Fountain Fun

I finally found some rubber bands to put in peanuts hair to make pig tails. She LOVES them. She has to really pull to get them out so they stay in most of the time.

Things have been going pretty well around the house. We are ready to move on to the next phase of the kitchen and decide which tile we are actually going to install for the backsplash. Who knows if/when we will make a decision, but we are really loving our new floors right now.

I have started riding my bike regularly. I can now say that I am on an exercise program again. I have lost about 30 pounds, but still have about 15 -20 that I would like to take off. I hope to lose about 10 pounds before I go back to work so all of my clothes will fit just a little better. I think the last little bit will be hard to remove, but I think I will be able to get at least most of this baby weight off before I go back to work. It is funny to ride my bike and kick my belly.

We visited the new park down by the river today. I don't know what it is called, but it is fun. There are a lot of little tunnels and things to climb through, and there is a fountain to play in. Guess where we spent most of our time? Mom and Dad went with us. Peanut was a little timid at first. She didn't want to get her clothes wet, but Papa was with her and walked through it a couple of times before she went crazy. She had so much fun.

Next time we are bringing out swimsuits. Peanut couldn't get over that her clothes were wet. I would ask her if she wanted to leave, but she didn't. She just wanted to run naked through the fountain. I can understand that, but since no one else was running naked, I thought it might be a little too white trash.

Baby P is really into what is around him. He is starting to swat at the little toys at his play gym. He lays under it while I am cooking. He stares at it a little, but mostly he just watches me cook. I took this picture of him when he was staring the mobile on his swing. The mobile wasn't running. It almost looks like he is willing it to run.

Tick Tick Tick

The summer is upon us. It is that time of year when people who need to relocate do. It is a fact of life that I have always dealt with. I feel sad about it, but that is the way it goes.

or at least I thought

Until my friends started having kids.

Having kids has changed my whole outlook of friends moving away. It is no longer a friend moving, but rather part of my community and my support network. It is hard to say goodbye to my friends, but it is not getting to see their children grow that hurts the most. I don't think it is so much that I miss the kids; rather, I think it hits home how the distance really does matter. It seems like these days we can stay connected and caught up on one another's lives, but it really is different than actually being there.

A couple of weeks ago, my friend moved away. Her daughter was born 2 days after my daughter. We were pregnant together. I went and saw her in her birthing room as I was leaving the hospital. I spent most of my maternity leave at her house. It was hard to say good bye to her because it may very well be the last time that I see her. They don't have much reason to come back to Arkansas, and I don't know that I will ever be visiting Allentown. Raising children together really brought us together where I don't know that we would have ever become as close as we did had our children not been similar ages.

I have another friend that is about to move and another friend that might move. They all have kids about peanut's age. It's sad because their little ones are so sweet, and peanut adores them. I guess I will need to keep a stiff upper lip, but it makes me so sad.

6 - weeks

Yesterday Baby P turned 6 weeks old. I am now halfway through my maternity leave (where did it go).

I went to my post-partum checkup and everything is fine with me. There is one little issue that I might need to see a specialist on, but I am hoping beyond hopes that it is something that will eventually resolve itself. I rode my bike this morning for the first time. It was a lot of fun and tiring. I had to stop twice going up the big hill near my house, but that is okay. I just had a baby!

Baby P's doctor is in the same building as mine so I ran him down to weigh him. He weighs 13 lbs and 2.4 oz. I wasn't terribly surprised as he has been gaining about .75 lbs a week. What really surprised me is that he was 24.5 inches long. That means, if they measured correctly, that he has grown 3 inches in six weeks. YIKES!

I put away his 0-3 month clothes this morning. It was a little ridiculous because they really didn't fit him anymore, but I kept on trying. I am very cheap, so the thought of not getting all the use out of them that I possibly could kinda tears me up. On the flip side, I wasn't really utilizing the 3-6 month clothes that actually fit him. I was surprisingly really sad to put away the clothes. I keep thinking, this is the last time we will have a little baby like this. It is so sad because my babies have both been so sweet at this age. BUT, we wouldn't want to push our luck.

Baby P has a cold. Peanut and I are both getting over colds, and i think the poor little fellow has it now. He has slept all day long. I can hear him breath snot into his nose. It is so thick though, that I can't get at it with the bulb. Poor baby.

He has been sleeping pretty well lately. He will give us any where between 4 and 7 hours of sleep in one stretch a night. You can't complain about that. I think he is going through a growth spurt because has been marathon nursing in the evening. he will nurse for about 2 hours before he goes to sleep. I know he is getting milk, because he spits it up at me. It might also been that he is comfort nursing because he hasn't been feeling well. Who knows. All I know is that I would like to lay him down to sleep, but it is hard when his eyes are wide open.

NEW FLOOR

I am very happy with the new floor I think it is so beautiful.

Listings

here is the start of my eBay empire.

CUTE! 3-6 month girl's clothes

CUTE!! Three Carter's Onesie Dresses

CUTE! Outfits 6-9 month girl

Four Girl's Sleepers - 3-6 month

Girls 18 Month Name Brand Dresses - Lot of 7

Pretty Soon

Hopefully, this will be the last day we have WONDERBOARD as our flooring. Hopefully, tomorrow we will have a nice slate floor with radiant heating under it. HOPEFULLY.

in the mean time, here are some cute pics.

I remember peanut smiling at the star when she was a wee one. He loves this little gym too. His smile is because the star is lighting up and changing music.

I have started some sleep training. I want him to be able to fall asleep on his own. It will be much easier on him, me and the daycare workers when the time comes. I had him on the paci this morning, but he wouldn't take it again this afternoon. Oh well. It might be saving me in the long run.

Building a Small Empire

I am working on my eBay empire. This week will be the eBay week with Mr. T. putting at least one bike up for sale and me selling off peanut's old clothes. Peanut has a lot of cute clothes that need a new home (i.e. not in my kids storage area anymore). We have second hand sales here that I might sale some stuff in, but it is pretty difficult with all the entering and tagging and ironing and dealing with checking it in. I also want to have a yard sale sometime at the end of the summer, so I might try to flog off some of the little things like onesies that need a home too.

It was a busy week this week with us being gone for two days. Friday was spent doing errands and Saturday was spent trying to keep peanut's feet on the move because Mr. T. was working. I am almost manic about keeping her running when I pick her up from daycare. She is so energetic these days that she really needs something to focus on or she will slowly tear the house apart. I get pretty grumpy when I put something away only to find it sprawled across the floor again when I turn around. She is pretty good about playing by herself, but you can't really ask her to do that too much.

I think something has started blooming because my allergies have been bothering me. I took it easy around the house today, which was nice. Mr. T. was home, so we were able to get some things done. Mr. T. has been working the last two Saturdays. I am ready to have him to ourselves for a while.

I think we settled on a tile. HURRAY. I am going to call on Monday and order it. I am really excited about it. It is a gray Brazilian slate. It is going to look so good. I am pretty sure on what I want for a backsplash, so now it is just paint colors we need to worry about. I want to have a majority of the house painted before I go back to work and things really start getting busy.

Here is a picture of Baby Riley, one of Baby P's friends. He was born 3 weeks after Will. His family lives close so they will be in the same grade at the same school. Poor little Lindley, better watch out because she is going to have these burley boys to keep in line.

Baby P has been doing really well. He has about two fairly long (3 hour) periods of wakefulness a day. He likes to look around and eat during those times. He also likes smiling at his sister, which works out well because she is always in his face. I need to get a picture of them playing together under the gym. She shows him things, and he stares at her face. It keeps them both occupied and quiet, which is nice. He is getting pretty good at holding up his head, which is a feat in itself considering how big his head is. He is a sweet boy though, much like his sister at this age.

That house in Yellville

I took the kids up for a mid week visit to Yellville. Mostly I wanted to just go to the river. Unfortunately, I chose the day that it actually is cool, even down here. Peanut enjoyed the water. When we got into the water it was 73 degrees, and when we got out it was 93 degrees. I think we had been there for maybe 1.5 hours. Right now is a hard time for us to be in the sun too long because our littlest fellow has a hard time.

It is always weird going to Yellville. It feels like the whole place is full of ghosts. Not just the ghost of my brother, but the ghosts of friends that have passed on and visions of my former self. I don't know if it is because I am from a small town or because of the people I knew, but it seems like I know a lot of people that have died. Most of the deaths have been either drug or alcohol related.

It scares me to drive on those roads because so many people have died on them, and you know it only takes one asshole. It seems like the people driving the other way are flying. And those that are driving in my lane look like the truck below. You can't see it too well, but one of those logs looks like it is about to fall off. All sorts of bark and stuff was flying off and hitting the car.

And just to let you know that I wasn't exaggerating when I said that he drove really slow, I took a picture of the speedometer. He drove this slow for about 20 miles. It was awful. I almost stalled out in second gear.

AND, some little guy rolled over TWICE this weekend. Now mind you, he was on an incline, so I don't think we can count this one. He did move arm in leg, I saw him doing it again after he rolled the first time. He just cracks me up. Today he was grinning at his sister. He loves to watch her.

The Gunk is Gone

Uncle Dunc was in town this week hanging out with us. Unfortunately, Mr. T. was really sick for about 4 days of the visit. If Mr. T. stays home from work, then you know that he is really ill.

After the concert on Tuesday, we pretty much just veged and shopped. The prices in Australia are a lot higher than here. He was able to find some really good deals on wool and cashmere pants and jeans of all sorts of colors. Neither one of us are big shoppers so we just hit the highlights of in the shops.

Peanut was smitten with her Uncle Dunc, even if she didn't always show it. She called him Uncle Billy the whole time he was here. She wanted him to go the pool with us every day and wanted to know what he was doing all the time. If he was sleeping, she would try to go downstairs to wake him up. When he left she said "I want to go home with you". He told her she couldn't because her mom would miss her (good save).

It was really nice to get to spend some time with Dunc. I got to spend a lot of time with him which was nice because i haven't done that before. It was good to get to know him. Just like the rest of Mr. T.'s family, he is super easy to be around and a great house guest. I looked out with that one.

Peanut is back to being a real pill. I guess she is just two. SHE IS SO BOSSY. Oh my Gosh. It makes me want to pull my hair out because now I live with TWO BOSSY people. She told me the other day "momma, put baby p on the blanket NOW". Can you believe that?

She also thinks she has to do everything I do. I had just pumped some breast milk in my room. She threw herself against the door "Momma I have to PUMP". When I told her she didn't need to pump, she lost it. She screamed at me "MOMMA I HAVE TO PUMP".

Love Letter to a One Month Old

Dear Pumpkin,

What a special treat to get to be your mom. People say that you don't get two good babies, but they are wrong. You are a wonderful baby who is happy and easy to be around.

Not to state the obvious, but things have changed around here since your arrival. It hasn't been as dramatic as I thought it would be though. You do like a cuddle and will fuss a bit until you get it. You are also very into nursing, which is understandable for a boy that is packing on the pounds like you.

You also enjoy sitting in your swing and looking out the window. You love the outside. When I have something to do outside, I set you up in a bouncy swing and you just look around at the trees and the screaming banshee that is your sister.

Your sister loves you dearly. She loves you so much that it makes your father and I very nervous. Your screams when she sees that you are awake. I have to pull stuffed animals or other toys off you about once a day. Recently we set up your gym and she loves to play with it demanding that I lay you down in it with her. It is a little difficult because there is so much energy in your sister that when it is directed at you, I get really nervous. She means well, and it is nice that you get so much attention. For someone who likes to observe, you get a lot to observe with her around.

I have grown accustomed to the constant vomit on me. But thankfully, the days of stripping the bed every other day is over. No more weird fluids coming from me and the fluids from you can mostly be contained in your diaper now that you are getting older. We mostly just worry about you vomiting on me and the bed (and the floor and the couch and....) It almost makes me think, I could have another kid. But then I think about being pregnant and change my mind.

So I am smitten and so are other people that spend any amount of time with you. You are so easy to love with your sweet smell and easy going ways. Your smile is beautiful, and I can't wait to see it more and more. You are very chatty. You grunt and make other noises. You make the sweetest noise after you latch on or when you are finished eating. It is the deepest and happiest most content sigh. It warms my heart and makes me smile. I am so glad you are here, and I can't wait to get you know you better. You are my sweet sweet little boy.

I love you,

Mum

All Smiles

He has been smiling for the last week. I see a smile but then I wonder if it really is a smile or if it is gas. A couple of times I have been sure it was a smile only to have him vomit on me. So now I have pictures and if this doesn't melt your heart your are probably dead.

Seeing a smile this early feels really good. With all the talk these days of kids having some sort of social problem or another, I am really glad to hit this milestone so early. (sorry for the weird angle, but i was trying to get him to smile while just clicking away on the camera.)

He is so cute and sweet. When he is concentrating on something his little brow furrows up and this little spot in the middle of his head goes flat. When i started taking pictures, that is what i was trying to get a picture of.

Okay. Enough senseless babbling about how cute my kid is. (but he really is cute. i could just eat him up)

4-weeks

Baby P is starting his weird looking baby phase. I think it will be short lived, but right now it looks like I am carry around a miniature George Castanza. He has a little bit of acne and his skin looks a little red compared the white patch around where his hair line used to be. He is losing his baby skin as well so he looks all sorts of weird right now. His eye is still a little gooey as well. It is okay though. He vomits on himself a couple of times of day so I doubt he really cares too much.

We went and weighed the big fella today. He weighs 11 lbs and 9.5 oz. He is also growing out of his 0 to 3 month clothes. It sucks because I was hoping to avoid buying too many 6 to 9 month summer clothes, but it looks like I am going to need them anyway. I also think that I am going to have to adjust his car seat soon. When I put him in it tonight, I noticed that his shoulders were even with the next setting. I can't wait to move him because i think at the position it is now, it pulls his shoulders down and makes him a little uncomfortable.

I ordered some cloth diapers to get started on the cloth again. My friend, Jen, made a bunch and gave them to me, but we keep having problems with them. We are going to change the insert and strip them to see if that works a little better. I also wanted to try the Kissaluvs diapers to see how they worked. I tried using a diaper and cover with peanut ONCE, but it was a disaster because i couldn't get her to sit still enough to let me put the diaper, let alone the cover, on. At the rate he is growing now, he will be big enough soon for the diapers that we used on peanut.

He continues to be a super sweet baby who loves to be cuddled. He is also a champion nurser, which is still very comforting. About once a week, his sleep is disrupted, but most of the time, I wake about 2 times a night to nurse him. The real problem sleeper is his sister, but when i get the time, i am going to sew a liner into her curtains to see if I can block out the sun's rays in the morning to make her sleep right until we wake her. I am getting pretty tired of waking up at the crack of dawn.

The Girls

We went and saw the Indigo Girls last night. It was pretty exciting because
a. I went out and DRANK BEER.
b. I went out without the little one (it actually made me a little sad. So many last firsts)
c. It was the INDIGO GIRLS
d. Brandi Carlisle was awesome and may be my new favorite singer (as well as my new SIL if my BIL gets his way).

The crowd itself was pretty diverse. You have to remember that I live in Arkansas and that even an Indigo Girls concert is going to bring out the country people. My BIL sat next to the best female mullet ever. She looked a lot like Dog the Bounty Hunter but with a more feminine touch. There was also the various assortment of hippies, yuppies, and people that were just hard core into whatever.

Everyone was pretty excited and peaceful, not something I noticed at some of the other shows I have been to. It is rare that I have gone to a show that was mostly more mature women. I do think that most of the crowd was lesbians, which, if you are a lesbian in Arkansas you are probably pretty laid back and don't take yourself too seriously, which helped with the good vibes.
The Indigo Girls amazed me when they showed up on stage because looked like someone's mom. One was wearing jeans and T-shirt, but nothing fancy or styley. She looked a lot like she was going to go the store afterwards and pick up some eggs and milk. The other one has a pseudo punk look with jeans that fit awkward and a studded belt. Not to be the fashion police or anything because they are the INDIGO GIRLS and if they wanted to, they could show up in a mu mu and everyone was love them just the same.

Bad Mom

So I slapped peanut tonight on the arm. It left a mark and made her cry.

She kicked her brother in the head pretty hard. She didn't mean to. She was messing around and I had told her a couple of times to be careful. We were sitting on the bean bags downstairs and her foot went up and came right down on his head.

It was a reaction that I immediately apologized for and told her I shouldn't have done it. I felt bad. I don't think she cried so much because it hurt, but more because she was shocked and her feelings were hurt. I know she wasn't expecting it.

The thing is, I am not opposed to spanking kids for punishment. When we were having issues with her hitting me all the time, giving her a slap on the hand cut the problem out immediately. It was crazy how effective it was. I had tried everything from time outs to holding her arms down and explaining how it isn't nice to hit. I spank when I want her to really really get the message and only as a last resort.

So hopefully, peanut got the message. She was perfectly fine about 5 minutes later. I am pretty sure the mark will fade by morning so there will be no questions at the daycare center. I still feel like shit. I definitely got the message that I need to have her in a time out if she hurts her brother again.

On a lighter note, peanut had a sour belly yesterday so I kept her home with me and Uncle Dunc today. We rode on the trolley, went to the old statehouse, and saw the ducks at the Peabody hotel. We just missed the last duck getting into the pool at the Peabody, so we will try it again some other day.



Peanut also has a potty chart that she has been rocking at. I can put her in panties for part of the evening now. She does really well. I still don't trust all day though.

Name Change

You may or may not have noticed but I have changed the name of the blog from Peanut's Parents to Peanuts' Parents.

Very tricky. eh?

I won't be blogging over at pumpkin's parents anymore because really, one blog is enough.

Some Pictures

Right now we have a giant bucket truck parked in our driveway. The truck got stuck in the up position so they couldn't move it. These guys are really getting hosed on this job. They weren't able to use the crane like they thought they would so what could have been a half day job has now turned into a two or three day job. They are pulling the tree down by hand.

Look for the little bitty dude in this picture.

Here is a picture of the kids going to the pool. I can't remember when this picture was taken. Baby P always looks like he is working on an evil plan. I LOVE this stroller and recommend it highly for anyone who needs a jog stroller and a trailer. We have had it for about a year and half now. We used it as a single stroller for peanut.

Lastly, have you ever seen such a work of art? I am pretty sure my sister in law made this (although one time she tricked me with the hand knit goods). It is probably the most beautiful blanket I have ever seen and I am not saying that just to make her feel good. Take a good hard look at it. I think it is done in squares then sewn together, but check out the edging. It is really a piece of work. Even the yarn weight is perfect for this time of year.

3- weeks

Our little one is now 3 weeks old. Had I realized that he was 3 weeks old today I would have a) weighed him b)not told every one he was 2 weeks old.

This are settling into a routine around here. Peanut seems to have returned almost to normal. Well, that or we have learned to better deal with the new round of BEING TWO. We threaten her. We tell her she is going to lose a story if she doesn't do what we say. Losing a story means that she will only get one story at night. I also threaten not going swimming, taking away her paci, and anything else that I think might work. Time outs don't really work because she just finishes what naughty thing she was doing, and then runs into time out. Sometimes she will just sit on her time out stool and tell me she is time out. Something about that makes me thing that time outs aren't very affective.

She is still crazy about her brother. He is awake most of the time around her because she is so loud that he can't sleep. It is funny to hear her say things to him that i say to him like "it's alright little buddy. You are okay" or "i know. I know."

My friend's daughter is all but potty trained now, and it has renewed my interest in potty training peanut. I don't want to mess with peanut's diaper anymore. It sucks. i don't want to mess with yeast and diaper rashes. I don't want to buy diapers. I have started giving her a sticker on a piece of paper for every time she goes potty. When she gets 4, she gets a special treat. I am pretty sure peanut could train, but she doesn't want to take the time to quit playing AND she is BEING TWO so when I ask her or tell her to go to the potty she says no. AND giving the stickers on the board give me another thing to threaten her with.

Baby P is doing really well. He sleeps at night but he does wake up every two hours to nurse. I guess if he is going to wake up at least he is going right back to sleep. he has started having a long period of wakefulness in the morning. I take him for a walk during that time. He really seems to like looking around at the trees and clouds. He seems much like his sister, an observer (at least at this age). He really likes being held. If he is set down for too long, he will start to cry just to be picked up. I think that is fair enough though. He is cuddly guy. He is sweet though. He only really cries when he needs something, which isn't too often.

We have started with the cloth diapers, but seem to have a lot of problems with leaks. I think he is just peeing right through them too often. I am going to need to make some adjustments with them. It is a little more difficult when they are so small to pull the diapers tight. I get worried about making them too tight on him.

Mr. T. and I are adjusting to being a two child household. I think for me the biggest adjustment has been adjusting to not being pregnant. I can lift things and do things myself now that I couldn't before. I can seriously think about riding my bike and running again. I look at myself and I think I am so skinny because when I was big with baby, I was BIG with baby. I still have about 15 to 20 lbs to lose, but I am not terribly worried about it. It all came off before. It is funny to see how my body changes over the weeks. Even better though, it is nice to not be pregnant.

It is more difficult to claim time to myself. I am going to start pumping soon so I can be away from Baby P with a clean conscious. I haven't had any real time to myself since before the baby was born. When peanut is home, she is usually on my hip as well. Mr. T has been helping a lot with peanut, but I still need to give him both kids and do something FUN!

Often heard at our house

"It's a hat" (while putting whatever is in her hand on her head) Say this loud and over and over again.

"What is baby P's sister doing?"

"Hello Daggy" (she says this to tease mr. T.)

Everything has to have a mommy and daddy and a baby. If she picks up a rock, she has to pick up three rocks. When she was jumping in the pool, she made up a jump for each person.

Where do Babies Come From?

I had an interesting conversation with Peanut while she was in her pool. I shot this video with my camera not with a video camera. I was really impressed with the quality.