* We took all the kiddos swimming last night. Noah and I swam laps first (it felt good, and you know what? I read that people who swim live longer than people who do other exercise. BONUS!) Then we got the kids for open swim. I held Berean while standing on the deck or in the shallow area and helped "life guard" the boys. Noah was in the water with them, but 3 are a little hard to keep track of, so I was an extra pair of eyes. Berean seemed to enjoy being lugged around and watching the goings on. She is a trooper, that is for sure!
*This morning a cat was looking in our window. Roman wanted to head out. I asked him why, he said, "I need to go out there so I can observe the cat". So cute. It reminded me of when we were at the park and he wanted to go in the woods and he used the tactic that he "really, really needed some nature". How can you say no to a little boy craving nature? It would be unamerican to say no in those circumstances!
*Baby B're has been sleeping a 6-7 hour stretch every night. Score! Do you want to know a secret though? I actually don't mind getting up with her. She is so cuddly and sweet and I know these moments of nursing her quietly in the night- just her and I- are not going to last that long. She knows me, she waits for me. She likes me. And I like her.
*This weekend is set up to be a big yard work weekend. I am excited to see things start to take shape around here!
*We have a busy few weeks ahead with VBS planning, birthdays (I turn 30 in a month :( ), Noah traveling, our first tri of the year and Noah cooking for the senior banquet. And of course work. And the domestic tasks that never go away.
*Notice that I haven't finished the boy updates from a couple of weeks ago? Lincoln is the next one and he has had an interesting couple of months. It seems like so much to write about which is why I haven't yet. The school district is following him right now for speech therapy, but I have been spending time over the last couple days working on getting him into a private therapy situation ($$$) at least for the summer. It is going to be expensive and it is going to be very time intensive and right now it feels a little overwelming to me, although I do believe it is necessary.
*You don't realize until you have 4 kids how many appointments that means. We will probably have 8-10 well child check ups this year, Noah and my MD physicals, and 10 dental appointments. Then there will be the speech therapy, an occasional sick visit and maybe an eye appointment. Oh, and Berean will have to go to the podiatrist! Overwelming.
Well, it is a beautiful day and I got an on call for work, so I think it is time to head back out to the dirt, the weeds, the rocks, the rake and the shovels. At least one of those things is calling my name :)
Friday, May 14, 2010
Ready to go out
Took the kids out to eat last week.People are very friendly to us when we are accompanied by an Astronaut and a Penguin.
Having a baby doesn't hurt either.
And Deacon, although he feels he is too old to dress up, is a tremendous help with the drinks.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Taking it Easy
After a relatively stressful day yesterday, I decided to take it easy today.
Why was yesterday stressful, you may ask.
Well, it had something to do with having company in the evening (my norwex party) and my charming children eating my dessert twice.
It also involves a broken glass, the fact that Aldi does not sell Angel Food cake mixes, and a sister who lives near Cub Foods.
But today was a new day.
6:32 am: Baby wakes up. (yahoo! Another 6 1/2 hour stretch!) Roman is in bed with Noah and I, but I can't really tell if it is him because I don't have my glasses on. Noah is moving around quietly, getting ready to head for the Dentist. I feed the babe and she goes back to sleep.
8:00: I wake up and remember that Berean has a doctor appointment at 9:00.
8:06: get out of bed and head for the shower.
Spend the next 1/2 hour getting ready, hauling boys out of bed, and packing people into the car- complete with bananas and special K bars.
9:00-Babe gets her shots, screams a little and I realize that the bottle I had grabbed was not tylenol but was actually ibuprofen. Sorry baby girl, no drugs for you.
Took off for the YMCA. Through a series of events end up not having my tennis shoes, so I used the stationary bike for an hour and read Good Housekeeping. I learned three things:
1. a study says that people who are in relationships where the household tasks are shared evenly have a higher level of happiness with their lives then those people who do not share the tasks evenly. I believe it.
2. Michelle Obama answered 3 pages of questions and managed to answer them all without really saying anything interesting, controversial or shocking. I think that may be an art. (That is not intended to be negative. The interviewer just kept trying and trying to get something "good", but Mrs. Obama neatly and concisely sidestepped any chance she had to let any "dirt" out. Only thing the interviewer managed to get is that the first lady likes french fries. Oh my.)
3. having a "family talent night" is a fun activity
12:00- got home (finished listening to 101 Dalmations in the car), looked through the mail, made a few phone calls, told Noah to come up with a talent, made the kids lunch, fed the baby.
Baby screamed for 5 minutes straight. She hasn't done that before.
Still no tylenol.
Loaded everyone up and took them to friend's new house. Dropped stuff off, ate cheesecake. Told the boys to keep the billiard balls on the table and that actual dodge ball with them was a bad plan. Borrowed friends tylenol for the baby.
Home. Gave the boys a dollar for finding the lost DVD case. Actually I found it, but their arms were small enough to get it.
Did some computer work. Changed the laundry. Thought about supper. Boys playing quietly (inbetween fights).
Put on a movie for the boys after they had picked up. They wanted to watch "Bibleman" and wanted me to watch with them. I did. It was like a train wreck, I could not look away. Reminded me of that horrendous Carmen music video from way back.
7:00- Mexican Stroganoff for supper.
7:30- family talent show. Noah juggled, I sang "I am a Little Teapot" complete with actions, Deacon did skateboarding tricks, Roman hulahooped and sang a song, Lincoln whacked things with a sharp stick (which we took from him) and Berean cheerleaded, complete with fist pumps.
7:43- watched Roman hop around the living room with a carrot. He was practicing his talent for next weeks show- pretending to be a bunny.
Boys to bed.
Kitchen cleaned, Library roll call complete.
9:30- Blogging, Laundry, Cleaning up and Grocery planning!
Why was yesterday stressful, you may ask.
Well, it had something to do with having company in the evening (my norwex party) and my charming children eating my dessert twice.
It also involves a broken glass, the fact that Aldi does not sell Angel Food cake mixes, and a sister who lives near Cub Foods.
But today was a new day.
6:32 am: Baby wakes up. (yahoo! Another 6 1/2 hour stretch!) Roman is in bed with Noah and I, but I can't really tell if it is him because I don't have my glasses on. Noah is moving around quietly, getting ready to head for the Dentist. I feed the babe and she goes back to sleep.
8:00: I wake up and remember that Berean has a doctor appointment at 9:00.
8:06: get out of bed and head for the shower.
Spend the next 1/2 hour getting ready, hauling boys out of bed, and packing people into the car- complete with bananas and special K bars.
9:00-Babe gets her shots, screams a little and I realize that the bottle I had grabbed was not tylenol but was actually ibuprofen. Sorry baby girl, no drugs for you.
Took off for the YMCA. Through a series of events end up not having my tennis shoes, so I used the stationary bike for an hour and read Good Housekeeping. I learned three things:
1. a study says that people who are in relationships where the household tasks are shared evenly have a higher level of happiness with their lives then those people who do not share the tasks evenly. I believe it.
2. Michelle Obama answered 3 pages of questions and managed to answer them all without really saying anything interesting, controversial or shocking. I think that may be an art. (That is not intended to be negative. The interviewer just kept trying and trying to get something "good", but Mrs. Obama neatly and concisely sidestepped any chance she had to let any "dirt" out. Only thing the interviewer managed to get is that the first lady likes french fries. Oh my.)
3. having a "family talent night" is a fun activity
12:00- got home (finished listening to 101 Dalmations in the car), looked through the mail, made a few phone calls, told Noah to come up with a talent, made the kids lunch, fed the baby.
Baby screamed for 5 minutes straight. She hasn't done that before.
Still no tylenol.
Loaded everyone up and took them to friend's new house. Dropped stuff off, ate cheesecake. Told the boys to keep the billiard balls on the table and that actual dodge ball with them was a bad plan. Borrowed friends tylenol for the baby.
Home. Gave the boys a dollar for finding the lost DVD case. Actually I found it, but their arms were small enough to get it.
Did some computer work. Changed the laundry. Thought about supper. Boys playing quietly (inbetween fights).
Put on a movie for the boys after they had picked up. They wanted to watch "Bibleman" and wanted me to watch with them. I did. It was like a train wreck, I could not look away. Reminded me of that horrendous Carmen music video from way back.
7:00- Mexican Stroganoff for supper.
7:30- family talent show. Noah juggled, I sang "I am a Little Teapot" complete with actions, Deacon did skateboarding tricks, Roman hulahooped and sang a song, Lincoln whacked things with a sharp stick (which we took from him) and Berean cheerleaded, complete with fist pumps.
7:43- watched Roman hop around the living room with a carrot. He was practicing his talent for next weeks show- pretending to be a bunny.
Boys to bed.
Kitchen cleaned, Library roll call complete.
9:30- Blogging, Laundry, Cleaning up and Grocery planning!
Monday, May 10, 2010
Controversial Monday: Baby Monitors
I am on my 4th kid and have never used a baby monitor.
We were living in an apartment when Deacon was born, and it didn't really seem necessary to have one. Everything was on the same floor, and even though it was a fairly large apartment- we could still hear well enough.
Our house now has 4 levels and if I am in the bottom 2 levels I can't hear a baby upstairs. This doesn't really seem like a problem to me. Yes, it means periodically heading upstairs to listen and make sure all is quiet- but that doesn't seem like that big of a deal. I am moving around the house frequently in the evenings anyway- I don't usually just hang out in the basement.
And I don't really want to hear every squeek, every snuffle that emits from the baby. Sometimes there is a little fussing and the baby will go back to sleep with no intervention from me. I don't need to be watching a movie or working on the computer while hearing every sound that comes from the babies mouth.
When will I intervene? When the baby is really awake and not putting herself back to sleep. I don't need a baby monitor for that.
Apparently my tolerance is slightly higher than some.
I have never considered my babies fussy at all.
But I also don't consider a squawk here or there fussy. And I think that some people do.
And I want my kids to learn to work things out themselves without me listening to and possibly being compelled to intervene in everything that is going on. I don't need them to think that it all revolves around them.
So I do what we do in the hospital.
I round on my patients.
I round on my sleeping kids.
It is not a constant monitoring,
it is an intermittent checking.
And that is how I like it.
Baby Monitors- what do you think? Will you use one? Do you use one?
We were living in an apartment when Deacon was born, and it didn't really seem necessary to have one. Everything was on the same floor, and even though it was a fairly large apartment- we could still hear well enough.
Our house now has 4 levels and if I am in the bottom 2 levels I can't hear a baby upstairs. This doesn't really seem like a problem to me. Yes, it means periodically heading upstairs to listen and make sure all is quiet- but that doesn't seem like that big of a deal. I am moving around the house frequently in the evenings anyway- I don't usually just hang out in the basement.
And I don't really want to hear every squeek, every snuffle that emits from the baby. Sometimes there is a little fussing and the baby will go back to sleep with no intervention from me. I don't need to be watching a movie or working on the computer while hearing every sound that comes from the babies mouth.
When will I intervene? When the baby is really awake and not putting herself back to sleep. I don't need a baby monitor for that.
Apparently my tolerance is slightly higher than some.
I have never considered my babies fussy at all.
But I also don't consider a squawk here or there fussy. And I think that some people do.
And I want my kids to learn to work things out themselves without me listening to and possibly being compelled to intervene in everything that is going on. I don't need them to think that it all revolves around them.
So I do what we do in the hospital.
I round on my patients.
I round on my sleeping kids.
It is not a constant monitoring,
it is an intermittent checking.
And that is how I like it.
Baby Monitors- what do you think? Will you use one? Do you use one?
Friday, May 7, 2010
The Dentist
Yesterday I took the boys to back-to-back dental appointments.
It was so bad.
Deacon had some early mouth trauma with a tooth extraction and a visit to the oral surgeon early in life. That ruined the dentist for him for all eternity, or so it seems.
He was fine at his first dentist appointment before the trauma, but since then it has been a scream-fest.
He went first. I had to haul him onto the chair and hold him there until they started, then he relaxed a little and I held his hands. And he screamed. And he cried. The whole time. Lovely.
They asked him about school and I had to admit he was homeschooled. I could see them all thinking, "no wonder he is unwilling to be alone and insists on his mom being here". I wanted to tell them that he is normally a happy child who likes new experiences and exciting things. He just falls apart at the dentist. But I didn't. I just gripped his hands, ignored the screaming and talked with the dentist politely. He claims it was just because he was so hot. And it was hot. And he was all red and sweaty and hot. But that was mostly because of the screaming.
Lincoln was next. He had been cheerfully watching the portable DVD player and waiting his turn. He seemed happy, he seemed interested. Until it was time to get into the chair. He freaked out. I held his legs, the hygienist had him in a head lock and the other hygienist held his arms. And it took all of our combined strength to keep him still enough to get his teeth cleaned. He was sweaty, he was hot, he stunk. That kid is SO STRONG! Next time they will put him in restraints, they said. I felt a little bad, and I would have waited until he was a little older to take him, but because of his severe speech delay, the speech pathologist wanted to have him looked at by a dentist to assess his mouth structure and teeth and look for any problems- so it was necessary. I felt like I was at work helping hold down one of our withdrawing patients.
I think part of it was that he has gotten so used to screaming as a fall back because he can't communicate. Anyway, when we were done he gave me a hug, climbed off the chair and got his pout on- arms firmly crossed over his chest.
Roman was all excited about his turn. Pretty sure he was mostly excited because it looked like a good chance to scream and yell- as it seemed the thing to do. He yelled during the cleaning, but then managed to sit by himself for his xrays and actual dentist exam. He went to hop of the chair, which was still elevated and the hygenist's were all freaking out that he was going to fall. He just turned and looked at them with a look that said, "what do you think I am? 9 months old?"
Then we left.
We got in the car and the kids wanted popsicles. I told them that I had said popsicles were only for if they had been good at the dentist. And they had not gotten through it without screaming. That is not very good.
Roman pipes up, "the Dentist said I was good".
The Dentist was lying.
It was so bad.
Deacon had some early mouth trauma with a tooth extraction and a visit to the oral surgeon early in life. That ruined the dentist for him for all eternity, or so it seems.
He was fine at his first dentist appointment before the trauma, but since then it has been a scream-fest.
He went first. I had to haul him onto the chair and hold him there until they started, then he relaxed a little and I held his hands. And he screamed. And he cried. The whole time. Lovely.
They asked him about school and I had to admit he was homeschooled. I could see them all thinking, "no wonder he is unwilling to be alone and insists on his mom being here". I wanted to tell them that he is normally a happy child who likes new experiences and exciting things. He just falls apart at the dentist. But I didn't. I just gripped his hands, ignored the screaming and talked with the dentist politely. He claims it was just because he was so hot. And it was hot. And he was all red and sweaty and hot. But that was mostly because of the screaming.
Lincoln was next. He had been cheerfully watching the portable DVD player and waiting his turn. He seemed happy, he seemed interested. Until it was time to get into the chair. He freaked out. I held his legs, the hygienist had him in a head lock and the other hygienist held his arms. And it took all of our combined strength to keep him still enough to get his teeth cleaned. He was sweaty, he was hot, he stunk. That kid is SO STRONG! Next time they will put him in restraints, they said. I felt a little bad, and I would have waited until he was a little older to take him, but because of his severe speech delay, the speech pathologist wanted to have him looked at by a dentist to assess his mouth structure and teeth and look for any problems- so it was necessary. I felt like I was at work helping hold down one of our withdrawing patients.
I think part of it was that he has gotten so used to screaming as a fall back because he can't communicate. Anyway, when we were done he gave me a hug, climbed off the chair and got his pout on- arms firmly crossed over his chest.
Roman was all excited about his turn. Pretty sure he was mostly excited because it looked like a good chance to scream and yell- as it seemed the thing to do. He yelled during the cleaning, but then managed to sit by himself for his xrays and actual dentist exam. He went to hop of the chair, which was still elevated and the hygenist's were all freaking out that he was going to fall. He just turned and looked at them with a look that said, "what do you think I am? 9 months old?"
Then we left.
We got in the car and the kids wanted popsicles. I told them that I had said popsicles were only for if they had been good at the dentist. And they had not gotten through it without screaming. That is not very good.
Roman pipes up, "the Dentist said I was good".
The Dentist was lying.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
What to do with a girl?! (and please don't touch the baby!)
Here is our little girl with the crooked smile.When the doc announced "It's a girl", we were pretty shocked.
"what do we do with a girl?" we wondered.
But you know what? Taking care of a girl baby is the same as taking care of a boy baby, really.
You correct people who think they are the opposite gender.
You change their diapers (slightly more difficult for a girl)
You hug them.
You kiss them.
You listen to them coo.
You maybe say, "she is so sweet" more about a girl
but I know I said it about my boys too.
One thing I have noticed about this baby, although I don't think it is related to her being a girl, is that I don't like to share her.
I have never been possessive about my babies- always willing to let other people hold them etc. But secretly, with Berean, if someone else is holding her, I am always trying to get her back. I just want to hold her.
I think it has something to do with her being the 4th baby, and knowing that there aren't going to be lots more of MY babies for me to hold.
And there is something about holding your own baby that is different.
Well, MY baby is fussing, so I need to go hold her.
Happy Thursday!
Monday, May 3, 2010
Controversial Monday: Public Restrooms
I was reading a question and answer column the other day. A dad of 2 little girls wrote in asking where he should take his little girls to the bathroom if they were out without their mom.
The men's restroom, or the women's?
(obviously a family restroom if available is the first choice)
Basically, is it worse to take preschool girls into the men's bathroom,
or for a dad to enter the women's bathroom.
My initial thought was, "that is weird, he can't go in there!" But the more I think about it, the more I am not sure.
Men's restrooms tend to be dirty and less face it, there is less privacy. Do you really want your 4 year old daughter to have to walk by the goings on at the urinals?
The women's bathrooms all have nice stalls with doors, so provided you aren't peering between cracks all you will see is women washing their hands.
the guy in the column said that when he takes the girls into the women's restroom, the women are all very supportive of him- they don't think the poor girls should be subjected to the horrors of a man's public bathroom either. It is men that give him crap.
As a mother of boys, I am quite used to taking them with me into the women's restroom. Deacon is 6, however and is getting a little old. There is NO WAY I am sending him into the men's bathroom alone though, and if the little ones need to go I am also unwilling to leave him alone waiting outside a public restroom.
So I use family ones, or try to have someone with me to wait outside with him. Or wait until a bathroom is empty (which is hard in really busy places).
At the Y we only use the family rooms because there is women changing in the women's locker room and it is different from a bathroom with a bunch of stalls.
What do you think? What should the opposite sex parent do in these situations? What do you do? What will you do when your kids are older?
The men's restroom, or the women's?
(obviously a family restroom if available is the first choice)
Basically, is it worse to take preschool girls into the men's bathroom,
or for a dad to enter the women's bathroom.
My initial thought was, "that is weird, he can't go in there!" But the more I think about it, the more I am not sure.
Men's restrooms tend to be dirty and less face it, there is less privacy. Do you really want your 4 year old daughter to have to walk by the goings on at the urinals?
The women's bathrooms all have nice stalls with doors, so provided you aren't peering between cracks all you will see is women washing their hands.
the guy in the column said that when he takes the girls into the women's restroom, the women are all very supportive of him- they don't think the poor girls should be subjected to the horrors of a man's public bathroom either. It is men that give him crap.
As a mother of boys, I am quite used to taking them with me into the women's restroom. Deacon is 6, however and is getting a little old. There is NO WAY I am sending him into the men's bathroom alone though, and if the little ones need to go I am also unwilling to leave him alone waiting outside a public restroom.
So I use family ones, or try to have someone with me to wait outside with him. Or wait until a bathroom is empty (which is hard in really busy places).
At the Y we only use the family rooms because there is women changing in the women's locker room and it is different from a bathroom with a bunch of stalls.
What do you think? What should the opposite sex parent do in these situations? What do you do? What will you do when your kids are older?
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