Valentines Babies, 2013!

[helena]

Wamommy, when do you find time to work out every day???...started a new diet today. Want to lose 10kilos before Christmas.....5 atleast. A diet has never worked for me before, I am rubbish at sticking to them!

 

[DragonflyWing]

We are having some behavior issues--do any of your lo's actually YELL back at you when you admonish them? Camden does this everyone we tell him not to do something. ...

Gunnar does this sometimes, but the issue we're having right now is that when we pick him up to take him somewhere he doesn't want to go, he yells, kicks, and hits. He basically turns into a furious ball of flailing fists and feet, which can get interesting when I'm trying to keep from getting socked in the stomach. It mostly happens when we're taking him to time-out for something else he's done, lol. I think he thinks it's funny, and doesn't quite understand that he can hurt someone, because when I say "ow!" and tell him he hurt me, he stops immediately and says he's sorry. Doesn't keep him from doing it the next time, though!

Here's my bump at 31 weeks...smaller than with the twins, but still starting to get pretty big!

 

[wamommy]

Dragon, you are so cute!! I can't believe you're already 32 weeks. Time is flying like crazy!

Max doesn't usually argue back with us or have fits, but when he does it's almost comical. He flaps his arms like a bird and says "gee gee gee gee." He looks like a cartoon and I have to stop myself from laughing and try to correct his behavior, lol. For the most part if I say, "Max! Please don't touch that." He looks at me, thinks about it, and moves on to something else. Once in a while he smiles coyly and touches whatever it is anyway, and then runs away... Weird kid.

Sierra, shingles sounds so painful! I'm glad it's easing up a bit. How is the new house?

Helena, I am totally the same with dieting. I don't believe in it at all. I've watched DH gain and lose the same 30 pounds several times since we've been married, because he always does these extreme diets and then when he stops it comes back on! I just took out some of my worst habits, like candy at night once the kids are in bed. I have also tried to increase my protein and eat less processed food. I figure that if I make one positive change a week I'm on the right track! As for exercising, I do it in my living room once the girls are at school and Luca is napping. I wish I had time to go to a proper gym, but I've honestly found a workout that challenges me more than anything I've done so far. There's a new p90x video out called p90x3, and each one is only 30 minutes. I just force myself to do it every day, and I've FINALLY started to see some results, after trying a few other videos (no one uses videos anymore...lol...I'm old. It's actually on a memory stick) I have found my forever workout plan. I can actually DO pushups and pullups now. It's kind of empowering.

How are everyone's LOs sleeping? Max still ends up in my bed around 1am every night and then stays there the rest of the night... He waked up every couple of hours still, too. Is this normal? I need to find a way to transition him to at LEAST a crib, and hopefully a toddler bed soon.

 

[DragonflyWing]

Lily goes to sleep on her own in her crib, and almost always sleeps through the night- usually 9pm-7:30am. Gunnar still needs to be held to go to sleep, and he sleeps through about 75% of the time, 9:30pm-8am (I usually put Lily down first so I can relax with Gunnar on the couch, so he ends up going to sleep a little later). Around 25% of the time, he wakes up in the night and needs to be rocked back to sleep, or DH takes him in the spare bedroom and they go back to sleep there.

How are naps going for everyone else? We're down to one nap a day, around noon, that lasts about 2 hours. I've been thinking about pushing it a little bit later, as the twins tend to start melting down around 7-8pm, and I wonder if it's because they are napping too early.

 

[helena]

Hi all,
Wow wamommy, well done on the working out. Maybe I will check that workout out. Day five of dieting going ok. It's just sensible eating I guess. No biscuits, cake etc. but ofcourse I can have the odd treat at the weekend

Kiara has tantrums sometimes and shouts "no!" And looks at me from under her eyebrows with a big pout on. It's actually very cute. If I stop her doing something she really wants she will scream and have a tantrum. She sometimes ends up laying face down having a tantrum to herself. I just leave her to it if I can. If we are out a quick tickle snaps her out of it. She seems to be less highly strung than my boys, in that distracting her or tempting her back into a good mood by laughing and tickling or playing is easier. She is naturally quite a smiley girl. My six year old however can still have some amazingly grumpy outbursts. But not in public anymore than god!
In my experience the Terrible Twos go on from 1.5 to 2.5. It will all work out soon..I hope!

Kiara is a great sleeper. Bed at 7.30 ish and sleeps until 6 or 7. She shares a room with my 4 year old and they go to bed giggling and shouting to each other. I am in no hurry to get her in a toddler bed. I know she will be out right away. I will keep her in he the "cage" as long as possible. Especially since it works so well. I think she could climb out if it assays to for her sleeping bag but she hasn't tried. She naps in her cot each afternoon for two hours ish without complaining now too. She likes her bed. My first son always hated sleep. Still does, fights going to bed and gets up early. My second son loves sleeping and loves his cosy bed. I am hoping Kiara will be like him. After my first son didn't sleep through for two years I was so amazed when I then got a baby who slept!!seemed such an angel.
I don't think I treated them any different. Maybe I co slept with the first more. I was so scared that my other babies would be bad sleepers I didn't really co sleep much.
Kiara does wake up sometimes. Last night she did, I am wondering if it's the big final molars since she just woke crying in the night, then she came in to us so not to wake her brother. Then she sleeps great, after a few minutes of stroking my face! Funny girl.

Any weekend plans? There is a fun run in our village and my 6 year old wants to run in the race for his age group so that's what we will be watching on Sunday


What's your LOs favourite dinner right now? Kiara just loves roast chicken legs. She nibbles it all and just leaves a bone at the end. Makes for some cute pictures

 

[SierraJourney]

The new house is great! Much smaller, so it's hard to fit everything in, but so much easier to clean! And being a stay at home mom is such a dream come true!

Camden usually sleeps through the night 7:30pm to 6:15, however lately he's been up 3-4 times in the night...I think he's getting more teeth, too. Camden is still taking two naps a day...one in the morning for about an hour and one in the afternoon for an hour. How did you gals know when to switch to one nap? He seems content with two.

Bought a potty seat the other day since Camden keeps saying "poo poo!" Every time he goes poop in his diaper. So far, he doesn't want to stay seated on the potty long enough to have aNY luck. .. any tips?

 

[wamommy]

I'm so jealous of your awesome sleepers! Honestly, my girls were SO bad that Max seems like an angel in comparison, lol. I also solved a major problem with Luca that has (so far) been like a miracle. It turns out he was cold! I thought the temperature was fine, and he wears a sleep sack, but he was getting up screaming constantly through the night. We went and bought the warmest, fuzziest sleepers we could find and last night he only woke twice!

As for naps, Max is down to one also. He sleeps for an hour to an hour and a half at around noon. We didn't conciously switch him to one, but he started skipping his morning nap on his own and then slowly moved his afternoon nap earlier. I just followed his lead and let him sleep when he seemed tired. Sierra, if Camden is happy with 2 naps, yay! I'd just do whatever works.

Helena, your son's run sounds fun! We don't have any plans this weekend, but it's supposed to be sunny so we'll probably go bike riding or to the zoo or something. Once the rainy, cold season sets in (which could be any day) it'll be indoor activities for MONTHS on end, so I want to get outside while we can!

Max's favorite foods are grapes and blueberries. He could eat a ton of them, but I can only give him a small bowl at a time or he gets... ahem... digestive issues. He cries for more though, lol. Besides that he loves yoghurt and broccoli. Not together... It's tough getting protein in him because he doesn't like meat, beans or cheese! I have to sneak things into his diet to try to balance it. He's a grazer too, and never eats more than a handful of anything at a time.

I've started listing a bunch of baby stuff online and am selling things little by little. It's so nice to start clearing out the million bins of kid stuff that clog my closets! It's kind of sad to finalize the "no more babies!" thing, but seriously... there will be no more babies. I may as well make a place for my vacuum...

 

[DragonflyWing]

Favorite foods for us right now: grapes, clementines, blueberries. They don't eat much meat, but they do like cheese and beans, so I hope they get enough protein.

I'm doing twice weekly doctor visits now- which are actually a whoooole bunch of different appointments squeezed into two days. Regular OB checkups twice weekly, NSTs twice weekly, ultrasound to check fluid levels once weekly, and diabetes clinic once weekly. I'm having to miss a lot more work than I'd like to. I was hoping to build up enough time off to take an extra week at the end of my maternity leave, but it's looking unlikely now, so I'll just have the 8 weeks. Boo!

Baby is measuring 5lb4oz already, and he's in the 71st percentile. Here's a profile pic from today

 

[wamommy]

Oh my gosh, he's CUTE, Dragon! If I'm not mistaken, he looks a little like the twins, doesn't he? So cool. Your appointment schedule sounds miserable, but at least you're in the home stretch. Hang in there! I used to just look at NSTs as a break and bring a book to read... lol.

My Mom came to visit a couple of days ago and I ended up with some pretty awesome blackmail material for when Max is older. Ahh, the joys of having older sisters.

 

[DragonflyWing]

Haha that picture is priceless!

 

[DragonflyWing]

I'm working at home today, and occasionally the twins try to talk to me through the door (a lot of the time I think they forget I'm in here lol). So I had just hung up the phone, and Lily knocked on the door.

Lily: Mama?
Me: Yes?
Lily: Pick up!
Me: Sorry honey, Mama is working right now.
Lily: Kiss you?
Me: You want to kiss me?
Lily: Kiss your face!
Me: Well, ok then.

Haha! How can you resist that? I took a break for some kisses and snuggles.

 

[helena]

How very lovely Dragon!

 

[helena]

Hi all,
Hoping you have had a good week?

I finally got around to getting Kiara her 18 month check up and MMR vacine. Oh my...I haven't heard anyone scream so much at the doctors, ever. Even before the injection Kiara was bonkers, refused to stand so the doctor could measure her height (maybe 80cm, maybe 82, who knows!?) screamed while doctor tired to listen to her chest, and as soon as the doc turned to the cabinet where she keeps the needles she went even more crazy shouting No No No no....I had to hold her down. Just awful. Nod because I was late going to get it done it means her two year ones are only three months away I might ask DH to take her!!
The only thing I really worked out was that she was 11kg or 24 lbs. ish.

Otherwise all is fine here. Today the sun is shining and I have just been in the garden planting an apricot tree. We have planted a fruit tree for each of our babies and Kiara hadn't had hers yet so this week I bought the apricot tree. My boys both have apple trees. Hopefully Kiara will like apricots...current favourite thing in the world is raspberries. She is stating "don't like it" far too often now. She only needs to hear one of her brothers say it at dinner time and suddenly Kiara "don't like it" either.... It was rice the other day then my casserole.

Have been on a diet for almost three weeks now. Am 6lbs down so pleased but hoping it will keep going down. This 6lbs takes me to where I was before Kiara. I feel the next chunk of weight will be harder to lose. I am not eating pasta, white bread or potatoes as much as I sued to. Oh wow I love carbs .....but I don't think they love me!

Finding out on Monday how my mums latest scans have gone..scarey times. Then the whole family is back off to England to see her and my inlaws the week after. It's been ages since we all travelled together so that will be nice.

Have a happy weekend ladies xxxx

 

[wamommy]

So cute, Dragon! Lily sounds like such a sweetie.

Helena, well done with the diet!! I'm admittedly jealous! I've been at it since the 4th of July, and have lost only 7 pounds since then!

Kiara sounds hilarious. I know it's terribly tough when it's your own baby, but I take a little pleasure in other people's kids having meltdowns. I feel like, "phew, it's not just my kid who does that!" Actually, Max is really mellow until right after the shot when he cries until I swoop him up for a cuddle... then he stops. He's SO different than my girls. They both were a lot like Kiara! If it's any consolation, now they both take shots like it's nothing.

Speaking of.... I got a phone call last Friday at lunch time that started off with, "this is the nurse at the primary school, is this Elise's mom?" Gulp. She fell off the monkey bars and broke her wrist. We spent the afternoon at the ER and the next Monday at the orthopedic surgeon. She doesn't need surgery, thank goodness, but will be in a (hot pink!) cast for 6 weeks. She was SUCH a trooper. So Kiara might not always hate the Doctor!

 

[DragonflyWing]

Oh no, poor girl! I hope her wrist heals as quickly and painlessly as possible.

 

[helena]

Sorry to hear that wamommy. But hot pink? Pretty cool!!

 

[DragonflyWing]

35 weeks! Less than 4 weeks to go until my c-section.

 

[wamommy]

Oh my gosh, Dragon, you're so close!! You look amazing. How does it feel to be 35 weeks pregnant? It must seem like an eternity after a shorter pregnancy with the twins. You're truly in the home stretch!

Here's my little trooper with her pink badge of honor.

 

[DragonflyWing]

It does feel like a loooong pregnancy! For the most part, it has been a lot easier than last time, but it is getting quite uncomfortable in these later weeks. I get BH contractions every 4-5 minutes for hours every night, and the SPD/PGP is making it pretty difficult to sleep comfortably or be very mobile.

However, it's really cool to feel the baby make such big movements (by the time the twins were big enough, they had run out of room to move!), it's like watching huge waves go across my belly. I also get lots of baby hiccups, which are cute.

He's already estimated to be about 7 pounds! He's going to be a big chubby baby, I think.

I love the picture with the cast! What a cutie

 

[Kellen]

Oh wow! Shots and casts and pregnant pictures! Quite a lot has been going on here...

Last week my grandmother finally moved ALL of her stuff into the new house... eek! The movers told her she didn't need to empty the old refrigerator and that they could move it with all the food inside and turn it on when it was installed. Well, she didn't listen and packed all the food in coolers - but no ice packs. When she got to the house she was worried that the food was going to spoil so she had me fetch some ice packs from the freezer upstairs. While bringing down an arm load one slipped and I tried to catch it with my foot... and broke my ankle.

Teagen is gaining lots of new words everyday. Mostly she says "yes" but "no" is beginning to enter into the conversation as well. Right now one of her favorite words is "stuck." If something is broken or doesn't work how she thinks it should it is promptly labeled as stuck.

Her favorite toy is her shape sorter... and bubbles. I have to hide the bubbles because she will sit and cry about the bubbles being all gone. But she does a good job with the shapes and enjoys talking about the colors and textures. Coloring is still a favorite here too.

DH is still on the boat, which is great. It has helped our finances a LOT! He has at least another two weeks before they get back to port. Poor man is working from 6pm to 6am and is bored. His tasks for last night was to mop the galley floor. According to him the galley is a great big 10'x15' area and it took a whole 5 minutes.