All good things

Some things I learned today:

- My new OB/GYN is awesome!*
- I know this because my new, pregnant, family doc uses her, I saw her there today!**
- I make good decisions, today was one of them.***
- If being a parent is hard for me, it must be killer on Heavenly Father.****



* My old OB was out of my network so my insurance didn't cover a LOT of what he charged.

** I had my IUD taken out today... hence the OB visit.

*** I tend to second-guess myself when others aren't 100% supportive of me, which I hate (on both accounts).

**** Heavenly Father has had to hear a lot from me in the last 24 hours.  I can imagine Him sitting there, wanting me to finally figure out that what I chose really was right and to finally get that, out of everyone I've informed of my decision (which was a good one, by the way), HE backs me and will always back me, as long as I include Him in the process, which I definitely did.

No More Red Milk!

Well, unless the doctor recommends it... (Whole milk - my kids call it "red milk".)

Quin turned two last Saturday! Crazy!

Here are the promised pics I told the in-laws I'd post:  (Better late than never, right?)

This is what he woke up to... He LOVES balloons!

Still sleepy, but liking what he sees:

Pudding for breakfast! I made crepes, but he didn't like them, so he just ate pudding:

I love this face - not sure why he's making it:

This is what we got him - we wanted to get it for Christmas but didn't want to pay what it cost.  Good thing we waited, it went on sale for $20 LESS!

These were the before breakfast shots:

Nothin' but net:

Later, just chillin' with his milk:

Then Daddy pops in the window:

As we were cleaning up breakfast, Quin took the liberty of putting his favorite show in the DVD player and getting it started:

He must've had fun that day because he refused to take his nap.  This is after dinner and bath, he's so tired!

Being sung to... then he sang it to us - super cute! And so sleepy...

Attempting to blow out the candle:

First taste of cake (cherry chip... mmmmm!):

Meh, it's ok.  Goin' for the good stuff:

Quin's his mama's boy, in that he doesn't care for cake, but definitely his daddy's boy, in that he LOVES him some ice cream.  He loves it so much, we have to spell it around him just so he doesn't get disappointed when we don't have any.  He's also a neat-freak... like me... He can't eat without being wiped off, cleaning the table or requesting his dropped food be picked up.  To show you how much he loves his ice cream, he didn't even notice this till he was done:

Which is rare.  Normally, he'd say, "Eww, Mommy, elbow! Eww, elbow!" until I wiped him clean.  Silly boy.  Silly can't-believe-he's-stinkin'-two-sweety-boy.  We're trying a new doc this Friday, here's hoping we've found a good one!

Babies on the brain

The other night, I had a dream that I was at the doctor and they showed me eight embryos that were mine, some were boys and some were girls.  The bigger ones were older and the smaller ones were, well, younger.  They said I could pick one or two or all of them.

WHAT?

I woke up with the drowsy intention to ask Matt if he wanted a boy AND a girl.  Dude.  That's not even funny.

THEN, a night or two later, the dream continued.  Only this time, when I went back to the doctor, they informed me I was already pregnant... with ALL of them.  But I could pick which ones I wanted to keep.

I'm thinking those were more like nightmares.

One baby only, Lord.  Please, one baby, only.  (Can prayers be posted on a blog??)

Routine Flexibility

I'm huge on routines and things going as planned. 

Learning how to be flexible is something I struggle with.

Fitting exercise into my life has been a challenge, as I'm not one to get out of bed early to work out (and those who do have some God-given gift, I just know it) and when the kids are down for naps or in bed for the night, who wants to work up a sweat when leisure can be seized?

I was too easily defeated, and knew this.

So, I decided to work with my strengths. 

Yesterday AND today, I exercised mid-morning, using nap time for a quick shower and the aforesaid leisure seizure (ahahhahahahahaha!!) (sorry).  I plan on doing so for the rest of my life.

Ok, maybe that's putting a little to much on my shoulders.  I am, however, going to keep taking it one day at a time, hoping everyday sees me lighter than the last.  ;)

Handling things real C.O.O.L.-like

Love and Logic is successfully changing things in my home.  We're control freaks at my house, and therefore the fight for power is great and often exhausting.  As parents, we're learning so much about keeping the control while giving our kids some control, too.  And it's working!!

So, we had our second class on Wednesday, and here's what I learned:

• C.O.O.L.

"C" stands for control that’s shared (the importance of sharing through choices within limits)

"O" stands for ownership of the problem (why it’s essential that children be allowed to own and solve the problems they create)

"O" also stands for opportunity for thinking/decision making (an introduction to using empathy to place children in "thinking mode" instead of "fight mode"

"L" stands for let empathy and consequences do the teaching (an introduction to the importance of using empathy and logical consequences in punishment)

The result? My son's room got cleaned his way and I was able to walk away stress-free.  I didn't nag about how long it should take him or what it should look like, I just let him tell me what it would look like when he was done.  Is it as clean as I would like it? No.  But it's his room and he did what he said he'd do.  Score! Also, I got a call the other day from a teacher (2nd one ever, still not fun) and letting Andur deal with the natural consequences of the situation and empathizing was so much easier than me having to deal with it.  I still took the opportunity to teach some good things, and point out the good in him and what he's capable of, but he was so nervous about what was going to happen at school that he was crying.  All good things! Guilt is a hard thing to learn - I'm glad he's doing it now while it's small and fixable.

• Delay the consequences - it makes them think (and fret a little) and gives you time to calm down
• Energy drains are gonna be fun!
• Reinforcing statements given with choices. 
• Choices, choices, choices.  Empathy, empathy, empathy.

This is in a nutshell, we talk about a lot.  If you have the opportunity to take this class, DO.  It rocks!

Butter-side down

This is my own version of green eggs and ham, a little surprise for my kids this morning...

Never had these before, it was a little hard to stomach, at first, but we got through it.  lol 

I'm not big on St. Patrick's day, seeing as I'm not Catholic.  I am, if I remember correctly, a smidge Irish, but I still don't feel the need to go out and drink myself silly because of it.  ;)

My kids are always asking why they have to go to school on days like Valentine's day or today... we always tell them it's because they're not real holidays... hee hee.  I know, there are those who would argue, namely most of America and pretty much all of Ireland, but really... it's just another day to me. 

I'm not so much of a party pooper, though, to not send shamrock cookies with my daughter today for her class snack.  :)

Did you know that St. Patrick used the shamrock to help teach the pagan Irish the Holy Trinity? Or that the original color associated with St. Patty's day was blue? Interesting, I know.  ;)

Have a good, normal, but slightly green, day!

Sitting and Stepping

I noticed, lately, that Quin's more apt to sit and watch a whole movie without moving that much.  This made me think that maybe I let him watch too much TV.  (Which I don't, we don't even have cable.)  But I was still kinda worried, nonetheless.

However, last night for FHE, we decided to add a bit of culture to our lives and catch some live entertainment.  The group performing was Step Afrika! It was wicked awesome. 

The greatest part? Quin sat on my lap for TWO HOURS watching it without so much as a fuss!  I guess all the non-TV watching paid off.  ;) (That or he's just getting older... so sad.)

Check them out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riwhiEZP4C0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-JG_I26eeE&NR=1

Bring it on, baby!

Matt consented!!!

Free Medical

If you can't afford a doctor, go to an airport - you'll get a free x-ray and a breast exam; and if you mention Al Qaeda, you'll get a free colonoscopy.

Learning Love & Logic

My husband and I are taking the Love & Logic class for the next seven weeks.  Last night was our first class.  This is some of what I've learned so far:

• Either I remember more of the book than I thought or I'm really not to shabby at this parenting thing... a lot of what they said to do, I already do.
• I'm a nag.  I already knew this, but it was nice to be reminded that "reminding" DOES NOT work.  Rather, it doesn't get the results I want.  Consequences are good, good things.  You WANT your kids to mess up.  How else are they going to learn???
• Choices give both parties the control they need.
• Empathy is better than anger - there really is an alterior way to handle naughtiness that's better than yelling!
• Quin does not do well when he can't see me.  I knew this, too, but listening to him cry from across the hall wasn't fun.  I'm glad I have the opportunity to leave him with someone he doesn't know so we can hopefully overcome this.  Thanks to my nursery calling, we're ALWAYS WITH EACH OTHER.
• UH OHHH
• I'm really going to enjoy this class!

We didn't cover as much material as I would've thought due the paperwork and people constantly changing the subject and talking about being abused as a child and messy divorces (TMI, people, TMI), but there were some good things we did learn.  Also, it's so good to be one of the people there of our accord and not because we were court-ordered to do so.  ;)

I want another one!

I am so stinkin' baby hungry, lately! I want another baby so bad!

Matt thinks I'm crazy. 

I probably am, but so what?

I want someone for Quin to grow up with, another tiny person to watch grow and learn and cause trouble. 

There are always pros and cons to this situation, but the pros out-weigh the cons for me.

I just have to get my other half on board.  ;)

Absentmindedness only SOMEtimes pays off

When it pays off:  I found a VISA gift card in my wallet that apparently has never been used.  I think I've had it since Christmas.... not totally sure about that, though.  This never happens - money that comes through my hands generally gets passed right along to someone else's.


When it doesn't pay off:  When someone comes up to me with poopy pants, so I grab him and go to change him and as I'm walking in the living room to do so, think "Huh, what was I doing in the kitchen just now that I need to finish...?" Then another child comes to me with a half empty cup of chocolate milk without a lid on it. 

Oh, now I remember.  I was in the middle of making chocolate milk in a sippy cup.  Hadn't put the lid on it yet when Mr. Poopy Pants approached me.

Results:  Spilled milk that got mostly soaked up by a blankie and the car rug.  But, hey, I have a $25 gift card that needs spending! ;)