Freezer Cooking

For quite awhile I've wanted to give freezer cooking a whirl. My inspiration came first from reading Dani and Shelly's blogs, and lately that has been reinforced through reading Money Saving Mom. A couple of weeks ago there was a brief mention of it in a devotional I read from Proverbs 31 Ministries, and in that devotional they gave a link to  Don't Panic - Dinner's in the Freezer. I immediately decided to buy that cookbook. I can't recall the last time I bought a cookbook. It's not something I usually do, and normally I would do some research on freezer cooking cookbooks before buying one. I did quickly research where I could get it for the least amount of money, and then I immediately ordered it. It came in the mail a couple of days ago, and I immediately skimmed through it and picked out a few recipes to try. I also read the instructions on how to freeze different types of dishes. Those were rather helpful. When I was grocery shopping on Thursday, I picked up the ingredients I needed to make a few of the recipes. I already had plenty of boneless skinless chicken in the freezer as I stock up whenever it drops under $2 a pound. I used about 9 lbs of chicken yesterday. I also used far more plastic wrap, aluminum foil, and freezer bags than I've ever used in one day before! Some recipes (like Cranberry Chicken) are frozen when they get to the stage of being ready to put in the oven. For other recipes I did actually cook the chicken today (such as for the white chili). It was tiring, but I think I'm going to be glad I did this. If it goes well, I'll continue to do this in the future.

I made one batch of Colorado White Chili, one batch of Cheesy Chicken Bundles, two batches of chicken enchiladas, one batch of Cranberry Chicken, and one batch (14 pieces) of manicotti. I've made the enchiladas and manicotti before, but the other 3 recipes were new. Hopefully some of the recipes will be "keepers!" I'm hoping I made enough to last 3 weeks, considering we usually get 1 or 2 large pizzas a week. If it goes well, I may try to make enough the next "cooking day" to last a month.

Cooking is one of the things I have a hard time finding time to do while caring for the kids plus teaching. The way I've cut my cooking time down has been to usually only cook for Paul. Many times I just serve Nadia and I things like pb & jelly or egg salad sandwiches, yogurt, etc. She and I go many days without eating a hot meal (unless you count a Hot Pocket, lol). Since Paul doesn't mind eating leftovers, it means I can get away with only cooking 1-2 times a week in addition to buying a pizza or two. Since I want to start a tradition of eating dinner together as a family, this means I'll need to cook more. I also think that having a family dinner will mean we'll all be eating more veggies, which is also a great thing! So hopefully freezer cooking will work out well for us. :-)

Updates would include that my eyes feel fine as long as I have the drops 3 times a day. I haven't gone this long without wearing contacts in about 15 years. I miss them! I plan to go back to contacts on Tuesday. The tinnitus has gotten a tiny bit better, but it's still rather annoying. I still can't hear out of my right ear At All. That is VERY annoying. I think Paul is annoyed also by my lack of hearing. I really didn't expect to go this long without being able to hear out of my right ear. I asked Paul to mow the lawn today. I am already very congested. The last thing I need to do is aggravate my allergies even though I'd like to get an hour of exercise. The grass really, really needs mowed since we've gotten a lot of rain over the past week. I did clean out the kiddie pool yesterday and also trimmed some bushes. It was a really pretty day (not nearly as hot as it has been).

I had to let Ian cry again last night. I put him down at 7:15 and fed him at 8:10 when he woke up screaming. He was only up for a few minutes. Then he woke up at 4:30am and cried off and on for awhile. He eventually fell back asleep, but then he woke up at 5:50. I got him then. The good news is that he then nursed for 45 minutes. He nursed several times yesterday in addition to the first feeding. I am glad Thursday was a fluke. Whew...

I've made some progress with getting caught up on grading. I keep reminding myself to keep chugging along because there are only 2 weeks left. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...


I can't believe on the list of Nadia's favorite sayings that I forgot to mention "The end." She says it whenever she gets to the last page of a book she's "reading." It's so cute!

Sleep, Sayings, and Sippy Cups

As I mentioned earlier, I went on strike last Friday night as far as feeding Ian during the night. Saturday night through Wednesday night he slept 9-10 hours straight each night (the average being 8pm to 6am). Last night he went down earlier (7:30) and got up later (6:30), which means he slept ELEVEN hours straight. AMAZING!! I was grading until 9:30pm and had a hard time going to sleep due to coughing, but Ian is no longer the cause of my sleep deprivation. YAY!

I decided to try Ian on the sippy cup yesterday for the first time. I got out the softer spout ones which Nadia used for the first several months. He succeeded on the first try!! WOW! It took months to teach Nadia how to use a sippy cup. She kept trying to bite the spout. He wasn't holding it himself, but he was drinking from it just as easily as if it was one of his bottles. Nadia was very jealous though. She hasn't been using any sippy cups, and she definitely wanted his (although it had formula in it). Sharing doesn't come naturally for her, but that seems to be the case for most toddlers. :-)

Nadia is talking up a storm these days. To give you an idea of the length of her sentences, this morning she said to me, "I go get doggie out of the crib." She's using prepositions and articles more and more. Here are seven of her current favorite things to say:

1. "sure" - this is her current way to respond in the affirmative

2. "good idea" - her second favorite way to respond in the affirmative

3. "I'm coming" - still a favorite saying of hers!

4. "look at me" - she even says this to toys and animals. The other day she saw a bunny on the back deck and said "Hey bunny, look at me!" Sadly, he didn't comply with her request, lol.

5. "I need a hug" - four words I love to hear, and of course I honor that request!!

6. "what happened" - if she hurts herself, she says this. I think it's because when she cries and I come to her, it's what I ask when I'm not certain why she's crying. She used to just say "happened" but now says "what happened." It's so funny. :-)

7. "Oh Daddy are you?" - many other words are inserted for the word "Daddy." She's skipping the word "where." She says it with the proper inflection.

Eye on Fire

This has been a rough week for me. I was feeling badly yesterday that I didn't even want to read to Nadia (because when I talk I hear a strange echo of my voice plus my throat hurts); so I decided it was the perfect day to let her use her new fingerpaints for the first time. She loved it! I also decided to let her experience an ice cream truck for the first time yesterday (see picture below). I didn't realize how expensive treats are from the truck so I doubt we'll do that very often, but there is something fun about buying ice cream from a truck that plays music while traveling through your neighborhood.

To add insult to injury, during the night last night my eye started oozing and burning. My eye lashes were stuck together. This morning it was so painful when the lights came on. It felt like my left eye was on fire. I called the doctor's office as soon as the opened, and they gave me a 10:15 appointment. After my appointment I made my third trip to CVS this week. Monday I went to pick up my eye drops (copay was $15 - the drops cost over $100). Yesterday I went there to buy 4 boxes of Kleenex because we were totally out. Normally we have 7 boxes spread throughout the house, but we had gone through 5 boxes the previous 5 days. Today I went to CVS to fill my Rx for eye drops (copay was $0 because the drops cost less than $5). Why are ear drops so much more expensive than eye drops? I'm supposed to receive eye drops in my left eye 4 times a day and ear drops in my right ear 3 times a day.  I still can't hear out of my right ear. I am hoping some hearing will be restored tomorrow. I've been taking mega doses of Ibuprofen (800mg at a time) to try to deal with the pain. The doctor said he thinks the congestion is just allergies. Well this is pretty bad if this is just allergies. Paul will have to mow this weekend.

Yesterday during lunch I said to Nadia, "I love you Nadia. You're my girl!" to which Nadia replied "I love Daddy." I wasn't expecting her to say she loved me back, but I also wasn't expecting her to say she loved Daddy. I want her to love Daddy, but I have to admit I wanted to say "ouch" to that response. I know she loves me. She always wants me to hug her many times a day. I love to hear her say, "I need a hug." Awwww....

Ian still has a cough and runny nose. Nadia still has a runny nose, but in her case it just seems to be her usual allergies. She and Paul seem healthy. I can't wait to be able to hear out of both ears, breathe through my nose, and wear contacts again. I go back to the ENT in 12 days to see if my eardrum healed over and to see if any of the hearing loss was permanent. Hopefully it will heal, and I'll regain my hearing. It's really hard to care for 2 little ones when all you want to do is sleep. I'm also getting really behind in grading for my online course.

News

Good: Ian is now sleeping until 6am. Our neighbor who had a baby in early June stopped by on Friday to give us some cucumbers from her garden (yum - I love cucumbers!). I asked her how her daughter was doing with sleeping, and when she told me that she sleeps from 9:30pm to 6:30am without waking up, I decided enough was enough with Ian. That night when he woke up at 4:30am, I let him cry. He eventually fell back asleep and woke up again a little before 6am. I got him then. The last two nights he's slept from about 8pm to 6am. I should have done this a long time ago! If by some miracle we do have a third child, please remind me of this if I am tempted to keep getting up in the night to feed a 7 month old. I should be able to get 9 hours of sleep on a regular basis again if I go to bed at 9pm. PTL!!!

Bad: My right eardrum broke last night. Saturday morning I woke up with a fever, sore throat, and slight earache. I figured I had an ear infection, but I thought I could wait until Monday to see a doctor for an antibiotic. In the middle of the night on Saturday night the pain got much worse. I contemplated going to the ER yesterday, but I ended up deciding to wait. Wrong choice! Paul gave me several treatments of salt water down my nose (which is something I hate having done to me!!!), but this wasn't enough to prevent my eardrum from rupturing during the night last night. I am seeing an ENT this afternoon. I am in a lot of pain (so I still haven't gotten 9 hours of sleep), and I can't hear very well At All. Both of my eardrums are made of skin grafts. Those surgeries were done about 25 years ago as my eardrums didn't heal after they had ruptured. I am praying they will heal this time, and I'm hoping the doctor can do something or give me something to ease the pain.

Good: Sarah wasn't available, but the neighbor was available to watch the kids today. Paul has a paper due today. The kids are taking their naps in their own beds, and I'm nursing Ian, but otherwise they're staying with the neighbors for most of the day.

Good: Nadia has broken her previous record in terms of how long she's gone without an accident! Her record had been a little shy of 4 full days. She's now gone more than 5 days as her last accident was at 6am on Wednesday morning. YAHOOO!

Good: Paul is home!! Nadia keeps saying "Daddy is here!" It is so good to have him home. I haven't looked at his pictures yet, but I do plan to post some from his time in Poland. I'm glad he won't be traveling without us again until September 2011 when he'll be at a conference in Italy. Maybe we can join him for that trip? That would be nice! :-)

25 Months Old

I know at some point I should stop keeping track of how many months old Nadia is, but I haven't gotten to that point yet. Am I weird? Here are some ways that Nadia has changed over the past month:

1. She's come a long way with potty training. She now consistently tells me when she needs to use the bathroom, and the past 3 days going #2 has become much simpler. We used to make MANY trips to the potty trying to go #2. The last 3 days it's been no big deal. Whew. She's averaging 2 accidents a week - always in her crib. I'm hoping over the next month that they become more and more infrequent. She's been wearing underwear 24 hours a day for 3.5 weeks so I think she's doing a great job!

2. She has a new favorite food - cereal bars. I hadn't bought any in a long time, but they were on sale plus I had a coupon so I bought some for myself. I haven't eaten any of them as Nadia loves them!

3. She's gotten really good at drinking from a glass. I even let her drink milk from a glass without wearing a bib! Now if I could get her to drink more water....

4. Her coloring skills have improved. She colors far more of the page and many times tries to use the right color (ex. colors George brown or Larry green).

5. Her vocabulary increases every day, and her sentences are getting longer and longer as well. She also can sing more and more of the words of quite a few songs.  We had our first argument of sorts a couple of days ago. We were driving home and had to stop and wait for a train. I said "it's a train." Nadia said "it's a truck!" I said "No, it's a train." Nadia continued to respond "It's a truck!" I changed the subject as I wasn't going to argue with her about it. I guess she knows more than Mommy at 24 months old, LOL!

Grandparents are Great!

Nadia has really missed her Daddy. The last time she saw him was last Friday night, and she won't see him until Sunday morning (8.5 days later). Thankfully Paul's parents were here last Sunday and are coming up again tomorrow, and my mom was here from Tuesday afternoon until about 12pm today. It definitely has helped distract her some from missing her Daddy. I have missed him as well I wasn't even able to talk to him on Tuesday or Wednesday. That was tough! Today he toured Auschwitz. I can't wait until tomorrow night when I'll see him again! After my mom left, I mowed the lawn while Nadia was napping. My mom took this picture right before she left. He slept almost the whole time that I mowed the lawn.

Wednesday we checked out the thrift store connected with the recycling center that I've been taking things to lately. I will probably buy books there in the future, but I doubt I'll shop there for clothes, shoes, or toys. That night we went to Bonanza for dinner. The kids were great! Thursday we visited a consignment shop that just sells clothing, shoes, and toys for infants and toddlers. I was trying to determine whether to shop their in the future and also whether to sell things there or not. I found that the quality was much better than the thrift store. The prices (without any discounts) were higher than yard sales and the clearance racks. The prices with discounts (for example the summer clothing was 75% off) were excellent.  While there I bought Ian his first pair of sneakers, Nadia her first pair of slippers plus a pair of snowboots and a fall dress for Nadia. I would have shopped more, but Nadia had to go to the bathroom. Kudos to her because she held it until we got home where she promptly went #1 and #2 on the toilet. Good job, Miss Nadia! She's now averaging 2 accidents a week (always in her crib).

Before going to the consignment shop, we went to Toys R Us. I hadn't been there in over a year. We bought two new swings for the swingset. I went to the hardware store this morning and bought what I needed to install the swings, and they are already up on the swingset! We also bought a spare "doggie" - Nadia's beloved stuffed animal, just in case that one is ever lost (or becomes too bedraggled), and we got her some fingerpaint, fingerpaint paper, and a smock. I think she'll have fun with those! My mom was impressed with how much her coloring skills have improved over the past month.

Nadia was rather upset when she woke up from her nap today since Grandma and Daddy were both gone. I let her watch VeggieTales even though that is usually reserved as a reward for going #2 on the potty. I also decided to take the kids to McD's for dinner. It was the first time I put Ian in a highchair at a restaurant. Nadia enjoyed her happy meal, and I enjoyed my fish filet sandwich and real fruit smoothie.

Playdate

Yesterday afternoon Paul's parents came up to spend several hours with us. They watched Ian while Nadia napped and I mowed the lawn. I had decided I can't carry Ian while mowing any more unless I purchase another babywearing device. He's getting too heavy for the Snugli. Well technically he's not too big for it, but it's getting very hard on my body. I am very open to suggestions on what to use to carry a heavier baby. It needs to be something simple that I could put him in it when I'm home by myself. I can't picture putting him on my back when I'm by myself for example. Maybe I should try the Ultimate Baby Wrap again. I wish I was better at using that one. Given it was over 90 degrees, I was hot enough pushing the lawn mower without having a 17 lb baby strapped to me. I am glad his sitting abilities are improving as soon he should be able to sit in a shopping cart. That means I'll need to go grocery shopping elsewhere though as where I usually go the carts can only hold one child, and Nadia definitely still needs to be in the cart.

This morning when Nadia came downstairs she announced "Daddy at school. Grandma at school." It was hard not to laugh! I guess "school" in her mind means they aren't here. She didn't cry about Daddy being gone today, but she was very clingy. Daddy has been her favorite person lately, but right now I am back in the number one spot.

This afternoon my friend, Donna, and her granddaughter, Olivia, came over for a couple of hours. Olivia is 18 days older than Nadia. Neither girl is very fond of sharing. Hopefully a year from now Nadia will be better at sharing. She's going to be getting more practice at it when Ian become mobile. Nadia's favorite word this afternoon was "my" as in "that's my car, that's my marker, etc." I am glad she had this playdate. I think I need to invite people with kids her age over more often so that she gets more experience playing with other children, plus it's also great for me to get some adult interaction as well! :-)

I am very grateful for Skype. Paul doesn't have Internet access in his hotel room. If he did, we could chat for free, but it's only costing me 1.7 cents a minute to call the phone in room 219. I called him twice yesterday and twice today via Skype. He said his presentation went well, and he always underestimates his abilities in situations like that. So if he said it went well, it definitely went well. Yahoo for Paul! He said he was overdressed. Well unless he loses weight, he'll need this suit again in the future. He had pierogies for dinner tonight. There are several Polish dishes that are popular in this area of Pennsylvania, and that's one of them. Another night this week he'll be having dinner down in a salt mine. That should be a unique experience!

Fly a Kite

I break into song at random moments. Sometimes when it's time to leave the house I start singing "Let's go fly a kite, up to the highest height..." Well today when I wanted to go to the grocery store I said "let's go," and Nadia replied "fly a kite." Boy did that crack me up and also reminded me once again that little ears are paying attention to everything I say (or sing as the case may be). It's a good reminder to be oh so very careful little mouth what you say!

Here are two of Nadia's favorite expressions:
1. "it's okay" - this strikes fear in my heart at times because she says this when something bad happens. It's the response she's wanting to hear me say. It usually means I need to go clean up something like spilled milk. When I know it was purely an accident on her part, I do usually repeat back the two words she's longing to hear.

2. "I need a hug" - I prayed while pregnant with Nadia that she would be an affectionate, cuddly sort of child. The Lord answered my prayers! I honestly forgot to pray about that while I was pregnant with Ian, but from what I can tell thus far, he also is going to be a child who can't get enough snuggles. I love that they both love to cuddle and be hugged!

Daddy left last night. We survived day one without him. If everything goes as planned we'll have at least one person spend at least a little bit of time with us every day over the next seven days. I think the diversion of grandparents and such will be a big blessing as Nadia definitely misses Daddy. Many times today she asked for him - she said she needed a hug from Daddy, she wanted to show Daddy what she called her "big poop" after she used the potty (I am thinking he doesn't mind that he missed out on that, LOL), etc. I found myself getting rather emotional every time I thought of going 8 days without seeing him. Hopefully the company will be a distraction for me too, LOL! I think I did pretty well today considering I was a single parent for the day. In addition to watching the kids I listed 3 items on eBay, shopped at the grocery store and CVS, and made a batch of blueberry muffins.

He can do it!

Just like it's a bit subjective when to declare "he's walking" since it's a gradual process from the first steps until the toddler is exclusively walking, it's a bit subjective when to declare he can sit independently. I made that declaration regarding Ian two days ago; although he does still topple over from time to time, he can now sit independently for several minutes at a time. It's been nice to sit him down and go tend to Nadia for a few minutes.

He's also been VERY obsessed with his feet lately. He loves to play with them when I'm changing his diaper, I find him lying on his back playing with them when I go get him out of his crib, etc.

Nadia has been VERY obsessed with Daddy lately. The last two days she has been crying and asking for him while he's been at school. I am really, really dreading being separated from Paul for the next 8 days. We've never been separated that long since we've been married, and Nadia has certainly never gone that long without seeing him. If she has a hard time waiting until 6pm to see him, it's going to be super hard to not see him for 8 days. Please pray for us! She won't see him again until July 25th. He's leaving tonight.

Unplanned Medical Appointments

Yesterday Ian started to have a lot of white discharge out of his right eye. I called the pediatrician's office, and they said I should bring Ian in this morning. His eye was clear from the time he woke up until his first nap, so I called and cancelled the appointment. After his first nap it started oozing again, and it got worse and worse as the day went on and spread to the other eye. I called the doctor's office back, and I was given a 3:20 appointment.

After making that call, my dad called to tell me that my brother had been in a car accident. My dad was on his way to the hospital. My mom, who is in Chicago visiting my sister, called me with an update while I was at the Pediatrician's office, but I didn't answer because they don't like you to use your cell phone there. I called back after I left the office and was relieved to find out that the scan didn't reveal any internal problems. What a relief!

The Pediatrician said Ian has an infection. He said normally it starts as an ear infection or strep throat before moving to the eyes. I picked up his Amoxicillin on the way home. Nadia had it before, and she thought it tasted GREAT. Ian doesn't like to consume anything other than milk. It was all being ejected so I ended up mixing it in a bottle. Of course some still came up later when he chucked, but there's nothing I can do about that.  Ian also has a really runny nose and a little cough. Paul and I have runny noses, sore throats, fevers, etc. Nadia is feeling back to normal. Please pray that all four of us will be healthy soon!

Tomorrow I am teaching my class in a synchronous fashion from 8-10am and 5-7pm plus I'll have office hours from 10-11am and 7-8pm. It's the only day that will be like that during this session. Beth is coming over to babysit from 8-10, and Paul will be home by 5pm as I can't teach via my laptop and watch the kids at the same time. I've never taught with Wimba before. I hope it goes smoothly!

Surgery and Shopping

I took Ian to his long awaited urologist appointment. The doctor and resident both said that Ian does need surgery for his hypospadias. They said it would become a problem when I tried to potty train him (because he would have great difficulty aiming accurately), and it could also cause infertility. Although it's really strange to be thinking about infertility in reference to a 7 month old, after what we've been through, I certainly don't want to stand in the way of helping prevent that! They said it will be an outpatient surgery that will take 60-90 minutes. They will circumcise him and use the skin in the reconstruction process. He'll be given liquid codeine afterward and have a catheter stitched to him for 1-2 weeks. Poor guy. I am not looking forward to it, but I'm glad he'll be too young to remember it.

On the way back to Sarah's I stopped at Walmart and picked up a few other items and then picked up Nadia. She had been at Sarah's for 4 hours (slept 2 of those), and she was NOT happy to see me. She didn't want to leave! She enjoyed playing with the other girls, especially Abby (age 4). Unfortunately she had two accidents yesterday. She did break her previous record of 56 hours by going 91 hours without having an accident. Hopefully that record will be broken this week!

Blueberries and a Date

Saturday we went to the Blueberry Festival the town about 1/2 mile from our house was having. We didn't eat any blueberries, but we three enjoyed having pulled pork and french fries. Nadia enjoyed the dog shaped balloon the clown made for her, until she accidently popped it that is.

Saturday I tackled another project on my to do list - organizing the garage. There were a few boxes out there that we had never unpacked since we moved here (Sept 2008). They had things like motor oil, cleaning supplies, bug spray, and such in them. After I put the stuff in other places (shed, basement, laundry cabinets, etc.), I swept the garage floor. It looks much better and now I'm not worried about the kids getting into something that might hurt them if they're in the garage. This also meant there is now room for Nadia's scooter, tricycle, and plasma car in the garage. I'm thinking in the winter when Paul is at school I could pull my car out into the driveway and she could ride her trike in our 2 car garage. The next project on my to do list regarding the house is to organize the basement. To that end, we bought a shelving unit for the basement on Saturday at Target.

Sunday afternoon we went on a date. I guess it was a date. It was very utilitarian in nature. Paul's parents came up and watched the kids so we could go shopping. We used two $10 coupons at Famous Footwear to buy two pairs of shoes of Nadia that were on clearance. She loved the Disney princess sneakers we got her because they light up when she walks. She had a blast walking around the family room in them. We bought a few odds and ends at Target. We spent the bulk of our trip buying Paul a suit at JCP. It cost more than my wedding dress, even though we bought items that were 50% off and then used a 15% off coupon on top of that. I should mention that I paid $99 for my wedding dress (original price was over $500). He needed a suit for Poland, and the one he had doesn't fit any more. I like seeing him all dressed up, and I won't even get to see him in this suit since I'm not going to Poland. Well some day he'll have another occasion to wear it, and maybe I'll be present when that happens. Our last stop was to buy a grill at Sears. We got a lot accomplished in a little over 2 hours. Now Paul needs to assemble the shelving unit and the grill. Paul's parents took our old grill back in their truck. The recycling center would have taken it, but we don't have a vehicle big enough to get it there. When we got back, I made spaghetti and meatballs for the 5 of us. Nadia loved it! She had it for lunch and dinner again today at her request! She makes quite a mess though. I gave the kids a bath after lunch because spaghetti was even in her hair.

Paul stayed home today because he had a rough night (throwing up from coughing, etc.). Unfortunately Nadia seemed worse today. I made a trip to CVS this morning for cough medicine for Paul and Kleenex with lotion for all four of us. I've had a bit of a fever yesterday and today. Moms don't get sick days. Paul slept in really late and took a few naps in between working in his office. I got a short nap while both kids were napping, but otherwise my day went as usual with caring for two sick kiddos, doing housework, and grading for my online course. I'm hoping all four of us feel better soon and that we didn't pass our germs on to Paul's parents yesterday!

7 Months Old!

Some ways Ian has changed in the past month:

1. He gained 1.5lbs as he now weighs 17.25lbs, which puts him at the 28th percentile!  Size 3-6 month pants now fit him (they were too long in the past). He mostly wears size 6-9 month clothing as he is in the pictures in this post. The ones in the brown outfit were taken on Saturday, and the blue outfit photos were taken today.

2. He's getting much closer to being able to sit independently. He's at least a month behind his sister in this regard.

3. When he wakes up, he rolls over onto his back. This means he's usually happily looking at his mobile when I go up to get him out of his crib. Previously he was always upset when I'd go get him even though I'd go as soon as I realized he had awakened.

4. He's enjoying playing with toys even more although he's still not a fan of the gym. He will play with toys while he's in the highchair, his swing, or the bouncer. He is so strong he pulls the toys off of the bouncer and regularly pulls the cow so that it makes music. The gloworm his Aunt Millie got him for Christmas is one of his favorite toys.

5. He's gotten a little better at eating solid food although he's still lagging far behind where Nadia was at this stage. He much prefers milk over anything that's served on a spoon! I'm grateful though that unlike his sister he still loves to nurse. It's so wonderful to have nursing not be a stressful thing any more now that he's gaining weight nicely, off the shield, and nurses very easily.

6. He still laughs and smiles very easily, and he's becoming more and more verbal. He also loves to blow raspberries, lol!

7. He adores his sister. If I have to compete with her for his attention, I will always lose. If she gives him any attention whatsoever, he laughs a deep belly laugh.

8. He's gotten a little better about tummy time, but he still doesn't like it very much.

9. He discovered his feet! I was wondering when he'd start playing with them. He finally has done so.

10. His blonde hair came in quite nicely over the past month.

11. He's doing much better with sleeping at night. That wasn't the case last night when I let him cry at 4:30am because I had already fed him from 3:15-3:45, but the previous two nights he had slept through the night without any feedings - YAY!

12. His naps have gotten a bit longer. The average is now 45 minutes, and sometimes they are 1 hour long whereas a month ago the average was 30 minutes.

Many Blessings

1. I'm thankful for the pictures I picked up at Walmart on Friday evening. I smile when I look at them - two are in the family room, three on the refrigerator, one in the downstairs bathroom, two in our bedroom, and I'll be putting one in my office at work. I mailed a couple to my sister yesterday and will be giving some to Paul's family today and to my parents next week. I'm also thankful that Walmart gave me a coupon for 2 more free sheets. I realized I didn't get enough of the one with the two kids together, and I didn't like one of the special effects so I ordered another sheet of that "as is" yesterday morning. They'll come in the mail.

2. I'm playing a flute duet at church this morning (Immortal, Invisible). I am grateful that I can participate in the worship service in this fashion. I love music!

3. Paul's parents are coming up this afternoon. They're bringing their truck so we can go buy a grill (ours is falling apart due to rust and the starter is one of the things that rusted out). We're also going to be buying Paul a suit jacket as his doesn't fit him anymore, and he needs one to wear when he gives his presentation in Poland.

4. Nadia's attention span for reading has grown so much. I love reading to her!

5. Nadia is over her bug, and I'm hopeful that Ian will be feeling better soon. He has a cough and runny nose.

6. Aside from the two Saturdays, there are various people planning to come up and spend at least a little time with us each of the 8 days Paul will be gone (Paul's parents, my parents, and Donna). We'll still miss Paul!

7. I'm grateful for the opportunity to teach an online course this second summer session since I can do that from home.

8. What a blessing it is to live in the USA!

9. It was great having Paul at home last Monday. I love it when he has a three day weekend!

10. I'm thankful Ian slept through the night two nights in a row for the first time! He slept from 8:10-5:25 last night.

11. I love getting Nadia dressed in the morning. She's like my little doll baby! This picture was taken this morning with a dress she got from Aunt Millie and Uncle Al for her birthday. Isn't it a beautiful dress and also such a beautiful little girl. Thank you, Lord!

Growing Boy!

 

July 9, 2010

Isn't it amazing how much babies grow in the 1st year, and he's only 6 months old (for 2 more days anyhow)!

Ian had a great night last night! I put him down at 7:35 and unlike most nights when he gets one more feeding before his long stretch, aside from a little whimpering around 11pm (according to Paul as I slept through it), he slept until 5:55am - almost 10.5 hours. YAY! I actually went and checked to make sure he was still breathing around 5:30. I had woken up about 4:45 and couldn't go back to sleep as my body was very ready to nurse Ian. It's kind of funny that the two nights he's slept through the night have both been Friday nights. Now I just would like it if he'd sleep through the night other nights of the week as well, lol. He only had 3 naps yesterday. I am trying to transition him to 3 naps as ideally in the next 2-3 months he'll transition to 2 (longer) naps. Nadia had a really hard time going to sleep last night, and it wasn't because she had sugar yesterday. It took her over 2 hours to fall asleep!

It's finally raining today. Boy did we need the rain! The upside of the heat wave and drought is that I don't need to mow the lawn. It's not been growing At All. It's brown. Hopefully it will turn green again.

Don't let these pictures from yesterday fool you, Ian generally hates to be on his belly. I thought his attitude would improve since he's been sleeping on his belly for a month. Nope. I am trying to get him to learn to sit independently, and I think he'll accomplish that in the next couple of weeks, but I have NO idea when this child will learn to crawl given how he can't stand to be on his belly. He much prefers to stand.