Valentines Babies, 2013!

[wamommy]

oh gosh, nope. We're done. I love the dynamic of our family right now, and how the girls dote on and adore Max. I feel stretched to my limit though, and really don't think we could handle another financially or time-wise.

That said, I LOVE the close age gap between my girls, and if I had it to do again I wouldn't change a thing. Actually, if anything I would make the gap CLOSER (they're 18 months apart). They play so incredibly well together now. Sierra, I know Camden has been hard.. I can't imagine how hard... but I'd say go for it for #2 By the time it's born Camden will be a different kid... walking, talking, playing independently. I'm bias, though Only you know what's best for your family.

I weighed myself today, and I've GAINED half a pound this week. I've been working out like a mad-woman, and am very discouraged. I'll keep going, because I love feeling stronger and more like my old self, but I really wish these last 10 pounds would leave, already. I've never had a hard time dropping weight in my life, and in fact my family thought I had an eating disorder for the past 10 years because I am naturally very thin. Walking around with a "pooch" is getting really old. Sorry for the moan. I'm just having one of those "poor me" days

 

[SierraJourney]

Thanks wamommy! My DH and his brother are about 16 months apart, and also says it's a great gap to have. So, we will probably start trying here in the near future, but still have to discuss it. Work is the big thing right now--because I work from home full time while I care for Camden. . .so not sure how that would work with TWO kids! My sister is pregnant right now too with her second one... so I don't want to rain on her parade either, so we will see...

I completely understand about the pooch! Mine won't go away either---no matter how hard I exercise! I've started giving up. . .though I cringe whenever I look at it or can't where slimmer fitting clothing. . . I've always been thin, too. . .so having the extra weight makes me feel a bit less pretty at times. . . It depends on the day---there are definitely some days where I feel like I look pretty dang good for birthing an 8lb 7 oz baby 5 months ago!

 

[Kellen]

I want to be all done having kids, but DH would like a son. We've discussed it and have agreed that if we still want to try for a boy when Teagen starts school in 5 years then that will be a good time. As an only child I enjoyed more freedoms that my friends with siblings did. However, DH is 364 days younger than his 3rd oldest brother (he is #4 of 6) so he'd at least like one more... he would really like to have 6 kids, but I told him that is not happening.

DH and my dad are still battling the illness I passed along. I don't know if it is because I'm a) younger, b) a woman, or c) a mom that I was done being sick after 7 hours.

Teagen is going through a growth spurt and eating every hour. Last night I finally ended up bringing her to bed with us because she wanted to eat every two hours. Sleep nursing is the best! Now she is laying on the bed next to me babbling and sucking on her toes. I wish I was flexible enough to stick my entire foot in my mouth.

 

[DragonflyWing]

We're probably going to have at least one more kid, but not for a couple of years. I think we'll start seriously considering it when the twins are around 2 or 3.

Any other bottle fed babies holding their own bottles? Lily just started doing this, and now unless she's really tired, she refuses to let anyone feed her...she MUST do it herself. She's not strong enough to hold a full bottle for a long time, so we put about 2 ounces in it, and then keep refilling it until she's done. She seems to have so much fun with it, and it really frees up some time for us!

 

[SierraJourney]

Dragon, Camden tries to hold his own night time bottle... but can't get it angled correctly so I have to help him.

 

[wamommy]

Max tries to hold his own bottle (and almost fights me for it sometimes) but he's not coordinated enough and ends up flinging it on the floor, in his own face, flipping it upside down, etc! I think he's probably a few weeks out from actually feeding himself. Well, done, Lilja!

Helena, I hope your trip is going wonderfully!

 

[Kellen]

Ditto, Helena. I hope that all your kiddos (DH included) are behaving well and having a good time. I hope your mom is doing better too and that the kids were able to give her lots of hugs.

Bottle feeding... Teagen scoffs at bottles. Yep, she refuses them completely. However, she will drink out of a water bottle or sippy cup. She is able to hold it by herself about 50% of the time. The other 50% she drops it on her face, flings it on the floor or whacks me with it.

Today I was good and finished 50% of my school work before hopping on BnB. Well, actually everything that is due today is finished. But I'm going to try to finish Sunday's assignment now as well. AF is scheduled to return next week and I'm PMSing like there is no tomorrow. It doesn't help that Teagen wanted to eat every 2 hours last night and DH is acting prissy. But all of that could be due to raging hormones! I am looking forward to tonight though. Our old pastor (who married us!) and his wife are going to be in town for dinner. DH and I are going to take a back route to the restaurant on the motorcycle and my parents are taking Teagen in their car.

 

[helena]

Hi girls!! Hello from Emgland!

So exciting you are thinking of number two Sierra two years between my first two and 2.5 years between my second and third. I love it. Like Wamommy I am maxed out now but I am sure it will be great as they age. My two eldest play great (also bicker great ) now. There was five years between my brother and I and I didn't like him at all or play with him. Maybe when I was 18 I decided he as ok! Now its great.

Our journey through France was ok....
The first day we drove 7 hours with just one 45 minute break. By god that was a loud journey...my 5 year old is so impatient. and they were so excited..I was declaring I would ever make the trip again!
But then we stopped for 3 days and then we drove 3 hours, took the ferry for 1.5, the drove another 2.5. And it was all fine that day.

Kiara is a star. She didnt cry unless hungryor wanting her pacifier. She has mostly slept great in the pack n play and is so adaptable and full of smiles.

Saw my mum today. She was ok, still far too skinny and not enough hair, but ok, smiling and putting a brave face on maybe. But ok. Not greatly worse at least. My kids weren't at all phased by her lack of hair. They really are brilliant. She read them stories

The house we rented in France was great. Very ultra modern, all mod cons. had toys for the kids, a bike for my eldest, a sit on tractor for my middle son in the grden. they were both so happy.
Now we are in a little English cottage. Very quaint and so different from the first. But the kids love it. Hopefully it will be a good week. We are right next to a river in a village whe i used to play as a kid, and right near a pub so DH is happy - he goes to teh bar and brings the drinks back to us here

https://pbckt.com/pg.QFJC3f

It's the inlaws tomorrow....wish me luck...catch up soon. I love having you ladies there to check in with..xxxxx

 

[wamommy]

Oh, Helena, that sounds so lovely!! What a wonderful pic, too. It's good to hear that your Mom had good time with the kids, and that Kiara hung in there for the long drive. It sounds like quite a success to me! Here's to a safe trip home

 

[Jo_Bean]

Hello ladies. Sorry I've not been around much. So nice to hear some of you are up for more babies!! We're NTNP and have been since having Olivia. Just because it took 5 years to et pregnant with her, so we aren't putting any obstacles in the way.

O is doing really well. We've started weaning her and she is doing so much better with food than she did with bottles! Everyone is surprised at her improvements and she's getting stronger every day!

I have been checking in but sorry I'm so bad at posting.

It's lovely that everyone still pops in here

 

[Kellen]

Helena - It sounds like you are having a good time on your vacation. I hope that the trip home is just as successful. That is a wonderful picture. I hope your mom gets to feeling better, but I'm glad that the kids were not overly affected.

Jo - I'm glad to hear that Miss O is thriving and doing well. I wish you and your DH the best on NTNP. Who knows? A friend of whose wife who gave birth on Feb 6th of this year is now expecting #3 in December. He said he'll be getting the snip-snip pretty soon if his wife doesn't do it for him first!

Not a whole lot going on here. Just really hot! Today was miserable as it was terribly muggy with thunderstorms rolling in. Next week DH and I are driving up to Portland. It is only a 4 hour trip, but we'll see how Teagen does.

We have begun adding a few more solids in to her diet as she gets quite angry and indigent when the adults have real food and she does not. I found a chair similar to the Bumbo that comes with a try and activity center. We'll be ordering it on Friday when DH gets paid. :woot: I also get to get a haircut on Friday. Teagen thinks it is hilarious when I do hair flips at her and pretend to be headbanging to metal. But so far avocado is her favorite food followed closely by watermelon.

We had three nights of Teagen waking up every 2 hours for a feed. I'm not sure if it was a growth spurt or what, but it was not my cup of tea. Kudos to you who dealt with this or are still dealing with it. Thankfully we are back to sleeping from 7pm-7:30am with a feed at 5:30am.

My grandma bought T a doll that giggles. I personally find it the most annoying thing ever created, but she loves it. It's name is apparently "Aga" as that is what Teagen says every time she sees it and reaches for it. She also has a stuffed caterpillar from the Eric Carle book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" that is fondly known as "Ack."

 

[Kellen]

So today I am being a horrible student and hopping on here first. Mostly because I didn't run away to the library or the coffee shop today, but rather ran away to the "big house."

I had a meltdown. We found out today that DH's insurance people neglected to add Teagen onto his plan in March and are now unable to do it or back date the coverage. Great! Now we owe her pediatrician here for visits and the NICU doctor. Awesome! I cried, DH held me, I lamented what a terrible person I am, he told me that wasn't true... Basically I just feel overwhelmed with crappy finances right now.

Thankfully my parents have agreed to babysit tonight and Drew and I are running away to the movies for a couple of hours. I also applied for state help with Teagen's insurance so hopefully that will come through. If not we can officially add her to the insurance in October during open enrollment. Although I'm hoping Drew has a better job by then with different insurance.

In other news Teagen can crawl. The only hitch is she hasn't figured out how to go forward! It is fairly hilarious. She gets this terribly confused look on her face as she goes backwards and further away from her toys. Poor baby...

 

[wamommy]

Jo, I'm so glad Olivia is doing well It's exciting that you're NTNP too! I'll bet it doesn't take long for #2 since your body is practiced now. How fun!

Kellen, how stressful about the insurance. I'm so sorry. Finances can be SO stressful and especially when there's an unexpected strain. I hope the movie was fun, though! I haven't seen a movie in the theater in more than 5 years I really should get out more.

i can't believe Teagen is crawling! Backward, but still! Max attempts to move forward, but just sort of "swims" in place on his tummy...lol. He's become a super athletic jumper, though. In his jumperoo he gets going crazily and launches way off the floor. It's fun to watch.

I thought for sure Max would LOVE fruit. Who doesn't, right? He doesn't... not really. Apples are ok, but the rest make him a little angry. He loves vegetables, though. LOVES peas. Last night he was grabbing the spoon to try to yank it into his mouth faster if I was taking too long. DH also dipped his finger in mustard and let Max taste a little. I thought he would cry, but he loved it! Weird kid.

 

[SierraJourney]

Kellen, Do you have any documentation that you told your health care providers that you wanted Teagen added? I was talking to DH (who works in health insurance) and he said that if you have documentation that you had asked for them to add her, then they should cover her. Also, even if you didn't ask, health insurance (at least here in Michigan), HAVE to cover the first 30 days of baby's life automatically. . .meaning NICU bills, etc. I'm not sure how it works over where you are, but that's how it works over here (and believe me, DH knows his ins and outs of health insurance! I hope there is something that can be done. Fight it if you can. Those bills have to be so outrageous.

Camden is still not very mobile. . .he rolled over from back to belly last weekend. . .but only once and I think it was a fluke. . .and it took him about 5 minutes to move there. lol He's not even rolling from belly to back yet.

We started him on cereal, but he's not completely sure on that, either. . .lol. I think he just enjoys being a tiny baby right now! No need to grow up! Phhh.

Any one have any tips on how to get baby to nap? I've probably posted this before, but Camden's naps are getting worse, I think. . . AND, he is super whiney all day recently because he's tired. BUT, the only way I can get him to nap is to nurse him to sleep, turn on a particular CD, and put him in his swing. This works maybe 50% of the time, probably once a day. I've tried so much to get him to nap. I've tried doing his bedtime routine (which he sleeps great at night), putting him in his crib, white noise, pacifiers, little lovey toys, etc. I've even tried to put him down drowsy, let him cry for 5 minutes, go and comfort him, let him cry for 10 minutes, comfort him, etc. . .but I can't go more than 10 minutes (and I'm not sure if that's okay?), and he gets SO worked up---tears streaming down his face, screaming until his face is red, etc. I KNOW he's tired, but I dno't know how to get him to nap. (Obviously he usually gets one nap a day from my nursing him to sleep, but that's it). And he's been like this since birth! I'll probably post this on the Baby Club board, too. . but wondered if you ladies have any suggestions/tips?

 

[Kellen]

Wamommy - Max sounds like a very independently minded little guy. Silly baby! Doesn't he know that you need to fight him to eat veggies and bribe him with fruit? lol And mustard is awesome! Teagen gets mad too if she doesn't get her food fast enough.

Sierra - Thanks for the tips on the health care. I will look into what rules are in place for Georgia (where we were). And we still have the paperwork that DH faxed to prove that we had had a baby. Thankfully my insurance that I had while working for the state covered a lot of it, but not all. We are still left paying about $4,000 out of $65,000. Not bad, but not great either. Besides she needs insurance for her current visits to the pediatrician here.

Today we should be receiving https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001NJC5QY/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00? It will be great to have Teagen sitting at the table with us. We are also going on a trip starting Wednesday. This should solve the problem of what to do with Teagen while eating out.

 

[wamommy]

Kellen, I love the chair! We've been feeding Max on the table in his bumbo or on my lap I have his chair ready to go, but I'm not sure he's physically ready for it. He might face plant into the table! I was going to pass DD#2's chair down to Max, but last week we found a practically NEW one online. I'm super excited. This is what we used for both girls and it worked so well at restaurants or grandma's house too. Our table that we eat dinner at is tall. so normal high chairs would leave him a couple feet below us

 

[SierraJourney]

Ooo! I love those seats! So cool! We are just using a highchair that has an option to be a booster. .. but it's be nice to have something portable to use at restaurants.. .. right now he usually sits in my lap when we go out and I have to fight him in order to keep my food on my plate.

 

[Kellen]

right now he usually sits in my lap when we go out and I have to fight him in order to keep my food on my plate.

This is what I'm having to do with Teagen too! The chair we were supposed to get today (unfortunately wildfires in the area are closing a bunch of roads due to smoke...) is very portable and can attach to any chair so we'll be able to take it out to eat. I've also been looking at a canvass one sort of like the one you posted, Wamommy, just to keep in the car.

Little Miss Teagen can basically sit unassisted... if she doesn't realize that she is doing it. Once she realizes no one is holding her she'll slowly slouch sideways and keep leaning until she either a) goes to her tummy on the ground or b) gets a reaction from an adult and is helped back up.

Sierra - I don't know what to tell you about naps. Teagen nurses herself to sleep for naps still, but since I don't work it is okay for us. She will also take naps in the swing for DH or be rocked to sleep by my mom. If I try any of those options she yells until I feed her. But at night we do our bedtime routine and I can put her in her crib sleepy, but awake and she'll drift off without a fuss. We don't have a routine for naps... they happen whenever I start seeing tired signs. Good luck!

The air quality here stinks! We had to wear fine particulate masks outside because of all the ash. Tons of warnings on the TV about not working outside. I am glad that we are going on a mini-vacation starting Wednesday. One of the major fires is only 10 miles from us. We couldn't even see the sun today.

 

[Kellen]

This is about a week early, but here is a picture of Teagen embracing BLW! After she finished we took a second bath for the day. Earlier she had noshed on some freshly picked blackberries from the back pasture.

 

[helena]

Lovely picture! She looks happy. what is the green? amd great chair!
oh and well done Taegan on crawling! Brilliant! We aren't there yet. Kiara has started moving by pushing herself along on her back using her feet, and when on her tummy she is trying to pull herself along but hasn't got her knees under her yet. I can see she I'd desperate to start chasing her brothers around.
We got back from our holiday yesterday. The drive went ok. Seeing Family was lovely. Mum was ok. still not great but a little happeir and that is enough for me. Kiara got to meet three great grandparents while we were away so that was excellent.
Disney land on the way back was great. We all had our photo with Buzz Lightyear
Kiara was a star throughout. She slept great in each place we stayed, though she woke early once or twice, and only cried in the car when hungry. She is such a good girl.

I have started adding finger food into her diet more. Today she sucked on a chunk of chicken breast and each day she has half a slice of toast after fruit and cereal for breakfast now. It is her favourite thing in the world. After mummy

I am hoping to wait another two weeks or so, until Kiara is 6 months plus her three weeks of being early, and then I will cut all night feeds. When we were away she was happy to go from 7pm until 4 or 5 am. She is eating a lot so that probably helps.

Photo of her on her six month "birthday" https://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv218/helena1977/Snapbucket/th_42290603.jpg

Oh Jo, exciting to think of another pregnancy potentially on the horizon one day.
Found out today that a close friend is 7 weeks