Setting: Nathan is in a stage these days where he protests getting into the bathtub, but once he’s in, he doesn’t want to come back out! Since I’ve learned my lesson from the last few slippery-toddler-in-bathtub tantrums (ack! Everything is slippery and people get hurt!) I was trying to come up with a way to entice Nathan out of the tub tonight. 

Me: “Hey Nathan, do you want to get out of the tub and get some crackers?”

Nathan: (shakes his head no)

Me: “Do you want a waffle?”

Nathan: (shakes his head no)

Me: “How about, um, pretzels?”

Nathan: (enthusiastically signs “yes”)

Me: “Really, pretzels? Okay! How about something to drink with them? Do you want milk?”

Nathan: (shakes his head no)

Me: “Okay, juice?”

Nathan: (shakes his head no)

Me: “Um, alright, water then?”

Nathan: (enthusiastically signs “yes” and stands up to get out of the tub)

Me: “Okay, yay! Let’s go get some pretzels and water!”

photo: busbeytheelder

As far as I can tell, pretzels are pretty much just bread, so apparently Nathan is motivated to earn prison rations now. Who would have guessed that the magic way to avoid a tantrum would be with bread and water?

I’m AWFUL about posting birth announcements on anyplace besides Facebook and Twitter! (At least Nathan’s was only a month or so late, this one is closing in on three!)

Emily Michelle was born on October 23. (True to “second time Mommy” form, I have no idea what time it was. Sometime around 8ish, I think?) She was born via C-section, as I was slowly starting to develop pre-eclampsia again. We had held off as long as we could (hoping that I’d go into labor naturally and get to have the VBAC I wanted), but I wasn’t showing any signs of labor and my blood pressures were very gradually trending higher and higher and my lab results were coming back outside the normal limits. I was at the doctor’s office for my non-stress test when my doctor called to say it was probably time to get the baby out (it was convenient that I ended up being right there, though, so she could come in and talk to me in person! I think there might have been something happening with Emily’s heartrate on the monitors at that point too, but since the decision was already made to head in for a C-section, we never really talked about that. Hm. I should probably find out someday what was happening!) In any case, they said I could meet J at home but then I should grab my bags and head to the hospital! (We owe a HUGE debt of gratitude to our friends, family members, and babysitter, who all managed to cobble together a schedule to take care of Nathan until my mom could fly in! That had been the thing I was MOST anxious about, and while it was stressful making phone calls and setting it up as I was trying to pack a bag for the hospital, it worked out better than I could ever have planned in advance).

We ended up delivering on what was one of the busiest C-section days EVER! I’m not exaggerating, either. They usually do 5-6 C-sections in a day, and I was number 11. We spent a few hours in the waiting room, hanging out with people whose family members were having babies, because they didn’t even have a spare room to monitor me in. Once I was in a room and ready for surgery, I got bumped multiple times for more emergent cases. They ended up bringing in a fresh team to operate on me, which was nice because the ones I was supposed to have looked EXHAUSTED! That’s never a good sign! It was also nice because we ended up with the same anesthesiologist and doctor who delivered Nathan! (And I later found out that the doctor is next in line to head up the department, and usually only does complicated surgeries! How I got him for two fairly routine C-sections, I’ll never know, but it was definitely nice to have him!)

Immediately after being born (and even though it looks like it, that isn’t a penis. It’s an umbilical cord!)

Emily was 19 inches long (the same as Nathan was at birth!) and despite making it almost all the way until her due date (4 days shy!) was 6 pounds, 4 ounces (just 1 pound more than Nathan was, when he was born 3.5 weeks early!) I apparently just make tiny babies, even WITH gestational diabetes! (So if we have a third kid and I get GD again, maybe we could just stop the incessant worrying about the baby getting too big? Because my babies clearly aren’t big at all!)

So tiny!

The surgery went off without a hitch, and while Emily had slightly low blood sugar at birth, after a little bit of formula and a lot of skin-to-skin and breastfeeding, everything else went fabulously! We only stayed in the hospital for two days before coming home (the standard stay after a C-section is three days, but we weren’t pleased about the addition of a roommate to the tiny hospital room on day 2, so our night nurse helped set everything up so we could leave early!)

Sleeping much more peacefully at home!

So far she has been a DREAM baby – started breastfeeding like a CHAMP (to the extent that I’ve been concerned multiple times that perhaps she isn’t getting enough to eat, because she spends feeding in an entire DAY the amount of time that Nathan would feed in ONE SITTING! She has been consistently gaining weight appropriately, though, so it just goes to show, every baby is different!) sleeps awfully well for a baby, and is generally just super mellow and calm. I’d always thought Nathan was a low-maintenance baby, but I was wrong! Emily takes the cake, and we couldn’t be more grateful! (It’s particularly appreciated since Nathan has been having a rough transition into toddler-hood. I’m thankful to only have one troublesome child at a time!)

Nathan has taken remarkably well to being a big brother. While I was pregnant we’d bought him a baby doll to start getting used to seeing a baby, and started teaching him to touch people gently. Other than that, we didn’t do much to prepare him.

Nathan started sharing his books and toys with Emily on the first day home without any prompting. We had to make sure he didn’t hurt her, since “sharing” usually meant dumping toys on her lap!

It’s amazing to see Nathan with Emily. He has his times where he’s angry that he can’t sit on my lap because I’m feeding her, and doesn’t always understand why we can’t help him with something immediately because we’re dealing with her first, but most of the time he is excited to see her. Our biggest problem is actually that he’s TOO helpful sometimes! If he hears her crying, he’ll bring her a pacifier or put his blankie on her (which is nice, except that she doesn’t always WANT a binkie crammed into her mouth backwards, or a blanket piled up on top of her head!) If he’s having a snack or a drink, he tries to share it with her. After diaper changes, he loves it if we lay her down in his bed so he can lie down next to her (being extra super careful to lie up against the very edge of his bed-rail) and pat her tummy or point at her ears. She’s turned into quite the smiler, and will go from frowning to grinning when he pays attention to her.  He gets SUPER MAD if we take her away for any reason, and will cry and run after her signing “baby” and “again”.  It is the biggest blessing to watch the two of them interact, and I am so excited to see their relationship develop as she gets more interactive (and robust! I’m always worried about leaving her anywhere within his reach, because he has tried to pick her up before. It’ll be a relief when she’s heavier and her head isn’t quite so wobbly!)

Kisses during tummy time! (Again, unprompted! He loves giving her kisses and then seeing how happy everyone is that he’s being so sweet to her)

“Helping” change her diaper (and being so gentle!)

I guess the moral of the story is that I really stink at being pregnant (I’m just SO miserable and always end up with so many high-risk complications!) but I think my babies end up being pretty awesome If we decide to have a third (because I’m already forgetting how sick I felt right up until the day I delivered! DANGER!) I’ll just have to keep that in mind – pregnancy is rough, but being able to watch your kids kiss each other and play together is REALLY worth the effort! (But if anybody knows a magical way to make pregnancy more fun, I’d still be interested to hear it!)

Setting: Nathan, J, and I are all out for a walk during J’s lunch hour. Nathan is running around smelling flowers and we’re playing chase.

Me: (Seeing a snail slowly moving across the sidewalk) “Hey Nathan, check this out! It’s a snail! Come look at it!” (I grab Nathan’s hand and pull him over to the snail). 

Nathan: (Walks with me towards the snail)

Me: “We have to watch out for the snail though . . . ”

Nathan: (Gets closer to the snail, despite the fact that I’ve stopped now).

Me: “Don’t get too close . . . ”

Nathan: (Keeps getting closer to the snail . . . )

Me: (Pulling Nathan back by the hand now) “No, watch out Nathan, don’t . . . ”

Nathan: (CRUNCH!)

Me: “. . . step on it!” *sigh* (I start to try to walk away with Nathan). “Okay, well, that’s good enough, let’s . . . ”

Nathan: (CRUNCH!)

Me: (Trying to get between Nathan and the completely smashed snail) “Alright, all done snail! No more snail! Time to go this way!”

Nathan: (STOMP STOMP STOMP SMEAR!)

Me: (Directly between Nathan and the snail) “Let’s go see Daddy now!”

Nathan: (Snakes his foot around me to try to get a few last smashes in. When did his legs get so long?) 

Me: (Picking up Nathan carefully, so he can’t smear snail guts on me) “Yep, we are totally all done now, time to go!”

photo: 55Laney69

Sorry, Mr. Snail! I always loved that Nathan enjoys stomping on crunchy leaves just as much as I do, but maybe it’s time to stop reinforcing that behavior. Next time we’ll go look at something else. Like rocks. Or something equally un-alive!

This post brought to you by Famous Footwear. All opinions are 100% mine.

When I was pregnant with Nathan, my feet grew. This was something I’d heard about, but didn’t think would ever actually affect me (hahahaha, just like most everything that ended up happening to me during that pregnancy!) So I ended up 7 months pregnant, terribly uncomfortable and swollen and cranky and irritable, and needing new shoes. Have you ever gone shoe shopping while pregnant? NOT FUN! I tried to go with my mom and sisters when I was home for Christmas, and ended up in tears. (It’s HARD to get shoes on when you can’t bend!) Shoe shopping is supposed to be FUN, but that was a disaster. (I think I wore my mom’s shoes for the duration of the trip, rather than attempt shopping again).

When we got home, I needed a better solution. I went online to look at what Famous Footwear had to offer (it’s been my go-to shoe store for years, ever since I broke my shoe at a client’s house, bought a new pair of sneakers during my lunch break, and was ready to get to my next client’s house in a jiffy! I’ve never forgotten how quick and satisfying it was to walk in with a broken shoe, and walk out with a brand new pair at a good price!) I found a pair I liked online, and found a store nearby that carried it. I went to the store, tried it on quickly to ensure it fit, paid, and left with shoes in the right size! My huge, swollen feet were SO happy about that, and my wallet was happy that with their Rewards Program, you don’t have to remember to bring in a coupon or mention a specific deal you want to utilize – I gave them my membership card, they told me the deal I’d accrued, and I was able to use it right away.

Right now, Famous Footwear is running a back-to-school promotion – 15% off your purchase (unless you join their free Rewards Program, then it’s 20%!) PLUS if you buy one pair, you can get the second half off! 

Now, I don’t have any school age children, so no back-to-school shopping for me. But I am currently 7 months pregnant again, and what do you know? The sneakers I bought last pregnancy are getting too small, again! (Not to mention all the pairs of beautiful heels I had to give away after I realized my feet would never shrink back down to their original size. WAH! I don’t think I even own any dress shoes that still fit! That needs to be remedied . . . ) So, I think I know what I’ll be treating myself to for my birthday next week!

You can use the following coupon from now until August 18 to help make back-to-school shopping easier on you, and your pocketbook (*ahem* or just as an excuse to do something nice for yourself!)  BOGO + 15% off Famous Footwear Coupon

I was rereading some old posts about Nathan’s glasses, and found an old one where I mention Nathan’s Halloween costume, but then never followed up with any photos of it! So, this is RIDICULOUSLY late, but here are pictures of Nathan last Halloween, just because it was too cute not to share

TA-DAH! The worlds CUTEST frog! (Once he got the green glasses, I just couldn’t resist!)

REALLY enjoying the candy he got from our bucket (NOBODY came to the house, so we STILL have some of it lying around) even though it isn’t even open

He finally noticed I had a camera and came to get me, so I had to stop taking photos

If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you’ve probably seen more than a few references to the fact that things with Nathan have been tough lately. (He’s such a TODDLER these days! Plus he’s going through some developmental leaps and his sleeping schedule is a DISASTER, which is not helping all of my recently manifested pregnancy issues – I’M TALKING TO YOU, SCIATICA!)

In any case, those tough times make evenings like tonight all the sweeter. J sat on the couch to play a video game, so I sat on the floor to occupy Nathan. Instead, Nathan ran to the console and started pointing at the other controller and signing, “Please!” I put the controller in the chair he likes to sit in, and instead he grabbed it, ran to the couch, and snuggled up next to J.

The picture quality is awful (I had to use my cell phone and zoom in because if I got too close, I’d block the TV!) and actually, the moments before and after this were much cuter (but I didn’t want to try for another photo and ruin the moment!) Nathan sat and babbled away as he pushed all the buttons, looked at the screen, and held the controller up in the air as though he thought he was making the characters on the screen move (and he looked quite pleased with himself for it! He would look at me and grin every time he heard me laugh at him, and then he’d go back to flailing the controller around some more). He eventually got up to run around, but he would either take the controller with him, or leave it on the couch and pick it up when he returned to sit back down on the couch and “play” video games a little bit longer with Daddy.

If he wakes up screaming again at 4 this morning, I’m going to try to remember this moment, and that even though growing up is HARD on little kids (and their parents!!), it already has moments that make it all worthwhile. It seems like just yesterday he was a tiny, scrawny little blob of a boring baby, and today he’s trying to be such a big boy. He’ll probably be ACTUALLY playing video games (and kicking my butt, for sure!) before I know it. But tonight was just perfectly special in its own way.

Nathan has had issues with feeding since Day 1, when he ended up in the NICU because his blood sugar levels were so low that he had difficulty putting forth the effort to eat. It continued with his difficulties with breastfeeding and gaining weight, and resolved when we started giving him bottles of pumped breastmilk and supplementing as needed with formula.

We started him on solids when he was 6 months (after he started smacking his lips and reaching for our food all the time!) and despite a few interesting reactions to the new flavors, he was pretty excited about baby food . . . until one day he decided that he didn’t trust anybody to feed him, and unless he could put it in his mouth himself, he wasn’t going to eat it! Now he’ll accept help eating certain foods (um, mostly ice cream . . . ) but continues to have issues with foods that are slimy/sticky/weird. So for a while it was tough to get anything in him that wasn’t a cracker or dry cereal. (How he has maintained a healthy weight is beyond me . . . )

Enter peanut butter honey balls! My mom used to make these when I was a kid, and I thought it was something she came up with on her own (until a friend recently suggested them when I mentioned how difficult it was to get Nathan to eat protein). The recipe is almost . . . not even a recipe anymore. But trust me when I say they’re super simple to make and eat (though they do require some muscle power to mix . . . )

Ingredients:

• peanut butter
• wheat germ
• powdered milk
• honey

Directions:

• Spoon a bunch of peanut butter into a large bowl. (Tip: Use a really huge bowl so you have plenty of room to work. You can easily move it to a smaller container later! I also had better luck using a stainless steel mixing bowl than a plastic one, but that could have been coincidence!)
• Pour in equal parts wheat germ and powdered milk (pretty much cover the peanut butter in the dry ingredients to start, and you’ll adjust later if it was too little or too much. That’s why you start with a really big bowl!) It’s probably going to end up needing more of both dry ingredients, so don’t be afraid to be heavy handed!
• Drizzle honey over everything (it’s probably easier to err on the side of too little and just add more at the end if you want a stronger flavor)
• Mix it all up (this is the hardest part, but it’s not impossible!) (Tip: Use a fork instead of a spoon – it’s easier to integrate the dry ingredients to the wet ones if you smash it through the prongs of the fork, kind of like a pastry cutter!)
• Your goal consistency is firm enough to be formed into a ball (so maybe a dough like texture?) and you want it to be dry enough that if you roll it in your hands, it sticks to itself instead of to you (your hand might be a little oily if you like them more moist, but you shouldn’t have peanut butter stuck to your hands!)
  • If the mixture is too wet/oily/runny – add more dry ingredients and mix again! (You’re going to end up shocked by the ratio of wet to dry ingredients in this. It’s actually a lot healthier than it initially sounds!)
  • If the mixture is too dry (which my mom swears almost never happens!) – add more peanut butter!
• The honey is pretty much just for taste, so when you think you’re done, try a bite and see if you like it! If you want it sweeter, add more honey. If it’s too sweet . . . add more peanut butter/wheat germ/powdered milk again!

This was the way it looked when it was dry enough that Nathan would eat it (I preferred it moister, but he touched it and recoiled. So, it might not look quite like this when you make it!)

• To serve, you simply grab a hunk, roll it into a ball, and serve! My mom would send it with us to school in a container like this, and we’d roll them and eat them as we went (playing with your food always makes it more fun!)

When they’re this dry, they crumble if you try to make a ball. They will, however, make perfectly fine cubes!

VOILA! Food you eat with your hands, that is full of protein, fiber, and kid friendly flavors  I also Googled “peanut butter honey balls” to see what would come up, and there are LOTS of variations of this recipe that also sound yummy (I was particularly intrigued by the idea of chilling them and dipping them in chocolate, or rolling them in graham cracker crumbs, yum!) So I will always be partial to this version, but there’s lots of room for creativity with these  Enjoy!

It’s been a long road to get here, but at 16 months old, tonight Nathan took his first independent bath! We actually started having J be the one to get into the tub with Nathan (I think I was too fearful of him getting hurt, and didn’t give him enough of an opportunity to be independent. Oops!) and then kind of faded his presence out over subsequent evenings until Nathan was comfortable enough in the tub that I was able to sit outside and watch him play (instead of desperately trying to hold onto his slippery little body as he leaped around!) It was as cute as it always is in the bubble bath commercials

Until a few moments after taking this photo, when he started getting gassy.

Me (to J in the other room): “He’s having so much fun, but do you think I should just take him out of the tub, in case he’s about to poop?”

J: “That depends. Do you want to take him out of the tub, in case he poops?” (I know, helpful, right?)

Me (to myself, in my head): “Hmm, well, he’s already pooped once today, and he is still playing and not concentrating on TRYING to poop . . . I bet we’re safe!” (Plus, I’m sorry, but it was funny to see how perplexed he looked at the bubbles in the tub!)

. . . About 1 minute later, Nathan moved slightly to get a toy, and I saw that he had, indeed, pooped in the tub. *sigh* THAT part of the experience was most definitely NOT in any of the bubble bath commercials!

Welcome to the Fluffy Fourth of July, sponsored by Gnome’s Naturals and hosted by Life With Levi!

Whether you’re just starting out using cloth diapers or already a fluffy pro, this giveaway prize offers something for everyone.

One lucky winner will receive the ULTIMATE cloth diaper stash starter pack, valued at over $415!!!

This amazing prize prize pack includes:

• THREE ones & twos All In One Diapers
• ONE AppleCheeks Bamboo Little Bundle
• ONE AppleCheeks Microterry Little Bundle
• TWO Tots Bots Easy Fit or Tini Fit Diapers
• TWO Rumparooz G2 Pocket Diapers or Little Joey Newborn All In Ones
• ONE Bummis Beautiful BASIC Kit
• SIX Organic Cotton Prefold Diapers
• ONE Bummis Super Snap Wrap
• ONE Bummis Super Lite Wrap
• TWO Snappis
• ONE AppleCheeks Storage Sac Pail Liner
• ONE M Monkey Foot Designs Wet Bag for when you’re on the go.
• ONE KalmSkin Travel Size Cloth Diaper Safe Rash Stick
• ONE Bag of Rockin’ Green Laundry Detergent
• ONE Clean Cheeks Wipes Concentrate
• ONE 6 Pack of AppleCheeks Cloth Wipes
• ONE Mini Shower Diaper Sprayer
• ONE Pack of AppleCheeks Flushable Diaper Liners

That’s all the diapers AND accessories you need for 18 diaper changes!!

Gnome’s Naturals is a cloth diaper and natural parenting store owned & operated by Lori Whitlock. As a mom of a toddler, Lori is always searching for great natural products for herself and her family. When she finds products that she loves, she sticks with them. Lori created Gnome’s Naturals to share those products with you. As a cloth diaper blogger, Lori has tried almost every cloth diaper on the market and strives to carry only the best of the best.

In addition to some well known brands that Lori loves, Gnome’s Naturals also carries work at home mom (WAHM) made items in the store. Make sure you check out the WAHM Spotlight section for products that are handmade by moms in North America. Lori is a huge proponent of moms supporting moms and she hopes that by retailing some mom-made items, she can help support them financially as well.

If you’re new to cloth diapering, Gnome’s Naturals offers several different cloth diaper trial packages. Beyond cloth diapers, Gnome’s Naturals also carries a great selection of baby carriers, baltic amber teething necklaces, breastfeeding products, and more.

Ready To Win?

Just enter using the easy Rafflecopter form below.
All entries are optional – be sure to come back often to complete the daily entries, since the more entries you have, the more chances you have to win!

Giveaway open to residents of the US & Canada. Contest ends Friday, July 6th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Girl! The people were right! Baby #2 is going to be a girl!

Yay for pink!

J (of course, just like last time) figured out the gender while the technician was looking at the bladder or something (HOW? It’s all such a blur! I can tell the spine and the face, and the hands and feet, but the rest is just a garbled mess!) so by the time she said it was a girl, he was unsurprised  I will admit to being a tiny bit surprised, but mostly because I’d had a couple of dreams involving a boy baby (not because I had any DESIRE for it to be a particular gender! I just want to put it out there! Our plans for another baby were in no way influenced by a need for a baby of each gender. Whatever the results were, we would have been just as happy!)

So my fears regarding the baby not cooperating well enough to tell gender were unfounded . . . but staying true to form, she REFUSED to hold still for the picture of her left hand. So I was RIGHT to be worried (we have such a camera shy baby already!) but I’m so glad she waited to be a pain in the butt until after I knew the gender (and after they’d let me pee! I cheated and had slightly less fluid at a slightly later time than they’d requested, and I was STILL worried I’d pee my pants while in the waiting room! It was hard to enjoy the first half of the ultrasound while my bladder was aching that badly!)

I’d planned to post some of the ultrasound pictures, but since she was so wiggly, they are (just like all the other ones we have from this pregnancy!) a blurry mess! It doesn’t make for very good sharing, but I kind of like that they’ve become a personality trait

Now that we know the gender, we’ll start figuring out names (and we learned our lesson! We’ll do that WAY in advance, instead of waiting till we’re in the hospital to start debating! Also, I just realized that I didn’t include that part of the story in Nathan’s birth post, so perhaps I should get around to writing that before the next baby is born . . . ) and then we have to tackle the most important issue – CLOTHES! Almost everything Nathan wears is a hand me down (I’m the luckiest mom alive!) so I’ll have to eventually sort out which of his old clothes would be boyish-but-doable-for-a-girl from the if-she-wears-this-in-public-I’ll-have-to-keep-explaining-she’s-not-a-boy. But in the meantime, if anybody has any girl baby clothes they want to unload, I’m pretty accepting of just about anything!