February 28, 2012

Today was a normal Tuesday, skating and swimming lessons.  Fortunately the Husband was off work, so he was home to help.  I love the days when he is off, it really helps me around the house.  The older kids have been difficult.  They make gigantic messes around the house and they never clean anything up.  We were trying to figure out if this is always the way it has been, and I just notice or it is worse because we are home all the time, or if this is a new thing.  The other day I found toothpaste in the hall!  How does one get blue gel toothpaste on the carpet in the upstairs hall?  So we decided to assign chores.  They used to do chores for money, but it never worked.  So this time they will be doing chores for the privilage of playing with their exsisting toys.  Is that mean?  The Girl will have to clean the family room and sweep the kitchen floor.  They Boy will need to vaccume anything that has carpet and take out garbage and recycling.    What things do you do to get your kids to help out around the house?

Today at swimming (which both kids passed!!) my parents came to watch.  My Mom made a quilt for the Baby (the third one!).  It is so adorable and will look great in his room.  She makes such pretty and creative quilts, this time I had to share a photo of it.  I should mention that it is made of flannel, so it is so soft and warm. 

February 27, 2012 - Breastfeeding Success

The Baby and I went to the Breastfeeding clinic again this morning and they are very happy because he has gained weight.  This is the first weight gain in a few weeks, since we had taken away the bottles.  I feel so much better and even though he is feeding every 1-3 hours (or more often) I am so much happier about it.  I actually almost look forward to the feedings during the day.  I think part of my happiness is because I know he is getting what he needs and most sessions do not end in frustration and tears for both of us.  I could go on with this indefinately if it continues this smoothly.

Yesterday he rolled from his back to his front, the Husband said that he has done this before, but I hadn't seen it.  Since I am the one recording the milestones, I will record his first roll over from back to front as February 26th! 

We are planning to go to Florida later in the Spring, and I am interested in ideas for things to do (besides Disney, Universal and shopping!!).  It has been a long time since I have been to Florida (over 10 years) and I have never been there with small kids.  We like to see and do things with animals and nature.  Also we will be driving so if there are anythings to stop and see along the way we are definately up for it.  Getting there is part of the fun of a vacation:)

February 26, 2012

Today we went to Mountain Equipment Coop on our way to the Husband's mother's house.  It was great, I hadn't been there since the Boy was small.  Miss it:)  The purpose of our trip was to get proper backpacks for the kids to use for school and for vacations and day trips.  We picked out bags that were bigger than they need right now, but I am hoping with the high quality of MEC products they will last a long time.

While we were there the Boy and the Girl got to try rock wall climbing.  The Boy did really well, he made it almost to the second story, but got a little stuck where the wall jutted inwards, he needs a little more strength to stay on the wall at that point.  The Girl did great on the flat part of the wall and made it up pretty high.  She is just not strong enough to keep against the wall and eventually gave up, but she did great.

February 25, 2012 - Sophie ran away

OK, so Sophie the Giraffe didn't run away, but my guess is that she took a fatal fall out of the stroller somewhere in the mall.  I didn't notice that she was missing until I got to the car, and all three kids were unloaded and in the van.  I had to make a split second decision to either load up the stroller and retrace my steps through the mall, or to abandon Sophie and hope that she finds a new home and anothe baby that loves her as much as ours did.

I opted for the second choice, and feel a little bad about it.  The next stop on our journey today was to Toys 'r Us to spend the kids Christmas/Birthday money and hunt for formula, so I decided I would pick up a replacement Sophie.  I did, and fortunately the Baby didn't notice the difference.  I guess he doesn't really remember tastes, because he put Sophie II in his mouth and chewed away!

The formula issue is becoming annoying.  We have been using Similac Advance with Baby, mostly because it was the first one we tried, we received a sample from the company and he didn't have any adverse reactions so we kept using it.  Now since Similac is re-branding their formula and changing the look of the packaging, all the stores are out of stock.  I hunted through the mall, and have checked a few other stores over the week and couldn't find it anywhere.  When I got home today, I checked the Similac website, and they don't have an email contact for their customer service department, so I will have to call them on Monday and complain.  Today I purchased a different variety of Similac, and I just hope that Baby likes it!

February 24, 2012 - The snowstorm that wasn't

Again, no snow! This time it was miserable freezing rain for pretty much the whole day. The kind of weather that gets right down to your bones.

Today the Husband took the Boy and Girl to the movies. They saw the Journey 2 the Island of Adventure. They had lots of fun. It is nice when the Husband can do some fun stuff with the, most of the time he is the 'mean' parent!

Today's photo is of the Baby in his bouncy chair.  This chair has been well used with the first two children.   They would get into it and rock up and down and the chair would bounce away.  Today I put the Baby in the chair, and instead of leaning back and making the chair bounce up and down, he sat up and started playing with the toys.  Wow, kids are so different:)

February 23, 2012

Today the news is calling for a BIG snowstorm, this will be the first one of the winter.  I think the news stations are craving some sort of winter crisis to report on, and since the winter has been so mild and uneventful, it must have been boring for them.  So now there is a big snow storm on the way (apparently).  One station I was watching this morning actually said that there was a chance that we would get 5 cm up to 20 cm, or possibly it will rain.  LOL...I'm not too worried, my biggest event tomorrow will be walking to the school.

The kids are all signed up for their summer activities.  The Boy will be doing skating and skateboarding, and the Girl will be continuing with the skating.  They will both be doing baseball.  The Boy is worried because he will be hitting a pitched ball this year.  It's a big step up from T-Ball, but hopefully it will make the games more interesting.

We will also have the pool up in the backyard, so I am hoping to spend lots of time outside this summer relaxing in the yard!!  Hopefully the summer isn't as crappy as our winter has been!  What are we in El Nino or El Nina...whatever...I can't keep track!

Today's photo is of the Girl "reading" to the Baby.  Before I took this photo, I could hear her read most of "That's not my Bunny" it was very cute.  She is becoming a good little reader and is recognizing lots of words.  I keep telling her how proud I am!

February 22, 2012

So we are still moving ahead with the breastfeeding plan.  They have increased my Domperidone to three tablets four times a day.  We are also to keep the bottle feeds to just one per day and make sure to breastfeed at least 8 times per day.  Apparently the Baby is chunky enough that he can affoard to lose a little weight!

Yesterday evening I had a difficult time.  The Baby wouldn't take the breast, and he was hungry.  I know he was crying for a bottle.  The clinic says I am doing well and making progress, I need to keep doing what I am doing.

Today Baby and I went for a walk over to the mall while the Girl was in school.  It was such a beautiful day, sunny and cheerful.  So I just had to get out of the house.  I picked up some bright pink nail polish to paint the Girl's fingernails, she was so excited to see the colour when I got home.

I am excited to go skating tomorrow, it has been a while since I have been on skates, but I am happy to spend some time with the older kids and GD, while Granny keeps Baby company.

February 21, 2012

Today we were back to the grind, after a nice long weekend.  The Girl had skating and the instructor reminded me for the second time that she needs proper skates, so I stopped by Play it Again Sports on the way home and gor a pair of figure skates for her.  She is so excited about skating, so we arranged to go to Gage Park later this week to skate.

Tomorrow I see the lactation consultant again, and I am hoping she is pleased with my progress.  It is really hard to listen to your baby cry when you know it would stop with a bottle, but I really want him to breastfeed, so I have to suck it up and keep trying.  He did have a bottle last night, and he slept for 8 hours after taking it.  On the other hand, he got filled up this morning with my first breastfeed of the day!  That is a good thing:)

This week is setting up to be busy, Skating, Swimming, breastfeeding clinic, Beavers (and they are having a party, where I have to bring food), then skating, finally on friday: the Husband is taking the Girl and the Boy to the movies.  Saturday the Girl has a birthday party and Sunday looks free right now:)

February 20, 2012 - Family Day

Today is a statuatory holiday in Ontario, called Family Day.  It has only been around for a few years.  I like the concept of a stat holiday in the middle of February.  However I don't like the media attention on the holiday, which makes me feel as if I am wasting the day if I don't do something exciting (and expensive) with my family today. 

We decided to go to Krispy Kreme (the Husband got a gift certificate from the church fundraiser) and get some doughnuts.  The kids had never been, and I was pleased when we saw that they were making doughnuts when we arrived.  Actually, they were making doughnut holes.  So the kids watched the process, and then we had a doughnut and went out for lunch.

Lunch was great, we went to Casey's.  One of our favourite restaurants, the Husband and I had the buffalo chicken strips, as usual.  It was nice, because the Baby slept, so the older kids had our undivided attention.

This weekend has been tough with the breastfeeding, but I am pleased that the Baby did not have a bottle yesterday at all.  Yeah!  I think my milk has finally reestablished, and it is mostly satisfying him.  I do admit that he is feeding every 30 minutes to 4 hours now.  Before he was taking a bottle every 3 to 4 hours.  But I am much more happy now.

February 19, 2012 - Trying Lacrosse

Today I took the older kids to the Kiwanis Centre to try lacrosse.  What a great idea!  The local lacrosse association had a practice/trial day where kids could learn some skills and see if they like lacrosse.  Potentially recruiting new players to the league.  I took both kids, but it didn't go well.  First of all, they had an overwhelming turn out, and there wasn't enough sticks to go around.  So for the first 1/2 hour, my kids didn't really do much.  Eventually some parents fetched their extra sticks, so all the kids had something to play with.  Because my kids had no stick for the first couple of lessons, they couldn't pick up the ball or catch it. 

We were there for just over an hour, and then they both wanted to leave.  What can you do?  I really need some more team sport ideas for the Boy.  The Girl played soccer for one year, and this year will be her second year playing T-Ball (Softball).  The Boy played soccer for one year, and if he plays Baseball again it will be his third year.  The first two years were T-Ball, and this year will be his first year trying to hit a pitched ball.   He is nervous about that, and I think this is the reason he is hesitant to play. 

I wish he would give himself some more time to get good at a sport, he tends to think he should be awesome at something even after doing it for a few minutes.  I don't know how to teach him how to get into practicing things? He doesn't understand that practice makes perfect and doesn't want to believe me when I tell him.

Today is my 50th blog post!  Only 315 to go:)

February 18, 2012 - Eagles and Cake

Today we were invited to a surprise birthday party in Shelburne.  The Boy and the Girl were excited because they had never been to a surprise party.  Before the party I took the Boy to get his hair cut and we picked up a snack at the mall.  It just so happened that the mall was having a birds of prey demonstration.  The Boy loves birds, so we had to check it out.  It was pretty cool. They had an immature bald eagle and it was so amazing.  I don't think I'd ever seen such a large bird up close before.  It has a 7 foot wingspan, weighs only 10lbs, and can drag something weighing 80 lbs.  My two older children weigh about that combined!  The bird can carry 40 lbs (this is more than my daughter's total weight!).  We got to see the bird fly and it is just so majestic. 

After the mall, we headed over to the party.  It takes a while to drive to Shelburne, and I never know how the Baby will be in the car.  Today he was good until we had about 20km left, then he somehow just fell back asleep.  We arrived at the party, and I was unloading the car, and the kids.  As I closed the hatch, I slipped and fell (again!).  I knocked my chin off the bumper and landed on the ground.  The weather was cold but the day must have been warm, because I landed right in a slushy puddle.  I was soaked from the waist down!  My coat protected my shirt, but my pants were dripping wet.  I went inside and my wonderful Aunt took me back to her place, dried my pants and gave me a hot tea!

I missed the "surprise" but I am told the kids enjoyed it.  Dinner and dessert was yummy, it turned into a great day.

February 17, 2012 - Long weekend

Today starts another long weekend. I enjoy these weekends more now that the Husband also gets the statutory holidays off! When he worked in a traditional restaurant the store never closed!

This weekend should be fun. We hope to see some family on Saturday and on Sunday I am sending the kids to a lacrosse clinic to see if they like the game. On Monday I am hoping to do something outdoors with the family or go skating at the powerade centre.

I saw the lactation consultant today and Baby has developed a strong bottle preference, so she recommended that I not offer him a bottle when he cries at my breast. This will be stressful because until now we have been giving him a bottle when he is still fussy after breastfeeding. The consultant said I should give him one bottle at a particular time each day (not after a crying session) so that he doesn't associate crying at my boob with getting a bottle. It is already hard, but he hasn't had a bottle yet and it is 4:00pm!! I can do this!!

February 16, 2012

Today I went shopping with my Mom.  The Baby charmed the sales people and cried when I breastfed him.  Just a normal day.  Tomorrow I will go back to the lactation consultant to see what else I can do, the tube feeding did not go well, he hates it when I stick the tube in the side of his mouth.  Today he wanted a bottle three times, so it has been getting progressively worse over the week. 

February 15, 2012

Here he is playing with his Laugh and Learn Soccer Ball.  Daddy was making him kick it up and he was smiling and cooing, what fun!

February 14, 2012 - Happy Valentine's Day

This is my sweet Baby Valentine in his "Handsome devil, Valentine's Heartbreaker" T-Shirt. 

February 13, 2012 - Breastfeeding is not easy!

With my first two kids, once breastfeeding was established it was relatively easy.   It was convienent and both kids fed well.  With the Baby it has been anything but easy.  At the get-go, he was a poor latcher and a lazy sucker.  Over the first three months of his life we exclusively breastfed him, and after feeds he would be unconsolable and cry for long periods of time.  Eventually he would stop crying and go to sleep.  We did this nightly for over a month.  This was so stressful and would often result in both of us crying when he wouldn't stop. 

Sometime after Christmas (I can't remember the exact date, so let's say January 1, for the purpose of this story), the Husband said (during one of the crying fits), let me try a bottle.  After giving that first bottle the Baby turned into a happy baby, and I liked him a lot more.  Then over the next few weeks, as a result of the bottle feeding, my milk supply decreased.  I tried Fenugreek (a natural supplement that is supposed to increase milk production.  It didn't work! Then I got a prescription for a medication that would increase my milk supply, and I would pump a couple times a day, and bottle feed him most of the daytime, breastfeeding at night.  The medication helped a bit, but it wasn't the solution.  My GP didn't really have any assistance to provide, so today I saw a lactation consultant at a local clinic. 

They increased my dosage of the medication (from 4 per day, to 9 per day) and helped me learn to use a tube for feedings.  The tube feeding is a little awkward, but since it only costs me about $3.00 to try it out, I am going to try it for the next week and return the clinic next week.    I am trying to pump after feedings, and I put Baby on the boob for each feed, even though he often crys and squirms and won't suck long enough for the milk to come.  He is so lazy sometimes!!  Fortunately during the night, he will nurse for two feeds, which is keeping me sane, otherwise I would have to make bottles during the night!

So when people say that breastfeeding is "easy" I would have to disagree with them.  When people generalize and say that breasfeeding is "natural" I would also have to disagree.  Nothing that I have done for the first four and a half months of Baby's life is easy or natural.  It is stressful and difficult.  There is a lot of crying by Baby and by me, but I am determined to do this, and find a way to keep at it for the full year.    Wish me luck!

February 11, 2012 - Saturday Night!

Baby waiting for oatmeal!  Happy Saturday!

February 10, 2012 - Guide Camp

Tonight I leave for Girl Guide camp with the Girl.  It has been a long time since I have attended one of these camps and I am looking forward to it.  I am also looking forward to some one-on-one time with the Girl.  I am leaving the Baby for a night for the first time, and I will miss him, but I hope the Boys have a good night together.

February 9, 2012 - Happy Birthday G.D.

Today is my Dad's birthday.  The kids call him G.D.  So I wanted to wish him a very happy birthday!

Lately I have started to use Pinterest.  I am still trying to figure out how it works and what kinds of stuff I want to "pin" on my boards.  It is kind of cool, and I am hoping to learn how to use it better over the next while.  If you have any suggestions or tips please let me know.

February 8, 2012 - Two long nights

So for some reason the last two nights the Baby hasn't slept very well.  He takes a nap until about midnight and then is awake every 2 to 3 hours to feed or fuss.  What makes it more difficult is his lack of interest or ability to nurse.  So we have to make a bottle for him.  I am taking Domperidone, but it is definately not the cure I was hoping for.  The only way I can keep my milk up is to take the medication and pump after each feed.  I think tonight I am going to try waking at 3am and pump to see if a four times a day pumping schedule will help increase my supply to a better amount. 

I also feel awful because I haven't been able to use the elliptical since I fell last week.  My foot is still sore, and I am afraid that I will make it worse if I get on the machine.  Perhaps tonight I will try 10 minutes at a walking pace to see if it doesn't hurt my foot.

On the positive side, I picked up The Big Bang Theory Season Three and Four.  I am really enjoying this show, I find it very funny and I can't wait to get back into it.

I love Baby's eyes in this photo even though the Girl's arm is in the picture!

February 7, 2012 - Bathroom renovation

Today the Husband worked on the bathroom.  By dinner time he had replaced some pipes and stopped the leaking.  He had installed the new fixtures, so now we have one of those shower heads that you can remove (ie:  for hosing down the kids!!).  He had also replaced the wall boards behind the bath enclosure, because they were moldy.  He just has to finish the caulking and seal off the corners of the tub enclosure, then the kids can have their bathroom back!  Yeah!

Oh, I almost forgot Glee is on tonight! Yipee:)  We are still in the midst of planning a florida vacation for the spring.  It will be exciting, I haven't been to florida in about 12 or 13 years.  I have never been to Disney or Seaworld.  If anyone has any advice on things to do or see in Orlando or Clearwater, please let me know.....

February 6, 2012

I decided to try feeding homemade rice cereal to the Baby again today. We had previously thought that he did not like the homemade stuff so, for a couple of days we fed him the boxed kind. Since the reaction was the same, I went back to homemade.  

The flowers below were from my sister, she brought them for the Baby's baptism party.  I wanted to take a photo before they wilted. 

Today the Husband decided to finish the bathroom project that he started a few months ago. I picked out a new shower head, and we purchased other materials at Lowes tonight while he Girl was at Sparks!  Hopefully the leak coming from the tub's spout will be fixed.  The job isn't that easy because he has to remove one of the plastic walls from the tub enclosure in order to get at the fixture.  The goal is to have it look the same when he is done.

February 5, 2012 - Baptism Day

So today was so busy! The baptism was at 1:30pm, but we went to mass beforehand at 12:00pm and had to dress the Baby and take photos, just to redress him for church before we left. We couldn't risk him spitting up on the gown. But he did anyway, and got Daddy's tie in he process.

The Baby was the seventh person in our family to wear the gown (on the left).  It was worn by two of his cousins as well as his Godparents, the Husband and the Boy.  There is a lot of history with the gown, and I was honoured to have the Baby wear it on his day. 

The church baptism service was great. The Baby did awesome. Then we had a reception at the house, and we had a houseful of family which always makes me feel great. It is a lot of work over a couple of weeks but it is really rewarding when everything goes smoothly. The only hitch I had today was a small panic moment when I couldn't find the wine bottle opener.

I would like to thank my sister who came out on Saturday night to help out and volunteered to stay at the house to set up while we were all at church. My parents also helped out by watching the Baby on Friday afternoon while I did some cleaning.

The Baby's Godmother got him an adorable outfit to wear after the ceremony and a pair of pajamas to wear to bed tonight. The Baby enjoyed chewing on his silk bib and didn't even spit up on the priest or in the font!!

Having our family celebrate with us was great and really warms your heart. Or was that the wine? LOL:)  The next big event that I will be planning is the Boy's first communion in April, so I have a bit of a break for now.

February 4, 2012 - Busy Saturday

I wish I could enjoy a lazy Saturday morning once and a while. They are always so busy! This weekend is the Baby's baptism and I still had a few last minute things to pick up at Costco. The Boy had a birthday party at Kidnetix (which is a really cool place by the way) and I still ha to do the final touches on cleaning the house.

The best part of today was having a hot beverage with the Girl and the Baby while the Boy was at the party. She is just so much fun to spend time with and I love to listen to her ideas and her take on the world.

She remembers the most abstract things. She routinely talks about going to Wizards World; which is a annual event each March, I think she has web going since she was three. She also talks about going "cash registering", what she really means is "geocaching. The other day she was playing with the cats tail and she said: "you can make wonderful shapes with Pumpkins tail".

February 3, 2012 - Cleaning...ugh:(

The Baby's baptism is on Sunday (the 5th) and I have been busy organizing and cleaning the house to get ready for our family to come over.  We will be having about 40 people at the house.  It is always a lot of work, but very rewarding after when everything goes well.  Today my parents came to help out with the cleaning, and watching the Baby while I did some cleaning.  It is always nice when they come over and the kids have so much fun.

As I was making a bottle of formula for the Baby I started to wonder, why do the formula directions say to use one scoop per two ounces, and all of the bottles are in odd number of ounces (ie 5oz or 9oz)?  Currently the Baby drinks 5oz in a feed, so I just use two and a half scoops.  Why not make the formula directions one scoop per one ounce???

February 2, 2012 - Parent teacher interview night!

Today was parent teacher interviews for the Girl and the Boy.  I am pretty nervous going into the interview, because I don't normally know what to expect.  Turns out one kid can't concentrate and is a great reader. but lacks the writing skills (the Boy, 7) and the other kid gets so focused in her work that she forgets to play and is having a little difficulty in reading (the Girl, 5).  It is true the Boy won't spend time on anything unless he wants to.  For example, he can read and play his DS for ever, but get him to write something or colour a picture and he will do everything possible to finish and move on.  Whereas the Girl, can work on the same colouring page for three days until she gets it completely finished.  She likes to use appropriate colours when colouring and sometimes spends a bit of time searching for the right crayon.

I am curious if this is just a Boy-Girl difference.  The Girl's teacher is a little concerned when she is skipping play or being with the other kids at an activity because she is colouring or finishing a worksheet.  She is apparently very quiet and passive at school, but we assured the teacher that this is not the case at home and it is possible that she is a little shy.

Today we gave the Baby cereal again.  This time I had the Husband do the feeding so I could take a couple of photographs. 

February 1, 2012 - How to avoid fights in the morning

I wish everyday didn't have to start and end with a lot of yelling and screaming.  On a normal morning where I feel rested and ready to start my day, it is horrible to have to yell at the kids several times to eat, then to put on their boots to get ready to go to school.  I also need to ask them repeatedly to put on their boots, hats, mittens, and jacket.  I am wondering why they don't think that what I am asking them to do is important.  Sometimes I ask them to get ready 15 minutes before I actually have to go, just so I am not sitting on the stairs pushing a crying baby in his stroller while I wait for them to get ready. 

When I wake them up (nicely with kisses) I hope that they will get out of bed and get dressed and head downstairs for breakfast.  Those are the instructions I provide every morning.  However, normally it involves me waking them up more than once, and then checking on them three times to see if they are getting dressed.  If I don't actually look in their rooms, they won't be dressing, they will be sitting (or lying) on the floor and either playing or sleeping.  Now before you think that they are tired, I send them to bed between eight and nine o'clock, and wake up time is around 7:30am, so I am not expecting them to function on just a little sleep (I save that speciality for me!!).

Also, don't get me started on the eating.  I think this morning alone, I had to say "Eat!" at least 5 times each meal.  I don't want to yell at my kids.  So I am wondering what works for you to get your kids going?  I need some tricks that might work?  Please help!

January 31, 2012 - end of the month already?

I can't believe that January is over and my baby is 4 months old already. He is getting much more interesting every day. I love watching the Boy and the Girl play with him. They too have grown a lot in Baby's first four months.

This weekend he will be baptized. It is an exciting day for him and it means a big family gathering at our house.

I will be spending the rest of the week cleaning and organizing for Sunday.

The Boy got his report card today. It has some good grades, some OK grades and a few not so good. I am glad that he is great at science and math, but I worry about his writing and his artistic side. I don't expect him to be so artistic that he becomes a singer or an actor, I just wish he would try a little harder. Hopefully the second term shows improvement.

I got a haircut today. I have spent my entire adult life never being really happy with my hairstyle. Now I've had lots of haircuts, usually once every. 6 months or so. Rarely have I gone to the same salon twice. My husband says in that regard I am not a normal woman. I guess that's true. Today I like my cut, hopefully I will still like it In three months. If I do perhaps I will go back to the same salon. We'll see in May!

The photo on the top is of the Boy playing his 3DS in the bathroom.  That kid will play his game anywhere!!  The one in the middle is of the Boy and the Baby, this photo was taken by the Girl and she was really proud of herself for taking a photo of the Baby where he was smiling.  He always smiles for his big brother and sister!  The one at the bottom is of my new haircut.  It is short, but I think it will work better with my busy schedule.  Hopefully when things settle down in the next ten years I can grow out my hair again:)