Quiet Golf

In Brandt's mind there are two versions of golf: mini golf and "quiet" golf.  Mini golf gets expensive if we were to go every time he asks, so we took the kids to the putting green at a local golf course.  Brandt is getting better, but this was Lillian's first time so most of my time was spent chasing her around making sure she didn't fall into the sand trap.

Happy Spring!

Knowing When to Say When

I still breastfeed my 15 month old baby, partly because she is comforted by it and partly because I know she is my last baby and I'm holding onto her baby-hood as long as possible.  She doesn't drink much cow's milk, maybe an ounce a day, so I know that she needs the breast milk to compensate.

But I'm also still getting up with her at least once, usually twice, each night.  And it's not like she's a new baby that needs to eat every few hours.  It's just her comfort, and a way for me to get her back to sleep within 10 minutes so I can go back to sleep.

At her 15 month check up she weighed 22lbs 8oz, which is 50th percentile for weight, so I know she's getting the nutrition and fat that she needs to grow.  But I also worry that she doesn't eat a lot of solid foods because she prefers to nurse.  Both of my kids don't eat a lot (or sleep well, for that matter) and I'm getting quite frustrated.  I want them to eat 3 meals & 2 snacks a day, but instead their eating patterns are scattered and they rarely eat at the table for more than 3 minutes.  I've gotten into the bad habit of letting them eat on the couch, or letting them carry their snacks around the house.

And B doesn't eat well at all.  His food intake consists of a predictable rotation of chicken nuggets, pasta, carrots & ranch, lettuce & ranch, apples, pears, bananas ... sometimes green beans (with ketchup).  I don't know if I need to enforce a "tough love" approach and just start making 1 meal for all of us to eat and then letting him go hungry if he chooses to not eat it.  Then maybe he will eventually give in and eat something new?

I have a lot of challenges right now with my children, mostly food & sleeping issues that I need to remedy.  If anyone has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate the advice!

T-Ball

Brandt started playing t-ball in January and it is the cutest thing ever.  He is supposed to be on a team with 3,4 & 5 year-olds but they didn't have enough players so they combined his group with a few older kids.  Now he's the youngest kid on the team, with everyone else being 5 or 6 ... some close to 7.  But no matter, he's having a great time.

Lost: My Sanity, Please Call if You Find It

Me: Brandt, please help me pick up your crayons.

B: Why?

Me: Because we put things away when we're done playing with them.

B: Why?

Me: Because we can't have them all over the floor all day.

B: But why?

Me: Because Lily will try to eat them.

B: Why?

Me: Because she puts everything in her mouth.

B: Why?

Me: Because she's a baby, and that's what babies do.

B: Why?

Me: Brandt, stop asking why.
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B: Why?

Hi

I know.  It's been a while.  I have no excuses other than I was in a funk.  I wasn't feeling productive or good at much with my day-to-day life, so I didn't feel inspired to blog about anything.  Pretty much this is my summary: blah, blah, blah ... stuff happened.  Going forward I will try to be more active with posting.  I've been good at twitter because it's quick and easy and doesn't require a huge time commitment.  So read that if you want more details of the past two months.

Speaking of keeping up with blogging, how do others do it?  Specifically The Pioneer Woman, MckMama, The Spohrs are Multiplying ... because they have children and household responsibilities and other things to accomplish on a daily basis, yet they manage to be VERY active with blogging and tweeting.  I have absolutely no idea how they do it.  I also have no idea how their houses are not falling apart.

Anyway, here are a few quick pictures:

For more pictures, click here.

Headcold Hell

I have been sick for over a week, which is why I haven't posted much.  My head & face have been throbbing everyday, and my throat has been sore all week.  This cold really took a toll, probably the longest I've been sick in a very long time ... if not, ever.  I'm finally on antibiotics (because I'm pretty sure it turned into a sinus infection) after going to urgent care twice, but the doctor only gave me the amoxicillin after I asked for it.  She seemed hesitant to prescribe it since I told her I was nursing.  Which is annoying because I already feel guilty about exposing Lillian to anti-depressants since she was a week old.

My parents were here most of last week so that helped a lot - I was able to rest while they took care of Lillian and Brandt.  They even took them both to the mall to play and have dinner.  That was the first time anyone has taken Lillian anywhere without me.  And it felt GOOD.  It's bittersweet, though, knowing that my baby won't be a baby for much longer ... but I'm also happy for the 'freedom'.  And speaking growing up, Lillian walks 90% of the time, now.  Two weeks ago she took her first few steps, and now she only crawls to find something that she can pull herself up on and then she takes off walking.  She's TOO LITTLE to walk!  But it's the cutest thing ever.

Brandt decided on his Halloween costume.  He wants to be a Super Reader from Super Why.  We found a really good deal on the costume at Kmart (where I NEVER shop, but I've now discovered how cheap some of their stuff is so I will be going back for Christmas toys) and I picked it up for him yesterday.  He doesn't want to take it off, but since it's a cheap costume I'm worried it will fall apart before Halloween.  So I told him he has to wait until Halloween to wear it.

 He's looking at his cape because he really wants to fly when he wears it - and when the wind blows the cape he gets really excited.

Now I'm off to catch up with everything that I didn't do last week while I was sick.  I hate falling behind.  And I feel like I need to disinfect the whole house.  Poor Lillian got sneezed on quite a few times when I was nursing her.  Oops.

Dealing

I know I haven't posted a lot recently. I've been dealing with a lot of stuff and it's been difficult to collect my thoughts for a coherent post. I am currently experiencing the "Terrible Threes" with Brandt and it's sucking the life out of me. The screeching and spitting and screaming and shoving Lillian.  And the "MINE!" - I swear that's all he says lately. I will be borrowing a few discipline books from a friend of mine so hopefully I can get some good parenting advice there. My sister-in-law has 2 boys (6 & 8) so she's been through this all before. I spoke with her yesterday and she assured me it's completely normal, but I can't help but feel like I'm one of "those moms" that you see on Supernanny that can't control her child.

My grandma is not doing well at all. I went to Phoenix on Monday to visit my parents and to see her, and she definitely is close to the end. My mom and dad have done everything to care for her, it's really admirable how much they have taken on. My mom has been making funeral arrangements and compiling pictures for a scrapbook & DVD collage. My grandma is 95 and has had an amazing journey. Born at home in 1914, she was not expected to survive. Her grandmother wrapped her up and placed her near the oven to keep her warm. Now, almost 96 years later, she has outlived her 4 younger brothers. I have many happy memories of growing up in her house and I know she will be at peace soon.

My parents had 3 dogs: 2 black labs & 1 golden lab. The older black lab, Bishop, passed away a week ago. She was very old and her legs just didn't want to work anymore. She could hardly get up and her back legs often collapsed beneath her when she did manage to get up. She was around 14 years old and my parents knew it was her time. Needless to say, my parents have been going through a lot lately. I was happy to go to Phoenix on Monday to visit them, and I'm glad they were able to come to Tucson yesterday. They need that time off and the distraction.

A Few Quick Things

I made a responsibility chart for Brandt.

He earns stickers for doing each of these things without protest. Some of the items might get tweaked while I'm still working out the details, but this is a start.  He also earns stickers randomly throughout the day for doing nice things or exhibiting good behavior (such as: sharing with Lillian, cleaning up without being asked, being a good helper).  I haven't yet decided on a reward system for after he earns X amount of stickers.  My sister-in-law suggested a Treasure Box of wrapped items that he can choose from, but I'm still not sure exactly what we're going to do.  And I'm open to suggestions ... 

Also, read this blog - it's hilarious.

Local Celebrities

Not really, but Brandt & Lillian were in a commercial for a local baby store.  Here's the link:

A2Z Babies & Beyond

Brandt is pushing the shopping cart (in his swim suit, because I didn't think he'd be in the commercial), and Lillian is in the group shot at the end sitting on the floor on the left.

How to Feed a Toddler

I'm stuck in a rut with what I feed Brandt.  It's so hard to find new & nutritious meals that he will eat.  I have the same rotation of foods that we go through every few days and I feel like his diet is lacking.  How many times can he eat chicken nuggets (whole grain), pasta, quesadillas, grilled cheese, or salad?  I have to give the kid credit, though, because he's always been a huge fan of salad.  How many 2 & 3 year olds have you seen eat a full plate of lettuce when they're at Peter Piper Pizza?  And he does like green beans, carrots & broccoli.  But I struggle with what to feed him for his main dish.  He doesn't like sandwiches or peanut butter (like father, like son).  Any suggestions on meal ideas that are toddler-friendly?

The Icing on the Cupcake

I went to a little shop called Cupcakes today.  I happened to be at Bed Bath & Beyond and I saw it next door.  Like most people, I'm a fan of cake.  And this little shop sells nothing but cupcakes & coffee, which, in my opinion, can only be described with one word: perfect.  They opened in Tucson several months ago but their parent company is up in Scottsdale.  I decided to buy one to surprise Brandt when I picked him up from school.  I have to say, I enjoyed the icing a lot more than the cupcake.

This is called, "Party Animal"

And this is what Brandt looks like eating "Party Animal"

The Potty, Puke, & Jumping Castles

That was my weekend in a nutshell.

The Potty
Brandt has seemed to master potty training within the past week and over the weekend he started going by himself without us reminding him. And he hasn't had any accidents (knock on wood) even when we're out in public. He still wears a diaper for his naps and overnight, but I've recently noticed his nap diaper is dry when he gets up so I'm thinking we will be ready for no diapers soon. We bribed him in the beginning, giving him a hotwheels car every time he used the potty. Then I downgraded to M&M's and that seemed to work as incentive, too. But really, it wasn't all that hard. I feel like he was ready and I didn't force him and now he's totally comfortable with it.  So comfortable, in fact, that last night when I was giving Lily a bath he walked into the bathroom holding a bag of cookies, sat down on his potty chair, peed, and got up and walked out.  Never once letting go of the bag of cookies.  We'll have to work on bathroom etiquette ...

Puke
Lillian spits up a lot, so that's nothing new for me, and we've had 5 instances of projectile vomit. Like exorcist vomit, so it really freaked me out the first time she did it. And then there was the time she threw up all over a friend's couch ... that was fun, and by fun I mean horribly embarrassing. So I felt like the powers that be were making up for lost time because Brandt spit up maybe 4 times when he was a baby. And then on Saturday Joe came home from taking him to Movers & Shakers, the zoo & the park and Brandt didn't look so good. He was lying on the couch when all of a sudden we saw that he was about to throw up. Joe managed to get him to the bathroom in time but of course I was freaked out because, 1. He never throws up, and 2. His birthday party was the next day and I was worried he was getting sick and we'd have to cancel. Fortunately it was just motion sickness from swinging too much at the park, and he was fine after he threw up and took a 2 hour nap.

Jumping Castles
If you want to traumatize my son just inflate a large jumping castle where he can see it. We had Brandt's birthday party at Old Pueblo Gymnastics and the party package included a jumping castle. The last time he was around jumping castles he freaked out a little (ok, a lot) but it was 6 months prior so I thought I would try again. Definitely a no-go. We asked them to deflate it 10 minutes into the party because Brandt wouldn't even go into the room to play with other things while it was up and he kept asking to go home. Eventually he warmed up to his party and played & ran around and had a really good time. BUT, he kept mentioning the jumping castle the rest of the day. And he had a hard time falling asleep last night because he kept thinking about it. And he woke up in the middle of the night, too. And probably the 3rd thing he mentioned when he woke up this morning was the jumping castle. So I managed to scar my kid for life because of the jumping castle at his 3rd birthday party. Swell.

A Comparison

The Potty

We're making progress with Brandt.  Only because we've been bribing him with new HotWheels for everytime he goes on the potty.  That's getting expensive so I switched to M&M's.  My sister-in-law said that's what she used with her boys so I'm going to try it.  Lately he's been in underwear all day except for his nap & bedtime.  I know it's kind of a TMI subject but I'm excited we're moving in the right direction.

Mission: Organization

I really need to get on a schedule for cleaning my house.  Like, Monday is bathrooms, Tuesday is kitchen, Wednesday is dusting, Thursday is bedrooms, etc.  With a load of laundry thrown in every day to keep up with it.  If anyone has a schedule they use right now I'd love to read about it ... I'm open to suggestions!!  And since little Miss Fuss only catnaps during the day, I usually only get 30 - 45 minutes of time to do things.  Brandt is pretty good about entertaining himself, or I'll turn on one of his favorite shows.

Side note: He LOVES the new show Chuggington on Disney.  He loves trains to begin with and this show is all about trains to he is in heaven.  And when I say he loves trains I mean we have 3 different train sets out all day long: Thomas, GeoTrax, and Little Thomas.

Also, I need help with the following: potty training my almost 3 year old.  Any book/dvd suggestions or general tips would be greatly appreciated!  And I also really need to get rid of the pacifiers.  What can I say, after Lillian was born any semblance of order and rules and structure kind of went out the window during the newborn chaos.  As in, "What, Brandt?  You want marshmallows for a snack?  Fine, here."

And what happened to the spell check button on blogger?  I apologize for any misspellings.

Party Planning

I'm starting to get things together for Brandt's 3rd birthday party. I already reserved the location and I'm super excited about it because he LOVES the place, and it wasn't as expensive as some other similar venues. We went to the party store today and I had him pick out his theme. And then I asked him repeatedly over the next 30 minutes if he was sure that's the theme he wanted, because you never know. And for all I know he could change his mind after his nap today. But at this point I'm sticking with his original pick. I have to get his invitations together and send them out next week sometime ... I'm thinking of inviting all the kids in his class since there are only 10 including B.

It's amazing to me how much he's grown recently. He's talking so much more and coming up with all sorts of clever things. And he's been so good with Lillian. He tries to help when she cries and he always talks to her, saying, "hi baby sister, what's up?" And he keeps asking us if she can talk yet. He's such a good kid, and I really want him to have a great 3rd birthday.

It's Not Christmas Without ...

A sick kid.

Brandt is just getting over a cold. Joe is more than halfway through it, although he's still miserable (for some reason colds take their toll on Joe, but this one could just be really bad). And last night Lillian was so restless and I could tell she doesn't feel well. When she cried she sounded a little hoarse and she had some minor snot issues. She didn't seem comfortable at all and didn't want to be put down, so I ended up holding her for the better part of 4 hours between 12:30 - 4:30am. I did catch up on some TV, though.

Christmas of 2007, Brandt's 1st Christmas, he got an ear infection around the 21st.

Christmas of 2008, Brandt's 2nd Christmas, he got an ear infection around the 12th.

So far we seem to be escaping the dreaded ear infection, but I hope Lillian doesn't get the really bad version of the cold that Joe has. She goes to the doctor tomorrow for her 2 month check and I don't know if she'll be able to get her vaccines if she's still not feeling well. But at least we're already going to the doctor so I don't have to make a special appointment.

Noise Maker

I ordered another one of these because it seems to help drown out the daytime noise, since Brandt isn't always the quietest when he plays. I've been putting Brandt's sound machine in Lillian's room during the day so she can sleep but Brandt seems reluctant to share it with her and he occasionally goes to her door and whines, "my noise maker!" So I figured she needed one of her own, and hopefully it will help at night as well.

3 Weeks

Lillian is 3 weeks old today and I'm feeling really good. Probably the Lexapro, but I'm totally fine with admitting that. I feel better on the medication, and after my doctor appointment today I will probably be on it for the next 6 weeks to 3 months. Joe has also admitted that he likes me on drugs, so hopefully when my doctor "weans" me off the Lexapro I won't go completely nuts again.

I've lost 25 pounds in 3 weeks, but sadly I have at least another 25 to go. So much for not gaining a lot of weight with my 2nd pregnancy. I didn't gain 60 pounds like I did with Brandt, but I sure got close. I won't pretend that the weight just falls off (like the celebrities claim) with breastfeeding, although nursing does burn up to 500 calories a day. But it also makes me super hungry all the time, and I've been eating a ton of carbs lately so these last 25 pounds aren't going to melt off any time soon. But like my friend, Gina, said ... I've lost it once and I can do it again. It might just take the next 7-12 months to do it. And I'm really looking forward to going back to the gym, although I will probably have to wait until the first of the year.

Lillian slept for 5 hours last night, from 7:15 - 12:15. And since I go to bed as soon as she does, I got about 4.5 solid hours of sleep. Then another 2, and another 1.5 ... so I'm feeling a lot more rested than I felt when Brandt was a newborn. And that's almost a necessity in order to take care of B during the day. I'm pretty sure I would lose my mind if I had to exist on 3-4 hours of total sleep per 24 hours.

Brandt has been doing well with Lillian, although he's definitely testing more boundaries because he wants more attention. He also knows I can't always get to him right away so he will act out while I'm nursing Lillian or changing her. I know it's only going to get more challenging but for right now I feel like I can handle it. But once again, that might be the Lexapro :)

Funny thing about anti-depressants. Once you start taking them, and admitting to others that you take them, you suddenly find out that so many people are also taking them. It's a bigger club than I thought.