I've tasted it all....

When I saw this weeks topic I almost fell out of my chair in fits of laughter (thank God for arm rests!). My mind immediately began throwing out ideas at the speed of light of all the things parents would be able to hand out!


I knew my list would be slightly less interesting as I am a very I try to be organized!

As mothers we quickly learn that EVERYTHING must be tasted by our littles. Apparently one cannot truly know an object unless it has been in ones mouth.

I think every one of my sons stuffed animals have been in my mouth at one point. He has shoved countless cars, blocks, and bath toys in between my tightly pursed lips. His laughter as he wins this game is beyond heart pleasing.

If he is unsure of the taste of anything, Mommy is the expert. This has led to many mid-dinner discussion gags. This is what happens when little is sitting in their stool eating as you and Papa are deep in discussion. In true little fashion they need your attention now and are asking that you taste something. Not wanting to loose your conversation you lean slightly and open your mouth for them to insert the necessary object. You are quickly aware that this is not only a combination of the foods given to said little but it is nicely sauced in their saliva because well how else could you properly taste unless you were tasting EXACTLY what had been in their mouth!

Two other things I never imagined in my mouth but made it before was toes and bum! There is nothing like a babies toes! Kisses are necessary! A toddler as well thinks it perfectly acceptable that you must kiss away the boo-boo on his toes as well as on his arm! Secondly irresistible is a new born bum! It is perfectly acceptable to need to give it a kiss or two in the first week!

However with this all, there is one story that comes to mind. It is my best and most memorable pre-parenting lesson. This is something I had to learn the albeit stupid but hard way.

Just over a year before I got married, my youngest brother was born (yes we are 18 years apart in age!). I was in love from day one of course and spent every second I got with him making sure he was laughing!

One lovely summer afternoon when he was about 6 months old, I got the joys of playing with him!

Bouncing was the game of the day! Sit on sissies lap and bounce. Bounce. Bounce.

The laughter flowed out of him like waters from a mountain side waterfall. It was ceaseless. His face lit up!

Bounce. Bounce. Bounce.

Dad comes around to tell me that little had just had a bottle about half an hour ago.

Silly teenage girl thought ‘that’s 30 whole minuets! What does that have to do with me now?’

Bounce. Laugh. Bounce. Laugh. Bounce. Laugh. Laugh!

Silence. Weird face.

Just as I opened my mouth to call out for my dad in fear I’d broke the baby, it came.

It was hot. It was sour. It was….milk.

Straight from littles mouth into mine!

30 minutes!! Why didn’t my dad just tell me this could happen!?!?

Dad laughs. The family laughs. Little laughs.

I drink 2 cans of coke, brush my teeth, and still remember the taste today!

This and many more amazing topics found on Theme Thursdays!




Shana

Week 37

I can not believe I'm posting week 37! These last couples of weeks are dragging on and on for eternity but when I look back on the whole scheme of things, well this pregnancy has flown by!
At this point I am desperatly regretting the decision to work so far into my pregnancy. I would love to be at home right now. Everyday by noon I can barely keep my eyes open and am worried about not having rested at all before LJ is born.
I really can't imagine that within the next 3 weeks I will be holding my second little blessing from God and that my Lil Mister will be a big brother (I'm scared to death!). But all will fall into place and as we settle into our new home, I'm excited and ready to take this next step as a family!

Total Weight Gain: 61kg (+17 kg)

This week, Baby is: ????

How far along? 37 weeks, 4 days (Kind of…so we think…guestimate…)

Due date: 6-18 Dec 2012 :-/

Total weight gain/loss: I lost 2kg of my hard earned weight. I am not happy about this. BUT I do remember loosing weight right before I went into labor with Liam as well.

Maternity clothes?  Ah heck...I only have a week and a half left at work then I can wear sweats at home all day! I figure I've made it this far...I'm holding out camp!

Sleep: ZERO....I have forgotten what this is! The contractions wake me up every night and by the time I get back to sleep Lil Mister wakes up!

Best moment this week: Moving into our new place! It is a bitter sweet move because I already miss seeing Ma everyday but I'm glad to be our little family again!

Food cravings: Not actually. I'd eat cereal all day though! (I never knew I could get Fruit Loops in South Africa!!)

Movement: Very VERY low! It feels like he is clawing his way out!

Symptoms: I have a chest infection...but that really isn't pregnancy related! It just needs to go away or I'm going to cough the baby out!

Labor Signs: Contractions are RIDICULOUS! OMW...I can really remember how labor was now!

Stretch Marks: nope and we’re working hard to keep it that way!

Swelling? Gone down tremedously!

Belly Button in or out? It is most definitely out!

What I miss: still breathing! haha

Feeling toward Pregnancy: Excited and ready to be done!

What I am looking forward to: knowing I'm never going to have children again! I love my boys, both of them already, and wouldn't trade them for the world. But I've got the whole been there done that attitude towards pregnancy now and have no desires to relive it a 3rd time!

Milestones: Nothing so much unless you count the Braxtons coming from my back now as a milestone! ;-)

News: Did you read that one about Brittany Spears admitting she shaved her head whenever ago because of fearing she'd fail a drug test?...oh not that news okay yea there is nothing news-y about the pregnancy right now!

Shana

The Sauce of Bad Habits part 3

Disclaimer: Please take a moment now and vacate the premises of my parenting kitchen if you are in anyway allergic to obscure parenting thoughts, bullshit, venting, or overall fed-upness. (And yes that is my new word!) No children were harmed physically, mentally, or emotionally in the process of this parenting kitchen experiment!

If you're only joining me now....check out part 1 and part 2!! It's a great sequence...you know 1..2..3...you get the picture!

Step 3) Thicken your liquid and spice mix to create gravy like consistency…

This liquid will make it so you need to thicken the sauce. Your thickening agent is a DIRECT result of your liquid. Therefore, we add to the removal of teats the concept of potty training!

I CANNOT and WILL NOT have two children in nappies 24/7! Call me lazy but I was one of those moms that a second child was a far future thought process. So God hit me with the book on this pregnancy! I am so excited and grateful as Lil Mister will have a brother and friend for life. However…

Two in nappies is not part of my vocabulary and not a concept I am keen to have a blog about!

Yet, as long as Lil Mister keeps drinking from that dang teat all night, I can’t get him out of nappies at night! If you’ve been following the last couple of weeks you will surely have read about the preparations for potty training here or here.

This thickening agent needs time to simmer. Once added to the pot of bad habits it will take over every thing else! You will forget you have a bitter spice of co-sleeping or a liquid of teats about to boil over. You’re main focus will be getting that wee into a potty and rewarding for doing so!

I’m prepared mentally for the simmer process. Lil Mister is progressing well at home with potty and seems to be making a new friend in the implement!

I am not prepared to still be getting up twice a night to change bedtime nappies! I know…I know! I must be patience but that bank account is almost empty! (See part 2)

The poo in the potty and the dry nights take a while longer….but it will NEVER happen if I keep giving him a teat.

You won’t get a sauce thick no matter how long you wait if you keep adding water to it! Cooking 101!

So I have to hit my Lil Mister with a double whammy. I have to take away the teat all together…..stop adding water to the mix!


Step 4) Add your ump….some chili

The only problem is that bitter spice, liquid, and thickening isn’t going to get you a beautiful sauce. You need to add something that will give it ump. You want to add flavor to a sauce. You want it to leave a nice feeling in your mouth. So we add some ass burning tantrums!!

Oh yea, imagine a sauce filled with Habanera Chili’s and jalapeño peppers. You won’t forget that too soon will you! Nope!

A tantrum is like a chili. Some degree of tantrum is an important developmental milestone for most children actually. It gives child and parents the time and circumstances to learn how to work through and communicate through unsettling situations.

It gives flavor all right….one that keeps on giving!

Lil Mister is at a difficult stage in development. And now cruel mommy refuses to lie with him every night, has taken away his teats…AND is making him sit on some weird contrapment and do his business!

Frustration is not the word. Verbal skills have not quite developed to the point of expressing anxiety towards the potty works or annoyance at the loss of his friend teat-tea. Therefore, we act out in the form of hitting, screaming, and running away. Tears flow like the Nile River and words escape that cause me to glare at Hubby Dearest in a menacing way!

This is where your sauce can become a huge, GINORMOUS mess. Like all chili’s you must only allow the exact right amount to be added. If it goes too far, it will result in you having to add more liquid. (You’ll give in and give him the teat to get some peace.) This liquid will mean more thickening. (More accidents and therefore more nappies at night!)

This process will leave your sauce bland and mean that you MUST add more bitter spice. (You’ll be so exhausted you won’t have the energy to fight the sleep and will end up sleeping the whole night in child’s bed or more detrimental….child will sleep in yours!)

All of which lead you right back to the beginning of this whole process…..

Join me next week for the last part in our Sauce of Bad Habits series!

Shana

A Quickie

Oh that's right...
No Not THAT...
JEEZE get your heads out of the gutters!

It's been a busy weekend and I'm sick as a dog. (I don't really understand that statement!)
I have a lung infection...I'm 37 1/2 weeks pregnant...still working 10 hours a day (except today my boss sent me home!)
AND....

WE MOVED!! Oh yea...this will deserve a post all on it's own and I promise I will get one up asap!

I just thought I'd say take some time...peak around the archives!
Know I haven't left all of you just yet.
LJ is still refusing to make an appearance.
AND....

We are FINALLY on our own again! hehe

Despite coughing up chunks of my lungs...I'm giddy! ;-)

Shana

Top Mommy Tips

One thing every new parent realizes very early on is that everyone will have an opinion about raising children or a piece of advice to give. I wish I could limit this to saying all other parents but no even people without children will bombard a new parent with their views and ideals.


Unfortunately, you’re given so much advice most of it gets lost in the euphoria of the ever approaching due date. After baby makes their big arrival the advice will continue to roll and get pushed aside to only be retrieved at that detrimental moment where you’ve tried every solution that you can come up with on your own!

As LJ’s due date approaches ever so quickly, I thought I’d piece together some of the best advice I’ve received since becoming pregnant with Lil Mister almost 3 years ago!

1) Have necessary medication on hand before baby is ever sick! No this doesn’t mean antibiotics and such prescriptions, but rather over the counter handy things. Before Lil Mister was born I was stocked with Panado, some Gripe Water and Milk of Magnesia, supplements for teething, rehydrant for if his tummy was runny and even suppositories. I had Detol and Savlon for cleaning the ouchies and plenty of earbuds and cotton wool. It seemed extreme but sure enough the first time Lil Mister got a fever it was in the middle of the night when everything was closed! I never was so thankful for such advice!

2) Give his bum air and cover! I’ve managed to only get wee’d on a handful of times. Of those few times only once was while changing a nappy (the rest was my silliness of letting him roam without anything on his bum!) I was told to undue the nappy, open it and then cover him over with it. I didn’t have to redo it but letting some air in is what would make him wee and covering him back prevented the Hollywood picture of the wee streaming upwards to me!

3) Sleep when he sleeps! I know this seems almost impossible with a newborn because the moment they sleep you can finally do a load of laundry, clean bottles, bath, or just have a cup of coffee! But…all of that can actually wait. You WILL learn to do this stuff with baby there as well! In the beginning, sleep any opportunity you get because no body, not even baby, enjoys a cranky mom and there will be lots of sleepless nights!

4) There’s no such thing as over prepared! Thinking of running to the grocery store just for milk so baby doesn’t need extra nappy, clothes, ect….WRONG! That one time you leave the house with nothing will be when baby gets a poo-splosion! Check out First Time Mom to learn about an emergency diaper kit. It is a great idea for those quick trips out of the house and keeps you from carting that huge nappy bag around! I cannot stress enough…ALWAYS BE PREPARED!

5) It’s never okay to let yourself go. Don’t all attack me at once! By no means do I think you have to be dressed to hit the runway with hair and makeup perfect all day everyday. It is unrealistic! However, even though you’re at home, you are going to feel SO much better if you just get yourself together. A quick shower is all it takes! Save the shaving and pampering for a night when Daddy can look after baby. But do something with your hair. If you want a pony that is fine, but at least do it right! Get yourself cleaned, teeth brushed, and showered. You will feel better if you feel good about yourself! MAKE TIME FOR YOU! Explain to Daddy that you need just one night to go take a bath, relax, SHAVE ;-), primp and pamper! He will be thankful too! Go get your hair done every now and then. Eat good and fit in some exercise! It all seems like so much but I PROMISE you’ll be glad you did it!

6) Just stop doing. As a new parent, especially moms, we find that there is so much to do! All the time. I wish I could say that goes away, but it doesn’t. As LJ approaches and Lil Mister grows ever bigger, I find there is more and more. Laundry gets more, dishes are more, the house is bigger, and the yard needs done. There’s bottles, and toys. There’s dinner and lunches. However, there is a child that needs played with! I still have to remind myself, that 30 minutes after Lil Mister is in bed is MORE than enough time to clean the kitchen because I can do it in peace. He isn’t going to remember Mommy didn’t do dishes before he was asleep. What he will remember is that I played cars on the dining room floor and loved EVERY second of it! He will remember I spent time with him and focused just on him!

7) Make your house baby safe not baby proof! Yes, the oven needs to not be able to be opened! But all the kitchen cupboards locked closed? Where’s the fun? Where’s the exploration? I got told move things high that baby can’t have and leave your Tupperware where he can climb into! Yea, I have literally spent hours over the last 2 years repacking those cupboards but he loves it! And he can’t get hurt. (okay once he got the sprinkles open and was on a major sugar rush but that too was fun in a way!) Tall bookshelves must be attached to the walls but instead of always rushing baby away from them, put books they can play with at their level. Dedicate a shelf to toys for them to explore! Don’t shut your house up. Just put up locking screen doors. You’re baby learns by exploring their environment. I hid toys and things inside my TV cabinet and rather put the wires away on a closet shelf! I put Lil Misters bottles at the bottom of the fridge and all the breakables at the top. Lil Mister has learnt independence and boundaries!

8) Keep your camera available and charged! You won’t get baby to do it twice! Don’t glue the thing to yourself but keep it somewhere central where you can grab it in an instant. You can never have too many photos! You’ll love that you captured that moment and cherish all the photos in between!

9) Don’t loose sight of who you are! You aren’t just a mom now! You’re still a wife, finance, girlfriend or whatever. You’re still that DIY crafter, musician, or intellectual. You are still you! There are boundaries….the girls who are in the club 5 nights a week after baby is born…personally I find it crossing the line. But if you are a social person, then make some time to socialize! Get together with girlfriends and have some alone time! If you love your job as an accountant, then go back to work! We all make sacrifices and you must decide which ones are worth it and which ones aren’t but always keep yourself. If you liked doing your makeup and wearing heels before baby, then do it! Make it work! Make it you! You’re adding a new title but not taking away yourself!

10) The last tip I was given about being a new mom is probably the best! Listen to your own intuition! All of this that I’ve given you as well as what others will tell you is advice. Strictly that. There is no set right or wrong necessarily and you must travel your own path. Yes, we’ve been there and experienced a lot of the same things but our children, husbands, and families are different! We can’t tell you what choices you must make. We can only be there to support you and cry with you during the trials and rejoice during the victories! Trust yourself and do what you think is best and right for you and your child! If it doesn’t work stop and find a new path! Never be scared to admit you made a mistake. This parenting thing doesn’t come with a handbook, but then again the child part doesn’t either!

Friday Check back

Well another week has come and gone and in true fashion for my family it has been far from boring!

I don't talk alot about personal things on here but I have to take a moment and...
PRAISE GOD!
Hubby Dearest got a new job today! He has been working this whole time but we wanted him out of the emergency service industry where he can work set hours and just be at home when he is at home! Sure enough he went for an interview on Tuesday and they offered him the job today! I'm am so thankful at the moment for this!
ALSO!! We are moving!! YAY!!! You'll hear a lot in the upcoming weeks about my frantic attempt to get everything settled with LJ just around the corner and still working full time...but then what would Organized Chaos be without a little bit of, well, chaos!?!? My work has helped us find a 2 bedroom house that is reasonable. I am so blessed to have such a caring boss and his family to be such wonderful friends in God! I truly love them all! I can not express my gratitude to him and his family!

So if all goes well and I can finalize everything today, then we'll move over the weekend! Again to be on our own! I will miss being in the same house as everyone and the early morning teas with Ma, but we need to be our own little family now and prepare for LJ! I am beyond excited!

In other news, potty training is a big hit in our house! Lil Mister seems to have taken quite a liking to it! I've also been busy preparing for a new me. I have a lot coming up after LJ is born between work and getting back into training and I'm excited to share the ups and downs of it all with all of you!! I know you're excited too! We're still busy working on that dang sauce of ours! But it looks like we're fighting an uphill battle! I hope you join in next Wednesday to hear more juicy ingrediants!

You should really take a look over >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>here! And here! And HERE!
Otherwise just check out the buttons on the side over there>>> to see some awesome hops going on this past week!!

Enjoy your weekend!
Shana

Vacation Disaster

I laughed when I read this week’s topic! How strange it seemed to me. Here’s the thing. You’re going to be shocked at what I have to tell you. You won’t believe you’re reading this correctly. I am a person who LOVES to travel. I dream incessantly about traveling the world. I fell in love with Julia Roberts in Eat.Pray.Love and would drop everything to take my family on such a trip!

However, I’ve never been on vacation!

That’s right. I said it! NEVER! Okay, when I was little we took a few trips to see my family in Georgia and I spent weeks every summer riding around in my dad’s semi as we traveled across the states. But these weren’t vacations really! As I got older, I planned my trip, but then ended up moving here instead and got married! So that definitely can’t fall under the disaster category!

Instead though I will tell you about the most memorable trip I have with my dad in the semi! This particular trip will be a story I tell my grand children. It constantly reminds me of what it was like the first time I experienced a life so vastly different from my own!

When in the trucking business there are times in which involve a lot…I mean a ridiculous unimaginable amount of time sitting around and…waiting. You drop a load and travel to a truck stop and wait for your next load. There are times where you receive you next load before you’ve even dropped the one you’re carrying but other times you just sit!

This particular day was a sitting day! Luckily joining us at the stop was Jeff, Scott, and another driver I’d never met. Truckers develop a keen friendship with each other and my dad was always good at maintaining these friendships. Jeff, Scott and my dad drove together a lot and always had a great time!

We all piled into my favorite truck stop, Gateway, in St. Louis. We ate breakfast, checked about a load, mused over the stores, and proceeded to the arcade! Further proving my point that boys don’t really grow up!
After 3 hours of gaming, we ate lunch and checked about loads again. Still….NOTHING! Now my little 8 year old self can only stay busy so long. The men decide a nap is in order for the after noon because if we do get loads now it will be a long drive!

Killing hours on end in a truck stop is only so entertaining and for the guys who do it on a daily basis, each stop begins to be the same!

After about an hour of rest, we get the call! This was before cell phones were really popular so we all rush into the building and hit a pay phone! I remember prancing anxiously as I built up excitement towards hitting the open road again!

We get our load details and the men plot the route. One problem….the dispatch must have made a mistake. The town isn’t even on the map. Spelling must have been wrong!

Phone again. Nope that is the town. It is on the map we must just check closer. Soon enough we find the little dot. It’s there and we’ve never heard of it!

But we’re ready to go! So we pile in and hit the road.

5 hours later we see a sign. This is suppose to be it but wait….there is NOTHING! I’m not joking. The old saying ‘a one horse town.’ This was it. This is what all the stories are based on. At the very bottom of Tennessee, is a one street town.

We drove straight through it looking for the town. We turn around. Nothing like seeing 4 18-wheelers driving up and down a mile strip!

We stop. I  need to use the bathroom. And I’m hungry.

We ask a local police officer who is parked in the parking lot across from us where we can get a bank. He points at the local grocery store.

That local police officer was the ONLY officer. Yea it was that small of a town! Not even a deputy!

This ‘grocery store’ wasn’t much bigger than your average McDonalds. The bank was inside and it also operated as the gas station!

After walking around looking ridiculous (and probably what felt like agonizing hours of complaining from me!) we asked the only employee in the store where we can find an atm.

She stared at us as if we were aliens and then proceeded in her very movie like southern accent to ask “Is that one them machines what you put money in and it give you a card?”

Stunned my dad finally informs her it is the other way and that you put a card in and you get money.

Her response you ask…well…

“No we ain’t got nothing that fancy ‘round here. Hey, yall must be from New York or something!”

And this is where my trip went very sour. Between 5 of us we managed to get $20 out of the trucks in change! Hardly enough to eat dinner on. Even better was that we only off loaded in the morning! And there wasn’t a restaurant or a place in sight with a public bathroom. Where’s the southern hospitality?

Needless to say we made it through the night, although I’m pretty sure I thought I was dying! We left in such a hurry the next morning and never looked back! I’ve never seen my dad drive so fast to a truck stop! Breakfast never tasted so wonderful!

This topic came from Theme Thursdays!!

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Shana

Week 36...counting down

I'm still working until December 10. But a countdown has officially started! I'm ready to meet our new addition and to be honest I'm over the pregnancy! :-/ Sadly, I've unpacked my hospital bags! :-0 I know right??!! But it is because I decided I needed to make sure EVERYTHING had been washed and ironed before LJ's arrival. So now we battle to put it all back together haha

Total Weight Gain: 63kg (+17 kg)

This week, Baby is: 2.8 kg

How far along? 36 weeks, 4 days (Kind of…so we think…guestimate…)

Due date: 6-18 Dec 2012 :-/

Total weight gain/loss: +1 kg

Maternity clothes? I got a great present in the form of vouchers at my baby shower! Hehe So I used it for some baby stuff but bought some nice black shorts (to the knee kind) that I can wear now and after and a black tube top maxi dress!! I love them! They are both great for afterwards too! Still not in the maternity section though…so it doesn’t count ;-)

Sleep: Non existent…period

Best moment this week: In the past 7 days…having a surprise baby shower!! ;-)

Food cravings: Salad and FISH…oh my word I’m begging Hubby Dearest to go fishing and bring home some bass I can bake or catfish to fry up!

Movement: So so busy especially at night!!

Symptoms: I have this weird pain in my upper legs….and back…going to have a lot of back labor!

Labor Signs: Braxton’s are coming at regular times each day.

Stretch Marks: nope and we’re working hard to keep it that way!

Swelling? It’s getting very bad in the evenings. I think I sit too much at work!!

Belly Button in or out? It is most definitely out!

What I miss: Being able to breath!!

Feeling toward Pregnancy: anxious…I guess I’m getting to the end right?!?

What I am looking forward to: Soaking up some summer sun with Lil Mister and LJ.

Milestones: I’ve packed!! Okay there are a few last minute things I need to throw in but yea…I’ve packed! Yay!!

News: There really isn’t much news….other than the weather which is that someone opened a window to hell and forgot to turn on our aircons!!

The LISTS are back this week because I got so much stuff at the shower!!

GENERAL NEEDS

 4-6 Tommy Tippee bottles
 Dummy
 Toweling nappies
 Hats
 Bibs
 Socks
 Stage 2 diapers
 Stage 3 diapers
 Wet wipes
 Breast pads
 Aqueous cream
 Baby powder
 Baby oil
 Bum cream
 New monitors
 Nipple cream
 Face cloths
 Pharmacy stock (Panado, tissue salts, boscopan, telements colic drops, gripe water, milk of magnesia, ear buds, cotton wool, )


****Things I’d like to have*****

 New breast pump
 Stoppers
 Microwave sterilizer
 2x more blankets
 2x more receiving blankets
 New nappy bag
 2x new towels


0-3 MONTHS
 Coming Home Outfit
 2x summer jammies

3-6 MONTHS (this is where I gave a lot of Liams stuff away!)
 12x vests (4 long sleeves) (I got 2!!)
 4x cotton pants (with feet)
 2x summer jammies
 4-6x T-shirts
 3-5x Rompers
 3-5x Onesies
6-12 MONTHS (this is a season change from winter to summer for us! 3 months in each season)
 2x Winter jammies
 3x summer jammies
 2x jackets
 4x cotton pants
 3x shorts
 2x long sleeves
 6x short sleeves
 12x vests
 2x Rompers


Shana