Emmilyn is here!

Wow!  The past two weeks have been a whirlwind!  I began this blog post several times and just haven't been able to finish.  There really has been so much that has happened in the past two weeks but with my foggy Mommy brain, here is a little bit of my story.

Emmilyn finally made her arrival at 40 weeks and 3 days.  I started to think she was never going to come and then woke up at 5am one morning with contractions.  By lunch time the contractions were all over the place and inconsistent but as I was overdue I decided I wanted to go in to see if anything was happening.  Of course, not much was happening.  The Dr. ordered me to 'walk the halls' of labor & deliver and at 6pm he would check again and either admit us or send us home. 

::sigh::  Chris and I totally thought we'd be going home.

Fast foward to 6pm, I was 5cm dilated and was admitted.  Woohoo!  Fast forward to 7pm, Chris is eating, Dr. has gone home, we are preparing for a long night and bam! -  My water breaks, I'm a 9.5cm, the Dr. is called, and the room is filled with what feels like 100 nurses frantically setting everything up for delivery, and everyone is telling me NOT to push!  27 minutes later Emmilyn arrived with no medical intervention!  Truth be told, I was waiting to get the intrathecal (my hospital doesn't offer a regular epideral) and Emmilyn came too fast for me to get it.  I am so thankful for the experience of a natural birth, though, because it is something I wanted with both babies. 

Recovery has been so much easier this time around and we were discharged from the hospital after just 24 hours.  Everything was going great (as good as the first few days at home with a newborn & toddler CAN go) and then the day after family left I woke up with horrible, make you double over, pain across my back.  I got up to use the bathroom and I had the shakes, plus a very tender belly.  Something was definitely wrong.  We had a morning checkup for Emmilyn and then Chris drove me straight to the Dr. where we discovered I had developed Endometritis, an infection in the lining of my uterus.  By the time we finally got home I had a fever of 102 and was in so much pain all I could do was lay perfectly still on the couch and there I stayed for hours.  Thanks to my amazing husband, Chris, we survived the next 24-36 hours.  The neighbors had already planned to bring us dinner that night and Chris took care of everything else.  Entertaining, bath, and bedtime for our 22 month old and feeding/changing/rocking/everything for Miss E.  With the infection & fever, nursing was just unbearable so I went upstairs to bed and woke up every few hours to pump while Chris came up to get the milk and replace it with an empty bottle ready for the next feeding.  Talk about tag-team parenting!  Chris really is super Dad and an amazing husband.  I slowly started to feel like myself but it took about 2-3 days for the fever & pain to go completely away. 

Now that I have had about 2 weeks to adjust to another baby in the house, here are a few observations I have made:

-Girls are MUCH more demanding than boys!
-Just because breastfeeding was easy with your first, doesn't mean it will be for your second.  E is gaining weight and doing great now, but she definitely requires more guidance than Landon did.
-Cloth diapering a newborn is like riding a bike.  It might just be the easiest part of caring for E so far.
-Losing weight should be easier this time because frankly, I don't have time to eat.
-In some areas I feel like a pro taking care of baby #2, yet in other areas I find I still full of worries & fears of doing the right thing.
-Putting baby in her own room earlier = better sleep for Mom.
-With one child you learn to do things one-handed.  With two children you learn to do things no-handed.
-My life is full of such joy with our newest addition.  Watching my toddler gently kiss his baby sister goodnight, and my loving husband cuddling them both.  Life doesn't get much better than this!

The Boy Who Cried Poop

Just what you were hoping for, right?  Another potty training/poop related blog post.  :)  We had a pretty relaxed 4 day weekend with lots of lounging on the couch, a few chores, and most days sleeping in until 8am.  I don't know where the sleeping in came from because Landon is usually up by 6am but I'm just referring to it as the calm before the storm since I am due with baby #2 in just 10 days now! (10 days, yay!)  Whatever may be causing him to sleep later - THANK YOU!  Despite our super exciting weekend, I am focusing on potty training because we had a little victory to celebrate! 

Public potty use!!

 I learned early on in potty training that as successful as your toddler may be at home, the public potty is a totally different beast!  In my opinion the number one reason public potty training is a challenge?  Those darn scary (& LOUD) super flushers!  When the toilet is as big as you of course that flush will scare the crap out of you!  In fact, my Aunt was telling me that the flush scared one of my cousins so bad that she would have to stop grocery shopping, run home to let her potty, and then go back to the store!  Crazy!  Anyways, we've been using one of those handy fold-up portable little potty seats for L to sit on when we are out of the house.  Those are also a big fail.  Landon has successfully used the public potty a couple of times now and you know why I think it was a success?  We ditched the stupid foldable potty (that on several occasions slips and falls in the toilet with a can't-ever-sit -still-toddler - yet again scaring him) and just help support him sitting on the potty.  Seriously so much easier.  Now if you just turned your nose or said eww at the thought of sitting your child directly on a public toilet seat I'm guessing you are one of those hoverers who are responsible for the messy toilet seat in the first place!  Wipe the seat before you sit down, do your business, then wash your hands.  All clean! 

The humerous side of this weekend's potty training came when my husband referred to Landon as 'The Boy who Cried Poop!'  I couldn't stop laughing because it is so true!  He is really starting to tell us when he has to go but he points to his butt and says - poop? (yes, as a question) - for everything.

Reasons Landon says - poop?:

-He, in fact, needs to poop.
-He needs to pee
-He wants to wash his hands (a new obsession)
-He passed gas
-Somebody is in the bathroom at home and he wants to join
-We just put on PJ's and he's avoiding bedtime
-He heard someone say the word poop
-He wants to get down from his high chair

                                                                                ....and the list goes on.

Beyond the public potty victory, potty training in general has been very up and down, day by day.  Some days he's totally on board and hardly has a single accident.  Other days it's like he forgot the concept completely.  In the big scheme of life my toddler finally going potty in public is most certainly a 'little' victory, but my blog is titled, The Little Things.  At the end of the day, isn't it those little victories that make the day an overall success?

The Waiting Game

I'm sitting here sipping my coffee in solitude before the sun comes up.  Landon usually wakes up by 6am and my days start with one eye open juggling him, the dog, breakfast, and sleep deprivation.  This is morning #2 where it's well past 6am, Landon is still sleeping and I am eating my breakfast in quiet.  Why I suddenly can't sleep, I'm not sure but I am going to enjoy these last few peaceful mornings as I know they won't last.  Chris is home from training in California, the nursery is ready, and we are just waiting on baby girl to arrive!

Last weekend was pretty lazy as it rained, and well, we were feeling lazy.  Here are a few pictures of what we've been up to.

 

Lazy day fun at home.

Gymnastics

 

Our first Chipolte experience. (We all loved it!)

What weekend would be complete without playing with the dog.

Tomorow marks 38 weeks and these is a full moon this weekend.  Hmmm...bring on the labor!  The weather should be nice so we are planning on a cookout with some friends (Deep Friend Turkey, yum!) and whatever adventures we decide to tackle!  It's so nice to just be relaxed and (try) not to sit around waiting. 

Happy weekend!

Could you live without a microwave?

About 6 weeks ago I was having a craving for chocolate so I turned to a childhood snack of melting semi-sweet morsels in the microwave and eating the melted chocolate with a spoon.  There was just one problem.  After 3 times setting the timer on the microwave and 3 times standing there for one minute salivating with anticipation, again the chips were still in solid form! (Yes, I really did try 3 times before giving up.)  My husband walks over and says, "Way to kill the microwave!"

Thanks dear, thanks.

So in a frantic moment (come on now I was having a pregnancy craving!) I melted the chocolate in the oven which took FOR-EV-ER!  It probably would have been faster on the stovetop but I just wasn't thinking clearly. 

I didn't run out the next day and buy a new microwave because I am super cheap and lets be honest, how often is a new microwave a purchase you need to make!  After about a week passes Chris was out of town for training and I decided to just see how long I could go without a microwave.  Maybe I don't really need one?  Except for a few situations where it's just more convenient - melting hot fudge for ice cream, Landon's 90 second oatmeal - I actually found the stove and/or oven work just as easily for anything I needed to cook or reheat.  In fact, I found food reheated in the oven or stove-top tasted better than in the microwave!  Yesterday I finally removed the beast from the counter and I am much enjoying the extra counterspace and a place for my cookbooks that L can't get ahold of them. 

This is certainly much prettier than a dirty old microwave:

 

Chris has yet to return from training so I'm not saying we'll never replace it but I'm going to hold out as long as I can. 

 

Could you (or do you) live without a microwave?

Bathtub Paint

Entertaining a toddler is a task in itself, but with a Dad who's TDY and a Mom who's 34 weeks pregnant the task suddenly becomes momumental and exhausting!  Just for fun throw in a night spent washing vomit covered sheets, carpet, bath mat, towels, and clothes, and in the same 24 hours cleaning dog diarrhea (excuse me - I have a Great Dane so make that HORSE diarrhea) from the carpet & walls (yes walls) of your mudroom and well, we needed a simple and fun NEW activity pronto!  I pulled this idea from Pinterest and crossed my fingers that I wouldn't end up with a pinstrosity (have you seen that blog? - hilarious!) 

This was so simple - combine cornstarch, food coloring, baby shampoo, and a teensy bit of water for fun painting in the bathtub!

I didn't have any food coloring on hand and my local store only has the gel but it worked just fine.  The verdict - it was a hit!  We basically ended up with one color as Landon combined everything but if the kid makes a mess he is happy.  Mission accomplished!

Happy Labor Day weekend!

Early Potty Training Part 2

As I talked about in a previous blog post here, I'm potty training my almost 20 month old in hopes to have him trained before baby #2 arrives.  Which is in 7 weeks.  Eek!  My goals have changed some as I've gotten my feet wet (no pun intended) in the process.  We've been working on potty training somewhere between 4-6 weeks now.  Actually typing that makes it sound like a long time, but that's not every waking hour of everyday trying to sit L on the potty.  I've really tried to ease into it instead of a bootcamp approach.  I've learned that potty training early is more difficult because you have to help your little one learn the feeling of needing to pee & poo and take them to the potty every hour or so until they get it as opposed to them being a little older, knowing the feeling, but just refusing to do so on the potty.  I guess it can be a battle either way.

So the good news?  I think we are poop trained!  :)

The bad news - we are still working on pee training. :(

I have to say, though, as a cloth diapering momma I couldn't be happier about being poop trained!  It has been DAYS since I've had to clean a poopy diaper (or underwear.)  He poops 2-3 times per day and practically on command.  Well, I guess I've tuned into what times of day he needs to poop, but he knows what to do and really tries hard which makes me laugh everytime.

    *Another lesson I have learned is early potty trainers usually poop train first, later potty trainers poop train last.*

Pee is a LOT easier to clean up so it is fine by me!  On Sunday we were going to a friends house for playdate dinner and I decided to take L in his underwear, even though he's not exactly pee trained yet.  I kept telling myself if I always take him out in a diaper, he's never going to learn.  ::sigh::  Well, 2 underwear/pant changes later I put a diaper on him for the last hour or so of our playdate. (Sorry friend!)  I took him to use the potty 2-3 times but he seemed a bit scared and wouldn't use it so I guess that is a whole other challege.  Public potty.  I've decided I'm going to put one of those little potty seats in the car to use when we are out.  We have anywhere for a 30-45 minute drive anywhere we go so I'm pretty sure I will use it.  I've also made a point (for a couple weeks now) to sit L on the potty whenever we are out just to get him used to and comfortable with the idea of public pottys.  Let's be honest, I'm 33 weeks pregnant so I have to use the 'potty' every time we are out anyways!

I keep reading and hearing that toddlers tend to regress on PT when a new baby arrives.  I'm aware, but I'm also wondering if that is true or just something that people say.  If there's one thing I've learned it's that every tip/suggestion/old wives tale does NOT apply to every child.  I've also learned I tend to have lofty goals and get slammed with reality from time to time.  Ha!  No worries, I will post my successes & failures here for your reading pleasure!  I mean, who doesn't want to read about poop?

So my goal is still to have L fully potty trained by the time baby #2 arrives, however if he's not completely I'm not going to beat myself up over it.  I feel like he is making good progress and I'm taking it one day at a time in teaching him (and one day at a time with this pregnancy because I am SOOOOOOOOO DONE!)

And can I just repeat the best part about this entire post? 

 

No

 

More

 

Poopy

 

Diapers!

 

 

...at least for a few weeks. ;)

Baby Girl's Nursery Part 3

Well this isn't a breaking news or a major update on the nursery.  Just me getting all of my ducks in a row.  I think we have all of the necessities done so unless I get motivated to do a couple of projects I have in mind (button monogram framed for L & E or yarn wrapped letters) this will have to do.

The changing station is complete: 

 

The changing pad is secured to the dresser, the newborn diapers have been washed & prepped, and I hung these two shelves for a little extra storage.

They are about eye level, though they look higher in this picture. Sorry there's nothing pretty sitting on the shelves, just pratical things - Grandma El's Organic Diaper Balm, a couple snappis, a container w/cotton balls & qtips, newborn baby booties, baby wash clothes & a spray bottle. I was hoping to find a dark pink, or raspberry colored changing pad cover, but I was able to tie in colors from Landon's nursery so this blue works just fine. Clothes are all washed and put away!

I should label this picture as an epic fail but, eh sometimes you just have to work with what you have. 

 

We clearly bought the bins for this cheap, $20 shelf, too big. But, I only planned to use two bins, and have the middle shelf to store blankets or something else so I said the hay with it this will work just fine. I like the size bins we purchased so...there!

I think we are ready for baby!  Now I just need to survive the next 7 weeks!