June Angel Baby Mommas Hoping for Rainbows!!

[Meli_H]

Vegas,

Thanks for the info on the milk. Last night I started making bottles with 1/3 organic cows milk and 2/3 frozen and fresh BM. Crossing my fingers.

I can get X to eat certain things (soupy pasta stuff, steamed zucchini and meat--potatoes, that kind of stuff) but he doesn’t eat a lot. Like he will eat a few bites and then he’s done. It’s not nearly enough to substitute a bottle for. That seems to be my struggle lately—I don’t know how soon I can start substituting food for bottles when he will only eat a few bites of food. He seems to be fighting it.

Poor Gracie!!! I hope she’s better already. And I hope you guys didn’t catch it.

so glad your SCH is healed. It sounds like your ultrasound appointment went great as well. yay!

Stef,

Believe me, I wanted to punch Raul in the throat as well LOL. MANY TIMES. (I still do...sometimes)

Ay yeah…stupid heartburn. I remember that. So sorry you have to deal with it!

That's great news from your ultrasound appointment.

I'm wondering if I should save some of X's clothes for Connor?

Angel,

What’s going on??

AFM,

Last Saturday, we went to Matthew’s band competition in Chino Hills, which is about 90 minutes away from where we live. Raul’s sister lives around 30 minutes from Chino Hills and she invited us to watch the fight at her house. Raul is a huge boxing fan so I left it up to him (of course I didn’t want to go, and he knows its not my “fav” thing to do is spend time with her (she’s the one that hates me because I was “rude” to her during Xzavier’s NICU stay—remember I vented about her and MIL a few months back?). Anyways, I made him PROMISE that he wouldn’t get drunk and that he wouldn’t ignore me and would check up on me.

Well, of COURSE he got stinking drunk and checked in on me maybe twice from 3pm-930pm? It just SUCKS being the sober one in a house FULL OF DRUNKS. If ever one should be drunk, it’s when you’re at your in-laws, right? RIGHT….

Ugh and have I ever mentioned that Raul is a huge flirt (IMO)? He is very friendly to both men and women…but it can be taken the wrong way if it’s a woman. He says I am just insecure but holy hell!! IT drives my ass CRAZY. And he seems to be friendlier when he is drunk, IYKWIM? OF course he denies this and will ALWAYS deny it.

This boxing match turned into a full on party. He wanted us to stay the night—and his sister and her husband kept pestering us but I was like “Sorry (not sorry) but we can’t because I didn’t bring more bottles to pump milk in” which was a lie I always have extra in the car. So I drove us home and he had the nerve to ask if I had a nice time?? HA yah right.

Then I had to hear him talking sh*t the whole way home. Some nice stuff about me..some not so nice stuff about me Ugh I don’t even want to repeat what he said because it will make me sad again.

That’s the LAST time I agree to go to his sister’s house for an event like that. No sir! Oh yah…to top it all off, a couple of hours after we arrived, his sister casually mentioned that her 2 year old grandson woke up with a runny nose. I SOOOo wanted to tell Raul “let’s get the hell out of here” but I didn’t. Because I didn’t want to be a b*tch. As a matter of fact, before we arrived I told him to make sure that they are aware that his niece and nephew shouldnt (2 years old and 5 years old) touch X because they love to kiss his face. So he told them, but then didn’t say anything when the kids kept kissing X’s face!!!(and neither did I).

Guess who has been sneezing up a storm and woke up with a runny nose yesterday? YUP…poor X. Raul is very germ phobic and was complaining. I was like “Your sister told us Kason was sick”. He claimed he didn’t know. Yah right. I just said “Well from now on, I don’t care whose family it is…mine or yours. If someone is sick we are OUT OF THERE”. He agreed he would back me up. Something tells me that of course he would back me up if it was my family’s house we had to leave, but if it was his family…then forget it.

I feel like such a horrible mom because I don’t speak up for X around Raul’s family. The same thing happened in early October at the 2 year old’s bday party. Those kids would not leave X alone and would not stop touching and kissing his face or hands. Did I say anything? NO I DID NOT. HUGE mommy fail. Lucky X didn’t get sick that time in October…but he wasn’t so lucky this time. I need to grow some balls so that I can better be X’s advocate. I don’t know wth is wrong with me but I hate confrontation so much that I try to avoid it all costs. But the fact is that if it was MY family or strangers, I would have no problem speaking up for X—and have done so in the past. It's just with his family that I have the problem.

Raquel is joining us for Thanksgiving. We are getting together with my mom’s side of the family at my auntie’s house. I HOPE she doesn’t follow us home and stay the weekend with us. But you know what? If she does, that’s fine. I DON’T F’ING CARE. I’m not going to let her ruin my time off of work or my family time. Because last Thanksgiving we spent in the NICU with Xzavier. I just have to keep it in perspective (and I have to keep repeating this mantra over and over each time she intrudes on “my” space on the couch, etc. BUT I cannot promise to stay sane if she invades my bed again!).

My neighbors 32 year old son died 2 days ago from testicular cancer. SO sad. I definitely have my hands full to be there for my sweet neighbor and help her as much as I can with whatever she needs. She was always there for us during X's NICU stay and beyond.

Anybody doing any Black Friday shopping?

Can u guys give me an idea of foods/meals that you feed Gracie, Sienna and Emma?

Wishing all of you and your families a very Happy Thanksgiving! Let’s check in again soon.

 

[vegasbaby]

Meli: bnb just ate my response so I'm going to be brief.

That sucks that Raul got drunk and annoying at his sisters. Seeing as you were the designated driver I'm sure he felt he could do as he likes. Been there myself. In the future make an excuse not to go and send him on his own.

Sorry X got sick. Perhaps you can pretend that this is good for him to build up his immunity, that's what I'm doing with Grace's flu.

Foods: try everything and try the same foods over and over, you never know when they'll change their minds and love something. The only time I give purees any more is when we are on the go and I'll give her one of those food pouches to suck down. The rest of the time she eats what we eat. Favs: steamed carrots, peas, broccoli, bits of cheese, rotisserie chicken, pears (if soft), toast with butter, pancakes, waffles, Cheerios, Mac and cheese, corn, sweet potatoes, she even ate fresh cranberry sauce yesterday, pot roast, etc.

Afm: Grace is doing way better. At this point she just has a small cough. The first time kids get the flu shot they get two half doses at least one month apart. It just took us too long to get that second dose, and yes, the flu shot is less effective in children under two and adults over 65. I was a bit shocked with some of the negative Comments on my FB post. Way to mommy shame.

Worked out yesterday morning for the first time in six weeks. Felt great yesterday, but sore today.

Did a bit of online shopping yesterday, but I am not attempting to fight the crowds. Went to the mall two weeks ago and it was already crazy. Did anyone else brave the crowds today?

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[StefNJunk]

Vegas, I haven't tried Pepcid Complete; I need to, just keep forgetting it whenever I'm at the store.

Glad Grace is feeling better. We did go on Black Friday, but not in the morning because that's nuts. We went later in the day to see what was left, and it wasn't that great. I did get an amazing deal on a present for him, though (but I did it online, lol). He wants the Fitbit. It's $99.99 at Kohl's, but they had a $25 rebate Friday, so I'm getting it for $74.99, plus $30 in Kohl's cash because they were doing $15 for every $50, and since the $25 is a rebate and not instant, I just needed to add a penny to my cart (added a onesie on sale for $3.60) to get to $30 cash back. So that $30 will probably go toward finishing some more Xmas shopping. Plus I got 9% cash back through Ebates.

Meli, I agree with vegas - keep trying foods over and over and over. We got super lucky and Sienna eats anything, so we just feed her what we're eating cut up to baby sized pieces (unless it's super unhealthy like fast food lol).

Aww that's so sweet thinking about saving X's clothing for us! I don't want you to have to spend those shipping costs - they get big fast with clothes!

I'm sorry Raul was an ass at the party *throat punches him*. How did your Thanksgiving end up going; did Raquel stay with you this weekend?

AFM, Sienna has been a supreme butthead for the last 2 weeks. It's like she turned 1 and hit her terrible 2's. She's usually so laid back and easy-going and happy. Now she's SO cranky. She screams for no reason. I realized this morning what part of it may be (besides possibly teething and that she has a cold, but that just came on yesterday) - we're finishing up the last of the formula and switching over completely to a sippy cup (which she has loved since we could start her on water at 6 months) and milk. Yesterday was the first morning I gave her milk with her breakfast and she only got one bottle. This morning I handed her the sippy of milk and she FREAKED out. Screamed, cried, threw everything off her high chair tray. I pulled out a bottle to see what would happen and she instantly calmed down. I gave her back the sippy after she finished the bottle and she was fine with it then.

Her bday party went well. I'm sure you guys saw pics. She was hilarious with the cupcake. I think she was enjoying the attention. She had barely started picking at it when she picked it up, flipped it frosting side down and put it on her head. Blake gave her another one, and when the one on her head fell off onto her shoulder, she turned her head and tried eating it off her shoulder. She had me laughing so hard I was crying. She also had an issue with her presents - she wanted to play with EVERY one right after they were opened. If we took one to hand her another one to open, she got mad. Christmas is going to be fun... lol.

 

[vegasbaby]

Stef: that is so funny about the cupcake. I think it's great that she liked her gifts so much that she wanted to play with all of them. Sorry she is sad that her bottles are going away. I figure we'll try to be done with them by mid-January as they only use sippy cups in the toddler room at daycare.

Awesome deal on the Fitbit. I bought a new blue ray player for $49.99 down from like $107. I also ordered our Christmas cards yesterday at a pretty good discount. First time I've done cards in three years!

Meli: how are you neighbors doing? I am so sorry about their son. Just horrible. Hope you get a new hot water heater installed ASAP. It's no fun taking cold showers.

Afm: Grace's sleep has regressed. I'm guessing it's eithef because she's tired of being stuck in the pack-n-play (she goes back into Her crib/room tomorrow after the in-laws finally leave) and/or she's teething. Dear Lord, I need this child to sleep because I am exhausted! I fear that she'll never be a good sleeper.

 

[StefNJunk]

Meli, realized I didn't actually post any food suggestions! Sienna loves sliced up bananas (any fruit, really), pieces of toast (flavored ones from Pepperidge Farms like caramel apple, gingerbread, pumpkin spice), cut up pastas in meat sauce (huge mess maker), deconstructed tacos (just the meat, bits of cheese, tomato, lettuce), veggies of all kinds (except we avoid broccoli because she loves it but it gives her horrible gassy tummy, and corn isn't super nutritious so I try to only give it to her when it's mixed with carrots, green beans, peas), potatoes, cheerios, waffles, pancakes, scrambled eggs, chicken noodle soup (I strain the noodles, chicken and veggies so she can pick the pieces up), bits of seasoned chicken, we even gave her little bits of steak when it's super tender. Anything that isn't spicy or too terribly unhealthy.

Vegas, this morning went better with no bottle. She seemed a little mad, threw her sippy cup to the floor 2 or 3 times, but no crying and she give up pretty quickly.

That's a great deal on the blu ray player, too. And make sure you share your Christmas card with us!

I hoep Grace's sleep gets better!

AFM, I have boogers all over my couch. Lol. Sienna's taken to wiping her face on it, and with this cold, there's absolutely no way to keep up with all the snot. At least she's in a decent mood today.

I started an Etsy shop for prints / invitations I wanted to share with you guys.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/NeverEndingCreatives

Of course if you guys ever see anything you want, just let me know here so you don't have to pay for it

 

[vegasbaby]

Stef: congrats on the Etsy shop. I added you to my favorites. The possibilities are endless with the kind of products you can sell. Are you planning on designing Connor's birth announcement? If so you could offer that template. So much fun!

I'll totally share my card when it gets in. Funny thing is that I did two "photo shoots" with the girls in our yard, but the photo I used was a simple shot I took on Sunday before Grace's baptism. Still not perfect, but the best of the recent photos by far.

Meli: I'm so sorry to hear that your grandmother has passed. Sounds like she lived a very full life.

AFM: everyone is gone. Grace is back in her room at last! Not sure how she'll do tonight. She woke at midnight last night all fussy so I gave her some Tylenol and she slept the rest of the night. I hate having to medicate her, but clearly she was in pain. Hurry up teeth.

In other news I'm starting to show/ look pudgy. I am 14 weeks so I guess it's time. Still haven't told work. Guess I need to do that soon.

 

[angel2010]

So sorry I have been away so long!! I can't believe how long it has been since I logged it! Probably my longest break since before being pregnant with the miscarriage pregnancy! I missed you all!

Vegas, I called about the IUD and they said that since I wasn't having abnormal bleeding or pain that it should be fine. I am not quite ready to get it back in, so I am just going to wait a couple months. Maybe finish breastfeeding and then get back on the pill.
Very happy to hear about your hematoma. And glad your mom was happy. She is right about the pressure being off about making a decision for a third though! When is your due date, sorry if you answered already and I missed it.
How do you find out about the milk and your area and whether the cows were treated with rbst?
I am happy to hear that your appointment went well and that lo is measuring so well!
Sorry Grace was feeling so poorly, but glad she is better already! Hope you took full advantage of Grace snuggles!! I hope she starts sleeping better soon. I can't imagine doing night wake ups while pregnant!

Meli, I am SOOO happy that you and Raul are doing better! I also really loved the pumpkin pictures you recently posted to facebook!
As for the milk. We have just done regular whole milk. If we could afford to do organic milk, I would have liked to use that but, at $7 a gallon.... With Emma, I just switched out an ounce of formula to an ounce of milk at a time. Stuck with each ounce for about 4 days and then upped it. I hope that made since. She is still getting 1-2 ounces of formula with her milk at this point and will until we finish up with the can of formula we are on.
Goodness, that night sounds like it was pretty awful Sorry X got sick. And don't even think you are a horrible mom. It sucks to be the bad guy, but sometimes you just got to say something. I mean, she already doesn't like you, so what have you got to loose!
Sorry about your neighbor's son. 32 is so young!!
As for food, for breakfast, we do toast soldiers, eggs, pancakes and cereal. We usually mix the cereal (cheerios or kix) with apple sauce, milk or yogurt. For lunches we do sandwiches (cut up in tiny bites) veggies and fruit, cheese or just bites of meat. Dinners, she just eats what we eat. My favorite food idea is eggs and pancakes. You can add ANYTHING to a pancake! Spinach and feta, broccoli and cheese, apple cinnamon, strawberry, blueberry.... anything! Also with eggs, you can add salsa or spinach and feta.
I didn't really do any black friday shopping. I stopped by Jeff's work to drop his lunch off and while at the shopping center I stopped into shoe carnival and a christian book store. That is all. I did my shopping very early for the kids. Some stuff I got before last Christmas for Emma!

Stef, I loved all the party stuff you came up with!! I really wanted to do a capsule idea, but with everything else and all the craziness of planning, somehow I forgot about it!
I am glad Sienna only had a small case of the bronchitis and got better quickly!
So sorry about the heartburn! That is the one thing I hated about pregnancy!!
That is so funny about Sienna and wanting to play with her presents! Emma couldn't have cared less about her presents and in fact was only "helping" to open 2-3 of them and left!
And Yay to the Etsy shop!!


Well that was enough catching up for tonight! I will post a bit about me in the next couple of days!

 

[vegasbaby]

Angel: the info about the hormones in milk is right on the front of our milk containers. You could go to the website of whoever you get your milk from to see if they have any info. Be careful about dtd without the IUD. I'm guessing you are back on the mini pill. I have three months of mini pills I never got to use.

My due date is June 2nd, but since it'll be another c-section it'll happen a few days before.

 

[StefNJunk]

Vegas, I didn't do a birth announcement with Sienna, probably won't with Connor either. That is a good idea to include in my Etsy store though!

It's pretty crazy that Grace, Emma and Sienna all started teething later than many babies! Is Grace doing any better?

Angel, less people put a note in the time capsule than I had hoped. I got a pretty big pink gift box in hopes it would get filled up with notes / other things, but it really didn't. Blake and I both still need to write something to put in there!

AFM, still dealing with boogers for days... but still no fever, so that's good. We got our tree up last weekend. Because little booger likes to grab at everything, we ended up getting a short real tree and setting it up high where she can't get it instead of using our big fake tree. I also tied all the ornaments on with ribbon instead of the hooks just in case... that was a huuuuge pain in the ass.

Had my glucose test and the follow up ultrasound yesterday. Don't know the results of the test yet, or really the results of the ultrasound, but everything looked good. She said my placenta looks good, so hopefully that means it moved up. I don't think she's allowed to say much else, so I guess I have to wait until my next midwife appt (December 18th). Connor was being a butthead and didn't want to show his face, just like Sienna did, lol. From what we saw, he looks just like her.

Spoiler

https://i.imgur.com/BMb4MaS.jpg

They estimate his current weight at 2lb11oz. And he's breech. Of course... just like Sienna was... but she was around 35 weeks. Hopefully he flips before then.


EDITED>>> Got results back; passed glucose test, yay!

 

[angel2010]

Vegas, I guess I have never even paid attention to the front of the milk! No I am not on any pill yet. I didn't want to have to get the mini pill and then turn around in a few months and get the regular one. We are just using condoms. We have already skipped it once and used the pullout method, which has worked for us in the past, but isn't all that effective. We need to be more careful!! I am not wanting another, at least right now!

Stef, Yay to passing the glucose test! I definitely feel you on the Christmas tree. We decided to only put up our tiny 3 foot tree with about ten ornaments on it. Could it just be allergies for Sienna? I am sorry the time capsule didn't go quite so well. I can't believe Emma still doesn't have any teeth. I am pretty sure I will be weaning soon, so hopefully she holds off until I do!

 

[vegasbaby]

Stef: could Sienna be allergic to the Christmas tree? That would suck if she is. Glad to hear you passed your glucose test. Always a relief. I didn't do a birth announcement for Grace so now I can't do one for the new baby either.

Angel: Ben and didn't use a condom one time either and....... Just sayin! I'm still peeved that the pills I had been on for over a decade started giving me migraines. If it wasn't for that and the failed IUD thing I could have spaced baby #3 out a bit more as planned. Oh well.

So teething is the bane of my existence right now. She's actually done way better the last few nights. The worst part is we still have no more new teeth. Perhaps all she'll ever have is two teeth. They are mighty cute teeth.

Grace has been walking way more this week and she's picked up a few new words: baby, dog, gentle and Nana (for her teacher Anna). Kid is a regular chatterbox and will attempt to repeat most words you say. Charlotte barely spoke until two so I'm in complete shock.

I went to work out this morning and now I feel gross. I should not have taken my prenatal on an empty stomach. Makes me nauseous.

Tomorrow we decorate for Christmas. Like the y'all we'll probably only be able to decorate the top part of the tree.

 

[StefNJunk]

Angel, I was convinced Sienna would never get teeth, lol. It seemed like she had been teething since 3 months. Fingers crossed Emma waits on the teeth until you wean her!

No, it's definitely a cold or something (you had me thinking about the tree, Vegas, but I realized this started right before we got it). She started coughing and getting the runny nose just days after being at Blake's mom where everyone was getting over the same thing. She's doing much better now! Everything is almost completely gone. No more crazy boogers, no more worrying that there's snot EVERYWHERE when she sneezes.

Vegas, Sienna's got two adorable teeth, too, lol. She started drooling way more after those came in, but I don't see anymore coming in yet. Those two came in about a week apart from each other, after taking almost a year to get here.

Happy birthday beautiful little Grace!

Jasmine - where are you?!?

Jenk - updates! We need updates!

AFM, after a rough couple of weeks of EXTREME buttheadedness, Sienna seems to be doing better. Maybe it was the cold making her a hellion? She's still kind of clingy, but it was BAD for a little while there. Started missing my easy-going happy little girl.

So it only took a few days to get Sienna off of formulas and bottles. I actually tried giving her some formula in a sippy cup with breakfast one morning after to try and use up what was left and she refused to drink it. She weened off the boob as easily, too (although I didn't do that on purpose... I HATED doing that... she did it on her own when my supply started dwindling).

She knows so much already, it amazes me. Besides the basic words (mama, dada, etc.) she says hello, kitty, baby, Lilah (her cousin), and I'm pretty sure I've heard her saying pretty and play. She recognizes horsey, kisses, snuggles, gentle, elephant, Violet (for My Pal Violet), nose (although when I say, "where's your nose?" she points to mine, lol), book, binky, Lammy (what we call a lamb she has that plays bedtime music), sock, nap and bed (when I say these, if she's tired she'll run up to me to pick her up), owl, dinner (she'll point to the kitchen if I say it and she's hungry), and when I say baby she lifts my shirt up and points to my belly or snuggles it. She has the Fisher Price Laugh & Learn chair, which I honestly didn't think she would like (birthday present), but it plays all kinds of learning songs and things, and she loves it. There's one song about a square, you push a red square button to play it, and now whenever I say "red square" she shakes her butt, walks over to the chair and plays the song, lol.

 

[StefNJunk]

Where IS everyone?!

How was everyone's Christmas? Ours was pretty good, except for being sick.

We can't catch a break with sickness around here. Last weekend Sienna stayed at Blake's mom's so we could go to a labor class early Saturday morning (birthing center requires it). Well his mom ended up sick Saturday, and we let Sienna stay there again Saturday night, as was the plan, in spite of it. Figured if she was going to get sick, she already caught it from being there Friday night / Saturday morning. Well she caught it... Woke up Monday with a cough. Turned out to be the flu. She's doing better after a few really high fevers (one up to 104.5). Cough doesn't want to go away, and crazy boogers are back...

I caught it, too, but I think mine developed into a sinus infection that I just can't shake... Sinus infections always knock me on my ass. So now the house is a disaster, even though Blake did his best to take care of everything while I passed out on the couch every day.

Just in the few weeks since my last post Sienna understands SO much more... it amazes me. She's also picked up a few new words (light, cup, apparently she said puppy to Blake's mom, a couple more I can't remember off the top of my head) but she mostly just speaks her own language.

Got the follow up results from the ultrasound - placenta has moved out of the way, and they still see the spot on his heart, but aren't doing any more ultrasounds to check it any further. Midwife says she's convinced it's nothing.

Updates from everyone, please!

 

[vegasbaby]

Stef: so sorry you and Sienna got sick. Grace's fever got scary high with the flu too, but overall she didn't get as sick as I thought she would. Have you gone to the doctor about your sinuses? It really is OK to take antibiotics if you need them. I needed them with both girls and no harm was done. I'm glad your placenta moved. That's a relief.

Afm: Christmas was a lot of fun. The girls were spoiled rotten. We are overrun with toys. I think they got more from relatives than Santa. Charlotte seems to be enjoying Grace's toys way more than Gracie.

Not sure if I mentioned it before, but we are renovating/ adding on to the house in order to add a fourth bedroom. In order to do this we had to move the girls in a room together while we do the work. So far they are enjoying being in the same room, but it is jam packed with toys and clothes. Thankfully Ben is doing most of the work on the house himself. I just hope it gets done before the baby gets here.

Also, I sent Jen a message a few weeks ago and she was a week overdue at the time. She promised to post on here, but I think I'll send her another message on FB to see how she's doing.

 

[jenkb123]

Hey girls!

I'm sorry that I haven't posted in a long time. Things have been crazy lately!

So I finally had my baby. A little girl (well not so little). Her name is Emersyn Mackenzie. She was born on Dec 28. 2 weeks overdue. I actually never went into labor. At 42 weeks she was still not even engaged. My cervix was unfavorable and they couldn't even do a sweep. I ended up having to be induced. I had cervidil on Boxing Day to try get my cervix more favorable for induction. After 24 hours (and having to stay in the hospital overnight to be monitored due to being postdates) not much had happened. No real contractions. Head was still not engaged. But my cervix was a bit more favorable and I was 3cm. They decided not to do a second cervidil. At about 4pm on Saturday we started the sinto (oxytocin). Started getting some contractions as they increased the medication. By about 10 pm I was in active labor. They checked me again and her head was still not engaged enough. They decided they would check again at midnight and break my water if she moved down enough. They did break my water at midnight. The contractions at this point were right on top of each other. They turned the meds down a bit and then turned them back up higher. By around 2 am I was ready to push. She was born at 4:13am. 9 pounds 11oz, 22.5 inches. I ended up with a 3rd degree tear. Stitching that up with no meds (other than some topical freezing) was almost as painful as labor! Despite having to be induced and not going into labor on my own I was quite happy with how things went. My sister delivered the baby.

She is perfect. We ended up staying in the hospital for a few extra days as she had high bili ruben. She ended up having to go under the bili blanket. She has totally recovered from that now.

I'll try to post some photos from my phone. I will also try to catch up on the posts and reply better soon. I just wanted to give you guys the update on her birth!

 

[vegasbaby]

Jen: huge congrats! I know you are so in love with your little girl. She sure sounds like she was way too cozy on the inside, so I'm glad they decided to evict her so you could finally meet. Beautiful name! Can't wait to see photos. I was getting ready to send you another message on FB, but figured you had your hands full. Again, congrats!

 

[StefNJunk]

Vegas, I didn't go to the dr. for my sinuses. I hate taking antibiotics if I can avoid them... they almost always give me a yeast infection. I took some grapefruit seed extract, although I only had a little left. It helped get rid of it a little bit quicker, at least. I took Sienna back to the dr. because her cough just WOULD NOT get better. Her lungs were clear, but it turns out she ended up with a double ear infection, so we had to get some antibiotics for her, which we will be finishing up tomorrow. Luckily we caught it super early; I didn't even have a clue and wouldn't have until the afternoon after the appointment when she had her one and only screaming fit from it. Poor girl... gave her some pain meds and that was the last of the crying, though, luckily!

Impressive that Ben is doing most of the work on the house addition! We could probably use one, too, lol, but we only plan to stay here as long as we have to (Blake is hoping no more than 5 years, since we'll have a bunch of big bills paid off within that time).

jen, soon happy to hear everything is well with you and your little girl! What a chunker she must be! She definitely sounds like she was super cozy in there. I can't wait to see pictures!

AFM, we still have nothing done for Connor's room. Ok, not entirely true, but close. Blake and his friend did move the office furniture out, but really the room is just as bad as it was. The closet in there finally exploded into the room, and now the floor is just covered in everything we had nowhere else for. It could EASILY be a FULL weekend job (like wake up to bed time, no breaks) just to get all the stuff out, then it still needs to be cleaned, painted, etc., and we need to at least get a dresser and some sort of storage in there. The rest can wait, since he'll be in our room for awhile (hopefully), but if we wait on everything, it will NEVER get done.

Sienna has started the throwing phase. She's been interested in dropping things for quite awhile now (particularly food from her high chair), but now she's taking toys and throwing them across the room. She'll sit in front of the toy box in the living room, and take her toys, one by one, and toss them over her shoulder. Good thing she's also started wanting to help pick toys up... but that usually ends in getting bored with it and taking them back out to throw them again.

 

[Meli_H]

Vegas,

So how is Gracie’s teething going? Any new teef pop out yet? I’m glad that her sleeping had gotten back on track.

Very impressive that Ben is adding on a 4th bedroom. How very handy of your man!

I thought you guys had had a huge NYE party when you posted on fb about returning the keg. Lucky Ben to always have a keg at home!

Where are your BUMP pix??

Stef,

Gah—so sorry to hear about your sinus infection, and poor Sienna’s sinus and ear infection.Poor baby (and poor you).

I’m glad that the hellion on wheels has gone away and you have your sweet girl back lol.

Congratulations on your Etsy shop!!

It was a relief to read that the placenta is out of the way.

And where are YOUR bump pix?

Funny you mention Sienna and the dropping stuff phase. X has been doing that for a few weeks already. He loves to drop stuff from his high chair, and over the barriers/gates. Especially dropping balls. He loves to chase the ball (like a dog or cat lol). He will toss it away from him then chase after it. We finally taught him how to toss our way and we toss back to him. He cracks up every time.

I don’t mind saving clothes for you because I can ship for free through my work (we have a postage meter). I can save the cutest outfits for you. It’s just a matter of figuring out what stuff will fit Connor and your seasons..because I remember you mentioning that Sienna was all legs and that she outgrew stuff really fast. Let me know.

Jen,

Congratulations on your miracle. She is beautiful!!! And YIKES on your 3rd degree tear!

Angel & Jasmine,

Hi! Hope all is well with y’all. Miss you guys!

AFM,

We are giving Xzavier (5) 5 oz bottles a day, along with 2-3 meals. The bottles are 1/3 BM, 1/3 Toddler Transitions formula, and 1/3 Goats milk. So far, so good! I still struggle with sippy cups, he literally prefers to chew on the nipple and straws as opposed to drinking the liquid. I’ve even mixed 1/3 juice to 2/3 water but no go..I will keep trying.

I am still pumping but soooo ready to stop. My original plan was to pump until his gestational DD (1/25) but mid December I decided to stop on 12/30/14 and to get my life back. I want back my daily 5 hours, I want to stop spending $80/month on the pump rental, I want to start taking some sort of weight loss supplements to quick start a diet and lose this fat a**…so a week before 12/30 I cut down from pumping 6x/day to 3x/day. A couple days before I was to stop, my mom and Raul gave me a pep talk to keep going until 1/25. Well, at that point, the few days I was pumping only 3x/day, impacted my supply. So I am really only producing 25% of my historical high…so, at this point, IDK if I can hang in there until 1/25 or what…we shall see. The other day Raul mentioned the possibility of keeping pumping through the end of flu season? Probably not happening LOL

Thanks for all the food suggestions. I need to try some. X still needs to be fed, he won’t pick up food to eat unless its those Gerber baked whole grain snacks or puffs. Baby steps….

He still doesn’t say words, says lots of vocalizations, like”bababa” “papapa” his new ones are “yah” and once in a while “mama”. I think they are just vocalizations, not that he really “knows” what he is saying. He knows what “lechita” means..he goes crazy when he hears that word. He hilariously shakes his head violently “no” when he hears us say “no” or sometimes, at appropriate times in the conversation. His therapist says that he probably should be saying more vocalizations by now, but she’s not worried yet. She will wait a couple of more months before deciding to request Speech therapy. We’re cool with it. Other than that, he is meeting most milestones for his adjusted age of 11 months. His therapists call him their “superstar” LOL. Always marvel at him and his 23 week birth, and the fact that he is so blessed with his development.

His top left toof looks like it’s getting ready to come through…but based on his first teeth, it might take a couple of months to actually break through.

How was everybody’s NYE? Ours was fun (after some earlier drama). Historically Raul and I stay home on NYE. I wanted to do the same this year (2013 was a bummer because of my MMC, and 2014 was a bummer because of the NICU) so I wanted to have a joyful NYE; a romantic dinner at home and some partying with Raul. Well, his sister and her husband were having a party and would not stop harassing/pressuring us to go (yah—that wasn’t gonna happen-especially after that last party!) So raul threw me under the bus “Melissa doesnt think it’s a good idea because of X” and crap like that. I don’t care that he said that. I’m just glad that he didn’t push us going to the party (although I do think he was somewhat resentful the day before, the day of and the day after, that we didn’t go to the party).

Anyways, I made some mojitos and we drank so much that, he, ummm, how shall I put this….he fell at some point that we were getting busy…fell onto the bed poster and seriously bruised a rib !!! The next day, I looked at the bottle of rum, and we finished MORE than half of the bottle that we bought from Sams Club (a supersized bottle LOL). Needless to say, he has been in some serious pain since then and is just barely getting a little better. I think we are looking at at least 2 more weeks or so before we can get back to our workout routine because it hurts when he breathes heavy, lifts anything, moves, etc.

We also seriously need to think about replacing my mom and his mom as sitters because, well, because his mom is a B*TCH. She is so negative and toxic. She complains and is negative when I am gone, he WFH so he is there 90% of the workday, so he has nowhere to go and has to listen to her sh*t. Then I come home and he is pissy and has attitude with me. If we replace his mom, then we have to replace mine as well, because there is no way we can find one sitter to alternate weeks. I seriously am reallllllly starting to dislike his mom. What was her latest complaint/b*itch about me to Raul, you ask? Well, she got mad because the therapists are scheduled on the days of the week that her and my mom watch X (Weds/Thurs/Fri). Why can’t the therapists come on the days that I am off (Tues)? Well, that’s because X’s doctor appointsments (and mine) are scheduled on Tuesdays. Those are the days that his eye dr sees patients (he only sees patients in SO Cal on Tues and Thurs-he works in NO Cal the rest of the week). Tues are the days that his ped sets aside for preemie patients only. Not to mention, we also have to work with the 3 therapist schedules. X isn’t their only client, they have multiple clients, and they come to our house so no need to drive X anywhere. I will work with their schedule, heck ya! Besides, what does it matter to her? They come during his waking hours (he has 2 naps; 1 morning and 1 afternoon, the naps only last between 45 min to 1 hour) so it’s not like she has to wake X up or anything. Anyways, she will always find something to complain about. And these complaints are the only ones Raul shares with me; who knows what else she b*itches about me to him?? He even said “I love my mom, but I don’t like her as a person….she is soo negative and she stresses me out when she is here” So that’s something that will be in the pipeline in the next 6 months or so…

My current challenge with X is his glasses. First of all, he HATES wearing them, and now he has to wear them WITH A PATCH ON 1 EYE FOR 3 HOURS A DAY. He’s not cooperating. I researched some tips. One was to use the swimmies on them so they can't bend their elbow to remove their glasses or patch. That didn’t work because the swimmies were too big, and I bought the smallest size. So I had to buy actual medical toddler elbow restraints and I'm waiting for them to arrive any day now. Wish me luck, better yet, please pray for us, because I know I will be in such a stressful place trying to get X acclimated to the glasses, not to mention the patch.

 

[vegasbaby]

Meli: How is Xzavier doing with his glasses and patch? I'm sure it does take a lot of getting used to and what child wouldn't want to take them off?

Sorry you are having issues using your MIL as a babysitter. Now that Xzavier is older maybe you could look into a daycare facility. Ours is church-based and although they really don't teach too much about God I feel that the daycare is complimentary to the church rather than just a money making venture. My daycare is accredited as a preschool so I like that they stress education. Just something to think about unless you want a nanny. Heck, even my neighbor who has a nanny has the nanny take him to daycare once a week to interact with other kids. It's tough trying to figure it all out, isn't it?

Jen: how is that beautiful little girl of yours?

Stef: how goes the baby baking? How is Sienna?

Angel: love seeing photos of your two on FB!

Jasmine: if it wasn't for FB we'd never see your sweet girls.

AFM: baby is doing well. I'm 21 weeks now and am really showing. I've got an anterior placenta so while I do feel some movement it's not as strong as it was with Grace (Charlotte was anterior too). Still have no idea what gender we are having. I'm assuming it's another girl. I'm at a loss for girl's names.

The addition is moving along slowly. Charlotte claims that sharing a room with her sister isn't working out too well. Too bad.

 

[Meli_H]

Hi Vegas!

X seems to be doing a little better with the glasses and patch. Don’t get me wrong—he still whips them off every chance he gets, but he’s getting longer and longer stretches that he forgets they are on. I’ve realized that the key is to patch first thing as he wakes up..mornings seem to be easier than later on in the day. I haven’t been using the elbow restraints after the first couple of days—those broke my heart! I mean, my heart breaks just to use the stupid patch, and to immobilize his arms…welllllll that was just too much for me!

So every so often he will take them off and I will put them right back on, This will happen like 10x in a row and he will whine and complain and then finally leave them on for another few minutes before we go through the same routine lol.

Raul calls me the patch and glasses nazi and I'm like “YES I AM and I don’t care! We ALL HAVE to be that way with him”. Although, for the witching hour (from 730pm-830pm, right before bedtime) I will give in and take the glasses off because it is just too much lol.

We are actually going to look into a live in nanny. At least, that’s what Raul says. Wait til he sees how much they cost LOL. I think he will change his mind really quick. IF we do go with a live in, I have another required qualification (besides that they are qualified, have lots of experience, CPR certified, pass background check, etc). She must be, hmm, how shall I say this…..”appearance challenged” LOL. My momma didn’t raise no fool

We really need to stay away from other children for at least another 9 months or so, for health reasons…but I like your idea of a church based daycare facility. I will start looking into that soon so that I can be aware of our options. I didn’t even think of that as an option, seeing as down the street from our house there are 2 daycares (La Petite and KinderCare). Thanks for the suggestion!

SO WHERE IS YOUR BUMP PIC?? Don’t pretend you don’t hear me LOL
What does your gut say about the gender? Any inkling at all?

I lol’d at Charlotte’s claims that sharing a room with Gracie isn’t working out well for her. I laughed even more at your response of “too bad”. IDK how you do it. If X shared a room, I don’t think he would sleep as well as he does. This kid has supersonic hearing. Even hearing the click of the door latch can wake him up

Hey, I'm sure everyone is aware that I am so carseat safety crazy. WELL, I joined a fb group called “Carseats for the Littles”. They are awesome! You can post your budget, car make and model, child age and size, and they will suggest the best car seat for your situation. Anywho, I had read something about the shoulder strap placement and took a couple of pix of X, asking for their assistance. Not only was my suspicion correct (that the shoulder straps were incorrect placed!) BUT they also told me that X is very close to outgrowing his infant carrier (lengthwise), if he hasn’t actually outgrown it yet. YIKES. Looks like we will be installing his new convertible car seat this weekend. I still have to buy 1 more for the second car, looks like I will be heading to BRU to trade in his Graco snugride to get 25% off his new carseat. I totally suggest you guys take a pic of your carseats with the kids in them and ask for feedback. They are a great resource and I wouldnt be surprised if you find out that there's things that you could/should fix.

Angel, Stef, Jasmine, and Jen:

Miss you guys!