B-Feeding Question

I'm still getting some stuff ready for this baby and it's time to stock up on.....drumroll please.....nursing pads (oh joy)! With Addison I used the disposable kind. I liked the Lansinoh kind the best, but they were sort of expensive and in hindsight I hate the idea of throwing them in the trash. What do you mamas out there use? I tried the Gerber reusable kind, but they didn't work. I may have washed them wrong or something. I've also heard some good things about those Lillipadz, but they're also a little pricey $22 and the website said they only last about two months.

Help please!

Don't Celia and Addison look like little old ladies ready to head off to the VFW for Bingo and possibly the bread outlet on the way home?

Someone hire this man!

This is what (some) retired Colonels do in their spare time when not job hunting. I just don't get it. I get teased for being a crazy cat lady, but do I set up obstacle courses for my cats in the backyard? No. Do I take my cats to get their picture taken on Santa's lap (Eric)? Nope. Totally unfair. I will say that having a camera on my phone has really come in handy.

Anyway, I had a doctor's appointment yesterday! Nothing is happening, which is good because I want to go to Manhattan this weekend to see friends. I haven't been back there since Kristin was pregnant with Jaiya. I've been taking Addison with me. This was our dialogue as we were leaving:

Addison: "Mommy going to sit on big girl potty at doctor?"
Me: "Yep."
Addison: "Mommy going to pee in cup at doctor?"
Me: "Yep."

We get there and they give me my cup (this could be the subject of another post). The bathroom is right in the waiting room, where everyone sitting in there is capable of hearing everything you (or your 2 year old) might say. Addison immediately opens up the little drawer in there and says "Here's a lid for your cup mom! You going to pee in it? I want to hold it!"

Only a few more weeks....

Sorry I haven't blogged in a few days. With everything that is happening with poor baby Cora, it's sort of hard to blog about silly things, and even my various rants and complaints seem so petty when you compare them to what this poor little family is having to go through. A little perspective is never a bad thing. Joel and Jess, I promise to keep praying and I have complete faith that God can heal your baby! It was really amazing to see all of the prayers they are receiving all over the country because they have such amazing friends like you guys.

Squeaky the herding pig

One more...can't resist!

Just don't come to Leavenworth....

This is pretty funny stuff

I need this in an adult size

(I am).


Yesterday I spent some time with my friend Kelly and her daughter Elise. We went to Panera and to the play place at the mall. I've known Kelly since K-State years and she's always really fun to hang out with because she doesn't pretend that parenting is really easy all the time (in fact, she does it all on her own). The girls had a great time playing with each other and Kelly and I had a great time not being the sole entertainer for our kids for a couple of hours. :)
































The happiness ended when Addison proceeded to throw a huge tantrum as we were leaving the mall. She laid face down on the floor next to the cookie place. I did the "ignore her and keep walking in hopes that she'll follow me" routine (which never works). I guess I walked too far because two security guards walked over to her and then gave me the "what kind of mom are you?" look typically comes from people without kids or old people.

Right now Addison is wearing Dora panties and Devin is feeding her lots of Crystal Light (go ahead, judge me, but she doesn't like juice!) in hopes that Addison will go on the potty. I'm not terribly optimistic, but miracles do happen. Wish us luck.

A little checkup

How are my resolutions going? Let's see....
1. Be on time: I'm doing ok.

3. Be generally more organized. I'm doing so much better! Maybe it's the nesting instinct!

4. Be more aware of when I am nagging my husband to death. Oh dear. I had a really ridiculous and shameful outburst on Sunday afternoon.

Let's call it "Fun times in Hormone Land with Devin and Marie" (the capital letters mean yelling/escalated tones)

D: "You eating the last of the leftovers?" They were spinach/artichoke calzones and are one of the few leftovers I like
M: "Well I really want to, but I know you like leftovers a lot. "
D: "You can have them."
M: feeling very guilty, but secretly wanting them
D: goes to heat up the leftover spinach/artichoke filling with eggs and tortilla
M: "YOU CAN'T EAT THAT! THAT IS GOING TO TASTE DISGUSTING AND YOU WILL THROW IT AWAY AND IT WILL BE WASTED" (as if Devin would ever throw food away)
M: "JUST EAT THE CALZONE!"
D: "no, it's ok..."
M: HERE IS SOME TORTELLINI. PUT THE FILLING WITH THAT. NO I'LL EAT THAT. YOU EAT THE CALZONE. JUST EAT THE CALZONE!!!!!!!! (it's warming up in the oven)
D: "it's really ok (can you believe he stayed calm?)" I'll eat the tortellini.
D: fills up a pan with water to boil the tortellini
M: YOU DIDN'T PUT ENOUGH WATER IN THE PAN! IT WON'T COOK RIGHT!
D: ....
M: now focused on gettting frustrated with Addison for spilling soup on the table as I'm eating cottage cheese (something I NEVER eat. Ever) and waiting for the calzones to warm up
D: Are you eating cottage cheese? Since when do you eat cottage cheese?
M: WHY DO YOU CARE WHAT I EAT???? I'M STARVING!
D: ....

That's when the shame set in. I knew I was being such a freaking nag that it was unbelievable. I knew I had to apologize, but I didn't want to because that meant I actually had to admit to acting like such a raging lunatic. This took about 10 minutes. I immediately burst into tears and apologized for being such a control freak/nag and Devin forgave me. We'll keep working on this resolution...


5. I want to continue to keep God first in my life. I haven't been getting up earlier, but I did re-discover My Utmost For His Highest and it really is a great way to get refreshed for the day. I think I'll keep reading this instead of trying to work on a bible study.


6. Drink. more. water. I'm actually doing lots better! I even kind of like water a little bit now.

Here are a few good things that have happened lately:
-A big, family pack of blueberries was on sale at Hen House for 3.99 yesterday. We all love blueberries (especially Addison) but they are typically way too expensive to buy.
-LOST comes on tonight!
-I found out that our old pastor, Dave Cox, who resigned nearly two years ago, after admitting to an affair is sharing his testimony/story with different churches around the country. I saw him on God Tube! It brought me so much joy to know that God is using that tragedy for good.
-Addison started saying "I love you!" Can't beat that...

Heard Tonight

Addison is busy playing with her toy kitchen...
Mom: "Addison, what are you cooking?"
Addison: "I'm cooking awfuls!" (waffles)

Addison: "You want to watch a show Dad?"
Dad: "Yes, thank you."
Addison: "I turn the TV on for you. You watch 24?"

American Idol was great tonight. I was so excited to see a little bio of the girl from Wamego! Yay Wamego!

Weight Gain Wednesday

Went to the doctor today. I'm just going to lay it out there: I HATE stepping on the scale. Hate. It. The numbers just keep going up, up, up (duh) and even though I know it's because the baby is getting bigger I still hate it. My old doctor's office would tell me how much weight I had gained between appointments, but this nurse never says anything so I try to keep track in my head. For some reason I thought I was at a certain weight two weeks ago so when the scale said 12 pounds more than that today I flipped out. I started crying as soon as the midwife came in the room. She reassured me that it wasn't that big of a deal, but then got out her computer and started calculating the amounts and stuff. Guess I was wrong. I only gained 3 lbs since last time. I had the numbers mixed up. That is what I get for trying to keep track in my head. I felt pretty stupid actually. I did get to have a sonogram today! That was a fun surprise. My doc couldn't feel the position of the baby and wanted to make sure it wasn't breech (I know I should have said he/she but it's so fun to call the baby an "it". Ha ha ha ha!). It was an old machine, so I couldn't really see much (no anatomy) but it was neat to see all the fingers and toes and a big 'ol head.

I found out that chocolate, peppermint and caffeine cause heartburn. Interesting. I guess chewing peppermint gum (and drinking a mug of hot chocolate everyday) wasn't helping.

So you know how last time I blogged I was feeling a little worried about baby clothes and stuff? Well I went into Baby gap and scored some unreal deals. Got a cute, striped button down shirt that might be perfect for Easter for $1.38, a pair of adorable dinosaur Robeez (these things are usually about $30) for $7.97 and a red onesie for 65 cents! Now that I'm at the point where stuff can be returned pretty easily, I don't mind shelling out some money for gender specific stuff (even though I still feel like I might be jinxing myself a little). Thank you God for my wonderful job!

Speaking of jobs, Devin's company laid off 4 people. Since there are only about 40 or so people that work there, it was a little scary to hear. Ok. Not going to lie. A lot scary. I have always taken his job as an engineer forgranted, thinking that if anything happened it'd be real easy for him to go out and get another job, but that probably wouldn't be the case. He'd be pounding the pavement just like everyone else. We both decided that we weren't going to wait in fear for the other shoe to drop. If he loses his job, it happens. We both trust that God would take care of all our needs. That didn't stop me from joking that maybe he should post a big sign with my due date in his cubicle for his bosses to see, and perhaps a picture or two of a hungry looking Addison with an empty Sesame street bowl in front of her. I'm bad. I know. Devin is a really good employee, so hopefully they will keep that in mind. We'll just take it one day at a time. So don't worry Amanda, I'm doing ok (she thought I would be spazzing right now).

I was so excited about American Idol to start and I haven't even watched it yet! I watched the Biggest Loser instead. This is seriously one of the best seasons I've ever seen of that show, despite the continued endorsements for Extra gum.

Here's a picture of Addison and Celia, going to "Bible Study." Apparently their Bible Study meets under our kitchen table and so far it's just the two of them if anyone is interested in joining. This age is so fun and cute!

Ok they were right

Lots of people have told me that kids will use the potty when they're ready, and not to bother trying unless they are. When she turned two, I spent many frustrating moments with Addison ignoring this advice. Then I decided I just didn't care anymore. Changing diapers wasn't even that big of a deal to me. It was such a battle I figured I'd just quit until she turned 3. The other day she just decided she was ready and she's been doing great. Getting candy (gummi Lifesavers and Bliss Chocolates...thank you CVS) and putting a sticker on a chart (I still don't know why. So far she's happy just to put a sticker on the chart. Works for me!) have hooked her. Feel free to judge me for giving out candy, but it's working (it does seem like a lot by the end of the day though. Maybe I'll switch to gum).









Here she is in all her chocolate face-Dora panties glory:

Anyway, Amanda I feel you. I'm completely exhausted too. I can barely make it through the day and I only have one kid (and one part-time kid) to take care of, not three! Two more weeks...... hopefully less. If I have to hear one more stranger say "Yeah you look like you're ready to go" I am going to flip. Does anyone else think that is a very rude thing to say to someone? The only comment I ever make to a stranger regarding pregnancy is after they're pushing a teeny infant around, and I tell them "You look amazing for having such a young baby!" Nobody ever gets tired of hearing that one. :)

Anyway, here's a shoutout to Grandpa Jerry, my newest reader (I think). I love you Grandpa and Alta!

It's the little things...

For my birthday (Dec. 13) I got $75 in giftcards to....THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY!

I held onto those precious jewels until last Friday when Devin and I decided to go for lunch. We figured we'd maybe get two meals out of them because it can get a little pricey. We were both being sort of cheap and got out of there for $30 the first time. Then SURPRISE! a giftcard for $10 came with our receipt if I filled out a survey. Last night after work we thought "ehh..why not?" and went back for dinner. It was sort of funny when the waiter asked if we'd ever been there before. I might actually need my name engraved in a chair there or something. We thought for sure we'd use up the rest. Nope. We still have enough for one more trip. Woo hoo! I love that place.

I was feeling a little sad today because Devin left for a business trip. He's only going to be gone until tomorrow night, but I still literally cried when he left for the airport. I'm blaming it on the hormones because that's just not right! Normally I'd spend the whole time hanging out with my parents, but they're out of town too. I decided I needed to go do something very productive, so Addison and I went to the car wash. I vacuumed the whole car and shampooed the carpets and then we drove through the wash. I know it's supposed to snow this week, but the bird poop on my car had turned brown for crying out loud. That's sad!

Then we went to CVS where they were out of everything good (of course), but I did manage to buy 2 packs of floss, an eyeliner pencil, eyebrow pencil, Tums, and two packs of gummi lifesavers for $6. I let Addison choose between the gummi lifesavers and some Cinderella sunglasses for being such a good helper at the carwash (ie: not running away). In my head I was thinking "COME ON ADDISON! MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE! CHOOSE THE SUNGLASSES!" She chose the lifesavers and it honestly made me feel sort of sad for her, but oh well. She still seems satisfied with her choice. I came this close to buying her those sunglasses anyway, but that would have defeated the whole point of choosing.

Anyway, not too much longer left in this pregnancy! 6 more weeks.... It's a good thing we're closing in on the end because, honestly, my shirts are getting shorter and shorter and I am almost to the point of wearing Devin's shirts. I haven't had too many issues except for this horrible culprit: heartburn. I should really consider buying stock in Tums. I got out all of my newborn stuff and am panicking slightly because baby #2 and Addison were born in opposite seasons and I don't have hardly anything for a boy, but I know deep down inside that God will provide all of our needs for this baby.

Anyway have a good week everyone!

Note to Self

Buying a medium sugar free, skim raspberry latte from Caribou Coffee on the way to work at 5:40 pm to "wake up a little" was a bad idea. It worked, but is unfortunately still working now at 1:07 am.

It sure did taste great.

Later Devin was getting ready to read a book with Addison before bed. I thought I'd join in for some nice little family time. When I asked Addison if I could read too she said "No I want Daddy to read to me!"

Instead of being hurt I decided to enjoy my little break and start watching The Bachelor.

Today is Celia's first day back since before Christmas. I have really missed her and so has Addison! In fact, Addison was waiting by the window for Celia to get here this morning. I gave her a little warning that she'd have to share her new stuff with Celia and when Celia arrived Addison said "Celia come see my new toys!" She only comes over three days a week now, but they sure do have a good time together.

Organization Central

Is there anything better than being in "nesting mode" than having a husband who is also feeling motivated to organize? NOPE! It's the best!

Today while I was at work (ironically helping to organize our stockroom) Devin cleaned out our pantry AND Addison's closet! Then we went to Target and bought a new bookshelf (one of those cube ones) for her room and a bunch of different plastic tubs and stuff. Now there's plenty of dresser space for baby things again! It's so weird getting that stuff back out (the boppy, tub, newborn clothes, bottles, etc.). It feels like stuff I used in another lifetime.

Tomorrow we're tackling the garage. This is where I am going to need some assistance in the nag department!

New Year

Well we are home! We had a great week in DC with Devin's family, and then a fun New Year's with my parents. Well New Year's Eve was sort of sad. I've always been the "let's go do something fun" person in my family, but this year I just didn't seem to care too much. We all fell asleep before midnight. My mom fell asleep reading a book to Addison, my dad fell asleep on one couch, Devin fell asleep on the floor, and I fell asleep next to the dog on the short couch. I couldn't even bring myself to wake up to say Happy New Year to everyone. I vaguely remember Devin giving me a kiss, but that's about it. Maybe next year we'll do something exciting. One can only hope.

You know what totally sucks about coming home from a week pampered by relatives? Being at home with a spoiled 2 and a half year old who is seriously missing out on all that attention. These past couple of days have been miserable for me (and probably her). Devin and I agreed that we took one kid with us to DC and came home with a completely different child/monster. I know it's been weird for Addison. She had someone to play with, read to her, change her diaper, give her a bath, take her to the park, fix her a snack (and think all of those things are really fun) for a whole week and now it's just boring old mom during the day and a slightly more patient/enthusiastic dad in the evening.

Oh, and P.S. She's all about dad these days! Am I the slightest bit jealous? NO WAY! Hearing her cry "DAAAAADY!" in the middle of the night instead of "MAAAAMAAA!" is like music to my ears. Sweet bliss. I knew this day would come and it's finally here. Thank you Lord!

Anyway, I have been thinking about some things I would like to work on this year and here they are in no particular order:

1. Be on time. I've been working on this for the past couple of months and I'm actually doing really, really well. I've had a few hangups, but for the most part I think I have become more realistic about how much time things really take, instead of telling myself I can do something in a ridiculously short amount of time. ie: thinking I can take a shower, get dressed, eat something, get Addison dressed and out the door in 20 minutes. Um no!

2. Put my cell phone in the cell phone pocket of my purse so that I don't miss all of my calls! Sounds so simple right? You'd think, but my brain doesn't work that way. I am constantly thinking ahead to the next thing I have to do, so I usually just end up flopping it down somewhere and then frantically searching for it. Same goes for my keys. I'm a mess, but I really want to get better at this. For the past three days I have been successful. I'm trying.

3. Be generally more organized. For the past several months I have literally had to ask my husband when I work next at Baby Gap because I forward the emails to him! This is ridiculous. I am a big girl. I should keep track of when I work. I have this awesome new PDA phone with a calendar so I think it will help. I also want to do better at remembering birthdays and appointments. I was so happy that I remembered to call my grandpa for his bday today.

4. Be more aware of when I am nagging my husband to death. Devin and I are a pretty laid back couple. We don't fight too often and I generally am not a total control freak about things, but there are some times when I just cringe at my own behavior. Like today we fought in the rubbermaid bin aisle at Target over which kind of plastic bins to get for our Christmas stuff and for Addison's room. Then I totally jumped on him about leaving these stupid water bottles on the table when there were about a billion coupons piled up that I had not dealt with. I don't want to be "that kind of wife". Ever. I actually asked him to say "Nag Alert!" or "Crazy Hormone Alert!" when I am being like that, but he said he was too afraid of making me upset. I am going to be praying for God to help me out in this area. God's not afraid of making the truth clear!

5. I want to continue to keep God first in my life. That sounds like such a generic, goody-two shoes Christian thing to say, but I honestly haven't been lately and it's shown in my lack of patience and forgiveness for people. I have good intentions of sitting down to work on my bible study, only to think of other things that I should do instead. So, like Amanda, I want to get up earlier during the week so I can start my day feeling renewed.

6. Drink. more. water. blagh. I hate water, but it makes me feel so much better when I drink it. If you look at some of those pictures of me in the hospital with Addison, my face is literally blown up to 5x its size and I know it's because I wasn't drinking enough water.

7. Maybe, JUST MAYBE, we'll be able to get out of debt this year. I think in all actuality it's going to take into Feb. of 2010 (especially since I'm going to be losing my nanny income) but we are planning on paying off the car in the next two to three months (yes our overpriced yuppy car that we should have never bought!). There are only two things left after that: a loan to Devin's parents and our 20K student loan. I know that student loan is huge, but honestly, we had a billion things to pay off. I can't believe there are only two (and a half) things left! The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter. I hope that gives you all a little bit of hope. If we can do it, you can do it.

Anyway, I'm determined to stick to our gazelle intense (had to say it!) budget and am really going to work together with Devin to make it happen. It's been sort of hard lately because the nesting instinct is really kicking in, and there's this little voice inside of me saying "Marie your baby is going to come out COLD! You better buy some clothes and blankets! STAT!" Instead of trusting God to provide, I've been feeling this urge to buy a bunch of stuff right this minute and take care of it myself.

I'm sure there are a lot more things I need to work on, but I'm going to focus on these for now. What are yours?