Adenoidectomy

I didn't blog the last few days. We spent pretty much the entire day at Children's hospital Wednesday with Aaron. He was having his adenoids out. And then he stayed overnight with Roger.

He did well. He wasn't feeling very good for the first 24 hours or more, but has since perked up quite a bit. At first he wouldn't fall asleep. (More than usual...) Aaron is our best sleeper and he was refusing to lay down (or even to fall asleep while being held).  He seems to have gotten past that now, though.


Our challenges are 1. Finding enough soft foods that are interesting to him. Aaron is a good eater. He has a very balanced diet.  Have you ever tried to convince a 2 year old of anything?  Convincing Aaron that he should try a food he doesn't normally eat, especially when he's not feeling well has been really hard! And just because he ate something the first time you offered it, does not mean he's interested in it again. (Read: jello, macaroni and cheese, popsicles, etc.)

2.  Keeping him from getting too rambunctious. His discharge instructions said he could return to school on Monday (if he goes to school, which he doesn't...) and no exercise for 14 days. When was the last time you spent time with a 2 year old? He runs everywhere. He jumps around. His normal movements could very easily be considered "exercise." So how do we keep him from moving?

Happy Birthday, Roger

We love you!

Winter. I loathe it.

I used to love winter. I loved winter sports. I loved shoveling (to the point that I would shovel the neighbors' sidewalks when we lived in Erie just to be nice.) I loved being out in the chilly air. I loved winter. I didn't even mind driving on awful roads. It was just life in the snow belt. You either learned to love it or you were in misery for 4 months each year. So I loved it.

Then I had kids.

5 years ago, when I wanted to go outside (or in the car) during winter, I just threw on a coat & went. Now?

Multiply the following process by 4 (to include me):

Get up, wash, dress, eat breakfast.
Put on socks & boots.
Buckle into car seat.
Arrive at destination.
Stand out in the elements while I:

Put on coat.

Put on hat.

Put on mittens. (can't wear a heavy coat under car seat buckles...)

Hoist children from van because heavy, puffy coat renders their movements unproductive.

Drop something into dirty, nasty slush in parking lot.

Get salt/dirt all over my pants/coat trying to hold a child's hand with each hand all while wearing a baby.

Slosh through dirty slush into building while repeatedly telling children to hurry and they won't be cold once we get inside.

Remove coat, hat, mittens so as not to overheat and sweat while indoors.

Try not to lose any of the coats/hats/mittens while inside.

Repeat entire process to go home.

Clean salt & dirt from floor inside door repeatedly.

Hang coats/hats/mittens to dry so we can use them again in an hour.

See if cell phone I dropped in slush is still working. 

Etc. Etc. Etc.

And you don't just do that once a day, you have to do it lots of times. And day after day after day. It's exhausting.

Winter is just plain old crappy. 

I need some sun and warm to recharge my batteries.

One of my fave photos

I think this is one of my favorite "parenting" photos of myself. I was carrying a tired, tantrum-y Ian through the cemetery in Philadelphia where Ben Franklin is buried. It was really hot, way past naptime, and I was 7 months pregnant with Aaron.

Since Monday

I've been tracking my foods that I eat & trying to stay under a certain number of calories shooting for weight loss, taking into account that I'm breastfeeding right now.

I've been doing quite well, minus lunch yesterday when I was convinced the horrible headache I'd had since Tuesday was "diet" related. (So I ate a "big" lunch of leftover beef & noodles & my headache went away...huh.)

Anyway, it was cold and snowing this morning, the kids are all snotty, and I *really* wanted to make cookies. And eat them.

Oh and I also discovered a "friction" hole in the crotch of my ONLY pair of blue jeans. My Tommy Hilfiger jeans. The size up Tommy jeans I bought just after Aaron was born to replace the ones I wore a friction hole in the crotch of two years ago. (I now have just 2 pairs of pants that are non-maternity and non-yoga-type. This is not good, people.)

You know what the friction hole means? It means for the past 2+ years my non-pregnant self has been slowly creeping up on the scale. My thighs are wearing holes in blue jean material, --not delicate, thin material! Denim!--, just from rubbing together while I walk. Really. This is not good. Not good. It was gradual so not very "painfully" obvious. I knew it was happening, but with everything else going on around here it is hard to put myself first. Much easier to eat a lot and make comfort food when I'm perpetually exhausted from sleeping in 4-hour-or-less intervals at night for the past 4 years.

Oh the excuses!

Instead of making cookies, I got everyone dressed, weighed myself & found a 3/4 pound weight loss, and went to Sam's club to buy the things on our list... mostly just to get out of the house so we wouldn't eat all morning...

It worked. My desire to make cookies has waned and I'm still good on my calories.

When you're addicted to food, every day is a battle. I'm taking it one day at a time.

Someone* tweeted yesterday:

Being overweight hurts. Being on a diet hurts. Choose your hurt. 


*I apologize I don't remember who...


GOSH, I WANT SOME BACON. AND BROWNIES.

On sibling relationships

I've been running fewer errands lately in an effort to curb impulse purchases. So on Tuesdays & Thursdays we've been running any essential errands and coming home.

Aaron has discovered a whole new world of playing without Ian here! He gets the run of the house and doesn't have to fight for toys, etc. And he is loving it.

Interesting though, he'll come and ask me if it is time to go get Ian yet. So he misses him.

Isn't it just magical to watch the relationships between your children develop?

When Ian was 8-12 months old, I repeatedly said I wasn't having another child.  Ian really sucked the life out of me during those months and there was no way I wanted to repeat it! Then Aaron came along. Almost immediately Ian loved Aaron. He was never jealous. He never tried to hurt Aaron. Ian has always loved Aaron. Then Lauren came along and it was the same thing. Neither boy was ever jealous. Neither boy has ever tried to hurt sis. If anything they are both too helpful for my comfort.

Ian and Aaron are now reaching the ages when they want to play with each other and be near each other. Built in playmates. It's wonderful. And, obviously, exactly how God intended our family to be in 2011.

Ian and Aaron go to school together on Wednesdays and frequently I hear a report from Ms. JoJo that they were inseparable. When one wanders to the other room to play, the other misses him and starts looking for him. When Ian went to his friend's birthday party at Chuck-e-Cheese and Aaron stayed home with Daddy, Ian wanted to know why Aaron couldn't come.

They are both very capable of having experiences without each other, but they prefer to do things together.

I love it!

Of course, they fight over toys and get on each other's nerves, but for the most part, it is a wonderful relationship. I can't wait to see how Lauren factors in when she gets old enough to run with the big dogs!

I should mention that it was much the same experience for me growing up and now I have great friends and pillars of support in my siblings. I have the greatest hope for my children that they might continue their close relationships into adulthood!

Remind me I said all this in 27 minutes when we pick up Ian and the ruckus starts up again!

Anyone know a decent bathroom contractor?

The Pacifier

I don't really like that my third child sucks on a binky. Neither Ian nor Aaron ever did. No matter how hard I tried, the just wouldn't go for the binky. They didn't suck thumbs either. It was so nice not to have that habit to break.

But sometimes I have no choice, having a preschooler, toddler, and infant, to have the baby suck on a pacifier. At least she will because there would be a lot more screaming than there already is!

Plus, she looks so sweet.

I really did not want to wake her this morning to go pick up brothers from school.

Did I mention?

I'm going to try and blog every day of 2011?  I already missed the first 2 days so I guess we wait and see how well I do. I had 140 posts in 2010. Shall we just shoot for 200 this year? I think you'll be awfully sick of me if I do 363...

Some things I've been thinking about lately:

A friend I've known for a long time... back to junior high school at least had something tragic happen over the holiday & while I don't know exactly what it was (nor do I feel like I should know) I have been thinking of her and praying for her.

My daughter is going to be 6 months old in January. My husband is going to be 31 on 1/11/11. This is the year I turn 30. My sons are going to be 4 and 3 this year. Insanity.

I probably won't actively wean Lauren, but I think by the end of 2011 I neither be pregnant nor breastfeeding a baby for the first time since 2006. I'm kinda looking forward to it!

Last year I knew 25 (at least) ladies having babies. This year so far, there are 5 ladies in our friends and family who are expecting, the first of those babies due to arrive in February.

I have resolved to eat better, keep a log of everything that goes in my mouth, and hope for weight loss! My pants are tight and I'm ready. My plan is just to log what I eat (keeping myself accountable just by being able to see on paper what goes down the hatch) and do what I do until the weather gets warm enough to get out with the tots and put some miles on the jogging stroller. Then it is time to rock and roll... Mondays & Fridays I'll have the boys in the BoB and Lauren in the Ergo. Tuesdays & Thursdays I'll have Lauren & Aaron in the stroller and Wednesdays I'll have to figure out what to do with just Lauren. Oh that's just until school is out in May, then I have to re-plan.

I have resolved to enjoy my kids more. To be slower to anger. To just take each moment and savor it. To not watch the clock, willing it to move faster to nap & bed times. To just smile, laugh, and be a champion of positive experiences with my children.  (For the record, I'm already pretty good a this, but my trouble times are in the morning when we're getting ready to leave and when I don't feel well.)

A post without a photo. I'm sorry!

Christmas Morning

Totally forgot I didn't post these.  They're not high quality. Oh well. And some of them are stills from the video. But you get the point.

Bracelet from Aunt Emily

I decided I'm going to have to wait until she's sleeping to really photograph it, but you get the idea.