Breastfeeding

(aug 1, 11)
I was talking to someone today about the option to pump and serve rather than nursing. The baby still gets all the nutritional benefits from the breastmilk and you don't have to be the only one feeding them all the time. I have to admit, with all the trouble I had getting Erin to latch I had sincerely thought about this. But I'm glad I stuck with what I did. And with Paul I plan to do the same.
Breastfeeding is not just about the nutrition for the baby and the weight loss for you. It's about the bonding and so much more.


But I know there are people out there that exclusively pumping would be beneficial for. So don't think I'm knocking it. I just wanted to know the benefits myself.

Jess FINISH POST

All I want for Christmas is my... Oh! Never mind

Dec 24, 2011
Paul's first tooth has officially broke skin! He won't let me do it often, but if I look closely at what my finger can feel, I can see the white ridge of his lower right front tooth.
Its the end of an era. I was loving his toothless grins, but those days have come to an end. It's exciting though

Generations

Doctor doctor, give me the news

( post for 4:20 am on 8-8-11)
So because of the breathing thing last night I called his doctor to bring him in to be checked out. I like my pediatrician office because they are open late and on weekends... Normally. For some reason they were not open this Sunday. So when I called I stayed on the line to have a nurse or dr paged. When they called back is when I found out they weren't open and that it was a nurse from in Tulsa.
She said to go to the urgent care center and that they'd call in over there for us... Which they did not do (and looking back when Erin was sick and we were told to go to the ER and they would call us in they didn't do it then either. Hmm. I'm gonna have to complain to someone). She wanted me to go primarily because at his age they need to make sure his oxygen levels are ok.
When I got there there weren't a lot of people, so despite not being called in ahead of time we were able to get in fairly fast (by their standards, 30 min).
They put what I thought was a heart-rate or blood pressure thing on his foot (looked like a smaller version of those things they put on your finger at the hospital). Turns out it was what they use to measure his O2 levels. They were good, perfect in fact. 100 percent. Which was very good and reasuring. They took his temp (no fever) and weight (12 lbs, 7 oz). All were good signs of him being healthy... Except the cough and stuffy nose.
So the tech took us to our next room where we waited a long time. There was plenty of time to feed and diaper him in addition to waiting.

Jess, FINISH POST PLEASE

I love my husband but...

Ive decided that a stay-at-home mom Is basically a single mom 75-80% of the time. At least that's been my experience and it remains my excuse for the perpetual state of destruction my house is in.
I love my husband but he is away all this week and I've basically decided to do his "honey do" list. I've waited too long on a lot of the stuff and have decided to take charge of it instead.
I guess my epiphany came about due to events from yesterday. Yesterday was chris' day off, but not mine. Stay-at-home Mothers don't really get those. Yesterday was such a last-minute day!
We spent most of the morning and part of the afternoon in stores looking for a garment bag for Chris big trip today. Then we still had To pack... Yes, "we" even though I was not going with him I still had to help. That's what a good wife does, right?
Well, in spite of me doing laundry almost constantly this week I still managed to have to do 3 more loads of "essential" clothes for the trip. Needless to say, he was still packing this morning.
Anyway, we had established a plan earlier that day, but needed to adjust it. Which is fine, it's been discussed and agreed by all that plans change and we are all fine with that... As long as it's not too much. We had said what all Chris needed ro get done before the trip the next day: get garment bag, do a little laundry, pack, and clean out his car. He had said he would take Erin with him to clean out the car after her nap. Well when we got home Erin took a long needed nap, so I thought he would take advantage of that time to pack. Nope. Instead He sat down and took a nap with Paul.

Dont get me wrong, I'm glad he was able to calm Paul down for a nap, and that he was able ro spend some time with him before leaving. And I also know that we all needed a nap after our busy morning, BUT he had stuff to get done.
So I did it for him.

Jess, FINISH POST PLEASE

Small things

Dec 30, 11
It really is the small things that make you happy: I just finished a celebratory dance because I changed a dirty diaper before it fully exploded.
Paul is doing the jaw talking thing. He started yesterday but it's in full force now

Totally tmi

Oct 15, 2011
WARNING!!! MAJOR TMI. Just writing it down for personal reference!

Ugh. So the last couple of days I've had what seems like diarrhea: slightly runny stool, major cramping, and it happening multiple times a day. If you've read my "job" blog you'd have read that I don't get bm all that often. So more than once day is diareah like for me.
I wonder if this is when I'd be on my period? The cramping is what hurts the most. Minor things that are getting on my nerves are the fatigue and lactation problems I'm also having.
I've noticed a discharge not unlike what id see around my ovulation dates. I winder if I'm going to start up my period again because that's what it feels like. Ugh! I hate the cramping.

Gasiosis of the mostest

I noticed today (technically yesterday because it's past midnight, but the date would be oct 17, '11), during small group that Paul had major gas problems. I mean I had noticed it before throughout the day but hadn't thought of it being anything other than just gas. But it was/is, in fact, a bad case of gas. I had to keep checking him for poopy diapers without there actually being one.
But we've just got him down for sleep and I'm sure I'll be up very soon comforting him again.
We have done our best to do everything we can think of to help remedy him, but only time will tell on this one. We have swaddled him and are playing white noise (was a combined effort at first of cellphones, radios, and the monkey. But we are down to just the monkey now). We also gave him a treatment of gripewater, so hopefully that will keep his stomach calm. Like I said though, only time will tell. The only thing keeping me awake now is the nagging question of; what did I eat today or yesterday that has given him such painful and stinky gas?

Stupid question

So my husband asked the most idiotic question last night:
Why are you always so tired?
I guess he thinks that because the kids nap I do too; or maybe it's that in spite of all my efforts to clean the house still looks like a pig stye; or maybe it's because even though I slaved over making him a homemade Bavarian apple torte for his birthday I still didn't manage to get dinner ready on time. I am not sure which of these reasons caused him to ask such a question, but he did.
So, why am I always so tired? Do you really want me to open that floodgate? Ok, here it goes!
Bullet point number one (yes, I know I could have just put one here but I wanted to emphasize the importance of this one): I am a mother of two (under two), five if you count my husband and dogs, who is current ill yet somehow manages to get what little work around the house done that she can while still maintaining a social life for her family.
I realize there isn't much needed for a social life for my kids but I do drive to and from preschool for Erin and have been taking Paul to the doctor multiple times this month. So even though I'm a stay-at-home mom I have barely been at my house. And as far as the kids napping... They do not do so at the same time. In fact they are perfectly synced so that when one goes down the other wakes up ready to eat and play. I'm exhausted and ready to nap when you get home
(posted 9/23/11)

Dunking the cookie

Today and yesterday have been hard days for me, emotionally. It has been physically draining. But I can only blame myself.
Sometimes I forget Erin is just a child ... Not even that! She's barely "not a baby" anymore! But I forget it so easily and lately it's been dampening us both. She is just so advanced it is easy to forget how young she is. No, I don't think of her as a college student or anything, but someone closer to 5 maybe... Closer than how close to 1 she really is. She's not even two! And yet I treat her like I do and expect things I shouldn't from a baby. And I feel guilty for doing so.
She is so special and I don't do enough with her to help her feel that way. These last couple of days I feel like all I do with her is discipline when I need to realize that she doesn't know certain things in this world and life. Shes never had to experience them and is doing so for the first time ever. It's hard for me to remember what that's like.
I had a slight epiphany tonight when I was eating with Chris: we had enjoyed dinner and I decided to make cookies for dessert. Erin was already in bed and had been there quite some time from an early bedtime. Anyway I had made some pretty perfect cookies, if I so say so myself. They were crisp yet chewy. When Chris got his drink he brought milk to dunk them in. I realized I had never ever dunked (or even thought about doing so) chocolate chip cookies in milk before. I mean, I had done it to Oreos and fudge covered graham cracker cookies, but never chocolate chip, in spite always seeing that depicted in movies and hearing about it in books. It was just something I hadn't done. So tonight, I did so. It was pretty amazing. A new experience well into my twenties. And it clicked: this is what it's like for Erin every day... Heck, every minute! Every time she does something it is for the first time (or close to it).
I had felt guilty for a good part of the day for similar thoughts but wasn't able to relate. All I could do was say "she's just a baby and it's all new". And it was hard. It still is hard to remember that. I forget that she's never interacted with things and take it for granted that I have.