Valentines Babies, 2013!

[Kellen]

Helena - Congrats to your little mobile baby! That is super exciting. Although Teagen can semi-crawl or even cruise she isn't very fast yet and that frustrates her. This weekend has been dedicated to baby proofing the house and trailer. We have socket plugs and all that jazz.

I drove my grandmother up to Portland to help us house sit for my uncle. We were supposed to be there until the 3rd, but his surgery was canceled (this is what happens when you accidentally slice off your heal, fall down 5 steps and break your ribs apparently). My aunt and grandmother get along about as well as oil and water. So last night I packed Teagen and my grandmother into the car at 7:30pm and drove 5 hours home.

DH is still in Portland doing school work. We aren't sure when he is going to be able to make it home. Right now there are major storms hitting the west coast from Seattle to California. We are supposed to get up to 6 inches of rain tonight and could experience flash flooding. The longest DH and I have been away from each other since we got married is 8 days. But when we were dating we went months at a time (Texas to California isn't easy!). I am hoping we will get to go up again on the 13th or the 17th and stay with him for a bit.

In baby news: Teagen has horrible diaper rash! She has also been running a low fever (99.5) and been pulling at her mouth and ears. I think we have another tooth coming in. I also found some affordable cloth diapers that I am going to order and see how they work out. We just had to move into size 4 diapers. I think that will help clear up the rash and make her more comfortable.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful and relaxing weekend.

 

[DragonflyWing]

Way to go on the crawling! Sorry about Teagan's diaper rash, I hope the cloth diapers help clear it up. Size 4 already?! Gunnar just moved to size 3, and Lily is still in 2s! She is in mostly 6 month clothes, and Gunnar is in 9 months. Is T in 12 months already?

I want to punch DH right in the face right now. Remember a few weeks ago when he was out until 4 in the morning and I couldn't get in touch with him? He did it again! This time, he was out 4 hours after he was supposed to be home, and he had the babies with him. We went to visit his grandpa, and when we left, I was going to run errands, and DH was going home with the kids. However, when I got home 3 hours later, they were still not home. I called his cell, but it was turned off. I was sitting here worrying myself half to death for an hour before they finally got home. Turns out DH stopped at his cousin's house on a whim and hung out there for hours. When I told him I had been worried because I thought he was going straight home when we left his grandpa's, he said "I never said that. You're always making assumptions and then holding me accountable for them." Basically completely invalidating my feelings once again, and then pretended he didn't see the tears streaming down my face. Son of a bitch.

 

[Kellen]

Dragon, that super sucks! I can't believe that he would completely ignore the fact that you were WORRIED about him and the babies. It wasn't that you were trying to hold him accountable to your assumptions, you were trying to make sure they weren't all sitting in a ditch somewhere or in the hospital. I can completely understand wanting to punch him in the face. Is it possible to bring the subject up tomorrow or the next day when your emotions are not so raw? It sounds like he really needs to understand how deeply this impacts you.

 

[wamommy]

Dragon, I would be so upset! I don't quite understand how your DH expects you to NOT worry?? In my eyes that would mean you didn't care about them. I agree with Kellen that you should sit down with DH and explain how much this hurts you, and hope that he doesn't get so defensive. I'm sorry you had to go through that worry.

Well done Kiara with the crawling! What clever girls we have between her and Teagen! Max is still happily stationary. At least now he can "spin" on his tummy to see what's going on in the room or try to grab a cat. Luckily our house is still pretty much child proof, so there won't be much to do once Max is mobile. My larger concern is the Legos and other small objects the girls leave all over the house!

The west coast storms hit us pretty hard here, Kellen. I like the rain, but this is crazy. Unfortunately there was a large wet spot in our family room on the carpet, and after further investigation it seems to be coming through the wall! We need to find where the rain is entering today. Ugh...

Max has been battling the mother of all colds. He can't breathe through his nose at all, so he can't eat very well, which makes him REALLY cranky. He also can't sleep, which makes ME really cranky. Any tips for a sicky baby to clear their nose? I've tried the saline and bulb syringe, but it just comes right back and Max hates it.

 

[Kellen]

Wamommy - Oooh, an indoor wet spot is no good at all. The storm hit us pretty hard as well. The wind was absolutely horrific yesterday, but we did get to test out Teagen's new winter coat. It was so puffy she just sat there and didn't move. Bad mommy I laughed at her. At least the sun is shining right now. Poor Max! No breathing is no fun. Hopefully it will clear up soon so that you can both get some rest.

Dragon - Teagen is mostly in 12 month clothes, but some of her stuff is 18 months for the length. Right now she is probably around 20lbs, but she is really, really long. The size 3 diapers fit around her middle, but they were giving her nasty diaper rash in the creases by her legs. Once we moved up a size and liberally slathered her in coconut oil it went away almost immediately.

I just sat down at my computer with a bowl of applesauce while throwing a piece of toast in the toaster for Teagen. She was swinging in her swing watching "Baby Signing Time." She looked over and noticed I was eating and demanded that I share. So she ate half my applesauce and is now working on the toast. We made up some meatloaf using quinoa, brown rice, leeks, ketchup, eggs, almond milk and ground beef... Teagen is a meatloaf eating monster. I had to limit how much she had on her tray because she would just keep shoveling it in her mouth and wasn't bothering to chew. It was just soooo tasty!

I am looking forward to Wednesday. The lady that we donated some milk to during the summer has an 11 month old and she invited us over to play for a while. Teagen loves other kids, but doesn't get the opportunity to interact as often as she would like. I think there will be a couple of other babies there as well.

 

[DragonflyWing]

I am in such a nasty mood today...everything is making me irrationally angry, and I just feel WRONG. Like my clothes don't feel right, my shoes feel too tight, the sun is too bright, etc. I think I need a glass of wine and a good book tonight after the kids are in bed!

 

[wamommy]

Dragon, I'm so sorry you're struggling! I wish I could share a bottle of wine with you and commiserate! Hopefully you'll get some time to relax and things will look better tomorrow.

Kellen, the meatloaf you made sounds amazing. I need to experiment more with Max! I'm kind of waiting on his nose to clear, because right now he can't even really drink his bottle. Poor guy wheezes and snorts and then gives up and smacks his bottle away, followed by catatonic screaming.

A playdate with another baby sounds so fun! I don't really know anyone around here with babies around Max's age. We knew one couple really well, and even idolized how they raised their kids, how much they had their stuff together, etc. They have a little boy near Max's age, but we just found out that all SORTS of things are incredibly disturbing about their lives (i.e. drugs, gambling, infidelity, mental illness). I guess it just goes to show that you never really know what goes on behind closed doors.

In other news, there's only a little over a week until my first ultrasound! I don't really know how we're going to do it because I don't have anyone to watch the girls. Can you picture me, DH, my 2 girls and Max all in a tiny ultrasound room? I could call around and beg, but I really hate to bother anyone.

 

[Kellen]

Dragon - I can't even begin to imagine how hectic life is with twins. Then add on the stress of your DH not understanding the basic instinct of worrying. You have a lot on your plate. In solidarity of your stress my mom and I watched Dancing with the Stars and shared a bottle of Cinnamon Hard Cider.

Wamommy - So exciting about the ultrasound! You obviously need to move closer so that we can have play dates and I can watch the kiddos when you need some time to breathe. The property next door is for rent :wink: How is your morning sickness? Poor Max sounds absolutely miserable. I commiserate with him. This morning I woke myself up snoring and I don't snore... except when I can't breathe through my nose. Thankfully Teagen hasn't shown any signs of congestion.

 

[SierraJourney]

So exciting about all of the mobile babies!! Wamommy--I'm with you--Camden has just been spinning in circles on his belly! I find it adorable, though! Can't wait for the ultrasound!!!

Dragon---I'm so sorry about your DH--I would have been furious!! I hope your wine and book were of much comfort last night! (Sounds delightful to me!)

We finally felt two teeth poking through this morning for Camden! So proud!! So, since these are the first teeth, I'm wondering---how long do they take until they are completely out?

 

[wamommy]

Oooh, grats on the new teeth, Camden!! It looks like we're the sole gummy baby over here still!

Kellen, I wish we lived closer, too! I'm honestly getting pretty sick of the traffic and crime up here. We live in a really nice area, but if you try to go anywhere on the freeway, good luck!

Dragon, how are you feeling today? I hope all looks brighter!

I had DH take a 10 week "bump" picture this morning. It looks quite like a mug shot and I think I look much fatter than in real life. Most of the little "bump" I have is left over Mommy pooch from Max. Luckily it's getting colder, so I can disguise a little chub with a nice sweater!

 

[SierraJourney]

Wamommy I can't believe you've had 3 kids and you look the way you do----you're soooo skinny! I'm completely jealous now that your 10 week bump looks way better than my 8 months after baby body!

I think I might exercise after work now. . . . at least that's motivation!

 

[wamommy]

That's very sweet, Sierra! I think part of it is luck that I'm so tall. I can carry weight well because it's spread out. I can also thank morning sickness for dropping the last few pounds of baby weight. I was just looking at pics from 13 weeks with Max, and that seems to be when I explode!

I must say that exercise has been my only time to myself since I had Max. DH doesn't complain too much when I go in the other room and do a workout dvd with the girls. Somehow that's more acceptable than a long bath or reading a book.

 

[DragonflyWing]

They were delightful, thank you! I feel much better today.

Gunnar's first tooth poked through about 6 weeks ago, and it's most of the way in now. They both have their bottom two front teeth, now we're waiting on the top two.

wamommy, you look fabulous! I don't see a bump at all yet, you are svelte!

 

[Kellen]

Sierra - Congrats to Camden on his teeth! It is so exciting to watch them come in. I think Teagen's are finally all the way up and they came in the first week of August. They are little razors!

Wamommy - You look pretty fantastic for being pregnant with your 4th. DH's are silly. I would think he would be encouraging you to relax so as to allow your body to do all the hard work that goes into making a baby.

Dragon - I am glad to hear that your book and wine helped last night. It sounded like you were having an "Alexander Day" (from the book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day).

Nothing too exciting here. Tomorrow is our play date. I think AF is on the way because I want CHOCOLATE! I don't even really like chocolate... but right now it is the only thing that sounds good, which typically only happens before AF. Oh the joy.

 

[wamommy]

Oh my, Max is still soo sick! Does anyone have advice on what to do to help a stuffy nose? I know I should know how to handle this by now, but honestly my girls never got sick when they were this young. I think they were both over a year before they had their first cold! Poor Max can't breathe, won't eat, and barely sleeps. I feel so sorry for him! I bulb syringe his nose 3 times a day, and use a saline spray, but nothing seems to be working! He sounds like a cute little pig sitting here on my lap snorting away.

 

[SierraJourney]

Aww poor Max! wamommy, I have no idea what to do. . . Camden's never been sick yet (knock on wood). . . Maybe a humidifier? Did you try to post in the main board? They might have better advise? Sorry, I wish I knew what to do to help---poor little guy has to be miserable!

 

[wamommy]

A humidifier is a great idea. I asked my Mom, and she says she used to take us into the bathroom and run the hot shower with the door closed, making a steam room. I think a humidifier sounds easier!! I just googled the common cold in babies, and it can last 10-14 days!

 

[SierraJourney]

10-14 days?! That sounds like the longest two weeks ever! If you don't have a humidifier, you could always keep him in the kitchen with you while you boil water on the stove. . .has the same affect. I know whenever I boil my pump parts on the stove, the whole house gets "sticky" from the humidity!

 

[Kellen]

Poor Max. I don't have any advice for baby colds. Teagen thankfully hasn't gotten one yet.

Men are idiots sometimes. So today Teagen had her playdate with the 11 month old, and everything went fine... except for the fact that Teagen whacked herself in the eye with a wooden block. She has a pretty awesome shiner, but the other mom felt horrible. So when we laid down for a nap I took a picture of her black eye and sent it to DH saying: Teagen whacked herself in the eye with a block. She was a champ and didn't even cry, but the shiner is pretty impressive.

Then we Facetimed with my MIL and I explained how Teagen got a black eye. Then I laid down with Teagen for bedtime (after two hours of her whining, fussing, screaming, crying) and finally nursed her into a peaceful slumber when DH texts: I hope you have a good night. Then he calls and accuses me of not telling him when his child got hurt: "There are somethings a parent likes to know..." No shit Sherlock! Then he hung up. So I sent him a text with an explanation and attached the earlier text to it. Then he texts back: We are not having this discussion via text tonight.

Once Teagen is finally asleep I sneek away to call him. He refuses to answer. Then he calls me. Turns out his mother told him that another kid hit Teagen in the face with a block. WTF WOMAN! Thankfully DH's teacher is out for the rest of the week so he is coming home for an extended weekend tomorrow. I seriously want to punch someone in the face... This whole thing is ridiculous.

 

[helena]

Hi all.
I use a humidifier when Kiara is stuffy. And we get drops of oil that smells good and clears noses. I put it in her bed at night. Karvel make the I think. A bit like Vicks?
Here in France they also have eucalyptus suppositories. They work well but make for horribly pongy diapers...


We have a third tooth! A the top, just poking through. She is clingy and hurts a bit I think though, poor little girl.

Had my brother to stay for the weekend until Tuesday. All went well until the last day when we had a row about my parenting...Urgh, I am so mad and depressed about it. EH thinks I should be more strict. But I can't tolerate anyone telling me I am wrong in the way he did...my kids, my business. Urgh.