The new "New Moms" thread!

[Tiggerlover91]

Denise- what happened? I know you had a post there about lights.

I sent you a PM Becky.

 

[ashjohnson80]

Ash, that sucks! At least he won't be off the whole time without pay. My aunt and her DH work at a steel mill near hear (BIG employer in this area), and they just found out that they are all going to be laid off until March.

Can your DH get any sort of unemployment?

Well what really sucks is a couple of months ago they stopped running 3rd shift so DH lost his supervisor/operator position and they offered him another position for much less pay, which he had to take because now is REALLY not a great time to be unemployed. So we've been trying to get other jobs so we can make it through this, but nobody is hiring anyone. So he's going to use his vacation time But what can you do... And everybody is saying the economy is going to get worse before it gets better, it's really scary. All I can do is hope and pray it gets better.

 

[exwdwcm]

hey guys- a chilly 27 here in dallas and icy- we aren't used to that for sure. it was 75 on sunday and 27 the next day. crazy TX weather!

Denise- thanks for sharing all that info- i love learning about it! My DH's boss and best friend are both Jewish. So we have had some experience with the different holidays and traditions. it is always nice to learn about other's lives, traditions and religions. i think lights in Mo's room would be so cute! the lighting of the candles just sounds beautiful.

i left the catholic religion a few years back (after our church treated my mom horribly after a lawsuit against one of her day care workers for child abuse---he is in jail for life, it was drama and the church treated her AWFUL although it was not her fault- the abuse occured in the parents homes after hours). anyways- i miss some of the traditions though- i guess it was so ingrained into me for so many years. We are trying to find another church that we don't feel is so commercial and all about money. In the meantime, we just celebrate at home!

my mom got this really cute "little people" nativity for Will and he loves playing with it, so we are trying to teach him about the meaning.

hope all of you in the NE are doing okay!

my mom got our podcast cruise package for our cruise in May! yeah- my first DCL cruise.

well gotta get back on my conference call. i am at home- Will has RSV and an ear infection. HIs first real illness. he was horrible yesterday- so stuffy, lethargic etc. He had some breathing treatments nad is much better today and back to his normal playful self.

 

[DisneyGirl4188]

Hi All!

We took Spencer to Hollywood Studios yesterday. We got there around 3 and did the Backlot Tour. He liked that (although it seems he does not like when people clap. During the first part people clapped and cheered after the "special effects. That made him cry. However, when we got on the tram he did fine). We were going to try TSM, but the wait was an hour and no FPs. We did a lot of looking around and then saw the Spectacle of Lights. He liked that a lot.

We went to DTD too, but didn't see Santa. Spencer was really tired at that point, so I didn't think it would go too well.

Here are a few pictures. Sorry they are so big; Photobucket is acting up.

 

[Jen_in_NH]

Hi everyone!

Michelle, my sister was telling me about the weather down there. She's in Austin, but originally from NH. You'd think she'd never seen cold, rather than lived through 20 years of it

Becky - isn't it scary watching our babies get bigger? Christopher was running around the house like a wild man, and I had this total realization that he wasn't my little baby anymore.

Denise - I love the idea of putting a menorah and lights in Mo's room. I wanted to put lights in Christophers room, but he's way too interested in the ones around the house already. He's been up the stairs a few times trying to get the lights.

Lachesis - you have a ton more patience than I do. My kid = my rules. It's been interesting with some of DHs relatives that yes, there are things you cannot give my kid. Because I said so. (it takes all of my self control not to add "so there", but I'm trying to be a grown-up )


So Christopher is trying to give me a heart attack. We do not have gates on the stairs (I haven't figured out a way to get them attached). Normally, he won't go up them without one of us with him. Yesterday, I was making dinner, and couldn't hear him. Then I hear banging, a crash, and nothing for like 10 seconds (OK, felt like 10 minutes), then screaming bloody murder. He'd gone up a few stairs to play with the lights, and fell down 3-4 stairs. I think I about died..... So, now I'm really trying to figure out gates without having to keep him out of 1/2 of the house.

 

[DisneyGirl4188]

Michelle, I hope Will gets better fast.

Denise, thanks for sharing. I know a little about Judaism, but I am always interested in learning more. I was raised Methodist (although my mom wasn't very strict about it. I mainly went to church with my grandmother). DH hardly went to church. We plan on introducing all religions and ideals to Spencer and letting him choose what suits him best.

Ash, I know what you are going through. It is next to impossible to find jobs right now. We are so stressed about it. My dad did offer to hire both myself and DH if we move back north. I worked for my dad before and I liked the work, but I don't know if we want to move back (though I do miss my family terribly). If you ever need to talk feel free to PM me.

Lachesis00, I don't think I can repeat what I would be telling those people. DH and I made it very clear no one is to question us. We welcome advice (although everyone knows that we may not take it ) but they will NOT go against what we say.

 

[TiggerStac]

well...we officially got the call. Oldest DS does not have school until 1/5/09!! They will not be going back to school before school vacation starts! Luckily where i bring brady for daycare, he goes for aftercare and he can go there on no school days, so I'm covered. But on an already 30 hours short pay check 2 checks in a row (I'm paid biweekly) I'm going to lose $$ by working now vs covering daycare and some.

UGH!!!

 

[kellyf2626]

Hi ladies! We just got internet back late last night! We were hit really hard with that ice storm last Thursday. We lost power around 11pm on Thursday night, and got it back on Sunday afternoon. It was awful! Our house was 32 degrees!! We packed up on Friday and went to my parents condo. They didn't have power either, but had a gas fireplace that heat their whole place - and they had hot water (we could shower!) and a gas stove that we could cook with. I honestly don't know if Brady even knew anything different was going on! He had a blast at my parents. I put some pics on his blog of the weekend... www.nhbradyboy.blogspot.com

Our area is still hit really hard - the schools are still closed and there is rumor that they might not go back until Jan. 5th! Crazy! The kids must be LOVING this (not so much the parents!)

**********************************************************

Denise - I love hearing about how you celebrate Hannukah! It sounds wonderful! My favorite part about the holidays are all the deeply-rooted traditions that take place outside of all the commercialized "stuff".

DisneyGirl - LOVE the pics of Spencer and WDW!!! He is so cute!! I wish I were going down to see all those beautiful lights and decorations! Brady would love them! Last year we went the day after Christmas....I think in 2010 we are going the first week of December so we can see all the decorations again, but not deal with the crowds!

Michelle - Hope Will is feeling better soon! RSV is no fun at all! LOVE the pics on your blog of Will....the snowman bib is too cute and that family pic is awesome. Looks like he loved the lights!! He is getting to be such a little man!

 

[beckmrk04]

Hey guys- no time to chat, but I was catching up and realized Bethany hasn't been here in a while. Anyone know what's up?

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

Hi again! Boy, I really hate these long spells between catching up with you all. I hope DH's work settles down soon, but it doesn't look like it will happen for another month or two at least. His boss just told him to take on a second merger project, but doesn't want him to cut back on any of the other work he's doing, so DH is feeling swamped. He's working mega long hours, and somehow his extra work hours have translated into more work for me, too. Blech!

But today is Owen's 1st birthday! Hooray! DH is trying to sneak out of work early so we can take our birthday boy to the Children's Museum. We're going to buy a family membership there as Owen's birthday present. We had a good party on Sunday. I had 51 people (including kids) RSVP as attending but only about 35 total showed up, so we had a bunch of extra food. It was still pretty crazy, but I'd kept things pretty simple. We had a craft for the kids - make and decorate their own party crowns - and the church has fooseball and bumper pool tables that kept the bigger kids occupied. Owen totally stuffed his face with his cupcake, and it was so cute!

I am a little bummed that so many of our relatives didn't listen to me on clothing sizes, and they all bought him 12m stuff, which we don't need. I've been telling them this for months now, and asked for 18m or 24m stuff, but instead they all gave us 12m "because he's so small". Yes, he is small, and yes, he wears 12m stuff right now, but we have more 12m clothing than will fit in his dresser, and he doesn't need it. Fortunately, 99% of it came from Carters and still has the tags, and most people also gave us the receipts, so as soon as I can find the time we'll get over there and return what we can and exchange the rest. Oh well. No big tragedy, but a minor frustration that I have more work to do when we're already crazy busy.


And now the really sad news...a little baby from our church who is just a few months younger than Owen is dying. He was born with problems with the blood vessels in his brain and they thought they were able to successfully treat it back in July and he would have very little permanent damage, but 2 weeks ago he started having little strokes and seizures, and the drs now say that even if he could breathe on his own he's had enough brain damage that he would be in a persistant vegetative state. The entire frontal lobe of his brain was without oxygen for so long that there is extensive damage. The drs. recommend taking him off life support, but his family is still struggling with it and praying for a miracle. I've been crying everytime I think about little Nathan and his family. He's one of 8 boys all born in less than a year at our church, and we've done a few play dates with all the little guys together. So that's been hard, and I just snuggle Owen a little longer and want to hold on to him a little tighter these days when I think of it.

But today he's one year old! Hooray for my little prince!

and now to go back and read all of your news and catch up again...hopefully I'll be able to get back on later today and say hi again...

 

[jennyL]

Hi everyone. I haven't been posting here much but I love reading and catching up with everyone.

Now the news. I have a WALKER!!! Yeap he's been cruising around the furniture for awhile and then on Saturday he was letting go of it and walking out into open space. When he sat down he would look back at us and just beam he was so proud. Of course DH wasn't home to see it so I tried to get Noah to do it again on Sunday and nothing but when I picked him up from daycare on Monday they said he had been walking all day and thats all he wanted to do that night and yesterday too. Now we have all sorts of new fun to get used to I'm sure.

 

[TiggerStac]

well things are going downhill quickly for me!!

I went and was sworn in as a notary today, well as I was leaving city hall, there is a 1/2 step that I almost missed and it's slippery out..you guessed it, I wiped out!!

All seems to be fine w/the baby. I'm feeling normal in that area. but they are treating me as a fracture because they didn't want to take xrays. we tried getting me to at least put some weight on it, nope no luck!! so for the moment i'm in a post op boot, could but upgraded to a walking boot or worse if it's still as bad tomorrow and I have to go back for xrays. so picture this..20 weeks prego on crutches, and yes I'm already showing as this is my 3rd kid! I got the ok from my ob to take the vicodin they gave me if I need it. I hate take meds when I'm pregnant, but think I'll need it to sleep.

Did I mention hubby is out of town, he's now coming home tomorrow instead of friday pm. my mom is on her ways to pick up my boys. thank goodness for my mom. I can't walk or do anything. I had a bag downstairs and i put some shortbread cookies and juice into it, as I haven't eaten since a bagel at 7:30 am.

I was on the clock when this happened, so if I"m out for an extended period (over 5 days) I'll get some $$ that way. But I have no vacation time, as it doesn't kick in until 6 months at the job. I have probably 1.5 sick days that I'll use. UGH!!!

I finally found someone to tow my car to my house for me, as I was taken via ambulance to hospital (don't forget I was on town property when this happened). at least I can get reimbursed from AAA for the tow. It's going to take a while as we have bad weather here now.

OK...rant over. back to my ice pack

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

Carla – congrats on your pregnancy! Wow, 3 in 3 years! What an amazing journey you’ve been on! Your girls are just adorable, too. I love the photo of Cassidy looking up at Kate.

Ash – Happy belated birthday to Ellery! Ellery’s party pics are so cute! Love the cake – did you do that yourself?

Denise – Happy belated birthday to Mo, and how fun that he’s walking! Owen cruises around the room holding on to furniture and transfers from one chair to another, and sometimes will take a hesitant step if we’re holding onto his hands. But he can’t stand up without support yet, so I think we’re still a bit away from walking. Mo’s birthday pics look like you had a lot of fun! He’s getting so big!

Nicole – how did Izzy’s tooth extraction go? Poor kiddo. Our nephew had a similar issue with a few of his baby teeth, but they got early treatment and his permanent teeth are all fine. Congrats on wining your case! Woo hoo! Way to go!

Polito – did the diaper rash clear up? Owen has had some problems with it and we use aquaphor and air time to clear it up. Hope you guys have a fabulous vacation!

Meredith – I love the photos of the twins! You got some great pictures. As for schedules, Owen’s sleep schedule has started getting wacky, too, and I’m still trying to figure out what to do. He’s waking up at 5:45 almost every morning, even if we keep him up later at night. He still seems to need 2 naps, but the order of things is getting goofy. Now his day looks like:
5:45am wake up
6:30 – we get him out of bed
7:00 – breakfast
playtime
8:30 – snack
playtime
9:15 – nap
11:15 – wake up
playtime
12:00 – lunch
playtime
2:00 – snack
playtime
3:00 (sometimes later) – nap
4:30/5:00 – wake up (later if the nap started later)
playtime
5:30 – dinner
playtime
7:00 – snack/bottle
7:30 – bedtime (sometimes later)

He will only eat food that he feeds himself. We’ve tried giving him a few spoonfuls of things, but he usually resists us. He doesn’t have the coordination to use a spoon or fork yet, so we just go with all finger foods these days.

Kelly – the pics of Brady that you took are adorable! I love them – he looks so happy!

Stacy – congrats on boy #3! Good luck with that! I’m glad that everything looks fine with the baby after your fall. Hope you heal up quickly without any more complications.

Rebecca – the picture of Chase is adorable!

Holly – it’s great to see you back on the DIS (and it’s fun seeing you on Facebook from time to time, too! ) The pictures are great!

Becky – Too funny that you posted that question about where I was just before I posted! I love the pictures of Vaylie and your family. They really turned out great! Sorry that life has been crazy for you lately. I hear you, though. I’m trying to get out with Owen as much as I can to get away from the craziness that is our house. We’re still trying to pare down our possessions because we just have too much stuff in our house, and it’s a lot of work! I’ve been listing stuff on freecycle, craigslist, neighborhood newsgroups…and then I have to do all the follow-up on the postings. It’s driving me crazy, but I keep trying to look at the goal.
Bummer on the PBK chair issue. I’ve had a few glitches in my online shopping, too. So annoying, and now I have to deal with mailing the returns. Yuck!

Michelle – I love the photo of you guys with Will clutching the cookie! It’s so cute! Hope he’s feeling better soon.

Amber – the pictures of Spencer and WDW are great! I can’t wait to take Owen to DLR in a couple months!!

Jenny – hooray for Noah walking! Yay! Have fun keeping up with him…


Glad you are all surviving the winter storms – sorry it’s been so yucky back East. Everyone here is complaining about how cold it is…and it’s still in the 40’s for highs, so I don’t think of it as “cold” yet. “Chilly”, yes. But not cold. I still take Owen out all bundled up and we go for walks every day. We’d go crazy otherwise. Most of the in-laws and lots of friends think I'm nuts, but it keeps us both happy.

DH did ditch work to go to the children's museum with us, and we had a lot of fun! Owen is always a riot exploring everything (we've nicknamed him "captain curious") and it was so nice to have DH there to see him this time. We bought a great membership that includes Owen's Nonna (DH's mom) and we can bring 2 guests with us for free on every visit, plus 50% of the membership cost is tax deductable, which made DH happy. DH also told his boss that he had to leave work early again tomorrow because he wants to come with me to Owen's 12m dr. appt. It's nice to have him around a little...these days when he's home he usuallly still needs to do some work so even though he's here, he's not really available. He hates it, but in this job market, what can you do? So we're sucking it up and hoping things improve.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

A friend sent this to me last night and it REALLY made me smile! Let me know if you all can see it.

Hi Denise



I knew you were celebrating but I had no idea you'd go this far. How did you get Disney to do that?



www.sun7news.com

 

[kellyf2626]

A friend sent this to me last night and it REALLY made me smile! Let me know if you all can see it.

Hi Denise



I knew you were celebrating but I had no idea you'd go this far. How did you get Disney to do that?



www.sun7news.com

Isn't it so cute??? I did one for Brady and put it on his blog! Love it!!!!

 

[Villain-lover]

Hey ladies...I am soo excited I had to type in Pink!!!! I am getting gym membership for Christmas! I visited this morning, and I am going to sign up. They have childcare, so Sam & Zoe can go with me, and I think it will be as good for them as it is going to be for me! I got a great deal, and DH is happy about it too! WHOO HOO!! I am getting ready to look HOT!!!

 

[Tiggerlover91]

Hey ladies...I am soo excited I had to type in Pink!!!! I am getting gym membership for Christmas! I visited this morning, and I am going to sign up. They have childcare, so Sam & Zoe can go with me, and I think it will be as good for them as it is going to be for me! I got a great deal, and DH is happy about it too! WHOO HOO!! I am getting ready to look HOT!!!

 

[DisneyDreamer8]

Hey ladies...I am soo excited I had to type in Pink!!!! I am getting gym membership for Christmas! I visited this morning, and I am going to sign up. They have childcare, so Sam & Zoe can go with me, and I think it will be as good for them as it is going to be for me! I got a great deal, and DH is happy about it too! WHOO HOO!! I am getting ready to look HOT!!!

Congrats!!!

 

[beckmrk04]

Baby, it's ICY outside!

We've had nothing but freezing rain, drizzle, sleet, etc for 3 or 4 days now. I love snow, but this crap is obnoxious.

Stacy- I hope you're feeling ok!

Kelly- Glad you guys "weathered" the weather out there! Ice is the worst. It's all we've had so far.

Bethany- I'm glad your DH has at least been able to take a little time with you and Owen. It's hard doing everything by yourself. And lonely.

Meredith- congrats on the gym membership! I wish I had one close by- the nearest is about 25 miles. I've been thinking about getting a family membership to the closest YMCA (it's brand new and SO nice!!) but it's still a 25 mile drive, too, and I don't know that I would make the trip often enough. It's hard enough to get motivated anyway.

Hi everyone else! Hope all is well. I have been so busy with work/holidays/baby-wrangling/etc. Tonight DH is bringing home Chinese food and I have to bake a cake to take to work tomorrow. But at least I don't have to cook dinner.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So- I told you ladies about that woman in my town who is dying of stomach/colon cancer (inoperable cancer, has 4 kids and she's only 32).

Well, I wrote up a letter and sent it out to all of the branches of the bank I work for (it's a small community bank and we have ten branches in two counties). Well, I have been just amazed and overwhelmed at the generosity that has poured in!!!

To date- we raised $1195!!!!!!

I couldn't believe it! We were able to buy each child everything on their list, PLUS bought stuff for the mom AND bought the whole family Disney On Ice tickets!!!!!

I shopped for the 8 year old girl last night, and I was able to get her so much stuff! Clothes, a pink mp3 player, tons of High School Musical stuff- it felt so good to be able to play Santa!

 

[kellyf2626]

Meredith - That is great that you are getting a gym membership!!! I had one....but cancelled it. I just wan't going - they didn't have childcare, and the one gym in my town that actually does have childcare is well, ummmmmm, somewhere I would NEVER leave Brady. It just looks so dirty and germy. It sucks because I would love to get back into that routine of going to the gym!!! Lucky you!!!

Becky - That is fantastic that you were able to raise that money for that mom. Her story just makes me want to cry.....and gives me incredible hypochondria that something is wrong with me. Oh - and I have been meaning to tell you that I LOVE your new ticker with Vaylie's pic....she looks so grown up!! I guess I was just used to that other pic with her in the pink tutu!

------------------------------------------------------------

So we are getting another huge storm up here in southern NH/MA tomorrow. They are saying 12 inches or more of snow....which is much better than ice!! People are already griping and cursing about it. I don't know....I'm kinda excited!!! A white Christmas!! And hey....this is New England! We get snow!! I know it can be a major inconvenience, but....I still think it's beautiful and makes everything very festive this time of year!