Staying Afloat

I have found myself thinking each Monday that it is a new week and things will go differently.  By Friday, I am a mess yet again.  It is just the cycle I am in I guess.  This past weekend went way too quickly.  Saturday I ran away to Mandy’s for our monthly scrapbooking day.  We haven’t actually scrapped for the last two months.  I was able to get 9 pages done in Warren’s album.  At this rate, I’ll actually be caught up for his first birthday, I think.  I am at Christmas 09 in his album, and Christmas 08 in Laura’s.  I have plenty of pictures to put in.  I just need to have the time.  I am having lots of fun with the albums.  I can see how much I am growing when I look back on pages.  Right now, the albums are for me.  For me to remember the times, the looks, the moments.  Eventually they will be for the kids.  I didn’t do the traditional baby books.  I didn’t write the first steps, first rolling over, first smile, etc.  I am recording the moments in pictures.  I don’t know if I’ll regret later on not recording all the firsts.  I know that it hasn’t really affected me not knowing when I did everything for the first time.

This evening was a bit hectic.  Once Robert got home, we went to Helen’s to pick up the playset accessories.  When Laura found out we were leaving the house, she immediately started saying “Not going to Helen’s.”  Well, we were.  She didn’t think much of it.  All the way there, she was adamant that we were not going to Helen’s.  It didn’t matter that I told her over and over that Mommy and Daddy would stay.  That we were just visiting.  Wouldn’t you know it, the little turkey didn’t want to leave then.  She kept crying that she wanted to stay and play.  Once we returned home, I got Laura some dinner while Robert filled the lawn mower with gas and did a pass in certain areas of the yard.  I also managed to get Warren to eat a little bit of solids before he had enough.  Once outside, there was no getting me back in, with the exception of emptying the bladder.  There is just something so therapeutic about mowing the lawn for me.  Tonight it was perfect weather for it too.  It was warm, but yet cool, and no wind.  I could just cruise and go.  This is my time to have to myself and my thoughts.  I guess I should have more time out there with my thoughts since that last sentence didn’t flow real well.

I am trying really hard to feed Laura better.  She gets lots of fruits.  I just need to get her to eat more veggies.  I also would like her to get better protein.  I know that fish sticks and chicken nuggets are not the best for her.  It is so hard for me to get her to eat real meats.  They are also very convenient.  For lunch she ate some of the leftover rotisserie chicken and rice.  For dinner tonight, I gave her some ham cubes and grapes.  She also ended up eating half of a peanut butter sandwich.  I didn’t put jelly on it since I was focusing on getting her protein.

I admit that I have a new addiction.  It is Sex and the City.  I loved both movies.  I am currently borrowing the seasons from Mandy.  I watched all of season 1 in 2 days.  Keeping in mind that it is NOT child friendly so I have only nap time to watch, that is pretty good.  It also helps that the episodes are roughly 23 minutes each.  I now have to wait to get season 2 from her.  I know what is going on my Christmas list this year though!

Well, it is after 10.  Laura has a dentist appointment tomorrow, and I am on my own with both of the kids for it.  Time to get to bed.  Hopefully I can update again tomorrow.

This morning has been a busy one for Laura and I.  She wanted her princess dress on right away this morning.  I managed to bargain with her to put on a different dress for breakfast.  Once breakfast was over, she wanted the princess dress on right away.  Surprisingly, she asked to take off the princess dress and put on her other.  Once Warren was down for his nap, she asked to play games.  I pulled up the Dora games on Nickjr.com.  She was doing really well with the beginning to read games, so I found the site Learn to Read.  She did really well with this site.  She hasn’t learned sight words yet, but she was figuring out sounding out the words.  I’m quite proud of her!  Then we went Online Coloring where she can color pictures by clicking a color and then clicking on the picture.  This is a favorite for her now too.  She is loving having websites where she can play.  I do make sure she is on my lap so I can supervise what she is doing.

EDIT:  I forgot the cute Laura-ism this morning.  It was getting a little chilly in the house this morning.  I have bare feet.  Add the two together and you get me having cold toes.  Laura felt them and said that my toes were in the refrigerator. 

I couldn’t think of a better title.  I had a great post started in my head, and then I had to go looking for a desktop client to post with.  I found a few that people recommended, but couldn’t really find any that I liked that were free.  I guess I could look into a Windows one since I do have XP installed on my laptop.  I probably wouldn’t want to have to switch to Windows just to post though.  If anyone knows a of a good Mac desktop client, let me know.

This week has been a bit rough on the kids.  Monday morning I was in Laura’s room putting away laundry and going through dresser drawers pulling out clothes that were too small or out of season.  Robert was in our bedroom putting away laundry.  I thought he had Warren in the room with him and keeping an eye on him.  That turned out to not be the case.  Whoever came up the stairs last didn’t shut the gate.  I don’t know who that was.  Warren went tumbling down the stairs.  :(  Thankfully he wasn’t hurt.  I think it scared him more than anything.  He was just sitting on the bottom stair crying.  Last night Laura was standing on a kitchen chair like she usually does to watch us cook/prep food.  She stepped forward and there was just enough of a gap that she fell head first onto the floor.  She has a little bit of a goose egg on her head, but nothing too big.  Thankfully it has time to clear up before her birthday party!  I don’t want people to think I am beating or neglecting my kids!

We now have two baby gates in our house.  We have one at the top of the stairs and now one at the beginning of the hallway.  This was prompted by the little boy’s desire to play with doors, shut doors, and pull DVDs off the shelf.  It was much easier to spend a little bit of money to keep him away than to constantly redirect him.  We were also worried about fingers getting pinched in doors.  An added bonus to the new gate is the cats for some reason won’t jump over it, at least yet.  They sit pitifully on one side trying to figure out how to get to the other.  I wonder if part of it is that they can see through it (it just has plastic diamond weave in the middle).  I caught Nat trying to get under the gate.  It is up a little higher to be over the baseboards.  She got her head under, but wouldn’t get her body under.  It was rather amusing.  Hehehe  Whatever the reason, I’m loving it so far!

Monday night Laura was in her glory.  We had Michelle come and take pictures of Laura in her princess dress.  I really wanted them done before she outgrew it.  She did great.  I am really excited to see the pictures once Michelle gets them done.  I have asked Robert if I can get Photoshop put on my laptop.  I would love to play with it and maybe enhance some of the pictures I take.  The hard part will be remembering not to edit the original picture in case I would totally mess things up.

Warren is now pulling up on everything.  If it stands still for 2 seconds, he pulls up on it.  This makes it difficult to get up off the floor when he is near by.  While it is nice that he can pull up, he then fusses because he hasn’t figured out how to cruise along things or get down gracefully.  He is currently holding onto the entertainment center and whining because he is stuck.

Laura’s birthday party is in 10 days.  I still don’t have the invites in the mail.  Ooops.  People who are invited know the day.  I am really hoping to get them in the mail today.  My parents are coming up for her party and will be staying for a few days afterward.  The kids’ birthday present this year is a big playset.  I am really looking forward to having a slide and swings here so we don’t have to go to the park for her to play.  I still haven’t broken out the pool yet this year.  We’ve definitely had the heat for it too.  I am going to have to force us to get outside more.  It is hard with naptimes.  It is also hard since Warren can’t really do much outside yet.  Hopefully Laura and Carly can play together this summer.

Next week Laura gets to go in for a dentist appointment and her 3 year doctor appointment.  With any luck I’ll be able to do them the same day.  It may be a little rough on her, but at least they’ll be done.

Well, Laura is wanting cuddles with me.  She has even brought her blankie out here.  Guess I’ll wrap it up and give her the attention she wants.  Warren is sleeping, so I think she thinks of this time as HERS.

This week is a bad week for me as it is.  I am just a hormonal/emotional wreck this week.  I knew it was coming.  Today is just a bad day for me.  I feel like I am on the verge of tears.  Robert has asked if he should come home at noon.  By that time, Laura and Warren will have had lunch.  She will be in bed napping.  It wouldn’t do much good.  It doesn’t help that the kids are fighting.  Well, Warren even looks at anything Laura considers hers and she screams.  He is as happy as can be.  She is being really clingy to me lately too.  Right now she is hanging and laying on me.  She says she wants cuddles.  I wonder if she is feeling well.  Well, at this point it is only a little longer before she is in bed and I can chill out.

I have decided that I am not a fan of weekend marriages.  At least not being in one.  May 10-13 Robert was in Green Bay for training.  He came home Thursday night.  We had the weekend together, then I left for DeForest for a week.  I left Monday morning and came back Friday afternoon.  It was so nice to be back home.  I know the kids were more than ready to see Robert again.  We had video chats but they just aren’t the same.

I had forgotten mention in my last post just how much of a girl girl Laura has gotten.  She insists on wearing dresses all the time now.  I can’t get her to wear shorts at all.  This morning she put on her princess dress.  I also made a crown for her.  She was not happy when I made her take it off.  She was sweating and getting too warm in it.

I have decided to change Warren’s name to Tornado.  Based on the stories in my previous post, you can see why.  He is currently playing over by the patio door and in the curtains.

I have a doctor appointment this afternoon, and need to still get ready.  Hopefully I can squeeze in a shower with Tornado awake.

Life seems to be moving in fast forward right now.  In the time span of just over a week, Warren learned to sleep through the night (sorta, but more on that later), eat solids, crawl, popped through tooth #5, stand totally on his own for a few seconds at a time, and drinks 6-8 oz at a time (before it was 4-6).  It amazes me how fast he is growing.  Today I ended up putting the coffee table on its side and blocking the hallway.  He was always cruising down there, and I was afraid that he would pull the DVDs off the racks at the end of the hall.

As for the sleeping through the night, it depends on the night.  Sometimes he can go all night.  Other nights are like last night and he is up a bit.  I think part of the wakings now is that he doesn’t feel good.  I keep thinking he has ear infection or something, but every time we check his ears, they are clear.  I am also thinking it is teething.  I can see that at least one tooth is close to popping through.

My meat & potatoes husband surprised me this week.  We were looking through the Kraft Food & Family magazine that recently came in the mail.  He started suggesting salads for dinner!  Granted, there is generally meat in them (this one had bacon), but it surprised me.  We tried a new meal tonight.  We made grilled bbq chicken, and then sliced it up.  We put it on a toasted baguette (or French bread) with mayo (Miracle Whip for us), sliced red onions, and pepper jack cheese (we used shredded mozzarella).  Put the sandwich open-faced under the broiler to melt the cheese, then put the top on.  It turned out really good.  I’m looking forward to having another for lunch tomorrow.

Since I can’t talk about only one of the kids, I will give a short Laura update as well.  She is still totally obsessed with Dora.  Her birthday party this year is going to be Dora themed.  We found a Dora candle for her cake while getting groceries last night.  She saw it and had to hold it all the way home.  She kept wanting us to open it, but I told her she had to wait until her birthday party.  Thankfully she did put it down at one point and forgot about it, so now it is hiding in the hall closet.  I have picked up invitations, plates, napkins, and cups all Dora, of course.  I keep asking what Laura wants for her birthday.  She keeps telling me wants balloons.  That is easy.  :)  Time to wrap this up and get to bed.  Last night wasn’t so good, and I’m hoping tonight will go much better.

I am having my own “getaway” this week.  I left Monday for DeForest and will be returning home on Friday.  It’s not totally a getaway since I do have the kids with me.  So far they are doing well.  Yesterday was the day of adjustment for Warren.  Laura adjusted pretty much right away.  Monday night didn’t go so well.  Laura woke up at 3am from a bad dream.  Her crying woke up Warren.  I was less than impressed (I didn’t realize that it was a bad dream that woke her up at first).  Last night went a little better.  Warren woke up at 12:50.  I cuddled him and he fell back asleep.  He woke up crying immediately.  I tried to have him cry himself back to sleep.  I really didn’t want to feed him and undo what we’ve worked on so far.  I think what made him hungry at night was that he didn’t eat solids for dinner.  I tried a few times and he kept refusing.  Tonight he had almost an entire jar of solids plus 7.5oz of formula before bed.  I have my fingers crossed for a good night tonight.

This afternoon I went shopping and took advantage of Kohl’s big sale.  I got 2 pairs of capris, a pair of shorts, and some shirts for this summer.  I also picked up pajamas for each kid.  I tried to find a pair of sandals for me, but I couldn’t find any that fit.  I will try again once I get home.  I think I’ll have to go to an actual shoe store that would have the wide sizes that I need.

Time to enjoy some quiet before bed.  Both kids are in bed and we’re watching some tv. 

My heart just melted. Laura was playing. I was reading something on my computer. She comes up to me, “Mommy, I love you. I bring you a present.” Then she proceeds to give me a hug. Yep, heart is melted.

Well, I am down to counting minutes before Robert gets home.  Current guess is that he’ll be home in the next 40 minutes or so.  Well, he just called and is about 25 minutes away at this point.  :D  I am so excited to see him!

Tonight went pretty well.  I am trying to get Laura to eat more of “adult” food rather than the chicken nuggets or fishsticks each night.  I have to force her to at least try it so she can develop the taste the food.  She won’t get used to it unless she tries it.  Warren is eating really well almost all of a sudden.  At daycare today he ate 2 of the Gerber 1st food containers and then some.  He also was drinking 6 oz bottles.  Tonight for dinner he ate a jar of 2nd foods plus half a container of 1st food.  He also drained a 6 oz bottle before bed.

His sleep seems to be improving.  I really hope that I don’t jinx it here.  He cried himself to sleep tonight, which didn’t take very long.  Last night he woke up at 10.  I left the room and let him cry.  I made the mistake of going in a few times and even brought him out to cuddle with me.  He had fallen asleep on me but woke up as soon as I laid him down.  At that point I just let him cry himself to sleep.  He was sleeping by 11.  He woke up at 4 again.  This time I just rolled over and let him fuss.  I don’t know how long he cried, but I do know that I didn’t notice his crying much or when he stopped.  I felt so refreshed this morning!  I am hoping for an even better night tonight.

Another milestone Warren is nearing is standing by himself.  This morning he was pulling on my leg while I was getting Laura ready.  I noticed he had stopped, and I looked over to see why.  There he was standing all by himself for several seconds.  I am in so much trouble with him!

Well, I’m going to wrap this up since Robert will be home soon.

I have made it three days.  Yesterday/evening wasn’t bad.  I didn’t feel like cooking, so Laura had chicken nuggets and I had chicken patty sandwich.  Last night got to be a true challenge and test for me.  Warren was up 3 times.  The first was from 11-11;50, then 1-1:40, then 3-5 this morning.  By 4am I was crying and didn’t know what to do.  Warren just would not put himself to sleep, or stay asleep if he fell asleep in my arms.

This morning Warren had his 9 month appointment.  He is 21 lbs 11 oz with just a dry diaper on.  He is 30 inches long with a head 46cm around.  No shots today for him… YIPEE!  I also had a appointment for my ears.  They have been hurting a lot.  I thought my ear infection just didn’t clear up or was back again.  Turns out I have lots of ear wax that is impacted against my ear drum.  This is causing the irritation.  So I get to do ear drops to try and loosen it up now.  My right ear is totally plugged up and I can’t hear much out of it.  It is really annoying.  I hope things clear up soon.

I was talking to the doctor about how Warren isn’t eating much for solids and is getting up a lot to eat at night.  Essentially it comes down to picking a week or two that we decide we just aren’t going to get Warren up.  We let him cry himself to sleep.  We did this with Laura and it only took 2 days.  I don’t know how long it will take with Warren.  I am starting it tonight.  I am just past the point of being able to be up and down all the time.  Wish me luck!

I need to get bottles washed up and should eat some dinner.  Hopefully I can talk to Robert on the phone a little bit before going to bed.