Nursemaid's Elbow

Josiah came down with a bad case of "nursemaid's elbow" last night. The definition found in Wikipedia is: "a dislocation of the elbow joint caused by a sudden pull on the extended pronated arm, such as by an adult tugging on an uncooperative child. The technical term for the injury is radial head subluxation."

Josiah was not being an uncooperative child (although he often can be) no, he was simply sitting by my side and started to slide off the couch. In my haste I pulled him up by his wrists and he started SCREAMING in pain. Poor little dude.

The orthopedic surgeon that we saw this afternoon did his best to check out Jo's elbow - but we left there at 3:30 without it being popped back into place. He told me to give it a day or two and if it wasn't better that I should take Josiah to a pediatric orthopedic. So tonight, after many phone calls, lots of tears, 2 trips to the Urgent Care (one for x-rays), lots of movies & still a crying baby boy, I finally looked up "nursemaid's elbow" on the internet. Based on what I saw he didn't need x-rays - he just needed a pediatric doctor who could pop that elbow back into place. I came out of the office and prayed for healing in Josiah's elbow, then I called my friend Kristi (who is going to Duke to become a PA) and talked with her about what I should do next. While on the phone with Kristi, Josiah fell down twice and I had to help pick him up - then two minutes after the 2nd fall (about 10 minutes after I had prayed for him) I looked up to see him using BOTH hands as he stacked up his shoes by the front door. Over the next 10 minutes I followed him around to see him using his left hand/arm as if nothing had ever been wrong! He was back to his crazy little self - climbing on EVERYTHING tonite! Praise God for his healing! I'm so glad to have my little boy back again!

Home again

The hope was to arrive home in time to put the kids to bed on Sunday night. However, we forgot that everyone else would be coming home from Vegas too! So besides tucking Josiah in when we got home (@ 10:30) I had to wait until morning to see them.

Ellie woke up @ 5:45, crying as she walked into our room. She was SO happy to see us. "Mommy, daddy, you're back"! Then she just held on as tight as she could. I tried to get her to fall asleep for the next hour. Not so much. Got up w/ her a bit before 7 and we went into the living room and I told her stories until I heard Josiah waking up. He was so cute. It was as if I had never left. He had his moose & both blankets and was more interested in the "cars" on his wall than anything else.

Josiah was very happy today. I could tell that he was happy to see us. Before Chris got out of bed he ran down the hall yelling, "dada, dada" and then pointed up to the bed. He was SO excited to see him!

Ellie spoke w/ her Papa (my dad) and told him, "I think my mom & dad are back" and then, "You can come visit later".

I can tell that they both had a wonderful time w/ my parents and Colleen but it's cool to see their excitement (and peace) they both have about us being back home.

First Time Away without the Kids

It's been 16 months since Josiah was born. 16 long and wonderful months of doing nothing but caring for my two very beautiful (and active) children. This weekend Chris and I are in Vegas for a conference (I haven't gambled once yet) without either of them! Thoughts so far . . .

Besides needing more blankets . . . I slept relatively well and I slept IN!

Didn't have my morning Yerba Matte (tea w/ just the right amount of caffeine) and could hardly stay away in the first two sessions at the conference this morning. I'll be drinking caffeine tomorrow morning.

Took a long NAP this afternoon - w/ absolutely NO guilt!

Have had meaningful adult conversations w/o my attention being divided!

Once I wrap my head around more of the conference I'll write a bit more about that :)

New Family Tradition?

We may have begun a new family tradition tonight . . . but first let me give you some background.

Chris and I aren't particularly excited about celebrating Halloween. We don't agree w/ the roots of the holiday, we don't give our kids much candy to begin with and we aren't excited about giving in to the commercialism found in our culture. Therefore we have decided to not give Halloween much credence.

So no, our kids did not dress up and I don't think they knew the difference! Instead, since we live in a fairly busy neighborhood, we left just before dusk tonight for dinner. We took the kids to a relatively nicer restaurant, sat outside (it was a beautiful fall night) and had a wonderful dinner together. The kids were pretty well behaved - although I had to take Ellie away from the table at one point into the bathroom to give her a stern lecture - but other than that they ate, laughed and even danced together.

We drove back home, turned off all the lights in the house once we were home and hung out in the back room just playing w/ the kids. It was such a pleasant evening!

A Change in our Plans

Last weekend the Burton family had grand plans. My good friend (and past roommate from college) Jen, had her wedding on Saturday (the 17th) and I was excited to go celebrate the occasion! The plan was to drive up to Sacramento on Friday night, stay the night in a motel with the kids, then hand them off to my parents on Saturday morning. Chris and I were going to drive into Palo Alto enjoy the wedding and have an evening w/o the kids (a first since Jo's was born)! We were going to drive up to Paradise on Sunday and have dinner w/ the whole family and my cousin and her family who are moving to Nebraska at the end of the month. Then we would pack up the kids Monday morning for a long drive home. That was the plan . . . but that's not what happened.

We left on Friday at about 2 pm. We had just reached Santa Barbara when Josiah threw up. We had been in traffic up to this point so we thought that he was just carsick and pressed on. After a couple more hours he threw up again. This time it was evident that he was indeed sick. After discussion over dinner - which he was able to keep down - we decided to head up to Palo Alto anyways. I would go to the wedding and Chris would stay w/ the kids. Unless Josiah got better the next day we would not head up to Paradise to see the family. We got to a motel in Gilroy (about an hour south of Palo Alto) @ 11:30. The kids and I went to bed and Chris stayed downstairs - on an outdoor patio - to "wind down" from his drive. During this time he was able to share the Gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ with 3 people! One of them being VERY receptive to the Good News! We marveled at the fact that his encounter wouldn't have taken place had Josiah not gotten sick!

The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful. I went to the wedding on Saturday and had a great time! Chris stayed with the kids, letting Josiah sleep, sleep, sleep. He ran a fever all day Saturday and all morning Sunday. We left the motel room at noon on Sunday and by the time we got to a restaurant for lunch he was completely better. No more fever and back to his busy little self! We had a nice trip home, taking our time and enjoying time together as a family.

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

in season fruits and veggies

I know that it is best to eat fruits and vegetables that are in season. And it's even better to support the local farmers who grow those things! However, I didn't grow up on a farm and while I know that apples are in season in the fall that's about ALL that I know! I found the Peak-Season Map at Epicurious.com which helps someone like me figure out what is in season in my area in the different months! Yaay! Now I have something to "go by" when I'm buying my fruits and veggies . . . now I just need to make it to the local farmer's market some time soon.

blogging, journaling, reading . . .

I'm trying to decide whether or not to just focus on this blog (not that I write here very much) and drop the blogs on my website that I write for my kids (which I don't really have time for either) OR try to do both. I think I'm going to try to focus more on this blog and just try to write more regularly. Maybe once a week for starters!

On another note I have been journaling again lately. I go in spurts with that too :) I've been pretty consistent w/ my time in the Word before the kids get up so it's been easy to open up my journal and write a bit before moving on to things I must get done for the day. I've been reading through "the Daily Bible" which takes you through the Bible chronologically in one year. Recently I've been in the time of the exile in Babylon and now I'm reading the psalms that were written after their release. It's been so nice to have a plan to read through because I hadn't been very consistent in my Bible reading over the last 2 years or so. The kids are finally at a place where they are both sleeping through the night and I feel like a human again in the mornings!

What have you been reading lately?

cracking me up

here are the kids right after In N Out.

DRIVING ME CRAZY

I drove up to Newman with the kids to visit my family this Labor Day weekend. Newman is the town I grew up in and while my parents no longer live there we have a lot of friends who still do!

The trip up there was pretty uneventful. We started out by leaving the house @ 10:30. We ran a couple of errands on the way out of town. Stopped at the grocery store, dropped off a movie at the library, got a few items (including disposable dipes for Jo) at BabiesRUs and then went did a "drive-thru" oil change on the car. The kids ate their lunches while the car got ready to go! We finally got on the road @ 12:20. Josiah fell asleep by the time we were at the grapevine . . . but woke up about 30 minutes into his nap because his ears were popping. So here I was driving down the grapevine and Josiah in the backseat screaming because he was in pain! I was throwing whatever food I could at him to try to get him to eat and pop his ears but it wasn't working too well. Finally we got down the grapevine and stopped at the first available stop! Then it was back in the car and both kids played with toys and did pretty well the rest of the way. Josiah had a few more screaming fests, my favorite being the one where both kids were screaming at each other . . . for fun.

Our time in Newman was pretty uneventful. We had a great time w/ my family. Saw some old friends on Friday evening. Went to the Fall Festival on Saturday (didn't even make it around the whole park)! Watched the Nebraska game Saturday evening and had dinner w/ the family and the friends whose house we were staying at afterwords. Put the kids to bed and then I went back to the park to meet up w/ my siblings and hang out for a bit. Sunday I took the kids to their first parade. They LOVED it. Josiah was dancing to the band and any other music he heard and Ellie was in love with all the horses. Monday we hung out with a few more friends before heading out of town @ 2pm.

Now . . . about the ride home. After a FABULOUS lunch at the Gardners home we headed out. Ellie was immediately hungry so I gave them snacks off and on as we drove. There was a lot more traffic than usual . . . end of Labor Day weekend . . . what did I expect? We stopped at a rest area where Josiah was drawn to the big trucks and dirt, Ellie to the dogs and other kids. Then we headed out again. Ellie fell asleep shortly after but Josiah took a little longer. I had to rub his feet to get him to calm down and fall asleep. He woke up right before the 5 and 405 meet . . . and all the traffic slowed down. He was screaming. A LOT. I was finally able to pull off and into an In N Out. We hung out there for an hour. I was in NO hurry to get back on the road. I gave Ellie some gum and Josiah his pacifier for the drive up the grade, put on a movie and off we went. Josiah did pretty good the rest of the way home. He freaked out a couple of times and I think I remember hearing Ellie say, "dude, don't cry" at one point! It was stop and go once we got over the hill until we hit the 210. Then we were able to move again! I was so happy to be moving . . . until Ellie said, "I've got to go pee"! We pulled over again, Ellie went in her little potty chair and Jo started to cry . . . again. I gave him a hug, put him back in his carseat and off we went. We ended up getting home at 9:20. Do the math . . . that's 7 hours of travel that only took us 5 on the way up!!

All in all it was a good trip. Would I travel alone again with the kids . . . yes, but not any time soon!

CTRL + ALT + DELETE

That is what last week was for. I needed to clear my brain and just be a mommy w/ out the internet distractions! It went very well. I noticed the most clarity on Monday and felt like I was more "in tune" w/ my kids throughout the week. I didn't have a perfect week, of course, because I am human (surprise!) and media is not to blame for me being short w/ the kids, snapping at my husband or not doing the dishes! There were, however, three main things that I took away from the week.

#1: I am not that important that everyone is waiting around for my next status update on facebook or waiting around for my next blog to be published.

#2: Everyone else is not that important that I need to know what is going on in their lives minute - by - minute.

#3: My children are the most important thing (besides God & my husband) going on in my life right now. They are what I need to focus on and anything (not just media) that gets in the way of that needs to be "put in it's place" from time to time!

I also decided from this experience to limit my facebook time (ie: not be on EVERY day) and to limit the kids movies to one a day and none on the weekends. So far I've been doing good! If it gets out of hand I'll just take a week off again!

Turning off the computer

I'm finally doing it! Turning off the computer for the whole week. I was actually inspired by my friend Laura Komarek ('Lil Dasies) who did this very thing quite awhile ago. This evening I will be officially shutting it down and not opening it again until next Sunday evening. This actually applies to movies too. I'm not going to put on a quick movie to distract the kids when I need to get something done. I'll actually need to be CREATIVE!!

During this week I'm hoping to actually get some things accomplished around the house including keeping it clean! I also hope to be more focused and purposeful in what I do with the children. I'm also specifically going to be thinking and praying about the tools I currently use as communication & if I should change anything I'm currently doing. I'm actually looking forward to unplugging - even though I know that I will probably go through withdrawls!!

I'll blog about my experience next week!

sleep training

I posted the following on my facebook status a few days ago.

Tara Burton is wondering if I should start letting Jo cry it out when he wakes up in the middle of the night (yes, the boy still nurses once at night).

My girlfriends gave me a lot to think about. I ultimately concluded that Josiah needs to learn to sleep through the night. Ellie was sleeping thru the night between 6 and 8 months of age and the only reason Josiah hadn't yet was mainly because of him & Ellie sharing a room. It was very difficult for me to let him cry in the night when his sister was in the crib next to him! About a month ago we put the kids in separate rooms so I KNEW It was possible - just wasn't quite sure HOW do go about it! I just knew I didn't want to do the CIO (cry it out) method - at least to start with. The next night I spoke with my mom for quite awhile and we came up with a "plan" for getting Josiah to sleep through the night. . .

When Josiah wakes up in the middle of the night to eat instead of nursing him I would pick him up and try to get him back to sleep in other ways. Rocking, giving him some warm milk, and as a last resort putting him in his jumper - just no nursing until morning!

That was the plan and this is how it's been going... the first night Josiah surprised me and didn't wake up until 5am! I went ahead and nursed him and then put him back down. He then slept until 8:15

The 2nd night Josiah woke up @ 3:30. He was standing up in his crib. I picked him up and brought him into the livingroom to try to rock him back to sleep. I could tell he just wanted to nurse. So I warmed up 4 oz of cows milk and fed it to him from his sippy. He took about 2 or 3 oz and then laid in my arms as I rocked him for about 10 minutes. I laid him back down while he was awake. He did the "butt-wiggle" which usually means he's content, and he fell back to sleep on his own. He didn't wake up again until 7:15!

Last night Josiah slept until 4:40. I went in, picked him up and tried immediately to rock him back to sleep. Nope, not interested. So I gave him some warm milk again, held him for a few minutes and had him back in bed by 4:55. He was up @ 6:30 though!!

I have noticed a few things through this process. The first being that he is eating MORE during the day. Today all he wanted to do was eat - and he drank more milk than usual! The second is that I can't SLEEP after he wakes up. Both nights I just tossed and turned after putting him back down - aaaah!!! And the third is that I think my milk is starting to dry up . . . we may be finished with weaning earlier than I was expecting! However I feel fine with that and more importantly I think that Josiah is doing well with the transition. He still has ME and I think that's the most important thing right now!

Now it's off to bed so that I can be ready to give that little boy some love tonight should he wake up!

nutella and brownies

when I was pregnant w/ Josiah I ate a lot of nutella. Not just by itself though. I would put a pile on my plate, along with some peanut butter and then dip green apple slices for a late night snack. YUM!! But nutella's expensive - and it's not that "good" for you. SO . . . I was going through a couple of my favorite blogs when I found a recipe for cinnamon-hazelnut brownies and then a recipe for nutella! Now, the nutella is not as creamy as the nutella you buy in the store - but hey, when it tastes just as good and is at least better for you I won't complain! And the brownies . . . my little sis was here when I made them and we were blown away by their deliciousness!

Also, in case you didn't know I LOVE to bake. Cooking, not so much. But give me a recipe for a dessert, bread, casserole dish, and you've made my day! That's probably why the kitchen is the hardest area for me to keep clean - as soon as I clean up after dinner I get an exciting recipe to try and all my pots and pans come out again!

So Sugar Plum is one of my very favorite food blogs and steph chows is another. Steph has an AMAZING whole wheat pizza dough recipe. The first recipe I've found that actually cooks all the way through! I HATE doughy pizza! One trick she gave was to invert the cooking sheet. Brilliant idea! I tried it and it worked wonderfully! I also inverted the sheet when I made focaccia bread the other day - I have NEVER had my focaccia bread turn out as good as it did then other night. Even Chris agreed - it tasted just as good as the bread you get at Macaroni Grill - not joking!

I feel so inspired tonight. I can't wait to go see the movie, "Julie & Julia" and become even more inspired!

one reason I love cloth diapers

They look so beautiful on the line!

on to the poops

I bought some fruit leather and put it in a jar 2 weeks ago (kind of looks like poo itself, come to thinkf of it). Nothing happened for the past week except for Ellie continuing to go to her corner in the playroom and doing here "business" there. Finally, just a few days ago, Ellie was in her bedroom taking her rest and I was my bedroom napping. I didn't have the monitor on so it was awhile before I heard her yelling. I finally woke up and rushed out to see that she had climbed out of her bed and ran to the potty. She didn't make it in time but I praised her for her efforts and we've had 90% success since then! I really have to watch her when I know it's "time" and keep her from running to her familiar spot. But most of the time she is going all on her own w/ no coaxing from me. She waves "good-bye" to her poo-poo, which is always going to where mommy & daddy's poo-poo goes! And the treats are working great as incentives! Once we are going to the potty chair 100% of the time I plan on transitioning her to the BIG potty (we've got a seat for that).

I do not miss changing diapers ONE BIT!

potty training #2

so we had 2 days of successful #2 in the potty chair and then it's been back to pooping in her panties. I figured out that she likes to go into the playroom and poop in a particular corner. At least she's consistent BUT it's kind of gross!

That being said this morning I knew she was due for a bm and was trying to make sure to "catch" her before she went in her panties again. I was changing Josiah's dirty diaper when she ran into his room and announced that she needed to go poop. OF COURSE she would need to go when I was in the middle of changing a diaper! I told her to go to the potty and ran out to see how she did as soon as Josiah had a diaper on him. The potty chair was untouched and there was Ellie in her favorite "pooping place" in the playroom - again!

I've decided that tomorrow I'm going to get an "incentive jar" filled with fruit leather . . . I'll see how that goes!

Potty Training

I really thought successful potty training was never going to happen. Ellie loved the various movies that we've watched over the past few months and she seemed interested from time to time but I could always tell she wasn't "ready". I was lamenting my situation to some moms who had made it through the potty training years successfully and one of them highly recommended the dvd "Once Upon A Potty" based on the book by the same name. Finally 2 weeks ago I rented it from our local library. Ellie LOVED it! She sat on her potty in the livingroom while watching it and even went and put her pull ups on after watching it. It is about 15 minutes long with the story as the first half and a "potty song" as the second half. After a few days of watching it she was going pee a few times a day, but wanting a diaper on when she had to go #2. We went 2 days with no pee in diapers, except naptime and nighttimes and then on Sunday she went #2! I was amazed and she's been only using the potty since then! It's like the lights just came on and she realized that she was ready! Today she hung out w/ Grandma and they went around town doing errands. She used the "porta-potty" in the back of Grandma's car and did just fine! No accidents!!

I'm using "potty scotty" underwear (decided that potty patty wouldn't be good for Jo to wear when he's potty training) and they are so easy for her to pull up and down. She will go all by herself w/o me reminding her - most of the time! If she's too busy with friends then I do have to remind her. I'm so happy that it's going this well so far!

Next up, I have to figure out what panties will be most comfortable for her . . . we had purchased some Dora ones awhile ago and they were cheaply and poorly made. Any recommendations?

A child's perspective of discipline

This morning I told Josiah "no" when he was throwing his food. He made his sad face (which I need to get a picture of) and Ellie said to him, "It okay Josiah . . . sometimes it happens". I believe the "it" she was referring to was discipline!

it's official

the monthly acne is beginning again. I broke out on my chin today - I'm so sad. At least this time my body waited 10 months before getting back to "normal". But it's still sad.

We also moved - I've been crazy busy - and need to go work on the house right now!! We MUST get things in order so that my BRAIN is in order. And really the only time to get anything done is when the little munchkins are ASLEEP!!

So it's off to "work" I go!

Gro Baby Diaper!

GroBaby was first brought to my attention by Jillians Drawers (one of my most favorite diaper sites). My friend Amber just told me about the contest they are having over on facebook. I've been doing cloth diapers for 2 years now and although I'm pretty set in the products I use (BumGenius, Fuzzibuns and my favorite staple the prefold diaper) I am ALWAYS open to trying new products. Especially if it makes my life easier! And that is just what these diapers seem to do - make the diaper changers life easier. I haven't tried them yet - but I would LOVE to! Having a inner shell that you can just change would make my life so much easier!

Check out GroBaby and if I am one of the lucky winners I'll post again about how they work!

life is too short

A gal I went to Simpson College with is dying of cancer. She is in the hospital right now as I write this. She is married and has a 2 year old son. She's one year older than me. I went to Ukraine with Monica in 1996. Her heart for the kids, the love that she showed all of us (I think she co-led the team) and her energy was all an encouragement to me. I got to spend some time with her again in 2000 when I went to Ukraine to visit my friend Valari. We all (Val, Kara & Kostya, Monica & I) took a train down to the port city of Odessa. It was fun.

Please pray for Monica. Here is the "friends" page and the link to their website is: http://solandmonica.com/

I have a washing machine again!

In case you didn't know, and you probably didn't, my husband has been taking our laundry over to his mother's house almost every day for the past 5 months. It has been a laundry nightmare over here! Because I don't have control of the laundry, it has been an unending pile that is never put away because he brings it home in the evening and I spend the next 3 days trying to get it all put away! But we finally have a washer! The last straw was this morning when I took Ellie's nighttime diaper off and she was RED all over. I knew it was the detergent that Chris used on the last load of diapers and I was over it. I told him this morning that I needed a new washer so I could go back to using Charlie's Soap (which I love - and is good on the little kids bums) and I was surprised that he had it purchased (used), delivered and installed by 7pm tonight!

I've already done a load tonight and plan on washing ALL the diapers tomorrow (over and over and over again; since that is what it takes to make sure all the other detergent residue is completely out). But I am not complaining! I feel like my life can be back in order (or at least a small portion of my life).

thank you Chris!

peace

I made it through my day yesterday! I also had a GREAT day today. I've chosen to keep the computer off Tuesday's thru Thursday's during the day and it's made a HUGE difference in what I can get done AND the peace that I feel w/ the kids.

I'm usually SO distracted by the computer that Chris comes home and the house is a mess, dinner is a mess and the kids are running me ragged. Today I stuck w/ my plan to NOT be on the computer and I had the house tidy (for the most part), dinner was on time and the kids were not driving me as crazy as usual.

so tired

I'm so tired. Ellie has been up since 5am. Her 2 year molars are STILL making their appearance as she informed me after an hour of trying to get her to go back to sleep. She was in our bed and said, "my teeth hurt - I need motrin". Gave her some motrin and gumomeal but the girl wouldn't go back to sleep. I hope that this day goes by quickly (and that we all get a nap).

It's only 1/4 of a cup...

but it was enough!! I made a roast in the crock pot yesterday and the recipe called for 1 cup of coffee. We don't have a coffee maker (long story, but it involves cockroaches) so I headed off to Starbucks to pick up a cup. It smelled SO good as the aroma of freshly brewed coffee filled up the car as I drove home. I came inside and used the cup and saw that there was about 1/4 of the coffee left. I didn't want to see it go to waste, so I drank it. Now I haven't had any caffeine for the past 2 years plus. I couldn't really feel any difference until I was at the gathering of the church and I shared something God revealed to me this past week. It was when everyone's eyes (about 15 of us) were looking at me that I realized I was shaking. There are only TWO times that I shake. The first is when I drink caffeine, the second is when I'm hungry. I also talk EXCESSIVELY when I have caffeine. I realized as I was speaking that I was beginning to get a little excited . . . I will not be drinking any amount of coffee (or caffeine) for awhile!!

going to sew

Aaah. Both kids went to bed like a dream tonight and I'm trying to NOT eat the night away. Last night I had 4 chocolate chip cookies after 10pm. I might have ONE sweet thing tonight but definitely before 10!

I am going to sew tonight. I'm taking an old dress of mine that I no longer wear and am going to make either a top or dress for Ellie (whatever I have enough fabric for. I'll post a picture of it once that's accomplished.

Of course the only way to actually accomplish something like that is to actually get off my computer SO . . . until THURSDAY I am signing off! The only time I'll be turning on my computer will be if I need to do anything with finances . . . otherwise I MUST be strong!

I don't like it

that's what Ellie says when she doesn't like the taste of something and I don't like the taste of time change. It really sneaks up on you and if you aren't prepared it really leaves a bad "taste" in your mouth. I wasn't prepared . . . otherwise I would have spent the last week moving the kids bedtimes up a bit. But not only wasn't I prepared but Miss Elizabeth decided that she wasn't going to sleep until 10 pm last night . . . I got her into bed by 10:30 (new time) tonight so hopefully it won't take too many days to get them both back on track!

I think I have a problem

I like to eat, and while that is not exactly a problem, snacking (and snacking and snacking) until I go to bed is becoming a problem. I realized a couple of weeks ago that it was because all day I take care of the two kiddos and hardly have a moment to myself. Then as soon as they are both down for the night I get to eat and actually enjoy what I am eating. I need to work on this because this is not a healthy habit to have.

On another note, Josiah is doing better w/ eating. He doesn't eat like Ellie did, but he is eating. The trick, I found, is feeding him about 30 minutes before I nurse him. That way he's good and hungry and will actually EAT. The last couple of days were a bit challenging w/ him refusing to eat, but this evening he enjoyed his pureed chicken and I threw in a few bites of peas in as well.

Blogging in my head

I wish I had time to blog about being a mom more. I actually have a running blog going on almost all day in my head. The only problem is I rarely have time to put the words in my head out onto the computer screen and so all that I have to say gets lost deep in the recesses of my brain never to come out again.

Maybe one day I'll make the time.

nap strike

I fear that my nap times have come to an end. We are on day 5 of Elizabeth's nap strike. This is the longest one yet. In the times before she would scream the whole time or not be content she is now perfectly content to read books in her crib with her stuffed animals for an hour! She's a bit of a brat in the evenings, hitting her brother and throwing tantrums more readily but she's starting to mellow out.

I am still getting my alone time, just can't count on a nap anymore - which means I should probably go to bed earlier!

nursing

Josiah has decided he will not be taking milk from a bottle anymore. This has happened three separate times now. First for Chris, then my mother-in-law. I thought, secretly, that they were just not doing something right. Yesterday I was proven wrong. My friend, Amy, was over watching the kids and Josiah did the same for her. She tried for 20 minutes, then I tried, then I tried putting it in a sippy, then putting it in a different kind of sippy. It was all to no avail, and more dishes were added to my already full sink!

This behavior is a little perplexing to me, especially since he's had no problem taking bottles as recent has 2 weeks ago! It was nice to be able to go out for the evening and not worry about how the little guy (and the one watching him) was getting along. I don't know how this will effect our already very few date nights. I like our date nights. Perhaps we'll just have to modify them for awhile.

While I'm on the subject of nursing, Josiah likes to nurse. Elizabeth was a very different baby. I used to joke that she didn't care HOW she got fed. Nursing, bottle, sippy cup - I probably could have fed her intravenously and she would have been happy. The girl just liked to eat (and still does). Of course it was a good thing that she wasn't picky because after finding out I was pregnant with Josiah, when she was almost 9 months old, my milk supply dried up and she was completely weaned at 10 months of age. Josiah would probably be VERY upset if I suddenly stopped producing as much. Fortunately that's not the issue . . . there is an issue with his teeth though. I did not know that having a baby with teeth hurts when you are feeding them - even if he's not biting down. Elizabeth only had her bottom two teeth the whole time I was nursing. She got the top two at 11 months. Josiah has his bottom two teeth, one of his top teeth and the other one just poked through today. I'm really hoping it will get better!

feeding Josiah

Josiah has not been interested in much baby food yet. Every time I tried to feed him pureed baby food he would gag and then cry and refuse to eat more. I was doing some research on Wholesomebabyfood.com and came across Baby Led Weaning. I found it to be very interesting and while I don't agree with it 100 percent it opened up my (often rather closed) mind to new ways of introducing food to Josiah.

I found out the other day that Josiah likes avocados and he likes artichokes. I mash a little on my finger and give it to him. He does pretty well. Tonight I tried a new food, tofu, and he really liked it. I also gave him cooked peas and cooked apple pieces instead of pureeing them. He liked both a lot more and he didn't even gag!!

I am learning that what worked with Elizabeth may not work with Josiah and I have to be flexible in order to figure that out!

clean house, clean mind

It's the start of a new month and on the first Monday of the month we get our house cleaned. I forgot that today was the day for our house to get cleaned so last night I was making a list of all the cleaning I needed to do . . . and knew deep down inside I wasn't going to get to it all! Then I got a reminder call from my house cleaner and "aaah", I didn't need to stress! It feels so good to have a clean house! Now I just need to try to keep it that way the rest of this month.

peekaru

I purchased a peekaru vest from my good friend Amber over at Heavenly Hold. It is the perfect addition to my babywearing. We got it just in time for a trip to the mountains/snow. Josiah was so snug and warm! I was looking for something that wasn't big and bulky, could be used in COLD weather but also would be good for the more temperate climate of Southern California. I couldn't be happier w/ my purchase and little Josiah loves it too! The ONLY thing I would add to it is a way for their little hands to be free when facing forward . . . but otherwise it's great!

bedtime

Elizabeth and Josiah are in the same room now. We moved Josiah in three nights ago and first of all it's AMAZING to have our room all to ourselves again! Secondly the change has been a lot easier that I thought. Ellie is still in a crib but we gave her new bedding - sheets and a fitted comforter the second night Josiah was in her room. Ever since then she wants to go to bed as soon as he is in bed - putting her p.j's on and brushing her teeth is a breeze! She isn't even bothered when he cries. We were trying to put Josiah down first and then once he's asleep put Ellie down but last night we could tell he wasn't going to go to sleep right away, so instead of waiting for him to fall asleep we put Ellie down with him awake - and crying. She did fine! We did put a cd on, Sleep Sound in Jesus by Michael Card (thanks mom!) to help drown on the noise and they both did great! Josiah is still waking up twice at night, but that is going relatively smoothly as well. Even when I didn't get in the room fast enough last night and Ellie woke up she had no problem going back to sleep.

Right now Josiah is crying off and on and I can hear Ellie talking in her crib - we'll see if they keep each other awake or I can get them both to fall asleep with out needing to pull Josiah out to rock.

The goal will CONTINUE to be one kid asleep before the next one goes to bed, but I know that won't always be possible!

Do you like Lara Bars?

I do. They are such a yummy treat and the best thing about them is that they have only a few ingredients and no preservatives. However they aren't cheap. A friend of mine sent me a link to a recipe for making your own lara-type bars. Wow are these YUMMY! I made some a few weeks ago - Ellie loved them, I loved them - it was great! I made more tonight. Check out this LINK if you are interested in making some yourself!