Rosie's 2 month checkup

Poor Rosie gets to share everything with H, who got to do it all alone, but perhaps having your big brother there with you isnt so bad.

Rosie woke up at 5am today and started talking to me at 530am, much earlier than usual, so I knew she would be off kilter all day. With a second pair of hands, it wouldn't have been so bad, but alone it was less than perfect for my little girly. She fell asleep in my arms at 615am, just as Henry came stomping in, telling me to get up and get his milk. I would say I was his servant, but I dont get paid, so I guess that makes me his slave. So poor little miss didn't get an early morning nap as she would have liked. She held up well while we took a shower (H and I - she sat in her chair next to the bath chirping). I eventually got her to sleep again around 730am and she had an hour in the Ergo carrier before we headed out.

Henry proceeded to destroy everything he could lay his hands on in the children's bookstore despite me directing him toward the toys that are there for kids to play with. Then as we were leaving, he suddenly decided he wanted to play with them. He thinks its super cool to totally ignore me lately, as you can tell. He has also decided he is not using silverware at meal times (making our spaghettio egg and spinach dinner interesting, not to mention the lasagne we had last night) and he has decided he is not going to pee in the potty but stand next to it, pee on the floor and laugh. Its all just a statement.

Anyway, back to Rosie, like I said, she was a little off her usual schedule so she seemed constantly tired but unable to sleep. When we got to the doctors office she eventually fell asleep in the waiting room as Henry rolled around on the floor eating grapes (from a cup, not off the floor, though Im sure he did that too actually). She dealt with being rudely awoken from her slumber and undressed, very well. Her stats are as follows at 8 weeks 5 days old:

Weight 11 lbs 13 oz 77 %

Height 23.5 inches 89 %

Head circumference 38.5 cm 45 %

One day Ill get round to asking them why one measurement is in Imperial units and the other Metric. These values are all completely opposite to Henry's during the early months, and even now. I should go back and look to be sure but Im sure his weight was around the 20s%, height 50s% and head 80s%.

The only question I had for the doctor was about her using sunscreen and he said to avoid it but obviously its better than her getting burnt, so if there is an unavoidable sun situation, then go with the sunscreen.

He actually told me that she was incredibly beautiful! Not that Im a proud mother or anything! It was an interesting visit. Since she was getting vaccinations I gave her some baby Tylenol and she instantly threw it, and her milk of 1.5 hours previous, back up again, all over me and the 'bed' in the doctors office. I had to go looking for the nurse holding a naked baby and trying to corale Henry, who was being terribly unruly, to ask for help cleaning up the sick. The medicine on her tummy must not have sat well, I havent bothered giving her anymore and she doesn't seem to be getting a temperature. All is well with her health. Doctor and nurse cannot believe she sleeps til 6am each day. The nurse even said that breastfed babies can't usually go that long. Funny thing is, even when she does wake up, she wakes up singing and smiling. She must just be a happy little girly. When the nurse came in with needles Henry sidled up to me to watch sheepishly. He started to get really worried and I asked him if he want to get up to see, and he said he did. So I lifted him on to the bed also. When Rosie started crying after the first injection, Henry started crying. I scooped Rosie up after the last one (there were three) and she stopped crying after about 5 seconds, way before Henry did. His poor little sister.

All was good, Rosie was asleep in the Ergo instantly, Henry was (sort of) in line and we were heading out the door. Things tend to get a bit crazy when we get home, and we were late for lunch so H was grumpy as heck, so I decided just to use the bathroom at the doctors office really quickly, so that I was on top of my game when we got home. I lifted up the seat and as I turned around to pull my trousers down, H decided he was shutting the lid, but left his fingers underneath it and there was instant hysteria. ugh. He screamed most of the way home. Poor Rosie, who probably felt like crap from her vaccinations, slept the whole way. I went into emergency situation mode and made Henry his lunch as quickly as possible, and things improved rapidly after he ate his bagel. Thank goodness.

We played with felt tip pens/markers and he looked like a rainbow. Following a story or two in Henry's bed, he went to sleep and I felt brave. I got Rosie to sleep in her bed and had over an hour of Ergo free time!

Speaking of... I had been carrying Rosie until I went to bed around 10 pm. Three nights ago I felt brave, having been mocked by my husband who said 'do you ever put that baby down?', so I swaddled her up, rocked her to sleep and put her in her bed. Miraculously she stayed asleep. I woke her up around 10 ish for her last feeding of the night and she slept the rest of the night. At first it was blissful - freedom! Now, I actually miss holding her. I miss having her head tucked under my chin and watching her beautiful, innocent, face as she sleeps. I can honestly see why some people don't want their kids to grow up. Fortunately I realise it would be for my benefit if I kept her in the Ergo, and that she probably gets better sleep in her bed, so that's where she is right now. I truly miss her though; no surprise really as I both cherish the one day a week that Henry goes to Mother's morning out and also consider not taking him every week because I miss him when he is gone. It will get interesting next month when I go back to work two days a week, and even more so in August when he goes to Mothers morning out four days a week. How will I cope!?

Poor Rosie really wasn't herself this evening. Her little eyes were red and she was just plain miserable; she squawked unhappily through dinner. While I was undressing her for her bath, Henry ripped one of the band aids/plasters from her leg in an instant and did she scream. Poor little thing. Thankfully, the bath cheered her up as usual and she played happily for 15 minutes. We really do have our night time routine down pat!

And tomorrow is another day...

Cut throat world

I have had my first experience of what parenting life has to come for me, and I hated it. This morning we went to the puppet show and Easter egg hunt and the public library. Puppet show was fun. I nursed Rosie and Henry sat quietly watching on my lap. Then came the 'fun'. Henry was in the under 3s age group and despite the librarians giving the parents a talking to before the puppet show about letting the kids have fun, the parents felt the need to go with the kids to look for eggs. Its not like it is in England, there was no hiding of eggs. There was a maybe 5 m square patch of grass with eggs spread out, so when the parents (often mum and dad) of about 50 children descended on this tiny patch of grass it was manic. Poor Henry wandered into this mess of adults and spun round in a circle as all the eggs disappeared. He looked horrified and thankfully someone put one in his basket and then so did some one else. Two of his eggs were filled with bubble gum, like Im going to let him eat that, and one was a Reeses egg, which he devoured. The librarian took a photo, so check out the Oxford Library Facebook page if you want to see. Why couldn't the parents let the kids just have fun? You aren't going to lose your kid in a tiny square area of open grass in front of the library, oh wait, unless there are tons of adults in there too. Disgusted, along with a few friends, we have organised our own Easter egg hunt Sunday that will actually be fun for the kids.

The fun is in finding the eggs and seeing whats inside, so when we got home I filled a few with some of Henry's favourite things and he had a great time. He got so excited to open the eggs. So I decided thats how we would eat lunch! If it was small, it went inside an egg for 'lunch'; blueberries, grapes, peanuts, pistachios, cheese cubes, crackers, blackberries, then on to the fun stuff; raisins and white chocolate chips. He had fun eating lunch that way!

He ran into my room at 610am this morning, rather a shock to the system. Rosie was unimpressed to be woken up so early (still asleep from 10pm feeding!). I was also unamused. I think something is up, preventing him from sleeping well, as he is currently screaming the house down instead of napping.

Yesterday was our day to go to the park, and go to the park we did, regardless of the rain! Then after nap time we splashed in the puddles...

A month has passed

Here is a picture of Henry in the Kroger parking lot Saturday. He cried when I made him get out of the little car. He had had an all out kicking and screaming tantrum that morning because I tried to put his rubber boots on him so we could splash in the rain. Some battles just arent worth the fight, so I didnt make him wear them. Royal waste of money they were.

I have lots of pictures for you, but as usual, Danny is away and I dont know where they are. We took some family pics on timer the other day and then some of my 36 week watermelon.

36 weeks. Isnt that insane.

Henry has gone through a two week spout of refusing to eat and is back into gorging himself on whatever you put in front of him. During that two week period, he got his top two canines. He has a daily pre-dinner snack of frozen peas and corn. He has developed his fondness of his Papa and misses him terribly when he is gone. He ran naked around the house tonight holding the phone because Danny was skyping on it. He has cultivated a love of his Uncle Jonathan to the point where you cant mention his name or Henry will call it out for about 10 minutes incessantly. Jonathan is staying with us this week, so he is getting his far share of Henry kisses. He has lots of new words; purple, blue, yellow, orange, cookie, raisins, strawberries, NO (often proceeded by Mummy), trust fall (Tosh.0 watchers will understand this one), Beep Bo (belly button), Neigh (horse sound), Moo (cow sound), shoes, lights, drink, milk, please... there are many more. He is a thorough pleasure to be around the majority of the time; a lovely young man. He has pee-peed in the potty several times and knows that if he successfully pee pees in the potty, he gets one little jelly bean, so he makes sure and pee pees in the potty every night! He pee pees everywhere else as well, but realises that doesnt get him a piece of candy!

In the past month I have turned 31 years old. Become more and more pregnant, and more and more tired as a result! I have taken to napping whenever I can. I have gained 45 lbs since June of last year. Shocking. I have had lots of Braxton Hicks contractions, and if I were a first time mum, I probably would have thought I was going into labour, they were so frequent last weekend. This past Saturday I fell over, straight on my butt, whilst holding a cup of water at the candy store. Yes, I know what you are thinking, having gained 45 lbs already, like I need a candy store. Whatever. I actually look smaller (in the face and arms - not the massive belly) than when I was this pregnant with Henry. The baby continues to jab me in the ribs and painfully stretch its legs out. Oh and I may have accidentally found out that the baby is a boy, though I am trying to ignore the comment. The business desk lady at the doctors told me this past visit that I had to pay for HIS circumcision next visit. I looked at her and asked what if it wasnt a boy. erm. She looked a little surprised and said, well then you will get your money back. And she also likes to make a point of telling me its more expensive at the doctors office than at the hospital, like that is going to convince me into a hospital birth. Its more likely to convince me not to circumcise woman. Anyway, I dont know if the people at the desk even see your medical records, maybe Ill ask next time I go, but either way, I am trying to forget she said it!

I thought Id been doing well; I walk to work and back, I walk an hour or so on my days off. But I just did the prenatal yoga dvd for the first time in months and it about killed me, no lie. And if you dont believe that I am all belly, imagine that to do a lunge I had to manual maneuver my belly into position with my hands and even then it was resting on my leg. Or the fact that to do a forward fold I had to have my legs wide apart and still my belly rested between my legs. Not long now folks!

Snow day!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I walked to work today, in the SNOW! Craziness! I looked like a Clementine on stilts wearing Danny's orange rain-jacket (which incidentally only just did up over my belly!) and black leggings, with clashing pink wellies/rubber boots. How inconsiderate of Danny to have a rain-jacket that doesn't match my wellies!

We had a lovely, yet chilly evening last night, watching the Oxford Christmas parade; a first for myself, Henry and our British visitors. Everyone had a fantastic time, though it was past Henry's bedtime when we started to head home and he cried intensely until we started our ABCs and Old Macdonald.

Not my favourite Thursday ever

Yesterday, Henry decided he wasnt going to take a nap. ALL DAY! It might not have been a problem but 1) I am super duper pregnant (and huge, yes thank you EVERYONE for telling me) and 2) I am not sleeping because I am super duper pregnant! So a super duper tired mummy left Henry in his bed for 2 hours total yesterday afternoon (went in half way through to check he didnt have a dirty diaper and read a couple of books). I laid down for 30 minutes, but with him singing to himself in the room next door, not much of a nap was had. But it turned out to be a fun afternoon regardless. We walked the dogs to the square, played in front of the courthouse and popped into the bookstore to get a christmas present. I was pretty tired by the time we walked home again a few hours later, but we had a fun time.

This week, dinner time was a totally different ball game. This week, as long as Henry could feed it to himself with a fork, he ate it. Sausages, chicken, baked beans, butternut squash (well, he tried it, he didnt actually eat it, but hey, at least he tried it!), bread and butter, strawberries, raspberries, everything that can be stabbed with a fork! Made my life easier, thats for sure.

We went from being just the two of us, well, plus the dogs and the Bump, of course, to the house now including Papa and my dad, and tomorrow, one of his workers. Not only is it all of us, but we are all cramped into a tiny living space because the kitchen, dining room and play room have been taken over until further notice! Kitchen is starting to look totally different, there is a new window, new walls, new door holes, new floor, new light holes. Tomorrow the shipment with the kitchen arrives, its going to get interesting up in here!

I was worried it was the way of things to come, but H was happy to take a nap today and I drove to Black Zion to pick up our quarter of a cow. Such an interesting life I lead! Other tasks today, Farmers market for special thick noodles to make Thai curry when our stove gets plugged in tomorrow, vet for Mojos check up and allergy shot (which may have to become a regular event), kroger for MORE food (as it seems my dad is an eating machine!) and of course, general play time with H. On 3 or 4 hours sleep, Im exhausted. I just seem to lie then, in bed, waiting for sleep to drift back over me. Tonight Im going to eat when I wake up, just incase thats the reason Im not falling back to sleep til 6am (and then of course I hear MAMA around 630am).

Henry 16 month check up

Henry's doctors visit went as well as can be expected yesterday! The doctor said he is very healthy and growing well, so that is good! He has, however, developed an incredible fear of medical personnel. I should have guessed really, since he cried bloody murder when I had my blood pressure taken or we listened to the baby's heart beat with the dopler, but it sort of slipped my mind.

The crying/screaming began when we tried to get his weight. All this involves is laying him on the scales, but it had to be a speedy affair because he was tremendously distraught. At least to get his height I could hug him while he cried. He was fine in the room, running around in socks and a diaper. But when Dr. Dennis tried to listen to his lungs with the stethoscope, he started crying again. He cried as the doctor looked into his ears and his mouth, and screamed when he got the MMR vaccination, but I managed to end this pretty quickly by singing him his abc's.

Height 82 cm: 66%

Weight 22 lbs 10 oz: 17%

Head circumference 49.5 cm: 93% (just like his father!)

We ate out again last night, and despite the kind offers, I decided to 'cook' at home tonight, this time without an oven or stove! Eating out is fine, but tiring when I am on my own, neither of us particularly like being out the house almost 12 hours, its almost impossible for me to get H to bed anywhere close to 7pm and even then he gets mad at me for putting him to bed when we have only been in the house 15 minutes and managed to brush our teeth and read a book or two (rather than the usual 20 minutes or there abouts of story time). But I managed to make a delicious and nutritional meal with a toaster oven and a microwave! Im going to look at those Steamables bags tomorrow because maybe they will work for making nutritional meals in the microwave. I had a chicken breast roasted in orange juice with cranberries and butternut squash, with two huge servings of peas and corn. H pretty much just ate his chicken and apple sausage, but to his credit he did taste the butternut squash, he just didn't like it. He even fed himself his sausage with a fork, stabbing each individual piece without help from me! I got a video of it, but I dont know how to upload it, so Ill have to see if Danny can do it when he has time.

Our kitchen is now starting to look like it will in a few weeks. The doors are now in the right places, holes for lights are cut and wiring carried out, insulation in and drywall on walls. My dad gets here tomorrow and the shipment on Friday, so let the fun begin! I am so ready to have my house back! H was covered in dry wall dust within 1 minute of being in the house tonight. Nasty. What once was his toy room is under plastic sheeting and he doesnt quite know what to do about it, but the sneaky little man found a way to access the lego bucket from underneath the computer desk and was able to extract legos one by one to take over to the dog beds (his favourite place to lie) and play with them there. So cute!

I have to say, I was super impressed that he could feed himself his dinner tonight with no help from me, and that he ate his dinner with no argument! Of course, he got 1.5 mini Oreos tonight!

Mondays are all the same - exhausting

So, its Monday again. I may only work three days a week, but I get super tired, especially on Mondays. Living without a kitchen means we are leaning on friends to make us dinner, which is grately appreciated. At least I dont have to make H behave in a restaurant every night of the week. However getting him home, sticking his Pjs straight on him, reading a book or two then sticking him in his bed, doesnt go down well with him. And then me, yes well, I had to make up several hours of work after he went to bed because he has a doctors wellness check up tomorrow that could not be changed (next available appointment is in 3 months!), so I am even more glad not to have any post-dinner cleaning up to do, but find myself ridiculously exhausted and have done nothing but work today and attempt to feed my child and keep him on the straight and narrow for the very short two hours that I actually spent with him. Oh and recite my new mantra over and over again for the two short car journeys we spent together this evening to keep the peace. You know the one, "A, B, C, D, E, F, G", I wont go on, but I am ever so glad it works. I wouldnt be surprised if I didnt sing it in my sleep tonight - and I have a terrible 'singing' voice. And that is assuming I get to sleep tonight. Last night H woke up crying at 330am.. He didnt cry long, maybe 15 seconds, and then again about 20 minutes later and then about 430am. Not enough to warrant going in there, but enough to keep me awake long enough for the new baby to wake up and do its Kung Fu Panda work out until it was almost time to get up. I dont know what was wrong with him, though I suspect its those pesky canines again. Why cant they just push through!

For a short minute this evening I thought how nice it will be to have a leisurely breakfast and some play time with H in the morning, but then I realised the builders will be here at 8am anyways. But its supposed to snow tonight and be freezing again tomorrow, so there isnt much else for us to do. I need to go check out the day cares around town and put our names down on one for next fall, so maybe we will do that in the morning to save time Thursday. I figure its about time H got to socialise with other kids, that and I give my part time babysitter more money than I would a full time daycare, even if he only attended it part time. Also need to enroll in the mothers day out programs, maybe that will work out instead and be much cheaper.

But for right now, on this cold, wet, Monday night, I am exhausted.

Back to (our new) normal

Just in case you were worried about me after last night, which was in fact awful, I thought Id let you know that things were back to our new normal again tonight. I also got a little brave and instead of holding him while I cooked, I tried distracting him with something else. When he started repeating his mantra, "mummy, mummy, mummy", in that whiney tone, I took him by the hand and walked him over to the toy room (thankfully my dinner was rather hands off at this point) and got out a puzzle for him to play with and it worked, for a little while. I then gave him something new that he hadnt had the pleasure of playing with before - the two smaller bowls that sit in the food processer. These were a real hit and he carried them round with him everywhere.

He didnt eat any of our delicious dinner (spinach and pea pasta with Salmon - ridiculously health but oh so delicious!) but he didnt scream at all while I ate. After I had finished eating and he was given his milk, he threw it on the floor. I picked it up once and after the second time he threw it on the floor I told him that it was gone now. He did have a little cry, but I informed him that mummy didnt pick up the things we threw on the floor, particularly not so heavily pregnant, so in the future, he had best not throw it on the floor. He seemed reasonably satisified, at least he didnt cry for the milk. I then did the dishes while he occupied himself quietly.

He had a nice bath where I didnt have to perform a small play with the piggies, which gets a little old when you cant think of anything to talk about with two rubber piggies. I actually looked at his back most of the time as he was turned around shoveling water into the cup.

He happily brushed his teeth and then we had a huge development! Henry peed in the toilet!!! Every night he gets three chances to climb up his stool and I tell him to go pee. Tonight he got four chances and on the last one, he actually went! He found it so funny that he was peeing in the toilet, so maybe he will be excited to do it tomorrow night too!

We read some books together, curled up on our bed and he peacefully went to bed. I even asked him for a kiss on the way to his bedroom, at which he usually shakes his head, well tonight he leaned in and gave me several kisses with a smile!

Now this is what I was looking for last night!!! Im still going to treat myself to a decaf vanilla chai latte with 5 marshmallows, because, lets face it, I deserve it!

Then I will begin laundry, clean the bathroom and mop the floors. All in anticipation of our much awaited arrival tomorrow night... our Papa comes home after almost two weeks camping out in the Bush in Australia! I have yet to ask him if he saw a kangaroo! Its actually the longest time period that we havent spoken to each other in our 8+ years together. I am so ready for a manly hug!

Much better!

Two cups of vanilla chai latte, each containing 5 marshmallows, 3 extra marshmallows and one and a half hours of sewing and I almost feel human again! Relaxed enough to go to bed at least!

Let's all hope tomorrow brings a little man in a better mood!

What a freakin' evening

Oh my goodness. I just had the evening from hell. I don't know why we have expectations in life, we are only ever let down. Wow. I have got to sit here a minute and recover.

My expectation for the evening was that Henry and I would have a lovely evening together. I chose not to go out to get burgers like we often do on a Tuesday, because I wanted to spend some time with my son. I thought we could play a little, have a nice dinner, take a fun bath, read some stories and go to bed. That's what I thought. huh.

Everything seemed ok when we first got home. He walked up the path, climbed the steps and came in the house just fine. Then it began. The whining. So I took him to the play room, set him down and we started playing. It went well for a few minutes. I decided to check on his dinner and the Mummy, Mummy, Mummys began. Incessantly. So I held him while I fixed his dinner. One of his favourite dinners; sausage, chips/fries and peas. I set him in the highchair and the screaming began. Oh my goodness. Who stole my baby and replaced him with this monster. So I took him out of the highchair and carried on eating my dinner while he stood there and screamed. Then he asked for the fork with the piece of sausage on, and he fed himself. When he realised what it was he had for dinner, he reached for the plate, but I told him to eat his dinner he had to sit in the high chair. So I put him in the high chair, where he screamed. I carried on eating my dinner. When he got done screaming, he started eating his dinner. Then something made him start screaming again. After I had finished my dinner and could no longer bear the screaming, I took him back out of the high chair and he sat on the dog bed and carried on screaming. In fact he only stopped screaming when I started video recording his tantrum with my camera, then he just laid there in the dog bed looking at the camera.

Then he started screaming for his milk. I did get him some milk, and that provided me with a few minutes of peace and quiet, but he refused to be put down.

After he finished his milk I ran the bath. He climbed his stool and called for the tooth brush. After I told him we would brush our teeth after the bath, he started screaming and stood their screaming. When the bath was ready I took off his clothes, whilst he carried on screaming. When I put him in the bath he carried on screaming. When I sat on the toilet with the nail clippers and cut my toe nails he went deadly silent and watched. He then asked me to cut his nails, so I cut a few of his finger nails and then he wanted the nail clippers, which I would not let him have, so he started screaming again. We picked up all the toys and he happily took out the plug and handed to me. After drying off he was ecstatic to finally get to brush his teeth. Phew, no screaming. We went to his bedroom, he walked willingly, but when I put him on the changing pad to put a diaper on him, he started screaming again. Thankfully, story time was its usual fun, as long as I read the correct books. I tried to read the Belly Button book and he threatened to scream again. He started crying when I told him it was time for bed, but said goodnight to the doggies any ways. He calmed down a little bit on the way to his bedroom, but started screaming hysterically again when I put him in his bed.

I have no stinkin' idea what the heck is wrong with him, but I sure am glad he is quietly in bed. I almost wish I could drink so that I could have a big glass of wine, but a decaf chai tea and the couch will have to suffice Im afraid. What a crappy evening. Wow. Im still in shock. I suspect he was just really tired because he didnt sleep well last night at all (which I suspect may be a result of those pesky canines coming in) and apparently was prematurely woken up from his nap this afternoon. Lets all hope for a better nights sleep for all of us.

As an aside, the new baby has changed position. Somehow last night its butt got over to the right side of my ribs, which is probably another reason I didnt sleep well and had a sore back this morning.

I have saved Henry's sausage and peas and he will be given them tomorrow night for dinner. Little stinker.

Whirlwind visit

H and I had a fun few days with the Vinsons, but he seemed very glad to be home tonight. His personality has TOTALLY changed over the past week or two. He is most definitely a little boy now. All you people that said I needed to wean him of the need for his mummy were wrong! He has done it himself! To some extent, at least. He still panics if I go to the bathroom and screams my name, banging on the door until I come out, but he plays around the house while I make dinner or clean up after dinner now. But we have also hit the terrible twos I think, either that or he just has more energy than he knows what to do with. Unfortunately I think he has discovered how to scream NO, when another child has a toy he wants or something isnt going according to his plan, so we are going to have to deal with that kind of behaviour somehow.

Our trip went well. We had gymnastics and tea Thursday morning as usual, then we left town around 1130am. H fell asleep almost immediately, which wasnt part of the plan. When he woke up in Jackson, TN an hour and a half later, we stopped for lunch, though he barely ate. We must have looked funny because all of the people (all men) in the Subway where we ate couldnt help but stare at this hugely pregnant woman chatting along merrily with a little blonde headed toddler. He didnt sleep again but we sang children's songs and re-capped our body parts and animal sounds, so he was happy. To my surprise, he was happy playing at this foreign house. I expected him to sit on my lap and not move. He was a little naughty with Jay as he seemed to realise pretty darn quickly that, unlike his other friends, Jay wasnt going to snatch a toy back if he took it from him, so of course, he kept taking Jay's toys. Jays response was to start crying, not what H is used to and it didnt phase him at all. Knox tends to take whatever it is Henry has and then it all seems fair to the both of them. Basically he was a little bully for the weekend and we actually started Time Outs.

Jay was so much more developed than I expected. Almost running round their house, as long as he had something to hold on to. Ive never seen cruisin' like it!

Again, to my incredible surprise H slept well in this foreign pack and play in this foreign house. Id always wondered what time he actually woke up versus what time he started calling for me and having shared a room with him, thank goodness he doesnt call for me as soon as he wakes up, coz its early! We played outside once it warmed up and he napped well during the afternoon. I laid down but didnt fall asleep unfortunately. This morning Summer, H and I popped to Target and Michaels, but I will never set foot in another craft store with my toddler again. Everything in that place was at his level and breakable. He was manic, running from one display to the next trying to rip things off the shelves. It completely wore me out.

After lunch we set off home. H was asleep within 7 minutes of leaving! He only slept 1.5 hours but we managed not to stop! I was slowly sipping my water so as not to fill up and need to pee. I didnt give him his cup until 30 minutes from the house so that he wouldnt need a clean diaper. We sang Old MacDonald a lot, though it was more of a Safari than a Farm, so that we could do lion noises, and monkeys and what not. He played peek-abo with me in the mirror and we made it to Oxford in 4 hours. We had to stop at Kroger as I knew we had no milk and we got some fantastic deals on Organic grapes and apples, some yummy looking oranges and both strawberries and raspberries were 2 for $4, so I couldnt resist, despite it being totally the wrong time of year. He then ate more food than I thought physically possible. Actually, Id like to get opinions on something, if you dont mind. Our dinner tonight was one of his favourite meals, though we dont eat it often because I worry that it is unhealthy, but I really dont think so. We had lots of fresh chopped spinach in scrambled eggs with spaghettios on toast. What do you think, unhealthy or not? After a huge portion of this, 4 eggs, 4 servings of spinach and a can of spaghettios between us, we then demolished a whole carton of raspberries. H ate a mini Oreo and polished off a cup of milk! Where does that tiny child put it all!? After that much spinach though, tomorrow is going to be full of icky diapers for me!

He was soo sooooo happy to be home. A little annoyed at me that we didnt take a bath. In fact, he threw all of his bath toys in the bath and tried to climb over the side! But I am really trying to keep his bed time close to 7pm for my sanity and we just didnt have time. Instead of crawling around the bed at story time, he laid propped up on pillows next to me holding his foot while we read his favourites.

Guess I have to tidy up the debris from the trip then catch up on some work that I missed Wednesday. My jobs never end! Not to mention that my other baby likes to lie with its legs straight out, which is less than comfortable! It was a fun trip, nice to get out the house and do something different, but I am absolutely exhausted now and have all the things I usually do in 4 days, to squeeze into one.

Time change

I am as free as a bird, with no where to fly.

For about the past month we have been putting Henry to bed at 8pm. It was sort of my fault, it was in anticipation of the time change, its just that the time change was much later than I realised. But last night the clocks went back here in the U.S. Henry didnt wake up until 730am (830am summer time) so that was nice, we all got to lie in! I slept pretty well last night, but being pregnant, pretty well isnt exactly great, so I knew that Danny didnt sleep well at all, thus the lie in this morning was blissful! We had a few hours to play with our Papa, he and Henry cleaned out the car and I got to use the bathroom in peace and quiet, without a certain little person sitting on my lap! That may be more information than you needed, but it really is cause for celebration if I get to use the bathroom on my own! I realised that I hadnt left the house since Friday morning and felt a little confined, so we loaded up the troops and walked to the square. The dogs lay in the sun whilst Henry and I rolled trucks down the courthouse ramp. Lost track of time and didnt make it home until 1230, so we had a quick lunch and H went to sleep. I planted my recent purchases from the Barn and took myself off to bed too! We all slept until almost 5pm again! After some rolling of the trucks down the slide, I cooked us a quick Cous Cous dinner, Henry played while I did the dishes, bath time, story time and bed was at 710pm! That might not seem like a big deal to you, but it means that I am going to have all of my 'jobs' done by 8pm, instead of 9pm. Which means I get to do something I want to do before bed, rather than just having to get my stuff ready for tomorrow and take myself off to bed. I dont feel like working on the curtains tonight, so maybe some yoga is on the cards. I really hope to keep up this 7ish bedtime, though I doubt its possible. It was a bit of a fluster getting all of that done by 7pm. We often dont eat dinner til 6pm on work nights and especially not when Papa is here, because he often doesnt come home from work til 6pm, so fitting it all in will be tough, but it sure is nice having some free time.

If you have trouble convincing your child they should eat vegetables and have to 'hide' them like me, or if you are rushed after work and need a quick fix dinner, try this, there are lots of variations you could do, this is just what I had in the house.

1 zucchini, chopped up really really small (remember your goal here, disguising vegetables!)

1 carrot, chopped up really really small

1 red bell pepper, you guessed it, chopped up really really small

sliced olives

1 can chopped tomatoes

1 cup cous cous (I used Israeli cous cous, easier to disguise the vegetables because it is bigger)

1 cup water

some tasty herbs, salt and pepper

splash of balsamic and lemon juice

Stick everything in a saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer for 8 minutes. Leave sitting a couple more minutes off the heat. Stir in grated parmesan.

I chopped everything up in the morning and doused with lemon juice so I could just throw it all in when the time came.

You could use anything you want, spinach, capers, green onions, peas, squash, feta cheese, no cheese, chicken, sausage bla bla bla. If you use meat, make sure it is pre-cooked before you stir it in.

This was enough food for H and I (I had seconds, of course) with a little left over, so Id double it for another adult and then you will have a whole portion of left overs.

On a totally different note, our new baby did some major gymnastics this week and I think it may have turned head down. I had been in rather a lot of pain for a few weeks now and you could see its head sticking out the side of my stomach. But the pain has gone and the kicks and punches seem to be further up than they used to be. I felt like my uterus was ripping away from its ligaments and you could see this giant bulge in my side. Hopefully its head down, and hopefully it stays that way!

Its the small things in life

Our little bonfire party last night was a bit of a whirlwind, but lots of fun. The number of children at our bonfire parties has slowly increased over the years, but last night hit an all time high! There were just 2 of the 5 Crowe kids, 2 of the 3 Finley's, Knox, Leila, 2 Dawson kids and of course, my little man. I think there were still more adults than kids though!

In an untraditional manner, someone brought an effigy to burn. Danny and I were sort of expecting a Guy, as usual, but Walter brought an effigy of a car to symbolise all of the people and pets that we have recently lost to cars. We burned that sucker!

Unfortunately Henry has that nagging cough back and didnt sleep well at all. He was calling my name around 4am, but I must have drifted back off because I woke to my name again around 545am. Then everyone went back to sleep until Tux, wretched dog, barked at 745am. Then a split second later you hear, "Mama!" ugh. But it was good as Henry seemed to have peed through his diaper, pjs and into all of his sheets somehow. Because of this general lack of sleep in the household, tensions were high this morning. Or rather, Mummy was grumpy! As was Henry. Around 1015am we put Henry in his bed to see what happened, and I laid down. I couldnt sleep because Henry was reading allowed to himself (or just sort of chanting his new favourite word "duck") and the new baby was practising its soccer skills. But we all got up in a much better mood after our 20 minutes of quiet time alone.

My 'small thing in life' to celebrate for today is that I discovered how to (sort of) replicate the most delicious Chai tea they serve at the coffee shop in town. Its my naughty indulgence. The one at the coffee shop is caffeinated and is probably a thousand calories, not to mention it costs around $5. I get one every Thursday morning! But if you buy Stash brand, decaf vanilla chai tea and stir in 5 marshmallows and some milk, it tastes pretty similar! And provides me with my sugary fix which I seem to need every few minutes whilst pregnant! Ive already had two cups today!

Big news on the house front: Mud room de- and re-construction starts this week and the kitchen gets ripped out! So if anyone was thinking about coming over for dinner, you'd better hurry up and make it early week because Ill be looking for handouts for the next 6 weeks after that!

A fun afternoon

The dogs have been really getting on my nerves lately. They are so needy. After a nice long phone call with my mummy this afternoon, I tried to take a nap. After lying comfortably in bed with my eyes closed for a few minutes, Tux decided to come looking for me, but went straight to Henry's room, bashed his way through the door, which loudly hit the wall. This, of course, woke Henry up, just 1.5 hours after he had gone to bed. ugh. No nap for me then. But we had a lovely afternoon, so it made up for no nap, I guess!

We saddled up the circus and walked the dogs to the square. Henry played on the steps of the court house for about an hour. He loves to climb up the steps then run down the ramp. We ate our afternoon snacks, I chased him around, he screamed running around with his hands in the air. Good times! It must have been fun because after we had walked home, he wandered into the play room and played while I prepared dinner, an unheard of anomaly (I usually cook holding him). Annoyingly, I had already made dinner but it enabled me to clean up some dishes to make post-dinner clean up easier. He came back into the kitchen and played with pots and pants while I did other things. Who stole my baby and replaced him with a self-sufficient little man! Thank you! Just kidding, but it was nice to be able to do things without either someone tugging at your shirt or jeans crying, or holding said someone to prevent aforementioned activities. Henry's Uncle J-J came over for dinner with a friend and Henry was a little angel, eating lots of dinner, then some banana, then his cookie and some milk. After a long bath and a demonstration of his roly poly (somersault) capabilities, we retired to bed to read our three new Boynton books.

Henry at a recent gathering in Lana's neighbourhood...

Feeling better emotionally

Henry and I had a lovely weekend with our Papa. We cruised on up to the square on our bicycles and I ate a cake from the Bottletree infront of the Courthouse, where Henry just loves to run up and down the ramp. He did get his first nose bleed, though Im surprised we made it this far without one, to be honest. He tripped just the right distance before a step, so that the bridge of his nose caught the step. He was pretty upset for a good few minutes. And since he had a cold the blood was mixing with his snot. Pretty icky. We bought him some new shoes, and this time Danny didnt comment on the price. We played in the front yard of the neighbours house with their 4 little girls (at which time Danny commented to their parents about the price of the shoes!).

Unfortunately, I was not able to make it to the Memorial Ride for Kevser Sunday. Henry had been so sick we decided it wasnt a good idea to wake him up at 215pm for me to go. In the eventuality, it was probably a good thing I didnt wake him up because he didnt start chirping Mama until 4pm, so he obviously needed to sleep.

The Braxton Hicks contractions havent come back since the Memorial Service Thursday, so I must have just been sub-consciously worked up about it. Feeling super nauseas now though and have this icky vomit-like taste in my mouth most of the time. ugh, gross.

Went to the ladies luncheon at the Sed lab today with Tasha and it was lovely to see everyone. They were all asking us about our babies and the new house and what not so we had lots to talk about. It was a nice respite in an otherwise grim, grey day of showers and boring mundane tasks at work.

Surprise visit

Last night, lying in bed, I wondered what the date was as I knew that my sister's birthday was coming up. Having checked the phone, I reaslied her birthday was today, thank goodness I thought of it last night. Dont worry, I sent presents and a card weeks ago. But it occurred to me that I had a doctors visit on her birthday. Whooa, that came out of no where. Time is seriously flying at the moment. So this morning I didnt get to eat or drink anything and had to take the silly glucose test, which this time I passed, thankfully; didnt want to do the 3 hour one. But that threw our Friday for a loop. Henry gets very very upset when anyone does anything medical to me. When he saw the blood pressure cuff he started screaming and didnt stop until the nurse took it off my arm. He cried when she pricked my finger and sat on my lap sobbing when the doctor listened to the baby's heart beat. I didnt gain any weight this past 2 weeks, blood pressure was 124/70 and the babys heart beat around 140. Told him about my nightly cramps and he didnt seem too bothered, so all is well with the bump. Next visit is with the midwives Nov 9th.

Anyone have any strong views on the Rhogam shot? I had it at 28 weeks with Henry but had decided I wasnt going to have it this time until after the baby was born if in fact, the baby had rhesus positive blood. But I think Dr. Henderson talked me into getting it so I wondered if anyone had any strong feelings on it. The only (major) negative argument seems to be that the shot is comprised of pooled blood serum and there are things in blood serum which cannot yet be screened for such as BSE (mad cow) so I risk infecting myself with these un-screenable diseases. If you dont have the shot and your baby is, in my case, rhesus positive, and blood is transfered between you, future pregnancies will result in mis-carriage as you will have developed an immune system to the foetal cells. I would like another child I think. So anyways, I think I talked myself back into getting the 28 week shot as well as the post-birth shot, unless anyone has any strong views on the subject to sway me otherwise?

I didnt want to, but we went to the grocery store after that. I wasnt desperate for food but didnt want to go over the weekend and then have work Monday. Got an exciting menu for next week though, so thats good. Vegetable lasagne, baked potato, Jambalaya, stuffed peppers, broccoli cheese soup! Been off of food in general lately so its good to actually want to cook, because then I will eat!

To cheer myself up we went to The Barn, a new garden nursery in town. People didnt really seem to want to help me chose plants at first, but they became more helpful. Henry had a blast playing with the gravel and crawling through little gaps in the bushes to find me. Might go back this weekend and buy some stuff. Perennials were on sale and I do love tall phlox. Maybe some Jasmine for our beautiful new arbor.

Following lunch, H took a 3 hour nap, such a contrast to yesterday! So I pulled ivy for an hour and half then napped an hour and a half! After some brief acorn organisation, which we must spend at least some time on each day (though I may need to find Henry a new acorn collection bucket as the raisin tub seems almost full), we walked to Lila's birthday party. A little late for a 1 year olds birthday party in my opinion (6-8pm), but I guess they schedule themselves differently! Most of the kids were tired and every little bump or stolen cracker brought a few seconds of wailing, but it was fun to get out. We read books on Mummy and Daddy's bed after we walked home, as we do every night. Henry had a great time sticking his fingers in the little holes that the Very Hungry Caterpillar had chomped through, and we read Pooh's Bees one and a half times. Now that he is sleeping Im going to do some tidying up and take myself off to bed as soon as is physically possible. Pretty tired.

No cramps today, so I must have just been worked up yesterday. It always stresses me out no end when H doesnt nap, because I know how much he needs to.

I must have sounded pretty bad yesterday as you all sent me such lovely emails. Thank you so much for your kind thoughts. Im ok. I think honestly, Im a little lonely. And I think of Yavuz and wonder how on earth he can go on after this, how lonely he must feel. A huge portion of the people I love live so far away, be it Nashville, Florida, Maine, Arkansas or England and Danny is always so busy trying to look after us so well, that we dont see him as much as we would like. Im sure, more than anything, Im just pregnant and hormonal, and its been a hard week. I also need a reality check. For some reason it still doesnt seem to register with me that Im pregnant. I have a big fat belly that wiggles and flips all of the time, but still I think I can do whatever I want and am invincible. It occurred to me today that I will be in the third trimester in November. Thats really pregnant. I need to buck my ideas up I think, and learn how to take it easy. How do you learn something so unnatural to yourself!?

We should get to spend lots of time with our Papa tomorrow. Maybe we can take some fun pictures of H for me to post next week, I know you miss seeing him! He is so adorable too. Tonight he wore brown corduroys and a check blue shirt to the party and looked like a cute little man! Oh and the most adorable thing ever is that he is getting a swath of thick black hair on his legs, not a baby anymore! What the heck am I going to be like when he starts potty training or even worse, shaving?!

What an evening

I realise its probably bad form to make two posts in one day, but I have to tell you about my evening...

We went and ate pizza at Soul Shine pizza with Lana, Steve (Lana's husband), Knox and Lana's friend and her baby girl, Lila. Henry was an angel, he not only behaved really well, but he ate all of the snacks I took for him (a cooked carrot, a cream cheese sandwich, raisins and fresh pineapple) and then he ate a ton of vegetable pizza (so he ate artichoke hearts, broccoli and black olives also). We then went over to Holli's Sweet Tooth where they sell mini children's ice cream portions on a mini wafer cone - adorable. Henry had vanilla and I had triple caramel, delicious, though I fed most of Henrys ice cream to Knox. I also got pick and mix chocolate covered stuff (the chocolate covered animal crackers were the best). The reason this is odd is that I dont care for chocolate and I dont really eat candy (which, if you believe in cravings, suggests that our new baby is a girl, but whatever). What makes the evening so interesting is that I cycled to the square and it was now dark. erm. Yes, dark. So Henry and Knox are up way past their latest ever bedtimes and I am on the square with a trailer. I did have one flashy rear light, but dont worry, we didnt cycle home. Lana offered to follows us home, but dont worry, that didnt seem safe enough either. So we called our husbands who were off drinking beer and threw the bike and trailer in the back of Steve's truck. Fingers crossed it doesnt get stolen. It is a Thursday night. Anyway, the evening gets better, I couldnt find my house keys. So we drove over to the bar where we knew they had met and I ran in with Henry (I heard, "hey theres a baby in the house" - oh dear). Its still only 8pm mind you, not super late, but super late for our kiddos who are usually sound asleep by 730pm. Anyways, Danny was not there. erm. So I call to find out where they are and they are at a different bar across town, so with H under the seatbelt with me, squishing my other baby we go to the other bar, but there were lots of police out - remember, its a Thursday night. So I had to stand him on the floor boards, but he was super happy because he found one of Knox' snack cups and played with the radio buttons. We eventually got the keys from Danny and made it away from the square without getting stopped by the police even though a line of four policemen on horse back walked past my side of the car while we were at a traffic light! Never a dull moment!

When we got home Henry had wet through his diaper and was more tired than I may ever have seen him. We were on our sixth poo poo of the day also. So I quickly bundled him into his clean disposable diaper, buttoned up his clean white pyjamas and tried to comfort him, but all that boy wanted was his bed. So I laid him in his bed, but you have to understand I can no longer lean over enough to lay him down so I have to sort of set him sitting up right and let him lay down. I rubbed his tummy and told him how much I loved him and what a good boy he was and he rubbed his eyes, closed them and I dashed out of the room. He may have even been asleep before I had shut the door.

What amazes me is if he was that ridiculously tired, why was he such a well behaved little boy. Though dont get me wrong, Im not complaining. I had a wonderful, wonderful evening out and I am pretty sure H did too. He ate well and I didnt have to cook or clean! And I picked up some chocolate, which unfortunately is in my trailer in the back of Steve's truck still but I have high hopes that it will make it here, fingers crossed!

Oh, and Danny got dropped off at the square but had his sun glasses on so is now out on the town without any glasses (we wear prescription sunglasses)!

We are a right pair, eh! I attribute my very unusual recent brain farts to pregnancy, but whats Danny's excuse!

Im going to make some banana nut muffins for our play dates tomorrow, of which we have a ton, and then Im going to lie in bed and read my book. What a lovely day.

I LOVE THURSDAYS!

New Job News

My first two days at work for Cardno Entrix have been great. It was a little slow Tuesday morning but our boss came in Tuesday afternoon and we visited our new office, which has a balcony overlooking the square. The afternoon sun was warm and welcoming.

Dinner Tuesday was great fun. Much to my surprise and excitement, Danny suggested walking to dinner. We had a babysitter and left the just after bed time for H. We ate at Boure with the whole group and our new boss. The mood was light and jovial and we shared three delicious desserts at the end! Danny and I had a lovely stroll home! This wife is so easy to please!

With our boss here today, work was a bit more on the go, but equally good. We convened at my house because the office isnt ready and the coffee shop was super busy. Danny brought us sandwiches for lunch and I ran some work errands around town on my bike in the afternoon. I look pretty funny now with this big old belly hanging down over my legs when Im riding. Definitely looking pregnant these days!

Glad of my day with Henry tomorrow. We have gymnastics first thing in the morning, then a brunch date with Knox and Lana, some play time Im sure, lunch with Papa, nap time, more play time, dinner, bath and bed! The life of a 14 month old is ever busy!

After the exciting week of walking last week, Henry now refuses to walk without holding at least one of our hands. He is getting two new teeth on the bottom jaw and has rather a varried volcabulary. He says; bath, baby, diaper, water, Maa (milk) not to mention Mama, Mummy and Papa, and Im sure there are some words in there I have forgotten. My little baby is growing up!

Turned out to be a nice day

When Henry was being fussy at 730am yesterday morning and it was STILL raining, I was a little worried about the rest of the day, and the sanity of the five of us (dogs were a little stir crazy with the weather too), but it actually turned out to be a lovely day on Bramlett Boulevard.

Henry and I took the dogs to the park in the light rain because I knew other wise they wouldnt go outside. We played a little in the house and he and Danny played outside in the puddles again, though it was cold this time and I had to warm his little feet up when he came in. He did look cute in his little yellow rain jacket though! When he is walking I might get him some wellies (rubber boots) so we can go splashing around. Dragging him away from the door where he sat banging to go outside was a little hard, but he got over it.

Danny got the wardrobes outfitted with our new organisation systems and we actually moved into our bedroom! Slept in it last night! Its very pretty, light and airy. I will get some new bedsheets for a fresh start and we never had any bedroom furniture at the other house, so Ill need to go buy some bedside tables and maybe a little chez longe or a couch or something. The only bummer with sleeping there is that its close enough to Henrys room that I hear EVERY little move or noise he makes, the perils of being the mummy I guess, and a light sleeper to boot. He must have been having a nice dream around 5am because he had a little giggle to himself. So cute.

The new baby was being feisty yesterday, so much so that Danny could feel it doing summersaults in my tummy!

Danny had the great idea to go out to lunch, just to get out of the house, so we had fantastic Newk's salads and generally enjoyed each others company for a change.

In the afternoon the sun came out and Henry and I cruised up and down the sidewalk with his walker. Got some cute pictures but I have to wait for Danny to download his camera, maybe later.

First day at work today...

Rain, rain and more rain

I know we needed some rain, but seriously! This much! Henry woke up at 640 this morning and I managed to make him wait til 655am before going to get him. Bundled him into the stroller, much to his disgust, got the dogs all psyched for a walk and when we got outside around 710am it was already sprinkling. Then the rain came, and continued to come, and got worse! Around 4pm it was light enough that the dogs went to the bathroom for the first time, but then it started raining heavily again. So much rain!

We skyped every English-man you can imagine. Baked fresh bagels and then proceeded to eat about 4 each for lunch! Ok, Henry ate just a half a one like usual, but Danny and I pigged out! DInner was no less of a pig out. We attempt to re-create a British favourite; Bangers and Mash. No, not chopped up drug dealers, bangers are sausages and the reason we never have it is because we cant find delicious sausages here in town. They sell some nice ones at Whole Foods in Memphis, but thats a heck of a long way to go for a banger. I bought some pork and garlic sausages (thats what they were called) at the only butchers in town, L Bs Meat Market. It is chorizo. The meal was still really nice but not what we were exactly looking for. Mash was delicious though (I use sour cream with butter, instead of milk), Carrots and green beans were yummy and the onion gravy, well, what more do you need to say. Henry only ate half of two baby carrots. His loss. What kind of a kid doesnt like mash potato!?

The best part of the day was when Danny and Henry splashed in the puddles in the rain! Twice! Henry had a great time and they came in just intime before another serious down pour. It was pretty hard to explain to Henry why we couldn't play outside and at one point this morning he just stood at the back door looking out for about 15 minutes. Poor little fellow.

Maybe the rain will stop tomorrow and maybe Ill get to go out on my bike as I had planned today. Then the sleepy bliss ends Tuesday when I start my new job. Not overly excited, rather enjoyed playing with my baby for two weeks. OH and on the new baby front, we think its a boy now. We looked at pictures from being pregnant with Henry and my belly is exactly the same, all below the belly button, or Bee Bo and Henry likes to call it (we have a Bee Bo book).