Valentines Babies, 2013!

[wamommy]

Dragon, Anson is absolutely gorgeous!! Congratulations! I LOVE the name. I'm so glad the birth went well and that he's gaining weight nicely. I totally hear you on the pain of night feedings. A silent, dark house can feel pretty lonely, especially when the morning comes and everyone else is clueless to how difficult your night was. I was the opposite on pain killers. I felt "swimmy" and out of it, and stopped taking them when I left the hospital because I felt like I would do something weird or dangerous, lol. I'm kind of a paranoid control-freak, though, so that could be why.

I can't believe you're a mommy of THREE! I'm so excited for you, Dragon.

Kellen, I'm sorry to hear about the food poisoning. Yuck. Sick babies are so hard. Mine are all (knock on wood!) finally well at the same time, instead of cycling through illness after illness.

I miss you all and hope you're enjoying this wonderful winter season.

 

[DragonflyWing]

Thank you! I love the name too...we didn't decide until we actually saw him. Anson had been on our list for a while, but it was never a top contender. I had honestly forgotten it was even on the list. On the way to the hospital, we went through the list again to refresh our memories. When the baby was born, we looked at him and agreed that he looked like an Anson. It's grown on me more and more ever since . I'm so relieved we managed to agree on something!

 

[helena]

Oh dragon he is beautiful! We'll done!, and he is growing so well!! Top marks mummy.

I rememebr I used to balance Kiara on a pillow while feeding in the night, so I could use my phone or iPad and save myself being too bored. Or I got a load of crappy magazines That needed no brain power.

Will done on the quick recovery too - I also got up within a matter of hours and I swear it aided the recovery.

Keep up the good work xxxx

 

[SierraJourney]

Congratulations Dragon--he's perfectly precious! I too used to use a boppy pillow to prop baby while nursing so I could play on my phone. ..really helped pass the lonely night feeds!

 

[DragonflyWing]

Thank you ladies! I do use a boppy pillow while nursing, but I still need one hand on the baby and one hand holding my breast so he doesn't smother or fall off. Once in a while I can get by with one hand using the football hold, but only when I'm propped up in bed with several pillows, so it doesn't work at night (the twins sleep in our bedroom so I nurse in the living room at night).

Last night, Anson nursed at midnight, 2:30am, and 6am. That actually seemed quite reasonable, he didn't clusterfeed, and I managed about 5 hours of sleep.

I have a bit of a sore throat that I'm pretending doesn't exist, because I absolutely can't get sick right now. I have actually started drinking 1-2 cups of coffee each day and it's really helping me feel more human rather than like a sluggish lump.

I'm quite pleased with my recovery so far. My incision site is still a bit sore, and I seem to be freezing cold all the time, but other than that I feel pretty normal.

I lost 10 pounds while I was pregnant, and I was interested to see how much I would lose after the baby was born. When we got home from the hospital, I got on the scale and was HORRIFIED to see that I was 8 pounds heavier than the day before the c-section. How had I managed to have an almost 8 pound baby, and yet GAIN 8 pounds?! A day or two later, my feet and ankles puffed up to huge proportions, and I realized I was retaining a ton of water. Over the next 12 days, I lost 30 pounds of fluid, and I'm now 32 pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight. Pregnancy seems to be magical for my metabolism. With the twins, I gained 22 pounds and then lost 27 in the first two weeks postpartum. On the other hand, breastfeeding seems to kill my metabolism. After the twins, I gained all the weight back within a few months after they were born. I'm hoping that doesn't happen again this time!

 

[Kellen]

Dragon - He is perfect! Such a handsome little fellow. I love the picture with his hands in front of his face: "Not now, Mom!" And I remember how bored I used to get being up with Teagen at night. I finally managed to get a bed pillow and use a boppy and my knees to support her so that I could hang onto a book or phone or kindle.

Teagen is all done being sick. Her appetite has returned with a vengeance. Poor thing lost nearly 5lb due to not being able to keep anything down.

DH comes home next Sunday! I am looking forward to having an extra body around to help out with stuff. Also our primary groomer just found out she is expecting number two... LOL. She - like Wamommy - was on birth control and thought they were done having kiddos for right now. Teagen is fascinated by the concept of a baby growing in her belly.

 

[helena]

What are we getting our valentines lovelies for Christmas?
Kiara will be getting a pink scooter. With a clip on pink plastic horses head for the front!! how much more girly can we get!? She uses her brothers scooters right now and absolutely loves them

She is chatting lots now, finAlly, and it's all "look mummy, look!" Or "I did it! Look, I did it!". We is still very shy and hides when strangers try and talk to her, but I quite like that - she won't be wandering off with a stranger in a hurry!

X x x

 

[helena]

A couple of updated pics..

My funny girl has decided Alice bands are good. Especially ones with ears on. But she calls all bands "rabbits" now. Even ones that are just a plastic band. Or just a bow. She does make us laugh. https://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv218/helena1977/th_imagejpg1-4.jpg

And here we are at our playgroup Christmas party (me in black, green scarf)
https://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv218/helena1977/th_imagejpg1-5.jpg

 

[DragonflyWing]

Love the pictures, helena!!

The twins are two years old today! I can't believe how the time has flown. We're having a little party for them later, and I will try to get some pictures to share.

I was up until 3am making ice cream for the party, then Anson had me up again from 5-6:30, and the twins were up for the day at 8. I am dragging!

 

[wamommy]

Happy Birthday, Lily and Gunnar! I can't believe they're 2!

Helena, I LOVE those pics! Kiara is adorable. You look fantastic as well... so stylish!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Ours was chaotic, but great. We opened presents in the morning (omg, remind me NOT to leave Santa duty until Christmas Eve... SO tiring), and then went to my Mom's house an hour away to spread the craziness around. Everyone was exhausted, but somehow a holiday passed without DH causing a scene or starting a mega-fight! Hurray! Max is in LOVE with Santa now that he knows what Santa does. He says, "Santa, HO HO HO!!" and gets super excited. So cute.

Here's Max, along with a pic of me with Luca and my 5-year-old, and lastly my 6-year-old. Such a good day!

I hope you are all doing well. I know life gets super busy, but I hope to keep in contact with each of you, whom I consider dear friends.

 

[helena]

Haha I love Max's bow! beautiful children. What gorgeous hair your eldest daughter has.
And I must say, you look too young to have four!

Dragon, did you say you were up until 3am making ice cream??? Oh my, can't you buy some? What a model mum hope the party went well? X

We just got back from a week in England. It was super stressful as we stayed in a cottage that had wall made of paper. I felt so stressed every time my little elephants stomped around and woke at 5.30am....
But it was lovely seeing family, especially my mum, and old friends.
But now we are home for a week before they go back to school and work and it feels more like a proper holiday now

The kiddies are in bed, my gin and tonic is poured... DH and I will have a nice dine r later and maybe watch my latest obsession- Breaking Bad. Love it! .a nice quiet way to see in the new year for me

Happy new year everyone!

 

[SierraJourney]

Hello ladies! What lovely photos! Everyone's lo's are such dolls! It's been a while, and for that, I apologize. . . I've been busy settling into the role of stay-at-home-mom-on-a-fixed-budget. . . It's amazing how busy I can be nowadays, and can't imagine the days I worked at home! Our finances are extremely tight since going down to one income, so I feel I'm always budgeting, trying to figure out meals for cheap, doing a lot of freezer storage to save money, etc. I've even started making our own laundry soap and shampoo, trying to cut costs (and I hate the toxins used in most of the cleaners and such these days anyways. . . .)

I can't believe that our lo's are going to be TWO soon! Where did the time go?!

It's also gotten me thinking about another child. . . .but with as colicky of a baby as Camden was, both DH and I are unsure about another----that, and I can't imagine how we could possibly afford one right now. But that being said, we are down to one vehicle right now and I ran out of birth control pills. . . I kept reminding DH to pick them up, but he just got them today. . .so I've been 5 days without birth control and we've dtd TWICE. . . so, I'm a bit worried (excited?) if a "surprise" comes out of it. . . lol. . .I guess we'll see!

Also, anyone else still BF? (I think Kellen was last one in with me last time. .. lol...) I'm STILL BF. . .hoping to wean soon, but with a cute little face looking up at me asking to "Nrrrrssssseeee!", it might be a little hard. He only nurses at night and in the morning, but it's still going to be hard to wean, I think.. .

So, how is everyone?!

Dragon, how's handling three little ones? I hope you are doing well!
Wamommy, how's handling FOUR?! How's DH? I hope things are getting better for you two.
Helena, how's your mum doing? How's the kids' school?
Kellen, how's the business going? And DH's new job?
Jo. . .if you're still lurking here. . .how's O?

I'd love to hear how everyone is doing and start chatting a bit more!

 

[DragonflyWing]

Hi Sierra, we're doing well! Anson is 8 weeks old now, and doing great. He's almost up to 12 pounds now! I'm no longer supplementing with formula, so he's on 100% breastmilk. I went back to work this week, so he's getting bottles of pumped milk while I'm gone, but when I'm home he nurses directly, which is awesome. I never got to do that with the twins, and it is such a lovely bonding experience.

The twins are definitely into the terrible twos! They are so defiant...they laugh as they do exactly what they were just told not to do. They are also talking really well...we have lots of complete sentences, especially from Lily. Funny thing, most of her sentences are her tattling on Gunnar: "Mama, Gunnar threw cup at me!" "AH! Mama, Gunnar sitting on my head!"

Gunnar loves to sing...among his favorites are Patty Cake, Baba Black Sheep, 5 Little Monkeys, and Twinkle Twinkle. They sound like this:

Patty cake, Patty cake, baker's man
fas' you can!
roll it, pat it, mark it G
put in oven for Daddy, Mama, Lily, me! Yay!

Twinkle little star (sounds like "tranquilizer" LOL)
up above world so high
like diamond in sky
(repeat)

Baba black sheep
How are you?
Yes sir yes sir
(repeat)

5 monkeys jumping bed
Fell off, bump head!
Mama called doctor (docatur )
No monkeys jumping bed!

Haha they just kill me.

 

[SierraJourney]

Dragon, the kids sound so great! What smart little twins!

We just started potty training here because almost by accident, I caught Camden trying to pee on the floor before his bath, and put him on the potty. That was a week ago, and he's been going on the potty every 15 minutes when I put him on the potty. He won't ask to go potty, but if i.put him on there, he goes instantly. I'm hoping it sticks and continues to go.smoothly!

Anyone else potty training?

 

[wamommy]

Sierra, I'm so glad to hear from you! It sounds like you're doing really well staying at home with Camden. Well done with the potty training! We aren't there yet. Max gets really freaked out when I put him on the potty, so I'm not forcing the issue until he gets a little more confident. Honestly, both of my girls were in diapers until they were almost 3, so I won't worry about until the next birthday approaches. It would be GREAT to save on diapers, though!

It's exciting that you're thinking about another baby, Sierra! What are the chances that it would be another colicky one? And even if it were, they grow out of that into wonderful and fun little humans! I say go for it! It's totally easy for me to say, since I don't have to pay for it or stay up with a new baby again...

Dragon, the twins are SO cute, and look at Anson! He has such a cute and distinguished little chin. How is his temperament? How are the twins doing with him? I love the songs they sing! I'm glad Max isn't the only one being defiant. Just this morning I told him to sit down on the couch and he said, "No, STOP!" and put his hand up. I had to laugh... He's really cute when he's trying to be serious.

As for us, life has been CRAZY lately! DH went to Hawaii for a week with my Dad (weird) and they are BFFs now. It's super weird to me. I hadn't seen my Dad in 6 years, and now he's been up to visit every month the past 3 months and is helping DH deal with his parents' house in Hawaii and trying to convince us to move to California to be near him. Who knows what the future will hold, but everything is really in transition right not. The week DH was gone was super tough. Boy, 4 kids is enough work when you HAVE a partner (even one doing 25% of the work). Suddenly showering or using the restroom became a luxury and the house went to pot. I am about 4 loads of laundry and 20 hours of sleep behind... but the kids survived!

I'm excited about Max's birthday! What are everyone's plans for the big #2? I think we'll just eat cake here and take him to the park, but that's his ideal day anyhow. Except the cake part. He doesn't like cake/cookies/sweets very much. That definitely didn't come from me! Maybe I'll make his favorite foods and we'll have a buffet. Everyone take lots of pictures! I want to see your little ones! Dragon, any advice for toddler parties? I can imagine you're a pro with TWO toddlers who just turned 2.

Helena, how are you? How's your Mom?

Kellen, Is DH home? how's the business? Teagen?

 

[DragonflyWing]

Dragon, the twins are SO cute, and look at Anson! He has such a cute and distinguished little chin. How is his temperament? How are the twins doing with him?

Thank you! Anson totally has my chin lol, it looks so funny on such a little face. He is SUCH a happy baby, and very easygoing. The twins weren't all that high-maintenance individually, but having two of them was like having one very high needs baby, plus I was exclusively pumping. Anson is just so easy in comparison, especially because he's a great nurser so I only need to pump when I'm at work (and sometimes in the morning because he's SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT ALREADY ).

I thought having a third child would make everything harder, but it seems to be the opposite so far. Logistics can be a little challenging when taking them out, or if they all need something at the same time, but overall I'm a much happier Mama with three than I was with two.

I seem to have dodged the postpartum depression bullet this time, too. I've had plenty of energy to do some housework and cook dinner most nights, which I NEVER had when the twins were babies. My sister in law commented to me on Saturday that I seem so happy all the time now. It made me wonder if my emotional struggles were really that obvious before, but I also am glad that everything is going so well now.

And to think that I was so terrified when I found out I was pregnant again, and I was really not all that excited throughout the pregnancy. It has turned out to be such a joy to be a mom of three, and I wouldn't change it for the world.

Lily and Gunnar love their new baby brother, but they do get jealous sometimes. They like to kiss and hug him, and talk and sing to him, but when they want me to themselves they say "Mama, put baby down!" I'm trying to get them involved in taking care of him (helping with baths, bringing me things when I'm nursing, etc) so they don't feel left out when I can't devote all my attention to them.

 

[wamommy]

but when they want me to themselves they say "Mama, put baby down!" .

That's so funny. The other day in the car Max looked at Luca (as he was screaming in his car seat) and said calmly, "take it back..." Maybe he thought there is a return policy for fussy baby brothers?

 

[Kellen]

Hey all! Happy 2nd Birthday, Max. Happy Belated birthdays to Kiara, Lily and Gunnar!

Ah! Life is crazy. Good crazy. The business is booming (this is supposed to be the down season and we had our first $1,000 week last week). DH is home until recalled. He thinks it will be sometime next month or early April. Love him to pieces, but he needs to go back to work!

Teagen and I have been down sick. She came down with it first a fortnight ago. We took her to the doctor with a 101.4 temperature and a whole body rash. Well, poor girl is so fair complected that if she runs a fever she becomes a blotchy baby.

Tomorrow we are having a small get together for her birthday. I seriously cannot believe it has been two years... The theme: Elmo. Which is odd seeing as we don't actually watch Sesame Street. But she loves Elmo so Elmo it is. I need to be wrapping presents while she sleeps, but my running nose is a nice excuse not to.

Sierra - Yes, we are still BF. Typically it is when she wakes up, goes down for a nap and then at bedtime. But... since she was sick and didn't want to eat anything I feel like I've been nursing a newborn for the past week. Poor girl was so stuffed up that I let her sleep with us for a couple of nights and nurse when she wanted. The night before her nose was finally clear and she was quite angry at 12:30am when I told her the nursing buffet had closed for the evening.

I am looking forward to having another baby in a year or so. First DH needs to pass his 3rd Mate licensing exams before I will even think about having the IUD come out. Getting married was his original excuse. I will not let a baby be a second excuse. He has 45 days left that he needs to sail before he can sit again. So hopefully that will be sooner rather than later.

So Teagen puts her finger on her chin when you ask her to smile. I don't know... it is weird. No one here does that.

 

[Kellen]

One of Teagen's favorite things to do now is "play baby." She finds her old things like the bobby and has me lay her down on it so she can do "tummy time." She then demands that I take a picture.

"NO!" Is a word. Thankfully my mom invited the "Yes Box" for me and it works well for Teagen. She has a little box that some earrings came in that we wrote the word "yes" on the lid. If she starts saying "no" too frequently we go on an adventure to find her yes box. It works really, really well.

We have been potty trained completely since 19 months. She has great bladder control and we don't even use pulls at night anymore. Well, she did when she was coughing really hard because that can cause the best of us to wet the bed! But other than that she lets me know when she needs to go and we go. Sometimes she gets mad because I make her sit on the potty before car trips.

Also... STRIPPING! Today, today my child learned how to strip herself naked in .5 seconds. And we were at the shop... great. I knew she knew how to get her pants down to use the bathroom, but I didn't know she knew how to take off her top. Oops! All of a sudden one of our employees says: "Looks like we've got a streaker!"

 

[SierraJourney]

Oh Kellen! She's a cutie! I can't believe how long her hair is! I'm glad I'm not the only one still bfing... my.family thinks I'm crazy! :/ however, this week Camden decided he doesn't want to nurse in the mornings anymore, so we're down to just bedtime feedingS now. Makes me kind of sad. Lol.

And ELMO is Camden's favorite too! My goodness ---he says that name hundreds of times a day. His other favorite is choo-choo trains! What little personalities they are getting!

What are everyone else's lo's favorites?