I don't have much to share, other than the below pictures. Have a fun and SAFE holiday, everyone!!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
7 Months
Dear Charlotte,
It was 7 months ago today that we brought you home from the hospital. I hope and pray that I am not always running 2 days late when celebrating your birthday.
You were a cute bundle of joy, and everyone said that you looked nothing like your sister. But I thought you did. I was sure I had a handle on exactly what to do to make you a perfect baby, and I tried enacting my practices right from the start, just like the book said.
But you didn't like that. You cried, and cried, and then screamed. I feel so badly that it took me 6 weeks to realize that you were in pain the whole time. Your belly hurt, and you couldn't make it feel better. Anything that did make it feel a little better just made it much worse later. Once we started you on formula, you became the happy baby I know today.
You love to giggle at your sister, and she takes particular joy in making you belly laugh. She tries to tickle you just like we do, and she talks to you just like K does, and she tries to give you your bottle and change your diaper, all of which you like. You do NOT like it when she hugs you and then pushes you over or head butts you. Which happens on a fairly regular basis.
You have started eating baby food now, and delight in spitting it back at me when I give you too much, or give you a kind you don't like. You love bananas and prunes, and tolerate sweet potatoes, pears and carrots. We are still putting Karo syrup in your bottles to help with the pooping situation, and you are gaining weight like a champ. 75th percentile...good job!!
You are kicking ass at swim class. You float by yourself for a few seconds, and when allowed to go under water you know how to get to the surface. And you are even mastering rolling over from your belly to your back! You hardly ever cry anymore, and your teacher just adores you.
You are also becoming the master sleeper. Not quite as much as your sister, but you do enjoy at least 11 hours a night, and are waking up to scream for your pacifier less and less. Either that, or I don't hear you and you find it on your own. Speaking of...you can now put it in your mouth all by yourself! Good job!
There are a few things that you are a tad bit stubborn about. You will not hold your own bottle. You are quite strong and pull back whenever I try to put your hands on it. You also will not roll over. I know you can, you did it just last night when no one was looking. But if you know someone is in the room to do your bidding, you'd rather lay and SCREAM until someone picks you up. Stubborn...no idea where you go that from.
You love to sit up. You want to see what is going on. Who knows when you will crawl since you scream whenever you are on your belly. You might walk first because you love your little pink car walker. I'm becoming quite impressed by your ability to maneuver around all the furniture and the kitchen cabinets.
All in all darling little Charlie, you are everything a mommy could hope for. You are awesome and beautiful and make me smile every single day. I can't wait to see what you do next. I love you!!!
It was 7 months ago today that we brought you home from the hospital. I hope and pray that I am not always running 2 days late when celebrating your birthday.
You were a cute bundle of joy, and everyone said that you looked nothing like your sister. But I thought you did. I was sure I had a handle on exactly what to do to make you a perfect baby, and I tried enacting my practices right from the start, just like the book said.
But you didn't like that. You cried, and cried, and then screamed. I feel so badly that it took me 6 weeks to realize that you were in pain the whole time. Your belly hurt, and you couldn't make it feel better. Anything that did make it feel a little better just made it much worse later. Once we started you on formula, you became the happy baby I know today.
You love to giggle at your sister, and she takes particular joy in making you belly laugh. She tries to tickle you just like we do, and she talks to you just like K does, and she tries to give you your bottle and change your diaper, all of which you like. You do NOT like it when she hugs you and then pushes you over or head butts you. Which happens on a fairly regular basis.
You have started eating baby food now, and delight in spitting it back at me when I give you too much, or give you a kind you don't like. You love bananas and prunes, and tolerate sweet potatoes, pears and carrots. We are still putting Karo syrup in your bottles to help with the pooping situation, and you are gaining weight like a champ. 75th percentile...good job!!
You are kicking ass at swim class. You float by yourself for a few seconds, and when allowed to go under water you know how to get to the surface. And you are even mastering rolling over from your belly to your back! You hardly ever cry anymore, and your teacher just adores you.
You are also becoming the master sleeper. Not quite as much as your sister, but you do enjoy at least 11 hours a night, and are waking up to scream for your pacifier less and less. Either that, or I don't hear you and you find it on your own. Speaking of...you can now put it in your mouth all by yourself! Good job!
There are a few things that you are a tad bit stubborn about. You will not hold your own bottle. You are quite strong and pull back whenever I try to put your hands on it. You also will not roll over. I know you can, you did it just last night when no one was looking. But if you know someone is in the room to do your bidding, you'd rather lay and SCREAM until someone picks you up. Stubborn...no idea where you go that from.
You love to sit up. You want to see what is going on. Who knows when you will crawl since you scream whenever you are on your belly. You might walk first because you love your little pink car walker. I'm becoming quite impressed by your ability to maneuver around all the furniture and the kitchen cabinets.
All in all darling little Charlie, you are everything a mommy could hope for. You are awesome and beautiful and make me smile every single day. I can't wait to see what you do next. I love you!!!
Monday, March 14, 2011
Frustration and Peace
I know by now that every mom has "one of those days."
It is inevitable. Your husband drives you to drink, your kids have you pulling your hair out, and the dog makes you yell. Or any combination of the three.
Since about Friday, my neck has been bothering me. It is a constant ache, and the only way I can get comfortable is if I am laying on my back with my head on a nice, cushy pillow. I've had a steady diet of naproxen and ibuprofen the past few days, which does little. I'm making an appointment with a masseuse tomorrow. Damn those salons for closing on Mondays!!
Anyway, the ache in my neck has made my usually moderate temper short. When Sam is insistent that she "helps" to feed Charlie, I get frustrated very easily. When Fonz comes begging for attention anytime I sit on the floor (like to pick up the pictures that Sam has strewn all over her room), I sort of lose it. When Charlie just wants to be held, (poor kid), I just tried to put her to bed. Let the mobile entertain her for a while.
No one ever said that being a mom is easy. In fact, most say that it is the hardest job that they have ever had to do. Labor and delivery is just the beginning! The mind games, the guilt factor, the life change, everything picks at your self-esteem and self-worth and sanity until you feel like the world is spinning out of control.
Fortunately for me, the times when I feel truly overwhelmed are few and far in between. And then I vent on facebook or Twitter or here. And then the kids go to bed, and I pet my dog and my cat and bring down my blood pressure. (Then the guilt for yelling kicks in...but hey, we are all human.) I have help...a LOT of help. K (the girls' caregiver) is home from vacation, I have a massage to look forward to, and spring is just around the corner. Life is looking up, I just need to remember that in THOSE moments.
Thanks to Amber for writing this post this morning.
It is inevitable. Your husband drives you to drink, your kids have you pulling your hair out, and the dog makes you yell. Or any combination of the three.
Since about Friday, my neck has been bothering me. It is a constant ache, and the only way I can get comfortable is if I am laying on my back with my head on a nice, cushy pillow. I've had a steady diet of naproxen and ibuprofen the past few days, which does little. I'm making an appointment with a masseuse tomorrow. Damn those salons for closing on Mondays!!
Anyway, the ache in my neck has made my usually moderate temper short. When Sam is insistent that she "helps" to feed Charlie, I get frustrated very easily. When Fonz comes begging for attention anytime I sit on the floor (like to pick up the pictures that Sam has strewn all over her room), I sort of lose it. When Charlie just wants to be held, (poor kid), I just tried to put her to bed. Let the mobile entertain her for a while.
No one ever said that being a mom is easy. In fact, most say that it is the hardest job that they have ever had to do. Labor and delivery is just the beginning! The mind games, the guilt factor, the life change, everything picks at your self-esteem and self-worth and sanity until you feel like the world is spinning out of control.
Fortunately for me, the times when I feel truly overwhelmed are few and far in between. And then I vent on facebook or Twitter or here. And then the kids go to bed, and I pet my dog and my cat and bring down my blood pressure. (Then the guilt for yelling kicks in...but hey, we are all human.) I have help...a LOT of help. K (the girls' caregiver) is home from vacation, I have a massage to look forward to, and spring is just around the corner. Life is looking up, I just need to remember that in THOSE moments.
Thanks to Amber for writing this post this morning.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
My Advice to Kids
Now that I have two kids, I look back at my younger days and think, "Oh shit, if they do anything that I did they are going to wind up in jail." It seems that kids nowadays just can't do anything without getting caught. If they are smart enough to avoid the authorities while doing said stupid shit, they are stupid enough to video it and post it on youtube.
I found this post via Twitter, and had to share it, as well as create my own list. Because I like lists. If you are too lazy to click over, it is life lessons thatmy all kids need to know.
***Umm...mom? You might want to stop reading now.
1) Taking a Aleve Cold & Sinus and washing it down with a vodka and 7 is not a good idea. It WILL give you a hangover and you will NOT remember what you did that night the next morning. Including but not limited to... how you got home the night before, if you did actually throw up outside the bar, and if you finally told off that ugly chick who always took your seat when you went to pee.
2) Going to a Halloween party as a cop and then waving a pretend gun around in the air is a surefire way to get the police called. And end the party.
3) Speaking of Halloween parties, if you go dressed as a slutty Catholic school girl, people will treat you as though you are a slutty Catholic school girl.
4) When someone stops you on the street and asks you if you have been saved, just say yes. And then run.
5) Learn how to drive a stick shift car and a moped, you never know when this will come in handy.
6) If you tell someone that you are going to put them on a list for a party, PUT THEM ON THE LIST.
7) When someone tells you that you need to stop talking, STOP. You will not "get your point across" if you keep talking.
8) Do not lie to a police officer if he asks if you've been drinking. He knows you have.
9) If you come across a bum fight where they are arguing over whose glass bottles are whose, don't try to step in and "get everyone to calm down."
10) Don't be afraid to read the instructions. That is what they are there for. This includes but is not limited to...tampons, the pill, and condoms. The latter two you will not need until you are out of my house and in college. Not either or...but both.
I hope my girls take my advice to heart...once they are old enough to understand. And only when they are old enough to understand.
PS...I asked a friend for her one thing she'd tell her kids. She said, "Don't get herpes, it doesn't go away." That works on so. many. levels.
I found this post via Twitter, and had to share it, as well as create my own list. Because I like lists. If you are too lazy to click over, it is life lessons that
***Umm...mom? You might want to stop reading now.
1) Taking a Aleve Cold & Sinus and washing it down with a vodka and 7 is not a good idea. It WILL give you a hangover and you will NOT remember what you did that night the next morning. Including but not limited to... how you got home the night before, if you did actually throw up outside the bar, and if you finally told off that ugly chick who always took your seat when you went to pee.
2) Going to a Halloween party as a cop and then waving a pretend gun around in the air is a surefire way to get the police called. And end the party.
3) Speaking of Halloween parties, if you go dressed as a slutty Catholic school girl, people will treat you as though you are a slutty Catholic school girl.
4) When someone stops you on the street and asks you if you have been saved, just say yes. And then run.
5) Learn how to drive a stick shift car and a moped, you never know when this will come in handy.
6) If you tell someone that you are going to put them on a list for a party, PUT THEM ON THE LIST.
7) When someone tells you that you need to stop talking, STOP. You will not "get your point across" if you keep talking.
8) Do not lie to a police officer if he asks if you've been drinking. He knows you have.
9) If you come across a bum fight where they are arguing over whose glass bottles are whose, don't try to step in and "get everyone to calm down."
10) Don't be afraid to read the instructions. That is what they are there for. This includes but is not limited to...tampons, the pill, and condoms. The latter two you will not need until you are out of my house and in college. Not either or...but both.
I hope my girls take my advice to heart...once they are old enough to understand. And only when they are old enough to understand.
PS...I asked a friend for her one thing she'd tell her kids. She said, "Don't get herpes, it doesn't go away." That works on so. many. levels.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Yep...cute.
I Pledge
I'm not going to lie...I've read other mom's blog posts and wanted to give them advice. And I have. (I hope that I offended no one in my giving of advice. I tried not to.)
I have not been the subject of anyone's harsh critisicm here on this blog. And for that I am forever grateful. But I have seen other people who are the recipents of very mean, hateful words. And I didn't like it, and tried to give those people hopeful, supporting messages. To let them know that everyone out here isn't awful. If someday I should be the unlucky girl to get mean comments, I hope my friends out there stick up for me.
So I am signing The Mom Pledge.
Because I am a mom.
And I am a blogger.
And we deserve for our world to be a nice place.
I've also read some and thought they were crazy. Not vaccinating their kids, or breastfeeding in public at the age of five. But I've kept silent.
I try to be a nice person. I find it easier in the blogsphere, because here I can think before I speak. (Not always so easy in real life.)
I have not been the subject of anyone's harsh critisicm here on this blog. And for that I am forever grateful. But I have seen other people who are the recipents of very mean, hateful words. And I didn't like it, and tried to give those people hopeful, supporting messages. To let them know that everyone out here isn't awful. If someday I should be the unlucky girl to get mean comments, I hope my friends out there stick up for me.
So I am signing The Mom Pledge.
Because I am a mom.
And I am a blogger.
And we deserve for our world to be a nice place.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
IU SUCKS!
My 2nd favorite part of a Purdue men's basketball home game. If anyone knows where this stupid dance originated, please let me know. I remember mocking the band for doing it when I was in college at the football games. Leave it to the men's basketball band to make it awesome. Unfortunately, this video just doesn't capture the moment, but I did my best.
Congrats to the Purdue men's team for going undefeated at home this year, and thank you to JaJuan and E'Twaun for being AWESOME! GO BOILERS...BTFU!!!!!!
Congrats to the Purdue men's team for going undefeated at home this year, and thank you to JaJuan and E'Twaun for being AWESOME! GO BOILERS...BTFU!!!!!!
If you can't see the above video, click here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)