Valentines Babies, 2013!

[DragonflyWing]

Any unusual stress lately, helena? Sometimes stress makes my periods wacky.

I had the WORST nightmare last night. I think it was probably the worst dream I've ever had, and I've had some really awful ones.

I dreamed that DH left me, and got engaged to another woman. He proposed to her right in front of me. It sounds silly, but it was detailed and vivid, and it felt so real. My heart broke.

When I woke up, I almost stayed home from work because I couldn't seem to force myself to get out of bed. Eventually I got up, but even now 3 hours later, I feel shaky and still have that heartbroken feeling. I even started crying a few times on the way to work. I don't think I will feel back to normal until I can talk to DH about it. He was asleep when I left for work, but I feel like I need him to tell me how silly I'm being

 

[SierraJourney]

Camden screeches ALL of the time! He doesn't have a quiet volume. The pediatrician said it's just them discovering their voices and once they learn it, they'll discover other volumes as well.

We're still extremely clinging over here! I'm not sure what's going on. . .if it's teeth, they are taking a LONG time! Camden spent FOUR hours on my lap yestserday because he refused to be put down. If I put him down, he WAILS and turns red. . .so I don't like to get him that worked up. Any suggestions!?

wamommy---I've been wanting one of those playyards! I want to have one for outside so I can do gardening and know he's not getting into too much mischief.

Hooray for Max being mobile! I agree--it was easier without the mobility! Camden has just started to pull himself up on things this week---he's constantly pulling up on my chair to cry to be picked up! Or he pulls himself up on my legs! Cutie pie.

And don't worry---Camden gets told "no" alot too because he plays in my office with me while I work. . .so he's constantly trying to touch the printer, pull on cords, etc. . . *sigh*

helena. . .hopefully AF shows up soon! That's always worrying . . . I agree that it might be the running, though. . . exercise messes mine up too.

 

[Jo_Bean]

Hi everyone :wave: I just wanted to pop by and see how you were all doing. Wow! Aren't our little ones all grown up already. Time really flies doesn't it?

Hope everyone is well, I can't find the time to read everything to get up to date, but I've skim read a few pages and it seems everyone has utterly beautiful little kiddies now

We are good, Olivia is a little fighter and proving people wrong continually. She is behind on gross motor skills, but way ahead of where they thought she might be at the year point. She is a very happy baby, always smiling or blowing kisses and truly the joy of my life.

I've decided to come back to BnB now that things have settled down with us. We have a working diagnosis and I am quite happy with what we're working towards now. It's a million miles away from what we were looking at before and I am in a much better place to deal with it all and to enjoy everyone elses milestones along with them. It was hard at times, but we're coming out the other end now.

Hope you are all doing ok xx

 

[DragonflyWing]

Hi Jo, welcome back! So glad to hear that Olivia is doing well!

 

[helena]

AF turned up, early, but was only 2 days. I guess stress could be it. I am continually stressed. I only ran twice...ops...Zumba tonight tho

Hi Jo! Happy to see you x x

 

[wamommy]

So good to see you, Jo!! Olivia looks so beautiful and grown up in your avatar! I'm so glad to hear she's doing well.

 

[Kellen]

:wave: Hi, Jo! Glad you and Miss Olivia are back. So jealous of her hair. She is gorgeous.

 

[SierraJourney]

Hi Jo!!! So glad you are back! I've gone over and read your journal now and again and it sounds like Olivia is just doing wonderfully! And she's just gorgeous! Sooo good to "see" you again.

 

[Jo_Bean]

Thanks ladies. So lovely to see so many of you are still around

 

[SierraJourney]

Hi ladies! Hope you're having a lovely weekend!

I needed to get on here and rant a little bit. You all know a bit of my mil struggles... (she's a nice lady. . .just a bit pushy. . and steps on my toes a lot as a mother) Anyways.. . does is bother any of you ladies when mil (or mom) is kissing all over your lo? I mean, I'm okay with a kiss when they first get here or when they are leaving, but seriously, mil was kissing Camden the whole afternoon she was here! And she was sick last week. . .and I'm a complete germ freak! I asked DH to say something to her and he said he would. . .I just can't take the constant slobbering on him.

Also, I know I'm a bit sensitive when it comes to mil issues, but we were putting Camden to bed last night and she wanted to come up and put his pajamas on him. I understand that it's her grandbaby and she wants to be super involved, but I feel that 1) bedtime is a special time where DH & I get to put him down and do his routine. . .I don't want that messed. 2) If I want you to help, I would have asked you. I understand wanting to do it (because who wouldn't want to dress a cute little baby?!), but in my head I'm like : "this is MY chance to have a baby and care for him. You already have your kids---you don't need to try to help with mine." I know that probably sounds just super calloused, but the whole situation just aggravates me because she never ASKS me about things---she TELLS me that is what she's doing. And I hate that. Like, she told me she was coming up this weekend to babysit. She also said when she was leaving "I'll probably be up next weekend too"---just assuming she can come over whenever. . . It just drives me crazy. In my opinion, if I want someone to babysit, I'll call you. If we aren't busy on a weekend, I'll let you know. If you don't hear from me, it's because we want to just be alone!

I'm a bit hormonal lately, so that might play a part. . .but goodness. ..

Thanks for the vent, ladies!

 

[Kellen]

Sierra - I can only sympathize as I have no idea what my MIL will be like this next week. I'm sure I'll have some stories to tell.

Right now all I can think about is the fact that Teagen has been up for 30 minutes and we still have a dry diaper. Not enough fluids? Not enough night nursing? NO! She has signed potty twice and went pee in the toilet! So excited!

 

[wamommy]

Sierra, I don't have a MIL, so it's hard to relate to the relationship, but I totally understand the germ thing! I don't mind people holding Max, but I'm not a fan of kissing his hands or face. It would drive me crazy to have someone announce they were coming over without asking, though! We're pretty private, and our routine is super important to us. The kids all get wonky when the routine goes south. Sometimes it's worth it (Christmas, vacation, etc) but most of the time I would SO rather guests leave the "routine" stuff to us. I wouldn't appreciate the insistence on "helping" either. I'm sure her intentions are good, but maybe she's just REALLY bad at reading people and their reactions? I'm so sorry this continues to cause you stress! Feel free to vent here when you need to!

Kellen, I can't believe Teagen peed in the potty!! What a huge achievement! She'll be diaper free super early if she's already that self aware. My girls were both in diapers until just before 3. Not only is it yucky to change a big kid diaper, but expensive too! It would be so nice for you to avoid all that. Well done!

We had my Mom, Godmother and niece over to celebrate Max's b-day early because they're busy on the 4th. It was alright, but Max gets so quiet and shy around them! I had to tell them, "I swear he talks and laughs. He doesn't usually just stare..." Ugh. Weird little guy. He didn't like his cake, either! I thought he'd love a chance to snarf some sugar, but he poked at his cake a couple of times and probably ate 2 bites, lol. My niece was also sick and sneezed right in Max's face a few times, so I'm crossing my fingers he doesn't get sick again.

Are you guys watching the Super Bowl today?? We are!! GO SEAHAWKS! Only 7 hours until kick-off!

 

[SierraJourney]

Thank you ladies. I'm a private person, too, wamommy---so having someone wanting to be so involved is driving me crazy. . .and I just don't think she's doing it in a good way. . .she just comes off very pushy. After I wrote that post, yesterday she called DH and wanted to babysit while we go to the grocery store (we had told her the day before that we were grocery shopping yesterday) Well, thankfully we were already at the store, so it was too late, but she gave DH a sob-story "but I wanted to babysit". It just drives me crazy because I don't ASK her to babysit, she just tries to set up times. It looks like I'll actually need a babysitter once a month for a couple hours pretty regularly, so I'm hoping if I ask her to do that, it will suffice her babysitting desire and she'll stop being so invasive. It's hard because DH just feels bad for her because she's retired and it's her first "real" grandchild (she has 7 step-grandchildren that she sees quite often), and she keeps saying that she wants to be really involved in Camden's life. DH feels bad and wants to cater to her, but I like to be more independent--I want to watch my own kids. . .and OCCASIONALLY have a babysitter. She's expecting him to stay the night at her house in the near future, etc. . .and I'm just a bit too possessive to let my baby be out of my sight more often than is necessary. Argh. . . well at least I have this week where she won't be up. . .but apparently she's coming back this weekend. . . *sigh*

Kellen---enjoy your trip!! I hope it goes wonderfully for you! When do you leave? I can't believe Teagen is so self-aware. What a little star!

wamommy---are you so excited from the win last night?! I was thinking of you a lot! I'm not a huge sports fan, but I do watch the superbowl. Fun stuff.

Oh, and btw, on Friday night I found out that my OTHER sister is having a baby in August! It's just full of babies over here!

 

[DragonflyWing]

Gunnar took his first steps!!

Last night, he was cruising around the kitchen while I put groceries away, and he started whining to be picked up. I held my arms out to him, and stood far enough away that he had to let go of the cabinet to reach me. As he let go, I took a couple steps backward, and without even realizing it, he walked forward to get to me! I tried it a couple more times, putting him down and backing up a little, and he did it each time!

It will be a little while for Lily, I think, but she's making progress too. I woke up yesterday morning to see her standing in her crib...so she can pull herself up now.

 

[SierraJourney]

YAY Dragon!! That's wonderful!! So cute!

 

[wamommy]

To be honest, Sierra, Max will be 1 tomorrow and no one but DH or myself has ever babysat him! We're probably over-the-top paranoid about his safety, but more than that we just don't know anyone well enough to trust them with an infant. We have a couple of friends who we trust with the girls for a couple of hours at a time, but even that scares me! I think I'm just a control freak too, and I'm worried that they won't be kept safe the way we would do it. I know I need to get over it, because with 4 kids a babysitter WILL eventually be necessary. My Mom offers all of the time (and has even cried and said that I won't "let" her have a relationship with my kids) and she wants to have the girls spend the night with her. I would just rather make my mom angry than chance an accident with the girls.

I feel like I sound totally paranoid, but I'll give you a quick example. When I had Max and was in the hospital, DH went down to the hospital cafeteria with my Mom and the girls. DH went to get ketchup and heard a scream. He looked back to see a nurse running across the room screaming and MY DAUGHTER hanging by her neck from the blind cords at the window. She had stood up on her chair, put her head through, and the chair had slipped out from under her. My Mom was checking her email on her phone... The nurse made it to my daughter about the same time as DH and they got her down. That was within 30 seconds of her watching them alone...

Dragon, yay Gunnar!! I'm sure Lily won't be far behind because she'll want to keep up with him! How fun!

The Super Bowl was exciting, but a TON of work. DH didn't want a single sound to interrupt "his" game, so I worked SO hard to keep all of the kids occupied and Max quiet. It was a very large challenge, and DH didn't even acknowledge how I missed most of the game to take the kids. I'm actually pretty upset about it today. He gets to drink beer and watch our team win and I chase 3 kids around for 5 hours and try to catch a play here and there... I also made 2 meals and cleaned it all up while he zoned out. I really should have married a poet...

 

[SierraJourney]

wamommy---that's so scary about your daughter!! I'm so glad the nurse and DH saw her!

I'm also so glad that I'm not the only one who feels this "paranoid" way! If it were up to me, I'd never have a babysitter (at least while he's awake. . .I find it easier to leave him with MIL while he's sleeping so she doesn't have to "do" anything). DH needs a bit more freedom than I do, I think. . so I know I have to compromise. . .but I want it to be on MY watch. . not MILs! Thanks for making me feel better. . .this baby is just so precious to me. . .I don't want anyone to watch him besides me and DH!

I'm sorry to hear about the superbowl. . .that sucks. Seriously. . .your DH needs to help you out more. . .that's just not fair. Do you ever try to talk to him about it? It seems to me that if he works during the day and you work taking care of the kids all day, then you both should SHARE the responsibility of watching them at night. It's ridiculous for you to have to do everything!!

Camden's amber teething necklace arrived in the mail today---I bought it in attempts to maybe help the clinginess a bit. . . he's had it on for 20 minutes so far. .. here's hoping for results!

 

[wamommy]

Ooh, I hope the teething necklace works! Let me know if it does. Max is struggling so much with pain in his mouth. He keeps biting me!

You're totally right that DH needs to help out more. The funny thing is, he DOESN'T work outside the home. We live off of real estate investment income and BOTH of us are home all day. That makes it especially irritating that I do ALL of the cooking, cleaning, and night waking with the kids. He does watch the kids while I shower and workout (somehow staying thin is more important than reading a book or taking a bath or otherwise tending to my sanity). He takes Max every other morning so I can sleep in for an hour or 2. That's it. I think that's one reason I'm freaking out about the new baby so much. I just don't have the help or support system that I really need to make this work. I'm already stretched so entirely thin... I've tried talking to him about it but he shuts down and says, "I guess you married the wrong man, then." Or, "I guess all I do is worthless then and I should do nothing since you nag at me anyway." I feel like I can't win. To be honest, I don't really like him very much at all. How sad is that?? If we didn't have kids I would have been out the door years ago.

 

[DragonflyWing]

Wow, that's really unfair that you're stuck with all the work, wamommy. I'm sorry you're being treated so poorly. That's a tough situation. Do you think couples counselling would be helpful at all?

 

[SierraJourney]

Awwww wamommy. .. What a hard place to be in. I'm so sorry. It doesn't even sound like he is listening to your needs or trying to "play fair". ..sounds like he is just wanting to do his own thing---living the bachelor life but with the married benefits. I feel so badly for you. My husband overlooks a lot sometimes (like that the kitchen is dirty or the shower hasn't been cleaned), but when it comes to caring for Camden, he jumps right in. I wish you had at least *a little* help from your DH!