The new "New Moms" thread!

[ImarriedGrumpy]

Wow, Becky! What a great gift! That's awesome!!!

We've been splitting up Owen's vaccinations, so today we took him in for part 2 of the 4 month vaccines. He was supposed to go in 2 weeks ago, but he had a cold so we held off until he was over that. He's having a little more of a reaction around the injection site than usual - it's bled a little more than the others have, and he seems to be extra sensitive to pressure or laying on that side. He doesn't want to nurse laying on that side, and flinches when he gets his diaper changed, poor bug. Tylenol is our friend...

The good news is that he's up to 25% for weight, finally! Woo hoo! He was 15lb11oz fully clothed, so we're estimating that he's right around 15lbs.

Air quality is supposed to be better tomorrow. Today it's still in the "moderate" range, but it's no longer "dangerous for sensitive individuals". We won't make it to the beach this week, but we should at least be able to get out and go for a walk.

 

[kellyf2626]

Denise - So sorry to hear about your cat. How is your other cat doing?

Becky - What a great gift!! I sooooooooo want to get it! I keep telling DH about it - how I would be looking ever so fit-and-trim if we had it. And Happy Birthday!!!

Hope everyone had a nice Memorial Day weekend. DH and I spent it at our lake house - it was Brady's first time there, first time on the boat, lots of firsts! I'll post a few pics below. I thought he would be terrified of the boat - being so loud and the wind in is face. Of course he thought it was awesome - although he didn't think the lifejacket was too awesome.

 

[beckmrk04]

Memorial Day here was spent playing the Wii (me, DH and my sis- well, mostly them since I had a major headache and knocked myself out for most of the day with pain-killers; I was a zombie)- we had plans to go to a big outdoor flea market-type thing in St. Louis, but it rained ALL day. And much of today. I am so sick of rain. I want to get out and use my stroller and enjoy some air!!

kelly- Brady is so cute! Looks like you guys had nice weather!

Bethany- glad the air is improving over there. Hopefully you guys can get out- I hate being stuck in the house. I get completely stir crazy.

 

[Jen_in_NH]

Hi everybody! We spent Memorial Day weekend just chillin. Saturday Brian was working, so Christopher and I went up to see my Gram. Sunday we had a BBQ at our house, and Monday was the day to get errands done. Christopher has the whole creeping thing down to a science - he can be across the room in the blink of an eye. I have no idea how he doesn't have rug burns.

Kelly, which lake are you on? Your pics look like you're just up the street from me (Suncook Lake)

Bethany - hope he's feeling better I always feel bad when they get shots and don't feel good.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

Kelly, Brady looks FABULOUS!

And thanks for the concern about my cats. Disney is just fine. It's as though Jazzy was never there almost. I tell you though, they say that animals can sense death, so maybe he knew long before us that she was going to go and she did, that was that for him. He's doing just fine though and I'm a bit nicer to him. I really pushed them aside when Mo got here and now that one of them is gone...I'm like wow. I did call the Pet Welfare place today and asked some questions about her death and it really helped me out a lot. Today was the first day I really cried about her. From how I described it to the young lady over the phone she said Jazzy either had a heart attack or a stroke and nothing could have been done to prevent it more than likely. I have some peace about that as I said, I wasn't very nice to them over the last few months.

Anyway, had a GREAT Memorial Day weekend and Memorial Day!

 

[kellyf2626]

Thanks everyone!

Jen - we are on Sunset Lake in Hampstead, NH. We love it....not too far from our house, yet it seems like we are sooooooo far away.

 

[ashjohnson80]

We had a good memorial day. we had a little cookout at my parents house. Ellery had a good time,

 

[TiggerStac]

Thanks everyone!

Jen - we are on Sunset Lake in Hampstead, NH. We love it....not too far from our house, yet it seems like we are sooooooo far away.

My father in law lives in hampstead. he does work for a campground thats on a pond/lake. He has a seasonal site on the campground, then his apartment for the rest of the year is in a mutli family house right outside the park. Landscaping/gardening is such his thing and now that he's retired he's out at our house before/after DS6's baseball games and works on our yard. Saturday he's bringing me my vegetables already potted, ready to go

 

[TiggerStac]

Ok..

I'm officially in my 2 week wait. I think I'm crazy to think about having kids so close together. Brady will be 2 the end of January and if I get pregnant this month it would be due in feb. Oh my...2 kids so young. Not use to that. At least my oldest will be 7, and he's a huge help.

 

[Pollito916]

Good luck Stacy! I can't believe you're already in the 2ww again!

 

[TiggerStac]

Good luck Stacy! I can't believe you're already in the 2ww again!

Thanks...it's a very scary thought. hopefully it's a quick road like w/DS#1 (first try) and we don't have the issues and trying 2.5+ years for Brady.

 

[beckmrk04]

Ah, Stacy- the 2ww!!! That is so exciting!!

Vaylie had her 15 month check up today. She is in the 50th percentile for height and 25th for weight. Man- she LOATHES the Doctors office. Our ped is totally wonderful and she's really young- but V just despises that place and everyone in it. It's like she remembers- "Oh, yeah- this is the place where ladies jab me with needles. Piss off!!"

The doctor looked in her ear and you would have thought she was ripping her limbs off. I told the Dr.- really, she is a happy easy kid... Just not when we come here.

And I talked to her about V not eating veggies (which bugs me to no end), and she suggested a book called "Food Fights"- so I'm going to look that up. She said at this age it won't hurt her, and I can give her half a gummy vitamin if I'm really worried about it, but she said it's not like you can reason with a 15 month old and you gotta feed them something- so feed her what she'll eat and keep serving the veggies, even if she doesn't eat them.

Ok. Will do.

And tonight, SIL and I are going to the midnight showing of "Sex and the City"!! And I'm totally pumped!

 

[beckmrk04]

S&TC was great! (But I remembered that I am entirely over staying up til 3am- good grief). I have slept half the day away today.

And it is toasty here- finally starting to feel like summer!! I wanted to accomplish a lot of house cleaning and organizing today, but now I'm feeling so laaaazzzyyy. We'll see.

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

I'm going crazy!!! AUUUGGHHH!!!!

Owen is NOT falling asleep for his nap right now, and it's been over an hour. Normally he's pretty good about falling asleep on his own - maybe fusses for 5 minutes, but that's about it. Last night after he woke up to nurse, he talked to himself for about 15 minutes, then SCREAMED for 45 - 60 min. (we lost track of time...). This morning he was so tired he just conked out while we were at Target - 30 minutes before he usually falls asleep for his AM nap - and didn't wake up when I moved him into his own bed.

This afternoon we went through the whole bed time routine as usual, and he talked to himself for about 5 minutes in his bed, and then he just started SCREAMING and SCREAMING and SCREAMING!!! I went in to check on him (like I did last night) to make sure nothing was poking him or pinching him, and like last night we tried changing his diaper and "resetting him" by going through the whole night-night routine all over again, but it just isn't working. Nothing is working. We finally agreed that we just had to let him cry it out, and it's driving me nuts listening to him scream!

DH wants us to go back to using the pacifier again, but we've had 2 weeks now where Owen hasn't used it at all for naps or night time and he's been sleeping so much better without it that I hate to go back to using it again. I'm sure DH is right - all we'd have to do is give Owen the paci and he'd conk out - but before when we used the paci all the time, Owen would cry and cry if it fell out of his mouth, and he would not fall asleep without having the binky in his mouth, so I was constantly getting up to put it back in for him (since he doesn't quite have the coordination to get it in by himself). And frankly, I just couldn't take getting up 5 or 6 times a night to put the darn thing back in the boy's mouth. I told DH that if he wants to be the one getting up in the night, then fine, we can use the pacifier again, but if I'm the one who has to do it then forget it. Owen has had 2 weeks of sleeping just fine without it, and I don't want to go back to using it again.

ARGH! Sorry for the long rant, but this screaming cry is driving me insane! I just want him to go to sleep, but I don't want to undo all the work we've done to help him learn how to fall asleep without us.

Okay, maybe it's DIS magic, but the boy has FINALLY conked out as I've been typing. Or at least he stopped screaming and has been quiet for the last minute.

OY, but I have a headache. I just want to go nap in my mother's day hammock now and leave DH to deal with Owen....

Thanks for listening....

 

[beckmrk04]

Bethany- I don't think there is anything closer to emotional nails on an emotional chalkboard than listening to your baby scream. If it's any consolation, it won't be long before Owen can put the paci back in himself. And that is a holy day, as far as I'm concerned.

V is a paci addict, and I'm fine with it for now. I figure I'll try to break her of it before she turns 13 or so.

Speaking of, V is totally cantankerous today. I'm sure it's because of her shot yesterday. She is always fussy a day or two after her shots. She's not running a fever or anything, but she's just acting like everything is wrong. If it weren't for Elmo ("Melmo"), I'm not sure what I would do. "Melmo" makes everything better, apparently.

Today has been completely and utterly boring, but relaxing. I'm already dreading going back to work. I don't even have to go back until next Wednesday, but the anxiety is already creeping in about it. Ugh.

And tonight it's supposed to storm- we have tornado watches. Maybe we'll have a picnic dinner in the living rooom. Guess I need to go pick up the billion toys littering the floor!

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

Bethany- I don't think there is anything closer to emotional nails on an emotional chalkboard than listening to your baby scream. If it's any consolation, it won't be long before Owen can put the paci back in himself. And that is a holy day, as far as I'm concerned.

V is a paci addict, and I'm fine with it for now. I figure I'll try to break her of it before she turns 13 or so.

Speaking of, V is totally cantankerous today. I'm sure it's because of her shot yesterday. She is always fussy a day or two after her shots. She's not running a fever or anything, but she's just acting like everything is wrong. If it weren't for Elmo ("Melmo"), I'm not sure what I would do. "Melmo" makes everything better, apparently.

Today has been completely and utterly boring, but relaxing. I'm already dreading going back to work. I don't even have to go back until next Wednesday, but the anxiety is already creeping in about it. Ugh.

And tonight it's supposed to storm- we have tornado watches. Maybe we'll have a picnic dinner in the living rooom. Guess I need to go pick up the billion toys littering the floor!

Thanks, Becky. I know this is only temporary - heck, the kid changes every day - but boy, is it stressful! I feel drained just from listening to him scream for the hour.

Picnic dinner in the living room sounds fun! My brother and I did that once when we were 3 and 4 years old...only we did it while our parents were sleeping and we took everything out of the fridge and lined it up in a big train from the kitchen to the living room. And we spread sugar on the carpet to be our picnic blanket...and we smooshed butter all over our hands and used our buttery fingers to pick up sugar from the carpet and eat it.... Our parents were not amused at the time, but it's a popular family story now!

Tomorrow the closet designers/installers are coming to put in gobs and gobs of shelves in our family room closet and finally turn it into a functional space! It's a weird shaped walk-in closet, so we've had mis-matched, cheap-o shelves sort of crammed in there and it wasn't a very efficient use of the space. I get to finally consolidate all my arts and crafts supplies and all my preschool teaching materials into one place when they are done! Thank you, tax return!

Our new laundry area is finished, and DH's new office area in the garage (aka "the man cave" ) is also done, so now we have to go through all the junk we crammed into the rest of the garage and get it sorted, put away, thrown away, given away, or sold. It's a huge mountain of stuff, and it's all covered in construction dust and cobwebs - yuck! But once that is finally done, the house should be mostly ordered and organized again. It's all chaotic and there are piles of junk everywhere right now.

We only have 1200 sq. ft (including the new laundry area and man cave), so we are packed in tight. I wish I could say that we have a zen-like house of minimialist tranquility, but we're cluttery, collecting, book-crazy people. We're trying to get rid of stuff, especially since Owen comes with his own collection of accessories and accoutraments. It doesn't help that DH and I were both in our mid-30's when we got married, and we both had our own furniture, books, dishes, etc. and neither of us wanted to get rid of our own stuff! He didn't like mine, I didn't like his...I told him that since I was moving into his house, he should let me keep my stuff and get rid of all his stuff, but that didn't fly. So instead we negotiated, and in the end we still kept more than we should have.

Owen hasn't slept well this nap. I'm not sure if I should just get him up the next time he fusses a little or let him go back to sleep, since he really didn't fall asleep until 4:00 and he usually naps from 2:45-5:15. I'd hate to have him get out of synch completely and be up late tonight - that doesn't seem like it would help any - but he'll be completely grumpy if he doesn't get more than an hour nap. Well, no one ever said motherhood would be easy....

 

[beckmrk04]

Picnic dinner in the living room sounds fun! My brother and I did that once when we were 3 and 4 years old...only we did it while our parents were sleeping and we took everything out of the fridge and lined it up in a big train from the kitchen to the living room. And we spread sugar on the carpet to be our picnic blanket...and we smooshed butter all over our hands and used our buttery fingers to pick up sugar from the carpet and eat it.... Our parents were not amused at the time, but it's a popular family story now!

Ok, this cracked me up!!! Doesn't it make you wonder what our kids will come up with? Hopefully, NOT this scenario!

We only have 1200 sq. ft (including the new laundry area and man cave), so we are packed in tight. I wish I could say that we have a zen-like house of minimialist tranquility, but we're cluttery, collecting, book-crazy people. We're trying to get rid of stuff, especially since Owen comes with his own collection of accessories and accoutraments. It doesn't help that DH and I were both in our mid-30's when we got married, and we both had our own furniture, books, dishes, etc. and neither of us wanted to get rid of our own stuff! He didn't like mine, I didn't like his...I told him that since I was moving into his house, he should let me keep my stuff and get rid of all his stuff, but that didn't fly. So instead we negotiated, and in the end we still kept more than we should have.
....

I hear ya sister. We only have 1000 square feet! And it seems to shrink dramatically when you bring home a baby. Toy makers should really make that more of a consideration. We do have a full unfinished basement which will double our square footage when we finish it, but that'll be a while. And Mark and I are the same way- we are indeed "cluttery, collecting, book-crazy people" too! I just don't know where to go with all the crap! I mean, we just had a yard sale and made over $300- I thought I got rid of a lot of stuff, but still- everywhere I look is stuff. Sitting on stuff. On top of stuff. Under stuff.

I wish I could do the minimalist thing- nothing on counters, nothing on tables, no clutter. But, that will just never happen. Plus, I kind of like it when a space looks "lived in." Not as messy as my space, perhaps, but maybe there's a happy medium? Someday I'll find it.

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

Ok, this cracked me up!!! Doesn't it make you wonder what our kids will come up with? Hopefully, NOT this scenario!


I hear ya sister. We only have 1000 square feet! And it seems to shrink dramatically when you bring home a baby. Toy makers should really make that more of a consideration. We do have a full unfinished basement which will double our square footage when we finish it, but that'll be a while. And Mark and I are the same way- we are indeed "cluttery, collecting, book-crazy people" too! I just don't know where to go with all the crap! I mean, we just had a yard sale and made over $300- I thought I got rid of a lot of stuff, but still- everywhere I look is stuff. Sitting on stuff. On top of stuff. Under stuff.

I wish I could do the minimalist thing- nothing on counters, nothing on tables, no clutter. But, that will just never happen. Plus, I kind of like it when a space looks "lived in." Not as messy as my space, perhaps, but maybe there's a happy medium? Someday I'll find it.

Glad my childhood adventures could provide some amuesment! I'm sure Owen will come up with crazy stuff when he gets bigger...and if sugar in my carpet is the worst he comes up with, I'll be plenty happy!


Small houses lead to a lot of creativity, don't they? I like a lived in look, too, but I seem to achieve "messy" far more easily than "comfortably lived in". DH still yearns for the zen-like tranquilty of our neighbors, but I don't see him ditching any of his stuff to get there, either! And my goodness, could baby equipment get any bigger?! I've gotten used to folding up the high chair, swing, etc. as soon as we're done with it, but sometimes I dream of being able to just leave it all out without blocking anything!

The main part of our house is a 1914ish, 750sq.ft bungalow with two bedrooms and a "jack and jill" bathroom - the kind that is between the bedrooms and only accessed through the bedrooms. Love the clawfoot tub, but hate the lack of storage space. Decent kitchen redone sometime in the '80's, but with a junky old 1940's era range. Tiny dining room with a cute built-in hutch, and a cramped living room with windows or doors or an arch on every wall, and the two small bedrooms. A queen bed fits in the bedroom, but doesn't leave much space to walk around it...well, at least with all the bookcases we have lining the walls! No two doors or windows are the same in size or design - totally quirky! Unfortunately, the original wood trim has been painted over so many times that it's completely ruined without a ton of restoration work, so all the nice details that used to be hardwood are now painted. Oh well.

DH had an addition put on about 6 or 7 years ago that added an attached garage and a multi-purpose room over it (we call it the upper room). Not a huge addition, but it added about 300 sq. ft of space. And now we've reclaimed about half of the garage and put in a laundry room and a new office space down there. We weren't allowed to put in any actual walls (city building codes ), but we're pretty much using the garage like a basement - no car parked in there now, it's all storage and work space.

We try not to use the upper room too much ourselves, but keep it for guests. We love hosting visiting missionaries, or international students, or college students doing internships in the area. Or anyone else for that matter! It's very fun - we've gotten to know some great people. DH and I love doing these hospitality kinds of things, so we'd hate to give that up, but if we had another child - especially if it's a girl - we might have to. Sigh. If only that lovely victorian house around the corner (with a MIL apartment over the carriage house and a huge wrap-around porch and stained glass windows) would come up for sale...and if only we could afford it if it did!

 

[DisneyDreamer8]

Well my Sister had her baby!!!! She was induced on Tuesday but didn't have Cassidy until 5:05am on Wednesday. She is such a cutie. Lots of hair

Sounds like everyone had a great weekend!!!

I'll catch up more later.....

 

[beckmrk04]

Rebecca- Hooray for new babies!!! I just have to wait until 2010. Gosh that sounds like waaaaayyy in the future, even though it's not *that* far off.

I love it when babies have a ton of hair. I remember once when V and I were at Babies R' Us I was in the "mother's room" nursing her and another lady came in to use changing table, and her baby had the most hair I had ever seen on an infant. Ever. They were clearly not Caucasian, but I don't remember what nationality they were (although I did ask- because, you know, that's what I do). Anywho- their daughter was a month older than V and seriously had the thickest blackest hair- she was flippin' adorable. I told the mom that she made V look bald (and people were always commenting on V's hair- but seriously, compared to this kiddo, she looked a bit sparse).