How to make daddy happy:

(Lilly did "research" in our "library" in the house. She researched and reported back to me so I could impliment the ideas)

Drink beer
Eat radishes
Play with Travis
Play video games with Lilly
Drink out of a fancy beer glass
Make him go in the basement and make it more messier
Read Three Stooges.

Lessons from Lilly

-Ask for some of mom's treat and then eat most of it. Then, ask for a box so you can finish your treat at home.

-Sleep in as long as possible and wake up with a huge smile. "Mommy! It's morning time and the sun was up so I "becided" to wake up!"

-Do your best to pick out a great birthday present for your mom that you might just like, too. (I almost got a princess lunchbox for my birthday but they conviently couldn't find one of those. She went with something I could use so got me breastpads instead.)

-Give a reason for your behavior (unprompted) and it will surely be excused. (example-Mommy, I pushed you because I didn't want to go inside)

-Love thy neighbor. Lilly absolutely loves to go visit the neighbors and would be knocking on their doors all day long if I would let her. If they are in their front yard when we're outside and Lilly spies them, I figure it's their own fault!

-Enjoy the simple things in life. Lilly is very enthusiastic, as I have mentioned before. When we went for a walk this week, she got so excited seeing a big leaf, puffball dandilions, and smelling the marigolds (which are stinky) saying, "This flower is so beautiful!" Wrapping a present for a friends birthday party, "This is the perfect shade of blue." (I'm so grateful that there's the enthusiastic side of her when the equally as intense stubborn side prevails)

-Not sure about this one...When I grow up, I want to have a baby and then get married. We'll work on this to try to switch that one around before she grows up.

-Enjoy your youth. "Mommy, I don't want to be a grown up. I just want to stay a kid"

Lilly's vocabulary

In case you're wondering, Lilly has been doing well with potty training. Woo hoo! She still has a few accidents on somendays, but she's doing well, overall.



She continues to amaze me with all the words she uses. Here's some things she's said lately that have been almost right or are just funny.

Grandpa Alf is a farmer and Grandpa Marty is a farmercist.
Liquid store instead of liquor store.
PS man for UPS man
Moustachios for postacios
Acetamedicine for Acetometaphine
After hearing that the wading pool is now closed she was upset and said, "That's too complicated!"
She was upset with me for some silly reason and said, "That's too considerate!"


Other conversations

After Gabriel was a few weeks old: Why did we bring Gabriel home from the hospital? Because he was big enough to come home. Is he going to go back to the hospital? Only if he's sick, then he'll go back to the hospital. I think Gabriel needs an operation.

At the Redhawks sitting right next to a teenage couple instead of leaving a seat in between us because she had to sit in seat 3 because she's three: "I talk all the time" I guess she's heard me say that a time or two!

Playing on a fallen log in the park walking on it like a balance beam..."First, I do a backflip" Luckily she didn't!

Playing "What would you like today" as a "bus girl" at a restaurant...Mommy, what do you want to eat? What would you suggest (knowing whatever I said would be wrong)? Pancakes or pizza? I'll have pancakes. She says, We're all out of that today. Similarly, we were in the park today and there was a play door under the slide into a little house. She told me to knock. I did and then she says, "I'm busy." Luckily, I knocked again, and she let me in.

potty training--day 1 of ???

I've tried to be really laid back about potty training and not push her. I know she'll learn so I wasn't too worried. I've tried a few times with little success and gave up soon before Gabriel was born. Grandma Janet had some success (more than we ever had) when Gabriel was born. It is discouraging, being the behavior lady, having a stubborn toddler that's outsmarting me. Here's some things we've tried.

--praise and encouragement
--stickers, fruit snacks, potty paper (certificates saying you did it)
--pirate ship "doll" house as a big prize
--big girls go potty
--picking underwear
--possibility of picking more new underwear
--small potty seat or one on the toilet
--using the mantle clock bell to have her go at least once an hour (led to a fight every hour, on the hour...well, maybe not that much....but the last month is the only time I told her she had to go potty because I didn't want to make it a power struggle.)
--letting her choose underwear or pull ups
--and probably other things I've forgotten

Enough is enough--she's almost 3 1/2--the plan is no more pull ups and she can earn "screen time" three times a day if she stays dry or poops in the potty. She loves Al's iphone so hopefully this will help. We made a chart together to keep track of her successes. I'm also going to leave it up to her to decide to do it or not as to avoid the power struggle. We planned together on which day to stop wearing pull ups and gave them away. She loves pull ups--that's the problem. Last night, she decided to wear underwear and then peed on the floor. I told Al she didn't really like it but spelled urine instead of pee when talking to him so she wouldn't figure it out. She figured it out and said something like, "Are you talking about my pee on the floor?" Since she figured it out, I said it doesn't feel very good to go potty in your pants. She told me she likes to cuddle up next to her pee. Yup, stubborn and too smart for her own good. Today, we had little success and several yucky poop incidents to deal with. We even had a crisis with poop on her princess dress. I'm making her help clean up the messes, which is absolutely more disgusting than actually doing it myself. Today, I had to threaten little miss stubborn with throwing away the princess dress if she didn't clean it up. After the last gross mess of the day, she found a pull up to wear. I hope things get better soon. Off to do laundry...

Mother of Two

I've been trying to post this for the last several weeks and it hasn't worked. Hopefully, it will now.

Gabriel

likes

-being held or being in the carrier

-eating-only refused once that I can remember (see soap incident below)

-spitting up (especially on me)

-a bath if he's all wrapped up in a full sized towel while he's in the little tub

-Lilly, but has a skeptical look on his face when she gets too close due to the loudness and overzelous personality & see below

-farting and burping loudly

-waking me up lots at night

-smiling for daddy...even though I'm trying to convince him that I deserve the smiles more than daddy because I feed him, am up with him at night, carried him for 9 months, etc. He has started to smile for me, too. :-)

hates

-Epiurals...this caused his heartrate to drop, being in labor distress, the reason for my c-section, swallowing the meconium, and needing to be intibated to suction it out. Luckily he was healthy at birth and nicu staff was there to help. I'm so glad he was able to stay in the OR with me after the c-section and was healthy after that.

-being cold

-diaper changes and a new outfit, which need to happen a lot (but he's getting used to both)

-being in the carseat (but this is okay more often, now)

-soap in his mouth...I went down to throw Lilly's sheets in the washer (less than a minute) and came back to Gabriel bubbling at the mouth. He turned read and alternated between not breathing and screaming so went to the ER. All was okay once we got there. Lilly put a soapy sponge in his mouth. All this at 2 weeks old. Poor kid!

Lilly

loves

-the park, zoo, Glenna's, anywhere but home!

-socializing...She runs up to other kids right as they enter the playground and doesn't stop talking. What's your name? Do you want to play with me? I'm Lilly! I'm a big sister! Do you want to play with me? I'm three! (you get the idea)We've tried talking about what it means to be shy without much success. If the kids don't want to talk to her, she'll talk to the parents and sometimes prefers talking to the parents. She doesn't quite understand giving people personal space and that the adults might want to spend time with their own kids. She has embarrassed me several times because sometimes I can't get her to quit. How did I, being such a shy kid, get such an outgoing and talkative toddler.

-talking...She has a great vocabulary and is listening and learning new vocabulary even when I don't think she is. When I had mastitis, she learned the word boob. I hadn't taught her a word for breast mostly because she talks to other people loudly and already embarrasses me enough. Anyway, I was telling her to do something and she called me bossy boob. little stinker

-doing things the baby doesn't get to do....Movie, carwash, going to the store, anything really! She enjoys telling Gabriel he's too little to do things and that he can't go. He could care less but it makes her feel special.

-showing her enthusiasm...she is very enthusiastic about the smallest things. I love that about her.

-being a big sister...she likes to be a helper for me, holding Gabriel, and telling people about him.

-When anyone comes over to our house!

-telling people she's a big girl and that she's potty trained. She's much more independent since Gabriel's been born,which has been very nice. I only wish she was potty trained! She has been getting better. The other day when she asked for a potty snack, potty sticker, and potty paper (certificate), I wonder if we've gone too far (we've tried lots of other things, also, but I'm open to suggestions). We also have a pirate ship toy waiting for her at the top of our china cabinet hoping this will intice her. I think what I need to do is take away the pull ups but I'll wait until Gabriel's a bit older until we try that.

-Almost everything "special" (outside our house, someone giving her attention, or something new). I love that she gets excited about such little things.

-Daddy's iphone and Auntie Allison's ipad. Her favorite is not the educational games, of course, but the dog that repeats back what she says and farts. She squealed for hours with this one!

hates

-soup and yogurt-so we like to tease her about eating it.

-sitting in the corner...but it's well deserved when it happens

-Gabriel getting too much attention so will make sure she gets her fair share.

-Getting ready and going to the car in a reasonable amount of time...but this is getting better. I'm trying not to let it irritate me so much because she really is improving.

-Coming home & when people leave. Am I really that boring?

Me

Loves

-Having a two kids. I feel very fortunate two have two healthy kids and have an extended maternity leave to spend with them. I won't be going back to work until Halloween.

-Watching Lilly squeal with excitement and all the great things about her I've already mentioned.

-Naps & uninterruped sleep

-Al cooking on the grill

-The ice cream truck-Ice cream delivery and toddler entertainment all in one.

-My carrier Kristy made for me when Lilly was little that I now use with Gabriel a lot-even in the house.

-All my family and friends that have been so helpful lately.

-Al, of course.

-The Price is Right on the DVR in fast forward

hates

-Anesthesia-my body doesn't like anesthesia. I was wondering if it was a fluke, with Lilly, but aparantly not. I was throwing up and then lost a lot of blood so needed a transfusion. I thought it was bad when I saw the TV flashing before my eyes when I was in the hospital. I was pretty sure it wasn't. Guess that's why I had the transfusion. I especially hated throwing up and nursing at the same time. When they wanted to give me more medication, I justed wanted to know if it would make me throw up. I was fortunate to have Al at the hospital almost the entire time, a great doula, and really nice and helpful nurses. Also, knowing Lilly was having fun with Grandma Janet was great, too.

-Bodily fluids-there's been too many on my limited amount of shirts that fit. I won't gross you out with the details.

-Sleep deprivation...between 4 and 6 AM is a hard time for me. I'm exhausted by this time in the night.

-Limited time for myself even for the basics in life (sleeping, eating, going to the bathroom, taking a bath, etc)

-Not being able to do it all. Someone's needs are always being sacrificed and I hate that feeling. I hate not being able to meet the needs of both kids and having to choose and also coping without doing lots of things I want/need to do. Now, don't get me wrong, none of us are terribly neglected, but I do feel bad having to set Gabriel down and having him scream while I get Lilly breakfast, being crabby at Lilly because I'm so tired, not taking Lilly to the park as often as I'd like, taking Lilly on a quick swimming outing and finding out that Gabriel cried a lot when we were gone, and so on. I also feel guilty putting my needs ahead of theirs but I think the world is glad I take a bath, I need to leave the house for mental sanity, and eating is generally recommended. I do admit to putting my head back under the water for a little while longer in a warm bath when Gabriel was crying-not so loud that way. Is mother of the year slipping away, again!

-Mastitis... It was pretty awful for about a week and made Gabriel really fussy only feeding on one side. I found out it wasn't thrush, as I thought, and that the cure was antibiotics and feeding on the other side. A short run of narcotics made it okay and it got much better in only a day or so. Let's hope that doesn't happen again!

That's a glimpse into our lives since Gabriel has been born. I really like being a stay at home mom of two, but it's been a learning experience, that's for sure. It's gone by so fast and there's not much time to soak it all in but I'm doing my best because they get big way too fast!

Both kids are sleeping so I should, too!

Welcome, Gabriel!!

Cuddle Up Blue Birth Announcement

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Still Pregnant...

(Photo from Robyn)

I'm four days past my due date and still pregnant. Since I was 11 days overdue with Lilly, it's not terribly shocking, but come on baby-how about a May birthday!

I guess there are some benefits to being really pregnant.

-I've had lots of extra time this last week since I've been on maternity leave with no baby and my mom here. I'm almost done with my "to do" list. Does that mean I'm almost done with the pregnancy?

-If people ask when I'm due, and I tell them X number of days ago, I tend to get sympathy.

-Being overdue is better than having the baby really early.

-Al and I went on a date last night and had "drinks."

So that's about it. I really don't recommend an overdue pregnancy. As of now, the plan is that I'll hopefully have the baby before June 2nd, but then I'll either be induced or have a c-section (hopefully not either, but especially. I hope not both).

Lilly has had time to think about a good name for our baby. Ted Vidar has gone by the wayside and now Lilly thinks that "Sugar Flower" is a good name. I asked her if she thinks this is a good name for a boy. Of course! This either came from Grandma Janet telling Lilly that some people are named after flowers (she should have said some girls are named after flowers), or it might have come from the flowers with sugar solution we put into Lilly's "pet" butterfly garden.

"Sugar Flower," it's time to come out! We're ready and waiting and do really have a different name for you!