Happy Mother's Day!

This Mother's Day I am thankful for:

1. My mother

2. My mother-in-law

3. My sweet little girl, who made me feel like a mom for the first time -  I became a Mom in 2005, but since that child was never in my arms, I didn't really feel like a mom on Mother's Day until I was in my 3rd trimester with Nadia in 2008. I love her hugs, kisses, smiles, laughter, etc. What a delight!

4. My sweet little boy - Nadia was such a miracle (after ttc for 6 years) that while I was pregnant with her I assumed she would most likely be my only child. I am very grateful the Lord blessed us with a second child. I love his smiles, laughter, and cooing. Such a sweetheart!

5. Digital cameras that allow me to take 50 zillion pictures and be very selective about which I pay to actually get prints of.

6. Portable dvd players that make a 3.5 hour car ride oh so much more managable with a toddler.

7. Nadia's attention span for tv/dvd's - even though my goal had been for her to watch ZERO tv before she turned 3 years old, it has been a blessing that she can sit and watch Curious George or VeggieTales for extended periods of time upon occasion.

8. That the sleep deprivation stage of parenting doesn't last forever. There will be bad nights now and then when a child is sick or teething, but it doesn't stay a daily occurence for tooo many months. I am reminding myself of this since I only got 3 hours of sleep last night. Ian slept for a little less than 6 hours, but I am having a harder and harder time falling asleep after I feed him during the night. I really, really need for him to start sleeping through the night in the near future.

9. For my husband - I can't imagine being a single parent.

10. For the Lord who helped me through all the Mother's Days that were such a struggle emotionally while I waited and waited and waited to get married and then waited and waited and waited to become a mom. I have to admit my first reaction to Mother's Day is still to feel empathy for those who long to be moms but aren't (yet anyhow).

A Most Wonderful and Exhausting Day

Between the hours of 3am and the present (11:45pm), I slept about 90 minutes total. In the last hour I've changed two poopy diapers and one spit-up drenched outfit. These are some of the not so glamorous, exhausting aspects of motherhood. Yet today was in my opinion a very excellent day as I got to experience what I had been looking forward to for many years - seeing the look of delight on my child's face as she rode rides at an amusement park. I took more pictures than I've ever taken in one day before (over 140). Here's just a few of them. Enjoy!

Shrinking

My to do list is really shrinking. It's a great feeling!! I finished grading exams and research papers and have posted the semester course grades = BIG sigh of relief!!!! I've also made serious progress with getting my summer classes set up online. I'm ready for the first summer session course, and I'm probably about 75% done setting up the second summer session course. That one is taking a lot more time to set up since it's the online course. The good news is that the extra effort will result in the quizzes and exams being graded by the computer. I keep telling myself that my efforts will pay off in the long run! I'll still need to grade the assignments and discussion boards, but it will cut down on the grading. Yesterday I mowed the lawn, and this morning I planted some bulbs and the pansies I got at the MOPS meeting last month. I have asked Paul to mow the lawn next week while I'm in Maryland so that it won't be unmanageable when we get back from Florida. The tasks I hope to complete later today are packing our suitcases, buying a battery for my watch, and giving Paul a haircut after we get the kids to bed. Although I hope I do a good job with packing, I have to say I feel much more relaxed about it. All our vacations the past 9 years have been to another country. This is our first one within the US. I know it will be very easy to get more diapers or something like that if we run out or I forget to pack something since #1 we'll be in the US and I won't have to worry about the prices being absurdly more than usual and #2 we're renting a minivan so it will be easy to get to a store. When we go to the Caribbean we don't rent a car.

Ian's first stretch was only 5 hours last night. The bigger problem was that I stayed up 2 hours after he went down so that I could grade papers. I was very worried at midnight when I was feeding him that it was going to be an awful night. Thankfully it wasn't that bad as he did sleep a total of 10.5 hours over a span of 12.5 hours. I prefer just one feeding during the night (there were two last night), but I am pleased he slept over 10 hours total. That is progress! Another thing that makes me smile is putting size 3-6 month clothes on Ian. He's still wearing 0-3 month onesies and pants, but his short outfits are size 6 month (like the overalls he's wearing today). Size 6 month pants are still WAY too long on him. He can wear size 6 month onesies, but he can't wear size 6 month pants yet. Size 0-3 month pants are still perfect for him in length. He is like his sister and mom - long torso and short legs! Paul's mom got him a size 0-3 pair of swim trunks. I am glad we gone one pair in that size for Florida as the 3-6 month ones she got him are rather big on him, but I'm sure he'll use those in the wading pool later this summer. He's a growing boy!

Lessons Learned (part two)

9. I love to sing. Last night I toyed with staying home from choir to grade exams. I'm so glad I went, and I'm glad that A New Song was moved from 5/16 to early June because we'll be in Florida on the 16th, although now I'll miss singing Complete, which is also a wonderful anthem. I really missed not being able to participate in the Christmas cantata (since Ian was in the hospital); so I'm especially looking forward to choir Sunday in about one month when we'll sing 4 anthems one morning.

10. If you delay potty trainig, it might lead to your child being really upset every time she pees/poops in her diaper. I keep telling her it's okay, but she gets very upset. If we weren't going on vacation soon, I'd try again with potty training starting today. Beth said that when she gets her up from her nap she puts her on the potty and sometimes Nadia pees for her right away. So hopefully it will go better this next time around. Nadia is definitely wanting to go on the potty rather than her diaper. My plan is to resume potty training later this month even though I'll be teaching 2 days a week. I was planning to wait until early July (as I'll be home all the time then), but there are too many tears being shed over peeing and pooping in her diaper for me to wait that long.

11. I'ts almost impossible to keep track of your child's expressive vocabulary once it exceeds 400 words. My plan had been to try to keep a list as best I could until she turned 2 years old. Well I've decided to cry uncle. She is adding soooo many words to her expressive vocabulary every day. Many verbs such as cut, help, carry, coming, running, etc. She also can say the names of most of her cousins and most of the VeggieTale characters. If she hears one of them singing (we have several VeggieTale cd's) she can accurately identify the character - Junior, Laura, Larry, Bob, Lunt, Jimmy, Jerry, etc. If she sees a picture of a cousin she will often point to the person and say his name (ex. "Andrew"). She's also saying longer words such as one she said today was "refrigerator."

12. Ian takes great naps in the Snugli or car seat. He usually only sleeps an average of 40 minutes for each nap in his crib, but he will sleep for up to even a couple of hours in the Snugli and/or carseat - even if the car is parked in our garage after a shopping trip.

13. Our alarm clock (which I've had for several years) has a button that you press when the time springs forward and it adjusts the time forward one  hour, and then in the fall you press it again to have the time go back. Brilliant! Nadia was the one who pressed the button yesterday. The clock is a "no no," but I'm grateful she helped me discover this feature. We have to change the time on our VCR/DVD player four times a year now that they changed the dates of DST as the time changes automatically on the old dates.We also have 3 analog clocks that we adjust the old fashioned way twice a year. I'm glad the computers adjust on their own.

14. Play-doh trumps a lot of things - even chocolate ice cream. I am not sure how long it will stay THAT high on Nadia's list, but between that and outside time, she definitely didn't notice that she didn't watch much tv today.

15. Sippy cups can be a nuissance. I plan to transition Nadia to a regular cup when we get back from Florida. She leaves them lying on their side or upside down and sometimes milk still spills out. Plus sometimes we have to play a long game of hide and seek to find where she put her cup. I've had enough! I remember at this point last year being concerned that she'd never learn how to use one. Well it was useful for a time, but now it's time to move on. I also plan to switch from 2% to skim milk in June and also try to get her to start drinking more water.

16. Blogging is important to me. Last night when I came home from choir rehearsal I had three choices: go straight to bed, grade some final exams, or blog. I chose to blog. However, sleep is also rather important so I decided to split this into two posts so that I could go to bed around 9pm. I'm not 100% sure who all reads the blog. I know that my mom, Paul's mom, and my friends Jeanie and Donna read it on a regular basis, because they have told me that they do. Frequent comments from Joy and Regina lead me to believe they do as well. Beyond that I am not really sure who all reads it, but even if it's just a handful, it's something I do enjoy keeping up with. Of course grading is also important. I did finish grading the Tuesday exams today and have started grading the ones I gave yesterday. Since I'm only teaching two classes this semester, it means I'm over half-way done!

Lessons Learned

1. I've heard the saying that you shouldn't go grocery shopping when you're hungry because you'll buy too many things on impulse. I am not sure if that is true for me, but I did learn last week not to take a child to the grocery store when she is hungry. Nadia usually is in a good mood when we shop because she loves to say "hi" and "see ya" to people that we pass in the aisles. Well she hadn't eaten much for breakfast and so I should have given her a snack before we left because she was sooo fussy. Every food I put in the cart she was begging me to give her. I refused to give her the grapes since #1 you pay for those by the pound and #2 they weren't washed, but I did end up letting her eat a cookie as I realized it was my fault she was so fussy.

2. My knee is very hardy. On Monday night I fell as I was heading out to class. My right knee hit the concrete step going into the garage and my right elbow and my left shin hit the concrete garage floor. I have a lot of little scabs on my left shin. I am hoping they heal up asap as it looks awful and I can't shave that area. My right knee has been killing me. It's bruised and swollen, but I don't seem to have done any serious damage. Whew.

3. It's really important to students that exams are graded ASAP. I am one who always tries to grade papers as soon as possible, but I admit I didn't start grading yesterday's exams until this afternoon. One student came to see me at 2:45 today to ask when I was going to grade them as he'd been checking the website constantly. Sometimes being known for being a speedy grader can be a bad thing, but it was a reminder to me that students do appreciate a quick turnaround. I posted his grade within an hour, but I haven't finished yet.

4. I have learned many ways to get Ian to laugh - splashing water on him in the bathtub, having him "jump" with his legs on my lap, giving him an airplane ride above my head, tickling him, etc. Here's a little video of his laughter. It would be better if I wasn't the one holding the camera. You might want to only listen (not watch).

5. I learned today that you shouldn't go to Walmart to get a watch battery unless you already know what kind of battery you need. They won't take the back off of your watch OR give you the tool so that you can do it yourself. Sadly this was the main reason I went shopping today. The other stuff could have waited. My battery died yesterday, and I felt lost at school yesterday and today without a watch. Unfortunately my to do list is really crammed tomorrow - grading, mowing the lawn, packing, filling out the form at the Post Office to have our mail held, etc. Hopefully I'll have time to make it to the mall to get a watch battery at a jewelry store.

6. I was reminded this week that even graduate students don't always listen to important instructions that their professor emphasizes. One student on Monday night went to the university's library for our field experience although it was being held at the public library. I've done this field experience for 5 years and never had a student miss it because she went to the wrong place. Then yesterday I had two grad students show up for the final exam at the time our class meets, which is not when the exam was scheduled. The rest of the class came at the appropriate time (earlier in the day). I let them take it today with my other class.

7. I learned that if Ian sleeps long enough (PTL he had his best night in over a month last night as his first stretch was 9 hours and his second was 1.5 hours) not only will I have clogged ducts, but when Ian stops to take a breath, the stream of milk will shoot over his body, over the boppy, and land on my knee. It was quite the sight, LOL! Since he ditched the shield a couple of weeks ago he doesn't nurse nearly as long each session. However at 4:00 this morning he nursed 30 minutes on one side and 15 on the other. Lots of milk! Even with all that he still needed some milk in a bottle to be able to get back to sleep.

8. I wrote about Mommy guilt recently, but I have been taking more notice of how often this happens. Sometimes it's justified. I should feed Nadia more vegetables (I did today!), and she should watch FAR less tv. Sometimes it's not justified like when I felt badly that Nadia hadn't ever played with Playdoh when I saw a picture on a friend's blog of her niece (who is maybe 1 month younger than Nadia) playing with Playdoh. I felt badly for depriving her of that. So I bought some today at Walmart. Actually I bought it to help with the tv situation. I got out the chair that can attach to the kitchen table and plan to have her sit in that and play with playdoh while I nurse Ian instead of letting her watch tv. Well I am not trying to go cold turkey with the tv. One 30 minute episode of Curious George would be fine, but she's been watching way toooo much. I don't ever plan to let Ian watch so much tv. Unless God surprises us with a third child...

Health Insurance

This week is one of two weeks each year when we can switch health insurance options at work if we so desire. I started teaching in the state system in 2003 and first selected Blue Shield. I then found out that the hard way that they wouldn't pay for ANYthing related to infertility - not even bloodwork much less an ultrasound. So in 2004 I researched the options and found that one of the HMOs would pay for testing (SHG, HSG, etc) as well as bloodwork and ultrasounds. Although we still spent far more than $10,000 on procedures they didn't cover (IUIs, embryo transfers, egg retrievals, etc.), we still saved a few thousand dollars by switching to this insurance. Sometimes HMOs get a bad reputation, but I have to say that we haven't had problems with getting referrals and such with this one. Since we don't plan to do IVF again, I am turning in the form today to switch from the HMO to the PPO. I have to say I almost burst into tears over it. So if God wants us to have a third child, He's going to have to do it the "old fashioned" way, which never has resulted in a pregnancy for us over the past 8 years, but nothing is impossible with God. I am having a hard time deciding what to do with my maternity clothes and baby things. I assume I should sell them or give them away, but I'm having a hard time actually taking the steps that make it seem final that we are done having children.

It was exactly two weeks ago that Ian had his 4 month doctor appointment. During that time span he's gained 1 ounce shy of 2 1/2 pounds! It took him 2.5 months to gain 2.5 pounds up until that point. He seems to have grown up sooo much in the last 2 weeks (since size seems to equate to age at this stage). He should hit 12 lbs in the next day or two! So far he's still happy to nurse. I hope that continues. I am certain the free formula we received isn't going to carry us all the way to 12 months old, but I'm grateful that thus far we haven't had to start paying for formula. Last night was a better night for Ian (7 hours and then after being up for one hour he slept 2 more hours), but it wasn't a good night for Nadia. I am not sure if she's teething or coming down with something, but she was up crying quite a few times. I had her in bed with me from 12:00-12:30am and then I had a very hard time falling back asleep after that. Maybe tonight they can both have a good night of sleep. I'd sure love that!!!!

Jelly on it

I almost called the pediatrician today because of Ian's poor sleeping habits lately, but otherwise he seems fine so I felt funny asking to bring him in for an appointment. Last night his longest stretch was three hours long. Once he woke up only ONE hour later. I let Paul take care of that feeding. I nursed him the other times, but I knew he wasn't going to get much milk from me only one hour later, and I was tired. We've had two good nights over the past couple of weeks. Saturday night was one of those - he slept 7 hours and then after being fed slept 3 more. I can handle that. The one good thing about last night was that he did sleep almost 9 hours total. The times I am the most exhausted is when he sleeps 8 hours or less altogether, especially when I don't go to bed right after putting him down. I really hope he is sleeping 12 hours straight at night at 6 months old like his sister. Right now I'll just be glad if he'll get back to sleeping 10 hours total with only one feeding during the night.

It cracks me up how my name constantly evolves with Nadia. Some days it's "hey mom" and other days it's Mommy. Today it's "Momma." Many times today she's said "thank you, momma." Awww that is music to my ears! Just a moment ago she said "thank you momma jelly on it." Is that like pretty please with sugar on top? LOL She was thanking me for putting jelly on her cracker. She was also especially grateful when I let her get in her wading pool since she wasn't able to go in it yesterday due to rain. She is definitely going to have a blast in Florida! Her use of pronouns also is constantly changing. She now adds a proper noun at the end to clarify who she is referring to when she says "I." For example, she'll say "I'll carry you Mommy," which means she wants me to carrry her. If she says "I'll feed you Nadia" she means that she wants to feed herself.

Tonight is my last night of class for the semester. I am giving exams tomorrow and Wednesday. Then I need grade the exams and start packing as Saturday we'll be at an amusement park with Paul's parents and Sunday I'm driving down to MD with the kids. I hope that Nadia is entertained by the portable DVD player that Paul's parents gave me for my birthday. Paul will come down on the 13th, and we will fly to Florida with my parents on the 14th. I can't wait! I'm also trying to finish setting on my online courses. It's definitely a time consuming process, but I keep reminding myself that I'll be teaching at least 3 sections of this online course (two this summer and one in the fall), so it's definitely worth my while. :-)

A Conversation with Ian

A picture post

Long Day

Today I took my car to Sears for the annual inspection as my sticker would expire the end of this month. Paul had it pretty easy during the 2 hours I was gone as Nadia was asleep the whole time, and Ian took a nap during that span as well.  Today he is wearing shorts for the first time. My friend, Jocye, gave me two outfits for him yesterday. She meant to get both size 3-6 month, but one of them actually was size 0-3 month. However that was a blessing in disguise as that size does still fit him. In fact there is still growing room in it. I am hoping that it won't fit him toooo much longer though since he'll be 5 months old in 11 days. It will be very useful when we're in Florida. Even though size 0-3 month still fits him, I got the outfits in size 3-6 month since I figure that's what he'll be wearing the first half of the summer. I already have plenty of summer outfits in size 6-9 month for him to wear later in the summer. Most of those are two piece outfits. I purposefully selected one piece outfits as I don't think 3-6 month shorts would stay on his body right now although his belly is definitely growing! I think he'll be 12 lbs by next week and that's supposedly the weight when you switch to size 3-6 month. We shall see. The outfits I bought him today might be a tad big now, but I hated to buy a whole bunch of 0-3 month summer outfits that he'd only wear for a couple of weeks. I also got a shirt and shorts for myself. I received a THIRD compliment from Paul this week (today). I don't believe that has ever happened in the 13 years since we started dating (3 compliments on my appearance/outfits in one week). I am happy he likes my new clothes. They are very comfy too!

Yesterday was a very long day. I was gone for 9.5 hours, and Nadia was at Sarah's for 9 of those hours. Ian slept on the way down to Harrisburg. We arrived early so I nursed him in the car before going in to the meeting. He was awake for awhile and then napped in the Snugli. Then I nursed him during lunch and then he took another nap in my arms. I left the meeting 30 minutes early so I could visit with my friend and her son a little bit. We chatted for about 45 minutes and then I drove back home. Ian cried on the way to meeting Joyce and also cried for about 15 minutes on the way home. Altogether he did pretty well, especially in the car. He was a little fussier than usual in the meeting, but I just stepped out if he started to cry so we wouldn't be disruptive. I nursed him 3 times while we were down there so I am glad I brought him. Another lady had a 5 month old son that she left with her husband for the day so she was in the conference room pumping while I was nursing.

At the mall I also stopped at Payless to pick up the shoes I ordered for Nadia over the Interent. Oh my goodness. I felt like a kid in a candy factory. They have soooooooooooo many cute shoes for toddlers. If she ever needs a half-size in the future, that's where I'll be heading to get her shoes! I saw so many cute ones, but I resisted the urge to buy any more. I  had ordered her a pair of water shoes for the beach in FL as well as the lime green sandals she is wearing at the picture at left. When I took this picture she was asking if she could go back outside. She spent most of the day outside at Sarah's yesterday. Today she enjoyed playing in our wading pool since the temps got up in the low 90's today. She's going to have a lot of fun in Florida!

I have discovered that Ian sweats very easily. He was sweating in the car yesterday even though he was only wearing a short sleeve polo shirt. I was wearing a shirt plus sweater and wasn't sweating! His hair is often wet when I get him out of the Nap Nanny even though all he's wearing is a sleeper (not even a onesie underneath). I discontinued the use of the snowsuit. He takes after his Daddy in this regard - not me! Also he seems to be more of a night owl like his Daddy. We had a hard time keeping Nadia up until 6pm at this age. He doesn't like to go to bed before 7:15pm at the earliest. One way that Nadia takes after her Daddy is her use of the expression "I guess." Every time she says it I think of Paul as he says that All The Time. LOL!