the medical people are nodding and uh-huh-ing right now though.) We decided to head to Children's ER. This is where Blaine's indentured-servant-hood, I mean resident status, comes in handy. He called ahead to see who was working, and how long the wait was. When we got these, he flashes his badge and presto! We're being triaged 2 mins later.

After getting us into a room, they take us to Radiology for an xray. I was SO. PROUD. of my big girl! She sat in the tech's lap during the xray and didn't fuss or squirm. I think she has a future in medicine. All she was saying was asking what everything was! "Dat? Dat?" She got an Elmo sticker at the end, which in her mind probably made it all worth it. We get back to the ER, and Blaine's chatting up the docs and nurses, raiding the candy drawer, and then looking at her xrays.

Buckle fracture. Don't remember learning that one in school, but it wouldn't have mattered, because the film I'm looking at is my sweet chubby-armed baby girl!! My heart dropped. Poor, poor baby. And my next thought was, good, at least we weren't those crazy parents who came to the ER for nothing! Then, shame on you! That's almost like wishing this on her! Um, yeah I guess I do have internal dialogue running in my head. What a weirdo.

I digress. The doc came back in and put her in a temporary splint made of plaster cast material. Translation: big, sloppy, and heavy cast. She was again an angel-child during the cast application. After the doc was finished and out of the room, she lost it though. "Take-uh off! Take-uh off! Gove off!" She called it a glove. :) They gave her some oxycodone, and sent her home with a sling and a script for tylenol with codeine. She was pretty loopy on the drive home, but like Blaine said, how do you tell if a 22 month old is drunk on the meds? They already slur their speech, see things that aren't there, and act silly all the time.

After sleeping all night long, thank you Lord!!, I was realllly hoping Blaine could pull some more strings and get her into Ortho clinic today to get her real cast on. Fracture clinic at ACH is on Tuesday. What day was this again? Tuesday. Great. No such luck. But she's really handling it well. We got her pain meds which is helping, and we're just trying to convince her that this cast really is a good thing. It's so sad to see her try to push her doll stroller one-handed "Hewp Momma!". But what really broke my heart was when she tried to hold her lovey and suck her thumb this morning (Lovey has gotten to make special trips away from her bed during this ordeal). She apparently uses both hands to get Lovey situated, cuz the tag has to be held just right by her nose, and she couldn't manage with just the one hand. :(

It's been an interesting <24 hrs so far, but I'm so thankful for a lot right now!
-a pediatrician husband who can evaluate the situation and make the right decision for me, when I'm too emotionally involved
-a "fast pass" in the ER
- a relatively minor break in her forearm, that so far looks to be NOT on the growth plate
- Tylenol with codeine
- a sweet, sweet girl who is otherwise healthy, and mostly tough when it comes to owies :)

Another sleepless day at MDO

For my kids, anyway. I don't know who these children are who don't nap at home, but nap great at MDO. They sure aren't mine!! Audrey has napped I think maybe 5 times since January at MDO, and never more than about an hour. I figured it would be better with Wyatt, since he's just a baby, and they sleep any where, right?? I figured then he'd get used to sleeping there, and it'd be smooth sailing. Well, guess how much the sleep-anywhere-cuz-you're-just-a-baby baby slept today? Grand total of 2 hrs and 40 mins. Out of what should have been 4.5 to 5 hrs of napping. His teacher told me when I picked him up, "we had a lot of noise from the older babies playing while he was trying to nap. We thought about putting him back there (separate, dark, secluded room). Maybe we will next time." !!! I laughed and said, YES PLEASE! I don't care if you stick him in a closet, if he can be away from the noise and get good sleep, do it! Do other babies/kids just pass out wherever they are, no matter what's going on? Are my kids just especially nosy and skittish about their sleep routine?

Audrey's issues are a whole other story. I can't seem to make the teachers understand that when I say, lay her down and just leave her alone, I MEAN lay her down and just leave her alone. They want to rock, and read, and sing, and pat, etc. All with good intentions, I know. But she's a "lay her down and leave her alone" type of kid. I love that she sleeps so easily and long at home (usually 3 or 3+ hrs), but that means when she doesn't nap at MDO, it is CRANK CITY when we get home.

My SIL (jokingly) (I think) said my kids are spoiled, in that they want a dark, quiet room and that they sleep with white noise. Surely it's not just the Broussard kids that are away-from-home sleepless??

Summer's here?

Thursday morning, the temp was 61 when we got up. Yesterday, I think is was still in the mid-high 60's. But since it's Memorial Day wknd- the official start of summer- I got Audrey's little pool out anyway. We filled it yesterday late afternoon, and it was COLD! I knew it would be, but I was trying to convince Audrey to get in anyway. To that end, I pulled up a chair and stuck my feet it- whoa! It was PAINFULLY cold. Reminded me of my college sports days, when you had to put your foot in an ice bath for a sprained ankle. Ok, not THAT bad, but still. She eventually did step in, and would catch her breath with each step in the water. She tried to put her hands in- made her catch her breath again. At one point, she thought about sitting down, caught her breath and then thought better of it. She ain't no fool! The funniest part about it all was her learning what it was all called. She thought her swimsuit was panties and shirt. I told her swimsuit! So then she thought the pool was called a swimsuit. Either way, she had fun, and the good news is, it WILL get hotter!

Potty talk

Audrey seems to have overcome her fear of other potties! I managed to convince her to go at church on Sunday (let her sit for about 15 mins). Then Tues was back to MDO, and I was pretty nervous about how it would go. This was our first day back in a full week (see previous post). I took her potty right when we got there, tried to distract her a bit, and she teeteed! Her teacher reported that she went 2 other times, and she was in the same clothes when I picked her up! Woohoo! Thurs was the same story too! "Goo jah Audgee!" Overall, going very swimmingly. She's had 1 or 2 night accidents, which I partly fault myself. We eat dinner around 6ish most nights, and she's a slow eater, so many nights she is still drinking at 7. Considering she goes to bed about 8, it's tough to limit her fluids for hrs before bed. I try to keep an eye on the time so she doesn't load up right before sleeping for 12 hrs. Other than that, she's doing perfect!

Back to work, making the big bucks.

If you didn't already know, I work a whopping 8.5ish hrs a week. Overwhelming, right? I took 8 weeks off when WyWy was born, and went back last Tuesday. I was going to post at the end of last week to tell all the fun and exciting things about going back, but instead, I got a stomach bug on Thursday. So not only did I not work my full week, I also felt like death and didn't want to type anything. :) For 24 hrs I couldn't keep fluids down, even with Zofran on board. So now my paranoia was two-fold: my kids are going to catch this, and my milk is going to dry up from lack of fluids. The first part didn't come true, PTL! And my milk DID start slowing down, so Wyatt had a couple frustating days of being hungry. Since he's pushing 14 lbs, I didn't worry too much that he'd blow away though. I started taking fenugreek like crazy Thursday night. It was actually the first thing other than fluids that I attempted to swallow! 3 capsules, 3 times a day. So if you smell a strong maple syrup-like scent, yes it's me and Wyatt. Don't be alarmed. It took a couple days, but by yesterday afternoon, I felt like we were back to normal, thank the Lord! 2 months is way too early to wean, in my opinion. Now to wean myself down off the fenugreek, so I can stop craving pancakes. ;)

The other excitement from my 1 day back to work last week, was Audrey's first day to MDO since potty training. It didn't go too well, but since I've had a week to calm down about it, we'll just say this: her teacher wasn't very committed to helping her be successful, so she had an accident. Her teacher also must have lost her mind, because she PUT A DIAPER ON HER to poop. Um yeah. I can't fathom why you would put a diaper on a child that has been potty training for a week, unless you just wanted to un-do everything the parents have been working for. Ok, so that's the short version, and we're just going to move on. I've since discovered that Audrey is quite the typical female, in that she's not fond of potties that aren't her own. I mean, isn't that why we squat in public, girls?? She had yet to potty anywhere other than home until yesterday at church (which was a bit of an ordeal). So I realize now that we have some work to do at MDO, in getting her comfortable with foreign potties. :) Thinking of taking her potty seat (that goes on the big potty) with us, but I really don't want to! Cuz that's an ordeal too, and then we still have to learn at some point how to go without it!! Suggestions welcome. Hopefully this week will go much smoother in many respects: I'll actually work the whole week (well, my whole 8.5 hrs) and Audrey's teacher will have patience, so Audrey will have success at school!

Potty training continues...for Momma and Daddy

We ventured out Friday evening to Forest Hill, La to visit Blaine's family on the first road trip with a newly potty trained toddler, and a 7-week old baby. Um, are we crazy???

The trip down was...um, long? Tiring? Stressful? Wyatt just used that time to decide he wanted to eat every 2.5 hrs, instead of the regular 3. So it ended up taking us 6.25 hrs instead of 5. Hello, 12:30am arrival time. :-| Audrey did ok with the pottying, save one issue...we stopped to get gas, and I'm feeding Wyatt in the car. Blaine goes inside to the restroom, and as soon as he leaves, she says "teetee potty!" Uh oh. I'm scrambling now. "Wait baby, don't teetee yet! We have to get on the potty!" Like she knows how to hold an urge?? She's JUST trained! So I'm thinking, do I stop nursing and try to run in with both kids?? Cell phone! Call Blaine back to the car! Ring ring.... He left his phone. THINK! I continue trying to talk her down on the off chance that maybe she hasn't already peed??? Blaine gets back and it's too late. Grr. I hate that she had an accident on account of our lack of planning! Oh well, I guess WE had to get potty trained too...new 1st priority when you stop- take the toddler to go potty! (Duh! say all you veteran parents, right? haha)

We also had a bit of trouble once we got to Nana's house. Somehow, we didn't carry our pottying skills over to a new location. 2.5 accidents on Saturday. After no accidents for 3 days! Ugh! I'm frustrated, and Blaine is too, since this is essentially his first day around her since training. I'm wondering if everyone, including my husband, is thinking, ha, yeah right, suuuuure she's potty trained! I had a moment of doubt when my SIL's suggested putting her in pull-ups. I wanted to say "no! I didn't do pull ups at all! Just straight to panties! And I'm not crazy, I'm promise, it HAS been working!!" They were trying to be helpful, cuz I know they could tell I was stressed. But it was really just a momentary setback because she loooooooooooves her cousins and didn't want to miss out on the action! Lesson quickly learned for us, once again: Take her to the potty at intervals and make her stay till she does her business. EVEN IF she says "ah done! hiney!" as soon as her butt hits the seat. Not that I fell for that one...nice try, Audgee.

After the unsuccessful potty day on Saturday, I was a bit stressed. I knew this because I dreamed "Tell Momma when you have to go teetee!" allllll night long! I also dreamed she and I were on a rollercoaster (the old Excalibur at Astroworld for you Houston folks) and she kept trying to fall out cuz she was too little. Symbolism, maybe? ha! I'm also stressing because now we're about to go to church Sun morning (our first public outing) and I'm going to leave her with folks she doesn't know. How's this gonna go???? Well, kudos to the folks in the Piglet Class at Calvary. They were unflapped by the potty trainer, and their only concern was that she hadn't gone by the time I picked her up! I was just relieved she didn't have an accident. I stressed for nothing though, because Sunday was back to her normal self. No accidents, and she continues dry overnight and through nap for 6 days now!

Tomorrow is the first day back to MDO since potty training. We'll see how it goes...hoping she plays the rock star card and shows em how it's done! And, if not, well, everyone has bad days right?

Potty Training: Day 1

I'll just apologize up front for the content today. Yes, I'm one of those parents who "all they ever talk about is poop, pee, feedings, and sleep!" Sorry. It's kind of all I have going on right now. :)

SO! I've been sweating it out, debating with myself about whether or not to bite the bullet and start potty training A. I'm pretty much of the mentality that you should just go for it, and no turning back! But I was terrified (silly, I know) she wouldn't do well, and I couldn't go back to diapers, so I'd be stuck in this never-neverland of continually cleaning up messes. Ugh. But I decided she really was ready, and I'd just take a big breath and go for it.

Started off the morning with the "big girl panty" speech and talked her through the "tell momma" routine. Gave her a fun, new cup so she'd drink lots and have lots of chances to go. The short version is this: she pees in her panties, I try to run her to the potty. Wipe up the pee, disinfect the floor, wash her down, new panties. "Tell Momma when you need to teetee!" Lather, rinse, repeat. Times 4. I'm getting pretty discouraged by this point. I guess no one told me the first day is just plain going to be messy! And I thought we'd have a few successes mixed in with the accidents. The good news: all 4 pees were in the kitchen! Does she know I have to clean these up?? Hmm. Thankful, either way. I finally managed to get her on the potty BEFORE she peed around 11, and I did the happy potty dance! I oo-ed and ah-ed, cheered and told her how proud I was! She looked at me nonchalantly and said "Hiney. Ah done." (Wipe my hiney. I'm through here.) A tiny ray of hope!

After lunch, we were playing a bit, and she informs me, "Poopoo!" !!!!!!!! We run to the potty, then I sit in the hallway to listen. Sure enough, she did her business in the potty after telling me she needed to!! Wahooooooooooo! I think we might be on to something! Now I REALLY did the happy potty dance! I was cheering and jumping around like a maniac! By George, I think she's got it! Once again, "Hiney. Ah done." Glad she's not getting too attached to all this praise.

Next up: naptime. Hmmm. The chick I'm reading about potty training says once you start in panties, you stay in panties. No diapers, no pull ups. They'll just "get it" at naps and bed. Um ok. Here goes. I explained about getting up out of her bed to teetee. 2 hrs into the nap, I hear her. Uh-oh. I check on her- wet bed. Bummer. Guess I can't just expect a miracle! However, the good news is, this was the last accident of the day!!

The biggest victory of the day was this: (although, let me interrupt myself- the poop was a HUGE victory!) I'm in the kitchen, she's on the other side of the counter getting a drink. I turn my back, then realize she's gone. Uh oh!! Rule number one of this potty training chick is watch your kid like a hawk! Don't leave their side, so you can catch them in the act/learn their potty cues. I hear running little footsteps, and go tearing out of the kitchen down the hall. Where do I find her? ON HER POTTY! With her panties still on. Oops. :) So I take her panties off...they're only a little wet?? She sits down and THEN lets loose with the pee! This kid. Man, she's good. Come to find out after we finished, there was a tiny little puddle in the kitchen. Wha??? She started to pee in the kitchen, stopped. Ran to the potty by herself and sat down. Stopped peeing again, till I got her panties down, then did her business! I think she's really got it!!!!!! Man, am I pumped!

Again, I took a huge breath, bit the bullet, and put her to bed in panties. I'm just anticipating a wet bed in the morning. Although, I do plan to take her to the potty when I go to bed, and when I'm up feeding Wy-Wy in the middle of the night. Here's hoping!

Above all, great cheers and accolades to my precious little, uh big, girl! She's growing up too fast! But she's kind of always been 1 going on 10. ;) And her tiny little butt looks so cute in big girl panties. :)

Sixth sense.

I've come to the conclusion that children have a sixth sense. No, it's not the ability to hear you sneaking their candy on the other end of the house, nor an uncanny awareness of your potty habits in order to come join you.

They know when you close your eyes.

I don't mean blink, or shut out the world when trying to think. They know when you are attempting a nap! And what, you may ask, do they do with this information? They decide to wake up, so that you CAN'T go to sleep! HA!

Like I've been telling Blaine since Wyatt was born...good sleep is all about expectations. If you expect to get 3 hrs, and only get 1, it's devastating. If you expect to get 1 and get 2, yeehaw!! So I don't ever get my hopes up for a nap any more. I pose it to myself this way: I MAY TRY to lay down for a few minutes. (Never, ever voice the statement: I'm going to take a nap. That is like blood in the shark-infested water.) Then, if I actually do get to squeak in 30 mins of sleep, I feel like a new woman!

Here's to you momma's who have figured out how to steal a nap from under the watch of those sixth-sensed kiddos!

Audrey's 1st dentist visit!

Well, the short version goes like this: How would you expect a dental exam with a 20 month old to go? That's how it went.

I took her to NLR Pediatric Dental Group on recs by friends. It was nice...toys and tvs in the waiting room, tvs mounted in the ceiling in the exam rooms, etc. Even sunglasses to wear during the exam, and prizes for a job well done.

We checked out some books about going to the dentist, in an attempt to prepare Audrey and on hopes that it would go smoothly. Ha. She loved the books of course! She was even excited about the noise the polisher/cleaner thing makes. She was excited all the way there, and started crying when I stopped, but we didn't get out, then turned around (google maps gave incorrect directions) >:-| (Dentith!!!!!! ) The waiting room was exciting, and she even layed down on the exam table no problem. Then. The hygienist donned gloves and asked to look in her mouth, and the shrieking commenced. Scratch that, no cleaning today. No biggie, she's only 20 months old.

While waiting on the dentist, I got her to chill out, put on sunglasses, watch the tv, and even have a few laughs. Dr. Wilson walks in, she goes tight-lipped and stone-faced. I tried explaining who he was, since we had been rehearsing for days now: "Dentith. Ahhhh! Cheeeee! Zzzzz! (polisher)" And in the car on the way: "dentith! ahhhh!" But once he actually walked in, it was no longer fun and games. Yes, I was the parent with the SHRIEKING child, trying to hold down her flailing arms and legs just so he could LOOK in her mouth. He didn't even do anything. No x-rays, no enamel checks, just the little mirror. She worked up some good tears and a good sweat in those few short minutes. I think I was sweating too, from my red-faced embarassment. At least they're used to these things.

After the sobbing subsided, she gave her prize away in exchange for a new toothbrush! I guess she didn't feel she deserved both? ;) Don't worry, folks I got her prize in the diaper bag! The final results was yes, she can continue sucking her thumb (for now), yes she does have a chipped tooth from her face plant the day b/f Easter but it's fine, and no, we don't have to worry about a frenulectomy for several more years. And the piece de resistance? Once we're in the car, and most of the way home: "dentith. ahhh! cheeee! toosbwush. cheeee! ahhh! dentith." Seriously????

Ugh. Here's hoping for a better outcome in 6 months. Or maybe we'll just wait a full year...

The rubber has met the road.

Whew, today was busy! I feel quite accomplished though: I took the kids by work this am so my co-workers could meet them, then we went to Walmart. First trip with the kids! Nothing very adventurous to report, other than I felt slightly ridiculous pushing the giant kid-buggy around. It does drive well however! To quote my mother, "It floats, like the carts at Ikea!" haha...Mom. After naptime, we headed to the library to get some books about going to the dentist. Yes, it's true, Audrey's first visit is tomorrow. Look for what I'm sure will be an interesting post tomorrow about it! Then we came back home and I cooked supper for the 3rd time in 6 weeks. :)

Re-reading this, it all sounds very smooth and orderly. Let me tell you, it did not FEEL smooth and orderly! All you other mom types can relate. It was more like: nurse.rush.shower.rush.Audrey.nurse.rush.work.rush.Walmart.rush.nurse.Audrey.rush.10minutejokeofanap.nurse.library.rush.cooking.nurse.rush.Daddy'shome.dinner.rush.bathtime.ahhhhhhhhhhhh the end of the day.nurse.nurse.nurse.sleep. :) Yes, that's more like it.

I wish my UPS driver were a woman...

Because surely SHE would think about the fact that she's delivering diapers to my house at 3:30 pm. Diapers=babies, 3:30 pm= naptime, all of which =BAD time to ring the doorbell!!

My mom had a solution to this problem. She had a little handwritten note taped over the doorbell when my sister was little that said something cutesy about not ringing the doorbell in the afternoon. I used to think that was so.dorky. But now, here I am contemplating writing one of my own. Maybe I'll call her to find out exactly what she wrote. ;)

Milkies Milk Saver

I posted about the milk saver on FB a few weeks ago...just want to make a short rave about it again! Check out http://www.mymilkies.com/ if you have no idea what I'm talking about. The short version is that you put it in your bra on the non-nursing side while baby is working on the other side and it catches your letdown so you can save up milk. I haven't done any extra pumping and I have a freezer full of milk already! I keep the flat-frozen milk bags lined up in ice cube bins and I already have almost 5 bins full! What a blessing and a 'momfidence' booster! The other info I have to add is that the Milkies customer service is excellent! The storage/travel case that the milk saver comes in already cracked at the hinge. I emailed them, and without a single question (other than my mailing address), they're sending me a new case! Rock on Milkies!!

Well, hello again!

I thought I might try my hand at blogging again. Maybe it's just the fact that I've had at least one adult home with me for the past month, and now I'm home by myself with little children, but I felt like getting some words out there. :)

In other news, I think I'm understanding how Wyatt is growing so much, so fast. I just finished giving him his second bottle ever (gotta get ready to go back to work in a couple weeks). I pumped off a little over 5 ozs, which he then drank 4 of! Pediatrician Blaine told me 1 mo old babies should take between 2-3 ozs. My little piggy sucked down 4 like it was nothing. So glad to have such a good eater! Let me interject here about another of my fav new baby products that supports b-feeding: the Breastflow bottle. It's the only bottle on the market that requires suction and compression, just like nursing. Plus it has an inner and outer nipple (which looks very breast-like) that simulates a letdown when he first latches on. I really feel this bottle will support b-feeding, rather than create a lazy nurser.

Off to the bills and laundry now...I'm going to attempt to post shorter, more frequent posts, rather than hour-long journal entries. We'll see how it goes...don't judge me if I fail again. :)