Kiddo, Little Bit & M&M (Originally posted April 27, 2007)

TRANSFERRED FROM LIVEJOURNAL Little Bit is 7 weeks old today. It’s funny how life goes, you know? I mean, it feels like she’s been around forever, but it’s only been 7 weeks! She’s getting big – I’d love to know how much she weighs right now. It is finally obvious – even to me, who is around her all the time – how much she’s grown since she was born. Her newborn stuff is already too small and she’s well into the 3 month stuff. Some of it is still too big, but it doesn’t really matter at this point; she certainly doesn’t care! She’s been a bit congested lately, and has coughed a few times, but is otherwise perfectly healthy – though I am keeping my eyes and ears (and Mommy intuition) open. Kiddo seems great, though he’s still being quite difficult. Everything is an ordeal. The star chart is looking very bare as he has not accomplished many of his chores this week. We’re not pushing him, though, because I think that would put a very negative spin on the entire thing and make him even more difficult, and less inclined to do what we ask him. He’s had fun Swiffering the floors, clomping around in Mommy’s boots, drawing on his Cars DoodlePro board, and going to Story Time at the local library. He loves Story Time...but he got in trouble this week because he and another little boy were spitting on the mats. I’m amazed neither of them got smacked right there and then! Mr. Will, the very nice Scottish man who leads Story Time and reads the books (and also somehow manages to get all the little ones to pay attention) had to reprimand the two – which is mortifying to me! Ah well...I guess it could be worse – it could be biting or hitting. I’m almost afraid to admit this, but I’m glad to be back at work. I finally have a job I really love and am working for a good company and a good boss; not many people find that in their whole working career so I am extremely lucky. I miss my kids all day, though. The first day I had to leave them with Hubby – and even though I knew they were in good hands – I cried all the way to work and then was on the verge of tears all day long. I made it through, though, and each day has gotten a bit easier. Yesterday, I was busy all day and before I knew it, the day was over! As you know, we’re having Little Bit baptized on May 13th. I am quite excited about it because one of my very favorite people is making a special trip from Connecticut to be there for her baptism! His wife – the person we named Little Bit after – will unfortunately not be able to come, but I’m still very happy that he’ll be able to attend. M&M have been part of my life since I was eight years old and they’ve become family to me. I can’t imagine what my life would be like without their positive influence – not only on me, but on my brother and sister as well! Kiddo, Sr. (my brother) and HB (my sister), & I all love M&M very much. Well...I guess that’s all I have right now. Hope everyone is having a wonderful, sunny day! It’s raining here. TTFN JMS PS: I just went to post this to my LiveJournal and the wonderful network gurus here have blocked the site. Dammit! Now I have to post from home again!

My Addiction (Originally posted April 24, 2007)

TRANSFERRED FROM LIVEJOURNAL Hello, my name is Jennifer and I’m addicted to Coca-cola. It surprises me that they don’t have a 12-step program for this; I’ve looked and they don’t have anything like CCAA – Coca-Cola Addicts Anonymous. I know I need to cut down or quit all together, but every time I want something to drink, my mind automatically goes to Coke...as does my hand when it reaches for the door of the cooler at the “Git-n-Go”. Sigh - tall...ice cold...Coke! I can’t (or rather, don’t like to) have pizza without a Coke - the pizza just doesn't taste the same. Kind of reminds me of when I was quitting smoking. There are just certain things you can’t have or can’t do when you’re attempting to kick the nicotine habit. Like coffee...for the longest time I couldn’t have coffee because I couldn’t enjoy a cigarette with it. Or, I couldn’t go to a bar or restaurant and order alcohol because I’d want to smoke. I’ve never been much of a drinker – though I’ve definitely had my fair share. I just don’t really think about it. Oh, I enjoy the odd beer here and there – or a nice glass of wine – or maybe a frozen margarita with a good girlfriend...but alcohol is most definitely not a part of my daily life. It’s not even a weekly occurrence. I’m obsessive about things that makes Hubby (and most normal people) crazy - like wrinkles in the sheets at night and rumpled covers, or all the spoons facing the same direction in the silverware drawer and all the utensils in their proper slots, or the way the dishwasher is should be loaded, or the way certain pieces of clothing need to be folded in order to fit into their place in the drawer. I’m terribly obsessive about many, many things...but that’s just part of who I am; and, I suppose, it makes me capable of doing my job more effectively. Sometimes being anal and obsessive can be a good thing, right? Thankfully, I don’t have any of a myriad of other addictions or afflictions, so...I guess being addicted to Coca-Cola is minor. (Note to Self: Remember to brush your teeth and drink as much water as possible!) TTFN JMS

Chores and Children (Originally posted April 23, 2007)

TRANSFERRED FROM LIVEJOURNAL It took all my strength and will power to drag my you-know-what out of bed this morning. I stayed up entirely too late last night watching a Hallmark movie on CBS that was based on a true story. It was sad, poignant and heartwarming all at the same time which, of course, left me in a puddle of tears. Then, because I was too worked up to rest, I washed dishes and advanced the laundry (laundry is still not done, and I forgot to start the dishwasher!!!) and didn’t get into bed until about 12:30 AM. At 2:30, Little Bit decided she was hungry again...and so back to my bed she came and I went cautiously to sleep until my alarm went off at 5:30. The next month will be really busy for us. On May 11th Hubby has another deposition for the new trial regarding the car accident back in June of ’02, on May 12th we’ve got our neighbor’s 25th wedding anniversary to go to, on May 13th we’re having Little Bit baptized, the new trial is on May 21st & 22nd, and then it looks like we’ll be moving at the end of May or beginning of June. Plus, I’m supposed to have stuff ready for a yard sale on May 5th with our neighbors! Life is a never ending thing, isn’t it? (Kind of like my laundry pile...) Kiddo has been extremely difficult lately. I realize everything he’s doing (or not doing) is totally normal for his age – and especially after just having been bumped out of the “only child” category – but sometimes I’d like to strangle him. If I were an abusive parent, he’d be hurtin’ right about now. You tell (ask, order, request...whatever) him to do something (or not to do something) and he stares blankly at you as if he A) didn’t hear a word you’ve just said; B) didn’t comprehend what you’ve just said; or C) is blatantly ignoring what you’ve just said. It’s infuriating! He’s also started to cry, at the drop of a hat, and for no apparent reason. You’ll notice him standing still in the middle of the room, with his head hung low, just silently crying! It’s a little disturbing and quite heartbreaking. You ask him what the matter is and he simply replies, “Sob...! I don’t know!” and usually includes huge, crocodile-sized tears streaming down his cheeks. These episodes usually require several minutes of trying to determine what is wrong, many kisses, hugs and reassurances, and usually end with him saying something like, “I’m OK now, Mom!” (BTW, him calling me Mom is almost as bad as me calling him Char...it just sounds wrong! I miss him calling me Mommy.) Potty training has taken a huge leap backward and it is so frustrating! He’s three now, and he can’t advance to the next class at Church until he’s potty trained. All his friends his age have advanced, and he’s still in the nursery. Granted, the age range for the nursery is 1-3 years, but still...I’m sure he wonders why his friends aren’t in the same class with him any more. We’ve started implementing a star reward system. We’ve come up with ten simple, Kiddo-sized chores:

Feed the dog

Pick up your toys

Help with the laundry or dishes

Dry diaper all day

Dry diaper all night

Poop on the potty

Tinkle on the potty

Eat all your meals

Take a bath or shower

Brush teeth AM & PM

Please notice that four of those chores have to do with potty training. Helping with the laundry or dishes simply means that he puts his clothes in the laundry basket or his sippy-cup in the sink. Feeding the dog consists of opening the dog food container and putting two scoops of dry dog food in her bowl, then telling Hubby that “Lala” needs fresh water. He also gets to give “Lala” a cookie. The rest is pretty self-explanatory. Anyway – if he does a chore listed on the board, he gets a star. If he doesn’t do a chore that’s listed on the board, he doesn’t get a star. Simple as that. If he gets 50 or more stars a week, he gets $1.00. There’s the potential for 70 stars per week and if he gets all the stars, he gets $2.00. He really likes seeing one of us draw that star on his board and if he’s being particularly difficult, he loses a star. I’m hoping that it becomes an incentive for him to do these chores automatically after he’s had some more time to get used to the system. Bedtimes are difficult. He’s not sleeping through the night right now and has a tendency to get up, walk silently into our room, and just stand by the bed and wait for one of us to wake up and notice that he’s there. It almost seems sneaky, but I know it’s not. He just wants one of us to spend some time with him. That being said, I realize that all of these difficulties stem from his needing as much attention as he can get. Little Bit really does take up a lot of our time right now because of how helpless she is. Kiddo understands – as well as can be expected for a 3-year old – that she cannot do things like he can, but he still really wants us all to himself. He hasn’t yet asked for us to send the baby back, but I fear that day is coming. Right now he has satisfied himself with simply asking us to put the baby down. Well...I guess now that I’ve written a novel – again – I should post this and get on with my day. I’m resolving, right here and now, to do one move-related chore per day so that we’re prepared for our move. We'll see how that goes - I'll keep you posted! Hope everyone is doing well! TTFN JMS

Oh...just stuff (Originally posted April 21, 2007)

TRANSFERRED FROM LIVEJOURNAL Hubby and I finally went out and bought ourselves a stroller. We've got a couple (a jogger that we use for Kiddo, and a stroller my friend GM gave us), but Little Bit is still just too small to use them. I researched for several days and read many reviews and finally decided on the Baby Trend Snap-n-Go Stroller. I'm quite excited. We've just gotten home from purchasing it; Hubby put it together and I'm itching to try it out. The problem is, that the marina path where we usually go walking is overrun by rowers and their fans this weekend. Apparently there is a regatta of some kind. You can't get through even to drive down the street, much less find a place a place to park. So disappointing! If I'm that desperate to try it out, however, I could (if I was so inclined), trudge up the hill I live on! ...Nah. Anywho - things here are going well. I'm beginning to readjust to working full-time. I'm going to discuss with my boss the possibility of working four, ten-hour days each week and having Wednesday's off. This would allow Hubby to have a break from the kids mid-week, and also to schedule more clients during the week. I have already mentioned it to my boss, and he seems receptive, though thinks that I might be stonewalled in another department - a.k.a. Human Resources. We'll see, though. I have also begun the process (drumroll please) of getting a higher education!!! I'm excited at the prospect of having a degree of some kind, though horribly terrified at the same time. School, I think, is my one true phobia. I'm terrified of school - even the online classes I'll be taking. (AKP, you can testify to how just thinking about school can send me over the edge into a puddle of tears.) So even considering taking a class is a HUGE step for me. I'll have to keep you posted on this one. I guess that's all I've got for now. Little Bit is stirring from her nap and I'd like to advance the laundry (still not done...) before she wakes up. TTFN JMS

Oops and Yahoo! (Originally posted April 20, 2007)

TRANSFERRED FROM LIVEJOURNAL I stabbed myself in the toe with a fork. Honest...it was an accident...but, I’m probably the only person in history who has ever done that! I think it’s hysterical, even though it hurt like you-know-what. Basically, and without getting into too much detail, I had laid my fork across my plate and picked up the plate to carry it into the kitchen; the fork fell off and landed – tines down – on my right big toe. OUCH!!! Well, it bled like crazy and while I was in the bathroom with my foot up on the toilet seat pouring peroxide on it, I began to laugh and couldn’t stop. I laughed so hard I thought I was going to throw up! I was thinking about having to explain why I was limping to the people at work this morning and realizing how STUPID the whole thing sounded. Only me. TTFN JMS PS: It’s probably horrible that I’m doing this is a post script – makes it seem like it’s an afterthought, which it really isn’t – but I wanted to send out a big CONGRATULATIONS to my very good friend, who I love dearly, on the successful defense of her dissertation! She is now DOCTOR CARA A. ROURE soon-to-be JOHNSON. I am SO proud of you, sweetie! All your long hours of hard work, all the sleepless nights, and all your many trips to Africa (you poor thing) paid off. Doctor Cara A. Roure. That just sounds right. I love you and am so very happy for you. Oh – and it’s not only me as I said above. Cara could easily do exactly what I did. LOL! :)

Work, Sleep & Doctor's (Originally posted April 19, 2007)

TRANSFERRED FROM LIVEJOURNAL Little Bit is officially 6 weeks old today and I’m officially back at work. I am not happy about leaving my kids, even though I know they’re in good hands...Hubby’s. I cried all the way to work yesterday and was on the verge of tears all day, but I got through it by staying busy and managed to accomplish quite a bit. I do wish, however, that our situation was different and I could be the one at home with them. My heart aches when I’m not around them even though sometimes I’d like to tear my hair out when I am around them! We went to a BBQ with J&EB at their church last night. It rained, so everyone made a bee-line for the inside. There was bluegrass music in the gymnasium; EB brought Kiddo in to listen and he had a ball running around and dancing. Kiddo likes fun music with a good beat and bluegrass is definitely fun music! When we got home, I fed Little Bit and while I was doing that, Hubby came home from choir practice and got Kiddo ready for bed and all tucked in. We didn’t hear a word from him until we woke him up at about 6:30 this morning! Then, I got Little Bit ready for bed; she had a full belly, a clean diaper and was all wrapped up warm and sleepy. I laid her in her bassinet at about 10:30 PM and we didn’t hear a sound from her until about 3:30 AM!!! Can you imagine!? Five hours of uninterrupted sleep! The funny part is that Little Bit has spent the better part of the last 6 weeks sleeping in bed with Hubby and me because she didn’t like the bassinet. I swore I’d never let my kids get used to sleeping in bed with us except on the rare occasion when a nightmare or an illness needed special attention; but when it came down to choosing between not sleeping because Little Bit was up every two hours wanting to eat, and sleeping a bit by keeping her in bed with us so I could feed her on demand without too much ado... Well, I think I chose wisely. Little Bit is a good little sleeper when she gets comfortable! When she’s in bed with us (even though I put her to sleep on her back) she rolls over on her side (yes, all by herself) and snuggles her little face into my chest and sleeps...soundly. I love feeling her there and knowing that she feels safe and comfortable; I love listening to the little noises she makes. Well, this morning, after having had so many hours of quality sleep, I woke up and panicked and couldn’t find Little Bit! I thought she was right next to me, snuggled as always, but she wasn’t! Then, I thought maybe she was behind me, between me and Hubby, but she wasn’t! Only then did I remember that she was in her bassinet and I was so surprised and relieved I almost cried! After the initial shock of realizing what time it was, I got up to check to be sure she was still breathing, which, of course, she was. Since I was up, I unplugged and disconnected our dishwasher (portable type) and did a few other small, quiet chores and by the time I got back to the bedroom about 10 minutes later, Little Bit was stirring in her usual “It’s time to feed me, Mommy!” way. So I brought her back to bed with me and we slept comfortably until my alarm went off at 5:30 AM! Anyway – last Tuesday (April 10th) both Little Bit and Kiddo had Doctor’s appointments. Little Bit was scheduled for her 1 month check up and Kiddo was scheduled for his annual check up. We managed to get them both in to see the doctor at the same time, so we only had to make one trip. Little Bit weighed 9lbs, 11oz and was 21.5 inches long! That’s almost 2lbs more than she weighed at birth and 1 full inch longer (if the measurements are correct). Not bad for one month of growing – though it’s no wonder, she eats constantly! Kiddo was almost 28lbs (I thought for sure he’d be heavier) and 35 inches tall! He’s been in the 10th percentile since birth so it looks like he’s going to stay that was for a while. They were both pronounced healthy and we were sent on our way. I’ve had several people ask me what the status is on the house we’re trying to buy so I’ll give you a quick update on that before signing off. R&JE, our friends who are building a new house, tell us that their contractor is still several weeks behind schedule. This has been going on since the end of December, when the house should have been completed. It’s now pushed until probably the end of May before we can purchase and then move in to their old house. RE has told his contractor that not only has his incompetence put R&JE in a bind, it’s also put us in one. I don’t think the contractor really cares, but he’s also put our landlady in a bind, too; until we can give her our 30 day notice, she can’t start showing the place we’re currently renting to new potential renters! AND...we’ll still have to keep paying rent!!! RE has said that he’s going to make sure it doesn’t get pushed past the end of May so if that holds true, it looks like we’ll be home owners in just a few short weeks time. Please wish us luck!!! We’re going to need it! Oh, and if you’re local and want to help us move when the time comes, any volunteers would be most appreciated!!! We can pay you in pizza and ice cold beer!!! TTFN JMS

Update - at long last! (Originally posted April 6, 2007)

TRANSFERRED FROM LIVEJOURNAL Little Bit is doing fine. Mom (that’s me) is exhausted, Dad (that’s Hubby) is not far behind, and Kiddo is going to make a wonderful Big Brother. Kiddo has regressed a little bit, but nothing that wasn’t expected. I will say, though, I’m not a big fan of the “throwing-himself-on-the-floor-and-screaming-when-he-doesn’t-get-his-way” thing, but this too shall pass. Kiddo has been a big help and we’ve tried to include him as much as we can when it comes to caring for his little sister. He’s helped us put stuff in the laundry, and put things in the trash, and “Swiffer” the floors, and he’s helped us carry the baby’s car seat to the car, and is concerned when she cries (“It’s OK baby!” says he lovingly, as he peeks over the rim of her bassinet) and seems to be quite interested when he sees me feeding her. Initially there were many questions about “why” I feed her the way I do, but after we explained that I fed him the same way, he seemed to ease off the questioning. Since I haven’t posted in quite a while, here’s a brief recap: Little Bit went to the Doctor on Monday, March 12th and weighed in at 7lbs, 4ozs. They were slightly concerned about her bilirubin level (the thing that indicates how jaundiced a baby is). So they pricked her heel for a blood sample and told me her level was at a 17; elevated, but under the level where they would need to hospitalize her to receive phototherapy treatment – a.k.a. bili-lights. They suggested I return with her the next day for another test. The next day was Tuesday, March 13th, and we marched ourselves over to the doctor’s office where Little Bit weighed in at 7lbs, 6ozs. They pricked her heel again (poor thing) and said that her level was at a 15; again, still slightly elevated but not to where she’d need to receive therapy. The nurse practitioner we saw that day said that they’d like to test her one more time and for us to come back on Friday. Friday was March 16th, and Little Bit weighed in at 7lbs 10ozs! When the nurse practitioner saw here she said, “Oh! She looks great! Her color is good. She’s had a great weight gain! I don’t see any yellow in her skin and the whites of her eyes are clear!” I asked her if we absolutely had to subject Little Bit to another round of heel-pricking and she said, “Well, I usually test until the bilirubin level is at 14 or below – but I’m going to break my own rule and not test her again. She looks fine! Congratulations on a healthy baby!” Well – relief to me. Since then, she’s been eating like a pig and I’m sure gaining weight steadily – though until her next appointment (Tuesday, April 10th) I won’t really know how much she’s actually gained. Since Little Bit is breastfeeding every two hours or less, sleep (at least sleep for any length of time) is a thing of the past. And, since Kiddo has regressed a bit, he’s not sleeping through the night either. Needless to say, we’re all walking zombies. I’m spending all my time keeping up with the laundry and dishes, as well as corralling Kiddo and feeding Little Bit. It’s all I can do to keep up with the big, never ending chores – to he** with the rest of the house. I’m supposed to go back to work on April 18th and even though I’m exhausted and constantly busy, I’d give just about anything to be able to stay home and raise my kids instead of going back to the working world. Things really are good, though – even though things are never done, the baby is always spitting up and I never have enough burp-rags at hand, Big Brother has decided that his ears don’t connect with his brain and therefore doesn’t do anything you tell him unless you tell him a thousand times and we’re all exhausted. I wouldn’t trade this for the world. Hope all is well. I will be uploading some pictures to the Kodak Gallery site (you’ll all get an e-mail) sometime very soon. TTFN JMS