Milestones

One thing that is fun about having babies is watching them hit their developmental milestones. Grace is almost six months old and it has been amazing to watch her grow and change. She started out being a very demanding baby, what some doctors would have considered colicky, but now she is a very happy little girl... Mind you she is still a baby! Last week we had a new first... Baby's first food, rice cereal! I wasn't sure how she was going to like it, but she LOVED it! One night last week, I went out shopping while hubby watched the kids and as always, I had my cell phone charged and ready. I was in the book store when the phone rang. When I answered it, I was greeted with the sound of my baby girl screaming her lungs out. My initial response was, do I need to come home. Poor Stephen, he had tried everything to get her to stop so I asked him if he had tried the cereal yet. "Good idea hun, I'll try that, you just continue doing what you are doing, I'll let you know if I need you to come home." Once I finished paying for my book (which ended up being 50% off, how great is that?) I whipped out the phone and speed dialed home. I was quite relieved to hear the quiet at the other end! Stephen said that as soon as she saw the cereal she got a big smile on her face. Another disaster averted, and some Christmas shopping done! Lucky for me the malls are open later this time of year. I am one of those last minute shoppers, moreso this year than any other. When I finally got home, it was shortly after 10 and I was worried that Grace was going to be going crazy with hunger... turns out it was just Mommy withdrawl! When I came down the stairs, she was sitting in her bumbo chair playing with a toy. As soon as she saw me, she gave me the biggest smile and started waving her arms around in the air. I picked her up and as soon as she was close enough, she put her arms around my neck and snuggled in really close. That is the best coming home greeting ever! I think that night I ended up having to bring her into bed with me, she just didn't want to sleep alone. Not the first night, nor the last that will happen.
Zander is doing so well! We were so worried about his speech development that we went for speech therapy. In a way it was so unnecessary, but it put us at ease so it was worth it. Anyway, he is saying new things all the time and he is learning so much! He is able to count to 20 with very little prompting. He usually doesn't say 15, 16, 17 but he does pretty well. He can also identify and say most of the alphabet, and he's pretty good with his shapes and colours. All that time reading and rereading the books Tracing Shapes, Baby Penguin Learns Shapes, the Alphabet book, and Baby Toucan Learns to count have paid off big time! I am hoping to start teaching him some simple math and very basic reading in the new year. I'd love to have him reading and doing some math before he even gets to school. Now, just to clarify, we don't spend a lot of time doing "school" stuff. Mostly it's just fun stuff that we read or play together so it's not like it's pressure or forcing him to do stuff that he's not interested in doing. It's just so fun to see them learning! Anyway, with Christmas only a few days away, all he's been learning lately is not to touch the Christmas tree, that he can't have cookies for breakfast and that most of the time, Mommy's drink is hot so he better not touch. Hope everyone out there is ready for Christmas and has a very Merry one!!!

Just around the corner...

Christmas... It's just around the corner and all I've accomplished to this day is a decorated tree and a half a pan of goodie bars. Still can't get into the Christmas spirit. I received a great package in the mail from my friend Louise, who lives in England, with cards and gifts for the kids. Of course, because I am not feeling Christmas-y, I haven't sent hers yet. *sigh* Her children are four and seven (?). buying for the daughter is going to be easy but what do you get for a seven year old that isn't expensive or big. I don't want to send socks obviously, but something cool. I don' t think British kids are into hockey so I don't think hockey cards would go over very well..... Anyway, I'm wondering what to get these kids and I haven't even started shopping for my own kids! I think we've decided that this year they will get one outfit and one toy and then we will all go somewhere. At age 2 and 6 months, they don't really "get" Christmas anyway and likely won't really enjoy going away either but it's more for us than anything else. Truth be told, this Christmas is even more difficult because things are not going all that great here at home. Most people already know this so it's no secret and nothing to be ashamed of... Currently Stephen and I are on a break. I was at my mom's for a while but we decided it would be better for the kids to be in their own home so he is staying elsewhere for a bit. Not sure when he will come back, we have a lot of work to do! Anyway, not going to dwell on that. It's all currently in God's hands and I can see in some ways how he is working on us.

time flies

when you think you're having fun... so Christmas is just around the corner. But this year, I just can't seem to get into it. You'd think with two little kids, the excitement would be abounding but I feel more like Scrooge than Santa. I haven't started shopping, we don't have any decorations up, and every time I go into a store and hear Christmas music, I want to plug me ears and pretend it's July... a very cold July requiring a winter coat and gloves. Maybe I'll get more into it after going to a Christmas party this weekend. I thought that seeing the Nativity scene set up in the local park would help spark the spirit, but all it did was make me wonder who was going to complain about it this year. Will buying a Christmas tree help? Maybe, although in our house, the tree must be fake because: a) I am allergic to the real thing, b) I don't remember to water a real one so c) needles drop all over the place and I hate that. I am sure that having the tree up will just add to the list of things I need to keep my son away from... last year he succeeded in pulling the tree over so after having it up for only a couple of days, we undressed it and returned it to Walmart because quite honestly it was a piece of junk. I usually really like Christmas but this year, with the economy going for a dive and all the political nonsense, not to mention my personal life in a bit of an upheaval, I think maybe this year I'll need some spiked eggnog to get into the spirit...

Time to catch up!

Ok, so the last two weekends were a little crazy, what with two birthday parties for Zander and Halloween in between. The birthday party with my Mom, step-dad and brother's family was fun. Everyone came to our house around 3pm on the Sunday before Zander's birthday and of course I was still getting stuff ready! I went to church that morning with Grace and when I got home I had to feed her, and Zander, put him down for a nap and start cooking. Stephen ran out to the grocery store and picked up some ingredients that I needed and also a cake. I would have loved to make a birthday cake, but my decorating skills are way limited (I suck at it! LOL) and I didn't have a lot of time. I decided that I was going to make chicken pot pie for the adults and chicken nuggets and fries for the kids. My niece is allergic to milk so I also made cherry J.ello and got Stephen to pick up some fruity sorbet just in case. I had the guts of the pie made in no time, and whipped up a batch of dough to cover it with, all I had to do was the salad. I ended up recruiting my Mom to make the salad because Grace decided she was hungry just as I pulled out all the ingredients. She has impecable timing! Dinner was a hit, although Julien (my adorable nephew) wasn't too hungry because the kids had snacked on banana chocolate chip muffins, potato chips and whatever else Stephen brought out when everyone was down stairs hanging out. Zander ate like a champ, which is no surprise as he is in constant motion and seems to burn off food as soon as he's done chewing it! The cake was pretty good for store bought too, although I forgot to get candles so we did a song without. The kid is two, so I am sure it's alright... He can have two wishes next year I suppose. :) He got great gifts as well, a sturdy truck from Nanny and Poppy and a Halloween costume from Uncle Jack and Aunt Amnath. I was so thrilled! It was the cutest costume from Old Navy... a rat! I am sure it wasn't meant to be a Ratatouille costume but in my mind that is what it was, so that is what I told everyone he was dressed as when we took him out trick or treating. So fast forward to Halloween night. My husband and I are such great planners, (NOT) that we called our friend/cousin at the last minute to ask if we could join her and the family for the fun. We picked up a pizza on the way over and got the kids dressed there. Grace was a honey bee and Zander was Ratatouille. (that's my story and I'm sticking to it!) Of course, Grace is much too small for trick or treat but it was such a nice night out, we put her in the stroller and she came along for the ride. At first Zander was pretty timid about going up to the doors, so Stephen took him up. After a few houses, Zander was going up without Daddy, and although he never did say Trick or Treat, he did try to go into a few houses! I am sure that next year, he'll be saying it. We didn't go to a lot of houses, I'm guessing we went to less than 20 but it took us a good hour or more, and it wiped out the kids! Now just a quick rant about Halloween night. I know that half the fun is getting dressed up and handing out candies, but who thinks it is a good idea to dress up in a costume that is downright scary to do this? We went to a house where the man was splattered in fake blood and carrying a "blood" covered fake butcher knife... I am not sure if he was wearing a mask or not. Early in the evening, most of the tricker-treaters are going to be very young kids, so maybe saving the costume for later on in the night would be an idea.... Or am I just being a pooner? (buzz kill, party pooper, etc) Anyway, Zander was a little scared by this and one other house, but it didn't seem to affect him at all because he slept through the night! On to the next party! On Saturday, Stephen's family came over for his birthday.... well, some of it did. Grandma and Grandpa and Auntie Debbi and Tommy and Micah came. Just a fraction of the family but it made for a quiet day which was ok except that I made way too much food! Oh well, left-overs for the week! The idea was that the kids would go play at the new indoor playground for an hour and a half and I would stay home with the baby and get some stuff done, which worked out just fine. Everyone go to our house around 2:30, we did dinner around 5:30 and by 6:30 cake was served and gifts were opened. Zander got a cool truck from Grandma and Grandpa that was a car carrier, so it came with a bunch of hot wheels cars, and he got a new outfit and toddler paints from Uncle John, Aunt Debbi and the boys. Mommy and Daddy bought him a little people construction set. Grandma and Grandpa stayed for a longer visit after Deb and the boys left, and by the time they left, we were wiped out! Thank goodness this weekend is going to be quiet!

Zander is two! (and our adult life is officially over!)

Yesterday was Zander's second birthday and to celebrate, I made Zander some excellent double chocolate pancakes for breakfast. Zander got to play his computer games and for lunch we had his favourite! When Stephen got home from work, we headed out to have dinner. We decided to go to Montana's. Big mistake. There was no hostess at the door when we first got there so we had to wait five minutes for someone to realize that there were people at the door. We finally got seated and at the table next to us, there was a birthday. Of course, they come over and sing to the little girl and cheer which is half the fun, but Zander freaked right out! Screaming and crying, terrified! I think we must have sat at the table for a good ten minutes and no one came to get us drinks or anything. The waitress stopped by and said that she would be right over and so we decided to wait a bit more... Zander would not settle down so we started packing up to leave, a little ticked as our waitress didn not come right back, she checked on two other tables first and then had the nerve to give us attitude because we were leaving. So we tried another restaurant. Again there was a birthday and again Zander freaked out. This time he settled pretty quickly and our server was great. He ordered Zander's food right away and made sure he had a drink pronto. Zander's food came and he ate some of it, unfortunately, before our appetizer even arrived, he started acting up and so we were forced to pack up and leave, although this time, we switched our order to take out so that we'd at least have dinner at home. They were also nice enough to give us two balloons for Zander which he loved, especially the yellow one. I suspect that yellow is his favourite colour... other than purple, it's the only colour he will say! While Stephen and I ate and Zander chased the balloons around, we talked about how we used to be able to eat dinner anywhere, in silence if we wished! Stephen asked me when our lives where going to get back to normal, to which I responded, "this is our new normal!" Tomorrow should be a fun day, we are doing another birthday party with Stephen's party... I'll keep you posted!

two in one day!

One of the challenges of being a stay at home mom not working. OK, I know that doesn't sound like it makes any sense, I mean, any SAHM will tell you that it is a demanding job. What I mean actually is doing a job and getting paid. I want to work, but I don't want someone else raising my kids which leaves me with only one option. Work from home. But what do I want to do? Well, I decided to do some research and see what was out there for Moms that want to work from home doing a legitimate business. I googled and was flooded with all kinds of websites some of them info sites, a lot of scams, some MLM stuff and then there might have been some legit companies that would pay people to do data entry at home. The latter are impossible to find out there in the haystack of sites. Correct me if I am wrong here but shouldn't I be able to find work without paying for it? Why should I pay someone to send me work? The other option are the sites that tell you that they can get you working from home if you send them your contact info. Foolishly I did so and have now had two calls from separate individuals wanting to talk to me about their company. Basically they are MLM (Herbal Life and Usana) and they want me to be on their downline. Right now, I am involved in Mona Vie and I'm not really doing much with it. Let's face it, I am not a salesperson really. I believe in the product, I love it actually but I don't love talking to people about it. I don't want to be that person that no one wants to hang out with because all I talk about is Mona Vie. So, I am trying to find another way to make some money at home so that my husband does not have to work himself to death to support us. I've decided to get back to writing, which is slow going and might never make any money but it's worth a go.

the beginning of the birthday celebrations...

Zander officially turns two on Thursday so we started the birthday celebrations this weekend, having my Mom and Step-Dad, Brother and sister-in-law and niece and nephew over for dinner on Sunday. What a busy day Sunday turned out to be! Grace and I went to church while the boys stayed home and cleaned up. When I got home, I made lunch, fed Zander and Grace, ate quickly and started cooking dinner. I made a chicken pot pie earlier this week and Stephen requested it for dinner and it was a hit! The kids had a blast playing with all of Zanders toys and stuff and Zander got a couple of great gifts. Nanny and Poppy (my mom and step-dad) got him a cool toy jeep, and Uncle Jack, Aunt Amnath and the kids got him a Halloween costume, which I love!!!! I was out looking for a costume for him this past week and couldn't find anything for him, not to mention that I had no clue what to dress him up as. Problem solved! This year Zander is going to be Ratatouille. Sounds silly but he looks so stinkin cute in the costume, I can't wait for him to wear it! I'll have to post a picture later, hopefully I can figure out how to make it small.... So other than that, not much else is new. I was hit with a great idea on what to blog on, concerning my kids, last night but the idea has flown the mental coop. Maybe it'll come back to me later! Hope everyone is having a great Monday morning!

Last Friday's outting

Last Friday I headed out to Guelph to visit my Mom and to check out the new Bath and Body Works store. I hadn't been to Stone Road Mall in a while so I was really surprise by how much it has changed. It turned out to not be a great day to be out with the kids. When we got to the mall, the stroller was a bugger to push and Grace decided she didn't want to be in the stroller. So my mom carried her for a bit and then she just wasn't happy so we had to go change her, and of course, the bathroom was way back where we started from. The Family washrooms at Stone Road Mall are not very "family friendly". Right from the time we approached, I knew it was going to be a pain in the neck. Problem number one: The door opens inward but you have to turn the door knob first. I am sure that this is good for parents that have toddlers so that they can't escape but the door is heavy enough that they couldn't pull it open themselves. Problem number two: once the door is open, there is a wall directly across from the wall but it is not far enough away to push a double stroller in without hitting it while turning. Problem number three: It was hotter than hell in there! I think someone thought it was a sauna, not a washroom. Problem number four: the change table is one of those nifty ones that looks like a large, very shallow sink but it was on a counter that was very high and they set them back from the edge of the counter pretty far. Now I am only five foot one or so and it was awkward for me to use it. Whoever designed this washroom needs to go to Limeridge Mall in Hamilton and check out their family washroom. It's not perfect but the parts that are most necessary are great. After doing a quick bum change, we trekked down the mall to find B&BW, and as I figured, there was no negotiating the store with a double stroller so I parked it at the front of the store. Mom carried Grace and I walked Zander. It would have been fine but all these ladies started oohing and aahing about how cute Zander is and of course, he turns into shy boy and won't walk. So I pick him up and check things out, all the while keeping his curious little hands away from the shelves. He likes to pick things up off the shelf and throw them on the floor which would be alright in this store because most of the bottles are plastic, but it wasn't so great in the wine shop at the grocery store a month or so back.... But that's another post altogether. I ended up leaving the store quickly and empty handed, except for a toddler, a unco-operative double stroller and a screaming infant. I forgot that my shopping days are done, or rather limited to the grocery store and Wal-Mart.

When will I learn!?!?

It never fails that when I tell someone that Zander has slept through the night, he fails to do so that very night. So why bother telling anyone? Well, if someone tells me that I look more rested, or not as tired, I tell them that I was only up with Grace and not with Zander. I am sure that one of these days he will just get back into a normal sleep mode but I am afraid it will never come. A friend told me that her kids are five and three and she is still getting up at night with them! YIKES!!! I need my sleep. Today should be a fun day, I am heading over to visit my Mom and go to the New Bath and Body Works store. I am so excited because I don't have to go to the states anymore to get my fix, but I am weary because I have to push my stupid double stroller around the mall and likely there won't be much room to move around the store. I guess I'll just have to bring Zander's backpack harness and hope that Mom can "walk" him! LOL I know that there are some people who think that harnessing your kid is mean and/or dangerous, but I feel it would be less safe for him to be wandering around with me chasing him and trying to take care of baby Grace too. Anyway, he loves his little doggy backpack even wanting me to put it on him just around the house. Well, I should go and finish the laundry, get Gracie changed and get ready to go see Mom.

Birthday #2 is almost upon us!

It is just amazing how time flies. You don't really notice it until you have kids I swear! I sometimes feel like I just found out I was pregnant with Zander and now he is turning two! So you know what I am up to the next few weeks. Birthday party planning and hunting for a great gift from Mommy and Daddy and baby sister. We were looking at doing his party at this indoor kids playground but it looks like it is almost completely booked the weekend before his birthday and the weekend after won't work, unless we do something at home with my mom and brother and do the party at the playground with DH's family the next weekend. We'll see! But what to get for a two year old!?!? Not only am I doing that, but I am looking for an exersaucer for Grace. I put her in one yesterday and today and she seems to really like it, so I have to add that to the list. Probably the easiest way to get an exersaucer is to order it online and have it delivered. They are far too big to fit into the car... maybe it is time for us to get a van. *sigh* There was a time when I swore I would never drive a minivan but it looks like I am going to eventually have to give in. There is only so much that can fit in the back of the cruiser and right now, the double stroller has permanent resident status. (and that is a whole other post to come!) So, suggestions for birthday gifts would be appreciated.... if there is anyone out there!!!!

Baby chat....

It's amazing how two children can be so very different. My son was a pretty quiet baby, except for when he screamed and then he was so loud he could wake the dead! My baby girl on the other hand seems to be a non-stop chatterbox lately. It only really started the last couple of days, but she coos and goos and shrieks! Not screaming in a demanding forceful kind of way but a happy, look at me kind of shriek. DH and I have to laugh when she is sitting in the bouncy chair or on someone's lap and she just starts. It's like she is trying to tell us something and the look on her face is just so cute! I took some video which I will have to post on here. I am sure the Grandparents will appreciate seeing it.

Another nearly sleepless night

Once again, Zander was all messed up last night. I swear I was up from about midnight until about 2 trying to get him to go back to sleep and then was up for a feeding at 4. Luckily I was able to get in a nap this afternoon, although to be honest, I feel worse than if I had just stayed awake. Today was speech therapy today, which was alright. It's funny sitting there while the therapist tries to get Zander to speak by playing with toys, books and bubbles. He did actually attempt a word today, which was cool. His word of choice is again, but today he said "more" instead. He also attempted to say star, circle, square, and angle. (as in triangle) He says these words at home so it was no suprise to me. He has also attemped to say clock and he can say shoes. It seems weird to me to be writing about my son's "speaking" but for a time there we were so worried that he wasn't going to talk at all, so this is progress!!! Now if we could work on the sleeping, it would be a wonderful world indeed!

I've jinxed myself...

by talking about how Zander had slept in his bed two nights in a row without waking up and screaming. Well, we paid for that last night by him waking up at 3am and refusing to go back to sleep. I sat with him for a while and then he woke up the baby so I had to go and tend to her, which meant that Stephen had to get up and try to get Zander to quiet down and go to sleep. No such luck. After I finished feeding Grace and got her back down to sleep, I returned to Zander's room, where he was simultaneously yacking Stephen's ear off and jumping on him like a deranged mini-wrestler. I told him to go back to bed and tried my hand at getting Zander to go back to sleep. It was like getting a Mexican jumping bean to be still. Eventually, he succumbed to the sandman but only after cajoling, snuggling and a back rub from me. By the time I got back into bed it was 5:30am, only an hour and a half before baby's next feeding. I am theposter child for sleep deprivation!

What in the world?

I try not to panic but it does really seem like the world is going to hell in a hand basket. I'm not totally surprised really, and one of the reasons I was a bit leery of having children was precisely because of the crazy spiral this world is in. Today I heard that the stock markets took a major hit today, falling some 700 points or so each! So what does this mean? Well, I'm no finance expert but it ain't good! I've been having a bad feeling that we are headed into a major recession if not a depression to rival the 1920's. I'm not being a pessimist here, I am really hoping that the gov'ts find a way to avoid a complete crash but judging what happened today, I would have to say that we could be in big trouble. So what does this have to do with my kids? Well, a lot actually! My husband works in the construction business and when the economy goes for a dive, construction is one of the first industries that suffers. He's the sole bread winner of the family, you do the math! I guess all we can do is save our pennies and pray!

Children change everything....

Every day! For weeks, I've been planning a day trip to visit a friend that I went to college with. I was all set yesterday, with detailed directions, what I was going to pack for the kids, what time I was going to leave, what I was going wear! DH got off work early yesterday so we decided to take Zander to the park and then go over to the mall to wander aimlessly. The park is always a big hit with Zander! When we finished up at the park, Zander was surprisingly easy to get in the car seat... usually he fights to stay! Right then, I should have realised something was up. We headed over to the mall, got the huge (pain in the neck) double stroller out and went in. Zander likes to walk around the mall so the stroller is just back up. We weren't there for more than five minutes when he was saying "Up?" , so I stuck him in the stroller and he rode along happily... clue number two that something is amiss. After a quick, unproductive tour of the mall we decide to go out for supper. Zander is pretty good in restaurants so we didn't think it would be an issue. We got to our table and he didn't want to sit in the highchair. We even had crayons, cheerios and cranberries and ordered him a chocolate milk, but he just wanted to sit in my lap. The clues just keep coming! He didn't even want a drink of my pop! We finally decided that he was being a bit too whiney and that we didn't want to disturb other diners so we packed up and headed home. When we got home, DH got Zander out of the car seat and said, "He's pretty warm eh?" I asked him if he was sure and he replied that he was burning up. Once we got inside, we checked his temperature and it was 100.8 F! Low grade fever, nothing to worry about. Five minutes later it was 101.5 F. When Zander went into his room and crawled into bed without us prompting, I knew that he was definitely not feeling well. After a dose of Ad.vil, and a bit of a snooze, DH went in to check on him. He pretty much bounced out of bed and seemed like he was back to normal! What's with that??!!??! We got him fed and put him back to bed at 8:30... he protested but he stayed in bed! I checked on him at 10 and he was sweating but not feverish. He woke up a couple of times last night but he went back to bed on his own and slept until 8 this morning! I figured he was ok to make the visit to my friend afterall but I called her and her boys have bad colds! Looks like we'll be staying home today...

been a while:

So, I've been slacking off when it comes to doing my Blog... big surprise! So much is going on around here I don't even know where to start! We finally got Zander a new bed so that Grace could have the crib. And it's been a nightmare! He will not sleep through the night. I know that he used to wake up in his crib but he would just go back to bed. Now he gets out of bed and stands at the door screaming his head off. We don't close his door, we have a gate across so that we can peak in on him if we feel the need. Luckily he doesn't wake up Grace when he does this. He wakes us up and both DH and I are feeling it! It's hard enough that I get up a couple of times a night to feed the baby but when I am getting up another couple of times to put Zan back to bed and sometimes sitting with him to make sure he's asleep, it makes the next day very difficult! Not only are night times difficult, but now naptime for him is almost non-existant! Yesterday I was so frustrated because he was being super whiney that I finally put him in his bed, and shut the door! He cried and yelled for about 15 minutes but then fell asleep. I guess during the day, this is what I will have to do. I hate doing it though, listening to your little boy so upset is difficult, but I guess it's either that, or lose my mind! I've been so tired lately and in a way, I've done it to myself. Friday night, I had a night out with my BFF. We took the train into the T-dot and went to the NKOTB concert. Laugh all you like, but it was a great show and I wish I could go again, although it would be awesome to go in the afternoon so I am not up until 1:30 am. My DH got off lucky that night. The baby ate at 8:30 pm and was happy and cooing until she fell asleep at 10 or so. She didn't wake up to eat again until just after one, when I was on my way home. Luckily we had lots of milk pumped and Daddy could feed her. When I got home, I went straight for the pump! Missing two feedings can make a woman very uncomfortable. DH didn't mind it so much as I was starting to resemble Pamela Anderson, if you know what I mean! Anyway, we are still trying to catch up on missed sleep but it's just not happening... Any other moms out there have a struggle the the crib to bed transition????

The things we do....

for our kids! Last night when we put Zander down to bed, we were amazed that he didn't make a fuss at all. An hour or so later when we were getting ready for bed, DH (dear hubby) decided to check on him to make sure that he was actually in bed. Once in the room, he felt that Zander was sleeping awkwardly so he moved him a bit and covered him up with a blanket. (what a sweet daddy.) On the way out of the room, instead of stepping over the gate, he accidentally kicked it down, scaring the heck out of Grace and I, (we were on the rocking chair in her room, feeding time!) and of course, waking up Zander. It took him about half an hour or more to finally go back to sleep. Now because of the way that our house is laid out, DH and I have the smallest bedroom in the house. We took the small room because it is closest to the back door and DH can leave for work through that door. For some reason, the last few weeks, he has been using the door closest to the kids bedroom. (WT???) It hasn't been an issue until now. This morning, Zander heard Daddy leave for work and woke up but managed to stay quiet and I think slept a bit longer. When Grace work me up at six this morning to eat, I thought he was asleep but after I left her room and crawled back into bed, I could hear him over the monitor. I figured he would go back to bed but by seven he was standing at the gate screaming his head off. Good thing Grace slept through all that noise! So today, I feel like I've had a full day and it's only 2:30-ish. Oh and one other "cherry" to top off the dae... We did a trip to Walmart today to pick up a harness for walking Zander (LOL) and some stuff to go along with his "school" stuff and when I got back out to the car, it would not start! And we just go the stupid thing back from the mechanic... It seems like it is the battery, and hopefully that is all it is, although if it was something that meant we'd have to get a new vehicle, I wouldn't be too upset. ;)

Is Zander a big boy???

This past Friday we finally got Zander a new bed. Grace is far too big for her bassinet, she kept flailing her arms and waking herself up when she hit the sides, so we decided it was time for her to be in the crib, which would mean Zander needed a new bed. We picked out a simple frame and mattress from Ikea hoping that it would be something that he would like. Stephen's parents picked it up for us and brought it to our place when they came for dinner. When I was moving the crib out of Zander's room, he was happily helping me push it out into the baby's room. I don't think he really understood what was going on. When Mom and Dad P got here, they told us that the frame was not in stock but they got the mattress. So we decided to just put the mattress on the floor for now. Zander thought it was so much fun, bouncing on it and laughing... until bedtime. Friday night was not fun! We decided that the only way to keep him in the room was to put the gate across, we'd still be able to see him if necessary. For about an hour Zander stood at the gate a cried... and screamed. Stephen went in and laid down with him for a bit and he seemed alright but every time Stephen would leave the screaming would start all over again. Finally at about 12:30, Zander fell asleep... but then Grace woke up at 1:00 to feed. She woke up again at 3:30 and 6:30... when I was heading back to bed after 6:30, I heard a thump and then Zander started wailing... he had rolled off the mattress. Stephen went into the room and fell asleep with him for an hour or so and then came back to bed. At 8:30, Zander was up for the day. We decided to go to the mall and let Zander walk around hoping he would wear himself out and thus, would nap in his bed. He fell asleep in the car on the way home, stayed almost asleep when we brought him in the house and slept on his bed for about half an hour. We were dreading bedtime on Saturday night. We decided to try something else. He had a bath, we changed him into his bedtime diaper and pjs and we both sat on his bed and read him a story... twice. Then we gave him a kiss goodnight, let him turn off the light and give us hugs and then put him into bed. We put up the gate and left the room. And the screaming started again. This time he lasted only 45 minutes before all went quiet. When we checked on him a little later, he was laying on his bed asleep. BONUS! Unfortunately, on Sunday he did not nap. We thought he was but discovered that he was actually playing all the while. That night we put a latch on the toybox so he coudn't get into it. And wouldn't you know it, he went to bed with no problems! Naptime today was another screamfest until I finally went in and very sternly told him to "Get into bed right now!" I got him to lay down, covered him with a blanket and didn't hear a peep for a couple of hours. Hopefully tonight and tomorrow he just goes down without a fight!

What a difference a night of sleep makes

Last week I was starting to feel like myself again and I know it is because I was able to get more sleep with Grace starting to do longer stretches, so I was in a bit of a panic this week feeling like I was sliding backwards. Yesterday though, I decided to be proactive and make Grace stick to a three hour schedule during the day. Well, IT WORKED! After her 10pm feeding last night, she slept until about 3:30 and after that feeding, I was back in bed by 4-ish, (I must have dozed off a bit while feeding) thinking that it would be great if she would last until 7. She woke me up at ten after! She fell back to sleep and Zander woke me up at quarter to nine. So I think that I got about 9 hours of sleep last night and I feel like my old self. Motivated, (sort of) and positive! Tomorrow we meet with the teacher from A+ to get the tools to get our kids learning. I can't wait!!! I am so excited to get my hands on this stuff and start getting Zander learning even more. He is pretty smart if I do say so myself. I love showing him the shapes and alphabet games on Fisher-price.com but even more, I love looking at his books and hearing him say the sounds of some of the letters before I do! He knows "S", "R", "O", "A", "X". Yeah, I'm bragging! LOL I am sure he has just memorized the sounds and doesn't really know what he is saying, but this A+ program will help us fix that. I can't wait to get started... have I mentioned I am excited about it? I only wish we had learned about it sooner, apparently there are aspects of the program that you can begin at 27 weeks of pregnancy, and they contacted us before Grace was born! That will teach me to procrastinate! I'll have to blog on our progress... if anyone reads this thing!

Hope rings up....

Yesterday I was feeling a little blue and beating myself up about Zander not being able to say much yet. Typical me... LOL Anyway, I made a phone call to Talking Tots, which is a place here that connects kids to a speech therapist if there are concerns. Of course, I get an automated answer, (which I hate, since when did human's become unable to direct calls?) and I end up leaving a message about our file. We had been referred to them by the nurse practitioner that is caring for our kids. The called back and informed me that Zander was at the top of the wait list and that they were going to call me! The good news is that Zander has an appointment on Monday with a therapist to see what is going on with him. And to top that, we got a call today from Z+ Child development telling us that we have been accepted into their program! I feel so much better knowing that there is help on the way. I know that none of this is a coincidence and that God hears all my prays for my kids... even the ones in the form of tears.

Are we doing something wrong?

One of my biggest fears about being a parent is that I am somehow failing my kids. The especially comes into play when it comes to our son. He is now 22 months old and is not really talking. I try not to stress about it, but I feel like it is my fault. I do read to him, admittedly not as much as I should, and we don't talk baby talk with him. It's really started to bother me after reading articles on toddler milestones and realizing that at this age he "should" have about 50-75 words that he is using regularly. The reality is that he has about 10 if he's lucky, although I know that he understands a heck of a lot more than that. I know that he is recognizing letters as well... we have an alphabet book that I read to him and he can flip through the pages and says some of the letters on the right page. He is obsessed with the alphabet right now! He plays it over and over on his leap pad, looks at the alphabet book over and over and plays with his alphabet fridge magnets. oh, and he loves the ABC's Zoo Game on fisher-price.com . To top it all off, we had a woman here this weekend from a company called A+ Child development. She gave us some info on their program and asked us some questions about Zander's development. I felt so horrible not being able to tell her for sure if Zander knows his shapes, colours, numbers to ten, body parts etc. I mean, how am I supposed to know what he is supposed to know? Ok, not the greatest excuse, but alternatively, it's not like he can tell us that's a triangle or that's red. We look at his shapes book a lot and often when we are doing something, I'll tell him the colour of the things we are playing with or looking at. Is it having any effect? I have no idea. I really hope that he starts talking soon, I'm starting to worry that there is something wrong! With Grace, apparently I am supposed to be reading to her, telling her nursery rhymes (if I can remember them) and saying the alphabet, counting, telling her what things are, including colors and shapes, some of this stuff I didn't do with Zander and he's now almost two! According to the study info we were given, parents should be doing certain things doing pregnancy to ensure that their child's brain is developing in a way that gives them a head start. HELLO, WHY DOESN'T SOMEONE TELL YOU THIS STUFF WHEN YOU ARE PREGNANT? And why don't they give you some info at checkups to say, by the next appointment, this is what your kid should be doing and this is how you can help them. The doctor doesn't even have to tell people, just give them a hand out so they at least have the info. Now, I am not going to try to point at someone else and blame them for my lack of knowledge but hello? A little help here???? Am I the only one that feels this way?!?!?
And if you are reading these blogs please comment!

To Sleep... To Dream

It's amazing that when Grace sleeps for a four hour stretch at night, I feel different. Last night she did two four-hour stretches, which meant that I got six hours of sleep between 9:30pm and 5:30am. Stephen has taken this week off work so he got up with Zander at 7:30 and let me sleep until Grace was screaming to eat. Which was at about 9am so all told, I got about 8.5-9 hours of sleep. I can't tell you how I feel! Human? Anyway, I am not sure what is up with the Zan-man, it's really unusual for him to be waking up so early. When we were away over the weekend, it sort of made sense, the room that he slept in had sheers on the window so he was waking up with the morning light. At home though, his room is pretty dark so we figured he would get back to sleeping until eight or nine. No such luck! Grace also wakes up around 7ish because her room is definitely too bright in the morning but usually she is happy to be in her swing and konks back out for another hour or so. I'll be so happy when she is finally sleeping for at least six hours at night!

Just when you think it's safe....

One of the great things about babies is that they are all different. Each one teaches you something new, and Grace is no exception. Along with learning all the great things that I have read to figure out how to live with a high demands baby, I've also learned that with her, a clean diaper is an invitation to her to empty out her bowels. I kid you not, if her diaper is already wet, she will not poop in it. Five minutes after the application of a clean diaper, it is no longer clean. And let me telly you, if it's not changed shortly after, she will let you know that she is not impressed and she will do it very loudly. Who knew that such racket could come out of 11 pounds of cute and cuddly baby girl? Another thing I've learned or rather relearned, is that nothing lifts a Mommy's spirits faster than a baby grin. Which I often receive right after I've gotten rid of that dirty diaper.... speaking of which.... it's diaper changing time!

our family so far

In the beginning it was just Stephen and I. Then we got a little dog named Parker Alexander Downsview Boy. He is a pure bred Yorkshire terrier. We only had our "fur-baby" for a few months when he was frightened by a small boy, and from that day forward, feared children. We didn't think that this would be a problem because at that time, we weren't having kids. Oh but how time (and God) changes our thoughts and plans! In February 2006, we found out we were expecting. It wasn't that big of a surprise, we had decided to try for a baby. It didn't take long! After our son was born, the dog did pretty well. He seemed to adapt to having this little stranger in the house after an adjustment period. And then he snapped at the baby. So we decided that the best thing for Parker was to go to a new home and the only place I'd be happy to see him was at my Dad's. They were more than willing to "adopt" him and he is happily living with them and their Yorkie, "Freeland." For almost one year, Zander was our entire universe. And then a funny thing happened. Stephen was away working in the states and the company he works for paid for me and Zander to fly down to visit for a week. It was a pretty good week of shopping, and sightseeing. A week after I got home, I discovered that I was pregnant! I immediately called Stephen and told him that Zander was going to be a big brother. He was very excited! On June 28th, Grace was born. (see first post for details) And that is our family so far. I say so far, not because we are planning to have more children but likely because my husband will convince me that a dog is a good idea. Unless I can convince him that travel is impossible with a dog!

Are we in for PPD?

If you are not familiar with the acronym PPD, it stands for Post-Partum Depression, and a lot of women get it in varying degrees. So, just to inform, there are the baby blues, which is typical for the first couple of weeks after giving birth and usually disappears after 14 days. Then there is PPD, which is a little more serious and can last for a long time and if untreated it can become the worst of all, Post-Partum Psychosis. I figured I'd have some kind of baby blues, I mean, I have a history of serious depression and having a baby is a seriously life-changing event. With my son, it was ok because I was able to sleep whenever he did and all I really had to do was take care of him, do some housework and take care of myself. This time however is a whole new ball of wax. It's harder to get the sleep I need, it's definitely harder to go out anywhere and the stress is a little bit higher. I mean, I'm completely responsible for two little lives now! That's a lot to take on. I am obviously not alone in this adventure, but because I am breastfeeding, it's not like my husband can take on a night feeding for me. Ok, yes, I can pump but at the same time, to me, it doesn't seem right to ask my hubby who works 10 hours a day to get up in the middle of the night to do a feeding. He works in a place where he needs to be completely aware so sleep deprivation on the job is dangerous. So, here I am exhausted and on the brink. I've been taking some steps to avoid falling into the pit of a full blown episode but apparently I should have been getting myself prepared for this BEFORE Grace was born because most programs have a long wait list. I seem to be better over the weekends when Stephen gets up when Zander wakes and lets me get some more zzs but it doesn't last. The public health nurse was here yesterday (they are wonderful) and she seems to feel that I am heading in the right direction but I am worried that in the time it takes to get into a program, it could be a little too late. I am trying so hard to think positive, to focus on other things, to motivate myself to get out of the house but the thought of getting two kids into the car, with all the necessary paraphenalia is daunting. And then the thought of being caught out and having to feed the baby makes me cringe. With Zander it was so easy, he was quick and quiet... this little girl is messy and loud and takes her sweet time. I don't want to rush a second of their precious lives but I can't wait until this stage is done. Now if I could figure out how to manouever the damn stroller, I'd be on a roll.

The second child?

I had thought that the second child would be easier to take care of than the first. I mean, it's old hat now right? WRONG! My son was pretty easy. He was, and mostly still is, a very happy, independent little dude. I don't know if it's because she is a girl, but she seems to be more demanding and somewhat of a drama queen. LOL She's got the greatest little lip quiver I've ever seen... and she seems to know when to use it! I am not sure why I thought the second would be easier, I mean, it's not just that you have a baby, but you also have a toddler to care for at the same time. I never even thought of that! Silly, I know. I mean what did I think, that I was going to have another baby and magically the first one would care for himself? Duh! Now that Gracie is over four weeks old and we've moved her into her own room, I am hoping that the quality of sleep that I get will improve. Likely it won't because I'll have one ear and one eye on the baby monitor all night long, but at least Stephen will get better sleep. He won't really hear all her grunting and groaning after each feeding. I swear, it doesn't matter how much you burp her, she's still gassy. Luckily she does know how to work it out herself if we can't get the bubbles out during burp time, so we don't have bouts of screaming in agony. Ok, we've had a couple but nothing that a good backrub, or worst case scenario, a couple of drops of oval can't get out. Now if we could find a "magic" potion to get the kids to nap at the same time during the day, we'd be all set. As I speak Grace is (somewhat) happy in her bouncer and Zander should be getting up from his nap at any time now. And then it's off to the library to pick up a copy of "The Happiest Baby on the Block" and "The Happiest Toddler on the Block". I'll let you know if they help!

Two words....

Sleep deprivation. I am sure that most moms with a newborn and a toddler can relate to this term. When I had my son, it was so much easier. I could nap when he did, so it wasn't too difficult to get up in the middle of the night to do feedings. I should have realized that with him now 21 months old, I wasn't going to have the same opportunities to sleep throughout the day. And it was pretty naive to think that I could get the kids to nap at the same time. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. To make it even more interesting, Grace has decided that she is not going to go to sleep after feeding at 10pm. Even after keeping her awake for most of the time between her 7pm and 10pm feeding, she is still raring to go! I don't get it. Rather, I am getting it. I myself am more of a night time person, I especially enjoy the middle of the night when the rest of the world is so quiet. I can think without interruption and tend to be more creative at this time of day... maybe that is when I should be blogging. As I speak, the swing is rocking away and Zander is eating lunch... I think. Best go check and make sure the dining room floor isn't covered in corn and whatnot.

here is the story of Grace Emileen Agnes, birth. She was due on Tuesday June 24th but I think she was just too happy in there so she decided to hang around a while. On Wednesday, I went to see the midwife for a regular check up and we discussed doing a stretch and sweep. I'll not go into details but let's just say, we did it, it was uncomfortable and there was no guarantee that it was going to work. That night, I started having mild contractions with no discernible pattern, but we called Sarah anyway to let her know what was going on so that if necessary, she could make arrangements to get here fast. She was so excited she said that she was on her way. We watched a waste of a movie, "Fools Gold" which would be enough to turn anyone off, and I guess it turned Grace off because my contractions all but stopped! I went to bed and on Thursday morning, things started again at 5 am and were pretty consistant but then dropped off part way through the day and didn't start up again. Sarah spent the day with us and on Friday morning when nothing seemed to be happening, she went into work. She said she would be back for the weekend, which turned out for the best. Friday night, the contractions started again and occasionally changed patterns but were pretty consistant... They'd change when I would get into the hot bath, but then would eventually get back into a pattern. Around 11:30 we paged the midwife and she came over to see what was happening. I wasn't dilated all that much so she gave me a shot of gravol and told me to get some sleep. At around 1:30 or so, I couldn't sleep through the contractions anymore and rather than wake up the entire house, decided to get back into the hot bath, the time between contractions initially stretched out but then they were back to about 6 minutes apart. So I got out of the tub and woke up Sarah... After about half an hour of contractions every six minutes, we paged the midwife again and told her what was going on... did I mention that my contractions were about 1.5-2 minutes long? Just another way God made me special! LOL (they're usually only 45 seconds to a minute long at first) She told me that things sounded like they were moving along but she wanted me to hold off a bit longer, which made Stephen nervous so she talked to him and explained that there was nothing to worry about, we wanted to make sure that I was in true labour. Back into the tub I went and the contractions were now about 3 minutes apart no matter what, and at one point, I burst into tears. I think I was excited and scared all at the same time. We paged the midwife again and she came over to see what was what... I was sitting on the exercise ball breathing the best I could... Before she could check to see what was going on, my water broke. What a weird feeling that is... She quickly checked and determined that I was a good four cm dilated and that we should get things ready to go. Stephen and Sarah packed up the car, called our parents, woke up Zander and got him in the car, locked down the house and got me in the car to go... We stopped in Ancaster to give Zander to Grandma Jane and then we headed to McMaster. It was a fast drive! LOL The midwife got there ahead of us and had everything set up and ready to go. From that point it's a bit of a blur. I was determined not to get an epidural but did beg for one a few times. :) At one point, my back was so sore and I couldn't get any relief no matter how I sat, stood, lay whatever. One pain management options is called Sterile Water Injections.... and it's exactly what it sounds like. They take four small needles of sterile water and inject them into four spots on your back... with two midwives, it only takes a few seconds to do all four. I agreed to do it and I am sure that they heard me screaming in Guelph. IT HURT LIKE HELL for the first 30 seconds, but after that, I was fine... the contractions weren't as bad and my back didn't hurt any more. At around 2 or so, they checked to see how dilated I was because I was begging for an epidural... I was 9cm dilated but there was a problem.... called an anterior lip. Which means all of the cervix was completely thinned out except for this little tiny piece. Until that was gone, I wasn't going to hit ten centimeters. Oh and this is the hardest part of labour too, going from 8-10 cm is called transition and it is hell. Usually it doesn't last that long but I was in transition for a couple of hours or more.... We tried pushing the lip over the baby's head but it kept snapping back! Finally they said ok, let's do the epidural but by that time, I was getting the urge to push.... I was told to breath through it, and for the most part I could but other times, I couldn't stop my body from pushing. What an amazing, bizarre feeling that is. They gave me the epidural and then checked to discover that I was 10 cm and the lip was gone. They then decided to hold off on getting me to push until I could get some rest. So everyone took a break, we turned down the lights and "rested". LOL At 6 the midwife said, ok, let's try pushing... So we tried on the birthing chair, (which is very difficult when you are numb from the waist down.) sitting on the bed, and lying on my side. At first, it seemed like we were getting somewhere.... and then nothing... After 2 hours the midwife could see a bit of the baby's head but she wasn't moving. So they called in the OB. He checked and said that we have a problem... this baby isn't coming out. Our only option was to do a c-section. THE ONE THING I DIDN'T WANT TO DO. The problem was, no matter what, the baby was stuck. So, we said ok, I mean what else could I say? Just leave her in there? They came back in at 10 to get us and we went into the OR. The anesthetist put extra freezing in my epidural, did all the checks to make sure I was completely frozen and they started the surgery after bringing Stephen in. And then I yelped. I could feel what they were doing, and not just the pressure, but pain. So they tried another freezing which turned my body from a shaking freezing mass to a warm, flushed still body. Again they started and again I cried out. The anesthetist was so upset... He told me over and over, that they didn't want me to be asleep when this baby was born. But they had no choice, they told me I was going to have to be put under a general anesthetic. I started to cry... I didn't get to see or hear my little boy being born and now I wasn't going to get to see or hear my little girl. I was devastated. They put the mask on my face as my tears dripped onto the floor and then I heard that Stephen was going to have to leave the OR. I cried even harder, knowing that he was going to miss out on the whole thing... At least with Zander they only knocked me out with some ketamene in my IV so he could stay, but his time, they were putting me right out, with a breathing tube and all so he would have to leave. I was terrified that I wasn't going to wake up. The next thing I knew, I was in recovery and my husband was standing there with the baby... I had never been so happy to see two people in my whole life. As much as the last part of this story was crappy, and I could have avoided all of this by just scheduling a section the moment I found out I was pregnant, I have to say that the labour experience is incredible. I was so proud of myself for at least trying because we believed at the time, that there was no reason why I couldn't deliver naturally. As it turns out, I have what they call a narrow pelvic arch and the evidence of that is the bruise and blister on the back of my baby's head, where she was rubbing up against bone every time I pushed. Thankfully, my midwife was on the ball, and the doctors took care of us. We have a healthy and beautiful (although I am biased.) little girl. She was born at 10:49pm on June 28th and her name is Grace Emileen Agnes... She weighed in at 7lb 5oz and was 21 inches long.