The Baby has...

5 Fingers! He/She gave a wave during the U/S this morning. They were doing the Downs Syndrome test today so it was a long check with a VERY full bladder. I almost peed on the table. A few minutes in I seriously didn't see any arms. I saw legs, but no arms. After Shelagh said the other day "Mommy, what if the baby doesn't have any arms or legs?", I figured I should ask the tech. Yes, in fact, the baby does have arms and hands and fingers! Good heartbeat too. Yeah!

Shelaghs 1st Church Visit

We drive by the church in town on our way home from Shelaghs school so she's been asking if she can go to church. Finally, she and Joe decided to go today. She was very excited to wear a pretty dress and show off her best behavior (which despite a questionable week she did perfectly I'm told).

Raspberry Yogurt Cake

Shelagh and I baked a Raspberry Yogurt Cake from Bon Appetit yesterday while Rory was napping. It came out really yummy and moist. The only things I did different from the recipe were

1. I used vanilla lowfat yogurt instead of plain
2. I didn't have a Bundt pan so instead I divided the batter and put 1/2 each into a 9 inch cake pan and a loaf pan. I found this site and this site on pan size conversions to make sure it would likely work. I wasn't sure about cooking time so instead of the 1 hour 10 minutes in the recipe, I started with 45 minutes. I think that was a little long, but it still came out moist.

Here it is...Pictures are not so great - I'm having a problem with my camera in the house lately.

News

Well, looks like there will be a new little brother or sister joining our family in early February! Yes, we're expecting and are at 12 weeks now. I'm due on Groundhog Day - hopefully the little guy or gal will decide to actually come out and not to stay in there for 6 more weeks - haha. We told the family this past weekend at our annual summer weekend in NJ and everyone was very surprised and happy. Shelagh made sure everyone knew that Mommy had a baby belly. Coming from a 4-yr old it took a minute to hit most people, but it was exciting all around. Nausea has mostly passed, feeling pretty good...I'm in that annoying fat-but-not-showing stage that seems endless. My clothes don't fit, but my maternity clothes are too big. I can use everything from when I was pregnant with Rory for sure since the due date is only a month after his birthday.


Shelagh would like a little sister, of course, but understands we can't choose these things and has decided that she would still love a little brother. She has already planned how the sleeping arrangements will change (Rory and Shelagh will be sharing), how the car seats will be moved around, and how the dinner table seats might change. She is happy to learn how to change pee diapers, but no poops!


Rory buried his head in our bed and screamed "NOOOOOO!" which was pretty funny actually (remind me I said that 6 months from now when he sees the kid and does that again!). Joe and I weren't sure if he understood what we were saying and was having a true reaction to it or if he was just being a 2-yr old and didn't quite get it. Either way, 6 months when you are 2 is a lifetime and he'll be a whole other kid when he is 3 and the baby arrives.


Anyway, that's the news of the day!

Screaming & Yelling vs Patient Mom

I scream and yell at my kids more than I want to. It's not what I want to do and not the kind of parenting I think is effective, but it happens. I'm not naturally made up of all the patience it takes to raise toddlers. I'm constantly holding my tongue or taking deep breathes trying to fight the urge to yell "Just Do It!!". This is why I don't think I could be a good stay-at-home Mom. When things start to get too much, I have to pull myself in (and it takes ALL my might) and come up with some positive reinforcement system that ends up working for a short while (until it becomes more habit and I forget about it).

I'm friends with people, and I read on other Mom blogs about families, whose situations are worked out and who meet challenges with child rearing in a peaceful way. I see very docile and even-tempered Moms on the playground and at the pool who calmly correct their children. I often wonder if those Moms, with endless patience and calm voices, ever lose their shit. I mean I know I lose mine too much, but I don't see zero yelling in my future either. What is the balance?

Shelagh and I reached a head this past weekend and I had to shift things or I would have lost my mind. Some e-newsletter I get from iVillage or BabyCenter or something like that had a comment from a Mom who had a point system for good behaviors to earn TV watching. So, instead of finally implementing the Good Behavior sticker chart I've been thinking about for the last month and not doing (where can I get bulk stickers for cheap and where on Earth do I hang said chart???), I started with points. Lo and behold it worked and I haven't yelled since Saturday morning. I don't even have to have a prize....just getting more and more points is enough for her! I know, it's only Tuesday, but 4 days without a tantrum from Shelagh or yelling from me is big news. And, of course, after something like this works I just realize AGAIN that it takes me being the adult to stop the cycle first and come up with a solution and she follows along beautifully. What came first - the chicken or the egg? Was my yelling making her tantrum or was her tantruming making me yell? Who the hell knows. I'm just happy that she is happy.

I Love Steak & Cheese

I just inhaled a "small" for lunch and I'm totally regretting it. It sounded so good and so much more satisfying then the Greek Salad I was intending to get at the local House of Pizza. But, then I smelled the grease and that was that. I haven't had a S & C in so long and I just decided to go for it.

The worst part was that it wasn't even that good. It wasn't terrible, but the cheese to meat proportions were ALL WRONG! I should have known better. I always order extra cheese with my burritos. Also, I don't like when they lay the cheese on the bread and just let the meat melt it. It's much better when it's all chopped up with the meat on the grill. I'm not from Philly and I'm no expert, but this I know. People, 2 little slices of cheese are NOT ENOUGH for a small sub. Enough said.

Books: The Twilight Series

I'm addicted to these books...Yes, they are Young Adult books and they are about Vampires. Don't make fun of me until you've read the 1st one. Stephenie Meyer has written a series of books including Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse. The 4th book, Breaking Dawn, is scheduled to be published August 2nd. If you ever read the Vampire books by Anne Rice (Interview with a Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, Queen of the Damned, etc) and liked them, you might like these. Meyers books are about the Vampire world; but moreso about a deep love story between a human teenaged girl and a Vampire (at least through Book 2). I'm waiting for Book 3 from the library and have pre-reserved Book 4.

Anyone who has talked to me about books knows I have a strong stance on not Author rushing. It's hard to avoid, but I try not to do it. When you have a great experience reading a book all you want to do is read another by that author and another. Then, lo and behold, there are none left and the author is dead (see Leon Uris who wrote one of my favorite books of all time, Exodus).

I have broken my own rule here, after I teased a co-worker for doing the same with this particular series. I read Book 1 on her recommendation as her 13-yr old daughter read it and loved it. She read them next and if she liked them I knew I would too. She read all 3 in a row and pre-ordered 4. So, looks like that's what I'll be doing. Except that I'm competing against a ton of teenaged girls in the greater Boston area and their summer reading lists and the million copies in my library network are ALL CHECKED OUT! I'm diverting to a book about Marie Antoinette right now that I'm liking probably since I loved the movie by Sofia Coppola not so long ago.

Comments

Okay, so it should be enough for me that I get to

1. "journal" what is going on
2. keep friends and family up to date
3. provide some funny stories here and there
4. share what books I might be reading
5. share what movies or tv i'm enjoying right now
6. share what recipes are working for me or not working

etc, etc, etc...

The truth is, I love comments and I have mostly lurking readers that don't comment. Boo-hoo. I'm happy enough I do have people reading (thank you weekly stat report and mentions from friends here and there). But, I would be lying if I didn't mention that I LOVE reading comments and that I check all the time if I have any. If it weren't for Cole Mine comments, I'd be almost bare :(

Just a shameless request for an occasional comment...

Sharing a Room

I mentioned earlier that we ended up skipping Rorys nap on Wednesday (with disastrous results). The reason he hijacked the nap was because I decided to let both kids nap in Shelaghs room in the bunk beds. They basically begged me. Rory still sleeps in a crib, but it wasn't the bed I was worried about. He's slept fine in a bed before. It was the 2 of them together behind closed doors when Shelagh doesn't want to be napping to begin with. Well, over the monitor I hear "Stop talking, buddy. I'm trying to sleep". Seriously. Rory was chatting away and wouldn't stop and Shelagh was trying to rein him in. I went up there a good 4 times before I separated them. I put him in my bed and then Shelagh figured it out and came in so we tried together in my room. Same result. I gave up and took them to Costco instead. In came the inevitable meltdown by Rory who was exhausted. Despite having a million snacks while we walked through the store (he wolfed down everything they were displaying...it was pretty funny actually), he was a mess, as the lovely woman in line behind me pointed out. Thank you for updating me that my son was tired. Then I pushed my luck and took them to Old Navy to get PJs and in comes Shelaghs meltdown. How could they not have the rainbow PJs in her size???? Ahh, the devastation.

The kids will probably share a room for awhile at some point in the future. I dread that transition.

Weekend of Fun

For not planning much of anything for the holiday weekend we did a lot and had a great family weekend. For July 4th, we went to the late afternoon parade in a town next to us with friends and then watched the fireworks from their neighborhood that night. I have to say I'm not a parade person...I find them kind of boring and am always annoyed when they are TV. However, kids change things. They really seemed to like it and I loved watching them...of course Rory was mesmerized by the fire trucks and antique cars and all that. Shelagh, for some reason, has been asking about soldiers lately, so she was excited to see some at the parade and was very appreciative waving at them and screaming thank you and hi. It was pretty cute. I don't know how they keep such a poker face the whole time (the soldiers, that is).


Saturday we went to the toy store to get a baseball T set for the kids. Shelagh can hit the ball across the yard and Rory, with a gentler touch, did a good job making contact although he holds the bat like his little golf putter. He also likes to play it like an instrument.

Saturday afternoon we went to Kimballs, a farm, golf and ice cream shop in Westford, MA. We drove all the way out there primarily for the ice cream, but I convinced Joe that the kids could handle the mini-golf too. They had a great time putting up in the moutains last month so I thought they could handle it. They did really well overall. A little fidgety by the end, but they enjoyed running right to the hole, dropping their ball inches away and "sinking their puts".

We wrapped up the day with the much-anticipated ice-cream followed by a quick pony ride for Shelagh. She couldn't believe that the horse had braided hair and that he had "pony-tails".


Yesterday we had some friends over for an impromptu pool day. The sun was in and out, but it was warm and the kids swam from 1130 until 4. Miraculously, Rory kept himself busy enough to survive without a nap. We tried skipping his nap earlier in the week and he lost his mind. Live and learn.


I never enjoy travelling on holiday weekends and never regret staying home.

The Onion Food Funnies

My husband sent me this today and it cracked me up...I think it's a passive aggressive protest about my having bought a jar of organic peanut butter that he had to stir to mix in the oils. But that's just a hunch...

Use Of Organic Peanut Butter Adds Two Minutes To Local Man's Life
BERKELEY, CA–Vincent Dunst, manager of a Berkeley-area food cooperative, has added two minutes to his life by consuming organic peanut butter instead of major brands, health-food experts reported Monday. "Store-bought brands like Jif and Skippy are loaded with artificial emulsifiers and preservatives. Some of them even contain brown dyes to make them look more 'peanut buttery,'" Dunst said. "This all-natural Sunset Farms peanut butter contains absolutely nothing but fresh peanuts and a little bit of sea salt–and, as an added bonus, the jar is glass instead of plastic." Dunst has also added 22 seconds to his life by starting off each day with a frosty, fiber-rich "Bulgur Smoothie."

I also happened to spot this one today on Serious Eats:

8-Year-Old Forced to Eat Organic Macaroni and Cheese
A spot on Onion Radio News: "Despite the fact that 8-year-old Joshua Remmert can't stand the sight or smell of Annie's Homegrown mac and cheese, the young boy was forced against his will by his own mother to choke down an entire plate of the organic pasta yesterday."

"Mommy, there's something in my Crib"

Rory is actually going through a crib fear right now. I think he's starting to dream and I recall a similar situation with Shelagh around this age. She always slept great and then started night waking around the time Rory was sleeping through the night as an infant.

He certainly can't articulate it as when he talks about dreaming he says "I dreamin' about the water park" while he snuggles in with Shelagh and lets her put her arm around him. It's seriously so cute and he usually says it in the car shaped shopping cart at the grocery store when they are jammed in there together waiting for the inevitable free cheese at the deli counter.

Since Thursday he freaks out when we try to put him to bed..."Mommy, there is something in my crib!". The poor thing grabs for me and is petrified. I put him to bed in our bed a couple of nights b/c I didn't want to drag everything out and then moved him, but of course I don't want to start a habit out of that. Instead, it's now a 30-40 minute routine where I have to rock him and snuggle extra (that's the fun part). We then snuggle with him standing up in the crib while he wimpers and borders on tipping into full crying mode or calming down. We talk about the fish on his sheets until he is ready to sit down...which one is his favorite, which one is blowing bubbles, which colors he thinks I should like best, etc. I convince him to lay down so I can tickle his back and sing songs. I proceed to sing Itsy Bitsy Spider at least 4-6 times. As I hit the last line, he is already saying "Again Mommy. Just one more time." I tell him I'll sit in the rocking chair for awhile and keep him company. Meanwhile, he gets really sweaty so his A/C is cranked and it's freezing in there. I'm wrapped up in a blanket shivering staring at the clock. And then I proceed to army crawl out of the room carefully manipulating the door knob just so as to not make even a click and let on that I'm escaping. It's crazy for a kid who usually waves and says "good night, mom" as I drop him in and walk out in the same breath. Let's hope this passes soon...