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June 17, 2006
Isn't it beautiful?!?
I made my first ever "from scratch" homemade apple pie this week! All in all, it was good. I turned out just like the picture. However, it was an apple meringue pie, not just regular apple. I don't think I had prepared my taste buds for no cinnamon in the pie, so I wasn't quite ready for the taste. But it was pretty good. And I am proud! :)
Posted by Leah at 03:19 PM | Comments (1)
June 14, 2006
He's coming home!
It's a long story, but as of this morning, my brother has officially retired from baseball. He is on his way to the airport to get a flight home tonight. I am excited for him as he put this before God and asked for direction. God answered and now John is coming home. I think his plan is to go to school in the fall (he had in his contract when he signed with the Royals that they would pay full tuition, room and board, and books for 7 semesters).
Welcome home John!
Posted by Leah at 01:43 PM | Comments (203)
June 12, 2006
I am NOT ready for 2 kids!
Ok, well I am not ready to have another child who is older than Belle! :) And seeing how that probably won't happen, I think I am in the clear. I watched Elijah for a few hours on Saturday night while Nathan and Rachel had a date. My husband was gone for the evening, so I decided to give it a go. It really wasn't all bad. I was just amazed at how time slowed down when I was sitting in the living room on the floor with two babies. Elijah just started walking this week, so I was keeping busy keeping track of him. I figured it had been a good half an hour and looked up at the clock, it had only been 4 minutes. Whew! This was going to be a long 2 hours! So, I decided to try out the double stroller that my cousin gave me and take the kiddos for a walk. I put Elijah in the Exersaucer (so he couldn't go anywhere) and I set Belle on the floor with some toys. I went out the to the garage and set up the stroller. I came back inside and put Belle's jacket on her and went out to buckle her in. However, the straps on the seat were rusted and they wouldn't pull tight. After a few minutes, I gave up and just told Belle not to move! :) I ran back inside and brought out Elijah and his coat. I tried to put him in the front seat, but those straps didn't tighten either. And then I realize that the front wheel had fallen off of the stroller. I should have stopped right there. But NO! I continued on. I managed to get the tire on and told the children not to move to much. We were off!
In a matter of 5 seconds, Elijah starts lunging foward (see how there is not tray on the front of the stroller?) I am pretty sure he is going to nose dive right off the fron of the thing. We are in the street right now out in front of our neighbors house. I decide that Elijah needs to be in the back and I can put Belle in the front as she doesn't move nearly as much as he does. I pull my daughter out of the stroller and with no better option at my fingertips, I set her in the street, while I put Elijah in the back. (Again with straps that don't work). I get everyone buckled in again and we are off. In .2 seconds, Elijah finds Belle's pigtails and he pulls. Oh my. I decide to call it a night. Our walk had lasted a good 20 minutes, however, we only made it to our neighbors driveway! We return home and watch Veggie Tales Sing Along Songs!
Posted by Leah at 08:04 AM | Comments (2)
June 03, 2006
Advice for mothers... things you probably won't read in magazines.
I emailed a bunch of friends and had them tell me the things they learned when they had kids. Here is a bunch of thoughts from a number of people... some may work, some maybe not. Either way, it is valuable info! There are a few more things on the list, but I am not going to post them here. If you would like to knowthe rest of them, feel free to send me an email.
-I have found that if I swaddle the baby before I put her in the carseat, she can't terrorize herself with her hands and it is usually a much happier trip for all. Also she's more likely to fall asleep.
-The only thing I really thought worked for us, is if your little one gets attached to a certain blanket, go out and buy a bunch of the same one! Because if they start sleeping with it every night they start to look really yucky so with our baby, he has 5 of the same blanket and I just interchange them all the time. That way also if you happen to lose "THE blanket" you'll have a replacement that's the same!! :)
-If you can’t get a newborn to sleep, try putting them in their car seat and setting them in the bathroom with the exhaust fan on.
-Don’t make any assumption of how life is going to be until the kiddo is older than 7 or 8 weeks.
-To help my newborn know the difference between day and night, we left lights on and the music playing during nap time. But at night time, we whisper and only use a small lamp.
-Baby socks work great as mittens for a little one to sleep in at night to keep their hands warm.
-Sam’s Club has cheap wipes and they work great!
-Life gets much better after 6 or 8 weeks! Hang in there!
-Putting baking soda in the bottom of your diaper pail liner each time you change it, greatly reduces the odor.
-Garage sales are an excellent place to find cheap onesies.
-God made your first child, exactly for you.
Everything about them is exactly the way
God wanted them to be.
God knows you and what you need and
God knows your child and what they need.
Remember: God will not give you anything
more than you can handle
and that God will give you the strength
to get though ALL things!
-You can take the first six weeks
after your baby's birth to heal too,
or you can take the next six months.
It's your choice.
Your body will heal and go back to "normal"
but not if you don't give it the full first six weeks
-Watch how other families
live life around you.
When you see something you like
ask how they did it.
-My “must haves”
Side buttoning undershirts (3)…Onesies (the shirts that button in the crotch) push against the belly button stump. You don’t have to have these, but they were nice to have.
White thin onesies (4-6)
Shirts or onesies or rompers (which are like sleepers without the feet) (7-10+) & Bottoms
(4-6)…How many really depends on how often you do laundry. Size 0-3
became obsolete quickly for my baby. It seemed like 3-6 lasted a while though. For me, this one was hard to register for b/c I had no idea how many of what size. So I really didn’t even register for that many, but ended up receiving enough to get us started. Then I just went and bought what I needed beyond that.
Gowns & Sleepers (7-10)… I used the gowns all of the time during the first couple of months… we’re talking 24/7 here. They were really convenient for changing diapers. Now I just use the sleepers at night… okay and some days when we aren’t going out in public.
Socks (7-15)… I just recently found ones that I like… Circo brand at Target actually stay on!
Vibrating bouncer… this was a lifesaver on numerous occasions. I just had a simple one that vibrated, but sort of wanted one of the cool ones with the lights and stuff.
Swing… this too, was a lifesaver. Get battery-operated, not the old hand crank kind.
Car seat … there are so many types. I am torn on this one. On one hand, it makes sense to find a convertible one that goes up to maybe 40 pounds. (BTW, it has to be rear-facing until your child is 20 lbs AND 1 yr old.) If you want to space your children about every 2-3 years, it makes sense to have one car seat to cover the child from age 0-3, and then get the next level car seat/booster for maybe ages 3-6. On the other hand, the non-convertible ones are easy to carry infants in (if I am correct, I think the convertible ones are huge).
Hooded towels… how many depends on how often you bathe your child. I have about 5 or so, and that has served me well. Not must haves, but really convenient.
Washcloths (lots)… I bathe my baby a lot, so I go through them fast before laundry time.
Burp cloths (5-7)… Target sells the kind that are really thick… if your child spits up as much as my baby did, you want this kind!
Blankets … I have a ton of these. I really like the larger, stretchy ones so that you can
swaddle them better. We swaddled our baby very tightly for the first couple of months, then slowly he would start kicking it loose. Now, I lay a blanket down as though I was going to swaddle him with one corner up, then lay him down, and wrap the two corners around him. This keeps him warm, but since he is laying on the blanket, avoids it covering his face.
Sheets (2)…You want to have a couple for the crib and maybe a couple if you have a pack n play.
Infant Tylenol Drops
Gas Drops… if you are feeding them, and they start getting all wiggly, and fussy…that is gas. I would try burping, if that didn’t work, I’d lay my baby on his back and pump his legs to his chest (this often let out some big ones, so watch out!) If those don’t work, try gas drops. I use the cheap kind… Lil Tummies.
Nose suction thingy…you know, the bulb thing to get stuff out of their nose. The only time he will let me even get close to him with it is during nursing. I have resorted, though, to holding his head with one hand while he screams, and I make the plunge with the other hand. I have one that can be taken apart to be cleaned which I find to be really nice.
Teething ring… probably won’t need this until 5 months or so, but I have two, one that has water in it that refrigerates or freezes, and one that is rubbery.
Teething gel
Baby bath… I just recently stopped using mine, but it was great while my baby was small.
Baby brush
Pacifier… good to have at least one of these for desperate times. If you choose to use it often, buy the kind that can clip to their shirts.
Diapers…obviously! Assuming you aren’t venturing to use cloth…I think Pampers Swaddlers are by far the best at avoiding blowouts, then Huggies. If your budget is tight like ours, Target brand (premium) and Wal-Mart’s Dry-Bottoms are good.
Baby Wipes… I use the cheapest I can find… Aldis! A wise mother told me that if your
child gets diaper rash, use a wet washcloth instead as they are easier on the bum.
Baby dishes… I use four little bowls and about 6 spoons.
-When my mom told me to be noisy during my baby's naps, it made sense. But, during each nap in the early days, I thought to myself, I seriously need to get things done, there is no way I am risking waking that baby! Also, being the only one in the house, I don’t exactly do much that makes noise. So now I have a baby that wakes up easily (don’t tell my mother!) I am thinking about starting to turn the radio up when he naps. He is also terrified of the vacuum cleaner. I have to carry him and vacuum, or he will scream. I should have done this from the beginning!
-I make my own baby food. I buy cereal from the store but make veggies and fruits. So much cheaper if you have the time! I get my recipes from this website: http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/
-Unless it is an emergency, don't ever buy HyVee brand diapers! Ok, I should say that they didn't work well for us! :)
Posted by Leah at 02:18 PM | Comments (3)
Battle of the wills
I think today marked our first official "meltdown" in which Belle decided she didn't like her choices offered to her. Jason and I are heading to Chicago at the end of July for 2 days and Belle will be staying behind at grandma's house. So, we decided to practice with a bottle/sippy cup so she is ready once we leave. This child... wow. She was offered the bottle at about 9am this morning, but refused. However, she was still happy and went out her morning rutine. She had altogether skipped a feeding this morning and was going on 7 hours of no food. (She usually eats every 3 hrs on the dot). She was pretty happy until about 12:30pm and then she finally decided she was going to get fussy because she was hungry. We offered her the bottle and a sippy cup with milk in it and that started the first 15 minutes of crying and fussing. She finally calmed down and ate a half an ounce and then started screaming again. We are talking total body meldown as she decided to make her entire body limp, hold her head back and scream. And She had this look of betrayal on her face. I held her up and said "Isabelle, you are not going to win!" But she continued to scream another 15 minutes. I finally distracted her with a toy and she calmed down. As she was sitting on the couch, I slipped the bottle into her mouth and she drank the remaining 4 ounces. Whew. And, in spite of all of that (I figured she would want to hate me for putting her through all of that) my daughter is all smiles and giggles. You would never imagine that this is the same child as an hour ago!
Hats off to all you parents out there... thank you for your perseverance!
In other news, I learned how to hard boil an egg yesterday. I feel that I can officially call myself and adult now.
Posted by Leah at 01:59 PM | Comments (1)